It was all a normal day on the surface. The surface of Post-Pacifist Underfell.
Peaceful.. That’s what it was. The monsters had decided to settle in a more snowy area, a bit away from the humans, since tensions were still high from.. Well, the war. Even if it was so long ago, those stories had been carried onto their generations.. And, well.. Monsters weren’t depicted as great people in the humans rendition. Instead, as unruly beasts that started the war out of pure aggression. Though in reality, the monsters had not started the war. Humans started it.
They were attacked and mercilessly and brutally slaughtered by the humans’ advanced weaponry. Sure, magic was pretty powerful.. But not in the wake of a human. A human with even a touch of determination could probably have wiped them all out. It might have been a streak of luck that so many monsters survived..

These days, monsters were still sort of.. bad, but not quite as bad as it had been while they were locked away. Being stowed away for so long.. it changed people. And it had changed them for the worse.

But.. Now the monsters were.. The monsters were free! Free at last! They could all taste the sweet, fresh air of the surface world.
They were now out of the terrible grasp of their old, stale, dusty air. Polluted with the blood scent.. That rotten mountain they had been imprisoned underneath of. That mountain that had done numerous in..

=

In the skeleton household, little stirred. Spare for one monster.
Redge was currently completing chores for his brother, folding freshly dried clothes. This arrangement was in place was since Redge hadn’t actually managed to land a job. More so because he lacked effort, rather than being unqualified. But, his brother had gotten a high paying job, as expected by Redge. So, he figured he could at least pick up a small bit of slack.
That, and his brother had actually demanded it of him. But we don’t talk about that little fact.

He was hanging up his sweaters when he was interrupted by..

There was a faint, yet.. Filling whistling sound coming from outside. Like the ones you would get with something falling a far distance. Or a bomb. That was one of Redge’s morbid thoughts before the impact rang out.

The whistling was followed by a loud BOOM. The thud echoed in the surrounding, cold air of the surface.

Redge sighed softly, rubbing his browbone.
“the fuck is it now..?” He rumbled, glancing at the window with a confused, slightly annoyed expression.
He could see smoke rising in a thin stream out the window. HIS BACKYARD. Fucking great. He would have to fix whatever damage there was before his brother got home, or he wouldn’t ever hear the end of it.

=

Sans had just been hanging out with his brother and some of his friends when.. Well, as expected of him, he fell asleep while they were walking and kinda just drifted off. Literally, he was floating now, out cold.

Sans hadn’t stirred or woken up at the shouting directed at him, sound doesn't travel too well in space as it turns out.. That, plus he was just pretty bone-tired from his multiple jobs.

This was just a normal nap. Sans figured it would be fine, that he would wake up later to his brother pouring water over his head. Or just shaking him. The usual amount of effort it took to wake him.

What he had not expected, was to full on drift into space-space. Like, actual space. He was in an orbit by the time he woke up. An orbit. And he was getting tugged along. Sans gave a small noise, restrained to the space around him as he hugged himself and his multiple layers of sweater.

He blacked out during the fall.

=

Redge hastily finished putting away the clothes. Though he did tug on one of his heavier jackets before summoning a sharpened bone in his hands and going outside. The crisp morning air was cut by an odd scent. As he walked around his home slowly, the scent of burnt dust and cloth tickling the air around his nose-bone.

Burning? The fuck?

One could say that Redge had flashed a concerned look, but it had only lasted a split second before he resumed a neutral facade.
Honestly, it wasn’t required. Things were a bit different now. But it was force of habit by now. He could deal with his issues later. RIGHT NOW HE HAD TO DEAL WITH FUCKING BOMBS! Or whatever the heck had caused that noise. Logically, it was not a bomb. It usually would have detonated and killed him by now.

Once in the backyard, he could finally see the true source of the smoke. Along with some steam from the melting/melted snow.
A heap of burnt sweater. And.. a short statured fellow wearing it. They were out cold and in the position of free-fall.

Redge stared down at them, his hands in his pockets. He let out a soft breath, the air furrowing around his mouth in the cold.
Now all he had to do was figure out what to do about.. this.. guy..

Their form appeared a bit broken. Redge would know’
And.. the scent of burnt dust was familiar from his time in the underground, but.. It had been a while. It’s sickening quality was back.. And..

