Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The soft ding of the oven timer slowly snapped you out of the daze you had been in. You sighed , rubbing your eyes. It had been a shit day at work for you, and although you LOVED dealing with middle aged women who threw tantrums over just about anything, and bratty children who screamed in line while their snotty parents did nothing to subdue their cries. Something to soothe your hangryself was needed; bagged French fries, yum.

Putting your oven mitts on, you carefully opened the oven to take the pan of fries out. The heat wafted off of the crispy snack and onto your face, slightly warming your cheeks, and you finally set the pan down on your stove to cool down. You leaned against the counter idly, staring at your shoes as you waited for your food to cool down. It was taking too long, and you were anything but patient.

Attentively, your eyes wandered back to the French fries. You should wait…definitely, they were still hot! But you were hungry and wanted nothing more than to scarf them down and head over to bed. Just as your hand had hovered over the pan to snatch a fry, a bang echoed from your dining room, and your body froze in place. A few more bangs sounded out, and with them came indescribable voices. Reaching for your work bag that had been resting on the counter, you slowly made your way to the other side of your kitchen, standing next to the fridge; if anyone were to pass by the room, they wouldn’t be able to directly see you.

As your ears continued to try and make out the voices from the other room, you reached for your phone in your work bag, or where it should’ve been in your work bag. “Shit..” you mumbled, did you leave it somewhere else?! At work?! Curse your terrible memory and proneness to losing stuff. Don’t panic Y/N, it’s okay. There are just people in your house, potentially robbing you, and there’s nothing you can do about it! Great. You closed your eyes momentarily, trying to calm yourself.

Opening your eyes once more, they drifted towards the pan of French fries on the counter. The pan could work as a weapon right…? It was slightly hot…and..well…metal? So you didn’t see why not. Scurrying over, you lifted the parchment paper and fries off the pan, and secured the oven mitts over your hands as you lifted the pan. You could feel the heat radiating off the pan through the gloves, but your mind paid no focus to it, instead on the intruders who were being quite loud…for intruders.

Taking a deep breath, and armed with your pan, you peered out of the kitchen and into where the commotion was coming from. Your eyes immediately locked on the reflection of four large figures on your dining room window, and your heart froze. They weren’t human.

4, rather large skeletons stood arguing in your dining room. You swiveled your head back into the kitchen quickly, what the fuck?! What were you supposed to do now..? Not only were there 4 of them, but they were monsters, meaning they had magic.

Monsters came crawling out of a mountain named Mt.Ebott around 6 years back, having been sealed underground for centuries. You had gotten used to them overtime, they were often sweet, contributing members of society, but THIS. This was different.

Drifting away from your thoughts, you lifted your hand to your chest, trying to calm your ample heart beat, but fear continued to course its way through your veins.

“Okay Y/N”, you mumbled to yourself. “You’ve got this…just..be quiet, you can figure this out.” Inhaling deeply, you slowly cocked your head outside the doorframe once more. Now that you were closer, you could probably hear them better, you just had to try and listen. You stood stock still, trying to pick up bits and pieces of their aggressive sounding conversations, and soon enough, you did.

“Killer, seriously!” A gruff voice said, killer…? Was that…one of their names, seriously? Your face grimaced slightly, what parent names their child killer? But as soon as your mind started to wander slightly, another voice had snapped you out of thought. “Oh come on Dustyyy, I mean, the place has to be empty, we’ve been loud as fuck and no one’s bothered to scream or threaten to call the cops yet! Nothin’ wrong with staying for a bit while we wait for orders from the big guy” a rather sly voice said. That was likely Killer you suppose, but his comment threw you off. They thought no one was here, because of course, you failed to have your phone on you, but succeeded at laying low.

Turning your head back into the kitchen, you layed out your options on what to do. For one, you could calmly approach them and tell them to leave, because well…they’re breaking and entering. Or two, do as ‘Killer’ said and scream your ass off while threatening to call the cops. To be honest neither seemed pleasant to you, you couldn’t actually call the cops and god knows what would happen if you waltzed up to them and told them to get out.

You weighed your options and stared at the pan in your hands, but as you did so, you noticed something odd. It was quiet, deathly quiet, and in the gap between yourself and the pan, you noticed something else. Sneakers.

Your head snapped up almost immediately, and in-front of you stood one of the skeleton monsters from your dining room. Earlier you couldn’t decipher their faces and features in the window’s reflection, but now you could.

He must’ve been at least 5’9, he wasn’t terribly tall, but he still had a leg up on you. And that alone, made you uneasy. Black slime leaked from his eyes, and was smudged over his cheeks, and the cockiest grin adorned his face. His expression wasn’t what intrigued you though, in-front of his black turtleneck and blue parka jacket lay a red floating target. Glowing. Pulsing. Calling to you.

Suddenly, your eyes snapped away from the target, as laughter erupted from the monster in-front of you. “And here I thought no one was home?” You recognized that voice from just moments earlier, there was no mistaking the cockiness in his tone. Killer.

Stumbling back, you gripped the pan in your hands tighter. When the hell did he get in front of you?! He smiled deviously, hiding a hand in one of his parka pockets. “Now, there’s no need to be so frightened,” he cooed. Like hell there was, he fucking broke into your house? “We just…want to have a friendly chat! Don’t we Dusty?” he cocked his head, motioning behind you.

You turned around immediately, only to be met with a chest in your face. Slowly, you craned your face up to look at the tall stranger who had magically found himself behind you. A hood covered his face, and under that hood a baseball cap of some sort, the logo having faded off. His shirt was grey and stained with a darker grey and brown, the jacket and red scarf he wore were stained in a similar manner. Once again you stumbled backwards. Where the fuck were these guys coming from?! “Sure.” Dusty snickered,”Friendly.”

You subconsciously gulped at the tone of his voice, and glanced towards Killer, In no way did that sound friendly. Adjusting the hot baking pan in your hand you momentarily let it hang low, by your leg before turning back around and swinging it at the scarf bearing skeleton by you.

The pan hit his skull with an unsurprisingly loud ‘THUNK’ , and his body merely crumpled to the floor. You hadn't expected to actually be able to hit him, nonetheless knock him out. Dusty’s body was sprawled across the floor unmoving, yep, definitely out.

You hauled yourself around in the other direction again before your body was slammed into the wall and something cool rested against your throat. “That was kind of funny,” Killer smiled, “Good thing I let it happen, huh?” he chuckled, replacing what you suspected to be a knife on your throat with his bony hand.

Fingers clenched around your windpipe as a few minutes ticked by, struggling to get out of his grasp you could feel the craving for oxygen increase.

You winced, a small tear trickling down your cheek as your struggling started to come to a slow.

His stupid grinning mug was all you saw before darkness overclouded your senses.

“See you in the morning, Doll.”

Chapter Text

A pained groan left your lips as light assaulted your senses and a metallic ringing invaded your ears. The floor beneath your butt was cold and hard, were you in the kitchen? Wait, why were you on the floor…? Did you fall asleep while waiting for your food to cool? Honestly, you wouldn't be surprised, work last night had been a heavy load. 

