💓 ʙᴀ-ᴅᴜᴍ (𝘵𝘴𝘩)

✴–|  |  |–✴

“ You have a brother? Is he a skeleton too? You are a skeleton right? “

Impact couldn’t help but ask, the question was kind of dumb in hindsight but it was a whole roundabout way to address the whole skeleton in the room thing. They liked to think they showed plenty of restraint not asking for the first few moments they started talking to this guy. They seemed expectant for their answers, tail swaying eagerly behind them with keen interest. 

At the mention of their sister ‘flipping out’ they almost seemed to deflate slightly with a wince and a vaguely guilty expression of ‘oh yeah I did kind of not tell her where I was going and as a 12 year old that’s probably not a good thing to do’ They knew Courier knew they knew it too, they were a fairly smart kid and it showed but as most kids did they made dumb decisions because it seemed more fun. 

“ Yeah–she probably already knows I’m gone too–I’m going to get such a lecture from her when I get back… Ugh that sucks– “

They seemed to very much not like the idea, not because of the lecture but because Courier disappointed and worried at the same time was not a fun thing to cause. Mainly because they felt bad. They gave a light huff, shaking their head slightly before looking to the other with an eager expression again, flipping from one emotion to the other quite easily, as they were motioned to follow after, quickly making moving after the other skeleton and catching up easily.

“ River person? I’ve never met them–I don’t really like the water so maybe that’s why–We usually go through Hotland to get waterfall when we need to be there– “

Like a child with an ear given to listen to them they rambled on eagerly. Normally they weren’t this talkative, okay that was a lie but usually this was just with people they knew unless it was someone they were trying to talk up, but it was cold and they were feeling it. Wet clothing and cold weather didn’t mix, and hopefully the slight clatter of shivering bones wasn’t as audible as it felt. At the very least they were more tolerant of the cold then their siblings who much preferred Hotland. They only wished they didn’t notice temperature changes, they blamed whatever they were supposedly a hybrid of.

         ❝ Heh heh. Yessiree, kiddo. Both of us are true, bone-afide skeleton monsters. My bro’s always keepin’ on the straight and marrow, but I’m the one who packs the humerus jokes. ❞

   God. Once he started, he just couldn’t stop. They were old an obvious puns, sure, but they came to him as naturally as salt on potato chips. It’s the “zestiness” that keeps the words engaging!... or so he likes to say for his excuses.

   There was some slight guilt when Sans saw the kid wilt after mentioning their sister. Not the best point to bring up, but it was a valid point. The moment appeared brief though as their mouth suddenly went off like a motor, and the most he was able to do was nod along and try to keep up. (Spoilers: he could not.) However, he couldn’t help but notice their shivering -- which was odd. Bones don’t have nerves, or so he recalled.

[ ☠♕ ] — *yer really fuckin’ aggressive for a blue, ya know.

—He points out like it wasn’t obvious, and took a single glance at the bone, hands raising…only to be shoved into his pockets, uncaring that he was being threatened right now.

[ ☠♕ ] — *been bullied before, and had enough, shorty?  [ ☠♕ ] — *cause i’m just sayin’, if ya hit me with that, ya ain’t gonna like what happens next.

   He hated this. Hated this guy’s nonchalant attitude, and how he knew how much worse this could get if he went further. The choice to make was obvious, but he kept his hand raised, wondering if there was a way, a slight possibility to...

   ...The weapon faded from his hand.

         ❝ Yeah, maybe I have gotten kinda edgy. But with your type, I feel like I have a good reason to be, ‘specially after your shit opener. How the hell else did ya want me to respond? Grovel?

