Chapter Text
Crumble was honestly a bit scared and rightly so, today was the day for that dreaded facility worker to make their appearance. And the tension in the skeleton household had only tripled in its intensity over the coming days. It seemed that everyone was getting on the other’s nerves with snide comments and sharp words that made even Crumble flinch from its hostility. In many ways, it was like she was back in the facility again and she didn’t know how to fix it.
She kept to her room when she could, fighting down her own urges of wanting to go outside or to ask one of the skeletons to join her for some company. No one was ever around, and she feared rejection, so the easiest solution was to simply keep to herself. Crumble grabbed her well-worn jumper, wrapping it around herself like a coat of armour as she heard the doorbell ring from downstairs.
It was the worker.
The stairs creaked loudly underneath her, announcing her presence to the world and alerting the housemates of her own arrival. She could hear the chatter from the kitchen start to quieten as she got nearer, even making sure to stare at the ground so as to appear less of a threat. Everything felt foreign all of a sudden and Crumble could only hope that this initial inspection went well. She wanted everything to go back to normal again, she missed Papyrus’ cheery words and even the light flirting from Candy; she missed it all. This wasn’t the freedom she envisioned for herself, but it was better than nothing and it was better than the facility. Though, anything would be better than that hellhole.
Stretch gave her a nod as she took her place at the kitchen table, lifting herself up on the highchairs while Sparrow pushed a plate of fruit over in her direction. She muttered a quick thanks before taking a bite out of one of the apples, savouring the taste of fresh fruit while someone went to answer to door.
“I’M SURE IT’LL BE FINE!” Sparrow reassured her gently, moving to stand next to her and resting a hand on her shoulder. Crumble smiled at him and went to say something when the dreaded agent finally took a step into the house. She could practically feel how the energy shifted, how the guards were raised and how the house no longer felt like a home. Sparrow’s grip on her shoulder tightened slightly before letting go with him moving back to sink as if to physically stop himself from reacting any further. Her gaze swept over the kitchen taking note of how Stretch and Sparrow remained close to her while the others were scattered around the dining and living room, eerily similar to how the facility would station their guards. Clearly the guys were expecting the worse from this interaction and Crumble could see why.
Her eyes locked onto the human that entered and promptly felt her body restart at the sight.
“Fucking Carole.”
The words were muttered aloud before she even realised it, almost throwing up at the chuckle it caused from Satan’s offspring herself. She looked no different then when Crumble had seen her last, still standing with perfect posture and those cold, dead eyes that never showed any remorse over her own actions. Carole was the single pinnacle of Crumble’s worst moments in life and of course she had to be here, of course she had to be the one that would ultimately decide if she was worthy of life outside imprisonment. What bullshit.
She dug her claws into her hoodie’s pockets, entangling her hands to prevent herself from doing anything stupid like sporadically throwing a punch on instinct or shattering a plate over Carole’s stupid head. Her rage and frustration were but a single tipping point from boiling over and just straight killing the human where she stood.
And Carole had the audacity to smirk.
Crumble’s collar gave a warning beep, alerting her and others of her rising LVL, of how she craved to drink the blood that poured from that demon’s neck.
“That doesn’t sound good.” The Sargent toyed with her, hands behind her back and a grin so large it spelt nothing but trouble. “Would be horribly tragic if we had to send you back to the facility already; after all the great progress that I’ve been hearing about, I’ve just been so excited to see it!”
Her SOUL was filled with KINDNESS.
Her SOUL was filled with KINDNESS.
Her SOUL was filled with KINDNESS.
Crumble jolted as a small electric current ran through her body, closing her sockets against the pain as she violently forced back the magic that tried to fight back with the collar suppression technology.
“what the fuck was that!?” Stretch exclaimed loudly, rushing to Crumble’s side as he threw an arm around her and checked her over. Crumble opened her mouth to reassure him, to say that this wasn’t the worst she’s ever felt when another burst of energy forced her jaw shut. She groaned through her teeth as the magic inside her thrashed wildly, hunching in on herself while her collar continued to beep with ever increasing intensity.
Her SOUL was filled with KINDNESS.
“Should really learn to control those LVLs Crumble.”
“You’ve Made Your Point, Sargent.” Black stood by her side, his sockets narrowing in displeasure as he stood with his arms behind his back much like hers. The two stared at each other in obvious communication, sizing the other up and it appeared that Carole had won as her grin grew bigger. She laughed to herself, no doubt getting a thrill from the control that she had over Crumble and thus the rest of the household.
