#especially since it seems to be perfectly capable of dragging undyne with it. it's probably for a reason but I need an interesting plot

[maybe-a-gatto-or-a-catto]

OKAY SO I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT STATIC HATSUNE MIKU AND TENNA DUO DELTARUNE AU!!!!

While Chapter 3 takes place, Miku suddenly appears and causes chaos on the set because she suddenly decides to appear on TV with the fun gang and Tenna, completely misunderstanding what their TV show is about. She speaks to the audience like she is on a kid's cartoon, and is trying REALLY hard to hide that Susie decided to write a swear on her name board. When she has to explain to Tenna what happened (being also completely confused as to why she suddenly appeared in his dark world) they suddenly immediately hit it off because they're both neglected and from old TV or ARE an old TV. Tenna slaps a contract down he made on the fly and Miku signs it, making them OFFICIALLY business partners! Awesome!

Miku is particularly happy to see Kris, since they watched her show when they were a kid. She was super happy to give Kris happiness when they had family troubles. She is super eager to give that same happiness again... Though, just like Tenna, she has felt very lonely. Kris was the last person to ever watch her show on a VHS tape, and she wants Kris to go watch again. With this, I want Miku to contrast Tenna because she actually only really knows Kris. Kris watched her show when they were having troubles in their life. Tenna is the nostalgic family man, while Miku was always there for Kris. Now Miku has gotten attached to Kris in specific, and wants them to feel better about their current situation, even if she doesn't know what is going on or even knows how to help them. What she does is rooted in mostly selfishness, just like Tenna. She doesn't want to feel lonely.

Miku also feels bitter about being so neglected because she is just a small part of something bigger: THE Hatsune Miku. Everyone only cares about that other version of her, the one that appears on the box art of her voicebank. People pay less attention to the smaller Mikus that appear in songs, music videos, etc, and especially OBSCURE ones like HER. Not to mention people just credit all of it to THE Hatsune Miku. She wants to be big and well-known too like the others! But she can't. Which should parallel Spamton's desire to.. MAKE HIS OWN DEALS! TO BE FREE! She only really explains this to Tenna, but hints of this bitterness show itself to the the Fun Gang at times. (Also this could also be an allegory to people not crediting the vocaloid producers but rather Hatsune Miku.. but moving on)

Miku gets a board of her own since she keeps making mistakes as a TV host, instead acting like a cartoon character. Her board is themed after her TV show, full of childish whimsy and fun. I have no idea what the gameplay could be for this board though.. Anyway, Miku tries really hard to make Kris happy, though Kris doesn't react the way she wants to- they don't have a smile. She doesn't understand why it's not working... And, she doesn't actually understand the root of Kris' problems, and instead tries to cure the symptoms with a bandaid. Just like how Toriel and Asgore gave Kris a horn headband after they asked when their horns will grow, instead of trying to help them accept their humanity. She represents the problems Kris has had with their family. Miku has no idea what to do with this. Miku is bad with negative emotions after all. The only thing she knows is smiling. Smiling is comfort. Positivity is smiling! Actually, she has to keep smiling. The audience can't leave. Kris can't leave.

Miku has genuinely no idea that Tenna has made a deal with the Roaring Knight. Tenna does eventually show that he is hiding Toriel, but completely omits why he is keeping her safe in a gacha ball at all. (In fear of Miku leaving perhaps...). Completely unknowingly, she also makes a deal with the Roaring Knight... If Tenna does anything funky with Toriel, like... for example letting her go. She has to stop him, and she will get the popularity she wants (again). They have the same motivation... But they will have to work against eachother...

Now TIME SKIP! Tenna crashes out because the fun gang has to seal the fountain and leave his TV show. Cue the gacha ball prison and the FLAMING videogame. Miku has absolutely no idea what to do- she is freaking out herself because she thinks this is scaring Kris... Then proceeding to do the wrong thing and not address this at all with Tenna and just begging indirectly that they should do something else. Tenna does not get the insanely subtle begging of "THIS IS NOT GOOD TENNA PLEASE STOP" of course. Fun Gang escapes and Tenna looks for them. You'll get to see Miku sometimes, talking to herself that she doesn't know what to do. She admits she doesn't know how to help Kris. That she's scared they'll leave if she upsets them too much. Then it's FINALLY TIME! Tenna initiates his points battle which Miku decides to agree to because it's better than scaring away Kris. It's an awesome duo battle!! (Though Miku has more easy attack patterns purely because she wants to make it fun, rather than scary).

