Undertale is owned by Toby Fox. I'm just playing around in his sandbox. Thank you for reading.
It was three o'clock in the afternoon. The sun outside shone brightly and the birds were singing. But her curtains were drawn shut and the only noise she could hear from her position under the covers was the ticking of her wall clock. It was three o'clock in the the afternoon. It was friday.
Nine months ago she would have been on her way to pick up Frisk from school. The two of them might have gone and got a pizza, maybe have grabbed a few movies and a bag of microwave popcorn. They would have stayed up late eating and playing games and horsing around. They would have settled in on the couch, wrapped in a blanet as the tv played quietly in the background, and Frisk would have drifted off to sleep in her lap. But today she was laying in her bed in the pitch black room in an empty house, her face puffy and head aching from the hopeless sobs that she just couldnt hold in any more. Frisk was gone. Frisk had been gone for nine months. There was a good chance she would never see them again.
The day that her baby sibling went missing was a fuzzy memory in her mind. She had woken up in a panic, even though at first glance nothing was amiss. She ran to the child's room as if on autopilot, her heart beating hard and violently in her chest as she called out their name. It was as if she already knew they were gone. But the intuition didnt make the discovery any less devastating. Empty room. Empty house. Empty yard.
Something was wrong. Frisk wouldn't just go somewhere with out telling her. They wouldn't just leave her like that.
The rest of the day was like a nightmare. She felt detached, like she was watching from the sidelines in horror as she searched the woods by her house. Talked to the police. It was like her mind was too tired and broken to focus but her body already knew what to do. Posters were hung, search parties went out. Everyone was optimistic enough at first. A week passed by. Then a month. Then two. The police told her the odds were not good. She wouldn't believe them. She had already lost her parents, Frisk couldn't be gone. The universe couldn't be that cruel.
Curled up in the dark room, she was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't hear the text tone chime from her phone. She sniffled and dug her face deeper in to the mattress, wondering if whatever the text was would be worth getting out of bed for. As always, the hope (and dread) that it may be something about Frisk won out and she threw the covers off of her. She slipped out of bed, groaning as she tried to stretch out her tense muscles. She'd been laying there for a ridiculous amount of time.
She trodded to her dresser and flicked on the lamp long enough to find her phone and then immediately turned it off before it could hurt her eyes too much. A knot formed in the bottom of her stomach as she looked down at her phone. Everytime it rang or beeped was torture. Frisk could have been found safe. Frisk could have been found dead. (though if that happened she was pretty sure she wouldn't be told through text) She took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself and clicked on her phone.
1 New Message.
Hey Ripley wont be able to make it tonight, working late. Miss you. Be good.
She didn't feel any disappointment as she typed out 'okay you too' and hit send. Richard had been her boyfriend since she was fourteen years old, before Frisk had even been born. There weren't many memories that she had that he wasn't in. He had been with her through everything, including the death of her parents. She loved him but she felt as disconnected with him as she did the rest of the world since Frisk had disappeared.
They would still meet up and go on dates. They would go to dinner and he would talk at her. They would go see a movie; she wouldn't remember what it was about when it was over. They would go back to his apartment and have sex. She never felt anything. Afterward, when he had finally passed out, she would silently get dressed and tiptoe back to the living room and cry herself to sleep on the couch. There was no point in waking him up and upsetting him with it.
She took another glance at the clock on her phone. It was five o'clock. "Fuck," she sighed, running a hand over her face and through her greasy hair. She had to wonder how she could zone out so hard that she didn't notice two whole hours fly by. Becoming suddenly very aware of the fact that she had to use the bathroom, she clicked the lights on once more and made her way to the bathroom. As she passed by the mirror she glanced up and visibly recoiled from her reflection. The harsh white lighting certainly did her no favors, but she knew that even without it she looked so much older than her twenty five years. Eyes that once held so much spark were sunken and tired. The long brown hair that she had taken so much pride in was limp and tangled. She ran a finger over one of her collar bones; she had probably lost 30 pounds in the last nine months.
