#i must wear a headband and befriend this guy

[lawmower]

The speech competition

[tqngerine]

stay in the middle — 40. still life

SYNOPSIS: Huening Kai would do anything for his best friend Taehyun, and this one small favor is no exception. It appears that Kai’s fellow campus journalist Y/N has caught his attention, and Taehyun needs help connecting to them. Befriending someone outside of his small social circle wasn’t something Kai did often, but he comes to find that it’s easy to get close to Y/N—maybe even getting a little too close.

word count: 1.1k

“Oh, thank god it’s still here.” Y/N breathed a sigh of relief, clutching onto their beloved translucent pink pouch. What a relief it was to see it and its alternating My Melody and flower pattern again.

Taehyun simply sat behind the table while his big eyes followed Y/N’s every movement, his own notebook and pens now laying untouched beneath him. In true cat fashion, Y/N thought to themself.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost all those pens inside.” Y/N continued rambling. “They’re practically my lifeline!”

“Haha, yeah. Losing something so precious to you is really not cool.” Taehyun managed to chuckle.

“Have you lost anything precious to you, Taehyun?” Y/N asked simply, adjusting themself onto the seat across the physics major.

“Oh! Yeah, I have. Quite recently too. It was this red and gray striped headband Yeonjun hyung gifted me before he left the volleyball varsity. I used to wear it everyday to training until I carelessly left it behind court one night and never saw it again the next.”

“Wait, did it have your team’s emblem embroidered on the center?”

“Uh, yes?”

“Wait one sec.” Y/N snaked an arm inside their backpack and fished out the piece of cloth they had kept in there for about a month now. It accurately fit Taehyun’s description, and judging by the way his jaw dropped…

“That’s the one!”

Y/N happily handed it across the table. “I found this laying on the court during one of my practices with my acting partner—“

“Jay?”

“Ah, yeah. You know him?”

“Hyuka mentioned you have a crush on him,”

Y/N cleared their throat. “Anyway, I knew I was gonna be reporting on the volleyball team soon so I held onto it and meant to ask around during my visit, but it completely slipped my mind then.” Scratching the back of their neck, they gave a sheepish smile. “Hope you don’t mind that I’m returning this too late.”

“No! Not at all! Thank you for returning this back to me, I really—“ Taehyun must have realized that he had practically jumped off his seat eagerly, stopping to wince in embarrassment. He lowered himself back on his seat, face struck red.

Y/N gave him a chuckle, hoping that was enough to let him know that he had no reason to be ashamed. They personally couldn’t judge him one bit; they’ve had their own bursts of excitement and assumed Taehyun was the type to convey his own outwardly like them. Just another ball of pure energy like his taller best friend. If anything, it was nice to be able to read his emotions beyond just his expressive eyes.

Unbeknownst to Y/N, however, Taehyun had actually planned to safe keep their pencil case and return it to them the next time they met. You know, in an act of heroic deed. But Y/N coming back and deciding to study worked in Taehyun’s favor too.

Or at least it should have. The guy struggled to focus on his own studying now that they were sitting in front of him. Just the two of them with no Kai or Yeonjun hyung or even one of Y/N’s friends in their company.

He didn’t mean to stare like an absentminded fool while they were engrossed between scribbling down their notebook and typing on their laptop since they made him feel like, well, just that: an absentminded fool. He did make an effort to finish reading his module, especially when Y/N would look up for five minutes to take a screen break. In these breaks, they’d simply cross their arms and lean back, sometimes taking sips of their mocha latte. It seemed like only their hands were put at rest, their mind still occupied with activity.

“You’re a lot more quiet than I thought you’d be.” Taehyun suddenly spoke, shaking Y/N from their trance in magazine-ridden thoughts.

“Well, we are in the library.” They joked.

“I-I mean, I don’t know, even in our previous hang-outs. You’re not as talkative or bubbly as the stereotypical theater kid, I guess? Beomgyu seems to fit that image more.” Taehyun said, playfully twirling the headband in his hands. “I don’t intend it to be an insult, by the way! I just—I remember your role in the theater club’s last production and… okay I’m realizing how stupid this sounds now, but I somewhat assumed you were just as loud as your character then.”

Ah, last semester’s production of Legally Blonde. Even though Jay had easily snagged the role of Emmett Richmond, there was no way Y/N could imagine themself in Elle Woods’ pink heels so they settled for one of her best friends in the Greek Chorus instead. Even that role pushed them way out of their comfort zone. That being said, it was a relief to hear their portrayal was believable enough that someone thought they were just as fabulous and self-confident off-stage.

“There was also that one time you coincidentally caught my off-shot volleyball during one of my practices. That just seemed really badass at the moment, not gonna lie.”

