Chapter 4: Priorities

Ebony had no choice but to let her scarf sit back on that night stand as Sans had insisted. Even after climbing on top of the counter in the kitchen, and even after teetering dangerously on the counter by balancing on a chair, the girl had no hopes of reaching the sink's faucet handles when it was up so high on a cabinet. Holding a puke-covered scarf around Sans' house wouldn't make it become any cleaner, either. Her eyes darted frequently from Sans to the night stand, obviously concerned about possibly losing it even though it lay safely (and disgustingly) there. The only thing that distracted her from her thoughts was her stomach, which was whining and making embarrassingly needy noises.

Remembering that Papyrus had mentioned something about breakfast for her, Ebony asked Sans for permission to check in the refrigerator. Leaning back against the entrance of the kitchen, Sans couldn't stop snickering as he answered, "Go ahead, kid. You're gonna wanna knock on the door before you open it, though."

Ebony raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but hesitantly rapped her knuckles against the fridge door twice just to humor Sans. A solid CLUNKing noise echoed throughout the house as she knocked on the big appliance, and the girl felt like the skeleton was making her look like a complete idiot right now.

"Knock knock!" He sounded a little too eager to start this up.

"Really...? We're doing this right now? I thought you only wanted me to knock."

Sans shushed her and told her to keep going, and that she wouldn't regret it. The guy had the worst shit-eating grin Ebony had ever seen, and she immediately felt skeptical about all this.

I swear, if some junk comes flying out at me after I open this door...

Regardless, Ebony sighed dramatically. "Okay, okay: Who's there?"

"Giddy."

"... Giddy who?"

"Better hope you're hungry enough to feel spa-giddy when you see what's inside!"

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Sans, did you seriously just - WHAT IN THE WORLD IS ALL THIS?"

She knew she shouldn't be surprised any more, but god *damn* was that really all spaghetti?! Containers upon containers of spaghetti filled the inside of the fridge, and the door was also lined with containers as well. Didn't majority of this stuff go bad? Wouldn't it have to? Food was still food; it shouldn't matter whether someone prepared this Aboveground nor Underground. Fact was, there was no *way* a person could eat all that. Well... She meant a normal person. A human. She could hear Sans snickering behind her.

"We could always pop by at Grillby's for some burgers and fries." Sans' grin grew wider, and Ebony could see he was dying with laughter on the inside just watching her face change with so many emotions from that one proposition.

"FUuuudge - NO." Ebony took care to correct herself quickly before Sans decided to eat her, or whatever it is monsters like him actually do, for letting a swear slip again. But was he nuts? The idea of going back to the bar terrified Ebony. It was much too soon, and just thinking about it made the woman's cheeks heat up considerably. She swallowed her thoughts of embarrassment away and tried to blow it off. "I mean... Maybe next time. The spaghetti looks so good, I love pasta myself, and Papyrus was the one who made it, right? I think I'll eat this instead. Where's the microwave? I'll just heat up a whole container and-"

"We don't have a microwave."

"Uh... Then how about a pot so I can use the stove?"

"We don't have pots. They're all at another person's house."

". . . Pans?"

"Nega-Tori."

It was too much nonsense in one day for Ebony. She flipped out. "Then what do you have? I can't just eat cold pasta! How the heck do you not have anything in this god damn house? Why is everything so fucking WEIRD and nonsensical down here? I just wanted to get out of the Underground and find my fucking brother; I didn't even want to be down here in the first place!"

The silly girl's temper had gotten the best of her. As soon as the words left her mouth, Ebony wished sorely to have the ability to grab everything that had spewed out and shove them back down her own throat. Curse her mouth.

"Humans sure are ungrateful and needy, huh? You're in someone else's house and complaining about the lack of things in it?" Sans let the girl rant and have her say, but as soon as she paused and hesitated, the skelebro was on her in a heartbeat. It happened so suddenly that Ebony gasped as his face was now only inches from her own. He had her backed up against the wall, and he was no longer grinning that cheerful, goofy grin. He looked very somber. Very... *dangerous.*

Closing his eyes for a moment, the skeleton spoke up again. "You're taking things for granted here. Y'know, I figure I'd give you the chance since everyone seems to like you. Paps is being good to you too, even though he should have already reported you to the captain of the Royal Guard so they could kill you and capture your Soul. But if you don't watch your attitude, I can assure you that you're gonna have a bad time."

'Royal Guard'? Wait-

Ebony quickly lost her train of thought and nearly wet herself when the monster opened his eyes, his fingertip trailing up the girl's neck until he stopped abruptly at her chin. In any other situation, that action alone might have drawn out a different reaction from her. But right now, all she saw were two endless voids in Sans' skull where the pinpricks of light used to be, and she could feel the monster's bony fingertip digging slightly into the bottom of her chin. It was all-over just a terrifying experience.

It seemed to last an eternity, but eventually, Sans removed his finger from Ebony's chin and closed his eyes once more. When he opened them, the little lights were back in those eye sockets and he was grinning just as easily again. Choking out a fevered apology, Ebony's eyes began to sting with tears as she raised a shaky hand up to her chin. She did not want to be there.

Sans reached up and placed a hand on Ebony's head, ruffling her straight brown hair and causing some strands to stick out in places. They were almost the same height, but Ebony felt like the smaller being at that moment. "Look, kid. I'd much rather be the punster around you than having to scare the swear out of you. Can you just take it easy on the swears and be a little more considerate around us monsters? We can be a lot more sensitive than you humans take us for... especially Papyrus. He needs to stay safe from anything that could ruin him. I... I don't want anything to happen to my bro. That's why I need to look out for 'im." He rubbed the back of his head and took a step back to give Ebony some room.

Ebony was trembling and biting the inside of her cheek until teeth broke through flesh, drawing a fraction of blood. She was truly sorry for the swearing, but she just did not want to be Underground. Living with monsters, dealing with houses that had no bathrooms, and just... just being by herself down here. Fending for herself and just getting by for two years. Having her roommate at Waterfall was nice, and she was very thankful that her friend had the heart to Spare her. But-

This wasn't what she wanted.

A/N:

Annnd the scary part of the holidays are officially over! Well, because I've been working in retail for two different companies, so the holiday struggles hit me twice as much as it usually would. :P There's still New Year's, and then it's time to start fresh yet again. I hope you guys have resolutions of your own as well! Even if you may not end up following through by the end of the year, it's still really nice to have a goal to think about. :)

I'm going to be honest and admit that I'm flying by the seat of my pants here with this story (that saying always makes me giggle because I can imagine flying backwards just like that c:), but I'm having a bunch of fun with it. Thank you for everyone's love and attention!

Thank you to WickedScribbles for always having something interesting to say about my chapters. It really lifts my spirits to see an update from you!

And thank you to Just 2 Dream of You, Shion, and Angel of Randomosity for taking the time to leave me reviews as well! I appreciate every little thing from everyone. You're all fantastic humans. Now I'm off to type up another chapter!

- LostInnocenz