#ebottarchive

For most people, being stuck with the guy you're in love with would be a dream come true, like something from one of those frilly romance novels. For you, however, it was becoming an incredibly frustrating couple of hours. The two of you having to be locked in one of the Family’s safehouses was not part of the initial plan.

Worst of all, it was one of the smaller ones, with a kitchenette and bedroom crammed into one room. There was a small bathroom as well, but neither of you were going to be comfortable sitting in there for an extended period of time. Which meant he was leaning against the wall on the other side of the room, not looking at you. It was driving you crazy. 

He was driving you crazy and he had been for weeks now.

Saint was, by all means, not a stupid man. The skeleton monster was quite smart, which made you wonder if he’d realized how you felt about him. You’d been working for the Family for nearly a year now and most of that had been alongside Saint. He’d been the one to train you, even. Falling for him had never been part of the plan, but after you’d started to peek behind the curtains and see what he was really like…

Well, you liked what you saw of him. Under the stoic and quiet demeanor, he was a lot sweeter than anyone would give him credit for. He cared deeply for the others in the Family and every time one of the men under his command was injured, he took it personally. It had taken nearly half a year before he’d opened up, but once he had it was easy to keep moving his walls out of the way. 

You didn’t know it, but that’s exactly why he was avoiding you. He’d never let his walls down like this before and it scared the hell out of him, to care about you the way that he did. Saint knew how harsh this life could be, the toll it took on a person’s soul. He didn’t want that for you, because you were a good person underneath it all, and he knew you deserved better than the life of a thug.

So Saint tried to put a little distance in between himself and you, because falling for you wasn’t something he could allow himself. You deserved better than he could give you, especially because if anyone found out how he felt…

They could use you against him and he didn’t know that he could keep himself from doing something stupid if that happened. No, this was easier. He could make you hate him, it was something he was used to with everyone else, and eventually, he’d get used to it with you. 

He could bear the pain if it meant you were safe.

Meanwhile, you’re sitting across the room and wondering if you did something to make him angry. Just a few weeks ago everything had been fine, but then one day, Saint just started to pull away. It wasn’t all at once or dramatic, but it was noticeable to you. For the first week, you’d hoped it was just that he was stressed about something else, but it kept going and there was more distance between the two of you.

Stars, before all of this you hadn’t realized you could miss someone who was in the same room as you.

You look over at him again, managing to catch Saint when he’s looked over to check on you. He quickly looks away and you decide that you’ve had enough of that.

“Why are you avoiding me?” You asked him, wrapping your arms around yourself, “Three weeks, Saint. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

There’s a moment of silence before he sighs, “I’m not avoiding you. I am simply putting a boundary between us, one that should have stayed in place.”

You flinch a little at that, the words alone hurt, but the tired way he says it only makes it feel worse.

“Well, I’m sorry that my company is suddenly an issue for you.” You snapped at him, turning to face the wall instead, “You're such an ass…”

Saint growled under his breath, more angry at himself than at you, “Oh please, I’ve been nice about this.”

Something in you finally crumbled and you turned around, marching across the room to jab your finger into his chest.

“No, you haven’t been! You’ve been quiet about it, which makes it seem nicer than if you were being an outright jerk.” You chided him, brow furrowed as you continue to jam your finger against his sternum, “But nothing about pushing me away suddenly and without explanation is fucking nice!”

He couldn’t meet your gaze, his eyes looking down at the floor instead, which only made your frustration greater. You cared about him, so much more than you’d ever expected to and he couldn’t at least tell you that he didn’t care about you.

“So yeah, you have been avoiding me.” You added, letting your hand fall to your side, “And I still don’t understand why.”

Saint growled again, hands balling into fists as he struggled with the emotions that were welling up inside him. It felt like his ribcage would explode if he didn’t let them out, but he was scared.

Scared of rejection. Scared of losing you.

You were about to tear into him again when he finally looked up and you snapped your mouth shut. Your heartbeat felt so loud in the split second before he opened his mouth to speak, you felt like it would pop out of your chest.

“You’re right.” Saint said quietly, still not quite able to look you in the eyes, “I have been avoiding you, but not because… it’s not anything you did. I promise.”

You blinked and let out a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding, “Then tell me why. Explain it to me, because I don’t want to sit here thinking you hate me. I can’t bear it…”

Stars, you were going to be the death of him, he knew that much. He didn’t mind it though, not if it was you.

“It’s because I’m pretty sure that I’ve fallen for you and that terrifies me.” He admitted, cheekbones turning red, “I’ve never cared for someone like this and I’m scared of what that means.”

It felt like everything stopped for you in that moment and then you were reaching out for him, cradling his face in both of your hands. His eye sockets went wide with surprise before he made a soft noise and leaned into your touch.

