Inkwhumptobertale 2024

Day Nine

Crowd - Obsession, Broken Window, Bruises, "Frame me up on the wall, just to keep me out of trouble." 

Trigger warnings: mentions of violence.

ALL CAUGHT UP WOO!

Yes, I did write this in an hour.

Comments are welcome and appreciated! 

Please enjoy!

~~~~~

Blue kept his head low as he walked with the crowd; with any luck, he wouldn't stand out.

Blue's brother, Swapyrus, had been..a bit overprotective lately. Not that he hadn't been before, but..it was worse now. The multiversal council had decided to invite a representative from every universe to have free roam of the multiverse and to take on responsibilities regarding representation and like matters, and Blue had eagerly volunteered!

Blue had been rejected on the basis that he already had access to the multiverse, and the fact that he was a Star Sans hadn't helped his cause. Instead of him, the multiverse had chosen his brother, and once Swapyrus had gotten ahold of a multiversal teleporter..well, Blue hadn't had a moment's rest. Blue loved his brother - he really did! - but this was getting to be too much. It had started slow, but once Swapyrus had realized the practical applications of his teleporter, things had gotten much worse. In the beginning, Swapyrus had mostly stuck around home and only left Underswap when he'd had to for a meeting, hangout, or something else of the sort. Then he had asked Ink where the Star Sanses' base was, and Ink (Blue could never blame him, but..he really wanted to), not recognizing the threat, had given him the coordinates. 

The next day, the Star Sanses had gained a new roommate. 

Said roommate didn't even stay at home all the time; when the Star Sanses went out, he went out! Swapyrus had inserted himself into the Star Sanses, somehow, and none of them knew how to get him out! The first time he had joined the group when defending against one of Nightmare's raids was an event that Blue would never forget.

"Swap, this is a very dangerous AU!" Dream warned. "You could get hurt!"

"Blue could get hurt!" Swapyrus retorted. "Why are you taking my brother to such dangerous places?"

"Papy, I can handle myself!" Blue let out an irritated growl.

"Ooh, someone's heated today!" Killer entered the scene, grinning eagerly. "Oh, your brother? Don't you know better than to bring innocents to a fight?"

"Maybe they've decided to give us a new target.." Dust strode up beside his teammate, not wasting a second before firing a single bone attack at Swapyrus - his version of a warning.

Swapyrus dodged the attack, glaring at..Dream.

"You put my brother in fights like this?!" He practically screamed.

"Papy, you should leave!" Blue suggested. "We are about to engage in combat!" 

"I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger like this!"

Blue had groaned as the fight had commenced. That day, Swapyrus had stepped into all of Blue's fights with the gang, and he had even forced Blue to get hurt protecting him, all the while blaming Dream (Ink had known well enough to distance himself as much as he could from Swapyrus at all times) for every scratch Blue had received. That day had changed a lot of things..and not for the best. From that day on, Swapyrus had forced his way into every confrontation with the gang, and Nightmare's boys had gotten sick of his antics quickly; they had grown accustomed to a fair fight, and Blue had always given them a challenge to look forward to in battle. With Swapyrus, it was no longer a fair fight; Blue was severely hindered by his brother's presence, and it was painfully obvious. Instead of focusing on his opponent, Blue was forced to focus on keeping his brother from doing something stupid, and that often resulted in injuries for the poor blue-clad skeleton. Swapyrus blamed everyone but himself and Blue. Eventually, things grew tense before fights had even broken out at all. Nightmare's gang grew more annoyed at Swapyrus's presence than the Star Sanses, and it was clear after a while that they..very much wanted to kill him. 

Despite that, Swapyrus continued to show up, and he dodged every attack that came his way (except the ones that Blue had to block himself), fighting back viciously. It probably would have been enjoyable, if the gang had still been allowed to fight Blue on even terms. As it stood, Blue spent more time shielding his brother from harm than fighting, and that wasn't acceptable for the gang. 

The problems weren't limited to battles, though; Swapyrus followed Blue everywhere. At home, he stuck to Blue like glue. When Blue visited acquaintances and friends across the multiverse, Swapyrus followed. The only times he had free from his brother were occasional kidnappings from Error, and those were so infrequent that they hardly made a difference. Maybe Blue would ask Error if he could stay a little longer next time..he really needed a break. Hiding in a crowd of tourists in the Omega Timeline wasn't the best way to spend his days. 

"Sans!" Blue flinched when he heard his brother's voice. "Are those your friends? I haven't met them."

"..I think you have me confused with someone else; the multiverse is full of people who look just like me and you!" Blue stared into his brother's eyelights with the fakest smile he could muster.

"Aw, bro, are you trying to chase me away?"

Blue should not have wanted to scream yes so badly.

"You know I can pick you out of a crowd!" Swapyrus chuckled. "Let's go get some food, bro; I know a great place down the street!"

Blue's gaze lowered to the ground, and he let out a sigh. "Okay, Papy.."

He would never get away, would he?