Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“A’ight, open ‘em.”

Sans opened his sockets and his S’s lit up a second later. “Crimson! You bought a house!?”

Red gave a shy smile. “Wanna check it out?”

“Of course!” Sans clapped his gloved hands together.

Red led him up the gray porch, to the white door and unlocked the knob. He opened the door to a spacious living room with pearl white walls and mocha hardwood floors. Towards the back was a white and brown tiled kitchen all ready to be cooked in. There was one door beside the entrance to the kitchen, and beside that door a set of stairs leading to the second floor. Sans headed to the second floor first as Red stayed downstairs, letting Sans tour on his own. Red didn’t want to feel as if he was rushing the little Alpha.

Upstairs, there was a small soft pink and white bathroom and an extra bedroom to Sans’ left. To his right was the master suit, another spacious area with a deep soaker tub in the bathroom.

“Crimson, this is amazing!” Sans called from upstairs. “You have so much space!”

“Well, come back down, I wanna show ya somethin’.”

Sans hurried back down to the living room and stopped next to Red.

“So,” the Chroma started. “The rest of the stuff should be here in about thirty minutes or so. Ain’t too much, so we should be able t' set things up before we head t' the Remains. But I made special arrangements for things in the basement.”

Sans cocked a brow bone. “The basement?”

“Follow me,” Red requested and led the tiny skeleton to the basement door, the door that sat next to the kitchen’s entrance. He opened the door, clicked on a light and illuminated a small yet cozy room lined with crammed bookshelves, paved in plush creme carpet and furnished with black leather chairs and couches. There was even a fireplace.

“Oh, Crimson…,” Sans stared, sockets wide. “What a lovely library.”

“So, ya like it?” Red smiled.

“Well, of course I do,” Sans chuckled, walking down the polished steps. He began to look at the book, phalanges gracing the spines, holding titles he was beginning to recognize.

…Wait a minute.

Sand leaned in closer, stared at the worn spines….

He... recognized these books. They were from the Archives, and not just the main Archives but even from the back up one at the Fallen Leaves library. Why did Red have…?

Sans stared up at Red, who only gave a knowing smile. “Crimson…?”

Red lumbered down the stairs and stopped in front of the tiny skeleton. “Sans… would ya do me tha honor of movin’ in with me?”

Sans’ sockets widen, became full of pale arctic blue light as his S’s sparkled. “Oh, Crimson!” he cried and leaped into his boyfriend’s arms. “I would love to! Thank you so much!” Sans then placed his hands on Red’s cheekbones and gave him a kiss square on the fangs.

Red squeezed Sans closer in his embrace, falling deeper into the kiss for long moments.

Too soon for Red’s liking, Sans pulled away and asked, “Did you… buy this house for… for us?”

Red nodded. “Figured since the Remains were safe… well, safer, I thought ya’d want a closer ‘home base’, as it were,” he smirked as Sans chuckled. “It’s only ‘bout a forty minute walk, less on ya trike. Now ya don’t gotta stay in mah cramped room or the inn, or even go all the way back t' ONK. We got our own little place right here.”

“Oh, Crimson,” Sans smiled again before giving him another kiss. “Thank you so much. Oh!” he perked up. “I have to call Papy and let him know all about this! He can pack up my things at my place and send them. Don’t worry, it’s not much--- clothes, notebooks, more…uh…” Sans looked to the floor, a slight blue blush on his face. “More, uh, books.”

Red stared. “…More?”

Sans gave a nervous chuckle. “Uh, well, you know how much I love to read.”

Red glanced around the room, shuffling Sans a bit in his arms. “I, uh… don’t think we can fit anymore bookcases down here.”

“Don’t worry!” Sans gave a wide smile. “There’s still room for bookcases in our room, the living room, even that cute extra room!”

“Well I…I thought we could use that one as an office,” Red suggested. “t' work on Incantations.”

Sans blinked. “For what? There aren’t anymore Night Terrors to fight.”

“Yeah, but ya can use Incantations for other stuff,” Red replied. “Healin’, makin’ walls… that kinda stuff…,” Red trailed, looking down, brow bone turned up.

“Oh, Crimson,” Sans stroked his cheekbone. “You’re still having a hard time adjusting, aren’t you?”

The heavy skeleton sighed. “ ‘Course I am. I spent my whole life trainin’ t' fight Night Terrors and now they’re all gone… I don’t know what t' do with myself. I mean, Rust works at the cafe, Azure workin’ on being a teacher’s assistant, so she’s always down at tha school. I just… I feel sort of useless.”

“Crimson,” Sans started, voice stern. “You are not useless. Now more than ever, someone needs to be guarding the entrance to the Remains and it’s because of you we’ve been able to go down there and look around.”

“Pfft,” Red grumbled. “I check papers t' make sure no one unauthorized gets in. Anyone could do that.”

“You do much more than “check papers”,” Sans countered, sockets narrowed. “You patrol the Remains, even map them out and clean out the debris so Alphas can go down there and study. You know how weak Alphas are. And since you map out everything, you know where all the dangerous places are. That means, as long as you’re around, no one gets hurts. Everyone can come home safe and that’s a big deal, Crimson.”

Red blushed his namesake color. “I… I guess.”

“Look,” Sans stared again. “We can still use the extra room as an office. You can draw up more detailed maps, help me categorize things, even just take a break from all the walking around and answering questions. It’ll be like an office and a break room all at once.”

Red’s ankhs shifted to the side in thought. “I guess so…”

Sans smiled. “We’ll make it work, I promise! Now, I need to call my brother and then we cane set up our house! Wow, we have a house!,” Sans gave a excited smile. “I hope it doesn’t take too long. We have to get to the Remains before the first group of researchers show up.”

“Like I said, it ain’t much, so we’ll be okay,” Red replied and went to lower Sans to the floor.

“No, carry me!” the tiny Skeleton whined.

Red rolled his ankhs. “Ya such a baby bones.”

“You know you love it, though.”

“Yeah, I do.”

///

“A’ight, a’ight, settle down,” Red ordered. “In line, so I can check yer papers. Hold ‘em up… yeah, like that, there ya go. Just let me check tha date and signatures…. good, good… Yers expires in a week. I’ll put a note on it fer ya.”

“Oh… uh, thank you.”

“All part of tha job,” Red replied with a little smile as he attached a sticky note to the stout skeleton’s papers. “A’ight, who’s next here? Okay, good, good….”

“Mr. Red, will we finally be going to go to the lower sections today?” asked one of the regulars.

“Not yet. Still gotta map out that area, but I’m aiming fer next week.”

“How exciting!”

“What about the apartments?”

“We can, but I only have half of that area mapped out, so it’ll be a short tour. If we hurry, we might be able t' take a look on tha way back.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I really wanted to examine the court yard again.”

“You’ve examined it ten times!”

“But I’m sure I can find some unique plant life. I just need a bit more time!”

“Two monthz iz not enough time for you?”

“...Well, I, I would enjoy looking at the living quarters myself… if that’s okay….”

“Just pay for a private tour if you want to look at the dirt for so long!”

“Maybe I will!”

“I just hope we find some surviving art! I would loooove to see what our ancestors painted!”

“Ug, you romantics! It’s always “art” and “books” with you.”

“The past times of our people… those are just as important as their war habits… if not… more so.”

“Well, I bet to differ!”

Red chortled, breaking up the quarrel. “Sorry, ya Alphas are just kinda cute when you nerd out like that. S’why ya mah favorite group.”

The skeletons answered back with nervous coughs and blushes.

Red chuckled again. He really did enjoy guiding the Alphas through the Remains. They were curious and attentive.

They were also the first group of monsters to look past Red’s Soul Color.

As Sans had explained, “They see you as an ally in studying history. To an Alpha, no one who studies anything can be all that bad.”

True, Red may not ‘nerd out’ over the Remains, but now that they were safer, he would be lying if he said he didn’t want to explore the past, too. “A’ight, Sans should be coming back up in a minute.”

Sans always went ahead to double check the markers used to tag places to explore and places to avoid. (Red had taught Sans how to see possible dangers and mark them). Even after two months of being opened, the Remains hadn’t quite settled and buildings still collapsed from time to time.

“Hm….” Red looked at his clipboard. “Says today’s group should have fifteen, but I’m only countin’ fourteen… Last skeleton is… a Yellow Chroma?” ‘Why give just tha Color Family? Seems sort of ominous.’

“Mr. Red,” an Alpha called from the group. ‘If they’re not here in fifteen minutes, we’re legally allowed to leave them behind, right?”

Red snorted. “Shit, ya know I got a soft spot for those dumb human jokes. A’ight, since ya all showed up on time, we’ll leave when Sans comes back.”

The Alphas clapped, letters in their sockets lighting up in excitement.

‘Such cute nerds,’ Red smiled as he heard the soft clank of metal on metal. He looked up the path to see a tall skeleton in white and yellow full body tights and… did they have on metal gauntlets and greaves?

…Wait, why did Red recognize those?

His body sunk as the answer hit him. “Shit,” he grumbled.

“Good morning, Crimson,” came a light voice.

Red glared. “Good morning, Gold,” he growled.

Gold, the 301^st Son of the Second Yellow Family, the family with all the best connections that went all the way to the Queen herself.

Gold, the tall, handsome Skeleton with dazzling neon yellow crosses in his sockets, who carried---no, created--- an aura of superiority and grace no matter where he went.

Gold… the fucker who had insulted Red because Sans was his boyfriend and Composer, because Sans wasn’t a Chroma like Red, but an Alpha.

Alphas were smart and studious, always coming up with new ideas--- hell, they were called Alphas for all the helpful inventions they had made for monsterkind, for starting their race towards civilization. However, unlike Chromas, they had no stamina for magic use, which, to Gold, made them weaker because, to him, what kind of monster couldn’t use magic? A monster below him, a lower species even.

‘What tha fuck is he even doing here?’ Red thought as he glanced to the other Alphas. Most of them came from Our New Kingdom, so they were well aware of Gold’s thoughts about them. Their glares ran deep, but they kept their teeth shut.

Red stepped forward, between the Alphas and Gold, as if he had to protect them. For a moment, he thought about zipping up his coat to hide his collar, a gift from Sans, but… ‘No. I ain’t hidin’ no more.’

“So,” Red began. “We usually don’t get Chromas on these tours. May I ask what got ya down here?”

“Ah, well,” Gold gave too smooth of a smile. “Mother thought one such as myself would benefit from a history lesson and looking to my roots. An educational field trip of sorts.”

“Right. Well, do ya have your paperwork?”

“Of course,” Gold answered as he reached into his satchel to his side and pulled out some folded sheets of papers which he handed to Red.

As Red looked the paperwork over, a voice came from the cavern.

“Crimson! We’re all set!” Sans called as he emerged into the light. “Sorry about the wait. I could have swore I heard… voi…ces…,” Sans trailed as his smile fell. “Oh…. Hello… Gold.”

“Ah, Gaster’s son!” Gold emphasized, his crosses flickering. “I suppose it’s something of a pleasure to see you again.”

“Yes. Right,” Sans spoke as he walked up to Red. He tugged on Red’s jacket.

“Hm? What is it?” Red asked and leaned forward when Sans motioned for him to bend down. “Ya need somethin’?”

Sans clapped his hands on the side of Red’s skull and gave him the deepest, longest kiss he could muster, loud moaning included. A near minute passed before Sans pulled away with a loud “Muah!” and he smirked at the blushing Alphas, Red’s ruby skull and the look of absolute horror- filled disgust on Gold’s skull--- the poor Skele looked on the verge of running down the path and screaming bloody murder.

Sans smirk turned into a soft smile. “Crimson, do Gold’s papers check out?”

“...Wha…uh…oh!” Red snapped up straight, skull still a deep ruby. “Uh, yeah, yeah…. Here ya go….” He handed the papers back to Gold who plucked them from Red’s hand as if he had sneezed all over them.

“Well!” Sans’ smile grew as he clapped his hands together. “Let’s be on our way then! Oh, but since this is Gold’s first time, he has to walk with me and Red!”

“Wh-what!?” Gold spat, jumping away. “Why must I walk with you?” he growled at Sans.

“It’s fer safety reasons,” Red explained. “Most of the Skeles here are already familiar with the trails and areas, so they can help each other, but first timers need t' stay with us t' make sure yer informed about what the different signs mean, and what dangers t' look out fer--- stuff like that. Knowing all that helps the group overall. Ya can’t go if yer not willin’ t’stay beside me and Sans.”

Gold glared, crosses shifting to the side of his sockets, as if he couldn’t look at Red while he agreed to such a demeaning request. “Fine, fine.”

“Well then, right this way to the head of the line,” Sans gave an extravagant bow.

Gold clacked his teeth and Sans was quick to clack his back. Gold hesitated for a moment before stomping to the front of the line, ignoring the snarling faces of the Alphas.

When Sans straightened up, Red found his tiny fangs clacking in silence.

“Sans,” Red called. “Be. Good.”

“No promises,” Sans spat back.

Chapter Text

“Now, down here seems t’be single family houses. Sans has marked tha ones safe t’enter.”

“Mr. Red, would you say that “commoners” lived in these houses?”

“Hm, I’d say middle class at least. From what I’ve seen of tha apartments, poorer monsters lived there. They’re really cramped and there’s evidence several families may have lived in one apartment at a time.”

“Fascinating….”

“I, I wonder if that’s before they moved or after?”

“Well, I say we take a look!”

“A’ight. Stay in your groups and designate someone t’keep a socket on tha walls and ceilings. Things still shift a lot down here.”

There were nods and murmurs as groups broke away and hurried into the ruins of dilapidated, stone houses. Tall walls of darken shades of gray rock towered over the ruins of the old kingdom and layers of dust from debris and monsters long past covered everything--- the pathways, the ruins of homes, even the rock walls shimmered with a thin layer, gleaming from soft rays of light peeking from the surface.

There was an odd serenity to the place, however. Sometimes, dust appeared to glitter in the rays of light. An echo of stone settling would whisper through the air, as if letting those who heard know that the Remains were still alive with secrets and---

“Did you hear that?” Sans asked towards Red before turning to look down the curving pathway.

“Hear what?” Red questioned.

“I swear, I thought I heard a little kid’s voice. Like laughing.”

Gold chortled. “Oh my, is the little Alpha hearing voices? Crimson, perhaps you should take this one back to the store,” he snickered. “Before you know it, he’ll start talking about how he thinks he might be seeing things that are not there.”

Sans glared back at the Chroma. “First of all, don’t imply that I’m some sort of object to be returned somewhere. Second, there is no such thing as ghosts--- or, at the least, there is no physical evidence of them. Thirdly, I was not about to imply I was hearing something even akin to ghosts. The more sensible and logical conclusion is that someone else is down here. As much as we patrol, it’s impossible to have someone on guard constantly. Someone was bound to get curious and sneak in here at some point.”

“Oh, look at that, the Alpha can use logic,” Gold drawled. “But of course, it is the only thing you’re good at. Now you’re going to suggest we go farther in the cave and investigate and if something is down there, Crimson and I will have to be the ones to clean up the mess.”

Sans clacked his fangs. “I’m not asking you to do anything!” he snapped. “I’m more the capable of searching by myself.”

“But can you defend yourself if something happens?” Gold crossed his arms and gave a knowing look, smirking with lidded sockets.

Sans could only clack his fangs again.

“I thought so.”

“That’s enough,” Red started, stepping between the two. “Gold, stop diggin’ before ya hit lava, understand me?”

Gold huffed, looking away.

“Now, if there is someone down here, we need to go look and find ‘em. I ain’t been t’tha deeper parts of tha cavern, so I don’t know what’s safe or not--- if I don’t know, they sure as hell don’t either, so we gotta edge our way down there and bring ‘em back up ‘fore they get hurt or worse.”

“And what if the Alpha is just hearing things?” Gold asked.

Red shrugged. “Either way, we’ll know for sure afterwards,” he answered as he walked over to the Alphas still rummaging through debris. “Hey, listen up!”

One by one, curious skulls popped out of holes in walls and shattered doors and windows.

“We think someone mighta snuck in,” Red started. “I’m not allowed t’leave ya guys alone fer any real length of time, so I’m gonna need ya guys t’head back t’tha entrance while me and Sans investigate.”

“I am going, too,” Gold announced, standing tall in all of his armor. “If there is danger, you will not be able to depend on the Alpha alone for aid.”

“...Well, if he’s going then I’m out,” replied an Alpha standing outside a broken window.

“Agreed. Let’s let the “Great, Powerful Chroma” handle it.”

“Maybe if we’re lucky, he’ll take one step too far to the left, if ya know what I mean….”

“Oh come now, that’s unbecom…..”

“I’m only saying what everyone is thi….”

Voices faded as the skeletons headed around the bend, following the well marked path to the exit and leaving Sans, Red and Gold alone.

“You can go, too,” Sans pushed towards the Chroma.

“Nonsense!” Gold called. “As I said, you aren’t dependable in a fight.”

“Who says we’re going to have to fight!” Sans retorted. “It sounded like a kid laughing. We don’t have to fight a kid!”

“We’ll see,” Gold spoke.

Sans turned to Red. “Tell him to go back!”

Red sighed. “Gold, just---”

“I am not leaving you alone with him!” the Chroma pointed to Sans. “He may be Gaster’s son, but he is still an Alpha. He barely has any magical stamina. He might as well be an Omega at this rate.”

“Oh, so, dead?” Sans glared.

“Omegas ain’t even---!” Red closed his sockets tight. “For Lord Error’s sake, we don’t have time fer this! Sans, just lead us t’where ya heard tha voice so we can figure out if someone’s down here or not! Gold, don’t do anything unless I say so, understand me?”

“Of course,” Gold replied.

“Ink Above, fine!” Sans snapped and whipped around. He began to head down the winding dust covered path. As his anger edged off, he began to realize something. “…This is the direction I heard voices coming from earlier. I thought maybe I was hearing echos from the group, but the sound wasn’t coming from the right direction for that. They were lighter, too, definitely children laughing.”

“Children, really? Down here?” Gold questioned with a chip in his voice.

“I don’t know,” Red shrugged. “If I were a kid, I’m sure Az would have dared me to come in here.”

“With Rust crying for you not to,” Sans chuckled.

“Totally,” Red snickered back. “What about you and Papyrus?”

“Oh, I totally would have come down here as a kid,” Sans answered, looking up towards the high rocky ceiling. “A cave that could have a bunch of artifacts in it, I’m totally there. Papy would have told dad and dad would have scolded me for being reckless while at the same time wanting to see anything I might have taken while I was down there.”

Red laughed. “Man, you Alphas just can’t help yerselves with this stuff, huh? ‘Now, son, I’m very disappointed that you went some place dangerous alone… but I must say, these findings are quite curious. I’m proud of you for knowing what to bring back.’”

Sans laughed. “That’s totally him!”

“Hm celebrating child endangerment and disobeying authority. How nice,” Gold put in, making the conversation between Red and Sans fizzle out. “Crimson, are you sure you should be associating with someone like this?”

