Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

Iterations

Deviation

This was the shortest amount of time she had ever spent with Toriel in all of her runs. As the door slammed and locked behind her, she immediately regretted it. She had not stayed long enough to grab a sweater. She had not even changed out of her shorts. She shifted her weight from foot to foot awkwardly as she contemplated her options. Snowdin was a long way off but perhaps if she jogged it she would stay warm enough?

As if urging her to get on with it, a snowflake found its way through the curtain of her hair and down the back of her shirt. She immediately broke into a run. She idly noted that Sans did not show up to meet her as she ran through the bars of Papyrus' gate. By the time she had reached the clearing with the conveniently-shaped lamp, she was trembling, socks and shoes both soaked through. She looked around and then, without giving herself a moment to change her mind, tramped over to Sans' sentry station. The door was unlocked and she slipped in. The room was blessedly warm. She plopped down onto the floor. With difficulty, she peeled off her shoes and socks, frowning as she rubbed warmth into her freezing limbs.

"human, don't you know it's rude to enter a room that isn't yours?"

She startled and looked up. As always with Sans, she had not heard the door open. But there he was, leaning comfortably against the door, watching her. She murmured a quick greeting and an apology.

"it's cool. although," he paused, looking at the clothing discarded on the floor. "what are you doing in here?"

She swept the clothing into her arms and scrambled to her feet, cheeks coloring in embarrassment. "Nothing."

Something shifted in his expression. "are you sure?"

Her face felt like it was on fire. She looked to the floor as she replied, "Yeah. Just... resting."

"SANS!"

She did not know whether to be grateful for the distraction or worried that she would be discovered earlier than usual. She glanced at the conveniently-shaped lamp through the window and winced. There was no way she would get to it on time. Sans stepped up beside her and gestured to the desk. Patting him on the shoulder in appreciation, she crawled under just as Papyrus reached the sentry station. It was mildly reassuring for her to hear Papyrus immediately start berating his brother. She had not changed too much with her mistake. She bit her lip and smothered her smile with her sleeve as Sans told familiar puns to his brother. Somehow, no matter how many times she heard them, they were always funny. Finally, Papyrus replied with his own pun before skittering away.

"coast is clear, kid."

She wiggled out of the small space and stood. Shifting her clothes into the cradle of her left arm, she held out her hand to shake. Their introductions went the same as always, whoopie cushion and all.

He picked up a red plastic bottle that had been laying on the floor and held it up. "welp, i better go ketchup with my brother before he gets to far."

She laughed and his grin widened. Her shoe fumbled off of her arm and she reached down to catch it. When she looked up, he was gone. Frowning, she wondered whether she would ever figure out how he did that. Figuring that he did not mind her being here since he had left without saying anything about it, she loitered in the warm room. She picked up the empty bottles of condiments and put them in the trash can. She organized the bottles that were not by condiment and color of the bottle. She straightened the loose notebook papers that were all around the room. She wiped (nonexistent) dust off of the table with her sleeve. When she could no longer justify her lack of progression, she reluctantly pulled on the still damp clothing. It was time for puzzles.

She had severely underestimated how cold it would be. Reaching the first puzzle, not only were her socks and shoes soaked through, but the rest of her clothes, too. Her hair, which had helped her keep at least a bit warm, was now wet and plastered to her bare neck. With her shaking so hard, even though all she had to do was follow Papyrus' tracks through the snow, she stumbled and ended up shocked a couple of times. Papyrus ran off, delighted with her solving the puzzle and she decided to throw in the towel. She shuffled over to Sans.

"thanks for playing along. my brother seems happy."

"Sans?"

"sup kid?"

She swallowed her embarrassment. The cold was absolutely no joke. "Can you get me to town really quick?"

He seemed surprised. "what's the hurry?"

Even the blood flooding to her cheeks felt cold. "I'm, uh, not exactly dressed for this kind of weather."

He glanced down at her attire, noticing it for the first time. She fidgeted under his gaze.

"you really aren't. come on. i know a shortcut."

She was in their house in the blink of an eye.

"make yourself at home, kid. i'll get you something warm to wear."

She stood awkwardly in the living room, not wanting to get their couch wet. She was still trembling in the warm house.

"here kid." Sans held out a pile of clothes.

She took them gratefully and wanted to kick herself for needing to ask for more. "Um... Can I use your shower? I, uh, don't think the clothes will be enough to warm me up."

The tiniest bit of blue dusted his cheeks. He gestured towards a door she had never entered in their home before. "yeah. right over there. there are towels on a rack."

She thanked him profusely before almost running to the bathroom and the promise of hot water.

She looked at herself in the fogged up mirror. Her skin was pink and her fingers looked like prunes from staying in the water for so long. She looked tiny in the borrowed clothes. She assumed they were all Sans'. The hoodie was identical to his except for the fact it was in a dark brown. The t-shirt had the conspicuous absence of the word "cool" embroidered on it. As for the pants, she only had to fold them four times, rather than the ten times she would have had to fold Papyrus'. Putting on the hood, it easily covered her face all the way down to the tip of her nose and she laughed. She pushed it up so she could see again and happily exited the bathroom.

Sans was sitting on the couch with the quantum physics joke book in hand.

"Hey. I'm ready to head back."

"back?"

"I can't let Papyrus down. Who'll do his puzzles if I don't?"

Sans smile grew. "true. let's go."

"Ah, wait! Do you have a pen?"

"sure." He handed her one. "what for?"

"So I can do your word search," she answered as she tucked it into the pocket of the hoodie.

She did not notice as Sans smile faltered for a moment. "...right. ready now?"

"Yup!"

Frisk was always a bit nervous when she reached the bridge. She worried that one day Papyrus really would activate it, thinking her actually capable of getting through it. She breathed out a sigh of relief as he turned it off and frolicked away. As she stepped off the bridge, something new happened.

"don't you get tired of this?"

She looked at him in confusion.

"seeing the same things. doing the same things. i'd think that you'd get bored eventually."

She tried to tamp down the hope that rose in her chest. What she was thinking had to be impossible.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

His left eye flickered blue for a split second. "you ran through the gate without stopping, as if you knew the bars were wide enough for you to slip through. you got through the puzzles in record time. you knew i had chosen a word search. You have done this before."

This time she could not help the hope from blossoming in her chest. She stepped up close and seized him by the shoulders. "You remember too? Do you... do you know how to make it stop?"

He looked at her in confusion. "you mean to tell me... you aren't doing this?"

She shook her head.

"...i think we need to talk."

A/N: We've got the ball rolling now. And the first real chapter. Onto to the next then.

Until next time friendlies,

Dfsemina