*I don't own Undertale or any of its characters; they all belong toToby Fox, please support the original release*
Chapter 15: Early hours talk
Sans slammed his hand over the light switch and the kitchen was immediately lit. Frisk had landed on her butt and was now sitting on the floor, stammering at an unbelievable speed:
"I know I shouldn't have! I'm sorry! Mum is always teaching me how to act in a polite and proper way, and I always say "Yes, mum. There's no need to worry, I know what is correct and incorrect and I won't act in an appropriate way, especially when it comes to somebody else's house! And I know that one of the most impolite things to do is this, but I couldn't help it! I threw all my good manners over the window, I know it! But I was so huuuuungry!"
The skeleton blinked in confusion at the girl's hurried words. He looked from her to the counter, where a huge butterscotch cinnamon pie awaited, and then to the slightly opened fridge and drawers.
"I know that rummaging in someone's kitchen without permission is the worst! But some hours ago Papyrus asked if I wanted some pie and at that time I was too full to eat even a single bite! He told me that I could ask him for some later, so I decided to wait till I felt hungry enough. But that time came like, half an hour ago, and everybody was sleeping! I tried to sleep too, but I couldn't stop thinking about the heavenly butterscotch cinnamon that rested on the kitchen!"
"Then I tried waiting to see if somebody else woke up, I dunno' maybe to go to the bathroom or something…but they didn't! It seemed like these people didn't need to pee at all! Who doesn't need to pee at some point during the night? I kept waiting to see if I could figure out something else: the only thing that came to my mind was waking Papyrus up, but he was there sleeping like the most pure of the angels and I couldn't do that! That's why I thought that maybe if I got some cake and then explained and apologized to Papyrus tomorrow everything would be all right. So I came to take some, and didn't turn on the lights to avoid waking someone up! It felt like the most polite option of the other impolite options! I'm sorry, really! I know I shouldn't have!"
"…wow, calm down kiddo'…it's fine"- Sans said to the girl, but mostly to himself, as he rested his weight on the doorway trying to recover from the shock and avoiding to look at the knife.
"No it isn't! If I had only waited a bit more I could have asked you and that would have been all!"
"but you had no way of knowing i was coming!"
"Maybe not but…"- Frisk raised her gaze to look at Sans and finally realized that something was off. For the first time she become aware that she was sitting on the floor, but she didn't remember how she had got there. She had been so busy apologizing that she had somehow missed the cold floor beneath her naked legs. The girl frowned lightly and saw that the counter she had been standing before a few minutes ago was on the opposite wall, which only confused her even more. She looked around some more, from floor to the counter, from the counter to the pie, from the pie to Sans and finally from Sans to the knife that rested coldly against the floor a few meters away from her feet.
The human's expression got transfigured by horror. She froze, it even seemed as she had stopped breathing, the colours draining from her face till she looked absolutely pale. Frisk stared at the knife with huge, unblinking and overwhelmed eyes. Sans stared at the girl, he had never seen her so pale, it seemed like she was looking straight at the most pernicious thing that ever existed. Unable to stand it anymore he tried to get her back to her senses:
"…kid?"-Frisk suddenly blinked and casted a glance at the skeleton. She unconsciously shrank nearly imperceptibly and looked away, avoiding to look either at Sans or the silver object on the floor-"…is everything ok?"
The girl nodded, not trusting her voice and leaned on the wall to stand up. She tried her best not to show how much her legs…and her whole frame, were shaking. After a few seconds she managed to stand more or less still, but she bet that if she tried to walk her legs would simply fail.
"…weren't you going to grab some pie?"-Frisk shook her head slowly.
"I'm not…I'm not hungry anymore"
She took a few deep breaths before finally daring to look at Sans. The only way she could think of falling to the floor in the first place, was that he had used his magic on her. Knowing the skeleton as well as she did, she knew that he would have never done that if he only thought she was getting a slice of pie. The monster was now looking back at her, both of them silent and trying to figure out and also fearing what the other was thinking. Frisk was the first to lower her gaze.
"…I'm sorry"- She said lowly. Sans remained silent, not knowing what to say.
The tiny girl started walking slowly out of the kitchen, her gaze fixed on the floor. By the time she was reaching Sans's side she was starting to regain her composure: her shoulders had squared lightly and her hands were now softly balled in determined fists. She looked as she was trying with all her might to take courage to do something.
"Sans…"-When she got to the doorway she finally turned to look at him square in the eye with a resolute and determined gaze. What happened next was something the skeleton would have always considered as impossible or surreal: Frisk's eyes stared at his for a few seconds, but the determination that used to fill them drifted away, till it vanished completely. The girl's confident expression weakened, suddenly affected by fear and worries, only leaving a defeated and dejected trace of herself. She lowered her gaze again, the frustration in her face almost painful- "…G-good night"
With those words she left the kitchen, nearly running away. Sans couldn't take his gaze away from where the girl had been just a moment ago. She had been trying to tell him something. For some reason, he was sure of that. But what could that something be? What could be so terrible to leave her in such a disheartenment?
Even though he tried, he couldn't move an inch. The girl's discouraged expression was still present in his mind. He had thought that his reaction when he saw the knife may have been exaggerated, it was true that he had been having nightmares non-stop revolving the weapon, but a knife used against a pie was no possible threat at all. It was when he saw Frisk reaction that he realized that something had to be escaping his grasp.
Something very big was going on, but it didn't matter how much he squeezed his brains to figure out what it was, it was out of his reach. It felt like there were loads of pieces of a huge puzzle: the dreams, the laughter, the golden hall, the silver and crimson flashes, what had happened at the clearing, the knife, what had happened with his Blaster… everything seemed to be connected by the same link: Frisk. But even so…he felt as lost as if he hadn't had any clues about what was going on.
The skeleton rested his head on his hands, taking a deep and frustrated breath. He slowly slid his hands down, peeking at the kitchen before him. Letting his arms drop by his sides he proceeded to place the pie in the fridge again and then the knife, with extreme caution, inside the drawer. He looked around helplessly and leaned on the counter, his thoughts were a huge mess and he felt both physically and mentally exhausted.
"diddly dang crap baskets, why the motherfucking hell does this has to be so damn complicated?"-He muttered to himself, making sure to speak lowly enough not to let anyone else hear. He didn't curse very frequently, but when he did, he did.
Taking another steadying breath he resolved to go to sleep. He was getting nowhere with this, as usual, and he was feeling tired as heck. The skeleton turned off the lights and walked silently out of the kitchen. He casted a glance towards the sofa, where Frisk was sleeping by Papyrus side, his brother was occupying nearly all the surface and the girl was slightly curled in front of his chest. Sans guessed that when they went to sleep they had divided the space equally, but as the taller skeleton tended to move while sleeping he must have left Frisk less space than they had accorded. If the human hadn't been so tiny, she probably would have been left without any place to sleep.
The monster looked at the girl's expression for a few seconds, even though it was very dark he could see that she had fallen asleep-or she looked like she had- and her features didn't show any trace of the tension they had when she had spotted the knife. He stood there for a while before finally heading to the stairs and unlocking the door of his room. He opened it carefully to avoid making any sound and then closed it behind him. Once he was in, he let himself drop on his bed and laid there, in the darkness. Although he had intended sleeping, now that he was there it didn't seem that he was likely to get much rest.
Sans let out a loud sigh and stared at the ceiling. Having a nightmare would be the cherry on the cake for this night, he thought ironically. He unconsciously started to think of possible explanations for Frisk's reaction towards the knife. As always, he tried to push away the idea of considering the dreams as reference of any premonition. He tended to be more the "scientific" type, so making guesses based on that was something he felt incredibly uncomfortable doing. Let's add, of course, that he preferred not to think too deeply about the girl's relation with them.
After discarding some theories, the most plausible one seemed to be that Frisk could have had some sort of traumatic experience with a knife, which would explain her tremendous fear at seeing the object. But Sans didn't think that was the case. It didn't piece up with the girl's life experience. She had always said she had had a very happy childhood and everybody had treated her nicely.
She could have been hiding a dark memory of the kind all this time? Well, actually yes, but for some reason the skeleton knew that wasn't it. The fact that the girl was actually holding the knife when he found her meant that she hadn't have any problems with grabbing it, which kind of made that theory useless. It had been like she had been holding it without any fear or resentment at all, but when she had seen it on the floor she had suddenly realized what she had been holding.
Was it possible that her panic was only triggered when she saw a knife on the floor? Maybe she had had some sort of trauma with knives resting on the flooring… but how was that even possible?! Thinking about it, if it had been in someone's hand or perhaps on a table where it was easy for anyone to reach…but on the floor? If it was on the floor then it was absolutely harmless! Was it possible to be scarred so terribly by a knife not being anywhere else but the floor in any situation? There are lots possibilities, but to leave her so shocked? Sans racked his brains thinking. Maybe if the knife exploded? That sounded shocking enough. A knife, on the floor, used as a bomb, and exploding. Sans thought about that possibility for a few seconds before face-palming in the darkness.
"how does it come that whenever i think i might be getting somewhere i always end up with such ridiculous outcomes? exploding knife? c'mon! where did the logical explanation go? if i had ever seen a knife exploding i'm sure i wouldn't have gotten close to one again! no matter if it was on the floor, on the drawer, on the roof, anywhere!"-He threw his arms on the air- "geez, i think this time i beat my personal record of nonsensical night theories!"
The skeleton kept staring at the ceiling in annoyance some more before turning to his side. With the soft glow of the fire that burned silently under his door, he could see more or less clearly. He looked at the usual mess that covered the blue carpet and then at the little tornado beside him, with its usual papers and other crumpled stuff swirling cheerfully in it. It was then when he noticed something laying on the floor right in front of the door. It wasn't any of his usual trashed papers; it somehow looked different, like someone had actually placed it there. With the door locked that seemed pretty unusual, but it could also have been slipped underneath it.
Sans looked puzzled at the piece of paper. He didn't really want to get up, but the curiosity got the best of him and he crouched next to the object to examine it. He was surprised to see there were writings all over it. The skeleton picked it up and sat down at the edge of the bed, taking a closer look. His eye-sockets widened when he realized that what he was looking at was Frisk's handwriting. Without any hesitation, he started reading.
Dear Sans
Well, I'm not very sure of what to write right now, and I'm sure you must be a bit confused. What is this unusual piece of paper doing in your room? Long story short, we were playing truth or dare, I chose dare, and as I had been complaining about you not being here and that I missed you they dared me to write this to you and blah blah. How could I not miss you? I mean, I had this GREAT pun! And they didn't even let me finish telling it! It was so cool, I had gotten really inspired, and I bet you would have liked it! Flowey had complained about something so I said something about friendship…about…pellets…about…AGH! SEE? NOW I FORGOT IT AND IT WAS A REALLY GOOD ONE! That's why I needed you here!
I also was told to tell you how special you were to me, but I think that I wouldn't get it written down even if I kept writing for years. Soo…uhmm…let's say you are the most special person out there? Is that possible? I don't know if the rules allow that. Sorry, my mind is sloppy and my writing is pretty rushed, but I can't think very clearly with everybody staring and cheering at me, please consider that when reading this.
