Dust Sans - Tumblr Posts

o ya, the fnaf movie was a real 10/10

Me when I see Killer verses when I see Dust.

@itsxroxannex

(I don’t have anything against Killer! He’s a fun character! I just don’t feel anything when anyone flirts with me.)

1/5

/End

||>>>

A black swan and his cygnets.

More under the cut

Nightmare by @jokublog

Killer sans by @rahafwabas

Dust sans by @ask-dusttale

Horror sans by @sour-apple-studios

The original picture

1. Hot Drinks 8. Boxed In

2. Romance 9. Judgement

3. Sharp 10. Vibe Check

4. Compliments

5. Good Soup

6. Pepper

7. Go All Out

Prompt Masterlist

Prompts by @owl-bones

Hot Drinks

With Horror

Masterlist

Next

You sat between Horror and Dust with your arms resting over the back of the couch. Everyone but Nightmare was there as they watched a cheesy action movie. Cross sat on the bean bag on your right, occasionally throwing his hands in the air as he berated the actor’s form in battle. Killer, being Killer, kept playing devil’s advocate and driving Cross insane from the floor.

“Woooooow” Killer exaggerated, smirking at Cross’s exasperated expression. “You see that perfect form, Horror?” You held in your laughter at the look of pure mischief of Killer’s face.

Ignoring Cross’s offended gasp, Horror grunted assent at Killer. You started shaking slightly as you tried not to break the moment with your laughter. Dust shook so subtly that you almost missed it.

“No!” Cross snapped, jumping out of the bean bag. “That. Is. The. WORST. FORM. I HAVE EVER SEEN!!! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT LOOKS GOOD????” He thrust his hands forward at the offending screen.

Your laughter finally forced its way out, startling an offended skele. Cross flushed slightly as he noticed everyone’s eyes on him. He glared at Killer.

Killer chuckled while propping his chin on his hands. “You’re looking at me like it’s my fault Y/N laughed at you.”

“IT IS!” Cross said, throwing his hands in the air.

“Girls, you’re both pretty.” You said, standing up as Dust shifted at the lack of weight on the couch. You turned back to Horror. “Mind if I grab a drink from the kitchen?”

Horror stared at you, processing. You waited patiently. Horror had a hard time voicing his thoughts. No one told you why but you figured it had to do with the gaping hole in the side of his head. Honestly though, with a wound like that, he really shouldn’t be alive let alone able to speak. But despite logic, Horror managed. You respected him for that. Whatever happened to him to get that scar, he pushed through and made it. He might be slower to talk than anyone else but stars he was light on his feet. You’ve been startled multiple times by him just appearing behind you.

“I… help.” Horror finally said. You nodded. He practically owned the kitchen. Whatever happened there was his business. Besides, he really seems to enjoy keeping everyone well nourished. He was also much quicker to speak while cooking for some reason.

You both left Dust with the commotion and entered the kitchen. You opened the fridge with Horror at your side. There were a few varieties of drinks but nothing gained you attention. Much to Horror’s confusion, you closed the fridge without grabbing anything. The calendar on the door caught your attention. It had a picture of some humans huddled together on a couch with steaming mugs in their hands. Following the idea you suddenly had at the sight, you walked into the pantry. Horror didn’t follow you, mostly confused as to why you didn’t grab what you came for when you had the chance. Your voice carried out of the pantry.

“Horror, do we have any cocoa powder?”

“. . . What?”

“Cocoa powder- Oh! Found some!”

A moment later, you came out of the pantry victorious. A box of cocoa powder packets in your hands as you passed an even more confused Horror. You set the box by the electric kettle and reach into the cabinet for a couple mugs, knowing Horror will want some if you’re having any.

“What…”

You heard Horror start behind you. You paused and turned to him, waiting for him to continue.

He worked through his words a moment longer. “Came for… drink?” You nodded at him which seemed to puzzle him more. He gestured at the box. “. . . Powder?”

You tipped your head at him. “Yeah. For hot chocolate.” You gently shook the mugs in your hands.

His brow bones scrunched together. “. . . Hot chocolate . . ?” He asked.

Something clicked in your head as you pieced together his reaction. “Have you not had hot chocolate before? The recipe is on the box.” You handed him the box.

He took it. “Didn’t get . . . good look.” He paused, reading the instructions. “Had to hide . . . from Cross.”

You snorted at that. “Yeah! He might literally inhale it!”

Horror chuckled at that, handing you the box. He pointed at a part of the recipe and you leaned in to see what it was. He was pointing at a single word.

“Marshmallows!! Oh my gosh, I forgot!” You started towards the pantry again. “Can’t have hot chocolate without marshmallows!”

Horror chuckled again as you moved past him.

By the time you came back with marshmallows, Horror had already made a cup and was gently stirring it with a spoon.

“So.” You said, opening the bag of mellows. “You haven’t had hot chocolate before? Like ever?”

He shook his head, tapping the spoon on the mug. His eye light didn’t leave the swirling drink as you handed him six marshmallows.

Horror watched them bob as he dropped them in before slowly sliding it across the counter to you. You shook your head and pushed it back.

“You made this one. And you haven’t had one before. So you get it. I can wait.” You assured him.

Normally, he’d take rejecting his gift harshly but he was too focused on the drink to mind. Horror stirred the drink again before taking a tentative sip. His eye dilated and suddenly he was pulling four more mugs from the cabinet, including Nightmare’s.

You laughed as he refilled the kettle and shooed you out of the kitchen mumbling that he’d get you your drink. You went back to the drama that was still happening in the living room even though the movie was paused.

“He left himself WIDE OPEN!!!”

“That’s your opinion, C.”

“NO, IT’S FACT!!!!”

You greeted Dust as you took your previous seat. He didn’t seem to hear you for a second before his eye lights lit up, looked at you, at the doorway, then back at you.

“Horror?” He asked quietly.

You smirked. “He’s making everyone drinks~” That caught Killer’s attention.

“Drinks, huh?” He asked raising his brows and leaning forward. “What kinda drinks?”

You grinned at him. “Non-alcoholic.”

Killer sighed and let his head fall to the ground. “That was one time.”

“One time too many if you ask me.” Cross said, crossing his arms.

“No one did, C.” Killer mumbled.

Cross froze and stared directly at the open doorway to that hallway.

“Y/N.”

“Hmm?” You looked up innocently.

“What exactly is Horror making?”

“Ohh~” You said playfully. “Something us humans enjoy in the winter~”

Killer looked up in time to see Cross sniffing the air. The scent hit him, too, widening his eyes. He pounced on Cross who yelped at the sudden attack.

“Wh- Killer!” Cross fought back. “Get off!”

“Not happening, Crossy! Horror made everyone some and I’m getting my fair share!!” Killer yelled as he tried to pin the guards arms and legs.

“But it’s CHOCOLATE!!!!” Cross growled, getting an arm loose.

“I don’t give a damn if it’s holy water and you’re dying! YOU. ARE. NOT. GETTING. MINE!!!”

Horror entered at that moment with his arms full of mugs. How he managed to carry them all without spilling, no one questioned anymore. Horror grinned at Cross’s whine as he turned to hand you and Dust your drinks. Dust peered at his suspiciously as you sipped yours. Wow, it was better than you remembered.

Killer started struggling. “Horror?” He pleaded.

Horror chuckled softly as he held one of the mugs in front of Cross’s face. The skeleton’s eye lights never left the steaming mug as he finally broke away from a panicked Killer. Horror moved the mug to the side and let Cross snatch it from him before handing Killer his. Killer calmed down but kept Cross in his line of sight just in case. Still chuckling, Horror gestured at Dust with Nightmare’s mug and left after Dust nodded acknowledgment.

You sipped on the hot drink slowly but watched as Cross didn’t hesitate to down his, eyeing Killer’s hungrily.

Killer’s sockets narrowed. “Nooooo.” He growled.

Cross seemed to deflate rather than pursue the chocolate at the moment as he started fishing the remaining marshmallows out of his mug. Killer moved to stand behind the couch, effectively using you and Dust as a blockade.

Horror came back soon after and playfully shoved Cross’s head as he passed.

“Hey!”

