Outside: AI SIM Gaming Machine
"Just . . ." Frisk held her guitar steady on her back. It was late, but she didn't want her mother knowing what she would be doing. "Papyrus."
"I don't like it. I don't like it. I. Don't. Like it." Papyrus stood by the control panel. "Then again. I mean."
"There's no reason anymore," Frisk said to Papyrus. "My brother has some food, and if things get bad, I can get him more. We aren't on a time deadline. There's no reason I have to drag him back over." She wouldn't do it. Sans could stay there with his brother. She knew he was going with her for her mother, or to try and help the Underground, but it wasn't worth it.
"What about your weapons?" Papyrus asked. "They won't last forever. You'll need to come back, and when you do? Well. Your mother's not going to be happy with you." He stuck his bony finger in the air. "There is no way around it! You are going to need monster power recharging your weapons, and I can't do that and run the machine."
"I know." Frisk had to agree with him."I'm prepared."
"Do you even remember the game?"
Oh, great. Frisk turned around and saw Sans, waiting by the door.
"I know. It was a game. So, let's put it in a higher perspective?" He eased himself into the doorway. "You killed anything and everything in your way, you killed Papyrus after him showing you mercy, you almost killed Monster Kid, and the whole Underground is now hiding far away from you. Who exactly do you think you'd talk sense into? The rock?" He shrugged. "Maybe the rock, but about the only power it has is to move a few inches back and forth."
"If you come, they'll turn on you," Frisk said to him. "You've already helped more than enough. I've got this."
"Yep, yep." Undyne showed herself by the door. "We can get murder done right."
Sans just sort of stared at Undyne, before looking back toward Frisk. "You killed her. You bringing her back is just gonna make it look like you can bring back monsters from the dead to do your bidding. Screw that, you'll tear their sanity to shreds."
"I won't be showing myself," Undyne said to him. "She is still technically 'on her own'. I will just be interfering to help her brother and her keep up with food, quick shelter, and adding magic to her weaponry."
"Undyne is captain of the Royal Guards," Papyrus said to Sans. "She can hide herself. You can stay and enjoy the luxuries of the surface with me." He glanced toward Frisk. "I suppose."
Sans scratched his left shoulder bone. "Thoughtful. Awesome." He slumped to the left. "Totally cool. Let's all go to sleep and let Frisk go then. Undyne can do the job. She's good at keeping others safe. Except, uh?"
"Except?" Undyne questioned.
"You really trust that everything is going to stay hunky dory up here? If something happens, then all we got is more clueless sentries and maybe some of the royal guards. You trust guarding the surface to Doggo?"
" . . ."
"It's been years. I was raised here," Frisk corrected Sans. "It's always been safe." She sighed slightly. "I'm not trying to make you feel worthless, Sans. I just don't want you to keep risking everything only to make someone else happy. Aren't you tired of that yet?"
"Heh. So you do have that gaming memory." Sans pretty much admitted it.
"I'm fine. The promise you made was over some time ago," Frisk said. "Enjoy life with your brother, and one way or another, I will bring over the rest."
"That's why you want to take Undyne." Sans called her out. "Because she's the one that knows the full details of what happens if you use too much power of ol' Rainandpour's." He looked right back toward Undyne. "That's why you're doing it too."
"And what if I do want to go with her?" Undyne asked. "Nothing wrong with that."
"Nuh. You're either getting more than friendly with Frisky, or you are just wanting to get back to Alphys." Sans shrugged. "Maybe both."
"Sans!" Papyrus scolded him. "Be civil. That's not nice."
"You read my letter!" Undyne accused him. She looked toward Papyrus. He shrugged.
"Most don't even make it under the door. Caught one blowing in the wind," Sans said. "So what is it?"
Frisk didn't know how to respond. Did he just outwardly have to say anything on his mind? She was giving him a 'stay out of the dark, disgusting abyss' free card, why was he acting like that?
"So what of it?" Sans looked at Frisk again. His eye sockets were solid black a moment, then he closed them, and they fixed themselves. "Nevermind, not my business."
"Nothing's your business!" Undyne went closer to Frisk. "Forget him. He's not always right in the skull. Let's go."
Frisk was about to agree, when Sans said something once again.
