Daemons
Chapter 7

Mild Violence Warn

A familiar buzz in Fell’s pocket signaled a notification on his phone. Pulling it out revealed a notification on their group chat from Killer. As he swiped open the message, the only words he could mutter were, “Stupid monkey.” Killer had sent out a mass message saying that their childish brother had been missing for hours after bailing on their chores. On top of that, Dust apparently wasn’t answering his phone, which was strange as Dust never ignored the device, especially if Killer was the one trying to get a hold of him.

The first reply on the chat was from Reaper, complaining that he was busy chasing a bus or something, likely following his soulmate. Error responded shortly after saying that he was just wrapping up his date and could start searching soon, Nightmare sending a similar response and Reaper reluctantly agreeing to do the same. That left himself and Horror, with both of them having assignments to gather whatever they could use. Before either could reply, their leader popped up again instructing both of them to continue their task but keep an eye out for him.

Sighing, Fell pocketed his phone and continued wandering, speculating what kind of trouble the monkey had managed to get himself into. Apparently he’d disappeared around midday, and with the sun now set that meant he’d been missing for 6-7 hours. While the kid was a bit reckless, he certainly wasn’t an idiot, at least not enough of one to disappear like that for no reason. The cat daemon shook his head as disturbing thoughts of what could’ve happened entered his mind. That kind of thinking wouldn’t do anything other than freak him out, which wouldn’t be helpful for anyone.

Making sure to keep an eye out for the kid, Fell continued his task, which so far had yet to bear any fruit. He’d been told to simply walk about one part of the city, looking for anything of value and listening for anything that might be of interest. So far all he’d heard was nothing more than a bunch of pointless gossip. Given his close proximity to the city’s university, he thought for sure that the edgy skeleton might be able to hear something more substantial, perhaps some more intelligent conversations, but that idea seemed to be falling through.

His aimless journey eventually brought him in front of a comic store. While he was very careful to keep his interests and hobbies secret from the other daemons, Fell couldn’t deny his interest in the colorful world of comics. They covered nearly any genre and were far more interesting to look at than the boring old books that Reaper loved. Nightmare had given all of them an allowance for personal spending, so it wasn’t like he didn’t have any money to buy himself a treat. A quick look inside certainly wouldn’t hurt even if he was supposed to be looking for information. He’d probably have just as much luck in there as out here for replaceing something useful.

With this reasoning spurring him onward, he quickly checked his surroundings to make sure none of his brothers were nearby out of habit. None of them would let him live it down if they caught him in a place so ‘nerdy’. Determining it safe to proceed, the edgy skeleton opened the door into the store.

He barely heard the bell ring though as his senses were completely consumed with the sight of another skeleton. Their eyelights twinkled with such genuine interest at the colorful little book in their hands, only partially concealed by the glasses taped to their skull. They seemed to give off such a professional and intelligent aura, judging from the lab coat and practical clothes underneath it. Yet all Fell could think was how beautiful they looked, with everything else seeming to fall away from his vision.

Blindly he took a few steps forward, closer to this stranger that had stolen his focus. Yet just as he found himself crossing half the distance, his courage failed and he quickly ducked into one of the many aisles before he was spotted staring. A ruby red dusted his cheeks as Fell slowly came back to reality, trying to calm his furiously beating soul and wondering what the hell that was all about. He’d never reacted like that with anyone before, though to be fair he barely knew anyone outside of his brothers. With them all moving every month or so, the edgy skeleton simply didn’t have the luxury of getting to know anyone else.

Sighing, Fell curiously peeked his head around the corner, only for the strange phenomena to happen once again. All he could see was that same skeleton, with everything else becoming nothing but background noise by comparison. He felt the heat in his face growing stronger and stronger, especially when his grip slipped and he knocked a figurine off a shelf. The stranger’s head instantly shot up at the noise, yet thankfully Fell’s feline reflexes allowed him to catch the figure and return it to its spot before ducking behind the shelf again.

