Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You didn’t know why you climbed that mountain. You wanted to disappear like the legends foretold, but surely there were better ways to do it.

It was too late to turn back now, however.

Exhausted, both physically and emotionally, you didn’t notice the large hole in your path, nor did you notice the vines that caused you to trip and fall right into it.

You closed your eyes in acceptance as you felt gravity pull you down towards the earth. You were going to die. That was okay. You just hoped it wouldn’t be too painful.

Just before you landed, you swore you felt a chill run through you, as if the air had gotten impossibly colder.

You laid there for a while, contemplating what to do. Why weren’t you dead? And why did the ground beneath you feel so… soft? You hesitantly started to move, opening your eyes.

The first thing you saw was white. Every part of your body was freezing, although you felt weirdly numb. One of your arms protested at the movement, a sharp stab of pain running through you.

With a start, you realized you were lying in the snow. Maybe you actually had died, and this was a weird sort of hallucination. You tentatively got up, slow and steady. You looked up, and saw what looked like the ceiling of a cavern. What?

Confused, you looked around some more, only to see that you were surrounded by trees.

“you took a long fall there, didn’t you,” A baritone voice broke you out of your stupor. Your eyes widened and you yelped, stumbling backwards and falling onto your butt. In front of you was a skeleton. What???

“woah there, bucko,” The skeleton held his hands in front of his chest in a placating gesture, taking a few steps back in order to give you space. “are you ok?”

You met his gaze hesitantly, staring into blue eyelights, shaking from your head down to your feet. You felt dizzy and weak.

He seemed friendly enough, with his bunny slippers and fuzzy ear warmer, but you still eyed his hands in distrust.

You opened your mouth to speak, only to find your voice didn’t work. Your bottom lip trembled, and you wrapped your arms around yourself in a small semblance of comfort. The movement made your injured arm angle in an odd direction, and you groaned with pain as tiny pinpricks shot up your elbow.

“your arm...” He commented, bone-brows furrowed in what seemed like concern. He tried to approach you, but you whimpered pitifully, rooted to the spot in fear. He stopped in his tracks at the sound. “it’s ok, i’m not gonna hurt you.”

Still, he got closer. Tears started to run down your cheeks, and you feel more pathetic than ever before.

Seeing your distress, he clarified the reason for his approach, “i can use a bit of healing magic. not as much as my bro, but it’ll ease the pain until i can get you to him. that ok?”

You paused at that, the mention of magic making your head spin. Well, considering you were standing in front of a living, breathing skeleton, it made sense.

Thinking of easing the discomfort made you nod slowly, giving him permission. You were taken aback by the bright grin you received in response, easy and kind. He walked until he was standing close enough to touch your arm, holding it in place. You made a pained moan, to which he winced in sympathy.

Suddenly, his hands become coated in a pastel green hue, and you felt warmth beginning to spread across your body. In an instant, the pain subsided. It was still there, but much more tolerable.

“how do you feel?”

You managed to give him a small, grateful smile. “Better. Thank you,” You wiped your tears with the back of your hand, feeling a little silly for being so afraid of him minutes earlier.

He scratched the back of his neck, looking slightly bashful. It was cute. “don’t mention it.”

The two of you stood in a somewhat awkward silence for a brief moment, until he cleared his throat, holding out his hand for you to shake. “the name’s sans. sans the skeleton.”

You told him your name, accepting the handshake with your uninjured arm.

The sound of flatulence echoed through the air.

Blinking, you look down at his hand, only to see a whoopee cushion sitting there innocently.

You managed to stay quiet for only a few beats, before your shoulders shook with silent laughter at the smug look on Sans’ face. It was so childish.

He looked way too proud of himself. You could swear his cheekbones lit up in a blue light at the giggle-snort you accidentally let escape, but it was gone as soon as you took note of it.

An odd, sudden thought occurred to you just then.

Maybe, just maybe, what lay ahead in this strange, magical place with an even stranger, magical skeleton, might make you feel grateful to have survived.

Was it fate that led you to Ebott, after all?

Chapter Text

You were sitting on your bed, peacefully reading a book, when it happened.

A sudden force yanked you backwards, and you felt your soul being pulled out of your body. You winced, more in surprise than actual pain, but did not fight back. You knew it would only make it worse if you struggled.

With a sudden pull of strings, you were standing in a white void of nothingness, hovering above the nonexistent ground like some kind of puppet.

