"A sleepover?" Frisk nods. You pull the cup of coffee away that you'd been about to drink. "Where? With who?" Setting down your cup you pull out a chair from Toriel's dining table and take a seat.

"Sans and Papyrus!" They spell out Sans name and only part of Paps before they switch to the modified sign they'd given the taller skele. "Papyrus asked if I wanted to go when me and mom ran into him at the store. We can go, right?"

"Of course Frisk I- wait we?" The kid bounces in excitement.

"Yeah! You and me." When they point at you, you can't help but grin. You were wondering why they felt the need to ask your permission, since they were literally calling Toriel "mom". Then again, it had always been just you and Frisk and they probably saw you more as a mother than anyone.

You pull out your phone and quickly check out your calendar. Before your sibling had become the ambassador, you always thought it was silly to see people relying so much on their big expensive phones. Now, having to keep track of two completely different schedules at once, you didn't think you could survive a day without yours.

You had a night shift at the gas station you worked tonight. It was an easy shift that your coworkers never wanted to do but you always preferred. Sure, gas stations weren't the most safe, but it did mean multiple hours of free time that you could work on class work. Speaking of class, you did have a class in the morning after. You glance back up to Frisk's excited face. You must've shown your thoughts on your face because Frisk's expression drops slightly.

"You can't come?" They sign and you manage a little shrug.

"Sorry, I have work tonight and class after. I'll go next time, alright?" Frisk purses their lips for a moment before nodding, trying to hide their disappointment. You run a hand through their hair as you smile. "When does Papyrus want you over?" Frisk's grin picks back up and they pull up their phone that they had in their hands since they'd run over to you.

They tap a couple times before turning it around towards you. They show you a screen of text messages. "CoolSkeleton95" had last messaged Frisk that "I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSIBILITIES TODAY! SO YOU AND YOUR SISTER CAN COME OVER WHEN YOU PLEASE!". Then, a few minutes later, "TEXT ME FIRST! I NEED TO CLEAN UP AFTER SANS. AGAIN.".

You glance to the clock on the microwave and then down to your cup of coffee. "It's a little early to go over to their place." Frisk immediately deflates and you roll your eyes. "So why don't you go get dressed and we can head out for breakfast?" They perk back up. They run off and you listen to the thumping of their feet as they run upstairs.

"Good morning." You look over your shoulder to see Toriel walking in. She smiles sweetly at you, leaning over to kiss the top of your head when she passes.

"Morning Tori." You take a sip of your coffee and watch as she starts a pot of tea. "You know about the sleepover Paps invited me n' Frisk to, right?" Toriel chuckles and hums in acknowledgement. "I'm going to take them over after breakfast. I'll pick them back up after my class tomorrow morning." She nodded a couple times to let you know she was listening.

"Do what you think is best." She patted your hand. "I am fine with either." She moves to the fridge, opens it to check what food was inside, and frowns. She glances back at you. "Child, would you like to-"

"Go out and eat?" You finish for her. She smiles and shuts the door. "I told Frisk already we'd go out." When Toriel passes to get dressed again she wraps you in a tight hug.

Once the three of you are ready, you climb into your car and head off.

Though there were multiple restaurants in your small town, the three of you only go so far to eat. Just outside of the monster neighborhood Toriel lived in were monster run establishments. They were only two, both small and very new as Frisk and you had only just convinced the mayor to allow monsters to own businesses. Surprisingly, neither of these places were Grillby's.

You all take your time eating. Toriel tells you about the classes she's started taking at the community College. Another new advancement for monster kind was education in human schools. However, that was being limited and you already noticed the segregation. Monsters were only allowed to take classes online and weren't yet permitted on campus, to not "interrupt the learning process for students in the middle of their semester". Which still irked you. The mayor said she'd discuss with the board of education about allowing monsters in when summer rolled around and classes were officially out. You bit your tongue on this matter, since you and Frisk had already won her over on letting monsters own businesses on the surface as long as they had owned them underground. Most of these things were temporary fixes anyway until monsters could be recognized as citizens. The mayor was already staking her career on being on monster kinds' side with Frisk. You were incredibly thankful for her.

However, part of you wondered why she was risking so much.

After you finished breakfast you drop Toriel off at the store. She insists she can walk home, since she was used to walking to and from the store, but you still ask her to text you when she's finished. Whether she wanted you to pick her up and take her home or not, you just wanted to make sure she was safe.