Opening your eyes with a groggy blink, you took in your surroundings. You WERE in your kitchen; the yellow lights illuminated the room in a warm shower of gold, and the rushing sound of water from the sink- wait. Water…from the sink? You didn't leave the sink on last time you checked, in-fact you haven't even used it all week.

You slowly turned your head to where the sound of rushing water came from, noticing something you wish your inattentive ass noticed earlier. You weren't the only one in the room. A broad skeleton, with a chunk of his skull missing, stood looming over the sink, washing what appeared to be dishes. Panic momentarily overcame you, until the events of what occurred last night started to flood back.

You did not fall asleep waiting for your food.

You did not fall asleep in the kitchen.

You did not fall asleep.

That panic that had been momentarily subdued by the recognition, sparked up once more. You had passed out. Killers hands had kept you pinned to the wall as the oxygen in your body slowly depleted. He could've killed you. You could've died. 

Slightly trembling, your hand made way to touch your throat. Only it couldn't, your hands had been restrained behind your back with god knows what. Not only had they knocked you out, AFTER breaking and entering in YOUR house, but you were now a hostage in your own domain. 

Taking a deep breath, your eyes settled on your feet, they hadn’t been tied, but you suppose they thought it would be difficult for you to get anywhere with them all in the house. That wouldn't stop you though, you could put up a fight. It wasn't li-”Oh. You're awake.” Your head shot up immediately, eyes peering through the hair that had caught on your lashes. Peeling the stray hairs out of view, you took in more of the form in front of you.

 The giant hole in his skull had been visible from the back, but upfront it was downright terrifying. The hole was jagged and sharp, small hairline cracks spread over his face and around his eyes. Or well, eyelight. He had only one of them, similar to the target you saw on Killer; round, red, pulsating, almost glowing. The clothes he adorned were almost identical to Killers as well, but instead of a black turtleneck and white shorts, his turtleneck was grey and his shorts black. 

“Sadly,” you replied, causing a chuckle to vibrate through the room. Silence hung in the air as he stood there, his eyelight dilating and warbling as the seconds ticked by. Eventually, he walked out of the door, heavy steps following behind him . What the fuck was his problem? And what was up with his head, oh my stars. 

You sat there in a momentarily silence, what was going to happen to you? He hadn't been as violent as the other two were, mostly just observing you, but that didn't change the fact that it was creepy. On top of that, you still had your hands tied while you sat on your tiled kitchen floor.

As you continued contemplating what to do with yourself and what was to become of you, a chorus of footsteps and voices had started to make way towards the kitchen. Shit.

“Mm..she didn't seem like a threat..too scared..kinda small…common for humans” a voice grunted, as they made their way down the hall. “SHE TOOK ME OUT WITH A BAKING PAN! FOR FUCKS SAKE!” what sounded to be Dusty, yelled right outside of the kitchen’s door, his temperamental state only causing a few snickers to fall out of his…friends..  ?....co-workers..? ….someones, mouths. Who they were to him didn’t matter though, as the 4 skeletons made their way into the kitchen, including one you had never seen before.

Visually, he had been the most appealing , not because he was attractive in any way, he just wasn’t copy and pasted like the last three. Plus he was clean, clean enough that he could adorn himself with white, not even a scuff or mark over his pristine white clothes. His clothes also had hints of black: a turtleneck similar to Killers lay beneath his white coat and his shorts had been mostly black to make the white X’s over them pop. A red scar laid beneath one of his eyesockets, he seemed to have had nicks and cuts all over his hands and legs, but they faded ivory, not red.

As you looked him over, Killer had made his way directly infront of you. Dusty, staring daggers at you, had slowly followed behind, keeping a foot of distance between him and Killed. 

“Heyyy human, how’s it goin’? You have a nice nap?” he cooed menacingly, what a fucking prick. Glaring, you chose not to respond, rolling your eyes instead, but that had only made Killers grin wider. “You REALLY don’t want to act like a bitch in your position”, he said coolly. Suddenly his hand found its way into your slightly tangled hair, ripping you to your numbed feet by your split ends. His hands seemed to know no touch of a gentle man, and he hadn’t planned to be one either.

Your scalp pulsed slightly, sore from the suddenness of being yanked up, and tears threatened to fall from your eyes.

“Now listen REALLLLL closely doll”, his face leaned towards yours, just inches away. “My friends and I here, have got a biggg problem, we’re stuck here-“ he drawled. “Stuck here. In my place. Seriously?” You scoffed, Killers eye socket twitching slight at your interruption. “Don’t fucking interupt me, no, of course not, this universe”, you only stared at him, forget the other guy, stars, this one was a real crackhead. 

“Anyways, we need to crash here for a bit, so we can lay low, keep an eye on ya, wait for further instruction from our top dog , yada yada-“ he waved his free hand dramatically, “Just get to the point Killer.” the one in white said sternly, glaring at the back of the former's head.

“Shut the hell up cross”, Killer mumbled under his breath as he clenched one of his hands into a fist. For some reason, you doubted ‘Cross’ and ‘Killer’ got along well. Couldn’t guess why.

“Why? You may ask?”, he said in a sing-song voice, interrupting your short lived  train of thought, “Fuck if I know, the Big B was-“

“Do NOT call Nightmare the ‘Big B’ Killer, he’s our boss not our friend” Cross sneered at him . “ OH SHOVE IT UP YOUR FUCKING COCCYX CROSS.” he almost growled, snapping his head back at the individual. “ Stars, let me inform the bitch on why we’re here and what’s gonna happen” he shot at Cross, who just scoffed in response, glancing at the other two skeletons who watched the tension with amusement.

“Okay, I’m gonna try again, and if ANYONE”, he glanced between you and cross, “Interrupts me I’m going to have a fucking fit” he huffed, inhaling deeply. “Alright, okay, so as I was saying. Our boss was having issues tryna get us to where we were supposed to go, and because of that we ended up here.” He grinned, the hand that he had in your hair had eased up, just barely holding a few strands at this point. 

“Now since we weren’t supposed to be in this universe, getting seen, slinging knives or having a little fun , could ultimately be our demise, but un-fucking-fortunately, we landed in your place, meaninggggg…?” he stretched his words out, looking at you to finish the sentence. Was everything a game to this guy?

 “That you’ve been seen..?” you replied slowly, sounding out each word carefully. “Bingo!” he smiled. “Aren’t you smart for a human? Anyways, since you’ve seen us we can’t just leave and have you spill out to the feds and your neighbors that four skeleton monsters broke into your house, would kind of suck for us y’know? And killing you is off the table cause it would have the same outcome: dragging in unwanted attention. But at the same time this is great for us, we can crash here WHILE our boss looks for us WHILE keeping an eye on you” he hummed contently, proud of finally being able to explain the pile of shit situation they were in.

You stared at him momentarily, processing the information that he had just dumped on you.

“You expect me to believe THAT?”

Chapter Text

Silence filled the room, and immediately, you had regretted the words that came out of your mouth. They were going to fucking kill you for doubting them, weren’t they? Your eyes averted to the floor, as the hand in your hair tightened. You didn’t want to die, not yet.

