Blue didn't know which felt weirder; the emotions rushing through him that weren't his own, or the rubbing of the bandages on his newly injured chest. Neither hurt exactly, but Blue knew that was because of the pain medicine he was now on. Apparently enough time had passed for the monsters in Dr. Undyne's care to mass produce the first aid supplies that had been so lacking when he first arrived.
And hadn't that been a surprise to the rest of the Underground. Not only had most of those monsters survived, but they had formed a tight-knit community that actually cared about one another. They even cared about the rest of the Underground, and they were slowly teaching them how to love again.
Blue was doing that job, too. He'd been doing that before the Day of Freedom, but now it was much more organized. It had been a few days since then, and he was still working on Sans. The other had some… odd ideas about how this whole soulmate thing was supposed to work.
At first Blue had thought that these were just the standards of his world, but Muffet had set him straight. "I don't know what he's thinking," she had said when Blue had asked her why Sans kept refusing his contact. "Soulmates are supposed to touch and care for one another, even outside the home."
That had opened Blue up to the realization that Sans was uncomfortable. He'd tried to speak to him about it, but he hadn't even been able to get past his name before Sans had winced. That had spun around inside of Blue's head for hours, and he finally had his conclusion.
Blue sat up in his little cot, which Papyrus had helped him move into Sans' room. He took in the room itself. It reminded him of his brother's, but it also reminded him of his own. The walls were bare and the floor was strewn with socks, but there was a table with action figures, a computer, and a racecar bed. The bookcase that had been in his brother's room was replaced with the chest of drawers from his. All in all, it looked lived in and loved.
Sans was currently laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling instead of sleeping despite the late hour. Blue crawled out of bed and over to his side, carefully not touching him. Sans shifted so he was looking down at him. Blue couldn't read his expression, but he could feel his curiosity.
"YES? WHAT IS IT?" Sans asked as quietly as he could.
"i think i've realized something that could help you. you don't like your name, do you? you've been flinching every time i say it ever since we were bonded."
Sans froze, his soul radiating startlement and confusion. Blue could see and feel the wheels turning in his head. Then he felt the realization hit Sans. It felt like the truth. "I… I BELIEVE YOU'RE RIGHT. HOW STRANGE. I'VE NEVER HAD PROBLEMS WITH IT BEFORE. WHY WOULD IT HURT ME NOW?"
Blue shrugged. "my guess is that all the times that she said it when she was hurting you have finally added up. and maybe there's a little bit of… i don't even know what to call it… but some kind of emotion about the fact that it's my name, too."
His soulmate considered this. Then he nodded. "I SUPPOSE THAT MAKES SENSE. AFTER EVERYTHING SHE DID EVEN THE MAGNIFICENT… ME… IS BOUND TO HAVE SOME… WHAT DO THE HUMANS CALL IT? AH, YES. TRIGGERS. HER DAMNED CONTRACT SUPPRESSED THEM UNTIL NOW. IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT ONE OF THEM HAS TURNED OUT TO BE MY OWN NAME."
"yeah, but at least it's an easy one to fix. all we need to do is find you a nickname, like mine. do you have any ideas?" Blue asked.
"HMM," Sans considered this, "I DO NOT. MAYBE ANOTHER COLOUR? I'LL ADMIT I WOULD LIKE TO MATCH WITH YOU IN SOME WAY, AND THAT SEEMS THE EASIEST WAY TO DO SO. MAYBE SOMETHING BASED ON MY MAGIC?"
Blue hummed and pulled out his phone. "let me look up some better names than just reddish purple. you're a magnificent monster. you deserve a magnificent name."
Sans smiled at him, that giddy little smile that Blue was coming to love. It always accompanied a happy little surge… and a bit of humbleness, which was odd when you realized that the easiest way to make it happen was to compliment him. Blue wondered if his brother had felt the same way. Probably. He knew that both Sans and Blue's Papyrus shared one thing; they were both autistic. There were a hundred little things that told him so, from their obsession with their favorite outfit to their speech patterns. Some people might read them as arrogant, but he knew better. They just were uncomfortable with their words and tried to hide that by being over the top confident. He didn't think there was anything wrong with that. In fact, he thought it was cute.
