Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I don’t like this idea”

“Quit complaining! We need to improve our friend situation. Don’t you guys wanna build stronger bonds?”

The small amount of patience Dusty had was wearing thin. “I’d rather put my foot in a blender and tap dance for elementary school kids than participate in this mess.”

You were currently trying your hardest to do something fun and different for the holidays. For the last two years that you’ve known the skeletons, they have displayed the perfect examples of the ‘hate-tolerate’ dynamic that you only believed existed on tv. You knew this idea was horrible, but you had to stick to your guns.

"C'mon you guys. I thought we were all besties."

You never knew that a room with all the guys could get this quiet. The fact that Blue didn't even respond made a little piece of your soul die. There is no way they should all be this mean.

“Look, we are doing our holiday friend dates and you are gonna like it.” You quickly grabbed the hat that all the names it. The idea was to pull and match two names at random, and the names that matched had to go on a friend date. A simple concept that you believed could not be messed up in any way.

It took a lot of effort to even convince some of the guys to participate Axe   however, you did get a lot of support for the idea from Saejun and Blue. Saejun seemed thrilled about the entire idea. Whether or not it was because he might get to corner Axe, will remain a mystery in the back of your mind. Honestly the more you thought about it, the more you felt like you didn’t need to know.

“Alrighty everyone, time to get on with it!” You pulled the first two names and already knew this would be a disaster.

“So, we have Ink and Dusty…. Ink will oversee the date activities.”

It felt like you were struggling to breathe. If looks could kill, Dusty would have you minced.

Ink’s eyelights lit up. He knew Dusty was a miserable twat, so there was no one better suited for this job but him. He already had a million and one ideas that are ‘miserable bitch’ proof. “Alright! That doesn’t sound too bad. This should be a lot of fun. Just make sure someone checks on me every 30 minutes”

Sans tilted his head “why?”

“To make sure I am still alive and not buried in the Wendy’s parking lot.”

“Understandable.”

You quickly decided to move on to leave no room for Dusty to complain.

“You know what, I’m just gonna read out the rest of the pairs. Just for the interest of time. So, we have Stretch and Blue, Axe and Edge, Sans and Trap, Pilsu and Red, Paps and Error and finally, me and Saejun.”

You could hear a pin drop in this type of silence. Without magic, you could feel the displeasure in the air. You could only imagine what it is like for the rest of them. However, in this moment, you had to ignore that and see the bigger picture. Getting to say ‘I told you so’ to them after they see how much fun they had with each other.

They needed this. Their lack of social skills, looking at you Dusty, and it is going to be a problem for them in the future. You can’t help but think these young adults are in their twenties acting like they’re 45 and married with a retirement fund. Hell, at this point Edge might be a cat mom by the end of next year. Blue and Paps aren’t as bad but damn, they can’t be the only ones.

Sans was the first one to break the silence. “M’fine with that. Trap, you can be in charge of our outing. Just let me know the time and place.” And just like that he teleported out. You could tell that Sans would be upset with you for a while. I guess you can forget about your plans with him to tip Saejun’s cows in secret later.

Everyone began to leave. Some mumbled about throwing you over a bridge, while others started to make their plans.

Saejun stayed behind to start planning his date with you and pray that you make this out alive.

You bowed your head to pray that Axe doesn’t catch you lacking and puts you in a neck brace.

Chapter Text

“C’mon!!! If you don’t quit draggin’ your feet, we aren’t gonna make it in time.” Ink was way too eager for this date. It took everything in Dusty to not hunt you down and pepper spray you. He would prefer to hit you, but Saejun wouldn’t approve of that. In all honesty he wouldn’t approve the pepper spray either but at least you wouldn’t be physically disabled. 

The rainbow artist was sitting in his car, music blasting, waiting on Dusty to hurry up and get in. Reluctantly, he sat in the passenger's seat and before he could even close the door, the strong smell of fun grass slammed his nostrils.

Of course, Ink smokes. He probably took a hit before he came to get his date mate.

“Alright, don’t get too comfy. We’ll be at our destination in a jiffy.” Ink strapped himself in with two seat belts and put on a pink motorcycle helmet that was decorated with Sailor Moon stickers.

His murderous companion was confused at first however, he brushed this off as Ink just being…Ink. Dusty didn’t care to wear seat belts. He found it unnecessary for himself.

When the car finally backed out of the original parking space, it did so at a far too rapid speed. The shaky jolt snapped Dusty out of his thoughts. He started to notice that the car speed kept increasing in such a short period of time. He peered over to check the speedometer, only to see that the meter was already at 65. 

Since he arrived in this world, he felt he needed to take no precaution when it came to most things. After all, he is one of the strongest and most durable monsters around.

Today was the first time Dusty decided he needed a seat belt.