Horror smiled as he sat, turning to Y/N. You could tell he wanted to speak so you gave him your full attention even as Dust started the movie back up. “. . . Was good . . . drink.” He said. “Thanks for . . . sharing.”

You smiled back. “Any time, Horror.”

You all then finished the movie while occasionally swatting Cross away from your drinks.

Romance

With Horror

Masterlist

Prev / Next

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…

Sharp

With Horror

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“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.

Good Soup

With Horror

Masterlist

Prev / Next

You sneezed.

You weren’t sure what you were expecting but it definitely wasn’t this.

Your soul was blue as you sat on the wall waiting for the skeletons to calm down enough for you to get a word in. From the snippets you could distinguish in the chaos of sound, they thought you were sick and needed medical attention or you would die. Surprisingly enough, Killer seemed the calmest. Key word being ‘seemed.’ Hate dripped freely down his face. Cross was sweating and arguing with Horror while somehow managing to keep his magic from dissipating. Horror looked close to throwing hands. Dust kept up with the conversation with his own hurried input. Nightmare stood behind them all silently while his tentacles whipped around behind him. He’d been staring at you since the sneeze.

You waved at Nightmare. His tentacles slowed for a moment as he tilted his head at you. He pushed passed the quarreling group and Cross spoke up.

“I’m not sure it’s safe to go near them, sir-” Cross said.

“WHATEVER!!!” Horror finally snapped at Dust before stomping into the kitchen. “DO WHAT YOU… WANT!!!! I GO…MAKE SOMETHING!!” Dust huffed at Horror’s departure before continuing the argument with Killer.

Nightmare gently gripped Cross’s shoulder. “I think they’ve spent enough time on the wall, don’t you think?” He said patiently.

Cross’s eyes darted between you and Nightmare for a moment before he carefully lowered you to the ground and released you. Now without something to do, he started fidgeting as Nightmare took a step towards you.

Nightmare stayed a good distance away when he addressed you. “Y/N. Care to fill us in on why you are calm about this?”

“Because I’m not sick. I just got some dus- something in my nose that made me sneeze. There is nothing wrong. I am fine.” As you spoke, the argument in the background had gotten quiet. The group seemed calmer but definitely didn’t believe that you were okay. You took a step forward when you suddenly had three layers of blue magic on your soul. Nightmare glared at the three skeletons. They gave him sheepish looks before reluctantly releasing your soul.

You sighed. “It’s a human thing. If a foreign substance gets in my nostrils, my body will reject it and force it back out by sneezing. It can happen when I get sick, but that doesn’t mean that I am sick. Currently, I’m not sick.” The skeletons sighed in relief.

Nightmare looked intrigued. “What exactly are you rejecting when you sneeze?”

“It depends. But mostly dirt, dust, toxins-” You froze as another sneeze started coming. The gang got uncomfortable when you interrupted yourself and your face twisted. “Achoo!” They flinched at the sound.

There was a clatter in the kitchen before Horror sped into the room and grabbed you. You protested and fought back as he ran you to the couch and wrapped you in at least three blankets like a burrito.

“Horror!” You snapped, struggling to get out of the bundle. “I’m fine! Let me out!”

“Stay.” Horror growled. “I’ll grab you soup. . . Website said soup.” He hurried back to the kitchen before you were able to call out to him.

“Heh heh.” Killer giggled at you. He leaned over the back of the couch. “I wouldn’t move unless you want Horror to hunt you down.”

You stopped struggling and glared at him. “You’re no help at all.”

He shrugged, grin splitting his face. “Maybe.”

Nightmare came around the couch to face you. “You said something about toxins.”

“Yeah.” You glared once more at Killer, earning another giggle, before turning to address the boss. “Sneezing is also a way to get rid of toxins. Just like sweating, crying, and exhaling.”

Everyone leaned away from you.

“You’re telling me that you’re spreading toxins everywhere while you breathe??” Killer questioned, leaning further away from you. You blew air at him. He yelped and backpedaled, falling behind the couch.

Turning back to Nightmare, you clarify. “It’s not that type of toxin. It’s more like hot air. It won’t do anything unless it’s the only air there.” You hesitated. “I don’t know how to explain it. You’d have to understand the human body more.”

There was obviously still confusion coming from everyone when Horror came back with a steaming bowl.

He shoved it at you. “Soup.”

“Thanks, Horror. I’m not sick tho.” You said, still burritoed.

His face of confusion matched everyone else’s. “You’re . . . not sick?” He thought for a moment. “But sneezes mean . . . you’re sick.”

“Not always. Sometimes humans just sneeze.” You explain shortly.

Killer’s grinning face crested the back of the couch. You gave his mischievous look a suspicious side eye. “Yeah, Horror. Sometimes they just sneeze out toxins.”

Horror’s face went panicked.

“You’re not helping!!” You snapped at Killer. “Horror, he’s-Mph!” Your mouth suddenly had a spoon in it. The flavor of chicken noodle soup filled your senses as Horror continually spoon fed you. You sent Killer another glare as he laughed at your expense.

At least the soup was good.

Pepper

With Horror

TW: Eating disorders are mentioned in this chapter!

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“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.

Go All Out

With Horror

Masterlist

Prev / Next

Your first mission.

It wasn’t going very well.

Of course that was mostly because you couldn’t rely on magic like your opponent did. Or like the rest of the gang. Killer had been paired up with you for that very reason. Couldn’t have you dying on your first day. Though, Killer only did so much.

It was supposed to be a routine raid. Get in. Distract the residents. Take what they needed. Get out. You and Killer were one of the distractions. And you just had to meet the oddly dressed Papyrus of this world. That wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t a swap au. Killer had immediately engaged in battle, leaving you to dodge what blasters and bones came your way. You weren’t sure if you should try to help or stay out of the way. Killer had it handled right?

Your soul turned blue.

“Well, well. Hello, human.” Said a voice behind you.

You fought the hold on your soul but it tightened. You grunted and tried to look behind you.

This world’s Sans had his face hovering over your shoulder. “Ah, ah. You wouldn’t leave a new pal hangin’, would you?”

Your face twisted at his grin. Wasn’t he a swap? The magnificent Sans or something? What was he doing? This wasn’t how the gang described swaps.

He grabbed your shoulders and you suppressed a flinch at the contact.

“Release me.” You said, much calmer than you felt.

He chuckled. “Normally, I would. But~” He blinked slowly but when his sockets opened again, his eyelight was blue. “I saw who you came with.~” You tried to lean away from him. “We don’t take kindly to raiders here, human.”

You fought his hold again. You needed to get help. Your eyes went to where Killer was fighting Papyrus. Maybe he would hear if you-

A hand went over your mouth. “Nope~! Let’s not bother your friend, hm~?” He whispered in your ear. “He looks busy.”

You struggled. Surely, Killer would see you. He had to. He was supposed to protect you for this mission. He looked so focused, though.

A blaster charged up pointing you direction from where the battle was going on.

You broke the hold on your soul and tried to break away from the weird Sans. His hand stayed clamped over your mouth as the other wrapped around your waist. You thrashed trying to at least get away from the blast. The blaster fired and suddenly the world lurched as Sans rolled with you out of the way.

His grip tightened on you and you felt him try to get a hold of your soul again. “Woah! Almost lost you there, didn’t I?”

You growled through his gloved fingers, kicking at him. You had to save yourself.

“Feisty, aren’t we?” He purred, pulling you closer so you couldn’t kick properly.

Your eyes widened. This was a Lust au, wasn’t it? Nonononono. You fought even harder to break away. You knew what the gang had told you about these aus.

He started pulling you backwards. “Don’t be scared, sugar plumb. The Majestic Sans will take care of you~.” You couldn’t break his grip. His strong and practiced hands held you secure. You felt his breath on the back of your head. “You won’t remember a thing~.”

Sans yelped as you were yanked backwards. Another hand grabbed your upper arm and ripped you away from the pervert. You scrambled to steady yourself and break away from the new threat when you locked eyes with Horror. He gently released your arm and rubbed where he’d grabbed you before turning back to the swap with fire in his eye. You stepped up behind him, not willing to leave your partner in a fight again.

“Don’t touch her.” He growled, towering over the opponent in his crushing grip.

Sans cursed and summoned a bone.

That was a mistake.

