The gender

It would be a regular afternoon if it wasn't for Frisk, Alphys, Undyne and Papyrus finding themselves at a piercing studio. The child told their parent figures that they never had the chance to pierce their ears before, and after telling them that it had become something regular to modify someone's appearance that way, they agreed to do it.

Undyne, after doing some research, decided she wanted to get one of those piercings. Eventually, she convinced Alphys to get one as well. And Papyrus… he just tagged along. He had plenty of free time.

"Okay then, who goes first?" The piercer asked them. She had seen these people on TV before, everybody knew Frisk and their monster family by now, but she knew better than to give any kind of special treatment to someone who publicly asked not to.

They looked at each other, as if asking the same to themselves, until finally Undyne raised her hand. "Me, I guess." All of them were a little scared of needles, but she had to keep her I'm really tough! façade.

"Alright. Come with me." The girl said, heading to the annexed room, which looked a lot like a doctor's office. "I'm sorry, but only one person is allowed at the same time." She explained to the group when she found them all behind her. No matter what species you are, salubrity and hygiene go first.

They complied and waited outside the door. The girl didn't close the door entirely, but they couldn't get to see how a hypodermic needle went through Undyne's fin.

A few moments after, the aforementioned came out. She had a weird grin plastered on her face that didn't match her unreadable expression. She didn't say a word; she just gave the group a thumbs-up that didn't convince anyone.

Alphys wanted to bail really bad, but she promised not to. Her girlfriend already had her helix done, and now it was her turn. "I've been dead inside for many years, maybe feeling some pain will remind me that I'm still alive." She muttered under her breath as she entered the office.

The piercer left the door completely open this time, and everyone could see how stoic the former scientist looked as the piece of metal broke her skin. When she came out, she was a new person. Her perspective on life changed, she learned to love the risk.

And Frisk was up next.

They weren't that nervous. After dying several times, how bad could a couple of needles hurt them? They sat on the gurney while the piercer got everything ready.

"Not many girls get their earlobes pierced at your age. Didn't you get them done when you were little?" She tried to start a conversation with them. Frisk was a human, so she thought she wouldn't make any mistakes if she tried to talk to them.

"…no." They simply answered after a moment. They thought about correcting her since they weren't actually a girl, but they thought about it so much that, when they were done, their ears were also done. Frisk didn't feel any pain, at least not physically.

After paying and being told how to take proper care of their new holes, the group left the studio.

"Are you okay, Frisk?" A worried Alphys asked. Even though her social skills were poor, she knew how to treat her friends. "I've heard that girl and-"

"It's okay, Alphys." Frisk cut her off. "I can't really blame her, after all. My long hair, my androgynous figure… it's easy to think that I'm a girl."

"WAIT!" Papyrus yelled, bringing them all to a halt. "You aren't a girl?!" His voice training seemed to be effective. Now he could talk without using all caps all the time.

"No, Papyrus. I'm not a girl." They answered coldly.

"Oh… I… what's a girl anyway? Haha, I'm the great Papyrus! All of you humans look the same to me!" Not wanting to make the situation any more awkward, he decided to stop talking and continue walking.

But it proved to be useless when Undyne opened her mouth. "Frisk… what are you anyway?" She didn't mean to offend them, she was truly curious.

Frisk sighed deeply and turned around to face her. "I'm everything, and I'm nothing."

"Like quantum physics?" Alphys wondered, but she thought that saying it out loud wasn't appropriate.

"What do you mean?" Undyne inquired again.

"I don't have a gender per se. I am… whatever you portray me like. If you want me to be a boy, I'll be a boy; if you want me to be a girl, I'll be a girl; if you want me to be both, I'll be both… and so on." They answered calmly, understanding that maybe this was a little hard to comprehend for someone who barely knew anything about humans.

The group fell silent for a moment, and Frisk felt they needed to explain it a little better. "I am whatever the players, or the writers, or anyone wants me to be. Our lives depend on them. We live in a world we have no control over, and that includes my gender."

Silence reigned again. The couple of monsters began to link the pieces of the puzzle they didn't know they asked to be given.

Undyne's eyes went wide, and once again, she had something to ask. "So, does that mean... that every time Alphys and I have scissored… we were forced to do it?!"

Frisk just nodded.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"OUR LIVES ARE A LIE!"

They ended up at Grillby's EX having ice cream with Donald Trump and Naruto. They shared embarrassing stories and flirted with each other. It was a nice afternoon.

Papyrus bought really cool earrings for everyone. Except for Sans.

Papyrus HATES Sans.

