Toriel's dream that night existed in stark contrast to the wonderful experiences of earlier. Not because it was as horrific and traumatizing as the other visions she'd endured, but because of how Sans himself was in it, and could not be further from the joy she'd seen from him. Indeed, the Sans she met in this dream was almost a completely different monster entirely.

It had started off as expected, with Toriel finding herself back in the Ruins. That was the problem with many of her memories she supposed, a great deal of them took place in the same place, making the process of experiencing them as tired and repetitive as her original time there. She came to awareness sitting in her old room, on her old bed, and was immediately hit with an intense wave of emotion. It was disorienting to be dropped into, but eventually she was able to understand that her physical self was weeping, the tears silently rolling into the fur on her face. The pain, shame and despairing loneliness gripping her soul was all too familiar and all too terrible to have to endure again, even in this way.

But there was a fresh edge to the pain this time, and that took the Toriel inside off guard. Usually it had been a dull, manageable ache that followed her indefinitely. But this time it was flared up so intensely, that she wondered if this memory took place shortly after she first arrived in the Ruins. That thought was promptly dashed though, when her physical self glanced over at a particularly striking sight. On the wall, a grand set of royal robes was hanging. They were deep purple with white ornate patterns, an intensely detailed, beautiful depiction of the Delta Rune and a darker purple cape to go along with them. They were all haphazardly hung up in a manner that did not suit their importance, as though she had simply slung them up there like any ordinary article of clothing. The Toriel inside recognized these robes as the ones she once wore during her days as Queen, and the sight of them here in the Ruins immediately triggered questions to begin flooding her.

She knew for a fact she had left behind her robes when she left with Chara's body on that truly awful day, instead opting for a simpler dress instead. The fancy clothing had hardly escaped being burned in her fury, just as her crown had been smashed against the floor into several glittery golden pieces in the midst of her fight with Asgore. For her old royal robes to be here in the Ruins… just what sort of timeline was this memory from?

She was jolted from those thoughts as her physical self slowly got up from the bed, moving so sluggishly it was though she weighed a thousand pounds.

"It is about that time…" She heard her own thoughts echo in her head, despairing but with the slightest tinge of hope. "Will he come today... Even now…?"

Her gaze was directed towards her small desk as she turned, resting on her diary in particular for a few moments. The reason as to why clicked quickly and the Toriel inside felt a rush of confused emotions, tinged with an odd bit of excitement. She had never seen Sans in one of these memories, the very reason she was reliving them in the first place. To be able to see him in a new context did bring her some fascination, though it was quickly giving way to dread. Her returned memories did not usually show her anything mundane or happy, more inclined to bring to her visions of the painful, impactful moments she'd lost. And based on how tearful and truly miserable this past version of herself was, this one would likely be no different.

She walked slowly through the house towards the stairs and the Toriel inside noticed how dusty everything was, as though she had been absent from it for some time, or had been so very dispirited she hadn't bothered to even try tidying up. That was not like her, even in her lowest times in the Ruins. All her chores upkeeping the place were some of the only things she had had to occupy her endless time alone there. The sight continued to unsettle her even as her dream self plunged into the darkness of the long hallway on the floor below, the hallway that led to the door, that door.

Her dream self took far longer than usual to get there, only allowing her internal self to grow more and more anxious, half expecting Flowey to appear any moment to attack or torment her. But he didn't, and eventually Toriel reached the door, staring up at it with eyes that grew tearful once more.

"What am I doing…?" She thought miserably, screwing her eyes shut. "He knows who I am now… He must have seen my disgrace… Surely he hates me just as much as everyone else now… He… He will not come back… I am being foolish..."

The thoughts met the Toriel observing all this with pain and confusion. Certainly the "he" in question was Sans… but in what other timeline did he learn of her identity? And what was this "disgrace" being mentioned? Then it hit her, and her mind flashed back to that night Sans had summoned out the GBs in her room. He had told her of such a timeline, a timeline where she had returned as Queen… only to be deposed by Undyne and the rest of the unhappy populace. A timeline where Papyrus was killed by Frisk. A timeline where…

Those thoughts, and the continually broken thoughts of her dream self were both halted abruptly when, as if on cue, there came two familiar knocks on the door. Though this time, they were softer than usual, not having the same jovial energy that Sans often displayed when he began the ritual. The dream Toriel lit up a bit with joy, having her previous woeful worries proven wrong in an instant. But the Toriel inside could only watch with increasing dread and sadness, knowing in part what was to come.

"Wh-who is there?' She managed to get out, going quickly to the door and kneeling before it to better listen for him.

There was a pause, a long pause, where all she could hear from the other side was silence. Then finally, his voice came, weary and weak.

"a herd…" He rasped, far too dully for any proper joke.

This time it was Toriel's turn to pause, clearly noticing his pained tone as well. When she spoke her reply, much of her sudden joy faded, and her tone withered to match his.

"A herd… who?"

More silence followed, and she could just hear the sound of him drawing in a shaky breath before finishing the truly pitiful excuse for a "joke."

"a herd you… you were back in the n-neighborhood." He croaked, voice beginning to shake a bit. "so i thought i'd c-come…"

He trailed off, abandoning whatever potential ending he was planning. Then came the sound of a light thud, perhaps as he fell to his knees in the snow. Toriel's soul spiked with concern, and she pressed closer to the door, trying to listen better. The Toriel inside understood that concern all too well. For her, it was almost normal to hear her dear skeleton's voice shake a bit when he was upset, for he was far less reserved about being openly upset nowadays. But back then… to hear that quaver in his voice, that sign of his despair, during a time when he was still in his withdrawn and impassive state…

"M-my friend? Are you alright?" She called through the door, her own sorrows forgotten for the moment.

There was no answer for a while again, and Toriel could feel something akin to panic begin to dig its claws into the soul of her dream self. When he finally did speak, it was in an even softer voice, one that could barely be heard through the door.

"hey, l-lady… or i guess i should call you your highness now, huh?" He said before pausing again and correcting himself. "or maybe… not."

Neither spoke for another few moments, the dream Toriel finding herself lost for words and Sans likely too caught up in his own sorrows to form any words effectively. For the Toriel observing, hearing that kind of pain in his voice again, after how happy he had been back in the waking world, it was truly harrowing. Enough so that both Toriels seemed to feel a similar acute pain at his next words.

"do you… think you could let me in?" He asked, tone carrying just the smallest hint of a plea, though one that was buried deep beneath hopelessness and wholeheartedly expecting rejection.

The request made the dream Toriel's soul seize up a bit, and her mind began racing. But before she could even think of something to say in return, he went on, still only just loud enough to hear.

"you don't have to, of course… i… just thought… maybe you'd want some c-company y'know? after what happened… and…"

He had to stop again, and she could hear the light sound of rattling coming from the other side. The Toriel observing knew very well what that meant, but this instance of herself seemed far more confused and concerned by the sound. It was only then that she realized that this Toriel still had not actually met Sans, despite this being a timeline where she had indeed left the Ruins to rule for a brief time. It only made the situation more painful to witness, seeing herself being so ignorant of all the things she now knew about Sans so well. If she had control at the moment, she would have thrown open that door and rushed to his side in a heartbeat. That frustration only cut her deeper, when the skeleton in question spoke up again.

"i… i don't really… have anywhere else to go now." He said, voice dull and more detached now. "my brother… he's…. he's gone."

The vaugeity of that statement was not allowed to linger long, and he told the first lie that he had mentioned to her all those nights ago.

"h-he left…" He amended quickly, voice catching a bit. "he left… and i don't think he's coming back."

