When We Met: A ShuffleSwap Story
This fic goes along with a small series of drawing i did which i may link at the bottom later. This was written in about 2 hours, no word count available. ENJOY!
WARNING: mild brutality, language
AU: ShuffleSwap Characters: Niki & Swap
(Written in Swap's POV)
*THUD*
I groaned and twisted as i lay in the floor, momentarily dazed, jolting quickly from my daze to take in my surroundings. I was...in my room... "Pfft. Of course, where else would i be..." I sighed, rubbing the back of my skull where it had made contact with the floor. *It was rediculous to think i'd be anywhere else though. I mean, i have been here for seven months already...* I let my eyes wander, taking in every aspect of 'my' room, like i often did. Even after so long it still felt strange to be here, that i was allowed to be here.....that HE let me stay here... I closed my eyes, sighing. Now that i was thinking about it, i couldn't help but recall that day....the day we had first met....
* * *
The day had gone over like most others. I spent a lot of time wondering around Snowdin, scrounging around for something to eat or looking for money dropped in the snow. I usually avoided the back alleys and dark places behind buildings but i was getting desperate at this point...and that's the only place i hadn't looked. There weren't very many monsters out today so surely nobody could be around those places anyway. So with that in mind, i started heading toward the hotel. Seeing as how plenty of monsters came and went from there, surely i'd find something around the back...
It didn't take me to long to reach the place, but i was already out of energy, having not eaten in a while. My only focus was to find something so i could fix that problem. I hadn't even felt that i had bumped into someone.
"Watch where your goin ya little brat!"
Barely hearing them i hadn't responded. Their words didn't register until i was ripped backwards by the hood of my jacket and shoved backwards into a wall. It hadn't exactly hurt, but it hadn't been pleasant either. I looked up to the monster the had me between themself and the wall and felt my entire body go cold. I'd seen them around to know that this was a bad situation. It was a black dog monster, twice my size. I'd witnessed him explode on monsters for so much as looking at him the wrong way, he'd even dusted a few for little more than that and i'd gone and bumped into him without even realizing it....
"P-p-please....i-i didn't me-mean to....i was just..."
"Shut it pipsqueak!"
I flinched when he yelled at me and proceded to pull me foreward and slam me full force back into the wall, a sicking crack resounding from the power behind it. It hurt! I felt like i couldn't breath. Looking up to him, i could see it in his eyes that he had no intension of letting me out of this. I was going to die here, as a nobody, not a single monster to miss me. But all thought died away...the dog monster slammed his massive paw down on the top of my head....i could feel his claws breaking through the bone. How was this much pain even possible... I couldn't hear or think, i could only feel the crippling pain. I must've screamed though because he yelled at me, removing his claws from my skull to bash down on my head with his fist. The pain now resonated down through my neck and spine, my head dropping and vision blurring and clearing repeatedly. Why wasn't i dead yet... I didn't even have that much LV...
I suddenly realized i was shaking...and....i could feel the cold air inside my skull...the chill of quickly overtaking my bones. The dog monster dropped me and i curmpled to my knees, tears dropping to the snow. I heard the crunch of snow as he took a step back...i knew all to well how this ended, but in a desperate attempt...the only bit of hope i had, i cried out for help, for someone, anyone to save me...
"Hah! You really think anyone would try to save you from ME? Nobody's got enough guts." He scoffed.
He raised his foot high as he could get it, he was going to crush my head like i'd seen happed before. I squeezed my eyes shut and just wished he'd get it over with already....but...it didn't happen. I expected the sweet release of death but instead i heard two small thuds, flinching at the sound. I heard the dog monster roar in anger and risked looking up to see what had happened, finding that he had snow in his fur and following his gaze, the one who'd put it there, walking towards us was a skeleton monster like myself, tossing and catching a snowball in one hand repeatedly....and he looked pissed....
"This is a new low, even for you, ya filthy mutt. Tsh, beating on a fucking kid." The stranger didn't wait for a response from the dog before throwing the snowball right into his face.
I took that split second oppurtunity to bolt, the sudden adrenaline allowing me to get as far as standing behind the newcomer, my joints locking the second i stopped. The newcomer turned to look at me and i could swear i'd seen him around before but always avoiding others...then i saw his face....he went from pissed to shocked to furious in an instant, whipping around to face the dog again, who had taken to moving towards us. I found myself shaking more from fear than pain, not of the dog monster, but what i'd seen in the others eyes...he was going to try fighting him! He surprised me further when he moved to take a defensive stance, one arm out sheilding me and a flame of crystal blue magic dancing over his other hand.
The dog didn't take well to this, being denied his kill, and charged at us. I would've screamed if i'd been able to find my voice, the skeleton before me jumping forward to meet him. The dog had no weapon but i doubted he was weaker than the other, but the skeleton was quicker, dodging the swipes of the dogs claws, and sending bone attacks flying at him while i could only watch in horror. The dog would land hits on his ribcage or sides and the skeleton would barely get even fewer hits in with his attacks. My hopes were begining to fade, when suddenly the skeleton lunged risking a direct hit. I couldn't tell from where i stood, until the dog fell that he'd managed to somehow slash it's throat...
I stood frozen staring at this stranger, trying to put together enough thoughts to try to understand why he had helped me, or done this. I was starting to regain myself a bit now the the cold had slightly, if barely numbed the pain, when i noticed that now he was hunched over a bit and shaking. I found myself overtaken with fear for my savior and walked as quickly as i could manage towards him, hesitating when i got within a few feet of him. Despite my injury, the pain, and the growing numbness in my limbs, guilt was starting to eat away at me. I closed the distance between us, shakily reaching out a hand, grabbing his jacket sleeve. He jolted and whipped his head to look at me, his eyes narrowed like pinpricks, but he suddenly softened, no longer shaking.... But i felt myself start to...
"I'm so sorry....i...i've caused you so much trouble."
He locked beyond shocked at my words, but considering how i looked, i shouldn't have been surprised. His expression softened and all he said in response was 'Kid...'. After that, everything went dark...
* * *
Slowly opening my eyes, i moved to stand up. Shaking my head, i exited the room heading down the stairs.
After all that, the first thing i can remember was waking up in that room, MY room, with my head bandaged and feeling dizzy as all hell. But so much has happened since then though. At one point, as it turns out, i had even been the one thing that had kept him sane. He had told me that he had leveled up because of that fight, and his mind wasn't able to handle it, and i had apparently snapped him out of it... Funny thing about that is, that he's actually fine now...he has been for a full month.
He...doesn't need me anymore, but he still lets me stay....
"There ya are Swap, I was about ready to come check up on ya"
"Hm?" Pulled from my thoughts, i glanced up. There he was, as always, sitting dead center on the couch. " Oh, s-sorry Niki, i was just...um...feeling more tired...than usual.."
Niki waved me over and pulled me into his lap the second i was within his reach, earning himself a yelp of surprise from me, to which he just laughed. "Swap, you're such an awful liar!"
I simply pouted when he called me that, but i was happy.... I may not understand why he let's me stay with him and in reality i still don't understand him. But if there's one thing i'm sure of, it's that this...this is my life now, and i don't ever want to give it up. I wouldn't go back or change a thing. My home is here....with Niki...
Niki/Swap/ShuffleSwap ALL belong to me