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Chapter Text

This neighbourhood sucked. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

To say that you were nervous was probably the biggest understatement of the century. 

You were shitting yourself. 

Completely, utterly terrified. 

☆————————— ☆

It was meant to be a simple ‘buy some, shove the rest in your pocket’ sort of deal, and it wasn’t exactly difficult, considering the middle aged rabbit man could not give less of a shit what you were doing in his store- you’d done it loads of times! 

He wasn’t here today, however. 

When you walked in, it wasn’t the sight of his greasy grey fur that greeted you.

Instead of him, it was his… Wife, maybe? An obnoxiously loud female rabbit, currently shouting at somebody on the phone. 

It was a dingy little store, peeling pain and most definitely out of date foods stocked on the shelves, but it was the closest Human Friendly store near your apartment- and, by ‘Human Friendly,’ they meant that they won’t kick you out if you give them twice the price a monster would pay for whatever you wanted to buy.

You brought your hands together to pick at your fingers, a nervous habit.

The bunny clerk had hung up the phone rather quickly after your arrival, deciding that all her attention deserved to be on you. She had her eyes on you like a hawk the entire time.. You didn’t really blame her, actually- you did look a little suspicious. 

…Because you were.

But! You thought to yourself, as you began to look at useless junk on the shelves. Its not Like a human could do any real damage to a monster. Although you didn’t have much opinion monsters- you still had some.. They weren’t normal. They were freaks. At the very least, humans and monsters should be segregated! This is what you’ve been told, on repeat, since the monsters emerged from the underground. You all thought it was a bit mean, though. You wouldn’t tell anybody that, obviously… Because the monsters were dangerous.

Your grey, stained hoodie was baggy enough to hide sufficient goods in, and your old black joggers… well, they were comfortable. A lot less people seemed to bother you if you looked like a mess, as an added bonus. You weren’t wearing your nice shoes out of the house to somewhere like the corner store, so your usual black and white converse would make do.

You’re pretty sure they had a hole in them somewhere. Eeh.

Maybe you could pick up a cheap pair? Eeeh.

You tittered round the aisles, maybe more then what was normal- because she would lose interest eventually. You had this down to a fine art.

Pick up an item, examine it, check if she’s looking? Yep. Put it back.

You were doing good for being constantly watched, you’d thought- you had three items stuffed in your pockets, all canned… Somethings. You didn’t actually know what.

It wasn’t like you enjoyed doing this, at the beginning. It was a necessity. But, as time went on and your skills improved, you found you rather liked the adrenaline rush. The feeling of… Freedom. You still took what you needed, or stuff that would prove useful, but now and then you’d take something just for yourself. A necklace, a new pair of headphones… You weren’t in here for any treat today, though.

It was the end of the month, and you were skint. Pocket a can of beans, maybe some soup, actually buy some cat food for your kitty, and leave.

It was too risky to attempt to get anything more then that, with how close she was watching you.

That, and you weren’t really in the mood.

You rounded the corner of the pets aisle, towards the counter with the box of cat food in hand.

She wasn’t at the register? Huh.

You leaned over the counter, trying to figure our where she went. Maybe she went behind one of those doors? With how she was helicoptering over you the whole time, you really doubted it. Maybe she-

“I’ve already called the police, you know.” A voice cut off your thinking. You spun around, and there the bunny lady was standing, arms crossed and hip cocked.

Well, shit.

“Um… What?” You said, glancing around the store. Play innocent, maybe? She scowled at you. You glared right back.

“Don’t act stupid with me, girl!” She huffed. “I’ve seen you sneaking round here, stuffing your pockets!”

She took a step closer to you, and you took a step back, so your back was pressed against the door of the counter.

What the fuck were you meant to say? ‘That wasn’t me?’ ‘I thought it was free?’ ‘Whoopsie daisy!’

Your heart was beating abnormally fast- maybe if you had a heart attack in her store she’d feel bad and give you the items for free? Wouldn’t that  be lucky?

She reached her hand.. paw, thingy? Out, presumably to get the cans shiver in your pocket and your stomach dropped.  Before she could even touch you, you slapped her hand away.

“Don’t fucking touch me, you monster freak!” You borderline shouted. You panicked- you’ve been fed so many storied about monsters being dangerous, aggressive- and they were! You weren’t gonna let this creature touch you!  She had no right!

She looked genuinely shocked, before she looked more angrier then she did before.

“Come,” she said, walking past you and towards one of the doors you were looking at before, behind the counter. “The police are on their way.”

You stared at her for a second, before following after her slowly. She opened the door for you, but had an obvious aversion to touching you.

The room was blank, and equally as grimly as the rest of the store. The walls were a plain light-grey colour, with a lovely pop of green from the mould crawling up from the floor, with only a chair in the middle of the room to furnish it. It stank. There was a window in the corner of the room with chicken wire poorly applied over the top, so it wasn’t completely dark, at least.

You turned back to her, to ask her what she was planning on doing, but she cut you off by closing and locking the door.

Anxiety balled in your chest.

Completely, utterly terrified.

Being caught stealing wasn’t what was so bad about this- you had been caught stealing before. A warning if the police were called, maybe a ban from the store, depending on what you stole. Worst comes to worst, you’d spend a night in a jail cell, which was of course still scary but… No, what was so bad about this situation was that you had been caught stealing in the monster district. As a human. Considering you’d said something  not so nice to the monster clerk, it was sure to reflect on your punishment from the monster police.

What were they going to do?

Kick you out of your house? Your landlord was  a weird horse-mermaid monster.

Sell you on the black market? You had heard somewhere monsters enjoyed eating humans.

You couldn’t breathe properly.

You needed to get home to your cat! Not be here!

You rubbed your hands down your joggers, nervously. They left a sweat mark. Ew.

Looking around the room nervously, you realised… You could actually just climb out the window. Problem solved!

You stood from the chair you were sitting on, and dragged it to the corner of the room- the window was only a little taller then you could comfortably climb onto, so it’d be handy. You placed the chair a little in front of the wall, and stood up on it, trying to pull off the chicken wire. Somebody had obviously already attempted this before, it was practically hanging off the corners already.

Despite how easy it looked like it would come off, your hands were making it much more difficult then it had to be- you didn’t even know your hands could sweat this much. Your heart was palpating in your chest.

Riiiiiip!

Ah! There it is!

The discarded wire fell to the ground with a clatter,  and you started to fiddle with the window. .

Why were windows so hard to open?

The sound of the door unlocking echoed through the small room, and you jumped like a startled cat and slip off the front of the chair, flat on your ass. You recovered fairly quickly, standing and picking up the chair. You plopped down on your now very sore ass- but, that was the least of your problems.  

Your heart was hammering.

Maybe it was the rabbit lady, come to tell you you could go home?

You were picking at your hands relentlessly.

The door creaked open, in what felt like slow motion.

On the other side, probably the biggest monster you had ever seen was standing stick still, staring at you. You could feel your breathing quicken.

A skeleton monster.

They were hunched slightly, so they could see through the door- only the bottom of their face visible. Their massive frame couldn’t be seen in full from where you were sat, trying not to cry- or die… or, have a panic attack- which was proving very difficult, actually!

From what you could see of their face, their grin was wide. It looked dangerous. They looked dangerous. Their eye… ball? Was a deep red colour, fuzzy around the edges and staring directly at you. It seemed to waver, contract and expand- was that a heart? -with every passing moment it studied you. Their other socket was dead, almost lifeless. It seemed to be nothing but a black void, empty and limp. You had to look away.   

It’s uniform was strained due to the sheer size of them. How could a skeleton be fat like they were? Or, were they ‘big boned’? They looked strong, like they could break you if they so wanted.

You obviously spent longer then you thought staring at this beast- they began to squeeze through the door, one shoulder at a time. They couldn’t fit through the door at once.

Holy shit, this guy was going to end you.

You could feel yourself shrink into your seat, as they managed to get fully in the door. Once they revealed themselves fully, your eyes were drawn up to the gruesome hole in his skull- bigger then both of your fists, sharp and painful looking. The hole in his head spiderwebbed down to the socket with the big, fuzzy orb- the ‘spiderweb’ crack still being the width of your finger or so.

They looked bigger when they were in the same room as you. It took up the majority of the space inside.

…

“..eheh… heh!” The monster started… chuckling?  Whats wrong with this guy? He was creeping you the fuck out. It’s voice was deep, it reverberated through you like a  growl- it sounded like it was probably a he? Well, that’s what you were calling it.  It’s eye didn’t look away from you, for even a second.

