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keelywolfe · 5 years

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FIC: Biting Off More Than You Can Chew; part 9

Summary: Rus knew a confrontation was coming. He just didn't expect it like this.

Note: Wow, I am really sorry it took me so long to update this one.

Tags: heatfic, dubious consent, NSFW, frenemies to lovers, mates, first time, more if I think of them

PLEASE READ THE TAGS: This is a Heat story, so there are going to be issues of consent. I don’t do partner rape, nope, but hey, I want to be straight with y’all. I like heatfics personally, but I understand how they can be troubling for some people. So there it is.

Read Chapter 1

Read Chapter 2

Read Chapter 3

Read Chapter 4

Read Chapter 5

Read Chapter 6

Read Chapter 7

Read Chapter 8

Read Chapter 9 on AO3

Read it here!

~~*~~

So it turned out Edge did deserve some credit. Despite being dumped on his own in Underswap where to him all the paths would seem backwards and wrongways, he didn’t do too bad getting back to Snowdin.

Not that Rus let him get too far out of sight. Better to not leave any of the Underfell crowd alone in his ‘verse, right? Edge probably wasn’t going to start any weekend massacres or anything, but it was always good to make sure nothing happened to make Monday morning coffee a little awkward at Muffet’s.

So instead of taking a direct shortcut home, instead he took shorter ones, keeping just ahead of Edge. Besides, even if Edge didn’t know the path, the hints of cigarette smoke that Rus left behind were probably as good as a map, anyway. Not the most conventional puzzle clue, but hey. Rus was a unique guy, gotta love it.

Rus was leaning against the garage, finishing up a last cigarette when Edge finally stalked back into town. He looked irritated, but if the last few hours taught Rus anything, it was that his expression didn’t always jive with what Edge was feeling.

"not bad, edgelord,” Rus called, “you made it back without—" killing anyone, Rus bit off. If they were stuck being bonded together, toning it down on being a complete dick was probably a good starting move, "—getting lost," Rus finished, lamely.

Somehow, he didn't think Edge was completely fooled by the bait and switch. "Thank you, I live for your middling approval. Knowing that I have your respect makes all the effort worthwhile.”

“i’m good for all kinds of middle-ing,” Rus gave him a wink and an upraised middle finger, softening it with a grin. The glare he got in return was no birthday surprise but—

Okay, Edge’s brick wall metaphor worked pretty well for keeping their emotions from butting together, but it was obvious they weren't entirely pros at this whole blocking off the bond thing. A ghostly brush of amusement that wasn’t his own slithered over Rus before vanishing.

Oh.

Edge thought he was funny. In spite of that face of his that always seemed stuck in constipated disapproval, beneath it, Edge actually thought he was funny. It was an uncomfortable realization, made Rus play back a dozen other interactions where he took Edge's remarks as sarcasm and yeah, they were, but not the sarcasm he thought, tainted with dislike and irritation. It was playful sarcasm, the funtimes sarcasm that Sans and Rus both wielded like weapons experts and Red—

Nope, Red was banned from the physical and mental today.

That faint pulse of amusement was turning Rus’s world on its head and Edge was staring at him with narrowed sockets. What was he feeling, Rus wondered, wildly, what emotions was Rus sending his way, because Edge told him the morning after over pancakes that he’d never hated Rus. Somehow, that hadn't gotten around to translating into Rus’s head that maybe Edge liked him, a little, and fuck, fuck, did he know that Rus was trying not to think about kissing him? That he was remembering the heat of Edge’s mouth when he’d fitted his teeth into the healing bite mark on Rus’s collarbone, which suddenly decided now was its chance to start throbbing. The temptation was growing despite Rus trying desperately to plant a mental brick on top of it.

Did he take a step closer or did Edge? Rus wasn't even sure. His cigarette dropped from his hand into the snow and Rus barely heard the hiss as it extinguished.

He was looking at Edge’s mouth and was certainly not thinking at all of the way he’d used it in their shared shower, the unexpected skill of his tongue, he wasn’t, he fucking wasn’t, and Rus didn’t even comprehend the soft ‘ting’ of Edge’s soul turning blue until he was yanked backwards and thrown to the ground. He whipped his head around to see Blue standing with his hand outstretched, his starry eyes blazing with blue-yellow flames. “What the hell did you do to my brother!”

Rus didn’t think. Everything was on automatic as he called on his own magic, flooding with more power than he normally accessed for simple shortcuts as he extended his control hand and pushed. His brother flew back, bouncing off the porch steps with enough force to knock a couple points off his HP.

Snow fell off him in clumps as Blue sat up, his expression twisting between hurt and shock. "Papy?"

Oh, fuck. What had he done, he’d never, never hurt his brother, oh, god, oh, fuck, he--

"okay, that's enough!"

He felt the hard rush of magic enveloping his own soul, the ridiculously cheery chime of it changing blue. It was the only warning he got before Rus was sent sprawling in the snow, cold wetness seeping into his sweatshirt and pants. With an effort, Rus lifted his head from the ground to see Blue and Edge both equally pinned.

