*I don't own Undertale or any of its characters; they all belong to Toby Fox, please support the original release*
Chapter 8: Beat the crap out of him!
"Sans?"
The couple had been dancing for a few minutes now, slowly spinning around. They were silent, enjoying each other's presence. Frisk was resting her head on Sans' chest again when she thought she heard something she wasn't expecting.
She turned her head slightly, pressing her ear against her friend's ribcage. She could certainly hear what sounded like a gentle beating, not as strong as a human's heart beating, but a beating after all. She listened more carefully and noticed that a subtle buzzing accompanied the sound.
"what is it kiddo'?"
When she didn't answer back he looked down at her to see that she wasn't dancing anymore. She was too focused on resting her ear on his chest, apparently. The skeleton stopped dancing too, trying to figure out what Frisk was doing. The tiny human was too distracted to even notice that he had stopped moving. Sans took in Frisk's facial expression. Although he couldn't see all her face, by how much he knew how her features changed with every expression, he guessed that she had her eyes closed.
It seemed like she was very concentrated in something…but what? The skeleton weighed his options, as her eyes were closed she might have seen something she didn't like. He looked around, but nothing was out of normal…well… Undyne and Alphys were jumping up and down like it was the best moment of their lives, smiling broadly and kind of looking…in their way?
Sans tried to focus back on the human's expression. They had been spinning around, slowly, but spinning around. Maybe she got dizzy? Was that even possible? He frowned; he knew the basics of how human bodies worked… but just the basics. He had learnt that when he had been working as a royal scientist, but spending time with Frisk had taught him that not all the information he had read was accurate.
For example, the little hole they had on their stomachs, the "belly button", couldn't be used as a special weapon in case of an emergency. Actually it had nothing to do with that. And their nails couldn't grow and get sharp whenever they wanted. Nor their eyes changed of colour with their state of humour. He suddenly understood that he knew about Frisk's functioning nearly as little as she knew of his.
He remembered that what caught his attention the most while reading a book about human's bodies was how they worked not with magic, but just with a liquid called "blood". A special organ, the heart, was the one that made the blood circulate through all the body.
Monsters kept their physical form by diverse methods, depending on their kind. Sans knew about a dozen of those methods, all completely different from another. Some monsters' bodies worked in a similar way to humans, though. But every single monster had magic, and without it they wouldn't be able to live.
Humans, on the other hand didn't have magic. They had lost it with the years. So, how could they survive? Their determination must be the key to their functioning, and their strength too. Sans kept wondering a bit more, the girl's heart beats were the proof that what he had read was true.
The beatings were way stronger than he had imagined, and for some reason, they didn't make the quiet buzzing sound that he expected. They sounded pretty much different than what could be called his heart. "wait…" He looked down at Frisk again, his smile widened a bit as he finally understood what the human was doing. She was pressing her ear right above where his heart was.
"what you're hearing is my heart kiddo', it works in a similar way to yours"
"Oh?"- Frisk looked up at him, suddenly realizing that she had stopped dancing for a few minutes now and her cheeks flushed pink- "I did it again! Oh my, I'm sorry! I…"- But before she could continue to apology Sans interrupted her.
"frisk, it's ok. i was going to ask you something too, i may know a bit more about humans than you about monsters, but i have nearly as many questions as you do"- Frisk opened her eyes wide at this words.
"B-but if you have many questions why haven't you ever asked any? If you are saying that to make me feel better…"
"i'm not! don't you know me already? i haven't asked before because i'm too lazy to do so"
The girl drew away slightly in their embrace; her expression was a mix of surprise, disbelief and concern. Her friend was even lazier than she expected. The skeleton doubled with laughter at her bewildered expression and it was his turn to muffle his laughter. He buried his face in Frisk's shoulder in an attempt to hide his horselaughs. The girl didn't even attempt to move, she was still in shock.
"Oh my God Sans, you can't be serious!"
Her voice tone made the skeleton remember of Papyrus' when he told him a very bad pun. He hugged her a bit tighter as his laughter intensified. The girl slowly hugged him back, resigned. She patiently waited for Sans to be able to stand straight again. He apologised chuckling slightly:
" sorry kiddo', you made me remember of my brother back there… i was going to say something. but i forgot"- He frowned slightly, trying to remember.
"Weren't you going to ask me something?"
"oh yeah! that was it. thank you frisk, i have no idea of what i would do without you"- he said dramatically, the girl rolled her eyes, amused- "when i noticed you were listening to my heart i remembered that your heart doesn't seem to buzz at all, does it?"
"What? Buzz? Of course it doesn't! Why would it?"- She looked at him confused- "Wait… yours buzzes, doesn't it?"
