"Well thanks for the lift, but I'll take it from here."
"ya sure?"
Undyne lifted her arms over her head and leaned back, stretching as she got over the sensation of a shortcut. Her reply doesn't surprise Sans one bit-
"Yeah..." She hated shortcuts, it was just that she hated Hotlands just that much more... "You should get back to them."
"eh, they'll be fine for a bit longer." Undyne doesn't look so convinced, though...
"I don't want them to take off without you." She has such a... somber expression. It doesn't belong on Undyne at all! But there it was. Somber. Held back, even as she put both hands on the back of her neck. No, it's not her at all.
"i mean, i'd go, but i'm still on my union required break." And that's what breaks Undyne.. The snarl of disgust is immediate.
"How can you joke at a time like this?"
Sometimes even Sans failed to read his audience..
"sorry." This catches Undyne off guard and her snarl disappeared in surprise. She's starring at him again, like she had several times the night before. Like she was just seeing him for the first time. Really, truly, seeing him.
"Can I ask you something?"
"well i mean you just did-" Shit, he did it again, he knows it right away in how the shadow of a snarl returns- "but uh, sure, hit me."
Just please don't actually hit him, he realized quickly. Luckily enough she didn't take the chance. Instead she only sighed.
"Why are you doing this?"
"... doing what?"
"I mean! We can barely get you to do anything! Ever! But now you're... doing this." Though she doesn't seem sure what this is.
".. i promised somebody i'd look after 'em. that's all." Undyne hummed, fumed?
"Well do better with it!" She yelled. "I almost killed the punk! Twice!" Sans couldn't help himself-
"you sure did put them between a rock and a hard place." He agreed and he thought she was going to kill him, but all that anger quickly turned into a loud groan.
"But seriously!" She said finally. "Just... stick with them, okay?... I know... they weren't actually convinced by anything me or Alphys had to say."
So Sans had suspected but that begged the question...
Why was she letting them go?
If she really thought they needed a lesson drilled into their head, still...
It's like it is clear on his face what he is thinking because she was fuming softly again, working herself up to answer the unspoken question... maybe convincing herself again, too.
"I just don't think me hovering over them is a good idea. If all of us crowd around them... it'll just scare them more, right? We won't get anywhere like that. But you going with them, making sure they're safe.. and us sticking around, being there when they need us to be... That balances it all out, right?"
Did she really want answers? From someone like Sans?
"I just don't know." Undyne admitted.
"... i think you're right... they were miserable staying at our house, with papyrus hovering over them."
And Undyne-
"They were at your house the whole time?!" She demanded. A truer smile was working its way onto Sans' face. "I was searching for them for DAYS and you two were CODDLING them?!" Once again, a sigh. "But it was for the best, I guess.. More than guess."
"yeah."
"And this is for the best.:" She guessed.
There was short, full pause... That fullness when you know a conversation has reached its end and you should start to part ways.. but Undyne lingered, hesitating, wanting to race back towards the lab but knowing that she shouldn't.. and Sans...
"can i ask you somethin' quick?"
"You just did." She mocked.
Alright, fair. Fair. He deserved that.
But seriously...
"when you were giving your grand ol' speech, you said something about feeling like.. you missed them? or more specifically that you missed being friends with them?" Undyne shook her head.
"It's nothing."
No... It really wasn't nothing-
"They're not a bad kid... Just a little rough around the edges." Then she forced a smile. "But like I have room to talk, fuhuhu." And yet again she hesitated... "When I look at them.. I feel something so warm and.. like when you see someone again for the first time in forever. Like when you've forgotten how food it is to see them. But that just made me even angrier when I thought more about. Especially when I saw those red eyes. I wanted to smash them to pieces!"
"... do you still feel like that? when you see their eyes?"
Undyne... shook her head.
"No.. They'er not a bad kid." She repeated. "But I do still feel that longing sometimes. I don't know why. Maybe because I know there's so much we can help them with but I'm not sure how."
"yeah. maybe."
But Sans knew better. The truth of it.