After the fun gang wins, it's finally time for Toriel to be returned to her rightful place. Then Miku suddenly steps in, and attacks Tenna. She looks very reluctant about all this- especially since Tenna gave her the opportunity to give smiles to people again, to Kris again. They became friends over the course of chapter 3. They are two peas in a pod, they were both left behind, with no understanding of anything but TV. Tenna is understandably confused about this and slightly freaking out again cause uh. that would technically be the second time he got betrayed. Miku tells him that this is for the sake of giving people smiles and especially Kris a smile again. She CAN'T be left behind, not again. Tenna tries to fight back and threaten with the contract... But. Since it was made on the fly the terms kinda suck ass? Along with the fact that Tenna wants to keep Miku as his friend... He had lost everyone in quick succession just an hour ago. Miku attacks again (though a little weaker). Susie steps in though, and convinces her to stop. They can figure something out all together. They will all make sure Miku gets to have people watching her show again. Tenna will have people watch TV again. Miku is kinda reluctant. Is that even possible? But she ends up agreeing to Susie's idea. Miku is really relieved by this. She won't have to hurt Tenna! And Tenna is relieved because he won't have to fight Miku! And then Tenna gets attacked by the Knight. Miku is super shocked and worried, and decides to stay with Tenna when the Fun Gang fights the Knight. The game pretty much ends the same after that... Just with Miku being an awesome friend to Tenna ｡⁠◕⁠ ⁠ω⁠ ◕⁠｡

THAT'S IT!!! I THINK!! Thank you for reading... I really liked incorporating Miku into the themes of this chapter!

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Something To Say, But Nothing Comes

Summary: A direct sequel to the previous chapter, 'What Will Be, Will Be'.

Red still isn't speaking to Edge. Rus needs donuts. He's eating for two-ish, thanks, donuts are a requirement.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Brotherly Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Pregnancy

Notes: I've been informed that I am not allowed to leave the last story at Red being an asshole, so here we are. 😂

So, yeah, a sequel to What Will Be, Will Be. Rus is pregnant, and everyone is dealing with the fallout.

Warning: There is a mention of thinking about abortion here, so please be aware.

~~*~~

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

The false dawn was only beginning as Edge stepped out of the basement door, locking it behind him before heading around the side of the house to the front. Snowdin was quiet for now, most of the denizens still asleep, but the rest of the guard would be heading out soon, ready to begin patrol and Edge needed to be with them.

It hadn’t been his intention to sleep over in Underswap, but he’d taken the option when it was offered and, despite Rus’s unsubtle hinting, there had been no sex involved. Partly because Blue was sleeping in the next room but also, it was the first time they’d ever shared a bed for a reason other than sex. Edge laying on that silly mattress on the floor, guilty absorbed in the chance to hold Rus close, to press his skull against Rus’s sternum and listen to the strong throb of his soul. The souling was far too small to be heard yet. It hadn’t stopped Edge from straining to hear even the tiniest flicker.

If he was going to be a fool about this, he supposed he might as well be a complete one.

Edge unlocked the front door, pausing to kick the snow off his boots as he stepped inside. He froze just inside. Red was already up, and that was strangeness all its own, shrugging into his jacket. He didn’t look Edge’s way.

“Good morning,” Edge offered, warily.

Red didn’t answer and Edge resigned himself to another day of silence. He took off his boots and headed towards the stairs to get changed before going on patrol.

“how’s rus?” Came from behind him. Edge whirled around, but Red wasn’t looking at him.

“He…he’s fine.” Edge hesitated then added, “A little tired. The souling is fine, too.”

Red was leaned over, tying his shoes in double-knots and Edge pressed on, hating the desperation in his voice, “It’s very small, not even the size of a knucklebone, it won’t descend for a few weeks yet and—”

He winced as the door slammed behind Red.