“Error,” You started in a calm tone, your voice sickeningly sweet. “What did I tell you about bringing me to the anti-void without a warning?”

The skeleton beneath you rolled his eyelights, but said nothing. His cheekbones were dusted with a pretty shade of blue, and whether it was because of your scolding or something else, you couldn’t tell.

After a moment of being locked in a staring contest, Error sighed and flicked his wrist, lowering his strings until your feet touched something solid and your soul was back inside your chest.

“Thank you,” Your grin was somewhat tight, though not unkind.

“wHaTeVeR,” Error huffed, looking away, like he always did when you smiled at him.

“So,” You drag out the syllable, watching as his shoulders tensed at the obvious teasing in your voice. “Is there any particular reason why you brought me here, or did you just miss me?”

“aS iF i’D mIsS aN aNoMaLy LiKe YoU,” He protested, though the awkward flush on his face told a different story.

A few months ago, you’d flinch at the insult and feel genuinely disheartened. Now? You simply covered your mouth to stiffen a giggle. Judging by the way Error glared at you, it was in vain.

An awkward silence befell the two of you, leaving you puzzled. Usually, Error would take any opportunity to ramble about anything and everything. Considering you were often his only company in that empty place he called home, you didn’t blame him for wanting to share his random thoughts.

His anecdotes about his encounters with his ‘arch-nemesis’, Ink, were specially entertaining to you.

Today, however, he was quiet, like he was contemplating something.

You looked around, trying to find something to talk about. There wasn’t much to see, but your gaze lingered on the puppets strung to the ceiling.

“That one is new, isn’t it?” You pointed to one that resembled an Altertale Toriel, hoping he’d perk up at you noticing.

Following your finger, his eyes widened a little, but he still shrugged noncommittally.

You were starting to grow frustrated. Why did he so rudely interrupt your reading time just to stare at you and not say a word?

Error scowled suddenly, clenching his hands into fists. “sHuT uP! iLl Do It WhEn I fEeL lIkE iT!”

You blinked multiple times, ready to open your mouth and ask him what the hell he was on about, when you realized he hadn’t been talking to you. Considering you rarely saw him respond to them, you sometimes forgot he heard voices.

“Um,” You hesitantly call out after a few minutes of him arguing with them. “Are you okay, Error? You’ve been acting weirder than usual.”

He turned to look at you with a startled look in his eyelights, like he’d forgotten you were there. His whole face was covered in a blue hue. Finally, his expression took on a resolute look, and he took a deep breath before extending his hand in your direction.

You eyed it warily. You knew better than anyone how Error acted towards physical contact. Looking back at him, you were ready to ask him if he was sure, when his eyes narrowed.

“tAkE iT bEfOrE i ChAnGe My MiNd.”

Heartbeat thundering loudly in your ears for reasons you refused to acknowledge, you lightly place your hand in his. You paused as he glitched for a few seconds, waiting for his lead.

You couldn’t help but smile when his fingers gently curled around yours.

With his other hand, he made a swipe at the air, opening a portal. From a brief glance, you could tell it was to an Outertale. He walked towards it, tugging you along.

It wasn’t like you had never been to that universe before. Error took you there several times, when he wanted to talk about something more serious than your usual chats. Still, you admired the beautiful sight, sighing softly and watching as the stars twinkled by.

Noticing Error had gone quiet again, you glanced in his direction, only to find him already looking at you. You blushed, smiling hesitantly.

To your surprise and delight, he smiled back.

“y’KnOw, I dOn’T hAtE yOu As MuCh As ThE oThEr OuTcOdEs,” He admitted, softly, as if he didn’t want you to hear him.

For a moment, you blinked, taken aback. Then you laughed, giving his hand a tender squeeze when he tried to pull away, thinking you were laughing at him.

“I love you too, Error.”

Chapter Text

“Can I see your soul?”

You were so used to Ink breaking your comfortable silence by saying the random-est of things, the sudden question only made you blink at him owlishly.

“What?”

Ink stuck his rainbow tongue at you playfully. “You heard me.”

Nodding dumbly, you questioned, “Why would you want that?”

He shrugged, a small smile on his face. “Well, you know, being soulless and all…” The casual mention of his condition made you wince, but Ink carried on as if he didn’t notice. “...I can’t help but find souls fascinating.”

