Chapter Text
The snow crunched rhythmically underneath his leather boots, spur clicks suffocated by the white, cold powder. His arms tightly wrapped underneath his poncho, Starlo shivered. He hadn’t exactly thought of grabbing something warmer to wear on his way here, so he was left at the mercy of Snowdin’s glacial climate. The cold, however, might be the very last thing on his mind at the moment. Starlo ignored the freezing temperatures and mechanically kept walking. He was deep in thought, brows furrowed, with one thought gnawing at his brain.
It had been five days since he last heard from Dalv.
Now, usually, with anyone else, Starlo would just assume they were busy and wouldn’t really pay much attention to the absence. But with Dalv? Very much unusual, worrying even. Last time he saw Dalv in person was last week. Star replayed the events in his head one more time, picking apart the vampire’s past mannerism.
Dalv, at the time, didn’t feel like seeing people and asked to postpone the date. Star insisted however and suggested they could hang out in Waterfall. Just a nice, quiet stroll with no one around to bother them. Dalv relented, although warily. Strangely, the quiet solitude wasn’t enough to pacify the shorter monster apparently. He did seem more tense than usual, more distant, even snappy at times. When he wasn’t fidgeting, glaring at nearby dark corners with uncertainty in his eyes, Dalv would stare off into space. The sheriff had reluctantly brushed it off, chalking it up to Dalv’s usual anxiety flaring up for one reason or another. Dalv eventually cut the outing short, claiming he was feeling nauseous and needed to go back to his house. He didn’t even ask Starlo to walk him home. The latter felt like if he offered, the vampire would refuse anyway. At the time, Dalv already felt off, yet Starlo didn’t bring it up. He didn’t quite know how to react at the time, so he left Dalv be.
That being said, the last time the cowboy actually heard from him was five days ago, the day right after the walk. Dalv sent him a brief letter that frankly seemed quite cold in its wording. It was barely half a page long. Miles apart from the couple of pages Dalv usually sends Starlo, filled with beautiful words and the occasional doodle. This also ticked the sheriff off. Shortly before they began dating, the two of them developed a habit of sending each other letters almost daily whenever they couldn't meet in person. Snowdin and the Dunes weren’t exactly next door, so letters seemed like a good compromise to catch up regularly. And while yes, Starlo would sometimes forget to send a letter every now and then… Dalv never, ever missed a single day since they began this little routine. Which is why, ever since the vampire went radio silent, Starlo began to seriously worry after Dalv didn’t answer his first letter… or the second… or the twelfth…
Now that. That sent Starlo into a frenzy.
He should have asked Dalv what was wrong during their outing. He’s an idiot.
The cowboy even asked the Mail Whale about it, making sure his letters did reach Dalv. The Whale confirmed that the monster was indeed picking up his mail up until two days ago. They hadn’t seen him around since then however.
It’s cool. It’s fine. It’s probably nothing, Dalv probably got caught up in something. No big deal. All Star had to do was go over to his lover’s house, ask what the problem was, and clear everything up! It’s not like he was scared or anything.
…
Who was he kidding. Starlo was terrified out of his mind. Truth be told, this morning, he almost opted for locking himself in his bedroom and simply take Dalv’s silence as a rejection, absolutely dejected. That is, until Ed, who’s been hearing all about the letter matter, caught him just in time and slapped some sense into him. And of course, the big guy was right, as he often is, but still… Starlo was petrified with anxiety. What if Dalv was mad at him? What did he even do to make him mad in the first place? Was Dalv getting bored of the nerdy farmer? Or was he annoyed with the extravagant North Star?
Starlo paused. He had arrived at Dalv's doorstep much too soon to his liking. He stood on the doormat, teeth clenched.
What if Dalv wanted to break up?
The thought alone made Starlo’s throat tighten to an almost unbearable point. He couldn’t lose Dalv. He raised his hand towards the door, stopped midway, lowered it, then turned around. The urge to run away crept back up his spine like a scorpion. Things were going so well before now, what on earth is going on?
Pull yourself together idiot. You’re a cowboy dangit. Don’t be a coward.
The monster swallowed dryly and took a deep breath. He needed to calm down and stop overthinking all of this. After all, maybe it was just a misunderstanding. Whatever the case, he couldn’t solve anything by just standing there shaking in his boots. He and Dalv needed to talk, urgently. Before he could allow himself to scurry off, Starlo swiftly turned back around and knocked on the front door.
Silence…
He waited a full minute, the cold eating away at his legs. At this point, he didn’t know if it was the climate or his emotions making his knees shake.
Starlo fidgeted nervously, then knocked again, this time more insistently. After the second knock, he briefly heard some shuffling from inside, then the door unlocked.
He didn’t know what he was expecting, truth be told, but he certainly wasn’t expecting Dalv to barely creek the door open to peek at him from inside his home. Starlo could barely see him, it sure was dark in there, unusually so. Talk about a warm welcome…
“Starlo?”
The latter swallowed audibly and waved. “Hi darlin’! You um… How’re you doi-”
“What are you doing here?”
