Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Red was leaving his house with a bounce in his step and a flutter in his soul. It didn’t happen often that one would see the grouchy young skeleton this happy, yet it happened any time he was about to see Sans. Which was exactly where he was heading right now.

With his hands stuffed into his thick coat pockets, Red followed the path he had already memorized into his brain so much, he could probably follow it blindly, hardly noticing the way the neighbourhood slowly changed from big, fancy buildings to smaller, older and weathered ones. He only noticed once he saw that little garden gnome Gaster had put up in their garden probably over ten years ago now, a little spruce tree on the back of it, between the gnome’s leg and ending where its butt is, implying things Sans and Red had giggled over as kids more than just once or twice about.

He went up to the family’s door, the familiar wood knocking sound against it making him feel all the more excited.

There was a little bit of movement inside the old home before it opened, a little toddler looking up at Red with big bright eyes. His father and older brother could be seen inside the house behind him, trying desperately to sow old torn clothes. The clothes were worn to the point that the fabric was thin enough that one could just barely start seeing through it, especially when it’s sunny. The color had drained from the clothes so much that most of their clothes were the same colors from white, black and to grey. 

“HELLO RED, IT’S NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN!” Papyrus greeted Red happily, making his older brother look up excitably from inside.

Red was squatting down a little to be closer to Papy’s height, giving him a big, toothy grin. “‘sup papy. ya doin’ alright?” 

Though no matter whether the question was directed at Papyrus, his eyes only rested on him for a short time, before flickering over to Sans, grin widening even more, excitedly.

Sans quickly put what he was doing down as he said his goodbyes to his father while Papyrus started telling Red all about his day, down to the littlest detail. He managed to get pretty far, due to how fast he was speaking. Sadly though, Sans was rushing to Red, want to go with Red and just get out of here. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his brother and his home, but he wanted to be with Red… alone.

“hey red!” Sans cheered, petting Papyrus’ head gently as he passed his brother and exited the house, going into Red’s arm to give the bigger skeleton a big warm hug. 

Red was laughing at how eager the other skeleton was, though didn’t mind it at all. The opposite even! He was just as excited to see Sans, hugging him back tightly enough he had to watch to not crush the poor guy.

“hey,” he said, his voice a little softer now that he was with Sans, affectionate. “was i interruptin’ something important?”

“no, take me away~” Sans joked quietly as he dropped all his weight onto Red like the small skeleton was going to faint subtly, not wanting his family to hear or see the kind of play Sans and Red have created for themselves.

Red was laughing, easily holding the other’s weight in his arms. In fact, he even went as far as to pick him up, hoisting him into his arms, and maybe making sure Sans’ face was angled in a way he wouldn’t notice the soft blush on Red’s cheeks.

Sans giggled into the bigger skeleton’s skull, his arms holding on tightly around Red’s neck. Gaster smiled at the two young skeletons, offering them a small wave. “Have fun you two!”

“CAN I COME WITH THEM??” Papyrus asked, looking at his father with almost a pleasing look.

Only for Gaster to shake his head. “Sorry Pappy, I think it’s better if you left them be, yes?” Only to get a pout and crossed arms from his younger son. Gaster didn’t mind, he only waved the two older skeletons off, trying to get them to leave quicker so Papyrus wouldn’t try and insist even more.

And Red got the message, giving Gaster a happy wave back, before already skipping off. They didn’t exactly have anything planned aside from Red coming by to visit, but that was no problem. They were young, they were creative, they could improvise, so Red just carried Sans into any direction, telling him about how he had to maneuver out of his own household without his father finding out he was sneaking out.

“and right when i was about to leave the door i heard steps behind me. do ya realize how freaked out i was?” Red asked with a lighthearted laugh in his voice. “but it was just edge, glaring at me with that little baby pout. i told him i’m gonna see a study group, i just hope he ain’t gonna tell dad! oof.” Red stopped, slowly putting Sans back down and instead taking his hand. “yer heavy.”

“‘m not heavy, ‘m a smoll lil skele!” Sans tried to pose adorably, like he was a model or something fabulous. “maybe if ya don’ appreciate me an’ my weight, then ya won’ carry me anymore!” Sans pulled his hand away from Red’s grip to place his hands on his hips, strutting further ahead like he was going down a runway. 

Red snorted, feeling only a little bad as he followed after the short skeleton. “d’aww, i appreciate ya an’ all yer weight! it’s my favorite kinda weight around, the more of it the better!”

“now yer just saying things!” Sans laughed, playfully yet still gently pushing Red away, sticking his tongue at him. “who even says that, yer so awkward sometimes!” Red sometimes would say weird things that don’t always make sense, but Sans always thought it was funny, so he never minded to much. Besides, Red was a very sweet boy, he just doesn’t word things correctly sometimes, but if you ask Sans, he would say it adds to his charm.

“sayin’ true things,” Red retorted confidently, before sticking his tongue right back at Sans, a bright grin on his face. He quickly went back to Sans’ side, slinging his arm into Sans’ to have him close. 

They were starting to leave the residential area, still not heading anywhere specifically. Just wandering around, enjoying each others company as they started to pass by a school, a small store, a church.

Red noticed a tree across the street, just barely reaching out of someone’s garden, fruit hanging off it ripe and ready to pick. Red got a mischievous look on his face.

“hey sansy, how do ya feel about some thievery today?”

Sans raised one of his bone brows but returned the look. “red, ‘m poor. ‘m always ready for thievery.” The sad part was, he was right. Sans had figured out long ago that his family was poor and needed anything that they could get, which sometimes resulted Sans into stealing. 

Red gave Sans one sad glance, before quickly moving on. There was no point in dwelling on it, when instead he could do things.

“alright, let’s go!” He said, arms still intwined as they crossed the street and rushed over to where the tree was.

The garden was fenced off by a big brick wall, and while Red was by no means short, he was not quite yet tall enough to look over this wall. So instead he hoisted Sans on his shoulder, holding him up to the wall.

“do ya see anyone? is it clear?”

Sans looked around the little garden behind the wall, finding no one there besides a rabbit. “no one but lunch, i want that bunny, red.” How happy would his family be if he didn’t just bring a whole munch of apples home, but a rabbit too. They could happily eat the rabbit and save the apples for tomorrow, they will be able to stretch out the apples for a few days. They wouldn’t have to worry about food for a few days! His father would be so happy!

“a rabbit? is it fat?” Red asked, but whether or not it was, Red was already moving his arms to hoist Sans over the wall so he could jump into the garden and grab the rabbit. “ya think ya got this? i’ll try ta climb up the wall ta pull ya back up.”

Sans lifted his foot to the top of the wall, the back of his foot pressing into the hard surface. With both hands, Sans pulled his body up onto the wall, gently shifting his body weight to slowly start making his decent to the other side. “i did it, red!” Sans called to the other skeleton as his little worn shoes touched the garden grass.

The small skeleton turned towards the rabbit, who was wiggling their nose at him. It was adorable, but Sans doesn’t get meat to eat often. All Sans could see was the cooked meat on a open fire, looking nice and tender, ready to be eaten. “come here lil guy…” Sans cooed, getting down a little as he reached out to the rabbit carefully, only for the skeleton to lunge once the rabbit bolted.

“no ya don’t!” Sans hissed under his breath as he took chase, following the rabbit all around the garden.

Red meanwhile was looking around for anything to step on, before deciding to poke his feet into some of the bricks, trying to see if there were any that were a little loose or stood off a little that he could use as leverage. 

When he couldn’t find one anywhere close, he saw one of the apple tree’s branches instead, hanging slightly lower than the others. It wasn’t exactly at his height, and definitely not strong enough to support him, but it should be fine to give him a few seconds to pull himself onto the wall.

He took a few steps back, before running towards the wall, jumping to grab the branch. He could already hear it cracking, but he quickly used it to pull himself up just a bit, before slinging his arm around the edge of the wall and pulling himself onto it. There he sat, catching his breath a little, starting to pick some of the apples as Sans was busy chasing a rabbit.

Sans chased the rabbit about everywhere in the garden, only to trip from an uprooted root, faceplanting into the ground. The small skeleton stayed like that for a little bit, before he started to whine. “reeee-he-he-heed!” Hiccuping a little as he rubbed the tears of pain from his sockets, sitting up on the heels of his feet. 

The rabbit stopped running, it’s body bouncing fast with it’s breathing. It was a few ways farther than Sans, almost like he was watching the small skeleton to see if he would get up and continue the chase.

Red gasped once he heard Sans’ crying. He had the apples stuffed in the pockets of his jacket and quickly leapt off the wall, not even caring he had to climb it back up again somehow. Instead he ran over to Sans immediately, wrapping his arms around him tightly, shushing him, petting him.

“‘s ok, sansy, yer fine. i’m here now, ‘s alright. are ya very hurt?”

“just my pride.” Sans sniffed, before pointing at the rabbit. “avenge me.” The rabbit sniffing with its little nose innocently. 

Red gave him a determined nod, eyes furrowed, before he turned his head to the rabbit, giving it a death glare. “yer done fer, buddy,” he growled under his breath, before he began sneaking up to the small animal, trying to jump for it when he was close enough. But it slipped away from right underneath him, running for a few feet, before stopping.

Red growled, got back up, and continued the chase Sans handed to him, chasing him through the garden probably three times. It wasn’t until the rabbit slipped into it’s little house that it couldn’t escape no longer. Red tried to reach into it, but the hole was smaller than his arm, so he turned to Sans.

“i need yer little arms,” he told him, waving him over and motioning to the hole of the rabbit house.

Sans hurried over and reached in with both of his small hands, feeling over everything until he felt fur. Finding the ears, Sans pulled the rabbit out and cheered, giving Red a wide smile. “we got it! now let’s get some more apples and bail, before they find us!” Sans giggled, pushing the rabbit into Red’s stronger arms before running to the apple tree. The little spider monkey skeleton crawling up the tree trunk effortlessly, sitting on one of the stronger branches before he started picking the rest of the apples that were growing, letting them fall to the ground at the foot of the tree.

While Sans was picking apples, Red was busying himself finding a chair to pull towards the wall and step on, easily climbing onto it this time. The rabbit was frozen in his arm, eyes wide and ears flat to its back, looking terrified. Well, little bunny buddy. It’s survival of the fittest. You’re going to help make a poor family well fed today.

By the time Sans was done picking all the apples, Red having picked some more from the higher up branches since he was on the wall once more, the sun was slowly starting to set. Red helped Sans onto the wall and sat him down there, putting an arm around the other’s shoulder, while the other arm was holding the rabbit as well as some of the apples.

“gaster’s not gonna be very happy when he hears we broke inta someone’s garden,” Red said, though there was a giggle in his quiet voice. His head was close enough to Sans’ that Sans could probably feel his breath on his neck. “should we tell him we found it on the field?”

“we can tell him we found a tree with apples, and a rabbit there too. just… we won’t mention how it was in someone’s yard.” Sans giggled with him, pressing himself into Red’s side. The rest of the apples Red couldn’t carry were hidden in the many pockets Sans had in his clothes. Pockets were sadly something he needed to have a lot, especially when he would have to pick pocket. Need to place your stolen goods somewhere.

They passed by the church again, Sans’ gaze barely drifting to the worn building. Only to see a few men there dressed in robes, most likely worked in the church, giving them the stink eye. Did they see them steal? No, they couldn’t from this angle, they weren’t in the church’s view! 

But why else were they glaring at them?

If Red noticed it, he didn’t care. He was happy, was having Sans pressed to his side, and a rabbit to his other, feeling happy for the family that they got them something to eat. No stinky church nerds could ruin his fun for him, they probably were just salty that teens were enjoying their life rather than suffering and praying anyways. 

“yer gonna scare away so many doctors with all a these apples,” Red joked, squeezing Sans a little with the arm he had around him. He could see houses come into view again quickly, and soon after that, he saw Gaster’s house, Papy playing outside with the chalk, body completely splayed out on the floor as he was drawing up a labyrinth.

“we got food!” Sans called to them, making the younger skeleton on them all look up at them surprised, but oh so happy. 

“OH A RABBIT, ARE WE HAVING A REAL MEAL TONIGHT SANS?!” Papyrus asked hopefully, looking up at his brother with something twinking in his eye sockets. It broke Sans’ soul a little hearing his brother say such a thing like that and it being normal.

“ye, all because of red!” Sans chirped, Papyrus cheering Red’s name like it was a prayer. 

Red blushed, feeling his soul warm at the words. It wasn’t even really his doing! Sans was the one that spotted the rabbit and picked most of the apples… But it felt nice, and he knew how hard it was to argue with this family.

“i’m just glad ya got some food,” he told Papy with a big smile.

Leading the skeletons inside, Sans closed the door behind them and called for his dad. “dad, red got us dinner!” All the while pulling out all the apples they got, even the ones hidden in Red’s clothes. Being mindful to not free the rabbit in Red’s arms, that will soon become their dinner. 

“Oh my, what a feast you both got…” Gaster said almost breathlessly, but he had a huge smile on his face as he took in the amount of apples, and even a nice good looking sized rabbit in Red’s arms. “I don’t even think I could even physically say the amount of gratitude this would require!”

“d’aww, it’s nothin’. sans did most of the work anyway,” Red assured them, his face still tinted in a soft red from all the attention. But his own attention started to waver a little as he felt the rabbit starting to wiggle a bit more.

“do ya think i can put this stinker somewhere before it pees on me?”

Chapter Text

It has been a week since they had their rabbit meal, the apples were starting to run out. Sans and Papyrus were ready to hunt for more food, scavenge through the forest for anything edible that would be growing. But those plans were stopped when Gaster stopped them, telling them to sit on the old couch they found and brought home one day.

“IS SOMETHING WRONG, FATHER? IS IT ABOUT THE FOOD? WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO LOOK FOR MORE.” Papyrus pointed at the wall behind them, the direction where the forest was. 

Gaster was kneeling down in front of them so he could face them, looking a little more tired than usual, like he had been dreading this talk for a while now. He had.

“It’s not about the food,” he told his son softly, pulling Papy’s face into his hands to give him a little kiss on the forehead. “Thank you, though. I appreciate it. But this is about something else.”

He let go of Papyrus again, now glancing over to Sans as well. Papy was just a toddler, he knew that if either of them would know what he was talking about, it would be Sans. But they both deserved to know.

“I got… a job opportunity,” he told them, and though he knew bad news were about to follow, he couldn’t help but to feel the bit of euphoria in his chest, a small smile growing on his tired face. “I could make money, could get us a nice house, get you some new clothes. Warm meals every day! Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Papyrus was the first to brighten up, his smile growing ten fold. “WE CAN EAT FULL MEALS EVERY DAY?!” He asked in disbelief. 

Sans slowly started to let a smile slip on his mouth, before it started to grow larger by the second, yet it was still hesitant. “are ya serious? we don’t have ta live like this anymore?” Was their life on barely being able to pass by really over? Will they be able to buy things without dying a little? Wondering when they will see money again?

Gaster nodded, giving them both a warm smile. “It means we won’t have to worry anymore. About rent, about food, or clothes. Never again.” He pulled both his sons into a tight hug at those last words, wanting to feel them close, to gather some courage before he said the next part.

“We just… have to move to the city.”

And that’s when things started to crash down into millions of pieces like fine china. “wha…?” Sans whispered, his voice almost gone from the sudden dread that washed over his body. The oldest son didn’t even understand the words yet before his body reacted, already a step ahead of his brain. “move?”

Gaster’s hug tightened a little, trying to give him some comfort. “I know it sounds hard, impossible right now probably. You’ve gotten to know this place, you made friends, but… Sans. We can’t keep living like this, my son. It’s going to be better where we move to, I promise.”

He gave Sans a kiss on the forehead, too, now. He knew this was going to hurt his sons, was going to hurt Sans the most probably. But it wasn’t something up for debate. Gaster had to take this job opportunity.

Sans pushed away from Gaster, from his family. Tears in his sockets, he shook his head in disbelief as he backed away, before completely running out the house, ignoring his father’s calls.

The small skeleton ran as fast as he could while his vision was blurred with tears, he couldn’t even see where he was going. But his feet knew, went down the same path many of times to the point that he could do it in his sleep. 

Red’s house.

He could see the blob of a house in the distance, through his tears. Sans ran up the stairs, tripping on one but quickly recovering, knocking fiercely on the door with both hands. He wanted to call out for Red too, but his voice wouldn’t work, it left him the second he left his own house.

It wasn’t Red, though, that opened the door to him. Instead Fellster did, glaring down at whoever dared to interrupt his off time. Only for his eyes to widen in surprise when he saw Sans, face covered in tears and snot.

“Red is in his room,” he told the small skeleton, not sure what else to say. He wasn’t equipped to handle someone else's crying child! And besides. He knew how close Red and Sans were. Red sure knew what to do with him, right?

He stepped aside, silently letting Sans in.

Sans sobbed as he barely muttered his thanks, running up the stairs into Red’s room. Not even bothering to knock or wait for Red to open the door, he slammed in. The door flying closed from the knock back, the small skeleton jumping into bed where the larger skeleton was.

Red startled from the sudden noise, feeling anger hot in his chest at the thought of Fellster or Edge just barging into his room like that. He slammed his laptop shut and turned to where the invader was, about to roar profanities at the invader, before his voice left him, eyes widened as he saw Sans there. Sobbing, eyes teary. His soul hurt immediately at the sight.

Red put the laptop aside immediately, wrapping both his arms around the small skeleton to pull him in close. “wha’s wrong, sansy? don’t cry, yer so beautiful when ya smile!”

But none of that was even cracking up a smile for the poor little skeleton. Sans only clung to Red so closely, his hands digging and clenching to Red’s clothes like his life depended on it. Like Red was going to disappear any second now, that he will never see him again.

And he won’t…

Sans sobbed into Red’s neck, trying to tell Red what has just happened, only to just blubber out noises that didn’t even come close to words. His brain and vision felt like it was going through a narrow tunnel, dark all around and a little light very far in the distance. His breathing made it hard to think, he was breathing so fast and so strongly, that it was hard to think. Sans can only hear his hard, rasp breathing that was expanding his ribcage more than he have ever thought possible. 

Sans was sure that if he had skin, it would be white right now. And not just on his knuckles where he was clenching onto Red with, but now thinking about it, he did lose feeling in his hands, even if they were still holding on like an iron grip.

Red’s hand was gently stroking over Sans’ back in feeble attempts to calm him down. He could tell, by now, that something must be really wrong, and the fact that he didn’t know what, only that it got a reaction this extreme, it was… scary to say the least. It filled him with dread. He wished Sans could just talk and tell him, but he knew he couldn’t hurry this.

Sans was clearly processing a lot, and all Red could do right now was try to help him through it. So that’s what he did, holding Sans, gently shushing him, stroking his back, whispering to him little things. That he was doing great, that everything would be alright, that they had each other, he never had to be scared of anything.

And for a while, that seemed to make things worse, but Sans managed, putting himself together after three hours of crying. The small skeleton now is limp on top of Red, random sniffling and hitching his breath. His hands weren’t clutching onto Red with an iron grip, but it was slightly curled up from the force Sans put onto them.

“red…” Sans sniffed. “dad… said we’re moving…” Tears still streamed down his face, but at least they weren’t going down like water falls.

And that’s when it all came crushing down on Red. When he finally understood why Sans was crying so much. When the dread finally materialized itself as pain. When his chest started to hurt, and he clung to Sans like his life depended on it.

“no… sans! ya can’t just- ya can’t go! ya can’t leave! ” His voice was desperate, scared, something Red didn’t show a lot, hated to show usually, but how could he not? He was losing Sans. For how long? Forever? That wasn’t right! They were supposed to be together always, were supposed to grow up together, move together, make a life together. How were they supposed to do that if Sans was moving away!?

Sans’ crying started to act up again, Red’s mood affecting Sans and causing him to have a slight panic attack again. “i don’ wannnaaa!” Sans wailed, pressed his tear and snot covered face into Red’s, his body raking with his hiccups. “i wanna stay with yaaaaa!”

“just… don’ go,” Red mumbled, his own body curled around Sans’, like he was trying to protect him. “jus’ stay here. i’ll hide ya… i’ll just… tell gaster ya died an’ ya stay here… with me. forever?” But those words just made him want to sob, his throat feeling tight. Sans was going to move. Move away. Leave him.  

Sans shook his head at the half baked plan, his sobbing growing as he held Red close to himself. “no… dat will never work. besides… i can never leave my family! i love them töo much!” He may love Red a lot, can’t imagine a life without him, but Gaster and Papyrus were there from the very beginning. Went through the same thing together, they have been together through all of that.

“i’ll come back, i promise! the second i can, i’ll come back ta ya!” Sans promised, whispering those words into Red’s skull.

Red held onto those words. He couldn’t respond, didn’t know what else to tell him. Instead he just held onto those words, held onto them like they were all he had left. This wasn’t a final goodbye. One day they’d see each other again. They’d be together again. They’d never leave each other again.

“ok,” he mumbled, his own voice quiet and muffled and he nuzzled into the skeleton he loved so much. “but ‘m not gonna let ya go anymore taday. yer trapped here now.”

“i wouldn’t have it any other way…” Sans sighed, calming down to relax in the arms he won’t be able to be in for a long while. “you’ll see me off… right?”

“ of course i will,” Red promised him, voice sounding like this was the most obvious thing. And to Red it was. He wouldn’t ever dare letting Sans go without seeing him off at least . “i’ll be there when yer leaving, i promise. ”

“good…” Sans whispered, snuggling more comfortably in Red’s arms, trying to will himself to stay awake to appreciate every second he has with Red, but his tiredness makes him fall victim to sleep.

-

Red was waiting by the moving trucks close to where their town would give in to the highway. Gaster, Papyrus and Sans were supposed to come here soon, leaving this town together with the trucks. Red was bouncing a little on the heels of his feet, nervous and dreading, not wanting to say goodbye yet, yet knowing it would come. Knowing he had to now, or he’d never get that chance if he’d miss it. If he’d miss Sans…

He waited for a little longer before he wasn’t alone anymore, but it wasn’t the people he expected it to be. It was strangers, angry looking strangers wearing church robes. They all gave Red the stink eye as they trapped him in their circle. 

One of them stepped up, clearly taking charge. “Red, we have seen you get led away from the path of god and sinned, you must come with us.” His voice didn’t leave any room for debate or complaints, all the other men in robes had robe and bats with them.

Looks like they weren’t afraid to get physical.

Having been leaning against a sign at first, Red stepped away from it and straightened up now, glaring at the people surrounding him. He wasn’t surprised they knew his name, it was a small town, everyone knew each other somehow, especially the kids, but it was still… unsettling.

Led away from the path of god? What did Red ever do!?

“the only sin i’m gonna do is smashin’ yer damn face if ya get any closer,” Red growled defensively, having an awful feeling about these church people.

“No, you will not.” The leader of the men said, before nodding. Before Red even knew what was happening, something went down hard on the back of his head, making everything go black.

“God made two genders for a reason…” Was the last thing Red heard, before he feel unconscious. 

-

Red didn’t wake up smoothly. He went in and out of consciousness, sometimes feeling himself get dragged or carried, tied, sometimes he couldn’t even tell what was happening at all. But when he did wake up properly, he had the stomach dropping feeling of dread and fear. He looked down. Down and down from the wood poles he was tied to, unable to move his arms or legs. And at the bottom of it he could see - what do you call it? Oh yes.

Faggots. An arrangement of sticks, bundles of them, stacked in a way to create a bonfire.

