'...maybe not.'
Dinner with the skeleton brothers had been wonderful. There was lots of laughing and puns and delicious food (Sans said that Papyrus had been taking lessons and has improved greatly since their days Underground), and everything was fun...that is, until Lena returned to her apartment. She finally had a space of her own, and it suddenly felt like far too much. Everything was far too quiet, too spacious, too vast, too open. As her front door clicked closed behind her, it echoed with an odd sense of finality, and suddenly it seemed to really weigh in on her.
She was living completely alone now, in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by unfamiliar people, unfamiliar things.
Her chest throbbed in an uncomfortable way and she sighed, smiling despite herself and locking the door behind her. The deft turn of the thumb-lock was all it took, and she felt her throat clench almost painfully, eyes stinging fiercely. A shower. A shower would help. She made her way through the rooms (it was really much larger than she was expecting, and it even had two extra bedrooms) as though she were lost which, in reality, she was. Eventually she found the bathroom and, after a brief search for towels, reached in past the newly-hung curtain to turn on the water.
The constant patter and rush of the water was soothing, like white noise, and she sat on the closed toilet lid and leaned her head back, closing her eyes, simply listening. Like static. It filled her head, but it wasn't loud enough, didn't drown out the thoughts that slowly began surfacing. Like murky bubbles rising to the surface, popping and spreading their filth and darkness. Giving a sharp shake of her head, she stripped off everything she wore and paused, just in front of her bathroom mirror. Her hands raised to smooth up the sides of her waist, catching slightly on her hips, where she gave a firm pinch, wincing in pain. A heavy sigh, and she closed her eyes, as if it were painful to continue looking at her own reflection anymore. She pulled back the curtain and stepped into the shower, pulling it closed and allowing the warm water to envelop her. Washing away the cold from outside and the stress of the day, she let her head fall back and she sighed yet again. She just felt...dull. Like, inside, she was lacking her usual brightness. Everything felt like shades of grey.
She stayed in the shower for far longer than was necessary, until the water began to grow cold, and she hurriedly yet mechanically went through the process of washing herself. By the time she was clean and rinsed, the water was frigid, and she shivered as she shut it off and reached for her towel. Drying off was a half-hearted effort, and as she made her way to her bedroom, she took a deep, cleansing, and calming breath.
Tomorrow was a new start, of sorts.
She had friends here, even if they were newly acquired, and she didn't feel totally at ease with all of them yet. If she didn't snap herself out of this haze, she'd no doubt end up running them off. Smiling to herself, though it wasn't entirely honest, she dressed herself in a nightgown and fell into her neatly made bed, barely covering the comforter over herself before she was falling into the abyss of sleep.
"BROTHER, DO YOU THINK THE HUMAN LENA WILL JOIN US FOR DINNER TOMORROW NIGHT AS WELL?" Papyrus asked, just one of many in a stream of questions, his excitement gripping his words with every syllable as he washed up their dishes from dinner. His eyes glanced to his brother who, unsurprisingly, had flopped onto the couch. Sans gave a simple shrug of his shoulders, and he sighed in exasperation. "SAAANS!" he whined, rolling his eyes when all he got was a noncommital grunt in return. Sighing, he set down the plate he'd been scrubbing and grabbed a towel to hastily dry his hands, stepping easily across the living room to look down at his lazybones brother. "SANS, DO YOU... DISLIKE THE HUMAN?" He saw his brother finally open his eyes, raising a browbone at him in confusion, so he pressed on. "IT IS JUST THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ACTING RATHER STRANGELY. YOU DO NOT SEEM TO LIKE HER MUCH, BUT YOU INVITED HER TO DINNER WITH US..." Sans sat up slowly and gave another shrug of his shoulders, raising a hand to scratch at the back of his skull.
"Dunno, Pap... Just not quite eager to jump into trustin' a human, y'know?" He knew it sounded bad the way it had come out, and that fact was only further proven the way Papyrus frowned at him, a noise of discontent escaping him. "We haven't exactly seen the best of humanity. D'ya not remember when we first got up here?"
"I DO..." Papyrus remembered all too well, though he tried not to. It wasn't like that sort of treatment had exactly disappeared since they emerged upon the surface, either. "BUT SURELY I DO NOT NEED TO REMIND YOU THAT NOT ALL HUMANS ARE LIKE THAT..? IF WE THINK THAT WAY, THEN WE ARE NO BETTER THAN THEY ARE." The grumble Sans gave let them both know that Papyrus was right, of course. He frowned, "BUT THAT DOES NOT EXPLAIN WHY YOU INVITED HER OVER HERE."
