Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Aaaaaughhh.”

You shoved your head in your pillow as your alarm went off with an annoying beeping sound.

You groaned to nobody and stuck your hand out blindly to smack the darn thing. As it shut off (finally), your tangly black curls blocked your vision and you shoved them out of your face as you sat up. You took in your new room once again, and let out a small grunt as sunlight drifted through the blinds and onto your face.

You stumbled out of bed and ran your fingers through your hair. You pushed your door open and tripped your way around the boxes to the bathroom. You usually weren’t so groggy in the morning, as you spent many an hour at your uncle’s farm and ranch before, and had been rudely awoken many times by the animals and absurd early-as-dawn schedule he lived by.

You looked into the mirror and saw warm brown eyes, scatterings of freckles and moles, and your frizzy and tangled black hair staring right back at you. You grinned and began cleaning yourself up, humming some silly song you couldn’t get out of your head playing games the other day.

After tidying up your mess of an appearance, you belatedly realized that your parents weren’t home, and you could have whatever you wanted for breakfast instead of those pitiful, boring cereals and oatmeals. You whooped loudly to the empty house and ran down the stairs.

Waffles, waffles, waffles, I want waffles, waffles, waffles, was all your internal rabid child monologue had to say in your head. It had been quite some time since you had some fluffy delicious waffles, and you tried not to drool thinking about them.

Finally, as you sprinted down the last set of stairs (seriously, why did Mom buy a four-floor mansion?!), not sweating, but still tired, you raced to the cabinets in the kitchen.

You sifted through the pantry and your excitement dwindled to despair. You theatrically threw your hands up in both righteous anger and heartache.

“There’s no sugar! Why, mother, why?!” You sunk to your knees dramatically and tried not to cry. Who cares if some god thought you were a drama queen, you deserved some god damn waffles.

You sat in your depression for almost a minute until you remembered that there was a neighboring mansion only a quick morning walk (i.e. 15 minutes) distance away, and you shot back up from the ground and ran towards the door with determination blazing in your eyes.

As you approached the manor, you noticed a jungle gym lookin’ thing, with parkour and puzzles covering the yard. You grinned and ran up to it, your waffles could wait a bit for some excitement. You ran up to the puzzles and started parkouring your way across the yard like some Survivor master.

You reached an area of X’s and when you accidentally stepped on one, instead of being blown up or falling through some trapdoor like a cartoon, the X turns into an O. Your curiosity had officially been piqued.

You slowly made your way through the maze of X’s, turning them into the O’s on your way. (You knew not to restep on them after they turned into a triangle shape, which you reset with a button and the energy of an unstoppable force called Child.)

Finally, at the end of the puzzle, when all the X’s were now O’s, a box labeled “toys” revealed itself (you decided not to question where it came from).
You ran over to it and when you opened the box, you were suddenly encased in a rope net and hanging ass over head.

You swung in shock for a moment before bursting out laughing. However, laughing along with your voice was another, and you whipped your head towards it.

A large skeleton stood cackling haughtily, and you admired his edgy but fanciful clothing. You mean, he had a cape. As lame as that could be, it fit the strange dude in the best way possible. He could rock that.

Still swinging, you shouted out to him, “Hey, Mr. Bone-Man-Sir, mind helping me down? I didn’t notice you there. Also, is this puzzle yours? ‘Cause it was pretty fun!”

His face(?) contorted in disgust before he cackled again, tone filled with more malice than you thought a man (skeleton?) who decided high pointed padded shoulders and a tank top shirt were a good fashion choice should have. You resisted the urge to shiver.

“HAH! ARE SO PITIFUL YOU ASK FOR MY HELP? I EXPECTED SO FROM A MEASLY HUMAN, BUT YOU MUST BE MORE PATHETIC THAN I THOUGHT!” You frowned but he continued, slightly less ‘screamy-pants’ with red tinging his cheeks (cheekbones?), “ALSO, MY TRAPS ARE NOT FUN, SO STOP TRYING TO FLATTER ME!”

He turned heel and you shouted out before he left, “Sir—Wait! I just need suga-!” He slammed the front door to the manor and you drooped (as he said) pathetically. “Too bad I have a pocket knife, mean bitch…” You sawed at the ropes of the net as you grumbled.

You knocked on the front door after freeing yourself and came face-to-face with another skeleton, only this one was softer in the face (skull? Cheekbones?? Jaw???) and with a much more blue undertone. His eyes (sockets? Holy guacamole, what are you supposed to describe them as??) sharpened on you and you widened your smile in an attempt to come across unthreatening.

”Good day, sir? I’m Y/N, your neighbor about 15 minutes away! I was dying for some waffles this morning and it just so happened that I had no sugar. Would you be so kind as to lend me some?” You bounced and rocked on your heels as he stared at you with a blank smile.

Another dang skeleton peeked his head around the door to look at the blue guy, “SANS, WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?” He’s smiling and you noticed his similarities to the Red Fashionista Meanie from before. Are they cousins or something?

He looked down at you and jumped. “SANS—OH, LITTLE ONE! WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE?”

You grinned with your teeth a little forcefully (Seriously, why is the blue guy still staring at you like that?) and explained the situation to him and the blue guy (Sans?) again.

His eyes (lights?) sparkled and he scooped you up with a bright grin. You blinked as he yelled out, “OF COURSE I’LL GET YOU SOME SUGAR Y-Y/N!” He stumbled at your name and you nearly side-eyed him.

The orange skeleton carried you through the door and into the manor, shouting something about how he’s ‘THE BEST SUGAR-FINDER’ you could ever find forever. Oookaaay. Sure.

Sans, you presumed, stands in the doorway still, and you chose to ignore the strange way he’s acting in favor of admiring the mansion.

…

As the skeleton brought you to the kitchen, you tapped him on the shoulder. He looked down at you, curious but enthused.

“So, what’s your name?”

“AH,” he blushed. “IT APPEARS I HAVE NOT INTRODUCED MYSELF. I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND THE SKELETON AT THE DOOR WAS MY BROTHER, SANS.”

You nodded politely, and debated what nicknames would work well for Papyrus in your head as he continued on his way to the kitchen, still carrying you.

Papyrus set you down, and when you thanked him he smiled proudly and began loudly showing you the kitchen item by item. You indulged him for a bit before interrupting him in his story about the time he cracked an egg in the cupboard.

“Soooo, where’s the sugar again?”

He paused and blankly stared for a moment before an awkward look took over his face. How is he sweating, exactly??

“UHM. YOU SEE… I, UH.”

“You don’t know, do you?”

“…GIVE ME A MOMENT, MY FRIEND!” He turned around and yelled into the house, “MS. Y/NNNN!”

Wow, is there another Y/N in this place? You guessed you’ll need to implement nicknames fast.

You noticed Sans by the edge of the kitchen and squinted at him. He looked at you, his smile tight, and you looked away before he could disturb you any more.

When you looked towards the stairs, a beautiful woman came down, quick on her feet and graceful. You watched as she approached Papyrus, her gaze landing on you, questioning.

“Master Papyrus?” The Holy Grail, how is her voice so smooth? Are you gay?? “Who is this, and what have you called me for?”

“MS. Y/N! THIS IS ALSO Y/N, OUR NEIGHBOR! THEY WERE LOOKING TO MAKE PANCAKES, BUT THEY VERY UNFORTUNATELY DIDN’T HAVE SUGAR AT HOME!” You were glad he knew the true horror of this situation. “SO, THEY CAME TO BORROW SOME! CAN YOU SHOW THEM WHERE THE SUGAR IS STORED? I CANNOT FIND IT!!”

Ms. Y/N seemed a mix of amused and tired as she walked into the cupboard and returned a second later with the sugar in her hands.

“Master Papyrus, I would have expected you to know where the sugar is, after all this time.”

“I KNOW, I AM SORRY TO DISAPPOINT YOU!!” Papyrus seemed distressed, and you blinked as you were handed the sugar from the gorgeous lady with a smile.

“Uh, thanks, Ms. Y/N,” you said.

She bowed the slightest, and she turned to leave before Papyrus stopped her.

He looked at her with puppy-dog eyes, “MS. Y/N, WHY DON’T YOU, SANS, Y/N, AND I ALL GET MORE AQUATINTED!”

Sans flinched in the corner at the mention of his name, and your lips flattened at his reaction. What was his problem?

Papyrus nodded to himself and clapped his hands together, proud of his idea.

Y/N sighed and pulled out a chair from the dining table, mumbling, “Might as well sit and take a break while I can.”

You took a seat as well, putting the sugar on the table and resting your elbows on the table, propping your chin on one hand.

Sans shuffled his way to the table, taking a seat as far as he politely could from you, and you rolled your eyes in annoyance. Seriously, what was his problem??

You grinned and started the conversation off, “So, I’m Y/N, my parents and I moved in a few days ago, not sure if you noticed. I was planning to drop by and say hi, but this was the perfect excuse, so I hope you don’t mind.”

Papyrus shook his head aggressively. “OF COURSE NOT, TINY HUMAN! WE DON’T GET VISITORS OFTEN, LIVING SO FAR FROM MONSTER VILLAGE AND THE HUMAN CITY!”

Sans agreed with a barely audible “yep.” You were now on the verge of giving him a side eye strong enough to blast him to the moon.

“Well, I’m glad you don’t mind. My momma’d probably be fussing at me if I showed up unannounced like I did.” You giggled and Papyrus joined you, Ms. Y/N smiling and Sans still being a creep.

“So, where did you move from?” Y/N asked.

You leaned back in your seat. “From the south, as you can probably guess from my accent. You want specifics, though, then (State).”

Papyrus gasped and started barrading you with questions about your hometown, stars shining in his eyes (lights?). You matched his energy, trying to answer as many as you could despite the flood of questions coming and not pausing to wait for the response.

Ms. Y/N nudged Papyrus, silently telling him to lay off, but you didn’t mind too bad. It’s nice to see someone excited about your old place, and your ego doesn’t mind sounding cool telling stories of back there.

Papyrus reluctantly shut his mouth and you turned in your chair to face Y/N. You had something nagging you.

“So, Ms. Y/N,” she seemed particularly happy when you called her ‘Miss’, “Are you a maid of some kind?”

She kept calling Papyrus ‘Master’ (you hope that’s not a kink or something because it’s kinda giving you the ick…) and she’s wearing this frilly black and white dress.

Y/N nodded and before you could ask anything else, a voice, one you’ve heard before, called out, “SLAVE! YOU NEED TO REORGANIZE MY CLOSET!!”

Her brows notched together, face falling, and your mouth opened to call out the ‘slave’ part when the Mean but Fashionable Skeleton stomps into the kitchen/dining room. His eyes (lights?) spotted you and he puffed up in rage like some sort of bird.

“WHAT IS THIS RODENT DOING HERE?”

Papyrus straightened and glared with you at the skeleton. “EDGE, THIS IS Y/N, OUR NEIGHBOR, AND THEY ARE A HUMAN CHILD, NOT A RODENT! HOW RUDE OF YOU!”

You decided Papyrus is now your Bestie as the skeleton (Edge? What kinda name is that??) furiously pointed at Papyrus.

“I WILL CALL THE RODENT WHAT I WANT, YOU CREAMPUFF!” Edge pointed his finger in Ms. Y/N’s face. “AND YOU! GET OFF YOUR BUTT, SLAVE, AND GET TO REORGANIZING MY CLOSET!!”

Y/N’s expression was on the edge of distaste as she said, “Master Black, if you already need your closet reorganized despite the fact I organized it yesterday, then maybe you should not screw up your closet within less than a day.”

Edge (or Black, you don’t know at this point) clenched his jaw and you feel if he had veins, they would be protruding.

“HOW DARE—“

“edge.”

You jumped as Sans grinded out the raging skeleton’s name.

Edge glared daggers into everyone before sharply exhaling and walking away.

Papyrus, your new bestie, you’ve decided, looked uncomfortable, and Ms. Y/N paused before thanking Sans quietly.

“I’m sorry about that,” Y/N said. “Master Black is a real… piece of work.”

You snorted, acting casual to disperse the tension you did not want to deal with. “You’re fine. I met him in the yard earlier when I was coming to borrow some sugar.”

Papyrus’ eyebrows (ridges?) raised, “BLUE, EDGE, AND I’S PUZZLES WERE OUTSIDE IN THE YARD! DID YOU TRY THEM?”

You tilted your head. “Do you mean those ‘traps’ and parkour and stuff back there? Then yeah. Pretty cool, it was funny when I got stuck in a net after I went for the toybox. Edge found me swinging and laughed when I asked to be let down.”

“OH DEAR! YOU MUST’VE GOT CAUGHT IN ONE OF EDGE’S TRAPS, AND HE DIDN’T LET YOU DOWN?” Papyrus’ face crumbled in sympathy. “I’M SORRY, LITTLE ONE! BUT… HOW DID YOU GET DOWN??”

You smirked. “I got a pocket knife.”

Y/N and Papyrus gasped in unison, which was kinda hilarious, and Sans spoke up for the first time in forever. (Haha, Sans is a Disney princess.)

“i have to ask you to leave if you brought a weapon in here.”

You incredulously looked over to him and said, “Bro, it’s a pocket knife, that’s not a weapon. It’s not like I use a it for anything but basic stuff like cutting tags or whatever. I ain’t gonna hurt anyone, bone-dude.” You don’t have a filter, but your parents always say to be polite to anyone you just met.

Sans looked at you, unrelenting.

You grimaced but stood up anyway. Not like you can enforce your own rules on this stuck-up. You grabbed the sugar from the table.

“Whatever. Thanks for the sugar,” you said. “I can drop off the rest later this afternoon or somethin’. And without my ‘dangerous weapon’ if that’s such a problem.”

You were being rude, but you thought it was ridiculous a skeleton was so worried about a pocket knife when he doesn’t even have skin to cut. Whatever.

You walked away from the kitchen area, Papyrus, Y/N, and Sans still sitting. You hoped to see Y/N or Papyrus again soon, they were nice enough.

Paintings hung on the walls of the hallway you entered, and you admired the beauty of them. You weren’t much of an artist yourself, but you sure as hell liked a pretty design. God, these skeletons were rich. They had a maid, for god’s sake.

You arrived in the room where the entrance was, and stopped suddenly when you saw Edge fussing at another skeleton. How many skeletons lived here for Christ's sake?

Edge cut himself off when he saw you, and the other skeleton, absolutely decked in red, gold, and black like an overdressed poker player, turned around to see what Edge was looking at.

The broody, trashy skeleton whispered harshly to Edge, and they swore at each other for a moment or two before Edge straightened to snarl at your annoyed face.

“WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE, RODENT?”

You looked him up and down. “Leaving, dumbass. What does it look like?”

“watch it, teeny. don’t disrespect boss like that,” the other skeleton nearly growled.

You crossed your arms. “Who you callin’ teeny, ya broody-lookin’ chihuahua?” You looked up at Edge. “Quit it with the rodent business. Your Hot Topic fashion sense should know better than to refer to someone with such a basic insult. How about something creative, like your trap outside? I know you could do better.”

Edge buffered for a moment, and you smirked.

“WELL. I…” Edge’s face(?) smoothed over in the tiniest bit of respect, though indignation was hidden in the expression. “I KNOW I CAN DO MUCH BETTER, BUT I DIDN’T THINK A PATHETIC HUMAN CHILD LIKE YOU DESERVED TRUE EFFORT.” He looked pained. He grinded out, “I… SUPPOSE… I WAS WRONG.”

The other skeleton looked shocked. “boss? really?”

“SHUT IT, SANS.”

The fuck? ‘Sans’? Wasn’t Papyrus’ brother named Sans? Is Sans, like, a last name or something??

“Wait, what?” The other skeletons looked over at you. “Are you ‘Sans’ too? I thought the trashbag from before was ‘Sans’? What the hell are your names?”

Sans Number Two snrk-ed and proceeded to start guffawing about the ‘trashbag’ name for Sans Number One while Edge (you hoped that was a least right) snickered.

Edge looked marginally less angry at you when he replied, “YOU MAY CALL ME EDGE, OR BLACK. YOU MUST ADDRESS ME PROFESSIONALLY.” You kinda wanted to call Edge ‘Boss’ like the other guy. Mafia/gang name calling was funny. “THIS IS MY BROTHER, RED. CALL HIM WHAT YOU WISH, KNEE-HIGH POMERANIAN.”

You bursted out laughing with the two of them. That’s more like it. There’s the creativity you knew he had. You stored away your questioning about the whole ‘Sans’ thing for later, as it doesn’t seem they’re gonna elaborate.

“whewww,” Red started, wiping a tear (how??) from his eyes (sockets?). “that’s a pretty good one. didn’t expect someone like you to call sans ‘trashbag,’ teeny. what’s ya name, again?”

You chuckled, “Name’s Y/N.” You gave Edge a double finger gun. “Knew you had it in ya, Boss Black.”

Edge goes stiff like a board, and before you could get concerned, his eyes (lights?) go a little sparkly and he waved you off, almost… embarrassed? Does he have a secret soft spot for you calling him that or something? Guess that’ll stick.

“Anyway,” you started, “I outta head back home about now. Stuff to do, places to be, and all that.”

Red and Edge looked the tiniest bit… disappointed?! Wow, you’re so good at making friends!

You walked over to the front door with your sugar and opened it. As you stepped down the porch steps, you looked back to see several skeletons—Edge, Red, Sans, Papyrus, and two others you didn’t recognize (didn’t Papyrus mention a ‘Blue’ earlier?) and Ms. Y/N, as well.

Papyrus called out to you, “Y/N, I HOPE YOU DON’T MIND, BUT HOW OLD ARE YOU EXACTLY?”

You decided to prank Sans, who was on the verge of giving you a death glare. You held up eight fingers and said in a cheeky voice, “This many!”

Sans’ face, as you expected, crumbled, and you heard a stray muttering of “Eight? That’s so young!” from someone.

“Nah, just kidding. You should see your faces, haha!” you giggled. “I’m twelve.”

You’re pretty sure you also heard someone mutter, “That’s not much better…” but you ignored it.

“I’ll be down the road, just ten or so minutes away if you walk. My parents bought the mansion next door and we just moved in, and since they have some big trips going on, I’ll probably drop by when they’re gone.”

Papyrus smiles brightly at this, and Black scoffs but you think you can see some quirk in his lips(?).

You salute them jokingly, shooting a lazy grin like Trashbag’s (Sans’) at the group. “See ya around. And, uh, so it’s less confusing, call me Nexus.”

And with that, you walked away. Dramatic exit. Bam! Boom! Confetti. After all, there’s no shame in letting them call you by your XBOX gamer tag, right? Nicknames are your mojo after all.

…

…

…

Well.

That was eventful.

Chapter Text

It was evening, and you were unpacking the rest of your stuff from the boxes you had left around. You had procrastinated enough, and it was summer anyway, so it wasn’t like you had school work.

Currently, you were going through all your books and trinkets that belonged on your shelves and desk. Unpacking was such a mess!

You pulled your floriography book out from a box filled with the styrofoam peanuts. You set it on your desk, next to the growing pile of books you planned to organize in your bookshelf or relocate to the library downstairs.

Your dad’s side of your family had been in the farming and ranching industry for a while. While flowers were not the focus of farming, there was always at least a collection of plants that your family kept purely for fun and looks. And so, you developed an interest in the many meanings of the plants themselves. Your mom had bought you the book for your birthday, and you obsessed over it for a few months, so much so that you memorized the meanings of a couple tens of flowers. It was cool to have a hobby that many people didn’t understand, and you weren’t afraid to use it to your advantage.

Once, you had given this bratty girl who was the lead in your school play a bundle of tansies and petunias. She didn’t know, but wild tansies meant ‘I declare war on you’, and petunias represented hatred and resentment in the Victorian era. Hahaha. You felt ridiculously proud of yourself then. It was silly in retrospect, but hilarious nonetheless.

You sifted your way through the boxes. You had left your game cartridges in one of the boxes so you could move them to the lounge and the playroom. Or maybe one of the living rooms? The mansion had a pool table room, which was apparently called ‘the game room’, but it had more physical board games than video games, so your stuff probably wasn't going in there.

Suddenly, your phone, which had been blasting some music to motivate you (god knows you needed entertainment in the online world that fried your attention span), started ringed your mom’s ringtone. You jumped and sat up to grab it.

You clicked the ‘answer’ button and asked, “Hey mom, what’s up?”

Your mom’s voice came through the phone's speaker, “Hi, mija.” You resisted the urge to correct her. You hadn’t revealed your comfort in gender-neutral terms to your parents, yet. You were in the closet, ooh, scary.

“Yep. How’s the hotel?”

“Ah, it’s fine, honey. The room’s nice. Comfortable as usual. Have you unpacked yet?”

You smiled, “That’s what I’m doing right now, actually. You're connected to my every move, huh Ma?”

You heard her smile through the screen, huffing, “Of course. If I wasn’t, you’d get away with staying up all night on those games!”

You made a pssh sound and flapped your hand, waving it off. “I’m not that bad, mom,” you teased.

