This was a terrible idea.

There was no simpler way to put it. In short, this was an awful, terrible idea.

Why on Earth were you doing this? There were no positive outcomes for your actions, so why were you choosing to carry them out?

You shivered, the cold of the night getting to you, snapping you out of your thoughts. The breeze rustled your fluffy cardigan, causing it to flap gently behind you. You looked down at the items in your gloved hands, taking a deep breath.

You held a wide, thin strip of Foamglas, a small blowtorch, some pliers, and a knife.

You cast a hesitant glance towards the kitchen appliance in your grasp, the sharp object sending a slight chill down your spine. Such weapons were frightening, even when they were under your control.

You walked slowly down the stairs from your room, having just grabbed the pliers from a cabinet in your dresser, your knees weak and shaky. You had no previous experience doing something like this, but there was no room for mistakes. You had to execute it perfectly.

Your footsteps sounded softly as you descended down the stairwell, only adding to the eerie tension of the surrounding atmosphere. Aside from the faint scuffling of your feet, all was quiet.

Once you made your way back down to ground floor, you took a left turn, steering into a hallway.

The floor creaked and groaned as you crossed over it, making unusual sounds, complimenting the harrowing ambiance. Shadows danced about as you passed, the dim lighting causing them to take on the appearance of distorted monsters, the night playing tricks on your eyes.

After crossing the long hallway, in front of you stood a door. Gently clasping the brass handle and turning the knob, you took a deep breath, before lightly pushing the door open and stepping inside.

The first thing you noticed was the silence.

A hush had overtaken the interior of the room, which was usually bursting with the noises of a certain guest. A pale blue light shined dimly through the windows, the result of the partly obscured orb of the night sky, casting the room and all that was inside with a similar hue.

In the far corner, nearest to the window, rested a single bed, where an injured skeleton quietly slept. You stood at the bedside rail, beginning to tremble, slight nervousness slowly making its way through your body. You shuddered, your hands starting to shake, especially the one that held the knife.

Alas, as risky as this was, it had to be done.

Gently, you grabbed the right arm of the unconscious male, being the closest. Turning his arm palms up, you glanced at the purple restraints, of which had most likely saved your life when he first arrived. The thought only reminded you of how dangerous this was. Still, you didn't let it dissuade you from your mission, shaking your head to clear your thoughts before refocusing.

You slipped the strip of Foamglas under the cuffs, using it to separate his arm from the restraint, before setting your pliers on the bed beside him. Turning your attention to the knife, you took a shaky breath before firing up the small blowtorch, bringing it close to the kitchen appliance.

Fire was a funny sort of thing. You took note of this whilst heating up the blade of the knife, looking deeply into the blue flames. Fire seemed to dance about, not having any specific rules to the way it moved, going as it pleased. It was fast, and could flicker from a small blaze to a bonfire in mere moments, and seemed to prefer certain materials more than others.

Like metal.

Slowly, the knife began to heat up, turning a light shade of red. You were careful, paying close attention to the coloration of the blade, not wanting to heat it up too much.

You didn't want to accidentally burn the skeleton, now did you?

No, no you did not. Thus the reason why you swiftly turned the blowtorch off before the knife could grow red hot, setting the heating device aside. Glancing back down at the resting male below you, you shuddered, not wanting to think of what could happen to him if things went wrong.

As you slowly and cautiously brought the warm knife down on the cuffs, you thought back to your previous comment about fire. The trickly little thing was incredible picky, was it not?

For things it liked, such as metal, it would quickly heat up. The fire would transfer its warmth though said material, and would usually take quite a while to cool down.

However,

For materials it did not like, the flames wouldn't react as quickly. Instead of passing through them in an instance, it would hold back, slowly and gradually heating it up.

This was the case for Foamglas.

As your knife quickly weakened the matter that constituted the restraints, the Foamglas did a wonderful job at preventing the heat from passing through, sparing the unconscious skeleton from being burned. At the sight of the deteriorating cuffs, you reached for your pliers, pinching on the most insubstantial of points before tugging at it.

