Hey guys, so I was finally able to get this chapter done. I've been dealing with something not quite like writers block, but more of not getting my words down right. I had to rewrite parts of this chapter multiple times until I felt comfortable enough to continue. So, because of that, it ended up being a little longer than usual.

I gotta say though, you guys fill me with so much determination to write this thing. 19 followers and 15 favorites on this story, and I feel so blessed having all of you show as much interest as there is. You guys are my muses for this, and you keep me wanting to write for you. My gratitude can only be shown so much you know? (Also, 15hundred+ views on this story? Oh gosh you all humble me!)

So, I hope that I can keep making this story better and better for everyone! Also, I think we're just on the brink of a story shift, and I might have to change the genre of this story as well as the rating of it because of it. So I hope that it doesn't shake people too much as we make the transition. Honestly, when I first started this story, I had no idea what rating or genre I should give this. This story is ever evolving it seems.

Replies:

Kazriel: *includes all the things we talked about over pm* and also, I'm really glad that, even though our tastes differ, that you're sticking around with this. I truly appreciate that.

MachUPB: Thank you! I wanted to try and throw out a different perspective on the Dreemurs into the pile of ideas that is Undertale, so I'm glad that I could make them as layered as I intended. They seem like they would be very layered and intense if they never went underground and Asriel had never died.

Lunar Loon: Well here you go~

hooooooo boi: Aah thank you! Even if they aren't words I still appreciate squawks and inaudible sounds. You're welcome!

Anywhoogle, onto the chapter! I do not own Undertale, all rights belong to the fabulous Toby Fox~

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There was a comfortable warmth that surrounded her. Her nerves spiked in a pleasant way as her senses heightened at the levels of warmth around her. She could roll around in it for weeks and not get tired of being wrapped in the comfort of it. Her soul hummed in happiness, and she sighed - which echoed throughout the hazed room of deep blues and purples.

She was somewhere between the void and dreams, which was always kind to her when she visited.

A soft red glowed on her expressions at a lower angle, and she could look into the small red heart. The colors of this in between place pulsed along with her soul, lines of orange slowly dripping down, in and out of existence, and strummed in tune with her heartbeat.

Something similar to her sight took in the stats that sat with the red heart, and she hummed to herself happily. Green ripples went through the blues and purples from the sound of her voice, reacting from the echo of it.

They were all her starting stats. What she felt was a smile spread on her supposed face. She was doing great this time around. She was going to progress further than she had, and it wasn't even the original time line. An ice blue line arched through this in between place as a bitter pang resonated in her. Red bloomed from the heart and reached out to her, curling to comfort her.

Determination resonated in her being as she floated in this cosmos.

A separate entity cleared their throat, causing her to look up. Colors dripped away from this realm, as the void reached out to her and gripped her tight.

A man with a white face and a black suit that had hard white lines to distinguish himself from the rest of the void. His white face had two black holes where eyes should be, with two lines that stretched along his face in opposite directions.

The man who talks with hands.

His two white hands came out from behind him and, in a smooth gesture, pointed to one of his wrists. The finger that pointed jerked twice, as if tapping the glass of a watch.

They shot each other knowing, kind smiles, as she nodded.

"I know Gaster."

Her words came out in bubbles, like she was caught underwater. There were no sounds.

His black grin tightened in a sweet, knowing way.

With a single nod her essence was dragged upwards, her red soul already where it should be in her.

Suddenly white filled her senses.

One eye snapped open, the other being buried into the belly of a flat pillow, and Alphys sleep face was all Frisk could see in the darkness of night. A loud, nazily snore sounded throatily, and drool dripped down the corner of her mouth, making a puddle that was almost within reach of Frisk.

With a yawn on the edge of her Frisk sat up and stretched largely. Something rolled off her with a loud thud, causing her to focus on the source. She gave a humored smile as she stared down at the long skeleton who had acted as a sort of blanket for the human throughout the night.

Perpendicular to her, he was now sprawled out across her legs, snoring and muttering 'nyeheheh' quietly in his sleep. Thankfully a blanket was laid between them, otherwise she probably would have been more livid in her observations. She looked around, taking note of Alphys practically laying on top of her, Undyne gripping Alphys' long tail and cuddling with it.