Five blasters and an uncounted amount of bones appeared around Sans as he swung at Horror’s arm. He didn’t even nick Horror before he was dusted. Horror heaved with his fist crushing the dust in his hand. He wasn’t moving.

You peaked around his large form, concerned. “Hor-”

“AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” Horror screamed. His blasters went off again and started blasting a hole in the ground where the Sans had once been. Bones imbedded themselves in the ground before evaporating under the blasters. You shielding your eyes at the light show and radiating heat.

“HORROR!!!” You shouted over the storm of sound. “HORROR, HE’S GONE!!!!”

The attacks gradually slowed to a stop. You and Horror panted for a minute.

“Woah.” You said at the destruction before you.

His attention snapped to you. You flinched. His eyelight had zeroed in on you and was but a pinprick of black against burning red. He didn’t seem to recognize you. Again.

You stepped back.

Horror shook his head and the tension in his shoulders dissipated. He looked over you with concern. “Are you… hurt? . . . Anywhere?” He looked like he wanted to step closer but restrained himself.

You sighed when you saw the Horror you knew come back. “I’m fine. Just startled.” You glanced down at the hole. “I… didn’t see him coming. He…” You hesitated. “He caught my soul off guard.” Should have kept your guard up. Always keep your guard up.

Horror growled at the hole. “Good… riddance.”

“Yeah…”

You and Horror shared a moment of silence.

“Woah! What happened here?” Came a voice at your side.

You lashed out, swinging a fist at the intruder. He caught your fist and smiled at you.

“Nice to see you too, Y/N.” Killer said. “So what’d you and Horror have against the ground?” He pointed at the hole.

Horror growled and came at Killer before shoving a finger in his face. “Where were you?”

Killer lifted his hands in surrender, grin gone. “Hey, I’m just one guy! That Papyrus just wouldn’t die! I was gonna kill him and be back at Y/N’s side before she even noticed I was gone! I swear!”

Horror’s growl got louder. “The Sans had her.” He snapped.

Killer’s wide sockets turned to you. As if he thought you’d correct Horror. When you didn’t his mouth fell open. “…Well, shit… You okay, kiddo?”

You nodded. He hadn’t gotten violent while he had you. So nothing was bruised or broken.

Killer’s face changed to something you didn’t recognize on him. “I didn’t mean physically. Are you okay?” Oh. That look was sympathy wasn’t it.

You hesitated to answer. Were you okay? Nothing had happened. Nothing that bad at least. Did that count? You weren’t sure. “I don’t know. I think so?”

Killer and Horror shared a look before Killer spoke again. “Let’s go meet up with the Boss, yeah?”

You nodded. He gently grabbed your sleeve to teleport.

Nightmare locked eyes with you the second you teleported. You looked at your feet. He wouldn’t let you go on a mission again after that. You couldn’t handle yourself for two minutes! You were a liability if they had to keep a constant eye on you. This was your only chance to prove yourself as a valuable member of the team. You’d messed up.

Nightmare rounded everyone up and you all went home. Horror had his hand on your shoulder the entire time.

“Freshen up.” Nightmare said as he moved towards his office. “Afterwards, everyone gives a report. Don’t take too long.” He was gone.

Dust, Killer, and Cross started checking and cleaning each other’s wounds. They moved in tandem. You mindlessly watched their quick and efficient movements. They worked so well together. You even saw Dust hand a wrap to Cross while they both were facing opposite directions. Killer managed to keep up perfectly while yapping his mouth off as usual.

The hand on your shoulder gave a gentle squeeze, pulling your attention away from the orderly chaos. Horror looked down at you. “Let’s get you… clean.” He mumbled.

You nodded numbly and followed him to a bench against the wall you hadn’t noticed. You must have teleported into the medical wing of the castle. Horror had you sit and grabbed a first aid kit. When he opened it you realized that it was specifically a monster first aid kit. You were completely at a loss for what anything in there was. There was even a bag of candies. Horror opened it and passed you a candy. You accepted it from his hand as he pulled out a salve of some sort.

You stared as he took your right arm and gently pulled your sleeve up. You reached to stop him when you suddenly noticed a large burn mark on your arm. When did that get there? The fog in your head started to clear.

Ow.

Ow!

You pulled away from Horror at the rush of pain that shot through your body. “Ah!!” You yelled. Why did it only start hurting now? Why didn’t you feel it earlier? You fearfully pulled away from Horror. Did he do something to you? What could he have done? And why would he hurt you? The guys from across the room stopped what they were doing and looked over at you. Seeing you holding your arm away from a concerned Horror, Cross got up and walked over. Dust and Killer slipped out of the room together.

“Y/N.” Cross squatted in front of you, pulling your attention away from Horror. “You’re okay. Your adrenaline is wearing off. It kept you from feeling the pain. Horror isn’t hurting you. You’re okay.” He held your gaze with a knowing look. “It’s okay.”

Horror cautiously took your arm again. You looked back at him, flinching back. Cross set his hand on your knee.

“Y/N. Look at me.” Your head sharply turned back to Cross. His face was just as gentle as before. “Keep looking at me. He’s just cleaning you up. Can you tell me how you got burnt?”

You thought back to when you were dodging Killer and Papyrus’s blasters. It must have happened then but you made sure to check yourself each time. So when did… Your eyes widened. When Sans had dodged with you. You must have still gotten hit.

“Killer and Papyrus were fighting.” You started slowly. “He had my soul. I broke free but he grabbed me. A blaster fired at us. He rolled with me at the last second. It must have hit me then.” Your mind was numb again.

Cross nodded patiently. “Who had you, Y/N?” He gently probed.

Your mouth shut.

“Sans.” Horror said quietly.

Cross’s eyes shot between you and Horror. You looked at the burn on your arm.

“Hey, keep looking at me.” Cross beckoned. He tipped his head into your line of sight until you obeyed. “You did a good job.”

“No I didn’t.” You said without thinking.

Cross’s lights flickered for a moment. You saw a flash of recognition and grief in his expression before he regained his composure. You couldn’t find it in you to care. You’re sure you’ll feel regret later. He tilted his head at you. “Why would you say that?”

“I couldn’t take care of myself. I failed.” You stated bluntly.

That expression flashed again. Yeah, you’d definitely feel guilt later. “Y/N.” Cross stressed your name. “You weren’t supposed to be in that situation. It wasn’t a test. It was an accident. You weren’t expected to hold yourself in battle on the first day. The goal was to show you how we did things. What happened wasn’t your fault.” He smiled at you. “You did good.”

“No.” You corrected again. “I got caught. I couldn’t get away. I’ll never be able to keep up with you guys if I can’t even beat a monster that was holding back. I did not do good.” You felt sadness press against your barrier. You pushed it back.

Cross looked sad. He went to speak again when you looked away, effectively ending the conversation. He sighed.

“Done.” Horror stated. He had cleaned and wrapped your wound with a long loop hanging off the bandage. He nudged your other hand which still held the candy. “Eat that. It… helps.”

You popped it in your mouth without care.

Dust entered the room again. “Hey, guys. Reports.”

Horror nodded and stood. He offered his hand to help you up. You took it despite not needing help. He lifted the loop from the bandage over your head. It held your arm in a makeshift sling. You gave the sling an upset look. As if you needed to look any weaker.

You silently followed Horror and Cross to Nightmare’s office where they would enter alone for their report. You waited to go last. You needed to psych yourself up first before you saw Nightmare.

Horror went before you and when he came back out he gave you an encouraging smile. You didn’t react as you entered the office, carefully not to bump your arm in the door. Nightmare sat at his desk scratching things down on paper. You sat on a stool and waited for him to finish what he was writing. Trying to distract yourself, you looked at the shelves behind him, reading the titles.

“Normally, when someone comes in to report,” Nightmare startled you, setting his pen down. “They start the conversation.” His eye leveled yours.

You look down. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry.” Your free hand grabbed at your collar.

Nightmare sighed. “I see you got your first injury today. Care to tell me how that happened?” His fingers drummed on the desk.

You took a deep breath and straightened to give your report.

After your full report, Nightmare remained silent. You ended up slouching again in an attempt to go unnoticed.

“What makes you think any of that was your fault?”

You shrugged.

