Cause we are Shooting Stars - AsraWinters (2024)

Chapter 1: 5+1

Chapter Text

The first time G saw the human, he didn’t really notice Her. She was just another blank face in an ocean of people on campus, trying to survive and hoping for a better future like everybody else.

He was ashamed to report that the first time he really saw Her wasn’t much better. She was walking alongside one of her friends, a pretty, tall one with gorgeous dark skin and even darker hair. Even her eyes were pretty, reminding him of the light breaking through the foliage in the middle of a forest. In comparison, She definitely paled and almost faded into the background, with how little She was. He didn’t even see Her, until he walked right into her.

“Ah!” She breathed quietly, the sound swallowed up by the loud clattering of her books She dropped.

“Oh, pardon me, didn’t see you there.” He tried to apologise and quickly bent down to help Her pick them back up. He wasn’t a complete dick after all. And he finally did get a better look at Her. He couldn’t really make out Her eyes under the few strands of auburn hair that framed Her face, but from what he could see, it wasn’t much to write home about. She wasn’t ugly or anything and someone in a business or accounting major would probably think Her cute at least, but to him, She was just… plain. Not much that could pique his interest. Her french braid slipped over Her shoulder, contrasting the pewter coloured sweater as She bent over to pick up her things. G grabbed a book on music theory, regarding it for a moment as he realised that She must have been in his class. He wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t noticed Her. He couldn’t see a reason why. She was probably just another ditzy airhead that majored in musical sciences or theatre because it sounded fun and easy but didn’t have much substance, but hey, it beats having to choose your path in life and why would anyone do that if it can be postponed for another four years, that can be used to party it up instead. Ambition wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea.

“Are you okay?” the pretty one almost twittered, her full lips drawn into a frown. “Sorry, my friend can be a bit clumsy, I’m sure she didn’t mean to run into you!” His eyes flickered over to the small one and saw Her cheeks redden in embarrassment. He almost felt bad for Her.

“Eh, it’s fine. Was my fault really.” He shrugged with one shoulder and the tall girl giggled sweetly. Her friend finally straightened out again, the almost impressive stack of books pressed against Her chest, and stars, She was even smaller than he expected. Poor girl barely reached his shoulders with the top of Her head. “Sorry.” He apologised again, and tried to make it sound sincere.

“Oh, don’t break your pretty head over it, we’re all fine.” Pretty laughed again, waving him off. “Whatcha doing here anyways? Isn’t it too late to be hanging out at the library on a Friday night, handsome?”

He knew what she was implying. “Shouldn’t you be out and partying like everyone else on campus? Trying to get laid or drunk or stoned?”, “Why would a guy like you prefer to stay in?” and most commonly, “Wanna get out of here with me?”

And she was a beauty, he had to admit that, but alas, he also wasn’t interested in the slightest.

His midterms were coming up and for the life of him, he couldn’t find the damn reference books he needed. The fourth floor of the library was known for it’s maze like structure, and he would bet cold, hard cash that whoever designed the floor plan, didn’t account for practicality. Nobody really liked to spend time on the fourth floor if it wasn’t necessary, the place was all creaks and odd noises-rumour had it that it was cursed or haunted or both.

So it should be no surprise that G loved it up here, far away from the humanitarian pest of college students and bureaucracy and whatever else humans had come up with to torment each other.

As much as he despised the underground, some things were just… easier down there.

He just wanted to get back to his syllabus and faithful coffee machine and schematics.

“Needed a book” He just shrugged. “’sides, you’re here too.”

“My little Busy Bee here needed some stuff for her classes.” Pretty laughed, a rich, warm sound before leaning towards him, voice lowered in a conspiratory register. “She’s a bit of a workaholic.” She nodded towards her friend who blushed again and ducked Her head into Her books. “I didn’t wanna let her run around on campus on her own. Who knows what kind of creeps run around out there? But we’re gonna go head to the big houseparty that the Temmies are throwing after we dropped of our stuff. Maybe we’ll see each other again?” She sounded hopeful and G didn’t wanna draw out the conversation for much longer-it already started to bore him-so he just hummed.

“Maybe.”

“Cool!” Pretty beamed at him, showing off her eerily white teeth. “I’m Cam, so if you see me, just say hi.”

“Will do.” He rumbled, leaning against one of the shelves. He had already forgotten her name again. The girl gave him a wave and was already turning to leave, but her friend didn’t make any indications of moving. Instead She just cleared Her throat and pointed at the book he was still holding.

“I-uh-kinda need that back please.”

“What-oh!” he startled, looking at the cover again. He had completely forgotten that he was still holding on to it. “Here you go. Sorry again for bumping into you.”

“Water off a ducks’ back.” She said, her voice a deeper and calm sound than he had expected it to be. Like an undisturbed mountain lake with undiscernible depth. His mouth twitched lightly as he handed Her the book. Their fingers didn’t meet, because that would have been an almost disgusting cliché, and he was ready to forget the little wallflower as soon as She was out of sight again.

That was until She tilted her head up to face him, tucking a loose strand of hair behind Her ear and suddenly, G couldn’t breathe.

He had never seen eyes like that before.

Just a few weeks prior he had gone on a google deepdive of pictures that the James Webb Telescope had taken. Really, miles upon miles of absolutely stunning galaxies and nebulas that were littered across space and for once he felt just as insignificant and unimportant in the grand scheme of things as every other being on this planet.

Not a single one of those pictures could compare to Her eyes.

They were like the most enthralling red nebula, a dying red dwarf compressed into two eyeballs and squeezed into a human skull, a paling galaxy of the vascular system right behind those corneas.

He felt like falling with no ground rushing closer, as if he was floating through space itself, drifting through far away places, past the Pillars of the Earth and through the milky way.

If he would get the chance to stare at those eyes for the rest of his life, he probably would.

“Uhm. My book?” She ripped him out of his thoughts and he jolted with surprise, ripping his eyes away from Hers. Firmly planted back on earth, he noticed that Her brows were ever so slightly furrowed and Her mouth pressed into a straight line.

“Sorry.” He said again, prying his fingers off the spine, so She could finally snatch the book back.

“Have a great night.” She answered, before swiftly walking away. He distantly heard Pretty call for her friend, nicknaming Her “Jelly bean.” but with the J swallowed by her accent.

Scolding himself, he turned away from the girls and walked deeper into the fourth floor labyrinth, feeling silly for staring so much. He probably managed to insult Her.

^~

There is a thing called Frequency Illusion, also known as the Baader–Meinhof Phenomenon. It’s a cognitive bias in which after noticing something for the first time, there is a tendency to notice it more often leading someone to believe that it has a high frequency in the form of selection bias. It occurs when increased awareness of something creates the illusion that it is appearing more often. Put plainly, the frequency illusion occurs when a concept or thing you just found out about suddenly seems to pop up everywhere.

G was pretty sure that he was suffering from this thing as of lately.

Ever since that day at the library, he has been haunted by red eyes, peering at him from the shadows, the end tail of auburn hair disappearing behind corners, dancing just out of reach for him, a short statue bobbing and weaving between the crowd.

It was driving him insane.

G had always seen himself as a man of science, rationelle and pride. So it was unacceptable that he suddenly spotted the plain jane with those pretty, pretty galaxy eyes at every corner. He had never noticed Her before and suddenly She was everywhere.

God, he had to stop thinking of Her as Her and She and get a f*cking grip. She wasnt f*cking special.

He never even got the chance to talk to her again, he didn’t have the urge to anyways, but it was infuriating that she was just… there, at the edge of his perception. They shared not one, not two, but three classes. The first time he saw her walk into Dr. Liebermann’s class, a pair of thin rimmed golden glasses perched on her nose, he almost snapped a pencil.

It wasn’t even one of his music related electives. It was his applied medicine science course required for BME. What in heavens name was a theatre major doing in a medical doctorate course?

One time, he saw her in his favourite café, reading some paper on her laptop with a cup of orange tinted coffee in front of her, her round face leaning against her hand with a bored expression. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to enter, in case he looked like a stalker, but ultimately decided against running away like a coward. He never ran away from anything. Running away was silly and it wasn’t like he was actually following her. He really just wanted his cup of coffee, preferably with a quadruple shot of espresso to hold him over until he was finished done studying for his exams this week. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ears and there was a flash of red.

He turned around and walked away.

The last straw, however, was three weeks later, when he stood in front of the announcement of his musical composition elective to look over the midterm grades that the TA had put up earlier.

“Who the f*ck is Winters?” he mumbled, frowning slightly. He was always top spot, in every single one of his classes and suddenly he was bumped down to second place? Who was that asshole that had ruined his perfect streak?

“Oh thank goodness!” The skeleton basically whipped around upon hearing that calm mountain lake voice again. Right next to him was the tiny human, eyes laser focussed on the announcement list.

“You!” he choked out and she turned towards him. The moment he saw her eyes he was having a hard time not getting lost in them again. Pathetic.

“Oh, you are that…guy from the library.” She said, tacking a polite smile on her face. She didn’t say it but he could practically hear the omitted rude in that sentence. “Did you score badly?” She questioned, tapping her chin with a finger.

“What?”

“You look upset? People usually look upset when they failed or got a bad grade” She asked, tilting her head ever so slightly. “That’s why you reacted like that?”

“I-yes. Sorry? What?”

“You apologise a lot, don’t you?”

“Not normally, no.” he admitted with a twitch of his mouth.

“Guess I’m just special.” She laughed, before swinging her bag around to start digging in it. It was one of those cutesy leather messenger bags that were supposed to look vintage inspired. Hers had a little, golden bunny embossed on the side and some charms dangling off the D-Rings that had the straps attached. “Hah!” Pulling out a pastel pink post-it note and a sparkly pen, she scribbled down something. “Here”

“What’s that?” he asked flatly, staring down at the neatly written digits as her pen was gliding over the paper.

“My number, silly.” She shrugged. “I’m in a pretty good study group with a bunch of people. If you want, you can come join us. Maybe you won’t be so grumpy if you get better grades.”

“I’m not-“

“Winnie!” someone called from down the hallway and her head turned towards it for a moment, shyly waving at whoever was screaming her name.

“I’m sorry, I gotta go.” She grimaced, shoving the note into his hand. “But feel free to text me if you need help, okay?”

“C’mon, Winters, Dr. Iakoviz is gonna have my ass if I’m late again!”

“I’m coming!” Pretty eyes called back, giving him a last smile and then she was gone.

G crumbled the note in his hand, tempted to throw it away at the first possibility that would arise. He wasn’t sure why, but decided against it at the last possible moment, smoothing out the silly, cherry blossom pink paper and letting it glide into the pocket of his leather jacket where it would stay and burn against his side for the rest of the day.

It took a week until he broke and texted the pastel pink phone number. A whole ass week he could feel that stupid ass note burning a hole right through his bones but he couldn’t get himself to throw it away (even after he had already memorised the perfectly neat little digits with the little flourish at the threes and an extra loop on the zeros.)

A few more days after that, on a random Tuesday, he found himself in one of the campus provided rooms for study groups with a fairly decent mix of humans and monsters, so at least he didn’t have to feel like an outcast.

Listen, he is just as surprised he even showed up as everyone else. He’s surprised, his brother would be so surprised that he’d fall off his chair at his stupid, fancy overseas university he was currently studying abroad at, his dad was probably so surprised that he’d come back from whatever circle of hell he’d gone off to, and poor little Shyren certainly seemed surprised when he plopped down on one of the uncomfortable chairs, his bag slinking to the ground with a dull sound.

“H-Hey, G! What are you doing here?” she hummed shyly, and the skeleton grunted “Study Group” against his better judgement. He didn’t need the study group. He was doing fine on his own. Top of all his classes-not all of them, the mean part of his consciousness singsonged-in multiple majors and right on track to graduate early. So why was he here anyways?

“You?” she squeaked at his rough tone and he leaned back, almost tipping the chair. “B-But you’re… you!”

“Just wanted to see what the fuzz was about, I guess.” He shrugged. Two more people from his class, Immogen and Wyatt, strolled in, lost in a hushed conversation.

“Oh, hi, you must be the new guy! Blizz told us about you!” Immogen greeted him with a big, open smile. G just hummed, unwavering and arms still crossed. “Come to think of it, where is she? She’s usually here first?”

“Oh, she texted the Group Chat earlier.” You heard it here first, everybody, G was now in a group chat, Wyatt may have been a sociology major but he wasn’t a dirty liar, as insane as it may have sounded. “She’ll be a few minutes late and-“

“Hi everyone, sorry I’m late!” Speak of the devil, and she doth appear.

Just in time, the human with many names apparently rushed in, bag slung over her shoulder and a pile of pizza cartons in her arms. “They were in a rush, but I am here and I brought food!”

“Oh my god, you are the best, Ree!” Mads, a fluffy bunny monster said, turning towards the rest of the group. “Guys, Mom brough us food, come here!”

Mom?

“Of course.” The human in question laughed, sweetly, dropping her bag by the free chair next to his-because of course-with much more care than G had. “I know that you lot won’t eat if I don’t feed you. Besides, the brain won’t retain as much on an empty stomach.”

Mads and one of her friends, a political science major and also grizzly bear monster, already went through the boxes and handed them out. The skeleton stayed quiet and just watched that hustle and bustle in the room.

Okay, no, he wasn’t.

His eyes were trained on what was apparently the Mom-friend of the group as she sat down next to him. Her movement were soft and fluid and almost quiet in its execution. She noticed and a faint redness bloomed across her cheeks when he can’t find it in him to look away from those eyes again.

“I didn’t know what you wanted and you didn’t answer any texts in the groupchat, but you can have half of mine, if you want?” She offered quietly. Were her eyes rimmed slightly red? Her voice a bit more hoarse than he remembered? Did he imagine it or did she just finish crying? “If you don’t mind pineapple, that is?” He just kept staring at her, tilting his head ever so slightly. Pineapple pizza? Really? Not even a Hawaii, just… “Oh! You must be worried that you can’t eat it, right? Don’t worry, it has magic in it! We have a fair share of monsters here so I make sure to grab Pizza from Pizzapants’ new place, so you should be able to eat it.” When he still didn’t answer, her smile faltered a little bit. “You… You can eat food, right? I am not being rude because you are a skeleton and all? I am so sorry if I am.” She tucked another stand of hair behind her ear nervously and G felt something in his chest jump slightly at the almost shy display.

Before he could even process it, he was grabbing a slice and took a bite out of it.

“It’s good.” He guaranteed. It wasn’t a lie, even though he didn’t even like pineapple on pizza. The smile he got as a reward was worth keeping the atrocities against the Italian Cuisine committed in this room secret from his brother.

(He got top spot next exam again.)

~

[(xxx) xxx-xxxx] 12:35

Hey, can one of you guys help me carry lunch? Cam stole my car like the magpie she is, lmao.

[(xxx) xxx-xxxx] 12:35

I’m at the food court

And that little message to the groupchat was all it took for G to show up at the mall. He wasn’t even sure why. He shouldn’t care. He told himself that he didn’t. And yet, all it took was imagining the human struggling with a bunch of take-out containers, her small frame already getting buried under it all, and suddenly his feet were already carrying him along.

He should be grumpy, really, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to, especially not after Pretty Eyes blinked up at him in surprise when he showed up in front of her, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans.

“You needed help?” He rasped and a warm smile spread across her face, like.. like… god damn it, like the god forsaken sun peaking out between the clouds.

For f*cks sake, she was wearing beige mom pants and a crème coloured cold-shoulders sweater. Beige!! How could someone so… inconspicuous… so almost mundane, just capture him with a single smile that made her nose scrunch up like a little bunny and send her white freckles dancing across her cheeks like the spots of a doe until something in his chest constricted and his stomach fluttered?

God. f*cking. Damn it.

“Yeah. I just didn’t expect you to show up here.”

“I can leave again?” he grunted and she pulled on the sleeve of his jacket, mirth twinkling in those nebula eyes.

“No, you are more than wanted. And you are already here so we can carpool. C’mon, let’s go. I don’t wanna make the others wait.”

He followed her, half a step behind her and feeling like a wolf hovering, but she didn’t seem to mind.

In fact, she never seemed to mind. Always polite and friendly and so, so warm and calm in her approach with literally everyone. She didn’t even seem to care that he was towering over her or that he was a monster-especially one that looked like the Grim f*cking Reaper. Not once did she even mention those long cracks and scars on his face, that made him look even more of an approachable asshole that he already was, or the holes in his hands that branded him as an outcast, an anomaly, even amongst his own.

All she seemed to see in him was just another person, albeit a grumpy one.

Arriving at the food court they got in line at one of the restaurants.

“If it isn’t the Ellie-Cat!” The vendor, a blue rabbit monster, greeted her brightly. “Oh my god, hey little buddy, it’s been a while! You cheating on me with the Asian place across?”

“Hi, Felix! I would never!” Waving her phone, she continued. “Sorry, I have a long list with me again today”

“Ahhh, feeding your kids?” he laughed and she just nodded quietly before starting to rattle off the list.

“What do you want?” she asked, after finally finishing and G’s mind drew a complete blank when he watched her tuck a strand of hair behind her ear again.

“Uh-“

“Oh, hey, you are with G? How’d that happen?” Felix piped up, his eyebrows raised sky high.

“He’s in my study group now too.” The human answered easily, shrugging slightly. “So now he gets fed once a week and taught some stuff so he won’t be so grumpy when he fails another test.”

“Wait, teaching G? Why would you do that? Isn’t he-“ The skeleton turned to glare at his fellow monster and he shut his jaws with a little squeak, shrivelling under the intense gaze. “I mean-uh-I-Good… Luck?”

“He’s not that bad, Felix! He can actually be quite smart when he wants to be.” She chastised, not even noticing his withering stare. “But I know, I keep collecting them, but that’s my cross to bare as the mom friend.”

“Yes! Of course! Uh.. So… Food?”

“Yeah, what do you wanna eat?” G looked at the menu for a moment, before shrugging.

“Whatever you took. Your questionable choices paid off last time as well.” Felix nodded and quickly disappeared behind the counter into the kitchen after ringing them up. G turned towards the human in the meantime, allowing himself to memorise the perfectly calm look of serenity on her face as she was waiting patiently, before speaking up again. “How can you afford all of this?”

“Hmh?”

“Food. For everyone. You always bring lunch on Tuesdays.”

“Oh.” She laughed. “My parents are kinda loaded and they don’t care what I do with the money they send me as long as my grades are good enough. So they can dish out lunch ever so often. Some of the people in our study group… don’t have it easy. So I make sure they eat once in a while and check up on them. I don’t really have any hobbies so… yeah.” She shrugged again and G hummed quietly. He didn’t get a chance to open his mouth again, as Felix rushed back from the kitchen with their food in record time. He was still unable to meet his eyes. Of course.

“Have a great time, you guys. I’ll see you next time again, Elle! Make sure to bring Cam, okay?” He blushed quietly. “Y-You too, G!”

“Course, buddy.” The skeleton just rumbled, taking most of the bags on the table, despite the human’s protests. “You asked me to help carry. So I’m carrying.”

“Yeah, but not everything!”

“It’s not everything” he grinned, despite his better judgement. “There’s still a bag left.”

“With Dips! That barely counts.”

“And yet….” God, why did he enjoy teasing her so much? “So…”

“So?”

“At the off chance of sounding rude again, but… what is your name?”

“Excuse me?” she blinked up at him, carrying her little dip bag closely to her chest. G just shrugged.

“Everyone calls you something different. I’ve heard at least like… seven iterations by now.”

“Oh, yeah, no, those are all nicknames. My name kinda sucks because my parents are total weirdos and wanted to be bougie so I barely ever use it. Everyone just uses nicknames and professors generally only address us by our last names. Like… Cam calls me Bee because I am always working, Wyatt uses Winnie and Blizz or Blizzard because of my last name and so on and on. Honestly, everything is better than my given one.”

“So, what should I call you, then?” He asked, genuinely interested.

“Whatever you want.” She shrugged and smiled up at him with that warm, gentle smile again and he couldn’t help himself but laugh.

“Sure. If that’s what you want, Sunshine.” He was still watching her, so he had first row seats to the furious blush exploding over the bridge of her nose and cheeks and for some reason, he couldn’t find it in himself to feel anything less than absolutely pleased.

~

[Sunshine] 20:03

What are you wearing?

[G] 20:09

Uh? Clothes?

[Sunshine] 20:10

sh*t, sorry, that wasn’t meant for you

I was trying to text Cam

[G] 20:11

Do I want to know why you are asking your friend what she is wearing?

[Sunshine] 20:15

She is dragging me to one of her stupid parties and I don’t know what I am supposed to wear.

[Sunshine] 20:15

Yelena said my dress is fine but shes a dirty liar and I don’t trust her because she also said I should wear heels that would most defo break my ankles. She dosnt know whats good for me, smh

[Sunshine] 20:15

I feel like im showing off too much

[Sunshine] 20:15

Which I probably shouldn’t even tell you

[Sunshine] 20:16

Sorry, Estis got me kinda hooked up on pregaming and I tend to ramble a lot when drunk.

[G] 20:16

No problem.

[G] is typing…..

[G] 20:20

If you don’t feel comfortable why do you even wear the dress?

[Sunshine] 20:22

Because Lena said it makes my-pardon the jargon-tit* look really boobily???

[Sunshine] 20:22

Whatever that means

[G] 20:23

You are more talkative than sober

[Sunshine] 20:23

So are you tonight.

[Sunshine] 20:24

I didn’t expect much of an answer after that first one tbh

[Sunshine] 20:24

You aren’t much of a talker

[G] 20:28

Maybe I have pregamed too? After all, we are both college kids

[Sunshine] 20:30

Did you?

[G] 20:30

No.

[Sunshine] 20:31

Boo.

[Sunshine] 20:32

Then why are you indulging my drunk ramblings?

[G] is typing….

Because it’s cute

Delete delete delete

[G] 20:39

Because I have nothing better to do until my friend gets over here and also I feel bad for ignoring you

[Sunshine] 20:43

Awe.

[Sunshine] 20:52

-1 picture attached-

Be honest Undyne, do I look bad?

[G] 21:00

Wrong chat again, sunshine

[Sunshine] 21:07

God.

[Sunshine] 21:07

Damn it.

[Sunshine] 21:07

Sorry, ignore it again.

[G] 21:11

How do you know Undyne?

[Sunshine] 21:12

Her girlfriend is the TA in one of my classes.

[G] 21:14

So you befriended her?

[Sunshine] 21:17

I want you to know that I am very approachable

[Sunshine] is typing…..

[Sunshine] 21:17

Also, she saw my Mew Mew KKC keychain and we bonded over our mutual liking of god awful anime

[Sunshine] 21:17

Even though I think Alphys just genuinely likes it

[Sunshine] 21:17

And Undyne is very….

[Sunshine] 21:17

Honest

[G] 21:19

Blunt. You can say it how it is.

[Sunshine] 21:19

Well, probably. But she’s nice.

[G] 21:20

People usually call her “a lot”

[Sunshine] 21:20

I am a very patient person.

[G] 21:22

I’ve noticed.

[Sunshine] 21:25

I pride myself on that.

How do you know them?

[G] 21:25

Underground

[G] 21:25

We all know each other.

[Sunshine] 21:25

Ah

[G] is typing…

[G] is typing…

[G] is typing…

[G] is typing…

[G] 21:36

The dress looks fine.

[Sunshine] 21:36

What?

[G] 21:37

Your dress.

[G] 21:37

It looks fine.

[G] 21:37

On you.

[Sunshine] 21:40

Thanks.

[G] 21:40

You don’t though

[Sunshine] 21:41

Rude.

[G] 21:42

No, just…. You look upset?

[G] 21:42

I’m sorry if I’m overstepping

I didn’t mean to be rude but it just seems to happen.

[Sunshine] 21:44

Oh, no, dw. Youre good

[Sunshine] 21:44

And don’t worry abt me pls.

[Sunshine] 21:44

I’m just….

[Sunshine] 21:45

Tired

[G] 21:48

Tired?

[Sunshine] 21:49

Yea

[G] 21:50

I’m not gonna pry, but I don’t know many people that look like they have cried when tired.

[Sunshine] is typing…

[Sunshine] is typing…

[Sunshine] is typing…

[Sunshine] is typing…

[Sunshine] 22:01

It’s nothing

[G] 22:01

Are you sure?

[Sunshine] 22:01

Yea.

[Sunshine] 22:02

My moms just… difficult.

[Sunshine] 22:02

She has very high standards for me I just can’t seem to meet.

[Sunshine] 22:02

Didn’t get perfect marks last round and now she thinks I am flunking my entire career, turned to drugs and crime and will become a stripper or smthng.

[Sunshine] 22:04

(Im joking.)

[G] 22:08

I have one of those too

[Sunshine] 22:08

A difficult mom?

[Sunshine] 22:08

Or a future career as a stripper?

[Sunshine] 22:08

I’d pay good money to see THAT happen, lmao

[G] 22:15

A difficult dad, but yeah

[Sunshine] 22:15

Ouff.

[Sunshine] 22:15

My condolences.

[Sunshine] 22:15

Anyways, thx for your help. Were gonna head out now and I’m leaving my phone so she can’t track me again, lmao

[Sunshine] 22:15

Sorry for texting you again like that

[Sunshine] 22:15

Wont happen to sober me again

[G] is typing…

I don’t mind.

Delete delete delete

[G] is typing…

Have fun

Delete delete delete

[G] is typing…

You can text me whenever, don’t worry

Delete delete delete

[G] 22:20

See you next Tuesday

(He made sure to not get top spot again next exam)

~

Funnily enough, the next time he got the chance to talk to her one on one again, was at a party. It was another Temmie Village Bash, which was guaranteed to be a happening. Roughly once a month the Temmies threw a party and every time, some kind of insanity would happen. Whenever the call for their booze would make rounds on campus, every monster and monster sympathising human around would get up individually and decide “Let’s go over there and trash the place”.

The Temmies never seemed to mind though and were just happy to be included.

So of course, Undyne had seen it as her duty to drag him with her while Papyrus was abroad.

When they arrived, things were already in full swing. Music was blaring through the-somehow always missing-front door, Fairy lights were strung throughout the trees and he could hear a gaggle of people splash about in the pools.

A human was passed out on the front lawn. He probably couldn’t handle his magic liquor. That stuff was strong and worked fast and humans generally tended to underestimate it because it was pretty and sparkly and swirly, so it must be one of those girly co*cktails, so how bad could it be?

What they all forget is that while a beer barely had any alcohol in while those girly co*cktails were an abomination of 50 different high percentage liquors and sugar so it would get in your bloodstream in record time but also overpower the taste of alcohol. And of course some mixers to dampen the nasty alcohol taste even more you don’t expect it and drink 5 more and suddenly you wake up on the roof of your neighbours garage in your underwear with no recollection how that happened.

Magic liquor was much the same but even stronger. The magic wasn’t in there just to look pretty after all.

G dodged the alcohol-corpse with practiced ease, spotting a cup with a bright blue liquid that was probably Glacier, so he was right in his presumption about the magic liquor. He trotted behind Undyne, who was already bounding over to her girlfriend. He wouldn’t be surprised if they’d ditch him withing the first fifteen minutes here to find a quiet spot.

Thanks to their respective, hectic schedules that always seemed to conflict with one another-what with Alphys finishing up her third, fourth and fifth doctorate with him and Undyne being the Captain of at least four sports team while she finished her science of sports degree-they couldn’t see each other as much as they really wanted to, so they made the most of whatever time together they could get. He’d probably do the same if he’d have to walk a mile in their shoes.

They must have felt really bad for leaving him alone though-and maybe also ‘cause he was moping that his brother was gone and stuff-because they, amazingly, lasted a whole sixteen minutes before slinking off into the laundry closet. G chose to turn a blind eye and scrub his memory of it.

Honestly, not his circus, not his monkeys.

Anyways, that’s how he ended up at the back porch of the house, where it was quieter. Still a whole bunch of people, but at least the bass from the music wasn’t threatening to shake the earth apart at its core.

Surprisingly, he spotted a familiar face on the Hollywood swing and tried his best to ignore the little flutter in his chest as he walked over to sit down.

“’Ello, Sunshine.” He greeted quietly and red eyes snapped up from her phone to meet his eyelights, deep frown lines suddenly smoothing over again.

“Ah! G, Hi!”

“What are you doing out here alone?” He asked and she shrugged slightly.

“My friends all ditched me to make out.”

“Same.”

“Cool. Cool, cool cool… “ She seemed nervous but he didn’t wanna press the issue. He didn’t have to, as it turned out, because she was a bit tipsy already, judging from the mostly empty red cup, and he already knew that tipsy her was a lot more… open. “I’m also hiding here.”

“Hiding from what?”

“This stupid idiot ex that won’t leave me alone.” She grumbled and leaned against him. “Sorry, I shouldn’t bother you. Just had a shaite day and I really regret coming at this point. I shouldn’t have let Cam drag me here.”

“You-You aren’t a bother at all.” He promised, suddenly nervous for some reason. He tried to distract himself from that feeling by digging into the pocket on the inside of his jacket to grab a cigarette and lighter. The human watched him, almost pensively. “What? Do you want one?” He offered roughly, not really expecting her to say yes, but once again, she surprised him when she wordlessly reached out to the packet and grabbed one. “Woah there, bad girl? What about your goody two shoes image?” He couldn’t help but tease her a bit.

“I have turned to a life of crime and drugs, or have you forgotten?”

“Does that mean you are gonna strip for me too?”

“In your dreams, maybe.” She rolled her eyes with a little smirk. “On the off chance of sounding like a total stick in the mud, but I’d normally never smoke! I’ll have you known that I am a good noodle.”

“And yet here we are, having a drag together.”

“Like I said, it’s been… a day.” She sighed, taking a deep breath from the bud end and grimaced. “Ugh, these are disgusting. And probably really bad for you. You should stop smoking.”

“How can it be bad for me if I don’t have lungs?” he fired back and her nose twitched slightly.

“Point taken.” Smoke curled around her face and hair, the normally loose strands tied back with a cutesy, white ribbon, that fit her outfit. It wasn’t that flashy, like some other girl’s very short, neon green dress that he’d seen on his way in, that covered the important bits and nothing else, but it looked more fancy than her normal wardrobe.

Still decked out in soft, muted autumn colours, but he couldn’t even picture the human in anything brightly coloured. Just wasn’t right.

Instead, her outfit consisted of a sheer, creme blouse, and a rust coloured dress with golden leaf print on it. It was cute and for some reason, it reminded him of a harvest witch or one of those Story of Seasons games Alphys liked to play.

Nothing to make her stand out in a crowd, especially with everyone else here but he could tell that she put some effort into it and somehow, he really appreciated the sentiment.

Not like she’d dressed up for him, but the thought still pleased him.

“Then why do you do it?” she ripped him from his thoughts.

“Sorry, what?”

“Smoke. If you don’t have lungs to absorb the nicotine, why do you do it? Since the addiction factor can’t really render into the decision.”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I like the taste?”

“Nobody likes the taste of cigarettes.”

“I do.” He defended himself weakly. “I also like how the smoke feels between my bones.” The skeleton admitted.

“That sounds… kinda fascinating.” There was a twinkle in her eyes he couldn’t pinpoint but what he could, was that they flickered down towards his chest periodically.

“You wanna see?” G asked, slightly amused, and watched her face turn beet red with a smile.

“I-uh! Yes, I mean, no, that’s not- ugh, sorry, it’s not proper and I don’t wanna be a creep, sorry!”

“Hey, it’s fine. I offered.” He shrugged before unceremoniously shoving the hem of his shirt up until he could hold it under his chin. He didn’t miss the embarrassed, little squeak coming from her. “Watch this.”

Taking a deep drag from his cigarette, he felt the now yellow tinted smoke curl into his torsal cavity, twisting around his manubrium and costal cartilage down towards his xiphoid process.

Entranced by the visual, the human reached out without thinking before she could catch herself. Inches before her hand could actually touch him, she hesitated, eyes flickering up to meet his.

He wasn’t sure why, he wasn’t very comfortable with touch normally but right now, the only thing he wasn’t comfortable with was the idea of her slender, delicate hands not touching him. So he shadowed her hand with his, her flushing skin peaking through the holes in his palm, and led her to wrap her fingers around his ribs.

Her skin was soft and warm, almost burning, and he had to swallow down a frankly embarrassing noise upon feeling a slight tremor against his bones.

She gulped, loud enough for him to hear and their eyes met again. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but he was so much closer all of a sudden. Close enough to smell her perfume, a light and airy scent comprised of violets and roses with maybe even some raspberries in it, as odd as it may sound. Almost bashfully, her hand retreated from his ribcage and he dropped his shirt back down when she, instead, started to inspect his hand.

Apprehension filled him, almost like he was scared of rejection. People had the tendency to not react very well to the marks that the Underground had left on him.

“It’s weird. You are missing almost your entire capitate and hamate, but it doesn’t seem to affect the performance of the rest of your hand. Quite the opposite actually. Your entire carpalial planes are practically fused together. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Someone knows their bones.” He teased, voice only wavering slightly, but he covered it with another drag of his cigarette.

“Mhm…” Sunshine hummed, tips of her finger gliding over the rough surface, light enough to almost tickle. “That’s your scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum and pisiform.”

“Pretty good for a theatre major” He smiled, earning himself a look he couldn’t quite decipher. If he’d had to guess it was somewhere between amused, bewildered and the slightest bit offended, but he wasn’t sure what that would have brought on.

She was just about to open her mouth for a rebuttal, when her eyes flickered over his shoulder. Whatever she must have seen must not have been to her liking, as her skin paled considerably and the lightness seemed to be sucked out of the room between them.

“Ugh.”

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just…”

“Beanie Baby!” A drunk girl shrieked, bounding towards them.

“Her.” The hard undertones of the humans voice surprised him and he gave the incoming girl another once-over.

She was pretty, no dice, gorgeous even, with a voluptuous figure and silky, golden hair that framed a sun kissed face, spilling over her shoulders and back in an effortlessly flawless way.

She hopped onto the swing, jostling it, and almost climbed into her fellow human’s lap, who seemed less than thrilled, especially when she pressed her lips against her cheeks, leaving a bright red stain on the pale skin.

“Ugh, Sybil, can you not?” Sunshine complained, rubbing at her cheek until it wasn’t clear if the red was smeared lipstick or irritated skin. “You know I don’t like that.”

“Sorry, you just looked so kissable.”

Taking a deep breath, she seemed to gather herself before opening her mouth. “Sybil, we talked about this. You can’t keep doing this.”

Sybil pouted, sticking out her bottom lip. “You are always so stern with me. This is why we fight all the time. I even brough you a new drink!” She waved with another red solo cup, spilling some of the icy blue liquid on herself. Sighing deeply, Sunshine took the cup, seemingly not wanting to be rude, before trying to wiggle out underneath the girl.

“Thank you but I’d like to go home now.” Sybil pouted but retreated back onto solid ground, so the smaller one of the two could get up, a rigidity in her spine that G didn’t really like. The warmth returned to her ember eyes as she turned towards the skeleton for a moment, hiding a shy smile behind the mystery cup. “It was nice seeing you, G.”

“Same time next Tuesday?” he smiled easily and she nodded quickly before hurrying off into the night, quickly emptying her drink.

Sybil gave him a snide eye from the side, sweet persona almost completely wiped away all of a sudden, leaving behind a cold and calculating look. And some smeared lipstick. That too.

“You should back off, you know?” the woman sneered and G frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Clearly, I called dibs on her. ‘sides, why would some hot co*ck like you be interested in a nobody like her anyways.”

Quietly, like a tiger that was ready to pounce, the skeleton got off his seat on the swing, facing the much smaller Queen Wanna-Bee in front of him. She stared up at him in defiance and he countered by taking a deep drag off his cigarette before flicking it away.

“I’d watch my mouth, if I were you, human.”

“Why? Because I’m right?” Sybil co*cked her head, looking smug. “She’s not one for a quick f*ck anyways. Damn tease is too much of a stick in the mud. At least sober, if you get me.” Anger bubbled in his chest and a wave of protectiveness washed over him. He stepped closer again, the sockets of his skull deep and empty and quite frankly, terrifying. He could practically see her shiver, despite her boasting.

“You make her uncomfortable.” He almost growled. “So stay away from her. Or I am going to make you very, very uncomfortable.”

~

Your head was positively pounding, as you miserably sipped on your PSL. The iced drink was pure balm for your soul and oncoming migraine.

The weather at the moment was pretty miserable and as a rather weather sensitive person, you instantly reacted to the dropping pressure in the air with a headache. Okay, to be completely honest, the cloudy sky outside wasn’t the only thing that was giving you a headache but you really wanted it to be. You’d give everything to just be mopey about a bit of rain and thunder, but alas, you also had to worry about your stupid thesis with that asshole professor that never showed up to any of your appointments and was generally as helpful as a wet towel; the fact that whenever you tried to sit down to scribble down whatever melody was haunting your brain didn’t seem to work out but you’d eat a broom before admitting that. Your stupid sister would probably just rub it into your face that music is stupid anyways and that you should be more like her, stupid, prissy perfect princess Mercy, and her stupid wedding to stupid Prince Charming.

And yeah, obviously, the elephant in the room, the aforementioned wedding of the century. Well, your parents treated it like that, but what else did you expect?

God, you really weren’t stoked to make your way down there to meet up with the whole family. You could practically hear the nagging already.

“Sweetheart, are you still not finished with your degrees? How much longer do you wanna put off the real life?”

“Well, Mercy got her doctorates in four years! Why can’t you?”

“Oh, still single, at your age? You better hurry up or you’ll end up a lonely spinster.”

“Sweetling, you better hurry up with your degrees. No man will want someone like-“

“C’mon Bee, please.”

Oh yeah. And Jerry.

Jerry was there too.

“For the last time, Jerry, I can’t just give you all my research. I already handed it in for validation so you’d get flagged for plagiarizing my statistics”

“It’s just for a stupid research paper, c’mon please!” he whined, dripping slime on the floor. You shot Muffet a helpless glance and the baker seemed less than thrilled as well.

“I can’t, I’m sorry.” You sniffed, rubbing your eyes. “I can help you doing your own research, if you are really desperate, but that’s it.”

“But then I’d actually have to work.” He pouted.

“Yes, Jerry, getting a degree occasionally requires some work and effort put in, who would have thunk?”

“But you gave Catty stuff last week.”

“I have her my notes for class because she had a doctors appointment?” you gasped, exasperated. “Not my whole basis for my thesis.”

“You can make a new one.” He snorted grossly. “You’re smart. It shouldn’t take you that long.”

You couldn’t do anything but blink at the monster, rendered completely speechless for a second. He didn’t even have the balls to look slightly guilty, lips just drawn into a self-serving smile.

“I- I don’t know what to say?”

“Uh, yes?” he drawled, rolling his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Wow, you suck.” Jerry whined and for some reason, that kinda hurt your feelings. At least enough to make tears well up in your eyes again. “Are you gonna cry? Wow. W o w.”

“Just leave me alone.” You croaked, miserable but Jerry snivelled again.

“But you said you’d help me with my thing.”

“That was before you were mean to me!”

“You really suck.”

“f*ck off, Jerry!” A deep voice rumbled behind him and you jumped a little in your seat, almost spilling your coffee. For a moment, your eyes flickered to the person, before you had to lower them again to avoid blushing yourself into next week.

“C’mon, get your own twerp. I was here first.” Jerry sighed dramatically. G didn’t seem to be impressed in the slightest, just raising a browbone at the UFO-Shaped monster.

“I said f*ck off and I’d do that if I was you.”

“Ugh, whatever. Her stuff probably sucks anyways.” Jerry scoffed before shuffling away. G took his place in front of you, smoothly drawing out one of the chairs and sitting down across from you, eyesockets seemingly glued on you.

The golden specs in them made it hard to look away, fully capable of mesmerising you.

“Thanks” you whispered and the skeleton just shrugged.

“No skin off my teeth.” He replied, handing you a tissue. You took it with a shy little smile, dabbing at your eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” God, you were pathetic.

Between you and me, you really enjoyed talking to G but for some reason, you turned into a shy, blubbering mess whenever he was around. He was the definition of talk, dark and handsome but also oh, so aloof.

But whenever you did get the chance to talk, he was kind to you, never mocked or talked down to you. He didn’t even do it so you’d help him out or anything. He was genuinely nice.

At least when he didn’t act like a prickly little cactus. Which was most of the time. The cactus, that is.

And okay, okay, most pathetic of it all probably, but there may be the teeny tiny off chance that you had the tiniest sliver of a crush on the guy.

But c’mon, could anyone blame you?

He was exceedingly dashing, kind, smart when he wanted to and good god, he just… okay, that’s gonna sound so creepy, but the man just smelled amazing.

I know, I know, probably hormones and all that fun stuff, but you could swear that he smelled exactly like marshmallows being roasted over the open fire.

It was driving you insane, quite frankly.

Not that he’d ever return any kind of those feelings, he probably didn’t even consider you friends. More like… acquaintances that sometimes studied together.

He was so very dashing, there was no way that he’d even bat an eyelash in your direction.

And yet, he was always nice to you. Even returned your messages when you accidentally texted him AGAIN, because you were a total klutz sometimes.

Besides, you had seen the way he had looked at both Cam and Sybil-ugh-and those pretty bombshells seemed way more his type.

No, you were content with keeping that silly little crush close to your chest and resign yourself to be the acquaintance.

And yet…

And yet, that treacherous, mean part of your brain that was definitely way too drunk at a party that felt ages ago already, even though it’s barely been a couple of weeks, seemed to remember that there was a moment, on that Hollywood swing while Abba was blaring in the distance, where you two seemed to have a moment that seemed almost… intimate.

He had allowed you to touch his ribs, watch the gold speckled smoke curl around his bones in foggy tendrils and how you had to snap your focus down to his hand in order not to get too mesmerised.

He didn’t even mind your blabbering.

(Though he did seem to be under the assumption that you were, for some reason, a theatre major?)

And right now, he was sitting in front of you again, giving you one of those soft, lopsided smiles that were barely even there again, while your heart was beating like a little drum in your chest again.

Clearing your throat to snap yourself out of your stupor, you started to nervously fiddling with a strand of hair.

“T-Thanks for standing up for me!”

“Water off a ducks back.” He chuckled, putting his chin into his hand. “May I ask what’s gotten you so sad?”

“I-what? I’m not sad?”

“You were crying.” He simply stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You don’t just cry because of someone like Jerry. So?”

“I-“ you faltered for a moment, not quite sure how much you were willing to spill or he was ready to listen to. “Just some family… stuff.”

“Stuff?”

“Yeah, I have this… sister. And she’s.. my sister.”

“Well, that’s not cryptic at all.” It was fascinating, how he managed to draw a chuckle from you and you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear to hide your embarrassment. For a moment, you could have sworn that his cheekbones took on a yellow tint, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Probably just the light…

“Well, she’s getting married.” You smiled at him, politely nipping on your drink. “And she’s been on my case forever because she is obviously perfect and flawless and a goddamn supermodel genius mother Theresa and I am not and nobody ever let’s me forget that. Especially now that she somehow found a guy that’s just as perfect as her and they are gonna have a perfect wedding and a perfect life and then pop out perfect little babies.”

“Sounds….”

“Perfect?”

“Awful.” He admitted and you blinked. “She sounds like a real piece of work.”

“Yeah, well, my whole family is. They aren’t… easy.”

“I know a bit about family that’s not easy.” The skeleton laughed but it seemed sadder, this time. You had the urge to reach over and squeeze his free hand but reminded yourself not to. You weren’t quite on that level yet.

“I’m sorry.”

“Eh, s not that bad. At least my brother is actually the coolest”

“Wow!” you laughed. “Way to rub it in, dude.”

“Sorry, sorry, that was probably rude.”

“Yeah, but it’s also true and that makes it funny.” Another one of his warm and raspy laughs made your skin all tingly and you just couldn’t help but feel a bit better. Even your headache lessened considerably.

“Can I do anything for you, to make the family stuff easier?” G asked, sounding like he honestly wanted to help you. “At least when I don’t have to beat the creeps off of you with a stick.”

Rolling your eyes, you playfully nudged his shin with the tip of your shoe. “Says you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean, sunshine?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe that literally everyone seems to swoon in front of you?”

“You don’t.”

Was he- Was he teasing you?

Trying to keep calm, you took another poised sip from your drink, doing your best to send him an aloof and unbothered look over the rim of your cup.

“It takes more to make me fall to my knees like that, sweetheart.”

Okay, there was definitely a golden tint to his bones now! Not yellow, golden. He was blushing. Because of you.

“Like what?” He pushed back, hooking his ankle behind yours in retaliation.

“That’s for me to know and you to figure out, I guess.” He just hummed, golden speckled eyelights studying your face like he was looking for something you couldn’t quite identify.

“Alright then. Keep your secrets, little human” There was a certain rasp to his voice, that made you shiver. Not a frightened shiver, but something almost scandalous. “But seriously, if there’s anything I could do to make the family more bearable, just tell me.”

Okay.

So.

Here’s the thing.

You were normally very good at keeping your filter up at all times-intoxicated you aside, but even she could keep it together-but something about his warm, yet slightly intimidating presence apparently knocked the filter right out of you. He was just so easy to talk to, so easy to be with and he gave you the feeling that you didn’t have to be perfect 24/7, that your mediocracy wasn’t bothering him, like you weren’t the biggest disappointment this side of the equator. And all of those were very good and valid reasons to like being around him, to enjoy his presence and aquaintainceship, but it certainly did not excuse the words that came out of your mouth next.

“You could come with me?”

Chapter 2: There is nothing like doing nothing with you

Chapter Text

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:29

Is Bee with you guys?

[Catty] 13:29

@Camcorder Nah, sorry, she hasn’t showed up yet? Yelena?

Yelena [(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:29

@Camcorder Wyatt texted me earlier that she won’t make it today. Apparently her phone has some water damage and is turned off for the rest of the day. He ran into her on the way to the pharmacy.

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:29

@OldYeller Oh jesus, she’s really needs to get that thing fixed. She’s been holding on to it for years now.

Yelena [(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:29

That thing has been holding together with Hopes and Dreams and copious amounts of tape, I swear, lol?

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:29

For real.

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:29

@OldYeller Did Wyatt tell you why she cancelled? Or was he too drugged up on cough syrup? Tell him get well soon btw!

Yelena [(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:29

@Camcorder If she did, he probably forgot. He’s pretty doped up. @Genshi is taking care of him

Estis [(eee)eee-eee] 13:30

I heard that Dr. Brennan’s closing the applications to be one of her interns for the next semester today and rumour has it that the Liebermen had a surprise test today. She may just have pooped out

[Catty] 13:30

That was today?

[Bratty] 13:30

Oh shoot, right. Ofc she’s not gonna come then

[Temmie] 13:30

Yikes.

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:30

Whats so special abt that Internsh*t?

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc]

Ship* Stupid autocorrect

Yelena [(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:31

Internsh*t

Tem3] 13:31

Internsh*t

[Catty] 13:31

Internsh*t

[Bratty] 13:31

Internsh*t

[Tem1] 13:31

Internsh*t

Wyatt [(www)www-www] 13:31

Internsh*t

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:32

Wyatt, go back to bed, what are you doing here?ä

Wyatt [(www)www-www] 13:32

I’ll never miss an opportunity to make fun of you

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:32

Screw you.

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:32

So, the internshiP

Immogen [(iii)iii-iii] 13:33

Sorry, had to wrestle Wyatt back to bed! The boy smells any opportunity to drag others, what did I miss?

Yelena [(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:33

Brennan closed the Intern-application today

Immogen [(iii)iii-iii] 13:33

Oh yikes. Did someone talk to Winnie yet?

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:33

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE ELUCIDATE?

Wyatt [(www)www-www] 13:33

So when two people really like each other…

-[Aaron] liked this message-

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:33

I will eat you alive, little boy

Wyatt [(www)www-www] 13:33

:(

Immogen [(iii)iii-iii] 13:35

@Camcorder Dr. B’s internships are one of the most sought after spots and she’s SUPER picky about who she takes and generally weeds out people like… almost immediately. Her standards are astronomical but it’s a huuuuuge opportunity and looks really good on any CV

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:35

So you think Bee won’t get in or smthng? If she did, wouldn’t she be here celebrating

[Catty] 13:35

Ofc she’ll make it! Have you seen her grades?

[Bratty] 13:35

She’s always the top of her class

[Catty] 13:35

Every single one

[Bratty] 13:35

Well, at least since a certain someone let her get ahead all of a sudden despite his competitiveness

-[Catty] liked this message-

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Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:38

How the hell did you get in here?

[Undyne] 13:38

I like to lurk

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:38

Okay, cool, not creepy at all???? And whats that thing about someone letting Bee get ahead? What am I missing?

Yelena [(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:39

Arent you her roommate? Shouldn’t YOU of all people know?

Wyatt [(www)www-www] 13:39

Jesus, you ARE blind as a bat

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:39

Yah, that’s why I asked if you’ve seen her. She hasn’t been home last night and I was starting to get worried when she must have left like super early the day before? Especially since her keys are still here because she forgot them AGAIN and I won’t be back till monday, meeting the fam etc. I would have left her keys with one of you guys but I’m already on the train, whoops.

Yelena [(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:40

YOU ARE STARTING TO GET WORRIED?

Immogen [(iii)iii-iii] 13:40

WHAT IF SHES IN A DITCH?

Yelena[(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:40

OR KIDNAPPED?

Immogen[(iii)iii-iii] 13:40

OR HURT?

Yelena[(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:40

WHAT IF SHE’S AT THE NEW STARBUCKS?

Immogen[(iii)iii-iii] 13:40

MUFFET IS GONNA BREAK HER ANKLES

Yelena[(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:40

DO YOU WANT HER TO CRAWL BACK HOME?

Immogen[(iii)iii-iii] 13:40

SHE’S PRONBABLY HALF DEAD IN AN ALLEYWAY ALREADY

Yelena[(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:40

BECAUSE YOU HAD BETTER THINGS TO DO

Immogen[(iii)iii-iii] 13:40

I HOPE THAT YOU ARE HAPPY!

Yelena[(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:40

WAS IT WORTH IT? BLIZZ IS PRONBABLY DYING

Immogen[(iii)iii-iii] 13:40

BECAUSE OF YOU!

Yelena[(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:40

YOU MADE US ALL ORPHANS!

Immogen[(iii)iii-iii] 13:40

AGAIN!

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:41

I hate it when you do that

Wyatt[(www)www-www] 13:42

Its part of their creepy twin schtick.

Immogen [(iii)iii-iii] 13:42

I dare you to say that to my face while I am literally making you food, you ungrateful wench

Wyatt [(www)www-www] 13:42

Noooo pls, Ily </3

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:43

Can we stay on task pls?

My roommate is still missing with no access back home until Monday?

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:43

Also, why is nobody bullying @OldYeller for that pronbably typo?

Doesn’t sound fair.

Yelena[(yyy)yyy-yyy] 13:44

Oh NOW you care

Also, because people respect me.

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:44

I’m sorry, I was busy

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:44

rude

Wyatt [(www)www-www] 13:44

10 quit that she was busy snogging Felix.

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:44

Will you shush you plague carrier? @Genshi pls take his phone

Immogen[(iii)iii-iii] 13:44

Don’t worry, if anything would have happened she would have texted G

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:44

Didn’t you say her phone was broen?

Wyatt [(www)www-www] 13:45

Broen

[Catty] 13:45

Broen

[Bratty] 13:45

Broen

[Aaron]13:45

Broen

Cam [(ccc)ccc-ccc] 13:45

I hate all of you

[G] 13:46

Would someone care to explain why my phone has been blowing up with 76 messages in the last 17 minutes?

Wyatt [(www)www-www] 13:46

Wouldn’t you like to know, weatherboy?

[G] 13:46

Wyatt.

[Undyne] 13:46

Ooooooh, that brother’s floating… through the aiiiiir

-[Mettaton] has entered the chat-

[Mettaton] 13:47

I sensed drama and came as fast as I could!

~

It was already dark outside when G found himself back at the library once again. He had skipped the study group today-not because Sunshine wasn’t there or anything, he just felt really tired and too drained to handle a bunch of people after having to slough through one of Dr. Lieberman’s oh so feared “surprise” quizzes-so he had to get some studying in after laying down for what was supposed to be just fifteen minutes but quickly had turned into the devil’s nap. The kind where you sleep just a little bit too long and then wake up four hours late, not quite sure what century you’re in. He just about escaped it turning into the devil’s rest, where you’d sleep until 3am and wake up feeling like a dried out sea cucumber that got put into an air fryer.

He'd even missed out on his weekly video call with his brother, so he’d have to squeeze that in tomorrow. At least he didn’t have any classes for the rest of the week on accounts of the holidays being just around the corner as well.

Yawning slightly, he trotted through the labyrinth of the fourth floor, the wooden panelling squealing underneath his feet in a pathetic little whine. The rhythmic flickering of the halogen lightbulbs above him were almost comforting after so long, that he barely even noticed it. At this point, it would be more noticeable and off-putting if they wouldn’t flicker and buzz. There was an odd sense of familiarity to it.

He walked between two rows to walk over to the Biomedical Signals and Instrumentation section when he caught the slightest whiff of violets and roses and his joints practically locked up, refusing to move away even an inch more. Taking a deep breath and almost hoping to catch another deep inhale of the scent, he took the time to calm the slight studder in his chest -which was completely stupid. He should probably go find a doctor to get that checked out-before his knees would cooperate again and he could walk back between the rows, where a bunch of tables were grouped up, in case anyone would get to urge to study at the library. Not that many people would, not here at nine pm on the so called haunted floor, at least.

The tables weren’t very popular either, as the chairs were a bunch on old, ratty ones made of wood so nobody would go for them, especially compared to the comfy plush chairs and coffee tables at the back of the room, facing the big window to enjoy the view.

For some undiscernible reason, Sunshine really seemed to hate herself though, as she was perched on one of the aforementioned wood chairs, a whole array of books spread out and sticky noted before her. She was wearing some thick, black leggings and a summer-yellow sweater that had the phases of the moon embroidered on the left side, right were a breast pocket would normally sit. It looked kinda crude and clearly homemade but also somehow endearing. Auburn hair was curled and twisted up in a messy bun. Not the purposeful kind of messy that so many girls seemed to like, and more akin to the actual kind of messy, with pieces of slightly greasy hair sticking out everywhere in a way that clearly portrayed that this hairstyle-hairstyle said very loosely-was only thrown together to get all of that hair out of her face and eyes, that were covered by the thinly framed gold glasses G has seen her wear sometimes.