Sighing again, she pulled her gaze away from the mirror and plopped down on the toilet. The porcelain and the tiles at her feet were so cold she couldnt resist the violent shudder that ran up her spine. She wondered if it was even possible for her not to be cold anymore.
As she was finishing up her business, her phone rang and she was so startled she nearly dropped it down into the toilet. She hadn't even noticed it was still in her hand. The sound of her ringtone signaled the familar adrenaline rush directly to her heart as she looked at the number of the incoming call. She didn't recognize it. Standing there immobile, her mind made the rounds.
Frisk is alive.
It's just Richard calling from a friend's phone or something.
Frisk is dead.
Somebody's got a wrong number.
It's just bill collectors.
Frisk is alive.
Frisk is dead.
She took a deep breath as she hit the answer button and pressed the phone to her ear. "H-hello?" Her voice sounded cracked and small from disuse. She braced herself for everything that the responce could be but nothing could have prepared her for what actually came from the other end.
"Sissy!" The voice cried out.
She stood frozen to the tiled floor, phone clutched in her hand so tight that her knuckles turned white. This had to be some kind of a joke. Some sick, cruel joke. She couldn't breathe, the air had been knocked straight out of her lungs. It was a good thing she hadn't eaten because she surely would have wretched it up right there and then. It seemed like a lifetime had passed before the angellic little voice spoke again.
"Sissy, are you there? Are you okay?" Her legs turned to jelly, she slid down the bathroom wall until she was on the floor, knees up to her chest. She didn't want to say anything. If she did, surely whatever magic this was would end and the voice would be gone. "Sissy!" It called out once more, worry wrapped up that beautiful voice. Was this real...?
"F-Frisk?" She finally croaked. "Frisk, baby? Is it really you?"
"It's me! Sissy, I did it! I finally did it!" And they were laughing. The reaction was instant, as if there had been had been a layer of ice formed around her, trapping her, suffocating her, and the only thing that could melt it was the sound of that goofy little laugh that she had heard thousands of times and could listen to a trillion more. She was suddenly so aware. Of her body, of her surroundings. Her heart was beating so hard and fast that she felt she had to clutch a hand to her chest to keep it in place. She pushed herself off the floor and stumbled as all the blood rushed to her head. She only had one thing one her mind now; she had to get to Frisk.
"Oh, my god, oh my god," she stuttered as she dug through a pile of dirty clothes at the foot of her bed in search of her car keys, her phone tucked tightly between her chin and shoulder. "I'm coming baby, where are you?" She dangled the keys once in triumph before running out of the door with out a second thought.
" I'm in town, we're talking to the mayor." Her hands were shaking so bad that she tried in vain for a few minutes to fit her key into the lock on her car door before remembering that she could unlock it with the push of a button. Once settled in the car, Frisk's words set in.
" What? Who's we? Why are you talking to- oh, fuck!" A series of beeps on her phone signaled that her battery was close to dead. Of course the one day that she didn't charge the phone would be the day that Frisk was found. " Listen, baby, my phone is going to die but I'm on my way, okay? Whatever you do, DO NOT go anywhere until I get there okay? Promise me."
"I promise, Sissy. I lo-" and the phone cut out.
The drive to town was a blur. It was a miracle that no one got hurt, and that there were no cops around to observe her blantant disregard to speed limits (and probably stop signs and red lights.) It was at least a twenty minute drive even with her speeding and for the first time in a long time she cursed the fact that she lived practically in the middle of nowhere. She was on edge. Feeling so much after feeling nothing for so long was overstimulating and she was worried she might pass out. Why had she not eaten in god knows how long? Why had she not taken better care of herself? She should have known all along that Frisk would be back. Frisk would never leave her.
But then where had they been? Her mind raced back to what they had said on the phone.