"Talk to a fish for a second?" Sans took a step back, using his bony finger to call Undyne over to the corner.
Undyne followed. She had no idea what Sans was trying to get at, or why he wanted to go so bad. "What is it?"
"Joke, Undyne. Give me a joke," Sans insisted. "Give me something that'll make me happy."
Undyne just looked at him. "Why do you want me to tell you a joke? You and Papyrus are the ones who do the jokes and japes."
"Welp?" Sans shuffled a little closer. "You are going to a world that's scared of Frisk, believing she is going to kill any monster that she can get her hands on. Frisk has got some psychological issues with that. You can help, but not be seen. So how are you going to make her feel better?" Undyne didn't answer. "The goal is to not take too long, but when she gets bogged down with the reality of what she's doing, she unconsciously slows down and starts to mess up."
Oh. Undyne could be helpful, but for the whole . . . making her feel better part. That might be hard. She was no professional in that field, Papyrus and Sans were the comedians of the Underground. Hm. We need to move fast, stay down there, and stay safe. If Frisk's mind couldn't handle the carnage that everyone thought she created? Then. "Sorry, Sans."
"Don't worry. Probably a few days. It's no biggie, but we shouldn't jab this situation up any worse," Sans said.
Undyne nodded and went back to Frisk. "Sans had some good points, Frisk. I can't go." She gestured to Sans. "He'll come." She watched Frisk's expression. "Trust me. His points are valid. Without him, it'll take longer. I'm out." She nodded to Frisk. "You'll be fine. Just, keep it up. The truth isn't what you see around you."
Frisk watched Undyne leave and Sans approach closer.
"Yay, I win," Sans joked. "I win the whole disgusting Underground abyss hell. Yippee. Let's hit the road already. Or, you know? Maybe a little more rest and an extra set of pancakes would be a better way to go?" He questioned Frisk. "Considering this'll be it for pancakes for awhile? And that we might not have enough juice to get back afterwards?"
"Would it take too much?"
"On the brink."
Frisk nodded. There wasn't much choice left. Sans was pretty determined to go, and if he thought there wasn't enough juice. I have no choice but to call Rainier.
Outside: Morning
Toriel held out a bookbag for Frisk to hold. "A little extra help. Extra food. Some extra daggers. Blank, but if you get into real trouble, Sans could charge these too." She placed it on Frisk's shoulder. "That will help."
Frisk almost toppled over by the weight. It was evened out as Toriel helped her get her guitar on her back.
"We'll topple all that when we get there," Sans said. Frisk felt the extra weight almost flow off her back as Sans held it. "For now, I can tackle this before Frisk topples."
Frisk adjusted her guitar again. Sans also had his trombone but apparently weight wasn't much to him. She felt Toriel adjust her guitar strap. "It's not that bad, Momma Toriel. Really. I'll be back before you know it." She felt her mother wrap her arms around her one more time. "I'll be okay."
"It's all just illusion, Frisk," Toriel said. "Remember that. No matter how anyone looks at you, fights you, or their dying words. All of it." She let go and dusted Frisk's sleeve off. "I don't know why I bother. You're going down into a terribly disgusting abyss. You can't keep the filth off." Still, she stroked Frisk's shirt one more time. "If you see an opening to try and explain to a monster to make it easier about what you are doing, take it?"
Frisk doubted she would ever get that chance. "If I see it."
"Be careful," Toriel warned her. "Don't take too long and don't let anything get to you." She looked toward Sans. "If she starts to lose it, try and tell a joke."
"I got it under control," Sans insisted. "Don't worry. Let's head out already. Come on, Frisk."
"After this is all over, then it is over for good." Toriel gave her one quick hug. "You have grown so much, Frisk. Everyone grows up so much to me, but with you, it's like time just moved so incredibly fast. You've gone from a confused little girl to a brave strong woman. I'm proud of you, and everything you do."
Frisk adjusted her guitar strap lightly. Not everything I will do.
"Frisk. It will be okay. Keep it together. Sans should be able to help find where the monsters would have gone." She smiled and held her hands out to hold hers. "Look at you. A mother couldn't be prouder."
Frisk smiled slightly. "Momma Toriel, I have to go." She couldn't delay her anymore. Frisk T. was still out there. Everyone still needed help.
