The sport shoes squeak loudly as they're dragged through the apartment along with its wearer. They find footing outside the door after some light stumbling from the forceful shove over the door sill.

"is this how you greet an old friend?"

Aofil slams the door shut, but as they turn around they come face to face with the smile again, startling them like no other.

"must've been keeping busy if you already forgot i could do this, aof."

"Get the fuck out, Sans! I'm serious, and I don't need this right now," Aofil opens the door, not having let go of the handle, "If you have any respect for me then you'll leave now. Please, I'm begging you."

Sans tilts his head up and meets Aofil's eyes. He keeps them there for a while before shrugging and leaving. Aofil closes the door behind him, and breathes out. Their head turns light and they have to support themselves on the wall with their hand as to not collapse. The spinning eventually fades, and Aofil diverges their attention to the tea on their stove. They take their kettle and pour it all out into their sink.

"now that's a bit rude."

The last drops of the scolding hot tea fly off the startled kettle and onto Aofil's exposed hand. They drop the kettle and it crashes into the empty sink with a loud and jarring sound. Aofil clenches their teeth as a gentle breeze sweeps their legs. They massage their hand before rinsing it under cold water.

"What do you want?" Aofil sighs tiredly.

Sans leans in closer while cocking his head to the side, "in my good ear."

"The fuck are you doing here, Sans?" Aofil repeats with a vicious glare.

"had my ways past and noticed that your window was open. thought i would swing by and say hello."

"And now that we've said that, are you gonna leave?"

Sans snaps a finger to the sink, "well i was planning on having some tea with you, but if you want to make some human tea instead to share with an old friend i'm not gonna say no."

Aofil inspects the scold on the back of their hand. They feel some magic diverge from further down their arm and travel up to their hand. Their veins pulsate as they're filled more than normally. It stings, both from their arm having less magic dedicated to it, and from the pressure in their hand. They tug at the band around their neck holding their plastic brace, and it evens out the pressure.

"you alright?"

Aofil's hand clenches into a fist, "No, Sans," and then a bit more, "I'm not alright. I know you don't have any eyes, but I also know that you've seen it by now. You saw it as I left as well. Why would now be any different?"

The furrowing of Sans' brow is just as uncomfortable as it ever was to Aofil, "because isn't that the very reason as to why you left? so that things would be different? but the more things change, the more they stay the same, right? it was pretty obvious from your presentation."

"You," Aofil's face drains of color, and their eyes focus on a horizon far far away, "You were there?"

"it was either signing up for jury duty for a human teacher," Aofil looks down at where Sans was, but he's gone. His voice comes from the living room, and when Aofil peeks their head around and finds Sans on the sofa with his feet on the table in front, he continues, "or helping out with building the city. if you ask me, living in a house is much more comfortable when you're not aware of all the flaws it has. i can sleep through a dull presentation, not a bunch of hammering and constructing.."

Sans lifts a proud finger, "speaking of that," his voice is filled with the same pride as he smiles at his segue, "you should start staking claims in the new city as soon as you can, aof. the lots are flying off the shelves, so to speak. i'm sure that you'll have first pick though if you choose. You have monsters in high places, remember?"

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"are you gonna commute all the way from here?"

Aofil puts up a confused hand towards Sans, "What?"

"how else are you gonna get to work?" Sans repeats slower and more clearly.

"What!?"

"when you eventually nail the interview with the monster school. the writing is on the wall, aof, even i can see that," Sans bends both of his hands into a pair of bony binoculars and puts them up to his eye sockets, "and like you said, i don't have any eyes."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," scoffs Aofil with a plastered smirk, "I know how to fake being stupid."

Sans' fingers finds its way into the side of his skull. He bores it a bit before rolling and flicking something away. Aofil shakes their head at the behavior, "you know how to be stupid for real so i don't doubt you on that, aof. you remember when you accused me of blowing things out of proportions? making a big deal out of stuff and putting on an overtly grandiose show?"