"yeah, it does. now that you mention it… maybe it's because my heart is in charge of pounding magic to all my body. the magic makes the buzzing sound, as your heart only works with blood, it doesn't have any reasons to buzz"- Frisk looked at his friend with a renewed interest, Sans' quick and reasonable conclusion took her by surprise. She had no doubts that what he was saying was right- "your heart beats stronger than mine, though"
"Does it?"- She unconsciously brought her hand to her chest.
"yup, it surprised me. but i think it's something logical, as it doesn't have any magic it has to beat stronger to support all your body"- Frisk blinked a few times considering his words- "have you got any questions left, kiddo?"
"I think that's all for now"- the girl said thoughtfully. Sans chuckled softly and Frisk smiled brightly at him in response, resuming their dancing.
"Sans…?"- She was resting her head on his chest again and remembered what she was going to tell him before she had got distracted.
"hmm?"
"As the winner of our blushing challenge I would like to claim my prize…"
"as the cheating winner i would say.."- Sans didn't think that he would actually lose the challenge, so he hadn't thought of the consequences…till now.
"But the winner after all"- She gave him such a cute triumphant smile that the skeleton thought he would start blushing again.
"ok, ok, just spit it out kiddo'. what do you want me to do?"
The girl lifted her head to stare directly into his eye sockets. Her soft smile had vanished, a serious expression taking its place. Her deep brown eyes were filled with determination.
"I want you to be as happy as you can"- Sans froze at her words.
"frisk, i've already told you that…"
"No."- She cut his words short by gently pressing her fingertips against his mouth- "That's why I'm asking you this. You are always telling me that everything is OK, but I know that's not true. There is something bothering you, but I just can't make out what"-She frowned and lowered her gaze, helpless.
"You've got lots of friends, a brother who loves you, you are always so cheerful, but at the same time… you look like you are worried about something. And you refuse to tell anyone what that is"- Her muscles tightened a bit- "Sans, I don't know how to make you feel better, I… I just don't know how to help you."
"When I arrived to the Undergroud I tried my best to help as much as I could, in one way or another. I cheered monsters up, encouraged them, made them laugh, petted them, befriended them… even with the amalgamates, I knew what to do to help… but now…"
"It's the first time that I feel that, it doesn't matter how hard I try… I'm not helping you to get rid of whatever is causing your sadness… I…I feel that you are so close, and at the same time so distant… when I first met you I noticed that something was worrying you…and since then I have tried so hard to help…very very hard, I swear"- her voice was trembling as she tried to hold back her tears-"but I feel that… I failed...I…"
"frisk…"
Sans gently pressed his fingers on the bottom of her chin, softly making her look up at him. Frisk's watery eyes opened in awe, she wasn't expecting to see the skeleton giving her such a genuine smile. His gaze was full of endearment, like he was admiring something utterly beautiful and priceless.
"frisk, you haven't failed. you haven't failed at all"- He gently pulled her strands of hair at the back of her right ear- "i understand that keep telling you that everything is fine...it's useless…you're way too smart and determined, there's no way of hide it from you anymore… but… i won't allow you to say that you can't help me… because you have been helping me all the time, without even noticing"
He felt his smile widening when he saw her confused expression- "frisk, every time i see you smile, every time you laugh at my jokes, when you start asking questions about whatever comes to your mind, when you keep squeaking "Aaaww" every time you see something you consider cute, every single moment i spend with you... i feel so happy when i'm with you… that i just can't feel anything else"- He gently held her face with his hands.
"you make me feel that i can handle whatever situation comes in my way… it doesn't matter how bad…or scary it could be. every single time that i was feeling down, you somehow appeared in my way, with your cheerful smile and your contagious laughter, there's no way you couldn't lift someone's spirit up kiddo'. it doesn't matter if you re' not with me...just knowing that you are out there, that you are my friend, that you would never let me give up..."- He gave her a meaningful glance- "even if i said that i've already done so. frisk..you…you know that i'm not the emotional type… it isn't something easy for me to open up… but if i had to say that someone makes me feel happy, really, really happy, I would say my brother, and you"
"S-sans…"- The girl hugged him with all her strength, burying her face in his chest and bursting into tears.
"oh, no…frisk please don't cry! see? that's why i hate opening up, it seems easier when papyrus talks about it, but i always end up screwing it up! i'm sorry frisk..i.."- He stopped when he heard some giggles between her hiccupping.
"I'm fi-fine.. you ju-just can't unders-stand how ha-happy I a-am"
The girl looked up at him, letting him see her expression. Her eyes were sparkling with glee, as tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. Sans had never seen her so happy and relieved before, he couldn't help to feel the desire to hug her tightly and never let her go.