Disclaimer: the following story contains violence, swearing, and rape/child abuse mention.

The talk

Sans and Toriel wanted to get to know each other a little better, and since both of them were free that Wednesday, they decided to spend it together.

Each one of them was holding a cup of wine. It was Sans's first, and Toriel's third; and they were seated across each other in the living room.

"Tell me: what do all those puns hide? What's behind that permanent grin of yours?" The goat monster was straightforward, maybe because she wanted to know who Sans really was, or maybe because of the alcohol.

"heh, you sure are direct." He answered flatly, leaning back on the couch and closing his eyes. He didn't expect her to ask something like this so soon, but it didn't really surprise him.

"And I see you are not. Perhaps… because there's something you don't want me to know?" She offered the skeleton a sly smile before taking a sip of her drink.

"what if i told you…" He faced her again, opening one eye. "…that there's nothing behind the puns? what if i told you that i'm just happy?"

"I wouldn't believe you, just like you wouldn't believe me if I told you that I'm nothing but an innocent lady who's never done anything wrong."

"well, i guess we all have secrets." He opened his other eye and forced a chuckle. "but why do you wanna know mine?"

"Because… yours are more interesting than mine." They locked eyes, and none of them wanted to be the first to look away.

"how would you know that?" The skeleton inquired, only being able to imagine what her answer would be.

"I was the queen of the Underground when you were born, Sans. And, back then, I was happy." She answered, sounding casual, but the skeleton couldn't avoid hearing a hint of a… menace, maybe?

He knew what she implied. If he could change his facial expressions, now he would be displaying a frown. "i don't think this is the best way to start a friendship, toriel."

The goat monster placed her cup on the coffee table and smiled. "Probably that's the reason why I don't have many friends." Her smile looked genuine, but like Sans's, it hid many things.

"so i'm not the first one you interrogate. is that why undyne can barely stand you?"

"Oh, no. Let's just say… we don't share points of view. But, back to you…"

Sans shook his head and placed his cup on the table as well. "i never thought the lady i used to share jokes with is actually a gossip." His voice was lower than before, and he couldn't say he was enjoying this conversation.

"If we're going to start calling each other names, there are a few I could call you, but that would be really childish, wouldn't it?" It was clear what her intentions were, and Sans was getting angry. Why would she bring his past up anyway?

"yes it would, but i bet i could counteract all of them." Toriel's smile faded, understanding what he was implying now.

"I honestly thought this would be easier…" She said, mostly to herself.

"it's funny. i never thought you'd blame me for what happened…" He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, and stared at the ceiling. "why are you doing this? do you wanna make me feel as miserable as your husband?"

The former queen was close to lose her temper. "I can't blame your father; and your brother, being collateral damage just like you, is too simple to understand any of this..." Sans left eye flickered blue briefly, prompting a dangerous smile from her. "…you're just the next best thing."

"maybe you're just jealous because my father knew how to take care of his kids."

That was it.

Toriel stood up, anger taking over her. "He fucked up Chara's soul just to bring you useless piece of shit to life!"

Sans could only laugh or kill her, and he decided that the first one was easier. "don't you ever get tired of blaming others for your mistakes? you're not the great mom you think you are either."

"And you shouldn't even exist!" Without warning, she shot a volley of fireballs at the now empty couch. She didn't care if the entire house caught fire, she just wanted to get rid of the one she thought made her life a living hell.

"you don't wanna do that again." Sans said, floating right behind her.

"You're as freaky as he was!" The enraged goat monster yelled, turning around just to find nothing.

"and you're nothing but a tyrant who hates it when things don't go your way." He was behind her again, but before she could move, he used his magic to lift her up in the air and lock her movements.

Toriel tried to break free, but it proved to be useless. "What does it feel like to use stolen powers?! What does it feel like to live a stolen life?!" She couldn't see him since he made her face the wall, but she knew he had that shit-eating grin of his on his face, and just the thought of it made her blood boil.

"i dunno. what does it feel like to abuse human children?" He answered coldly. There were many things Sans got to learn reset after reset, including this confession Toriel made when they were about to be impaled. In fact, both of them knew many things about the other by now, but they decided to pretend not to know anything for everyone's sake… or maybe for their own. Anyway, it was hard to tell which past was darker, as it was to know which one was more dreadful.

"YOU BASTARD SON OF A BITCH-!"

"you selfish, crazy cunt."

Realizing how bad things were, Sans decided to put an end to this. He took out his phone and texted Frisk. 'kid i need u to load rn lol. or reset lmao. no, but really, do it. we messed up. btw we should get a new place asap '

Was that too edgy?