[[ Hey guys, Brit here. Sorry about the amount of time it took to get this chapter done. Not to get too in-depth, but I'm gonna be staying at a hospital this weekend (4/29-5/01) and probably won't be allowed to have my computer with me to write. I've been struggling a bit, but it's nothin' worth mentioning. Anywho! This chapter is kinda lackluster, I know, and I apologize for that. But I'm already working on the next one to try and make up for it, along with the dry spell with no updates. Hopefully, here soon, things will get a little more back to normal, and updates will be more regular. Love you guys, and I hope you enjoy this chapter regardless! ]]
Dread. That was the only word that could accurately sum up exactly what she was feeling right in that moment. As Lena sat at her dining room table, envelopes stacked neatly on the surface in front of her, she hesitantly reached out and picked one up. The paper felt incredibly heavy in her hands despite its actual contents, and when she carefully tore open the envelope and unfolded the papers within, she felt a weight drop into the bottom of her stomach.
"Utility Late Charges"
She had already gotten her last paycheck from the school in Tristin, so now she found herself here, unemployed and with overdue bills. It wasn't as though she hadn't been searching for another job. But every single school in Tristin turned her down, not wanting to 'stir up trouble'. 'This can't be legal... But who do I even talk to about this?' She sighed, glancing at her resume notebook sitting across the table with a mournful look. It looked like her possible career as a teacher truly was over...and she was going to just have to get over it and move on with her life. But there was nothing else she'd ever wanted to do. She'd been only four months away from completing her teaching degree; as soon as she'd finished her internship at Tristin Elementary, she'd have been able to hold that diploma in her hand and start looking for schools to work for...
Sighing, she shoved a hand through her hair, feeling it tug and snag on a few tangles on the way through. It was frustrating, nearly infuriatingly so, that she'd have to spend however many years paying off a degree that she wasn't even allowed to finish. But what could she do? There was no sense in getting upset over it, since she couldn't change it. '"It is what it is," as Brit always says...' It was with that thought that she tossed the bill she'd currently had grasped in her hands onto the pile of similar documents resting on the table, pushing her chair back from the table and standing up to head into her bedroom. She grabbed her laptop and opened it, clicking on the internet browser as she carried it into the living room. Once the search query came up, she began typing.
"Job openings in Taobh"
As soon as she hit 'Search', there was a short knock on her door, and she only had about two seconds before it was opening, swinging inward as a familiar face peeked in. She relaxed when she saw the short skeleton, giving him a smile in greeting.
"Hey, mind if I chill out here? Paps and the kid are watching Mettaton specials." He grimaced slightly and she chuckled, nodding her head and patting the spot next to her on the couch. "Thanks, babe." The skeleton shuffled over to the couch and plopped down on the couch next to her, scooting closer and draping an arm around her shoulders. He leaned in and pressed a small toothy kiss to her cheek, grinning when it flushed a faint pink. After a few weeks, Sans had at least gotten more comfortable with her that he could show affection without getting all awkward...usually. She loved the times when he would get all flustered, cheekbones glowing that particular shade of azure that she loved so much.
She turned back to the laptop set on her thighs and started scrolling, frowning as she saw just how few her search had found. Finding a job would be harder than she thought... Sans leaned over and peeked at the screen curiously, raising a browbone.
"Job search..?" he asked, his cheek resting against her shoulder. "Can't ya just go to another school in Tristin?" She tensed slightly, and she prayed that he didn't notice. He did. "Can't ya?" he asked again, this time more pointedly. She sighed, tapping her fingertips against the laptop idly.
"...No." He made a small noise of questioning, and she continued. "I've called them all, and they uh...said that they didn't want to stir up any trouble by hiring me." She felt his bony hand squeeze her shoulder lightly and could hear him gritting his teeth, and she raised a hand to grasp at his, running her thumb along the back of it soothingly. "It's okay-"
"No it's not. Can they even do that?!"
"I don't know, but they have, and I can't do much about it... So I need to find a job for in the meantime." He seemed to think about this for a minute, frowning.
"...Why the sudden search?" Lena looked away, and he turned her by her shoulder to look at him, eyesockets narrowed slightly. "Babe?"
"I...got my last paycheck from Tristin Elementary a few weeks ago, and I'm behind on a few things financially."