To his shock, it was Sans holding them down, one eye socket blazing yellow-blue. His brother stood anxiously next to him, wringing his hands as Sans made his slow way down the stairs, uncaring at the slush dampening his slippers as he walked over to Rus.

"you all right?" Sans asked Rus bluntly.

"me?” Rus sputtered, “of course i’m all right, why the hell--“

Sans interrupted him, his normal laconic speech crisped into sharp syllables. It reminded Rus of…of someone, he wasn’t sure who— “because the three of us just got a hellava treat listening through a locked door while you begged him not to touch you, and when we broke in, you were both gone. no offense, edgelord, but that didn't seem like the world’s friendliest chat going on."

"None taken," Edge said calmly, for all the world like they were having a debate over the dining room table and he wasn't pinned down in the wet snow. "We can explain."

Rus flinched, because they could, but he didn't want to, he didn't, fuck, it was no one else's business. To his relief, he and Sans were in agreement.

"don't need an explanation,” Sans said. The sharpness in his words faded with the strobing light in his socket. “whatever is between you two is on you. just wanted to make sure no one was hurt." He let his hand drop and the pressure on Rus’s soul eased. “now, i wanna watch a movie. you all can come along when you’re ready. c’mon, pap.”

He shuffled his way into the house, Papyrus at his heels and whatever furious, too-loud whispers he was directing at his brother were drowned out by the dull roar in Rus’s head as he looked over to where Blue was laying.

Rus scrambled up and stumbled over to his brother who was slowly sitting up. His baby brother whom he’d never hurt, never, spent years putting band aids on his scraped knees, worked three jobs until he’d been able to get them a house. Those starry eyes always looked at him trustingly, always, and Rus fell to his knees next to him, reaching out and afraid to touch. “blue," Rus started brokenly, "i’m so--"

He broke off when Blue flung himself into his arms, holding him tightly enough to make his breath whoosh out. "Papy! I was so worried!"

"i'm sorry, bro," Rus wheezed, hugged him just as tightly even as his ribs groaned a protest.

He heard the crunch of snow next to them and ducked his head lower, burying his face into Blue’s scarf. Not even a week bonded, and it was already fucking with his head enough that he’d hurt his brother. He needed to get a handle on this, now, and it was pretty obvious that Edge being in his general vicinity wasn’t helping.

A raw little sound escaped from Rus as Blue let go, trying to squirm free and reluctantly, Rus let him. Standing, his brother was barely taller than Rus was kneeling down, but he looked up over Rus’s head with uncommon solemnness.

"I'm sorry, Edge," Blue said quietly.

"No apologies are necessary.” That rough voice, directly behind him, and Rus viciously suppressed a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold snow he was kneeling in. "You were worried for your brother, of course you'd want to protect him.”

Despite his sincere attempts not to think of Red, a pang went through Rus, mostly his, but maybe not all. Protecting his brother, yeah, and Red was a fucker and a half, but—

More snow crunching, moving away and Rus heard the click of the front door, leaving him alone with his brother.

Lifting his head to look at Blue was the hardest thing Rus had ever done. But his eye lights were as starry as ever, filled with that same trust. Not that Rus deserved it, never had, but even less so now. “bro, i’m so sorry.”

Blue only waved it off, unconcerned that his older brother just fucking attacked him like some New Home street thug. “Don’t be silly, Alphys does worse than that when she tells me good morning.”

Too forgiving, by far, always, but damn if Rus wasn’t selfish enough to take it. He nodded, letting out a shaky sigh, “i'm sorry if we worried you.”

Now that he wasn’t all torn up by his feeble attempt at fratricide, what Sans said was starting to come in a little clearer. No wonder Edge let them all off so easy; if Rus had been on the other side of the door listening to Blue begging someone not to touch him, they’d be picking splinters out of the kitchen cupboards for a month.

A gloved hand cupped the side of Rus’s face he leaned into it, shamelessly basking in his brother’s affection. “Papy, what’s going on?”

“i—" Rus hesitated, swallowing hard. How could he explain any part of this to his brother? He’d never hidden his sexual proclivities, neither proud nor ashamed of them, and Blue never judged. The worst he’d ever gotten was exasperated when Rus was late because he’d accidentally slept over. But how could he look into his brother’s trusting, starry eyes and explain this clusterfuck? But he couldn’t say nothing, either.

Okay, then, evasive maneuvers. “can we talk about it later?”

Gentle as his brother was, there was some steel in his spine and right now it was working as a poker in his ass. That expression was pure determination, even as Blue nodded. He was getting a pass, for now, but it wouldn’t last forever, and Rus was going to have to either come clean or work out a new bedtime story that Blue might buy.

Welp, that was a problem for Tomorrow Rus. Today Rus pulled his brother in for another hug, one that Blue happily returned…for a moment.

"Phew!" Blue pushed him away, and his expression was one of almost comical dismay. "You stink, brother, when was the last time you took shower?"

Wow, rude. “i took a shower this morning! i’m clean as a freshly washed bar of soap.” Rus tugged up the front of his sweatshirt and gave it a good sniff. Didn’t smell weird to him, but then, he spent all day stewing in his odors, so he probably wouldn’t notice. "probably my hoodie, must've picked it from the wrong laundry pile."