"S-sans… you really m-mean it? Do y-you truly f-feel that I help you to feel be-better?"
"i surely do, kiddo´"
The girl's face lightened up as he had told her what she most wanted to hear in her life. She hid her face on his chest again and kept telling him how happy she was. But with her voice muffled by his sweater and her hiccupping, sniffs and sobs he couldn't make out a single word. In that moment he realized actually how much she cared for him… which caused too many feelings to stumble inside him.
How could she make him feel so good and, at the same time… be the reason of his worries? He rested his chin on the top of her head trying to clear his mind. He then realized that Frisk's babbling hadn't stopped, but he still couldn't understand what she was saying. He chuckled, unable to hide his amusement anymore.
"ya' know that i don't have a clue of what you're saying, right?"
The girl's babbles stopped, Sans felt how her ribcage swelled when she took a deep breath, and then another. She did so till her breathing became more slow and rhythmical.
"I'm hap-py"- She said slowly, making sure that her friend would understand her this time.
"oh, really? i imagined it had to do with something like that, i kinda felt it in my bones"- Frisk laughed warmly as she looked up at him, smiling sweetly.
"You would never screw it up o-opening to me y-you k-know that, don't you? It doesn't matter what, I-I 'll be here f-for you"- She sniffed- "Furthermore, look how happy you made me"- Her smile widened even more.
Sans gently brushed her tears away, they felt so warm against his fingers… and somehow he felt a bit of her happiness too.
"if you say so..i may try to open up more often. but don't get too excited, you know that's difficult to me…i don't have the wits"- Frisk giggled, it didn't seem that she had been crying- "you do look very happy kiddo'"
"Yeah! I bet I am the happiest person over here"
"oh, really?"-They resumed their dancing and Sans started to tease her- "do you feel happier than… that guy eating as much as he can?"- He pointed at a monster that was literally eating a piece of the wooden table where the food was arranged. By his expression, he was having the time of his life.
"Yes, I do!"- She said giggling.
"mhh… even happier than the couple of dogs, dogamy and dogaressa? they are petting each other and shaking their tails like never before"
"I'm still winning!"- She gifted Sans a broad smile to reassure her statement.
"i think that that cheesy couple of teenagers are the ones winning, they're smooching like nobody's watching, in the middle of the dance floor"
"Nu-uh"- Frisk blushed at the sight and laughed a bit more, but kept declaring herself the happiest.
"oh look! there's a man proposing to her girlfriend! she said "yes"! look at how happy they are!"
"Aaawww! How sweet! Where? Where? I wanna see! I have always wished to see a proposal in real life!"- She quickly peered in the direction Sans was looking, but saw nothing- "Hey, I can't…"- As soon as she looked back at him she noticed his prankish smile.
"you've actually fallen for it!"- He laughed when she frowned at him- "what happens frisk? weren't you the happier around here?"
"I still am!"- She folded her arms, with her cheeks slightly puffed- "I'm just dissimulating, I don't want to make people jealous"
She turned her nose up and glanced at his friend, they stared at each other with serious expressions for a few seconds before howling with laughter. Some couples turned to look at them, the ones who busted laughing from time to time as they danced. Their laughter was "ruining" their romantic moment. But most of people looked at them amused, seeing them exactly as they looked like… a young pair of lovebirds.
"Sans, who do you think our friends are dancing with?"
"mh? why do ya ask?"
"Well…these songs are very romantic… you can't dance to them with whoever comes in your way"
"i think i should feel flattered, then"- Frisk laughed at his comment, her cheeks blushing lightly.
"I suppose… actually if I had to choose someone to dance to these songs with, I would have chosen you"
The girl was so distracted trying to find one of his friends between the dancing couples that she didn't notice that her words had caused Sans to blush deeply. He shut his eyes, making his very effort to make the light blue shading disappear from his cheekbones before she could notice.
"look! isn't that mettaton?"
"Where?"
Frisk looked quickly at where her friend had pointed. Sans' plan had succeeded, he gained more time to make his blush disappear. Mettaton was indeed dancing, not with one monster but with two.
Two ladies, one that looked like a crocodile and other that looked like a cat were dancing around with him. Bratty and Catty looked like they were going to pass out from the excitement. Their idol was there, making them spin around and posing just for them! Furthermore, the back of Catty's trousers had some big letters written on it. When Frisk saw all the glitter, sparkles and bright pink details she had no doubts that Mettaton had fulfilled Catty's life dream by autographing her butt.
"Hey! I can see Papyrus over there!"- She gently pushed Sans to spin around. As they were still dancing embraced they had to switch places to see what the other was pointing out.