Toriel gives a kiss to the top of your and Frisk's head, telling you she'd see you both tomorrow. Frisk gives her a long hug.

Sans and Papyrus's house was on the edge of town. It sat at the end of a dirt road in the clutter of pine trees and the beginning slopes of mount Ebott. When Papyrus had first excitedly talked about moving to the surface, you had assumed the brothers would move into the apartment complexes the Mayor had set up for everyone. It was surprising to you when Paps came back and told you he'd moved into a house out in the woods. Specifically the exact house the brothers lived in in Snowdin. Though he didn't show it or voice it you felt Papyrus was a little disappointed he couldn't live closer to the other monsters and the humans he was so excited to meet.

Before you turn down their long driveway you ask Frisk to go ahead and text Papyrus where the two of you were. Short notice, but knowing the younger skeleton, he'd been cleaning all day in preparation to have his favorite human over and wouldn't actually need much warning.

Pulling up, you ignore the flip of your stomach at the house that looms over you. It was jarring seeing that familiar house up on the surface. You knew that if you asked either brother how in the hell they'd gotten their home to the surface, Sans would shrug it off with a chuckle and an exaggerated "magic". So you didn't ask. It still made you feel… weird, though. You wonder if the house was tucked away so that the other monster wouldn't question why they couldn't get their own specific homes magicked up to the surface like the skeletons'. You also wondered if the reason the building was hidden in the woods was so it was out of sight of the town.

"You have all your things?" You ask Frisk as you turn the car off. They hum a yes excitedly, scrambling from the car so they could haul out their bag. A pillow comically pokes out the top of the bag as they slung it onto their back. You slide out, pocketing your keys and grabbing your phone and wallet even if you were just going to walk the kid in.

The front door swings open before you even get close enough to think about knocking. Papyrus waves excitedly, rushing the both of you.

"HUMANS!" He yells, scooping up an excited Frisk. "WHAT TOOK YOU BOTH SO LONG?" He squeezes the child before throwing them onto his shoulder. You grab the bag that tumbles off Frisk's back before it can hit the dirt. "NICE CATCH!" Papyrus beams at you, giving a comical thumbs up, before reaching over to pull you into a bone crushing side hug.

"Nice to see you too." You say as if you hadn't just seen the skeleton a day or two ago. As the unofficial official mascot of monster kind, Papyrus made sure to go and be present for any ambassador jobs Frisk and you were set on. Which meant more often than not you were seeing Papyrus more often than any of your other friends.

Paps turns on his heel, pulling you tightly to his side as he practically drags you into his house. As unnerving as it had been to see their snow covered house in the middle of the very not snowy woods, being inside of it brought a completely different feeling. It felt like you were coming home.

"Thanks for inviting us over." You say as you slip out of your dirt packed shoes. Papyrus holds Frisk out to you so that you can take off their shoes as well before throwing the giggling child back onto his shoulders. "Sorry I can't stay tonight."

"NO APOLOGY NECESSARY. I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN YOUR SCHEDULE INTO ACCOUNT." You shake your head.

"That's fine don't worry about it Paps. There's always next time. Again, thanks for having Frisk over."

"I WOULD NEVER HESITATE TO SHARE MY HOME WITH FRIENDS!" He gives you a smile that only makes you beam back.

"The kid's here already?" Sans's voice draws your eyes across the room. He was folded up on the sofa, a lazy grin plastered on his face as he barely tilts his head to look over. Papyrus huffs through his nasal ridge, turning to scold his brother.

"THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS SIT UP." Papyrus says as he sets Frisk down. As soon as the kid's feet hit the ground they run over and jump Sans. He grunts, partly from surprise and partly from impact.

Papyrus leads you in, hand on your back. At first you assume it's so that he can include you in reprimanding his brother, but he nudges you past. He heads in the kitchen and only drops his hand from your back so that he can turn towards the fridge. Without a word he opens it and pulls out a large tupperware of food.

"FOR YOU AND FRISK." He beams, too proud of himself. The tub is warm in your arms when you take it and you hug it closer.. This could be a few meals for you for a good number of days.

