"I spy with my little eye...something white."
"...Is it snow?"
"...yeah." You both sigh as you hike the kid up farther on your back.
It's cold. Freezing. Painfully icy- you could definitely vouch for that one since you fell moments ago and bruised your hip pretty badly-, and it was way too chilly for Frisk. The kid was shivering against your back.
During your journey through the snow in search of a town of some sort, you two had run into the skelebrothers multiple times.
The first time, you found out the human hunting fanatic that was Sans' brother, Papyrus, was like those villains you'd seen in cartoons growing up. They'd monologue too much, say too much, and give time for the good guys to escape.
The second time this was only proven more accurate when you two were faced with Papyrus's first puzzle. It was an electric maze that Frisk swore up and down that they could handle. The reason you weren't doing the puzzle for the kid was because one, maybe you were a little too overprotective, and two, because Papyrus said only one of you could work on a puzzle at a time, and you two had to switch back and forth. Apparently it's a puzzle rule made by the great Papyrus.
Long story short, the guy must've walked in something because when he went through to give Frisk the controls, he made a path for them to walk through without a single problem.
"Hey… Just wondering." You suddenly say, looking to the kid that walked at your side. After the first puzzle, Frisk said that they'll walk so they wouldn't fall asleep. You were up for that, because you didn't want the kid falling asleep being so cold… It freaked you out. "Those two wouldn't happen to be apart of those friends we're trying to save, would they?"
"They are, how'd you know?" You shrug.
"He wears a battle body, Frisk, anyone who looks that cool has to be your friend."
"I don't get it…" You laugh, patting their shoulder
"Someone so friendly will befriend someone as friendly as you. It's what friends do."
"..I think you said friends to many times."
"Does it still sound like a word?"
"Yeah-"
"Then I haven't said it enough yet." You grin as Frisk laughs.
Coming up to another bridge, you notice a new face and a very colorful attire and stand.
There's a blue rabbit man standing to the side, look wilted with his ears hanging so low. He's grumbling to himself in a put out manner. Then, he spots you two.
"Oh!" His ears fly up and he's just beaming. "Two customers! Hello! Would you like some Nice Cream?" You tilt your head in wonder, walking over to him. He gestures a fluffy paw over the cart, showing you the many flavors inside.
"Can we get some?" Frisk signs in excitement. Making you snort.
"Aren't you cold enough?"
"No. Not if it involves Nice Cream." You laugh and turn to the rabbit who wasn't even trying to keep up with Frisk fast hands.
"It's the frozen treat that warms your heart," He says brightly. You're not sure if it's memorized, if he made it up on the spot, or if he just generally believes it. You liked it none the less.
"You know… sure. Two Nice Creams please." The man looks like he wants to jump over the moon as he shoves two pops before you. You go to fish around in your bag for money, gold pieces that Frisk collects whenever monsters try to Fight you guys, but the kid is already paying the man.
"Here you go! Have a super-duper day!" His happiness is contagious, and you find yourself feeling bubbly as you walk off, ice- Nice cream in one hand, frisk in the other.
"Isn't it the two humans." Mid lick, you're stopped by a grinning Sans. Your brows dip in confusion. How had he gotten in front of you two? At the last puzzle you two were at, you left before him. You guys were on a one way path so…
"Nm!" Frisk pulls at your hand. "Can I go play?" They point to a large snow ball off to the side. You're about to give them a green light, but you notice something on their cheek and you snicker. Crouching down you lick your thumb and then rub it on the Nice Cream stain at the corner of their mouth.
"Sure kid." Frisk grinned, throwing their arms up before running off. You watch them roll the large snowball somewhere.
"So," You start, looking to the skeleton at your side. "How'd you get here?"
"Would you believe it, I walked." His grin is smug. You know it is.
"Right, right. Duh." Your voice dripped with sarcasm as you finished off the Nice Cream. It's was actually pretty good. You'd have to see if there were any more places in the Underground that sold the stuff.
"You look nice today."
…
"What?" You looked to Sans in confusion. He holds your look before laughing and pointing to the Nice Cream stick. In a font you can only describe as 'happy', are the words Sans had just said to you. You blink slowly before a smile lights your face.
"Aw. These are so cute!" You laugh as you wrap the stick in the wrapper, sliding it into a pocket of your bag. "I might get addicted to the stuff."
"That seems a bit too sweet for it's own good." You rolled your eyes, but couldn't suppress your smile.
"Ice one," You say as Frisk comes running back up to you, snow and ice covering them. What in the world did they even do?
Frisk stops in front of you and Sans. They look to the laughing Sans, and then to your cheeky smile. Their eyes light a bit, and then they reach their hands up to you. You, getting the idea, pick them up easily.
"Alright, we'll be heading off." You dust the kid off as best as you can, but you can feel their whole body trembling. Maybe you shouldn't have let them out of your sight…
"Don't slip up." Oh, more ice puns?
"Snow problem." Frisk is laughing as you walk away, happy to get the last pun in, again.
While walking this time, you keep a look-out for any short sprinting skeletons trying to get ahead of the humans just to confuse them.
Frisk sneezes and you gulp. The kid… couldn't be getting sick, could they? You pull them close to your body, trying to give them as much of your heat as you can. They couldn't get sick now. You had no medicine on you, and you didn't know if the Underground had any. Could monsters even get sick?