She hummed, “Sure, sweetie.” Her voice changed slightly, “I have news to share, though. It turns out I’m going to have to be traveling around for longer than I anticipated.”

Something settled over your chest. A heaviness that you left alone, afraid to make it worse. “Yeah?”

“There’s some conferences here I have to meet up for, and clients I have to drive out to meet, too. It’s going to be a while before I come back.” Your mom said, “You’ve been on your own for a couple days before, we know you can handle yourself, but this is going to be different, okay sweetheart? I’ll probably be back in a month or two.”

You winced. You had set the phone down and picked at your nails.

She sounded pinched when she continued, “Yeah, I know. I made calls and that’s about as soon as I can get back. We know you can handle getting groceries and dealing with all sorts of things. I’m going to call very often, though, and I’ll send you your allowance to your little card app, so don’t worry about any of that, okay?”

You muttered an assent and she continued explaining.

“I have some friends in the city nearby who will come and check up on you. One of them’s a work friend who I’ve known for a couple years. You remember Dr. Owens? He’ll drop by every week and help with anything you need. Remember not to talk to strangers or let them into the house. Leave a light on downstairs at night—”

You interrupted her when she started giving you the speech of what to do and what not to do that she and your dad give you every time. “I know, I knoooow. Thanks mommm. Love yoouuu.”

Your mom sighed, “I love you too, sweetie. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Buh-bye,” you draw out. You hang up on her and the music starts playing through the tinny speaker again.

You sit there for a moment. You ignore the heaviness in your chest and close your eyes, exhaling softly.

This was going to be the longest time you were on your own. Without your parents, your cousins, your extended family. All alone. Huh. Well. Not completely alone. You had Dr. Owen’s and your new neighbors. And whoever else your mom was going to send over to check up on you.

You pat your checks twice and sit up to kneel over the box you were working on. The next thing you pull out is a poster of a band you like, and you spin around your room, trying to pick out a good spot to hang it up.

As you were fixing the angle your figurine was at in your merch shrine, the doorbell rang and you straightened. You turned your head and jogged out of your room and down the two levels of stairs to the front door.

When you peeked through the peephole, you gasped as you saw a messy orange-clad skeleton, much like Papyrus.

He was at the door a couple days ago, watching with bewilderment when you said goodbye to the skeletons and Ms. Y/N. You never talked with him when you came over, so it was probably weird for him to come to see what the ruckus was and see you saying goodbye.

Was he here for the sugar? Or to ask who you were? What did he want?

You hesitantly opened the door, and his eyes (lights) settled on you, assessing.

“What’s up?” You ask, cautiously curious.

He scratches his head (skull?). “we’re having a movie night tonight, and blue and papyrus wanted to invite you over. ‘icebreakers’, they said. it’s a horror movie, but blue says it’s not so bad. you up for it?”

You consider it. You’ve been over to their house already, and Y/N and Papyrus seem like good people. You can head back home after, and you’ve played a handful of horror games. It’d be a fun way to unwind.

“Sure. When is it?”

“thirty-ish minutes. i can bring you over quickly if you’re ready to go right now?” Orange-sad-skeleton proposed.

You looked down at yourself. You were presentable enough. Some fun jean shorts, a t-shirt, and some sneakers.

You looked back up at him, “Yeah, that’d be great! We goin’ in your car or something?”

He grinned, his tired eyes (sockets?) brightening. “I got something cooler.”

“Ooh, a motorcycle, I like your style,” you gave him double finger guns, and he huffed in amusement.

“actually, it’s something else.”

Your eyebrows knitted together as you try to figure out what it could be. “Aw, I’m not good at guessing games. What is it?”

He offered you his strange, not-anatomically-correct skeleton hand, and you stared at it in confusion.

You glanced back at him, and he nodded towards your hand, so you put your hand in his skeleton one, perplexed.

The world blurred, and your eyes instinctively shut closed.

You felt like you’re falling for a disorienting second, and suddenly, you felt the ground again and your eyes shot open. You staggered, unstable, and you caught yourself.

As you blinked spots from your vision, the orange-depressed-Papyrus nervously shook his hands in your line of sight and you straightened back up. His eyebrows (ridges) smoothed out and he asked, “you okay?”

You nodded. “What was that? That was weird!”

He chuckled and said, “a little trick of mine.”

He opened the front door to the skeleton mansion—wait. Hold the fucking phone. Did you just TELEPORT?!

Your jaw dropped excitedly and you immediately jumped after the orange skeleton.

“Did we just teleport?!” you shouted.

He smiled and held up one finger (bone?) to his lips (teeth?) in the universal ‘sh’ symbol.

MAN, THAT IS SO COOL!!! You internally screamed. You kept it cool, though. You’re so chill. Totally.

You walked through the foyer, and learned this skeleton goes by ‘Orange.’ Why these skeletons all call themselves colors, you don’t know, but you rolled with it.

When you both arrived in the living room, you noted the furniture is set up into a makeshift theatre fort. There was an armchair, a whole couch, and a lounge chair, and a couple more chairs arranged around their big as hell T.V.

You let out a low whistle. “This is a nice set up.”

Orange nodded, and slid over to sit in one of the armchairs. You scanned over the various places to sit, trying to find the best spot.

A hand punched you in the shoulder, and you flipped over to see Edge glaring down at you.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, OVERZEALOUS TWIG?”

You snorted, he’s working on his insults, at least.

“Papyrus and Blue invited me over, ya spiky, sea urchin skeleton.”

“HM. …DON’T GET IN MY PERSONAL SPACE, TWIG, AND YOU CAN STAY.”

You held both hands up, “Gottcha. Quarantine myself from you. Easy peasy.”

Orange snorted from where he’d sunk into the cushions of his armchair.

Edge strutted away and laid down aggressively on the entirety of one of the couches, and you raised a brow at the action. Good for him. Kinda smart, actually.

You copied him and flopped down on one of the smaller couches, taking up all the space. You snickered. This was nice. Edge had the right idea.

You looked over as one of the doors connecting to somewhere opened and Papyrus came in. He spotted you and smiled in surprise.

“NEXUS! YOU CAME!”

“Yeah! Can’t say no to popcorn and snacks!” you replied.

Papyrus laughed in a funny ‘NYEH-HEH’ pattern, and you laughed at the absurdity of it. He laughs like a One Piece character, you can’t it help!

Your bestie sits down in one of the lounge chairs, and chats with you about the movie y’all will be watching.

The movie you were watching was called ‘The Haunting’, and it was supposedly about this group of campers who come across a house in the middle of the woods that’s haunted by an evil ghost. Pretty cliche, in your opinion, but you’re not gonna complain… yet. You aren’t a movie critic, anyway.

You’d be watching on a DVD player, which was a throwback for you, personally. You didn’t live in the prime of DVD’s, being as young as you are. You have seen some when you were young, which most adults never seem to fathom.

As the time started to wind down, Sans popped outta nowhere and plopped onto Papyrus’ lap. You avoided your very angry exclamations of ‘NO WAY, HE CAN TELEPORT TOO??!!’

A couple minutes later, Red and who you presumed to be Blue walked through one of the doors connected to another hallway, and Red trudged his way and uncomfortably settled under Edge’s legs.

Blue immediately pounced onto you, introducing himself and expressing his gratitude for you coming over to watch with them. He rambled to the point you had to tune it out, and immediately came up with a nickname for him.

“AND THAT’S WHY I THOUGH THIS MOVIE WOULD BE A GREAT-!”

“Imma call you Galaxy. Is that good with you?”

He stood uncomprehendingly for a solid 5 seconds and then exploded happily, “YOU’RE GIVING ME A NICKNAME??! THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS DO, RIGHT? I HAVE TO COME UP WITH ONE FOR YOU!!”

He played with an imaginary beard as he mumbled (well, as much as someone who spoke at that volume could) out ideas for nicknames for you.

You snickered and interrupted again, “Galaxy, you can come up with one later.”

His star eyes (lights?) sparkled and he nodded with determined confidence. “OF COURSE, FRIEND-NEXUS! LATER!”

He skipped over to a pile of blankets by the DVD player and plopped himself down, messing with the sheets.

Y/N’s POV:

You walked into the living room, locating your Masters sprinkled around the different furniture. You also saw, surprisingly, Nexus stretched out comfortably on one of the couches surrounding the T.V.

You were pleasantly surprised. You weren’t aware Nexus would be coming over to watch the movie with your Masters. Their eyes latched onto the snacks and sodas you were carrying greedily.

“I’ve brought snacks, Masters. And Nexus,” you said.

Stepping around the furniture, you handed out the assortment of goodies, getting a few stray thank you’s (not including Master Black, of course). You laughed lightly at Nexus’ grabby hands when you handed them their snacks.

Master Blue caught your eye and patted the blanket he was sitting on as you made your way over with his snacks.

You sat down next to him, and Master Black raised up from the couch to protest.

“WAIT, WHAT IS SHE DOING?” You were in the room, he could just ask you—but talk like you're not here, sure Master Black.

Master Blue fiddled with the DVD player, “SHE’S WATCHING THE MOVIE WITH US!” He put the DVD in.

“BUT SHE'S THE HELP, SHE SHOULD BE IN THE KITCHEN CLEANING!” Master Black protested.

You jumped up from the blanket, “You know what, Master Black? You're entirely correct! I'll just go back into the kitchen and—”

Master Blue grabbed the edge of your skirt, tugging you back down, despite your resistance. “I ORDERED HER TO COME HAVE FUN WITH US!”

Master Black glared at Master Blue, “YOU ORDERED HER TO WASTE HER AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, OUR TIME WATCHING A MOVIE, WHEN SHE SHOULD BE DOING HER JOB?”

For once in your life, Master Black’s constant wish for you to only complete labor was appreciated. Seriously, he was making things easier for you, here.

From where he was half-asleep, Master Orange said, “lighten up, edge. the girl works all day, she could use a break.”

Hahah, and ‘taking a break’ would ruin the rest of your night and tomorrow. “Actually, I am perfectly content with just doing my job, Masters.” Please please please, for once let me not take a break.

Papyrus piped up from the lounge chair he and Sans were settled, “NONESENSE! NO NEED TO BE SO MODEST, MS. Y/N!”

Nexus stared in confusion from where they were laying. They didn’t know you woke up at 4 in the morning, but clearly they noticed your reluctance. Please?

“It’s nice to take a break every so often, Ms. Y/N.” Annnd there goes their support for your favor. They didn’t know, but gosh dang it.

“But Masters-!”

Master Blue shook his head aggressively. “NO BUTS!” He pressed the button to start the movie. “THE MOVIE'S ALREADY STARTING, SO NO TAKESIES-BACKSIES!”

Master Black audibly groaned and you internally groaned as well.

As the movie progressed, you couldn’t get into it. It just had so many cliches and plot holes that it wasn’t engaging for you. However, about halfway through the movie, Master Blue started to curl into your side nervously. He clinged when the scary parts came on, hiding his face in your shoulder. Hasn’t he seen this movie already-?

Suddenly, a jump scare popped up, and Master Papyrus’ made a ‘NYEH!’ sound and jumped into your arms to hide.

“Master?” you ask in concern. He looks genuinely terrified, trembling slightly. He looks back over to the screen, still in your arms, and you notice out of the corner of your eye Master Blue giving Master Papyrus a look. You are more focused on your scared master to give it any more attention.

You look back up to see the conditions of your other Masters.

They are all staring fixatedly at the cheesy movie, stupidly scared.

Master Black had sat up, grabbing the edge of Master Red’s jacket, while Master Red gripped the arm of the couch with one hand, the other shielding Master Black protectively. Master Orange had his knees pulled up to his torso loosely, wrapping his arms around them. Master Sans looked ready to flee from the scene, tense and anxious.

Nexus, however, was watching the movie with amusement. They seemed to be making fun of the characters in their head, based off their expression. They even looked like they were resisting the urge to burst out laughing, with red cheeks and sparkling eyes.

Had… had your Masters never seen a horror movie, or were they all very easily scared?

Master Sans, perched on the lounge chair where Master Papyrus had moved from, asked with a shaking voice, “h-hey kid. is there, uh, room on that blanket for one more?”

You nodded slightly, and, like predators, all your Masters’ heads snapped over to you and started scrambling to hide under your blanket, too. They crushed you and Master Blue, slightly, and you heard Nexus start cackling from their couch.

Nexus, your Masters, and you continued watching the rest of the movie, skeleton monsters + human pile and all. The shivering and flinching from the pile somewhat ruined the horror experience, but it’s not that scary of a movie anyway.

Finally, the movie is over, and you and the skeletons all sigh in relief. You wait for your Masters to let you go, but awkwardly sit in the dark for longer than you expect.

You speak up, “Uhm, Masters? You can let go now.”

They collectively let go of you and start to move away from the pile. Nexus starts to clean up their snack trash.

“hehehe,” Master Orange laughed nervously.

“sorry kid, i guess we just like sticking together, heheh…” Master Sans said.

Master Papyrus, fortunately breaking the silence, says, “WOWIE, THAT WAS TERRIFYING!”

Master Red scratched the back of his head, “you’re tellin’ me.”

You stand up from the blanket and turn on the light switch.

“Thank you for inviting me to join you, Masters.” You looked over at Nexus, who was fixing their hair, “It was fun seeing you, Nexus.”

Nexus smiled and replied, “It’s always great to see you too, Ms. Y/N! And thanks for having me over, güeyes.”

You start to head towards the kitchen, when someone tugs on your skirt again. You look back over to see Master Orange, eyeing the door suspiciously.

“where are you going, y/n?”

You look towards the door, creaked open, revealing a dark hallway, and then back at him. “Uhm. The kitchen?”

Master Papyrus frantically approaches you and grabs the sides of your face, “DIDN’T YOU SEE THE MOVIE?! THE GHOST WILL KILL YOU IF YOU GO IN THE DARK!”

You scan over the other Masters, seeing worry and fear all in their faces. Except for Master Blue, who looked away from you, disappointed, for some reason.

Nexus raises a brow at the group, then looks at you, a mischievous grin on their face. Thank goodness someone wasn’t terrified. Who thought it’d be the twelve-year-old child, though?

“It wasn't a documentary, Masters.” You smiled uncertainly, and Nexus sighed dramatically in silence. You let them down on something, somehow. “I think I’ll be fine.”

“you aren't the least bit scared?” Master Sans question with a half-hearted laugh.

“Not really.”

Your Masters all looked flabbergasted.
Master Red started laughing, “you've got balls of steel, sweetheart-!”

Master Black slapped him on the head. “DON’T BE SO CRUDE!”

Master Red rubbed the back of his head, hissing, and replied, “s-sorry, boss.”

Nexus sidled up to Master Red, jokingly poking him in the temple. “Yeah, Red, watch your language around the ladies.”

“Oh shut it, chipmunk,” Master Red shoved away Nexus’ sniggering face.

“It wasn't that bad, Masters. You don't need to be so jumpy.” You said, placating. You smiled, “If you're really that scared, though, I can keep the light on in the hallway for you?”

Many of your Masters started refusing, trying to salvage their pride.

Master Orange said, “we’re not that scared.”

“I WASN'T EVEN SCARED A LITTLE BIT!” Master Black declared (falsely).

Master Red made a ‘psshh’ noise as he shrugged, “what's a little darkness?”

Nexus and you make a ‘mhmmmm’ sound in unison, and your Masters sweat for a moment before Master Papyrus breaks, jumping into your arms for the second time that night.

“I'M THAT SCARED! PLEASE KEEP THE LIGHT ON!”

You snickered, “Of course, Master Papyrus.”

Nexus speaks up, “Hey, if y’all don’t mind, my mom’s not gonna be home tomorrow, would it be okay if I hung out here?”

Master Sans shrugs and Master Blue claps them on the back, “OF COURSE, NEXUS! YOU MAY HANG OUT WITH US AGAIN TOMORROW!”

Nexus pumps their fist, and Master Blue escorts them with Master Orange to the door.

And now, back to your personal hell. Because your Masters wanted you to watch a movie instead of getting your work done.

The Next Day:

Nexus POV:

You and the skeletons (minus Papyrus, who was keeping Y/N company upstairs) were eating in the dining room.

Ms. Y/N had oh so kindly given you a sandwich to go along with the other skeleton’s lunches, and you saw her dark circles and couldn’t help from feeling guilty. The movie night went to about eleven last night, which wasn’t too bad, but she looked like she was running on four hours of sleep, caffeine, and spite. So, you thanked her profusely and ate your meal gratefully. You were proud to say she could definitely cook, and you savored the sandwich. You were definitely going to need some more of the magic that was her cooking.

Red, chewing on fry, spoke up with a glint in his eye, “you know what i've been thinkin' about?”

You and the other skeletons curiously turned to him.

“what y/n is afraid of!” he said with a flourish.

“you must not have much on your mind, red,” Orange said in a monotone, and you and Sans laughed. Sans stopped when he saw you laughing along with him, and you paused to gaze at him. You stored that in the back of your head and looked back towards the other skeletons.

“think about it, she was the only one who wasn't phased at all last night!”

“Hey, whatta ‘bout me?” You pouted.

“you don’t count, you, for some reason, were tickled by the movie, which is not unaffected.”

“WELL, I WASN'T SCARED!” Black blushed.

“okay, besides you, boss.”

Wooow. Favoritism much?

“YOU'RE RIGHT! WHAT'S SHE AFRAID OF, THEN?” Blue brought his pointer finger (bone?) to his chin.

“right?”

“i'd put my money on you, red.” Sans grinned.

Red rolled his eyes (lights?) and continued, “but wouldn't you like to know what could possibly make our oh-so impassive maid scream and squirm in fear?”

Uhm. You were kinda weirded out by that. But. The other skeletons seemed to pause, like they had their attention caught. Which was. Strange.

Red grinned, “what could possibly make y/n so scared that she'd tear up as she'd scream for her master to come and save her, or maybe even beg her master to save her?”

Yeah, this was getting into red flag territory for you. Savior complex, right there. “Hey dudes,” you started hesitantly, and the other skeletons glanced over at you, “That’s, like, creep behavior. That’s not poggers.”

“yeah, nex is right, you have a slight problem,” Orange agreed with you, taking a sip from his cup. I mean, it’s probably more than ‘slight’ but you’ll take any agreement with you you can.

Red laughs, “well, i don't know about you guys, but i'm gonna try and find it out.”

“OH PLEASE.” Black crossed his arms, “I'M JUST GONNA ASK HER THE NEXT TIME I SEE HER. IT'LL SAVE YOU THE TROUBLE.” Yeah, Boss Black proving why he should be your next bestie.

And, like an omen, Ms. Y/N with Papyrus on her heels opens the door and walks into the dining room.

“Good Afternoon, Masters and Nexus. How was your—”

“SLAVE, WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?”

Y/N sighed, “For the last time, Master Black, I'm not a slave. I get paid.”

Then, she peered at the skeletons' faces, which were inquisitive, and she said much more uncomfortably, “...Why do you need to know, Master?”

Black ignores her question, “ANSWER THE QUESTION!”

“Er, financial debt?” She said.

Wow, that’s a… surprising fear. But, kinda true. It kinda feels like a given fear. Something everyone would be afraid of. Like a job. Or taxes.

The other skeleton’s faces fall in disappointment. She stared in confusion.

Black dragged a hand down his face. “NO, WHAT ARE YOU REALLY AFRAID OF?”

She rubbed her shoulder, “Uhmm, yeah, definitely financial debt. I'm sorry Masters, why do you need to know this again?”

Papyrus and Y/N shared a look of confusion as the other skeletons groaned, and when they looked at you, you shrugged helplessly.

The rest of the day, the other skeletons play out their own pranks on Ms. Y/N, trying to find out her fear.

Red planned to try bugs, which didn’t work. Blue tried the dark and closed spaces, which didn’t really do anything either. Orange teleported her up to the top of their house, testing her for a fear of heights, which didn’t work. Sans tried out clowns, coupled with a jumpscare, which didn’t work.

You weren’t so confident in your choice, now, but you’d give it your best shot! Your first thoughts were the ocean, needles, or fire. You decided to go with something easy for you to set up.

“Hey Ms. Y/N!”
She steps into the living room where you are sitting. “Yes?”

“Look at this! This documentary is crazy!”

You found a documentary about the deep ocean with disturbing information and photography, and left the lights on low.

Y/N watches the screen reluctantly, and you press play to show her the part you thought would be disturbing enough to scare her.

“Many of us have heard about rogue waves, but there exists the complete opposite of that, a "rogue hole", which is when one is suddenly met with a gap between the ocean waves that yawns open and can dip down to possibly a 100 ft.

“Just like rogue waves occur when the crests of multiple wave systems align, rogue holes occur when the troughs of different wave trains align perfectly.

“While rogue waves are known for physically striking and crushing vessels, rogue holes are equally hazardous for a different reason: a ship sailing into one loses the buoyancy of the water beneath it. The sudden drop-off can destabilize a ship, often leading to structural stress or causing the vessel to plunge directly into the face of a following wave.