You hummed in understanding, even as panic started to swirl on your chest. If you showed him your soul, would he be able to tell the deeper feelings you held for him? “Why mine, though? I’m sure if you asked Blue or Dream-”

“They turned me down immediately,” Ink cut you off with a pout. “Apparently I ‘can’t be trusted around fragile things’. How rude!”

Your giggle was filled with understanding for your other friends. “And why do you think I’d agree, then?”

With a smirk, Ink tilted his head at you. “Because you have no sense of self-preservation.”

Clutching at your chest as if in pain, you did your best to look offended. Ink, of course, didn’t buy it. He simply looked at you expectantly, palms outstretched as if waiting for you to put your soul in his hands.

You let out a trembling sigh, looking away. Realistically, you could just use your friends’ reasoning as your own excuse, but when you saw that pleading look in his ever-changing eyelights…

Dammit. Ink knew exactly what he was doing, didn’t he?

“Okay,” You eventually said, voice barely above a whisper.

“Woah, really?” You looked back at Ink, just in time to see his expression light up with joy. He did a little celebratory dance, which you couldn’t help but laugh at. Then, he took your hands in his and leaned in uncomfortably close. “I promise I’ll be careful with you. I won’t let anything happen.”

Butterflies fluttered around your stomach at his low voice, quiet and sincere. You were going to regret this later, but for now, you didn’t care the slightest bit.

With that same tone, he asked, unusually considerate, “Are you ready?”

You smiled, though you were sure it was shaky, and nodded your consent.

He placed his hand in the middle of your chest, and you closed your eyes shut. You felt a tugging sensation that made you shiver, and then you heard a gasp. Color exploded in front of your eyelids.

Hesitantly, you opened your eyes. In front of you, your soul floated, its hue a bright turquoise. You had to squint to keep looking at it.

It was pretty, you had to admit.

After a few seconds, you diverted your attention to Ink, who was staring intently at the very culmination of your being, hands hovering above it as if wanting to touch.

His eyelights were shaped a blue circle and a pink heart.

All the blood rushed to your cheeks and made you feel faint. Seeing Ink, the one you were in love with, staring at your soul as if it was the most precious thing he’d ever seen, had something wet gathering at the corners of your eyes. You quickly blinked it away before he could notice, but he was too entranced by your soul to make any kind of comment.

“Is it okay if I…” Ink trailed off, still looking at it as if in a trance. He brought his hands closer, and you understood what he was getting at.

You must have stayed silent for too long, because his eyelights flickered to you, something like regret flashing through them. “Nah, that’s too personal, right? I’ll just-”

“No!” You interrupted, louder than intended. You flushed bright red as his attention was fully on you. “I mean, yes. You can touch it.”

Ink gave you a smile just then, so bright and charming that your knees felt weak.

And then you felt a gentle hold enveloping your entire being. It felt weird, but not unpleasant. It was like Ink was caressing everything that made you, you. Your cheeks blushed brighter at the thought.

Suddenly, the touch was gone, and you felt an empty coldness for a brief moment before you caught yourself.

Ink, without another word, returned your soul to where it belonged.

“So?” You asked, a little nervously, put off by his silence. “How was it?”

“...You love me,” He said simply, expression unreadable.

Your heart jumped to your throat. You completely forgot that touching another’s soul could give you a glimpse of their current feelings. And you, like an idiot, were thinking of how much you wanted to kiss him.

You opened your mouth to deny it, but closed it again. Lying at this point was just going to make you look like even more of a fool.

So, instead, you lowered your head. “I do,” You whispered, feeling tears once again burning at your eyes. This time for a totally different reason. When Ink didn’t say anything in response to your confession, you were quick to add, “I know you can’t love me back, and that’s okay. I’m content just being by your side and-”

“Liar,” He replied, softly. You could swear his voice trembled.

There was nothing you could say to that.

The silence stretched on, until Ink broke it by taking a deep breath. “Stars, this is going to sound moronic, but I guess you’re used to that,” He chuckled to himself, weakly, before continuing. “Do you think we could, maybe, try?”

You snapped your eyes back to his, frozen in place. “What do you mean?” God, the way your voice shook was pathetic.

“Thing is, when I’m with you, everything seems brighter. More colorful,” He gently took your hands in his, brushing his thumb over your knuckles. “I’m not sure what this feeling is called, but I think it’s the closest to falling in love that I’ll ever get.”

Your responding smile was watery. You pulled him into a tight hug, and he went easily. If your tears stained his scarf, he didn’t mention it.

“Is kissing okay?” You asked shyly after a few moments of feeling safe in his embrace.