And while everything in his body was screaming in terror, in fear, Red knew what was happening. He knew they were burning him. For what? Because he liked Sans?

Red’s soul felt like it had been struck. His eyes opened wide.

Sans. Sans was waiting for him. Was waiting for Red to tell him goodbye. He was leaving dammit, this was the last chance he’d get to see him and he was trapped! He was tied to this damn… ladder thing, ominous people gathered around him in the large church halls.

This wasn’t the usual hall to hold the mass at either. This was somewhere hidden, underneath the church? Catacombes?

“ya can’t keep me here!” Red growled, horror in his voice. “ya gotta let me go! ya freaks, the fuck is yer problem!? ”

“We will cleanse you of your sin, this is what becomes of people that sullies other men!” One of the people in robes yelled at him, signaling someone to light the bonfire. The flames starting out little, but quickly spread all around. They must have put some kind of oil, it didn’t matter in the end though, the fire was high and strong. Reaching up so high that it was higher than the little balcony not to far off, where others in dark robes sat and watched.

Red’s breathing quickened with the fire, eyes wide, trained on the dancing flames, mocking him. He shook his head no, panick now rising in him. “no, no,” he whispered, the fear growing in his chest the higher the flames went. “no, ya can’t. ya can’t ! i can’t!” He couldn’t leave yet! Sans was waiting for him! Sans was probably worried about him, wondering where he was, why he wasn’t there.

“Lower him.” The leader of the church commanded, the ladder slowly starting to tilt forward, slowly arranging Red to be hovering over the flames, the tips of the deadly fire barely touching the poor young skeleton.

“ stop! ” Red screamed, terror filling him as much as pain as the flames started to catch up on him. “ stop, stop! please! ya can’t do this! i didn’ do anythin’ bad, please! ” He can’t die! He can’t leave Sans! Sans was going to come back one day, looking for him, only to find Red gone? Gone without even telling him how much he loved him!? How much he wanted him, wanted to protect him, to hold him, to make him happy.

“ stop! ” Red roared, in pain, flames engulfing him, filling him, slowly starting to surround all of him, and pain was all he could sense. He could feel. Pain and the need to see Sans. To tell him he loved him. To say goodbye to him.

No. He couldn’t leave. Not like this. Not now.  

The next roar Red let out was… guttural. Animal. His bones were already brittle, ready to turn to ashes, but something else happened. Something dark, something wrong, and his body started to change. Limbs sprouting out of his back, tearing on the ropes until Red fell from the ladder, landing in the midst of the flames. He couldn’t even hear the gasps and screams of the church people around him, all he could hear was the roaring of flames, the cracking of bones, the ringing in his ears. His skull felt like it was breaking apart, horns breaking out of them, curling to the back. His fingers grew longer, sharper, forming claws at the end, which Red was scratching over his skull in pain and agony as his mind got filled with nothing but rage and pain.

Once the pain of his bones breaking apart and reshaping stopped, Red spread his new wings almost testingly. He stood up, rising from the flames like a phoenix.

No. Not a phoenix.

Red rose from the flames like a demon, summoned by those who have sinned worse than any man could imagine. His eyes were filled with hatred, and he swore in that moment that anyone in this room, anyone that didn’t manage to already run…

Was going to suffer his wrath.

With a roar Red leapt from his spot to the closest person, bringing the flames with him, scattering the bonfire. He tore apart one person after another, making it his mission to not miss a single person. Though even those he didn’t manage to tear under his fangs and claws would end up caught by the raging flames that were starting to take over the whole church.

Hours passed. Maybe the whole day. Red no longer had any sense of time. But when he was done, when he went to rest, the church was no more but a place of ruins, burnt corpses scattered through the whole catacombs.

Chapter Text

A little skeleton was standing behind a truck, the back was opened, some furniture and valuables inside. Papyrus was sitting in the front, waiting for his brother and father to come in so they could drive to their new happier home.

Sans was not as excited as his younger brother was, instead he looked anxious and nervous, looking around in every direction to find a glimpse of his friend. He was so focused in trying to spot Red, Sans flinched and jumped when his father shut the back door of the truck.

“Sans, we need to go…” Gaster sighed, but he also seemed a little sad. Knowing fully well how hard this must be for Sans, and how awful it must feel for Red not to show up. He can see the desperation and hurt in his son’s gaze, tears just barely beginning to form in the corner of Sans’ sockets. It hurt him to see his son this way, and there was nothing he could do about it.

They need to leave.

“Sans…” Gaster tried again, after getting no response.

“just… a lil longer…” Sans whispered, wringing his hands nervously, pulling on his digits to the point that they hurt. But the pain kept the little skeleton there, kept his thoughts from wondering and made him focus on trying to find his dumb friend that he needed to see. At least once, one more time, just one more time…

Gaster sighed, pulling one of Sans’ hands into his own, holding it between both of his. “Sans, we need to go.” Sans looked at him, tears finally starting to pool in his sockets and fall. The father sighed as he picked his crying child up, rubbing his back and shushing him as he carried him into the truck.

-

Five years, it’s been five whole years since Sans last set foot in this town. Moving into a house all by himself, in this town where he grew up. Sans learned a lot when he was living in the city with his family, learned new things and met new kinds of people. The little skeleton had saved up a lot of money from his apprentice job with his dad, as a cool scientist. 

But Sans didn’t want to live in a city, he was a simple monster with only wanting the basic needs. This town he grew up in, the one he had to leave, Nober town. Was his real home, was where he wanted to be. And where Red was…

Sans still didn’t understand why, why Red didn’t show up. Why he didn’t come and left Sans alone, waiting for hours to just see him, at least once. He wanted answers, it plagued him for so long, why his best friend never showed up. Red was just as upset about this as much as Sans was, even trying to get Sans to stay somehow, but when it was time to say goodbye, he never showed. The little skeleton has a lot of held back emotions about this, that he beaten and shoved to the corner of his mind for five years.

He was going to get answers now, and this time, Sans will find Red.

He moved to a nicer part of town than he once lived in before, no longer worried about drafts or bugs crawling in from the many holes his old house had. His home was rather small, almost like a cabin, but more modern. It had only four rooms, a living room/kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom and a storage/laundry room. It had everything a single person could want, a simple life style Sans has always enjoyed. It was a little… lonely though, without his brother or father there to liven up the place, but Sans thinks he could manage just fine.

Sans just has to find Red, but that could wait. Red wasn’t the most important person he had on his to do list, first he had to get himself settled. It was a little scary, doing all this alone, but his father prepared him for this.

He still didn’t feel ready…

The small skeleton walked out of his bare but comfy home, already making his rounds around the town to talk to a few people, like the bank, home security, the market, etc. It was a lot of work for one lone skeleton that always left these chores to Gaster, his feet were already aching after his second stop.

He met new and familiar faces along the way, some people even going up to him in shock, asking him where he has been and what he has been up to. Sans kept it short, as weird and exciting it was to talk to these people again, he did not want to stop and talk while his feet complained in the hot sun.

Sans had to stop by his house early, not only to put away groceries and documents, but the many gifts his new towns people had given him. Odd, since they didn’t like him that much when he was poor…

Welcome to the normal people gifts?

Sadly, he couldn’t just rest and stay at home. He had to meet with his landlord to sign a few papers. Taking a bottle of sparkling water that his ‘new friends’ had given him, he made his way to his landlord, the whole way his mind was buzzing at how… boring his old town is.

Was it always that boring?

He remembered this place livelier, or was it that way because Sans struggled to survive every single day? Or maybe it was because of Red, always making each and every day a blessing to be alive. Which ever the reason, the town was still more dead to him than he had remembered. Even as he signed the papers his landlord gave him, there was a boring and dullness in the atmosphere. More grey and lifeless.

Sans looked at everything in this town with little interest, the things that changed over the years only making him look a little bit longer before moving on. Maybe he should see Red soon? Tomorrow maybe? It’s getting late. Did Red still live in the same house with his family? Maybe not, Red was ready to leave his family the last time he saw him, perhaps Sans can go to his old house anyways and ask Red’s dad, if the old man still lived there of course.

But before Sans could think more about it, he had this strange feeling like he was being… watched. The small skeleton looked around, seeing only a handful of people still out and about, but no one was looking his way. The feeling didn’t feel like it was coming from them either, so Sans looked around some more. Only to freeze in place when he looked at where the town church used to be.

When did this happen? 

Where the once proud and tall church used to be, was now a pile of rubble. The wood and stone that made up the church looked scorched and old, the stained glass shattered, the little pieces that still held on to the frame now lost all it’s color. There were vines and plants weaving their way in and between the walls and rubble, trying to keep the pieces together in some way. The path that led from the entrance of the tall gates to the front doors of the church were gone, the bright nicely trimmed grass now dark and dead from the lack of care. The metal gates rusty and dirty, looking thinner than Sans remembered, most likely the metal slowly chipped away as time went on. If Sans were to touch it, he would bet it would crumble after not moving for what looked to be a long time. And if not, they would probably screech so loud that it might wake up the whole town.

But all these things didn’t surprise Sans as much as the aura that drowned the place. The once beautiful and holy looking building that looked like the safest and most peaceful place in the world now had the heaviest, most depressing atmosphere to ever exist. 

The air that radiated off the church was already choking Sans up, and he wasn’t even close to the front gates! Dark clouds lazily loomed over the property, shadowing the whole area, making it seem more cursed than anything else. The wind whistled lowly, almost like it was whispering disturbing little secrets of what happened.

A shiver ran down Sans’ spine when he realized the feeling of being watched was coming from there. Like the old ruins was boring it’s stare right into him, it felt like the whole building was giving him it’s undivided attention. The thought was creepy, and it only got worse the more Sans stared right back. He wanted to move, he wanted to look away, but something was keeping his eyelights stuck at the ruins. Almost like it was calling out to him, but whatever was calling out to him felt mean and cruel, promising pain and suffering than anything remotely welcoming.

His body started to shake with fear, his hands going into tight fists, blue sweat slowly starting to run down his skull. Sans couldn’t move, but it felt like the ruined church was getting closer, like it was sucking him in, his surroundings changing quickly like he was in a moving car and looking outside. Except the colors and shapes bleed into each other, like it was becoming smears, a fast moving car then?

Thankfully, he snapped out of it when someone closed their window rather loudly, snapping the poor scared skeleton out of the trance. He looked to where the sound came from, only to see nothing but a dark side walk

Since when did it get so late?

Everything suddenly looked scarier, darker and dangerous. Sans didn’t even want to look at the church ruins again, afraid to see something looking back, or maybe get into that trance again and the church would swallow him up when no one was around, in the dark and alone.

Sans sped walked away, his soul pounding in his chest. A fierce, piercing stare boring into his back as he walked away, he had a strong urge to look back, to see if someone was following him, or looking back. But he didn’t want it to be confirmed, he didn’t know what he would do if he saw someone there.

Sans gasped.

Something… told him to run. Run as fast as he can and not look back. Sans didn’t question it, he ran.

-

And it might be good he did.

Unbeknownst to Sans there was a demon in the ashes. Looming and lurking within the ruins and rubble of the broken down abandoned church was a creature, dark and menacing, radiating off everything bad, every imaginable sin, every child’s fear. 

He was wrath, making sure any creature living and moving would stay far away from the dead lawn that marked his territory. He was envy, he was gluttony, eying anyone that would pass by with a jealous hatred, a never ending hunger, only waiting for one to take the wrong step onto what was once holy ground and could now only be described as the gates to hell, so he could make his move, jump and feast for the day.

But he was also… curious.

Red had lived alone in these ruins of the church for the past years, living off stray animals and foolish adventurers. And every single one of these days he had been missing something. Every single one of these days Red had waited and searched in his ruins for this one big thing he needed, this one thing he couldn’t live without, this one thing that’s been taken from him and he wanted back.

But for once, this one thing wasn’t on his mind at all.

Red was lying high up on one of the broken walls, leering down at this… creature. At this perfect, spotless, shining creature, giving off a radiant aura, like his touch alone would purify the lands.

Was he an angel? The angel sent to banish Red from this realm? Or maybe the angel come to save Red from himself?

Did Red want to be saved?

He couldn’t think about that. All he could think about was the angel’s deep, watchful stare, eyes so gentle Red could drown in them, and he wouldn’t mind it. His were so smooth, so pure and perfect, they would be so easy to ruin. So easy to scar and scratch, Red’s marks would stand out like a sore thumb on them. Oh, how much fun they could have. How nice it would be to have this little angel between his claws, seeing his perfect, pretty little face shift, his breath hitch, his soulbeat speed up.

The thoughts excited Red, and before he knew it he was off the wall he’d been trying to nap on and instead stalking through the tall, rotten grass, unseen and lurking, licking his teeth with the excitement rising the closer he got to the little angel.

Before the angel’s face twisted to one of panic, and he started to run away.

Red stopped. His tail flicked in irritation.

That… had not felt as nice as he imagined it.

-

Sans had run the whole way home, locking his door and windows and barricading himself in his bedroom. All the blinds were drawn and the little shaking skeleton was bundled in his blankets tightly. He barely slept that night, hyper aware for any sounds in or outside his home. Just waiting for whatever it was that was watching him to show up.

But nothing came.

Sans didn’t know how long he waited, listened, but at some point during the night, the little skeleton fell asleep from exhaustion. He did have a big and taxing day that day, but his sleep was filled with unease and fear.

Morning came too soon for him, the sound of the neighbor’s rooster startling Sans awake. His upper body bolting up as he breathed big gulps of air, looking around his room frantically, trying to find anything that shouldn’t be there. Blue sweat flying from his skull with how quick he turned his head, almost making Sans jump when the cold sweat fell on his arm.

It took the small skeleton a good few minutes to understand that he was safe, that the scary experience was just a bad dream. Yeah, there was no way the church was that scary, it was just getting really dark and looked spooky because of the lighting. 

Sans slowly made his way out of bed and to the shower, getting himself ready for the day. He didn’t want to see Red again looking like he just saw a ghost!

After finding his bathroom products from his moving box that was labeled ‘stupid hygiene’, he took a shower and dressed up in a nicer set of clothes. Sans had some breakfast, that was just plain ol’ cereal. No dad to cook him fresh hot meals anymore, he was out of the nest and flying solo now…

Finally ready, he got everything he needed before leaving his house, locking up and heading to where his old friend used to live in. Red. He was going to see Red again, and then he would finally get some answers, finally see that idiot’s face again and give him a piece of his mind.

Those exciting thoughts drove off anything else Sans was feeling, but was also replaced with nervousness and dread. What if Red didn’t remember h? Or he would scoff at him and tell him he didn’t care for him anymore, Sans lived here now! How was he supposed to live in a small town with his ex best friend wanting nothing to do with him! He can’t just move back, can he? Can he? Run back to his father after spending so much money to get back here?

No.

He loved this town, it would just be… duller than it used to be. Yeah, Sans can live without Red… Still didn’t mean he wants to....

A feeling of dread washed over him, making his magical stomach drop the second it soaked in. He… knew this feeling, it was too fresh to ever forget. Sans didn’t want to look, but he couldn’t help himself, he looked.

The old church, it sat on the little hill it once stood tall on. How. How? How did Sans forget he had to pass the old ruined church to get to Red’s house?! How could he possibly forget that little detail!

The abandoned church was just as scary as before, the air around it just as heavy and suffocating as last night. What could have possibly happened to make the church this way? Looking around, the town’s people were going about their business like normal, not sparing the church a glance.

Or… were they trying to avoid looking at it. Now looking closer, everyone would be looking every direction than the rubble that everyone once called a holy church. So it wasn’t just only him? They felt it too. Maybe they know what happened, then!

Walking up to the closest person, a male monster in his late 40’s maybe, he looked good for someone his age. I wonder what they eat to look like he can power walk laps around the whole town.

“sir, excuse me, sir.” Sans tired to get his attention. “sorry for botherin’ ya, but i just moved back here in town and… um. well, the church wasn’t like that when i was last here. can ya tell me wha happened?” 

The monster looked at Sans with wide, surprised eyes. It didn’t happen often that one would ask about the church.

Sure it happened about a half a decade ago, people moved in whom hadn’t been there when it happened, and people whom had been there had moved out. But word about it still spread as far as to the neighbor and the neighbor’s neighbor town.

“Church’s been burned ta the crust five years ago. Demon sent straight from hell, or an even worse place if yer askin’ me. Hundreds died.” He paused at that for a moment, gaze sombering as he remembered the loved ones he’s lost. There’s hardly been a person that survived, and those who had didn’t for long.

He barely dared to give a faint glance towards the ruined church, before fear made him glance away once more afterwards.

“I reckon ya stay far ‘way from it, kid. Word says the demon’s still around.”

Five years ago?

Sans left five years ago, did it happen shortly after he left? It had to be the same year Sans left, but how long ago was his guess. Still, this seemed like something he should look into, something just made him want to know. Want to know what happened to his old town, maybe he should ask Red.

“ok, thanks man.” The small skeleton nodded, glancing at the old ruins for a split second before continuing on his way. Making his way to the street Red lived in, hopefully still lived there.

Chapter Text

Finding the correct house, the small skeleton went up to the door, soul pounding in both excitement and fear. He didn’t know if the family that lived here would be the same one that was here when Sans had last been here, or if he would be welcomed by whoever is on the other side of the door. The lil’ marshmallow skeleton wondered if Red’s father even remembered him…

Knocking on the door, Sans waited for it to open, or maybe even hear an annoyed scream asking who it was. Oh, good ol’ Fell.

And Fellster was who he got, the tall skeleton eying down at Sans in annoyance. He didn’t speak, at first because he was evaluating the situation, but then- 

Then he simply was speechless.

“...Sans,” he said, his usually icy voice suddenly softer than Sans has probably ever heard it before.

“mr. fell!” Relief washed over Sans, the smaller skeleton giving Fellster a warm gentle smile, like one would give a long lost friend. “it is very nice to see ya again.” It was. It really was, and now that he knew for sure Fellster still lived here. He could now ask about Red!

Fellster looked around for a second, behind Sans, left and right from him, like he expected someone else to be with him.

“You came alone.” He noted. There was something… dead in his voice. He sighed. “Come in,” he offered finally, stepping aside to let the shorter skeleton in.

The house hadn’t changed a lot, though it seemed less… lively. The usually noisy hallway was quiet, walls that once held framed pictures were suddenly empty. 

Sans looked around a little confused, feeling like maybe he was missing something very important. But that could wait for after he knew where Red was. “i wanted to see red, he didn’ come to say goodbye when i left five years ago. wanna give dat numbskull a piece of my mind, ya know?” Sans turned to look at the taller skeleton, giving him a nervous yet goofy look. “does he still live with ya?”

The look Fellster gave Sans was a tired one.

“I was hoping he’d be with you,” he admitted as he lead Sans through the hallway and to the living room, sitting down, almost as if simply thinking about this was exhausting to him. “Red hasn’t been living here for a while. In fact, Red hasn’t come home since you left.”

Truth be told, Fellster had always been skeptical about what happened to Red. It would make sense if he had up and left his family to go with Sans. But if that were the case, why didn’t he pick up any calls? Why didn’t he at least contact Edge? Yes, Red had been eager to move out as soon as he could, but… Fellster at least hoped he would’ve given them some notice about it.

But instead Red had just… left. Gone. For five years now.

“wha…?” Sans whispered, breathless. “wha da ya mean he hasn’t come back? he-! he can’t just… disappear like that?!” The small skeleton looked around the house, almost expecting this to be a sick joke and Red would come out and laugh at him.

Red hasn’t come home since Sans left? But he never showed up to say goodbye! “he… he didn’t come dat day… dat day i left.” This didn’t make any sense, how can he just disappear? Did… did something happen to him? Oh please no, oh god no.

Hearing that Red never even showed up to Sans, to Sans’ departure out of all things, rubbed Fellster very wrong. It didn’t sound like Red at all. Red would’ve done anything to see Sans off.

But it’s been five years. Five years too late for Fellster to worry about what-ifs.

“The police has been searching for him for a long time, Sans,” Fellster tried to tell him. “ Disappear is exactly what he did. And if he’s still alive… it’s not anywhere close here.”

Sans looked at Fellster shocked, then at his lap, already seeing tears starting to fall onto his lap. His voice was gone, replaced with many memories of the past five years. The whole time, Red was missing, all the while Sans was mad at him. For not coming, when Red was no where to be found, maybe hurt or… dead.

No. He can’t be dead, he just can’t be. But then where is he? No one can just disappear, Red wouldn’t want to disappear! He never said goodbye to Sans! He didn’t come back home to his family! He still had things to do, Red couldn’t just disappear like that! Not when Sans still needed him, want him, love him…

What if… something horrible happened to him?

What if… he still needed their help? Waiting somewhere for them to find him, rescue him?

What if… what if he’s already dead… and he’ll never find out what happened to him…

The thought made Sans sob, almost choking on his tears. The sad little skeleton looked up at the father that raised his dear friend, mourning eyes glistening in sorrow. “do ya… have any idea where he could of gone? any clues?”

Fellster wasn’t looking at Sans. He may have stopped shedding tears, though his grief wasn’t gone yet. Being faced with it woke up a pain he’s tried to bury for so long.

“The church burnt down around the same time Red disappeared.” Fellster told him. “The police said… he might’ve been there, or close. Fell victim to the fire.” Though Fellster had always found that hard to believe. Red was not the type to go to the church. To even get close to it. Especially not during a fire, it just… made no sense.

“They also said that… whoever initiated the fire might’ve gotten Red separately, though there haven’t been any other cases of… people disappearing the way he did.” Or at least it had been hard to tell. With the many deaths of the fire, it messed up their entire investigation on… anything. After a year and a half of investigating, the police simply chalked the fire up to an accident during a ceremony, and that’s all they said before closing any cases around that time.

Sans nodded, not liking the information but accepting it never the less. Though, it was rather strange to say the least, it rubbed Sans the wrong way how the church fell into ruins right after Sans left, right when Red disappeared. That can’t be right, they had to be connected in someway. 

“th-there is something… w-weird about that church. when i s-s-saw it yesterday, i felt l-li-like i was being watched. it was… s-scary.” Sans muttered, trying to calm his sobs but he had no luck. His voice was shaking horribly and his body wouldn’t hold still. Fingers playing and pulling on each other nervously.

Fellster looked tired, like he’s been over this topic countless of times.

“That’s just the teens putting ghost stories into your skull,” he told him, tone lecturing, almost sounding fed up with the idea. “The church’s ruined and abandoned and that’s all. Nothing ghostly or evil about it.”

Truth be told, Fellster had been avoiding the church ever since his son’s case had been dropped, but… that was for a completely different reason. He despised the church for messing with their case. Despised it for even the chance of having hurt his son. It was painful to think about.

Sans didn’t say anything else, quieting his sobs to only sniffles. His hands rubbed the tears away as he stood up, going up to Fellster and pulling him into a tight hug. “c-can i leave my nu-number and address with y-ya?” Sans asked, squeezing Fellster tightly, like his life depended on it. And maybe he was hugging Fell because he had no one else to hug, and this man was the closet thing to Red. 

The hug almost felt foreign to him. Ever since Edge moved out two years ago, he hasn’t exactly been hugged very often, if at all. And… he realized he might’ve been missing it.

“Very well,” he muttered, hugging Sans back. “I shall give you my number as well. Do… you want me to give you Edge’s?”