Sans smiled when he saw her brother dancing with a very excited Temmie. By her graduation cap he understood that he was dancing with the "graduated Temmie".The..uhm...cat?..dog?..the… Temmie had stretched her limbs wildly, nearly reaching Papyrus' height. As the little fluffy monster was even more energetic than his brother she had no problems keeping up with his speeded up dancing. It could be said that Papyrus was having problems to cope with her hyperactive and vibrating dance steps instead.
The taller skeleton loved visiting the Temmies at their village; the little creatures were very cheerful and got surprised easily. He would usually bring them any kind of item to show them and they would go nuts. The villagers loved when Papyrus visited, he was so "awwAwa cute!" he brought them cool stuff and many times he took some Temmies to his house, hiding them in his room.
At first he didn't have to hide them, but he had had a little problem… he couldn't just take one Temmie to his house, what about the others?! How could he be so heartless to leave someone aside?! So, he brought every single Temmie home. He then went to look for some humans, leaving more than a dozen of Temmies… and Bob alone at his house…well, what could happen? Right? Right?
Right, when he came back he found that the beautiful cottage where he lived in had collapsed because of the combined vibration of all the Temmies, and Bob. After that Sans had forbidden him to take more Temmies home. But… oh the tempting happiness of seeing a Temmie's face when he showed him or her his room… their face would always detach itself from their body because of the joy. That's way he would bring a Temmie to his room from time to time, when his brother wasn't looking.
Hiding them was easy, when Sans was "working" or sleeping, Papyrus would tiptoe into his room, clasping a hand over the fluffy monster's mouth to avoid making any noise. Actually, the problem was keeping them hidden. The Temmies would usually forget not to make any sound or stay into the taller skeleton's room. So they would start screeching in surprise every time they saw something "cute" (That means everything, excepting things with muscles) or start walking around the house… in most of the cases both of them at the same time.
Sans could be very lazy… but not lazy enough to avoid noticing a Temmie screaming "fhsdhjfdsfjsddshjfsd!" in front of his very eye sockets. If a Temmie was actually smart enough to stay in his brother room in silence and hidden, Sans had an infallible technique to find out: he would walk into his brother's room and say "hello, i'm sans". If a Temmie was actually in his room they would quickly answer back "HOI! i'm tEMMIE!", or if not "Hi, I'm Bob".
He then proceeded to take the little monster…or monsters (He had found up to five Temmies and a Bob hidden in his brother room at a time) back to their village. They would walk happily by his side or let him carry them on his shoulders, arms, head or even dangling in his hoodie. They seemed to be very happy with everything, though. After returning them he would scold his brother because of disobeying him. The taller skeleton would apologise with big puppy eyes and promise to behave… which meant he waited some weeks before bringing Temmies home again.
"Uhh… do you know…why are Alphys and Undyne staring at us?"- Sans turned to look at the exultant couple.
"i thought it may be my imagination, but now that you mention it…they had been doing that pretty often lately…right?"- Frisk nodded thoughtfully and turned to look at them.
"Oh no… Undyne… I-I think they n-noticed"
"Don't worry Alphys, they are way too distracted to notice…"- But then the fish-woman saw that Sans and Frisk were actually staring back at them- "OMG! THEY FOUND OUT OUR ABSOLUTELY SNEAKY LOOK OUT!"
In that moment the human's and skeleton's expressions showed confusion and a bit of concern. There was no way of not hearing of what Undyne had said, first because she had shouted it, and second because they were just a few meters away from each other. The "sneaky" couple stood there, sweating heavily as they tried to think of something to say. Alphys was blushing madly as Undyne's expression showed a nervous lopsided smile. Suddenly, the warrior took the sweaty dinosaur under her arm and shouted:
"NON-SPECIFIC EXCUSE!"- And ran away, loudly crashing things in her way. Sans and Frisk looked at each other, more confused and concerned than before.
"do ya think we should talk with them later?"
"Mhm. Absolutely"- Frisk hummed in agreement. Their friends were starting to worry her.
"oooh! i'm looking something you would love to see!"- Sans suddenly exclaimed.
"What?"- The girl tried to switch places again so she could see what the skeleton was referring to.
"mhhhh… i dunno', should i show you?"- Sans looked up thoughtfully, embracing Frisk a bit more tightly which prevented her to peek out.
"Saaans! If you are pranking me again I'll tell Papyrus!"- She knew that the shorter skeleton was teasing her on purpose.
"frisk, i don't know why you incriminate me like this…furthermore your threat is invalid, you can't pin anything on me"- His smile stretched a bit when he saw the girl fighting back her own widening smile.
"Ok, if this's not a prank then let me see!"- She struggled a bit more but couldn't manage to take Sans away. She got surprised when she noticed that she couldn't make him move a single bit, the tiny skeleton was surely stronger than he looked like.
