"Hey Pap?"
"YES TABATHA?"
"Did you already pack my toothpaste and stuff? It's not in the bathroom."
"YES! IT HAS ALL BEEN ACCOUNTED FOR ALREADY! YOUR DAILY CARE IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE AFTER ALL!"
The back-and-forth from up and down the stairs had been going on for close to an hour as both human and skeleton coordinated the packing of their bags. Sans watched the whole scene like a lazy cat, supposedly supervising but without making a single effort to do anything even remotely resembling work. Having come up with the idea in the first place, he considered his share of the trip's load already long since finished.
The trio of roommates were preparing for a weekend excursion out of town to visit Mia, who had been more than willing to host them. The three-day trip was packed full in terms of schedule: Papyrus would be getting a programming and game design crash course and there would be plenty of time to veg out and play games (or as Tabatha liked to call it, indoctrinate the skelebros with the best things human entertainment had to offer).
There was also a secondary reason for the trip, one that Papyrus and Sans hadn't yet revealed: it had been almost a week since Tabatha's return to the house and the brothers had concluded it was time for their friend to hear the news of her stepmother's heightened threat. Sans figured she would take the information better if she was out of the "danger zone" and then they could make plans and safety precautions without the human shutting down again from another PTSD relapse. Of course, she still might be triggered even at the mention of the subject, but the younger monster figured he could help her calm down with his magic considering her Soul now knew his touch and should understand he meant no harm.
"By the way, are we driving or teleporting?" the human asked as she came down the stairs with a duffel bag full of her clothes. "Because this is a pretty big load to move through space and all that."
"driving. when it comes to places i've never been before, only i can really be guaranteed to make it," the hoodie-clad skeleton replied. "wouldn't want the pair of you to show up someway in between point a and point b with our stuff scattered for anyone to come pick up. we'll use magic on the way back or if we need to grab something."
"Oh really?" the brunette teased, raising an eyebrow. "Never been? Not even during your hangouts? Is your relationship meter not high enough or something?"
"aw shaddup you little tease," Sans grumbled good-naturedly. "i went to her old space a few times, but she moved apartments and i just haven't been to the new place yet is all."
That made her chuckle. Striding over, she playfully yanked the skeleton's hood up, grin widening at the clearly exasperated expression he sent her way despite not moving to uncover his face. The taller brother then emerged from the kitchen carrying a cooler bag—no doubt filled with snacks and such for the ride—and promptly returned the young woman's attention to the packing job at hand.
"You know, I still kinda feel bad for taking a three-day weekend already when I just got back to work," Tabatha admitted. "Even if Grillby's got me pulling easy duty, I still feel like I owe him some more hours."
"YOU ARE STILL IN RECOVERY, DEAR TABATHA," Papyrus reminded her. "YOU'VE FALLEN OVER TWICE TODAY ALREADY AND ARE WOBBLY WHEN YOU STAND UP AFTER SITTING TOO LONG. YOUR MUSCLES HAVE WEAKENED AND NEED TO BE STRENGTHENED AGAIN GRADUALLY."
"You've been doing your research," the young woman remarked with a smile, pride evident in her tone. Standing on her toes, she managed to reach high enough to affectionately rub the top of his skill. The small balance act proved too much and she pitched forward suddenly, the guardman trainee's arms shooting out to steady her. The position was a touch awkward, Tabatha leaning heavily in Papyrus' grip, arm now coiled around his neck, one hand pressed to his chest. The skeleton smiled gently and helped her move back into a stable position, pointedly not reacting to how she had landed nor the implications of such an intimate hold—she had clearly realized that on her own judging by how flushed her face had gotten.
The lanky skeleton resumed working without comment, organizing the bags and stacking them by the door. Sans pulled his hood back a little, just enough so one eyesocket was showing. He managed to catch Tabatha's gaze and send her a small smirk.
"Oh shut up," she mumbled, turning away to hide her blush.
When the trio arrived at the apartment complex where Mia lived, they found her already out in the parking lot and ready to greet them.