Sans started nodding before Fellster could even finish asking, snuggling his face into the older man’s shoulder. With one final squeeze, he pulled away, giving Fellster a sad but warm smile. “it really was great seeing you again.” Sans muttered, already taking out his phone to exchange numbers.

Was it, though? Fellster had the feeling this meeting left both of them a lot unhappier than they had started the day. But he decided not to argue.

“It’s good seeing you again, too.” Fellster hesitated. The words to loosely invite him over again some time lying on his tongue, but… no. Sans awoke memories in him he’d rather want to bury longer.

“I hope you’ll be well.”

Sans nodded, soon leaving the house from Red’s and his childhood with two new numbers in his phone and a small tupperware with lasagna that Edge had made. The small skeleton didn’t go home though, no. He was going where he knew he needed to be, the church.

-

When Sans made it to the church, the sun was high in the sky, already making Sans sweat from the heat. He didn’t care though, he was standing right in front of the church gates, almost having a stare down with the church itself. Onlookers stared at the small skeleton with shock and cringing faces, already silently wishing him good luck, or maybe even praying for him. Sans didn’t care, he opened the gates. The sound making shivers go down everyone’s back, dread washing over all of them like ice cold water being dumped on them.

No one said a word as Sans walked in, no one called out for him to stop him from going to his doom. No one said anything, afraid of breaking the spell everyone that was watching was under.

Sans could feel their stares, their horror, but it felt like nothing compared to the looming stare of the church ruins. Almost daring him to take another step, Sans did.

When he finally made it to the door and touched the door knob, he already knew he couldn’t go back. There was no turning back, not now, not anymore. Sans pushed the door opened, it creaked loudly, the ruined floor was covered in scorch marks and… claw marks? That didn’t look good, but it didn’t stop the skeleton from continuing, walking into the empty and groaning church. 

The skeleton jumped in surprised when the front door closed behind him, he wasn’t even near the door! Thankfully, he wasn’t too scared yet, the roof of the church was gone, letting the harsh sun light up everything.

He didn’t feel alone.

He wasn’t alone.

A lone demon was watching Sans from the shadows, eyes wide with curiosity, though he didn’t make a move to show himself. It was odd, really. Very little people came into the ruins and actually made it back out of them, but…

Red didn’t feel like hurting this one.

Way he… afraid? He was looking at an angel… Who knew what an angel would do to him? Would his touch hurt? Burn him?

And yet his fingers looked so gentle, so smooth, so soft, Red wanted to lie under them, wanted to feel those gentle tips run over his bones… Wanted to run his own claws over the angel’s bones in return, marking him as his forever…

His.

A rumble arose from deep within Red’s throat, echoing through the empty church halls. He liked the sound of that. His angel. 

Sans looked around frantically, trying to find the sound of the low rumbling. It didn’t sound like any part of the building moving or shifting, and why would it? No one seemed to touch this place in years, why would it suddenly start moving or crumbling more? But that just means that something else must have caused that noise, Sans decided to believe the church breaking down more from old age…

The small skeleton continued, holding the tupperware close to his chest as he continued down the ruined room, burned wooden benches lay on the floor, in rows. But it looked unusual, if these benches were to have just burned, they would be in neater rows. This looked liked they were moved and shifted about in all different directions. Maybe when the police were looking around, they moved things? Yeah, that must be it.

Slowly, he made his way past the benches, and the altar that used to sit at the front, now thrown to the far corner of the room. The grand pipe organ was barely recognizable, the wood gone, the skeleton of the organ the only thing left, and even then the metal pipes looked like they would break and fall to the ground at any second. 

It was odd, seeing this place so different, when the last time Sans set foot in here, everything was white and gold. The wood was nicely polished and the metal and the other shinies would show your reflection with no strain. The stone that was cut finely, perfectly, now with soot and deep marks all over, and that was their fate if they were spared from falling and breaking into thousands of pieces.

Sans saw a path that led… down? Since when did the church had a downstairs? The door frame had no door, from the looks of it the door might have been ripped from the hinges. Funny, there was a curtain where this door used to be- oohh ! It was a secret door!

Filled with curiosity, Sans went down the stone steps, careful where his foot landed. The farther down he went, the darker it got. The small skeleton was starting to think this might not be the best idea, the darker and deeper he got, the more… unsafe he felt. Like he was gonna walk into a murder scene.

Sans turned on the flash light settings on his phone, lighting his way as he made his way down.

The look Red had eyed his angel with went from one of curiosity to sudden worry, almost panic. Red usually avoided that room. That room was where bad things happened. Where the embodiment of everything bad faced something so much worse, so much more painful than anything he could possibly have imagined otherwise, and though his memories were foggy, his fear was very clearly not so.

And yet his angel was going down there, into the cursed catacombs, like there was nothing wrong with them. What if he got hurt? What if they got to him, to his angel, and would treat him the way they had treated Red?

No, Red couldn’t let that happen.

With almost shaky legs he followed Sans down into the catacombs, tense, always staying in the shadow. His body, dark wings and lightless eyes, melted into them like he was nothing but a mere figment of your fantasy. Your paranoia.

But his eyes never left Sans. If anything were to happen, anything, Red was tense and ready to stop it.

Sans sniffed at the air, smelling… something awful, like rot. Maybe this was where the fire started, and where most of those people were killed. A very creepy thought, walking in to where many must have died. For some strange reason, he didn’t feel like he was wrong either, the air felt stuffy and filled with sorrow. This place held a lot of negative emotions here, Sans wasn’t even here for the accident but he can clearly feel the fear and pain radiating from this place. Someone definitely died here, maybe more.

When Sans reached the hidden room, he almost gagged at the smell alone. The air was thick, if Sans had a knife he could most likely cut right through it. The room was… indescribable. Sans felt awful just being in here, where it smelled burnt, rotten and drowning in something… thicker. And dare he say it, unholy.

Like something was born here, something… demonic. 

But, he couldn’t help but feel sadness, not just any sadness, don’t get him wrong, there is definitely sadness in this room. But there was a deeper rooted sorrow that felt… personal. To Sans. 

He couldn’t put his finger on it, but his sockets were filled with tears. The little skeleton tried to shove the sobs down, but they came out anyways. Sans cried as he made his way to the middle of the room, putting the tupperware down and opening it. Placing the lid on the floor, the container over it, the food out in the open to eat. Sans wiped his face, but his heavy cries didn’t die down, more tears replacing previous ones.

Sans backed away, trying to level his voice before he spoke. “ i-i’m leavin’ ya l-lasagna, hope y-ya ha-ha like it.” The small skeleton sobbed, hugging himself close to comfort himself, the light shining on the food.

Red didn’t know he had a soul until he felt it wrenching at the sound of those sobs. Cries sounding almost like music, pure of evil and all for him, yet they were so sad. All they held were sadness and it wore Red down like a heavy weight.

How could he help his angel? How could he stop those beautiful yet soul breaking cries? Red almost let out cries of his own, crying out for him, crying out for the one he needed. The one he’s been waiting for, looking for, for so long.

Yet he couldn’t. Like he was afraid what would happen if he did. Like he was afraid the angel would flee, or turn against him.

No. It wasn’t time yet. His angel was fragile, hurt and scared. And as much as Red wanted to claim him, ruin him, he… was also scared.

When Sans finally was able to calm down enough to get up, wipe his face, and quiet down. He nodded to the room, bidding everyone that lost their lives in this room goodbye. Before finally turning around to leave, to go back home. To rest after a very… heart wrenching day. Maybe after Sans deals with the heart ache of losing Red, he could drop by Edge’s place and say hello.

The second Red noticed his little angel was turning around, threatening to see him by the stairs, he leapt away into the shadows, hiding from his gaze.

Sans gasped, frozen in fear. He just saw something moving in the darkness, something was in the room with him, and it wasn’t just lost soul’s heavy pain. “hello?” Sans almost whispered, shining his phone to where he saw moment, but seeing nothing. The sense of alert and fear didn’t make the small skeleton want to stick around and find out what it was. So he hurried to the stairs, panting as he put all his little energy into getting up and away from the scary room with the scary dark shadows in the dark.

Red wanted to follow his angel, wanted to leave this place as fast as he could. But he was eying the little… box his angel had left. Whatever was inside smelled… nice. A gift? For him?

Red decided to take it, eating the dish right away. He hummed in pleasure at the taste. It didn’t exactly taste… good, but… It felt… familiar. It felt like something he’s missed…

Red couldn’t dwell on it for too long. His little angel was leaving, and this time Red was not planning to let him out of sight for too long.

Chapter Text

On his way back home, Sans noticed that the feeling of being watched never left. Even after going to a different street, the ruined church no where in sight anymore. But the feeling, that same feeling he only got a from the church was still there, reminding him of that dreaded place. Only this time, Sans couldn’t escape it by just turning around and walking away. No, this time it stayed, and it wouldn’t leave Sans alone.

Maybe it was a bad idea to go into the church after all…

He didn’t even get any clues, only a headache from all his crying and being scared out of his wits so bad that if he had skin, he would be as white as his bones.

Red, meanwhile, was trotting unsure like a baby deer. He couldn’t remember when he last had been out of the church. Honestly, if you’d ask him, he’d say he’s been there his whole life. The church was his home. Not his safe haven, far from it. But it was where he belonged.

Or so he had thought.

No. He didn’t belong there anymore. He belonged to his angel. He belonged to his angel as much as his angel belonged to him, and Red would make sure to claim him once the time was right.

But for now he watched. He stayed in the dark, behind bushes, across corners, in the shadow Sans threw. Never to be seen, yet always seeing him.

Finally making it to the smaller skeleton’s house, Sans quickly took out his keys and hurried in. Closing and locking the door behind him, the windows close behind. The little skeleton making sure that every lock was tightly shut and every window curtain were drawn. His soul was beating so fast as he did so, all the while trying not to look outside in hopes he wouldn’t see anything staring back at him.

Once he was safely locked alone in his house, Sans finally allowed himself to relaxed. Feeling protected and secured in his little cozy house, tucked away from any dangers that could hurt him.

Maybe he should run himself a bubble bath and head to bed with a warm meal.

But Sans wouldn’t get much of a chance to relax. Just because he got into the house doesn’t mean that he was alone. Maybe, if he’d look around, he’d see eyes in the shadows, peering at him like they could see through his soul. Maybe, if he’d listened, he’d hear the creaking of the floorboards, heavy steps mixed with the clacking of claws.

Red had sneaked into the house with him, became one with the shadows as his eyes were too trained on Sans for him to even take in his surroundings. But he noticed the way it felt different. The wood flooring so much warmer and softer than the cold stone of the church. The ceilings so much lower, the walls so much closer together. He couldn’t feel the breeze through his bones, couldn’t hear the call of the night’s birds.

It felt… safer. Warmer. Homier? 

As Sans got the water going for his bath, the smaller skeleton sat at the edge of the tub and pulled out his phone. Pulling up Edge’s number and stared at it, wondering if maybe, just maybe. Edge would like to help him in finding Red, in finding out what happened to him. After thinking about it for a while, Sans finally decided shooting the taller skeleton a quick text wouldn’t hurt.

What he sent was simple and short, but straight to the point. 

‘hey edge, its sans.’

Sans looked at the time, a small thought telling him it would be too late for Edge to answer right away. Oh boy, was he right, it was almost twelve! Did he really spend so much time in the church?

Playing with that realization in his head, Sans turned off the water to the tub and started to undress. Starting from his jacket, then his shirt and shoes. Taking a quick break from taking his clothes off to put the bubbles in the tub, before taking the rest off his body. His naked form shivering a little as he stepped into the tub, letting himself sink into the warm comforting waters.

The creeping shadow that was Red eyed Sans with wide, wondrous eyes. Seeing his angel, pure and bare of clothes, was like a beacon to Red’s soul. Sans’ bones shone brighter than any lantern, smoother than the surface of the church’s least touched marble, so perfect and beautiful. So bare.

From Red’s view, Sans wasn’t hiding anything. He was fully exposed, just waiting for a demon to rake his claws over those perfect bones, mark them, brand Sans’ as his…

An excited purr, a deep rumble, escaped Red at the phantasies.

Sadly, the purr broke Sans’ little safe bubble so fast, the poor skeleton went from chill, to no chill in one second. The monster sat up from his relaxed position, looking around his bathroom frantically, searching for the source of the noise. He couldn’t actually see anything, there was nobody here, he couldn’t see anyone in his house. But now, he definitely didn’t feel alone anymore.

He was so scared, he missed the red eyes in the darkness. Barely visible, even less to a very frightened skeleton, whipping his head around looking for somebody instead of red eyes in the darkness.

Sans sank more into the water, shaking terribly even though he was in a warm bath. 

Why?

Why?

Why?!

Why did this have to happen to him? Why did something have to stalk him? Was it because he challenged whatever was following him just by entering the church? Did whatever that was stalking him took offence to trespassing?

What is going on?!

Red’s purr died down slowly once he noticed the way it frightened his angel. Yes, it might be fun to see him react to Red’s presence, might be cute to see the way his body could shake, the way his eyes would widen, and usually Red would get a kick out of terrorizing frightened monsters.

But this time around… he hardly found joy in the fear on Sans’ face. It was like his face was too beautiful to be sullied by fear, so Red tried his best to keep quiet. To stay unseen.

But he was still there. And Sans knew now.

Sans stayed in his bath, too scared to leave now. If he got up, then whoever was watching him would see his naked body when he got out! But if he stayed, then he would be a sitting duck waiting for someone to get him, take advantage of him in any way they pleased.

He didn’t know what to do… Where would Sans even go now? His home wasn’t even safe, and he was alone with no one to really turn to. He turn to his family for help, too far away to even protect him. Nor could he go to Fellster or Edge, they weren’t family or anything, he couldn’t just ask them for help with something so serious.

And there was no Red, no big skeleton to help him or protect him from any dangers that might try to hurt him.

After soaking in the bath for so long, to petrified with fear to move, the water started to go cold. The little skeleton finally decided he should get out, before he got a cold and had to stay bed ridden for who knows how long.

Hesitantly, Sans got out of the bath, quickly grabbing a towel to wrap around himself. Trying to rub the towel against his body without showing off any private areas, before grabbing his bath robe. Only dropping the towel once the bathrobe was securely surrounding him, covering him up from any prying eyes. All the while looking around for anybody, to see a face peeking from somewhere, but again he found nothing.

Quickly, Sans left the bathroom, closing the door behind him in a feeble attempt to leave whoever was watching him behind in the bathroom. going to the kitchen to prepare himself a quick meal and go to bed.

Not that he would be able to sleep any time soon…

Though it most likely didn’t feel like it, Sans had actually left Red behind. The demon noticed his angel frozen in fear, though there was nothing he could do. So he did what he thought was best, and gave him space for now. Besides, if this was his angel’s den, then Red ought to make himself familiar with it, exploring the rooms, the darkest corners, the space under Sans’ bed, the inside of his closet.

Though no matter if Red was right next to him or in the hallway farthest from Sans, if Sans would listen, he’d hear. If he’d look, he’d see shadows. Red was part of him now, Red was the manifestation of his subconscious fear, his paranoia. Red was there, because Sans could feel him. He got inside, because Sans was scared he would, deep, deep in his core.

Not that Red was aware of any of this. To him he was just pawing at a particularly odd looking ball of lint. Huh. Someone needs to dust this place some time… 

But in the end, to Sans, he was real. He was real and Sans could hear him, feel his presence. He may not be able to see him, but the little skeleton unwillingly was listening very hard for any sounds. He didn’t want to hear anything, hoped so bad that he wouldn’t, but he was keeping quiet to make sure. To prove himself wrong, that no one was here, that his imagination was just going wild because he just came back from a spooky place that was rumored to be haunted. 

God, how he hoped he was just imagining things and that no one was in his house right now…

Once his food was done, which just ended up being hotdogs, Sans took his food to his room. Where he locked the door and laid down in his bed, looking around a little to try and spot someone, but he didn’t.

Chanting in his head that no one was there, he grabbed his laptop and opened it up. Searching for cute cat videos to distracted himself while he ate, hoping that he could just knock out and wake up fine. With no bruises, killed or kidnapped.

Oh please, if someone was actually here, please don’t kidnap him.

Red wasn’t planning to. No matter if he was towering over Sans like a creeping animal waiting to make it’s kill. No, he was just waiting. Waiting for when his angel was ready for him. Waiting for when Red… was ready to show himself.

But for now, he’d stay close. He’d watch his angel, learn his every move and mannerism, protect him. 

-

Sans had fallen asleep at one point during the night from exhaustion. The poor monster had a very scary and taxing day, it was only natural that he would pass out after watching a few cat videos. No matter how scared and watched he felt, it was to hard to keep his eye sockets opened for so long.

Red, on the other hand, never took his eyes off him. He was eying him, watching him so curiously, just taking in everything about him. About his angel. Yes, his angel. Sans was all his, Red could tell. He could tell from his deepest, darkest desires, could tell from his feral instincts that the angel was his.

Before Red knew it, he had climbed on top of Sans on the bed, putting his weight on him like he was trying to keep him down, his wings spread out like he was trying to shield them from any predators. Red knew Sans was his angel, but he needed the world to know. Needed everyone to know he belonged to Red and no one else.

His large, sharp teeth hovered over the small angel’s neck, ready to pierce through his bone like a hot knife through butter. But Red froze. He could see the blood it’d draw before his eyes. Could see the fear on Sans’ face, so similar to when he had in the bath, but even worse.

No. No, if he’d mark him now, his angel would run. Would be scared. Would try to hide.

Still, there was no way Red could let him go without making sure he’d claim him for himself. So instead of a bite, Red gave the spot on Sans’ neck a long lick, before accumulating as much magic into his soul as he could.

Red didn’t need to search for Sans’ soul. It was like it was calling out for him, ready to receive, knowing exactly who it belonged to, even if the bearer wasn’t aware quite yet. He took the soul into his clawed hands, more tenderly and careful than he even knew he could hold something, before pouring all of his magic into him, making it stay, making it stick. Making his angel part of him permanently.

Almost immediately, Sans reacted to the magic invading his soul, worming into him in a whole new level. The small skeleton whined as his back arched, his face twisted into one of confusion and discomfort. 

The magic that was entering his soul wasn’t… bad. It was even familiar in a way, comforting and safe, promising Sans love and protection. The only thing that was uncomfortable about it is how aggressive it is, the second it started entering his soul Sans knew it was going in no matter if he wanted to or not. How possessive and fierce the magic was, demanding submission and obedience. 

It was too much to take in, too overwhelming to stay asleep and take it. So with his little hands, he gripped onto the shoulders of who ever was squishing him, opening his eyes as he whined. Finally waking up and seeing it, seeing the thing on top of him. The claws, the horns, the sharp teeth, the wings and tail. It was a demon. 

It was the demon. 

The demon from the church, it followed him, this was who was stalking him! It all made sense, the rumors talking about the demon, how he only felt the feeling of being watched when he was near the church. And now this, after going into the church, he got the demon to follow him, and now he was over him doing… something to his soul!

Sans was gasping for air, wiggling under the demon as he tried to get his bearings. This didn’t make any sense, all of this didn’t make any sense to him. What was the demon doing to him? Why did he have his soul? What is he doing to his soul?!

But Red noticed the way Sans seemed to struggle, to panic, the second he woke up. He put more weight on him, not because he thought that his angel would be able to wiggle out, but because he thought the pressure, the closeness, might give him some comfort. Like a cradled child, protected and surrounded. He lowered his head into Sans’ neck, breathing hotly onto him as he focused something new into the magic, into his angel’s soul. Something different to his protectiveness, to his possessiveness. Something warm and urgent, loud and demanding attention.

He put all his love into it.

Sans made a small noise, his body going stiff, before finally relaxing. The skeleton just laid there, took whatever treatment he was given, the only movement that came from him was his shivering. His head went back as he closed his eyes, his breathing better than before, but not completely calm either.

“tha’s right,” Red purred once he felt his angel relax, his voice a deep rumble, sounding like it rather came from the inside of your skull than from the demon. “relax. yer safe, yer mine. all mine. ” He ran his large tongue over Sans’ neck to his cheek, his purring never stopping, vibrating through Sans as he claimed his soul with his magic.

Sans whimpered at the feeling that was overtaking him, the extreme feeling that made him lose his breath. From his soul being overwhelmed by this weird yet familiar magic, to the purring vibrating his whole body. It was like the demon was taking over his soul and body, and Sans couldn’t even talk or move, completely at the dangerous looking demon’s mercy. 

It got to the point that it was to much for him, and the small skeleton once again passed out, already exceeding his limit.

Red wasn’t too far from him. Pouring all his magic into his angel was exhausting, but it left Sans with a good marking, like a sign that said who he belonged to, as long as you knew how to read it. He followed Sans to sleep just a few moments after, allowing Sans’ soul to retreat, as the demon relaxed on top of his angel, his face nestled into Sans’ neck.

By the time the sun would rise, Red would wake up and be sure to hide before Sans could see him. But he’d leave him the gracious gift of a puddle of drool around his shoulder-neck area…

Chapter Text

When Sans woke up, he felt uncomfortably sticky and wet, mostly on his neck. Groggily, he got up, a hand going to his neck to feel what was there. Only to freeze when he looked at the fingers that touched his wet shoulder, it wasn’t blue drool, it was red.

Dread poured onto the skeleton like a bucket of ice cold water, going from the top of his head to his toes. A chill ran down his back as he looked around the room, trying to find something else that could tell him that someone else was in his room. Sadly, he naturally moved around in his sleep, so his bed being a mess wasn’t really a clue. 

But the red liquid on his neck, the red magical liquid on his neck sure was. Sans got up quickly and went to his bathroom, checking in the mirror the damage. Only his shirt was drenched around his neck area, but nothing more. But the skeleton felt weird either way, he felt different in a way, but he wasn’t sure how, and the feeling like he was forgetting something was nagging at him.

Sans thinks he may have had a dream, a very important and scary dream, but he couldn’t remember for the life of him. He just knew he should remember it, that it was important and that he was scared at one point during it. Just… not the whole time either, he also remembered feeling relaxed and safe, but he couldn’t understand how he could feel that way when he was also scared too.

It made no sense, even as he washed the drool off, trying to ignore the dreading feeling just from looking at the red goo. But before he couldn’t think anymore of it, his phone rang from his bedroom. Making the small skeleton leave the bathroom and go to answer it, only to be shocked at the caller ID.

It was Edge!

Sans picked up with little delay, almost excited to hear from the other skeleton. “edge? hello?”

“ HAVE YOU SEEN RED!?” Edge’s voice rang out instantuous, explosive.

Sans almost jumped at the booming voice, only for his heart to sink as he registered the question. “no…” Sans muttered sadly, “he never even came ta say goodbye when i left, i moved here to see him… yer dad told me wha happened.” Sans felt like he was crushing Edge’s hopes, stomping the slightest chance Edge might have had to getting Red back.

There was a prolonged moment in which Edge didn’t respond, silent as if the line was dead. Before, finally, Sans could hear Edge again. His voice was calmer, though slightly strained, like he was forcing himself to hold back.

“HELLO SANS,” he finally said. “IT’S NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN. DID MY FATHER GIVE YOU MY NUMBER?”

“yea, he did.” Sans said solemnly, sitting on the bed as he kicked his legs half heartedly. “he told me about da case and a bunch of other stuff. i just… he told me a lot of stuff dat didn’t sit right with me.” This was it Sans, ask him. Ask him to join, the worst he could do is say no, or hang up. 