“What did you say?” Killer said, his voice filled with agitation and frustration. Yep, you were a goner. The hold he had on your hair had tightened even more, tugging at loose strands. 

“I said”, you gulped as a shiver ran down your spine, “…Do you expect me to believe that?” 

Killers perma-grin tightened as he exhaled through his nose-hole lightly. Dropping his shaky hand from your hair, he turned to the other three figures. 

“One of you convince the bitch before I disobey the boss and have my way with her, fucking hate humans..” he muttered, leaving the room with an air of dissonance following.

Your eyes had followed Killer as he left.

 You didn’t die.

He implied that he would kill you if he was stuck with you any longer.

BUT YOU DIDN'T DIE!

If it weren’t for the other possibly dangerous skeletons in the room, you likely would’ve smiled to yourself. But you didn’t, you still could very well die. Killer wasn’t the only one who had put his hands on you, and all of them were armed. Not just armed with weapons, but magic.

Your eyes wandered over to the other three skeletons, who had found themselves mumbling in a small group. 

Cross

Dusty

And…the crackhead.

It was a shit nickname, but you didn’t care. He might have  been the nicest of the four so far, but he had still broken into your place and watched as Killer threatened you. So crackhead would do. Not like he would know you’re calling him that anyways.

The three continued to chatter among themselves quietly, and out of sheer boredom you began to look over them; you hadn’t gotten to do so earlier. Without adrenaline pumping through your veins, they weren’t as big or as mean looking as you had thought so earlier: Dusty slightly slouched as he stood, constantly staring at his feet, and the crackhead fiddled with his jacket sleeve as he talked. It would almost be endearing, if they hadn’t broken into your house and y’know, tied you up. But too late to stop that from happening you guess.

Your eyes had wandered over to Cross last, he had a calm expression on his face, but despite that tranquility you could still see that he was tense. His posture was perfectly straight, and his hand movements were rigid and small, like a soldier.

As you continued to look him over, you were met with surprise when his head turned to yours, eyelights locking with yours.

A lavender hue spread across his cheekbones, and almost immediately his eyes had left yours. Quickly mumbling something to hole-in-one and cross, he began to walk away. 

Away towards you. 

Fuck.

This is how you die isn’t it? They decided you weren’t worth reasoning with…they were gonna kill you despite the trouble it would cause them, weren’t they?! Your face formed into one of panic, and your thoughts began to race as Cross slowly made his way over. With your hands tied back, you were at a disadvantage, but not defeated.

You quickly moved your legs so you were on your knees, and propped your right leg up, one foot finally touching the cold floor. As soon as the tile made contact with the pads of your feet, you attempted to heft yourself up off of the floor as fast as possible.This of course, like much else recently, didn’t work out for you. Upon suddenly standing, one of your ankles had painfully rolled inwards on itself; surprised by the sudden weight being put on it.

Instinctively , you had prepared yourself for the firmness of the floor, clenching your eyes shut and exhaling greatly so the wind wouldn’t be knocked out of you when you fell. But your cold tile floor never greeted you. Instead, two sturdy hands had found themselves digging into your waist, saving you from both bruising your ass, and embarrassing yourself.

 Upon realising that you in fact had not landed on the floor, and that 1 of 4 strangers in your home was in your personal space, your eyes fluttered open.

 Oh god damnit.

Leaning over you, Cross wore a slightly worried expression accompanied by small beads of sweat streaming down his forehead. “Uh..are you alright?”he questioned, eyes lights locked on yours. You attempted to push yourself away, and out of his grip. There was no way you were going to satisfy him by answering his question, or thanking him for catching you. In fact, you would’ve preferred if he had let you fall.

“Easy there tiger” he grinned, his voice rich and playful. Amusement had masked over the worry from before, but despite his teasing, you could tell he was taken aback. His eyelights broke away from the undeclared staring contest you had been having, glancing towards the other two skeletons in the room.

Sighing, Cross looked back at you, and the grip he held loosened; his hands barely ghosting your waist. Of course, having no warning of your sudden release, you stumbled backwards, tripping over yourself once again, and landing sideways on the floor. 

“Oh screw you”, you winced, glaring up at him. 

“I didn’t know you were just gonna fucking fall anyways?!” he protested, as snickers of amusement came from the other side of the kitchen.

Turning your head towards the snickers, you noticed humpty dumpty and Dusty giggling at one another. They weren’t very loud, but by the sound of small hoarse gasps escaping them, you could tell they were definitely trying to keep themselves in check.

“Snrk..are you really gonna let her talk to you like that?” Dusty asked, his hand hovering over his mouth. Cross rolled his eyes In annoyance, ignoring Dusty’s attempt to rile him up. Honestly, in any other situation you would’ve found Cross’ agitation hilarious, but your side was starting to ache against your kitchen floor.

A small wince escaped your lip as the tile continued to dig into your side, causing Cross to finally realise the predicament you were in.

“Err..sorry..” He mumbled as he leaned on his knees, hefting you up into a sitting position. You gave him a small smile in thanks, and funnily enough, he returned it.

“Listen” he said suddenly, exhaling through his nose loudly. One of his hands fidgeted with a golden locket in the shape of a heart around his neck, and he seemed to ponder over something briefly before speaking once more. “Let’s make a deal” his voice wavered slightly as he spoke, whether it came from nervousness or it was just how he spoke, you didn’t know.

But you did know something else; he wasn’t as rough or stern, with you as he had been with Killer. He had a stick up around the skeleton, voice thick and commanding, but without him present his demeanor seemed to soften. Did he only have an outburst earlier because of Killer? You supposed so, but at the same time you shouldn’t have. You don’t know these people.

Snapping your head up and out of your thoughts , you raised a brow at his statement. “A deal…?” You questioned him, uncertainty laced in your voice. “Yes, I-“ he stammered, trying to find the right words to stay. “Killer was right earlier, he wasn’t lying. I know it sounds crazy. It is crazy, but it’s true.” 

A frown crossed your face, you honestly still didn’t believe Killers monologue from earlier, and you held no ounce of trust in Cross, not one bit. There was no reason to trust them, and no reason for them to tell the truth. But something in you fought against that uncertainty you held.

“Just hear me out, please.” he held a hand out to you, slightly trembling as he waited for you to take it, “I can prove it to you.”

You stared at him dully, and that small ounce of fight in you had started to dissipate. “Cross, my hands are tied behind my back.” You stated as realization made itself known through his eyes. Pulling his hand back quickly, a nervous chuckle escaped his throat. “Oh..uh..yeah sorry..” he responded shortly, a lavender hue spreading across his face. 

The embarrassment he held towards his mistake was funny in a way. Here was the kindest of home invaders you’ve ever heard of, kneeling on your kitchen floor, apologizing to you because he forgot your hands were behind your back.

It was almost..cute.

Who were you kidding?

No the fuck it was not.

Inhaling deeply, your eyes locked onto Cross’ eye lights. “So. What is this..deal” you voiced. Immediately, Cross’ eyelights brightened at your compliance, he must’ve been expecting you to be uncooperative.

