Collection of Oddities

The Laugh

Summary: Red is concerned about Sci's wellbeing. 

In the scorching reaches known as Hotland, a dark-coated skeleton slowly trekked down the rough stone paths, aiming for the white facility bridging the flaming lands to the next, New Home. The darkness that had fallen upon the area provided little hindrance. A warm yellow/orange glow sprouted up from the molten earth bubbling on each side of the narrow pathway. It shone bright enough to guide any monster- even those with the poorest night vision or treaded the Underground half-blind.

As he continued onward, the gentle light added to the peaceful atmosphere (unlike in his own universe where the glow burned red hot, like hellfire) and glinted off the faux gold tooth hidden amongst pointy ivory ones. Monsters passed by shrunk back, intimidated. Not that the few night-lurkers were in any danger. The skeleton merely ignored them in favor of adjusting his burgundy and black hoodie, debating removing it; though the light may have dropped, the temperature certainly had not.

Exhaustion prevented him from doing away with the article in the end. Good thing, too. The industrial metal door leading into the laboratory drew ever closer. Closing distance, a clawed hand began to fish through the hoodie's pocket for the spare key. His hand promptly withdrew a thin plastic card- a special ID or "key" that only its owner could use to gain entrance to the main labs. It displayed a series of encrypted information on the front and a barcode on the back, which got shown to the scanner located directly on the door's right side. The little lightbulb attached to the scanner turned green. While pulling the card back, pocketing it once more, the steely metal blocking the entryway slid away and opened up the hall leading to the facility's deepest bowels.

Red sighed, dragging his feet along the ground and rubbing at his eye sockets as he trudged into the clean space; sneakers squeaking once rock switched to tile. His eyelights idly brushed over the dim fluorescent lights and plain white doors. The further he walked, the more the corridor seemed to continue on and on- too far for his inner laziness' liking. Luckily, he soon came to a halt in front of his destination: a familiar white door bearing scorch marks around the edges and frame. The Underfell skeleton grappled with his pocket before producing a small brass key. And if he happened to miss the keyhole a couple of times while attempting to insert it, no one would ever know. Unless they checked the security footage. A tired (and mildly triumphant) grin spread across his jaws once the metal bit slipped into place. The lock clicked as it turned, allowing him to push open the door and enter the dwelling.

What a day, his mind grumbled. Crimson eyelights instantly drifted toward the green couch laying further in the room. He could almost imagine flopping down on the soft surface and enjoying every inch of its chemical-stained glory while resting his weary bones.

If only.

Painstakingly, he tore his gaze away from the inviting napping spot and examined the remainder of the room. Darkness shrouded a majority of the space. All the overhead lights were off; only a sole lamp resting on the side table next to the couch illuminated the room with a dim yellow glow. Papers and gadgets and metal bits littered the nearby coffee table. A dark-screened laptop sat amongst the mess, along with an empty mug. The metal bookcases, containing a plethora of different science books, sat relatively untouched compared to when he last saw them. Where the living room separated into the kitchen, the coffee pot sitting on the steel counter held not a drop of the hot caffeinated substance. The combat-experienced monster found these details odd for many reasons. The main one pertaining to the fact the dwelling's other resident was almost always awake. Even after three days without a wink of sleep.

Eyelights floating behind narrowed eye sockets flitted to the corner hall connecting the living room/kitchen to the rest of the housing unit- i.e., the bedroom, bathroom, and personal lab spaces. Every lab door seemed locked tight without a sliver of light peaking through the bottom.

"Sci, ya home?" Red called quietly, in case the sleep-deprived scientist decided to sleep for once in his miserable existence.

Crippling silence replied; However, just as he was about to shrug it off and check the bedroom, an unexpected sound echoed from further in the house. "AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

The love-ridden skeleton would never admit it, but he started at the noise, jumping almost two feet in the air before thoughts ran rampant in his mind. One such thought being: Who the heck made that racket? Sci had an evil laugh, sure, and he had practiced it on numerous occasions much to Red's dismay. That laugh, though...

The unhinged laughter reminded him of one monster and one monster alone- Error!

That realization had him instantly bolting down the hall, using a hand to help turn the corner and the force of his momentum to bust down the sole door with light shining from beneath it. A sharp bone materialized in his dominant hand as the metal barrier went flying off its hinges, crashing to the floor. Eyelights flaring, he bellowed, "You have a lot of nerve breaking into this lab! Now, what did you do to Sci!"

A pleading cry prevented him from jabbing the attack into the destructive intruder. "Red, stop! It's me!"

The Underfell skeleton blinked, taking in the appearance of his target for the first time- non-discolored bones, white eyelights, green-framed glasses resting on the tip of his nasal cavity, a towel wrapped lightly around his smaller frame. A pinkish hue spread on Red skull as he realized that he was, in fact, not look at Error but a very underclothed and startled scientist. In the bathroom.

"Wh- Sci?! What on earth were you- I thought Error was in here!" He stuttered, directing his sight to anywhere other than the skeleton before him.

Quickly recovering from the scare, Sci puffed up and shouted, "Why would he be in my bathroom?!"

"I- I don't know! For evil stuff?" Red unsummoned his weapon and threw his hands up in a sign of peace. That did not stop the towel-clad monster from shooting him a nasty glare, likely due to the door that now needed replacing.

"Evil-" Sci squeaked as the towel slipped from his hands, revealing his ribcage, and swiftly pulled it back up. With bright green magic spread across his cheeks, he sputtered, "C-could you leave? I need to get dressed. We can, uh, continue this conversation afterward."

The Underfell skeleton slowly backed out of the room; His skull colored by an equally bright red flush while he continued backward until his spine hit the opposite wall, where he slowly sunk to the ground. The fallen door soon found itself lifted with red magic and carefully used to block the doorway (and the view inside the room). After making sure it would not fall, Red blankly stared at the tile floor.

When did his evil laugh get so creepy? Near authentic, too.

A hand came up and slowly dragged down the length of his skull, only briefly stopping to rub at his droopy eye sockets.

Stars, it is too late for this- I should warn the Council in the next meeting, so no one accidentally attacks that nerd one day.