Toriel sat on the far side of the room, Frisk pulled up onto her lap. The large goat woman's eyes were locked on Asgore, glaring. He didn't make a move toward them and busied himself by being informed of the situation by Undyne. Alphys seemed frozen, her misted glasses pointed in the general direction of the skeletons. Papyrus had yet to leave his brother's side, still holding his hand and paying little mind to the glowing white strings that drifted about. The small skeleton's soul was not visible, however. Possibly hidden underneath his clothes and blankets.

Asgore nodded somberly to the tale. He seemed concerned. And confused. As they all were. Frisk kicked their little legs, finding great fascinating in their shoes. A frown was on their small face, and their gaze kept flicking over to their unconscious friend. Overall, it was silent.

Then a small noise. Alphys looked up from her glasses and scurried over to the bedside. The rest of them just focused on the spot. The blankets rustled. The strings twitched about, but not viciously. Rather confused, actually. Like they were confused little ferrets sticking their heads out from the burrows in the dead of night.

"….ugh…." said a low, quiet voice. Sans opened his eyes. Still blue, but no one pointed that out. Instead there was a collective sigh of relief.

"BROTHER!" Papyrus screeched, magic tears flowing freely from his eye sockets as he enveloped his half-awake brother in a suffocating-if-he-had-lungs hug. His strings shot out, stiffened at the hug's squeeze, then went limp again.

"hey pappy." Sans choked out. He smiled. It was tired, but it seemed real.

"S-sans!" Alphys butted in "H-how are you f-f-feeling? I-is e-everth-thing alr-r-right-"

"deep breathes, alphy." Sans directed. He brought his hand toward himself, then pushed outward to accent his command. His strings mimicked his hand's motion.

"B-but-"

"BOUT TIME YOU WOKE UP!" Undyne interrupted ignorantly. "I COULD KILL YOU RIGHT NOW, SANS!"

"Isn't that what caused this?" Frisk murmured. Undyne shot them a glare that, again, went ignored. Sans winked at the human.

"thanks, frisk. i was dying to tell this joke." He chuckled. Toriel and Frisk both gifted him with awkward, strained smiles.

"NOT FUNNY RIGHT NOW, SANS!" Papyrus yelled, tightening the hug.

"S-sans-" Alphys tried to get his attention.

"How are you feeling now?" Asgore asked.

Tried.

"eh…tired. in pain." Sans responded to the king. He looked around "we in the castle?" Asgore nodded "neat."

"Sans, are you going to be okay?" Frisk asked, dropping down from Toriel's lap and scurrying on over. Undyne glared at them, but Sans held out an arm to stop her.

"hey undyne, remember how i told y'all about RESETs?" he asked sleepily.

"Duh." Undyne muttered. Sans winked.

"the kid there is your bestie. so play nice" he requested. Undyne blinked her confusion and looked down at the human, who smiled up at her. She muttered something and looked away.

"IS THE HUMAN MY BESTIE TOO?" Papyrus asked.

Sans nodded "yep. a few times you two went out." Frisk blushed, puffing out their cheeks in a pout.

"I just told 'im his scarf was nice and he thought I was flirting!" they frantically explained.

"OH HUMAN, I DID NOT KNOW YOU THOUGHT THAT WAY ABOUT ME!" Papyrus grinned, blushing dramatically. Frisk looked annoyed as a soft murmur of laughter swept through the room. Papyrus sweated nervously "BUT-ER…. I'M AFRAID THE FEELING IS NOT MUTUAL…"

"Kay." Frisk said, changing the subject by referring back to Sans "You told 'em about the RESETs?"

Sans nodded "didn't really have much of a choice."

"Oh." Frisk frowned. They looked around the room, concern dripping from their voice "Are you all okay?"

"I'll be fine." Undyne rolled her eyes, still avoiding the Human's gaze. Alphys nodded, tried to speak again, but her voice came out as a coarse cough. Toriel smiled down at Frisk and pulled them into a hug.

"I SHALL BE FINE, HUMAN. NOW THAT SANS IS HERE." Papyrus chirped, squeezing his brother like a teddy bear. Sans paid no mind to this and instead focused his attention on his strings. His eye sockets narrowed as he moved them about.

"er.. are these gonna be permanent?" Sans asked, looking to Alphys.

She shook her head "N-no. I d-don't think s-s-so." The small scientist frowned "B-but S-sans-"

He cut her off with a wave of his hand and an expression that said 'we'll talk later'. Alphys nodded.

Asgore glanced about "…Er, I'll go get started on dinner." He said, excusing himself and scurrying out of the room. Toriel glared after him. Frisk smiled up at her.

"He killed me a few times." They said cheerfully. Toriel's grip on them tightened and she snorted.

"Did he?" she didn't really ask, as it came out as growl. Frisk's expression darkened at the realization that they done goof'd. They looked to Sans frantically for assistance, but the small skell was busy waving his soul strings around. So the human frantically tried to resolve the situation.

"Undyne killed me more, though-" they slapped their hands over their mouth and realized that might have been the wrong thing to say. Toriel's glare moved to the fishy warrior, whom sweated nervously.

"What?" she asked "I KILLED you?" she thought about it for a moment, clearly confused by the statement.

"T-the R-RESETS." Alphys helpfully explained "E-everytime th-they died, a R-RESET would happen a-and they'd just g-go back to when th-they were alive."

Frisk nodded "Yep." They grimaced "And it hurt."

