]Sanscest Oneshots[

Helping hand [Horror x Cross]

Requested by: RandomThingsOfMine

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Horror sighed as he finally put the last plate in the dryer. Cleaning the dishes wasn't exactly the most draining chore in the world, but before that he had also made the dinner for the entire gang, which consisted of 6 skeletons including himself, so a lot. Plus, he did some cleaning in the morning. The thought that he will probably have to do even more that day didn't exactly cheer him up.

He really would like if others could help him, but it was harder than it sounded. Both Killer and Dust could never do them right, because of their tomfoolery, so whenever they were assigned cleaning, it only ended up with water on the floor or broken furniture, but even worse was whenever they cooked, which ended in fire or raw food in the best scenario. Then there was Error, who might have not been messing up anything on purpose, most of the time, but because of his time in the anti-void he wasn't used to cleaning or cooking or anything and all of these tasks were unusually hard for him. The last possible candidate was Cross, but he was fairly new in the gang and Horror still remembered how lost he felt when he had joined, so he didn't want to stress him out even more. What about Nightmare then? Well, he was actually the only one who usually helped, however in the last few days he has been extraordinarily busy, leaving Horror as the only one to take care of things.

Knowing that, it was no wonder that he was irritated and it showed in his behavior, even if he tried to hide it. Either way he was done for a while, so he shambled to his room and face-planted on his bed. Before he could even realize, his eyes closed and he fell into a light slumber.

"-rror? Horror?" Where the first words he heard after he woke up and felt somebody lightly shaking him by the shoulders. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, trying to see what was going on. Finally his vision cleared.

"Nghh, Cross? What's going on? Did something happened?" He asked tiredly. He really hoped not, he wasn't in the mood for fighting.

Cross looked at him apologetically, fiddling a bit with his fingers. "Sorry, but Nightmare wanted me to see what you were doing and remind you to prepare supper for everyone."

"Of course, how could I forget." Horror thought, not exactly happy. "Was I really napping for that long?"

"Ok." He got up and headed to the door.

However before he could get out he was stopped by Cross. "Wait! Do you want some help?" After he didn't get an answer, just a curious glance, he continued, " I mean I saw that you're working way more then others, especially now that Nightmare can't help, I know that I have been here only for around 2 weeks now, but I have seen you in an irritated mood recently and I know that this is not how you usually act. And I want to help." He explained, even if a little hesitantly, you could still hear honesty in his voice.

Horror's eyes widened a little in surprise. "I- Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I have always been a hard working skeleton anyway." Cross answered, a little more confident now.

The other thought for a while, but contrary to Cross' expectations he frowned. "Listen, I appreciate it, but I have been new here as well and I know how stressful it can be. I don't wanna add to that." He sighed after that last sentence, but Cross didn't give up that easily.

"But I'm fine!" He exclaimed a little louder than intended. "Sorry, it's just, I'm good, really. And I really don't mind helping." He gave a little smile in hopes of persuading him.

Horror's expression now softened. "Alright then, if you say so, lets do it."

The skeleton with a fluffy jacket's smile widened and he hopped after Horror and they both headed to the kitchen. After they came there, they did a bit of preparing and divided the tasks between both of them, apparently they were making a casserole. Cross was chopping tomatoes while Horror was pouring... something into a deep plate. They chatted about some unimportant things throughout it, since they didn't know each other that well yet, but found themselves enjoying the peaceful conversation. Finally though Cross decided to ask about something that was bothering him.

"Why are you, and well Nightmare, the only ones who ever cook or clean?"

"Hmm?" Horror hummed in question, having been thrown out of his thoughts by the unexpected question and turned his face in Cross' direction.

"I mean, why can't Dust or Killer or Error do any of these chores? After all, they eat and use all of the furniture too." Cross clarified and picked up another vegetable.

Horror huffed, but fortunately this was a playful one. "You're definitely new here." He joked. "Basically Killer and Dust are too childish and always end up messing something up, Error is another story though. For the majority of his life he didn't need to eat, and since he lived in the anti-void, to this day he is not exactly used to using furniture or anything, and because of that a lot of chores are hard for him." He stopped, but before Cross could say anything he added, "I know that I can't really blame anyone for their personality or lack of knowledge and I still like all of them, but it can be really draining. So thank you." The last sentence was a bit quieter than the rest, but still clearly heard and Cross flushed at the unexpected words of gratitude.

"Ah, um, it's nothing really, besides I'm not really that good either."

"I can see that." The skeleton with a hole in his skull said,l looking eloquently at the chopped vegetables. Cross was kind of slow at those things and not that precise, but before he could think of what to do, Horror just smiled at him. "I'm just kidding, kinda. Maybe you're not the best, but still one hundred times better than the rest."

"Phew." Cross sighed relieved. "I guess thats good then."

"You have no idea."

Soon enough they finished and called out everyone, along with tired looking Nightmare, for a meal.

The next few days passed with Cross and Horror spending a lot of time together and bonding further, working on the chores, but also spending their free time with each other, since there were both of them working now, every task was done faster. Even though Cross wasn't the best at cooking or cleaning (but also definitely not the worst), he was a fast-learner, which of course made everything easier. After around a week he even decided to work alone for a day or few. Horror tried to knock it out of his head, but Cross insisted that he should take a break and that he himself was a "former warrior of a royal guard, so he could easily take it". In the end he succeeded and Horror took a few, well-deserved days of lazing around. At the end of the fourth day and some time after supper Cross headed to Horror's room. He knocked, came in and laid on the bed next to Horror, being more comfortable with him after spending so much time together.

"What's up?" Horror asked not opening his eyes, just relaxing.

"Well I was thinking, what if we both take a day off tomorrow? Maybe go to some another AU, like Candytale for example?"

"Both of us? But then who will-?"

"Nobody." Cross interrupted him, for some reason sounding really excited. "I mean, I spoke to Error today and he said that he could easily provide for himself for one day."

"That probably means that he will steal something." Horror chuckled. "But what about-?"

"Nightmare? Error will also take care of it, I already talked to boss and he agreed, somehow. And when it comes to Killer and Dust, well I mean, they deserve to finally feel the consequences of them never doing anything, right? I suppose that they will oppose for a moment, but they will have to prepare something to eat eventually, right? Plus who knows, maybe they will finally see how much you do for them and start doing it to?" Cross smirked to himself, however Horror's expression was one of a surprise.

"Since when were you so wicked?" He half-joked, finally cracking an amused smile.

"Am not!" Cross laughed and jokingly punched the arm of his... friend? He hoped so.

"Okay then, let's spend tomorrow together and try not to worry about anything."