thesufferingcontinues:

Stretch and Blue are orphans, their father Gaster having
recently passed and Papyrus, being the older brother, needs to take care of his
younger brother on the streets of the Capital. Note Papyrus is only a few years
older than Sans, and they are between 6 and 9 years old. Likely they will not
remember their father; similar to common Undertale interpretation of Gaster
having been erased from time and space, including memories.

[[This is set in the Underground, but there is emphasis on
crowding, like in-game, and Underfell and Underswap monsters inhabit the place
and always have. There is no ‘ruling class,’ just happens to be that the most
recent line of ‘royals’ had UF Papyrus as their child. *Royals in this sense
are likely the most powerful monsters who claimed power and were able to
maintain power over the years. The Dreemurr line died out when their son Asriel
was killed; the Wingding line took over afterwards. Fell is currently the heir
to the throne, his father Gaster having recently disappeared.]

Meanwhile, the kingdom of monsters is currently ruled by a
young prince, the same age as Stretch. Now, the name Papyrus is a rather common
one for a skeleton, like the name John. The young prince uses a moniker like
all his predecessors did to distinguish himself from ‘the paupers’: he chooses
“Fell.” His brother is not in the picture and is not mentioned as of yet.

So, pretty much things are more or less fine for the
homeless duo; while there are bad monsters, most are good, and even with a mix
of Fell and Swap monsters inhabiting the city, the brothers do decently, and
Stretch doesn’t have to steal much to survive. Yet, on occasion, he himself is
pick-pocketed, or one of his multiple part-time jobs is unable to pay him on
time (for realistic, usually honest reasons). So sometimes, maybe once a month
(or something, certainly nothing notorious, just enough to make him feel a
little guilty), he has to resort to stealing a few pieces of fruit or some
plastic-wrapped food for himself and his brother that week.

One day, it is his bad luck to bump into the young royal as
he’s running from the guards; the first time he’s ever been caught thieving,
and he’s pumping with adrenaline, some fear, and a little excitement. It is a
pause-inducing moment – both stare at each other bewildered, like in a trance.
Then the moment is broken as a guard yells for Papyrus to stop, and he sprints
away, encounter largely forgotten except for his later realization and concern
that he knocked over the prince of monsterkind and is trying not to get caught
by the guard.

Cue back to the prince, who suddenly demands the guard find
this kid and bring him, unharmed, to the palace. He is so forceful and
demanding, out of nowhere, that while his attendants and guards try not to
assume, it is generally believed that he wishes to personally punish or execute
this kid for daring to knock over the prince. Fell gives zero reasons for his
sudden interest in the kid.

Papyrus of course gets away from the guard and rejoins his
brother. He hunkers down for a few days, like normal after stealing, and when
he ventures out again, expecting things to have quieted down…he sees himself on
a wanted poster. For a pretty good sum of gold. He panics, is confused, and
runs back to Sans immediately. Tells him they need to leave the city. Anybody
targeted by the prince, who has developed a reputation in his short year-long
rule of being a prickly, vindictive, spiteful child, is in for a bad time.

Papyrus is afraid he is to be personally punished or locked
away for having offended the young ruler, and gets his brother to leave with
him. First they move to Hotland, but Sans hates it there and the posters show
up after about half a year. Then they move to Waterfall, and things are much
better for a while, until again the posters show up and someone nearly
recognizes them after a few more years

Then, they move to Snowdin and effectively disappear from
the city-public eye.

Cue 17 years later.

Papyrus has taken on a nickname, Stretch, partially so as
not to associate himself too much with the prince, whom he still wonders about
and why he was so adamant about locating him. That is more of a childhood fear
now; he figures he’s been out in public and living his life peacefully for
enough years now that if anybody were to be looking for him, he’d have been
turned in by now. The old anxiety lingers, and it keeps him from really going
out for the engineering accolade he wanted, but regardless, he claims to be
satisfied working a dead-end bunch of jobs across Snowdin, Waterfall, and
Hotland. He even gets a gig working at a nightclub twice a week once Napstabot
becomes famous (it’s been say, 2 years since Napstabot rose the ranks of the
robot nightclub scene as a great DJ; Stretch is his sound mixer).