"WHERE ARE THE HUMANS SANS?" Papyrus's voice screams out from somewhere ahead of you.
"DON'T KNOW? BUT YOU JUST SAID-" You can't hear anyone reply, but it doesn't surprise you. You had never met anyone who had such a voice as Papyrus. "UGH. FINE. JUST NO MORE OF YOUR DREADFUL PUNS."
"You're gonna be fine kid," You say, mostly to yourself as you the kid pushes themself as close as they can to you. How did they survive this when they were by themselves? They had to have gotten this far pretty easily. You couldn't imagine the kid trekking through snow in their thin clothes, walking everywhere and having no one to carry them or be their source of heat. Were you doing something wrong? Maybe there was something the kid did, or found when they were by themselves you hadn't…. Or maybe because you were there, taking the lead, new outcomes were being produced.
"AH! THERE THEY ARE!" Your head shoots up to see Sans and Papyrus- Sans!? How did he- but you were looking everywhere! There is no way the lazybone- "HUMANS! WELCOME! THIS PUZZLE WILL SURELY STUMP YOU, CREATED BY MY OWN-" Papyrus pauses, his eyes gliding down to a single sheet of paper that separated you and the skelebros. "SANS! WHERE'S THE PUZZLE!?"
"It's right there. On the ground." Everyone's eyes go to the sheet of paper. "Trust me. There's no way they can get past this one." You looked between the skeletons, who are both looking at you expectantly. Slowly, you walk over and pick the paper up. Looking over it, you see that it's a 'Monster Kidz' word search. You grin when you see one of the 'words' you have to find is just the top row of random letters. You set the paper down and then showily step over it.
"SANS! THAT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
"Whoops." Sans then snaps his fingers. "I knew I should have used today's crossword instead." Papyrus gasps, looking completely taken back.
"WHAT!? CROSSWORD?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST SAID THAT. IN MY OPINION… JUNIOR JUMBLE IS EASILY THE HARDEST."
"..What? Really, dude? That easy-peasy word scramble?" Sans shook his head. "That's for baby bones." Papyrus crossed his arms and looks away.
"UN. BELIEVABLE." Then, the whites in his eye sockets darted to you and he leaned down to get on level with your height. "HUMAN! SOLVE THIS DISPUTE!" You hummed in thought, shaking the kid a bit in your arms to keep them awake.
"Jumble," Frisk signed, giving you a smile. You nod.
"I'm agreeing with the kid. We think the Junior Jumble is much harder."
"HA! HA! YES! HUMANS MUST BE VERY INTELLIGENT IF THEY ALSO FIND JUNIOR JUMBLE SO DIFFICULT! NYEH! HEH! HEH HEH!" Papyrus was then off again. You sighed, about to move on, by Sans stopped you.
"Thanks for saying 'Junior Jumble' just to appease my brother." You stick your tongue out.
"I didn't. Are we not allowed to think Junior Jumble is hard?" Sans just stared at you. For a long moment, he was just silent. The look he gave you made you burst with laughter.
"S-Sorry," You wipe at your eye, unable to hold back the laughs during Sans silence.
"For a moment there I thought you really were stumped by those things." At first you're confused to why he exaggerated 'stumped', but when you glance down, you see his foot is on a small… stump. The groan that leaves you makes him laugh.
When his laughter subsided, his eyes go to the child you're cradling.
"Whats up with the kid?" Sans takes a step closer, looking over Frisk.
"They're cold. We didn't really dress for the weather." You shrug. Sans hums, looking you and the kid over.
"Well, Snowdin isn't far from here-"
"Snowdin?" The pun didn't go over your head.
"Yeah. A town." He points off to where Papyrus ran off too.
"Great. Okay. Then, we got this Frisk, almost there." Frisk waves their hand at you, cuddling more into your body. You begin thinking that this kid isn't sick, but just wants to take a nap. Honestly, you hope it's just them wanting to take a break. Sans waves you two off.
The way to the next puzzle Papyrus sets up is a bit harder.
Someone hid a switch in this circle of trees, and not thinking to check under a pile of snow, it took you almost an hour to figure out how to get over the wall of spikes blocking your way. Even when you finally found the switch, you were jumped by two dogs, who were a couple you, quickly. found out. Frisk had to save you on that one. The kid rolled around in the snow, which you didn't approve of with how sniffly they were, and then let the dogs re-sniff them. When they did, Frisk pet them and their minds were...expanded, they said. Apparently they thought Frisk was a puppy who pet dogs. Leaving that odd area, you came up to an easy button pressing puzzle that Frisk also solved. Afterwards though, they immediately asked to be carried on your back again. You felt like an Uber.
"WHAT!?" You jumped at the sound of Papyrus. "HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP!? AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY… IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME!?" It took you a second to realize that Papyrus was talking about the Spaghetti you two found a while back. Neither of you could eat it since it was frozen, and the special microwave supplied had no way to be plugged in. You both had to leave it behind. Though you two took that stop to eat snacks.
"We.. uh, left it there." You say slowly. Hopefully he isn't mad. The letter was written like he was really confident you two would be 'japed' into being delayed. Technically, you two actually were.