“Well uh, just let me explain things to you in..well…a less confusing way than Killer, I’ll even give you some sort of..uh example..?” he muttered, sounded almost unsure of himself, “…and in return I’ll cut your hands free.”

The room stilled for a moment. Dusty and crackhead, who had been silently chatting, turned their attention towards Cross. “What?”, Dusty snapped at Cross, violence seeping out of the knicks and cracks that covered his body. 

Apparently Cross hadn’t run his idea through with the other three, and the two that were in the room did not seem to like it. Well, at least Dusty didn’t, the other skeleton in the room couldn’t seem to give an actual shit. He stood idly, glancing between Dusty and Cross before finding his phalanges more interesting; picking at the small cracks and scrapes that covered them. 

Before Dusty could rip Cross a new one in front of your kitchen sink, a singular phrase had left your mouth, immediately drawing all eyes to you.

You didn’t think, nor process the word that formed in your brain.

No thoughts.

No reasoning.

No breakdown.

Just one word.

“Deal.”

Chapter Text

“Are you fucking crazy?!” Dusty hissed at Cross, storming towards him. The expression on his face was one of pure anger and hatred, his eye sockets and nose bridge slightly scrunched. “You” He pointed at Cross, the tip of his finger harshly jamming into Cross’ chest. “Don’t make fucking decisions without us, especially ones involving the human.” Dusty growled at him, the tension in the room slightly growing. Cross only huffed in response, shoving Dusty’s finger off of his chest, and giving him a scrutinizing glance.

“She’s not going to listen to us if we don’t appeal to her” Cross groaned, cracking his neck as he fixed his posture.

“We don’t need her to listen” Dusty sneered “we’ll just keep her fucking tied up or whatever.”

Cross laughed at his remark, and Dusty only growled once more at his response. You noticed they were both very reactive, observing both of them as you sat silently on the floor, waiting for their bickering to end.

“Yes, we do. People will go out looking for her if we do anything, and we can’t risk it” Cross said, his voice sharpening as it rose in volume. “The only way this will end well, is if we get her to hear us out and cooperate” he jabbed his thumb in your direction to signify he was talking about you. He really didn’t have to do that though, who the fuck else would he be talking about. “Plus..” he drawled “we kind of need food and uh..yknow stuff? Not like we can get it on our own” he looked over, shrugging at you.

“You’re gonna use me?” you blinked slowly, watching him look away sheepishly.

“And your space” hole-in-one spoke up, amusement tinting his voice as he suppressed what was likely a giggle.

Dusty rolled his eyelights at Cross’ argument,toying with the red scarf that loosely hung around his neck.

“Fucking fine, whatever.” He glared at Cross harshly, the prolonged eye contact he was making making the former start to sweat. “But if she runs off to the cops because you untied her fucking hands thinking she believed our fuckass situation, she’s dead” he hissed, his eyes locking onto yours in a threat.

You gulped slightly, well that’s not fucking scary at all.

Dusty stood glaring at you for a few seconds before he made his way towards your door frame. “I’m gonna go find wherever Killers gone and crash with him, have fun sharing our stupid ass sob story” he spat at Cross, a look of disdain spreading across his face. “You comin’ Horror?” he questioned, looking over towards Humpty Dumpty, Horror? That was his name? Seriously? You’ve got the be fucking kidding me. Trying to keep yourself from giggling, you glanced over towards…’Horror.’

“Nah, i'm alright”,Horror said, shaking his head absentmindedly and looking over towards you, “think it'll be interesting to see what happens with ‘em.”

Dusty shrugged nonchalantly, and made his way to move out the door, not bothering to shut it behind him. Leaving you alone with Cross and Horror, a sense of ease slowly flooded over you. The two more violent figures had left, so things would go over smoothly. At least you hoped they would.

“Alright..” Cross said unenthusiastically, his hands meeting together in a clap. “So basically, the multiverse theory is real?” he stated, his voice filled with uncertainty. “Well not ‘basically’, it is.”

 You stared at him blankly, brows furrowed. His words hadn’t processed in your mind, and you found yourself utterly confused. “Excuse me?” you uttered, begrudgingly amused.

Cross sputtered, and put a hand to his head, stopping you from seeing the lavender hue that momentarily took over his face. “I- argh, its” he exhaled loudly, his mouth slightly hanging open, “it's hard to explain, you see this guy over here” he nodded over to Horror who waved slowly at you. 

“I mean yeah..?” you shrugged, it wasn’t like Horror had moved at all.

“We’re the same person” he said after having calmed down, his hands now crossed over his chest. 

You looked between Cross and Horror momentarily, their expressions remained neutral as they waited for a response.They were serious, holy fucking shit. Hoarse giggles escaped from your throat, your body trembling as it threatened to topple over. “Oh my god?! You're-” another giggle erupted from your throat, “You're not serious are you?!”

“I am!” Cross groaned as a lavender hue took over his face, his sockets widening ever so slightly. He motioned for Horror to come closer as he stepped away from you, abruptly turning his back and fidgeting with the heart shaped locket around his neck.

Cross stood still momentarily, considering his options before whispering something to Horror, causing the latter to shrug slowly.

“Depends on whether or not they teach shit like that here” Horror said, the level of his voice only slightly louder than a whisper.

Cross sighed, “Well it wouldn’t hurt to ask…or uh maybe it would a little but” he groaned in annoyance, his hand resting on his hip momentarily. “It’s all I can think of, and y’know we kind of need to convince her” he complained, his words coming out slow and desperate. 

Clearing his throat, Cross slowly turned back towards you, pacing over as a conflicting expression flickered across his face. To you, he seemed almost nervous, glancing to the side and wringing his fingers together, but the way in which his (non existent) brows scrunched upwards, and his eyes were drawn to the ground,made you believe that he was silently thinking to himself, if anything.

A few moments passed and Cross was yet to say anything, still pondering in front of you with that odd expression on his face. 

Was he alright?

Confusion struck you hard as you watched him silently space out. Should you do anything? There honestly wasn’t much you could do with your hands still behind your back, and you didn’t want to prompt yourself as a threat by scooting closer. Quickly, your eyes flashed over to Horror, who had apparently already been staring you down, fun. Your eyes looked back to Cross, then back to Horror, a silent plea that thankfully, he seemed to understand.

You waited silently as Horror strolled over to Cross’ side, the space between them was only a few feet of distance, but Horror apparently wasn’t much of a fast walker. Knowing he wasn’t both fast and dangerous partially eased your mind, some of the tension in your body faltering.

Horrors hand slowly set itself on Cross’ shoulder, causing the shorter skeleton to jump, finally leaving his train of thought.

Cross’ head quickly snapped towards Horror, his hand flying to his chest.“Stars! You scared the ever living fuck out of me dude” he growled, a clear expression of panic on his face. Though his expression had quickly changed to one of annoyance upon realising who scared the shit out of him.

“You were zonin’ out” Horror shrugged, his hand sliding off of Cross’ shoulder and falling limp at his side, “Scaring the poor chic too.”