Nightmare heaved a deep sigh. “Did you know, Horror struggles to use his magic?”

You shook your head.

“He doesn’t teleport. He doesn’t summon bones let alone a single blaster.”

Your brows drew together and you looked up at Nightmare. You’d just watched him summon five…

“Horror has a very hard time focusing his magic. I have yet to see his blasters. None of us have.” He let you mull that information over. “He told me that he wasn’t sure what happened. That he was just angry. He saw that Sans dragging you and acted. Horror purified the world of his dust.” Nightmare’s brow rose. “We would have all done the same. Do you know why?”

You shook your head again.

“Because you are important.” He stated. “You are worth it. If you didn’t have a use, you would never have been brought here in the first place. You’re not just a guest or a weapon or a tool. Just like everyone else here, you are family.”

You shrank into yourself. As much as you wanted to hear those words, you didn’t think you deserved them. You hadn’t done anything to earn them. Nightmare stood and walked around the desk to stand next to you.

“You’ve done enough, Y/N.” He said, gently grabbing your arm. You flinched, the feel of that Sans’s hands still fresh on your arms. Nightmare pulled you onto your feet and into a hug. “You are priceless.”

You melted into his arms. You really needed that hug.

Boxed In

With Dust

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“Y/N.”

You looked up from the couch to see Dust standing in the doorway. He ignored Killer egging Cross on again and gestured for you to follow. Excusing yourself, you hurried to catch up to his determined pace, mostly out of curiosity. Dust never asked you for anything let alone to follow him.

“What’s up, Dust?” You questioned as you fell in step next to him.

His pace didn’t slow for a second. “Training.” Was his blunt answer.

When he didn’t continue, you pressed on. “Foooor?”

“Any situation where you get stuck or caught.” His eyelight flicked at you for a second, leaving an unspoken ‘again.’ “Break away techniques, distractions, dodging, deflection. How to deal with a magic wielder without magic.”

You fell a pace behind and subconsciously tugged at your makeshift sling. “Oh.” You frowned.

“We won’t be going over all that today.” He gave a pointed look at your arm. “Today will mostly be dodging and deflection.”

“Okay.”

Dust didn’t continue until you reached the training hall. He led you to the weapons rack that you don’t remember being there when you first joined the gang. “Pick a weapon. You won’t end up using it today but you should get familiar with carrying something around.”

You observed the options. The rack contained axes, quarter staffs, swords, short swords, daggers, and a few other miscellaneous weapons like nunchucks and morning stars. A portion of the rack was just giant hammers and anime style swords that looked far too heavy to lift but your eyes went after the smaller weapons. You prided yourself on your speed and dexterity so you didn’t want anything big enough to slow you down or hinder your movement. Your eyes caught on a glint of metal as you approached the rack. It was a dagger no longer than your hand. The hilt and sheath had no decor and it was just the right colour to blend in with your outfit. After checking how easily it moved in and out of the sheath, you chose it.

When you turned around the show Dust your choice, you couldn’t see his eyelights.

“Dust?” You asked, concerned.

His lights came back and he walked into the fighting arena. “Strap it on and let’s get started.”

It took you a minute and some pointers from Dust before the sheath was properly secured at your hip and you hopped into the arena. It wasn’t like a boxing arena. More like if you took a chunk of terrain and dropped it in a building. There were rocks to climb on, hide behind, and trip over. The floor was mostly dirt and gravel that could kick up clouds of dust if moved too quickly. You knew from when you watched Cross and Killer spar before that there were hidden sprinklers that would clear out the dust clouds after a fight.

“Ready?” Dust said. You stood across from him and readied your stance before nodding. There was a charging sound as a blaster appeared beside him.

He was starting with the big guns first?!?!

You leapt behind the closest boulder just in time as it blasted the wall behind you. “WHY’D YOU HAVE TO START WITH THAT?!?!?!!?” You shouted, dodging a few bones that came after you.

“You said you were ready.” There was a smile in his voice.

The bones brought you into Dust’s line of sight again and you saw his eyelights blazing a piercing red with blue in his left. He summoned more bones that flew at you. You kept dodging. That was all you could do. That was all you were supposed to do. You were smacked in the knee with a blunt bone. Your health fell a few points and the attacks stopped.

“Keep your knees bent.” Dust said, standing over you as you huffed. He stared with his hands in his pockets. “Look, listen, feel. Your opponent will almost always repeat the same action for an attack. Blasters make a sound before they’re even summoned. Bones shake the ground before appearing. Rest up and try again.”

Much to Dust’s disappointment, you flopped on the floor outside the arena. He quickly directed you to walk around and stretch to keep you from getting sore and handed you a monster candy to regain the health you’d lost.

By the time you caught your breath, Dust was beckoning you back into the arena. You sighed but followed him anyways. Each round you learned different cues to keep in mind. The ground did in fact rumble before bones would shoot out. There was a subtle crackling sound before a blaster would appear and as soon as it started charging, the blaster wouldn’t change direction even if you moved. Dust, while he rarely moved or generally reacted, did give away when he was about to attack with an almost unnoticeable pulse of light from his eyes like a heartbeat. You learned how to react and dodge quickly as you used the terrain to your advantage, darting in and out of sight. Despite this knowledge, you still couldn’t dodge him forever and each round ended if he so much as hit you once.

Four hp lost and the sixth round ended.

“Alright, that’s all for dodging.”

You gave a tired yet enthusiastic; “Yes!”

“Time for deflection.”

“Ugh!” You groaned as you stumbled out of the arena.

Dust chuckled at you. “You can use your weapon next time. I’ll teach you how to use it to shield yourself first.”

You looked down at the dagger that was barely bigger than your hand. “Uhh…”

“Any weapon can be used. The smaller it is the faster you can react.” Dust assured you. After a quick break he showed you how to knock an attack away instead of blocking like you tried to do. He sent single, slow bones at you, gradually increasing the speed. “It’s not a shield, it’s a weapon. Attack the threats. Don’t block them.” When he was satisfied with your stance and aim, he entered the arena again.

As soon as you reached your normal starting position, Dust attacked. Multiple bones came flying at you and you knock away a few with a swing of your knife while dodging what you missed. “Again??” You complained at the surprise attack.

“Gotta learn to stay on your toes somehow, kiddo.” A subtle crackle.

You leapt away from the blaster and launched yourself over a rock as bones came out of the ground. More bones were deflected and dodged as you tried not to strain your burnt arm. It wouldn’t help if you hurt yourself again. You decided to try to mix things up this time now that you had a better chance with the knife. What if you tried to get close to Dust instead of just waiting for him to hit you? A smirk pulled at your cheek. You turned toward your opponent and pressed forward. His lights flickered at you and more attacks came flying. You ducked, dodged, and knocked attacks away as you (very) slowly made progress in his direction.

When you got within three yards of Dust, a wall of bones sprung up between you. You slashed it away with your knife and immediately felt like something was wrong. As if the air had changed. You looked into Dust’s empty sockets and realized what was wrong as a manic grin split his face. He laughed a heartless laugh as his eyelights blazed back to life, piercing into you, not showing the faintest recognition.

His eyes flashed brightly.

You dove under a barrage of attacks and rolled before jumping off the rumbling ground. Five separate crackling noises had you scrambling for cover. Miraculously, you avoided an additional five burn marks before hurrying away from Dust. You had to hide. Or get Nightmare. Or literally anything!

You stumbled back with a yelp as Dust appeared between you and the door. “Dust! It’s me! Y/N! Please calm down!”

He tipped his head to the side, grin spreading, and red sliding behind his shoulder.

Wait, red-?

His eyes flashed and the ground rumbled.

Despite your best efforts, a bone nicked your leg taking much more health than his controlled training attacks. You yelped and hurried into the only cover in the room. The arena with burn marks on the walls. Only the walls. With a burst of inspiration and a crackle of energy, you turned to the summoned blaster and lowered yourself to the ground. Blaster charging and ground rumbling, you rolled away fled again. As you’d hoped, the blast hit the ground and sent up a huge cloud of dust and debris. You weaved through the arena by memory and touch to a hidden nook you’d found earlier and held your breath.

There was tense silence.

No blasters. No bones.

Then footsteps.

