He was a little nervous about the next puzzle, but he was trying not to be. Sans had agreed that his modifications had made it cooler than ever, and it seemed that they had gotten through to Frisk already. Still, they had never tested Sans's puzzle… they'd been trying to get everything done before his cooking lesson. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he didn't even know what the point of it was.
"SEE, HU-FRISK! THIS PUZZLE IS MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN THE LAST ONE, ISN'T IT? IT'S NOT EVEN ON A PIECE OF PAPER!"
Frisk looked at the puzzle, and took note of the awesome x's that were involved. It was obviously such an improvement, that it filled the human with glee, because he was certain he heard a stifled giggle as Frisk shot a look at Sans, and puzzles were no laughing matter.
"ALRIGHT, BROTHER. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD EXPLAIN YOUR NEW PUZZLE TO FRISK."
Sans winked at the human with his right eye, and they both seemed taken aback at that. Sans paused for a second, then shrugged it off. *heh, well, nevermind. this puzzle is a maze.
"WOWIE! IT IS? BUT… IT'S NOT REALLY BIG ENOUGH FOR THAT, HOW…"
Sans chuckled as he handed Frisk a marble. Frisk stared at it, then smiled at his brother, and walked up to the 'maze' and carefully set the marble at the top. It instantly started to roll, picking up speed as it worked it's way through the maze Sans had designed, and over the x's he'd incorporated, turning them into o's, all… by, itself… the puzzle, solved itself?!
He continued to stare at it in shock as Sans walked past him, eyes closed, hands stuffed deep in his pockets. *welp, looks like the kid solved it. on to the next one.
"BUT… BUT SANS… WHAT ABOUT AN IMPORTANT LIFE LESSON?"
Sans turned, and scratched the back of his head. *that was a 'maze'ing.
"SANS!"
*um, some times things appear harder to solve than they actually are?
"FAIR ENOUGH…" He took a few steps away from Frisk, and whispered to his brother, "YOU CAME UP WITH THAT RIGHT NOW!"
Sans shrugged, not even bothering to defend himself. "SANS! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY! I THOUGH YOU WERE TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY! HOW IS FRISK SUPPOSED TO UNDERSTAND THAT I…" a giggle stopped him cold. Sans didn't giggle, and he was listening patiently, so that meant…
He turned. "HUMAN! DON'T YOU KNOW IT'S RUDE TO EAVESDROP!"
Frisk started to laugh out loud, and Sans snickered behind him. *pfft, look, kid, you know i'm rootin' for ya, right? no matter what happens. and pap… i am taking this seriously.
He wasn't sure what they found so humorous, and it was no laughing matter! But at least Sans looked serious now, and so did Frisk and… oh no. They'd both been happy a moment ago, sharing a laugh over something. Something silly, and obviously pointless because it went over his head, but he'd just dragged them back into the truth! That wasn't a nice thing to teach the human at all! Sans's made up lesson for his puzzle that solved itself was better than that! He covered his face to hide his shame, and felt his brother's hand close around his arm almost instantly.
*whoa… papyrus, look at me. i'll stop, okay? no more puns.
What?! No more puns?! That's what he'd been facing back in the void, and in that terrible hallway! How could Sans possibly think that he actually wanted to live in a world without…
*'course, with my 'track' record, i really can't make any promises. sometimes i need a joke just to 'get the ball rollin'.
Oh thank goodness! "SANS… THAT WAS TERRIBLE. EVEN BY YOUR STANDARDS. IT WASN'T EVEN CLEVER."
Sans winked at him, the left eye this time, like usual. *how could it be? we were all out of levers.
Wow, his brother's material was wearing thin today. "SANS!"
Muffled giggles erupted from Frisk, so he added to the effect by stomping towards the next puzzle, smiling to himself. It was a strange game, maybe, but it had become their thing, over the years. Sans had always liked it when people laughed at his jokes, but he always got that special twinkle in his eyes when he got the reaction he was looking for.
It was there when his brother trudged up behind him, grinning away, hands back in his pockets.
Frisk seemed happy, but kept glancing around, as if in a hurry. Hmm, he supposed that this was going rather slowly, and they did have a lot more puzzles to get past. This was the most difficult. He'd tried, and tried to come up with an improvement, but this puzzle just… he hoped it wouldn't stall the human for too long.
Frisk stopped short, glancing up at him, then worriedly back to the puzzle, concerned for the length of time this was going to take, no doubt.
Sans walked behind the microwave and picked up the cord, grinning at it the end of it.
"I'd like some, but, I need to save it for you, Papyrus."
"WHY, THAT IS SUCH A THOUGHTFUL, FRIENDLY GESTURE! WELL DONE, FRISK! AND WORRY NOT! I SHALL MAKE YOU SPAGHETTI WHENEVER YOU WISH! BUT PERHAPS IT'S BEST TO MOVE ON FOR NOW."
*heh, this'd 'eat up' too much time, anyway.
"SANS! LITERALLY EVERYTHING YOU'VE SAID AFTER NO MORE PUNS, HAVE ALL BEEN PUNS!"
Frisk laughed as they moved along to the next puzzle.
"WAIT… SANS! YOU SAID YOU'D TAKE CARE OF THIS PUZZLE!"
*i did. nobody solved it, so it didn't need to be reset.
"BUT I WANTED TO CHANGE ALL THE PUZZLES! FRISK…" He frowned, and glanced at Frisk, who took that as a cue to go find the lever. Relieved, he started to whisper again. "FRISK IS GOING TO THINK THAT WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THEM!"