Sans wanted a cool nickname too, so he chose Blue, not
having much of an imagination for one, but liking it anyway. So Blue and
Stretch live a peaceful, happy, content life, even if Stretch wonders sometimes
about their childhood and how odd and potentially scary that encounter was.

Meanwhile the prince, Fell, has never forgotten the boy who bumped into him.

He didn’t intend to remember forever. At first he just
wanted to punish the kid who didn’t so much as offer an apology or beg for his
life at his feet. Of course when it turned out the kid had been a common thief,
having stolen small food supplies around the city twice or three times before,
Fell felt very justified in wanting to bring him in and exact punishment. He
had a lot of fun as a youth envisioning ways to use the other child as a
pincushion for attack practice.

When the boy was never found, he expected to simply lose
interest and find something else to occupy him. But his mind kept going back to
the other boy, his expression akin to awe when he gazed across the street at
him from where they landed after colliding. His lack of fear – fear of the
guard chasing him, but not of Fell,
the would be king who could kill him without a care.

Being surrounded by people who doted on him constantly and
ensured he never wanted for anything or was ever unhappy…Fell realized only
after years and years of contemplation as to what he saw that intrigued him in
the eyes of that boy.

While he stopped renewing the posters across the
underground, it became a downtime hobby of his to collect things to do to the
other if he should ever be caught. Fell justified his ‘collection’ as a hobby
he’d enact on the next poor soul to cross him on a bad day. Remarkably, the
equipment was never touched. It became almost an honored thing, reserved and
awaiting the one who deserved the
treatment to arrive. Various torture devices, humiliation items, etc. As his
own mind grew, he moved most to the storage rooms and tried them out in torture
chambers on prisoners and offenders; he was a child who bored easily, and so
the collection shifted and changed over the years.

When he was young, he might have fancied the boy as a
playmate; a pincushion at first, but when his anger fizzled out more quickly
than expected, he often fantasized of playing with the boy, wondering how the
other might behave or act. The other might be mischievous and they might tease
one another; he wondered, with staunchly hidden childhood intrigue, what
adventures they could get into. He spent his youth fantasizing over this boy,
wondering how he would look as he aged alongside Fell. His imaginary, would-be
real, friend.

And as he grew, his interests in the other boy grew as well.
In his teenage and young adult years, he had begin moving into the realm
of…more intimate fantasies. Visions between himself and the mystery youth which
no other partner could match. Fell knew he was creating an ideal match for
himself, and knew it was neither healthy nor realistic. Even if he did ever catch the other youth, he
surely would not be as pliable as Fell would want him, as he would be reciprocated
in his daydreams. In his visions, the mystery lad was enamored with him:
charming, mischievous, cocky, but always, always loyal and satisfied with his
life with Fell.

Slowly he combined his boyhood fantasies with his newly
discovered desires: the room he had set aside to store his torture devices was
cleared when he was in his early teenage years to become a bedroom, and there
he decorated it over time to suit his developing interests. Moving away from
pure pain-inducing devices, few torture tools remained except for simple
things, items to maintain control, or, to have fun with.

He moved aside old childhood toys and replaced them with an
array of collars, leashes, cages. Decorated the floor and walls to resemble closer
to a concubine’s hall than a playroom, with silks and expensive furniture
arranged ornately in the red and black space. And endless pile of pillows
included, of course, the room was large enough to comfortably suit ten adult
monsters, let alone the single child he originally intended to house there.

Fell felt his desires shift from wanting a toy to a
playmate, from playmate to companion, and finally to seeking a bedmate,
possibly. Moreso than that…Fell eventually decided what he wanted from the other,
the one who was so crafty to have defied him for almost two decades, was his
obedience.