"I did it! I finally did it!" What was it they had done? Escaped from kidnappers? Climbed their way out of a well? And who were they with? She pushed the thoughts from her mind and just relished in the thought that Frisk was alive. Frisk was okay. Thats all that mattered. She would figure out the rest soon enough.
Finally, the city hall was in her sights. Something was definitely going on. A dense crowd encircled the building, people were pushing and yelling and clamouring over each other trying to get closer to whatever it was that was happening. She parked her car sloppily and sprinted away without even remembering to close the door. This would be the one time that she was thankful for how thin she was as she slipped through the horde of people, adrenaline giving her strength to push her way to the front. There was a line of police tape surrounding the entrance of the building. The police officers were standing almost shoulder to shoulder close behind it, ready to intercept anyone who dared to try to cross.
What in the hell had Frisk gotten themselves into?
Most of the other people at the front of the crowd seemed to be journalists and TV news reporters. They waved their microphones and notepads frantically in the air, trying to get the officers' attention and screaming questions that sounded almost like nonsense to her.
"What can you tell us about the monsters?"
"Have the monsters made any demands?"
"Are the people in danger from those things?"
Ripley worriedly tried to process the words as she looked for a way to get past the barricade, growing more and more anxious with each question screamed out. The word 'monster' was being thrown around quite a lot; wasn't the news usually supposed to be a little more unbiased than that? Whatever was happening had to be bad. She had to get inside now.
"Sir! Sir!" She called as she finally broke through to the front. The officer standing across from her met her eyes. " I have to get in there! My-" before she had even finished the officer was yelling over her.
"No one goes in! We don't have anything new to give you people! Please stay calm!" It seemed his declaration did the exact opposite of what he was intending as the roar of the crowd grew louder. She kept her eyes peeled for an opening. All she needed was a second, she was positive she could outrun the policemen even in her frail state.
"We have a right to know!"
"Why are those freaks here?"
"Send them back to hell where they belong!" An angry chorus of agreement rang out, but there seemed to be some dissenters. The pushing around her was getting rougher.
"We don't even know why they're here! You can't just condemn them for being different!" Another cry of assent. She was pushed so roughly that she nearly fell over. Her eyes darted around in all directions, assessing the situation. These people were pissed. This was bad. She clung to the hope that had come from those precious few moments of conversation she had with Frisk on the phone. They had sounded okay. They were okay. She just needed to detach herself from the situation for long enough to get inside to them.
Her moment came when a fight broke out somewhere behind her; as soon as the two police officers blocking her way shoved pass to try to break it up, she lunged forward with all the strength she could muster and began to sprint full force towards the doors. She was jerked back as one of the policemen caught hold of the bottom of her shirt, but with another hard jerk forwards it ripped out of his grasp. Refusing to look back, she continued her mad dash in to the building. Her outstretched palms hit the glass door painfully but it opened without resistance, throwing her off and almost making her trip. She regained her balance at the last minute and didn't break her stride. She was in! She just needed to find Frisk now. She heard the heavy thuds of booted footsteps behind her. It sounded like the entire police force was in pursuit. She vaguely noticed that she wasn't wearing any shoes. She had run out the door in just a tank top and a pair of sweatpants. It was early November. She was sure to regret that later. Now though, the most prevalent thought in her head was that she had no idea which direction to go.
She took a quick left on a whim, but her feet were so sweaty from her exertion that she couldn't catch any traction on the smooth floor and she slid right into the wall. In an instant there were at least three cops on her, flipping her roughly onto her stomach and attempting to catch her wrists in handcuffs. She fought back tooth and nail, kicking and rolling and flailing her arms, but her slight figure was no match for multiple fit men, no matter how determined she was. She couldn't go down like this though, she was so close! She decided she had no choice but to resort to screaming.
"Frisk! FRISK! Fri-mmphh!" One of the police had smushed her face hard into the floor in a frustrated attempt to quiet her. It didn't work; she couldn't scream specific words anymore but she could sure as hell still just scream. Suddenly she heard a screech above her own.
