The sound of the alarm. Crap. It was 6:45. Nope. Back to sleep. Back to sleep. But Riley couldn't go back to sleep. She was both nervous and excited for talking to Sans again today. Mainly nervous. Alright. Daily routine. Minus the coffee. Because she'd be getting coffee shortly with Sans. She grabs a blue scarf this time, and a black beanie. Cool.
As soon as she's out the door, it's 7:20. What was she going to do for nearly 3 hours? Well, the most obvious choice was the library. She felt welcome there and at home. That's a good start. She walks down the flight of stairs, crossing the street to the familiar building. The librarian gave her a quiet nod when she walked in the door. Ah yes, Miss Anderson. Quiet and kind.
Riley makes her way the other back of the library, no one could see her there and it was where all of the old books were. The smell of old books. Best smell in the world. She had her own corner back there. Miss Anderson had put a couple bean bags back there for her. Bless Miss Anderson.
Riley grabs an old book off the shelf, sitting on a bean bag. Alright. Relax. It's still 3 hours till your da- no. it's not a date. It's a hangout. Don't you even dare call it a date. Riley lets out a sigh, digging into the random book she picked out. Honestly, it wasn't very interesting. She found herself thinking more and more about Sans. Alright. She couldn't stay in the library much longer. She needed to go for a walk- yeah. That was it. A walk.
Riley gathers her things and heads out, making sure the scarf was still securely tightened on her face. Miss Anderson bids her goodbye as soon as she's out the door, Riley waves back, smiling kindly, although Miss Anderson couldn't see her smile anyways. Okay. Just walk it off.
And that she does, She finds herself walking along the sidewalk, no set destination. But she needs something distracting to do. Suddenly, she hears a gruff voice behind her,
"hey- you." He does NOT sound friendly. Riley slowly turns around, there's a man, probably in his 30's, standing behind her. Rather closely. She steps back.
"I saw you- we warned you. Why do you insist on being with that… that THING." Riley could faintly smell alcohol on his rancid breath, he was still so close, she makes a move to step further away. He suddenly reaches out, his hand wrapping around her wrist. Tightly. Ow.
"L-Let go of me!" She shrieks. He tightens his grip, pulling her closer to him. Riley lets out a small cry of pain, she feels a few tears roll down her cheeks as he whispers into her ear,
"Listen here, you little bitch. Stay the hell away from those creatures, you understand? This is your last warning." His lips twist into a wide grin, as he pushes her away, forcing her to the ground. He's gone. Riley sits there a moment, shocked. Scared. She examines her wrist. Nothing broken, hopefully not sprained. She could already see bruises forming where his fingers had dug into her skin.
She shakily jumps to her feet, warily glancing around before making her way into a more populated area. She decided the next best move would be to go to the coffee shop early. Going home didn't seem like an option now. What if that man found out where she lived?
Riley glances up at the sign, "Clara's Coffee" Oh no. Sans. What if that man sees me here with Sans… what if… what if he hunts me down. And hurts me? What if he hurts Sans? What if. What if. What if. Her mind was crowded with every possible scenario that could happen. She was shaking badly, but surprisingly, not freaking out as much as she thought she would be.
Well, that's shock. I'm in shock. She quickly walks into the coffee shop, buying a small breakfast sandwich so she didn't seem like she was just there for the free Wi-Fi. She pulls out her phone, trying to distract herself for the long hours ahead of her. An hour passes. She glances nervously at her wrist every few minutes, watching as the bruises became darker and darker.
And hell, did it hurt. She couldn't move her arm without a sharp jolt of pain traveling through her body. Perhaps It was sprained. Her phone beeped. A text message.
Heya.
Oh thank God. It's Sans. I have to warn him about what happened! No- wait. I can't let him worry about me. I'm not worth being worried over.
'hiya'
on my way over
'Alright! I'm already at the place.'
Guess I'd better hurry then. I'd hate to BEAN late.
'mmm. Try harder.
Wow, jeez. I'm here btw
'already?'
"yep."
Riley glanced up from her phone, and there he was. Wearing the same thing he was the day she met him. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't return his smile. Instead of happiness, fear swept over her. He seemed to notice this.