“Go change,” Blue scolded, giving him a gentle shove even as he waved a hand in front of his face. “Do you want to finish the movie? You can go take a nap if you’d rather, I can tell the others you’re tired.”

“bro, you are a bonafide living angel,” Rus said, and that was nothing but frank honesty.

Blue huffed out a laugh and gave him another playful shove. “Go on, then, I’ll bring you up a plate later.”

“thanks, bro,” Rus scrambled to his feet, dripping snow as he dropped a kiss on top of Blue’s skull and stepped back, shortcutting up to his room. He stripped off his wet clothes and left them in a pile, not bothering to replace them as he collapsed bare bones onto the mattress, already halfway to an exhausted dreamland.

The blanket stayed in a crumpled ball at his feet, unused. Maybe he needed to check on their thermostat, Rus decided, already more asleep than not. Cheap fucking thing might be broken again, because it felt like it was set too high. The house seemed kinda hot.

~~*~~

tbc

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #biting off more than you can chew

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keelywolfe · 5 years

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FIC: Biting Off More Than You Can Chew; part 8

Summary: Rus is dealing with all of this just fine, thanks. Denial is is a form of dealing and it's working so far.

Tags: heatfic, dubious consent, NSFW, frenemies to lovers, mates, first time, more if I think of them

Read Chapter 1

Read Chapter 2

Read Chapter 3

Read Chapter 4

Read Chapter 5

Read Chapter 6

Read Chapter 7

Read Chapter 8 on AO3

Read it here!

~~*~~

The door to his room slamming open was not Rus’s preferred way to wake up. He was accustomed enough to it to only roll over with a groan, dragging the blankets with him. It was a fucking shame that shortcuts needed an end point, because right then disappearing sounded like a winner, winner, chicken dinner.

He buried his face into his ragged pillow, groaning, “bro, please.”

“Good morning!” Blue sang out and Rus peered out from beneath the blanket, reluctantly amused in spite his internal child pleading for more sleep. Rus was probably the only one in all the Universes who could the vindictiveness past that bright cheer. Particularly when Blue went to the window and threw open the curtains to let the artificial sunlight pour in.

“blueeee,” Rus whined out. “you’re supposed to love and care for me, not torture me.”

“I love and care for you by not allowing you to sleep all day,” Blue scolded. “Wasting your life away in naps!

“papyrus would have let sans nap.” Rus said slyly. As expected, Blue puffed up like a cat stuck beneath a rocking chair. He didn’t like comparisons being made between them, particularly ones that weren’t in his favor.

“Papyrus would have picked Sans and carried him to his station,” Blue said tartly. ”You’re just lucky I care too much about my spinal health. And anyway, you should have told me you were home, that note of yours was a little vague, don’t you think?”

“sorry, bro.” It wasn’t like Rus was about to tell him that he hadn’t been able to come up with a delicate way to phrase, ‘gotta go fuck Edge to save his life. bbiab.’

He’d gone with a simple, ‘back in a couple days, will pick up sock when return.’ Nice and vague. Especially since the untold story had picked up a few extra chapters that Rus hadn’t planned on. But Blue wouldn’t ask; he respected some boundaries and if Rus didn’t want to tell him, he wouldn’t push.

Just went to prove that Rus absolutely didn’t deserve his bro, but he was damn well keeping him anyway.

For all the sleep he’d gotten, Rus still felt tired, looking muzzily around the room. Scattered around were half-filled honey bottles, crumpled cigarette packs and dirty socks. Blue was very particular about the rest of the house but allowed Rus to keep his own room in a constant state of disaster without much fuss. His distaste was still obvious as he picked his way through the mess to the bed.

Whatever scolding plans were on the agenda were set aside when he got close enough for a good look. His stern cheer faded into genuine concern. "Are you feeling all right? Do you really need to lay down longer, honestly, don't get up if you're coming down with something."

"nah, bro, i'm fine." He was fine, absolutely fine. Maybe Edge was eating a little too much of the Underfell Cocoa Puffs because aside from being achingly sore, Rus felt perfectly fine. Not bonded, thanks, not even a little.

He still wasn't really clear on what that even meant. Maybe it was worth going to see Undyne again, for a little more research for his ‘manga’? See if her little instruction manual had a footnote or two on troubleshooting.

But what was the point? It wouldn’t change anything and besides, he was a little low on bribery material to get through Undyne’s front door. And anyway, he really didn’t feel any different. Maybe Edge was wrong, what the fuck did he know about it, anyway? It wasn’t like there were studies on the effect of heat bonds between cross-universes constants or something.

Blue stripped off a glove and laid his hand against Rus’s forehead, all his cheer congealing into a fat ball of worry that he was preparing to toss right into Rus’s lap. Rus pushed his hand away impatiently. “i’m not sick, i’m just—” bonded “—sore. guess i overdid it."