Starlo winced at Dalv’s dry tone.
“Well, I just… I haven’t heard from you in a bit. Is everything alright?”
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
Starlo frowned, his throat tightened. He stuttered for a bit before asking. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Huh? No, you didn’t do anything. I… you shouldn’t be here. Please leave, I thought I made it obvious I wanted to be left alone.” Dalv answered, sounding almost annoyed.
Starlo was downright confused now and he grew more agitated.
“Wh-? What do you mean I didn’t do anything? Why are you ignoring me then??”
Dalv’s tone was ice cold.
“I don’t owe you an explanation. Just go back home please.”
Dalv began to close the door again. Oh no you don’t. Certainly not. Starlo shoved his right boot in the gap just in time, stopping the vampire from shutting the door. The vampire made a startled sound at the sudden movement. Starlo raised his voice, feeling a week worth of built up anxiety bubbling up to the surface.
“No!! Dalv you can’t just send me away without telling me why! That’s unfair! What the hell is even going on?”
“Starlo-”
“Why are you being all weird with me all of a sudden?? What did I even do to deserve being treated like that?!”
The vampire’s voice grew shaky.
“Go away. I can’t deal with this right now.”
Starlo yelled.
“DEAL WITH WHAT?? WITH M-”
Dalv flinched. Starlo immediately shut himself up. He made Dalv flinch. Shit.
The explosive tension melted off his nerves in an instant as immense regret took its place, like a bucket of ice water splashing him in the face. Dalv flinching away from him was an awful sight he wished he had never seen in the first place, and swore he’d never see again right this moment. He didn’t mean to yell.
Deafening silence fell upon them, none of them dared to move an inch. Starlo observed the shorter man as best as he could through the door gap. His clawed hand was tightly gripping the side of the entryway. And as if a second bucket of ice water hit him, Starlo started to see the situation beyond his own perspective. Dalv’s behavior became a little clearer. He wasn’t angry, nor was he annoyed, upset or bored. He was afraid. Starlo was so immersed in his own worries that he failed to see things rationally for a moment. Dalv was going through… something, something that probably had nothing to do with his romantic life, and Starlo was too absorbed by his insecurities to realize that. Filled with remorse and concern, he spoke again, this time very softly. He removed his foot from blocking the door.
“... I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I shouldn’t have raised my voice.”
Dalv didn’t answer, still like a statue. He didn’t make any move to close the door either. Starlo continued.
“Dalv… Are you okay?”
The monster didn’t respond at first. A shaky breath made its way out of his tightened throat. He shifted.
“... n- no…”
A pang of worry overflowed Star’s heart. He pressed, careful with his words.
“I just… I was so worried. You never miss a letter, I freaked out when you stopped responding. And the other day you uh, didn’t look too well… I thought you were mad at me.”
The shorter man seemed to slightly lower his guard. “I’m not mad at you, no. It’s not you...”
“Dalv, what’s going on? Did something happen? Please talk to me, whatever it is, I wanna help.”
The vampire hesitated, his voice shaking. “I… I would rather not burden you with such a thing.”
“Burden me with what?”
No response. Starlo could tell Dalv was staring into nothing.
The sheriff was once again feeling some frustration growing. Communicating with Dalv could be so difficult when he was all curled up in his shell. He swallowed, doing his best to remain patient and not let his emotions get the better of him again. Starlo carefully held out his hand towards the opening of the door, an offering.
“Dalv… darling, we’re a team, right? If there’s an issue, we can solve it together. You’re no burden. I’d much rather know what’s going on and be here for you rather than have you disappear without a trace.
Still no response, Dalv shifted as he seemed to consider the taller monster’s words. Star added.
“Please, let me help. You know being all alone won’t do you any good, whatever yer dealing with.”
A moment of silence, another shift, a shaky sigh, and then the door finally opening fully. Starlo’s heart cracked at the sight before him. Dalv looked… miserable, there was no other way to put it. The man looked tired, practically sickly, overwhelmed. His usually impeccable hair was unkempt. His eye bags hang low and dark under his eyes, at least significantly more than usual. Not to mention this sad, exhausted look he had on his face. He looked like he hadn't slept in ages. The vampire reached both his hands to grab Starlo’s, and squeezed. The cowboy breathed out in relief and took a step closer.
“Oh… oh honey…”
Gently, as if the vampire could shatter at any moment, Starlo cupped Dalv’s cheek with his other gloved hand and caressed it with his thumb. The gesture seemed to appease Dalv as he melted into the touch. Starlo however, was still wrecked with concern.
“Sweetheart, what happened?” He asked, his tone serious.
Dalv’s thick brows furrowed, his smaller hands still cradling Starlo’s. “You’re freezing.”
“Huh?”
“Come inside. I’ll um, I’ll light up the fireplace.”
“Right- Sure.” Starlo let himself be led inside by the hand, still as confused as ever, but now with a clear light of hope ahead of him. Dalv could be so cryptic sometimes, but it’s okay. He’ll figure it out, both of them are gonna be okay. He just needed to know what on earth was going on with Dalv.
The door shut behind them.