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trash-king18 · 1 year

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M pt. 2

warning y’all now this is gonna have a lot of parts and they’re all long, sorry. but i put more time and effort into this than i care to admit so i might as well see if it’s enjoyed by others.

cw: 18+ minors dni, talk of injections/needles, angst, arguing, both reader and miguel have attitude for days, hints of family trauma, oral f receiving, m masturbation

4004 words

————

you had planned on staying to work overnight just to spite him but about 20 minutes into the prep work the adrenaline wore off and your eyelids started drooping. so you put the venom vials in the fridge and headed back to your apartment.

the other reason you two had an odd connection is because unlike all the spider people; who went back to their own universes between jobs, you lived in Nueva York pretty much full time. besides the occasional vacation to explore other earths and some weekends spent with your sister and her kids, it was just you, lyla, and Miguel.

Gwen Hobie and Pavitr always asked why you chose to stay here with “the grump”. they were good kids, and even though you weren’t a doctor they frequented your lab for “checkups.” you always told them the same thing, “better tech here,” it was easier than explaining the real reason.

you enjoyed seeing your sister and your beloved little nephews when you could, but there wasn’t much keeping you back on your earth.

your spider man wasn’t able to protect your earth anymore, so you felt it was your personal mission to help however you could. miguel didn’t know it, but your spider man had been your brother. he ended up marrying a girl from your neighborhood who you quickly came to admire as a sister and they had two boys before.. the incident. when another spider-man showed up with a watch and the sweetest AI you’d ever met asking for your help for her boss, you jumped at the opportunity. anything to get you out of there.

—

you hadn’t seen Miguel at all that day. from what you overheard in the food courts there was some important mission, that as per usual he divulged to no one. you asked Lyla to notify you as soon as he returned, sometimes you felt you and her were the ones really holding the multiverse together. Miguel may have done the heavy lifting, but Lyla kept him organized and you kept him from breaking everything in the building when he got mad.

Lyla popped up on your watch at about 8:30 that night to let you know when he arrived. an inconvenience considering you were comfortably on your couch in an oversized hoodie.

“he’s back, but I’m not sure you want to talk to him right now.

“that usually means i definitely have to “talk” to him. i’ll head over with his injection now. Is he at HQ?

“uhm… I’m not-

“he’s either on a mission, or in his office.. brooding. he’s really quite predictable.

“he’s not at HQ he went straight home this time.

Oh great, now you’ll have to go over to his apartment

“ugh of course he did”

“maybe it’d be best if you just wait until tomorrow morning.”

“no no he needs an infusion, it’s been almost two weeks now and his symptoms are already worse than we’ve seen in a while.”

“just be careful, you know how he gets.”

“believe me Lyla I know, but I specialize in calming down the infamous grump, literally it’s what you hired me for”

“let me know how it goes?”

“of course”

you pull on your jordan’s and head up to the lab quickly to grab his treatment before heading to his apartment. you’d never been there, you didn’t even know where it was, but Lyla sent you the address. you were expecting a lifeless bachelor pad downtown so you were confused when you found yourself outside the door of a top floor penthouse suite. you knew he had a house… somewhere from a long time ago but you weren’t surprised he didn’t want to live there. besides this was much closer.

you take a deep breath fully expecting him to not even answer or slam the door in your face but you knock anyway.

you wait, and of course there’s so answer, you start to turn around to leave when you hear the lock click.

when he opens the door you do not expect what comes next. the self serious super hero, who you’ve never seen out of his suit, is wearing loose gray sweats a skin tight black tee and his hair is wet and slicked back clearly fresh from the shower. you swallow hard.

the confusion on his face quickly turns to anger.

“what the hell are you doing here?”

“Lyla uhm.. sent me the address. you were gone all day so I didn’t get a chance to do you your treatment today.”

he huffs as he shakes his head causing some of his hair to fall into his face

“fine just give it to me I’ll do it”

“not a chance, i don’t trust that you actually will

he stands, taking up the whole doorway.

“nice hoodie”

you had completely forgotten you were still wearing your spider-man hoodie. It was some corny spider merch you had snagged from a gift shop right before moving to this earth. It was stupid but it reminded you of your brother and you always wore it when you were upset. Suddenly self conscious you felt even smaller than normal standing in front of him.

“oh I uh-“

He smiles evilly at your apparent embarrassment, you were usually so put together and would never let him make fun of you. So he decided to relish in this moment.

“you should wear that to work, then you can be just like the rest of us”

you scowl at him

“will you just let me do this so I can go home”

he stops smiling

“we’ll do it tomorrow”

he starts to close the door in your face but you’re tired, you’ve had a long week and most importantly you know he can’t go much longer without the infusion before something bad happens.

so before he can close it you push your way past him ducking under his arm into his apartment. his guard is either down or he was too surprised youd even dare to do so because it would’ve been too easy to stop you if he wanted to.

“no, no, he tenido suficiente de ti, estamos haciendo esto ahora.”

no no i’m tired of you we’re doing this now

“H- Hey! you can’t just—“

you pause in shock as you look around and see a tediously organized apartment filled with plants, that smelled of home cooked meals, and surprisingly zero holes punched in the walls.

he grabs your arm to start pulling you out but you move before he can. no spidey sense meant you actually could catch him by surprise if you were quick enough.

“ay carajo o’hará this place is nice i’m shocked. are you making tamales? i wouldn’t have taken you for a chef.”

he just stares at you incredulously and watches you walk over and pick one up and start eating

“and a good cook too, your mother would be proud”

“you’re.. in my apartment”

“yes? clearly. sit down let’s get this over with”

“so you barge into my apartment uninvited and now you’re telling me what to do?”

“i mean really, you’re just stating the obvious, now can you please hurry up? i’m not putting up with your nonsense again today.”

you put the case on the counter and take the IV out and start getting it ready. you can tell he doesn’t like this at all and you’re not necessarily a fan either. it’s weird seeing him like this… human, almost.

“sit.”

finally he gives in, figures the sooner it’s done the sooner he can get you out of his apartment. unfortunately you’re not in the lab which means you have to set up a portable pole but getting it high enough for him even when he’s sitting is difficult.

“can you.. uhm”

“seriously? ay dios mío”

he adjusts the height and then hangs the bag before sitting back down. you pull your gloves on before you start trying to find the vain. he leans back against the counter, your eyes dart up every so often as you insert the needle and start the drip. He watches you work, fascinated by how you manage to boss him around.

once the infusion starts it usually takes at least an hour or two to finish, but in no world do you want to wait in Miguel’s apartment with him for hours.

you clear your throat uncomfortably and start to head for the door

“I trust you can handle the rest, do NOT take it out until it’s done o’hara i’m serious”

he only grunts in response. you turn before you open the door he’s leaning over the counter rubbing his temple. you’re about to leave, you know you should. you curse yourself internally for what you’re about to do.

“o’hara?”

“hmm?” he doesn’t open his eyes

“are you ok?”

he opens his eyes and looks at you caught off guard by the genuine concern in your voice.

“estoy bien”

im fine

“ok” you start to open the door but stop yourself again “it’s just— you haven’t gone this long without a treatment and last night..”

you trail off and he peers at you with that animal curiosity like he’s scanning every inch of your body for any movement, any sign of weakness

“last night you just seemed a little uh”

“a little ~what~”

you don’t feel like pushing the subject with him and you’re tired.

“nothing, forget i asked”

his eyes are closed again but he sighs and asks suddenly ,

“tienes hambre?”

are you hungry

“are you ~inviting~ me to eat.. in your apartment?”

he shoots you a look that says not to push your luck, but all he says is “plates are left of the sink.” before closing his eyes again. you can’t lie the first one you had was good, you wouldn’t mind another. you notice that he has the ingredients out for fresh guacamole including a molcajete. he doesnt seem much in the mood for cooking so you start chopping up the ingredients yourself.

“don’t do that”

“why you’re clearly not in any shape to be cooking”

“i made the tamales just fine didn’t i?”

“whatever”

“seriously don’t mess with my recipe”

“relax my mamá taught me how to make the best guacamole in brooklyn heights”

he gets up, “well my abuelitas recipe was the best in all of mexico, so i think i’ll do the cooking”

“are you disrespecting my mamas cooking?”

“oh no no no, no empieces, you started this”

don’t start

he grabs you essentially picking you up and moves you over. you’d never seen him like this, not necessarily no guard but more relaxed, less of a grump just tired and overworked. he was only a few years older than you but you always forgot.

he finished chopping and starts putting it together. his knife skills are impressive.

“do you do this every night”

“ahh no, much to busy for that but i try to do it as often as i can”

“can’t blame you, must be better than the food court at HQ”

“don’t tell me that’s all you eat”

“god no, but between working with Lyla, your treatments, and my family it can get difficult to find time for myself.”

he’s quite for a moment “family?”

“oh uhm yeah i uh try to see my sister in law and her kids as often as possible, she’s raising them on her own now so I help out when i can”

“their father? your brother?”

now it was your turn to be quiet. you don’t know why you started talking about it, you never do, even with your sister. this was your first time even bringing it up to someone else in years. you didn’t realize your eyes were wet. when you don’t answer he turns.

he puts the knife down when he notices you’re upset

“sorry i didn’t mean to-“

“no it’s fine, i uh- i should go, thanks for the food”

“y/n”

“make sure you leave that in, i’ll see you at work tomorrow”

“y/n” he shoots a web onto the door handle before you can open it

he walks over to you, not as stealthy as normal with the iv pole dragging behind him

“o’hara i’m not in the mood for this right now”

he reaches past you to lock the door behind you.

“i’m serious”

“you’re upset.”

“hadn’t noticed.”

“ya know when i’m trying to be nice it would help greatly if you didn’t have to have such an attitude.”

you look at him unimpressed

“im latina, what do you want”

“the truth”

“about what?”

“why you’ve been extra grouchy this week”

“i am not-“

“yes. you are”

“i don’t owe you any explanation.”

he does that things were he growls just slightly except from him it actually does sound more like a growl. you two have been stepping closer and closer as the argument gets more heated. his accent comes out even more when he’s angry

“ay coño must you be so infuriating all the fucking time”

“excuse me?”

you’re face to face now… well more face to chest.

“you heard me cariño”

honey

“don’t call me that”

“why.. would you prefer bonita, princesa”

he’s teasing you, pressing your buttons, but it was pissing you off extra right now

you shove him back, or at least try

knock it off miguel

there it was. they way you said his name. he catches your hand and holds it in place on his chest

“say it again”

“what?”

“my name, dilo otra vez”

say it again.

his grip on your wrist is firm, he towers over you.

“what is wrong with you”

his voice is low now, it comes out coated in venom and something else

“don’t make me repeat myself again cariño”

he leans down into you his hand hovers over your hip, waiting. you know this behavior is most likely because of him going so long without treatment. and even though he’s bigger and stronger you can’t help feel like you’re taking advantage of him.

“miguel”

after hearing his name he slides his hand onto you and starts pulling you in

“no. stop this isn’t you i can’t let you do this.”

but he doesn’t let go he just dips his head down toward your ear, his breathing is heavy and he’s hot, physically more so than usual.

“do you want me to(stop)”

you hesitate, but he’s so close and you feel like he’s been teasing you since last night pulling you in then pulling away.

“yes.”

“you’re lying.”

“..yes.”

his control is slipping he can feel it, even with the iv slowly working its way through his blood. but you’re here in front of him and you can’t even tell him you don’t want it.

he pulls away again and right before you can tell him off you realize why.

he’s carefully pulling the needle from his arm.

“o’hara no.”

but he takes it out anyway and then turns back to you as the needle drops to the ground. he walks you back into the door and places his hand on your hip again as the other works it’s way to your face.

“Miguel you need th-“

he shushes you. every time you say his name like that, so soft and quiet, it goes straight down to his core. he tries to ignore it usually, the way that it ignites the urge to hear you whine and moan as you say it. the injections make it easier, so did convincing himself that he only felt that way because of the spider dna. but the human in him wanted you just as much if not more.

his thumb drags gently over your bottom lip. his scarlet eyes drag over you slowly.

he feels every twitch and pulse as your body responds to him.

neither of you speak as he leans in. you pray despite yourself he doesn’t pull away this time. his lips hover over yours for a moment before he gently tugs your lips with his teeth. his fangs don’t cut you but you can feel them pressing into your skin.

you’re impatient, you’ve done this dance twice now. so you lean in to kiss him but he doesn’t let you. he wants to take his time. for both your sakes.

he brushes your lips again with his torturing your skin with light touches. his hand holds your face to his while the other keeps you pressed up against him.

and finally

finally he kisses you. it’s gentle. he breathes you in as he does it knowing that he won’t be able to remain restrained much longer.

he pulls back a half an inch your eyes both still closed just breathing in sync before he moves back in capturing your lips in another kiss. this one starts gentle but slowly he increased the pressure. trying to get closer to you somehow. you kiss back, your tongue darting out slightly to feel his fangs. a risky move but you couldn’t help it, although clearly it affects him because as you do he reaches around you and effortlessly picks you up caging you against him as your legs wrap around his waist.

his kisses start to grow more rushed, his hands grab for flesh where he holds you. he walks you to the counter like you weigh nothing and sets you down keeping himself between your legs. you feel him begin to strain against his sweatpants. you reach down and rub against it with your palm making him hiss. his breathing grows ragged.

when he speaks his voice is husky

“ay fuck”

he drops his head into your shoulder but his claws start to dig into the counter top. you have no idea how much this affects him, and he doesn’t want to hurt you so he holds back but you’re making that increasingly hard.

he grabs your hands and places them both on his shoulders and tries to catch his breath while he gently sucks the flesh on your neck and below your ear, but he doesn’t leave a mark. his hands move to hold your waist under the sweatshirt and his warm hands on your skin feel fantastic

“Migue..