From his doubtful look, Blue wasn’t buying it and Rus couldn’t blame him. Overexerting himself wasn’t exactly the most believable story from his library and he didn’t really want to explain that it was actually the truth. But true to his nature, Blue rallied with a smile and didn’t poke his nasal aperture into what Rus could have possibly been doing to achieve any level of exertion, much less one that left him sore.

“Why don’t I draw you a bath then?” he offered brightly.

“bro, that sounds like a fucking dream,” Rus said honestly.

“Language,” Blue scolded but his smile was indulgent. Before he could walk away, Rus caught hold of the hem of his shirt, yanking him back despite his flailing into a tight hug.

“Papy,” Blue complained. He snuggled in happily though, letting Rus take comfort in his brother’s presence.

It would be fine. He’d dealt with plenty of bullshit over the years, what was one more silly thing? Even if he did end up going into heat every few months, spending a night banging Edge wasn’t that bad in the scheme of things. All that crap about bonding was probably another load of Underfell bullshit that he could toss into the growing fertilizer pile.

In the end, he let his brother draw him a bath, shooing Blue out of the room before stripping off his clothes. He caught sight of the bite mark on his collarbone in the mirror and paused, reaching up to touch the healing wound. The outline of Edge’s teeth was still clearly visible, and he wondered distantly if it would scar that way.

He sank into the water with a groan, let the heat leach away some of his aches and pains. It was gonna be all right and if he knew his brother, and he did, then there was going to be an extra-special breakfast waiting for him when he got out.

He really hoped it wasn’t pancakes.

~~*~~

For the next couple days, everything went back to normal. Rus stopped feeling like his legs were going to pop out of his hip sockets, spent his time playing sentry alongside sleeping too much, smoking too much, drinking too much and not listening enough to his brother scolding him about it. He didn’t get any weird or cryptic text messages, didn’t hear a peep from Underfell at all, which was just how he liked it.

Aside from a couple of memes from Papyrus, he didn’t hear anything at all from any of the other ‘verses and when movie night rolled in that weekend, Rus decided his initial strategy of lemon-concentrated avoidance might be unnecessary. May as well give it a shot; it’d make Blue happy and, honestly, the Underfell brothers might not even show up.

Red in particular might want to stay away for a fucking year or so, and there was a bruise Rus didn’t really feel like pushing on right now.

Before anyone else showed up, Rus claimed the prime position on the sofa, lounging to watch as Blue puttered around. He stepped over Rus’s legs almost absently as he set up plenty of snacks on the coffee table.

A knock at the door heralded the beginning and Blue darted over to answer it.

“Hello!” Blue chirped eagerly. Papyrus and Sans stood in the doorway, and wasn’t language an interesting thing that allowed you to count Papyrus’s ruler-straight posture and Sans’s slump both as standing.

“hiya, short stuff,” Sans said easily, ignoring Blue’s visible outage. At his height, Rus was never gonna know the joy of taunting the only person an inch shorter than himself, but he couldn’t much blame Sans for indulging in it.

“hey, guys,” Rus called, drowning out Blue’s sputtering. “how’s tricks?”

“We have no tricks as we are not magicians!” Papyrus told him happily. “But we are doing very well as Monsters, thank you!”

“yeah, not doing bad,” Sans agreed. There was a covered bowl in his hands. “Monstered up the energy to get here, anyway.”

Rus grinned. “right to our front door, yeah, but your bro probably thinks that’s a porch choice of words.”

“eh, maybe, but knowing we were coming here was a good way to get me movieing.”

“Sans! Would you please stop your incessant punning and give Blue our snack offering!” Papyrus scolded, snatching away the covered bowl in his brother’s hands. But his smile was sly as he told Blue, “I know that you always have plenty of food, but we brought something else to in jest! Movies do have certain snack requirements; I hope it’s not too corn-troversial.”

A knock interrupt them and whether it was delight at another guest or relief that it interrupted the pun-ishment, Rus didn’t know, but Blue lunged for the door, swinging it open with a cheerful, “Welcome!”

Oh.

Oh, fuck.

Edge was standing in the doorway. He wasn’t wearing his uniform, actually in jeans for once, his hands tucked in his pockets and he looked as constipated as ever but—

“Hi, Edge!” Blue said cheerily, not noticing his brother’s frozen stare. He held open the door for him to step inside. “We’re so glad you could make it!”

“Hello.” Edge nodded to him and the others. His gaze barely brushed over Rus.

“Oh, where’s Red?” Blue asked in dismay.

“He wasn’t able to come tonight.” He didn’t offer more, and there was more chatter, more greetings, but Rus didn’t really hear it.

Everything was coming at him through a sort of fog, barely registering, and he was unable to tear his eye lights away from Edge.

Oh, fuck, he could feel him. Like some kind of fucked up double vision only it was emotions laid over top of his own.

They weren’t his, didn’t feel like his. Ghostly wisps of wariness/ affection/ safety because Edge was fond of Blue, sure, felt safe in their home and Rus hadn’t known, he…he hadn’t…

He and Edge had never gotten along, rubbed against each other with all the friction of Velcro strips. Edge had less patience for puns than Blue and Papyrus put together, always griping at Rus and Sans for their lazy ways, an all-around fucking killjoy. But to think he was so tense in his own world that the first thing he felt in their home was safety, fuck, that was—

For that first, frozen moment, Rus didn’t realize he’d stopped breathing. Not until an ache started in his chest, his magic starved for oxygen, and only then did he suck in a huge, painful breath.

