-Balance Castle Coffee Bar-

Geno watched Cerulean and Glitter talk in a corner while Reaper fixed himself yet another coffee pouting over having to bring his coffee buddy back.  "You know the kid said he didn't care if he wanted to run off with you so long as he checked in with his family."

Reaper blinks and gives Geno a startled look, having not realized he could be read that easily.  "I know Geno it is just... hard to put into words it feels selfish to want to keep him with me but I miss the little guy.  Like he is, family who can actually spend the whole day with me."

Geno smiles, "I understand you share a magic type and have a lot in common. It is easy to understand him and get along and you can both relax because your magic doesn't affect each other."

Stretch walks over from the corner where Powder was holding an exhausted Dream. "Hey Reaper, is there anything to make tea?"

Nodding Reaper gets out a box of golden flower tea and a mug filling the mug from the hot water dispenser behind the bar.  "How is Dream doing? He looked pretty out of it when they came back."

"About how you would expect. The kid called him in to help Vita by absorbing residue from his counterparts' attacks.  Apparently he didn't like what he discovered about his counterpart." Stretch watches the tea steep.  "I have to say I like what I have seen of Powder and Rose.  I can see why the kid wants them watching out for Dream."

Geno glances at Alter and Mob as they chat with Edge, "do you get the feeling the kid likes those from rougher AUs better?"

Stretch glances around just as Golden and Sunshine walk in.  "He certainly gets along with fell Sanses well but you may be right about the darker AUs.  On the other hand, given the history the darker AUs didn't start off on his bad side."

Reaper sips his coffee, "fortunately so far his bad side has been well aimed and controlled. Fell after his breakdown has actually been civil to Edge and even asked if he needed anything from their AU today.  Classic hasn't been sleeping through meetings lately either."

Geno shakes his head, "I don't think we have seen his bad time side yet.  He has been remarkably gentle with all of us.  Everyone he has been hard on has improved.  I am not sure any of us know how to deal with his wishing us harm."

Stretch nods, "it begs the question if he doesn't wish us harm now, is he capable of it."  Turning before anyone could answer he took Dream, the tea.

Reaper sighs staring into his coffee, "Geno love, you are shockingly good at pointing out bleak truths we don't want to hear, but I am grateful for it every day."

Geno blushes looking away in time to see Hatchet and Peace standing in the doorway looking lost.  "If I was good at it I would have noticed Error wasn't evil."  He waves at them drawing Hatchet's attention.

Hatchet smiles and points him out to Pease walking over with a smile.  "Geno! Glad you're here, this place is a bit overwhelming."

The rough raspy quality of Hatchet's voice drew everyone's attention.  Some with curiosity, most with worry.

Mob watches everyone from a couch by the wall just holding a napping Alter.

Geno grins "can't argue with you there.  Come meet Reaper, he is the coffee addict I told you about."

Peace laughs as they join Geno at the coffee bar.  "HELLO REAPER."

Reaper grins at them, "so my lovely Geno talks about me?"  He grins even wider when Geno blushes.

Hatchet laughs, "he couldn't say enough about what an annoying firt you are and how nice it was to be able to walk without being picked up."

Golden and Sunshine, hearing Hatchet as they walked up, laughed. "Geno! How have you been? You look less bloody."

Geno smiled, "the kid fixed my codes so I can heal. I have had a couple of sessions with Vita but it will take time.  Still feels great not to be exhausted all the time."

Sunshine smiles, "that is great Geno!  You deserve the chance to finally get better. You have always fought so hard to protect your AU."

Geno shakes his head and gives a sad little laugh, "maybe to hard Sunshine.  Maybe if I had ever stopped fighting I would have noticed the one I was fighting just wanted to help and care about me."

Hatchet watches them then looks around before looking back at Geno.  "Where is the kid anyway? I thought they would be here by now."

Reaper leans across the counter and hugs Geno.  "We don't know after giving Dream an assignment to help Vita he took off for personal time."

