There was a cough behind them. Reaper turned, Cider and Geno still in his arms, to see Life watching them with an amused smile spread blatantly across her face. Reaper grinned right back at her, "life! look, i got my matched set!"
The twins both grumbled complaints at being called that, but Reaper was too happy to care. Plus it didn't escape his notice that neither one let go or tried to get out of his hold.
"I can see that, my friend." She walked closer as she spoke, then pulled the trio into her arms for the biggest hug Reaper had ever been part of. "Congratulations!"
"wait, don't!" Geno and Cider both looked panicked, then looked up at Life with wonder, "you didn't dust."
"Of course not, my children. Did you really believe two mortal beings would be able to withstand the touch of Death but another god would not?"
"when you put it that way," Geno grumbled as he looked down, abashed.
"I will admit Reaper's touch is uncomfortable due to the nature of our powers. But gods are not part of the cycle of Life and Death, it will take more than his mere touch to kill even the most minor of gods."
"that's a relief."
"tor," Reaper said, looking between his two datefriends (two! He had not just one but two adorable datefriends) and his oldest friend, "how? i mean," he squinted at the timers attached to the twins' souls, "they're still mortal, i think. what did you do?"
"Perhaps it is the garden, you have no power here."
All three skeletons looked down at Reaper's feet, where a ring of brown, wilted grass was slowly growing outward.
Life gave a light cough, "Well, that grass is not dead is it? How do the two of you feel?"
They both shrugged. "the same, i guess. still tired," Cider added before a great yawn cracked his jaw. It spread to Geno next.
"It has been a tiring day," Life agreed with another amused smile. Reaper swore it was more of a smirk, really. "You two should rest. But as I said, it would be better if you did not return to the Save Screen for now."
"where else would i take them? all our stuff's there."
"Sans Reaper Death the elder," Life said exasperatedly, "do you not have a house with your brother in the godly realm?"
"it's more his house than mine at this point, i moved into the save screen with geno ages ago."
"And did you not inform him of what you had planned for today?"
"of course i told him."
"You really believe Respite would not have prepared your shared home for the three of you?"
"oh."
"And at the very least it is worth a visit to let him know how things went, is it not?"
"yeah, you're right."
"As I often am," Life said with what was definitely a smirk. "Now get going you three. Have a safe journey, and do come back to visit." Life gave them all one last hug, then stepped back.
Cider and Geno looked at each other, a flurry of expressions flashed across their faces faster than Reaper could interpret them. It had only been such a short time since Cider crashed into their lives, but it seemed like the first thing he and Geno had done was figure out a way to communicate silently. Then the pair squirmed out of Reaper's arms and stood to either side, hands shoved in hoodie pockets.
"thanks, life."
"we'll be sure to visit."
Life smiled gently and waved.
They stepped into Respite's living room. Reaper supposed technically it was still his home too, some things had just never made it into the Save Screen. But he hadn't lived there in quite some time.
Cider's hand found its way into Reaper's. He looked down at his new datefriend with a wide smile, then noticed that the bright red mana usually leaking from Cider's grin had dried. Geno's hand found Reaper's next, Reaper turned his smile on Geno, "let's go find respite."
"we've never been here before, dork, you gotta lead the way."
"sure. he's probably upstairs." Keeping their hands in his, Reaper led his datemates up the stairs, calling out for Respite as they went.
Respite popped out of the room Reaper recognized as his old room. "OH! IT WORKED!" Respite clapped his hands in excitement, then his gaze dropped down to where their hands were still clasped. His sockets grew huge, "GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY! DOES THIS MEAN WHAT I THINK IT MEANS?"
Reaper held up both his datemates' hands, "we're a trio!"
Respite rushed over to pick the twins up and twirl them around. "OH THIS IS WONDERFUL!" He stopped and held them out so he could look down at them, "AND HOW DID IT GO WITH LIFE? NO WAIT, CLEARLY IT WENT WELL. YOU'RE NOT EVEN HIDING YOUR EYES ANYMORE! THOUGH I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT SHE'D DO MORE FOR YOUR SOULS, IT SEEMS A LITTLE IRRESPONSIBLE TO LEAVE THEM AS MERE FRAGMENTS. WELL, NO MATTER! YOU'RE HERE AND YOU'RE RELATIVELY HEALTHY. SO BROTHER, SINCE THEY AREN'T STUCK IN THAT DREARY PLACE LEST THEY DIE ANYMORE, YOU ARE OF COURSE MOVING BACK IN."
"only if you're okay with it. and them too, of course."
"DON'T BE SILLY! I'M MORE THAN JUST "OKAY" WITH IT! REALLY, AS IF I WOULDN'T BE HAPPY TO HAVE MY ONLY BROTHER BACK HOME WITH ME," Reaper grumbled with a frown. Then his attention shifted back to the twins still in his arms and his expression brightened, "BUT WHAT ABOUT THE TWO OF YOU? DO YOU WANT TO LIVE HERE?"