“C’mon, kiddo!” Came Dust’s mocking voice. “You should have seen this coming! After all, you started this route.” There was hatred in those words. “Are you really hiding from me?”

You really hoped Nightmare would notice the fear pouring out of you as you tried not to move further into your hiding place. The knife was held in front of you just in case.

“Coward.” Dust laughed. “Come on! I’ll only kill you a lot!” A longer, creepier laugh, the footsteps getting closer.

Desperate for air, you tried to take a calming breath which came out more like a breathless squeak. You froze as the footsteps stopped. You prayed that he hadn’t just heard you when he appeared in the opening of your cubby.

“Hey.” The walls rumbled.

Against your better judgment, you dove and rolled into Dust’s reach as bones stabbed where you’d just been. He grabbed your wrist and twisted making you drop the knife. “Gotten a little stabby, huh?” He yanked you closer and there was a sharp pain in your shoulder. “Mind if I return a favor?” He chuckled as he pushed the bone further into your arm.

You cried out.

Suddenly, Dust was much further away from you as his back slammed into the wall. A tentacle wrapped around your waist and up your arm to keep you from grabbing at the bone still in your shoulder.

“Nightmare!” You gasped.

Nightmare grunted at you as he confronted the still manic skeleton. “Stay still and he won’t hit you again.” Before you could respond, the tentacle around you pulled you to hover right behind him, hiding you from Dust.

Dust lashed out at the tentacles that slowly closed in on him. Bones and blasters went flying across the entire training hall. As soon as his attention focused on one tentacle, the other shot forward and wrapped around his arms. Dust yelled and thrashed as Nightmare sighed in relief. While his captive continued to thrash, the goopy skeleton turned to you. His gaze settled on your shoulder. “Don’t move. Don’t touch it. Removing the obstruction could make you bleed out. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

You shook your head. “Not anything too major. Dust taught me to dodge most of his attacks.” You glanced at the respective skeleton.

“Good.” The noise from Dust slowed. “I’m glad. You need to know all you can.” Nightmare carefully reached for your shoulder, hesitant. “What have you learned?” He glanced between you and the wound you barely felt.

You knew he was trying to distract you but went for it anyway, refraining from looking at the wound yourself in case it made you feel more pain if you saw it. You shrugged and winced. “Look, listen, feel. He taught me the listen for the- AAGGHH!!!!”

Nightmare yanked the bone out and pressed his hands against your shoulder. Your teeth grinded together angrily as he nodded at you. “Continue.” He said calmly.

“You pulled a Fucking BONE OUT OF MY ARM!!!!!” You snapped.

“Yes, you’d disturbed and opened the wound when you shrugged.” He gave you a very pointed look. “I told you not to move. Now please continue.”

You growled, mostly at the pain now flooding your body.

“Y/N?”

A tentacle brought Dust into view over Nightmare’s shoulder. “Mind telling me what happened here, Dust?”

Dust stared at you. Then at your bleeding shoulder. Then back at you. His eyelights went out.

“Dust?”

“Uh, yes.” Dust looked away from you. “We were training. I guess Y/N got confident because, after I taught her to deflect attacks, she came at me.” He stopped for a moment before Nightmare gently shook him out of his thoughts. “I saw Frisk.”

Nightmare nodded thoughtfully. “So you responded like you were back there?” Nod. “Well, whatever you taught Y/N worked. She survived.”

Dust’s eyelights flicked up to look at you. You gave him a pained yet genuine smile. He looked down.

“Do you know what exactly set you off?”

Dust grunted. “The knife.”

Your heart fell. You really kept messing everything up didn’t you? “I’m s-”

“No.” Nightmare warned you. “Don’t you go apologizing for something you knew nothing about. It’s not your fault. Never was.” Dust nodded.

You hissed as Nightmare shifted to hold your shoulder with one hand as he reached into his pocket. “Could you not?” You growled.

“Nope. Stop moving.” Nightmare responded unapologetically. He pulled the salve you remember Horror using from his pocket. “This will help. Don’t move.”

“I’m not- AH!!!!” You clamped your mouth shut as he applied the salve directly to the wound. You somehow managed not to move as you hissed out a breath. “Little warning?”

Nightmare chuckled at your anger. “Next time. That should keep it from bleeding more and fight off any potential infection.” He noted aloud. “You are the highest maintenance human I have ever met.”

A smirk tugged at Dust’s teeth. “How many humans have you actually met?”

Nightmare waved his hand dismissively. “Like, five.” Smirk.

Dust let a smile cross his face for a moment. You chose to speak up. “I’m sorry for causing an episode, Dust. I wish there had been some way I could have avoided it.” Nightmare squinted his eye at you. “I know.” You added at him.

Dust shook his head at you. “Nah. It was my fault. I should’ve asked you to pick something else or at the very least warned you. I thought it’d be fine.” Nightmare gently set him down. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything.”

“Woah! What’d I miss out on?!?”

You looked over to see Killer in the doorway to the training hall. His blipped over to you all. He peered around Nightmare’s tentacles. “What’d you stab your shoulder for? Do you just hate that arm? If you really want it gone, I can help.” His brows bounced across his forehead.

“No!” You shoved his face away with your good arm, a smirk on your face. “It was an accident. We were training.”

“I stabbed her.” Dust said bluntly. You sputtered.

Killer leaned over Nightmare towards Dust. “Gettin’ tired of her already, huh?”

Dust scoffed. “She swung a knife at me.”

“I did not swing it at you!”

“And I reacted out of habit.” Dust finished.

Killer’s sockets widened. “You went back?” At Dust’s nod, Killer looked over at you. “How did you survive that? No offense, but you’re not exactly sturdy.”

“Killer.”

“What?? I’m being honest!! I can’t be honest anymore??” Killer faked offense.

“To answer your question, Killer.” You pointed at Dust. “He taught me a lot beforehand.”

Killer deflated over the tentacle he was leaned over. “I’m always missing the cool stuff…” He looked back up at you hopefully. “Could you do it again?”

“NO!”

Bean

(And the gang😊)

Horror adopted Bean after discovering her in a steadily collapsing AU. He was going to put her out of her misery when she “Nyeh!”ed at him. Reminded of his little brother, Horror couldn’t bear to see her hurt and claimed her.

There were mixed reactions from the rest of the gang.

Dust immediately hates the human that looks extremely similar to Frisk and tries to attack her.

Killer is curious and keeps poking her until she “Nyeh!”s again in frustration at being poked. His soul flickered and at that moment he mentally swore to help raise the kiddo. His eager volunteering to help take care of the child confuses Nightmare and Dust. Honestly he just wants to make sure Horror doesn’t turn her into food at some point.

Nightmare doesn’t care at first. If anything, he was glad Horror asked. Killer and Dust always tried to hide their pets from him, as if he didn’t know. He was a little confused why there was someone left in the collapsing AU. Error didn’t normally leave survivors, no matter the age. Whatever. Horror seemed happy and Killer was oddly not murdery so he’ll allow it.

The Trouble AU gang and Bean are open to asks! You can time travel if you want to ask older Bean. Please specify what age range.

(For plot reasons, Bean, ages 14 and up, is unavailable for asks)

I have an ask for Bean and the gang!

Does Dust ever get comfortable around Bean? Who is Bean's favorite?

Dust does loosen up after Bean’s first words

Masterlist

“Buba Dus” = “Brother Dust”

Killer denies teaching Bean the word “brother.”

Bean’s favorite is Dust, surprisingly.

Judgement

With Dust

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“Dust?” You asked. He stopped just as he passed you in the hall. He didn’t turn to look at you but seemed like he was in a hurry. “Where are you-?”

“Stay with Horror.” He commanded roughly. “He’s in the kitchen. Don’t leave him.” He started marching down the hall again.

“Wait, is something wrong? Aaaand you’re gone. Nevermind.” You huffed and started towards the kitchen. Maybe Horror needed help? Or he was having another episode? But ‘don’t leave him’ implied that if that were the case, Nightmare would have been called instead. Unless Dust thought you would do better? Just in case, your pace sped up.

