Crooked Amare {Crooks x Reader}

The Mall: Part 2

~Horror's POV~

I glanced behind me as Aliza tugged me along, seeing my younger brother completely freeze up as (Y/N) talked. I was still pretty pissed off he had a thing for them...and that they would be alone...don't get me wrong, they're an okay person. I like them a lot actually. But the idea of my little brother, of Papyrus, in a romantic relationship? Him kissing someone? Anything sexual was out of the question, but...it was just weird to think about. I glanced over to Aliza and Ren, who were talking and holding hands happily. Ren was (Y/N)'s little brother...so they might understand..? It was just odd, seeing as...oh, never mind.

"Sans? Are you okay?" Aliza asked, her voice a bit nervous. She had every reason to not trust me, to hate my guts. I hurt her so many times...and she remembered. She remembered every death Papyrus and I had given her, and she was still so... "Yeah, jus' thinkin', kiddo. Ya okay yerself?" She smiled and nodded, her hand slipping from my jacket to my hand, taking it softly. I looked at her confused- why was she holding my hand? "What're ya doin'..?" "I wanted to hold hands! Makes me feel safe!" Safe? With me? I mentally shrugged it off and nodded, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

We kept walking for a bit, passing by a crafts store when I heard a very, very familiar voice. "Do yOu hAvE AnY Of tHaT ReAlLy tHiCk aNd fLuFfY YaRn? ThE SoFt kInDs?" I stopped in my tracks, Aliza and Ren forced to stop too. Aliza turned to me, concerned. "Sans? What's wrong?" The clerk shook their head and said there was a store dedicated to sewing and the like. When they went to point, I locked eyes with him. Error. He let the clerk finish and thanked them, walking out of the store with his hands in his pockets. The fucken hobo. He glared at me, standing about three feet away.

"WeLl lOoK WhAt tHe cAt dRaGgEd iN. mIsTeR "tOo bUsY In hIs uNiVeRsE." ThEsE YoUr lItTlE FlEsHbAgS?" I growled and pulled Aliza closer, holding her against my side. "Tha fuck are ya doin' here, Windows Vista? Yer software out of date or somethin'?" He scoffed, smirking like the bastard he was. "I CaMe hErE WiTh tHe rEsT Of uS. wE WeRe gOiNg tO DrOp iN As a pLeAsAnT SuRpRiSe, BuT It sEeMs yOu dEcIdEd tO CoMe tO Us. HiS RoYaL OcToPuS AnD ThE ReSt oF YoU DiSgUsTiNg oUtCoDeS ArE At tHe bOoKsToRe." The bookstore? That's towards the beginning of the mall...shit, I hope Papyrus and (Y/N) didn't run into them.

"Well? Ya gonna piss off now?" He laughed, chuckling quietly before starting to laugh insanely, his eye lights shrinking down as he burst out in that gross glitched voice. He wiped a fake tear from his eye, smiling. "HaHaHaH...YoU'Re pReTtY FuNnY FoR A WaStE Of cOdE. nO, nO. i tHiNk i'd rAtHeR TeLl gOoPy tHaT YoU'Re hErE WiTh yOuR LiTtLe hUmAnS AnD...PrEsUmAbLy yOuR BrOtHeR? oH ThAt'lL Be gReAt! I'M SuRe nIgHtMaRe wOuLd jUsT LoVe tO GeT HiS FeElErS On hIm." I growled and tried to grab his shirt, but he teleported back a foot or two.

"WoAh, SoMeOnE'S ToUcHy. YoU DoN'T LiKe tHaT ToO MuCh, Do yOu?" "Ya better keep yer dirty fucken hands away from Papyrus!" Error laughed again, turning on his heel...away from the bookstore? "We'lL SeE~," he said, walking off. I quickly pulled Aliza along back towards the bookstore. I just needed to make sure Papyrus was okay. They wouldn't hurt him...would they? Did I really matter that much to the Boss..? "S-Sans!" I stopped, looking back at Aliza with a glare. "What!?" She flinched and went quiet, mumbling a 'never mind' as I continued on. I wasn't letting her whining get Papyrus hurt.