“We ain’t doing this again, Gold. And I told ya, ya can’t call me by my real name no more!” Red warned.

“Oh, but the Alpha can because he agreed to stop spreading his legs for everyone else?”

Sans stopped in his tracks.

Gold snickered. “Oh, yes, Gaster’s son. Word gets around. A lot. Makes one wonder just how much you really care for Crimson.”

Sans whipped around. “That is enough out of you!” he growled, stomping closer, glaring up at the Chroma. “Don’t you dare sit there and imply I don’t care about Crimson more than anyone else I’ve been with!”

“Oh? And where’s your proof of that?”

“He asked me to move in with him!”

“Aww, did you two get a cute little apartment together?”

“It’s a house! Crimson bought a house!”

“Oh, so you didn’t supply anything at all.”

Sans gaped, sockets wide. “Well… it….”

“It was a surprise!” Red snapped. “Now stop shoutin’, I’m tryin’ t’hear!”

The two skeletons settled down in an uncomfortable silence, though Sans found he couldn’t concentrate.

‘So you didn’t supply anything at all.’

Of course I couldn’t! I didn’t know Crimson was buying a house! I would have gladly helped him if I had known! But… Sans looked to the dusty ground. After he told me, all I did was think about putting my own stuff in there…. I didn’t even ask if he needed help with buying anything for it. I didn’t… give anything back….

“Hey, I think I heard something,” Red spoke, interrupting Sans’ thoughts. “Straight ahead.”

---From the darkest part of the cavern, because of course the sounds of children laughing would come from the darkest part of a cavern full of abandoned houses.

“Perhaps we should go back and get the guard?” Gold suggested, distal phalanges tapping at each other.

“Ah, what’s wrong Chroma?” Sans spat with a smirk. “Not gettin’ scared, are ya?”

“Of course not!” Gold spat. “I just---”

“Both of ya, shut up, “ Red ordered. “We ain’t got time. Quicker we get ‘em out, the quicker we can avoid anyone getting hurt.”

“While I do see your point, dear Crimson, I--- AHHHH!” Gold jumped, latching onto Red’s arm. “O-o-over Th-th-there!” He stuttered, pointing towards a clutter of tall buildings cast in an odd dusty green light. “A-a-a Sh-sh-shadow! Ra-ra-ran b-b-by!”

Red shook Gold off him and pushed him backward as Sans stepped beside Red. Screw having low magic stamina, he was not going to let Red fight alone.

“We know ya over there!” Red announced. “Come on out!”

“Ah, ah, ah!” came a child’s voice. “You gotta find me!”

“This ain’t no game!” Red warned.

“Whaaa!? I thought we were playing a game!”

“The fuck?” Red twisted around. Another child’s voice had come from behind them, from more shadows. “There’s more than one?”

“We’re still playing the game, don’t worry!” the first voice answered, reassuring the second one. “It’ll be even more fun because now that there’s more players! The game is starting over now! Marco!”

“M…Marco?” Gold repeated. “Who is Marco?”

“No one,” Sans whispered. “It’s a game.” The tiny Alpha stepped forward. “Polo!”

“Marco!!”

“Marco!”

“The first one is closer,” Sans pointed. “Follow me,” he spoke and rushed into the maze of apartments, Red following without missing a beat and Gold hesitating before scrambling to keep up.

“Polo!” Sans cried.

“Marco!”

“...Marco”

“This way!” Sans took a sharp right. “Polo!”

“Marco!”

Sans stopped at an intersection. “Polo!”

“Marco!”

“Straight ahead,” he pointed again with a grin, enjoying the game.

Seeing the grin, Red scooped up Sans and dashed forward, leaving Gold farther behind.

“POLO!” Sans and Red cried.

“MARCO!”

“In there!” Sans cried and Red slid to stop before hurrying into the lobby of an apartment building. He stopped short on the tiled stone floor, looked at the over turned and dust covered furniture. A dim green light cast sharp shadows from somewhere.

Sans slid from Red’s hold. “…Polo?”

“...Marco…”

Sans walked up to the circular front desk. He pulled himself atop the stone counter and peered over the edge. “Gotcha!” he shot forward, grabbed something before leaning back up.

In his arms was a squirming, laughing---

“WHAT IS THAT THING!!” Gold shrieked from the door, pointing and panting.

They had tawny brown hair, pale skin, but a bit of rose on their cheeks. Their white and beige stripped shirt was too big for them, sleeves flailing around as their arms waved. “Ya found me! Good job!” They smiled up at Sans with the scarlet eyes.

Sans stared.

Was this… a human child?

Sans looked at Red, who only stared back, then looked back at the child.

“Come on!” the child cried, jumping off the counter. “We gotta find Frira next!”

“Huh? Wait!” Sans lowered himself off the counter. “Uh, I’m Sans. What’s your name?”

“Oh!” Sleeved hands clapped over their mouth, the child surprised by their own lack of manners. “I’m Charis!”

“Okay,” Sans nodded. “How did you and… Frira, was it?”

“And Rhisk!”

“There’s three of those things!?” Gold screamed.

“Stop shoutin’! Red snapped. “It’s just a human kid. Ain’t gonna hurt ya!”

Sans looked from Gold and Red, then back to Charis. “There’s three of you?”

“Yep,” Charis nodded. “Frira is still playing, but Rhisk stayed at the garden!”

“The garden?”

“Yeah. That’s where mommy put us!”

Sans’ brow bone furrowed and he rubbed his mandible as he tried to piece this all together.

There were three human children, two of which were running around dangerous ruins and the third was at some garden, where “mommy put them.”

“Charis,” Sans started. “It’s really dangerous to be running around here. You need to end the game with Frira.”

“Aww,” Charis pouted. “But I don’t wanna!”

Red walked over and squatted down in front of the child. “Hey, kiddo. I’m Red.”

Charis eyes lit up. “You have red eyes like me!”

“Yep,” Red smiled. “I also have two siblings like ya. Sometimes they got hurt if we didn’t stop playin’ when we were told t’. Ya don’t want Frira gettin’ hurt, do ya?”

Charis looked down and kicked a rock with a too big boot. “…No.”

“All right then. Let’s end the game. Then we can get Rhisk and take ya---”

“Oh, it’s okay!” Charis smiled. “Mommy will come back for us!” With that, Charis ran towards the door. “Hello, loud skeleton,” they waved at Gold who leaped away as they headed onto the street and screamed, “HEY! CALLING ALL THE OUTS, YOU’RE FREE!! YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF ME!!!”

Footsteps sounded as another human child scurried from around another building. This one had darker umber hair, stunning lemon yellow eyes and a white shirt striped purple and far too big. “Is the game over!?” Frira heaved, resting hands to their knees.

“The skeletons said it’s dangerous here,” Charis spoke. “We gotta go back to Rhisk.”

“Hey, hold on,” Sans called, jogging up to the children. “Could you show us this garden? We’ve, huh, never heard of this place and we’ve lived down here for a long time.”

“Sure, okay!” Charis smiled and took Sans’ hand. “It’s this way!” they pointed and tugged him along.
”We’re not really going to follow these… these things, are we?” Gold asked, cowering as he followed behind the group.

“We gotta figure out the situation with these kids,” Red answered. “They’re kids, Gold, we can’t leave ‘em alone.”

“But they… they’re humans,” Gold blanched at the word. “They’re the reason we had to---”
”They are not the reason,” Red growled with a sharp glare at Gold. “They are children and we ain’t leavin’ ‘em down here in the dark!” Red then pressed ahead, ending up behind Sans and the children, Gold dragging behind.

They traveled deeper and deeper, passed more ruins and into a darkening tunnel until near pitch black consumed them. A small, growing circle of light ahead was the only indication that the darkness even ended.

The tunnel opened into a light-filled circular room, the floor covered in bright yellow flowers. Atop this garden of sorts was a third human child. Their skin was near paper white, long onyx hair covering their face. Tiny fingers played among the flowers, peeking from white sleeves of a red stripped shirt that, for a third time, was too large. Their eyes weren’t visible when they looked up from the flowers, hair covering the top half of their face. They stood up and ran over to Red, grabbed onto his leg and just… stood there.

Charis chuckled. “Rhisk likes big people for protection!”

“Protection?” Red questioned.

“Yeah!” Frira beamed. “Rhisk has been like that since daddy’s head bloomed into red flowers!”

Red gave Sans a wide socketed look of worry.

“Oh, that… sounds… nice….” Sans stammered, trying to put on a smile. “Hey, can you show us how you got down here?”

“From up there!” Charis pointed to the hole in the ceiling. “We climbed down that rope.” A thick brown rope hung from the entrance of the hole and piled on the ground at the edge of the garden. “Momma said not to climb back up until she came back.”

“I see…” Sans nodded. “And how long ago was that?”

“I don’t know….” Charis shrugged. “Ask Rhisk.”

Red looked down at the tiny human attached to his leg. “Hey, little guy. Do you know how long ya’ve been down here?”

Rhisk held up four fingers.

“Four… days?”

Rhisk nodded.

“Four days?” Sans questioned. “What have you been eating?”

“The flowers are good,” Frira pointed.

“Flowers!” Sans screamed. “Okay, that’s it! We are taking you to town now to get real food!”

“We can’t leave!” Charis cried up at Sans. “We have to wait for mommy!”

“I agree with it, leave it here,” Gold muttered.

“You keep your teeth shut!” Sans shot. “Like hell I’m leaving them down here! It’s been four days!”

“Sans, calm down,” Red spoke, voice low. “Yer scarin’ the little one,” his hand rested atop Rhisk’s head. He could feel the little guy trembling.

Sans clenched his fangs, then sighed. “Okay, okay.” He rubbed his nose ridge. “We need a plan though…”

“Oh…oh!” Charis pointed. “Look! Up there!”

The humans and monsters followed Charis’ cry and at the top of the opening of the hole, they could see a shadow.

Someone was looking down at them.

“It’s mommy!” Charis cheered and dashed over to the rope. “I’ll climb up and tell her we’re ready to go!”

“Oh, be careful, Charis!” Sans called as the little human edged up the rope.

“Strong kid,” Red noted. “…Looks like they made it.”

The group kept their gaze on the hole, the tiny shadow talking to the large one. They waited for Chairs to at least yell something back down at them, to let them know the others could head up, but…

Red squinted. “Something ain’t right. This is takin’ too long. She’s their mom, she should be pullin’ ‘em back up by now.”

A tension fell over the group as the taller shadow seemed to throw up her arms, point down to the hole---

---Then grabbed the little shadow.

“MOMMY, WAIT!!” the scream pierced the tension. “MOMMY!!”

The large shadow heaved and Charis was falling…falling…

“CHARIS!!” Frira shrieked.

“Gods Above and Below!” Red tried to move, but Rhisk had gone rigid, iron grip on Red’s legs, huge, fuscia eyes staring up, wide in horror. “Sans, I can’t---- CATCH THEM!!”

Sans, sockets wide, jolted as Red’s voice broke the shock gripping his body and he raised his hands, began moving to get under Charis’ screaming, falling body.

After a few seconds of eternity, a loud thud echoed through the room. Sans feel backward as Charis piled on top of his ribs.

“Charis! Charis!” Frira cried stumbling over to their sibling.

Sans sat up and his arms went around the shaking child, pressed them against his clothed ribs. He then used a hand to guide Charis’ face to look at his.

Their eyes were wide open, cradling tears. “Mommy… threw me…. Why did… mommy throw me?”

“I don’t understand,” Frira whispered as she came to her knees. “I thought… I thought mommy was coming back for us!”

“She said we were monsters!’ Charis screamed as tears erupted. “She said were supposed to die down here! Mommy, why!? I don’t understand!! What did we do wrong!?”

Sans pulled Charis into his embrace, rocked back and forth. “It’s okay, we’re gonna take care of you, I promise.” He reached over to Frira and hugged her closer.

Red stood with Rhisk still clenching his leg, trembling. The giant skeleton squatted down and wrapped arms around the little human. “It’ll be okay, little guy. I promise.” He straightened up, Rhisk in his arms.

When Red looked up at the hole, he watched the untied rope begin to fall to the ground.

The shadow had already disappeared.…

Chapter Text

“You cannot be serious about this!”

“What other choice do we have, Chroma? And don’t you dare say “leave them in the Remains”.”

“Fine! Take them to Our New Kingdom then!”

“Yeah, right. This little guy ain’t gonna let me take him anywhere no time soon,” Red replied, hands full with Rhisk who was buried in his jacket. He had a strong hold to the skeleton’s magic body, fingers digging into his shirt.

Sans stood with one hand guiding Frira, the other hand (and arm) holding Charis, whose wet face was hidden in Sans’ neck bones.

They made their way through town, catching the curious gazes and whispers of monsters as they passed. They were all aware of humans from stories passed down through generations, but had never seen one, let alone three, until now. They didn’t bother to ask questions, seeing the stern looks on Red and Sans’ faces that said “not right now.” Plus, Gold was with them and they knew he was something of an annoyance on his own. No need to add to what appeared to be a serious situation.

Soon, the odd group arrived to the humble two story house.

“This is your house?” Gold asked, mouth gaped, sockets wide, hand to his ribs. “It’s so… tiny.”

“It’s fine,” Red grumbled.

“But, Crimson, you can do so much better!” Gold started. “You have done better! The house you had before you came to this backwater town was magnificent!”

“That place was practically a hotel,” Red replied. “A family of five don’t need three stories, plus a basement!”

“Three stories is perfectly acceptable! Though with your father’s paycheck, he could have easily gone up a few stories.”

“Oh, please….” Red grumbled.

Sans peered up at the two as they continued their argument. I didn’t know Crimson used to live in such a big house…. Sans had grown up in Falling Leaves, so he was used to seeing quaint little houses-- he had lived in one with his brother and father, before Papyrus moved out to get married, before his father’s studies netted him a job at the Archives. Sans tagged along with him and went to college soon afterwards. In that time, he got used to all the big houses, though, like Red, he didn’t really see the need for all the space.

Still, Sans couldn’t help but ponder Gold’s words: “You can do so much better!” Red really did deserve better after all the crap he had gone through growing up. Again, Sans berated himself for not doing something more for Red…. The best he had done was give Red a collar to symbolize their bond, that they belonged to each other. But a collar wasn’t a freaking house. The thought made Sans’ Soul sink before he decided to tune back into Red and Gold’s conversation and attempt to forgot how low he was feeling--- granted, he knew how implausible that was, since one of the skeletons talking was Gold after all….

“...And on top of that, you are bringing these things into your home with you!” Gold shouted. “It does not matter that they are little! Little humans grow to be big humans! What are you going to do if they become just as bad as the other ones were! I just cannot believe you would actually consider taking in these things---”

“Will ya just keep yer mouth shut!” Red snapped. “I told ya all the way down here that we ain’t just leavin ‘em there!”

“And I keep telling you they are dangerous!” Gold spat. “Humans are the reason we had to move down here! They are too unpredictable what with their constant fighting and---”

“I told ya, Gold,” Red starts, ankhs gleaming with an ominous light. “These kids had nothing to do with that! They’re children whose mom dumped ‘em down here or did ya just happen t’forget that part!?”

“Of course not---”

“Look, until ya get some other idea that don’t involve dumpin’ ‘em somewhere, ya can keep yer teeth shut!” Red finished, fangs bared.

Gold snarled before whipping around and stomping off.

Rhisk let out a few sniffs.

“Hey, now, it’s okay,” Red spoke in a much softer voice, shifting the tiny human up and down. “I’m sorry I had t’scream like that, but it’s over now. Let’s go inside, okay?” Red turned around and looked down at Sans, whose gaze was to the ground. “Ya okay, sweetheart?”

“What?” Sans blinked. “Oh, sorry… yeah.. just….” He gave a weak smile. “It’s been a day, you know?”

Red smiled back. “Tell me about it,” he replied as he led the smaller skeleton up the porch stairs and to the door, which he unlocked, allowing everyone to pile inside. He closed and locked the door. “Hey, Sansy, sorry ‘bout all the arguin’ with---”

Frira let out a loud gasp. “You live here!? It’s so big!”

Sans glanced at Frira, taking in her awed expression. “Well, I guess. Though two stories and a basement are pretty standard here….” The floor plans were much smaller here then in ONK, so two stories were needed to make sure all the rooms fit.

Frira let go of Sans’ hand and began to zoom around the room, looking at the TV, then patting the couch. She then raced into the kitchen and opened the fridge. A loud squeal followed. “So many snacks!”

“Oh, you guys probably are hungry!” Sans realized. “Uh, oh… Charis, I’m going to just put on the couch, all right? I’ll need both hands to cook.”

Charis didn’t answer as Sans walked over to the couch, Red following.

Red plopped down first and continued to cradle Rhisk as Sans rested Charis next to Red. They sort of just… slumped against Red, hair covering most of their still wet face.

Sans frowned, reached into the drawer of the nearby table and pulled out a small handkerchief. He squatted down and took Charis’ face into a gentle hand and ran the cloth over wet cheeks. “It’s gonna be all right,” Sans whispered. “I’m gonna make something really nice, okay?”

Charis didn’t answer again, and at this point, Sans wasn’t expecting much. They had gone mute soon after leaving the garden behind.

Fantastic. Two psychologically damaged kids, Sans sighed. I do not have the degree to handle this. Regardless, Sans pulled himself away from… his(?) child.

Had he and Red just.. adopted these children?

Sans decided not to think about the exact action he and his boyfriend had just taken and padded his way into the kitchen where he found Frira taking everything out of the fridge.

Sans groaned. “Frira, what are you doing?”

“Trying to find something to eat!” Frira replied with a smile as she pulled out a jug of juice. She rested the jug on the floor, next to eggs, milk, soda, tea, deli meats and sliced cheeses.

“Hm,” Sans tapped his mandible. “How about just sandwiches? Quick and easy to make.”

Frira’s beamed. “Ooo! Okay!”

Sans couldn’t help but smile back. Frira was so… sweet. She seemed to be taking this whole thing in stride which was… rather worrisome. Rhisk was sniffing and Charis was quiet, but Frira was all smiles. Out of the three, Frira appeared to be the one Sans needed to keep a socket on the most.

For now, the two made turkey sandwiches and Frira brought out a large plate while Sans brought cups and a jug of juice.

“We made sandwiches!” Frira cheered as she placed the plate on the table.

“These look great, Frira,” Red smiled as he leaned over to pick up two sandwiches. “Rhisky, here ya go,” he offered the meal to the clinging child who turned to look at the food.

Rhisk reached out a slow hand that snatched the sandwich away and brought the food to his mouth. He took slow, even bites and quiet swallows.

“Aw, you like that, buddy?” Red asked with a smile.

Rhisk nodded and continued eating.

Red turned his attention to Charis, who hadn’t move. “Come one, sweetheart, ya gotta eat.”

The quiet child didn’t move other than just curling up more.