Frisk put her hand to her mouth, trying to push back a soft chuckle from leaving her.

She noticed one was missing…

A soft hum from the balcony barely caught her attention. She nibbled at her lip, trying to decide whether it was right of her to investigate. She glanced at her skeletal anchor. Or whether she could.

With a quick movement she was free and on her feet. Taking joy in a full-body stretch she felt her joints pop into place and her muscles tighten. Slumping after the act she shuffled into the kitchen.

A deep inhale, and the warm smell of the dark brew called to her from the metal pot. Happily she took a small cup as needed. The neon of the microwaves clock stated

4:15am

and she hummed, pleased with herself.

She never slept in that late on her first attempt.

Maybe on the third or fourth after waking up from rough nightmares, but this was some sort of record for her.

She never felt better.

Pushing the glass door, stepping through, and then closing it behind her, she joined the missing company at the balcony.

He seemed different without the trademark blue jacket. Like he was someone else entirely. Or maybe he was just his real self, and maybe the jacket was a way for him to hide?

She took her spot next to him as she gripped her mug. Autumn was gripping at the edges of the summer heat Ebott was experiencing, which made the nights take on a chill that trailed after the settled heat of the day. It wasn't uncomfortable, only telling of things to come.

Something gripped at her heart as the haze of dreamland winked at her from the corners of her mind. Oh well, dreams never were important. She always seemed to forget them if she didn't write them down immediately. Something tugged at her to talk to the professor before the start of next class though.

Blinking such thoughts away her eyes studied the skeleton next to her.

His eyes were black from thought, the usual white dots gone. A small smile rested on her lips as she took in his stance. He was lost in his own world as he usually was this time of night. He would stop replying to her around this time, and start back up in a couple hours, and it was comforting to see that in person.

She hummed a laugh to herself, causing him to jerk back to reality. Nibbling on her lip again she turned back to the darkness that hung comfortably around them. Not that it was too dark - the street lights and the echoes of civilization made sure of that.

Frisk shrugged off his stare on her, only meeting it in a sideways glance when he cleared his throat.

"Hey kid." He hummed, more for himself than her.

His stance was tense, as he gripped the coffee mug that still steamed. Seemed fresh.

She smiled into her own mug, taking a sip of the hot liquid.

A boney finger scratched at his cheekbone, and he suddenly felt naked without his jacket.

Brows furrowed at the heavy tension in the air, like something was sitting just out of reach of either of them. A clearing of the throat caused him to glance at her. Leaning against the railing she hummed at him. "Sans, come on, we talked about this." She stated lamely, causing him to blush a faint blue. His coffee mug was suddenly a fascinating thing for him to examine. She nudged his bare foot with her own, resting hers on his and pressing it down as if to trap him. "You could have woken me up, it's more direct than texting."

He gave her a disgruntled look and tried to pull his foot away, to no avail.

She sighed again and leaned her back against the railing, turned fully to him. "Was it the dream with the man that talks with hands again?" She stated, causing him to stiffen.

He would have thrown her off the balcony if it wasn't any real danger. He was too tired to use his magic, and he didn't want to use up what he had so early in the day. Not before coffee. So it was no use to react that way. He only just grunted and looked away from her.

Her smile dropped and was replaced by a neutral acknowledgment.

The man who talked with hands was apparently a thing for Sans for years. Yet, whenever he would remember the rough parts of his dreams Sans could never put a face to the tall stranger that plagued him.

Frisk's heart weighed heavy over the fact she knew. Not always did she know, but she remembered his face, and when she encountered Gaster before the semester started, it clicked. Something subconscious in her screamed that he was the man who hid in the subconscious lining of her mind.

Her head would always hurt at the convolutedness of it.