The cat daemon was internally screaming at himself right now for being such a coward. He didn’t have a clue what was drawing him to this random stranger, but he did know that if any of the others were here they’d be giving him such a hard time and telling him to man up. Gritting his teeth, Fell spent another couple minutes building up his courage before stepping out, only to see the skeleton walking away and further into the store.

In a panic, Fell flung himself down the aisle, hoping to come out closer to the stranger on the other side. Yet he was so consumed with thoughts of the nerdy looking skeleton that he didn’t realize when something moved into his way. He crashed into something solid at the end of the aisle, feeling whatever it was tip over and hit the ground along with him. When his face crashed into the tile floor, it was enough to instantly piss the daemon off. “Hey! Watch where the hell you’re going!” He yelled at the driver of whatever he hit, rubbing his sore forehead as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

“Me?! How about you watch where you’re going before you kill someone!” The voice that answered was just as angry as the fallen skeleton, their deep tone bristling in a way that could only remind Fell of Nightmare. Looking up revealed another skeleton, this one dressed in black and white for the most part. His mismatched eyelights stared at the edgy skeleton for a mere second in absolute fury before Fell was roughly pushed out of the way by him.

Before the daemon had a chance to yell again, the stranger had completely forgotten about him, kneeling down in the spot Fell had been a moment ago. “Hey Geno, you alright?” Their tone was instantly softer as they addressed someone else that he couldn’t see. Though he felt his soul drop as he realized that the currently overturned wheelchair must’ve been what he ran into.

Fell shot to his feet, now tall enough to see that the monochrome stranger was kneeling in front of another skeleton. This one was quite different, a crimson scarf and glitch cloud covering his right eye as his most noticeable characteristics. They were currently laying on their side, their one eye clenched shut and teeth gritted as their right arm moved to the shoulder they were currently laying on. “Ow, that hurt,” he groaned, trying to shift himself into a sitting position only to hiss at the action. “So much for not stressing Sci out,” he murmured in a tone so quiet that the cat daemon doubted that he’d have heard if he had normal hearing.

The monochrome skeleton instantly was fussing over him, gently pulling the other up and checking over the arm the smaller skeleton was now cradling to his chest. “You cracked your arm again, didn’t you?” The other skeleton, Geno, turned his head away and refused to answer, instead murmuring. From where he was standing, Fell could just make out the smallest bit of red beginning to stain the scarfed skeleton’s white jacket, instantly filling him with regret. He never meant to hurt anyone, yet when he took a step forward to try and apologize, the black and white skeleton seemed to sense his motion. “Don’t come anywhere near him!”

The malicious bite to his voice definitely reminded the daemon of his leader. Memories of seeing Nightmare’s wrath in person flashed before him, causing him to take a shaky step back. “I-I didn’t mean to... I-I’m sorry, let me help-”

“You’ve done enough!” The stranger wheeled on him, his red eyelight briefly changing shape to a target symbol before he once again shifted his attention away from Fell. While the furious skeleton set to inspecting the wheelchair and returning it to its correct position, Fell hazarded a look at his injured friend. Big mistake.

That single piercing eyelight never wavered as Geno’s meticulous gaze bored a hole into him. It felt like the scarfed skeleton could peer right into his very soul, analyzing every bit of information that he could replace. It was downright eerie, in a way that reminded the edgy skeleton of Reaper and his mysterious ways. Before Fell could react or look away however, the skeleton’s face shifted, a bright smile replacing the cold and calculating expression from before. “Please don’t worry sir, I know it was an accident. These things just happen sometimes.” The change was so dramatic and his words sounded so genuine that the daemon couldn’t help but wonder if he imagined the whole exchange.

That doubt however was quickly laid to rest when the skeleton next spoke. His friend had helped him back into the wheelchair, making sure he was completely comfortable before returning to his position at the chair’s handles. “A friendly piece of advice though sir,” Geno spoke up, addressing him with that same innocent smile, yet his eye seemed to hold an indescribable darkness to it that sent a chill down his spine. “Not paying attention is often how many people get hurt, or worse.” As the two skeletons left, calling their goodbyes to a friend of theirs named Sci that was still shopping, Fell couldn’t help but hear a noticeable threat hidden in the ‘friendly’ advice.

