Chapter Text
You open your eyes. Blinking incredulously as you stand in your room. You don't really remember what happened, or what was going on. You glance at the bars on the window, smoke curling into sight. Hold on, you didn't have a barred window in your room. You were sure about that.
The window disappears. But someone else appears on the cot in the corner of the room. You recognize them. It was you.
You stare at yourself, and you stare back.
☜︎︎💣︎︎👌︎︎⚐︎︎👎︎︎✋︎︎💣︎︎☜︎︎☠︎︎❄︎︎
You tilt your head, nodding shortly back in greeting.
You mirror the head tilt, but don't nod back. The blank look in your eyelights more than slightly uncomfortable but that's normal. You stop looking at yourself and look around the room instead. It's changed again. Familiar yet so foreign.
✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ☟︎✌︎✞︎☜︎ 👍︎☟︎✌︎☠︎☝︎☜︎👎︎📬︎
You glance back at yourself, now sitting on a window bed, the window behind you is empty. Void of anything but inky darkness. That wasn't right, but you can't do anything about it. It was on your side of the room. You're not allowed on that side, you never said that. You said that, you weren't allowed on your side just as you weren't allowed on your side. Not willingly at least.
But sometimes, you could stand up and cross the border. The rules gone as soon as the circumstances were right... You tried hard to make sure the circumstances weren't right.
You look at your side, you don't have a window bed unfortunately. Damn you.
Though thankfully you still have more things on your side rather than your side. It's rather empty there, you'd be more empathetic to it if it weren't for the fact you didn't like anything. At all.
Aside from your brother of course, but you weren't supposed to be with your brother.
That's something you can feel a bit more empathetic to yourself. You don't like being apart with your brother, but it was really for the best.
❄︎☟︎☜︎☼︎☜︎ ✋︎💧︎ 💧︎⚐︎💣︎☜︎❄︎☟︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ 👎︎✋︎☞︎☞︎☜︎☼︎☜︎☠︎❄︎📬︎
You look at yourself with a questioning look, "what's different?" You finally ask, your voice reverberating ever so slightly.
You narrow your eye sockets, blank eyelights finally shining as something flashes between you and you- right at the middle. Right at the border.
A screen, filled with dim blue words. Stats, story, information. Everything that made you, you.
You stare at the screen, words flashing by, switching between languages that you knew. The words flew by, changing quickly as you read.
You don't see anything wrong. But you were right, there were some changes, new information, other things but it wasn't bad. You think.
👍︎☟︎✌︎☠︎☝︎☜︎ ✋︎💧︎ ☠︎⚐︎❄︎ ✋︎💣︎🏱︎⚐︎☼︎❄︎✌︎☠︎❄︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 👍︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎❄︎📬︎
You decided, shine dulling to blankness once more as the screen disappeared and the border is all that divides you and you. "that's good i guess." You reply with a shrug, you never cared for the court. That was all you. Ever dedicated one, so obsessed with the session- though you were not the only one.
Thump.
Ah, speak of the devil...
You look behind yourself and find yourself. There, behind you, within the inky darkness outside the window.
You looked strict and empty as always, summoned at the mention of the court. You looked expectant, you look back at yourself and shake your head. Disappointed and cowed, you fade back into the darkness, disappearing from the window.
Good.
You never really liked yourself. Unfortunately efficient in what you did and always listened to you instead of you.
"was there a point to this?" You ask aloud, looking at you. "would've liked a normal dream instead of a meetin'."
❄︎☟︎☜︎ 👍︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎❄︎ 💧︎☟︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎👎︎ ☟︎✌︎✞︎☜︎ 👌︎☜︎☝︎✌︎☠︎📬︎
"you always think it should begin. it shouldn't. is this about the high lvs around? from the others? they're good skeletons, they shouldn't be prosecuted." You tell yourself, annoyed at your thoughts about the matter. You liked the new place with all the skeletons. Good skeletons. You know they're good skeletons, despite some of their circumstances.
It was nice to be around skeletons again aside from your brother.