The dream Toriel kept up her silence, eyes wide as she tried to sort out what he was saying. Meanwhile the Toriel observing only grew more frustrated with herself, wishing she would just say something already. Anything. Rather than leave poor Sans hanging on every word, probably growing more and more hopeless with each passing moment.

"i brought you some books from the librarby and s-stuff…" He went on, attempting and failing to try and lighten his tone. " i-i know you mentioned you were getting sick of reading all the same ones… so…"

It seemed that her continuing silence was indeed too much for him then, as he just uttered one last little "n-nevermind…" before likely getting up and turning away altogether.

But it was that awful resignation in his tone that finally snapped this instance of Toriel out of her confused, conflicted haze. She finally got up and, after only another moment's hesitation, placed both paws on the door and leaned her weight into it. It slowly opened with a low sort of creak, crunching lightly as it scraped through the snow on the other side. At first, the dream Toriel did not see her friend at all, looking right over him by instinct. If the Toriel inside could have slapped herself, she would have. Hard. After a moment of confusion and concern though, she finally looked down at him and both Toriels took in the sorry sight of the small skeleton before them.

It was so very jarring to see that intense look of despair in his eyelights again, eyelights that were only barely lit and reflected little more than emptiness beyond that from within the shadows of his hood. There was though, the tiniest hint of relief and happiness at her appearance there, just enough to be noticed. Beyond that, he was dressed in his usual blue hoodie and dragging what looked to be a large pillowcase stuffed with his belongings and the promised books behind him. But the thing that struck the Toriel watching all this the most, was the fact he was wearing a bright red scarf loosely around his neck. A scarf that she recognized immediately, and she felt the true weight of the fact it was on Sans rather than its true owner. Her soul ached terribly in that moment, but there was nothing she could do but stare from within a body she could not control. She gave her dream self credit, that she too had a passing thought that it looked somewhat oversized and clashing on him, but she didn't focus on it for long.

Just like their "official" first meeting during Frisk's battle with Asgore, there wasn't much shock on either of their faces as they looked at each other. For Sans that was much more understandable, but for Toriel it was a little less so. By the stars, had she really stared at him so openly like that? She sincerely hoped not. Unlike that other meeting though, after a few moments, Toriel's soul gave a sharp twist of varying emotions and she leaned down to hug the small skeleton tight in a act of impulse. He stiffened in surprise, but then relaxed again, as though expecting it in some way. And knowing what she did now about what he'd been through, he probably did. He did not return the hug, but leaned into her, just a bit. The feelings she could feel from his soul were so dull and detached that they were almost alien, at least compared to what she was now used to from him.

"Oh my friend." She croaked, squeezing him tight. "I… I am so very glad to meet you at last… I am so sorry that it had to be under these circumstances… F-forgive me for n-not answering you quicker, it is just... I have just been so..."

She drew a steadying breath before biting her lip with her fangs, trying to regain her usual composure. Both Toriels were surprised then he finally did reach up to weakly return the hug with one arm.

"its okay tori..." He rasped, absently.

Her dream self blinked at that, surprise shooting through her.

"How… do you know my name?" She asked, looking down at him.

Sans flinched a bit and backed up from her a step, regret faintly visible in his expression. But before he could offer any sort of defense though, Toriel seem to come to her own conclusion.

"Oh, right, right... Of course you know who I am now…" She said, laying a paw over her face briefly. "I apologize, I am… not really myself at the moment."

The tension in the skeleton's gaze eased at that , expression simply withering back into that empty look from before. The relief that was there was something only the Toriel inside could notice and understand, and it made her soul ache all over again. It was one thing to be told of how Sans had struggled to cope with his unimaginable situation, it was quite another to see it firsthand.

"no worries… i imagine getting exiled like that… wasn't much fun…" He said quietly, stepping back over to her again. "and i'm… not r-really myself right now either, heh."

Both Toriels felt sympathy and pain flood through them at those words, but one's was far more acute than the other's. Her dream self took the opportunity to give Sans another hug, more gentle this time. He didn't fight it, nor return it, simply slumped against her as though he were barely able to keep himself standing. The exhaustion she could feel from his soul was clear, but the rest of his emotions seemed to be tightly wound up within his core, leaving little more than dissociated apathy to show on the surface. It was certainly a far cry from the monster he was now, in their current world.

"I am so sorry… I know your brother means everything to you." Toriel said, reflecting on all the things he'd shared with her about the younger skeleton. "Whatever happened between you two. I… I hope it can be mended. You talked about him so much. I hope he returns in time, my friend, I implore you not to give up on that."

It seemed her words in any timeline were able to stir a little emotion out of that cold, distant soul of his. As a bit of pain welled up inside him, sharp enough to penetrate the apathy and be felt by her soul.

"y-yah... i… hope so too…" He rasped, with a small, nearly undetectable shudder.

Another short period of silence followed, where the dream Toriel continued to hug Sans close to her, and the Toriel inside could only take in the scene. How painful it was, to imagine the true implications of everything happening here. To see her dear skeleton reduced to something so lifeless, so broken. But the pain was dulled somewhat as her thoughts soldiered on. She could find comfort in the fact that the Sans she saw in this vision would not stay this empty shell of himself, and that she, in this timeline and their current one, would be there to help make that so.

"We can talk more inside if you would like…" Her dream self said gently, drawing her attention back to the situation at hand. "I should at least close the door before anyone... sees me outside."

With that, she released him and he stepped back a bit, looking up at her with a weary grin and a touch of sympathy in his eyelights.

"yah... probably." He said, slipping one hand into his jacket pocket and running the other slowly over the scarf around his neck. "so... i can stay?"

Toriel smiled sadly down at him, and it came with a touch of familiar warmth, a warmth that she could not possibly know the true weight of. Not until another, far happier, timeline came along at least.

"Of course you can, as long as you wish to." She assured him, scarlet eyes brightening with emotion. "And I thank you for it… truly."

With that, Sans quietly thanked her in turn and picked up his makeshift bag before the two of them began walking back into the Ruins. As the dream Toriel shut the door again, the one inside could already feel the signs of the vision ending, signs she was now rather accustomed to. The world around her began to blur, and her senses began to dull and fade. Before it vanished completely though, she caught one last exchange between this instance of herself and Sans, one that stirred her soul a bit as wakefulness slowly claimed her.

"You know my name now, my friend, may I now ask yours?" Her own echoey, distant voice asked.

"its sans." Replied the voice of the one she loved. "sans the skeleton."

The dream ended then, and she was slowly eased back into the real world. She groaned softly, as she was immediately beset by one of those damned headaches, only worsened by the too bright sunlight shining into her face from the window. It made her head throb with an odd sort of pulse, along with the sensation that something was tearing at the edges of her mind. It likely wasn't anywhere near that serious, but it certainly felt like it. The faintest flickers of images also came with the spikes of pain, but they were too faint and flashed by too quickly for her to grasp any of them. She attempted to bring her paws up to massage her temples, but found they were still wrapped snugly around her bed's other occupant. She wished more than anything she could direct her thoughts towards the occupant in question, but the intense pain demanded all her attention at the moment, blocking out everything else. She simply pressed her face hard into her pillows, another light groan escaping her.

The soft noises she was making and all her shifting about was enough to make Sans stir in her arms. Through the roaring in her ears that came with the waves of pain, she heard him mumble something in a confused, sleepy voice, and then felt him sit up a bit beside her. After a moment, his arms slipped gently around her head and his skull rested gently against it, just enough so she could feel it. He knew what was happening, the situation unfortunately not being a new one.

