The Friend-Finding Arc Chapter 11:
Frisk felt like she was falling. Her eyes blinked open in a hall steeped in golden light. What should have been warm felt freezing. The floor's patterned tiles glared upwards with a polished sheen. Columns that lined the walls were bars between her and the stained-glass windows. She knew instantly that it couldn't be real. Her heart sunk. There was only one type of dream she had here; she didn't have the words to describe it. Her heart began to pound and she noticed, much to her dismay, that there was a knife in her hand.
"No. No no no, drop it. Drop that. No. Bad. Stop." Nothing happened. The hand wasn't really hers, after all.
.
She was walking forward without wanting to— she did her best to drag her feet but nothing came of it. In a blink, she saw Sans appear before her. Her throat went dry. His eyes were dark. In her mind, he loomed; towered like he were ten feet tall and made of stone.
"Oh, no. No no no, what did you do!?" she yelled at whoever's eyes she had.
Sans started talking but she couldn't hear it through the heart pounding in her ears. She'd heard it before, anyway. It was a nightmare. She could feel her body tensing up.
"No no no no no, don't you hurt him, don't you dare—"
.
She ran at him anyway. His eye lit up. Her soul turned blue. He threw her, hard. She felt every impact— things snapping, other things going numb. In a strange way, it was almost a relief, but it struck her with horror that whoever she was seeing through knew the fight almost as well as she did when her body began to outmanoeuvre the dragon-like skulls, the Gaster Blasters, surrounding her brother that shot great, blinding beams from their mouths.
.
"No, no no no, stop!" Frisk yelled. "Stop it, I won't…! I don't want to—!"
Her body ran at him with the knife again, but she threw all her weight towards the ground. She didn't expect a thing, and so felt like she could faint when the leg gave out and her body dropped to its knees.
"Wh… What the hell…?" someone else's voice asked.
The dragon's maw opened before her and she had no choice— she was blasted away. She felt everything stop.
.
Frisk's eyes blinked open in the hall steeped in golden light. She looked around quickly. It wasn't quite right, but maybe that was a good thing. Her back was to a column outside of the main path and she faced one of the grand windows marked with the sign of the Delta Rune.
"Wh… What?! No. No, no, c'mon, wake up," she said to herself.
.
She heard a crash. Her eyes went wide and she peeked around the column. To her shock, she saw someone who looked a lot like her, with a knife in their hand. Walls of bones were flying at them. She froze. Her brain stumbled over itself to try to understand. She had never seen this battle from the outside before. That other thing, though, it was fast. It was like an acrobat. She gulped, hard.
.
She tried to run; found that she could run. Determination filled her to the brim. She could see them— see them both. It was just like before. That thing that looked like a kid was about to charge at him, the sheen of their blade glinting coldly. She ran faster. Why did she have to be so small? She felt tears in her eyes.
.
She had to remember it wasn't real. Maybe it had been, once upon a time, but now it was just an echo. She could help.
.
She reached out and snagged the beast around the middle, and tackled them to the ground. They slid along the tile together until the wall stopped them. That thing— she could almost have sworn it was Chara— looked up at her with a frowning face and bright red eyes.
"You again?!" they demanded.
Frisk struggled to get to her feet, but the other one was faster. Their knife was quick. Frisk jumped back, but the blade still caught her shoulder. It hurt like it was real. Frisk gulped, tearful, and tried to catch her breath.
"Stop fighting," she said. "Please. Leave him alone. You've done enough."
"Or what?" they sneered. "I dunno what you are, but you're so weak. What the hell could you even do to me?"
Frisk grimaced for a moment saw a flash of blue beyond the other's head, and she started to smile. "Get dunked on," she said quietly.
"What?" The other one scowled incredulously.
"I said," the kid muttered, her voice getting a little stronger, "get dunked on."
They looked back at her with a furrowed brow, but then their eyes went wide and they whirled to face Sans. It was too late, though — those monstrous skulls faced them and blasted them into the ground until there was little left but charred dust. The glimmer of their red soul hovered for just a second and Frisk hopped and grabbed it tight in her hands.
"Stay gone," she said.
.
Frisk took a deep, shaking breath as the soul vanished into dust, and she turned to Sans. His eyes were still black, his brow furrowed. She steadied herself and hurried over to him— had to resist hugging him in case she freaked him out.