☹✌💧❄ ☠✋☝☟❄ 🕈✌💧☠🕯❄ ✞☜☼✡ ☝⚐⚐👎📬 ❄☟☜ 💣☜💣⚐☼✋☜💧 💧🕈✌☼💣☜👎 💣☜ ☹✋😐☜ ☞☹✋☜💧📬

❄☟☜✡🕯☼☜ 🏱☜💧😐✡ ✌❄ 👌☜💧❄ 🕈☟☜☠ ✌☹⚐☠☜📪 👌🕆❄ ✋☠ ✌ 🏱✌👍😐 ☹✋😐☜ ❄☟✌❄📬📬📬 ✋❄ ☝⚐❄ ✌ ☹✋❄❄☹☜ ☟✌☼👎 ❄⚐ 👌☼☜✌❄☟☜ 💧🕆👎👎☜☠☹✡📬 ✋ ☹⚐💧❄ 💣✡ ☼✋☝☟❄ 💧✋👎☜ ✌☝✌✋☠📪 👌🕆❄ ☺🕆💧❄ ☞⚐☼ ✌ ☹✋❄❄☹☜ 👌✋❄📬

✋☞ ✋ 🕈☼✋❄☜ ❄☟⚐💧☜ 💣☜💣⚐☼✋☜💧 👎⚐🕈☠ ☟☜☼☜📪 ✋ 💣✋☝☟❄ ☹✌🕆☠👍☟ 💣✡💧☜☹☞ 👌✌👍😐 ✋☠❄⚐ ✌ 💧🏱✋☼✌☹📬 ✌☠👎 ✡☜❄📪 ✋☞ ✋ 👎⚐☠🕯❄ ❄✌☹😐 ✌👌⚐🕆❄ ❄☟☜💣📪 ❄☟☜☠ ✋🕯💣 😐☜☜🏱✋☠☝ 💣✡💧☜☹☞ ☹⚐👍😐☜👎 🕆🏱 🕈✋❄☟ ❄☟✋💧 ☠⚐☠💧☜☠💧☜📬

✌ ☹⚐💧☜📫☹⚐💧☜ 💧👍☜☠✌☼✋⚐📬 ☠✌🕆💧☜✌❄✋☠☝📪 👍⚐💣🏱☜☹☹✋☠☝📪 🕆🏱💧☜❄❄✋☠☝📬

         Bonny can’t help but jump a little when the door shuts behind them, and it’s as if boss music is playing in her head because every little noise, and even some nonexistent noise, is drawing her attention. Anxiety remained, but not to the point it was earlier–going from numb, to paralyzed, to a panic, back to a contented state was both emotionally and physically draining.

         However, his behavior in regards to cleaning up the house as quickly as possible felt relieving. It seemed a very human thing to do, she didn’t feel as out of place.

         Her eyes followed him down the hall, but she hadn’t moved from her spot for the most part–if just stepping from side to side to step out of his way: Sans seemed like he was on a mission.

         ❝ O-Oh, okay. ❞ she walks down the hall and into the child’s bedroom and opens up the closet… It’d probably be a good idea to remove the bandages too huh? 

         Her hands move to the wrappings and a small pile of damp bandages sit on the floor, growing ever larger as she removes sections at a time. She can take a deep breath now, her ribs stretch with the adjustment. She can see all the injuries on her. She scratches at her forearms with shaky hands for a second before abruptly stopping. An empty photo frame sat on the empty bookcase, reflecting her image, showing the clear discoloration around her neck… she’d need something that would hide it well. Her hand went to her lower back, feeling up the label still on her back. The cuts on her arms didn’t seem to bother her all that much.

         She gets dressed, hanging everything she had up on some hangers in the closet and the backpack in an empty crate by the end of the bed. She was thankful the closet had lining that would protect the wood from the water.

         ❝ Sans, is this okay? ❞ she steps out, covered almost completely in a purple tunic that should look all too familiar, albeit, seemed to be made for someone smaller than Toriel. ❝ It’s just… everything else was too big or too small. ❞ that and everything else didn’t cover certain areas very well.

   Having disappeared into his own room, he wasted no time throwing off the dampened garbs. It was the first time he could take a breather and reassess the situation, and for that one long minute he fell back on his bed, letting his own bones air out a bit.