Now Y/N did not expect to hear that. “I… don’t remember that. Wow, we’ve already met before?”

Taehyun’s cheeks blushed furiously. “Er, I guess? But, like, it’s such a random minor moment, I don’t expect you to remember it. Hell, I don’t even know why I still remember it.”

“Is that why you were sweating buckets the first time we talked? Because you thought I was an intimidating and extravagant thespian?” Y/N chuckled. “Wow, I assumed it was either you weren’t used to interviews or that Hyuka had been talking shit about me to you.”

“Oh, I have no issues with interviews,” (he’s a brainy kid, go figure) “and Kai would never do that behind your back. So yeah, that was quite the case.”

“Well, your image has to have shattered since we had that in-depth discussion about different types of penguins at the food hall.” Y/N laughed, recalling the event from a few days ago. “I never even considered that there were that much! How do you know about these things?”

“I just, you know, read a lot,”

“Nerd.”

“Hey!” Taehyun crossed his arms, but the smile he was fighting against told Y/N he was lightheartedly playing along. “You said you needed help researching on astrophysics for your next literature coverage, but if you’re gonna make fun of my brain…”

“No, no, no! I’m sorry, Taehyun, my poor kitty cat! Please don’t leave me to dust!”

Taehyun lost it and burst into purr-like giggles. Y/N couldn’t help but feel relief that he’d easen up to their presence despite his preconceived notions on them. That one lunch spent with him and their friends told them enough that he gelled with their group as easily as a glitter sticker on their notebook (his eyes sparkling like such too). From what they’ve heard even prior, Taehyun had been nothing but loyal to Kai for many years.

It would be pleasant to have a friend like him stick around Y/N’s life too.

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A/N: i hope you guys know the exact Taehyun sound I’m referring to when i write “purr-like giggles” thx. so that’s y/n’s life these days! kind of hectic balancing two clubs, a magazine internship, and a social life, huh 😮‍💨 i fear to say that we’re back to regularly programmed schedule this week, so i’ll be seeing you again this wednesday, but man i’ve just really been dying to move the plot forward ! hope you enjoyed still ^^

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[sketchy-vore]

Oh, right!

I think I’ve never told you guys about my very first idea for an Undertale AU before, right? Well, I got into Undertale a little late in the first wave, and I almost immediately latched on to the designs of Underfell. But I didn’t quite like how rough it was back then and how the super anxious and submissive version of Sans got abused by the supper sadistic Papyrus version. And thus Warfell was born.

The history is almost entirely the same, but right before Ariel died Asgore was able to retrieve Chara’s soul. Blaming humans for the death of his child, Asgore declared that he’d take the souls, become a god, and destroy all of humanity for their crimes. And after many years of training his subjects to be ruthless and collecting the souls of the humans that fell down, he now has seven and breaks the barrier.

To his shock though, the little souls are completely spent and disappear. So the monsters stay underground for 15 more years, while scouts go out to spy on humans and secretly collect more souls for the officers that will lead the war.

I imagined this AU with the meeker versions of Fell Sans. He mostly tries to avoid the village and instead spends a lot of time in the woods, talking to Toriel at her door, telling jokes, finding comfort, reporting her the news. When he tells her that the seventh soul has been taken she busts out in tears and asks Sans to make her a promise.

“There will be many in this war that never asked for this. That never wanted for this to happen, or even have locked us up in the first place. Please, my friend, take care of the innocents. Give them hope for a peaceful future.”

When Sans agrees, Toriel thanks him, there is a moment of silence, and then some dust starts to drift from underneath the Ruins’ door.

Those 15 years that are spent preparing, Sans moves into Toriel’s house to be away from the violence. There he makes his own preparations and befriends a little golden Flower with whom he can grief the lady’s death together.

5 years after the war officially started an 8-year-old Frisk is trying desperately to survive. They had been locked up in the basement as punishment when their town was attacked, and they stayed there for a week as the monsters moved on. Now they roam the broken streets, looking for food, water, and shelter.

While doing so though they see a monster through the dust and rubble and flee. They try to desperately escape, but the monster always seems to pop us in the places they try to run to. Eventually, they become so erratic that they run straight into a broken traffic sign and knock themself out.

To their surprise they wake up….period, that’s a big surprise on its own, they’re alive! But they’re also in a large room, which is surprisingly cozy despite being entirely concrete. But there are a bunch of bunk beds with colorful blankets and posters all over the place, and there are some toys and even electronics that haven’t been put away properly.

They go exploring, finding also a bathroom, a large room full of couches, chairs, and beanbags, and eventually a room with a large stove and rows of tables. And in each of the rooms, there are at least a few children hanging around or playing.