His soul ached from trying to manifest even as he desperately kept it back. It felt like it was yearning towards Edge, like there was a chunk of it torn away and Edge held that missing piece.

Rus didn’t realize he’d made a low, whining sound until he noticed everyone staring at him with varying levels of concern.

Including Edge, who looked coolly impatient but felt worried/ concerned.

“Papy?”

He jerked wildly at the sound of his brother’s voice. Blue was standing right next to him and he hadn’t even fucking seen him. His eye lights were soft, his concern visible rather than felt. “Are you all right?”

“yeah,” Rus blurted. He could feel a trickle of sweat running down the side of his skull and wiped it away on his sleeve, ignoring the tremble in his hand. “i just. i need.” He stood, fumbling in his hoodie pocket. “i need a smoke.”

Blue’s expression shifted to one of exasperation, but that underlying concern lingered. “You just had one!”

“i need another.” He almost stumbled on his way around the coffee table, taking the opposite side than Edge’s and flapped a hand at them. “go ahead and start the movie, i’ll be back before the credits are done.”

The cold air struck him as he stepped outside, cooling some of the roiling inside him. A cigarette helped more, and Rus blew out a slow stream of smoke, rubbing at his temples.

Okay, that shit was not cool and if that was what ‘bonded’ meant then Rus wanted off at the next stop for this fucked-up train. How the fuck was that anything like normal, there was no fucking way anyone in Underfell was dealing with that shit on the 24/7.

The more he thought about it, the more Rus was convinced he had to have imagined it. Had to be. All his pointed repression of the past few days was coming back to haunt him like the ghost of a bad burrito at 2am. He just needed to deal for a couple of hours and then Edge would head home, and he could go back to his campaign of blissful ignorance.

Yeah, a couple hours was all. He could do this. Rus snuffed out his cigarette and dropped the butt into the can by the door. Took a deep breath to steady his nerves and stepped back inside.

And froze.

Edge was sitting on the sofa on the opposite side Rus usually sat, Blue next to him and whatever the movie was, it wasn’t compelling enough yet for everyone not to look up at Rus. But there was only one set of eye lights that made him want to step forward, to reach out and take hold, pulling someone (Edge) in. It was like a hook in his soul trying to pull him from the cool blue depths of denial towards Edge. Worse, he wanted to follow that compulsion, he wanted to be close to him, wanted.

Instead, he resisted it, ignored any voices, that fucking concern and went to the kitchen. He slumped against the counter, his skull resting on his folded arms and that want only ached harder, sinking its teeth into his soul.

“Rus?” His name, all crisp syllables and more of that concern lapped over him.

Rus whirled around with a gasp, stumbling back, his hands outstretched as if to hold it back. “don’t!”

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Edge kept back and sounded exasperated, all tight, curt words, but he felt, fuck, he felt wounded, like seeing a face coming out from behind a mask.

“i know,” Rus gasped. He did, he couldn’t help knowing.

Edge took a step closer. “Then why are you afraid of me?”

He shook his head helplessly. Behind Edge, the doorknob twisted, but didn’t open, catching on the lock and Rus could only be grateful that Edge’d had the foresight to lock the door.

“Papy? Are you all right?” His brother’s voice, muffled through the door, and Rus couldn’t deal with that, not now because Edge was coming closer to him, one slow step at a time.

“don’t touch me!” Rus pleaded, because he couldn’t, he couldn’t deal with this. Edge looked irritated, but that wasn’t the truth, it was a lie, all a lie, because Rus could feel it. The expression seemed like anger, but the emotion was wounded/ worried.

“I want to help.”

“i know,” Rus managed, “i know, fuck, but please! don’t.” His sockets felt wet, dampness sliding down his cheekbones and Edge was right in front of him all that concern/ worry/ concern and he wanted so desperately to lean into it.

“All right,” Edge said, quietly soothing. “You’ll be all right. Listen to me, it’s hitting you hard right now because it didn’t have a chance to stabilize before you left. You need to control it.”

“how!?”

“Push it down.”

Rus only shook his head wildly “i can’t, i can’t, fuck, this—how can anyone live like this?” He couldn’t stop feeling him, it was all there in front of him, he couldn’t.

The knocking was getting louder and fuck, he didn’t want Blue to see him like this, didn’t want to explain, he didn’t. Edge frowned at the door, but didn’t answer the increasing loud calls from Blue.

“All right,” Edge stepped close and took hold of Rus’s upper arms. It was all Rus could do to keep from sagging into that touch. “Take us somewhere else.”

Rus looked at him in blank surprise. “you hate teleporting.”

It was one of his more hilarious memories after they’d all met. Rus was used to dragging his brother around and as far as he knew, Red and Sans did the same. So, the one time he’d been in a snit because Edge stole his favorite seat, Rus hadn’t hesitated. He’d teleported them both outside and he’d meant to go back in immediately to take his seat back. Only to stare in shock as Edge fell to his knees and vomited magic into the snow.