It… He dropped to his knees, far too quickly for any creature of his size to move- and even then, he was taller then you. You couldn’t help but flinch, pressing yourself further into your chair.

Dishearten almost seemed to flash on his skeletal features. How did that work? He was made out of bone.

It was silent for a second or two. You couldn’t control your breathing, with a monster so dangerous far too close to you. You could hear the thumping of your heart.

You felt like a caged animal.

“…what?” He asked, breaking the silence. He put his hand out, palm up towards you.

What, ‘what’? What?

Was he asking for the haul…?

 You reached a very shaky hand into your pocket, and pulled out the cans that you had stuffed in there. You lean forward to place them on his gigantic hand, being extra careful not to touch him. Your fear addled brain noted how sharp his phalanges were. Oh, how lovely.

He watched you with rapt interest.

You didn’t say a word, the entire time.

He looked down at the items now in his hand, and studied them. You couldn’t help but stare at his eyelight thingy- how it wavered and bubbled whilst taking in what it saw. It was creepy.

“you’re… hungry?” He asked. He spoke slowly, like it was almost a struggle to get the words out- probably had to do with that gnarly head injury.

You nodded, rigidly in response to his question.

He took another moment to process. You could see his eyebrow… bones…  furrowing, like he was concerned. This skeleton was strangely expressive.

“…take.” He said, almost gently, nudging his hand in your direction. You stared blankly at him, and then his hands. What the fuck? It only served to unnerve you more.

You took them, slowly putting them back in your pockets. You wanted to go home. He watched your hands like it was the most interesting thing he’d seen that day. Why was he smiling like that?

He pointed at his chest, and mumbled the word, “sans.” Was that his name? Sans? Weird. He then pointed at you, and cocked his head to the side.

“…uh… _____,” you told him your name, you couldn’t help but cringe at how…. Helpless, afraid even, you sounded. He seemed to space out, a light dusting of steel blue covering his zygomatic bones- it would almost look like he was blushing, in any other situation.  Maybe that was his magic, charging up to attack you? You really knew nothing about monsters.

He then said your name, like he was trying out how it sounded in his mouth. His perma-smile seemed to grow, at that. It sounded weird.

He stood up, quickly, and you jumped back into your seat. He stared down at you.

You stared up at him like he was a- well, a monster.

He started towards the door of the little room, turning to look at you once he reached the door. You scrambled out of your chair, despite logically knowing you should stay away from him.

Flight, fight, or fawn. You were definitely fawning. This guy was fucking scary.

He held the door open for you.

…

You shook your head at him. You weren’t that stupid- what creature would let that thing  walk behind you, when you couldn’t keep an eye on it?

His grin only seemed to grow.

He turned and left, and you followed after him at a relatively safe distance. He came out of the cramped hallway, that looked really uncomfortable for somebody of his size, and past the register where the bunny lady was now sitting again, yapping on the phone. Again. She looked confused as to why you weren’t in cuffs, crying. Hell, you were confused to why you weren’t in cuffs, crying!

He was rummaging through the pocket of his shirt, before pulling out a fiver. He… was paying for your stuff, so you could keep it. He placed the money on the counter, and the bunny monster took a look at it before sneering at him- she did nothing more, however. She probably knew messing with a monster this size could only mean trouble.

You were still stood a little away from him, as he was doing all of this- still, apparently, arms length for him- he reached over and placed a hand on your back. You immediately stiffened at his touch- you couldn’t even say anything, because his hand took up the majority of the upper half of your back! He could destroy you!

He pulled you closer to him, and them to the door, as he walked. He looked over back at the bunny, and nodded curtly. You, of course, didn’t see this- you were trying to figure out why this monster was touching you. His bones felt warm, like he wasn’t in fact a skeleton. You could feel even through your hoodie that he had a slight tremor to him, whether that was because of his head injury or because of reasons unknown to you, you didn’t know.

You could feel how wide your eyes were, and if your fists tightened any further, they might just start bleeding.

He walked beside you until you were outside the store, with his hand encompassing your back. Monsters were watching this happening.

He let go, almost reluctantly - and you seemed to come back to yourself. He looked like he was mulling over his next words… But you weren’t going to stay for that. You turned on your heel, and you ran. You chanced a look backwards and you saw that he never made any attempt at following you.

He was just smiling.

And staring.

Creepy fucking skeleton. 

☆————————— ☆

From the police car, Classic could see Horror and a terrified looking human girl emerge from the shop, maybe twenty minutes later. Classic knew Red was also looking at what was going on.

…She was kinda cute. For a human girl, that is.

Why wouldn’t he watch, when Horror had no interest in doing his job since they joined the force?

Now, Classic being somewhat of an expert  on skeleton monsters and their facial expressions, he could tell that Horror was absolutely distraught over having to let her go. But, he did so anyways.

The girl booked it, soon after he let her go.

Classic was considering getting out of the car for to- ugh- chase her down, but Horror made no move to do so. He stood there, watching entranced as her frame disappeared around the corner of a building. His shoulders bounced, almost like he was giggling.

After she was completely gone from his sight, he turned back to the car and started making his very slow way over. He opened the car door and say in his usual seat, making the car go slightly awry to accommodate his weight.

He was chuckling the entire time.

Red turned to face him, and Classic listened intently, looking at Horror through the back view mirror.

“ya’ jus’ let ‘er go,” Red pointed out. Horror smiled, and nodded leisurely. He was facing the window on his side of the car, almost like he was daydreaming.

“wha’ th’ fucks so funny, pothole?” Red added, now getting irritated.

“…heh… heh! cute… lil… lamb chop.” Horror grumbled. He looked high.

Red, obviously now done with the conversation, turned back to the wheel and started the car up, growling about how horror was a ‘fuckin’ maniac’…

Classic couldn’t agree more.

Chapter Text

After running for about ten or so minutes, you got to a point that you felt you weren’t in danger from that… skeleton. Having no more errands to run today, you began walking home- completely distracted. Thinking about that skeleton. He was still creeping you out. Why did you feel funny when you thought about him? Like your chest was light and fuzzy, and when you  didn’t think about him, it hurt. You didn’t like it.

Why did a monster like him pay for your food? That wasn’t very… It wasn’t what you expected a monster to do, especially after all you’ve heard- and seen-  about them. They were meant to be mean creatures- since when did they pay for a humans food?

You got home in only another couple of minutes of mindless walking, caught up by the thoughts of… sans, was it? Sans. Sans the skeleton.

Your heart hurt. Maybe it was freaky-deaky monster magic.  

You rubbed at your sore chest as you heaved your way up the steps of your apartment, grateful to be home. That was far too close of an encounter for your liking- hell, if it were any normal monster, you’d probably be in the back of a jail cell, black and blue! Because, clearly this skeleton wasn’t normal.

After the brutal six flights of stairs you’d climbed, the sight of your apartment door was a welcome one. You sigh, rummage for your keys in the pocket of your hoodie.

Feeling the cans of food in your pocket made you think about him, again.

Mr. Midnight, your black kitty with gorgeous yellow bug eyes, immediately greeted you at the front door of your small apartment when you opened the door. He weaved between your legs, hindering your movement when you tried to walk in.

“Kitty,” you complained, bending down to pick him up, “I have to get inside, silly.” He lay comfortably in your arms, with is back on the inside of your forearm. You close the door with your hip, but leave it unlocked- how were you to lock the door with Mr. Midnight in your arms? You’d do it later. Before you went to bed, is when you usually did it.

You toed your shoes off clumsily, and kicked them off to the side, before walking into your actual apartment from the little landing.

Your apartment was nothing special. It was small, even for being rented out in the monster district.  Far too warm, or way too cold.. Mouldy and damp. It was loud- the upstairs neighbours didn’t know how to shut up-, but, hey, it was yours…

Kind of.

A shared kitchen and living space, one bathroom, and one bedroom. You made do with what you had. And! And, it wasn’t like you really had anybody else to join you in here, was it?

You let go of Mr. Midnight, and he jumped gracefully to the shabby carpeted floor. Why the kitchen was carpeted, you didn’t know! It was sure to be unhygienic…

You reached into your pockets and pulled out the canned goods earned from today, and set the human food aside. You grabbed the food bowl from the floor next to the kitchen wall, and brought it up to wash it in the sink.

“I met the weirdest monster today, kitty,” you told him, as he began circling your feet again. You got a ‘meow!’ In response. “A skeleton named Sans… He’s still freaking me out.” You spoke softly, rinsing off the dish. Mr. Midnight looked adorably confused at what you’re saying, but he at least looked like he was listening!