She saw the save star and the reset button. She could use them. That had been a thing for her since she was ten, and she learned early that it was something you didn't talk about. The man that spoke with hands was always on the edge of her consciousness, and when she encountered him in real life he acted like he knew her. She even told him of the reasoning behind applying to the college he worked at - she had read up on his studies and how revered he was in the field of scientific engineering, and his studies on time manipulations, and applied to that college specifically to learn under him - and he did not seem surprised at all. Like he knew her reasons, and that what she could see were in fact real and not some hallucinations of a possibly crazy girl.

He told her those that could see the star and box had the ability to reset, and that this was not her first runthrough if that was the case.

"Things happen for a reason, dear Frisk." Gaster spoke to her calmly, a different tone bubbling on the fringes of his words as his hands seemed to move of their own accord. He leaned closer to her as they chatted at a small cafe table. "Time is an odd thing, something those in our fields realize after some time." He chuckled to himself. He straightened up as his eyes fluttered, never focusing on one thing in particular. "People in our lives come and go, and yet those that are meant to find you end up finding you. Even the bad ones." His eyes focused on something at that statement, and then turned to her.

She always wondered what his eyes saw that hers could not.

He just gave her a kind smile at her curiosity, as if knowing what she thought. "Broken pieces of timelines that we could not save or could not bring to completion." Her brows furrowed at that, to which he just shook his head as if addressing a child. "Pay that no mind." He hummed. His eyes snapped back to her once more. "If you are to be joining my class in the fall, which you seem determined of, I must tell you one thing."

She nodded dumbly, the energy of the universe flowing off of the fractured skeleton across from her.

His grin widened as his eyes flashed, one cobalt blue and the other traffic-cone orange, as he held a boney finger to his teeth. "If one speaks of 'the man who talks with hands', which I'm sure will become a thing this line, spare him your knowledge of that."

Gradually she agreed.

And she kept her promise.

There was a moment of silence as she stared at the lost skeleton next to her. Solemnly, she set her mug down on the railing which was wide enough for it, and draped her arms around the shoulders of Sans. He stiffened from the kindness of it, but he relented and patted her arm. Slowly an arm snaked around her waist as a reply. There they held each other, both lost in their own ways. She would help him out as best she could though, because maybe the blind leading the blind wasn't such a bad thing.

She just wished that things weren't so confusing. She was caught in a haze and no matter how hard she shined the light she couldn't break through.

Loud chatter filled the small apartment as the smell of waffles and breakfast spaghetti filled the air in comforting ways. Frisk came to as she felt the breeze of the early morning on her, and a comfortable smile rose from her. Curled up on the balcony couch - made from metal and flimsy fabric - she felt a blanket draped over her.

A soft snore alerted her to the gentle grip that was held to her waist. She took note of the short skeleton without his trademark blue, snoring and gently gripping her. She had ended up using him as a sort of pillow some time in the early morning. They didn't really talk after she came out to see him, and it was kinda funny to her how they both fell asleep pretty easy.

Clattering from inside caused her to sit up. Sans snorted and cracked an eye open at Frisk, only to close it again and pull his arm away from her.

"OH FRISK THE HUMAN, I SEE YOU HAVE RISEN FROM YOUR DEEP SLUMBER!" Papyrus practically screamed at her. She chuckled and pushed herself up, her joints popping as she opened the now screen door. She missed the warm smile that rested on Sans.

Shuffling inside she blinked slowly at the two in the kitchen, and turned her head to the sound of running water - a shower from the sounds of it. With a loud yawn she stretched her arms wide over herself, holding her breath as her muscles tensed in a pleasurable way. A long groan slithered through her teeth as she shivered from the act. Then, suddenly, she dropped her arms to her side and shuffled into the small kitchen that was already overflowing with just two occupants.

Undyne and Papyrus, still in their previous night's clothing, were singing off key as they prepped food for the five of them.

Frisk ducked as Papyrus went sailing over her; thankfully he landed on the abused couch and then fell to the floor with a loud thud. "NYEH!" he peaked his head over the couch, rubbing the back of his skull with one eye open. Undyne pointed a large spatula at Papyrus in an over-exaggerated Captain Morgan stance, grease from the utensil dripping at Frisks bare feet.