He shook off the thought, surveying the area to occupy his mind. Aid in his next decision.

A few neighbors were looking out of their windows, and some were standing outside of their front doors. All, if not most were looking in his general direction. Redge gave an annoyed huff, kicking some snow onto the back of the guy. The intruder gave a small noise, but did not wake. The snow melted on their still hot clothing. I guess it was a favor to the sorry sap.

Redge growled loudly under his breath, the faint rumbling growing in his throat as he stomped closer to the fallen.
He lifted them up with red magic, a bit roughly. But he made it up by bringing them towards himself, before enveloping and gathering him up in his arms.
Yup. They were more definitely broken. At the very least, a few ribs and.. Maybe a leg or arm.. But Redge was no doctor, so he simply shrugged it off and carried Sans into the warm house. He figured that a shortcut would probably wake them. And right now, he was not in the mood to deal with their pain noises.

The guest was then set on the couch, and Redge resumed his tedious work. He didn’t bother checking up on the fallen one after having lied him out. They could deal with their stupid injuries by themselves.

=

Sans awoke-- Where?
On his couch!-- No wait..

This was different. The glow-in-the-dark stars Papyrus had stuck to the ceiling were missing. The walls were different. The fabric on the house felt.. Odd. Not as plush. No blankets on it, he realized after a brief few seconds of confusion.

And. Then the.. he was in an incredible amount of pain. The white hot on his back and arms causing magic to dance in his sockets.
He closed his eyes tightly.. A few dark-blue tears still managed to slip out of his sockets. At least he was still staying quiet, trying to hold in his internal whimpers.

He secretly hoped that he wasn’t alone here in this new weird place.

Chap 2

Redge was a busy guy. Especially right now. He was currently making lunch for himself.. And maybe it was.. Slightly possible that he had made two servings rather than just one, but he himself did not acknowledge it. He refused the fact that he had made lunch for some damn stranger. A fucking stranger that had damaged his brother’s backyard. But hey, Redge was an idiot he supposed.

Emitting from the living room, he could hear a faint, everso audible sound. A.. soft whimper? Like that of a lowly, hurt or scared dog.
He tensed slightly, his eyelights going wide for a moment.

Awake? Were they awake? Already?

Alright then. He could deal with this. Redge totally knew what to do now. So he carefully prepared himself before acting quickly.

Redge pulled in a deep breath, picking up the two prepared sandwich plates-- He had made them simple meat ‘n’ cheese sandwiches because he was that damn lazy.

=

When Redge entered, the room was devoid of sounds. Of movement other than the air stirred by Redge coming out of the kitchen. The skeleton on his couch was out cold again. His expression reflected that of slight pain, and his position almost resembled the fetal position.

Pathetic.. And. And...

...

And that hadn’t been very polite.. Passing out before Redge could even serve their meal. Actually, that had been quite rude. He had made them food!

He gave off a growl of frustration, before eating both of the sandwiches himself. They weren’t even that good. How dare.

Redge picked up Sans, perhaps a bit too roughly, before carrying him up the stairs and towards his room.
But soon, he had taken up a more gentle grasp on them. A twinge of.. Guilt? He couldn’t harm this person. Not until they woke up and he had to make them explain themselves, in the very least.
The material of their jacket.. Actually he was wearing two. His jackets, were very soft and plush. Heavy winter jackets? Close to it, it seemed to be meant to insulate heat primarily, telling by its material and stitch work.

Redge huffed softly as he entered his room, truding over to his messy bed. This was just a temporary thing, Redge told himself as he placed his ‘guest’ onto his bed. Having Papyrus find them wouldn’t help things. He would have to talk to him himself, before this.. That monster came in contact with them. Redge was much more merciful than his brother, from his point of view.

He had to resist the strange urge to put blankets over them, heading back downstairs to put up the empty clothes hampers.

Once done, he fell onto the couch and slouched. That guy was cute.. Nope nope nope.
Today had been very eventful, what with the laundry and this person in his yard. He figured that at the very least, he deserved a small nap.

So, Redge took a nap on his couch. Instead of on his own bed, like the goddamned loser that he was.

=

When he ‘awoke’, his brother was opening the front door-- No, he already did. Now he was yelling at Redge to get up. But Redge definitely wasn't considered a light sleeper.

He simply gave a grumble/growl and slowly turned to face away from the door and that loud shouting.

