Frisk and Flowey made their way back to an elevator and went to a floor they had not yet visited. They walked through the new are and saw the shady Nicecream guy and the two guards holding hands happily. The vendor owner smirked while the two guards waved. Frisk smiled at all three before moving forwards. It led to the front of 'MTT Hotel'. Frisk noticed a piece of paper on the floor and read it.

'Go down the creepy alleyway for some sweet deals!'

"Nope!" Flowey spoke. "Nope, no, nuh-uh, I forbid it!"

"Forbid?" Frisk asked with a raised eyebrow. "What are you? My mom?"

"For right now, yes! I am. Because you don't have proper judgment."

"Hmph, whatever…" Frisk looked up and noticed Sans was here.

He was leaning on the building, eyes closed, arms crossed, and… Smoking… A smoking skeleton… It seems he didn't notice when Frisk came through nor when they walked over to him.

"Hey, Sans!"

He opened an eye then jumped back when he realized who it was. "Christ! Don't sneak up on me like that, kid…" He quickly dropped the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it.

"How can a skeleton smoke?" Frisk asked out curiosity.

"A skeleton can do just about everything anyone else can do. And I'm just glad smokin' is one of 'em."

"Everything about you is just horrible. Don't you know smoke is bad for plants." He gestured to himself. "And young humans." Then to Frisk.

"Yes, I really want to make sure my favorite weed is okay." He looked at Frisk. "I hear you're making your way to the core. How about grabbing some dinner with me first?"

"We're busy!" Flowey spoke before Frisk could even respond.

Frisk quickly covered his mouth. "I'd love to."

"Great, thanks for treatin' me." He smirked.

"Wait… I…" They huffed before walking towards the door.

He gently took their arm. "Over here. I know a shortcut." He pulled them over to a place that went seemingly nowhere and sure enough they transported to the inside of the building.

The place wasn't very populated so they took a table towards the center. Sans sat down and prompted Frisk to do so as well. They placed Flowey near the edge on the side closest to Frisk. He groaned loudly as he didn't want to be here.

He sighed. "Well… Here we are." He crossed his arms over the table and looked at them. "Your journey's almost over, huh?"

Frisk kept there hands in their lap and looked down. "Mmhmm…"

"You must really wanna get home." Frisk didn't respond and he averted his eyes. "Yeah… I know the truth."

"'The truth'?" Flowey looked at the two. "What is 'the truth'?"

Sans glared at the plant then looked at Frisk. "It doesn't concern you."

"Everything about Frisk concerns me!" He hissed.

Sans nearly said something, but Frisk spoke first. "Flowey… Could you leave us alone for a moment?"

"Are you serious?" Flowey repressed an annoyed shout. "You know what?! Fine! I'll go! But if he hurts you, don't start screaming for me!" Flowey disappeared into the pot.

Frisk stared at the pot then frowned.

"Don't worry about him. He'll be fine." Sans tried to assure them, but they kept their head down. "Hey… Let me ask you somethin'…" He looked away. "You fell to kill yourself, right?" They nodded. "Surely that means home wasn't a good place." They nodded again. "Then why are you trying to go back there?"

Frisk didn't speak for a moment but continued to not look Sans in the eye. "I… Don't have anywhere else to go, but back there. I don't want to be there, but… It's my only home."

He hesitated before speaking. "I know you feel that way, but what if that weren't true. You've got everything you need down here… And I know no one is really all that friendly, but…" He rubbed the back of his head and blushed slightly. "I'll be here for you. And that stupid flower. And Papyrus is coming around."

Frisk looked up and smiled. "Really? That's…" They laughed a bit. "That's so sweet… But…"

He looked at them and saw their worried expression. "I get it. You're probably better off with other humans. Don't worry, Frisk. I'm still rootin' for you.

They smiled. "Thanks…"

He chuckled a bit. "Hey, let me tell you a story."

This captured Frisk's attention. "Oh?"

"So, I'm a sentry in Snowdin Forest, right?" He began. "I sit out there and watch for humans. It honestly sucks pretty bad. Fortunately, there's this huge door deep in the forest." He chuckled a bit. "You don't know this, but I like making knock-knock jokes and puns."