Well. He hadn’t shortcutted away, that was something.

Edge turned back towards the stairs and headed up. He was training with Undyne today and needed to be at his best. Afterward, he was going back to Underswap for a while. The knowledge of the souling was too fresh yet and the urge to stay close was strong.

Knowing that he didn’t need to resist it, that he was welcome, was enough for him to go back and he hated that part of his reasoning was that spending another day with his silent brother did not appeal.

Red would get over it or he wouldn’t, but Edge wasn’t going to wait around for him to decide.

~~*~~

The false sunlight creeping over Rus’s face was enough to drag him out of a sound sleep. He pushed up on his elbows, scrubbing a hand over his sockets as he tottered into awake. The bed next to him was disappointingly empty. Not that that was unexpected. He had a vague memory of Edge leaving earlier, something about having to go on patrol.

The memory of a kiss being brushed over his skull made a shiver trill up Rus’s spine. He shoved it back down for the moment; just because he and Edge were gonna have a sproglet didn’t mean there were wedding bells or anything in the future.

Sproglet? What was a kiddo skeleton called anyway? Skellilet? Skettle? Skitten?

Okay, yeah, he was calling skitten.

From the light, he was guessing it was probably past noon, but damn, he felt well-rested for the first time since he’d woken up earlier this week to discover his soul manifested and the tiniest sparkling of light circling it.

That’d been a helluva day. Staring at the mirror in shock, unable to believe what his eye lights were telling him.

He’d immediately thought of aborting, for about the first half a mo’. A knee-jerk reaction to suddenly finding out he was knocked up, he supposed. He wasn’t sure how it went in Underfell, but no one in Underswap would’ve given him so much as a dirty look if that’s what he’d decided. Sure, Blue might’ve been a little disappointed, but a souling didn’t even dust when it was removed. It just faded, no LV, no foul. Supplies could be scarce at times and that was a fact, Monsters had to be careful about reproducing Underground.

But looking at that tiny star, Rus couldn’t help thinking of possibilities. A little baby bones, his own skitten. An adorable miniature version of Edge, one who could grow up where it was safe and warm, with daddies and uncles who’d adore ‘em.

Yeah, okay. He wanted that.

He’d only waited a day or two before telling Edge, since it wasn’t a secret that was gonna keep for their next round of rough and tumble. He’d reacted about how Rus expected, pure white-skulled shock. Rus left him there to think about what he’d done and headed back home, figuring he’d be hearing from Edge again soon enough.

Truth was, telling Blue had been more nerve-wracking than Edge. At the time, he’d been sure Edge would come around eventually...well, pretty sure. But his bro? He couldn’t’ve said if Blue would be disappointed or angry. They were about to gain a new stress to their finances and their pantry, no question of that and it was kinda fucking hard to explain to his little brother that a moment of stupidity during a bump and grind with his asshole with benefits was gonna cause it.

Blue listened seriously when he told him and it wasn’t until Rus said he was going to have the kiddo that he showed any emotion at all. Didn’t know why he ever doubted his bro; Blue launched directly into squealing delight. He’d demanded to see the little spark, then almost immediately bullied Rus into laying down on the sofa, talking about ten things at once in a blur of ’quit smoking, more calcium, extra rest!!’

The concern was nice, but eh, the cigarettes he’d given up the second he saw that tiny light and fuck, that was the worse than any other damn thing combined. He’d tell ten Edges they were gonna be a baby daddy and half a dozen bros if someone would kindly find a way to infuse him with nicotine.

Welp, if he couldn't have a ciggie then donuts were a poor replacement, but it was one he could have. Undyne couldn’t be sure that shortcutting wouldn’t hurt the spark, especially one so early, so walking was the order of the day.

Rus pulled on the first cleanish sweatshirt and pants he found, stepping into his sneakers and grudgingly tying them. Probably stupid of him, but he could trip over air on a good day. May as well be a little more careful when he had a baby on board.

