do you have designs for Murder and Knife? Perhaps Red and Famine too? Your writing has really inspired me to draw, and infact I was already imagining comic panels.
I love the dynamic of Murder and Knife, being that they completely hate eachother, yet still decided to get into a relationship (however fake-or-not) to prank others. I find that veeerry remarkable because of their unique dynamic. Famine being so overprotective (for a good reason) to Murder kind of caught me off guard, and the way that they make up was amazing to read.
though I do yearn for the murder/knife doomed yaoi, and yearn for more chapters with them specifically peeving other monsters off with their crazy prank antics, they would be really unhealthy together if they actually cared for each other. (The “I was watching over you” something line from Knife kind of made me think that Knife DID kind of yearn for it as well.) But I don’t know, I have the brain of someone who’s consumed/written/and drawn too much doomed yaoi.
Red, Famine, Murder, and Knife all have their Canon appearances, though Murder has purple stars next to his right eye socket, Knife has black, and Red and Famine don't have any since they're boring /silly
My whole discord server was REALLY shipping Kist at that time so I decided to start queerbaiting them with it, and it's still hilarious 😈 (my server made me start shipping it a bit too dont tell them 🤫)
I know exactly what its like to have yaoi brain too XDD, I understand you there! I'm happy you enjoyed reading so much, and I have one-shots planned for post-Multiverse Madness, but I've had a bad case of a lack of motivation to write the one-shots for a while 😭
If you DO make comic panels, please tag me, I'd love to see them! Just link the story when you post it, please! ^^
Red was drinking a beer on the steps of the house he and Edge were staying at in the Omega Timeline, a duplicate of their place back at Underfell, and it wasn't too bad here. It wasn't home, but it wasn't bad. After the successful missions- aside from a human getting kidnapped and Error acting really weird ever since the sieges a few days ago- things hadn't been too bad. He and Edge partied, got a little drunk, dealt with hangovers the next morning and then Edge kept strategizing different ways to take down the Darks.
One thing Edge always did when there was a danger was to deal with it or figure out a way for someone else to deal with it. Ever since their close call with the Murder Time Trio and the revelation to Edge that Dust can copy and hijack attacks... Edge got strategic the next day. He kept trying to figure out methods of countering Dust's abilities, not to mention trying to find methods of blocking Killer's knife, which no way in hell was that possible, but it kept his bro busy.
Red didn't fixate on problem-solving like his brother did, he was too lazy for it and figured he'd deal with it when he dealt with it. In no way had it ever worked, but he was.. well... he was too lazy to figure something else out! So, he changed nothing, Edge changed nothing, and whenever something came up, either Edge had a plan, or they ran like hell. Or they just started attacking and tried dealing with it, but uh... well in some cases tactical retreating as Edge called it was their best course of action.
So, they retreated, and then Edge beat himself up for being a coward or not strong enough, and then he did this. Edge couldn't stop him from doing so, it was just how he was, and Edge did nothing to stop Red from not doing anything until the moment of the problem, well, anymore. They'd had several arguments about it in the past, but they never got anywhere, nothing ever changed, and there was no point in arguing over it when in the end it was pointless. Sure, it wasn't the best system, but it was a system, and if it failed... Red would deal with it when it did without wasting time or energy worrying about it beforehand.
Red looked up as he saw Famine walking over for their weekend hangout that they'd decided on when Red called him and let him know he'd be staying here in the Omega Timeline for a while. Famine had been pretty stoked about it, considering outside of him and Murder, Red and him were always close. Their.... falling out had hit Famine harder than he'd let on, and it was... it was a rough period of time before the betrayal Famine felt settled into a hatred for Murder that Red couldn't talk him out of. He was hoping that maybe, just maybe he could somehow get them to get along again, but that... did not have good odds.
Famine plopped down on the steps, Red grabbing a bottle of beet from next to him and handing it over to Famine, who accepted it with a nod, popped the cap open, and took a drink. They sat in silence for a bit, before Famine finally spoke up.
"so, heard ya helped out the stars?" Famine asked, looking over at him.
"heh, yeah. me and edge actually had a bit 'a fun with it." Red nodded.
"murder there?" Famine questioned, voice growing a bit more bitter.
"nah, dream had him sit it out after his leg got broke a while ago." Red answered, leaving out how Murder was still supposed to be taking it easy after the LV incident, and about the LV incident itself.
"damn, only his leg?" Famine sighed, "knife get kicked off after everyone grew rational yet?"
Red chuckled a bit, "nah, he's still on."
"are you kiddin'?!" Famine exclaimed, taking another few swallows of the alcohol, "he's a complete maniac! even murder hates that guy and want to kill him!"
Red looked off to the side, laughing awkwardly, "actually, uh... about those two..."
"what?" Famine asked, "neither of 'em are dead and both are still on the team, so what about them?"
"well, uh... i dunno how the hell it happened, but umm... yeah ya might be right on the whole 'them bein' crazy' thing..." Red chuckled a little.
". . . what'd they do?" Famine questioned.
"you're gonna wanna brace yourself, even i don't know what to do with this information, and i've known about it for a few days-" Red started to warn, but Famine cut him off.
"red." he said, red eyelight staring at him with such seriousness Red felt like he would piss himself a little if he were a human, or even had the organs for it, "what'd they do?"
". . . they hooked up." Red whispered, and Famine's jaw dropped.
"i don't know!" Red replied, "i just found out from geno durin' the sieges that dream told him that knife and murder kissed! then i... walked by hot topic, definitely didn't shop at, cuz i mean- not an emo or nothin'- an' saw a picture of those two on the crazy couples wall!"
