Aspen gave him enough time. Ultimately, River just pulled a face: “Let’s end this round first and see what we can. I want to know how it ends. Afterwards we can discuss our thoughts.”
Hopefully alone.
The end of the day matched the start of the night quite well. There wasn’t a lot of time after they finished their bath. Their father accompanied them as they brushed their teeth and made sure to dry their hair. Afterwards they were brought to bed by him, getting little kisses on their foreheads, before the door to their room was closed…
…And shockingly, locked.
As the lock clicked, the world broke down peacefully.
The reset this time was bad, contrary to the serene end.
The headache – probably more accurate to call it a migraine, pounding with every single step – left River nauseous anyway, not to mention the teleport back to the safe-room.
His vision swayed and he leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and concentrating on the ticking noises of the large grandfather-clock until the rushing sound in his ears subsided. He had never been aware that the sound of a clock was actually kind of soothing.
“You alright?” Aspen’s voice was tinged with worry and tension. “Don’t fall over again. I still don’t know what to do with fainted people!”
The memory of Aspen’s panic when he had fainted in the school game made River’s lips tug up a bit.
“I’m okay”, he responded. He took a couple of breaths to steady himself, and his expression returned to a pointed neutral. “Just the headache. How many rounds?”
Aspen checked out the clock. A third had passed. “Three rounds.”
“Do you think something would happen if we played around with the clock hands?” Vault’s eyes were stuck to the clock. She hadn’t cared about it before, but now, remembering it told the progress of the game, she did get curious. She reached out a hand, but the introverted Silver stopped her nervously.
“Don’t! I-It might be dangerous!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Vault pouted, but didn’t try again. Next to her, Aspen was dumbfounded at the sheer audacity of thinking to tamper with the one thing that gave them any sense of progression in here.
Ujqsger, ktb tjv yffc ajixlcu ab tlr ugbeqwjafr, wjvf tlr kjs bnfg ja tfjglcu tfg ajix. Lf abkfgfv bnfg atfw jii, ibbxlcu vbkc ja Njeia jcv ajixlcu lc j mjiw yea vfwjcvlcu abcf. “Tbe rtbeivc’a wfrr klat atlcur lcrlvf atlr gbbw.”
Llr fsfr rkfgnfv bnfg ab Crqfc, ktb oilcmtfv. Rfnfg kbeiv tf vb remt j atlcu, yea Ujqsger’ ujhf jibcf pera wjvf tlw ecmbwobgajyif.
Although the message was actually a different one anyway – don’t mess with the humans inside this room – a certain someone missed the hint.
Bronze went to Aspen’s side, slinging an arm over his shoulder. Although they should be around the same age, Bronze was a pretty tall guy that ended up having enough height to lean on Aspen.
“No worries, no worries. I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything”, the man winked at Aspen, flirting cheekily. “Right? You’ll behave?”
Rather than look at Bronze, Aspen’s gaze flickered over to Papyrus. He tensed, managing to slip out from Bronze’s arms and running right over into River’s.
River stumbled a bit back when the other threw himself at him, but he quickly steadied himself and gave Aspen a reassuring pat on the back. Aspen was exceptionally wary over making Papyrus angry, which resulted in him being unable to react to others the way he usually did.
Unsure what to do, Aspen did the most sensible thing – hide with River. Not only was River excellent at calming him, he also knew immediately what was up.
“Leave him alone”, River told Bronze in a dry tone.
Bronze rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue, mumbling a complaint under his breath but not starting a fight. Apparently he could take a “no”, even if his flirting was a bit too hands-on.
Aspen peeked at Papyrus from the safety of River’s arms.
How long had he been in prison now?
Too long.
He saw guards with auras like Papyrus once in a while – they came for prisoners sturdier and bigger than him. It always made him wary. An enemy he had a small chance of putting up a fight against was an enemy he preferred to avoid completely, but neither his cell nor the dreams allowed for that.
