Pick your Prison

Chapter 3: Time and Tacos

The initial panic settled quicker than Red had expected when he finally woke from his nap. He seemed to be getting the hang of this alternate universe thing. Sure he had contemplated their existence before, back when he had had the safety of the lab and Boss had been just a babybones, but now that it was literally staring him in the face, it didn't seem so bad. Though he was pretty sure someone was trying to set the kitchen on fire by the noises he was hearing.

Papyrus was slumped on the other end of the couch, an empty bottle of something in his hand, snoring softly. Since Red couldn't trust his screwy internal clock, he sat up and looked out the front windows, noticing is was still quite light out so it must have been around noon like he had guessed.

Red shuffled, noticing he had become stiff in some places and began cracking his bones back into place. Starting at the top, he rolled his head back and forth, feeling the upper part of his spine shift and pop with a sickening crunch. It must have been loud enough that Papyrus opened his eyes and groaned, looking straight at him as Red continued with his alignment.

A devious smile graced Papyrus' face as he joined in the stretching and cracking, both of them working their joints back and forth in relative silence. By the time Red was working on his back, Sans poked his head around the opening to the kitchen and glared at them.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING IN HERE?"

Papyrus grinned from the couch, twisting his right arm so the elbow popped.

"sorry bro, were we… breaking your concentration?"

"UGH! PAPY THAT WAS HORRIBLE! STOP IT!"

Red decided to join in as he cracked both sets of his knuckles, one at a time. "no need to get snappy there blue." If looks could maim, Red probably would've lost his 1 hp from the daggers Sans was shooting from his eyes.

"NOT YOU TOO! HERE I WAS HOPING YOU WOULD BE MORE LIKE ME!" Sans huffed back into the kitchen as the duo erupted into a fit of chuckles.

"that was a good one red!" Papyrus stood from the couch, both of his knees popping into place.

"what can i say? i'm a pretty punny guy." Red jumped off the couch and finished cracking his back into place. It was good to trade puns again. He hadn't done that since… welp, not going there. Those memories didn't need to be brought up in this semi cheery place.

Red watched as Papyrus collected his wrappers and trash from some kind of food he had eaten and took them to the kitchen. He followed a bit behind; more curious about what Sans was doing than anything.

The room was a mess, pots and pans everywhere along with every cooking utensil the brothers seemed to own. Sans was at the stove, standing on a small wooden stool, mixing something in a large pan and Red could smell a bit of burnt meat coming from that direction. The small table was set for three and Red pulled out a chair and flopped into it before peering into the other small bowls set on the table. The one closest to him had some shredded cheese in it and Red sniffed it, hoping it wasn't poisoned or moldy. He did have standards even if he drowned almost everything in mustard.

Setting the bowl back, Red watched the other two move around the small room. It was cozy, lived in, like the rest of the house. There were pictures and notes stuck to the fridge, worn spots in the cabinets from constant use, and even a small, handmade rug on the floor by the sink. Papyrus was looking through the fridge as Sans poured his meaty concoction into another large bowl with a spoon and brought it with him to the table.

Papyrus join the group at the table, plopping a large yellow bottle in front of Red before sitting across from him, his back to the opening of the kitchen. Sans climbed into his chair, in between the two of them on the long side of the table and grabbed a small plastic container. From inside he pulled a small, white, flat circle and passed the container to Red.

Red looked inside the container and gingerly grabbed one of the white things and placed it on his plate before passing it back to Sans.

"what is this thing?" he mumbled aloud.

"A TACO! YOU FILL IT WITH ALL THIS STUFF AND WRAP IT UP AND EAT IT. IT'S ONE OF MY SPECIALITIES! HAVE YOU NEVER HAD ONE BEFORE?" Sans inquired.

Red lifted the white thing and watched Sans fill the taco with meat and cheese and a bit of lettuce. Papyrus seemed to drench the taco in some kind of sticky goop from his bottle as well as the other fixins so Red followed suit, filling his taco with meat and cheese before drenching it in the bottle that had been placed before him. To his surprise, it was mustard, so he looked over the table at Papyrus.

Papyrus appeared busy with his taco so Red folded his over packed monstrosity and shoved it in his mouth the best he could.

It was the hum of appreciation that had brought him out of his musings. Papyrus looked up at Red from across the table as he tucked into his taco. This batch wasn't bad, Sans' cutting skills were definitely getting better and the meat was almost devoid of crunchy bits but it was Red's reaction that caught his attention.

"DO YOU LIKE IT?"

"'s pretty good..." Red mumbled, his mouth still full.

Papyrus chuckled as he took a swig from his bottle of honey and reached for another tortilla. They ate in silence for a good while, each lost in their own thoughts. It was Sans that finally broke the quiet as they began to finish their lunch.