There is still a lot of paper to fill, so I thought I might take an advantage of this, cause, why not? I was thinking, considering what I thought when you weren't here when I told the pun, (It was really great, a masterpiece, really), that it could be nice to have something to remember each other when we are not near. We spend almost all day together, but, I dunno', for special occasions like these? It might be a little cheesy and I don't think that's your style, but now that I'm here I'll get on with it. I love cheesiness myself, and you know that –There was a little drawing of a happy facewithits tongue dangling
So.. I thought that maybe you could like having something from me, like something to feel that I'm near even if I'm not. In that way, even if you tell a pun and I'm not there you'll still feel I´m supporting you, or if you are sad or something… I don't know, it's a way of staying close. You can keep this piece of paper for yourself and each time you look at it you can be sure I'll be there for you for anything you need. If you don't like the idea you simply can throw this away, or you can pretend to have thrown it away and keep it anyways without telling me, that's your choice, but I think it would be really nice! It would feel like being by your side even when I'm not, like a sort bond. That seems…pleasant, I guess. At least it sounds pretty, don't you think? I have to close this now, but I hope you enjoyed reading this in some way and, guessing that you will arrive late, have a good rest!
Lots of love, Frisk
What was written below was all jammed together, probably because there wasn't much space left on the paper. The letters were littler than the ones of the text above and much more sloppy. They were more like scattered sentences trying to fit on the paper than a text itself. After the "PS" the phrases made their way in all directions. It took Sans some time to be able to read them.
PS: "OMG, I just realized that was the most cheesy thing that could ever exist, what was I was thinking?! Please just forget about it!" "Undyne and Aplhys won't let me erase it! And if I try then they'll probably want to read what I wrote, this is already a shame, I don't want anyone else to know!" "OH CRAP" "PLEASE THIS NEVER EXISTED" "IT'S JUST A MIRAGE" "AN ILLUSION, THAT'S ALL" "You know what? You are hallucinating, that's it!" "I'm dying of embarrassment, dear God" "Obliv- oblivi… oh, please J.K Rowling help me with this one" "KILL IT WITH FIRE!" "Please tell me this paper got swallowed by that cool twister in your room and you never read it" "This is just another paper like the ones on the floor" "Nothing to see here" "OH MY" "Please, you are not reading this" "You suddenly got amnesia and can't remember anything about this paper" "It got destroyed with the flames that burn at the bottom of your door" "It did" "It must have" "Please , don't let me down now" "CRAP" "HOLY PUPPIES" "HOLY DEARLY, FLUFFY PUPPIES"
By the time he finished reading the letter he surprised himself laughing openly. He could clearly imagine Frisk's stammering voice saying the last sentences in a rush of blushing cheeks and adorkable excuses. There still were more words written in the PS, but they were so rushed that he couldn't make them out. He stayed there, laughing with fondness for a long time, before finally giving the letter a long thoughtful look.
Just by remembering what it said his smile broadened uncontrollably. It was cheesy, he had to admit it. He had never been the cheesy kind and he blushed lightly when he realized that he had already made a decision even without reading the girl's amusing PS.
He was going to keep the letter, which meant that he had agreed in some way with the girl's idea to have her close even when she wasn't. Sans suddenly realized that he would have kept the letter for the same purpose even if the girl hadn't suggested so, which left him abashed with surprise and a deep blushing that ended up lighting the room considerably. Since when had he become this emotional?
He gave the paper another stare, its surface now tainted light-blue because of the light that shone on his cheekbones. He decided he had had enough emotions for one night, so, after thinking about it for a few seconds, he carefully folded Frisk's letter and placed it inside the inner pocket of his jacket. After that he laid face-up on his bed, not bothering to change his clothes. The skeleton finally started to feel more and more sleepy, till his consciousness drifted away and he fell into a light sleep.
It was four AM when Sans abruptly opened his eye-sockets again. He let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes. In that moment he heard something. He froze with hands mid-air. Maybe it had been his imagination? He stayed in silence for a while and when he was about to dismiss the fact, he heard it again. It came from downstairs. Without much hesitation the skeleton stood up and turned the doorknob of his room, poking his head out. A single glance downstairs was enough to notice that the kitchen lights were on.
He got to the hallway and slowly walked downstairs. Although his pink slippers didn't usually make much sound, as he walked it seemed that noises got extremely loud in the silence, so he was doing his best to reduce it as much as possible. When he was half-way down the stairs he heard the noise again, more clearly this time: it had sounded like a sob.
Being silent suddenly got extremely complicated, because he felt the urge to get at his destination as fast as possible. The closer he got, the clearer it was that those were the sounds of someone crying. It seemed to take an eternity, but he finally reached the doorway of the kitchen. Once there he stopped on his tracks at the sight before him. Frisk was sitting before the little table they have purchased a while ago to share meals with friends. The girl was hunched over, her arms crossed over the surface of the table and her head nestled between them. Although her face was buried in her arms her muffled sobs could still be heard, not very loud, but loud enough for Sans to have noticed.
"frisk..?"
The human flinched noticeably, hiccupping loudly. The skeleton was thrown back by her reaction. It took Frisk a few seconds to slowly raise her head and look at him through teary eyes:
"…Sans?"
"s-sorry i didn't mean to scare you…maybe i should have tried drawing your attention in another way"-The girl blinked a few times and shook her head.
"I think I would have reacted in the same way even if you drew my attention in the most delicate and adorable way, don't worry"- She straightened up lightly.
"no, really! maybe if i had tapped your shoulder?"- The girl suddenly surprised him with a weak giggle.
"If you had done that I bet you would have scared me to death. I was too distracted, so I think the best way to draw my attention was that one"- Frisk looked at him and smiled softly.
Sans took that as a permission to walk in, so he approached the table. Now that he thought about it, it didn't really seem possible to have called Frisk without taking her by surprise. He had been careful not to make any sound in his way there, so he would have probably scared anybody by appearing like that.
"…are you ok, kiddo?"
"Well, I've been better"-Frisk commented, shrugging.
"oh crap, what a stupid question"- The girl giggled some more at his friend's expression- "sorry, i must still be sleepy, what happened? are you hurt? did something bad happened?"- He scanned the girl thoroughly with his gaze, but he could see no sign of injuries.
"No, don't worry. I was having a nightmare, a very awful one, but that's all"
"…a nightmare?"- The girl nodded, hiccupping lightly as a tear rolled down her cheek-"but if that's the case, then what are you doing crying here all by yourself? why didn't you tell any of the guys? don't tell me that it's because it would have been impolite, please. oh, now that i remember, i wanted to tell you that you can make yourself at home here! that means waking people up and even emptying the fridge if you need to do so, really!"
"I would never do that!"-Frisk answered jolting up.
"so that's why you are all alone here?"
"Well, it's not the main reason if that makes you feel better"
"the main reason?"-Sans tilted his head lightly.
"Ok, let me explain"- Frisk started, noticing his friend's worried and confused expression- "During my life I have tried maaany ways of feeling better after having a nightmare. Really, I tried nearly everything: milk, stories, talking with someone, being talked by someone, counting sheep, counting annoying dogs, walking, staring at the ceiling, doing nothing.
Some of them sort of worked, but at the end I always ended up crying (You know I cry a lot) and just by the time I finished crying I finally felt a lot better. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate when someone takes their time to spend, at whoever-knows what hour, talking with me and trying to calm me down. But in the end there's nothing they can really do. It's a dream, after all…so they can't say much more than that. That's why I've taken this method lately"
Sans looked at her teary, but somehow resolute expression for a few seconds before being able to talk again: "so…what you are trying to tell me is that you came here, all by yourself, so you could cry till you felt better without anyone bothering you, that's it?"
"Yeah, that's it"- Frisk couldn't help to laugh at his friend's astonished expression- "Too honest?"
"well…maybe a little bit, but i guess it's fine. if you feel better after crying, which is actually a mechanism the body has to unleash stress and other stuff, then who i am to judge? if you feel better that's enough for me"- The girl smiled brightly at him- "…but it also doesn't feel right to me to leave you alone. it might help to feel better, but crying is not something anybody should do alone"
"would you mind if i sit here with you if i don't bother your crying?"- The skeleton opened a cupboard and grabbed a little package of tissues, taking one out with a flourished gesture and handing it to the girl.
The girl looked at him thoughtfully for an instant before letting out a mixture of a laugh and a hiccup and accepted the tissue- "How could I reject such an offer?"-She wiped her eye with the back of her hand- "If you don't mind having to look at this messy hair, sleepy face and reddish eyes I guess it's fine"-She proceeded to blow her nose noisily.
"oh, c'mon! how could you say that?"- Sans asked with a huge smile as he sat across her at the table- "i think those teary eyes and that original hairstyle has some sort of elegance in it, like a new "chic-crying style"! not everybody can nail that, trust me"
Frisk let out a strange sound when she unexpectedly burst out laughing heartily while blowing her nose. The skeleton couldn't help to look at her with an amazed and somewhat respectful smile. The fact that the girl could laugh so cheerfully despite her tears was something truly admirable, with tissue and all. Her laughter felt like a "Fuck off, I do what I want" to her tears, which felt very much as something the lighthearted girl could do.
"Oh my! I think you are the only one who can come up with something like that!"- She said, still smiling broadly.
"you are trying to say i'm inventing things? please! i'm offended!"- The girl giggled and rolled her eyes.
Frisk placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand. Her expression slowly regained some of its previous gloominess and her gaze got vacant.
"…was it really that bad?"- Sans asked, finding her eyes looking at him again. She grimaced as she straightened up- "mhh… what about this? in a scale from one to ten, how bad the nightmare was?"
"Twelve"
"wow, that must be really bad! i mean, it even broke my organized, scaling system. there's no wonder why you wanted to vent it out"- The girl smiled lightly, amused at her friend's words.
"Now that I think about it…"-The girl tilted her head gently- "I don't actually cry every time"
"what?"
"Oh? Sorry, I was thinking about what I said earlier, and I don't always end up crying, at least not now. I think I've sort of gained some nerve or something…"- Sans still looked at her, puzzled, so the girl tried to be clearer- "The thing is, when they first started I would cry every time I woke up. It was pretty frustrating, even a five scale nightmare would make me cry a lot. But it's like I am starting to endure them better now, like I'm starting to overcome them"
"Some days I wake up and I say "You know what? It was a dream, it won't make me cry, fuck off" I couldn't do that before. I have to admit that some other days when I am feeling a bit down or tired they do overcome me, or when they are as terrible as the one I just had. But that doesn't mean I am giving up on this"- The girl's eyes blazed with determination- "I won't let them win"
The skeleton looked at her thoughtfully. Her words remembered him of himself. At first the nightmares he had were nearly unbearable. Just a little hint of one of them would make him panic. But now only the worst ones managed to overcome him. He hadn't thought about it before, but he had actually made a good job with the "Fuck off, it was a dream" part. As he hadn't been able to come up with a better solution till then, that seemed to be the best solution for now.
"…so, may i assume that you are having recurrent dreams?"- Frisk blinked.
"Yeah… for a while now"- They stared at each other for a few seconds- "I would love to have varied nightmares at least"- She sighed- "Even if it means dreaming with Miss Kitly"
"miss kitly?"
"Yeah, my last math teacher. I would always have the weirdest dreams about her! She would not only tell me that I had failed her subject, she'd tell me I've done so for the most bizarre reasons!: "Oh no, student! Don't you see? Eight puppies divided by a full-grown annoying dog could never be one duck! It's obvious it's one pigeon!" And I would stare at her and argue that it had to be a duck! And then she tried explaining the equation again and again, and I could never understand anything! , or I would arrive at the classroom wearing only my pajamas and she would start scolding me because they did not have enough numbers on them!"