The small skeleton shifted uncomfortably as he prepared himself to ask Edge, “i wanted to… look into it myself. if yer interested, maybe we can work together ta figure out wha happened to him?” Once the question was out, Sans held his breath, waiting for Edge’s response like it was the air he was desperately lacking.

He doesn’t want to do this alone...

“GREAT, GLAD WE’RE ON THE SAME PAGE,” Edge said immediately, seeming to move to that topic effortlessly, like he’s been meaning to talk about this for weeks. “MY FATHER TOLD YOU ABOUT THE CHURCH, YES? SO FAR I’VE GOTTEN MY HOLD ON FIVE FAMILIES - THE PRICE FAMILY! JUST A YEAR BEFORE RED, THEIR SON WAS REPORTED TO BE DEAD. NO CAUSE OF DEATH, NO BODY, THE FUNERAL WAS SHORT. HALF A YEAR AFTER THAT!”

Edge continued to ramble on about families who’s children had suddenly died out of the blue, who’s friends and less close family barely knew about their cause of death. There were suicide cases of kids who’d been happy their whole life. A girl falling into the river who’s body was never found.

“THEY’RE ALL MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH,” he finally concluded. “AND AFTER IT BURNT DOWN, THOSE CASES STOPPED. COMPLETELY! THERE’S BEEN TWO DEATHS IN THIS TOWN SINCE, ONE BEING THE OLD MR. BARBER WHO DIED OF AGE, AND THEN THERE WAS LITTLE BILLY WHO HAD CANCER. FATHER THINKS I’M CRAZY, BUT THAT CANNOT BE A COINCIDENCE.”

Sans listened intently, nodding along even if Edge couldn’t see him. It was a lot of information, so much so that it was hard to keep up a little. Had… Edge been looking for Red to this day? All by himself? That was admirable yet sad at the same time. “i… went into the church yesterday…” Sans admitted, “i think… something followed me, i woke up with red liquid on me. something is going on in that church, i know there is. i just…” Sans paused, clutching his phone tightly in his hand. 

“i have a feelin’ red was there…” Sans admitted.

Edge was listening closely to anything Sans had to say. Was he implying that animals lived in the church? Maybe something feral that could’ve killed Red? No, he doubted this was all to blame on an animal.

Was Sans suggesting… a demon?

“WAS IT BLOOD?” Edge asked, not for a second doubting what Sans told him. “THE RED LIQUID. DID IT LOOK LIKE BLOOD?”

“no,” Sans said instantly, before aiming his phone to take a picture of his shoulder, which was still slightly covered with the stuff. After he took the picture, he sent it to Edge, putting his phone back to his skull right after. “i think it’s… drool, red magic drool. it definitely came from a monster, or… a demon.” Sans whispered the last part.

“i think the rumors about da demon are true, when i was at da church… weird things happened. i heard an animal noise in my bathroom ! it followed me, i know it did! edge it was in my house, i don’t know wha it did, but i know it’s real!” 

“A DEMON…” Edge mused thoughtfully at the words. Of course he’s heard the rumors, but there had always been one thing him and Fellster agreed on about Red’s case. Demons weren’t real. They were just that, a rumor. And yet Sans was talking about this demon like he was so sure of it, showing him a picture of something that most definitely wasn’t blood. Yet so familiarly red… 

“AND YOU SAY IT FOLLOWED YOU? DID YOU EVER… SEE IT?”

“yeah, it did. and i think i…-” Sans trailed off, shivering at the feeling of being watched, looking around like he was expecting to see said demon. Only to freeze when he saw a shadow at the corner of his eye move, but when Sans turned his head to that direction, it was gone. But he saw it, he saw it. Knowing that he did scared him all the more, like the demon would attack him at any given time when Sans’ back was turned. Knowing he was in the same room as said demon, well, Sans wouldn’t be surprised if he just fell over and died of fright right then and there.

“e-edge… it’s still here…” Sans almost whispered, absolute terror in his voice. You can practically hear Sans shaking, his breathing quickening yet still trying to make it as unnoticeable as possible. Most likely to not alert said demon that Sans noticed it’s presence, to not provoke it to do something. “edge, o-oh god. w-wha do i do…?” Sans asked almost breathless, like he was in a life or death situation and he wasn’t ready for it.

“SANS, RELAX,” Edge told him without missing a beat, though his voice wasn’t exactly as comforting or calming as one might wish. It was more… urgent and serious. “SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS, I’LL COME RIGHT OVER. DO YOU NEED ME TO STAY ON THE PHONE?” Sans could hear the rustling of Edge moving, already putting on a jacket, grabbing his keys.

Edge wasn’t sure how real this demon was or not, but… he’s been stuck on this case for the past two years. The surviving church members refused to talk about what happened, and none of the people that claimed there was a demon at the church had actually ever seen it. If the demon really followed Sans, then… maybe there was more to it after all. Maybe there was more to find out.

Sans quickly texted Edge the address, trying to relax and seem normal. But the skeleton couldn’t help but look around the room some more, trying to find the thing residing in his home, but finding nothing. “please, please stay on da phone. if something happens… ya at least know, right?” Sans tried to say positively, but you can clearly hear the fear in his voice. 

Red had been listening to their phone call curiously. He didn’t quite understand everything they were talking about, both because of his lack of background knowledge, but also because he only heard a handful of words from Edge’s side.

Nevertheless the way his angel had been scared this whole time, it was distressing him. He wanted so badly to protect him from any danger that would put this kind of fear in his angel, but that’s a lot harder when the ‘danger’ is Red himself.

Though he might not be the only.

Red tensed as he sensed someone coming closer. Someone rapidly closing in on Sans’ den. Leaving their vehicle. Crossing through Sans’ front yard. Until finally a knock had Red growl just barely under his breath.

Sans rushed out of the room, running like he was expecting to be chased. Reaching the door and yanking it open, throwing himself into Edge’s arms and squeezing him tightly. “ thank ya fer coming so quick!” Sans breathed out a sigh of relief, looking up at the taller skeleton and giving him a shaky but bright smile. “‘m happy ta see ya again, edge!”

Red had been ready to jump at the intruder. Had been ready to tear his angel away from the offending trespasser. Had been ready to defend and protect what belonged to him.

But oddly enough, his anger faded when he saw the newcomers face.

...Another angel?

No. This one was by far not as pure. A creature of sin? Another demon? Probably not. But whatever or whoever this person was, he gave Red the same sense of familiarity Sans had. The same sense of familiarity he had felt when eating Sans’ offering.

He decided to stay back.

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” Edge asked, hugging Sans back for a moment, before he took a step back. He was not the most affectionate person, though he wouldn’t refuse Sans at least some comfort. “IS IT AROUND? DO YOU KNOW WHERE IT IS?”

Sans looked behind him, past his opened front door and in his house. “da ya feel it? we’re being watched…” Sans whispered, holding onto Edge’s arm, shifting a little behind the taller skeleton. “it’s in there, i know it is.”

Edge couldn’t see anything in the house, and yet…

“I FEEL… SOMETHING,” he mumbled, his own voice uncertain. He couldn’t quite put it into words. Maybe not exactly the feeling of being watched, yet in a way exactly that. 

Whatever that feeling was… it was unsettling.

“MAYBE WE SHOULD LEAVE,” he mumbled. “YOU SAID IT CAME FROM THE CHURCH…? MAYBE WE CAN BRING IT BACK THERE. WHATEVER IT IS.”

And… maybe. Maybe they could find more clues regarding Red.

Sans nodded, completely okay with staying out of his house for now. But not before quickly getting his keys and a banana, hurrying out and locking the door. Before turning to Edge, “okay, ‘m ready. lets go.” He’s been to the church once, he can do it again, especially with more help by his side.

Edge let Sans hold onto his arm as he lead him to his car, the two heading to the church.

Though they didn’t go there alone.

Red was following, right behind them, creeping unseen and unheard through the shadows back to his old home, curious as to see what their plan was. Did his angel want to leave another offering? Was this new person the offering?

He wanted to see what they were going to do…

-

With the church ruins in sight, the car finally slowed down until it came to a halt, parking in the old parking lot the church used to have, now barely used by anyone anymore. 

Edge could tell why Sans would feel like he’s been haunted by a creature from this place. The church gave off a truly foreboding and eerie atmosphere, nothing he’d willingly want to deal with, were this not about his brother.

“So you believe you picked up a demon here?” Edge asked, his voice lower, now that they were at the church. It felt as if, if he’d make too much noise, whatever demon had been stalking Sans would come out and attack them. Edge didn’t like to admit it, but the place did give him all kinds of creeps...

Sans nods, holding the banana peel of the banana he just ate, playing with the stem nervously. “uh huh.” Sans confirmed, nodding as he did so. The small skeleton took a beep breath, then let it all out, like he was trying to breath in as much courage as he could and expel all the fear. “let’s go…”

The little hand opened the car door, closing the door just barely enough to properly close. Before making his way to the church, throwing the banana peel away in the trash can that was on the way to the foreboding ruins.

Edge followed right behind, but not without making sure the car was locked. If demons can steal cars, he was not going to let it steal this one.

He’s been here before, he’s felt the eerie aura of this place before, but for some reason it felt even thicker now. Even darker. Like whatever lived here has been awakened. Has gained some kind of new power. Without even noticing it, Edge was slowly inching closer and closer to Sans, not even considering separating from the smaller skeleton.

“Do… you know where you picked it up…?” Edge asked, his tone wary and lost. It had been his plan to come here, to ‘bring the demon back,’ but now that he was here, he had no clue on what to do. Was there a special place? Did they have to perform some kind of weird ritual? Maybe leave an offering?

Sans gulped, his hand going up to grip Edge’s jacket sleeve without his knowledge. “i… there was this one room, dat felt… more awful than anywhere in the whole place. maybe there?” He ended up guiding Edge inside, leading him to the stairs that led down into the darkness.

The small skeleton shivered every so often as they walked in the church, seeing every detail he had seen in his last visit. This place was so gloomy, so… dead. There was no way anyone can rebuild it or anything of the sort. This place has it’s permanent mark, all these years of this being here made that clear to Sans. No one in this town will ever go here willingly to redecorate or renew the place.

Once they made it to the stairs, Sans pointed to the darkness and turned to Edge. “there.” Sans didn’t keep his finger up, the stairs leading down already emitted the horrible feeling. Already giving you a hint of what’s down there, of what’s to come. But Sans already knew, Sans already experienced the horrible, miserable feeling he gets when you get down there. Every sense in your body screaming at you that this is not a place he should be in, that he should run until his legs fall off.

And here he was, going right back into it.

Red was watching the two from the shadows, almost growling in frustration as his angel went down to that cursed place again. What was he doing there? Leaving more food? Why there out of all places, when he could be anywhere else in the church.

Last time Red had followed Sans there, he’d been tense and anxious the whole time. He’d avoid this place as much as he can, but seeing his angel down there alone… But Sans wasn’t alone this time. Red wasn’t sure why, but whoever was with his angel this time, Red trusted him. So, as nervous as he still was, he was staying back this time, instead pacing around on the organ ledge of the church.

Edge, meanwhile, was eying around the underground cathedrals nervously. Sans wasn’t wrong. This place was worse than the others. Maybe that was why he hasn’t noticed it last time, his subconsciousness shielded him from it. 

The place was dark and eerie, clearly had been victim of the fire that had killed so many all these years ago. The horrible thought of Red being here for some reason, being caught in the fire, crying out for help, got into Edge’s mind, causing the skeleton to tensen up next to Sans.

“This church is truly awful,” he barely rasped out.

By the time they made it to the bottom, Sans was pressed up to Edge’s side, clinging to his wrist. The lower part of his skeleton mouth quivered, trying not the whimper from all the pressure and tension suffocating him once again. “i think, this is where they all… died.” Sans muttered, looking around a little bit. “i remember a curtain or something covering the stairs, i think this place was secret.” 

Sans looked at the floor, where he left the lasagna, only to gasp. The container was still there, but the food that had been inside it clearly wasn’t. Sans dragged Edge over to the tupperware, picking it up. “edge, the food i left here yesterday, it’s gone !”

Edge looked at the tupperware in confusion. Was that his tupperware? “You… left food?” He asked, not sure what to do with that information at first. Before it properly settled in. And a sense of dread overcame him and he glanced at Sans.

“You don’t think… the demon…?” No. No, surely it’s been a wild animal, right? Just because he’s never seen live animals here, didn’t mean there weren’t any.

But his train of positive thoughts almost immediately cut off, as suddenly a loud noise rang out. A loud noise Edge had trouble recognizing as anything but his impending doom, and without thinking, the taller skeleton screeched as he suddenly clung tightly to Sans.

Which would have happened either way, because Sans also screamed and flew to Edge, meeting him half way and held him close. Both of them screaming in pure terror as they held each other tightly. Breaking that silent rule of being as quiet as possible, the whole church now being filling with the loud noise and their screaming.

Red froze up from his spot on the organ’s keys. The noise of the organ itself had startled the demon enough, he hadn’t expected the old thing to still work when he climbed onto it, but the scream he’s heard from his angel was what really drove the terror in him.

Panicked that something might’ve happened after all , he ran towards the cursed place, trying to get to Sans and Edge.

But he didn’t even need to.

Edge was already running out of the cathedral panicked, Sans in his arms, both of them still screaming. They ran straight past the demon, whom was still hidden in the shadows of the church, his eyes following after them, before he followed them as well, watching them get straight back into the car.

Chapter Text

Sans only let go when Edge dumped him into the passenger seat right next to the driver, clutching onto the seat while he hyperventilated. His eyes going between watching Edge quickly start the car to the the church, expecting something to come out and chase them, but nothing ever did. Of course, to Sans, it felt like any second that passed could be the second Sans would finally see the scary beast run out of the church, run straight to them. Ready to murder and tear every limb apart.

Edge was starting the car as fast as he could, wanting to get as far from this cursed place as he possibly could. He drove quietly, though his eyes were wide and his soul was beating panicked. Only once it finally calmed down, did the tall skeleton glance at Sans.

Edge remembered the scorch marks, the heavy feeling in the air, the tension, the feeling of something there.

His voice was heavy, filled with dread. 

“DO YOU THINK… RED MIGHT’VE DIED THERE…?”

Sans looked at Edge pathetically, his cheeks puffy and blue, tears going down his face. His expression giving away what he thought. It made sense, Red disappeared when Sans left, the church burned down close to when Sans left. The case to find Red wasn’t interrupted by the church case, it was connected to the church case. Red was in that building when it burned down. The only question left was why.

Why was Red in that building when it burned down? Why was he there in the first place? Red was never a guy that would step into the church, he wasn’t religious. 

Did they take Red there? Bring Red there? Edge had been playing with that thought for years, had been looking into the possibility, and yet, having it in front of him like that, he didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to believe any of it. Maybe Fellster had been right when he stopped caring about the case so quick. Maybe it would’ve been easier. Maybe it wouldn’t have made Edge felt this… nauseous. This dreadful. This… sad.

Sans turned away from Edge, not wanting to see him right now. He didn’t wanted to see the brother of his dear friend facing this realization, he didn’t want Edge to see him. Sans looked out the window, his gaze falling onto the side mirror right next to his door window. Watching the world zoom past them as they drove away.

The small skeleton wanted to forget, wanted his mind to drift into something else that wasn’t the demon, Red, or the horrible experience he just had in the church. Was it really right to move back here?

Sans didn’t even get to play with the thought of moving back, away from here, away from all this sadness and regret. Because as he watched through the side mirror, as they passed an alley, he saw… it. There wasn’t much time to take in everything, barely at all. Sans was in a moving car and the alley past them quickly, but it was enough.

He saw a large figure, with demon like wings and horns, looking straight at him. The only other details he could make out were the color white and red, and most importantly, those red glowing eyes. Those eyes that paralyed him to the very core, to the point that his voice left him when his eyes met those.

Sans couldn’t even scream or turn to Edge to tell him what he just saw, he felt the energy seep out of him like it was water rolling down his body. His chest was tight and he felt a pressure on his body, his soul screaming at him. Telling him that what he saw was not no illusion or trick from his mind. He saw it, he saw the demon.

Edge however hadn’t seen anything. And if he was quite honest, he wasn’t really in the right mind to see anything like that right now either. So when he pulled by Sans’ house, he didn’t give it any second thought.

“I… DON’T THINK WE SHOULD GO INTO THAT CHURCH AGAIN,” was all he said. “I THINK I NEED TO GO HOME. GET MY HEAD STRAIGHT.”

All San can do was nod, not saying a word as he got out of the car slowly, almost sluggishly. Making his way to his home, his feet dragging and his head down as he made it to his door. Opening it with his key and going straight in, barely waving Edge goodbye as the taller skeleton drove off. After locking the door behind him, Sans made his way to his room, going straight to his bed to flop onto it, face first.

From the moment on that Sans left the church, Red could tell Sans was feeling bad. No, not just bad. Worse than before even.

Had it been the cursed place? But then why… had he reacted so badly the second their eyes locked?

Was Sans… still scared of him? Even after Red claimed his soul…?

The demon had seen Sans in a funk ever since he’s decided to watch him, but this was even worse. Sans seemed downright miserable, buried in his bed, overwhelmed and sad. Red already couldn’t stand last time Sans had seemed unhappy, but this…?

Why couldn’t his angel just be… happy?

Red hadn’t thought it was the right time yet. Had thought Sans would be too skittish to be confronted by Red yet. But he couldn’t watch this any longer.

If Sans felt so scared, so helpless and overwhelmed, wasn’t all he needed just someone to protect him? Someone to keep him safe? Someone to keep him close?

He let out a satisfied rumble at the thought, slowly creeping out of the shadows and onto Sans’ bed. He’d make him feel safe. He’d make him feel good.

Sans was too deep in his thoughts to feel the feeling of being watched, of not being alone. Of the noise the demon with him made, from the heavy clawed steps on the floor to the rumble of its voice. But he did feel a new pressure on his bed, something sitting down on his bed close to him and making a indent that caused Sans to unwillingly be drawn in.

The small skeleton lifted his head and looked up, unsure what he was expecting, maybe Edge. But he was definitely not expecting… this.

The demon right before him, no, towering over him, clearer than ever before. Scarred, thick bones, teeth that were yellowed with use. Curled horns and massive, dark wings. Clawed hands that almost tore the bed sheets, a thick tail, and those dirty, charred, and clearly old clothes.

But most importantly, oh so importantly, the burning red eye lights, leering into Sans’ soul deeper than anything ever has before.

Red moved closer, pushing Sans into the bed by pressing himself into him, a deep purr rumbling out of his throat, though it could’ve easily been mistaken as a growl or any other noise.

Sans gasped, feeling his body being pressed up into the bed, his face being once again hidden in the mattress, only this time unwillingly. He felt the demon right on top of him, pressing itself into his back, his chest feeling tight and suffocated from not only being squished into the bed, but from the tense pressure the demon gave off. The small skeleton turned his head so he could at least see the demon, but that it would do much for his situation. The noise he heard was threatening and scary, promising pain and misery to the small skeleton. 

A small whimper escaped Sans’ mouth, his eye lights shrinking in pure terror as he watched the demon silently, his voice no where to be found.

But Red wanted nothing of the sort for Sans. He wanted Sans to feel safe. To feel protected. So he tried to show him, letting out another rumbled purr, licking gently over Sans’ face, his cheek, even bits of his neck and shoulder. 

“don’ worry,” he rumbled, but his voice was deep, dark, scratchy from not using it for so long. “yer safe. yer with me. i’ll take care a ya, my little angel.”

Sans gulped, closing his eyes when the tongue ran over his face, leaving red saliva in its wake. The moment Sans reopened his eyes, he looked at the red liquid and was instantly reminded of the red liquid he woke up to on his neck. That red goo… was actually saliva. Demon saliva, that came from this very demon that was on top of him right now. That followed him from the church, scared Edge and him to death today and followed him yet again to his home.

There was no where Sans could run, this demon was fixated on him and was not going to stop any time soon.

Noticing that, rather than calming down, Sans just seemed to tense up, Red nuzzled into Sans more affectionately. What did he have to do to make him feel protected?

Red was relaxing himself onto the bed now, his weight shifted to not crush Sans underneath him, but still keep him pressed to his chest, so he could roll to his side and let his clawed hands roam over Sans’ body. He was stroking Sans’ body, trying to calm his precious angel down, but at the same time feeling the pure, pristine bones through the clothes under his sharp claws.

Sans shivered at the sharp clawed hands went up and down his body, roaming over his shaking bones slowly. The sharp claws almost threatening to rip him apart, dig those nails into him and breaking his fragile bones into a bunch of little pieces. Turning him to dust in an instant, and maybe even his dust would get violated in some way or another by this demon, who knew what this demon even wanted .

He wanted to get up, he wanted to run out and get out of this house. He wanted to run back to his family, or Edge and even Fellster. But most of all he wanted to run to Red, his Red that he missed oh so dearly, the one that would protect him no matter what and do it with a smile.

“red…” Sans whimpered out, closing his eyes tightly. Trying to maybe, hopefully, get away from this situation mentally. To not think about himself laying on his bed next to a demon that was touching him right now, keeping him close to it.

But the name resonated with Red. He wasn’t sure why. The way he recognized the name? The way he recognized the voice? Sans was calling out to him, to him, and Red could feel it. Could feel Sans’ urgency, could feel Sans wanting him to help him.

So Red let out another deep rumble, trying to let him know he was there, he understood, he’d keep him safe, keep him close, claim him for no one else to take. 

“mmmhh, yesss,” he rumbled to Sans, his face close to Sans’ neck, breathing hotly on it. He wanted him to say his name more. To call out for him again. Only him, and no one else.

He clung to Sans tighter, more urgently, like hearing his name in his beautiful angel’s voice had awakened something inside him, his tail now excitedly stroking against the inside of Sans’ thighs.

Sans shivered, the tail feeling long and thick, rubbing itself between his legs and getting so close to his pelvis. It felt like the demon was touching every part of his body, or was close to getting there and seemed to be enjoying itself a lot. Those hands ran down his body oh so slowly, like it was trying to savor every second, every touch. But it felt like every second to Sans was an hour, any moment the demon would change from teasing and playful to dangerous and murdery. But those hands never changed, stayed caressing him and rubbing itself against Sans. The smaller skeleton didn't know what to make of it, why this demon would want to touch and nuzzle and purr at him like a cat.

Why was it being so gentle?

Because Red wanted to please him. The shiver only spurned him on even more, pressing himself closer to Sans. He was feeling something Red’s never felt before, and he couldn’t quite understand it. But his bones were tingling with excitement, magic was gathering in the old, torn pants he was wearing. His breathing was getting hotter, heavier, as Red grew more and more intoxicated by Sans’ smell, his touch, him.

He wanted him in every way possible.

With a soft groan, Red grinded himself against Sans, his clawed hands now impatiently trying to find a way under Sans’ clothes, careful with them, so his perfect angel’s clothes wouldn’t have to end up like his own.

...Though he’d probably look so good like that… His perfect, pure composure wrecked by Red’s sinful claws… 

Sans gasped, now realizing that he wasn't going to get killed, or at least not yet. No, this demon wasn't planning to let him go that easily, this demon was planning to fuck him.

Wow, getting fucked by a demon. Cross that off the bucket list.

The claws were slowly pulling off his clothes, pulling the pants down a little to reveal more of his pelvis, the shirt going up to his armpits. Sans’ shaky hands going to his jacket to pull it closed, to hide his virgin bones from those pervy eyes.