Sans settled Frira on the couch with a sandwich and cup of juice before moving to Charis. “Come on, sweety,” Sans started. “Just a little bit?”

No response.

Sans reached for Charis’ face and brushed back some hair.

Their eyes were red (well, redder than what Sans thought was usual) and puffy, a deep frown set on their face. Tears still stained their cheeks.

Sans brushed them away.

“...I’m not hungry.” they murmured.

Sans gave a sigh, then a worried glance at Red before looking back at Charis. “All right, sweety. Do you want to go to bed?

Charis nodded and sniffed.

“Okay,” Sans reached down and picked them up. “I guess we can put them in the extra room, but all we have is extra pillows and blankets….”

“We should give ‘em our bed,” Red offered. “They been sleepin’ on tha ground fer nearly a week. They need a bed.”

Sans agreed with a nod. “Right. We’ll worry about baths and clothes tomorrow. Leave some sandwiches for Charis in case they want a midnight snack.”

“Gotcha,” Red replied and leaned over to pour Rhisk some juice.

Sans headed upstairs with Charis and into the master bedroom. He rested them on the bed, then slipped off their shoes and socks. “After I leave, you can take off anything else to get more comfortable, all right?” Sans spoke. “Do you want anything else? More pillows, blankets? Do you want me to leave the bathroom light on for you?”

“I’m not afraid of the dark!” Charis snapped as they crawled under the black sheets.

“Right,” Sans sighed. “You’re a big kid.” Sans looked down at the child. “You’re a strong kid, Charis. You’ve been through a lot.”

“...I’m not strong….” Charis mumbled, body trembling. “I… I cried a lot.”

“And that’s just fine,” Sans assured. “You’ve been through something very stressful and scary. It’s okay to feel whatever you feel. And it’s okay to express how you feel in any way you need to.”

“... I hate her…” Charis muttered. “I hate her so much…” Their body trembled as another wave of tears wracked over them.

Sans sat on the bed and rubbed Charis’ shaking back.

“...What did we do wrong?” they sobbed. “Why does she think we’re monsters?”

Sans took a deep breath. “Sometimes… you don’t have to do something wrong for someone to hurt you. Sometimes… people are just mean… And… I don’t know why she would think you were monsters. You three are the sweetest kids I’ve ever met.”

Charis didn’t respond, just sniffed and wiped away tears.

The door cracked opened and Red and Frira peeked in.

“How’s it going?” Red asked, shuffling into the room while carrying Rhisk and leading Frira.

“It’s…” Sans paused and looked down at Charis. They seemed to have stopped crying, their breathing even and slow. After today, Sans wasn’t surprised they had fallen asleep so fast. “It’s a little better.”

“All right, then,” Red spoke. “Come one, kids, time for bed.” He walk over and lowered Rhisk to the bed, the only time the little boy seemed to be all right with letting Red go. He gave a yawn as Red took off his shoes and socks.

Sans did the same for Frira and helped the two under the sheets, tucked them in and told them good night. Rhisk let out a little pout, prompting Red to turn on the bathroom light. Once everyone was settled, Red and Sans returned to the living room. They tided up, wrapping the sandwiches for Charis in plastic and leaving them on the counter. The juice went back in the fridge and the plate and cups into the sink.

The two then collapsed onto the couch, exhausted.

“...Did we do the right thing?” Sans asked.

Red stared. “Of course we did. We couldn’t just leave ‘em there.”

“I know, I know, it’s just….” Sans looked towards the ceiling. “There kids. Human kids. They can’t be older than five or six… Abandoned by their mom and Gods Above and Below only knows what happened to their dad. It’s just… this is a huge responsibility.”

“...Do ya wanna take ‘em to ONK?”

“I… I don’t know,” Sans admitted. “I…I don’t think we can. We…we promised them. We promised that we’d keep them safe. So… we have to try to make this work… right?”

Red nodded and took one of Sans’ hands in his. “That’s all we can do, just… try our best. Try better than their mom did. I mean, we can’t fuck up that badly, right?”

Sans nuzzled against Red’s arm. “Gods, I hope not.”

“We won’t,” Red replied, voice stern. “We ain’t abandonin’ ‘em. We made a promise and we’re gonna keep it.”

Chapter Text

The next morning, Sans and Red woke early to tend to their (?) children. Red made big bowls of cereal while Sans bathed them, one at a time. Frira splashed around, wearing a big smile, Rhisk clung to Sans’ arms and Charis fought the entire time, soaking Sans and the floor. With an irritated grunt, he plopped Charis onto the couch with their siblings and went to change clothes and mop up the bathroom floor. Red took over then, offering the kids bowls of sugary goodness.

Frira ate well on her own, while Rhisk needed Red to hold his spoon.

Charis, of course, refused to eat.

“Charis, sweetheart,” Red started. “Ya gotta eat.”

“I’m not hungry…,” Charis muttered before sliding off the couch and shuffling towards the stairs.

At the same time, Sans left the bedroom.

“What’s wrong, Charis?” Sans asked as the two met on the staircase.

“I’m not hungry,” they murmured.

Sans sighed. “Dear, you haven’t eaten since yesterday. You need food or you’re going to get sick.”

“Maybe I wanna get sick!” Charis snapped, stomping their feet, hands forming fists. “If I get sick, if I get really sick, I can die and won’t have to feel so sad!”

“Charis!” Sans cried, sockets wide. “Don’t talk like that! No one wants you to get sick and die!”

“You’re lying!” Charis shouted. “Momma wanted us to die! That’s why she left us here! She wanted us to die!”

“A real mom would not want her children to die!” Sans shouted back, fangs bared. He hated this, he hated what that woman had done to these children and he would give anything to scream at her and not the broken child in front of him. “That… that person may have given birth to you but she was no mother. She wouldn’t have abandoned you like that if she cared about you!”

“Sans!” Red called. “Calm. Down. Ya makin’ Rhisk upset,” he spoke, rocking the boy in his lap.

As Sans looked over at his boyfriend, Charis took the opportunity to dodge around him and barrel into the master bedroom. The door slammed, making Rhisk jump and scream.

“Ah, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Red reassured him. “Shh, yer all right, sweety.”

A few moments would pass before Rhisk would settle down with a few sniffs.

Sans let out a defeated sigh, disappointed in himself for letting his anger overtake him. He knew he needed to let this anger go--- he was never going to see that disgusting excuse of a mother again, there was no reason to let her actions drag on him for so long, but he just couldn’t let go. He really needed to punch something. Until he could find a suitable punching bag, he made his way downstairs and plopped down on the sofa.

Red reached over and rubbed his back.

Sans looked towards the ceiling. “… I never knew my mom, maybe that’s why I’m so pi… uh, upset,” he corrected himself. “Dad never talked about her, but whenever I asked him about her, he just… he never looked happy. How do you just… leave behind your kids like that? How do you just…?” Sans sighed and lowered his skull. “No, what I need to figure out is… Frira,” he called.

“Hm?” the little girl looked up from her near empty bowl of cereal.

“Do you think you can tell me why your mom abandoned you? Maybe if I know why, I can help Charis through all this.”

“Mmm,” Frira hummed, lips pressed to her spoon. “Maybe because of Rabbit?”

Sans cocked a brow bone. “Rabbit? Did you have a pet rabbit?”

Frira nodded. “No, Rabbit was… it came from a glowing circle we made.”

“Glowing circle?” Red questioned. “Like a…?” He looked to Sans who gave a puzzled looked. “Sans, call my sister,” he requested.

“Oh… oh!” Sans realized as he hurried into the kitchen where a phone hung on the wall.

About twenty minutes later, a knock sounded at the door, which Sans went to open not only to Azure, Red’s older sister, but also Rust, his older brother. While Azure wore her reading glasses, a nice button up lilac shirt and a knee length chocolate skirt, Rust was in black baggy pants and a blue hoodie, his normal day off attire.

“I heard there were babies!” Rust cried and all but barreled inside. He gasped. “Look at these babies!”

“Ru, they’re like five years old,” Red pointed out.

“Babies!” Rust cried and hopped over to Frira. “Hello little one, I’m your uncle Rust.”

“Hi uncle Rusty, I’m Frira!” Frira waved.

Rust teared up and scooped up Frira into a big hug. “I love her. I will protect her forever.”

Red rolled his ankhs as Azure and Sans gave small smiles. Sans then welcomed Azure inside and closed the door.

Azure made her way to the couch and took a seat. She looked towards Rhisk and smiled. “Hey, little guy. I’m Azure, what’s your name?”

Rhisk hid behind Red’s jacket.

“This is Rhisk,” Red answered. “He’s shy and mute. Really, uh, attached t’me, too.”

“Aww,” Azure cooed. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Rhisk.”

“There’s a third one upstairs,” Sans informed, as he walked over to lean against the couch’s arm. “Charis. They aren’t… feeling very well.”

“Yeah, you made it sound pretty serious over the phone,” Azure nodded, looking down at her lap.

“I wish we could do something for them,” Rust murmured. “I can’t imagine what they’re going through….”

“Well, that’s why I called you over,” Sans started. “We think if we can figure out exactly what happened, we can help them. Frira told us that their mom may have abandoned them because of a rabbit. I thought she meant a pet rabbit, but she told me it came out a circle they made.”

“A circle?” Azure questioned. “You mean, like a summon circle?”

“Not sure,” Red answered. “That’s why we called ya, ya bein’ skilled in Summonin’.”

“Hmm,” Azure’s hand come to her mandible in thought before turning to Frira, still being held by Rust. “Frira, can you tell me more about this rabbit and the circle?”

Frira nodded. “Me and Charis and Rhisk used to hold hands and say a lot of words… I don’t know how we knew the words, but after we said them, a bright circle showed up on the ground and a big black rabbit came out!” Frira emphasized the size by holding up her hands. “It was really nice. It played with us all the time, like hide and seek and tag! Then one day….” Frira’s voice grew soft. “Daddy came home and was screaming a lot. He didn’t like Rabbit. He said we had to get rid of it. We always said goodbye to Rabbit before daddy got home and we stopped taking it outside.”

“I see,” Azure mused. “Can you tell me what the circle looked like.”

“Ummm….”

“Oh!” Rust lowered Frira to the floor and pulled out a small notepad and pen from the pocket of his hoodie. “You fall into some weird habits working at a cafe,” he explained to the perplexed looks from his family. “Here Frira, draw what the circle looks like on this.”

Frira took the pad and pencil and began to draw: two circles one inside the other, then little squiggles between them. In the middle she drew a rabbit head. “Like this,” she held up the page to Rust, then to the rest of the group.

“Well, I’ll be,” Azure spoke. “A Summon circle.”

“So, they… they really Summoned this thing,” Sans whispered, sockets wide.

“Looks like it,”Azure replied. “Frira, did someone show you how to to call the rabbit?”

“Frira nodded. “No. We’ve always been able to call it.”

Azure nodded in return. “Well, for starters, as humans, they have much stronger Souls than us monsters. I think they’d be able to Summon without training.”

“But if they’re Summonin’ somethin’ from tha Void,” Red started. “Then wouldn’t that mean one of their ancestors went into tha Void and made a pact with someone? Can humans do that?”

Azure shrugged. “Maybe? It would have been easier for them back when monsters and humans lived together. A monster might have aided a human in getting to the Void. As long as the pact isn’t broken, it’ll keep going from generation to generation. Though, usually, the Summon Text is taught from parent to child. Maybe….” She paused and tapped her mandible in thought. “Maybe humans are able to just know the text? With how much stronger their Souls are, maybe the pact with a Summon provides a link to their text and their Soul can “keep it,” similar to a memory you keep in your head.”

The other skeletons nodded.

“A familial memory kept in a Soul,” Sans murmured. “Interesting… I wonder if there’s any evidence of something like this in the Archives….”

“Hey,” Red snapped. “I know ya can’t help bein curious and all, but tha kids ain’t somethin’ fer ya to be studyin’ or researchin’ on, got it?”

Sans gave a deep blush. “Uh, sorry, sorry,” he murmured. “Just… I’ve never heard of humans being able to Summon…. I guess it’s okay, though. It doesn’t seem to be causing any problems for them… except….” Sans looked at Frira who was again in Rust’s arms. He walked over to look up at her. “Friar, did your parents catch you calling the rabbit again?”

Frira nodded. “Daddy got really mad… He screamed at us and even threw things. He said Rabbit was a demon…. But, it’s not a demon!” Frira cried, little fists shaking. “Rabbit is nice and Rabbit never hurt anyone until daddy yelled at us and hit us! Then Rabbit made daddy’s head bloom into a lot of red!” Again, Frira’s held up her hands. “It was so pretty! Like flowers! But then… mommy got scared and took us away. She said other people would be scared of us and we needed to hide. She took us to the big hole after that.”

“I see,” Azure murmured again.

Sans looked to the side. She was the one who was scared… he thought. “I’m gonna go check on Charis. See if they’re hunger. Thanks for your help, Azure,” the little Alpha finished as he went into the kitchen to make a fresh bowl of cereal.

“Of course,” she smiled. “Um, do you guys need any help? Taking on three kids all at once can’t be easy.”

“Oh, man, we can’t be askin’ ya guys fer stuff,” Red replied. “Ya studyin’ and Rust is workin’ all the time to help ya through ya classes, right?”

“Well, I might be able to get some toys or somethin’ from the school,” Azure replied.

“And I don’t mind babysitting on my day off,” Rust chimed

Red nodded. “I just don’t feel right about it since I couldn’t help Azure with her classes.”

“You were saving up for a house, you dork,” Azure pointed out. “It was perfectly all right.”

“I know, I know, but still….”

As the siblings continued their discussion, Sans headed upstairs. He cracked open the door and peeked into the dim bedroom. A bundle of blankets made a lump on the left side of the bed. Sans walked in and sat the bowl of cereal on the bed stand.

“Charis…,” Sans called. “Frira told us about Rabbit.”

Blankets shot up and red eyes stared at blue S’s.

“It’s okay,” Sans continued. “Down here, Summons are rare, but nothing that will get you in trouble…. But, I understand that you got into trouble with your parents. Do you want to talk about it?”

Chairs looked down, eyes glowing from under the darkness of the blankets. “You said… Summons are normal down here? Does that really make us monsters? Was momma…right?”

“Well,” Sans started. “If you do have some monster…blood? No, that’s not quite right…. Um, if your human Soul has a little monster Soul in it, then maybe you are a little monster? But even then, that doesn’t make you a… “monster,” understand? I mean… you’re not some sort of... scary thing. You’re a talented child. Summoning is the hardest form of magic to learn and all three of you just know how to do it, like breathing. It’s a wonderful gift,” Sans smiled.

“If it’s so wonderful, why did momma stop loving us…?” Charis whispered.

“Because,” Sans started. “When people are scared of something, instead of trying to understand it, they grow to hate it. But that’s not your fault, Charis. You can’t control how people react to you, just how you react to them and… you don’t need to feel sorry about what you can do.”

Charis pulled the blankets closer.

Sans continued. “I’m leaving you some breakfast, all right? And… listen. Red and I… we care about you a lot. We’ll do everything we can to take care of you. Even if…” Sans gave a shy smile. “If you need to call me mom or something, I’m okay with that, whatever you need to feel be---”

“SHUT UP!” Charis roared, making Sans jump. He stared back at Charis’ glowing eyes. “You’re not--! You’re not---!”

“Cha-Charis,” Sans held up his hands, realizing he had taken a step too far. “I didn’t mean… you don’t have to do that, I just want you to know if it’s makes you feel better, I don’t have a problem with you---”
”I DON’T CARE IF YOU DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT, YOU’RE NOT MOM!!!” Charis screamed, tears rolling.

Sans found himself sniffing back his own tears. “I… you… you’re right, I’m not. I’m sorry…. I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone now, all right?” And with that, Sans shuffled out of the room and back downstairs where Red and his family gave him nervous gazes before Red stood and ushered his siblings out the door with hurried thanks. He then walked over to Sans, lowered Rhisk to the floor and took Sans into his arms.

Sans gave a sad chuckle. “I’m so stupid. Why did I tell them they could call me mom? Why would I say that? I just…” Sans sniffed, brought hands to his tear filled sockets. “Why did I say that?”

“Because ya care about ‘em,” Red answered.

“I’m sure my own buried mom issues aren’t helping either, though….”

“Probably not, but it’s mostly cause ya care so much,” Red replied. “But ya don’t gotta push. I ain’t making Rhisk talk, am I? He’ll talk when he’s ready. And if he never does, there are other ways to communicate, so it’s fine. Charis may never call ya mom, but in time, hopefully, they’ll come to understand that ya love ‘em and only want what’s best fer ‘em. Shouldn’t that be enough?”

Sans nodded and sniffed. He pulled back and blushed. “I got your shirt all wet.”

“Eh, ain’t the first time,” Red waved off. “Ain’t the last either, if Rhisk keeps clingin’ to me, not that I mind. He’s such a cutie,” Red smiled.

Rhisk blushed and dived into Red’s jacket to hide his face.
”There, there,” Red rubbed his head. “So yeah, just give them time, Sans. It’ll be okay.”

Sans nodded, dried his face, took Red’s words to Soul. Everyone mourned at different speeds and in different ways and Sans couldn’t change how Charis was handling their feelings.

But, he was happy to find their cereal bowl empty a few hours later and decided that was enough of a step in the right direction for one day.

Sans shared the little victory with Red later that night in their makeshift bed of pillows and blankets. He blushed when Red bundled him up in his arms, and cooed against him, something Sans was known to do to Red. They already figured that they wouldn’t be able to be as intimate in public with kids around, so they already began making up for that by snuggling in bed, saying sweet nothings to each other and giving each other soft kisses.

The whole thing reminded Sans of his younger, more innocent years, which made him blush all the more when Red initiated tonight’s contact, but he knew what Red was trying to do: Just make him feel better, let him know that Sans was doing okay, that he knew this was hard but as long as the two were together, they would get through all the difficulties together.

Sans answered back with some cuddling of his own and felt safer knowing that Red was here to help and support him, to love him.  

Chapter Text

“Thank you for coming, Undyne,” Sans spoke, opening the door wide enough so Undyne’s black and blue ball gown could slide into the living room with as little resistance as possible.

“Of course,” the Queen nodded as Sans closed the door. Her yellow eyes swept the living: Red was on the floor with Rhisk curled up in his lap and Frira was coloring with him. A bundle of blankets sat by themselves in the far corner of the room, where the staircase met the wall. Small movements under the bundle led Undyne to believe that third child was under there. While Sans went to check on the bundled human, Undyne strolled over to Red and the other two children. One looked up at her, yellow eyes wide with wonder. The other child buried more into Red’s coat.

“It’s okay, Rhisk,” Red murmured. “This is Queen Undyne. She’s a friend.”

“Wow, you’re a queen!?” Frira leaped to her feet, eyes sparkling.

Undyne smiled as she lowered herself to the floor to be closer to eye level with Frira. “That I am, little one. And what might your name be?”