"There's my favorite people in the world!" she called excitedly jogging over as Papyrus helped Tabatha to stand and return feeling to her feet. "Ready to have an epic weekend?"
"Always!" the brunette crowed, striding over and capturing the other woman in an embrace once she felt stable. "We gotta teach these noobs the awesomeness that humans have been hoarding for all these years!"
"Starting with the most amazing fantasy trilogy in all of the realms?"
"Elves, Orcs and Men? Heck yeah!"
The two skeletons stared in confusion at one another. Sans shrugged helplessly before retreating to the rear of the red convertible, opening the trunk and grabbing his bag.
Thankfully, Mia's home was on the ground level of the building so there was no troublesome trip upstairs to bring in their things, but it did take some time to determine where everyone was going to sleep. Sans, of course, hadn't cared one way or the other, but Tabatha and Papyrus got into a small argument about who should get the extra mattress and who should sleep on the sofa bed. The trainee guardman's central issue was that his friend deserved the real bed and he would do fine on the couch as he didn't sleep nearly as much. Tabatha's counter was that Papyrus was far too tall to fit on the sofa bed comfortably and even if he slept far less he should still have quality sleep that he most certainly could not get if he was cramped for space.
Mia broke the stalemate by suggesting Sans get the couch and Papyrus the mattress but that she and Tabatha could share her bed. If that didn't work out after the first night, they could arrange something else. After minor deliberation, everyone agreed to the proposed plan and began to situate their things as was convenient. After a quick lunch, they all four clustered onto the couch, the DVDs ready to play.
"SO, WHO IS THIS LORD OF THE RINGS?" Papyrus asked eagerly as they waited for the main menu to appear. "IS HE A REAL PERSON OR IS HE FICTION?"
"That's just the name of the franchise, Paps," Tabatha giggled. "There isn't really a person who is the official "lord of the rings" unless you count the big bad, Sauron. I mean, he wanted to control all of the rings and stuff, but...spoilers and all that."
"little late, Tabby Cat," Sans stated nonchalantly. "why stop now?"
"Nothing I said won't be explained in the first five minutes. Now hush up; it's starting."
They watched the first movie in relative peace, pausing only to explain some of the more complicated parts or give necessary background. Sans found as many opportunities to pun as possible to the general eye-rolling of his friends and brother. When the Fellowship reached the mines of Moria and Gandalf was solving the riddle, however, the stocky skeleton's interruption took them all by surprise.
"that's a riddle. you gotta say the word 'friend' and the door opens."
"YES, I DO THINK YOU ARE CORRECT IN THAT ASSUMPTION, BROTHER," Papyrus agreed.
"What makes you guys say that?" Mia asked, scratching her cheek as she looked over at them.
"MONSTERS ARE VERY GOOD AT PUZZLES. RIDDLES ARE JUST WORD PUZZLES, AFTER ALL. SANS HAS ALWAYS BEEN BETTER AT THEM THAN I AM THOUGH; HOW MUCH HE ENJOYS TURN OF PHRASE WORKS WELL FOR HIM IN THAT REGARD."
"there wasn't a lot to do in the underground, so we made our own entertainment. puzzles just already happened to be a traditional thing for keeping out intruders and all that, so we multitasked."
"Remind me to introduce you to the Riddler next time Batman comes up," Tabatha remarked. "Considering his range of topics, I'd like to see you work out his stuff."
"And if we get around to watching the Hobbit movies, we'll have to see how fast he gets through the game of riddles," Mia added.
The commentary was limited from that point on until the credits rolled and then Papyrus burst with a million questions about the movie and franchise in general. While the two humans did their best to satiate his curiosity, Sans almost casually leaned back and closed his eyesockets, waiting for the excitement to wind down a little. He cracked open one bony lid when he felt the cushions shift to see the black-haired human getting up to replace the disks in the DVD player.
"We're going to bed late tonight!" Mia declared. "You boys don't get to sleep until you've seen all of these epic films!"
"YOU'RE SURE YOU WILL REMEMBER WHAT WE ORDERED EVDN THOUGH THE RESTAURANT IS FITTEEN MINUTES AWAY?"