For now, Red ignored the jacket blocking his way. The clawed hand he managed to push past Sans’ pants was far more distracting, his fingers rubbing against the sensitive bone, trying to get Sans’ magic to react the same way his own magic did.

He was going to claim him, Red slowly realized. He’s been dancing around this for so long, been walking on egg shells around Sans, watched him get scared and startled. This was going to end. He was going to claim him once and for all, make him his, destroy him…

Red let out a loud, excited purr at the thought, his hips instinctively grinding against Sans.

Sans had short, fast breaths, his body shaking as his hands went to grab onto Red’s arms. His mind reeling when the demon’s hands make his bones shiver in excitement and pleasure. To Sans, this was more shocking than winning a lottery. Why was Sans’ body acting this way, like every single touch the creature made on his body was like heaven? 

A moan escaped Sans’ mouth as a hard shiver ran up his spine and shook him to the core, the instant it reached his soul was when a drenched mound appeared between Sans’ legs. Practically begging for Sans’ life long crush to come and finally put his gorgeous cock into him. Except the small skeleton didn’t understand this himself.

Sans felt his body want this demon, can feel the excitement in his soul, can feel the impatience, but he didn’t understand why ! This demon has done nothing but scare Sans to death, but here they were, the very same demon making Sans wet with barely a few strokes. Already making Sans a whimpering, wet mess.

Red could feel the wetness of Sans under his clawed fingers, letting out a deep, pleased moan. Good. His angel wanted him as bad as Red did. And Red didn’t plan on letting him wait. 

He slid two fingers between those wet, puffy lips, feeling the juices practically drip on him, before he found the entrance he was looking for, sliding right in.

His free hand meanwhile was opening Sans’ jacket now, snaking over Sans’ bare ribs. He wanted Sans to feel him everywhere, wanted Sans’ senses to overflow with him, with Red and nothing else. Wanted his angel to see only him, hear only him, feel only him. No one and nothing else.

He wanted to make him all his.

Sans’ body started to grind and hump into Red’s hand, wanting more than just two fingers. Not to say the fingers weren’t amazing, they were welcomed. But the fingers themselves was like little droplets of water slowly falling into a thirsty mouth, not enough and way too little to satisfy. 

The little skeleton couldn’t hold back the moans and whines coming out of his mouth, the need to call out but not sure what to really call out for. Sans wanted to call out for Red, but Red wasn’t here. The only one that was, was the demon itself. And what was Sans supposed to call it, just ‘demon’?

This was a very weird situation to be in, a demon entering your house and touching you, and your body being all too willing while not even knowing the demon besides it stalking you since you came back to your home town. Yup, weird situation to be in indeed. 

Sans moaned out loud and hard when Red rubbed against Sans’ clit, making the little skeleton squirm. His little hands raking at the demon’s arms, like he was trying to get some sort of hold to take the feeling better.

Every single one of Sans’ noises was music to him. Beautiful, delicious music, and Red was thirsting for it like he’s been dragging himself through a desert, wanting to hear more, to draw out every single note he could get. A song of ecstacy, beauty, lust, purity.

He could feel Sans’ need and reflected it, wanting to feel Sans, wanting Sans to feel him. They were both starved of each other’s touches and wanted to drench their thirsts. And god was Red going to drench them.

He had left a trail of wet kisses along Sans’ neck, his fingers preparing Sans’ beautiful warm hole for what’s to come. Until he finally decided his angel was prepared enough, he seemed whiny, seemed like he needed him, and god, Red wasn’t going to disappoint.

Finally he moved Sans to face into the mattress. He was kneeling onto the bed, pulling down Sans’ pants, his own, before lifting his lower body up just enough for Red to finally rub his needy, starved dick against Sans’ mound.

Sans gasped as he was moved, his upper body on the bed, his hands supporting him from face planting into the bed. While his hips were held by giant hands and something hot and big pressed up between his legs. Sans’ own legs wrapped around the demon’s hips for support, but it was a little hard to when Sans has short legs and the hips themselves were very wide. 

Was this it? Was this how he was going to lose his virginity? To a demon? Were they going to stay gentle, or become very rough and painful as they continue? If Sans was being honest with himself, he always imagined his first time being with Red, the one that always made Sans have a skip in his step and make his soul flutter. The same feeling his body was having to this demon.

But Sans didn’t know this demon! Why would he react this way to someone he never met!? This feeling was only reserved for his Red, no one else. Sans didn’t want this demon to come in and steal the special feeling that he had for Red alone!

Red almost felt the longing in Sans’ soul, and his soul responded with the same longing. “mmh, my angel,” Red purred, rutting against those hot lips, feeling the juices start to coat his length. “yer so perfect. so beautiful an’ pure. an’ yer gonna be all mine. ”

The idea had Red let out a giddy purr. He pulled back to re-angle his dick, before finally pushing into Sans, entering that hot, throbbing hole that’s been waiting for him this whole time.

A loud groan rolled out of his throat, his claws almost digging into Sans’ pristine bone as he pushed in, inch by inch getting deeper. He felt like he was entering heaven, like he finally found release from this prison he didn’t know he’s been trapped in, the church, his anger, his hunger, and got thrown into a whole new world.

A world in which all that matters was in his hands. Was whining, moaning, crying out underneath him. Was looking so beautiful, flushed blue, glistening with sweat, all for him.

Sans took a sharp intake of air, his hands tightly holding onto the sheets of the bed as his body tried to take in what was currently entering him. A whimper left his mouth due to the sheer size of the dick, spreading him wider than he ever thought he could. It was a tight fit, but somehow it felt so good the whole way in. The more Sans was stretched, the more he was being filled, the more full and content he was to be in the situation he was in now.

Red was in his mind the whole time, never drifting from Sans even a little, but Sans oddly enough wasn’t mourning Red. Instead he felt complete and happy, his body squeezing the demon’s dick like it was trying to memorize the shape and put it to memory.

“ah… ha !” Sans cried out, his hips moving on it’s own and humping more into Red’s hips. Wanting more and more of that cock, Red’s cock that he oh so wanted to feel ever since he first knew what lust and hormones was.

His Red.

Once Red’s dick was nestled fully into the tight hole, he was bent over Sans’ small body, his hot drool dripping onto the bit of Sans’ back that was exposed, the jacket having slid down from the angle Sans was in.

God this feeling was intoxicating. Red felt like it was driving him crazy, was fueling his hunger for Sans even more.

He started thrusting his hips, slow but deep and rough, always keeping his tight hold onto those gentle bones, definitely leaving scratches to last.

Sans groaned as he felt his lower body take in the cock, feeling every inch go in and out. The friction rubbing against Sans’ walls were the hardest thing to get used to oddly enough. The size going inside him felt fulfilling and electric, while his walls quickly became very hot and sore from the large size and the constant movement. It was breath taking, Sans’ legs twitching in the air from the overwhelming pleasure. The small skeleton’s pants were hot and quick, his hands grabbing hold under him so they could then push his lower body closer to Red. Meeting the demon’s thrust half way, wanting more and more of it.

It was then Sans couldn’t just whine and cry out senseless nothings, he needed to form out words. “m-more! gimme more! p-plea- ah- please more! ”

Yesss. Every word fueled Red’s lust, made him feel hotter. He sped up his thrusts, slamming into his angel harder and harder, wanting to hear him scream. Scream out for him, for his demon, for his Red.

“mmh, yer mine,” Red growled, his clawed hands raking over Sans’ hips where he was holding him. “tell me yer mine, my angel.”

Sans screamed in reply, drool dripping from his mouth as Sans screamed the first thing that flew out of his mouth, not at all thinking about what it was, just knowing that what name he was screaming out was the right one. “ah! ah! red! aahhh my red! i love ya, oohhh ‘m yourss, all yours! please, oh fuck, red!” 

The small skeleton didn’t think about how he told the demon he was his, right after calling out his true love’s name. Nor did he feel it weird or wrong, it felt right, and Sans wanted to yell it out loud .

And Red encouraged it, encouraged every single word, with hard thrusts, pleased groans.

“yessss,” he growled in ecstacy. He put the weight off his knees so he was sitting down, grabbing Sans by his chest rather than his waist now, pulling him onto his lap. The movement was smooth and fluid and Red never left Sans, never stopped thrusting into him, until he was bouncing him onto his lap.

He wanted to hold him closer to his chest, wanted to be able to kiss him, his neck, his skull, leave hickeys in his wake.

Sans made a half moan half squeak every time he bounced on Red, his hands flying to the demon’s hips to have a better grip. His head flew back while his tongue lulled out of his mouth. Soon enough he started to let out low yet long groans when he was starting to near his climax. His toes curling up the closer it got, without realizing what he was doing he turned his head to the side so he could see Red. Before moving forward and taking the demon’s mouth into a kiss.

Red purred into the kiss, immediately letting his tongue slip in, tasting every corner of Sans’ mouth. It was hard keeping the kiss consistent with the way he kept on bouncing the little angel onto his dick, but he made do, giving Sans the most passionate, wanton, and rough kiss he possibly could, claiming even Sans’ mouth as his.

But that wasn’t enough.

Red was a greedy demon. A selfish demon. He may have claimed all of Sans, his body, his mouth, his voice, his attention, and even his soul. But he wanted people to know. He wanted everyone to know who Sans belonged to, wanted everyone to know Sans was claimed.

He… wanted to mark him. Visibly. Permanently. So once he pulled off the kiss, panting both from that as well as from the way he was nearing his own orgasm, he quickly buried his face into Sans’ neck. 

Drool was escaping him like he was a feral dog, but he didn’t care. He had his mind set on only one thing.

Red dug his teeth into Sans’ neck, deep and firm, thrusting into Sans’ hole now so he could keep his little angel still.

Sans screamed loud, but from mostly pain than pleasure. The pleasure was still there and giving his lower body a good time, but the pain in his neck was too much for a weak and fragile monster like Sans. So much that it drove Sans off the edge, the wave of overwhelming pleasure flowing through him at least drowned out the pain on his sensitive and vulnerable aching neck. His hands going up and behind his head to grip Red’s shoulder and head, needing something to grip and silently seeking comfort.

The poor skeleton whimpered, his head leaning back to rest on the shoulder he wasn’t gripping, head turned to the side to hide his face into Red’s neck.

Red responded to the pained whimpers with soft purrs, his hands petting, caressing over Sans’ body, his face, his arms, trying to comfort his beautiful angel though the pain.

His own thrusts started to get erratic and sloppy with Sans cumming around him, squeezing his dick, milking it of everything he had to give. And god, Sans sure got what he wanted. Only a few more moments in Red came, his loud groan muffled by the neck between his teeth, his dick buried into him as deep as he possibly could.

A small glow caught Red’s eyes, and he let out a low, pleased purr as one of his hands traveled down to feel over the stomach Sans’ formed, bulging with the cum Red filled him up with. And was filling him up with. More and more, until finally Red had no more to give.

He dragged his teeth out of Sans’ neck slowly, licking up the blood oozing out of the wound. His body suddenly felt heavy, tired and exhausted. But he knew Sans must be even worse off.

He laid them both down onto the bed gently, grabbing onto the blanket Red had seen Sans cover himself with the night before and pulling it over both of them.

“mmhh, i love ya… my angel,” Red purred, his voice low and quiet as he kept licking over Sans’ neck, snuggled up to him, the dick still nestled into Sans, keeping all that cum inside of him. “my sansy…”

“ha… ah… ‘mmm.” Sans didn’t get to continue his words that he couldn’t even form, his eyes falling as his consciousness left him, falling into a lulling sleeping in his lover’s protective arms.

Chapter Text

Sans woke up groaning, his body begging him to go back asleep, to just let the world go dark. But his body was very sore, his part beating with his soul, every pulse telling Sans exactly how it felt. His neck hurt so much, his pelvis felt almost nonexistent, his fingers were weak, his inner legs felt like they might have a rash with how hard it was rubbed against…. something?

It was difficult, but Sans managed to open his tired sockets. His body didn’t want to move, but that was okay, Sans didn’t want to move it too much anyways. Even with his body in this condition, it wasn’t the most alarming thing about this situation, no. The most alarming thing he woke up to was the feeling of another body pressed behind him, a bigger, broader body. Sans could feel the arm wrapped around his waist, the larger legs pressing and even between his own legs. He can feel the breath, the slow calm breath on the back of his neck. But most importantly, he can feel the large, soft organ still lodged inside him, making it clear to Sans what had happened.

Sans almost thought about crying, but before the thought fully formed, he knew how dangerous that could be. Crying makes him hiccup and jolt, his whole body shake, and it causes noise. All of which are a bad idea, his sore body most likely would be very upset to have to move while it was still recovering from a taxing night. And there was still the body sleeping peacefully right next to him, the one that was so rough with him, the one that…. would kill him most likely when they wake up.

Oh god.

A demon. A demon fucked him and is in his house, in his bed, inside him in the most violating way and Sans had loved every second of it. Even now, the soft dick felt nice and welcomed. What was even wrong with him!? Either Sans has a rape kink or he was under some sort of curse.

Sans was not a religious person but after today, he might start praying to a god to save him.

And the gods had heard him, although some might argue it was more of a devil, for some reason or another.

The demon by Sans’ side shifted, arms tightening around Sans a bit. He was waking up, his body before his consciousness. The smell of Sans, of sex, magic and a bit of blood, had Red hum softly. The body against his felt, although unused to it, very comforting. Like it belonged where it was. Like Sans belonged where he was.

Red had his eyes opened now, seeing the body in front of him, tense and frozen, like a cornered animal towards it’s predator. But that’s not who Red was. Sans wasn’t his prey, he was Sans, his angel, he was what Red’s been missing this whole time.

He wanted to see him, wanted to press his angel to his chest, comfort him, hold him there, let him know he was safe. And not have him with his back turned to him, distanced, hiding.

Red’s hold on Sans tightened a little, his leg moving away from between Sans’, before he began moving the small body. He was careful, gentle, mindful of the wound he left. Mindful of his dick nestles inside him, managing to maneuver Sans around while never fully pulling out, keeping his pretty little angel filled to the brim with his goods. And once Sans was turned, Red’s arms wrapped right back around him, pulling his little angel into his chest with a big, lazy smile.

If Sans were to pay attention right now, he could even hear a soft purr in the deep rumbling from Red’s throat.

But as much as Red was enjoying this, Sans felt on edge, scared. His body ached from having to move, even if it was thankfully slow and surprisingly gentle. The little skeleton still had to feel the dick inside him move and twist, rubbing against his aching walls and reawaking some of the pleasure, and pain from the night before.

“a-ah!” Sans cried out, laying flat on Red’s chest, shivering from all the intense feelings he was experiencing through out his whole body. The little angel stayed there for a while, feeling the strong arms around him, the rise and fall of the demon’s chest, his breath.

Finally Sans looked up to the demon, finally seeing him face to face, nothing moving Sans away or distracting him. He can see this violator’s face fully, and to Sans’ shock, it didn’t scare him like he thought it would. Instead the face staring back at him looked kinder, even with the added features of the horn, teeth, and other demonic features.

Without thinking, Sans said the first word the face reminded him of. “red…”

Although Red hasn’t heard the name in years, hadn’t even considered to associate it with himself on his own, hearing this word, hearing it from Sans, stroke a chord within the demon. Like it woke up something deep and instinctual within him.

“mmh?” The demon hummed, his voice soft, expecting his angel to follow up with something. Tell him something. Ask him something. Oh, Red just wanted to hear more of that adorable voice of his.

At first Sans didn’t respond, trying to piece together what is happening, the reaction the demon gave him when he said his childhood friend’s name, the way the demon normalized it. It… it can’t be… “r-red….?”

Red glanced down at Sans curious, waiting for Sans to continue, before he let out a soft, “yea?” Confusion was deep in his tone, not exactly understanding why his angel kept saying his name… was Red supposed to say it back? “...sans…?”

But Red’s little angel blinked in surprise when Red responded with with a verbal confirmation, Sans’ whole world stopping right then and there. After a few seconds of stillness, it rebooted and working harder than ever before. “red! is that r-really ya?” Sans’ tone held disbelief and wonder, hope starting to rise as the dots started to connect in his head.

Everything was starting to make sense! So much sense!!!

Red stared at Sans a little confused, not entirely understanding the question. Well, he understood the question , he didn’t understand why Sans asked… Was he not supposed to be Red?

“yea,” Red confirmed anyways, though, that being the only answer that felt right in whatever shriveled up core was left of his soul. “red. tha’s me. i… think.”

Sans stared back at him with wide eyes, before they started to water. His hands shakingly going up to land on Red’s cheeks, squeezing them a little. His angel looked at Red adoringly, happy and overwhelmed, before whispering. “red… i missed ya so much…”

Red didn’t know what Sans meant. Didn’t know when he could’ve missed him, when Red had been with him this whole time. But his hands were on his cheeks, welcoming him, feeling so comfortable, and Red leaned into his touch.

His look of confusion went to one of worry. Sans wasn’t supposed to be crying. He was supposed to be happy, comfortable. Sore, maybe. Probably. Pretty definitely sore. But not crying. Had he been too hard on him!?

“are ya hurt!?” Red asked, his voice urgent, worried. “what’s wrong?”

Sans let out a watery laugh, but he managed to tell his worried demon he was fine. He was more than fine actually, he was great. The happiest he ever been in a long time!

Red was alive !

He was here and he was safe with Sans.

A more quieter part of him was relieved that his first time was with Red after all, that all those touches were Red this whole time, loving him back. Maybe a bit too roughly and Sans would later give him a earful about consent but right now Sans was too happy to care. He had Red back.

Red’s little angel leaned forward and pressed a deep kiss onto the demon’s mouth, not planning to pull away for the rest of his life. He will kiss this face for as long as he lives, forever and ever until they are both dust!

Red truly no longer knew what was going on in any way, but he stopped caring. Sans was laughing. Sans was smiling. He was kissing Red, and that was all he wanted.

Red was kissing his angel back, putting all the love he had for him into it. Like he had to make a statement, like he had to remind him, prove to him he was going to take care of him. Was going to protect him, love him, keep him.

“yer safe with me,” Red rumbled through their kiss. “all mine. my angel…” 

Sans pressed his face closer, successfully shutting up his dumb demon.

-

The two skeletons have been kissing and cuddling each other the whole morning, cooing and nuzzling the other in comfort and affection. But the smaller one can only do so much, barely able to move his body to fully give Red the love and attention he so desperately deserved. It got to the point that Sans didn’t want to deal with it anymore, calling Red’s attention for the hundredth time this morning alone. 

“red, red listen ta me.” Sans’ hand gently patted the demon’s cheek. “can ya take us to the bathroom and help me draw us a bath?”

Red blinked at Sans, keeping his stare for a little while. Like he was expecting Sans to elaborate, tell him what the heck he was talking about. But nothing followed up, so the demon had to resort in just tilting his head, letting out a small confused noise.

He may be able to understand the meaning of most words, yet most were not all, and Red hadn’t exactly had a lot of ‘baths’ back in his church.

Sans frowned, unsure why Red was acting so confused with something so simple. Red’s angel returned the confused look right back at the demon, his hand curresing Red’s cheek gently. “red, let’s go to the bathroom. so we can get cleaned, yeah?”

Red nodded, slowly starting to grow more of an understanding. He gently picked up Sans and sat up, the movement finally causing Red’s dick to slide out of Sans, a wave of red cum following right out of him.

Sans gasped as Red slid out, feeling like his demon just pulled the plug and unleashed a waterfall. “o-oh god…” Sans stammered, his face flaring up in embarrassment.

But Red let out a happy purr, satisfied with the result of having filled Sans, of the cute, flushed face he got from his little angel. He got up, holding Sans in his arms protectively, before moving out of Sans’ room and to the other room he had watched Sans go to. The kitchen.

But the second Sans realized they weren’t heading to the bathroom , Sans tapped Red’s cheek. “no no, reddy. that way, the bathroom is over there red.” His hand pointing behind them, to the door that actually leads to the bathroom. “ya know, the tub of water?”

“water?” Red repeated, glancing to the door Sans pointed to. Yes! He remembered Sans in water there. He gave Sans a determined nod, before practically running to the bathroom door like he’s on a mission, barrelling into the room. 

Sans tried to keep himself quiet as Red ran, the large jolts causing pain to shoot up his neck and lower body from being moved to quickly. Thankfully he managed to keep Red from noticing, there was no need to make a big bad demon worried for him.

Red put Sans into the tub carefully, but he was eying it with confusion, his hand tapping the bottom of it, like he couldn’t believe it was there.

Where was the water? Red was sure he remembered water being here last time. Did Sans’ water hole dry up? But how could they get fresh water, Sans’ den’s roof was water proof enough to not let any rain in.

“it… dried up…” The demon mumbled, a bit confused, a bit disappointed. His eyes were trained on the ceiling now, before he began to climb up the walls, claws digging into them until he was hanging upside down from the ceiling, scratching at it.

Honestly, water proofing the roof where your water hole was is a truly inconvenient choice. Red would have to teach Sans a thing or two about survival… 

Sans screeched when Red started to make a hole in the ceiling, calling out for his…. lover? Are they lovers now? It was a nice thought, but a thought that would have to be touched on later.

“red no! get down from there, red!!” Sans put pressure on the arm that was on the opposite side of the bite mark, his wobbling legs struggling to take his weight. “red stop!” Sans called, only managing to get to his knees.

Red turned his head, blinking at Sans in surprise, confusion. “ya need the water, though…” He said, his voice a little quieter, like he was a kid being lectured, not understanding why.

Sans pushed himself up, managing to wobble out of the tub and go to the knobs. Turning them, making water shoot out of the shower head. As the water started to warm, Sans started gently taking off his jacket and shirt, being very careful about the bite mark on his neck.

Red stared at the shower head in wonder. He let go of the ceiling and flapping his wings a little as he let himself fall into the tub below, landing on his back so he could stare up at the indoors rain.

Sans almost called out in alarm when Red dropped from the ceiling, but his demon managed to get down safely without any bumps or bruises. Once all of Sans’ clothes were off he moved to the tub, reaching out and checking the water.

Was this divine magic? Not even Red has had the luxury of just… making water out of nothing. “yer very powerful,” Red noted, his thick tail wagging a little excitedly, sliding against the walls of the tub.

“heheh, i know~” Sans giggled, adjusting the shower knobs to make the water pleasantly warm. Before his hand went to Red, pulling on the abused shirt. “can ya take all your clothes off, reddy?”

Though ‘all his clothes’ really was only his tattered shirt. His pants had gotten off some time the day before, still lying on Sans’ bed, and he wasn’t wearing anything else.

So he simply nodded, tearing the shirt off his chest, like putting it back on wasn’t even a thought that occurred to him for a second. It wasn’t.

Sans sighed, but figured it would be better if they get Red some new clothes anyways. It wasn’t like those tattered up clothes did much to cover or even help warm Red at all. The thought was very depressing and made Sans’ heart sink, but it’s the cold hard truth that is hitting Sans in the face. The conditions Red lived through until now, the way he reacts to things that he experienced before more than five years ago.

His poor Red…

“does da water feel nice, red?” Sans doesn’t think he would ever get used to saying Red’s name, calling for Red. It was like a tiny blessing to call Red by his name and even more so to get a response. Maybe Sans would never stop, but right now, to Sans it doesn’t seem like a bad thing.

Red was writhing under the shower stream, lying in the tub twisting and turning like a playful pup. Arching his back, wagging his tail, wings spreading out and onto Sans, almost taking up all of the tub.

