[[ So here we are, on to chapter six already! I have Jamie to thank for pushing me and supporting me and getting me to write so much. It feels so good to write again. If he weren't such a fan, I don't think I'd still be writing this! So to anyone who reads this, you'd better thank him! Without him, there'd probably be no fic! ]]
"WHAT ON EARTH ARE THOSE?!" Everyone had gathered around and taken a seat at the small dining room table, and Papyrus was currently scrutinizing the bone-shaped pasta, browbones furrowed slightly. Nervously, Lena took the serving spoon and scooped a heaping serving onto her plate, shooting him a smile.
"It's pasta, just made into bone shapes. It still tastes the same and everything..." His eyesockets widened almost comically, and he turned to frisk with enthusiasm.
"HUMAN FRISK, DID YOU KNOW THAT THEY MAKE PASTA IN DIFFERENT SHAPES?" When Frisk nodded, he gasped, turning to his brother, who simply gave a small shrug. "I HAD NO IDEA! I MUST TRY ALL THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PASTA SOMEDAY!"With that proclamation, he scooped a large amount onto his own plate, smothering it with the pasta sauce. He stabbed at a few of the sauce-coated noodles with his fork and shoved them into his mouth, humming pleasantly at the taste. "BROTHER, YOU SHOULD TRY SOME! IT TASTES EVEN BETTER WITH THE BONE-NOODLES." Sans chuckled and helped himself to a small amount of the pasta, passing the serving spoon to Frisk so they could get themselves some, as well. Toriel looked immensely pleased.
"Bone appetite everyone!" Papyrus stalled in his eating, fork raised halfway to his face, and narrowed his eyes at Toriel, frowning. She giggled helplessly for a moment, and he slowly placed the food into his mouth, chewing moodily.
"Heh, you beat me to it, Tori. I was just about to say that," Sans said, taking up a few of the noodles and eating them. Lena found herself wondering where on earth the food went. 'Magic skeletons. That's all there is to be said.' Shrugging slightly to herself and her own thought, she picked up a piece of garlic bread and set it on her plate, then started to eat.
"So, Lena! Did you mean what you said, wanting to teach at my school...?" Toriel asked hesitantly, looking up from her own plate and over to the human almost shyly. Lena nodded eagerly, smiling at her reassuringly.
"Yeah! The school I'm working at now is just... Well, it's not the ideal place for me to work. I'd much rather be working here." She paused to take a bite, chewing thoughtfully as she thought carefully over her words. "I was... Well, actually, I was looking at apartments here, in Taobh..." Sans glanced up at that, browbones raising in surprise before he could mask it.
"Oh? That would be splendid! There's one that's available not too far from here, actually. Just a block away or so!" Lena felt more at ease discussing it since Toriel seemed so excited about the prospect of living close together. "My child, would that not be splendid? She could visit us much more often!" Frisk nodded eagerly, signing something quickly, and the queen laughed. "Yes, yes, that would be nice!"
"That actually might have been the place I was looking at... It's larger than I need just for myself, though."
"Oh? Your friend will not be moving with you?" Lena shook her head, shrugging her shoulders easily.
"Her husband has a job in Tristin, and her family all lives there. It's not far away from here, but she's pretty well settled where she is. She did offer to move with me, but... Well, I can't uproot her whole family just for me!" Toriel nodded solemnly, a bit of a frown pulling down at her lovely features. "Anyway, I need to figure out who to talk to about the apartment so that I can move as soon as possible-"
"Oh you do not need to worry about that, my dear. I will take care of all of that for you. If you can get your things packed, then I will tell Asgore and he will make all the necessary arrangements." The way she said the name 'Asgore' made it sound like she was reluctant, but nobody chose to comment on it. She pressed right on ahead past it. "In fact, I'm sure that I could find a few people to help you move!" Her eyes went over to the skeleton brothers, and Papyrus raised his hand eagerly.
"YOUR MAJESTY, CHOOSE ME! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO HELP THE HUMAN MOVE INTO HER NEW HOME!" His energy was vibrant and refreshing, and Lena couldn't help but laugh.
"Well thank you, Papyrus. I'd really appreciate any help I can get. Though I don't really have much in terms of furniture... I guess I'll have to go furniture shopping soon. Maybe you can come with me, Papyrus?" She scooped up the last of her noodles onto her fork and stuffed them into her mouth, reaching for the serving spoon to help herself to some more.