"Y' can't get unemployment?"
"No... Not with me living in Taobh." He growled and leaned his skull back, glaring up at the ceiling. "It'll be okay, Sans. I'll just get a job and I'll be fine."
"How far behind are you?" he asked suddenly, glancing over at her, and she felt herself squirm under his gaze. After a moment of silence, he huffed a breath and withdrew his arm as he got up, striding over to the kitchen table and spreading out the papers she had laying there. Her face felt hot with embarrassment and shame as she watched his frown deepen with every passing second, and she raised her hands to cover her face. She heard him sigh heavily, and the sound of shuffling across the carpet, then there were bony arms wrapping around her shoulders in a hug.
"Why didn't ya say anythin'? Coulda helped you out," he mumbled, actually sounding a bit hurt, and Lena slowly lowered her hands away from her face, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"I didn't want to bother you guys..."
"Stubborn," he grumbled affectionately, nuzzling his nasal ridge against her cheek before pulling back. He had a thoughtful look on his face, eyelights sweeping across the apartment. "...This place is pretty big. And ya got two extra rooms..." She frowned slightly in confusion, and he sighed. "I know we haven't been a thing for long, but...what do ya think about Paps and I movin' in?" At the surprised look on her face, his cheeks flushed a faint blue, and he raised a hand to scratch at the back of his skull. "We'd have our own rooms, and with three of us, payin' for this place would be a lot easier." It was true, having roommates would make living there easier on her financially...but she felt the smallest bit of guilt worming its way into her brain. "Hey, cut that out," he said suddenly, and she blinked as he reached a hand out to comb through her hair. The feeling of his smooth, bony fingers scratching gently against her scalp was incredibly soothing, and she closed her eyes. "No feelin' guilty for nothin'. Paps won't mind, I want to, you need the help. It works out for all of us."
"Y-yeah, but...but what about your apartment?" Sans shrugged his shoulders.
"Not too attached to the place. And movin' won't be that big of a deal. I'd just have to go talk to Tori about it." At the mention of the queen, Lena frowned, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. "She knows about the whole job thing, babe. She's not mad at ya. If anythin', I'm sure she's prolly worried." This did little to soothe her, so he leaned forward to press a lingering, toothy kiss to her lips, feeling her tense for a half second before she relaxed. She breathed out a soft sigh against him, and a chuckle rumbled up from his chest. "C'mon, what do ya say?" he asked, pulling her away until she was at arm's length so that he could look at her. She bit her lip gently as she remained silent, then heaved out a sigh.
"Alright... But I'm taking care of all the chores, and I'll do the shopping, and-"
"Babe, you really think Paps is gonna let you do that?" She slumped her shoulders in defeat and he grinned, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. "I'll go tell Paps we're movin', and we can start gettin' things together. Tori's at work, so we'll have to talk to her later about it." She gave a small nod and he pulled his hand from her hair, to which she only gave a small whine. 'That was pretty cute...'
"Then...if you're gonna do that, I'll get the place clean." Sans glanced around with a brow raised, about to point out that it was perfectly clean, but the small huff and the way she crossed her arms kept him from it. He shrugged and gave a small grunt of agreement, grinning as he leaned down to give her another quick kiss before he suddenly fell through the floor, a doorway opened up beneath his feet. She shook her head and smiled a bit, watching as the doorway slowly closed until it disappeared. That would be something she'd have to get used to if he was going to be living there.
...Living together, huh? A part of her worried, but another, larger part fluttered with a faint excitement. This was like a new adventure, and she could hardly wait for it to start.
She wouldn't have to wait very long, as it turned out. Lena had hardly had the time to get up from the couch before her front door burst open and Papyrus stood there, Frisk tucked under one arm like a football while he held Sans cradled in his other arm. It was, all in all, a very endearing sight, and the woman couldn't help but coo at the three of them standing in her doorway. "HUMAN! I DO NOT WANT YOU TO BE ALARMED, BUT MY BROTHER AND I HAVE COME TO THE DECISION THAT WE ARE GOING TO MOVE OUT OF OUR APARTMENT! AND, AS IT TURNS OUT, WE WILL ACTUALLY BE MOVING INTO THE GUEST ROOMS HERE IN SCENIC YOUR APARTMENT!" he announced, quite loudly, and even though she'd already been well aware, she couldn't help but act slightly surprised.