You rounded the corner into the kitchen. “Horror, are you okay?” Your slightly panicked state blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

Horror looked up from the stove where he was currently making macaroni and chicken nuggets, Killer’s favorite. In his hand was a wooden spoon, his grin was casual, and him eyelight focused on you in recognition. His brows furrowed as he processed your question.

“Mm… yeah? Are… you okay?” He shot back at you. “You’re… stiff.”

You sighed. “I thought… I don’t know. Dust said to come find you and not leave you. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Definitely not that he was biting into Nightmare’s limbs again. Nope. Not that.

The grin on Horror’s face widened. “You thought… I was feral… again.” He chuckled.

You sputtered. “I-! Horror-!”

“Nah.” He interrupted before you could deny his claim. “It’s… fine. You weren’t… hurt. That’s… important.” He turned back to the stove.

Awkwardly, you shuffled over to peer over his shoulder at the food. You took note of the salt and pepper shakers nearby. “Soooo… do you know where Dust went?” You hoped he wasn’t mad at you after the other day. Your arm was still dramatically swaddled in bandages that itched. You couldn’t come up with a good reason for him to be mad at you, he had looked rather upset with himself actually, but that didn’t stop you from speculating. Was it the knife? Had that set him off more than you thought? Was he avoiding you because you’d reminded him of his past?

“Dust? He went… on a mission. Took Killer… and Cross. He’ll be back… later.” Horror shrugged. The wooden spoon was tapped on the side of the pot and set down before Horror turned to face you.

“Oh.” That made sense. They had things to do and couldn’t afford to carry you around like the dead weight you were. Really, you’d only slow them down. Though, Dust seemed rough when he talked to you. Maybe it still had something to do with you.

“Y/n.”

Your attention snapped to Horror as you realized you’d spaced out. He looked concerned.

“What is it?” He asked slowly.

“I…” I’m fine. It’s nothing. I’m sorry, I just spaced out for a second there. I’m fine, really. “I don’t know. Dust was… rough when he left. I… Do… Do you think he’s mad at me? For the other day? I didn’t mean to scare him. I just… I didn’t know.” You shrank under the taller skeleton’s gaze and looked at your feet. “I’m sorry.”

A chuckle shocked you as Horror turned back to the food. “Dust isn’t… mad.” He stirred the noodles again before seeming to approve the consistency and walked the pot to the sink. You helped him scrape the noodles into the strainer-“Colander.”-colander with the wooden spoon and he dropped a stick of butter into the still hot pot.

“It’s called a colander?” You peeked into the sink.

“Yeah.” Horror tapped the bowl. “Strainer’s the thing… with wires. Better for… sifting flour. Not noodles.” He chuckled at you as the timer on the stove went off. You handed him the oven mitts and stepped back.

“…You’re sure Dust isn’t mad?”

Horror’s laugh echoed through the castle. “Yes! Have you seen… Dust angry? He doesn’t… beat… around the… bush.” He set the tray of chicken nuggets on the stove and turned the over off. “If he… was mad… everyone would know. Especially you… But he’s not… mad. Not… at you.” That last sentence sounded like an afterthought.

“…What do you mean? Not at me? Who’s he mad at?” You questioned.

Horror shook his head. “Not… important. Dust can tell you… later. Here.” He handed the spoon to you and picked up the stra- colander. With your help, he carefully poured the macaroni noodles back into the pot.

You dropped the topic of Dust at the promise of information later. That didn’t stop you from worrying but now you were content to wait.

Lunch was eaten, Nightmare came out just long enough to eat before dismissing himself back to his office, and you and Horror were watching a movie in the living room when Cross’s portal opened in the hallway. You bounded off the couch to peek around the corner at them, Horror giggling at you. Someone you didn’t recognize was talking.

“-come b-b-back for th-that favor-or-or l-later, a-abomination. D-D-Don’t forge-get that.” Growled a voice that glitched terribly.

You looked around the corner where Cross stood over a panting Killer, who was splayed across the floor and dripping hate. Dust was still on the other side of the portal, talking to someone out of sight.

“I won’t.” Dust answered, curt but not rude. With the conversation apparently done, Dust entered the castle as the portal shut behind him. He kicked Killer softly. “You good?”

“I hate you.” Killer groaned back.

“Anything new?”

“Shut up. Let me die.”

Cross chuckled, turned away from the two, and saw you in the doorway. “Hey, y/n. Wassup?” Killer groaned.

You glanced between the three skeletons. “Uhh… Hi? What did you do to Killer?”

Dust grinned and kicked Killer again. “Nothing.”

“Stop.” Killer complained.

Cross laughed at the beaten skeleton. “Killer just took on an entire au by himself. He’ll be fine.”

That didn’t calm you at all. “What?! Killer are you okay?!?” You rushed to his side. He had hundreds of cuts, big and small, and several forming bruises. At least, from what you could see. No doubt there was more damage under his clothes.

He grinned weakly at you. “Aw. You’re concerned for lil ol’ me? I’m flattered, kiddo. You can blame Dust for the, well, dust. It was his idea.” His head lifted to look at Dust. “Are you done with me now?”

Dust folded his arms and looked at Cross, who shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Go get yourself cleaned up, Killer.”

Cross helped Killer to his feet and headed towards the infirmary. You took a step after them but stopped when you glanced over your shoulder at Dust. He stood with his hands in his pockets, watching you, waiting for you to make a decision on who to follow.

You stepped back. “Dust.”

“Y/n.” He nodded. “I assume you have questions.”

“Yeah.”

“Shoot.”

You rocked on your heels. “Uh, what exactly did you do today?”

“Destroyed an au.”

That made you freeze for a second. “…uhhhhhh… well, um, how’d you do that? Doesn’t Nightmare try not to destroy whole worlds?”

“I called in a favor with a… friend. And I got Nightmare’s permission for that.” Dust’s nonchalant attitude had you at a loss for words. He sighed. “Look, I called in a favor but it came with conditions, Cross had to be transport cause my ‘friend’ wasn’t going to taxi me and Killer around. Basically, if I didn’t let anyone touch him and offered him a favor later, he’d help us completely destroy Lustswap. As it turns out, it was some sort of multiversal traffic hub. Bastards. I had Killer clear them out ‘cause,” He gave your arm a pointed look. “he needed to fix a mistake. Me and Cross stayed back to guard Er- my friend. That’s why Killer’s so messed up. That make sense to you?”

Your thoughts were racing. He helped destroy a whole au, made Killer do most of it, and Cross was a taxi? No, wait, he didn’t say that. “I… you… Why?” Was all you could get out.

Dust raised a brow. “Why what?”

“…Why’d you destroy it? I don’t understand… I mean, I’m… relieved… that it’s gone but… why?”

“Y/n. We did it for you.” You froze. “Did… Did you think it wasn’t for you? That we just randomly lashed out at one au specifically?”

You fumbled for your words. “Why?”

Dust’s face scrunched up in concern. “We… Y/n, we love you. You’re family. Why wouldn’t we?”

We love you.

You’re family.

…Family.

Dust hugged you, startling you from your thoughts. You found your voice. “I don’t deserve it. Your love.”

A rumbling growl came from the skeleton. “You shut up. You’re not allowed to talk bad about yourself, you hear me? No bad talk, no judging. That’s not your job.” He squeezed you gently. “It’s mine.”

You hugged him back. There was silence for a few minutes before you spoke. “…Thank you.”

“No problem, kiddo.”

Hello Bean! (5 yrs old Bean) Which skelly (skeleton) do you like the most? :3

Yeah… it’s Dust.

Mermaid bean? And reactions of the bad Sanses perhaps?

Ooooooooh! I’ve been meaning to draw this one!

Masterlist

I kinda turned it into its own au…

And then Killer named her Bubble.

Communication/Language

A Mermay Prompt

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“Hey, y/n!” Killer greeted.

You gave him a halfhearted nod and returned back to your food. It was weird only eating fish and sea weed. Not that it was bothering you.

Killer leaned over your shoulder to nip at the fish in your hands. You swatted him away without a sound and Killer backed up. “…You okay, suckerfish.”

You nodded and smiled at him. No. No you weren’t okay. But it was fine. It had only been a week since you’d moved in. And you still couldn’t speak properly. But it was fine. You’d figure it out.

“Killer.” Nightmare called from the crevasse.

