"I love it." You commented immediately.

"YOU BARELY LOOKED AT IT." Sans scolded you. "LET ALONE CHECKED OUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD TO ASCERTAIN ITS SAFETY." Fuku held up a hand to silence him.

"She does that. You should have seen all the places she shot down just as quickly. This is the first time she's approved of one, so let's give it a chance."

Both of them shot a glance to the anxious real estate agent. You had, true to Fuku's word, denied many of the places he'd shown to you as soon as you'd seen them. At least, it must have seemed that way to him.

It had nothing to do with what they looked like.

You looked back at him, excitement evident in your features. "Let's check it out!" You ordered with a smile, bounding up to the door. The agent followed you nervously, fumbling with the keys as he opened the door.

You slipped your shoes off by the door respectfully before padding along the hardwood floor to check out the front room. It was bare and impersonal, but that would be easy to fix with a fresh coat of paint and some furniture. You walked under the decorative arch to the dining room, through which was the kitchen.

If you stood quietly, you could almost catch the lingering feelings of all the happy nights spent eating here. The fresh coat of paint covered up years' worth of smudging hands and food fights. "The people selling this place had kids, didn't they?"

You had startled the agent with your question. Stumbling over the same two syllables repeatedly, he brought out his phone to check the paperwork. "Three children, yes. How did you know?"

Simple magic that even the unspecialized can use. "She does that." Fuku stated simply. "Hey, _. They have a deep tub."

"Really?" You were almost vibrating with excitement as you dashed to the bathroom. Just as Fuku said, you could sink all of you into this tub and still have a few inches of water above you. Perhaps even more if you flipped the stupid water-level-drain thing. "Did you check out the kitchen, Fuku? I think it's big enough for you, and it even has an island."

"I HAVE DONE A QUICK PATROL OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND IT SEEMS VERY SAFE. SEVERAL OF YOUR NEIGHBORS ARE MONSTERS." Sans called as he entered the house.

"Of course." You affirmed, poking your head back into the front room. "Nobody manages to have a happy house and raise happy, successful children in a dangerous neighborhood." Sans shot a quick, confused look at your best friend before you dragged him to the kitchen. "You like cooking almost as much as Fuku does. Let me know what you think of the kitchen."

The stars that his pupils turned into was answer enough.

"I love the bedroom on the left." Fuku informed you. "It has a skylight. The loft must only cover that half of the house. Can we see the paperwork?" she asked the agent. He quickly agreed, dashing out of the room to retrieve it from his car.

"YOU HAVEN'T LOOKED AT THE MOST IMPORTANT PART YET!" Sans exclaimed, wrenching the curtains on the rear-facing windows open. "WHAT A GOOD AMOUNT OF SPACE FOR ACTIVITIES!" He assessed professionally.

"Totally!" You agreed, coming to stand next to him. Your arm brushed up against his as you peered outside into the spacious backyard due to the small size of the window. "We could totally put a meditation garden over there and still have enough space for a game of washers or ladder toss over there." You told him, pointing. A moment passed with no response. "Sans?"

Rather than an answer, Sans let out an odd squeak. You turned to look at him, finding his skull mere inches from your face. His face had turned as blue as your magic.

"Are you okay Sans?" You asked, placing your hand on his forehead to see if he was warmer than usual. He wasn't, but it was possible that monsters didn't even work that way. Worriedly, you questioned, "Have you not been using your magic enough? Are you overloading?"

Fuku snickered behind you. "He's overloading all right." Fear gripped you so suddenly at her confirmation, you didn't even have time to wonder about their, also instant, change in demeanor. Your gaze jumped to her, swiftly seeing the smile drop from her face at your sudden panic, before turning back to Sans.

"NO!" Sans denied emphatically. "I'M FINE!" He backed away from you swiftly, some of the extra magic fading from his skull.

"But you…" You trailed off, leaving your outstretched hand hanging limply in the air from his sudden absence. You studied their confounded expressions for a few seconds. Did they even know? Fuku had laughed when you asked, so perhaps they didn't realize how serious overloading was. "Can monsters overload?"

"I don't think we're on the same page as to what this word means to you, _." Fuku stated, quite serious now in contrast to her mirth from before.

You relaxed slightly, lowering your arm. She was serious now in reaction to you, not to the potentially dire situation she apparently hadn't known about. "WHAT IS IT, HUMAN _? WHAT DOES 'OVERLOADING' MEAN?"

You sighed in relief. "It's a thing for human mages. It…happens when we go to long without using our magic. Bottling it up and letting your reserves grow to bursting."

"When you say 'to bursting'…?" Fuku questioned.

Both of them grew even more serious as you nodded. "The human body can only handle so much magic, even if you're a mage. Overloading is what happens at the end, when your body can't hold in any more. If the person doesn't release some of the pent-up power at this point, it explodes." You hesitated for a moment before adding, "Many mages, historically, have used it as a method of suicide."