"welp! my break is officially over. gotta head back." He began to take a step away. "i know it's not your style but take it easy, will ya? you've had a rough couple days."
"YEAH, YEAH, MOM!" Undyne barked, but there is that tone again. The one from the day before. A layer of understanding. Respect, perhaps. That's a weird thought. "Just keep watching them close!"
"yup. at least one eye socket at all times." Sans promised.
"Make it two!" Undyne demanded.
Sans winked for good measure and then in a flash.. he was gone. Falling through the darkness, only for everything to be quickly flooded with light. The cold air of the lab.
They are sitting on the mattress, the now empty bowl that had held their breakfast secure in their lap.. but as soon as they notice him, the bowl suddenly has a few more bites in it. The spoon in their mouth. As if Sans can't tell that there is nothing there. That they're stalling.
"where's alphys?"
"In the bathroom." They mumbled and Sans' eye sockets narrowed. They stressed bathroom in a way that made Sans think that room really really wasn't actually a bathroom. He'd had his suspicions. Clouded memory that told him that.. but that emphasis really drove it further.
"you almost ready?" They sighed and lowered the spoon, giving up on their imaginary eating.
"Yeah..." They in no way sound like it...
But even so...
They were off...
And it didn't take long for Alphys to realize the duo had left. Their phone was buzzing every few moments with updates. Though so far... she hadn't actually gotten up the nerve to call...
And speaking of nerves...
"I sorta haaate Hotlaaand." The Human was half singing it as they flew through the air..
"but it's like flying!" Sans called out to them, as they rockets over yet another vent. They were running quickly against the flow of a conveyor, a frown on their face.. Sans could tell that they knew what he was talking about but didn't respond. They jumped and picked something triumphantly off the flower, raising it high above their head.
"The Frying Pan!" They declared, the mask returned across their face. They looked the pan over, a curious expression. "What happened to my Notebook?"
Then they paused in realization, so did Sans...
"that sure is a burning question..."
Red eyes darted away and a thankful distraction came as Alphys finally gave them a call-
And that was how it went. The Human and Sans play acting, Alphys calling with how to solve puzzles, working out how to get around lasers, things that if... Sans hadn't been there, and if The Human hadn't actually been through Hotlands so many times before... perhaps it would have been merited, even.. but as it was.. Sans could see the bubbling frustration behind The Human's mask with each new update from Alphys. With each new stumble in Alphys' voice, barely able to get a coherent sentence out and Sans suddenly remembered what they had signed to him the other day in broken Hands..
[Nervous. More.]
Sans hadn't really understood what they had meant at the time, but now with each passing phone call... That frustration wasn't just from an inherent dislike of Alphys.. there was something else wrong too.. Some other frustration... Perhaps... simply the fact that something else had changed... Just like whenever Sans refused to play along or something went wrong that shouldn't have..
But wasn't that now a good thing? Changes? They needed it to go differently. Sans got to a point that this wasn't the point, but... he didn't know what else to tell them. Well- not that he was actually telling them, but maybe he should have because The Human had suddenly stopped, red eyes narrowed as they glared at their phone.
"um? kid?"
"She's not telling me where to go..." They whispered.
"huh?" The Human waited a few more moments but then continued, ignoring him, but they didn't get too much farther until they reached the first door... The opened door.. The kid's mouth opened wide in surprise.
"She didn't recalibrate all the puzzles!" They realized. They rushed to the steam vent and the next thing Sans knew they were soaring to the left; they landed already running. They stopped, total confusion exuded from their entire being as they turned towards him. "There is usually a blue laser here that is impassable! Alphys undoes it for us." They turned back around, staring where the laser should be but very much wasn't.. "She's not... She's... I don't understand..."
"welp. there's no use fussing about it." Sans offered. "besides, it just means less work for us and gotta say that's alright in my book."
The frustration though... lingers in their rigid stance..
They think he is missing the point...
But he's not.
No. He knows.
But there really is no use fussing about it...
The playful atmosphere is gone. The mask is almost entirely broken. The red eyes are hyper focused ahead as they breathe out loudly, fuming at another phone call that should have been but wasn't..