The effort was almost a useless one, since he almost went ass over teakettle with one step out the door. He almost ended up shortcutting anyways, arms windmilling as he struggled to keep his balance and two bony hands grabbed his femurs high enough to give him quick pelvic examination, stabilizing him.

“careful, ya overgrown giraffe!” Those hands pulled away before Rus could put in a request.

“red?” Rus looked down in disbelief at the hunched-over skeleton sitting on the stairs. “what the hell are you doing on my porch?”

Red scowled and flicked his cigar butt into the snow, “nuthin’. what are you doing out?”

“uh, i live here, which isn’t an argument you can make, so let’s flip that back your way, yeah?”

Red shrugged unapologetically. “keepin’ watch.”

“keeping watch?” Rus repeated, slowly. “for what?”

“blue ain’t here, the boss ain't here. so i’m keeping watch,” Red snapped. “mama monsters are fierce, but you ain’t a mama yet.”

“not really planning on being ‘mama’ at all, thanks,” Rus said, even as he turned those words over in his head, studying them like a math problem. “i’m laying claim to daddy early.”

Red went on, doggedly, shoulders hunching further, “soulings are fragile until they descend.”

Oh.

Yeah, okay, Red was staring at the snowdrifts so fiercely Rus sort of expected em’ to catch on fire. Protecting him, from the mean streets of Underswap Snowdin, where Red must think roving bands of miscreants were waiting around every corner. Or not, and Rus didn’t really want to know how Red knew soulings were fragile. And if Red wanted to protect him like some kinda bodyguard, Rus guessed he could play diva. At least he could get Red to stop trying to ignite the snow with his eye lights.

“well, come in and sit on the sofa,” Rus told him. He opened the door again and held it open invitingly. “c’mon, you can sit by the door so you’re the first line of defense.”

“maybe,” Red said, diffidently, and kept his ass parked right on the step. “what’re you doing out here, anyway? smokin?” The low growl on that last word seemed a pretty good sign that the answer to that better be no. Rus regretfully shelved the urge to tell him yep, pack a day man, that was him. But he really didn’t trust Red not to strip him to the bones in search of cigarettes and his neighbors got enough of a show from them on any given day.

“nah, i quit.” He didn’t think he imagined the relieved slump in Red’s shoulders. He shut the door, every instance of Blue griping that they weren’t paying to heat the outdoors ringing in his skull. “craving a spider donut, is all.”

Red hopped up so quickly Rus almost thought he teleported. “i’ll get it. head back inside, take me two minutes.”

“oh. um.” He supposed he could argue that he was perfectly capable of going himself, but eh, truth was, he wasn’t sick of the novelty yet. Plus, it wasn’t gonna kill him to let some babying happen. He knew for a fact once there was a real baby, it wasn't gonna last. “okay, here, i have a few…” G, he started to say, but Red was already gone. Welp, he hoped Red had some cash. If not, he hoped Muffet would put it on his tab because he really didn’t want to try explaining to her why some short, grouchy skeleton popped into her bakery to swipe the goods.

It was probably more like a minute in a half when Red reappeared, steam still rising from the bag in hand.

Red scowled, “why’re you still out here, get inside where it’s warm.”

“not until you come with me,” Rus crossed his arms over his chest, unperturbed as Red’s scowl deepened. “seriously, get inside, my neighbors are gonna think we found a gargoyle at the dump.”

“tch.” Red glared but Rus was unmoved. What was Uncle Red gonna do, carry him in and drop him on the floor? Chain him to the sofa? Well, he might, but Rus was going to hedge his bets.

To his relief, Red grudgingly went inside, the two of them taking over the sofa to munch their way through the donuts. Rus flipped on the latest Napstaton special so that he and Red could continue their endless debate on who was better, him or Mettaton. Secretly, Rus was ready to concede that Mettaton had better legs, but he was in no way a better Sherlock Holmes.

They were still sitting there when Edge came in, already bitching before he was through the door.

“How many times have I warned you both about locking…the…” Edge trailed away to gape at them, and all Rus could do was resign himself to the fact that Edge was pretty damn adorable when he was surprised. He’d been pretty damn adorable looking at their little spark, too, soft wonder in his eye lights, but Rus tucked all that into the back of his skull to Deal With Later. Preferably when Red wasn’t around.

