((A/N: A special thanks to JasherTheDarkened for your review!))
The warm welcome had cheered Frisk up greatly, and she was starting to feel her confidence coming back. Sans lead her to his – their- usual spot, and it was a catch of fresh air to know this time he didn't have an ulterior motive.
The atmosphere was warm and Frisk felt herself smiling, relaxing, and Sans had noticed too. It brought a warmth to his soul to know that the kid was getting some peace.
After a quick discussion, he ordered two burgers from Grillby, and they began to talk, and for once the conversation didn't feel uncomfortable.
"so babybones, if you don't mind me askin', what actually happened to your parents? if memory serves me right, you never went back to 'em up top." Sans asked watching Frisk's face carefully, internally wincing when he noticed that her smile faltered.
"I… ran away." Frisk answered, looking away from Sans' face. Sans sat uncomfortably for a few seconds, unsure what to say when Frisk looked back up at him. "It's odd. On the first timeline, it… hurt too much to talk about, but now, well, we both know there are worse things."
Sans' smile turned grim. 'no need to remind me.' While he was glad that this subject didn't hurt Frisk anymore, he wasn't happy it came at the price of all the pain the two of them had experienced so far.
"I was the youngest of three daughters, and I had one younger brother. My other siblings were all… so much better than me. My oldest sister was at the top of her classes and competed in ballet competitions on a national level, while my other sister could play three instruments, sing and paint. My younger brother's only six and he competes in chess and they already say that he's going to be a tennis superstar. While I, well, I was just me."
Sans visibly frowned. 'just her, she was only twelve and she saved all of us with sheer willpower and DETERMINATION on her first timeline.'
"My parents told me that the reason I wasn't as good as the other was because I was too lazy." Frisk chuckled, "If only they could see me now."
Sans laughed too, glad that Frisk was making light of the situation.
"What about your dad?" Frisk asked suddenly, making Sans freeze and stare at her wide-socketed in shock.
"what?" Frisk flinched and looked down.
"I'm sorry! It's just you mentioned him earlier and I was curious. You-you don't have to talk about it."
This time Sans' wince was visible. "sorry, babybones. it's alright, i'm not mad. it was just a shock, okay?" Frisk relaxed and nodded in understanding. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two of them for a few seconds.
"there was an accident while he was working. it was our –no, my- fault. he didn't have anyone that could look after us while he worked, so he let paps and i play in the core where he could keep an eye on us. i was supposed to be in charge and make sure that we stayed out of dad's way. there was no railing back then, and he was taking some readings. me and paps were playing chasings and we were getting competitive. one of us ended up bumping into him, can't remember who, and he- and he fell into the core. there isn't a trace of him left. at all. no one even remembers him, and i've been trying to get him back, but i don't even know if that's possible."
Frisk thought for a few moments, remembering how once in one of many timelines she had seen another skeleton in a room that appeared out of nowhere, and she hasn't seen since. Could that have been Gaster? She considered telling Sans, decided that she didn't want to bring his hopes up, knowing that the door may never appear again.
The two manage to shake off the uncomfortable mood and start chatting comfortably again. Cracking jokes, planning pranks. They even discussed ways that they could take naps without being caught by Papyrus.
"Maybe we could set up a trip wire alarm attached to a bell that wakes us up? And if he asks about it, we can say it's for detecting humans." Frisk proposed.
"that idea ain't half bad." Sans agreed. "speaking of paps, we should probably get back to him before he gets worried."
Frisk felt a little disappointed, but nodded and slipped off her seat and took Sans' hand ready to take a short-cut.
She felt the pull on her soul again, as well as the odd sensation of passing through some kind of barrier. This time she was prepared to bounce of the solid barrier, however, she could feel something anchor her soul as they began to launch to their destination. It felt like she was standing knee deep in water at the beach, and the tide was retreating, pulling at her as she remained anchored to the ground.
Her senses washed over her as she felt herself becoming centred once again. She rubbed her eyes in hopes of restoring her vision when she saw Sans next to her and realised that her surroundings, were, in fact, all white.
