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One of the many unforeseen quirks of moving in with your skeletal friends you’ve known for years, was the music.
You didn’t know any of the fourteen skeletons played an instrument.
Turns out, quite a few of them do. Sans ‘plays’ trumpet. You can't tell if he plays badly to piss everyone off on purpose, or if he genuinely doesn't know how to play. Wine plays violin, he works for a fancy symphony on occasion. Coffee plays the keyboard, and works with local small bands sometimes! Red plays cello, that one was surprising to find out. Cash plays guitar, not surprising. Stretch plays the piano, he has an award for it! Mutt plays the harp, you refused to believe him until he played for you. It was some of the most beautiful music you’d ever heard. You still wonder how he doesn’t snap the strings with his sharp claws. You know that Edge, Blue, and Sparrow also play instruments, but you haven’t figured out what they are yet.
There was music almost constantly at the house, any number of skeletons practicing their chosen instrument at any given time, even at night. It was extremely frustrating going from your relatively small, quiet, cozy apartment to a huge, loud, chaotic house. Most of the time, everyone was focusing on their own practicing, so if even two of them are practicing at the same time, the clashing melodies don’t usually sound good.
However, every once in a while, everyone practicing syncs up and makes a beautiful song. You like to sit in the middle of the floor while they practice in their rooms when that happens. The only problem was the lack of lyrics. Some songs don’t need them, but some just feel empty without them. Even though Stretch sings, he’s scared people will judge him for being bad. However, you’ve already heard him sing, and it was beautiful.
It was a total accident, you had come home early from work and wanted to decompress with him, but he wasn’t home yet. Instead of waiting for him to get home, you made yourself comfortable in his room, curling up on his bed and pulling his blanket over your head to take a nap. When you woke up, you could hear him singing. You took a moment to listen, waiting for him to stop before sitting up, letting the blanket fall off of you, “I didn’t know you knew how to sing!”
Stretch proceeded to scream like a little bitch.
After his mini ‘heart’ attack, he swore you to secrecy. You didn’t get why he was so insecure, he was amazing! But when you tried to tell him that he got really avoidant and kicked you out of his room. He then proceeded to open his door less than thirty seconds later and pulled you back inside, “i still wanna hang out, i jus’ wanted the satisfaction o’ kickin’ ya out.”
He laughed when you slapped his arm.
Despite him kicking you out of his room, you kept your promise, not uttering a word about it to anyone else.
He never said you couldn’t show anyone, though.
That’s what led you to now, guiding his brother up the stairs to the second floor where all the bedrooms were. You pressed your finger to your lips, silently telling Blue to also be silent. He nodded, a confused and slightly entertained smile on his face. You smiled and walked over to Stretch’s door, sitting down with your back to the door.
Right now, Stretch, Wine, Red, Cash, and Mutt were all playing together. The last time five of the skeletons played together, you hadn’t even met them yet! You always wondered how they managed to sync up so well when they’re all in their own rooms. They can't even hear eachother clearly, or see eachother! Despite that, they played beautifully, cooperating and flowing with one another with grace, no one trying to overpower the others. They worked in tandem, improvising on the spot like all their SOUL’s hit the same frequency at once.
It was your favorite part of living with them.
However, you felt like this song could use some lyrics, so you relaxed against the door, closing your eyes and taking in nothing but the music. You let the words flow without thinking of them, “Oh, I can see you somewhere up the road.”
They continued on, not even stuttering at the introduction of your voice, “There’s a weight you carry, you’re trying to let go.”
On the other side of the door, Stretch smiled as he played, his eyesockets falling closed as he listened to your voice, trying to connect to your frequency, “And you know that if I could, I would take it all away from you.”
Your frequencies snapped together, “How dare you love me like you’ve never known fear?”
As you sang with Stretch, you heard the slight creaking of a door. You cracked an eye open to see Bear peaking out of his room from across the landing, “When you've got more troubles, than minutes in the year.”
Bear smiled, closing his eyes and taking in the music, “And a voice like your father's tells you nothing good's for free.”
Blue sat in the middle of the floor rocking side to side with the melody, “Well that may be, but you're walking home to me.”
Behind his door, Red had his eyes closed, a soft smile on his face. He'd never admit it, but he actually really liked playing with the others like this, “Must have seen your picture down there in the well.”
The stairs creaked as Papyrus came to investigate the beautiful sound, “Black birds were flyin’, watchin’ as you fell.”
Another door opened, Vi stepping out quietly to join the growing audience, “Years ago, I would have said that you'd never get back up again.”
As you and Stretch sang the chorus again, Coffee watched his brother play his violin with all the grace and poise he always did, “How dare you love me like you've never known fear?”
As you reached the end of the chorus a second time, Vi emerged from his room, his shoulders relaxed for the first time in days, “Well, that may be, but you’re walking home to me.”
It was like magic how you and Stretch managed to sing the same words so easily, “I sleep to dream the trail beneath your feet.”
Your heart and SOUL swelled with love and joy as you continued with the slower bridge lyrics, “That brings you back to me.”
Stretch felt the same, reaching out to you with his SOUL, connecting with you in a way you two hadn't before, “And step by step, wherever you might be.”
Everyone could hear the smiles in your voices now, “You're walking home to me.”
Cash smiled as he strummed his guitar, hearing his best friend finally sing without worrying who was listening made him proud, “On the day you left me, you promised you'd come back.”
Mutt hummed quietly to the melody as he plucked the strings of his harp with careful precision, “I don't know who taught you how to live like that.”
Razz leaned against his door, listening to the music from inside his room, tapping his fingers against his arm to the beat, “All the fences in your way have to crumple in the wind one day.”
Sans’ door opened, but instead of blowing a random note on his trumpet and ruining the song like he usually did, he leaned against his doorframe and listened, “How dare you love me like you've never known fear?”
Sparrow creeped up the steps, stopping near the top and resting his arms on the banister to watch you sing, “When you've got more troubles than minutes in the year.”
Edge opened his door to listen, letting Doomfanger roam from door to door, “And a voice like your father's tells you nothing good's for free.”
Doomfanger stopped by you, sniffing you a bit before crawling into your lap and pressing her head to your chest to hear the vibrations of your voice, “Well, that may be, but you're walking home —”
You and Stretch's SOUL's hummed in unison as you finished out the song, “That may be, but you're walking home to me.”
It was silent for just a moment before the landing erupted with applause. You smiled brightly and clapped along with everyone. Behind his door, Stretch was blushing like a mad man, but not because everyone heard him sing.
Because he finally realized just how much he loves you.