But

But…

Part One.

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Romance

With Horror

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You heard sounds coming from the kitchen as you rounded the corner, letting you know that Horror had started lunch. Rounding the corner, you found him making sandwiches.

“Hey, Horror.” You greeted, coming up beside him.

He nodded back, “Hey.” keeping his eyes on his work. You leaned in, obviously not leaving anytime soon. Horror noticed and sighed. “Like . . . Killer.”

You gasp in mock offense, slapping a hand to your chest. “How could you??” He chuckled, pushing you away from the food. “Wait! I’m sorry! I want to help!”

Horror hummed at you and relented, pulling out a cutting board for you. “. . . Tomatoes.”

“Yessir.” You mock salute before grabbing a tomato and a knife.

“Hmm. . . Killer.”

“Oh my God!”

Horror chuckled.

You sliced tomatoes and cucumbers while Horror set up a snack tray to go with lunch. When you finished slicing, you reached into the fridge and pulled out turkey and cheese. Unfortunately, due to you being allergic to pork, the gang had supplemented ham for turkey. You insisted that it wasn’t necessary but everyone agreed that it was the safest option.

Handing Horror the turkey, you looked down at the cheese slices and had an idea.

“Hey, Horror?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I have a slice of cheese?” You said, before correcting. “Without eating it?”

Horror froze. His eye light shrank and slowly looked at you. You heard him start growling.

“I can explain!!” You said quickly. “I can explain!!”

He stopped growling and squinted suspiciously. “. . . Explain.”

You looked around before leaning in to whisper to him your idea.

His face slowly relaxed as he listened. When you finished, Horror huffed in amusement and turned back to making sandwiches.

“. . . Yes.”

You let off a sigh of relief and a nervous laugh. “For a second I thought-”

“But…”

You froze as Horror spoke, tensing back up.

A grin split across his face as he looked over his shoulder at you. There was no mirth in the expression. “No waste.” He growled lowly, pinning you with that one eye light. “Understood.”

Though he didn’t ask it like a question, you nodded quickly. Best not to anger him, even if it meant eating dirty cheese. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Suddenly, as if someone had turned on the lights, the room seemed infinitely brighter when Horror turned back to the food. He held out his hand. “Cheese.”

You quickly handed him the cheese and helped finish making lunch. Your idea could wait until later.

———

“I’m telling you! There is something in there! Every time I go in there, it’s different!” Killer exclaimed at Dust who huffed.

“Please.” He said, exasperated. “You rarely enter the library. Of course it’s different every time. Me and Boss rearrange the seating.”

Killer narrowed his eyes and pointed at an unaffected Dust. “That’s just what you’d want me to think if there was something going on in there!”

Nightmare sighed into his tea. “Must you be so loud?”

“Yes!” Killer said with a smirk on his face and his hands on the table.

Nightmare pinched the bridge of his nose from where he sat at the head of the table. You chuckled at the chaos Killer was already making as you helped Horror set the table. Supper was lasagna which you’d been craving for weeks before letting it slip to Horror who immediately made some. Turns out, Horror is exceptionally good at learning new recipes. He looked over the recipe once and you didn’t see him look at it again. You smiled, your skeleton friends are so cool.

“KILLER!!!!!!”

You and Killer jumped at the sound as Cross burst in the doorway. He locked eyes with Killer and shook a book at him. “WHAT IS THIS?!?” He snapped.

Everyone looked down at the book and you barely held back a snort at the cheese stuck to the cover. Horror’s mouth twitched upwards as he turned back to the food. Nightmare’s eye snapped between you and Horror as you composed yourself.

“I told you that was a cheesy romance, Cross.” You managed to say without breaking face. Nightmare’s face twisted into a mix between amusement and disgust.

Cross’s attention switched to you as he stared in disbelief. Killer broke the silence by laughing himself out of his own chair with a crash. Dust finally laughed, pointing at Killer’s vacant seat as Horror started chuckling. You even thought you heard Nightmare let out a small laugh at the whole situation.