He pulled back slightly, seemed to mull it over. You waited patiently.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I don’t see why not,” Then, he was placing his arms around your waist, pulling you flush against him.

You blushed bashfully, and he gave you a smug grin in return.

He had to stand on his tiptoes to reach your mouth, and it was awfully cute. You pressed your lips against his teeth, the feeling of magic sparking making you shudder.

It didn’t last long, just a tentative peck.

You carefully studied his expression, only to be taken aback by the rainbow flush on his cheekbones and the fact that his heart-shaped eyelights were back.

Giddy with this reaction, you opened your mouth to speak, but before you could, Ink pushed you away from him. You had no time to feel hurt, as he was soon puking ink on the floor.

You couldn’t help but laugh, even as you patted his back comfortingly.

You wouldn’t trade this goober for the world.

Chapter Text

Okay, today was the day.

You were going to confess to Sans.

Just the thought made you jittery, and you paused in where you had been whisking together baking powder and salt for your newest recipe, taking a deep breath and willing yourself to calm down.

The cupcakes wouldn’t turn out right if your mind kept wandering.

It had been roughly two years since monsters had ascended to the surface after centuries of being trapped underground, and you had met Sans not long after. At first, you’d been downright terrified of him. After all, the famine they had gone through while underneath the barrier had left lasting scars, both physical and mental.

You’d like to think of yourself as a not very judgmental person, don’t judge a book by its cover and all that, but you were ashamed to admit that you hadn’t been the most accepting of the species roaming the earth once again. Now, that isn’t to say you were mean or cruel to them like some people (you’d never stoop so low), but you were avoidant of their presence.

Sans’ intimidation tactics didn’t help in that regard, but you didn’t blame him. Not after learning from Sans himself what kind of things he had to endure, months into your friendship with him.

But underneath that cold exterior, Sans was truly a chill guy. He was into terrible puns, which he’d throw at you at every opportunity, he was surprisingly gentle, always holding you during your panic attacks (just as you did his) and he truly loved his brother more than anything in the world.

Just the thought of that silly skeleton had you smiling, and you rolled your eyes at yourself. Wow, you were really smitten. But you had admitted that to yourself a little while ago, so you didn’t feel as embarrassed.

Your thoughts were interrupted by your alarm, warning you that you had to turn off the oven.

You knew Sans didn’t really have a preference when it came to food, and it left you a little sad. He admitted one day that it was because he was glad he had any food at all.

But hey, you were nothing if not attentive. You payed special attention to him when he was eating the last couple of days, trying to find out if there was anything that made him look happier than others.

You hit jackpot when a small bakery opened near your apartment, and you invited Sans to hang out there. You knew he would never turn down an offer to try food, so he happily came along.

Your order had been a simple vanilla cupcake, and his had been an extravagant slice of pie. He ate much faster than you, then kept looking at his own empty plate sadly. You couldn’t take such an expression from him, so you offered to let him try your own pastry.

The delight in his red eyelight when he took the offered bite had you smiling from ear to ear.

You had never seen it glow that brightly before.

So, it was decided. When you confessed your feelings to him, it would be with a cupcake. But not one from that same bakery, oh no. If you truly wanted him to understand how much he meant to you, it had to be homemade.

The thing was, while you were alright at cooking, you were a disaster at baking.

Which led you to your current situation. This was the fifth batch of cupcakes you had tried. You scrunched your nose as the flavor hit your tongue. It wasn’t as bad as the previous ones, but it was still not enough to convey your affection.

Hitting your head against the counter, you groaned in dismay. Glanced at the clock on the wall. And promptly started to panic. You were supposed to be at his house in twenty minutes.

When he invited you to come over the previous day, you had decided to confess your feelings to him then, warning Sans you had something to tell him so that you couldn’t back out at the last second.

But now you really wished you hadn’t. You stared mournfully at your mediocre cupcakes before deciding you weren’t going to be a coward. Maybe Sans would still appreciate your poor attempt at baking.

You took your time choosing your outfit, settling on a casual look but still cuter than your usual clothes. Unfortunately, as you checked the time, you realized you had spent fifteen minutes simply staring at the mirror in hopes that you’d suddenly look more attractive.

Grabbing the cupcake that looked the least disastrous and placing it on a container, you bolted out of your home, thankful that Sans’ house was within walking distance.

When you arrived, you gave the door a firm knock, and it immediately opened to reveal Sans.