Crumble forced herself to look away from the sight and instead met Stretch’s eye lights as he lightly ran his hands over her body, checking for anything out place or anything even slightly concerning. She appreciated his kindness however and offered a meek half-smile that definitely looked more strained than reassuring as judging by his worsening expression. There wasn’t much she could do as she was already focusing on restraining her violent tendencies as well as her magic. Her collar was still letting out small beeps, however it was gradually decreasing in volume, so she was doing something right.
She tuned out the conversations happening around her, picking up on Black’s cordial tone, Red’s dark promises and Stretch’s whispered words of encouragement. A gentle hand took her own and she didn’t even have to look as she knew it was Sparrow’s due it it’s dwarfing size in comparison to her own. And with the combined comfort from both Stretch and Sparrow, Crumble allowed herself to drift away, letting the two blanket her in their warmth while the other’s negotiated with the Sargent.
Her SOUL was filled with KINDNESS.
“-make sure she’s ready.” Sans muttered in the distance.
“yeah, well m’lord can help-”
“Bias.” Carole cut through.
“What Do You Suggest Then?”
“Wine.”
An uncomfortable silence settled amongst the skeletons with Stretch muttering a quiet swear as he brought Crumble closer to him. She could tell the household members weren’t happy with whoever Carole mentioned and that worried her.
“Any Particular Reason For That?” Black asked pointedly, his sockets briefly roaming over Crumble’s fragile body and instilling no confidence in her whatsoever. And Carole was no help either as her grin seemed to widen even further than before, “Oh, it just makes sense. The facility wants a monster that can easily ‘handle’ her should something unfortune happen.”
In other words, someone that could kill her easily.
Great.
Red suddenly teleported from the room, no doubt telling Edge of the learnt information and Crumble couldn’t help the desire to want to follow him. Their bond was still blocked and there’s nothing she needed more than Edge’s presence beside her, to feel that familiar magic that had once protected her before. She squeezed Sparrow’s hand with ever tightening panic, her own SOUL was thumping weakly in her chest as the conveyed her dismay. She was scared, she was scared and all she could do was bare it; there was nowhere for her emotions to go.
Crumble forced a calming breath out of her body, not needing her collar to go off again and give Carole more fuel to torment her. It really was an unnecessary situation; things didn’t have to be like this but of course it was her luck to have Carole monitor her and not even Edge to guide her when he’s been one of the few to continuously help her.
“Anything else then?” Sans wearily asked.
“Yes actually, just one more thing before I go!”
Carole suddenly turned to the skeleton hybrid, forcing Crumble to swallow a threatening growl as the human took her time to approach her. She pulled out two metal bands from behind her back, “Your hands.”
It wasn’t a request, but a demand and Crumble followed it mindlessly. She registered the gasps of disgust before the feeling of cold metal snapped around her wrists, weighing down her limbs to match the same feeling she had on her neck.
“The facility would be more comfortable if the hybrid had more LVL suppressing cuffs from now on. Until it settles or she returns back to her cell; she must wear these along with her collar for the sake of safety, of course.”
And with that, Carole left.
No one moved for a while and Crumble dimly could hear Stretch and Sparrow attempt to comfort her, but she was already done for the day. The metal cuffs dug into her bone uncomfortably, rubbing against her already frail wrists and dried dust that settled on her bones.
She felt itchy.
She felt lost.
And she felt tired.
It was like a weighted blanket was suddenly thrown on her but instead of bringing comfort, it only suffocated her like she was drowning and there was nothing to keep her afloat.
“-get her back to bed.”
Her SOUL was filled with KINDNESS.
She felt heavy and slow, she didn’t feel as aware as she once was.
Her SOUL was filled with KINDNESS.
Her magic felt almost muted, barely reacting to the outside world and her inner turmoil.
Her SOUL was filled with KINDNESS.
She was tired, so, so, tired.
Her SOUL was filled with PATIENCE.
Crumble could only hope and wait out whatever was in store for her. She had a feeling she won’t be able to have the same support as before. Things were going to be different and Crumble needed to adapt to survive, or rather to be given the chance at survival.
She was no closer to freedom than she was to being sent back to the facility.
Her SOUL was filled with KINDNESS.
She just had to wait, to withstand and to draw from her years of solitude to come out victorious from the other side.
There was no time to rely on the kindness of others, but to simply wait and outlive those that keep trying to harm her and her future.
She just had to have PATIENCE.