"I'unno, Paps, she just...looked like she needed some spaghetti," Sans mumbled, wincing at how lame that sounded, even to him. He quickly tried to redirect. "Your spaghetti's the best, Paps, so I had to bring 'er." His brother nodded as if he'd just stated simple fact, and he sighed. "C'mon, let's finish cleanin' up and I'll read you your story." The taller skeleton brightened considerably at this, and he hopped back to the kitchen to finish washing the dishes. Sans couldn't help but chuckle at this, 'My bro's the coolest.' Without him to pester him with his thoughts, now, he wondered back to the human. How dim her soul's aura had looked once everyone had gone, and she was alone. Something about it... He couldn't explain it, but it pulled him to act. He hadn't felt sorry for her, more like a sense of sympathy? He could remember feeling alone, and it wasn't fun.
'On days like this, kids like you-'
He shook his head sharply, jarring the memory from his mind and letting it fade away. If he kept this up, that's what he'd be seeing in his sleep. That wasn't something he wanted to have to see.
Glancing up, he noticed Papyrus was still washing dishes, so he took this opportunity to pull his phone from his hoodie pocket, pausing for a moment, then opening up a new message.
| Sans: * hey, thanks for comin and humoring paps. he's already askin when you're comin around again. |
His thumb hesitated over the send button for a second before he finally pressed it, and he waited a few seconds, staring at his phone's screen. When no answer came immediately, he shrugged, figuring that perhaps she'd fallen asleep, and shoved the device back into his pocket.
"BROTHER, I HAVE FINISHED CLEANING THE DISHES! I WOULD LIKE MY STORY NOW!"
The towering skeleton was standing with his hands on his hips, looking victorious, for having completed such a small task, and Sans felt his grin wide.
"Alright Paps, go get in your PJs and I'll be there in a minute. Fluffy Bunny again?" he asked, watching as his brother's eyes widened in glee, before his face pulled itself into an expression as if saying 'what else'? He chuckled, and Papyrus quickly made off for his room, and the shuffling sounds of him moving around could be heard. Sans heaved a sigh and let his head fall back again, eyes falling closed.
One of the inescapable perks of working for the school system was having the breaks off. Not being an official teacher as of yet, Lena didn't have to go in for meetings, lesson planning, or conferences, which left her with far too much free time. She'd spent her first few days of the week unpacking and organizing her new space. The furniture had been moved several times, only to be moved back to where it was originally, and she wound up with nothing more accomplished other than gaining a sore back. She texted Toriel often, most of which were the queen wanting to know if she wanted to join them for breakfast, or tea, or lunch, or dinner, to which she'd politely declined. Not that she didn't want to spend the time with them, she was just...still adjusting. Living alone had been more difficult than she'd realized. She wound up leaving her television on at all times, playing some movie or song in the background, just to break the silence. It wasn't loud enough to be a nuisance, but it was just comforting enough that she didn't feel quite as lonely.
Today was Friday, which meant that tomorrow was the 'housewarming' party that Toriel was supposedly planning for her. It would've been a lie to say she wasn't nervous. Being surrounded by people she didn't know always ended up being a little stressful, and the fact that she was now suddenly a new human moving into a predominantly monster area was...daunting. She knew full and well that racism went both ways, and that humanity had not always shown their best side.
It was things like this that she found herself fretting over, watching too closely over a cup of tea she had steeping, only to realize it had been a few minutes too long. Sighing, she threw the tea bag out and dumped in a copious amount of sugar, hoping to balance out the bitter strength. It sort-of worked. A knock on her door surprised her out of her thoughts and she carefully picked up her mug, taking a small sip as she made her way toward the front door. She peeked through the peep hole and, seeing a familiar face, smiled and opened it. "Hey Frisk, what's up?" The child beamed up at her and threw their arms around her waist in a tight hug, which she returned as best she could, patting their head with her one free hand. They began signing and she frowned, biting her lip as she tried to make out what they were saying. "Sorry, sorry, I've been learning ASL, but..." They paused, then took her hand and led them into the kitchen. "Do you...need something?" They nodded fervently, glancing around and, spying the labeled canisters setting on the counter, pointed to the one that said 'flour'. "Oh oh, gotcha! How much do you need?" They held up two fingers and mouthed what looked like the word 'cup', and Lena nodded quickly. She grabbed the lid off of the canister and measured out two cups of flour carefully, putting it into a zip-top bag. "Good enough?" They nodded and smiled up at her brightly, signing 'thank you' over and over again as they headed back out the door.