"RED, HOW ARE YOU FEELING?" he asked.

"better. though i would like my clothes back…" Red picked at the sweater he still had on. The llama fur must be itchy by now.

"I'LL GET THEM OUT OF THE DRYER AFTER I FINISH THE DISHES. THE JACKET WAS WASHED BUT I HAD TO HANG IT DRY SO IT MAY STILL BE A LITTLE WET!" Sans jumped off his chair and began collecting the left overs to pack and store in the fridge.

Papyrus stood to help his brother clean up, watching Red out of the corner of his eye, his earlier musings coming back. Would it be safe to talk about Red's universe now? He seemed relaxed enough.

"so red… how is it you got here?" Well that wasn't really what he wanted to ask but oh well.

"i was walking in the snow storm and got really tired so i laid down. when i woke up, i was here." Red shrugged.

Papyrus turned around and leaned against the counter, his answer appeared to be the truth but…

"why were you out in a snow storm?"

"eh… my little bro needed some 'alone time'."

"so he kicked you out? in the middle of a storm?" Papyrus' hands twitched in his hoodie pocket.

"nah… i usually leave when that kinda stuff is happenin'… shit he's gonna be so pissed that i'm still not home…" beads of sweat started to form on the top of Red's skull.

"LANGUAGE!"

Whoever this guy was, Papyrus wanted to bash is skull in. Red was practically shaking in his seat in fear over the imagined anger of his brother and Papyrus' normally good nature wasn't having any of it.

"there's gotta be a way back…" Red whispered.

Papyrus sighed though his nasal cavity and pushed off the counter. That answered that question.

"you don't have to go… you could stay here…" Papyrus shuffled toward Red, his one arm gestured to the rest of the house. Maybe he could convince him to stay? He looked at Sans, hoping he was thinking the same.

Sans starry eyes beamed back at him, his usual smile seemed twice as big as he nodded at Papyrus.

"i…. i can't…. boss needs me…" Red wouldn't look at him or Sans, instead staring down at his hands in his lap. He sounded like he was almost trying to convince himself as well as them.

He could work with that. They both could make it comfortable here; it would be like having another brother or a cousin. They could make it work, and hopefully convince Red to stay.

His heart on the other hand said there would be not 'brotherly' feelings is Red decided to stay but he ignored that.

"well, we can work something out in the meantime." Papyrus glanced back at Sans. "hey bro, why don't you get his clothes."

"BE RIGHT BACK!" Sans dashed off to the basement.

"i've got a hunk of junk in the shed that might help. sans doesn't know about it but I think it might've been some type of time machine at one point. you're welcome to work on it," Papyrus whispered.

"…sounds good." Red grunted.

Sans came around the corner, Red's freshly laundered clothes folded neatly in his arms.

"YOU CAN USE MY ROOM TO CHANGE! IT'S THE BLUE DOOR ON THE LEFT!"

Red hopped from the chair and moved around Papyrus, his head down the entire time.

This was going to be an uphill battle but it was the light pounding in his ribcage that gave him hope. He would work on Red, earn his trust and maybe, something more?

It had been a few days with the other brothers; Red had been sleeping on a comfortable mattress on the floor of Papyrus' room at night and spending most of his days in the shed working on the inoperable time machine.

He was currently in that little shed now, boxes of papers surrounding him as he looked for schematics. He threw a couple of blueprints around, one of them catching his eye. It wasn't for the current piece he was working on but it was shaped like a big box, a light on the top and windows all around. There were scribbles in the corners and a signature from "The Doctor" at the bottom. It looked interesting but he wasn't sure it was feasible and he couldn't read any of the other weird symbols on it so he tossed that one aside too.

He had been looking though these boxes for days and was slowly starting to make progress with what he already knew of the machine from his own timeline. That one was in equal if not worse disrepair but he was enjoying the work for the first time in a long time. He still took naps and ate with the brothers when they were home but they seemed to understand his need to be alone. Problem was, even in the labs years ago, he had ideas to bounce off others. Now that he was completely alone, fully rested and eating regularly, he was getting restless.

He needed to let off some steam. He grabbed one of the bent pieces of metal that he had earlier discarded since it was too broken to use and decided to sneak out to the woods. He could blast the little piece of metal to smithereens and use up some of this pent up magic he seemed to have.

Sneaking out of the shed wasn't hard since it was behind the house but he still locked the door with the key Papyrus had given him before trying to set out to the woods. As he turned around, he bumped directly into Sans.

"stars, blue!" it felt weird calling the other version of himself by their name so he had decided the nickname would work for now.