"Another time I dreamt I had studied a lot for a test that was incredibly difficult, but when she handed the papers the equations were extremely easy, like 2+2 or 2x3. But as I had been studying so hard my brain had sort of collapsed and I couldn't solve any of them! Or that time she said we had to bring eight keys for the next day, but I misunderstood her and wrote "kitties" on my notebook!"
"So I struggled with the eight cats till I got to the classroom and when I got there everybody stared at me and the teacher told me she'd have to call the police because the cats were too cute and I'll go to jail and-"- Frisk let out a frustrated sigh, rested her head between her hands and mumbled- "Oh my, they are even weirder than I remember"
Sans burst out laughing helplessly-"and i thought dreaming about flying temmies was weird…was that woman so bad?"
"Not thaaaat bad. She was pretty grumpy and her explanations were a bit sloppy but she was Ok. The problem was her subject"
"math?"
"Math"- Frisk assured, narrowing her eyes and pronouncing the word like it burned her throat.
"but math is pretty cool!"
"You've got a Quantum Physics book! I may assume that you are very good at math then!"
"well, sort of, i guess? but what does that have to do with liking math or not?"
"Everything"- Frisk answered gravely in a whisper, getting closer to him over the table.
"but-"
"Have you got any idea how it feels when you stare at the blackboard for hours with the poor woman there trying to explain to you how on Earth you are supposed to solve all those crazy numbers scattered everywhere? And, after lots of efforts you finally think you get it! You still are doing the first exercise, everyone else is at the seventieth, but it doesn't matter, you got it, the result, the so desired answer!"
"You hold your paper, and look at it, it has been erased at least fifty times, everything is blurry, but you pressed the tip of the pencil very hard to make the result legible. It's there, in huge black strokes, it's your pride, you did it, oh God what masterpiece!"
"You then nudge the dear classmate by your side and ask: "Hey, the result it's 3456843579,09 right?" and they ask: "Which one, the last one?" and you let out an inner cry and then answer: "No, the first one" and then they look at you, at their folder, at your paper and start again, and after a few moments they finally say, looking confused: "The answer is 2"
"And that's when you feel yourself falling into the depths of the abyss, you rest your head on your own folder and question your life, the existence of the world, the meaning of love, but you don't try to do another equation till the class finishes… have you got any idea how all that feels?!"
Sans roared laughing again, having to clasp his hand over his mouth in an attempt to muffle the sound- "woah, it really is that terrible?"- The girl gave him a serious and solemn look before nodding- "have you fell into the depths of the abyss frequently during your math lessons?"- The girl let out a defeated sigh and nodded again. Sans chuckled lightly- "i don't know if i am that good at it, but i can help you with it if you need someday"
"I really appreciate it, but I prefer not to"- Frisk said, gently bowing her head.
"why not?"
"I don't want to drag you to the abyss with me"- She answered, staring at the horizon in a dramatic fashion. Sans laughed again and patted the girl's shoulder lightly across the table- "No, but really, I have made some teachers so desperate because I didn't understand what in the world I was supposed to do, that they ended up getting even more frustrated than me. I don't want that for you"- She said, giggling lightly and patting him back.
"mhhh… that sounds like a challenge"
"No! No math abyss for you! You don't know what you are talking about!"
They kept laughing for a while before finally getting silent again. Frisk rubbed her still lightly teary eyes and stretched.
"What time is it?"
"late"
"No way!"- She feigned surprise and did her best to hide her smile. The girl suddenly looked as she had realized something and grimaced.
"what is it?"
"Now that I think about it, I must be the worst guest ever! First I go and try to get food without asking, for that I open the fridge and rummage through the kitchen to get a piece of pie. And now I keep you up till who knows what time it is and…oh my"- She gave Sans a horrified look.
"what?! frisk, please i've already told you not to do that!"
"I've woken you up, haven't I?"- She asked with the guiltiest of the expressions. The skeleton let out a sigh of relieve.
"for god's sake, don't look at me like that again unless the world is coming down to pieces, kid"
"But it is! I am the worst guest ever!"- The girl stretched to hold Sans left hand, which was resting over the table, with her two tiny ones- "I'm so soooorryyyyy! I'm the wooorst guest, the worst, the worst, the worst, the wooooorst!"
"frisk…frisk!"- The skeleton tried to calm her down, but the girl kept moaning "The worst" over and over, slightly slumped on her chair with her head thrown back and facing the ceiling-"geez"- Sans let out a sigh and reached at the girl in front of him, putting his hand over her mouth- "would you let me talk, darling?"- The girl's muffled and continuous "ooooorst" were enough to let him know the answer, so he decided to talk anyways, making his voice sound over Frisk's muffled moans.
"first of all, you are not the worst guest ever because you aren't even a guest in the first place. i've already told you that this is your house too!"-The teen tried to complain, but Sans interrupted her- "that means that you can do whatever you want without having to ask, opening the fridge, eating, going to the bathroom, searching for something you need, everything! even if it means waking people up if you need, it doesn't matter what time it is!"-Frisk muffled voice complained again, but Sans cut her short once more- "but if it means so much to you, then let me tell you that you didn't wake me up"
The girl's surprised expression was the sign that Sans could already let go of her mouth, so he took his hand away and rested it on the table again.
"R-really?"
"uhum"
"Are you sure you are not saying that only to make me feel better?"-The girl gave him a deep look.
"nope. to be honest, i woke up for the same reason you did"
"…you had a nightmare?"
"yeah, a pretty awful one. i don't know if i would say it was a twelve scale one, but, i dunno', maybe an eight?"
"That's pretty height in your scale!"
"is it?"- Sans tilted his head slightly, thoughtfully- "i think you are right, but it wasn't thaaat bad. i have to admit that i am a bit confused. i think that twelve of yours only made my scale more complicated, even i don't get it now"- Frisk giggled- "oh well, it doesn't matter. the thing is that when i woke up i heard something strange, so i came down here to check and i found you. i suppose that even though i hadn't come here i wouldn't have been eager to go back to sleep anyways"
"In case the dream would continue if you did?"
"exactly. i usually come down here and have some ketchup when i refuse to go back to sleep. so the situation wouldn't have changed so much. there's no reason for you to feel guilty about it"-He said, shrugging lightly.
Frisk looked at him for a moment before finally nodding-"…thank you for staying with me either way"- She added with a small smile.
"no need to mention it, buddy"- He stretched, some of his bones making a loud cracking sound.
"Ow! Don't do that!"- The girl looked at him with a pained expression and checked to see if he was still in one piece.
The skeleton chuckled- "don't worry kiddo', i'm fine. i've heard humans cracking their bones like that too, what's the difference?"
"The difference is that you are all bone! It sounds more loud and dry! It feels like you are going to break something or, or… I don't know! But it makes me worry!"
Sans laughed heartily at the girl's expression- "i won't break or something else, don't worry. the "worst" thing that could happen is that one of my bones got detached, but that's never happened to me before and i can put it back very easily"- Frisk looked as she was going to faint. He raised his right hand and his sleeve slipped till it uncovered his wrist. He placed his left index and thumb on it and gave the girl a meaningful look- "remember?"
Frisk had flashbacks of that time the skeleton had detached his hand and then reattached it when they were going to Muffet's party and hurried to answer- "OH MY, I DO, PLEASE DON'T"- The monster's smile widened and gave her a mischievous grin, but after a few moments he let his hand slip on the table again. The teen let out a loud relieved sigh.
"you said you tried doing many things to make you feel better after bad dreams, didn't you?"- Sans asked, remembering what the girl had told him before.
"Many, nearly everything, I think"
"are there so many options?"- The skeleton looked surprised and amused at the same time.
"Sure they are! I started with this with the other kids in the orphanage. Nobody likes having nightmares, but when you are just a child they feel more terrible. That's why we kept trying to find ways of not having nightmares or, in case that failed, ways of feeling better or making the bad dreams not come again. Whether we were haunted by ghosts, math teachers, snakes, spiders, clowns or floating sharks we had to find a solution"
"We started creating our own ways at first; some of them seemed to work sometimes. Everyone found their own way sooner or later and had personalized techniques: Counting sheep, hiding very deep in their sheets, singing and standing on one foot before going to sleep, whatever you could imagine. When we grew some more we searched some ideas on the internet and we made a sort of chart, so everybody could choose the option that suited them better"
"I tried nearly everything; it was something fun to do, after all. At the end the ones that worked better for me were the most traditional, though. A good glass of warm milk with something sweet and delicious to eat would work nearly every time. No matter how many zombies tried to eat me or how many math tests I had to endure, they would fix it. Well…that worked pretty well till nightmares started getting more serious and now, in the worst cases, I accompany the milk and the food with some tears till I feel better"
"i always thought that the glass of milk and all that stuff was just a myth, i guess it's cool to find out it actually works for some people"
"You've never tried it out?"-The girl asked in disbelief. The skeleton shook his head- "But that's the only good part of the nightmares! If you have no other option than putting up with them at least you have to find a bright side of them! You know what? It's not too late, you are trying it now! You've just had a nightmare, so you are on time!"
There wasn't much Sans could do against the girl's determined and fully excited expression.
"fine…"-Frisk features lit up even more- "…but you are going to grab the food, i'd really like you to feel that you can act and move with absolute freedom here"- Her expression shrunk –"c'mon don't make that face! i'm grabbing the milk, ok?"
The tiny human huffed, but didn't make any attempt to move. The skeleton stood up and ushered her to act. He thought about it for a few seconds and decided that it would be better not to bring back the butterscotch-cinnamon pie, just in case, so he pointed at a nearby cupboard: "you will find the cookie jar there"
The teen stood up and walked reluctantly towards it, stood on her tippy-toes to reach the knob and opened it. Meanwhile Sans made his way to the fridge and opened it with a yank. Only a quick glance was enough to realize that they had run out of milk. But he also found out that there was a bottle of ketchup right in front of his eye-sockets. He stared at the red bottle in confusion. He was sure he had drunk the last one the previous day. Maybe Papyrus had replenished it, but that still felt odd. His brother was always scolding him and telling him to drink something more healthy, so he didn't usually renewed his supplies so quickly… but even so, that wasn't what had caught his attention the most.
Sans held the bottle in one hand and wondered aloud: "how strange, papyrus never places the ketchup so low in the fridge; it's his way of discouraging me from drinking it. i either have to climb onto something or use my magic to reach it and my laziness usually prevents me from doing so. it's strange to find it down here…"- He turned to look at Frisk, who was holding the cookie jar against her chest with her cheeks slightly puffed.
The skeleton blinked a few times, trying to figure out what had leaded the girl to that state till he finally realized it: "wait…it was you who bought it?"- He looked back at the bottle in his hand and then at her
"It was on my list, but I'm afraid I don't reach the upper shelves of the fridge"- She turned her nose away, offended.
"oh, c'mon kiddo'! there's nothing wrong about placing it here, for me it fits like a glove! there's no need to pull that face!"- Sans suddenly made a pause- "hold on… you did bought it? i was simply joking!"
"I know you were, but I thought you deserved it. I would have forgotten everything by the time I got to the shop if it hadn't been because of your help"- The human sat down on her chair again and her upset expression melted into a sweet smile.
"wow, thanks, you needn't have"-The girl waved her hand at him, playing the matter down. Sans looked inside the still open fridge- "i'm sorry to tell you this, but there's no milk left…what about making a mixture of your anti-nightmare technique and mine? cookies with ketchup, are you up for it?"- Frisk's features shrunk at the idea- "i know you'll love it!"- The skeleton cheered her up and made his way to the counter.