Papyrus was all but interrogating Mia at the door, much to the human's amusement.
Short term memory isn't that short , buddy," she chuckled. "In any case, you want spaghetti, your brother wants a burger, fries and extra ketchup packets and Tabatha just wants a club sandwich. I'll decide for me when I get there."
Having passed the informal test, the lanky skeleton nodded and stepped back, wishing her safe travels and wished for a swift recovery of the food items. The olive-skinned human chuckled to herself as she exited, waving and promising to be home soon. The door clicked shut and Papyrus immediately rushed back to the couch and began straitening up, shaking his brother awake as he went.
"HONESTLY, AT THE VERY LEAST WE SHOULD SET THE TABLE," he was saying as Tabatha got up from the couch to put away all the movies they'd been watching. "IT'S THE POLITE THING TO DO AS HER GUESTS."
"We can eat out of the take-out boxes," the brunette suggested. "Then all we have to do is clean the silverware."
"BUT IT IS NOT VERY DIGNIFIED TO EAT OUT OF SUCH CONTAINERS," the young monster disagreed. "IT'S LAZY AND MESSY!"
"Sometimes the easy way is the best way," the human shrugged. "I'll bet ya the rights to pick the next movie that Mia will say the same thing."
Papyrus pouted as best a skeleton could but reluctantly decided to wait until their other friend returned before rummaging around in the kitchen cabinets for all the necessary dishes.
"WELL THEN WHAT ARE WE TO DO WHILE WE WAIT FOR MIA TO RETURN? IT WOULD BE RUDE TO LEAVE HER OUT OF ANY OF THE GROUP ACTIVITIES!"
"eh, we could have a conversation," Sans suggested from where he still lay slouched on the couch cushions. "could make some plans to deal with the situation at home and all that."
"SITUATION?" The older skeleton gazed at his brother with raised brow-bones in slight disbelief bit before he could say anything else, Papyrus connected the dots and exclaimed "OH! THAT SITUATION...ARE YOU SURE IT IS THE RIGHT TIME TO BRING THIS UP SANS? I THOUGHT WE'D AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW."
"Have you two been hiding things from me?" Tabatha interjected teasingly, plopping down next to the stockier monster with a grin.
"well, it's not really a secret so much as a touchy subject," Sans shrugged. "needed to tell ya at the right time is all."
Despite the casual tone of the skeleton's voice, the air suddenly became thick with tension—their human friend had clearly connected the dots and read what Sans had been implying. The brunette began to twist her ponytail around her fingers nervously.
"before we say anything," Sans suddenly said, sitting straight, "you gotta promise something, Tabby Cat. a few things, actually. first, you gotta listen—no interruptin' while we're talking. second, you gotta stay calm and not freak out. third and last, when we're done and you can ask questions and have a discussion or whatever, you can't freak out about us; we're more than ready to handle everything your family drama will toss our way and that'll be a waste of energy."
"Sans," Tabatha immediately protested. "I-I don't think I have the guts to hold into any of those terms—"
"WE PROMISE IN TURN THAT WE WILL RESPECT YOUR BOUNDARIES AND IF ANY OF THIS IS OVERWHEALMING THAT WE WILL CEASE THE TALK AND SOOTHE YOUR WORRIES," the young guardsman added. His brother nodded.
"if it's too much for ya to handle, let us know and we can work on getting you into a better spot before we finish. you think we can agree on that?"
The young woman looked from one skeleton to the other, dark eyes wide and already hinting at the first signs of panic. After a minute, she seemed to gather some kind of internal strength, making Sans blink at the shift that he sensed in her Soul. Taking hold of a pillow and pulling it to her chest, she nodded.
Okay," she breathed, her shoulders squaring. "I'm ready."
Papyrus joined the other two on the couch, on the human's other side so she had one brother easily propped up next to her just in case. He had a silent conversation with his sibling about where they should start and before they both came to their conclusion.