If he was nervous before, Fell was pretty sure he was a complete wreck after that, constantly jumping at little sounds and looking over his shoulder. Yet there was still some small flicker of courage driving him to speak to the skeleton in glasses. Currently it was the only thing keeping him here, though he desperately wanted nothing more than to replace some place a little more comforting. Realizing that he’d never talk to anyone in his current state, the edgy skeleton set to replaceing some comics for him to enjoy later.

As he kept a running total on his phone, Fell decided to leave before he found something else he had to have. He paid the cashier and grabbed his bag, trying to avoid most people in the process. Yet as he stepped outside and into the crisp, evening air, Fell couldn’t help but feel like there was a reason for him to stay. Something in there kept pulling him back.

“E-Excuse me,” a timid voice piped up from behind him, revealing the same skeleton he’d practically been stalking earlier. A large bag of books and collectibles were clutched securely in his arms as he tilted his gaze up just a bit to look at him. While Fell was by far the shortest out of all of his brothers, this skeleton was still an inch or two shorter than him.

Realizing he’d not only been blocking the way but staring at him while blushing, the cat daemon quickly stepped to the side, muttering apologies as the color on his face deepened. He risked a quick glance down, only to see green splashed across the other’s face in a similar manner. With the awkwardness of the whole situation growing too much for either of them, both spun on their heels and walked the opposite direction. Only for both to turn back and look at the other a few seconds later.

No matter what he did, Fell couldn’t get that adorable nerdy skeleton out of his head, his mind practically screaming at him to follow... so he did, like a creepy stalker. It wasn’t the first time the daemon had tailed someone, so he at least knew how to do it without getting caught or losing him. Still, while part of his mind was congratulating him for taking initiative and going after the skeleton, the other half was busy condemning his cowardly action. Why couldn’t he just talk to the guy like a normal person? Why couldn’t he be as smooth as Reaper or as confident as Nightmare? Why was he screwing this up and acting like a creep?

Even with his mind whirling as much as it was, his senses were still constantly scanning his surroundings, keeping tabs on his ‘target’ and anything threatening or important. This was a talent that Error had seen to him developing, since as a mountain cat daemon his senses were sharper than almost everyone else’s. No matter what was going on in the maelstrom of his mind, the part that registered incoming sensory information always remained crystal clear and diligently focused on its task.

That’s how he was able to notice that he wasn’t the only one following the nerdy skeleton. When his mind latched onto this detail, all self-deprecating thoughts vanished as he focused on this new threat. They appeared to be a human male, judging from their build and movements. For the most part they seemed to be harmless, though the twitchy movements and constant fiddling in their pocket set his instincts alight with warning signs. It was a moment like this that Fell sincerely wished Dust was around, as the kid had become very good at reading people and situations as their scout.

The human was steadily gaining on his target, with Fell steadily gaining on him. This continued until the man got close enough to grab the smaller skeleton, clamping one hand on his shoulder and another over his mouth to stifle the inevitable scream before yanking him into a nearby alley. What surprised Fell the most is how the people milling about didn’t seem to notice. Either that, or they didn’t care, simply because it was just some monster. Mumbling about ‘racist pricks’, the edgy skeleton booked it to the alley he last saw them disappear down.

Of course they weren’t there, having gone deeper into the dark maze between buildings for some privacy. Luckily for Fell, smell and sound were what he often relied on, not sight. He focused on those senses, narrowing down the various lingering odors until something fresh hit him. The smell reminded him of a bad mixture of alcohol and drugs, likely explaining the man’s twitchy behavior and fidgeting. Following the scent, he kept listening closely until a muffled cry for help reached his sensitive ears.

Rounding the corner of where the sounds and smell led him, the cat daemon saw the nerdy skeleton pinned against a wall, tears streaming down his face as he clawed at the hands currently pinning and muffling him. The human leered down at him, a crazed look in his eyes as he removed his right hand from the monster’s shoulder. It slipped into his pocket, returning with a small metal blade that made the other instantly go rigid in fear.