❄︎☟︎☜︎✡︎ 💧︎☟︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎👎︎ 🏱︎☼︎⚐︎✞︎☜︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✋︎☼︎ ✋︎☠︎☠︎⚐︎👍︎☜︎☠︎👍︎☜︎📬︎
You replied, frown set and stubborn. "they don't have to prove anythin' they don't want to. you don't understand- you never understand." You sigh, pressing your palms against your face. You really would have liked a dream instead of this. "enough. the court's not happening pal. leave it and let me sleep."
The door creaks open behind you as you stay silent. "good." You turn on your heel, feet padding on the floor as you head towards the now opened door. "see ya."
❄︎☟︎☜︎ 👍︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎❄︎ 🕈︎✋︎☹︎☹︎ 👌︎☜︎☝︎✋︎☠︎ 💧︎⚐︎💣︎☜︎👎︎✌︎✡︎ ☜︎💣︎👌︎⚐︎👎︎✋︎💣︎☜︎☠︎❄︎📬︎ ✋︎❄︎ ✋︎💧︎ ✋︎☠︎☜︎✞︎✋︎❄︎✌︎👌︎☹︎☜︎📬︎ ✋︎❄︎ ✋︎💧︎ 🕈︎☟︎✌︎❄︎ 💣︎🕆︎💧︎❄︎ 👌︎☜︎ 👎︎⚐︎☠︎☜︎📬︎
You pause and glance back at yourself, "yeah well- i'll be doin' my best to make sure that doesn't happen. i actually like the place we ended up. i don't-" You took in a deep breath and grasp the handle of the door, "i don't want to ruin that."
📬︎📬︎📬︎
"later, judge."
You step out the door and into the much needed dreamland that you wanted, leaving yourself behind.
Morning comes slowly, the darkness of the night slowly, and beautifully, turning into daylight as the sun slowly rose up.
Papyrus always tried to wake up just in time to see the sunrise. To watch the sky paint itself in purples, yellows, oranges and then eventually to bright blue.
He would look at the sky, count the clouds in the sky and try to see how the weather is- though some mornings he couldn't watch the sunrise since it would be raining or unfortunately cloudy. But still, he always cherished every morning that he could see the sunrise, even if the day wouldn't necessarily be special or good.
It was his new morning routine in this universe. And it was a good routine.
And on some good mornings, his brother would be awake in time with him. On some good-ish mornings, his brother never slept.
Papyrus was grateful to find that he was the first one awake that morning and that his brother was sleeping in his room. And so was their newest gue- well, housemate now. Or well, as far as Papyrus knew, Chine was still asleep within his room. He had pressed his skull against the door and heard nothing so he hoped that Chine was still asleep in these early hours.
Or maybe Chine would have liked to wake up in time to watch the sunrise as well.
He should ask later on.
But right now, he enjoyed his time on the porch, sitting on one of the outdoor chairs, breathing in the quiet and crisp morning air while carefully nursing a nice warm cup of coffee that helped awaken him as the sky lightened with the sun rising.
Papyrus really did love this newfound freedom he and his brother had for the past months. It's done so well for them both and for others. Hopefully it would do well for two new others.
He stayed on the porch until the sunrise finished, long after his cup was empty and the chill of morning started to subside for the normal heat of the day- it seemed like it would be a regular day, no rain clouds in sight but you could never know with mother nature's weather schedule. Papyrus certainly hoped that it would stay sunny today, Blue and the others were going to go shopping today weren't they? With Chine and Visor for the start of their much needed clothing?
Would it be too much if he offered to come with? Both brothers didn't seem to mind him and his brother's appearances... But then again, there was a reason why they rarely went out to densely populated areas like the mall. Their appearances were too frightening for the humans around them, monsters well. Papyrus with his crooked teeth that earned him his nickname- he didn't mind, not anymore, Crooks was a fine way to distinguish himself from the others- and his brother with his red eyelight and caved in skull.
The thought of his brother's hole soured his pleasant morning mood, it furthered a bit when his thoughts ultimately strayed to his new counterpart Visor. He had a similar, if not worse caved in skull hole than his brother. Papyrus couldn't help but wonder on what happened, it would no doubt have been as similarly horrifying as to when his brother had faced... Undyne.
He liked this universe's Undyne much better than his own. Was Chine's version of Undyne a good monster? Or was she like his Undyne, cruel and truly monstrous?
Papyrus really hoped that Chine's Undyne was like Classic's.