The girl sighed as she watched him pour two big, filled to the brim, glasses of ketchup for both of them-"Guess that if you like it so much then there has to be a good reason…"- After placing the red-filled glasses on the table Sans offered to grab a plate for the cookies.
"Plate? No, no, no"- Frisk said, shaking her head vigorously- "If you really don't want to keep dreaming bad stuff you have to eat them directly from the jar. Not to mention that their taste improves about a 50% in that way!"
Sans rolled his eyes, but the girl's apparent certainty was enough to prevent him from getting the plate. He sat down, facing the girl across the table. The skeleton reached towards his glass and lifted it in the air: "cheers"
Frisk stared at her glass with a mixture of distrust and resignation, but followed her friend's example, softly clinking her glass with his. They held gazes for an instant, in which Sans silently challenged the girl with his stare to drink the content of her glass. The hesitation in her eyes vanished and they both gave their glasses a huge gulp at the same time. As soon as they lowered their drinks Frisk let out a disgusted grunt, her face scrunching up. Sans couldn't hold back his laughter.
"OH, DEAR LORD! That was much worse than what I was expecting!"
She brought a hand to her mouth and shut her eyes tightly, trying to get the overwhelming sweet taste in her mouth to wear off… It didn't.
"How can you-AGH!- how can you drink this thing all the time?!"-The girl asked annoyed, looking at her still laughing friend- "You did it on purpose, didn't you?!"
Sans shook his head while trying to regain his composure- "i didn't do it on purpose, i'm sure you'll get used to its taste sooner or later"
"How can you possibly get used to this?!"- She gave the red substance an outraged glare.
"i dunno', i did"- Sans shrugged and gave his ketchup another long sip to reassure his words, finishing it with a delighted: "ahh.."
The girl's expression scrunched up a little more, but then a small amused smile played in her lips- "…you are even more quirky than I expected, aren't you?"
Sans faked an outraged expression- "that accusation is unfounded!"
Frisk giggled and placed her almost full glass of ketchup on the table carefully, still eyeing it suspiciously. She then squirmed her tiny hand into to jar before her and fished a vanilla and chocolate-chip cookie. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of the pastry. Considering the options of the post-nightmare menu of that night, she decided to stick with the cookies. She gave the biscuit a huge bite, its delicious taste quickly lifting her spirits.
The girl looked back at her friend who was silently looking at his glass, but his thoughts seemed to be far away. She considered it for a long moment before daring to ask: "Would you…like to talk about your nightmare?"
Sans blinked, suddenly being yanked away from his thoughtfulness. He slowly raised his gaze to meet the girl's eyes, which were staring deeply into his. Loads of thoughts rushed over his mind, but for some reason the only words that came out of his mouth were: "would you?"
A troubled look quickly tainted the girl's honey eyes and she broke eye contact-"No"-Her answer was nearly above a whisper, but its definitive and decided tone was still palpable.
"neither do i"- Sans stated, also in a low voice.
They stayed silent for a while before Frisk talked again: "So I guess we are even…"-She met the skeleton's eye-sockets again, a ghost of a comforting smile appearing on her lips- "Why don't we brighten up a little?"
A sudden mischievous expression tainted Sans' previously gloomy grin- "yeah, let's change the topic. i think i've already got one"
"Oh, really?"-Frisk looked at him with renewed excitement- "What is it?"
Sans' smile grew a little wider as he slowly made a corner of the girl's letter poke out of his pocket. The teen stared at it for a long moment, tilting her head to one side. When she finally realized exactly what she was looking at many things happened: First all the colour drained from her face, then it suddenly returned in the form of a deep blush and finally she slumped her arms over the table and hid her face there with a muffled yelp.
"Whyyyyyyy?! That thing should have never got there!"
"hey, it's not that bad, you know?"
"Not that bad?!"-The girl jolted up- "Did you read it?"
"yeah"- The little hope that had appeared in the girl's features vanished, her blushing intensifying even more.
"Then you can't say it wasn't that bad! It was terrible!"-She hid her face in her arms again- "It was so likely you wouldn't get it, the odds were in my favor! With the fire, the twister and all those papers! And why were you paying attention to your surroundings? You never do that!"
Sans laughed and patted the girl's arm across the table- "destiny, i guess?"
"Why does destiny hate me?"-The girl whined.
"i wouldn't say it hates you kiddo', actually i don't think anyone could be destined to write such a masterpiece like this one over here"
"Stooop it! Just forget about the destiny and all the other silly stuff I put there!"-She had stretched one arm and patted Sans forearm with each word, trying to get him to listen.
"no, but really, i just can't decide which part is my favorite yet!"- Frisk patted him more repeatedly now, but it didn't make him stop- "i'm between the adorable cheesy beginning or the "KILL IT WITH FIRE" ending, what do you think?"
"Just let me drown in my embarrassment in peaaaace!"- The skeleton couldn't help to chuckle at the tiny, struggling and intently blushing girl before him.
"there's no need to drown anywhere kid"
"Yes it is"
"frisk, please"
"I'm gone"
"c'mon!"-He held the hand the girl was still using to pat him.
"I've already gone through the frontier of the bashful lands of the dilemma realm"
Sans couldn't help to laugh at the girl's serious and dramatic voice- "would you listen to me?"-The girl remained unmoving for a while, her face still deeply buried in her arms, before answering:
"It's too late"
The skeleton imitated her posture, still holding her hand into his, but placing his free arm on the table and resting his chin onto it, looking at her and chuckling- "frisk"
"Tell mum I love her"
"i don't think it was that terrible"
"Dear Lord, forgive this poor and innocent soul, he has no idea what he's talking about, amen"
"do you want to know something?"
"That I now am confined to the depths of the awkward and embarrassment abyss with a shameful burden that must be carried without any possible way of escaping, like the big paradoxes of modern life?"
Sans blinked- "…no? wow, how can you possibly get so deep about this?"
"Because…there's nowhere deeper… than the bottom"- The monster noticed that the girl couldn't help to snort at the end of the sentence. Her voice had finally broke with laughter with the last word even though she had been holding it back all the while till now.
"ok, i guess that i have no objections to that one"-His voice was also tainted with laughter- "but no, that wasn't what i was going to tell you"-It was obvious that Frisk was trying with all her might to avoid bursting laughing, so it took her a while to finally talk again.
"…I am listening"
"i'm keeping it"
"Keeping the what?"
"the letter"- The girl turned her head to look at him to discover that he was also resting his head on his arm, the distance between them being shorter now.
"…are you planning to blackmail me?"
"what? no!"- Sans laughed again- "it really cheered me up, you know? when i read it i could actually picture you writing it and panicking at the end. it's like, so transparent and honest. it does feel like having a little of you in a piece of paper. it might be a little cheesy, but it's also kind of funny… i think even i can bare a little cheesiness if it comes from you so…i was actually thinking about keeping it"
Frisk's eyes sparkled at his words. Her blush intensified a little more when she realized that Sans was holding her hand. Her mind was suddenly blank; any trace of possible intelligent answers had been erased from her head at the skeleton's gaze. She gave him a big, fond and heartfelt smile, her eyes getting slightly watery.
At the sight of the girl's tears Sans straightened up a bit, surprised: "wow, did i say something bad? you had already stopped crying, sorry frisk it wasn't my intention to-"-His apology got interrupted by a soft squeeze at his hand and a giggle.
"It's not that, you silly"- The teen smile grew even wider- "What you said was very sweet and I found it…touching"
It was Sans' turn to blush now, his cheekbones getting a bright light-blue- "oh…well…if you say so…i kind of…feel in the embarrassment realm now…"-He scratched the back of his head lightly.
"Ha! Not so funny now, huh? The cheesiness has stabbed you in the back!"- Frisk teased him.
"maybe… but i have physical evidence of your cheesiness"- The girl's amused expression dropped, but it was suddenly replaced with a determined one.
"Not if I can change that"
"what?"-But before Sans could react the girl had shot her hand directly in the direction of his pocket. He barely managed to fish the letter from it before the girl could reach it. After some struggle and the fact that the girl didn't seem to be giving up any time soon the skeleton had no other option than playing dirty: He stretched his arm as much as he could and held the letter there, away from the girl's reach. No matter how much she jumped there was no way she'd be able to grab it. Seeing that the efforts were pointless the human finally settled down, giving him an offended look.
"That was rude"
"oh, isn't trying to snatch the letter from me rude?"- The girl gave him a thoughtful look.
"…maybe a lil bit? But putting your hand up there was much worse! It was so close and at the same time so far!"- Sans laughed.
"i was just joking. i promise i'll take good care of it. nobody else will read it"- Frisk eyed him thoroughly for an instant before finally nodding, taking her friend's word.
The pair resumed their night-snack, Sans drinking his ketchup and occasionally eating a cookie and Frisk eating and tasting one biscuit slowly after the other. It was when he was half-way through his glass when Sans noticed that a little frown had formed between the girl's eyebrows. Frisk was looking at him and munching a cookie while her eyes narrowed a little bit with each chew.
He immediately recognized her expression and raised a non-existent eye-brow, but the girl held up her hand indicating him to give her a little more time. She looked like she was racking her brains, thinking so hard that you could actually hear the gears of her mind running at full speed. The monster waited patiently till Frisk's eyes were so narrowed that he wondered how she managed to see through her almost closed eye-lids.
"c'mon kid, how much are you going to squint?"-He chuckled- "i've already told you to ask as much as you want, and you've got a question, don't ya?"
Frisk huffed in defeat, finally reopening her eyes and relaxing her expression: "Yeah, but I was trying to figure it out on my own!"
"and how did that go?"
"It seems that I still have no idea of how you work"- Sans laughed lively at the girl's resigned expression and gestured for her to ask her question- "How…how does your jaw work? Why is it like that? Is it locked or fused with your skull or..?"
"locked?"
"I mean, every time you speak or drink or whatever you never open your mouth, why can't you do it? Is your skull a full piece? With no joints or such?"
"uh? no, it's not a full piece. and who said i couldn't open my mouth?"
Frisk's eyes grew wide at those words, leaning slightly on the table to give him a closer look-"…what you are trying to say is…"- Sans smile broadened- "No. You have to be boasting"-She assured, shaking her head, but keeping her stare fixed on his friend.
"am i?"- The skeleton asked casually, opening his mouth as he accompanied each word.
The girl before her opened her eyes even more and clasped her hands over her mouth, too shocked to make a sound. In all the time she had shared with him she had never seen him open his mouth, so she had assumed that, for some reason, he couldn't. She had been wondering about the matter since the first time they met, thinking about loads of theories or possible explanations, and now, when she finally got the opportunity to now the oh-so cherished answer…her friend had threw all her speculations away with a single movement.
She blinked a few times at the very amused skeleton before her and then slowly rested her head on the table- "…I fell so…betrayed"- Sans burst laughing- "It's not funny! I've been lied all this time! Is there something out there I can trust? Now you are gonna' tell me you can also do googly eyes like Papyrus?"
"mhh…"- Frisk looked up at him, horrified at her friend's thoughtful expression- "i dunno', i never actually tried. i can give it a shot if you want to"
"No!"- She held one hand against her chest- "That'll be too many things to digest in one night! Maybe other day…or never…I just don't know anymore"
Sans chuckled- "it's no big deal! furthermore, i don't think anybody actually told you that i couldn't open my mouth, so you haven't been lied all this time. it's more like you have been lying to yourself all this time"
The human stared blankly at him- "Oh my…I can't even trust myself…"- The skeleton laughed and patted her arm warmly.