The water was warmer than the rain water he was used to, tasted cleaner, though with an odd, slightly wrong aftertaste. But it felt good on his bones, relaxing and soothing, and although Red wasn’t aware of it, the water alone was already enough to wash off some of the thick layer of dirt that had been collecting on Red’s bones for years now, the water wandering to the bathtub drain quickly turning into a dirty brown.

But Sans noticed, making the skeleton frown a little. Sans was planning to switch to a bath after a quick rinse, but Red would need way more than a quick rinse before Sans can even think of forming a bath and getting in. Red would most definitely dirty the water right up, making it do the exact opposite for Sans if he were to get in.

So with a sigh, Sans pulled a chair that he usually used to place his clean clothes and towel and used it to sit down outside the tub. Also grabbing his scrubber that he would most likely not use ever again after this and a bar of soap.

Wetting the soap and brush, Sans then rubbed them together to get soap sudds. His attention going back to Red soon after, giving Red a warm smile. “hey red, can ya stay still for me while i clean ya?” It might be a little hard with how Sans’ body was aching and begging for him to have a nice hot bath and how using one of his arms would make the bite mark on his neck hurt, but it didn’t matter. Red went without care for five years, he deserves to be first.

Red’s head snapped to Sans, a big smile on his face as he processed the question, eyed the scrubber. It almost looked like one of those weapons people used, but Red trusted Sans far too much to be worried. Besides, the weird foam his little angel created with it looked like fun.

So he nodded, sitting up in the bathtub like a dog, waiting for Sans to clean him, though his tail never stopped wagging.

And Sans did, using the scrubber to try and get as much dirt of Red as possible. Moving from the top to the bottom, the wings were first, then Red’s head and neck, then down to the chest and arm and so on. The process was rather slow and a lot of time Sans had to adjust or switch positions when his body started to become to much. But it was okay, Red was getting cleaned and all this work would be worth it later when Red is nice and clean and soon to be fed.

Only then they can get down to the more complicated stuff…

Chapter Text

“does that feel good, red” Sans cooed, scrubbing Red’s tail gently, the last part he needed to clean before Red can be rinsed off and considered clean enough to bath.

Red, by now, had adjusted his position to be lying on his stomach, butt to Sans so he could scrub his thick tail, still wagging slowly. His purr was loud and deep as Red felt probably more relaxed than ever before, practically a puddle in the bathtub. He hadn’t known cleaning could be this relaxing, this good. Red wanted it never to stop.

“mmmyea,” he purred happily, stretching his body a bit in an attempt to not fall asleep on Sans. “feels goooood.”

Sans humms, loving that face Red was making, it was rather cute. Even while he was cleaning Red’s long tail, Sans’ couldn’t stop looking at the demon’s face, the most recognizable thing about Red. It was like getting blasted into the past, remembering what they used to do as kids, living in this small town together. It was fun times back then, makes it all the more garring how different and…. sadder their future had become.

With Red’s tail done, Sans discarded those troubling thoughts with the ruined cleaning tool he threw in the garbage. Getting up from his seat with shaky legs to get the detachable shower head, letting himself flop down on the chair when he had the chance.

“alright red, ready to be rinsed?” Sans smiled at his demon pup, a little excited how the demon would react to being directly rinsed by the spray up close. Would he love it like the pup he’s being, or would he be an overdramatic pup acting like the water is killing him? Red was a bit of a wild card right now, but Sans thinks he can get a handle of it.

Red was eying the magic rain wand closely as Sans moved it, curiously. Was Sans planning to direct the rain at his body? He did feel sort of slippery and covered in small, foamy bubbles here and there, was Sans getting those off him?

There sure were a lot of difficult steps just to getting clean, and here Red had always thought a quick dip in a puddle or licking himself over every other month was enough.

Red sat up, legs crossed, and he gave Sans a happy nod, eyes still trained on the shower head, waiting excitedly for what was about to happen.

Sans decided to just go straight for it and directed the spray right into Red’s face, a smile growing on his face as he did so.

Red pinched his eyes close, letting out a small yelp in surprise at the sudden spray. But once he got used to it, to the warm, clean water, his tail slowly started to wag again and he opened his mouth, catching some of the water in it.

It tasted slightly of soap.

He stretched himself so the water could reach more of his body, moving and turning as Sans started to move the shower head, helping him reach every part of Red that still felt soapy. 

He felt spoiled, happy and comfortable. He was warm, clean, safe and finally had his pure angel with him. At this moment Red felt like there was no way this could possibly get any better.

It didn’t take long to rinse Red off, and once Sans deemed him clean enough, he put back the shower head and switched the the shower into a bath. The shower head shutting off while the faucet opened to pour water into the tub. The small skeleton plugging the drain to keep the water in, not bothering to change the temperature, it was perfect at it was.

“how does taking a bath with me sound?” Sans asked, slowly making his way to a shelf on the wall close to the bath, taking one of the colored bath bombs in a cheap basket. It was green, with big letters ‘green healing bath bomb’ in the center of the wrapper. 

Looking at Red with a smile, Sans starts ripping the plastic away. “we can just relax together for a while.” Sans really needed this, his body was ready to collapse. 

Red was looking at the bath bomb like it was a treat, only the green color stopping him from licking it out of Sans’ hands. 

Still not sure what a ‘bath’ was, Red simply made an absent noise in agreement, before sinking more into the water that was slowly starting to rise around him. Relaxing with his angel sounded nice, no matter whether they did it in a ‘bath’ or not, whatever that was. As long as Sans was there, it would be nice.

Sans carefully made his way into the tub, resting between Red’s legs and gently leaning back into the demon’s chest, the demon immediately wrapping his arms around him. The small skeleton waited a little for the water to get higher before he glanced to Red. “ready?” Sans asked gleefully, before he put the bath bomb into the water, watching it sizzle and start to melt, the water around it turning green and glimmery. 

Red was watching the bath bomb with wide, amazed eyes. It was like watching magic unfold before them, all glittery, shiny and green, and it slowly started to take up all of the water. 

The green magic water felt relaxing, even more so than the just warm one did, and Red practically melted into it with a sigh, his excitedly wagging tail finally going slack. Sans sure wasn’t lying when he said they would relax together. This felt like the one time Red found the perfect spot of thick moss in the sun rays, except better in every way and kind of wet.

His arms were loosely holding Sans close, his head slack on top of Sans’. He was lazily licking him, a low purr rumbling deep in his chest.

Sans sighed, welcoming the healing properties the bath offered, his foot idly pushing the handle to the bath to shut off. Before completely letting his body deflate in relaxation, a hand going up to pet Red’s face, soothing him. “does it feel good?” Sans whispered, wanting Red to feel as good as he felt right now. Like they could stay there for hours and not even realize or care. This was their time, their time together.

“perrrfect,” Red slurred through his happy purring, his face leaning into Sans’ hand with a happy, lazy smile. He loved every moment of this, didn’t want this to stop under any circumstances. Everything was perfect. The water felt nice, having Sans close felt nice, his body felt calm and relaxed…

“i’sss so great… love it. thank ya, angel…” 

Sans smiled as he looked up, enjoying the look on Red’s face. Feeling nice and warm inside knowing he, Sans, has done this to Red. Made him look happy, made him feel safe and loved and clean. Red deserves this, he really does after those hard five years alone, in a dark, gloomy church that crashed and burned like it deserved. The only sad thing about the church’s demise was that Red had to fall right along with it, more importantly, he was right in the middle of it, scared and alone.

He wished… he was there for him. Got to him sooner, could prevent those cursed people from touching such an innocent young boy. His boy.

Sans’ smile slowly faded without him knowing, tears barely started to peak at the corners of his sockets as he watched his demon. His demon that needed him, that was alone and scared and probably called out for him when he was taken. And here Sans was thinking ill of him for not showing up to say goodbye to him, when he was locked away and probably tortured.

Those thoughts pained him to the very core.

His poor Red.

“oh… red. ‘m… so sorry. so so sorry… i.. i wasn’...” his voice died off before he could say anymore. The thought of his Red in so much misery that he turned into a vengeful demon.

Red wasn’t sure what was going on, but he didn’t like it. His happy, content angel suddenly seemed so upset. Did Red do something wrong? No, Sans was apologizing… What was he apologizing for? It didn’t matter.

Red was licking over Sans’ face, his large tongue almost covering it entirely, though he was only aiming to catch the tears. And once he felt satisfied enough with that he moved on to covering it with kisses instead.

“don’t cry,” he tried to tell him, his voice a bit panicked, urgent. “don’t be upset! i’s ok!”

Sans sniffed as he caressed Red’s face, deep frown edged on his face. “ya were so alone for so long… ‘m so sorry… ‘m… oh god , ‘m so sorry red.” The smaller skeleton tried his best to hold back the hiccups from surfacing, but there was little he could do. “ ya must’a been so scared, an’ was…” Sans sniffed and hiccuped. “i was not there for you!!”

How could Sans just leave the love of his life to suffer for so long, all alone with no one to turn to, fending for himself. All while Sans lived his life with his family, going to school and enjoying life to its fullest. Red wasn’t with his family, hell his family went through hell when Red disappeared! Red didn’t have warm meals every day like Sans had, or warm baths or a soft welcoming bed.

All the while being a demon, and experiencing it all alone…

It didn’t all make sense to Red. What Sans said, how he was blaming himself. He couldn’t have been there for him earlier, Red only found him a bit ago. And yet Sans seemed so genuinely distraught, guilty, hurt, it was hurting Red, too.

He was giving Sans a mixture of kitten licks and kisses, trying to calm his sweet angel down. He was holding him tighter, closer, almost cradling him, petting his back.

“‘s ok, my angel. yer ok. yer here. i have ya now, we’re tagether now.” 

Sans clung to his demon, letting himself be cradled, while also trying to cradle Red. To comfort Red as much as he is comforting Sans, to try and sooth out the world of pain he experienced alone, but no matter what Sans would do, it wouldn’t change what happened. “oh red, my sweet red. i love ya, ‘m so sorry, i love ya so much… i’m sorry.” Sans kept repeating, petting and caressing the bigger skeleton, while his body pressed as close as he could to the other.

Red wasn’t sure anymore how to respond, what to do. He just wanted to comfort Sans, wanted to ease his sweet angel’s distress. He simply kept him close in his arms, giving him closeness and comfort while humming to Sans’ quiet lamenting.

-

At some point Red managed to calm Sans down enough for him to fall asleep, cuddled up to Red. Both of them finally able to truly enjoy the nice hot bath that was supposed to make them relax .

They stayed there for a good hour and a half, the water starting to get cold, waking the small skeleton up from his light sleep. Rubbing his eyes, he looked up at his big goofy demon and scratched his chin. “hey bud, ya wanna get out so we can have some food?”

The mention of food made the sleepy demon slowly open his eyes. First one, then the other, before they sparkled down at Sans.

“ food? ” Red asked with clear excitement in his voice. He had been too busy to hunt these days, the strange box of food his angel left him a bit ago had been the last food Red had eaten. He didn’t think this day could get any better, and yet his tail was practically creating waves in the water with it’s excited wagging.

He got out of the bathtub quickly, Sans in his arms, as Red was already leaving the bathroom, heading for the closest window to get out and go for a hunt.

Sans screeches as he tries to grab onto anything to stop them from moving forward, from the tub rim, the door frame, and finally to the window before they both go out in public butt naked. “no no no no no no no noooo reeed! stopp!”

The words registered moments before Red managed to reach the window and he stopped in his tracks. Confused he held the skeleton cradled in his arms up to his face, looking him over like he was expecting him to be hurt or something.

Why did he stop him? Didn’t they want to get food?

“no hunt?” Red asked, head tilted in confusion.

“no no red, i got food here. let’s just go back to the bathroom so we can dry off and then we can go to the kitchen so we can eat some food.” Sans tried to reason with his overexcited demon. “let’s do that, okay?” Sans’ hand gently went to pet Red’s cheek, soothing the bigger skeleton’s worry, before leaning in and pressing a delightful kiss on Red’s mouth.

Yes, Sans might not know if they are truly lovers yet, they didn’t even talk about what they were. But dammit, they sexed, and kissed. Sans is all 100% sure they are dating, and the smaller skeleton is at least sure that Red would not mind some kisses from him either.

And Red’s excitedly wagging tail, the way he pressed into the kiss sure proved it, too!

He couldn’t believe Sans actually hunted for him. Hunted for him! His sweet little angel! Red was starting to suspect Sans was much stronger and more powerful than he first thought, with his strange divine water magic, and now being able to hunt enough to share with Red.

He cradled Sans close again and went back to what he now knew was the bathroom, gently placing Sans down, before sitting on the floor cross legged, waiting for Sans’ next instruction. But knowing he got to eat soon had him antsy, excited, wiggling in his sitting position, like a child that was told to sit still but was clearly wanting to run around and play.

Sans gently placed a kiss on Red’s forehead before going to get the towels, wrapping one around his waist before going back to Red. “maybe i should use one of the sheets for my bed as some sort of dress for ya or something, what do you think?” Sans asks curiously, his mind already going through all the ways he could either tie the sheets into some sort of jump suit, or go the lazy route and just wrap it around Red in a weird sort of dress. He had to give him at least something, it would get a little weird seeing Red naked for who knows how long until they get him some real clothes. And like hell Sans would ever give Red back his old, dirty tattered clothes, they were a reminder and an offence to even exist. Sans would have to throw them away later, Red deserves far better than rags.

Sans didn’t have any fitting clothes for Red right now though, and the clothes Sans stole from Red when they were kids were not big enough for the demon’s grown form. Hmm, is it a good idea to leave Red in the house alone? He definitely can’t bring the demon to the store with him, not only because Red is bound to cause disaster, but Sans is unsure about the town’s reaction to his demon friend.

Best to keep this all quiet, at least for now.

The small skeleton rubbed the towel on Red’s body, gently running it over the bones to soak up all the water. The touch light and gentle, like promising only softness and safety. Though it wasn’t easy, Red was an energetic ball right now, not keeping still enough for Sans to rub him down easily. 

Damn this cute over grown demon puppy.

“calm down puppy!” Sans huffed, trying hard not to think about the nickname, “ya need to stay still.”

Red was wiggling. At some point he had fallen on his back and he was now shifting and wiggling from side to side, kicking and pawing, or trying to catch the towel playfully. Sometimes he would remember Sans had told him to sit still, and he would try to do so, but eventually the movement of the towel, or the thought of food simply got him too excited again, and he simply began wiggling on his spot again.

“can we eat yet?” Red asked a little impatiently as he was being dried on his skull and had to fight the urge to catch the towel between his teeth. “what did ya hunt fer us? did ya get a deer?” Deer were pretty big, it would explain why Sans had enough for both of them. Red rarely managed to find deer in his church, usually it was small critters like squirrels or raccoons. Sometimes a stray dog if he got lucky. But deer always lasted the longest.

“nope.” Sans said casually, popping the p. When Sans was finally done drying his demon pup, he started to dry himself, making his way to his bedroom. Opening the drawer with one hand while the other was rubbing the towel on one of his legs that he lifted sightly up, to reach the lower part of the leg. He didn’t want to waste time with clothes, besides his Red is hungry after all.

Pulling a hoodie he stole from Red all those years ago, he put it on quickly before turning to the demon that followed him into his bedroom. “‘m gonna try and give you something to wear if thats okay.” Reaching under the bed to pull out a bed sheet, grabbing an end and flinging the sheet around until it unfolded itself.

Red was watching Sans in fascination, before getting up from his sitting position, grabbing one of Sans’ blankets on his bed and copying his movements with the sheet.

Red’s angel watched as Red not only took a layer off his bed, but copied him cutely. It was hard to be mad at the cutie, not when Red was looking at him curiously, watching to see Sans’ next movements and trying to copy them. Just to see his cute demon be more cute, Sans decided to jerk his arms to and fro, making little waves with the sheets before bouncing them.

Red, not being used to waving a blanket around and trying to be very specific in copying exactly the movements Sans did, like it was a highly specific cheat code to unlock the motherload, struggled to keep up. He was slowly getting his blanket tangled up, absently lifted one leg as he focused on a specific movement Sans just made, before toppling to the side and landing on his butt, blanket falling over him on his head.

Sans giggled, walking over and taking the blanket from Red, throwing it to the bed. “how did you even managed to do that?” Before draping the the sheet he had on to Red, moving it around before tying ends together, making a makeshift jump suit. “there. you look adorable.” Sans stood back up, admiring his work.

Red looked like he was wearing a baggy onesie. 

Red looked over his body, lifting his legs a little, twisting and turning to see every part of his body, now covered in a soft fabric.

“ fake fur, ” Red whispered to Sans with a hint of fascination, though this time not because he didn’t know what clothes were and just because he’s been feeling silly. 

He pushed his face into Sans’ belly, before grabbing him and lifting him up into his arms as he rose up. “thank y’, angel,” he purred, tail wagging happily.

Sans smiled brightly, very happy with the positive reaction. The smaller skeleton was slightly worried Red wouldn’t like wearing clothes, for being to restraining or uncomfortable or the like. But pleasantly enough, Red didn’t seem to mind and even thanked Sans. With his small hands, Sans caressed the demon’s face, lovingly, gently. Before placing a few kissing on his demon’s face. From the forehead, cheeks, nose, and finally the mouth. “yer welcome pup!”

Chapter Text

Sans petted the demon’s head, a wide smile stretch across his face. Gently asking Red to put him down so he could prepare their meal, giving Red a few more pets when the demon happily did as he was asked.

Red… looks so much more carefree and happy than before.

It was a reassuring sight, having Red safe with Sans, in his home where Sans can take care of him. Red doesn't have to worry anymore about food or cleaning or anything. Sans will take care of him, he owes him at least this much.

As the small skeleton goes to the kitchen with a giant pup behind him, does the thought of their roles being reversed cross his mind. Red used to help Sans get food for him and his family, Red always was there to help and support Sans when he barely had anything. Now Red was the one that barely had anything and here Sans was, providing for him and supporting him in his needs. It was nice, paying Red back.

Sans will pay Red back, for everything.

“‘m guessing you like to eat meat?” Sans looked over to the other skeleton, opening up the fridge. “does sausages or ham sound good? eggs?”

The words rang familiar to Red, like a distant, long bygone memory, but he couldn’t quite place it.

He still put his face into the freezy box, sniffing until his nose caught unto a scent he particularly liked. He buried his face deeper, teeth catching the wrapping of ham, before he pulled out again, presenting it to Sans happily.

He was fascinated by his angel’s storage of prey and other foods. He could tell they weren’t all the result of one hunting-and-gathering session - if it were his angel must be insanely powerful - but that he rather used this divine snowy magic to keep it fresh over long times.

Also ham smells good.

Sans smiled as he look it, taking out a few more items from the fridge before closing it again. “ham it is. come over here red, i’ll show ya how i cook.” Usually this lazy little skeleton wouldn’t do all this work for one meal, but for Red…. nothing is too much.

Their first meal of the day would be scrambled eggs and ham on toast, with bacon and hashbrown on the side. Putting the bread in the toaster and placing the pan on the stove, Sans begun his mission to give Red a super big and tasty breakfast! Teaching his little demon pup on the way, so incidents like the bathroom ceiling wouldn’t happen again.

“see this, i can make fire to cook our food, isn’t it cool?” Turning the knob, fire appeared under the pan, where Sans put butter into for the eggs.

Red’s eyes widened, the red eye lights almost resembling the hot color of the flame. Even if it was small, tame, something wilder and bigger burnt in Red’s stomach, something angry and scared and so, so powerful.

He grabbed Sans quickly, roughly, before practically leaping away from the fire, growling at it like it was an animal about to attack them, while Red was backing off warily.

Screaming was ringing in his ears and Red had to lie down, clawed hands covering his skull in an attempt to block them off. To block off the roaring of fire. The smell of burnt flesh and bones.

Red let out a whine.

Hands rested on top of his, before the hands gently guided his head up. A presence leaned close to his face, before a voice shushed him. “shhh, red it’s okay. don’t worry ‘m here. yer angel is here, yer angel won’t leave ya, i swear. i’ll keep ya safe, i promise.” Sans gently nuzzled his face into Red’s, sweat running down his head.

Seeing Red this way, so scared, looking so alone and tortured. It… it shouldn’t ever happen.

The small skeleton kissed the demon’s forehead, whispering, “‘m here.” Over and over again, hoping desperately it will work to calm the demon skeleton.

Red’s heavy breathing slowly turned to deep intakes, soaking up the smell of his angel. He was nuzzling back into Sans, practically burying into him, trying to get as close as he could.

“sans…” Red mumbled, his voice quiet, almost hoard. Hands wrapped around Sans, holding him tight. “‘t hurts…” He could feel the flames licking at his bones. Could feel the fear of dying. Of leaving. Of leaving Sans. The desire to see him…

Red nuzzled more into him, sitting up now, but squeezing Sans as close as he could. “yer here…” He muttered. “yer here. yer with me…”

Small arms wrapped around the demon’s neck, rubbing the back of his head delicately. “yeah, ‘m here… and ‘m not goin’ anywhere either.” Every word Sans said, every movement he made, felt oh so critical and important. Like any wrong move will break his poor puppy, his poor puppy that suffered so much for so long. He had to make sure that stops, stops with him, stops now that Sans will protect him.

Red nodded. He nodded along Sans’ words, clinging to them. Sans was here, Red was with him. He wasn’t in the church. He was safe. He was in Sans’ den. Sans had everything under control here. He wasn’t going to hurt him…

Red slowly, gently let go of Sans, before stalking closer to the small flame on the stove. He couldn’t help but to still glare at it, body clearly tense, but he wasn’t hiding.

“your magic?” He asked, tone a bit wary.

Sans was standing next to him, nodding to the demon. “yeah, i can control how big it gets. ya don’ have to worry, it will never get big enough to hurt ya, ever.” Slowly Sans went up to the stove, watching the melted butter in the pan. He stared at it for a while, before grabbing two eggs and cracking them into the pan. 

The small skeleton let the eggs sit there for a moment before he started to mix, then looking to the demon. “you don’ have to come close, just leave it to me, okay?” Red, please let me take care of you. “i can give ya some ham and you can sit at the table.” Please go and relax, let me do this for you.

Sans offered a nice big slice of ham, giving Red a small smile.

Red blinked at the ham, not sure why Sans was offering it to him. Why he was offering all of this. But he took it in his mouth, happily chewing on it, as he sat down onto his butt right then and there. Watching Sans do his business.

Not just did he not quite feel right leaving Sans alone with the flame, but he also simply wanted to… feel close to him. He wanted to stay next to him. To watch him curiously.

His body relaxed with the ham in his mouth. He didn’t feel like there was a threat just waiting to take them over. 

Seeing his pup relaxed and calmed took a huge weight off Sans’ shoulders, knowing Red is taken care of. And with an extra bonus of seeing his cute demon flop right then and there on his cute tushy was the cutest thing he ever saw. Go little puppy, go! Munch on that ham cutely like you do!

As for Sans himself, he will get back to preparing the first batch of eggs, then continuing with the rest of their meal. All the while he would occasionally give Red more slices of ham, keeping his pup happy while he waited.

Finally, putting their plates on the table, Sans motioned Red over. “look red, food is ready. come eat.” The small skeleton making his way to his seat, sitting down as he patting the spot next to him where Red’s food was.

Red followed him slowly, eying the chair curiously, before sitting down on it. It felt… awkward. But not necessarily bad. He’s seen people use these things to sit down, though Red never quite had the luxury to sit anywhere with a backrest better than maybe a rock or a wall.