"Everything okay?" he asks, sitting across from her, a concerned look in his eyes.
"E-E-Everything's f-fine… I- I…" and that was all she could say before she broke down in tears. Sans looks like he'd just seen a ghost, like he didn't know what to say for once. Riley was shaking, her heart pounding. God, she didn't want Sans to see her like this.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Sans' voice is quiet and low. He looks down at her wrist, noticing the bruises. His eyes widen. Riley sobs harder, pulling her sleeves up so the bruises were covered. A second later, she's wrapped in a warm embrace.
"I-I-I-I was w-walking a-a-and… a guy… h-he…" Riley managed to choke out, crying into the skeleton's shoulder. People were beginning to stare. No. NO. We have to get out of here! Riley pulls away from Sans, her eyes wide with fear. Sans seemed to have read her mind,
"Do you want to go somewhere else? How about the library?" His voice is soft and calm, his expression sympathetic and kind. Riley nods, trying to wipe away some of her tears as more sobs tore through her body. Sans helps her up, gently easing her out of the chair. Sans glares at the people who are staring and they quickly look away.
When they arrive at the library, Riley had managed to stop her tears. She led Sans to the back of the library, where they sat on the bean bags. Sans didn't start any conversation, he just sat there and stared at her with a worried expression for awhile.
Finally, he speaks up.
"Are you okay?"
Riley stares at him with a hollow expression, her eyes puffy and burning from the tears she had just shed. Why was he being so nice? Anyone else would have up and left by now, not taking a second glance back at me, the freak that can't hold in her goddamn emotions…
"Riley."
Riley's attention snapped back to Sans, who still held a concerned expression on his face.
"Are you okay?" Sans repeated.
Riley pulled up her scarf, sniffling.
"N-no," she said, her voice wavering. She felt a hand rest gently on her shoulder.
"Riley, you can tell me, if you want." Sans offers Riley a patient smile.
Yes. that's right. You can tell him. and that she did. The next hour or so was spent telling Sans about the man who had assaulted her. About how he grabbed her and told her to stay away from Sans. Riley watched Sans carefully as she explained the scenario, his expression was completely unreadable and cold.
"I-I'm sorry for crying s-so much, heh." Riley says as she wipes tears away from her eyes. The skeleton looked like he was trying to find the right words to say, but falls silent. The look of concern and sympathy on his face was genuine.
"I-I… jeez…" Sans says, or at least, attempts to say, "... It's my fault, isn't it? I'm so sorry…"
Riley chuckles weakly, "Don't be… i-it's not y-your fault"
Sans is about to retort when his cellphone rings, cutting him off. He looks down at the caller ID and sighs,
"What's going on, Papyrus?" Shouting can be heard through the phone. Sans' eyes widen.
"W h a t." More shouting.
"Paps- slow down. You're saying the cat multiplied?"
"AND, OF COURSE, YOU CAN'T HAVE SPAGHETTI WITHOUT THE PASTA!" Papyrus screamed. Frankie watched, drinking in every word, as Papyrus pulled out from his grocery bag an enormous package of spaghetti noodles. "YOU MAY THINK, 'THE GREAT PAPYRUS BOUGHT THOSE NOODLES JUST NOW WHEN HE BOUGHT THOSE TOMATOES!' WRONG! THESE NOODLES HAVE BEEN FINELY AGED, AND NOW THEY ARE READY FOR COOKING!"
"Wow! Thanks for showing me how to cook, Papyrus. This is awesome!" Frankie gasped. Papyrus set aside the spaghetti and pulled out a ridiculous amount of tomatoes.
"FIRST STEP: WE MUST POUND THESE TOMATOES INTO THE SAUCE! WE NEED SOME SORT OF DEVICE TO DO THIS WITH… I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU HAVE… A HAMMER OR SOMETHING?" Papyrus frowned.
"Well... " Frankie paused. There wasn't much in Sans' house, but there were things- like the monopolop game- that had been left by the pervious owner. Frankie thought maybe he could dig in the cupboards in the laundry room, or the large supply closet connected to the little laundry room. "We can check the laundry room."
