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Being part of the Star Sanses as the only mortal was no easy task. Sure he was a bit glitched, which no one really knew about except Error and Death (even with Ink as his partner, he was literally too oblivious to find out), and he would keep it like that. Being glitched gave him that perk of living forever and remembering RESETS, but that didn't keep him from being exhausted.
Fighting daily was tiring, finding Dream whenever he sneaked out was stressing, having standards set too high for him was aggravating, and so on. At least his AU was on the surface, that was a plus.
Today, Swap was walking down the park, admiring the nature of the surface. He didn't really get to do that much since he was either busy helping move stuff to the surface or outside of his AU. He ignored the aching in his head, it was just a small headache compared to what he's been through before. He ignored what felt like whispering in the back of his mind.
He doesn't know why he hears them, but he has a theory that it's those voices Error hears. It did start when he was trapped in the anti-void for a while and it always feels clearer there. His thoughts are cut off when-
"Sans!" He looks around to see his AU's Chara walk up to him.
"HELLO, CHARA!" Swap greets, "IS THERE SOMETHING YOU NEED?"
Chara nods, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to Muffet's with me and Papyrus! We haven't had much time to hang out because of your job."
Ah yes, his job of protecting the Multiverse. He could definitely take a break from it and have fun, not that the Multiverse wasn't fun! Just having fun in his universe was a nice change of pace.
"OF COURSE! LEAD THE WAY!" Chara smiled as they started on their path, Swap following close behind. Swap's eyelids felt heavy as the aching in his head was like a hammering in his head. The whispering became harsh, he swore it sounded like someone asking if he was okay. His body felt heavy, ribs aching, reminding him too much of the fight with Killer long ago.
He swayed as he stopped in his path, rubbing his head, sweat trickling down his head. He wasn't sure how that was even possible. Chara stopped in their path, noticing that the skeleton had stopped in his path.
"Sans, are you alright?" They asked as they walked up to him with a knife in hand. His eyes widened as he stumbled back, Chara stopped in their path with a worried look on their face. Swap's eyelights darted to their hands, no knife.
"A-AH... I AM ALRIGHT, CHARA! PLEASE, LET US CONTINUE!" Swap announced as he stood straight.
"Are you sure? You don't look too good Sans-"
"NO, NO! I Am Fine! Come, Let Us Go-" Swap started as he paused, swaying from side to side. His vision became blurry, he became unfocused on his surroundings as the whispering sounded all jumbled up. His vision was clouded by black before he slipped and fell to the ground with a thud.
"SANS!"
Swap awoke with a pounding in his head, he groaned as he sat upright.
"hey, bro."
Swap looked up at his brother standing by the doorway, a concerned look on his face.
"WHAT HAPPENED? WHERE IS CHARA?" Swap asked as he rubbed his face, "UGH..."
"kid came running to me when you passed out-"
"Is Sans awake?"
Swaprus and Swap turned to the doorway to see Chara standing there, they held a cup of (presumably by the smell) tea.
"oh, hey kid," Swaprus waved as Chara ran up to the two, handing Swap the cup. Swap sniffed the drink, yep, tea. He took a sip instantly feeling the warmth of healing magic, it tasted like butterscotch and cinnamon. He drank it all in one gulp, placing the cup on his tableside.
"THANK YOU, CHARA I-" Swap trailed off as the scene around him started to become hazy, the scene reminded of a very familiar one.
He was in the same bed, in the same pajamas, Chara and Swaprus both by his side.
The aftermath of a very traumatizing fight, the same fight when Killer stabbed out his eye and broke his ribs. He curled up on in himself his breathing becoming jagged and uneven.
He blocked out everything, ignoring everything around him. He’s not supposed to panic, he’s a Royal Guard! He trembled, feeling breathless as his thoughts began to sway becoming nauseous.
He felt a sudden entrance of two others, throwing his senses off.
"-ncle?"
"-ream! hel-“
He heard footsteps running up to him.
"Swa—!"
Swap’s jagged breath steadied as he felt the warm sensation wrapping themselves around him. He focused on himself, breathing in and out, just like he taught Dream. Just like he taught Error. Just like he taught himself. Unconsciously his arms wrapped around the warmth, it was calming.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Breath in.
"Breath out."
Oh.
That wasn't his voice, he looked up to who he was hugging. The warm calming aura was Dream who looked at him with worry.
"OH, HELLO DREAM," Swap greeted as he let go of him.