Before the man could bring the knife any closer or speak, Fell abandoned all common sense and shouted at the man to stop. Both sets of eyes were instantly on him, one full of relief and the other full of annoyance. “Can I help you?” The man addressed him, pointing the knife in his direction as he did so. Realizing how stupid of a mistake he just made, Fell unconsciously took a few steps back. The human grinned at this, flashing broken and rotting teeth. “That’s what I thought. You fucking monsters are all just a bunch of cowards.”

That did it. He could take a lot of verbal abuse, but the one word he could never stand being called was ‘coward’. Sure he seemed to call himself one all the time, but it was a whole different story if someone else did it. Horror had been the first and last one in the group to make that mistake, as the cat daemon had practically gone feral as he lashed out with both kicks and claws.

It took every ounce of willpower the edgy skeleton had to keep from changing forms right there, knowing that revealing himself now would be the stupidest mistake ever. Yet there was no way he’d hold himself completely back as red consumed his vision and his body moved without instruction. Boney fingers clamped around the first thing they could get their hands on, which was the bag of comics he’d bought earlier. While the majority of the small books were flimsy and practically weightless, there had been a particular collector’s edition compilation he’d bought that was hardcover.

Tapping into his predatory instincts, the skeleton made no sound to announce his presence, instead silently racing behind the man with the thick book bag raced menacingly. The man never even got a chance to turn around before Fell jumped up and put all his weight and force through the books and into the back of his head. The human’s body instantly went limp, releasing the smaller skeleton and collapsing to the ground, completely knocked out.

“That’s what you get for calling me a fucking coward!” He spat at the man’s unconscious form, quite tempted to take another few shots at him while he was down. Fell probably would’ve, were it not for the set of terrified eyelights staring directly at him. When he turned to face the other, they shrunk back with a squeak, pressing their slim body against the brick wall behind them. Realizing just how angry he still was, Fell turned away a bit and took a couple calming breaths, forcing himself to relax before turning back to face the terrified skeleton.

Though it was clear that simply calming himself down wasn’t going to be enough. The smaller skeleton had slid down the wall, curled in a ball and hyperventilating. The tears continued to flow from his unfocused and terrified eyes as he wrapped his arms around himself in a vain attempt to provide a sense of comfort. They were symptoms that Fell was all too familiar with, ones he had dealt with many times before meeting his new family. The poor guy was having a panic attack.

Fell rushed to the other’s side, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible. “Hey it’s okay, I promise I won’t hurt ya. Now, do you have any meds? To help calm ya down?” Despite his current condition, the panicking skeleton was aware enough to nod his head, gesturing with a shaky hand to the messenger bag he had. The daemon took that as permission and began rooting through the contents, taking care not to damage any of the items present, including all the new comics that had been moved into the leather bag.

Once he found the small prescription bottle, he read the label for instructions before handing him a single small pill. The nerdy skeleton took care of that while Fell made sure to return the pill bottle to where he found it. While they both waited for the pill to take effect, the edgy skeleton sat beside him, keeping watch for any other possible threats and trying to offer a sense of comfort and security to the smaller.

As the smaller skeleton’s breathing evened out and the crying was reduced to a few sniffles, Fell hesitantly and against his better judgement wrapped an arm around his new companion. Surprisingly he didn’t freak out, actually relaxing more into the sideways hug as the nerdy skeleton leaned against the other. Leaving Fell to be the one internally screaming instead as he had no idea what to do in this situation. With no other ideas, he just decided to try and comfort the smaller skeleton as best as he could, rubbing along the other’s arm in a gentle manner.

“T-Thanks,” he whispered to Fell, startling the edgy skeleton slightly at the sudden lack of silence. “F-For saving me, a-and t-this... h-how did you know I-I needed help?” A set of large and curious eyes stared up at him, which when combined with the slight stutter only served to make the nerdy skeleton seem even more adorable to the other.

“O-Oh, well... when I saw that guy grab ya, I just, you know, did what was right.” His response came out far less convincing than he hoped as he skirted around the whole truth.