"what the hell..." Famine muttered, "i had one good thing about murder left: the fact that he hated knife. and then he goes and dates the guy?!"
"oh he still hates him, actually." Red informed, "they have the most toxic, unhealthy dynamic i've seen. like, they argue constantly, they usually get into violent brawls, they drive each other insane- but then again, that could also translate to sexual tension for them, and that might be a way to blow off steam.."
"have they gotten yelled at about this?" Famine asked.
"i dunno, probably? dream took murder outside to talk to him after the sieges, so i dunno what happened. why?" Red responded.
". . . let's go give 'em crap." Famine said, finishing off the bottle in a few swallows and setting it on the steps before standing up.
"huh? why?" Red questioned, looking up at him more than he already had to before.
"because i feel like it." Famine shrugged, "besides, murder told me a long time ago to put him outta his misery if he ever did anything other than despise knife, and i feel like it's my responsibility to do that. it's my one excuse to kill the guy with his own permission."
Red sighed, "ya know if ya hashed this out like adults then maybe ya could patch things up, right?"
"why would i do that? he's a dirty brother killer, red. you might be ok with bein' friends with 'im, but i'm not." Famine replied, crossing his arms, "now let's go."
Red sighed a second time, finishing off his drink before setting it aside, and he pulled out his phone, pressing Murder's contact and calling him.
The phone trilled for a few moments before Murder answered, "yeah?"
"hey buddy, where ya at?" Red questioned.
"uh... one of the main parks? why?" Murder answered.
"well, i'm famished and was wonderin' if ya wanted to get a bite or somethin'." Red replied, giving him a subtle warning.
". . . yeah i'll be right there!" Red told him, and he hung up.
"wait, they're both there??" Famine asked, and Red nodded, laughing a little.
"yep." Red confirmed, "crystal snow park."
"that's not far from here..." Famine muttered, and he started running, no- sprinting there.
Red sighed, following behind him, knowing full damn well that Famine, at this moment, actually wanted to see Knife and Murder again, for the pure reason of pissing them off. Famine usually wanted nothing to do with them, but with this information... yeah Famine was about to give them hell. Maybe he could convince Murder that this was a very bad idea; a relationship like that with Knife was bound to end badly.
"so, who was that?" Knife asked, looking up at Murder, who was sitting on a bench, from where he was laying on the ground.
"red called, he's on his way, and famine's with him." Murder sighed as he suppressed a yawn, and Knife sat straight up from the information.
It wasn't that Murder hadn't been sleeping well. The stupid meds were still kicking his coccyx in, but it was worth it to not have to deal with his schizophrenia as much. Sometimes. The main reason he was sitting on the bench was because of the dizziness that had hit him while he was walking, and he'd needed to take a break.
The park they were currently in resembled a typical Snowdin's, with a winter setting with leafless trees, snow, and some wildlife associated with the cold. It was one of the more peaceful places in the Omega Timeline, and it used to be one of his favorite secret smoking spots when most of the timeline was asleep.
"wait, what?" Knife questioned, and Murder sighed, not looking forward to the upcoming sure to be confrontation.
"yep..." Murder nodded, "damn could i use a smoke or a drink."
"would one really hurt?" Knife asked.
"i'm on schizo meds, so yes, it would hurt." Murder sighed, still disappointed, "instead i have to stay sober and miserable."
". . . i know what could cheer ya up." Knife smirked, standing up and plopping down on the bench next to Murder, hands clasped in his lap as he faced him.
"what? my former best friend is on his way here, red's probably gonna try getting us to get along again, and to top it all off, i have to make sure you don't burn down the park." Murder stated, "not much can cheer me up."
"we can troll famine by making him think we're a thing, just like we planned." Knife told him.
". . . yeah that might do it." Murder smirked a little, "you have anything in mind?"
"wellllll~" Knife's smirk morphed into a grin, "we could overplay it."
"how?" Murder asked, "i mean, the idea of us being a thing is already a stretch. haven't we been overplaying it this whole time?"
"yeah, fair, but i mean if we really overplayed it." Knife emphasized, before he leaned a bit closer, teasingly, "ya wanna kiss me again?"
"absolutely not." Murder refused, lightly placing a hand on his sternum to push him back, "i only did that because i was coming down from an lv high and it was the only way i could think of to shut you up."
"well then i'll just annoy you to make you shut me up again." Knife smirked, leaning in again and invading his personal space.
Murder glared at him, and pushed him off of the bench by pushing on his shoulder this time, the skeleton landing in the snow on the ground as he refused, "not a chance."
"even if it gives famine a soul attack?~" Knife questioned, and Murder looked down at him, "just think about what his reaction would be to that!"
". . . i'm listening." Murder said after a moment, and Knife smirked, hopping back up onto the bench.
"think about it, murds. me and you, getting vengeance on him for being such a petty brat to you for years after what happened in your timeline. he's spent so much time holding that over your skull, and for what? you just gonna keep letting him do that? no no no no no, you, my friend, deserve some payback, like you said when we agreed to this, and that is how you get it." Knife smirked, "question is, how far do you wanna take this?"
". . . they show up, we just did it by this bench." Murder stated as he looked at the imprints on the snow where Knife had been laying, and the other skeleton smiled.
"that's more like it." Knife grinned, and Murder looked up as he heard quick footsteps approaching.