“You’re an idiot.” You told him fondly, pulling him closer so you could press your foreheads together, “Or maybe I’m an idiot, too. Getting so close to someone I work with.”

Saint was quiet for a moment and then he laughed softly, reaching up to hold your face as well. He smiled at you and it made your heart skip a beat, he looked softer when he was like this. You had missed that over the last few weeks.

“I don’t think you’re an idiot.” He said, rubbing his thumb over your cheek, “And I think… that if we do this together, maybe it won’t be so scary.”

You laughed a little at that, “Yeah, things tend to be less scary when you’re doing them with someone else. Especially if you care about them.”

The two of you stood there for a few more moments before he cleared his throat, giving you another soft smile.

“We should really get some rest.” Saint said, caressing your cheek one more time before letting go, “I’ll make something to eat afterwards and check back in with my brother to see if we’re good to move from here.”

You nodded, a little sad at the loss of his touch, “Right, we’ve only been here to hide from people looking to kill us.” 

He snorted and you chuckled a little, because the situation itself wasn’t funny, but hey, all you could do was make the best of it. Besides, you’d finally gotten to talk to him because of it and that was better than you could have expected. You could rest easier knowing that he didn’t hate you and the rest you could sort out properly later.

Smoke and Mac were still in the mafia underground! Each location was more or less broken into their own smaller families. Unlike their swap and tale counterparts, things were far less than peaceful between these families- disputes between territory and resources were fairly common.

Smoke and Mac held fairly high-ranking positions within the Snowdin family. Their primary responsibility (shared between them) was security; Smoke guarding the entrance from the Ruins, & Mac guarding the entrance from Waterfall. (This is actually how he & Undyne met!) After surfacing many of the families disbanded for a myriad of causes- disputes on where to go, what to do, and most importantly, how to handle relations with the humans going forward. Shortly after they were left displaced, the skeleton brothers were scouted by the Dreemur family on Frisks recommendation. As for other jobs beyond the Mafia, they were there, but not particularly desirable. Operating outside of a family meant you were often left without any protection, and finding a place to live could be difficult, too. The only exception to this was the Ruins- being sealed off from the rest of the underground provided enough security for monsters to live (mostly) normal lives, under Toriels watchful eyes. Outside of the ruins, the exceptionally weak (or foolish) who could not get jobs with a family were left to fend for themselves picking up odd jobs that could be considered neutral. Messengers & delivery workers, transportation, things like that.

TW: Implied death and violence

He wondered to himself if the dust would ever really wash out of his gloves or if there would always be that dull gray tinge to them. One of the others called out to him from across the room and he shook the thoughts from his head.

“We’ve cleared the area, Papyrus.” The cat monster reported, then shifted uncomfortably, “Although… some of them got away when the fighting started up.”

Papyrus furrowed his brows, crossing his arms over his chest, “How many is ‘some of them’?”

“Like…” The cat counted under his breath, “Eight of them… maybe nine.”

He growled under his breath and the other monster shrunk away from him, which did not help with his bad mood. Saint wondered if the others in the Dreemur Family really thought he’d ever turn on them.

“Sans won’t be happy to hear about that, but there isn’t anything to be done about it now.” Saint said after a moment, “Get the others together and gather any evidence that needs to come back with us. We’ll leave once that is done.”

The cat monster skittered off with a nod of his head and a quiet ‘yes, sir.’ The skeleton looked around the room he was in and let out a resigned sigh. He’d never liked this work, but there weren’t a lot of options in this world and even less with monsters still being trapped underground. He knew a lot of the others in the Family, especially those in lower ranks, did not agree with how he handled things. He scared them and unlike his brother, who was charismatic enough to maintain a semblance of being liked, he was not good at dealing with others.

“Not that any of them would look past my face or LV long enough to let me talk at all.” He muttered under his breath.

It didn’t matter. At least, that’s what he told himself. 

He busied himself with scouring the room for anything he would need to take back to the hideout, only leaving once he was certain he’d managed to clear the room. The others were wrapping up their own work once he rejoined them and it didn’t take long for the group to be on their way back to report on the job. 

He was right and his brother wasn’t happy that some of the monsters had gotten away, but everything else had gone well enough that he let it slide for now. The others were all celebrating, sharing drinks and talking about how well they’d done, some flirting with the performers at the bar. Saint sat off in the corner alone, watching the rest of the room form his spot. He knew better than to attempt and join the festivities, all that would do is remind him that even here, he didn’t really belong. 

Papyrus took another sip from his drink and leaned back in his seat, never letting his gaze linger anywhere long enough for the others to catch him watching. It was better this way, he wouldn’t know what to say even if they wanted him to join in. He was better off on the sidelines.

He was better off alone.