"think about it in this way: it's never ok to live a lie, it's always better to find out the truth… even if that implies discovering that you are a master of deceit"
Now it was Frisk's turn to laugh- "I guess you are right with that one. I'll do my best to stay attentive and not let me fool myself again"- She sighed and fixed her gaze back on his, her characteristic curious look finally winning over her surprise- "As you said, it's always better to find out the truth, that's why…"- She leaned a bit closer to him and pronounced her next words in a dramatic and hoarse whisper- "…I need answers"
The monster smiled and placed his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his hands- "then you'll have to ask questions"- He said, opening his mouth again.
The girl remained silent for a bit, still not getting used to this unexpected phenomena and stared at Sans mouth like she was expecting it to open at any time- "…How?"- She forced herself to fix her eyes on his eye-sockets to be able to concentrate- "How is that possible? Have you always been able to open your mouth like that?"
"yeah, i think so"
"B-but, that doesn't make any sense! I mean, if you have always been able to do it, why haven't I seen you do so before? Are you able to do that all the time?"
"yep"
"But….BUT! Oh my, are you telling me you can speak, eat, drink, everything, just like that? Like everybody else?"
"yah-huh"
"And then why don't you ever open your mouth?!"
"meh, i'm too lazy to do so"- Frisk stared at him dumbfounded and he smiled at her, going back to his usual closed-mouth speech- "that's why i simply do it this way"
The human took a deep breath, slowly bringing a slightly balled hand to her chin. She looked at him silently for a long moment till she finally gave up- "I…I just…I don't know how to reply to this"
"oh, don't worry. your expression right now is worth all the words you could even think about"
"And you laugh at it!"- She shook her head in disbelief.
"you are forgetting about a little detail you mentioned earlier"
"Detail?"
"yeah, you asked if i could open my mouth "like everybody else", and that's when a crucial point is at stake…"-Frisk raised her eyebrows- "i'm not like everybody else, that's why i don't open my mouth"
The human roared laughing, taken absolutely by surprise by her friend's words- "So that's what we've got, huh? I suppose I can't argue about that"- She smiled fondly at him-"There's absolutely no one out there like you, you are truly unique"
Sans scratched the back of his skull distractedly, returning her the smile. He was starting to feel the magic trying to taint his cheekbones so he changed the subject- "you've still got any questions, kid?"
"Mhhh…when did you first started not opening your mouth? And how does it work? Did you learn how to do it or what?"
"i'm not very sure when i started… as far as i can remember i've done this all my life so i suppose i learnt how to do it at some point. about how it works…"
"No"
"yep"
"Nooo!"
"magic"
The girl threw her hands on the air- "It's not fair! I need an explanation to the mystery not another one!"
"why don't you try taking a closer look? maybe you can come up with a more significant answer"- Sans brought his glass of ketchup to his mouth, leaning on the table slightly to let the girl have a better view. He tilted it and gave it a long slow sip, not bothering to open his mouth to do so.
"Holy puppies, that hasn't clarified anything! It only has made it more confusing! It looks like it simply gets into your mouth, but how is that possible?!"
"…you know the answer"- He teased her.
Frisk huffed and crossed her arms over her chest in frustration- "I refuse! There has to be something…something!"- She then rested her elbows on the table and frowned, concentrating deeply as she toyed with her still full glass of ketchup.
Sans waited, looking amused at the teen's expressions as she tried to figure out a reason and mumbled to herself some bizarre and funny theories. After a long time in which the girl had remained surprisingly silent he asked- "anything yet?"
"Gah! No! It's so frustrating!"- She raised the glass in her hand angrily.
"no need to sweat it, kid. i bet you'll find some sort of explanation, or you'll finally accept the must-not-be-named answer with time"
She sighed- "I suppose you are right…actually there isn't much I can do about it, is it? Sometimes things happen and it's just like that, they happen"- She brought her glass to her lips distractedly and gave it a long sip… to regret it instantly- "BLERGH! CRAP! WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME?!"
The skeleton was laughing so hard that he could barely speak- "f-frisk how w-was i su-pposed t-to know you'd d-drink it? i though you h-hated it! i n-never expected you t-to do it!"
"I do hate it! And you saw I was bringing the glass to my mouth! What were you expecting me to do?!"
"…k-knowing w-what you were d-doing?"
The girl puffed her cheeks at her friend's so blatant span of laughter- "It's not that I did not know I was just-just…distracted! That's all!"
"s-sure…"- Sans chuckled, holding a hand against his mouth- "that's why you blamed me for not stopping you"
"Well..yeah! You also were distracted! You should have realized that I was committing a mistake!"
"oh, so now it's my fault?"- He kept laughing blithely, tilting his head in a dramatic bow- "sorry i should have been able to predict the future and so, your actions"
"That's not what I'm saying!"
"i'll learn how to do it to protect you from the evil ketchup glasses in future occasions"- He said, standing straight and solemnly raising a palm- "there's no need to be afraid, miss"
Frisk's laughed in spite her will, but continued the argument anyways; balancing on her chair with resolution-"I won't need your future prediction to protect me! This miss will protect herself from the evil tomatoes by being more attentive to the red substance from now on! In your face! Boom!"- She stuck her tongue energetically at him to finish her statement.
"oh, really? then i'll advise the tomato forces to attack from opaque containers to avoid being spotted! how about that! huh?"
What happened next was so fast that it left both of them extremely confused: Sans stuck his tongue at the girl with equal resolution to hers, accompanied by the typical "nnhh!", but Frisk, that had not been expecting anything like that let out a surprised yelp and lost her balance, ending sprawled on the floor with chair and all. The skeleton peeked over the table at the sudden disappearance of the girl to find her down there, looking as puzzled as him. She stayed silent for a moment before being able to word what she was thinking "What the hell?! I had no idea you could do that!"
They stared at each other for another moment before finally bursting laughing again. They were laughing so hard that they had to cover their mouths not to wake the others up. Not to mention that they weren't able to move much either, so Sans kept laughing with his upper-body resting on the table and Frisk from her position from the floor without being able to recover for a while. When the skeleton finally managed to hold back his laughter a bit he held his hand to the girl on the floor. She straightened up trying to regain her composure, but as soon as she reached for his hand she roared laughing again, ending sprawled on the floor once more. Seeing the human laugh caused Sans to do the same, so they had to wait some more till they finally calmed down.
The monster reached to help the girl again and this time she managed to stand up. She set upright her fallen chair, still giggling a little and sat down. Sans imitated her, taking his seat across the table.
"so…"-He still chuckled a bit- "what did just happen?"
"You are constantly defying the expected standards for a skeleton, mother nature and common sense, that's what's happened!"- Frisk laughed, pushing his arm lightly.
"but why am i defying mother nature now?"
"You stuck your tongue at me!"
"…yeah?"
"Why do you even have a tongue? You are a skeleton!"
"oooh, so that was the thing?"
"Of course that was the thing! If you use your magic for everything, then what's the use of having one? It's absolutely pointless! It makes no sense!"-The girl exclaimed, throwing her arms on the air.
"it's not pointless!"
"Then explain it to me! Cause I can't figure out how you can have a tongue and then eat and talk with your mouth shut! It's like-like, I don't know! Why do you have it then? When you were speaking some moments ago I didn't see your tongue when pronouncing stuff! And there's no way of not spotting it, it's blue…and it also looks hell of cool! How is that possible?!"
Sans couldn't help to grin at the girl exasperated expression- "do you really want to know? because i don't know if the answer will help you understand things better or just to feel more frustrated"
"Sweet pancakes, I don't care anymore! Just tell me!"
The skeleton took a deep breath, putting an order to his thoughts. If he didn't want the tiny teenager before him to have a crisis he needed to explain things easily- "let's see…remember when you asked how my breathing worked and i told you it was mostly a reflex than something necessary for me?"
"Mh-mh"-Frisk nodded.
"well, we could say that this works in a similar way"- The girl tilted her head slightly, not getting the idea- "mhh…how can i say it…i don't actually need it, it's just there…or it isn't. i can make it appear and disappear when i like. it has that cool blue color because it's made of magic"
"Magic again?! B-but wait, then it does is pointless!"
"no, it's not!"
"You say you didn't need it!"
"i don't need it, which means i can eat and speak without it…but that doesn't mean i can't use it to do so! i sometimes speak or eat using it, you know, for a change. it is said that routine kills you"
Frisk closed her eyes slowly and rested her head on her hands- "…Are you telling me that the whole purpose of that defiance of the logic and common sense is to kill routine?"
"mhh… it also allows me to be in equal conditions with others"
"…Equal?"-She raised her head to look at him.
"yeah! can you imagine the inferior conditions you'll be under if you couldn't stuck your tongue at people?"
That was too much for the girl to bare, so she simply and silently face-palmed. Sans leaned a bit over the table to give her a closer look- "i told you that you probably wouldn't like the answer. as you can see, unlike humans, monsters tend to be a little less conventional…you ok?"
"With breathing just for fun and having a tongue just to stick it at people and kill routine then I'd say "less conventional" is not enough to describe it!"-She let out a sigh- "First you open your mouth, which I thought was something absolutely unthinkable. When I am starting to recover from that existential crisis you stuck your supposedly "non-existent" tongue at me! I…I just need some time to digest it"-She took a steadying breath- "…if you now come up with some other strange monster-skeleton thingy i don't know about…that'll be the last straw!"
At her friend's silent and serious expression she hurried to say- "OH DEAR, NO! If there's something else I don't want to know! At least not now, I've already got too many things to digest!"
Sans laughed and patted her arm- "don't worry about it kiddo', no more revelations for tonight…"-Frisk let out a relieved sigh- "…if i tell you everything now then i won't be able to see that funny expression again"- The girl looked at him with utter disbelief and Sans chuckled- "yeah! that one! that curious and then absolutely confused expression that follows are priceless!"
"Hey!"-The human puffed her cheeks. What bothered her most about his words was that now she felt more curiosity than before.
"oh, i know that face, but you were the one who said that didn't want to know anything else for tonight, so my "lips" are sealed"- He gestured to be zipping his mouth when he finished speaking.
"But-but! Ohhh-boo! It's not fair!"- She crossed her arms over her chest- "You did it on purpose! You know that I'm dying to know now! And the worst thing is that you can probably be just joking!"
"me? i'll be incapable!"
"Don't you remember the legendary fartmaster?"
The monster couldn't hold back his laughter- "you have to admit that was a pretty good one…"
"Sans!"- Frisk pushed at him lightly, but started laughing too. She then thought back to what he had just told her- "Mhh… I should have supposed that the colour of your tongue was because of your magic, that's the most logic answer"
"what had you thought instead?"
"The first thing that came to my mind was that you had one of those candies that colour your tongue"-She said giggling.
"that what?!"
"Don't tell me you don't know them!"- Frisk looked at him with disbelief- "You didn't have a childhood! There are some kind of candies and even some ice-creams that paint your tongue from different colours! Children love them! It's like having their tongues painted is the coolest thing ever! I remember I used to buy them all the time!"
"what you are trying to tell me is that humans find colouring their tongues cool?"
"Yep, simply put, they do"
"so that's why you said my tongue looked hell of cool?"
"Of course! It not only is like blue, light-blue, whatever, it also shines! Doesn't it? Wow, now that I think about it I should have realized no candy can do that…or can they?"
The skeleton chuckled at his friend's thoughtful expression –"you humans do are weird, aren't ya?"