Unfortunately, they hadn't seen Sans meandering down the hallway, so they ran straight into him, fumbling backwards and landing on their behind.
"Woah there, kid, slow down. Where's the fire?" His eyelights flicked from Frisk to the bag and chuckled, seeming to understand. "Gotcha. Yer mom makin' pie again?" Frisk signed something to him, their hands a flurry of motion, and the skeleton's grin only widened. "Oh yeah? Sounds awesome, kiddo. Better hurry back." They nodded and got to their feet, grabbing the bag of flour and holding it close to their chest, then paused. A mischievous smile passed over their lips as they signed to Sans again.
Were you coming to visit Miss Lena?
Sans chuckled a bit at that, shaking his head. "Nah, gotta get outta here somehow, right?"
There's an exit right down the stairs by your apartment. Their grin widened and they breathlessly giggled as Sans made to grab them, one arm locking around their shoulders as he gently ruffled their hair, mussing it beyond recognition. Hearing the commotion, Lena peeked her head out her still open door and, seeing what it was, smiled.
"You're not picking on Frisk, are you?" she asked, and Sans feigned shock, releasing the child and pressing the back of his bony hand to his skull.
"How could you ever assume such a thing? I'm hurt." At her raised brow, he shrugged his shoulders, grinning widely. "Yeah, okay, but they were askin' for it." Frisk smiled up at her innocently and slowly backed away a few feet before bolting for the stairs, giving a wave over their shoulder at them.
"Be careful not to trip!" she called after them, and once they were out of sight, she sighed. "They'd better not get into any mischief with that flour. That's the last of what I had. I really need to go to the grocery store soon..."
"Nah, they said their mom needed it for somethin'," he drawled, glancing over at her and focusing a bit too hard on trying to see the faint glow from inside her chest. When he realized he was staring he quickly averted his gaze, cheekbones turning a pale blue. Thankfully, Lena didn't seem to notice.
"Oh yeah? I was going to ask her about tomorrow, if she needed any help... Oh! Do you know what I could bring tomorrow?" she suddenly asked, and he shrugged his shoulders. Her brows furrowed and she gave a small sigh. "Well you're certainly helpful, with answers like those." He laughed and kicked a slipper-covered foot at an uneven patch in the hallway tile, giving another small shrug.
"It's a party celebrating you moving in. Only thing I could see you needin' to bring is yourself." Well, that answer certainly made sense. But still.
"Yeah, but I'd feel guilty if I didn't do anything to help... Maybe I can cook something, or... Do you know if there's alcohol allowed?" He snorted, an amused glint in his eyesockets as he raised a brow at her.
"It's kinda your party, kid. You're a big girl. If you wanna drink, go for it." She rolled her eyes at him and turned back into her apartment, leaving the door open, and he found himself standing there wondering if he should follow or not.
"SANS!" If he'd had a heart, it would've jumped out of his throat. Papyrus suddenly strode up next to him, squatting down slightly to be a little closer to eye-level with his brother. "WHAT IS TAKING YOU SO LONG? HAVE YOU ASKED THE HUMAN LENA TO HAVE DINNER WITH US OR NOT?" Seeing the door open, Papyrus easily stepped into the apartment, ducking his head a little to fit through the doorway. "HUMAN! SINCE MY LAZYBONES BROTHER HAS FAILED TO DO SO, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU OVER FOR DINNER AGAIN!" When no answer came, he frowned, stepping a bit further into the apartment. "HUMAN? ARE YOU HERE?"
A thumping sound came from one of the back rooms, and Lena emerged, face slightly flushed, a thick envelope held tightly in her hand. "Oh! Papyrus! Hey!" She smoothed out her hair quickly and smiled, brushing dust from her shirt. Sans felt his soul lurch in his chest. "Sorry about that, I had to climb up into the closet to get to my savings...y'know, short people problems." Papyrus tilted his head slightly at that.
"NO, I DO NOT KNOW. I AM QUITE TALL." Sans snorted and shook his head, watching as Lena's face turned a bit more red, and her jaw clenched the slightest bit.