(fuck)

Miguel”

(fuck)

he answers between kisses

“qué es cariño”

what is it honey

“stop holding back”

“no puedo, i won’t risk it”

i can’t

“por qué”

why

“i could hurt you”

“you won’t”

you can feel how badly he wants to let go and you’re determined to get him to. you lean back on the counter pulling him with you. he pulls against you but you hold him tightly and he can’t resist you. you start to pull your sweatshirt up slightly hoping he’ll get the message. he pulls up to kiss you again clearly struggling with the decision for a second but ultimately his lust wins out. he pushes it up further kissing down your stomach. you feel his fangs pushing against his lips but he does his best to keep them from cutting you. your hands still rest on his shoulders as he works his way down. but the closer he gets the harder it is for him to control himself. he looks up at you with heavily lidded eyes as he reaches the band of your shorts. you just nod.

he takes a deep breath trying to steel his nerves but he knows if he continues there’s no way back. but he wants it he wants you consequences be damned.

his claws rake against your skin gently as he begins to pull them off causing you to shiver and your back to arch into his touch. it just eggs him on.

he stares at your open legs in awe before pressing his nose to you. you wait for him to start but he just grabs your hips pressing you deeper into him. he holds you there like a fiend breathing you in and he finally looks up at you and his eyes are different now. there’s a different depth to the hunger within them. he’s never looked more serious. he’s drunk on you and he knows you know it. he lowers his head again swipes all the way from your folds to the bud collecting all the slick and swirling it around before moving back down. his tongue pushes in trying to get as much of you as possible. his bare fangs press into your skin and the feeling sends waves of adrenaline through you. his hands grip you harder nails digging into your skin as your hand tangled into his damp hair. your breath came out in ragged moans and soft curses as he pressed his nose to your clit. he mumbled muffled praises into your skin that you couldn’t understand. he worked you up to the edge multiple times before pulling back just to hear you whine for him.

now your legs were trembling and you were praying for relief. his eyes were blood red and full of greed.

“ruegame”

beg me

“miguel miguel please”

“oh cariño, no te preocupes i’ll take care of it”

your nails dig into his shoulders as he slowly and torturously works you to finish. he doesn’t pull back when he’s done either he stays and relishes in the mess he’s made. he eats until he’s full and then presses a nice red mark into your inner thigh with his fangs for good measure. he stands and pulls you up so you’re sitting again. your breathing is both quick and ragged. you looked down and noticed that he must have been using his other hand to relieve himself.

a shame

when your breathing slows you realize hes leaning into you with his arms on either side. but something seems off,

“miguel..”

his eyes are closed and he seems to be swaying slightly

“miguel hey look at me”

he blinks hard trying to hold his balance before slumping into you

“shit o’hará don’t do this to me now”

you push him up and rush to pull both your clothes back into place before hastily ushering him to couch. he practically collapses.

you run to grab the iv and a clean needle and bring it over to him. he doesn’t open his eyes or respond when you place it in. you’d seen this before, when he’d missed infusion treatments for too long and then overextended himself. he’d be fine but it definitely wasn’t ideal.

mostly he just needed to sleep it off, so that’s what you let him do. it was almost 11 now, he was out cold. you couldn’t move him to bed and you were just waiting for the drip to finish. so there was nothing left for you to do unless you wanted to spend the night on his living room chair.

so you left him a note on the coffee table.

My lab, first thing tomorrow. I need to do a physical and run a blood test to make sure the infusion wasn’t messed up.

you weren’t sure if you should write anything else so you decided to leave it short and simple and figured you could talk about everything tomorrow.

when you got to work Lyla popped up next to you.

“so? How’d last night go?”

Huh?… oh uhm fine yeah he was being… difficult as always so I’m gonna do a quick check up. can you make sure he comes to my lab as soon as he gets here.

“oh.. he’s not gonna be in for a while he left for a solo mission early this morning.”

“ugh of course he did. well do you know when he’ll be back.

“not sure sweets, he went dark but i’ll let you know as soon as i get in touch with him ok?”

“yeah yeah that’d be great”

“you sure everything’s alright hon?”

“yeah lyla i’m good thanks, i’m gonna get to work.”

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pkg4mumtown · 1 year

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Through Glass (Ch. 7)

Chapter 7: The Distance

Rating: T

Summary: Stephen and Strange finally go head to head.

A/N: Uhhhhhhhh, remember when I apologized last chapter for up and disappearing? Yea…SORRY. Life has been very very busy. Sorry for this being relatively short.

Strange = Dr. Strange in reader’s universe

Stephen = Strange-Supreme

Warnings: Feelings of being watched, Multiversal Stalking, Possessive!Stephen, Eventual body horror, Gender Neutral Pronouns for Reader, No Y/N, First Person POV, What If AU where Reader dies instead of Christine, Strange-Supreme just needs a hug honestly, Stephen in Reader’s universe is a big dummy, Stephen is touch starved, consentacles (ch.6), smut (ch.6), reader/monster romance

Catch up with Chapter: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

I've seen this yearning take on a frightening form The memory of you will make sure my past lingers on And I still love how you say my name I still taste you kissing my pain away Still see your tears through the rain

After Wong had left to prepare the Kamar-Taj and the other sanctums for yet another attack—despite still recovering from Wanda, Strange hit the ground running on a solution. He logically expected pushback in the form of a fight but without Wong to help with preparing a heavy-duty protection spell, it took him a lot longer to prepare. Between that and coming up with a game plan that Wong would approve, Strange took a little longer than he’d like for such a pressing matter. Once he was ready, however, he wasn’t going to be stopped by any coyness or front doors. He was getting straight to the point and finally finishing this drawn-out incident.

—

The next twelve (or so) hours that Stephen and I shared together were pure domesticated bliss. But, with bliss eventually comes hunger.

I spread the last of the cream cheese on a toasted bagel, tossing the knife in the sink and grabbing both plates to head to the living room.

“Here’s your—shit!” I started, just about jumping out of my skin as I saw Strange stepping through a portal with his eyes trained on me. I was able to keep the bagels from an untimely meeting with the floor. “Hungry?” I pushed the plate toward Strange, glad Stephen was nowhere in sight. He had probably sensed him incoming and had no time to warn me.

“Two bagels?” Strange asked with an unimpressed raise of an eyebrow.

“I’m glad you can count. Bagel?”

“Where is he?” Strange demanded.

“Who?”

“I’m really not in the mood for you to play dumb,” Strange groaned, using magic to remove the plates from my hands. Thankfully, they reappeared elsewhere. “The person who was going to eat the other bagel, your dog, whatever you’re calling him. Where. Is. He?”

“Are you saying I can’t eat two bagels by myself? Because I totally could and I’m prepared to prove you wrong.”

I didn’t realize I’d been shuffling backwards until my shoulder hit the edge of the hallway. It was stupid really, attempting to rush into my room and close the door knowing full well Strange could just wiggle his fingers and make something happen. But I attempted it anyway and now I was locked inside of my, now doorless, room with him.

“Now…” Strange sighed at my minor inconveniences, “…the faster you give him up, the faster this gets over with. Youasked me for help, remember? So, if he’s threatening you, I can help with that.” Strange continued walking toward me until I was backed against the wall with no way out, “However, if you’re protecting him…”

My eyes flicked over Strange’s shoulder, spying Stephen’s murderous reflection in the mirror, “Step back, please.”

“Why? Is your dog going to come take a bite out of me?” Strange huffed, glancing over his shoulder but not seeing the reflection that I had.

“You’re going to piss him off!”

“Who?!” He shouted.

“You! Okay!?” I snapped.

Strange’s face fell as Wong’s assessment was confirmed by my confession. Strange mumbled a curse and rubbed a hand over his face.

“Hey, asshole!” Strange turned and yelled into the room, arms spread open. He walked to the middle of the room, monitoring any reflections he could. After a beat of silence, he locked eyes with me again, “I’m assuming he got spooked and went back in when I arrived?”

I rolled my eyes at “spooked” and shrugged, “Most likely.”

“Good,” he smirked, moving his arms in wide motions, creating a complex sigil before my eyes. “I’m locking him out for good, this time.”

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach despite knowing my Stephen was stronger. What if Strange could pull it off? Then what?

“No!” I lurched forward, stupidly grabbing his arm mid-cast. “You can’t! He’s not a bad person!”

Strange stepped away from me, pausing the casting so I didn’t hurt myself, “I’m trying to protect you! Just like you asked!”

“You don’t even know me!”

“That didn’t matter before. And anyway, it’s for the best. Knowing me would put you in danger that you couldn’t handle,” Strange snarled grimly, drawing his brows together.

“According to you, I already am.”

Strange huffed as his concentration broke, moving away from me and stomping over to the large mirror where most of the energy had been concentrated before.

“Strange, dammit!” I shoved his shoulder as he began to cast the spell again.

“You are pushing every last button I have,” he growled, shaking me off his shoulder.

Facing the mirror again, Strange quickly shuffled back a few steps as Stephen appeared, fully decked out in his menacing creature form.

Shit.

“Oh, he’s not bad, huh?” Strange stressed, waving an arm out to the mirror. “Look at him!”

Strange restarted the spell again only for me to shove him harder. I had barely made contact when I was pushed by an invisible force, landing hard on the floor with a groan. I stood back up, no injuries to speak of other than a bruised ego and a bruised ass.

“Uh, ow?”

“If you’d’ve stayed back, I wouldn’t hav—,” Strange was cut off as tentacles suddenly pushed through the mirror, wrapping around Strange’s neck, wrists, and torso. He was lifted off the ground, bringing him eye level to Stephen, while keeping his hands apart.

Stephen leaned out of the mirror, snarling and growling filling up the room instantly, “Don’t you dare bring harm to them again! You know how important they are to us, coward!”

“They’re not—gah—yours to protect,” Strange choked out. “What happened—to—yours, hmm?”

“They’re gone,” Stephen brought his face even closer to Strange’s then glanced slightly upwards to Strange’s forehead. “Oh…,” Stephen chuckled, “…how precious.”

Strange’s fists were clenched, wrists contorting as he tried to over power Stephen as violet magic emanated from his fists. It was only then that I noticed the third eye on Strange’s face. Not that more than two eyes was strange to me at this point, I just wasn’t aware that Strange had some of that funk going on, too.

“The Darkhold, Doctor? What a hypocrite!” Stephen spat.

“I—did what I—had to do,” Strange gurgled.

“To save the girl, yes. I’m aware America Chavez resides here. Great kid. Anyway,” Stephen brought Strange’s hand in between them with a tentacle, “Here’s the difference between you and me, Doc.” With some effort, Stephen managed to force one of his arms back to his human form from the elbow down to his fingers. He put their hands side by side, one heavily scarred and shaking while the other stood unmarred and perfectly still, and snarled, “You didn’t have to lose them to follow your fate into the Mystic Arts. I did!”

As Stephen said his piece, I felt for Strange as I watched his face grow a deeper red—borderline purple—and worryingly so as the tentacles seemed to squeeze harder the more Stephen raged on. Hesitantly, I approached, making sure Shumi was able to sense my presence amidst all the emotion before laying a hand on the tentacle wrapped around Strange’s neck.

“Stephen, please,” I asked softly.

“Get back,” Strange wheezed, more air than noise escaping.

Stephen snarled at Strange before glancing at me from the corner of a few of his eyes, while the others stayed trained on Strange.

“Put him down before something bad happens. This universe still needs its Doctor Strange.”

Stephen responded with something akin to a grumble and loosened up the tentacles, letting Strange drop to his feet with a not-so-gentle thud.

“Wha—?” Strange wheezed, clutching his neck and his face only donning two eyes once more, but still staring at Stephen’s bare arm. “Ah—How?”

“The car accident,” Stephen’s voice distorted midway through speaking as he calmed the beings inside him and switched back to his human form; his body going back behind the mirror. His red and purple robes sat heavily on his shoulders contrasting his gaunt, pale features with his light brown hair contrasting Strange’s deep, black hair. “They died in the car accident. In my accident.”

“Y—you knew them…before?” Strange cleared his throat, eyes squinting as he tried to piece together Stephen’s timeline.

Stephen’s head nodded silently, eyes cast downward at the mention of his past; clearly still feeling the weight of the guilt of his actions.

“So, you joined the Mystic Arts and turned yourself in to this? Do I even want to know what you did?!” Strange berated him. “You could have gone back to work but you chose this instead?”

Stephen’s face snapped up, a snarl marring his human features. He charged toward the mirror with fists balled and fury in his eyes, “They meant more to me than work! That’s the difference between you and me.”

Strange responded in kind, bringing up huge orange runes to shield himself in case Stephen did anything.

“Stop!” I snapped. “Look, Strange, he’s been here for months and hasn’t done anything bad. Those aren’t his intentions.”

“He’s still dangerous,” Doctor Strange stated matter of factly.

“He’s no—.”

“You have no idea what just his presence could do here, okay? Just his being here destabilizes the multiverse and could cause far more harm than he may intend,” Strange raised his voice, just on the edge of condescending despite the glare from Stephen.

“I—is that true?” I stalled thickly, looking over at Stephen for answers.

“It’s hypothetica—.”

“It’s actually very real, thank you,” Strange interrupted. “Incursions are not to be trifled with.”

Stephen scoffed, “Please, I’ve hopped around the multiverse plenty and nev—.”

“Oh my fu…,” Strange trailed off, running a hand over his tired face.

“For good reason! There have been plenty of multiversal disasters prevented thanks to me, your highness. So, you’re welcome for dealing with them before they reached your universe.”

“Coming from someone who has had to rectify his own incursion, they are still not to be brushed off as hypothetical!” Strange stressed.

“I jus—.”

“—Haven’t you ruined enough!?” Strange nearly shouted.

Stephen stopped speaking immediately, suddenly feeling very small despite the power inside him.

“From the looks of it, your universe isn’t doing too hot,” Strange made a show of peering around Stephen. “Then you drove erratically with them in the car and had the audacity to think you could…what? Fix it? Without consequences? Am I on the right track?”

Stephen was still silent.

“Stephen…” I murmured.

“No,” he whispered back. “He’s right.”

“No...,” my eyes widened.

“I’ll leave,” Stephen nodded, finally picking his eyes up and looking at me. “I just wanted more time.”

“Please don’t go,” I pushed forward to the mirror, feeling my throat tightening with every word.

“I have to,” Stephen looked away, the sight of tears pooling in my eyes suddenly too much for him to watch. “You were never mine to have anyway. You’re his.”

Overwhelmed with anger, I hit the wall next to the mirror with my palm and ignored the pain thereafter, “No one owns me! He doesn’t even know me! Not like you do!” I blew up at the mirror. My chest heaved with furious breathing and hitched breaths underneath the sight of tears making their way down my cheeks.

“I know, hey…” Stephen pushed himself part way through the mirror, not caring if Strange protested or not. He pressed his forehead against mine and settled his hands on the outside of my upper arms, rubbing his hands up and down to calm me. “…I know. And I don’t agree with him but…”

“I’m right here,” Strange scoffed distantly.