"well… you know this makes the situation more intriguing, don't ya think?"
"Saaaans! I wanna see! At least tell me what it is!"- The girl was getting impatient.
"ok, ok i'll give you a clue. i spy with my little eye-socket something beginning with… t "
"What? Sans come on! Tell me at once!"
"nope, that's now how you play i spy frisk!"- The girl rolled her eyes and groaned in frustration- "let's try again, i spy with my little eye-socket something beginning with… a"
"Didn't it begin with "t"? What do you mean by "a" now? I think that you are the one that doesn't know how to play I…"- Frisk suddenly froze. She slowly lifted her gaze, staring directly into his friend's eye-sockets incredulously- "Something… I would love to see? Are… are mum and dad…dancing to this kind of songs?"
"yup"
The skeleton quickly covered her mouth just in time to muffle her excited screeching. She struggled wildly to look at the direction the couple was dancing, and Sans got surprised of how her strength increased when she got determined about something.
"i'll let you look when you calm down. i knew you were going to scream because of the joy and maybe they would turn around. i thought that you would like to see them like they're now, that's why i stopped ya. look, it has been a long time since i last saw them this comfortable with each other"
The skeleton slowly made her turn around, his hand still over her mouth, just in case, and allowed her to look at her parents. Sans felt how Frisk's muscles suddenly relaxed in his embrace, her gaze fixed in Toriel and Asgore. They were dancing slowly with the romantic music, not too close to each other, but embraced. Both of them were smiling genuinely.
They seemed to be having a pleasant conversation, laughing and chuckling for time to time and then remaining silent, just looking at the other's eyes. Sans felt something warm and wet sliding slowly over the back his bony hand. He looked down at Frisk to notice that a few silent tears were rolling down her cheeks. Her eyes were wide open, like she didn't want to forget any detail of what she was seeing. The girl's shiny eyes slowly looked at his and the skeleton could feel a huge smile forming beneath his hand.
"-Enk…-ya"- Her voice was still muffled by her friend's hand, but it had been enough for him to understand.
"ur welcome, kiddo'"- He gently uncovered her mouth and whipped a single tear from her cheek.
"You know..."- Frisk gaze was now fixed in her parents again- "This is what I tried to make mum to understand…I…I know that they might not get back together… they had been through lots of hard stuff. Even harder than I can even imagine, and I am no one to judge them, or their decisions"
"But…at the same time… they shared the most beautiful and important moments of their lives, hadn't they? I mean… they loved each other so much that they got married, they ruled the underground together, they had a beautiful child, raised him…together…and then they adopted another child, a human child, as their own. I know that when they look at each other…they must remember very sad moments…but… when they look at each other's eyes… don't they remember the good times too? All the things they did with their children…all the nice moments they shared… do the sad memories have to ruin them all?"
The tiny human had made the same question to her goat mom some time ago. "When you look at each other, can't you try to think of all the good things you did together? Of all those beautiful memories you have in common? There are things that only you two can remember! Maybe you remember things that he doesn't or the other way round! Don't you want to share those memories? Those happy moments? Will you let them fade away?"
Toriel had watched her kid in surprise, she wasn't expecting her to say something…like that. The girl hugged her warmly and kissed her softly on the cheek "Please, just try to think about it… it may make you feel better". She then left to her room, leaving Toriel alone with her thoughts. The next day, when Frisk woke up she walked as silently as she could to her mother's room. When she peeked in she saw Toriel sitting on the edge of her bed, holding an old photograph in her fluffy hands. But this time, her expression didn't show sorrow like the other times that Frisk had caught her looking at the picture.
Although her features showed a slight sad longing, she was now smiling. A smile that showed she was recalling with nostalgia old memories, happy ones. She looked up at the tiny human on her doorway and smiled at her sweetly. Frisk had run to her, jumping nimbly on the bed by her side. They had hugged each other tightly.
"Thank you, my child" Toriel had whispered with endearment.
"frisk? re' you ok?"
The girl blinked a few times, clearing her thoughts, she had been thinking so intently about that fact that she had been looking straight forward for a couple of minutes now, with a blank expression.
"Huh? Yes, yes, I was just…thinking…sorry that came all of a sudden, it must have been awkward"- Sans chuckled slightly and placed a hand at the top of her head, making her look up.
" i don't think so, on the contrary i really enjoy when you do that kind of things"- Frisk slightly tilted her head to a side, confused- "i mean, what you have just said… it's something very deep. you are always trying to find the good side of everything"
"you're very frank, you show your emotions and you're very honest. that's something i really like about you"- The girl looked at him, a shy smile spreading across her face as she blushed lightly- "furthermore, if you ask me, they seem to be very happy over there"- They looked at the majesties and smiled warmly. They truly deserved to be happy.