"Yeah, uh, I noticed. Anyway!" She pressed on, holding the envelope out. "I'm going to the store with this, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?" Papyrus nodded eagerly, spouting something about being low on spaghetti ingredients, and began to pull her out the door. She glanced at the shorter skeleton and raised a brow slightly, expression questioning. "You coming, Sans?"
"...huh. Yeah, guess I am," he said, his usual grin in place, but the highlights in his eyesockets looked just a little bit brighter. 'Just to keep an eye on Paps.'
"OH MY GOD, HOW ARE THERE SO MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF PASTA?!"
"Shhhhhhh, P-Papyrus!" The entire scene must have been pretty hilarious, Sans decided. His brother was picking up and touching each and every box of pasta they came across, almost lovingly, and the human was losing herself to a fit of helpless giggles. At first, he'd thought she was laughing at Papyrus, but the fond expression she gave him when he had thanked her so profusely for allowing him to join her in her "spaghetti ingredient shopping" just...made him feel like she wasn't.
"LOOK! BROTHER, LOOK, THESE ONES LOOK LIKE LITTLE BOWTIES!" the large skeleton all but squealed, and Sans couldn't help the wide grin that all but split his face as he nodded.
"Yep, they sure do, bro. Why not let-" He suddenly paused, unsure of what he was supposed to call her. He supposed he could call her 'human' as his brother did (afterall, she didn't seem to mind it too terribly), but she'd seemed a bit less happy with him calling her 'kid'. This thought process took less than a fraction of a second, no more than the smallest of pauses in his words. "-them finish their shopping?" It was so cheating, but whatever.
Papyrus looked slightly apologetic then, and Lena was quick to shake her head, abandoning her shopping cart for a moment as she took the box of bowtie pasta from him and dropped it into her cart. "I don't mind it. Tell you what, Papyrus... You can pick out a few special boxes, and I'll cook them for you guys sometime! Does that sound okay?" Sans was surprised by her sincerity, though not so much by the gasp and huge hug his brother suddenly gathered her in. It looked slightly painful; Papyrus was always an overly-enthusiastic hugger.
"THANK YOU, HUMAN! I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO TRY YOUR COOKING SOMETIME!" She smiled and pat his arm, and he carefully set her down so they could continue their shopping trip.
All was going well and smoothly until Papyrus accidentally bumped into a couple of Pyropes. "Oof- hey!"
"MY APOLOGIES, I WAS TALKING TO THE HUMAN AND WAS NOT LOOKING WHERE I WAS-"
"Hey, what're you doin' here?" one of the Pyrope sneered, flames flickering wildly as the two of them turned to glare at her. Lena's eyes widened slightly, obviously confused, and she glanced up at Papyrus.
"I...excuse me? I'm sorry, but I don't understand-"
"This town's for monsters!"
"Yeah, what're you doin' here? Here to cause trouble?" They hopped closer to her cart, and Papyrus stepped between them, frowning in concern between the Pyropes and Lena. "Why're you hangin' out with a human?!" they suddenly directed at Papyrus, who smiled.
"THE HUMAN IS MY FRIEND!"
"What?! Gross!" A small crowd had begun to gather now, curious onlookers, all monsters. Lena suddenly began to feel very small and very cornered. "She prolly couldn't manage to make any human friends, so she thinks she can make friends with monsters!" Sans saw her soul's aura flicker darkly, and he chuckled, taking one step and immediately flashing in between the Pyropes and their cart. "Wha-?!"
"Hey, c'mon, guys. Let's not get too hot headed, huh?" Papyrus groaned, though more quietly than normal as he noticed Lena stepping closer to him, her hand grasping his bony arm. "What's the matter with havin' a human for a friend?" he asked cooly, shrugging his shoulders a bit as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Wha- Seriously? You know how humans are!"
"Yeah, they hate monsters!"
Lena's hand twitched around Papyrus' arm, and her face pulled into a frown, like she wanted to say something, but she kept her mouth shut. Sans heaved a sigh.
"Lettin' your tempers flare up in public like this?" They ignored him and pressed on, the flames around their bodies growing higher and more intense with each passing second.
"Get outta here!"
"Yeah, make her get out!"