"i gotcha tori." He murmured in a soothing, sympathetic tone, running his phalanges gently through her fur and lightly kneading a few sore spots in particular. "just hang in there, it will be over soon."

He was speaking from their past experiences with this, as these awful headaches had only lasted a minute or so in the past. But there was the faintest flicker of nervousness in his voice, knowing that there was no guarantee that one wouldn't ravage her for longer than that, with as little as they knew about them. Thankfully though, this one did not prove to be an outlier, and began fading just as quickly as the others had. Only once the pain and flashes of images began to ebb away was she finally able to begin thinking with some form of clarity again. Recollections of what had just happened in her dream and the wonderful events of the previous night returned to her, slowly. Eventually, thoughts of the latter and the feeling of Sans' soul nearby helped reduce the aching in her head to a dull throbbing, one that was only irritating rather than painful.

She drew in a deep breath and gave her dear skeleton a squeeze, feeling her soul's warmth be steadily restored by his presence.

"I am alright now Sans, thank you…" She croaked, voice still a little thick from sleepiness and lingering disorientation.

His relief at that was palpable. And he surprised her then by, after a moment of hesitation, pressing another one of his bony "kisses" against her forehead in a meaningful nuzzle. That forced a smile back to her face, along with a soft blush. Oh stars, she was going to have to get used to that now wasn't she? It was an idea that brought her no shortage of joy.

"good…" He replied softly, voice carrying an echo of all the emotions carried over from the previous night. "hope your uh… "dream" wasn't too bad for ya this time…"

His voice prompted her to finally open her eyes as he scooted back down to his original position. She blinked drowsily against the harsh light again, only then truly realizing that it was morning. That was surprising to her, as usually her nightly visions woke her sometime in the dead of night. This one had carried her through to morning… or had taken longer to actually begin than usual. Honestly, she didn't really care to ponder on that too much, far more interested in the situation at hand.

"It was… not bad per say. Not as bad as usual at least." She assured him, finally able to meet his gaze again as her vision adjusted.

He looked back at her, gripping her paws lightly in his small hands. It struck her how happy and at ease he looked, especially in comparison to the vision she'd just endured. His eyelights were bright and focused, the dark shadows under his eye sockets had faded considerably and his smile was genuine and warm. Even the scar on his skull from his injury all that time ago had faded to the point it was nearly gone entirely, adding to the picture of improvement that he was. He could hardly look more different from the Sans in her dream, in all the best ways, and the sight only brightened her smile further.

"what did you see in this one?" He asked, as was becoming a ritual with these occurrences.

And in following with that ritual, she took a few moments to collect her thoughts on the matter, take a steadying breath and then began relaying the events of the memory returned to her. It was easier this time than with most of the others, not having to detail her own death or the death of others at least. But it was still painful to talk of how empty and despairing he'd been in her dream, and of the depths of her own sorrow back then as well. By the time she had finished, it was clear Sans knew exactly what timeline this memory had been from.

"heh, i was wondering if you'd see stuff from that one eventually." He said in a heavier tone, eyelights becoming a bit hazy with thought and recollection. "it was… definitely a rough one. but not the worst at least, thanks to you."

She smiled at that, and decided to let the subject be dropped for the moment, feeling that now was a time to be relishing in their new present, not reflecting on the pain of timelines past. It was to be a busy day for the two of them after all, but in a most wonderful way. Mirroring his actions from before, she leaned over to press a light kiss between his eye sockets, smiling when it summoned a bright flush of cyan to his face. Truly, he was still not used to such acts of personal affection, marked especially as they were with romantic intent. But there was nothing but giddy happiness behind all that blue magic seeping through his cheekbones.

"How did you sleep, my dear?" She asked, giving his hands a little squeeze.

His smile brightened and he gave one, joyous little chuckle.

"like a babybones." He quipped, the relief evident in his voice. "i had some dreams i guess, but they were just kinda weird, nothing at all like before. didn't wake up once."

It was a reassuring report, maybe not ideal since "weird" dreams were still not good dreams by her definition, but it was enough to make her return his smile. He yawned a few moments later, settling back against the pillow under his skull.

"part of me still can't help but feel that this must be a dream." He admitted, eyelights darting away for a moment as his blush flared up anew.

It was a sentiment she could understand, hardly believing that all of this had happened at long last herself. She ran her thumbs over his phalanges in a reassuring motion, encouraging him to meet her eyes again.

"I assure you, all of this is real." She replied warmly, before a bit of a more playful expression appeared on her face "Shall I prove it to you? I know quite a good technique for confirming such things in a pinch."

She ended the pun by lifting a paw and tapping two of her clawed fingers together in the respective motion. It brought the soft wheeze of laughter from him she had been hoping for, the sound practically making her soul sing.

"nah, it's okay." He replied once he could manage it, grinning and quirking a brow ridge at her. "but maybe… there's uh... a-another way you can prove to me that i'm not k-kiss-staken?"

He'd started off confidently, but by the end was all ablush and nervous again, sweat beading on his skull in a few spots. It didn't change the fact that it was a wonderfully clever comeback and she found herself succumbing to surprised giggles at his boldness.

"My, my. Getting greedy already, are you not?" She teased, lightly booping the tip of his nasal bone with a claw in a show of mock scolding. "Very well then."

She shifted closer, cupping his skull with a paw before pressing a kiss against his teeth, feeling the rapt reaction of both their souls as he pressed back into it and slipped an arm around her neck. It was enough to wake them both up a good deal more, as their magic continued its stirred swirling within their souls even when they eventually pulled apart again. During the kiss though, something occurred to her as she felt the warm pulses of magic from his soul meet her own. It brought back a specific memory in a flash, one she'd also feared had only been a dream.

"Oh! Sans, tell me… h-how are you feeling right now?" She asked excitedly, once they'd separated.

He blinked, eyelights still shimmering in their happy heart-shape for a few moments before shifting back to normal. His almost dreamy sort of grin stayed in place though and he tilted his head a bit at her question, curiously.

"uh... right now? pretty damn good i must admit, heh." He said, quite giddily.

That summoned another little giggle from her but she quickly shook her head.

"No no, I mean how are you feeling?" She said, stressing the last word.

He still looked confused, so she performed another CHECK to see if her observation from the previous night still held true. And indeed, she got the same wonderful result she did before, triggering another great leap of her soul at its significance.

"You should… CHECK your soul, my dear." She urged him, unable to keep her eyes from sparkling in barely contained excitement.

The request again was met with a puzzled look, but he eased himself up into a sitting position. She followed suit, sitting up beside him as he laid his hand against his chest and carefully drew out his soul. Perhaps it was only her imagination, but Toriel could have sworn it looked brighter than it had then when she'd last saw it. Given what Sans was quickly discovering though, it may have been a legitimate observation.

It was normal for a monster's HP to fluctuate over their lifetime, increasing and decreasing in response to mental, physical and emotional health. Most gained more and more naturally over their lifetimes, starting out low in childhood, peaking in adulthood and dwindling as they entered old age. But in Sans' case, with the way he was created, the unnatural weakness instilled in him from that, on top of all his inordinate suffering, nearly beyond comprehension in its severity… It had kept his already dismally low HP lingering there at the lowest possible single digit, as though holding up his soul by one string, hairline thin. And like an inverse of EXP, the more you lose HP, the harder it is to regain it. For his HP to rise at long last, by any amount… It was something truly remarkable.