“I’m Frira!” the little girl gave a large smile before pointing to the human in Red’s lap. “This is my little brother, Rhisk. I’m the middle sister,” she pointed to herself, then twisted around to point to the back corner. “That’s Charis, the oldest. They’re not feeling so good right now.”

“I see,” Undyne nodded, “Well, Frira, are you feeling all right?”

“I’m just fine!” Frirar gave a (too) wide grin. “Red’s been letting me color all day!” Frira turned around again to pick up a sheet of paper and hold up the art work to Undyne. “See, it’s pretty!”

Undyne stared at the paper.

There was some sort of black figure with… red petals coming out of its head?

The fish woman looked down at the rest of the pages. Some had four figures with one scribbled out in what could only be described as a fit of rage. A few had three figures crying or hiding or… huddled at the bottom of a dark hole.

“These are… very nice,” Undyne gave a weak smile.

“Thank you!” Frira cheered before sitting back down on the floor and returning to her coloring.

Undyne gave Red a worried look which he returned, before her gaze lowered to the human cuddling against Red underneath his jacket, face turned away from her.

She leaned in a little closer. “Hello, Rhisk. How are you doing?”

Rhisk gave Undyne the tiniest glance before turning away and burying deeper into Red’s jacket.

“He’s mute,” Red explained. “And, uh… real shy. But, well, he can gesture certain things t’me and sometimes I can read his eyes and figure out what he wants, so, he can at least “talk” t’me fer tha moment. I ain’t gonna rush him or anythin’. ‘Fraid it might make things worse, ya know?”

Undyne gave an understanding nod. “So, how long have they’ve been with you two exactly?”

“They were down here for four days before we found them,” Sans started to explain as he tugged on a layer of blankets, trying to work his way down to the core of  “Mount Blanket.” He sighed as he dropped a blue blanket to the floor and began working to unravel a white one. “We brought them back here and that was… maybe a little over a week ago? A week and a half? Charis, could you please just come out from under there?” Sans asked. “ We have a very important guest who came a long way to see if you were all right. Could you at least introduce yourself and say hello?”

“Leave me alone!” Charis snapped as a pair of little arms shot up from the pile of blankets and grabbed the one in Sans’ hands.

Don’t fight them, Sans reminded himself and he let go of the blanket, allowing them to toss the blanket around themselves and rebuild their cocoon. They went silent and the mountain went still.

Sans gave a sigh. “So, this happens pretty much every day now,” he explained. “If we leave food nearby, they’ll eat at least, but it makes me feel like I’m feeding a stray dog, not a child. I try to talk them out of there, but they just tell me to leave them alone. It’s… difficult,” Sans admitted. “I know everyone has their way of dealing with trauma, and I guess I should be glad that it’s not much worse, but, it’s still difficult.”

Undyne rose to her feet, eyes closed in thought. “Yes, I understand,” she replied as she strolled over to the pile of blankets. She gave the pile a curious gaze before she began to speak, voice soft. “Charis, dear, would you like to talk to me instead? Some prefer to talk to a… neutral third party about their problems.”

“I don’t want to talk to anyone!” Charis growled. “Not you, not Sans, not Red! NOT ANYONE! LEAVE ME ALONE!!”

There was a tiny yelp before Rhisk began to cry.

“Ah, no, Rhisky, it’s okay,” Red whispered as he cradled the crying boy, swaying with him from side to side in his arms. “It’s okay, yer all right.”

“Rhisk is scared of loud noises,” Frira directed to Undyne, though she didn’t even glance away from her drawings as she did.

Sans rubbed his temples. “Charis, dear, could you not scream so loud? You’re scaring Rhisk.”

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!! YOU’RE NOT MY MOM!”

Sans’ socket twitched as Red got to his feet when Rhisk began to cry louder.

“I’m gonna take Rhisk upstairs,” he told Sans. Before going upstairs, Red went over to Sans and leaned down to whisper, “I know it’s hard, but just remember t’breath. Yer doin’ great.”

Sans nodded, sockets closed, fingers messaging his nose ridge. Red smiled before heading upstairs to the master bedroom.

“Anyway,” Sans started, looking back at Undyne. “They sleep upstairs, in the master bedroom, since it’s the only room with a bed and all.”

“Where do you and Red sleep?” Undyne asked.

“On the floor in our possible future office,”Sans answered. “It’s the only room we haven’t furnished since we haven’t figured out what to do with it exactly. Honestly, it’ll probably be used to hold more of my books when they show up,” Sans gave an embarrassed smile.

Undyne gave a knowing smile in return.

“Right now though,” Sans continued. “We’re focused on keeping them fed, cleaned and entertained. By the way, did you know that little kids eat a lot?”

“I can imagine.”

“Well, on top of all of that, we’re helping them work through…,” the small skeleton looked down at the pile of blankets. “All of this.”

“They just need time, Sans,” Undyne offered.

“I know, I know,” Sans nodded. “Red and I have had the “different speed and methods” talk. It’s been a little easier for me to see it as the Seven Stages of Grief. This one is on the Anger Stage,” he pointed at Charis. “Rhisk is… depressed, I guess? And Frira….”

The two monsters looked back at Frira, still coloring away while humming.

“I’m not so sure,” Sans admitted, voice low.

“At first glance, it would appear to be acceptance, but… her drawings…,” Undyne gave a worried look.

“Yeah…,” Sans agreed. “But, I think it’ll be okay. Maybe…?” He rubbed the back of his skull. “The important thing is that they’re safe, they have a place to sleep, they have food… so much food….”

“Sans,” Undyne called before motioning for the skeleton to follow her into the kitchen, away from the blankets. “Sans, if this is too much for you, you’re more than welcome to take them to Our New Kingdom. I’m sure we can find someone to look after them.”

Sans nodded. “I can’t, Undyne. Red and I made a promise to them. They’re staying here.”

 Undyne gave a worried sigh, but clasped her hands together, her way of accepting an answer she didn’t like. “I understand. I just don’t want you to get in over your head.”

“If it gets too rough, I’ll let you know,” Sans replied.

Undyne nodded. “Well, thank you for informing me of all of this.”

Sans stared up at the fish woman. “Sure. I mean, why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, with everything that happened a few months ago, I can understand if your trust in me is lacking,” Undyne admitted, turning away.

“Oh, that…,” Sans looked down, scratching his cheekbone. “Well, you learned your lesson and apologized, it’s all good.” He smiled.

“Yes, I suppose,” Undyne replied, voice wavering. “Well, again, thank you. I will begin researching the Archives for anything that may help us better understand our new guests. I will let you know if I find anything.”

“Thanks, Undyne,” Sans nodded and led the Queen back to the door.

They said their goodbyes and Sans closed the door with a relieved release of breath.

…Oh! Should I have told her about Rabbit? …I don’t think she would have done anything… then again, with all the running around she had me do with Crimson and the Remains, I really can’t put it past her to not try something in secret again.” Sans frowned, turning around to rest on the door. Dammit, Undyne… Ug, it would probably be best to keep it a secret either way. Besides, Summoning seems to be all they can do and they have to be all together to use it. Can’t imagine it’s too dangerous…. I do wonder…. Is it possible to find something on this Rabbit…? Hm, but if it’s tied to a human family, I doubt I could find something about them in our Archives. No, I said I wouldn’t do any research. Besides, we have other things to deal with…. Sans walked up the stairs and peeked around the corner to see the master bedroom open. He could hear Red cooing and shushing a sniffing Rhisk. “Crimson, when you come down, we need to go over the budget for the week,” Sans called, trying to keep his voice as low as he could so as not to bother Rhisk.

“Gotcha,” Red replied, voice also low, before he went back to cooing at Rhisk.

Sans smiled and headed downstairs just as hard, numerous knocks on the door ripped the overall quiet of the house to shreds. Sans made his way to the threshold and cracked on the door. “Hello? ….Oh.”

Gold stood tall, glaring down at Sans, arms crossed. Again , he wore his shining, silver armor because….

“Why are you wearing that?” Sans asked.

Gold looked down at his attire, then back up with a slight snarl. “This is my official armor, Alpha. A sign of rank, of skill, of prestige. I would not expect an Alpha to understand.”

Sans opened the door wider and crossed his arms. “Yeah, you’re right,” he smirked. “I don’t understand your need to constantly show you’re better than everyone else. It’s like you can’t just be a nice monster with your personality and actions.”

Gold glared. “As I said, I would not expect a lowly Alpha to understand. Where is Crimson?”

“You don’t have permission to call him that,” Sans growled.

“I will call Crimson whatever I please.”

“Like hell ya will,” came a voice from the pits of the earth.

Red had returned from upstairs and now stood next to Frira, glaring. Rhisk was still in his arms, giving a curious glance from underneath Red’s coat. Frira had stopped coloring to pay attention to the unfolding conversation and even Charis was peeking from under Mount Blanket.

“What are ya doin’ here now, Gold?” Red snarled.

Gold grimaced, frowning with a hint of disgust “… I see you still have those… those….”

“Yeah,” Red spat, stomping over. “I still got “these.” They’re human, Gold. They’re human, they’re children and they need someone to take care of ‘em and that’s what I’m gonna do.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Gold shouted, forcing himself farther into the threshold, which pushed Sans backward and behind the door out of the way. “You are not obligated to take care of these---these--- things!”

“They are not things!” Red countered.

“You’re right! They’re trouble!” Gold countered back. “They’re little bundles of dynamite just waiting to explode!” he screeched. “If you keep them down here, it’s only a matter of time before they threaten our livelihood just like they did on the surface! They’re---”
”Get the fuck outta here!” Red bellowed. “I ain’t gonna stand here and let ya insult mah kids like this!”

“Now they’re your children!?” Gold spat. He gave a loud, exaggerated sigh and rested a hand on his forehead. “Come now, Crimson, you are a Chroma. You do not need to be adopting abandoned street rats. At the least, just have the Alpha deal with them.”

Red bared his fangs. “Rhisk, I need to sit ya down fer a minute. Daddy needs both hands to take out this bag of trash.”

And Rhisk let Red rest him on the floor.

The hulking monster stalked over, rolling up the sleeves of his coat as he bared down on the tall, thin skeleton,

Gold held up his hands, teeth chattering. “Now, Crimson, th-there’s no reason t-to resort t-to v-violence.”

“Oh, ya gave me more than enough reasons, sweetheart,” Red retorted, his immense form pushing Gold onto the porch.

“Cr-Crimson, I will have you know I am not above calling the Guard!” Gold squeaked, flinching away.

This made Red stop short. He looked back Sans, who now peeked from behind the door, as his three kids gazing at him.

If Red did hit first, Gold could use that against him. The last thing Red wanted to do was leave Sans here with three kids to tend to alone, to cause more trauma to his kids by getting locked up in the back of cart in front of them. That would all happen without a doubt if God did decide to press charges and had Red locked up.

But, would Gold really call the Guard on Red? The larger Chroma had his doubts. Gold was too focused on convincing Red to come back with him after all, to come back to the high society he had belonged to. Things had just gotten a bit out of hand this time.

Red sighed and took a step back. “Just get outta here. I ain’t going back with ya.”

Gold looked up at Red, tall sockets narrow. “CRIMSON, STOP BEING SO RIDICULOUS AND COME---”

CLUNK!

“GAH!” Gold’s skull shot backward and he stumbled away from the door.

Red blinked, then looked down at the porch.

A single crayon rolled towards his sneakers.

“Where did that…?” He turned around, along with Sans and saw…. Rhisk. He had gotten courage from somewhere and was now standing a few feet behind the skeletons. He nodded ‘no’ three times, and Red knew Rhisk was “telling” Gold to stop.

His tiny hand was still full of crayons.

Gold shook his skull and glared back into the living room. “WHAT IN ALL OF THE UNDERGROUND DO YOU THINK YOU’RE---”

Rhisk reeled back, then swung, releasing a wave a missiles. They sailed past Red and hit his enemy dead on.

CLUNK CLUNK CLUNKCLUNK CLUNK

“OW, STOP! STOP THROWING--- STOP THIS INSTANT!” Gold demanded, staggering backwards, trying to protect his face.

Frira, feeding on her brother’s bravery, grabbed a hand full of crayons herself and stood up. She charged forward and began to fire. “Get outta here, you big jerk!” she yelled.

CLUNK!

CLUNK!

“AHH!”

Right between the sockets and right across the nose bridge.

Gold stumbled backward again, this time holding his skull in gloved hands and hissing in pain. “Despicable! Disgusting!” he floundered off the porch, but even this distance didn’t satisfy Rhisk and Frira. They raced after the retreating skeleton, onto the porch, continuing the barrage, dashing his armor in little streaks of waxy color, Frira yelling near obscenities at him. “Get outta here, yo big poop head! Dirty old pile of stinkin’ bones!!”

“Ahhh!” Gold screeched. “Get away from me, you disgusting brats!” he demanded as he scurried around the fence and down the path, the kids following him to the gate.

“Hey, come back!” Red called. “I think he gets the picture!” the Chroma smirked.

Rhisk and Frira stood a moment longer at the fence as Gold continued his retreat before turning around and running back to the porch, then inside the house. Red closed the door behind him. They would have to get Frira’s crayons later (when they were sure Gold wasn’t skulking around), but for now, a little sweet treat of ice cream had become well deserved.

Charis even got a bowl when they shuffled their mountain over to the couch to join the rest of the group. No words were said, but Sans and Red considered them coming closer their own way of celebrating the family’s little victory.  

Chapter Text

“Here ya go, Charis,” Red squatted to give his offering to Mount Blanket: a bowl of wheat squares, flavored with honey; Charis didn’t have much of a sweet tooth.

A tiny hand appeared from the heavy shadows of the blanket and took the bowl, then vanished into darkness a movement later.

“Just leave it out when yer done,” Red spoke as he straightened up. “And leave a sticky note on it if ya need anythin’ else.”

Loud crunching answered, but Red took the noise as a positive response. Even though Charis was still relegated to their blanket house, they were eating on a more regular basis, which Sans and Red had decided was the more important point.

Now that Charis was set, Red could focus on tidying the house while also juggling Rhisk, who had refused to go shopping with Sans and Frira earlier.

The skeleton looked to the boy snuggled in his arms and smiled. Rhisk was so… cute and tiny and so good at cuddling and Red just adored holding him. The Chroma wished he could just sit on the couch and hold Rhisk all day, but the house really needed a good once over: Frira’s drawings and crayons were all over the living room, stairs and hallway, going to both the master bedroom and extra room. Rhisk didn’t like wearing socks, so they, too, were tossed all over the floor and tangled in bed sheets. Even Charis had a few blanket forts scattered across the house and Red had wanted to wash them.

“All right, Rhisky,” Red started, getting the boy’s attention. “What should we do first? Laundry, pickin’ up Frira’s art stuff or finding all yer socks.”

Rhisky glanced around the room, then pointed to the floor, straight at Red’s feet. This was his way of telling Red to put him down.

Red did so and waited for Rhisky to grab onto his shorts and lead him to the first objective: a sock.

“Socks it is then,” Red nodded and let Rhisk lead him around to pick up socks. Red recognized most of them as Sans’ socks--- being so small, a lot of Sans’ clothes fit the children well enough (though, that didn’t stop them from stealing one of Red’s clothes and trying to walk around in the oversized shirts).

Rhisk was rather fond of doing this quite often.

After the socks were picked up and tossed in the washer (they had a nice little one tucked away in the bathroom), Rhisk decided the next task was Frira’s drawings and crayons (though that wasn’t too bad; the ones Frira and Rhisk had thrown at Gold had been gathered and put in Frira’s crayon bucket and she hadn’t used too many out of there since then). Her art hadn’t appeared to change in the past few weeks, still consisting of figures marked out or blooming red. Sans was starting to worry and even suggested having Frira talk to someone, though Red was a little hesitant. Monsters didn’t know much about human mental illnesses (hell, they hadn’t been able to do much for Red’s mom Melancholight beyond making sure she didn’t hurt herself when she had an episode. The only reason she had gotten any better was because the Night Terror responsible for her psychotic break was dead. Even then, the poor Alpha was still prone to nightmares and violent outburst. She wouldn’t be coming home for a while longer). Red worried that Frira would just be sent to Lowering Tides to sit in a box in all day. She’d be treated well enough, but at the end of the day, a box was no place for a child. Sans had come to agree, reluctant as he was, and for now, the two decided that all they could do was keep a socket on her and her art and make sure what she was drawing wasn’t becoming any worse.

This prompted Red to give each drawing a careful glance, noting no big changes, as Rhisk picked up handfuls of crayons and put them in Frira’s crayon bucket before toddling off to find more. The two edged their way upstairs before a knock sounded on the door.

Rhisk was in Red’s arms in a second.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Red spoke, voice soft. He made his way downstairs and to the door, all the while cooing at his little bundle.

…His little bundle….

The thought made Red smile.

A smile that was wiped flat to a frown the moment he opened the door.

Gold stood at the threshold again, arms crossed, metal shining, his look of annoyance melting into one of disgust.

“What are you doing with that!?” he shrieked and pointed at Rhisk.

Rhisk began to cry.

“Stop screamin’,” Red demanded in a low hiss, bouncing Rhisk a bit to try to help him calm down. “He’s scared of loud noises.”

“Why is it still here!?” Gold yelled, voice still too loud for Rhisk to handle..

“Do not call him an ‘it’!” Red snarled. “And I could ask ya tha same thing! Why ain’t ya back at ONK already!”

“I cannot possibly leave you here with---” Gold fluttered a hand at Rhisk, nose bone in the air.

Red glared. “I have told ya a million times: I. Ain’t. Coming. Back. To. ONK. With. Ya. I’m happy here with Sans and I’m happy here with our---”

“They are not your children!” Gold spat, fists shaking as he edged into Red’s face. “Why do you insist on playing house with that lowly Alpha!?”

“Who the hell is playin’ house!?” Red shot.

“Well, what else could this possibly be!” Gold retorted, tossing up a hand. “Living in a house that’s far beneath you, acting as if you two are married, and taking care of these things as if they were your real children! You cannot possibly be happy with someone so beneath us!”

“Sans ain’t beneath me, and he sure as hell ain’t beneath a jackass like ya!” Red roared. “And we ain’t “playin’ house”! I bought this place with tha intention of askin’ Sans to move in with me because he’s been going in and out of my old bedroom fer weeks!”

Gold gasped, hand coming to his chest plate.”You let him into your bedroom? The entire time you were in Our New Kingdom, you never let me see your bedroom! Granted, I would have treated your room as a treasure,” Gold announced, looking up in his royal air. “I cannot imagine treating your room as some sort of harlot’s den as I am sure that Alpha did.”

“Well, of course ya didn’t, ya were never interested in me like that, were ya?” Red glared. “The only reason ya ever talked t’me was because of mah Soul. Ya saw me as a rarity to have and show off and use t’get more status. Ya just pissed I figured it out and dropped ya like a hot plate!”