"OOF! SORRY RED!" Sans had landed on his behind in the snow so Red leaned down to help him up.

"what're you doin' out here?"

"WELL, PAPY WENT TO SLEEP AND I DIDN'T SEE YOU SO I FIGURED I'D CHECK TO SEE IF YOU WERE OK… WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"uh…." Red floundered for an answer. He couldn't tell the kid that he was going to blast the ever loving shit out of this so he improvised. "i…. was gonna go sledding."

"COOL! CAN I GO?"

It would be too suspicious to tell him off and honestly, he would enjoy the company after being alone so long that day.

"heh, sure kid. but we gotta go into the woods ok?"

"OK!"

The two of them trekked out into the woods behind the house. It only took a few minutes and Red found the open space he used at home when Boss wanted to train him.

"HOW ARE WE GOING TO SLED IF THE GROUND IS FLAT RED?"

"heh, i got a little trick for that…" Red summoned one of his blasters with his magic.

"WOAH!" Sans stepped back at the demonic skull came into being beside him. It had the same gold fang and crack over the eye that Red had and it seemed poised to attack, it's red eyes glowing fiercely.

"hey, none of that," Red walked over and patted the nose of the blaster, it nuzzling into his hand as it's eyes shifted to white. "i call him fang… guy's been with me forever." At first Fang was like his other blasters, distant and robotic but as the years had gone on this one had developed a personality and Red had treated him like a pet or equal. Fang had become the only thing he could rely on after a while, even being able to come into existence without Red's call if he needed him.

"SO… HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO THIS?" Sans bounced on his toes, his energy too much to contain.

"like this!" Red threw the piece of metal on the ground and sat on it. He tucked his stubby legs inside and used a bit of his magic to lasso Fang between his open jaws. Turning to Sans he held the magic rope with one hand and pat the metal behind him. Keeping them both on the makeshift sled, using the rope, and keeping Fang in existence would drain him pretty good so he was eager to get what little good he could out of it before he crashed.

Sans sat behind him, wrapping his arms around Red as tightly as he could before Red snapped the rope. It was like being shot out of a rocket and it took a bit of adjusting before Red could get control of their gravity and Fang's speed. Pretty soon they were making laps around the clearing, both of them laughing loudly despite the late hour. Red was nearing the limit of his magic when they made another lap and Papyrus walked out into the clearing.

It took all of Red's magic to pull Fang to a stop, the makeshift sled fishtailing as he adjusted their gravity. Fang went on alert the minute Papyrus walked out, energy collecting in his open maw.

"s-shit..."

Papyrus had watched the two of them run off into the woods together from his bedroom window. It was a late hour so his imagination ran in all different directions ranging from jealousy to sheer terror. Finally deciding he need to make sure nothing would happen to either of them, he teleported outside to the tree line. It was easy enough to follow their tracks in the snow so he trudged along, his mind still making crazy assumptions and scenarios.

He finally came to the clearing behind the house and stayed in the shadow of the trees, watching the shorter skeletons. When Red summoned his blaster it took all of his strength to stay hidden, the threat to his younger brother too close for comfort, but he hung back. Red had no intention of malice; he would be able to feel it now that he had his magic signature on lock.

Papyrus had been spending every night with Red, watching him toss and turn in his sleep. The first night he had started to cry out and Papyrus knew it would've woken Sans so he had curled up next to him, lightly petting Red's skull like had Sans' when he was little. Every time he had placed his hand on Red he had calmed, a blissful smiled on sleeping his face. Papyrus had taken those small moments to heart, hoping that in the morning Red had changed his mind about leaving.

With a lot pride and a little bit of fear he watched the two of them race off on the hunk of metal attached to the floating skull, sledding around and laughing. It was a few minutes before he decided to join in the fun, stepping out of the trees into the open.

Red pulled them to a stop, the sled sliding around but stopping, the blaster on the other hand…

"s-shit…"

"down boy…" Papyrus patted the skull on the nose, his magic wisping from his left hand. The blaster recognized his magic, it's intelligence surprising the taller skeleton. Papyrus smiled and summoned his own blaster, his personal favorite, and watched them 'sniff' each other near his shoulder. Red's was a bit smaller, with more angles and points, while his was just as menacing but seemed to adopt his lazy half-lidded expression.

"WOWIE! YOU HAVE ONE TOO? WHY DON'T I HAVE ONE PAPY?" Sans pouted from behind Red.

"not a clue bro…" he knew why Sans didn't have one but he wasn't about to talk about that right now.

Red seemed to take in the blasters with a little bit of fear but his grin split into something more cunning.

"wanna race?"

Papyrus looked at Red and then back to the blasters.

"…fuck yeah!"

"LANGUAGE!"