“…I’m sorry,” Stephen murmured.

I was barely able to brush my lips against his before he was pulling away completely, looking completely dejected and defeated without Strange even having to lift a finger to accomplish it. I slowly stepped back out of shock that this was happening.

“Whatever Multiversal saving you’ve been doing aside…I’m going to need you to respect this for this universe at least,” Strange sighed. “I really don’t want to drag Wong here to help me seal the place up.”

Stephen nodded solemnly.

“You can't make him go!” I suddenly blurted out, grabbing onto Strange’s forearm. “You can’t do this! He just wants to feel again!” Strange kept his arm strong to keep me back from the mirror as my words slowly disintegrated into sobs. My weight shifted ominously making Strange shift to catch me and help lower me to the ground.

“I’m sorry, I—“

“Don’t touch me! Get the fuck out of my house!” I pushed him away and used my feet to scoot myself away from him. I pressed my back against the wall, bringing my palms to my eyes and refusing to see Stephen drift away like a dream.

“Doc…” Stephen murmured over my sobs.

Strange closed his eyes and straightened himself up, giving his attention over to the pale face in the mirror.

“You don’t need to do this self-sacrificing stunt that we always pull,” Stephen muttered. “You can still fix things with them.”

“You’re the last person who should be giving advice,” Strange rolled his eyes.

“On the contrary, and don’t look at me like that. I am you. I clocked your idiotic plan a few weeks into being here,” Stephen snapped and then sighed again, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. “Look, I’ve made a lot of mistakes but them? They were never a mistake.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Strange flicked his eyes over to my curled up ball of a form.

“You’re allowed to feel and be human. You do deserve to be loved and happy.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to love someone or to have them love me,” Strange’s voice wavered. “I’m scared to lose them.”

“So, you keep them at a distance before anything can begin, I get it. But, as much as you think they’re not, they are safer with you. And despite what you’ve pulled so far, they’re forgiving to a fault—given some time. You have a chance still. Take it from me…Don’t. Waste. It. It could be your last one.”

Strange watched as his darker self turned around and walked away, slowly fading out into Strange’s own reflection. With my sobs still filling the suddenly quiet room, Strange stepped carefully out of the room. He waved his hand, making my bedroom door appear again and disappeared through a circle of sparks. The crackling sparks fizzled out moments later, leaving only me to fill the silence.

Don't you worry There'll be a time when our hearts beat the same Let life carry Across the distance I still see your flame

The Distance - Poets of the Fall (x)

Chapter 8 - Coming Soon

#stephen strange x reader #doctor strange x reader #gender neutral reader #marvel fanfiction #strange supreme x reader #Series: Through Glass #my art

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sansxfuckyou · 1 year

Text

I can take care of myself [don't let go]

Summary: Underfell is erased, mercilessly, and ruthlessly, Ink only manages to save Fell himself in the chaos of it all, until further notice he's placed under the care of the Dancetale monsters.

It's quite nice really, no one hates him, and he doesn't have much reason to hate anyone either.

Only problem is when he realizes he doesn't know how to dance.

Warnings: Brief discussion of depression, medication, some self deprecation, its mostly a fluff fic

Authors Note: So I'm sitting there going 'fuck' because Fell/Dance isn't a thing, and then I pull up a draft and start writing to fix that minor inconvenience, and here we are now, 18K words later and hoping someone else enjoys the notion enough to reblog it, and for those that prefer Ao3, the link

"Fell," Ink began cautiously as the monster in question tried to get a hold of his senses, having been dropped rather roughly into the antivoid.

"Yeah, asshole?" Fells snapped back, disorientation and confusion made his soul pound in his chest like hell.

"Error has just destroyed your AU, he specifically requested I save you as you're an honorary member of the Bad Sanses," Ink said, as soon as he was finished Fells pupils slitted themselves into slivers of crimson as he gripped the hollow casing of Inks soul.

"He did fucking what?" Fell snarled out as he gripped Inks soul a little bit tighter, the guardian winced, "no, more importantly ya didn't try and stop him?" The anger that resided under Fells confusion came across clearly.

"It was either I risk Underfell getting reset with irreparable damage, or save you and your memories," Ink explained, Fell halted his actions entirely, "I'm sorry, I couldn't save anyone elses physical form."

"Fuck, they didn't deserve to get erased, I hated the bastards but this? This is one step too," Fell said, he knew that if Ink did his job properly he could've spared a couple of souls in the carnage, but given Fells pristine condition, the chances are unlikely, "you go find Error and punch him for me, understood?" Ink nodded, he had more to say, his pupils shifted shape and color once again, this time to musical notes.

"I'll ask Nightmare, to do that for you," Ink said, he walked over to Fell who upon closer inspection was shaking a bit, even as his pupils rounded out to the usual shape and size, "I have a few AUs in mind you could live in until I figure out how to restore yours, and all the others we've lost."

"Which ones, and I swear ta fuck if you put me in Underlust again," Fell said, he didn't so much as despise Underlust, he was a semi-frequent visitor, he just, he couldn't handle staying there for more than a week; Ink shook his head, cracking a small smile.

"No, definitely not, you might get jacked up on the lust trait yourself if it gets reset, and I already have multiple Lustfell timelines to deal with," Ink explained, Fells shaking eased up an impossible amount, "I was thinking we send you to Underswap, Dancetale, Dancefell, Birdtale, or you could just bunk with the Bad Sanses."

Fell stayed silent for a moment, he would end up getting himself erased if he had to bunk with Error, "tell me about Dancefell," his tone had a slight quaver to it and was spoken on an exhale.

"It's a Dancetale timeline wherein a reset went awry and caused everyone to act more like they do in your AU, it's just Dancetale except Felled," Ink explained, Fell nodded along, there would be two of him (every AU he visited there was), and if it got Felled, that would also mean another Boss, and if standards are the same, he would be dusted in no time, "their Sans is often called Vermilion during multiverse meet ups."

"Right, and I would be cast out in Birdtale for not having wings, nobody wants me in Underswap," Fell said, counting up reasons of why he wouldn't be welcome in each AU, some he vocalized, others he didn't, Dancetale by far had the least, it was just Undertale but everyone could dance, to his knowledge at least, "I think I'll head on over ta Dancetale."

"I see, their Sans goes by Dance but you already know that," Ink said, holding out a hand for Fell to grip, the black and red counterpart took hold gingerly.

The world started to flip and fade out before they were locked in an abyss of darkness, he could feel the liquid slipping between his joints and hated it. He wanted to retract his hand from Inks grasp desperately, but was far too aware of the consequences that would await if he did so- who knows what AU he would wind up in, or if he would just be lost here forever. If anything his grasp tightens, using his other hand to grasp further up Inks arm for support, his eyes are closed shut and he doesn't notices the way the guardians expression simply lights up.

And as soon as it starts, its over and they're in Snowdin, there is no crunch when they splash up from the snow and Fell can barely gauge when its safe to let go and move until he opens his eyes. He's rather swift to jump away from Ink a little bit, kicking the snow with one foot, the entire place is empty, but he can hear the sound of music muffled by the walls of Grillbys bar. He's tempted to head on over, to investigate, he refrains from taking another step when the door swings open and a skeleton in blue walks out, that would be Dance.

He's laughing a bit and dismissing a conversation, his face is has a splash of blue on it, a deeper tone than most of the Sans counterparts, but there are still cyan highlights peppered amongst the navy tone. He goes to head back to his house, but he's quick to pivot on his heels instead and make his way over to Fell and Ink, he's heaving breathes despite not needing to. Once he makes it over to them he's grinning, drunk on adrenaline or alcohol, he still takes a pause before speaking.

"I'm taking a wild guess that you'd be the guy Ink wants me to take care of for the time being?" Dance asked, the way he phrased it made Fell want to tear his sternum open, take care of? He could take care of himself in Dancetale of all places, probably, he knows how to dance, to an extent.

"Yeah, that would be me, Dance," Fell spits the name with a bitterness to it that only makes Dance grin a little bit more.

"No need to be so bitter, I assure you, everyone here is fine having another Sans," Dance said, he put out a hand to shake, he wore fingerless gloves, Fell didn't reciprocate the motion.

"Fell, Dance," Ink said, gesturing between the two, "Dance, Fell," he gestured between them again, "I trust that you'll be in good hands Fell, don't worry about calling me up if you need to," Ink said, his pupils shifted to stars.

"I changed my mind, take me to Dancefell," Fell said, Ink shook his head.

"No can do, you're gonna be stuck here, if you're lucky a reset could go wrong and it might turn into a Dancefell timeline, but otherwise, you'll be living with Dance and his Papyrus," Ink said, Fell groaned a little bit, Dance only grinned, the blue on his face fading as the adrenaline wore off, he gripped Fells hand before the red counterpart could recoil, the strength in his grip was overpowering.

"You're stuck with me now fool, c'mon, Papyrus is dancing," Dance said, his tone was starting to come down from energetic to one much more lax as he dragged along Fell who begrudgingly followed.

Things would be better literally anywhere else, he wouldn't mind getting put in his place by a Papyrus again if it meant being anywhere other than this freak. A Sans that enjoys exercise? Unheard of in pretty much anywhere other than the Dance-verses, actually, that's a lie, everyone in Farmtale does their fair share of work to keep things in order. Fell still doesn't want to be here, even when he hears the music change to one that would be more fitting for a salsa instead of whatever style Dance uses, okay, maybe he's a little bit curious.

Dance releases his wrist when they arrive at the door and he pushes it open for Fell to enter, the red counterpart does so hesitantly, its so loud inside. Dance follows him in and leads him to an empty booth, Fell lets his gaze follow Dances, finding Papyrus on the floor, serving absolute cunt- he could hear when his heels hit the floor. It was definitely something that Fell hadn't expected to see, he instantly averted his gaze to the table, he never thought he would see any Papyrus doing such a dance. It made his soul ache in a way he couldn't explain, he'd only read of such dances, never seen it, it would be nice to dance like that. With anyone other than a Papyrus, obviously, they're still pseudo-brothers even if from different AUs, he could imagine doing such a dance with a Sans; not like any of them would know it though.

He was quick to try and find a way to distract because he didn't want to see it anymore.

"So, you can dance?" Fell asked, looking at Dance instead of the Payrus currently on the floor, it didn't catch the blue counterparts attention enough to drag his gaze back.

"Sure can," Dance said, he had to talk loud, the entire bar was noisy, he turned back to Fell.

"What's so special about it?" Fell asked, provoke an argument, a conflict even, anything to get his mind off of the noise and the sights.

"Got good reflexes, timing is on point," Dance continued to rattle off reasons, but most of them flew over Fells skull, "got good stamina-"

"And?" He said, interrupting Dances list, he got a lazy glare before something came out that caught his attention.

"And I am extremely flexible," Dance said, his tone was icy and it drew a bit of a reaction from Fell who paused before choking out a response.

"How flexible?" Fell said, his tone was a little bit strained, he was being talked into a corner, and the crimson rising to his skull was enough proof of that, it made Dance grin.

Dance leaned in a bit, resting his skull in gloved hands, "wanna find out?" His tone is far too sensual for Dance to even know how to achieve, Fell can't resist the small nod, he freezes up entirely when Dance stands up and offers a hand.

Fell doesn't even question taking it, more afraid of getting in trouble if he doesn't than interested in learning if he does. He's led out of the bar right as Papyrus finishes his performance, his collar feels far too tight around his neck. Dance leads him into the snow, its already been mostly compacted for the time being, he releases Fells hand and turns to face him.

He takes a few steps back before dropping into a few leg stretches, then he goes from a standing position directly into the splits, it shocks Fell because Dance doesn't wince. There's a spin and for a few seconds he's propped mostly on one hand, the momentum of his movement carries him into the next motion. It feels a little bit surreal for Fell, to see it all disjointed, slower than normal, but then again Dance is just demonstrating, not performing. The demonstration lasts only for a few minutes, Dance listing off the names of moves, and giving vague instruction on how hes achieving it as he does so.

Dance brings himself back into a standing position, "and that is how flexible I am," Fell can't tell he was acting like such in the bar just to fuck with him or this was part of a long con, the red on his skull still refused to die down despite how innocent that was.

"That's not exactly what I had in mind, but thanks for giving a demo anyways," Fell said, he rolled his eyes as he did so, Dances smile returns twofold.

The door to the bar opens and Papyrus walks out, Dance waves him over a bit and his pace picks up a little bit. Fell tries to repress the tense because this is a nice Papyrus, this isn't his Papyrus, this Papyrus wasn't prone to violence, no one in this AU was. They were only prone to the salacious temptations of rhythm and the dance floor, Fell still didn't understand what was so addicting to them in the simple movements. When Papyrus makes his way over the sprinkle of orange on his face is clear, he's still serving cunt in his outfit, but he was no doubt working his ass off dancing inside.

He heaves a breath, he doesn't have too, before speaking, "Sans, other Sans," Papyrus offers a hand to Fell as he speaks, "terribly sorry I can't remember your alias," the formality shocks Fell but he cautiously takes the tallers hand in a shake.

"It's Fell, or Red, whateva floats ya boat," Fell said, the way he guarded his tone, his sentence form, hell, even the way he held himself came across as afraid- Papyrus was kind enough not to mention it.

"Well then Fell, what would you like to do?" Payyrus asked, the question caught Fell off guard, he didn't know.

He shrugged his shoulders, Dance answered for him.

"We could go set up the couch for him, he'll be staying with us for a while," Dance offered, Papyrus gave a nod.

"Of course! Follow me, although, I suppose you would already know the way if your world is anything like ours," Papyrus said, his optimism was still held the same, but overall excitement dulled itself down, Fell played into it, trying to make a good impression.

"Heh, who knows how similar our AUs are," Fell shrugged his shoulders a bit, watching his pseudo-brothers excitement rise again as he led the two over.

Snow crunches underneath their shoes and no one talks, normally a silence like this would make Fell feel uneasy due to his previous living conditions, but here? He feels a little bit safer here with the knowledge that Error most likely won't touch this AU if he's here, or maybe this AU is next on the chopping block- he pushes the worries aside so he doesn't feel ill. This is his little safe haven until Ink figures out how to restore his AU, if even possible, he's been trying to do so for eons at this point and fails each time.