Speaking of cute, Blue landed on the perfect site to supply him with names. It was a colour matcher from a paint salesman. He held it up triumphantly. "here! this site matches up your magic colour with the names of different paints in the same family. this will be perfect! summon something. uh, please?"
Sans laughed. His laugh was some weird mix of a giggle and a chuckle. It was cute and perfectly him. He summoned a little bone. It burned with raw magic, the kind that was inefficient on purpose to make the room warmer. "WILL THIS SUFFICE?"
Blue nodded and held up his phone, snapping a picture of Sans' magic. The little wheel of doom spun, then a palette of colors popped up in front of him. He tried them out. "um… how about wine?"
Sans shook his head. "TOO FORMAL. BESIDES, DOCTOR WINE SOUNDS ABOUT AS FAKE AS YOU CAN GET."
Blue moved on to the next one. "okay then. garnet, maybe?"
"NO," Sans decided after a moment, "THAT FEELS A LITTLE TOO FEMININE FOR ME. WHAT'S NEXT?"
"raspberry?" Blue said hopefully.
Sans hesitated. He seemed to like it, but… "THAT IS TOO LONG. I'M USED TO JUST ONE SYLLABLE. WHAT IF WE SHORTENED IT TO RAZZ?"
Blue's face lit up. "that sounds perfect! it's got a nice ring to it and it matches your magic colour. plus, it's such a luxury item. raspberries were super rare back home, and they were always expensive. that's perfect for someone as majestic as you!"
"THE MAGNIFICENT RAZZ," his soulmate said, "I LIKE IT… THANK YOU, BLUE. YOU SOLVED A PROBLEM I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I HAD BEFORE IT GOT TOO BIG TO DEAL WITH. FOR THAT, I AM GRATEFUL."
Blue beamed at him. He knew he could do it. "of course, razz. now, let's get some actual sleep before we tell everyone in the morning."
Razz couldn't be nervous. He was a magnificent skeleton, truly smart, brave, and loyal. So there was no way that he was nervous about this. He was only going to talk to his brother! That wasn't scary at all! RIght?
Blue sensed his internal conflict and stopped moving. Razz bumped into the back of him. He glared at Blue when the other turned to face him, but his heart wasn't in it. He just wanted to see Blue's cheeky smile again. He loved it. It made Blue's whole face light up with hidden laughter. If there was any expression that Razz wanted to see on his face, it was that smile.
"heh. someone's eager to get this going. what do you think your brother's going to say?"
Razz straightened. "WELL, OBVIOUSLY HE IS GOING TO BE IMPRESSED WITH THE PERFECTION OF MY NEW NAME! IT IS TRULY MAGNIFICENT AND WORTHY OF SUCH A GREAT MONSTER AS MYSELF!"
The next voice that spoke wasn't one he expected. "what kind of perfection? physical? auditory? emotional?"
Razz spun around. Coming down the stairs behind him with a very familiar grin on his skull was his brother, Papyrus. He looked unnaturally tense for someone who was usually so relaxed. Seeing his brother like that made Razz's own defences rise. He swallowed his nerves and said, "HAVEN'T I TOLD YOU NOT TO SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT?"
Papyrus smiled cheekily at him. Razz couldn't help but compare it to Blue's smile. They were similar, yet oh so different. Blue's smile had a softer edge to it, and his eyes looked so mischievous, like a little kid pulling a prank on an adult. Papyrus' smile was harder, sharper, and much more cynical. It was more how Razz pictured a real imp or a demon would look when contemplating doing… something. Exactly what that was, Razz had never really understood.
That smile surrounded Razz on both sides. He ignored it, waiting for his brother's response. "you never told me not to sneak up on you on the way down the stairs, sa-"
"don't say it! please!" Blue almost screamed. Papyrus stared at him like he was crazy.
Razz quickly jumped to his soulmate's defense. "HE'S RIGHT. MY NAME HAS… UNFORTUNATE EFFECTS ON ME, NOW. IT SEEMS TO HAVE BECOME A TRIGGER. BLUE NOTICED, AND HE CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF GOING BY A DIFFERENT NAME. I'VE SETTLED ON RAZZ, AS IN RASPBERRY. WHAT DO YOU THINK?"