Sans' eyelight shrank to pinpricks when the realization hit him, and the shock was so great it seemed that it even summoned the briefest colorful flash of his left eyelight for a moment.

"no way…" The skeleton breathed, in a voice barely audible, even to her sensitive ears.

For a moment that was all he could seem to say, then his smile widened, shaky and full of joyful disbelief. His hands started to tremble, the rest of him steadily following suit and causing his soul to lightly shake in his grasp as well.

"i-i… i have 3 hp…" He croaked out quietly, tears beginning to brim at the edges of his sockets. "i… i gained hp… it a-actually went up..."

He gave a overwhelmed, breathless little laugh, moving the soul to one hand as he covered his face with the other. The shivering increased, until he rattled audibly, but Toriel resisted saying or doing anything, knowing he needed this moment to himself. Eventually, he let the covering layer of phalanges fall enough to expose his eye sockets again after a few moments. Then he turned to look at Toriel, just as a tear spilled over and rolled down his cheekbone.

"wh-when... when did this…?"

Toriel smiled gently back at him, ensuring her reply was equally so when she spoke again.

"The last time I CHECKed you… It was that night you told me about the timeline from my dream actually." She said, shifting a little closer. "The night you summoned out GB in your sleep. It was still at one then… So… this must have happened quite recently."

He went quiet at that, taking in the implications as he stared intently at the soul in his grasp. Bright and trembling eyelights glowed within his watery sockets as his wobbly grin stretched further. Then with a sniffle and a few more shaky chuckles he guided it back into his chest. He seemed amazed and happy beyond words after that, and covered his face again as more unbidden tears came, tracing paths down over his euphoric smile. Part of her felt badly that she seemed to be making him cry so much recently, when he hardly ever did before, if ever. But she supposed if they were tears like this, tears of joy, then it was not something to worry over. And in the end, It was good for him too, no matter the emotion behind it, far better than suppressing them as he had before. In this situation especially, it was more than warranted. He should be free to feel all the joy it brought him, without any fear.

Reacting to that, and the elation she could feel coming from his soul, her own scarlet eyes teared up as well and she closed the small distance between them.

"Oh Sans…" She rasped, voice thick with emotion as she wrapped him in a hug. "I am so… so very happy for you, my dear."

He was glad to return the hug, nuzzling his face against her neck. His shivering calmed a bit in her embrace, but tears continued to fall into her fur. The rapt emotion continued to roll off of him in waves, warm and comforting like a soft summer breeze.

"this… this has never…" He croaked out after a moment, a bit of a chuckle to it and the smile clearly evident in his voice. "i haven't g-gained any hp s-since before all the r-resets started."

With that, he shifted and reached out to wrap his arms around her neck, giving her a tight hug.

"th-thank you toriel…" He all but sobbed, using her full name in an another rare moment and squeezing her tight. "i can't possibly thank you enough… i-i d-don't know what i could e-ever do to repay you for th-this..."

His words struck her soul hard, but in a way that was deeply moving rather than painful. She couldn't reply for a moment past the sudden lump in her throat, no doubt a result of her own tearfulness. It did give her a moment to think carefully about her response though. She squeezed him back tightly once she spoke again, eyes resting on the pot of vibrant forget-me-nots she'd given him, still resting on the side table from the night before.

"You are most welcome, my love." She crooned, matching his meaningful use of her name with a more meaningful, weighty one of her own.

Saying that brought a blush to her own face and she felt the surprised, flustered reaction from his soul at the same time. Once that passed though and it all eased back into familiar warmth she quickly refocused her thoughts again. As much his gratitude stirred her soul and brought her immense joy of her own, she couldn't let him think she was solely responsible for this, for it simply was not the case. That was the sentiment she let enter her words as she went on.

"I am so very happy to have been able to assist in your healing. But do give yourself credit as well." She insisted, rubbing a paw slowly down his back. "You were the one brave enough to take the steps you needed to start improving. I only gave you a listening ear and a push in the right direction. You were the one who chose to be honest with me, to trust in me, to share with me all that you did. And I am sure everyone else also played a role in all this as well, with all the little things they have done to support you. You are so very loved Sans, always remember that."

The words clearly meant alot to him, and briefly sent him into another somewhat overwhelmed silence as it all sank in. Toriel was happy to hold him through it all, until he felt confident enough to pull away again. While the hug lasted though, she relished in the feelings of joy that continued to radiate out from his soul, feelings that would have felt alien coming from him just a short time ago. She now had hope that, in time, these feelings would come as naturally to him as his aptitude towards wonderfully terrible puns.

Once they separated again, Sans rubbed his sockets dry with his sleeve and leaned against her side. He remained silent, but still with that shaky, utterly exuberant smile on his face. It was less manic though, more calm and comfortable. And once he had succeeded in mopping up any lingering moisture, he laid the hand he'd been using on his chest over the spot where his soul dwelled beneath. He gave the fabric of his undershirt there a squeeze and closed his sockets, long enough that Toriel began to wonder if he had fallen asleep like that. Once he shifted a bit again though, she decided it was okay then to break the silence, reaching to take his free hand in her paw to get his attention.

"I suppose we have more than one happy announcement to share with everyone, do we not?" She noted, scarlet eyes still sparkling a bit.

He squeezed the spot on his shirt again with a softer, but no less blissful chuckle and gave her a nod.

"looks that way, heh."

She gave his hand a squeeze, mind inevitably now drifting to the question of how what happened next was going to play out. It did make her nervous, admittedly, but the joyful emotion was too strong to let it manifest in any significant way.

"How would you like to do this?" She asked, voice sobering up just a bit.

Sans hummed thoughtfully, dropping his hand from his chest to tap his phalanges against the blankets in consideration.

"i kinda have an idea of how to get the news out there. about uh… us at least, heh." He said after a moment, smiling up at her with another briefly bright shine to his eyelights. "but i do think we should tell pap and the kiddo in person first. and i guess… the little weed too."

The mention of Flowey inevitably made his happy expression falter a bit, gaze drifting away from her in a small show of anxiety. He recovered quickly, but a touch of that same anxiety remained on Toriel's face as she recalled what had happened between her and Flowey the night before. It was something she had neglected to mention to Sans with the distraction of their relationship finally, well, coming into bloom, as it were. She gave his hand another, understanding squeeze but one that also asked for his attention again.

"Very well, before that though… I should tell you, about Flowey…" She began cautiously, not sure how he'd take the news.

He blinked, but turned to her to listen with a look that was encouraging. It certainly helped to see that, and she was able to smile again as she told him of the conversation she'd had with the flower monster, and what it had ended up leading to. When she got to mentioning that had agreed to call Flowey her child, essentially consenting to adopting him as her own the same way she'd adopted Frisk, Sans' eyelights shrank in surprise. But beyond the surprise, there was something else there too. Again, it looked to her like a mixture of pity and guilt with some nervousness mixed in. In that moment, she could tell he came close to telling her... something, he'd even tightened his grip on her paws briefly in some sort of anticipation. But eventually a resigned look crossed his features and he deflated.

"huh… no kidding?" He questioned, the surprise in his voice genuine. "that's uh… that's good i guess."

His confusion and unease about the idea was clear, but he did meet her gaze again with a more meaningful look, allowing his expression to soften.

"if anyone can help that little guy, it would be you tori." He assured her, shooting her a wink. "i'll uh… refrain from calling him "weed" then i guess, heh."

It was about as positive a reaction as she could have reasonably expected from him, and she appreciate it deeply. She offered a giggle at his last statement, and let her gratitude color her reply.