"YOU SANG THAT ALL WRONG! IT'S SUPPOSED TO START WITH THE 'we must be swift as a coursing river'," she did a quick hum of the tune for the background of the song. "NOT 'we must be the force of the great typhoon'! Shang is right! I WILL HAVE TO MAKE A MAN OUT OF YOU!" she snapped, waving her spatula at Papyrus and getting a piece of egg on Frisks cheek.

Frisk just sighed and stepped under the outstretched arm, making her way to the fresh coffee pot, when she was face to face with the short skeleton from outside. She gawked at him as he sent her a goofy grin. "Got the last of the pot. Sorry kiddo." He took a long loud sip of his coffee, his sockets narrowing at her. She just laughed and shook her head, bumping him out of the way with her hip as she dug through Alphys' kitchen for the makings of a new pot.

"OH, BUT UNDYNE, I FEAR THAT YOU ARE THE WRONG ONE!" Papyrus challenged, and the two short individuals chuckled to themselves.

"AS IF BONEHEAD!" Undyne lunged out of the kitchen, quick to abandon the large breakfast she was making. Frisk laughed, abandoning her current quest as she tended to the breakfast that was starting to smoke. Sans shook his head as he watched Papyrus and Undyne roughhouse in the small living room. He set out to make a new pot of coffee, and soon the two of them worked to finish off making breakfast.

Frisk laughed as she caught Sans pulling down some waffle batter with the aid of blue magic. He grinned as he flicked his wrists to gather all the items needed. Soon waffles started piling up as eggs were being finished with. She grinned at him. "Aren't you feeling generous this morning, Mr. NeverCooksForAnyone." she stuck out her tongue and he only shrugged at her. His large grin reaching his eyes.

As if on cue, Alphys padded out from the bathroom in damp pajamas, blinking at the chaos and oddness of everything. Expectantly, Undyne and Papyrus were throwing each other around the small apartment. She thanked her lucky stars that nothing was broken or damaged - she would have talked Undyne's fin off if one of her rare figures was destroyed. The odd part of it though was Frisk was cooking in her kitchen, and she got Sans to help her out with it! Pushing her glasses up the bridge of her snout, Alphys smiled, unsure, and went to her room to change into something proper for the day without saying a word to anyone.

The day had passed by in a whirl of excitement. Frisk had never really had a solid group of friends throughout her life. She had always had one or two good friends that she would hang out on a regular basis, but never more than that. She was both excited and overwhelmed that four people actually wanted to spend time with her.

Undyne she wasn't entirely sure with, since Frisk would notice the glares Undyne sent her way when Undyne thought she wasn't looking, or that anyone else wasn't looking. Frisk noticed though, and her heart was heavy by the caution that the tall fish woman gave her. She seemed to warm up to her after a bit though, but it hadn't quelled the wariness.

Frisk was sure that Undyne was only treating her that way for the same reason Sans treated her that way at first, and if she could make friends with the distant skeleton then she was sure she could make friends with the tall woman that had anger issues.

So that's why, when Undyne had stated that Frisk should go grab them some food and drink from that spider shop down the street, she jumped at the opportunity. She was the odd creature out, a newcomer compared to the four that had been with each other since high school. Possibly earlier, but that was as early as Frisk had heard stories of.

Papyrus was adamant about joining Frisk, saying it would be a way him to get to know the new friend, but Undyne denied him that. Frisk felt Undyne's hawk eye follow her, even outside the closed door.

Undynes eye turned to the three occupants in the room, barely skimming over Papyrus and focused in mainly on Sans. There was a sort of nonverbal communication between them, resulting in Sans' blue eye flashing in distaste.

"Getting soft on me chuckles. Thought you didn't want anything to do with humans, comedian." she said in almost a warning. She leaned back into the couch next to Alphys, staring at the short skeleton who was settled into a rolling chair with no arms.

Sans sneered at the nicknames, the implications of them stabbing into him. "Good to talk to you too 'Dyne. Glad to know you've been keeping an eye out for my bro-bro." He grinned at her sneer. "Too bad you can't use the other."