Surprisingly, this snapped off a large piece of the cuffs, which allowed you to remove the restraint in its entirety.

You looked down at the resting skeleton, shuddering to yourself, knowing full and well how powerful he was when it came to magic, even if he only had a fourth of it. This could've been a fatal move on your part, and was extremely risky.

What were to stop him from making an end of you now?

Well, it seems you were just going to have to trust him. To trust in the fact that he wouldn't hurt you. You couldn't keep him under lockdown forever anyways, it was going to have to come off at some point. No one should have to live in shackles for the rest of their lives.

You sighed softly, regathering you things, before exiting the room.

* * *

Something changed.

He felt it in his bones as soon as he woke.

Error slowly sat up, groggily rubbing his eyesockets, groaning quietly. The first rays of sunlight were beginning to peek out from behind the cotton-candy colored clouds, the warm beams of light shining brightly through the windows and into his eyelights. Birds chirped joyous songs as a slight wind blew outside, rustling the green grass speckled with fresh dew.

Mornings were not his favorite.

The glitched skeleton sighed softly, stretching and yawning, shaking off the remaining fogginess that clouded his mind after sleeping. He instantly felt a surge of energy, as if some burden had been lifted, causing him to get up at once. Grabbing his crutches, the male swiftly walked out of the room, heading towards the bathroom to prepare himself for the day.

* * *

All throughout the day, the skeleton felt . . . better. It was hard to put into words just exactly what he was feeling, but it was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.  He felt stronger, finding it easier to use his crutches, his arms taking longer to tire out. He felt more energetic, bringing a stronger sense of livelihood to the house, the building seeming to hum with vigor. And for once, he actually sat down and ate on the sofa, instead of slowly picking at his food throughout the course of the day. It still wasn't eating at the table, as was the intended purpose of the furniture, but close enough.

That was a green flag, as opposed to a red one, a clear indicator that the destroyer was in a good mood today. You smiled softly to yourself, placing a plate of steamy cinnamon rolls on the coffee table, fresh out of the oven and drizzled with frosting. They emitted a  pleasantly sweet, yet slighty bitter aroma, of which wafted out of the kitchen and into the living room. The skeleton grinned slightly, cutting off a roll or two and munching on them.

Your smile widened at the sight, causing you to sit down beside him, leaving about a foot in distance, patiently waiting for him to finish.  You glanced to the side, gazing out the window and looking outward at the tranquility of nature, your eyes landing on a Blue Jay.

The bird was a sky blue in coloration, some of its lighter feathers seeming cyan, with blots of white speckling its tail feathers. The bird was singing a happy tune, sitting in its nest, warming up after a cold night.

The sound of rushing water returned your attention to the glitched skeleton, who stood in the kitchen, washing his hands. Before you knew it, he was back on the couch, humming under his breath. You sent him a small grin, observing his mood with curiosity.

"Someone woke up on the right side of the bed today, huh?" You inquired, leaning subtly in Error's direction.

The skeleton nodded, looking around the house, letting his eyelights wander.

"YeP. I fEeL prEtTy goOd tOdaY, bUt I dOn'T kNow wHy." He responded, the corners of his mouth beginning to curve upwards.

You tilted your head.

"That's good! Any particular reason why?" You asked, curious as to why he was so positive today. Perhaps if you knew why, you could make him happier more often.

The skeleton huffed, glancing to the side, crossing his arms. You could've sworn his cheekbones were a light shade of blue as he spoke.

"PsShh. WHy dO yOu cAre?"

It was your turn to shrug, sheepishly looking away.

"Well, I'm just curious. Not often that I  see you smile, you know? Just wondering what's got you in such a good mood, that's all." You spoke, your voice trailing off towards the end. Error seemed to accept this answer, relaxing.

The male shrugged, resting his skull against the back cushions of the couch, staring up at the ceiling in thought.