With the sunrise over and his morning mood slightly soured, Papyrus retreated back into his cottage after one final look at the mansion.
He must prepare breakfast for his brother and Chine, he felt his mood bettering as he thought on what to prepare for breakfast for all three of them. Would Chine like pancakes or waffles? Strawberry or blueberry? Chocolate syrup or simple maple? Oh the possibilities were endless and with how last night went, Papyrus was rather determined to make sure Chine ate a good amount good food.
They were on the surface of a peaceful world, there would be no rations here! Just lovely home cooked meals and flavorful amazing food.
Past-starved monsters must simply stick together and provide for each other after all.
Oh! Maybe he should consider going with eggs, toast and bacon instead? A classic, lovely breakfast, perhaps add in some baked potatoes for flair and more nutrients...
Waking from a weird ass fucking dream always lead to you stumbling off your bed with a somewhat painful thunk as your body collides with the floor, you never remember the dream itself, just that it was just flat out weird and probably disturbing and that you want to go back to dreamland and get a refund for a better dream but you don't want to move from the floor.
"uughhhh," You groan against the carpeted floor, shifting against said floor as you instinctively try to go back to sleep on said floor. It was simply very comfy, and smelled clean.
...
Too clean.
Did your brother clean out your carpet? Why? What the fuck did he want? If he cleaned your carpet then he must have done something else--
No wait. Wait wait wait wait wait-
Scrambling to your feet, your breath hitches as instead of your bedroom, you see a bedroom. It lacks any of your personal items, all the work you've made in your years isn't there and you're-
You look at your gloved hands, the white not-skin that entered said thick gloves, bones. Bones bones bones- you could see the actual radius and ulna of an arm. Your arm. It wasn't supposed to be your arm but not it was.
Oh.
Oh.
Yesterday slams back into your head like a fucking truck, memories of what had happened and the situation that you and your brother were in now.
For a brief moment, last night's panic attack threatens to overwhelm you.
Smack!
"ow!" You hissed, tenderly rubbing the cheek that you'd abruptly slapped. It hurt, the type of hurt that you don't really get when you were dreaming which proved that this was no doubt and unfortunately rate. That and it helped snap you out of the restart of another panic attack. You definitely didn't want to end up crying again.
You could do this, you could deal with everything and make it work.
You didn't really have a choice.
Might as well own it right?
As you rubbed your cheek, you notice just how malleable your face is despite being a skeleton. You glance over to the dresser mirror, grimacing at the brief flash of memory to last night- the burst of emotions that happened at the sight of Sans' face facing you despite the fact you weren't Sans. "okay. okay. you can do this." You reassure yourself, clenching your fists, glaring hard at your hands and resolutely took both gloves off. Tossing them on the bed and striding over to the dresser to face yourself.
If you couldn't look at yourself in the mirror then how the fuck were you going to do anything else in life?
Bracing yourself, you force yourself to face the reflection in the mirror.
Dim blue eyelights greet you from the glass, you frown as you notice the clear tear tracks underneath your sockets but ignore it to focus on the familiar scratches that decorated the face that was now yours. You've never had any facial scars before, and the scratches on your skull definitely counted as facial scars- what else could they be? You ignore the slight tremor in your body as you focus on how you looked like now.
Sans' face was ultimately fascinating to see in real life. Both your new face and the other AU Sans that would now surround you.
You let your more nerdy side out as you observe your face, your skull, your hands, your everything- like how the shape of your skull wasn't typically like an anatomically correct human skull, it was more round-ish. Like the bones themselves weren't bones persay, but like muscle, skin, the bones were flexible, demonstrated by how you pinched your own cheek and stretched it as far as you could before massaging it down, molding your face and watching with interest as the bone shifted underneath your hands like skin. But it was undeniably bone though. Just, magic bones? Also with all the rubbing, you manage to erase the tear tracks on your face.
You hook a phalange and open your mouth, observing the way your teeth were covered by thin bone lips and were inside the skull instead of embedded or rooted at the jaw. The teeth themselves were deceptively flat when you smiled, but if you focused and opened your mouth you could see that they were actually sharper than they looked. And your tongue- it was no longer flesh and blood, it was a glowy dim blue tongue that shined with spit and drool. You found that you could also make it disappear- magic was indescribable really.