He frowned at the sight of the deep shadows under her eyes and the dull colour of her eyes that seemed red in all the wrong places. He wasn’t sure if it was from sleep deprivation or because she had been crying.

Sighing deeply and biding his evening plans goodbye, he shoved his hands as deep into his coat pockets as he could while sauntering over to the tables.

He was, by no means at all, quiet or trying to hide his approach, and yet, the little human didn’t even flinch or twitch a singular eyelash, way too engrossed in her book. He sat down on one of the chairs across from her and grimaced slightly.

These chairs were so f*cking uncomfortable and he should not have dropped with so much vigour. Was it so hard to just get a slight cushion installed on these? Or a pillow? Anything, really? His tailbone wasn’t particularly happy about that. Still, she didn’t even notice him.
There was a slight scratching noise as her pen scraped across the paper of a college block whenever she was writing down some notes in that teeny tiny little perfectly spaced and looped cursive handwriting of hers.

The skeleton cleared his throat gently, trying to catch her attention. Finally getting it, she slowly raised her head, as if in slow motion.

Sunshine blinked at him, owlishly almost, her big, red eyes dull and tired.

“G?”

“Heya, sunshine.” He rasped, twitching the corner of his mouth. “How long have you been here?”

“With or without breaks?” she sighed, forcing the tiniest of smiles on her face. It was strained and tight-lipped but not without kindness. Just tired.

“Both.” The skeleton said, resting his face on a hand.

“I left for a bit for the Liebemen Hell earlier.” She shrugged, nervously tapping her pen against the paper, leaving tiny blue dots strewn all over the paper. “Came right back after though. Got a lot to do… And I don’t think I did particularly well on that test so I gotta plow through that again to make up for it or I’m gonna get the verbal whip again.”

“That was hours ago. Did you not take a single break after that?”

Avoiding his eyes, she started to chew on her lip. G frowned and then a little more when she tucked a strand of loose hair back behind her ear and the weird arrhythmic studder in his chest returned. He should really go talk to Alphys, that could not be normal.

She was just about to say something, when her stomach gave off a faint rumble. He couldn’t stop himself as his eyes flickered down for less then a beat but she must have noticed, because her cheeks quickly turned flaming red in embarrassment.

“When was the last time you ate?”

“Before I got here?” she simply shrugged, still trying to avoid his eyes and G could do nothing but sigh.

“You haven’t eaten anything since noon? Sunshine…”

He paused for a moment, sockets narrowing as she stiffened up at the accusation and her blush turned splotchy as parts of her face seemed to pale.

“Yeeees.” She said slowly and deliberately. “Since noon, of course.” It was the same kind of voice his brother would use when he was desperately trying to hide something, which he was very bad at, so G could spot the lie from miles away.

“How long have you been here, for real. Not just since your last “break”, if you can even call it that.”

She made an undiscernible thinking noise that very clearly said “I am pretending to think and like I can’t remember but I absolutely do know and just don’t wanna admit it.” until G glared at her across the table. Shifting on the hard chairs, the human finally mumbled something that wasn’t very clear to make out.

“Sunshine.”

“I don’t know, sometime between… let’s say Sunday and Monday?”

G balked. “You’ve slept here?”

“Of course I didn’t sleep here, silly.” She snorted. “I’ve been studying.”

“It’s Tuesday night. How long have you been awake for?”

“Would you believe me when I told you it’s under 48 hours, still?”

“Barely.”

Rolling her eyes and stifling a yawn, Sunshine leaned back slightly in her chair to bring up one of her legs under her. “Don’t worry, I am used to this. I just… have a lot to do. Studying to catch up on.”

“I doubt that you’ll be able to get any real studying done when you are so sleep deprived that you look like you are about to fall asleep at the table.”

“No, really. I’m fine.” She tried to reassure him. “It’s just a lot. Didn’t do too well with Lieberman today and I have like a million electives to finish up as well, because I am so slow and my Mom is all up my ass to hurry up and finish already, so I can be as perfect and flawless as prissy future Miss Mercy Dalton with all of her stupid, fancy degrees. And there’s this internship I applied for I have to study because-“

“It’s very competitive. I’ve heard. Your friends are very worried about you.” Another blush tinted the bridge of her nose a rosy colour, bringing out her vitiligo.

“Are-Are you?” she asked after a while, draping her upper body over the table to rest her face on her crossed arms as she looked up at him.

“What? Your friend?”

“No” she smiled. “ Worried?” He almost lied to her, but something about those big eyes staring at him with so much vulnerability made him falter.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” the skeleton just shrugged instead. “Cough have grabbed my book and left you with your misery.”

“But alas…”

“But alas,” he echoed. “here I am, watching you fall asleep.”

“Eh, I’ll be fine.”

“I know. Just text your roommate next time please, they almost blew up my phone.”

Groaning, she hid her face in the crook of her elbow, crooking her glasses on her nose. “Oh god, Cam…”

“She means well.”

“Yeah, no, she’s just nosey as hell where I went without my phone again. I’m pretty sure that she’s convinced that I live a secret double life as a hitman or something because I leave my phone home so much and disappear for days to hole myself up in here.”

“First a drug lord stripper and now a hitman too? Oh Sunshine, what a tightly woven web of lies you are spinning but you can’t fool me. I know all about your little side hustles.”

Laughing sleepily, she nudged his leg with hers again and he immediately hooked his foot behind her ankle.

“You are being silly, G” she smiled, twisting her head to face him again. Her glasses were tilted at a dangerous angle, which she must have noticed, because she basically shoved them off her face in favour of rubbing it. “I just didn’t wanna be disturbed all the time, so I switched it off. I'm not completely stupid. But Cissy has been blowing my phone up ever since I told her I’m gonna-“ clearing her throat, she interrupted herself in a vain attempt to stop her blush from creeping down her neck, but it proved as a rather fruitless attempt.

“Gonna bring a friend to her wedding?”

Groaning, she hid her face again and G pushed his chair back slightly with a loud noise to mimic her position on the table. Red eyes glinted at him from underneath thick, dark lashes, seeming almost menacing in a way with all that darkness gathering under them. Well, maybe as menacing as a kitten.

“Don’t remind me. I don’t even know why I asked you.”

“What, you worried that I could embarrass you in front of Your Majesty?” He shrugged slightly. “I’ve mingled with real royalty before, I can handle fake one. Me and my brother are the godparents of the Queen’s kid, can’t get any more royal than that.”

“You aren’t the problem. You could never embarrass me. I mean… look at you. But my parents- They aren’t.. well, they aren’t very.. hmh. How do I say that? They aren’t the best…. Parents. Or people. And I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, especially when I’m already dragging you down there.”

“Eh, I have handled worse. They can’t be worse than my dad.” G grumbled, twisting his fingers into the cold leather of his jacket. “He was the actual worst.”

No really. Her parents may seem overbearing and too pushy and maybe a bit emotionally neglectful but there was no way that they could even hold a candle to Gaster. That guy should have never become a parent in the first place.

Just thinking about him soured his mood drastically and he suddenly wished that he could smoke inside, just to get his mind off of these things. At least he and Papyrus didn’t have to worry about him anymore though.

G jolted slightly when a warm and soft hand curled into his all of a sudden and his eyes snapped up to meet drowsy, red ones that gave him a gentle look that warmed his insides. When he didn’t react, frozen like a deer in headlights, Sunshine squeezed around his bones without a single care, whereas other humans would be easily freaked out and smile at him.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, eyes heavily lidded. “If-“ She yawned. “If you ever wanna talk about it… I’ll listen.”

“Don’t worry about that.” The skeleton mumbled, returning the squeeze. “And don’t worry about the wedding either. I get to make some sh*tty people really uncomfortable apparently on top of a free meal and vacation? I see that as a total win.” She yawned again, lashes fluttering.

“Maybe you were right… I do feel a little bit tired.”

“Of course you do, Sunshine.” He chuckled, watching her drift off as she cradled her own head. He stayed like this, mimicking her and holding on to that warmth in his hand for dear life until her breathing evened out. A piece of hair fell down into her face and he brushed it behind her ear with a slight smile. “What am I gonna do with you?”

~

Light was filtering into the room through some sheer white curtains with lavender and light blue butterflies that bordered on lilac printed on them. They were gently billowing in the wind, letting in some fresh air, that made the room feel crisp and the perfect amount of cold to sleep and wake up in. Especially under some warm covers and nuzzled into soft and fluffy pillows that smelled freshly washed.

It was pretty much perfect to wake up to except for the slight hangup that this wasn’t your bed. And certainly not your dorm room either.

No dorm on campus had king sized beds that were extra, extra extra long and were made out of a warmly coloured wood and the freaking softest mattress ever? Neither did they have walls where the paint didn’t flake off or a carpet that wasn’t stained and doors that actually closed.

Which left you with the burning question on where the hell you where?

You remembered sitting in the library, pouring over some books because you needed to catch up on stuff, you only got 98 on the last exam and your parents had been rather displeased at that. And the internship thing was coming up so you would have to do some extra work on top if you wanted to excel-should you even get it.

You had to get it. You just had to. Lord have mercy on you, should you not. You could already imagine your grandmother chastising you.

“Dove, you need to be perfect. Our family excels and we pride ourselves on our perfection. I know we can’t expect that from you, not with your… affliction… but you could at least do your best as to not embarrass us again? I don’t expect you to walk in your sisters footstep to find a well-paid job or husband, not like that, but you could at least try to be inconspicuous.”

“Yes, Móraí”

Shaking your head to get rid of the lingering memory you kicked off the blanket. Instantly, the cool air hit you and made your skin pebble. Rubbing your arms on top of your sweater, you swung your legs over the edge of the bed. You were still wearing your socks but you could feel the floor heating through them, wiggling your toes as a comforting warmth started to radiate through you.

Your head tilted slightly as you saw a piece of folded paper on the side table. The scrawl on it was so small and borderline illegible, so it took you a moment to decipher the chicken scratch.

Good morning Sunshine. Don’t freak out, you fell asleep at the library and I didn’t want to leave you there. Your friend already said that she still has your keys, in case you wonder why I didn’t take you to your place. If you wake up, I’ll be downstairs for breakfast.

-G

Swallowing thickly, you couldn’t help yourself but press the note against your chest, lips squeezed tightly to avoid a loud squeal that your host would most definitely hear. Falling asleep in front of him was already embarrassing enough. A little part was wondering how he got you here, if he carried you and if you did anything embarrassing like drool on him or snore.

Well, at least you didn’t get kidnapped by some creep.

Looking around the room, you found some pictures on the walls. They were attached directly to the wall with pushpins. Some of them were drawings, probably crayon, and they looked like a toddler had drawn them, which was probably a fair assumption. Others were old polaroids, showing off a landscape you didn’t recognise. There was a lot of snow and one of them seemed to have a bioluminescent waterfall. Never had you seen something so beautiful.

There were some newer pictures as well, pictures with people this time, but you didn’t get the chance to look at them more closely, like you had planned to. No, instead, you heard some voices from outside the room, a boisterous laugh and some muffled speaking.

Intrigued, you exited the room and followed the noise.

You weren’t surprised at all that the rest of the house was just as lavish and cosy as the previous room, with loads of wood furniture and stone walls. Your hand curled around the rail on the stairs, enjoying the smooth finish of the polished wood that still carried some warmth. You could feel the memories and age in the building, like it carried it with it. This wasn’t just a place people lived in, this was a home, in its most primal sense.

Humming a slight tune, you walked down the corridor to find an open spaced living room. There was a couch, facing a gigantic TV with a sound system that would probably put any cinema to shame and a table that was littered with old books and schematics.

Normally, you would have loved to step closer and take a peak at whatever blueprint was carelessly shoved aside like that, but considering that there was a laptop flipped open with a Video chat going on right now, you couldn’t help but freeze.

Okay, and maybe the visual of G in that tight, burgundy knit sweater was frying whatever circuits in your brain were still left.

You must have made some kind of noise, because the person on the other line-which was oddly enough, another skeleton-must have noticed as they pointed out the salt pillar you had turned into rather excitedly, which in turn made G aware of your presence as well.

He seemed in a good mood as he turned to face you, less grumpy than he usually appeared, and you easily blamed it on the other guy.

“Oh, you’re awake.” He said softly before holding out a hand for you. “C’mere, meet my brother.”

“Your… brother?” you stuttered, praying to every god out there and batman that your face wasn’t as flushed and on fire as it felt.

“Yeah, I told you about him. The awesome one.” After hesitating for a moment, you urged your feet to move again. Smiling warmly, you peaked over G’s shoulder, your hair spilling over his shoulder. The other skeleton on the screen waved at you with all the enthusiasm his brother seemed to lack, a startling antithesis to G’s aloofness. He seemed even taller and lankier than his brother but with a bright smile that could probably put the sun to shame. Delicate, rectangular glasses were precariously balanced on his face and you wondered how they managed to stay in place without a nose to keep them there. “Paps, meet Sunshine.”

Letting out an embarrassed squeak at the almost tender use of the nickname, you gave the skeleton a gently pap on the shoulder. “G-G!”

“What?” He just shrugged.

“PLEASE, DON’T BE EMBARASSED, HUMAN!” Paps (?) chuckled, clapping his hands in delight. “MY BROTHER DIDN’T MEAN ANY HARM, I’M SURE.”

“God, this is mortifying.” You mumbled into your hands for a second. “Can we just start over? This is a less than ideal first impression.” G rolled his eyelights and twisted in his seat to wrap an arm around your waist, seemingly without even thinking about it, and pulled you closer so you were properly in frame. Which just happened to end you up in his lap, balanced on one of his legs.

“Calm down, It’s just Papyrus. He isn’t gonna judge you for your bed head. T'was his bed that caused it after all.”

Gasping loudly, you quickly started to brush through your hair with your fingers, in hopes of taming it a bit. “Why didn’t you say anything?” you whined pathetically and his laugh shook right through you. “Oh god, I am so sorry, I swear, I am not usually such a mess. And I'll totally wash and clean your sheets.” You promised the other one on screen, who just watched you two with an almost sentimental smile.

“IT IS ALRIGHT. IT IS NICE TO FINALLY MEET YOU! MY BROTHER HAS TOLD ME A LOT ABOUT YOU.”

“He has?” It was finally G’s time to make a little choking sound at your delighted tone. Good, you didn’t want to be the only one that made a fool out of themselves. “Oh, do tell”

“WELL, I AM FOR ONE GLAD TO SEE THAT AT LEAST ONE OF YOU IS TIDY! HE HASN'T MENTIONED THAT. THOUGH HE DID SEEM QUITE EXASPERATED AT THE PROSPECT OF-“

“Aaaaaay, that’s enough of that!” G quickly interrupted his brother, cheeks tinted that pretty gold again. It was delightful to see the normally so stoic and aloof man so flustered. He had been right, his brother was awesome. “Paps, why don’t you tell Sunshine about your trip to Italy?” Golden eyes caught your eyes from the side, a proud glimmer in them. “He’s studying abroad at one of those super fancy schools. They only take like 2 people per semester.”

“IT IS THREE, BUT HE IS RIGHT.” Paps proclaimed, chest swelled with pride. “I’M IN A CULINARY SCHOOL TO BECOME A MASTER CHEF! AS I WAS TELLING WHEN YOU CAME IN, LAST WEEK WE-“

You couldn’t help yourself but feel content at the excited chatter, listening with a serene smile that wasn’t the polite one you always made sure to put on. Patiently waiting for him to finish rambling without even stopping to take a breath, so you could get a word in to encourage him to keep going, all while G kept shooting you those unreadable glances from time to time that almost made you squirm in place, if you weren’t still in his lap.

Before you even knew it, an hour had passed and they had to hang up. As soon as the screen went black, silence filled the room like a blanket of snow covering a forest in the middle of the night.

It wasn’t uncomfortable or anything, you just…. Didn’t know what to say. G seemed to be in a similar situation, his fingers flexing against your waist, the slight buzz of what you assumed must have been magic sending a shiver down your spine, even through your sweater and making you hyper aware about how close you really were to him.

Swallowing thickly, you turned your head to face him, hazy, golden eyelights flickering all over your face. A small part of your brain was urging and begging to just lean in a little bit more to brush your lips together but the bigger, more rational part of it quickly wrestled it back down and into a deep dark corner with the reminder to not be a total creep and weirdo. Normal people don’t kiss… friends? Acquaintances? Study Buddies? Wedding Crashers? Yeah, wedding crashers sounded appropriate.

“So-uh… I’ve been promised breakfast?” you said instead, internally cringing yourself into another timeline where you didn’t have your foot in your mouth the entire time, preferably.

G just chuckled. “I was wondering when you’d come ask for food. You must be ravenous.”

“N-No, it’s quite fine!” you tried to insist, but you were well aware that it was a fruitless endeavour. He simply raised a browbone in your direction and you folded like a lawnchair for him.

Despite your insistence that you could very well cook and fend yourself, he had gently interjected that you were still a guest in his house, and that Papyrus was very particular about where everything was so he’d just save both of you the time and make it himself. You tried not to pout like a petulant child, and mostly succeeded.

In the end, you watched him struggle to chop up some vegetables-it was clear that he either didn’t cook a lot, which, yeah, would make sense if your brother’s a chef, or just really hated doing it-and after a few minutes of the almost pathetic display, you sighed deeply.

“C’mon let me help you.” You offered gently, wrapping your hand around his to guide the knife strokes. “Even and fast strokes, okay? Or else your rhythm is off and then the results are less than pleasing” He made a funny noise, like he choked on some spit, but you gave him the grace of ignoring it. His hand was shaking a bit so you gently guided it with a wee bit more insistence than before. “Have you never chopped an onion before?”

“I-what? Uh-no. No need.”

You hummed knowingly. “Yeah, your brother probably did most of the cooking, obviously. But you need to learn to fend for yourself. How long has he been abroad?”

“Uhh… few months?”

“G!” you chastised gently. “Don’t tell me you’ve been living off of frozen meals this entire time!”

“Nah, a-uh-a friend has a bar. I go there a lot to eat.”

“I do not want to know how high your sodium levels are.”

“Why, because I’m always salty?” he chuckled and you nudged him with your hip.

“Oh, don’t be silly.” You tutted, but a smile was already on your lips. “It’s kinda my thing to know about bodies, obviously. So let me worry.”

“Oh and why would that be?” he hummed as you finished chopping, still guiding his hands to put the onion into a greased pan. The comforting sizzle and smell filled the kitchen pretty much instantly.

You just snorted and rolled your eyes.

“So smart and still can’t figure out my major.”

“Why, it’s music.” He stated, as if it was and obvious fact. Shaking your head, you just smiled to yourself.

“Sure, if that’s what you say.” His eyesockets narrowed dangerously in your direction as you cracked some eggs into the pan.

“I have a feeling that I’m missing something.”

“Maaaaybe” you drawled. “Just go look up Dr. B if you can spare a minute. Maybe it’ll help. Oh, can you add some magic to this? You should be eating too.”

“What?”

“Food. You. Eat. With me.”

“With you?”

“Yes, obviously.” You chuckled. “Golly, how do you survive on your own? I should really start to make you more meals so you won’t die of.. hm… I don’t think you can get liver failure or any of the sorts. Can you starve? Huh. Better not try it out. I'll just make sure you're always fed from now on. Don't want Papyrus to be upset with me because I let his brother turn to skin and bones.” You snickered at the silly pun.

“You really do care about everyone.” G teased gently, as he stirred the eggs with one hand and adding golden sparks with the other. “No wonder you are the Mom friend.”

Despite feeling your cheeks burn, you tried to keep a neutral expression.

“There is no fault in being caring. Don’t try to tease me for something I am proud of.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Sunshine.” He hummed in a strange tone you couldn’t quite decipher. When you turned to face him, he was suddenly closer to you than you expected, practically trapping you between the counter and his body. Good god, he was so close that you could smell his campfire and marshmallow musk. Swallowing thickly, you held onto the ledge of the counter behind you with shaking hands. His arms came to rest on the stone top next to yours and for a brief moment that felt like years, he just seemed to look at you. A strand of your hair slipped past behind your ear and you quickly tugged it back, summoning forth that slight golden tint on his cheeks again. It was gone almost instantly, so fast that you could have just as well imagined it if you weren’t staring at his skull right now. “But who takes care of you?”

Chapter 3: Check-up

Chapter Text

[Cammie 📸 ] 13:12

Are you home yet?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 15:02

No

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 15:02

You still have my keys.

[Cammie 📸 ] 15:07

Where are you then?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 15:07

Don’t tell me you are worried

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 15:07

Awwwwe, you do love me

[Cammie 📸 ] 15:14

Ew, no

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 15:07

:(

[Cammie 📸 ] 15:30

Who are you staying with?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 15:35

a friend.

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 15:35

No need to worry or go tattle

[Cammie 📸 ] 15:36

Is it G?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 15:38

Yuh

[Cammie 📸 ] 15:40

Hmh

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 15:40

???

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:00

U good?

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:00

Why didn’t you tell me you two are dating?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:00

BECAUSE WE ARENT????????

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:00

Wtf

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:00

Did you snort Catnip again?

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:02

Then why is your sister telling me you are bringing your BF as a date to her wedding

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:03

Because she cant listen

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:03

Better question, why are you talking to Cissy?

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:05

I’m visiting my parents.

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:05

And we are literally neighbours

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:05

She invited me over

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:06

Traitor

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:09

I was lured in with the promised of baked goods and homemade kimchi.

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:15

I can’t believe this

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:15

Backstabber

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:15

Sold out for Kimchi of all things.

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:20

Don’t be so dramatic! It’s good kimchi

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:22

:( Mine is better

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:25

So you two aren’t a thing?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:25

As far as I know not, lol?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:25

We’re just studybudies

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:26

Studybuddies don’t spend the week

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:26

He just found me asleep at the library

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:26

Sorry that the man has a certain amount of decency

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:25

Not everyone can be as ruthless and cutthroat as you

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:27

Makes me a good lawyer though

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:27

Tru

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:39

So who IS your date to your sisters wedding?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:45

G

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:45

????

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:45

I thought you aren’t dating?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:45

We aren’t.

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:45

I invited him as a friend.

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:46

A friend?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:46

Yes a friend.

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:46

I panicked while ranting and asked him to come with me so I wouldn’t have to bash my own head in b4 Dad can do it, lol

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:47

Im gad to have someone there that doesn’t hate me though

[Cammie 📸 ] 16:59

What about me?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 16:59

YOU have an exam that coming week so obvs I didn’t ask you. Go study roman law, you pleb, or you’re gonna fail again

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:00

Rude

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:00

I thought we had smthng specil

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:00

Specil

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:01

Not you too

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:00

:*

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:19

So, how’s staying with your buddy

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:19

Nice.

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:19

He has a whole house?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:19

And his brother is a total Golden Retriever.

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:20

Can’t cook for sh*t though lol.

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:20

I’ll have to teach him

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:23

The old fashioned way?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:25

Yup.

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:26

It’s gonna be slow af, but I gotta get used to being “normal” anyways

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:26

Can you even still cook normally

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:26

Screw you

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:26

Mom would get a myocardial infarction if she’d know

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:28

Bless you`????

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:28

A heartattack you plebeian

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:28

Lol, your dep. Is so weird

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:29

Hush.

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:29

You literally quote whole ass paragraphs from the codex to me on a daily basis

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:30

I can and I will sue your thicc ass

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:30

Okay, but you have a crush on the guy?

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:30

Why else would you cook for him?

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:36

CAN WE PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS????

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:36

I literally feed each and every one of my friends

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:38

Its my job as the Mom friend.

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:38

So hushhhhh

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:39

No, I don’t wanna be the last one to know again :(

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17:39

Know what?

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:40

Apparently he let’s you get first in all exams and nobody told me??

[🐝 Bee 🐝] is typing….

[🐝 Bee 🐝] is typing….

[🐝 Bee 🐝] is typing…

[🐝 Bee 🐝] 17: 40

HE IS WHAT?

[Cammie 📸 ] 17:45

Oh hey, I wasn’t the last :D

~

[Prissy Cissy] 18:02

Hey, 빨강, do you have time to call? I need to talk logistic for the wedding

[빨강] 18:02

No

[빨강] 18:02

Im busy rn, maybe tomorrow

[Prissy Cissy] 18:03

Studying?

[빨강] 18:03

Obvs

Who are you texting? The kid next to you signed and you smiled after a second, trying to understand them while the end credits rolled on the TV.

“Nobody important.” You said, shaking your head dismissively as you carelessly threw your phone on the couch where it promptly got eaten up by the pillows. “What movie are we gonna watch next? Another spoopy one?”

For a moment, they pursed their lips, seemingly lost in thought. What’s your favourite movie?

“Mine?” you chuckled. “It’s embarrassing.”

Tell me! They grinned. You watched ghost movies with me too! Can’t be worse than that!

“Yes, and we aren’t going to tell your godfather about that.” You sternly directed, but they could see the smile tug on your lips. “And it’s Barbie: Starlight Adventure.”

Barbie? They grimaced, making a yucky face. That’s for little babybones!

“Oh, we are so watching Barbie movies, squirt!” you grinned, already fiddling with the TV remote. “They are cineastic masterworks”

Doubt it.

“We’ll see.” You shrugged as the movie started to roll and the kid nestled in closer, leaning against your shoulder. “Bet you five bucks that you’ll love it, Frisk.”

Your phone kept buzzing somewhere, but you ignored it.

Chapter 4: Movie Night with a Ten Year Old

Chapter Text

G watched his houseguest from the door, leaning against the frame with crossed arms. She was singing under her breath, too quiet for him to really hear anything else than a lowly melody, while she put away the dishes from his washer. He recognised the song from some musical he couldn’t particularly pinpoint right now. She was wearing one of his old shorts and a shirt that used to be blue but was so washed out by now that it appeared almost white and practically swallowed her up. One of the sleeves was falling off her shoulders, revealing the whitely freckled skin to him. He couldn’t stop staring for whatever reason.

Probably because he actually hasn’t seen a human with those white spots before. Yeah, that must be it.

“Do you need help there, Sunshine?” he eventually hummed, his eyes trailing across her form as she stretched to reach the overhead cupboard. But even on her tippy toes, she couldn’t quite make it.

She threw him a glance that read as both amused and chastising over her shoulder-the clothed one-and smiled warmly.

“You don’t have to stand there and watch me make a fool of myself, you know?”

“Yeah, but it’s funny to see you try to make it up there.”

“It’s not my fault that you are the world’s tallest boys.” She pouted with a huff, but it didn’t stick for too long. “I’m not used to… not reaching.”

“Nah, you are just short. Admit it” he said while sauntering over. He could see her open her mouth for a rebuttal and quickly wrapped his hands around her waist to boost her up the remaining distance. That manoeuvre earned him a startled squeak, while Sunshine’s hands covered his in surprise.

“W-What are you doing?”

“Helping.” He shrugged, holing on tight to her and totally didn’t notice how warm her body was, even through the fabric and how nice she smelled after using his soap in the shower. “Are you gonna get it on, or do you want me to carry you like this for much longer? One could come to the conclusion that you like being carried. Or do you just like to feel tall?”

“Ah, n-no!” she stuttered, quickly putting the glass dish away with shaking hands. A shiver ran down her spine, just faint enough that he could feel the ripples across her skin and one of his thumbs grazes some of her skin just above the hem of her pants.

It was soft and warm and the skeleton couldn’t help himself but indulge in the memory of carrying the human in his arms, just a little while ago. How soft and pliable her body was and how easily she leaned into him, head nestled against his clavicle, where even breaths ticked him with every exhale. It had been almost embarrassing that he had wished that the way home would have been somewhat longer. In retrospect, it was just embarrassing and probably a side-effect from the lack of affection he was suffering since his brother had left.

Yeah, that must have been it, he kept telling himself again.

Because right now, he couldn’t get her back down fast enough to ease his own beating soul. By the time her feet reached the floor again, her face was swallowed up entirely with a deeply red flush that could rival her Pillars Of Creation-eyes. “That was mean.”

He couldn’t help but smirk at the embarrassed remark and leaned against the counter to block her way over to the dishwasher.

“Well, you asked.” He grinned, shrugging again. “’sides, you don’t need to do this anyways. You’re my guest, you shouldn’t do housework. I feel bad that you had to cook for us already”

“No, I couldn’t” she insisted. “I’d feel guilty for taking advantage of your kindness without repaying you and I really don’t mind. Like it, even. I make for a stellar housewife, promise.”

He inhaled sharply as her hand landed on his forearm and he couldn’t help but get hopelessly lost in those eyes again, melting away each and every rebuttal he had.

“Well, guess you are gonna make someone very happy in the future then?” Wow. Very eloquent, Serif. He chastised himself. So smooth, numbskull.

“Tell that to my parents, Hah!” Sunshine barked out a laugh that carried little to no humour or warmth.

“What, you don’t believe me?”

“Oh, I do. They might take issue with that though.” She answered cryptically. He noticed with a frown that her eyes fell downwards and her hands started to fist the front of her shorts. The reaction somehow put a twist in his proverbial stomach.

“Well, I’ll make sure to let them know then.” He promised with the tiniest of smiles.

“Don’t.” Sunshine chuckled lightly. “They might really start to think we are dating”

“You say it like that’s a bad thing.” His grin turned slightly mischievous.

“It’s not.” She just answered cryptically, sighing deeply. Something about her expression looked so deeply hurt and sad, almost resigned that it made his soul ache. “They’d probably be really happy that I found someone that will take me off their hands.”

“Wow, you make it sound like they wanna get rid of you?”

“They would probably sell me to the highest bidder for a goat and a pigeon-rat if given the opportunity.”

“Awww, c’mon, you are worth at least three goats and a hamster.” He teased, earning himself a giggle from her.

“Don’t let them hear, they will make good on that deal faster than you could say sold.”

“Tempting offer.” He rumbled, noticing how her breath hitched ever so slightly with a kind of pleased feeling he really wasn’t used to.

“Oh, you are being a jerk.” She huffed, turning away from him quickly in hopes that he couldn’t spot the furious blush on her face. Obviously, not fast enough. He had half a mind to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her into him, before he could catch himself. Jesus, what was wrong with him?

For a while, neither of them say anything, but Sunshine continued to work around him as she unloaded the rest of the dishes, putting them away neatly and her face softened more and more by the minute.

“So…” G started again, after she finished. “I gotta head out in a bit. I promised Alphys to help her with some stuff for her dissertation in the lab, but you are free to come along, if you want?”

“Oh, no, it’s alright.” The woman laughed warmly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear and G could feel his brain shortcircuit for a moment. He saw her mouth move but none of the words actually reached her.

“Sorry, what?” he ripped himself out of it quickly.

“I said, I’ll just stay in. I still have a lot to catch up to before we are going to leave Monday night and your Wifi is probably a lot nicer than the campus one.”

“Yeah, Sure, do you need the password?”

“Considering that I am not the most skilled hacker, I’d appreciate it.” Rolling his eyes, G had to supress a snort.

“Alright, alright, sunshine. No need to beg me.” He chuckled, his eyes flashing dangerously for less than a moment. At least until a dishrag hits him dab smack in the face. He kinda deserved that one.

~

By the time you got around to sit down with a cup of coffee after G left his house, you’d finally got to stop your cheeks from burning like they were on fire. Despite his grumpy appearance, every time he talked to you, he somehow managed to reduce you to a little blushy puddle.

If you didn’t know any better, you’d say that he was almost flirting with you. Luckily, you did know better than to get any of your hopes up ever again.

Both Sybill and your family had seen to that.

One by breaking your heart and the other by telling you over and over again that you had to study hard to amount to anything in life at least, because there was no hope for someone like you.

Groaning, you pushed the thoughts away, pulling your books closer with a bit too much force so you could pick up where you’ve left off the day before.

Your pen makes a scratching noise as the petal pink ink glides across the paper, something you used to hate as you where smaller but nowadays, it has become somewhat of a comforting sound to you. Your only companion during some long and lonely hours spent alone while studying for a degree you’ve never really wanted but were so close to finish. Just the last electives and the internship to do your final dissertation and you’d be golden. And it only took you like what? A year and a half longer than Cissy?

Okay, she was double majoring but c’mon, yours was kind of a fusion of like… three or four subjects-which totally wasn’t just something you told yourself to make the sting of inferiority hurt just a little bit less. And Mercy never had to deal with your handicaps too, so it would be awfully nice of the universe to cut you some slack.

But alas, the universe was obviously keen on cutting you everything but slack.

About two hours into your studysession, you were almost done with the essay you had to hand it until Friday and just as you were in the middle of proofreading and revising it for the about seventh time-lord hath mercy on thy soul, should you get less than perfect marks again-you heard yet another scratching sound. This time it didn’t come from your pen though but instead from the front door, as if someone was struggling with the lock.

You quickly checked the time-it was too soon for G to be back already, he had mentioned that it would be a bit later. Almost immediately, your heartrate would pick up and it was as if the damn thing was stuck in your throat.

The sparkly pen clattered on the tabletop, spilling ink across the notes you had taken on what you still had to revise but it was of little matter to you right now.

Gnawing on your lower lip, you grabbed a knife from the kitchen-you’ve seen enough horror movies and true crime podcasts to know that in a case of emergency, you should always go for the heavy hitters-and froze, rooted in place by fear, as the door finally swung open.

Listening with baited breath, you waited as you heard the pitter patter of feet in the hallway.

Bracing yourself for the worst, you peaked around the corner, just for you to release the breath you were holding as you saw a little kid, maybe nine or ten years old, toeing off their shoes and throw their backpack into a corner. They seemed almost bored, at least until they spotted you staring at them, wide eyes and even a bit unsure.

They cautiously raised their hands and started to sign for you. It took you a moment to translate, since it had been years that you had studied sign language but you made due with it, nonetheless. “Who are you?” they asked and you blinked. “What are you doing at my Uncles House?”

Uncle. Ah. That… explained a great deal, actually.

You quickly chucked the knife back at its original place, far away from the kids sight before stepping out of the room and in front of them. Nervously tucking a piece of hair behind your ear, you smiled at them.

“I’m… a friend of G’s. He was kind enough to let me stay here until my roommate comes back, since they locked me out of our dorm.”

Their eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Uncle G doesn’t really have friends.” A pit settled in your stomach and you nodded solemnly.

“Well, maybe. I surely consider him a friend at least. We-uh-are in a study group? He calls me Sunshine? Maybe that’ll ring a bell?”

Suddenly, their eyes went huge and round, their mouth opening in a little o-shape before grinning at you.

“Ooooooh, You’re Sunshine!”

“Youp! That’s me!” you chirped entirely too cheerily. “What’s your name, little one?”

“Frisk.” They signed carefully and you smiled again.

“That’s a lovely name!” you said. “I’m sorry, your Uncle isn’t home though. He’s out with Alphys at the moment.”

“That’s fine.” They shrugged. “Mom drops me off after school a lot and I have a key. I can entertain myself”

“Oh, well, obviously.” For a moment, you two just stared at each other, not quite sure how to proceed. “Do you… maybe want a snack and watch some movies with me?”

“Heck yeah!” They grinned, doing a little fist pump. “I’m gonna put on a ghost movie!”

~

By the time G finally came back, it was already dark outside. He felt a little bit bad for leaving Sunshine alone for so long but the idea of coming home to the woman did something to his intestines, he didn’t particularly appreciate. And he wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to experience Alphys’ work first hand. That woman was brilliant, unlike any other, except maybe for his dad. But he was gone and she was here and also she wasn’t batsh*t insane.

Okay, maybe a little bit insane, but at least it was the kind of insane that makes you think that rewatching all of One Piece just shy of your exams was an absolutely stellar idea. (it was not.)

The first thing he noticed upon entering, was a new pair of shoes that was way too familiar to him and he let out an unvoluntary groan. Of course Frisk would come over the one day he’d leave Sunshine alone. He could only hope that the rascal wouldn’t drive her insane. They were notoriously a bit of a little sh*t.

Plucking a cigarette from the inside of his jacket and lighting it, he made his way into the living room from where you could hear the TV running and saw it cast shadows and lights on the opposite wall of the door. Inhaling deeply, he could feel smoke curl inside his ribs, trailing along the bones like a lovers tender caress.

He walked into the room at the same time as he exhaled, shrouding him in a cloud of smoke. He liked to imagine that it must have been a bit of a terrifying visual, like the Reaper coming for your soul.

Sunshine, however, didn’t seem deterred in the slightest. Her head just slightly turned in his direction, a soft and lazy smile on her lips. Frisk was nestled comfortably against her, which may sound cute at first, but rest assured, it just translated to them being sprawled out on a majority of the couch, spread eagle and pretty much upside down. One of their legs was dangling off the sofa and the other one draped over the backrest in a way that could not have been comfortable. Their head was pressed into their fellow humans soft stomach, their mouth wide open as they drooled on her with a slight snore. Sunshine was gently petting their head, pushing and pulling at the chestnut hair in a soothing manner, like one would do with an elderly dog. Her eyes were glued on the TV, that was showing some sort of cartoon and she hummed along to the music. There was a tenderness in her eyes he hasn’t seen before. Something between hurt, longing and contentment.

“Heya.” The skeleton greeted, which earned him a little hush.

“Quiet!” the woman chastised. “They just fell asleep.”

“Eh, they sleep like the dead.” He chuckled between drags from his cigarette. “I wouldn’t worry too much. Undyne and Paps once set off firecrackers next to them while they slept and they just farted at them.”

“Still.” She smiled, pushing the hair from their forehead. “Welcome back, by the way. I think this little playworm here missed you all day.”

“Ahhh, sorry that you had to take care of them.” G awkwardly scratched the back of his skull and let himself fall on the couch with enough momentum that Sunshine would have bounded if she wasn’t pinned down by Frisk’s unconscious body.

“Put out the cigarette if you wanna sit by the kid.” She said absentmindedly, almost as if it was a reflex. Narrowing his eyes, he put it out in the ashtray on the table. “Sorry, that was rude. Just… force of habit.”

“No harm done.” He said, leaning back on the couch and resting his arm against the back. “I hope Frisk wasn’t a pest. Sorry for putting you out like that. You should have texted me, they are my godkid to entertain afterall.”

“No, they are a wonderful child.” She quickly placated him. “Really sweet. And I love kids. I had it all under control and you had your thing with Alphys.”

“Sweet? Frisk here? Are you sure that the right kid broke into my house?”

“How many kids do break into your house?” she teased, nudging his side slightly.

“You’d be surprised how many kids are absolutely fascinated by the walking skeletons haunting these halls.”

“With a key?”

“To be fair, they swiped that one from Paps before he left.”

“You should get them one made so they don’t feel like they have to give it back. They seem really fond of you.”

“Weall, yeah…” His mouth twitched upwards for a moment. “We’ve all seen some stuff Underground. It really bonds us together.”

“I can only imagine.” Sunshine all but whispered, leaning a bit closer. It was almost enough to press herself against his side and G’s breath hitched for a moment there. In the end, it turned out to be useless anyways, as she was reaching for the remote to turn down the volume even lower, from a 10 to a 6. “Don’t wanna risk waking them.” She said, nodding at the kid. “Even if you say they can handle it.”

G took the remote from her and moved the volume to a five before it could drive him insane. “I didn’t think that it was possible for you to be any more of a mom, but colour me impressed.”

Sunshine’s smile deepened drastically as she looked at the kid with a certain fondness. “I’ve always wanted to be a Mom.” She admitted quietly and G frowned slightly at the sad tone in her voice. He noticed that her fingers were trembling and he wanted to reach out and squeeze them reassuringly. “Never was in the cards for me though, so I kinda started to mother everyone else.”

For a moment, he regarded her intensely before he had to look away. Pain and Longing for something she couldn’t have were radiating off of her in waves, so much so that it was threatening to pull him under as well.

“You talk as if your future is already lost to you. You can still settle down and start a family in a few years when you are ready. You’re young.”

“That is a lovely sentiment.” she said with yet another perfectly practices smile that screamed poised and fake. He wanted to pry into it and crack her open like a shell and have her spill all of her worries to him so badly, but he knew how to take a hint. She clearly didn’t want to talk about it, so he wouldn’t push. Lord knows that he had enough he didn’t wanna talk about as well.

“I’m surprised the squirt let you put on some animated movie. They usually hate that stuff.” He tactfully changed the subject. The human bristled slightly but seemed relieved that the conversation had shifted again.

“Hey, Barbie movies are a classic!” Sunshine pouted and G couldn’t help but laugh. Full on throwing his head back and booming voice laugh. Sunshine quickly shushed him, but a smile threatened to tug her lips upwards. “Don’t laugh at me, you bum!”

“I’m not- haha-laughing at you-hah!- Just-“

“Oh I can see that”

“No, really. I just… can’t believe you got Frisk to watch Barbie!”

“Okay, but to be fair, it’s the one in space”

“Barbie in Space?”

“It’s like Barbie Mass Effect!” She whined endearingly. “It’s really good! And c’mon, not even you can say something against the soundtrack! It’s really good!”

“What would even be the plot of a Barbie in Space movie? Aren’t they all about… twirling and dancing and singing?”

“No, that’s just the pink shoe one… and Swan Lake but that’s Tchaikovsky’s fault, not Barb’s.” she excitedly said, now a fully-fledged grin present on her face. “But basically, Barbie saves the day by being Elsa in Space but with Starlight and Spaceships instead of Ice and she also knows the secret Song of the Universe. It’s great”

“I’m sure it is.” He drawled. Sarcasm was practically dripping from him and she gave him a little glare and tut.

“You should watch it with me. A bit of cultural education would do you well. Broaden your horizon”

“Oh really? And what’s in it for me?”

“Well-” she started and a shiver was already running down his spine. She didn’t get to finish her sentence though as Frisk started to stir, twisting their body to roll off with a couch. “Oh, careful, little one.” She smiled, already back in her Mom-voice.

“Need to pee. And you two are gross.” They grumbled and trotted off sleepily. The skeleton just sighed with a slight headshake and snorted. Now that the kid was out of the room, he quickly pulled another cigarette from his pocket and lit it with a slight click of his lighter. The flame cast long shadows on his skull and he could feel Sunshine’s watchful gaze on him.

He felt a bit worried that she' mind the smoke and turned his face away from her to exhale so she wouldn’t be bothered.

“G…” she rasped and that weird feeling in his stomach area returned, like a knotting sensation. Swallowing deeply, he turned towards her and flinched upon noticing that her face was a lot closer than before. Warmth spread across his zygomatic arch as deft fingers plucked the cigarette from his grasp and took a deep drag from it. Her eyes fluttered close for a moment and he felt silly for noticing how long the shadows were that her lashes cast on her cheeks before they opened up again, half lidded. Holy sh*t, he thought as she blew smoke in his direction. It was almost… seductive. How could someone so... unassuming suddenly be so.. so!

Sitting up a lot straighter all of a sudden, he supressed the urge to lean in even closer. But Frisk would never let him live that one down if they came back now.

“Yeah?” He just rasped and made sure to hold her gaze so his wouldn’t accidentally wander down to her lips.

As if the spell was lifted and she returned to her normal, sweet and almost innocent ways that reeked of purity. Or maybe they never really left and he had just imagined it for whatever f*cked up reason he couldn’t explain away. “That’s bad for you.” She teased and put this cigarette out as well.

He wasn’t sure if she was talking about the cigarette or whatever the hell was wrong with him.

Chapter 5: Oblivious

Chapter Text

[G] 2:48

I dont get it

[Sunshine] 2:48

It is 3am

[Sunshine] 2:48

Why are you awake?

[Sunshine] 2:48

We leave in like… 7hrs?

[G] 2:48

Well, you are awake too, aren’t you?

[Sunshine] 2:48

……

[Sunshine] 2:48

Okay, fair enough

[Sunshine] 2:48

So, what aren’t you getting?

[G] 2:49

Are they sisters?

[Sunshine] 2:49

I’m gonna need a little bit more context than that, honey

[G] 2:49

Erica and Anneliese

[G] 2:49

They are long lost siblings or what is up with that?

[Sunshine] 2:49

Wait

[Sunshine] 2:49

Wait

[Sunshine] 2:49

WAIT

[Sunshine] 2:49

W A I T

[G] 2:49

I am waiting?

[Sunshine] 2:49

Are you watching Barbie????????

[Sunshine] 2:49

Like right now?

[G] 2:50

Nvmd

[Sunshine] 2:50

How far into it are you?

[G] 2:50

About 15 min

[G] 2:50

Why?

[Sunshine] 2:50

I wanna watch it too :(

[G] 2:50

Like… right now?

[Sunshine] 2:50

Yeah!

[Sunshine] 2:50

I’ve been baking and cleaning and packing for hours

[Sunshine] 2:50

And if I have to look at this stupid essay one more time Ill scream

[Sunshine] 2:50

I can’t talk about haemorrhage in the pulp chambers any more or I will hurl those stupid pink teeth across the room

[G] 2:50

I mean, I guess

[Sunshine] 2:50

Cool, Ill FT you in a minute

[Sunshine] 2:51

If you don’t mind, that is.

[G] 2:51

Why would I mind?

[Sunshine] 2:51

I-

[Sunshine] 2:51

Alright

[Sunshine] 2:51

Just give me a minute

[Sunshine] 2:56

Ready?

[G] 2:56

That was five minutes

[Sunshine] 2:56

Thank you, Father Time

[Sunshine] 2:56

I was making Popcorn

[Sunshine] 4:17

Call ended -79:34min-

[Sunshine] 4:17

Whoops, sorry, I driopped my phones

[G] 4:17

Be honest

[G] 4:17

I saw you nod off

[Sunshine] 4:17

Well, it IS past 4am

[Sunshine] 4:18

Anyways

[Sunshine] 4:18

Verdict? Since I didn’t get to hear it!

[G] 4:18

It was better than expected

[G] 4:18

I liked the Preminger guy

[Sunshine] 4:18

EVERYBODY likes Preminger

[G] 4:18

Well, consider me converted.

[G] 4:18

I preferred the space one though

[Sunshine] 4:18

I’m cheering

[Sunshine] 4:18

But really really quietly

[Sunshine] 4:19

I’ll never hear the end of it if I wake up Cam.

[Sunshine] 4:19

Glad you liked it

[Sunshine] 4:19

Next time you can pick the film

[G] 4:19

Next time?

[Sunshine] 4:20

Ah

[Sunshine] 4:20

I mean

[Sunshine] 4:20

If you want

[G] 4:20

The Velocipastor

[Sunshine] 4:20

???

[G] 4:20

Next time we should watch the Velocipastor

[Sunshine] 4:20

I have never heard of that before

[G] 4:20

“After losing his parents, a priest travels to China, where he inherits a mysterious ability that allows him to turn into a dinosaur. At first horrified by this new power, a prostitute convinces him to use it to fight crime. And ninjas.”

[G] 4:26

Are you still there?

[Sunshine] 4:26

Sorry, sorry, Cammie just threw a pillow at me because my laughing woke her up

[Sunshine] 4:26

That sounds brilliant

[Sunshine] 4:26

I’m looking forward to it!

[Sunshine] 4:26

But now, I’m gonna sleep

[G] 4:26

Yeah, me too

[G] 4:27

I’ll see you in the morning

[Sunshine] 4:27

Good night, G

[Sunshine] 4:27

Thank you for tonight.

[Sunshine] 4:27

I’ll pick you up around 10-10:30

~

“What the hell is that?” G wheezed, almost dropping his bag and guitar case. His browbone couldn’t decide if it wanted to furrow together into one or shoot up straight up into the heavens as he stared at the small, black beat-up Fiat Punto.

Sunshine just lived up to her name and beamed at him while lovingly smacking the roof, producing a hollow sound.

“It’s my sh*tbox!” She proudly proclaimed.

“Your what now?” The skeleton almost choked. “ Is that even safe to be in?”

“It’s fine, it still has all its certifications” she reassured him, bounding over to him, to take his bag off of him. The only reason that she got it from him was because he was too stunned to even react. The car sure looked like a sh*tbox, what with its dented metal that looked like it stemmed from some hail, chipped, and scratched paint and plastic parts that already started to turn grey from age.

“Do you have any idea how little that reassures me?” he rasped when he finally caught up to her, trying to wind his hand back around the handle of the bag but the little human skilfully twisted out of his grasp. “Gimme that back, it’s heavy.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got it. I’m just gonna put this in the trunk.” He frowned again, deeper this time. “You need to know where to smack it so it opens.”

“Are you telling me that your parents are loaded up the tit* and they still only got you a car that requires a secret knocking combination to open?”

“No, no.” she laughed, nudging the trunk with her elbow until it sprang open. “Ah, there we go. Sorry, my dad actually wanted to buy me a Lexus but I said no. I like my little sh*tbox better.”

“Why?”

“Because this one’s mine.” She simply shrugged, trying to look unaffected and blank faced but G could see some kind of sadness poke through behind the mask. It was like an endless pool of sorrow that was locked away deep inside of her. Only after a moment did he allow himself to replay her words again, realising the deeper meaning behind it.

The Fiat may have been a crapshot of a car and look even worse, but it was hers, likely paid for with her own money and not her parents.

She seemed to have no problem to spend that money on everyone but herself, which was concerning and deeply saddening at the same time.

“I mean, we could just drive down there with my bike?” The skeleton offered weakly and it was Sunshine’s turn to gasp in afront.

“Out of the question! We couldn’t even fit all of our luggage.”

“Eh, Alphys has some interdimensional boxes installed, it’ll fit. Probably even more than we would with the car. And it’s a lot more fun to just ride on the open road.” He tried not to imagine her body pressed all up against him as she’d hold onto him.

“We absolutely will not do that. Do you have any idea how dangerous those death machines are? On top of those interdimensional boxes. One crash and the whole thing turns into a nuke, probably”

“I’ve never crashed before!”

“Which isn’t a guarantee that you won’t in the future. You may survive that with all your magic smafoo but please keep in mind that I am a lot more squishy and fragile than you, sweetheart. And I am pretty sure that your bones can still break, magic or not.”

G paused for a moment, slightly thrown off. He opened his mouth before closing it quickly when he couldn’t come up with a good argument. “We could wear a helmet?” he tried, but knew very well, that it was no use.

The woman just gave him an unimpressed look, pursing her lips as she started to count out “Broken clavicle, shattered pelvis, compound fracturs of the femur and ribs, compressed st-“

“Okay, okay, I get it.” G relented, raising his arms for a shrug. “Fine, we’ll take your… sh*tbox, or whatever.” Grumbling he put his guitar in the back. “But I’ll drive!”

“Do you even know how to drive stick shift?” she teased playfully, nudging his side.

“Of course I do!” G spluttered as she giggled softly. “Just give me the keys.”

She threw them at him and he almost didn’t catch them but managed to hide it well. At least he thought so.

By the time he calmed down again, Sunshine had already climbed into the car, shimmying out of her pastel pink leather jacket, leaving her in only a powder blue shirt with slit sleeves and beading and a silk neck scarf that was tied to look like a rose. She looked like a background character of a Korean Office Drama.

“What’s with the outfit? Not very you” he asked, to distract himself while fiddling with the mirrors and seat. She was considerably shorter than him so he had to shove it almost all the way back.

“What, you don’t like it?”

“No, looks great, just… different.” He shrugged.

“Eh, my Mother is a bit… fussy and… I got the jacket from my sister last year. Hope it’ll put her in a good mood to see it worn.” She waved him off but he noticed a shadow falling over her eyes. “Anyways. We should get going. It’s gonna take us a bit, so I’d say we switch after a while, so you can get some more sleep or a snack. Find a restaurant for lunch or something. We should be there around the evening, hopefully.”

“Lunch sounds good, yeah.” He agreed and Sunshine hummed while punching the address into the GPS on her phone.

“I also have like… a whole boatload of snacks and drinks. Just tell me and I’ll give you what you need.” They pulled out of the parking spot and towards the direction the little voice from her phone told him to.

“Oh, whacha have there?”

“Uhhhhh….” Sunshine started to dig in her bag. “Some cookies, they are German ones that Inesh brought me from vacation, I think it’s called Princ- Prinz- Prinzen Rolle? Sorry, my german is rubbish.”

“Prinzenrolle.” G perfectly articulated and gave her a lopsided grin upon her raised eyebrows. “My Dad made sure I was very well equipped in the language department. Thought I’d go into politics when we were still Underground.”

“Oh, why didn’t you?”

“Obviously because of my sociable nature and sunny disposition” He said flatly.

“Oh.”

“Yeah… oh.” There was a pregnant pause that was heavy with awkwardness.

“Anyways.” She cleaned her throat. “I also have some Hello Panda, gummy worms, sour gummies-all of the magic variety, of course-and for drinks I brought some spider cider and iced tea. Should be enough to hold us over for the time being.”

“Are you planning on feeding a small army or are we staying in this car over the winter.”

“”C’mon, it’s not that much!” she protested with a smile.

“You just like being a mom.” He teased and her smile deepened, showing off some dimples.

“We’ve known that for a while now, smarty pants.” She trailed off, peeking down at her phone.

“Can you play ‘Oh Dear God’? By Confetti?” G asked, smiling over at her. She nodded and the song began to play from the speakers. Way too loud at first, and then softer when Sunshine muttered a curse and quickly turned it down.

“Sorry, I like to listen to loud music.”

“Don’t apologise.” He chuckled and started to softly sing along as the street rushed past them.

The first hour passed quickly, filled with music and Sunshine’s enthusiastic babbling and the second one even more so, though more quietly as a comfortable silence eventually settled over the car. G’s neck was getting a bit stiff as they crossed the two and a half hour mark and his fingers flexed against the steering wheel. Of course, she noticed upon the first popping of his neck joints and sharp, red eyes were practically locked onto him for almost a full minute.

“Take the next exit, I think it’s time for a break and switch.”

“I’ll be fine” G tried to wave her off and earned himself another “Mom-look” from her.

“We’re taking a break.” She said. Not asked. Said. “It’s time for lunch anyways and you’ve refused to switch for the past two hours. Take the next exit and I’ll go look up what monster friendly restaurants are in the area, dear.”

The skeleton suddenly felt a little bit warm under his shirt and cleared his throat, like that would help. He really wanted to argue with her, but when he looked over to the side and saw her already typing into her phone, all of his fight died down and he relented with a sigh.

“Ooooooh, they have a chocolate factory in this town that does tours!” she gleefully exclaimed. “The kind where you can try all of the stuff. Oh, we should go. That sounds lovely, doesn’t it?”

“Uhhhhh, I thought we had to be at your parents like… today? Are you sure we have time for some tourist stops?”