They kept watching at the dancing monsters till they got lost in the crowd, without stopping dancing. The skeleton and human resumed to spin around a bit more, wandering around the dance floor to see if they found anyone else.
"Ha! It's my turn now!"- Frisk suddenly exclaimed, surprising Sans an giving him an amused and mischievous smile- "I'm looking at someone you probably wouldn't expect to find here"
"really?"-He tried to look at the same direction Frisk was, but realized that her gaze was wandering distractedly, not looking at any specific human or monster. "clever", he though- "i gave you some clues, to be fair you'll have to do the same"
"Mhh…ok…you are cold"
"wh-what?"- He stared at Frisk confused.
"You are ice cold now"- The skeleton frowned and lowered his gaze slightly to his right- "You are freezing!"
"frisk how is this supposed to help me to…"
But his words were cut short because of a very loud crashing at the left corner of the room. They both turned around quickly to find out that Monster Kid had fallen down because he had tripped with some of the decorations of the room. They heard his cheerful voice as he stated "I'm fineee" and some relieved sighs.
"You are getting warmer"- The girl's words took Sans by surprise and he looked at her again- "Ice cold again"
Realization suddenly striking him, Sans started to look in different directions, waiting for Frisk to guide him. If he looked at the right he was "Below zero", if he looked slightly to the left he was "Warmish". When he turned completely to the left he was "hot". Having found the direction to look at he started to study the people dancing around, but as they were way too many he still needed Frisk guidance.
"Hot..hot.. .nope you are getting chilly over there… that's warmer…Sans stop pointing at random people, we don't even know that old man! Don't get impatient!"- It was the skeleton's turn to groan, how could finding a single person be so difficult?
"you're not pulling my leg are ya'?"
"Of course I'm not! I would never do that now that I know that your bones can get literally detached!"- Sans smile widened against his will, to which Frisk laughed triumphantly- "You know how this works, you smiled I win! Now keep searching lazybones!"
A few minutes passed till Sans finally got "very hot", then he got "very very hot", then "very very very hot" and reached "red hot". Frisk kept encouraging him and he started to "burn". He finally got "ON FIRE!" when he spotted the person the tiny human wanted to show him.
As soon as he saw Grillby dancing Sans howled with laughter. He had suddenly understood that Frisk's clues had been a pun from the beginning. The flaming barman was gallantly dancing with the host of the party. Muffet was beautifully dressed, her deep crimson dress highlighting the soft shade of purple of her skin. Grillby was close to the spider, shedding a warm orange light on her. The soft light allowed seeing Muffet's slightly blushing cheeks as she giggled amused, she was surely enjoying dancing with Grillby.
Actually, many monsters would have loved to be in her shoes right now. Grillby, despite what you could think, was considered one of the most handsome monsters. He was tall, with a very nice figure. It is common to hear people mentioning that his legs are so hot you could fry an egg on them (literally). He never spoke very much so he was considered mysterious, but kind at the same time. To sum up, many ladies would pay Muffet large amounts of money to switch places with her right now…but this time our spider would have refused.
"you got me there, kiddo"- Sans was still chuckling a bit although he was trying to calm down his laughter.
Frisk smiled triumphantly. She gently leaned her head on the skeleton's chest and he surprised her with a deep sigh.
"What happens?"- She looked at him, worried.
"well…nothing much…but…"
"What? Sans, whatever it is you know you can tell me"- The skeleton stared at her eyes and then looked away dramatically- "Sans don't make me worry! What is it?"
"…have you thought that…if you were just a bit taller or if you were wearing very high heels… we should have to switch places because i would be too short to hold you like this?"
Frisk stared at her friend blankly before roaring with laughter, clasping a hand over her mouth trying to supress her horselaughs. She could clearly picture an image of herself being too tall to rest her head on Sans' chest and the shorter skeleton merely embracing her waist, unable to embrace her completely. She pictured herself having to look down at him and her guffaw increased. With her real height she had to look down just at little children.
"don't laugh at this! it's very serious!"
But the tiny girl was now hugging him tightly not to fall down because of her mirth. Her laughter resonated inside his ribcage, tickling him and quickly making him laugh too.
"Oh my, Sans! How can you always get a smile of me even if you're not intending to? I love you so much!"
"i love you too kiddo'"- Sans said chuckling.
They looked at each other with sudden realization. In that moment the music switched from romantic to electro. Although the music had changed they stood still, staring at each other. They both knew that the term "I love you" could be used to refer as very close friends, and that was what they were, but… they had never used it before… It was the first time that Frisk's blushing was as deep as the skeleton's. They remained like that, cheeks burning reddish and glowing light-blue respectively. Frisk was the first one to react.
