Of a Better World

A Shared Day

It was one of those days.

A dreary, mercilessly cold day. A blizzard had picked up in Snowdin nearly overnight and it had no plans to disappear as quickly as it arrived.

The winds were violent and more than glad to pummel the little houses that sat mostly undisturbed in the wintry town. Anyone unfortunate enough to be stranded outside would have trouble seeing their own hand in front of their faces with how thick the snow was coming down. And that was under the assumption that they hadn't already lost their hands to frostbite.

Days like this the very nature of the underground worked to force its residents indoors. A deadly reminder that it wasn't as kind as it once was.

It hadn't always been like this. Before the core failed and the climate of the underground was still regulated by its power, blizzards were exceedingly rare. Snow days were much more common, and much kinder. Those days were something to look forward to; excitement found in the anticipation of fluffy snowfall that made the world look like a snow globe.

There weren't many days like that anymore, replaced by ones where the temperatures plummeted below zero and the cold was impossible to shake even in the safety of the indoors.

Horror knew better than to challenge nature's warning and kept inside, encouraging his brother to do so too no matter how much the younger skeleton grieved lost productivity. No matter how hardy skeletons were they were better off in the house then bearing the cold for no apparent reason. It was energy best preserved for a milder day. 

They were lucky. And as depressing as the reality was, Horror was sure the next time he bothered to stop by Grillby's, that there would be a few less faces than the last time he visited. It just was how things were, and it was hardly shocking anymore.

So Horror stayed home nestled in safety, his tail tucked not in shame, but out of decent common sense. If that made him a coward, then he was glad to be one.

On days like these he preferred to be a coward wrapped in a blanket and sat in front of the living room window. It gave him a front row seat to the happenings of the outside world, even if much wasn't happening at all. Over the years it had become a ritual, one even continued even if the weather prevented him from seeing out of the window.

These days were perfect in their odd, morbid sort of sense. Mostly serene and calm over anything else. Time alone and peace were the only things that comforted him, and the dull roar of the wind outside never let his thoughts wander far enough to reflect upon his actions over the past few years. It was nearly perfect.

"would you mind a bit of company?"

Nearly.

Curious, prying eyes stared down at him and his spot in the window. A hopeful part of Horror prayed that he was mistaken, and that the little skeleton wasn't talking to him. Besides their brief, horrendous introduction, they hadn't spoken in the entire time that Lust had been there. Maybe if he ignored him-

"can i sit here?"

Horror gave a sigh of unconcealed annoyance.

"there's an entire house. full of windows. you can choose to sit anywhere you like."

"great," he chirped. "then i'll sit here."

"anywhere but here."

Lust stared blankly at him for a while as if he was seriously considering his words, like a cat watching it's owner before knocking a glass off the table, then arrogantly disregarded them.

As Horror watched the cheeky bastard plop down beside him he played a mental image in his head, imagining himself using blue magic to slam Lust into the wall. He wouldn't do it, he knew; he couldn't. Lust happily trotted around with Crooks' seal of protection stamped on his chest, and the last thing he wanted was this intruder coming between him and his brother's good relationship.