"Oh? Well, I guess I'm alright with that. Make yourself at home!" Papyrus gave a hearty "nyeh heh heh" and strode into the apartment, dumping both Sans and Frisk on the couch before pulling the human into a very strong (and very bony) hug.
"FEAR NOT, HUMAN, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL PUT ALL OF YOUR WORRIES TO REST... YES, I WILL BE MAKING YOU SPAGHETTI FOR DINNER!" As if that was her biggest worry. But she smiled brightly, his eagerness and sureness making her feel just a little bit more at ease. She gave him a big nod, and he laughed, reaching a hand up to pat her on the head. She considered herself a bigger girl, but she felt rather small with his large skeletal hand patting her as if she were a small child. "GOOD. NOW, SANS, WAKE UP! WE WILL BEGIN MOVING OUR THINGS IMMEDIATELY!" The shorter skeleton was laying upside down on the sofa, a slipper hanging just by the edge of his toes. His jaw opened wide in a large yawn and he gave his brother a half-lidded, sleepy glance.
"Sure thing, bro. Y' got a problem with me openin' a doorway to make it easier?" Papyrus seemed to ponder this for a moment and, after a while, nodded, to which Sans gave a tired grin. "Sweet."
Lena had never seen anyone move things so quickly. Sure, the skeleton brothers hadn't lived that far away to begin with, but you would think that moving furniture would have been at least somewhat difficult. That, as it turned out, wasn't true, as Papyrus walked up the stairs carrying his race car bed on one shoulder. She'd have to ask him later how on earth he got to be so strong. Sans, though much more sluggish with his movements, had cut a doorway straight between their living rooms, and she watched as box after box began to float through it and landing in a neat stack on the floor. After a dozen or so flew through, Sans stepped in after them with the last box tucked under his arm, a lazy grin spread across his face.
"You'd put dozens of moving companies out of business with your skills," she mumbled, glancing at all of the boxes and then at him. "...You're sure you're okay with this?" Her voice sounded awfully uncertain, surprising even herself, and Sans heaved a sigh. Lena bit her lip. 'He must be getting tired of having to reassure me all the time. He's going to end up getting tired of a lot of things. He's gonna-' Her thoughts were interrupted by a smooth, bony hand suddenly slipping around the back of her neck, pulling her down for a kiss.
"I'm sure. Papyrus nearly exploded he was so excited... Ain't that right, kid?" They turned and saw Frisk still sitting on the couch, and the child's hair flew as they nodded. "There, ya see? It's fine. Everything's fine." She allowed herself to relax, just a bit, and when she saw that he was watching her expression, she pulled on a smile and nodded. "Good. Now... I think we can talk to Tori tomorrow. She's gonna be kinda cranky from the meeting." A breathless giggling came from the couch, and Sans gave a wide grin in Frisk's direction. "Am I wrong?" The child immediately shook their head which, obviously, Sans hadn't expected, because he gave a loud snort of ill-concealed laughter. "'kay then, glad we can angry on something. How about lunch?"
"I WILL MAKE LUNCH FOR ALL OF US!" Papyrus suddenly interjected, suddenly appearing back into the room. His appearances were not at all like Sans', which were quieter, more subtle. No, Papyrus' appearances into a room were often very sudden, very loud, and very energized...much like Papyrus himself. The lanky skeleton began heading into the kitchen when a big wad of guilt suddenly coiled tightly in the pit of Lena's stomach, and she quickly stepped between him and the entryway to the kitchen.
"No." The room went quiet at her sudden refusal, and Papyrus looked down at her, confusion written plainly across his skull. "I um... Until I'm able to help financially... I want to do all the chores and cooking...except for our weekly spaghetti nights," she included, because hearing that he wasn't allowed to cook had Papyrus' shoulders slumping, and she didn't want to disappoint him. That was the worst thing a person could do, she decided. The brightness of his smile was blinding, and she immediately felt better.