As the world went dark.
And finally, only then, did the phone ring.
"H-hey, it's k-kind of dark in th-there, isn't it?" Alphys began shakily. "D-Don't worry!" She stated gaining a bit of confidence in her voice. "I'll hack into the light system and brighten it up!"
"Alphys is the brightest after all." Sans agreed and he could just barely see The Human's frown..
Eh. Not his best work...
The lights flood the room and The Human stood still with their eyes closed as Sans recoiled. What the hell?- The red eyes opened, their face an unreadable deadpanned mask in the face of the kitchen manifested before them.
"Oh no." Alphys' small voice came through the phone-
"OHHH YES!" Cried the robot that sprung up out of nowhere.. "WELCOME, BEAUTIES, TO THE UNDERGROUND'S PREMIER COOKING SHOW!"
Cooking with A Killer Robot...
"PRE-HEAT YOUR OVENS, BECAUSE WE'VE GOT A VERY SPECIAL RECIPE FOR YOU TODAY!" Mettaton declared dramatically. "WE'RE GOING TO BE MAKING... A CAKE!"
Okay that wasn't where Sans was expecting this to go...
"MY LOVELY ASSISTANT HERE WILL GATHER THE INGREDIENTS."
"well i'm flattered." Sans chimed in. Mettaton was turning towards him as if the robot hadn't even realized Sans was there before. Welp. He wasn't that flattered anymore.
"AH! IT SEEMS WE HAVE TWO ASSISTANTS FOR TODAY!" Mettaton amended. "UM- YES!" The Human had remained entirely straight faced, unmoved, as they stared out towards the 'audience'. "LET'S GIVE THEM A BIG HAND!"
Confetti rained down on the kid as they continued their blank act. Sans took a piece of confetti that landed on their shoulder and put it on his own. Their lips pressed together and to the side as if unpleased...
"WELL LOVELIES! WE NEED SUGAR, MILK, EGGS. GO FOR IT SWEETHEART!... AND SANS!"
It took literally two seconds...
"PERFECT! GREAT JOB, YOU TWO!" Mettaton declared. "WE'VE GOT ALL OF THE INGREDIENTS WE NEED TO BAKE THE CAKE!"
While Sans was still waiting for the 'human' part in all of this.
"MILK... SUGAR... EGGS..."
And there is was, the slight dramatic pause as Mettaton seemed to 'remember' something.
"... OH MY! WAIT A MAGNIFICENT MOMENT!"
Here it comes..
"HOW COULD I FORGET!"
Totally forgot...
"WE'RE MISSING THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT!"
The chainsaw...
"A HUMAN SOUL!"
Sans wasn't sure what he loved more... How unnecessarily loud and dramatic it all was, or The Human's absolutely unphased expression- and he was completely sure the tv screen was not doing it any justice...
But the phone rang... Except it wasn't the kid's.. Mettaton paused... then answered it...
As if he hadn't just pulled out a deadly weapon on a ten year old..
"HELLO..." Mettaton greeted dramatically. "I'M KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING HERE."
"W-Wait!" Alphys cried, clear panic.. "C-Couldn't you make a- a-a.. Couldn't you u-use... A... s-substitution?" She seemed genuinely upset, not just nervous and the lights in Sans' eye sockets flickered in realization as he stared at The Human... who hadn't even moved from the chainsaw's range..
Guess that was less funny when you remembered what the kid had tried to do.. just the other day..
In another cooking adventure no less...
"... A SUBSTITUTION? YOU MEAN, USE A DIFFERENT, NON HUMAN INGREDIENT?!" Mettaton asked, almost as if that was preposterous...
"as long as it ain't a skeleton, i'm okay with that." Mettaton refused to acknowledge Sans was there...
Never meet your heroes...
"WHY?!"
"Uuhhh, w-what if.. i-if... Vegan!"
"... VEGAN?"
"I m-mean-"
"THAT'S A BRILLIANT IDEA, ALPHYS! ACTUALLY, I HAPPEN TO HAVE AN OPTION RIGHT HERE! MTT-BRAND ALWAYS-CONVENIENT HUMAN-SOUL-FLAVOR-SUBSTITUTE! A CAN OF WHICH... IS JUST OVER ON THAT COUNTER!"