Famine was nearing them, Red right behind him, and Murder sighed. He was both not looking forward to this and he couldn't wait for it, as he hated confrontations with Famine, because he hated him, but he also really couldn't wait for revenge.... Knife might be rubbing off on him a little for sinking this low, but at this point, Murder didn't care. Granted he probably would, but still. . . . Then again it might be the sleep deprivation or just being sober too long. Was that even possible?
"famine? what are you doing here?" Murder asked, feigning being surprised.
"stopping you from doing something stupid." Famine said, his arms crossed, panting slightly as he caught his breath, despite not having lungs.
. . . That Murder was aware of, at least. He hoped Famine didn't have lungs, that would be terrifying as hell...
"uh, i'm not stupid." Knife smirked.
"yeah, you are. you both are." Famine glared, "murder, what the hell are you thinking?! are you thinking? are you off those fancy meds you were talkin' about, because this is crazy!"
Murder glared at him, clenching his jaw, and Red spoke up, "look, uh... not sayin' he's not bein' harsh an' all, but uh... he's got a point."
"how'd you find out, anyways?" Murder questioned.
"geno told me, an' then i told famine." Red shrugged, "and get this, he's worried 'bout cha!"
"i am not worried!" Famine snapped, "i just- murder, ya told me if you ever did anything but hate knife, to put you outta your misery, an' well... gettin' romantic with him is pretty damn far from hating him."
"it's called a love-hate relationship, newb." Knife smirked, and Famine looked like he was five seconds from punching him.
Actually the figurative timer was going down-
"woah woah woah," Red said, getting between Famine and the bench before he could punch Knife, who was sitting smugly on it, "take a damn chill pill, man."
"no." Famine refused, "i thought you were on my side here, red."
"yeah, he is, but knife's into that." Murder smirked, and Knife snickered next to him.
". . . y'all are some kinky s.o.bs..." Red muttered after a moment, and Murder started laughing, unable to help himself, Knife quick to follow.
"yeah well, tying shoelaces isn't the only thing murder taught me yesterday. while the stars were away, we got to play~" Knife grinned.
"what the hell is wrong with you..." Famine muttered, his jaw slowly dropping, Red's already dropped fully.
"yeah, i asked him that too, and i looked like that." Knife nodded his skull in Red's direction, and the skeleton's skull turned bright red, jaw slamming shut, "and then like that!"
"knife, tmi." Murder told him between snickers, as if that actually happened.
"no, tmi would be telling them we just had fun right there." Knife pointed at the imprint where Murder had pushed him off the bench earlier, and Murder smirked a bit.
"actually no, that would be telling them what we just did." Murder said.
"more like who you just did, that being me." Knife smiled, and Murder's smirk widened.
"ya what?!" Red exclaimed, "you just can't keep it in your shorts, can ya?!"
"kinda difficult considerin' who i'm dating." Knife smirked.
"murder, you cannot possibly be serious about this." Famine said, "you always hated knife, that's the single thing i actually still tolerated you for, and now you're dating him?! why?!"
Murder was well aware what he was about to say would inflate Knife's ego, but for the sake of this situation... freaking out Famine was so worth it.
"eh, he's hot." Murder shrugged.
"WHAT?!" Famine and Red yelled, and Knife grinned at him.
"so you finally admit it~" Knife smiled.
"don't get smug." Murder warned him with a glare.
"and if i do? whatcha gonna do about it?~" Knife challenged.
Was Murder actually gonna do this? It was one thing to do it when coming down from an LV high, it was another to do it in front of Famine and Red for a joke. He in no way, shape or form wanted to kiss Knife or felt any attraction towards him, but then again, it would be funny watching Famine freak out... if he didn't kill him because if killing Papyrus in his timeline had been 'betraying' him, what would kissing the other skeleton Famine loathed in the Omega Timeline be? Death sentence?
"maybe i could knock your damn teeth out?" Murder responded, turning on the bench to no longer lean against the back as heavily.
"oh? with those chicken wings?~" Knife teased, narrowing his eye sockets playfully, "i'm so worried~"
"you should be." Murder informed, "these 'chicken wings' are coated in hot sauce that pack a nasty punch."
"damn, looks like i'll have to lick that off, then~" Knife grinned, leaning forward so his skull an inch away from Murder's, his hand moving to grip the backrest of the bench.
"ayo, what the hell?" Red muttered, Murder seeing Famine's flabbergasted expression from his peripherals.
Knife gave him a questioning look, wondering if Murder was going to do it, but Murder wasn't entirely convinced yet, so he shook his skull no ever so slightly, and Knife frowned with a sigh.
"that the only thing that's not off limits this time around? that's where you draw the line?" Knife questioned, and Murder's cheekbones turned a light blue.
"seriously?" Murder muttered, glaring at him.
"what do i have to say to piss you off enough to-?" Knife started, but Murder cut him off by... well...
Famine and Red gasped, Knife's eye sockets went wide, and Murder closed his own to keep himself composed for a few more seconds. If he saw their faces, he would probably burst out laughing, and the jig would be up. A wave of dizziness hit again from earlier, and he had to stabilize himself, reaching out and grabbing the backrest rail of the bench, but he could tell he'd accidentally grabbed Knife's hand. . . . Oh what the hell, screw it. Probably increased Famine's chances of freaking ou-
"what the hell?!" Murder's eye sockets snapped open, eyelights shooting to look in the space between Red and Famine, seeing Color standing a bit down the path.