"Hey! Is it hot in here or it's just me?"- She took a little step back, leaving some space between them.
"i'm afraid i'm not the best person to answer that"- The skeleton smiled as he showed Frisk his bony hand palms by way of proof- "maybe you should take off your sweater"
"Yeah, I think so…"
She distractedly jerked the sleeve of her stripped sweater. In that moment her stomach rumbled. With all the dancing and stuff she had completely forgot how hungry she was. Sans looked at her, with a mix of confusion and amusement.
"That-that means I'm hungry"- She explained giggling- "I'm going to grab something to eat, would you like something?"
"nah…well, if you find some ketchup…"
"Sure! I'm coming back in a minute!"- The girl smiled widely at him, she should have been expecting that answer. She hurried towards the table where the food was, trying as hard as she could to make her blush disappear, but for some reason she couldn't, neither she could stop smiling.
Sans watched as the girl nearly fled away and chuckled lightly. He didn't blush easily, but that night the tiny human had managed to make him blush more than he had had in years. He placed his hands in his pockets, waiting for Frisk to come back. But the sound of exclamations of surprise, anger and confusion made him turn around.
Someone was making their way through the mass of dancing people. Rudely making their way. The skeleton noticed, by the trail of fallen and stumbling people, that that someone was coming in his direction. A cold shiver ran down his spine, as it always did when something unpleasant was going to happen. He thought of walking away before he reached him, but that would mean that he would probably keep shoving people to one side or another till he found him. Sans took a deep breath and waited for his arrival. He didn't have to wait so much.
Nick appeared in front of him, his face was red because of the anger and his fists were clenched by his sides. Sans had the feeling that he hadn't come to tell him how much he cared for him, or how nice the party was, or anything nice at all. And he was right.
"I thought that we had a little talk about Frisk, you weirdo!"
"really?"- Sans brought a hand to his chin thoughtfully- "i don't seem to remember"
"I´ll make you remember, filthy monster!"- He stomped closer- "I told you to stay fucking away from Frisk! I told you that she is MY girl now! I told you not to ashame her with your worthless presence! And what do you do?! You made her cover her fancy dress with a dirty sweater so you could feel better dancing with her! And you danced with her just when the romantic songs started to play! I was the one that had to dance those songs with her, not you! Do you understand?! ME!"
The area of the dance floor surrounding them had become silent, the people was backing away, making a sort of circle around them. But at Nick's last words a chorus of dramatic gasps boomed in the crowd. Sans turned to find Mettaton trying to muffle the sounds of the voices of his "program with interactive voices that react to different situations".
"listen buddy, the one here that isn't understanding is you. frisk put on the sweater because she wanted to, because she can do whatever she wants to, it doesn't matter what you say"
The voices in Mettaton's program howled with a "Uuuuhh".
"Oh sure! She can do whatever she wants! But she has nothing to do with someone as negligible as you! She is way too kind to try to be gentle with the ones like you! But that is going to change! I'll make her understand who she is befriending! That you monsters are just garbage and don´t deserve to share the surface with us, humans!"
The voices now growled with anger, reacting at Nick's bitter comment. They were making the situation even tenser. Sans turned to look daggers at Mettaton… if he was doing that just to make the situation more dramatic…But he robot was pressing his hands tightly against the speakers, he gave the skeleton a genuine apologetic look.
"Sorry darling, Alphys didn't install a button to turn it off!"
"See?! That´s what I´m referring to! You are useless! And, on top of that, dangerous! You could start stealing our souls at any time! Killing people because it´s fun to you, isn´t it?! You are just a bunch of savage beasts!"
At that moment a fierce rustling could be heard in the crowd: Alphys, Monster Kid and Mettaton were trying to hold Undyne to prevent her from shoving a spare at the teenager. As hot-headed as she was and being the ex-Leader of the Royal Guard, she couldn't just stand and watch the brat bitching about monsters so lightly.
"do you truly think that you can change Frisk's mind with those stupid excuses? she is very intelligent, she knows who we are, the humans who live here know who we are, we hadn't done anything bad to them and they know that we won't. moreover, you are the one that moved here! you know that monsters lived here too! if you think we are "beasts" why the hell did you came?!"
Mettaton's sound effects agreed heartily, clearly annoyed.
"I came to make people conscious about who they are living with!"- He stomped even closer- "Do you think that you fool anyone with that stupid smile of yours?! With your stupid jokes?! You dirty freak! You are the most pathetic monster I have ever encountered by now, and that surely is something!"