"REALLY!? WOWIE… YOU RESISTED THE FLAVOR OF MY HOME COOKED PASTA… JUST SO YOU COULD SHARE IT WITH ME!?" You nodded along. Who were you to tell the guy that his home made pasta was frozen and unedible. Definitely not you. "FRET NOT HUMANS! I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS… WILL MAKE YOU ALL THE PASTA YOU COULD EVER WANT! HEH HEH HEH NYEH!" Papyrus then walked over to you, set his hand on your back, and pushed you along.
You couldn't really not follow the guy to wherever he was leading you. The skeleton was strong, even without muscles. Plus, where he was heading was the only way to go, so you walked- more like jogged because of his obscenely long legs- at his side.
"OH YES, HUMAN!" Papyrus stopped you both at the edge of another button pushing puzzle. Instead of looking at it, he looked to Frisk. "SANS INFORMED ME THAT THE LITTLE HUMAN IS COLD! WHICH IS WHY IT HAS BEEN TAKING YOU SO LONG TO ARRIVE."
"Oh, you've been waiting for us? Sorry!" Papyrus held up his gloved hands.
"IT IS NO PROBLEM. WHILE I WAS WAITING, I WENT AND GRABBED YOU AND THE TINY HUMAN SOME THINGS TO PROTECT YOUR FRAGILE BODIES FROM THE COLD." Papyrus then pulls out two wads of fabric from the top of his battle body chest plate and drops them into your arms. "ONE IS A COAT OF MINE FOR YOU, THE OTHER IS A COAT OF SANS FOR THE SMALL ONE." Unfolding a yellow-orange colored ball, it unravels to fall into the snow, even when you are holding it up high. You guess this one was Papyrus's. The other ball is an off blue color, looking a bit purple, being very fluffy and bulky and much shorter. This one was obviously Sans.
"Papyrus this is…" You trail off as Frisk slides off of your back. You turn to them and hurriedly help them into Sans' old bulky jacket. It's almost too cute on Frisk. The kid's head stuck out, their cheeks plump and pinchable, and their arms stick out to the sides because of how big the jacket was. You just wanted to squeeze them. "Thank you so much Papyrus! This is just what we needed." You turned to him, giving a blinding smile. Papyrus's jaw unhinged again, but you were too busy tying the ends of Papyrus's jacket around your waist, so they wouldn't drag on the ground behind you, too notice.
"O-OF COURSE!" He recovered quickly. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, IS ALWAYS HELPFUL!" He then paused, and hurriedly gestured to the large scale puzzle to your side. "LIKE THIS PUZZLE. THE ANSWER HAS CHANGED BECAUSE I WAS TRYING TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE MY FACE. HAVE NO FEAR! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL-"
"Done."
"I think Frisk's got it." The bundle of coat waddled back over to you both, giving a toothy grin. They had gone off as soon as you got the jacket zipped up and had run through the buttons like they had it memorized. Honestly, they probably did.
"W-WOWIE! YOU SOLVED IT! AND YOU DID IT ALL WITHOUT MY HELP… INCREDIBLE! I'M IMPRESSED! YOU MUST CARE ABOUT PUZZLES LIKE I DO! WELL, I'M SURE YOU'LL LOVE THE NEXT PUZZLE THEN! IT MIGHT EVEN BE TOO EASY FOR YOU!" The very excited Papyrus then patted Frisks head before moving on. You flipped frisk furry hood up to mess with them before also walking in the direction of Papyrus's fading laughter.
"The coats look good on you two." Sans, like every time a puzzle was completed, was standing at the end of it.
"You're just complimenting your own jacket." Sans shrugs.
"Coat me." You wave at him, turning to Frisk to make sure they're following you like an adorable duckling, but they pause just in front of Sans. The guy looks down on the kid and you see his smile twitch. "...You must be really good at puzzles, huh? I mean. It's impossible for you to have seen this one before. Right?"
"Frisk," You blurt, getting both of their eyes on you. "We're going." Your tone was tense. You glance to Sans, but then look to Frisk whose hurrying back to your side. You can see Papyrus just up a head, and you no longer want the kid near Sans.
That skeleton knew something. Something that you were positive was completely impossible.
"HEY!" When you get to the bridge, Papyrus swivels away from a machine you had just spotted-
...How did Sans...Get there? You literally just…- You whip around to the spot he was just at, to see nothing but his footprint embedded in the snow. There were none of his leading away from the spot.
"IT'S THE HUMANS! YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS PUZZLE! IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS! YOU SEE THESE TILES!? ONCE I THROW THIS SWITCH! THEY WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE COLOR!" Then, Papyrus proceeds to explain every. Single. Color and combination. It would be rude say you zoned out.
But you totally did.
There was no way you were going to keep track of these instructions when the man, skeleton, telling you them was yelling and speed talking.
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
"Y-Yes!" You jumped and nodded. The one puzzle that you had to do, and it was this monstrous thing? You couldn't imagine there being even more, harder puzzles after this one…
"GREAT! THEN THERE'S ONE LAST THING… THIS PUZZLE… IS ENTIRELY RANDOM!" Frisk gasped and then giggled. Papyrus looked happy to see the kid so 'surprised'. "YES! WHEN I PULL THIS SWITCH, IT WILL MAKE A PUZZLE… THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE. NOT EVEN I WILL KNOW THE SOLUTION! NYEH HEH HEH!" You commented in your head that he really had that evil laugh down. "GET READY…!" He flipped the large switched with grace, slamming it down very showily.