"Lemme tell you somethin' bucko..." Sans' voice was even and calm, but something about the way the Pyropes backed up made Lena think that he was a lot more intimidating than he sounded. "If you wanna be racist pricks, go ahead. I could care less. But if you're gonna call out my friend here then, well... You're gonna have a bad time." He took a single step forward and their flames all but fizzled out, and they very quickly hopped away from him. Likewise, the crowd dispersed quickly, and he stood there for a moment, his smile still perfectly in place. The lights, however, had completely vanished from his eyesockets, leaving them empty and dark. Lena frowned and stared at the smaller skeleton worriedly, only looking away when she felt a comforting hand pat her on the head.
"You do not need to worry so much, human. You should be smiling!" he said, far more quietly than his usual gusto, and it almost startled her. What was there to possibly smile about?
'Sans called me his friend...'
"Oh..." For some reason, she felt stupidly happy about that, and her lips curled up into a wide, bright smile. "You're right!"
"OF COURSE I AM RIGHT, FOR I AM..." he paused to strike a heroic pose, scarf fluttering like a cape in the nonexistant wind, "THE GREAT PAPYRUS! SANS, COME, THE HUMAN HAS TO FINISH HER SHOPPING!" Sans turned then, giving a small shrug of his shoulders and a nod. Noting the look on the human's face, he pulled his hood up quickly, his own grin growing a bit wider.
"Sure thing, bro."
"Y'sure you don't need to make more than one trip?" Sans drawled lazily, slouched as he dragged his feet behind the human who, currently, was obviously overloaded with grocery bags. She grunted and growled, struggling to keep her arms up under the weight.
"B-Brit always s-says...th-that more than one trip...is for...f-for pussies."
"Hmm... Well, we wouldn't want that. That'd be a clawful thing-"
"N-NOT helping!" He snickered and pulled his left hand out of his hoodie pocket, waving his finger idly through the air and grinning as Lena gasped loudly. The grocery bags suddenly began floating, all on their own, off of her arms and into her apartment. She stared amazed for a few moments before she turned to him with a slight pout. "I was so close, too!"
"And I hate having to work too hard. So it worked out purrfectly," he said, grin widening as he waited for the inevitable reaction.
"BROTHER, YOU ARE TERRIBLE!"
"Aw c'mon Paps, help meowt-"
"STOP IT!"
"If I stopped, it'd be a catastrope!"
"I CANNOT EVEN WITH YOU!"
Lena simply let the two of them bicker, smiling and rolling her eyes as she headed into her apartment to start putting things away. She'd ended up buying a lot more pasta than she really needed... But when Papyrus looked at her, and his eyes got all big (how even?) and he looked like a puppy begging, how could she say no? She couldn't. That was the problem. Sighing, she opened a cabinet and shoved the thirteen boxes of differently shaped noodles into it.
"HUMAAAAAN, HE WILL NOT STOP!" It was never going to not be amusing to see a seven to eight foot tall skeleton flop onto the carpet and whine like a small child...never. Sans was leaning against the doorframe snickering, the only phrase to describe his expression that came to mind was a 'shit eating grin'.
"Don't worry Paps, he can't keep going furever..." She poked her head out of the kitchen and glanced at the two brothers, trying to keep a smile from her face but failing miserably. Sans only took half a second before he realized the pun and snorted loudly, dissolving into wheezing laughter. Papyrus looked betrayed, and he buried his face in the carpet, groaning loudly into it.
"BROTHER, YOU HAVE RUINED THE HUMAN!" came his muffled voice, which only made Sans laugh even harder. "I QUIT! I AM GOING HOME TO WORK ON MY BATTLE STRATEGIES!" With this he got up and stormed huffily out of the apartment. After taking a moment to calm himself down, Sans stepped in, shuffling his slippers across the carpet.
"Gotta hand it to ya, that one was pretty good," he said, raising a browbone. "I thought you didn't like puns." She paused in putting away a box of cereal, her mouth screwing into a thoughtful frown, before she shrugged.
"I don't dislike them, per se... Brit just overloads me with them sometimes. Seriously. And they're not even good. Just... Awful." She shuddered as if the memory was horrifying, and Sans chuckled. "I tell her to stop, and she asks me if I'm going to...ugh... Punish...her if she doesn't." He had to admit, that one was pretty bad...but it was also one he used frequently himself. He chortled.
"Y' should tell her you're gonna place her punder arrest." The human snorted before she could stop herself, hands shooting up to cover her mouth, and she sent him a light glare. "Hey, you laughed. Point Sans."
"We're keeping score now? Who's winning?"
