The explanation for Error's fear of Song and returning to Songtale. Also an excuse to take a short break from my UTxKH crossover fic.

———

"oH, sHaRdS. i'M oUt oF nEeDLeS, bUtToNs, AɴD cHoCoLaTe."

'But... what AUs might have a crafts supply store? I can't go to Reapertale again, Geno is still angry with me after last time, and I, despite who I'm forced to be, don't want to hurt him. So... hmmm. Maybe that AU hub, Songtale? It's a surface AU, one of the only ones, so there should be shops. And if I don't use my magic, Ink might not be able to find me,' thought Error.

"yEaH, i'LL sEe iF tHeY hAvE iT tHeRe."

Error ripped open a portal to Songtale, and went straight through. He found himself in an dark alleyway, and he could hear a very chill, but still catchy beat in the background.

"hUh. tHe mUsiC iS a lOt mOrE pRoMiNeNt hErE... mAyBe tHaT's wHy iT's cAlLeD SoNgTaLe... i'M aN iDiOt," he said, laughing quietly at his own stupidity.

He meandered quietly out of the alley, hood covering his face. He didn't know if Ink had told this AU about him, but he didn't want to take any chances.

A skeleton a few inches shorter than himself ran into him as he walked down the street, causing both of them to nearly fall.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you, Error," said the other in a feminine voice.

"sHaRds," muttered Error.

"Do you mind coming with me for a second, bud?"

"ᴜGh... ғiNe. i'D pReFeR tO aVoɪD cAuSiNg a sCeNe."

"Follow me, I know a shortcut."

She grabbed his sleeve and teleported to what seemed to be the average Sans' secret lab.

"Oғ cOuRsE yA tAkE mE tO tHe lAb. LeMmE gUeSs, nOw yOu'Re gOiNg tO cAʟL InKy."

"No, why would I? You haven't done anything wrong while you've been here, have you...?"

"EʀMmᴍ... nO?"

"Good. I was mostly just curious as to why you, of all people, came to our peaceful AU. Normally Dream, and the occasional member of Nightmare's gang on a supply run, are the only outcodes that visit."

"Oʜ. I wᴀs iɴ nᴇEd oF mOrE sTuFf fOr mY sEwɪNg. I rAn oUt oF nEeDʟEs aɴd bᴜTᴛoɴs, aS wEʟL aS sOmE oThEr tHiNgS, aNd GeNo tHrEaTeNeD tO sEt RᴇAᴘEʀ-CʜAʀA oN mE iF I gO bAcK tO ReApErTaLe aɢaiɴ. RᴇAᴘEʀ-CʜAʀA iS oNe oF tHe fEw tHaT cAn gEt iNtO mY hOmE, sO tHaT wOuLd bE rEaLʟY aNNoYiNg, hEh. i'M aLsO lOoKiNg ғoʀ sOmE gOoD cHoCoLaTe, InK kEePs mAkɪNg cHoCoLaTe-lEsS UnDeRfEʟL cOᴘiEs, aNd I rEʟy oN UnDeRfEʟL aS mY sOuRcE oF cHoCoLaTe."

"Of all the things you came here to get, buttons, needles, and chocolate are your priorities? Haha! Just imagine, 'Oh, Ink, your mortal enemy, Error, is here in Songtale trying to steal all of our chocolate!'"

"ɢOoD pOiNt. I LiKe cHoCoLaTe. iT's tAsTy."

"Ah, Error. You gave me a good laugh there. Now, what do you think about me showing you around here? I promise, you will not be attacked by any of the people here- well, unless you do something stupid."

"oKaY..."

'This girl is scary... I could probably utterly destroy her if we fought, but she still scares me,' Error thought.

"Don't worry, bud. I don't bite."

"...i'M nOt sCaReD oF yOu, hEh."

"Whatever, just come with me already. We're going to go check in on with my brother Rhythm before we go shopping though. He's a good person, you'll like him. He might even come with us."

"ᴀS lOnG aS hE dOeSn'T tOuCh mE, iT'ʟL bE FɪNe," grumbled Error, resigned to put up with the scary fem!sans for as long as it took for him to get what he needed. Then he was noping the heck out of this AU, away from her.

---

"Oh, hello sister! Who is this that you've brought with you? Did you finally find yourself a datefriend?"

The speaker was a tall, cheerful-looking skeleton, holding a very kawaii headset, complete with a microphone and small decorative kitty ears.

"NO!" Song yelled, embarrassed by her shipper of a brother.

"Well, that's a pity. Undyne and Alphys need someone else to ship you with besides Grillby, heh. They're planning on writing fanfics about you and Grillbs."

"Ughhhhh... I am going to have to talk to those two about writing fanfic about real people again, aren't I..." Song sighed, exasperated.

"Yeah, probably! Now, if this isn't your datefriend, then who are you, mysterious stranger?"

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you, didn't I? Error, this is my lil bro Rhythm. Rhythm, this is Error. He's from out of town, so I'm helping him find what he needs."

"Sis, you need to make sure that you take him to the karaoke place later! I'll be singing there tonight!"

"I dOn'T tHiNk i'Lʟ hAvE tɪMe," said Error.

"Please...?" Rhythm begged, giving him that face that nobody could say no to.

"FɪNᴇ! ᴊUsT pLeAsE, sToP wɪTh tHe fAcE!"

"Yay! Maybe you can sing too!"

"i'D pReFeR tO nOt sɪNg..."

"Eh, maybe next time," said Song. "Now c'mon, you wanted to go to the crafts supplies store, I'll show you where it is."

Around two hours later...

"Come on, Error! We'll be late!

"ɪ hAvE tHiNgS i nEeD tO bE dOiNg! i hAvE tO gO!"

"Error, you told my brother you would come see him preform. So you will, ｕｎｌｅｓｓ ｙｏｕ ｗａｎｔ ｔｏ ｈａｖｅ ａ ｂａｄ ｔｉｍｅ. . ."

"hEh... i'Ve hEaRd tHaT tHrEaT sO mAnY tImEs..." Error looked almost said, but also in pain.

"Error, are you okay?"

"nO. i'M nEvEr oKaY. tHaNkS fOr aSkInG tHoUgH."

"Ugh... Error, what is going on?! Why do you suddenly have to go? I don't want to disappoint my little brother," said Song.

"InKy dEaReSt iS gEtTiNg oUt oF cOnTrOl aNd i dOn'T wAnT aNy mOrE pEoPʟE tHaN nEcEsSaRy tO dɪe. iF i dOn'T gO nOw, tHeN InK'lL tɪp tHe BaLaNcE ᴀ bɪt tOo fAr, aNd tHeRe mɪGhT bE uNnEcEsSaRy cAsUtɪEs."

"You know what, Error? Come back and explain this to me later, when you have time. I'll explain to Rhythm that you had an emergency that needed to be taken care of immediately and couldn't stay. Oh, and you owe me a song, heh."

"wHaT?!" Error screeched, already opening a portal.

"You have to sing me and Rhythm a song next time you visit!"

"uGʜ. mY sɪNgɪNg sKiLʟS aRe nOnExIsTeNt, jUsT sO yOu kNoW."

"It's fine. As long as you try your- Welp, he's gone."

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* This is why Error was scared to visit Songtale.
* Kinda silly, isn't it?