Peace smiles slightly watching Geno lean into the hug.  "PROBABLY FOR THE BEST TODAY WAS EVENTFUL."

Cerulean runs over and hops onto a barstool with Glitter following much slower.  "Is there any Mint decaf tea back there Mr. Reaper?"

Reaper reluctantly let Geno go and started fixing the tea. "How are things going with your brother?"

Glitter drops down on the stool next to Cerulean. "Better than I expected, at least I think so."

Cerulean nods, "you handled everything as best as can be expected in the circumstances.  You're uninjured and appear to be sane. You haven't even tried to smoke once since you arrived!"

Edge walks over looking around, frowning.  Before he walks to the bar and sets down.  "Anyone seen Doc?"

Reaper sets Cerulean's tea in front of him.  "He and the bitties went somewhere with Sasin.  Given the scolding we got earlier he is probably getting a check-up and lecture on not checking in."

Edge snorts a laugh, "that was pretty funny.  Fresh 404 was definitely projecting disappointed parent vibes.  I am kind of surprised you aren't grounded."

Cerulean started to giggle at the mental image of Reaper getting grounded.  "What would he ground him from? He has to have freedom of movement to do his job."

Geno smirks, "coffee of course what else? Oh Fox, now I have the image of Reaper wandering around crying over an empty coffee mug stuck in my head."

Everyone at the bar laughs at that while Reaper pouts.

Vita walks in and smiles at the laughter before checking on Dream where he is curled up in Powder's lap on the couch with Rose.

Stretch waves from his spot setting on the coffee table across from Dream. "Hi Lady Vita, any word if the newcomers are going to be at dinner?"

That got everyone's attention and everyone went quite focused on Vita.

"I don't know if they will choose to eat with us tonight.  They have had an eventful day." Vita smiles giving no details.

-Balance Castle Fresh 404's Suite-

Fresh 404 gently lifts Sasin to his shoulder. "Is everyone ready to go meet everyone before dinner?"

Dusty resettles Larkspur in his lap after the move to the cart.  "I am not sure I want to deal with a crowd of new people but we have already met enough of them that it shouldn't be too bad."

Larkspur hugs Dusty, "it is going to be okay most of the attention will be on Static and Bane anyway."

Fresh 404 sighs, "I wish they didn't have to deal with it but this was the only way I could think of for them to meet the council a few at a time."

"Why don't we walk them to meet the others that way they can meet the bitties first and warn them about how many they will be meeting." Doc smiles as Thorn patrols around the edges of the cart to make sure no one is too close to the edge before they start moving.

Nodding Fresh 404 gets out his phone and texts Milly.  "Okay a guide should be here soon."

Moonlight chuckles, "you still don't know your way around do you?"  Starlight rolls his eyelights at the teasing.

Fresh 404 laughs, shaking his head, "we haven't had time."  They shrug smiling, "maybe one of these days I will explore."

Doc chuckles, "you just don't want to wander around this place by yourself."

There is a soft knock on the door before Fresh 404 could come up with an answer to that all too accurate comment.  Wandering the halls even with the bitties was a lonely feeling he didn't like.

Doc opens the door and smiles at the maid standing outside.  "Hello?"  She smiles shyly at them. "Hello I was told M'lord needed a guide?"

"Thank you miss. What is your name by the way?"  Fresh 404 smiled kindly as he pushed the bitties cart over to the door.

She curtsies getting flustered, "Tilly M'lord at your service!"

"Well Miss Tilly, we would like to escort Bane and Static to join the others. Do you know where they are?"  Fresh 404 opens the door wider so he can push the cart through.

Tilly steps out of the way quickly.  "Of course M'lord everyone is gathering in the coffee bar off the small dining room."

Doc chuckles, "Reaper must love that."  He closes the door and follows feelings oddly at home after a week in the castle.  "You know other than setting you up with a Bitty Clinic you don't need me anymore."

"I was hoping to have more time before bringing this up but we would like you to consider opening a Bitty Sanctuary in this AU for rare and unusual bitties, the types that get targeted for the black markets or illegal Bitty fighting rings.  The kind normal sanctuaries have trouble protecting."  Fresh 404 glances at Doc when he freezes in his tracks.

