Stretch slammed open the door to his laboratory and said over his shoulder, "i don't get why you would just do that! you didn't ask me if you could tell her. you just chatted away like a chirpy little bluebird and let slip that we were dating!"
Blue, just behind him, stomped the snow off his boots at the top of the stairs.
"ITS ALPHYS! WHY WOULDN'T I TELL HER? SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND!"
Stretch kicked a stuck drawer hard until it opened up.
"she's also the captain of the royal guard! and, i don't know if you're aware of this despite me telling you over and over, but this is illegal."
Blue shoved the door closed with a little more force than necessary.
"NO IT'S NOT! IF YOU'D BOTHERED TO LISTEN TO ME EARLIER, YOU'D KNOW THAT I WAS ASKING HER IF IT WAS. AND SHE SAID-"
"-i'm the fucking judge," Stretch interrupted him, "are you saying I wouldn't know if shit like this is illegal or not?"
"DON'T INTERRUPT ME! AND DON'T SWEAR!" Blue stamped his foot.
Stretch dragged the tarp off of his machine and rolled his eyes.
"oh, like that's the important thing here. i'm a fucking adult and you don't get to tell me what I can and cannot say!"
Blue clenched his fists.
"I'VE NEVER DONE THAT!"
"what the hell?" Stretch said, pushing the new battery in his hands into the machine's port, "you just fucking did!"
Blue grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.
"I DID NOT!"
Stretch snatched the hand off his shoulder and flung Blue into the machine. A crack sounded. It sent Blue reeling into the wall, cradling his left arm and panting.
Stretch immediately went to the machine, checking the paneling and missing the glowing light on the side. It began to blink. When he couldn't find something obviously wrong, he rounded on Blue.
"what the hell is your problem? i'm your brother. i'm your boyfriend. you should listen to what i say. i've told you to be careful in here!"
Blue blinked a few times. Then he scowled.
"I'M NOT THE ONE WHO-"
The world went white.
Grey. That was the first thought that trickled into Blue's head. Grey was...not what he had been expecting. Had he been expecting something? Blue's brain felt fuzzy and full of cotton wool. Or maybe steel wool. Something grey and full of pain. Like his arm.
Blue rolled away from the pain and onto his right side. Then he wiggled his way into a tailor's seat. He tried rolling his left shoulder to work out the kink. Raw bone ground against bone. Okay. Definitely not doing that again. He wondered what Alphys had done this time that broke his bone. Given the way his head was swimming, he probably had a concussion as well. Time to grit his way through one of the Captain's sloppy healings. He could just-
This wasn't the training grounds or Alphys' front yard. This was snow. Or at least, mostly snow. It was too grey for proper snow. In fact, it looked like he was sitting in Dust.
Blue leaned forward, uncrossed his legs so he was kneeling, and shifted his weight to his left knee. He was just about to shift the other leg around front when he heard the moan. He turned his head and saw Stretch laying, facing him, not ten feet away. He saw Stretch's eyes open. They blinked. They blew wide open. In the same moment, Stretch pushed himself back and whimpered.
Blue sighed, got up, and walked over to his younger brother. He got down and in his face; between Stretch and the Dust.
"LOOK AT ME, STRETCH. NO, DON'T LOOK AT THE GROUND," Blue reached up with his right hand and redirected Stretch's skull. He continued, "STRETCH, LOOK INTO MY SOCKETS PLEASE. GOOD JOB. I'M HERE, STRETCH. NOTHING IS GOING TO HURT YOU. YOU'RE SAFE, STRETCH. WHAT ARE YOU?"
"'m safe," Stretch mumbled. Blue could feel his soul beat calming down.
"GOOD JOB. NOW, CAN YOU GET UP ON YOUR OWN?"
Stretch tried. He managed the maneuver, even if it was wobbly. Blue forced his knees to let him stand. Because he was about 2/3 as big as Stretch was, his little brother could see over him. He stiffened. Blue turned around to see what it was.
Sitting at the sentry station that had been directly behind them was a skeleton. He was tall and thin, taller than even Stretch was when he wasn't slouching. He was wearing a good set of guard armour. Not shiny, polished armour like Captain Alphys wore, but scuffed up, dented armour that had taken a beating. Underneath the armour he wore a black leather jerkin. It had patches in it. Some were sewn well, but other ones were sloppy. He also had a ragged red scarf around his neck. But the most remarkable thing was his face. It looked like Stretch's.
The other skeleton got up to the sound of creaking metal. He moved slowly. His armour scraped and creaked in a way that had Blue wondering if this skeleton spent any time oiling it at all. Below the breast plate's tassets were leather pants and red-brown boots. They shuffled through the Dust and snow.
"COME," Was the only word the other said. He simply turned onto the main path, clearly assuming they would follow. Blue and Stretch exchanged a look. Then Stretch followed Blue in the other's footsteps.
Everything they passed was grey, grey, grey. The snow was gritty underneath their feet. The trees were scorched, scarred, and sparse. The path was muddy, no stones at all. The sentry stations they passed were built tough. They could take a lot and, in most cases, had. One looked fairly new, but the landscape around it was charcoal. The previous one must have burned.