.
"Are you okay? She didn't hurt you, did she?" she asked. "I think I tripped her up that first time. I hoped she wouldn't come back, but I think we're okay for now."
He didn't relax much, but the magic along his fingers crackled out. "You're bleedin'."
She looked at her shoulder reflexively and wished she hadn't, but she tore her eyes away quickly. "Hey, small price to pay, right?" she asked with a smile. "It's not like it's real, anyway."
"That's not a very good joke, kid."
"I-It's a dream," she insisted. "It's not real now. Everyone's fine. Papyrus is fine. You just gotta wake up, you'll see."
.
He frowned and rubbed the back of his skull. "Oh. Right. Shouldda guessed when there were suddenly two of you. You her evil twin or somethin'? Evil twin of evil kid means you're good, right?"
"Sans, what the heck are you talking about?" Frisk said. "Dude, are you okay? Who do you see when you're looking at me? I-I'm not her, I… I'd never… I'm not gonna hurt you."
.
Sans stared at her in silence for a few, long moments. His brows lifted and he leaned in a little closer. "F… Frisk…?" He sounded like he couldn't believe it.
"Yeah!" she said.
The light came back to his eyes. He took her by her good shoulder. "Frisk?" he repeated.
She nodded. The look of shock on his face made her heart stall. Before she could say a word, he dissolved into glittering blue dust and vanished. She took a deep breath. He had managed to wake up. The dream had been his. This one almost always was. It began to dissolve, too.
.
Her vision blurred to black and she stood in a room of shadows. She looked around quickly, confused. This was different. She pulled out a speck of a lighter colour in the darkness. She headed for it, squinting. Hands, maybe? Skeleton hands?
"S… Sans?" she asked. "Papyrus?"
Finger bones carefully grasped her shoulder. Comforting; reassuring. Grateful? She turned to look, but still couldn't see.
xXxXx
Frisk woke up sweating, her heart pounding, body shaking with every breath. "Oh my god," she muttered. "Not again." She rubbed her eyes and looked around in the dark. She was in Papyrus's room, on his bed, though he wasn't even in there.
.
Frisk threw back the covers and stumbled onto the floor. She hurried out into the hall. Sans's door was barely ajar. She could hear the skeletons's voices just inside. She bit her lip and crept closer.
"You're one hundred percent sure you're okay?" Papyrus asked.
"Yeah. No worries," Sans said. "Thanks, bro. Super cool of you to check on me."
"Of course, Sans, I'm the number one brother a monster could possibly have!" he announced. "And, as such, I'll do whatever you need from me to help you feel better. I know the amount of fun involved in these dreams is basically none."
"That's true. Huh. What's that?"
Frisk didn't realize she was tapping the wall anxiously with her foot until he spoke. Her heart stuttered. She gulped and peeked in.
.
"S-Sorry. Just me," she said.
"Ah! H-Human!" Papyrus said quickly. "It's um… It's quite late, isn't it? Would you like me to tuck you back in?"
Frisk shook her head and cautiously looked at Sans. He seemed okay, but only until he locked eyes with her. Then, suddenly, he looked almost afraid. Frisk gulped.
"I'm… I'm gonna go. Sorry. S-Sans, feel better, okay?" she said.
.
She hurried out of the room quickly. Uncertain, but wanting to give them privacy, she slipped on her shoes and rushed outside.
.
Frisk wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the cold and leaned against the side of the house looking off towards Waterfall, frustrated, unsure what to say or do. She wanted nothing more than to give Sans the biggest hug in the world and explain everything, but she didn't want to put that on him yet. She didn't have nearly enough answers, and they weren't even close to being on the same page anymore. Once everything was settled, she told herself.
.
She sighed. Of all the memories, of all the dreams, why did it have to be that one? Sans didn't like to talk about it much. All she knew was, in that piece of time, everyone else was dust. Sans fought not to save himself, not even for revenge outright, but to force a reset or what he called "ditching a timeline". Frustrate another time traveller into giving up on the place he was trying to protect. He was really good at it, too.
.
Frisk pouted and rubbed her arms from the cold. She closed her eyes. He must've been desperately worried about something else. Usually that one didn't get to him unless— Frisk gulped. Of course. The reset. It was her fault.
.