Fell wanted a pet, and he had years to prepare for the
event. So when the day finally arrived…he was ready.

*******

It was an accident. But then, the first time they met had
been so as well.

Stretch was on his way home, taking the walk down to the
Riverperson’s boat. His brother had the ability to teleport, and usually picked
him up, but had been late arriving that day. So Stretch decided to take the
long route, wanting to enjoy the scenery and missing the ‘stars’ of Waterfall,
intending to detour through there. He left a note with the front desk of the
hotel where Sans would be sure to ask his whereabouts (“Stretch? Oh yeah, he
told me he was going to walk tonight since you were a little behind. He wanted
to have a bit of a walk to see ‘the stars.’), and headed out.

He never made it home.

Stretch arrived at the flowers and fell asleep in their
midst, knowing his brother would find him eventually and wake him up; he had
been up too late the night before, successfully chasing away a nightmare at the
cost of his sleep. Combined with a gig at the hotel that evening, it was a
recipe for a well-earned nap. At once happy he chose to exercise but also
frowning at his laziness for sleeping away in a patch of flowers, Blue would be
sure to wake him up when he arrived. He drifted off to a peaceful sleep with a
contented smile on his face, imagining his brother’s funny expression when he
tried to wake him up later.

Fell too had gone to the flowers that night. A rare chance
to be ‘lazy’ and ‘slack off’ from his duties as prince, he went when he was
particularly stressed at the castle or wanted to vent; wishing to the stars
didn’t appeal to him publically, but privately he always liked the view. It
reminded him of something deep in his childhood he couldn’t quite place (seeing
it with his brother Sans, whom he doesn’t remember). Publically he would also
go there to enjoy hearing the whispers of ‘pathetic’ people wishing for things.

And there, as if having appeared from one of the very wishes
he so frequently scoffed at other monsters making, he found the boy who evaded
him all those years ago sleeping peacefully in the flower patch.

Fell saw the color orange from a distance, and on a whim
investigated. He was so taken aback and startled, he just stared at him for a
bit, standing over the prone skeleton and observing how similar his own
imaginings were to the real thing.

He considers the possibility that it isn’t him, but….he looks
exactly like he expected him to. And skeleton monsters are so rare…and the same
color hoodie too…and so when Stretch does awaken, and finally reacts to seeing
Fell standing over him…Fell sees the exact
same expression come over his face. Curiosity, wonder, awe. Then, belated
panic.

And knows it is him.

Instantly red bones encase Stretch in an impromptu cage, who
cries out in shock and protest, demanding to be released. Fell is extremely
excited; chuckles openly, is immensely pleased with himself. Engages Stretch in
conversation very vaguely. Fell calls his royal attendants, informs them to
“hurry on over to the flower meadows, and bring a cage.” He’s found a
‘miscreant.’ Stretch can’t get out, and is grabbed by the backup when it
arrives, shoved into the steel-wall portable prison cell for transporting
prisoners.

When Blue arrives late, two hours later, all that remains
are a multitude of crushed echo flowers, and a single flower echoing a dark
chuckle: “I found you.”

 

Stretch is worried about the prince using his brother against
him, and so while he considers at first mentioning he should be set free to
take care of his younger brother, he doesn’t say anything about Blue, deciding
this prince is too dangerous and much more likely to use Blue against him. Or,
if Stretch realizes more quickly how possessive and obsessed with him Fell is,
Stretch might even fear that Fell would harm Blue for being a primary reason
Stretch ran away from the city.

He’s taken into the palace, and soon after is stripped and
scrubbed and chained and collared in the ‘playroom.’ So much has suddenly
happened, and so immensely different than Stretch expected, that he is mostly
overwhelmed and scared, having known for years how vicious Prince Fell can be,
how merciless and cruel, how violent he can be. Fell doesn’t even need to hurt
him significantly at first to get Stretch scared of him; Fell hurting or
killing someone casually while Stretch is present would be enough to spook him
severely. Stretch cannot defend himself with magic once the magic bracers go on
his wrists, and that is one of the first things that go on when they reach the
palace. And one of the few things that aren’t removed as he is ‘inducted’ into
the palace.