And your eyes- well, eyelights in your sockets. You couldn't exactly see the inside of your own skull- there was nothing else but darkness behind the eyelights, it didn't seem like sclera. You really didn't have eyeballs, and after some hesitance, you found yourself poking a finger into the socket.
No pain, nothing- you just couldn't see with the finger in your socket. You could probably feel the back of your own skull if you shoved your hand deeper but you don't do that because as fascinating as that was, this was still kind of disturbing. You weren't ready to do something like that yet.
"would it be suspicious if i tried to learn more on what the fuck we are and how we are by the others." You muse aloud, shaking your head and blinking to let your vision return to normal. "maybe. probably have to find out another way... actually wait-" Your eyelights brighten as you remember something and scramble over to your clothes.
You take the coat in hand and sat down on the bed, looking through the pockets- which were indeed filled with items that belonged to Prosthesis Sans. You're in awe at them all really but you reluctantly set them all aside and ignore them in favor of finding...
"aha! gotcha!"
Victoriously, you held out the item that you had been looking for and a wide grin settling on your face. The item in question was actually a device, a thick-cog shaped and looking device. In all actuality, it seemed like a cog-shaped camera with a protruding lens at the center of the six-teethed cog. It was as thick as your arm and as big as your hand.
You grinned at it, feeling inexplicably giddy as you held the amazing piece of technology in your bare hands. "oh fucking stars i never thought i'd actually manage to hold or even use this!" You fiddle with the device before pausing. "hold on. how do you work? i mean- i know how to use you but like, how do you work?" You question aloud as you look wide-eyed at the cog. You really want to dismantle it, see the innards because even though you wrote about this thing you don't exactly know on how it was made and how it worked on a complete level.
Unfortunately you only had one of these things.
Well, your brother had one of these too but, that was his HolCog.
Shaking your head and keeping in your disappointment, you instead turn it on. Pressing against a specific tooth of the cog, the lens of the HolCog brightening to signify that it was turning on, you flip the HolCog, seeing the screen on the back. "so cool." You whisper to yourself with a grin, watching the screen boot up. The text is dim blue, Prosthesis Sans' color, your color.
There's a numeric password on the screen, thankfully you know what the password was.
1-7-2-7-9-3-4.
The HolCog accepts the passwords and opens and you're greeted with the cool blue screen of the HolCog. You immediately press another tooth of the cog and set it screen down on the bed, watching with glee as the lens flared and brightened and above the HolCog, a slightly flickering screen appeared. The contents of the screen was simple, a greyish background with dim blue files littered over the screen, and a few other icons.
Yeah, you and your brother were kind of loose but creative with the technology of your Prosthesis AU. The theme was mostly steampunk but like hell you both were giving up the chance to be very creative with the technology. Like the Hologram-Cog. A device that was like a big phone slash small computer in Prosthesis AU but was capable of creating a hologram interface if one wanted, it wasn't perfect, it flickered from time to time but it was usable and very cool so you weren't going to complain about something as awesome as this.
Your grin is so wide, your cheeks are started to hurt.
You reach out to interact with the hologram screen- only for your fingers to phase through the hologram without any affect.
You're briefly confused before you remember, "oh right my gloves, duh." You quickly look for your gloves, pausing briefly as you see a folded piece of paper. "is that..."
Taking the paper in hand, you unfold it and snort.
The paper in question was a Wanted Poster.
With Sans' face and name on it.
"right, he usually kept this... wonder if bro has one too." You hummed before folding the paper once more and tuck it aside before looking for your gloves once more. You put them on, facing the holographic screen of the HolCog once more. "alright, lets see whats in here." You knew some of the contents of the HolCog but you're very sure you don't know everything in it.
There were indeed perks to being Prosthesis Sans.
"AH! GOOD MORNING BROTHER!"
Sans yawned, smiling softly at his brother as he entered the comfy kitchen of their cottage. It wasn't as big as the kitchen in the mansion, of course not but it was certainly and thankfully big enough for Papyrus to stand tall with plenty of stretching room despite being so much taller than the others. Papyrus still kept his figure careful and small though, his brother was a gentle giant.
The best gentle giant.