"Yes, and you better eat up! Put some meat on those bones~" Toriel teased, giggling when the skeleton groaned. "You'll want to have enough strength to help Lena carry her things, won't you?" Papyrus nodded, eagerly shoving more food into his mouth, where it disappeared into the inky blackness.
"OF COURSE! BUT HUMAN, YOU ARE PLENTY STRONG, RIGHT? YOU HAVE THE MOST MEAT ON YOUR BONES OUT OF ANY OF US!" he said cheerfully, and despite the sunny tone it was said in, Lena felt her chest clench painfully, expression revealing all the hurt the comment made her feel...but only for a second, because she quickly summoned up a smile to cover it.
"...Right." She swallowed thickly, glancing down at her plate. Even though she'd just gotten more, she suddenly wasn't feeling very hungry anymore. Sans' eyesockets narrowed slightly, focused on her, gauging her reaction. After what she'd said before, he knew that she must've been upset. But she was doing a pretty good job of hiding it. He glanced around the table and saw that both Toriel and Frisk were frowning slightly, looking at her with concern. "Um... I, uh..." Lena fumbled for words, feeling her smile wavering, eyes stinging faintly. She suddenly pushed herself up from the table. "Sorry, um, I better get home and start packing, haha."
"Oh, are you sure..? We haven't had dessert yet!" Toriel said, and Lena felt her stomach turn. The last thing she needed was dessert. She turned to the queen with a smile, nodding.
"Sorry, I uh, forgot that Brit needed my help with the kids tonight. I'll see you all later." With that, she went and hurriedly began to put on her coat, hand reaching for the front door. She was stopped by a small tug on her coat sleeve, and she glanced down to see Frisk, frowning up at her. Their hands moved quickly as they signed something, but Lena couldn't tell what.
"The kid's askin' if you want to come over and play in the snow tomorrow. It's supposed to snow a lot," Sans offered, sending her a smile, though it was a bit less than it had been before. She nodded, patting Frisk on the head gently, ruffling their hair.
"Sure, buddy," she said quietly, reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out a pen, reaching for the child's hand. She scribbled her phone number on the back of it, pocketed the pen, and pulled open the front door. "...I'll see you guys tomorrow. Sorry to rush off... Bye." She quickly let herself out, closing the door behind her and releasing a shuddery sigh. 'It never gets any easier, does it?' She huffed an empty laugh and made her way to her car, getting in and just sitting there for a minute, trying to steady herself before driving off. Maybe once she got home, she'd feel better... That's what she hoped, anyway.
"Oh dear..." Toriel sighed, glancing at the now empty seat, a sad expression pulling at her face. Frisk came bounding over, signing frantically. "My child, what is it?" she asked, taking Frisk's hand they extended and, seeing the number, giving a faint smile. "Ah, I see. Would you like for me to enter it into your cell phone, dear one?" The child nodded quickly, their hair flying everywhere, and Toriel couldn't help but chuckle. "Very well. After you finish eating-" Frisk pointed to their empty plate and their mother's eyes widened, then she shook her head, chuckling. "Alright, alright. Go ahead and go get it, I shall put Lena's number in for you." Frisk bounded off energetically and, with them now out of the room, Toriel glanced over to Papyrus, who was looking very confused between the front door and Lena's now empty chair.
"WHY DID THE HUMAN LEAVE SO QUICKLY? THEY DID NOT EVEN FINISH THEIR FOOD. IT IS A SIN TO WASTE SUCH GOOD SPAGHETTI!" he cried, reaching across the table to grab her plate, scooping the leftover food onto his own. Sans sighed and raised a hand to scratch at the back of his skull, frowning slightly.
"Well..." Toriel began gently, brows furrowing slightly. "Papyrus, dear, you might not have meant to, but...you insulted her."Papyrus set down his fork noisily, frowning.
"I DID NO SUCH THING! I MERELY STATED THAT SHE HAS MUCH MEAT ON HER BONES!"
"Yes, well... That was an insult, dearie." He only seemed more confused by this and, wanting the conversation to end quickly, Sans rolled his shoulders, speaking up.
"Humans make fun of each other for bein' bigger. So she thinks you were makin' fun of her." Papyrus frown deepened, looking even more puzzled.