You confidently held Cross’s betrayed look.

“Wh-What??” His face turned slightly purple as he tried to piece together what just happened. “Did you just… what???”

You took the book from his hands and pat his skull. “Don’t worry, I’ll clean it up.” He swatted you away with a glare. You laughed again and headed towards the doorway when suddenly Horror was in front of you. You stopped short of hitting him and looked up at him, confused.

He pointed at the cheesed book. “Here.”

You froze, realizing what he wanted. “Horror,” You lowered your voice. “In front of everyone? Can’t I eat it outside?”

Horror grinned widely, both in amusement and anger. “No.”

“What’s up, H?” Killer said, having recovered and noticed the conversation in the door. His comment brought everyone’s attention to you and Horror.

Horror’s grin got slightly more sinister and he pushed you towards the table. “Y/N has something… they need… to show you.”

Your face went red.

Killer noticed and the grin on his face spread. “Whatcha need to show us, kiddo?~” You glared at him, making him giggle.

Sighing, and seeing no way of escape with Horror towering over you, you resigned yourself to your fate and lifted the book. Most in the dining room watched in horror as you ate the cheese off the romance novel. Killer’s eyes widened before propping his chin on his hands with a smug grin on his face. The cheese wasn’t actually that bad, but it was very stuck to the book, making you spend more time than you intended in front of everyone. By the time you finished, the lasagna was much colder than you’d like. Horror nodded at you and moved back to serving everyone. You quickly left the room to put the book back in the library as laughter erupted behind you, making your face flash red again.

Maybe that wasn’t worth the prank…

So, when a shark gets rotated with their tail pointing upwards, they enter a state of shock and can’t move for a few minutes.

I think Dream would know this and use it when him and Killer first meet.

Just, rotate the shark siren, poke at him a little bit, then giggle and swim away before Killer is able to move again.

Leviathan au by @skumhuu

Bonus second meeting:

Sharp

With Horror

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“Ow!”

You pulled your hands away from the cutting board and the strawberries you were slicing. That stings!

Horror looked up from the cupcake batter at your exclamation. His eye focused on the hand you held to your chest.

You moved to the sink and started cleaning the small cut in your hand.

“Bleeding.” Came Horror’s gruff voice behind you.

“Yeah, but not much.” You responded, gently drying your hands. You turned around, intending to go get a bandage or something, when you jumped at Horror’s proximity to you. “Geez! Horror! You gotta stop that!”

“Human blood…” He growled.

Confused, you looked into his eye and stopped. This wasn’t the Horror you knew. Something was wrong with the way he was staring at you. As if he didn’t recognize you. “Uh… Horror? You there, bud?” You ask, suddenly noting the strawberry knife in his hand.

Horror towered over you, his smile void of sanity as he grabbed at your arm.

You pulled back, narrowly avoiding his grab, and bumped into the sink. “Horror. It’s me, Y/N. We’re in the castle.” No response. “Can you hear me?”

The knife rose above his head.

“Horror?? Listen! You’re okay! You aren’t there anymore!” You weren’t sure what you were saying but you had to do something. “Horror!”

Horror growled as his arm was grabbed by a black tentacle. He spun towards Nightmare, drooling and snarling like a wolf. Nightmare didn’t react as his tentacle slowly pulsed on Horror’s arm. Horror grabbed the appendage and chomped down on it. You flinched as Nightmare hissed but didn’t stop him.

“Leave, Y/N.” Nightmare said. “I’ll take care of this.”

You hesitated, watching how Horror tried to tear apart Nightmare’s tentacle, his blown eye light crazed, and drool pooling from his mouth. When you moved towards the door, he immediately noticed and tried to charge at you. He was yanked back.

“Now. Y/N.” Nightmare growled.

“Hold on! I have an idea!” You opened the fridge and reached in.

“Y/N!” He grunted at a particularly viscous bite. “I’ve done this before! LEAVE!”