Before you, you watch the many glowing tiles begin flickering. Faster, and faster, until you had to look away in fear you'd be sick.
Click!
You looked back… only to bite your bottom lip very hard so not to laugh out right. Papyrus stared long and hard before just silently walking away. The path was of pink blocks, which you vaguely remembering being free-for-alls, and on either side of the pink path was red squares, which were the no-for-alls. Frisk happily waddled across, and you think again how terribly cute they are in the coat.
As you make your way across, you shoo Frisk to continue and wait for you. Once Frisk is out of hearing range, you turn a sharp look on Sans.
"Look, I don't know what you're getting at, but whatever it is, leave Frisk out of it." Sans raises a brow bone.
"I don't know-"
"Don't try that. The kid is scared enough as it is in a freezing place full of strangers. They don't need a skeleton talking to them like their some crook."
Okay so, you were definitely being unfair. You knew Frisk was hiding something. You've been aware of that since the kid started acting weird at Toriel's, You also weren't stupid. The way Sans talked meant that he knew something about what the kid was hiding. Compared to him, you were severely out of the loop… But this was Frisk. Your family. There was something hostile about Sans when he looked at your sibling, and you didn't like it. So yes, you were lying your ass off, covering for whatever Frisk had done, and you weren't ashamed.
Sans studied your face. Looking for something. Though, he didn't seem to find it.
"Sorry I… They just remind me someone." You frown, and nod. "Hey…" He says slowly, testing the waters. "You know that spaghetti from earlier? It wasn't too bad for my brother."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. Since he started cooking lessons, he's been improving a lot. I bet if he keeps it up, next year he'll even make something edible." That makes you crack a smile.
"Now i'm even more excited to take Papyrus up on his promise."
"Oh, a promise?"
"Yeah. He said he's going to make me and Frisk as much spaghetti as we want. Hope he doesn't forghetti." Sans makes an unruly snort, that makes you laugh.
"I'm going to go catch up with Frisk," You say, already turning to see if you can find the kid with your eyes alone. "See you soon Sans."
"Yeah, bye kid.. And, uh, Sorry about all of that." You stare him down for a moment, but then smile kindly.
"Thanks for apologizing." You jog off.
Okay, so maybe you felt a little bad about lying to the guy. He honestly didn't seem like a bad person…. But Frisk came first.
You follow Frisk's small little foot prints.
They went… much farther than you thought.
You follow the boot prints past a dog in armor trying to building something, a teen antelope that is pretty rude, through an icy puzzle that you accidentally slid off of. Below it you found another set of prints, meaning Frisk had too fallen off at a point, but also two snow sculptures. One was of Papyrus, and it was pretty damn good, and the other was a pile of snow with red marker saying 'Sans'. One could say they were.. Skulltures.
…
You follow Frisk's footprints back up, correctly going through the ice puzzle this time, and then through a field of snow poffs. When you reach the end you find the kid under… a humongous dog in armor. Like nothing is weird, Frisk is scratching the dog's head, and the dog is just eating up the attention. Walking over, the kid notices your presence. So does the dog. It scrambles up, looming over you, and gives you large puppy eyes.
You pet him, but then shoo him off. The dog doesn't look like it took offense, and instead licks Frisk's face before going off across the large bridge you and Frisk were aiming for. In the distance, you can can make out lights of, what you hope to be, Snowdin.
"Right. Well. You ready kid?" You help the turtled kid to their feet.
"When we go home, or get our own home… can we get a dog?"
"...Anything you want, Frisk." The kid's innocent smile tugs at your heart, and they jog forward, taking the lead towards the bridge.
When you both get home. When you finally have enough to get a new place, you swear you are going to give Frisk the life they deserve. You're going to do it, no matter what.
"Hey, slow down!" You jog to catch up, laughing when the kid tries to shake the overly long bridge to mess with you. It barely moves for them. When you reach them, being about more than half way, you grab them up in your arm, your free hand holding tightly onto the rope, and then shake. The bridge swings, and Frisk laughs in delight. They try to get out of your hold, but you refuse, and instead dig your hand into their side, ripping more laughter from them.
"HUMANS!"
"Ah!" Your yelp… was a bit louder than you would've liked it to be.
Looking to where the bridge ended, you spot Papyrus standing in the way, Sans just at his side. At this point, you stopped questioning how the small skeleton got ahead of you.
"THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!" To your utter confusion and… mild worry, a spear, a white dog hanging from a rope around its middle, and a spiked ball and chain lower from the sky. Below, another spear, a cannon and… is that a flame thrower? raise. How the skeleton got those things rigged, you weren't sure, but the idea he did it for you guys was a bit flattering. "WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE! CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN! ARE YOU READY!?" Okay so… this was now less impressive and more terrifying. What happened to the guys puzzle thing? "BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!"
You take a tentative step back, waiting for the sharp and hot objects before you to start moving… but nothing.
"Well?" Sans pipes up. "What's the holdup?" Papyrus looks away from his brother, and even turns his back to you.