You moved from the sink to the of the drawers, and pulled out a knife to open the box of cat food packets.

“You’ve got wet food this time, kitty, isn’t that tasty?” You asked him, looking over your shoulder to where he sat, not having moved from before. You tore open the food packet, and squished out the contains into the dish. Sure did not look tasty.

By now, Mr. Midnight had hopped onto the counter, and was meowing impatiently for his food.

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll get it, kitty,” you tell him. You begin to mix around the food in his bowl, and he head butts your arm. Cutie.

You walk away from the counter, and placed his food down where it always was. He knew the drill by now, and ran after you, with his little black tail up in the air. He chirped cheerily when he began eating.

Now, what were you going to do? You probably had laundry to do, somewhere sprawled across your room. Did you really want to do laundry? No. Did you have to do laundry? Yes.  Were you going to do laundry? …Well, the jury is still out on that.

No, no. You had to do laundry, despite how inviting your couch looked right now. You definitely had your uniform for work tomorrow somewhere in that laundry pile, unfortunately.

You walked through the kitchen-living area, and through to your door….

Shiiit, it was a mess. Even for just the clothes sorting, it’d take a while.

Picking up every item of clothing that lay forgotten on your floor did, in fact, take you a while. Mr. Midnight had finished eating his dinner a while into your cleaning, and came to watch you sing bad renditions of your favourite songs  while he lay on  your bed. Top priority was your uniform, because your boss would go apeshit if you never had on your little barista apron, and then everything else could go whenever they did, really.

It had taken you upward of three hours to sort out all the laundry, take it downstairs to the apartments shared laundry room (you had taken up more then once of the machines, but It was a Wednesday even, who even cared?), take it out when they were washed and dry, and fold them all. The piles of freshly folded laundry sat at the corner of your room, because fuck no you were putting all of that away after the day you had. It was good enough.

Well, if anything, i deserve a treat, now! You thought, standing and observing your room. It was still a shit hole, but at least it didn’t have clothes everywhere.

…Yeah. Today was a productive day. This deserves a celebration before work starts again tomorrow. You had one- maybe two, if you were lucky- days off a week, and you weren’t wasting it all by being a proper adult.

After heating up the tin of soup on the stove that the skel  you acquired from the store, you found yourself slumped on the arm of the couch, one arm propping your head up on the arm rest and the other feeding you said soup out of the pot you heated it up in. Bowls were too much effort, anyways. You also managed to grab your favourite soup, as a bonus! You placed the silver pot down on the ground next to the couch, making a mental reminder to wash it up later…

Although still relatively early in the evening, it was getting later- this was dinner. The light from the window next to your tv was a soft navy blue, and illuminated your apartment with that same shade of blue. You could hear the dull pitter-patter of rain coming from outside- when had it started raining? You weren’t complaining, actually. Mr. Midnight was loafed next to you, purring up a storm like he usually would after a day of no attention…. The TV was becoming merely background noise, blending in with the sounds of the busy street and heavy,  getting-heavier rain…

Considering you’ve been doing chores since you’d got home, you didn’t really have a chance to dwell on that skeleton…. How your chest still ached almost. You rubbed at your sternum, trying to will away the almost cramp-like ache.  You’d have to tell… well, somebody about the weirdo magic he used on you. You still couldn’t get over what a weird monster he was…

You were full, and cozy thanks to the soup you’d just finished. The background noise of the TV- which you think was playing some dumb romance drama- and the rain  helped your thoughts escape you, easily. Sleep wasn’t hard to come by, currently, and welcomed you with open arms.

Blearily, half consumed by sleeps warm embrace, you asked yourself if you’d actually locked the door like you said you would?

…Yeah, probably.

You fell asleep seconds after the thought left your mind.

☆————————— ☆

Horror hadn’t stopped smiling.

He had a soulmate.

God, even thinking about you was enough to make him break out in a face-splitting grin.

It was the end of his, and the other versions, shift, and he was getting driven home by the Classic Sans. Classic and Red were bickering about something, again, but he paid them no heed: he had a very busy evening ahead of him.

After returning to the station to give their daily report on the day, Horror decided to do some research- research on a criminal is what he had told the others. Frankly, he thought they should mind their own business.

It wasn’t exactly hard to find information about you, considering you had a criminal record.

______/______…. Oh, his sweet lamb! You looked so adorable in your mugshot! Puffy eyes, like you had been crying…Pretty, pouty lips… Stars, you were perfect.

…Lived at 67 Berry Street, 6C….  An apartment complex.

Horror frowned at that. It certainly was not the best neighbourhood for his soulmate to be living… Unsafe…

He could protect you if you lived with him.

Feed you. Love you.

Provide… Anything you wanted…

Apparently, you had been caught with multiple counts of theft- but never enough to ever get charged an actual sentence. The most you had got was a week’s community service- and that was almost a year ago…

Well, he got all the information he needed. Classic and Red were sure to be  waiting for him out in the police car.

He made his way down to the car, and sat in the front seat this time- Red was sleeping with his hat covering his face in Horrors’ usual seat. His tie was loosely wrapped around him, still.

“where’ve ya’ been, buddy?” Classic asked, as horror fastened his seatbelt. Horror knew why he was being questioned..

 He wasn’t to be trusted.

Despite being enourmed by his wonderful soulmate, this guy still managed to sour his mood.

Horror was tempted to wallop his head across the dashboard, but- Paps would like that, and then he might not be able to complete his errands…

The thought was still entertaining.

“heh… re-… search.” He said, staring out the passenger side window. He wasn’t saying any more then that.

Classic obviously got the hint, and never said a word more.

☆————————— ☆

Horror arrived home shortly after the Papri. He had quickly changed out of his uniform, as had the other sanses. His grey-blue hoodie smelled like him, undoubtedly, and it would be best for comforting his soon-to-be mate.

He was currently sat at the dinner table, watching as his brother danced around the kitchen as he cooked.

Chicken chasseur and rice, he thinks.

“How Was Work Today, Brother? Classic Mentioned You Were A Lot More Involved, Today,” Paps said, stirring the pot on the stove.

There was a pause, before Horror replied.

“i… met somebody,” he said, a smile on his face.

Paps turned to look at him, in surprise. “You Met Somebody? Somebody Like Who?”

Horror smiled. “soul… mate…” another  pause. “my…. soulmate.”

Horror jumped when the wooden spoon Paps was holding clattered to the ground, and he was suddenly wrapped up in his brothers spindly arms.

“Oh, Brother! That Is Fantastic!” Paps said, letting go of Horror. “Did You Get Their Phone Number? Oh! Do You Have Pictures? Oh, Im So Happy For You, Brother!” His voice was getting increasingly louder, as he got more excited. He didn’t want the others finding out about his soulmate. Not yet.

“…sshh… paps!.” Horror reminded his brother. It may have came out harsher then he intended, but Paps knew he didn’t mean it. Not entirely, anyways.

“visiting… her, later…” he admitted, and a look of concern flashed on his brothers face.

“You Are Not Going To Hurt Her, Are You Brother? You Only Get One Soulmate. Do Not Scare Off My Future Sister In Law, Or Else!” Paps huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “How Are You Going To Go About This, Brother?”

“uh…”he had to think about his words. It was the end of the day, and he had spoke much more then he usually had. He irritated himself, sometimes.

“…check on… her, today…” he started, but Paps knew his brother all to well. He turned to one of the cupboard, doors, and pulled out a small notebook and pencil.

Horror was handed them, and immediately starting scribbling down his plan. .

“You Really Shouldn’t Push Yourself like That, Brother. Practice Makes Improvement!” Paps moved back to the pot after picking up the spoon from the floor and rinsing it off.

Soon after Paps started his rant, Horror handed him the notebook. Despite how awful the handwriting was, Paps would understand. It was better then when he started writing again.

Horror watched as Paps read the note, and certainly did not expect the notebook to be chucked back at his chest.

“You Do Not Do That, Brother! You Will Treat Her Nicely And Win Her Over Like A Good  Mate Would!” Paps warned him, and horror grumbled in resignation after his words caught up with him. His brother knew better then him in terms of… dating, so he’d take his advice, this time.

If  his advice didn’t work, however, he would get you his own way.

“Now, Get The Plates Out, Please.” Paps said, finally.

Horror sighed, as he stood from his seat.

☆————————— ☆

Horror was heading out of his house, to you apartment. Paps had wished him luck before he went to sleep- Paps had always been an early sleeper.