Most of the time, when one came near his cell in the prison, he would retreat to his bathroom and warily sit next to the door, listening.
But in the dreams… Staying next to River felt the safest. Obviously he knew River was the opposite of a fighter, but it was the feeling of having someone on his side that was soothing. The way River stopped rejecting his closeness gave him the sweetest feeling.
At the start, River had winced when they so much as brushed past each other.
Now…
Aspen gave a tug on River’s clothes. The easterner reacted by patting his back again for a few seconds, tiny little strokes.
“We might be stuck in here together but we’d prefer not having to interact with you”, River said after some consideration. How talkative he had become. Saying things, even when not asked. “Let’s not get involved with each other.”
“There’s hardly any space for that here”, Honey humpfed. River still found it odd to think of the teacher-like man as having the name of the woman he had met twice.
“Efforts can be made”, River countered.
They were going to run into each other constantly but he didn’t want to have to deal with conversations if he could avoid it, especially not with Papyrus.
The group of young people had no leader, but the older group did. River looked at Papyrus for his decision and the sturdy guy raised a bushy eyebrow. “I won’t make a move unless you do.”
It was a threat, for sure.
River had no way of knowing whether Papyrus knew of the shackles, simply recognized something about Aspen as a killer, or was careful due to various reasons. Either way, the message was clear.
River gave him a nod. He was going to ensure that Aspen wouldn’t hurt anyone. They’d leave each other alone.
The passing conversation going on in the other group was something he mostly acknowledged subconsciously. They made fun of the “two lovebirds” wanting “time on their own” and acting “waaaaaay too jealous”, though Aspen’s “fearful behavior” of hiding with his “boyfriend” was seen as quite cute.
A stupid thought crossed River’s mind. Given the chance – given a peaceful life, where he would not have been ostracized – how would Aspen have reacted to being flirted with?
Would he have run over to his partner and refused a reaction, just like now? Or would he have stood his ground?
A foolish thought. It was nothing but wondering about a theoretical situation that could have happened but simply didn’t; Aspen was the way he was and there was no changing his past.
He exhaled through his nose and gave Aspen another short pat on the back, which the other returned with a little nuzzle of his head.
River wondered what exactly made them think that they were a couple. They had thought so from the start. Was it the way that Aspen clung to him after he woke up? But that behavior wasn’t too odd in a stressful situation. River had seen many girls just snuggle up to each other and no one considered them a couple.
But maybe there was something. The something that drove Aspen to kiss him in the last game.
“I guess obsession is a sign of twisted affection”, River mumbled to himself breathily. Then, a bit louder, he addressed Aspen. “We should go.”
Aspen hummed in reply. He let go of River but grabbed his hand. They were quickly and mutually growing addicted to the warmth and pulse of another person with no chance of avoiding it.
There was a short moment behind the door that was blissfully quiet. It was all the soft murmurs of the couple downstairs preparing breakfast and the sound of birds chirping through the open windows.
Then the door opened a sliver and the two of them hurried downstairs and away from the noise.
It was hard to find a place to discuss plans, so they chose the bathroom on the lower floor that was out of the shadow’s sight for a moment.
“Awesome place”, Aspen joked dryly. It was a very cramped second bathroom with a shower that looked unused. It probably worked as a guest toilet most of the time, so it was clean at least, and the sound from outside didn’t travel in as loudly.
Author’s Note
I like writing Aspen as being sticky. His Love Language is sticking to you and getting cuddles and pats.
Thx for the chapter😊
Aspen getting pats from River while he snuggles is so adorable.
Too much sweetness for my heart to handle
sticky aspen is adorable and precious and i love him 🥺
Placing my bets now, they’re gonna kill one or both of the parents and make it look like an accident so the kids can finally break free. They don’t seem to have any intention at the moment to run away from home.
Also I feel like that bath scene none of them felt comfortable watching is going to be important.
Thanks for the chapter! ^^
Well, i also like it when you describe aspen as “sticky”. XD
Thanks for this chapter!