Murder pulled away from Knife so fast he lost his balance and fell off of the side of the bench, legs bent at the knees and resting on the arm rests, and Knife had an 'oh crap' look on his face when Murder looked back up at him. One thing they had agreed on, above all else, was that Color could not find out about their prank. If Color found out, he'd think it was real, and he would try and talk Knife out of it since it would be unhealthy, toxic, etc. Sure, Knife could explain it wasn't real, but then Color would tell him it was a cruel joke, and in Knife's words, 'do psychology bullcrap' that would make Knife against continuing the prank.
So, they were supposed to keep it a secret, but that wouldn't work now... Crap.
"uh... hey, color! whatcha doin' in this neck of the woods?" Knife questioned, and Murder laughed a little, skull spinning as he tried pushing himself back up.
"what-" Color started, looking between them, eye socket wide, "how long has this been going on?!"
"uhh..." Knife looked off to the side, and Murder's eyelights were locked on the ground, his cheekbones bright blue, eyelights red and cyan.
They were so in for it.
"we have no idea. i found out a few days ago." Red shrugged, Murder glancing up briefly to see Red looking back at Color, "wait, ya didn't know 'bout this?!"
"no!" Color responded, "i- i don't even have words..."
"murder didn't either last night." Knife smirked, and Murder's eyelights shot up to him.
"you're not helping!" Murder snapped, and Knife pulled himself across the bench to where Murder had been sitting, folding his arms across the arm rest and smiling down at him.
"sorry not sorry." Knife said, and Murder flipped him off.
"ah damn, here they go again." Red muttered, "famine, ya good?"
Murder glanced over at Famine, seeing that he still seemed to be in a mix of shock, anger, confusion, astonishment, and disbelief.
"i-" Famine started, before he frowned, jaw setting as his hands curled into fists before he stalked over to Murder.
"uh oh." Knife muttered, grabbing the armrest still but lowering his chest down to the bench's seat, looking up at Famine.
Crap... Murder thought before he yelped, Famine gripping his shirt, roughly pulling him up and holding him slightly above the ground with one hand. He was sooooo dead... But it was worth it considering how much it freaked Famine out.
"murder, what the actual hell are you thinking?!" Famine snapped, " do ya have seriously not have any idea how stupid it is to get into any kinda relationship with him?!"
"hey!" Knife whined.
"shut it!" Famine glared at him past Murder, only for a moment, as that glowing red eyelight was locked on him a moment later, "murder, i know you, you're not this damn crazy!"
"no, you knew me." Murder hissed, "then you turned on me because of what happened in my timeline! you were my best friend, you jerk!"
Murder tried shoving Famine away, but his grip was unrelenting, so Murder didn't accomplish much, if anything that just made Famine's grip tighten.
"yeah, and i thought that kinda thing would be somethin' you'd trust me enough to tell me!" Famine growled.
"i didn't because i knew you'd do this! knife was never the most quiet about what he did, and i saw how much you hated him! i didn't want to risk anything!" Murder responded.
"well way to go, i hate you anyways!" Famine told him lowly, and Murder glared daggers up at him.
"ok, both of you, that's it!" Color stopped them, and Murder looked over at him, "we're going back to that undertale timeline, you know, the one where you three get along, and we're settling this."
"yay!" Knife grinned, hopping off of the bench.
"then we're talking about you two being a thing." Color sighed, muttering, "of all the toxic, unhealthy..."
Color trailed off, opening portals under their feet, and Murder grunted a bit as Famine dropped him after being teleported, only to get picked up again. They were now in a forest without any snow, sunlight streaming through the trees, and it was honestly really peaceful here. For now. . . . Actually the peace ended now, but it had been peaceful!
"put me down, famine!" Murder snapped, now reaching up to claw at his wrist, but the taller skeleton just did not care.
He was getting really tired of him doing that.
"no." Famine refused curtly, "can't risk you two doing something else stupid."
"we wouldn't do that right now!" or ever!
"oh, like that's soooo convincin'. ya just kissed him!"
"and he wasn't bad at it." Knife smirked, and Murder facepalmed.
"shut the hell up, knife!" Murder hissed.
"you gonna make me again?~" Knife questioned, and Murder groaned, pinching the bridge of his nasal cavity.
Color sighed, and Murder looked over his shoulder to see him walking over to the door of the cottage Murder remembered belonging to the Sans and other versions of Dust, Killer, and Horror. Color knocked on the door, and Murder could faintly hear what he said once the Sans opened the door.
"hey, uh... are dust, killer, and horror here?" Color asked.
"yeah, they're in the living room. . . . what'd they do now?" The Sans responded.
"oh, they didn't do anything, don't worry! well, these versions didn't, the other versions are... never mind, off topic. i'm uh... i'm here because of those three." Color pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, "we could use you guy's help."
". . . i can tell." The Sans sighed as he looked at the four of them, "still not getting along?"
"well, knife and murder are... somewhat... in a concerning way, and i really need help with it." Color sighed.
"ok?..." The Sans was confused, and he yelled over his shoulder, "killer, dust, horror! the other versions of you guys are here again! the ones that don't get along with each other!"
The other three were quick to join the Sans in the doorway, and Murder sighed. Knife snickered from a bit away, Murder looking over to see him leaning against a tree, and Red was a bit away from him, wisely keeping his eyelight on him. Murder would call them Dust 1, Killer 1, and Horror 1 just for simplicity, since these three weren't going around causing terror, destruction, and death across the multiverse for Nightmare, and Murder remembered Killer 1 calling the Sans 'Lucky' the last time he was here, so he would stick with that.