She let out a scandalised gasp. “We are on a roadtrip and you don’t want to stop anywhere? Where’s the fun in that? I mean, we are already here since I had to force you to take a break.”

He sighed, trying not to let her enthusiasm get to him. But he’s always been bad with that, even with Papyrus. They were quite similar in that regard. “What about your family?”

Really, that should been the end of that, but apparently, she was stubborn. “No way! It’ll be like Thema and Louise! They can wait a bit.”

“Oh yeah, so we’re gonna murder someone and then drive off a cliff?”

G had been trying to tease Sunshine, but she either didn’t realise or didn’t care. “Oh, is that how that movie goes?” she laughed. “Man, I gotta stop referencing movies I haven’t seen.”

“You haven’t seen the movie?” he gaped and once more she laughed, tucking some of her hair back.

“Should we go and see if we can put it on or something? Would that make you happy?”

“No.” yes. “Wait, is this a ploy to delay the arrival to your parents?”

“Whaaaaat? No, that’s craaaaaazy” she answered in that flat kind of tone that immediately spoke of sarcasm. He raised an eyebrow at her with bemusem*nt and she scoffed playfully. “C’mon, don’t judge me, your brother is actually cool. You can’t fault me for delaying the inevitable.”

“You know they are gonna be even more difficult if you just… don’t show up?”

“Ugh, stop being right, that’s annoying.” She scoffed but one of the corners of her mouth was twitching upwards. “Fine, no chocolate factory, Mister party pooper.”

“I mean, we can still stop by on the way back home.” He shrugged with a slight grin. “That way you can actually take some of the chocolate home and not have it stolen by a sibling because I know Paps would absolutely do that.”

“Oh, stop.” She whined with a laugh. “I can only get so hard.”

They changed seats after their lunch, which was probably for the better, because G dozed off pretty much the second they pulled up on the interstate again. By the time he managed to escape the enticing clutches of sleep, the sun already stood deep on the sky. Grunting groggily, he turned his head towards Sunshine behind the wheel.

Badump.

She was singing along to the music and he recognised the song. It was the silly little campfire one from that Barbie in Space movie they had watched together and the sound made his sleepy little soul jump in his chest. He hadn’t been aware that she could sing, not like this at least, but for some reason, watching her, with the sun drenching her in golden light and bouncing off her pale freckles and dancing with the long shadows her lashes were casting, made him feel like his whole chest was compressing. Caving in on itself and causing a deep ache that he realised had been there for a while and he had just ignored it for the longest time because he refused to see Sunshine. Really see her.

Badump.

In his head, he had put up all of these walls, refused to acknowledge that she had somehow wormed her way through every crevasse and turned from someone unassuming and a fleeting acquaintance to such a permanent fixture in his life, that he couldn’t even start to imagine it without her again.

Badump.

His eyes flickered down to her lips, stained a flushed colour from her chapstick, and his soul spluttered again, stronger this time.

Badump.

He must have made a weird noise because her head turned towards him and she gave him one of those blinding smiles he had come to appreciate so much.

Badump.

The one where her nose twitched slightly and her eyes squinted at him from the warmth that must be blinding to even her and for a brief moment, he realised that she was never just… bland and unassuming but he hadn’t considered her warmth and kindness and that never-ending patience she somehow seemed to muster up. Until now, he hade mistaken it for softness or a weakness that rendered her inconspicous, just because she wasn’t wild and out and about and didn't have a boastful extroverted personality like so many of his friends. Once more, she smiled at him and his mouth was never this dry and his cheeks never this warm and all he could think was that “how can someone be this pretty?” and he finally realised what that ache in his chest had been all along.

Badump.

Oh no.

Chapter 6: Mistakes were made

Chapter Text

G spent the next hour or so unsure if he should be mad at himself, freaked out or just effing frustrated. This was a nightmare. It was uncalled for, impossible and quite frankly, just an absolute inconvenience.

The last rays of light hit Sunshine’s jawline and all he could stupidly think- now that things had fallen into place for him- that, damn, she really was a pretty thing. Bit plain, but also, he was a f*cking idiot. So he resumed thinking dumb with his head and thinking dumb with his body and even dumber with his stupid soul because that fool practically sang to him that she was pretty, P-R-E-T-T-Y. Spell that backwards and forwards, up and down and all the angles in between and you got him.

Especially when she looked at him again and those red eyes were mesmerising enough to stop any train of thought to a screeching halt. Which was absolute bullsh*t because, Mayday. f*cking mayday.

G didn’t get stunned. He didn’t get mesmerised and he certainly didn’t feel sh*t like that deep within his chest, down in the part that he had hidden away long ago, just after the accident and only his brother had access to anymore.

And okay, do you want to know a secret about G? He acted cool and all. Subzero face. Stony topaz eyes. Well worn biker jacket that everyone in the department gave him sh*t for. Hard and strong where the Underground had required him to be. Fast and agile to climb up walls and charge down rogue humans and pin them to the floor all while he didn’t even have to use magic yet. His social skills could use a lot of work but he didn’t have problems getting people on their knees for him or into his bed.

Guys ate it up. Loved cool G. Liked that he was slender and powerful so they got the perks of the strength without dating a dude who was stacked. They loved that G could pin them wherever he deemed and keep them there like a cosmic force.

Girls gushed and fawned cause G was so untouchable, so aloof, so callous. You could cut yourself f*cking him and they would thank him for the inch deep scars afterwards.

G f*cked.

G knew how to play guys and chicks. Just look at his face.

Look at the body, the power, the brawns and the brains.

f*cking catnip.

Bone-a-fide flame for moths.

The actual living personification of thick, black tar, of sharp knives, of shady alleys and the belly of slumbering volcanoes.

Point was, G didn’t panic.

G was ice.

He didn’t mind having a quick and nasty thing to get his rocks off and keep his mind sharp as he focussed on more pressing matters. Things that were actually important. He was still just a man, had his needs, but he always, always knew that there were things that mattered more.

But right now, he wasn’t feeling nasty-okay, maybe a little bit, but give him a second to explain-there was more to it. Sunshine invited more than desire from him. Power slammed him into a dimension of sex and charm uncharted by humanity and just as he thought he’d finally perfected all of those walls, she came around and tore them all down without even trying.

The skeleton had experience with sex. Meaningless sex. Sex with girls and boys and everything in between, monsters and humans alike.

But he had no experience with this.

This thing living between sex and emotion. Sex and compatibility.

The way his soul was screaming that dreaded L-Word and maybe even the even more so dreaded S-Word that he never even thought about before, never thought it would be a possibility and it’s all bogus humbug so why even entertain the thought?

This was a rare moment-G learing to back up, to reflect and really search deep inside of himself to find an answer he already knew but didn’t want to be true.

So okay, yeah.

He freaked. But anyone would do so in his situation.

Naturally, his inner monologue currently consisted of a lot of screaming and extremely flavourful curse words that would burn off any sailors ears. Like… A Lot.

Quickly, he glanced at her, only for his head to whip back around to look out of the window, before he could do something stupid. All he wanted, was a moment and calm down so he could rationalise his stupid feelings away. Put them in a little box, lock it tight and throw away the key so they would all be buried deep within him until they eventually went away on their own and he’d forget all about this stupid little lapse of judgement. But he couldn’t do that because every time he was close to finding that inner peace of repression, Sunshine did something-even if it was just breathing, if we’re being honest-and distracted him and suddenly he was faced with that bullsh*t again.

God, how he wished for that blissful ignorance once more. This was hell. Literal hell.

“I can’t stop this feeling, deep inside of me. Girl, you just don’t realise what you do to me.” Her voice was perfect and G tried to ignore the blush it brought to his cheeks against his will, even when she was singing like a bit of a f*cking moron-she wasn’t but he was trying to talk himself out of it and he had enough insight to know that much, which frustrated him even more.

“When you hold me, in your arms so tight- You let me know, everything’s alright.” The skeleton tensed, cursing his own magic for betraying him like that as his cheekbones burned like wildfire, before she was practically screaming the next verse.

“I~I~I~I~I’M-”two slams of her fist on the horn to punctuate the beat. “HOOKED ON A FEELIN’!” she cried out, G peeking over from his spot against the passenger door, pressed against the cool metal to get some distance between them. And he laughed.

Sunshine glanced at him from the side, cheeks pleasantly flushed and maybe a little demure but she must have seen something in his smile because she proceeded to sing along like that. Overdramatic and loud and full of life and joy and free in a way she usually didn’t allow herself to be, like this was her last moments before walking up to the scaffold to get her head chopped off. All while he was thinking that he really enjoyed this car ride a lot more than he should have, how much he liked this carefree attitude that was maybe influenced a bit too much by the road-sleepiness and that he lo-

“Can we take a break at the next gas stop!” G panicked and interrupted his own train of thought. Sunshine gave him a questioning glance from the side and he quickly added “My leg’s asleep.”

Nodding with understanding, she assured him to take the next exit that was available. He was both sad, and relived that she didn’t sing along any more.

As soon as the car was parked, he fumbled with his seatbelt. “I’ll uh-take a quick walk to get the magic flowing again.” He mumbled and Sunshine hummed, none the wiser.

“Take your time. I’ll be inside for a minute, go for little humans, and maybe grab some extra minty gum. I can’t believe I forgot to refill mine! I was so sure I’d thought of everything.”

“Sure, here.” He absentmindedly threw her his wallet. Some coins inside of it jingled as she fumbled to catch it. “My treat.” The corner of his mouth twitched up into a little smile and he didn’t wait to see her reaction before stalking off into the darkness, snow crunching under his shoes. They were pretty high up so the weather had cooled down a lot.

Groaning loudly, he pulled out his cigarettes with one hand and his phone with the other.

Tapping his foot impatiently, he waited for the call to connect. His zippo clicked as he lit the end of his cigarette. He almost gave up on the call, when it finally got through and his brother’s sleepy face popped up on screen. Papyrus grumpily mumbled his name and rubbed his sockets.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS HERE?”

“Yeah, sorry, bro.” G huffed out a cloud of smoke. “I’m just in a bit of a pickle.”

“DID YOU GET STRANDED SOMEWHERE AGAIN? YOU KNOW I CAN’T COME PICK YOU UP IF YOU RAN OUT OF MAGIC. MAYBE YOU SHOULD CALL UNDYNE OR DOCTOR ALPHYS TO-“

“Nah, don’t worry. Magic’s stable.”

“THEN WHY ARE YOU LURKING IN THE DARK SOMEWHERE LEFT OF THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE? ”

“Took the roadtrip with S- the human. You remember?”

“AH, YES!” Papyrus hummed. “I’M GLAD YOU AREN’T ALONE FOR THE HOLIDAYS AT LEAST.”

“Yeah, yeah.” G grumbled, taking another deep drag from his cigarette. The usually so comforting feeling of smoke against his bones suddenly felt invasive and uncomfortable. His brother looked at him expectantly as he walked into the kitchen to make himself a pot of overly fancy coffee. He didn’t get why someone would feel the need to add at least a pound of caramel. Coffee wasn’t supposed to taste good, it was supposed to keep him awake.

“OKAY, SO WHAT’S GOING ON?”

“Can’t a brother just call because he misses you?”

“IT IS ONE IN THE MORNING AND I HAVE AN 8AM CLASS.” Paps gave him a flat look. “AND YOU MENTIONED A PICKLE. THIS ISN’T ONE OF YOUR JOKES, RIGHT? YOU DIDN’T TAPE AN ACTUAL PICKLE TO THE CEILING AGAIN?”

“No joke.” G huffed and rolled his eyelights. “Though I wish it was.”

Papyrus’ scrunched up in annoyance. “WELL, SPIT IT OUT THEN!”

“You remember the human?”

“THE SAME ONE YOU ARE ON A TRIP WITH? YES, I CAN FAINTLY RECALL THE GIRL YOU WON’T SHUT UP ABOUT.”

“sh*t, yeah, sure just…” He groaned again. “Okay, this may sound stupid, so you aren’t allowed to laugh, kay?”

“JUST SAY IT!”

“IthinkIloveher.” He rushed though the words with a groan.

“OKAY, AND NOW SLOWER SO I CAN ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND YOU.”

“I said-“ G snapped between ground teeth. “that I love her.”

“Oh.” Paps mumbled softly, seemingly a bit lost. “UH. YES?”

“Yes?”

“I MEAN…. UH…” He coughed. “IS THIS…. A NEW DEVELOPMENT? WE ARE FINDING OUT ABOUT?”

“Uh, yes?” G huffed and flicked his cigarette away. The red embers left a trail of glowing light as it arched through the air before disappearing into the darkness.

“OH! AH! WHAT A SURPRISE! I AM… SO SURPRISED BY THIS AND COULD HAVE NEVER EXPECTED THIS AND-“

“Drop the act bro.” G sighed and buried his face in his hands.

“OKAY, BUT CAN YOU BLAME ME? YOU INVITED HER INTO OUR HOUSE, YOU ARE HER DATE FOR HER SISTERS WEDDING-“

“Not a date. She made that very clear.”

“SUUUURE.” His brother answered very slowly, like he didn’t fully believe him. “ANYWAYS. IT UH… WAS A TAD OBVIOUS. TO BE HONEST, I ALREADY THOUGH YOU TWO WERE… AN ITEM OF SORTS”

“An item?” G choked. “Holy Asgore’s Santa pantaloons, no, I- What? No! Why-ugh, do I seem like the guy for relationships?”

“YOU’VE NEVER SHOWN INTEREST IN IT, NO, BUT FROM WHAT I’VE SEEN AND HEARD, SHE SEEMS TO BE GOOD FOR YOU, SO I DIDN’T WANNA PRY. YOU SEEMED HAPPY.”

“Oh, the one time you aren’t prying.”

“WHOOPS.” He slurped his coffee noisily.

“Whoops. Whoops, he says, like I’m not just freaking out.”

“YEAH, I CAN SEE THAT.” The skeleton glared at his brother via screen who just sighed and put his mug down. “WHAT DO YOU NEED TO HEAR RIGHT NOW?”

“I don’t know? Something? You are the emotions guy.”

“WELL, ARE YOU GONNA CONFESS?”

“Wasn’t planning on it.” He quickly admitted.

“WELL, WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO THEN?”

“Repress it.”

“THAT HAS NEVER WORKED.”

“Yeah, well, this is gonna be a first then.”

“I’LL TAKE THAT BET.” Just as he was about to snap back, he heard Sunshine call his name back at the car and give him a shy wave.

“sh*t, I gotta go.”

“WAIT, WHAT?”

“Sunshine’s back.”

“WAIT!” Paps quickly stopped him as his thumb already hovered over the red button on his screen. “JUST…. DON’T DO ANYTHING STUPID, OKAY?”

“When have I ever done anything dumb?”

“DO YOU WANT IT IN ALPHABETICAL OR CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER?”

“Smartass.” G grumbled.

“SAYS THE IDIOT THAT DIDN’T KNEW HE WAS IN LO-“

“Yeah, okay, byeeee.” He huffed and pressed the end-call button, cutting his brother off. Taking a deep breath, he tried to gather his bearing before stalking back to the car.

~

By the time the moon started to peer down at them and they passed a town that was illuminated by glittering lights, almost like those videos of Vegas he had seen, Sunshine had become… restless.

Her leg was bouncing nervously and she had opted for chewing her nails instead of talking. She had completely retreated into herself and G hated seeing her, with those slumped shoulders and deep frown lines on her face.

“Worried?” He eventually asked, his voice quiet and deep but just enough to rip her from whatever thought she was lost to.

“What? Sorry? I was… Not there…”

“I’ve noticed.” He gave her a thin smile and she flushed around the nose. “I asked if you are worried.”

Slowly, she lowered her hand and smoothed out a wrinkle in her shirt to stall for a few more seconds. “Was it that obvious?”

“A bit.” He admitted and switched lanes to pass a Subaru.

“I’m sorry, I just…” She sighed. “I don’t know.” For a moment, he watched her side profile-and for once didn’t get lost in the arch of her nose-before he reached over the middle console to squeeze her knee.

“Don’t worry. Even if they decide to be difficult, we can still make this a fun trip.” He promised with a genuine smile. She returned it, but it seemed a bit more dull than usually. He could have sworn that her cheeks were a bit more rosy than a minute ago.

“It’s always fun when you are around, G.”

Noooooo, don’t say my name like that; he whined on the inside and craved a cigarette to calm his own nerves now. She must have noticed, because she bent down and dug through her bag, only to come back up a second later with a triumphant Ah-hah! She was holding what looked to be a lollipop and the wrapper made a loud crinkling noise as she unpacked it and held it out for him.

“What am I supposed to do with that?”

“Put it in your mouth.” She said almost sternly. “Helps with the oral fixation of smoking.”

“How the f*ck do you know that?”

She shrugged with one shoulder. “We talked about it in my criminal psychology class. Thought it’s a better substitute than nothing and I don’t want to spend three days to get the smell of smoke out of my car-if I could even get it out.”

“What kind of major are you in where you know a suspicious amount about bodies, criminal psych and freaking music theory of all things?”

“You know, I really wanna tell you but at this point, it’s funnier to see you squirm.”

“You-“ he grumbled. “Are being a tease.” Sunshine just smiled to herself, but didn’t answer him. They stayed quiet until the GPS finally told him to take a left and he would have missed it and drove right past the ornate gate if Sunshine wouldn’t have pointed it out. Tension made her voice grow heavy and quiet and she was now fully gnawing on her lip until it was cherry red as they pulled into the endlessly long driveway.

“I know, you said your parents are loaded, but I didn’t think you’d be royalty.”

Sunshine laughed like he was stupid. “Do I look like a princess to you? f*ck no.”

“I literally just saw a marble statue of cupid and a hedge maze with more roses than should be legal at this season.” The skeleton countered as they drove past meticulously pruned trees.

“It’s just the stupid ass pretentious wedding location my sister picked for her dream wedding so she can be the perfect princess on her special day.” Her voice rose up into a mocking, high pitched tone that sounded rather nasal and she clasped her hands in a picturesque Disney princess fashion.

“Gag.”

“You and me both, buddy.” She rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh.

Finally, the house came into view and G whistled through his teeth. It was fairly large and if he’d have to guess he’d probably say that the estate was a baroque villa but he’d have to snap a picture for Toriel to confirm those suspicions.

He already cringed. G was used to townhouses and apartments, with chipped yellow paint and white trim that screamed of domesticity, with soccer balls lying in the lawn and bikes thrown across gravel.

They came cruising down the driveway and into one of the parking spots-right next to an obnoxiously yellow Camaro. As he was about to put the car into park, he noticed Sunshine suddenly tense up considerably. Her posture straightened up tremendously and he could practically hear the insanely loud gulp. Confused he looked up towards the house and noticed that the front door had opened and a stern woman walked out. Judging by her wardrobe and stern face and posture, she could have easily passed for a senior member of the British Crown, if it wasn’t for that fiery copper hair that was pulled into a neat and tidy updo that reminded him of that one video of that model that could change poses for a photoshoot at lightning speed. Right next to her stood an Asian gentleman in a pair of slacks and a button down.

Sunshine took a deep breath, barely able to unhook her seatbelt with her shaking hands. “Wish me luck” she whispered, red eyes round and alert. She squared her shoulders and exited the car with a grace that took even him by surprise. She walked up to the house and-he’s not kidding, and he’d bet his left hand that this actually happened-curtsied shortly in front of what he assumed to be her parents.

At first glance, they just looked like the usual run-of-the-mill rich people with their plain clothes that fit too well to be just off the rack and their rather toned down jewellery but their whole aura seemed… intimidating. And oh so cold.

Never in his life had he witnessed such a chill in a family reunion. But maybe because he was used to Papyrus and Undyne having a flex-off in the living room while Frisk stuffed their face with mashed potatoes, all but using their hands like the little gremlin they were. As much as he grumbled and grunted, he still appreciated his little family. Now this display made him appreciate it even more.

He finally got out of the car and tried to remember the secret knocking combination to the trunk.

Hushed words carried over to him, not loud enough that he could hear them. At least not until someone else entered the scene.

“Palgan.” A rich and warm voice greeted and G’s head almost snapped around instantly. She was tall, and incredibly beautiful. Charcoal hair spilled over her shoulders in an almost flawless Marseille weave that was only accentuated by sapphire eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. She was wearing a high waisted pair of black pants and a white blouse that would let even the most beautiful K-Pop Idol pale in comparison.

There was absolutely no doubt, that Mercy Winters was absolutely the gorgeous woman her sister had made her out to be.

But ultimately, it was the way that she carried herself that differentiated her. If G could use any words to describe her, he’d say that she was boisterous. Exuberant. Lively. Animated. Pompous. Arrogant. Cruel. There were so many things that would describe her aura, things that just oozed from every word she said.

“Well, look who finally made it down here.”

Her voice boomed and the skeleton instantly disliked that about her. He could tell that she was a very intelligent woman and powerful to boot. Entitlement dripped from every pore and he just knew that she was used to be the center of attention in every room she stepped a foot into.

“Cissy.” Sunshine all but mumbled, head bowed down. “It’s nice to finally be down here. You look great”

“I know. You look adorable. Is that the jacket I got for you?”

“It is!” G could hear the little smile in Sunshine’s voice and couldn’t help but to mimic it, just in time for the trunk to snap open so he could grab their bags.

“How was the drive? Not too long?”

“No. We just ran into some traffic but it was bearable.” She lied a bit too effortlessly and Mercy hummed.

“I guess. So.” The Bride-to-be clapped her perfectly manicured hands. “Where’s that date of yours I’ve heard so much about?” A malicious little smile curled at her burgundy lips. “Carmen has told me so much about your boyfriend.”

If G would have skin, it would have turned white around his knuckles from the tight grip on his bag upon hearing her drag out the word, as if she knew that she would put her little sister on the spot, embarrass her in front of their parents and probably vie for a humiliating lecture.

“Boyfriend?” Their mother exclaimed gleefully and even their father, who had so far stayed quiet, made an interested and approving noise. “Mercy, my angel, you didn’t tell me that that plus one was a courtship.”

“It must have slipped my mind. Sorry Mama.” She said, almost mocking as she overshadowed her sisters desperate attempt to but in and correct the situation. “Right, Palgan?”

“No, you got it wr-“

“Oh, that is wonderful news, dove.” Her father hummed. “Where is the strong lad?”

“No, Papa, please-“ Sunshine tried again, but was silenced with a handgesture that made her flinch harshly. “Sorry.” she whispered. The small interaction told G more than it should have and anger finally boiled over enough.

Steeling himself for what was probably something his brother would call “Incredibly stupid” and “you shouldn’t do, under no circ*mstances.”

“Hey, love.” He greeted and threw his free arm around her waist and pressed a kiss on top of her head. “Sorry, I had to get our stuff from the car.”

He felt her tense under his touch for the briefest moment and her eyes snapped up to meet his. He could see fear in them, along with confusion and apprehension but also… gratitude. And something else he couldn’t quite read, something that almost looked… longing.

And then it was gone and she practically melted into his side with that practised smile and her lips brushed against the underside of his jaw. Already he regretted this stupid ass idea because that was such a weak spot for him that his knees almost buckled if they weren’t firmly locked in place right now.

“Of course.” She still smiled before turning towards her family. “Everybody, I want you to meet my boyfriend.”

Putting on his most charming attitude-which wasn’t a lot, but seemingly enough for the stunned trio in front of him-he grasped their hands in a firm handshake. “Hi, I’m Sans. It’s lovely to finally meet all of you.” He tried not to sound too passive aggressive but apparently failed. When he met Mercy’s eyes, they were hard as stone and he knew that she was absolutely seething on the inside, a blotchy blush staining her face red. Finally an imperfection. “My Sunshine has told me so much about all of you.”

He was pretty sure that he’d made an enemy that day.

Chapter 7: And they were roommates.

Chapter Text

The moment the door fell into the lock behind you, you practically whipped around, fast enough that your own hair was hitting you in the face. Your hands came up so you could push the open palms against G’s chest. Not forceful enough that he would fall but it did make him step back exactly once.

Surprised, his browbones shot up in a way that made your cheeks flare up red.

“Sans?” you hissed. “Sans?!”

“That is the problem you have with this situation?” he fired back and your flush deepened.

“Your name is Sans?” you all but whisper-shrieked. Lord knows that if anyone in the house would hear you, all hell would break loose for a variety of reasons.

“What?” the skeleton chuckled, pulling out his cigarettes. He barely managed to put the box open before you could snatch it away from him. “Hey!”

“This is a historic house we are renting! If you want to smoke, we can do that outside!”

“We?” he questioned, and you just gave him a pointed look.

“Yes, we! I could desperately need a smoke after finding out that my supposed’s boyfriend’s name is apparently Sans!”

“To be fair, you never gave me your real name too.” He muttered under his breath. “But c’mon, did you really think my name was G? Of all things?”

“Everybody calls you that!”

“And everybody calls you Winnie. Or Blizz. Or Bee. Or Ally Cat. Your point being? I mean, I still don’t know your name.” His dry reply made you flinch harshly and you instinctively gnawed on your lip in shame. He was right about that little fact. You were acting a little hypocritical about the whole name thing. Which did leave you with the other little problem.

“Okay, fine, you are right. That does not explain why we are suddenly in a relationship!” You wildly gestured between the two of you. “How am I supposed to explain that away?”

G simply shrugged. “Your sister was being a bitch and tried to humiliate you. ‘m not particularly fond of little two faced backstabbers.”

“Okay, but what am I gonna do now?” you whined.

“I guess we’ll play along for the duration of the wedding. Don’t you wanna rub it in your family’s face that you aren’t gonna end up a lonely little spinster?”

“Okay, first of all, we’ve established that I am going to be a drug selling stripper living a life of crime, not a spinster.” You half-joked, the corners of your mouth wobbling slightly. “And second, I mean.. yeah. At least my parents would get off my case since they… were so sure that nobody would w…” Swallowing around the lump in your throat, you had to stop for a moment. “Nevermind. Just… They’d be happy. And Cissy does deserve to eat her own words. She’s been kind of mean lately”

“See? It’s not that big of a deal.” G shrugged- You just stared at him in confusion. How could he be so unaffected by this? So unbothered and cool and aloof, almost like it was a façade. But it couldn’t be, right?

Right?

“I mean, it’s kind of a big deal.” You cringed. “I kinda did tell Cam, who then absolutely did tell Mercy because she’s a blabbermouth with the spinal equivalent of a chocolate éclair that can be bought with sh*tty kimchi that probably wasn’t even homemade because heavens above that Little Miss Perfect actually uses a kitchen for its intended purpose, that we absolutely aren’t dating since you know…. They are nosey little bastard rat children so I am at least 78% sure that she may be onto us.”

“Well…” G stepped closer to you, close enough that you could smell that lovely campfire-marshmallow scent again and actively had to fight against the urge to let your lashes flutter close and lean in. So instead, you took a step back and stared at him with big eyes. He just followed along easily, staying within your personal bubble. He reached out to push a strand of your hair back behind your ear and your breath hitched ever so slightly. “Guess we just gotta convince your majesty from our ruse.”

Fighting against your urge to lean into the simple touch-reminding yourself that for him, this was all just a game, a ruse, and act and a free vacation, that none of this was real for him and never would be-you instead took a deep breath to put all of your emotions away, compartmentalise them to be dealt with at a later time and stepped back once again.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” his browbone shot up again in surprise.

“Okay. I-don’t wanna start a huge fight this close to the wedding. We just gotta make it through the week. So… Okay.” You irritated, jutting out your chin slightly. “We should set up some ground rules though.”

“Rules.” G laughed and tried to snatch his cigarettes back from you, but you expertly twisted out of his grasp. The little cardboard box quickly disappeared in your back pocket.

“Yes rules. C’mon, this… This was your idea! So I need you to work with me if you want this to be convincing! I mean, nobody is gonna believe us that we are in love if we just… act like us.” you huffed. “Which I still don’t know why you would even consider doing that. I mean, there’s nothing for you to gain and-“

“Because your sister’s a daft c*nt.” G simply shrugged and you gasped loudly, before gently pushing against his chest again.

“She is not.”

“She is.” He stated like it was a fact. “I mean, she tried to get you in trouble with your parents within like… two minutes.”

“She’s just… an older sister.” It was a weak excuse and you knew it. She was a daft c*nt. So you quickly changed the subject and started to pace the expensive carpet. “Anyways, uhm… boundaries. And stuff.”

“Stuff.” His shoulders shook with silent laughter. “Aw, don’t tell me you are embarrassed, Sunshine.”

“I-Of course not!” you insisted. Obviously, it was a lie but he didn’t have to know that. “I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable or overstep any lines. I am trying to be considerate.”

“Don’t you worry about me, darling.” The world rolled off his tongue like molasses and your cheeks darkened once again, which in turn made G chuckle again. The gesture distracted you enough that you didn’t even notice that he stepped closer to you again. “How do you plan on keeping a cool head if a petname is gonna make you flustered already.”

“I-I’m not flustered!” you insisted but took another step back anyways. G took two forwards and now towered in front of you like a proverbial wall. His arm snaked around your waist and you let out a little squeak as it wandered lower. “G!” you mumbled but he laughed again, dangling the pack of cigarettes in front of your eyes that he’d just swiped from you.

“And you wonder why I pegged you as innocent.” He chuckled while shaking his head.

“I’m not!” you protested. A part of you was proud that you didn’t take another step back.

“I’ve met nuns that were more promiscuous.”

“I can play along” you insisted stubbornly, glaring up at him with challenge before you took a step closer to him, splaying your hands across his sternum. You could feel his bones underneath your hands and you couldn’t help but notice the uneven texture, even through his shirt. The more work focussed part of your brain already started to went down the list. Jagged edges to the breaks of the anterior ribs and sternum, small fragments, hints of circular or radiating fractures or adherent spurs. It tickled the urge to find out more about what could have caused these, but that was for another day. “The question is, can you? I know you like to tease but do you have what it takes, G?”

He hummed slightly and you internally fist pumped yourself when you spotted that hint of gold dusting his cheekbones.

“You underestimate me if you think that I’ll be toppled by some stolen glances and little touches”

“We’ll have to share a bed.” You shrugged. “What if someone comes in? Would look weird if one of us would camp out on the couch.”

“How cliché.” His head tilted sightly and you mimicked the gesture. “And there was only one bed.”

“And there was only one bed.” you breathed and the golden flush on his cheeks intensified, as well as yours. “Bet you that you’ll break first. You’re not a hugger.”

“No way, Sunshine. Fist kiss and you are out.”

“You wanna bet?” your eyebrows shot up and he chuckled darkly.

“Sure. First one to crack loses.”

“What’s in it?” Nervously, you traced the inside of your lip with the tip of your tongue.

“Winner gets a favour.”

“Fine.” You huffed with self-righteous determination before quickly swiping the cigarettes back once more. “I’ll take that bet.” You grinned and dodged his attempt to get the pack back. Laughing, you put one of them between your lips and slipped out on the balcony. Following your beckoning he joined you, accepting a cigarette of his own with a grumble but you saw a smile on that face as he pulled his lighter from the inside pocket of his jacket.

~

[G] 22:56

I f*cked up

[Käpt’n Iglo] 22:57

*Wii sports Announcer Voice*

N E W R E C O R D!

[G] 22:57

f*ck off, Undyne

[Chef Ramsey] 23:04

I swear to god, if this is what I think it is, I am going to be so mad

[Chef Ramsey] 23:04

We talked about this

[Chef Ramsey] 23:04

THREE HOURS AGO!

[Chef Ramsey] 23:04

I literally told you NOT to do anything stupid

[Chef Ramsey] 23:04

How did you already mess this up?

[G] 23:05

okay then

[G] 23:05

goodnight

[Chef Ramsey] 23:05

No wait.

[Käpt’n Iglo] 23:05

No wait.

[Alpha] 23:05

No wait.

[Mettaton] 23:05

No wait.

[Mettaton] 23:05

You can’t leave us hanging like this

[Mettaton] 23:05

I am appalled

[Mettaton] 23:05

👏Spill 👏 it 👏Sis 👏

[Mettaton] 23:05

☕ ☕ ☕

[G] 23:13

Nah

[G] 23:13

I’m gonna make you guys wait until I’m back

[Chef Ramsey] 23:16

Is this revenge for the time that I ate your Chewy Gooey Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Split Ice Cream?

[G] 23:17

Oh yeah right, now that you remind me…

[G] 23:17

It absolutely is.

G’s phone started to repeatedly buzz with staggering aggression as he closed the group chat. The light illuminating his jawline died down as he locked it and threw it somewhere in the room, confident that his shock-proof covering he’d gotten from Alphys a few years back would keep it safe. Sunshine next to him sighed in her sleep and G was suddenly in his personal hell of his own making.

It wasn’t the first time he’d seen her asleep but this was the first time since his…. Realisation… and that made it exponentially worse because Sunshine slept like a little kitten and it was the most precious thing he’d seen since Papyrus had grown out of his first snowsuit.

She was curled up on her side, wearing nothing but a thin pyjama set that clung to her body in a way that displayed her brightly freckled shoulders to him. They dot her shoulders, her cheeks, her arms like tiny stars and G wants to run his fingers along them to connect them like constellations. He refrains from giving in to the urge and kicked himself again for getting his dumb ass into this situation. He should have kept his mouth shut so they’d get their separate rooms with separate beds on hopefully separate ends of the house but he had to open up his big mouth and then talk himself even deeper into the hole he’d dug and now he was trapped in a bed with his newly minted pretend-girlfriend.

All because he couldn’t keep it in his proverbial pants.

Well, now he really had to keep it together because having her so close-close enough that he could feel the warmth radiating off of her in her sleep and smell her lightly scented perfume that had worn off over the day-was absolute torture and there was nothing that he wanted to do more than to swipe his hands across the soft skin of her curves and pulle her into his chest and all of that mushy crap he'd never tell a soul about.

She shifted in her sleep with a little sigh and craned her neck lightly and the skeleton made a weird noise. With her hair splayed around her head like a halo, she really did look like a renaissance painting of an angel or a goddess in his eyes. Like a flip had switched and she suddenly didn’t blend into the background anymore but got promoted to Main Character Status.

And G couldn’t even enjoy this moment because it was all fake and it was his fault and god f*cking damn it, he probably couldn’t even go and hide in the bathroom to rub one out in the hopes of getting over his own damn self-or at least tucker him out so he could sleep-because it might wake the woman that was so close, yet so far.

Sighing deeply, he rubbed his face with one hand. The noise of bone rubbing across bone split the silence in the room and once more, Sunshine twitched in her sleep. It was gonna be a long night.

And an even longer week.

Chapter 8: Outed

Chapter Text

You woke up like you always did. Sprawled out on the bed, snoring ever so slightly and drooling with a bit of your hair stuck to the roof of your mouth.

Okay, that was a lie.

You usually didn’t wake up with a hand carelessly thrown over somebody else.

Still stuck in your post-sleep haze, you turned your head, lips smacking together as you couldn’t decide if you wanted to look at your rogue arm or G, who was still fast asleep.

He slept on his back, with an arm propped under his neck in a way that made his jugular-or where his jugular would be-really pronounced. Sleep drunk as you were, you couldn’t help but to imagine what your lips would feel against the anterior body of his vertebrae. Would his pedicle be sensitive? Would he like if you touched his superior articular process?

After a moment, you snapped out of the thought, with a furious blush creeping all over your face. Good gracious golly, what were you even thinking? G was your friend, not something you could just lust over. No matter your little (read: huge) crush on him, that didn’t give you the right to have naughty thoughts about him.

You practically ripped your hand away from his middle and he rumbled in his sleep, turning his body towards you. It almost seemed like he was looking for your bodyheat.

The position he was in didn’t look particularly comfortable, what with his Body all twisted like that, but he didn’t complain so you thought it best not to wake him.

You couldn’t look him in the face without feeling ashamed so you cast your eyes more downwards, only to see that his blanket had slid off and revealed the sliver of bone that was showing between his shorts and shirt. Your professor would commend him on his almost textbook looking Iliac Crest. If flesh and muscle would cover it, you just knew that he’d have that very pronounced V-shape dipping down underneath the waistband of his pants, but he didn’t and that somehow felt even more scandalous.

There were some chips and groves that looks suspiciously like a hairline fracture that had already healed over and calcified. And if you would tilt your head just a bit to the left, you’d probably be able to look down his pants but you still had some decency inside of you, so you tilted to the right instead. Though you were the tiniest bit curious.

You knew the rumours about G.

Cammie had made sure that you did, once you had started to hang out with him more often.

It was an open secret that the tall, lanky man liked to have a roll in the hay from time to time. And he wasn’t particularly known to bed them and wed them afterwards. He certainly was more of a ladies man that left broken hearts behind. Now, you knew that monsters had a bit of a different biology than humans-nobody knows that better than me, you thought bitterly-but the basic requirements were still there. And the scientist inside of you couldn’t help but wonder how that would pronounce itself in a skeleton.

Would it be magic? Or bone, like the rest of him? Well, in a way, his bones were magic. But would it be bone magic or just… oh, who knows? More like a physical manifestation of magic itself. Maybe the two would be the same. Maybe you were overthinking it.

You weren’t a pro on monsters. Give the woman some human remains and she could tell you where he went to dinner every Friday as a kid, sure, but Monsters… they didn’t have remains. It was hard enough to even identify monsters after they got dusted, since they-very fittingly named-turned to dust. There was nothing left to study, nothing left to learn.

It was heart-breaking.

But G, G was right here. And he had all the markers of a human skeleton. You so badly wanted to strip him and start reading him like a book. Out of scientific curiosity, of course. No other reason. It would be highly inappropriate, but man, you couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The knowledge that it was, did not quell your curiosity in the slightest though. No, instead, you just felt more and more drawn to the man beside you, which was a problem in itself.

So you dealt with the problem in the same way you always did, the way your parents had taught you.

You swallowed it down and kept a polite smile on your face as you removed yourself from the situation.

As quietly as you could, you slipped out of bed and grabbed yourself a nice change of clothes before slinking off to the bathroom. G barely even noticed and turned to his other side with a deep grumble that made you shiver. You didn’t even dare to breathe anymore, out of fear that your breath would come out just a hair faster and more bothered than you were ready to admit.

Gosh dang, you really didn’t have the best walls up this early.

You only allowed yourself to exhale again, after the bathroom door fell into the lock behind you. It felt easier too, like the physical barrier between you and everything else in the house helped lessen the burden that consistently sat on your shoulders. Almost absentmindedly, you stripped off your fuzzy PJ’s so you could step into the overly luxurious overhead shower. It was one of those rainforest ones that you hated with a passion. You much preferred your silly, old showerhead back at home.

Well, not home home, but university.

That thing was broken and mended like fifteen times at this point and lime had already started to clog some of the nozzles but overall it was very good.

Very popular too, ever since the university had started to install these in your dorms, all the girls reportedly had doubled their shower times. I wonder why… you snickered to yourself, despite your blush from feeling a little naughty again.

While walking up into the open space that was reserved for the shower, you couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. It made you pause for a moment, as you regarded yourself.

A few strands of auburn hair spilled over your shoulder, pinstraight as always. Your lips curled into a dissatisfied pout. The longer you looked, the more flaws you could find in your body.

Your boobs were a bit too big, and your tummy too squishy. Almost sickly pale skin with your ‘signature’ vitiligo freckles dotted all across. You couldn’t even look at your eyes, the colour too unsightly. Your thighs were big and soft, with some stretchmarks. There was that long and jagged scar across your abdomen from your appendicitis a few years ago, and the matching ones on your knees.

You had been playing dodgeball in school and Sophie had pushed you hard enough that you had fallen, right on your knee. You’d felt it pop out and the pain was almost unbearable, but when the teacher had checked to make sure that you were okay, you had been too scared to speak up.

You’ve always been scared of speaking up.

So you just nodded and went back to playing.

Now, everyone that had dislocated something before can and will tell you that that limb was practically rendered useless while the joint was disconnected from the joint, and naturally, yours was too. So obviously, your leg couldn’t carry your weight and you crumpled under the weight almost immediately after taking a step, falling to your knees.

You felt the second one pop too, but the feeling had been overshadowed by the even more painful sensation of your left patella shattering into quite an impressive number of pieces.

The coach didn’t ask you if you were fine that time and instead immediately called for an ambulance.

Until this day, you stubbornly remained convinced that you had handled the situation quite gracefully and didn’t even cry.

Now, if someone were to ask Mercy, she’d tell them that when she arrived at the school gym-practically sprinting down the halls when she got the news from her chem teacher-she had seen you on the ground, curled up in a little ball and crying snot and water. Maybe you had even thrown up a little from the pain as a piece of bone had pierced the skin.

To this day, Mercy would stand by that the whole incident was the last straw that convinced her to become a doctor.

Anyways, you were rushed off to the hospital, clutching your sisters hand the entire time, until it was time to be wheeled into surgery. They had replaced both of your knees with fancy new titanium ones and you were put on the highest painmeds they had on account of being a redhead. Little known funfact, redheads generally tended to not take well to any form of pain meds or anaesthesia.

Anyways, you digressed.

From all the stress and pain the knee incident had caused you, you had contracted quite the case of appendicitis which ruptured fairly quickly. But thanks to those painkillers, you hadn’t noticed right away. And once you did, it had almost been too late, and the resulting surgery had provided you with a nasty, long scar across your tummy and a fair bit of insecurities.

Insecurities you’ve never been quite able to shake. Tearing your eyes away from the mirror, you climbed into the shower and turned it on. It was freezing first and scalding second. You could still see the blasted mirror out of the corner of your eyes and turned your back towards it. The water ran down your back and over your buttocks as you stood under the rain-like shower for a few moments.

You were disappointed in yourself, in your insecurities. Normally, you had them under control quite well but as soon as you had stepped out of your car, and felt your mothers hardening gaze on your form, checking you for the briefest second, you might as well be six again. Unable to escape the scrutiny and forced to stand still as you were chastised over and over again. It was no wonder that you constantly felt like hiding yourself away. Even more so, now that you were back with your family.

You couldn’t help but wonder if G would agree with your mother. If he ever happened to see you naked, if he would be disgusted by what he saw. By the miles and miles of marred skin that stretched across your bones and yet felt like it squeezed you just a hair too tightly.

If he’d make a face before turning away because he wouldn’t dare to even look at you.

Or…

Or if he simply wouldn’t care, that mean part of your brain interjected. The little asshole that liked to bring up some false hopes, that liked to stay stubbornly positive and remain stupendously optimistic until the end.

That part was also responsible for some rather… saucy thoughts too, sometimes. And generally, that little f*cker didn’t care about propriety or decorum and liked to run its kinky little mouth. And so you just stood there with balled fists as it whispered a thought.

A lovely, sweet thought.

Of your crush, your kind and sweet Murliebchen of a crush, that seemed to hate the entire world but sometimes softened his edges around you when he didn’t keep his guard up properly, running his hands down your arms, with no care. How he’d kiss and nibble on your neck and whisper praises into your ears.

You knew that he most likely didn’t find you attractive-most certainly not as attractive as he was-but for a brief moment, you wanted to indulge in the fantasy of hearing him say that you looked pretty. That your efforts to blend into the crowd and simply disappear were fruitless and that you were gorgeous in his eyes anyways. That he didn’t care that you liked food a wee bit too much and that you were a curvier girl. That he liked a woman he could grab without being afraid of breaking her.

Oh, who were you kidding?

You had seen him stare at both Cam and Sybil, with their model figures and perfect faces and their dark, seductive honey eyes and hair that was kinkier than them. You wouldn’t be surprised if either of them would appear in a Baywatch episode or the cover of Sports Illustrated. There was no way that you could compete with them.

Or Mercy.

But you didn’t want to think of your sister and all that ugly jealousy that would coil itself into your tummy whenever she was brought up.

You weren’t blind. You had noticed the golden lights of G’s eyes practically stare holes into your Sister when he first saw her. He’s ought to find her beautiful. Everyone did. Oh how you had longed that he would look at you like that. Just once, you wished that he would look at you like you were special, touched as if you were a precious thing that was to be cherished.

Annoyed, you flicked the wet hair that was sticking to your skin over your shoulder with a huff. You startled when the brush of your fingers caused an unexpected tightening in your belly.

You tried it again and shivered under it. Your skin was so smooth under the spray of water and with the added, miniscule barrier of scalding, almost boiling water, it was easy to imagine your hand as one that wasn’t your own and suddenly you were burning up on the inside too.

Goosebumps rippled across your skin and in a surprising reaction, your nipples hardened at the increased sensation.

Gently, you cupped one breast while the other hand ran along the outside of your thigh first, and then the inside. You stopped for a moment, guilt gnawing on you like you did with your lip, and then you reached lower.

Holy. sh*t.

A soft moan slipped past your lips and every single movement of your hand sent sparks of electricity through your body. Your skin began to buzz wildly in a way you usually repressed, but it felt too good to stop now.

Your legs started to wobble and you leaned against the wall. Once again, your eyes met the mirror, that was fogged over by now, but you could still make out the contours of your body, lasciviously draped against the wall and long hair, that was sticking to you like fern.

Whimpering ever so slightly, you imagined that G was draped against your back and that it was his hand that worked between your legs, chasing your high, instead of sleeping peacefully in bed, right outside that door.

And in an unexpected moment of clarity, you snatched your hand away as though burned.

“Oh, sh*t!”

What am I doing? You scolded yourself. I can’t whack one out to my friend when he’s just over there!

You tried to straighten up quickly-maybe a little too quickly because you slipped on the wet tile and almost crashed to the floor if you didn’t manage to catch yourself mid-air, more of that icy, electric buzz racing across your skin again.

Only after you put yourself upright again, you allowed anger and shame to chase away those confusing feeling and you grabbed the loafer to angrily scrubbed at your skin until it was pink and raw while you chastised yourself under your breath.

“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. What is wrong with you, you creep? What is wrong with you, what are you doing!”

But no amount of scrubbing was helping you to feel any less filthy.

~

G woke up alone.

And he was actually glad for it. He had been plagued by the scent of violets and roses and auburn hair that wrapped around him teasingly and red eyes that haunted him even now, throughout the entire night. He didn’t even get to hide away in his dreams, so he rolled over and stared at the ceiling, too exhausted to do much else.

For a few moments, he just laid there on the way too big and way too expensive mattress that was soft enough that he could feel the money in ever feather that was probably stuffed in it.

An aggressive noise drew a sigh from him and he turned his head towards the bothersome noise. His phone was still on the floor, though roughly two feet from where he had thrown it last night and it was still vibrating hard enough to gain another few inches from the onslaught of messages.

Groaning, he pulled himself from the bed and picked it up with a frown. He didn’t feel particularly social, so he just switched the thing off completely and placed it on the nightstand-much more careful this time around.

As he slipped into some black jeans and combat boots, he could hear commotion outside of the room. There were already a lot of guests in the house so he shouldn’t be surprised, but that didn’t mean that he was particularly pleased.

For a moment, he considered throwing on one of the bandshirts he had brought to sleep in and call it a day but quickly remembered that Sunshine’s family was rather prickly so he just went with a nicer button down shirt that was the colour of freshly spilled blood in the snow and rolled it up over his ula and radius. He could only hope that it was nice enough for her parents so she wouldn’t get too much sh*t.

He stepped outside the room and made sure to properly close the door behind him, when the little mechanism wouldn’t snap in properly the first time. The problem with these old buildings was often that the doors were rather warped. Someone gave him the stink eye when he had to slam it shut.

He wandered down the hall and ignored the blatant stares from a guest or two. He was used to peoples stares, especially if they weren’t around monsters too often. G was well aware that he was one of the more spooky appearances, even among his own kind, so it was probably for the better that he didn’t wear a dark shirt too. Or else one of these old geezers would have kicked the bucket because they thought the Grim Reaper was after their ass.

Eventually, he made his way into the kitchen area of the house, only to stop dead in his tracks in the doorway.

Sunshine was by the stove and singing along to a song she had put on with her phone. He recognised that it was from a musical but couldn’t pinpoint which one it would have been. Just like in the car, she was singing along and beautifully so, in his opinion, as she cooked some eggs in a pan.

Her hips were swaying to the music, accentuated by some pastel yellow pants with a vintage floral print that really shouldn’t have worked but somehow it did. In combination with the white, frilly blouse that showed off her arms and a matching little headscarf that still seemed slightly damp from a previous shower, she looked like a 50ties model while simultaneously making his heart go pitter patter.

Pitter patter, Jesus Christ, this whole love thing was really getting to his head if he started to think mushy things like Pitter Patter.

G didn’t do mushy. He should think nasty things, about those pants were oh so tight and with a little help from some high top wedge shoes made her ass-not butt, but ass-pop. Or that her neck was beautiful and slender and the perfect hight to just sink his teeth into while those long, long legs would look better wrapped around him. But no. Mushy G was apparently a new thing because while he did notice those things, they weren’t particularly on the forefront of his mind.

Instead he focussed on the way that she seemed to use a light vibrato, that added to her expressiveness that only came to light in moments like these. Or how the yellow colour of her clothes contrasted beautifully with her pale skin and that he should really get her some daffodils.

Daffodils for f*cks sake!

And let’s not even talk about the things that seeing her in the colour of his magic did to his poor soul. God f*cking damn it, he was so whipped.

And all he could do was stand there and stare at her, like the goddamn coward he apparently was.

A little cough ripped him out of his own misery, and he allowed himself one glance towards the source of the pestering noise. Mercy Winters was standing right beside him, perfectly plucked eyebrows raised ever so slightly and the top of her lip curled precariously. There was a sort of knowing glint in those ocean eyes that he just hated and he had to hold back an annoyed eyeroll.

So instead, he just stepped to the side with a charming smile and said “Oh, sorry. Got a bit lost watching my Sunshine.”

“I could see that.” She replied rather dryly and squeezed past him into the kitchen. G followed behind her, already falling into his role as the loving boyfriend and wrapped an arm around Sunshine’s waist. She let out an adorable little squeak upon the first touch and dropped her spatula. The skeleton just laughed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“Oh! G! You startled me” she pouted, a bit out of breath and he laughed again.

“Sorry, you were just so cute.” It wasn’t even a lie but she didn’t know that. It made her blush anyways, and she covered her face, almost shyly.

“Stop teasing me.” she insisted and he couldn’t help himself but nuzzle deeper into the soft fabric of her scarf. If asked, he’d insist that it was because her sister was watching them like a hawk and that he just really enjoyed the sour taste on Miss Perfect’s face.

“I’m not. Keep going.” He chuckled and hummed along to the song. “What are we singing?”

“C’mon, don’t tell me you don’t know Abba.”

“I don’t but that doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy it.”

“Oh, you are being silly” she chuckled but when he nudged her again and hummed louder into her ear she eventually gave in and started to sing along again, though much quieter this time. Her eyes kept flitting over to her sister that was leaning against the counter as she waited for the fancy coffee machine to make her an overly complicated drink that Papyrus would probably despise since he could do it better on his own. He’d probably be right too.

For a few almost peaceful moments, he enjoyed the moment before it inevitably got ruined again.

A loud clap startled Sunshine, though she reacted very different from when he had surprised her.

Whereas she was still soft and warm and pliant before, she suddenly went rigid and her posture straightened up so much that it was almost military. He wasn’t even sure if she was still breathing. Eyes downcast and lips quivering, she twisted out of his grasp and faced the doorway.

The coffee machine was still spluttering and Mercy blindly reached over to turn off the music.

Her father gave an appreciative hum from the doorway where he had entered the room.

“Dove, must you cause such a ruckus this early already?” he chastised and Sunshine started wringing her hands.

“I’m sorry, Papa.” She squeaked.

“Good.” He huffed. “And if you insist on singing along you should at least do it right.”

“Yes.”

“You opted up at that last bit instead of down.”

“I thought it would be more fitting for the emotion?” She tried to defend herself but her father took one step closer and she immediately flinched again, her back hitting his chest. Reflexively, he put his hand on her shoulder to reassure her and to make sure that she knew that he was still there and got her back. G really hated the way she seemed to shrivel and shrink into herself.

“It may be more emotional but it is also wrong. It is not how it’s supposed to be sung. We strive for perfection, don’t we?”

“Yes, Papa.”

“The composer wrote it like that for a reason. Do you think yourself smarter than the artist?”

“No, Papa.”

“I’d assume so as well.” he chuffed. “Next time, I expect better from you, if you still indulge in these frivolous things. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Papa.” Sunshine whispered defeated. G was about to open his mouth and tell the pompous jerk what he thought about the situation, when a small, warm hand curled into his, giving him a warning squeeze not to. Incredulous, he looked down at the woman. She slightly shook her head, barely even noticeable. God, he really hated the entire family already and he couldn’t wait to steal his sunshine back from this awful place again. And if he’d get his way, he’d leave some choice words for a lot of people here as well, but for now… he had to play nice.

So instead of ripping the asshat a new one, he laced their fingers together and squeezed her hand reassuringly. The sudden increase in the intimacy squeezed his heart as well and he wanted nothing more than go and scream into a pillow.

Sunshine’s father must have noticed their laced hands and frowned deeply. He didn’t get to speak up though, as a loud slurp distracted him and his frown turned softer and a bit more playful as he regarded his oldest. “Mercy, darling, must you? This is not the proper ladylike behaviour.”

“Sorry, Papa.” She grinned charmingly. “The stupid machine made my cup a bit too full. Can we go back to the dining room now? Hugh should be down by now and I don’t wanna leave him with Auntie Hel. She always tells these naughty jokes.”

“Of course, angel.” He smiled and reached out a hand that Mercy took without hesitation. She just linked their arms gracefully, floating like the angel her father called her. They’d barely left the room before the skeleton muttered “Are they all this pretentious?” out of the corner of his mouth.

He felt blessed when he heard sunshine’s little giggle and the nudge she gave him.

“Wait until you meet the rest. They are really gonna bake your noodle.”

Sarcasm practically dripped from his mouth as he rolled his eyes. “Oh, fun!”

Sunshine had tried to balance the multitude of plates she had been fixing in the kitchen but G had insisted upon helping, which was probably for the best. At least he got a thank you when he put them in front of somebody in the dining room. She didn’t even get that. Most of the time, she just flat out got ignored. It made him angry to see this blatant dismissal and that she was treated like a servant, but every time he was about to say something, he simply got a hard look from her again.

Well, there was one exception to the rule though.

The groom.

Much like his fiancé, he was boisterous. Exuberant. Lively. Animated. Pompous. But he completely lacked the arrogant and cruel aura.