It'll be fine.

If Ink fails that is.

Everyone Fell has met in this AU has been nice to him so far, so what if he gets integrated during a reset and forgets, he'll survive, he'll thrive.

Dance placed a hand on Fells shoulder and the latter is pulled back to reality, they're at the door, "hey dude, you good?" The question comes across as sickeningly sincere and Fell gives a nod.

"Just thinking, s'all good," Fell answered with as Papyrus opened up the door and let them in with a bit of flare, Fell migrated to the couch instantly.

Dance sauntered over, he was a bit amused at how easily Fell acclimated to the couch, considering it had been voted most uncomfortable in recent polls. It really was interesting to Dance how Fell acted in this AU, they had met briefly once or twice before during multiverse meetups, and he acted very different there. Still, watching him prop his legs over the arm rest and curl into the back cushions definitely felt like it belonged. Dance dropped down beside him, only a few inches between hip and skull, Fell jumped a bit and Dance gave a small laugh before leaning over until there was mere centimeters between them, he was still smiling.

"So, like the couch?" Dance asked, Fell gave a bit of a nod, trying to shimmy away from the close proximity they were currently stuck in, Dance leaned back, "she's certainly a winner," how relaxed he sounded was off putting, he knew that Dance would be acclimated to some forms of physical closeness due to the nature of the AU, but jeez, that felt like a bit much.

"Shall I get you a pillow?" Papyrus asked, leaning over from the kitchen.

"Sure thing, Boss," Fell said, the title came out reflexively and he was quick to cover his mouth, he did not need to make that a thing for Dance to deal with, the blue counterpart quirked a brow and Fell scrambled for an answer, "habit."

"I'll be back in a second then," Papyrus said, his smile didn't seem to fade as he disappeared back into the kitchen leaving the two counterparts to their own devices, Fells face was peppered in red.

He simply lay with his skull in his hands, he eventually sat up heaving a sigh, he stared at the shoes on his feet instead of meeting Dances gaze. He didn't have the energy to explain anything inside his head now or ever, nor does he want to do so, Dance still places a hand on his shoulder. The question that Fell was dreading to hear doesn't come, instead he's greeted with something mundane.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch tonight, you can use my room for a bit instead," Dance offered, the concern in his voice is visceral, once again, throwing a curve ball at Fell.

Fell shakes his skull, "I'll take the couch," he looks up again, "I won't call him Boss again if that's what you're worried about."

"It'd be nice if you didn't," Dance said, "I got some ketchup if it'll help you settle into your new AU for who knows how long," Fell pauses before answering, watching as Dance stands up.

"I like mustard," Fell admitted quietly, he watches Dances expression go from concern to a mix of confusion and almost disgust, he shrugs it off.

"Gotta go back to Grillbys than," Dance said nonchalantly.

"I'll take the ketchup," Fell said as he stood up, following Dance to the kitchen, Papyrus is gone.

"Cool, we got all sorts of variety," Dance said, opening up the fridge as he did so, he pulled out the plain kind, a spicy kind, a mixed kind, and a couple others, it overwhelmed Fell.

"I thought there was only one ketchup...?" Fell murmured quietly as he slowly reached for the spicy one, Dance grabbed the regular and put the rest back in.

"Nope, I been getting into mixology lately, all of these are my own brew," Dance explained before taking a sip of his own, he watched his red counterpart intensely so.

Fells hesitance was clear but he bit the bullet anyways, the spice coated the inside of his skull but it still tasted nice, he could almost ignore the fact it was ketchup. He paused before going back for seconds, Dance considered it to mean that he succeeded with the spicy blend unlike what Alphys had said with it being too hot and Undyne saying it wasn't hot enough.

Dance smirked a bit, "hows it taste?"

"Like ketchup," Fell answered with, "what do you expect?" His level of snark makes Dance grin, he has to hold back a snort.

"Good point, good point," Dance said, the front door opened and Papyrus walked in holding a pillow, "where'd you get that one bro?"

"Places with pillows," Papyrus answered matter of factly as he made his way to the couch, dropping down the pillow, and a blanket he grabbed as well.

"You sure about that? Cause I'd say we have plenty o' pillows right here Paps," Dance said, Papyrus leaned back a bit just to glare at him, Dance gave a shrug.

"Sans, please, stop it with the puns, we have a guest over," Papyrus said, practically begging that just this once his brother wouldn't be making a total ass of himself.

"He has a point Dance, you don't wanna test my joke tolerance, some even say I can become pun-friendly," Fell said, smirking all the while, it garnered a bout of laughter from Dance while Papyrus groaned, he shoved his way into the kitchen.

"Everybody out! I'm cooking!" Papyrus snapped, waiting for them to move.

"Looks like you're just standing there to me," Dance said, that time Fell gave a chortle before the two were pushed out of the room instead instead.

There's a pause of silence, once again, Fell somehow finds it comfortable to just be standing there and doing, or saying, anything- it's unnaturally comfy, but he likes it. He isn't used to it, but he distantly hopes he can become used to it.

Dance gives a bit of a hum before speaking, "wanna head on over to Waterfall," Fell shrugs his shoulders, "cool, I know a shortcut."

"Alright, lead the way," Fell said, grinning as he gave a faux bow in Dances direction, gesturing to the door as he did so, Dance put out a hand.

"You might wanna hold on," Dance said, there was a slight crack in his confidence, but Fell doesn't pull it apart when he takes Dances hand before being led through the door.

It's dark again, but he anchors himself to reality with Dances hand, he follows his steps despite not being able to see in the ocean of navy blue tones, so close to black you can barely tell its blue. Everyones shortcut was different, this one felt a bit more alive than other ones Fell had been taken through, he couldn't pinpoint exactly why right away. Only once they were heading back to the light, where the navy became brighter did he realize it was because the shortcut was pulsing around them, thrumming in tune with them at that. It was neat, he barely caught due to how purposeful the beats were, in tune with his soul, or Dances, he would have to ask his counterpart how to do that.

Even when they had exited the door he didn't let go of Dances hand right away, didn't see a good reason to do so, it was nice, and Dance wasn't pulling away either. He only let go when Dance led him deeper into Waterfall, it was blue, every waterfall was blue, but the atmosphere of this Waterfall was different, it made sense. This one just had a pulse to it, each Echo flower had a rhythm and time to how fast and slow it repeated the message, like music.

"You have the lone bench in your AU, right?" Dance asked, Fell quirked a metaphorical brow at the question, "just follow me," Dance grabs Fells wrist this time and it causes the red counterpart to freeze up entirely, Dance lets go.

Dance leads the way again and Fell follows, its nice, listening to Dance rattle off little things about this AU that Underfell has, Fell chooses against bursting his bubble. That'd just be cruel, and he can't risk anyone hating him on a vitriolic level so early into the time he'll be spending here. He pauses when Dance crouches down and picks up a flower, it looks vaguely like a lotus, he grabs a second one and gestures for Fell to grab the other two; he does as silently instructed.

Dance places a flower in the water and pushes it across the still lake, it leaves ripples as it fades out of Fells view, "cool right?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper as he placed the second one down and pushed it over, "your turn."

Fell sits down on the mossy gravel beside Dance and pushes off a flower, this time he can see it when it stops moving, he adds the other and they all sprout up into a bridge, "I'll uh, I'll let you lead the way," Fell said, fumbling for an excuse, unskilled when it comes to walking across these flowers, more used to using shortcuts instead.

"It's easy," Dance said as he stepped on a flower, it didn't budge an inch under his weight, Fell followed his actions down to the wire, scared they would collapse if he stepped wrong, "don't worry so much," Dance offers both of his hands this time, facing Fell instead of the path ahead, "I won't let you fall in."

That does things to Fell, "I would hope so," he grasps both of Dances hands firmly, grip tight, he continues to follow Dances footsteps, staring at the ground below.

"Hey," Dances voice was soft as he slipped a hand from Fells grip and used it to tilt his skull up a bit, "just focus on me, not the water, might help your nerves," Fell does exactly that, watching Dance intently, following the gentle tug as he steps forward until they're on solid ground again.

Fell doesn't speak for a moment, face splashed in a deep crimson that matches his pupils, "thanks," Dance smiles a little bit, this time its sweet instead of smug or joking, Fell barely catches the difference because its so small, it makes his soul pound a little bit harder.

"Twas nothing my dearest damsel in distress," Dance said, adding on not nearly enough layers of dramatics to his spiel, Fell gives a bit of a grin as he takes a seat on the wooden bench, Dance drops down beside him, "wanna quiche?" The question catches Fell off guard, if he was eating something he would be choking right now.

"Fucking what?" Was all Fell managed to get out in his confused state.

Dance leans over and sits back up with a quiche in his hands, "a quiche, do you not have those in Underfell?"

"We have quiche in Underfell, Dance, of course we have quiche," Fell explained, he gestured a little bit, "I know how much teachers love ta say there's no such thing as a stupid question, but that was no doubt about it, a stupid question," Dance shrugged his shoulders as he tore it in half.

"I'll actually use my skull next time I even think about asking you a question," Dance proclaimed boldly, he took a bite of quiche before spitting it out, "don't eat it."

"Watch me," Fell said, he took a bite, chewed and swallowed, just to spite Dance, it tasted disgusting, clearly stale.

"If you get food poisoning, it's on you," Dance said, watching as Fell went back for seconds just to prove his point.

Fell choked down another bite before throwing the quiche into the still water, it made a small splash sound that a nearby echo flower reverberated, "I know," his voice came out a little bit dry, the quiche in itself absorbing what little moisture lay along his throat and digestive systems, if he even had any, he wasn't quite sure how it worked himself.

"Dude, as your host in this AU, I hereby ban you from doing dumb fucking things," Dance said, Fell snorted.

Fell sent a smirk in Dances direction, "I'd like to see you try."

Dance quirked a nonexistent brow, "I'm sure you'd love to get pinned to the floor by none other than moi," the retort catches Fell off guard, his skull heats up again, Dance either doesn't notice or chooses not to bring it up.

---

A few weeks have passed and Fell is realizing that he doesn't know how to blend in with the local monsters because he can't dance, can't count complex music, he can't even sing- he's screwed in in simpler terminology. He knows just enough to survive, he knows just enough to pass, and he knows that he can say he's from out of town but he prefers not to do so. He tries to pick it up, tries to follow Dances movements, but he can't quite get his joints to work miracles like Dance has managed to do so. He's been brought to Mettaton for tips, he couldn't catch on properly, he tried to learn Capoeira from Undyne, but it cut to close for comfort.

He's running out of legs to stand on in an attempt to get good, he can't learn anything that anyone can teach, and even this Undergrounds influence doesn't want to help him. He's heard stories about how every human that's fallen down has gained a style to dance by, its simply unfair that he can't figure it out- he's tried everything he can think of. He's getting tired of walking around and finding that everyone around him can do what he can't, even if he could just walk to the beat this universe sets he would be fine, but he can't.

Dance still treats him as an equal, but it's clear he doesn't like the fact that Fell doesn't know how to simply dance, in any style, 'he's like an uncle at a wedding' as Undyne helpfully put it. Fell still tries to compensate for the fact he can't, he picked up an electric bass he found in the garbage during a dumpster dive with Alphys (he's never doing it again (he's done it multiple times)). He's trying to learn it, picking up sheet music whenever he finds it, learning some chords and notes, the amp he has to use now isn't very good, but Dance seems to appreciate waking up to a horribly tuned rendition of Hot Cross Buns every other morning.

Here he sits on the couch, propped against a pillow, one leg crooked the other with his foot firmly on the floor as he holds his bass, today he's hesitant to play. He's trying a new song, a complex one, he's sure he'll lose count somewhere along the line, but he starts to strum despite that, he promised himself he'd learn at least one song for every monster in Dancetale. He's starting with a song for Papyrus, it's a bit slower compared to what he usually hears Payrus dancing to, but, it'll have to do until later. The sheet music rests beside his music and he presses down on the strings and starts to strum, he counts aloud instead of in his head.

It sounds good enough at first, the count is stable, the slip ups he makes are minimal, and it manages to draw Papyrus from upstairs, that starts to chip at Fells confidence and focus. Now he has an audience, an audience listening very intently and even trying to make something work alongside the basic chords he's producing. Mistakes start to slip in with how frequently he's looking up from the sheet music for validation of whether or not Papyrus seems to be enjoying himself- he is. The stress is causing his soul to thrash against his ribs when Dance makes his way down the stairs and joins in, he focuses on the sheet music for as long as possible until he looks up and simply stares.

He didn't know that their styles could blend, it looks like an awkward mix of the two extremely different styles of dance, but they make it work. Fell keeps strumming away until he's finishing the song, before that Dance does a small pirouette out the door just cause he can and Fell is enamored at how swiftly Papyrus' dance changes back to his original style. He looks a lot less winded than when he performs at Grillbys or on Mettatons show, or with Undyne, he looks thrilled instead.

"That was magnificent!" His voice is full of joy and Fell can swear he hears how rapidly his soul is beating in the silence of the room.

He takes a moment to form an answer, "thanks, I uh- it'll only get better with time," Fell gave a couple experimental strums as he spoke, he'll work on Mettatons song next, "soon enough I'll be playing for royalty."

"Absolutely! I'm sure the king would love to hear you perform," the excitement in his pseudo-brothers voice doesn't falter in the slightest, but it's said with such earnest it makes Fell feel a little bit warm and fuzzy inside.

There's a knock on the door and Fell pulls off his bass, saying he'll get it as he reshuffles his sheet music and places it all in a pile before making his way to the door. He pushes it open gently, his mood immediately drops when he sees that it's Ink. He doesn't know why his good mood decides to take a hike when he realizes that it's Ink whose standing expectantly at the door with starry eyes. He isn't even sure what he's supposed to say, this probably means he's getting moved before he could master even one song; he gave himself a job and he's going through with it for once.

"Hi Ink," his voice is a lot quieter coming out then he had planned, Ink lets himself in.

"I have great news!" Ink exclaimed, he sounded really excited and it dragged down Fell more than expected.

"Lay it on me," Fell said, concealing a sigh with what he saying.

Ink pauses before speaking, as though to steady himself with the excitement coursing through him, "well, Error has apologized for destroying your AU, and I've cobbled together a makeshift placeholder for Underfell that you can live in," Ink sounded happy, proud of himself even, but Fell didn't answer right away, "do you not want to go back?"