"Thank you." You say, not knowing how to come off anymore sincere. Even though technically you could afford food with little trouble, you hadn't had anything home cooked in a long while Papyrus seems to pick up on how truly thankful you are and somehow his smile grows even brighter. He leans down, pulling you into a tight hug.

Heading back to the living room, Frisk immediately grabs at Papyrus. They sign about training outside and Papyrus loudly agrees at such a wonderful idea. The two fly past you before you can even blink, leaving you with a grinning Sans.

"Sure ya can't stay?" He asks, shifting just the slightest so he could sit up a little bit. You meet his pinpricks.

"Not tonight. I got work in a few." You shrug, pulling the tub of spaghetti closer. He nods, knowing enough about wayward jobs and time restraints. He was known for his many random jobs after all. How he found time to be lazy was beyond you.

Sans shifts in his seat again, but this time his smile twitches.

"Be careful, kid." He says, the usually playfulness in his tone absent. It startles you, but what startles you more is how used to it you were. Which, in hindsight, you don't think many monsters could say the same.

"I'm always careful." You joke, grinning. Sans's smile returns but it's not the same. "What's wrong?"

"Dunno. Just heard some things." He shrugs through his words trying to brush it off. " Jus' be careful." You don't know what he could've heard that would make him worry but you're sure it'd have nothing to do with you. You lean over Sans and give a kiss to the top of his skull, just like you'd do for Frisk.

"Thanks for your worry." You say before waving. Sans just nods, sinking further into his coat, looking ready to sleep. You laugh as you turn and leave.

You head out with your arms and heart full, giving your last goodbyes to the trio.

Your back pops as you stretch.

Today had been slow and uneventful. You hadn't expected shifts at a Gas Station late at night would be something fun and exciting, but you underestimated how much free time you'd actually have.

The door chimes as the customer you had just talked to exits. A trucker on a long night haul to some side of the state you hadn't asked about. He'd been tired and quiet but he still tried to make small chat about the prices of cigarettes. You'd humored him and the smile you'd been given was enough.

Your phone vibrates and you glance to see the screen light up with another text message from Frisk. They were asking you about your thoughts on Valentine day gifts even though you couldn't remember the last time either of you ever gave the holiday second thought. You're tempted to ask who the kid might be thinking about if they're so hyper focused on gifts, but decide not to tease them. After all, knowing them, they were probably planning to dish out gifts to everyone of their classmates in an attempt to woo them. That or to their family. Most likely both. Instead you pick it up and text them back that they should be sleeping. It was a school night after all and even thought they were sleeping over at the skeleton's house didn't give them an excuse.

The gas station is quiet. At night it usually is, having little to no people coming into the small town for a small gas station trip. You fold your arms under your head as you sigh out. You'd done all of your school work that you needed to finish up before finals. Now your free time is just that, free time. Empty. You hadn't realized you'd get through your work so early in your shift or you would've brought a book or something. You'd pull something up on your phone but you didn't want to risk it dying since it was already at such a low charge.

The overhead lights buzz and flicker occasionally, straining your eyes. You shut them and curl your warm arms in closer as you listen. The fridges in the back hum and you feel the cold breeze from them every once in a while. You hear a fly or two fly around your head before darting off towards the bathroom. Though the street outside was always nearly empty at this time of night, you still heard the occasional car drive past.

On a night like this, Sans's warning made even less sense.

The sound of a car pulling up into the parking lot had you opening your eyes. Sitting up you turn and check the camera that watched over the gas pumps. Someone had definitely parked. You watched them climb out of the car and put out their cigarette before turning towards the building. You put on your semi-best employee smile, knowing if you smiled too much at 11pm it'd freak out the customers.

Your phone goes off. You lurch, looking between your phone and the camera. Grabbing it you're about to swipe to end the call but you freeze at the name you see.

Sans? Why would he be calling? He knows you're at work. You check the camera again and seeing that the man was taking his time smoking a cigarette you decide to go ahead and pick up.

"Yo." Sans mumbles on his side. He sounds a bit muffled. You picture him with his phone tucked between his bony head and his puffy jacket. "How's the night kid?" You smile into the receiver and lean back in your seat.

"Going quietly and easily. What's up? Something happen?" You don't want to come off worried, but you hear it in your last question. You can't help it. You hear Sans chuckle along with the sound of a faucet turn on.