No, he just reminded him of Mettaton, of all people when he sauntered into the room, both arms outstretched. He was wearing slacks and an expensive patterned silk shirt with the top two buttons propped open. His beach coloured hair was perfectly tousled and styled to give the illusion of an effortless bedhead that probably took at least half an hour, if not more to achieve.

“Hey, hey, hey! If it isn’t my favourite little lady!” he had laughed with a brilliant smile on his admittedly handsome face.

“Hughey!” Sunshine had crowed with glee, and for the first time here, her face had lit up like fireworks.

“Where is my hug, Buggaboo?” He demanded and Sunshine practically threw herself into his arms. He caught her easily and twirled her around once. G could feel himself get irrationally jealous already but what surprised him even more was the fact that Mercy-his fiancée who usually seemed like she couldn’t handle not being the centre of attention didn’t seem to care…. Like… at all. She was still engrossed in her conversation with a mischievously looking middle aged woman that had been introduced to him as Aunt Hel and was the spitting image of her twin brother and niece. She was indeed telling a dirty joke and Mercy seemed both flustered and amused by it.

“Hughey, come, I want to introduce you to my boyfriend!” Sunshine grinned and pulled him along to where G was sitting, fork halfway to his mouth still. There was that beautiful lively sparkle in her burgundy eyes again that he adored so much.

“Boyfriend?” Hugh exclaimed, putting a hand over his heart as if wounded. “Just yesterday I was still babysitting you and today you bring home a man? Oh, they grow up so quickly!”

“Don’t be a dork.” She snorted. Quickly, G threw down his cutlery to the dismay of some granny across the table, and made sure that there weren’t some leftovers still on his mandible. “Sans, sweetie, c’mon, I want you to meet my sisters fiancé!”

The skeleton just hummed and got up from his place, his arm finding his place around Sunshine’s waist again almost immediately. He still wasn’t used to be called by his full name yet. Hugh just whistled through his teeth.

“Wow, aren’t you a tall lad! I’m gonna need a stool to look you in the face” He laughed, craning up his neck to look into his face. There was no sign of dishonesty anywhere on his face. “I mean, woof, what a stud muffin you got there!”

“Uhhh, thanks?” A bit uncomfortable, the skeleton rubbed the back of his skull.

“Hughey, stooooop.” Sunshine whined. “You are embarrassing me!”

“Well, that’s my job, little sister!” He boomed. “I'm contractually obligated to ask him all the embarrassing questions! Gotta make sure you’re in good hands!”

“Oh my god.” She groaned. “I am gonna wring your neck, you goober.”

“Ohhhhh, good idea.” Hugh flashed her some pearly white teeth that were almost too perfect. “Can you do that neck thing again for me?”

“Not at the table.” Sunshine’s mum interjected with a shiver. “You know that I hate the sound.”

“Sorry.” Sunshine grimaced.

“Alright fine.” He sighed. “But later then?”

“Yes, I will fix your spine later. Can we please go back to breakfast. This is getting awfully embarrassing quickly.”

“Oh, absolutely!” He pulled his chair to squeeze in between G and some other distant relative, that seemed all too happy to get away. “The interrogation is easier when I have some of your super fluffy eggs to stuff my face with. She’s a great cook, isn’t she….?”

“Sans.” G just answered the unspoken question and it earned him another one of those blinding smiles. “And uh… Yeah. She’s great.”

“Smart answer, my boy! Can I just mention that it’s really cute that you two matched each other’s eyes? Total couple goals.”

Surprised, G looked down himself and could have kicked himself in the ass for not noticing that his burgundy button down obviously matched Sunshine’s eyecolour. He must have subconsciously chosen it after being haunted by her in his dreams.

“I’ve noticed.” He just said nonchalant. The woman next to him just blushed deeply and hid her face behind a hand. He could have sworn that she mumbled something but couldn’t make it out properly.

“Cuties.” Hugh said, shaking his sand coloured hair. “So, how did you two meet? Was it some epic romance? Trials and tribulations? A naughty little office fling that blossomed into a beautiful relationship?”

“No, we-uh… We are in a study group.” The skeleton shrugged. “We met up a couple of times and just clicked, I guess?”

“Boo, that’s so boring.” Hugh pouted, but Elaine, Sunshine and Mercy’s mother turned around with an unreadable expression.

“Oh, are you in the medical field as well, Sans? Or the criminal one?”

“Not quite… I mean, I used to but… nah.” he hummed, completely missing the signs from sunshine that desperately seemed like she wanted him to shut up. “It’s a study group for Advanced Musical Theory and Composition. We’re a couple of people from all kinds of majors.”

“Music Theory?” Elaine hissed and turned to glare at her daughter, who seemingly prayed that the earth may open up and swallow her hole. “What are you doing in a Music Class?”

“Mum-“

“Don’t Mum me”

“But-“

“Don’t talk back to your mother.” Her father reprimanded her. “She is right, you shouldn’t waste your time with that silly music obsession of yours. We already let you do that… awful medical thing of yours because at least you’ll have your doctorate eventually and now I have to hear that you are bimbling away precious time on some art mumbojumbo. Dove, your sister was already done with her doctorates at her age, really, what is going on with you?”

“Papa, please-“

“That is enough now! You should-“

“Actually.” G interrupted him, rather rudely. The older man was quite obviously not impressed by that. “It’s one of our electives. Every PHD and Doctorate course in the STEM fields has a certain amount of ECTS we have to achieve with both soft and hard skills. Hard skills are everything that pertains to the specific major while soft skills are mandatory courses that can be everything from public speaking, different languages to arts. A lot of people choose AMT because it gives you almost all of the ECTS required for the soft skill requirements and can check those in one semester. That’s why I’m in it even though I’m in Biomedical Engineering. It’s just the smart thing to do.”

“Oh.” The older man snapped his jaws shut loudly. His sister giggled meanly and he threw her a glare and something in Korean.

“Ah. I see. I-I am sorry, pumpkin.” Elaine said with an apologetic smile that was more of a grimace. “I guess you do know what you are doing… It’s just hard to understand. Your major is so… different from your sisters.”

“I understand.” Sunshine whispered, hands nervously fiddling with fabric of her pants.

“Well, your grades are all stellar, so nobody can complain. Sans, you good in school too? Getting those good noodle stars?” Hugh asked him and G shrugged with one shoulder.

“Yeah, I guess. ‘m a bit of an overachiever so I am usually somewhere at the top. But I’ve always been good at learning.”

“Oh, why’s that?”

“Always been into science and stuff. This is actually my sixth degree but humans don’t recognise the ones I got Underground.”

“Wow, that’s impressive!” He whistled. “What did you do Underground? You’ve mentioned that you used to be in the criminal field. I hope you meant law enforcement and not like… doing the crime.”

“I-uh…” The skeleton cleared his throat. “I used to be a judge?”

“A judge!?” Aunt Hel exclaimed, clapping her hands. “Hugh, look, another attorney. Baek-Hyun, did you hear? ”

“Well, not Top Side legislated, but yeah.”

“Marvellous! What was your field, If I may ask?”

“Human Division.” He deflected and gulped down some orange juice that tasted like dirt, probably from the lack of magic. Sunshine seemed to notice and handed him her glass. It must have been a different, monster friendly brand because he could actually taste it.

“That is impressive.” Baek-Hyun, Sunshine’s father hummed.

“Yeah, my dad kinda got me into it.” G shrugged.

“Your father? A smart man, I am sure.”

“Heh, old man used to be the royal scientist.” The skeleton said, unable to hide the bitter edge in his voice. Sunshine must have noticed how hard he was grabbing his fork and put one of her hand over his to calm him down. "He had all these plans where I would geet a bunch of degrees and follow in his footsteps eventually. I did some internships with him and then branched off into the Royal Guard where I was head of the HD for a few years under Captain Undyne. Worked together with this great scientist, Alphys. After the Barrier broke, there wasn't a need for an HD judge anymore, so I switched back to BME. I'm almost done too."

“That is rather impressive. You must be very happy that you listened to your father. Parents always know best, after all.”

“Oh, hell no.” He snorted. “I was miserable with the life he chose for me. I should have stopped listening to him ages ago and forge my own path. I'm a lot happier in BME. Alphys and me are currently working on the MTT-prosthetic application. Mercy, you are in the medical field, maybe you've heard of them? "

Stunned Silence.

G could have slapped himself. It was so clear that they had been fishing for one of those “always listen to your parents” stories and G practically had told them to go f*ck themselves. That could not have gone more poorly. Before he could go salvage what was left of the situation, Mercy started to snort quietly.

“Well, I see why you like him so much, Palgan. Smart and funny." Her words seemed insincere and like venom. “Didn’t you do the same when you went into forensic anthro even though Mama would have loved to mentor you in her field? Then again, you’ve always been into dead stuff, so I can see why you went for a skeleton of all things.”

“Cissy!” Sunshine hissed, face turned entirely red. “You are being rude!”

“What? No! I’m just saying, you’re a good match! You’re cute together, don’t you think, Hugh?”

“Yes, of course, sweetheart.” He agreed readily, but shifted in his seat uncomfortably. They shared a look he couldn’t quite read.

“See? He doesn’t seem to mind that bit of weirdness you always had.”

“Mercy.” Hugh chastised kindly. “Be nice. He seems like a good boy.”

“He does.” She sighed almost dreamily. “It brings me a lot of peace to know that my baby sister is with someone she can trust, especially when she has one of her spells again."

“What spells?” G asked when the human next to him went pale as a sheet. “Sunshine?”

“Oh, she didn’t tell you about her disability? Awkwaaaaard.” Mercy hissed.

“Mercy please.” Sunshine begged quietly, eyes cast downward and fists clenched.

“Palgan, you shouldn’t have. I just worried about you.” Her sister tutted and turned to her aunt, without really turning down her voice. “I mean, who hides something like that from a boyfr-“

Sunshine’s chair made a nasty scratching noise as she jumped up. Her chest was heaving quickly and there were tears rimming her eyes as everyone in the room suddenly turned to stare at her.

“I-“ she stuttered. “I’m going to get dressed for the day.” She said before rushing out of the room.

“Did I say something wrong?” The raven haired pouted in mock concern and her mother lovingly pat her hand.

“No, angel, you know your sister. She’s always been awfully sensitive. Especially when she’s hungry. Maybe she forgot to take her... meds.”

G had heard enough. Disgusted, he got up as well. Hugh just looked up at him with big, baby blue eyes that seemed rimmed with actual concern. God, how did a backhanded snake like Mercy get a Golden Retriever boy to wanna marry her? “I’m gonna go check on her.” He didn’t wait for a response.

~

“Mother….. f*cket….” You cursed under your breath as you clicked your lighter a couple of times but all that came out was some sparks. Your hands were shaking and you nervously shoved the cigarette in your mouth from one side to the other with your tongue.

You had half a mind to just throw it out of the window or against a wall but that would probably reflect badly on your temper. You’d probably get an earful about storming off like that later anyways. Ugh, you really weren't excited for that conversation.

Grumbling some rather indecent curses in a multitude of languages so every deity that was listening in could understand how bad of a daughter you were right now, you tried to get a flame one more time but it seemed fruitless.

“Here, let me help you.” A wonderfully familiar deep voice said behind you. The memory of his hands against your waist and his mouth pressed against your hair was still fresh in your memory and so you couldn’t help yourself but flush deeply. Probably from head to toe as well, just to make matters worse.

“G” you sighed, relieved that he was around, despite your embarrassment. God, this little bet of yours was really the worst and it was so typical that you’d go off and torture yourself like that. You couldn’t have invited Wyatt or someone that didn’t look like the hottest thing since sliced bread, huh? God, Cissy was right, you really were an idiot.

“C'mere, let me do it. The old things's probably busted.” He gave you a half smile and snapped his fingers. A tiny little flame sprang to life at the tip of his distal phalangeal bones. Fire, that had that magnetic pull, that hypnotizing dance it always did to lure you in. The dance that could catch souls in its flame, the dance that makes you wish you dazzled and shined as bright as that. You’ve never seen G use magic, opposed to probably every other monster you’ve spent time with, so you couldn’t help but look away from the red and yellow ribbons of a scalding heat, bright hot flames that flickered and lit up the dark hole you have thrown yourself in mentally, casting the most amazing shadows against the cervices of his skull.

“Magic…” you whispered, enthralled by the feeling of it so close to you. He shrugged slightly.

“Yeah, fire magic’s pretty basic. It’s the first one pretty much every monster learns how to use, but it takes a real pro to master it in battle.”

“I didn’t know. I don’t know a lot about magic.” The lie hangs off of you like icicles, but thankfully he didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he just looked at you expectantly and your brain finally kicked back in what he wanted from you. As you leaned over to light your cigarette, you noticed a single bead of sweat roll down his temple. As soon as embars sparked from the cig, he snuffed out the flame. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” The skeleton rasped, the bones underneath his shirt expanding a bit quicker than before. Magic must be really draining to him. Maybe that’s why he used it rather sparingly.

It was quiet as you took a long drag, letting the smoke really permeate your fragile human lungs and you wished that it would swirl around your ribs as beautifully as it would with G’s. He noticed your staring at his sternum while you remembered how gorgeous the visual had been, of yellow tinted smoke that curled around his bones.

Once more, your face exploded with red and you looked away quickly.

“It’s uh… That was a nice touch. With the shirt. Very convincing!” Wow. Great save, idiot. He was sure to believe that dumb ass lie.

“Uh yeah.” He gave a little cough. “Gotta make it look real, am I right?”

“Yeah.” You didn’t know what else to say, so you just shut your mouth and kept on smoking. The handsome man just kept watching you like a hawk, the golden specs of his eyes slightly wavering.

“Are you… okay?” He eventually asked. You weren’t particularly keen on answering but knew that you couldn’t escape the conversation unless you’d fling yourself over the balcony railing and run off into the wild to live with wolves in the woods or get adopted by some bears. Sadly, that wasn’t an option, so you just shrugged.

“Yeah. It was just… Cissy being Cissy. I’m used to it. I was just embarrassed. I shouldn’t have ran, that must have put you on the spot. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise for being humiliated by your sister. Has she always been such a bitch?”

“No….” You sighed. “We used to be thick as thieves but once she left home and got engaged… she changed, I guess. I don’t know if she tried to drive me away or got jealous because my parents focussed more on me since it was just us now. She’s probably just stressed because of the wedding.”

“That sounds really sh*t of her. She shouldn’t take out her frustrations on you.”

“Yeah… But I’m sure that she’ll be back to normal after the wedding.”

“You are way too patient with her.”

“It’s what I do.” You said and leaned on the railing. G came up next to you and mimicked the movement, watching the morning sun melt the frost off the winter roses.

“So… You are sick?” He asked and you could see him cringe inwardly.

“Smooth.” You joked rather dryly. “But yeah… It’s not contagious though, don’t worry.”

“Wasn’t worried.” He chuffed. “Humans can’t really give monsters their icks. Difference in physiology.”

“I guess.”

“Is it bad?”

You sighed deeply before turning around, leaning against the ornamental metal railing with your back to look up at the sky. You offered him the last third of your cigarette and he took it, before you spoke up again.

“No, I guess not. I don’t know any other life than this one.”

“What is it?”

“I was born… weird.” You deflected, unable to look at him. Your fingers curled into the fabric of your blouse, the cold air welcoming against your overheated skin. “Something was wrong with me. I was small and quiet and weird and weird things kept happening that no doctor could explain. It was very hard on my parents. We found out a lot later that my soul… wasn’t quite right. It’s not fixable or anything, but it’s why I am the way I am. I could deal with most of it, like the new diet and learning to get… my weirdness under control. But I’ll never forget that one stupid doc that told me that I’ll never have babies. He said my ‘land was barren and wasted away. That I wasn’t compatible with any human or monster’. All I ever wanted was a little one of my own and then comes along that… that… Oh, I don’t know…”

“Asshat?” He offered and you chuckled.

“Crude, but yes. He really was. I’ve cried for so long that day. But… It’s not like I’m gonna end up in a wheelchair one day or lose my eyesight. It’s not that bad. There are people out there that have it worse, so I don’t know why Mercy always feels like she has to bring it up. I’m not gonna faint behind the wheel and even if our relationship was real, it would not have much effect on it. I mean, yeah, the infertility issue, but lets be real, you’re a monster and I am not.” He flinched slightly, but you ignored it. “We couldn’t have biological kids anyways. So if we really wanted, we’d have to adopt. I just… don’t get what she’s playing at!”

“Some people just suck.” He said, his hand twitching slightly towards yours, as if he wasn’t sure if he could grab it or not. You snorted and gave the back of it a little pat, covering the hole in it.

“You don’t have to pretend right now. Nobody can see.”

“Maybe I just wanted to console my friend, hmh?” He teased back, raising one browbone. You noticed that smoke was curling around his vertebrae, like a ribbon dancer.

“Oh, I’ve finally upgraded to friends status?”

“Sunshine, we’ve been friends for a while.” He chuckled, nudging you with a shoulder. You nudged him back and pointedly ignored the sudden proximity.

“I thought the all elusive G didn’t do stuff like friendship?”

“So you think I’m gonna let a stranger stay over at my house, accompany them to a wedding and watch Barbie movies just because? C’mon, you are smarter than that.”

“I don’t know.” You grinned. “Maybe my mom’s right and I really am a big little dumb dumb.”

“Don’t say that, Sunshine.” The tiniest shiver imaginable ran down your spine when his tone dropped a few registers and then a bigger one when one of his hands find your face. He grabbed your chin and turned it so you had to face him. You just knew that you must have taken on a deep cerise hue. “We both know that you are probably the smartest human I know.”

“You-You barely know any humans!” You stuttered, desperately trying to avoid looking at his mouth. Or his eyes. Or anywhere really.

“And yet you still make the top of the list. Top of our classes too.”

“Because you let me win, apparently!” You accused with a pout and he just shrugged.

“That still makes you the second smartest person around.”

“Well, and what does that make you?” you said, a little bit out of breath. Fun fact, there were twenty three repeating patterns on the wallpaper.

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”

You made a strangely strangled sound at the question that drew another deep laugh from him. Probably because he was a bit of a bum and enjoyed seeing you so flustered. Somehow, the biggest bum in the room was your brain through because apparently the crude little asshat decided that right now was the perfect opportunity to remember your little bathroom discretion from your morning shower. Now even more embarrassed, you wished that the floor would open up and swallow you whole.

Sadly, the floor stayed whole and you were still firmly rooted in place but the universe seemingly took pity on you, because the second best thing happened, when your absolutely shameless Aunt barged into the room without even knocking.

“Moonpie, I hope you are okay? I have to talk to you before we start todays itinerary and- oh!” She stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted you, her eyes suddenly huge and round. “Did… Did I interrupt something? Should I come back in a bit?”

“No!” You answered maybe a little too quickly, still painted the colour of a cherry pie. “No, it’s fine! We’re fine!”

“Uh-huh…” Aunt Hel said, flicking her dark hair over her shoulder. “And I totally believe that.”

Chapter 9: If you don’t know who you can trust, then trust me you‘ll be lonely

Chapter Text

You were already awake when it started.

Maybe 4 or 5am, you weren’t quite sure. Actually, strike that, you knew exactly what time it was. You were up early to curl your hair and decided to pass the time by reading silly little romance novels on your phone. It was precisely 4:38am when G had started to toss and turn in his sleep.

At first, you just thought that he was shifting around to get more comfortable and continued on with your chapter. It was a really sweet moment where the two leads just had found each other again after one of their friends had betrayed them to keep them apart and that kiss in the rain was just about the most romantic thing you’ve read in a while. It was the kind of scene that had you blushing and kicking your feet like a little schoolgirl and you’d never admit to liking that to anyone.

Just when Ian was professing his love for Marianne, the man next to you flinched harshly with an exceptionally displeased sigh. The chip you were about to eat halted halfway to your mouth and you looked over to him with a frown. He must have been having a nightmare right now, which was somewhat understandable.

The whole situation the two of you were in right now has been nothing less than stressful and your day had not improved by even a margin after that horrendous breakfast that had you storming off. He must have been exhausted, and that obviously would leave him open for bad dreams.

A wee bit unsure if you should intervene or not, you stayed in your unmoving position. He grunted again, more pain lacing throughout the sound and you scarved down your snack before wiping your hands on your Pj’s.

Something was wrong and you could feel it. It was a miracle that you hadn’t before. It had started slowly but was starting to get more and more overwhelming. An electric crackle was in the air and made your hair and teeth feel brittle and frail. You could have sworn that you could hear screams, but it was weird. Like someone was pressing a mute button on them. And with the muting, the heaviness followed.

You heaved under the sudden weight crowding you like a blanket. It wasn’t a physical weight, no boulder had been dropped on you and nobody buried you under an avalanche.

It was an emotional weight, that burdened your heart and stomach and made your shoulders slump.

“Jesus Christ…” you muttered and scooched over to G. You’ve heard of this before. One of your friends had told you about it. Wyatt's girlfriend, Immogen, had bad dreams sometimes as well, that were less than... pleasant. Gosh, you should really text him to get some pointers for the future, should the remaining days here together hold more of these.

G’s nightmares must have gotten progressively worse if the tension was so tangible in the air.

Licking your lips, you sat up in bed and scootched a bit closer to the skeleton.

He was laying on his back, and his ribcage was expanding rapidly under his shirt. Nervously wetting your lips a second time, you slowly started to reach out to him. You didn’t want to startle him so shaking him would probably not be the best idea, but you had to do something. You couldn’t just sit there and watch him suffer.

“G?” you whispered at the same time as you touched his shoulder. It was a hesitant and gentle touch. It could barely even be considered as such, so light that it must have felt like a feather ghosting across the fabric of his bandshirt.

But he snapped awake practically instantaneously anyways. Wild, golden fire filled his eyesockets, mimicking eyelids flying open at once. The light found your face within the second and you didn’t even have the chance to open your mouth before you’ve been tackled.

“Ouff…” you grunted as your back hit the cold floor. He had enough momentum that you missed your spot in bed entirely and tumbled off of it to the ground. The rollers in your hair pressed into your scalp rather uncomfortably, bordering on painful. A weight settled on your hips as G straddled you with an almost insane looking snarl. He made a noise-a terrible little sound that starts at somebody’s throat and ends in someone else’s- and you could see that his teeth actually had little fangs you’ve never noticed as clearly before. Everybody has sharp incisors, humans were omnivores after all, but his seemed even sharper than that and definitely sharper than you would have noticed. Magic must have warped them when you had triggered his fight or flight instinct.

And it was definitely fight in his case.

His hands pushed your shoulders into the carpet and a drop of golden spit landed on your clavicle. You should be scared, you knew that. Terrified even. A monster practically had his hands wrapped around your throat and was about to rip out your jugular, but all you felt was more of that overwhelming wave of emotions crashing over you coming from him.

Pain. Fear. Hurt. Grief. Betrayal.

It was heart breaking and you couldn’t help but feel your eyes well up. You’ve always been a softie.

Instead of trying to fight him, you simply whispered “It’s okay.”, nodding. All you could do was hope that he could read the understanding you were projecting to your face. “I’m here, Sans.”

Upon hearing his name, he growled and his grip on you tightened. He must have drawn the slightest bit of blood and you hissed, but didn’t flinch away from him at all. “It’s me, G.” you tried again. “Your… Sunshine.”

The lights in his sockets flickered with what you hoped was recognition and his heaving increased for a moment, before he suddenly ducked his head.

A startled gasp drew over your lips as you could feel his face pressed against your throat, but he didn’t bite down like you thought. You just stayed there, breathing heavily.

Blinking up at the ceiling, you took a moment for yourself and then wrapped your arms around him. This time, he didn’t try to shy away from your touch but seemed to melt into it instead.

“It’s okay.” You mumbled over and over. “I’m here. I’m not gonna leave.”

You weren’t sure how long you stayed like that. It simultaneously felt like ages and no time at all. It must have been a little while at least until his laboured breaths finally turned smooth again. Well, smooth-er.

You’d never tell anyone in order to preserve his hardened bad boy persona, but there was definitely the occasional little hiccup in there. You couldn’t help yourself, it was just so precious and cute.

Eventually though, you could feel G’s head lift and your arms strain against the rise of his shoulders. You let go of him and your arms fell to your side.

He was still sitting on your hips and every other time, that would’ve probably scandalous enough to send you into a case of the vapours. Right now though, you didn’t even consider that. You were just worried about your friend.

He didn’t meet your eyes for a full minute while you just laid on the ground like a discarded ragdoll. One of your rollers must have fallen out of your hair and tumbled under the bed. You didn’t care about that one either. G however did and he finally turned his face towards you, only for it to immediately explode in a yellow blush.

You’d never tell him but he just looked so adorable right now. It gave him a boyish charm, you hadn’t anticipated and a giggle bubbled up in your throat. You wanted to reach out towards him so badly, just cradle his cheek in your hand for a moment, but insecurities and decorum prevented you from doing so. Instead, your aunt’s words echoed loudly in your ears, so your hands remained firmly where they were. A sliver of uncertainty wormed its way into your brain along with them.

You gulped and the skeleton mimicked the movement.

“I-uh… sh*t.” He rasped, voice hoarse. “I’m sorry. I never meant to- sh*t, I didn’t hurt you, right?”

“No, no, I’m alright.” You quickly assured him. “Are.. Are you?”

“Yes.” He said a little bit too fast, before you could even finish your sentence. “Don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” He huffed. “Just some… nightmares.”

“Do you always tackle people in your nightmares?” you tried to joke but failed to get even a chuckle from him. Instead, he just blankly stared at you.

“No, but normally I sleep alone. You’ve startled me.”

“Oh.” You squeaked. God damn it, you should have just let him sleep, probably. “I-I suppose. I’m sorry for causing you grief. I just thought.. I could help.”

“What?” he laughed incredulous.

“Yes, I didn’t mean to. I promise.”

“No, wait, let me get this straight. You.. You tried to help and almost got mauled for it and you’re the one apologising?”

“….Yes?” you answered as if it was quite a silly question. His expression turned even more stunned.

“Sunshine, you have nothing to apologise for. I could have hurt you. Like… seriously hurt you. I should be the one on my knees for you right now.”

Oop-

Okay, don’t freak out. He didn’t mean it the naughty way, you were sure, but it doesn’t mean that you couldn’t still freak out. Especially since it brought forth some rather embarrassing memories about your new shower habits.

“I guess neither of us carries guilt then.” You said instead. He chuckled lowly, a dangerous yet attractive sound that had you tingly from head to toe. Subconsciously, you started to chew on the inside of your bottom lip. He seemed to notice anyways, despite your subtleties, and co*cked his head. You just laughed it off with a little headshake.

For a moment, neither of you didn’t know what exactly to do or how to get out of this situation. It was rather awkward, what with the comfortable weight still on your hips and those molten golden eyes fixated on your flushed face. Somewhere at the back of your mind, you noticed the slight breeze on your tummy and putting two and two together, you deducted that your shirt must have ridden up substantially.

That didn’t help with the awkwardness either.

Lucky for you-or unlucky maybe-your sister chose to barge into the room at that exact time.

“Palgan, get up. Mama needs help putting up the flowers and can’t reach the high columns so I need you to be useful for once and -oh!” She stopped a few steps into the room, her ramblings coming to an abrupt stop as she stared at you and you stared back and so did G after both of your heads practically snapped around to look at the bride to be.

There was a pregnant pause.

Mercy blinked.

You blinked back.

G’s hands on your shoulders tightened.

Your face exploded with warmth and you sat up straight. Well, at least you tried to. Apparently you had forgotten that G was still there and your forehead connected with his with a sharp crack. Both of you groaned and you fell back down to the ground, a bit dizzy.

“sh*t, are you okay, Sunshine?” he muttered while rubbing his bone. You just made a noncommittal noise. By the time the room had stopped spinning, you noticed that your sister had knelt next to you and prodded at your forehead with a blank work-face, but you could see a flicker of worry behind those icy blue eyes.

“Well, lucky for you that you have such a thick skull. You don’t seem hurt. I just hope for your sake that it wont bruise.”

“It won’t” you promised between ground teeth. “I have some… stuff in my bag. G, be a darling and get us a monster candy each?”

“How did you get your hands on monster candy?” he grumbled but did it anyways.

“Because she has a magical sweet tooth” Mercy mumbled and you had to stop yourself from swatting her leg. Instead you hissed her name and she just shrugged it off like “what?”

“I can’t believe you.” You muttered and she hissed back, “I can’t believe you got fondled on the carpet. Really, you need to learn to set the mood. Neither seemed really… pleased.” Her eyes narrowed and yours narrowed back. Inside though, you could feel your heart jump. You knew it. She wasn’t buying into your act and it was only a matter of time before she’d expose you and goodness gracious, you didn’t wanna be at the short end of that stick once your parents would find out. Your dad would be furious, probably.

“You wouldn’t be pleased if I walked in on you and Hughey either.” You snapped back and she scoffed. It was a weird noise. Not one that said “as if” or “try me.”

It was more a scoff of “that would never happen” or a simple "ew". Odd.

“Here you go, sweetheart.” G gruffed, candy already stuffed into his mouth. You took it with a grateful smile and popped the treat into your mouth as well. The sweet, tart flavour exploded into your mouth and you sighed gratefully. “Guess you got the non-liquorice one.” He said and judging from his expression, he hadn’t been so lucky.

“Sorry.” you mumbled and reached over to squeeze his hand when you felt Mercy’s eyes bore into your back.

“So, what were you two talking about?” he asked and both you and your sister quickly replied with an almost perfectly in-sync “Nothing!”

“Uh-huh…” he said, narrowing his eyesockets. He didn’t believe you either and once more you doubted your acting chops.

Thankfully-and this time for real-Mercy decided that she had shown enough kindness today and got up from the ground in one, fluid motion. She looked as elegant as a ballet dancer while you were still sprawled out on the floor and barely managed to lean up on your elbows.

“Well, I think we have wasted enough time. Up, Mama needs our help and those flowers wont hang themselves. I’ll expect to see you in the grand hall in five minutes.”

“Yes, Mamant” you muttered with a little roll of your eyes. She floated out of the room, the luxurious carpet swallowing the clicking of her heels by the time that you got on your feet again. Your forehead was still tingling from the monster candy and it’s healing properties. G was by your side in an instant, apparently afraid that you’d fall again. His face looked torn between worry and guilt and you reached up to boop his forehead gently before you could even pause to think about the action.

“If you keep frowning like that, it’s gonna get stuck.” He scoffed but it was mainly to hide a laugh.

“Mom.” You accused you, similarly to what you had done to your sister and you giggled. The motion must have loosened another one of your rollers, that came tumbling down from your hair.

Before you had the time to even gasp, G’s hand shot out and caught it in mid-air. A strand of auburn hair curled loosely over your shoulder and he put it back up. Your breath caught in your throat as bone slid over the sensitive skin of your neck, smoothened from use over the years and leaving a trail of redness in their wake.

“Careful.” He rasped and you noticed how close he was to you. Shyly, you looked up at him and noticed that his face was also blotched yellow. Gosh, he must be really embarrassed by the events of this morning. You had the urge to lean up and press a kiss against his cheek-not his mouth, you still had a spec of decorum inside of you, after all-but once again, you heard your aunts stern words in your head and flinched at them. The skeleton looked at you quizzically but you just stepped back quickly, getting some distance between the two of you.

“I-“ you stuttered. “I gotta get dressed and meet my mother.” You rushed through the words and grabbed whatever clothes you had laid out the day prior and practically sprinted into the bathroom. The door slammed louder than you intended it to and all you could do was lean against it. Your breath came out shivering and you squeezed your eyes closed.

The floor had been carpeted. But somehow, your aunt managed to walk with such a stern and stomping foot, that her steps were audible anyways. Obediently as always, you followed after her, hands clasped, and bracing for the lecture you’d most certainly receive after storming out of the dinning room like that. She led you through a multitude of hallways and like the obedient little child you were, you followed. Eventually, she halted. It was abrupt and you barely managed not to run into her. Embarrassed, you just stared at your feet and those silly little floral pants. How foolish you must look in them. You didn’t like to wear bright colours. You felt much more comfortable being decked in pastel or neutral colours that made you look so bland and unassuming that you might have just blended in with the furniture. Your mother had always drilled into you that it was of the utmost importance that you’d be neither seen nor heard. Be a good child. Keep your head down and cause no trouble, especially for your sister. And then they found out that you were… sick, as they said. And then fathers instructions became much more rigorous. A lot of your parents friends didn’t even know that they had a second daughter. You didn’t mind much. Your mother would always praise how quiet you were. How neat and tidy and soft your clothes looked. Your willingness to be good for them. Your near endless patience. It made you feel loved, for once. So it always hurt when you failed to meet those standards.

You didn’t know why you chose those silly little yellow pants. Rebellion didn’t suit you.

“Look at me, child.” Your aunt said softly and tapped the underside of your chin with a finger.

“Yes, auntie.” You squeaked and raised your eyes up to meet hers. You almost flinched, her resemblance to your sister was eerily uncanny. Then again, she was your father’s twin and Mercy his little mini-me.

But her eyes were softer. Glimmered with mirth and charm. There were smile lines around her mouth that perfect little Mercy didn’t have. That would require a laugh here and there, the mean part of your part provided.

“Are you alright, cupcake?” she asked and when you didn’t answer immediately, she clicked her tongue and cooed before wrapping you up in a big, warm hug. You reciprocated easily. It was always easy with her. She had always been your rock and kind to you, even as a child.

Her expensive cashmere sweater was soft against your cheek and she smelled like freshly baked bread and tulips, like home.

“Don’t pay your sister any mind.” She mumbled into your hair. “She has been… quite stressed. I’m sure she will be the cute little girl again after the wedding is over.”

“I don’t know why she’s so mean.” You whined softly. “I haven’t done anything to her.”

“She’s been mean to just about anyone, sans your parents.” She chuckled. “Who could have expected her to be such a bridezilla.”

“I suppose…” you said. Auntie Hel gave you another smile as she pulled back, and then smacked your shoulders with her hands.

“So!” she announced.

“So?” you questioned.

“Speaking of… Sans-“ You groaned.

“Please tell me you didn’t actually make a pun just to segue subjects auntie!”

“Well….” Her ruby lips pulled back into a wolfish grin before turning serious again. “But really… I need to speak to you about this Sans-Character…”

Your heart sank rapidly. Did she look through you? Was she about to tell you that she knew that he was faking it? That he just put up with all of this for… what, really? Your sake? Hah, as if. More likely that he was just in it for the free holiday and complimentary family drama.

“Auntie, please. He’s a good man, and I enjoy being with him.” It wasn’t a lie. “He has been very good to me.”

“I do not doubt that he has been nothing but a… gentleman towards you.” The was she empathised the word gentleman, made you blush deeply. “However… I do have some concerns.”

“Concerns? What concerns?” you bristled. Your aunt suddenly looked conflicted and you already braced yourself for the usual monster racism. You’d expected it…. Just not from her.

“It’s not what you think, sweetie.” She quickly said. “I just… Oh, don’t get mad now, but when I put his name through my background check I-“

“You what?” You choked. “You did a background search on my boyfriend? Aunt Helvetica, that is highly unethical!”

“Oh, working for the feds must have some positives.” She rolled her eyes. “Now will you please listen to me!”

“I-No!” you huffed. “I can’t believe this. Why would you do that?”

“Don’t act like I haven’t done this to all of your sisters boyfriends. I even ran one on your mother when she and your father first got serious. It’s just to make sure that there aren’t any nasty surprises.” She crossed her arms and for the first time, you noticed the sheet of paper in her hand.

“What is that?” Your voice wobbled slightly. “Let me guess? A nasty surprise?”

“….maybe.” she admitted. “I just want you to be safe, okay?” She tried to touch your cheek but you evaded her subtly. She sighed deeply, seemingly hurt but also like she had expected it. “I… don’t think that this man is who he said he is.”

Her words were careful and hesitant but you stiffened anyways.

“What.”

“When I put the name Sans Serif in… I had a hit.”

“So he exists?”

“Yes, he does, but… the data doesn’t match. Look.” She handed you the first print and your eyes quickly scanned the words. “This is the ID the king submitted about all his subjects when they were released from the mountain.”

Name: Sans Serif

Age: 16

Species: Monster

Class: Skeleton

Category: Patience/ Cyan

LV: 1

HP: 927

ATK: 50

DEF: 18

Status: High Class Mage

The picture that went along with it was… older. Faded almost. It depicted a young boy, from what you could judge. He must have been younger than seventeen, if you were going by the incomplete ossification of the craneal suture lines. Definetly under seventeen. He had a little gap tooth and dimples. His face was full and round and grinning up at you with white eyelights. He was wearing glasses, much like Papyrus had been and was wearing a lab coat. He probably took the picture between classes.

Whoever that person was, because it sure wasn’t G.

G had golden magic. Gold. Not cyan. No white eyelights.

You could explain away the visual differences. The similarities in the bone structure were rather big, at least on the tiny picture. The zygomatic arch was nearly identical, you had to admit, but G’s cheekbones were a bit higher. His face less round. And lacking the scars, but he could have gotten those a lot later. It could have been puberty. It could just be a bad picture.

But the magic. Magic doesn’t change. Magic came from the soul, the most fundamental part of everybody’s being. Appearances could be changed, the head can be convinced, but the heart, the soul… not so much.

Your hands were shaking, by the time Aunt Hel handed you another form. This one, a lot more recent.

“Soon after, the ID has been updated and what is accessable nowadays. I don’t know how it slipped by, but I assume in the scramble to figure out everything after they came up, it might have just gotten… lost. And nobody checked again. Or cared enough to check. But these… are two very different Stats. ”

Name: Sans Serif

Age: 25

Species: Monster

Class: Skeleton

Category: Justice/ Yellow

LV: 28

HP: 1

ATK: 1

DEF: 1

Status: Unknown.

This time, the photo showed G. Maybe a bit younger, but.. it was him. Cracks and gold and aloof frown and all.

This… This has to be a mistake, you thought. Your throat was dry. And so were your lips.

“I know that this might be upsetting, but we cannot ignore the very real possibility that… He may have stolen the… original Sans’ identity. His life. Does he have any family, or-”

“He has a brother.” you said quickly and resolving yourself. Something didn’t add up, that was true. But G had done nothing but show you kindness. “Whom I’ve met. He has told me stories about their childhood. They grew up together. And I-I was aware. Of the changes. He told me.” You smiled politely at your aunt. “I trust him. Completely.”

“Oh, child, you’ve always been too trusting.” Your aunt cooed. “I am just trying to look out for you. What if he just plays with your emotions? Gain something from it. It could just be a cruel prank like-”

"He's not like Sybill!" you whispered, hurt by even the possibility.

"This man could be dangerous! What if he hurts you, then? He is unstable, clearly. Why else would it say unknown. Unknown is just code, probably. He could snap at any time. I don’t think he is good for you."

“He would never hurt me.” you insisted. “never.”

“You can’t know that.”

“But I can have faith.”

“Faith can be dangerous. Honey, I’ve been your age, I know what it’s like to be in love but… A red flag just looks like a flag if you are wearing rose tinted glasses. I’m trying to look out for you”.

Dangerous, you thought, and started to rub your neck. Could your aunt have been right? Was your infatuation clouding your judgement? G had every opportunity and half a mind to rip you into tiny, smiling little shreds and yet…. He had shown restraint. You trusted G but… Was that trust justified? You didn’t quite know what to make of it all.

Just that you certainly had to get to the bottom of it.

Chapter 10: The funny thing about fear

Chapter Text

That night’s dinner was…. Tense.

That was the only thing G could really use to describe it. The aforementioned tension was so palpable, he could probably cut it with an ice cold butter knife, straight from the freezer. G knew his dull knifes and that… that was a dull knife.

He was currently gripping his own knife so hard that he feared that it might just snap, and he wasn’t the only one. Sunshine next to him was pale and her shoulders slumped over. She seemed withdrawn and quiet-even more so than normally. The one time he had tried to touch her, she had flinched away and he tried not to take it to heart, but… it was hard. His ego apparently bruised rather easily. And on top of it, it had earned them a suspicious stare from the Bride to be, who in turn elbowed her fiancé in the ribs before whispering something at him. Nothing good, probably.

Sunshine’s aunt kept throwing him those weird glances too, but he ignored them. He was used to the stares. He got them a lot, from both humans and monsters. After a while… they don’t even concern you anymore.

What was frustrating him to no end, however, was all the other weird conversations happening at the table. It had started, with Elaine. Sunshine’s mother.

“Woof. Two pieces of bread? I don’t know if you really need that much.” She had said, just as Sunshine reached out for another. Dinner had been late and she hadn’t yet had a chance to eat anything that day, since her own mother somehow thought it was a smart idea to give the tasks the closest to the ceiling to the person closest to the floor. G would have loved to help her, just swoop in and do it for her, but he had been tied up himself, sadly. Some granny had found him and given him roughly eight four gajillion centerpieces to make. Honestly, did he look like the arts and craft central?

Poor guy had to call Papyrus to tell him how to do this properly.

So yeah, no wonder that Sunshine had been starving all day, and then her mom just casually mentions bullsh*t like that. G’s pretend-girlfriend had blushed deeply at that and slowly reeled her arm back in. “Why don’t you give your boyfriend the bread. Poor guy looks starved.” Elaine said, in an odd kind of tome, that made Sunshine even more uncomfy. She tried to offer him the bread, like her mother had instructed, but he gently denied it.

“No, thanks. You eat it. You haven’t had lunch. You are all but skin and bones.” His voice was low and gentle, gentler than usually, but it didn’t make much difference. Sunshine just dropped it on her salad plate and stared at it for a few minutes until her mother chimed in, yet again.

“Sweetheart, put those carbs away. You shouldn’t have that many anyways, you won’t fit your dress if you keep this up. And we’re having quinoa tonight. That should fulfil all your macros.”

“Yes, Mama…” Sunshine mumbled, shifting to sit on her shaking hands.

“Sadly, no dinner then.”

“Of course…” The skeleton could see the disappointment in the human’s face along with some creeping insecurities that looked like they had taken root there a long time ago and already he wanted to smack someone over the head with an end table.

Next one to sour his mood had been a random granny. He didn’t know if she was an actual grandma or even the grandma, but honestly, with sunshine’s family, everybody was either and auntie or a Nana or the corresponding male equivalents of those. So either some ancient primordial grandma must have been very skilled or it was just a moniker. He guessed the latter.

“So, sweetling, how are classes going? What are you doing this semester?” she had asked sweetly and Sunshine daintily patted her lips and finished chewing.

“I’m finishing up a bunch of classes right now, nana, thanks for asking. Oh, and I applied for my final internship already. I hope I’ll get a spot with Dr. Brennan but if she won’t take me, I already have a guaranteed one with Dr. Sheppard.”

“Oh, isn’t that the nice man on TV?”

“No Nana, that’s from Grace’ Anatomy.” Sunshine chuckled with endless patience. “Running around in scrubs isn’t nearly as dreamy as the movies make it out to be.”

“Oh, what a shame.” The elderly woman pouted. Mercy, across from her hid a laugh in her napkin. It was one of those mean girl laughs that everyone thinks is fake until they experience it. “What’s funny, angel?”

“Sorry, just… Getting an Internship with Dr. B is… ambitious.” Mercy smirked. “Wasn’t even my department and even I know that woman. She doesn’t take anyone that isn’t absolutely stellar.”

“So why wouldn’t she take Sunshine?” G interrupted her, teeth clenched. He shouldn’t have butted in and kept focussing on the awful quinoa stew, but he really couldn’t deal with this lady. “She has absolutely stellar marks. And fulfils all criteria? I don’t get it.”

Another laugh from the bride, this time more cruel. “You two haven’t been together this long yet, I can tell.” She rolled her eyes and Hugh nudged her slightly. She ignored him, like so often. “Honestly, we have no expectations of her, and yet, we’re still here disappointed. You’ll learn too.” Conspiratory, she leaned forward. G could have sworn that there was a pained glimmer in her eyes. “She always self-sabotages in the end.”

G could feel Sunshine next to him tense up drastically and when he looked over at her, he can see that her eyes are glossy and already rimmed red. He wants to say that he tried to reach out to her and hold her hand but halfway there, he remembers her recoil and for the first time in a long, long time, he feels… insecure. What if she just doesn’t like the PDA? What if he was playing the whole couple in love thing up too much? What if he had come on too strongly?

What if she was scared of him after his nightmare?

It was killing him on the inside. He shouldn’t feel like this. It was ridiculous.

“Sweetheart, stop teasing your sister.” Their mother interjected. “You know that she is…”

“Awfully sensitive.” Sunshine mouthed along with her mothers chipper voice and subtly rolled her eyes. Just how many times did she have to hear it for her to react like that.

“Well, alright then.” Mercy sniffed and turned towards her Aunt Hel on her left hand site. The older woman gave G a last withering stare before turning towards her niece and jumping head first into the conversation.

“Are you okay?” G quietly asked Sunshine, who just shrugged.

“I’ll be fine. I always am.” She assured him but he didn’t really believe her.

“She’s right, you know?” Granny chuckled. “Poor little pumpkin.” It sounded oddly sarcastic. And judging from the way that Sunshine dug her hands into the wood of her chair, it probably was. “Now, Sans, tell me a bit about yourself. I’m not as spry as I once was, so I am not quite up to date with all you monster folks.”

“Nana!” Sunshine hissed but got ignored.

“Uh… sure?” G just mumbled. “What do you wanna know, I guess?”

“So, is it true that you ate people Underground?” The senior just politely smiled at him, as if she just asked for the weather. The skeleton was too stunned to speak, and the girl next to im sounded like a fish on dry land judging from the way she was gasping for air.

“I.. Sorry, what?”

“Oh, you know. I’ve watched one of those late night documentaries and the pastor said you did. Since food Underground was so scarce.”

“Sorry but… nope. Never had human.” G pressed out between his teeth.

“You can’t just ask people stuff like that!” Sunshine insisted rather exasperated. “That is really rude and inappropriate. What if I ask you something like that?”

“Oh calm down, sweet pea.” The old lady said. “It’s not like it’ll hurt his feelings, he’s not human.”

And neither are you, you stupid hag; G thought but bit his tongue. He glanced at Sunshine, who had gone pale as a sheet at that and seemed at a loss of words.

“Nana…” she finally whispered. “That is a very hurtful thing to say. Monsters are just as intelligent as humans and probably even more empathetic. Of course he can feel it when you say hurtful stuff like that.”

“Oh, there you go again with that rambling. How smart can they be when they were stuck under a few rocks for so long?”

G shared an incredulous look with sunshine who muttered a low “Can you believe this? You have more PHD’s that she has years left to live.” It was quiet enough that only he could hear it and he had to try so hard not to burst into laughter. Sadly though, that seemed to make the old hag think that we was laughing at her.

“See? He don’t mind.”

“Oh, Aunt Pricilla!” Hel interjected with a glass of expensive Bordeaux in her hands. Very brave for someone wearing mostly shades of cream. “What are you talking about again?”

“Oh, the boy was just telling me about the.., you know.” Her voice lowered as if she was talking about something dirty. “Underground.”

“Really?” Hel just seemed very interested in it and earned herself a very stern glance from Sunshine for it. “How was it? Growing up and all? A little birdie told me about your brother?”

Papyrus. Good subject. G could gush about his brother for ages if needed. Safe topic. “Good. Paps is great, really. He’s studying abroad at the moment at some fancy culinary school and he’s really good. Couldn’t be prouder of him.”

“And what does your father say about that?”

“He-“G cleared his throat. “He left us when I was… younger. So I don’t know.”

“Left you?” Aunt Pricilla gasped and clutched at her pearls. “Oh Christ, how irresponsible of him.”

“Happens.” G just shrugged it off and tried not to think of his father.

“My, how horrible.” She repeated, packing some insistence into the word.

“Yes, indeed.” Hel narrowed her eyes before jumping in her seat. Coincidentally, G could hear someone getting kicked under the table. On top of it, Pricilla nudged her with her elbow.

“See? Told ya it’s the upbringing.”

“What about my upbringing?” G bristled.

“Nothing!” Pricilla’s husband guaranteed him with a laugh, inserting himself into the conversation as well. “Just that… bad upbringing can’t really be ironed out. ‘s like dogs. Once ya got a foul apple in it, you can throw away the hole line.” And there we go, issue number three.

He had looked directly at Sunshine when he said that and G was just about ready to come in swinging.

“Oh, don’t say that.” Pricilla said with a mean curl of her lip. “I mean, look at the boy. Clearly he must have done something right.”

“Maybe it’s the magic?” another woman a few seats down mock-whispered in that gossipy tone old ladies sometimes used. “The little one’s always been… taken to it.”

“I’ve heard magic can be quite addicting too.” Pricilla giggled and turned back to G and Sunshine. “Are those rumours true?”

“uhhhh…” G just said. He knew that he couldn’t cause a scene right now but rest assured, if this wasn’t a family thing but rather the real life out there right now, that old hag would have had nightmares for months to come.

“Well, at least tiny isn’t dating that awful blonde anymore.” Pricilla’s husband laughed at his own joke and smacked the table so hard that Sunshine next to him jumped. “Though she was pretty to… look at.”

“Oh ew, Uncle Fergusson.” Hel grimaced and smacked him with a napkin. “That was a child.”

“Pretty grown for a child if you ask me. ‘Sides, they were in their twenties.”

“It’s still gross!”

“Oh, don’t be so Prissy, Vetti.” He nudged Hel so hard that she swayed in her chair. “I’m just joking with the kids. The real world’s tough, they need to grow a thick skin anyways if they wanna make it out there.”

“I know a thing or two about tough.” G muttered with an eyeroll before he could stop himself. Sunshine nudged his foot with hers in a warning and he gave her an apologetic grimace.

“Ahhhhh, right.” The vultures immediately smelled easy prey. “You’ve mentioned, that you were working… down there. What was it again? Bureaucracy?”

“Judge.” G ground out. Was hunting down stupid, fat humans like you guys, he added privately in his head.

“Ah, desk jokey.” Fergusson nodded knowingly and patted his voluptuous belly. “Known the easy life myself for years.”

“Eh, I’ve been out in the field quite a lot.” G snorted, but his hands were gripping the cutlery like a vice.

“Oh, I’m sure you have.” Pricilla’s desk neighbour said with that tone that seemed sincere if you could get past the layers of sarcasm ooze from it like slime. “And now you’re back in college.”

“Why, I suppose I am.” The skeleton gruffed.

“Were your titles not accepted on the Surface?” Hel asked almost sickish sweet.

“No, they were.” He muttered. God, where was the desert? He wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. Sunshine had warned him that these people could be awful but wow. Rich people really had no shame. However the f*ck did she not turn out like them?

“Hmh. Interesting.” Aunt Hel mused. It was an awful, awful sound paired with that judgmental look she was giving him. Her eyes kept going to his cracks and his hands in a way he should be used to because he’s gotten them ever since he had them, but suddenly he felt eighteen and young and scared and insecure again. Of course, he hid it under his façade of aloofness, pretty sure that his face didn’t show a single emotion thanks to years of experience, but.. Deep down, he felt hurt. Maybe because a small part of him wanted Sunshine’s family to like him. It was silly, but when you fall for someone, you wanna be perfect for them. And usually, family’s a pretty big part of anyone’s life. So it just doubles as a rejection when they don’t.

He had to remind himself that, no, they aren’t really dating, they are just playing it-horribly so at the moment, if he had to be honest. Between her shy and almost scared demeanour and his welling anger issues, they didn’t seem very lovey dovey.

But it still stung. There was also a twinge of fear that her families… awful stances would rub off on Sunshine. That they’d go home and she’d never wanna speak to him again. He wasn’t sure if he could handle that.

He heard some more awful comments, more microaggressions-as Toriel liked to call them but G just filed them under “Dick ass behaviour. Over the course of the next half hour or so, things didn’t get better. Well, they did for roughly two minutes when desert finally arrived.

Until Pricilla’s friend leaned over to ask him if they even had food like this Underground or if it’s all new to him. He was about to snap at her that he may have lived under a literal rock but he wasn’t a complete dunce. And it’s not like monsters haven’t been on the surface for literally the better part of a decade yet? Did she think that they all lived in mud huts and sucked worms out of the ground or what?

The awful lady must have noticed that she was starting to cross a line, but didn’t seem to care much for it. Instead, she just kept drinking the wine Fergusson kept pouring. The more they drank, the louder and more rude they got, until eventually others started to take notice too. When Hugh across the table tried to shush her, she just huffed indignantly. “What? Why are you glaring are me?” she took another sip off her glass that was already starting to tilt dangerously. “It’s just natural for me to be curious. I mean, God must have put them down there for a reason? I’m just trying to… learn.”

Fergusson let out a deep belly laugh and spilled some of the Bordeaux on his shirt, which earned him a rather disapproving glare from Sunshine’s mother.

“God, didn’t put ‘em down there, Emma.” He belched loudly. “’twas us. And they’d do well to remember it too, hah!”

G was fuming. He shouldn’t be, he shouldn’t care but something about the useless lump of fat just made his magic boil. He couldn’t help but feel the urge of dunking his head into a fishbowl and see how long it took him until he’d give up that high and mighty act of his.

The skeleton already opened his mouth to retort, unable to keep it in for much longer, one hand curled into the wood of his armrest when the quiet sound of a spoon being put down interrupted him. For something so quiet, the noise sure as hell silenced the squabbling elderly gang over there pretty quickly.

Sunshine’s fingers lingered on the silverware for a moment before she decided to fold her hands neatly under her chin. There was a polite smile on her face, but her voice was strong and firm. “This conversation upsets me.”

There was something about the way she said the word upset, that seemed to fall over the table as a whole. It silenced all ongoing conversations and G could have sworn that some people quickly turned their heads away from them with something like… fear?

They were afraid of Sunshine.

His sweet little Sunshine, that was the most gentle soul he’s ever witnessed and couldn’t hurt a fly. The girl that stayed up until 3am to watch barbie movies and pointed out cows to him on roadtrips and excitedly smacked his arm every time she saw a dog on the streets. The girl that feeds an entire study group just so others wouldn’t go hungry and taught them whatever they struggled with, with near endless patience.

The same sunshine that saw him go almost feral after a nightmare and instead of running away screaming… she had embraced him. Comforted him, even.

To be fair, she did seem a bit more frightened of him ever since, but that was only natural. He tried not to be hurt by that, and only failed a little.

And they were scared of her.

They hadn’t been shy about being rude to her or mean. Even cruel at times. But the second she said she was upset, the second she voiced it… They crumbled like a cheaply made house of cards.

G almost started laughing.