"HOLDUP?! WHAT HOLDUP!? I'M… I'M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!" You brace yourself!
...Still nothing.
"That, uh, doesn't look very activated." Sans inserts smartly.
"WELL! THIS CHALLENGE… IT SEEMS… MAYBE.." Papyrus is scrambling for an excuse. At this point, you can see his looks linger longer on Frisk in your arms, who is staring intently at him. Was the human hunter scared he might hurt the humans? "MAYBE IT IS TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMANS WITH. YEAH! WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR, AND MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED! BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL. AWAY IT GOES!" With relief, you watch the dangerous weapons slide away. You also watch the white dog break free of the rope and run off somewhere into town.
Papyrus gives a sigh of relief that makes you smile. He immediately notices your look, however.
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO LOOKING AT?!" For a second you swear you see his cheekbones go orange. "THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS!" The Skeleton then runs off, like always, to go probably set up another puzzle somewhere in your path. You wonder, and hope a little, that this guy will be trying to jape you with puzzles for most of your adventure. It's… nice seeing the skelebrothers. Like a breath of fresh, none scary, air.
Frisk grabs your hand and tugs on it, pulling you over the rest of the bridge and determinedly towards town. You give a wave to Sans, who's snickering as he watches you being dragged past him.
Entering the town, you are surprised by how… friendly it is. Everyone is smiling as they walk around and a lot of them wave and greet you and Frisk.
"This is my favorite place," Frisk signs, pulling you into the first building they come across. Entering, your body is immediately coated in warmth and you let of a sigh of relief.
"Cold?" You look up, seeing a soft lavender rabbit. She's leaning on the edge of a counter, orange light spilling out from a couple candles behind her. She cracks a friendly grin and then gives a wave of her paw. "Hello, travellers. How can I help you two?" Frisk runs up to the counter, dropping some gold coins onto it. Then, the kid points to some things on the shelf behind the bunny. She takes a look at the money, to Frisk, and then to you and smiles even wider. "Well, alright kid." She turns briefly, and then is setting a bag into the kids awaiting hands. Scooping up the money, she counts them before dropping them into a metal box.
"What'dya get Frisk?" Walking back over to you, they hold open the bag. A warm cinnamon scent wafts out and you feel your stomach rumble.
"It's my homemade recipe," The women supplies for you. You grin up at her.
"These smell amazing."
"I sure hope they do, or they wouldn't be so much." You both laugh. "Since you two are looking cold, I suggest heading to Grillby's. It's a bar just a couple buildings down. Don't worry," She says before you can say something about the kid with you. "There's food and non-alcoholic drinks for some younger ones." She winks at Frisk, who winks back. Though, they look a bit lost to what you two were talking about.
"Well, thanks."
"Welcome. See you around." Taking Frisk's hand, you two leave and begin walking through town.
"This place is really nice," You comment as you watch a couple monsters decorate a christmas tree. "Very homely."
"Papyrus and Sans live here."
"Oh? Where's their house?" Frisk points to the side of you. You raise a brow and turn to meet the front door of a two story, large house. It's the biggest one in the town as far as you've seen, also the oddest decorated. It's the only place to have christmas lights, a wreath, and a pirate flag at once. It even looks like they own a large shed next to it.
"Hey, _," You tilt your head back to Frisk. "Can I go play while you go to Grillby's?"
"I'm not going to go to the bar Fri-"
"Pleeease? I wanna go play with Papyrus!" You purse your lips.
"But… Isn't he still trying to capture us?"
"I'm going to go change his mind. We have to do this to progress, so i'll do it, and you can go relax at the bar."
"I don't want to leave you alone though. I know you can handle yourself… but I just don't feel right doing that."
"I promise I'll be safe. Plus, you've been carrying me the entire time here. You're tired, right?"
"...Maybe a little." Frisk beamed, throwing their hands up.
"So lemme go talk to Papyrus!" You sigh loudly. This kid…. You couldn't say no when they gave those determined eyes.
Plus… you did need a break.
"Alright. But stay safe… And the moment you need anything come to me!" Frisk was already running off, waving to you over their shoulder. You sigh loudly, watching them until they disappear into a thick fog that had rolled in. You shake your head slowly, but turn away and make your way back to where you had spotted Grillby's bar.
From the outside, the place looked like one of the bars that had mostly regulars. Then again, in such a small place, you guess that was a given.
With one more glance to where the kid ran off, you step in.
It was like walking into a wall of heat. You knew, while walking through the few monsters sitting around, that you would be stripping this jacket as soon as you found a seat. Especially when the seat you wanted was at the bar, where you found the main source of the heat. It was a man on fire.
No. Literally he was fire. The flames licked up high in the hair, constantly flickering and moving, his face and hands changing between different variations of yellow, red, and orange. You wondered why his suit or glasses weren't burning or melting, but you choked it down to magic. If something could take your soul out of your body, then that same something can keep a fire man's suit from catching.
Sitting, you slide your arms out of the sleeves and tie the two around your waist. The fire man took a double take in your direction, moving over from the customer he was chatting with to take your order.
"Can I have… some fries and… some wate-" You pause, deciding it would be best not to ask the man made of fire to get water. "Or, uhm.. Maybe-"
"I can get you water."
…..Oh….