"Thank you, Sans." She said warmly, before giving him a heavier, more understanding look. "Do not worry about Flowey too much though. I chose to accept what he asked of me, and I will handle things with him. You certainly do not have to engage with him more because of this."

The assurance eased the bit of tension she could detect from him, and he let out a little sigh of relief, pressing up against her side more snugly in response. Still, his eyelights carried a certain weight to them, and she could tell he'd be thinking about the implications of this for a while. Even with her attempts to lessen the impact, It was simply something he would have to sort out for himself on how he'd choose to approach it.

"alright... i'll uh, keep that in mind." He said after a moment, offering up a thankfully more confident smile again.

A nod from her showed her acknowledgement, glad to know he respected her decision even if he likely wasn't too sure about it himself. She was happy then to direct the conversation to the situation at hand, giving a meaningful look at the door before giving him a bright smile.

"Are you ready then, my dear?" She asked.

As she had hoped, the hints of unease in his expression largely melted away at that, replaced with the wonderful happiness from before. Well, the unease regarding Flowey melted away at least, but unease of a different sort remained, and she felt his soul stir faster beside like an elevated heartbeat.

"yah, let's get this over with." He said with a hint of breathless nervousness, but still tinged with good humor as well.

She chuckled lightly at that, giving him a reassuring rub over the top of his skull. It was a gesture he seemed to enjoy, his sockets narrowing a bit in contentment. It was something she was sure to take note of, as she was making an effort to do with all the little quirks of her dear skeleton. She and Sans got up from the bed then, both mentally preparing themselves for the encounter they were about to endure. It would no doubt be… an intense one, but in the right ways she supposed. Sans pulled his hood over his head, likely in anticipation of using it to hide the worst of his inevitable embarrassed and flustered reactions from the others. After sharing one last nervous, but happy look, the two of them left the room in search of a certain other skeleton and human child.

It was mid morning, just a little past ten, and past the time Toriel usually got up to make breakfast for everyone on a weekend. That brought her a little guilt admittedly, but she figured once her child knew the reason she was late getting up, it would more than make up for it. Sure enough, they found everyone in the kitchen, sitting at the sizable table. Well, everyone except the dog, who was indeed still there, and was curled up at Papyrus' feet. The skeleton and human child were chatting in their unique back and forth, and Flowey was simply sitting in his pot, munching on what looked like a half eaten piece of toast. When they spotted Sans and Toriel coming in, the dog exploded up from the floor, wide awake in an instant, and rushed to greet them.

Both met the dog's excited greeting by giving him a subsequent pet whenever he jumped up on them. Sans quickly formed a bone with his magic and tossed it for the canine to catch, giving him something to distract himself with. The dog caught the bone with surprising gracefulness, then scurried under the table again to begin gnawing on it in private. As he did, Papyrus and Frisk got up from the table to greet them. Flowey did not pay them much mind, simply watching absently from the table as he chewed his bite of toast.

"GOOD MORNING YOU TWO!" Papyrus trilled in a sing-song voice, before tapping a gloved hand against his chin with a perplexed expression. "HOW PECULIAR THOUGH, YOU WOKE UP RATHER LATE TORIEL, AND SANS… YOU ARE UP EARLY! IS IT OPPOSITE DAY OR SOMETHING? I CAN NEVER KEEP UP WITH ALL THESE SURFACE HOLIDAYS."

Sans gave a somewhat nervous chuckle from beside her, already faltering a bit in his efforts to keep his cool. She decided she would take over for most of the talking in an effort to spare him.

"Good morning Papyrus, Frisk, Flowey." She said, looking to each of them in turn. "No, it is not a holiday, Things just… happened to work out that way. Sorry I was not up in time to make you all breakfast, but it looks as though you managed alright without me?"

Frisk nodded excitedly, drawing themself up a bit with pride before lifting their hands to sign to her.

(It's okay Mom, I made breakfast today! All by myself! I put yours and Sans' in the fridge.)

Toriel blinked in surprise and smiled down at them, kneeling down a bit to ruffle their soft brown hair.

"Oh really? Well how thoughtful of you, my child." She said, a proud sparkle in her eye.

Papyrus spoke up then, prompting her to look over at him as she continued to tousle Frisk's hair.

"IT IS TRUE TORIEL! THEY PREPARED GLORIOUS SLICES OF TOAST FOR THE ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD, WITH MY CAREFUL WATCHFUL EYE ONLY THERE LOOKING OUT FOR THEIR SAFETY. I AM SURE YOU WILL BE QUITE PLEASED WITH THEIR WORK, I FOUND MINE POSITIVELY DELECTABLE, ESPECIALLY WITH THE UNIQUE PASTA SAUCE TOPPING."

While the skeleton sung their praises, Frisk hurried over to Sans and gave his jacket a few playful tugs. He flinched for just a moment, grin looking a bit sheepish within his hood. But then he chuckled in response and gave their head a pat as well, only adding to the humorous mess their hair was becoming. Toriel could just make out what they signed up to Sans out of the edge of her vision.

(I put ketchup on yours Sans! I hope you like it.) They signed with a wide smile.

Sans' grin grew wider, seemingly happy for the brief distraction from what was to come, but still with a touch of tightness to his visibly nervous smile.

"heh, you know me too well don'tcha kiddo?" He replied, tucking his hands back into his pockets with a lazy wink. "thanks a ton, a uh…" He paused, his nerves seeming to rob him of the punchline for a moment. "a… uh…. oh, a skele-ton, heh."

He unusual hesitation with the joke was not lost on the child, who tilted their head a bit in confusion instead of laughing. The gesture also drew Papyrus' attention and Toriel's by extension. Soon everyone was looking at Sans, who was quickly becoming sweaty and pulling deeper into his hood.

"I SEE YOU ARE STILL ACTING WEIRD SANS." Papyrus noted, crossing his arms with a frown. "CARE TO FINALLY ENLIGHTEN US AS TO WHY?"

Sans shrank down further in lieu of his brother's question, the first hints of a blush adding to his already flustered expression.

"u-uh... w-well... pap, y'see its uh…" Sans stammered out, before looking up at Toriel with a plea for help in his eyelights.

She shot him a reassuring smile, wearing a slightly nervous expression on her own face as well. Then she stepped over to stand beside him, before taking a steadying breath. Somehow, she knew she'd be the one to deliver the news in the end. And she was mostly happy with that, even if she too was feeling rather frazzled about putting knowledge of their relationship out there. Before now it had all been secret, which had its own perks, but it couldn't remain that way and once everyone knew it would all be for the better. Still, putting this into words was proving far more difficult than she expected. She cleared her throat before speaking, willing her voice to be as collected as possible.

"We um… we have something to tell you all." She declared, drawing herself up a bit by instinct.

With that, all eyes in the room were on her. Even Flowey and the dog under the table were looking at her interest, both pausing mid chew. Toriel tapped her claws together in an anxious little motion, but managed a stronger smile as she went on, bolstered by the warmth still enveloping her soul. She just had to go for it, make it simple and to the point.

"I know you have been… wondering about our, um... relationship." She said, casting a meaningful glance down at Sans beside her.

He looked back up at her, nervous smile softening at the edges and eyelights shining a little brighter from under his hood. That sight summoned more confidence in her, chasing more of her own nervousness away. By now the stares from everyone were getting more intense, waiting with bated breath for what she'd say next. Her soul did one more anxious flip inside her. This was it.

"Well… I am sure you will be happy to hear that we have uh… decided to go through with it." She went on.

She met all their eyes whilst reaching out to gently take Sans' small hand into her paw. He was stiff and nervous as she did so, but he purposefully squeezed it back.