You rolled your eyes, as Cross’ met yours,the annoyance he conveyed earlier quickly melting. Horror was such an over-exaggerator. You weren’t scared, just confused. There’s a big difference.

Un-wringing his fingers, Cross inhaled deeply “Sorry, that’s uh, my bad.”

God he could be so awkward.

“It’s just, I think-“ he started

“We” Horror interrupted immediately, staring Cross down.

“We think we know a way to prove it to you”, he gave you an awkward grin. “The whole thing, yknow? Prove the multiverse theory, the fact that we’re all the same perso-“

“Wait you’re claiming that all of you are the same fucking guy, I thought you just meant you and Horror?” you scoffed, the small bit of belief you might’ve held quickly dissipating.

Cross closed his eyes momentarily, his hands clenching by his sides. “Please stop interrupting me. Yes, we’re all the same person, and along with the multiverse theory and the whole ‘we are the same person’ ordeal, I can also prove that the story Killer told you upon crashing into your place, is true” he said, his words tumbling out of his mouth quickly, leaving no room to breath or process the words he was putting out.

You stared at him dumbfounded, your body stock still. There was no way he was going to prove whatever he was telling you was true, how would he do so? 

How would it even be possible?

It couldn’t be possible, because it’s not true.

Yet some part of you was intrigued, your mind was telling you to argue back at Cross like you did with Killer, but something else was telling you to see what would happen. What would he do? Could they be actually telling the truth? That part of you, swelling with curiosity, gnawed at your brain, telling it to give in and abandon the fight and reason it had.

And your brain did.

Blinking slowly, you stared at both Cross and Horror through your lashes, hoping your face adorned any expression other than that curiosity that was burning inside you. “Alright then, what’d you got?” You questioned, subconsciously chewing on your lower lip.

“What do you know about souls?”

Chapter Text

You stared at Cross dumbfounded, eyes leering towards Horrors.

 Souls were the cumulation of the very being, in both human and monsters, a magical fingerprint inside the body that was tightly nestled in the chest. No soul was the same, they looked similar–heart shaped, palm-sized, and flooding with color (unless you were a monster)
–but the magical waves they radiated were unique, and so not one was like the other.

These waves technically couldn't be seen, but with monsters came magic, and with magic came STATS. STATS were magical statistics you could see when in an ENCOUNTER; a magical event initiated by a monster or mage. With STATS you could see a souls waves and the information they held: age, name, health, thoughts, and other magical terms used by monsters that would help set souls apart.

So yeah, of course you knew what souls were.

Snapping out of your thoughts, you looked back towards Cross.

“Yeah, I guess so”

The sides of his mouth perked up in a grin, “Well that makes this a lot easier” he said, voice filled with mischief.

Panic suddenly swelled in your gut over his words, what the actual fuck was that supposed to mean? The crypticness of the message he gave set off several blaring alarms in your head, screaming at you to run, but you couldn't, you would have already been gone if that was an option. The distress you felt must've been evident on your face as Cross quickly rushed to explain himself, Horror snickering at his counterpart's efforts to put you at ease.

“I-” a lavender hue spread across his face while his arms lifted up in a defensive position, “I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT-”

Your brows shot up, the distress in your gut had dissipated, replaced with confusion. What had he thought you meant? 

“Like what?” you questioned, gnawing on your lip in agitation. His face only glowed brighter, his eyes averting yours and turning his head towards Horror. The latter skeleton met his gaze, raising a brow-bone as the corners of his grin tightened.

“Yeah bud, like what?” amusement was laced in Horror’s tone, an obvious attempt at trying to fluster the monochrome skeleton beside him. 

Grumbling, Cross turned his attention back towards you, the color on his face finally starting to disperse. He looked slightly annoyed, but with how fast he brushed it off you could tell he wasn't new to teasing like this. Their interactions were almost amusing, in fact you’re sure they would've been if they weren't…home invaders. Yeah no, you weren't going to forget how this situation came to be. No matter how amiable and patient they were being, you had to remember that they had ulterior motives, they weren't being nice to be nice. They were using you.

You didn't notice you had spaced out, trapped in your own mind of fruitless thoughts, until the sound of someone clearing their throat drew your attention elsewhere. Cross and Horror stood in front of you, apparently having moved closer when you spaced out.

“So uh-, back to the y’know, topic” his voice wavered slightly, not out of distress but some other emotion you couldn't place, “what do you know about souls?”

Shrugging, motioned your hand as much as you could, still tied behind your back, “the basics I guess..?” Cross only huffed in annoyance, apparently not wanting that answer.

“Okay, but what are the basics?” 

Blinking slowly, you glanced between him and Horror, was he fucking stupid? “You’re a monster…so..you should know?” you said, expressing mild dissatisfaction within your words. Once again, Cross huffed in response, his fingers moving to pinch where his nose bridge would be-if he had one.

“My basics are probably different from your basics” he growled, removing his hand from his face.

You might be pissing him off, apparently losing the patience he had with you once before. Sighing you bit your lip subconsciously, the basics were well, basic, and with that, not much to explain. “I-, uh know about STATS, soul traits, intent, magic waves…” you paused, digging in the back of your mind for what else you knew, but ultimately shrugged when you couldn't think of anything relevant.

Cross nodded contently, before locking his eyelights onto yours. “What about singularity?”, he voiced contently, his earlier annoyance having quickly dissipated once you started listing what you knew. 

A grumble escaped Horror at the mention of singularity, “Please know, I dont wanna hear him fucking lecture on about it..” he commented, exasperation laced between his words. Within seconds of that phrase leaving his mouth, Cross had swiveled his head towards Horror and glared in vexation.

“Shut up dude, fucking leave if you need to” he growled at the larger skeleton who made no effort to respond, only an exasperated chuckle leaving his throat.

Turning back towards you, Cross put a hand to his temple “Sorry, eugh…” he groaned in slight aggravation. “He’s not usually so….” he removed his hand from his temple, grimacing slightly as Horror stood grinning smugly behind him “..nevermind he’s always a pain in the ass, stars”

“Takes one to know one” Horror quipped in response, causing another groan to erupt from Cross. Stars, all these two did was fucking argue, and they were supposed to be teammates? Co-workers? You felt so sorry for their boss, you couldn't imagine putting up with this on the daily…or on the job.

 Ignoring Horror’s response, Cross focused his attention on you once more “Alright…so uh, singularity?” he said awkwardly, was he incapable of talking to you without looking so…uncomfortable? 

A small grin flickered across your face, content with finally getting back on topic instead of watching the two argue.

“No two souls are the same, right?”

Chapter Text

Cross smiled at you contently, with his reaction you had to assume you were right…right?

“Exactly” he said smoothly, turning his head to smile at Horror in triumph, the latter quickly rolling his eyes.

Okay, cool. You were right, and happily so, Horror’s statement earlier had made the thought of Cross awkwardly lecturing you about magic and souls rather….unsavory. You doubted you could take him seriously; stumbling over his words and averting eye contact when discussing something so..serious..?Maybe not serious, but it wasn't something people, more specifically monsters, joked about.