"OH MY GOD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THIS LITTLE HUMAN?!" The weight of the men was lifted from her almost immediately and she felt a pair of hands grip her under her armpits and raise her up facing the cops, her rescuer behind her. She tasted blood in her mouth and her vision was cloudy; her head hadn't exactly just tapped the ground. Adding that to the fact that she hadn't had a proper meal in days, she was a little disoriented to say the least. She swayed in her spot but the hands moved to her shoulders and steadied her. She was pretty sure she had a concussion.
"HUMAN? ARE YOU OKAY?" The voice behind her cried, sounding genuinely concerned. Finally, her head stopped spinning and the cops' faces came into view. They stood there looking absolutely horrified for about half a second more before scurrying off the way they came. She took a clumsy step that same direction, trusting that the hands wouldn't let her fall.
"Yeahh, haha run away," she slurred, puffing her chest out proudly before finally collapsing back into the person supporting her. Yup. She was definitely probably concussed. A deeper voice that she hadn't heard before spoke suddenly, also somewhere behind her.
"pap, come let sit her down. i don't think those guys could handle a second round with her." She felt her lip twitch up at the strangers attempt to humor her but winced as the skin pulled apart. It was as if the bolt of pain brought her out of her haze and she remembered why she was there evading the police anyway. She raised her hand to the one on her shoulder and spun around to face her rescuer(s?) for the first time.
"Hey, I'm looking for my- ohh." Standing in front her of her was a skeleton. A literal skeleton. It stood about a foot or so taller than her and was dressed in what looked like some sort of superhero outfit. She looked down at the hand she was still holding in her own. Maybe it was just the fact that it was covered by a glove, but the hand felt warm. It didn't really look like a human skeleton. The proportions were off and it was so...animated. Like a cartoon character. She had slipped back into her detached state as she observed the creature on front of her. Frisk wasn't here. This was just a dream, or maybe something worse. She gently slipped her hand out of its grasp and took a cautious step back. The thing was looking down at her with worried eye...sockets.
" ANYTHING YOU NEED, I WILL HELP YOU GET. YOU KNOW, IT WAS ONCE MY JOB TO CAPTURE HUMANS. BUT NEVER WAS I ONCE SO ROUGH AND CARELESS. WORRY NOT! I WILL PROTECT YOU FROM THEM, SHOULD THEY RETURN. NO HARM WILL COME TO YOU WHILE I AM AROUND!" Oh. He thought she was afraid of the police. Was she even scared at all? Despite the fact the the creature standing in front of her was a skeleton, there really wasn't anything that scary about him. And he had saved her from the police. The familiar numbness had spread back over her though and she felt indifferent.
She was about to say something to him when she noticed there was a second skeleton standing off to the side. Whereas the other one was tall, this one was a few inches shorter than her. It was observing her interact with the tall skeleton, a grin on its face that in her imagination looked like it was trying to be reassuring. She noted that it was wearing normal clothes, a blue jacket with a fuzzy hood over a white shirt and a pair of gym shorts, rather than a costume like the taller one had on. There was no way this skeleton could be mistaken for a human one. The only word that came to mind to describe it was stocky. Her head was spinning again and she felt her legs give out. She braced herself for the impact of the cold floor but somehow she managed to land in a chair. Why was there a chair in the middle of the hallway? Rubbing her face in an attempt to clear her vision, she swore she had seen a flash of blue somewhere. When she was finally able to see straight again, she glanced between the two skeletons before coming to rest on the smaller one.
"Am I dead?" It was hard to talk through her chattering teeth. Once the action had calmed down and she was able to stop running she had started to really notice the cold. It didn't help that she was sweaty and only had a torn tank top to cover her. The small skeleton gave her an amused look and moved toward her, pulling off it's jacket.
