San sighs, he's wedged in between his brother and his kid, nervously drumming his fingers along the table. Toriel's on the other side, watching them silently, at least until their drinks arrive. The interruption offered a momentary reprieve from the growing tension.

"So, Papyrus," the aforementioned monster flinches before smiling, "how has work been?"

"Wonderful, I'm glad to be working along side Undyne." He rushes, all to happy for the new direction of conversation, "I love visiting the children at the schools and teaching them about what it means to be a Royal Guardsmen!" He finishes this with a decisive nod.

"That's wonderful news, Papyrus. And how about you Sans, how is your work been going?"

He takes a deep breath before speaking, "tibia honest, I've been pretty bone-tired." Frisk giggles and Sans pauses to chuckle with them, "yup, but i like working the stand. everybody absolutely loves it."

"Well then, I'm also glad to hear that. Frisk and I've been touring cities, trying to build up monster rapport. We've recently returned from our visit to the Western states. It is so very important that we travel as much as popular, the human's elections take place this fall."

"has there been much trouble?" Sans asked, his voice controlled but concerned?

"Some people have started protests in the cities we've visited, but security has handled it admirably."

"that's good then."

"Agreed. I suppose we should order soon, Frisk, have you decided what you'll be eating?" Goatmom had really brushed up on human health after Frisk fell sick one day, since then, she took to monitoring their nutrition closely.

Frisk nodded and signed quickly their decision over to Toriel.

"I suppose that will be okay. As soon as our waiter comes back, we shall place our order." They nodded and snuggled into Sans's side. The skeleton huffed but patted their head affectionately. While they rested against him, he distracted himself with finding how many sugar packets he could sneak from the table into Frisk's lap without them noticing.


The waiter took a bit to return, but besides that, things had gone pretty smoothly. Sans found this strange, outright questions he could take, but the wait was putting him on edge. He snuck his hands under the table and started picking at the bone along his wrist, it was familiar. The pain calmed him somewhat.

It was a short while still until their meals arrived. A strawberry milkshake for Papyrus, Quiche for Toriel, and Egg's Benedict for Sans. As soon as the plate arrived, he opened the ketchup bottle and immediately dowsed his eggs with the sauce, earning a look of disgust from Papyrus and a snicker from Frisk.

All was good until Frisk's meal arrived. It was a simple breakfast burrito, but Sans's eyes immediately rested on the knife that came with their meal.

"No," he growled, eyes flashing as the plate was set before Frisk,"don't trust you with a knife, kid." He had taken the knife away before they could protest. Not like they would, their faces turned white as they recoiled back.

The table jostled, eyes turned to Toriel who shot up from her seat, fuming at the small skeleton, "What gives you the right to speak to my child- to speak to Frisk in such manner?"

He almost didn't hear her, his soul pounding as he slid the knife over to Papyrus. He met Toriel's gaze for a few seconds before he had to look away.

"Sans, I am waiting."

He was beginning to sweat now, and nausea was building up in his stomach, "i um, didn't think that through. should've approached it differently, you're right toriel."

Toriel sneered at his answer, "What I find most disappointing is that you felt the need to approach it at all. Frisk is more than mature enough to handle a knife, if you have issues with them or my parenting decisions, approach me first."

Sans mutely nodded, hastily returning the knife, but Frisk shook their head no and smiled. They understood his reasoning, sometimes he was fine with it, other times, he could barely hold himself together. They smiled up at Toriel, trying to reassure her that it was fine as well.

Toriel sighed and settled herself back in her chair. They ate in silence.

And if Sans's hands shook as he ate, well, no one noticed.