The group sat around the table, drinking tea and eating little sweets. Papyrus sat very close to his older brother who leaned across the table. His soul-strings made a show of pouring him some tea and grabbing him a few snacks as the human child smiled and laughed at the spectacle. Sans grinned down on them, and this pushed him more to show off. Alphys spared a glance or two toward him, nibbling on a corner of a square of cake. Toriel sat next to Frisk, smiling at them. Undyne noisily led Sans on. Asgore smiled warmly, ears twitching occasionally under the influence of Toriel's periodic glare.
"You're getting really good with those!" Frisk grinned.
"am i?" Sans grinned, twirling his empty teacup with one string.
"YES, BUT SANS-" Papyrus said "AREN'T YOU WORRIED THAT MAYBE THOSE WON'T LEAVE…?"
"eh." Sans shrugged at his brother "i'll learn to live with 'em, then."
"WELL I SUPPOSE THAT WOULD BE YOUR ONLY CHOICE…" Papyrus muttered. Beads of nervous sweat slicked down his skull "BUT I'M UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE IDEA OF YOUR SOUL BEING OUT AND ABOUT ALL THE TIME."
"same." Sans said. One string wrapped around the handle of the tea pot, another suspending the cup. The pot was inclined slightly, allowing the beverage to pour into the cup. All this while Sans leaned back in his chair, hands in his pockets and his eye sockets closed. "though, it's oddly a lot easier to use these then my hands."
"Don't be so…. Stringy, Sans." Frisk grinned their strange grin. Sans tilted his skull and studied them for a moment, and then ruffled their hair.
"i get it. nice." He said. Toriel allowed a soft laugh.
"I DON'T GET IT." Papyrus whined "HOW CAN I COMPLAIN ABOUT THE PUN IF I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT?"
"It sounds like 'stingy'." Toriel explained.
"BUT IT DOESN'T." Papyrus pouted.
"yeah, took me a minute too." Sans shrugged. He winked at Frisk "but it was still nice."
"Yay!" Frisk chirped "I'm the Pun Master! The…" they thought a moment "Punster?"
"all hail the mighty Punster." Sans said, his strings waving to motion to the human child. Toriel giggled.
"All hail." She said like a wistful sigh, curtsying slightly. Frisk sprang to their feet, balancing on their chair and struck a familiar pose.
"HEY!" Papyrus blurted out "THAT'S MY POSE!"
"Nyeh heh heh!" Frisk laughed. Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets and sprang to his feet as well.
"BESIDES, HUMAN!" he said, striking the same pose, but with sparkles somehow "THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT!"
"Oh!" Frisk nodded "I see!" They tried again, posing dramatically. The ratings went up by 200. Sans eyed the magically appearing ratings chart, leaning on one hand and arching a magical skeleton eyebrow. One of his strings gave it an experimental poke or two.
Breaking the Fourth Wall! +200
Sans blinked, shrugged, and went back to ignoring the flawed humor in this chapter.
"So, Sans, how are you feeling?" Toriel asked.
Sans shrugged "better. i mean, i'm not dead."
"That's always a plus." Frisk nodded. Sans fidgeted, stretching out his strings and his arms.
"YOU SEEM TO BE GETTING A BIT RESTLESS, BROTHER." Papyrus said.
"yeah." Sans muttered. He turned toward Alphys "uh…are my eyes still blue?"
Alphys nodded "Y-yeah."
"Is that good?" Frisk said "You seem a lot more energetic."
"huh. do i?" Sans hummed. He shrugged "maybe it means something."
"Y-yeah. Sans c-can I t-talk to you for a m-moment?" Alphys stammered "I-I really want to t-talk to you."
"got it." Sans said. He turned to the remaining company "can ya guys leave us for a bit?"
Undye muttered something "All right."
"BUT IF YOU NEED US, WE WILL BE IN THE OTHER ROOM!" Papyrus added cheerfully. He picked Frisk up and put them on his shoulders "LET US GO, HUMAN!"
"Okay Papyrus!" they chirped. The tall skeleton turned, casting a concerned look over his shoulder and left theroom. Undyne gave them a glare and followed. Toriel gave Sans a pat and scrambled to follow Frisk and Papyrus. Asgore dismissed himself and left the room.
"…S-so do you k-know what is wrong w-with your eyes?" Alphys blurted out.
"rude." Sans shrugged. He fidgeted a moment "honestly, i have a theory."
"S-so?" Alphys said, taking a step towards him.
"Eh…" Sans said. He fidgeted "Well, from what we know, my SOUL is synced up to its own timeline, right? And everytime my SOUL pulls me together, it's probably striving to make me more stable. So, it might have fixed my other eye-"
"Are both eyes s-supposed to light up?" Alphys asked.