“Johnny Savage and the Anhinga (1998): Fisherman Johnny Savage describes encountering a "hole in the ocean" during a 350-mile trip from Key West to Cancun. He described it as a sudden, massive void ahead of them, causing the boat to fall completely off into it. The 56-foot boat was destroyed instantly, forcing Savage and his captain, Eric Bingham, into the water within minutes without any time to make a distress call or grab safety gear…”

You pause it again, and turn to face Ms. Y/N again, gauging her reaction.

If anything, she just looked slightly interested, more tired with her chores than anything else.

You slumped on the couch. She questions you, “What’s wrong, Nexus? It’s interesting.”

“Yeah, yeah. I thought I’d share. Sorry to interrupt your work.” You didn’t have much hope when all the other tests failed. I’m not so disappointed as to pout over something as trivial as this, you scolded yourself and sat back up.

“Anyway, can I help with anything else?”

She smiles sweetly, “No, you’re a guest, you don’t have to do anything. You’re so kind to ask.”

You blushed, “Dawhh, thanks, Ms. Y/N.”

She goes back to the hall she was walking in before, and you sighed. Looks like Thalassaphobia was off the table.

You met up with the rest of the Masters of the House in the dining room. They asked you how it went and you despondently told them it didn’t work. They sighed in disappointment and continued discussing what they could do next, going over what hadn’t worked once again.

Sans was listing off what had not worked, sitting on the edge of the table, when Papyrus opened the door to the dining room abruptly, making you all jump.

“HELLO FRIENDS!”

Sans relaxed, “oh hey bro, heheh.” He scratched the back of his head.

“YOU'RE ALL DISCUSSING THINGS TOGETHER, I WANT TO JOIN THE FUN! WHAT ARE WE DISCUSSING? PUZZLES?” he asked excitedly.

You shake your head and Red replies next to you, “we're all trying to figure out what y/n is afraid of.”

“OH.” Papyrus tilted his head and put a finger to his lips (teeth). “HAVE YOU TRIED DOGS YET?”

Your face crinkled. Why dogs? You had a farm dog back at your uncle's farm that absolutely loved you. He was a Yorkshire terrier, and he was basically your pet. If Y/N hated dogs, you were going to cry.

The skeletons (minus Papyrus) shared a look of incredulity and Orange shrugged.

“well, it's worth a shot.”

You were feeling very devious. Dare you say despicable.

The skeletons had brought a small white dog over from somewhere (you decided not to question) and put it down in the hallway connecting to the room Ms. Y/N was finishing up the last of her chores in.

The dog started to run down the hall, and the door cracked open as Y/N opened it curiously. The door quickly slammed shut. Bingo! Right on the money, Papyrus.

You and the skeletons, like a silly gang of teenagers during Halloween, tiptoe after her into the room, the dog following the group as well.

Ms. Y/N had closed the door of a closet and was hiding in there.

Red walked over to the closet and knocked on the door. He said, “hey sweetheart, do you wanna meet our new friend?”

“Nope.” Y/N said, her voice muffled behind the door.

The skeletons looked at each other with smirks, and you compressed a giggle.

Red leaned on the door and cooed mockingly, “but, uh, dollface, it's just a small little puppy?”

“Nope.”
“COME ON, MS. Y/N! I PROMISE IT WON'T BITE!” Blue said.

The little dog barked, it’s tail wagging, and Y/N squealed in fear.

You bit your knuckle to stop from laughing. The skeletons looked pleased as punch.

“P-please take it elsewhere!”

“you sure you don't even wanna pet it?” Red said.

“Yes, I'm sure!” she sharply replied.

Shrugging, Red picked up the dog carefully and brought it out of the room, closing the door to block off the dog.

You heard Y/N sigh in relief. This was a pretty intense fear, you wonder how she got it.

“YOU CAN COME OUT NOW, MS. Y/N,” Blue suggested.

“N-no, I think I'll stay in here, Master.”

You notice the shiver in her tone, and start to regret bothering her. She had a rough night and now you all scared her.

The skeletons snickered.

“Whatever you say, sweetheart,” Red affirmed. You and the skeletons piled out of the room, making sure the dog didn’t go back in the room. Y/N would come out eventually, Orange assured you.

As Black closed the door, Red said, “heheh, nice.”

“SHE WAS SO SCARED, WOW!” Blue said, unusually malicious in his smile.

“I THINK YOU SHOULD'VE LEFT THE DOG IN THERE.” Edge huffed.

“well, we all can't be the devil, edge,” Orange rolled his eyes (lights?).

“how'd you find out she was afraid of dogs, bro?” Sans inclined.

You were curious, too. You searched Papyrus.

“WELL, DIDN'T SHE MENTION WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER SHE USED TO GET CHASED DOWN BY STRAY DOGS?”

Ooooohhhhhhhh that’s what instant regret feels like…

All of your faces dropped.

“I JUST THOUGHT THAT MIGHT HAVE A LASTING IMPACT AND MIGHT CARRY INTO ADULTHOOD,” Papyrus continued ignorantly.

“uhm…” one of the skeletons whispered.

“i'm going to go take this buddy back where we found him.” Orange picked up the dog and escaped the situation.

The other skeletons dispersed, each with their own excuse to leave.

You didn’t move from where you were by the door. You weren’t sure if Y/N knew you were there for the prank, but you felt the need to apologize. You just triggered a trauma response, for fuck’s sake! You were an asshole, but you had a ‘too far’ line that you had just crossed.

Slowly, you opened the door and stepped back in. Y/N hadn’t come out yet, likely gathering her bearings, so you walked up to the closet and knocked on the door.

“Masters? Give me a minute.”

“No, no. It’s, uh, Nexus. Are you okay?”

She’s silent for a moment. “Yeah.”

You didn’t want to cross any boundaries, so you didn’t pry.

“Are you alright to come out? I promise the dog’s gone. Orange took it out of the building.”

“…okay.”

She opened the door trepidatiously and calmed when she didn't see the dog.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Nope, turn that train off. “No, I’m sorry I didn’t interfere.”

Y/N just sighed. “It’s fine, Nexus.”

“…I’m still sorry.”

She rolls her eyes and sets a hand on your shoulder, shaking you gently for a moment.

“Just run along, okay? You’re fine.”

You smiled slightly, “Okay, okay.”

Chapter Text

Three days later, It was officially grocery day for you, and you were not looking forward to walking the whole hour and a half and back to get the groceries.

It’s not like you can drive! You have a bike, but it’s back at the farm, and it would be hard to secure the groceries to the bike, anyway. There’s no bus that you can take specifically to your home to the grocery, and you don’t think you’re on a close-friend enough level to harass one of the skeletons to bring you there, teleporting or by vehicle. One day, you promise to yourself, you can drag someone out to take you to and from the city.

You had initially thought to bring a wagon or something like that, but it would’ve been quite the hassle, and you knew you were only buying things for one person, so it wasn’t like you were going to be carrying twenty bags or whatever insane numbers the skeletons and Ms. Y/N buy to have all their feasts.

So with a wagon off the table, you resulted with your reusable bags. Plastic ones can hurt to hold for so long, after all. Usually the soft and thicker straps were nicer. You stuffed all the bags into a bigger bag you could carry on your back, because you wanted to, and if you needed the extra space, then you made a super smart decision! Foresight, ya know? Watch out, skeletons, you’re the next magician in town!

You walked out of your front door, stepping down the porch steps while whistling some tune that came to mind.

Your house’s yard was very nice, for a lack of a better word.

You technically had a cooler backyard. You were working on the garden, had a mini forest, and this cool greenhouse as well back there.

But your front yard was a lot cleaner, in a way, and did have some trees running parallel to the sides of the house and bushes spotted along the bottom of your elevated porch. The grass was recently cut, no weeds. Tidy.

The paved path was a unique pattern of white stone which would turn into a dirt path as you got closer to the human city, and your mailbox was the same as all the ones you’d see in those classic ‘small-town’ movies. You had a feeling the mailbox was not going to really get used much, you probably had a mailbox at the bottom of the path leading to the human city, right by the entrance gate to your little street-neighborhood-drive-whatever-it-was.

Your neighborhood was so fancy it needed to have a gateway with a code for cars to get in, mailboxes for the houses at the gate, and all.

After getting off your property, you made your way down the dirt path leading to the gate. It was a sunny day, with few clouds hanging overhead. It wasn’t too hot, only slightly humid, which made this trip rather picturesque. You weren’t picky, anyway, but it would’ve been a pain in the ass to do all this in rain or godforbid snow and ice.

About fifteen minutes of walking later, and you saw someone on the path farther ahead of you. It was Ms. Y/N. What a coincidence!

“Ms. Y/N!” you call out. Her head turns and she stops to stare in surprise as you sprint your way down the road to her.

“Nexus,” she says. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Are you going somewhere? A joy walk?”

You show her your bag. “Nah, I’m going grocery shopping. My mom’s out and my dad’s busy.” It wouldn’t kill you to give her a half-truth.

She nods, “What a coincidence! I am picking up things in the human city as well.”

“I guess we can go together, then? The more the merrier!” You poke her with your elbow jokingly.

She smiles, “I don’t see why not.”

She’s wearing the same maid dress again, you note, and you can’t help but ask, “Y/N?” She looked over at you. “Do you have any other clothes? I feel like I’ve only ever seen you in that maid outfit.”

Y/N’s smile starts to fade and she answers, “I have a few other things, but I really only wear those for my sleepwear or on laundry day.”

Your jaw drops.

“What?!” She looks surprised that you’re upset. “That’s SO not fair! You need more than one outfit!!” You are struck with a sense of duty.

“It’s not so bad—”

You rest your hand across your heart like a pledge. “I, Y/N L/N, vow to take you clothes shopping sometime soon.”

She giggles. “I’m not so sure Sans—”

You put your finger to her lips, shushing her. “¡silencio!” She smiles crookedly, trying not to laugh. “Doncella, I will NOT allow this mistreatment to continue! You work all day and night, you deserve more than a frilly dress and undergarments!”

You turn on your heels and start marching, pulling her by the wrist. “THIS WILL NOT DO! Next time, I will take you shopping, and allow you to be pampered and praised!!”

She can’t hold it back any longer and starts to laugh, and you slow down your pace to let go of her and laugh as well.

As you both calm down, you say, “Seriously, I can’t just let you go around with only one pair of real clothes! I have the money.”

She tousles your hair and walks in front of you. “Alright, Nexus. I look forward to it.”

You grin proudly.

You both continue to walk the road to the human town, chatting and enjoying the pleasantness of the day.

You learn Y/N doesn’t mind the long walk, often enjoying it more than her time at the house.

She says that she doesn’t mind usually in the rain or snow, and it only gets exhausting for her when she has to go back and forth to the human city and the monster village, which is in the opposite direction.

It shocks you when she explains the trip from the human city straight to the monster village is over a three hour walk.

You incredulously ask how she carries groceries and things she has to buy the whole way there, and she shrugs and tells you ‘I make do’, which only raises further questions.

You implore her to let you help whenever possible, as it’s not like you’ll have much better things to do. She teases you by saying she’ll have to decide after this session, to see if you meet her standards.

You decide you will meet her standards.

She’s fascinated by your plant knowledge when you point out the meanings of certain flowers along the road, and you boast pridefully about all you know. You’re not so sure if she caught on to everything you rambled on about, but her wondering face made it worthwhile, anyhow.

She gossips to you about the astrology book Sans had gifted to her that morning, and she recites any of the constellations she can remember. You tell her about how lovely the sky is at night in the rural areas where you usually spent your summer, and she sighed wistfully and explained how she’s always wanted to see shooting stars.

You tell her that shouting stars are actually asteroids or meteors flying through space, and she’s surprised by this. You tell her you always thought meteor showers were cool, too, and hoped to see one some day like her shooting stars.

Finally, you both reach the human town. It’s more of the suburban outskirts of a town, with small shops spread out along the gravel roads and grass fields. It’s homey and cute, and Y/N says she thinks everyone in this town knows each other.

“Are you a regular here too, then? They must know you, the beautiful maid from the mansion hidden miles away behind the gate,” you say poetically, like you’re the narrator for some ‘Phantom of the Opera’ story.

She pauses, grabbing the list from her apron. “Right.” She looks back up at you, and you’re uncomfortable under her conflicted gaze.

She lightly pushes you from your back, bringing you to the back of one of the buildings. You squawk as you are herded into the shade.

She sets her hands on your shoulders, making you look in her pretty eyes.

She starts, hesitating, “Master Sans does not want me to say anything about myself or the skeletons. I’m not supposed to say anything that reveals anything about my life. Not even my name.”

You are frozen, processing her words. She’s sworn to secrecy..?

“…why?” you question, concern in your androgynous voice.

Her expression is pinched. She lets go of you, hands loosely crossed across her chest. “I… don’t know, exactly.” She says, “I believe Master Sans doesn’t want hateful anti-monster humans to come and try to ‘save’ me from my job.”

You nod slowly. That makes sense. But…

“Your name, though?”

“…”

“Then why did I..?”

Y/N says, “I think because you came over and saw the skeletons and I already, you got a pass. Can’t really undo that. Also, you’re a kid, if you went blabbing there’s less of a chance someone’d believe you.” Rude. Kinda. Reasonable, but rude. “You don’t seem to be an anti-monster person, either, so Sans doesn’t see you as a threat. I think.”

So that’s why Sans was so stand-offish to you. He was analyzing if you were a bad person.

You wince. “No wonder my pocket knife got such a reaction out of him. If I was a speciest, that could’ve been dangerous.” Then again, he was unreasonably asshole in some ways, but at least you know why.

She sighs, “I guess.”

“Okay, so… I just don’t say your name to people? Or reveal anything about your job and, uhh, stuff?”

She makes a so-so gesture and you nod. “I don’t think you have to hide anything about yourself.”

You snicker. “Yeah, I’m all for mysterious characters, but I don’t think I got it in me.” Hah. Haha.

You walk out of the shaded side of the store, back into the sunlight, and Y/N follows after you, taking out her grocery list from her apron.

“It looks like first there are some simple grocery items,” she tells you. She looks up at you, “You are here to grab some groceries for you and your family, right? Let’s do that together.”

She takes you to the local grocery store, where you are greeted with warmth and excitement. She’s truly beautiful, and if she’s a regular, it’s no wonder they’re so friendly.

You look down at your own list as Y/N grabs one of the baskets. Bread, canned or frozen vegetables, some soups…

You grab your own basket and follow Y/N into one of the dairy aisles. She grabs butter and milk and you take what’s on your list.

You make your way through the aisles with Y/N, recommend brands to each other (well, you weren’t familiar with all the brands here, so it was more of Y/N giving you tips, but you pointed out some really good spices as well as some of the products that were pasture-raised and better for the environment), which was a win-win, and both approached the check out section.

“Ms. Maid, it's lovely to see you again!” The grocery clerk was an old woman, a classic grandma appearance. “Didn't I see you a couple days ago?” The lady wagged a finger at Y/N, “Your boss isn't working you too hard, is he?”

Y/N laughed politely, “He may just be working me hard enough, Missus.” Mmmmm.

“Well, keep aware of your physical health. No job, no matter how much you get paid, is worth getting sick over,” The lady smiled at her.

“I will, thank you.” How ironic.

Y/N grabbed her groceries and left the store. You assumed she’d wait outside for you.

You unloaded your items from the basket, and the lady scanned them as they moved across the conveyor belt.

“And who would you be, little miss?” she asked with a smile.

You internally winced. You… preferred gender-neutral pronouns, but you were somewhat nervous to correct her.

“…m’name ‘s Y/N.” Your accent always got thicker when you were nervous, scared, or angry. Get it together.

Her expression lightened, “What a lovely name! Are you new? I’ve never seen you around, hun.”

You nodded shyly.

“Well, welcome to town, dear,” she replied. “That’ll be $110.58.”

You tapped your debit card to the machine and took your groceries, all in your reusable bags.

You speed-walked as politely as you could to the door.

“Have a nice day, hun!”

You stepped out to see Y/N, leaning against a pillar with the grocery bag on the ground. She smiles, “All good to go?”

You nod, terse.

“Next on my list is pens and notepads—that kind of stuff. You still wanna come with me?”

You grin, a little sideways. “What? Ya tryin’ ta get rid of me?”

She shakes her head marginally. “Of course not, Nexus.” She pushes herself off the pillar and picks up the bag, “Off we go.”

You walk side-by-side and idly discuss the town.

Quick, you reach the store, and a bell rings as you push open the door.

A young girl—about your age or slightly older—looks up from her sweeping in the corner.

“Oh, it's the maid! And a newbie! How are ya both?”

“Doing well, thanks for asking,” you say.

“I'm feeling pretty happy today, how about you?” Y/N replies.

“Doing mighty fine myself! What do ya need?” You search her uniform for a name tag but come up short.

Y/N looks down at her list, “Pens, notepads, and a few other things I can find.”

“Okee Dokee! Pens and notepads are over there in aisle four,” the girl says, chipper. She looks at you, “And you, newbie?”

You grin, “Just browsing.”

“Thank you,” Y/N says. She steps gracefully to the aisle and begins searching for the items on her list. You follow after her.

After a few items, the girl (employee?) approaches you both. Y/N, grabbing something from a shelf, turns to face her.

“So are those for the people you work for?”

Y/N just smiles.

“Is he or she a writer?” The girl probes, beaming. Way to be exclusive. You were starting to get annoyed by this girl.

Y/N continues to smile and not reply.

“Aw, come on! Me and my friends are dyin' to know who the rich folk in the mansion are!”
the girl whines. “I mean, nobody can even get past that gate, and you're the only one that sees them!” You assume she means the gate surrounding the skeleton’s property. The general entrance gate is not so hard to get through.

“Just give me a hint, is he a handsome man? Because making you wear an outfit like that, he's gotta be a handsome fella! Or just really creepy.... But handsome sounds cooler!” Ex-clu-siv-it-y! Yay!

Y/N moves past the girl to continue her shopping, and the girl follows her. You lean against one of the walls with your arms crossed.

“How about the color of his hair? That's all I need, the color of his hair and I'll be done. Or his eyes? Wait, is it a woman?”

Y/N holds out a notebook in front of the girl. “Do you have this in blue?”

You snicker as she sighs melodramatically. Get her, Y/N!

From the back, a male voice bellows, “ANNIE! YOU BETTER NOT BE HARASSING CUSTOMERS!”

Annie was her name. If only she was a curly red-head with freckles. Siiighhh.

“I'M NOT, DAD!” Annie hollers back. She sighs again, “Eh, we'll figure it out eventually. Want me to check you out?”

Y/N smiles politely, perfectly patient. “That would be great.” She hands Annie her items and you trail behind them as they go to the check out.

Annie scans the items and puts them in a bag, handing them over. “Here you are, maid lady.”

Y/N bows faintly, “Thank you, hope your curiosity gets satiated.”

Annie’s eyebrows furrow, eyes wide, “What-iated?”

Y/N laughs and waves as she leaves, and you shadow her.

Taking the list once more out of her apron, Y/N tells you the next store you need to go to. A workshop-tool store. Huh, you didn’t know the skeletons liked to build. You liked woodworking, you’d ask them about it some time.

Y/N pushes the door open, and a man’s voice greets you two, “Hey! Welcome to—” the boy blinks, caught off guard. “…a maid?”

His hands are smudged in oil, as well as his jumpsuit. He stares from where he’s kneeling, working on something.

“Ah, it's the maid girl! Come on in!”

A rough and tumble looking, older looking man comes out from behind a shelf, grinning.

“You’re looking well,” she smiles politely.

You look at her and whisper, “Who’s the big guy over there?”

“Mr. Marcus.”

Mr. Marcus laughs, “Haha! You're just being sweet!” He claps the boy on the back, now standing. “Adam, this is the maid from that mansion up the street. She's a regular, so treat her right!”

Adam’s head snaps over to Mr. Marcus, “What, that giant estate? That's huge!”

“Yes, it is.” She pipes up next to you.

Adam embarrassedly takes off his cap. You can’t help but be reminded of the chimney sweeps from Mary Poppins. “Oh, heheh, sorry don't mind me. My name's Adam, what's yours?” he asks Ms. Y/N.

Y/N continues to smile and Mr. Marcus guffaws.

Mr. Marcus jests, “Don't bother tryin', she won't say anything about herself or the people she works for, probably some kind of secret spy thing or something of the sort…”

You titter mirthfully at the conspiracy. Spies?

Ms. Y/N folds her hands behind her back, grocery bags set down on a counter. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Er, uhm…” Adam’s face reddens, “D-do you need your car fixed?”

You raise a brow at his stuttering and Mr. Marcus crosses his arms.

“Does it look like she put her car in the garage, Adam? The girl's in for tools! Get her some!” He stalks off behind the shelves.

This is usually how things go when you’re around beautiful people being a child. They forget about you entirely. Sometimes it’s nice, other times your ego gets bitchy about it. Adam is basically in love with her, so he’s ignoring you.

“O-okay, what kinda tools do ya need?”

You focus on Y/N’s grocery bags resting on the counter, wanting to help her out.