"WE HAVE BEEN MEANING TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION EVER SINCE WE MADE UP AFTER THE WHOLE...UNDERGROUND INCIDENT," the lanky monster admitted. "HOWEVER, THERE WASN'T EVER REALLY A GOOD TIME TO BRING IT UP BECAUSE WE DIDN'T WANT TO CAUSE YOU ANY TROUBLE WITH YOUR HEALING AND THEN WE WANTED YOU TO ADJUST TO LIFE OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL AGAIN. WELL, I SUPPOSE THAT'S SORT OF NOT TRUE: WE'VE BOTH KNOWN FOR A WHILE—SANS FOR MUCH LONGER THAN ME, I'D EXPECT—THAT WE'D NEED TO BECOME INVOLVED IN THIS MATTER TO PROTECT YOU. SIMPLY BEING THERE FOR YOU WAS NOT EVER REALLY GOING TO BE ENOUGH."
"plus, i had an encounter that got me actively talkin' to Asgore about the whole stepmom sitch." Sans shrugged though his gaze was sharp and attentive, a trace of cyan magic flickering out of his eyesocket. "i was walkin' Frisk home from school and she oulled up in that little car of hers and demanded i tell her where i was hiding you. didn't tell of course and—"
"She didn't hurt you, did she?!" Tabatha burst, pillow squished in her suddenly crushing grip.
"Tabby Cat, you promised..." But seeing the wild-eyed worry on his friend's face, the monster Judge relented. "didn't get within a yard of me or the kid; my magic kept her very firmly in place and we took a shortcut out of there as soon as i said my piece." The release of tension was visible in the human's body and Soul alike though the heightened anxiety remained palpable in her aura. "anyways, what i was sayin' is that like it or not, we've gotten involved already whether ya think we should or not—we've been marked as 'co-conspirators' or whatever in keepin' you out of sight."
It was clearly taking effort for the young woman to keep quiet, but she took a deep breath and hugged her pillow as she absorbed the information. The skelebros waited until she nodded her consent to continue with what they had to say.
"look, i get you wanting to keep the people you care about out of harm's way—probably better than you'd know," Sans sighed. "but there's a point where you can't hold all the burden yourself. we saw firsthand what that does to you when everything goes down and you were...put bluntly, you weren't even functional. you've been hiding and alone for so long that you've even marked your Soul and send out a subliminal message of 'don't get attached to me' to anyone you interact with. when i Checked you for the first time, way back when you first met Paps, i got the message loud and clear that you didn't want to be noticed as anything particularly special, but i didn't understand where it was coming from or why you would be projecting that. now that i do...i'm kinda worried for ya, Tabatha. the stress will just catch up with you eventually and you'll...have a breakdown or...or worse."
The expression on his skull was grim, as if he had seen for himself what that "worse" meant. Tears had begun to collect in the human's eyes when Papyrus spoke up again.
"KINDLY TABATHA, WE HAVE BEEN YOUR FRIENDS FOR SOME TIME NOW," he said earnestly. "WE HAVE SEEN YOUR PAIN AND WANT TO PREVENT IT—NO ONE SHOULD SUFFER AS YOU HAVE. AND FOR YOUR EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING AS WELL AS FOR YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY TO BE THREATENED LIKE THIS...I AM AN ALMOST-GUARDSMAN UNDER UNDYNE'S TUTELAGE! IT IS PART OF MY DUTY TO ENSURE THOSE I LOVE ARE KEPT SAFE AND SECURE IN AS MANY AREAS AS I AM CAPABLE OF AFFECTING."
Tabatha shifted, a brief uncomfortable look crossing her face before she composed herself. The younger skeleton tried not to react, but he too paused awkwardly before pressing on.
"SO SANS AND I HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING THINGS AND WE HAVE COME UP WITH A PLAN OF ACTION! INSTEAD OF YOU SIMPLY BEING CAUTIOUS UNTIL WE CAN BE CERTAIN YOU ARE SAFE, WE WOULD LIKE TO PUT INTO ACTION PLANS FOR YOUR ESCAPE IF YOU ARE FOUND AND PRECAUTIONS FOR DAILY ACTIVITIES TO ENSURE THOSE OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE TO YOU. ALL THE WHILE, WE SHALL ALSO BE PUTTING EFFORT INTO RESEARCHING A MORE PERMANENT SOLUTION TO YOUR STEPMOTHER'S PERSISTENCE."
