The school Library was one of Frankie and Ella's favorite places to go. Ella introduced Frankie to a whole bunch of cool books, including some really neat comics. Today, Ella was showing Frankie a neat comic about an archaeologist who fought mummies and discovered ancient tombs. Frankie happily grabbed the first two comics. Then he looked towards the door in concern. Since Frisk was in the same grade as Ella and him they usually had library time at the same time. So Frankie always looked forward to seeing Frisk at Library time. Today, however, when Frisk's class came in…. Frisk did not.
Frankie was worried.
"Ella, I'm gonna go see if I can find Frisk." He said. He was just looking down each aisle when he turned a corner around a bookshelf and bumped into someone.
"Oh, dear, I'm sorry."
"Toriel!" Frankie sighed with relief.
"Hello, Franklin! How are you?" Toriel smiled.
"I'm alright. I'm looking for Frisk. Do you know where they are?"
"Frisk? I'm sorry, Frankie. Frisk is sick today. They had to stay home with Asgore."
"Oh…." Frankie frowned.
"I'm sure they'll be feeling better soon." Toriel said. "Maybe if they're feeling better by Sunday you can come over to our house to play."
"I'd really like that." Frankie smiled. He was sad Frisk wasn't here, but at least he had Ella. Ella was already checking out her books when he found her again.
"Where's Frisk?" The little girl frowned. Frankie sighed.
"They're sick today."
"Oh! That's too bad! Do you have your books to check out?"
"Yeah." Frankie pulled the comics from his backpack, and checked out the books. After Library time it was time for lunch. Sans and Frankie, for the past week, had faithfully packed lunches. But Today was Pizza day in the cafeteria. Frankie had begged Sans to let him buy one lunch a week, and of course he had to choose pizza day. So today, he pulled out his little card on the way to the cafeteria. Ella was humming happily as they made their way through the double doors. Once they had their food they made their way towards a good table. Frankie was walking proudly with his slice of pizza and his side of apples, and a little carton of milk.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, he tripped on something that had not been there moments before. He fell to his knees, his pizza flying across the floor, his apples scattering under feet and tables, and his milk sloshing out everywhere. He stared down at where his hands fell directly in the midst of the mess. He felt tears threatening to fall.
"Awww look. Is the new freak gonna cry like a baby?" Frankie pulled himself to his feet, lifting his tray. He looked defeatedly down at his pizza and then turned to see Brendan staring at him with a grin.
"C'mon, Frankie!" Ella was at his side in an instant, "You can have some of my lunch. Just ignore him, he's nothing but a bully." Frankie began to clean up his mess, prepared to follow Ella's advice. When something hit him in the back, milk splattered all over his brand new shirt.
"Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you, loser!" Brendan shouted. Frankie looked directly into Brendan's dark eyes with a defiant glare.
"You're not exactly one of the people I'd say deserves to be listened to." He whispered.
"Say that again to my face!" Brendan stood up, a full head taller than Frankie. Frankie looked down at his feet. "That's what I thought."
"Leave him alone." Ella hissed.
"What are you gonna do about it, lizard?"
"I'm a person just like you and so is Frankie." Ella said. "Come on, Frankie, lets go-" Brendan punched Frankie's shoulder blade with all his might and the little skeleton toppled to the floor.
"You're not people." Brendan hissed. "You're monsters." It's not enough that I had to deal with this in the months after my parents died? I have to deal with it now too? Frankie groaned, pulling himself off the floor once again. A teacher on the sidelines finally noticed the commotion and hurried to see what was going on.
"What's happening here?" He said with a frown.
"Frankie fell." Brendan sighed. "He's always tripping over himself." Frankie watched as Brendan mouthed behind the teacher's back 'Because he's an idiot.'
"That's not-" Ella began.
"It's true." Frankie said quickly. "Sorry about the mess."
"It's alright, Frankie. Why don't you go get another plate of food. I'll get this mess cleaned up."
"Are you sure? I could help…"
"Go ahead, you've probably got class soon. I'm just an assistant teacher, I won't be missed if I'm away for a few minutes."
"Thanks so much." Ella followed Frankie as he hurried to get more food.
"Why didn't you stand up for yourself and tell that teacher that Brendan was being mean?" She asked.
"He's not worth it." Frankie replied. "Besides, that's what made him do this to me in the first place."
"That's not true. Brendan's mean to all the monsters. It's because his dad's part of the Organization Red X. Or at least, they think he is."
"Red X? Those are the monster haters, right?"
"Yeah." Ella nodded. "Brendan's parents split up just in the past few months because Brendan's mom found out his dad was involved in all that somehow. She's a big monster supporter. That's why she sent Brendan here. So that he could learn we are just like humans. We have feelings too, and we deserve rights!"
"Doesn't really seem to be working so far." Frankie murmured, wiping milk off of his shirt with his napkin.
"No. He's just saying in his own stupid way that he misses his dad. He has problems expressing himself, I think."
"Wow, you got that from him beating up on me?" Frankie asked. Ella grinned.
"Mom says I read people easily."
"You're really smart, Ella. I'm glad we're friends."
"Me too." Ella replied.