"VERY WELL, HUMAN. I WILL PREPARE THE MEAL FOR OUR WEEKLY PASTA GATHERINGS, AND WHENEVER YOU ARE NOT PRESENT TO COOK. UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, THIS IS THE HUMAN LENA'S KITCHEN! I SHALL RESPECT YOUR RULES THEREIN!" He stated it all so matter-of-factly despite how ridiculously it was said that she was torn between agreement and laughter. Caught somewhere in between the two, she nodded with a small giggle, unable to help the smile spreading across her lips. "GOOD. NOW, IF THAT IS DONE AND OVER WITH, HUMAN, WOULD YOU MIND MAKING LUNCH-"
The front door suddenly burst open, and Sans only looked mildly surprised for a split second as he turned toward the loud noise, jaw clenched subtly before he saw who it was. "Sup, nerds?!" Undyne stood there, one hand on the doorknob, the other hanging onto something just outside the doorframe. Still recovering from the startle, Lena held a hand to her chest, trying to calm her racing heart.
"Oh, h-hey Undyne! I didn't know you were coming by-"
"OH FIDDLESTICKS!"
"I think ya mean fishsticks bro-"
"UNDYNE!" Papyrus interrupted his brother's pun, sending him a small frown before turning to his friend with a giant grin. "I APOLOGIZE! I FORGOT ABOUT US GOING OUT TODAY. HER MAJESTY IS OUT ON BUSINESS AND I AM WATCHING FRISK FOR TODAY..." He sounded truly apologetic, and the fishwoman reached out with a webbed hand and clapped him on the shoulder with it. Hard.
"Hey, don't worry about it! Bringin' my bestie along oughta make it even better!" She moved her hands to her hips, completely unmoved as Frisk bounded off of the sofa and jumped onto her back, hanging onto her by their arms wrapped around her neck. "Ready to go, punk?!" They nodded eagerly, signing something that Lena missed, but it was obviously hilarious by the way that Undyne laughed. "Nah nah, don't worry about it. Alphys was wantin' to hang out with her today, anyway!" Suddenly a yellow eye was focused on her, and Lena tried not to feel nervous under its intense gaze. Something about the way that very eye had looked at her before, when there was the tip of a spear to her nose, had stuck with her. "You okay with that, nerd? Al was wantin' to talk to ya, spend some 'girl time'-"
"You mean gill time-"
"SO I FIGURED YOU WOULDN'T MIND! HERE YOU GO!" Undyne reached out into the hallway and pulled Alphys into the room, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead before grabbing Papyrus and practically slamming the door behind them. The three remaining in the room stood there for a moment, Lena in shock, Alphys a nervous wreck, and Sans only looking slightly put-off that nobody acknowledged his jokes. After a few moments of silence, the small yellow lizard monster wrung her claws anxiously, glancing between the two of them.
"I-I'm sorry if we, uh...i-if I interrupted any plans for the day-"
"Nah, don't worry 'bout it. We were just movin' in," Sans said easily, his cheekbones flushed the faintest shade of blue, and Lena frowned at him, confused, but he shrugged his shoulders so that the bottom half of his face was hidden more by the fur of his hood. "Welp, I better go make sure we didn't forget anythin' at the old place. I'll see you ladies later." Then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone, leaving the two women standing in her living room, unsure of what had just happened.
"Uh... Do you wanna watch a movie?"
As it turns out, offering to watch television was probably the best thing Lena could have ever come up with. It always amazed her when she saw Alphys get passionate about something. Inside of that exterior of awkwardness and shyness and nervousness, there was a monster with a passionate soul with lots of feelings for things. Who was she to judge if anime just happened to be one of those things? She had gone through a phase where all she ever did was watch anime, too.
As they sat on the couch snacking on popato chisps and soda, they were about half-way into a series Lena had never seen when she felt like speaking up. "So...how many panty-flashes are to be expected in this series? This is...what, ten, just in this episode alone?" she asked with a laugh, and that must have been what made the monster so sure that she wasn't upset about it. "If Brit were here, she'd be making so many lewd jokes...so many..." Alphys chuckled and tapped her claws against the glass bottle currently held in her grasp, staring with rapt attention at the screen.
"A-a lot. It's pretty ridiculous, actually...b-but what's a series without a little fan-service?" Lena bit back a snort and rolled her eyes.