She jumped when she heard the front door open and feet crunching through the snow and hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Kid?" Sans knocked on the wall. "What the heck are you doin'?"
She turned to look at him with surprise and he met her with a strange expression. He looked worried, for some reason. She grimaced.
"You're not lookin' too good, kiddo," he said.
"M… Me? N-No, I'm okay," she said quickly. "What about you?"
He shrugged. "How's the shoulder?"
"Fine! It's fine, don't w…" Frisk's stomach dropped. Blew it right away. She stared at him and bit her lip.
His brow furrowed and he locked eyes with her. It was almost like she could see all the pieces sliding into place in his mind.
.
"Oh… uh… I mean… I'm a huge dumb idiot." She smacked her face into her hands. "I was gonna tell you, I just didn't want to freak you out. I'm so sorry."
Sans flinched. He came a little closer. "How long?"
Frisk took a deep breath. "U-Um… Ever since I started being able to save," she admitted. "Sorry. I u-usually can't stop that thing but I r-really tried and—"
.
She squeaked when he hugged her tight. She certainly hadn't expected that. She could feel something of his soul pulsing like a quickened heartbeat through his ribcage.
"Kid, I… Uh… I'm sorry," he said. "That hurts pretty bad, huh?"
"What? Oh, no," she said, "I mean, my shoulder's f—"
"Not that."
Frisk's stomach dropped, but she laughed tiredly and hugged him back. "It's okay," she said. "You're awesome. They deserve it every time. The, um… the Gaster Blasters are my favourite."
"Never shouldda been you," he grumbled. "You shouldn't have ever even seen those." He cupped the back of her head and his magic tingled comfortingly through her skull.
She wilted. "S-Sans…" She grabbed him tighter and hid her face against him. "Th-Thank you. It's okay. You did the right thing."
He sighed quietly. His fingers clenched gently into the back of her hair. His magic was faint, a gentle, cool blue light. She felt a little tinge of regret come through the sense of reassurance he was trying to send out.
"Rough night. C'mon." He pulled back and shoved his hands in his pockets, then tilted his head towards the house. "It's cold out here, huh?"
.
Inside, they caught Papyrus halfway through putting his boots on.
"Oh! There you are, what happened?" he demanded.
Sans shrugged. "Nothin', bro," he said. "Frisk, uh… she thought she saw the nice cream guy go by."
"Th-That's right!" Frisk said. "No luck."
"Darn." Sans shrugged again. "Next time I guess."
"Next time, you two grab me first, I am clearly the fastest runner," Papyrus said. "I can catch up, no problem. Though I'm not sure exactly why you would want nice cream so late at night!"
"I, um… I just thought i-if Sans was having a bad dream, m-maybe it might make him feel better?" Frisk suggested.
"Aw! That's very sweet of you, human!" he said. "Isn't it, brother?"
"Mhm." He grinned. "Just so you know, I'm holdin' back, like, at least five puns just for you, Paps."
"NYEH! You better," he said. "Anyway! Never fear! Know that you all can sleep safely with the great Papyrus around!"
"Thanks," Frisk said.
He stuck his thumb up and then took off his boot. "Now, unless you two need anything, I'm going back to bed!" he announced. "Good night!"
"Good night, Paps, thanks again," Sans said as Frisk waved.
Sans took off his jacket and then turned his eyes on the kid. "Can I tell you somethin'?"
"Y-Yeah…?" she said.
He was quiet for a while.
"Uh… Sans?" she said.
"Sorry. I forgot." He grinned and shrugged, then ruffled her hair and walked off. "Good night, kiddo."
Frisk pouted.
xXxXx
Frisk woke up to the sound of Papyrus shuffling around his room. She sat up and rubbed her eyes groggily to watch him pulling on his "battle" wear over top of a t-shirt that had a skull and crossbones on it.
"Good morning, human!" he said brightly. "Sleep well after all that strange stuff last night?"
"Yeah. Thanks for letting me use your bed," she said.
He stuck his thumb up. "Not a problem at all," he said. "It's definitely the coolest bed ever. Very cozy! Feel free to use it any time! Especially right now, it's still very early."
"So what are you doing up?" she asked.
"Well, I'm about to…! Uh…" His face went blank for an instant and he straightened up and rubbed the back of his skull. "Huh."
"What?" Frisk asked.