Eventually they reached the town of Snowdin. What few buildings there were were built of stone. There was no library. Muffet's restaurant was replaced by a forge. And their house…
Their house was a third the size it was supposed to be. It wasn't much more than a bungalow. It was still the largest building in the town, but it definitely wasn't the large house they were used to. If they hadn't figured out they were a long way from home already, that would have proved it.
The strange skeleton led them into the house without a word. Once inside, he bolted the door and dropped a wooden bar across the doorway. Then he brushed past Blue's left side on his way to the kitchen. Blue didn't move in time to avoid having the bone fragments grind against each other again. He gritted his teeth and tried to stabilize his arm. Gloved hands covered his own.
Blue looked up to see the strange skeleton eyeing his arm with concern. Then the stranger sighed.
"BROKEN?"
Blue nodded.
"WHICH BONE?"
Blue said, "I'M NOT SURE. I THINK IT'S MY SCAPULA."
The stranger nodded and said, "REMOVE YOUR SHIRT. I'LL GET THE KIT."
Stretch pushed his way between them, causing Blue's shoulder to grind even further. The way it was moving made Blue wonder if his collarbone might have been broken, too.
Stretch seethed, "what makes you think you're going to get my brother to do anything? you've just dragged us across half the underground and you think-"
Blue interrupted him, exhausted, "STRETCH. THIS PLACE LOOKS A LOT LESS...CIVILIZED THAN HOME, AND I'M INJURED. HE'S JUST TRYING TO HELP. CAN YOU AT LEAST WAIT TO YELL AT HIM UNTIL WE KNOW HIS NAME?"
Stretch opened his mouth to argue and closed it. His eye lights still looked like they were on the edge of something. An attack? A scream? A whimper? It could go any way. Stretch was scared, and when Stretch got scared, he lashed out. But Blue didn't have the energy to deal with his attitude today.
"IT'S EDGE."
Both brothers turned to look at Edge. He was holding a torn sheet, a bandage roll, and some wood splinters.
"MY NAME IS EDGE, AND," Here Edge handed the first aid supplies to a bewildered Stretch, "IF IT MAKES YOU MORE COMFORTABLE, YOU CAN DO IT."
"i, uh...don't know how," Stretch admitted as Blue began to pull off his shirt.
"THEN...MAY I HELP?" Edge asked.
Blue pointedly said said, "YOU CAN, EDGE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR KINDNESS, AND MY NAME IS BLUE."
Stretch turned, saw that Blue already had his shirt off, and blushed. Edge stepped forward and examined Blue's entire shoulder. Then he grabbed both sides of Blue's clavicle carefully.
"THIS IS GOING TO HURT," he warned.
"I KNOW," Blue said, "JUST GET IT OVER WITH."
Edge didn't even count it down. He just forced the two ends of Blue's clavicle back together. Blue winced. Stretch fainted.
Edge didn't turn when Stretch thumped on the floor. He was too busy wrapping, splinting, and then rewrapping Blue's clavicle. He didn't look down when he was done, either. He just stepped behind Blue and slid pieces of bone until they were in a more satisfying position. Then he grabbed the sheet, used it to make a sling around Blue's left arm, and tied it off. Then he wrapped the sling tight to Blue's chest, completely immobilizing the arm.
"IS THAT ACCEPTABLE, BLUE?" Edge asked.
Blue twisted and dodged. The setup didn't budge. He smiled at Edge and said, "PERFECT."
Edge turned away quickly. "WELL THEN, I'LL LEAVE YOU TO...WAKE UP YOUR BROTHER. WE'LL NEED MORE FOOD IF YOU'RE TO STAY HERE UNTIL YOU CAN FIX THE MACHINE. I'M AFRAID IT'S NOT IN GOOD SHAPE. THERE'S A BED UPSTAIRS. I'LL TAKE THE COUCH DOWN HERE."
Blue said, guiltily, "YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT."
Edge was already halfway to the door. He lifted the bar and said, "I SLEEP DOWN HERE ANYWAY. JUST...TAKE YOUR BROTHER UPSTAIRS. THERE'S LASAGNA IN THE FRIDGE."
With that, Edge was out the door and shutting it behind him. Blue sighed and looked around. The kitchen was across from the front door. A couch was shoved against the opposite wall. A TV sat in the middle of the room. A table and chairs were against the right wall. The stairs were against the left. A thick, red rug lay underneath it all. Stretch was sprawled on the edge of it.
Blue went and got a glass of water from the sink. Some of the bandages got splashed, but he filled it in the end. Then he walked back over and splashed it on Stretch's face.
"wha- blue?" Stretched started awake.
"EDGE HELPED ME FIX THE BONES YOU BROKE. THERE'S LASAGNA FOR YOU IN THE FRIDGE. I'M GOING UPSTAIRS TO BED. EDGE SHOULD BE BACK SOON. YOU CAN APOLOGIZE IN THE MORNING."
With that, Blue turned on his heels, walked over to the stairs, and climbed out of sight of the stunned brother still dripping on the floor.