"sure, no place else i'd rather lay my head."
"wouldn't dream of living anywhere else."
"WERE THOSE PUNS?"
The answer was a pair of wide, jaw cracking yawns. Cider's good eye was drooping as much as his melted one.
"life said healing takes a lot out of mortals."
"OH, I SUPPOSE THAT MAKES SENSE? MORTALS DO NEED AN AWFUL LOT OF SLEEP, IT SEEMS." He squinted down at them, "BUT I THINK YOU BOTH NEED A QUICK WASH UP BEFORE BEING PUT TO BED." And just like that Respite was marching towards the bathroom, one of Reaper's datemates under each arm. "BROTHER, GET THE BED READY WHILE I CLEAN THEM UP."
"sure thing, bro." Reaper gave them a wave, then stepped into his old room. It was pretty empty, all the junk he'd left behind save for one trunk and his old bed had been cleaned out. He frowned at the bed in the corner, it was old fashioned and dumpy even by his standards, nothing more than a worn old pallet. It certainly wasn't big enough for two monsters nor was it worthy of his precious datemates. He quickly kicked the ratty old thing through a shortcut to some random place. Then with a shortcut and liberal use of gravity magic he brought his and Geno's bed from the Save Screen into the room.
Well that was a disaster! The thing took up about half the room, maybe more. It definitely didn't belong shoved into the corner like that. They'd have to do something about the bed to bedroom ratio later, for now he could at least try to get the thing into a decent position.
"BROTHER! COME HERE A MINUTE, PLEASE!"
Reaper stood outside the bathroom door, "yeah bro?"
The door swung wildly open, just past Respite he could see Geno and Cider sitting on the edge of their claw foot tub, down to just their shirts and shorts. "THESE CLOTHES WON'T DO! THEY'RE STICKY WITH MANA!" Respite motioned angrily to the matched slashes across their shirts.
"oh, right. i'll be right back." Reaper popped into his Save Screen bedroom and made a beeline for the pair of dressers. Geno's was… pretty empty. All it really had were some lingerie, toys, and his sock collection. All of which were stained with still fresh, bright red mana. Right, since this was a timeless place and Geno never really stopped bleeding he never really bothered with changing his clothes or even washing what he had. Cider was likely the same. Come to think of it, even though Reaper had bought him his own dresser and a wardrobe he couldn't remember ever actually buying Cider anything to put in them. Well crap, he was a terrible datemate. That would have to be fixed… soon. Right now he had more pressing matters.
Reaper moved to his own dresser and started rifling through it. Again, it was mostly lingerie and toys, he didn't even have a sock collection like most Sanses. All he found was one old, worn soft, faded from black to dark gray, over sized T-shirt and an old pair of sweatpants. Well that made sense, he kept his clothes in the wardrobe. The wardrobe that seemed to only be full of black ragged robe after black ragged robe with only the occasional pair of matching black ragged pants for variety. He got all the way to the back where he found a knit sweater with "Death the halls" written across it with cheery holiday decorations around the whole thing. Well it would have to do. He took the meager pile of clothes to the bathroom and knocked on the door.
"THERE YOU ARE!" Respite took the clothes and plopped them on the counter next to the sink. "ALRIGHT, ONCE YOU TO HAVE FINISHED WASHING UP AND CHANGING WE'LL GET YOU RIGHT INTO BED. GO AHEAD AND JUST LEAVE THE OLD ONES HERE, I'LL TAKE CARE OF THEM." Without waiting for a response Respite stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door. Then he hustled reaper into his (their?) bedroom. "OUR DEATHLY TOUCH DOESN'T AFFECT THEM!"
"yeah, no idea what life did to make that happen, but i'm not complaining."
"I SHALL HAVE TO SEND HER A THANK YOU CARD, POSSIBLY A GIFT OF SOME KIND. WHAT DO YOU SEND TO A GODDESS THAT LITERALLY LIVES IN A GARDEN? SURELY A FRUIT BASKET OR A BOUQUET WOULD BE COMPLETELY REDUNDANT. YOU KNOW HER BETTER THAN I, DOES SHE ENJOY CHEESE? PERHAPS WITH SOME CURED MEATS?"
Reaper shrugged, "just so long as there's no tea. maybe a wine bottle? isn't cheese supposed to go with wine? i know she's classy enough for that sort of thing.
Respite's eye sockets glittered as he practically beamed his joy at Reaper, "FOR ONCE YOU ACTUALLY HAVE SOMETHING HELPFUL TO SAY! I'M SO GLAD TO SEE HAVING A SECOND DATEMATE HAS ALREADY IMPROVED YOUR LAZY WAYS EVEN MORE." He turned and motioned at the bed, still awkwardly stuffed in the room's corner, "WHY JUST LOOK AT THIS! I EXPECTED YOU TO JUST THROW BLANKETS AND PILLOWS AT THAT MUSTY OLD STRAW TICK YOU CALLED A BED, BUT INSTEAD YOU REPLACED IT WITH A REAL BED."