"Look at who's talking!"-Frisk smiled- "…but it does is a bit strange, what's the fun about having your tongue painted? You can't take a look at it by yourself without a mirror. But I have to admit that it allowed you to stick your tongue at someone in a pretty colorful way!"
"there were many colours?"
"Loads! The most common were red, blue and green, but then you had those special ones that were bought in Halloween that could taint your tongue orange or even black!"
"black?!"
"Yeah! It felt like having the raddest tongue ever"
Sans laughed. Frisk was always surprised about some monster's customs and functions, but she never actually realized that humans were pretty strange too.
"Oh, wait! Can you do that?"- She leaned over the table, a sudden idea crossing her mind.
"the what?"
"The colour! Can you change the colour of your magic and, by hence the colour of your tongue?"
"mhh…i've never actually tried. i can change the colour of my eye from light-blue to yellow, but my tongue? it's sort of a weird thing to do anyways, don't you think?"
The girl looked at him with huge eyes and an excited and determined expression- "Do you want to become the hero of all the human children?"
"don't you think you are exaggerating a lil bit?"- Sans asked with a huge grin.
"Of course I'm not! You already have the coolest tongue ever, can you imagine if you could also switch colors without the help of any candy? You'd be a prodigy in the colorful mouth business!"
"do you want me to try so badly?"-He already knew the answer, but he asked anyways.
"Yes"-The girl's response was nearly instantaneous- "If you can do it you'll be the idol from this young generation, don't do it for me…do it for them"
The skeleton sighed- "ok, just tell me if you see any changes"- He stuck his tongue and tried to concentrate on the idea of it changing color- "anyding yed?"
"Mhh…nope. Still blue"- They continued like that for a long while: Sans struggling to find a way to change the colour of his magic and Frisk informing him that he was not making any progress: "Still blue" "It's not changing" "Still the same" It had been about ten minutes when the girl finally gasped.
"whad?"-Sans asked, expectant.
"It's still blue"
"frisk!"-He complained, finally giving up.
"Sorry, but I had to!"-The girl apologized, giggling- "It may not have changed colour, but it was worth the try, trust me! Also, it was pretty funny to look at"-She laughed at her friend's betrayed expression- "Don't worry, you looked adorable!"
Sans rolled his eyes, but decided to take the compliment. Frisk stretched and let out a big yawn. At the sight of that, the skeleton remembered something- "that was a sign that a human was sleepy, wasn't it?"
"Really? Woah, I hadn't noticed!"-The girl feigned sudden surprise-"Maybe it could be because it's nearly 6 in the morning and we had very bad nightmares; we are going through a jar of cookies and ketchup and having an chat about anatomy and conventionality, discussing about how many colours a tongue can take, instead of sleeping?"
"that could be a possibility, but i'm not very sure. what do you think?"-He wondered, feigning thoughtfulness.
Frisk giggled and another yawn escaped her mouth. She rubbed her left eye with the back of her hand, finally starting to feel sleepy again. The skeleton looked at her with deep fondness. For some reason being sleepy managed to increase the girl's level of adorableness to unexpected levels. She blinked slowly a few times before looking back at Sans and giving him a small smile. The idea of her possibly being the girl of his nightmares felt absolutely ridiculous, but even so…
"I'll help you clear the table"- The girl announced with a soft voice, taking him out of his thoughts.
"don't worry frisk, it's not necessary"
"Yess it iss!"- Her sleepiness was affecting her voice slightly- "I'm gonna' helppp!"
The skeleton understood that arguing would be no use, so they proceeded to place the cookie jar back where it was, clean the crumbs left on the table, throw away Frisk's tissues and wash their glasses. Once they were done they found themselves facing each other, sitting across the table again. Despite her slightly drowsy expression, he noticed that the girl was still hesitating to go to bed, and he could imagine the reason.
"…still worried you'll dream again if you go to sleep?"- She slowly looked up at him and nodded-"do you think some ice-cream will help you out a little bit?"- Her expression changed instantly, like he had just mentioned the heavens. He took that as a yes- "i think we had some left somewhere in the fridge, i'll check. you can get the spoons if you want, they are in a drawer over there"
Sans started searching through the fridge and Frisk went to where the drawers were- "Sans, they are like twelve drawers from different sizes in this thing"
"yep"-He answered, still looking into the fridge.
"I've never seen something with so many drawers in my life"
"life's full of surprises"
"And you are the one who tells me that…"- She sighed and looked back at the strange furniture with a puzzled look- "Where can I find the spoons?"
"uhmm…they have to be in a drawer"
The girl rolled her eyes- "Don't tell, genius. In which one?"
"in…one of them?"
"You don't know?!"
"i do know! it's just that i can't remember right now! try random ones, you'll end finding them sooner or later"
"Sooner or later?"-She gave her friend a frustrated look, but as he had his back turned he couldn't see her.
As she couldn't figure out a better solution she started opening the drawers one by one, starting with the upper ones and going down. She found a lot of different objects in her way, none of them remotely looking like a spoon: spices used for cooking spaghetti, diverse and colorful aprons, bones, a teacup, crayons, cool outfits, more bones, a Temmie. She looked at her last founding with confusion, not sure of what to do. When the little fluffy monster finally realized that they had been picked up they quickly whispered to her: "Tem hidn, can-noot be seen! Put bak!"- Unable to think of a better course of action, she did as she was told. When she was closing the drawer back the Temmie bid farewell with a cheerful "Boi!"
"frisk, did you say something?"- Sans asked, turning to look at her.
"Nothing!"-She hurried to answer- "Just randomly searching, that's all!"
"weird, i thought i had heard something"- The skeleton looked at her for a long moment before finally shrugging and resuming his search in the fridge.
The teenager continued with the drawers and it was when she was nearly reaching the bottom ones when she let out a shriek. Sans got so surprised by the sound that he hit his head with the shelf of the fridge he had been looking into. He turned round quickly, seeing the girl completely frozen before the drawers- "what happened?! are you ok?!"- He asked worriedly.
Frisk started turning around extremely slowly, which only made Sans worry even more. When he finally saw what she was holding in her hands he realized it had been much worse than he had expected. The girl's expression sparkled like she had found the most precious treasure in the whole universe as she held a baby-photos album close to her chest. The skeleton had hoped the girl hadn´t noticed the huge "Little skele-bros cool album" written on the cover and the embarrassing picture of him and his brother wearing only diapers and being completely scribbled, from head to toes, with colorful markers… but by her absolutely gleeful expression she had obviously noticed it. The skeleton's face flushed light-blue.
"…don't you dare"
"…Oh, wouldn't I?"- She smiled at him mischievously.
"that obviously was not the drawer"
"Really? Cause I think it was a pretty good drawer to open. After all you were the one who I could search randomly trough them"
"that one wasn't included in the randomness"
"Oops, then you should have told me before I opened it"
"…frisk"- The girl held the album a little tighter, her smile growing slightly- "what were you saying a while ago about grabbing things without permission?"
"Well…as you insisted so much that I could do whatever I wanted, without asking for permission because this was my house too, I thought that flipping through the most adorable album ever was also permitted…"
The girl giggled lightly at Sans defeated expression. They stared at each other for a long, silent moment: Frisk still clutching the album with determination and Sans facing her from the other side of the kitchen. They remained unmoving, analyzing the situation carefully. The tiny teenager was the first to move. Without looking away from Sans she slowly started to open the album. The skeleton immediately launched himself in her direction.
"i won't let you! hand it back!"
"Never!"-Frisk dashed to a side, dodging him and sprinting quickly around the kitchen with the skeleton close on her heels. She opened the album while running and started flipping through the pages as fast as she could, understanding that would be the only way of taking a look at them. Each photo was even cuter than the other: It had loads of pictures of the skeletons as toddlers and a few in which they were a little more grown up. They apparently used to make loads of mischiefs.
They were pictured in the most odd and funny situations, covered with mud, paint, cake, spaghetti, dressed in funny costumes and outfits, sleeping in the most adorable ways. The girl kept squealing in a low voice (she had no other option, unless she wanted to end waking the others up) with each picture, with the skeleton chasing after her. It was when she found a picture of a tiny Sans with a pacifier on his mouth and an even tinier Papyrus on his arms that the overwhelming cuteness made her lose her concentration and she tripped with the leg of a chair.
Before the inevitable fall the girl held the album tightly to prevent it from getting damaged. She hadn't been able to look through all the pictures. She only had a quick glance at as many she could muster. But considering the situation, she had been able to look at more photos than she had expected, which was invaluable. Even now that she was about to end sprawled on the floor again, she regretted nothing. That adorableness had been worth it.
She waited to land on the cold tiles, but Sans arm embraced her waist just in time to prevent that from happening. In that moment the girl unconsciously loosened her grip of the album and the skeleton took it away from her with his free hand.
"ha! gotcha!"
"Heey! Give it back!"- The girl squirmed in his embrace to grab the book.
"nope"- The skeleton suddenly released her and she stumbled lightly due to her previous resistance. Sans raised the hand in which he held the album and it was soon covered with a light-blue glow. He made it levitate to one of the upper shelves of the kitchen, completely out of the girl's reach.
"Cool…"- She mumbled, marveled. But then realized the album had been taken away from her- "Ohhh no! But it was so cute!"
"yeah, and now it's gone"
She looked at Sans and puffed her cheeks at him. Even though she really wanted the book back she also wanted to thank her friend- "…Even though you took the album from me in a really unfair way, thank you for catching me and not letting me fall"-A smile made its way to her features.
"don't even mention it kiddo'. i'll catch you if you fall, remember"- He smiled back at her.
Sans returned to the fridge, failing to notice the girl's blushing at his words. He picked the pot of ice-cream that had been buried in the deepest of the shelves and placed it on the table. Frisk quickly turned around to face the drawers again and find the spoon…and also to hide her now deeply blushing cheeks. She only had one last drawer to check, but she made time for the colour on her face to fade a bit till she finally opened it. Ironically, it didn't only have a few spoons. It was actually brimming with them, from all sizes and colours. She picked two of the most normal-looking spoons, took a steadying breath and walked to the table, where Sans awaited with the ice-cream.
The friends held their respective spoons and dug into the delicious dessert like they hadn't been eating just a few moments ago. They had eaten nearly half of the contents of the pot when Frisk couldn't hold it back anymore and the words escaped from her mouth: "ThepicofyouholdingbabybeanPapyruswasmyfavourite"
Sans froze with his spoon full of ice-cream mid-air, flushing light-blue- "i told you not to!"
"But I don't understand why not! I mean, those pictures were absolutely adorable!"
"well, you might think so because they aren't yours! when you look at yourself with a fluffy dog outfit you don't actually think it's cute, it's embarrassing!"- Frisk burst laughing- "oh, sure very funny. next time i'll ask toriel to show me your photos to see if you laugh this much"
"Ha! You cannot! Mum doesn't have any baby-pics of me because she met me before the embarrassing outfit phase! Touchée!"- Sans growled- "Those kinds of photos are in my orphanage"- As soon as she finished pronouncing that, she realized she had made a huge mistake.
"so…that means that those kind of photos exist"-The skeleton said with a silky tone of voice.
"Uh-no! I mean, if they existed then they'll be there, but they don't!"
"do you know what that means?"-He asked, ignoring the girl's words.
"…No?"
"if they exist then they can be found"- He gave her a huge, mischievous grin.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"oooh, we are switching places right now, aren't we?"