His actual awakening consisted of his brother yanking him by his hoodie and throwing him onto the ground. Redge landed with a dull THUD of sweater and bone hitting the rugged/carpeted floor. It didn’t hurt much but it did give him a nasty jolt, causing him to wake in a slight panic.
Luckily, he was too drowsy to let it show. “whaat the actual fuckwasss the big idea?” He groaned, opening his good eye wearily.
Oh. It was just his brother.

Papyrus began tapping his foot on the ground, crossing his arms in clear anger. “BROTHER..” He started.

Redge pushed himself to sit up, stretching his back a bit with a few pops. “yeah? ‘sup bro?” He answered, nonchalantly despite the dangerous tone that bit Papyrus’ voice.

“THERE IS A FUCKING BURNING CRATER IN THE BACKYARD!” He practically screamed. He might as well have been.

Redge responded with a wince, rubbing his head softly as he spoke. “yeah uh.. i... saw a bird an’ blasted it.” He shrugged at his sub-par made up fib.

“THREE FUCKING TIMES?” His brother asked, because he knew that his brother’s blasters’ real punch was their numbers. And that the crater was much too large to be created for one blast.

That better have been the most terrifying damn bird.

“yeah.” Redge said simply, his tone quiet and more gravely than usual, he didn’t elaborate any further. He grumbled, instead bringing himself to a proper stand stand. “ya get ya lunch yet bro?” Redge asked, scratching the side of his head as he lazed towards the kitchen with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Papyrus grumbled under his breath, following his lazy-bone of a brother to the kitchen. “And do you care to explain why you were sleeping on the sofa?” He asked, checking to make sure that Doomfanger’s bowl wasn’t empty. It had half a can of tuna in it, the rest having been already eaten by that gluttonous cat.

“ya see i was fuckin’ tired after i washed and dried all your clothes. an’ the couch was closer than my bed.” Redge answered, rolling his shoulders as he grabbed a few sandwiches and slapping them onto a plate. “‘ere ya go ‘m not cookin’ nothin’ else.” Redge said, shoving the plate in Papyrus’ direction.

Papyrus snatched his plate away. Redge yawned, still drowsy from his recently interrupted nap. Papyrus was still grumbling, but in a softer tone.

“I’M GOING TO GO GET SOME ACTUAL WORK DONE! YOU SHOULD GO GET A JOB!” The tall skele stalked off with his plate of lazily prepared sandwiches.

With a roll of the eyelights, Redge grabbed himself a bag of popcorn and shoved it into the microwave, jamming his finger into a few of the buttons. It beeped distinctly at each jab.

=

Sans was awoken to a huge doorslam.
-Papyrus entering his room-
He could feel the room shake a bit with its force. He groaned softly, blinking wearily up at the plain white ceiling.
A slightly lesser amount of pain.. Not to mention that that was probably the most sleep he had gotten in a long while.

The scent of his own charred clothing was corrosive, causing him to wince and clench his sockets closed as more dark tears brimmed to the surface.

-

After a few, long, agonizing moments, he dared to open a socket for a glance at the room he was staying in. It reminded him of his own room.. Well, the at least the messiness of it was familiar. It lacked floating trash and his soft color scheme. That, and the previously mentioned lack of ceiling stars. Okay, it was basically a different room but he was trying to find some comfort in familiarity.
It’s not exactly like he could really it leave.

=

Redge took out the bag of popcorn a second before it was supposed to go off. He had always hated that droning sound.
He ripped open the bag after a slight moment of struggle, starting to munch on his snack as he headed up the stairs. Just going to make sure his guest hadn’t been killed or dusted by his own injuries. Dead people didn’t make very good audiences.

=

The door slowly creaked open, the heavy scent of buttered burnt popcorn being introduced into the room as the.. The.. The large monster clad in a reddish black sweater entered the room. The floof around their hoodie made their silhouette bigger even more intimidating. This was despite their not-very-threatening actions. Their hand was ruffling around in a bag searching for the last remnants of the treat, his expression dull. The figure closed the door behind themselves before approaching Sans.

Sans gave a small huff, opening his other eye to watch them more carefully. He doesn't trust that lazy smile adorning their face.. Their.. S-sharpened teeth? And that fucking golden fang.. Oh gosh it drove home the wrong kind of vibes. The figure just radiated.. Danger? This was not a guy to mess with.