Gold bared tiny fangs and looked away, but didn’t offer any denial.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Red pushed. “And when I didn’t give ya what ya wanted, ya started treatin’ me just like everyone else did: a big mistake. Wouldn’t be surprised if ya even blamed my parents fer my Soul Color.”

Gold glanced up at Red who only gazed back with lidded sockets.

“Do ya keep comin’ back now cause ya can’t stand losin’?” Red asked, cracking at the brief silence that had settled between them.

Gold gulped, swallowing his initial thoughts. “I return repeatedly because I know you deserve better,” he answered, standing tall.

“And who are ya t'decide what’s best fer me?” Red asked, still bouncing Rhisk to sooth him.

“Well, we are both Chroma,” Gold started. “We have the power. We deserved nothing short of the best,” he gave large, proud smirk.

“The best, huh?” Red murmured. “So, I’m tha best ‘what’ t’ya, exactly?”

Gold blinked, body faltering. “Well… you are the… best… hm… well, I….”

“Go ahead, I’ll give ya a moment,” Red offered. “Hell, I’ll give ya some examples: Friend, confidant, lover… oh, those ain’t doin’ it fer ya, huh? Well, what else then?” Red stroked his mandible, pretending to go into thought. “Prize, maybe?”

“Crimson, I---”

“Ohh, that got ya talkin’,” Red gave a twisted grin. “Ya, Gold, really regrettin’ droppin’ ya. I could have been the shiniest trophy in ya collection, gettin’ three score polishings a day!”

“Crimson, I would never---”
”Then what do ya see when ya look at me, Gold?” Red asked, stern gaze never wavering from Gold’s shaking stare.

Long seconds passed.

Gold didn’t answer, but the silence was enough for Red.

“Don’t come back,” Red spoke and closed the door with a soft click. He let out a sigh before turning around.

At the back of the room, in the corner, he saw saw two red eyes peering from the shadow of Mount Blanket.

Red gave a small smile. He shifted Rhisk in his arms before approaching the mountain. He squatted down at the little visible shadow under the blankets. “Hey sweety. Ya done eatin’?”

A bowl slid from the darkness. Red took the bowl, but before he stood up, he heard a small voice.

“...Why does he keep coming back here?”

Red sighed, his fangs shifting. “Well… I guess tha easiest answer is it’s because I’m different.”

“...Different how?”

Red sighed, not from annoyance at the question, but from the weight of his circumstances. “I have a Red Soul. S’very rare. Some monsters are scared of it. Some monsters want t’use it. They think bein’ friends with someone who’s different will get ‘em more attention. That’s what Gold wants. He tries t’convince me that I would be happier back at his fancy house with him, but….” Red blushed. “I’m very happy with Sans and I’m very happy with tha three of ya.”

The blankets moved a little, as if Charis had perked up at Red’s words. “…. Monsters are afraid of you…”

“Some are, yeah,” Red nodded. “My magic is something they don’t understand, so, instead of askin’ questions, they let their fear turn into hate.”

“...Is that… is that what happened to momma? She was… scared of us... then she started to hate us?”

Red gave a small sigh. “It may have been, sweetheart.” He saw no use in sugarcoating the situation for them.

“But….” Their red eyes stared up at skeleton. “You have red eyes and Sans still loves you a lot.”

Red smiled. “That’s because Sans doesn’t let tha color of my Soul bother him. At tha end of tha day, I’m in control of who I am, not tha color of my Soul.”

Charis only stared as if trying to understand.

Red smiled again. “Charis, ya fine tha way ya are. Ya just gotta find other people--- or monsters--- who are also fine with ya just tha way ya are.”

Chairs’s head seemed to tip to the side in thought before turning away, murmuring low.

Red held his smile and picked up their bowl, shuffled Rhisk a bit and stood up to carry the bowl to the kitchen. After dropping the bowl into the sink, Red gathered Frira’s drawings from around the rest of the house and piled them on the kitchen counter. As he bounced Rhisk a bit, trying to lull him to sleep, Red filed through Frira’s drawings, wanting to take a closer look at them. Upon taking a second look, he noticed a few differences between them.

Some didn’t have scratched out characters or characters with “red blooms.” In fact, in some drawings, Frira seemed to have attempted to draw Red and Sans’ house. A few pictures had rough maps of the house with little arrows pointing to different rooms: “Charis’ naps here.” “I play here.” “Sans studies here (stay quiet!)” “Rhisk helps Red cook here.” “We all eat here.” There was even a picture of Rhisk and Frira chasing Gold away. Red snickered at that one, getting Rhisk’s attention.

“Oh, didn’t mean to wake ya, Rhisky,” Red apologized as the tiny boy looked at the picture (or, at least leaned his head in the picture’s general direction; his hair still covered much of his face). He then pointed to the fridge.

“Wanna hang this one up?” Red asked.

Rhisk nodded.

“Frira did do a good job on it,” Red complimented and moved to stick the picture on the fridge with a cake magnet. “There we go. Do ya wanna look through some more or go to sleep?”

Rhisk pointed to the pictures and gave a small hint of smile.

Red smiled back and couldn’t help but hug his son close.

Chapter Text

“What do you think of this, Frira?”

“Hmmm… I like it!” Frira grinned at the sun yellow shirt.

Sans smiled before putting the shirt in the cart. So far, he had quite the assortment of clothing in yellow, pinks and reds--- shirts and dresses, socks and undergarments. Pants and shorts were less in color--- black and brown--- but Frira had some sort of magic ability to find the more colorful pieces of clothing, like pink shorts and flower patterned pants. She just seemed to know where to dig in the discount barrels and used clothes bins.

Of course, Sans would have loved to get new clothes for the kids, but he was a bit stripped for cash with all the groceries and toiletries he had to get on what felt like a weekly basis. Red stayed home with the kids as they weren’t quite ready for school, so the money earning came down to Sans.

After moving in with Red back before he had bought the house, Sans had begun writing reports about the Remains--- inventories, critical essays, theories and the like. He sent these to the Queen as well as other Archivists and was paid based on various criteria (word count, ease of reading, usefulness to studies). The pay was good, but took a few weeks of evaluation to calculate and send out. In the mean time, Sans had started to lead tours of the Remains. Tours for those in school or working at the Archives were free, but donations were welcomed while everyone else paid a small fee.

Sans had stored most of his pay in an emergency fund and what could be more of an emergency than taking in three orphans? As a result, however, Sans’ bank account was drained in a hurry and now the funds were starting to dwindle. Red’s money had all gone into buying the house and moving things, so he was almost empty handed, too. He had made less than Sans on tours, being more of a body guard than a guide and guard patrol didn’t pay as much since the Remains weren’t as dangerous. Sans had wanted to fight Undyne on lowering Red’s pay at the time, but Red conceded. The Remains weren’t life threatening anymore, so, at the time, he was okay for being paid less since his job was less dangerous.

At the time, they had been able to afford the decrease, but now….

‘Maybe I should ask dad for a loan?’ Sans wondered as he pushed the cart down the aisle past curious monsters.

Word had spread about the three humans, first through Falling Leaves, then through ONK and Blazing Embers via Undyne doing her own researching. In time, Gaster had called to voice his concerns: “Are you sure you can take care of them? What if they get sick? Do you have enough space? Maybe you should all move in with me! I have more than enough space and I can finally meet Red!”

Sans was grateful his father had been accepting of Red, but he wasn’t sure if Red was ready to deal with ONK or Blazing Embers--- not after all the abuse he had gone through because of his Soul. Sans couldn’t help but imagine the kids suffering similar discrimination if Gold’s reaction had been any indication.

Sans bared his teeth.

The very thought of Gold made his Soul burn. Sans could get over Gold hating him for being with Red, but the way he responded to the kids---acting like they were things, blaming them for the sins of their race.

‘I should have popped him in the jaw,’ Sans thought as he stopped the cart to glance at more undergarments, one of the few things that were only available new at the store.

“These are cute… Eh, ten dollars for a pack of six seems a little steep.”

“Sans!” Frira tugged on his coat.

“Huh?” Sans looked down at the smiling girl. She had a box of crayons in her hands. Sans sighed. “Frira, I just bought a box of crayons for you.”

“But this one has over a hundred crayons in it!” Frira pointed out. “And look!” She turned the box around. “It has a crayon sharpener on the back!”

“That is pretty cool,” Sans nodded. “Okay,” he relented with a sigh.

“Thank you!” Frira grinned and placed the box in the cart.

‘I guess it’s only fair,’ Sans thought. ‘Charis got a blanket and Rhisk got a stuffed goat--- hopefully he’ll cling to that more than he does to Red, cute as that is.’ “All right, I think we have enough for now.”

“Okay,” Frira agreed and walked up to Sans so he could pick her up and put her in the cart seat. He then began to push the cart to the front, glad for the smiles he was getting from passing monsters. He was worried about their reaction to Frira, who was the most adventurous of the three and often went out with Sans on errands, but so far, the town seemed what Sans would call “cautiously curious.” A few of them had approached Frira and her sweet nature had won them over. A few times, Sans was even given gifts of hand-me-down clothes, though he hated taking them. Something in him felt that he needed to be the provider for his family.

…Family.

Was that what they were now, a family?

How else could he describe this odd assortment of creatures under one roof, living together in relative peace? And Sans and Red did care for their little trio. They were a handful sure, but well, they were his and Red’s handful now, one Sans was sure they could handle.

‘Maybe Red can do something from home?’ Sans thought as he pulled out his wallet. ‘But he already watches the kids when I’m working on papers and doing the tours. I can’t ask him to do more than that, can I?’ Sans gathered their bags after paying, letting Frira hold the lightest one (her box of crayons) and the two began to work their way home.

Frira enjoyed kicking up leaves and pointing out the insects fluttering around. She appeared delighted in Sans telling her what they were called. She seemed to absorb information like a dry sponge. Sans wondered if Rhisk and Charis liked learning as much as Frira did. He couldn’t help but stop and let her get a closer look at things, like the patterns of tree bark or worms squirming out of the ground.

“Frira, did you go outside a lot on the surface?” Sans asked.

“Not really,” Frira answered as she split apart of bushel of grass to follow a ladybug. “Daddy didn’t like us going outside a lot.”

“I see,” Sans’ glance shifted down. ‘No wonder she loves looking at everything. It’s all new to her. I should have known better.’

“Well, what have we here?” came a familiar drawl.

Sans’s skull snapped up as Frira stood straight and ran behind him. She peeked from behind his legs with a frown.

Gold stood before them, stance tall and proud, sockets looking down his nose ridge. “Ah, the Alpha is letting his little pet play in the dirt.”

“She’s not a pet!” Sans snapped. “I swear, if I knew you wouldn’t call the Guard on me, I’d knock some fucking sense into you!”

“Sansy, Red said not to use the bad words,” Frira whispered.

“You can tell on me when we get back,” Sans replied, keeping his glare on Gold.

“Oh my, how violent,” Gold feigned surprise with raised brow bones and a hand to his teeth. “And here I was thinking Alphas were all brain, no brawn. Maybe you have a little Omega in there, too?”

“And what if I do?” Sans challenged. “Could explain why Red is so attached to me, him being a hybrid himself--- though I know how much you love to forget that.”

Gold grimaced.

“But, I can understand your mistake,” Sans continued. “At a glance, he does look like any other Chroma, aside from the red color nearly everyone, including yourself, hates.”

“I never hated his Soul!” Gold corrected. “I saw the beauty in its rarity and strength! It was why I did all I could to bring him under my wing!”

“So you could prance him around like a trophy later,” Sans growled, sockets narrowing.

“At least he would be among those who could admire his beauty, unlike here, where he is nothing more than your pet sitter!” Gold shot.

“They are not pets!” Sans shouted again.

“Are you sure?” Gold grinned. “I see you’ve gone shopping at that little trash store. A perfect place for those who love trash, I would think,” he cackled as he began to stroll past the two.

Sans was about to stomp forward when Gold called out to him.

“How long do you think you can keep this up? Trying to support all of them?”

Sans froze, sockets going wide.

“You should know that Crimson comes from quite the high society despite his Soul Color,” Gold continued. “His father was well recognized for his magic and near mastery. He had quite the connections himself, had the prestige, the wealth, even after lowering himself to marry that Alpha. To think, all of his work went to keeping that Alpha sane….” He sighed. “But I suppose that can’t be helped. What can be helped is getting you to understand your position in all of this, Alpha: You are a downgrade. This town, that house, these things you call your children, they are all downgrades from the life Crimson once had. You could never give Crimson the life he rightfully deserves and once he realizes that, he will come back to the one who can give him everything he deserves and more,” Gold smirked. “But, you knew all that, didn’t you? You are Dr. Gaster’s son after all--- you know all about that life, how perfect it can be. In time, Crimson will remember.”

Sans gulped as Gold’s footsteps retreated. He found himself shaking, not with angry, but… fear?

Did he really believe Gold? No, no! Red wouldn’t leave Sans just to go live in some classy mansion with a bunch of snobs! Even if Red had grown up knowing that life while Sans had come into the same much later, during college, only to throw all that away years later to be with Red; even if Sans could admit that things were better in ONK and even Blazing Embers, where his brother now lived pampered thanks to the wealth of his renowned chef husband.

Even if Red deserved such a perfect life after everything he had been through….

Gods Above and Below, what was Sans doing dating Red of all skeletons? There was no way he could ever make someone so perfect happy at all! What the hell was his backwater town ass doing with someone who had grown up in a house big enough to be a hotel!?

“Sans!”

Sans snapped his skull to his right, then down.

Frira gave him a worried look. She squeezed his pants. “Don’t listen to him! He’s mean! And dumb!” Frira cried.

Sans blinked, then gave a soft smile. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right, he’s mean and dumb…” ‘But, maybe he’s not entirely wrong….’ 

Chapter Text

“Red! Red!”

A hulk of bone rolled over. “Five more minutes.”

“Noooo,” came a playful whine. “Get up!”

“Nah,” Red smiled, sockets still closed.

“Hmph,” Frira pouted. “Rhisk, help me get up Red.”

The tiny boy crawled closer and poked Red’s cheekbones.

“Ah… oh, nooo,” Red pulled away a bit.

“Look, we can pick up the sheets!” Frira cheered. She and Rhisk took a handful of blankets, stood up and scrambled backward. The sky blue blanket slid off Red with ease. He shivered and chattered his teeth with loud clacks.

“What are you nerds doing?” Charis chided as they peeked into the room, red eyes shining from the shadow of the blanket hanging over their head.

“We’re trying to wake Red up,” Frira answered.

Charis stepped into the room, then stomped over to Red. “Wake up, old bones!” they cried.

Red rolled over. “I”ll have ya know, Sans is older than me.” He then blinked and sat up, then looked down at the empty place next to him on the floor. “Where’s Sansy?”

“Don’t know,” Charis answered, tightening their blanket. “Maybe in the basement.”

“Well, a’ight,” Red stretched. “Ya guys head on downstairs while I get dressed.”

“Whey do you even wear clothes?” Charis asked. “You’re just bones.”

“It’s called common courtesy,” Red nodded as he stood up and walked over to the closet. “I ‘could’ walk around naked, I just chose not to. Lotsa Monsters wear clothes.”

“Some of them don’t, though!” Frira jumped, as she was easy to excite. “I saw ‘em!”

“Yeah, some don’t, but they got fur or feathers,” Red noted as he pulled up his black shorts.

“I wanna be naked….” Charis admitted.

“But then ya couldn’t wear ya blanket,” Frira pointed out.

“I can be naked under the blanket, doofus!”

“I’m not a doofus!”

“Hey, hey,” Red called after pulling down his white shirt and walking over. “No name callin’,” he warned and-- without a second glance-- squatted down and picked up Rhisk. “Now, let’s go downstairs fer breakfast. Maybe see if Sans is in his study. Then after that, ya can brush ya teeth and take a bath.”

“Blah,” Charis stuck out their tongue and turned around to dash downstairs.

Red sighed and followed, Rhisk in his arms, Frira holding onto his shorts.

Once downstairs, the front door clattered opened and Sans rushed in, carrying papers.

“Sansy!” Red smiled. “Where ya---?”

“Not right now, dearest,” Sans interrupted as he hurried to the basement. “Need to organize these notes into something coherent, then send them off before five.”

“What?” Red questioned, watching Sans juggle papers and the doorknob. “Why the deadline?”

“That’s when the post office closes,” Sans answered, slipped into the study and slammed the door.

“... I guess he’s sending in another essay,” Red murmured. “Well, let’s have some breakfast. I’ll bring somethin’ down fer him in a bit.”

The skeleton turned towards the kitchen only to see red eyes staring at him. He blinked. “What is it, Charis?”

“That was different,” Charis answered. “I don’t like it.” They turned away before Red could answer, leaving the Chroma confused.

In time, he would understand what they meant.

Sans didn’t come out of his study at all--- not to eat, not to talk, not even when Red knocked and asked him to take a break. He worked until about three, threw open the door and dashed out with a big envelope. He hadn’t seemed aware of Red or the kids as he left..

He came back about twenty minutes later and approached Red, who sat on the couch. The Chroma smiled, happy to talk to his boyfriend for longer than ten seconds. But, the hopes for a pleasant conversation were dashed when Sans requested Red’s maps.

“I want to start working on the areas you haven’t started on yet,” Sans explained.

“What? Why?” Red asked, arms slipping around a cuddling Rhisk.

“We can’t keep the tours going if we’re constantly going to the same places,” Sans answered, voice flat. “You’re here all day with the kids, so that leaves me to handle the map making from now on. New tours means possible new customers and returning customers and that’s more money.”

Red’s fangs shifted against each other. He looked away to the side. “Well, I.. I guess that’s okay. I just… I don’t want ya gettin’ hurt or anythin’, but, well, ya know how ta check fer stuff, so…. Uh, I actually started keepin’ tha maps on the bottom drawer of yer desk.”

Sans lit up. “Perfect! Well, I’ll just get on that, then.” The tiny skeleton slid off the couch and began for the basement.

“Sans, wait,” Red called.

“Huh?” Sans paused at the door.

“Ya haven’t been here all day.”

“What?” Sans questioned. “I’ve been in the study.”

“I mean, here, with us,” Red explained. “You haven’t said a word to the kids all day. It’s not like ya. And when have ya ever rushed to get ya reports mailed off? I ain’t never seen ya write up a essay so fast before. Why are ya rushin’ around so much today?”

Sans shoulders fell, his glance looking towards the basement door. “Sorry, just… I’m just trying to….” He sighed. “Don’t worry, okay? Eventually, everything will work out, everything will be perfect.” He gave a forced smile.

“Whaa?” Red questioned. “What are ya talkin’ about? Perfect?” Red stood up, holding Rhisk close. “Sans, what is goin’ on?”

“I just… I just want you to be happy,” Sans answered.
Red stared. “What? But… I am happy!”

“But I know I can do better,” Sans muttered. “You deserve better.”

“Sans, what the---?”
Sans looked up at Red. “Just give me some time, okay? I just need some time.” And with that, Sans hurried into his study, closing and locking the door.