You grab the first plastic bag, not too heavy, and loop the straps onto your forearms up to your elbow, sitting at the bent joint. Your own three grocery bags are balanced on your shoulders and other elbow.

“You've got a wide variety of items here, what are they for?”

You reach out and grip the other grocery bag of Y/N’s and ooh that’sheavy—

“Oh, right. Secret spy stuff.” She and him start laughing lightly.

Huffing, you stand like a rooster with all five bags being held by your arms. You motivate yourself to not let go! You shall be HELPFUL!

“Well, let's see if I can…” Some things are grabbed off of trays. “You'll need...This one, this one, and this one! Here ya go, miss.”

Y/N and Adam relocate to the check out and you puff your chest up and slowly make your way after them, like comedic penguin waddling.

“Thank you!”

“I-It's, uh, no problem, miss. It's my job.”

“Well, you're quite good at it. Once again, it was nice meeting you.”

Adam flushes red again, and you follow after Y/N carrying the bag of tools out of the door. He stutters out a “Y-you too!” as the door shuts.

Y/N looks behind her, and giggles when she sees you struggling with the bags. She approaches you and takes one of her bags, thankfully the heavy one, and you don’t let her take the other back.

“I shall help you, Doncella! To repay the sandwich!”

“Nexus—”

You trip over a piece of gravel, but save the groceries.

“…”

“…”

“…okay, I’ll give you the bag back.”

Ms. Y/N chuckles.

After she takes her other bag back from you, she checks over the list one more time.

You both celebrate when everything has been accounted for, and she remembers about Papyrus’ wish for sunglasses.

You’re amused when you learn he wants them for his ‘biceps’, and you walk over to a small boutique store, which Y/N explains is a small apparel and accessories store, including footwear, jewelry, et cetera.

The store has sunglasses on display in the window, and Y/N and you go inside.

She quickly grabs two pairs of sunglasses from the glasses board and you turn to go to check out when she stops. You look at her, questioning.

She walks in a different direction from the check out area, and you follow after her.

She stops in front of these white flats, and tilts her head at them. You glance back and forth from her and the shoes.

“Do you want..?”

She shakes her head, not listening to you. You look at her conflicted expression. You wait.

She thumbs the tag and straightens at the ‘on sale!’ sticker slapped on the other side.

“…hello?”

“If we have enough extra after the sunglasses, I’ll get these,” she explains.

“Ohhh,” you say softly.

She walks over to the check out and you bring the shoes with you. When she buys the sunglasses and has extra, you hand her the flats, and her beaming smile makes you match hers.

As you make your way out, you see from the corner of your eye something that makes you stop in your tracks.

Y/N continues on obliviously, dazed in her happiness. You let her walk away from the shop.

In one of the corners of the undergarment section, binders are packaged in boxes.

You usually didn’t have too much trouble with your chest, your family wasn’t super large, usually. However, you still were uncomfortable when you looked in the mirror, even with sports bras. You enjoyed hoodies and oversized shirts for what they could hide, but… still.

You had heard from your favorite non-binary users about top surgery and binders. How it made them feel more confident in their bodies. How, when their features sharpened, the binder along with it helped them seem more androgynous, even masculine.

You liked the idea. You had to be over sixteen to get top surgery, so that wasn’t an option until later, and you had to get parental permission anyway, so you’d have to spill sometime before that. But binders…

Binders weren’t so hard to get. You had to submit a request for online shopping, and you had to be careful with your growing bones, but it wasn’t a surgery.

So, you toyed with the idea. And now, binders right in front of you…

You followed after Ms. Y/N. You’ll get one later.

Once you caught up, you saw the giddy expression on her face and said teasingly, “Hellooo? Anyone in there?”

She was startled, and smiled once again when she saw you. “Quit surprising me, Nexus.”

“Nuh uh~ it’s part of my charm.”

“Heh.” She changed the subject warmly, “What were you thinking, trying to carry all the bags?”

“Well, it’s a long walk! I wanted to help!”

She sighs fondly. “I can carry it myself, Nexus.”

“S-still!” you insist. “You do all this hard work all day, and you don’t even have extra clothes! You deserve some help! And if the skeletons won’t let me—you won’t let me in front of the skeletons, then I’ll help here.”

She seems touched by this, eyes glistening. She turns her head back towards the path.

“Today has been quite a good day. I thank you,” she murmurs. “I have something nice of my own, and a friend who wishes to help me.”

Your heart warms.

“It’s nothing. You deserve it.” Your smile widens, “Your only price for my services is more of that awesome cooking of yours.”

She laughs. “I thought the bag-carrying was to repay the sandwich? And now you are charging me for more of my cooking? How cruel!”

“I am an evil person, Y/N, do not be shocked by this.”

She giggles.

Parting ways, you say goodbye to Y/N and tiredly drag your legs over to your house. Kids get tired, too!

You fumble with the keys to the front door and trudge in. You finally put your bags down and lean against your counter.

The wind has been kind to you and Y/N, despite the sun, and the walk was fortunately calm and pleasant, even if your arms got very tired. How Y/N does that nearly every week, you don’t know.

Your phone, neglected in your pocket, rings suddenly and you startle, eyes snapping open. You search your pockets and pull it out, not necessarily surprised but unexpecting as you see your dad’s contact.

You click the answer button and put it on speaker.

“Hey, kiddo! How’s the fancy mansion?”

“It’s pretty! There’s sooo many floors, though! Mom said she was going to host company parties, but so far she’s only been doing meet ups.”

“Aw, yeah,” your dad sounds sad. “I’m sorry we’ve been leaving you at home, mi corazón.” Your dad was Mexican, and his brothers and family owned the farm you spent so many autumns, springs, and summers working at.

“It’s okay, I’m used to mom’s job and her being gone and all.”

“Well, your uncle's ranch and farm is still nice, wish you were here with me.”

You roll your eyes. “C’mon, papá, you know I’ll be there with you this autumn. It’s only a couple months.” Which was a while to not see your dad, but you were trying to be reassuring.

“And then you’ll be back with your mom for the winter, darling, I know.”

“And then back with you for the spring. It won’t be so bad.” Divorce was such a mess when your dad had to take over the farm and your mom decided to move far away.

You dad sighs, “You know we both don’t like this. We’re sorry, sweetheart.”

Your heart hurts.

“I know, dad. I’m grateful y’all got out on good terms.”

“Okay, well, I just wanted to check up on you,” your dad changes the subject. “If everything’s okay, I’ll let you go? Sounds like you were doing something, no?”

“Sí, unloading groceries. Call you soon?”

“Yes, love you. Bye.”

“Byeee.”

Click.

Chapter Text

You sat with your legs crossed, staring out a window as you waited for Mrs. Cortez to return with the tea.

Mrs. Cortez was one of your mom‘s friends who lived nearby. She drove up to your home that afternoon to come take you to chat back at her flat.

She was a stout woman in her early fifties, hair curly and ears pierced with these big teardrop earrings. Her voice was raspy, and had a scratchiness to it that itched your ears in the best way possible. She wore a mix of these floral patterns and, drastically different, leather and belts. She was the type of lady you’d expect to see feeding the squirrels and rabbits in her backyard while listening to her favorite rock bands and modern pop stars.

She met your mom at one of the conferences, and they hit it off immediately. You’d heard your mom on call with her a couple times, and the few times she’d force you to say hi, she seemed sweet.

When Mrs. Cortez heard from your mom you would need to have some people from the town check up on you while she was gone, Mrs. Cortez enthusiastically took the opportunity. ‘So I could meet her sweet chick’, she told you in the car.

Her flat was covered in plants. Sitting on every windowsill, potted plants in the corners, everywhere. She had a couple of ceramics as well, and a portrait of Niagara Falls hung over her couch. You had a feeling you’d like her, and so far, all was going well.

In a blue Sedan, she picked you up and turned down her radio, asking you how you were adjusting to the new environment. You gave her the typical answer, and she nudged you with this toothy smile, saying, ‘You gotta be more descriptive than that!’, and slowly broke down some of your ‘This is a Stranger’ walls.

When you arrived at her flat, she told you her husband was off doing his day job and wouldn’t be bothering you both. She set you up in an armchair and left to get some tea from her kitchen.

A loud whistle rang through the room and you waited until Mrs. Cortez brought you a cup, steaming.

“Sorry for the wait, Y/N,” she settled onto her couch with her own cup.

“You’re fine, you’re fine.”

“So, what do you think?”

You looked around the room again. “It’s nice, Mrs. Cortez. Lotsa plants, but it’s lively.”

She grinned, “Yeah, hun, we like to live all natural, if ya know what I mean.”

You smirked, “Natural, eh? I getcha.”

She chuckled. “Good to see some of that sass your Ma always mentioned.”

You rolled your eyes.

“Well, I hear while she’s gone, Dr. Owens will be checking up on ya every week or so?” She confirmed with you. “I hope ya don’t mind hanging out with me every so often as well, us old farts aren’t always so fun for you youngsters.”

You smiled, “Nah, you don’t seem like some ‘old fart’, ma’am. You seem like you’re bursting with early twenties energy, if I do say so myself.”

She waved you off, “Oh, quit tryin’ ta make me blush, sweet chick!”

You laughed. You paused to take a sip of your tea, Hierbabuena and Manzanilla, a mint and chamomile tea, you note. It’s pretty good.

You raised your cup slightly, “Did you make this yourself?”

“Oh, I wish. I grew up with it, but never learned. So I just buy it,” Mrs. Cortez answered. “Never quite as good as it was when I was your age, but good enough.”

You nodded in understanding. “Well, thanks, by the way.”

“It’s a good way to start conversations, hun, it’s fine.” she said. “Anywho, I imagine the walk down to the city’s pretty good exercise for you. Or is it too long for your tastes?”

“Yessss. I don’t understand why mom bought a mansion on the top of a big as—um, freaking hill.” You tried not to curse while under other people's roofs. It was a policy your parents had made. You disliked it, but obeyed.

“Girl, you fine to curse a bit in my house, ‘specially when it’s just us,” Mrs. Cortez told you with a snicker.

You laughed awkwardly. You gathered up your courage and squeaked, “Um, I, uh… kinda prefer gender-neutral pronouns.”

Mrs. Cortez blinked at you for a moment, making you want to curl up into a ball and spontaneously combust, but you sat straight with your chin held high.

She laughed, ran a hand through her hair. “Hun, you coulda just said that before.”

You let out a sigh with a ‘fwoosh’ sound and smiled genuinely.

She continued, “I got a niece who’s trans, don’t you even worry about it.”

“I’m so glad. Good for them!”

“Yeah, I’m proud of them,” she smiled. She gazed into you questioningly, “Have you told your family yet? Your mom told me you were a girl.”

You shook your head, and she reached over to pat you on the knee.

“Well, you better get to it, sweet chick!”

“Ah, yeahhh, I know. It’s just… tough. Scary.”

“Well, you’re real brave correcting me here.”

It’s the tiniest bit easier correcting someone you barely know. It’s easier to be rejected and hurt by them than someone you have known and loved and trusted for years. If someone you knew hurt you, it would… damage you in ways that a stranger could never. So you were obviously hesitant.

“I’ll try,” you replied.

Mrs. Cortez let you save your pride and didn’t say anything more on the matter. “You still good with Y/N as your name?”

“Yeah. It would feel wrong without it.”

She nodded and sipped her tea, giving you a moment to breathe.

“Your mom—I don’t know why she didn’t want to pick some nice little place next door to me!” She gestured with a flourish at her apartment. “It’s all ya can need, here.”

You groaned, “Yeah, it’s strange she wanted to have such a big house, knowing it’s just me and her in there.”

“Taking into account all the road trips our jobs require as well,” Mrs. Cortez nodded behind her tea, “It’s just counterintuitive! She coulda been my neighbor!”

“And how wonderful that would be,” you smirked with your chin resting on your knuckles.

She raised her cup and looked at you with a matching smirk and curved eyes.

You both laughed.

Mrs. Cortez wanted to grab something from the library, so she brought you with her. She wanted to drive you home, after all.

You wandered off to the comics and manga section, and smiled happily when you found some Charlie Brown and Peanuts comics. You loved the cartoons, now and when you were younger.

Plopping down in a chair, you skim through some of the comics. But, you’re mainly people watching, trying to scan for someone in the manga section your age to talk to. You wanted to find some friends in this town your age, after all.

You’d be doing online classes for your school when you were here, and going to actual school by the farm when you were with your dad, so it’s not like you could just go make new friends at the school here. Plus, it was summer, schools out anyway, so all the kids would be out and about.

Luckily, you saw a person, maybe a year older than you, looking through the action mangas. They were masculine, shorts and chopped fluffy hair, and a hoodie tied around their hips. You watched as they thumbed out a Jujutsu Kaisen manga and made their way over to a chair.

You excitedly got out of your seat and made your way over to them. Like a deer in headlights, they tensed when you approached.

“Hey, what’s your name?” you said.

“…Ben.”

“I’m Y/N! You like Jujutsu Kaisen?”

Ben nodded slowly, inching back in their seat.

“Me too! Who’s your favorite character?”

They opened their mouth but no sound came out, and then said, “Yuta Okkotsu.”

You clapped your hands together, “Nice pick! I like Nobara and Nanami. Do you watch the show?”

They nodded.

“I think the animation is so good! It’s just a shame that they treat the animators so badly. I think Netflix is finally being updated—”

They put their hand up to stop you from rambling. “Hey, um, I’m sorry, but can you leave me alone? This is kinda my only free time and I don’t…” they trailed off.

You shrunk into yourself minutely. “Ah. I’m… sorry. I’ll, uh, leave you be…”

You shuffled away and Ben looked back down at their manga. You went back over to your seat and picked your comic strip back up, attempting to console yourself.

What were you thinking? Trying to bother someone at the library of all places. Introverts gather at libraries to be left alone and not have to deal with people like you. You were an extrovert who wanted to be around people, even when doing something simple like reading. You shouldn’t have tried… You didn’t even ask for their pronouns! They didn’t tell or ask you either, but whatever!

You stood back up and returned the book back to its place in the comic section. Mrs. Cortez should be done about now, you told yourself, so you dragged yourself back to the front desk and waited for her to come back.

After five or so minutes, Mrs. Cortez returned and drove you back to the mansion. She was cordial and you thanked her sincerely, she of course waved you off and asked to meet up with you in two weeks time. She also said to come visit if you were having any gender concerns, which was awfully kind.

Around when you got back, it was three-ish o’clock. You didn’t want to go scroll and waste hours of daylight, so immediately after being dropped off, you tended to your backyard plants.

You had always had a green thumb. Well, once you learned the tips and tricks to not immediately kill a plant.

You put on your gloves and grabbed a sun hat from a box outside the sunroom in your backyard. The sun filtered through the leaves of the forest surrounding your backyard.

Parallel to the sunroom, your garden was surrounded by small mini walls to protect the plants from getting eaten by rabbits, deer, or whatever critters wanted a quick dine-and-dash. Your plants sat in rows, each column containing varying plants in colors, types, and sizes.

You had tomato plants, broccoli, green beans, and other vegetables spread around. You had some sunflower seeds you wanted to plant, but you weren’t sure where you wanted to put them.

In your greenhouse, you held your plants that grew on vines. You had some bushes around the entrances, and had all your potted plants in there as well. Grapes, strawberries, several fruits and some other plants. You didn’t have any pumpkins, but those took up a ton of space, anyway, so you weren’t grieving the lack of them too badly. You planned to paint some rocks to decorate the floor of the greenhouse, or just to dot around the garden.

So, you grabbed your watering can and watered the plants in your greenhouse, and used your hose on the garden. You were sure to water the ones that had the drooping, brown edges on their leaves.

The leaves gave off a lot of information, even if they were complicated. Sometimes, it’s pests, lack of nutritional minerals like iron, dehydration, overwatering, or so much more. Leaves having spots or discoloring often are distress signals, which you had to learn to interpret. It was kind of like reading body language, except you were near-sighted and struggled catching the details. And harder, like you’d never seen someone make that motion or look that way, and now had to infer what that means based on other context clues. Luckily, you had grown pretty efficient in it, as in this simile-metaphor you’d been gifted glasses and had studied the body language dictionary. And experience.

You wiped your gloved hands on your thighs and surveyed the backyard again. You weren’t so sure you needed to do anything else. An idea crept into your mind.

“I should explore the forest!” you said confidently.

You walked across your backyard and duck under a branch. You searched for the clearest opening in the bushes and trees slink around into it. It’s much darker and more shaded in here, and you carefully watched the ground to avoid tripping over any vines or rocks.

You looked for any climbable trees and spotted one with low branches that looked pretty sturdy thirty or so feet from you. You stroll over to it and start monkey climbing.

You grab one of the branches and hoist yourself up. Your foot found another branch to hold yourself up with and you stuck your tongue as you reached up to grab another branch. You climbed your way up and hung on when you reached a certain height satisfactory for you. You perched onto the tree and mapped out the area. You weren’t afraid of heights, heheh.

The forest made you pretty dirty, and you only fell and bruised your elbow once. You were having too much fun to complain, really. It was a fun pick-me-up from the mediocre trip to the library.

You continued to explore the never-ending landscape for an unspecified amount of time. When your stomach rumbled, complaining, you shrugged and abandoned the log you were tightrope balancing on. You made your way back and were surprised when you saw the sun setting when you came back into your backyard. It must’ve been around 6 pm.

You sniffed your shirt and grimaced. You needed a shower, stat. You grabbed the door handle to the sunroom and tried to tug it open. It wouldn’t budge.

That makes sense, it’s probably locked. Safety measures. You’d be dumb to leave the back door unlocked, even though you lived up here behind the gate and the fence. Your family, when your parents weren’t divorced, lived in the suburbs of the city, so you really had to lock the doors when you weren’t home. It was a habit.

You reroute and go around the sides of the house to the front door. When you test the doorknob, it’s locked as well. You reason with yourself again, you probably locked the door behind you with the keys before you left with Mrs. Cortez.

You check your pockets, which are empty except for your phone. Shit.

So, you were locked out of your house, and likely left the keys to the mansion at Mrs. Cortez’s house, or at the library. You didn’t ask for her phone number, so you can’t go call her to see where they are and have her drive up and give them to you.

You knew Dr. Owens was given a spare key from your mom, but you didn’t have her phone number, either, and your mom always has her phone on silent mode in the evening, usually because she’s in a meeting or at something and doesn’t want to be disturbed. You had a gut feeling she wouldn’t respond.

You knew your dad didn’t have Dr. Owen’s number either. You didn’t know Dr. Owen’s address either, so it’s not like you can walk the hour and a half to the human city and get the spare there. You didn’t want to walk the whole hour and a half, anyway. You didn’t remember where Mrs. Cortez’s flat was exactly.

What were you supposed to do?

You sat on the porch chair anxiously.

Your neighbors—the skeletons—they could teleport, right? Maybe you could ask them to teleport inside your house? It was risky, but you were willing to take your chances.

You jogged the fifteen minute walk over to the manor and knocked on the front door tiredly.

There was a clamor and Mrs. Y/N answered the door.

Her eyes widened in surprise, “Nexus! What are you doing here?”

You scratched your head. “I was out all day and must’ve dropped the keys to the house. My parents are,” you struggled for a moment, “…occupied, so they won’t be home until later tonight. I was hoping one of the skeletons could save me the wait and teleport me inside my house? Skip the awkward waiting-Timeskip-cutscene, ya know?”

Mrs. Y/N shooed you into the foyer and you followed sheepishly. “And why are you so dirty?”

You laughed, “I, uh, explored some of the forest in my backyard. It’s dirty in there, it spread the mess onto me.”

She sighed and you giggled. She pushed you into the kitchen, where you met up with Red.

He sneered at your unsavory appearance. Gesturing with a bottle, he commented, “kid, why are ya looking like such a mess? boss is gonna freak if you drag all that mud into the carpets.” You weren’t muddy but okay.

You winked and saluted lazily. “All in good fun, my friend.”

He rolled his eyes (lights) and drank some mustard in a bottle. You shivered in disgust.

“Let me get you something to drink. Go ahead and tell Master Red about what you need,” Y/N told you before walking over to the fridge.

You are lightly shoved onto a stool by the counter bar next to Red. You turned to him with a sideways grin. He raised an eyebrow (ridge?).

“well?”

“So, I got locked out of my house, ‘cause I must’ve left my keys somewhere when I was downtown.”

Red snorted, “what a loser.”

“Yeah, L move on my part.” Red looked slightly confused when you didn't disagree. “I was hoping one of you guys could teleport me into my house. My parents are out until late, and I don’t want to go back downtown to ask someone for a backup key.”

Red chugs some more of his mustard and you continue, repulsed. “I can’t pick locks, sadly, and I ain’t strong enough to go bustin’ down a door—my parents would kill me anyway—” Red snickered. “And I don’t want to wait. I need a shower, and I’m tiiirrred.”

Red set his condiment-drink down. He puts his cheek (bone?) in his hand. “well, us skeletons can’t teleport somewhere we’ve never been in and/or to. so, you’re out of luck, mudstick.”

