Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.
Iterations
Unhealthy Behavior
It was only a matter of time before Undyne would show up in the new iteration. The Underground only stretched so far. And for all that she hated Hotland for its heat, she was serious about her job. Sans, as usual, noticed her approach first and promptly shoved Frisk into the only locker in the room. From the slits in the locker, she could see the warrior come up to the stand. Sans held a hot dog out to her, wordlessly asking if she wanted one. She declined.
"Seen any humans yet?"
"yep." From her position inside the locker, an unworried Frisk rolled her eyes. No one ever took him seriously when he answered like that.
She gave him an unamused look. "Yeah, right. Man, I just wish one would come down here already! We could break out of here!"
"yeah? what would you do if you found one down here?" he asked casually.
"I'd take their stupid soul, of course! Then all of us could go back to the surface where we belong!"
"just like that, huh?" Something in the air changed.
Undyne took a small step away from the window, a hint of confusion in her face. "...Yeah. Of course. Wouldn't you?"
Sans looked like he did not have a care in the world as he shrugged. "i'm a bit curious, myself. i think i'd want to talk to it a bit first."
She shifted. Frisk could see some cooling dirt fall from her armor. "That's dumb."
Sans hummed noncommittally in response.
An awkward pause.
"I-I'd better move on to Snowdin to make sure Papyrus is doing his job." Her voice was missing some of its usual exuberance.
"see ya."
She was gone soon after.
Frisk counted to a hundred before risking leaving her hiding place.
"I saw that," she said. "She was shivering when she left."
"was she? i didn't notice."
She reached out to grip his sleeve in her hand. "Sans, we've spent way too long having to keep things from everyone. If nothing else, we should at least be honest to each other."
"i didn't do anything."
"Look at me when you say it."
He met her gaze finally. "i didn't do anything," he repeated.
She stared. He stared back. He had long since become a great liar. But Frisk knew better than that now.
He caved. "fine. as pap would say, i did a violence."
Her grip tightened. "Did you..."
"kill her? no."
She relaxed only slightly. "...why?"
"she killed you."
"You knew I'd come back!"
"and that makes it okay?"
"Yes! It does!"
"no it really, really doesn't."
Frisk went silent. Sans moved out of her grasp to lean against the wall.
"it made me feel better at the time."
She was not looking at him. "...do you regret it?"
He knew what his answer should be. 'Yes, of course.' But she was right. They owed each other honesty if for nothing else but the fact that they could only be honest to each other. "no... but i know that i should."
She moved to stand next to him, leaning on the same wall. She was quiet for a long time. "Did it...," she swallowed hard. "Did talking about it make you feel better?"
He turned to look at her. Her gaze was firmly locked to a mustard stain on the carpet. They were not talking about him anymore. Regardless, he was surprised that he felt lighter after revealing what he had done. "yeah, actually. i think it did."
The silence from her end stretched. It seemed she had something of her own to confess.
He pushed. "it's hard not to take advantage of it sometimes, isn't it? knowing that it will all be reset and no one will remember any of it. they may have a feeling sometimes, but just a few iterations later, even that is gone. i wouldn't blame you if you did it a couple times yourself. people can do weird things– desperate things even– when they feel like they're all alone."
Nothing but the sound of her breathing.
"just come out and say it, kid." He paused. "did you do a violence?"
She was trembling as she shook her head.
"then what is it?"
"I died."
He frowned. "i know that–"
"On purpose."
He froze in surprise. Then, he was suddenly in front of her, hand underneath her chin, making her look at him. He waited for her to speak.
She spoke, stumbling over her words. "She wanted me to call her 'mom.' I did. I wanted to. But I had to leave the Ruins and she wouldn't let me leave. She... she fought me... Sans, she killed me."
He pulled her close, holding her and moving them so they were both sitting on the ground. She was crying now. He knew she wasn't done yet.
"I knew that first time was an accident. Could see it in the horror on her face. The next time, she held back even more. But I was already angry. Vindictive. She told me she would protect me. So I ran into her magic. I made her beat me. Burn me. Over and over. Just to see the look on her face. Just to see the guilt. Just to prove to myself that she really cared."
He carded a hand through her hair, comforting her. With her face burrowed into the fabric of his hoodie he could barely make out her muffled words.
"Parents aren't supposed to hit their children."
–
He was infinitely glad that Papyrus was already asleep when they got home. Frisk, having exhausted herself crying, had eventually fallen asleep. He wrapped her into a Frisk burrito, knowing she liked the feeling of being surrounded by the plush blanket. It always made her giggle when she woke up. He hoped it would hold true in the morning. Looking down at the lumpy changed-filled couch that she had never complained about, he felt like it would be wrong to leave her alone. Being one who trusted his instincts, he brought her to his room. He laid her down on his bed and scooted in beside her. Even with the thick blanket wrapped around her, he most of his mattress was free. She was so small.
He would just watch her through the night to make sure she was okay. He could sleep during his shift tomorrow. Frisk always did twice as much work as he ever did anyway.
Sans fell asleep.
A/N: Here we see the difference between the two. A couple chapters before we saw that when Sans breaks down he gets destructive. Here, we see that when Frisk breaks down she gets self-destructive. Very different ends of the spectrum as these two have always been. Sans gives people a bad time. Frisk takes the violence people dish out and pets the enemy.
Also, more hints on Frisk's less-than-happy backstory. I'm not sure if I'll keep it as implied or if I might go a bit deeper into it.
Thanks for reading everyone.
Until next time friendlies,
Dfsemina