Since he wasn’t a complete asshole, he ended up let Edge have the disputed chair amidst a firm scolding from his bro. The only good thing that came out of it was the knowledge that he shouldn’t do that again and that Edge didn’t puke on either of their shoes.

This time the pulse of emotion matched Edge’s exasperated glare. “I’m aware of that. Would you rather have your brother as a chaperone for this? I’ll be fine, it’s not as bad when I’m expected it.”

Yeah, no, someplace else suddenly sounded like an excellent plan. Rus closed his sockets and focused, taking them both to a far, hidden corner in Waterfall.

The moment the void cleared, Edge staggered away from him, breathing deeply, and Rus almost fell to his own knees as he was swamped by nausea that wasn’t his own.

Holy fuck, if that was what teleporting felt like for him, Rus wouldn’t be doing it unless he was in danger of losing a limb.

It eased off quickly and Rus sank down on the bench as the nausea was replaced again with concern/ worry.

“All right,” Edge sat down next to him. “Now listen to me. Can you feel it?”

“yes,” Rus gasped wetly, close, Edge was so close, too close, and he wanted to touch, wanted to get closer, wanted—

“Now imagine putting a wall around it.”

Rus shook his head desperately. He couldn’t, he didn’t want to, “i can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” Edge said firmly. “I want you to picture it. Putting up a wall, brick by brick, surrounding it. Blocking everything on the other side until it’s only you inside it.”

Listening to that low, soothing voice, Rus pictured it. One brick after another, walling off emotions that weren’t his own and eventually, it was gone, blocked off and away.

Rus took a long, shaky breath and only then realized he was sitting hunched forward, his skull in his hands. His clothes were clinging to him sweatily and he felt like he’d run from the ruins to New Home.

There was a cool hand on the back of his neck, a thumb rubbing circles on his cervical vertebrae, but no emotions came through that carefully soothing touch. Shaky as he was, the only feelings he had were his own and he could shake that hand away without feeling the urge to chase after it for more.

“thanks,” Rus said grudgingly.

“You’re welcome, but I can’t claim my motives as entirely altruistic.” Edge leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands hanging loosely between them. This little alcove in Waterfall was secluded enough that Rus had never seen anyone else and had no idea how the bench even got here. He came here a lot, his secret little place and in his panic earlier, he’d come to his safe spot. It felt strange to have Edge here with him, of all places, even as Edge went on. “Having a front row seat to your panic is the exact opposite of a relaxing evening out.”

“that’s fair.” The aftermath was aching in his skull like a Monday morning hangover, but Edge didn’t look any more or less constipated than normal, what the fuck. “how are you so much better at dealing with this?”

“Perhaps I’m simply more accustomed to dealing with situations that can’t be changed.” Edge smiled thinly. “Or perhaps it’s because one of the only readily available pieces of literature in Underfell is a manual on dealing with heat issues.”

“that’s not fair. i had to hit up the black market library for mine.”

“I’ll get you a copy if you want.”

Silence between them. For a moment there was nothing but the endless burble of water.

“why is this happening? why us?” If they’d been anywhere else, still sitting in the kitchen or Edge’s bedroom, anywhere, Rus wasn’t sure he could’ve asked. He didn’t want answers, he wanted it to go away. But sitting here with Edge next to him in his secret place and the memory of his concern fresh in his mind, along with the touch of his hand soothing on his neck, eh, may as well.

Edge didn’t say anything at first, only shifted to cross one leg over the other, staring out at the rippling pond. Finally, he said, slowly, “I don’t know. There wasn’t much study done on why certain Monsters were compatible with bonding. At least not in Underfell. But…Monsters aren’t meant to be solitary. Our souls crave others of our kind. Perhaps bonding was an evolutionary way to ensure it.”

It was a hell of a speech, but somehow, it didn’t sit right. It felt a little off, like it was one sidestep away from the truth, but Rus didn’t know how to say that without making it seem pissy. Arguing was dead last on the list of things he felt like doing right now, so he only said, lightly, “thanks professor, let me know how your thesis goes.”

Edge didn’t crack a smile but there was the faintest perception of amusement. That, at least, Rus could handle.

For a brief second, he remembered being in Edge’s bed, his gentle care even when it melted into eagerness, the pleasure of it, and almost Rus was tempted to lean in and take a kiss, see if that mouth tasted like he remembered.

He tossed another brick on that urge, squashing it flat. Fuck knew if this heat thing worked out the way Edge said it would, he’d get his chance.

The longer they were here alone, the more Rus wanted to be anywhere else. “ready to head back?”

“I think I’d prefer to walk. Fighting back nausea once is enough for me.”

“great!” Rus said cheerily. “have fun with that.”

He didn’t wait another second, already shortcutting away before Edge could protest. He didn’t go far, stayed close enough to hear Edge snarl his name, his exasperated muttering. But Rus hung back, hidden around the corner to make sure Edge solved the puzzle of how to get to the main path. The walk home wouldn’t take him long once he found it, Rus just wanted to make sure he headed the right way.