Redge’s smile turned soft. To Sans it still looked... threatening.

To Redge, he was trying to go for a non-murderer look. But his appearance didn’t help very much in that department.
He uttered a single word into the cold, dead silence of the room.

“heya.”

Chap 3

The word unfurrowed in the ever-so-slightly chilled air. Redge’s voice was smooth, deep and rumbling. Actually sort of like Sans’ but it was an octave deeper and a bit less soothing.

Sans shifted uncomfortably on the unfamiliar bedding. “u-hum heyo..” He said, his voice coming out strained and a bit higher than his usual. He winced slightly. A bit more sweat beading on the side of his head in the heat of the situation.

Redge started towards the bed, dumping the rest of his snack into his maw before tossing the empty butter bag onto the floor of his room.

He came to a stop by his bed, resting a sharp fingered hand on the sheets and looking down at his guest.

=

Sans stared back at the narrowed eyes that bore into him, shaking a bit underneath of his clothing, his breath hitched. Redge, of course, took notice, his sharpened eyes flickering towards him for a moment. He met his eyes before he heaved a sigh.. Now what to do? Probably find him a better hiding place, in the basement perhaps. Because Redge wanted his bed back.

..And this spot was much too in the realm of ‘Papyrus is going to enter this room and yell obscenities at him for sleeping’.

Redge grinned, reaching towards him.

=

Those sharp looking, dangerous lookin’ fingers coming towards him did not help anything. His breathing went erratic for a moment, the magic coursing through his head causing a wshhhing sound to arise.

Ringing was all he could hear soon, as his magic spiked in panic. Something.. Something about this guy? Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was injured. He shortcutted, his eyelight having changed to a darkish blue..
Something was off. That much he knew. He felt disoriented as all hell.

Maybe it was the odd feeling he was getting, or maybe the fact that the base of the door was a few feet off the ground. Which was now white, and no longer the gray carpeting. Oddly enough, the usual mess was nowhere in sight.

Sans remained still, shaking hard enough for his bones to make an audible rattling sound. He should not have used magic in this state, he knew. But he did, so what can you do?
He glanced up at the ‘ceiling’. Gray carpeting. Clothing and garbage piles.. On the ceiling.

Yes.. Yes, he on the ceiling.

Sans let out a soft, shaking breath, closing his eyes and shoving his head down against the ‘ground’.

=

The guy he was reaching a hand out to was gone. Welp.

Redge scratched the side of his head vaguely, glancing around. When he heard the familiar snap of a shortcut, and the.. The off-putting sound of bones rattling.

From above him. He pulled a slightly confused expression, glancing up at his ceiling-- Oh.

Well, there was a skeleton clinging to his roof as if he would dust if he let go. There was a faint aura of deep blue around them, their clothes hanging a bit off of them.

“o-oho my god.” Redge smirked at the sight, holding back laughter by clapping a hand over his mouth. This monster had.. had gotten himself up there.. He assumed, and now was fucking terrified? It was a funny enough sight without them shaking like that. And Redge was still a ‘rude’ person at soul.

=

Unseen to Sans, Redge burst out into laughter. His voice lulled over the room. If he could look at them, he could probably see fluorescent red tears pricking the corners of his sockets.

He grumbled softly, trying to figure out a way down. He hated when this happened.. Usually it was more manageable.. But here, he could feel the stronger gravity tugging at his bones, drawing him towards what he could only assume was the floor. While his magic was supporting him to the ceiling, of course.

Footsteps below-- Above? Could be heard. Heavy ones, the ones of that beastly skeleton.

Sans tensed slightly, lurching slightly as he dragged himself towards the door. He winced, holding in a grunt as he tried to open the door.

The steps above him stopped.

“getcher self down from there.” The low voice commanded, a slight growl in their throat..

Chap 4

Sans would usually have gotten down on his own by now-- though, this guy...
He let out a shaky sigh. “wha-..what’s the weather like down there?” He asked jokingly, trying to calculate exactly how to get down. The best course of action seemed to be climbing this wall and then onto the.. floor? His magic would make that possible considering that it was still active.

Though, that required some complicated movement. And lots of it.

=

“same as up there, fuck face.” Redge said from above, staring at the guy for a few moments before grunting.