It was so absurd. This broken family that desperately clung to the idea of perfection was absolutely petrified of something as simple as upsetting someone publicly. They feared what people would say about them when they realised that some things weren’t all roses and daisies. It was hilarious.

Sunshine’s father cleared his throat and his wife clutched at his arm, as if she wanted to remind him to treat carefully. “Alright then.” Why did it sound like he just dismissed them? Sunshine gracefully bowed her head and got up in one fluid motion. G stumbled a bit when she pulled him with her and linked their arms. Everybody stared at them.

“Thank you, Papa.” She smiled. “We will retire to our room for the night then. Enjoy the rest of your dinner.”

“Thank you, Dove.” He nodded curtly and almost like it had been practiced, everybody’s eyes turned from them and returned to their own plates. The woman hanging off his arm gently steered him towards the door and her hand dug into the sleeve of his shirt. He turned back when he felt Hel’s burning stare at the back of his neck but Sunshine tugged on his arm. He noticed that she was shaking, despite seemingly being completely put together.

“Don’t. It’ll just give them more to talk about.” She whispered. And then the door closed behind them.

Chapter 11: DISCREPANCY DETECTED

Chapter Text

You were carefully watching G as he paced across the room. His footfalls were heavy and angry and he seemed to be stewing on something. Patiently, you sat down on the edge of the bed and then… you waited.

Hands folded in your lap and red eyes following his path for what felt like hours, when really, it had been twenty minutes, at most. You knew that he was angry, fuming even, but it was always startling to see him loos his cool. G was always calm and aloof and relaxed, so seeing him like this was… very out of character. Then again, he had just been insulted and put down for the entire duration of dinner. His rage was definitely justified. You wouldn’t have even been offended if he’d said something or just flat out smacked flabby Fergusson’s and Hugh’s aunt Pricilla’s skulls together so they’d shut up. They probably deserved it. They were awful people that looked down on others simply because they thought they were better because they had money.

And that’s what it all came down to in the end anyways. Money.

Money can buy things. Money can do things. Money can induce fear. Money controls things. Controls people.

So you can imagine the rich people’s uproar when Monsters came to the surface with buckets full of the purest gold anyone’s seen in a long time and a certain incapability of being intimidated. And on top of it, they had the one thing money couldn’t buy.

Magic.

Magic’s always been a funny thing. Untameable. Unbuyable. It was a gift that had been given to someone by powers none of us puny humans could understand. For a long time it had been believed to be genetic, but even with the higher genetic odds, the results were unpredictable. Seemingly at random. No matter how worthy or unworthy the upper class thought someone, the decision wasn’t theirs. So they started to resent every kind of magic. Because they couldn’t have it.

And suddenly there is a whole bunch of people-monsters-that were all inherently blessed with the one thing that was so out of reach and unobtainable for them, even with all that money they had hoarded?

Yeah, they loathed monsters.

Nobody knew that better than you. So you sat and waited, with all the patience you had been blessed with. Eventually, the skeleton seemed to tire of pacing and he stopped dead in his tracks. His turn in your direction was sharp and precise and you had to fight down a blush. You’ve always known that G must pack some power, something that made even other monsters fear and respect him. It should have deterred you, made you turn and run the other direction while screaming for help, for someone to save you from the big, bad wolf.

But instead, you couldn’t help but crave it. The aura of danger drew you in and you were helpless, like a moth to the flame he lured you in in ways that made you wanna throw all caution in the wind. If anyone would know about your silly crush-okay, let’s be honest for a moment, it wasn’t a crush. It had long morphed into a fully fledged infatuation-they’d reprimand you. And wasn’t that what your aunt had done?

Warned you about this man, that was not only potentially so dangerous, but a real threat? Every movement of his right now was sharp and angular and reminded you of a wild animal on the prowl. The little part of your brain that still had all of it’s wits together whispered that you should be frightened. Terrified even. He had been disrespected, mocked and practically abused. And here you were. A perfect little target that embodied everything that he must hate and would be so easy to just tear apart. To let out his frustrations and wouldn’t even fight back. Not couldn’t, but wouldn’t.

You ignored it pointedly.

“You shouldn’t have apologised to me.” he growled and you blinked in surprise.

What?, you thought. “What?” you said. He stalked closer and again, you felt your aunts warning glare at the back of your head, how she’d scream at you not to be stupid.

Status: Unknown.

It popped into your head like a little warning but you shoved it aside so quickly that you flinched. G must have thought that the flinch pertained to him and his hands around your upper arms lessened their grip. You hadn’t even noticed that he’d closed them around you.

“You shouldn’t have apologised.” He repeated and your head tilted in confusion.

“You are angry because… I apologised?” Quite frankly, it didn’t make any sense. “Why?”

“Are you kidding?” he huffed, and a surprising amount of warm breath hit your face. You hadn’t even been aware that he was still actively breathing but in retrospect, it made sense. He could smoke, and somehow, he’d have to inhale to do that.

“I’m confused.” You admitted.

“Of course you are.” He snorted and took a few steps back. You followed him with your eyes. “Sunshine, these… people…” he practically spat out the word. “They treat you awful.”

“I-“ you frowned. “G, they weren’t awful to me, they were awful to you?”

“-Your boyfriend, yes.” He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, they were pretty racist to me, but you can’t tell me that you haven’t noticed that they kept looking at you every time. They didn’t wanna hurt me, they wanted to hurt you. And your mom kept making awful comments about your body and-“

“She always does that.” You said defensively. “She just.. wants to look out for me.”

“She wants to starve you.” He insisted. “Don’t act like you aren’t barely eating. And every time she makes a comment, I see you die a little inside.”

“That’s normal.”

“It’s abuse.”

You recoiled, as if he’d hit you. Well, yes, your mother had always been a little stern with you, but that was just because she was worried. Because she wanted you to be healthy and with your condition, she always made sure that at least your diet was properly adjusted. And she was right, as soon as you went off to college, you did gain weight and became softer. She was just trying to look out for you… That wasn’t abuse… was it?

“It’s not.”

“It sure isn’t an act of love if she pressures you into it.”

“I-I think you got it wrong.” You whispered, and stared at the ground. “This isn’t about me. I get that you are upset that you have been treated with nothing but disrespect and you have every right to be. You have been accused of horrible things but please do not deflect it on me.”

“Sunshine, you give these people too much credit. They don’t care about me. And I don’t care about them either.”

“How could you not care after everything?”

“Because it’s nothing I haven’t heard before.” The skeleton let out a wry laugh. “It’s always the same, even Underground.

“That’s… awful.” You whispered and your heart broke a little for him. “Why would they be nasty to you Underground? That doesn’t make sense.” His browbone raised the tiniest bit and your ears started to burn. “No, really. I-I must be missing something.”

“You mean besides looking like the world’s worst jigsaw puzzle and the Grim Reaper’s fave child?” He let out a laugh that made your frown deepen considerably. “It’s because I’m… broken.” He must have noticed your confusion because he added “warped.”

He waited for you to say something but you stayed silent and looked at him expectantly. He must have gotten the hint to continue and sighed deeply before sitting down on the bed next to you.

“I know it’s hard to believe but I haven’t always been like… this.”

“I know.” You nodded. “You had cyan magic once. A patient soul.” Like me, you added in your head but held your tongue from saying so.

Surprised, he looked at you, mouth a little agape.

“How-“

Sighing deeply, you twisted backwards and groped for your pillow. The fabric made a crinkling sound as you pulled out the sheets of paper. “My aunt gave these to me. I-I hid them under my pillow when you came back from your shower and- oh, stop laughing, I panicked! I needed to gather my thoughts first!” Your cheeks burned but G’s laugh was a wonderful thing to hear. The sound was a bit rough and gravelly-like him-but carried genuine joy.

He plucked the folded paper from your hands and quickly scanned them with his golden eyes. “Well, that explains why your aunt kept glaring daggers at me all of a sudden. I thought we got along famously and suddenly she looked at me like I’m some kind of rodent.”

“She was just… worried.” You squeaked. “That you stole the original Sans’ identity or something!”

“Oh, did I now?” he teased. “And what did you tell her?”

“That it doesn’t matter.” You said honestly, and shrugged. “I know you.”

Stunned he just stared at your face, that adorable little blush of molten gold crossing his zygomatic arch. God, he looked so much younger and open like this instead of his usual, grumpy façade.

“You-“ he eventually stated. “really are something else. Are you sure your soul ain’t green?”

Now it was your turn to blush and you laughed a bit awkwardly. “N-no, I’m… also cyan.” You admitted sheepishly.

“Now, how’d you know that, little human?” G asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eyelights.

“You-You are deflecting!” you stammered quickly and he gave you another smile. No doubt over your awkwardness.

“There you are right.” He rasped and you couldn’t help but notice how close he was. Sighing deeply, he leaned back on the bed. “Well, my story isn’t a happy one. Are you sure you can stomach that?”

“Mhm.” You agreed and he took a moment to gather his thoughts.

“Alright then.” It could have been your imagination, but you were pretty sure that his voice sounded a tad rougher. “You know how I always say that my dad is kinda sh*t? And that he left me ‘nd Paps?” You nodded again. “Well, that’s not quite the truth. Okay, he was an absolute piece of sh*t, that part was true, but he didn’t leave us. I…” He swallowed harshly and suddenly started to stare down at his feet. “I kinda… killed him.”

“Ah.” you breathed and his eyes flickered up to meet yours for a brief second.

“I know what you must think, but, I swear, I wasn’t exaggerating when I tell you that he was an awful, pathetic little creature that doesn’t deserve even an ounce of that empathy you are sure to feel right now.”

“What happened?” you simply asked in a neutral tone, that didn’t portray your emotions.

“He was never a good father. Wicked smart, but the guy didn’t understand even the most basic emotions. Treated me and my brother more like labrats and glorified assistants than sons. I think he regretted having us at all. But he did give us a crazy good education in the process. He tried to break the barrier by all means necessary. It didn’t matter over how many broken lives he had to step. But… he made a mistake.”

“He hurt your brother, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. How’d you guess?”

“He’s the only person close enough to matter.” You shrugged. “What’d he do? The fracture line on his cheek?”

“Right again.” G nodded and you couldn’t help but feel slightly proud. “He slapped him across the face when Paps dropped a plate of spaghetti on his desk. Dad had refused to eat for a few days at least and Paps got worried and tried to bring him some. But Dad snapped at him, hard enough that he was dropping the plate in fear. It was insane. He got so mad, told Paps he ruined years of work and what not. I got my lil’ bro out of there as quickly as I could and went back to see if I could salvage anything after the old man stormed off. So it wouldn’t get any worse for Papyrus.” He paused shortly before continuing. “I read through the thing when I was sorting it. It took me.. forever. I know I shouldn’t have but it was hard not to when my own name stared at me. It was about how he made us. I just got so mad that I followed him into the Core, so I could confront him.”

“So you’ve always been a bit of a hothead.” You laughed softly and he gave you the slightest hint of a smile.

“Yeah, maybe. I could sit for hours and do the dullest piece of partial differentials and be on my merry way but the second someone would target Paps… He’s always been my weakness. So when I read those awful notes I just… lost it. I shouldn’t have gone after him, I know that. The Core is highly unstable as is and I didn’t need to add to it too with how out of line I was acting. And then I find him there scribbling on the floor and doing…. Blood magic.” He spat out the word and even you couldn’t help but shiver.

Blood magic was something nobody even considered, no matter how desperate. It was obscene and perverse and required a sacrifice by the caster-generally blood, hence the name-and it would almost always backfire in the worst ways imaginable. It breaks apart the person using it and leaving behind a shell of its former self. Nothing good ever came of it.

Nobody used bloodmagic.

But apparently G’s dad had, and the thought alone lost the man any respect you may still have held for him. Not that it would have helped him, he wasn’t in your good books anyways.

“Don’t look so shocked yet, it gets worse.”

“Worse?” you whispered, more to yourself than him.

“Yyyyoup.” He confirmed. “I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was trying to get The Key. Some magic jiggamado that could free all of us from under the barrier. Some kind of… anomaly.” A cold shiver ran down your spine and fear gripped at your heart. “I knew that I couldn’t let that happen. Not after everything he’d done to us. And he considered us as his children. There’s no say how he’d threat the anomaly if he’d get his hands on her.”

“So you fought him.” It wasn’t a question, but more of a statement. “Oh, G… That’s… horrible.”

“It had to be done. He was about to do bloodmagic in the Core and potentially abduct some girl because he thought her soul’s a little weird. He could have blown all of us up or created a black hole or something even worse. It was reckless and I think he knew but at this point he was so obsessed with the idea of being the monster’s saviour that he was beyond saving. I… I pushed him into the core. He had hurt me… badly. And I was sure that I was about to die. But I couldn’t let him finish what he’d started. The Core blew, it wasn’t stable enough to handle a foreign body like that on top of the blood magic. And the resulting blast..”

“Warped you.” You finished when his voice trailed off. He didn’t need to confirm that you were right again, his deeply saddened look was more than enough. He had been a victim of the blood curse.

“Most monsters resented me after that. They thought I was the one that used the damn thing and blew it. I was branded a freak of nature after the accident and everybody mourned Gaster’s demise. They didn’t hear me out when I told them what he’d done. Said there has never been proof that he mistreated me and Paps, so it was convenient that I came out with it now that I dusted him. They even got mean when Paps tried to stand up for me, said that he’s just trying to protect me because we are siblings. Nobody believed be, so I started to become… cold. Closed off. Undyne must have felt bad for me, or maybe Papyrus put in a good word for me because she took me in and made me a judge. I had a yellow soul now, the complete opposite side of the spectrum from where I was before. But… the yellow soul made me perfect for judging and delivering a swift and cold justice if needed. I channelled all of my pain and resentment into it and sometimes I saw a human and thought “Hello displaced anger” when chasing them down so hard that their souls weren’t even viable anymore. Got a lot of sh*t for that too but people didn’t wanna pick a fight with the guy that… you know…”

His shoulders sagged and you bit your lip. The skeleton looked so tired and worn out and you realised that maybe, this was the first time since his accident that he allowed himself to be vulnerable with someone beside his brother.

Eventually, his eyes rose to meet yours. The golden specs were wavering, as if he had trouble keeping it together. Your head tilted ever so slightly in response, and hair spilled over your shoulder. Again, gold spread over his cheekbones and you couldn’t help but give him a little smile.

This confused him to no end and he must have thought that you weren’t willing to hear him out.

“You don’t believe me.” He said miserably and your smile softened.

“G-“

“No, please, you-You have to believe me! I-I could even tell you what he did to us as kids. The others didn’t believe me, but it’s still so fresh in my head, I’m sure-“

“No need.” You said with a little headshake.

“No, please-“ you interrupted his pleas with the simple gesture of putting a finger against his teeth. It was awfully intimate, but you couldn’t think about that right now.

“I believe you.”

He blinked, in disbelief. “You- you do?”

“Mhm”

“I haven’t even told you yet?”

“That’s okay.”

“I don’t understand.” He mumbled and you smiled again before sitting down next to him.

“That’s also okay. I know you. And that’s enough for me.”

“I-You don’t make any sense, Sunshine.”

For a moment, you sat there while you gathered your thoughts. “I… know your story. You don’t have to tell me and hurt yourself more. I’ve already seen all the proof I need.”

“I don’t understand.” He kept mumbling and you sighed again. Of course, you didn’t make much sense. Especially to somebody that has never been just… trusted. “May I show you?” you asked kindly and held your hand out for him. He stared at the pale skin as if it was about to turn into a deadly snake and bite him with its poison fangs. But when the hand just stayed a hand and your red eyes looked at him steadily, he finally gave in.

Smooth bone slotted against your heated skin and you smiled at him before you naturally shifted into work mode. Gently, your fingers brushed against the calcified phalanges and traced the hole in his hands. For so long you had teased him about your major, played into the little game you were playing, but… this was no time to play.

“I am a forensic anthropologist.” You said softly and he perked up at that. “My job is reading the bones of people that were silenced too soon and give them back their voices. Find out what happened to them and make sure that the people responsible will be held accountable.” Your steady eves find his shaky ones and you empathised your words, so he really got the meaning behind them. “Bones always tell the truth.”

“What’s my truth then?” he whispered, almost scared. You looked at him for a long time, not sure if you should be the one to say it, but he took the choice easily, when he started to almost beg you. His voice was hoarse and rough and desperate, so you had no chance but to say yes when he said “Please. I need to hear it.” Swallowing, you push up the sleeve of his shirt.

“There’s evidence of older remodelling. Look at the distal humerus. The thickening of the bone. It reveals a remodelled sub-acute metaphyseal fracture. A bucket handle fracture.” He looks confused, so you translated. “One of the signs of child abuse.”

“Correct.” He said, and you moved closer to him.

“Your… upper arm. Has been broken in five places. Roughly nine years ago. Did he grip you?”

“Yeah. Pulled me away from one of his machines and threw me into a wall.” You nodded and moved on to the other side.

“There is other damage than that. An abraded fracture of the humeri and acromial process and metacarpals. All to the point of subluxation. The dislocation caused continuous rubbing which prevents remodelling. The back of the patellae show internal stress fractures. These are injuries commonly suffered by weightlifters.”

“He trained me with my magic. Made me lift sh*t… Cyan is density. Said I can’t drop it or it’ll smash Paps. I couldn’t do it, but caught it in time so my little bro could get out. I couldn’t lift my arms for weeks after that. I had to sneak out to Tori so she’d help me set them again. I said I… fell.”

“And she believed you?”

“Child abuse is so rare with monsters. It’s impossible to make kids that aren’t loved since that’s quite literally a base ingredient in making them.”

“Ah.” you hummed. Your fingers tried to skim along the collar of his shirt but you couldn’t quite reach. So you got closer again, practically climbing into his lap. “I can see acute transverse fractures that radiate down towards your ribs?”

The question lingers in the room as you stare at him and without even saying anything, G reached up and pulled off the shirt in one smooth motion. You forgot about it the moment it leaves your field of vision.

The skeleton shivered deeply as your hand made contact with his sternum. “You’ve shown me before, once at a party. I don’t know if you remember but even then I noticed all these breaks and scars.”

“You didn’t hate me for them?”

“No.” you answered honestly. “Here… He…” you cleaned your throat, that suddenly felt raw and stuffy. “He punched you. Repeatedly. You were…”

“Seven.” He finished when you couldn’t finish the sentence. You shifted in your seat and could feel some damage on his legs, even through the material of his pants against your naked skin under your dress.

“Extensive remodelled rib fractures. A complex fracture to the sixth left rib. Sub-periosteal new bone formations to both femurs and the left humorous, if I am correct. Linear skull fractures, all with different levels of remodelling. Multiple radiating hairline fracture lines originating on the glabella, terminated by fracture lines on the maxilla. According to the injuries, this started when you were about… five. Maybe six.”

He didn’t say anything but stayed silent. You could feel his eyes bore into you when you touch his shoulder again. “I can see your fight with him”

“What happened?” he whispered in a strangely rough voice. His hands slid across your waist and the weight of it felt… comfortable. Right.

“He broke your leg and you fell. I can see your hip dislocating. It corresponds with a number of other injuries that all occurred at the same time.” You made a point by tapping his iliac crest and he made a funny noise, as if startled. After a brief apology, you continued. “You tried to gain some distance, crawl away, but there’s damage to the L4 and L5-your spine. There’s a large number of chips and fragments. Some of the chips itself seem fragmented. One blow to create the chip, a second or third shattered it again. You were struck several times with a blunt object, much like the knees and legs. The ends of your humerus are abraded, so you could have been dragged by the arm. But the ends of the metacarpals on the right hand are abraded, so you tried to hold on to the ground. It’s… Very desperate. I see some staining on the acromion. Could be from something highly corrosive… I don’t know, mechanical oil? Kerosine?”

“Oil.” He croaked. “We broke a generator and got soaked. That’s why I couldn’t get away when he dragged me over to the edge. The… claw marks. What did you call them again? Abraded metacarpals?”

“Yes.” You nodded. “He… He broke your leg and then your back. You tried to escape so he dragged you to the edge of the Core to push you into it. But you fought back.”

“With tooth and nail.” He confirmed with a wryly smile. “He smacked my face into the rail a couple of times.”

“The scars on your face.” You said and traced them. “ Multiple radiating hairline fractures originating around the eyesocket, terminated by the glabella and maxilla.” A shiver went through him and you swallowed, but didn’t remove your hand. He tried to turn away but you followed after him, so that your warm hand remained against his cheekbone.

“You shouldn’t…” he mumbled. “They are… gross. Mark me as-“

“They are perfect.” You interrupted him softly. “They are proof that you fought back, that you survived.” A strange noise leaves his throat and he forces himself to meet your eyes. “You’re perfect.”

It was a weak moment, you knew. To let your feelings show like this but somehow, you felt like he needed to know. That someone was on his side, that someone believed and trusted him. Unconditionally.

“Sunshine, you…” he trailed off, not quite sure where he was going.

“I trust you.” You smiled again. “Bones don’t lie. And yours certainly do the speaking for you.”

He chuckled again, raspier this time and you felt his hands against your waist flex. Only now you seemed to take notice of how indecent your position was.

Stradling his lap with his shirt off and hands around your waist while you practically groped his face.

“Oh biscuits.” You mumbled and tried to move back while your face exploded with an unbearable warmth.

“Where are you slinking off too?” G laughed and pulled you back easily. “Don’t tell me you are embarrassed after I just poured out my soul to you.”

“Actually, I poured out your soul to me.” You mumbled before you could think about it. As soon as the words leave your mouth, you slap a hand against it in embarrassment. The skeleton just threw his head back with a laugh belly laugh. You are already halfway into joining him, when you notice something, that makes to halt.

A shiver ran down your spine and you froze in place for a moment. You knew that your eyes must be wavering from tracing old scars and broken bones quickly. “Wait a second…”

You snatched G’s arm and pulled the hand to your face to closely examine it. Lighter colour, jagged and torn edges od a dry bone break. Exactly like all the other injuries you had seen so far.

All except one.

Your lips felt dry as you took G’s face between your hands and gently tilted it backwards, despite his confused spluttering.

“What are you doing?”

There. There it was. A nick in the bone. On the C4, just the slightest sliver of bone missing. The edges sharp and clean. You would have overlooked it, like so many times before, if the light hasn’t hit it just right and revealed it to you.

Staining. The bone was stained.

“It’s… a green bone?”

“A what now?” G muttered, his speech impaired by the tilt of your head.

“A green bone… It’s what we call a-a fresh cut.” Finally, you let go of his head and he slowly lowered it to just… stare at you expectantly. Why wasn’t he saying anything? Why was he just… looking? Was he waiting for something? “It.. has staining. But that’s impossible?”

“Why?”

“Because staining implies the presence of blood when someone cut your throat.” You chewed on your lip. “Every other injury on your body is very much in line with post-mortem injuries. This one… Looks like it was.. no it can’t be.”

“Say it.” he demanded softly and you shook your head in confusion.

“I-G, that is a peri-mortem. Someone… cut your throat when you were… alive?” You could explain away the different stages of calcification in some of his wounds, since they had been healed, but the way bone breaks after it has been cut off from blood supply, how there is different stages of discolouration. It was all very much in line with post-mortem, which, yeah, obviously. He was a skeleton, he had no blood, nothing to cause the typical staining of blood pooling around time of death, the very much sharp and clean edges.

And yet… there was that sliver of bone missing where a knife had cut his throat so deeply that it had hit bone and-

Wait.

So deeply that it had hit bone? Hit it through what exactly?

“Ah, so you’ve realised.” He said with a shaky voice. “Sorry Sunshine. But he had to get the bones for his experiments from somewhere.”

For a long time, you just looked at him. Eyes wide and mouth agape, you sat there like a limp noodle, unable to do anything else but stare. You were aware that it must have been incredibly unnerving. Your eyes had that effect on others. So otherworldly different, you were often called eerie or spooky or something much less kind. It wasn’t a surprise when he began to shift uncomfortably, but yet, all you could do was keep staring while your brain refused to process what it had just put together.

“So…” he coughed slightly. “I guess you are a little freaked out that I used to be human?”

Finally it hit you. Late, sure, but once it does, it smashes into you like a train. The pain and grief you had hidden away in a deep corner of your heart was fighting to come forth and felt as real as it would when a fist would smash into your gut. Your lungs constricted and your stomach cramped together so taking a breath felt a thousand times more exhausting but you couldn’t help but breath out a soft laugh. Maybe a little unhinged and insane, but so full relief, as if a weight had been lifted off your shoulders. Tears must have been gathering at the corner of your eyes, blurring your vision. That made it just a tad harder for you when you reached out to cup G’s face. Your fingers were trembling, which confused him to no end, clearly. But all you felt was a strange sense of joy.

“You are like me…?”

Chapter 12: A 2.7 on the Richter Scale

Chapter Text

“You are like me…?” you whispered, almost reverently, before slapping a hand across your face to cover your mouth. It made quite the noise, enough to warrant a raised brow ridge from G.

Okay, maybe that was because of what you had said.

It probably was. It was a dumb thing to say. Jesus Christ, your father would have your ass if he’d know. Oh god, he’d probably know anyways. The rational part of your brain was well aware of that but the little kid inside of you was still convinced that Mommy and Daddy know everything and there was no keeping from them. You’d probably be grounded for months. Locked up in your room and hidden away from the world once again. You couldn’t bare the thought.

Not again.

“What, someone slit your throat too?” G asked dryly but not without humour and ripped you straight from your spiralling.

“What?” you guffawed. “No! How did you get that?”

“Well, what else was I supposed to think?”

“I-Nothing!” you insisted and flushed deeply. “It’s stupid. Nevermind. Just… ignore what I said.”

“How am I supposed to do that when you blurt some out of pocket sh*t, Sunshine?”

“I did not- c’mon! It just…” Think, dumbass, come up with something! “came out wrong?”

“Ain’t that the theme of the night, eh?”

This time it was on you to snort loudly and hold back a laugh. “G!” you giggled. “You can’t come out of left field with the self-depreciating humour”.

“It made you laugh, didn’t it?” He shrugged and you could feel your cheeks warm.

“I-yes, but that’s not appropriate right now.”

“Well, then maybe talking about your little outburst there is?”

God. Damn it.

“I had hoped that you would ignore it?” you winced and he just gave you a flat look that was so bone-dry that you couldn’t help but start chewing on the inside of your cheek. This was uncomfortable.

You were very good at helping others, at listening and offering comfort but as soon as the spotlight was on you, you froze up and turned to rigid stone.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you are a nice person?” you asked with a grimace, but not even you were convinced.

“Uh-huh. Sure.” He said flatly and just raised a browbone. “Sunshine, I literally just told you how my dad died because I was a bit too much of a nosey bastard. And you are an awful liar.”

“I am not!” you bristled slightly, but deep down, you knew that he was right. “Okay, maybe, but I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Is it that bad?”

The gentleness in his voice surprised you but at the same time it stung worse than you could have anticipated. You couldn’t help but feel incredibly guilty. Why couldn’t he just be the asshole he thought he was?

“It’s… nothing really.” You gave him a thin lipped smile before looking down at your hands and hesitated a moment. “I… I’ve never really opened up about this before. Papa always told me that I shouldn’t… burden others. So it’s difficult for me now.”

G’s thumbs started to rub your waist in little circles and suddenly, you were so incredibly thankful that he wasn’t human. You hadn’t really cared about who’s monster and who’s human before-really, you had no right to judge-but the familiar feel of bones of all things was oddly comforting right now. You weren’t sure if you could handle skin at the moment. Or maybe ever.

“I’m sorry, I’m doing it again.” you apologised quietly. “I shouldn’t talk so much about myself. This is neither the place nor time.”

For a long time, G just stared at you. The golden specs in his eyesockets were flickering wildly all over your face as if he was looking for something. “You deserve better.” He eventually blurted out and you blinked in surprised.

“Pardon me?”

“Sorry, that came out wrong.” He grimaced. “Just… you deserve better than having a family that taught you to never open up, just because…. What? it’s improper? Your feelings and experiences matter, just as much as mine.”

“Well, my family raised me right.” You bristled, but slightly unsure. You’ve always been raised with the notion that you were only worth anything if you were of use and you certainly… did not hit the mark. “I don’t always have to make it about myself.”

“You paused.” The skeleton said gently and his fands flexed around your waist but you were to stunned to focus on that right now.

“What?”

“You paused. Just before the right.”

“No, I… I didn’t. What are you talking about?” There was pity in his eyes and it made your stomach churn.

“You did.” He empathised. “My family raised me, right?” he echoed.

Too stunned to speak, you just sat there for a moment, considering your own Freudian slip. Could he be right? That you really were treated as badly as he said.

“No, that’s silly, G…” you shook off the deep sadness that was threatening to steamroll you. You knew better than to give in to big emotions like that. Taking another deep and calming breath to steady yourself you shoved all those confusing little feelings back into their little cage, so you could face G with your ever steadying composure.

You didn’t get to tell him anything though, because just like that, as if it happened on command, you could feel the ground start to tremble underneath you. It wasn’t the kind of tremble that came from you or inside of you, because G must have felt the shaking as well.

His hands around you tightened and before you could react, you were shoved into his chest and arms wrapped around you protectively. You didn’t even notice that he had flung his body over yours on the ground. Really, he barely left you enough air to squeeze out a little ouff, less so to think.

The bed made an awful noise as it skidded a few inches across the wooden floor and you could hear something in the bathroom fall over.

Before either of you could react further, it was over as quickly as it had started.

The earth had stilled again.

“Phew…” you muttered and tried to shuffle away to assess the damage but G was firmly attached to you, his bones rattling from how hard he was shaking. It was odd to see the skeleton so shaken-truly, in the most literal sense of the word as well as the metaphorical one-but you had to remind yourself that he might not have anticipated the ground to rise up and fight. He really had shed all of his defensive layers tonight so he might just be more vulnerable to startling surprises like this. He might act all tough and aloof but you could see that a part of him was still the scared, seventeen year old that just had to kill his father in self defence and then got shunned for it.

Your eyes softened and you embraced him, rubbing his back soothingly. He muttered something into your hair, but you couldn’t understand it. “It’s okay, big man. It’s over. You can let go now.”

He held on for another breath or two before he pulled back, though rather reluctantly. His chest was heaving and his eyelights fuzzy and wild.

“Are you hurt?” he asks insistently, scanning you all over.

“I’m alright.” You assured. “It was just a little earthquake. They happen a lot around here. The county is right above a fault line. I don’t think anything even broke. It was a very gentle one.”

“It could have been dangerous. Are you sure you’re unharmed?”

“How could I not be?” you chuckled. “With you watching over me?”

His face blossomed in golden light and once again, you were reminded how goshdarn stinking cute his blush was. It was one of those rare moments where you caught him off-guard and he didn’t have time to put on that tough guy aloof personality he tried to give the world.

Not thinking clearly, you reached out to wipe a smudge off his cheekbone, right on his blush. You could feel the magic rush underneath the calcifications, a vibrant buzzing. It reminded you of what you imagined a beehive to feel like. Instinctively, you knew that his magic wasn’t quite stable but still, you refused to be afraid of him.

How could you, when he’d just tried to shield your body with his. And there hadn’t even been any real danger.

Really, G might have been the only person in the world, you’d trust without a trace of hesitation.

And not just because you were head over heels for the guy, but because you knew that there was good inside of him that the world refused to acknowledge and instead punished him for it.

And really, you didn’t scare easily. Truth be told, there might just be one thing, you were deeply afraid of. Oddly enough, it might just be the same thing that G had feared all his life.

“We really aren’t so different, you and me.” you mumbled with a little smile. “I’m glad you came with me. Even if it caused you a lot of trouble. It might be selfish but… I’m glad anyways.”

“Eh, trouble’s my middle name, sunshine.” G gave you a lopsided grin that you couldn’t help but to return. His hands developed some dexterity and his thumb was once again caressing circles against your skin. A real Hallmarks moment, with your closeness and the soft, angelic beams of whatever light was still spilling into the room as the sun was dipping below the horizon and painted the sky a vibrant mix of oranges and pinks, mingling with the purples and blues from the nightfall.

G’s eyelights flickered down to your mouth for the briefest moment and you could feel your heart starting to race.

Your face immediately heated up and a feeling flowered in your gut. A nausea inducing one, the one with butterflies and wasps moving madly in search for a route out-trepidation. Hope. Excitement. Doubt. Jitters.

This wasn’t real. You must have hit your head during the little earthquake and knocked yourself out.

Because there was no way in h-e-double hockey sticks that eligible bachelor of the century G would even fart in your general direction like that. Or you had something stuck between your teeth and he was too much of a gentleman to point it out.

It must have been another one of your awful and embarrassing dreams. And let’s not discuss the virility and amount of embarrassing dreams you’ve been having lately. Being so close to the object-no, refused to objectify-the person of desire certainly didn’t help squashing the inappropriate trail of your mind.

Of course you were wrong, like so often.

And what better way to prove that to you than have your sister storm into the room.

Mercy slammed the door open and if it would have been closer to a wall, you were pretty sure that she would have put a dent in it with the sheer force she had been using.

Her hair was tousled and there was a wild, almost insane look to her. Her eyes were wide and the cornflower blue almost blown out by her pupils. She reminded you of a caged animal that finally escaped and you were a perfectly placed snack just ready to skin alive.

“Ella? Ella, are you okay?” she frantically called and scanned the room before she spotted you on the floor. “Oh goodness.”

Her long legs helped with crossing the room in sheer moments and before you knew any better, she had you wrapped up in a deep embrace.

Okay, maybe you were still dreaming.

But you still couldn’t help but to embrace the dream and you wrapped your arms around your sister greedily, soaking up the familiar comfort of what used to be your best friend when you grew up. For just the briefest moment, you remembered the last time she had hugged you like that. You’d just dumped Sybil after finding out that she really wasn’t one for monogamous relationships and conveniently forgot to tell you that. It hadn’t been a pretty breakup and she’d said some less than savoury things she shouldn’t have. You’ve always been a bit of a sensitive flower, your mother never made you forget, but once you’d texted your sister, she had raced down from her house down to your college. She didn’t even say anything, just wrapped you up in a hug much like this one and held you for hours while you cried.

And then she went home… and stayed silent. You’d cried more about that than your breakup.

She still smelled like Turkish rose, lily of the valley and peony, like she always had ever since Aunt Hel had given her that pretty powder pink perfume when she’d turned 13. Some things never change.

Your sister squeezed you tightly and buried her face in your hair for a moment before pulling back. She didn’t let go of you though, her perfectly manicured hands grasping your shoulders. She looked you all over with a similarly frantic look that G had earlier and you recognised it as concern.

Mercy was actually concerned for you.

Holy sh*t.

“Are you okay, palgan?” Her voice had a slight waver to it that made you hope that hey, maybe it really was just the wedding and your awesome, big sister was still in there and that maybe, after this was over, you could go back to how things were.

“Yes, I am alright. I’m unharmed.” You flashed G, who sat a little dumbfounded, a little smile and brushed some hair behind your ear. “Thanks to G-Sans.”

“Goodness.” She sighed, relieved. Then, her concern seemingly flipped to anger out of nowhere. “What were you thinking!” she accused and you blinked in surprise.

“I-what do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb with me! What did you do? Do you want to ruin my wedding? Jesus, I though we were past… this.”

“I-Cissy, this wasn’t me.” you mumbled, quite stunned. Her nails started to dig into your shoulders and you hissed.

“Oh, you can tell that someone else!”

“Now hold on a second, Missy.” G interrupted her and gently navigated you out of her grasp. Hurt both physically and emotionally by the sudden flip in attitude, you stood behind him, rubbing the sore spot. “You can’t be seriously accusing your little sister of causing an earthquake just to spite you. That is wildly preposterous. How would she even do that?”

“Oh don’t try to stand up and cover for her.” The bride-to-be hissed.

“I am not covering for her. We were-“ His eyes glanced at you and you could feel your face redden once more. “-Busy before you waltzed in here like a bulldozer. Completely ignoring the fact that it was an earthquake. What is wrong with you?”

“Oh can it, you dunce.” Mercy snapped and both you and G recoiled. “I know what’s going on here. Nobody would willingly be with someone like her. That’s why your cute little girlfriend broke up with you, didn’t she?” Her tone was vicious but there was a pain in her eyes that you’ve never seen before. “What did she say? Good for a f*ck but not much else?”

“Cissy, shut up. Please… don’t do this” You whispered with a trembling voice. Your eyes were burning and you suddenly felt very sick.

“Why? Don’t want your little boyfriend to find out?” The way she put emphasis on the word made it feel disingenuous and like an insult. You couldn’t believe your own ears, what she was saying. It was just cruel, even for her.

“Mercy.” You warned her again, but she ignored you. Instead, she kept addressing G directly.

“What did she promise? Money? It’s always money. Everyone is only after her money.”

“She’s not paying me.” He hissed, but your sister barked out a laugh.

“Why else would you be here then? Why else would you be with something like her?”

“What? A good person?” he took a step towards her and you could feel his magic broil and bubble under the surface.

“No.” you admitted softly and wrapped your arms around yourself. You couldn’t look at G directly. There was no way around it now. Either you spilled the beans or your sister would. And Mercy certainly wouldn’t do it kindly. You’d rather go out on your own terms. “She means a mage.”

“You- You’re a mage?” G somehow got out, stunned. He took a step back and bumped against the bed. Mercy, however, let out a barking laugh, her gorgeous face twisted into a snarl.

“No you are not. Stop lying.” She all but spat venomously at you while you could do nothing and just stand there and stare at her with a broken heart. “You’re no mage. You’re a mutt.”

Chapter 13: The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Chapter Text

The world turned dull for you very quickly. You sat down on the ground, unable to focus your eyes. Somewhere distantly, you registered that your breath was going a million miles an hour and a door was slamming closed. The familiar sensation of bone sliding into your hand, but you kept staring straight ahead. It all fizzled away though and it felt like all air had been punched out of your chest. Everything faded away, until it was just you, left with your thoughts.

And eventually, words. You didn’t… feel yourself say them, but they were spoken, nonetheless.

Have you ever heard of the story of the Autumn Mages?

“Can’t say I have? Should I?”

Probably not.

“What are they?”

An old story, mostly. A song. Not like one that has been sung but as in a folk story. Not many believe it.

“Tell me about it”

Humans had almost forgotten about monsters. The records of war had been destroyed in an effort to obscure evidence. Experience turned into memories. Memories into stories. Stories into tales.

Shyrens had been reduced to sirens and mermaids, luring in unsuspecting sailors. Mages warped into fae and the royal family into demonic creatures like chupacabra or some devilish image, with the goat motif and all. Mages fighting in the war and being on the monster side were captured and burnt alive or tortured until they renounced their beliefs. Whatever mages remained kept a low profile or went into hiding.

Every trace of the war had seemingly been scrubbed off the surface.

But you can’t just ignore magic. It always comes back to haunt you.

There were less mages now-less people to carry the gene after so many had been killed off, and even less that magic itself felt worthy to present itself within-and the ones that were born, weren’t particularly strong. Magic had been banished along with the monsters and whatever of it seeped through the cracks wasn’t enough to produce substantially powerful beings.

What was once a powerful seer, would be someone that had a lot of Déjà-vus, glimpses of the future in their dreams. Soothspeakers were merely charismatic-a lot of them actually became politicians or cult leaders. More often than not, you wouldn’t even recognise that you were of mage blood.

But things changed a few years ago.

“When monsters came back. The number of mage born people has gone up.”

No before that.

I… don’t think that I have to tell you what happened September 20^th?

“Oh…. That’s the night the prince-“

Yes. He came up and laid the human to rest. But as is human nature, he was attacked. We always attack. He started bleeding but… it wasn’t blood. It was pure gold, like Ichor in those Greek legends. Maybe those were monsters that had absorbed a human soul as well. I don’t know, all I can do is speculate.

“Monsters don’t bleed though.”

But Asriel wasn’t a monster anymore, was he? He had fused with the human soul and became… something else. His blood trickled into the ground and stained it golden with every step. If you walk the path he took, you can still find golden flowers blooming all season. Many people believe that it was magic at its purest form. He walked back into he woods and was never seen again.

“Why are you telling me this? What does that have to do with Autumn Mages?”

I’m getting there, be patient.

“That’s your soul, not mine. Don’t scoff, I can see your smile”.

You do. But let me continue please.

“Alright, Sunshine.”

Humans were in shambles after that. Religious groups believed that it was the second coming of Christ or a sign of the Devil himself. Conspiracy theories ran rampant. A lot of people notched it up as a scam or a hoax. But a few people remembered that old song. A seer had written it a long time ago. It is said that Tiffany Alson had been part of the group of mages that had imprisoned Monsters. Other sources say she fought on the side of monsters, which contradicts the previous statement. Rumours also said that she died in the mage-purge. It’s been so long and there is little hope that historians will accurately find out what exactly has happened to her, but she did leave a book of prophecies she had written down.

One of them was called Of Autumn Mages

“Isn’t autumn a modern word?”

Actually originated as early as the late 1300s. But Tiffany was known to have a strange speech pattern and she was the most prolific seer of her time. Do you want to hear her Nursery Rhyme?

“I’m sure its as morbid as all Nursery Rhymes, so yeah, hit me. How much worse could it get?”

In a world of waning light, where autumn colours bloom,

There's a nursery rhyme of sadness, casting shadows in each room.

The fall breeze whispers secrets, as the leaves begin to sway,

A tale of magic spilling forth, where sorrow finds its way.

Once upon an autumn morn’, when summer's warmth had fled,

The trees stood tall and weary, with branches draped in human red.

Beneath the golden canopy, a heartache had been found,

A place where sorrow lingered, where magic tumbled to the ground.

A lonely scarecrow, weathered, in a field of golden wheat,

He stood amidst the fading glory, his sadness bittersweet.

With straw for hair and button eyes, he longed for what was gone,

A love that vanished with the sun, leaving him forlorn.

The wind danced through the meadows, carrying mournful cries,

As nature wept in harmony, under sombre, darkened skies.

But hidden deep within the earth, where secrets oft’ reside,

Lay a realm of untold wonders, where magic did abide.

With every tear that fell from eyes filled with regret,

A trace of enchantment seeped below, where roots and sorrows met.

From within the grieving soil, tendrils of wonder sprang,

Whispering tales of yesteryears, where joy and sadness sang.

Oh, the children drenched will play and laugh, oblivious to the pain,

As they skipped among the fallen leaves, in innocence's domain.

But those who looked with knowing eyes could see the subtle signs,

The magic slowly rising, like whispers in the pines.

For in this sorrow-laden realm, where autumn's tears were shed,

Magic seeped through cracks and crevices, a gift from nature's bed.

Yet, even as it sparkled, a bittersweet refrain,

A reminder of the fleeting joy that sorrow can't contain.

So sing this nursery rhyme of fall, with tears upon your cheek,

And let the sadness touch your soul, the magic that it seeks.

For in the depths of autumn's embrace, where sadness intertwines,

Lies a world of hidden wonders, where magic spills and shines.

“The children drenched? What did she mean?”

The Autumn Mages.

“Do you have any idea how little that explains anything?”

Well, the thing is, after Asriel left and his trail of… whatever it was. Blood, magic.. a curse. Natures call. It affected infants that were born around the area for the day. It is pretty much confirmed that children born under these conditions would be mages. And strong ones to boot.

Naturally, a lot of them were taken away from their parents or disappeared. Maybe even sold. Some were lynched. None of us were liked. Nobody likes mages anyways.

“Us?”

You’re a smart guy. Figure it out.

“You were an Autumn Mage?”

I was the first Autumn Mage.

Virtually right after Asriel vanished, my mother spontaneously gave birth a month too soon in her home that was maybe a stone throw away from where the deceased human had been laid to rest. Who, by the way-to this day, has not started to decay? Like… They are keeping that body in some government facility and it refuses to show any sign of decomposition. That’s so f*cked up. What happened to that body?

Wait, I’m getting sidetracked. Where was I?

“Your mother giving birth in your living room”.

Oh yeah. She never lets me forget that I ruined her favourite persian rug.

And I came into this world quiet, and small and with red eyes. My parents just about fainted. They didn’t quite know what to do and by the time it was all over, the news of Prince Asriel had broken.

They were still my parents and they knew that something big was coming. That this couldn't have been a coincidence. So they conspired with my aunt and Hugh’s father, who was Dad’s best friend and owned a big hospital that got supplied by Papa’s pharmaceutical company.

And since rich people apparently get away with everything as long as they throw enough money at it, they faked my birth certificate to be a few days earlier so I wouldn’t be brought into correlation with the Monster Incident.

“At least they had your best interest at heart”.

They were more worried about their reputation being tarnished if it came out that they were involved in whatever the heck was going on in their backyard and that their child was one of those freaks. It was hard enough to deal with a child that looked like a bad Reneesme cosplayer and had the constitution of a Bard that chose it as a dump stat. Trust me, they didn’t wanna add the scandal of magic to it. That word isn’t even allowed to be muttered around my father.

“I see nothing has changed.”

Not really. And aside from the eyes and the vitiligo, I presented as a normal child. I mean, I was rather picky but that was because food just tasted like dirt. That was until the dreams started.

“Dreams? What dreams?”

At first, it was nothing. Just… weird glimpses. I didn’t think much of it, but I made the mistake of telling my sister. She was a few years older than me and already a smartass. Watched too much Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction in the middle of the night when she was supposed to be in bed. To be fair, that show was kind of bomb. I watched it in Highschool when she left for college and it sure is entertaining. I couldn’t be mad at her. Especially back then when she was still so kind and sweet and maybe a little overprotective. Bit of a crackhead, that hasn’t changed. Anyways, I told her.

She was a bit of a physics nut and immediately thought that it could be the possibilities of being able to see the billions of Universes out there with billions of copies of her and me and everyone else with billions of possibilities.

I was like five, so the biggest thought I had so far was the possibility of swapping my Barbie’s and Monster High Doll Clothes and that blew my mind. You can imagine that the possibility of a multilayered parallel universe was a wee bit much for me to handle when I’ve just recently gained full consciousness.

The bigger problem was that Mama had overheard us. And she told Papa, because she is a snitch. That woman wouldn't make it a day in prison.

Our Dad was super mad and he dragged me to Hugh’s dad-Brent-again to get me checked out. That’s when we found out that I had a cyan soul filled to the brim with magic. I was physically weak, but the magic was strong, though it showed part of that anomalous trait that the other Autumn Mages had as well, though nobody could pinpoint what it was. Whatever the trace was, it wasn’t just affecting our souls and enhanced our magic, it also attacked our bodies, like an auto immune disease. Made us infertile since we weren’t compatible with any humans. Like monsters and humans can’t get each other pregnant, since they will not take the others DNA, it was a similar case here. Just that we had nobody that would be compatible to us. And since I was the first, and so close to the fallout, I had the strongest fallout and subsequent trace from them all.

I… wish… I could have been the perfect daughter they wanted from me, but I wasn’t meant to be. Papa was getting exceedingly mad and strict with me. My mother doubled down even more. If I am perfect, nobody will notice that I am broken and part of a “messed up batch”. A child like me should be neither seen nor heard. They were so ashamed to even have me and I thought if I am perfect they would see me as less of an embarrassment. That maybe, it would make them love me like they loved my sister. I tried. I tried so hard. I repressed all kinds of magic and to be a good girl. Got the highest grades, did more extracurriculars than all my peers, stayed away from people aside from necessary pleasantries and close family friends so nobody would find out I am one of those mages or a mage in general. Everything I did, I exceeded at. Heck, I got accepted to our University while Mercy had to go to a second choice out of state, but noooo, I am the bad child, like Jesus. What more can a girl do?

In the end, it was all in vain though. I had gotten weaker and weaker and my magic kept bubbling up since I wasn’t able to keep it contained.

It’d started slowly. TV channels changing when I hated the program. A new lightbulb fizzling out because let’s be real, 1500 lumen are ridiculously blinding and I didn’t need an impromptu X-Ray in the bathroom at night. Dad’s whiskey glass disappearing. One day, I was maybe eleven, I got into a fight with the neighbours girl. You know her, Cam. The pretty, tall one with the 4c hair. She got upset that I beat her in Mario Kart-as one does-and broke my Wii remote. Obviously, I got mad too. The only difference was that when she got mad, she threw a tantrum. When I got mad, I caused an earthquake. It wasn’t a strong one, probably even weaker than the one earlier but I still caused it.

“That’s why your sister accused you of causing today’s as well-oh f*ck her, that’s horrible.”

It sucked, not gonna lie. My Dad was super mad that Cam now knew and that I would be so careless. I tried to tell him that it was because I didn’t have an outlet and what he expected? He didn’t believe me, of course. But Mercy and Cam did and secretly, they helped me use magic little by little. Just to… vent it all out. Tiny things. Lifting a fork. Putting away the dishes. You know… exercise.

It helped tremendously. I was still physically weak and small and exhausted all the time but my Parents stopped screaming at me. Whenever they tried to, Cissy distracted them. Made them focus on her so they would stay off of my case. If all eyes are on her, there are none left to scrutinize me.

She was my best friend and the best sister I could wish for. And then… Monsters came back.

Society was in quite the big upheaval but humans got over it eventually. We aren’t a smart race. But with monsters came more knowledge about magic and mages. Knowledge that had been lost since the war.

The next time I saw my doctor, Uncle Brent, he told me that the anomalous part of my soul was of monster origin. When Asriel and the human died, they left behind a soul that was neither monster nor human and affected the resulting mages. It…. similarly to the blast that warped your soul, their death did something similarly to ours. Which makes me….

“Partially monster…”

Yes

“Like me…”

Like you. Do you hate me for it?

“I could never hate you for something that has never been your choice.”

The tear of relief rolling down your cheek was the first thing you could feel again, followed by a laugh bubbling up your throat.

“Oh sh*t, wait. I didn’t mean to make you cry!” There was panic in G’s voice that seemed oddly displaced.

“No, no, you’re-“ you couldn’t even finish your sentence between hiccups. “fine! You’re fine!” you eventually managed to squeeze out. A distant thought of embarrassment over crying in front of your crush crossed your mind but was quickly washed away by your tears.

Your vision was a bit blurry from weeping but at least you could feel yourself again. So much in fact, that your body practically lit up with warmth when G’s arms wrapped around your shoulders and pulled you into his chest. He was sitting on the floor as well and gently rearranged you so you’d be more comfortable as you ruined his shirt.

“It’s okay. Please don’t cry.”

“I don’t get it.” you blubbered. “You should hate me? Why don’t you hate me? Everyone that finds out hates me eventually. It’s not fair. I-“

You hiccupped again and G kept muttering something in a language you didn't understand into your hair. You noted that he seemed a bit overwhelmed with the situation but for once, you didn’t have the strength to pull back your emotions again. Every day of your life since that first earthquake with Cam you had deprived yourself from big emotions. Every time you didn’t something bad happened. Things got destroyed. Your stupid bitch of an ex found out and immediately dropped you like a hot potato and blackmailed you. People got hurt. You always held it together. But right now, you couldn’t do it anymore. And if you’d bring down the whole building, who cares? Not you.

Probably the governmental foundation for the preservation of historical buildings. But they aren’t important right now.

“I don’t understand.” you whispered and for the first time, a bit of maliciousness crept into your voice. “I-! I did everything I was told! I was good. I practiced. Day and night, I was composed and I gave- I gave so much, so- so why?!” Your hands fisted G’s shirt and your brows furrowed. “Was I born just to be hated? I wanted to please my parents. I wanted to protect my home-my sister-and suddenly she hates me too? Were my dreams true? Will I never find anything good in any of those universes? Am I just always doomed to be alone? It isn’t fair. Is it- Is it something I did?”

Your heart ached, anger and hurt leaving you raw and flayed open. You always gave everything to the people you loved. Your time, your help, your grades, your future, your childhood.

You received nothing, so you gave more. Your parents doubted you, so you offered more. Your sister turned her back on you, so you chained yourself to the idea to be better, to be perfect, to be something… worth of love.

You gave more and more of yourself until there was nothing left but doubts that would eat up the hollow spaces.

Your chest filled with a sadness that felt older than you, sorrow that made your bones feel weighed down.

Something in you had cracked but also, somehow, you felt yourself mellow down the slightest bit.

“Why?” you howled again, not ready to let all those big emotions die down again. “I don’t understand! It wasn’t fair!” You really didn’t understand. Was it something you had done? Did you not prove yourself as a devoted daughter? What should you have done. You gave everything-and somehow it wasn’t enough.

“What is it? What’s so wrong with me that everyone I love starts to hate me when the finally see the curtains peeled back and it’s just me? What did I do for my own sister to betray me like that? To out me to you so you might hate me as well?”

“Sunshine.”

That’s all G said-your name. But his voice was heavy.

“I will never hate you, do you hear me?” G’s voice seemed hoarse as well and you couldn’t help but burrow deeper into his arms. “Just because your family refuses to see more than a magic accident, doesn’t mean it’s true. You are good. You are kind and patient. You feed people on campus because you want to be better than your parents. You chose a career that helps you give people back their voices because yours has been taken from you. You believed me when nobody else did. Persistently tried to be my friend, despite even my own people staying away from me. I-“ he paused and you lifted your head to look at him. His cheeks darkened a pretty gold and you couldn’t help but smile. “I-uh-I know my word doesn’t mean much in comparison to a lifetime of neglect but I promise that this will not make me hate you. And whatever you need, I will stand with you.” His hand found yours and squeezed it slightly. “Like you stood with me.”

Returning the gesture, you once again couldn’t help but marvel in the smoothness of his bone. “How could I have not stood with you. I told you that I trust you so…” you sniffled. “I will try to trust you now as well.”

“Good.” He gave you a lopsided smile and now it was on you to blush. Quickly, you averted your gaze and instead started to look around the room. You half expected it to be in complete shambles but to your surprise, it looked no more dishevelled than earlier.

“I didn’t-?”

“No, I-“ G coughed into his hand and had to look away quickly. He looked uncomfortable. “Okay, don’t get mad but… I may or may not have used the littlest bit of magic to keep yours stable. I know-I should have asked-but I really didn’t want you to bury us in rubble and I am pretty sure you didn’t want that either!”

“You can do that?!” you practically screeched.

Once more, he seemed uncomfortable and started to shift in place.

“Yeah, uh-so-funny thing. Yellow magic… is kinda… pathokenesis…”

“What the heck is pathokenesis?”