"Me and Sans are… dating now."

The words hung, and time seemed to stop momentarily as all eyes in the room widened. Then a second passed, then another, then the chaos finally erupted.

"OH WOWIE!" Papyrus exclaimed, briefly taking into the air with sockets that sparkled with manic excitement. "REALLY?! REALLY?! SANS IS IT REALLY TRUE?!"

The younger skeleton was practically vibrating all over and smiling so wide it looked like it could stretch right off his cheekbones. Beside him, Frisk was still staring in joyful shock, hands fumbling as they tried to find something to sign to communicate their feelings. The dog burst out from under the table again and just ran around barking joyfully, not understanding the situation but getting caught up in all the excitement.

"heh, yup…" Sans replied to his brother's question with a wink, gripping Toriel's paw a little tighter.

But the grip he had on her mattered not, as Papyrus simply couldn't help it seemed but pick up his brother and spin him around in a happy circle. He was easily able to lift the smaller skeleton above his his head as he twirled and bounced in place.

"NYEH HEH HEH! I AM SO HAPPY! I JUST KNEW YOU TWO WOULD SEE THE LIGHT EVENTUALLY! ESPECIALLY AFTER I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HELPED SUBTLY LEAD YOUR SOULS TOGETHER! OH HOW WONDERFUL!"

With the last three words, Papyrus brought his older brother in for a tight hug, squeezing him for all he was worth. Sans' eyelights swirled about in his sockets for a few moments before he was able to recover from the dizziness and smile back at his little brother. Though the smile was strained from the bone-crushing hug he was being subjected to.

"gl-glad you're happy bro." He croaked out, breathlessly. "i'm pretty st-stoked about it myself."

Only then did Papyrus loosen his grip a bit and turn to face Toriel, still holding the lightly gasping Sans in one arm.

"AND WOWIE! IT ONLY TOOK A WEEK OR SO AFTER I SPOKE TO YOU TORIEL! I GUESS MY INFLUENCE WAS EVEN STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT!"

Toriel gave a soft giggle at that, eyeing Sans sympathetically before smiling back at Papyrus. He had a point. With how she had talked about the possibility of a relationship between her and his brother, she had made it seem like something that would take far longer than it did to manifest. That thought made her smile turn a bit sheepish as she replied.

"Eheheh… I guess so, my friend. I thank you for that."

Her attention was then drawn downwards by a tugging on her dress, and she turned to see an excited Frisk bouncing in place beside her. Once her eyes were on them, their hands started forming words in a frenzy.

(I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!) They signed, brown eyes sparkling. (Have you kissed yet? Can Sans kiss you? Did he ask you out with a pun? Did you ask him out with a pun?)

"Easy now, my child." She giggled, hardly able to keep up with their movements. "One question at a time."

She managed to answer a few things they asked. Most of it was a bit too embarrassing to admit too just yet, but she may have let slip that they had kissed already. Not intentionally, but the way their eyes lit up even more made it clear she may have been a bit too open due to her nervousness. Before that could be addressed further though, she was suddenly swept up in another Papyrus hug, the impact of which knocked the breath from her lungs. She and Sans were both included in the hug this time, purposely squished together in Papyrus' embrace before he released them and stepped back, leaving them both a little dazed.

"AH LOOK AT YOU BOTH, POSITIVELY GLOWING! JUST LIKE I KNEW YOU WOULD BE!" Papyrus gushed, dramatics on full display.

Frankly, Toriel felt more like she was paling then glowing, what with all the air she was now trying to reclaim into her lungs. But she recovered after a moment and instinctively hooked an arm around Sans to help ensure he stayed steady. It occurred to her then that she had no reason to hide such shows of affection anymore and it was a thought that made her smile. But she didn't have much time to dwell on that before Papyrus moved again in front of her, drawing her attention. He whipped out his phone dramatically from somewhere he'd stashed it inside his battle body, pulling off one of his gloves and poising one phalange over the the screen.

"OH WE MUST CELEBRATE!" He exclaimed, beginning to type something. "WE MUST...WE MUST… TELL EVERYONE! THEY WILL BE SO HAPPY!"

Before he could finish whatever it was he was typing though, the phone was abruptly levitated out of the skeleton's grasp, wreathed in a pale blue magical aura.

"wait, uh, hold on there bro." Sans said quickly, stepping over towards Papyrus and continuing to keep his phone out of reach. "i'll uh… i have an idea on how to handle that part."

The younger skeleton frowned momentarily but then relented with a huff and indicated Sans could give his phone back without worry. He did so, but before he could walk back over to Toriel, Papyrus spoke up again, stopping him.

"WAIT A MOMENT…" The younger skeleton said, tapping his freshly re-gloved hand against his chin. "BROTHER, IS THIS WHY YOU WERE ACTING SO ODD YESTERDAY?"

Sans' grin turned rather sheepish again at that and he rubbed the back of his skull as a light dusting of cyan colored his cheekbones.

"heh, you uh… nailed it there bro."

Papyrus' eyelights sparkled brightly again briefly, but he attempted to quickly compose before going on, wanting to hold on to some amount of righteous indignation. He turned and pointed an accusing gloved hand at Toriel this time.

"AND YOU! THIS IS WHY YOU WERE SO CHIPPER EVEN AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WITH UNDYNE AND ASGORE!

She mirrored Sans' sheepish smile, lightly scratching at her cheek as it warmed under her fur.

"Guilty…" She replied simply.

Papyrus threw up this hands in a mixture of frustration and still overwhelming excitement.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! WHY WOULD YOU WAIT TO TELL US?! WE WERE WORRIED SICK!" He exclaimed, gesturing dramatically at himself and Frisk.

Toriel's smile legitimately faltered somewhat at that, feeling a true sting of guilt for letting their worries over them get so bad because of all this.

"I apologize for that you two, we… just needed to ensure some things before we let you know." She said sincerely, unable to stop her smile from returning though as she looked back over at Sans. "This all came about quite… suddenly."

Sans gave a nervous, but no less warm chuckle at that, clearly thinking about the exact "sudden" event in particular. Then he cleared his metaphorical throat and faced his brother and Frisk with a more sober expression.

"and uh... that's not the only thing we gotta tell you." He said, eyelights shimmering brightly within their sockets.

Papyrus eyed his older brother with confusion. Frisk let out an audible gasp instantly, covering their mouth briefly with their hands before signing furiously.

(Oh my gosh, I've seen this on tv before... is Mom pregnant?)

Sans made a sound like he was choking, flushing a deep blue again. Toriel could only gape at her child's question, momentarily struck utterly speechless. For the skeleton, it seemed the opposite was true.

"what?!" Sans gasped, eyelights briefly going out entirely. "no, no no no, geez kid. nothing like that." He stammered out quickly, flailing his hands a bit, before covering his face with one of them in exasperation.

"sheesh… we need to put more parental controls on the ol tube." He muttered, in a quieter tone.

At that notion, Toriel snapped out of her stupor and gave Frisk one of her signature "mom looks", crossing her arms as she did so. It was all that was needed, and it was now Frisk's turn offer an apologetic smile and sign a meek little (Sorry) before giving Sans their attention again. Toriel opened her mouth to say more, but then let it shut again, conceding that she could wait for another time to give her child a more firm talking to. After all, she didn't want to dissuade Sans from sharing his own special bit of news. All eyes returned to the skeleton as the awkwardness of the moment faded, looking at him expectantly. Even the dog, who had finally stopped his excited running about and barking to sit at Papyrus' feet.