Tilly glances from Fresh 404 to Doc having not interacted with the prince before she was surprised by how he phrased his wishes as a request.  While his majesty always thought about his people's needs and wishes he had given clear decisive orders.

"I will have to talk with the other Bitty Sanctuary managers while a sanctuary in a secure location for such cases would be welcome. To have a sanctuary full of them would require a lot of specialized training.  Your people would have to want to get the training or some of ours would have to move here."  Doc looks up at Fresh 404 with cautious excitement.

Fresh 404 nods, "we are aware it won't be fast or easy.  We may need to expand the AU as well as smoothing out a few glitches.  Unfortunately because it is personal project it will have to wait for multiverse business to be handled first."

"Understood if you will allow it I would like to stick around for the renovation or at least the planning phase.  As much to see what you come up with as to offer advice."  Doc smiles as they turn a corner and stop by a door.

"You mean to see if Edge will carry through on all that flirting."  Fresh 404 grins at Doc knocking lighting on the door.

Bane did not know what he expected when he opened the door but he was sure it wasn't a tea cart full of bitties, a smirking Fresh 404, and what looked like the original wearing silver framed glasses and an explosive blush, with a small maid standing back and trying not to giggle.  "Hello?"

Fresh 404's smile gentles, "Hello Bane we have come to walk you and Static to meet the others who are here before dinner.  Doc here suggested it might be less overwhelming to meet the bitties first and hear a little about everyone so that you are not going in blind."

Doc nods to Bane, "hello I am from BittyTale #4 most call me Doc because I am a Bitty Doctor."

Bane nods slowly taking in the situation, then calls over his shoulder.  "Static kid is here to escort us to meet the others here."

Static walked up behind Bane in the doorway looking worried as his hands fluffier in sign.  'How many, will you be safe?'

Catching the sign language Fresh 404 smiles at Static, "we haven't actually counted.  We believe we have eight dinner guests and the rest live here.  Of course you and Bane will be safe, we will not tolerate anything else.  You seem to mistake us for someone other than the child of Nightmare and Error."

Doc stands back with Tilly watching Fresh 404 wondering how he would handle this situation.

Bane leans back a little, Static steps closer and flexes his phalanges ready to summon him strings.  "You almost make it sound like you think you are dangerous?"

Fresh 404 chuckles, "bru we are all diddly darn dangerous.  We just have enough control to encourage the rest of the multiverse to ignore it most of the time."

Bane stiffens slightly then relaxes, "how long do you plan to play harmless?"

"Who us? We are just an AU healer.  Who can edit all of the multiverse other than core and soul codes."  Fresh 404 grins at them, "we don't play about our jobs.  We have claimed you as family, you are protected by our contract with the council.  They also know they need you.  They may not fear us yet but we know how to protect what is ours."

Static stills then hugs Bane from behind, quitting any protests before lifting his hands in rapid sign.  ' We need to assess where we are and who is around us Bane better now than later.'

Bane finally nods but he gives them all a mistrustful look. "Fine but tell us exactly who is going to be there and why."

Fresh 404 nods stepping back, "fair enough. We will be there of course because this is our home and we took charge of the situation and brought you here when you fell through a portal at the council meeting. Our Bitty Colony is here because they live here and dinner is after the meet and greet.  Doc is here because he is acting as their personal doctor and helping with the renovations to make the castle more Bitty accessible.  Do you want to meet them individually now or later?"

'No offense to their fighting abilities but we know bitties well enough to know they won't attack unprovoked.  Tell us about the others and we can get to know the bitties after.'  Static gently nudges Bane out the door after signing.

