Reborn As A Dust Sans [Undertale Multiverse]

Ch17 - Cross

Horror's POV
Horror was a very affectionate kind of skeleton, showing his care through actions since words often failed him. He hadn't exactly intended for the smaller skeleton to fall asleep in his arms, but seeing them so comfortable, so at peace, made him grin. It... reminded him of Sugar. Of the early years, long before the famine.

He stayed there like that for a while, just holding Ashe, content with how much the other seemed to trust him. When Farm quietly walked into the room, he almost growled, pulling Ashe closer to protect them, only to calm when he recognised who it was.

"Looks like ya got yer hands full," Farm let out with a grin. His voice was hushed, clearly not wanting to wake Ashe from their slumber. Horror only gave a grunt of acknowledgement. "Do yer plan ta spend th' night here? We still got Sug's old room if ya want ta rest there."

Horror shook his head. "No," he begun in his usual rumbling tone. "I still need to.. get back to... Nightmare and the others. They'll get... worried if I'm gone... for too long. And I.. probably still have... that mission later."

Farm nodded, shifting his gaze from Horror to the other for a moment. "What about yer friend there?"

The gentle giant frowned, deep in thought for a long moment. "They'll...." He seemed to struggle with his words for a moment. Farm simply waited patiently, knowing rushing him would online make it more difficult. "...come back... with me."

"Alrigh'. How 'bout I grab yer some of th' leftovers ta take home? Need ta know yer still eatin' okay." Any time that Horror visited, he always went home with various containers full of homemade food. Sugar had been the one to start it, refusing to let his brother leave without knowing for certain he had food. Even with him gone, Farm and Crop still made sure to continue to sort of tradition Sugar had created.

"....Ashe seemed to... really like your... stew from the... slowcooker," he let out, gaze momentarily shifting to the two empty bowls still sitting in front of him. Part of him was tempted to snack on the bowls themselves, but if Erroe was always getting scolded for eating things like cutlery and plates, Horror knew he probably would be too.

"I'll grab yer a few containers full," Farm responded as he disappeared into the kitchen. Horror wasn't typically the type to request specific foods, he would eat anything without meat, so Farm was more than happy to oblige.

With the soup all packaged up, Farm put the containers into a simple bag for ease of transport, and brought it to Horror. In the bag was some extra snacks there too, like the cookies Crop had made the night prior, some slightly suspicious looking spaghetti (Crop always seemed to have trouble cooking pasta for some odd reason), and plenty of soup and stew.

There was a sudden buzzing of energy, and Horror stood in anticipation, still holding Ashe to his chest although mostly hiding them with his jacket. Farm recognised the magic and simply wandered off to the couch to sleep, unconcerned.

A tear through reality signified the arrival of Cross, his sword quite literally tearing through code to form a portal for him to step through. The monochrome soldier looked to Horror, and upon seeing him holding the Dust look-alike in his arms, gave an expression of interest. "...Looks kind of like Dust. A new friend of yours?" he asked curiously.

Horror grunted, eyeing as Cross picked up the bag Farm had left them seeing as Horror's arms were occupied with the smaller sleeping skele.

"Not in the mood to talk?" Cross then asked, and the nod from the other told Cross all he needed to know. "Right. That's okay. If they're coming back with us, you should probably keep them in your room. Nightmare has a mission for us both. Killer is staying but he's, er, kind of manic."

"...Why?" Horror asked, referring specifically to the part about Killer's mania. It wasn't uncommon for the tar faced skeleton to get hyperactive or manic, but it was usually only pointed out if he was being a nuisance or if something new had happened.

"He managed to sneak in two more cats before Nightmare could tell him off," Cross sighed. The negative guardian had a clear distain of cats, so Killer wasn't meant to bring them home, yet the tar faced skeleton always ended up with more somehow.

"Oh." Horror let out simply. He looked down to Ashe. Would they like cats? Or would they hate them like Nightmare seemed to? He hoped that it would be the former, since it would be a good way for them to bond with Killer, but he supposed Ashe would probably get along with them regardless. They were family now, after all, and Nightmare's little group valued that more than anything.

Cross gestured for the duo of skeletons to step through the portal. His tears through reality were ideal when exploring or trying to remain more subtle, as unlike Nightmare's portals, it would not immediately alert Dream or the other Star Sanses. It was one of the ways they kept this timeline unknown.

Returned to the empty halls of the castle, Cross left pretty quickly. "I'll tell Nightmare you'll be a few minutes," he said before walking off. The other simply nodded.

Horror carried Ashe to his bedroom. It was a surprisingly clean space, although perhaps that was simply due to how little it was used. Horror had a habit of sleeping on the couch or pretty much anywhere other than a bed.

He placed the sleeping skeleton onto the darkly coloted mattress and gently covered them with a blanket, then left for the throne room so he could prepare for his mission. He ws still smiling as he did so. He looked forward to returning once the mission was over, to introducing Ashe to everyone else. He just hoped they would like the smaller dust variant as much as he did.