Unfortunately, the other skeleton was far too observant. “But... didn’t I run into you outside of the comic store? And you went the other way...” His gaze shifted from curious to calculating, causing Fell’s nervousness to spike through the roof as he was caught. Rubbing the back of his skull, the daemon was pretty sure that his face was on fire as he admitted to following the other. When asked for a reason, he could only shrug as he honestly didn’t know himself.

“W-Well, I-I guess it’s a g-good thing you did... um, did I e-ever catch your name?” The smaller’s face was lit up in a bright emerald hue, clearly a bit uncomfortable with the idea of being saved by a stalker.

“Oh, it’s Fell.”

“I’m Sci.” Sci? Where had he heard that name before? His thoughts were spinning as he tried to place it, only to freeze as he remembered. He was the friend of those two skeletons, the angry guy and the scary guy. If following him was bad enough, what would he do if he found out Fell hurt his friend? Even if it was an accident, someone who accidently killed someone was still guilty of murder.

A slight movement beside him served to drag Fell out of his self-induced spiral. Looking over, Sci was clearly shivering, snuggling closer to the other for warmth. While he didn’t feel the chill, his dark leather jacket served to keep it out. Without even thinking he slipped it off, draping it over the other’s shoulders. Sci looked up at him, silently asking what he was doing. “You seemed cold, so I figured I’d let you borrow my jacket. I’ve still got this sweater, so I’m good.” He scratched a bit at his cheek, blushing at his own actions. “W-Wanna go somewhere? I-I mean, l-like a café that’s not as cold or creepy as this alley?”

The smaller skeleton seemed to ponder the idea for a bit before agreeing. “I guess I’m already out later than I expected to be, and I really don’t want to stay here any longer. Sure, let’s go. I know someplace nearby where we can warm up.”

“Wait really? You’re agreeing to go with me? Even after I... you know, was kind of a creep?” The words tumbled out of Fell’s mouth before he could stop them, resulting in him mentally kicking himself for reminding the other and ruining the moment.

Contrary to what he expected though, Sci just laughed off his nervous question. “I’ll admit, I never thought I’d be the type to be stalked, so I definitely wasn’t expecting it. But you pretty much saved my life, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t grateful. My mother always said that things happen for a reason, even though as a scientist I can’t place my trust in something as flimsy as that. Still though, maybe something like that brought us together?” His face practically beamed with a genuine smile, making Fell’s soul flutter in his chest.

While crimson spread on one face, emerald followed shortly after on the other as he realized the implications of what he just said. “O-Oh gosh, d-did I... I-I’m s-sorry, I-I didn’t mean a-anything, I just...” He trailed off, too flustered to do anything but bury his hands in his face.

“Hey it’s okay, I know what you meant. Besides, am I really in a place to judge after stalking you?” Both skeletons burst out laughing, the nervous tension between them suddenly gone. Fell helped his new friend to his feet, checking his bag of comics for damage while the other did the same. When both were satisfied, Sci slipped his arms through Fell’s jacket, grabbing the other’s arm as the daemon led them both out of the alleys.

While he was quite aware of the fact that Sci was holding his arm in a way typically beyond friends, he tried his best to ignore it and instead asked the nerdy skeleton some questions about himself. As the two chatted they found themselves to have a surprising amount in common, especially in their interests. While Fell didn’t really understand all the science stuff the other worked on, he couldn’t help but be captivated by Sci’s passion and complete command over knowledge in his fields, replaceing himself wanting to know more regardless of his lack of understanding.

Before he even realized it, the two had reached their destination, with the time absolutely flying. He’d never felt so comfortable around someone, with him having to hide most of his interests from his brothers to avoid ridicule. But Sci made him feel somewhat normal, accepted for who he really was. He didn’t have to hide his emotions and always act like an edgy and angry asshole to get some respect. And it made him feel happy to see Sci was also relaxing throughout their conversation, becoming more open with who he really was as well.