Fell pauses, leaning to the side a bit, forcing his hands in his pockets as he searched for the words he needed, "not yet at least, I told everyone down here I would learn how to play for 'em," he explained, Ink didn't respond right away, Fell filled the silence, "I made a promise, don't really wanna go back on it just yet," Ink gives a nod of understanding.

"Of course! That makes zero sense for you to do all things considered, but I'm still happy for you!" Ink said, his emotions were fake this time and he was putting it on way too thick for it to even mimic a semblance of real emotion, he wanted things to go his way and they weren't.

"Sorry to put your work to waste, kinda," Fell said, glancing to the side, his gaze rested on his bass, he had so much work to do, so much time he could buy with that instrument- this AU was better than any variant of his own and everyone knew it.

"No, no, it's perfectly fine," Ink turns to the door, he waves off both Fell and Papyrus who had migrated to the kitchen, "I'll check in again after a few months your time."

Fell didn't dignify Ink with a goodbye, he wouldn't do so unless the guardian did so first, he didn't. This was the first time in hundreds, if not thousands of resets that Fell has felt secure not only in his own body, but the AU itself, and safe with the monsters around him. Yet Ink still has the gall to try and take that security away so he can 'go home' even though this feels much more like home than Underfell ever did. It makes sense that Ink wouldn't get it, that won't stop him feeling sour about it.

He walks back over to the couch and grabs his bass, he starts playing, he doesn't quite know what it is he's playing, but he is certainly strumming out some tunes. It sounds angry, it sounds scared, it all sounds raw and unfinished, he isn't even sure what chords he's playing to some extent. When he's done with it he tosses it to the ground and storms out, dropping into the snow to try and cool down one way or another; he pulls his hood up.

He hears the door open and close, Dance sits down beside him, Fell doesn't even bother questioning, he knows he took a shortcut.

"So," Dance begins, dragging out the 'o' in his sentence, "Papyrus told me 'bout what Ink said, sorry for bailing on ya and not sticking around all day, had some 'dogs to sell, you know how it is," Fell gave a pause, Dance waited for an answer patiently.

"I sell chimichangas," Fell said, he almost sounded nervous as he watched Dances expression go from concern to confusion.

"Of course you don't sell hotdogs," Dance murmured to himself, barely loud enough for Fell to hear him say it, "whose song are you gonna do next?" The question is abrupt enough to catch fell off guard.

"Probably Metattons, get some more salvaged sheet music from Alphys, ya know?" Fell said, he wrapped his arms around his knees.

"Good luck with that, we only have a few pieces of sheet music for the stuff he likes listening too," Dance said, Fell gave a bit of a nod, that piqued Dances curiosity, "you feeling alright?"

Fell heaved a sigh, "is it wrong for me to want to stay here even though I can take care of myself and go back to Underfell?" His questioned sounded painful, and Dance took a moment to think before answering.

"Not really, I don't mind having you around, I don't think anyone wants you out," Dance said, he wrapped an arm around Fells shoulders, he let go on the tense he received in response to the action, "besides, it isn't like it's really your Underfell, it's just some shoddy replica," he added, "so long as no one wants you out we'll be holding onto you whether you like it or not!"

A grin returns to his face as he pulls off Fells hood, pulling him into a faux headlock, it catches the red counterpart off guard. He gives a prompt exclamation of annoyance but settles into the touch rather fast, gripping Dances forearm to prevent real harm. There's a bit of laughter shared between the two before Dance lets go of Fell.

"For real though, you're welcome in Dancetale whenever you please, you bring a certain... Pizazz to the place we don't really got," Dance explained, during the pause he gestured with his hands a bit, trying to articulate his point, Fell nodded.

"Alright, I hereby promise I'll drop in and give ya some lessons of 'pizazz' every now and then once I'm well on my way," Fell promised, Dance let go of him but he didn't move away from his blue counterpart instantly, "could ya try teaching me to dance again?"

"We both know how that'll end up, ask Papyrus instead, he'd be pleased as punch," Dance explained as he stood up, Fell followed suit, he was tempted to reach out and grab Dances hand but he refrained, "'sides, I got some apostrophe-apostrophe-dogs to sell," Fell quirked a metaphorical brow.

"Apostrophe-apostrophe-dogs?" He asked, Dance grinned as Fell had just opened up one of his favorite spiels.

"Yeah, apostrophe-apostrophe-dogs, short for apostrophe-dogs, which is naturally short for," Dance left it open, watching Fells expression shift as he put it together, "I know how much you love having me at your side, but the monsters of Hotlands can't get enough of me; go ask Papyrus for help."

"I guess I have no choice but to do exactly that," Fell said dramatically as he made his way to the front door of the house again, he heard Dances 'goodbye' and returned it as he propped open the door.

He was skittish, he still walked up to Papyrus who was currently cooking, he got the day off today. He's humming a tune and even doing a bit of a dance on spot, envy strikes Fell like lightning, he can't even do the bare minimum of that. He props himself until he's leaning on the counter, Papyrus still focuses more on the food than Fell being there until he speaks up.

"I need you to teach me how to tango," the question is demanding and it gives Papyrus a bit of a shock.

Papyrus gives a hum as though playing with the thought, "what for? Everyone loves you even though you can't dance,"

"Because I'm boring everyone, I can't speak the language that everyone else here can," Fell explained, he sounded agitated as he did so, he was hesitant to continue as Papyrus waited to hear more, "I think tango would be best to tell my emotions and all that," that piques the interest of his pseudo-brother.

"And who might this lucky monster be? Now I'm curious brother," Papyrus sounds beyond desperate to learn more, but he doesn't give Fell a chance to spill his soul, "no need to worry, I'll gladly teach you how to tango, with the promise you don't come crying to me if they misinterpret."

Fell doesn't understand that, how do you misinterpret a tango, "you can't really not understand what a tango conveys Paps," the explanation comes off as deadpan, "a tango is... Romantic, its sensual, plain as that," Papyrus quirks a brow.

"That may be how it works in your AU, but it works differently here, dances have no set meaning Fell," Papyrus explained as he took hold of Fells hands, leading him out to the living room and twirling him as he did so, he nearly lost balance entirely, "in your AU, where a motion like that could be romantic, well, it depends entirely on how the dancer feels, how much of their soul they're throwing into it."

"So, nothing can be taken at face value?" Fell asked, Papyrus nodded, Fell walked over to him, holding out his hands, "I still want you to teach me," he never thought he'd find himself saying those words so easily to any Papyrus.

Papyrus took his hands, "gladly, now, just mirror my movements," he took a step to the side with his left, Fell followed, trying to keep his head up, "you can look at your shoes if it helps," Fell did so instantly, he mumbled a 'thanks' before following each step.

He uh, he fucked it up, a lot, but it deterred him a lot less when he had Papyrus comparing his flaws to times others messed up even worse. He had a feeling Papyrus was lying to make him feel better, but it was working really well, he could ignore his screw ups easier if they weren't as bad as someone elses. He was taught the solo part, it was harder to learn that because instead of having someone to mirror he had to follow vocal instructions.

He made a lot more mistakes there, but Papyrus didn't point them out, or give comparisons, he let Fell think he was doing it properly, it would let something different bloom if he tried to tango with someone of a different style either way- if he tried to do so incorrectly? It would either end catastrophically, or beautifully, Papyrus was routing for something miraculous to happen by the end of it all, and he was almost certain of himself it would. Fell would no doubt get bold and try to show off to monsters like Undyne who would agree to a battle, and Fell would adapt, he's good at adapting.

When he finished the first practice, he felt good about himself, he waited for further instruction.

"Now," Papyrus began as he made his way back over to Fell, "let's do it again, but this time, keep your eyes on me, not the ground," Fell freezes up a bit, he isn't ready.

Fell paused before speaking, "you sure I can't have one more practice round?" Papyrus gave a nod in response.

"Entirely so," Papyrus held out his hands and Fell took them before beginning the dance.

He ended up stepping on his pseudo-brothers feet a lot, and the count he kept in his head of one to four wasn't doing much in terms of helping him keep time of when he was supposed to move. It gave him a sense of when to act, but Papyrus was moving swifter, and with actual, practiced skill behind his actions- not stumbling like a deer taking its first steps. When they split for the solo aspect, Fell lost his grip almost entirely, keeping his head up instinctively, afraid of consequences if he didn't. He didn't start to head back early enough, and he got multiple steps wrong as well, but he toughed it out until the end, the ending flourish almost caught him off guard but he still held the landing.

He was buzzing with excitement, he pulled it off (to an extent) for the entire dance, he could get used to this.

"I'm heading off to Undynes," was all he got out, he could feel adrenaline rushing through his marrow, but it wasn't fear fueled, it was just the good stuff.

Papyrus waves him off, "good luck," his voice is proud, and it makes Fell feel like he's bursting because he can't remember the last time any Papyrus was proud of him.

Fell pushes open the door and walks into his shortcut, it's completely empty as it always is, but it feels a bit less stiff, not to a very noticeable amount though. He can still feel it though, the ground has a bit of give under his weight instead of being stiff like wooden boards and the 'walls' of the void don't compress him till he feels like he's suffocating. He even pauses to look around finding that this time it has the faintest swirls of crimson here and there, the deepest of reds he can barely make out from the black, but it makes it feel alive, he feels alive just standing inside of it.

He steps out, he's smiling a bit, he ends up in Waterfall and he can water rushing almost instantly, and this time he can pick up the melodies of the Echo Flowers and their timing. He hums along to it as he makes his way from the Bird That Carries You Over A Disproportionately Small Gap to Undynes house, he can count it out, its four eighth notes in a bar. It's nice, it's easy, if he could freestyle some rhymes he totally would, he finds himself almost stepping with the rhythm.

He knocks on Undynes door, he can hear really loud, almost punky music through the walls- when she opened the door it gets louder. A towel is resting on her shoulders and she looks a bit winded, it takes her a second to look down and meets Fells gaze, half expecting Papyrus.

"Yo," she said, her tone is baritone, it'll never stop catching Fell off guard, she lifts a water bottle to her lips, "learn how to dance yet?"

"Fuck yeah I did!" Fells exclamation is full of life and Undyne grins in response, she grabs Fells hand and pulls him inside.

Everything is loud inside, Fell can almost feel the floor boards shaking under the music, "let's dance, punk."

Undyne starts to go at it almost immediately and Fell only has an instance to react, he drops down and goes to swing, but Undyne weaves out the way. She raises a hand and grabs his wrist, she twists it and Fell yelps before he tries to strafe and throw a kick, she dodges with ease and throws one that Fell tries to move around. He's suffering to keep in time with Undynes music, hers is fast, and loud, and heavy as fuck compared to music Papyrus dances to- her grin is sharky and she's spitting out a retort in no time.

"You call that dancing?! You're just throwing out punches and kicks! C'mon punk!" Undynes sharpness cuts deep and Fell tries to keep it up, "it takes two to tango don't it?!"

Fell takes a second to get out an answer in the midst of the dance he's been dragged into, "yeah!" He has to practically shout it.

"Then make me fucking tango!" It's a demand, anyone could tell that, and Fell tries to fall back into tango.

Key word being 'tries.'

He can't make Undyne tango, he really can't, all he can do is duck and repeat what Papyrus taught him when the moments open up, but slowly, Undyne starts to shift. She slows her pace, her motions become a bit more grounded as well, while Fells start to match her style a bit more as well. It's subtle, it's still clunky and clearly very different dances, but there's definitely blending going on between the two styles.

By the end of it all she's practically shoving him away only to drag him back with a hand, he gives a sweep kick and she glides away with grace. She throws jabs that match punches, but he slides along her arm until they're pressed flush against each other and he can spin her out only for her to flank him with ease. He's tempted to try and lift her but something tells him not to, instead she's holding him with her heel to his throat and he's managed to grasp her hand furthest away, leaning into it.

Undyne is smiling, grinning like she's won the lottery, she releases Fells hand and lowers he foot as he straightens himself up, Fell doesn't even realize it, but he's also grinning. She trots over to the counter as Fell drops onto the ground, she turns down the music before sitting down beside him handing over a bottle of water. He gives a prompt 'thanks' before guzzling it down, she does the same before playfully punching him in the shoulder.

"Dude! That was awesome!" Her voice is full of glee, "I haven't had that much fun dancin' since the last time Sans came over!" Fell feels his soul barely skip a beat at the notion of dancing with Dance, "we have to do that again."

"No shit suga' tits, that was great!" The nickname slips out and he didn't mean it but it draws a snort of laughter from Undyne, "never danced with someone 'n really meant it till now," Undynes laughter slows.

"Really?" The question is far too genuine for Fell to feel comfortable, but he nods, "that's gonna change real soon, especially when I show ya off to Alphys, you got skills punk!" Her vigor is back tenfold, "she uh, she could really use whatever it is you got going on, resilience, you've met her before though, you probably already noticed."

It cuts Fell deeply to hear that this Alphys needs resilience, he only gained his due to very severe circumstances, "I wouldn't mind dancin' with her if you think it'll help," Undynes expression softens before she drags him into a hug that squeezes his ribs together.

"Thank you," her voice is quiet, he's never heard it on any Undyne, period, she stands back up and holds out a hand before he can contemplate, "c'mon, her lab isn't to far away if you wanna head out right now," Fell gladly takes her hand.

"I'd love to," his smile is genuine and he follows her to the door before halting her, "I know a shortcut," she snorts back a laugh.

"Doesn't every one of ya know a shortcut?" Undye asked in response.

Fell rolled his eyes, "you wanna take a shortcut or not?" She gives a nod and cuts out her backtalk before they fall into the red void, ending up at Alphys' door swiftly.

Undyne barges in right away, although Fell is hesitant to do so, he follows without a second thought; this Undyne won't fuck him over first chance she gets, not many would dare. They end up finding Alphys hunched over at her desk, typing madly on some sort of project, she's so lost in her work she doesn't notice them until they're peering over her shoulders.

Fell speaks first, "classy, anime on work hours," she jumps so hard she almost slaps him in the face in shock, he leans back and laughs a little bit, "just teasing!"

Alphys gave a groan of embarrassment as she closed the tabs, she held her head in her hands, "did you bring him here Undyne?"

"What? Me? I'm hurt Alphys," Undyne said dramatically, teasing her girlfriend dutifully as she twirled her from her chair with ease.