"Well, every morning since I decided I wanted to be a member of the Royal Guard, I would get ready and go out patrolling for humans," he said. "But now, I mean, I guess I don't need to go recalibrate my puzzles, or even Sans's! I'm… not exactly sure what I should be doing right now. Hm. Didn't occur to me."
Frisk frowned thoughtfully and then stood up off the bed. "Well. There's still a human to catch."
"I'm not sure I follow," Papyrus said.
The kid pointed at herself with her thumbs and smiled. "I bet," she said, "that I can get away from you for at least a few minutes."
"What?! Impossible!" he said. "I'd catch you for sure!"
"Okay, how about, if you can catch me before I get out of the house," she said, "I'll do whatever puzzles you want."
Papyrus's eyes lit up. "You mean it?!" he asked shrilly.
"Yeah, of course!" she said.
The tall skeleton grinned. "Human, you're on!"
xXxXx
Sans looked up from his newspaper as he heard a clattering and thudding from upstairs. He peered around curiously and the sound of a door slamming made him jump. Frisk came sliding down the banister and ran for the front door. Before Sans could even ask what was up, Papyrus overtook her and she turned on a dime and sprinted for the kitchen. Papyrus cackled and ran after her. Sans watched them with confused amusement as they tore around the room until Papyrus dove over the sofa and grabbed Frisk.
"And the great Papyrus is the victor! As expected!" he said. "Good try, though, human!"
"Oh darn, I guess we'll have to do some puzzles," Frisk said.
"And I have just the ones!" Papyrus said. "Back to the upstairs! Nyeh heh heh heh!"
Frisk waved at Sans as his brother ferried her away. He finished up the page he was on before getting up and peeking in on them.
.
"It's all theoretical, mind you!" Papyrus was saying— he was sitting on the floor with Frisk, pouring over a large sheet of graph paper. "But if you were to change these all from X to O, and you can't fly—"
"What? No flying?" Frisk joked. "Gee."
"No flying! And see, these here are… well, I was thinking maybe a really cool spike trap, but honestly they will probably just end up being snow piles. Or rocks. Possibly."
"Okay. So you can't go over the snow piles."
"No! They're too high and you have no snowpants." He handed Frisk a crayon. "Got it?"
"Got it," Frisk said. "Don't want wet pants. Okay."
"Wet pants are failure!" Papyrus said.
Frisk hmmed and stared at the puzzle plan. Sans grinned to himself and walked in.
.
"Sup?" he asked.
"Brother, good morning! I'm shocked you're up! Frisk is going to test some of my puzzle prototypes," Papyrus said brightly.
"Oh. Nice." He squatted down to look as well. "Huh. Looks a little complicated."
"I'm sure I can get it," Frisk said. "I just need to… um… Hmmm…" She drew her first arrow on the page.
Papyrus was already beaming. Sans sat down to watch. Frisk was careful with her lines, but the hint for success was soon obvious— the way to go was ultimately like completing a connect-the-dots of Papyrus's face.
.
"Nice," Sans said.
Frisk grinned. Papyrus was aglow.
"You did it! Fantastic! How was it? Too hard? Too easy? Tell me everything!" he said.
"It was good," Frisk said. "I think it's a good challenge. But I think it was a little easier for me because I know what you look like. But I do like that it's also a picture, that's pretty creative!"
"Fair enough!" Papyrus said. "Up for another? Ooh! Actually! There's one I set up outside already that I'd like to ask you about!"
"Oh, okay, which one?" she said.
"The invisible electricity maze!" he said.
"Uh, bro, she did that one already," Sans said.
"Yes, I know, but I'd like some live feedback," Papyrus said. "I know we won't need it any time soon, but you can never be too careful with your puzzles!"
"No problems here," she said.
.
"Guess we should get you a coat," Sans said. "Paps, you got anythin' left from when you were short?"
"Nnnnoooo I don't think so, not from when I was as small as the human, anyway!" he said. "I think I gave most of it away, but you're still short, Sans, maybe you have something?"
"Fair point. Alright," he said. "Kid, hope you're okay with hand-me-downs."
"Yeah, of course! That's actually a really good idea, yesterday was super cold," she said. "Thanks so much!"
"Don't thank me yet," Sans said as he got to his feet. "Still gotta find somethin'."
"Still appreciate it though," Frisk assured him.
