"I'm off to work" Papyrus said, shouting loudly. "Had me your papers so that I can file them" he demanded.
"Ok, bro" Sans said, getting up. He'd stayed up tonight just for that purpose, and he was ready. After today, there would be no more standing around and doing nothing while trying to stay awake for hours. There wouldn't be any frenzied attempts to figure out the exact amount of time he could spend with each of his posts without someone catching on for any of them. He wouldn't be around to let Papyrus yell at him all day. This was going to change his life, and hopefully for the better.
"Thank you, Sans, for actually doing it on time for once" Papyrus said. Something about saying it made him feel strong.
"You're going to see me being on time a lot more from now on" Sans said, putting his hands in his pockets to silently try and build courage, "and a lot less of me being around to smooth ruffled feathers. Try and take care of yourself" he said.
"On the contrary, you should be worried about how you're going to manage without your cool brother around to keep you in line" Papyrus said, scowling. "Just for that, I'm not going to pack you one serving of spaghetti for lunch- I'm giving you two servings! Just try making that disappear!" He said, slamming the door as he left.
"No need to tell fib-ulas, Pap" Sans muttered to the floor. "I'd almost think that you had a bone to pick with me with those insults. Not one kind bone in your skele-ton of requests and sternum orders" Cheered by the sound of his own bad jokes, Sans relaxed minutely. He wasn't going to be around to listen to such talk from his brother much anymore, and he knew someone who'd appreciate the spaghetti. Today was going to be different.
Taking a shortcut straight to Grillby's, Sans went in before his brother could catch up and see him. Walking over to his normal spot, he firmly didn't put anything on the seats, prank item or otherwise. "Hey, Grillby, I'm ready to pick them up whenever they're ready" he said, smiling. This was going to be a good day.
"I'll go tell them" Grillby said, going to the back to rouse Frisk.
He quietly thought about his own daughter as he walked through the building, past the tiny food prep aria and the fireplace. She would have been bounding down the stairs by now, smiling about something or other. She'd probably have had something to say about Sans, and she'd probably loose interest in him the moment that she actually saw him. Still, it was nice to think about when she had been younger- before her mother had started starving and gave their whole flame to Yule in an attempt to protect her from the same fate. Frisk would be a nice reminder of the good times, and she never once reminded him of the bitter arguments that had arisen in the last days before Yule had left to go and work in the city.
Reaching the room, Grillby was surprised to see that the door wasn't fully shut. He'd thought that Frisk would have closed it during the night, but he could still peak inside without making the door creak. Inside, Frisk was still sleeping. It was cute to see her sprawled out on the bed. Her limbs were pretty much everywhere, and one of her arms was actually reaching the floor. The blankets had been twisted up, and she seemed utterly content in the bed she fit perfectly in.
Looking at Frisk herself implied something far different from that content peace. Frisk herself wasn't very muscular, nor was she slender in anything but her build. She had told him, half asleep, that when humans around her were starving and dying of all sorts of things, she had worried that she would be the next to starve. Her partial Fire Elemental heritage had seemingly protected her enough to survive illegal trips getting supplies from places that had a sickness and survive unharmed. It was rather horrifying to hear about the sheer scale of death that she claimed had happened without monsters there. The worst part about that was how much sense it made. Back in the days of the empire, the monsters had made a huge treaty with humanity, the first one of that scale in memory. The monsters had assigned themselves to various posts where they would heal upset people or treat illness accurately. That helped them avoid all sorts of diseases that the human's nastier habits and disregard for fellow humans could have spread. Without the monster's protection to keep that in check, it would be more surprising if they had been fine, when Grillby thought about it.
"Frisk, Sans is here" He said, gently radiating wakefulness. Stretching ungracefully, she finally managed to wake herself up.
"Morning" She said softly, slowly getting upright.
"Don't stand on the bed, Frisk" Grillby said indulgently.
"Hmm?" She wondered looking around. "This is considered a bed here? On the surface, they're all scratchy and uncomfortable, nothing like this cushion"
"Well, I'm glad to see that the underground is once better equipped than the silly surface that stuck us here" Grillby said, both upset by the reality that Frisk knew not that long ago, but also glad that she had another reason to stay. "But that's more proof that you should be wearing the striped shirt that I got for you"
"Ugg, it's still icky to be back to practical babyhood. I've enjoyed hunting, camping, and even stopping wars before. This is a very disappointing downgrade" She mumbled, irritated.
"Would you rather have to explain why you're constantly getting lost and messing up fights?" Grillby asked. "Because that is not an option that I'm inclined to allow"
"Ugg, fine" Frisk said, pouting. "But only because you make a very good point"
"Your going to want something more comfortable than those jeans in Hotland, you know" Grillby added, unashamed to dictate the facts.
"I'm still not used to even the idea of wearing something that shows the shape of your legs so well" Frisk complained. "I'm used to people being killed for less"
"Yes, the horrors of surface life" Grillby said, rolling his eyes. He hoped that that wasn't going to her excuse for everything now, even if it had been awful. "It starts to get annoying to hear that much repetition, even if the surface was that awful. Down here, no one is going to police what you wear, and I say that you are going to wear something practical and comfortable"
"You just said that there was no policing of clothes here" Frisk said. "How is that not policing clothing"
"I'm doing it from a fatherly point of view" Grillby found himself saying with a smile. "No one is going to hurt you for wearing the wrong clothes- not unless whoever you're buying clothes from overcharges you. Wearing pants that loose could be a real danger in Hotland. They could get flung about by the vents, they could catch fire from the sheer heat there, and they already have more than a few burn spots on them"
"Ok" Frisk said, rolling her eyes and pretending not to be touched by the reasoning. They both knew that it was a wasted effort, but Frisk didn't really know how to deal with well-intentioned correction any other way.
Smiling at her, Grillby added one last statement before she went. "I have the clothes already on the chair, so you really needn't worry about trying to hide or find them. Just get it on, and come down the stairs. Like I said before, Sans is waiting for you"
"Why?" Frisk asked, suddenly worried again.
"Don't you remember last night?" Grillby teased. Feeling her mind go to worries in a completely different direction, he was quick to state the facts without letting her jump to any more wrong conclusions. "You told me that you wanted to explore and see if it was really safe with your own eyes, remember? Sans agreed to take you with him on your exploration when I talked it over with him"
"Really?" Frisk asked, leaning forward.
"Yes, really. He's going to be expanding his job in Hotland, and he decided that he might as well take you on a tour when he had the chance" Grillby said. "Something tells me he really has the feeling that he wants to be your friend" he added. "You're in stripes right now and you're both kids anyway. There's really no reason to be worried about anything else right now" he said, finishing his views on the matter.
"Are you positive?" Frisk asked. "I knew a girl a year younger than me who already married and had a child on the way when I tried to leave the surface"
Blinking in shock, Grillby none the less stood firm. "You are in no state to be worried about forming a family, Frisk. Wait until you know you're way around and are back out of stripes for such thoughts"
"But what…"
"Don't worry about it. Things are better here, and you needn't worry about anything of the sort. Just try and learn about here, and we'll see what we can do for you" Grillby reaffirmed.
"Ok" Frisk said, smiling as she went to the clothes pile. That was another worry off of her list, and now she just needed to learn, something that she liked doing anyways. This was going to be a great time!