“Just let me try something!” You yank out the sliced turkey, ignoring Nightmare’s protest. “Hey, Horror!” He looked back at you and his eye locked on the food in your hands. “Catch!”

You tossed it at him and he snatched it out of the air with his free hand. He ripped the bag open and devoured the turkey inside. His eye dilated as he looked up at you again, this time hopefully. You tossed him another bag, this time chicken. He did the same thing as before but slightly slower.

As he finish the last bit of chicken he slowed to a stop and went still. Nightmare let out a relieved sigh and loosened his grip on Horror’s arm. Horror looked at Nightmare’s damaged tentacle and shrank into himself.

“Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry” He started mumbling, dropped the bag and held his head.

You stepped forward, earning a pointed glared from Nightmare as Horror noticed you. He looked at you through his fingers as if searching you. His eye settled on your finger that bled slightly during the commotion. “I . . . hurt you?”

“No.” You said, moving closer. He recoiled. “You didn’t hurt me, Horror. I didn’t realize how sharp the knife was while I was slicing the strawberries. It wasn’t your fault.” Despite Nightmare’s warning looks, you stepped even closer to Horror who seemed like he wanted to run from you.

“No. Y/N.” Horror stressed. “I can’t…” He stepped back. “You’re not… safe here.”

You stopped within arms reach and held out your hand, moving the cut hand behind your back. “How about this, I’ll wash that knife off and visit with Dust real quick, and then we finish making cupcakes for everyone? Sound good?”

Horror looked down at the knife in his hand as if he hadn’t noticed that it was there. He looked at the ingredients on the counter. “Cupcakes…” Nightmare and you shared a look over Horror’s shoulder. Nightmare was definitely going to talk to you after this. Horror looked back to you, setting the knife gently into your hand, trying not to touch you. “Deal.”

You nodded, smiling at him. “Cool. Now, would you mind working on the batter?” He nodded and went back to the counter, picking up where he left off. You quickly washed the knife before setting it to dry and leaving with Nightmare.

As soon as you were out of earshot from the kitchen, Nightmare broke the silence. “What happened.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a command for a report.

You sighed. “I cut my finger while slicing strawberries and went to wash my hands. When I turned around, Horror was in my face with the knife from the strawberries in hand. I tried to calm him down after noticing that something was wrong when he lifted his arm and you showed up.” You said, letting him fill the blanks from there.

“What were you thinking?”

You rolled your eyes. “That I had to get my friend back.”

“No.” Nightmare stopped you with a tentacle. “I told you to leave! Yet you stayed and even approached Horror, like an idiot!”

“I don’t see how helping was being ‘an idiot!’” You snapped. “It’s not like he would actually mean to hurt me!”

“But he would!” Nightmare snapped back. “You’re a human! He would have torn you apart and served you to the gang if I hadn’t stepped in! Do you not know the amount of real danger you were in just then? You are insanely lucky that I noticed your proximity to him in his fit! He. Would. Have. EATEN. YOU.” He jabbed a finger into your chest at the end of his rant.

You froze, searching Nightmare eye as if he would lie to you. “But… Horror wouldn’t…”

“Horror wouldn’t. But trauma makes people do insane things they would never do.” Nightmare rubbed the bridge of his nose. “And he’s not the only one. If any of the boys don’t look like themselves, get away or hide. I’ll need to react sooner than I used to since you live here now. But-” He glared at you. “You need to learn to obey in a situation like that. If I tell you to leave, you LEAVE.”

You held his glare. “It worked tho.”

“What?”

“Feeding him. He calmed down with food.” You hesitated, breaking eye contact for a second. “What happened to him?”

Nightmare sighed. “That is not my story to tell. But you’re avoiding the subject.” He waved the topic away. “Can I trust you to obey in the next crisis? Or will you continue to contradict me?”

You shrug, a smirk appearing on your face. “Depends on if I can keep you from hurting more or not.”

His eye narrowed. “That was stupid luck.”