“It’s.. oh this is gonna sound so f*cked up-it deals with emotions? Mostly makes it possible for me to see intentions and everything but If I try really hard, I can maybe kinda and please don’t be upset manipulate current emotions? Like calm you down or enhance them?” You just stared at him for a second. And another. And a third too, just for good measure. “Please say something, I am getting scared.”

“You are Jasper from Twilight.” You eventually deadpanned and the skeleton all but lost it.

“What’s with you and all those twilight references today?”

“Okay in my defence, it’s true but also I may or may not have seen some funny Twilight skits earlier so it’s fresh in my mind!”

“You are unbelievable! Is there anything I can do that will shock you?”

“Not really, no?” you shook your head. “Wait, have you used this this on me before?” A sliver of doubt crept into your self-confidence.

“No!” he insisted immediately and vehemently. “I would never! I swear! It’s mostly to see peoples intentions and when they lie or sh*t. Crap! Okay, I am not making this better, but I swear, I have never done it before! I couldn’t have!”

“Couldn’t?”

“Well, for one, you are a mage, which makes it automatically harder. Like, you would immediately know. And also, I-“ He took a deep breath. “I told you my magic is unstable? Like human magic, it is drastically tied to my emotions so unless I am about to go feral, it won’t do much. It fluctuates heavily and it is rather unreliable. Paps had to save my ass so many times when we were still Underground and I would frequently drain myself and get stuck in weird places. Often times with a perp pinned down. But being able to see intentions and functioning as a human lie detector if needed was an almost invaluable skill as a judge.”

“Oh biscuits!” you gasped and instinctively put your hand on his chest to feel the magic stirring inside of his chest. It didn’t feel any different than usually but maybe you just didn’t know what you were talking about. “Did you drain yourself? Oh goodness. Do you need anything? I can get you some monster or magic food to replenish! There is plenty in the house.”

“No, no, don’t worry!” He brushed you off easily. “I actually feel fine?”

“Ooookay?” you stared at him in confusion.

“I-it’s like I didn’t use any magic at all? It’s weird. When I touched you-“ Your eyes went big at the same time as his eyelights started to excitedly buzz and waver.

“When you touched me, you- what?”

“It felt like I got… recharged?”

“Did you calm me down by absorbing and recycling that overspilling magic of mine?”

“I-I believe I did? Holy sh*t.”

“Holy sh*t indeed.” You agreed and both of you stared at his hands, slightly starstruck. “You can keep me from a meltdown. I-I don’t have to fight myself in public. Oh god, you know! That means, I can cook with magic again, crikey, I hate using knifes normally.”

“You keep me stable.” G said with a dry mouth. You could hear the words stick to the roof of his mouth and if he had lips they would curl inwards and waver slightly. “I-I haven’t even thought about it but I didn’t fluctuate the entire time. Your extra magic stabilises me!”

“G!” you squealed his name and couldn’t help but throw your arms around his neck. He startled and almost fell over but you stabilised the two of you with the slightest push of blue, now that you didn’t have to hide it anymore. “Oh golly, that is huge news. We stabilise each other. It’s-It’s-It’s- I don’t know, I’m sure there is a word for it but I can’t remember right now. I’m too excited.”

“I think you mean an equilibrium. “

“Yes that!” you pulled back and grinned at him. For a moment, he just stared at you before a smile crept onto his face as well. It wasn’t one of his bad boy-tough guy-I’m so cool-smiles. It was lopsided and goofy and for once, he seemed actually happy.

~

“ow-ow-ow-ow” you complained under your breath as your aunt roughly dragged the brush through your hair. She had a curved and threaded sewing needle between her teeth and a little container with pearls next to her.

“Shtop coplainin, oney.” She scolded you, but ceased her attack on your hair anyways. The brush landed on the table with a little clink and you could watch her taking out the needle from between her pearly whites.

“It pulled.”

“And it’ll pull some more until I am done doing your hair for the rehearsal dinner. Stop whining. We don’t have time to be gentle right now.” You didn’t say anything and just pouted at the mirror. Obviously, she saw and her eyes softened. “Don’t give me that look, Moonpie. We would have been halfway done by now if you didn’t show up late.”

“I’m sorry.” you squeaked and she just patted your cheek. “Mama had me hang up some last minute flower arrangements, because a rose was wilted and she didn’t want to grab a ladder.”

“Oh, horrible perfectionist that woman. But I’m sure someone else could have done it. What about that… boyfriend of yours?” Her smile was strained but you could see that she was trying. “He is quite tall, couldn’t he have reached?”

Mercy behind you snorted loudly and turned in her swivel chair. Her gorgeous raven hair was up in rollers and her eyes were sparkling, even under the half-done makeup. If this was a cringier Wattpad story, you might have been tempted to utter the word “orbs” but you weren’t sure if Immogen wouldn’t spontaneously spawn right next to you and snap your neck if you did.

“Yeah, Palgan, what about that boyfriend of yours.” She said mockingly. She probably expected you to shrink back and shrivel up and die, like always but instead you just held her gaze through the mirror with a chipper smile.

“He was busy after your fiancé dragged him off for groomsmen things. He had offered, but you know Hughey.”

“That I do.” She ground out between her teeth and her eyes narrowed. It was obvious what she was insinuating but you weren’t about to give her the satisfaction of outing you once again.

Besides, the two of you had planned for that possibility.

“So about you and-“

“GASP!” No, really. Your aunt didn’t just gasp. She honest to god squealed the word gasp out loud. She was ridiculous like that.

“What?!” Mercy immediately jumped out of her chair and ran over, followed by roughly half of her other bridesmaids. “Are you okay, Auntie Hel?”

“Sweetheart, is that a hickey on your neck?”

You just smiled and stared at the bright blue bitemark on your neck through the mirror.

Chapter 14: Teeth Stained The Colour Of Life

Chapter Text

The two of you fell into the bed backwards. You bounced a little bit more than G and slid closer into the middle of the mattress where he had carved out a little divot for himself. For a moment, you just stayed where you were, painfully aware of his body next to yours.

Your mouth was dry.

Why was it so dry?

On one side, you felt like a weight-no, an entire mountain-had been lifted off of your shoulders. On the other, it was a weird feeling to present yourself so openly. Flayed open and spread out on the table for everyone to see. It was raw and tender and scary. Especially in front of your…. Your what? Crush felt to juvenile but secret love? That was just creepy. He deserved better than creepy. He deserved better than you.

But G had said he accepted you. Had promised that he didn’t think any less of you. Then again, so had Sybil, only for her to turn around and just use you after breaking your heart into a million pieces.

Insecurity made you turn your head and stare at the skeletons side profile. The overhead light gently caressed his face and you could only think that his side profile was a true work of art. An exquisite masterpiece sculpted by the hands of nature. From the slope of his frontal globe, a perfect arch cascades down to his browbone and glabella, framing the deep sockets that seemed darker than anything you’ve ever seen before and could possibly hold entire universes within their depths. Aside from the purely golden specs of light of course. Like fireflies or distant stars that were trapped in the void. Those eyes, like pools of liquid stardust, twinkling with warmth and something you couldn’t describe. Normally, they were filled with a certain hardness, no doubt resulting from the bitterness that had resulted out of necessity when the world had turned its back on him when really, he hadn’t done a single thing wrong.

You just couldn’t help but keep staring at the slightly raised nasal bridge, as if carved from the purest ivory. Which, it technically probably was. Ivory was just another version of bone. His jawline was chiselled and strong and the way the light got caught in it added to his near ethereal grace.

You knew, that others feared him. Humans and monsters alike. They looked at him and all they saw was something wicked and twisted, something dark and dangerous. Monsters saw a warning, not to mess with magic and not to turn their backs on family or get too greedy for power. Humans saw their own primordial fear reflected in him. The basic human instinct of fearing the dead, of what lies beyond and what was-or wasn’t waiting for them on the other side. Or even worse, of something from the other side, coming for them.

And yet you couldn’t help but see the beauty in him. See what others refused to. You just couldn’t help and so you kept staring and staring at what you could only describe as a portrait of captivating beauty, the vision of an alluring blend of strength and vulnerability that lingers in your heart and mind, leaving an indelible mark of what you can only describe as love and admiration.

You swallowed loudly and the noise caused him to turn his head and face you. Immediately, you could feel yourself flush and a teasing smile grazed his mouth.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked quietly and your face warmed even more.

“I- Uh!” you stuttered. “It’s- nothing, just- uhm.”

“Yes?”

“My-uh-my sister?” you squeaked and could have slapped yourself. Especially when his browbone started to knit together like that. Great, there you go, you big dummy. Ruining whatever mood there had been between the two of you. Fan-fricking-tastic!

“What about the brat?” You swatted him gently and he laughed. The sound was rough and smokey, a little unpractised but so very sincere.

“Don’t call her a brat! Only I’m allowed to do that!”

“Alright, alright! I’ll find another insult.”

“You aren’t meant to insult her!” you chuckled, helpless to him.

“Okay, if you say so.” He paused. “But for real, what about her?”

Dang it. He really was relentless.

“I-“ you hesitated, desperately trying to find something, anything. “She’s gonna out me tomorrow.” You finally settled on.

“That you are a mage?”

“What? no, my family already knows all about that.” You snorted. “Why the hell do you think we have so much monster food here? It’s not because they wanted you to feel welcome.”

“Wait, what?”

“Uh, yeah?” you smiled at him, a bit confused. “I literally just told you I am part monster. Of course I am gonna need monster food to sustain me. I thought you were smart. Did you not put together that me saying I was scrawny and weak and now being… this.” You gestured down your fuller figure with nothing more than factuality. “was somehow linked?”

“I just thought you got to eat normally for once since your mother isn’t hovering anymore.”

“What? No!” you let out an incredulous laugh. “I just got to taste food for the first time. How was I meant to stop. That sh*t slaps.”

“Fair enough.” He relented for a moment before a thought struck him. “Wait, is that why you could share your food with me? Because you ate monster food anyways?”

“What did you think?”

“That you were very thoughtful?”

“Uh, I was?” you rolled your eyes. “I shared my food with you.”

“You’re a nice person?”

“That didn’t get to taste food for like twenty years. I am not a sharer. I’m an only child when it comes to food!”

“Awwww, Sunshine.” He cooed playfully.

“I wanted you to feel welcome, okay?” you said defensively and crossed your arms. You couldn’t even look at him.

“Why?” the skeleton asked, clearly amused.

“Because you seemed like you needed a friend.” You glanced at him quickly and felt quite pleased that his cheekbones showed the slightest hint of yellow.

He didn’t reply and instead chose to stay quiet for a few of your own heartbeats. Worried, that you might have offended him, you started to chew on the inside of your cheek.

“G-“

“Do you-“

You both said at the same time.

“Sorry.” you quickly apologised, and whipped your head around to stare at the ceiling.

“No, no” he quickly said. “You first.”

“It wasn’t important!” you insisted. “What’s up?”

He didn’t say anything so you turned your head to look at him. His browbone was knit together and he seemed lost in thought. Not wanting a repeat of your silliness, you stayed quiet this time until he was ready.

“Do you think… you’ll meet the other Autumn Mages eventually? Would you even want that? To meet… others like you?”

Poor guy.

He seemed so unsure, like something was eating at him, but you couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

So you just laughed-not at him of course. “Oh, yeah, I know a few of them.”

“What?” his head whipped around so quickly that his spine made an uncomfortable popping noise.

“Uh, yeah?” a confused look crawled over your face. “You know them too?”

“I WHAT?” he balked.

“Uh, yeah?” you snorted. “Why do you think there are so many humans from different majors in a study group?”

The skeleton sat up a bit. “Wait, so you are telling me that Immogen and Yelena-“

“Got kicked out at sixteen because of it.”

“Estis?”

“Ran away from home.”

“Wyatt?”

“Actually has okay parents. He just likes fish a lot and the University has the best Marine Biology program.”

“Cam?”

“Oh, no, she’s just human.” You laughed. “She’s simply nosey and a social butterfly.”

“How did you find each other?” He asked, fiddling with the hem of his sleeve. Why was he so nervous?

“It wasn’t hard? Just googled people born that week in our town. And mages tend to flock together.”

“Oh.” He sounded dejected and you watched his little frown with a smile.

“Hey.” You flicked his nose lightly. “I still like you the best.” You assured him but immediately flushed deeply. Holy shot, you had no idea what had emboldened you like that.

“You do?” he asked and sounded so horribly insecure that you rolled onto your stomach, so you could face him properly.

“I invited you here, didn’t I?”

“I-“ His cheeks darkened. “Okay, fair.”

“You don’t have to worry. Your secret is safe with me. And the others are really nice. We don’t really talk about… it… a lot. None of us really practice magic anyways-okay, Yelena does, but that’s more for religious and spiritual reasons. Not the…” you wriggled your fingers in a somewhat mystified manner in his direction. He just snorted and gently swiped the hands in his face away.

“Okay, okay, I get it.”

“Good.” You smiled at him. “I can’t wait to be back home. This place is so… stuffy.”

“Just a few more days.” He smiled but you shook your head.

“Nah, I don’t think so.”

“Huh?”

“Cissy is gonna tell everybody that we aren’t… together tomorrow. I’m pretty sure. My parents are gonna be furious that I embarrassed them. I doubt that they will let me stay. I can count myself lucky if they don’t cut me off completely.”

“Why would your sister do that? Is she just that drama-hungry?”

“I don’t know.” You shrugged. “And I don’t really care anymore.”

You cared immensely.

“She is very cruel.” G hummed, lost in thought. “You know, I really thought we had her fooled.”

“I bet Cam talked. She was the one that spilled the beans that we hang out a lot to begin with, and my sister just ran with it. First to embarrass me, and now to have some kind of leverage I guess? I'd bet my left pinky that she texted Cam to spill the beans. She cannot say no to Cissy, it’s ridiculous.” You couldn’t help but pout. “It so sucks. I was hoping that we'd get through this scott-free, but I think it's time to face the music... This isn’t working.”

G leaned up on his elbows, just looking at you for a while. And then, “I could give you a hickey?”

You didn’t even blush.

You were too shocked to do so. Frozen in place you stared at him and he stared back at you. Desperate to find out if it was another joke or maybe even cruelty, you scanned every inch of his face but came up empty. There wasn’t a hint of anything aside from raw honesty and openness.

“Okay.” You heard yourself say. Inside, you were freaking out. Holy sh*t, did you just agree to get a hickey from G? What in the devils name made you think that that would end well for you? Were you gunning for a broken heart? Apparently, considering your absolute crapshoot decisions lately. And maybe now. Especially right now.

“Cool.” G replied and made no move.

“Cool.” You echoed, just as dumbstruck.

It was extremely awkward.

“So… how do you wanna do this?” you squawked very unattractively. That seemed to snap him out of his stupor and you could see on the way his vertebrae moved that he swallowed.

“I- uh-“ he coughed slightly and sat up. You followed him easily. You were relieved that you weren’t the only one to stumble right now. Words failing both of you right now, he just reached out for you and you easily went with him. He seemed taken aback by how easily, how willingly.

After a short shuffle, you ended right in front of him, your back touching his chest. You could feel your pulse go absolutely wild and were sure that he must be feeling it as well. All you could hope for was that you wouldn’t start shaking.

One of his arms circled your soft waist, keeping you in place. The other one brushed your hair off your shoulder before coming up to grab your chin in order to gently guide your head into a tilt that would give him better access.

His breath was warm against the skin on your shoulder and neck.

“Are you sure?” His voice was husky and heavy. Goosebumps prickled all over your arms but you quickly nodded. No way out now.

His nasal ridge traced your shoulder towards the juncture of your throat and you couldn’t help but jump in his grasp.

“You good?” he chuckled and you couldn’t help but blush.

“Yes, just ticklish.” G hummed, the vibrations singing against your heated skin as he managed to nestle his face into your neck. He stops moving again and you think that might have developed second thoughts. Just as you were opening your mouth to give him an out, you could feel his mouth open and suddenly, you couldn’t say anything. You were afraid that you would say something stupid. Let your affections shine through or even worse.

Do something stupid like moaning.

So instead you froze up and stared at the wall across the room and tried to keep your breathing flat.

G must have felt your tension because he chuckled. His canines grazed your skin in the process in one long, languid touch. “Relax.” He teases and you huffed indignantly.

“Easy for you to say!” you bit back but there wasn’t much malice behind it. He must know that, that was no way he didn’t, not the way he was laughing.

Suddenly, there was a hint of static and something warm and wet laved against the side of your neck.

“Ah!” you squeaked and tried to jump, but G’s iron grip held you rooted in place where you were. “Wh-What are you doing?”

“Helping you relax.” He stated as a matter of fact. Like this whole thing didn’t bother him even the tiniest bit. It probably didn’t. Most likely, he was just used to it. You knew his reputation. Women and men alike threw themselves at him for the chance to get laid even once. He was probably an expert in giving hickeys. He hadn’t even started and you were shaking like a leaf while this was just a normal Tuesday for him.

Pathetic.

His tongue pressed a bit more into your skin, mirroring the way his arms around your waist flexed.

“Be good for me, will you?”

All you got out was a pressed little “Mh-hm!” that earned you a chuckle. He kept up his ministrations for a bit longer, just until he apparently deemed you relaxed enough.

As soon as he stopped doing that, you wished he would have kept at it instead of starting to suck and nip on your throat in a way that made your knees buckle and shake. You could feel the way your skin gave way for him, how he left teeth marks all over, joined by purple mottled skin. Every little movement of his mouth against you sent shocks through your body. Warmth pooled in your stomach and you had to fight so hard to stop yourself from letting out little sighs or even a moan.

The way his tongue moved was sinful and delectable and absolutely not real.

It was getting hot in the room and you flicked your wrist without thinking. The balcony doors opened by themselves, as if pulled open by invisible strings.

The movement must have startled G, and caused a chain reaction.

He pulled you deeper into his chest, which startled you so you flinched away. Which in turn caused him to practically growl at you and sinking his teeth into your skin, breaking it in the process. You gasped and grabbed his arm so you wouldn’t just go limp in his hold.

Holy sh*t, you’ve never been so turned on, what the f*ck what the f*ck what the f*ck?

“Don’t-“ he pressed out, clearly having to hold back a growl. “Do that again.”

“’m sorry.” you muttered with numb lips. A sharp pain in your shoulder followed by the warmth of your blood trickling down reminded you that he had just bit you. Hard.

He gave it little mind, instead just licking the blood away and closing his magic lips over it to suck at the spot.

If he kept this up, there was no way that you would be able to keep your composure.

“G-G!” you muttered and he grunted slightly before moving on to another spot. Jesus, you would be painted blue come morning. You were trembling pathetically and he pressed a kiss right under the spot under your ear. It was such a simple gesture, especially compared to the sinful things he had been doing just before but of course this was the straw that broke the camels back for you.

“Sans-“ you moaned softly. It was a quiet sound, barely above a breath but he was so close that there was no way that he hadn’t heard. He froze before pulling away from you. Horrified, you turned your head to face him and gulped. Your blood was dripping off of one of his canines and runs down his jaw. His right cheekbone is smeared with it. He looks eerie and dangerous like this.

You can’t bring yourself to be afraid of him.

Instead you have the urge to lick your blood off his face. You are grossed out by yourself. But not him, never him.

You moved first. It was just a simple reach so you could wipe the red off his face. You didn’t even get to touch him before he flinched away harshly.

Similarly to trying to touch a wild animal, you paused and waited for the ferocity in his eyes to die down before you continued. This time, he let you and you wiped the blood off his cheekbone. He grabbed your wrist as you pulled back and before you could do something, his golden tongue shot out and licked the smear off your thumb.

Only then did his eyes find your and you could practically see his wildness die down again. Was this what he meant when he said he was unstable? That he had these feral urges? That he couldn’t help but crave your blood.

And yet, your ever horny ass still couldn’t help but feel So. So. So. Aroused right now. A look at your panties would probably give away your dirty little secret and you had to fight the urge to rub your thighs together.

“I-I think that should suffice, don’t you think?” G ground out and you blinked at him, a little confused. By the time he was through with you, you had already forgotten what you were doing.

Swallowing despite your dry throat, you nodded and pressed your hand against the side of your neck.

“I agree.” You mumbled but showed no sign of moving. You were scared that you would surge forward and press your lips against his mouth instead. You weren’t going to embarrass yourself further.

“You-“ he cleared his throat, suddenly unable to look you in the eyes. Did he know? “You should maybe go clean that up.”

This wouldn’t make your life any easier.

Come next morning, you found yourself in the chair in front of the mirror, with your aunt behind you, unsure if she should be scandalized, worried or soo amused. Your cousins were all giggling like little girls but most importantly, Mercy looked absolutely livid.

And that look alone was worth all the bullsh*t you’d put yourself through.

G had been right. If you were gonna go down anyways… you’d take your sister with you.

Chapter 15: Thelma & Louise

Chapter Text

„There we go. Pretty as a peach in May” Auntie Hel said and patted your cheek. You gave her a grateful smile and looked into the mirror. She had braided your hair in ways you couldn’t even begin to understand and sewed white pearls into it. The bright colour contrasted nicely against your auburn hair, though not as lovely as they did with Mercy. Your sister was still chewing on the inside of her cheek while one of your cousins, Margarite, was busy lacing up her bright red dress. Obviously, the colour looked fantastic on her and the sleek and sophisticated dress did nothing if not wonders for her. Your sister had always been beautiful, but right now, she was glowing.

You could feel the first waves of jealousy burrow their way into your stomach and you had to look away. Your eyes met sapphire ones through the mirror, as your aunt gave you a concerned but understanding look. Her hands were warm and gently on your shoulders, just shy of the blue necklace that had been pained over.

“Do you need me to zip up your dress, Moonpie?” she asked quietly. There was a lump stuck in your throat so you just nodded. Once again she smiled at you and walked over to where all of the dresses where hanging in neat little garment bags. Her hands worked swiftly and with the practiced ease of a woman that had helped marry off many sisters, cousins, in-laws, nieces… You name it and Auntie Hel had been there for all of them.

Absentmindedly, you stepped into the skirts of the dress and she shimmied it up over your hips and arms. The zip was cold against your heated skin as it closed almost agonisingly slowly, but you didn’t complain. You never complained.

Trying your best to avoid the mirror, you went on to smooth out the fabric in front of your skirts. You didn’t wanna see yourself. The bridesmaids dresses were too tight for your preference, too short-ending just shy above your knee-and too form fitting in the chest. You felt exposed in all the worst ways and a part of you was wondering if Mercy had chosen them specifically because she knew that it would make you uncomfortable.

You didn’t wanna think that way, didn’t wanna assume and see the worst in what used to be your best friend but there was this tiny sliver of doubt. Cissy had been nothing but cruel to you this entire trip. Was it so out of character for her to be malicious in her intent on this subject as well?

And just as if she felt that you were talking about her, she called your name. “Since you are dressed, can you go and talk to the priest about the timetable? As Maid of Honour, you should-oh.” You turned to face her and suddenly the words died on her burgundy lips. Her eyes widened ever so slightly before gaining a somewhat soft edge. In fact, everything about her, softened slightly. She stepped closer and, as if she wasn’t thinking, reached out to cup your face. You didn’t fight her. No, in fact, you even revelled in the familiar comfort. “You look beautiful, Palgan.” She admitted quietly. So quiet, that noone but the two of you could hear it.

You mouthed a little “thank you.” And smiled. For just a moment, it felt like old times and like you had your sister back.

Then she sighed and her whole posture stiffened up again. But when her eyes turned hard again this time, it was interlaced with a tinge of pain and almost regret. The ten year old kid inside of you perked up at it, still holding on to the notion that maybe, she really just was a bridezilla and everything would go back to normal once she’s gotten hitched to your old babysitter. Wouldn’t that just be a dream?

You understood the roles you were premeditatively been forced into. Both of you did. But it didn’t make things any easier for you.

The heels of her stilettos made a loud noise on the marble floors as she stepped back, poised and perfect as always.

“Anyways. The schedule? Can you manage at least that without messing up?”

“Of course, Cissy.” You replied easily and turned to leave the room. You could still feel her hard gaze boaring into your back as you walked out of the room. The door closed behind you and suddenly-

You were a child again. The rain outside was pouring down and tapping against the long windows while you stood outside of fathers study. He had given you quite the dressing down, like so often. You didn’t even remember why. Just that it was something small and inconsequential but mother had been so upset with you and when she told your father, he had called you into his study and reprimanded you fiercely. It was probably something stupid and silly and your own fault. Something that could have easily been avoided if you would have just listened and weren’t so set on being stubborn all the time. You’d just wanted them to love you, to be proud of you.

But no matter how hard you tried, it was never seemed enough. Your report card, filled with excellent grades, barely garnered a nod of approval. Carefully crafted drawings and creations were met with indifference. You jumped through every single hoop thrown in your direction, trying to please your parents, hoping that maybe this time they would crack a smile or utter a word of praise.

But your parent’s eyes remained distant, their words cold and uncaring. No matter how high you soared, it was as if an invisible barrier stood between you and them. Your heart ached with an unquenchable thirst for love, but it felt as if love was a rare and precious treasure you could never possess.

You sniffed, once, maybe twice, and your mouth pulled down into a deep frown. You’d sworn yourself that you wouldn’t cry, but even at the ripe age of ten, you wondered what was wrong with you, what you lacked that made your parents hold back the love they so willingly gave your sister.

Said sister stepped in front of you, her dark hair wild and unruly and only kept from her face with two big bunny berets. She had a scrape on her knee that flashed under the hem of her dungarees every time she took a step and a bandaid on her elbow. Her smile was loud and boisterous and warm like the sun. She reached out to pinch your cheeky with chubby fingers.

“Why the long face?”

“Papa was scolding me!” your whine muffled by her endless pinches.

“Yeah, I heard him yell.”

You finally pushed her off and rubbed your aching face. “Then why are you asking silly questions?”

“I just wanted to see how you are doing. You aren’t crying this time.”

“Father told me that I wasn’t supposed to cry. It’s unbecoming and I am forbidden.”

Mercy just threw her head back and laughed before she replied. “That’s because father is incapable of human emotion. You are ten. Cry if you feel like it.”

You swallowed the smile on your lips and squared your shoulders before you took another step forward, back in your white dress and walked across the empty hallways of the estate.

It felt incredibly lonely. And you weren’t ten anymore. So you didn’t cry.

G fumbled with the knot of his tie. What the f*ck even was an Eldredge Knot, why was he required to wear it and why couldn’t he figure out to do it?

The man could build a particle accelerator in a cave Underground out of scraps that humans had thrown down since he was thirteen but a stupid little knot? No, that was too much for him.

Frustrated, he huffed and tried to do it again, but the sh*tty silk got stuck in the ridges of his fingers and messed it up again when he got surprised by the sound of a door slamming just up ahead. He looked up, half expecting some auntie or uncle to stop his way and scold him for being so late. But nobody was there, so he looked back down and untangled the delicate fabric from his joints.

He had been trying for at least an hour now, had followed three different tutorials and even called both Toriel and Papyrus at one point, neither of which had been particularly helpful. At this point he was already incredibly late.

For whatever reason he was a groomsman, since Sunshine was the Maid of Honour, so he had to show up at one of the little groomsmen gathering thingamabobs. Which didn’t mean that he was happy about it.

Swearing up a storm under his breath, he stopped walking and took a deep breath before trying again. This time, he actually managed to do it and it didn’t even look half shabby. At least until he looked closer and noticed that the proportions of the tails were completely off. The top one was incredibly short and stout, and the bottom one almost reached his belt. There was a moment where he just stared off into the middle space, contemplating to set the stupid piece of sh*t of fire and the whole house along with it.

“-can’t believe it! She is completely out of control!”

Hold on a second.

G wasn’t normally a snooper. He knew very well that some things should be left unheard and it was absolutely none of his business but the moment he heard Sunshine’s father’s voice spill out from the door that was slightly cracked, he threw all of his principles over board. Some people don’t deserve his decency.

“What do you expect me to do?” Elaine, her mother, replied dryly. The skeleton could practically envision the way her mouth would pucker unhappily. He scooched a little closer and was suddenly very happy that these old doors had a habit of not closing correctly. “I did what I could.”

“Clearly it wasn’t enough.” The man sighed and there was a clinking sound followed by a sloshing, something that was very familiar to G. Ice hitting glass, followed by a drink. Preferably alcoholic in nature. “It’s already bad enough that she came broken but now she has the audacity to show up with one of… those?”

“The boy seems nice, Baek-Hyun. Really, must you-“ Oh so this was about him. Just one more reason to listen even closer.

“This wasn’t the plan. She has made a mockery out of this family.”

“We can still marry her off like we planned to. The Collins boy seems like he wouldn’t mind much? His family does own a nice hotellerie chain. I’m sure he won’t mind, he’s rather… simple.”

“That’s not the point Elaine, and you know it. Nobody will want her now. She's been... stained. No respectable family would want to associate with her now.” There was venom in his words. “It’s bad enough that she is… one of those… and now she had to go and parade around that… thing. Years of planning... wasted. ”

“I’m sure it’s just a phase. And we can still sell her off for her magic and-“

“No!” The harsh words were accompanied by the sound of a fist (?) slamming against a desk, maybe. “You know that she cannot use that cursed magic. It is not natural and she cannot control it. If it comes out that our daughter is… broken…. Our name will never recover.”

“It’s not her fault.”

“No it’s yours!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean! You and your… cursed little mage bloodline.”

“If you’ve forgotten, you’ve married me for that blood.”

“Yeah, because I was hoping that maybe we’d get a useful child instead of a burden and a freak. She doesn’t even deserve it. That magic should have gone to Mercy. She would have been able to control it and use it to properly further us in the world.”

“You know just as well that magic is a fickle thing and we can never predict who or what it will choose. And just to remind you, you wanted that second child. I was fine and dandy popping out one crotch goblin but no, you could never just be content. We already had the perfect child but your own ambition and hubris drove you to… whatever the hell is going on inside your brain.”

“You should watch your words, Elaine.”

“Or what? You won't hit me. You’ve gone soft.”

“And who’s fault is that, huh? I should have never allowed you to make me soft and I certainly shouldn’t have allowed Mercy to soften me up as a child. Then I would have just beaten the abomination out of your daughter and then we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Well, maybe you should have!”

G had to step away from the door. He had to or he would go in there and show these people exactly why the were right in fearing him. Anger-pure, unbridled rage even-bubbled where his stomach would sit and stained his entire being down to bone and magic and he had a hard time containing it. There was an ugly taste in his mouth that he had to swallow down. A big part of him just wanted to grab his sunshine, put her in that sh*tty car of hers and drive off never to return again. She wasn’t his, not like he wanted her to be, but he swore that he’d never let any of these people put a hand on her again. He didn’t care what he had to do, just that every fibre of his being was screaming at him to protect the young woman, because nobody else would. They had both been abandoned by the world, used and abused, and the skeleton had felt so lost for a long, long time. But right now, all he wanted to do was fight the world itself just so his Sunshine would smile at him one more time. He wouldn’t let others dull her light anymore.

“Hey there!” someone drawled and G’s head snapped up. He had to hold back a growl, but he just knew that the look in his eyesockets was wild and a little unhinged.

Hugh didn’t seem to care much for it, simply stepping closer and into his personal bubble with no regards. “Oh goodness, what happened to your tie?”

“I- Couldn’t tie it.” G ground out.

“Man, I get that. My dad insisted on the stupid knot. Said it’s the proper thing to do. If it was up to me? Linen shorts and open shirts aaaaaall the way!” G did notice that the groom had shoved his burgundy shirt neatly over his elbows, looking ay more leger than the deep red dress pants and white silk tie would make it seem.

“Wouldn’t that be improper?” The skeleton said, almost teasingly, if it weren’t for the angry edge to his words.

“What’s improper is having all of these gorgeous, gorgeous groomsmen and I gotta cover them up. Bloody shame if you ask me.” Huh? “Now lemme fix that so I can whisk you away so we can all be pretty studs together and blow these people out of the water, sweetheart.” The man stepped even closer, not even waiting for permission and suddenly there were nimble fingers around G’s throat.

It took literally all of his year long training so he wouldn’t slam the fragile little human into the next hard surface until his skull cracked open under that perfectly tousled sandy hair. The skeleton literally went rigid enough that one might think that he had a late term case of Rigor Mortis.

“There you go.” Hugh smiled warmly and stepped back. “Now you look handsome enough for my future little sister.” G looked down himself, the blood red tie contrasting uncomfortably against the stark white of his own suit. It brought up memories of the last time a red of this colour had stained his front, down when he was still Underground. And then how Sunshine’s blood had dripped down his canines last night and suddenly, he felt uncomfortably warm.

“Thanks.” G just gruffed, having a hard time to even get it out.

“Sure. I don’t want anyone to be mean to you. You are my little ducklings favourite after all.” He dramatically brought his hand to his forehead as he lead G down the hallway. “And to think, I used to be her favourite when she was still little and now? My baby’s all grown up, with a man of her own. Oh, Oh, I can feel age claw at me. The loss. The heartbreak. But alas, a pain all parents must go through.”

“You act like Mettaton.” The skeleton replied dryly and without thinking. Thankfully, the groom just flashed him a blinding smile and a well-practiced wink.

“What a compliment! You’ll make me blush!”

It was easy to be distracted by Hugh. Hugh had always been a good distraction.

Loud. Boisterous. Lively. The heart and soul of every party. Even if the party was just dinner. He was the morning star of brunch. Flash ‘em a smile. Be loud. Dramatic. Pretend to faint over the slightest little thing. Always look stunning, of course.

It was just easy to get distracted. Hugh knew what he was doing. So of course, G got distracted by him as well, and completely missed when he pulled out his phone and sent his fiancée a quick message.

[Thelma] 9:22

We have a problem

[Louise] 9:22

I guess we’ll have to move up our plans then

Chapter 16: And I may yet fall apart

Chapter Text

G watched Sunshine nervously bounce on the balls of her feet and chew so hard on her bottom lip that it turned an entirely different colour than the top one.

He had watched her bustle from table to table with anxious energy. A furrowed brow and a slight tremor in her hands betrayed the stress and nervousness that was currently consuming her.

The entire time she had been here, she oh so dutifully tried to appear poised and collected but the façade seemed almost fragile as she desperately tried to make sure that everything was going well and that Prissy Miss Cissy wouldn’t throw another fit.

Sunshine’s eyes darted around the room, taking in every detail but she couldn’t seem to find the reassurance she sought. Her breaths came out quick and shallow, as if she was struggling to keep her composure. G felt bad for her as he walked the short distance to where she was standing. He considered pulling her aside to talk to her about the thing with her parents he’d overheard, but one look at her slightly dishevelled appearance, he abandoned the thought. He wasn’t that cruel.

She was talking to some aunt or grandma or cousin fourth removed, who knows with this family, but the conversation was rushed and she kept glancing at the clock, fearing that time was slipping faster than she could handle.

She had glanced at the display of her phone four times in the two minutes it took the skeleton to get up from his seat and weave his way through the masses over to her.

“Sunshine.” He greeted her with a low tone of voice and he didn’t miss the shiver it gave her, though he didn’t quite understand why. Beautiful, big eyes glanced up at him from below as her back almost pressed into his chest and his soul spluttered slightly. A strand of loose hair had slipped over her shoulder and he couldn’t help but push it back. His metacarpals brushed against the exposed collarbone and he absolutely hated the way he almost succumbed to the simplest of touches. His mind immediately went back to the way her pulse had felt under his mouth, how sweet her skin had tasted and that he couldn’t get enough. The way she’d went limp in his arms with a noise that must have been fear when his fangs pieced skin. His own fear almost consuming him when he licked the blood off his fangs and practically went feral at the thought of more. more. more. He had to get a f*cking grip on himself. He was better than that. She deserved better than that. “Food is about to be served. Let’s sit down.”

The woman swallowed, the weight of responsibility bearing down on her shoulders. He could see that she wanted to go sit down, to go with him but her eyes seemed to fly from little imperfection to imperfection. He could practically feel her heart racing against him as she thought of ways to quickly fix every little hiccup, no matter how minor, before anyone could spot the flaw.

“Come.” He said again. “Sit.”

This time, she obeyed, though her steps were stiff and choppy when he pulled her with him.

“I-“ she started but he simply put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her down into the chair when they finally arrived at their designated seats.

“It’s okay. Everything is perfect. Relax, just for a minute, okay? See? They are bringing out the food. You like food.”

“I do like food.” She admitted rather miserably.

True to his words, a group of servers that were dressed in ridiculous coats that made them look like a gaggle of penguins started to bring out plates and fill up glasses. The wine reached them before the food did and the skeleton really had to suppress the urge to knock it back all at once. The need was quickly replaced by a feeling of surprise and maybe a little bit of marvel too when the plate finally landed in front of him. It looked absolutely beautiful, stunning even. The food could easily pass as a five star meal and even if he wouldn’t be able to taste it, most likely- he stopped expecting things-it was quite the visual feat.

Glistening lobster tails, jumbo prawns and plump scallops adorned the plate, accompanied by an exquisite selection of oysters and king crab legs. They were served with a symphony of dipping sauces and garnished with vibrant lemon wedges that were cut to resemble exotic birds.

“This isn’t so bad, right, Sunsh- Sunshine?”

His cautiously optimistic smile fell almost immediately when he turned and looked at the woman in question. She stared down at her plate-the same one he had-with a look of pure despondence on her face. Her eyes teared up ever so slightly and he’d lie if he’d say that she looked anything less than absolutely heartbroken. “Are you okay?”

“I- uh.” She sniffled slightly. “I can’t eat this.”

G’s voice dropped a good bit, so only she could hear. “Because of the lack of magic?”

“No.” A hiccup escaped her and she blinked in rapid succession so the tears wouldn’t spill. “I’m so allergic to seafood.”

Oh god. “How allergic are we talking.”

“I don’t carry an EpiPen for it because by the time it’s administered and starts to work, it’s too late anyways. Why is… Why did she-?” f*ck. Piece of sh*t woman of a bride. G wanted nothing more than go over there and wipe the smug grin off her perfect little bitch-face.

Before he got the chance to do so however, Sunshine’s mother Elaine leaned over to her daughter, perfectly plucked eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown. “Sweetheart, what’s with the sour face? Pull yourself together.”

“I- Mama- It’s seafood?”

“Yes, I know. I helped choose it.” The woman hissed. “What about it?”

“I can’t eat any of this. Is tomorrow gonna be the same?”

“Of course! This is why it’s a rehearsal dinner. Don’t be so stupid.”

“I- I can’t eat any of this?”

“Don’t be so dramatic, pet.” Elaine huffed. “Not everything is about you. Just pull yourself together for two goddamn days? Can you handle that?”

“But-“

“I don’t wanna hear any buts. See, even your liaison can eat like a normal person- Why can’t you?”

“Because I am deadly allergic?”

“Nonsense. Our family doesn’t have silly food allergies. You’re just being picky again!”

“But I’m not!”

“I will not discuss this any further. Behave.” Sunshine looked down at her plate and G saw a single tear fall from her face and right into a bit of sauce hollandaise. “Oh, you don’t have to cry, just because someone said no to you. The food is fine. Suck it up, buttercup.”

Not a moment longer. G couldn’t stand it a moment longer. The legs of his chair made an awful screeching noise as he practically sprang up, his hands tightly pressed against his sides and balled into fists. Surprised, both Sunshine and her mother stared at him. His chest was heaving, despite not having lungs but old habits die hard. His hand carefully wrapped around Sunshine’s upper arm and she went with him oh so easily as he pulled her back on her legs.

“Wh-What-?”

“I need some fresh air” He quickly said, flushing ever so slightly. “C’mon, let’s go outside.”

“Wh-no, I can’t. It’s improper and-“

“Don’t care.” He rasped and barely contained anger flashed in his eyes. Even his bones vibrated. All he could think about was that he had to get out of here and he had to bring Sunshine along. His strides were long and with purpose. The woman stumbled after him, having a harder time between the dress, the heels and her shorter statue. He noticed and slowed down enough so she could catch up.

G was well aware of the weird stares he was receiving, but he didn’t care.

His mind must have short circuited for a moment, because he didn’t remember how he got all the way back to the double door to the rose garden, but once it swung open and the crisp mountain air hit his face, he calmed down a bit. The walkways had been shovelled so there was no moisture seeping into his shoes. Red splotches peaked through the white blanket from the winter roses and once again, he was reminded of the visual of blood against white bone.

“G-G?” Sunshine mumbled and he turned around to face her. She was shivering, but he didn’t know if it was from the cold or because she was about to cry. He felt bad for his outburst, how he had put her on the spot but he couldn’t take one more second of knowing that she was surrounded by those… humans.

The skeleton swallowed thickly and his hand was shaking a little as he reached out to cup her face. She blinked, clearly surprised and her shivers subsided completely. Her breath was hot against his hand and it took all of his power not to trace her bottom lip with his thumb. “I’m so sorry.” he said instead.

Sunshine looked at him a little longer, before swiftly taking the half step forward to crowd his personal space. He made a funny noise when her arms circled his torso and her face hid in his chest. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her as well, gently petting her back when the thread and pearls in her hair got snagged on his phalanges the first time. He wasn’t sure how appropriate it was to hold her for this long because he really didn’t wanna let go of her but that seemed selfish. His cheeks were warm and there was no way that it wasn’t a bright and embarrassing golden colour. Clearing his throat, he once again told himself to get a grip and started to pull back slightly. He didn’t get far though, as Sunshine’s surprisingly strong arms pulled him back immediately. “Ouff… Okay, okay. Not letting go. Got it.” he chuckled and received a small squeeze in return.

He didn’t know what came over him but softly, he started to hum. It was a quiet sound, barely audible, but there was no way that Sunshine didn’t feel the vibrations. She was so close to him, she had to.

Her breath hitched slightly and he knew that she recognised the melody. Don’t tell anyone, he had a reputation to uphold after all, but eventually, she chimed in to hum that one song from the Barbie Movie she loved so much with him.

They didn’t sound perfect, well, she did, at least to him, but he was more of a musician than a singer, so it was a rusty and imperfect sound that was rough around the edges. Sunshine didn’t seem to mind and instead even began to sway in place with him, in a mock dance.

G’s heart and soul and everything that made him a living being squeezed tightly at that as the slightest tendrils of hope dared to sink their thorns into him. If he didn’t know better, he’d even say that it felt almost romantic. Sunshine must have felt it too, because her head finally tipped up to face him. Unshed tears still shone in her eyes and she was so close that he could count each and every one of her white freckles. She still wasn’t wearing much make-up, especially compared to all of the other bridesmaids, but to him, she just looked ethereal and beautiful in a way he had never considered anyone else beautiful. But at the same time, she was just so pretty, perfect almost. There was a cluster of freckles right under the outside corner of her eye that looked like a star constellation, but he couldn’t remember which one.

Strong, red eyes met golden ones and she bit the inside of her lip ever so gently. The skeleton stiffened up at the sight.

“G, I…” she began. Her words sounded louder than she probably wanted thanks to the echo of the garden. “Thank you. That was so kind of you.”

“I-“ he hesitated. “Anything for you.”

Oh god. f*ck. Abort. That was not what he had wanted to say. sh*t, sh*t.

Sunshine’s eyes widened slightly and a pink tinge dusted her cheeks. “I- G, I… You. I really-“ She tripped over her words and a frustrated crease appeared on her forehead.

“It’s okay.” He chuckled and slightly squeezed her sides. “Just say what you are thinking.”

“I think I l-“

“There you are!” Motherf*cker. Never in his life had G wanted to rip someone’s neck off and piss down their throat this much. But when he saw Mercy Winters stop towards them, cheeks flushed almost as red as her dress and steps unsure on the cobblestones, all he wanted to do was slap her across the face. Sunshine’s hands gripped the back of his white jacket and in reflex, he pulled her even closer and put himself between her and her fury of a sister. “What do you think you are doing?”

“I-I- Mercy, I-“

“Don’t you Mercy me!”

“But-“

“I don’t wanna hear anything from you right now. Are trying to ruin my wedding?”

“I don’t- What are you talking about?”

Mercy laughed, sounding almost cruel. “Oh, don’t give me that spiel. First you are taking all of the attention by throwing an absolute temper tantrum because the food isn’t to your liking? Then you just storm off and make me look absolutely stupid and miss the entirety of the whole dinner. I was ready to let that slide, because that’s just how you are but you wouldn’t believe my shock and horror when I go and talk to our officiant and lo and behold, I have to find out that our schedule tomorrow has been completely changed? I gave you a list. All you had to do is give the old man the stupid itinerary and stick to it, but no. I have to find out that it is all wrong.”

“I did all of that!” Sunshine insisted, her cheeks now burning from anger as well. G could feel the slight crackle in the air, that was definitely magic flavoured. “I still have the stupid thing on my phone if you don’t believe me.”

“I don’t, in fact. But you can shut it, you have done enough damage. It’s a wonder you haven’t brought down the whole chalet yet.”

“That wasn’t me, and you know it!” Sunshine hissed impatiently. “It’s not on me that you chose the only historic building in a hundred mile radius that was built on a fault line. Stop blaming me for things that aren’t my fault. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Evidence says otherwise.”

“I have done everything you’ve asked of me, even though you are acting very mean to me, Cissy. What else do you want from me?”

“You have done nothing right. All you are doing is throw one tantrum after the other. God, how can you be so stupid? You messed up everything, is there anything you can even do?”

“I-“ Sunshine staggered slightly, as if she had been slapped and G’s had to grab her shoulders so she wouldn’t fall down. “I’m sorry. I did my best, I promise.”

“Well, maybe your best isn’t good enough.” The words dripped of Mercy’s lips like venom but G hesitated. He knew the look in those icy blue eyes. It was pain. She was hurting so much, and he didn’t understand why. “If it was, then maybe someone would finally love you.”

It was obvious that she regretted the words the second they left her. She clamped her hands over her mouth and her face went ghostly pale. “I… Ree, I-“

“No.” Sunshine choked out. Her shoulders were shaking again. “Don’t.”

“No, please, I-“

“I think…” Sunshine said very slowly and clearly holding back sobs. “I should go.”

“Wait-“

“Sunshine, wait-“

She didn’t wait.

Instead, she freed herself from the skeleton's hands and started to practically sprint away. It would have been imoressive, considering that she was wearing pretty high heels, if it wasn't so painful. Agony and pure fury were tearing G’s soul apart and he whipped around towards Mercy.

“What the f*ck is your problem, you harpy?”

“You should stay out of this.” The blackhaired woman hissed, and pressed her lips together.

“You have been doing nothing but terrorizing your sister the moment she arrived. You are her sibling, you’re supposed to protect her. What is wrong with you?”

“You have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I have a younger brother, I know exactly what I am talking about. Hell, I did fight for him and I would die for the guy. I didn't care what would happen to me as long as he's safe. That's what we older siblings do! It boggles my mind how you can be such an awful person.”

“I am protecting my sister, okay? You have no idea what’s going on and think you can just assume whatever you want.”

“Oh my god, you actually think you are being a good sibling. Holy sh*t, you are so delusional.”

“You know what, maybe you should leave too, before I drop the bomb about you being a total fake. It’s honestly hilarious that you think you can tell me anything, when you aren’t even dating my sister. You are just a guy and that’s all you’ll ever be. Know you effing place, okay.” Ouch. That one hit deep. He didn’t need this gorgon to tell him that. He was well aware that friendship was the only thing he’d ever get from Sunshine. It was enough, really it was, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

Mercy’s chest was heaving, her hair was slightly tousled and her cheeks stained deeply red below wild eyes.

“Your outside is so beautiful, Mercy, but your insides are nasty and rotten.” The bride gasped at his slow and carful words, tears shimmering in her eyes. She didn’t have a right to feel hurt or cry, so he kept going. “I don’t know how you got a fiancé that's this kind, but you don’t deserve him, just like you don’t deserve a sister this kind and loving and beautiful, inside and out. She has been so patient with you despite your garbage attitude. You don’t deserve her love. Hell, if it came down to me, you don’t deserve love at all. And the only reason, I am not making you feel the pain you inflict on others is because that would also hurt my Sunshine. Because for some f*cked up reason, she still loves you so much. I don’t know how she’s doing it because I don’t see a single redeemable quality in you.”

He didn’t wait for her to react and just pushed past her, deliberately bumping into her shoulder rather rudely before breaking into a sprint to find the only human in this house that mattered to him.

Mercy, however, took in a stuttering breath, before stumbling over to a snow covered bench and collapsing in front of it. Her chest was heaving from barely restrained sobs and tears that would refuse to flow. Hugh stepped out from the shadows and was by her side almost instantly.

“Ciss, are you okay?”

“No.” she choked out. “That was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. f*ck, I- did you see her face?”

“I did. Almost threw in the towel at that.”

“sh*t, me too. God, what are we even doing?” Hugh squeezed her ice cold hands and warmed them between his. The falling snow dampened his sandy hair and made it look actually messed up, instead of the purposely done look. He had to let go of his fiancée and fanned his eyes. Mercy mimicked him and pulled out her phone. She had a missed massage from Cam she couldn’t even bare to look at right now.

“I don’t know buddy. But we have to trust that it will all be worth it in the end.”

G finally caught up with Sunshine in the parking lot. He didn’t have much to go off but the quiet sounds of her sobs and the faint taste of magic in the air, but it was enough for an experienced Judge like him. He had tracked down humans for so many years, that it was second nature to him, despite his hatred for the skill.

The door on the drivers side of her sh*tbox of a car was flung wide open-he enjoyed to see the dent on the bumblebee yellow sportscar that most likely belonged to Mercy-and Sunshine was behind the wheel.

Tears were streaming down her face and made it look red and splotchy. The motor was spluttering, refusing to cooperate with her rough treatment. There was a heavy amount of cursing intertwined between the sobs.

“sh*t” G cursed and sped up even more. The sound of his footfalls was heavy against the gravel. “Sunshine. Sunshine, wait!”

Her sobs turned hysterical upon seeing him and she barely had time to reach out for him before he crashed into her, crowding into the tight space of the driver’s seat.

Her fingers dug into his shoulderblade.

“Where are you going?” he asked, out of breath and scared that she would leave him behind too.

“I-away.” She sobbed. “I can’t- I need to- Away. As far as I can.”

“You- You can’t. Sunshine, please-“

“No.” she interrupted him and it broke his heart to see her so broken. His strong and sweet and always kind and patient Sunshine. “I- I can’t. Oh god, I feel so humiliated. I’ve never been so disrespected and hurt. You heard what she said. I- She wants me to leave. Everyone wants me to leave, I- I-“ Her rant petered off into more heavy sobbing, most likely ruining the stupidly expensive white jacket.

“You can’t, sweetheart.” He mumbled into her hair, pressing a chaste kiss to her scalp. She was about to protest but he didn’t let her. “Not in this condition. You’d crash and get hurt and I can’t let you do that, okay? Just… give me ten minutes to grab our stuff and we will be out of this sh*thole once and for all.”

“No!” Her breathing became faster and more panicky. “No, no, I leave now. I can’t- Not a minute longer. I can grab it later, but I need to go… now.” It was hard to make out her words between the crying. “I need to go away, I have to get away from it all. Oh god, you should just leave me too, I’m no good, I’m just gonna hurt you, I- I should have never asked you to come, this is horrible, you deserve better.”

“Shhhht…” he hushed her and starts to manhandle her softly to grab her keys and get her over the middle console into the other front seat. “Shhht, don’t talk like that. I’d never leave you, especially like this. Your family is wrong. They are all wrong and they don’t know you at all. I do. And I’d never do that. Just… don’t push me away.”

“But- I- you- I can’t-“

“It’s okay. We’re leaving. I will take you wherever you need to go, promise. But I’ll be right at your side.”

There was so much earnest feeling in his voice and he was well aware how selfish he was being right now, probably the closest to saying those three words he would ever get. She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve the way her own family treated her, how the world had treated her. She didn’t deserve his infatuation, a man as broken and flawed as him and he wouldn’t burden her with his stupid feelings. But she did deserve a friend. Even needed one right now. He could be a friend. He could push his own issues and feelings aside, be there for her. At least he could try.

A blush crept down her neck and she seemed incredibly flustered but after a moment of hesitation, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. If he was human, it would have probably been strong enough to hurt, but he wasn’t so he squeezed back.

“So… where are we going? Just you and me.”

“I- I need a drink.” Sunshine said and a laugh bubbled up her throat. G couldn’t help but mimic it.

“Alright. I’ll get you as many drinks as you need. Let’s get out of here.”

“Okay.”

Chapter 17: Drunk words are sober thoughts

Chapter Text

There are a few truths in this universe that will always hold up.

When Bohemian Rhapsody comes on, everybody sings along.

It’s very hard to say no to Girlscouts. They are well aware of that.

Small pockets in women’s pants are a ploy to sell more handbags.

The left armrest is yours, the right belongs to your neighbour. If you think you are entitled to both, you are part of the problem.

And last, but not least-

You were a giggly drunk.

Now, one might not think that that would be a problem, considering that you were only half human and thus had a considerably higher tolerance for alcohol than the typical human. The only exception being, your lifelong enemy, Glacier.

Now, lifelong enemy might sound a bit harsh. It probably was. Truth be told, you liked Glacier. You really liked Glacier. In fact, you liked all magic alcohol.

Not just because it didn’t taste like absolute horsesh*t both because of the lack of taste and the general sh*tty flavour stuff like vodka had, but because most of the time, you couldn’t even taste the alcohol in it. Naturally, that also made it very, very dangerous.

A normal human could handle maybe one glass, two if they were practiced or in their final year. If asked, you would tell people that there was a course in mild alcoholism required to graduate in all scientific fields. Never trust nerds like that.

Now, there was a time where you and the rest of your autumn mage friends had gathered and started to… experiment with your shared experience. That time was usually a Wednesday night. Turns put that normal alcohol didn’t do jack sh*t for either of you except burn like nail polish remover but man. Magic liquor really got you going. Yes, you all still had a higher tolerance, but still. It made you guys feel like normal college students for once. Like normal people. A normal group of friends that would get drunk together before going out or even staying in and watching Shrek 2 for the fourth time this month alone, even though all of you could perfectly lipsync it at this point. Estis’ rendition of the Fairy Godmother’s I need a hero was legendary. They had set a piano on fire at one point because of it.

Point was- Glacier was good.

And maybe that’s how you found yourself doubled over a stool in some bar in the town near the stupid wedding venue, giggling like a little schoolgirl, even kicking your feet a bit.

“Shu-shu-huhuhu-shu-huhu-ut up!” you blubbered unintelligently. G had to hold on to your arms, not any less drunk than you were, so you wouldn’t fall. “She did not!”