The thought of his soulmate, alone and wondering why their soul was hurting, made him upset. Paps had briefed him on human/monster soulmate relationships, as lots of monsters had been finding their soulmates on the surface despite how taboo their relationships still were. Humans couldn’t feel the calling of their soul- or, their soul at all for that matter. He said that monster/monster soulmates were fast moving- and considering he was a monster, there’d already be a bond forming; they were meant  to stay together during this period, but considering that your soul was much more powerful then a monsters, and Horror was a boss monster, they’d be okay.

The bond forming and Horror- who was the owner of the stronger magic source- not being there was the reason both their souls would be hurting: too much magic in his soul, and not enough magic to complete the bind in yours.

Ah, his brother was so smart. He’d be lost without him.  

Horror never bothered to put any better shoes on, considering he’d be using a shortcut when he got within distance, so his old pink slippers would do. He had to get new slippers when he came above-ground.

He opener the front door, and started to walk through, but bumped into somebody before getting all the way through.

He let out a grunt, before looking down to see who he had ran.into.

Ah. Red’s new ‘girlfriend’- really, just another plaything that he would keep for a month or two before getting bored and trading her out for something new.

She was saying something, and she looked angry. Her voice was grating. He had heard her many nights when she ‘stayed over’ with red, too loud and squeaky… Nothing like his angels voice.

His eyelight roved over her, from her badly died wet blonde hair, that looked all too much  like wet straw, to the way she kept biting her sausage lips, probably because she imagined it was attractive.

…It wasn’t.

She didn’t even compete to his little lamb.

He sneered at her, and barged past her. She squawked indigently.

He was sure to hear about that tomorrow from Red.

He continues to walk down the street in the pouring rain before he finally felt close enough to your apartment to shortcut- being a police officer, he had been most places in the monster district and knew your neighbourhood pretty well. Out of all the things he had forgotten, your address certainly wouldn’t be one of them.

He jumped to right outside your apartment door. Cute. Small. Just like you- fitting.

He tried the door handle, obviously not expecting for his shortcake to leave the door open. She was so naïve… Any big scary monster, eg- him, could wake in here.

Hurt her.

Take her away from him.

…The thought made him more then angry. It made him want to hurt somebody.

He continued into your apartment, quietly as he could. The door was relatively silent, which worked in his favour. He could hear the mumble of the tv somewhere in the apartment, past the landing he was on.

He continued further into the apartment. From where he stood, he was halfway to the kitchen area, in the living room. He could see the brown sofa in the centre of the living room- is that where is little lamb was sitting? You weren’t even scared of him, like you’d already gave him your trust… Sweet girl.

He walked into the kitchen, because you were obviously okay with him being there, to drop off some of the food he brought for you. You weren’t his mate, yet, and he still had to prove that he would be a good, worthy partner for you… You kept two of the cans he bought for you. Did you eat the other? The thought made him smile.

He added two more cans to your little collection, unsure about where you actually kept them considering you hadn’t yet put them away. Although two tins wasn’t really enough for you, Edge hadn’t gone shopping this week yet- he was sure to come back to give you more once the cupboards were restocked at home.

He was looking through the rest of your cabinets, unhappy with how empty they were, when he heard a very angry hiss from behind him. He turned around, a little surprised, his eyes drawing him down to the little black creature on the floor before him.

You had a cat? Well, that was a little irritating. It was puffed up and hissing, batting at him from a distance like it would actually scare him away.

Edge also had a cat. It hated him, and it seemed your cat also hated him… It didn’t really bother him. He wondered how attached to it you were?

He took a step forward, towards the cat, and it scrambled away from him, into one of the two doors visible to him. Heh, dumb cat.

Now, it was time to see his shortcake. He  came out of the kitchen, and rounded the sofa.

…Oh my god.

You were sleeping soundly on the sofa, with your hands cushioning your head. You lay on your side with your legs brought up to a 90° angle. He didn’t even have it in him to be upset that the reason you didn’t mind him being here was because you were sleeping, because you were so fucking cute.

He was grinning like a maniac, as he pulled his phone out his pocket and snapped a picture- or, like, 50- of your sleeping form. He immediately set it as his lock screen picture.

He could already feel the ache in his chest dissolving, at this distance, and you visibly relaxed when he stepped so he could see you.

…He wanted to get closer.

He took a step towards the sofa, and knelt down. He brought a knuckle up to your face, and stroked your cheek. You were so soft- softer then any monster he’d ever touched. He brought his hand down, and thumbed your bottom lip. It looked plump- soft, and kissable. He wanted to kiss you.

He got up from his kneeling position, and climbed carefully onto the sofa over you. He was straddling your hip now, and he took another couple of pictures. Could you blame him, really? That was his soulmate. Couch groaned under his weight, unhappy to be holding a monster of his size.

You were so, so tiny under him. You were perfect for him. Made for him.

He leaned down, so that his top half was hovering over your smaller one, with his hands caging your head,  and ever so gently pressed his teeth against your cheek. You squirmed discontentedly under him, and he could feel his own cheeks beginning to ache from smiling so much.

He couldn’t help but lean down and press another skele-kiss to the side of your head- you were just too cute!  He had to stifle a giggle when you whined sleepily.

You shifted again, and reached out to grab… something. What you ended up grabbing was his radius, and your fingers couldn’t even completely wrap around that.

…Was it too early to say that he loved you? Because, stars, he loved you so much. He swore, in that moment, that he would do anything to make you happy. Perfect little lamb chop…

Unfortunately, you decided to stir from your sleep- he could tell you were waking. Despite how lovely the thought of you immediately not being scared of a monster like him, he didn’t want to take any chances of you being upset- and caused by him, so he knew he would have to leave. Rest assured he’d be back, but the thought of leaving his soulmate alone was still an upsetting one.

He snapped another couple of pictures of you holding onto him like your own personal teddy- which he’d be more then happy to be, for you- and pressed one last kiss to your temple, before shortcutting right back out your apartment complex.

The ache in his chest returned- soulmates weren’t supposed to be apart for this long… If you were a monster like him, you’d have practically moved in by now. But, alas, you couldn’t under the calling of your soul, and that it meant it needed its mate.

…Horror wasn’t too worried, though. He was sure go see you again, soon.

Chapter Text

Where were you?

You didn’t know.

That was okay, though. Something told you- something deep within, a feeling in your chest, instinct- that you were safe.

You were okay.

…You were warm. Cozy warm.

A warmth that spread throughout your body, despite how frigid it was outside. Or, how cold it was supposed to be- somehow, you couldn’t feel the bite of frost from the snow falling outside.

You looked down at yourself… You were completely decked out in winter gear. Adorable mittens, a thick winter jacket, scarf  and booties! You tapped at your head- yep, even a wooly bauble hat!

You could only ask yourself why you were outside, and how did you get here.  You weren’t here with anyone- and you weren’t even sure Ebbot had anywhere as pretty as this in the area.

You looked at your surroundings-  somewhere snowy, obviously. There was lots of trees…

A mountain- you could see the other white tips of them in the distance

There were no signs of human life as far as you could see. Only you.

It was very dark outside- the stars were so clear from where you stood. You don’t think you’ve ever seen them so bright- so utterly beautiful.

However, something felt off. Just- not right. You knew you were okay… just.  

You felt really, really alone.

…

…

You felt something slip into your gloved hand.

The thing in your hand didn’t seem like much of a concern, honestly. It was nice.

You didn’t know what it was, but you knew it was good.

You looked down at the thing you were clutching ever so tightly in your hand- why were you holding it so tight? Like a lifeline. You never wanted to let go.

You didn’t feel all so lonely, now. Your surroundings didn’t feel all that daunting, either. It felt good.

It felt right.

Ah. It wasn’t a ‘thing’ you held onto- it was a hand, holding yours back just as tight.

It was a skeletal hand, the bones much thicker then a humans should ever be. The hand completely dwarfed yours, yours was tiny compared to the owners.

Who did the hand belong to? A part of you knew who it was, but you didn’t really know who. Almost like it was a vague memory, or nostalgia.

You looked up at the person…

You couldn’t pinpoint a face. Some features hardly changed, like their height! They were always taller then you- but even that shifted ever so slightly.  

The person- the skeleton- in front of you was changing.

The colour of their jacket changed, their body type changing a little with every morph into the next.

Their skull, however slight or drastic, changed.

Their smiles were all different, but you liked each one individually.

The colour dusting their zygomatic bones whilst they looked down at you differed a lot with every shift.