Red was at a lost.

What the hell had Sans been talking about? Wanting Red to be happy, saying he deserved more? But Red was happy, the happiest he had been in a long time and he had never thought he deserved better because Sans had been the best thing to happen to him. Red had never said otherwise, so where was Sans getting the idea that Red could be happier?

On top of that odd exchange, was how distant Sans had been all day. Back when the two had first started dating, the Alpha couldn’t keep his risque thoughts and intentions away from Red. He had calmed down a lot since his heat had ended, but his affection (and snark) hadn’t quit at all. At night, when the kids were sleeping and the two skeletons were alone in their makeshift bed, Sans was as loving as ever. He would hold Red close, tell him how much he loved him and adored him. During the day, there was a lot of snuggling and hugging or just enjoying of each others’ company on the couch.

Nothing like that had happened today and the loneliness that had spawned left Red feeling cold, like he was sitting on ice. He bit at his distals as he returned to the couch and hugged Rhisk close. The boy seemed to understand that Red was upset and hugged him back, bringing a bit of warmth to Red’s Soul. But, the warmth couldn’t thaw out the feeling of something being wrong, the nagging thought that Red had missed something somewhere. He tried to think if there was someone he could ask for help or advice, or if they had noticed something weird about Sans before now. Red tried to think if something had happened in the past few weeks to coax Sans into acting different. Other than all those unwanted visits from Gold, everything seemed okay. They had had normal talks--- planned the weekly budget, taking notes of the kids behaviors and how they seemed to be getting better in their own way, the romantic talks they had when they were alone. If Sans had some problem, he hadn’t told Red.

But, Red wasn’t the only person Sans talk to….

The Chroma looked towards Frira coloring away on the floor. “…Frira.”

“Hmmmm?”

“Last week, when ya and Sans went shoppin’, did anythin’ happen?”

“Hmmm,” Frira looked towards the ceiling in thought. “Oh, he talked to that Gold skeleton!”

Red’s sockets snapped wide. “What did Gold say?”

“Hrrrr, I don’t really remember,” Frira answered, rubbing her head. “But I know it was mean.”

Red huffed. ‘Gold always puts Sans on edge, but other than gettin’ grumpy, that asshole don’t really affect him much. Gotta be somethin’ else that has him rushin’ around like this….’

But Red couldn’t think of anything, even as these similar days began to drag into weeks….  

Chapter Text

“Red… Red.”

“Ug….” The giant skeleton rolled over, joints cracking. He opened his sockets to bright, but sleepy eyes. He sat up with a yawn. “Hrmm… where the hel…. where’s Sans?”

“Don’t know,” Charis replied from under a layer of blankets. “Downstairs is quiet, so he probably went to work.”

“Already?” Red yawned again, before pulling himself to his feet. “Maybe he’s in tha basement…. Well, let’s get ya guys set up for tha day. Ya guys want cereal?”

“Cereal, cereal!” Frira chanted, dancing around Red in a circle as he tossed on a shirt, then headed for the door. He scooped up both Frira and Rhisk and headed downstairs, Charis and blankets trailing behind him. He plopped everyone on the couch, then went into the kitchen, where he poured four bowls of cereal and milk. With two trips to the living room, he supplied everyone with bowls of sugary goodness as well as cartoons on the TV.

About forty-five minutes later, Red noticed that Sans still wasn’t around.

‘Did he really go to work already?’ Red thought, looking up to at the clock next to the TV. ‘Almost nine… we usually don’t run tours til ten. Maybe he needed more books to do research? He probably has a paper due…’ “Okay, guys,” Red started, gathering up the bowls. “Time fer baths.”

And the chases began.

Chairs did not like baths at all for whatever reason and they took off the moment the word was uttered. Frira joined in, infectious laughter and all. Rhisk, however, clung to Red as he always did and was easy to clean and dress. Frira was next, as she just ran around in random directions--including towards Red-- while laughing. She wasn’t looking to get away, she just loved running when someone else started. She was also by far the chattiest of the three, listing the things she wanted to draw, the funny things her favorite cartoons had said or the stories she made up with the bath toys. She talked while getting dressed, while be carried downstairs, while being plopped on the carpet and given her paper and crayons. Only then did she quiet down.

Red checked on Rhisk, who kept to himself on the couch with second hand pop up books. He really loved them.

After a quick snuggle session, Red went to handle Charis, who had buried themselves in a huge pile of blankets (did they really have this many blankets?). Red dug around Mount Blanket for a near fifteen minutes before taking a break because chasing a kid in a sea of blankets was just tiresome.

Where the hell was San? He knew how to handle Charis and their sharp tongue. Red wondered if Sans’ brother had been just as much as a brat and that was why he dealt with Charis without thinking twice.

Irritated, Red headed down to the basement to see if Sans was just downstairs writing another essay. Red always tried to leave Sans alone during his researching and writing, but Charis needed someone to make them take a bath.

Of course, the basement was empty, covered in sheets of paper and open books, as if a few tornadoes had taken residence.

Red sighed and began to tidy up, bookmarking pages with spare scrapes of paper and stacked them on the desk. He then moved onto the desk and tried to stack the paper in different groups. Some had notes about the Remains; others had lists of books to read and some had… a list of numbers on them?

-520

-200

-100

-75

+1250

-15x3

-430

-230

-150

-80

-10x3

+100

-400

-100

-75

-75

-...

-...

-...

-...

Red filed through the papers, trying to make sense of all the numbers. So many minuses… expenses for something? If so, what had cost over five hundred dollars? They hadn’t made any big purchases since…

…Oh.

But… these couldn’t be the weekly expenses could they? Sure, the kids ate a lot, but not five hundred bucks a week. Were these monthly maybe? Red’s sockets widen at the thought. He had never thought about how they were doing monthly since the two did the budget week by week---well, more like, when Sans did the budget. Red was terrible with numbers, but he still wanted to at least have some idea with how they were doing. Sans had never acted like… were they really spending over five hundred bucks a month…no, more than that-- 200, 100, 75… +1250… payment for a essay maybe? But even so, that left so little….

Why the hell hadn’t Sans said anything!? Red could have done something to help--- found some work from home or gotten a job that would let him bring the kids with him. There was no reason Sans had to keep this a secret.

Red’s worry fell away to irritation and he found himself gathering papers, a calculator, a pencil and notepad. To hell with being bad with numbers, he was about to become a Error damned math genius to figure this out. He stomped back upstairs, startling Charis who dove from the door and into their pile of blankets.

Red ignored them, stomped over to the couch and dropped onto the cushion. He then began to calculate expenses and profit, working until lunch time, until Rhisk tugged on his sleeve.

“What?” Red jumped. “Oh.. oh, right! Just a minute sweety.” Red stood up and walked into the kitchen, rubbing the back of his skull. He had a gnawing headache from all the numbers, the pluses and minuses, the fact that Sans had kept this secret for weeks…

‘Weeks, it’s been weeks!’ Red growled as he yanked bread from the cabinet. ‘How could he just pretend everything’s okay!? Error Below, I should have been paying more fuckin’ attention! Damn it, damn it, damn it.”

“Gimme back mah crayon, Charis!”

“No, I want the purple one!”

“Then use that one!”

“No, I want ‘that’ one!”

“Charis!” Red snapped. “There’s over two hundred crayons in that box! Just use another purple!”

“But I want ‘that’ one!” Came a whine.
Red growled and went back to making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, stabbing the peanut butter with a butter knife, needing to get his frustration out.

A tug pulled at Red’s shorts. He looked down at Rhisk holding up a small cup. “Oh, hold on, sweetheart. Let me finish these first, okay?”

“Red!” Frira wailed. “Charis took my purple crayon!”

“You’re not using it!”

“I told ya to use tha other one!”

Tug, tug.

“Hold on, Rhisk--- Charis, do not make me come in there! Give yer sister back her crayon!”

“But I want to use this one!”

“You didn’t even ask to use it! Give it back!”

“I’m using it!”

Tug, tug.

“Rhisk, please---”

“You big bully! All you do is take my stuff!”

“I’m the oldest, so I get to use whatever I want!”

“That’s not fair! It’s MIIIIINE!”

“Charis---”

Tug, tug.

Red snapped. “DAMMIT, RHISK, FUCKING STOP THAT!!”

Silence, aside from Red’s heavy angry breathing. He glared down at Rhisk until realization hit him. His sockets widen. “Oh… oh no….” Red whispered. “Oh, Rhisk, I’m so sorry!” He reached down for the boy, only for him to sniff, drop his cup and dash upstairs. The extra room’s door slammed.

Red groaned. “Gods, dammit,” he murmured, rubbing his temple. Then, out of the corner of his socket, he noticed the large pool of grape juice on the floor, crawling under the floor cabinets. No wonder Rhisk had been so frantic in getting Red’s attention. He must have spilled the juice while trying to get to the fridge and… ugggh.

“Look at what you made Red do!!” Frira screeched. “You should have given me my crayon back, then Red could have helped Rhisk!”

“That wasn’t my fault!” came a scream from a pile of blankets. “You shoulda just given me the crayon I wanted!”

“You’re just a big bully! That’s why mama threw ya down the hole!”

“SHUT UP!”

SMACK

Red jumped at the sound before barreling into the living room. “Charis, that is enough!” he screamed and yanked them out of the blanket fort. “Ya can scream all ya want, but we do not hit!” he berated as he dragged them to the basement. He threw the door open and yanked the child inside. “Sit right here and think about what ya did!”

“It’s not fair!” Charis screamed, stomping their feet. “I wanna color! I wanna color!!”

“Ya can color after ya calm down!” Red snapped and slammed the door just as Frira burst into tears.

“THEY HIT ME!!” she bellowed

Red sighed as he turned around and walked over to the wailing girl. He squatted down and looked at her reddening cheek. “Well, maybe don’t bring up yer asshole mom,” he grumbled as he held her face in a careful hand. He even popped open her mouth to check her teeth. “It’s a little swollen, but ya’ll be okay.”

Frira sniffed. “I hate them.”

Red sighed again. “No ya don’t. Ya just angry right now.”

“Yes, I do!” Frira flailed. “They were always taking my stuff cause they’re older than me. I hate them! I hate them!” She fell back on her back and screamed. “I hate them! I hate momma! I hate daddy! Momma and daddy were mean and that’s why they’re mean and I hate momma! I hate daddy!” she burst into another round of sobbing and flailing.

Red stared. Was… was Frira having her “coming to terms” moment ‘now’? With the way she was flailing away, she wouldn’t be in the mood for any sort of comfort right now either.

‘Error Below, whatever. As long as she gets it over with,’ Red decided, rubbing his temple as he straightened up and walked to the front door. He walked out, closing the door and cutting out the cacophony of screaming. He just needed some form of silence and the soft murmur of the neighborhood was close enough.

The skeleton dropped to the top step of the porch and dug into his pockets. He pulled a box of cigs, yanked out a ‘cancer stick’ to light up and took a drag to calm his nerves. He let out a sigh as the nicotine hit his Soul.

What a fucking mess. All because he was pissed at Sans---

The gate creaked. “Crimson?”

Red glared up from beneath lidded sockets.

Speak of the devil.

The little skeleton looked rather cute in a sleeveless shirt, shorts and gloves, his clothing covered in patches of dirt. His teeth formed a deep frown.

“You haven’t smoked since our first date,” Sans noted, walking closer. “Did something happen?”

Red chewed on his cigarette. “We need t’talk.”

Chapter Text

Sans wavered on the spot before approaching his boyfriend and sitting next to him. Red took another hit, breathed out, stared at the fence for a long time.

“...When were ya gonna tell me we was broke?”

Sans froze, sockets widening. His pinpoints flickered. “…Wh-what?”

“Don’t act like ya don’t know!” Red snapped, glaring at him. “I saw the papers on yer desk!”

Sans’ teeth shifted. “What were you doing at my desk?”

“Lookin’ fer ya!” Red shot. “Is that why ya been gone when I wake up? Ya doin’ extra work somewhere!? Why didn’t ya tell me just how expensive tha kids were! I’ll get a job either at home or somewhere I can bring tha kids, I don’t mind workin’ at all! I just don’t understand why ya took this all on ya own!”

“I can’t ask you to work when we have three kids.”

“Then we can ask mah sister t’ babysit,” Red countered. He didn’t want to ask his siblings for help with all they were working to put Azure through school, but he had to do ‘something’ to help Sans. “She volunteers at tha school, she can just take ‘em there. Maybe they even get get some lessons.”

“Crimson, we don’t need to ask for help,” Sans disagreed. “I can figure something out. I can offer more tours, maybe writer shorter papers so they’ll be approved faster.”

Red grimaced. “Why won’t ya let me help ya?”

Sans looked away. “I… I want to take care of you and the kids. After everything you’ve all been through, you deserve to have someone take care of you.”

“Not at tha expense of yer health!” Red countered again. “Not at tha expense of our relationship! Ya can’t take care of anyone if ya too tired or too stressed---”

“Or too poor,” Sans interrupted, lidded glare piercing into Red’s gaze.

The Chroma blinked. “…What?”

Sans looked at the ground, hands forming shaking fists. “I have to do what I can… to prove I can take care of you.”

“Prove?” Red questioned. “To who?”

Sans closed his sockets tight. “To… To Gold.”

Red’s sockets widen, his fangs forming a large O. “…Gold? FUCKING GOLD!?” Red shot to his feet, anger swallowing him whole. Gold wasn’t supposed to get to Sans like this! Gold was a mosquito, an annoying buzz, he ‘wasn’t supposed to get to Sans like this’! “WHY THE FUCK GOLD OF ALL MONSTERS!?”

“Because he made me realize that you deserve better and I can’t give that to you!” Sans shouted, sockets still closed, leaking tears.

Red gaped. “…What?”

“You grew up surrounded by so much,” Sans started, voice shaking. “I know… because my dad’s position gave him a way into that life… and I got a glance. The wealth, the connections, the status. I know how alluring it can be… and you grew up with all of that… you grew up with something I could never give you,” he gave a sad smile. “You know how… promiscuous I was. So many monsters would say I slept my way to the top. I can’t get into ‘that world,’ but… you could… Gold’s your ticket to something better.”

“I DON’T WANT BETTER!” Red exploded, making Sans jump. “I am so sick of everyone tellin’ me what I deserve, or what I should have! I don’t want better if I have to deal with assholes always lookin’ down at me or tryin’ to use me fer their own gain! I don’t want better if I have t’ deal with Gold of all monsters! I don’t want t’go back there ‘cause it’s all fake! Gold doesn’t see me as a Monster, he sees me as a trophy to polish, a ticket to better places, someone t’spoil so he can show off his cash! Ya treat like an actual Monster, Sans,” Red spoke, sockets arcing. “It’s because of ya I can walk around without mah hood on. Ya the reason I can talk down t’someone like Gold. Gold made me feel like a thing, but ya’ve made me feel like an actual… someone, like I have feelings and thoughts… like I matter…,” Red smiled. “I would never give that up fer anythin’.”

Sans stared, sockets dripping with tears as Red’s words sunk in.

He… he wouldn’t give up Sans and how he made him feel for anything? Not wealth, not status, not prestige, not… not anything.

“Crimson…” Sans sniffed, drying his sockets.

Red took out his cigarette and dropped the butt on the porch. He stomped the embers out with his sneaker. “So, ya get it now? We in this fer tha long haul. I don’t wanna hear nothin’ else ‘bout Gold and his bullshit, got it?”

Sans gave a quick nod.

“Good. Now, come on,” Red spoke, turning to head inside. “We got a house full of upset kids t’deal with.”

Sans followed Red inside.

Frira was pouting on the floor, rubbing her eyes.

“She and Charis got into a fight,” Red started. “Got physical. Charis is coolin’ off in tha basement. They need a bath, too. I gotta apologize t’ Rhisk.”

Sans nodded again. He walked over to Frira as Red headed upstairs. He picked her up before giving her a nuzzle to her red cheek. Frira rubbed back and this nuzzling seemed to calm Frira down as she stopped sniffing. Sans put her down and pulled out a tiny towel from his back pocket. After finding a clean spot, he rubbed the tears off Frira’s face and after she settled down, Sans made his way to the basement and opened the door. Charis stood at the bottom of the stairs, kicking books and carrying a deep frown and growling.

“Hey!” Sans snapped, making Charis jump and whip around. Candy red eyes stared wide at glaring sockets. “Stop that. We do not kick things. Now get up here and apologize to your sister.”

Charis grumbled, but shuffled upstairs and into the living room and over to Frira, who was sitting on the floor, putting her crayons in her box. Charis didn’t look at Frira’s expectant eyes, but muttered out, “Sorry.”

“Charis,” Sans warned.

They pouted harder, but relented. “I’m sorry I took your crayon and didn’t give it back.”

“And?”

“I’m sorry I hit you.”

“Good. Now, Frira, thank Charis for apologizing.”

“Thank you for apologizing,” Frira sniffed.

“All right,” Sans nodded, satisfied. “Now, go upstairs and get ready for a bath.”

Still grumbling, Chairs stomped out of the room and headed upstairs just as Red came out of the extra room, cradling a snuffling Rhisk. The two seemed to have talked and made up, though with how inseparable they were, the chances of the two just hugging without a word were pretty high.

As Red spoiled Rhisk with some cookies, Sans made sure Frira was settled down at her crayons before taking on the Final Quest: Bathe Charis.

Fifteen minutes later, Chairs was running downstairs, wet and naked and Sans staggered out of the bathroom, soaking wet. Frira exploded with laughter and began to run alongside Charis. Red burst into laughter at the scene, but got up from the couch at Sans pleading for help.

Red made quick work of scooping up Charis, telling them they couldn’t keep running around naked and stashed them in a shirt and shorts.

The rest of the day was uneventful, allowing Red and Sans to have a much needed conversation at the end of the day.

“I think I’ll see if there’s anything I can do from home,” Red spoke as he crawled under the sheets with Sans. “I’m not sure what though.”

“Well,” Sans started. “You were talking about writing Incantations. Maybe you can sell some of those?”

Red looked to the side. “Maybe,” he mused. “I’ll think o’ somethin’. Maybe brainstorm with mah sister. I’ll tell her we want to start a college fund or somethin’. I know the idea of askin’ fer help still makes ya.. uncomfortable.”

Sans crossed his arms bones and looked at his lap. “I know it shouldn’t. And I know you wouldn’t leave me for Gold… or, at least, I thought I knew… I thought I was so sure, but….” He rubbed his arms. “Every time that guy talks, I feel like I’ve walked through cobwebs and I can’t get them off me. I don’t know how he’s able to get to me like this… It’s like… he can find someone’s greatest fear---even a fear they didn’t realize they had--- and just… yank it out and dangle it in front of them. I hate it.”

“Yeah, he has that affect on monsters,” Red spoke. “Ya just… tune him out after a while.”