“She did!” he grinned, wider than you had ever seen. It looked so similar to his brother, so young and happy and completely unalike his normal aloof and distant behaviour, that it hurt a little. The world had taken this sweet and happy man from you and him, mostly him, you didn't really matter, you were just his weird friend, but it was still a shame tht he felt like he couldn't just smile normally. It was such a good smile too. Was it any wonder why the butterflies in your stomach would turn into angry waspss?

“Nah.” You laughed once and gestured the barkeep for another round of shots to join the graveyard you had already amassed. “I don’t believe you.”

“Don’t tell her, she would totally kick my ass, but I still have the video!”

“Are you te-ehehe-lling me that there is viod evidence of Undyne fighting an emu?”

“To be fair, she did think it was another dinosaur. Birds are just evolved dinosaurs! And she might have thought she'd be meeting a distant relative of Alphys because some little sh*t named Frisk told 'er to because they are awful like that. And also the Emu started the fight.”

“Of course it did!” Two shot glasses filled to the brim with a swirling, blue liquid and a Moschino cherry ended up in front of you and your grin widened. Maybe you even squealed. You wouldn’t remember. “Ahhh! Oh my god, yes, okay, let’s drink!”

“Okay, okay.” G chuckled and knocked back his drink like it was nothing. It probably was, his magic prowess was much higher than yours, prob’bly. You tended to remember that background check your aunt had done and that little magic indicator tat classified him as unknown. Simply by connecting two plus two and seeing how everyone treated him with fear and respect that wasn’t just fear or fear or-wait. No. You were looping. Where were you?

Oh. Yes. Shots!

“Yes, shots!” The skeleton laughed and you blushed. Had you said that out loud? “Yes, you did.” f*ck.

You gave him an apologetic grimace and plucked the alcohol soaked cherry from your glass before drinking it all in one go. The sweet and splicy taste of it gave you a pleasant full body shiver. It reminded you of the best peppermint schnaps you’d ever drink, of crisp winter mornings and Christmas markets and smuggling a shot of vodka into your 8am lecture coffee thermos on the 23^rd of December.

It was perfect.

“Okay. Okay. Okay. I’m Being. I’m being stupid!” you giggled. “Let me distract you so you won’t notice!”

“Whatever you say, Sunny!” G laughed. He put his chin in his hand and watched you with more of that warm and open smile.

“Oh.” You flushed. “I like Sunny.”

“I do too.”

“Okay! Cool. Cool. To’ly cool! Watch this! Be distracted!”

You bit your lip and plucked the stem off the cherry and plopped it into your mouth.

“Wrong end, Sunshine.” He snorted but you waved him off enthusiastically. This was your drunk moment to sh’ne.

Your tongue moved with practiced finesse, as if it had a mnd of its own. You twisted the stem, turned it and looped it around itself. The whole process felt a little bit like a dance you hadn’t done n a while but still perfected.

G was silent, the furrow around his glabella smoothing itself out again once he realised what you were up to. He seemed mesmerised by the delicate and pecice movements of your tongue. The stem seemd to surrender to your maneuvrs, bending to your will. For some reason, your heart was pounding with exhilaratin. Wait. Why again? Oh right, because your mega super duper crush was watching you make a fool of yourself right now. Duh.

In one final flourish, you pinched the stem between your teeth while simpoutaniously pulling with your tongue before you revealed the cherry stem on your tongue.

Clearly, G was just as wasted as you were-good, he had promised that you wouldn’t be the only one to loose a couple of braincells after the dinner fiasco-because his hand came up and carefully plucked your masterwork off your tongue. His metacarpals grazed your lip and tongue and you shivered slightly, but it was quickly supress’d by pride when he… he… god, what was the word? Enamoured? No, not quite? Hold on… You got it… Admired. That’s the one, yes. He admired the the elegantly knotted stem with a face of bewildermend and impress… impressiveness? No, he wasn’t impressive, he was the one being impressed. Impressedness? Let’s go with astonishment. He was astonished.

“I have to admit-“ he started slowly and twisted the red tinted foliage between his fingers. “-I’ve seen girls knot these before but I didn’t expect you to pull out a perfect little heart shape. I haven’t seen that before. Impress’ve.”

HAH!

He was starting to slur too!

Grinning like a fool, you leaned on the bar and mimicked his more than usually relaxed position. He smiled back and you plopped the cherry into your mouth to distract yourself. You couldn’t blush if you were distracted!

“Hav’ to be useful for something after all!” you shrugged and hailed the bartender. He gave you an odd look so you doubled down and asked for a double round. And that’s peotic.

“Aw.” G’s face fell into a frown. “You are bein’ meat to yourself!”

“Nah.” You shook your head with another smile. Two more rounds of blue appeared out of thin air and one immediately disappeared again before you could even continue. God that sh*t was good. “Nah. They’re prob’ly right anyways. ‘s okay though. I get it. Mercy’s always first.”

“What do you mean?” G asked and absentmindedly grabbed your hand to insect all the little lines on your skin and the little joints that he didn’t have anymore. This was probably the first time he’d seen a human hand upcloase and you guessed that he must have been fascinated. The alcool was lowerin’ his inhibitions as well.

“Don’t tell ‘er, it’ll go to her head but she’s always been the favourite. Like… everybodies. And she was always the first, always the better. I wasn’t allowed to have the same hobbies, and if I did, I wasn’t allowed to be be’er. I once purposely lost a school wide swim meet so she could be better than me. She had dibs on eeeeeeverything. Every barbie, every snack, even ince cream and boyfriends.”

“Boyfriends?”

“Yuh! Mama was suuuuper mad when I told her a boy from my class had asked me out! She said I wasn’t allowed to ever see him again, that I wasn’t supposed to be a loose woman and it’s improper to have a boyfriend when Cissy hadn’t yet.”

“She made you break up with a boy, just so your sister could have one… first? What f*cked up logic is that?”

“Listen man, I dunno. I’m kinda glad she is getting hitched now because then I can’t be put down to steal the light if someone would finally be interested in me. Not that it’s gonna happen, lord knows that nobody would want-“ you guestured down your white dress. “This. And if they did, they wouldn’t be good enough for my parents. Gosh, I know Papa only paid for the wedding because Hughey is like… a huge neppo baby!”

There was a strange look on G’s face as you kept talking, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t get the words out. His fingers flexed against yours and you could feel yourself warm up. The flush was already crawling down your chest, you just knew it.

“You are way too hard on yourself. Your parents are so wrong about you. And don’t ge’mme started on that bitch of a sister.”

“Eh.” You shrugged. A sly grin stole itself on your face and you lean’d forward, a conspiratory glimmer in your eyes. “You wanna know a secret?”

“Sure, hit me.” He mirrored your expression and closed in as well. He was close enough that you could smell him so well.

“Sometimes, when I was suuuuuper frustrated with them, I was imagining just… f*cking up all of their plans. Like… What if I finished school first or just… gotten myself preggers. I know I can't but in this little dream scneario I could because it's my Mom's worst nightmare! Then Mercy wouldn’t have her precious little firsts anymore and my god, my mom would throw a mega Oppenheimer type of fit. I just… I just really wanna make them upset, deep down under all the layers of f*cked up Mommy and Daddy issues and repression and the need to please everyone around me. Man, I talk a lot. I should shut up. Anyways. Could you imagine? I think Mercy would pop a vein in her perfectly botoxed little forehead. Ugh, She probably doesn’t even have botox. She’s just naturally pretty and perfect.”

“I don’t think she’s pretty.” G sneered slightly. “Not with that rotten compost pile of a personality. I know what sister I prefer.”

“You’re just saying that because you are my pretend boyfriend.” You snorted and grabbed the last shotglass. He did the same, but neither of you drank it.

“No, really!” Again, he squeezed your hand and you gasped slightly. “They deserve to have their perfect little plans messed up.”

“I mean, we already did.” You giggled. Again. So much giggling. It wasn’t even funny. You giggled anyways. “That rehearsal dinner must have been awkwaaaaaaaard.”

“It better be.”

“Yeah, she and her stupid f*cking wedding. God, she’s gonna gloat that over me for years now. You were right, she sucks.”

“She does.”

“Like ugh, what do I have to do so she will get off my case? Ruin her wedding for good? Marry you, for gods sake?” This time it was a snort. A snort was better than a giggle. A lot less ladylike but hey, you could dignify it as a totally normal reaction and not blame the aclohol on it. G gave you a strange look anways. Like he was contemplating something as his index finger slowly circled the rim of his shotglass. You had forgotten how many you already had at this point. 13? Was 13 a realistic number? You weren’t sure. It felt like 13. Let’s go woth 13. Oh, wait, nevermind. Make it 14, so you could round it out with the lucky 15. “Like man, could you imagine? She’d be so fruts-fust-fustat- upset. She’d be upseeeeeeeeet. There goes that achieveme-hehe-nt. There go years of perfectionism”

G still watched you like a hawk, but his eyes betrayed him. The fuzzy lights burning in those sockets seemed frantic, like a buzzing swarm of fireflies in the far, far distance. He was just as affected as you were, he was just better at hiding it. Relaxed posture and smiles aside. At least he wasn’t slurring his words too bad. “Okay.” He suddenly said.

“Huh?” you replied, unintelligently.

“Let’s do it.” The skeleton shrugged and you blinked. Was he forreal?

“What do you mean?” you laughed, not quite understanding. There was a strangely warm feeling in your tummy. Was that the alcohol or your infatuation with this hunk of a man. Oh god and what a man it was. It was so easy to lose yourself in the void behind the golden specs in his eyes, to trace the sharpness of his jaw and hardness of his chest, even unde rnhis shirts. Lusty thoughts you usually had under control started to creep up again and you had to forcibly snap yourself out of it.

“Let’s do it.” G rasped in that wonderfully deep and raspy honey voice you so loved. God, he could read you the phonebook and you’d feel like you’d have to put some bills down his pants right now.

Wait.

Stop being horny for one second.

Did he just say what you thought he did?

Blinking rapidly, you stared at him. There was only an earnes’ and dopey expression on his face, no hint of malice or jokes or anything. He just had this strange look that made all you feel so warm, so soft. It was all encompassing without being scrutining. As if he was the only person that was willing to see you or you and not everyin’ else. You weren’t sure if you loved or hated it.

“I-“ you hesitated, but only for a moment. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.” You grinned againg and lifted your shotglass. “Let’s do this.” He did the same thing and the sound of glass hitting against each other echoed in your ears while you downed the last shot of the night, but not as loud as the sound of both of you slamming your now empty glasses back down and onto the well worn wood of the backalley bar you had recided in so far. G- well, you wanted to say that he grabbed your hand but then you remembere that he was already holding it so you giggled again. You hated being so giggly-anyways, he squeezed your hand, that was the word, before pulling you to your feet with him. Absentmindedly, you pulled some bills out of your purse and threw them on the counter. It was more money that the man would make that entire evening, you were sure of that but it was your parents money so you didn’t care.

“Let’s do this.”

Chapter 18: Just this once

Chapter Text

There are a few truths in this universe that will always hold up.

G was an idiot.

Glacier made him even more of an idiot.

The only time he could shut off his brain was when he was drunk.

And last but not least-

When his brain shut off, his heart took over.

Now, one might not think that that would be a problem, considering that he had a tendency to brood and overthink and generally just embrace his unapproachable and nasty attitude. Most people wouldn’t even get close enough to him to notice or care. That, and the fact that G took meticulous care in never getting drunk in front of people. Yes, a cup or two or five of the human pisswater at a college party here and there, but thanks to his mixed nature, he had an alcohol tolerance up the whazoo.

That didn’t stop him from accepting and also ordering shot after shot of Glacier at whatever monster bar he stumbled into. Sunshine had been pulling his sleeve, her fingers so close to his wrist and there was a smile on her face that was just for him. He didn’t know how she was doing it. It hadn’t even been an hour since the fight with her sister and here she was, beautiful and bright eyed with the sun fighting her for the top spot and losing.

But they sat down and just… talked and talked for so long, and the drinks kept coming and once thing lead to another and suddenly…

G was drunk.

He hadn’t been drunk in so long. The last time was when his brother was still in the country. He had hidden it from the little one, he always did, but there had been days when the thoughts in his head got too much, too dark, too… Gaster. The only way he could shut up his fathers voice in his head was by emptying it out completely. And then, one night… Paps had caught him and while G doesn’t fully remember what he had said to his brother, he remembered crying.

He hadn’t gotten drunk since.

A little part of him was scared that he was gonna say something stupid again, embarrass himself or turn mopey but instead he sat there and just felt… good.

He was smiling more than he had in a long time, not even bothering to put on the grumpy face, and he had to admit, that drunk Sunshine was even cuter than normal Sunshine. She was sweet and happy and bubbly, without any of the shyness she usually had. Her smiles were wide and full of teeth and made the skin around her eyes crinkle.

She asked him questions, questions he wouldn’t normally bother to answer.

Not anything awfully private, she wasn’t a horrible person after all, but… Nobody had ever asked him what his favourite dinosaur was (it was the Yutyrannus. She had giggled when he told her it was basically an even more vicious T-Rex that was covered in bright orange feathers.) or his favourite movie. (She expected it to be something profound like the Godfather or Lord of the Rings. It was worth being honest just to see the look on her face as she almost fell off her stool when he sheepishly admitted that it was the live-action Ace Attorney one.)

And if G took the liberty to just… stare for a little bit, then maybe so be it. There wasn’t anything he could do about it, how the light in his eyes just insisted on being fixated on Sunshine, in a way he had tried so hard to supress.

Was it any surprise that he said yes, when she ranted? That he went along so easily, it was kind of pathetic?

But, it was what his heart and soul wanted, what they ached for and he had no defences up anymore. All he could think about was, yes. He’d do it. With no hesitation.

And there was a moment, right after he said it, where Sunshine’s eyes lit up, with something like hope and relief and maybe even gratitude. And joy. So. Much. f*cking. Joy.

He had grabbed her hand, soft and warm against his and pulled her off the chair and with him.

Her laugh was like silver bells and he couldn’t help but give her an equally wide grin as he pulled her out of the bar and into the streets.

It truly was a never-sleeping city, just like he had seen on their way to the chalet. Bright neon lights painted the streets with a kaleidoscope of colours. Tall buildings adorned with flashing billboards and larger-than-life screens loomed overhead, casting animated shadows across the sidewalks. Music was blaring from one of the may clubs or maybe even a casino.

As they all but ran, the air was thick with the scent of street food that had Sunshine’s nose twitching. G very quickly remembered that neither of them had dinner but when he tried to stop in front of a stall, he got pulled along, quickly.

“C’mon.” she smiled at him and he stumbled, almost running into a street performer.

Eventually, they arrived at a chapel. It was a hidden gem tucked away amidst the chaos. The marquee sign didn’t have any words on it, but it didn’t have to, considering the big Deltarune right up there. It was a monster chapel.

After Monsters came up, churches that would practice the monster faith would pop up here and there. Allow them to get married with their own traditions, their own customs. A few human churches would allow mixed couples as well. But there were the rare few chapels, like these ones, that would still practice the old faith. The old traditions that young monsters didn't care for nowadays. G wasn't even sure if marriages like this would be recognised under state law, but he didn't care.

They could have gone for one of the many love-chapels, like the one’s in Vegas. With their exteriors draped in tapestries of hearts and stars and a charming minister dressed in a sparkling jacket welcoming poor drunk fools like them. With their quirky charm and sparkling decorations and even a glittering, heart shaped discoball casting dancing specks of light across the room.

And yet, they chose the monster one, over humans.

They chose the simply but lovingly built chapel, with walls of dark wood and unadorned windows. With the luminous stones of the Underground affixed into the roof, like the “stars” they had looked up to for so long and an altar of the same material.

Amongst the other buildings, it looked plain and unassuming and downright boring with its raw stone and neutral colours. And yet… that’s what G chose.

He stood in front of Father Alvin, the priest in question, and fidgeted with the cuffs of his white shirt. He didn’t bring his jacket, honestly, he didn’t even remember where it was, so he just stood there in the white dress shirt and ridiculous vest and the awful, blood red tie with the overly complicated knot he hated. But some of his ego hadn’t been drowned in sparkly blue liquor and wanted to look good.

“You look uncomfortable, child.” The Father said, fidgeting with his own robe and G grimaced. Of course, all monsters knew each other and thus, all monsters knew him. Knew what he represented. It was only natural that the man was uncomfortable around him.

“I just really hate suits.” The skeleton grumbled, to the bemusem*nt of the man across from him.

“You are not obligated to do so. I know you and your beloved clearly dressed up, but… we don’t follow the rules of human customs here. I’m sure you know that. Or you would have chosen another holy place.”

“Don’t feel so holy to me.” G grumbled to himself. “I just… I don’t wanna look like a fool. That’s probably dumb anyways.”

“It’s the nerves.” The old man let out a quiet chuckle. “I’m sure my dear Uli is having a very similar conversation with your lovely bride. Poor girl was so nervous.” And drunk. Oh god, they are both so drunk. “But, I’m sure, she will love you no matter what you are wearing. And wouldn’t you want to be able to meet her as yourself? And not something you are pretending to be?”

Ouch. That one sat deep.

But… wasn’t that the core of their whole relationship? Just two people being able to be who they were with each other when the world wanted to twist and change them into something they wanted? Just once, they ignored what everyone else wanted them to be, wanted to percieve them as. Just once they could ignore the weight of the world, just once they cold act like stupid college kids. Just once, they followed their own hearts and all the mistakes that would come with it.

It took G a second to make a decision.

The stupid tie was the first to go. He hated it with a passion and the bullsh*t knot wouldn’t loosen fast enough under his fingers, the material giving way before the knot. When the two top buttons followed, and the sh*tty white vest close after, he finally felt like breathing again. His hands were shaking as he rolled up the sleeves over his Ulna and Radius. So much so, that the Father had to step in and help him. The Turtle Man avoided touching his bones, his fingers trembling from either fear or age, but then again, most did. Barely anyone could stand to touch him, but he had to commend the holy man’s attempt, at least. A part of him worried that Sunshine would flinch back from his touch too, but he quickly remembered that no, she never has. Quite the opposite even, and that helped settle his stomach. His head was swimming, and his vision seemed to have a hazy filter, blurring the edges of the objects around him. Even the flickering lights of the candles seemed to dance before his eyes, making the whole thing feel surreal.

Maybe that’s why his soul and magic leapt to his throat when the wooden door at the back of the isle started to creak open.

The chapel was filled with golden light and he stood at the altar, too drunk to even feel nervous because there she stood, smiling at him like he was the sun and the moon and all the stars in the heavens. Her hair hung over her shoulders, the white pearls and crimson beads still firmly sewn into the interspersed array of braids in varying sizes. She was still wearing the rehearsal dress and while G had found the choice of letting the entire bridal party wear white while only the bide and groom wore red only to switch it the next day-he had been softly chastised that red was supposedly a very lucky colour and many brides wore red on their wedding days in other cultures when he pointed it out-he really had to go back on that now because wow.

It was a simple, unadorned white gown that left her shoulders bare and hugged her waist before tapering off into a wider high-low skirt. It was clear that this dress wasn’t meant to be a show-stopper, that it was meant to but just sleek and elegant and expensive while being plain and it wouldn’t be something that she would probably be expected to wear at her own wedding. But to him, she looked like a goddess.

He felt his chest constrict and a lump form in his throat, the whole sensation so oddly human that he might have felt anxious, if the entire room wasn’t fading from his awareness as Sunshine consumed the entirety of his sight.

As she approached the altar, he noticed the Priest’s wife with her, old and wrinkly hands gently placed on her elbow. She gave her a last squeeze before letting go and G held out a hand for her to take. As her skin touched his bones, he felt almost breathless as he gazed at her, basking in the warmth of that bright and giddy smile.

“Hey.” She whispered to him and the bite of her lip made him blush just the tiniest bit. Still, he tried to appear casual, neutral as always, and not let seep through that this actually meant something to him.

“Hey.” He smiled back and she squeezed his hand. He flinched when the bouquet in her hands softly echoed his own voice back at him. They were a luminous blue shade and he immediately recognised them as Echo Flowers. They had been plucked, so the sound of their echo had greatly diminished, reduced down to a faint whisper until they’d eventually stop for good. “I like your bouquet” He chuckled, to mask his embarrassment.

-your bouquet-

“Thanks.” Sunshine laughed and a strand of her hair fell into her face. “The Mother Oberin gave it to me. It’s beautiful.”

- It’s beautiful-

“It is.” G hummed and brushed the braid back gently. More gently than he ever had, more intimate that he ever would. She didn’t complain, and instead just blushed lightly.

“Alright.” Father Alvin said, a smile on his face. “Shall we begin?”

“Yes!” Sunshine replied quickly and her eyes flickered towards G, as if she was scared that he’d pull out now or tell her that this was all just an elaborate prank. She didn’t know. She couldn’t know.

The man smiled at the two of them, his features softening. “We have gathered here to perform the most sacred of ceremonies, joining the lives and souls of two people together-forevermore-in the bonds of marriage and beyond.

Such a commitment is the truest declaration of love and trust- to cast off the life of an individual, in exchange for the life of a partner and soulmate. It is not a commitment to be entered into lightly, but one that demands the best of ourselves. Our attentiveness, our understanding, a willingness to compromise and to stand up for each other and, naturally, the fiercest love.

One look at the two of you tells me more that I ever need, and I feel proud to guide you into this eternal and unbreakable commitment now.”

Father Alvin turned to G.

“Sans-“ it was normally so odd to hear his name used by monsters like this. “Please, present your soul to your partner and repeat after me.”

G took a deep, calming breath before drawing out his soul with a little, aborted hand gesture. For some reason, he felt nervous. Of course, Sunshine had told him many times now that she would never judge him, but seeing his soul… He was scared that she might change her mind, finally realise how disgusting he was and leave him like pretty much everyone except Paps had. It had taken years to gain back Alphys, Undyne and Toriels trust, and only after the kid decided to be a nosey brat. Could he really expect Sunshine to just overlook it? Especially when Father Alvin himself shivered in disgust and had to avert his eyes upon seeing the golden heart with all its fine haircracks and all?

Sunshine must have noticed the priests reaction because she didn’t hesitate to reach out and take the soul into her free hand, smiling down at it with such a reverence and gentleness that it might just explode on the spot. “It’s beautiful.” She whispered and G’s breathing stopped for a moment.

“I, Sans Serif, take you to be my wife and soulmate.”

The skeleton needed a second to clear his head, the alcohol hazing it considerably and all the emotions welling up inside of him doing the rest. But once he got his sh*t together, he held Sunshine’s gaze, unable to hide away all of the deep, mushy godawful love he carried for her, as he repeated the words quietly. “I, Sans Serif, take you to be my wife and soulmate.”

-take you to be my wife-

“I promise to love you, to honour you and to be there for you no matter what the future holds.”

G could feel a lump form in his throat and he reached out to cradle his bride’s face in his hand. He halfhardedly expected her to flinch away, but instead, she just nuzzled in closer. “I promise to love you, to honour you and to be there for you…. no matter what the future holds.”

-no matter what the future holds-

“I give myself to you with all my faults and all my strengths, and accept from you the same.” G echoed the words, only to have them echoed back once more by the flowers. “I promise to be true and to remain by your side for all my days. To offer you my heart, my soul and my entire being.”

-to offer you my heart, my soul and my entire being-

The Echoflowers repeated his words, catching each other’s words and reverberating them like a haunted choir. Father Alvin just smiled and turned to Sunshine. Her eyes seemed moist and there was an openness and vulnerability in them G had never seen before. “Now, dear, would you be so kind to show us your soul too? If you need help, I’m sure my wife would be glad to-“

“I can do it.” She quickly interrupted him, her smile bright as ever. Quickly, she handed off the bouquet to Uli and while G’s motions had been jerky and unsure, Sunshine’s were open and graceful and even a little playful. G didn’t quite remember how it happened, but one second later, he was cradling the softest cyan soul he’s ever seen. It was warm and heavy against his body and just felt so right that he never wanted to let go again. One of his fingers brushed against the surface and he could see a shiver run down its owners spine.

“Amazing. You must have a natural affinity for magic.” Father Alvin smiled and both G and Sunshine couldn’t help but snicker. Sure, they gained a confused look for it, but it was their little secret, their little indulgence in sharing something they hadn’t really done so before. It felt like a piece of comfort that G was desperately clinging to while he still could and before all of this would go up in flames and he would suddenly be all alone again.

The Priest continued, made Sunshine repeat all the previous steps and she followed so easily, so smoothly where he had stumbled before. And good god, she was so beautiful to him.

After she was done, Father Alvin smiled, placing his hand over their souls. It was glowing slightly, reeking of magic. Warmth flooded G’s body in an instant and he reached out his free hand. He didn’t get far before Sunshine snatched it and squeezed it oh so tightly.

“Before the eyes of our forefathers and before your own, you both have spoken to one another the promises and vows that will forevermore signify your commitment to this most sacred of estates. Once I remove my hand, your lives will be forever intertwined, as will your souls, and thus… I pronounce you husband and wife.”

His smile broadened as he took a step back and removed his hand. The warmth died down, but was quickly replaced with a different kind of warmth when G spotted the blue lines coursing through his souls, mirroring the golden ones on his brides, like the finest kintsugi he’s ever seen. There was a weight settling down on his shoulders as something akin to realisation was knocking on his drunkard door of a consciousness but it was shooed away so quickly, that he had no time to process it all.

Sunshine must have felt the same way, because red eyes like the most amazing galaxies were fixated on their souls, how they seemed to perfectly mirror each other. Opposites, but yet coming together oh so beautifully.

-you may kiss your wife-

He hadn’t even heard Father Alvin say it, only caught it in the Echo from the flowers but when he did so, his eyes met with Sunshines and she gave him a smile that was even brighter than the sun. His heart fluttered, his soul too probably and he couldn’t help but give her a smile of his own. Gently, his free hand pulled on hers, drawing her closer. This might be the only chance he’d ever get, he was well aware, before the alcohol’s spell would break and things would go back to be so far and guarded and his feelings locked away forever. But he could have this one thing, this one taste of what he’d want oh so badly like nothing ever before. Just once, he told himself, just once he could do it. For the act, the scheme, the revenge…

And his own sanity. Just this once.

Then, he released her, and both of their souls to return back to where they came from, and wrapped an arm around her waist. The other curled around her neck as he pulled her into him. It was greedy, he knew, he knew, but was it so wrong for him to want? Just once?

There was a pause.

A breath where they looked at each other but for once, there were no insecurities in either of them. No worries, no guarded shields, no holding back.

Just this once, they were open and vulnerable and completely honest and when his mouth met hers, warm and soft and wanting, moving against his with just as much care and eagerness, it was as if applause erupted within the small chapel, even though it was empty and quiet, just the two of them and the Priest and his wife. There was nobody here except for them, but he could feel Sunshine’s heart beat against his ribcage and it was as if everyone he’d ever loved was there with him, all of a sudden and he couldn’t complain anymore.

They pulled back at the same time but this time, their eyes met and G was forced to face yet another truth.

There was no way, it would just be this once.

Chapter 19: More mistakes were made

Chapter Text

Sunshine’s back met the wall with more force that it probably should but instead of complaining, she let out a small whimper, right into G’s mouth. She still tasted like Glacier and the cherry shot she had earlier that had provided her with the stem to tie into a knot and drive him crazy with.

He moved back an inch maybe and mumbled an apology before ducking his head down to reach her neck. When that proved itself to be uncomfortable, he simply grabbed her waist and lifted her higher. Hard and unforgiving bones unabashedly travelled up her thigh, pushing the bothersome fabric out of the way so he could hike her leg over his hip. Smart as always, she got the hint immediately and suddenly a pair of soft and supple legs wrapped around his hips and her head fell back with a sigh to grant him more access.

He started to work on her neck with a teasing gentleness, featherlike caresses against her flushed skin, but her hips bucked against his involuntarily. He reacted by biting down and it just felt so good.

It’ll leave a mark-a real one, this time-but she didn’t seem to care, instead arching her back and her hips met his again with every grind.

The pressure made him groan, loudly, before biting his tongue and try to stifle his noises. Sunshine seemed to take great offense at that, forcing his head up to face her. Her pupils were wide, pretty much blowing out all of the red and her lips were slightly parted as she panted against him. For a moment, he wondered how her lipstick could still be so intact or if she’d already planted several red prints on the ivory of his bones. “Don’t.” she said. “Don’t be quiet.”

“What if someone hears us?” He questions and he smile turned devious.

“That’s the plan.”

“Your sister’s bridal suite is right next to us!”

She leaned forwards, just enough so her lips would brush against his zygomatic process and almost turn him feral. “So? If you make me scream loud enough, nobody is gonna believe the wicked witch of the wedding.”

A moan left G, a deep one from down inside his chest and his dick was very much interested in that prospect. “Oh, you are filthy.”

“I can be whatever you want me to be.”

“No.” G rasped and pressed an insistent kiss against her lips that had her fingers curling into his chest. He ripped back, leaving her flustered and flushed. “Just need you.”

Her eyes turned fort at that, because of course they did. Everything about her was soft and gentle. Even like this, her kindness was showing through. “You have me.” she whispered, which surprised him, considering her earlier proposal. But this was a small, and private sound, just between them.

The skeleton could feel spare magic flush his face a deep, golden stain. He tried to hide it by picking her up a pit more securely, his hands well placed over her ass and he placed her on the nearest surface, which was either the floor or the bed. And he would not f*ck her on the floor.

At least the first time.

His hands wandered up and down her legs, going under the fabric of her dress and squeezing the soft flesh of her thighs. Sunshine squeezed her legs around him, drawing him closer to her and her hands reached for him.

Magic is pulsing in his chest-yes, and also his pants…. Mainly his pants-and he feels like he might just faint. Their kisses turned frenzied, almost bruising and all consuming.

His tongue swept against her lips and she parts so willingly, letting him in. He was beyond words right now, opting to groan against her lips and letting his hand delve into her hair to keep her close, possibly ruining the elaborate hairstyle.

Their moans were the only sounds in the dark room. This time, it was Sunshine who had to pull away from him, panting to catch her breath and G didn’t miss a beat and started to kiss down the smooth line of her throat again, so different and unmarred opposed to his. He’d have to change that, leave a necklace of his own there.

The feral nature of his magic made him a little unhinged, a little territorial and he didn’t think to bother to think twice about staking a claim that was never his to stake.

Her legs tightened around him and her back arched which made her breasts press against his chest. “Oh goodness…” she moaned, pretty eyes fluttering closed, as he kept his path down southwards.

He didn’t even get that far before her hand brushed against he front of his pants, and he moved against it with a noise from deep inside his throat. She pulled away and he was terrified that he might have scared her off but one look at her teasing grin made him give her a stern look.

“What has gotten into you? Where is my shy and sweet Sunshine?”

“’m pretty drunk.” She giggled and bit her lip cutely. “Lowers-ah-lowers the inhibitions. Just… acting on what I want for once.”

“C’mere.” G growled at that, unable to contain himself at the implication that she could possibly want him of all people.

Her dress was bunched around her waist, fabric rumpled. He’s quite possibly made a wreck of the carefully orchestrated look and he wouldn’t have it any other way. The skeleton started to tug at her dress, but to no avail. It’s fitted perfectly to her curves.

“Zipper.” She laughed and one of G’s hands reached around to fumble to find the tab. Things would be so much easier if they’d turned on the lights but that would mean leaving her side and the thought scares him, like it would break the spell and the moment would pass and he’d never get one like this again.

One fleeting moment of pretentious joy would be better than to agonise in unrequited uncertainty, right? He wanted to remember every last second of this, not have it end so abruptly because he couldn’t find a stupid metal tab of a stupid zip that was the only thing separating him from the softness of her skin.

“Ah!” she gasped when he got fed up and promptly grabbed the sides of her cleavage with a feral sound and pulled. The sides of the bodice fell to the linens next to her and with a few more aggressive tugs, the dress pooled around her feet before being kicked off to be forgotten forever. And there she was. Mostly naked in front of him, save from the strapless bra and matching panties that kept her covered.

She was stunning.

Soft in all the right places, oh so feminine and beautiful. He wasted no time to tell her, which made her pretty flush spread down to her chest and showed off all of those cute, white freckles, like a doe.

His finger hooked into the front of her bra but she stopped him, sounding a little breathless.

“Wait, wait, bra’s are expensive.”

“Your parents are rich.” He answered dryly, finger still unmoving.

“I might get disowned in the morning. Spare me the eighty bucks.”

“Eighty bucks?” he blanched and dropped the delicate fabric. “Why do you pay so much for clothes like that?”

“Because the world hates boobs, apparently.” She rolled her eyes and jutted her hips up to get his attention back.

It worked.

“Can we stop focussing on pressing social injustices and get back to you f*cking me into the mattress until I can’t remember my own name anymore.”

“You don’t even use your name.” G smirked and nipped at the swell of her breast. She keened in surprise and shot him a funny look.

“Just more reason to make me forget that monstrosity. Now chop chop, get to it, I am getting impatient.”

“No you are not.” He laughed. “I’ve seen your soul. You’re the definition of patience.”

“And you are the definition of a tease” True as that might be, she accepted his terms because he, too, was right, and she let her head fall back onto the mattress with a displeased sound.

He smiled to himself at that and started to trace the edge of her underwear. “Lift your hips.” he asks, but it reads more of a demand. She complied anyways and he slid off her underwear completely.

Thankfully, he still possessed some modicum of decency and self-preservation instinct after all, because he didn’t comment on how soaked her underwear was. Instead, he stared at her in a way that could only be described as hungry and feral.

“I wanna-“ he starts, roughly and ran his fingers up and down the crease of her inner thigh. She twitched and it wipes all coherent thought from his brain, but thankfully, she seemed to get what he wanted because she nodded eagerly. Probably more eager than he’s ever seen her before and that draws a chuckle from him. Which in turn earned him the possibly cutest pout and frown combo he’s ever seen. “What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me.” she huffed. “Get your mouth on me already.”

A track of wetness was smeared on her thigh from his roughhousing. “Okay, okay.” He laughed again, then ducked to retrace the wet path. Felt a grotesque twist of satisfaction tug at his co*ck when a shiver travelled down Sunshine’s spine and thighs. He licked his teeth with the golden tongue, chasing the taste that had him almost moaning and losing control. “You taste sweet.”

“Yeah?” she asked, a little insecure. He noticed for the first time that she seemed to shrink a little under his gaze, her arms crossed in front of her soft belly, as if she wanted to hide it. It was then and there that he decided that he would not be satisfied until she felt as beautiful as he thought.

“Yeah.” He echoed roughly and dug his fingers into the meat of her legs. “Like eating monster candy.”

Sunshine laughed, winded and a little unsure. “You’re weird.”

“Said the girl asking me to eat her out.”

“You offered!” she squeaked, covering half of her face. “Which you aren’t doing, by the by!”

G feigned offense. “I should change that. You can’t be shy if I put my tongue in you. Scream for me, will ya?”

“Very funn-f*ck!”

It was one of the fist times G’d heard Sunshine swear like that. It was a keening sound, echoing around the room and hopefully the next one over too. It made his entire body light up with electricity and he was determined to get more of those out of her.

He applied the flat of his tongue from the bottom to the top, collected her taste on each swipe but with every movement, more slick coated his tongue. Look at that, a never ending supply.

He wiggled his tongue in next and Sunshine’s legs squeezed closed around his head. He simply pried her open again to go back in, make her scream his name just once. That’s all he wanted. It was f*cked up, he knew it. He knew that he was certainly overstepping some kind of boundary but the alcohol in his system wiped all those concerns from his mind and hers too, judging by the way she moaned, rutting against his face.

He just wanted to pretend that she was his for one night.

Sunshine whispered his name and he just about broke, shoving two fingers inside of her. A number she took too easily, accompanied by a sound he would replay inside of his head for the rest of his life, no matter how wrong it was. G gave her another, dying inside when that one slid in too. No trouble, wet path, easy street. She clenched down, moaning. The skeleton pumped his fingers for a while and moaned out loudly as he found out that four fingers weren’t too much.

His free hand dug into her hip, leaving bruises in the shape of his fingers as he drags his tongue all over her. It was clear that she was unable to stop her moans, even if she wanted to.

He forced himself to calm down, keeping the pace slow, tortuous even as he looked for the places that would make her cry out the loudest. She doesn’t even try to stifle a moan and he hummed against her body until she was practically melting into the mattress.

He was proud of himself, and probably sounded like it too. Probably too proud of himself, but soon enough, he has her right where he wants her. A mewling mess, that can’t quite stop squeezing her legs around his face as one of her hands would tangle in her own hair as she tried to dig into the pillow.

G wanted her to come so bad and then his tongue’s circling around her cl*t and oh!

“Oh f*ck!” she sobbed and he couldn’t help but smirk against her. He’s always been a fast learner and he’s figuring her out- finally, finally figuring her out- and he played her just right.

“It’s okay.” He said, his voice thick with desire as he bit at her inner thigh. “You can let go. I’m not done with you yet anyways.”

The skeleton wasn’t quite sure if it was his fingers moving inside of her, or his sinful tongue or the way his voice sounded right now but she was finally there, her back arching off the mattress as she grabbed the fabric of the already stained vest. Her fingers dug into it and right between the weave, ruining it for good, like she needed a line back to earth as she finally reached the stars. She was crying out his name, being purposefully loud, but he doesn’t relent and let his tongue trace over her until he can guide her down from her org*sm.

G pulled back, looking entirely too smug and started to slowly open up the buttons of first his vest and then his shirt. Under any other circ*mstance, he’d feel insecure and the need to hide away the broken pieces of his torso, but he, too, was way too drunk. And the fact that Sunshine was looking at him like he was a meal ready to devour and she had been starved for weeks.

Her chest was still heaving, covered by the bra, but she reached out for him anyways. Deft fingers traced the insides of his ribs with all their cracks and breaks but once again, there was no disgust. Instead, she looked up at him like he had personally plucked the stars off the nightsky and presented them to her as a neat little bouquet. “You’re beautiful.”

He felt a little taken aback. Nobody has ever called him beautiful. Yes, back before the accident he’s been called cute sometimes and after it, he’s been called sexy, but it often sounded like an insult. But never has anyone considered him beautiful. Bruised and broken and untouchable. Scary and terrifying and attractive to those that were either into the bad boy or a quick f*ck. But never beautiful.

He wasn’t quite sure how to react so he just stared at her. Thankfully, she didn’t seem offended at his freeze response and just gave him a warm smile, the kind that always made him think of the sun. Before he could even react, she was fiddling with his belt and pants. His eyes darted down, which she did notice. There was a small pause where she looked at him questioning only for the skeleton to cover her hands with his to shove the offending fabric of both pants and boxers out of the way.

His dick sprang free, already fully hard and leaking golden precum that smeared against her thigh. Upon seeing his size-which was proportional, but lets be real, she was a lot smaller than him-Sunshine made a funny, but impressed face. He laughed at it roughly and she reached to cup his cheekbone. The simple touch was so warm, almost searing and he wondered how he never guessed that she was of magic because right now, he could feel it rush right under her skin.

“G…” she mumbled and licked her lips. “Take me…”

It was a simple request, really, but it fried his brain, nonetheless. Obviously, this is what this had been building up to but it was in this moment, that the whole situation hit him.

He smiled and pushed her hair over her shoulder to kiss up her neck and towards her ear, only to whisper into it. “-As my lawfully wedded wife.”

He didn’t have to look to see how red her face had gotten. He could feel it warm right against his cheek, felt the shiver that went down her spine, felt the little gust of air that rushed from her lips.

Embarrassed, she grabbed his face and planted a kiss squarely on his mouth. Enthusiastically, he kissed her back, glad for the distraction, so he could finally remove the last offending piece of clothing she was still wearing. And just because it was her, and she had asked so nicely, he did it carefully.

Finally, she was naked in front of him and he let his eyes roam all over her. God, she was perfect. Her boobs were nice and soft, nipples already pert. He could spot some stretch marks over her belly and wished he had time to go and trace them with his tongue. But there was no time and in a rare moment of clarity, he had the decency to feel bad for what he was doing to her and would be doing. They were both drunk as f*ck and there was no way she wouldn't regret it in the morning. He was well aware that he was just an outlet of rebellion but couldn't find it in him to care. Not when her hand crept down and wrapped around his hard co*ck, warm and soft but insistant in its movement. He moaned her name. Red eyes met golden one's and his guilt seemed to intensify, almost outweighing his lust and need. It was near impossible to have those goregous eyes on him. He didn't deserve the look she was giving him, not when his thoughts were going wild with things he wanted to do to her.

“Turn around.” He asked when he couldn't bare it anymore and Sunshine’s eyes widened when she heard his tone - raspy, husky, thick with lust. She complied without another word and G grabbed her backside with both hands before teasing her entrance with the tip of his dick. She shivered and earned herself a chuckle for it before G slowly but surely started to push inside of her.

It was heaven. Warm and soft and so tight that it bordered on the verge of too much, even with all of his prep. His hands gripped the hips of his partner harshly and he couldn’t quite stop himself from snapping his hips up with a sharp move. She mewled his name loudly, and he was certain that someone must have heard them.

He didn’t care though, the complete opposite even. He was gunning for the desperate sounds she was making with every thrust of his. He shifted slightly to find the spot that would make her see stars again and once he did, he didn’t stop hitting it again, until she was positively screaming.

It was all so good, so much, that the skeleton had a hard time keeping it together. It was hard to forget his own wildness but never before had he teetered on the verge of breaking like he had right now. “You are so f*cking pretty.” He panted.

“Pretty enough to attract you, huh?” she mumbled with a laugh that was underlined with self-depreciation. He frowned upon hearing that and leaned forward. His sternum was brushing against her back as his teeth grazed the rim of her ear and his hand wrapped around her throat. Now quite squeezing, but there as a reminder to listen to him.

“You have no idea.” G said darkly and kissed whatever he could.

“G.”

“Yeah?”

“Please…” His Sunshine was literally begging at this point. Her voice was cracked from both desperation and the hand wrapped around her neck as his dick kept pistoning in and out of her. G couldn’t shake the groan that poured from his throat in response.

He straightened up again and pulled Sunshine with him, pressing her against him as his hips kept moving against her relentlessly with one hand while the other one snaked down do rub against her cl*t. It mustn’t have been easy to still make noises with a bony hand wrapped around ones throat but she was still screaming for him, louder than he could have even imagined but he was determined to file away each and every sound for later so he could keep them forever. Nothing and nobody in his entire life had ever sounded so good to him and it was hard not to come immediately.

She clenched around him once, twice, and then her hand dug into the back of his skull.

“G-G please! I’m so- Oh god- please!”

“It’s okay, Sunshine. Come for me. I want you to come all over my dick. And then I'm gonna make you do it again.” And she did. Sunshine let out a cute, high pitched moan that was just for him, nobody else, and suddenly she was so tight around him, that his own vision went white. Her walls fluttered as she came and G f*cked her through it all. He hadn’t accounted for his own org*sm though. It had snuck up on him, surprised him when he had been too focussed on making her come around his dick and suddenly, it was too late now. His cum filled her and the thought drove him wild, even wilder than any before and he bordered on feralness as he f*cked his cum deeper into her, so nothing could possibly leak out, never stopping. It wasn’t enough. He was still hard, still needed more. A metallic taste filled his lips and the sounds of Sunshine’s keens and moans filled his ears and the last coherent thought he has was that there was no way that he's gonna stop now.

G woke up the next day with a splitting headache. He groaned and rolled over to his back, one arm thrown over his eyes to shield him from the light and cursing whoever had invented Glacier or thought that infusing alcohol with magic was a good idea. Because it wasn’t. It was awful and bullsh*t and he’d like to file a formal complaint. There was a special place in hell reserved for the jerk that was responsible for it.

A slight movement next to him startled him and he turned his head as carefully as possible, as to not make his hangover worse. His tongue felt pelty, even though he hadn't even summoned it right now, and he was craving oily McDonnald's breakfast. Or maybe a good kebab.

When he eventually turned, he saw a perfectly mussed mop of auburn hair draped over bare shoulders and a bare back.

Memories flooded back to him that had his face discoloured in mere seconds as he stared at Sunshine’s naked back. There were lovebites and bruises all over her that would be impossible to explain but would probably be unnecessary, considering how f*cking loud they were. Pun only slightly intended.

He swallowed harshly and his chest constricted violently, pushing all the air from him.

A sudden feeling of dread creeped up his back and his stomach plumeted fifty stories deep. He felt like scummiest person alive.

Because all he could remember all of a sudden, was a party, many many months ago, and a blonde bombshell whose name hadn't been worth remembering co*cking her head at him with a smug look in her eyes.

“She’s not one for a quick f*ck anyways. Damn tease is too much of a stick in the mud. At least sober, if you get me.”

f*ck.

Chapter 20: The Part Of The Story Where Everything Starts Going To sh*t™

Chapter Text

The first light of the day filtered through the window, stabbing at your temples like a thousand tiny needles and serving as a harsh reminder that you hadn’t closed the blinds last night. Even though it was early, you could hear people talk loudly outside already. Someone-you guessed it was your Cousin Eleanore-was laughing suspiciously birdlike. Not to be rude, but she had always reminded you of Odile.

You know which one.

Groaning, you shifted on the rumpled bed, acutely aware of the throbbing headache that accompanied your every movement. The room was quiet, save for the muffled sounds of the outside world and your Cousins annoying voice, and the memories of last night began to seep through the fog of your hangover.

You winced as you recalled the clinking of glasses, the laughter, the goddamn cherry stem and the hazy decision to drown your sorrows in alcohol. The events of the night were a blur, nothing more than a chaotic swirl of neon lights and fragmented conversations. Somehow you distinctly remember a conversation about dinosaurs, a steroid T-Rex with bright orange feathers and the Ace Attorney movie.

f*cking Glacier.

As you gathered the strength to open your eyes, makeup clumped on your lashes making it hard, a wave of disorientation washed over you. It took a moment for the details of the room to come into focus, and then you realised you weren’t alone.

Now, that wasn’t out of the ordinary as of now, considering where you were, but the fact remained that you were butt naked under the blanket and a pair of white slacks was hastily thrown over the antique dresser across the room. The person beside you stirred and a sense of unease settled in the pit of your stomach, right next to the nausea from the alcohol.

Your gaze finally fell upon G, still peacefully asleep-and just as butt naked as you. But without the blanket.

Memories flashed-shared laughter, a bar, and then, inexplicably and yet so obviously, the two of you stumbling into an unfamiliar place.

You took a steadying breath, hoping that this was just a strange dream. But the reality of the situation was undeniable when looking at the dishevelled state of the sheets and the clothes scattered on the floor.

“Oh no…” you whispered to yourself, the weight of the revelation sinking in. You’d slept with G. Climbed him like a tree. Known him both biblically and carnally. Boinked him. Fornicated even.

As the skeleton stirred, awakening to the same reality, a tense silence enveloped the room. The air crackled with uncertainty and you could taste the unspoken question hanging heavy in the air. G’s eyes were burning holes into you but you couldn’t bare to look at him.

You just wanted to throw up.

“Uh, morning…” you managed to croak, voice strained.

“Morning.” He replied curtly, his tone mirroring your own mix of confusion, guilt and regret.

With a heavy sigh, you braced yourself for the conversation that would inevitably follow.

He was probably mad that you threw yourself at him like that. Gosh, he had no idea that you had the biggest crush on him. For him, this was probably just a one and done thing. This meant nothing to him and everything to you. And now he probably dreaded telling you that you were… dunno, a bad lay and that this would never happen again. That your friendship would be over when you got home and that you were a bad person for making him open up to you, only to jump his bones at the first opportunity and get him drunk as a skunk. Screw it, you probably were.

Even your upset stomach was agreeing that you had messed up the one good thing you managed to snag for yourself. f*cked up any chance of bonding with someone that could understand you that wasn’t another autumn mage. sh*t, what if he’d go around and spread the news?

No, he wouldn’t do that. He knew how bad it was to be ostracised, he’d gone through it himself. He wouldn’t put that on any other person. And yet you had gone and betrayed his trust and-

“I’m sorry.”

Skullduggery Pleasant knockoff say what.

“Huh?” You answered oh so eloquently. G sighed deeply and you finally turned to look at him. His browbone was furrowed and the cracks on his face seemed even deeper and more shadowed than normally. Maybe that was his kind of eyebags?

“I-“ he hesitated. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Oh god you knew it, he regretted it. You probably repulsed him.

“I… You… We…”

Gnawing on your lip, you sat up carefully, blanket pressed against your chest to hide as much of you as you could. You didn’t miss how his eyes went straight to your neck and disappointment flooded his eyes, followed by you.

Great.

“Just say it, okay?” you said softly. “I wont be mad.” Just heartbroken.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-“

“Slept with me?” you finished his sentence when he stumbled again. You really did your best to bring some warmth into your voice and swallow down the bile rising up your throat. He just nodded.

“I…” what? What was there even to say. “I should be the one saying sorry. I should have held back and respected your boundaries.”

“No, no, Sunshine, I-“ He sat up quickly, followed by a groan. He must be just as hungover as you. There was a vulnerability there, that was nothing less but adorable. You felt guilty for feeling that way. God, you really f*cked it all up. Was there anything you wouldn’t ruin? “sh*t, I’m really sorry.”

“What are you talking about?” He buried his face in his hands. Poor guy looked so miserable, it was breaking your heart.

“Gosh, Sybil warned me ages ago that this might happen and-“

“Wait.” You let out an incredulous chuckle. “What’s my ex got to do with this?”

G lifted his head, to stare at you. He tried to read your face but with every passing second, his confusion seemed to get fuelled by your own.

“I… Do you remember that party at the Temmies a few months back? She basically told me that getting you drunk was a surefire way to get you to bed and now I went and f*cked it all up.”

Suddenly you didn’t feel bad anymore.

“Are you kidding me?” you asked him very slowly instead. Apprehension mixed into his expression when he noticed the hard lines of your jaw tightening.

“I-“

“G, you’ve known me for months now and you wanna tell me that you believe my stupid bitch of an ex that I am… what? some kind of trollop that runs around and has one night stands with the first guy she sees at the sight of some vodka? Are you absolutely sh*tting me?”

“No, but-“

You could feel yourself getting angry, and you weren’t in the mood for causing extensive property damage on the day of your sister’s wedding, so you jumped out of bed, blanket still pressed to you. G gulped, clearly at a loss for words and wasn’t that a first. It would have been funny if it didn’t hurt so damn much.

“God, she always does this thing. The Gall of this woman, I swear.” you muttered, before your voice raised both in volume and pitch. “You wanna know why she calls me a slu*t whenever she can? A few years back when we were still dating, I went on a Camping Trip to Ebott with the other Mages and when I returned I got like 4 or 5 videos of Sybil f*cking other people. Obviously, I was hurt and confronted her but all she told me was that it was payback for what I had done, especially with my skan* of a roommate. Naturally, I was pretty confused what she was talking about since I had spent my weekend in the woods putting on lotion on Estis’ Butt after he sat in some Poison Ivy and trying to get my stupid magic under control so it won’t ruin my life any more. But of course I can’t tell that to her, because she would go tell anyone, just like she keeps running around to everyone and calling me a stupid whor* apparently even though she was the one f*cking her History Professor.”

At least G had the decency to look embarrassed and remorseful. He got off the bed to follow after you. He tried to reach for you, but you evaded him. “I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, and you still thought-“ you sighed. “It doesn’t matter what you thought.”

“Sunshine please… I’m Sorry, I thought-“ He tried to say but you interrupted him. It was hard to keep the pain from your voice.

“I don’t.. care what you thought.” You cared immensely. “I would have expected you of all people to not listen to baseless rumours.”

“sh*t, no, Sunshine, please-“ Once again, he tried to get a hold of you, but you took a quick step back. The heavy smell of Ozone started to permeate the air, so you knew that you were getting too upset.

“I need to get dressed.”

“Sunny-“

“No…” you sighed, ignoring all of his pleas. “Don’t call me that, G. Let’s just… Get this over with. Just gotta make it through the wedding and then you won't have to deal with a skan* like me again.”

You don’t let him finish what he’s trying to say.

Chapter 21: Heart to Heart

Chapter Text

The bathroom door didn't creak when it was pushed open, like it would in movies. In fact, it didn't make a sound at all. Probably because the hinges were well lubed and taken care of, like all of the estate, aside from the fact that the wood has warped so much over the years, that they spring open a little too easily.

That is, until it loudly connected with the bathroom wall, because Mercy Winters was nothing if not a force of nature. That included opening doors, apparently.

“Palgan, are you here? I tried looking everywhere for you. Cam said you might be here, if you are upset? Ugh. It’s so like you to throw another- “ She paused as she stared down at you. Her inky black hair was in rollers and she was wearing a pristine, white bridal robe that was so bright that it hurt in your eyes. You were pretty sure it was one of those “I just murdered my elderly husband, but no, officer, I have no idea how he fell down the stairs” robes. Her beautiful face twisted at the sight of you, and her lip curled up in a snarl. “You look pathetic.”

You didn’t grace Your Majesty with an answer and instead twisted to hurl whatever was left in your stomach into the toilet.

“Ew.” Mercy commented softly. “Are you throwing up?”

“Uh-huh…” you commented dryly, when the wave of nausea left you again. No sh*t, sherlock. She clicked her tongue in disapproval, but you just rolled your aching eyes and rested your head on the cool porcelain of the toilet. Red eyes that weren’t just red from a birth defect met with icy blue ones and you halfway expected her to make fun of even more, but to your surprise, her hard features softened considerably. Your sister hiked up her robe to come closer and shut the door behind you. It was dark in the room until she flipped the switch with a muttered curse. The sudden flash of light made you groan, followed by a hiccup.

“And you are crying.” She simply stated.

“Youp.” You replied, not really willing to meet her gaze again as you desperately tried to stifle your sobs and tears. Her cold hands came as a surprise when she reaches out to wipe your face.

“Why?”

“Why do you care all of a sudden?” Yes, there was bitterness in your voice, but you felt a little entitled to harbour resentment. “Don’t worry, I’ll be ready in an hour when the Makeup Artist arrives.”

“Just tell me, okay?” There was no fighting with Mercy. There never had been. You’ve always shared everything with her, before she became the mayor of bitcherton, so you had no defences ready for her. So it was no surprise, when fresh tears welled up in your eyes, already spilling over and making the skin under them turn red and splotchy.

“You were right, Cissy.” You finally sobbed. “He never loved me. He just used me because Sybil told him I’m a dirty skan*.”