.
Sans's room was full of socks, and his mattress and blankets were in disarray, but that wasn't really anything unusual. In the corner, somehow, a gentle tornado of garbage and papers covered in what looked like complicated maths spun, giving off a light breeze. Trying not to step on any of his floor stuff, Frisk followed him to his dresser and he opened a drawer and began to shuffle through clothes that had been mashed inside. He started tossing junk onto his mattress and Frisk watched with confusion.
"Sorry I've been kind of garbage at being the adult here," he said. "Uhh… Some of this stuff might fit you if you want to change."
"Thanks," she said. "Y… Yeah. I must stink."
Sans laughed. "Huh. I'm not sure if I have another coat, 'specially one in your size, but… Hmm." He shuffled through a few more layers of junk.
Frisk leaned over to look. It seemed like he had never thrown away anything in his life. "How do you find anything?" she joked.
"Determination," he said with a wink.
She smiled, but then poked his arm.
.
"Hey, so… You okay?" she asked.
"Weird that you're askin' me that, you're the one who got wrecked," he said. "But yeah. Is it messed up that I feel kinda better, actually? Maybe I'm just a freak, I dunno. Not about the, uh, laser in the face bit. I mean the part after that."
"Yeah? I'm glad," she said. "That… That one's rough as heck."
"So you've done it before," he said.
"Y-Yeah," she said. "Um… A couple times."
"Welp. That's messed up," he said. "Thanks for remindin' me it was a dream, though. I needed that. Sometimes my mind just doesn't clue in."
"It, um… It gets better. A little bit," Frisk said gently. "And um… I… I know I'm just a kid, but I kinda go through the s-same thing, so… if you ever wanna talk about it, or whatever… um… So, yeah."
"Cool." He ruffled her hair and she couldn't help but grin.
.
He dragged a squished, heavy black hoodie out of the bottom drawer and showed it to her with a brow raised questioningly. "Uh… This okay?"
She took it and unrolled it, then pulled it on. It was only a little bigger than her size, and quite cozy. "Oh! Yeah, that works, thank you," she said brightly. "Ooh. What's this?" She pointed to a patch on the front, where there was an oval with four symbols in it. A hand making a victory symbol and a skull and crossbones, framed by a water droplet on each side.
"Oh. That's just my name. Thing's mine from when I was around your age." He shrugged.
Frisk stared at it, and then shrugged as well before shooting him a smile. "Thanks so much, I really appreciate it," she said. "I, um… I'm really grateful. For everything."
"Hey, it's just like Papyrus said," Sans said. "We're family. That's what we do. Right?"
Her eyes lit up. She nodded, but then looked embarrassed.
.
"I was really worried you guys wouldn't feel the same again," she said. "E-Especially you."
"Why?" he asked.
"I, um…" She tented her fingers nervously. "I was scared you'd be mad about the reset."
"That's hilarious," he said. "Nah. Not after what you told me, no way. C'mon, kid, after what we been through? You think I'd ditch you so fast?"
"I was just super worried," Frisk said bashfully.
He frowned; looked thoughtful for a few seconds. He rubbed the back of his skull. "Honestly? When I, uh, first noticed we were back, I couldn't stop thinkin' that we were screwed," he said. "I thought maybe you were gone. Like the timeline was messed up again, it was some other anomaly or somethin'. If we had lost you, well… I don't know." He looked troubled for a second.
Frisk edged closer worriedly. He quickly smiled nonetheless.
"When I realized it really was just you again, you wouldn't believe how relieved I was," he said. "Can I be straight with you for a second?"
"I've always thought you were kinda more round though," she said with a smile.
"Heh. Nice," he said. "But, uh, I want to apologize. For yesterday."
"Huh?" She tilted her head. "Why?"
.
He went quiet to gather his thoughts and he looked kind of tense. "When I saw you, I couldn't believe it was really you," he said. "I was so freaked out that I let it mess with my judgement. You needed me and I screwed it up."
"But, Sans," she said quickly, "I… I don't feel like you screwed up."
"Kinda did, though. Never shouldda been like that. That wasn't fair of me," he said. "Kiddo, you… Heh. You're real important to me, y'know? You never let me down. I kinda don't wanna let you down, either."
Frisk tilted her head. He shrugged and rubbed the back of his skull, suddenly looking bashful. The kid smiled and grabbed him into a tight hug.