The four of them exited the cottage, walking over with Color, Lucky already looking mildly exasperated, Killer 1 looking curious and excited, Dust 1 looking almost as done with this as Lucky, and Horror 1 looked curious and slightly annoyed. Their expressions told Murder something happened prior to them showing up, and Killer 1 was likely behind it. Which wasn't surprising, considering how Something New Sanses often were.
"so, what's going on?" Killer 1 asked, "we were having a completely uneventful and boring morning before you guys showed up."
"you set the oven on fire." Lucky deadpanned.
"it was asking for it." Killer 1 stated.
"no it wasn't!" Dust 1 snapped in exasperation.
"it sounds like it was, actually." Knife smirked.
"knife, don't even start! you an' murder are still in trouble!" Red glared.
"why are we in trouble? we're adults, you can't ground us." Knife responded.
"well you two are bein' complete idiots! that warrants you bein' in trouble for this!" Famine snapped.
"only because you're jealous~" Knife grinned, and Murder rolled his eyelights while Famine's eye socket twitched, Red cursing under his breath.
"i am far from jealous, knife. if anything, i wanna chop your damn skull off, and then his." Famine hissed.
"ouch, givin' me the papyrus treatment, aye?" Knife asked, and Murder's hands curled into fists, Famine looking like he was five seconds from making good on his words.
"ok, guys, knock it off..." Color sighed, teleporting between Knife, and Famine and Murder, "knife, we talked about this, buddy."
"yeah, but to be fair... it's famine." Knife said, gesturing towards the taller skeleton, who bristled.
"that's more of a reason not to do it!" Color exclaimed, exasperated but not angry.
"ok, seriously, what did they do?" Lucky questioned.
"well-" Murder started, but Famine cut him off.
"oh, i'll tell ya what happened! these two!" Famine held up Murder and pointed at Knife with his free hand, "hooked up!"
"they did what?!" The four Sanses of this timeline exclaimed.
"NYEH?! WHAT?!?!" Murder heard a Papyrus exclaim before the wall to one of the walls of the cottage broke open, the Papyrus Kool-Aid-Manning out of the wall and running over to them, "THEY DID WHAT?!"
"paps! the wall!" Lucky yelled.
"THE WALL IS LESS IMPORTANT THAN THOSE TWO BECOMING A THING!! HAVE THEY BEEN USING PROTECTION?!" The Papyrus asked before looking between them with eyes formed in his eye sockets, "PLEASE TELL ME YOU USED PROTECTION!"
"we haven't done that!!" Murder exclaimed.
"explain the front 'a that bench, then!" Red told him, and Murder sighed, "look, i care about cha, ya know that, but there's a point when you just become straight up idiotic for the crap ya do."
"i'm not crap!" Knife pouted.
"that joke's old, knife!" Murder and Famine both snapped in sync before glaring at each other.
Knife went to say something again, only for Color to cut him off, saying, "guys, please..."
"fine..." Knife sighed, relenting.
". . . ok, yup, i can't figure it out. why the hell would you two... you know...?" Dust 1 asked, looking between Murder and Knife, "like, i used to despise killer, but i never felt any form of attraction towards him."
"eh, hatred can equal sexual tension..." Killer 1 shrugged.
"that's what i said!" Red grinned, Killer 1 snickering.
"oh my god..." Horror 1 muttered.
"look, knife, i've always supported you, but this... this is probably the worst thing you could've decided to do. you're your own person, but it's my job and responsibility as your friend to tell you that this is not a good idea." Color said.
"it's fine, really!" Knife told him.
"no, it's not." Color sighed, "knife, this is not a good relationship to be in. a relationship should be something positive and just... the opposite of this. i'm sorry, but neither of you are stable, or like each other enough to do anything like this and it be healthy. a relationship, especially a romantic one with intimacy and physical contact should be something harmless and not aimed to harm each other, and if it is because someone likes it, then it shouldn't be because the other feels good hurting them. that's not right, and is very destructive, not to mention how toxic that dynamic is, and you don't need another toxic, unhealthy relationship in your life."
"he's got a point." Lucky pointed out, "what the hell would make you two do that anyways?"
Knife fidgeted for a moment, looking between Color's concerned and empathetic expression and Murder, and he knew Knife was about to tell Color, and subsequently everyone else about the joke. Murder didn't hold it against him, honestly, considering how close the two were, and it was honestly a good thing that Knife had someone who could reign him in and talk some sense into him, which he needed, but... damnit, Murder wanted to piss off Famine more...
"knife, come on, buddy, you know you can talk to me." Color gently said, putting a hand on Knife's shoulder, and Knife sighed, shoulders slumping.
"there's not really a relationship..." Knife admitted with a sigh, and Murder saw everyone's expressions morph into ones of confusion.
"what?..." Color asked.
"it's a prank... me and murder started it a while ago, because of him wanting to keep me occupied and get back at famine if he ever found out, and me wanting to mess with everyone. no romantic feelings on either sides." Knife explained.
"but the kisses-" Red started.
"THEY KISSED?!" The residents of this timeline exclaimed.
"the first one was me shutting him up after i had a... problem with lv, and i was trying to sleep. he wouldn't shut up, i kissed him for some reason, he shut up, and i went to sleep. that's all it was." Murder sighed, not missing the way Famine's eyelight snapped to him at the mention of LV.
"and the second one?" Red asked.
"freaking famine out. me and knife plotted the whole thing." Murder admitted.