Was he bias? Probably.
Was he wrong though? Probably not.
"mornin' paps." He greeted back tiredly, climbing on to a stool and letting out a soft noise when Papyrus wordlessly slid him a steamy cup of coffee. "paps you're the greatest, thanks bro." Papyrus' beam was bright, but thankfully Sans was ready with a cup of coffee. Said cup of coffee was of course, thanks to his brother so yeah. He had the best brother.
"I SEE THAT YOU HAVE SLEPT LAST NIGHT BROTHER, HOW WAS IT?" Papyrus asked as he busied himself in the kitchen, Sans watched him go- he wondered on what his brother was going to make, though he didn't have to wonder anymore as he sees Papyrus getting some eggs and strips of bacon from the fridge.
"it was fine paps. slept like the dead." The narrowed socket look he got from his brother made him chuckle into his coffee cup. "what 'bout you paps? you sleep fine?"
Papyrus dropped the look to smile, "I SLEPT QUITE WELL! I HAD A RATHER PLEASANT DREAM, THOUGH I DO NOT REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS UNFORTUNATELY." He sighed, that was good. They both hadn't had a nightmare in a while, that was always good. "DO- Do You Think Chine Slept Fine As Well?" Papyrus abruptly asked, his tone quieting a bit.
Sans paused as he thought back to the newest skeleton that was now living in their cottage. "i... don't know bro." He admitted truthfully because how would they know? If Chine had any nightmares last night, the skeleton had managed to keep it to himself rather than alert them both during the night. Which was... he didn't know if it was for the better or for the worse. As far as Sans could tell, Chine had 'slept' peacefully in his room, he hadn't heard a peep from the skeleton, but then again he'd just woken up and went straight towards the kitchen.
"i guess we can ask and see when he comes down?" He questioned as he looked back to his brother.
Papyrus looked hesitant but nodded back, "I SUPPOSE." He obviously hoped that Chine had slept fine last night, which Sans kind of hoped as well. Stars knows that the both of them hadn't slept all that well during the first few days in this universe. "ACTUALLY, BROTHER CAN YOU GO UP AND CHECK ON HIM? PERHAPS WAKE HIM UP IN TIME FOR BREAKFAST?"
Sans almost choked on his coffee, "uh what."
"AFTER YOU FINISH YOUR COFFEE OF COURSE, MAYHAPS YOU CAN EITHER CHECK OR WAKE CHINE UP? IT WON'T BE LONG UNTIL BREAKFAST IS DONE, AND I WOULD LIKE TO EAT TOGETHER. HOWEVER IF HE DOESN'T WANT TO SHARE BREAKFAST THIS MORNING THEN IT'S FINE, I WILL SIMPLY STORE SOME BREAKFAST FOR HIM LATER ON WHEN HE FEELS LIKE EATING." There was a hopeful tone to his brother's voice that Sans really couldn't deny, and besides, Sans actually wanted to eat alongside Chine as well.
They had to make sure that Chine was eating well of course.
Sans nodded in the end, "yeah sure. i'll go do that- just finished my cup anyway." He got off the stool and set the cup in the sink, "i'll be back bro."
Papyrus waved a spatula at him as he left before continuing on to creating breakfast for all three of them. Sans almost couldn't wait to come back towards an abundant breakfast- he and Papyrus ate a lot, with the amount of food they had now why not? They could eat all they want, of course they were still rational enough to make sure they would never run out of food and such. Which was why they had adopted a fair amount of egg-laying chickens, created a nice little farm behind their cottage and was always hyper-aware to how much food they had in the cottage. Papyrus took to taking care of the chickens and the farm, but Sans helped out from time to time, he even made sure they had a good shipment and source of animal meat for not only them but to the skeletal group as a whole.
It didn't take long for Sans to arrive at Chine's new bedroom door, Sans- well, Axe, hesitated before the door, quietly pressing the side of his skull to the door to hear inside.
Hm... Nothing? Was Chine still asleep?
The soundproofing between the rooms weren't that bad, but it was still thin enough that they'd be able to hear a loud scream from the other end of the house.
Axe leaned away and shook his head, no point in listening in like a creep, he had to knock.