His voice. Wow. Okay. You had to stop staring at him before it looked more like a gawking rude human than a surprised flustered one. This guy's voice was so soft, and so low, it sent shivers through you. You wonder if your face was as red as he was naturally.
"Th-Then… thank you, please." He nodded, and then went into the back. As soon as he was gone you ran a hand through your hair and rested your forehead on your palm, your elbow on the counter. For a brief moment, you let yourself close your eyes.
You had done a lot today. Was it still the first day? You weren't sure. With moving so much, you weren't sleepy, tired yeah, but not sleepy. You completely messed up your inner clock, specially when you can't see the sun, or hear crickets to tell you it's night. How did the monsters do it, going to bed and waking up on time? Maybe they slept through late night and early morning, but were awake for early night and late morning? Either way, the town was busy, and lively, so for them it might've been midday. Late afternoon at most. But you had left home at noon, and trekked through Ruins and a winter forest… It was probably night back on the surface.
Thinking of the surface, you wonder how your mom is. You could picture her rolling around on the couch under a couple hundred blankets, trying to find a comfy spot. She'd have a couple empty bottles scattered around her, too tired to get up and get new ones, but there would be a single mug. Probably your favorite mug, full of her favorite steaming tea. The same tea you'd make for her when she was feeling sick. Since her kids left, she's probably going through her unstable moods. One second she'd be crying for you two too return, the next cursing and screaming at you two for leaving. When you get home, there will probably be piles of broken glass from thrown bottles around. You could also imagine her going in and trashing Frisk's drawing wall. She never liked those pictures…
A plate is set before you, and the clink makes you finally open your eyes. The fire man is looking you over as he cleans a glass. He nods to your plate of food and you crack a small smile.
"Thanks." You say, and then your smile widens. "Has anyone ever told you you're pretty hot? Smokin', actually." He pauses in his glass cleaning and then slowly shakes his head, immediately going back to it.
"Another Sans," He mumbles to himself before walking off to a customer.
The fries were amazing, you think, as you stuff a couple into your mouth. Pretty perfect, but they were missing something… You look around the bar counter, trying to find ketchup, but there was not a bottle in sight. You pout a bit as you flag down the bartender. Luckily, it didn't look like the bar was busy, so you weren't bothering him too much.
"Uhm do you have any Ketchup?" The flame man looks over the bar and then frowns heavily. He looks ready to speak, but then he notices something behind you.
"...Ask him," He says softly, almost not reaching your ear. You raise a brow.
"Ask who-"
"Sans!" The bar erupts into loud 'hellos' and other greetings. You turn to watch the short skeleton saulter in, waving languidly to anyone who spoke to him. When his eye sockets went to the bar, they found you and his grin stretched a bit.
He took a stool next to you.
"Heya," He says, crossing his arms on the counter. He doesn't even have to look to the bartender before a plate of fries is set before him. "Thanks Grillby."
So the flame man was Grillby, the owner of the bar? You note that and keep it in the back of your mind for later reference.
"Hey Sans," You pause, glancing to Grillby before looking straight at the skeleton. "Are you smuggling ketchup from the bar?"
"...What?" Sans snorts. "Grillby set you on me?" He sends a glance to said man, but Grillby's too busy cleaning glasses to notice. If he does, he ignores it.
"No. ...Unless you really are stealing ketchup. Patrons need ketchup sans." He looks to your plate of fries, scans the bar counter top, and then leans towards you.
"Well, I have a special offer for ya kid," You raise a brow.
"Really?" He nods, opening his jacket.
"A bottle of ketchup for a joke." Inside of his coat is four whole bottles of ketchup. You try hard not to facepalm. No wonder Grillby immediately told you to ask Sans. The guy had made an underground ketchup smuggling business right under their noses.
"Does the joke have to be any good? My fries are getting cold." The skeleton shrugs, leaning back as he taps his finger bones on his arm bone, making soft little clicks you could hear over the bar mumbling.
"Any joke will do."
"You gotta be rattling my bones. That's pretty cheap for one bottle. You need to ketchup with the times man."
"Pfft-" The laughter he let out was the kind that shook his whole body. You had never met someone, other than Frisk, but you had tainted that kid a long time ago, that truly, and honestly, enjoyed your crappy humor as much as you did. The skeleton pulled out a bottle and set it between the two plates. With a smile, you used it. Giving yourself just enough, you slid it to Sans. Yet, just before he could grab it, you pulled it back.
"Any joke will do," You repeated his words.
"Oh, is this how it's going to be?"
"A joke for a joke, sir." He shook his skull, but his smile never left. Though, did his smile ever leave? You kinda wanted to see him frown. Then again… you think seeing Sans with anything but a smile would be pretty scary.
"I'm getting pushed around trying to eat brunch. Wow."
"Brunch?" The bewildered look you give makes him dip a brow bone.
"Yeah… What're you eating?"
"...A midnight snack." Sans laughs, looking to your sad plate of fries and water. "This must be what jet lag is like."
"What?" You shake your hand, trying to wave away your words as if they were tangible.
"Nothing, nevermind."
"Well, maybe you'll feel better tomarrow."
"Oh that was bad."
"If yours didn't have to be good-"
"But they were." Sans rolls his pin pricks, snatching the ketchup from your grip. You laugh at that, watching as he pats the bottom of the ketchup bottle and, ploop, about half the bottle empties onto his plate.