“Hi,” You said, panting a little as you struggled to catch your breath after running all the way there. “Sorry I’m late.”

Sans’ eyelight shifted away, then back to you, in which you had found out was his version of rolling his eyes. “…five minutes… is not late.”

Chuckling bashfully, you scratched the back of your neck as you two stood in silence. You didn’t mind, knowing that it just meant Sans was thinking. With the hole on his skull, gathering his thoughts could be difficult, he had revealed to you one day.

Finally, he smiled, his cheeks dusting in a light, barely visible, red shade. “...you look… pretty.”

With a high-five to yourself for choosing to pay more attention to your appearance, you lowered your head with an awkward, “Oh. Um, thank you.”

“SANS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! INVITE THEM INSIDE!” You heard Papyrus’ voice echo down the corridor.

Sans’ eyelight shrunk slightly as sweat started to gather around his skull. His blush also deepened. “uh… sorry. come in…” He opened the door wider.

You thanked him quietly, entering his house but still standing near the door frame awkwardly. Clutching the container in your hands with a tight grip, you took several deep breaths.

“whatcha… got there…?” Sans’ voice was filled with curiosity. If you looked closer, however, he seemed concerned. Likely over your sudden shyness.

Now or never. You stammered a quick “This is for you,” before unceremoniously shoving the package towards his chest.

His eyelight flickered from you to the container in his hands, smiling brightly. He seemed so eager and excited, even though he didn’t know what was inside. Your heart swelled.

“can i… open it…?”

You swallowed heavily. “Go for it,” God, your throat had never felt so dry.

He was quick to do it, and in an instant he was staring at the cupcake you made him. His eyes went as wide as you had ever see them go, and his grin turned a little wobbly.

“...for me?”

You couldn’t help but laugh, more out of nervousness than true mirth. “Yes, for you, silly.”

Sans carefully took the cupcake, handling it as if he was holding a precious treasure. After looking at you for your approval and awaiting your anxious nod, he took a bite.

Your heart was thundering so loud in your ears, you barely heard his sharp intake of a breath. His eyelight went out, leaving only empty sockets.

Oh no. That was bad, wasn’t it? Your stomach dropped.

Then, the red light was back, like it had never disappeared in the first place. Sans’ face was flushed bright red for reasons you didn’t quite understand, and he was staring at you intently.

“did you… make this…?”

You nodded, biting your bottom lip so hard it was a wonder how it didn’t bleed.

He took a shuddering breath. “...wow. i didn’t know you… felt that way...”

You paused, spluttering. What was he talking about? You hadn’t confessed yet.

Seeing your confusion, his eyelight softened. “...your intent…” He explained, somewhat cryptically, but you only blinked once, then twice, and you understood.

You had made the cupcake with monster ingredients.

Monsters could feel the intent behind food with their magic.

You had made them while thinking how much you love him.

Oh god.

You crouched on the floor, burying your face in your hands as you made a despairing whine.

After a brief moment that felt like an eternity, you heard Sans crouching next to you, before laying a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“it’s ok…” His voice was low, reassuring. You hesitantly looked at him, just to find him smiling shyly. “i… love you… too...”

Eyes widening, your voice was barely a whisper when you asked, “You do?”

With a nod, he leaned forward to nuzzle your forehead, in what you assumed was the skeletal version of a kiss. You immediately turned into mush, leaning into the touch.

Maybe your baking wasn’t that bad, after all.

Chapter Text

You had never seen Sans, your boyfriend, dance before.

Now, that wouldn’t be an oddity in of itself, if not for the fact that dancing was how most monsters expressed themselves. It was an extension of their souls, Papyrus had explained to you one day.

And yet, whenever you asked him to dance, he would refuse with a haunted look on his face.

In all honesty, it left you feeling a little hurt, but you told yourself he must have his reasons and decided not to push anymore. He’d tell you when he was ready.

Despite that decision, you couldn’t help but notice that Sans seemed to be struggling. Whenever you went to parties with him, those that monsters tended to throw often, he would stare at the dance floor with an almost yearning look, but stayed rooted to the spot, leaning against the wall and chatting with you.

It was clear that he wanted to dance, but something held him back.

Some might brush it off as shyness, and while Sans could certainly act bashful at times, you knew better.

Then, one day, you had an idea. Something you couldn’t believe you had never thought of before. It left you nervous to try it, you weren’t the most confident person, but for Sans’ sake, you would do it.