“That was deductive reasoning.” You shot back.

You held each other’s glare until Nightmare pulled his injured tentacle away from you. You broke eye contact first, turning down the hall.

“It seems we both need to see Dust.”

Nightmare walked with you.

I had to give him a buddy

I don’t know what to name them yet.

References under cut

My friends: HEY HAVE YOU HEARD OF THIS NEW TREND?

Me: new whuh?

My friends: new sans trend. Pause challenge. Sans edition.

Me: ..... say no more.

The trend: Pause Challenge (Sans Edition) by wispite on TikTok

References:

Pepper

With Horror

TW: Eating disorders are mentioned in this chapter!

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“How dare you.”

Horror looked over his shoulder at you, pepper in hand. “Hmm?”

You rushed over and looked in the pot of macaroni. There was a small pile of pepper on the top as well as a smaller pile of salt. You groaned. “How dare you!”

“What?” Horror looked confused. “What I do??”

You thrust your hands at the offending pot. “You put pepper in the macaroni!! Why would you do that??”

A smile split his confusion. “Seasoning.” As if that explained his actions.

“It doesn’t need seasoning!! It’s macaroni!!!” You tried to reason with him. “Macaroni is good by itself!!”

“‘s better with pepper.” Horror said. He was enjoying this.

“Well, good luck getting me to eat that.” You commented.

You should not have said that.

Horror’s gaze shot to you. You froze. “I- I’m joking, Horror! I d-didn’t mean i-it!”

Horror’s eyes narrowed. “You will eat.”

“Yes, sir! I w-will!” You promised. “I love your cooking!”

His eye gained a dangerous glint as he smirked. He held up the pepper shaker. “Even with pepper?”

You nodded frantically. “Even with pepper! I’m sure it’s amazing! I’m sorry!”

He nodded, seeming satisfied. “Good. You’ll be here… for lunch.” It wasn’t a question.

You nodded anyway. “Yes, sir.”

He shooed you out of the kitchen and you retreated to the living room where Dust was mumbling to himself again. You sat at the other end of the couch and curled your legs against your chest, staring at the blank tv screen. You’d never been good at trying new things. Especially when it came to pepper for some reason. But you knew how Horror was with food and now that he knew he’d probably watch you eat.

“What?”

You startled and looked at Dust. “What?” You echoed. Had you said something?

Dust rolled his eyelights. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” You said too quickly.

He sighed. “Y/N.” You suppressed a flinch at his use of your name. “What happened? You don’t curl up unless you’re anxious.” He pointed out.

You released your legs subconsciously. “It’s dumb.”

“You’re dumb. Talk to me.”

You snorted. “Whatever. Horror’s making macaroni.”

Dust’s eyes narrowed at you and you shrank, Horror’s narrowed eyes still fresh in your memory. “And?” He prodded.

“He put pepper in it. I…” You grabbed at the collar of your shirt. “I’ve never liked pepper. Or been good at trying new things.”

Dust nodded. “Understandable. A lot of people aren’t comfortable with change.”

“That’s not the bad part.”

“There’s a bad part?”

You nodded. “I…” You brought your legs back up. “I… told him… ‘Good luck getting me out eat that.’”

Dust’s eyelights went out.

“Oh. This is serious.”

You shrank further into yourself. “…yeah.”

“Did you backtrack?”

“Yes. But now he’s going to make sure I eat it.”

“If it’s any consolation,” Dust turned towards you. “His macaroni is really good. So at least you won’t be suffering.”

You huffed a small laugh. “Thanks.”

He held his scarf in an echo of you holding your shirt. He turned his head to his shoulder and started whispering. You ignored it and looked away. He did that sometimes. You had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that sometimes he knew about a conversation or event he wasn’t there for. Your current theories were that he had a friend ghost or he talked to the castle. Talking to the castle made more sense despite not making any sense.

He finished whatever conversation he was having and the room fell into silence.

You had no reason to be so scared. It wasn’t like it was a life threatening event. It was just food. And Horror’s cooking was always good. So why did it scare you so much?