"Dunno..." He fought to keep the laugh from his voice as he continued. "If I say it's me are you gonna be a score loser?" She groaned and pushed playfully on his shoulder, which he immediately tensed against, but let it slide.
"Your brother was right, you are the worst. Making me sit here and listen to this while I have to put away groceries... Out! Out!" She shooed him out of her kitchen, to which he replied by lazily dragging his feet the entire way to the couch, plopping onto it unceremoniously. Without the distraction, he found his eyes wandering around the room, taking in all of the little subtle changes that had happened since they'd helped her move in. There wasn't much decoration, but there were a few picture frames up here and there. Most of them looked like her and her friend Brit, there were a couple with some other humans that looked like they may be her parents (but then again, a lot of humans tended to look a lot alike, so he could've been wrong). There was one of her with a green fire elemental monster, and he couldn't help but chuckle as he recognized her immediately. "Small world..."
He'd tried really fucking hard not to like the human. Past experiences with humans had left him with a biased opinion of them. There have been some that had done some awful things to them, personally. But something about this one, this one in particular... He didn't know what it was. Maybe it was because Frisk had taken to her so much, or because she was so kind to his brother. But he'd even said outloud, defending her, calling her his friend. 'Guess there's no turnin' back now, huh...' He sighed and leaned his head back against the back of the couch, letting his tired eyesockets close for a moment...a moment that, apparently, turned into several moments, because when he opened his eyes again, Lena had already finished putting the groceries away, and there was no sign of her anywhere. Just as he was about to get up and leave, though, she came around the corner, looking startled to see him awake.
"Oh! Sorry, I hope I didn't wake you." She sent him a sheepish smile, padding quietly across the livingroom carpet, holding two ceramic mugs. Once she got to the couch, she carefully climbed onto it, settling down with a small bounce before she held out one of the mugs toward him. He raised a brow but took it, looking into it to see a thick, red liquid. 'Nah, it couldn't be...' Hesitating only slightly, he took a small slip, and immediately felt a grin explode across his features. "Figured you'd prefer Heinz over hot chocolate," she mumbled, her own mug already raised to her lips which, he could barely see, were quirked up into a small smile.
"Heh, thanks, ki-" He cut himself off when her eyes narrowed at him a bit, and he chuckled, quickly busying himself with taking another drink. "Sorry, uh... Guess you wouldn't prefer to be called 'human', huh?"
"It feels more like a nickname when Papyrus says it, but when any other monsters say it..." she trailed off slightly, frowning. "Lena's okay. Y'know, the name I was born with?"
"Thought it was a nickname, too."
"Ooh, you remembered. I'm impressed!" He shrugged his shoulders languidly, draping one arm across the back of the couch while the other balanced his mug on his leg. "Would you like it if I called you 'skeleton'? Or 'monster'?" His eyesockets narrowed slightly at that, and he felt more than saw her flinch, if only the slightest bit. "Well?" He sighed.
"Point taken."
They sat in a small, comfortable silence, both sipping their respective drinks, listening to the sounds of life outside the apartment. After a while, Lena began turning where she sat, obviously searching for something, hands patting the cushions. Sans chuckled and raised a finger, his left eye faintly glowing a gentle cyan blue, and the remote came floating into view, right before the human's face. She smiled and grabbed it and turned on the television. "Impressive. Magic still completely mystifies me-" She cut herself off, eyes darting over to him and, seeing his grin, groans. "That was an accident."
"S'okay kid, mystics like that are sure to happen," he drawled, raising his browbones in amusement as she shoved lightly at his shoulder.
"Okay, I deserved that, I guess." She carefully leaned forward to set her hot chocolate on the coffee table, fiddling with her fingers for a moment. "Um... I wanted to say thank you, for earlier. You didn't have to tell those guys off." Sans can't help but notice how she says 'guys' instead of 'monsters'. "But, you did! So, um...thanks." He shifts uncomfortably, bringing his mug up to busy himself with. After a momet, he shrugs a shoulder awkwardly, his free hand coming up to scratch at the base of his skull.
"What're friends for?" he asked, and the question seemed to be louder than anything else in the entire room, because everything suddenly seems far too quiet afterward. He taps the tips of his bony phlanges on his kneecap, taking another hearty swig of ketchup from his mug.
"Yeah, you're right..." His eyelights glance over in her direction as her voice says the words softly, and he can't tell what's brighter: her smile, or her soul's aura.