Sorry for the long wait, broke an ankle and for a while everything took ages to accomplish :(

Time to sail!


After the enlightening talk with Marcus, Frisk and the gang spent an enjoyable afternoon at the fair. Grown woman she might be, but Frisk sure blushed when Sans aced a shooting booth to give her the plushie she'd thought she'd been discreet about eyeing to the whistles and catcalls from the rest of the gang. Even shy Alphys made a ruckus! To be fair, the prize was a pretty T-rex skeleton toy which now proudly called her headboard home. Sans' seeming ease at managing to hit so many moving targets despite his usual laziness made her wonder though, perhaps he was a long distance fighter?

After a dinner full of jokes and banter, Sans insisted on accompanying her home. Being away from the multitude made it pretty clear that whatever had been dampening his magic was gone. Used to it or not, Sans felt every bit as imposing as on day one, but the expected fear failed to skate down her spine. Once at her door he used careful phalanges to tilt her head up and bent close while staring deep into her eyes. It took her a full night's rest to realize he was abusing his own gift to gauge her mood. In her momentary distraction with the lights that made up his eyes he must have come to a decision, for the next thing she was aware of was a powerful shock of magic as his mouth met hers.

The first touch was just a peck before he allowed a hair's breath between their faces. When Frisk didn't pull back, he came back with renewed purpose. Her eyes fell closed and she unfroze, pulling a hand up into his cervicals. Despite all her attention being elsewhere, the alien sensation under her fingers reminded her to be gentle, unsure how sensitive bones actually were. Sans had no lips in the traditional sense, but the "edges" of his mouth though thin were pliant and mobile as they brushed firmly but undemanding against her mouth. It only lasted a moment before a gentle nip to Frisk's lower lip marked the end.

Her heart pounded like a trapped hummingbird, but beneath Sans' slanted grin she could feel the agitated hum of his magic, letting her known he wasn't as unaffected as he was trying to portray. He gripped her hand and kissed its back with a murmured goodnight before he blipped away.

That night her head was a flurry of thoughts just chasing each other until sleep claimed her. By the next day, Frisk had realized a skeleton had kissed her, and she liked it. Worded like that, she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not…


By Wednesday, she heard from Sans while she was in the phone with her mother. Not only had she been making a terrible job of assuring her nothing new had gone on, but the subconscious girly squeal ratted her out.

Sans:

Knock Knock. 12:13AM

Who's there? 12:14AM

Sans:

Butch, Jimmy and Joe. 12:14AM

Butch, Jimmy, and Joe Who? 12:15AM

Sans:

Butch your arms around me, Jimmy a kiss, and let's Joe. 12:15AM

Lol! So we Joe-ing somewhere? 12:15AM

Sans:

I'm at work right now, but was wondering if

you wanna meet me at 2? Your cafe? 12:16AM

Sure. See ya latte 12:17AM

Sans:

;) 12:18 AM

Frisk gave a hurried goodbye to her mother, promising to call with the actual full gossip the next day and promptly texted her best friend the news as she hurried into the shower. Moving away from Chara had been rough, but they kept in touch and were still thick as thieves. Even knowing her joking ways didn't stop Frisk from facepalming at her answer:

Chara:

Let me know if u jump his bones ;) ;) :D 12:25AM

Girl, you're the worst 12:25AM

Still, Chara's help was appreciated to choose her outfit, a cute forest green blouse and light blue jeans coupled with heels. Through some conscious effort, Frisk arrived a few minutes late and true to form, Sans was already sitting. The monster rose as soon as she came close and Frisk spent a moment to admire the charcoal suit he wore, fitted to perfection. How could someone made entirely of bones even fill a suit? Still, there was no denying he looked good in it.

'Hey'

'Hey…. Getting bonely? Sorry I kept you waiting,' Frisk apologized. Feeling bit unsure as to what happened now, she slightly swayed in place until Sans bent and calmly pecked her lips in greeting. Her pleased smile was undeniable and his magic all but sang in answer.

'Nah, hadn't bean here long. Not very glamorous, I know, but could only escape the daily grind for so long.'

'That's ok… it's good to see you' If his perpetual grin rose to ridiculous proportions, neither mentioned it, but Frisk found it an acceptable reward for her bravery. Getting him to truly smile filled her with determination.

'So… any idea what you want? I can go get our orders.'

It only took her a moment to decide she was in the mood for fettuccine, and as soon as he came back, Frisk decided it was high time to question him a bit.

'Have you been working for the King long?'

'Hmm… been some years now. Paps got hired a couple years after me.'

'I am still a bit amazed he is in such a line of work, truth be told'

'That worries you?'

'A bit…' Sans' eyelights seemed to dim a bit and his chest expanded with a breath, but Frisk continued before a single word came out 'I don't doubt his abilities, but he seems too gentle to really hurt someone.'

Looking like she had taken the wind out of his sails, the male looked a bit flustered as he scratched the back of his skull before answering. 'Heh… well… it is very rare that we have to actually stop someone. Just the way we look is a powerful enough deterrent most of the time'

Their food arriving made the conversation pause but Frisk's interest was piqued. 'No offense, Sans, but the king is freaking huge! Yet people are scared you guys? Sure, the suit gives a mafia-like vibe but… really?'

He barked a short laugh before he could stop himself. 'Really Frisk? The King is large, specially in royal robes and epaulettes, but the fluffiness sort of ruins it. Yet, humans have some pretty nasty associations with skeletons.'

'True, I guess I'm just too used to it by now. But cut us some slack! Sure, everyone says it's what's inside that counts, but you guys took it too literal; looking at someone's insides makes a lot of people squeamish.'

