@twixtandshout Haha, I had a feeling it was Sleuth last chapter, but he fit in well enough that I didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong. A guy named Sleuth being friends with Gumshoe at the academy is juuuuust plausible enough for me to squintingly buy that someone could've stumbled into it, but Slick's appearance confirmed that it was done with full, smiling intent.
Yup, full, smiling, and gleeful, not to mention delighted that you spotted it! ^U^ It really was very much a moment of “These two would fit in so perfectly with only a couple tweaks, I can’t not.” Not to mention, sometimes self-care is sneaking one of your otps from an old, tiny fandom into one of your current fandoms. ;)
I’d say hurt/comfort but I feel that one’s more of like, a subgenre? So I’ll try to break down the particulars.
For me, I looooove writing physical contact. Weird about getting it in person, which probably has not been helped by our... current circumstances, but I want to make the characters touch and hug and snuggle all the damn time. So that encompasses:
I’m scared/hurt/lonely, stay with me
You are my child/younger sibling/nibling/etc and I’m gonna be amazed at that while I hold you
Let me take care of your wounds
Snuggling and listening to the other character’s heartbeat
Feeling how warm they are too
I literally cannot hold myself up, but you’re holding me
So yeah lots of things under one umbrella! In particular I like doing it for platonic and familial relationships. Idk, just my fave to write.
31. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?
Okay so I’ve been thinking about this and it’s a bit of a venn diagram
I don’t remember much about my fandom stuff before Warframe, but of it and Hollow Knight (Idk if I should count Destiny because I’ve only written OCs for that) the circles are:
- Guy who has fucked up
- Dad
The only reason these are separate is because Stalker goes in the first one but not the second. And Limbo, I suppose, but he did a much more personal fuckup instead of hurting others.
So in Warframe, Stalker, Limbo, and Umbra are my faves. I think Hildryn would be too if I wrote her (alas she came out after I was doing fics for it) but she goes into a different circle which is more aligned with my original characters.
In Hollow Knight, it’s the Pale King. This is... very obvious. With him, I think I swayed myself first because oh man is there so much mess to dig into, but the reaction I got sort of cemented it. It’s really fun to see people’s comments like “Damn I usually hate this guy but reading this I sympathized with him or even felt bad for him even if he did fuck up,” or “Oh hey stuff that puts both the gods in a sympathetic light but doesn’t try to make any one of them The Villain or The Victim.”
So we know that the crew of the Starblaster very much considered themselves to be a family. We also know that a lot of them had either no last names, or last names that were clearly fake as hell.
What if one cycle they did get introduced as a family and everyone’s last name was just ‘Starblaster.’ Clearly it didn’t stick, but, y’know. It’s a real cute thought.
Grillby tries a new cooking style and Sans is torn between encouraging his boyfriend/keeping his reputation as someone who’ll eat anything and admitting he likes Grillby’s other stuff better
This fill somehow turned out way more dramatic than I think was the intention of the prompt. This one takes place after Backbone, the fic where Grillby decides he needs to change his eating habits.
Rating: G
CN: vomiting and other illness symptoms
--
The house stank like a greasy forest fire when Sans got in after a midnight movie showing with Alphys and Undyne. The kitchen was closed off. Sans touched the doorknob and could feel heat sinking into his bones.
"hey, hot stuff," Sans called through the door. There was a moment of fear where he worried that it was actually his brother on the other side, and then Grillby pushed aside the pocket door for him. Papyrus wasn't even in there, thank god.
"...hey." Grillby was blue tinged around the center of his face, and on his hands. He had an apron tossed on over a sweater and a pair of black jeans. His gloves were the plastic ones that went up to his elbows.
"what'cha makin'?" Sans asked, peering around him.
Grillby looked him over and brushed popcorn crumbs off Sans' shirt for him. They caught fire in midair and were ash by the time they drifted to the floor.
"i was saving those for later," Sans said. "so now you really gotta tell me."