“I guess,” Sans replied, though he still felt unsure. He kept telling himself over and over that he wouldn’t lose Red to someone as shallow as Gold, but he just couldn’t clear the cobwebs from his mind….

Chapter Text

“What the fuck is this? Is he serious?”

After things at the Skeleton household had calmed down, the Alpha came across a rather fanciful letter in the mailbox.

A handwritten invitation to a party hosted by Gold, Three Hundred and First Son of the Second Yellow Family. A black tie affair of dining and dancing. At the bottom was an additional message: To Crimson, Three Hundred and Second Son of the Fourth Dark Blue Family and Comic Sans of the Wing Dings Family, please accept this invitation as a apology for my previous behavior. I hope the three of us will be able to talk over our differences.

Sans looked over the invitation as if the sheet of paper had spoken the lie to him itself. “Does he think I’m stupid? Talk over our differences my bony ass. You just want to try to impress Crimson again.”

“Whatcha got there?” Red called, breaking Sans from his thoughts. The big skeleton leaned over him to read the paper. “Apologize, yeah right.” he huffed. “Oh… but….”

Sans gulped. “Wh-what?”

“The food is gonna be great,” Red smirked. “We should totally go and pig out!”

Sans blinked. “You… you wanna go just for the food?”

“Why not!” Red grinned. “It’s free food---high class stuff, too. We can even bring some back for our babies!” Red nuzzled Rhisk’s cheek. “I think I have one of my mom’s dresses. I can get it let out a little. Come on, please?” he begged at Sans’ unsure glance. “It’s been so long since we’ve been out and we’ve been so stressed. We can make a night of it!”

Ri-right, a night of it,” Sans replied, voice soft. He wished he could get as excited….

///

“Sansy.”

The tiny tux-clad skeleton turned from the front door and his sockets widen as Red came down the stairs dressed in a form fitting candy red dress topped with a bush of pale blush fur.

Blushing himself, Red asked, “Does it look all right?”

Sans could only nod as Frira and Rhisk ran up to him.

“So pretty!” Frira cried, jumping up and down.

Rhisk gave a small smile.

Charis stared from their blanket cocoon on the couch next to Azure and Rust.

Azure clapped. “Lookin’ hot, lil bro!”

Rust sniffed and nodded, brushing away a few tears.

“Come on, Ru,” Red called as he took careful steps over to Sans. Even low heels gave him some trouble. “It’s just a party, we ain’t gettin’ married or nothin’.”

To that, Rust only sobbed louder.

“Oh, great,” Az groaned. “Now I have to deal with him like this! Ya know how he gets when ya start talking about marriage!”

Red just rolled his ankhs. “Let’s just go, Sansy. We’re keepin’ the carriage waitin’.”

Sans nodded again as he opened the door and let his boyfriend exit first. ‘Gods Above, I hope this isn’t a mistake.’

///

The place was as opulent and bright as Sans had thought. The main hall of the Yellow Family Mansion was one of tall ceilings, polished floors, dangling chandeliers and even a stage for a live classical orchestra. Everything was in shiny shades of yellow or clear crystal and everyone was dressed in clothes Sans was sure hadn’t been brought at a thrift store.

Of course, he had paid for Red’s dress alterations and shoes; he had wanted his boyfriend to look… he didn’t want to use the word “acceptable” as if he was trying to  to meet Gold’s dumb standards---

---And speak of the devil….

Gold finished greeting a rather voluptuous skeleton before noticing Sans and Red, which led to his sockets widening. He regained his composure a moment later before approaching the couple. “Crimson, Sans, so happy you came!”

“Of course,” Red gave a snide, yet confident, smile. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world and by it, I mean the food!”

Gold’s face fell. “The food?”

“Yep,” Red’s smiled turned to a smirk. “We both know ya don’t gave a shit ‘bout apologizin’, but I ain’t passin’ up gourmet food, so we can all play nice til the next time ya deiced t’come by and drop the charade.”

Gold gawked. “Oh, but, but Crimson, dear, I had hoped you and I could talk and---”

“Ah,” Red held up a glowed hand. “I’m ain’t here t’talk t’you, Gold. I’m here t’eat and take some back t’mah babies. Excuse me.” And with that, Red sauntered over to the buffet table.

Sans couldn’t help but smile. He was starting to feel real silly for thinking Red would ever reconsider being with Gold, for even thinking Red would regret being with him now.

In fact, he was starting to get a little excited at how Red was carrying himself with such sass. He really had come into his own over the past few months.

Feeling more relaxed, Sans stepped forward to join Red only for Gold to stomp in front of him. The taller skeleton gave the shorter one a dirty glare, making Sans return the favor.

Gold leaned down, snarling, but kept his voice low. “What did you do to him!?” he demanded.

“I didn’t do anything,” Sans glared.

“He was fine until he met you,” Gold pushed. “Until he went to that backwoods town. He was supposed to come back after his job was finished, but then you came along and ruined everything!” The tall skeleton jabbed a long phalange into Sans’ ribs. “It’s because of you he’s acting like this!”

“Oh, sorry I helped him become more comfortable with himself!” Sans shot, voice a low growl. “Sorry I made him realize that he had nothing to be ashamed! You ever think that maybe ‘you’ were making him feel like crap and that’s why he decided not to come back--- he told me how you tried to use him like some sort of status booster.”

“How dare you!?” Gold cried, catching the attention of nearby guests. “I only wanted Crimson to know his place---”

“The only one who needs to know anything about Crimson’s place is him!” Sans spat, making more skeletons turn towards the arguing pair. “Stop trying to control him!”

“Well, someone has to!” Gold retorted. “His poor father is passed and his mother--- well, she---”

Sans grabbed Gold by the collar and yanked him to socket level. “Don’t say one word about his mother.”

Gold’s face shifted from surprise to disgust. “How dare you touch me, you filthy, little Alpha!? And I will say what I damn well please about you and any other of your kind---including that little filthy dog Crimson calls his---"

CRACK!!

The sound echoed through the hall, an unmistakable, gut wrenching sound of bone smacking bone. Music screeched to a stop and conversation was cut short as all sockets rested on the two skeletons who were now both of the floor, one pinning the other by the neck of his spine.

Arctic blue magic blazed from a narrowed socket as both a Projectile Circle and a Summoning Circle appeared in the air.
Red pushed his way through the crowd, calling for Sans, wanting to know if his boyfriend was safe.

He hadn’t expected to find the Alpha pinning the Chroma to the ground, socket blazing yellow and blue. He hadn’t expected two circles to be floating behind his boyfriend, waiting for his next order.

Red hadn’t expected the circles Sans wielded to be two different colors. There were only two examples wherein one would be able to use all Seven Circles of Magic and out of these two examples, only one could wield more than one Circle at a time and without using Incantations.

No, Red hadn’t expected Sans to be a Boss Monster at all.  

Chapter Text

The next several minutes were a blur, but Sans remembered someone pulling him away from Gold. He remembered struggling, screaming, flashes of yellow and red, then blue, as he was dragged outside. Black followed when he tossed into a carriage and while in that darkness, he was able to calm down, breath, remember.

Gold had been insulting his race… no, more than that, his boyfriend’s mother and Sans had just….

After everything Meloncholight had suffered, Sans wasn’t going to let some uppity Chroma insult her.

So, he had….

…Oh….

“Shit,” Sans cursed as the carriage stopped and shook a moment before a dog in armor opened the door. He yanked Sans out and led him into the Guard Headquarters that was somewhere in the ONK.

Sans had never been on this side of ONK before and he didn’t have time to get his bearings as he was dragged into the gray, square building and into a gray, square room. He was forced into a seat, still cuffed, then left alone.

“Don’t I at least get a phone call?” Sans called.

“In a moment, Mr. Wing Dings,” came a soft, female voice. A spider monster strolled in, three hands jiggling folders, her free hand opening one up. She took a seat and adjusted her glasses.

“I’m Ms. Muffet,” she introduced herself. “Your adviser and lawyer, should charges be brought against you and you plead not guilty.”

“No, I know what I did,” Sans replied.

“So, you’re admitting to physical assault against the three hundred and first son of the Second Yellow Family.”

Sans nodded. “He started it, verbally, but I made the first hit, so I’ll take whatever punishment I deserve.”

“Very well,” the spider stood. “, Then, just allow me to talk to the three hundred and….” She sighed. “For the love of--- why don’t these Chromas just get last names like everyone else? Gold. I’m going to go talk to Gold. In the meantime, I can let you talk to your wife.”

Sans blinked. “Wife?”

Ms. Muffet opened the door and Red all but barreled his way into the room.

“Baby!” Red called, getting to his knees and resting huge hands on Sans’ cheekbones. “Are ya okay!?”

Sans waited for Ms. Muffet to leave. “Did you say you were my wife?”

“I had ta,” Red answered. “They don’t let “dating partners” talk t’ya til ya outta the box and I just had t’make sure ya were okay.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Sans reassured him as Red pulled him into a hug.

“I was so scared. I ain’t never see ya so mad,” Red pulled away. “Sans….”

The small Skeleton gulped. “…Yeah?”

“Why didn’t ya tell me ya was a Boss Monster? Ain’t no problem with bein’ a Boss Monster, ya know.”

“You’re right,” Sans shrugged, sockets closed. “It’s the exact opposite of a problem,” he began. “Boss Monster are treated like celebrities because we’re ‘so rare and powerful, so strong and courageous’. But do you know what kind of extra stuff comes with being ‘brave and powerful,’? Everyone wants you to protect everyone--- them, their homes, the Queen, the entire Underground. I can’t do that--- not alone at least….” Sans blushed, remembering how he and Red had Summoned the Gods Ink and Error to destroy the “Prince of Night Terrors.” “It’s just… too much pressure to even think about. I mean, why do you think there are so few of us? It’s from dying trying to be everyone’s hero! So, I…” Sans looked down. “I usually keep it in better check. The only time a Boss Monster loses control is when they first come into their power. But, I guess… the things Gold was saying, about you, your mother, I just…. I wanted to hurt him. Your mother suffered so much, I just couldn’t…” Sans sniffed, trying to stop the tears. “I’m sorry I never told you. I just… I guess I was afraid you’d…”

“Treat ya… differently?” Red questioned.

Sans gave an embarrassed nod laced with shame.

“Oh, ya idiot!” Red snapped, making Sans give a nervous glance upward. He could see his boyfriend’s long fangs baring.

“How tha hell ya gonna worry ‘bout stuff like that when ya tha one who taught me t’ just be me and not be ashamed of who I was! I’m more pissed at ya bein’ a hypocrite than ya keepin’ it a secret!”

The door to the room cracked open and Gold strolled in, a bandage around his skull, clothes wrinkled. A smirk curled up his skull. “I heard screaming. Might there be trouble in paradise?”

Red stood up, ankhs glowing in mild annoyance. “The fuck ya gettin’ at!?”

Gold blinked before his sockets went wide. “Well, I… Crimson, surely you see what a danger he is,” he pointed at Sans. “He let his magic--- Boss Level Magic by the way--- run loose! He was going to attack me--- or worse! And who knows what would have happened if the Guard hadn’t showed up--- Other Monsters could have easily gotten in the way of his rampage,” Gold walked up to Red and took up his hands. “Crimson, he’s dangerous! What if you set him off and he hurts you! What about your children!?”

Red snatched his hands away. “Don’t act like ya give a fuck about mah kids! And I know ya started it,” Red placed his hands on his hips. “What exactly were ya gonna say about mah mom, Gold?”

Gold’s teeth went straight and his bones blanched for a second. “I… I wasn’t… I, I mean….”

“Right,” Red grimaced. “Here I was thinkin’ ya couldn’t be a bigger prick.”

“Crimson! Be reasonable!” Gold stomped his foot. “He is a Boss Monster! He’s dangerous if he loses control! But I can keep you safe! I can protect you!”

“Newsflash, buddy,” Red started, arms crossed. “I don’t need ya protection!” the Chroma smirked. “I got a Boss Monster to protect me right here.” He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on Sans’ bare forehead. The Alpha blushed while the tall Chroma glared.

“You…” Gold growled at Sans. “You are fortunate I decided not to press charges.”

Sans narrowed his sockets. ‘Probably thought he’d manage to convince Red to come back with him. That would hurt me more than any jail time…’

“In time,” Gold looked back at Crimson. “I am sure you will see how incapable he really is at providing for you.”

“Sans provides fer me and our kids just fine!” Red retorted. “We may not have a big fancy house and everything plated in gold, but we don’t need any of that of shit t’be happy!”

“Tch,” Gold spat and turned around. His fist shook and his magic sparked, putting Red and Sans on alert.

This little war wasn’t over.

Without another word or look, the tall Chroma stormed out of the room, slamming the door loud enough for the sound to echo.

“Tch, what a child,” Red growled. “Well, we can handle whatever he tries t’ throw at us,” he smiled. “Between mah Mastery and yer Boss Monster stats, Gold don’t got a chance,” he gave a proud cackle.

“Yeah… uh… Crimson,” Sans started, voice low.

“Hm?” Red turned and lowered himself to be more level to his boyfriend.

“This is so stupid,” Sans sniffed with a soft smile. “But, did you mean all that earlier… saying I… provided enough for you and the kids…?”

Red blinked. “Sans….” He sighed before drawing Sans gaze up with a hand to his cheekbone. He smiled. “We’ve been over this already, sweetheart. Yer doin’ just fine.”

“But, Crimson---”

“Ah!” Red held up a hand. “Yer doing just fine,” he repeated. “I ain’t arguing with ya on this. And that’s final.”
Sans could only blush, then berated himself for ever doubting Red and his love in the first place. He couldn’t believe he had let Gold get to him, let Gold convince him Red would be better off without him. Something about Gold’s wealth and power threw Sans off his game, but seeing Red throw all of that back in Gold’s face and more gave him all the proof Sans needed to know that Red loved him with all of his Soul.

“Well,” Red started. “I guess I should go let the Guard come back and uncuff ya. Even though….”

Sans gave a curious look. “Wh-what?”

Red blushed and chuckled. “Nothin’.”

Chapter Text

Tug, tug.

Without a second thought, Red turned from the counter and bent over to pick up Rhisk. The boy cuddled into Red’s jacket before peering to the counter. A few sheets of paper were spread out, each with little doodles of squares with notes jotted next to them.

“I’m thinkin’ ’bout sellin’ mah maps,” Red told Rhisk who looked over the papers with a (hair covered) concentrated stare. “Maybe makin’ booklets about each area. I mean, at some point, we’re gonna know where all tha safe places are and monsters won’t need us t’guide them around. But they could still get lost or might want t’ know more about a different area. So, we sell ‘em some merch,” Red grinned. “Just gotta pick the layout. Which one do ya like?”

Rhisk leaned forward, hanging off Red’s coat and taking each layout into careful consideration.

Red was rather impressed by how much thought Rhisk put into things, even simple choices like what to drink with a snack. The one thing he seemed to never think twice about was letting Red hold him. The trust Rhisk had in Red was well established as he hung off Red in all manner of ways and never seemed to be worried about Red dropping him--- so, Rhisk could hang off Red like he was doing right now with no fear. The little one pointed to one sheet that outlined the map and another that outlined the booklet’s cover and pages.

“Hm…”Red nodded. “Ya got a smart eye there,” the skeleton smiled.

Rhisk gave a sweet smile and buried himself against Red’s ribcage. However, he didn’t just curl up against Red, but also tried to wrap his arms around his large frame.

Red glanced down. “Whach doin’, kiddo?”

Rhisk only squeezed harder, using all of his strength.

The skeleton chuckled. “A’ight,” he patted Rhisk’s back and then gathered up the papers, keeping the two Rhisk had picked out in one hand, the rest in the other. He wrapped arms around Rhisk to keep him from falling and that’s when everything clicked.

…Rhisk was giving Red a hug.

Of course, with his small size, he couldn’t wrap his arms around much of Red, but the intent was there.

…The love was there.

Red looked down at Rhisk, sockets wide at the thought. The skeleton could only hug him tighter, hoped that his own feelings came across to the little child.

A soft sound came from the little human, and, for a moment, Red wasn’t sure if the sound was a word or just a sigh, but his thought was cut short when the front door opened.

“Papa!” Frira cried and raced up to Sans.

Sans turned from locking the door and made a soft ‘oof’ as Frira barreled into his legs.

“Uh…,” Sans started, glancing down at Frira, then at Red who gave a curious stare. Sans looked back down at Frira who gave him a wide smile--- not her usual too wide smile, but a genuine, wide smile.

Sans’ Soul melted. He returned the smile. “Hey, sweetheart, did ya have a good day?”

Frira nodded. “I colored lots and Charis didn’t bother me at all!”

“Really,” Sans questioned with a chuckle. “Where is Charis?”

“In yer office,” Red answered. “Been readin’ books as far as I can tell.”

“You don’t say,” Sans mused and gave Friar a loving pat on the head before moving to the basement. He cracked open the door and peeked in, finding Charis on the floor, a blanket wrapped around them, but not covering their head. They had an attentive gaze glued to the book in their hands.

Sans strolled in. “You know, I have more kid-friendly books if you want those instead.”

“Hmph,” Charis lifted their nose. “I can read this just fine.”

“You sure?” Sans questioned, leaning over them to take a closer look at the book. The cover was blank and scratched, the pages tanned with age, the script old and sprawling. “That one is a little dry.”

“I’m fine!” Charis snapped.

“Okay, okay,” Sans backed off, hands up. He then moved over to a bookcase and grabbed a book for himself.

“Hey,” Chairs called.

“Yes?”

“What’s this word?”

Sans smiled to himself before stepping back over to Charis. “Let’s see… Simultaneously.”

“Simul… Si… mul…”

“Si. Mul. Tan.E.Ous.Ly.”

“Si…mul… taneous…ly…. What’s that mean?”

“It means ‘happening at the same time’,” Sans explained. “For example: ‘I like to eat pie and ice cream simultaneously’ --- I like to eat pie and ice cream at the same time.”

“Oh,” Charis nodded before returning to the book.

Sans smiled again before sitting across from Charis to share in the reading time. He gave a quick glance at them before looking at his book.

“What?” Charis asked.

“Just noticed you didn’t have the blanket on your head.”

“...It gets in the way when I read sometimes.”

“Hm,” Sans murmured.

Charis tilted their head. “Are you really going to read in here?”

“Mhhm,” Sans answered. “If I go into the living room with a book, Frira will want me to read to her. Sometimes I just want to read for myself.”

“...Oh,” Charis replied.

Sans chuckled. “Frira called me Papa today. I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Should I call her my daughter now?”

Charis shrugged, gaze locked on their book. “You two are still old guys to me.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know I’m only two hundred and fifty years old,” Sans replied, sockets closed, nose bone turned up. “That’s a young adult in monster terms.”

“Two hundred is a long time,” Charis noted. “Only old guys live for a long time.”

Sans gave Charis a lidded look, teeth in an annoyed frown. “Maybe I’ll start calling you my kid, so you can have a dad who’s an old man.”