"I know. I will have plenty of food ready for when you come back. All the time. The best I can," Toriel insisted.
"Can't beat that," Sans said. "Heck, I'm going for the food you already packed alone." He chuckled and jostled the backpack on him.
"Okay. I know." Toriel nodded toward her daughter. "Good luck, My . . . my lovely Frisk."
Frisk knew that Toriel was never good with goodbyes. One more nod, and Frisk moved away, toward the gaming station. Where she knew he was waiting.
"Go ahead and say your goodbyes to Papyrus," Frisk insisted to Sans as she saw Rainier ahead. She had called him last night to meet her up there. "I'll be there in a second." She headed upward toward Rainier. "Mister Rainier."
"Frisk?" He asked. "It's Donald. You were even starting to call me Don, remember?" He opened the gaming door and gestured inside. "I preferred that."
"Fine, Donald." Frisk moved inside.
"Don," he insisted as he went inside and shut the door. "I know this all seems like it was set up for you. Let me assure you, me giving my very life force isn't something I like to do. Every time we do this, it could increase the chances of . . ." He stopped and approached Frisk. "Don't . . . you understand? I could have anyone, Frisk. I admit? I have had many."
Of course. He had wealth and fame. He probably didn't even have to pay for women. "They are probably better at anything else than me."
"Sexually, I imagine so," Donald said as he pulled her closer. "But, it's not that. I can't share who I really am deep inside. Even if I can't change, I hide so much. With you? I can stop hiding. I can have someone who understands me." He held her hand in his grip. "That's worth everything in the world to me." He kissed her hand. "I could make you happy. For as long as I am here, I know I could make you happy."
Frisk's happiness wasn't in him or his money. "The only way to make me happy is to just let me use your machine without owing you anything."
"Don."
"Don," Frisk added toward the end. "But that's not gonna happen, is it?"
"No. Even if someone wanted to make me give up my life force, it's impossible. Only the monsters themselves can release it." He kissed her wrist. "It won't be a bad life. You could even use our fortune to give the monsters even more property and room. We, together, could use the magic and create a barrier to keep humans away from them."
"Are you saying seal myself off from my own mother?" That was crude. "She is my mother, and she has been helping the cause just as long as I have."
"She will be safe with the others. Free to roam around within their own confines, and we could go on with our lives on the outside of it all. She'd want that for you I'm sure. You've always lived so far away, way up here," Donald reminded her. "She would want what's best for you."
"Funny," Frisk grunted. "You aren't at the top of the list of things Momma Toriel wants for me." Yet, she couldn't pull away. "You aren't getting much."
"Just another kiss?" he asked. "A small kiss, like last time. That's all. After that, I'll fix it up. I promise."
Of course he would. He wouldn't mess up so early, he wanted more. Frisk kissed him. His breath was a tie between bourbon and someone who needed to brush their teeth three days ago. In the middle of it though, the door hit Rainier on his back, ending the kiss.
Frisk looked at the one who interrupted. Sans?
"Hey there. I'm back." Sans shut the door behind him and held his hand out to Rainier. "Sans the Skeleton. So you the human that's got a bit of monster in ya, huh?"
"Uh." Rainier shook his hand softly, while Sans shook it regularly. "Sorry. I am, but I've never actually met one."
"Met another one," Sans corrected him. "Any amount of monster, makes ya a monster." He patted his back. "Real good of you to help us save the kingdom by using your life force. Know it's tough, been there myself a time or two. No one really understands or appreciates it. We do it for our kingdom. For our kind. I mean, if we didn't? Monsters would be wiped out forever."
Rainier didn't speak up right away. "What are you doing here?"
"Going with Frisk," Sans insisted. "She needs somebody to watch her back. Oh yeah, and you don't need to overfill it up. We're monsters, we've got some force too. Papyrus, my bro? You met him? Best guy ever," Sans stopped to say. "Welp, he's gonna be here fueling it with his magic energy while we're gone. So, we'll only need most of the life force as we go. Ain't that right, Frisky?"
"Yes," Frisk confirmed. "They can help the amount be smaller."
"Right, so you probably won't die," Sans said to Rainier, patting him on the back again, this time a little harder. "Well, we need to get going, so you better get going. Don't wanna get cold feet about this whole thing." He chuckled. "Cold feet? I'm from Snowdin?" He shoved his arm playfully. "Get it?"