Once Sans had regained composure he again faced them with an air of seriousness, but one still clearly driven by joy. His gaze fell on Papyrus most notably before speaking.

"pap, you should uh... give my soul a check." He said, taking a step over to his brother and putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "trust me on this."

Papyrus eyed him warily, narrowing his sockets a bit and looking a little conflicted.

"I KNOW THIS IS GOING TO BE A PRANK SANS." He said, crossing his arms. "AS HAPPY AS I AM FOR YOU, I DO NOT WISH TO HAVE THIS LOVELY MOMENT SPOILED BY YOUR IMMATURE JOKES."

Sans gave a light chuckle in response to that, but then shook his head with the same air of seriousness. He met his brother's gaze again and Toriel could see the joyful sparkle return to his eyelights.

"no pap, really. just do it… you uh… you'll be glad you did." He insisted, and his warm, genuine smile seemed to win over Papyrus' reservations.

The skeleton kept a bit of a suspicious look on his face, but then did as he was told, performing a CHECK on his brother. It took a moment for him to realize what was different, but as he did, his sockets widened and his jaw fell open in shock. Usually Papyrus reacted to things with boundless exuberance and excitement. But in this case, the implications and impact of what he was seeing was so overwhelming, that even he was left frozen for a bit as he took it in.

Beside him, Frisk inevitably did the same and performed a CHECK on Sans as well. They let out another sharp gasp and covered their mouth again, the weight of what they were seeing not lost to them either. Tears began to fill their soft brown eyes, and their already elated expression was furthered by the sight. But they too made no move to sign anything, instead looking up at Papyrus expectantly. The skeleton in question, finally managed to find his voice.

"SANS… YOU… YOUR…" He croaked, sockets rapidly filling and spilling over with tears as he broke from his stupor.

Then, in a flash, Papyrus had rushed over and scooped up his brother in another hug. There wasn't any spinning or bouncing this time, just Papyrus holding his older brother tight for all he was worth.

"OH BROTHER! Y-YOUR HP HAS FINALLY GONE UP!" He cried, voice thick from all the joyful tears. "I TOLD YOU YOU COULD DO IT! I KNEW IT COULD GET BETTER IF YOU TRIED! AND YOU HAVE! YOU REALLY REALLY HAVE!"

He sniffed loudly and held Sans out at arm's length in order to meet his gaze, though Toriel doubted the poor dear could see much through all the tears still flooding down his face.

"THIS IS… TRULY THE H-HAPPIEST, BEST D-DAY EVER..." He said with a sincerity that made Toriel's soul ache and swell with joy all at once.

It was fair to say Sans was experiencing something similar, only considerably more amplified. Such suspicions seemed confirmed, as the older skeleton teared up a little once more in response.

"heh, i g-gotta agree there bro." Sans, rasped in reply, choked up anew by his brother's reaction.

Then Frisk hurried over, giving a light tug on Sans' dangling slipper and prompting Papyrus to set his brother down. The two skeletons and one human child all gathered in a tight hug, not a dry eye or eye socket to be found. From the middle of it all, Toriel could just hear Sans' voice.

"thank you, b-both of you…" He rasped, looking between his brother and Frisk. " i know none of this would've happened without you two. and everyone else too."

Toriel noticed him give Frisk in particular a sort of meaningful look, one that she didn't quite understand but could grasp the basic implications of. It made the child start crying more audibly, and they threw their arms around the skeleton and buried their face in his jacket. He returned the hug, expression surprisingly peaceful, as did Papyrus, and she got the sense the three would stay that way for a while. As much as she would have liked to join them, especially with the way Frisk was crying, she decided to leave them be. The brothers could handle it, and they deserved to have their moment with this as she had earlier. But beyond that… she also felt it was a good time for her to address the other monster in the room, one who had been simply listening and watching everything that had happened in silence.

She walked over to where Flowey was on the table, offering a somewhat nervous smile as she looked down at him.

"Greetings, my child…" She said, giving the newly established moniker an extra touch of warmth.

The flower monster didn't turn to face her at first, still staring at the scene unfolding in the middle of the room. He had an expression like that of a mask, giving away no tells of emotion and stiff as could be. After a moment though, he did look up at her, drawing in and letting a small breath before speaking.

"I see you made more than one risky move last night, huh?" He questioned, sounding as though it should come off far more embittered, but only registered with the same distant indifference as his expression.

Toriel wasn't sure how to respond to that exactly, and could only offer a similar sort of sheepish grin and light chuckle that she had offered before to Papyrus. It came with a soft blush as well, but it was thankfully hidden by her fur. Flowey continued staring back at her with that odd expression, before it finally fell a bit, just enough to reveal some dull emotion in his eyes. She couldn't quite tell what emotion it was, but it made his beady black eyes less cold.

"Mom…" He went on in a far softer tone, turning to look back at the group, and at Sans in particular. "He… really makes you happy… doesn't he? And… that's why part of why you were able to finally try and fix things with Asgore… isn't it?"

Toriel blinked in surprise, noting the sudden hint of sadness and guilt in his tone. It took her a moment to answer, still trying to sort out the implications of Flowey of all monsters saying this to her. But eventually, she nodded.

"Yes, my child." She said simply, before reaching over a paw and cupping it gently around his back. "It is alright if you do not necessarily approve though. I cannot force you to be okay with this. I do not know exactly why it bothers you to this extent… But for what it is worth. I am grateful that you care so much about me, in your own way."

Now it was Flowey's turn to blink in surprise, a bit more light returning to his eyes as her words appeared to sink in. Then he shook himself and hardened his expression again into his usual pouty scowl, shooing her paw away with his leaves.

"Whatever… Just… don't expect me to call him, ugh... Dad, alright?" He said with something of a gagging sound.

That summoned a giggle out of Toriel, who took her paw away as requested and then shot him a warm smile.

"Very well then, my child."

She stood there with Flowey for a while longer, feeling things between the two of them ease somewhat even further than the previous night. It was nice, and Toriel could feel that another step had been taken for the flower monster… in a manner of speaking of course. He still had quite an uphill battle ahead, but with the amount of hope and joy she had in her soul at that moment, she was inclined to believe he could accomplish it in time.

After another minute or so, Sans and the others had finally separated from each other, all wiping at any lingering tears and talking in a more calm, amicable manner. Then he noticed her and motioned for her to come over with a hand. She smiled warmly and did so, sharing one last look at Flowey before stepping away. Upon reaching Sans, she briefly leaned down and wrapped him up in a quick hug of her own. Then, mostly for show for the others, she planted a kiss on his cheekbone, resulting in the high pitched squeals and gasp from Frisk and Papyrus she'd been expecting. Sans did his best to take it without becoming too flustered this time, but ultimately couldn't keep the familiar cyan color from spreading over his face.

"ah geez…" He said with a giddy little grin, fiddling with one of the drawstrings of his hoodie.

After a few moments, Papyrus stopped his squeeing and gave his brother a meaningful nudge.

"WELL GO ON THEN BROTHER, KISS HER BACK! OR AT LEAST DO WHAT WE SKELETONS DO. IT IS THE PROPER AND CHIVALROUS THING!" He declared matter of factly, eye sockets still sparkling.

Frisk made a soft sound of agreement, lightly pushing Sans closer to Toriel as well. Sans sputtered out something to them that was rather indecipherable, but then turned back to Toriel to find himself inches from her face. His eyelights darted about nervously and a sheen of sweat appeared on his skull. He'd been comfortable planting those little bony pecks on her earlier when it had just been the two of them, but being asked to do so in front of such an eager audience was clearly another story. Toriel eyed him sympathetically, about to tell those two to give the poor dear a break.