"Fff-hahaha!" You tear up as you clutch your stomach, laughing obscenely loud.
"It's fine. I can handle this," He says, using a fry more like a spoon for the ketchup. For a long while, you can't catch your breath, watching him eat his plate like it was soup.
"So, question," You say when you finally gain control.
"Mhmn?" His voice is muffled with another spoon full of ketchup. Some of it drips from the corner of his mouth, and you roll your eyes at the similarity of the situation from when you were with Frisk. You lean backwards, pulling a napkin from a dispenser, and then lean over to Sans to wipe at the smear. "Oh-" he swallows his mouthful. "Thanks mom." You click your tongue, sending him a look.
"You wouldn't have to thank me if you didn't eat like a babybones."
"You're stealing everything I say." He moves to eat more, but then pauses. "What did you want to ask?"
"Oh." You blink. "Who is older, you or Papyrus?" Sans hums, tapping his chin. "Oh come on." He smirks.
"I am." You… feel like you should act more surprised than you do, but just something by how the two acted got you feeling the small one was the older one. "What about you?"
"I'm definitely the younger one."
"I knew it," He's smirking again. He's so cheeky.
Sans slurps up the rest of the ketchup fry mess, and then flashes you a big red smile.
"You look like a vampire."
"I don't bite," He says teasingly.
"Actually. Sans. I'm pretty sure biting is in the definition of Vampire-" You pause, retrieving more napkins from the dispenser so Sans doesn't try to clean his mouth with his sleeve. You could see the idea forming in his eyes and you couldn't handle watching that. "Have you ever met a vampire?" The look he gives you makes you blush. "I'm serious!"
"No, I have not met a vampire. Why?"
"Well… You know… Just that monsters are down here so I thought Werewolves and Vampires could be here is all. I've already seen a ghost."
"Ghosts, Werewolves, sure. No bloodsuckers. Sorry to disappoint." You roll your eyes, but freeze.
"Wait. Werewolves?"
"Yeah. One works just up the road chucking ice blocks." You stare at him and you suddenly realize… He's not joking.
"Oh.. wow." While you're busy thinking of all other monster possibilities, Sans hops off of his stool. He stretches and then pats the counter to get Grillby's attention.
"Put it all on my tab, Grillbz." The flame man narrows his eyes, gesturing to your meal as well, and the skeleton nods. You snap out of it at that point and stand as well.
"You don't have to do that Sans-"
"Now worries, i'm a bone-fide gentleskele."
"Just putting it on your tab doesn't make you a 'gentleskele'," Grillby butts in, making you quick to head your grin behind a hand as Sans just smiles.
"I'll head out first. Got work, you know." You nod, waving him off. You watch his figure slowly leave, and then you take your stool again. You smile warmly at Grillby as he takes your finished plate, along with Sans'.
You sip slowly at your water and decide to rest your eyes again.
This time, you imagine Toriel.
It was a while ago, had to be 5 hours at least, since you last saw her. You had only spent a couple hours with her as it was… but you still felt connected. Like you had known her much longer than you really did. Like she was your mother.
Was it bad you were so hung up on your mom? You couldn't go a day without your mind going back to your blood mom, or your honorary goat mom. Was this going to be a thing for you?
Though, you're sure it was called for. You met a monster who was only a little motherly towards you and you latched to her like a leech. You almost didn't want to return to you actual mother because of Toriel. Were you craving your mom from the past so much that your were projecting your needs onto the first older women who showed any kindness?
...This was beginning to sound like you needed to talk to a professional about it.
Your mind wandered back to Toriel. You could picture her curled up on comfy chair in front of the fire, holding Frisk and reading that snail book. You could picture her in the kitchen making pie, her smiling down at you, walking hand in hand with Frisk. You could still feel how warm her hug was, and you desperately wanted another one.
You had tried calling her shortly after leaving the Ruins, but she wouldn't pick up. You called again at the talking snowman you and Frisk agreed to help. Even after one of Papyrus' puzzles you tried getting in touch…. But she wouldn't answer. Maybe it was selfish trying to get her to talk to you when she said she couldn't bare to see you. But you just… You couldn't imagine not seeing her again. Frisk talked, signed, about it like you'd never see her, like Goat mom was going to be stuck in the Ruins forever, staying alone and craving for someone to keep her company. It hurt to think that you two just left her alone there. How many had just walked through the Ruins, acting like they would stay with her, and then up and leave like you and Frisk? If all those people did that, and then ended up dead like she said… You couldn't bare to imagine how much pain she was in.
You should've promised that you'd survive and come see her again.
"Sans!" You jump, your eyes opening a bit too quickly and a bit too close to the bright light of Grillby. They teared up and you covered them, hissing in slight pain. "Sans your back!"
"Yeah. Hey,"
"Hey Sans, weren't you just here for breakfast a few minutes ago?"
"Nah, I haven't had breakfast in at least half an hour. You must be thinking of brunch." The bar erupts into laughter just as you gain sight again. You look to your side to see Sans and Frisk.
"You're back, and with a present I see." Sans nods, looking a bit proud as he pats Frisk's head.