Sans really wanted to punch the teenager right in his face to make him shut up, he didn't care of what he could say about himself, but he had insulted the monsters, all of them. But he held back. Although Nick was very punchable, by hitting him he would just make the idea of monsters being "savage beasts" more credible. But the main reason why the teenager was still able to fuss around was because he had come to the party with Frisk. He was his partner for the night, how would she feel if he knocked him unconscious in the middle of the party? He had to control his anger. And he was doing well, but…
"HEY HUMAN!I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO, BUT THIS ISN'T FUNNY AT ALL! I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO TREAT MY BROTHER LIKE THAT!"- Papyrus' tall figure appeared in the crowd. The mechanic voices gasped in surprise. By his squared shoulders Sans quickly understood that his brother was starting to get pissed, something that was very difficult to achieve.
"papyrus keep out of this"- His brother's voice made the taller skeleton freeze.
"Oh look at that! You have a skeleton brother as well? Is he as pitiful as you are? By his clothing I think he is! Where do you think we are? In a costume party? And what about that useless cloak? You surely look ridickulous!"
Papyrus' expression saddened, hurt by Nick's sharp words. He placed a hand on his loved orange cloak and looked down ashamed as he felt everyone's eyes stuck on him.
"do-not-mess-with-my-brother"
"What is it shorty, does it bother y…?"
Nick turned to look at the shorter skeleton to find out that his pupils had disappeared, making his smile look empty. The teenager felt a cold shiver running along his body as he looked at Sans' pitch-dark eyes. Even the voices of Metatton's program were silent. Nick's instincts told him to back off, but his ego didn't let him. He forced an evil smile and stepped closer.
"Oooh! It looks like I finally managed to piss you off! What are you going to do now? Huh?"- He pushed Sans hard enough to make him step backwards- "You try to look menacing, but I bet you don´t have the wits to face me!"- He pushed him again, harder - "You are just a wimp! A coward! You have no idea of happy you´d made me if you just ceased to exist! What´s more! I would love to be the one to turn you to DUST with my bare hands!"
The teenager pushed Sans one more time, even harder than before. The skeleton was putting his very effort in controlling his anger, but the brat was getting on his nerves. He knew that Nick had no chance against him, that it would be a very unfair fight.
He tried to think about Frisk, about how hopeful she was, how she always found a way of solving everything without using violence. But although he tried desperately to find a "pacific" solution, having the teenager bitching in front of him and pushing him to enrage him on purpose wasn't helping. "it's just a stupid brat and you know it, don't let his words get you. if you do you'll be doing exactly what he wants". Sans stood back another step, he didn't dare to do anything else. He was completely focused in keeping his rage at edge. "frisk may be disappointed if i beat the crap out of him, she would never use violence"
"See?! You don´t dare fight me! Because you know perfectly well that I am way better than you! You are garbage and nothing else! I won´t let you get close to MY girl again! And if you do I'll make sure that the only proof of your existence will be your fucking dust! You must really feel honoured that someone like me would take some of their precious time to finish a scum of the earth like you! But right now, I'll make completely sure that you understood this time!"- He cracked his knuckles and looked at him gloatingly, a wry nasty smile crossing his face.
He raised his clenched fist furiously, his way taller figure towering above the skeleton's. Sans quickly understood that Nick's blow was aimed directly to his face, and that the teenager was going to punch him with all his strength. He could dodge it easily, but what would happen next?
Maybe if Nick thought that he had actually hurt him he would stop fussing around and let everyone enjoy the party in peace. What if he took the blow and acted like it hurt and finished the discussion there? But… Sans wasn't someone who would let be hit blatantly. He decided that he would catch Nick's fist with his hand and grip it hard enough to make him back off and scare him a bit. He wouldn't hurt him, he would warn him. The skeleton was ready, ready to act as soon as Nick's blow arrived, but…
This time, everyone in the ballroom joined Mettaton's program voices as they hissed and exclaimed with emphatic pain. The sound of Nick's fist impacting against Sans' bones never arrived, instead the fierce sound of flesh hitting flesh broke the tense silence.
Unshed tears of pain made Nick's eyes glittery while the bright red shape of a tiny hand appeared on his left cheek. He looked down to find Frisk right before him. She was standing between him and Sans, keeping him away from the skeleton. Her right hand was still raised, the proof that she had been the one who had slapped him so goddamn hard. Her eyes sparkled with fury, her usually sweet features twisted with rage, making her tiny frame look incredibly threatening.
"Who theHELL do you think you are to talk to MY Sans like that?!"
Everyone in the ballroom stepped back. Nobody had seen the tiny human so angry before. Frisk was utterly pissed.
Since I first introduced Nick, I already knew what I was going to do with him… and when I read your comments telling me you what you wanted to happen to him… we have so much in common…it's so majestic :')
Updating soon!