"Everythin's fine. Kid's with Paps upstairs. Alls been takin' care of." There's a clatter of plates and then the faucet turns off. You snort, knowing he probably tossed the plates into a water filled sink and was planning to leave it for Papyrus later. It was a common enough occurrence. Honestly the fact he even gathered the dishes in the first place was surprising.

"Why're you calling then? Not that I mind, but I am technically at work." You pop your chin on your hand, waiting for a reply. Sans hums something under his breath as he starts moving. You hear the shuffling of his slippers on the wooden floor of the house. He takes his sweet time to reply.

"Jus' wanted to." He finally says and you snort.

The bell above the doors jingle as the customer enters. You jump, immediately throwing your phone down onto the counter. You hope Sans can hear something and understands that you're with a customer.

Speaking of which, the customer doesn't even bother with a nod your way before he's heading down the isles towards the fridges in the back. You don't take any offense. Honestly you were hoping he'd be in and out.

When he gets back to the counter he drops the pack of beer cans loudly. He snags a back of gum and tosses it in before murmuring something and waving to the wall behind you.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't hear that." You say as sweetly as possible. The man's bushy brows fall on his face, pushing the rest of his features into a mad look.

"I said I wanted Chesterfield." He waves again, his fingers getting too close to your face. You keep your customer smile plastered on your face as you say, 'right away', and turn to find the brand.

"Here you are sir. Is this all for you tonight?" He nods with a roll of his eyes and a huff. You start scanning items when you finally get a good look at him.

The man was definitely rough around the edges. Beard patchy and running down a little bit too far down his neck. The smell of cigarettes had followed him up to the counter. His clothes were disheveled and had black oily stains on them. He must've just gotten off work or something. As you scanned you noticed her grew more and more anxious. His tapping fingers on the counter turned into full body movements.

"Your total is twenty-two dollars and sixty-seven cents sir." You reply, making sure the total screen on the cash register is turned towards him in case he wanted to second guess you. He breathes through his nose before fishing in his back pocket for his wallet.

"Prices hikin' up." He said. You pick up on his Missouri accent as he passed over cash. "Probably 'cause of all them monsters hanging around."

You pause as you're opening that cash drawer, eyes flickering up to the man. He's already snagged his carton of cigarettes off the table. He rips at the plastic around them.

"I don't know they're the reason prices of cigarettes are going up," You say quietly, eyes catching his. "Sir." He also stops what he's doing, smoke half way to his lips. He narrows his eyes and you get a bad feel in your stomach.

"Maybe not." He says, lowering his hand. "But ever since they moved up here everythings been changing. New laws, new rules. You have seen them, haven't you?" You feel your nails tighten into the palm of your hand.

"Of course I've seen them."

"They're monsters." He says loudly. "From ghost stories and old wives tales. Things we were taught as kids to be scared of and now the Mayors expect us to live next to them?" He laughs in disbelief. You can feel the anger rolling off him in waves. You knew that whatever you said wouldn't change his mind. However, you think of your friends.

"You've seen them, but have you met them?" You pull a bag out to put the rest of what he bought away. "I heard they're rather sweet. Nicer than most."

You feel immediately that you've fucked up the moment the words leave your mouth. It's like all air is sucked out of the room but the look the man sends you. It wasn't just anger over a few prices this time. Something in his look made your blood run cold.

"You on the side of those monsters?" He asks as he slams his cigarettes on the counter, crushing the carton. "They're monsters. They're a danger to this town and it's people. We give them an inch and they'll start taking children and hurting wives!" You immediately feel a wave of anger. That was absurd! They'd never do that. At this point you expected people like him to be more of a danger than anything.

"I'm on the side of the town." You finally said. It was a simple statement but he completely deflated at it alone and seemed to calm. You don't know why, though. This town needed the monsters to rub off on them. This town was harboring bigots and people who were on the edge of their seats looking for a fight. They needed the kind and peaceful monsters to knock some sense into them as mercifully as possible. The monsters would be a blessing on this town if the members just gave it a chance.

"Good. We gotta stand strong against these… intruders. Child killers is what they'll be. Hell, some of them are even trying to get into our offices. Skeletons and cows. This whole town is going to shit." He mumbles again and takes the plastic bag and case of beers. You fisted your hands, biting your tongue, hoping he'd get out faster. "Honestly we outta take that kid rep out of the picture." You flinch. He was just a few feet from the doors. You could restrain yourself till then. "Stupid kids thinking they know everything. A child ambassador! She's just a kid, though. She couldn't handle if a few adult men just-"

You were climbing over the counter before you even realized it.