Maybe Edge could feel him there, he didn’t know. But he sure as fuck couldn’t feel Edge and that suited him fine.

~~*~~

tbc

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #biting off more than you can chew

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keelywolfe · 6 years

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FIC: Biting Off More Than You Can Chew; part 3

Summary: Rus has his answers, there’s just one more person he needs to talk to and he’s a hell of an asshole. This surprises no one.

Tags: heatfic, dubious consent, NSFW, frenemies to lovers, mates, first time, more if I think of them

There is still no explicit sex in this chapter. There will be eventually. There is a little violence.

Also on AO3

Read Chapter 1

Read Chapter 2

~~*~~

Underfell was fucking dangerous but Rus knew his way to Red’s sentry station in Snowdin. It was a mirror-version of his own world, a left turn instead of a right, and while miscalculating a shortcut could have consequences, he wasn’t worried about that right now. At least ending up halfway in a tree would solve a few problems.

That said, he didn’t want to step out into the middle of some kind of territorial dispute or road rage, or whatever the fuck it was that made the denizens of Underfell so damn dust-thirsty. His shortcut left him in a nearby copse of trees, looking out from around one of them warily.

There was nothing in sight but more snow and trees, and the sentry station itself. In other words safe-ish, a relative term in Underfell.

The sentry station was even more haphazard than the one in Underswap, made from moldering boards, snow dripping from every eve. And Red was slouched in a rickety chair, eyes closed, with his feet propped up and a slender cigar smoldering between his fingers.

Snow crunched beneath his sneakers as Rus walked over, his feet sinking into the drifts until he got to the road. It was almost insulting that Red didn’t even open his eye, only took a slow puff from the cigar. “you look like a fucking target in that sweatshirt, honey bun. shoulda taken a cue from paps and doctored it up with a little sharpie ‘cause you may as well write yourself up an advertisement for free xp.”

Rus ignored that, the implied insult. He wasn’t a fighter and he knew it, had never wanted to be a guard or a warrior, had never needed to be. He was who he was, and that wasn’t something this asshole could simply abuse.

“you son of a bitch,” Rus ground out. His magic was running hot, untouched by the chilly air, his vision shading into searing orange.

“what?” Red finally looked at him, his sockets slitting open to reveal lazy crimson eye lights. He couldn’t quite manage innocence, Rus had never expected that of him, but he’d let himself be fooled by appearances once. He’d known who Red was, how the denizens of Underfell were, and yeah, Red resembled his brother, but he wasn’t like Blue he was like…

(me)

…an asshole. He really should have known it was Edge who mirrored Blue, the same as Papyrus. The protector, the guardian with an impeachable code of honor. He was clear of the blinders now and what Rus was getting from Red was that he had fucked both him and his own brother over. Literally.

“do not try that shit with me,” Rus snarled. It still hurt, to think someone with his brother’s face had used him like this. “you knew! there’s no fucking way you didn’t!”

“figured it out did ya.” Red stuck his cigar between his teeth and gestured imperiously for Rus to lean in. Reluctantly, he did and Red tugged down his collar. He winced as Red prodded the bite mark roughly. "got you good, didn’t he.”

Rus shook him away, standing up straight and demanded, “why me?”

It gained him a lazy shrug, Red taking a long draw off his cigar and his words came with a stream of smoke. “there’s no one else, really. can’t trust anyone in underfell, they’d use it against him before the come was even dry. can’t exactly help him myself, even if i wanted to. heats won't mark too close a relative. they smell like dirty fucking socks or spoiled meat, it’s kinda a turn off.”

He tapped ash into the snow, scattering gray, “sans and papyrus, they seem to be too close, they don't work. something about you and the blueberry, though. whatever jumble your universe has going for it, you're different enough to twig to it. noticed it during my last heat.” Red grinned slowly. “bet you remember it.”

He did, Rus realized. At movie night a few months back, Sans and Papyrus had both been complaining about a rank smell all night and had finally left early. Rus had figured that the damn dog had hidden something that was rotting merrily away somewhere in the house, but he and Blue had never found it, hadn’t even been able to smell it. They’d been puzzled by Sans and Papyrus’s complaint and by the next movie night, it had been gone.

“yeah, you remember,” Red said softly. “that’s when i figured out your ‘verses don’t get ‘em. and that was just the pre-show, you weren’t even catching the sweet side yet, the stink comes early so family has time to clear out. gotta tell ya, this is his first heat, they’re always the worst. he was gonna tough it out, but i’ve seen how that can end.” He shook his head, “i can’t risk it, not my bro. so it had to be you.”

Rus really wished he could shove away that niggling feeling of calculated understanding. What would he have done if it had been his brother, what wouldn’t he do…still. “you could have asked!”

“coulda,” Red agreed amicably, “but i didn’t have many ideas if you said no, and then you would have had advance warning. nah, my way worked fine,” His grin turned sly, his sockets half-closed as he tipped a look at Rus. “you should be thankin’ me. figured you were experienced enough to handle it. i coulda picked your brother.”

