Me tired. Me sleepy. Me is in bed. Bed is warm.

Me is alone in apartment T.T

Me wants my cat... Me misses my cat...

Chapter XXXIV

Something not quite right

Alphys stands in the embrasure, a towel in hand, her scales still wet and dripping. Her glasses are crooked, as if she put them on in a hurry. However, it takes her a good dozen of seconds to slowly adjust them as she stares at the one to whom she opened the door to.

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'S-Sans?' she stammers, checking the clock on the wall. 'B-But… It's… It's rea-really ear-early-'

'I know,' Sans cuts her short. 'It's just…'

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He looks down, avoiding meeting her eyes. His forced smile fades into pinched lips, but Alphys can only guess the kind of expression he is wearing. For her, it's only tiredness — weariness, perhaps. The last non-working day they had was a while ago, it would make sense.

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'Muttler sent me back, we didn't have anything left to sell.'

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He sounded almost genuine — almost. However, Alphys could hear the trembling in his voice when he pronounced Muttler's name. Something is off, but she knows he won't tell her. Even if he did, what would she do?

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'O-oh... I… I s-see.'

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There is an awkward silence as Alphys stands in the door's embrasure, unmoving. Sans's eyes slowly move to meet hers — she can feel his stare. He stands up straight, a quite contrasting posture compared to the slouchy one he had a mere second before. Alphys watches him cross his arms, head tilting in a similar manner as when he waits for further explanations. She doesn't see the sardonic smile creeping on his face behind the wooden mask, and she can hardly tell his eyes narrowed suddenly.

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'Mind if I come in?'

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She hastily takes a step back, almost tangling her legs with her tail.

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'Of-Of course not!'

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With a snort of amusement, Sans catches her arm to keep her from falling should she trip. Getting her balance back, Alphys immediately looks down in embarrassment — even though she managed to catch herself before falling, she still feels like she made a fool of herself. She retreats inside, letting Sans enter, and quickly closes the door.

'Shower?' Sans asks her.

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She nods, using her towel to dry her limbs before wiping the floor. She oftens takes showers after exams — to wash off the stress, her mother says. It's relaxing, soothing, and she knows she spends way too long under the hot water. However, she cannot help but sit in the stall, eyes closed and back leaning against the cold tiles, waiting for the water to heat her body until it becomes too hot. Her scales don't appreciate this half as much as she does, though, and tends to become quite rough after a few of these showers.

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'Well…' she starts, opening her arms to drag Sans's eyes on her still moist scales.

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However, the boy isn't listening to her anymore — in fact, she isn't even sure he was listening in the first place. Instead, his eyes are scanning the living room as a frown must form on his face.

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'Wait…' he interrupts her, his voice dragging as he doesn't add anything. He slightly raises his hand before she can even open her mouth, signing her not to. Eventually, his eyes are back on her, albeit still probably frowned by a concern which isn't for her. 'Papyrus?'

'Oh, he's st-still with Gaster.' Alphys pauses, putting her towel back where it belonged. 'He wanted to stay after the exam, and Gaster said it wouldn't be a problem. By the way, he wants to see you.'

'Gaster? Why?'

'I-I don't know.' She shrugs, her hand reaching for a pack of coffee beans in which she shoves her hand. 'He just s-said he would t-tell you when you'd pick up Pa-Papyrus.'

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Her eyes scan the counter for the mill, eventually finding it half hidden behind a box of cereals. Mill in a hand, coffee beans in the other, she turns to Sans to wave her handful of beans at him. He clearly winces — too bad, but that's more for her!

A bean falls on the ground, its rounded shape disappearing under the kitchen's table. Alphys kneels — or almost leans entirely on the floor, the question is up for debate — to find it before noticing she would only lose more by doing so. Her hand reaches for the table to put down the mill, soon followed by beans. With a grunt, Alphys stands up. Her eyes briefly catch Sans's, not noticing the faint glow within them. However, she does see him take a step back with a jerk.

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'Sans, wha-what is go-going on?'

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Her voice trembles — a mix of fear and concern. Fear, for she knows something is up and it might be nothing good. Concern, for Sans certainly is nervous. In fact, Alphys believes Gaster is the reason behind this — she has every right to believe so, after all. Gaster's initial reaction predicted a more difficult outcome, yet he seems to have settled for accepting Sans into his life. It is too good to be true. She knows Gaster, at least as a teacher: there has to be something more.

And something tells her Sans knows exactly what.

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'Y-You said a-almost nothing a-about yesterday,' she adds. Yet, she is only welcomed by silence. So she insists — what else could she do? 'Sans?'

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He takes a deep breath, smiles softly she believes, eventually looks at her. His stance relaxes, his shoulders become less tense — it doesn't look like he will go away anymore, but more like he will come closer.

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'It's fine, Alphys,' he says, his voice calmer than Alphys would have expected it to be. 'It's fine…'

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The words drag themselves into a whisper so quiet Alphys can only guess their sound. Sans is looking down, and she can't help but tilt and squint as if it could help her see through the wood of his mask. Eventually, she hears a sentence barely louder than the previous whisper.

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'Gaster just wants to know more.'

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Along with those words, a common thought arises in both Sans's and Alphys's minds. A simple thought, perfectly clear. One that highlights fear. One that highlights concern. A thought that can only reveal how fragile trust can be.

.

And so do I.

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For behind the wooden mask, the smile is crooked.