"Never have!" she said brightly. "I'm sorry for scaring you so bad, though."
"You can't seriously be apologizin' to me," he said.
"Mmhm!"
"Kid, c'mon, that's nuts, I… Sheesh." He hugged her, too. "The hell am I gonna do with you?"
Frisk cozied into his arms and smiled. "This is good."
xXxXx
Some of Sans's childhood clothes mostly fit her, so Frisk picked out a faded blue-striped shirt, and some shorts that were basically long enough to be pants. She quickly bundled up in her borrowed hoodie before heading out with Papyrus.
.
It was early and so, outside, there weren't very many monsters at all— so far, only a bear-like monster outside Grillby's, but he looked like he was asleep anyway.
"Are you excited, human?" Papyrus asked. "You get to be my puzzle assistant today! It must be very thrilling to have someone as great and cool as me as your mentor!"
Frisk grinned and nodded. She paused as they strolled by the inn and her eyes fixed on the tear in time again, shining like a star. "Just one second."
.
Papyrus watched curiously as she scampered over to it and held on tightly, then returned to him.
"Okay, we're good!" she said.
"What did you do? Was that saving?" he asked.
"Yup!"
He offered his hand and she took it as they kept going. "Oooh, so that's what those are for," he said. "Interesting!"
"You can see them?" she asked.
"Well, yes, of course!" Papyrus said with a laugh. "Hold tight to me on this bridge, it's actually made of rock but it's still a bit daunting, and I know Sans likes a piggy-back across it most of the time."
.
Frisk snickered and, as they came up to that long "bridge" over a huge canyon, she stopped to look. The distant walls were dark, but as far as the eye could see, there were snow-covered pines stretching out straight to the edges.
"Wow," she breathed.
"Hmm?" Papyrus asked. "What are you looking at?"
"This place is huge," she said. "I never really looked out this way before."
"Well, yes, it is fairly large," he said, "but I'm sure the surface must be much, much more impressive! Do you have forests like this up there, too?"
Frisk stepped out onto the bridge with him and they walked across. She tried to be as confident as he was. "Yeah, a ton. With different kinds of trees, too."
"That already sounds amazing," Papyrus said brightly. "I read that you don't even have to travel for different temperatures, is that true?"
"Sort of? I mean, you can if you want," she said. "There's weather on the surface. And seasons. So for a couple months, it'll be like this, but then the snow will melt and plants will grow. But different places have different weather and seasons, if they're far enough away."
"Hah! Wow! That sounds like total fantasy to me," he admitted, "but that's exciting, too. What was it like when you left?"
"Um… Like, when I fell, or when I left?" she said.
"Oh! I'm sorry," he said. "If you don't want to talk about before the time travel, I understand."
.
They left the bridge and stood on solid ground again. Frisk hadn't realized how much her legs were shaking until she settled back into the snow.
"No, that's okay," she said. "Before I fell, it was spring. No snow. A lot of rain, actually, but some warm stuff and sun, too. Before I went backwards, it was kind of like this, but colder and the snow was like, up to your knees in places."
He looked down at her and smiled, and then took her hand again as they continued onward. "Well, that's not so bad."
"No, not my knees, your knees," she said with a laugh.
"Oh! Wow, okay, that is way too much snow," he agreed. "I guess I had to carry you around quite a bit, since you are much shorter than I am. You are in fact a teeny tiny human."
"True," she said. "I was a little taller than now, though. Not that it helped much. Still shorter than Sans."
"What?! Oh no, you shrunk, too!?" he demanded. "Oh my god, human, you have definitely not had a good time this last little while, have you?"
"It's getting a bit better," she said.
"That's good to hear," he said.
.
They passed by the greatest of the dog guards, Greater Dog's, post and piles upon piles of snow poffs, but no one was around yet. It must still have been too early. The path narrowed up ahead and Papyrus paused.
"Hmmmm…" he mused.
Frisk shot him a confused look.
He grinned and lifted her up. "Hang on tight, human! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!" He sprinted down the path that quickly gave way to ice and slid straight across, dodging the switch patterns he had left there as easily as if he were wearing skates.
Frisk squealed and laughed. He slid to a casual stop in the snow at the end and Frisk's eyes were all but sparkling.