"ALRIGHT! LET'S GO!" Papyrus spun around to exit the little kitchen and Frankie jumped up to follow him. Papyrus froze in the doorway to the living room. "I AM AFRAID THAT I ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW WHERE THE LAUNDRY ROOM IS."
"I'll show you!" Frankie grabbed the tall skeleton's hand and led him down the hallway. The laundry room was a pretty small room, attached to a little supply closet. Frankie knew the only things in the supply closet were a couple brooms, a mop, and a few old cardboard boxes. But maybe he had missed something.
"I'll check the cupboard, Papyrus, if you want to check the supply closet."
"ALRIGHT!" Papyrus yanked open the door eagerly, and came out almost instantly with one of the brooms, "I THINK THIS WILL WORK!"
"No, let's look for something shorter."
"ALRIGHT!" Papyrus returned to the closet. Frankie heard him moving things around. He sighed, climbing up on the little step stool to get to the cupboards. A terrible scream of panic rang out, Frankie jumped, and tumbled to the floor.
"Ow!" He gasped, scrambling to his feet just as Papyrus burst forth from the closet, still screaming. "P-Papyrus! What's wrong?!" Frankie cried.
"FRANKIE!" Papyrus screamed, grabbing Frankie's arms, "OHMYGOD! FRANKIE! YOUR- YOUR CAT!"
"What? What's wrong with Justice?" Frankie whispered, tears filling his eyes.
"YOUR CAT HAS MULTIPLIED! IT'S TERRIBLE! THERE ARE… FIVE CATS!"
"What?!" Frankie gasped, pulling away from Papyrus' grip he yanked open the closet door and rushed towards the little cardboard box in the center of the room. Inside lay Justice, and around her were four tiny kittens.
Papyrus came up behind him. "SEE! I TOLD YOU. IT MULTIPLIED! I… I JUST… I DIDN'T KNOW CATS COULD MULTIPLY! OHMYGOD! I HAVE TO CALL SANS!"
"Wait, what?!" Frankie was a little awe of the cats, but he followed Papyrus out to the kitchen where the skeleton grabbed his cellphone and dialed familiar numbers.
"SANS! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD. SOMETHING SHOCKING HAS HAPPENED! THECATHASMULTIPLIED!" Papyrus paused to take in a breath and Sans uttered something before Papyrus continued. "NO, SANS! IT'S TERRIBLE! THECATHASMULTIPLIED! THE CAT HAS MULTIPLIED!" His screams increased in volume, and then he threw the phone across the room, running down the hall to Frankie's bedroom. Frankie stared after him in shock. Umm.. wow? Frankie decided to run back to the laundry room to make sure he hadn't been seeing things. The kittens were still there. He counted them, staring in awe. Justice had kittens! Justice had kittens! Four. There were four kittens. Wow!
"Congratulations, Justice!" He smiled. "You're a mama."
The shouting becomes frantic, the call ends. Sans looks really confused,
"I uhm… should probably head home. Stuff's goin' on…" Riley nods,
"Y-Yeah yeah, of course." Sans frowns.
"You gonna be okay? On your own? You can come with if you want…" I should probably say no, I've already bothered the guy enough today… but… I don't want to be alone. Not now. Riley finds herself nodding,
"S-sure, I'll come with." Sans smiles kindly before offering her his hand.
"Here- hold on. I know a shortcut", Riley grabs his hand. What? A shortcut? What does tha- there's a flash of light and a falling sensation. She wants to scream, but she ends up grabbing onto Sans for dear life, clutching onto his jacket. Suddenly, the world appears to swirl and bend around her as she's no longer in the library, but in Sans' living room.
Riley's eyes are wide, and they grow even wider once she realizes how close she's standing to Sans. She nearly falls backwards, scrambling away from him.