Alphys isn't quite sure of how to respond, caught between teasing and truth, "I- sorry," she managed to get out, crushed like an insect in her confusion.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Undyne is quick to reassure, Fell feels envious of what they have, he knows that a lot of the Alphys and Undynes of the multiverse get together anyways, just seeing it up close makes him feel jealous, "and yes, I did bring him here," she gestures to Fell with gusto, he perks up a bit.

"Why?" Her question comes out quietly.

"So you can get some of his energy, might rub off on ya, he's got that resilience! Never gives up!" Undyne explained with much more explosiveness than needed, Alphys seems apprehensive, "you don't have to."

Alphys pauses, "I can! I'll totally dance with him if you want me to!" She sounds desperate for approval and Fell catches it, he hesitantly places a hand on her shoulder.

"I won't dance if you don't really want to," he puts as much faux caring into his voice as he can, but he's careful not to add too much, he tries to make sure a bit of genuine emotion is there, somewhere.

She gives a bit of a sigh, "thanks," she turns to Undyne, "sorry for letting you down," her gaze is swiftly averted to the floor and Undyne crouches down to meet it.

Fell makes a shoddy excuse to leave before the waterworks can begin and someone starts sobbing. His excuse involves stumbling for words and pressing his palms together as he makes his way to the door, they don't seem to mind.

Hotlands is colder in Dancetale than it is Underfell, not by much, but instead of making Fell feel uncomfortable it just makes him feel real, enough heat agitation so he feels like he's actually there. He walks along the ground, staying dead center in case his body decides to just quit on him, he'd rather wake up trampled then fall in magma. When he makes it to the elevator he half expects it not to work with how much time he's spent in Horrortale, but the doors slide open in welcoming and he walks in. He's raking his mind over the five buttons that lead somewhere else, which one would someone else he knew be closest too?

Elevator R2...?

Fell presses the button and hopes for the best, he hears the machine come to life, whirring and humming before he can feel it shaking in his bones. He knows he's felt it hundreds of times before, but it doesn't fail to make him feel disoriented despite that- he leans against a wall for support and closes his eyes. He waits until the door opens before he moves again, everything stops moving and making noise all at once and the doors come open smoothly. He almost stumbles, but he catches his misstep even though no one would catch him if he didn't, he makes his way to the left, the only place to go.

Relief washes over him when he sees Dance at his sentry station, yet another hotdog in hand, he has his feet propped on the counter, a bottle of ketchup is on it as well. He isn't quite sure he wants to walk over and interrupt whatever he's witnessing, this is what Dance is like in his natural environment, just like any other Sans, normal. It makes Fell yearn for a simpler time he never got due to the circumstances of his AU, but he wouldn't ever take that from someone if they had it, it would just be cruel. And yeah, he's been called cruel before, but taking away security from someone is beyond cruel even for him- he feels his chest start to constrict and red tinted tears start to pool up.

He chokes it back, he won't drag down Dance over some shit inside his head. He starts to walk over on over, calling the blue counterparts name, he perks up and grins. He doesn't quite move from his spot though, far too comfortable to do so, even for Fell, he tosses his hotdog behind him (it ends up in the magma). He looks really, really happy to see Fell, but he can't quite tell if its fake, he hopes it isn't, he can't find anything to start conversation with despite his days events.

"So, did you get Paps to teach you anything?" Dance asked, tossing the plastic bottle of ketchup between his hands as he speaks.

"Yeah, he taught me a thing or two 'bout tangoing," Fell explained, he opted to lean against the post of Dances sentry station, "how are the 'dog sales?"

Dance gives a small hum, "bad, want one? Free of charges because your a guest in my AU," Dance offered, his smirk was sly as he reached under the countertop of the station and pulled out a hotdog, it had mustard on it, not ketchup, real mustard of the yellow variety.

Fell wants it, desperately, he's not sure if he's allowed, "jeez, ya sure I can just, have it?" Dance nods and Fell grabs it, he takes a couple bites, contemplating the flavor and texture before answering, "it's acceptable, the best part is the mustard, where'd you get it anyways?" Dance pauses.

"Grillby happened to order one too many bottles and because I'm his best customer, I got the overflow," Dance lied, it was clear he was doing so with the faintest sprinkling of blue rising to his skull, Fell quirked a brow as he took another bite, Dance sighed, "I paid top dollar so it would feel more like home for you," Fell nearly chokes, he starts grasping for words.

"You didn't have to do that, this place already feels like home, better than home," Fell said, trying to reassure Dance whilst simultaneously shaming him for wasting money on a condiment, Fell could go without it, he didn't need to impede much further than physical space.

Dances switches how his legs are crossed, he glances to the side for a second and Fell barely catches the action, "what if I wanted to just cause I can?" Dances voice is a bit quieter than before, he sounds almost nervous, Fell realizes that the mustard is a gift, not just an accommodation, and he didn't receive it properly.

"I'd probably misinterpret what you're trying ta do, giving a gift to a fool like me," Fell said, he gestures a little bit with the half eaten hot dog, trying to fill airtime as though its getting his point across, "fuck, if you were to get me a bottle of mustard just cause, I would marry you on the spot."

"Then get out your ring," Dance answered without missing a beat, he catches Fells tense and the way red rose to his face, he almost gives a chuckle, "I'm just yanking ya."

"Yeah no shit," Fell barked, turning to glare at Dance who was still giving a smug grin, there's a brief pause where neither of them speak, "how long do you think it'll be before Ink comes back?

"You told him to leave for a month didn't you?" Dance asked, Fell nodded, "I personally place some trust into that guy because he hasn't let my universe get destroyed, so, I would believe him, you don't have to take his word though," now Fell felt uneasy, Dance noticed, "I won't get mad if you don't trust him, he is kind of... Off kilter at times."

"Okay good it's not just me who thinks that," Fell got out, words strung together like bullets and shot out rapidly, "but, my point still stands."

"Do you not want to go home?" Dance asked gently as he pulled his legs from the counter, Fell nodded.

"No, no I don't want to go back," Fell explained, there it was again, he could feel it start to build up in his eye sockets again, Dance stood beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, "this is more home than anywhere else I've been in my life," Dance tilts Fells skull till there's eye contact.

"You're always welcome here," Dance reassured, gently pressing his side to Fells, it catches the red counterpart off guard but he leans into the touch, resting his skull on the dancers shoulder.

"Thank you," it came out too quiet for Dance to hear, but even if he did hear he wouldn't push Fell away.

When Fell takes a step back, he isn't actually quite sure of where he's supposed to go from here.

"So, did you get a chance to show off your skills yet?" Dance asked, it takes Fell a moment to realize what he means.

"Yeah, yeah me 'n Undyne did some dancin', it was fun," Fell explained, struggling to not break back into sobs, Dance was polite enough not to mention it, "said you used to dance with her," Dance tensed right away.

"That was in the past, I don't really like to dance a whole lot due to recent resets," Dance said, he redirected his gaze to the ground, he reached to pull his hood over his head.

"What about that first night I was here?" Fell asked, Dance shrugged his shoulders.

"Lost a bet with Papyrus, had to dance, he said it was for my own good," Dance explained, he sounded tense and he looked uneasy around the subject, but he didn't give enough time for Fell to stop him from continuing, "but whats the point if we're all just gonna die anyways? Frisk will just keep coming down here and play with our souls until they've finally decided to empty this hole for good," tears tinted blue start to roll down his face.

Fell takes a moment to answer, "the point is because something might change," his reasoning was true, but it didn't look like it was coming across clear, "you lasted this long, and look, now you got a refugee to take care of, that might change Frisks mind," Dance looks up from the ground.

"I guess so," his voice is full of disbelief, but, he still voices agreement because somewhere he knows its true.

"Good, because when I finish learning a song for you it'd be neat if ya danced to it," Fells confidence wears away the further he gets into the sentence and its almost endearing.

Dance isn't sure of himself when he speaks, "I'd love to."

---

"I need one more week," Fells demand comes out pleading, he sits on the couch while Ink sits on the floor against a wall, almost directly across from him.

"I can't give you anymore weeks, your brother needs you in the AU he chose to stay in after Dream restored him, you've been here for five months, you've completed your promises, it's time to go and that is final," Ink transitions from sitting on the floor to standing relatively close to Fell throughout his speech, his voice is dead, and his pupils are lifeless, devoid of color nor shape, "no one else has been this much of a pain when I gave them a second chance."

Fell stands up, "I need one more week," he presses a finger to Inks chest as he speaks, and this time his demand comes out a little bit firmer, Ink glances down to where the contact is.

"I'm running out of excuses for why you aren't able to go live with your brother in Fellswap, I couldn't give you one more week if I wanted to," He grabs Fells wrist and his hand is icy, there is no pulse of magic and this is the first time Fell noticed the lack of it.

The door opens and they both turn to find Dance walking in with a thin sheet of snow on his hoodie, he reaches to pull off his hood but only pulls it a bit tighter over his hat when he sees Ink. He's hesitant to walk over and dispute the conflict because he's afraid Ink will erase him and he knows Ink could if he wanted to- still, when he catches the way Ink drops Fells hand roughly he decides to walk over.

"What happens to be the problem, officer," Dance adds on 'officer' as a joke, but he's certain he'll regret doing so.

Ink closes his eyes reopens them, his pupils have a bit more shape this time, and there's almost a tint of green, "Fells brother is waiting for him in Fellswap, so I'm here to take him there until further notice," Ink explained, Dance took each word thoughtfully, he was beginning to understand why Fell didn't like this guy.

"Okay, chill," Dance said, Inks expression softened, "but," a small smirk was present on Dances face as he spoke, "I'll need him around for about two weeks, tops."

"Why would you want him around an extra two weeks?" Ink asked coldly, Dance gave a hum of thoughtfulness, it pissed off Ink even more, he forgot how agitating AUs could be when they get attached to each other.

"Well, for starters, he still has to play for Asgore, and with the king holding a ball two weeks from now it'll be the only time Fell gets a chance, I even convinced Tori to tag along," Dance explained, blending lies with the truth in the hopes it would make Ink decide to let Fell stay, the guardian seemed unmoved at the notions, "and I want him to stay until we get a chance to dance together," raw emotion is underneath the sentiment but he tries to keep properly hidden, Ink quirked a metaphorical brow, he caught it.

He smirks a bit before speaking, "I'm shocked you haven't danced yet, all things considered I assumed you two would've by now," Ink said, Dance and Fell can both pick up the venom in his voice, he was planning something, "tell you what, I'll give you the two weeks, no, I'll give you three and then I'll be removing Fell from Dancetale, permanently," the malice in his tone and the promise of never seeing Dance again makes Fell feel twisted inside, this was his home, this was where he best fit in, and Ink is dead set on making sure he can't return- does he even know?

Fell gives a sigh, "fine, I'll see you in three weeks, tell the Boss I got caught up in a reset and you're working on fixing up my memories or something like that," he was signing himself off on leaving this AU and never returning just like so, but, three weeks is better than one he supposed; Dance still looked shook.

"Yeah, we'll see you in a couple of weeks," Dance choked out, watching as Ink made his departure, sinking into the black ooze below him.

There's silence again, this time its agonizing- Fell speaks first.

"Thanks for buying two extra weeks of time," Fell said quietly, he raised a hand to rub his humerus, not sure what else to do, he glanced to the side.

"Least I could do for you, you're the best thing to happen to Dancetale in a long time," Dance explained, Fell didn't believe the compliment.

"Really?" The question is a little bit shaky and Dance turns from the trace amounts of paint Ink left behind to face Fell instead.

Dance doesn't know what exactly to say, "definitely, I promise," the confidence in his tone doesn't falter even if he wanted it to, "we should probably start practicing if we want to actually do a respectable job of playing in the kings court," Fell quirked a brow as he started to look for his bass.

"We?" He asked, Dance gave a nod as he started up the stairs.

"Yeah, we, I play trombone, and before you go saying 'I don't play trombone' I'm gonna guess, you play the trumpet," the accuracy of Dances assumption is startling and shows on Fells expression, "nailed it, I'll be down in a second."

Fell gives a prompt 'okay' before he takes a seat on the couch and shuffles up his sheet music, searching for anything that could fit a ballroom dance. He knows that the genre usually doesn't consist of bass and now trombone, but he'll make it work out, if not for the king then for how people will remember him here. If no one will remember him in Underfell than everyone will remember him in Dancetale, even when Ink never lets him return, he won't be forgotten.

He starts strumming blandly, achieving random chords until he feels confident enough to follow the sheet itself. He keeps his eyes on the sheet as he counts the music, its a lot slower than he's used to, but, he manages. Then he hears a sort of muffled noise from upstairs, its an instrument for sure, he doesn't stop playing until he hears something fall, followed by a brief exclamation of 'fuck!' then he puts down his bass. Before he start walking over and up Dance opens up the door, trombone in hand, prepped to play, waiting for Fell to start up the tune.

Fell almost laughs at the sight, he forgot how stupid trombone looks, solely the reason he chose trumpet instead. Still, he picks his bass back up and starts playing again, Dance tries to chime in with the music, but he's messing up pretty badly. Fell doesn't point it out though, almost afraid he'll stifle Dances enthusiasm if he does- he wants to duet with Dance on the stage, but the blue counterpart will no doubt end up on the dance floor instead. Still, they play the song out till the end and Dance is laughing at the end of it all.

"Man, I suck, how do you even do that?" Dance asked, he sounded winded and there was an air of joy on his voice.

"Practice," Fell gave a strum as though to prove his point with how smooth it sounded.

"I figured as much," Dance gave a sigh as he spoke, but he sounded enthusiastic when he spoke again, "I'm sure we'll be golden in time for the ball though!"

Fell gave a bit of a chuckle as he stared upon the strings of the his bass, they were different colors and thickness due to being salvaged from the dump, "definitely," he sounds a bit lighthearted, but what Ink had promised still rings in his ears and he's afraid of the three week mark finally coming to an end.

But nothing will stop him from enjoying it while it lasts.

Dance takes note of Fells silence and places a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry that I couldn't buy you more time here."

"You got nothing to be sorry for, I'll find my way back if I want to and Ink can do nothing about it," Fell said, Dance didn't look convinced.