“there’s a donut left,” Rus offered. Pretty damn generously, too, he was eating for two-ish and those donuts were damned good.

“You eat it,” Edge said immediately. “You’ll need plenty of food to convert to magic.”

“yeah, you’re right, the other five donuts probably weren’t enough,” Rus said agreeably. Didn’t have to tell him twice. He didn’t give Edge a chance to change his mind, happily munching it down. Except, yeaaaah, it wasn’t really escaping his notice that Edge and Red were playing a fun little game of not looking at each other.

Welp. He wasn’t gonna deal with this shit until the kiddo was here.

Rus gave Red a hard elbow, shoving him over until there was a space on his other side. “have a seat, napstaton is just about to tell us who the murderer is.”

He waited impatiently for Edge to pull off his boots and line them up at the door, Angel save us if the heels didn’t perfectly match. When Edge sat down, Rus immediately took advantage of the new lap, sprawling out with his head on Edge and his feet on Red.

Oh, yeah. The satisfaction in feeling Red struggling with the urge to push him on the floor was just the best part of his day. Less so was feeling Edge’s hands hovering over his skull like he was trying to decide if he was allowed to touch. A beat, two, then they settled gingerly and Rus sighed, pushing against them impatiently until Edge hesitantly started stroking the smooth bone. Pretty soon he started to improvise, petting his way lower, tracing coronal sutures and the delicate hole of his audial canal. Rus was drowsing before Napstaton even got the suspects together, but that was okay.

Everyone knew the butler always did it, anyway.

tbc

Read Chapter 3

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Situation Normal (baon)

Summary: This wasn’t at all what Stretch expected from a simple knock at the door.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Established Relationships, Angst, Brotherly Bonding, Hurt/Comfort

Notes: Why let the Fell brothers have all the fun? The Swap bros deserve a chance.

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

~~*~~

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

The knock on the door wasn’t exactly ominous or anything. People did stop over to the house from time to time during the day, actual adults, even, not just the neighborhood kiddos. Undyne, Toriel, even Alphys sometimes although that was usually for her to run a test and boy, howdy, was Stretch loving a chance to play test subject in his own living room.

He suspected Edge and Alphys thought they were being kind by keeping him out of the lab, so he was gritting his teeth and bearing it, but damn, guys, no.

Anyway.

Stretch was perfectly capable of playing host to anyone who stopped by, thanks. Especially if there were some of Edge’s cookies to plate up for the latest gossip sesh; he might not have Red’s little network of spies, but Tori hopped up on coffee and sugar always had some tasty dirty laundry to share.

But having a brisk knock interrupt his nap wasn’t exactly putting him in the mood to pull out the cookie tray.

Stretch dragged himself upright with a yawn, kicking the blanket back towards the sofa. It clung stubbornly to one foot, resisting his attempts to get free until he shook his foot hard, almost falling as it finally let him loose.

The knock came again, harder, and Stretch groaned, scratching at his pelvis as he wandered to the door. It took him two tries to unlock it, because of course it was locked, Edge would sooner leave the house without his skull attached before he’d leave Stretch in an unlocked house. It clicked on the second attempt, the door swinging open to reveal his brother, beaming up at him with starry eye lights.

“bro?” Stretch said, sleepily confused. He scrubbed at his face with the back of his hand, trying to wake up enough to go through his mental calendar. It wasn’t their normal day to have lunch, they hadn’t made any plans, so what was…?

“Good morning!” Blue chirped crisply. He pushed past Stretch into the house, wiping his feet in the door rug.

“well, hey, come on in,” Stretch said dryly, biting back another yawn and closing the door after him.

“Thank you, I will. Glad to see you’re enjoying the lovely fall morning!” It was just this side of snarky and that made Stretch grin. Far too many people saw his brother as endlessly sweet, maybe even a little naïve. Stretch knew better, thanks, his bro could be a shit when he wanted and today looked like one of those days.