"I doN't kNoW. iT's hARd tO eXPlAin, bUt I jUst fEeL . . . LiGHter, iN a wAy."

You nodded, nonverbally telling him to go on, to which he complied.

"WeLl, iT fEeLs lIkE a weIgHt wAs lIfTed. I dIDn't tHiNk anYthiNG wAs weIgHIng mE dOwN iN tHe fIrSt PLaCe, bUt NoW, I fEel . . . FrEe."

He sighed, looking down at his arms. More primarily, his wrists.

"WeLl, aS fREe aS aNyoNe cOuLd bE whEn tHey'rE iN cHaiNs." He muttered out of spite, barely audible.

As he was looking down, however, his face soon twisted into one of confusion. He blinked, rubbing his eyesockets before looking intently at his arms yet again, studying his wrists.

His gaze soon darted up to you, his confusion increasing, appearing extremely puzzled. He held up his right arm, showing it to you.

"It'S gOne. OnE oF tHe resTraINts aRe GOne. I Used tO hAvE oNe riGhT hErE! WhAt hAppEnEd?" He interrogated, his tone demanding answers.

Now, the human body is a complicated thing. It has many ways of communicating, and although it tends to lean towards verbal communication, it is also perfectly capable of sending a message without uttering a single word. In this case, all it took was a shy smile for Error to  understand.

His face fell in an instance, seeming almost emotionless, only depicting shock. He leaned back in his seat, eyelights locked on you, not looking away for a moment.

"Y . . . YOu diD tHiS, dIDn't yOu . . ?" He asked quietly, his voice hushed in disbelief.

You nodded slowly, studying the facial expression of the skeleton, trying to gauge what he was feeling.

"Yeah, I did it. I'm sorry I couldn't take off the other ones, I'll get those later, but your 25% free, at the moment." You explained.

The skeleton stared down at his hands, royal blue string erupting out of his fingertips, while he stared in bewilderment. Your eyes widened as the string started slinking in your direction, moving directly towards you. You shuddered, scooting away from it, though to no avail. You flinched, closing your eyes, expecting your final moments, though it never came.

Out of seemingly nowhere, you felt something soft pressing up against your skin, causing you to open your eyes. There, you saw the string gingerly wrapped around your fingers, holding onto you.

The destroyer glanced away, before lighty tugging on the string, bring your hand closer to his. He barely left any space, almost touching, though not quite. The close proximity had an effect on the both of you, causing your face to burn up while he shuddered.

"A whIlE agO, I heArd tHat huMaNs sOmEtImEs hOld hAnDs tO sHow aPpreCiAtIon. ThIs iS aS cLOse aS yOu'rE gOnNa gEt, yOu iDioT. WhaT i'M trYiNg tO sAy iS. . ."

He huffed, shaking his skull, his the glitches surrounding his body multiplying. He stared at the intently at the floor, fidgeting slightly, his face turning a deep shade of blue.

". . . ThAnK yoU."

You nodded in response, not trusting your own mouth, knowing you'd stutter.

"HeY y/N?"

"Y-yes?"

"CaN tHis bE oUr sPecIal wAy oF hOldinG haNds?"

"Of c-course."

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What's up, lovely readers? How've you been? :3

I apologize for the lack of updates recently, covid has been a little hectic for us all, it's been eating up a bunch of my time. It was so nice to finally write again, I missed this. I'm gonna start updating more, however, because it's December! Christmas gives me some wonderful excuses to write some fluff so ÒwÓ

Anyways, shoutouts!

ILoveWeirdness2 - My goodness, guys, this person's books are just *chef kiss* beautiful. They also have a fanfic about our favorite glitchy skele, if ya know what I mean ;3 Check them out!

TheLostLegend06 -This dude is great, he's a fun guy to be around, and I'm totally in love with his story 'Ordertale.' If you want a good read, this is your guy!

@ You - You're amazing! Thank you so much for being here, you spectacular person, and I'm really grateful for all of you. Couldn't ask for a better group of supporters, I love you all <3

Have an amazing day/night!