Time had passed. Days, in fact - fifteen of them. A few days of extra shifts Blue could understand, but fifteen? His universe had a rule that no one could pull the early shift more than ten days in a row. After that, it started to mess with your health.
So Edge was definitely avoiding them. Blue wondered why. He also wondered where Edge's brother was. Blue had a brother who looked like Edge, so shouldn't Edge have a brother who looked like Blue? Maybe the other was working in another part of the Underground. It was a big place, after all. Sentries and Guards were posted throughout the length and breadth of it. It was possible that the other Sans was on duty. Blue was ignoring the the part of him that said the other Sans was dead, and he was completely blocking out the whisper that Edge might have killed him.
Blue slapped his face lightly to knock the bad thoughts out. He was currently sitting alone in the living room. The TV was on in front of him. The entertainment options here were decidedly murderous, but it was better than rereading all the books in the house (which he already had).
At least Stretch was having fun. He was down in the basement, working on the machine. That first day he'd come up with a scowl.
"it's just a skeleton of what our one is, bro. someone must have taken out every single piece of useful machinery. it'll take months, maybe a year. we'll have to ask him to get us parts, though I doubt he'll agree. what's the point if all it's going to do is get rid of a few weird houseguests?"
Blue stamped his foot. "PAPPY, THAT'S RUDE! JUST BECAUSE HE COMES FROM A WORLD THAT IS NOT NICE DOES NOT MEAN THAT HE'S SELFISH! HE TOOK US INTO HIS HOME AND HAS BEEN FEEDING US. AND HE EVEN SAID YOU COULD WORK ON THE MACHINE. SURELY HE WON'T REFUSE TO GIVE YOU THE PARTS YOU NEED."
Stretch looked at him patronizingly. Blue hated when he did that!
"and how do you know he will? he's done nothing to show us that he's kind."
Blue harrumphed. "HOW DO YOU KNOW HE WON'T? I JUST TOLD YOU ALL THE REASONS HE WILL! I WISH YOU WOULD STOP JUDGING PEOPLE ON SO LITTLE EVIDENCE."
"sorry, bro."
That had ended the conversation. But it hadn't ended Stretch's doubts. He kept making disparaging comments at every opportunity. Blue was more than a little sick of it. He wanted to give the rough skeleton the benefit of the doubt, not dismiss him entirely because of the world he came from. They hadn't even gotten to explore yet. Stretch wasn't even judging on that much experience. He was going off a bad first meeting. So rude.
Speaking of Edge, Blue was surprised when the front door creaked open and the scarred skeleton came in the door. He stopped just inside the door and pulled it closed. Then he started removing his armour and boots, seemingly unaware of Blue's presence.
Blue coughed quietly. Edge froze in the middle of taking off his breastplate and spun. Blue lifted his unbroken hand up. Edge forced himself to relax.
"OH. BLUE. I FORGOT YOU WOULD BE HERE."
Blue lowered his hand and gulped. Now that Edge was here, all the questions and good intentions that had been building up in his mind were evaporating. What was he going to say?
"I- UM- THANK YOU FOR LETTING US STAY IN YOUR HOUSE! IT IS VERY NICE."
Edge blinked, startled by the loud outburst. Then he sighed. "DON'T MENTION IT. I WOULD HARDLY HAVE LEFT YOU OUT IN THE COLD. YOU ARE CLEARLY VERSIONS OF ME AND...MY BROTHER. YOU HAD NOWHERE ELSE TO GO, HERE. ALONG THAT LINE, HOW IS YOUR RESTORATION OF THE MACHINE GOING?"
Blue answered, "AS WELL AS COULD BE EXPECTED. MY BROTHER IS WORKING ON IT, SO IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR YOU TO ASK HIM. I DO KNOW IT WAS JUST A FRAMEWORK WHEN HE STARTED ON IT. HE MENTIONED NEEDING PARTS?"
Edge huffed. Blue was watching him, looking for the signs that he might decide to ignore the need for parts, or worse, decide that keeping them around was no longer worth it.
Edge was already reaching for his armour. What was he going to do?