"Fell, you really are the best thing to happen to me since Dream, well, since he gave me these," Dance grabbed a small pill bottle from his pocket and tossed it to Fell who caught it, "I don't want you to risk getting erased just to make everyone here happy," Fell glances over the instructions on the bottle and he can feel his soul ache, he could see the signs here and there, he just couldn't tell if he was misreading or not.

"You have depression?" Dance nods at the visceral thickness in Fells voice.

"Yeah, since you dropped by I haven't been taking 'em though, I've just been happier," Dance explained, he sounded pained around the topic, "Science says its a chemical thing and there's nothing I can do about it," he holds out a hand and Fell gives him back the bottle, he holds out his other hand and waits for Fell to take it, "so please, promise me that you won't get yourself erased."

"I really don't like making promises," was all Fell could choke out in the presence of new confirmed information, Dance sighed before giving a forced smile.

"Then promise me we'll dance at the kings ball before you go?" Dance asked, Fell nodded and Dance lifted his hand from Fells shoulder.

"Of course I will, I would've danced with you anytime, you just had ta ask," Fell explained.

Dance glanced to the side, "never found a good moment," he looked to the side, "you were always dancing with Undyne and Mettaton, or playing your bass."

Fell hesitantly lifts a hand and slowly tilts Dances skull until they're making eye contact again, "I would've dropped it to dance with ya," his voice is so genuine it shocks both of them a little bit, "to late for that though," Fell lowers his hand back down.

"Guess we'll just have to make it count at the ball then," Dance said, he's smiling a little bit, it's a real smile, not fake and Fell can catch the difference.

"I was heavily planning on making it count even if we'd danced a hundred times already," Fell said confidently, he takes note of the blue rising to Dances cheekbones as the blue counterpart stands up.

"Cool, I got to go though, sell some 'dogs, help Asgore set up," Dance said, grasping for reasons to leave before things got to be too much to handle without slipping up, "you know where to find me if you need me," and in an instant he's slipping out the door before Fell can speak up.

He's tempted to just rush after him, but he refrains, let him breath, give him some time, he's making the right choice doing so. He should be practicing with his bass, but in the same essence he also really doesn't want to make an ass out of himself dancing. He'd rather mess up playing music for the king he'll never see again than misstep dancing with the monster who owns the house he's sleeping in. He knows he won't get kicked out if he does, but he's still hesitant to actually risk messing up and getting booted into the snow for a few nights.

He won't mess up, he refuses to let himself mess up- he needs help from Mettaton as soon as possible.

He makes his way to the door and takes his shortcut, it's even more alive than last time, now it's full of swirling reds and he can hear his souls thrum echo around the walls. It even smells like something other than dry ice, he doesn't know what exactly it is that he smells on the air though. Still, stepping out of the darkness into the background of blues feels uncanny; he knocks on the door of the pink house he ends up in front of and Mettaton answers.

He's a mess, Fell must've caught him off guard, he doesn't seem to mind being caught with bedhead though, simply lets Fell into the palace of pink. He takes a seat on the table his TV rests on while Fell takes a seat at the edge of his bed instead, Fell doesn't speak at first.

"What's got you down darlin'?" Mettaton asked, Fell heaved in a breath, and then another before answering.

"I still don't know how to get across my point by dancing," Fell said, rubbing his vertebrae as he did so.

Mettaton pauses, "I'd say you get your point across quite nicely darling, you just haven't had a chance to get across a specific point yet, right?" Mettaton doesn't even need to make it sound like a question, he's already pinpointed the problem exactly.

Fell nods.

"Do tell what it is, I promise I won't tell," Mettaton did gave the undergrounds equivalent of scouts honor to prove his point as he smirked.

"I don't even know, I just, I really care about 'em, and I don't wanna leave, I just wanna be there for 'em, ya know?" Fell asked with a sigh, he had a horrible feeling Mettaton knew exactly who he was talking about, but he didn't wanna drop names for no good reason.

"I know exactly how you feel, I don't know if there's a lot I can do for you to be of assistance," Mettaton leaned on his glass tube TV as he spoke, he felt bad about not having much to help Fell, the times he would go on the air with him got amazing ratings, "just make a plan, write a speech, really speak with your soul."

"I've never had a chance to do that before," Fell said with a bit of a chuckle, "Underfell isn't to kind to showing emotion other than resilience and caustic hatred," Mettaton gave a small hum before reaching behind his TV, he pulled up an empty diary, it's blue.

He walks over and sits beside Fell, "I never used this one cause it didn't fit my style, but, use it to plan," Fell gladly takes the diary and opens it up, running phalanges along the pages, "write drafts, find good metaphor, anything that you feel about them, put in there- you'll come across what you need to say soon enough darling."

"Can I have a pen?" Fell asked as he opened to the first page, Mettaton hands him a page and Fell starts to furiously scribbling down word after word that the robot can barely make out, the ink is blue and glittery- the pen was a gift.

"You can have the pen as well," Mettaton offered, once Fell is finished writing he closes the diary and places both items in his pockets.

Fell takes a moment to answer, "thanks, I'll let you know how it goes once it's over," Mettaton starts to grin at that notion.

"Good luck darling!" Enthusiasm laces the robots voice as Fell makes his way back out of the pit of pink.

He doesn't make it much farther than just outside the door before he sits down on the ground and starts writing again. Most of what he writes is just nonsensical praise, but its not like anyone else is going to ever read it anyways. Some words come out more often than others, some are only mentioned once, but all of them tie into Dance, or, whatever Fell sees in Dance at least.

He'll find the right words before the ball, he has too- he should also say hi to this Asgore before he gets roped into performing for him in front of a crowd. He shoves the diary and pen into his pockets again as he heads to an archway, a door of some sort, and closes his eyes, swiftly walking through the shortcut. He just needs get things over with, a short introduction, say he can play a tune sometime after the ball, or for a smaller audience because he is not ready to play in front of the entire underground. He keeps his eyes closed until he feels grass of the throne room under his feet, he opens them to find the room empty, but he distantly hears speaking.

He follows the sound, when he was in Underfell he would run from sound, but its safer here. Sound almost never means violence here, it almost never means something absolutely traumatizing, sound means safety here. Sound means music, sound means singing, sound means dancing here, sound means everything but danger here- and despite knowing that Fell still feels hesitant. Once he can differ their voices a little bit more does his pace actively slow so he can hear more, pick up details he'd never hear anywhere else.

What Fell can pick up is lost on him because unlike what he thought, it wasn't Dance planning his public humiliation of having to perform and lose himself to nerves. No, instead it was just a regular conversation, talking about the simple things, the topic of the ball itself isn't brought up until Fells speech would be within earshot. He doesn't speak though, but he almost freezes up entirely when his name is mentioned but instead he picks up his pace a little bit so he doesn't hear something he isn't supposed to that could hurt him.

He clears his throat and they perk up from their conversation as he walks over. Dances pupils look larger, positivity, lots of it, he took one too many pills, or that was what the prescribed dose did, Fell didn't know and it made him feel uneasy. His smile looks a little bit drunk, a little bit fake, he is confiscating those pills (could he really?). He doesn't care if Dream prescribed them, that's clearly too much positivity for one monster to handle. Fell walks over and takes a seat with them at the table.

"You must be Fell, I've heard so many great thing about you!" Asgores happiness makes Fell feel out of place, but he tries to keep telling himself most Asgores are like this, happy.

"Oh? Dance has been lying again?" Fell asked in a faux manner.

"From everyone, although he was mentioning you wanted to play a song during the ball," Asgore said, Fells glance flickered over to Dances, he had his head propped in his hands, elbows resting on the table.

Fell takes a moment to steady himself, "I was wondering if I could chicken outta that, stage fright and all, I'd love ta play something for a much smaller audience than the entire Underground," Asgores excitement dulled just a bit but he still smiled softly and nodded.

"I understand, I was also told you'd be leaving in a few weeks," Asgore said, Fell nodded and grabbed Dances cup of tea, it was still entirely full.

"Yeah, the guardian of the multiverse ain't to pleased with me overstaying my welcome," Fell said, almost shamefully, he took a sip of tea, golden flower tea, he placed it back down, it was almost too cold to be enjoyed now, almost.

"Well, I do hope that my people have been good hosts during your stay," Asgore said in a bit of a hopeful tone.

"Of course they have- I'm more worried I haven't been a good guest," Fell blurted out, it escaped before he could stop the words from exiting his mouth, Dance spoke before Asgore could.

"You've been an amazing guest," Dance said, his voice was way too airy, way too happy, this was not the normal Dance, "I promise," Fell swears he catches Dances pupils try to shift shape, positivity overdose no doubt about.

"Are you okay Dance?" Fell asked gently as he nudged the cup of tea to Dance, he pushed it back.

"I'm fine," this time his voice sounds almost completely different than the last, but it's a lot closer to the one Fell is used to hearing.

"This always happens whenever he takes his medication," Asgore answers before fell can ask further questions, "I'm not quite sure why, but after this stops he's a lot happier," Fell nodded.

"Right," was all he murmured as he stared at Dance who stared back, his hood was down and Fell barely realized it, he reached to pull it back up, "I guess I'll be seeing you at the ball."

"You're still going to come?" Asgore asked, Fell could hear the lift in the kings mood in one sentence.

"Absolutely, I'll be making an ass of myself on the dance floor instead of on the stage," Fell said with a bit of a grin as he stood up and made his way to the door.

"Alright, see ya then," Asgore said, turning back to Dance and trying to keep him awake with conversation.

As soon as Fell was past the shortcut he started to worry. Dance said he'd stop taking those shortly after Fell arrived because he was feeling better, what happened? This could be an attempt at an acclimation period of having to go back on it. Fell understood that, but he still had three weeks before he left for good. He wasn't going to take them forever, first he needed to see the aftereffects of the buzz Dance was experiencing right now, to see just how much it changes him in the long run of things.

(He knows he would never actually take them away.)

He made his way over to the couch, grabbing his bass and strumming chords, trying to get across his point to no one in particular. It sounded off, his count was sloppy again, his worry and was that a bit of anger mixed in as well? Whatever it was, it screwed up his playing, his emotions muddied together and reflected in his playing but it didn't sound right. He was starting to get agitated with himself, this was his fault, if he tried harder, if he bargained better, if he just put a gun to Errors head and pulled the trigger none of this would be happening.

Ink wouldn't be repossessing monster from AU to AU, Dance wouldn't be hopped up on positivity, and Fell wouldn't be wasting everyone's time in Dancetale.

He threw down his bass with a prompt exclamation of 'fuck!' the neck of said bass easily split, strings curling in on themselves with a disturbing twang. He stares at the broken instrument, that was the only one in the dump, and Alphys said that they don't fall down very often, fuck, there goes his one way of compensating for lack of dancing skills. He crosses his arms over his chest and pushes himself further into the corner where the armrest meets the back of the couch, he closes his eyes and waits for something to happen.

A door opening, someone speaking, even distant music, just something to drag himself away from whatever's going on inside his skull. He slides off the couch with a drawn out groan, might as well pull his weight and clean up the remains of whatever it was he could do in this Underground. The wood is heavier in his hands than it ever was and the cord gets caught between the segments of his phalanges; chips of paint slip off the back of the neck where the wood was mangled into separation on impact.

He isn't even sure where he's supposed to go with it, what he's supposed to do with it, he's never broken an instrument before. He could bring it to Grillbys, wood feeds fire, and all, but he's not sure if it would be taken as an insult or a gift. So instead he heads to where Waterfall meets Snowdin, carrying his shattered bass with him on the way- he takes a seat on the ground with a sigh, its gravel and ice, algae is still trying to form. He knows this isn't how you dispose of garbage, and that Alphys will find it, but he doesn't know what else he's supposed to do. He shrugs off his jacket before leaning over the water, holding his bass gently as he lowers it into the water, it stays buoyant even as it makes its way downstream. He stares, there goes his last leg to stand on in Dancetale, now he really is worthless here. He pulls his jacket back on as he stands up.

He goes to turn but finds Dance standing behind him, he didn't even hear the footsteps.

"Hi," Dance managed quietly, his pupils were back to normal, he reached into his pocket.

"Were you lying earlier?" Fell can't stop it from spilling out of him.

"No, I just, need to get my body used to it again if you'll be leaving so soon," Dance said, "I should be taking it pretty often, but, Dream said nothing too bad will happen if I only take it sometimes," he pulled the bottle from his pocket and shook it, only a few left, "besides, that was just a buffer for when you have to leave, didn't mean shit."

Fell gives a small nod, "so, you're gonna be hopped on positivity for the next couple weeks?"

"Naw, they taste disgusting, I'll be fine anyways," he puts the bottle back into his pocket, "promise."

"Alrighty then, but, you'll take 'em every now and then right? I don't want you to dust after I leave because you took too many and couldn't take it," Fell said, his concern was thick and and endearing to Dance.

"I promise, I'll take 'em before I go to sleep so I'm not painfully high on positivity when I'm awake," he held out a hand as he spoke, "you trust me, right?"

Fell grabbed Dances hand gently before clutching him tightly, yanking him close enough that their ribs could grate against each other, "of course I do," his voice is low, barely above a whisper, and clearly meant only for Dance to hear, he pulls back slowly and carefully, "now, will you teach me how to dance?" Dances smile is lost on Fell who doesn't understand it.

"Maybe at the ball I'll teach you how to foxtrot, try at least," Dance glanced away from Fell and to the water instead, he barely caught a glimpse of the bass as it faded from view, "guess you won't be playing for me, huh?"

It takes Fell a moment to get the notions, "I got mad, sorry, I'll come back soon enough and play for you then, consider it a date," his confidence is unwavering and he's smirking a bit as well.

"I expect something phenomenal for a one man show then," Dance said, his expression almost mirrored that of Fells.

"I can promise soul but I can't promise skill," Fells tone was almost nervous, but it was genuine.

"Fine by me," Dance responded in a voice just as genuine and now its Fells turn to feel all warm and fuzzy inside, he can feel warmth wicking at the inside of his ribs, it feels nice yet foreign, "wouldn't have it any other way."

"Okay good, cause I'm bringing this rat named Neil, and we will be bangin' out the tunes for ya," Fell said, grinning as he did so, it draws a snort of laughter from Dance.

"Oh yeah?" Dance asked jokingly.

"Of course, we'll be performing classics such as Descend, Umbral Ultimatum, and many more," his sarcasm is clear but it still makes Dance laugh a bit.