They are eventually approached by an older girl called June who sits them down and tells them that they are safe here. Frisk is worried about the monsters outside, but June explains that there is a barrier around their bunker. One that is similar to but weaker than the one that kept monsters trapped underground. A monster can only come in if it is let in. She explains that all of them came from attacked towns and cities and were brought here to recover, be kept safe, and eventually returned to the humans. She isn’t able to get far in her explanation though before Frisk hears there is a knock at the door on the other side of the room. A little girl with a periwinkle headband and a wooden sword runs over and asks who’s there.

“who.”

“Who who?”

“owls? i thought i was hearing children before!”

The little girl giggles at the answer and reaches for the doorknob. Frisk jumps to their feet, fearing that the little girl will accidentally let in a monster. And they think their fear became reality when through the gap of the door they can see a blood-red eye, a sharp-fanged grin, a bloodied skeletal hand and an ax gleaming in the light.

Frisk instantly shoots back towards the room with all the bunk beds at the back, yelling at everyone that can hear that a monster got in. Behind them, they can hear a scream, right as they dive into the space between the closet and the wall. There they stay, shivering in fear with their hands over their ears.

It stays still for a long time though, or at least there isn’t a sound that gets past the hands blocking their ears. So they open their eyes and are startled to see several of the other children peeking into their hiding place with the skeletal monster standing right behind them. As soon as they see Frisk watching them, multiple of the children start talking to comfort them, but they can’t understand a word of what is being said. So the monster gently shoos the kids away and sits down in front of Frisk.

He introduces himself as Sans, caretaker of the lost children. He reassures Frisk that everything is okay and everyone is safe. He spends a little while explaining everything to Frisk, with a little talking flower that is growing out of the dirt he has in his pocket to back him up. Once Frisk isn't as frightened anymore he calls for a few of the children to help them feel at ease and come out of hiding.

When they eventually get back to the dining room, Frisk finds out that the scream was one of the kids, Kevin, who got excited that Sans brought back some rabbits he caught for the boy to cook. (The blood on Sans’ hands was from said rabbits.)

Frisk stays with the group for a little over a month, in which time they get used to Sans and learn that even though he can a bit impatient and tells jokes that make the older children cover the younger one’s ears from time to time, he is a very affectionate and dedicated caretaker.

One day though, Sans rounds up all the kids and they go outside. Sans leads them towards an underground network where a few human soldiers stand there waiting for them. They quickly usher most of the kids into the tunnels and hand over a few crates to Sans. Apparently Sans had been able to strike up a deal with the humans: He helps children escape and delivers them back to the humans, and the humans provide him with the medications and other harder-to-obtain tools so he can care properly for more children. And mustard, there are bottles of mustard there as well.

Six of the children stay by Sans’ side though, even when the soldiers ask if they still insist on staying with Sans.

Frisk is too intimidated by the military men’s yelling and decides to stay with Sans too.

Together they help each other and any new kids Sans brings back, and they try to survive in this war-filled world in the hopes that one day there will be peace.

Now, background information!

The six other kids staying with Sans are:

June, 17 years, straw hat and a hunting rifle, justice soul

Kevin, 14 years, waiters apron and a spade, kindness soul

Percy, 10 years, colorblind glasses and a touchpad, perseverance soul

Indy and Brenda, twins, 9 years, loose pants/sneakers and sweatband/brass knuckles, integrity and brave souls

Patricia (Patty), 5 years, blue headband and wooden sword, patience soul

And yes, all of them (including Frisk) are the reincarnations of the 7 souls. They stay with Sans because, deep down, something tells them that he might be the key to peace between humans and monsters.

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Patty has been with Sans the longest, since she was a little baby. Sans found her and her dying mother under the rubble and after a lot of tears he promised her he would do his best to take care of her daughter.

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Sans has 3 human souls of his own, each of them given to him willingly so he could protect the children. One of them is Patty’s mom. She has been conscious and asleep to help Sans take care of the youngest children and babies. (And to watch her little daughter grow through his eyes.) During the first few years, she even played a huge part in reigning in his violent tendencies, and he is thankful for that.

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Yes, there are collars, because they were a must in the original Underfell (blech). Sans has made one for each of the children. The first time they went out just to play Frisk was disgusted by this, throws their’s own away, and tries to run off. They can’t get far though before they get caught by Papyrus, who has leadership over one of the villages nearby. Before he can kill Frisk though, Brenda who had been following Frisk intervenes and tells him that they are ‘one of Sans’ mongrels’. Papyrus is skeptical, but when they go to confront Sans about it he confirms it as well.

The monsters that had been closest and friends to Sans in the underground have a deal with him. Any humans that wear a collar, marked as his, are to be left alone. They won’t save the kid if they are caught by another monster, but they won’t hurt them.