"Here, get comfy." He gestured Frisk to the stool he had a couple minutes ago before he left. Frisk climbs into the seat and-
Pbfbfht
When had Sans planted a whoopie cushion?
"Whoops, watch where you sit down. Sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats." You roll your eyes, reaching your hands out for the kid. Frisk climbs into your lap as Sans pockets the whoopee cushion and takes his seat. "Anyway, let's order. Whaddya want…?" Frisk hums, tilting their head.
"What's there to eat?"
"Burgers and Fries." You supply.
"I want… a burger!" You grin.
"The kids pretty hungry, they want a whole burger." Sans nods, looking to Grillby.
"Hey, that sounds pretty good. Grillby, we'll have a triple-" Sans pauses and looks to you, but you shake your head. "A double order of burg." You decided to not comment about how Sans was about to have another meal after just eating a huge plate of fry-ketchup salad. You watch Grillby go into the back room.
Frisk leans back on you, looking up as you look down. You bump their forehead with yours, and they chuckle.
"So, what do you think of my brother?"
"He's cool." You open your mouth to translate-
"Of course he's cool." Both you and Frisk look to Sans with wide eyes. "You'd be cool too if you wore that outfit every day." The guy kept talking though, not seeming to see how befuddled you two were. "He'd only take that thing off if he absolutely had to. Oh well. At least he washes it… and by that I mean he wears it in the shower." You open your mouth to question how Sans learned sign language in such a short time, or if he just assumed by Frisk's smile that they thought Papyrus was cool, but Grillby comes back. "Here comes the grub. Want some ketchup?" Sans offers the bottle you had to buy earlier with a bad pun.
"Nn-mh." Frisk shakes their head.
"More for me," he winks, and then chugs the last quarter that remained after his accident, which now you think may not have been one, and your own small use. "Anyway," Sans starts, "Cool or not, you have to agree Papyrus tries real hard."
Frisk picks up their burger and stuffs as much as they can in their mouth for the first bite. You hold back your instinct to smoosh the kids inflated cheeks.
"Like how he keeps trying to be part of the royal guard. One day, he went to the house of the head of the royal guard and begged her to let him be in it. Of course, she shut the door on him because it was midnight, but the next day, she woke up and saw him still waiting there. Seeing his dedication, she decided to give him warrior training. It's, uh, still a work in progress."
The way Sans spoke so highly and proudly of Papyrus sounded just like you talking about Frisk. Just like how you doted on your sibling and always found them to be the most amazing person in the world, Sans did too about Paps. It was really nice. It was like you two were bonding over being the older kids, even if he was talking to Frisk and not you.
You're about to comment about how sweet it is, but a dark feeling engulfs you.
"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you both something." The room suddenly feels colder, even though you're sitting quite close to Grillby. "Have you ever heard of a talking flower?" Immediately Frisk stiffens in your lap. You look to Frisk, and then to Sans and shake your head. "I'll tell you, then." His voice is growing lower, and he leans in so only you and Frisk can hear. "The echo flower. They're all over the marsh. Say something to them, and they'll repeat it over and over…"
"That's sounds… interesting. What about it?" Sans pin pricks are searching your face. Again, they're looking for something, but they don't find it.
"Well, Papyrus told me something interesting the other day. Sometimes, when no one else is around… A flower appears and whispers thing to him. Flattery….Advice...Encouragement...Predictions." When San's eyes go to Frisk, who is now trembling slightly, he finds whatever he's looking for. "Weird, huh? Someone must be using an echo flower to play a trick on him. Keep an eye out, okay?" You nod, trying to smile even though the mood is so heavy.
You have a feeling Frisk knows about this talking flower, that they know it's not an echo flower. You also have a feeling that Sans thinks this too.
"Thanks."
Then, just as quickly as the freaky mood settled in, it's disappeared.
"Welp, that was a long break. I can't believe I let ya pull me away from work for that long, you're just like your sister." You gasp, leaning over to bat at his arm.
"Don't even try that!" Sans snickers and stands, turning his eyes onto Frisk.
"By the way kid, I'm flat broke. Can you foot the bill? It's just 10,000G." With determination, Frisk nods. You roll your eyes.
"You have not gathered that much money." Frisk crosses their arms, still looking like they could pull out that much gold just because they really wanted too.
"Just kidding, Grillby, put it on my tab." The flame monster's fire flickers a bit threateningly, but he nods. You guess that Sans tab was pretty hefty.
Sans makes his way to the door, but then stops just before he leaves and turns back around.
"By the way… I was going to say something, but I forgot." And then the genius was gone.
Frisk hops off of your lap, having finished the rest of their burger, and holds their greasy hand up to you. You grab another napkin, seeing the same want in their eyes to rub their hand off on their onesie like Sans's want to rub the ketchup on his sleeve, and clean their hand. You stand yourself, give a stretch that pops some bones, and give a wave to Grillby.
"Bye, Grillby, thanks for the amazing food." He nodded, the fire crackles sounding a bit pleased. "Alright, let's get going kid." Frisk smiled happily and nodded, taking you hand with their clean one and leading you forward and out of the bar.
While walking through town towards the thick fog, you decide to strike up a friendly conversation.
"So, what did you and Papyrus do?"
"Well, we went on a date."
"Oh really? You went on a date with- wait, what!?"