He looked out the window and saw that the speed limit for this area was 45. The Lv ridden monster isn’t the type to point out ‘laws’ and ‘rules’ but, there is a first time for everything.

“Hey, idiot. The speed limit is 45.”

Ink simply rolled his eye lights and scoffed. “If I recall correctly, I'm the one with a driver’s license. You're just a little tense from getting the once in a lifetime opportunity to hang out with me. Here, listen to this. It'll help you loosen up.”

I pick all my skirts to be a little too sexy

Just like all my thoughts, they always get a bit naughty

When I'm out with my girls, I always play a bit bitchy

Can't change the way I am, sexy, naughty, bitchy me

Ink was getting lit to the music, while Dusty began to grab on to the seats for dear life. 

The car was now whipping around random corners that the driver classified as ‘shortcuts and going through one-way roads.

By the time they got on the highway, Dusty’s nerves were shot.

He isn’t the best driver; he has no shame in admitting it.

But this was a whole new level.

They were currently on the highway and the speedometer was clocking 90. Dusty couldn't find the strength to peel his focus away from the ever-increasing speed of the car. He's been on plenty of car rides with the others, and if his memory isn't failing him; none of them have gone this fast. Not even Red.

“Damn, I missed the exit. If I keep going, that'll add too much time.”

The car’s speed began to fall. The terrified passenger tried to steady his nerves. He hoped that the colorful fool had come to his senses.

The peace was short lived as Ink began to full speed reverse on the highway.

There was a truck heading towards them, and Ink showed no sign of slowing down.

Dusty couldn’t look away from the truck that threatened to slam into the back of them.

This is what it feels like.

Dread. 

He always wondered and considered all of the possibilities of how he would be taken out.

Inks driving abilities, or lack thereof, was not what he imagined.

‘

I should’ve told trap that he cooks better than his brother. I wonder if Error knows he has the best taste in movies.’

A lot of thoughts and memories began to run through his mind.

Stealing bagels from Sans.

Sleeping under your bed to scare you whenever you woke up.

Laughing at Dream getting jumped.

He just remembered he forgot to turn the tv off in his room.

The montage of his life came to a screeching halt as Ink took a sharp right to get off on the original exit ramp.

By the time the two arrived at their destination, Dusty’s eye lights were rolled to the top of his sockets. He saw death and contemplated life all in one go. He now knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, he even created a bucket list in those few short seconds.

“We’re here~ I knew I could turn a 30-minute drive into 10 minutes!”

Dusty was using every bit of his strength trying not to pass out. He just couldn’t believe what he was hearing. That didn’t feel like 10 minutes at all to the skeleton. He slowly looked over into the cup holder to see that Ink’s license was there.

He slowly reached out for it and picked it up.

“Ink, what the fuck is this?”

“huh, what do you mean?”

The ‘license’ Dusty was holding was a colorful piece of paper with a headshot of Ink taped to it and full of random anime stickers. It was signed and stamped by…. Ink.

“Oh! You mean my license. It’s pretty cool isn’t it. I made it myself! It looks better than all the other licenses out there huh.”

‘Ink is immortal, choking him will be fine. I should be able to get away with at least that'

Dusty was unwillingly dragged out of the vehicle and dragged into a line of other people. It wasn’t until they got through security did Dusty realize where they were.

It was a local rock concert. The roster was composed of many bands and singers that were from around the area. There were a few familiar faces, some of which Dusty did like.

He eyed his alter up and down. “I didn't know you liked this genre of music.”

Ink grinned slyly at him, “There is a lot you don’t know about me.”

The two took front row seats and enjoyed the show. Dusty even began to record names of new bands that he liked. He wanted to be able to look up the rest of their songs later. 

There were so many good performances. A few of them lacked stage presence but they would be better with time. 

The two skeletons discussed their favorite rock artists and to their surprise, they seem to share a lot of favorites.  

The date ended with the two going to a local arcade and having a few drinks. Dusty won every single game they competed in and even set the highest scores on all the machines.

Eventually they ended up outside enjoying the cool nighttime breeze. 

Dusty was reminiscing on the day he just had. He enjoyed himself a lot more than he will ever admit to the others. He came to a different realization about Ink and himself. 

“Hey, Ink…”

 “Yeah?” 

Here it is. The moment ink was waiting for all day. He knew by the end of their date; the maniac of a skeleton would be begging to hang out with him again. He has always felt that most of his alters were just socially awkward and could use some of his energy. Especially the one standing across from him.

“Y’know, I just realized we can teleport.”

“Huh?”

“We can teleport. Why in the world did you decide to drive me there?”

10 minutes. 

They stared at each other for 10 minutes without breaking eye contact.

Dusty wants to break dance on your lungs.