"Well, there's fan-service, and then there's 'High School of the Dead'..." This prompted a snort and a giggle from Alphys, who quickly covered her mouth with a blush. "I mean, that was so geared and designed towards guys. Guns, zombies, and boobs? Come on!" The two shared a laugh, the air lightening between them, and Alphys set her bottle down on the coffee table.
"I never did understand human fascination with that." Lena sighed and shrugged her shoulders, popping another chip into her mouth as she thought.
"Well, humans put a lot more stock into physical appearances than monsters seem to. There's certain things that a person needs to have in order to be considered attractive...they're different for either gender. For women, big boobs just happens to be one of them." The monster raised a brow curiously, a thoughtful frown pulling at the corners of her mouth.
"Th-then you must be pretty uh...considered pretty attractive, huh?" Her yellow cheeks flushed a faint orange with her blush, and Lena felt her own cheeks warm, chuckling.
"Not at all. Being thin is also important for being 'attractive'," she said, raising her hands and curling her index and middle fingers in 'air quotes'. "And I'm obviously not, so...I'm not really." She gestured down to herself, her smile faltering only a little bit as she looked at herself.
"It d-doesn't make sense to us. A persons s-soul is more important, b-but...well, humans can't see souls normally, so maybe that's why you all seem to care more about physical traits..." Alphys murmured. With a short pause, she glanced over at the human, hesitation clear within her face as she tapped her claws idly together. "Do you...feel that way, too? Th-that looks are important?"
"No, not really. Sure, I still see people as attractive, but I don't think it's all that important. I'm more attracted to a person's personality." The yellow monster seemed to relax a bit at that, though for what reason, Lena wasn't sure.
"W-what things do you find attractive...?" Alphys asked quietly, and Lena didn't even need to think before she gave her response.
"A sense of humor. Definitely. I love people who can make me laugh, like Brit. She's always been good at making people laugh, and that's one of the things I love the most about her. And dedication, and passion, and loyalty. People who aren't afraid to show how they feel about the people they care about. ...But people who get a little flustered about expressing themselves isn't bad at all, either..." At some point, her general thoughts had turned to focus on a certain person, and she felt her cheeks warming the more she talked. After a moment she realized she was rambling and, when she looked up, Alphys was giving her a knowing smirk. "...What?"
"Oh, nothing... I-I just didn't know that we were talking about Sans." Lena flushed red and Alphys squealed quietly, claws raising to cover her mouth. "You guys are d-dating, right?" That...was a good question. Sure, they hadn't technically discussed or said it in words, but from the way he had been treating her since that night...it felt like they were dating. She bit her lip lightly and nodded, and she just knew that her face must be a bright red from how hot it felt. "So...h-how far have you two gone?"
"Wh-what?!" Her green eyes widened and she stiffened, feeling embarrassment wash over her. "W-we haven't..."
"Y-you mean you haven't bonded yet...?"
"B-bonded...?"
"Ah..." Now it was apparently Alphys' turn to look embarrassed, wringing her claws together. "It's uh... W-w-well... It's where you...uh... Y-you touch souls, a-and..." The monster's face turned a dark red and she covered her face with her claws.
"Touch souls...? Well, I-I mean, Sans has already touched mine-"
"H-he has?!" The outburst startled the human, and she waved her hands frantically in front of herself, suddenly feeling defensive.
"B-but it was a while ago! And...he only did it because I was curious..." Alphys frowned at this, and Lena raised a brow in question.
"I-If he touched your soul, then it wasn't just because he was c-curious. He wanted to... D-did he at least tell you wh-what it meant?" The human nodded, staring down at her lap and picking lint off of her pants. "Wh-what was it like...?" she suddenly asked, voice quiet, and Lena glanced over at her, surprised. Her face was then overcome by a warm smile, her embarrassment melting away into fondness as she thought back to that evening.
"It was...intense. I-I've never felt so safe in my entire life. Like this warm presence was wrapped all around me, like a blanket..." She averted her eyes, then, face warm as she chuckled. "I-it was kind of embarrassing, the way he was staring at it...my soul, I mean. I've never seen his face look like that..." A soft sound to her right pulled her attention from her thoughts, and Lena raised her brows curiously at the expression of awe on the stout monster's face. "...What?"
"Oh...m-my god..." she whispered, her eyes practically sparkling. "I ship it...s-soooo hard!" Confusion gave way to disbelief, then embarrassment, and Lena groaned, covering her burning face with her hands.