"So cool!" she said.
Papyrus's cheekbones flushed warm orange-amber and he grinned. "Obviously!"
.
Together, they ran through the snow and slid across more ice fields until they came upon an empty plateau where the snow had been worn down in a square shape across the whole top.
"Okay, this one really confounded me!" he said. "How the heck did you get through the invisible electricity maze?!"
Frisk snickered. "Well, uh… Okay! Let me show you!" She grabbed his hand and put him at the far end of the maze, and then she ran around to the other side. "Okay! So, you gotta give me the electric orb thingy, right?"
"Ah, yes! You are quite correct!" He pulled it out of his pocket and then, without even thinking about it, he crossed the maze to give it to her. "There you are!"
Frisk tried not to laugh and he backtracked exactly the same way.
"Okay! Be careful, though, human!" he said. "This is a hard puzzle, I would not want you to get hurt!"
She stuck her thumb up and then, quite confidently, crossed the maze the same way he had. He gawked.
.
"YOU DID IT AGAIN!? How how how!?" he said.
Frisk turned around and pointed at the tracks.
"Yes, I see them, but how does that…?" Papyrus's eyes went wide. "You followed my footprints?!"
"Yeah! See, bro, you're so nice that you were guiding me the whole way, and you didn't even know it," she said, and she winked. "Shocking, right?"
Papyrus laughed and rubbed the top of his skull. "Very perceptive! Frisk! You are very clever."
She stuck her thumbs up again and grinned.
xXxXx
Alphys was fixated on the monitor, cross-legged in her chair, clutching a notepad tight in her claws and balancing a cup of ramen on her knee, in the lab's main room when Sans arrived to check in on her. She didn't notice him at first and he moved in to stand behind her. She was watching the cliffs around Snowdin where Papyrus and the kid were still out in the snow. They were sliding around on the ice. Frisk kept falling over, but she looked like she was having a good time, and Papyrus was doing his best to look continuously cool. He never lost his footing at all.
.
"Hey, Doc," Sans said.
Alphys yelped and nearly fell off her chair, and she turned to face him as she tried, hurriedly, to shove her notebook under her keyboard and the scales of her cheeks turned red. "S-S-Sans! Oh my g-god you scared me."
"Yeah. I do that," he said. "Whatcha watchin' there?"
"Um… Uhhh…" She awkwardly pointed at the screen. "You mean th-there? Just the… um… well… Just, um… The h-human, and…"
Sans was clearly trying not to laugh. She rubbed her forehead.
"S-Sans, I, uh… Y-You know I've been watching…?" she said. "A-All yesterday s-since you left. A-And all night and—"
"Sheesh, Alphys."
"I-I'm not dumb, Sans! Th-That doesn't look like a captured human to m-me!"
"Whoops. Guess you caught us," Sans said. "Turns out it's not a human. It's just a skeleton with skin."
"That is a human, Sans!" Alphys said.
"I know. It was a joke," he said.
.
She sighed and rubbed her brow. "What are you g-guys doing?" she said. "D-Don't get me wrong, it's… It's very sweet. And… And your b-brother, he looks so happy. B-But that's still a human, and we—"
"Yeeeeeah, about that," Sans said, grinning awkwardly. "I think we're keepin' her?"
"Wh-What?!" Alphys squeaked. "Sans, you can't. You can't, they're…! Th-They're d-dangerous! I m-mean… Usually. B-But…! Asgore, he's gonna find out!"
"Why?" Sans asked. "You gonna tell him?"
"N-No! No…" She flinched and looked down. "I haven't even t-told Undyne yet."
"Thanks. I appreciate it," he said.
Alphys sighed and slurped some noodles. She gulped heavily. "Y-You're welcome. I think," she said. "Sans, what the heck are y-you thinking?"
"It's complicated," he said.
"I mean, yeah, the human's super c-cute, and it… she hasn't hurt a-anyone, and your brother really likes her, and it's really cool when she d-does that dodging magic thing, but… O-Okay, I g-guess I see the appeal?" Alphys sighed. "But what is she doing? What are you doing?"
"Listen. I'm just tryin' to let her be a kid for a bit," Sans said. "It's… Heh. This is why I never get involved in this stuff, it's way too much work."