"Yes, I get it." Rainier tried to fake a laugh. "Okay."
"Don't worry, we carved out all the guts inside," Sans said as he pulled Rainier down into the open control panel. "Just letting it breathe. We'll be down there awhile. Yessiree, with direct access, you'll be sure to live. No problem, Pal." He pulled him back up. "My bro should be coming any second. Undyne might come too, to see us off. You want to meet them?"
"No." Rainier moved toward the door. He nodded to Frisk. "Sounds good so far. Good luck."
"Whoah, whoah, wait?" Sans laughed as he grabbed Rainier's hand. "You're a funny guy, huh? Or absent minded. I am too. I got no mind, it's absent, I've just got a skull." He brought him back to the control panel. "The life force, dude, come on. Just a bit. Maybe two or three months, not nearly a whole year or nothin'."
"Right." Rainier put out his hand. Nothing happened at first. "Um? I'm not used to everyone around. Usually, I do this alone?"
Sans made two tisks behind his teeth. "Oh, I get it. Yeah . . . not quite on the . . . yeah." He moved upward. "Can't quite get that magic up like you used to?" He held his hands out. "No worries, your impotence is safe with me."
"Impotence?!"
"You can't do magic easily. Hey, it's okay. Happens to everybody." Sans shrugged. "I mean, I think that's the closest human word I got for you? I know you can get there, Champ. You've done it so far. Keep trying." He held his hand out to Frisk. "Come on, let's give him a little bit of time alone. Less stress, better success."
Something about that made Frisk feel . . . like Sans was actually protecting her. That's impossible. He doesn't know. Undyne swore she didn't give him details. Even if he didn't though, he knew Rainier was doing something. Maybe that was why he did that?
"I can do this in front of others too," Rainier insisted. "Just not used to other monsters watching me."
"Sure you can, Pal. Sure you can." That's the last thing Sans said before he closed the door. He looked ahead. "Ah, there's Papyrus."
Inside: Underground . . .
"We know that Alphys went backward with the monsters 'cause in the game you were able to go to the lab without any tricks." Sans didn't waste any time as soon as they showed up. He teleported them to the back of the lab. "I bet we can find stragglers to start with. Let's go kill some monsters." He began to walk, hearing Frisk follow from behind. He wasn't going to be playing 'that guy in the distance' for much longer. If monsters hated him for siding with her, then they hated him for siding with her.
Sans didn't know the exact facts that would be 'unspeakable' like Undyne said, but he was a smart guy. Frisky was pretty. She was compassionate and understood monsters being raised by Toriel, something Rainier clearly wanted. He was loaded with money and fame, but he couldn't share his true self with anyone. So, tastewise? Yeah, that's probably how she got the game machine in the first place. She hit his buttons just right.
Undyne. She only had a few pet peeves. Monsters who didn't like to fight. Humans, which was probably starting to change since meeting Frisky. Monsters who didn't fight fair, and monsters who took advantage of others.
Lastly, Toriel was watchful over her daughter, and while the Underground had Frisk, it seemed there was something else behind that extra mothering. Like she knew ol' Rainier might try something one day.
Even meeting the guy himself. Shy around other monsters. Clearly didn't take any credit for helping out the cause with his own life force, which meant he was taking out the fee in another way.
Sans pretty much got it. Sure, it wasn't earthshaking or life-staking. Some wouldn't even consider it that big of a deal. But. It wasn't just foul play, it was shitty. Guy was getting Frisky as his girlfriend, then steady girlfriend, and then probably more as he went down the line. If Frisky wanted to save the Underground, she wasn't getting a choice.
And just to confirm that, he caught them kissing. Frisk, swinging twenty something, and that guy was at least in his forties if not fifties. If not that age in real life, then by the look of how much life force he gave away. Frisk had her eyes shut tight so he couldn't judge her, but as shut tight as they were and the intense expression behind it? Not enjoyable.
It was crap. It was weak. Who got a girlfriend that way? Not that Sans ever bothered with that kind of thing. Him and Papyrus were more loners, and there weren't many in the Underground that peaked much interest. Probably why Undyne didn't bother to even say 'Frisk has to be his girlfriend'. Nope, wouldn't even go with that one. 'Cause 'unspeakable' wasn't a word she'd throw around for girlfriend.