And sure enough, right where the camera was focusing, to the far distant reaches of the makeshift kitchen..
"WELL, DARLING? WHY DON'T YOU GO- I MEANT THE HUMAN!"
Sans had barely taken a step before the robot had verbally pounced on him. The Human barely sighed and walked past the robot towards the can.
Exactly nobody in the "room" was surprised when the counter began to shake... And then rocket towards the stone sky out of reach.
"BY THE WAY, OUR SHOW RUNS ON A STRICT SCHEDULE. IF YOU CAN'T GET THE CAN IN THE NEXT ONE MINUTE... WE'LL JUST HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN!"
"so basically get the can or get canned.."
"SO... BETTER START CLIMBING, BEAUTIFUL!- AGAIN I MEANT THE HUMAN!"
"you really outta be more clear, then." Sans offered and he wasn't sure how exactly, but he was pretty certain the robot was glaring at him..
Mettaton was blasting off into the air, leaving both Sans and the kid alone... Their phone immediately rang-
"Oh no! There's not enough time to climb up!" Alphys cried. "... F... F-fortunately, I m-might have a p-plan! When I was upgrading your ph-phone! I added a few, uh.. few new features. You see that huge button that says- um..." Her voice squeaked- "JETPACK?"
"you guys do know i can turn the kid's soul blue, right?"
There was a pause from the phone.
"U-Uh.. Um. R-Right... uh.."
"Sans, please." The Human jumped in as they pressed the button. The phone transforming before them. "The jetpack is obviously cooler." Said.. as if this was the easiest decision ever. "Besides, I trust Alphys a lot more than you with my safety."
"O-Oh! Oh n-no..." Alphys began to stutter on the other end. "You should have enough fuel to reach the top!"
Her voice was painfully pitched as she hung up.. The kid looked at their phone in slight frustration, but they didn't have time to get upset... They didn't have time to get the can, either...
"OH YES! ABOUT THE SUBSTITUTION... HAVEN'T YOU EVER SEEN A COOKING SHOW BEFORE? I ALREADY BAKED THE CAKE AHEAD OF TIME! SO FORGET IT!"
The Human drifted down gently, landing besides Sans, only a few scrapes from the barrage that had rained down upon them as they had ascended...
They watched their phone expectantly as it transformed back, their lips pressing together again as... it remained silent... Another call unmade... Their fingers around the phone were tight and Sans bit back the pun he would have otherwise made.. The Human turned away, making their way... It was as if they really were about to explode..
They stopped.. and Sans waited... but they were only raising their hand, the red eyes closing, collecting themselves and their anger together.
"Stay determined..."
It made Sans a bit more assured to see the phrase on their lips again.. a small sign, Sans figured, that they were actually trying...
The phone was ringing...
The Human lowered their hand from the 'Star' quickly and pulled the device out to answer, he could see the relief in their expression..
"S-See that building in the d-d-distance?" The Human nodded... It occurred to Sans how that wouldn't work any time else.. "That's the CORE. The source of all power for the underground. Th-That's wh-where you a-and Sans are- Th-There's an elevator d-directly to... t-to..."
Sans can see it on the kid's face, even before Alphys cried out...
"I can't take this anymore!"
This is different. This is not normal-
The red eyes are wide and staring, their breathing thin-
"I c-can't keep doing this to y-you!"
None of this was supposed to be happening..
"I.. I've been lying to you." Alphys managed through a hiccup. "I h-haven't really been helping you with M-Mettaton... It's all.. a-all an act! A-And the barrier! I lied! I-"
"You need two Souls." The Human cut in. They are so tense, their voice... Alphys seemed to stutter wordlessly on the other end for awhile..
"Y-You knew?!" She cried finally.
"Yeah.." The Human said, their voice deceptively even, their bangs dropped over their eyes..
"O-Oh!" There was a flustered pause. "Is that.. Is that why you t-tried..." The fluster turned quickly into sadness... The conversation from the scientist teetered off...