Sans grip on her hand tightened and she looked at him questioningly. What was going on? Where were they? Why would Sans-
"Down here." Frisk's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of a certain demon, and then everything clicked. This was the void, Falmercia had kept them here, just like how when she made a deal with Sans.
Frisk looked down as instructed, and saw that the Sloth demon was laying down on the 'ground' lazily, resting her chin on the hand, one leg crossed over the other.
"Go on, lay down, relax, we're all lazy here," Falmercia grinned smugly, "well now, anyway."
Frisk felt Sans getting angry next to her, but she also noticed something else. Falmercia had a tired atmosphere around her, and not in the metaphorical sense. Frisk knew that she was always tired, but it somehow felt worse now, and she had to agree that sitting down didn't sound so bad.
Still holding onto Sans' hand, who stood still and refused to move, Frisk sat down, yawning, noticing Sans giving her a worried glance.
Falmercia continued to try persuade to Sans, "Don't worry, I'm a sloth demon, you'd actually be showing me respect." Sans didn't move, "Well, suit yourself."
Sans glared, not saying anything, and Frisk became concerned.
"I want to propose another deal." Falmercia said casually.
"no." Sans refused.
"Come on, you haven't even heard me out."
"you don't have anything that we want." Sans growled.
"You sure?"
"definitely. now let us go." Sans tugged at Frisk's hand, but she felt too tired to get up.
"W. D. Gaster." Falmercia said matter-of-factly.
Sans froze solid, "what did you say!?" he growled.
"Oh, that got your attention?" Falmercia smirked. "He's alive, you know, trapped in the void here. I can help you rescue him."
Frisk saw the desperation on Sans face. He looked so... lost. She had never seen him like this before, it was almost like he was a child.
"you can do that?" Sans asked suspiciously, despite his obvious desperation for hope.
"Easy-peasy." Falmercia said in a bored tone.
"then why didn't you offer that to me in the first deal?!" Sans asked angrily, to which Falmercia laughed.
"If I had, I couldn't have offered a second deal, this way I can get two objects of my desire, without having to make the effort of finding another mortal to bargain with."
Sans sighed, "then why did you wait this long? why now?"
Falmercia shrugged, "I'm a lazy gal. Why so suspicious Sansy?"
"i don't trust you." Falmercia didn't appear to be too bothered.
"That's smart, I suppose, but we demons don't lie, well, some of us probably would if we could, we are demons after all, but it's more that we can't."
Frisk could feel the tension in the room rising, and she didn't like it. She needed to redirect this conversation now.
"What do you want anyway?" She asked in a quiet voice, "You already have our souls, what else do we have that you want?"
Falmercia smiled at Frisk, "Well, it's less what you have, and more what you can acquire." Frisk looked confused. "Have you ever heard of the undergrounds legendary artefact?" Falmercia inquired.
Frisk had, she had even seen it, multiple times, she realised. Chara had been just as keen to get it at one point too, but no matter what, they never managed to get it, a certain annoying dog always getting to it first.
"I'd like you to get it for me." Falmercia asked simply.
"and why can't you just get it yourself?" asked Sans.
"There are wards that prevent non-mortals like me from ever touching it. Heh, they even stopped Frisky here back when her DETERMINATION would let her die." Sans' sockets widened, looking at Frisk in surprize.
"But… that was the annoying dog." Frisk refused to believe that it was some kind of magic force.
Falmercia shuddered, "There is more to that annoying dog than what meets the eye, or well, eye-socket. So, what do you say?"
Sans looked down uncertain, and Frisk didn't want to make a deal without Sans, so there was just silence, still, Falmercia grinned.
"Look, how about we do it this way? If you ever decide to take me up on my deal, go get the artefact and open up your side's door to the void. I'll meet you in the middle and if you give me the artefact, I'll give you Gaster."
Frisk bit her lip, looking to Sans who was still in deep thought.
"I'll let you two mortals think about it. Bye-bye!"
And then they were suddenly pushed back to the skelebros' house.