"no deader than i am," he winked at her. "why don't you wear this for awhile? you looked chilled down to the bone." He held his jacket out to her. She blinked, mouth slightly agape though chattering away. Finally she accepted the jacket and held it in her lap for a second while she mulled over his words. Her gaze snapped up to the tall one.
"Am I dead?" He looked taken aback.
"NO, OF COURSE NOT. I CAME JUST IN TIME!" She was mildly relieved but at the same time so, so confused. She pulled the jacket over her freezing arms, hoping that warming up might help her stay focused. She couldn't hold back the relieved sigh that escaped her lips. How was the coat so warm? She snuggled into it, raising the fluffy hood over her ears. The skeletons were watching her curiously.
"Oh um, sorry, thanks. For uhh... helping me out. " She glanced between the pair and tried to remember where she was going with this. The thought hit her like an anvil and she smacked her hand to her forehead, frustrated at herself for being so unable to stay on task. "Okay, look, I really have no idea what's going on here. I'm just looking for a kid," She stood up slowly from the chair, satisfied when she only wobbled a little. "They're about this tall," she held her hand up a little below her chest, "and um, they have brown hair and eyes, kind of like mine but less..." She gestured at her face and what hair was visible from outside the hood as she searched for the right word, "...bad. Have you seen them?" She finished lamely, grasping her hands together in front of her chest. The skeletons looked surprised.
"OH YES! I HAPPEN TO BE THE BEST FRIEND OF THE HUMAN YOU DESCRIBED!" The tall one said excitedly. "JUST BEST FRIENDS, THOUGH. SADLY I COULD NOT RECIPROCATE THEIR WANT FOR SOMETHING MORE." She honed in on the first part, deciding that too much had gone on that day for her to try to make any sense of the rest of it right now. Her heart was hammering wildly in her chest. These guys knew Frisk! She was so close!
"C-can... Are they..." she took a deep breath and ran her hands down her face. Why was she finding it so impossible to be coherent? All the worst possible scenarios were running through her head. What had happened to her baby sibling that they had met up with a bunch of skeletons? Had they been in danger? Were they still? What if something had happened in the time it had taken her to get to town? She couldn't handle losing them again, not after getting her hopes up so high...
"hey." the smaller skeleton spoke up, snapping her out of her down-spiraling thoughts. She brought her gaze up to meet his. He was still smiling, but there was something sympathetic about his expression. She didn't even need to guess why; tired, busted lip, she could feel that her left eye was beginning to swell. She looked pathetic. "the kid is fine. they're with the head honchos trying to come up with a game plan." Time stopped around her as she replayed his first four words over and over again in her mind. She had been craving those words for so long. She doubted that she would ever hear another sentence so beautiful in her life. She wanted to hear it again. She needed to. She had to be absolutely certain.
"Frisk is here?" She looked to him reverently, eyes wide. "F-Frisk is okay?" The skeleton seemed to understand her urgency.
"frisk is okay...they could probably use a bath though, if you nose what i mean," he winked at her as held up his index finger and thumb pinched together over his nose hole. She stood stark still for a moment, basking in those words like the summer sun after a seemingly endless winter. Nine months of heartache and misery and emptiness were slowly being lifted off of her soul. Frisk was okay. And then she was laughing. Or was she crying? It was probably both. Unable to contain herself, she took one of the skeleton's hands in both of hers and pressed it briefly to her lips in a desperate display of gratitude.
"Thank you," she breathed, still holding his hand shakily in front of her. It was warm. If her intensity threw him off, he didn't really show it; his eye sockets may have widened a bit, but his grin didn't falter. He shrugged and placed his other hand over hers and gave it a slight squeeze. She realized that she probably seemed a little insane, but couldn't bring herself to care. Frisk was okay. Also, she had been conversing with two skeletons for the past ten minutes. The crazy train had left the station, never to return. She heard the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat and looked around. The tall skeleton was standing hip cocked and arms crossed in front of him, looking annoyed.