Grillby nodded. The room temperature dropped a few degrees and he stepped back into the kitchen, letting Sans come in after him. "I'm trying something...new."
"yeah?"
"I need to change how I eat, since I was sick."
"oh. yeah, right. i gotcha." That explained the campfire smell.
"I don't think the kids would like this, or Papyrus, but..."
The problem was that eating a different diet than everyone else was pretty isolating for someone like Grillby. Food and eating were a huge part of how he interacted with people.
Sans had been a little worried that once the immediate danger of his illness had passed by, he'd fall right into his old habits. It was tough to talk about it, since Sans would sound like a hypocrite bringing up anything about someone else's health.
"hey, i'm curious. let's give it a shot." He liked the wood chips Grillby made. He'd probably like this, too. Not having a stomach came in handy.
Grillby brightened and put his hand on Sans' shoulder, directing him to the kitchen table. Sans sat down.
"...you're sweating?" The room got even cooler and Grillby opened a window. He took out plates and started serving out some mysterious but rank smelling stew from the huge pot on the stove. He opened up the oven and the campfire smell hit Sans' nose hole, hard.
"so, what's in the soup?" Sans asked. He was careful to keep his tone neutral.
"It's an old family recipe."
Sans remembered Grillby's mother visiting when Grillby was sick, once, and the huge pot of boiling hot sauce she had made for dinner. Sans had almost passed out from the smell.
"nice," Sans said.
"You might not like it."
"hey, i'll try anything."
Grillby set a plate down in front of Sans. In the center, there was a log of heavily seasoned wood, and the strong smelling stew was artfully poured around it. Sans was sure that if he was a fire monster, he'd be flipping his lid at how good it looked. "looks great, grillbz," Sans said. He picked up the log and poked it at his mouth. "not sure how to eat this, though."
Grillby considered the problem, and then gestured for Sans to set it down. He made a slicing gesture with his hand, and fire rained down on Sans' plate, cutting the log into neat, perfectly sized slices of wood.
Oh, hey, Sans got it. It was supposed to be like bread. "cool." He tried a piece. It tasted like wood and garlic. "this is really good."
"Like this." Grillby dipped his breadlog into the stew and took a bite out of it.
Sans had jumped out of the frying pan right into the fire. "oh, right." But his feet were in the fire, now. He picked up one of the slices and dipped an edge into the stew - the sauce? Sans wasn't sure what it was, but it sure had a smell.
He'd just think of it as a trial by fire. He snickered, and Grillby gave him a curious look.
"thought of a great fire pun," Sans said.
"Never mind."
Sans took a bite and stared into space. A tiny bead of sweat trickled down his skull. Once he was able to feel his face again, he said, "huh. that's not bad."
When the heat wore away, there was a flavor there, and it wasn't bad, exactly. It wasn't good enough to be worth everything that came with it, but it was something positive for Sans to hang onto.
"You like it?" Grillby was so bright and happy. He'd been expecting to eat dinner alone.
"of course it's good," Sans said. "i mean, look at who made it."
Grillby reached across the table and took Sans' hand. He squeezed it once before letting it go and digging into his own food.
Sans took a deep unnecessary breath and did the same. If he shoveled it all in while his mouth was numb, he saved himself from having to do this over and over again. He had to eat it all, so he should do it all in one go.
"Oh, you're finished? Do you want seconds?" It was rare to see Grillby so cheerful.
"yeah." Sans had a good run. He'd made some friends, told some awful jokes, seen his brother happier than ever, and most of the time he ate good food. He had zero regrets. "but you should save the rest for you. i already had like three dinners."
Grillby nodded. "You look warm again."
"i mean, there's a little heat to this stuff," Sans admitted. He got up to get himself some milk and delay his second serving. Instead of getting a glass, he just stood by the fridge and chugged the gallon. He put the empty back in the refrigerator and walked over to his seat. Grillby had restocked his plate while he was gone.
"bone appetite, right? heh."