The chair wasn’t the most fascinating about this situation, though.

The food smelled incredible! Nothing, nothing Red has ever killed had tasted even closely as good as this odd looking dish smelled. He was practically salivating all over his plate as he stared at it with longing, wondering quite what he had done to deserve such a grand gift.

Sans snorted as he watched the scene, bumping Red’s shoulder with his arm. “ya don’t have to wait, eat.” To further show Red can go ahead and eat, Sans took his toast and bit into it.

Red blinked at Sans a bit surprised, mostly out of having been taken out of his moment rather than his words. But once they settled in, he quickly nodded, a big hungry grin on his face, before wolving down his food.

It tasted just as amazing as it smelled, and Red let it be known through his happy hums and moans, muffled from his constantly filled mouth.

The small skeleton watched with a smile as Red ate his food happily, his boney tail wagging widely and wings flapping slightly. Good, this is how Red should be like everyday for the rest of his life.

Oh Red, so much has happened to you…

“hey um… red? do ya… remember what happened to ya? what made ya this way?” Sans almost couldn’t get the words out. Truth be told, Sans didn’t really want to know, he didn’t want to know how much Red suffered, but on the other hand Sans knew he needed to know. To help Red.

Red blinked at him. The question didn’t make sense to him. What happened to him? What did he mean?

“i found ya,” Red tried to tell him. It was the closest of an answer he could think of. “i been waitin’ fer ya. fer my angel.” Even if he hasn’t always been aware of it, he knew, deep in his soul, that he has. He’s been waiting for Sans. He’s been craving Sans. Looking for him, even subconsciously.

Sans was all he’s ever wanted. In all his years alone in the church… 

Sans blinked, before shaking his head a little. “no, i mean in the church. what happened to you in the church? why didn’t you come to see me off when i moved away?” His soul was already trying to brace itself of the pain that will no doubt come when Red answers, it just sucks that his soul already hurts before Red even told him.

But Red had a hard time understanding what he meant. He blinked, frowning, shaking his head as if to clear the mist that was hiding the memories.

See him off? See him off what? Red couldn’t remember seeing his angel until a few days ago.

But he did remember the church. He did remember the, “fire…”

Red grunted at the word, like it hurt him physically. “it hurt… i wanted… i… wanted ta go ta ya…” 

Oh, the pain. The sweet awful pain sure did come. Sans knew it, his soul… it shattered. “oh red… is.. i-is that all ya remember?” The ice cold dread that ran down from his head all the way to his toes taking over the pain in his chest until it was a dull ache. 

Please don’t let this be true.

Red felt like there was more.

No.

Red felt like there should be more. Like he knew there used to be more, but it just… was gone. Inaccessible. Forgotten.

He scratched his skull, trying to focus, to remember, but it wasn’t there anymore. He looked at Sans, shaking his head.

“nothin’ before that.”

Sans looked down at his food, the heavy weight back on his shoulders, but this time it was stabbing him all over. “so… ya don’t remember me? ya don’t remember anything we used to do? how we met or grew close or… nothing…?” There was a lump in his throat, he wanted to throw up. Sans wanted to curl up and die.

Are all those precious years lost to Red forever? Why was this whole thing so cruel!

Red blinked at Sans sadly. He could tell this was important to his angel. That this made him emotional. But he just… couldn’t remember.

“no one gets close ta a demon,” Red decided to tell him. Before he nuzzled into Sans’ face, giving him a small purr. “except fer angel.”

“we were closer… back then.” Sans mutters, looking away, his hand picking up a straw piece of ham that fell from his toast. Putting it to Red’s mouth idly. “we used to be so much more closer…”

Red listened to Sans quietly, chewing on the ham in his mouth. He wasn’t entirely sure what Sans was talking about, but he had the odd feeling like he wanted to know. Like he… wanted to remember. Remember whatever time his angel apparently remembered with him.

Had they met in a past life? Or was his angel thinking of someone else entirely…? But then why… did it feel so important to him?

Sans turned to his demon, only to see Red deep in thought. And it didn’t really look like they were happy thoughts either, no that wouldn’t do. “hey.” Sans called to the other, petting him. “it’s okay, we’ll figure this out.” Somehow .

The small hand rubbed the demon’s head gently, changing up where he scratched and rubbed until his hand rubbed against one of Red’s horns. Hmm.

Red sure got some new body parts too.

Sans’ hand went to the base of the horn, gently caressing it before moving up. “hehe, yer one horny demon.” Sans giggled, a small smile forming. There is no need to make Red feel bad over something he doesn’t have control over.

Red responded with a giggle, that smoothly mixed into a purr. He nuzzled his head into Sans’ palm happily.

“they’re strong!” Red told him proudly. He remembered getting into a head butting contest with a stag one time. It ended with broken antlers on the church’s ground and Red’s horns practically free from any harm.

Proudly he told Sans the story, chest puffing out as he recalled the memory.

Cute.

Red was cute. Cute as fuck.

“oh? really? wow red you’re so strong! what a big strong boy ya are~” Sans cooed, scratching Red affectionately as he listened. Both hands going to each horn to rub and feel over the rough bone. Huh, they do feel pretty strong. Though it shouldn’t be a surprise, Red has always been strong as a normal monster kid. Becoming a demon would have made him really strong for sure. “such a strong boy deserves so many pets and smooches, yeah?” As the monster places a smooch on Red’s nose.

Red’s tail began wagging with the kiss, his eyes squinting closed happily.

He wasn’t sure how Sans did it, but somehow he made Red feel so… special. So safe. He came to protect Sans, and yet Red felt like thanks to Sans here, there was nothing wrong with the world. 

He was happy, he was safe, he was whole. Sans’ den was warm and comfortable, he had lots of food in storage, powerful divine elemental magic to control indoors rain, small fires, freezing boxes…

Sans was truly the best thing that could have happened to Red… and he was all his.

With that though, Red got on top of Sans, straddling him and arms on Sans’ shoulders, completely forgetting about his own weight. His thick tail was hitting the table as it wagged, but Red didn’t care. He was licking his angel’s face in appreciation.

Sans made a small dying sound as his lower body died under the weight. His hands squeezing Red’s arms as hard as he could. “r-red! it hu-hurrts!” Wiggling his legs under Red to let the large demon know where and how. “red! ow!” His tone urgent, one eye closed in pain.

Red squeaked in surprise, quickly flapping his wings in an attempt to get off of Sans. The gust launched him up with Sans in his arms, even if only by a bit, which caused the chair to tip and both of them to tumble off. Though Red reacted quick, turning his body to land on his back, Sans safely pressed to his chest.

Once on the ground. The demon continued to lick his angel, tail going right back to wagging against the floor now.

Sans sighed in relief, after his legs almost getting crushed into dust and being thrown about so suddenly while his furniture gets tossed about. This demon will be the death of him, but to be honest, Sans doesn’t mind. Not at all.

“hehe, red. you’re so silly!” Sans places a little kiss on Red’s mouth, before his hands start to wonder over the demon’s shoulder and to the base of the wings that connect to the rest of Red’s body. 

So cool~

Red’s wings flapped happily in display, the thick leathery skin and bones hitting the ground. He liked the way Sans seemed to explore his whole body. It felt almost as if he was admiring it. Admiring all that belonged to him, and Red felt proud. Felt loved. Felt special.

“hey reddy, ya mind laying down over there for me?” Sans pointing to the couch on the other side of the room. It would be way easier to explore Red’s body when he is laying down where Sans can reach any part of his body. “i wanna pet ya all over like the good boy ya are!”

Red deserves all the pets in the world.

The demon glanced over to the couch in question, before getting up. He didn’t let go of Sans, but he wandered over to the couch and flopped onto his back on it, leggies up like an animal would have them positioned, while his wings were spread out. One over the backrest, the other reaching onto the floor. He looked at Sans happily, expectantly.

Sans smiled brightly, his fingers flexing as he got ready to pet and feel over Red’s whole body. Yeah, Sans thinks both of them are gonna have a good time.

Chapter Text

Fingers now prepared, Sans started to scratch Red’s body. Starting from the chest and slowly making his was down the ribcage, making sure his little fingers sometimes went into the spaces between each rib. 

Red deserves this, every little bit of it. After everything he’s been through all alone, how could he not deserve everything in the world?

The demon’s thick tail started wagging as a deep purr came rumbling from his throat, clearly happy in his position.

The smaller skeleton smiled as he felt the strong vibrations coming from the big ribcage, making Sans feel the vibrations go up to his elbows. Huh, such a strong and deep noise coming from a demon. Are demons usually this strong? Both physical and vocally? 

Red sure was bigger than the last time Sans saw him, of course he must have grown with age. But he doubted Red would have grown to this size if he was still a normal monster. Oh Red, such a cruel fate you were dealt. Is it even possible to revert him back? Can Sans even hope to find something that could help Red at all? Or was it too late? Was Sans just a few years too late to help his old friend? 

The smaller skeleton didn’t want to think about that. The idea was so painful it made his soul drop and made him slightly dizzy.

No, he has to think positive. He got Red back, Red and him are now together and this time they will never be broken apart ever again. Now Sans just has to focus on getting Red back to show he once was, to maybe get him the normal life he deserves. Free of torment and creepy burned churches. Maybe he could find something useful in the church?

The church wouldn’t shut up about demons, maybe they know some information that could lead to Red’s recovery. The idea had many holes and was pretty flimsy, if anyone in that cursed church even knew a damn thing about demons then they would have helped ‘purify’ people, not just straight up want to kill them like they say they would. But the church was the only lead he had that had remotely any experience on demons, Sans can’t afford to be picky.

One of Sans’ hands went down to Red’s spine, running the tips of his fingers up and down mindlessly. Too focused on his thoughts to really pay attention to what he was doing anymore, or how his scratching sometimes became firm strokes or loving rubbing.

Red, however, noticed. Very much so, even. He relaxed with the gentle scratching, but the firmer Sans’ touches got, the more he started stroking his spine, the more Red started to squirm lightly.

Sans’ smell was intoxicating, combined with his magical hands on Red’s touch starved bones. Red felt like he needed more of the sensation, didn’t want Sans to ever stop touching him.

It didn’t take long for Red’s purr to get interrupted by heavy breathing, quickly turning into light panting.

But the other didn’t notice, Sans’ thoughts moving to other important topics. Like Red’s family! They would definitely want to know what happened to Red, would want to see him again. He knows Edge certainly does, but will they like what they see? Sans isn’t too worried about them accepting Red, he has a feeling that they love him too much to reject him now. He was more certain about Edge than Fellster, but Sans can’t help but be hopeful, that not just one, but both of them would accept and love Red the second they have him back. 

They just need to get used to him like this, that’s all.

Sans’ train of thoughts got interrupted by a deep, growly moan. The skeleton’s hand had slowly wandered lower Red’s body, moving past the blanket working as his clothes right now. 

The demon started to feel drunk on the touches, groaning and panting under them, wanting and needing more.

“saaaaans,” he groaned out, his voice deep and slurred, like his angel used some kind of hypnotizing spell on him. Red didn’t mind. Sans could use any spell on him he wanted if it made him feel this.

The blanket around his pelvis started to feel tighter than before, Red realized, and he began squirming and groaning a little, suddenly wishing he wasn’t trapped in all this fake fur.

Sans blinked, before a blush covered his face. Seeing Red wiggle and groan under him, how his pelvis glowed through the blanket and a bulge growing to an embarrassingly big size. Was that really inside him once?

“o-oh.” The smaller stuttered, “sorry, didn’t mean to rile ya up, pup.” Poor thing, looking so restricted and uncomfortable wrapped in the blanket.

Sans’ hands moved to untangle the makeshift clothing from Red’s body, freeing Red from its grasp and exposing the huge cock, the demon letting out a relieved groan once he felt the cold air on it. Seeing it right in front of him, taking in its size and glory, Sans couldn’t help himself but lose his breath.

Damn.

With the release of his cock, it was like a wave of instincts and cravings overcame Red. Sans’ scent suddenly felt so much stronger, enough to get drunk on it. And his sweet, innocent but shocked face had Red licking his teeth like a hungry animal. Growling he moved to sit up, clawed hands suddenly around Sans’ shoulders to push him down onto the couch and reverse their position. 

A surprised yelp was his reward as Sans’ hands shot up to grab Red’s arms to balance himself.

Sans looked like a piece of meat underneath Red. A delicious, beautiful, perfect piece of meat. The kind you didn’t wolf down, the kind you’d enjoy in little pieces, making sure you got the most out of it.

Red licked over Sans’ cheek hungrily to soak up more of his scent, his taste, starting to hump into Sans’ crotch.

Sans gasped, fully realizing where this was going and slightly dreadful. It’s not that Sans doesn’t want to get intimate with Red, it’s just that his ass is still kinda sore and fucking again might just put Sans into a coma. “h-hey red.” He stuttered, squeezing the other’s bulky arms a little to gain the demon’s attention.

Offering a sheepish, apologetic smile Sans said. “hey red, ‘m still kinda sore from last time. maybe i can… do something else for ya?” Sans just hopes Red would let him please him some other way.

For a second Red looked confused, not sure why Sans was stopping him in his actions. But the words seemed to slowly make sense and Red blinked at his little angel. 

"...magic?" Red asked in a curious tone. "ok!" 

He wasn't sure what Sans had planned, but he was suddenly excited, tail wagging and dick throbbing. 

Sans smiled, very pleased that Red agreed easily with no complaints. “okay, lay back down for me~” Sans hummed, putting a hand on Red’s chest and gently guiding him to lay back down on his back, before the smaller skeleton climbed over his legs.

Carefully, maybe a little embarrassed, small hands started to touch the throbbing cock. Gently starting to stroke it, at first his fingers were like a feathers touch, but then grew firmer with every stroke. Sans’ looking up to see Red’s expression. “does that feel good?”

Red was watching Sans with a curious expression, at first a little impatient. But once his touches grew firmer, Red let out happy growls and groans. 

His tongue lolled out and his head threw back, but he kept his eyes on Sans, addicted to the sight of him. Of Sans' small hands on Red's large cock. 

Soon enough Sans started to put a little razzle dazzle in his movements, one hand going down to play with the balls while the other kept pumping the dick. Sometimes staying at the tip to give it some special attention before going back to pumping. Now Sans wasn’t some professional dick pleasing master, but he had his own dick that he experimented on. Though it may not be enough for this monster of a dick, Sans’ hands were small and stubby. It may have worked with his sized dick, but Red’s dick was completely different.

“is this ok?” Sans muttered, pressing the tip of his finger slightly into the slit on the tip of the cock. “ya like this red?”

Fortunately for Sans, Red loved how small Sans' hands looked compared to him, the sight only riling him on more. 

He couldn't give Sans a response, but he let out a guttural groan and moaned like it was a song written just for his angel. 

His hips were bucking into Sans' motions, trying to get even more out of it. 

"goooooood," Red finally managed to drawl out, eyelights blown up as they stayed fixed on the love of his life. 

Sans blushed as his smile became wider, his love for this monster can’t possibly get any bigger than it already is. “good.” Sans nodded, before moving his head down to completely take in the tip of Red’s dick. One hand fondling Red’s balls, the other pumping his shaft while his mouth went to town on Red’s dick. It was a little tricky doing two different motions with both hands while focusing on sucking off the tip, but Sans managed.

And it was worth it, too. He got rewarded with loud moans, pleasured groans, and as Red got closer to his limit, even roars of pleasure. 

The demon felt like his mind was blown, feeling this kind of pleasure without even mating Sans. And yet it felt even better than last time, the way Sans was doing it for him, was trying to please Red. The way Red could practically feel the love coming off his perfect angel. 

He came with a cry, streams hot red cum filling up Sans' mouth until it couldn't fit anymore and dripped out and down his chin. 

Sans coughed out most of it, mostly due to how unexpected and unprepared he was. Rubbing his mouth while he sat up, one eye closed as he focused on clearing his throat. After amount a minute or so, the smaller skeleton looked down and smiled. “good boy.” A hand went to pet one of Red’s legs.

Red, now limp, let out a relaxed purr, feeling like everything was right in the world. Feeling like nothing existed but him, Sans, and the little post-orgasm tingles. 

He wanted Sans closer, so his tail curled around Sans, pushing the small skeleton closer to Red’s chest, where the demon slowly wrapped his arms around him, holding him close, content and happy. The purr rumbled through both of them, and they stayed there for a few moments, just enjoying each other’s closeness.

Up until the moment got interrupted by the ring of the doorbell.

At first Sans didn’t really care to much about the doorbell, his world revolving around Red and Red alone. Before reality came crashing down when the situation started to settle in. Someone was at Sans’ house, someone Sans would have to interact with by opening the door. But there were so many problems that could happen if Sans were to do just that.

One, whoever was on the other side could see Red inside the house and would freak out, cause all this attention to come to Red and maybe even the whole town. It would be even worse if the town decided they didn’t want him around and tried to destroy him like the church did.

Two, Red would feel threatened and could cause trouble. Might even attack, which could lead to Sans having to deal with a dead body. Sadly Sans doesn’t know which is worse, Red scaring someone enough to make them want to purge Red or Red killing them and making a person in a small town go missing. 

Yes, Sans was not with Red enough to know how his demon would react, but he knew it probably isn’t good. 

“i should get that, stay here ok?” Sans muttered lowly to the demon under him, sliding off his chest and petting Red’s head before going to the door.

Not hearing what was happening at all, Red had let out an affirmative purr, but sat up disappointed once Sans left. He wanted to follow, but his angel told him to stay…

Red decided to listen closely instead, wanting to know why his little mate decided to leave this perfect moment.

He frowned once he smelled a new scent.

“SANS!!!” Edge’s voice rang out once the shorter skeleton had opened the door. “I FOUND CRITICAL NEW INFORMATION ABOUT-” He froze up, his dark eyes suddenly trained on Sans’ mouth and hands. There was something odd on them, he realized, and it only took him a moment to recognize it.

“D-D-DEMON SLIME!!!” He shrieked out. “DID IT COME BACK!? ARE YOU HURT!?”

The small unexpecting skeleton looked down at himself to see the ‘slime’, his blush coming back full force. “uhhhh…. its um… i actually have everything under control now.” He says meekly, almost like he was embarrassed.

Edge looked surprised at that answer, for a moment not sure what it meant. He blinked at Sans.

“YOU… SLAYED THE DEMON?” He asked, almost not sure if he believed it, although he sure wanted to.

But his hopes were quick to be disproved.

Red growled at the loud noises coming from the intruder. He recognized the smell, knew it was the same monster that was with his angel before, but he didn’t like anyone invading their territory. Especially not when the intruder sounded this loud. Were they trying to scare his angel!? Trying to hurt him!?

Edge was quick to react to the noises, letting out a less than dignified screech. 

“WAS THAT T-THE DEMON!?” He asked, trying to whisper, though his voice stayed naturally loud. “ IT’S NOT DEAD!?”

Sans didn’t get to answer, not before Red already let out an angry roar, although he was still waiting out of their view.

Edge screeched again, this time grabbing Sans and holding him close for comfort. He looked like he was about ready to make a run for it.

Sans petted Edge’s head as he tried to wiggle his way out from the tall skeleton’s grasp, giving him a reassuring smile. “hey edge, it’s ok, it’s ok. don’t worry the demon’s friendly.” Yeah, even Sans would have a hard time believing that after everything Sans has told Edge before and the the angry noises Red was making towards Edge right now.

And Edge sure was having one, too. He almost glared at Sans.

“THIS IS NO TIME FOR FOOLERY!” The tall skeleton complained, although he didn’t really feel like Sans was the type to fool around… Not in a situation like this at least.

Was he saying the truth?

“YOU’RE… ARE YOU SURE IT IS FRIENDLY?” He asked, very hesitant, slowly letting go of Sans.

Sans nodded, before giving Edge a motion to stay put. Before leaning his upper body inside the house, looking into the living room where Red was. “hey you, calm down everything’s fine.” He told the demon, almost exhausted he now has to deal with both of the fell brothers when they’re on the edge and ready to act.

Red’s tail started wagging once Sans came to him, looking at him a bit worried. He wasn’t quite sure if he agreed , but… if his angel said everything was okay, then he trusted him...

Sans fully exits the house once again and faces his attention back to Edge, sighing a little. Oof, this is not going to be easy to tell Edge. “okay, so i have good news and bad news.”

Edge blinked a bit confused. He had a hard time computing Sans just… talked to the demon. And so calmly, too.

“NEWS…?” He asked once he started to progress. “TELL ME. GOOD NEWS FIRST.”

Sans sucked in a deep breath, held it for five seconds before letting it out. “i found red.”

“ RED!? ” Edge gasped in disbelief. He forgot about the demon completely, his sole focus on the news. He didn’t care about whether there was a demon or not, he pushed past Sans and into the house, impatient to see Red.

He stopped only for a second to eye the demon warily, but once he realized it was neither attacking or growling at him, simply giving him a wary glare as well, Edge decided to look over the room.

“WHERE IS HE?”

Sans walked into the house after him solemnly, closing the door behind him. “bad news is red is the demon…” His gaze goes to the demon in the room, before going towards said demon. His hands raising until he gently grabbed Red’s head, hugging it.

Edge blinked at the demon in shock, not sure what to think at first. The words didn’t seem to make sense, he couldn’t possibly have heard right.

But now that the idea was in his head, he looked at the demon and… he recognized those bones. The demon’s face was peeking out through Sans’ hug, giving him a little glare, although his squished cheeks made it hard to see it as intimidating, as Edge took in the details. This chubby yet clearly shaped face. Those dark eye sockets, missing their playful eyelights. 

He looked scarred, though. Heavier, bigger. Even sharper teeth than he got passed on from their father…

Was it really him?

“...Red?” Edge asked, his voice uncharacteristically quiet. Unsure.

Red gave him a curious huff. This name - his name, Red had figured - sounded so familiar in this voice. Like he’s heard this a thousand times before…

Red narrowed his eyes, before he looked at Sans. “who’s this?” He asked, tone almost demanding. 

“thats your brother, red. that’s edge.” Sans pulls away, but his hands are still pressed to Red’s cheeks, a thumb caressing one cheek softly. He really hopes Red would accept Edge, his brother has worked so hard to figure out what happened to him, it just wouldn’t be fair. “he looked for you for a really long time, he missed you so much.”

He kissed Red’s forehead, hoping that all this loving affection would keep Red calm and open to the idea of Edge and having a relationship with him once again. “we both missed ya.”

Edge… The name rang a bell, deep deep inside Red’s suppressed memories. He looked at the tall skeleton, eyes wide and curious this time. 

And Edge was staring back, his eyes just as wide.

“Red…” He said again, taking in all of his brother. His long lost brother, who he missed so much. He was almost about to join their hug, but something else caught his attention. Something red and bright and… big.

Edge’s eyes were stuck between Red’s legs for a moment. Before they went back to the slime still smeared around Sans’ mouth and hands.

“S-... SANS!!! IS THAT- DID YOU-!? ” He was stammering, his voice rising again, shocked, before he screeched. “DID YOU TWO SEX!?”

Sans gasped, before he quickly covered his face, quickly going to the kitchen to wash it all off. “a-ah! no! we didn’t, we just had… um… some fun?” This is horrible, why did Edge have to come now out of all times?

Chapter Text

“-so now he’s here, with me.” Sans finished explaining to Edge. After he had cleaned his hands and face, Sans returned to the living room. Wrapping Red up in the makeshift sheets once again before sitting down with Edge and Red. “though i don’t really know what to do now…”

What would be Red’s life now? Was it wrong to thrust him into a new life style now ? When he was so used to his life as a demon, no memories of his past life and living a whole new one in the wide?