Undyne nearly lunged out from her seat at him, being held back by Papyrus and sat down hard by him. She scoffed at him and crossed her arms, her foot tapping loudly against the floor. Alphys sent a tense glance towards Sans and Undyne, resting a hand on her girlfriends upper arm. Undyne shot Alphys a soft glance, before blowing a strand of red away from her face. "You promised me a human wouldn't get close to someone I care about as long as I looked after bonehead." she jerked her head towards Papyrus.

Alphys and Papyrus glanced at each other, sighing helplessly and watching from the sidelines of the intense conversation between the two strong-willed monsters. "SHALL I MAKE US TEA WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE HUMAN TO RETURN, ALPHYS?" Papyrus asked, making his way to the kitchen.

"Y-yes, thank you Pa-papyrus." she kept her eyes on Undyne as she pushed her glasses upwards.

It's not that Undyne and Sans hated each other, they just have always been at odds with each other. They only ever really communicated because people close to them interacted with the other. Undyne disliked Sans attitude towards life, and Sans disliked Undynes way of expressing herself. They had the ability to work well as a team, as shown whenever Papyrus had gotten in a bad spot because of his naivety, or whenever Alphys had pulled herself into a self-destructive path in high school.

Heck, they even had been friends at one point, when Sans had more ambition in his life, but that was a lifetime ago, and now the air would be tense and destructive whenever they were in the same room as each other, without distraction, for more than five minutes. It would cause Alphys to hide in herself and watch from a safe distance, and Papyrus would have to distract himself as the 'adults' talked amongst themselves about 'grown up things'.

Sans rolled his eyes at Undyne. "'Dyne, you're acting like the kid is the spawn of hell, when clearly she was with us just fine." He gestured to the house, to the blanket pile that sat at the foot of the couch, and then to her and Alphys. "Kid ain't gonna hurt anyone." He stuffed his hand back into his jacket, retrieved hours ago once breakfast was over with.

Undyne sneered and leaned forward, almost lunging at Sans. "Yeah, she may not have hurt anyone, Sans, but she could!"

Sans sneered through his grin, his eyes going black. "If you've got such shit belief in my abilities fishface, then why even ask me for help in the first place?" This caused Undyne to snort and lean back, flopping against the back of the couch and digging her heel into the woodwork below the skin of it. His whites came back and they wandered to Alphys, who was staring at him with concern, as she always did at these weird welcome home parties. "Further more, do you believe in your girlfriend?" he asked, studying Undynes face.

Her good eye widened at the audacity of him. She sat up, straightened up. "Of course! OF COURSE I DO SANS!" She seethed at the short skeleton, who gestured to Alphys.

"She was the one that got so attached to the human girl in the first place. And we both know her judgement of character is pretty high up there. Not as high as mine, but close." Undyne glanced at Alphys, who grinned sheepishly.

"...Alph?"

Alphys laughed nervously, fiddling with her glasses and cleaning them before putting them back on. "Ehe...y-you see...I was, ah, freaked out by her at first. She, uhm, w-was a human in a m-monster college, a-and so, I was wary of her. B-but then she, uh, really g-grew on me. S-she stood up t-to Sans!" Undyne blinked widely at Alphys, curiousity taking over her caution. Alphys laughed again, less nervously this time. "Y-yeah! She, uh, took her g-giant book, and w-when Sans had said his rant a-about h-how it was a d-dangerous world for h-humans, a-and basically thr-reatened her, she took her book and s-smacked him in the face with it!" she made the motion of it. Laughter sounded from the kitchen, which simmered into a small chuckle and an apology from Papyrus. Alphys blushed deeply and tapped the tips of her claws together. "Sh-she then told him she w-wanted to be friends, o-once he g-got off his high horse." she cleared her throat and settled into her seat.

Once it all sunk in for her, Undyne started laughing at the idea of someone smacking the big intimidating Sans in the face with a thick book, and then turning around and saying they wanted to be friends. She liked this kids style, even though she was still highly wary of the human.