Besides, who could ever want to be friends with someone like him? Oh sure, he and Undyne were friends, but she was still more personable than him and was more liked by the others. There was his brother, but he didn’t count that either. No, Papyrus didn’t need friends and he needed to stop letting himself ruminate on these thoughts. There was no time or reason to worry about such silly things.

********

When they were settling the paperwork to get their identification on the surface, Papyrus and Sans had agreed to take on new names. The two both agreed that a level of separation from their identities underground would be useful. Sans, now Whiskey, had laughed at the name he chose and commented that if he was looking to make himself out to be someone to be feared he was doing a good job. 

He never tells his brother that’s not what he was going for. 

Papyrus takes the name, Saint, in the hopes that the word had positive associations elsewhere and perhaps some of that would rub off on him. He’s tired of being alone, tired of monsters recognizing his name and practically running in the opposite direction. 

He hopes for better on the surface, but humans prove to be no better.

Saint settles into his routine from then on, never hoping for more than living through each new day. He and Undyne train together and get drinks a few nights out of the week. His brother stops to have drinks with him on Mondays in one of their offices and they discuss how the week goes. Otherwise, none of the others stay in his office longer than necessary and after a while, it stops stinging so much every time they flinch away from him. 

He resigns himself to loneliness and finds some level of comfort in knowing where he stands with others. It stays that way for years and he never falters in his stance, never takes a chance on anyone who comes through the doors of the hideout.

“Welcome one and all! Welcome to our incredible circus!” Tumble’s voice cut loudly and clearly through the chatter of the circus attendees, and a hush fell over the crowd as it did every night. You knew it thrilled him to bits; so many people were already on the edge of their seats, waiting with bated breath to hear what he would say next. His grin widened ever so slightly as he continued. “We appreciate all of you for generously taking the time out of your evenings to delight in all of the wonders we have prepared for you!” He removed his hat, giving the audience a deep bow. “My name is Tumble, and as your ringmaster, it is my pleasure to guide you through tonight’s performance, and I must say, what a performance it is!” With a tap of his cane, magic sparks fired from cannons near the back of the tent with a series of pops- raining down on the audience and making the air itself seem to sparkle. A nice addition to top-of-show, courtesy of Undyne. The assorted ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from the crowd delighted him further. As he stood back up to his full height, his eyelights seemed to shine a bit brighter. “Yes, for tonight I can promise you a showcase of not only rib tickling  jokes and spine tingling  stunts, but jaw-dropping  magic as well! And our circus is just about the only place you’ll get to see it live, folks!” He chuckled along with the crowd at his own string of jokes; to him, this was more of a matter of practically being able to hear his brother groaning at them. You actually could  hear Firefly groan from your place backstage, and giggled along with him. 

Tumble cleared his throat, getting back on track. “And it’s about time we got started! So get comfortable, and get ready to see our amazing strong-woman, the rambunctious reptilian renegade, our very own Alphys!” He introduced his friend, tossing his cane up and using a bit of magic to tuck it away from view. Then, in his usual flamboyant manner, he cartwheeled and flipped his way off the stage as Alphys made her entrance. “You were incredible, as always.” You complimented as Tumble made his way over to you. He rested his head atop your own, joining you in peeking from behind the curtain out into the crowd. “Thank you,” He spoke, much more softly than he had previously. “I still feel as though it’s missing… something, but I can’t exactly pin down what. But- you’re right, improvement is improvement.” He took a deep breath. 

“You’re welcome,” You hummed, dropping the curtain to reach back and pull his arms around your waist. You felt him relax, sinking a bit of his weight into you. “You know you don’t have to be Toriel, right? No one expects you to be- you’re your own person..”

“I know, I know, I just…” Tumble paused, considering his next words for a few moments. “She entrusted me with the responsibility, and everyone else, too. They’re all relying on me- I don’t want to let them down. I want to do this just as well as she did.”

“And you will.” You asserted, turning around to face him properly and press a kiss to his teeth. Even after having been dating for quite some time, it still left a light aquamarine tinge across his cheekbones. You smiled. “Just give yourself some time. It’s only been a few months- even you can’t learn a completely new role perfectly in such a short time.” 

“Says who?” Tumble challenged, a bit of an amused lilt in his voice. You laughed a bit. “No really, I want to know, we’re gonna have to have a chat-” He started to tease, holding you close to him as he pretended to look for this imaginary person. 

“Tumble, cut it out-” You started, still giggling. “You bonehead…”

“Ah, you wound me…” Your boyfriend pathetically moped, practically dumping all of his weight onto you. “However will I go on..?” He peeked open one eye socket, snickering as he met your less than impressed gaze. 

“I’m sure you’ll manage, goober.” You said, nuzzling into his neck. If the skeleton could melt, he would have on the spot. 

“As long as you’re with me, I’ll be just fine.” He agreed, pressing his teeth to your forehead in a sweet kiss.