It was more than just a girlfriend thing. He wanted a wife and/or he wanted Frisky's innocence. Either way, it was no way to treat another person. Especially someone who was a hero. Because that's what she'd been, whether she saw it that way or not. A lot of monsters he'd talked to up there talked about her courage and determination the same way.
But Sans wasn't gonna keep this silence between them. "So, Frisk? I got a joke for you."
He heard a slight sigh. "I don't need a joke at the moment. Are you sure you can spare it?" she asked.
"What, like I got a limited number of jokes?" He teased. "Come on. One joke."
"Okay," Frisky agreed.
Sans walked a few more feet before he finally said it. "What's the difference between whore and hero?"
"That's a terrible joke," Frisky answered back.
"You'd know. It's a terrible situation," Sans said. "Truth is? Only a W. Hero is still in whore, it's just confused and scrambled in the words." Oh yeah, she stopped. "But it's still in there." He stopped along with her. "Undyne didn't say nothin', but it's not hard to figure out. Especially the way you cringed when he kissed you." He started to walk again. "I'm not gonna get all daddy scoldin' or pure of mind on ya. You are who you are, and you're gonna do what you have to, to get things done. Life of a hero isn't always glorious I guess."
Frisk remained quiet behind him, but continued to follow.
"Not sayin' it's good, and not sayin' it's bad," Sans said. "Don't even have to talk about it or get all defensive or nothing. I just know you're in the Underground, and you get miserable enough down here in your head, Frisky. Don't want the fact your keeping secrets from me to be another thing on your mind. Keep your head on your shoulders, and there's a high possibility we can get through it quick."
She didn't say anything. At first. "I didn't want anyone knowing. I don't need to be called a hero, but I don't . . . I just want to get everyone out."
That was all she had to say. That was fine. Nobody would want to be the center of attention for that. "Still not a single straggler," Sans said, changing the subject. Now that it was out of the way, it was time to concentrate. Sans wasn't a part of the Royal Guard, he was just a sentry, and he had no idea where the monsters would be. All they could do was walk until they finally found one. "Hang back a bit behind me instead, Frisky. I'll lead. Maybe one will see me and approach." Then he could find out where they all went.
Frisky did as he said, staying several feet back from his slow ass. Sans just shuffled away, slow. Everyone should know by now that Papyrus was taken out by the human easily by showing mercy. He wouldn't be at his regular jaunt. Which was still slow ass, but not as slow. About ten minutes or so, he finally saw it.
Not much, a little rabbit with a snowcap on, but it was good enough. "Sans, you shouldn't be out here. It's dangerous. Come follow me."
Sans just held his palm out. "I'm okay."
"But?" The rabbit got closer. "But Sans, the human will come. Please come follow me?"
"Maybe later," Sans muttered.
The rabbit crossed his arms. "I know it hurts. I heard what happened to Papyrus. Everyone lost someone."
"Just?" Sans paused a moment. "Maybe later. Just tell me which way to go. If I want to go. Later."
The rabbit groaned but pointed straight forward. "The ruins. There's a secret past the ruins that takes us the other way. It's not real big. It's not the best. I'm out scavenging for food right now."
"What's the method to get in it?" Sans asked. "Pretty sure a bored human that runs out of things to kill will go backwards."
"Oh, that's why it works," the rabbit said. "It's the broken lever you aren't supposed to touch in the ruins. If you lift it with monster magic, it'll activate. With none, it won't. That human with it's terrible soul doesn't have monster magic. It'll never get in."
"Wow. That was really worth it," Sans said. "Hey? Come on back here a second." Now that he knew what he needed, it was time to get the rabbit to the surface. "Stay right there."
"Why? Ah!" The rabbit tried jumping back, but Sans kept him still as he was dragged into an encounter. "No, no, no, no fight!"
"Take him out, Frisky," Sans said. Frisky had her daggers, but she was still moving slowly to the strike. "Guy really needs a bath. I think he was a white rabbit, and he's downright gray." There. That made her move a little faster.
An ear piercing yell and a cursing against Sans, and it was done. Sans had no monster in front of him. "Good job. Let's go kill some more monsters."