Sans laughed dryly in memory. "Yeah. Ya see 'Dyne? Kid doesn't mean any harm. I even did a judgment check on her." He hummed as Undyne raised a brow. He only shrugged as she waved for him to continue. "Aside from her stepping on some bugs and feeling guilty about it, she's clean." He stated, closing his sockets as to hide the fading of his whites. "Kid wouldn't willingly hurt a monster, she seems sweet to us anyways."

There was still some things shaded about her. She wasn't all clean, but she wasn't dirty either. Aside from the clouded abuse of her childhood and teenage years, there was something else. Something large was missing, hazed in a shroud of confusion on his part. The fact that his soul tugged at it made him worry all the more. Not that he would tell Undyne that. If she had any doubt of his legitimacy in his abilities, then there goes his one line in knowing how his brother was doing out in the field. He couldn't risk that.

Undyne's lips thinned as she considered these new things. She then shrugged and leaned back into the couch, mulling everything over. "Alright, I'll let her chill with us…" she narrowed her eye at him, and he met it with two white dots. "But if I catch so much as a whiff of things going to shit, I will find you and tear you apart bone by bone." Sans just chuckled and shrugged. Undyne grinned widely and called over her shoulder. "How's that tea coming along, bonehead?"

Frisk hummed as she stepped out into the warm day. The chime of Muffets door sounded behind her as the door closed softly. Her hands full of drink holders and bags of spider donuts, Frisk smiled brightly as she turned to walk back to Alphys' apartment. Someone stopped her in her tracks though, as she stared up at an embarrassed goat boy.

Asriel laughed in an embarrassed way and stuffed his hands into his slacks' pockets. "Hello, Frisk the scientist." he eyed her and the bundle of goods in her hands. He smiled sullenly. "Ah, if I am in your way I will step aside and let you be on your way. I was hoping I could gain the chance to talk with you briefly though."

The human closed her gawking mouth and shook her head, setting down the items on the table next to them. "O-oh, no, I'm sorry Asriel. Yeah, I have time to talk." She smiled at the young ambassador, who smiled back and nodded.

"Thank you." he smiled brightly, his eyes twinkling with happiness. Frisk's heart warmed at that. He looked up at the blue sky, fiddling with his sleeves. He wore a golden long-sleeve shirt and black slacks which accentuated his lean build, and she found he was quite dashing dressed so plainly. No bells and whistles, just simply himself. He laughed, the twinkle of his laughter filling her with comfort. Thankfully her heart didn't seize from the invasion of her feelings, since she already felt as such. "...I wanted to apologize, for last night." He glanced at Frisk, who was smiling in an understanding way.

She hummed and nodded, tilting her head. Last night was sure an emotional rollercoaster for her. "Your parents were...interesting."

His laughter was boisterous, like his father's, and she almost felt like laughing as well. "You are such a kind woman, Frisk." he grinned and turned to her, beaming. "Maybe...maybe if things were different, I could have taken you on an actual date." he grinned.

Frisked smiled, a hidden sadness in her. "Maybe, if things were different, I would have liked that." She laughed and shook her head. "But god, your parents are terrifying!" She clutched her chest, causing Asriel to laugh. She grinned at him. "I doubt they would be happy with a human dating their precious son." she laughed kindly, causing him to chuckle and nod.

"Yeah...eh, that's still not going to stop me from trying to sway their minds." he said, determined, and her heart cried out to him. He seemed to take note, and sighed because of it. "We need to build human monster alliances, to show that not all humans are bad, just like not all monsters are good." he looked out, distantly, knowingly.

Frisk smiled sympathetically at the young ambassador, and wrapped her arms around his chest, hugging him close. "Well I wish you the best of luck!" Asriel blinked down at her, and laughed in a sweet way, before scooping her up in a large hug.

Pulling away from her, Asriel smiled charmingly and nodded. His hands clasped behind his back. "I'll be seeing you around, sis." he winked, causing her to laugh and nod, waving him goodbye.

She then called out, a hand cupped over her mouth. "If you ever need a place to escape and play some games you know my address!" his laugh echoed as he rounded the corner out of site.

With a warm smile she scooped up her order and made her way back to her waiting company.

...

Thank you for reading, please review!