"it's just our bed from the save screen. i didn't even do any work to get it here, just used a shortcut."
"AND THAT IS STILL MORE EFFORT THAN I EXPECTED, WELL DONE." Respite clapped Reaper on the back hard enough he nearly fell flat on his face. "THOUGH IT DOES SEEM RATHER… LARGE. FOR THIS ROOM."
"yeah, it might be time to make some changes. but that'll have to wait until later, for now i just want to figure out a place to leave the bed that'll work for tonight."
"THAT'S EASY ENOUGH, IF WE MOVE THAT OLD CHEST YOU LEFT BEHIND TO THAT CORNER THERE, WE CAN PUT THE BED AGAINST THAT WALL AND HAVE JUST ENOUGH ROOM TO ACTUALLY MANEUVER AROUND THE ROOM. THOUGH I DON'T SEE WHY WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE IT AS IS, ALL THREE OF YOU CAN SHORTCUT."
"heh, that's true. but we're gonna need to bring all our furniture and stuff from the save screen in at some point."
"AS YOU SAID, THIS IS ONLY FOR THE SHORT TERM. I'M SURE ONCE I SET MY MIND TO IT I WILL FIND A SOLUTION. NO, THE BEST SOLUTION!"
"uh… reaper? respite?"
"OH! THAT SOUNDS LIKE THEY'RE FINISHED. GO FETCH YOUR TWO DATEMATES AND I'LL GET THINGS SETTLED HERE."
"sure thing, bro." Reaper shortcut to just outside the bathroom, Geno and Cider were both standing in the doorway, leaning heavily on it as they looked down the hallway. They looked adorable, like a pair of sleepy kittens refusing to lay down for a nap. The fact they were both swimming in their borrowed clothes didn't help matters.
It was like the fact they were wearing his clothes hit Reaper upside the head and left him reeling. He just stood and stared at them, Geno in the Gyftmas sweater and sweatpants (which had to be rolled up to keep him from tripping over them, so cute!), and Cider drowning in the T-shirt so badly it was slipping from one shoulder, though the scarf hid most of said shoulder from sight, the bottom hem of the T-shirt went all the way down to his knees.
The two stumbling as they tried to walk towards him snapped Reaper out of his daze. He quickly caught them both, the last thing they needed was another trip to Life's garden for another healing round after they just left. They latched onto his arms, Reaper couldn't stop the indulgent smile he knew was all over his face. "alright you two, bed's right this way."
By leaning on Reaper and going slow, the twins managed to make it safely into the bedroom. Respite had managed to not only get the bed into place but also get it neatly made in the short time Reaper had been gone. He was just turning down the blankets when they walked in. "YOU TWO LOOK SO MUCH BETTER, LESS LIKE YOU'D JUST BEEN ON THE BRINK OF… WELL… US." He motioned to the bed, though with the way it took up half the room he needn't have bothered. "THE BED'S ALL READY, JUST CLIMB IN AND WE'LL LET YOU REST."
The bed frame had been specially ordered, it was short enough for any Sans (save maybe a bitty) to get in and out of easily, yet half asleep as they already were Reaper wasn't sure the twins could handle even that on their own. "how about i just…" Reaper shortcut the three of them onto the bed.
"yeah, that works," Cider slurred as he collapsed into bed, still clinging to Reaper. Geno did the same.
"uh… guys?" Reaper asked as he was bodily pulled down onto the bed with his datemates. Rather than respond, the twins just grunted and squirmed until they were both comfortably cuddled up on either side of Reaper, arms thrown over his ribs. They let him flip over so he was face up at least, but when he tried to squirm from their grasps both growled. "i uh… i'm trapped?"
"WELL YOU THREE HAVE A GOOD NAP," Respite said with a particularly smug smile as he tucked the three of them in. "FOR JUST TODAY BROTHER, I'M GIVING YOU PERMISSION TO BE LAZY. I'LL TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING ELSE, YOU JUST TAKE CARE OF YOUR DATEMATES. WINK!"
"thanks, bro, you're the best."
"OF COURSE I AM, NYEH HEH HEH!" With that Respite shut the door and was gone.
Reaper settled in, happy to hold his datemates (both of them! stars, he was so lucky) close while they got some much deserved rest. He just watched their ribs rise and fall for a while, taking the time to really look at their newly healed faces. How peaceful they looked without the gaping holes in their skulls, how serene their faces with a dribble of sleep drool rather than stark red mana. He hoped the lack of blood meant they weren't in pain anymore. He hoped the timers that strangely didn't seem to be counting down meant they had long lives ahead of them. Still, for now they were here, alive and safe and warm in his arms. He dropped a kiss on top of each skull and whispered, "best day ever," to them.
Perhaps Respite had a point about that gift basket, he should get Life one too.
