It was the only way to protect everything he cared about.
Unexpectedly—wonderfully—Red squirmed a little in his grasp. “…boss…?” he murmured, still dazed and out of it. “ ‘m i dead?”
He grit his teeth to hold in relieved laughter. Or a relieved sob. Could have been either, really. There was a part of him that had been utterly convinced that Red was never going to wake up. It was illogical, but fear was not often born of rational, reasoned thought. “No, you idiot,” he rumbled, “Can’t get rid of you that easily, apparently. No matter how I may try.”
“EDGY-ME!” Rus sounded rather scandalized by his reply, but Red just chuckled sleepily.
Then he seemed to realize that Rus was there too. “heya, creampuff,” he murmured, reaching out, “the hell ‘r ya doin’ in underfell? sans is gonna lose ‘is shit….”
“L-LANGUAGE, CHERRY!” He looked at least as relieved as Edge felt, orange tears gathering in his sockets.
Edge raised a brow-bone. “Cherry?” he asked, but Red was already asleep. He turned to Rus, waiting.
“WELL,” Rus said, looking suddenly self-conscious, “EVERYONE CALLS BLUE ‘BLUEBERRY’ AND RAZZ IS ‘RASPBERRY’. SO…CHERRY SEEMED APPROPRIATE.”
Edge chuckled at the pet name, shaking his head a little. He was definitely going to torture his brother with that little piece of intel. “So, what’s Sans?” he asked.
“OBNOXIOUS,” Rus replied, deadpan. Edge held back a grin.
Recognizing that he had to be feeling better if he was trying not to smile, he conducted another mental survey. His soul was settled again, though he wasn’t eager to test it. He wouldn’t be ready to try eating again for at least a few hours. The matrix wrapping his ribs was thicker, though; it no longer looked like his bone fragments were wrapped in red thread. Still, he would need to replenish his magic. Sighing, he pulled away a little. “Blue,” he asked, “would you bring me some hot chocolate?” Remembering who he was talking to, he tacked on a ‘please’.
For a moment, it looked like Blue would question if that was a good idea or not, but he seemed to understand that Edge probably knew himself best. “Of course, Edge!” Smarter than his brother, then.
A nauseating mix of rage and panic rose up at the reminder of Paps and their deal, now thrown into uncertainty. Earlier, he’d assumed that Paps wanted to change their deal…but what if he just wanted to cancel it entirely? Edge couldn’t really blame him; he and his brother had been a lot more trouble than the original deal had encompassed. Still, Edge had no idea what he’d do if his other self told them to leave.
We’d make it work, he assured himself, looking down at Red. They’d survived in Underfell long before learning of the alternate universes. They would continue to do so, if it came to it. He forced himself to calm. Whatever happened, whether Paps wanted to alter the deal or cancel it, Edge and Red would be fine. They’d pull through as they always had. And Edge could be assured that, no matter what Paps demanded of him, it most certainly wouldn’t be the worst thing he’d been forced to do. He suppressed bitter laughter; it wouldn’t even be the worst thing he’d done today. Breathing deeply, Edge petted Red’s coronal suture, earning a quiet purr. They would survive. Edge would make sure of it.
“Rus.”
“YES, EDGY-ME?”
“Turn it off.”
Rus sighed. “WASN’T IT NICE, THOUGH? JUST ALLOWING YOURSELF TO RELAX? YOU COULD REALLY USE THE REST, EDGY-ME.”
“Turn it off,” he insisted, “or I’m going to start screaming obscenities at the top of my voice, and I think you know exactly how loud that really is.”