You frowned. Y/N hands you a can of soda pop and you crack it open and take a sip, enjoying the fizzy taste on your tongue.

“Well, what am I ‘spposed to do then?”

Red shrugged, “embrace your troll instincts and camp outside, i guess.”

You snapped your fingers together, and Red incredulously started to ask if you were seriously going to go with that, but you interrupted, “How about this? Can you teleport or drive me out to the Human city? I know some people who have a spare key—or, at least know where the people with the spare key live!”

Red scowled. “i ain’t teleporting you into the human city. i can hide well enough, but I don’t know where we’d be going. i don’t wanna risk being caught and having to deal with some dumbass human mob harassing me.” He got off his stool and went to leave the kitchen. “i’m not wasting my time on this.”

“Oh, c’mon, Enfurruñado! Can’t you help a poor fella out?” You pleaded, mainly joking.

Red squinted at you, “the hell does that mean? en-fur-an-ahdo?”

You smirked.

Red pinched his nose (ridge? Bone?). “go ask someone else, mudstick.” He closed the door to the hallway connecting to the main entrance where the grandiose staircase is.

Disappointed, you sighed and took another sip of your drink. Y/N glanced back at you from where she was working on the skeleton’s dinner.

“Sorry, Nexus. Red is just like that.”

“Oh well. I’ll just ask Orange or one of them. Maybe Papyrus?”

She leaned against the counter by the oven. “I don’t know if Papyrus, Blue, or Black can teleport. I know Black can drive, but you’d have as much luck convincing him to drive you somewhere as you’d have riding a bull.”

“Oookaay. Orange or Sans it is.” You stood up and followed Red out of the kitchen into the big room connecting to the massive staircase.

“Orange!” you called out.

You waited for only a minute until Orange teleported in front of you, looking annoyed and then baffled when he saw how you looked. “what—what happened to you?”

“Forest, doesn’t matter,” you wave off his question. “Can you teleport or drive me down to the human city? I lost my key downtown and know someone who might have it or a spare.”

He rubbed the back of his head (skull?). “sorry, kid. we’re not supposed to go near humans. they could try and attack us.”

You huffed, tapping your foot rapidly. “Well, my parents aren’t gonna be home tonight, and I don’t wanna walk the hour and a half, I don’t remember the exact location of the person I need to ask.”

You saw out of the corner of your eye Papyrus, Blue, Sans, and Edge started to gather into the room. You were pretty sure Edge was complaining ‘WHAT IS ALL THIS RUCKAS ABOUT?’

Orange shrugged. “i don’t know, nex. the humans don’t know who we are for a reason.”

You crossed your arms in annoyance. You tried not to pout.

“WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE THAT?! YOU LOOK LIKE A WALKING BIOHAZARD!” Edge wrinkled his nose (ridge?).

“I went exploring my backyard forest, Boss Black, I know I look dirty,” you snarked. “Look, can anyone bring me to the human city? I somehow left my keys down there, and my parents won’t be home tonight.”

Blue furrowed his brow (ridges?), “WHY ARE YOUR PARENTS OUT SO MUCH?”

You don’t respond. “Well?”

Sans’ expression was pretty blank. “we don’t go down to the human city, kid. it’s getting late anyway.”

You side-eye him. “Yeah, okay. What do I do then?”

Silence. Sans moved to speak up, probably to tell you to make a moss fort outside, when—

Papyrus tilted his head, “WHY DON’T YOU JUST STAY HERE FOR THE NIGHT? IT’D BE FUN!”

Your eyes darted to him, surprised. “Really? Red said I couldn’t.”

“WELL, IT CAN BE A SLEEPOVER BETWEEN YOU AND I, THEN!” Papyrus smiled.

You matched his smile, lips making your eyes crinkle. He is totally your bestie.

A sleepover was a bit out of your comfort zone, but you heard that once you sleep near someone, your trust in each other increases tenfold. It was the best choice provided for you, so you decide to go with it.

Blue grinned as well. “COUNT ME IN, TOO!”

Edge scoffed, “HAVE YOUR SILLY PARTY, BUT AT LEAST CLEAN YOURSELF, FIRST.”

“Masters?” Y/N came out to your huddle with a broom. “And Nexus,” she grinned at you, “what’s going on?”

Blue smiled closed-eyed, “NEXUS IS GOING TO STAY OVER FOR THE NIGHT! IT’S GOING TO BE A SLEEPOVER BETWEEN THEM AND PAPYRUS AND ME!”

Edge scoffed, blushing faintly red (…how?), “AND ME!” Yay! Boss Black!

Orange put his hands(?) in his pockets. “might as well include me, then. you in too, sans?”

The skeleton stared into space before nodding.

Orange grinned mirthfully, “well, looks like it’s everyone but red.”

You all listened into the mansion and heard a loud grumble. “fine! include me too.” You smirked.

Edge shooed you. “GO CLEAN YOURSELF!”

You looked behind you at Ms. Y/N and gave her your best puppy dog eyes, and she fondly sighed and motioned for you to follow her. You wave casually to the skeletons behind you as you follow her, “See ya soon!”

Papyrus enthusiastically said goodbye to your back and you’re pretty sure Blue waved (which you couldn’t see).

Ms. Y/N led you through a hallway by the kitchen and went down these stairs into the basement. Is this where she sleeps?

You followed after her and saw the concrete floor, a comfortable twin-sized bed, a bedside table, a closet, and a small hallway leading to what you assumed was her bathroom. She points you over to the bathroom, and you are surprised to see the pitiful weathered bathroom. You couldn’t believe she has such a worn bathroom.

She handed you a spare toothbrush and toothpaste. Y/N politely closed the door behind you. You brushed your teeth, and then you stripped off your clothes and shoes and turned on her shower. You stepped in when it’s relatively warm and washed yourself, careful to use as little of her utilities as you can. You don’t want to burn through her supplies, after all. You aren’t so sure how good the skeletons are about providing her with things, as seen with her lack of clothes (you will get her some more when you two go shopping).

You heard the door creak open while you were scrubbing your legs, and you freezed.

“It’s Y/N,” she sounded astonished. “M-master Red and Black have some clothes you can change into when you're done. I’m going to run your clothes through the wash, is that okay?”

You relaxed, “Ah, yeah. Thanks, Ms. Y/N!”

The door closed again.

Low and behold, when you stepped out and dried off, a big t-shirt (Edge’s, you assumed) and some shorts (Red’s, likely) were folded on the toilet lid, and you put them on. Red’s shorts went to about your knees, and Edge’s shirt went past your hips, but they were comfortable, so you opened the door to Y/N’s bathroom and went up the steps to the kitchen.

Ms. Y/N was working on the skeletons’ dinner, so you left the kitchen and found your way to the living room, where Blue was plugging in something to the T.V. He was wearing these fuzzy star pajama pants and a t-shirt, slippers too.

“Galaxy! What’re ya doing?”

He jumped and looked over his shoulder(?), then smiled with his star-shaped pupils (eye lights?). “I’M PLUGGING IN MY WII! I’M THINKING WE COULD PLAY SOME GAMES, FRIEND!”

You rubbed your hands together menacingly. “Heheh, I’m the master of games. What do you have?”

He finished with the console and turned it on, making sure it was connected. “I HAVE A LOT OF MARIO GAMES, SMASH BROS, ZELDA GAMES…”

“Smash Bros! I’m gonna destroy you, haha!” You laughed maniacally.

His eyes (lights? Sockets?) blazed, “OH, YOU’RE ON!”

You looked around the room. “Do you know where everyone else is?”

Blue put his hands on his hips (pelvis?). “I THINK THEY’RE ALL CHANGING FOR BED. IT’S A LATE DINNER TONIGHT.”

You nodded. You plopped down on one of the couches.

“IF I MAY ASK, ARE THOSE EDGE’S AND RED’S CLOTHES YOU’RE WEARING?”

“Yuh, apparently.”

“HUH! WHO KNEW.”

You tugged at the shirt and flipped over onto your stomach. You absentmindedly kicked your feet and grabbed a pillow from the couch. You watched Blue fiddle with games, picking out the multiplayer ones.

“Have you ever had a sleepover before?” you asked.

“YES! WELL, KIND OF. I THINK. IT’S BEEN A WHILE!” he answered.

“What do you mean?”

“WELL, WE HAVE HAD PEOPLE SLEEP OVER, LIKE CHARA WHEN THEY NEEDED A PLACE TO STAY. BUT, WE DIDN’T DO A LOT OF THE TYPICALLY ‘SLEEPOVER ACTIVITIES’,” he explained. “WE DID SOME STUFF, BUT THE SLEEPOVER WASN’T EXACTLY… WHATEVER YOU CALL IT.”

“Well, I hope this one’s more fun, then.”

He smiled brightly, “ME TOO!”

“You wanna play a round of Smash Bros while we wait for the others?”

“SURE!” He handed you a controller.

You chose Kirby—of course. You proceeded to destroy him. Bragging the whole way through. Smack talking.

Blue stared devastated at the screen.

“GG. You wanna go again?” You smirked at his jaw slacked face.

“I-I THINK—”

Orange teleported onto the couch directly next to you, and you fell backward off the couch, screaming.

Orange started wheeze-laughing. Blue slapped Orange on the skull, scolding him for scaring you. You started cackling as well on the ground. It was kinda funny. You had jumped and screeched like one of those anime characters.

“what are y’all playing?”

“SMASH BROS! WANT TO JOIN? NEXUS JUST BEAT ME!”

“sure. i like to play games.”

You picked Kirby again, and proceeded to destroy him as well. This one was a bit more of a challenge, but you found his weak skills and exploited them. Orange stared at the screen in bafflement and frustration.

“GG—good game.”

“how? how did you??”

“I don’t know dude, maybe you just have a skill issue.”

His eye (socket?) twitched. “i do not have a ‘skill issue.’”

You hummed, “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Orange turned orange in the face, angry.

Edge burst into the room. “I SEE YOU ARE FINALLY CLEAN, NOW?”

“Yup! Thanks for the shirt. Didn’t think you’d do that for me,” you fluttered your eyelashes.

He flushed. “S-SHUT UP, HUMAN CHILD!”

You offered him one of the controllers. “You wanna have at it? Smash Bros.”

“HAH! YOU’RE CHALLENGING ME TO A BATTLE? DON’T BE SURPRISED WHEN I RIP YOU INTO PIECES!”

You played. Kirby. You pummelled him. Easy win.

“HOW DID YOU-?!”

“GG. Bye,” you pushed him off the couch. He was only, like, forty pounds.

Red slouched into the room. He squinted at the pile of skeletons watching the screen in amazement. And you, waiting for your next victim.

“Wanna play? Smash Bros.”

“…i don’t like what i see here—”

“C’mon. Do you have the balls to try me?”

Blue and Orange ‘ooh’ed.

Red’s eyes (lights) glinted. “oh, you’re on.”

You picked Kirby again. You struggled with this one a bit, you’ll admit. But. You defeat him. Trash talk and all.

He’s silent in his rage. The controller shook in his hand.

“Good game. You had me pulling out my tricks there. Still.”

Papyrus came in before Red could strangle you. “WHAT ARE WE PLAYING?”

You smiled at him, sparkling. “Smash Bros. You in for a round?”

“SURE! RED, SCOOCH OVER, PLEASE.”

Red joined the pile of skeletons watching you.

You played Papyrus. Easy win, once again on Kirby. Papyrus laughed it off.

“THAT WAS FUN! THANKS FOR LETTING ME PLAY! YOU ARE REALLY GOOD AT THIS!”

“Aw, shucks. Thanks, Pap-si.” Pepsi, Pap-si. Do you see it??

“A NICKNAME? FOR ME?!! OH THANK YOU, NEXUS! I MUST COME UP WITH ONE FOR YOU TOO!” Huh, Blue said the same thing.

“Anyway, the last people to challenge are Sans and Y/N. Do you know where Sans is, Pap-si?”

“HMM, I DON’T KNOW. HE MIGHT BE LYING AROUND IN HIS ROOM. I’LL GO CHECK.” Papyrus left the room again.

Blue asked if you wanted to play something else, so you changed over to a multiplayer Mario game and worked with Blue, Black, and Orange through the levels.

“GO THROUGH THE PIPE!” Black screamed at Blue.

“I’M TRYING!”

“watch for the—dang it.”

“You guys suck at this,” you huffed.

“they can’t all be gamers, nexus,” Red said, lounging on an armchair.

Y/N knocked on the door hedge. “Dinner’s ready. What are you doing?”

“TRYING TO SAVE A PATHETIC HUMAN PRINCESS FROM A SHELLED REPTILE CREATURE. I DON’T KNOW WHY WE DON’T JUST LEAVE HIM AND THE GIRL ALONE, HE FAIRLY CAUGHT HER.”

“Because it was unconsensual,” you said.

“IT IS COMPLETELY NORMAL!” Black retorted.

“Whatever. I’m gonna go eat. Red, you want my place?”

“nah, i’m hungry. what’s for dinner, doll?”

Y/N’s face flattened. “Come find out, Master Red.” She left the room.

You followed her into the dining room. The aroma of homemade pizza wafted in the air, and you took a seat, grabbing a slice from the platters on the table.

“Thanks Ms. Y/N! This is really good!”

The other skeletons made their way to the dining room, Papyrus and Sans finally joining the group once again. You handed a slice to Ms. Y/N, and she smiled and told you she’d eat later. You frowned but let it go. She was the maid after all, she probably had to clean up or something.

You and the skeletons bantered and joked, barring Sans who tried to avoid talking to you. (Why he kept doing this, you didn’t know. You thought after you settled into the group dynamic and Sans learned you weren’t the equivalent of a racist, he'd have calmed down a bit more. You’d have to stage an intervention soon, you weren’t a coward that would just continue to let this miscommunication continue.)

When you and the skeletons finished eating, it was around fifteen minutes past eight. The skeletons ran off to go do some other things, but you stayed in the dining room.

“Y/N! Please come eat, I saved you some of the pizza. Red was mean about it, but I am pretty incredible.”

“Give me a second, Nexus.”

Eventually Y/N pulled up a chair and had some of the food you saved her. She thanked you kindly and you smiled and thanked her for the food, complimenting her skills. She grinned something sad and told you she had to learn somehow, which made you slightly concerned.

You helped her clean up the plates (which took a lot of convincing) and you wandered off when she refused to let you help with the rest of the chores.

You found yourself back in the living room and played more levels with Blue, Black, and Orange, Red commentating and Papyrus giving you innocent encouragement. Sans sat by Papyrus on the edge of the circle.

You nearly beat the game when Blue and Papyrus started yawning. When you checked the clock, it was around nine-thirty. Blue headed off to his bed, saying he had an early morning tomorrow. Papyrus left as well, but said he was going to grab something for you.
Red ruffled your hair when you thanked him for letting you borrow his clothes, embarrassed. Orange made you promise some gaming nights in the future with him, and left you eagerly curious when he set off to go work on ‘a chapter’. Black sauntered off to his room, complaining about his night skin care routine he needed to do. You teased him about his beauty sleep. Sans teleported off with a ‘see ya’.

You shut off the Wii and started making a bed in the living room. You nabbed the cushions and blankets that were left over and arranged them on one of the nice couches.

“I HAVE RETURNED!” Papyrus opened one of the living room doors again with blankets in his hands.

“Are those for me?”

“YEP! I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE THESE.” He handed the soft blankets—about four, you guess—over to you and you added them to the pile where you were going to sleep.

“Thanks, Pap-si. Have a good night,” you walked over to him and gave him a hug. He hugged you back with a squeeze and patted your head when you let go.

“SLEEP WELL, NEXUS! I’LL SEE YOU TOMORROW.” He turned around and left.

You made yourself comfortable on the couch and pulled Papyrus’ blankets around you. The living room was chilly, so the blankets would balance it out.

You weren’t super tired, but you were feeling surprisingly safe. Relaxed. You had expected more discomfort sleeping over in the skeleton’s manor, seeing as you barely knew them. But, the environment was nice, and maybe you were happy to not be alone in a big house for once. Not feeling like something small in an enormous space.

You felt like your day had improved. It was still an okay day, but it had gone from all reminders that you were alone and without people to having fun with friends, even if you had to deal with Sans avoiding you all night. Edge and Red gave you attitude, but also let you borrow their clothes. Blue invited you to hang out with him and let you play on his Wii. Orange played with you and made a promise to spend time together in the future. Papyrus gave you his blankets and was the best sport about the games. Y/N made you food, and she was grateful for your attempts to help. It was… a nice difference to being alone.

You reflect a bit more on the evening. You toss and turn a bit and then realize you want some water. You get out of your blanket bed and open the door to the living room, into the hallway.

You found yourself in the foyer area with the staircase and walked to the hallway to the kitchen, but then stopped. You had your sixth-sense going off. Something was watching you.

You peered into the staircase in your peripheral vision (i.e. side eyeing the staircase) and saw two white eye lights shining. Sans was staring at you. The eye lights blinked and he turned to go up the stairs. You flipped around to the staircase and saw Sans flinch.

“Wait. We need to talk,” you called out. Your voice echoed in the dark mansion.

Sans ignored what you said and started running up the stairs. You grumbled and ran after him.

The stairs were too goddamn big in your opinion, and you panted slightly as you skipped steps, going every two or three. “God fucking damn it you trashbag, why are you like this—”

When you reached the top of the staircase, Sans was gone. There were six main doors and two hallways that went in opposite directions, so there were so many places he could’ve gone. You sighed and gave up. It wasn’t worth chasing him down at ten o’clock at night.

You went down the long staircase again and went to bed after grabbing your glass of water.

Chapter Text

You opened a drawer and pulled out a collared shirt. It was gray with white stripes and clean. You set it aside on your bed next to your nice pants. Why were you dressing up? Because you were going to play house tour to several of the skeletons, of course!

See, after the whole ‘sleepover’ debacle, the skeletons insisted to see inside your house so they could teleport you inside if need be. Sleepovers are fun and all, but involuntary ones are ‘basically squatting on the property’ (according to Orange) and ‘ACTING LIKE YOU’RE HOMELESS’ (according to Edge). They didn’t refuse the idea of you staying over some other time though!

After you woke up that morning, Blue came down and drove you to the gate by the human town. He gave you his phone number and told you to call when you finished with your business.

He dropped you off and you wandered around until you found Mrs. Cortez’s flat, and she ushered you in and gave you the keys you accidentally dropped when you were in her car.

She said she was planning on driving somewhere that morning and saw the keys stuck under one of the seats. She was worried about you that morning and planned on driving over to check on you, and you reassured her that you ended up staying over with someone. You also got her number and snagged Dr. Owen’s number as well, in case you really needed her extra key.

Mrs. Cortez patted you and sent you on your way, keys securely held in your hand in your pocket.

You texted Blue to pick you up when you reached the gate, and he only took a surprising two minutes to come shooting around and down the pathway. (You backed away from the gate when he arrived, a little worried you were about to be at the scene of a car crash.)

Blue drove you back to your mansion at the fence and you gave him a friendly fist-bump as a thanks. He gave his (now usual) squeals of ‘IS THIS WHAT FRIENDSHIP FEELS LIKE?!?!?’ and told you he was drafting his nickname for you. (Like, legitimately drafts. As in writing out ideas on paper. And research! The friendship obsession this man and Papyrus have is so strong, it’s adorable.)

It was a day or so later, and some of the skeletons were coming over. Said skeletons being Blue, Papyrus, Edge, and Red. Orange said he would come over some other time to make good on the gaming nights deal. Sans was being a coward as usual. He just said he was busy. Y/N, sadly, had really no reason to come over other than have some fun, and her all-day job somewhat kept her from other activities anyway. You were pretty sure Red was the only one that could teleport, but the other skeletons were insistent on seeing your new home.

You shucked off the clothes you were wearing and put on the nice pants and striped grey shirt. You went over to a box on top of your dresser and pulled out a little red bow tie. You were going to look like a real estate agent and you thought that was hilarious.

After a few minutes of fumbling to tie the bow tie, you were ready. You ran down the many stairs to get the door as you heard the doorbell ring.

“Hello, piles of bones! Welcome to my humble abode,” you greeted the skeletons as you opened the door.

Edge scoffed and walked around you into the entrance, which was connected to the dining room. “YES, YES, WE ARE HERE TO SEE YOUR LIVING CONDITIONS, GET ON WITH IT!”

Blue ooh-ed at the room, starry eyes (lights?) gazing over everything with a sense of wonder.

“THANKS FOR HAVING US OVER, NEXUS! ARE YOUR PARENTS AT WORK AGAIN?” Papyrus asked.

“Yes, yes, but of course! No need to thank me, Pap-si!” You guided him inside, “And yeah, my parents are busy, they won’t be bothering us.”

Red walked into the entrance, clearly judging it along with Edge. Like brother, like brother, you supposed.

You clapped your hands together twice, and the skeletons looked at you. “So, which levels would you like to see first? It might take a while, depending on how much you guys want to ask or know.”