Blue stood with his hands perched on his hips, surveying the room. Probably taking in the crumpled blanket on the sofa, the half-full coffee cup thankfully set on a coaster. That first moment Blue came in always felt like one of Judgement, his brother looking at their home and deciding its worthiness.

It prickled a little, every time, but Stretch wasn’t sure how to quantify it. If he said something, Blue would probably say he was imagining things. He might not even be wrong, who the hell knew, but it was how Stretch felt, damn it.

Whatever he saw, Blue seemed to deem it worthy. He turned back to Stretch, his starry eyes lights sparkling and said with mock sternness, “I’m hurt, here I am, an uncle, and I haven’t met my chicken nieces.”

“haven’t you?” Stretch said, surprised. He wracked his memories, but yeah, that seemed possible. Any time he’d been sick or otherwise indisposed, Stretch asked Papyrus to take care of the ladies for him, a task he managed with great enthusiasm and probably volume. Not that he didn’t trust his bro, but when Stretch was in the hospital, Blue tended to be there. Any other time it was a habit to call Papyrus as a chicken-sitter was all. “guess you haven’t. sorry, bro, must be agony for you.”

“Terribly hurt,” Blue said solemnly. “Deep inside, except we don’t have any insides because we’re skeletons.”

Stretch snorted. “yeah, bro, and you can’t play an instrument in church cause you’ve got no organs. come on, i fed them earlier, they should be ready for some attention.”

His sweatshirt was a heavy one, but it was pretty chilly out despite the sunshine, so Stretch pulled a jacket out from the closet and slid it on.

“Papy, a hat!” Blue scolded.

“it’s not that cold, i’m fine, bro.” Except for a sudden itch for a cigarette. Stretch ignored it, stepping into his untied sneakers and leading his grumbling brother out the back door. He had a pack upstairs but smoking in front of Blue wasn’t going to be worth the lecture.

The chickens were out in the little fenced yard of their coop and they perked up eagerly at the sight of skeletons and possibility of scritches. They barely waited for him to open the gate, already gabbling. Stretch sat down right on the ground in the fallen leaves, ignoring the dampness creeping through his jeans and laughing as all three of them made a beeline to him.

“So you’re the ones who’ve been making the eggs Papy brings me.” Blue didn’t sit on the ground, crouching instead. His first hesitant stroke over Dumpling’s vibrant feathers firmed as she immediately saw potential for extra affection and turned his way. Blue laughed softly as Nugget jealously pushed in close, trying to impose herself between her flock mate and Blue’s hand. “They’re very friendly, aren’t they. When you first told me about them, I wondered what Edge was thinking, giving you chickens, but they seem like nice pets.”

“guess it is a little odd,” Stretch shrugged a little. Noodle was happy to have his complete attention and he patted her fondly. “but they work for us. not like i was getting a kitten anytime soon.”

Blue didn’t usually care for reminders of Stretch’s little issues, but to his surprise, his brother smiled, a touch sadly, “No, those go to Red, don’t they. I would have thought him more unlikely than you to take on a cat.”

“heh, i think cats suit him just fine.” Matching teeth, Stretch thought with a private shudder. “edge says he’s taking good care of the fuzzball.”

“I’m sure he does—“ before Stretch could parse his brother’s tone, Noodle decided she’d had enough of being ignored by the newcomer and hopped onto Blue’s knee. Her weight was enough to knock him off-balance and he yelped as he fell back into the leaves with Stretch, laughing as Noodle immediately clambered onto his chest to inspect him more thoroughly. Two more chickens joined her and Blue giggled as the three of them walked over him with their scaly little chicken feet.

“heh, looks like they like you.” Stretch reached over to take Nugget before she could settle on Blue’s skull as if it were a giant egg. She settled into his lap amicably enough, crooning blissfully as he smoothed her feathers. ”they like edge, too. try to hop all over him whenever he’s out here.”

Blue shooed the other two brats down enough for him to sit up. “And he allows that?”

Yeah, there was that tone again and this time Stretch frowned. “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Not a thing.” As if his sudden breeziness was going to fool his own brother? “I’m only surprised, is all.”