"Pretty fast shortcut, huh?" He looks amused.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" She breathes out, trying to compose herself. Sans shrugs,
"Magic. I'll tell ya about it-"
"SANS! THERE YOU ARE! COME QUICKLY!" A familiar voice screams from down the hallway, Sans chuckles,
"I'll explain later. I guess we should probably see what Paps is yelling about." With a few breaths, Riley manages to calm herself down and nod. She follows the skeleton down the hallway, to the laundry room. As soon as Sans steps in, he freezes.
"What the-"
"I TOLD YOU THE CAT MULTIPLIED!" Riley glances over Sans' shoulder, a wide smile spreads across her face,
"aaaaawwwwww KITTENS!" she pushes past Sans, kneeling down before the little bundles of fur. Frankie looks over at Sans in excitement,
"Look! Justice had kittens!"
Riley glances up at Sans, who just kinda stands there with a shocked expression on his face. Well, anyways, Justice looks proud.
"SANS! I DID NOT KNOW THAT CATS COULD MULTIPLY!" The taller skeleton exclaims, he almost seems a little frightened. Riley laughs,
"S-She had kittens, Paps. Y'know- like babies." Papyrus' eyes widen, looking down at Justice. There were 4 kittens. Two of them looked just like their mother, tortoiseshell. one of them was an orange tabby, and the other was mostly white with a few black and orange splotches.
Riley smiles, standing back up and walking over to Sans who still stood confused in the doorframe.
"You okay there, bonehead?" What was that? Bonehead? A playful insult? Oh no.
"Heh. Yeah. The better question is: Are you?"
"I am now" You did not just say that. Oh no. Sans chuckles,
"I'm here to talk if you ever need to, okay?" Oh no.
"O-Okay!" That was way too eager. Oh no. Riley's face turns slightly red. Oh no. Sans smiles. Oh no.
I like him.
REVIEWS FOR CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
GaleForceSinger: Go have a bad time, Brendan.
Oh yes. Mayhaps very soon... ;)
anthonyabc268: Ahhh I really wanted to see them but none the less the story's great keep up the good work
Thanks! Glad you like it!
Kitlith: Brendan, and maybe his father, are totally going to get dunked on soon. Frisk suspects something, Sans had noticed something, Brendan is only getting away with this because Frankie doesn't think it's worth it. ... or did I get names mixed up?
By the time they're done with Brendan, he'll be bone tired, and this organization? Possibly dead tired. However, they'd have to work themselves down to the bone in order to do that to everyone in the organization who is perpetrating fibulas.
Hope you like the poor attempt at puns. :P
Nah, you got all the names right. Yeah... something's gonna happen, very soon. Just wait!
Yes! They're awesome! Thanks for reviewing!
Mr. Indigo: Is sans ever going to give Brandon a bad time?
Well... Sans? No...
Mechasniper51: LIVING COLOUR LYRICS
"Cult Of Personality"
Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I've been everything you want to be
I'm the cult of personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality...
Wow... I have to say, it's a pretty thought provoking song. Thanks for posting it!
nadiahardar: "I think that we're going to be friends."
*Instant flashback to that video*
"I think that we're going to be friends."
BWO BWO BWOoO BWO BWO BWO BWOOO!
Holy crap. You wrote exactly what I was thinking. Like, when I wrote that sentence I was like: Isn't that...? Yes... Should I change it...? No. And now, that stupid kazoo kid is all I can think about! It's hilarious.
GenuineGreenTea: OMGGG. Does Frankie have a lady friend?
Mayyybee... ;)
I guest as much: I'm not gonna lie, I don't quite trust wren yet, but hopefully things with her will work out. I love how Iro seems oblivious to the hostility coming from Sans, though Riley's picking it up. It's probably a good thing they decided to book it.
Yes... and that whole hostility thing? Guess we'll see where that goes... ;) (once again, nice use of puns -Papyrus: SANS. STOP)
TRUE PUN MASTER: Tibia honest, I'm chilled to the bone this story is so good. I'm too tired to make puns. I worked myself down to the BONE.
*Papyrus's Voice* STOP!ENOUGH PUNS! STOOOOOOOOP!
Nice puns! But Papyrus is definitely screaming somewhere... Thanks for the review, We're so glad you like the story!
THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! We love hearing from you all! See you next time!
-mariahills-capsicle