From a pretty light blue, to a dusty, steel blue. The last of them being a beautiful dark maroon.

All colours that flashed on their cheeks were entrancing in their own way- you wanted to see them all more. You felt lucky to see them, now.

They did have one thing in common, though.

Their big, cartoonish eye sockets. They all changed a little, one had a nasty looking crack coming out the top, and one socket almost completely shut- like it was out of use. One had extra bags over the ones they all already had. They looked sleep deprived. The last had very edgy red eyeliner at the bottom of their socket, and seemed to have a rougher edge compared to the rest.

They all had beautiful eyelights flicking around in those said eye sockets.

The first, two beautiful white dots that reminded you of the bright, lovely stars above you.  Despite their cold colour, they were endlessly expressive, almost like a pool you could get lost in. They stood out against the duller snow around you both, making them seem almost at nature with the environment.

The second, one massive red eyelight. It was an ‘o’ shape, but very thick! It was a gorgeous red colour, reminding you of the deepest red wine, almost like the eyelight itself was made out of the purest, richest  blood. It looked almost unhinged, the way it flickered around your body… You could only find comfort in somehow knowing it wouldn’t everhurt you.

The third, was a other two red ones. They were an entrancing  maroon red colour- they reminded you of a pretty rose you saw a while back. These ones, unlike the first, were warm and stood out against the monochrome background, almost like they sucked up all the colour from the world, to be concentrated there.

What all five eyelights had in common was the way that they flickered and wobbled.

…And the way they looked at you.

With complete adoration. It made you feel giddy inside.

The sound of their voice…es?  snapped you out of appreciating them.

They sounded like three different voices all mashed together, but you could understand each perfectly clearly on their own. You weren’t sure how you understood what they said, you just did.

The words were completely foreign to your ears, but your heart understood them…

No, that wasn’t your heart. That was your soul translating for you.

“ ♓︎ ●︎□︎❖︎♏︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎,” they told you. The words made you tear up, and you didn’t know why.

A giggle bubbled up from your throat, as the your tears rolled down your flushed cheeks. A grin pulled at your face, and it spread across your features- which was all weird. You couldn’t control what you were doing! This wasn’t what you chose  to do- you kind of felt like you were watching in third person… Out of your own eyes.

The tears were strikingly cold against your warm, flushed face… You didn’t know why you were crying so much!

Your mouth moved to respond to them free of will, and you were responding if their face was anything to go by, but you couldn’t hear what you were saying.

The skeleton pulled you closer to them, and you wrapped your arms around them, letting go of their hand, as they wrapped their arms around you.

It was by far the best hug you’d had in years.

Their arms covered the entire expanse of your back…

They moved their arms up your back, over your thick jacket and scarf to cup your face in their hands. They thumbed at your cheek, wiping away the tears in their tracks.

You noticed now, that they weren’t morphing like they used to be anymore- no, you could look at their face… Just not pinpoint who they were- especially because you felt you knew them so well.

It probably should alarm you- but it never.

It was the one that had the gorgeous ‘o’ eyelight that was now staring down at you. They still looked at you with so much compassion…  It was still hard to look at any of their other features, it almost looked like everything was… glitchy. Fuzzy like static, now that you were able to focus on one of the three people you were seeing.

They spoke up: “♓︎●︎●︎ ⬧︎♏︎♏︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ⬧︎□︎□︎■︎, ❍︎⍓︎ ●︎□︎❖︎♏︎”

…

Panic flooded your system. The words shot through your body like you were in the snow without all your gear on. Why did this bother you so much? You knew, but you never.

You shook your head rapidly, and tightened your arms around them, trying to persuade them to stay. Their arms, too, tightened around you- almost like they were regretting abandoning you.

Then, “🏱︎❒︎□︎❍︎♓︎⬧︎♏︎,” they added. That didn’t make you feel better, though!

They couldn’t leave you! Why were they doing this to you?! No!

You bury your face in their thick jacket, desperate for them not to leave you, your mouth moving to speak to them, and they watched on fondly as you hiccuped and cried about them leaving- of course, your words were falling deaf to your ears.

You look up at them, or, attempt to, but….

They were gone.

It felt like you were plunged into the snow surrounding you.

Where were they? They couldn’t leave you, please!

Pleaseplease!

You spun around, again and again, looking for where they went.

Its like they popped out if existence in your arms.

You were so alone.

You chest hurt, so much. Where did they go?

You wanted them back.

You took a step back, trying to control your stuttering breath-

The ground wasn’t there anymore.

You scrambled as you fell back, desperately trying to find something to keep you stable…

But you ultimately fell backwards, into this… hole? A void of nothing, pure black.

You knew you were screaming, your throat hurt and your lungs felt tight- but you still couldn’t hear it.

You stopped falling.

It was nothing- everywhere.

It felt like you were standing in water- but there wasn’t anything beneath you. You reach out infront of you, to try and navigate where the hell you were, but your hand collided with something. You pat it down, and beside you, and behind you. All the same.

It was cold, wet and yet solid. Kind of like… slime, maybe? Your hands always came back clean, free of the black tar-like substance.

You were trapped.

.

Your breathing became heavier, until it wasn’t. You couldn’t breathe.

You clawed at your throat, craving air… But there was none. You could feel your lungs on fire, similar to how they were before, but with no release.

I don’t want to die.

You were starting to feel dizzy. The rampant clawing at your throat died down, only a little- you could feel yourself getting weaker. It wasn’t a nice feeling, to say the least.  

“☞︎✌︎❄︎☜︎” You heard, ringing out from the black expanse that surrounded you. It sounded too far away to be from your little box…

Please don’t let me die.

You couldn’t do this anymore.

You started to sway, side to side. You dropped your hands from your throat, accepting that maybe this was how you were gonna go? Asphyxiation.

You passed out.

☆————————— ☆

You woke up, screaming.

You were absolutely drenched in a cold sweat- you could head the beat of your own heart in your ears…

And you couldn’t even remember the dream that made you oh-so-terrified like you were now.

As you tried to stable your breathing, you covered your face- willing yourself not to cry.

You haven’t ever been one too prone to nightmares- of course, you’d get a stray once or twice, but never like this. Furthermore, you could usually remember what made you so scared! Here you were, shaking like a shitting dog, and not even knowing why!

You stood up, steeling yourself, and rounded the sofa to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

When did you even fall asleep? Huh.

As you lean against the counter, sipping at your all to warm tap water, you saw Mr. Midnight poke his little black head around the wall furthest from you.

Mr. Midnight, so sweet and pretty. Your best friend... Your only friend.

You plop down onto the floor, and open your arms for him. He does a little jog-walk up to you- which is adorable, by the way- and trotted into your lap.

You place your glass down and stroke his back, and he head bumped into your other hand.

The microwave only read twenty past midnight.

Maybe you could fall back asleep, with kitty by your side? He’s always helped you when you need it. 

You pick him up under his front two legs and he meows happily at the contact, and you stand to walk to your bedroom. As Mr. Midnight clings onto you, you’re able to have a hand free to use. You bend down to pick up the glass on the floor, and down the rest of the water.

It tastes gross- all tap water in this city did- but you couldn’t afford the luxury of bottled water… it’s even made you sick, a couple of times.

You place the glass on the counter, and turn to leave, only to double-take after a step or two.

You walk back to the counter, and stare at the cans placed there not-so neatly.

When did you get these? Did you just- not see them? You didn’t even have to go out and get extra today, had you seen these earlier! You could have avoided that- no, you aren’t thinking about it. After that shitty dream you had, knowing you had to go to work tomorrow, and that awful interaction, if you thought about it anymore you might just have a mental breakdown.

But, that still leaves the question: where in the stars did these come from?

Maybe kitty got a job, and started helping out. The thought made you smile.

Reverse burglar? Breaking in to add items? That thought made you giggle.

You left the cans on the table, and went to check the door before you retire to your room- it was unlocked.

Despite this being a common occurrence for you, it still made you feel uneasy this time around.

You were still smiling before you checked the door, and now it was faltering slightly. Paranoia nibbled at the back of your mind- what if somebody had been in here? Maybe you should change your locks. Or get extra.

Your smile was completely gone.

You locked the door quickly, and after double checking, speed walked to your room.

You sat on the side of your bed, and allowed your kitty to jump off your shoulders and onto the bed.

If you were asleep, you didn’t have to think about any of this- granted, you were hoping you never had another nightmare.

You crawled under the duvet, and pulled it up to your chin. You vaguely noted Mr. Midnight curling up on the pillow next to you.