Knock knock knock
Which he did, his knocks were firm and loud- but not too loud. If anything it could just jostle someone out of their sleep, unless they were a heavy sleeper. "chine? you up bud? it's me, axe." He called out, loud enough to be heard through the door. "you still asleep?"
For an awkward moment, Axe heard nothing from behind the door and for the moment, he wondered if he should knock again but a bit louder this time so that Chine could wake up.
He didn't have to though as the door suddenly opened wide.
The first thing that Axe notices is that Chine wasn't dressed in the clothing he had yesterday- which made sense since he no doubt changed out of them and into the clothes that Blue and Red had offered before. Chine looked nice in casual clothing, more relaxed. Also a bit smaller, which also made sense since those clothes seemed a bit bulky on him, his body type wasn't as small as Black or Blue's but it wasn't like Classic's or Red or far from Axe's body type himself. He seemed more like Hop's body type underneath the clothing, maybe more or less slimmer.
The second thing that Axe notices soon afterwards is the fact that Chine's neck and the peeking bones from the shirt he was wearing weren't bone white. They were a curious metallic bronze-gold color. oh, Axe thought to himself, unable to look away from the somewhat shiny clavicle and top sternum that was peaking from the neckline of the shirt. my theory was right and kinda wrong.
It wasn't just Chine's back that was artificial, it was probably his spine and ribcage.
"mornin' axe." Chine greeted with a surprisingly happy and bright smile, snapping Axe out of his thoughts and forcing him to look at him straight in the sockets. "i- uh- oh wait, shit shit-" It finally seemed to dawn to Chine that his neck was exposed, hand flying to cover his neck and slight panic entering his eyelights.
Axe opened his mouth, to reassure him or something only to be interrupted by Chine slamming the door shut. The slam made Axe flinch back, but also let him think more on the situation at hand as Chine seemed to panic behind the door, most definitely looking for his scarf.
Chine's spine and ribcage were artificially made. Or at least, the top of his spine and ribcage were. Axe wasn't really sure, he couldn't really confirm the fact that Chine's entire spine and ribcage were made of metal, not unless he asked the other or just by chance found out in an unconventional way of seeing Chine shirtless.
The very thought had Axe's face coloring, nope- he tried to shove the thought away and thankfully his head focuses on some other troubling thoughtline instead. Less embarrassing but definitely still troubling because Chine had metal body parts.
And those metal body parts were something essential towards them skeletons, the neck especially. At some point, Chine had been damaged enough or experienced something that had Chine either covering his neck with metal or replacing it entirely. And Axe was being generous in thinking that it was only Chine's neck and upper spine being replaced here, if it was indeed the entire spine and ribcage...
Terror and anger curled in the bottom of Axe's stomach as he thought more about it. It wasn't aimed at Chine of course, it couldn't possibly be aimed at Chine but at whoever was the cause of Chine's unfortunate prosthetic.
Whatever happened should have been fatal to the poor skeleton and no doubt traumatic. Somehow, someway, Chine had survived but the reminder of what happened would forever be on his body, just like Axe's caved in skull, hell just like Visor's caved in skull.
The door opened once more, less wide than before and Axe forcefully shoved the anger and terror away like the embarrassing thought of shirtless Chine dammit in favor of looking back towards the now more subdued skeleton before him. Chine slipped from his room, closing the door behind him and looking anywhere else than Axe but ultimately, his scarf was once again wrapped securely around his neck, hiding the metal underneath.
"so uh..." Chine clearly wanted to know why Axe was here, and didn't want to talk about what happened.
Axe offered him an easy going smile, "morning chine." If Chine didn't want to talk about what happened, then they wouldn't talk about what happened, "my bro's in the kitchen making breakfast. he wanted me up to see if you were awake, or like, wake ya up for breakfast if you were still asleep." There was visible relief on Chine's face as he finally looked at Axe himself instead of anywhere else.
And the smile that Chine gave him had Axe smiling back. "ah, that makes sense. what's he making? no wait don't tell me, i'll be surprised when we get there." He said, stepping away from the door. "i can already tell it's gonna be delicious no matter what it is."
Axe chuckled, nodding as together, they went downstairs towards the kitchen where Papyrus was. "damn right it's gonna be delicious."