“WELL, I’M VERY INTERESTED IN SEEING WHAT YOUR HOME IS LIKE, NEXUS, BUT AS A CHEF, I HAVE A PARTICULAR INTEREST IN YOUR KITCHEN! SO LET’S SEE THAT FIRST!” Papyrus requested.

“eh, i don’t care personally where we start. i probably just need to generally see every room if you want me to be able to teleport you in each one. details would help, but i don’t need a life story.” Red said.

“I AGREE WITH PAPYRUS! KITCHEN!” Blue said.

Looks like it was decided, then. “Kitchen it is!”

Your kitchen was on the ground level, or the first floor, which was the one you were currently on. The kitchen was just right of the dining room, separated from it by a divider wall, so you just had to walk around it and you’d be there. The kitchen was also right by the staircase.

Your kitchen was fancy.

It had a big countertop in the middle of the kitchen, which had various items scattered on top, such as a bowl with some fruits in it. It had drawers and pantry shelves inside on it, and two lights that hung overhead. The countertop was marble and stone, with a unique pattern.

You had many wall cabinets, many connected to the wall that separates the dining room from the kitchen. There was a huge window gap that showed the porch, and the sink and counters were right in front of it. Your stove, oven, fridge, and dishwasher were by the wall to the side of the house, along with wall cabinets and counters, which mainly all had drawers. Behind the main kitchen area was the staircase.

“This is the kitchen, it’s very fancy! We don’t have a pantry like you guys, but there’s lots of appliances and counters here, so there’s a lot of room.”

“THIS IS A VERY NICE KITCHEN! IT IS TOO BAD YOU ARE NOT A COOK, NEXUS!” Papyrus told you.

“WOWIE! IT’S SO PRETTY!” Blue awed.

“HM. IT WILL DO.”

“nice. it’s too bright in here, though.”

“Natural sunlight’s always better than the bland overhead lights, ya estar mohíno,” you said. “Where to next?”

“hm. what else do you have on this level?”

“Let’s see… the living room is on the other side of the staircase, and the sunroom’s through the door connected to the living room. But we could go upstairs instead if y’all want to see something more interesting?”

Red nodded with a smirk, “might be a good idea to see your slouch and nap areas. and if you get locked out in the sunroom. it has your back door, right?”

You grinned and straightened your bow tie. “Sounds good.”

You narrated the way through your house and showed off the living room, and then the sunroom. Blue seemed incredibly enraptured by your home, Papyrus complimented just about everything, Black criticized the cleanliness of the house, and you nearly said that you could only do so much, but you saved it with a ‘We don’t have a maid like you guys! We have to do it on our own!’ Red made some crude jokes and comments, but generally seemed to be processing everything and memorizing details.

The afternoon continued in this way, bantering and showing off the rooms, with each skeleton having their own opinions about the room and where to go next. It didn’t take super long, but the skeletons, especially Red and Blue, seemed to get tired by the three levels of stairs.

Now, you decided to take a break, so you and the skeletons could just relax and hang out. You were in the kitchen making black tea for the group (because Edge and Red want it black like their soul, or something silly). You took the drinks and some milk and sugar into the dining room.

Edge said it matched his palate and sucked it down respectably. Red sipped on it and gave you a thumbs up when you asked if he liked it. Papyrus, surprisingly, enjoyed his tea quite a bit! He didn’t even use any of the sweeteners or creamers.

Blue didn’t like it as much as the others and impulsively dumped several spoonfuls of sugar and milk into his cup, and then chugged it down aggressively.

You patted him on the back, snickering, “Don’t choke on that, Galaxy.”

Red sniggered and whispered, “that’s what she said…”

You looked down at the sunken skeleton, “Like you would know, lil doggy.” You smirked at his offended expression.

You weren’t so sure what to do next, but then you remembered Edge’s love of puzzles. Edge, Papyrus, and Blue were all quite similar, at times uncomfortably so, so maybe it applied to all of those three? Papyrus, you were pretty sure, mentioned his and Blue’s puzzles before.

And what about Red if he doesn’t like puzzles? Yeah, he can suffer for his and everyone’s sins like all the goddamn religious figures. Red be the new Jesus?

“Hey, let’s do some puzzles and games!” You ran up the stairs before anyone could say anything.

You made it to the game room and looked through the puzzles stored, picking out a 500 piece jigsaw of these donuts.

You also go over to the side table and pull open the cabinet doors and look through the games in there. You snag the Uno cards. Uno was always a good choice.

Carrying the box and cards, you ran back down the steps into the dining room, and you set everything down.

“Games and puzzles!” you exclaimed. You plopped back down on your chair. “Let’s do the puzzle first.”

“JIGSAW PUZZLES! HOW FUN!” Blue clapped excitedly.

“oh great. more puzzles,” Red groaned.

“Ay, don’t shit on jigsaw puzzles like that,” you frowned. “They are my safe haven!”

“THIS SHALL SUFFICE FOR SIMPLE ENTERTAINMENT!” Edge announced.

“AND THEY’RE DONUTS! HOW EXCITING,” Papyrus said. He opened the box and poured all the pieces out of the plastic wrapping.

“I always like to make the outline first.” You began to pick out the corner and edge pieces.

“PAH! MAKING THE MOST RECOGNIZABLE THINGS FIRST IS THE WAY TO GO!” Edge starts working on the pink donut in the middle.

“I’LL HELP YOU, NEXUS!” Papyrus said, and Blue agreed.

“HOW RUDE! WHATEVER, I DON’T NEED HELP ANYWAY!” Edge said.

“i’ll help ya, boss,” Red sweated, helping organize the other pieces. Edge hummed slightly in response.

“SHE’S ONLY A CHILD, ANYWAY! NOT LIKE SHE’D KNOW THE BEST WAY TO DO IT!” You tensed at the pronoun. “THOSE TWO, HOWEVER, HAVE NO GOOD REASON TO!”

You pulled away from the puzzle, and the other skeletons noticed your grimace.

“WHAT’S WRONG?” Papyrus asked.

“I prefer ‘they’ instead of ‘she’, but go off, I guess,” you said quickly.

Edge looked away, guilty. “I SEE. I'LL MAKE NOTE OF THAT.”

“you prefer gender-neutral stuff?” You nodded, slightly mortified by the silence. “kay.”

They all got back to the puzzle, and Papyrus leaned over to whisper in your ear, still looking at the puzzle, “I ASSUMED THAT AT FIRST! YOU HAVE A VERY GENDER-LESS VOICE!” He ‘MEH-HEH!’-ed in pride. You snorted.

Soon enough, you had the outline done, and you moved on to the inside. You had to admit, Blue was doing really good! He had already connected three donuts to the outline.

“Galaxy, you’re doing, like, awesome at this! Nice, dude,” you smiled brightly.

His cheeks (bones?) lighted up an electric blue color (you have given up on being confused).

“I KNOW! I AM PRETTY GOOD AT EVERYTHING, NATURALLY!” He bluffed egotistically.

Edge mocked him with a Cheshire grin, “BUT APPARENTLY YOU CAN'T DRINK TEA?”

Papyrus and Red snickered and Blue scowled.

“Aww, Mr. Donuts need his sugar and milk, eh?” you poke him with your elbow, and you laughed. “Lmao. Don’t go ego-trippin’ on us, bud.”

You continued working on the puzzle, all of you finishing your tea as you put pieces together and helped each other out.

It took about thirty minutes in total, but you all finished! You high-fived and fist-bumped happily at the end, Blue having moved on from his sulking.

“Let's seal it!” you said with your hands on your hips. The skeletons squinted at you, confused.

“IF I MAY ASK, WHAT IS 'SEALING', NEXUS?” Papyrus inquired.

“It’s this process—you know what? Lemme just show you!”

You ran over to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle, grabbed some wax paper, and an old spatula. You ran back over and waved away the skeletons from the table so you could have space.

You eyeballed the measurements and cut off the wax paper with the razor blade attached to the box. You carefully put the wax paper under the puzzle, ignoring Edge’s angry exclamations, and then grabbed the bottle and squeezed the glue on the jigsaw puzzle.

“woah—welp. guess our efforts are put to waste,” Red sighed.

“Trust the process, bucko,” you jutted the spatula at him. You used the spatula to spread the glue across the puzzle, making sure it went in all the cracks and edges.

You were done now, the puzzle covered in a layer of glue, making it appear white. All that was left was to wait.

“We have to wait an hour or two to flip it and do the back,” you said. “The glue will be clear then, too. Then no one can ever disassemble this puzzle again! It's truly finished!”

The skeletons looked at each other in surprise, and then, surprisingly, all smiled. A memory was made with their new friend, though Black would never call you his friend. You were a human, and a child, at that.

“See, ya just gotta trust the process.” You make a ‘perfecto’ hand like one of those Italian chefs.

“shut up, leprechaun.”

You gasp dramatically like a Victorian woman clutching her pearls. “How dare you! I am a modest 5’2”! Respectable for my age!”

“AND I AM AROUND 7 FOOT, PIRANA! YOU ARE A LEPRECHAUN.” Edge sneered.

“I ain’t Irish, though!” Leprechauns were Irish, not Scottish. You knew your insults.

“i don’t care about your ethnicity when i’m insulting you.” Red rolled his eyes (lights?).

This directly opposes you. You were accurate and as hitting as you could when you insulted someone. You were a classy bitch, after all.

“Well, you have the accent of a New Yorker—maybe Brooklyn—yet it seems like you’ve been living under a rock for a century.”

Red’s expression fell in annoyance and he pouted at you. Blue and Papyrus snickered.

“shahdap.”

“Rock-man, cave-bones,” you sang melodically. You patronizingly patted him on the skull, reaching up. He was just barely taller than you, which made it even more hilarious.

You moved the puzzle on the wax paper so it can dry. You grabbed the stack of Uno cards.

“Now..” You said in the deepest voice possible, pulling out the Uno cards. “We really play, boys.”

You handed Red the cards, asking him to shuffle them. He proceeded to do so.

“how’d ya know i could shuffle cards?” he asked, genuinely curious.

“Well, you look like a poker player, as I’ve said before,” you smirked. “Also, I have a question.”

Papyrus said, “WHAT IS YOUR QUESTION, FRIEND?”

“Do you guys have jobs? And how are y’all so rich?”

“WELL, WE DO SOME PART TIME STUFF, ACTUALLY. SANS, RED, AND MY BROTHER DO SOME SCIENCE STUFF FOR FUN!” Blue explained, “PAPYRUS, ME, AND BLACK—WE ALL DID THE ROYAL GUARD WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER, SO TECHNICALLY WE HAVE JOBS, BUT THERE’S NEW POLICE, SO IT’S NOT AS IMPORTANT ANYMORE. IN SHORT, WE HAVE JOBS, BUT WE DON’T HAVE TO DO A LOT, OR, OUR HOURS ARE LESS THAN A TYPICAL JOB.”

“Wait, so you guys have jobs, but it doesn’t take up a lot of time? Or…” This was kind of confusing.

Edge continued for Blue, “WE HAVE JOBS AND WE DO THINGS, BUT IT WOULD BE YOUR EQUIVALENT OF ‘PART-TIME’ IN COMMITMENTS, TIME, ET CETERA.”

“AS FOR WHY WE’RE SO RICH… OUR MONEY WAS A LOT DIFFERENT THAN YOURS, AND APPARENTLY IS A LOT MORE VALUABLE TO YOU, SO US MONSTERS ARE QUITE RICH IN GOLD COMPARED TO YOU!” Papyrus said.

“You guys are called ‘Monsters’?” You stared at them incredulously. “That feels kind of rude to y’all. I mean, you are animated live skeletons, but you’re not really scary.”

Red shrugged. “that’s how humans usually treat us. it’s not uncommon to find speciesm in humans.”

You pinched your nose bridge. “Yeah, we’re pretty bad about it.” You paused, “…You guys know I’m not a speciest, right? Sans certainly doesn’t seem to be able to stand me.”

Papyrus frowned, “SANS… I’M SORRY. HE’S… HE SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THAT.”

You sighed. “It’s fine, you ain’t gotta apologize for his actions, Pap-si. I just… it drains me a bit.”

You had finished handing out the cards. You realized you should hand out drinks!

“Have you guys ever played before?”

“NOT RECENTLY, NO,” Blue said.

“Mmkay, here’s the instructions,” you handed him the manual. “It should refresh your memory. I’ll b-r-b.”

You ran to the kitchen and opened up the fridge. You grabbed some Coca Colas. The glass bottle kind. They were pretty hard to find, unless you were a professional like yourself. You tugged one of the drawers open in one of the counters and grabbed a bottle opener as well.

Balancing the drinks by holding them in your arms and elbows, you re-entered the dining room and set down the drinks.

“I got the goods, y’all. Fresh drugs in a bottle!”

Red laughed and they all grabbed one. You used the bottle opener (which Red teased you for) and took a sip, and noticed the skeletons quickly getting through their drinks.

Now, the game had begun!

Black swiftly took the lead, and Red was closely behind in second. Papyrus was pulling through at third, and you were having a bad run at fourth. Blue was struggling with an immense number of cards in last place.

As the game continued, you couldn’t help but notice that… the skeletons were starting to act like rabid animals? Like, sugar-rush level creatures. Even a bit drunk, if you had to say.

“U—” Black hiccuped, basically vibrating, “UNO.” You were worried that the sodas might’ve actually been the equivalent of drugs for them… but it was mainly amusing.

Next to you, Blue erupted, “N-NOT SO FAST!” He started laying down cards one by one, your hysteria rising with each card, hype in your veins. “+4, +4,+4, THE COLOR IS RED, +2, +2, +2, UNO.” Dang it!

He laid down his final card, one more ‘+2’, “U-UNO OUT!”

Everyone’s jaw dropped (quite literally), and you stared in amazement at Blue’s triumphant expression.

That was the best recovery you had seen in the slightly over one decade you’ve been alive. That single-handedly ended the game, ended the next person’s WHOLE CAREER, and made the top ten best of Uno in plays, ever. Blue had been your companion in the edge of the pack, the back of the train, the black sheep in the herd, you name it. You were the underdogs, and he left you in the dust for his sole chance of victory, the plan he had been waiting to unleash upon the poor folk surrounded at this dining table. And yet…

Papyrus.

He burst into orange magical tears. He held his skull in his gloved hand, and with a sob, he yelled in pure agony, "I-IT WASN'T EVEN Y-YOUR GODDAMN TURN!"

You wheezed.

Chapter Text

The Yuus and the Baby

Christmas Noels: Hey y/n, how’s the new mansion been?

Nexus: It’s been fun! Miss you guys :(((

Frida Kahlo (Music Edition): Awweee kiddo we miss you too <3

Christmas Noels: yah always miss my favorite little cousinnnn

Nexus: oooohhhh imma tell Tav and Tian about thisss you ain’t gettin no cornbread or anything

Christmas Noels: ACK-! NO! you really think I care about the cornbread primo?

Masami (kuchisabishii): What?! The food at your family gatherings are great, why would you not want them!

Christmas Noels: my dear friend… we all know the cornbread is so ass

Frida Kahlo (Music Edition): (ooooh)

Nexus: do you think they’re gonna duke it out?

Frida Kahlo (Music Edition): (stage-whisper) we all know that Noel’s too baby-faced for Masami to have the courage to smack him

Christmas Noels: hey! y/n can’t talk /at all/ about having a baby face. I am not a baby face

Nexus: says the dude that’s 5’7 and hasn’t grown in three years

Masami (kuchisabishii): wwww

Christmas Noels: you are quite literally pint size

Nexus: IM FIVE FOOT TWO

Frida Kahlo (Music Edition): I just think your family is short. Japanese genes don’t help bud

Christmas Noels: but Masami’s like 5 '10 or something :(

Masami (kuchisabishii): Maybe it’s your Mexican-American genes?

Nexus: >:( I will bite your kneecaps

Frida Kahlo (Musical Edition): gurly you can try

Nexus: I own a pocket knife as well >:)

Frida Kahlo (Musical Edition): Oh shit- I’m sorry, commander

Nexus: mwuhahaha!!!

Masami (kuchisabishii): That’s a child, watch your mouth, Ms. Frida Yuasa.

Nexus: 0o0

Frida Kahlo (Musical Edition): Noel has said so much worse c’mon fam

Masami (kuchisabishii): Nope.

Christmas Noels: oh he’s coming for you Frida RIP

Nexus: Wasted

Christmas Noels: man still no gta 6

Nexus: man…

Frida Kahlo (Musical Edition): I’m gone-

Masami (kuchisabishii): *—

Nexus: oop

Christmas Noels: nahhh why the Japanese dude correcting the American on English

Nexus: Not to mention it’s fanfiction popular grammar

Christmas Noels: you got something to tell us bestie?

Masami (kuchisabishii): I can never have a calm evening with this guy. Turning-eighteen-in-a-few-months year old person by the way.

Nexus: Ugh y’all are so old

Frida Kahlo (Music Edition): Honey, you’re so young.

Christmas Noels: you’re JuSt A bAbY~

Nexus: old people these days

Frida Kahlo (Music Edition): ya know what? I’ll take offense. /I’m twenty???/

Masami (kuchisabishii): I suppose I am ancient compared to you, Y/N, as I am the terrible age of twenty-three.

Nexus: HOW ARENT YOU IN YOUR GRAVE YET ZOMBIE ALERT WEE-OO??????

Christmas Noels: pah I’m so close to my death hold my hand, y/n, sing me a song

Frida Kahlo (Music Edition): (hands you their unused rotting guitar that’s in the garage and has yet to be tuned or used)

Nexus: (shots fired lmao) ahem… COUNTRY ROOOOAAADDDSS

Masami (kuchisabishii): How about we leave the singing and music to the actual musicians and choir members (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

Nexus: :(((

Christmas Noels: blegh. I’m dead

Nexus: *flings your hand from where it was in my hand*

Christmas Noels: :’(

Frida Kahlo (Music Edition): Oh! I forgot to mention! We’re planning on coming to visit you and your mom in the winter. You gotta show us the digs!

Nexus: Oh yay! You aren’t coming this summer?

Masami (kuchisabishii): Sorry, Y/N. I happen to be taking classes for college right now, along with practices and camps, so I am just too busy to drive out.

Christmas Noels: sorry primo :( but we will get to hang out when you’re back at the farm! I plan to come visit, and Thanksgiving is the family get together, which my lovely friends are of course invited to as per usual~

Masami (kuchisabishii): Yay! Cornbread! And food!

Nexus: okey! I’ll see you soon then! :))

Frida Kahlo (Music Edition): See you then !! Mwah!

Christmas Noels: miss ya, bye bye!

Ring… Ring… Click!

“Mom! What’s up?”

“I have news! But first, how are things?”

“All good, the neighbors have been really accommodating and all that.”

“Fun! I hope Dr. Owens and Mrs. Cortez have been good to you?”

“Sí, Mrs. Cortez is awesome and Dr. Owen’s is so cool, she keeps bringing over little things for me when we meet up every week.”

“Good to hear, sweetheart. Have you made any new friends downtown?”

“Ah, um… not really. Y’know that I don’t really have anything to do with most of the kids my age, not being in camps or their school or whatever. It’s chill, though. I’ll… figure it out.”

“I’m sorry, darling. I’m sure that they’d be very excited to hear all about the kid in the mansion on top of the hill.”

“I dunno, maybe I’ve asserted my dominance of being on higher ground and always looking down on them!”

“Y/N…” a huff, “you’re sometimes a bit too blunt and sharp for your own good, but your presence always attracts people to you. No one in their right mind would be scared to talk to you, honey.”

“Thanks, mom. What’s the news?”

“Right! Well, I have an estimate, I have about three weeks until I’ll be back! I know it’s not now, but it’s good news nonetheless.”

“That’s great! It’s been pretty empty in the house without anyone else, but I’ve had the neighbors and Dr. Owens over too.”

“You let the neighbors come over? I told you to not let strangers—”

“Mommm! They’re not strangers, okay? They are all very… nice…” mutterings of ‘eh maybe not them, though’, “people! They’re very cool… and stuff!”

“Okay, sweetie. But please don’t let anyone else in the house, okay?”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll see you soon?”

“Uh-huh. Love you.”

Click.

Blue POV:

I WAS NEVER REALLY A GAMER BACK WHEN WE WERE UNDERGROUND, KNOWING THAT I WAS A PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD AND CONSTANTLY MAKING PUZZLES, BUT I SUPPOSE I HAVE DEVELOPED THE LOVE FOR GAMES NOWADAYS.

OR, AT LEAST, THE FUN TYPES OF VIDEO GAMES!

NEXUS WAS SITTING ON THE COUCH WITH A RETROID POCKET +3 PLAYING A GAME, SO I CONFIDENTLY WALKED UP TO THEM AND SAT DOWN NEXT TO THEM, LAUGHING WHEN THEY CHANGE THEIR POSITION TO PUT THEIR LEGS ON MY LAP.

“What’s up, Galaxy?”