Charis only stuck out their tongue “Whatever! Just be quiet, old man!”

“Of course, of course, my dearest child,” Sans grinned before chuckling at Charis’ embarrassed glare. He then went back to his book and the two fell into a pleasant silence.

Days like this continued to roll by.

Chapter Text

“Where we going, old man? Ain’t nothing out here, is it?”

“To the Remains.”

Charis stopped short, held out their hands to stop Frira and Rhisk from walking forward. “Why are we going there!?” they demanded.

Sans turned around, curious look on his face. “Oh, well, I figured you guys wanted something to do while Red was resting---less I could do for making Red watch you guys alone. Anyway, I thought we could explore ‘em.”

Charis blinked, red eyes going wider. “Really?”

Sans chuckled. “Well, yeah, why else would I take you there?”

“To take us back to the surface!” Charis cried, fists shaking, eyes threatening tears. “To… to abandon use, like… like she did.”

Sans’ sockets widen. Oh, crap, he hadn’t thought this through at all. He rushed back to Charis and hugged them close, surprising the tiny human. “I… Red and I both made a promise, remember? We’re gonna take care of you, okay?”

Charis didn’t move, letting Sans’ words sink in, words they knew to be true, but… They squirmed a bit after Sans’ arms wrapped around them.

“Charis, don’t be such a big dummy!” Frira cried with a genuine grin. “Papa and Daddy love us a lot or they wouldn’t have taken us to their house!”

Rhisk nodded before moving to cling to Sans’ coat. (Not as comfortable or big as Red’s, but he had wanted the skeleton to get some time to himself and Red had been so proud of him for being a brave little sweetheart.)

Charis gave another squirm. “Ug, shut up, nerd!” They whined. “I’m not being stupid, I’m just being careful.”

“Nah, ya worried,” Sans teased, hugging harder and lifting Charis off the ground.. “Cause ya love Papa and Daddy, don’t ya?”

“I-I… shut up, ya old pile of bones!” Charis blushed, squirming harder. “Let go, ya nerd!”

“Fine, fine,” Sans grinned and all but dropped the human back onto the ground.

As the group recollected themselves, Sans heard the familiar clanging of metal on metal. ‘Couldn’t be,’ he thought as he rounded past the children, putting them between him and the nearby entrance of the Ruins.

Around the path came Gold, dressed in his shiny suit of armor. His skull still bared the souvenir crack from Sans’ headbutt. His cross shaped socket lights flickered at the sight of Sans.

“Well, hello there… Sans… and… humans,” he gave a millisecond glance at them.

Sans glared. “Gold. There aren’t any tours today. Crimson is taking the day off.”

“I see,” Gold replied. “A shame. I hoped to talk to him again.”

Sans’ tiny fangs shifted. “About what?”

“That is none of your business, Alpha,” Gold spat.

“Oh, really?” Sans pushed, stepping towards the Chroma. “I think, considering the circumstances, I have to disagree and say it is my business.”

Gold’s hands gathered into shaking fists. “How dare you try to inject yourself in a conversation between two Chroma, a species above your own! You pathetic Alphas think you are so damn smart and important. You may have created the blueprints for everything here, but we Chroma were the ones who used our magic to ensure the survival of us Skeletons and the rest of Monsterkind! The survival of which you Alpha put in danger in the first place because you grew too close to those humans!” Gold screeched. “And you are no different from your ancestors! You still insist on helping these dirty, disgusting---”

SMACK!

The slap echoed through the woods.

“You can say what you want about me,” Sans growled. “But don’t you are drag my kids into this!”

Gold bared his fangs, whipping his skull, cheekbone burning red, back around with a growl. “That. Is. IT! I call Upon the Fourth Circle-Projectile!” he screamed. A sun yellow circle flared next to him. “I have had enough of your disrespect! I am going to put you in your place once and for all and this time, Crimson won’t be here to save you!!”

“Kids, get to the Remains!” Sans ordered and held out his hand. “Barrier, Front!”

“Shoot Your Arrows Forward!”

THOOM

TING TING TING TING

The sound tore through the forest as yellow arrows ricocheted off a long, orange brick wall.

Gold clacked his fangs, his magic hissing from his sockets. ‘That’s right, he is a boss monster. Stronger than someone who has Mastered their magic. With only two words, he’s constructed a hefty barrier. I”ll need to be more concise with him.’ Gold walked forward and began to scale the brick wall.

On the other side, Sans had caught up to the children. He scooped up a crying Rhisk and tried to sooth him while ushering Charis and Frira into the Remains. Once inside, he tossed up another barrier at the entrance, then huffed his way down and around the first group of destroyed homes, Charis and Frira stumbling behind him. “In here!” Sans called, ducking into a house. Once inside, Sans turned over a couch and ordered the kids underneath the makeshift shelter.

“Don’t come out… until I get back,” Sans wheezed.

“Old bones, what’s wrong with you!?” Charis demanded as Frira rubbed Rhisk’s shuddering back. “Why are you breathing so hard!?”

“I’m fine,” Sans lied. “Just stay here.” He took a deep breath before a distant explosion made Sans whip around. “Crap, already?”

“Was that the second barrier you put up?” Charis asked. “Wh-why did it blow up!?”

“I don’t have time for questions! Stay here!” Sans barked and raced out the door. He turned around to put up a third barrier, this one much thicker than the last one, then slammed the door shut.

Charis peered at the barrier, hands clenching at their shorts. “Something’s wrong.”

“Yeah, we can’t get out!” Frira replied.

“Not that!” Charis shot. “I’m talking about Sans! Did you see how tired he looked? I don’t think he can use magic for a long time. That must be why the other barrier broke. It must have been weaker and Gold just blew it up!”

“But, that one looks fine,” Frira glanced at the barrier in front of the door.

Charis didn’t hesitate to crawl from under the couch and over to the barrier.

“Charis!” Frira hissed, pulling Rhisk closer.

“There’s little cracks in it,” Charis replied. “It might hold longer than the second, but probably not much longer.”

“Well, what are we supposed to do!” Frira cried.

“I don’t know, but we have to do something!” Charis snapped. “Old bones can’t fight for long! Ugh!” Charis ruffled their hair in frustration. “That idiot should have drawn Gold away! Then we could have left to get Red! Stupid, stupid!”

Another rumble shook loose dust and sand.

Rhisk yelped a little and squeezed closer to Frira. Charis raced over to a window and peered out from behind tattered blinds. They could see lights flashing up the pathway. They held their breath at the sound of uneven footsteps, only to release seconds later when Sans staggered into view. His clothes were shredded, bones burnt, the S’s in his sockets flickering.

Charis froze up again when Sans did. The skeleton whipped around just as the sky lit up with arrows.

Sans dived into a building just as the arrows tore into the nearby roofs. Charis yelped and dived back under the couch. Arms wrapped around their siblings, they all whimpered as the house collapsed around them in stone chunks.

When the shaking stopped, Chairs was the first to peek out. Over the wall of stone debris, they could see other houses had fallen in the onslaught. Their hurried glance scoured for any sign of Sans, debating on if they wanted to call out to him or not. They had no idea how close Gold was to their hiding spot.

They froze upon hearing a long, hurried stride.

“Come out, Alpha! You are a Boss Monster, surely you cannot be Dust by a mere barrage of arrows. But perhaps you are--- you are an Alpha after all…”

A nearby pile of rubble moved and small rocks rolled away as Sans pulled himself out of the pile. He was dripping blue magic, bones covered in cracks and dirt. He kept trying to pull himself form the pile, but lacked the strength.

At the sound of Gold’s taunting voice, Sans gave up.

He piled on top of the rocks, looked up and caught sight of Charis. He shushed then, then flicked his hand towards them.

He wanted them to hide.

He was telling them to let him be the target of Gold’s next attack.

Charis gulped and dashed back under the couch. “We have to do something!” they cried in a loud whisper.

“Why!? What’s wrong!?” Frira cried.

“Sans can’t move and Gold is close by! If we don’t do something, Gold’s gonna… he’s gonna…,” Charis couldn’t finish.

“What are we going to do?” Friar whispered, lip trembling.

“...need help…” came a tiny whisper.

The other two siblings looked down at Rhisk.

He just looked back at them with large pink eyes.

Frira looked at Charis. “Do you think it’s okay?”

“We have to!” Charis nodded. “If we don’t….”

Frira nodded and took Charis and Rhisk’s hands. Rhisk then held Charis’ other hand.

“Ready?” Charis asked.

The others nodded.

“Okay. On three… One, two, three.”

Thousands of Years

Thousands of Years

Thousands of Years More

Behind Closed Windows

And Curtains Drawn

And Thousand of Locked Doors

An ultramarine circle lined with runes with a rabbit’s head in its center flashed into existence, at first in the circle the children’s holding hands made.

The Babe Lay Still in Darkness

Where it Could not be Soothed

But with a Cry

And a Sharp Breath

Its Heart Beat, Pumped and Moved

The circle began to grow, spreading over the dusty floor. The light grew brighter.

And Then it Started to Listen

To Old Ones in Distant Talk

It Grew a Thought

It Grew a Voice

“And It Began to Walk”

Chapter Text

The shadow was towering, dwarfing the rubble of the houses. The deepest of black, its long rabbit ears flowed in its own wind, its body appeared to be covered, or maybe even made of, layers of clothe.

The shadow had no features--no eyes, nose or mouth, but the Summon seemed very much aware of its surrounding.

“WHAT IN ALL OF THE UNDERGROUND IS THAT!!?” came a screech.

Gold had reached Sans moments ago, but the magic and wind tossed up by the large Summon had made him whip around. His sockets grew wide as the rabbit seemed to stare down at him.

A moment later, the rabbit began to shuffle over to him, flakes of something like ash floating off its body. There was no sound of footsteps as the Summon approached, though the air grew heavy around its surroundings, ash collecting on the ground as it walked.

“What… what is that thing…?” Gold spoke again, voice a whimper. “What is it… walking towards me… Ge--get away!” Gold screamed. “Pr-projectile, F-Fire forward!” He ordered. A yellow circle appeared beside him and unleashed a volley at the rabbit.

The rabbit made no attempt to dodge, choosing to extend a thin limb with long, sharpened fingers, all black as its body. With one whip of its arm, the arrows were cast away, landing in other buildings, tossing up stone debris and dust.

Gold stared as his attacks being swatted like annoying bugs. His now wet sockets gazed up at the Summon which now stood mere feet from him.

The long arm and sharpened fingers reached for him.

“Noooo!!” Gold tried to run, stumbling over chunks of rock.

The arm moved like a wave, the fingers wrapping around the skeleton like vines. Gold was lifted off the ground to come skull to featureless face with the Summon. A brief silence fell as the rabbit seemed to regard Gold for a second before opening a hidden mouth lined with rings of sharp teeth.

Gold began a frantic but useless attempt of wiggling away in the hand of the Summon. He began to scream only for the rabbit to cut him off with a shattering roar. The echo seemed to last for ages.

Gold was left speechless and wet from saliva and his magic leaking from embarrassing places as he lost all control of his body.

“Rabbit!” came a tiny voice.

The Summon looked down at the approaching children, Charis in the lead.

“Forget him for now!” they pointed to the rubble. “There’s another Skeleton under there! We need to get him home before he gets worse!”

The rabbit turned its attention to the rubble pile upon which Sans laid, unconscious. The Summon made little work of removing the rock and maneuvering Sans into its hand.

“Follow us!” Frira waved and began up the path behind Charis while leading Rhisk along.

“Wait!” Gold screamed. “Tell it to put me down!” He demanded.

“Quiet or we’ll tell him to drop you!” Charis snapped. “It’s your fault you ended up like that!”

“My fault!?” Gold gaped.

“Yeah!” Frira shouted. “Daddy told ya not to come back!”

“DADDY!?” Gold screeched.

“Shut up!” Charis screamed. “We’re taking you to Red. He can decide what do to with you after we take care of Sans.”

Gold glared. “How are you humans able to Summon? That is something only Monsters can do!”

Charis shrugged as they rounded the path. “Who knows? Red’s sister said something about a monster helping one of our ancestors do it.”

“Hmph,” Gold growled. “Probably a filthy Alpha.”

Charis glared back at the Skeleton. “What’s your deal---Why do you hate Alphas so much?”

“It is because of not only humans but Alphas that we had to move down here!” Gold spat. “They insisted on helping you humans, but then you took our gifts and started using them against each other! Then you had the audacity to come to us for more so you could continue to fight! We were forced to abandon our homes so you would leave us alone, so you would stop threatening us for our aid in your petty wars!”

“Oh. So that’s why….” Charis trailed.

“Oh, good, you managed to understand such a simple explanation,” Gold insulted.

Charis shot a glare before leading the rabbit out of the Remains and onto the path leading back into town.

“We’re kinda in a hurry,” Charis spoke. “Rabbit, can we get a ride?”

The rabbit nodded and the children grabbed on the cloth of the Summon’s body.

“Just follow the path!” Charis pointed.

And the rabbit shot forward, looking like a blur of a wavy shadow. its speed cutting the walk down from a near half hour to five minutes. The town soon came into view and Charis yelled directions to Rabbit. Rabbit obeyed, slipping around surprised Monsters until they arrived home.

“REEED!” They all screamed.

“What!?” came a cry from inside the house. Seconds later, the door flew open and Red rushed onto the porch. His sockets went wide. “…Whoa.”

///

“Oh! Hey… can ya hear me?”

Sans flinched a little as light pierced his opening sockets. “Huh… uh…wha?”

“Sansy, it’s me. Can ya hear me? Can ya see me?”

Sans forced his socket lights to focus above him and he soon recognized red ankhs. “…Crimson?”

Red smiled. “Hey.”

“Is he awake!”

“Shh, not so loud!”

Sans turned his skull. He could make out Charis standing at the door to… this wasn’t his room… He looked up at Red. “Where…?”

“Yer at the clinic,” Red explained. “Ya used up a lot of yer magic protecting the kids.”

“The kids… are they…?”

“We’re okay,” Charis reassured him as they came closer. “Frira and Rhisk are getting snacks.”

“How did you get out…? Where’s Gold?” Sans breathed.

“We Summoned Rabbit,” Charis answered, standing on tip toe to peer over the safety rail of the bed. “It was all we could think of. Actually, Rhisk was the one who said we should get help.”

“Wait, what!?” Red shouted. “I missed mah Rhisky talking!?” He gave a sad sigh. “I bet his voice is adorable….”

“...Uh… Anyway,” Charis continued, rolling their eyes. “Rabbit carried you and Gold out all the way to Red. Red called the Guard then took you to the Clinic.”

“The Guard came and took Gold,” Red explained. “He’s under house arrest.”

“House arrest?” Sans questioned.

“For entering the Remains without permission,” Red spoke. “That’s the only thing they could officially get him on, based on the Dust on his armor. He said… did ya hit him first again?”

Sans looked to side. “…Not sure, can’t remember too well.”

Red sighed. “Of course. Yer lucky Gold’s too scared to press charges this time!”

“Scared?”

Charis chuckled. “Rabbit got him good.”

Sans looked over at Red. Red only shrugged.

“Anyway,” the Chroma continued. “Gold can’t leave his house fer six months fer tha crime of “goin’ into Hazardous Government Property without Proper Papers and Official Escort.” He also got a thousand hours of community service. They’re treatin’ it as destruction of protected property and not a result of the fight ya two shouldn’t have even had in the first place,” Red grumbled, displeased.

“I’m sorry,” Sans murmured, looking down at his twiddling phalanges. “He… he started talking about the kids, I….” the small skeleton sighed, rested a bandaged hand to his skull. “Once he started on them, he just got into my bones. I just can’t talk my way out of conversation with him.”

Red sighed again. “Well, the kids told me ya did what ya could to keep ‘em safe. That’s the important thing.”

Sans smiled, relieved that his kids were safe. “How long have I been out?”

“Just a few days,” Red answered. “Ya really drained yerself, Sans. Ya may be a Boss Monster, but ya still an Alpha, too. Ya know ya don’t got much stamina.”

“But I---”

“I know, I know,” Red interrupted. “I just… if the kids didn’t know how to Summon… I may have lost all of ya. Ya gotta be more careful.”

“I know. I will,” Sans replied, resting a hand on Red’s to reassure him.

The door to the room opened wider and Frira skipped in, Rhisk padding over towards Red.

“Papa’s awake!” Frira cheered. “Are you feeling better, Papa!”

“I am,” Sans smiled.

Red leaned over and picked up Rhisk, who reached out and offered a hand for Sans to hold. He then blew a bubble of purple bubblegum.

“Whatcha got there?” Red asked, noticed the envelope in Frira’s hands.

“The mail birdy was in the lobby and gave us our mail,” Frira spoke. “It’s to Papa.” She handed the letter to him.

Sans reached up to take the envelope. “Oh, it’s from Papyrus.”

“Who’s Papyrus?” Charis asked.

“My little brother,” Sans answered, opening the letter. His sockets widen as he read. “He’s having a baby!”

“A baby!?” Friar squealed.

“Oh, man,” Red started to laugh. “Ya should tell him ya beat him t’tha punch.”

“He’s invited us to be there for the birth, He hopes to see me and my… future husband?”

Red cocked a brow bone and leaned over the safety railing to read the letter. “Uh… doe he… does he think we’re gettin married?”

“I… maybe?” Sans answered. “I’m pretty sure I never said you were my fiance, though… Then again, Papyrus has always been a romantic like Rust.”

Rhisk sat back in Red’s lap and tugged on his coat.

“Mm, what is it, sweetheart?”

He pointed at Red, then Sans, then formed a heart with his hands

“What? Well, yeah, of course I love Sans---”

Rhisk nodded and made a bigger heart with his finger tips.

“Rhisky,” Red scratched his cheekbone. “I’m not sure what ya tryin’ to tell me here.”

Rhisk leaned out of Red’s hold and took the letter from Sans, then held the piece of paper up to Red. He pointed to one word.

Husband

Red blushed.

“What is it?” Sans asked.

Frira stood up on tip toe see what word Rhisk had pointed out. She squealed.

“Papa! Are you and Daddy getting married!?”

“What!?” Sans almost jumped from his bed. “Wa-wait!”

“Oooh!” Frira rushed over to Charis. “Charis, we have to start planning! I’ll even let you use all my crayons this time!”

“What!? I don’t want to plan a wedding!” Charis blared out.

“Ye-Yeah,” Red started. “I mean, w-were, we haven’t even talked about---”

“We have to plan it! Papa and Daddy have to pick out their outfits!”

“Uh… Maybe you have a point… Well, I guess….”

“Great! And Rhisk can be the flower boy!”

Rhisk blushed and buried his face into Red’s shirt.

The massive red-skulled skeleton could only look down at the blushing cheekbones of his smaller lover.

Marriage hadn’t been a topic for them since their dinner with Red’s siblings. Now all of a sudden the subject had become center stage again.

And this time, neither made an attempt to stop the conversation from unfolding around them.

End 2