Any faint sympathy in his soul went cold and the sharp heat of his anger turned to icy fury, "you fucking—"

He didn’t even think, reaching out with blue magic and flinging Red out of his chair into the snow. For a moment, Red blinked up at the sky, wheezing, before he rolled over onto his hands and knees. Slowly, he climbed to his feet, dusting snow off his jacket. His grin bordered on feral, sharp and glistening. “you get that one for free.”

“don’t you even talk about my brother!” Rus shouted, past caring if anyone heard and came to investigate. He sent a wave of jagged bones at Red, watching furiously as he lazily sidestepped it, and impending danger didn’t register until he saw the flare of crimson in Red’s eye socket.

By then it was too late, snow was cold beneath him and he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t breathe, strangling on blue magic that wasn’t merely pinning him down, it was holding him completely, to the point he couldn’t even suck in air. Panicked, Rus struggled, uselessly, his vision blurring, darkening, until it let up enough for him to gasp, gagging on magic. He was still pinned down, but he could breathe again. Some cold, efficient part of Rus noted that it was a remarkably effective attack; couldn’t summon your own magic if you were focused on suffocating.

That infuriating little bastard strolled over to stand next to Rus, his hands in his pockets. Aside from the sharp glow in his left socket there wasn’t even a hint of strain. His grin was cold, calculating, and Rus swallowed down a touch of real fear.

“said you got one freebie, didn’t I, you don’t get to double dip. i could take you back there right now, you know,” Red said idly, nudging at him with the toe of his shoe. “tie you up pretty as a present. i’m betting my bro doesn’t have a whole lot of ‘no’ left in him.”

The pressure tightened again, until Rus strangled out a cry, then it let up entirely, allowed him to roll gasping to his side. “don’t think i need to though. you and i are a lot alike and—"

“we are nothing alike!” Rus spat, struggling to his feet. His clothes were soaked through from snow that had melted beneath him from the heat of their magic, sagging heavily on his bones and his ribs ached from being compressed.

Red only picked up his cigar, grimacing as it drooped soggily. He tossed it aside, muttered irritably, then snapped at Rus, “yeah, you can spout that party line all you want but we both know better. i know you, a little of me is you, you shit, and i know there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for your bro. and i can’t help but think there’s a few things you might be willing to do for mine.”

“you…you…” The cold was creeping in now, fucking hell, and Rus couldn’t tell if it was the chill or his own fury making him stammer.

“besides, you can quit pretending like you’re some kind of screaming fucking virgin anytime now,” Red grinned, but his eye lights were pitiless. He slouched back into his chair, propping his boots back up. “i hear things, even in your ‘verse. you’ve flapped your knees for half of underswap, what’s one more?”

It made him wince and Rus glared at Red furiously, “that was my choice, it doesn’t mean you can set me up as a whore for your brother! if you have a problem with me fucking around, you can stuff it up your sanctimonious cockhole, you psychotic piece of shit bastard.”

“’course it was your choice,” Red said agreeably, “and so is this.” He rolled back to his feet, stalking over and poked Rus in the sternum, his sharp fingertip digging through the thick material of his sweatshirt. “you’re right, that what you wanna hear? i set you up and you can go ahead and be pissed at me. you can hate me all you fucking want. i deserve it. the real question is, are you gonna let my bro die because of it?"

Rus looked away.

“you—” he stopped, grinding his teeth. There wasn’t an insult he could think of that would convey the purity of his anger right now. He doubted he needed one, Red knew exactly what he was thinking, all of it was visible in his smirk. He turned on heel and marched away and moments before he shortcutted away, he heard Red call out, his gravelly voice sweetly cheerful.

“have fun, honey!”

He stepped out of the shortcut into the machine room, the worse place to be with the way he felt. He wanted to break something, feel it shatter, he wanted to scream.

“i’m going to kill him,” Rus ground out, knew it for the lie it was before it ever left his mouth. He wasn’t, he couldn’t. Even if he had a chance to beat Red in a fight, he couldn’t hurt anyone who looked so much like his little brother. He laughed, then, sinking down to the floor, muffling it with his hands, and hating the hysterical edge to it, but he couldn’t stop.

“looks like i’m fucked,” he giggled, laughing until he felt tears sliding down his cheek bones. He wiped them away roughly and shook himself.

Enough self-pity bullshit. Red was right about one thing, at least; this wasn’t Edge’s fault, and if Red had bothered to ask, if he’d actually sat down and told Rus what was going on, he probably would’ve said yes, anyway. Oh, he’d have blustered and fussed about it, he knew himself well enough for that. But…yeah. It wasn’t in him to let anyone suffer, not even Edge. Undyne had said he was going to hurt himself or someone else, and Rus was guessing it would be soon.

“it’s your choice,” he muttered to himself, fingering the mark on his collarbone. It itched, dry marrow flaking beneath his fingertips. “your choice, so fucking make it.” He nodded a little and made his way over to the machine.

If they were going to do this, he had a few things to take care of first.

tbc

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#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underswap papyrus #underfell papyrus #biting off more than you can chew

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