Chapter Text
Edge couldn’t wait for this drive home to finally come to an end, leaving behind a long and tiresome day at work to curl up with his beloved on the couch, while a delicious meal was prepared and cooked in the oven. Dinner would be ready right when Stretch would be home from hanging out with the Sanses and all would be well in the world.
Edge smiled in thought of his sweet, old, reliable cat, Doomfanger. Since they reached the surface, Doomy has been living in the lap of luxury, with all the world's comforts he could provide for her. No matter how hard of a day he’s had, the moment he walked through that door, she would be there to greet him, with her raspy mew calling out to him demanding her dinn-dinn. Edge allowed a subtle chuckle at the thought as he turned into his driveway.
In mere seconds, the stress will melt away the moment his hand strokes her coarse and raggedy coat. Recently the old girl had begun to slow down, napping at all hours on her favorite spot on the couch. He didn’t mind. She earned, no, deserved her retirement. She should rest as she pleased from all her years of service, keeping him sane in the hell-hole he once called home.
He stepped out of the car, grabbing his laptop bag as well as the lunch box with the silly little drama llama button that Stretch most recently attached to the fabric lid. Edge walked up the paved pathway towards the front door of their home, locking his car with a press of a button on his key fob with a beep.
Keys in hand, Edge switched to the house key with barely a jangle of noise, unlocking the door and slipping inside. Removing his shoes, Edge glanced around for his cat, noticing that she hadn’t greeted him at the door as usual, though it wasn’t terribly uncommon for her to sleep through his arrival. Curled up on her favorite spot on the couch, Edge found the old long hair Siamese resting her head on the fluffy quilt Slim had made for him last Giftmas.
Edge smiled fondly at her, slipping on a pair of slippers he left by the door, and walked over to the couch to carefully scratch the cat behind her torn but fluffy ears. Doomfanger opened her bleary eyes before stretching her paws forward and pressed her head into Edge’s hands to encourage more pettings.
“Good evening my dear, did you have a good nap.” Edge obliged in stroking Doom as she stood and stretched into his hand, a raspy mrow escaped her mouth. Her once brilliantly blue eyes gazed up at him, foggy with age, as she blinked slowly in approval at his scritches. His fingers roamed through her dusty coat, patchy in places where her fur was once long and thick. He barely remembered when it had gone from the original crème and chocolate coloration, faded over time but still mesmerizing to watch as his claws drew patterns through her coat.
Edge glanced at the kitchen door before sitting down next to Doomfanger. The old cat slowly got up and moved over to his lap, curling up into a tight ball before she gazed up at his face, offering a few slow blinks as her little motor began to purr. “I suppose dinner can wait a few minutes.” Edge chuckled, returning his hand on top of her small body, bathing the cat in loving scritches.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keys jangled loudly as Stretch tried to find the house key in the menagerie of charms and knick knacks he kept on his key ring. Edge always told him that he had too many things on the ring, but would he listen… Nah. It was always more fun to see him playfully be annoyed before opening the door himself. Could he teleport right into the house, sure… but he was a little buzzed from hanging out with the Sans trio that he didn’t quite like the idea of accidentally landing in the toilet for the third time this year.
Red chuckled behind him, tagging along, not to make sure that his little bro’s “Boy-toy” or “Liability” made it home safe, but because Stretch made the disastrous mistake of mentioning the casserole Edge said he was going to make tonight and Red wanted to get a big helping of it himself. Stretch ignored him, as one does, finding the mystical key and unlocked the door.
Stretch blinked for a second after opening the door. It was odd not to smell the heavenly aroma of a freshly cooked meal. All but the hall lights remained off. The only other source of light came from the windows where the curtains remained open. Stretch glanced at Red, the gremlin was busy picking at his teeth. A stray thought occurred to him that perhaps Edge had come home with a migraine, retreating to their darker room where he could draw the black out curtains closed.