The second smallest skeleton in the Underground wasn't even aware how scared he was until Papyrus shrugged. Then a trainload of relief got dumped on his head. "sounds cool to me, bro. the name's about razz good razz it gets."
Razz glared at his brother. Really, puns? at a time like this?
Papyrus chuckled. "heh, yeah. no, but seriously, i don't see a problem with it, s- razz. i know it'll take a while to get everyone on board… say. how would you feel if i changed my name, too? then you could say you changed your name when i did and not have to tell people why. i don't want anyone to deliberately try and trigger you because they're an asshole."
Surprise, respect, and pleasure came flooding down the bond Razz shared with Blue. He could feel it matched in his own face. "THANK YOU, BROTHER. THAT… WOULD BE APPRECIATED. WHAT DO YOU PLAN ON CALLING YOURSELF?"
Blue cleared his throat. "you could call yourself breaks. you know, like-"
He stopped when Papyrus burst into laughter. He doubled over with his arms wrapped around his lanky torso. Eventually he ended up sitting on the stairs. When he caught his breath, he said, "like what i wanted to name you? thanks, but no. i think i'll go for my old nickname. muffler used to call me slim, cause i got so tall way faster than i got wide. hell, i'm still a beansprout. i already answer to it, so why not go with that?"
"It's true," Razz spun again to see Muffet, who was standing in the front door. "He's always been the tall and thin type. Razz and Slim both have nice rings to them. I'll send out a message so as few people have to be directly told as possible."
Another boatload of relief filled Razz's soul. He had not been looking forward to facing this same conversation hundreds of times over. It felt nice to know he wouldn't have to. "THANK YOU, MUFFET. THAT MEANS A LOT."
Her face softened. "You're welcome, Razz. Now, I need to steal your new soulmate. You can come if you want, too. We're going to dismantle those awful dresses of the Queen's and make something new out of them. Maybe a wall quilt? Anything is better than rotting away and never being worn."
This time Slim was much closer when his phone's alarm went off. He was actually sitting at his sentry station. The alarm was connected to the cameras he had placed along the path into Snowdin, so that meant something had triggered them. He pulled up the app he had built and stared at the image it had captured. A thrill shot through him as he realized what it was. It was a human.
Slim jumped up and ran towards the Ruins door. He didn't get far. The human had made it further this time. She was shorter than the last one, with paler skin and golden hair. She was wearing a very pretty blue dress that was stained with mud. It looked like something a princess might wear., with ruffles, puffy sleeves, and a long train. The bottom was ripped enough that Slim could see her shoes - or, rather, her lack thereof. Muddy feet with a few bleeding cuts peeked out. When she saw him she stopped and waved. "Hello, monster! My name is Patience. What is yours?"
Slim stopped moving, a little bit shocked at the friendliness. "i'm, uh, papy- no. i'm slim now. slim."
Patience tilted her head curiously. "Did you just change your name, Slim?"
Slim nodded slowly. He might as well tell her. It was good practice for talking with everyone else. "i did. my brother… had some really bad things happen to him, and his name turned out to be a trigger for the bad memories, so he changed his name to razz. i decided to change my name to make him feel like he wasn't alone. that was this morning."
The human smiled at him. "It'll get better, I promise. I used to have a different name that hurt to hear, but the nice monster behind the door said I could change it. Now my name is Patience! He helped me get used to it, and now I am!"
Slim gulped. So she did know the monster behind the door. "if… if you were happy living with him, why'd you come out here? you're… not going to last for very long."
"I know," Patience said with a smile. Seriously. A smile. What was with this kid? "That's why I'm here. I didn't know about you monsters, but the man behind the door told me how long you've been down here. You've been waiting patiently for so long to be free, and… I have no one waiting for me up there. I might as well help you achieve your goal, right?"
Slim summoned his weapon, sadness in his heart. Patience seemed like a cool kid. He wished he could get to know them more, but… he didn't want to make Razz wait. "well… i guess i just have to say thanks, then, patience."
Patience knelt down on the snowy ground with her hands in her lap. "You're welcome, Slim. I hope you and your brother really get to enjoy seeing the stars."