Silence reigned for a moment before you got your answer, "NO. MONSTERS CAN'T 'OVERLOAD' SINCE WE ARE ESSENTIALLY MADE OF MAGIC. THERE IS NO WORRY OF US EXPLODING FROM GOING TOO LONG WITHOUT ACTIVELY USING OUR MAGIC. I AM SORRY THAT I CAUSED YOU SUCH DISTRESS."

"Oh, no." You assured him quickly. "You guys weren't aware. It's fine. Thinking about it now, it isn't really something that gets talked about in our society much, so I'm not surprised you didn't know. I'm really just relieved at this point. It would be terrible if you just suddenly disappeared."

Fuku's eyes shot to you suddenly, as if realizing something. "Back when we met." She said suddenly. You flinched. "When you first got the job with Dad. We didn't know you were a mage for months, because you never used your magic. Never." She emphasized again, furious. "Until I got hurt."

"You needed it." You mumbled, unable to deny what she was implying. There was no way you could possibly have missed the absolute horror that crossed your friends' faces in that moment. "At the time, I was pissed. It set me back months. Now, though, I'm pretty happy about it."

"YOU…" Sans pained voice reached your ears. He trailed off, as though he couldn't even bear to think what it was he was trying to say. "YOU WANT…?"

"I am past that point." You iterated strongly. "Well past."

The sound of the door opening interrupted whatever they were going to say next. "So, the inspection was done two months ago." The agent stated as he walked into the kitchen with the three of you. "The asking price is $145,000, which isn't bad for a 2,500 square foot three-bedroom house in this neighborhood."

You and Fuku shared a glance before you responded. "Offer one-forty with us covering closing. We like it."

"S-sure." He stuttered, surprised. "I just need the bank paperwork saying you qualify for the loan and I'll put the offer in."

You smiled as Fuku palmed her face for forgetting something so important. You had put off going to the bank for just this purpose, hoping to pleasantly surprise your best friend. "You don't understand." Everyone turned to your smiling form in confusion. "I'm paying cash."

After all, you still got a monthly stipulation for being a rank seven mage, even if you never touched it. Over the years, you easily had more than that saved up. You even had the bank summary with you to prove you could afford it.

"So, we're going in Friday to sign the paperwork," You finished, taking a sip from your smoothie. The chill from the drink was soothing on such a hot pre-summer day. "Fuku's looking into home insurance for us."

"I wasn't aware you had that much money saved up. How did you manage it?"

"Any mage ranked five and up receives pay from the Department. Me too, but I hated my magic, so I never touched it. It's built up over the years. The extra money is nice, now. Maybe I should go see if I qualify for a rank-up…" You trailed off, pondering.

Grillby chuckled. "You sure have changed. Time was, you absolutely refused to use your magic." You thanked your lucky stars that Fuku wasn't here right now to explain to him exactly what that meant. "You didn't even use it openly a few months ago. I suppose Sans is due some credit. Oh, but I hope this doesn't change anything?"

Don't worry Da-." You cut yourself off. Had you really almost called him that? How presumptuous of you. "Don't worry." You repeated. "I'm happy to still work here." The intense gaze he fixed you with told you he hadn't missed your slip-up.

Whatever he was going to reply with, however, was interrupted by the door opening to a very loud Alphys. "Hey, Punk! Sans told me you found a place! Why didn't you tell me?" She stomped over to you, grabbing your shoulders and shaking you gently in frustration. It probably would have been rougher were you not still hurt.

"You seem to have found out just fine as it is!" You countered. "We're closing Friday. After that, you guys can come over and have a look."

"Hell yeah! Did'ja hear that, Babe?" She demanded, eyes shooting back toward the bar's entrance. Hoo boy. Now you had to get ready for a housewarming party.

Asgore enjoyed having guests. Even if he hadn't met you yet, he was excited to be able to finally invite a human again. Especially since even Alphys and Undyne had approved when he'd asked their opinion of you.

He was certain Chara would be safe around you.

The child direly needed someone who was human around. They loved him as a father, and he filled that role well enough that the courts had given him custody. But he wasn't human, and couldn't fulfill that particular need his child had.

Humans could be terrible. He'd been alive for millennia; it wasn't as though he didn't know it. For a year after coming to the surface, he had thought that only children had any good left in them. Adults' Souls became so faded from the pressures of society, and their thoughts were no longer their own. Even when some changed their minds and decided to support monsters, he had stayed wary of them.

So, when Tori had told him of a human she had encountered that had made friends with his child's friends, he'd been intrigued. Alphys, Undyne, Papyrus, and Sans didn't make human friends easily. They certainly had never let said humans come to meet Chara.

You were such an exception to this rule. Alphys had outright told him you were harmless, while Undyne politely let him know that you had a tendency to project quite a few of your thoughts. Not that you hid them anyway, came from an excited Sans. You said almost anything on your mind.

You had to be integrity then. He was interested to see you, an adult with a still-bright Soul.

Only four more hours.