"you..." Famine started, having been silent for a few minutes, "you were so pissed at me about ending our friendship you got into a fake relationship with him to piss me off?... you were that petty and desperate to mess with me in the most drastic, extreme, and insane way you could think of, even if it ruined your reputation?"
"yeah? so?" Murder questioned, only to yelp as Famine pulled him into a suffocating hug, "what the hell?!"
"i missed ya too, buddy." Famine told him, but he whispered, "but do crap like that again and i'll break your freakin' neck and hide your dust in a bag of flour at ccino's."
". . . got it..." Murder replied, voice muffled against Famine's chest, and he was abruptly dropped on the ground, "wait, so me being miserable and repeatedly trying to tell you off about it for years doesn't tell you how much that damn hurt, but helping knife with an elaborate and stupid prank, mainly to get back at you does?"
"well, i thought ya went off the deep end and hooked up with knife because you were crazy enough to do somethin' so stupid! now that i know ya did it for revenge, and you humiliated yourself to get back at me..." Famine trailed off, "i think i'll give you one more shot. one."
"if ya want, i dunno... paps hasn't shut up about you either, and... well... i guess you're doing something good with your life, and i still hate you for what you did, but... if ya wanted to... i dunno, swing by and hang out for a bit, i won't kick ya out this time..." Famine grumbled, "starve would like seein' you by the house again... he's missed you."
Murder's jaw dropped a little bit, and he smiled slightly, "i... yeah... thanks, famine..."
"you're welcome... also, me and red got pictures of you two before, and i have blackmail." Famine smirked, and Murder's smile fell.
"delete those!" Murder yelped, and Famine chuckled, shaking his skull no.
"nope." Famine refused.
Was Murder still pissed about what happened? Yes. However... he had missed Famine, and he was actually putting aside a grudge for once, and... that meant a lot, considering how Famine was with those... So yeah, Murder would give him another chance, and besides... if he'd learned anything, it was that second chances could mean everything...
He'd gone from a repeated and forced murderer of his timeline, to a resident of the Omega Timeline after Error destroyed his timeline, which he was still pissed about by the way, to a member of the Stars, and all because he'd been given second chances. Core gave him a second chance to start a new life after he lost his world, Dream gave him a second chance by offering him the opportunity to do something good, and he had. Blue.... Blue had given him a second chance by allowing him to stay with him in his house after getting him out of the Omega Timeline, Stretch had given him a second chance by trusting him not to hurt his brother or his brother's friends, and trusting him to protect them, and he'd tried so hard, but he hadn't been able to protect him, something he would never let himself live down.
Story and Karma gave him a second chance after Stretch and Blue vouched for him, and later on allowed him to stay with them for supervision after the LV thing, and he'd just... wound up staying there, be it them wanting to keep an eye on him, or just enjoying his company. Hell, even Knife got second chances, between Color sticking up for and helping him, Core letting him into the Omega Timeline, then the Stars giving him a chance to help out against the Darks, and even though Knife didn't deserve those second chances, he got them anyways, and Murder would admit, he was a bit better for it. . . . Murder actually didn't hate him as much anymore, something that honestly kinda revolted him.
Dream gave everyone second chances, even Error, who was admittedly proving to be a valuable ally, even though Murder and most of the Stars still hated him and vice versa, but still, it was a second chance. If even Error could get second chances, then Famine could too, especially if he was offering to give Murder one, even though he felt he didn't deserve it. Murder still felt hurt by how Famine had turned on him, but... it was years ago, and things happened between friends, so maybe at some point this would be water under the bridge? Just something to look back on?
Even if it wasn't, it was still a chance for it to be, a second chance at friendship, and Murder... he didn't want to pass that up. It wouldn't be like old times, but it would at least be something, and it would be some way for them to hang out with each other again, or at the very least be able to try. Murder didn't let his thoughts show, though, instead trying to get the blackmail away from Famine, because he knew Famine, and he knew he would use it against him at any given opportunity. So would Red, honestly- it might even be a screen saver at this point!
"come on!!" Murder tried reaching for Famine's phone once he grabbed it from his pocket regardless, but the taller skeleton held it above his skull, causing Murder to jump at it.
Murder tried climbing up Famine to reach the phone, but he kept it out of his reach the whole time, like a brat. Murder could hear everyone laughing, but he was ignoring that, trying to get the device.
"murder!" Red called out, Murder looking over at the snickering, sharp-toothed skeleton to see him holding up his own phone.
He could see a very clear picture of himself and Knife, mouths pressed together and Murder having his hand on Knife's, which was on the backrest of the bench. Murder's cheekbones went bright blue, and that made Red laugh even harder. . . . Murder was avoiding LV, staying sober from it, but he was going to kill him...
"red!!" Murder yelled, lunging at him, only to be grabbed by the meeting of his hood and coat by Famine, leaving him dangling a bit above the ground again.
"sorry not sorry! ya damn near gave me a soul attack, not tellin' me about that!" Red responded, pocketing his phone again, "i coulda helped out, but noooo, you freak me out by not warning me the 'relationship' ya had with knife was a hoax!"
"you would've either started talking about it right when you got drunk, or you would've given it away with that crap-eating grin of yours!" Murder fired back, and Red chuckled a bit, "and you know that!"
"never!! remember my spy mission a few days ago?" Red mentioned.
"you mean the one where you got caught and attacked by the murder time trio?" Murder countered, and he frowned.
"not my fault..." Red grumbled.
"yeah i still owe dust and killer some attacks, i hate fighting those two, they're such pains..." Color sighed.
"they're still giving you problems?" Lucky asked.