You suppressed a small smile, Cross’ slight giddiness at your lack of oblivion was almost contagious. Almost. Saltiness still tainted your opinions on the skeletons, much less on the two talking to you in the kitchen as they were your key to getting your hands untied. Stars your wrists were starting to ache, the material around them digging into your skin.

“So what does that have to do…with what you were gonna..?” you questioned, allowing your sentence to trail off in hopes he’d answer.

Cross’ head tilted back towards you, then Horror, and you once more, a silent agreement being passed off between the two skeletons. The former skeleton motioned for you to come closer, and with slight hesitation, you did.

“Uh..sit up on the counter real quick” he said thoughtlessly, he didn't expect you to heft yourself up, right? Your arms were still anchored behind you, and until this conversation met its end, they would continue to be. Realizing your predicament, a light violet blush crossed over Cross’ face and he sighed out a soft sorry, seemingly done with his own continuous acts of embarrassment.

The monochrome skeleton inched towards you, leaving merely half a foot of space in between you two. “Is it okay if, uh, I-”, he held his hands out, motioning towards your waist. Was he asking if he could pick you up? You resisted giggling, knowing if you did that he’d be out of commission, and his bigger..scarier counterpart would be the one to do the lifting.

You nodded swiftly, and almost immediately he had grabbed you by the waist and plopped you onto your cold, marble, countertop. The rashness of practically being dropped on your ass hurt slightly, but he had been gentle other than that, avoiding digging his cat-like phalanges into your side. You were about to quickly thank him–not that you were necessarily grateful, just trying to be polite so he wouldn't have a reason to not be gentle with you–until you noticed something in your peripheral vision.

A small, skinny, pale yellow object was merely inches from your thigh, and upon closer inspection, you recognized what it was almost immediately.

“Did one of you guys eat my fucking french fries?” Both question and agitation filled your voice as you glared at the french fry beside you. A deathly silence filled the room as Cross shot an indeterminable look towards Horror, who only chortled in response.

Wiping a fake tear from his eye socket, Horror paced towards your side and plucked at the lone fry on the counter. “Got a little hungry” he shrugged “n’ just so happens you left your shit on the counter” he said, smugness tinting his tone.

Partial anger consumed you, It wasn't as if you were going to eat them after being left out for days, and with the sleep-like state you had been in earlier, you quite literally couldn't. Yet the sheer disrespect of eating your days old fries, you made after you had a shit day at work-

Work.

Fuck.

You haven't been to work in a few days—assuming you’ve been out for a while, you didn’t know the date nor the time—and with that your phone was still somewhere on one of the cafe's counters; probably getting splattered with cold brew and hot coffee. Fear made way across your face, and your head snapped towards Cross, ignoring your earlier anger towards Horror. 

“My-Holy shit, My job!?” your words came out quick and stammered, if you weren't fired by now then you were definitely going to get your ass beat by Brad–the cafe’s manager–when you returned. If you ever returned.

Grabbing your shoulders, Cross steadied your erratic self; preventing you from toppling over the counter. This time he wasn't as gentle, the tips of his razor sharp phalanges tearing your shirt sleeves at the shoulder. 

You gave a small wince and immediately Cross’ grip had lightened, but he didn’t let go.

“It’s a Sunday” he said calmly, positioning himself so he was at eye level with you.

When only met with  silence from you, he continued to try and bring ease to your sudden outburst. “We arrived on a Friday night” he whispered, keeping that calm tone. His arms moved away from your shredded shirt sleeves, and instead opted to rest them on your biceps.

You shuddered slightly as he took in a small breath, “It's alright, you don't work on the weekends, right?” he motion backwards towards your fridge; a small calendar labeled “work shifts” was hung up, the weekend boxes written off as non-work days. His attention to detail struck you dumbfounded, and slowly, you nodded in return.

“You probably won’t be able to head into work tomorrow..” he sighed “or for a few days”. Once again, you nodded contently at that information, it didn’t necessarily surprise you at all that you wouldn’t be heading into work. They didn’t trust you to go out, not when you didn’t trust them.

Cross smiled lightly at your nodding and moved one of his hands from your arm, pushing back a stray hair that found itself looming in front of your face. “We can have you call out for a week” he pondered for a moment, “maybe two, tell them it’s a family emergency”. A smile graced his face and his arm had moved back to your bicep, giving you a small squeeze.

The sound of someone clearing their throat startled both you and Cross, and to no one’s surprise Horror stood awkwardly, only a few feet behind Cross.

“Uh…done comfortin’ or whatever? Make that fucking call so we can get back on topic” he groaned “and here I thought you’d be a big pain in the ass tryna get shit done quick, instead you’re getting all cuddly, isn’t that right Cross?” he chuckled, causing the formerly mentioned skeleton to jerk away from you.

A violet blush found its way onto Cross’ face as he sent the larger skeleton a glare. “It’s called being comforting, she was obviously in a panicked state Horror” he grimaced, his words sounding like growls. 

Horror only snorted in response and gave a light shrug “yeah whatever helps you sleep at night bud”

In an attempt to ease his growing annoyance, Cross turned his attention back towards you. “Anyways, Horrors right..” he announced,a hefty sigh leaving his throat. 

“Where’s your phone? We can-, well you I guess, can give your work a call about your temporary leave” he shrugged, tilting his head as he waited for a response.

A weak smile made its way upon your lips, and your eyes suddenly found the cobwebs on the feline very interesting. “At my u-uh..work” you stammered nervously, feeling a cold sweat start to form on your back. You really hoped that one of these guys had a phone on them, or some sort of electronic device, without one you’d have to show up to the cafe yourself. If not that, then just suffer with getting laid off for being a no show.

“Oh okay, that’s alright” Cross hummed, turning towards Horror. Without question the latter skeleton dug through his pocket and pulled out a phone, you hoped it was a phone at least. In all honesty, it was hard to tell; it looked much more like a cheap children’s walkie talkie than anything. It was dingy: made of what looked like cheap hard plastic, and from what you could tell, was missing several buttons. The only part of it that told you it was in fact a phone, was the small screen at the top of it struggling to stay lit.

Cross took the phone from Horrors hand and looked back towards you, only to snort at the obvious confusion on your face.

“Yeah..it’s uh…” he smiled awkwardly, turning the phone over in his hands “a hunk of junk, but it’ll get the job done.”

A small smile crept across your face “it’s certainly..vintage..?” you teased, eyeing the depressing piece of technology in his hand. 

He chuckled sheepishly, averting eye contact “it’s uh actually a newer model..” he said, his words laced with embarrassment. “Anyways, uh-, work phone number?” he questioned, attempting to get back on topic.

You smiled at him gently and recited the digits of the cafe's main phone, hoping that someone (hopefully Brad) would answer. The phone buzzed in Cross’ palm gently, and upon the sound of someone picking up on the other end, he held it up against your ear.

“Hello, you’ve reached the call line for Parisian Delights Cafe and bakery, how can I help you?” a sweet voice spoke from the otherside of the line. You recognized her as one of the cafe's newest hires, Mandy. She was somewhat nice, but there was a lack of interactions between the two of you due to having different shifts, only talking to her when she occasionally filled in for someone else.