"Oh. Shit." Undyne frowned. Both Sans and Toriel gave her a look that any normal person would break into tears at. "I mean…Shiz." She corrected herself. Frisk waved her off.

"I've heard ya swear before!" they grinned. Toriel snarled.

"Sorry, sorry!" Undyne apologized, backing away "Damn- Darn, I didn't know." She rolled her eyes.

"I HAVE ALSO HEARD UNDYNE SWEAR BEFORE!" Papyrus chirped "BUT I KNOW SANS DOESN'T APPRECIATE THAT LANGUAGE SO I AVOID USING IT."

Sans gave him a look then reached up to pat him on the head. His strings mimicked the motion, so several appendages were patting the tall skeleton's skull. "thanks bro."

"OF COURSE, BROTHER!" Papyrus grinned.

"the sans-timent really tugs at my heart strings." He winked, threads mimicking a shrug.

"OH MY GOD, SANS!" Papyrus vibrated angrily.

Frisk laughed "I guess you didn't find it humerus."

Sans chuckled "a bit overused tibia honest."

"But still quite punny, my child." Toriel giggled.

"OH MY GOD!" Papyrus snapped. He still refused to put Sans down. Alphys smiled at the spectacle as Undyne growled.

"ENOUGH WITH THE DAMN PUNS!" She snarled.

"Will normal puns suffice?" Frisk blinked innocently. Undyne looked down on them, then strayed one hand to pat them on the head.

"You're a cute little rugrat, y'know that PUNK?" she hissed, grinning although her tone disagreed with the expression.

Frisk smiled up at her, even when Toriel dragged them cautiously away.

"A-anyway…." Alphys blinked, she turned to Sans. Her eyes locked on one of his strings, she strayed out a hand and slowly pinched the end. Sans let out a hiss of pain. Alphys snatched her hand back, tears pricking the corner of her eyes "O-Oh m g-g-god! S-sans I'm S-sorry! I-I didn't kn-kn-know-"

Sans dismissed her stammerings with a wave, grimacing "i'm okay alphy…. just a bit sore…."

Alphys looked away and fidgeted. "S-sorry."

Sans sighed "someone hug her, would ya?"

"Okay!" "GOT IT!" Frisk and Undyne cheered at the same time. Frisk got to Alphys first, wrapping the small scientist in a warm and sincere hug. Undyne embraced the two of them short after, picking them both up and squeezing them.

"METAPHORICAL HUG!" Papyrus chirped from the side. He still kept Sans in his hug. Both of them were fine with this.

Toriel smiled, although a bit wary. She trusted the child, but Undyne still unnerved her. So. She watched. Or glared, perhaps.

Alphys grinned a bit "U-uh thanks…" she stammered. She patted Frisk's head "S-sorry I d-don't remember you."

"It's cool." They chirped. Then gave a wink "Like ice."

Sans laughed "ice one."

"You certainly snow your jokes, my child!" Toriel laughed, snorting.

Undyne rolled her eyes and put them down. One hand on her hip, she tapped her foot and looked down on Frisk.

"So how'd we become friends, again?" she snarled.

"We had a cooking lesson!" Frisk grinned, their brown eyes lighting up as they dived into the story "It was really fun! Papyrus set it up and then you made me tea and then we had a talk and then we cooked and then we set your house on fire and then we fought again and then we were friends-" they stopped and inhaled deeply as their face was beginning to turn blue "-and then you moved in with papyrus and then-"

"that's enough kiddo." Sans cut them off "it's important to breathe."

"IT IS?" Papyrus gasped. He fidgeted nervously "B-BUT SANS, I HAVEN'T BEEN BREATHING."

"we don't have lungs." "P-probably because you don't need to breath." "It's just something people with lungs do, Paps." Sans, Alphys, and Undyne all explained to him.

"OH." Papyrus blinked.

"H-how….?" Frisk whispered to themselves. Toriel looked down on them.

"Hm?"

"How did Papyrus blink….?" They asked again, looking up to their Goat Mom "He doesn't have eyelids." They seemed genuinely disturbed by this. Toriel giggled, covering her snout with one paw.

"Skeleton Monsters have a malleable structure, my child. Meaning they can change their expression by changing their skull." She explained.

"Oh." Frisk blinked. They fidgeted "Okay, that makes more sense."

Sans chuckled. "You mean makes more sans, right?"

Frisk laughed "I guess!"

Undyne muttered under her breathe "So we set my house on fire…?" she pondered. Her grin twitched up and she yelled "THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE WHY WE'RE FRIENDS! NOTHING SAYS BESTIES LIKE SETTING SOMEONE'S HOUSE ON FIRE!"

"we're not besties." Sans said quickly.

"UNDYNE PLEASE DON'T SET OUR HOUSE ON FIRE." Papyrus asked, sweating nervously.

Toriel chuckled, holding Frisk's hand. Alphys smiled along, but it seemed strained. Her eyes were focused elsewhere, blurry behind the shining glasses. One hand strayed to press on her beating heart, trying to calm it. Her lungs didn't seem to want to work. Her trembling wouldn't reside. She couldn't shake the feeling that this hadn't yet reached its climax.

She watched. Smiling.

A/N

Kinda a slow chapter…. I needed some puns and humor. And return of the 'Tried' joke. Sorry. Just because the next few chapters are going to be a circus.

Y'know.

IN-TENTS

Also…. I'm not sure if my update schedule will remain constant. I actually have a lot of stuff I'm doing this summer. I'll make an effort though. There WONT be an update on June 22nd! I know that for certain! I'll be at camp!