Killer shot away with a singsongy, “Yes, Boss~?” and disappeared into the trench.

You sighed through your nose. You were jealous. Yes, jealous. Killer was always talking and singing all the time, and the others did too, but you couldn’t even sing a siren song yet. All you could do was chirp and whistle.

A few minutes later, Killer swung by to tease you again on his way out. That was another thing. The boys could leave the trench for one reason or another, sometimes the Boss would send them on missions you weren’t allowed to know about, but you couldn’t leave unless absolutely necessary. No one let you go anywhere, especially by yourself. Even now, Dust was watching you from his cave, ready to stop you if you tried to leave.

“Y/n.” Called Nightmare.

You shivered and looked over at Dust, who shooed you with a hand. You gently set the half-eaten fish down and cautiously swam into the trench. You hadn’t been to see Nightmare by yourself before and you were terrified.

“I’m not going to bite you. Calm yourself.”

Right. Negativity. You took a few deep breaths as you descended to the floor of the trench, stopping when you were level with his eyes.

He smiled kindly at you. “It has come to my attention that you have not been using your voice, refraining from speaking even in casual conversation.”

You sank a few feet in embarrassment. He wasn’t wrong.

“If you do not practice, you will not develop a voice or a call. Do you know what that means, y/n?”

You shook your head.

“It means you will never become independent. If you cannot use your voice, you will die if you get separated from your pod. Either from starvation or because a larger predator attacked you. Your voice is very important. So I’ve decided to teach you.”

What.

You looked up at the kraken in confusion. He was going to help you? He wasn’t upset that you’d failed to even try?

“As I understand it, you have made quite the impression on my pod. Usually after I’ve rested, Horror would be all over me. He has only come to me twice without being called. The others are sharing food with him too. Cross and especially Killer haven’t shared their meals in decades. And Dust, though you hadn’t met him before, has been visible almost constantly since you arrived, sitting in the edge of his den instead of the very back.” Nightmare encouraged softly. “You have fixed multiple problems, that I have spent years trying to fix, within a few weeks. I wish to thank you. So I am offering my help in your speech therapy. Do you accept?”

You nodded furiously. You’d given up trying to speak to the others. If he could fix your voice, you wouldn’t say no to that. Do you know how hard it is to communicate with someone when you can’t use your voice and don’t know sign language? It’s stupid difficult.

Nightmare grinned. “Good. Now, let’s start shall we?”

Nod nod nod.

Killer swam over you and poked your head. “Hey, suckerfish~!”

“Hhhhey.” You managed back around your food. ‘H’s were hard.

Killer flipped out and spun back around to face you. “What? Y/n, what? What did you say?” He was excited.

You took a moment to swallow. “Hhhey.” You grinned.

A sharp whistle pierced the water and Dust flinched away as Killer cheered you on. “You did it! I knew you could, suckerfish!” He hugged you, shoving you to the side.

You chirped angrily at being manhandled until he stopped. “Mmm- Mmmmnnn- Nnnniiigh…d…mmmmaaaare…hhhhep mmmme.” Scratch that. ‘N’s were harder.

“Wait. Boss helped you?” You nodded and Killer looked even more confused. “Huh. He doesn’t normally do that. Whatever. What have you learned?”

“Sssssssssounnnnndsssss.” You struggled. “Nnnnnnothhhhhhh- thhhhh- iinnnnnng b-big.” ‘Th’s sucked too. You actually gave up on that sound. “Jussssst worrrrdssssss.”

“Liiiiike? C’mon, suckerfish! Give me details!”

You frowned at him. “Toooooo mmmmmuch.”

“Too much what?”

“Too much overstimulation, Killer. Leave them alone.” Dust growled, speaking for you where you could not. You didn’t know how he knew what you meant but you appreciated it.

“When did you become the y/n expert?” Killer snapped. “You’ve barely met them!”

Dust, not caring for Killer’s fit turned to address you. “Was I correct?” You nodded. “I rest my case, Killer. Talk their ear off for all I care but don’t force them to talk when it’s already hard enough.”

Killer struck his tongue out at Dust who ignored him in favor of lying down in the entrance of his den. Without someone to mess with, Killer turned on you and started getting in your space. He tried to grab your food and you slapped his hands away.

“Get yyyyyourrr ownnnnn.” You snarked, pushing him away from your fish.

“Aw, c’mon!” He twisted away from your hand and tried to come back for your food again.

Being trained to deal with sharks, you decided to try something on him. Killer darted forward and you dropped your food to grab him with both hands. You flipped him with his tail upright and he stopped moving, stunned. You happily dug back into your food. Get rotated.

“What did you do??” Dust exclaimed, staring wide eyed at a frozen Killer who couldn’t even speak like that. “He’s quiet! What did you do to him?”

You smiled at Dust and continued eating without answering.

Dust looked excited and worried at the same time. “…Can you do that to all of us?”

You almost choked on your food as you laughed. Dust looked more and more concerned as you didn’t answer.

Migration

A Mermay Prompt

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“Hey. Hey, y/n. Wake up.”

Someone was shaking your shoulder. You groaned and scooted away from them.

“…I could go without you, y’know. Do you want to see the migration or not?”

You blinked awake. “Tthhhhhe wwwhat?”

Surprisingly enough, the face that woke you was Dust, his long body reaching out of Cross’s den and possibly back into his own den. “The stingray migration. They’re coming through nearby and I figured you’d want to see.”

You perked up and nodded. You’d never seen the migration in person but it looked beautiful.

“Well, keep up then. I won’t slow down for you.” Dust warned and turned to leave.

He didn’t have to slow down. You were swimming in circles around him as he went half your speed. You happily followed without a word, Dust didn’t seem to like unnecessary noises. He had a frown stuck to his face most of the time but you doubted he was upset. Especially since he invited you to see the migration.

You left the trench.

Hesitating, you glanced bad at the trench where the others were sleeping. Were you allowed to-?

“You’re allowed to leave if you stay with me.” Dust interrupted as if reading your thoughts. “Either keep up or go back.” He steadily got further away from you. Well, his front half did. His tail was still gliding after him next to you.

You followed.

After several minutes of travel, Dust settled beside a cliff, stuffing his tail end into a cave you hadn’t seen. Dust left a space open next to him for you to settle in to wait.

You looked around at the empty ocean. “Wwwwwhere-?”

“Be patient. They’re coming.” Dust confirmed. Then he just… stared. Out into open water.

You laid down on the stone next to him and didn’t speak, not willing to break the awkward silence. You’d left so early. No one else was awake yet. Except maybe Nightmare. You weren’t entirely sure how his sleep schedule worked but he seemed to be awake every time you checked, just staring up at you when you peered into the trench. Did he just stay awake for months and then take a month long power nap?

“Have you seen a migration before?” Dust interrupted your thoughts.

Somewhat started, it took you a moment to answer. “Oh, uh, nnnnnot a ssssstinnnngrrrayy mmmmm-mmmigri…mmmiga- mmh.” You frowned.

“Migration.”

“Yyyyeah. I ssssaw birrrdsss. B-But nnnnot ssstinngrrrayyyssss. Nnnot innn persssonnnn.”

“Birds? Those things that swim in the air?”

You laughed. “Yyyeah. Thhhhey fffflyy, nnnot ssssswim.”

Dust nodded. “We’ve got a few fish that do that.”

“Fffflyinnng fffishhh.” You filled in for him. “Thhat’sss wwwhat wwwe call thhemmm.”

“I guess. They definitely have more meat on their bones than your birds do. You know they’re all fluff, right?” He accused.

You nodded. “Birrrdsss cannn’t be tooo hhhheavyyy. Ssso lesssss mmmeat.”

“That makes sense. And their fins help them fly right?”

“Wwwinnnngsss. Nnnot fffinnnnsss.”

“Wings.” He corrected himself with a nod. “They’re light weight and have wings that help them fly. What’s the sharp part of their head for?”

Wow. He was actually talking to you. “Uh, thhheyy peck. Like b-bitinnng byyy rrunnnning yyyourr ffffacccce innnto thhhinnngsss.” You giggled at your own analogy. “Thhheyyy donnn’t hhhhave teethhhh. Sssso thhheyy hhhave too defffennnd thhhemmmsssselves withhh sssommmethhhinnng elssse.”