It was going to be different, having a new housemate with them but Chine was someone he could see himself and his brother getting along with. It helped that Chine was a nice type of skeleton, even if he had his issues with his brothers for some reason, though no doubt that would be fixed eventually.
Axe's thoughts went back to the exposed metal bones, complicated feelings bubbling over the matter. He calms himself down over it, he couldn't do anything about it and it was clear that Chine didn't want to talk about it so they wouldn't. Axe wouldn't even tell anyone else until Chine gave him his permission.
One day though, he somewhat hoped that Chine would trust him and his brother over what happened and more on his past.
And thinking about it, the metallic bones had looked kind of nice, Axe thinks that some of the cervical neck vertebrae had some carvings on them, he wasn't too sure.
That didn't really matter right now though, what mattered is that this morning would be the first morning he and his brother would eat with their new housemate in their cottage.
You honestly hadn't meant to show Axe your neck.
His knock had come out of nowhere while you were exploring and figuring out on how to use the HolCog that you hadn't thought straight, hyped on excitement over using the thing for yourself- it was one thing to write about it and really another to actually use it. But you knew the basics and it seemed that muscle memory really did somehow transfer as you used it without much of a problem.
You found what you'd mostly expected from Sans' files on the device, almost all of the files were encrypted and you really couldn't connect the HolCog to anywhere, it wasn't really compatible to the networks around- you had to snort when you found a network called 'THE BONE ZONE'. Someone, most likely Stretch or maybe Red, Classic or even Mutt, must have named the network that.
The HolCog couldn't connect to the internet here, so it was virtually useless for the moment aside from being an information goldmine. You'd have to do something about that, somehow make a way it would be compatible, maybe create a program to make it a bit more compatible or something? You almost couldn't wait.
And then as you were about to delve even deeper into the HolCog, the door knocked which made you jump a bit on the bed.
"chine? you up bud? it's me, axe."
It was Axe!
Grinning, you got to your feet but a thought in your head made you pause a bit- you couldn't just open the door and let Axe see the floating hologram of information on the bed, he'd be curious and you weren't ready to really show it to anyone else yet. But instead of turning it off, you instead chose to cover the lens with something to stop the hologram projection and that something ended up being your scarf.
You didn't realize what you'd just did until you after you opened the door, greeted Axe and watch him look down below your face then up at you with wide sockets.
Oh shit.
Without another thought, you ended up slamming the door in Axe's face and scrambling back towards the bed for your scarf.
It took more than a few moments for you to calm your hammering chest- SOUL? As you quickly tugged the scarf around your neck, almost chocking yourself with how fast you did it. The hologram from the HolCog back in the air as you collapse on your knees by the bed.
That was-
Fuck.
Axe knew.
Axe knew.
He knew now and-
No, he didn't know exactly.
He didn't know everything.
You were fine.
Things were fine.
Everything was fine.
With that in mind, you finally stand up, actually turn off the HolCog properly instead of covering the lens and head back towards the door. Hoping for the best.
You slip out the door to face Axe.
And by face Axe you mean physically have your body facing him but your gaze just, ending up anywhere else but his face.
he was going to ask he was going to ask about your neck you're not ready you're not ready-
By some miracle, Axe doesn't ask. Instead smiling at you like you hadn't revealed something very intriguing about your body that anyone else would just ask forthright and mention about Papyrus and breakfast.
You latch on to it with great relief, your fondness over Axe growing even more because of it.
Also, breakfast! By Horrortale Papyrus! Like hell you weren't going to eat anything the skeleton cooked- breakfast here you come! With Axe!
As you head down the stairs with Axe, laughing as he told you a rather morbid joke, you love morbid jokes though so it's fine, you wonder if your brother is doing okay. He would have to wake up without his visor right?
Hopefully, things would be fine with him in the mansion.
After all, things were fine here in the cottage despite the rough bump back there...
Oh hey! Papyru-Crooks, made a shit ton of eggs, bacon, toast and ooo, juice!
Everything else can wait a bit, the information on your new actual for real HolCog that held a lot of things from the Prosthesis AU, your brother- everything else can wait for just a little bit. You had a breakfast to consume, made by the greatest tall skeleton boi; Horrortale Papyrus! He looked great in that white apron heh.