“ya can stay on the ceilin’ i guess.” Redge shrugged as if indifferent, opening the door and stepping out. For some reason.

=

Luckily for Sans, he had left the door ajar.

Sans watches, surveying and weighing his options.

He gave a small whimper of hurt and anticipation before actually climbing out of the open door. Fuckingg fuck that hurt. He stopped halfway, closing his sockets tightly. Sans took a small break before he made it all the way over.

He could feel and hear something sifting through the back of his damaged jacket. With a quiet grunt, he glanced around the upside-down layout. He could see the downstairs area, another room to his right, maybe the entrance to the kitchen.

He slowly, ever so slowly started making his way to the right. In front of the second door, facing the stairs now.

=

Redge stomped down the stairs, grinning slightly to himself. Now he would finally have that idiot’s full attention. And he would not be wasting perfectly good food this time. It’s not even like the last plate of food went to waste.. his brother had eaten it, after all. But it hadn't been meant FOR him.

Redge visibly seethed with anger as he started remaking the sandwiches again.

-

With plate in hand, he started heading upstairs.

-

...That but fucker had left the room. Was now above his brother's room door.

And his brother was.. investigating something.

Papyrus noticed Redge immediately. “SANS WHY THE FUCK IS THERE DUST ON THE FLOOR?!” He screamed, glaring at Red while simultaneously trying to find the source of his alleged dust.

...Fuck.

Redge facepalmed with his free hand, rubbing at the bags under his eyes as he tried to think of an explaination.

“WELL?” His brother asked loudly.

Redge snarled, “maybe that fucking rat you keep around fucking murdered someone.” He was shaking a bit in anger, heaving a grunt. “i'll clean it up don'tcha--”

“DOOMFANGER IS A FUCKING CAT. AND REDGE! TWHY ARE YOU EATING AGAIN? THAT IS NO WAY TO CUT DOWN ON YOUR CHUB.”

Redge grumbled at the use of his nickname, gripping the plate in his hands even tighter. “fuck you!”

Deal with the freak later.
He stomped into his room and slammed the door. Redge put the plate on the table, stumbling a bit to the wall and leaning against the cool surface.

When he was less angry and more chill, he could deal with that gravity-bending little shit.

=

Sans had watched the confrontation, clinging tightly to the ceiling and hoping that he wouldn't be seen.

And now Papyrus had left the house. Sans sighed softly, his chest was starting to hurt from this much magic consumption. So he crawled to the door and stood up woozily to reach the doorknob.

Sans managed to open the door. Inside he saw 'Redge’ (... The other name they had been called was hard to think about,) hunched over against the wall. He didn't seem to have noticed him, which was shocking since this guy didn't look like he let many things get past him.

Maybe because the guy was breathing hard and grumbling words under his breath to himself.

Sans’ soft smile faltered slightly as he crawled further. Before he couldn’t move anymore. A small pained noise escaped his mouth.

That seemed to snap Redge out of his daze. He glanced up “huh..?”
Oh that guy was there--!!!

Redge was met with the with sight of that guy slowly drifting off of the ceiling, before starting to fall faster.

He quickly jumped forward, faster than he thought he could move, putting his arms out an wrapping up the small skeleton in his grip.

“what the fuck!” He yelped as he was pulled a bit to the ground by the impact. He fell into a sit on the ground with the guy, who was nearly incoherent at this point.

Redge gritted his teeth slightly and stared down at the guy. He was cold, shaking, and sweating bullets. Clear signs of magic exhaustion.

He adjusted him in his arms, before standing up with him and bringing him back to the bed. Stupid... Fucker. .  .

They didn't even get their damn sandwiches!

=

Sans flinched as a cool, wet rag was put against his forehead, before he sighed softly. The bed somehow felt a whole lot more comfortable than last time..

He soon deduced that this was a direct result of the blankets actually being over him.


Chap 5

Redge’s bed had many blankets, four or so, and the pillows to match it. The whole setup was embedded with his scent, smothering Sans in it. It was a bit nauseating.

The room was a dank, blueish lighting. Right after sunset it looked to be..

Sans wearily gazed around. There, a shadow was silhouetted against the blinds drawn window. Supposedly the guy who put that nice, cool towel on his forehead.