You smiled gently at the sound of her voice, she was the first person you've actually heard since your…hostage situation? That was technically the right wording, but calling it a hostage situation almost felt like you were overmining the situation. You were being kept inside your own home against your will, and you had been threatened one too many times by very reactive, aggressive, magical skeleton men. 

Okay, yeah nevermind, this was a hostage situation.

Snapping back to your thoughts you finally brought yourself to respond. “Hi Mandy, its uh Y/N, can you put Brad on the phone real quick?” you said, Cross still holding the phone flush against the side of your face.

“Oh hi! Uh sure, give me a minute” she quipped, her voice being replaced with the low hum of silence. Your attention steered away from the phone as Mandy went to go and get your boss, an unbothered silence filling the air. Cross adjusted the phone in his hand gently; rolling his wrist that you presumed was probably getting tired by now. Silence continued to fill the room, only a light buzz emitting from the phone–probably from it overheating. Your hope started to dwindle slowly as the silence continued, Brad was at work, right? But before you could continue to doubt yourself, a deep voice made itself known on the other side of the phone.

 “Hello?”

Chapter Text

A sense of relief  flooded over your body, the uneasiness and panic from earlier slowly melting away. Though Brad was your boss, (taking his job bossing you around oh so seriously), you found contentment in his authoritative attitude. He was your friend on top of all the managing and corporate jargon, behind his customer service smile given to customers and angry tired corporate workers, was a sincere one you had laughed with multiple times. 

For moments you sat there, nostalgia almost clouding your senses, but Brad’s deep voice snapped you back to reality.

“Hello? Y/N? Mandy said you were on the line?” he questioned, voice slightly muffled. 

A small frown replaced the smile that had begun to subconsciously form on your face, and you leaned your ear in closer to the phone “Oh yeah! Uh, I might need to take some time off..?” you replied, a hint of question in your tone. 

The relief you felt earlier suddenly dissipated though, as Brad’s voice came through once more. “I-, look, how much time off?” he sighed, the busy noise of the cafe seeping through the speaker. 

You looked up at Cross, uncertainty passing over his face. For a moment, your eyes met, his brows furrowing slightly before you turned your head away and looked over at Horror. The latter standing still, staring off into nothing if something.

Briefly, your mouth hung open slightly, but after remembering you did in fact have to respond and couldn't continue analyzing what was going on around you, you muttered out a response. “A week, or maybe two” you answered, breath slightly hitching as you heard Brad inhale, likely mustering up a response.

 “It's a family emergency, my grandfather-” you inhaled, breath shaky with the lie you were giving Brad. “He’s severely ill, and he needs a caretaker for a week or two, we…we think he might pass” you gulped, biting down on your lip hesitantly. If it hadn't been for the anxiety resurfacing in your mind, and the slight tremble in your hands you doubt you would have lied the way you did, nonetheless sound as shaken up as you did. 

Looking back towards Cross, you noticed his look of uncertainty had mostly diminished, a glint of what seemed to be pride shining in his eyes.

“Oh” you heard Brad mutter from the other side of the phone lightly, “Yeah, that's..thats alright then, perfectly fine” he said, not having expected that to be the reason for your request for time off, “but you’re gonna have to work double after, we’re already short staffed enough and..it's a small business Y/N” a sound of displeasure training his voice “we need you staffed as often as possible, and we cant pay you for weeks off” he said, almost sorry. “If I could I would, but you’re lucky enough that you’re needed and that we’re friends more than we are just co-workers, any larger business probably would’ve laid you off.”

You hummed in response, and suddenly you felt guilty. Not just about lying, but about your boss’ sentimentality towards you. There were no other options for you, you had no choice in taking time off, in fact you’re lucky you’re free enough in your situation to do so. But it felt manipulative, it pushed you in the wrong way, and in the moment there was nothing you could do to push off that feeling.

Attempting to ignore the guilt weighing you down, the fingers behind your back began to pick at the excess rope hanging off of the ties around your wrists.

“Thank you” you muttered quietly, “I really appreciate it, really, I’ll do all I can once I'm back” you said, licking your lips hesitantly.

A breathy chuckle escaped Brad from the other side of the phone, sighing slowly afterwards “I’ll hold you to it, Im uh..sorry about your situation” he mumbled. “But you’re on the clock once you come back, alright?”

Humming contently, the phone buzzed slightly against both your cheek and ear. “Good” he responded “I’ll see you then, and I'll update the schedule, just make sure to check it, and take care? Alright?” 

“Alright” you whispered slowly, the phone making a click afterwards, signaling the call had ended.

Removing the phone from the side of your face, Cross handed the phone towards Horror, snapping him out of his daydream-like stance. The larger skeleton placed the phone in his pocket, and staggered closer towards Cross’ side.

“That went well enough” he mumbled, rolling his wrist that held the phone “But now that your working situation is figured out we need to get back on topic, and we need to stay on it, alright?” His response wasn’t filled with agitation or anger, but you could feel sternness radiating from the look in his eyes. 

You knew that if you panicked similarly again, whether for your personal life or not, that he’d focus on calming you down and treating you with respect. But both skeletons seemed to want to be done with trying to convince you that they were telling the truth of their situation, that this “multiverse theory” was real and that they were the same person, and you understood that to the fullest. At this point to be honest, you found yourself believing them more than not. They were putting so much effort into comforting you–well Cross was, and attempting to convince you to believe them, some of them lashing out when you didn't. 

Suspicion still crossed your mind though, squatters and criminals would and could pull shit like this to not get in trouble, but they’d have to think you were insane to think you’d believe them, right? You shook the thought away, and focused back on the two skeletons in front of you instead of your conflicting beliefs on their situation. If they could prove it, really prove it, then you’d finally find yourself believing them.

Horror nodded slowly in agreement to what Cross had said, “your fucking melt down lasted long enough, could’ve waited til after to make the call” he said, voice gruff.

Rolling his eyes, Cross ignored him “shut up dude” he growled, aggression tinting his tone. His defensiveness made you smile slightly, not having expected him to back you up like he did. “Anyways, uh before the call we talked about no two souls being the same, right? Unique to the individual, it’s impossible to have the STAT balance, specifically when it comes to soul waves, magically impossible” he said, starting to ramble. You nodded along, encouraging him to carry on.

“Well like I said earlier, we” he motioned between Horror and him with his finger “are the same person, Killer and Dust as well.” Your eyebrows shot up as he mentioned Dust’s name, you thought his name was Dusty, having heard that from Killer. But if your suspicion was correct, you had been calling him some condescending nickname in your internal monologue.

Suddenly you were thankful you hadn’t made an effort to mention his name out loud, nor that he was present in the room. He was somewhat intimidating, and you had the feeling you referred to him the same way Killer had, you'd be out of work for more than the 2 weeks you had kindly been given.

Shaking yourself out of your thoughts, you tuned yourself back into Cross’ rambling.

“And because of that, our souls and their waves are exactly the same, our LoVe is different–our level of violence but that has nothing to do with our soul waves, just our STATS” he stated, his finger hovering over his mouth. “So, what we’re gonna do is, well y’know” he shrugged sheepishly, figuring out how he wanted to say what he wanted to say.