Murder exchanged glances with Color and Knife, grimacing a bit before saying, "let's put it this way: they're brats."
"observant brats." Red muttered bitterly, "dust is freakin' terrifying an' he knows it..."
"yeah, he's a pest." Murder sighed.
"i could kick his tailbone for ya for an anniversary gift~" Knife mentioned with a smirk.
Murder sighed, "you can drop the jokes, knife. we're not and never will be a thing."
"except to mess with people." Knife pointed out.
". . . except to mess with people." Murder relented.
"so we're secretly-publicly dating while not dating, but everyone thinks we're dating, so to them, me and you, my friend, are a couple." Knife said, and Murder groaned.
"damnit.." Murder cursed, and Knife snickered.
"so, was that a yes?" Knife asked.
"no, i can handle him." Murder denied.
"hey, you bought me shoes and south park stuff, i'm beating up evil and stronger you." Knife crossed his arms stubbornly.
"hey!" Murder glared.
"he is stronger than ya, murds." Red admitted.
"i still have karmic retribution, something he lost a long while ago. i can still put up a fight." Murder said.
"and i can too." Knife pointed out, "he can't copy me since he hasn't killed one of me, and he probably won't because he's best friends with one of me."
"but where would he draw the line?" Murder questioned.
"well you didn't draw the line with your brother, and he's an 'evil' version of you." Famine spoke up, and Murder glared daggers at him.
"seriously, dude?" Murder asked, and Famine shrugged.
"i said i'd give you another chance, that doesn't mean i'm not still pissed off at you." Famine informed, and Murder sighed.
"babe, want some help?" Knife questioned teasingly.
"shut the hell up, knife." Murder glared, and he snickered.
"fine, fine..." Knife relented, and he teleported over to him, making a few bones form out of the ground before whispering something so vulgar and crude in Murder's ear canal that made his skull turn bright blue.
"knife!" Murder squeaked, glaring at him with red and cyan eyelights as he burst out laughing, clutching his ribcage, "what the hell?!"
"what'd you tell him?" Color asked, looking at Knife in confusion and slight alarm.
Murder never sounded like that, after all, it was honestly a valid reason to be concerned.
"nothing, nothing..." Knife reassured innocently, teleporting back over to him, the summoned bones vanishing.
"with how murder reacted, i dunno if i want paps hearing it." Lucky said, Dust 1 and Horror 1 nodding.
"oh come on, i thought we stopped babying him!" Killer 1 whined.
"knife, do not repeat that to anyone." Murder instructed.
"why?~ liked the sound of it that much?~" Knife questioned.
"no!" Murder responded.
"wait, seriously, what'd he say?" Red asked.
"i'm not saying it." Murder informed.
"somethin' inappropriate?" Famine questioned.
". . . understatement of the damn year..." Murder sighed.
"well, we know what these two are doin' tonight!" Red laughed.
"no way!!" Murder glared.
"ey, you're not endin' the prank, and we know 'bout it... i also wish ya woulda let me in on it. so, i get to tease ya about it." Red smirked, and Murder flipped him off.
"you're the worst..." Murder told him.
"ey, at least it's not famine anymore! progress!" Red grinned, and Murder glared at him.
"damn i miss drinking..." Murder mourned.
". . . i know what would cheer you u-" Knife started, but Murder cut him off.
"no. never." Murder shot him down.
"damn, how many dates do we have to go on before i get to third base?" Knife frowned, and Murder turned his middle finger to him.
He really missed drinking and smoking right now...
"SO, YOU BOTH PRETENDED TO BE IN A RELATIONSHIP TO MESS WITH EVERYONE, ACTUALLY KISSED NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE, AND YOU'LL LIKELY CONTINUE THIS JOKE?" Papyrus questioned.
". . . well yea-" Knife started, and Color sighed.
"it's still a horrible idea." Color informed.
"yeah, but i'm boooooorred. come on! i haven't killed anyone- the predatortale monsters had it coming! that was self defense! and i've been helping fight the darks, watching murder so he doesn't have lv slip ups-" Knife started.
"wait, you were watching me?" Murder asked incredulously.
"duh!" Knife replied, and he paused, "crap, i wasn't supposed to tell you..."
Murder pinched the bridge of his nasal cavity, sighing and rolling his eyelights. He needed to have a long talk with the others later.
". . . knife, can we at least discuss it later?" Color questioned, and Knife sighed.
"why do you have to have such a convincing face?..." Knife whined, before sighing, "fiiiine, we'll talk about it... only if my bf is there."
"knife!" Murder snapped, and Knife smirked.
"oh i'm sorry, babe, but this is why i didn't want him finding out about our little prank." Knife responded.
"wait wait wait, murder, you want to continue this even though your whole purpose was to get back at me?" Famine questioned, "why the hell would you want to do that??"
"no! i never said that! we're good, so i'm done. the prank's off." Murder said, crossing his arms resolutely, and Knife pouted, "don't give me that look."
". . . could we at least end it in a big staged argument?" Knife requested.
". . ." Murder thought for a moment, before sighing, "fine, sure... but i get to punch you, and you have to explain why you were watching me so i didn't have an incident with lv, even though the first one was your fault!"
"ugh, here we go again! look, i was keeping you alive! sure, it wasn't the best course of action, but they needed to die, or we would die! plain and simple!" Knife responded.
"i think this is their argument right here." Red whispered, and Murder rolled his eyelights, "or they're just fighting regularly again and they're doing it after this. should probably give 'em privacy if they go off into the woods durin' their fight."