"Guests first then. You met Medic earlier he is the Sans of MedicalTale #0, his AU has always been strictly neutral in any conflict he had to risk being labeled a traitor and got kicked off the council back when they didn't know about the balance.  You saw Don G he is from MafiaTale #0, he was my council escort while working today and has a crush on Medic. You also saw Reaper from ReaperTale he is here because he is kind of dating uncle Geno that would be AfterTale #0 Sans.  Mom adopted Geno as a brother for reasons.  It wasn't mutual but whatever family is family and that is why he is here family gets dibs on meeting you.  The next set of guests is Mob and Alter the Sanses from MobTale #0, and AlterTale #0, they are an unofficial couple only because they haven't bothered to announce it.  Alter was picked to be here tonight because he is in the family way as well and we thought you might want to have someone to talk baby stuff with.  The last of the guests are Cerulean and Uncle Stretch.  We moved Cerulean from an UnderSwap copy that had to be removed and coded him into Uncle Cobalt's AU so it would collapse and take the whole Swap AU chain with it.  He agreed to the move if we saved his Papyrus as well so we added him to our team. We picked him up today. That is why Cerulean is here checking on his brother.  Uncle Stretch just tagged along we think, to meet Glitter in a safe space."  Fresh 404 grins and starts walking.

Static and Bane listen carefully, not dismissing Fresh 404's flood of words as empty chatter as most adults might. This may not sound important but the details were very important if only because they cast light on the way he thought and what he put importance on.

"Then there are the residents.  You met Vita earlier, she is the goddess of life from ReaperTale.  She and Golden that is Sans from FlowerFell #0, agreed to move here until we are an adult so that the council doesn't try to patent us.  We picked up Golden and Sunshine, that is his Frisk, today.  Edge, UnderFell #0 Sans, lives here but thinks he is just staying until his brother let's him back in.  We totally ship him with Doc."  Fresh 404 grins as several of the bitties giggle at that.

Doc explodes in blushes again gaining amused looks from Static and Bane.

"Of course you met Uncle Dream, Powder and Rose earlier.  Powder and Rose are from DustTale #3, we are planning to code them to DustTale #0, but they live here now and are Uncle Dream's bodyguards.  Uncle Dream lives here because he belongs here and needs a little protection. DreamTale was messed up and he has just started to be able to grow up mentally.  So expect him to be a clueless fourteen sometimes.  We also have the HorrorTale #15, brothers Hatchet and Peace.  We are going to code them into HorrorTale #0 tomorrow.  They live here because we are not leaving them in HorrorTale.  Lastly we have Cerulean's brother Glitter.  Cerulean named him Glitter when he was mad at him.  We were annoyed at him too so we made it stick.  He lives here because we made a deal with Cerulean."  Fresh 404 looks at Doc.  "Are we forgetting anyone?"

"Milly?" Sasin chuckles, laying on Fresh 404's shoulder and watching, liking the slowly relaxing atmosphere.

"Right, you met my personal assistant. She has a right to a suite of rooms in the castle but we don't think she has chosen to move in."  Fresh 404 nods to Tilly, "that is Tilly you may have noticed everyone who works at the castle is a bunny monster.  This is because Horror and Killer were more protective of them so it was safer.  They do not live in the castle for safety reasons. The staff that have to be here early like cooks have housing nearby.  These practices might change in future depending upon the situation.  We don't know the names of all of the staff yet. The head chef Agnis is a highly skilled and kind older lady. If you ever have a problem and can't find Milly, go to her and she will know who to call."

"Why do I get the feeling family matters most to you?"  Bane frowns slightly, sure those that were his came first with him too but he wasn't as open about it to outsiders.

"Because they are the reasons for us working so hard to save this multiverse without them we would have no reason not to set back and watch the council suffer."  Fresh 404 let's their smile drop for a moment.

'Your creator made you as a Sans and you are trying to convince yourself you are not at the end of a genocide run with no reset.' Static frowns wondering just how fragile the situation in this multiverse really was before they showed up.

"Maybe but we won't let that happen."  Fresh 404 gives a fierce smile before toning it down.  "She may not be ready to wake but we still have our sister, uncles, cousins, AU, and people we are not giving up."

It was quiet for the rest of the walk to the coffee bar, the need for wards passing for the moment.