Sans wasn’t the only one worrying about that. Edge’s feeling of relief and happiness on seeing his long lost brother again had soon turned into deep worry and struggle. He had never quite thought of what he would do once - or rather if - he found his brother again, though he sort of just assumed things would more or less go back to normal.

Given the situation at hand, though, that seemed like less of an option now than ever before.

The demon was devoid of any of their worries, lying on his belly on the couch, his head on Sans’ lap and his legs and tail hanging off the armrest. He didn’t quite understand what the two skeletons were talking about, but it hurt his head and made them frown, so Red didn’t see a reason to bother trying to understand.

“AND YOU SAY HE CAN’T REMEMBER ANYTHING?” Edge asked, a slimmer of desperate hope in his voice, that maybe Sans was going to disagree. 

Sans frowns and shakes his head, his head tilted down in grief. “i think… there is something there… but not memories.” He looks down at the demon, thinking back to his interactions with Red once he found him. “i think he knows when things are familiar maybe? he did cling to me once he saw me.”

Though Sans wasn’t sure if it was just feelings Red felt from his past or just because he liked Sans in general. Maybe Red was just attracted to small funny skeletons like Sans?

Edge was eying the demon, hoping to find something in his eyes. Some kind of recognition. Like he remembered.

But Red’s eyes were focused on Sans… Of course they were. At least that part hadn’t changed. Even as a teen Red only ever had eyes for Sans.

“THERE HAS TO BE A WAY TO GET HIS MEMORY BACK,” Edge said, trying to sound determined, though he felt more desperate. “I DON’T BELIEVE IT’S ALL JUST… GONE!” 

But he only got a shrug from Sans, who looked a little discouraged by the daunting and unknown task ahead of them. His hand falling to Red’s head as he gently traced the demon’s facial features, even booping the snoot to try and give himself something to enjoy. “what about fellster?” Wouldn’t he need to know? Maybe he would know something that would help, but then again why would the Fell brother’s father know anything about demons?

Edge, though, could only cringe upon hearing his father’s name. He knew how critical Fellster was with his believes that Red was gone. If he brought him this demon… Edge didn’t even want to think about how he was going to react. But he knew Fellster had a tendency to lash out when he didn’t know what to do with his emotions, and he doubted it was a good idea to put Red into this kind of situation right now.

“BAD IDEA. VERY BAD,” he decided to tell Sans. “FATHER SHOULDN’T KNOW. NOT FOR NOW, AT LEAST. NOT UNTIL RED REMEMBERS MORE.”

If they could prove this demon was Red, if Red could talk to Fellster… then… maybe it would work out better.

The smaller skeleton blinked at the firm and quick reaction the other gave to the idea of Fellster getting involved at all, but it made sense. Fellster was… a special case that wouldn’t fit a sensitive situation such as this. “okay… then ‘m out of ideas.” 

Edge frowned as he focused hard trying to think of a way to get Red’s memory back, coming up blank. This wasn’t the kind of situation either of them has probably ever dealt with, how would they ever know what to do? They had to find some information elsewhere…

But who knows about demons? Hell, Edge hadn’t even thought demons were real until now…

For a brief moment he thought about asking the church, but… No. That was a bad idea. A horrible idea, in fact.

“THE ONLY PLACE I CAN THINK OF IS… THE LIBRARBY.”

Sans paused his snoot booping to look up at Edge confused, his face twisted in unsureness. “did… did ya just have a stroke?” A snort actually escaping his mouth as his mouth turned into a weak smile.

“A STRO- WHAT???” Edge asked slightly irritated. “NO! WHY!? ”

“ya said ‘librarby’.” Sans smiled wider.

“LIBRAR… OH .” Edge huffed a bit in offense. “WELL, IF ANYONE HAD A STROKE IT WOULD BE THE LIBRARBY OWNER! THAT’S JUST WHAT IT’S CALLED.”

Sans paused, at first confused at what Edge was trying to tell him, before it sank in. “wait… we have a library called ‘ librarby’ ? this is actually a thing?!” Sans loves this, he has to see this with his own eyes.

“i love it.” The owner was a genius.

-

It was a little cramped in Edge’s car with a big demon taking up a lot of space. It didn’t help that Red looked like he couldn’t find a comfortable position to be in, what with his wings and big clawed feet making it really awkward for him. Poor guy.

“we’ll be there soon.” Sans looked back from the passenger seat to give Red a small smile.

Red was hunched over in the back, wings tightly to his back and tail swishing left and right nervously. He stretched his neck the second he saw Sans turn to him, making little clicking noises as he tried to touch Sans’ nose with his.

The car made him feel sick and anxious. He was trapped in a tiny space, the ground kept on shaking, and the environments he saw out of the window kept on changing, like they were moving despite their legs not moving.

He clung to the familiarity and closeness of Sans, closing his eyes like he was soaking in his presence.

Sans placed a hand onto Red’s cheek, pressed his nose hole against Red’s as he placed a small kiss onto the demon’s mouth. “shh, yer fine. i’m here.” His hand gently caressed the cheek as he whispered to the demon, trying to at least block out the uncomfortable ride with his voice and touch.

“edge, how much longer?” Sans wasn’t even looking at the road, but he knew it shouldn’t be that long. The town wasn’t really that big, the most time consuming thing about driving would have to be the pedestrians that didn’t have a car walking around with little worries to crazy drivers.

“WE’RE HERE,” Edge told him conveniently, already slowing down the car as he pulled in to park near the librarby. “THIS IS THE ONLY LIBRARB- LIBRARY IN TOWN.” He wasn’t sure why he added this, Sans lived here before, too. He already knew how small their town was.

He stopped the car, getting ready to get out, before he froze up, hearing shifting from the back. Almost anxiously Edge looked back.

“...WHAT WILL WE DO WITH HIM?” Surely they couldn’t just go into the librarby with a demon in tow… Should they leave him in the car? But what if others saw him through the window? And wasn’t there something about not staying in the car because of the heat, or was that for dogs…?

But Sans wasn’t worried, instead he tapped Red gently to get his attention and said, “he is good at hiding, aren’t you red?”

Red chirped happily, before nodding eagerly. He was great at hiding! To stalk prey, to watch over his angel from the shadows, to observe people outside his territory… He was a master at hiding!

“i hide!” He told him proudly, like he was doing something great for him with this.

Sans looked at Edge proudly, like his child did something amazing that none of the other kids in the class can do. “see, master of stealth. lets go.” He gave Red a few pets before he opened the car door and hopped out.

When Edge stepped out as well and looked back to see Red come out, he startled.

Red was already gone.

“WHERE…” Edge began, before remembering Sans’ words. “HE’S… HIDING ALREADY?” He was looking around, expecting to see a hint of Red somewhere, but… nothing. Nothing but an odd, lingering feeling of being watched.

But Sans was already walking past him to the building that was oh so poorly but beautifully named, or at least to Sans’ opinion. The small skeleton used to looking both sides of the street from up coming cars, but the streets were mostly empty.

Edge followed him, still looking around to see Red, but he really just… vanished. 

Once in the librarby the air was… different. But that’s just how the librarby was. It smelled of paper and old books, everything was so quiet, yet you could hear whispered chatter here and there. He never quite admitted it to anyone, but Edge kind of enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere here.

“I’M NOT SURE WHERE TO START LOOKING,” he mused, not noticing how his loud voice broke through the peaceful silence. “MAYBE WE SHOULD ASK THE LIBRARBIAN IF THERE’S ANY BOOK ABOUT… DEMONS?”

“i guess we can do that.” Sans muttered, looking around a little lost as to where to start. Maybe they should start in the non-fiction area? Or would demons be in fiction? Does this town believe demons exist? If not, what did they think was going on with the church? “‘m gonna try going to the non-fiction area first.”

The small skeleton waved at Edge a little just in case the other didn’t hear him, going off on his own to find his own findings while Edge could go ask the Librarbian. 

Here and there people turned their heads as Sans walked past them, not sure why themselves. They felt an odd shiver down their spine, like something feral was glaring them down… 

It took some time for Sans to notice, but when he did he sighed and muttered under his breath. “red, can ya stop making people weird around me?” Finding a book around this place with this aura Red is giving off wasn’t going to be easy, a lot of the books were mismatched and placed randomly into spaces where they fit. Most likely the people that decided they didn’t want to bother putting things back where they found them.

It was after thirty minutes that Sans found something.

Finally!

Sans grabbed the book and looked at the title.

‘Corrupt Me With Your Unholy Wiener, Kyaaaa~!!’

…

Sans blinked at the title, at first not computing what it was trying to tell him, before his face burned hot at the mere thought of it. About that night he spent with Red. About that unholy wiener that corrupted him not that long ago.

Against his better judgment, he opened and took a peek inside. Maybe there is actual research and tips about real demons hidden in this book, how could Sans just turn away from possible information? Red shouldn’t have to suffer just because Sans wouldn’t look into a suggestive book.

But there wasn’t much tips about demons, it was just straight up horny ass porn. The demons in this book didn’t even make much sense, more like they were just made for the pure intention of sex and intimate relationship. But… this could be useful for Red and Sans’ own purposes…

The small skeleton closed the book and looked at the back, finding the name of the author.

xXAnimeTrashXx

With a picture of a trashcan above the author’s name.

Well thank you AnimeTrash, you sure contributed to society.

The small skeleton looked around to see if anyone was looking at him, before he tucked the book into his hoodie for… further research. It wasn’t like anyone was going to miss this book right? It’s for the best, Sans was probably one of the few people in this town that could actually use this information. Yeah, that was totally it. Total sound and logical logic that is absolutely not an excuse to face any embarrassing possible facts about himself. This was for Red dammit, for Red.

Edge, meanwhile, was being lead towards the section of religious and superstitious literature. Edge, a never before religious nor superstitious man, felt strange suddenly searching through all these books about gods and angels, omens and visions, leprechaun and cherubs… They lived in a small town, most of the people around here knew Edge and knew this wasn’t the type of literature he’d usually consume…

He could hear the whispers around him, although he wasn’t quite aware that a good chunk of these whispers were more about the strange aura around Sans, than they really were about his uncharacteristic choice of books.

About an hour passed when Edge finally found a book of interest. He’s gone through many books about demons now, reading about their savageness, about them being sent by the gods as a punishment to the living, about them being manifestations of your own fear… But nothing seemed to give him anything useful, anything that seemed to fit to their situation.

But finally he found the right one.

“Secrets and Wonders of Angels and Demons.” It wasn’t the thickest book. Leather hardcover with golden trimmings, although Edge was doubtful of the genuinity of the gold. Opening the first page, he could see it was originally written in 1566, rewritten to be more understandable to modern readers. And continuing to the ‘about the author’ section, he found that the original author was supposedly burnt for being a witch.

A cruel world they lived in, and yet it sounded promising.

He looked through the table of contents. Many of the points looked of great interest. The birth of a demon, misconceptions and quirks of demons… But they’d have time for that later. Right now there was only one headline that kept Edge’s interest.

Angels and the recovery of demons. Starting at page 69. 

Edge went to that page immediately, finding the same headline again, together with an old sketch of an ‘angel.’ Or at least that’s what the image description told him. What he saw was a silhouette of what Edge assumed was a demon, eyes and fists and pitchforks framing the surroundings of the silhouette. And yet the demon seemed untouched, shielded by a bright frame, which Edge could only assume was the angel.

He read through the chapter.

Angels, as we know or believe in them, do not exist. Or mayhaps they do, although those aren’t the type which will be discussed in the following chapter of these book. Perhaps I should recommend Mavrik Bon Shinggles’, “Angels and their Holy Blessings.”

 

In this book we’re discussing the type of angels demons will often be found talking about. Many demons will be obsessed with their angel. Although many are not aware they possess of one until faced with them, others will search and not rest until they have located theirs.

 

An ‘angel’ to a demon isn’t necessarily a holy creature, although it certainly can be one. As well as it can be a certain item or even a place or person. An ‘angel’ represents an anchor to their past life.

 

Edge blinked, rereading the last sentence over and over again. An anchor to their past life. Demons… that had a life before being a demon… None of the other books had talked about that possibility before, but Edge knew Red wasn’t born a demon.

He continued on, his interest even more piqued now.

To a demon, an angel is a much higher being, powerful and of great importance. Next to their angel, the demon will feel at peace and safe, a set of emotions demons rarely get to enjoy in their regular lives. Hence, one found, they cling to their angel with utmost desperation, rarely willing to let go of them or even leave them.

 

Locating a demon’s angel is usually the first step to restoring a demon’s mind.

 

Again, Edge couldn’t help but stop to reread the sentence. Restore a demon’s mind . So it… was possible? It was possible! It had to be possible!

A demon’s mind can be restored by confronting it with memories that held importance in their past life. These can be family members, familiar places, stories of important past life events.

 

And yet it is easy for a demon to reject those memories, as many of them may appear as painful or traumatic.

 

To recover, a demon needs to be open and willing to their memories, something which is usually impossible to achieve unless they are in possession of their angel. The feeling of peace and safety omitted by their angel relaxes the demon enough to feel no need to reject what may be harmful memories.

 

Although it is possible to restore a demon’s mind and memory this way, their appearance will remain. It is a scar of the crimes committed either by them, or against them.

The chapter ended here. Edge closed the book, though he certainly wasn’t ready to let go of it. There was much more useful information in there which Edge was… oddly excited to read about at a later point of time.

But for now, it was time to get Red home. His old home. Where so many of his old memories were…

-

In the car, Sans was in the back seat with Red as he gleefully petted and cooed at his demon lover. The small skeleton was overjoyed and beyond excited from the exciting news Edge has managed to sniff out. Guess asking for help really was the best choice.

“hehe heeee , this is so cool, isn’t it red? we gonna get ya back!” Sans smooched the demon all over his face, not leaving a single spot untouched and unloved. Sans’ hands running up and down Red’s neck and head, lightly petting and caressing. “ya did so good back there too, such a good boy ya are!” 

If Red had more space, the demon would be kicking his legs in joy. But as it was right now, he simply wiggled happily, deep and loud purrs ringing out of his throat. His broad tail was swishing happily and he was leaning into every touch his dearest angel offered him.

Sans smacked a big ol smooch onto the happy demon’s face before turning to Edge with a big grin, who was driving. “thank ya edge!”

“THIS IS AS MUCH MY BUSINESS AS IT IS YOURS,” Edge said, in an attempt to sound nonchalant. And yet he felt Sans’ excitement and giddy as much as he did. He could truly have his brother back soon… Sure, maybe with a new set of limbs and a tail… a hunched posture and a sharper set of nails. But it was still Red nonetheless. 

They were on their way to Fellster’s house, knowing that Fellster would be out until late evening. So they’d have enough time to snoop around a bit, let Red explore his childhood home, get back some memories…

He already saw the house in view. Plain and dark, it hadn’t changed a bit since Sans left town, although maybe the walls looked a tad older. There wasn’t a lot in their yard. No toys from their childhood, no flowers or fruit trees, no pets or even wild animals. Just a neatly trimmed yard and some bushes surrounding it.

“WE’RE HERE,” Edge finally said, parking his car in front of Fellster’s front yard.

Red looked out the window curiously once he felt the car stop. There was something… odd about this place. He couldn’t quite put a finger on what he was feeling, but he moved a little closer to Sans for comfort.

A small and stubby arm wrapped around Red’s neck and pulled him in closer to his angel, when Red looked he saw Sans smiling at him brightly. “ready to go in there, red?” His voice inviting and promising, like nothing in there was going to hurt him.

In there? Red glanced at the large den. It didn’t look like Sans’, or like his own old den, and yet it felt oddly familiar. Something told Red that it held more than he thought, that he had to prepare for something in there…

But he looked at Sans, seeing not a hint of fear and worry on his face. He trusted his angel. If his angel said it was safe, then it had to be.

“yes!” Red told him determinedly, giving Sans a firm nod.

Sans nodded back, before opening the door and leading Red out. “don’t worry, edge and me are gonna be right here.” He assured the demon, as he started to walk towards the house.

The small skeleton looked up at the old and familiar house he once came over almost every day to visit Red. The meals he shared with Red and his family in this house, the parties, the holidays and the sleepovers. So many things happened in this house, so many memories were here. Red and Sans spent a lot of time here, if Sans was his angel, then this place should hold a lot of memories of their past together.

It had to trigger something…

“do ya have the keys or should we go the old way?” Sans isn’t even sure which is better right now. The normal civil way or the way Red and him would sneak in during the nights or when Red was in trouble. 

“I HAVE THE K- WAIT…” Edge narrowed his eyes, both at Sans as well as at the demon whom was crouched next to his angel. “WHAT OLD WAY? ” Edge hadn’t exactly been part of those nightly sneak-ins…

Sans turns and blinks surprised, before he shrugs sheepishly. “ya know… the good ol fashion sneak through a window.”

Edge groaned. Of course his brother would’ve sneaked through the window, what else did he expect?

He was about to simply unlock the door, but Edge hesitated.

Red used to sneak through the window… With Sans nonetheless. That… should be something that was at least somewhat impactful to him… right?

“LET’S SNEAK IN,” Edge finally decided. “FOR RED’S SAKE.”

Sans didn’t react at first, processing the change of plans a little slower than usually. But the skeleton snorted once it settled, nodding a little and muttering a soft, “of course,” before turning to Red. “hey red, ready to go to your room?” He asked amused, walking away from the front door and walking behind the house from the side.

Red’s tail wagged as he followed Sans to the back of the house. He didn’t quite understand what they were doing, but the way Sans was talking to him made the demon happy.

Once behind the house, they came upon a tree. It was old, but stood firm, and something about it made Red feel like it was important… 

Instinctively the demon went up to the tree, climbing up to a particularly firm branch, before waiting. He looked back to Sans, expecting his angel to come to him, so that Red could pick him up and lift him onto the branch with him. It felt like… routine to him. Like he’s done this a thousand times already. And yet Red had no memories of it… 

Sans followed along swiftly, like he did this hundred times before and knew what to do without even thinking about it. He climbed the tree as much as his stubby arms could allow before he reached up to Red, who grabbed his hand and pulled him up. Gently placing him on the firm branch, not letting go before Sans started to move himself.

The small skeleton started to make his way from the base of the tree to the branches the branched out closer to the window that was Red’s room. Once halfway, he turned to Red and motioned him closer. “remember your footing.” He pointed to Red’s feet and then motioned to the branch. Hoping Red would remember what he meant by that.

Red always did have a hard time balancing on the branches every time they snuck in...

Red was watching his hands and feet as they clung to the branch, his wings spread out to help him balance. Although, subconsciously, Red did change his footing the second he heard Sans’ words, gaining better balance.

There was an odd feeling within Red’s chest. Small and muffled, like it was covered up by some kind of blanket, but it started to break free slowly. A feeling of… exhilaration. Excitement and smugness, but also a hint of anxiety. But mostly familiarity. It felt so familiar. He must have done this before… The steps all felt burnt into his skull. The way Red headed straight for a window, the way he pushed the window in a certain location to undo the lock and open it. The way he climbed into the room, turning back to see Sans right behind him…

He’s done this before. He knew he’s done this before, and the memories, trying to crawl their way back into Red’s memories, with claws and pricks and painful bites. Red’s brows furrowed and he felt a headache coming up, and yet he didn’t try to fight it.

“where are we…?” Red asked, and for once his voice sounded just a tad less growly, less demonic, and more like a… confused teenager.

“your old room.” Sans muttered, looking outside briefly to see Edge disappearing out of view. Sans turned and looked around the room to take it all in. “we used to be here a lot, do ya remember?” 

“we did…?” Red muttered quietly, looking around the room. Part of Red wanted to call his angel silly. They only met recently, of course they couldn’t have spent any time here before. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Silently, Red walked around the room, taking in scents, sights, touch… and memories.

There was a bed in one corner, black mattress and a red comforter. The pillows were all sorts of colors, soft and many, and a little voice in Red’s head told him that Red hadn’t picked those, but Sans. Sans who loved soft things…

Red’s head moved up, seeing the walls adorned with various posters. Letters and texts held no meaning to Red, and yet looking at those Posters, he knew what the words on them said. ‘My Chemical Romance,’ ‘Panic! At The Disco,’ ‘Skillet’ and ‘Evanescence.’ 

He couldn’t quite remember what those names meant, but the words, “wake me up inside,” slipped out of his mouth in a quiet whisper.

His head turned and saw his old desk. He walked up to it, opening one of the drawers. There were black and red notebooks, some pens scattered in the drawer. Red grabbed one of the books, sitting on his butt as he opened it.

“sans, c’mere,” Red said, waiting for Sans to come to his side.

The small skeleton moved over to the demon and sat next to him, looking over to what was in Red’s hands. “what cha got there buddy?”

The contents of the notebook weren’t exactly comprehensive. Some parts of the pages had notes for classes and math equations, other parts had doodles scattered around. Those were mostly what caught Red’s attention. 

He was no great artist by all means, but Red still meant exactly what those crude drawings were supposed to represent.

“tha’s ya,” Red muttered as a claw pointed towards a sketch of a short, chubby skeleton. “me,” he continued, pointing to a much bigger skeleton, with pointy teeth and a smug grin. “mr. adams,” Red finally said, pointing at a crude drawing of a horse, with evil eyebrows and devil horns. Red couldn’t remember exactly who this was supposed to be beyond their name, but Sans most likely could remember their old cruel economy teacher.

Sans snorted a little, looking at the drawing and taking it all in. “i remember when you drew that.” He laughed, a big smile spreading across his face as he looked up at Red. “do ya remember class? mr. adams?” 

Red was responding very nicely with his old belongings! If this keeps up, Sans was sure Red would get back to normal. Red doesn’t even look like he needs much help from Sans anymore, the demon is walking around and remembering himself. 

The idea of having his Red back… wow. What an amazing thought.

“class…” Red repeated. And indeed he did remember… something . Something long and boring, but also something with Sans there. With mischiefs and pranks.

He was about to tell Sans what he remembered, before he got interrupted by the door to his room opening. Red looked over, seeing Edge looming over them.

“YOU’RE HERE! GREAT. I TOOK THE LIBERTY TO TAKE THE FRONT DOOR AFTER ALL,” the tall skeleton told them. He blinked, looking at the notebook they were looking at.

“AH! YOU FOUND YOUR OLD BELONGINGS. PERFECT! GOOD THING FELLSTER NEVER HAD THE HEART TO EMPTY YOUR ROOM,” he said with a sense of relief. “I REMEMBER WHEN YOU USED TO DRAW SANS ALL THE TIME BACK IN THE DAY. HEARTS ALL AROUND HIM! WAIT I THINK IT WAS IN THIS BOO-”

A clawed hand flew up, stopping Edge’s in the process of grabbing one of the notebooks out of the drawer. “ edge, no! ” Red hissed in alarm, a sense of bashfulness and embarrassment overcoming him. This was a certain piece of information Red hadn’t wanted to share with Sans!

Sans blinked, surprised. Stunned at Red’s very familiar and non demon like reaction, but he couldn’t help but laugh. Oh Red, you goof.

The thought of Red doing this back then, seeing him this way even when Sans had barely anything to his name and was just a dirty boy with torn and dirty clothes on his body was adorable. He loved him so much.

Sans leaned towards Red and kissed his cheek. “don’t worry red, i was the same.” He giggled.