The girl let out a loud and defeated huff- "Me and my big mouth, why did I have to say that"?!- It was Sans' turn to laugh- "For the time being I have seen your baby-pics so I have the upper hand!"- She said in a defensive attitude- "And keep in mind that even though I am pretty forgetful I have an exceptional memory for adorable stuff, so those photos are here forever"-She pointed at her temple.
"sure, sure"- Sans said, waving his hand at her dismissively.
"You don't believe me?"- Frisk squinted lightly- "I remember a photo in which you and Papyrus were all tangled up in a mess of green wool and in the tangle there was also a plate of spaghetti, an annoying dog, a fork, two pennies and a remote control. You were sprawled over a carpet that was green-no, blue-no, cyan! It was cyan with little white spots"-She reopened her eyes to look at the monster- "Am I right or not?"
Sans blushed lightly as he nodded, only managing to mutter "woah, that was cool" and then, when realization finally stroke him "this is worse than i expected"
Frisk giggled and gave him a conforming pat on the arm. Then she gestured as to be zipping her mouth shut, as he had done before, and smiled broadly. The skeleton let out a relieved and grateful sigh. At least she'd keep those detailed memories of those embarrassing photos to herself. They finished the remaining ice-cream with no other inconveniences and proceeded to wash the spoons and throw the empty pot into the bin. Once they were sitting back at the table he noticed that the girl was starting to look sleepy again. She looked calmer, but he still noticed a bit of hesitation in her and she didn't make a move to go to bed. (Wow, what kind of nightmare had she had?)
"you know, i think i can help you a lil bit with your nightmare"
"…Really?"
"sure! every time my brother has nightmares he asks me to keep them away, make them not come back when he falls asleep again. i've never tried with someone else besides him, but till today he says that it hasn't failed once. would'ya like to try?"
Frisk's expression lightened up, and her gaze suddenly looked more awake as she nodded energetically. Sans took a deep breath and placed his hand gently on the girl's forehead. His palm started glowing, the light-blue light softly tainting the girl's features- "i won't change the speech, just in case it alters its effects, ok? i'll recite it exactly as i do with my brother. as i started doing this for him you'll notice that the speech has some characteristic expressions revolving him, but i'm sure it'll work either way"
And so, he began his spell: "oh terrible nightmares that interrupt the sleep of this cool and dedicated person, get away and leave this greatness to never come back. loyal duties await for tomorrow and someone as cool and majestic has no time for you. don't you think about returning, it's no use to even try, because by a royal guard, you'll be torn apart"
Frisk giggled lightly, but nodded solemnly at the end of his speech as a sign of respect. Sans supposed that the girl knew, unlike his brother, that the only magic that had taken place right now had been the one to light his left hand. But still, she had given him the same endeared and grateful look Papyrus gave him every time he performed his special "spell" for him.
The girl let out another big yawn and got up slowly. She suddenly seemed to realize something and tilted her head at him- "Are you going to sleep in your room?"
"well, yeah. like usual"
"But today it's not like usual!"- She stated, like she was saying the most obvious and important thing ever -"Today it's a pyjama party day!"
"i suppose you are right, but what does that have to do with me?"
"What?! Everything! You aren't only a friend of the friends who are having a pyjama party! You are also a family member of the host of this current event and owner of the house in which that pyjama party is being held!"
"…so what you mean is?"
"That you are also part of the party! You have to participate! And how can you do that if you are alone there upstairs and everybody else is down here?"
"frisk, everyone's sleeping, i'd say the pyjama party is already over. how could i participate?"
"It's not over at all! These parties consist of various phases: The chatting phase, the movie phase, the eating phase, the gaming phase and last, but not least, the sleeping phase. I'm afraid you were late for the previous ones, but at least you can enjoy the closure of the event!"
Sans let out a sigh- "you won't let me sleep and you won't sleep either, unless i join the pyjama party, am i right?"
"I love the fact that we understand each other so well"-Frisk answered with a bright smile.
The skeleton rolled his eyes- "yeah, whatever. but where am i going to sleep? i could sleep on the floor, tho', i don't really mind"
"You are not sleeping on the floor!"-Frisk stated- "You have to be comfy! Rule #1 of slumber parties! Why don't you do that cool thing you did with that adorable album and make your mattress levitate to the living room?"
Sans couldn't help to laugh at the girl's excited expression as she imagined how cool her idea would look. He thought about it for a while and realized that she had indeed come out with a practical and silent idea. In that way he could get his mattress down to the living room without waking the others up and without much effort- "you know, that's a pretty good idea. let's try it out"
Frisk hadn't been expecting the monster to agree, so when she heard those words her features beamed with surprise and enthusiasm. They left the lights of the kitchen on so they could see where they were going in the living-room without stumbling with any of their sleeping friends. Once they were standing before the couch the skeleton slowly raised his left hand, focusing on the lock of his room. The door opened with a silent click and opened fully.
As he knew his room perfectly well, he didn't need to see where the mattress was to engulf it with his magic. He moved his hand carefully, calculating how to get the object to pass through the open door. It didn't take too long for the now glowing mattress to peek over the entrance and then start flying over the corridor of the upper floor. The tiny human couldn't help to whisper-"So cool"- as she watched the object casually flying above her head and then landing softly besides Alphy's and Undyne's mattress.
"there, you happy now?"- Sans asked, also keeping his voice low.
"Mh-mh!"- The teen smiled brightly at him.
"so, can we go to bed already?"
"Mhhh…"- The girl looked around thoughtfully- "Nope, not yet. I see two mayor inconveniences"
"inconveniences? which inconveniences?"
"First of all, rule #2 of Pyjama parties: You not only need to be comfy, you also need to be warm"- Sans tilted his head at her- "You got the comfy part covered, but you won't keep yourself warm with those!"- She pointed at the tangled ball of sheets that laid atop of the skeleton's mattress- "They make a perfect sphere, which is actually very impressive, but we'll need to untangle that!"
"are you serious? have you got any idea of how we can do that? trust me, it is as impressive as difficult to tidy up!"
"Challenge accepted!"- The girl stated, brimming with determination.
The skeleton took a deep breath- "ok, let's suppose we manage to do that. what's the second inconvenience?"
"Please, don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet!"- Frisk gave her friend a meaningful look, like the answer was absolutely evident. Sans looked at her, then around, then at himself and finally back at her. He blinked blankly as the only response. The tiny girl face-palmed- "Is the "PYJAMA" in pyjama party a good enough hint?"
"oh, really?...is that absolutely necessary?"- The girl's gaze was enough answer for that- "hmm… and if i told you this is my pyjama?"- He tried, giving her the most convincing grin he could muster.
"Nope"
Sans shoulders dropped lightly- "fine, fine"- He let out a sigh-"i just don't know why i keep doing what you ask for"
"Because you know I'll do the same for you!"- Frisk hugged his arm and gave him an absolutely adorable and fond smile- "Now go!"- She pushed him softly towards the stairs- "I'll try to see what I can do with this round thingy over here"
The skeleton chuckled lightly and started to climb the stairs. Everybody would agree that Frisk indeed had a particular, but cheerfully likable character. The girl focused on the ball of sheets that awaited to be untangled and started working.
Meanwhile, Sans closed the door of his room and changed into a white t-shirt with a drawing of an atom on it and plain black shorts. The clothes he usually wore when he came round changing his usual clothing for sleeping. He left his pink slippers on and then went downstairs. When he was finally reaching the living-room he noticed something odd, but it was when he reached the middle of the room that he realized what exactly he was looking at.
Somehow, while trying to untangle his sheets, Frisk had managed to get herself tangled with them too. Sans had heard Toriel saying that when the teen was very sleepy she tended to make a mess while trying to get out of bed, sometimes even getting caught in the sheets. He thought she had been joking. Now he realized she hadn't.
Frisk stopped her silent struggling when she realized Sans had arrived at her side- "I think I need assistance"-She whispered in defeat.
Her friend couldn't help to burst laughing, finding it nearly impossible to keep his voice quiet-"you do are unbelievable"-He managed to mumble between chuckles.
"Are you just going to keep laughing over there?!"-She asked in an offended, but also quiet voice as she watched Sans double up laughing.
"g-give me a sec"- He clasped a hand over his mouth, trying to hold back his laughter. It took him a while before he could kneel down to help the girl. He thought he was the only one who could make such a big mess with some sheets, but it seemed that the girl didn't lag behind. While trying to free her he couldn't avoid laughing occasionally, which earned him some unfriendly looks from Frisk, but at the end she ended up laughing with him too.
"how did you manage to end up like this?"- He asked while untangling the last knot that kept the girl attached to the sheets.
"I…I don't know. It always is the same: I'm sleepy and the blankets are everywhere, and then when I try to get out of bed they are more everywhere! And by the time I realize it I am all tangled up! I should have realized trying to do this on my own wasn't the best idea ever…sorry"
"no problem, kiddo'"-Sans shuffled her hair-"intention is what counts. also, this was pretty amusing"-The girl patted his chest and giggled. The skeleton pointed at the still messy hump of blankets-"shall we finish with this thing?"
Frisk nodded and they proceeded with their task. After what seemed like an eternity they could finally stretch the sheets and lay them over Sans mattress. The girl gave the improvised bed a critical look before nodding approvingly- "It is appropriate enough, it fulfills the pyjama party main rules"
The skeleton let out a relieved sigh- "thank god, i had no idea this had so many requirements"
Frisk giggled-"That's why you should join us more often! We always work together to get those requirements done and ready when the sleeping time comes! I bet you'll have fun! Even if you go to bed earlier if you prefer to sleep some more"
"i guess i'll join you next time to see what happens. it totally has to be fun if all of you are involved"- He chuckled.
"You've got the point!"-She agreed cheerfully- "That's why we always try inviting you, lazybones! Now it's time to sleep already!"- She yawned openly and approached the couch where Papyrus was sleeping on. Sans sat down on his mattress and stretched, his bones cracking lightly, to which the girl whispered a low- "Ow!"- As she turned to look at him.
The tiny human stood before the couch for a long moment, suddenly realizing something: While she had been away Papyrus had shifted his position from being resting on his side to being sprawled all over the couch. Even though her tiny size, there was no room left for her. She looked down at where Undyne and Alphys were sleeping to find out that the situation was the same. They looked extremely comfortable and fast asleep, but they were not leaving any room for her. The only idea that came to her mind was waking them up, but they looked so calm and peaceful that she really didn't want to interrupt their rest.
"you got left out?"- Sans asked, straightening up.
"Uh...yeah, that's what it looks like"
"mhh…"- The skeleton shifted a little- "would you like me to make you some room? i don't really occupy much space here and i'm too lazy to move while sleeping…so i don't think i'll bother you"
"Are you…sure?"- The girl turned to look at him- "Wouldn't I be a bother?"
"of course not!"- He noticed the girl's hesitation and a sudden idea struck him- "just look at you! with that size i don't think you'll get to kick me or something even if you start dancing while sleeping"
At those words the girl crossed her arms over her chest in the usual offended posture she adopted when someone picked on her height- "Oh, really? Then if I kick you don't tell me I didn't warn you!"- She pointed at the kitchen- "I'll turn off the lights, but I'll need you to guide me back here"
"sure, kid"-He smiled at the sudden finality in her tone of voice.
The teen went to the kitchen and turned off the light-switch with a soft click. As soon as the light went off everything became pitch-black and the girl lost sight of everything.
"here, i'll let my pet rock guide you"
"Sans, c'mon! Not more joking!"
"i'm not joking! you are underestimating my pet, that's what it is!"