"Sans," Frisky said, "could . . . you not speak that way?"
"Only if you tell me a joke," Sans commanded "A good joke. Then I'll take us straight to the ruins."
Frisky adjusted the strap on her guitar again. He'd never heard her tell a joke before. Who knew how she'd be? "How do make the letter G disappear? No, wait." She paused. "How do you make the word one . . . disappear. I did that backwards."
Put a G in front of it. Turns into gone. " . . . hey, you save lives? That's something."
"I never said I was a good comedian," Frisky reminded him as she walked almost side by side.
"Try again," Sans insisted. "Come on, you had a Momma Toriel. You can't tell me she didn't tell jokes."
"Even if I use her jokes, I'm horrible at the delivery," Frisk admitted. "No one ever smiles at them."
"I will," Sans remarked. He pointed to his face. "I smile every day. Every morning. Every night. When my brother was killed. When I'm eating a burger. Whenever."
"Because you're a skeleton and you can't do anything else," Frisk said.
"Well, sharp at least. Can't crack a joke right, but you are saving the Underground so I can deal with that," Sans teased her.
"I can't crack a joke right, but I can crack a yoke wrong," Frisk tried again.
"Either way, they both end up scrambled." Hm. Sans put his hand out in a wavy manner. "Not quite medium. Not too bad, but you missed an ending delivery. I added it on."
"That's usually what Momma Toriel does," Frisk admitted. She gave him an odd look before staring straight ahead again.
What was that? "Yo, what was that look?"
"Hm?"
"You gave me a look, Frisky. Explain it," Sans said. "I'm a curious type. If you don't, I'll find a way to find out, and it won't be fun. Ask Undyne."
Frisk scratched her nose. "It's nothing big. It's just that . . . you scared me as a child."
"You were committing genocide in my world," Sans said to her. "I mean? Well, I guess you still are, but it's different. I didn't get it." He shrugged. "Even when I did. Memories hit kinda hard. Figured you were the bad one and your brother was the good one. I guess I shouldn't have drawn that line." He moved a little closer. "Did I scare you that bad, little Pop Tart?"
"Pop Tart?" Frisky asked.
"Yeah. I ate one up here a few times. They are hard to like at first. Crunchy, cold and dry on the outside. Worth eating though 'cause it's cherry and yummy on the inside. That's what you're like," Sans said.
She stopped again, this time with a hand on her hip. "Excuse me?"
"Keep all that personality built up inside. One of the reasons your delivery sucks on your jokes."
"I am not crunchy, cold and dry!" Frisk said. "I'm just not going to be real warm when I'm stuck in these situations."
"Still not warm on the surface either," Sans said. "I've only seen your cherry filling one way." Hm? That look again. "What?" Now she looked away. "Now what?" What was that? Missing something in the translation. He didn't know her language, he just sensed it between them. He could say it, he could spell it, but there were differences in being raised to know and sensing it out. Most times it worked fine, but there was something in the word that she didn't like. He could feel it. "I'm not saying you are dry and cold, I'm saying you should share some of your yumminess inside, Chum."
Frisk took a long, deep breath. "I get it. But. Right now." Frisk pulled her guitar off her back and lightly started to play. "This isn't just an average day in my life. This is the culmination of all of my years being put to the test. All my training, all my lessons, and everything that I can give to be what I need to be. These are the most important days of all of my life. Giving Momma Toriel back her kingdom, and giving my brother back his life outside of the Underground. If I mess it up, there's no one to blame but me."
Ah. "There's that cherry filling I sensed." Sans saw her reaction again. "You don't like the word cherry but you like the word yummy. How come?"
Frisk rolled her eyes. "It's. Euphemism. Bothering me, that's all."
Hm. That might explain the language breakdown. "What's it a euphemism for?"
"It's not important."
"Clearly it is," Sans said. There was only one thing that bothered her down there. It could only be one of two things. "It a word for killing someone?" Nope, her expression didn't agree with that. That left only one. "It a word dealing with Old Rainandpour?" Ah, there was a notable cringe.
"No and yes, and I don't want to talk about it," Frisky insisted. "Let's just find the hiding monsters. Can you please teleport us yet?"
"Haven't had a good joke out of you yet."
"We are wasting time."