Next to nothing is explained to Stretch as he is carried
into the palace, hauled out of the small transport cage, overhears a vague
order given by Fell and suddenly is chained with magic-blockers, brought to a
room where he is stripped of his clothing, scrubbed down in a bathroom, forced
into a far more provocative and less concealing outfit than he’s ever worn in
his lifetime (and certainly the least amount of fabric he’s ever had on his
body, even from their days in the streets), and locked in a huge,
expensive-looking guest room. If guest rooms had wading pools, a magical
wall-painting of a forest that moved as if alive, the most lavish bed he’s ever
seen, and more pillows than he’s seen in his lifetime.

He doesn’t understand what is happening. Nobody has said
anything to him about what is happening: just barked orders if they spoke to
him at all. He expected to be thrown in a dungeon, or, worst case just beaten
outright, or executed. He wouldn’t put it past the tyrannical ruler who had
been rumored to be just that diabolical and unfair in punishments for minor
transgressions. So, to be taken so far out of his element and be thoroughly
confused by the suddenness of all this is immensely overwhelming.

When Fell eventually finds the time to actually meet with
his new captive, Stretch may try for snark or sass, in a defensive position,
but even if he manages, it wouldn’t be retained for long, or it would be a poor
cover up of his fear and anxiety.

Fell, meanwhile, is in the best mood he’s been in for ages.
Possibly his whole life, if he’s being considerate towards himself. He goes
about the rest of his day more or less like normal, except feeling like a
lingering weight has been lifted from his shoulderblades. By the time he
returns to visit Stretch, however, he’s tried to tone down his positively giddy
demeanor; upping his predatory intent, remaining sly, exuding a dominant air.

Their first meeting goes about as expected. Confusion,
disbelief, everything goes way over Stretch’s head.

A significant difference emerges rather quickly. Fell’s
years of daydreaming have finally caught up to him: this may be the monster
he’s hunted and nearly pined over for years, but he isn’t exactly as he
imagined him.

As some time passes, Fell slowly grows frustrated and
irritated; largely at himself, but he directs it towards Stretch and his court.
Fell let himself get lost in the ideal companion – practically a friend.
Instead of someone clever, witty, enjoyable to be around, or even downright
sexily submissive with an air of dominant tides, Fell interacts
with….this…scared, slightly angry, but mostly un-confident guy. It isn’t the
personality nor reactions Fell had anticipated.

As the weeks pass, Fell starts to wonder if it’s really
going to be worth it to keep Stretch here with him if he isn’t the ideal
companion he made him out to be. Fell has to remind himself sharply that he
absolutely would regret letting him go or killing him; he’s hunted this guy too
long to just let him go because Fell himself ruined his own conception of the
other monster.

As Fell struggles with dealing with a monster who is and
isn’t the person he’s pursued his whole life. Stretch of course struggles with
the fact that he’s in a very futile situation and has to deal with the idea
that he might never be let go. His options are limited; he doesn’t even know
the full struggle Fell is going through on whether to keep or kill him.
Stretch’s fight isn’t on resisting Fell – he has to learn how to keep his HOPE
up, or else he’ll fall down. He has to remind himself that he needs to get
back, for his brother. Stretch’s primary struggle is now learning how to deal
with absolute submission to someone who holds every aspect of your life in
their hands – everything from his ability to use magic to where and when he is
allowed to sleep. Stretch deals with total loss of control over his life, and
that is an immensely challenging thing to deal with for someone like him, who
worked his entire life just so that he could make a life for himself and his
brother, so they wouldn’t be at the whim of anyone else.

Stretch deals with complete loss of all freedoms: mobility,
speech, scheduling, meals, comfort.

Fell deals with the clash between fantasy and reality: the
fact that just because he /wants/ something doesn’t mean it can actually exist
the exact way he desires it.