The man was on the ground all of a sudden, you don't remember the first hit or the second or how he got there, but then you were on top of him, fist going repeatedly across his face. You didn't stop when he put a hand around your throat; when you saw blood, or when he started promising to kill you and all of your monster partners.

He hit you back and then kicked you off. He didn't run, of course he didn't, he was looking for a fight after all. He pulls at your ankle, then dug his fingers into your arm as he embedded his knuckles in your stomach. Standing, he went for a kick at your ribs. A searing pain fills your chest and you scream as a second kick makes something snap inside you. You try to move out of the way but he's on you again, hand tangled in your hair, knee in your stomach - pinning you, and his thumb pressed too closely to your eye.

"All bark, no bite. I knew I recognized you." He spits in your face and you squirm in his painful hold. "You're that damn brats sister, right? I knew if I said something about her you'd snap." His thumb covers your eye and the pressure makes you thrash again. "Fighting for those fucking monsters even when you and your sister grew up in this town. Surprised that I know you? We all recognized you the moment you came out that damn hole with those skeletons. I bet you're real close with them since they're at every press meet. What? You let them bone you?" He laughs at his own joke, spit flying from his mouth across your face. "I wonder who else you let bone you…" The hand over your eye eases off and before you can feel relief you feel his fat fingers on your side at the hem of your shirt. "Probably anyone."

Then he's gone.

You lay there, stunned, not sure what just happened.

It's not a second later do you realize you'd heard something hit the other side of the room.

"And I always thought no pun was a bad pun."

You sit up, looking to your side towards the sound of Sans voice. He's standing by the counter, your phone wrapped in his phalanges. One of his eye sockets is emitting a blue hazy glow while the other was completely empty.

"Sans…" You breathe, a wave of hot relief rolling in your chest. He must've heard you because his eye light briefly flickers down to you. He looks you over for just a second before his full attention is on the customer across the room. Remembering him, you turn to see him slouched down on the wall, a layer of blue coating him. The magic bubbles and warps as if you were looking at a blue version of the surface of the sun.

You get to your feet and take a minute to dust yourself off and to straighten your clothes out.

"How in the hell did you get here?" The man coughs out, trying to stand only to be held in place by Sans's magic. You back up until you're at the skeleton's side, feeling safer there even though you knew he had a good hold on the man.

"Jus' passin' by." Sans comments dryly, shrugging.

"You're not supposed to be here." The customer says, glaring where he was sat.

"Sorry to rain on your parade." Sans says. "But I can't just ignore her when she calls." He waves your phone before setting it down. As playful as his words sounded you could feel the coldness of his magic.

"You're supposed to be home!" The man groaned as he tried to move again.

"What do you mean?" You ask, taking a step forward. The bad feeling you'd had comes back tenfold when the man smiles at you.

"This town was founded and built by humans. We're strong, proud, we'll never give up this land for anyone." He was talking with bravado, somehow finding it during your glare. "We're not gonna go down without a fight."

"What did you do?" You ask again, about to make your way over to him to make him answer, only to be interrupted by your phone going off. Sans passes it to you with breaking his stare on the laughing customer. "Sans-"

"It's the mayor." He says, interrupting you.

"Hello-?"

"You need to come home!" The Mayor yells. There's a mess of noise on her end. Sirens and alarms blare over her. She yells something else but you can't hear her. Something cracks, maybe it's wood breaking, and then you hear her scream.

Hello?!" You yell back.

"I should've told you earlier," The Mayor starts again, her voice breathy. She gulps air as she continues, the sirens only getting louder. "About the rioters and the threats but I didn't want to scare you and Frisk but now this and-"

"What's happening? What's going on?"

"Your house." She says. "It's gone."

"...Gone?" You ask, feeling something cold in your throat. You turn to look at Sans, meeting his wavering white pin pricks. "What do you-"

"The rioters set it on fire sometime tonight. I don't know when but the time we got people out here it... I'm so sorry."

Your hand lowers. You hear the Mayor calling for you, asking if you're still there. You hold Sans's stare. In a second his arms are wrapped around you and you feel a surge of nauseating magic as you're warped out of the gas station.