"Are you okay?" Dream asked as he sat down near Swap, holding his hand.
"I AM FINE! DO NOT WORRY!" Swap smiled, Dream looked at him with concern as he crossed his arms.
"You passed out," Dream stated, "Swaprus called me."
Swap glared at Swaprus as he shrugged his shoulders.
"WELL, I AM OKAY NOW-" "Ink's in the living room by the way."
What? Swap was about to respond when his bedroom door flung open, making everyone but Dream jump.
"is he okay?" Ink exclaimed.
"prince..." Swaprus muttered as Chara nudged both of them outside into the hallway.
"Dad!" Dream exclaimed as he threw his hands up, "don't shout! He has to rest!"
"sorry, sorry!" Ink chuckled as he rested himself onto the wall, "hey handsome, how you doing?"
"I AM FINE! I JUST DID NOT GET ENOUGH SLEEP!" Swap lied through his teeth, Ink nodded.
"well make sure to get enough sleep next time!" Dream stared judgingly at Ink.
"Joku, how did you believe that?.." Dream muttered as pinched the bridge of his nose.
"what was that?"
"Nothing..."
"ok!" Ink exclaimed, Dream looked at Swap almost like saying, "seriously? you chose him out of all people?"
Swap groaned as the aching in his head came back. Dream out of reflex started to reach for Swap before Swap shooed his hand away.
"I AM ALRIGHT, REALLY-" Swap stopped abruptly as he short-cutted to the nearest bathroom, leaning over the toilet as he threw up. He fell to his knees as he rubbed his head. Flushing the toilet, he heaved as he shakily stood back up, wall steadying him so he didn't fall over. His right eye burning like crazy.
"Dad!" "swap!" He heard Dream and Ink yell through the walls.
"WOW DREAM! I WAS NOT AWARE YOU COULD COOK!" Swap exclaimed before blowing the steaming hot soup, it was a basic chicken noodle soup embedded with healing magic.
"I picked it up from Neil back in Dreamtale, and uh- The villagers always made me cook when they didn't want to," Dream confessed, scratching his head. Oh, them. He hated how they overworked Dream, it probably contributes to how much of a workaholic he is now. If there was one thing Swap was thankful Nightmare had done, it was leaving that place to rot.
Not that they should've died! It's just that his and Dream's relationship would've drastically changed, he wasn't sure if they would've met at all.
"swap!" Ink exclaimed, snapping his fingers in front of him.
"OH- HUH?"
"i've been calling your name for the past minute!" Ink stated before frowning, "something wrong?"
"JUST THINKING..." Swap replied putting the spoon down and a hand on Dream's skull. Ink hummed before one of his eye lights changed to exclamation points.
"oh, i just remembered something! hold on," Ink said leaving Swap's room and down the stairs. Dream and Swap sat in silence as Dream cuddled up to him.
"You should continue eating," Dream said. Ah right. Swap took the spoon and blew on it before stuffing it into his mouth. The warmth of the soup heating up his soul. Ink returned a minute later holding a glass of water with ibuprofen.
"sorry! forgot what i was doing," Ink chuckled as he walked up to them, "here!"
"THAT IS A LOT OF HEALING MAGIC IS IT NOT?"
"yeah, well, this is specifically for headaches," Ink informed before turning to Dream, "right?"
"Mhm..." Dream nodded Swap put the soup to the side as he took the ibuprofen and swallowed it, although not without some struggle (can you blame him? skeletons don't usually swallow pills). He quickly chugged the glass of water to get rid of the bitter taste. He groaned, while the headache did feel better, the whispering became harsher. Ink took the glass and placed it on Swap's tableside.
Ink jumped onto the bed, thankfully without his paintbrush, cuddling with Swap. Ink snorted as Swap turned away as his face turned blue.
"blueberry," Ink teased.
Swap groaned as he threw his head back, "THIS IS THE STANDARD BLUSH COLOR FOR SANSES!"
"yeah, but it's fun teasing you!"
"OH MY PRINCE," Swap swore.
"oh i know i am!" Ink smiled as he threw his hand over Swap.
"OH MY- NOT YOU!"
"Can you both stop flirting? I'm trying to sleep," Dream mumbled as he leaned into Swap.
"SORRY, DREAM!" "sorry!"
The three sat in comfortable silence with the birds chirping outside. Man, Swap was really lucky to have such a family.
...
...
...
Ding!
Swap is now available for asks.
"Oh, they're so cute!"
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...
What?