Chapter XXI

What are you?

When the young Alphys decided to take a break in the middle of her review for her approaching exam, she wasn't expecting her mother to literally drag two strangers into her house. She wasn't expecting her to force them to stay there either. However, when she took that break, that was exactly what she saw. Then, she reacted in the only logical way she could think of: she stayed in the kitchen, out of sigh. Indeed, it did seem logical at the time. Now that she thinks about it? Not that much.

Nevertheless, a week later, she was fine with it. The two strangers came to be brothers, and she learned to appreciate them thought she had been quite shy at first. However, she soon started to notice something wrong with the oldest "skeleton". Alphys, as an almost graduated scientist with soul's specialty, knew a lot about the different kinds of monsters. Even though skeletons weren't as common as they used to be before the great war, she had been working with one for the past two years and could easily tell that the so-called "older brother" of the young skeleton wasn't one himself. Of course, it wasn't exactly obvious for some average monster who had no specific knowledge concerning this kind, but it was for her. At first, she noticed how he would never take his parka off. It could have been nothing more than a habit since skeletons don't feel coldness, but it was enough for Alphys to start investigating. And she did.

.

Hood always on, body almost entirely covered, never fading smile carved into a wood mask… Every little hint she could get, she got it. The conclusion had been easy to draw from that: this "Sans" was no skeleton. However, she couldn't understand why he was hiding what he really was since Papyrus, the little skeleton, seemed to know he was a different kind of monster. Of course, they could still both be brothers: monsters' genetic works in a way that allows some interesting mixing, and she had enough experience with this. Still, she wanted to know. And that is this curiosity which now pushes her to open her mouth.

.

'What are you?'

'What?' Sans looks at her with round eyes, or she thinks he is since the mask blocks her view.

'I- I mean…' she stutters anxiously, the words forming with difficulty. 'Y- You're obv- obviously not a sk- skeleton…'

.

She is blushing: she somehow hasn't been expecting him not to hear her. And he has been hoping this kind of question would never come. She doesn't know how to pursue the conversation, and he doesn't know how to avoid being discovered. She has asked the fated question, but it wouldn't be enough for her to learn what she wanted. He has worked his fake identity, but he knows it won't be enough for him to make it real enough. She-

.

'I'm s-so sorry! I shouldn't ha- have asked!'

.

The two sentence leaves her mouth before Alphys could even think of what she was about to say. Ashamed of her own behaviour, she immediately leaves the room without saying anything else. She would never ask again. However, she is still too curious to stop investigating.

.

oOo

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Her answer, Alphys eventually gets it three days later. Her mother has left to see some friends as soon as she saw her daughter coming back from her fluid mechanics paper, and the future scientist is now relaxing outside while Papyrus and Sans play hide-and-seek: even though Sans has proposed to leave two days ago because he has managed to find a job as a hot dog seller and could pay for a room, her mother has drastically refused to hear anything about two kids living on their own. Alphys reaches for her drink: today is awfully hot, and she can only imagine the kind of furnace it must be on the surface. However, Sans is still completely covered with at least three layers of clothes. He has swapped his parka against a lighter hoodie, but the weather is way too hot for such a thing. Not to mention the fact that he is also wearing gloves…

.

Nevertheless, that is nothing Alphys hasn't already noticed. In fact, the only new hints she has managed to get in the last three days is that Sans has hands, and not hand-like paws like many monsters, and that he can stand warmth and coldness, since Papyrus and him has made their way to New home from Snowdin. From that, she can eliminate other types from the checklist she has created. Of course, the so-called "checklist of monsters types" is non-exhaustive, but she can't list all the rare hybrids which exist either. That far, five types have been crossed out: skeletons of course, but also furry humanoids, marine monsters, shapeless monsters, ghosts. Only three categories are still conceivable: reptilians like herself, elemental though only rock and sand are worth considering, and this kind the famous river person who takes care of the crossing on the river belongs to but which nobody can really define. She sights, only the last kind seems to be a possible lead, but she can't eliminate the others yet.

.

'Alphys? Do you have something like band-aids? I mean, bandages of some sort?'

'Bandages?'

'Yeah, I scratched my ankle pretty badly because of a bramble. I just don't want it to bleed on my clothes.'

.

While saying that, Sans doesn't realize what his sentence just implied. For him, nothing can possibly be wrong with bleeding because of scratch. However, Alphys knows it is something utterly abnormal, and she slowly understands that she can also eliminate the last three possibilities of her checklist.

Because monsters don't bleed.

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eevee2016: Thank you so much for your review! I had forgotten the story wasn't finished and you're tha only reason I remembered it was not XD