"WHY WOULD THEY MAKE FUN OF EACHOTHER FOR BEING DIFFERENT SIZES?"
"Humans think you have to fit certain criteria and, if you don't, then you're not as good."
"THAT IS PREPOSTEROUS!"
"So you see, dear... You might not have meant to, but you insulted Lena by pointing out her um...body size," she explained, and Papyrus's expression suddenly became one of realization, then one of sadness.
"I... I DID NOT MEAN IT AS AN INSULT. I WAS ONLY... I JUST..." He sniffled noisily, and Sans raised a hand to pat him on the back. "SANS! I INSULTED OUR FRIEND!" It surprised the smaller skeleton that he was already calling her a friend, but he pushed past that, too distracted by the distraught look on his brother's face. "SHE MUST SURELY HATE ME NOW!" he wailed, gloved hands raising to cover his face. Sans frowned, leaning up to pat his brother on the top of the skull comfortingly.
"Hey... 'm sure she doesn't hate ya, Paps." His brother looked up from his gloves tearily, and he pressed on. "She apparently gets stuff like that said to her all the time. You didn't know. 'm sure she'll be fine."
"DO YOU... THINK SHE WILL FORGIVE ME? SHOULD I MAKE HER APOLOGETIC SPAGHETTI? I DO NOT WANT THE KIND HUMAN TO HATE ME!" His eyesockets threatened to overflow with tears, and Sans shifted uncomfortably, shrugging his shoulders. Frisk burst back into the room in that moment, holding their phone triumphantly over their head, handing it to their mother. When they saw Papyrus in distress, they quickly jumped up onto their chair and clambered onto his shoulders, hugging his skull with both of their small arms. They began to sign something, and Papyrus sniffed loudly, nodding their head. "YES... YOU ARE RIGHT, HUMAN FRISK. I WILL JUST BE SURE TO APOLOGIZE. SURELY SHE WILL NOT HATE ME OVER A SIMPLE MISTAKE..." He didn't sound too terribly sure, and the lack of confidence in his voice made Sans' soul clench in his chest.
"Yeah, bro, don't worry about it. Why don't you make one of them spaghetti pictures for her?" he offered, sighing in relief when he saw the taller skeleton's eyesockets widen, a small smile pulling up at their mouth.
"YES, THAT IS A GOOD IDEA... HUMAN FRISK, WILL YOU HELP ME?" Frisk nodded quickly and hopped down from the skeleton's shoulders, taking him by the hand and pulling him down the hall toward his bedroom. Once the two were out of earshot, Sans sighed and leaned back heavily in his chair.
"Geez... What a pain in the ass. Humans are too sensitive," he grumbled, and Toriel frowned over at him, shaking her head. "...nh. It's not just us humans are mean to, y'know? They're mean to their own kind for the dumbest shit. Who gives a shit if they're bigger or smaller or whatever?" He raised his hands and shrugged, then grumpily shoved his hands into his pockets. "...Papyrus didn't know."
"No, he did not. But that does not mean that he owes any less of an apology, does it?" Sans averted his eyes then, browbones furrowing and mouth turning down into a small frown. Sighing, she set Frisk's phone aside and picked up her own, quickly entering the number Lena had given them. She paused, then opened up a message and sent the number to Sans. When his phone went off, he pulled it out, raising a browbone at the queen from across the table, who merely smiled. "Your brother wishes to be her friend, does he not? I am sure he would like having her number, then." Nodding slowly, Sans' thumb hovered over his screen for a moment, then he quickly added it to his contacts, shoving the device back into his pocket. Toriel seemed pleased with that and she got up and started to clean up the dinner dishes.
Sans crossed into the livingroom and flopped back onto the couch, closing his eyesockets tiredly. 'Yeah, I'm fine. It's... What? It's nothing new?' That was a thought he had frequently. The tiredness, the constant looks over his shoulder, the nightmares. It was all nothing new. 'I hope she'll forgive Papyrus... He really likes her. 'n so does the kid. And Tori...' Playing games, seeing her laugh with his brother and precious friend, gave him a little glimpse into her soul. It was warm, and soft, and her expression when she spoke to those closest to him moved his soul in ways he didn't expect. He had the feeling that, if he'd decided to carry out judgement on her, then her karmic damage would be minimal...maybe even nothing at all. 'But I don't do that anymore, huh.' The sounds of his brother's voice excitedly talking from Frisk's room brought a smile to his lips, and he sighed, pulling out his phone.