"I figured out about Mettaton already, too." The Human said finally, realizing Alphys wasn't going to continue, and perhaps knowing they didn't want her to. "You and Mettaton were just having so much fun!" They try to sound cheerful, it falls flat.. Sounds as fake as it is.. "I didn't want to ruin it..." More sober, now.. Sans could see right through them. They're just trying to do damage control... Whatever status quo was in the wind...
"I-!" Alphys seemed in a swirl of disbelief.. "I'm sorry!"
"It's okay.." It was not okay...
"It's not okay!"
"I want to keep going." The kid interjected again, ignoring Alphys.. "If you're willing to play along still, I wanna give Mettaton a good show!"
"I.. N-no, I-... B-but..." Sans can hear her give in.. "Of- Of course..." She fell into a defeated silence... "I really am sorry..."
The line went dead, and The Human... The phone slipped into their pocket and they walked straight ahead. Their fingers curled into tight fists at their side, face forward, expression even, trying their best... But the moment they were in the elevator, the moment those doors clicked shut... Their hands went to the sides of their head and they leaned forward.. clearly freaking out even as they kept their back turned..
"that never happens, i take it.."
"I don't understand!" They finally cried. "I don't get it! Why would she do that? Out of all the times she did it to Frisk she never once-"
They spun around, their eyes wide..
"It's you!" They cried. "It's you! She felt guilty because she was afraid you would tell!"
Sans frowned.
"Did you talk to her?! When I was asleep or something?! You being here is the only thing that's different! It has to be you!"
They were growing angrier as they spoke, so sure in their realization..
"oooor maybe she actually cares about how you're feeling?" Sans countered. "you know she was watching the whole time. you didn't exactly keep up your smile." They faltered in their anger, surprise flashing on their face as they froze for a second. "she saw straight through you, she even called me out on it after your little stunt with undyne. she was really worried about you..."
The Human was shaking their head, turning away, not wanting to hear-
"if she felt guilty about anything it was messing with you when you're already-"
"SHUT UP!" They erupted, turning on him quickly, their eyes ablaze- But Sans knew this was coming. It didn't surprise him in the slightest. He was sort of impressed they'd managed to get into the elevator before it happened. "You know that's not right! That can't-"
"she's seen you when you weren't acting, kid..." Sans cut in.
"She never told Frisk early!" They declared again, as if that was the only thing that really mattered. "Even when they were at their lowest! So it has to be you!"
"did frisk ever try to kill themself?" Sans asked lowly. Something in the red eyes flashed and Sans knew the answer was no. "the reason it change is you, kid."
"That's... That's..." They were angry. So angry. They wanted so badly to lash out but they were trying to find words.
"papyrus, undyne, alphys..." Sans began. "they all care for you, even if you can't believe that. papyrus would care for you no matter who you were. undyne admires your spunk, not everybody can keep up with her, even with the amount of practice you've undoubtedly had. and alphys, well, she's-"
"SHUT UP!" They lunged at him, just wanting him to stop talking, to get those words to just stop! Sans could see it on their face, they layer of pain consumed and buried in anger. Sans teleported to the side as their arms tried to grab him.
"did you really think you could-" They had turned quickly, instinctively, their leg swept beneath him- "ooph!"
The kid stood over him, their gaze murderous-
Had he not been doing what they asked-
Sans began to lift himself back up, his own gaze deadly and seriously.. and as soon as they saw it.. Their entire expression shattered and they caved in on themself. Cowering back against the wall, their arms holding each other.
"I didn't-!" They began, shivering a bit before they swallowed it down... and forced their expression to fall, the red eyes.. closing...
Sans stopped, halfway through picking himself up..
Sans could see it in their face... They were certain he was going to kill them.
... They were okay with the fact that he was going to kill them...
Even if they were scared..
But, no, not scared of death.. No...
They were scared of Sans.
"... i'll be up ahead when you're ready to get a grip." Sans said gravely as he finally picked himself up entirely. The red eyes opened in surprise but Sans already wasn't there..