Aofil chuckles, "You holding a damn grudge?"

"when someone is being stupid as mettaton would be if stupidity sells," Sans nods, "yes, then i'll hold a grudge. you told toriel and asgore that you were their child's twin, their dead child's twin, and then you drove off into the sunset. at your parents graveyard no less, because why not? a bit of drama hasn't killed anyone," Sans snaps his fingers in realization, "oh wait, that's what you accused me of."

"Get out, Sans," Aofil's voice is cold like Snowdi… Like a blizzard, "Or else I'm calling the police."

"i know the king and queen, so good luck with that. besides," Aofil barely has time to react as Sans shortcuts to them and then back to the sofa, "your phone is out of battery. or, to be fair," Sans pats the backside of Aofil's phone against his palm, "the battery is out of your phone."

Aofil takes a heavy step forward.

"you never stopped to think how the others felt when you left?"

The question halts Aofil in their step, like a brick wall.

"guess not."

"Asriel came back, Sans. Not even me leaving can hold a candle to the prince of the monsters coming back, especially not for the king and queen. I'm gonna be a footnote in the history books, and I'm hesitant to say that I even want that much. Tell them to rewrite it so that I was possessed by Chara or something. At least that way I'm not involved directly, and I can also refute any knowledge of you. It also keeps the story more focused on the core group as well, no additional and superfluous characters such as me to muddle the events. It makes Chara the hero as well. Not their last name, just Chara, if you can. They were the hope of the Underground, that's what the monsters thought of them. Having the humans believe that too negates any conflicting views, at least on that front."

Sans doesn't make any attempts to stop Aofil from retrieving their phone and battery out of his hand. He tilts his head to them though, "wow, you have stopped to think about it."

"Couldn't think of anything else for quite a while. I tried, by god did I try, but I couldn't shake them off," Aofil raises their fur covered arm, "and with this shooting determination constantly I also imagined a hundred ways how I would kill them and force them back into the Underground. And before you ask, no, it didn't make me feel any better. If anything it made it worse," Aofil sighs, "so much worse."

"didn't say that you were right in your thinking, just that you made the effort to," Sans narrows his eyes on Aofil's arm before they have time to react with an answer, "what is that?"

Aofil doesn't look down, they already know what Sans is looking at, "Fur."

"it looks like..."

"Yup," Aofil interrupts, denying Sans the tension, "Dreemurr fur."

"that's," Sans drums his fingers on the table in front of him, "interesting. got it from your fusion with asriel?"

"It's the only explanation I can think of. Not that I've thought of anything else, to be honest."

"is it soft?"

Aofil shoots down the question with a fiery look.

"very soft, then. so," Sans leans back into the sofa again and pats his chest. Some mustard sticks to his hand, "what about your soul? does it have a piece of asriel's in it?" Sans leans forward again, with his unstained hand on his chin, "does asriel have a part of yours in his? that's actually the better question."

"haven't bothered to check."

Sans prepares his hand for a snap of his fingers, "may i?"

"No, you may not."

Sans leans in with his smile and wiggles his eyebrows playfully. Asriel summons an even angrier glare, and Sans opens his hand upright.

"fine, fine. forget i ever asked."

"That's what I've been trying to do all this time. You being here is not really helping."

"you'll have to excuse me then for not being one of your pills."

The burning gaze in Aofil's eyes freezes, and Sans takes the opportunity to shortcut his arm into Aofil's bag. He fishes up the empty jar, and shortcuts back to the sofa. With it spinning in his hand he reads it to himself.

"side effects may include, gastronomical issues," Sans chuckles loudly so that Aofil can hear, "insomnia, and," Sans lifts a finger and holds the last symptom for dramatic effect even though he's well aware that Aofil already knows it, "depression."

Aofil's forehead is buried into their palm, "Don't."