Alphys bit her lip. "I… I trust you. B-But I can't get out of telling Undyne a-another day! I h-have to meet with her t-tonight about…! W-Well…! She's already s-suspicious about it! She already heard there's a human, she just doesn't know where."
"It's okay, I'll take the heat. If she asks, just say I took your cat girl thing and wouldn't give it back. She'll understand."
"Th-This is a terrible idea," Alphys grumbled.
"Yeah, probably," he said.
.
Alphys was about to say more when a strange sort of beeping noise sounded from upstairs.
"ALPHIE? WHO'S THERE WITH YOU? SHOULD I COVER UUUUUP?!"
Alphys's face went pale and she started to sweat. Sans grinned.
"ALPHIIEEE? I'm coming DOOOWWN THEEERREE!"
"It's Sans! It's j-just Sans," she said.
.
Down the escalator on their left came the long-legged, humanoid form of Mettaton, unpolished and monochrome, but definitely stylish, posing dramatically on the stairs.
"Lookin' good there, Number 5," Sans joked.
"Thanks, darling, Alphys has done a really bang up job, hasn't she?" he said as he strutted over. "The new look still isn't quite ready for public consumption, but we're getting there!"
"Balances look good," he said. "How are the new actuators?"
"Feel like they're a part of me already!" Mettaton said brightly. "Ah, I can't wait until this is the new normal! We've got another session tomorrow, right Alphie?"
"Um… U-Uh… R-Right," Alphys stammered. "M-Mettaton, maybe could you—?"
"Wait a tick, what is THAT?!" He grabbed the back of her chair and leaned forward, balancing on the tip of one of his toes as he stared at the monitor. "Oooh my." He bent over Alphys and grinned.
She looked like she wanted to melt.
"Well, well, well," he said. "Would you look at that. Doctor Alphys, hero of the underground."
"N-No, w-w-wait," she said quickly. "Y-You can't tell anyone!"
"What, no one?" he gasped.
"N-Not one p-p-person!" she said. "W-We're not r-ready yet. And…! A-And besides…! S-Sans, is… Uh… Sans has dibs…?" She shot him a look with a brow raised.
He grinned and shrugged. Mettaton groaned.
"Now that's hardly fair!" he exclaimed.
"Uh, finders keepers?" he suggested.
Mettaton pouted. "I can't even see the human up close?!" he demanded. "B-But! I must! Human media is why I am who I am today! All those movies about robots and humans getting along! Metropolis! Short Circuit! Terminator! The dramas! The comedies! The decades worth of crime serials! You won't even let me thank it before you rend the soul from that cute little thing?!"
"Dude, do I look like I'm into rendin'?" Sans said. "Look. I'm sure she's headed for the barrier eventually, alright? So if she gets past Undyne, you'll meet her"
"Well, thanks for nothing," Mettaton said, rolling his eyes. "Ugh, you're not even taking her soul? Honestly?"
Sans shrugged. Mettaton scoffed and folded his arms.
"You are a strange, strange little skele-man," he said.
Alphys groaned and put her face in her hands for a moment before she looked at Mettaton with pleading eyes. "C-Can we get a little teeny bit of p-privacy for a sec?" she asked quietly.
Mettaton sighed and rolled his eyes again, but he walked off to go up the escalator on the other side of the lab, waving flippantly over his shoulder, leaving Sans and Alphys alone again.
.
"S-So you're… not… taking her soul?" Alphys asked quietly, her expression hopeful.
"Nope," he said.
"And P-Papyrus isn't—"
"Definitely not," Sans said.
Alphys let out a long, deep sigh. Sans raised his brows.
"Wasn't expectin' that reaction," he said.
"I-I just… O-Okay. Okay. Breathe, Alphys." She took a few deep breaths. "I… Don't get me wrong, I w-want to s-see the surface as much as the n-next monster, and… and believe me, I understand the c-consequences of being stuck h-here, but… I-I don't want t-to see that little h-human get killed e-either, not if she's not hurting anyone."
"Cool," he said. "She appreciated the noodles, by the way."
"Oh!" Alphys blushed. "Sh-She did? That's g-great." She rubbed her head and took off her glasses to brush her fingers over her eyes. "Y-You know Undyne's gonna… She's g-gonna… Sh-She's not gonna stop hunting her. Sh-She's… Well, you know h-how she gets."
"Oh yeah, I know," Sans said.