Stretch sighed, rubbing a thumb beneath Nugget’s little chin. If he could thank his therapy for anything, it was he’d learned that trying to dance around a subject only worked if your partner was willing to boogie. And he definitely wasn’t, not about Edge. “you know, you and edge used to be good friends.”

He could see the surprise in his brother’s face, quickly masked as he said, “We’re still friends.”

“no offense, bro, but you sound as friendly as the bubonic plague. i mean it, you two used to hang out, cook together, do your stitch and bitch,” and when Blue opened his mouth to object, Stretch didn’t stop. “don’t try to tell me you both are busy or some shit. you used to be tight, so what happened?”

A kaleidoscope of emotion crossed his face and what it settled on was not one he easily recognized, not on his brother. “Our friendship was a little disrupted when he crushed my brother’s heart and yet somehow still managed to convince you to go back to him, anyway.”

Stretch could feel his own mouth dropping open because what the fuck? “okay, leaving aside that it was none of your business even then, that was years ago. we had a rocky start, yeah, but we’ve been together for a while and we’re married. why the fuck are you bringing that up for now, sans?” And it felt odd, calling his brother by his real name. Stretch couldn’t remember the last time he’d done it and he wondered how it felt for him to hear it. From the way his shoulders hunched, maybe nothing good. “mind telling me what’s going on, little brother?”

That was a deliberate goad. Blue seemed to forget sometimes that Stretch was the damn older brother and he’d managed pretty well when they were younger, back before…well. Before everything. Going through a bad patch didn’t mean he lost older bro privileges forever.

“Nothing is going on,” Blue said hurriedly. He swallowed, too hard, like the taste of it was bitter. “I’m sorry I brought it up, brother, you know very well I’m happy for you. I wouldn’t have stood up at your wedding if I wasn’t.”

Stretch was starting to wonder about that, but anything he might have said went winging out of his head at the first tear that fell from Blue’s socket, trailing down his cheekbone. He watched dumbly as it ran down his jaw, hanging from his chin in a translucent jewel of magic before falling to splash on Noodle, disappearing into her feathers.

Okay, fuck this. Stretch pushed Nugget off his lap, ignoring her outraged squawk, and grabbed his brother, hauling him into his lap despite the protests of the other two chickens. That turned the waterworks on full-force and Blue clung to him, sweatshirt fisted in both hands as he buried his face into Stretch’s chest and wailed like he hadn’t since he was a child.

His brother’s weight wasn’t exactly insubstantial, he was short but he was damn solid. Stretch didn’t give a shit, ignoring his protesting femurs and joints as he held his brother close, rocking him gently. He didn’t know what was wrong, but he knew how to handle this, even if it’d been years since he’d done it.

He hummed softly, as automatic as breathing, a wordless song of comfort that hadn’t changed since Blue, Sans, had been so much smaller, his starry eye lights eager, ready to join the guard and capture a Human.

Yeah, maybe that was a memory best forgotten.

Slowly Blue’s sobs eased into hiccoughs and all too soon he drew away, his face drenched in teary magic. Stretch wiped it away with his sleeve like he had when Blue was only a baby bones, drying his cheek bones. It sent a fresh wash of them down, Blue’s eye lights shrunken to dots as he looked up at Stretch.

“I miss you,” Blue blurted suddenly. He choked out another sob, trying to stifle the tears that kept falling. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t, but I do! I miss waking up and seeing you, I miss coming home and not having you there! It’s so selfish of me, I should be used to it by now, but I miss you, Papy!”

“sans…” Stretch whispered, shocked to his marrow. He didn’t even know what to say. Blue was cringing miserably, like he expected him to be mad, but how could he be? Blue wasn’t wrong, not at all; when he’d started dating Edge, they’d gone from mornings and nights together to not so much, and when he’d moved out, it was even less. They had lunch together once a week and Stretch stopped in more often now that Jeff was living there, but. He grabbed hold of his brother’s shoulders, hauling him in for a tight hug.“i’m so sorry, kiddo. i didn’t mean to abandon you like that.”