"I couldn't ever think that, Papyrus."
"HOW DID YOU EVEN HEAR THAT?! YOU'RE WAY DOWN THERE, AND THAT WAS MY QUIETEST WHISPER!"
Sans chuckled. *it's true. that's as quiet as he gets.
"WHICH IS VERY, VERY QUIET. BUT LET THAT BE A LESSON TO YOU. EVEN IF ONE OF US IS ONLY PUTTING IN THE SMALLEST AMOUNT OF EFFORT REQUIRED, WE BOTH CARE ABOUT YOU. SAY IT, SANS."
His brother shot him a funny look. *...yeah. i care about ya, too, kid.
"NOW I CHANGED THE NEXT PUZZLE PERSONALLY, AND I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE ONE AFTER THAT. ARE YOU READY TO MOVE ON, FRISK?"
"Let's go!"
This was where his first x to o puzzle had been. But since he'd added the one at the beginning, he'd decided to make this one a bit harder. "NOW, IF YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, YOU NEED TO SOLVE THE REST OF THESE PUZZLES BY YOURSELF. BUT WORRY NOT! YOU CAN ALWAYS ASK ME FOR ASSISTANCE!"
He'd added two more x's and a few more snow piles. He was a little disappointed when Frisk didn't ask him for help, but he admired them for working it out. "OH! YOU SOLVED IT QUICKLY! I'M PROUD OF YOU, FRISK! AND TO THINK, I DIDN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU LIKED PUZZLES! THIS NEXT ONE SHOULD BE EASY FOR YOU!"
The next puzzle had always needed a little pizazz, and he'd decided to rearrange it to the shape of his face! Halfway through, he'd gotten a better idea, after all, why stop there? The puzzle was now shaped like all of him.
Frisk set out to solve it with determination, but kept making mistakes. Before long ,he'd given out ever hint he knew, and it was time to reveal the solution! He went to the tree, and pulled the lever, but only half of the puzzle solved itself, and Frisk's first try to solve the rest reset it.
*heh… that's a 'switch'.
"SANS! THIS IS SERIOUS! WE NEED TO KEEP MOVING, AND I INSTALLED THE LEVER TO AVOID THINGS LIKE THIS!"
*can't we just take a shortcut?
"NO! BECAUSE… WELL…"
"Because this is a really good puzzle, and we can't let it go to waste, Sans. Your tips helped me, Papyrus. We'll figure it out together."
He beamed with pride as the human went back to solving the puzzle. *heh. kid sure seems to have learned the right stuff.
"YES! IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT FRISK IS THE SAME HUMAN THAT CAME HERE BEFORE!"
Sans smiled up at him. *you're doin' good, bro. real good.
He struck the coolest pose he knew. "NATURALLY. I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS AFTER ALL."
*that you are.
He was forgetting something important... wait! Oh no! "SANS… DO YOU KNOW THE SOLUTION TO THE PUZZLE?"
* it's your puzzle, pap. i didn't help you with this one.
"YES, BUT YOU KNOW ALL THAT SCIENCEY STUFF. I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT PUZZLES WOULD MEAN AS MUCH TO YOU AS THEY DO TO ME, BUT YOU ONLY SEEM TO TOLERATE THEM FOR MY SAKE."
Sans shrugged. *eh, too much work. 'sides, the kid'll have it in a few more tries.
"HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE SOLUTION?"
Was there guilt in that smirk? There was! "YOU'VE FIGURED IT OUT!"
* i didn't say that.
"YOU DIDN'T SAY THAT YOU DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER EITHER! OH MY GOSH, SANS, JUST SOLVE IT FOR FRISK SO THAT WE CAN GET ON TO THE TILE PUZZLE! I… I MAY HAVE LEFT IT ACTIVATED."
Sans stared at him, grin getting wider by the second. *you activated it? papyrus… that's hilarious.
"IT'S NOT FUNNY! I HAD TO BE ABLE TO WORK THE HUMAN THROUGH IT ON THIS SIDE, AND I DIDN'T REALIZE THIS WOULD TAKE SO LONG!"
*alright, alright. i got it. Sans closed his eyes for a second, then opened them, his left eye glowing a bright blue as he grabbed hold of Frisk. The human gasped in fear, but calmed down when Sans simply slid them through the puzzle like they were in his marble trap. Sans let go as the spikes clicked down, and that only left the gap puzzle to get through.
He was all for jumping it, but Frisk laughed as they slid through it perfectly, not making a single mistake. When they activated the bridge across the gap, they tried to run back. "NO HUMAN, THAT'S THE WRONG WAY. WE'RE GOING THIS WAY."
"But… the snow sculptures…"
He glanced down at his brother. "H-HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THOSE? DID YOU FALL LAST TIME? THE PUZZLE WAS DEACTIVATED BY THE TIME YOU CAME THROUGH…"
"I've seen them before. I wanted to ask you about…"
They were cut off by a frustrated yelp from up ahead.
*uh oh. Sans was grinning a little too much for someone trying to sound concerned.
"THE PUZZLE!" How could he have forgotten about it for so long?! He raced forward to save the poor monster trapped in the difficult to remember maze of lights, but instead found a bunch of the local teens having a great time cheering on the monster that had made it halfway through the maze.
The Icecap didn't seem to be having 'fun', per say, but it didn't seem to be in any danger, at least.