   For his first time guiding a human through the Ruins, it seemed to be going... well. There were unexpected dips and turns, but he made it this far already. Bonny was agreeable, if not overly generous. He reached out and dug out the phone from his jacket, which he’d sloppily hung on his bedpost. He had to resist the urge to get lost in the photos again, instead hiding the device under his pillow. Later, before I go to bed, he promised himself.

   After the break, he threw on some loose-fitting shorts and an old, white turtleneck sweater, and then traded his slip-ons for pink slippers. He fluffed his shirt out a little before finally stepping outside, and quickly noticed Bonny’s new clothes.

         ❝ Ah, whoops. ❞ His chuckle came out wobbly, as though he was caught off guard. ❝ I forgot about that one. Not sure my friend would’ve liked me keeping that one, but it doesn’t look bad on you. So, just for the night... ❞

         ❝ A-A shortcut? ❞ Bonny murmurs in reply, there was a bit of hesitance, she wasn’t supposed to go off with strangers in a place she didn’t know–but it’s not like surface methods and having locations that were meant to be trusted were not down here. So she stuck with just trusting Sans for now.

         When he takes her hand, that flustered expression returns but doesn’t last. She did far more intimate things with her skating partner, touching her hand shouldn’t have been as big a deal as it was. She followed, maybe causing a tug here and there due to her feet not being in sync with Sans, she adjusted and made it easier on the both of them within a few steps.

         She almost comments on the dead end and begins to feel suspicious about the situation again only to have the scenery change with another step. She has to wonder if she closed her eyes and started sleep walking for a few minutes. When he lets go of her hand, she can’t help but hold her own hand for a second, her thumb rubbing her palm.

         ❝ H-Huh? Oh! Yeah, um… r-right. ❞ she steps forward and slows for a second in front of the door, dark thoughts entered her mind… once she went in, things got more complicated… she became more vulnerable. Her hands grip the bottom of her shirt, reassures herself, and steps inside. She’s quick to regain eye contact however, her hand on her wrist again. ❝ It’s really cozy in here. Comfort over style; should’ve known. ❞

         ❝ Yeah, it’s a pretty good joint. ❞ Sans let the door close behind them and stuffed his hands back into his pockets. ❝ A friend let me take over once she moved back to the big city. It ain’t much, but it works. ❞

   The house was at least navigable, though the decorations, or lack thereof, left much to be desired. Some spring clinging was due for this place, which the skeleton got to right away, swiping glass bottles and half-empty mugs from the tabletops and bringing them to the kitchen. Coming back out, he started speeding towards the end of the hallway on the right instead.

Wow, Sans didn’t even have to say anything for the fire monster know what he wanted, Holly couldn’t help but watch the elemental curiously as he took off to the back of the restaurant and out of sight. This Grillby didn’t seem to talk much, but that made Holly all the more interested in getting to know him somehow. That would have to done another day though, right now it was ‘getting to know Sans’ time!

Holly focuses back on the stoutly skeleton just in time for him to ask about how they were feeling about the Underground, the question making them furrow their brow in thought.

“ … I’m not sure. ” Holly eventually admits, their gaze turning towards their hands which rested on the counter. “ I l-like Snowdin, and I had a lot of fun with Papyrus. I wish I d-didn’t have to fight everybody th-though. ”

Honestly the whole venture through Snowdin had been a pleasant surprise to Holly, who’d been expecting nothing but hardship in the Underground after Toriel’s grim warnings. The monsters in town chatted with them, let them rest, basically let them roam around as they pleased! But the looming threat of being captured by the Royal Guards hung over Holly the entire time, making it difficult to truly enjoy spending time around the kind monsters of Snowdin town.

   He was nearly surprised at Holly’s uncertainty until they made mention of the battles they had to go through to even get here. He nodded in understanding, thinking out loud, ❝ It's a lot of pressure to put on a kid, for sure. ❞ The fact that they were still standing said quite a lot by itself, though.

   Giving them an encouraging thumbs up, he then said, ❝ Chin up, kiddo. Chances are, folks here don’t actually want to fight you, either. They just need a little bit of convincing is all. ❞

   Grillby swiftly returned to the counter, setting down two plates of burgers with a side of fries. A classic delicacy! Sans gave his thanks before reaching into his jacket and... pulling out a bottle of ketchup. At the very least, it appeared to be in mint condition, but... still.