They stepped into the small café, relishing the instant warmth and pleasant smells that greeted them. Fell made no move to take his jacket back, instead asking the other what he wanted. Grabbing them both some coffee and some random donuts that looked good, the pair went to replace a seat, only for both to stop dead in their tracks upon seeing someone they recognized. “Dust/Blue?” Both called out to their respective friends at the same time, resulting in the same surprised reaction from the two skeletons already sitting down at a table full of sweets.

“Fell/Sci!” The pair of hyper skeletons called out in response simultaneously before looking at each other and bursting into giggles. The scientist beside him seemed worried about his friend, instantly going over and checking on him. Meanwhile Fell was debating whether to tell the others right away where Dust was or give him a chance to explain.

The monkey daemon must’ve picked up on what his brother was thinking about, because he rushed over with a pleading look in his eyes. “Please Fell, for the love of god don’t tell Nightmare I bailed on the chores he gave me.”

The edgy skeleton could only snort in laughter at the other’s begging. “I don’t have to, because Killer already did. Told us all you disappeared hours ago and that he was worried sick. So congratulations, you had pretty much everyone looking for your dumb ass.”

Dust seemed completely shocked by this, hurriedly looking through his pockets for his phone only grimace at the sight. “Shit, I am so dead. That’s it, Nightmare’s gonna kill me and use my body as a doormat, I’m so screwed.”

Seeing the terror in the younger skeleton sent a pang of empathy through the cat daemon, causing him to, once again against his better judgement, offer assistance. “You know, if you told me why you were gone for so long I might be able to help.” While Dust’s eyes quickly lit up and sparkled with hope, that faltered a bit as he sheepishly looked over at the blue-clad skeleton that Sci was scolding for some reason.

The longer Dust stared at the small blue skeleton, the more his emotions shifted, showing a fondness and happiness that Fell had never seen on him. “What if I said I think I found my soulmate?”

“Wait, really?” He received a nod in answer. “How... how do you know?”

“Well, I’ve only known Blue for a few hours, but those hours have been some of the happiest of my life. We get along perfectly, and he accepts even some of the not so nice parts of me. I can’t replace a single fault with him, plus he’s adorable, just look!” The cat daemon did look, but didn’t seem to replace the little skeleton to be anything special. He was so childish, practically bouncing up and down as he spoke with Sci. Besides, he thought that Sci’s more mature nature and slightly timid tendencies were far cuter than the loud and slightly obnoxious blue ball of energy. Come to think of it, most of what Dust just described seemed to reflect his own experiences with Sci so far.

When Dust followed the other’s gaze, a devilish smirk crossed his face. “Looks like I’m not the only one, eh Fell?”

Realizing he was caught staring at the scientist, the edgy skeleton’s face exploded in blush while he attempted to stutter a protest. “W-We’re just f-friends.” That was the truth... right?

“Oh come on you grumpy old cat, you never make friends! You’re always too cautious and nervous to talk to anyone. Hell, you have worse trust issues than Nightmare, and that’s saying something. Kills and I have made friends in nearly every place we ever stayed at for more than a few days, even if we were never going to see them again. But you just stayed away from everyone, complaining about moving all the time but not doing anything. So I replace it hard to believe that this guy, who’s wearing your jacket that you never give to anyone I might add, is ‘just a friend’.”

There were two things the cat daemon wanted desperately to do at that moment. The first was to tell Dust off and say he was wrong, and the second was to punch the younger skeleton in the face. However he couldn’t do either of those, partially because he was in public, but mostly because the damn monkey was right. So instead, he did the scariest thing he could think of. “You know, I wonder what Nightmare would say if he found out you got everyone worried about you while you were just over here doing nothing.”

That worked, as Dust instantly froze at the threat, trying to apologize and say it wasn’t necessary. Fell would’ve continued to let him grovel for a bit, but was interrupted by a small tug on his sleeve. Looking over revealed a tired looking Sci with Blue in tow, as if it took all his energy to calm the hyper skeleton down. “Sorry Fell, but I think I need to go. I gotta get Blue home to his brother before all the stupid sugar he ate kicks in.”

