Co-authored with StormDacana and Omicron the IceQueen

Protective

It was a while later when the girl woke up. The unfamiliar room and bed caused a moment of panic, but soon as she shifted Danni realized she had a new, though big shirt on and Sans jacket. The familiarity gave her some comfort as she gingerly moved. Finding she wasn't hurting was a pleasant surprise. Moving to the door she opened it slowly, hearing unfamiliar snoring from a room down the hall.

Downstairs she could see over the rail, was lit up by a TV on low. Carefully padding down the stairs she peeked to see if it was Sans or Ich there.

They were as it turned out, the human witch was laying limp on recliner that stretched back. Danni could hear small gasps from her under the blanket put over her. Sans was against the left couch arm, propped up there where he could watch the TV as well as the woman. The chair was close enough for him to reach out to touch the human. He wasn't exactly sleeping but his eyes were closed.

Clutching the jacket closed the girl braved stepping into the room, giving Ich a worried look from where she was standing. Danni didn't want to wake either of them, just reassure herself she hadn't been abandoned.

Ich coughed, making Sans stir awake to look up and over at her. As he was leaning back again he spotted Danni, "Hey kiddo, what are you doing up?" the monster asked.

"Woke up." Her voice was soft, still dwarfed in the massive jacket. "Got scared... is Ich okay?"

Sans motioned the girl over, "She's...sort of okay." He looked at the witch, who was more ashen under her light tan. Danni went over to him giving a worried glance at Ich as she did so. Settling up onto the sofa with him and snuggling up against him. "I forgot how differently human magic works..." Sans muttered to himself, wrapping an arm around Danni, looking at the older woman again.

"I caused that." Danni was nestled snugly against him, but her face was sad. Ich hurt herself helping her.

"No, its magic, human magic. Ichy knows that every time she uses it, there's an effect." Sans tried to explain, lifting a hand to pet the girl's now clean hair (when did that happen?), "She chooses how to use her own magic."

Danni had a feeling she'd been out awhile when she noticed the pets didn't cause any snags in her hair. She gave a soft sigh and nodded but still felt bad. She had a rough idea of magic it seemed.

"You want something to eat?" Sans asked, tilting his head at the girl.

There was allot the girl had to adjust to. She wasn't used to choice or stating if she needed something. But she shook her head minutely. "Still kind if full from the hot chocolate and oatmeal..." small tummy was small.

"Okay, there's water..." Sans fished down over the arm of the chair and there was a crinkle before he offered a water bottle to the girl.

Taking it she smiled, just taking a sip before revising it and settling and nearly disappearing in the gap between him and the sofa. Be a funny prank later. She literally could just pop out and no one would have seen her there. Sans regarded the witch for a long moment, and then smiled down at Danni, turning on the tv up just a bit as he lounged back with the girl. One would think her a pretty with how content she was to just be there like one. Mettaton on the TV made her head tilt in confusion at the eccentric robot.

Just as the robot was starting to do something odd, Sans quickly changed the channel to one of the human channels for nature, "Yeah, no, that's not for you." Danni gave a baffled look at Sans but watched the documentary he'd changed it too. "Don't worry about it kiddo." the skeleton assured, tilting his head at the show, making a thoughtful sound, "You sure have a lot of things in the water up here on the surface."

Nodding in agreement she smiled. "Some are really pretty..." the bright colored fish.

"I didn't know there were monsters in other places." Sans admitted as the documentary had intermission so to say when the film crew were found by some mermaids, and some of the footage was left in. The skeleton monster sat up a bit, watching in renewed fascination.

"Yeah there's a couple mostly in the water or jungles..." Danni knew this because of her mother, one of the boyfriends had been a shifter.

"I thought mermaids died out," Sans admitted, still fascinated.

"I met one once, he works at the pier. Really nice too. He's a mershark." Danni remembered how cool the big male had been, having gone to pick up stuff her mom wanted.

"There's some mers near here?" Sans asked, surprised and a little exited though he stayed put. "I hope they don't have any bad feelings for Monsters."

Danni nodded. "He's a fisherman at the local pier. Works with one of the seafood restaurants he gave me shrimp once. He's real nice." Apparently Danni wandered sometimes.

"Maybe we can go say hi some day." Sans thought aloud, ruffling Danni's hair and making her giggling as she nodded, it was something to look forward to and let her believe she was going to stay.

"'e's a flirt..." Ich slurred her words a bit, looking over at the two with glazed eyes, but she smiled and gave a slow thumbs up.

"You met him?" Danni gave her a worried look but smiled at the thumbs up.

"Off and on, had to heal his fin once." Ich yawned, going limp again she tried to curl up in the chair, waving a hand at the couch until the Sans rolled his eyes and got another water bottle to pass the woman.

"Ahh." Danni watched her. "Are you ok?" Her voice was still really soft.

Ich looked about to say something, paused and gave a small smile as she felt that deep flue like ache, "Sort of, this happens when I heal a lot."

Nodding the girl let it be, she also wasn't one to nudge about saying anything if Ich didn't want to say it.

"Its normal Danni," Ich said after a minute of dozing against the background of the tv. She smiled, though her eyes where closed again. Smiling in amusement Danni hid her face against Sans figuring he wouldn't mind her snuggling up to sleep on the sofa with him.