Chapter 12: Discord
It was time for the moment of truth. Ebony held her breath as she reached over to Sans. She was afraid of the outcome, but she couldn't sit in fear any longer. It had to be done, and she needed to see it.
Sans' bones rattled noisily as Ebony moved closer, her eyes searching. Finally, she grinned decisively and snatched one of two cards left in the skeleton's hands. Watching the look of despair on Sans' face, Ebony flipped her card over and haughtily flashed an Ace of Spades for all to see. Then she smacked her remaining card along with the newly pulled one onto the floor in front of her. It was the last pair of the game.
"And that makes you the Old Bones, Sans," Ebony stated with a hearty laugh. She had won yet again. Sans held a hand up to his face and half-assed a groan, then flipped his own card over to show the last card left: The Joker. He didn't mind losing; in fact, it was nice to see Ebony in such high spirits over a simple card game. Papyrus wanted to do some bonding, and now there they were: Paps, Sans, Ebony, and Undyne sitting on the floor in the middle of the skelebros' house and playing a good old card game called 'Old Bones.' It was really just 'Old Maid,' but the more Ebony tried to explain the rules of the game, the more confused Papyrus became for some reason. It was easier referring to the game as 'Old Bones,' and it was more for the silly skeleton to remember the flow of the game. This was, of course, the same Papyrus who did have a hard time with Junior Jumble.
"Eh, well... I am pretty old for a sack o' bones, if we're gonna be real here." Sans poked his magical tongue out playfully and winked at Ebony.
"WOWIE, EBB, HOW ARE YOU SO GOOD AT THIS GAME?! IT'S REALLY LIKE YOU'RE PSYCHO OR SOMETHING!" Papyrus was in awe, truly amazed with the human for winning six times in a row. He didn't even pay attention to what he had just said. But the game always ran pretty quickly. Ebony did let Papyrus win a couple of times, so he would feel good about himself for beating everyone. Sans was pretty thankful for that.
The girl's eye twitched involuntarily at that. 'Psycho'? She knew it wasn't intentional, and maybe it wasn't entirely false depending on the situation, but hearing it from someone else's mouth kind of bugged her.
Undyne stretched out her legs and crossed one over the other as she tugged irritably at her red ponytail. "Papyrus, you mean 'PSYCHIC.' She's not a psycho. And don't call her 'Ebb'!" Only she ever called Ebony that. It was a special name that the fish lady liked to use for her roommate; kind of like 'Ebb and Tide,' but she would never confess that around Sans. That obsessive punster would probably never let her hear the end of it. It was cheesy, but Undyne secretly liked calling her friend with a nickname like that. And nobody else was allowed to use it. Or at least, that's what she assumed.
"Undyne, it's fine; Paps is a friend too," Ebony began with a laugh. Undyne looked a little crestfallen as her friend said that. Maybe they weren't on the same page after all. "As for my winning... It's a given. You guys have the worst poker faces. Sans, your bones clack together and make so much noise, even when you're trying to pull a straight face on me. And Papyrus and Undyne, you have the funniest faces when someone's about to pull a card that you guys need!"
Sans had nothing to say about the statement; it was true, after all. He was no good at hiding his expression during games like that. It wasn't much effort on his part to pretend everything was fine even when a situation wasn't, as he had good practice with that over many years, but it was very much an effort if it was just over a card game. He leaned back against the couch behind him and casually placed his hand on the floor, right on top of Ebony's hand. Both faces flushed lightly at the contact, though they didn't look at each other, and Undyne noticed that. So much for 'poker faces.' Undyne was beginning to put the pieces together as the days passed, and she wasn't sure it was something she liked. Ebony was often at the skelebros' house rather than at home, when she normally would have been brainstorming a plan with Undyne to get back to the Surface. Undyne looked down and stared at her own scaly blue hands as she clenched them into tight fists. The fish woman was generally obnoxious and oblivious... and maybe didn't notice things sometimes, but these were things she did notice. It bothered her for some reason.
"So what should we do next? It's probably almost time to eat, so maybe we can all grab food at Grillby's or something." Ebony pointed out, but Papyrus was quite adamant about not eating at the bar. He did still have his standards.
"THE BAR'S FOOD IS TOO GREASY. EEEYUCK! THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS MAKES MUCH TASTIER DISHES, AND WE HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH SPAGHETTI HERE FOR EVERYONE. RIGHT, SANS?" As Papyrus and Ebony held a debate over greasy bar food or the ever-fabulous spaghetti, Sans sat comfortably and listened to the racket with eyes shut. Suddenly, Undyne stood up and the cards that she had been keeping on her lap fluttered silently to the floor.
"I'm going to Alphys' place!" And with that, Undyne left and unceremoniously slammed the door.
"WHERE IS UNDYNE GOING? IS SHE OKAY?" Papyrus held a gloved hand up to his chin and looked back and forth from Ebony to the door. "PERHAPS SHE IS BRINGING ALPHYS BACK WITH HER TO PARTAKE IN THE SPAGHETTI-FEST! IF SO, THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN EASILY AWAIT THEIR ARRIVAL!"
Ebony stopped mid-conversation and blinked. It was true that Undyne hadn't seen her girlfriend for a couple of days now, but what just happened was so... out of the blue. Everyone was still in the middle of hanging out, and she just decided to get up and leave? What was up with her? Moving her hand from Sans', Ebony stood up and made her way to the door.
"Ebony?" She turned around and saw Sans sit up from his spot, concern written all over his face. They hadn't officially said a word about being 'a thing,' but still shared small signs of affection with each other, even if it was just a brief touch of the hands or a quick wink. Sans had also given her a little flower; even though it did squirt water at her. That had him rolling with laughter for sure. It was the dumbest prank, but it made Ebony smile to see the skeleton like that. They were really cute with each other; still in the shy stages of their not-official relationship. So... Even though they weren't 'together' by title, they still worried over each other.
"I've gotta check up on Undyne. Something isn't right; she's been acting a little off lately, and I never really paid attention. But I think whatever it is... It's really bothering her," said Ebony with a tiny frown. Her hand moved up to the beige scarf around her neck, and she tugged at it anxiously. She didn't really feel like moving from where she was sitting since it was nice just being around the skelebros, but Undyne was just as important to her, and something was definitely wrong. They'd been living together for a year, and though they had bonded and become closer with each other over time, there were still going to be things they didn't know about the other. Maybe it was now time to learn something new about Undyne.
"Just uh, be careful, kid." Sans stood up with a raised hand as he spoke, waving goodbye, and Ebony nodded once to him and to Papyrus before stepping out into the cold.
A/N:
Ohhh geez, I'm so sorry! My two jobs have been working me down to the BONE (ufufufu~) and I haven't had time to work on a new chapter. Please enjoy a little bit of cuteness/uneasiness this time around! c:
If everyone would like, I'm often on Tumblr (devoted-seoul) via my phone nowadays when I don't have time to sit at my tablet to type up a chapter. I'll be posting up different things: Doodles (with maybe some of those involving my fanfic; we'll see!), Undertale reblogs, singing, modeling, etc etc. But just to keep in touch with you guys, if you'd like. I'm always up for a good occasional chat!
I feel like Undyne gets jealous easily, even if it involves someone she isn't romantically involved with. She must have really gotten attached to the human to feel the way she does now. :P
AT ANY RATE... I'll see you guys at the next chapter! I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my chapters. It still feels weird not doing a combined role-play with all of my friends from back in high school, but I do enjoy going at my own pace now and then. :)
- LostInnocenz