“Sci I’m fine,” Blue whined, trying to tug his hand out of the other’s grip. “I didn’t even eat that much, plus Dusty said it was fine.”

“Yeah, well ‘Dusty’ doesn’t know how bad you get on sugar. Now quit complaining.” As he snapped at Blue, the scientist shot Dust a deadly glare, resulting in an audible gulp from him and a small chuckle from Fell. As Blue marched outside with a pout, the edgy skeleton felt his own face fall a bit at the idea of Sci leaving so soon. “I’m really sorry, but it seems all my friends like to be idiots every once in a while.”

Fell shook it off, flashing a toothy grin at the other. “Nah it’s okay, I gotta deal with my own idiot anyways.” He jerked his head in Dust’s direction, who had followed Blue outside and was now engaged in a very animated conversation with the smaller skeleton. Sci chuckled a bit at the comment, before taking Fell’s jacket off and handing it back to him.

As soon as he slipped the familiar piece of fabric back on, the daemon was surprised as Sci’s arms wrapped around him in a hug. “Thanks again for saving me. I don’t know what would’ve happened to me if you weren’t there.” Fell out of his initial shock enough to return the hug, a fuzzy feeling invading his body from the contact. The sensation was gone all too soon as Sci broke off the hug, pulling back and adjusting his glasses with a bashful smile. “Well, until we meet again, take care of yourself, Fell.”

“Heh, you too Sci. See ya later.” With that Sci left, pulling a whining Blue away from Dust and heading in the direction of the college campus. Not wanting it to be awkward, Fell waited a bit before stepping out to meet a pouting Dust, clearly not happy about Blue’s forced departure.

Without speaking to Dust, Fell started walking back home, hearing hurried footsteps behind him that ensured the younger daemon wasn’t doing something stupid like running after the other two. He pulled out his phone and went to the group chat, letting the others know that he found Dust and was heading home with him. From the groan he heard coming from behind him, Fell could only guess that without Blue around to distract him, Dust was back paying attention to his phone only to see the message he posted and the responses their brothers were posting.

“Why did you tell them? I could’ve just randomly shown up or something.”

“What part of ‘you had everyone worried’ did you not get? Pretty sure Killer thinks a hunter got ya at this point. No, you made your choice, now deal with the consequences.”

“Oh shut up Mr. I’m into Nerds.”

As much as Fell wanted nothing more than to strangle the kid for that comment, he was more distracted by the realization that he had no way of contacting Sci in the future. The pair had wandered off in the direction of campus, but there was no guarantees he’d replace them there. He at least knew Sci was a student and researcher there, and that he lived in the dorms, but that wouldn’t be enough info to replace him without looking like a creepy stalker again!

Before his train of thought could get any worse, the phone in his grip buzzed as a new message popped up from a contact he never added. The screen was displaying a message from Sci. Hey Fell, I realized when we were in the café that we never exchanged numbers. I know it’s kind of forward of me, but I hope you don’t mind that I put my contact into your phone. It was in the jacket you lent me, so I just kind of... yeah. Anyways, let me know if you ever want to hang out or go to the comic store and I’ll let you know when I’m free. :)

He read the message over a couple of times, allowing his initial panic to fade before sending a reply. I don’t mind, I’m glad you remembered cuz I totally forgot lol. But yeah, I’ll let you know, looking forward to it. Once he got a smiley face in response, Fell put the device back in his jacket pocket, a smile of his own tugging at his lips. Maybe Dust was right, maybe he had managed to replace his soulmate.

“Somebody’s in love~” The monkey daemon piped up from behind him. Turning around, the edgy skeleton’s smile twisted into a frown at the kissy faces the other was making.

“And somebody’s gonna be dead when Nightmare replaces out what you were doing,” Fell hissed, seeing the other’s teasing immediately stop as he once again tried to beg for mercy. That begging continued for most of the trip back home, until Dust eventually gave up and went back to his phone. Judging from the goofy grin on his face, he was likely texting Blue. Feeling his fingers curl around his own phone, Fell was pretty sure that once he got home, he wouldn’t be able to keep from messaging Sci either.