THEIR NICKNAME FOR ME ALWAYS MADE ME SMILE! IT WAS VERY KIND, AND SUCH A FRIEND THING TO DO! I TRULY NEEDED TO FIND A NICKNAME THAT HELD UP THE LEVEL OF RESPECT AND FRIENDLINESS I HAD TOWARDS THEM!

“I AM CURIOUS AS TO WHAT YOU ARE PLAYING!”

THEY LOOK UP FROM THE DEVICE, “Pokémon! I kinda want to do a Nuzlock sometime, but I haven’t decided what version of the game I should play it on, and it requires a lot of skill.” THEY GESTURE WITH THEIR HANDS, “A ton of memorizing as well! So, I’m practicing.”

POKÉMON! A BATTLING GAME! I AM QUITE GOOD AT THOSE!

“HOW FUN! IS IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO WATCH YOU? OR MAYBE… HELP?!” I FEEL INCREDIBLY EXCITED AT THE PROSPECT.

THEY GRINNED SOMETHING SMUG, “Sure, Galaxy. I can test your skills.”

NEXUS SAVES THEIR PROGRESS AND OPENS UP A NEW FILE FOR ME, AND THEN HANDS THE DEVICE TO ME. THEY SIT UP (TAKING THEIR LEGS OFF OF MY LAP) AND CRAWL ON THE COUCH TO PEEK OVER MY SHOULDER AT WHAT I’M DOING.

“You seem pretty confident. Have you played before?” they asked me.

“A FEW TIMES! I NEVER GOT TO PLAY FOR VERY LONG, USUALLY BECAUSE I WAS BORROWING THE GAME FROM SOMEONE. LIKE RIGHT NOW!” They giggled.

THE VERSION WAS POKÉMON RUBY, SO ONCE I SAVED PROFESSOR BIRCH FROM THE WILD POKÉMON, HE OFFERED ME THREE OPTIONS: MUDKIP, TREECKO, OR TORCHIC TO KEEP. I THOUGHT THEY WERE ALL CUTE, BUT I DECIDED TO PICK MUDKIP.

NEXUS TAPPED A RANDOM RHYTHM ON THE COUCH AS THEY WATCHED ME SELECT MUDKIP. “Ruby has really good starter picks. I like Torchic, personally.”

“WHY’S THAT, FRIEND?” I ASKED.

“I just think fire-types are cool. Fire powers are usually really talented or cool, so I usually like fire-themed characters or fire-type things.”

“THAT’S INTERESTING!” I’M CURIOUS IF NEXUS WOULD LIKE HOTLAND, THEN! “I LIKE BLUE-THEMED CHARACTERS—WHICH ARE USUALLY WATER OR ICE THEMED. MY FAVORITE COLOR IS BLUE, YOU KNOW!”

THEY SNICKERED, “I assumed so, Blue.”

I FLUSHED. “WELL—YEAH. I GUESS IT’S KINDA OBVIOUS…”

“How about mine?” THEY RAISED A BROW. “Do y’think you could guess my favorite color?”

I SQUINT AT THEM, TRYING TO GLEAM ANY HINTS IN THEIR APPEARANCE.

THEY HAD A YELLOW T-SHIRT WITH A BLACK STRIPE THROUGH THE MIDDLE AND ON THE SLEEVES. THEIR JEAN SHORTS WERE TWO SHADES OF BLUE, AND THEIR SHOES WERE RED AND PINK. THEIR SOCKS WERE BROWN, AND THEY HAD A BEADED RED-AND-PINK BRACELET ON EACH WRIST. RED, PERHAPS?

“IS IT RED? OR YELLOW?”

THEY SHOOK THEIR HEAD AND I DEFLATED. DARN IT…

“WHAT IS IT, THEN?”

NEXUS GRINNED AT ME WITH THEIR TEETH AND ANSWERED, “Drumroll, please…”

I COMPLIED WITH GROWING CURIOSITY AND EXCITEMENT, AND THEY JOINED ME IN DRUMMING ON THE COUCH.

“It’s…” I LEANED FORWARD. “Orange!”

ORANGE? THAT WAS NOT OBVIOUS AT ALL!

I POUTED AND SAID THIS, AND NEXUS GIGGLED, THE SOUND TICKLING MY NON-EXISTENT EARS.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s not very obvious like you,” THEY LOOKED ME UP AND DOWN WITH JUDGEMENT.

“SO, WHY IS THAT SO?” MOST PEOPLE DIDN’T LIKE ORANGE OR YELLOW VERY MUCH, SO I WAS QUITE CURIOUS!

“Orange just kinda has vibes! It’s very warm, and reminds me of sunrises and shit. It has good lighting.”

SUNRISES WERE VERY PRETTY, I CAN AGREE WITH NEXUS THERE. PAPY LOVED ORANGE, TOO! I COULD SEE THE BEAUTY IN THE COLOR.

NEXUS TILTED THEIR HEAD AT ME, LIKE AN INTERESTING THOUGHT JUST CAME TO MIND.

“Didja know that blue and orange are on the opposite sides of the color wheel? Maybe I’m the opposite of you!”

I WOULDN’T WANT TO BE THE OPPOSITE OF NEXUS! NEXUS WAS VERY ENTERTAINING AND ENTHUSIASTIC! I WOULD SAY THE SAME FOR MYSELF!

“I DOUBT THAT! WE’RE BOTH VERY SIMILAR!” I INSISTED.

THEY ROLLED THEIR EYES. “Just keep playin’, Chaparro.”

OH MY STARS!!! A NEW NICKNAME!

“WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!” I QUESTIONED EXCITEDLY.

THEY SMIRKED. “IT MEANS SHORTY.”

SH-SHO… S-SHORTY?!?!?!

“YOU’RE CALLING ME SHORTY?!?!” I DESPAIRED, SLAPPING MY HANDS OVER MY CHEEKS. THEY BURST OUT LAUGHING, NEARLY CRYING AT MY EXPRESSION.

“PFT—Just—just keep playing, Chaparro,” THEY GIGGLED, TRYING TO CALM DOWN.

I HUFFED. “YOU’RE SO MEAN, NEXUS! I’M NOT SHORT,” I BLUSHED IN EMBARRASSMENT.

THEY RELAXED, LOOKING AT THE GAME OVER MY SHOULDER ONCE AGAIN. “I’m proud to say I’m a certified jerk.”

Red POV:

there wasn’t much to do today. i considered going to bother y/n for the nth time, but i wasn’t in the mood, strangely.

she always seemed so frustrated with my advances nowadays, and it was disheartening. this universe was so… soft compared to mine in so many ways.

papyrus and i came from a place where being able to fight and take the person you are interested in is normal. it’s hot to be taken from under people’s noses by the person who wishes to court you, and for them to be without consequences is typical.

but here… it felt like even trying to prove yourself was ‘disturbing’ or ‘uncomfortable’. it was… annoying.

i didn’t see anything wrong with how we did things, and even if the only way to be respected and not hurt was to be strong, disdainful, and blunt. there is nothing shameful about being cold. hate towards the humans that trapped us down there was one of the only ways to not lose ourselves and our hope. but in this creampuff world, we were expected to be kind and weak and soft. which. was just… not how our world shaped us.

pap and i aren’t quitters, though. that’s another admirable trait from our world. persevering people. who wouldn’t want your lover to always be trying to prove their affection for you?

i was pondering this when nexus plopped down next to me.

“Whatcha doin’?”

i glanced at them. they were a little winded, but their energy was high.

nexus was complicated.

they had an edge to them that matched pap and i. they could stand up for themselves and they weren’t one to go down silent. they insulted us to our faces with a judgmental look and a disapproving look when pap didn’t match their energy in the creative department. that gained our respect pretty quickly. they were witty and bratty in a way that was refreshing. like hearing an accent from your hometown that you hadn’t heard in years.

however, they were still soft in some ways. this was sans and papyrus’ dimension, after all. they didn’t bring back the pocket knife after sans acted all bitchy about it—which me and my bro would never do. they fondly smiled and slept the night over really early in our relationship. they invited us—near strangers—over to their house after practically nothing.

i couldn’t help but be suspicious about it. they hid their feelings pretty well, but i was the judge, and i could sense something… desperate? maybe? in them. it was strange. how often they came over. how often they were alone. how they didn’t seem to have many other people around here they could go to.

they were a balance of nostalgia and alien to me and pap.

they gave us nicknames—well, more of pap got one. he had always suffered staying under the strength we had to maintain, and kids always managed to break down those walls. heh, my bro was so sweet.

they greeted us with insults along with those nicknames. the more creative we got, the more we laughed. they practically graded the insults every time. i was still waiting to find the perfect one.

“…hello? Earth to Red?” they waved a hand in my field of vision, and i looked to see their lightly puzzled, slightly concerned face. soft.

“wah?” i swatted their hand away from me. “i’m fine.”

they crossed their arms and leaned back against the chair they were seated in. “I didn’t ask, but cool.”

agh. embarrassing.

“shaddap, twerp.” i fiddled with my jacket, fixing it.

“Ya wanna do anythin’? I’m borrred.” they looked up at the light in the ceiling. edged, bratty.

“i dunno, nex. don’t you have something else to do other than come bother us?”

they frowned and looked down from the light to the floor. soft. maybe that was too harsh for this world.

“Well fuck you too, Brood-chihuahua,” they cussed at me. edged.

i incredulously scrunch my face at them and give them a middle finger in response. “i ain’t a chihuahua, ya goof. i don’t even got skin, let alone fur.”

nexus deadpans at me and says, “‘Ya Goof’, that’s all you got? Bud, you sound like some awkward dad trying to bond with his kids.” goddamn edged.

shrinking into my hoodie, i sulk and reply, “i’m so, sooo far from ‘dad territory.’ i don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout.”

cheekily, they smirk and clasp their hands together and then lay their cheek against their hands, “Oh papá! Please get laid, there shan't be any consequences!”

oh my fucking stars, this kid.

i abruptly jump up from the couch and they startle, and then pout when i smirk at their reaction.

“Ru~de,” they whine, lengthening the vowel. i sit right back down in my chair, pridefully smirking.

“more like you’re just a big baby,” i said.

nexus gasped in offense, “What is with everyone calling me a baby recently?!”

“psh, maybe cause you are?”

they shrieked in frustration and i continued to smirk in the face of their rage.

yeah. they’re a weird mix.

Chapter Text

Feet kicked up on the coffee table, you sat on the living room couch watching a favorite show of yours. You were kinda bed rotting, but that’s what summer is for, right?

Today, you didn’t really have anything to do. You had already gotten the groceries for the week and you didn’t really want to read a book or trudge your way downtown or something else. 

You looked down and picked at your fingernails, a bad habit, but something that just about everyone does. You wonder how the skeletons and Ms. Y/N are doing.

You had not come over or had them come over in two or three days now. Y/N was busy as ever, probably, and the skeletons were actually working those days. You were bored and wanted to go bother some people. 

It had been about a month and some since you moved into the mansion, and your mom was as excited as you were to be getting back in the estimated three weeks.

Dr. Owens was nice and helped unpack everything in the house and get you things to do when she came over every week. 

She was a very respectful, calm lady and almost always had a little treat or gift when she came over. But, despite her kindness, you really just wanted your mom to be back by now. 

With your anticipation for the manor to have someone else inside with you, maybe that’s why you’re feeling the urge to go harass the skeletons. 

Also including the fact that when your mom gets back, you’ll have about a month until you’re heading back over to the farm with your dad. 

You want to spend some time with people, plain and simple.

You opened up your phone and went to your text messages. You searched up Blue’s name and started typing out a message asking if you could come over. 

You made a note to get the rest of the skeletons’ phone numbers so you didn’t have to play telephone through Blue 24/7. (You had a feeling that he may exaggerate things or do what he wants sometimes.)

He only took four-ish minutes to respond, and during the wait you debated whether you should get a keychain to add to your phone. You had a fun phone case, but a keychain would complete the look, no?

His text message was in full caps as usual, and full of exclamation marks and emojis that couldn’t capture his level of energy and enthusiasm. You let out a ‘huh’ noise when you saw what else he mentioned in the message.

Blue had said yes, of course, but he warned you that they had some guests, relatives, it seemed, over as well. 

He seemed unreasonably worried about the guests—as if some randos were gonna throw off your groove. Nuh uh. But you were kinda curious about what kind of ‘relatives’ the skeletons would have. More skeletons, you presumed? That’d be cool.

You quickly type back a response insisting you would enjoy meeting the guests (mentally resisting the urge to ask if they were skeletons) and that you’d be on your way soon. 

After turning off the TV, you push yourself off the couch and go over to the front door, putting on your shoes. Your favorite sneakers, obviously. 

You ponder what the relatives could look like. Would they be a short-and-tall, lanky-and-chubby, and tired-and-passionate pair of brothers once again? Or were they finally breaking the cycle?

Personally, you were hoping for a pair of someones who would be cool, collected, and suave. Some someones who you could ship Ms. Y/N with. A pair of someones who could woo Ms. Y/N and treat her nicely. Hehehe.

Or some skater dudes. That’d be cool as hell. Total Vibes-Time. Hehehehehhehehhehehe.

Checking to make sure you have your key, you close and lock the front door (habiiiiitssssssss~~~and insistent pareeeennnnntttttssssss~~~~), and then walk down the path to the skeleton’s mansion.

The shrubbery and plants are starting to look a little dried out, now that you’re looking at it. Drought; hopefully it’ll rain soon, you think. Summers can kill your plants if it’s too hot and dry. But watering in the bright sun can scorch your dirt, so you have to be careful.

When you arrive at the manor, you notice Y/N tending to their garden. 

You perk up and trot over to her. Blue can wait, you barely get any time to hang out with Y/N.

“Ms. Y/N! Hi,” you draw out.

She looks up from where she’s crouched next to a rose bush, and her face lightens. She stands up, walking over to meet you halfway, and smiles brightly at you running over. 

“Nexus! How are you?” Her gait is awfully bouncy, and she seems extremely happy today. Even a bit floaty, if you had to say.

“‘m good! Can I help you with the plants? It’s my expertise, if you didn’t know,” you say boastfully, putting a hand to your chest and closing your eyes.

“Oh, if you would be so kind.” WOAH! SHE SAID YES?! “I could always use an extra pair of hands.”

Y/N was in a GOOD mood if she was willing to let you help. As much as she is swamped with work, she always seems to resist any help, if she can. It’s sweet, adds to her obvious beauty and makes her a little more attractive, but it’s ridiculous at times. 

When you looked a little closer, you spotted some rosiness in her cheeks, like she had been giggling or laughing for a long period of time. Hmmm.

Guiding you to a gloved box, you take out a pair of gardening gloves and eye at Y/N in your peripheral vision. She seems oddly giddy, and you are going to find out why.

“Soooo,” you start off, thinking of what to say. “What’s got you so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed?”

She looks at you in surprise then flushes in embarrassment, bringing up a hand to hide her face. “Oh, well…” she trails off.

“C’monnn,” you tease, “you be lookin’ like ya just found two pennies on the ground in a row. Did you get more of those nice shoes?”

She lets out a dramatic sigh, leaning against a box of gardening supplies and resting her elbows on the edge. She dreamily closes her eyes, and you stare enraptured by her pretty face once again. Damn it random gay attraction, we need to focus!

“You see, we have these guests over,” she says. “They are some of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Er, well—one of them more so, but…” She sighs softly again.

Dang, she is feeling rather sigh-y today. But, this is something you are curious about.

“The guests? Are they more skeletons? A pair again?” you inquire.

She refocuses back on the conversation. “Yes, two more skeleton brothers once again.” She leans closer towards you on the box and whispers, “It’s starting to get suspicious.”

Your lips pucker and you’re pretty sure you make a pretty funny pufferfish expression based on Y/N’s reaction, and you go over the thought again.

The multiple pairs of skeletons all seemed pretty physically built similarly, there’s always a pair of brothers (who at times call each other ‘Sans’ and ‘Papyrus’ adjacent names), have similar personalities, and they’re all ‘relatives’… you can see her point.

Eyes skirting across the garden, you whisper back to her, “I can see your point. Let’s talk about it later.”

She nods at you and then goes back to the soil, still looking very off-in-her-own-world. 

You stare at her in amusement and go to copy what she’s doing—weeding. Not your favorite thing to do, but something very easily pushed on to anyone, children included. Which meant you had become very efficient at it.

After about ten minutes of this, and learning that the guest skeletons had been here for about a day, you stand up and tell Y/N that you need to go meet up with Blue, so he doesn’t think you bailed. She agrees easily (typical) and waves you off with a thanks.

Jogging around the side of the house, you go back towards the front door and step inside, the door not locked. You walk through the rooms and arrive in the dining room where you agreed to meet up with Blue.

Low and behold, he sits eating a platter of pastries at the table and brightens at the sight of you. He quickly swallows and wipes his mouth, and as he does this you plop down into the chair beside him.

“NEXUS! I WAS STARTING TO GET WORRIED!” 

You smile unapologetically, “My bad. Was helping Ms. Y/N in the garden bed.”

He cocks his head, “OH, DID SHE NEED HELP?”

“Nah, but I thought I should anyway. She does a ton of work, you know, she probably could always use some help. She just refuses it, for some reason.” (Little did you know…)

Blue frowns in confusion, like the idea of helping her with her work had never come to mind. Or maybe like he thought she didn’t need it and didn’t understand you. You didn’t care, really.

“Anyway!” you say, “Whatcha wanna do?”

Now that you’re looking closer, Blue looks somewhat of the opposite of Y/N. He seems downtrodden, maybe a little tired. He has lost about two inches of height because of sunken posture. He looks worn out.

“HMMM. MAYBE—“

“Is something wrong? You look kinda depressed, dude.” 

He blinks at you and then sinks into his chair. He pinches and rubs his nose (ridge?).

“YEAH… I MEAN… OUR GUESTS,” he begins. “THEY ARE NICE PEOPLE, BUT…”

You raise a brow and lean back in your chair as he struggles to find the words.

He sighs, finally. “THEY ARE VERY NICE, BUT I’VE BEEN FEELING DOWN BECAUSE THEY SEEM TO BE TAKING UP ALL OF Y/N’S TIME AND ATTENTION!”

Oop. It appears there’s some drama going on. 

“IT’S BEEN VERY SADDENING, YOU SEE. Y/N IS SO… PINK AROUND THEM—GREEN IN PARTICULAR. I FEEL… UPSET ABOUT IT. I DON’T…”

You say, “Well. She’s probably just interested in the people who aren’t gonna stay very long. They probably are, too. Have they met before, or..?” Blue shakes his head. “See? I mean, I wanna see the new guys.”

Blue droops a bit and you continue, “Also, it’s not like she doesn’t have a job to do. She’s basically your only worker, so she has to do a lot everyday. She really shouldn’t have to be giving you a bunch of attention as a maid.”

Blue’s shoulders hike up to where his ears would be and he looks embarrassed. “B-BUT—SHE’S ALSO PRACTICALLY ALL OF OUR PERSONAL ASSISTANTS!”

Your stare flattens, “Well, I doubt you need so much attention that she must act like a nanny, no?”

Blue freezes up and you guess he’s overwhelmed with thoughts, maybe realizing something. You close your eyes and sigh at Blue’s insistence to be given unreasonable amounts of attention.

“Look,” Blue’s cloudy gaze refocuses on you. “I want to meet the new guys as well. You need some time to think on what I said, or maybe just take a break from the environment. I dunno. But can ya show me where the new suckers at?” 

You don’t have a filter, and it’s a hard truth for someone who’s been babied his whole life to deal with. Despite taking into account the several weeks you’ve spent alone, you are maybe being a little harsh. But, you haven’t really been given much attention at all this past month, so you’re a bit bitter. Oh well.

Disheartened, you believe, Blue slowly stands up from his seat and pulls on a small smile. 

“Y-YEAH. I’LL—” Blue clears his throat. “I’ll Show You To Them, Nexus.”

Wow, he got pretty quiet there. You stare in surprise before standing up as well. Blue grabs your hand and pulls you lightly along, stuck in his head.

You both make your way through the manor idly, stopping to search for one of the new skeletons in each room, and greeting the present skeletons already there.

Blue remained quiet almost the entire time, only piping up when he saw someone or had something he wanted to share with you. 

It was strange to see such a sunshiny person be so down, but you couldn’t really care too much when you were excited to meet more skeletons. Blue clearly needed some space, or at least some time to think.

Arriving at the library, you and Blue step inside and spot a skeleton at a table with several books. And—wow, he is tall.

The skeleton was dressed very elegantly, clad in warm, modest clothing. He had these cracks (scars or birthmarks, you wonder?) in his skull, one running up and one running down from his eyes (sockets?). He’s taller than Edge, Orange, and Papyrus! He’s, like, Blue plus Y/N height! Like, over 6 feet and some! He would tower over you!

He looks up from his books and startles at the two of you, eyes (lights?) brightening in curiosity.

“Blueberry. I didn’t expect to see you here. Who’s your friend?” He tilts his head towards the side of his head like a cat.