"figured we'd split the job as evenly as we could. Paps will be in charge of most of the security; i'll be doing the legal stuff."
"Guys!" Tabatha interrupted again, throwing her hands out at each of them as though she were trying to ward them off. Her voice was shaky. "Th-this is...this is too much! Y-you shouldn't have to do these things and go all out of your way for me! It's not right—"
"what's not right is you having to cower and reshape your whole life just to avoid crossing paths with your own parent!"
Sans' words were hard and harsh, his volume commanding attention though he did not yell. He saw how the young woman beside him shrank back and continued in a gentler tone.
"Tabatha, this isn't a burden on us. i get how it might feel that way, believe me, but we're choosing to do this. when we became your friend, we signed up for all of you—all of your problems and victories, all of your flaws and talents. if we don't do this, then what kind of friends are we?"
"I can't ask this of you," the brunette muttered, looking from one brother to the other.
"THEN IT IS A VERY GOOD THING THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO." Papyrus leaned over and put a hand on his friend's shoulder, gazing into her dark eyes earnestly. "I AM READY AND WILLING!"
"yeah, me too," the shorter skeleton added, scooting in closer to join the intimate moment.
Tabatha swallowed and shifted uneasily in her seat. After a minute or two of fidgeting, she looked at her friends once more.
"You really mean it?" she asked, voice thick.
"'course Tabby Cat; you're part of the family now."
"AND YOU SHOULD NOT NEED TO INQUIRE AS TO MY DEVOTION, DEAR HUMAN! I WILL EMBARK ON THIS NEW ENDEAVOR WITH ALL OF MY SOUL!"
Tears began to slide down the young woman's face as a trembling smile broke out on her lips. Laughter bubbled out of her chest, warbling and merged with half-suppressed sobs.
"Y-you guys..." she blubbered happily. "Y-you guys are awesome! The absolute best! I-I just!"
Too overcome for words to be of much use, she grabbed hold of both skeletons' skulls and pulled them in for a hug. They returned the embrace in a tangle of arms and hands. The whole time, the brunette sputtered out thanks and praised them for their kindness. After another couple of minutes like that, Sans pulled away, feeling a bit smothered.
"right, so hows about that's enough touchy-feelly stuff for now, 'kay?" he sugguested. "we still got some plans to make."
Funny how right after I say I'm gonna try to do biweekly updates I disappear for almost a month. Guess 3 jobs is a bit much to be promising any kind of consistent update schedule. But either way, we got some new plot uncovered! Hope it was everything you hoped for!
And thank you to all my reviwers! We've passed 200! Whoo! *happy dance* Thank you so much for all the support!
Silversun XD: Congrats! You are the 200th reviewer! *showers of confetti*
TabbyCat: I hope the nods to the ship were pleasing to you... ;)
Wolf of the Demise: ANOTHER STIRLINGITE?! YAS! LET US REJOICE! And it's funny you mention Dancetale because I just so happen to have an idea for that particular AU that might be showing up in the companion story "Universal" pretty soon... ;)
GoldGuardian2418: There is a time and place for all things and it's important to respect that order. Hence, I try to reflect it in my storytelling. And it's funny you mention Grillby because one of the tags I use in the AO3 version of this fic is "Grilly is da real MVP". He's living up to my title. *happy giggle* Anyway, took my time with this one and hope you enjoy the final product!
King temmie: tEM grounded! Esto es no bueno! glad you're back and reading though, bud!
UnderTaleI dunno: One sitting?! Oh my, I applaud your dedication. I don't usually have the time to do that sort of thing myself, but I know the feeling of not getting enough! I'm really glad you think so highly of this story and I'm especially pleased to hear that it got your feels up and running (I often worry I'm not portraying the right emotions through my prose). I'm so glad for your review! You made my day!