'It's nothin' new.'
The drive home had been a bit of a blur, what with the stops by the post office to pick up boxes and packing tape, and by the time Lena walked in the door of her friend's house, she felt exhausted. The nice dinner she'd been hoping for had been...lovely. She'd had more fun than she'd expected, and she'd felt like a part of their group, laughing with them and playing games. But then... Then she had to go and get upset, by being overly sensitive. 'He didn't mean it like that... I was just being ridiculous.' She tried to blame the experience at the store for her sensitivity, but she knew that wasn't it. The fact that someone she liked had said it had made it worse. She suddenly felt like crying, and she pushed the urge away, taking a deep breath and walking past the living room quickly to go to her room. With the door closed, she leaned against it for a moment, closing her eyes and letting the feeling wash over her. She told herself over and over that he hadn't meant it, but it didn't seem to lessen the blow any. Sighing heavily, she dropped her bag, the folded up boxes, and plastic bag of packing tape, and walked over to flop down onto her bed.
A faint buzz in her pocket pulled her from her thoughts and she frowned, rolling over just enough to reach into her pocket and pull out her phone. The screen read that there were two messages waiting for her. Curious, she opened the first one.
| Unknown number: Hello my child. This is Toriel. I hope that you have gotten home safely. Frisk and I both have your cell phone number now. I am so thankful to have had you over this evening. I wish it had ended better, though. Please feel free to come over at any time tomorrow. Frisk is quite excited to play in the snow! -Toriel |
Smiling, Lena quickly saved the number as Toriel's and sent a quick reply, telling her that she'd gotten home safe and that she'd call her in the morning. Switching to the second message, her lips pulled down into a small, confused frown.
| Unknown number: * knock knock |
Hesitant, she sent a reply.
| Lena: Who's there? |
| Unknown number: * dishes |
| Lena: Dishes who? |
| Unknown number: * dishes a very bad joke. |
Lena cracked a small smile and saved the number. There was only one person that could be.
| Lena: You're right, that was pretty bad. |
| Sans: * hey, so long as i can dish it out. |
| Lena: That one was barely even a pun! |
| Sans: * yeah, well, sorry if it's not your cup of tea. |
Lena rolled her eyes and flopped back onto her bed, unable to fight the tiny smile that tugged up at the corners of her mouth. 'If I didn't know better, I would think he's trying to cheer me up.' Sighing, she pushed herself up and off of her bed, getting ready for bed. She stripped off her clothes and placed them carefully in her laundry hamper, turning to her dresser and, after a moment of rummaging, pulled out a pair of pajamas. She'd just finished getting dressed in them when her phone buzzed again.
| Sans: * so about that thing papyrus said... |
| Sans: * he didn't know it was considered insulting. |
She frowned, fingers twitching more tightly around her phone, and she let out a slow breath.
| Sans: * 'm sure you already know that, but he's really sorry. |
| Sans: * just between you and me, he thinks you hate him now. |
| Sans: * you don't, right? |
Pausing just a moment, she let her thumbs tap against the screen's keyoard quickly, typing out a message.
| Lena: No, of course not! I shouldn't have gotten so upset... Sorry. |
| Sans: * what're you apologizin' for? |
| Lena: For upsetting your brother... I don't hate him. I could never hate him. He's such a sweetheart! |
| Lena: He's so awesome. |
| Sans: * yeah he is really awesome. the coolest. |
| Sans: * glad we're on the same page here. |
| Sans: * tori wants to know if you're still gonna come over tomorrow. papyrus and frisk're wantin' to play in the snow with ya. |
| Lena: Of course! Will you be there, too? |
| Lena: Snowball fight, skeletons vs. humans? |
Sans chuckled to himself, his grin tipping up even higher.
| Sans: * be careful what you wish for kid. you're gonna be destroyed. |
| Lena: Don't underestimate me! I'm bad to the bone. |
This pulled a small, genuine laugh from him, and he snorted in his attempt to hold it back. Toriel glanced over at him from her spot in the kitchen where she was doing the dishes, and he pulled his hood up around his skull, quickly tapping back a reply.
| Sans: * you're on. |