However that thought disappeared as soon as they both walked in and he caught sight of Edge at the sofa, back turned towards the door. Stretch sighed with relief that his love didn’t appear to be in any visible pain. Noisily he stumbled out of his boot and slipped into his slippers. “hey Edge, a little gremlin followed me home, not sure if we should feed him, he might not leave this time.” Red elbowed him before marching into the living room, stomping in his presumably muddy boots.
Stretch walked over to the couch, unsure of why Edge didn’t fling back a witty retort or even a loving greeting. “Edge, honey?” he asked as he placed his hand on the silent skeletons shoulder.
“She’s gone…” Edge choked out, his breath shuttered underneath his touch. Red stopped at the other side of the couch, staring at his brother.
Stretch blinked, confused as to who Edge could be talking about. “Who’s gone?”
“Do-doom… Doomfanger. She’s… she’s gone.” Edge stumbled over the word, struggling to get them out, as if the very utterance would cause them to be true.
Stretch blinked, then looked down at Edge’s lap. Sobering realization hit him like a freight train. The hell-raising cat, with the death glare that would take hit points off of the weakest of monsters, laid peacefully, unmoving, covered partially under the quilt that usually laid on the back of the couch. Stretch rounded the couch to sit next to Edge, “what happened?”
Edge shook his head, never lifting his gaze from the cat’s body. “I.. I don’t know. I just sat down with her, began petting her. She.. she was purring and she… took a deep breath… and stopped.”
Stretch could feel the younger skeleton tremble besides him, causing him to wrap an arm around his shoulder. He knew Edge couldn’t cry, a curse of having a terribly high LV. If he had a throat, Stretch knew there would be a lump in it, knowing Edge was struggling. “oh babe, i’m so sorry.”
“she’s gone,” Edge curled into him with a whine, muttering softly into his chest. Red stepped forward into view, holding a favorite blanket of Doomfanger from the cat tree. He touched Edge’s hand that still rested on the grayed fur.
“i got this.” Red slowly removed Edge’s hand, which found refuge in Stretch’s own. With delicate care, as if handling fine china, Red wrapped the precious body into the blanket. Before Red could cover her head, Edge reached out his hand to signal him to stop. Edge leaned in close and pressed his teeth upon her head in a skeleton kiss. As Edge drew away, Red covered her head and disappeared into the night.
All Stretch could do was to hold Edge, comforting him the best he knew and projected love towards him with all his might. The trembling subsided as Edge laid in Stretch's arms. Stretch didn’t know what he could say to help Edge through this, he never had a pet that could be lost in such a manner, none of them did. It was new territory for them and he barely knew how to help his love face this new reality.
One hand rested on Edge’s skull, trailing a pattern over his coronal suture, while the other held his hand, thumb smoothed over scared carpals and metacarpals. Stretch sighed, pulling Edge a millimeter closer. “how long?”
Edge shifted in his grasp, humming in question.
“how long have you had her?” Stretch asked softly.
“21 years…” Edge sighed, slipping his hand out from Stretch’s to rub over his face wearily before returning it to Stretch’s hand. “I found her at the dump, 21 years ago, I was still in stripes and she tried to fight me over a fish bone. Scrawny little kitten.”
Stretch smiled as he remembered reading an article on an older cat well beyond her age “bet she was. 21 years is really good for a cat.”
Edge nodded, “Full of piss and vinegar that one. But always had my back when Red couldn’t, probably save my life more than I could count. There was a food shortage early on. Red tried to eat her once, but she managed to fight him off. I think he still has a scar”
Stretch gave Edge’s shoulders a squeeze, hearing the soft tremble in his voice. “She’s really going to be missed.”
Edge nodded before he buried his face into Stretch’s arms. He sighed, kissing the top of Edge’s head. Stretch was already making a mental checklist to call into work for Edge, and schedule an early appointment with Edge’s therapist, all after he tucked his lover into bed for the night, once he was ready, and only when he was ready. “i’m sorry love"