“Oh sweetie.” There was genuine worry in her voice which comes as a surprise so you recoiled in shock and confusion. Of course she noticed, but she was also bigger than you, so you can’t really fight her when she pulls you in for something adjacent to a hug. It’s not really comforting, but it was so startling that you forgot to cry for a second or two before starting up again at double the intensity.

“Why are you helping me? I thought you’d hold this all over my head and gloat about how you were right. I am unlovable.”

“No, you’re not.” It comes out so fast that you pulled back to stare at her in disbelief.

“You said that to me?”

An almost embarrassed flush spread across her perfect skin and she tried to hide it by turning away from you to wet a washcloth. “That I did.” She insisted stubbornly.

“Then why aren’t you gloating? You were right.”

“Of course, I’m always right.” She scoffed. “But you are hurting and I am not a monster.” The washcloth is icecold on your face, probably because she didn’t wait to let the water warm and it is the middle of winter.

“What, like me?” you fired back before thinking. Mercy’s hand froze against your face and her brows furrowed in anger.

“That is not what I meant!”

“Then what? Like him?”

The crease in her brow furrowed and her eyes turned hard again. “Why do you even care?” she spat before scrubbing at your face again. “He hurt you.”

You pouted. “Because I happen to really like him?”

“Well...” She paused for a moment, before clicking her tongue. “That sucks. But I wasn’t talking about him.”

“Then what?”

She put the washcloth down with a sigh, and you stared at her. “Do you remember all those scary fairytales I read to you as a child?”

“Yes. I loved them.”

“You’ve always liked scary things.” Mercy gave you a taught smile. “Those are the monsters I was talking about. The one’s in your closet and under your bed and lurking in caves and castles and witches and sorcerers that curse princesses and steal babies. Step-mothers that hate their kids because they are powerhungry, greedy, awful nasty people. I’m… not like that.”

“Could have fooled me.” you mumbled under your breath. She must have heard you, because she gave you a playful little push with an exaggerated “hey!” It even made you chuckle a bit. “What?”

“I take great offense to that!” she gasped.

“Well, you have been very mean lately.”

“Excuse me?” There it was again, that theatrical act she loved to put on. “Lately?”

You just shrugged, but there was a smile tugging on your lips. “You used to be nice. Now you are just a bitch. When did you turn into a bitch, Mercy?”

“I’ve always been a bitch.”

“You’re not a bitch right now.”

Once again she huffed and tried to flick her hair over a shoulder, before she remembered that it was still up in rollers. “Yeah, well-“ she put on a bitchy and defensive tone instead. “Maybe because some asshole made my little sister cry.”

“Why do you care so much?” you laughed. “You made me cry even harder last night.”

“Yes, but that was my doing.” She sniffed. “I don’t mind if I am the one hurting you. Other people haven’t earned the right. Those are supposed to be my tears and that asshat stole my thunder.”

“Wow.” You answered dryly, noticing a wave of nausea wash over you again. “You were right, you are a bitch.”

She grimaced at your words and a hint of hurt flickered across her eyes. Your stomach flipped again.

“You must be really hungover if you are cursing that much.”

“Don’t tell dad!” It was meant as a joke, but the fear in your voice was just a little too real.

“And get both of us a beating? Not on my wedding day.”

You tried to reply, but instead, you had to turn away to throw up again. The retching sounds reverberate in the tiled room. You know that your face was pale and sweat was starting to bead on your forehead. Disgusted, Mercy has to look away and instead busies herself by re-wetting the washcloth and filling up one of the glasses meant for toothbrushing with more of that icecold water.

Once you were done, you flushed the toilet and rest your forehead against the porcelain, breathing heavily.

Your sister wordlessly wiped down your face, despite your protests and then handed you the drink. You try not to look too grateful. You were still upset with her.

“Goodness.” She huffs and leans back against the sink. “How much did you drink last night, palgan?” I’ve never seen you throw up from being hungover.”

“It was a lot, okay?” you just croaked defensively. Enough to make a myriad of mistakes, apparently.

“Sweetie, I’ve been to some of those… mage parties with you. You have never, not even once, thrown up. I’ve seen you chugg entire bottles of Glacier with Estis and be fine. Are you…” she hesitated. “Sick?”

“No, just sad.” You rumbled and started to take tiny sips off your cup. The cold water felt marvellous. “Just be glad I’m getting my feelings out like this and not… other ways.”

Both of you knew what you mean with other ways. But neither wanted to spell out the thinly veiled threat and self-depreciation. You hated being treated as a loose canon and some kind of time bomb that could go off at any second but right now, you were upset enough that you felt like there might be a grain of truth to it.

“Fair.” Mercy sighed before pushing off the sink and starting to heave you back up to your feet, despite your protest. “Stop struggling, and let me get you cleaned up so we can make you pretty again. That jerk won’t know what hit him and I swear, I’ll make him eat his own words…” You were still fighting her ever so gently but she ignored you and you could have sworn you could have heard her mutter something about the ridiculousness of her sister being a skan*.

“Cissy, stop it! Let me wallow in my misery for a little longer, please." you whined. “Nobody will think I’m pretty next to you anyways.”

“That’s not true!”

“It is!”

“Everybody can see you are the prettier one.” You pouted but she huffed.

“We are both pretty.”

“You are just saying that so I will stop crying and making myself throw up!” you held out an accusatory finger, but she just slapped it away.

“Yes I am.” She admitted, but her eyes were still soft and playful as she started to drag you out of the room.

“Bitch!” you hissed at her and she stuck out her tongue at you like a little kid.

“skan*.”

“Too soon.” She grimaced, but followed it up with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m a bitch and a c*nt and a bridecilla, yada yada yada. Now help me make sure you look presentable so Mother won’t throw an absolute fit.”

You raised an eyebrow at her and stumbled behind her, but she had an iron grip around your wrist. What’s like five more bruises though? You had enough from last night anyways. “Because that’s your job?”

“Yes.” She grinned back at you. It reminded you of a shark, the way her teeth were too white, too straight and a little too vicious. “About time you get it right.

You just groaned and followed behind her, knowing that it was useless. Only when you are right by the door of her bridal suit does something click in your still sluggish brain. “Wait, why was Cam texting you?”

Chapter 22: Bathroom Blues

Chapter Text

You turned your face to the side to hide a little burp behind your hand, earning a stern glare from your sister. It was noon by now, and almost ready to walk down the aisle but sadly, your stomach had decided not to calm down even in the slightest, which was frustrating. Your headache had subsided after the fourth or fifth glass of water forced down your throat and any and all signs of eyebags and love bites had disappeared under the magic of makeup. The lady had been nice and her assistant was as flamboyant as they came and happily took over the groomsmen. She didn’t even avoid looking at your eyes as she brushed on the shimmery eyeshadow and proceeded to paint your lip a red colour that would match the horrid dress that clashed with your hair.

You could see your mother walk down the hallway and your stomach immediately lurched. Trying to hide from her, you busied yourself by rearranging your sisters train, making sure that it was fanned out correctly for her to walk down the aisle. It seemed to work for almost a whole minute, until you straightened up again and got rewarded with a disapproving click of the tongue, followed by stern and cold fingers against your overheated skin.

“You look grubby.” Your mother simply said and plucked the strap that had fallen down your shoulders back up with pursed lips.

“I’m sorry, I was fixing-“

“There is no excuse to look squalid, child. This is an upscale event. Could you at least try to act like it, for once?”

“I’m sorry, Mama…” you muttered, lowering your head. A lock of your hair fell over your shoulder and your mother pulled on it.

“Your hair is a mess too. Goodness, what have you done to it? Is it too much to ask for you to keep it up?”

“Mama, I wanted it down.” Mercy impatiently said, without looking at you. Instead, she fiddles with Hugh’s pink diamond cufflinks. “I want to be the only one with an updo, I told you that. Let the little one hide behind the hair, at least it covers any… unflatteries.”

“Ugh, if that’s what you want, angel, I guess I can be persuaded.”

"Elaine, she looks wonderful." Hugh said warmly and smiled at you. You gave him a grateful glance. "Everything is wonderful. Really, guys, me and Mercy can't thank you enough for everyting. You are the real heroes. This wedding would not be able to happen without you!"

"That is true. And well, you do have good manners, so I will be mollified for now." Your mother huffed. “I shall go sit down now. Your wedding march will start exactly 37 seconds later. The flower girls will enter first, followed by the ring bearer. Let’s hope your little cousin wont drop the rings… again, Hugh. Next up are the bridesmaids and groomsmen and then you two.”

“And the butterflies?”

“Sorry darling, it was impossible to find blue monarch at this time of year. Especially trained ones.”

Mercies face went beet red within a second, and you politely coughed into your hand. She noticed anyways and glared at you. Before you could start to bicker again, your mother simply clapped her hands once, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. A strange silence fell over the room, only interrupted by the quiet sound of your footfalls as you got in line next to the one person you really didn’t wanna see.

“Places everybody. We are about to start. I want this to be perfect.”

A muted chorus of “Yes Ma’am”s could be heard before she twirled around and strutted off. You could feel the buzzing of magic next to you but tried to ignore it as best as you could by looking straight ahead.

Your heart ached.

“Sunshine…” G muttered, just as the music began to swell. You took a shaky breath and put your hand on top of his when the couple in front of you started to walk. “Please look at me.” He almost begged and you turned your head, as expressionless as possible so you wouldn’t just randomly burst into tears. Just looking at his handsome face in the blood red suit made your stomach do funny thing.

My god, he was good looking. And the liquid gold of his eyes went really, really well with his suit, like hot diggity.

But you stayed strong, both for your self and out of fear of repercussions. Impatience and over eagerness had ruined the friendship already. You weren’t in the mood to ruin your sister’s wedding too. Patience was a virtue you had abandoned for a single night and the universe had made sure to remind you that people like you didn’t get nights off. Restraint and Patience was mandatory. Discipline a necessity to survive, to make sure you wouldn’t turn into the monster that everybody feared you already were. Yes… The one’s Mercy had told you about. She might not be one of those but right now, you weren’t so sure if you weren’t.

And so, you smiled at G instead. It may have been cold and dead, but a smile, nonetheless. “Let’s get this over with, okay?”

The wedding had been a loveless affair.

Exactly 38 seconds after your mother sat down, the music started. And like she had said, the flower girl-one of your many, many distant cousins-entered first, closely followed by Hughs cousin.

He could barely walk, which wasn’t because he was hungover but rather because he was four and had pretty bad bow legs. He managed to not lose the rings as he waddled down the aisle, at least.

Next up were the bridesmaids. Auntie Hel with her Husband. Cousin Irina and her Boyfriend. Her twin Rosea and her husband. Poor Cousin Lottie that got stuck with Hugh’s fourteen year old cousin that was a little too excited that a pretty girl was touching him. Last but not least, you.

And G.

Your hand trembled ever so slightly on top of his as he walked down the aisle with you, something that felt oddly familiar to you but you couldn’t pinpoint why. The feeling of bone underneath your fingertips felt so right, that it was painful because this was probably the last time you’d ever be able to feel it. The walk to the altar felt endlessly but also way too short. It also felt like grieving but you couldn’t cry or mother would probably smack you with Nana’s cane. She wasn’t above that.

A part of you was glad when you separated at the end to stand on your respective sides, but the part of you that imagined G’s hand lingering on yours was hurting.

Finally, Mercy and Hugh entered together.

Mercy was a picture perfect bride, poised, elegant and beautiful.

Hugh was a rockstar, like always. His smile was warm and big and he was waving to people in the pews like it was his very own meet and greet. You’ve met Drag Queens less pompous.

Mercy handed you her bouquet, a beautiful arrangement of blue hyacinth, foxglove, yellow carnations, lavender, marigold, black roses and monkshood. When she had first told you about it, you had been bewildered, but now that you saw it, you had to admit that it fit your sister perfectly.

The priest rambled on for a little bit, before the most basic and shortest vows in history had been said. The happy couple then signed a document and the old guy declared them husband and wife. There wasn’t really a first kiss, but rather a first tiny peck on the lips before Mercy powerwalked down the hall. The whole thing lasted maybe twenty five minutes and you’d be surprised if the photographer got any pictures at all.

It felt a little like a business transaction.

But you kept your face pleasant as always. Years of experience, eh?

However, that perfectly poised and practiced face wavered slightly when you met back up G in the middle and his hand slid under yours again-This time however, it was palm up so he could grasp yours. It was such a tender gesture that you wavered for a moment and almost lost your calm. But you couldn’t, not today.

Papa always said that bad things would happen when you lost your cool.

You would not lose your cool. Not today.

You would your cool later.

But right now? By now you were nearly running down to follow your sister, not even halfway down the aisle. G tried to restrain you to sedate your walk , but you wanted to yank on his arm to speed him up so you wouldn’t have to deal with that awfully nice touch that reminded you of how he cupped your cheek just before he would lean down to-

“I need to go to the bathroom!”, you lied in desperation, glad for the heavy makeup that would hide yet another shade of red added to your outfit. He frowned, but didn’t say anything while leading you out between the heavy double doors under the watchful eyes of your family. The second you were mostly out of sight, you pulled your hand back as if burned. “Tell my mother not to wait for me. I don’t think she would anyways, but I promise I’ll go straight to the pictures afterwards.”

“Sunshine-“ he tried but you couldn’t help yourself but to hike up your skirts and bolt for the ladies room. Mercy’s flower bouquet forgotten on the ground where you had dropped it.

You passed by your sister and already braced yourself for a snide comment, but thankfully, she was fully engrossed by her now husband, which was a rare sight.

“Oh god, I can’t believe your Dad actually came!”

“I know, but it seems like he wanted to make sure that we got married for real. No fake-outs or anything!”

“Do you think he’ll stay long?”

“No, he never does. He’s a sh*t dad like that and we just gotta make it through-“

The bathroom was several hallways away but once inside, you sank to the floor by the sink.

Oh god, oh god, you couldn’t do this. Surviving your family was once thing, doing that while your bridezilla of a sister was getting married another but all of that while suffering from a broken heart and not even being able to express your own grief was an entirely different kind of beast.

Just touching G made every emotion you tried so hard to contain roar back with pitiless intensity. You didn’t remember a lot from last night but every touch brought back one that burned on your skin, every look seared the image of his wanting expression in his face into your brain. Every word he said turned into one of his lies.

He had made you feel wanted, loved almost, but none of it had been real because you were unlovable and barely even good enough for a quick f*ck. You have always been told that nobody would want to walk down that same aisle your sister just did but with you in her stead.

Then why was it so easy to conjure up that wishful image? Why was your brain so cruel?

The mirror started to vibrate. sh*t. You had to control yourself. Fast. But instead your head just fell onto your bent knees and you felt sick again.

“Sunshine?”

You had been so preoccupied with your breakdown that you hadn’t heard G come in. His voice was smooth as always. Your head snapped up, and in the midst of your carefully constructed life crashing around you, found the most absurd thing to worry about.

“Goodness, G, this is the ladies room! What if someone sees?”

He laughed at that. It was one of those low, seductive ripples of air that had driven goosebumps all over your body the first time you heard it and ever since. Sybil had kissed you with less effect, if we are being honest.

“You chose the bathroom furthest away from the reception. I doubt anyone will come for us. But I can lock the door, if it makes you feel better?”

God no.

“Whatever.” You whispered, unable to get out the sounds. It wasn’t like you could escape anyways, not when he was blocking the path to the only exit. “Why are you here?”

“You looked like you were about to cry…." Oh yeah... "Or throw up.” Maybe both.

“So?”

“I was worried.” Your heart constricted painfully, accompanied by a strangled noise leaving your lips.

“You have no right to be worried.” You want to tell him. Scream even. But all that comes out is a pathetic whimper. Could you be any more of a door mat?

“Please.” He asks again, reaching out for you to grab your limp arm but you flinched back involuntarily. Which was odd, considering the skan* inside of you wants to do nothing more but fling yourself at him, knowing fully well that he would catch you.

At least you want to know fully well that he would.

“I am sorry.” the skeleton apologised again to the salt pillar that you turned into. “I am so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I should have shown restraint but I f*cked up and I ruined everything.” There was a hopeful twinge in your heart that you immediately stomped out. “I should have never-“ he sighed. “I wish I could take it all back. I’m so sorry.”

Ah. there it was.

How stupid you’d been-how selfish, how blind, how naïve.

“You don’t get to say that.” G blinked at you, but you continued. “You can’t take back the things you did. Even if it meant nothing to you-“ you gulped and tried to control the burning in your eyes. “It meant everything to me. I might just be a dirty skan* but-“

“Don’t say that!” he interrupted you almost angrily.

“Why do you care? That’s what you think, don’t you? That’s what everybody thinks apparently. Just a dumb trollop”

“I never said that!” he practically roared but you didn’t shrink back. In fact, you stood proudly in front of him, barely measuring up to his height. “I would never-“

“It was implied!”

“It wasn’t!” His hands closed around your arms in frustration. “Please, I am trying to tell you something! Could you just listen to me for a second?”

“No!”

“Why?” he demanded to know. “Why won’t you let me talk?”

“Because I hate you.” You said very slowly but clearly, but with every word that followed, your voice climbed both in pitch and volume until you were finally screaming. “I hate your high cheekbones, I hate how beautiful your eyes are. I hate your stupid skeleton puns and how protective you are. I hate how much you love your brother and how your face lights up when you talk about him. I hate your stupid guitar and how well you play it. I hate that you watched Barbie movies with me because now I can never watch them again without thinking about you. I hate Frisk and how cute they are. I hate that you try to come off as an asshole but you are actually a sweetheart. I hate that you have never judged me for being a mage, or at least never told me. I hate that my stupid ex got to you. I hate it because I hate that you know me so well. I hate that I know you. I hate that I can’t hate you. I hate that I freaking love you!”

Chapter 23: Parental Support

Chapter Text

You weren’t running. Your mother would get mad if she saw you running. You were scared of her when she was mad. Then again, you were also scared of your father.

So instead, you were carefully stomping down the hallway back towards the reception. Hands fisted into the blood red of your dress until your knuckles turned white, lips pressed together in a stern line and your eyes cast downward, so you were staring at the plush carpet and left wondering who would cover up hardwood floors with this fake kind of red carpet. Atrocious. The thought alone made you snort. Ridiculous, how you could focus on even the most minute of details while your life was going to sh*t.

Your brows furrowed more while you refused to think about why you were stomping down said hallway like an angry toddler and your stomach lurched. For a moment, you considered getting a drink-something strong, even for you. Possibly bitter-to settle your stomach and nerves but just the thought was… repulsive.

The twisting of your gut felt wrong, and you couldn’t help but twist your fingers into the material covering it, almost protectively. Maybe your earlier outburst had left you feeling more upset and vulnerable than you had expected. Embarrassed, yes, obviously. It wasn’t like you to not be in control of yourself like that, but it had also left you raw and open and if you hadn’t turned tail and fled, you would have cried so hard that your face would get all red and splotchy for days again. The whole thing was a total dud and an embarrassment and you were already contemplating dropping out of your course, changing your name, dying your hair and becoming a sheep farmer on some Nordic fjord called Constance Galloway, never to be seen again.

You didn’t get to follow the trail of thought however, as you were sharply interrupted when you ran face first into someone. Feeling flustered, you gasped loudly and stumbled back, almost falling. The only reason why you didn’t were a pair of strong yet worn hands keeping you upright by the shoulders.

The man was tall, with sandy hair that you immediately recognised, aside from the silver streaks running through them. His eyes were hard and stern but he had some deep smile lines. His suit must have been the most expensive one you’ve ever seen. Obviously it was bespoke.

“Oh!” you quickly apologised and gave him a little bow. “You must be Hugh’s father. Brent”

“That I am.” He chuckled. “Are you alright? You are the little Winters, am I correct? I haven't seen you spitfire since you were what? Thirteen? What was it again, Ch-”

“Yes.” You answered quickly, interrupting him. “I- yes, Sir. I’m sorry for bumping into you. I was distracted.”

“I can understand. It’s a big day.” He smiled shortly and looked so much like his son all of a sudden.

“Yes. Yes it is. Are you enjoying yourself?”

“I was.” He sighed. “I am on my way out though.”

“Oh, already?”

“I am not one for festivities. Social events drain me and if I am not in bed by ten pm, the missus will be cranky because I will be an insufferable oaf. I just wanted to make sure my son honoured our deal and wish him and his wife a wonderful wedding.”

“Deal?” you asked before you could stop yourself and blinked in surprise. He just laughed.

“Oh, you don’t know. Those two, I swear. Aaaaalways being secret when it comes to your family. I’m sure you of all people understand. All those expectations and rules and prim and proper, yada yada yada. No wonder they spent so much time at one of our houses. Hughey wanted your sister to take over my company and the board of directiors of my hospital instead of him. He’s more happy in the law department instead of doing another degree in pharmacy and medicine like me and his Mama. Thankfully, that sister of yours has a head on her shoulders that makes her think quickly. Cunning too. She is a good and smart cookie, that Mercy. Kind but business savvy, so it would be ideal. And I like her, which helps. But I promised my father to keep it in the family when I got it and she's been a stellar employee in the pediatrics and surgery department for ages now. My boy and her, they've always been best friends and a wedding was kinda foreseeable, especially with your parents being so pushy. I told them to take their time and that they don't have to do it, all things considered, but your father… He’s a tough cookie. Poor Cissy cried for days, it was hard t’watch. So I promised I’d be able to make her my successor after the wedding. And who knows, maybe I’ll get a grandkid out of it too. I just love babies, don’t you?”

“I-yes?”

“Perfect. Little trooper’s gonna be so spoiled. Lord knows they won’t be by their other grandparents anyways. Anyways, my son’s always been a little flighty and he’s been so nervous. I didn’t want him to stand up the poor girl. Love her like my own. But it is over now, and I don’t have an interest in mingling in such a crowd, so I shall head home now. I’m gonna have some soup and watch my silly little show in bed.”

“I-okay? I wish you great travels, Sir. And good soup?”

“Oh, aren’t you a polite one. You’re also in med, right?”

“Forensic anthropology, sir.” You gulped, clasping your hands. How was this strange and cooky man the CEO of one of the biggest Pharma concerns worldwide that just casually runs the best privately owned hospital in a 300 mile radius? He was more like a weird little grandpa that nobody listens to. “Almost done. Just got my internship and thesis left.”

“Oh, who did you apply for?”

“Dr… Dr Brennan.” You squeaked embarrassed. "But I have other prospects too, if she doesn't take me. She's... difficult to get a spot with"

He laughed again. “Well, she’s certainly a character. Good friend of mine. I hope you’ll get in her program. Kind of a hardass, but if you work hard, you’ll gain her respect. You seem capable enough.”

“I hope so. I’m top of my class.” There was a pang of guilt.

“Smart. Like your sister.”

You smiled. “I try.”

“Good.” He gave you a gentle pat on the shoulder. “It was lovely chatting but I really ought to go now. Tell my son I had to leave, will you? I couldn’t find him and I don’t wanna miss the opening of my series. Molly is already softening up the ice cream and warming our takeout. Nothing better than reheated soup and dumplings.”

“I will, Sir.”

“Good girl.” He smiled. “Enjoy the rest of the wedding, responsibly of course.”

“Uhm-“

“Young lady in your condition needs to be careful.”

You froze. All your joints locked up for a second and you felt as if you couldn’t breathe. Your condition? How did he know? Was he talking about you being a mage? Did Hugh tell him? Or your sister? Wait no, he already knew, what were you thinking? Was he making a jab that you seemed ready to blow? Or the fact that your stomach was doing somersaults again.

By the time you managed to get out of your stupor, he was already gone again. However, you could hear steps coming closer again, and you immediately knew they were G’s.

True to instinct, he rounded the corner a second later. His face seemed hurried and frenzied. For a moment, your eyes locked and your heart jumped.

Then you turned and started to powerwalk away again.

Your cheeks were already burning from how hard they flushed and you just hoped that your foundation was high coverage. It probably wasn’t and you also couldn’t decide whether to look stressed, hurt, embarrassed, annoyed or happy that he followed you. Like that little girl part you hadn’t snuffed out yet was still holding on to the idea that he actually cared about you and not just your reputation.

“Sunshine” he called after you and you sped up. “Sunshine, wait.” Nope. “Sunshine!” A door opened in front of you and you considered barricading yourself in the room. He couldn’t cause a scene for the entire night, right? He wouldn’t…. “Please!”

You stopped dead in your tracks. G caught up to you and his hand wrapped around your wrist. You didn’t look at him, but the air is pressed out of your lungs anyways. Like a ten ton boulder just ran you over. Your heart ached inside your chest from the strange combination of shock and heartbreak. This couldn’t be happening.

Instinctively, you twisted your hand, so you could squeeze G’s hand as hard as possible. Your nails scraped over the bones of his metacarpals with a grating noise. He didn’t even wince, which wasn’t surprising, considering that his jaw was practically on the floor as he stared at the same thing that had stopped you. His hand gave yours a little squeeze and made your heart flutter, and then soar when he took a step forward to place himself between you and everything else. Like he wanted to shield you. But nothing could shield you from what you were seeing right now in front of you.

Hugh’s best man Steve was stumbling out of room, giggling and straightening his tie. One of the buttons of his vest was still open, and so was his fly. His underwear was red. You wondered why you retained that little detail. The dark hair was tousled, but not in a purposeful manner. It was very clear what-though not who-he had been doing. You assumed it to be one of the bridesmaids. Maybe Rebecca, she had been eyeing him like candy all week. From all the bitching, you knew she was an opportunistic c*nt with a piece of coal as a heart but she was your cousin thrice removed or some crap so she somehow always got invited. Despite her fable for short dresses that were so tight you could see her nips.

What you didn’t expect was who had their hand wrapped around the just straightened tie to steal another kiss, only stopped by locking eyes with your shellshocked face. This couldn’t be happening. Everything but this.

“sh*t.” You said.

“sh*t.” G echoed.

“sh*t.” Hugh agreed.

Chapter 24: Revelations

Chapter Text

There is something to be said about the wrath of a patient woman. Even more so when that woman is also a mage.

So it didn’t come as a surprise that there were tiny cracks forming on the ground and walls with every thundering step that Sunshine took, heavy with anger. Indignation was dripping off her like water, filling the room with the hot and heavy feeling of blue magic. Years worth of shame and embarrassment, of being called a failure and being mistreated simmering in a pot that slowly simmered over the flame of patience, just waiting to boil over and flood everything, drown it in malice and vindication. To smother every last bit of pain that has ever been caused unfairly.

Meanwhile, G couldn’t help to stay rooted in place, not quite sure what to make of the scene he had just witnessed. Somehow, he knew that his brother felt like screaming right now but had no idea why.

Sunshine’s hand had slipped from G’s a little too fast and his efforts to hold on to her seemed vain and even tasteless. He didn’t know if he should go and comfort her or let her take out his anger on him. Which she probably would and he more than likely deserved. Let’s be real, he deserved worse. G sneered at the weasel of a groom and his boyfriend before he ran after his own blunder of a relationship.

Relationship was maybe a bit generous…

He had been an absolute idiot and fool and most likely ruined every chance with the best girl he’d ever met. He deserved to have his skull ripped off and pissed down his spine. Undyne would probably fight someone for the chance to do it too.

“Sunshine!” He called after her, but so did Hugh. He was right on G’s heels.

“Wait! Buggaboo, wait! It’s not- sh*t!”

“Oh f*ck off, you prick.” G muttered at him with a glare and earned a devastating look himself.

“Brave coming from you, Pump-n’-dump.” Hugh shot back and G never wanted to both die and kill someone at the same time so bad. “Buggaboo!” he called after Sunshine again and the lights in the hall began to flicker in time for her head to flick back for just the briefest moment at them.

Uh-oh.

The doors to the reception hall opened by themselves and G’s steps sped up considerably, Hugh hot on his heels. They made it to the hall in time for Mercy to turn around and see her sister storming past her. Her eyes flickered over to her Groom and G could immediately see her eyes well up with confusion, understanding and finally, panic.

“f*ck.” G cursed under his breath. Hugh did the same thing, though much more… wheezy.

“Palgan?” Mercy asked, her hand wrapping around Sunshine’s biceps and stopping her dead in her tracks. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Sunshine basically chewed out the words, refusing to turn. “Not that you would care, anyways.”

“That’s not true.” Mercy bristled. “What happened?” Sunshine just scoffed, still refusing to turn around. A lightbulb went off in Mercy’s head and she whipped around towards G, pointing at him with the most venomous glare. “What did you do?!”

“Nothing!” G insisted, starting to get fed up himself. Okay, maybe he had been fed up for days at this point but he was starting to get fed up with keeping his frustrations in check because man… These people sucked so bad.

“Of course you did something. Look at her! She’s a mess. What did you do!?” she turned back to her sister. “What did he do?”

“Nothing” Sunshine hissed, trying to shake off her sister again. “Stop pretending.”

“You are being unfair. If it’s really nothing, then why are you causing a scene? Or are you just trying to be in the spotlight again? Is it so hard for you to let me have just a single day where people don’t cater to your needs.” Mercy scolded her and suddenly, Sunshine’s spine went rigid and she turned her head ever so slightly with a truly terrifying expression. As if the light was getting sucked out of the general vicinity and every step was suddenly twenty times harder.

“Then why don’t you ask your husband?” she said incredibly calm and icy. It sent shivers down G’s spine. He had seen a lot of terrifying things in the underground. He had seen all the things his father had done-a lot of them to him and Papyrus-, he had seen what the king did with the human souls and how he got them. Hell, G had retrieved some of them. And then even more that the king never saw because G had shown pity on those humans and let their souls burn out in peace without being condemned to their fate. He had been shunned underground and then above and everywhere in between, being nothing more than the exotic badboy and forbidden lay for a lot of people. It was terrifying that he had started to revel in what little reaction he would still get, especially from humans that had absolutely no idea who or what he was and all the things he was capable of and yet never showed until his own magic would start eating him up from the inside. G had seen what humans had done to each other and yet the look that Sunshine-his sweet and soft and warm little ray of sunshine, was giving that snake of a sister might have been one of the only things that truly frightened G.

You could have heard a pin drop in the room from how silent it got all of a sudden. Nobody even dared to breathe. There was a pause before Mercy slowly turned around. G wasn’t sure is she was shooting murderous glares at him or her husband.

“Hugh?”

“I’m sorry, darling. I-“

“Oh for Christ’s sake!” The father of the bride interrupted him, face red in anger. He was positively shaking and his wife was gently holding on to his arm, if for support or to hold him back wasn’t quite obvious. “Must you ruin everything?”

“Excuse me?” Sunshine repeated, finally turning ever so slightly. There were more cracks in the air, whisps of hair starting to flow as if hit by static electricity.

“I don’t know what your problem is, but your…” Sunshine’s father gave G a glare. “discrepancies are no reason to ruin her sister’s wedding. Your inability to have a normal relationship for once does not reflect on your sister. Stop. Projecting.”

“Now wait a second-“ G growled, taking a step forward. He could hear the old ladies murmur between them, spinning their webs of gossip.

“Oh shut it.” Elaine interrupted as well. “She’s only with one of your kind because nobody else will take her, let’s be real here. Clearly, you are a bad influence on her. I mean look at her, storming in here, putting her… unsightly flaw on full display and causing a scene. Even stooped as low as accusing poor Hughey of lord knows what. It’s obvious that-“

“Oh for f*cks sake. She’s not accusing me of anything.” Hugh screeched, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m gay!”

Once again, the gossiping in the room died down in an instant. As expected, Sunshine’s parents turned every shade of the rainbow within seconds. G could practically taste their emotions on the tip of his tongue. Confusion, shock, disgust, hurt, betrayal, anger, embarrassment. All to be expected.

Oddly enough, Mercy seemed way too calm for what was happening. Huh…. Curious.

“W-What!?” Mr. Winters spluttered. “What is the meaning of this?”

Hugh rolled his eyes dramatically and popped out a hip. “I’m gay. Queer. A Man Lover. Degenerate, if you really want to. I have a boyfriend. Whom I kiss and cuddle and yes, occasionally we even f*ck. Actually did so for the past seven years. You wanna know who’s topping too?”

Elaine immediately started to wail at this, hiding her shame behind her hands.

“But your father-“

“My dad knows exactly whats going on and newsflash, he still loves me. As long as he gets his little in family successor, he is happy as can be. Doesn’t care at all actually. Maybe you’d ought to do so as well.”

“What is that supposed to mean? The audacity of the lot of you! Do you know what you’ve done?”

“Mom…” Mercy softly interjected. Her mother gave her a hard glare as she stepped up next to her husband. Gently, he took her hand and gave her an encouraging nod. “I am too.”

“Are what?”

“Gay.” Mercy whispered, unable to meet her parents eyes. G had to take a double take. Out of all outcomes, that was somehow not the one he had expected.

“Since when?” Her father roared. “This- This is a phase!”

“It’s not, Papa.”

“Did someone turn you gay?”

“Papa…” Mercy sighed. “I’ve always been gay. I tried so hard to be perfect for you and be everything you wanted. But… Mama, I’ve met someone” a smitten smile graced Mercy’s lips, cheeks flushing. “And she makes me really, really happy.”

“Who is it?” her mother demanded to know. Mercy gulped, looking somewhat between awkward and scared. “Who ruined my little girl?”

“Cam.”

Her parents blinked in unison. “The… Cantabella girl? Your sisters roommate?”

Mercy sheepishly nodded. “We’ve been a thing for a while. I wanted to surprise Palgan at her university but I forgot that she was going on a hike that weekend. Cammie was nice enough to let me stay the night, so I didn’t have to travel another four hours in the middle of the night and I felt really stupid already that I mixed up my dates. She’s… nice. She makes me laugh and talks to me like I’m a person, not just a pretty face. So one thing lead to another and… well, I don’t think it’s proper for me to go into detail what happened next.”

Wait… G froze up the second the dots connected for him. His head whipped around to Sunshine, who seemingly had the same train of thought than him. Their eyes met for the briefest of seconds and he could see the moment Sunshine’s picture perfect patience broke and her eyes glazed over with magic, tinting them blue.

“It’s you!” she hissed, the floor cracking dangerously as she took a step towards her sister. “Sybil heard you! She thought I was having sex with Cam but it was you.”

“Sunshine!” G called, trying to hold her back. He knew first hand what it meant to lose control of oneselves own magic. She just shook him off with a firm push, that was surprisingly strong.

“Palgan, I’m sorry.”

“Cut the sh*t, Cissy! I can’t believe it. Of course it’s your fault. Why did I ever expect anything else, you’ve always tried to ruin my life!”

“I never wanted to hurt you.”

“Well newsflash, sherlock. You did! Everyone though I was a cheating little skan*. Sybil broke up with me because of it and you knew that. I let you hold me as I cried my eyes out for weeks, and you didn’t say a single thing. Of course you didn’t because then you would have to admit that you weren’t perfect so you’d rather see me suffer. Or was it just another ploy to plow my best friend behind my back a bit more? I’m already humiliated, why not?” There was an awkward silence and a flush graced Mercy’s cheeks. G just made a disgusted noise, unable to look at the bitch. Sunshine just kept screeching “Are you kidding me?” repeatedly.

She took another step towards Mercy, who seemed positively terrified. G’s arms wrapped around Sunshine’s torso, his chest aching for his tiny lady. “Sunshine, Sweetness, wait!”

“Let go of me!” she struggled against his hold. Terrified, Mercy took a few steps back.

“Palgan, I’m sorry.”

“YOU RUINED MY LIFE!” Sunshine shrieked. Her hair was floating even more now and G could feel heat burn against his ulnas. He was backing off slowly.

But as Lady Luck didn’t smile upon him this night, another earthquake started to rattle the house. Stronger than the last few ones, by a good margin.

“Sunshine, stop.” He rumbled, squeezing her into his chest as if that would help her calm down even remotely. It was a futile effort, he was well aware, but a part of him still held on to hope. A part of his soul was roaring having her close and he wished so dearly for hers to do the same. It probably didn’t, after he had shattered it in his stupidity.

More cracks formed under his feet, bigger than the last ones and crawling up the pillars of the room and up into the ceiling. They were big enough for others to notice as well, fearful murmurs filling the silence. Another, bigger rumble shook the old mansion again. Even Sunshine paused for a moment, giving the skeleton hope that maybe this would be the end of it all. That she snapped out of her haze and he could get her out of this without her burying her entire extended family.

Naturally, all hope was futile as the last earthquake was finally enough to cause parts of the ceiling to start crumbling away. G wanted to back away quickly, but a kick right into his sternum left him reeling and stumbling back. His grip on his mage loosened, enough for her to wriggle out of his hold. He wanted to stop her, to reach for her and get her to safety, but it was too late. “No! Sunshine, No!” he roared His phalanges missed her by just a hairs breath and by the time he can get his feet under himself to give chase, she had more than enough time to lunge at her sister like a fury-just in time for the collapsed ceiling to swallow both women.

And when the dust settles around them, all that is left is a pile of rubble that nobody can pick apart and that would the last good thing that G has met on the surface.

It would have been beautifully ironic, if it wouldn’t have been for his soul threatening to finally tear itself apart in its grief.

Chapter 25: When does the Reason become the Blame

Chapter Text

Mercy Winters had learned to recognise the feeling of blood on her skin pretty much in her sleep during the first year of her residency. She’s been dragged through every emergency imaginable and then some. Mercy had been part of the Swamps of Dagobah. But she will never forget the feeling of blood.

Warm, just as warm as a human body was-duh-so it was hard to discern at the first second since the skin does not have wet receptors, only temperature. But then, there’d be this denser feeling than water would be, the heavy metallic smell that immediately send warning signals throughout the brain.

Blood on the outside of a body = danger.

So when blood splattered across Mercy’s cheek, she immediately startled from her haze. At the first moment, she wasn’t quite sure if the blood came from her-she had hit her head pretty badly and being buried under a grand pile of rubble certainly didn’t help. Then her brain kickstarted again, and she thought about why she was able to start from her position to begin with if she was buried under the aforementioned pile of rubble.

There was piece of the ceiling in front of her, just an arm’s length away. Too far, but it was obviously what used to be a beautiful mural, now showing only part of a cherubs face, slightly illuminated by an eerie blue glow.
Mercy’s eyes followed the light, her body tensing already.

A sharp pain bore right through her heart as she came face to face with her little sister, eyes ablaze with blue flames and while it was more of the ceiling, it might as well have been the weight of the entire world, that rested on her back, shoulders and hands. She was shaking, hair floating in its own gravital suspension and blood dripping from the palm of her hands where she has caught a piece of rebar that would have otherwise speared her older sister.

“Palgan!” Mercy breathed, unable to get a real sound out. She tried to scramble up, to do something, anything but her legs wouldn’t support her. Not that there was room to stand anyways. “Palgan, what did you do?”

Her sister grunted once, almost faltering before taking a deep breath and uprighting herself again. “Saving you. That’s all I ever did.”

Taken aback, Mercy couldn’t do more but reach out until she was almost cradling a face that was so similar to hers, and yet so different. What had been meant to be blue was red and what was always red suddenly turned the blue it should have always been but in the worst way possible. “Why?” It was a simple question.

Palgan grunted, struggling with both the weight and what must have been her own magic.

“You said it yourself.” The elder continued. “I ruined your life. So why save mine? I thought you were going to kill me. With the earthquake and all.”

There was a brief moment of pause, where blue eyes that were burning brighter than every fire this world has known just studied her face. “Why did you do it?”

Mercy’s mouth went dry. “What?”

“Why did you ruin my life. Tell me. Then I’ll let you live. Or die. You’ll leave one way or another. How depends on your answer.”

“That doesn’t seem like a good deal.” The younger chuckled without humour.

“I guess you better start thinking of a good one then.”

“You don’t want to know the truth.” Mercy spat. “Trust me, you are better off hating me.”

“Why would I be better off hating what I used to think was my best friend.” She hissed. When Mercy stubbornly refused to say anything, her grip started to purposely loosen. Pieces of the rubble were starting to shift and close in on the sisters.

“Wait!” Mercy squeaked, noticing the way her sisters eyes narrowed dangerously at her. “Wait, please, I’lll tell you whatever you need. Just… don’t hurt yourself more.”

“Speak.” She demanded.

“I… I’m sorry. I should have told you about Cammie. I know that. But I was scared of how you would react. And the longer I put it off, the worse it got. I thought… it wouldn’t matter anymore after the wedding. You and Cam are both graduating soon and then life would… go on. I’d escape and finally be free.” A smile, a real one for once grazed her lips. “Cam said she’d take me to Rio as a present. That we could both move, while I run the hospital. Hughey even said he’d take her on as a paralegal. She is very smart. I’d… finally be free from Mama and Papa, because quite frankly, they are awful people. They are emotionless, heartless manipulative little Narcissists that refuse to think further than their own doorstep. Hell, they’ve been downright abusive to you.”

“You make no sense.” Palgan said, cold but confused.

When Mercy didn’t continue immediately, the ground started to rattle again until she all but yelled “I needed to get you out too!”

“What?”

“I- I needed to get you away from our parents. Once I’m gone, they would turn their entire wrath towards you, and I couldn’t be there to protect you anymore. To-To distract them. Get the attention away from you and on myself instead so Papa won’t beat you until you pass out because you used a little too much magic. Who knows what they would do. Papa always said he’d ought to just sell you off. What if he beats you again and this time you wont wake up or you get too angry and get found out. What if the world starts to hurt you too. Let’s be real, you aren’t staying for our parents. You stay because of me. So I’d rather you hate me than get hurt.” Hot tears were gathering on her eyes, feeling like they were burning her skin as they rolled over her cheeks. “But in the end, I just ended up hurting you even more. I hurt you. I put you in danger. I-I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself for that.”

“Mercy.” Palgan whispered, face contorted in confliction, but Mercy interrupted her.

“There. That’s my answer. I don’t need your pity. I don’t deserve it. But I deserve an answer, so your turn. Why did you save me. Why didn’t you let me die? I certainly deserve it for everything.”

“Cissy…”

“Why?!” Mercy demanded.

“Because you are my sister.” Palgan replied.

Why?” It was a simple question. The answer was even simpler, while also being the most confusing thing Mercy had ever heard.

“You are my sister”

“Why did you save me?”

“Because I love you.”

“I was so cruel to you.”

“I love you anyways.”

“You should hate me.”

“I could never”

“I ruined everything.”

“Mistakes happen.”

“I don’t deserve kindness”

“It is mine to give.”

“Why?”

“ You are my sister.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Mercy all but sobbed. “I didn’t act like a sister to you at all!”

“That doesn’t erase the fact that you are.” Her little sister smiled curtly. “You are all I have left after all.”

“What about-“ Mercy cleared her throat, sounding a bit embarrassed. “about Sans. Your boy?”

“You said it yourself.” The bitterness crept back into her sisters voice, breaking in the middle of her sentences. “It’s never been real. Not for him.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“It doesn’t-ugh-matter anymore.” The younger grunted, struggling under the weight of the ceiling and her own magic. “My feelings never mattered. I was just another notch on his bed.”

“You are wrong.” Mercy shook her head vehemently. “I saw how he looked at you. He did not fake that.”

“You are wrong. He said it himself, he regrets it. Who would love someone like me? Not even our own parents do. How can I expect someone else to?”

“Our parents are… nothing you should use as a guideline. They are cold and empty inside. I still don’t know how they managed to create someone as wonderful as you. And if that skeleton does not reciprocate your affections, he is an idiot.”

“Don’t call him an idiot. I still love him.”

“I’ll call him whatever the f*ck I want to if he actually managed to fumble this. Sweetie, I don’t know a lot but I know how someone looks that is absolutely smitten. He looks at you like I look at Cam. He looks at you like he is dying of thirst and you are the first water he came across. I will bet my entire ass that that boy loves you. You might have fallen first, but he fell so much harder.”

“You have no ass to bet, you are flat as hell.”

“Okay that’s rude, I paid a lot for that ass.” Mercy smiled and finally cupped her sisters face with not an ounce of fear. She was never scared of her. How could she be? “ ‘Ella, you’ve been taught that you are an unlovable monster all our lives. But I think you just needed to find a monster like yourself.”

A wet laugh blubbered out of her sisters throat. “That’s a really messed up way to say something sweet.”

“I.. am not good with words!” Mercy insisted, cheeks flushing deeply as her fingers dug into the graying fabric of her wedding dress. “I might have a concussion.”

“I know.” The younger sister chuckled. “You haven’t been making smart decisions. Love made you stupid.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“That you are an idiot.” She laughed, or well… she made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and crying. “Your plan was stupid. You are so stupid. You never needed to push me away. You just had to talk to me. I would have followed you to the end of the world, Cissy. You didn’t need to push me away.”

“You are right. You’ve always been the smarter one” Mercy swallowed. “Then don’t make the same mistake as I did. Don’t push someone away you love just because you are scared or don’t believe that you deserve it. Embrace what’s in your soul. It’s always what made you strongest. And you are so strong. Stronger than anyone else I’ve met. Embrace what you are and give love a chance. For me.”

~

“Ciss? Buggaboo!” Hugh was repeatedly calling, as he desperately tried to move the rubble on the floor, nails breaking and the skin of his pals already raw and red. His boyfriend and best man eventually had to haul him away, so he wouldn’t hurt himself more. “No no no no no-“

“Baby, stop!” he murmured. “They are gone.”

“No, they- They can’t. They’re not, I-“ Tears were rolling down his cheeks, his grief and sorrow so palpable that G could taste them. He, too, couldn’t help but feel the same, causing the magic in his soul to roil. All he could do as to not lose control and become everything the world thought of him was to stand still without ever moving even an inch of his body. He was glad that he didn’t need to breathe because every gasp made him feel as if his ribcage would be collapsing into dust and for a brief moment, he wondered if this was what Falling Down felt like.

A loud slap brought him back from the deep pit he was falling down currently, his eyes snapping up to Elaine, hand still raised and chest heaving. The room was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. And that meant a lot, considering the terrified murmurs that had been going on just a second ago.

A bright red handprint started to blossom on Hugh’s cheek, his expression stunned.

“Stop it.” Elaine demanded. “Stop it right this instant.”

“What is wrong with you, you hag?” The best man shouted her, putting his own body between the Hag in question and his lover.

“Stop pretending you care! You are an embarrassment! Compose yourself. Don’t make this worse for us.”

“I’m not pretending, you heartless wench!” Hugh screamed back, the rest of his face turning red in anger. “I loved those girls. More than you, certainly.”

“You didn’t love anyone. We all heard about your… affliction. So boldly proclaiming it to everyone. Are you not ashamed? Or must you try to humiliate us further.”

“Humiliate?” Hugh gasped. “I loved Ciss. I loved both of them.” Elaine just scoffed and caused him to bristle. “You listen to me. I loved Mercy. Maybe not romantically, but she is-was-my best friend. She was my platonic soulmate and I feel sorry for you that you didn’t. Mercy only ever proposed to get married because you basically forced her. She knew she had no chance of being out herself. She knew she had to be perfect for you, so you wouldn't beat her sister to a pulp if she wasnt there to shield her. And I said yes in a heartbeat because she is my other half. Love doesn’t always need to be romantic for it to be true. I didn’t mind being married to her. The tax benefits and daily sleepovers are awesome. But of course you can’t understand that. Your love has always been conditional. Hell, one of them was never enough for you.”

“She was a monster!” Sunshine’s father interjected. “An uncontrollable beast. She chose to act like an animal so she got put down like one. She never cared about the collateral damage.”

“Because she was an evil abomination” Their mother agreed.

“She was a person!” Hugh screamed back. “ She was kind and sweet and patient and so full of love. But you never even bothered to get to know her. How can you call her these names if you never even know who she was? I loved that little bug like she was my own sister and I feel sorry for you because apparently you never did. Those girls did everything for you! ” Spit was flying as he pointed an accusatory finger at both of the parents. His boyfriend had to physically hold him back from decking them in the face. G thought, he should have let him at them. At least once. “Why is it that all you care about is your own reputation. What is wrong with you? Your daughters are dead and neither of you care.” An odd tingle started to spread though G’s soul. He chalked it up to grief. He couldn’t lose focus.

“And who killed them? Who set of that wild beast and made her cause an earthquake? This is your fault.”

“She never caused any earthquakes.” Hugh pulled his own hair in frustration ”You chose to live on a Faultline. Even this building has earthquake warnings plastered everywhere and I had to sign no less than 6 waivers regarding it when I booked this tacky ass mansion you insisted on. I wanted a beach wedding in Bali. Are you dumb? Even my father told you she didn’t cause that first earthquake. She was a child. There was no way she was powerful enough yet to do that. All she did was save her friend. DO you think that girl would still be friends with her after multiple decades if she was that scary of a person and almost killed her? She always tries to save and help people. She is good, down to the last fibre of her soul but let me guess, you never told her about that. You just let her believe she was the evil abomination you saw in her. She must have suffered so much from trying to supress a whole part of herself. It is a miracle and a testament to the goodness of her character that she hasn’t gone insane yet. You are the evil ones in this case.” The tingling was getting stronger, almost burning. G refused to let his control slip. He refused to become like his father.

“You have no right to lecture us while being nothing more than a marriage scammer.”

“I alone have the right!” he thundered, more terrifying that G would have ever expected him to be. G grasped at his own chest, feeling a hum underneath his bones that seemingly wasn’t his own. No. No. He wasn’t Gaster. He had to be better. Sunshine has shown him that he could be better. He wasn’t what everyone thought.

As if his anger invoked the very wrath of the earth, there was another shake. Terrified murmurs turned into shrieks as some of the wedding guests moved back to press against the wall as much as possible, grasping each other.

But G wasn’t frightened. Instead, he straightened up, able to taste the familiar flavour of magic in the air.

Blue whisps, like smoke tendrils started to seep out from under the rubble, wrapping around debris and rebar. The scent of ozone and warm summer days filled the room, overtaking the stench of dust and concrete. Amidst the confusion, the rubble began to stir. Stones and shattered beams trembled like the aunties to the side, that had somehow all escaped mostly unscathed, then slowly began to rose, enveloped by the blue wispy tendrils of magic. Each little fragment of debris lifted, first shakily, then more and more graceful as if cradled by an invisible hand. The harsh lines and jagged edges softened by the ethereal glow. Dust motes flitted in the radiant light like ghostly orbs, suspended in the serene smoky cloud of concrete dust that was slightly illuminated by blue.

There was a figure starting to form between the Dust and then a second one.

Mercy winters stumbled out of it, looking like an absolute mess and coughing up a storm. “Hugh” she gasped and tumbled into his arms. He hugged her tightly and for the first time, G allowed himself a glimmer of hope.

“Ciss? Oh god, Ciss, you are okay! Jesus, what happened?”

“It was my sister. She… she saved me?”

“How?”

“Love.” Mercy smiled weakly. “She gave love a chance.”

More of the cloud settled, revealing Sunshine. After safely dropping most of what G had thought to be her grave, she awkwardly stood. Blue was still surrounding her, but slowly dimming down. Blood was dripping from a wound on her hand that she didn’t even seem to notice. Her face was steeled and ready for what was to come, but less in a way where she’d just accept and take it. She looked strong and defiant, solid and alive.

G wanted to sob.

Hugh did in fact start sobbing, scrambling up to embrace her too when nobody else would. He pressed a million kisses on her cheek, despite some protest from her. “Oh my god- You are amazing-Look at you-God, I love magic-Especially yours-Ugh, I’m so glad you are safe.”

“We knew it!” a trembling voice ripped through the happy noises. Elaine was standing by her husbands side, her voice contorted into something ugly, almost disgusted. “This is proof that she caused all of this. And for what, a little praise? Well, you won’t receive any from me, daughter.”

“Mama-“ Mercy started with a growl and tried to get in between her sister and her parents, somehow so fiercely different that G had gotten to know her. And somehow he still felt like he had to stay rooted as to not lose his cool.

Sunshine placed a calm hand on her sisters shoulder, pushing her behind with a soft murmur that was lost to everyone except them before she turned back to her parents.

“I do not expect praise from you, mother. In fact, I don’t expect anything from you because I know you would never give me more than contempt and hatred. I am done being your punching bag.”

“You are being an insolent child.” Her mother shrieked again, cheeks flushed an imperfect red.

“I might be insolent but I will not take your abuse any longer.” One of Sunshine’s hand curled protectively around her stomach. “I won’t hide anymore. I have mild albinism. I'm not as pretty as Mercy. I like dead things, as you call them, because I can give back a voice to those that have been silenced. I love musica nd to sing and write songs. I-“ she swallowed and steeled her shoulders, avoiding G’s eyes. “I love a monster. And I am a mage. Magic runs through me and I am made of it. I will not hide what I am just to appease you. I will not repress my own nature for you any longer. If you can’t deal with that… I guess you don’t have a place in my life anymore.”

“You have always been wild.” Her father hissed, clear hatred in his eyes. His sharp words and vile look actually gave Sunshine shivers and made her look like she wanted to falter. Standing up to her abusers didn’t mean that the fear was automatically and immediately erased. “An untameable beast. An abomination. That’s all you are. Of course you’d run and fornicate with one like you. You don’t know anything else but disappointment. That is your nature. God, I should have just gotten rid of you ages ago like I wanted.”

“Rid of me?” Sunshine asked with numb lips. G could see her sisters hand slip into hers. Her father must have too because his lip curled up cruelly.

“Why don’t you ask your sister. After all, she convinced me not to kill you as a babe. Said she’s make sure you’d behave and be good. Now look where we are. You embarrassed us. Our reputation is in shambles because of you.”

Sunshine barked out a laugh, her face contorted in disbelief and pain. “Once again, your reputation means more to you than your own children.”

“Children don’t matter. I can just start over. But this won’t happen again. I’ll make sure of it.”

“You cannot recover from this. Your family knows.”

“Look at them.” Her father laughed. “They all know they won’t talk. They are scared because they know the truth. I am the patriarch of this family and my word goes. They all knew you were a freak but did they talk? No, of course you don’t. They will keep quiet for the same reason they always have. Money is power after all. Power is Power, in this world. And you don’t belong. You never belonged anywhere. Neither monster nor human.”

“The only real monster here is you.” His face twisted into a snarl and he took a step forward, hand raised.

“You little-“ He took another step towards Sunshine, hatred and rage in his eyes and-

-and G moved. And snapped.

A skeletal hand wrapped around the human’s wrist, who turned at the monster of a different breed. One of his most horrible nightmares.

“You will not touch her.” G rumbled slowly, and perhaps more terrifying than he has ever been. “In fact, you will never touch my wife again.”