"I'M THE ONE WHO SAVED YOU FROM THOSE OTHER HUMANS YOU KNOW! ALL MY LAZYBONES BROTHER DID WAS STAND BEHIND ME AND WATCH. ALSO, I AM FRISK'S FAVORITE!" He looked into the distance, his red scarf somehow waving dramatically behind him. The smaller one caught her eye and shrugged again, and then nodded his head once in his brother's direction. Ripley chortled.
"Of course. I was saving the best for last!" She giddily made her way over to him and planted a big kiss on his cheekbone. As she pulled away, she noticed that his cheeks were glowing an orangish red color. Was that blushing? Could skeletons blush? She decided it made about as much sense as anything else that had happened in the past hour. She was too high on the discovery of her sibling's safety to give anything too much thought. Both of the skeletons looked pleased though.
She took a few steps back from the pair and took a deep breath in an attempt to compose herself but she just couldn't seem to calm down. She fidgeted with the edge of the borrowed jacket and then pressed her palms to her cheeks, trying to assure herself that she really existed in this moment and it wasn't all just some psychotic delusion. The feeling of her flushed skin solid beneath her hands was comforting but there was only one thing that could make it real for her. She desperately needed to see Frisk. Right as she was about to ask about their exact whereabouts, the thought struck her that these skeletons had been so kind to her without even knowing who she was or why she had burst into the building with cops chasing after her like something out of the Blues Brothers movie. She lowered the hood back to her shoulders and pulled all of her thick hair around one shoulder, trying (probably failing) to look sane and presentable.
"We haven't really been introduced properly, huh?" She twisted a lock of hair around her finger timidly, a habit from her youth that refused to die. "I'm Ripley, Frisks' big sister." The pair exchanged a surprised look.
"OH!" The tall one exclaimed, looking over her with wide eyesockets. "WOW! SO IF YOU'RE FRISKS' SISTER, AND I'M FRISKS' BEST FRIEND, THEN THAT MAKES US..." He watched her expectantly as she tried to figure out exactly what he thought that would make them.
"Hm? Uhh..." Her thoughtful pause didn't seem to discourage him any."Also best friends?" she finally offered. If it was possible for a skeleton to beam he was certainly doing it.
"OF COURSE! I'VE ONLY BEEN ON THE SURFACE FOR A FEW HOURS AND I'VE ALREADY MADE ANOTHER BEST FRIEND!" He clapped his hands happily against his cheekbones. "IT MAY MAKE FRISK JEALOUS, BUT DO NOT WORRY RIPLEY. THERE IS ENOUGH OF PAPYRUS, THE GREATEST BEST FRIEND OF ALL TIME, TO GO AROUND!" She grinned at him, finding it impossible not to be amused by his theatrics.
"Glad to hear it...Papyrus, huh? It's nice to meet y-" Before she could even finish what she was saying, Papyrus had scooped her up into a tight embrace and twirled her around in the air a few times. In different circumstances, Ripley might have enjoyed it; however, in her current poor condition, it was her body's absolute last straw. Her head throbbed and her stomach churned violently inside of her. As soon as her feet touched back down on the ground, she scrambled to the nearest potted plant and began to empty whatever may have been left in her stomach. Papyrus screeched behind her.
"OH MY GOD, I BROKE HER!" She emerged from the plant, gasping and wincing as the acid burned her throat. She attempted to swallow it down before turning her head a little more towards him.
"Oh, no, I'm fine! I'm just so excited, that's a-" Once again she was unable to finish her thought as her stomach gave another mighty jump and her head disappeared back into the ficus. As she kneeled there, praying hard to whatever god may exist to please not let her die in a house plant before she got the chance to reunite with her sibling, she heard the deep voice of the smaller skeleton speaking from beside her.
"looks like you overwhelmed her, bro. why don't you go see how everything's coming and give her a chance to calm down?" There was a pause as Papyrus seemed to contemplate his words.