You didn’t dream.

The black expanse scared you.

Chapter Text

You wake up, rather groggily, with your alarm screeching in your ear. You didn’t open your eyes, just yet… You were far too cozy.

You reach for your phone, out of pure habit, and bring it closer to you, only opening your eyes when it was close enough to unlock the bugger, so the stupid alarm would turn off.

 Mr. Midnight was purring happily next to you on the blanket, unbothered by the alarm… You wish you were that oblivious.

You reach over, and pet him gently on his little forehead, smiling to yourself at the confused ‘mrrp!’ He made, before ultimately heaving yourself out of the comfort of your bed.

You didn’t bother to make your bed. You’d only come back home and lay in it again, wouldn’t you? Yup.

Don’t bother.

No point.

You walked to the bathroom- it wasn’t exactly a far walk- and vaguely registered as you were opening the bathroom door that the ache in your chest wasn’t so much as an ache now as it was… Almost like pressure? It felt like you couldn’t take in as much air as you needed? Like you were missing something…. But- it wasn’t as bad as pain, and you still needed money, so as long as you could work- that’s what you’d do!

You were running out of toothpaste. You had, what? Maybe three normal teeth brushings before you had to chop it open? If you used less, maybe you could stretch it out longer… You could. Better then no toothpaste.

You brushed your teeth, with a less then average amount of toothpaste.

You did your hair- it was messy, but you didn’t care. It was routine.

You changed out of your scruffy pyjamas, and into your work clothes- they, at least, were kept to a higher standard then the rest of your clothes. You couldn’t look too poor if you wanted to keep your job. You still threw on an old hoodie overtop, just for comfort.

You walked to the kitchen, and looked inside the cabinets.

They were bare- but you expected that. You didn’t really know why you looked in them every morning, regardless of knowing that there was jack shit in there… it only ever seemed to sadden you further.

You glanced at the cans that appeared last night- you wouldn’t eat one now, no, you could probably get something at work if a customer was unhappy enough to return it- god knows your boss wouldn’t just give you something!

Maybe it was poisoned? You really should probably throw it out- but that would be a waste of possibly good food… You knew you were going to eat it regardless.

You glanced at the time on your shitty little microwave- ah, well, time to go.  Your skin felt sticky. Gross.

You grabbed your keys on the counter, and went to pet Mr. Midnight before you left- only to find he wasn’t on the bed anymore. Well, you’d give him extra pats later.

Mundane, same old routine.

You locked your door, double checking it before you left.

You hardly registered the sights of the grey, concrete stairway. Day to day life seemed to blur together, these days. Work, sleep, work, eat. It was exhausting. You were constantly tired- whether that be mentally or physically.

Today, like any other day, wasn’t special.

You walked with your hands in your pocket, and your hood over your head. Not many people were out at this time- they never really were, especially when it was this dreary. Foggy, cold weather- grey.

You had been walking for about 15 minutes, and had only another 15 or so minutes before you’d be at work- and it was then you heard something that sounded like somebody in pain. You stopped, and turned towards the source of the noise- down an alleyway, hardly lit- the sun had barely began to rise.

You couldn’t really see anything down it- you debated scurrying off to work… it wasn’t your place to interfere.

But, that was a shitty thing to do- you wouldn’t  let yourself become somebody like that.

So, you turn to face the alleyway, and walk towards it hesitantly. You could feel your heart pounding in your ears. 

You reached the entrance of the alleyway, your legs seemingly moving faster then you expected. You could only see very vague figures in the middle of the alleyway- so you decide to step closer. You brace yourself-  ready to help beat off any heinous criminal, and-

“Oh.” You say, without realising, alerting them of your presence. Both heads snapped towards you. That was certainly  not anybody getting hurt- and they certainly didn’t need any help from you.

Should’ve minded your business!

Infront of you,  was a massive skeleton- but never nearly as big as the one you saw yesterday- again, dressed in police uniform. This one seemed to be much more sloppy in the way he (you assumed)  dressed- with his shirt partially untucked, fat gold rings littering his fingers, as well as a shimmering gold chain, and what appeared to be a cream coloured wife beater shirt underneath his blue uniform. He was much more… Edgy. His teeth were sharp- they looked sharper then a razor! They reminded you of a sharks maw… he was equally as terrifying as the skeleton you saw yesterday- and, on that note, what the fuck was up with you and skeletons, these days!

He was staring at you with  piercing red eyelights, that seemed to shrink as the seconds ticked by. The lady, caged in to the wall by his trunk-like arms was also staring at you- she seemed to look more like a deer in headlights.

She was the first to break the silence- by ducking under his arms and and speed walking out of the alley- covering her face. You stepped to the side, allowing her to pass.

The skeleton, that had now moved to face the entrance of the alley, shouted out- “ay- dollface-! Bridgette!” To the girl, but she was long gone. You turned back to him, and- oh, yeah, he was fuming.

He took a step towards you, and you took a step back- careful not to get too close to the road.

He lifted a sharp finger and pointed it to you- his sharp teeth parting, presumably to shout at you. Your heart was again, beating far too fast for your liking. Your hands felt clammy, and your sticky, unwashed skin felt hot and drenched in sweat.

You knew that your hands were shaking- they were clasped tightly onto the front hem of your hoodie.

He took another step forward. The first words of whatever he wanted to say could be heard as a deep grumble- and that was enough for you. You turned, and you bolted. Not only was he another monster police officer, but he was another skeleton monster! What the fuck!?

You’d much rather your tiring, painfully the same daily routine then- then deal with any more of these freak skeleton monsters! You hadn’t even gotten over the last one, and now you’re meeting this- human fucking edge lord?!

You noticed, distantly, that he attempted to run after you. Looking back, after only a couple seconds sprinting away from him, that he was way further behind you. What a shitty excuse for an officer.

You had slowed down to a jog- you weren’t in any definition fit- so that spoke volumes about the fat skeleton monster.

You were breathing heavily, yes, but he seemed outright winded. He was still glaring at you.

…Rubbing his chest. Fucking freak.

You took a hard turn, across the road and  into a little street- yes, it’d take you longer to get to work, and you’d definitely be a couple minutes late, but your usual way was right in his view. This was relatively closed off, with high cinderblock walls on both sides and dead bushes scattered around the dying grass. At least this way, you’d lose him before you got to work, and he wouldn’t be able to see where you spent most of your time.

When you were safely in the street, and out of his view, you slowed down to a walk. You really had to get fitter, this was embarrassing. Not as embarrassing as him, though! You smiled.

 From behind you, you heard a car coming up the road- the car would be able to see down the entrance of the street you were on. Just to play it safe, you took a step back into one of the dead-as-fuck bushed that littered the street. You hunkered down, and cursed softly. Those fuckers were spiky, and you could feel yourself getting scratched!

Sure enough, as you peeked through the dead twigs and thorns of the ‘bush’, you could see a police car drive past-  he looked as if was about to pop a vessel, if  that was even possible for a skeleton .

...You couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. He looked enraged.

He passed, soon enough, and you stood. You brushed off the dust on your clothes, glad that there were no holes made.

You carried on the walk to work. Your smile faded awfully quickly.

It was slow- whatever birds were stupid enough to stay in Ebbot were chirping all too loudly. You wished you’d brought your headphones, or something.

…The pressure sensation in your chest was no longer a pressure sensation. It hurt again- like it did with the first skeleton, but far less. Maybe because the first one had scared you more? Maybe you had a serious case of skelephobia, and  this was the main symptom.

Even thinking about the first skeleton made your heart hurt more. This monster magic was seriously dangerous, clearly.

The words you’d been told about monsters didn’t really seem too mean, right now-  now that you’ve experienced  the potency of their magic.

You wished they were back underground. Hell, you wish they didn’t exist. It’d probably be much easier for you- you wouldn’t have to deal with these skeletal bastards.

A shock of pain emanated from your chest, and caught you off guard. You bent over, and grasped at your hoodie-

It ebbed, not even ten seconds after. That. Was the worst of the pain you’ve experienced so far. What the fuck? You were definitely sick- or that monsters magic was far too powerful. .

You straightened yourself, and allowed yourself to walk much slower then you usually did.  You did want to overdo it.

You were not in a good mood. Whatsoever.

You were going to be about- 20 minutes late, at the pace you were walking! It’s not like you were usually late, but your boss was going to shout at you regardless. Along with random customers complaining how their drinks were made. Your coworkers being stupid.

It had to be understandable to any sane person why you weren’t exactly a ball of sunshine, today… Or most days, for that matter.

