She remembered making that ad, wondering how she was going to pay for the house on her own now that five different roommates had dipped from their leases. It was a home she had inherited from her parents, an old home that wasn't exactly sure what style it wanted to be. The floor plan was rather open for a house built nearly 150 years ago but the woodwork was all original and dark and intricate; even on the ceilings. Not to mention the sprinkling of stained glass windows, vaulted arches and original hardwood floors.
With no money of her own the house was decorated as her parents had left it, with a charming, old world feel of plush chairs and rich colors. Of course the electronics were another story, reminding anyone who walked in that they weren't actually stepping back in time. Not that any of that really mattered to her.
Danielle had inherited the house after her parents died, but that didn't mean it was free. Living under five months of snow storms, the cost of heating the large house was enough to feed an entire village in Africa if she had to guess. Their summer, if you could even call it that, had been over for a few weeks and already the ground was covered in a cold layer of fluff. With her past five roommates all bailing after a few months she was struggling to make the heat payments, not to mention other bills. Word of mouth had served to get her the last few tenants but she was getting desperate. The woman typed up an ad, shivering under a mound of blankets as another storm buffeted the windows on the east side of the house.
"Two bedrooms available for rent, fully furnished, comfortable shared living space. Pets and families allowed. Located downtown within walking distance of shops and activities. $300 a room for single tenants, or $550 for both rooms."
The next day she asked her neighbor to put the ad online before walking to the local newspaper office and paying some spare change to have it put on the back page for a few weeks. She put the address at the end as an afterthought along with her phone number. Ever since the monsters had come up from Underground a year ago or so the town had been slowly falling apart. A few business closed and more than a few families packed up and left. The exit was only about an hours drive away, fear and paranoia causing many to get out of dodge; including her last handful of roommates. So this wasn't her first rodeo, she knew she'd have to wait a week or two before hearing anything.
As expected five days passed before she got so much as a text, although when she did it was rather promising. [still got those two room open? me and my brother have been looking for a place.] That had been a few days ago now too, each of the participants texting back and forth to get a feel for each other, and be sure they were on the same page. The person wanted to get a walk through the house before deciding but sounded pretty interested.
The woman lifted her head as the doorbell rang, warm mug of freshly brewed coffee sitting in her lap as she read, patiently waiting for the brothers to show up. Careful not to spill she set the cup down on the end table and moved through the house towards the front door. She pulled her long, unkept hair over her back and again over her right shoulder, running her fingers through the golden locks from the roots down a few times. There was a mirror next to the front door but she ignored it, going off luck that she didn't look like to much of a mess. She paused before opening the door, hearing the men on the other side talking.
"This house is very pretty!" One of them said, his voice loud enough to be heard clearly from where she lingered on the other side of a thick oak door.
There was a groan, a deeper voice, "c'mon pap, it looks like an old lady lives here…" The other man chimed, although it was far more difficult to hear him. "do you really want to live with some geriatric old fart? i thought that's why we were moving out of Tori's place." There was a noise like a laugh.
With her lips puckered, the woman opened the door before they could say another word, standing before them in the threshold of the front door as if to silently inform them that she was not an old fart. Even though the woman technically owned a house she was just turning twenty two; very different from what they had apparently been expecting. She could feel their shock at her sudden arrival, neither one speaking for a long minute. "Hi, I'm Dani," She said with a polite, if not a little agitated, smile, jutting her hand in their general direction. "I'm glad you found the place alright."
The brothers looked from her and to each other, the shorter one cocking his head as he looked at her. The woman, Dani, definitely wasn't what he had been expecting to see. She was far younger, and damn cute if he was going to be honest; but there was something off about her. He stared more intently when she offered her hand, to neither of them and both of them at the same time. Humans were weird.
"Hello Human! I, the great Papyrus, was the one contacting you about the rooms you have available!" The taller skeleton remarked loudly, causing the woman to start at hearing it. Her hand slowly moved towards him and he took it gladly, taking her hand in both of his, shaking with a vigorous sort of enthusiasm.
"chill pap, your gonna tear her arm off." His brother chimed. Her hand was released and the woman gripped the door frame to keep from falling over. It was an odd way to meet someone but she couldn't keep the smile from her face. His enthusiasm was refreshing and promising; if the guy wanted the rooms this bad chances were they wouldn't bail like the others.
"No, it's fine." Dani said happily, rotating her shoulder a little to be sure it was still working before offering hand towards the other voice. The shorter brother stared at it, still trying to work out what was wrong with the woman. There was something about her that just wasn't right; the vacant look in her eyes didn't match the smile on her face or the tone of her voice. Was she faking the smile and nice remarks? Was this some kind of trick to get a pair of monsters secluded. Lately there had been a good amount of hate crimes, he shuddered to think what would happen to Pap if anything like that went down.
None the less the shorter skeleton took her hand, gripping it far more casually than his brother hand. "i'm sans. nice to meet...ya..." He watched with a raised brow(bone) as the woman jolted at the feel of his hand in hers. Her eyebrows knitted together and her other hand came to touch his, similar to what Papyrus had done a second ago. Those dull grey eyes of her's narrowed slightly, not out of anger but out of confusion. Dani's fingers played over the smooth lines and breaks in his skeletal hand riding the ridges as if they were piano keys. The three of them stood in silence as she did so, the brothers sharing a look of confusion before she finally pulled her hands away.
Her face was a little flushed, a bashful glow to her otherwise olive skin tone. "Ahah- I'm sorry; don't take this the wrong way but," She paused blinking her pale eyes, giving them an apologetic smile. "You two are monster, right?"
Sans and Papyrus stared at each other for a moment both confused. What kind of question was that? They were skeletons, and although Sans could sometimes get away with looking half human due to his choice in clothing Papyrus surely didn't have the same effect. His spine was displayed for the world to see, not to mention a myriad of other bones all topped off by a very, skull like, skull.
Sans snorted a little, giving the woman and incredulous look. "duh lady. what are you, blind?" The shorter skeleton seized upon saying it, everything was coming together now. The color of her eyes, the vacant stare, the way she held her hand to them; it was all coming together. "i mean, fuck- i'm sorry." He stammered trying to backtrack, wishing he could reset.
"SANS YOU HORRIBLE, INCONSIDERATE-" Papyrus had been just as confused but as the situation dawned on him, the taller brother turned to his shorter companion wagging an accusatory finger.
Papyrus stopped short when the woman moved further out of the door, her hands up feeling for them. Her smile was very soft, not at all the look someone gave when they were offended. "Hey, no it's fine…" The smile made Sans feel even worse, sinking his head a little into his hood, eyes averted away from her. "I just asked if you were monsters; that wasn't very considerate either right?" Her hand fell on Papyrus' radius, lingering there for a moment. "I get asked that a lot, it's not a big deal." The sheer amount of awkward filled her with determination as she offered to let them in the house.