“HELLO, GREEN! THIS IS OUR NEIGHBOR—ALSO Y/N, BUT WE CALL THEM NEXUS—AND HUMAN CHILD FRIEND!” Pretty mouthy title he’s giving you, but you might as well take it in stride. “THEY WANTED TO MEET YOU AND YELLOW WHEN THEY HEARD YOU GUYS WERE STAYING!”

You stepped up to the table and held out your hand for a handshake, smiling with your eyes closed. “Nice ta meetcha! Green, was it?”

Green makes a light noise and meets your handshake, and when you open your eyes you see a warm smile. “Correct. Lovely to meet you. Would you be okay with me calling you ‘Nexus’ as well?” You nodded. “And Blue referred to you as ‘they.’ Are those your preferred pronouns?” 

OH WOAH! HE ASKED FOR YOUR PRONOUNS?! ALLY/QUEER PERSON TALK?!

You nod fervently and your grin pulls at your cheeks. Wow, he is nice~ No wonder Y/N is so giddy.

“WELL, NEXUS, GREEN. I HOPE YOU BOTH DON’T MIND IF I STEP OUT WHILE YOU GET AQUIANTED?”

“Pshh. You’re fine, Galaxy. Off on your way, good lad!”

“You’re fine to step out, Blueberry. Talk with you at a later time?” Blue agrees easily and heads off to his ‘puzzle corner’ in a cranny of the library.

You look over to Green and smile dazzlingly, and he smiles at you handsomely. Ahhhh, he’s so pretty.

“Well, I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m very excited to meet another human. Ms. Y/N has been very lovely company and incredibly kind to us during our visit. I’ve heard good things about you.”

“Awe, you love to flatter, huh?” you reply, cheeks warming. “Ms. Y/N has been acting very dreamy with you and your brother around, so I’ve been very excited to meet you, too! Hope ya meet the expectations,” you tease.

He laughs. 

You are getting these princely vibes from him. He looks so lovely, speaks so politely, and laughs so sweetly like he’s about to summon birds and creatures like some male Snow White. 

Gah! No wonder Y/N is so in love. This man is a fairytale dream! Prefect for Princesa Y/N.

“Can I call you Bellé-pepper?” you say suddenly.

He blinks. “Bell pepper?”

“No, Bellé-pepper, as in Bellé of the ball. I like to give people nicknames, you see.”

He gawks for a moment, and then turns a shade of light green. 

“Cause, ya know,” you continued, “you’re very elegant. Pretty. Attractive. Well-dressed. Whatever floats your boat.”

Green stutters, spluttering as he blushes before covering his face with a hand. He giggles, “Oh my! You—Why-!”

You giggle at his reaction. “Whaaaaat? Cat got your tongue? If you have one, that is.”

He makes a funny noise that you interpret as a verbal keyboard smash, and you start legitimately laughing.

“Well—Nexus, how about I show you my books?” he recovers, attempting to be smooth, with a faint green tint still lingering on his cheekbones.

You hum, “Sure!” You weren’t particularly interested in the novels the man was reading, but he clearly wanted to change the topic into something he was more comfortable discussing.

Green swept his hand over the table, displaying with the charm of an entrepreneur the books lying on his desk. You saw a psychology book, a book on riddles and puzzles, and a long-form novel easily over 500 pages, to name a few. Green proceeded to explain the various arrays of books to you, rambling quite happily in an excited manner you wouldn’t expect from someone with such a sophisticated appearance.

A topic he particularly was fascinated by was the puzzles and riddles, much like Blue, Papyrus, and Edge. The pattern was curious, and you were wondering why it was so that the skeletons seemed to have two variants of personalities and appearances that were slightly different between each pair.

Despite his passion, he was starting to lose you with the flowery language and fancy vocabulary. 

You weren’t stupid or illiterate, but there’s a stark difference between the vocabulary of a twelve-year-old bilingual child with a suburban upbringing and a fully educated grown adult who seems to have the habit of reading classical literature and writing essays.

That being said, you interrupt him during the explanation of his extremely scientific story’s biological warfare and world building to ask the questions you were more curious about.

“Excuse me, sorry, but I have some things I would prefer to ask you about rather than the plot of the books.”

Green clears his throat politely, “Ahem. Yes, I apologize for my rambling. I am in hindsight also spoiling the book for you as well, which I regret, because it’s a very well-written book.” He stacks the book he was explaining about back with the others. “What are your questions?”

“What do you think of the mansion?” Green opens his mouth to answer, “And what do you think of Ms. Y/N?” Green startles and immediately shuts his mouth, flushing.

Oooooooooooooh. You’re onto something. Hehehe.

“Well, uh,” he stutters. “The mansion is spotless. It’s, um, very well kept, and v-very spacious.”

You give him a lidded look, “Mmmmhm.” Green sweats. “And what d’ya think of the beautiful maid that maintains it?”

Mr. Green steels himself, regaining his composure. “Well, Ms. Y/N, she’s,” He gains this dreamy quality to his voice, “She’s lovely. I think her abilities are impressive, and her intense workload is worrisome for her health.”

Hmmmm. He’s passing the tests so far…

“Her meals are exquisite. She’s an incredible cook!” You can nod to that! Green looks slightly relieved with your agreement. Good to see he knows that his answers are being heavily judged.

“And… I hope I’ll get to spend more time with her in the future,” he says softly. “She’s an incredible person.”

You smile brightly at him, and you believe he’s taken aback by the figurative anime sparkles. 

“Well, it’s good to see you recognize her worth!” you clap your hands together. “She’s wonderful, I agree with you. And man, I need more of her food!”

Green chuckles, once again sounding like royalty.

“So,” you start mischievously, “I have one more question to ask you.” 

Green fiddles with his fingers (bones?) nervously. “Yes, Nexus?”

“Do you have a crush-?”

Before you can finish your question of if Green likes Y/N romantically, the library doors creak open and Ms. Y/N and a new skeleton step inside, chatting amicably. The two of them spot you and Green and pause in their conversation, and make their way over with smiles.

The new skeleton looks at you in surprise, not looking upset or discomforted, however. Just genuinely curious and not expecting. This is Green’s brother, then?

“Nexus! There you are,” Y/N says. “I was curious where you had wandered off to. Where’s Master Blue?”

“He’s hanging out in his puzzle corner. Probably planning a puzzle or contemplating his life choices,” you say casually. 

The three of them clearly take it as a joke, chuckling. Whatever, you don’t think it matters too much to correct them.

“I’m sorry for my impoliteness, where are my manners?” Y/N sighs. “Hello, Mr. Green. How are you?” Whelp, she’s now dreamily staring at Green. Guess she’s gone.

Green straightens and smiles warmly back at her. “I’m well, thanks for asking, Miss Y/N. Don’t apologize, please…” 

You zone out of their conversation to stare at the new skeleton. Yellow, you believe? He’s a very attractive man too. 

He has matching scars/birthmark cracks running up from his eyes in the opposite direction than Green’s, with the one on his right going upward from his eye (socket?) and his left going downward. His eye (light?) color is a fitting gold-yellow, and his eyes droop down in a tired, lidded look. Yellow is wearing a gray turtleneck with a cropped winter jacket, the hood having a fur edge to it. His pants are faded to neutral color jeans, paired with a black belt. Black, gray, and white themes.

He’s got style, and you are SO GLAD that one of the skeletons looks the part of what you wanted. He’s got the fashion, the older-brother’s-friend/older-sister’s-boyfriend in the 2000’s vibe to him, and he looks like the kind of dude who would let you tag along on some funny and random side quests.

You are capital-E Excited, because this is the exact dude you were hoping for.

Yellow is staring at Y/N and Green’s conversation, but looks back over when he sees you staring.

“Oh, heh, sorry. Ms. Y/N and Green got all excited and didn’t introduce me to you nor you to me, I assume.” AHHHH!!! “I’m Yellow. But you can call me whatever. To an extent, of course,” he winks.

You absolutely BEAM at him, and he grins a bit in surprise. 

“Hi, nice t’meet you, Yellow! I’ll come up wit’ a nickname for ya later,” you say. “I’m also Y/N, but you can call me Nexus. They/them pronouns, please.”

Yellow’s eyes (sockets?) widen, and he smacks his forehead (?), “Right! Pronouns! I’m he/him, nothin’ special. Forgive my ignorance, sweetheart.” Huh, that sounded like a habit of his! That’s really cute, in your incredibly biased opinion!

“You’re fine, dude. Usually people don’t say them when introducing themselves unless they are super with the community, or are queer themselves,” you explain. “Obviously, I am in that circle, heheh.”

Yellow shrugs sheepishly, not uncaring, but awkwardly embarrassed of himself and accepting of the explanation.

“So,” you sing, “Yellow, where’d you get those clothes? Your fashion style rocks!”

“Eh, I picked up these garments when I was younger, don’t remember the specific brands or places,” Yellow says with disappointment.

“Aw,” you droop. He pats you on the shoulder.

“Sorry, kid. Maybe I can help you go shopping or send you things I like through my phone?” Yellow proposes.

You immediately jump back up from your drooping with stars in your eyes. “Really?!”

You pump your fist, “Yes!” 

You’re fangirling. No shame.

Yellow snickers and pulls out his phone. You input your contact and you confirm the number through a text. 

Green and Y/N, at some point pausing in their conversation, watch you barrage Yellow with excited puppy-dog questions, Yellow meeting your energy coolly, answering them all, with mirth. Because Yellow takes the questions in stride, and you decide it. 

“You are my new best friend,” you bestow upon Yellow. He looks at you with a smirk and gives you a fist bump. 

The bad boy squad is forming. You, Red, Edge (both undeclared members), and Yellow. 

Green and Y/N start chatting to each other once again, and become enthralled in their conversation. 

Y/N’s hands are clasped behind her back, and she smiles admiringly at Green as he talks. When Y/N speaks, Green’s attention is focused on her, his (non-existent) lips pulled into a smile. They are acting very couple-y and lovingly, and you and Yellow notice this.

You and the aforementioned skeleton watch them blush and sway in each other’s gaze, and you drop down to a whisper, saying, “I swear that they have some sort of romance going on.”

Yellow nods solemnly and whispers back, “My bro is totally enraptured. Sweetheart’s pretty obvious as well. Totally adorable.”

“Do you think they’re destined for each other?” You squint, “They have fairytale prince and princess vibes.”

“Heh, yeah, I can see it,” Yellow agrees with a chuckle. 

“Wanna make a group chat to gossip about them?” you ask.

“Oh hell yeah. Send me photos and I’ll do the same?”

“It’s a deal.”

You make a group chat between you and Yellow titled ‘Green x Y/N OTP’ at your insistence (he didn’t know what that meant but he giggled when you explained it).

“So, what were you doing with our Maid-chan?” you teasingly ask Yellow.

“I wanted to liven up her morning and accompany her with her long work routine,” he says with finesse.

You raise a brow with a smirk. You like his antics.

“What’s the look for?” he says smoothly. “Of course I was simply curious and totally didn’t get bored.”

“Sure, Pepper,” you say. Yellow looks confused for a moment before his expression evens out. 

“Nickname?”

“Yeah, in the works. I need to make something creative, but for now you can be Pepper.”

He ruffles your curls, and you yelp when he snags on a tangle. You smack him on the arm and he apologizes easily. Man, what a skeleton.

“Well, sorry to interrupt the moment,” Ms. Y/N says, “but the Masters will get on my case if I don’t continue my work. Yellow, do you still wish to accompany me?”

“Sure, sweetheart.” He smiles. You nudge him with a coy look, and his smile changes to a smirk when he catches your unspoken request. “Bro, you wanna join us?”

Y/N startles, a light pink rising up her neck to her cheeks at the idea of Green coming along. Green’s eyes light up.

“That’s a wonderful proposal, brother. If you wouldn’t mind, Miss Y/N?”

“Oh, of course not, Green. You’re welcome to join me at any time,” she replies shyly.

You snicker.

You, of course, decided to join the crew. 

Currently, you were debating with Yellow on when they should come to visit again. You were very upset when you learned they were going to leave tomorrow, and Y/N was equally as disappointed. 

You learned that they, as they put in very vague terms, had many things to do. People to find, which they didn’t elaborate on. They were constantly traveling and on the move, which meant staying in one place and settling down will likely only happen after they achieved their goals. You and Y/N gave your best puppy dog eyes to your respective favorite of the brothers, and peer pressured them (well, you peer pressured them while Y/N tip-toed on the very tightrope that was begging) into making a promise to visit once again. Or, the promise to think about it, which they insisted to your chagrin.

Lunch was the maid’s current task, so you were all crowded inside the kitchen by the counters and on the cushioned stools. Yellow was sipping on some hot sauce (ew) and you some ice water. Green house effect, man. Summers are hot. How Yellow was eating (drinking?) hot sauce, you don’t know. Green was enjoying some iced tea (which Y/N insisted on making for him despite his insistence that water would suffice).

The food of the day was to be some chicken, soups, noodles, and vegetables. You’re already salivating. A food druggy you were not, but you had a big appetite. Especially for Ms. Y/N’s near professional cooking. 

She had a bunch of skills—you saw how clean the mansion was every time you visited—but you think if there was an actual custodian (cleaning? Whatever the cleaning staff of a mansion would be called) team, Y/N would be a chef. Maybe even a head chef. She could make so much food in such little time, it was baffling. And the food was always incredibly delicious. 

She was like Sanji from One Piece, except not a pervert and not ill-tempered to men, and maybe a bit more exhausted. Their shared kindness was apparent as well.

The aroma of spices wafted in the air, the smell not helping with your hunger. Yellow remarked about the smell, complimenting Y/N’s skills to make him ever more hungry. Green sighed about his brother’s lack of tact, but you refuted Green’s statement, complimenting Y/N’s cooking skills as well while she giggled at the stove.

While Ms. Y/N was making the food, Papyrus enters through the kitchen door with his signature wide grin, and you turn and high five each other in greeting.

“NEXUS! GOOD TO SEE YOU,” Papyrus says. “HELLO GREEN AND YELLOW, AND MISS Y/N AS WELL!” Yellow greets him lazily, Green acting cordial as ever in his. “WHAT IS FOR LUNCH TODAY, MISS Y/N?”

“Hello, Master Papyrus. Today there are chicken breasts, legs, thighs, all of the sort, as well as noodle soups with onions, garlic, celery, and carrots, with rice on the side.”

“THAT SOUNDS DELICIOUS!” Papyrus exclaims. “DO YOU KNOW WHEN IT WILL BE DONE?”

She stirs a pot of soup and adjusts the heat of the stove. “Hmm, I would say in about ten minutes or so? Including setting up silverware and the table.”

“We can do that!” Y/N smiles at your raised hand, and sighs.

“You do not have to, Nexus.”

“Guess that just means I want to, then,” you say with an upturned chin. Yellow sniggers.

“Well, I suppose,” Y/N exhales. “You do know how to set a table, right?”

“Are you doubting me?” you pout. “I’m not a snob, I can set a table.” 

(…Papyrus sweats in the background.)

“Alright, alright. Go along, then. The silverware and napkins are stored in the cabinet on the right.”

You do as she instructs you to and Green follows along to help, claiming it’d be ungentlemanly to let you do the work all by yourself while he sits and reaps the benefits. What a perfect man.

Papyrus fills the air with his chatter, and with the smell of food along with it, it creates a domestic feeling that calms you, and you feel like you’re recharging your energy batteries. It was like sitting in the sun with a lemonade and the farm dog beside you waiting for the grill to be done with your lunch. Or maybe walking home from school on a picturesque Friday, knowing you were coming home to be greeted with fun and no homework. Maybe that one wasn’t exactly domestic, but it had the same, not exactly nostalgic but warm, feeling.

After barely any time, you and Green have the table set up, the platters of course missing, and the bowls and plates still with the platters in the kitchen. 

You need to ask if it’s a ‘go to the kitchen and serve yourself’ or ‘serve yourself and fill your plate from the platters on the table’ kind of lunch. Green starts to fancifully fold the napkins into shapes, so you leave the dining room and enter back into the kitchen. Y/N tells you it’s the latter, so you start making trips back and forth from the kitchen carrying the plates. 

As you put plates on the table, Green puts them in front of chairs and in between the silverware while painstakingly maneuvering his napkin folds onto the plates. 

By the time you’re bringing the last set of plates into the dining room, Red teleports into the room, and his face drops from his signature smug smile into a grimace when he spots Green. What’s got him so upset about Green? Is it the same as Blue? you wonder.

Without showing your confusion, you greet excitedly, “Hey, Enfurruñado! How ya doing?”

Red looks back over to you, and despite his grumpy frown, the downturned edges soften up a bit. He doesn’t start smiling, but he isn’t as upset, it seems.

“oh. hey nex. i’m fine,” he says. “what’re you doing?”

“Settin’ the table with Bellé-pepper here for lunch,” you grin sideways. Green looks up, blinking, and grins, awkwardly adorable.

“Ah, I apologize—I was distracted. Hello Red.”

Red grunts in reply, gaze hardening. You can tell he doesn’t like Green very much. Too bad, ‘cause this guy is such a sweetheart. Then again, the only ‘sweetheart’ he’s liked is Ms. Y/N, and that’s probably because she’s a very attractive woman who doesn’t cower in front of him. He’s got taste. 

There’s an awkward silence where you all wait for someone to speak up while staring at each other, and you can all hear Papyrus from the kitchen rambling on about something. 

Taking the fall, or perhaps the plunge, you blurt, “Chicken, noodle soup, and rice and vegetables are on today’s menu, by the way. Do you eat dessert after lunch or nah?”

Red sighs, “no, kid. i don’t, personally. blueberry is a maybe.”

Green squints, “I don’t think people need dessert after lunch. Most people have activities—usually exercise—after lunch, and stuffing yourself beforehand lowers your performance level. I believe.”

“Well, I wasn’t saying anything about myself,” you shrug. “Just double checking.”

You squint at the wall, thinking, before turning to Green, “Do we need bowls as well? We have plates. Or… did we just need the bowls?”

“Ah,” Green says. “We can double check with Miss Y/N. Let’s hope we’re right with plates. It would be a pain to have to put the plates back and replace them with bowls.” 

Red chuckles, “d’y’all even know what you’re doing?”

Your head snaps over to him and you glare. “Do you know if it’s bowls or plates, Mr. I-Know-Everything?”

Red shuts his trap. Hah.

Turns out you were right with the plates, but you did need to carry over the bowls as well. Whew. Thank goodness.

Yellow helped out with that one, but only after laughing at you and Green asking Ms. Y/N nervously. Red glared particularly hard at Yellow when you thanked him for helping, which you noted with conflicted feelings.

You don’t think Red should be jealous over that, especially considering he didn’t offer to help. You aren’t gleeful over making him jealous either. You are a little happy that it means Red likes you enough to want your attention, but you don’t want him to get huffy with Yellow because of that. You can’t do anything about it, you suppose, other than confronting Red, which would make him more closed off about his pettiness.

Anyhow, now you are seated at the dining table, savoring your soup while Orange and Sans teleport into the room after each other. 

Sans avoids your gaze and ignores your presence as per usual, but Orange nods in greeting. You smile at him and go back to taking slow, pleased sips of the soup and noodles. You’re absolutely blissed out.

Yellow is to the left of you at the table, his hot sauce bottle nearly empty, eating all his chicken down to the bone. Green is beside Yellow and hands him a napkin in a subtle message to clean himself up. Yellow rolls his eyes (lights?) but does so anyway. 

Red is on the other side of you, also eating his chicken and noodles with reverence. He’s still more frowny and quiet than usual—grumpy—but he’s definitely chilled out a bit. 

Across from Red, talking (yelling) with Papyrus to the left of him animatedly, is Edge. He’s also radiating angry energy today, but he’s more bearable when distracted (thank you Papyrus!). He waves his chicken leg around in frustration from the debate.

Orange and Blue are next to Papyrus across the table from you, and Orange tiredly rubs his eyes (sockets?) while Blue, unaffected by the chaos unlike his brother, eats peacefully while watching the debate, chipping in every so often.

Y/N had to be persuaded to sit down at one of the heads of the table, and she sat next to Green and Orange, enjoying her smaller portions of the food. 

Sans sits at the other end of the table, watching with a small grin for Papyrus’ favor of the debate. He’s barely touching his food, but he seems to enjoy it. 

You turn to Yellow and nudge him in the side. He raises a (bone) brow.

“You said you were leaving really early tomorrow, right?” He nods. “Then I probably won’t see you off. Sorry man.”

“You’re fine, Nex,” he wipes his cheek(?). “No worries.”

“Okay, good. I’ll probably head out after lunch, so… bye bye?”

“Heh, bye bye.”

You lean a bit over the table and tell Green, “It was nice meeting you! I’m probably gonna head out in a few minutes. And I probably won’t see you off, either. Hope that’s okay.”

Green smiles warmly, “Oh, it’s fine. It was lovely meeting you as well, despite all your jests.” You giggle.

You push back in your seat and stand up, and wave to Y/N before saying, “I’mma head out. Thanks for the food!”

“GOODBYE, NEXUS!”

You push your chair back in and walk out.