'It may work in our favor at times, but we are most certainly not. We are monsters that just so happen to look similar to a human skeleton.' And as if to prove his point, Sans actually parted his jaws slightly and stuck… was that his tongue?! Out at her, it was longer than a human's and a pale blue, but sure looked like one.

'Had I known you would be so interested, I might've shown you a femur things.'

Frisk blushed, where were her manners? 'Gods, I'm so sorry! That was very rude of me' Wait, the femur is the thigh bone… had that been an innuendo?

He waved a hand to dismiss her apology. 'It's ok, I don't much mind curiosity. Even if I did, if there was someone I'd tolerate it from is you, kitten.' The sentiment was as corny as it was sobering, and the way his eyes remained trained on hers told her it had been no mistake. He was reminding her what dating a monster entailed and gauging her reaction. Though occasionally possessive, monsters were known to be willing to go to great lengths to keep their mates content at their sides, but the relationships advanced quickly, probably due to their Soul telling them if they were before the one. Had Sans already decided?

Deciding that was a thought for another time, Frisk gave a half-joking answer, 'Good cause there's a ton of things I wanna know about'

'Like…a skele-ton?'

'ohmygod, Saaans!' The complaining tone she had been aiming for was entirely lost in the chuckles at his terrible pun, but she recovered by pointing to his half empty plate. 'Like, how do you do that?'

'Huh? Do what?'

'Eat! Before today, I had not seen you open your mouth. Not even when you talk, and though I've seen your brother eat you just seem to… make it disappear or something.'

A bit of baby blue dusted his cheekbones. Belatedly, Frisk realized how creepy that had sounded. 'I do eat, just like my bro. I just tend to be quite quick about it. Now speaking? Magic. With no real vocal chords I don't need to open my mouth to be heard.'

'Is it hard to do?' his raised eyeridge made her elaborate 'Learning, I mean. Monsters use magic for so many things, but it seems you skeletons use it for even more than most, does it take long to master? Do you like, learn to eat or form a voice or is it like an instinct?'

'Half and half. Using magic for more… vital things, like keeping our bodies formed or eating is second-nature, speaking is learnt, but forming a voice isn't. Anything else we want to create must be learnt.'

'Keep your bodies…. So you guys would be a literal pile of bones without your magic?!'

'Well, it's not like we have joints or muscles to keep everything in its place, ya know?'

'Damn. That must take an impressive amount of magic to maintain 24/7' Only when his eyes suddenly refused to meet hers did Frisk realize her mistake. Power was a very personal matter, so praising a Monster's magic was akin to praising their abilities as a lover. 'I… I meant that sincerely! Like… platonically? Ugh. I swear I don't usually run into so many etiquette failures with Monsters'

Her embarrassment seemed to alleviate Sans'. 'It's ok, us skeletons are sort of high-energy for that very reason. My bad, I sometimes forget there are some cultural differences between us.' Frisk actually though high-energy might be putting it mildly, but it wasn't like she could tell him that, so she held her tongue. He asked how her work had been, and the incident got left behind.

Before she quite knew how, the food was gone and they had been together for over an hour. 'Woah, it's getting late…'

'Yea, and we didn't even eat a clock!' at Frisk's puzzled look he delivered the punchline 'that's very time-consuming' She felt her resulting facepalm was perfectly justified. His grin grew crooked at that, but he was suddenly offering white phalanges to her. 'Shall we?' Frisk took the offered appendage and wasn't quite surprised when he kept her arm in his while he walked her back home at a leisurely pace.

'Papyrus said he wanted to learn how to bake, but I haven't talked to him lately. Has he begun?'

'Yea, my bro found a teacher… and she seems better at it than Undyne.'

'Oh? How'd you know so soon?'

'Our kitchen hasn't gone up in flames… yet'

Frisk couldn't help a bark of laughter at that 'Really?!' 'Ooooh yea, those two have an explosive teamwork. I would advise caution if he offers some of the results, his first attempts at cooking can be… unpredictable'

'I'll make sure to keep that in mind.' They had arrived.

'Frisk? Um… You know, we've gone out several times by now, and at least I have been having fun,' Her eyes jumped to his, but he wasn't looking at her, 'and I was wondering if you'd allow me to court you properly?' He was really trying to stay calm, but his wintry magic was agitated, and tendrils of it seemed to be straining in an effort to get close enough to touch her. It was probably the skeleton himself that held them back.

Frisk took a moment to think. Courting, though more formal than a boyfriend was not truly definitive. Yet. Monster-monster courtships were typically short, but when one of the parts was human it took longer as the time was used to get them used to the idea and soothe possible worries in hopes of a positive future answer. Frisk would still be able to back out even if she agreed, but if Sans' magic was any indication, his Soul had already chosen, and it wanted her. What did she want? It would mean getting used to him, physical differences and all and would make her as much of a minority as monsters themselves. Even if she backed out in the end, some people would still mark her as a monster-lover. It would also mean coming clean eventually, and possibly upsetting him for hiding something so important in the first place.

Yet a blush stole over her cheeks and she couldn't deny that deep within, some part of her was very pleased to call him hers. He was asking for a chance to win her over despite not knowing she wasn't just a Chosen, but a Gifted too, and though he didn't say it, the fact that an extension of his very Soul was trying to pull her close spoke volumes.

Well, Frisk had allowed the silence to stretch long enough. She placed a hand on his chest, the hard bone beneath expanding with his gasp as his magic shivered at the unexpected touch so close to its source. Her other hand went where his skull met the spine and applied the slightest pressure to convince him to lean down for her. 'Silly skeleton' was murmured against his grin before she claimed it as her own.