       He had the right idea, monsters in his universe sure were… extra. Even to him, who still preferred comfort over style. Though he’d grown to really appreciate feeling like he looked nice too. Maybe too much at times, but he didn’t like to come off as being stuck-up.

       “Are you takin’ me for a fool? Of course they’re fuzzy. On the inside though. Uggs are nice though. I have a few pairs like that.” He chuckled some, finding it amusing that they were having this conversation. Though it said a lot about this Sans - he seemed pretty chill, and Lust certainly appreciated that.        He gave the other an innocent little look over before nodding in affirmation. He could sense that maybe Sans wasn’t all that confident in his look; it only pushed Lust into wanting to compliment him MORE. “But it’s still you. Isn’t that enough to make it look good. Some don’t need flashy to look nice.” He grinned at the other. “Not to sound vain at all, heh heh. But you’d be surprised by how attractive it can be to not try so hard.”

   The small skeleton appreciated the philosophy, letting out a small “huh” at the response. He looked back at his clothes once more and hugged his jacket closer to his body. Simple, clean, and cozy -- perhaps there was a special charm to it, just as his alternate suggested. ❝ I guess you got a good point, ❞ he conceded.

   Something just as warm ( in spirit ) and comforting were the familiar streets of Snowdin just up ahead. There was nary a sign of those festive lights ever coming down, even though it was long since -- or, at least, a long ways before the holiday would roll around once again. The pub, however, was everlasting, and the monster beelined right for it.

         She could see the wonder in his eyes as he was going through, so there wasn’t much surprise when he was left a little speechless afterward. Guess she ended up giving more of a tour than he did… she almost felt bad for disorienting him with all the places she’d been. She hesitates, but decides to do it anyway.

         “Sure, that sounds nice.” a brief reply, and she doesn’t say anything as she takes Sans’ hand out of his pocket and places it into his hand. She had several phones in her bag, that one was just her work related one–she didn’t really want it that bad. “I have those photos on another device in my bag too so, you can keep that.” she pulls a cable from pocket–it was wet from jumping into the water earlier so she holds onto it for now, but it should still work: “I’ll give this to you later so you can have them on your stuff too, if you have something that’ll work with it…” Imagine seeing the sky change on a bigger screen, the ambience of small animals and the wind, only able to see the sky full of stars… watching the dark blue change to sunlight. Her phone wouldn’t do it any justice.

         She looks a little bashful, eyes glancing downward, and her thumb drawing circles on her palm: she’d been lucky in regards to travel–her leg tenses and she becomes abruptly aware of the face mask–but that was probably the only thing she’d gotten lucky in.

         “B-But let me help, yeah? I don’t l-like standing around and doing nothing for t-too long.” This fact would change, but it remains for now.

   Though caught by surprise, he didn’t stop her from grabbing him and leaving the phone in his hand. He stared down at the device for a few seconds before hugging it tightly to his chest, unsure of how to respond to such a kind gesture. This would only serve to fuel the fire, surely, but for now he felt grateful that he could keep those photos for himself.

         ❝ It’s gonna be a while before we reach home on our current route, ❞ he said as he tucked the phone into his jacket pocket. ❝ Lucky for you, I know a neat little shortcut to get us there quicker. Just don’t let go, y’hear? ❞

   It was his turn to take hold of Bonnie’s hand. He lead her through the first arch, then took a left into what looked like a dead end with a bowl of treats on a pedestal. Clearly the wrong way, but the skeleton neither paused nor commented on this, though a sneaky smirk did make its way on his face before --

   -- they appeared before a large oak, which was surrounded by a ring of its own fallen leaves. Not too far beyond the tree was the entrance to Sans’ home, with its own share of vibrantly red leaves littering the front. Without giving the human a moment to process the sudden change of scenery, he let go of her hand and proceeded to open the door for her.