"What?!" Frisk's face lit up. "Really? You do more than silly pranks?"

"I mostly stick to pranks. I'm technically not allowed to tell jokes. People like pranks better because they cause harm. But, I know some pretty morbid jokes, so I don't get it."

"Aw, I'd like to hear some of your jokes sometime."

"I seriously doubt it." He waved his hand. "Anyway, I like to use the door to practice my knock-knock jokes. So one day I'm just knocking 'em out, like usual. And so I knock on the door and say, 'Knock knock.' Then suddenly from the other side, I hear a woman's voice say, 'Who's there?'"

Frisk's eyes widened. Could he be talking about Toriel? They leaned in even more intrigued by his story.

"I say, 'Shank.' And she responds 'Shank who?'" He chuckles before finishing. "'Clearly, I'll have to shank you again, because you're still talking.'"

Frisk looks at him, very disappointed. "You were right, I was not going to like it." They shake their head. "Sans, that's horrible! It wasn't even funny!"

He laughed even harder than before, then calmed down a bit before speaking. "Just let me finish… And so, after the punchline, she just starts laughing. It was honestly the biggest laugh I had ever gotten. Especially for such an unfunny knock-knock joke. And... we don't laugh in front of strangers down here. It shows weakness. So hearing her laugh made me realize she's twisted and has no shame. So I keep telling jokes and she keeps laughing. I actually enjoyed myself."

Frisk nodded surprised that Sans could actually enjoy things. "Mmhmm…"

"After some time she says she has a joke of her own. She starts, 'What do you call a monster in a freezer?' and I say. 'I don't know'." He covers his mouth and smiles widely. "She says, 'Well her parents call her Cindy, so we should continue to call her that. She was supposed to graduate this spring.'"

Frisk put their head down on the table. "These are awful…"

"In the best way, Frisk." He rested his head on his head. "Needless to say, this woman was definitely one of the better ones. So for the rest of the day, we continue to tell jokes but eventually, I had to go. I've got other things I can do. And she asks me to come back." He shrugs. "So I do. And I came back again. And again. And again. So it's a thing now. Telling awful jokes through the door. It's not that bad."

He pauses and looks away for a moment. Frisk looks worried, but he turns back to them. "One day, though. She's not laughing as much as usual. And…" He huffs. "I ask her what was up. And she gives me some very useful information. She told me a human had fallen. She asked me to kill them on sight. And I, being a spiteful asshole, let you go."

"Oh…" Frisk looked down.

"Do you get it? What I'm trying to say?" He closed his eyes and looked down. "You know what would've happened if she had never said anything? Frisk…" He opened his eyes back up and they were black. "You'd be dead where you stand."

Frisk moved back in their seat and gasped. Their lips began to tremble as they watched him laugh slightly.

His eyes came back. "Hey, lighten up. I was just joking." Frisk didn't find it very funny and started to cry. "Wait. No, don't do that!" He quickly got up and attempted to comfort them. "Damn it, Frisk… I didn't mean it!"

They sobbed quietly and wiped their eyes. "That really hurts, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah… I get it." He patted their back lightly. "C'mon, I've been protecting you."

Frisk nodded. "True…"

"I- I… I'm sorry, alright?"

Frisk wiped their eyes one more time and smiled at him. "Okay. I forgive you."

"Alright. Good. Don't do that again. The other times it wasn't my fault."

They stare at him for a moment. "Yeah... Do you feel bad or something?"

He looks away then sighs. "… Sure." He shakes his head. "I've held you up for long enough." He started to walk back the way they came but looked back. "Don't do anything stupid, alright? Or else I'm coming for you again." Then he practically disappears.

Frisk watched where he once was. "How does that even work." They looked down at the empty pot. "Flowey…" They called out. "Where are you?"

Almost immediately he appeared back in the pot. "What happened? Are you hurt? Do I get to kill him?" Flowey looked around. "Where is he?"

"He already left. We just had a nice talk." Frisk sighed before standing up and picking up Flowey. "Time to keep going."