"Oh my god, please, not you too-"
"B-but you two are so adorable! I-I can't believe you two haven't bonded yet... I-I mean, you both seem really close..." Feeling her curiosity peak, Lena peeked out from behind her hands.
"Is bonding like...the monster equivalent to sex or something...?" Alphys spluttered, gesturing blindly with her claws as she stammered out random sentence fragments, nothing at all coherent.
"I, erm- w-well, it- I-I mean, ehhh..." Taking a deep, calming breath, she gave a shaky sigh, tapping her claw tips against her knees. "It...is a lot more magic-related... S-since monsters are made up of mostly magic, w-we're intimate mostly through our souls... Th-that's something humans can't really do, s-so-" The monster cut herself off at the crestfallen expression on Lena's face. "I mean! Uh, h-humans can, it's just um...m-more difficult?" After a moment of floudering about, she sighed heavily, touching a claw to her cheek. "I-I'm sorry..."
"No, it's...it's okay. It's only natural that humans couldn't do that sort of thing..." she said, smiling despite the heaviness in her chest at those words. She'd never be able to do for Sans what another monster could, and...that thought was a little saddening.
"If...uh, i-if you don't mind me asking...h-how do humans...?" Ah...so she was going to have the sex talk with a monster. This definitely wasn't how she was planning her day. Sighing, Lena raised a hand to rub at her reddened cheeks, as if doing so would willfully force the blush to fade.
"W-well...we, uh... Our bodies are sensitive in certain places, and...b-basically, we 'bond' over mutual pleasure... Sex is considered the most intimate act that humans can do. ...w-well, to most humans, anyway, that's what they think."
"Y-you don't think th-that way...?"
"It's... I mean, uh... I-I don't know. It's not like I have much experience exactly..." The human glanced over and could see the gears turning inside Alphys' head, and she'd be lying if it didn't make her nervous.
"...I-I wonder how bonding would work with a human and a monster. There haven't been t-too many pairs like that, so...v-very little is known about it..."
Sans had come back well over five minutes ago, but he just couldn't bring himself to come out of his hiding place. Not yet. His hood was pulled up over his head, the strings pulled taut so that the hood's opening was as small as possible, concealing most of his azure-flushed skull. Why was he standing, huddled and hiding in the kitchen with his face aglow with a blue blush, one might ask? Maybe the fact that she had described many of his own personality traits when she was talking about what she considered 'attractive'. That certainly didn't hurt. His soul had fluttered happily as he heard her talk, that fond tone in her voice that he knew she got when she talked about something she really cared about. 'Talking about me like that...' It'd made him gain a giddy grin, which he'd immediately hunched his shoulders to hide. He'd thought about leaving the kitchen right then, catching her talking about him, maybe embarrassing her a little. She was always so adorable when she was embarrassed, the way her freckled cheekbones lit up so prettily with red, her nose scrunching up in that cute way he loved.
But then they were talking about other things, and suddenly he felt himself squirming as he stood, embarrassment overwhelming him, and he suddenly wished he hadn't decided to be nosy and hide to overhear their conversation. She told her. Alphys knew now that he'd touched her soul in a moment of weakness, and god, he felt his sins crawling on his back...because if Alphys knew, that meant that, soon enough, Undyne would know. If Undyne knew, then he'd never hear the end of it. He groaned inwardly and raised his hands to grip the sides of his skull, hidden within his hood. That wasn't even the part that had him the most flustered, either. No.
It was the mention of bonding.
Just the mention of it alone had his soul hammering wildly within his chest, filling his bones with a buzzing energetic surge of magic that left him craving something he knew little about. He hadn't missed the way her voice fell when Alphys said it wasn't possible. That meant that she had to be thinking about it, too, right? That's what he told himself, anyway, as he fisted a hand into the fabric resting over his chest, trying to will himself to calm down. They'd only been dating...what, a few weeks? There was no way he should be thinking about this right now...
As Alphys went into another tirade about how adorable of a couple he and the human were, he cut a hole through space just under his feet, falling through the Void and out of Lena's kitchen as he fell, none so gracefully, into what was no more his bedroom.
Maybe a little time to think would help.