Sans shrugged "a long time ago."
"O-oh." She said. She fidgeted a bit, shuffling her feet in a way that looked similar to a cute little dance. A moment or two passed before she muttered "…W-what happened?"
Sans shrugged again "Chara showed up. Tried to steal my SOUL to give it to Flowey."
"W-what? N-No I meant with your eyes-" At Sans's blank stare she sighed. With a slight tug at her color she refocused on what Sans said, realizing that was probably more important. "W-why would she do that?"
"Apparently he used to be Asriel." Sans explained "Just… a Flower and without a SOUL- Alphys?"
The small scientist had started to tremble, her glasses fogging up and her tail beginning to wrap around her small form. Sans took a few step forward, the strings of his SOULs parting for him. He put his hands on both of her shoulders and spoke softly.
"Alphy, look at me." She didn't. Sans lifted the pitch of his voice a bit and steadied the grip on her shoulders "Alphy?"
"S-sorry." Alphys stammered, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "I-I…. Uh…. Flowey is Asriel?"
Sans nodded. "Why?"
"I…Uh…." Alphys fidgeted. "S-sans…. C-c-c-c-c-c-c" she gulped "I-I-"
"Y'need a hug?" Sans asked. Alphys nodded and promptly received a hug. She wrapped her arms around Sans's neck and nestled her face between his shoulder and skull. They held each other and listened to the ticking sounds of a clock. Sans's strings squiggled a moment and lightly patted Alphys's head. She shuddered and pulled back.
"S-sorry Sans." She sniffled "It seems whenever something bad h-happens to you, you always end up c-comforting me."
"don't worry." Sans said. He patted her head "i know your connection with the plant. sorry, i should've watched what i said."
Alphys shook her head "N-nevermind that." She wiped her glasses with the edge of her coat and put them back onto her face. "S-so Chara is trying to take your SOUL for Flowey?"
"Alphys." Sans frowned "Do ya need to talk-"
"No." Alphys said sharply. She shook her head "I'll be fine." Another awkward moment of silence "So, Chara wants your SOUL?" she toyed with her claws "S-so you g-got away from her this time. Do y-you think that's it? That she'll q-quit?"
Sans stared Alphys down a moment. Then slowly answered "honestly, no. i've dealt with this kid before and…uh… she's pretty determined." He shook his head "I know for a fact that she won't quit."
"How do we stop her, then?" Alphys frowned. Sans didn't have a response, so he didn't offer one. Alphys saw this. They simply stood in silence. Listening to the ticking of a clock. Alphys swallowed nervously. She spoke "Do you think Frisk can help-"
"NO."Sans snapped. His blazed bright, the darkness in his sockets growing in intensity the same as his eyes grew brighter. Alphys flinched, stumbling back a step. Sans's eyes widened and he retreated as well, shrugging into himself. "sorry."
"It's o-okay." Alphys mumbled quietly. Sans fidgeted, took a deep breathe, then explained:
"Frisk has dealt with Chara before. They're putting a brave face on right now, but she scares them. A few times…." He cringed "…A few times… Uh…a few timelines she took them over…. And made them do something... ghastly…"
Alphys stared "…oh." She nodded "O-okay. I get not dragging them into this. S-sorry-"
"you didn't know." Sans interrupted darkly.
… "Yeah." she sighed. "S-sans, she'll just try again, right? Chara will?"
"probably." Sans said.
Alphys frowned "Sans, how can I help?"
"I don't know." Sans said.
"Oh." Alphys fidgeted. "…Will Chara try a RESET?"
"i don't know." Sans said "she might. if she feels like it'd work. but really right now, i doubt it. i'm kind of vulnerable right now." He stretched his soul strings to emphasize.
"Oh." Alphys said. "So she'll probably try again in this timeline. So I won't forget."
Sans tensed "…uh, yeah."
"So I have a chance to help." Alphys nodded, eyes narrowing as her thoughts began to rocket into action "Sans, I'll find a way to help you. To stop this. To stop Chara." She turned on heel and began to walk out the door "I'm heading to my lab. Keep me on speed dial."
"wait- what-" Sans blinked "uh. okay, you're gone." He fidgeted and watched after her. His grin tilted down into a frown. "what is it she's going to do?"
A/N
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY THIS CHAPTER IS SLOW I THOUGHT I HAD IT WRITTEN AND I DIDN'T SO I HAD TO WRITE IT ON THE DAY I MEANT TO UPDATE IT AND SO IT'S BEING UPDATED ON A THURSDAY AND I'M SORRY OH MY GOSH I NEED TO REVISE THIS SO I'M SORRY NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE MORE EXCITING I PROMISE.