"YES, I SUPPOSE THAT ACCLIMATING TO MY GREATNESS CAN BE A BIT DAUNTING AT FIRST. I WILL GIVE HER AMPLE SPACE AND RETURN TO THE MEETING. I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF THEY HAVEN'T MADE ANY PROGRESS WITHOUT ME, THE AMAZING DELEGATOR PAPYRUS, THERE TO HELP! NYEH HEH HEH!" As his 'heh's faded away into the distance, her stomach finally began to settle down. Sitting back on her ankles so that she was no longer face to face with the pot filled with the meager former contents of her stomach, she took a deep breathe, relieved that it was over. She looked up at the remaining skeleton and the sight of him in just a white t-shirt suddenly mortified her.
"Oh shit, I'm wearing your jacket!" She frantically gave the garment a once over, hoping that nothing had splashed onto it. "I'm so sorry! I don't think anything landed on it, but I'll still wash it for you o-or something..." He held out his hands, palms facing her, signaling her to slow down.
"hey, don't worry about it. wouldn't be the first time that jacket got a little soiled," he said, the white lights of his pupils bouncing pointedly between her and the potted plant. She laughed nervously, unable to shake off the embarrassment even though he didn't seem to be upset. The feeling didn't leave her as she watched his eyes flick across her face, going from her black eye to her busted lip and finally back up to meet her gaze. "we can wait over there for frisk and pap to come out," he said, pointing over his shoulder at two chairs pushed against the wall. "it shouldn't be too long now. do you need another minute? no hurry." She shook her head; surely her stomach had to be empty by now, she didn't even know where all that had come from. He held out his hand and helped her climb off the floor.
"Thanks, umm..."
"the name's sans. sans the skeleton," he said, grinning at her as he lead her across the room, as if she had any doubts that he needed to clear up. She seated herself in the chair that was pushed into the corner. Another hallway stretched out in front of her and at the end of it was a heavy looking wooden door, the blinds on its window pulled shut. "that's where they'll be coming out," Sans said as he plopped into the seat next to her.
She swallowed heavily as her heart went berserk inside of her. Frisk was there, not even twenty feet away. Her vision began to swim again as she felt another nasty throb in her skull. She held her head in her hands and began to desperately massage her temples. Suddenly she felt something brush against her left side. Caught off guard, she jerked away from the touch and pushed herself into the wall. Next to her Sans was sitting loosely in his chair, legs stretched out straight in front him, fiddling with something in his hands. "sorry, needed to get something out of my pocket." He looked at her out of the corner of his eyesocket. "you okay? you look like you've seen a monster... ah ha." It seemed he had succeeded in freeing whatever he was holding from its wrapping. She looked around his hand at it curiously and her mouth instantly began to water. It looked like some sort of pastry. She tried to be discreet about watching him as he sloppily pulled the bun in half. He held the two pieces out in front of him, raising one piece and then the other, as if testing meticulously to see if they were even. Ripley had to hide a grin behind her hand; one of the pieces was very obviously bigger than the other one. Finally, he shrugged and held the small piece out to her. "eat this. it might make you feel better." She blinked at him, surprised.
"Are you sure? Wow, thank you," she accepted the pastry graciously and immediately shoved a piece into her mouth. She closed her eyes as she chewed, the fluffy bite of bun melting into a swirl of cinnamon and sugar and butter in her mouth. It had been so long since she had actually been able to taste anything, she had forgotten just how enjoyable eating could be. The pair sat in silence as she continued to devour her half. After swallowing a particularly big bite, she sighed contentedly and looked to Sans, who was already watching her. She cleared her throat. "I really am grateful for the help you and your brother have given me today. If you guys hadn't come to my rescue I'd probably be freezing to death in a jail cell somewhere instead of waiting to see Frisk." She tossed the remaining bit into her mouth and chuckled humorlessly. "I'm sorry. I promise I'm not usually so," she waved her hand as she searched for a word"...fragile." She could have sworn that she had seen the corners of his mouth turn down into a frown but within a second they snapped back and he was smiling again, although it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"fragile? that's not what i saw. i mean, it took three guys to bring you down. what did you do that rattled their bones so bad anyway? rob a bank or two on your way in?" She snickered as she licked the cinnamon from the tips of her fingers.