"You get all stuck in your own head," Sans said. "It's more than just the joke, Frisky. If I take you out there to murder monsters in some kind of mass attack, you have to be ready for it in your head. You're right. You got the skills. You learned the lessons. But if you can't pull yourself out enough to relax and tell a good joke, then me doing that isn't helpful either, Pop Tart."
"I do what needs to be done."
"Somehow, I don't think that's your Momma Toriel talking," Sans warned her. "Sounds more like the influence of a long passed on dad." She was quiet for a bit as they continued to walk. There was a reason, after all, Toriel kept wanting him to watch over her. "Change of subject, Pop Tart. What's the guitar for? Not just relaxation, is it?"
Frisk looked at the guitar as she started to play a simple melody again. "Partly that. Partly protection. I mostly have it if I run into an enemy I can't take out. Not that it matters anymore," she admitted. "Rainier knows. He always knew."
"Great. Play something besides an old ancient song," Sans insisted. "You know anything else?"
"I do." Frisky smiled. Hey, he got her to smile. "Momma Toriel made sure that I got away from games. I learned how to play many types of music on this. She got me interested in books and art . . ."
Ah. That's not a bad smile. If only she did that more often. "Just 'cause the world sucks don't mean you should stop smiling. Just smile at the bullshit and move on," he told her. "Life's too short for anything else. Play me something different. Something that means something to you."
Frisky seemed to be thinking. "Not the latest thing. But, it means something to me." Then.
Sans just watched her fingers dance on the strings, back and forth. Seeing her fingers up close dance across the guitar, up and down, creating a mixture of sounds he hadn't heard in a long time. The ancient songs were important down below, if anyone played, it was usually related to them. But, that? It may not be the latest thing, but Sans could see from the way Frisky's whole body relaxed, she enjoyed it. She was getting closer. Towards the end of the song, he asked. "Joke."
"Why didn't the student fail his studies in Melodies?" Frisk played a few more notes. "He made the d only in the middle. That's about the best you are getting from me, I don't make jokes, seriously."
Sans could see that. "D in the word Melodies. That joke fell worse than my job ethic," Sans said. Still, he chuckled. "You are no comedian. You aren't even an assistant comedian. You couldn't even give water to the comedian on stage."
"I could too handle giving water to a comedian," Frisky protested. "I'm not clumsy, and if I accidentally said something, a good comedian should have the skill to cover it up and make the accident funny." Frisky put her guitar back up.
"Not gonna argue with that one," Sans said. "You could give water to an expert comedian on stage. You could give water to me. Congratulations. You're the most unfunny thing I ever met, but you play real well."
"You can't change who you are deep inside," Frisky acknowledged. "I suck at jokes but I kick butt in fighting. One of those two skills were necessary to get this done." She pulled out a dagger and started to flip it around her finger. "It's not flipping burgers, but it's a living."
Damn, that dagger didn't have a hole in it. She was using the natural balance of gravity given off by Tori's magic on it, spinning it just right. "Impressive. Your Momma Toriel taught you well."
"Like I said before." Frisky put her dagger back away. "Momma Toriel didn't raise me to be pacifist. She did try to raise me on jokes, but she gave up on that quickly. I didn't have the talent for corny joke telling."
"Nope. You done got your original momma's talent." Sans noticed what was coming ahead. Already leaving Waterfall.
"You only saw her one time," Frisk reminded him.
"I can tell a lot from one time," Sans reminded her back. "Your momma was a wilder one, probably not the perfect one for the mantle of mom, but she cared. She showed it, in her own ways. Hell, getting your dad to slap another woman? She had balls, even if she wasn't the human type to have them."
"My mom had balls? Is there anything too shameful for you to say, Sans?"
"Don't think so. Still like to know what cherry means though." Ah, he saw her tighten again.
"There's nothing wrong with cherry, it's just a flavor. The euphemism for it is taking away innocence," Frisk finally answered. "I don't want to hear it anymore now."
"Kay." He got his answer now. Marriage wasn't even a part of the questions anymore. "Rainandpour wants to have sex with you."
"Sans!" She stopped. Instantly, and actually backed up some.