"Amazing, just beautiful, I'm looking forward to it," Dance said with a grin on his face, a bit of a laugh was in his voice.

---

Dance is gripping Toriels wrist in one hand and has his other arm linked with Fells as he leads them both through the core, holding onto Toriel so she doesn't chicken out and Fell so he doesn't fall into a pit. His grip is gentle, phalanges getting caught in snowy fur, but he keeps Fell pressed so closely to his side they might as well be glued together- he really doesn't have too, Fell already knows how to watch his step, but, he hasn't gotten any objections so he doesn't stop. Fells just glad he's gotten better at keeping up with the pace this AU set, and beating down magic rushing to his skull.

"Sans I'm not so sure this is a good idea anymore," Toriel said, her voice held a hesitance to it, a breath of fear was evident.

"Relax Tori, you'll be fine," Dance said, he kept his voice easy, comforting in a sense, leading his guests across a turn, elevator coming into distant view.

"Alright, I believe you," she barely sounds confident in herself, distantly aware that something bad could happen.

"I could take the first dance if you want me to," Dance offered, Fell felt the slightest pang of jealousy shoot through him at the notion, but he suffocated the feeling before it could evolve.

Toriel gives a soft smile, "that would be lovely, but, what about your friend?" Fell perks up a bit.

"Naw, it's perfectly fine, I'm not that good at dancin' anyways," Fell said, deflecting to the best of his ability, he raised his free hand to assist in waving off the notion, "I'll probably get the second dance anyways," Dance doesn't respond instantly and his expression drops a bit, "right?"

"I usually don't dance after the first song," Dance admitted, he sounded bit nervous as he pressed the button on the elevator, doors closed the ground shook a bit before it moved.

"Okay," his answer is quiet and he loosens his arm from Dances grip gently, shrugging him off, trying to subtly step to the side.

Silence came to rest between the three aside from the hum of elevator taking its time to drift upwards to castle grounds. Toriel was nervous in the silence, she wasn't even between them, she felt like she had walked in on Asgore declaring war all over again- she wasn't supposed to be caught in this event. Dances grip on her wrist loosened and he opted to make his way over to Fell, gently grabbing his hands, he looked up reflexively.

Dance took a bit of a shaky breath, "I didn't say I couldn't make an exception for you," Fells expression lifts just a bit and he interlaces his phalanges with Dances.

"Good, cause I can't wait to make an ass of myself just for you," Fell said, he was smiling a bit as he did so, he stumbled when the elevator came to a halt.

Dance had to refrain from laughing at Fells misstep, "oh yeah, it's going to be magnificent," his voice is laced with sarcasm but he's smiling as he leads the two past open doors, gripping Fells hand tightly and not even bothering to grasp Toriels as she follows them down hallways.

She looks a bit downtrodden, she knew this place, she knew it so well, but it's a little bit different now, potted plants have been replaced- golden flowers are everywhere. She's tempted to stall so she can a get a better look at how things have shifted, she lived here once, but, its clear to see that she hasn't in a long time. She follows Dance and Fell down corridors with ease, but her thoughts and her gaze are stuck on how much happened in this place until the setting changes a little bit. It's still inside the castle, but now it's a ballroom, its cast in a golden glow and full of monsters already dancing to the music set in place.

Fell feels out of place, especially when Dance lets go of his hand, "I gotta go do this dance with Tori, I'll be back soon though," Dance is smiling a bit as he speaks, Fell nods.

"Cool, I'll be at the snack table," the shake in his voice is almost entirely concealed as he makes his way over to the table in question, watching as Dance leads Toriel into the mix of monsters, leading her in a dance.

Fell tries to not to stare, but he really can't help it, nor can he help the envy starting to bubble up. That could be him out there, swaying gracefully like swans across the golden draped hall, but it's not. Instead it's Toriel, and he can't blame Dance for that, he just feels a little bit left out- he'll be gone soon enough and Toriel will always be here, yet he still hasn't danced with him once. He forces it back down, he can come back to get a dance anyways, not like Ink could stop him even if he tried too. Sure, as nice as it would be to dance here, he would take dancing in a dumpster, or the depths of the woods, anywhere- so long as it meant getting one dance before he has to leave he would take it.

Maybe that's a bit selfish, maybe that's just adoration, he can't really tell because of how blurred the line is at this point. He grabs a can of pop and opens it, the fizzle of the carbonation drones in his skull as he watches. It's nice seeing Dance smile, nice being able to tell he's enjoying himself despite all odds- Fell can see himself in Dance during those moments, not by a whole lot, but just enough it makes him ache. He turns to leave, he isn't even sure where he's going, just leaving the area so his strenuous heartache can go away for one second.

The music gets more distant as he walks, not quite quiet for his footsteps to echo, he's thankful for that, it kind of annoys him at times. He doesn't know why he's thankful for something so small, maybe because that's the sort of thing he could be thankful about in Underfell- but here he's thankful about it because he can be. He doesn't have to be thankful over the little things here, like food on the table, seeing someone smile, a nice quiet, because those are common here. But he still is, everyone knows that'll be all he has left when he has too return to Underfell; or the caricature Ink has crafted in its place.

He finds himself pushing open doors and slipping further and further into the labyrinth that is the royal castle of Dancetale. Even if he had gotten a chance to explore the royal castle of Underfell, he's certain he still wouldn't know where he's going until he gets there. Not until he realizes his footsteps are landing on grass and flowers does he come to the conclusion he's lost himself in his own skull again. He heaves a sigh, taking a glance at wherever it is that he's at. Walls are behind him but not in front or to the side, golden flowers stretch from the garden beds into the grass, and in the distance he sees the glimmer of Waterfall. The entire room is quiet, it's just him again, birds don't even chirp, and flowers don't dare bloom- like he's a threat to their existence.

What better time than to practice his steps, not even a tango anymore, simply the amalgamated style of those around him. He slides around the open field, he finds Undynes style prominent, the gracefulness of her dance living through him with ease. He catches brief glimpses of what Mettaton taught him slipping in here and there the way he holds himself with confidence despite the fact their is no audience. He knows that what Papyrus showed him lays at the base of his dance, everything he's building off of returns to that simple tango he was taught all those weeks ago.

And he doesn't stop dancing because why should he, he knows he won't have anytime to dance in Underfell, he might as well make the most of what little time he has left. He's aware that losing himself in the royal castle isn't gonna raise his chances of getting one dance with Dance, but, what's done is done. He'll dance himself into collapsing if it means passing the time so he ignore the fact that it's Toriel that's having the dance that he deserves. When he brings himself to finish with a bit of a flair, his soul is pounding and his bones are beginning to ache, he hears a slow clap and whips his skull back to find Dance simply staring.

"I thought you said you were bad at dancing?" Dance asked, quirking a metaphorical brow as he spoke, Fell doesn't answer right away, "from what I saw, that was certainly something special- especially coming from a monster who doesn't belong in this AU."

Fell pauses to breath, "I thought it was kinda shitty, a hodge podge of everyone elses thing, ya know," his explanation was broken up by heavy breaths, Dance chuckled a bit as he walked over to Fell.

"It'll make it easier for other people to dance with you, if you're that adaptable, get it?" Dance asked, holding out his hands.

Fell let his gaze flicker between Dances eyes and his hands, "yeah, I get it," he grabs Dances hands, "care to show me the ropes on how you do things then?"

Dance grins before he starts to move, leading Fell through the steps, annotating the movements as he went. He seemed stressed, like this is new to him, like he's afraid of something that he couldn't beat nor avoid. He proceeds though, persevering if not for himself then so Fell would have something to remember him by until his memories were fully yanked from even the furthest depths of his self; a True Reset was really the only threat to any monster that wanted to remember. And Dance wanted to remember, he didn't want to forget Fell even if it meant making deals with demons like Nightmare and Error- he wasn't sure if Fell wanted to remember and that caused his trains of thoughts to collide and derail.

Putting so much effort into making sure he wouldn't forget when he might secretly want to, he feels almost hysterical when the realization of the notions strangulate him. He keeps dancing though because Fell is smiling, he snuffs out his worries and his agonies and his own personal problems because he absolutely refuses to burden a guest in his AU. Still, tears tinted blue start to well up in his eye sockets, he forces a dip so they can roll back into his skull, not seen not known. When they come back up from the dip Fell looks a bit puzzled and Dance steps back, releasing the intimacy.

"Pretty sure that whatever it was we were doing doesn't have dips," Fell said cautiously, unsure if he still wasn't well versed in the ever intricate map of dance styles or if Dance was the one who messed up.

Dance stifled whatever emotions were roiling up in the back of his throat before speaking, "I just, wanted to try something new," he was lying and Fell could see right through, "I haven't taught someone in a long time, just thought I'd fuck around and find out, not like you would be able to tell if it was wrong- turns out I was wrong then," there's a forced laugh and Fell hesitantly takes a step closer, "we can stop if that ruined the mood."

Fell gently placed his hands on Dances shoulders, lifting them to nudge off his hood, he expected recoil but was met with acceptance of the actions, "I said we would dance, I'm not breaking that promise even if it's the last thing I do," he gives a soft smile before dropping his hands down to meet Dances, "so please, I'd love for ya to continue."

"Alright, just follow my lead," Dance said, speaking softly as he did so, he raises their hands to proper positioning, "and don't be afraid to have some fun, we both know we'll start to diverge from the the foxtrot anyways," Fell gives a bit of a nod.

Don't forget, don't slip up, it's just a demonstration, how come he feels like he's dying, like he's floating on nothing. His grip on Fells hands is tighter than he expects it to be and he can barely catches the way Fells phalanges twitch under the pressure- he loosens his grip a little bit. The dance is swift, sashaying back and forth across the field of flowers and grass, veering from center to wall. Fell rarely trips over Dances feet, keeping up without much struggle even as the style devolves from a foxtrot to something a lot less calculable. Mixing in moves that require drops and lots of room to execute, slipping in techniques that press their chests flush against each other- it's a chaotic ensemble but it feels right.

It's raw and passionate and everything that Fell needs to get across his thoughts without actually speaking them, he just hopes Dance is good at interpreting. He gets the hang of it, control is split in twain between them, and with Undyne it felt like he was fighting for control, but here it feels like he's forcing it to Dance who shoves it back into his grasp again. His soul is simply pounding in his chest, he can catch the notes, he can count the beat, it matches Dancetales beat- it matches Dances pulse. He follows that beat, it's fast, but it feels natural, like it belongs exactly as it is, Dance follows the seven four beat, or what feels like a seven four beat at the least.

This time there's flaws in the movements, slip-ups here and there, but they could care less when contact is prolonged or balance is momentarily lost. This might as well be it, the last and first time they'll get a chance to dance together- why bother nitpicking over the details if they're never gonna see each other again. Eye contact is held throughout most of it and when Dance stops annotating and giving tips a heavy silence drops between them- only able to hear the soft sounds of shoes crushing grass and the pulse of their souls. It feels right, it feels so impossibly right, this is exactly where Fell wants to stay- here, in Dancetale, with Dance and just existing without constantly looming threats and fears.

Then Dance starts to cry, pulling their movements to a halt as he leans into Fell. Sobs shake his form and he doesn't let got of Fells hands, only grips them tighter because he's going to lose this anchor forever soon enough. A True Reset will take place and he'll forget entirely, his memories will be wiped down completely leaving him with a slate. Dance isn't ready for Fell to forget him forever, nor is he ready to forget Fell- he's fucked no matter how you look at things.

"Please don't forget me," the plead is barely decipherable from between hiccuping sobs and heaving breaths.

Fell roughly yanks one hand from Dances but wrapped it around his midsection tightly before the dancer could retract himself, "I couldn't forget ya even if I tried," the emotion in his voice is raw and burns like fire as it spills out and he can't stop it, "I promise, I will never forget you."

Dance didn't respond right away, only let go of Fells other hand and pulled him a little bit tighter, "I'm sorry, I don't- you don't have to remember me, I'm probably not a good memory right now-" Fell raises his free hand and uses it to cover Dances mouth before he can continue.

"I said I couldn't forget ya didn't I, I won't forget you, denial is my specialty, even a True Reset couldn't beat that," Fell explained, using 'denial' in the hopes that it could do even a fraction of the job that is shoving his emotions under a rug, he has an entire notebook explaining the hundreds, if not thousands, of thoughts running through his head.

Dance nods, "yeah, Gaster once-" Fell brought his hand to Dances mouth again.

"Let's not bring him into this," Fell said gently, awaiting a response but not getting one, he heaved a deep breathe, "denials not the word I'm looking for- hell, the words I'm looking for ain't even any languages thesaurus," he's stumbling over everything that's tearing through him all at once and it feels liberating to just get it off his chest.

Dance quirks a metaphorical brow, but he drops the smug look, "ain't that the truth?" Humor laces what he says and he isn't sure why he laughs a little bit as he speaks, he wants to let his gaze drop down but he can't, he lets his focus linger on how synchronized the thrum of their souls are instead.

The silence still stagnates uncomfortably around them and Fell speaks, "even if my Papyrus threatened to kill me if I didn't stop thinking about you, I still would. You'll never stop being stuck on repeat in my head Dance- even if there was a True Reset, doubt Frisk'll ever manage one in my AU, I would still remember you and come back to find you again," his voice was thick and the viscera in his tone stuck with Dance, caught him off guard if you will and it showed on his face.

Dance brought his hand to Fells and interlaced their phalanges, "cool, me too dude," again, there's a bit of a laugh to his tone but his words come out painstakingly genuine and it feels like he's pulling himself out of a quicksand pit by saying them, "so, do you wanna try that again?"

Fell releases Dance from his grasp, "depends, think you can keep up now that I'm thinking straight again?" It's a challenge, there's a bite of playfulness to his that Dance gladly relishes in compared to the contrast of the raw confessions laid down mere seconds before.

"Thinking straight after what you just said? Don't lie to yourself, you're thinking gay- let's dance," he's grinning as he speaks, yanking Fell into a spin that follows a heavy dip, leaving his spine arched against the only balance stability he can depend on, Dance draws his hand not supporting Fells back to pull his hand higher up and ou- Fells skull instantly washes over in crimson.

"Oh fuck me," it came out as a mutter, barely audible, and Dance had the guts to smirk.

He gave a hum of amusement, "maybe later," he speaks so nonchalantly it makes Fell want to scream, but he refrains, simply sliding along with the motions Dance sets in place.

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