Riley paced around her apartment, her heart pounding. She was meeting Sans for coffee in twenty minutes. It's alright, Riley. Nothing bad is gonna happen and- oh god. What am I doing? Oh that's just BRILLIANT. 'Hmm! I got a death threat telling me not to do this thing! I'd better do the thing!' She sighs, falling onto her soft blue couch.
No. I'm not succumbing to fear because of a stupid threat. She stands, clenching her fists. I'm going. She makes her way over to the door, pulling up her gray scarf, brushing her orange hair out of her face. The second she was out the door, walking down the hall to the stairs, she felt sick. But she kept going, despite every fiber of her being screaming at her to stop.
Sans wasn't there when she got to the bench, so she sits in wait. It was still a few minutes before he should be-
"Heya." Riley jumps, he's right next to her.
"O-Oh! H-heya, Sans." She looks over at the skeleton in confusion, her heart pounding from the scare he'd just given her. Strange… I didn't see him walk up. Riley shrugs it off, shivering a bit. She suddenly remembers the fact that they're sitting in the middle of town square, she gets up hurriedly.
"I-I uh." She clears her throat, pulling up her scarf, "Coffee?" Sans nods, a confused expression on his face, probably something to do with her frantic actions. She begins leading him to the shop, "Clara's coffee". It had been a regular thing for her on weekends. She'd check out a book or two and get herself some tea and just… read. It was really nice. She missed feeling so calm, because at this moment, she couldn't breathe. Why am I letting a piece of paper dictate what I do? She lets out a deep breath, leading Sans over to her usual spot. The skeleton sits across from her, staring intently.
"You uh… wanted to talk?" Sans says.
"Y-Yeah. It's... " She chuckles bitterly, "I-I'm scared, Sans." If he had eyebrows, they would have furrowed in concern.
"Why?" Riley looks around, conscious of being in public with the monster she'd been told never to be seen with again,
"It's... " God what am I doing here? "I got threatened. By anti-monster people. T-they saw m-me with you and…"
"Oh." Riley nods, pulling up her scarf again. Sans' eyes were full of concern, his usual smile in a frown.
"You know I'd never let anything happen to you, Riley. You're my friend." Riley looks over at the skeleton in surprise. Friend. Huh. His smile returns, though it doesn't look as wide as it usually is,
"Do you uh- want some coffee?"
Riley shakes her head,
"N-No.. I'm alright." She feels a little more reassured by Sans being there, it was weird. She'd barely met him, and she already trusts him so fully. He still looks concerned, but he nods.
"Didja get the job? At the library?" Sans asked, changing the subject. Riley nods,
"Yeah. H-Have you t-talked to Iro? He's hilarious." Sans raises a nonexistent eyebrow,
"Uh… nope. I guess i'll have to talk to him more often." Sans chuckles, looking a little less concerned. His eyes find her scarf, and she pulls it up again.
"Err… I'm sorry if this is personal or somethin'... but uh… what's with the scarf?" Oh god, I should have known he would ask. Riley averts her gaze,
"I… Sans. I-I'll tell you when i'm ready… It's… I'm sorry." Sans looks at her, she thinks he's going to object, like everyone else does. 'It's probably nothing! Just show me!' 'Why are you hiding yourself, it's alright- show me!' 'Show me.' 'Show me'.
"Alright."
What? That's it? He's not gonna continue asking about it? The skeleton doesn't say anything more.
"Seems like you have a latte on your mind, I won't ask if you don't feel comfortable about it." Riley snorts at his pun, smiling.
"You're p-pretty humerus, Sans."
"Yup. I've been told i have quite the Sans of humor." Riley laughs,
"That one was bad."
"They're all bad." He grins. As they talked, Riley felt her anxiety melt away. He didn't bring up the scarf or the threat again, much to her relief. An entire hour passed by, and Sans said he'd better get back home to Frankie who was alone with Papyrus.
"Gotta make sure they didn't burn the house down." He chuckles, standing up.
"Thank you." Riley says, still smiling about the conversation they just had.
"For what?" He asks, tilting his skull in confusion.
"Just… talking, I guess. It was really nice." Sans nods,
"Sure. Anytime." The skeleton frowned slightly, obviously thinking about the threat she'd received, "Do you want me t'walk you home?" Riley shakes her head.
"I live across the street, I'll be fine. You'd better get home to Papyrus and Frankie!" Sans nods,
"Alright- I guess I'll see ya at work, then." Riley smiles.
"That works" Riley replies, Sans shakes his head,
"That one was bad."
REVIEWS FOR CHAPTER TWELVE:
comicallysans: Are you planning on shipping sans and riley...?
... whaaatttt... sans and riley...? uhhhmmm... whhaaattt?
The Ivory Panda: This story is so adorable! I love it! I've actually been thinking of writing something with a baby bones that meets Paps and Sans so when my friend told me about this story I was so excited! Awesome job!
Yay! We're so glad you found it and like it! Thanks so much!
SilerofWorlds: Frankie is stronger than he thinks? Is this hinting at some possible Frankie dunkage in the future?
ahhhh... trust me, we want to tell you...but...
Maybe? We'll just say that someone's gonna have a bad, bad time. shhh... spoilers!
I guest as much: Nice update! All the characters feel real and alive. Riley's reactions especially feel punderstandable.
Thank you! It's so good to hear that! *whispers* ...no...
Thank you all for your reviews! We hope you like this chapter too!