You waited until your friends threw you a birthday party. It was supposed to be a surprise, but Papyrus wasn’t the best at keeping secrets, so you figured it out way earlier than you were supposed to. Of course, you never told anyone this, not wanting them to be sad.

But it gave you the perfect opportunity.

After the party was almost over and most guests had already left, save for Sans and Papyrus, you asked if you and your boyfriend could chat privately. Sans shot you a confused look, but easily agreed.

Papyrus, being himself, told you to ‘have fun’, even saying ‘wink’ aloud. Then retreated to his room. That made you both blush furiously, avoiding eye contact for a few agonizing seconds.

“Sans,” You started, albeit nervously. Seeing you had the skeleton’s full attention, you cleared your throat and continued, “I wanted to show you something.”

Before he could reply, you turned around towards the radio, which had been playing an enthusiastic birthday song, and switched the soundtrack to one you had chosen days before.

Then you started to dance.

After you revealed to him your plan, Papyrus had told you that Sans’ preferred dance style was hip hop. So, you did a little research. You taught yourself the basics through coaching videos. It was hard. The last time you had dance lessons was when you were in kindergarten. And hip hop wasn’t the easiest style to start with.

But the thought of Sans finally letting loose had you determined to at least try your best.

You were a few steps behind, and you were sure you messed up one or two moves, but when the song slowly came to a close and you tentatively looked at Sans for his reaction…

Well, his expression couldn’t be described with anything other than ‘love-struck’. It made your cheeks burn, even as a proud smile tugged at your lips.

“lovebug, that was…”

You didn’t let him continue, instead taking a step in his direction and holding out your hand. “Dance with me?” His eyelights shifted from your eyes to your hand, calculating. He seemed to be deep in thought. “Please? As my last birthday gift?”

He laughed at that, a deep chuckle that always managed to make your insides twist pleasantly. “now that’s unfair.”

You simply winked, your hand still extended towards him.

With a shuddering breath, he seemed to steel his resolve. He took your hand.

It was chaos. You bumped into Sans multiple times, almost tripping over him, but he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you upright again. As if it’d been intentional.

By the end, you were sweaty and gross, but when you glanced at your boyfriend to gauge his expression, he was smiling brighter than you had ever seen him, looking at you with heart-shaped eyelights, as if you were the whole world. Your exhaustion was so worth it.

You leaned in to press your lips to his teeth, melting as he nuzzled back immediately. Still close together, you whispered, “Thank you.”

Sans shrugged, but you could tell he was pleased. “nah. thank you, lovebug. i never thought i’d have fun dancing again.”

You wanted to ask what he meant by that, but quickly decided it wasn’t the best time. Instead, you simply hummed, pressing another kiss to his glowing cheekbone.

Both of you flinched when you heard a door slam open.

“SO? DID IT WORK, HUMAN FRIEND?”

You giggled, sending Papyrus two thumbs up, to which he grinned in delight. From the corner of your eyes, you saw Sans hiding further into his hoodie, but his smile didn’t fade.

Chapter Text

It was a Saturday night, and you had procrastinated going grocery shopping during the day, only to realize you were out of junk food.

Sighing, you decided it wasn’t too late to have a walk, as the sun had only just begun to set.

As you were heading towards your favorite shop, you heard a voice, drawled out and frankly rather creepy, “C’mon, doll, let’s have a little fun…”

You froze in your tracks, instinctively reaching for your purse where a can of pepper spray waited to be used. Looking around, you realized you were alone in a two-way street, so close to the store you could see its lights in the distance, yet so far away.

Then, before you could panic, you heard another voice, this one mellow but firm. “i’m not interested.”

Your eyes widened as it occurred to you that you weren’t being included in the conversation. Part of you wanted to continue your trip, power walking until you reached your destination. The more sensible part of you, however, wanted to make sure whoever it was that had been flirting was going to back off after the clear rejection.

That part won, and so you waited with bathed breath, praying they weren’t one of those.

“Not interested, huh? You don’t have to lie to us, we know how you monsters are.”

Oh crap. The other voice had belonged to a monster. You hadn’t interacted with many, but you were aware of their kind’s situation. However, that didn’t mean they were all sexually active, nor that they wanted to have intercourse with everyone they met. That was obvious, wasn’t it? Apparently not.

You clenched your fists, so badly wanting to intervene. But panic clawed at your throat as you mulled their words in your head. The plural pronouns meant there were multiple perverts. You doubted you could handle one, let alone two.