Dust finally broke the silence. “You should talk to Nightmare.”

You nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah. Nightmare.” You stood after a moment’s hesitation and set down the hall to Nightmare’s office.

“Enter.” Came Nightmare’s voice before you had even knocked.

You obeyed and stood just inside the doorway. Nightmare tapped his papers into a stack and set them to the side.

“Well? Come in.” Nightmare beckoned. “And shut the door behind you. I don’t want Killer to see the door open and barge in. Not that that stops him.”

You obeyed and sat on one of the stools by the desk.

Nightmare sat leaned back in his chair, waiting for you to speak.

You didn’t.

He sighed. “Did you know, I could feel your anxiety all the way across the castle. And your disappointment, though I assume that’s directed at yourself with all that guilt.” He tilted his head at you. “What happened?”

You sighed, upset at yourself for being upset. “It’s stupid.”

“That seems to be a common occurrence. Continue.”

You smiled. Him and Dust were the same. You explained the situation to Nightmare who waited patiently for you to finish.

“Hmm.” Nightmare brewed over the information. “Did you have any eating disorders growing up?”

You froze. Yes. Yes, you did.

Nightmare nodded even though you hadn’t answered. “Was there a time where you refused to eat?”

You nodded.

“How long?”

You shook your head. “Not very long. I always got too hungry to starve.”

Nightmare slowly leaned onto the desk. He looked thoughtful. “I think that your experience with that might bleed into how you treat food. And Horror picks up on that. So he’s more strict about you eating than the rest of us. Does that make sense to you?”

You nodded.

“If you want, I can come with you but you need to talk to Horror about feeling forced to eat. You will still have to eat what he prepared but hopefully, in the future, it won’t feel forced.”

“Okay.” You mumbled.

“Y/N.” Nightmare’s tentacle rested on your shoulder and you felt some of your anxiety leave. “No one is forcing you to do anything. If you feel like someone is, you can talk to them about it with or without me. I don’t mind either way.”

You fidgeted. “I… don’t want to be alone…”

Nightmare nodded, standing. “Understood. Let’s get going, shall we? Before Horror serves lunch.”

Horror looked up to call that lunch was ready only to see you and Nightmare in the doorway. He immediately noticed how you kept fidgeting with the collar of your shirt. His eyelight locked with Nightmare’s for a moment, piecing together what was going on.

“Y/N?” Horror asked. “You need… something?”

You hesitated. “I… Horror…” Nightmare set a hand on your shoulder. You straightened a little. “I’m sorry I said I wouldn’t eat your food. I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to eat what you’ve made. But…” You hesitated again. Horror gestured for you to continue. “I’d like it if you didn’t force me to eat things.” You said hurriedly before shrinking as if you expected him to lash out. You might actually expect him to, Horror realized. He hasn’t given you a reason to think he wouldn’t. Especially after he almost hurt you the other day.

Horror nodded and looked at Nightmare who seemed proud of you. There must have been a lot of fear for you to conquer to say that. He glanced at the pot of food. He wondered why you acted weird about food so much. This seemed like a step towards progress. “Okay.” Horror said, slowly. You looked shocked. “I’m sorry… you felt… forced. Can you help… me fix… that?”

Your face lit up with so much hope that Nightmare flinched. “I… uh… y-yeah. Yeah. I can try.”

He glanced at Nightmare who nodded in approval. Horror looked back at you. “Wanna help… set the table?”

You seemed excited. “Sure.” Horror handed you the bowls from the cabinet, not missing the way you sniffed at the macaroni when you thought he wasn’t looking.

The table was set and everyone was halfway done with their food when you took your first bite. Your eyes lit up at the flavor. It was amazing! How had you never tried it before? You glanced up at Dust who sat across from you. His eyes were on his food but you saw the smile on his face.

Unbeknownst to you, as you scarfed down the rest of your food, Horror and Nightmare shared a smirk between them.