"I'LL TAKE HIM. THE DUMP IS A DANGEROUS PLACE TO GO ALONE. WE CAN EASILY PICK UP THE PARTS WE NEED AND BE BACK HERE BEFORE ANYONE TAKES AN INTEREST."
Blue let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Edge was being a good person, just like he'd thought he would. So much for Stretch's little pet theory. Oh.
"UM, THERE MIGHT BE A BIT OF A PROBLEM WITH THAT. MY BROTHER IS...OH, HOW DO I PUT THIS," Blue hummed for a moment, "MY BROTHER IS VERY JUDGEMENTAL. HE SORT OF HAS TO BE, WITH HIS JOB, BUT...HE HAS GOTTEN IN THE HABIT OF JUDGING PEOPLE ON VERY LITTLE EVIDENCE. AND HE HAS- WITH YOU, I MEAN- ALREADY DECIDED THAT YOU ARE. NOT GOOD? AS IN HE THINKS YOU ARE BAD."
"OH," Edge sagged a little, which only drew attention to the fact that he had been standing at tension. He looked...depressed, but not surprised.
Blue jumped into the silence to try and cheer their host up, "I DON'T THINK YOU'RE BAD. I THINK YOU'RE GOOD! HE JUST...JUMPED TO CONCLUSIONS. AGAIN. BUT I'M SURE YOU CAN CHANGE HIS MIND IF YOU TRY!"
Edge didn't look very enthusiastic about this. His shoulders were still sagged and his chin was almost touching his neck. Blue hated it. His brother could be so careless. Yes, there was no way Stretch could have known that it would have such a big impact on Edge. But that didn't mean it wasn't rude! And the lack of energy on Edge's face made Blue want to perk him up. It hurt that someone, even a stranger, could be so hurt by something Blue had said.
"HEY, DON'T WORRY. I'LL GO TO THE DUMP WITH YOU! I'M SURE HE CAN WRITE US A LIST OR SOMETHING," Blue injected his voice with cheer.
"NO," Edge said firmly, "NOT WITH THAT ARM. YOU'D BE USELESS IN AN ATTACK."
Blue huffed, "I'D BE MORE USEFUL IN AN ATTACK THAN MY BROTHER. HE'S SUCH A LAZYBONES. HE NEVER TRAINS WITH HIS ATTACKS, SO THEY ONLY DO ONE DAMAGE. YOU'D BE BETTER OFF TO TAKE ME. AND I'VE TRAINED TO FIGHT WITH ONE ARM. I CAN HELP!"
"REALLY?" Edge said doubtfully, "AND HOW EXACTLY DO YOU PLAN ON PROVING THAT?"
Blue glared at him, but there was no menace in it. He just disliked that the other was doubting his word. He had enough of that in his life. "THROW AN ATTACK AT ME. THAT WILL-"
"NO!" Edge looked absolutely horrified. Then he shook his head and said, softer, "NO. I WON'T."
Blue sighed. "THEN I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PROVE IT TO YOU. MAYBE I COULD THROW AN ATTACK AT YOU?"
Edge looked thoughtful. He eyed Blue up and down, but it felt more like when Alphys was sizing him up for the day's activities than when someone was deciding if he was worth buying dinner for or not.
"GIVE ME YOUR STRONGEST ATTACK PATTERN," Edge finally said.
Blue grinned and summoned up a hoard of bone attacks. Then he threw them at Edge, alternating top, bottom, and speed for several minutes. Edge dodged them without too much difficulty, but he did take a few hit. When the attack was over, the taller skeleton gave him an appraising look. Then he nodded.
"YOU'LL DO. I'VE BEEN ORDERED TO TAKE TOMORROW OFF, SO BE PREPARED TO LEAVE AT 6. THE BIG GANGS DON'T LIKE TO GET UP BEFORE NOON."
Blue fought the urge to pump a fist up in the air as the other turned around and slinked into the kitchen. He had the feeling that getting this respect from Edge was something to be proud of. He couldn't wait to tell his brother about this. Hopefully it'd help change his opinion on Edge.