“hey, that’s not-” The monster tried, but was cut off by a sickeningly crack that made your eyes water. Oh god, were they hurt? Were they dead, because you stood there and did nothing?

Gathering your resolve, you had an idea. Not a brilliant idea, but an idea nonetheless.

You pulled your phone out of your pocket, researching the number for monster safety before dialing it. You didn’t press call, unsure if waiting for them to arrive would be wise. Instead, you took a few steps towards a nearby alleyway, were the voices had seemed to come from.

There were three aggressors, all of them adult males. One was leaning against a wall and watching with a smirk on his face, smoking a cigarette. The other was blocking the exit, back turned to you.

And lastly, who you assumed was their leader, had his hands wrapped around what appeared to be a skeleton monster’s neck. You weren’t sure if they needed air to breathe, but judging by the way the monster had gone silent, you assumed they somehow did and that the guy was choking them.

With all the courage that you had, you called out, hoping your voice sounded intimidating enough. “Oi! Don’t you know what ‘no’ means?!”

All four pair of eyes turned to look at you. The skeleton’s fuzzy eyelights started to shine with what seemed like hope. Yeah, there was no way you were going to walk away.

The leader’s startled look soon turned sultry. “Didn’t see you there, beautiful. Would you like to join us?”

You almost gagged. Instead of saying anything, mostly because you didn’t trust your voice not to tremble or falter this time around, you showed them your phone. The screen was still open to the contacts page.

The one closest to you lunged in your direction, eyes filled with fury. You had little to no time to dodge.

You hadn’t thought this far. You were going to die, and you didn’t even manage to help the monster.

However, before his hands could reach you, he suddenly stopped in midair, as if frozen in time. You caught a brief glance of his soul outside his chest, painted in a light shade of blue, before the guy suddenly flew backwards, hitting his back hard against the brick wall. He didn’t move anymore, and you assumed he had fallen unconscious.

The other two men looked at each other, then at their fallen comrade.

“Freak!” The leader screamed, rushing to throw a punch in the skeleton’s direction. You shut your eyes tightly, bracing to hear another awful sound of bones breaking. You only opened them when you heard no such thing.

The fearsome leader was lying on the floor as well, screaming in pain as a bone pierced through his arm.

The last guy looked at the scene, then at the monster who had his hand in the air, prepared to attack again. Then he bolted so quickly you barely saw a silhouette.

As soon as he was gone, the skeleton slid towards the ground, head tilted back as he braced his hands against the wall. You quickly rushed to his side, side-stepping the unconscious men.

“Are you okay?” You asked, then let your mouth close shut when you realized how stupid of a question that was.

Instead of pointing that out, however, the skeleton smiled at you, weak but undoubtedly genuine. “thanks a lot, sugar. things might’ve turned out badly if you weren’t here.”

You chuckled awkwardly, looking off to the side. “I didn’t do anything, really.”

But the skeleton refused to let that slide. He shook his head quickly, then winced in pain. You just then realized he had a small crack on his skull, likely from the earlier confrontation. “nonsense. you distracted them, gave me room to work with.”

You hummed, not in agreement, simply in understanding. You gestured to the disgusting men on the ground. “I’ll call the police. Maybe an ambulance too, while I’m at it.”

He grimaced, taking hold of your wrist in a gentle grip. “maybe not the best idea, sugar. i hurt them pretty badly.”

You scoffed. “In self-defense. I’ll be your witness.”

The skeleton hesitated. “are you sure? you must have your own things to do and-”

With a tentative smile, you interrupted, “Nothing that important. I just planned to watch some movies while eating chips.”

He blinked at you for a moment, stunned, before bursting into giggles. You soon joined him, both of you laughing hysterically. Tears stung at your eyes, some even falling, but the skeleton mercifully didn’t comment.

It had been a terrifying experience, after all. Who could blame you for feeling overwhelmed?

Once the laughter died down, you stood in silence for a few beats, before you looked at him and blurted out your name.

“pardon?”

You scratched the back of your neck, pushing away the urge to look away. “That’s my name.”

“oh!” The skeleton’s eyes widened, suddenly heart-shaped. You had a feeling that was his default. A hint of purple settled on his cheekbones as he smiled. “that was rude of me. i’m sans.”

“I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but I really wish it was under better circumstances,” You joked.

His following chuckle rang like bells and made you feel inexplicably warm.

Maybe something good would come out of this scary experience.