But before she could, he gulped, or at least made a sound like it, and then leaned up on his tip toes towards her, cupped her cheeks in his hands and pressed the curve of his exposed teeth to the tip of her muzzle. He let it linger a few seconds as the chorus of approval from their little cheering squad rose up again, then pulled back with a bit of a light nuzzle. He looked a little embarrassed once she could see his face again, likely for his inability to offer her any sort of real kiss. But the warm, smitten smile she shot back at him seemed to be enough to assuage his insecurities a bit, and he tugged the corner of his hood down a little by instinct as his wide, wobbly grin stretched back into place.

After that fun bit of showmanship on their part and a lot of overbearing compliments and questions from Frisk and Papyrus, Sans eventually took out his phone and gained everyone's attention again.

"so here's the idea i had." He said, tapping the screen and pulling up a specific app.

"alphys made us all get these undernet accounts when the app version was released for the surface, right? well i was thinking… even though we hardly use them, me and tori could just… change our, uh, "relationship status" on there. i know al will see it in like, five seconds since she's pretty much always online, heh. once she does, i think we can rely on her to do the work of spreading the word for us."

Toriel blinked, remembering how Alphys had tried to show her how the app worked a while back. Such things were still rather confusing for her, as was most technology of that sort. She had to admit though, it was kind of fun filling up all the little information slots with facts about herself. Alphys had also taken a rather gaudy and heavily "filtered" photo of her to display on the app. It was rather unrepresentative of her real appearance in Toriel's opinion, but she had to admit she did look better in it than she did in most photos. She occasionally remembered to post photos of bugs she'd found or desserts she was particularly proud of on there, but she always got annoyed with the stream of notifications that would follow. Apparently being the former Queen had landed her many "followers" and "friends" though she was almost certain she hardly knew a fraction of those listed.

Sans' page was nearly empty, unsurprisingly, as shown as he pulled it up. All there was to see was a picture of Sans asleep on a couch with marker doodles all over his face, also clearly taken by Alphys, and a few random bits of texts here and there. Most of it simply implored visitors to "follow my bro" with a link to said other skeleton's account, while a scant few puns and blurry photos of dogs and socks also populated the page. Somehow, he had procured nearly as many followers as Toriel had. The internet certainly was a strange thing.

"WOW SANS, WHAT A SUPREMELY LAZY WAY OF HANDLING THIS." Papyrus noted, not quite able to summon up the usual level of irritation into his voice though.

Sans shot him a wink and shrugged his shoulders.

"thanks, i try." He quipped, before tapping stuff in the app again.

Papyrus usually would have groaned at that, but this time only gave a little sigh that sounded more affectionately exasperated than anything else. Even now that all the euphoria had worn off for them all, his sockets still carried a little sparkle as he looked at his brother. It made Toriel's own soul pulse with joy all over again, only being distracted from those thoughts when Sans gave her a light tap to get her attention. Then she remembered what she was supposed to be doing and quickly got out her phone and brought up the app along with it. It took her a little longer than him because, even though they had gotten her the biggest phone on the market, it still was a bit of a challenge to operate with her large paws. She had to carefully tap out each action with the tip of the claw on her pointer finger. It didn't take her too long though to get the app opened up and then she looked at him expectantly.

"okay, here goes." He said, giving two more little taps on his own phone. "it's supposed to send you like, a notification thingie for you to accept."

They all waited in silence, as if something truly dramatic was going to happen. It all felt a bit silly, but even Toriel found herself holding her breath a bit. All was quiet except for the sound of the dog chewing on his bone again under the table. Then her phone gave its musical sort of pinging noise and something new popped up on the screen. It showed both hers and Sans' ridiculous icons next to each other, with a cartoon heart in the middle. Below that was some text.

CONFIRM: You are now in a relationship with (sans) ?

Below that were the expected green and red CONFIRM and DENY buttons. Even though it was all just for a silly app, her soul still gave a meaningful flutter inside her as she carefully tapped the green icon with a claw. The app gave a happy chime and a cheesy little heart animation played out on the screen. Then it showed her profile again, with her changed relationship status highlighted in green. She smiled at that and looked up at Sans, who held up his own phone with a wink to show it had indeed showed up on both their accounts.

"i say we have about five seconds before-" Sans began to say, before the sudden chiming of both their phones interrupted them.

Toriel managed to spot the notifications of:

(ALPHYS liked your updated status)

(ALPHYS shared your updated status with a comment:

WHAT O.O OMG REALLY?! IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?! IS THIS FOR REAL?!)

The soft sound of typing beside her signaled Sans tapping out something.

(sans replied to ALPHYS' comment on your updated status:

yup)

Then both their phones began vibrating and pinging so much that both their screens were lost to a flood of notifications, coming so fast that it was impossible to read them. Sans shot her a grin of victory and promptly switched off the ringer on his phone, rendering it silent and still before pocketing it again. Then he not so casually leaned against her, prompting her to reach over and silently take his hand. He reciprocated the gesture with such ease this time, that it was as if it were already second nature to him. There was a moment where they both relished in what had just happened. Before this, their relationship had been realized but only in secret, between the two of them. Now it was official, out in the world for all to know. She could feel the nerves that that idea instilled coming from both their souls mixing up into an uneasy wave. But it couldn't dampen the joy and relief they both felt, only growing now through the casual, but meaningful grip they had on each other's hands.

She gave his hand a light squeeze and then followed suit in silencing her own phone. Before she could pocket it though, she just happened to catch a different notification being swallowed up and pushed down by the sea of Undernet ones. By instinct, the claw on her thumb swooped in to tap it, saving it before it vanished. It was a text, and not just any text. A text from Undyne. It looked as though she had sent a few in the last couple minutes, unfortunately right when the flood of notifications would have smothered them. Toriel breathed a sigh of relief that she had managed to see and open that one in time, otherwise Undyne may have thought she was ignoring her again. Bracing herself for some potentially volatile, unpredictable messages, she thumbed through and read all of the texts.

From: Undyne ( o3o)

(Hey)

(So I know I have a lot to apologize for. But I don't really want to do that over the phone. Feels kind of cowardly and I DON'T DO COWARDLY! So, if you want, me, Alphys and Asgore are all going to spend the day down at the park. We want to get the big guy out of the house, figured the fresh air will do him good…)

(He told us what happened with that Gloria woman btw, and he told us that you really helped him. So thanks for that. It really does mean a lot. Especially )

(UGH JUST COME HERE SO I CAN APOLOGIZE AND THANK YOU IN PERSON! DOING THIS ON A PHONE FEELS SO DUMB I HATE IT! REMIND ME NEVER TO TEXT YOU ABOUT SERIOUS CRAP AGAIN!)

(We are meeting at 1:30, Grillin burgs and stuff. Bring everyone, even the lil weed if you want.)

As she finished reading the texts, a final one popped up, sent right in that moment.

(Oh and uh… congrats I guess?)

Toriel smiled down at the messages, that one in particular bringing a light chuckle out of her. She was grateful for the gesture they all represented despite their clumsy nature. And after a quick confirmation and resounding agreement from everyone else, she promptly typed out a reply. It was a bit hard to do with the top of the screen still flooding with notifications, but she managed it after some carefully placed taps.

To: Undyne ( o3o)

(Dear Undyne,

Thank you very much for your messages and for the invitation, we will all be there. ]: )

Sincerely,

Toriel )