“They’re predators?”

“Nnnot alwwwayysss. Ssssomme jussst eat berrriesss.”

“Berries?”

“……Plannnt cannnndyy.”

“Oh. So your birds can defend themselves even though they don’t eat other creatures?”

“Yyyess.”

“…Do you have other prey that do that?”

“Mmmmossst of thhhemm. I told Crrossss about cowwssss. Hhhhehehee ffflipped out.” You giggled.

Dust’s expression softened. “So that’s what he was stuttering about back then. He kept rambling about an herbivore that kills things. When Killer asked him about he only ever said ‘Cows’ with this terrified look on his face.” Dust smiled as you giggled. His eyes were half lidded as he watched the horizon, which on him looked like pure bliss. He nodded ever so slightly. “They’re here.”

You looked over at him. “Whhho’ssss-?”

A shadow fell across you.

Startled and wide eyed, you stared as a stingray flapped slowly away from you. Seconds later hundreds of stingrays started pouring over you and Dust’s cubby in a huge mass of blankets.

You thought when he’d asked if you wanted to see the migration, you were going to see it from the side at a distance. Not directly under it.

There were so many of them.

It was beautiful.

Genuine tinkling laughter broke you from your reverie. Dust was laughing at you, his sockets wrinkling in mirth, those two gems in his sockets glittering at you.

“Wwwhat?” You asked.

“You look so dumb. Like a guppy seeing coral for the first time.”

You gasped, offended. “I’mmmm nnnnnot a guppyyy!”

“Are too. You explore and poke at everything, you have this dumb fascinated look when you see something new, and you can’t even speak properly yet. Guppy.” Dust concluded.

“Mmnnotaguppy…” You grumbled.

Dust leaned against you. “You’re pouting. It doesn’t help your case.” His weight pushed you against the stone. “Now shush. Watch the migration.”

You didn’t mind his touch. Eels were naturally sociable with friends and touch is a common way to show affection.

Sitting there, watching the stingray migration with Dust, you realized something.

You enjoyed this.

Living in a whole new environment had been a scary thought before. But, relaxing like this?

You could get used to this.

Game

A Mermay Prompt

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“Hey. Heeeyyyyyy. Y/n. Pspspsps.” You were poked awake from your nap on a rock.

“Where did you even learn that?” You turned to face Killer. The siren had apparently taken a harpoon to the soul as well as his shoulder and back. How he took an attack to the soul and lived, you couldn’t understand. Wasn’t the soul extremely fragile? Especially when touched? However, none of Dream’s other attacks seemed very physical. They hit him, sure, but there was no cut when the harpoon was removed.

You wondered if the lack of physical damage had anything to do with how Killer was acting now.

“Don’t remember. Don’t care. Hey! Do you remember that thing you brought with you from the land?” He chittered, constantly swimming around you in circles.

“The frisbee?” You asked. You gave that to Cross, right? Where did he put it?

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Killer whistled excitedly. “Where is it? Do you want to play again? Can we show the guys? I want to see them try to catch it!”

You gave him a blank look. “You want to do an activity that requires you to push yourself immediately after getting wounded? You’re crazy.” You laid back down.

“I’m not wounded!” Killer defended, a smile stuck to his face. “I’m just hyped up on energy from Dream’s attacks and I need to MOVE!!! Y’know! Like when I gave you that candy! I have too much energy! I need to do something!”

Oh. “Dream’s attacks give you energy?”

Killer shook his head in a so-so manner. “Not exactly. Dream’s attacks are filled with positivity. When hit, that positivity forces you to be excited in small doses which can turn into a frenzy if hit too many times. However! Ya boi was hit directly in the soul! So all that positivity hit me at once, sent me into a frenzy, and I was in and out of consciousness for a while. Sorry if I scared ya!” He winked. “But since Nightmare helped me steady out, I shouldn’t enter a frenzy or pass out! So I get to hang out with you!” He had spun around you so many times, you were starting to get dizzy.

You sighed. “I have to ask Cross where he put it, but sure. We can play with the frisbee.” Maybe it would help him expend some energy and calm down. It was like dealing with a child.

“YES!!!!!”

You found Cross and the frisbee relatively quickly and convinced him to come with you to play. Killer swam off to get Horror and you and Cross went to ask Dust if he wanted to try.

Dust stared at the frisbee with an unimpressed look. “…Killer put you up to this?”

“No, actually.” You smiled. “I thought you might want to join, since it is a challenging game.”

He raised a brow. “Your little disk is challenging? How so?”

“Well, when you throw it, it flies-.”

“I’m in.”

You hesitated, glancing at Cross who looked just as confused as you. “Wh- Really?”

Dust stretched and started leaving his den. “Yep.”

“But I didn’t even-.” You started.

“I might not play. But I want to see this.” He interrupted again.

“Ooookay?”

The three of you met back up with Killer and Horror, who was confused but excited to be involved.

“Alright!” You say, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Killer already knows how to play so I’ll explain it to the rest of you. This is a game where you throw this frisbee to each other in the air. No one really wins or loses, but there are ways to succeed and fail. If I throw the frisbee to you, you have to catch it. If you have the frisbee, pick someone to throw it to and they have to catch it.” You explained how to properly throw the frisbee, how not to throw the frisbee,(don’t chuck it at peoples heads, Killer) and vaguely explained what to expect when the frisbee was in the air.

Killer giggled and fidgeted the entire time, unable to keep still, until you announced you were ready to play. He was the first to the surface with only his tail visible for a second before he splashed back into the water. The shark siren acted like an excited puppy.

The first throw of the frisbee went about as expected. Cross and Horror were too close and the frisbee went flying over their shocked expressions. Killer caught the disk with ease after it arched to one side.

Dust floated next the you and watched, his glowing eyes the only indication he was paying attention under the dark of his hood.

“What was that?!” Cross complained.

Killer grinned and chittered. “That was you failing, Cross! Go long!” He threw the frisbee past you and you sped after it.

As the sun steadily crept towards noon, the four of you played, throwing the frisbee at each other and learning to catch it.

“Comin’ at ya, y/n!” Killer grinned.

“I got it!” Your tail started moving faster to lift you out of the water and…

You missed.

It sailed over your head and hit something behind you with a thump. You turned to find Dust looking over the frisbee with interest, twisting it in his hands and waving his hand under the bottom.

He glanced at you and smiled. “Duck.”

You submerged yourself just in time for the disk to be launched across the water at Cross.

“Hell yeah, Dust!!!” Killer cheered.

The game continued with Dust stealing the disk for you when you swore you had it until you moved further away from him. You made sure to mix up who you threw the frisbee to, much to Killer’s frustration.

Horror wasn’t the best at catching with his hands so every now and then a tentacle would shoot out of the water to catch the frisbee. He was precise when he threw it though. He would sit there for a few seconds before the frisbee would shoot out at someone with precision and speed. He absolutely melted at your encouragement, sinking into the water every time.

Killer acted like a professional. His prior experience sure made him look like a professional to the others. But you could see that he was far too excited for his own good. His patience was short an he kept trying to jump out of the water to catch it, leading him to fumble with the frisbee or get hit directly in the face. By the end of the day, his nose was red from how many times he got hit. His throwing was bad though. He either didn’t throw it hard enough and it wobbled out of the air or he threw it at an angle and it immediately shot into the water. That didn’t dampen his mood though as he greeted every failure with a bright grin. Especially when you yelled encouragement across the water.

Cross caught on quick. He figured out how to get the frisbee to balance in the air rather quickly and kept chucking it at Killer. Hence the red mark on the shark’s nose. Catching was more complicated with Cross. He either caught it perfectly or he dodged it. It took a lot of explaining and encouragement for him to start reaching to catch the disk.

Dust was a natural. Coiled just below the water’s surface, Dust would spring out of the water if he needed to. The frisbee could not escape him. It was taken out of the air and shot with accuracy at his next target. It always floated perfectly wherever he wanted it.

Dust also started smacking Killer with the frisbee. When you asked them to stop, Killer just laughed and said it was fine, that they were just messing with him, and then got hit square in the face cause he wasn’t paying attention.

It was a wonderful day.

You were glad you got to spend it with your boys.