"Okay. Wrong word." Sans noticed her distance. "Worse word. It's what you thought. Think of a nicer word then. I pick it up from you, Frisky." Ah. "Oh yeah. Mating. There we go." And she was walking very fast away from him. "I don't have the experience of the language. It's what I pick up." Damn. He tried to jaunt, shuffle a little faster. She sure could move. "Mating is too hard too? Make love. Well, I don't think that fits the situation."
She whipped around quickly, her eyes and posture absolutely rigid and furious. "Stop reading my mind! Nothing is your business!" She turned back around, walking away. "I have no idea why mother thought you were the best to choose." She stumbled slightly in the snow. "Undyne would have carried me straight to the ruins and I would be fighting. Instead of trying to crack a perfect joke, singing a song and hanging out. I need to get this done, as quickly as possible. If you aren't going to help, then just stay back!"
Ooh, damn. I just get options from the words she thinks. Ouch. They had already gotten to Snowdin, and as mad as she was that she was 'wasting time', he still didn't think she was ready for the ruins yet.
He teleported in front of her. "Hello." Frisk didn't say anything to him. "Bastard, Jerk, Pervert, Hentai, Misogynist, Idiot, Moron, Ahole, those are all the words flowing from you right now." He needed her to understand. "Which one am I supposed to use? 'Cause I don't know."
Frisk eyed him.
"I don't. If I was that good, Underground, I could have picked up exactly what was going on with you."
She didn't answer him back.
"I'm not trying to hurt you, Pal. I use the words I see the strongest used first. It's what we all do, whenever monsters speak. The first is usually the right one, 99% of the time. You humans are some of the worst though, lots of different words for the same meanings."
"I am not thinking of the response you are supposed to use for me," Frisk said.
"But you are, in a way. All your knowledge of your communication flows freely between us when you expand yourself to use language." He tried to make her understand. "To not sound like a textbook dictionary, we also work with the most intense words up front too. Not every monster can handle all the subtleties of the human language, so they stick with their usual croaks and whatnot. The smartest can and do though." Come on, didn't she get it yet? "I replaced the textbook definition hitting me from you with the word you intensely had in your mind, to sound more normal to you."
Okay. She looked like she was starting to get it. "That's how your language works?" She started to walk side by side again. "That's different. Momma Toriel never broke it down real well."
"Of course not, you communicated fine. Why would she? Look. Magic. Telekinesis. Telepathy. Whatever word you want to use for it," he said. "Works in everything too." He took off his trombone. "Break out your guitar and play that upbeat song again."
Frisky brought her guitar off her back and started it again. This time, Sans joined in with his trombone. Frisky was great about knowing the facts about monsters. She was raised by one, but some subtleties couldn't be taught, they had to be experienced.
This would prove once and for all how monsters really worked to her. He already knew Toriel taught her more than one instrument. She had known the basics of the trombone. Taking the knowledge of what she knew on the guitar, and the weak practice she had with the trombone, he mixed his own experienced knowledge of his own on the trombone, and was able to play with her flawlessly.
She looked back, amazed afterward. "You're good."
Hey, a compliment. "Thanks, Frisky." Then, he started to play something else different. He didn't have all of it, but afterwards there were a few notes going through her head. He played them, and paused. She started to play again, and now he could see it all lied out in front of him again. The tune was definitely different from the first. She must have a huge assortment of music knowledge up in her head. He couldn't break into it though, not without bringing it to the surface. Just like the language.
Damn, did he want to though.
"Why didn't the chocolate taste good?"
Ah, the next attempt. Determined one she still had been. Sans had his trombone ready to play a flat note when she didn't make it.
"Because it was made of chalk and it was too late to take it out."
Welp, not bad. Forced delivery. Punny. Better delivery and she might have nailed it, but that's the best I'm gonna get. Jokes wasn't how to get her to relax anyhow, or to see anything inside of her. He understood that now. And? "You get in trouble, then slow down, and talk to me. I don't care if you are in the middle of a battle. You're not alone this time, Frisky."
She nodded and then he heard something come from her. Low and soft. "Thank you."
Boy. That look. That sweet, subtle voice. She definitely wasn't scared anymore, and he was pretty glad about that. "Your welcome, Frisky." He knocked her arm gently. "Looks like your breaking out, Pop Tart. Just in time too. Let's take a shortcut to the start of the Ruins."
But, that wasn't going to happen, once he saw her beaming smile . . . and a cough.