“Show me your souls..?” you guessed, voice coming out quietly and slowly.

Horrors' faces lit up with a small smirk and Cross nodded in response. “Yeah, I mean- it’s all we can really do to actually prove it to you y'know?” Cross said, huffing lightly.

A soft sigh left your lips as you stared towards him “I guess, I’m starting to wish I just lied and said I believed you though..” motioning your head towards your hands tiredly. 

“Snrk..yeah you could’ve, that’s on you” Horror quipped in from beside Cross, playing with the hem of his hoodie sleeve. “You’re gonna believe us in a minute anyways though, so you’ll get those hands undone not soon after if you behave.” he said, eyeing you closely, Cross proceeding to nudge him in the ribs shortly after. 

The look he gave you as he said that sent off small alarms in your head, red sirens suddenly starting to flash and wail. He was warning you. He wasn’t being informative. He wasn’t being playful. If you acted out or attempted to free yourself you doubt it would be something they’d tolerate.

You nodded attentively, keeping in mind once again, that the skeletons around you were in fact dangerous.

“So uh, how are you going to show me your..souls..? Are you going to just, I don’t know” you groaned “pull them out or something?”

“Yup, exactly” the shorter skeleton said in response. With a swift motion of his hand, making a pulling motion from his chest, a white cartoon heart gas found itself floating in his skeletal palm.

It wasn’t exactly what you thought it would look like to be honest, but it was beautiful nonetheless. It was upside down and pulsing, radiating a faint glow that reminded you of the stars. Subconsciously you had started to lean towards the soul in his palm, but stopped yourself upon the light sound of laughter.

“Cool right? Sometimes forget Inverses don’t see souls as often as we do” Cross soft voice said in direction towards Horror.

The latter skeleton only shrugged as he motioned to take his soul out similarly, harboring the small heart shaped object in his palm, “Not like they’re really anythin’ special” he grumbled “tell you whether you’re alive or not, and I’d fucking hope you’d be able to do that without the stupid thing” a small snort left him as he laughed at his own…joke..? It wasn’t really a joke, but you weren’t sure what else to call it, you shrugged the thought off quickly and brought your attention to the other soul now in the room.

It was exactly the same.

Well, looked the same at least.

The same white inverse heart, with the same faint glow wafting off of it. It was just as entrancing as Cross’, ethereal almost. 

In a mystical way.

 Cross wasn’t wrong when he said that…Inverses, whatever that meant—though you assumed that was referring to you to some degree, don’t see souls often. In fact, you doubted you saw anyone else’s but yours and some of your relatively close families.

“Alright” Cross cleared his throat lightly, drawing your attention away from Horrors soul. “So I assume you already know how actually seeing the waves is gonna work right?” He questioned, tilting his head slightly, soul still hovering over his palm.

Yet he was only met with a blank stare in response “..no.?” you said, voice just above a whisper. You knew what soul waves were (and similar basics of magic and STATS) but you never actually saw them in person. Stars you didn’t even know what you were supposed to look for, or how you were supposed to look for them. You just knew what they were and how they worked, the concept of what they were, it wasn’t the norm to walk around with your soul on your sleeve.

A small huff left Horror, his shoulders visually slumping. “It's fine...You'll know it when you see it, we just gotta start an ENCOUNTER for ya to be able to see one” he said almost disinterested, not wanting Cross to start over explaining.

The formerly mentioned skeleton nodded in quiet agreement, his focus having shifted from you to his counterpart. “He’s right” he paused for a minute, clearly pondering something. Sometimes you wished you could look into his mind, see what he was thinking. He was open and opinionated from what you had seen so far, but he was also reserved and calculated, thinking over his actions before acting upon them.

“Have you ever been in an ENCOUNTER before?” Cross questioned, breaking you out of your train of thought. His head cocked to the side subconsciously as he awaited your answer, and once again you could only shake your head no.

A nervous chuckle left Cross’ mouth as he slowly dragged a hand across his face– the other cradling his soul. “God I wanna get back to the fucking castle, stars” he groaned, the hand from his face slumping to his side. 

You only stared at Cross and his worn out complaining, if you could call it that? He was more done than anything, clearly fed up. Perhaps not with you, but definitely their situation. One word he mentioned though as he palmed his own face had caught your ears, and weighed itself in your mind.

 Castle. 

The guys who supposedly are the same person, and are supposedly from a completely different universe, supposedly live in a castle…or work at one? You wish you were surprised, yet here you are, thinking that it might be something somewhat reasonable. It wouldn't be the strangest thing about them if it was true, nor the most groundbreaking you supposed.

“Okay” Cross said abruptly, eyes locking onto you as your body jumped at his voice–zoning out was starting to become a habit, every small second you got to yourself was spent in your head, thinking. You didn't do this on the regular, monologuing to yourself in your head, usually you were collected in some sense, always “there”, but the fatigue and adrenaline were catching up to you. The effects just weren’t completely totalling you yet. The pain in your neck had not set in, and you were sure once you were untied and more…content… with the situation at hand that hunger would find itself bubbling in your stomach anxiously. But at the moment none of that had taken you over; nor made itself immensely present. Fear was still running through your veins. No matter how much the tremble in your fingers, or the pestering thought of death in your mind had subdued. You were still shocked and distressed, and the constant spacing out was making that well known.

A small smile made its way onto Cross’ face, an indirect apology for scaring you out of your thoughts. “Here's how this is gonna work” his other hand had made way to cradle his soul, and slowly he had pushed it back in–Horror following after him, and storing it away. A soft push motion was made with their hands, and you watched as their chest quickly absorbed the plush glowing heart’s, It was…cool..honestly, really cool. It was a shame that you could only see what was going on on the outside, did their souls completely disappear after they pushed them into their chests or did it nestle themselves between their ribs? A small sense of awe sprouted itself from the curiosity you held. 

“I'm going to place my hand here” he demonstrated, placing his hand on your sternum, gently grazing over your skin “And you’re gonna feel a slight tug, it shouldn't hurt..but there’ll be some pressure. Your soul will be pulled out, but almost immediate after it’ll all go dark and we’ll have entered an encounter together, okay?” he asked, waiting for an affirmation of some sort.

 You nodded slowly, eyes looking up at his eyelights, but your attention was all on the hand placed on your chest “I- uhm, yes..” you said hesitantly, not able to find your words properly. What seemed to be a small snort escaped Horror, but as your eyes darted to meet his figure you were met with nothing more than a blank slate of an expression. The urge to roll your eyes at his antics was strong, but the urge to not provoke the giant murder skeleton in your kitchen was even stronger. 

“Alright then, are you ready?” he questioned, his tone reposeful and light. Once again, you nodded, not wanting to embarrass yourself again with another verbal response.  

A small chuckle escaped his throat at your silence, and the pressure on your chest increased. The tips of his phalanges dug into your skin involuntarily, causing you to inhale sharply, and with that, Cross’ fuller voice began to count down. 

“...3…2…1”