Frisk huffed- "Please, how could it possibly-?!"- But before she could finish her sentence the rock came flying to her side, covered by Sans' distinctive magic.
"what were you sayin'?"
"That's cheating!"
"it's not cheating! i'm just giving it a hand! cause if you didn't notice it doesn't have any!"
The girl snorted, laughing gently- "Ok, ok just guide me"
"you're forgetting the magic words"
She rolled her eyes- "Please"
"mhh…you know? the rock doesn't look pretty convinced, it didn't sound very legit"- The teen looked down at the floating rock before her with an unfriendly look- "that looks even less convincing!"
"Could you, oh-so pretty little rock, guide me to the other side of the room, pleeeease?"-She gave it a huge and exaggerated smile as she bowed lightly.
"…don't ya'think that was too much?"
"It never is too much when it comes to this precious rock!"- She gestured dramatically at it and the skeleton laughed.
"fine, you've earned it, after all"-With a soft movement of his hand he made his pet float slowly across the room and Frisk followed it carefully, paying attention not to stumble on anything. She had walked half her way to where Sans was when she had a little accident: She failed to calculate the exact distance between her little toe and the coffee table in which the Tv was resting. Before the skeleton could warn her, the loud "BANG" and the pained and muffled "MHHHHH!" that followed was enough for him to realize it was too late. He saw the girl's silhouette bending into a little ball, trying her best not to curse or shout because of the frustrating and absurdly strong pain. "kid, are you ok?"- The girl shook her head, still hunched over- "it looks like you…toe-tally put your foot in it this time"
Frisk snorted, still unable to straighten up, a weak and strangled giggle escaped her lips- "what is is? does your expression show a bit of de-feet or is it just me?"- Despite herself she laughed again, and she knew that if she tried to say something to him she'll end up whining because of the pain or, even worse, bursting laughing. That's why she resolved to slowly raise a hand and flip him off as the only response.
"excuse me?!"- Sans laughed at how the girl, even being curled up over her toe, still managed to express her thoughts so well- "i'm afraid that your efforts are pointless, cause my puns are punstoppable!"
The girl finally sat down on the floor, covering her mouth with her hand and laughing. When she was finally regaining her composure from the pain and the laugher she carefully stood up- "Don't"- She whispered at Sans as a warning, knowing that he had more puns under his sleeve. When he was about to talk again the girl pointed at him with an authoritative finger- "D-o-n't"
Her friend decided it'd be better to shut up this time, so he held back the pun he had prepared and raised his hands in the air, innocently. Frisk held his gaze for a long moment before daring to resume her walking. This time she was extra-cautious about where she put her feet. She was already limping a little, she didn´t need another wild coffee table appearing. When she finally got to where Sans was waiting she let herself drop by his side and hugged her tiny right foot.
She then mumbled to herself- "Mum said: Why don't you get something to wear on your feet when you go to the pyjama party? I know you like it, but you shouldn't be bare-foot!"- "And I told her: No mum, I'll be OK! What's the worst that could happen? That I smash my little toe with something? You know I'm very careful, that'll never happen to me!"- She growled- "Ha! Yeah, it'll never happen, look at yourself now"
Sans laughed at the girl's self-talking and patted her shoulder lightly- "don't be so hard on yourself, i bet that with that huge blow against the table you will indeed be very careful next time"
"I should better be! At least I have to find some kind of learning process from this!"
The skeleton's smile grew a little and he proceeded to send his pet rock back to its place. The teen took advantage of the remaining light that came off the stone to get into bed and pull the sheets up to her nose- "are you cold kiddo'?"
Frisk shook her head- "Thanks to these spectacularly untangled sheets, not anymore"
Sans rested his head on the pillow by the girl's side and pulled the covers up too. As he had predicted, the mattress was big enough for them not to touch the slightest bit, but he still could feel her presence and warmth by his side. He did his best to push that idea away. The least thing he needed was to start blushing, so he shut his eye-sockets tightly and tried to sleep…but before long he realized that he couldn't.
"It seems that I was not the only one reluctant to sleep"
The skeleton looked at his side, from where Frisk's voice had come-"yeah…i think you got me there"-The teen giggled softly. He squinted trying to make out her silhouette, but with all the lights off he could barely make out where she was. It was then when he realized it- "wait…didn't you say that humans couldn't see in the darkness?"
"Nope, we cannot. We can get accustomed to the little bit of light that always makes its way into the dark and after a while we can distinguish some of our surroundings, but that takes a while. I may see a bit later because that wiggling fire under your door has to be projecting some kind of light. But riiiight now…I can't even see my hand and I'm waving it right in front of my face"
"then how did you know i was awake?"
"I…I'm not pretty sure"-She remained silent for an instant- "I guess I kind of sensed it, but I'm not sure why…female intuition, maybe?"
The monster chuckled, shaking his head lightly- "are you going to use that as a revenge for my "magic" responses from now on?"
"Mhhh…that's something I could totally consider"- Her voice tone changed lightly as she smiled at the idea- "No, but seriously speaking-"
"…like we ever manage to maintain a serious conversation serious for too long"
"Sans!"- The girl laughed and patted his chest lightly- "Now, is the reason of your insomnia the same as mine?"
It took him a while to answer- "yeah, i suppose that must be the main reason. i'm fed up with those crazy dreams"-He let out a frustrated sigh andrubbedthe back of his hands against his closed eye-sockets.
"Now that I think about it, you helped me to keep my nightmares away and I think that I can return the favor!"- She shifted, turning to her side to look at him- "You think that could help you rest a little better?"
"do you also know that kind of mystic techniques?"- Sans turned on his side to look at her too, still not being able to see her very well.
"Yeah! I grew to become one of the oldest in the orphanage, so the other children usually took me as their older sister. So, I sometimes got that role, like you with your brother. When they came to me looking for answers like I was the wisest person ever, or like I had the solution to every problem… it didn't matter that we weren't related by blood, I really wanted to fulfill their expectations. Like all the older siblings do. So, one of the biggest issues for children is, of course: the nightmares…and I couldn't stand there and do nothing! I was determined to find a solution! And I did! In addition to searching for methods that adjusted to everyone after their nightmares I came up with a new method myself! The kids at the orphan used to call me the tiny guardian of the nights!"
"woah, really?"
"Mh-mh!"- The girl hummed proudly-"It took a lot of years of perfecting it, and when you look back at it it's not thaaat complicated. But for the little old sister me and my adoptive siblings it was the revelation. I remember that sometimes they'd come directly to me when they had a bad dream instead of looking for a care taker. At first the sitters got a bit worried that the situation could affect my sleep. But when they noticed it didn't and that I actually enjoyed helping the others up, they let keep me doing it. The disadvantage of course, is probably the same that your spell has"
Sans thought about it for a moment- "you can't do it to yourself, right?"
"Exaaactly. Can you imagine how easy it would be if- Ha!"
"what?"
"I can see the silhouette of your head now! I think…wait"- She stretched her hand and placed her palm flatly between San's eye-sockets- "Yeah! I knew it!"
The monster couldn't help to laugh, the girl's hand still in the middle of his face- "talking about maintaining a serious conversation"- His smile widened -"that's a very effective way of making sure, but what silhouette were you expecting to be confusing mine with?"
The girl took her hand away- "One is never sure enough"-She whispered in a sudden serious voice, but then she laughed heartily- "Also I like looking at your eye-sockets when talking to you, even if I can't see you properly"
Sans smile widened. The human always managed to come up with those kind of simple, but at the same time deep little comments.
"Now! Would you like me to guard your night or not?"
"i think i can give the tiny guardian of the nights an opportunity. if you say that you can keep those dreams away then count with me"
"Great! But I have to warn you that my technique is way simpler and less elegant and cool than yours"
"everybody has their own ways"- He shrugged lightly- "as long as you can make it work, i'd say it's the correct way to go"
"Ok! Here I go!"- The girl drew a little bit closer to him- "I'll make sure that not a single nightmare dares to bother you, because I'll be guarding your sleep…"- Her voice was incredibly soft and warm, but also very firm. Sans was about to thank her when he felt Frisk's tiny fingers intertwining with his- "…and I promise that I won't leave your side, so even if the nightmares come you won't have to face them alone"
The skeleton blinked a few times. The simplicity but also the deep feeling that charged the girl's warm act had caught him totally off guard. He held the teen's hand softly, a deep blushing tainting his cheeks. Frisk giggled openly at the sudden light-blue light that let her see her friend's face, her laughter soft and clear.
"tsh! it's not fair!"- Sans complained, also chuckling lightly- "i bet that you are blushing even more than i am!"- The light of his magic let him distinguish the girl's features, but she quickly covered her face with her free hand.
"You won't know if I do this! Also, magic is one of the coolest things ever, but everything has its disadvantages!"
"well, but i don't need your cheeks to shine to know if you are blushing, that's the advantages of knowing you so well! you must be looking like a little tomato right now!"
"I don't look like a tomato!"- Sans laughed and when he thought the conversation was over she finally mumbled: "…maybe more like an apple"
They both burst laughing this time, doing their best to remain as quiet as possible. When they finally regained their composure and Sans' blushing died out, Frisk removed her hand from her face. They remained silent for a long while till the human spoke again: "…Sans?"
"mhh?"- He felt surprised to notice that his voice was getting tainted by sleepiness.
"Thank you… for everything"- She squeezed his hand lightly.
"…thank you too, kiddo'"-He gently squeezed her back.
"Nighty-night, Sans"- She whispered, her voice slowly dying out.
"night, Frisk"
"Sweet dreams…"
"yeah…hope the same for you too..."
Like that, facing each other, with their fingers still intertwined and just a few inches away from each other, they fell asleep before they could even notice. By their side, the sleeping figures of Alphys and Undyne would have gone in an absolute rad and ecstatic shipping mode, jumping, dancing, drawing fan art and crying with joy but, unluckily for them, this time their shipping senses had failed to sense such a shippable moment.
Kaiisa has to update! Hnnn…has to update the Fanfc…but I gota atend to colleg, hnnn… but long timez since lst updat! And Kasiia got de flu! So..no fanfc, no colleg! b...but...p! I gota…I gota! *faints* (I'll find a way people, I'll find a way)
I think next chapter will be mostly relaxed and peaceful like this one, you know…so you can take a breath before what´s going to come…
PS: The above mentioned spell, Obliviate (that can erase memories for an individual's mind), does not belong to me; it belongs to the great magical series of Harry Potter and their wonderful writer JK Rowling.
PS2: I kept going round Jhon Smith review and I wanted to clarify something. Maybe I didn't express myself very clearly, but when a human shows their soul in a battle it's something they do by instinct, it is not something done against their will, because it can't be forced. Also, the situation is very particular because, as it is triggered by extreme situations, the monster can only see the soul and may feel its strength, but they don't have time to go deeper than that. I never actually considered anything sexual related to this. That's not what I meant at all, it didn't even cross my mind and I wanted you to know that. But as I always tell you, feel free to tweak some details in your mind, if you wish, to enjoy more the story, I guess that'll go up to you \_(ツ)_/ (Sorry, I posted this as a review and was going to delete it now that it's written here, but I really don't know how to do it T.T)
PS3:I always read all your reviews and you can't imagine how much you encourage me, make me think over some things, make me realize some others, help me correct my mistakes…but mainly: It's so great to find people that are also willing to getso deep in the story with me and leave those adorable and hilarious, crazy reviews! I'm so proud of you all! :') :') :')
Updating soon!