--
Sans didn't have that much experience with indigestion. The next day was a crash course in the subject.
Grillby left before Sans got out of bed, so the only one who noticed was Papyrus. He told Sans that whatever had made him suffer was probably a natural consequence of his own actions. Sans couldn't really argue that point.
At least, not with his head in the toilet. He somehow managed to burn a hole in the side of the seat. He sent Alphys a message when he was sweating on the floor of the bathroom. thought it'd be cooler to be a dragon
She sent him a message right back asking him what he was watching, but he didn't read it until later.
Sans started to feel better around his first dinnertime. Soozen said that he looked more like a regular corpse than usual, but no one else mentioned anything.
He was huddled in a blanket on a couch watching television when Grillby came home at his usual time. Grillby walked right over to him and gave him a kiss hello.
"hey, look who's here," Sans said.
"Are you all right? You look under the weather."
"with you standing up there quizzing me, it's like i'm under fire," Sans said, snickering. Grillby had set that one up for him, probably deliberately. "maybe i'm getting a cold or something."
"Poor Sans."
"yeah. i'm so sad i bet you want to go get me a soda."
"And dinner? Or are you not feeling up to it?"
Sans' expression stayed the same. "that sounds great, actually."
He looked so excited. "I came up with an idea at work....you'll love it."
"heh. you know it." He'd survived until now, so he'd probably be ok another night. He wished there was a way to get out of this, but he'd dug this hole and now he was going to be a proper skeleton and lay down in it.
This night, he got to watch the whole process. Grillby had an old recipe book of his mother's opened up. Sans would rather eat the pages of the book than anything else Grillby made from the recipes on them.
When the smell hit his nose hole, he started seriously thinking about ways to avoid another day like the one he’d just had. The only idea he came up with was "honesty" and obviously that wasn't going to happen.
"hey, since we're both having it, can you make it a little less hot tonight?" Sans winked. "you're hot enough all on your own."
"It was too spicy? You did drink...quite a lot."
"just a bit too much for me. sorry."
"I'm just...happy you like it at all," Grillby said.
"aw, man."
When Grillby set the plate down in front of Sans, he leaned down and gave him a kiss at the same time. Sans poked at his food with his fork and gathered all his willpower. Why didn't they have any plants in the kitchen? TV had taught him that you dumped food you couldn't eat in a houseplant. He considered slipping it into his inventory, but he was pretty sure Grillby would notice.
The Great Papyrus burst into the kitchen. "GRILLBY! GOOD EVENING! I AM GOING TO QUICKLY PASS THROUGH AND GRAB SOME ITEMS FROM WITHIN THIS ROOM BEFORE I AM DEFEATED BY THE POWERFUL AURA OF YOUR IMPRESSIVE NEW RECIPE!" He rushed over to the fridge while he spoke and opened it up. "NORMALLY I WOULD BE POLITE AND GIVE YOU THE FULL GREETING THAT A DEAR FRIEND OF PAPYRUS DESERVES, BUT THIS EVENING I CAN'T STAND TO BE IN THIS ROOM FOR MORE THAN TWO MINUTES." He took the empty milk container out of the fridge and stared at it. "I DON'T RECALL..." He shook his head. It was inconceivable that anyone else in the house would have had the whole gallon, other than him. He rushed it over to the recycling and went back and took out an orange juice container. "SANS, IT SEEMS YOUR REST HAS IMPROVED YOUR HEALTH! I AM PLEASED TO SEE YOU UP AND ALSO ABOUT."
"Hello, Papyrus," Grillby said.
"hey, bro. yeah, i'm ok."
"He's getting a cold."
"I'M...NOT QUITE SURE THAT IS IT," Papyrus said. "WELL, WHATEVER YOU WOULD LIKE TO CALL IT! MAYBE A COLD SOUNDS LIKE A VERY TERRIBLE ILLNESS WHEN YOU ARE FIRE?" He ran back towards the door with a glass of orange juice and a bowl of dog treats.