“You didn’t,” Blue said with some asperity and wasn’t that his bro all the way, trying to protect him, even from himself. He drew back and scrubbed at his face with a hanky he’d pulled from his inventory. “You didn’t, Papy. You were sad for so long and I suppose I got used to taking care of you. I told you I was being selfish and I am. You were finding yourself and I wanted to hold you back.”

“you didn’t, though.” Stretch scrubbed his knuckles lightly over Blue’s skull. His brother’s grin was watery, but he leaned into the touch.

“I hope I didn’t. I didn’t mean to spring this on you either, only—“ his sigh was deeply conflicted. “Jeff won’t be staying with me long, I think. He and Antwan seem to have gotten over whatever was troubling them and he’s so very happy. Like you were right before you moved in with Edge. I am happy for him, truly. I suppose I was only enjoying having someone living with me again.”

Well, that was a concoction of happy and shitty, wasn’t it, and not a problem Stretch really knew how to fix. Wasn’t like he could put out an ad for ‘Roommate wanted. Must allow mama bear-ing and be willing to eat pasta. No smokers.’

Blue stood up, dusting leaves away briskly. “It’s all right, brother, it’s my problem to deal with.” He grimaced, a trace of shame crossing his face. “Please don’t tell Edge what I said? It was unkind and he doesn’t deserve that.”

“tell you what, i’ll keep mum if you come over for dinner tonight.” Edge wouldn’t mind and if he did, well, Stretch would remind him of Red’s invite earlier that week. If he could do chili dogs with the gremlin, Edge could manage playing nice with Blue. Probably wouldn’t need to manage if they got to talking about recipes.

But Blue only looked unhappy at the offer. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, Papy. I really shouldn’t have said anything.”

Yeah, that wasn’t gonna fly. “come over,” Stretch insisted, “bring andy and antwan. c’mon, mettaton has a new special tonight, right?” mettaton was no napstatton but he could see Blue wavering and he added the kicker, coaxingly, “i heard it’s a musical.”

That stitched it. Blue glanced down at Noodle, who was inspecting his shoelaces in hopes of finding a wormy snack, then said uncertainly, “If you think Edge won’t mind…?”

“he won’t,” Stretch said firmly. Or if he did, he wouldn’t say. Stretch wasn’t a bad host but Edge would put Martha Stewart to shame when he wanted.

His smile wasn’t quite the starry happiness that Stretch lived to see in him, but it was hella better than crying. “Okay, then, I will. Let me go home and clean up, and I’ll come back over tonight.”

“sounds good, bro.” Before Blue walked off, Stretch caught his arm, hauling him in for another tight hug. Blue returned it with equal ferocity, clinging for a long, long moment. Then he let go, offering a happier smile, and went out the gate to the front.

The second he was gone, Stretch took a shortcut upstairs, then right back down, cigarettes in hand. The tip wavered as he tried to light it and Stretch had to chase it with the lighter flames til it caught, breathing in a cloud of nicotine-laced smoke. He smoked the whole thing, then lit another before he texted Edge.

okay if my bro comes for dinner tonight?

The reply was almost immediate. Of course. I’ll text him and see if he’d like to bring an appetizer.

His soul constricted in his chest, so filled with love that it ached. Because Blue would be happier if he could contribute and Edge knew it, and wasn’t that Edge all the way? Even if his friendship with Blue got sort of derailed by their relationship, Edge never hesitated to be kind.

Fuck, but Stretch loved him so much.

But he only sent a thumbs up emoticon back along with a string of hearts before dropping his phone back into his pocket and focusing on the task at hand. Namely smoking half this pack before going in to scrub down so no one would be able to smell it.

He’d fucked up, fucked up bad, Stretch thought grimly. Made his brother feel abandoned level of fucked up, yeah, that was par for his course. Didn’t mean he couldn’t do better, damn it, and if he felt like shit about it, well, time for damage control.

He wasn’t stuck in a revolving door of resets anymore and his brother deserved to be happy, too. They’d figure it out, he was sure of it.

But after his third cigarette, he went ahead and sent a text to his therapist’s office to set up an extra appointment this week.

Somehow, he got the feeling he was gonna need a chance to talk.

-finis-