"so the gastronomical problems explain you not eating the pie, sleepiness explains your attitude during the presentation, and the depression explains your attitude right now."

Aofil tries to cross their arms, but they only manage to put one underneath their injured one, "What's your point here?"

"stop being so dramatic. do the interview, and do it good," Sans counts the reasons down on his fingers, "and then come back. we miss you, and we'd like our aim to be better. can't really practice it without you not being present."

With a hand on his lips Sans thinks over what he just said with a audible hum, "it sounded much better in my head."

"Haven't had anything to indicate that you've been aching for my company," Aofil nods towards the door, "no mail, no phone, no nothing."

"come on now. i just figured out where you lived."

Aofil shakes their head, "Don't believe you."

"you believed that the best way to solve everyone's problem was just to cut them off directly without talking about it first, so i'm not holding your belief in high regard," Sans returns his hands into his pockets," listen, we've kept our distance from you because you needed it, but it's been years, aof. you've had time to think, and we both know that you want to go back."

"Do we now?!"

Aofil rips off the brace and buttons down their shirt arm. They roll it back, exposing the vibrating fur on their arm, "You see this?"

Sans almost fuses with the sofa as he braces from what he just saw. He hangs his eyes on the shaking arm and the crazy grin on Aofil's face, "yeah, i did. we just spoke about it."

"It's not something that should be there! It's a nice little source of determination, my parting gift. My award for being the hero! For having saved the monsters I was given this. For being the reason the monsters aren't clawing their heads out I was pushed away. A nice reminder that all this soul and magic business, my curse, will never stop haunting me. Despite my best efforts not to have it be a part of my life. I have to take medication so that I don't get overwhelmed by thoughts that I know ain't mine, but that I still believe. I constantly have to question myself, and that's all because of you! So pray fucking tell me, Sans! Why should I ever listen to you? Why should I ever come back to the ones that rewarded me by shackling me to the curse they so eagerly wanted out of their life? They, you, got what you wanted, I didn't get anything!"

Sans again cleanses his non existing ear as Aofil catches their breath, "you done?"

Aofil sinks down next to Sans. Their hand run over their heavy head. It weighs a tonne in Aofil's hands, like a boulder. Their wet hair hangs down over their hands, hiding their face further.

The tears run as heavy as the head. Crashing down on the sofa and mattress, and darkening the fabric. Asriel's pained sulks interrupts their sharp breathing, and the sound bounces around the living room like a tragic symphony.

"we both know that i'm not the one to be helpful in these kind of situations, aof," Aofil hears the creaking of the fabric on the sofa as Sans jumps out of it, "so i'm just gonna take my leave. none of us are mad at you, aof. i know that you know that, but again," Sans chuckles for himself, "i'm terrible at this. i am gonna be mad at you if you don't give it a proper chance though."

Aofil dries their nose with their sleeve. It stains it pretty bad, "Before you go, how did you get in?"

Sans nods to the kitchen window. The toaster is down on its side on the windowsill, "you really should open your window a bit more, aof. i'm not the slimmest of monsters, and you're well aware of that."

"There was quite a bit of commotion outside, you know?"

"yeah, i got stuck. i guess people called for the fire brigade as i was trying to wiggle myself inside. don't worry though, i told them that everything was fine when they rang on the door."

"My door."

"semantics."

"If I had any energy left I would be mad at you for answering it. Heck, for entering without my permission as well. But right now I'm, I don't know. Exhausted and hollow"

"don't worry, i'll lock the door on my way out," Sans gives Aofil a pat on their shoulder, "you sit here and do whatever. i've been here long enough, and i'd rather not shortcut home, it gives me such an appetite. i don't like eating this late though, not a fan of having an appenight."