When you were running, your hood had fell off without you noticing- you pulled it up over your head again.

These skeletons fucking sucked.

You stomped, pretty much all the way to work.

Chapter Text

You were right. Your  boss certainly was not happy.

He was a balding- despite how much he tried to hide it, with his greasy combover look- unhappy middle-aged man, that was okay at best when you sucked up to him, like the king he thinks he is, and not a rundown café manager.

He has his favourite employees, and it was painfully obvious who was on his good side- you weren’t.

As expected, you were late. But, you weren’t even 20 minutes late! Your slow pace, coupled with how many times you had to stop because of the nagging pain you felt in your chest every time you thought about those bastard skeletons, made you a whole 35 minutes late.

You walked into the shitty café- it was mostly empty, as per usual. There was a very tired looking mother trying to feed her baby at one corner of the building, while the baby fussed. Props to her.

At the other end of the café, was an old man in a long jacket, reading a newspaper, calmly.  He sipped at his tea- the cup shook slightly when he held it.

You walk past both patrons, and around to the back of the counter. You were really, really tired. This exhaustion was draining- more then usual, at least. You push the open the old doors to the staff only room, and promptly see your boss sitting on an old stool, watching his phone with a rapt interest… With his index finger practically knuckle deep in his nose… Gross.

He sputters- pulling his finger out his nose and wiping it on his old shirt, which you choose to ignore- when he processes the sound of the door opening. His face goes red, at being caught.

“Im- I’m sorry, Neil, I got really caught up-“ you start to explain yourself, but you were very soon cut off. Irritating.

“You’re an hour-“, dramatic, “late, ____!” He shouts, and stands to his full height- which wasn’t impressive, really. He was an inch or so taller then you, but you guessed he just liked the feeling of being superior- an attempt to intimidate you.

He crossed his arms, before continuing his rant. You looked up at him, with what little respect you could muster up for him, which seemed to please him. He had a very smug looking smile on his face- it made you feel a little uncomfortable, to be honest.

“I was serving out there by myself!” He spat, literally, and you couldn’t help but grimace. “do you understand that-…”

You zoned out. You were too tired- your body ached. Those fucking skeletons plagued your mind like some sort of  sick disease.

You continued to stare at Neil- you knew he was speaking, that he was angry and shouting, but you couldn’t hear what he was saying. Mentally, you were elsewhere.

Was there a doctor for humans cursed with a monsters magic? You couldn’t really afford an appointment, but needs must. You’d look into it.

Neil kept shouting. He stared down at you, like you were nothing more than a piece of shit under his shoe.

God, you were so tired. You could feel your eyelids drooping as the seconds ticked by, and his dull, monotone voice bore on.

Eventually, Neils tirade did die down- but, it lasted much too long then what you thought was appropriate.

“I do hope you understand, ____… I wouldn’t want to have to take things any further now, would i?” He asked. That certainly woke you up. The threat of what he could do lingered in the stale air, and it made you beyond nervous.

You shook your head, slowly, and he nodded, crossing his arms over his scrawny chest.

“Best get to work them, hm?” You nod, quickly, and scrambled out the staff door, after throwing  off your hoodie, fixing up your uniform, and shucking your bag off next to your disregarded hoodie.

What an asshole.

Ah. There was already an inpatient customer, yelling at how it was ‘about time somebody showed up!’

You hated this fucking job.

☆————————— ☆

Work was absolutely draining.

You weren’t sure what was going on, but You felt out of touch almost the entire day- at every spare moment, your eyes were drooping, your chest tightening… Not that there were many spare seconds. Despite it not being too busy, Neil had stated that you had to ‘make up’ for being so late, and always had a job that he wanted you to do- but, realistically, he would’ve made you do them regardless.

Despite all of this, you weren’t even working alone- you did have a coworker in today, but he was new- only 16 or so. Inexperienced, and awfully cheery, he hadn’t really done much other then take a couple of orders before his shift was over- and you best believe you had to show him how, would it really be Neil if he took responsibility for his new hires?

The café had closed up about an hour and a half ago, now. All you had to do was finish wiping down the tables, and you were free to go. You’d kept everything else relatively clean during the day, so there wasn’t much to clean up other then basic sanitation.

The only thing you were genuinely grateful about, was that that skeletal officer hadn’t rocked up to your work, and made a scene. You weren’t entirely sure you could handle that, if you were being honest.

Mm, and somebody had returned their food! Granted, the pastries here sucked, but it was a pretty decent lunch, all in all.

There was a stubborn patch on this table. You wrapped it around your finger, and scratched it off, mindlessly.

You were absolutely knackered. You hadn’t seen kitty all day, you were looking forward to seeing him again- your poor boy was probably missing you.

You placed the cloth down on the table, and looked over your work. You’d say you did a pretty good job! Time to go home.

You picked up the cloth, and brought it to the back. You placed it haphazardly

Next to the basin, put back on the old hoodie, and picked up your bag- not forgetting the keys! Luckily, you didn’t have to open up tomorrow- somebody else had a set of keys, so you could come in later. You were gonna sleep like a queen, tonight!

You took the keys up to the front door, and locked it. You switched the lights off at the main plug before you went back into the staff room for the back door.

…You didn’t notice, very far away through the window next to the front door, the two tiny red lights watching your figure disappear into the back.

You locked the backdoor, when you exited. It was cold, out! Placing the keys into your hoodie pocket, you began the walk home. You weren’t taking the long way back, this time, so it wouldn’t take you long.

Considering it was so cold, a nice hot bath and some soup would be perfect. You’d have to feed Mr. Midnight first, of course.

You pulled your hood up, and over your head. Your ears were beginning to tingle.

Faintly, you registered a pair of footsteps other then your own crunching along the pavement- not anything to worry about, really. Why would you worry? It was dark, yes, but too early for any creeps to actually be out.

If you weren’t worried, why were you thinking about it so much?

People have walked behind you before. You started to pick at your fingers, as a distraction. What else could you think about, other then the person walking behind you?

You really had to cut kittys nails, you’d noticed them getting a bit long.

Crunch, crunch.

What if it was that awful, cracked egg skeleton?

Your heart skipped a beat. There was a painful tightening at the thought of him. Where was he?

You didn’t chance a look back at whoever it was.

This was normal, they were just walking. Don’t be so paranoid.

“ ‘ey, dollface,” they said. So they were a catcaller? That’s fine. There were lots of catcallers here, you’ve been catcalled here before. Why pay attention? You pulled the strings of your hoodie down, so it covered your face a little more.

You walked a little faster. The sound of  his, it sounded like, voice  sent butterflies to the bottom of your stomach…. Butterflies sounded too romantic. Moths? There were moths in your stomach.

“i’m talkin’ to ya’,” they pressed. You didn’t want to run, incase they got mad and chased you. What then?

You knew it wasn’t eggshells, his voice was much deeper, shaking you to the very core- this one was smooth, like red velvet, with an addicting  irritating accent. Like dark chocolate.

You picked up your pace, once again. Just a catcaller. Nothing special.

You heard him chuckle, when he picked up the pace to maintain the distance between you both. Couldn’t he understand that you weren’t interested in whatever shitty game he was playing? Or, he knew, and just didn’t care.

Where the fuck did he even come from?! You would have noticed somebody stomping along behind you, from the café!

Your heart was beating, uncontrollably fast at this point. Similar to when you’d met the first… skeleton…?  

You didn’t want to look back, in fear of what you saw. However, against your better judgement, you turned your head slowly, yet keeping up the quick  pace you were walking at-

Until you froze, mid step. He froze, too.  

“hands where I can see ‘em, doll.”

In front of you, was a skeleton- only not the TBI-Skele you had seen the other day, but the angry one that you had seen earlier in the alley.

He had an almost demonic smirk on his stupid skull. His eyelights were bright, vibrant with that deep, pretty red. He could definitely see the fear plastered on your face… and he liked it, if the look on his face was anything to go by. Sadist.

He was sweating- how was that possible? Big, red blobs fell from his ivory bone… His smile was twitching.

Your breathing was getting heavier every second he studied your body. 

You knew you could outrun him, obviously. So, why didn’t you?

Your eyes glanced down to the firearm on his belt. His hand was awfully close to it, resting his thumb on the inside of the belt, inches away from the gun. He stood proudly, with his other hand slowly reaching for the cuffs on the other side of his belt.

Slowly, ever  so slowly, you turned to face him. His grin only hitched up further.