~(Y/N)'s POV~

Cross smiled, going to respond, but was interrupted by the black goopy...skeleton...thing? "Do you know this human, Cross?" Based on the deep voice, I immediately assumed him to be male, though what kind of monster he was is still pretty damn confusing- "Yeah, I ran into them a little bit ago over by the manga- they're friends with Horror and Crooks." I cocked my head. Horror and Crooks? Those...I don't know those people? That doesn't even sound remotely familiar. "Um, no I don't..?" Cross made a soft 'oh' with his mouth, smiling nervously. "Those are the nicknames we gave to Sans and Papyrus. Sorry for confusing you." "Oh- Nah, its cool!"

"Well then...(Y/N) is your name?" I nodded and smiled, holding my hand out. "Yep, (Y/N) (L/N). I'm friends with the boneheads." The other new guy- a skeleton with black tears and empty eyes- snorted and smiled. "I like this one, Boss." He took my hand, it being surprisingly cold. "I'm Nightmare, it's...a pleasure to meet you." The new one beside him took my other hand and shook it enthusiastically. "I'm Killer!" "Nice to meet you!" Papyrus smiled, putting his large hand on my head and softly rubbing in circles. "WE SHOULD BE OFF, THOUGH. WE NEED TO GET (Y/N) SOME BOOKS AND THEN SOME CLOTHING!"

The hooded skeleton from before, Dust if I remember, just scoffed. "You can't trust humans, Papyrus...they're all evil murderers with no moral compass..." My smile fell into a confused look. Cross touched his shoulder softly. "Dude, relax. If Horror's okay with them, it's fine." Dust sighed and said nothing else, which left me really, really uncomfortable. I glanced up at Papyrus, who seemed troubled. "BESIDES, I...I LIKE THIS HUMAN. THEY ARE VERY N-NICE!" I smiled up at him, which seemed to catch his gaze. His cheeks turned light red and he smiled, "Nyeh"-ing quietly.

"...whatever." This Dust was setting off all the warning signs in my head, so many damn red flags. I backed up a step, all sockets falling on me. "I-I should get going...um...g-got things to do-" "Papyrus!" Papyrus and I turned around, seeing a very very pissed off Sans with Aliza and Ren barely keeping up. He grabbed Papyrus's arm and tugged him back, glaring at the group of skeletons. "What tha fuck are ya doin' here?!" Nightmare raised his eyebrow, frowning. "I could ask you the same thing, Horror. What are you doing here?" "It's my fucking home!" Nightmare sighed and put his hands up in mock surrender.

"Ya can't jus' come here an' try an take Papyrus ta make me come back!" "Take Papyr- Why on Earth would I do that?" Nightmare sounded and looked genuinely confused. "Error said ya-" "Since when does that outdated adding machine ever said anything true, big fella?" Killer said, smiling still. It was almost unsettling. Dust's hand finally left his pocket as he grabbed Sans's arm. "Come on...let's just go home, Horror." Sans pulled it back, but his glare had fallen. "Dust, jus' chill. 'M tryna spend time with my brother." "Really now? It seems your brother was spending time with his human friend- (Y/N)."

Sans turned to glare at me before going back to glaring at Nightmare. "They ain't a fucken threat, too damn stupid ta do anythin'." "Stupid? You're kidding, right?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Oh fuck off, (Y/N)! Go do somethin' fucken useful for once." I opened my mouth to protest but shut it and left the manga on top of the other books, leaving just like that. I wasn't about to let him treat me like that for no goddamn reason. He's been moody all day, and it was really starting to piss me off. Two pairs of rapid footsteps approached from behind.

"Hey- (Y/N)!" "Sib, wait up!" I stopped and waited for the teenagers, who seemed downright scared. "What..?" "You- Why did you just leave..?" Aliza asked, looking up at me, confused. I shrugged, sighing. "I don't really like being insulted to the face." She sighed and held her arms. "Come on, let's go get shitty mall pretzels or something." Ren smiled and held his hand to Aliza, who took it almost instantly. Before I could even talk, Ren told me to shut up. "Aw man-" Aliza giggled and we started walking away from the bookstore. I swear, skeletons sure are fucking weird...

Date: 8/1/23 03:04

Word Count: 1361