"red!" Murder snapped, and Knife started wheezing.
"oh my god..." Famine groaned, facepalming.
"i will never step foot in the woods again." Lucky muttered.
"GETTING YOU OUT OF THE HOUSE IS DIFFICULT ENOUGH AS IT IS!" Papyrus responded.
"it'll be even more difficult after that, then.." Killer 1 snickered.
"oh my god..." Dust 1 sighed, "if they do do that, they'd better not do that here."
"we are not doing that!!" Murder snapped, "we have never, and will never do that!"
". . . the shippers will be disappointed..." Killer 1 mumbled.
"right?!" Knife agreed, and Murder was five seconds away from firing a Gaster Blaster at him.
Murder hated being sober. Absolutely despised it. Being sober meant he would get involved in this crap. Being sober was unfortunate for everyone around him.
". . . wait in that picture, did he actually kiss you?" Horror 1 questioned, and Murder sighed, pulling his hood further up over his skull.
"what?! i mean i get you were trying to be convincing about it, but you didn't have to do it that well!" Knife snickered, "don't tell me you actually liked it too?~"
"no!" Murder snapped.
Murder was going to die from embarrassment.
". . . WHAT THE FUCK?!" Papyrus exclaimed, and Murder's eye sockets went wide, all attention on him.
"paps!" Lucky exclaimed, Knife and Killer 1 immediately bursting out laughing while the rest of them were borderline mortified.
'WHAT THE FUCK INDEED...' Murder looked over to see the hallucination of his brother floating there, and he groaned in frustration.
"why the hell are you back?!" Murder snapped at it.
'BECAUSE WHILE YOU'RE NOT JUST A DIRTY BROTHER KILLER, YOU ALSO KISSED ANOTHER DIRTY BROTHER KILLER. TWICE! I EXPECTED MORE FROM YOU.'
"he's back?" Knife asked, and Murder sighed, fists clenched.
"yup." Murder responded shortly.
"and this is why i've been in charge of watching you... crap, if we had done it, would he have been watching?" Knife questioned.
In that moment, Murder fired a Gaster Blaster at him.
'I'M STILL MAD AT YOU. FIRST YOU LOCK ME IN YOUR HEAD, AND THEN YOU GET INTO A RELATIONSHIP, FAKE OR NOT, WITH KNIFE.'
"shut up or i'll keep it going just to spite you." Murder seethed.
'WHO DOES THAT HURT HERE, SANS? ME, SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T EVEN EXIST, OR YOU, WHO HAS TO LIVE WITH IT?' The hallucination challenged.
". . . i despise you." Murder stated.
'OH, IS THAT WHY YOU KILLED ME SO MANY TIMES IN OUR AU, AND THEN TRIED TO KILL ME AGAIN, THIS TIME FROM IN YOUR MIND?'
Murder really missed, above all else, when that hallucination left him alone. The only good thing about this was that it distracted him from Papyrus swearing, which what the hell?!
Reality was laying on the ground in one of the parks in the Omega Timeline, looking up at the leaves on the tree above him, remembering some of the last times he'd done something like this, his mind flashing back to it, his eye sockets closing. He could still feel the grass under him, some bees buzzing next to his skull, going from flower to flower, and the warmth of the sun on his skull vanishing, and he could remember opening his eye sockets to see Dream- the one from his multiverse, standing over him with a smile on his face, bunches of purple and yellow flowers in his arms.
"brother! look at all these flowers i found in the forest! they're the same colors as us!" Dream had smiled, and Reality had accepted them with his own smile.
No matter how bad his day had been, be it from the villagers or the nightmares he'd have- hell, he'd gone by Nightmare back then, before that thing had taken over his body and his name in this multiverse, thus ruining his own name for him -Dream had always been able to cheer him up by just being himself. They would find glass vases for the flowers and place them there with some water, and the vase would stay by the tree, soaking in the sun. The vase had still been there the day everything went to hell, and Dream hadn't been able to stop it...
Reality's eye sockets snapped open, hearing his brother screaming in pain the same way he had on that day, and he bolted into a sitting position, blades appearing between his fingers as he looked around for the threat. His soul twisted painfully in his ribcage, catching a glance of the villagers with Dream, feeling the pain in his right eye socket, his brother trying to protect him from where he was laying next to the broken vase, purple and yellow flowers torn by shards of glass. He could hear the screaming, the sound of not just the glass vase being broken, the screams... slowly being encased in stone, unable to move, just hearing distorted screaming, followed by laughter, followed by the villagers screaming, and then everything really went black. In a blink, everything was back to normal.
No broken glass vase, no villagers, no sounds of his brother dying while he was helpless to save him... Reality looked around again, seeing no signs of a threat, or anything else near him except for him, and Shattered's magic couldn't reach this place. Had that just been him?... Reality reached up, wiping away tears he hadn't realized he'd been crying, and he laid back down on the ground, looking over, seeing some purple and yellow flowers next to him that hadn't been there before. He let the blades vanish, reaching over and grabbing them before gently pulling them out of the ground.
He sat up again, looking down at them as he held them in his hands, and he slowly moved to sit against the tree trunk he'd been laying by, back against the bark. Tears started falling again, purple from his right and teal from his left, and he let himself break down for the first time since being free from the stone, the flowers held tightly in his hands. He felt them grow thorns, probably a small biproduct from his magic he did not want to think about right now, and he felt the thorns lightly poke into his hands, but he didn't care. He just took the time to, for the first time, let himself grieve.