"Mmm, no. Nothing that impressive. They were just mad that I slipped past them." It was Sans' turn to blink at her.
"...that's all?" She didn't know if it were her imagination or a trick of the light, but it seemed like his pupils were getting... smaller? She shrugged nonchalantly, picking at the crumbs on her lap.
"Yeah. It's fine though." She was being honest. Even though she probably should have been angry about the police manhandling her, she just didn't have it it in her. She had just eaten the best cinnamon roll she'd ever had, while wearing the coziest jacket she'd ever worn, both given to her by a friendly skeleton whose brother, who had saved her from the police, was best friends with her sweet Frisk and was in the room across from her talking with them right now. The throbbing in her head had even gone away. She was here. That's all that mattered. How could she be ungrateful enough to be angry about anything right now?
Sans was still observing her quietly when she looked back up. Although she was no expert in skeleton facial expressions by any means, there was something odd about the look on his face and she just couldn't put her finger on it. When she asked if she had something on her face, he chuckled and his smile seemed to be genuine again.
"nah. i was just thinking." He looked past her to the door. "y'know, i've heard the kiddo mention their big sister about a million times before. i never thought i'd ever meet her though." Then he was looking at her again. Although his grin hadn't changed, the odd look was back in his eyes. "...heh. i guess what i'm getting at is, it's really nice to meet you, ripley." He winked as he handed her the big piece of the cinnamon bun, which she hadn't even noticed he was still holding. She quirked an eyebrow at him.
"You aren't going to eat it? Why'd you split it in two then?"
"i wasn't sure you'd take it if i offered you the whole thing right away." He shrugged nonchalantly and glanced away for a second. "aaand i didn't want you to eat it too fast and yarf it up all over my coat." She smiled sheepishly and happily accepted the rest of the pastry.
"Yeah, I seenamon your point," she quipped, holding a small piece of the bun in front of her eye before popping it in her mouth. She felt kind of accomplished as he chuckled appreciatively at her bad joke.
As she finished off the rest of her food, she couldn't keep herself from watching the door. What exactly was taking so long? Now that she was sufficiently calm and well fed, there was no way she was going to be able to keep her questions to herself. Sans was resting his head on the back of the chair with his eyes closed, apparently trying to cat nap. She cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter, very eager to finally find out what was going on. One of his eyes raised open to look at her.
"what's up?"
"I don't want to be rude or anything, but..." Her finger had found its way back into her hair and she curled a strand around it absentmindedly. "I have to ask...you're a skeleton." His other eye opened.
"i thought there was going to be a question," he said, amused.
"How?" Realizing how offhanded and indirect that had sounded, she instantly backtracked. "I mean, where did you guys come from? Where has Frisk been all this time?"
"i don't think the kid would be very happy with me if i stole their glory and told you everything. but i guess it wouldn't hurt to give you the basics." Ripley scooted to the edge of her seat in anticipation as Sans took a deep breath. "a long time ago humans and monsters went to war. the monsters lost. they were sealed underground with a magical barrier. blah blah blah," he said, rolling his wrist. "frisk showed up and freed everyone. the end." She stared at him, waiting for some kind of elaboration. When he said nothing else, she furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Frisk is seven."
"yep."
"You're seriously telling me that my seven year old sibling broke a force field and freed a bunch of monsters?"
"magical barrier. and yep." She blew her bangs out of her eyes and crossed her arms, leaning back into her chair.
"You realize I have so many more questions now." He folded his arms, copycatting her posture.
"i told you i was just giving you the bare bones of it." She was about to insist on a more detailed explanation when the door at the end of the hallway started to open. She immediately jumped to her feet.
Her wait was finally over.