He shrank back into the blankets ever-so-slightly, not stirring up a sound. From the way that those floating red lights followed him, he could tell that he had noticed even the subtle movement. Probably by the way that his breath hitched before steadying.

Sans could feel the bed shifting slightly as the large figure rested their skeletal hand against the blankets.

He made a move to scoot up and get into a sit, but was interrupted halfway through by the 'Redge’ speaking.

“don'tcha think 'bout movin’.” It cut harshly through the relaxed demeanor of the room.

Sans’ eyelights darted back towards where the figure’s face would be, a cold sweat building up on the side of his head again. Their golden fang glinted in the semi-lighting.
The voice rumbled again, after they found that their words would not be met, “ya got a bita... magic exhaustion 'long with yer.. ‘incident’.”

The hand went and flipped over the towel in his head. A bead of water rolled down his face, around his nosebone and down his chin

He gave a small noise at the verdict. His assumptions were confirmed, he could feel the odd half-fever and heavy/weak feeling that accompanied it. Must have been triggered when--.

“try not ta climb on muh ceilin’ while yer magic is tryna restore ya.” Redge said, before he turned and left the room to get some water, and a bag of ice.

-

Sans nearly drifted off into a hazy sleep in the humid coolness.

=

Redge ended up coming back into the room clutching the listed items, plus a bowl of steamy soup. He scowled slightly at this. But.. it was perfect for helping get magic levels back up. Redge would know from his childhood. Either from himself being sick, or the occasional bout his brother would get caught up in.

He placed the bowl down on the side table. Redge then removed the warm towel from their head and drummed his fingers on Sans’ forehead.

=

Sans grunted slightly, opening his right socket blearily. It was still dark, but now his head was throbbing softly. “'m upp.” He groaned after a slight growl.. if it could be called that.

Redge stopped the tapping, flipping on a lamp. The room was bathed in a dim, warm light.

He then slapped a new towel onto their head, and tugged on them to be sitting up against the header of the bed.

Sans grunted slightly, suppressing a wince.

“soup time.” Redge said, grinning as he picked up the bowl. The smell wasn’t exactly.. Helping? Sans. In fact, food was probably the last thing he wanted, telling by the way that his eyelights became blurry for a split second.

Redge barely picked up on it. And just when Sans was about to say something of refusal, Redge cut him off by putting a finger to his mouth. “uh uh uh. ya gotta eat this bub.”

Sans glanced downwards a bit. He was hungry.. But, he also didn’t think that eating would do him any good---!

-

Redge had picked up the bowl and had brought it to his mouth, tipping it into his maw with some of its contents down his muzzle. He flinched slightly, trying to pull away but he was met with pillow, and the warm-slightly hot liquid going down his throat.

Sans almost started coughing on it, but Redge took the bowl away and he could actually finish what was in his mouth.

“w-what the fuck..?” He asked, taking a few breaths before glaring at the person-- Though.. Actually, now that he wasn’t have soup forced down him anymore, he actually felt less.. Pass outty.

The big ole guy offered him the bowl again. “gonna eat it yerself, or ‘m’i gonna hafta treat ya like a babybones again?” His voice was quiet, Sans now noticed.
He reached out of hands-- Which were shaking despite his calmness, and took the bowl. “‘m.. ‘ll eat it myself.” He mumbled, a bit embarrassed that he had been.. Well, one, called that, and two, actually fed like one.

-

Redge watched as the slightly blushy skeleton sipped his soup. He pulled a wider grin at the sight, of their nice blueish purply blush. Made more sense than his own, being orange. He supposed that orange was a nice color.. Though it was a combination of his favorite color, and his least favorite color.. This guys’ actually matched his clothing sort of. At least, the blue part.
The purple seemed a bit random, but ya know. So did orange on his mostly red aesthetic.

He was snapped out of his stumbling thoughts by the thudding sound of glass on wood.

Redge’s eyelights darted to the source. His guest had finished their soup and had placed it on the side table again.
He turned to leave and possibly get another bowl, but a shaky voice rang in the quiet room. “‘m.. can i go back ta sl-sleep?”

-

He was feeling better of course, but he was still exhausted and hurting more than he has been in his entire life.

Redge’s expression softened a bit and he turned back, “sure thing bub, night.” He said, going and covering them with the blanket. And turning the lights off. And leaving, closing the door. He had to make sure that his brother didn’t find out. For both of their sakes...