Aofil doesn't have the strength to argue Sans over how he would lock the door before exiting, instead they just shrug their shoulders at the joke. Sans does too, before walking up to the door, and locking it. He then lifts up the letterbox, and vanishes as Aofil blinks. The mail on the doormat flutters in the wind left behind by Sans' shortcut. A small brochure detailing the new upcoming MTT branded mega store is flipped Mettaton face up. Aofil tries to quickly forget it as they use their last strength to head for the kitchen.

A microwaved meal and glass of water later they collapse in their bed. Their pulsating arm keeps them up for longer than they want, but eventually they feel their eyes close together.

"Feels a bit weird writing you a letter, but seeing as I'm off for a trip with my class, I think this is the best."

Aofil pours themselves a cup of coffee and fetch an apple from the fruit bowl inside the teacher's lounge. They sit back down in their chair and pick up the paper left for them by Tylior.

"Don't worry about yesterday, Aof. We'll figure something out later down the line about you and the monsters. I'm not gonna give up on you, and you know that. Don't give much thought to it, that's my recommendation. I know that you like to play down your illness, but I also know that you have to take medication for it."

Aofil flexes their thigh, rattling the now refilled jar of medicine. Unfortunately they couldn't get anything for their pounding headache from their doctor, but it will probably fade as the day goes on. Their arm feels fine as well. It stings, but not as much as it should do. Aofil has it in the plastic casing just for show really, and the itching it produces rivals the pain, so they don't have to act it being hurtful.

"And," the letter continues. Tylior's writing being as decipherable as something a Temm… Aofil shakes their head. Decipherable as their doctor's writing. Much better, "you were also tired and exhausted from the presentation, and your arm being broken. Sevoltne isn't angry with you either, she understands. What I'm trying to get through is that I've let yesterday become water under the bridge, and I want you to think of it as well. Your class passed the test, by the way. Just thought I'd let you know."

There's a couple of lines afterwards that are layered on top of some previously erased lines, making the rest of the letter more difficult to read, "Anyway, I'll see you when I see you. There's some leftover pie in the freezer as well, behind that package of hotdog buns."

Aofil reaches over for the handle and scoots away the frozen bread, revealing a rock hard slice of pie. They tap it with a nearby fork, and it clinks like it was made out of stone. Aofil runs it in the microwave as they read the last part of the letter.

"Sevoltne gave me some tips on cooking, and used her own magic on your slice!"

God. Fucking. Dammit!

"It's so much better because of that! Believe me!"

Aofil doesn't bother with the rest. It's already ruined. Both the letter, and the pie.

The microwave dings, and Aofil throws the pie directly in the trash along with their apple. They crumple the paper, and throw it on top of the pie.

Hopefully Tylior won't notice. The last line is still visible when Aofil closes the trash lid.

"Lunch on Sunday still!"

"Yeah, sure," Aofil whispers to the lid before heading for their classroom.

"Your homework for tomorrow are these pages," Aofil ends their class by pointing to the pages on the blackboard behind them. The bell rings directly afterwards, and the students head for the door. Aofil drinks some more water to wash the last of their headache away. When they see the last of their pupils leave they take their second pill for the day. Another swig of water helps it go down, but as they replace their glass on their desk, it hits something.

An apple? Aofil picks it up. Sure is one. Wait, they tossed theirs in the trash before the class, who's this? Maybe it's the same student that forgot it yesterday?

Aofil puts it back on their desk and starts cleaning their blackboard.

One of their students knocks on the door, and Aofil invites them in without looking, "Come in!"

Footsteps close in and stop in front of their desk, "Is this apple yours?" Aofil asks, finishing up the last part of their blackboard.

No answer.

"Did you forget one yesterday as well?"

No answer.

"Yes, I know I gave you a short notice on the homework, but we're coming up on some real exciting stuff, so it will be worth it!"

Aofil rinses off their sponge in the sink next to the blackboard, and dries their hand on the towel. They turn around with a smile.

And stop with it fading into disbelief.

A striped arm picks up the apple, rubs with with a finger, and then puts it back down.

"Frisk?"

They nod.