You took your hands out of your pockets, and you could see his hands twitch, and his eyelights immediately flicker to watch them. You raised them above your head, with your arms crossed at the wrist.

He took a step forward, and every instinct told you to turn, and run. But you never. You stood your ground, even when he started to speak;

“now there’s a good girl,” he practically growled.

…No, these weren’t moths fluttering in your stomach- these were bees, and they were going nuts at that last comment.

You were screwed.

☆————————— ☆

Elsewhere, horror was getting a little agitated.

He stood, alone, in your apartment.

You weren’t home yet. Why weren’t you home yet?

He could feel the bond between the two of you settling in- despite you not seeing him for very long, he saw you for much longer then you’d realised, and it was obviously enough to allow a soul connection to set.

He wouldn’t change you in any way, no, but if you were a monster it’d be so much easier. You’d feel the bond already, and by now, you’d already had moved in! Being apart, with such a new bond was bound not to be good. Mates usually spent days together after a bond formed!

But, that was okay.  Humans usually took a more… Relaxed approach to relationships, right? That’s what Paps said.

He didn’t want to scare you off. Ever.

He’d do what he had to, even if that meant waiting for you to come around.

He looked around the apartment- he never got the chance, last time he visited. It wasn’t anything special, but it was so, undeniably you that it made him feel giddy.

Your bedroom… he shuddered.

It smelled like you.

The small black cat he saw the last time he visited was hunched up on your duvet protectively, amongst the blankets and pillows. It hissed at him, protectively.

…Yes, he would wait for you.

But he didn’t know how long he could wait, until he couldn’t wait anymore.

…He had to go back, now. He had work tomorrow, and Paps was expecting him for dinner.

But he knew he’d be back.

Chapter Text

You could see him through the plastic shield separating you in the rearview mirror. His smile was tight, along with the grip he had on the steering wheel. If he had flesh, like any normal person, his knuckles would be white. 

He looked a lot less confident now that you were actually in the car. Occasionally, he glanced at you through the rearview mirror, and stared at you, as you looked out the window and pretended not to see him very obviously looking in your peripherals. He looked almost as if he wanted to say something. It was creepy how expressive these freaks were. 

He didn’t say anything. With a grunt of what you could assume to be frustration, he reached over to the radio and rather roughly pressed one of the buttons- some kind of loud as fuck metal playing. It wasn't even good music. Literally just distorted guitar and barely understandable screeching. He certainly seemed to enjoy it. 

You had better stuff to do than this. Mr Midnight is probably so hungry… Poor baby. You'd make sure to give him extra treats as soon as these fuckasses let you go- which better be soon, you hadn’t even done anything. You had work again tomorrow, if these guys made you late you were gonna be so pissed. 

The skeleton in the front seemed to want to forget you were in the back. He drummed his fingers against the wheel of the car, in tune with the repetitive music blaring on the radio. 

God, you were tired. Work was ass. You'd usually be taking a nap by now- or relaxing, or… Something! 

You lay your head against the car window. It was uncomfortable, your head rattling against it with every slight movement. This guy’s driving didn't seem to help in the matter either- no indicators from what you could see, very sharp turns and breaks… These monster folk were so careless. Dangerous. You had enough interaction with them to form your own opinion about them, as it turns out. All those people were so, painfully right. They were horrible, and you were perfectly happy with not seeing them ever again. 

You had that faint twang in your chest again. You really needed to go to the doctor about that. You looked at the monster in front of you, and noticed him rubbing his chest- oh, you so knew this was freaky deeky monster magic. Maybe he was trying to hypnotise you- maybe that's what he had done to that girl in the alley! What a freak! You could only feel your anger rising. How dare these guys. He hadn't looked at you since the car had pulled off- maybe he felt embarrassed about not being able to put you under his spell. Yeah, he should be. That shit wouldn’t work on you, ______! 

Despite your very angry, and rightfully so, train of thought, you couldn’t help yourself from closing your eyes. The car was rather warm, and you were tired. You weren’t sleeping, necessarily. You were very aware what was going on- you could still hear the stupid music he was playing, and the mundane roar of the car engine, only your eyes were closed. Your breathing was slowed. You wouldn’t willingly allow yourself to sleep next to a beast like this guy. Anybody that did was crazy. 

The black expanse of your closed eyes felt almost as if it consumed you. The music he was playing felt duller, quieter, despite still noticeable. The engine of the car lulled you further. You could see flashes of light behind your eyes, probably from through the window when you passed the broken down streetlights- which would explain their colour. They started as a yellow-orange, as one would expect. Then, every so often, they would look red, or a grey-blue colour. It was interesting, at least. These colours made you feel so odd. Safe, yet on edge. They were warm, and protective, but you didn’t know these colours- new, and scary. How could you get to know them? They continued to flash behind your eyes, now much more frequent, in a mesmerising display. Pretty. Did you want to know them? Why did-

The door you were leaning yourself against was pulled out from beside you, and you scrambled to keep yourself in the car. You fail, obviously, and end up falling quite uncomfortably onto the floor. Your hands were handcuffed, how the fuck were you meant to prevent that! With no way of blocking the fall, you landed square on your elbows. That certainly stung.

Having been oh, so ignorantly relaxed, (and maybe more asleep than you would have allowed yourself to be around a monster, had you not been exhausted,) less than a minute ago, you try to blink away the sleepy blurriness obscuring your vision. At least that terrible music had been shut off.

Standing, very intimidatingly above you, was this fucking cop. He looked a little surprised that you had tumbled out of the car- which was stupid, he had been watching you this whole car ride, there was no way he didn’t realise that you had… Dozed off. 

Your hands were still cuffed, and he didn’t make any move to try and help you up from where he stood, arms now crossed, only a few steps from where you lay on the cold tarmac of the station parking lot. You were assuming you were there, anyway. You used your elbows to push yourself up, which was not helping the stinging that was there at all, so you were in a seated position against the car. From there, you had to.. frog leg yourself? In order for you to finally push yourself up onto two legs, rather unsteadily, whilst the sadistic bastard watched with a smirk on his face. 

It wasn’t very long from the time you got yourself onto your feet for him to grab your upper arm (which he engulfed in his hand. Unsettling.) and slam shut the door to the car, before rather forcefully pushing you towards the door of the station, which you now knew he did take you. It wasn’t a particularly nice building. Cream-coloured brick, only a few cars parked up from what you could see,  a couple of steps leading up to a very blue door. Nothing special.  

He opened the blue door, and pushed you through. He didn’t choose to comment on the fact that you tripped on the stairs, slightly. There was a human woman behind a wired wall, sitting at a desk. She looked very uninterested, especially when this guy winked at her. Disgusting. 

When she saw you unity walk in, she reached under her desk for some paperwork- you couldn’t see much of what was written in it, considering that this big bully still had a grip on your arm, and was steadily walking forward. You passed a couple of cells, most had occupants residing inside. A lot of them were asleep, a couple of them staring at the policeman angrily. 

Before you reached the cell that he had planned for you, another skeleton walked past, looking like he was ready to go home. He slowed when he saw you, as did your captor. 

He glanced at you, his beady white eye lights studying you ever so briefly, and you noticed his eyesocket twitch. You started back at him, until he broke the eye contact to look up at the skeleton holding you still. You didn’t dare look back at either of them, but from what you could hear, nothing was said between the two. The white-eyed skeleton huffed, rather angrily, before storming off. 

You continued forward until you reached an empty cell. Cold, uninviting floors, a single bench, a toilet and a sink. Okay. You’d make it through this! 

Behind you, the skeleton was patting his belt for the keys to the cell. After he found the correct one, he unlocked the door and finally, finally let go of you. He reached down, past the small of your back, and for a second your heart sank. That was, until he took another key from the same o-ring, and took off your handcuffs. Oh. Your hands moved to your chest, and you rubbed your wrists cautiously. They hurt, but not too bad. 

 Considering you wanted to minimise your contact with this monster, you took the initiative to walk into the cell. You were happy to get some distance from the guy. You turned around to look at him-  he hadn’t said anything, yet. He looked rather done. Pretty tired. If he were human, and not a complete jerk hole, maybe you’d feel a little bad for him. 

After locking your cell door, he looked up at you once more, catching you staring at him. But you didn’t back down. He smiled, one gold tooth glinting in the shitty light of the hallway, before walking away, keys in hand making a jingling sound that you couldn't forget. 

You were alone, finally. You’d have to give Mr.Midnight extra snuggles when you got back, poor baby. 

Alone, and cold. 

You continued to stare at the empty hallway in front of you for god knows how long.