"Terrible?" It took Grillby a minute, sometimes, to verbally catch up with the things Papyrus said. By the time he spoke, Papyrus was out of the door. He closed it very firmly behind him.
"eh, he thinks being sick is just gross to start with," Sans said.
Grillby nodded.
"well," Sans shrugged. "bottoms up." He took a bite of his dinner.
The room started to cloud over. He felt the impact of the floor against his shoulder, but nothing after that.
--
Sans was under blankets, but he still felt cool. He opened an eye and recognized the ceiling of his own bedroom. There was still that cheese-in-a-can residue up there from the time he'd made a can explode.
Someone had opened a window in the room. The curtains were fluttering. The cool air felt wonderful.
"HAVE YOU FINALLY FINISHED WITH YOUR IMPROMPTU NAP?" Papyrus asked. He sounded like he was by the closet.
Sans could guess why he was in his bed, now. He drew the blankets up over his head. Grillby wasn't there, at least.
"I WILL LET YOUR HUSBAND KNOW YOU HAVE NOT FALLEN DOWN YET." Papyrus sounded angry. "HE WAS WORRIED ABOUT SUFFOCATING YOU WITH HIS FIRE BY ACCIDENT."
Sans heard the door to the bedroom close. He was alone. Maybe it was time to rethink his strategy. There was probably some other way to make Grillby feel good about eating the kind of things he needed to.
He sat up and stretched. He noticed an empty vial on the side table. Whatever was in it was probably a big reason why he felt so much less like garbage.
The door opened a crack and the room got a tiny bit warmer.
"hey, grillbz," Sans said.
"........."
"c'mon in." No avoiding it. Grillby was going to be either guilty or mad, and he was going to want to resolve those feelings with honest and open communication, like the huge loser that he was. Sans loved him.
Grillby slipped in and stood right inside, looking Sans over very carefully. Sans could almost feel him checking Sans' stats.
"guess i felt worse than i thought," Sans said. He shrugged. "heh. or i like you so much i just fell for you."
"........." Grillby started to say something. He flickered in irritation. "...Sans."
"yup.”
"Are you all right? Really?"
"yup."
Grillby didn't look like he believed him.
"there's plenty of room," Sans said, patting the bed next to him. "whatever you guys dosed me with did the trick."
After a minute, he came over and sat on the bed next to Sans.
"i got a confession." Sans touched Grillby's arm. He had a good feeling he knew what was going through Grillby's head, now, with the way he kept acting like he shouldn't get near Sans. "that stuff you made is good, but i don't think i should have as much of it as i did. kind of runs me through the ringer."
"...you could have said that."
"i guess." Sans shrugged.
"Why the hell didn't you?"
"uh. you were all fired up about the stuff you were making. didn't want to cool down the mood, you know?"
"Sans."
"and, um..." He wasn't sure he should say this, but he was on a roll. "look, you don't like making that stuff because no one else eats it so it isn't social, but it's the kind of stuff you need to stay healthy, right? so maybe i wanted to keep you company so you kept making it."
"......" Grillby stared at him for a very long moment. "...Sans," he repeated.
"yeah?"
"Don't ever eat my food when it makes you sick for my sake, ever again."
"...gotcha."
"Or...or I'll...be really upset with you."
"man. you don't have to bring out the big guns for this one. i already learned my lesson."
Grillby grabbed onto him and pulled him into a hug. Sans noted that his face was pressed hard against Grillby's chest, like Grillby was trying to keep him from saying anything else. He could take a hint, sometimes, so he kept quiet.
"And...I promise I'll be careful about what I eat." Grillby let him go so he could look him over again. "...ok?"
"ok."
Sans settled back down on the bed. The wind rushing in through the curtains made Grillby's fire wave around so much that Grillby grabbed at his glasses like they were going to fall off. They couldn't, since they were enchanted not to, so Sans didn't feel bad laughing at him. Grillby pulled Sans' blanket over his head and went to close the window.
