Toriel seemed herself the next day; the day after, Papyrus met them from school. He had missed them, he said, which made Frisk's chest ache and their smile grow. He had plenty of ingredients, and a new recipe, and of course, Frisk needed to learn to cook it alongside him. Frisk gladly agreed, and Toriel seemed happy to see them seeing their friends again- although they didn't miss the sideways glance she gave Papyrus, a new expression after their discussion.
They half-walked, half-jogged alongside Papyrus, who was unable to curb his energy; upon realising Frisk was having trouble he insisted on giving them a piggy back the rest of the way, even though his house was in sight. He didn't put them down until he got in, where he put them down on the sofa while they laughed.
Once their giggles were under control, they joined him in the kitchen. The "new" recipe was the one Frisk had left for him before; a spiced dish made from coconut milk. Asgore helped to keep both this house and Toriel's stocked with herbs and spices, as a favour to Frisk, and it seemed that Papyrus had managed to get all of the other ingredients together. It was different to anything they'd made before, but they got stuck in; Frisk carefully measuring spices, and Papyrus enthusiastically butchering garlic, tomatoes, and onion.
Once the sauce was on the stove, it filled the house with the delicious smell; warm, slightly spicy, and heady. Frisk couldn't get enough of breathing it in.
"This might be the best thing we've made yet!"
"We haven't finished making it yet! Don't get distracted! We much focus on every bit of this if it's going to be worthy of being called, 'food made by the great Papyrus and his super cool friend Frisk'!"
They nodded solemnly. "Of course. Let's see..."
They cooked rice, added veg, stirred and tasted. Frisk grinned at the skeleton; he grinned back.
The door slammed open; Undyne burst in. "Hey, nerds!" she crowed, Alphys coming in behind her.
"Oh- that smells... That smells really good. Is that... curry?"
"No! It is 'food made by the great Papyrus and his super cool friend Frisk'! With lots of spices! Nyeh heh heh!"
"Also known as curry," Sans said. Frisk whirled around; they hadn't heard him come in, but there he was, in time for dinner. They stared at him for a moment, remembering all the discussions about romantic feelings. But they didn't feel any different. They were happy to see him, to be with him, and that was all. Everyone else had just made it more complicated, they told themself, that was all and there was nothing to worry about; and Frisk put it to one side as they helped Papyrus dish up.
Even though it wasn't perfect, it was generally agreed to be a success, and while Papyrus' pride was utterly impossible to miss, Frisk felt pleased with themself too. Afterwards, they sat around and watched one of Mettaton's shows- Undyne's complaints milder than usual, as Napstablook was in this one. Everyone knew she had a soft spot for the little ghost.
Half way through the show, Frisk escaped upstairs to Papyrus' bedroom. It was much as it had been in Snowdin, now- well-decorated and full of things that Papyrus liked. Sans had always made sure Papyrus had good things. They pulled their books out of their bag and tried to get some homework done, despite the noise from the others downstairs.
They discovered, once they decided they were done working for the evening, that Alphys and Undyne were waiting to say goodbye before they left. Papyrus pouted about how they seemed to leave early every time they came over.
"Perhaps coming to the surface didn't agree with them! They should take better care of themselves! They are starting to sleep even more than Sans!"
"Hey, bro, I've been sleeping less recently," Sans said idly, from where he had sunk into the sofa.
"You are still lazy! Although you are less lazy. That must be all the different food I am making for you! I will have to make more for the others as well!"
Sans chuckled. "Whatever you say, bro. You up for watching a movie, kiddo?"
"Yes!" Papyrus proclaimed. "I know what we should watch!"
Papyrus had developed a strong fondness for "the movie with the fetching skeleton man"- so much so, that all his friends now knew to immediately suggest something else when the topic of movies came up. He liked a lot of animated films which he was convinced were absolutely not children's movies.
"Hey, I found another movie, which sort of has skeletons," Frisk said. "It's supposed to be really good!" They pulled a USB stick out of their pocket, which Papyrus reluctantly plugged into the television. Frisk quickly found it on the screen.
"Very well, human, we will watch your movie!"
Papyrus sat in the middle; Sans and Frisk sat on either side, leaning against him. Although he occasionally complained about people's posture, he didn't complain about slumping against him, and simply enjoyed the closeness.
The movie was set up like a kid's version of a typical monster movie- with Papyrus complaining that why didn't the humans just talk to the monsters- but Frisk had done their research, and when the twists came to show how it all fit together, it turned out to be as good as they'd heard. Papyrus and Frisk both tried to hide their tears at the end- he with less success than them.
"That was good, Frisk! It was perhaps- maybe- almost as good as my favourite film!"
"Oh good," yawned Sans. "Maybe you'll watch this one instead sometimes."
"Sometimes I will, yes! Oh-" he saw Frisk yawned as well- "Dr. Alphys told me that humans need to sleep lots to stay strong. So if you are tired now, you must sleep!"
Frisk giggled and nodded. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea."
"Same here." Sans pulled himself up. "You coming up, kid?"
He always asked; always gave Frisk a chance to say no, but before today, they'd never taken it. At first they asked if he was sure, was it okay, even as they were terrified of facing their nightmares alone; but more recently it was just a given. But, remembering what Mettaton and Alphys had assumed, Frisk felt their face warm.
"I'll just... stay down here. Tonight. I think," they mumbled. Sans gave them a concerned look; but Papyrus bounced to his feet.
"I shall fetch you pillows! And blankets!" He sprinted up the stairs, letting out a "nyeh heh heh" as he went. Sans shrugged.
"Alright Frisk, you know where I am if the nightmares get bad. G'night."
Frisk had listened to the rumble of San's warm, gentle voice reading Papyrus to sleep after they'd received their blankets. Papyrus never did anything by halves, and they had enough to make themself a nest on the larger of the two sofas. Still, it was lonely. They didn't say anything as Sans left Papyrus' room; they heard him pause at the top of the stairs, before continuing to his own room. He'd made it clear this would have to happen sooner or later; maybe he knew about the stupid assumptions everyone would make. Maybe he thought that Toriel and Asgore would believe them, would take it a step further, would approach him about it. Maybe he thought he'd get into trouble. Was that what he had meant when he talked about how Frisk would stop sharing his bed, sooner or later? Could he get into trouble?
It took a long time for them to get to sleep, despite being tired. And the nightmares were impatient for making them wait.
Sans had been on their mind when they finally drifted off; it was only natural that he was here, dragged up by their mind. It started slowly- he was in bed, having nightmares, bad ones. Frisk tried to reach him, but the more they tried, the further he got- until suddenly, he was wrapped up in vines, him and everyone else, and Frisk was broken and bloody and nearly beaten, and everyone was trying to save them, but instead they all died, because of them, and Sans was last, his sockets dark, his grin a horrifying rictus until he exploded into dust, nothingness, gone; and a high-pitched giggle mocked Frisk as they screamed for him and woke.
They shivered. The curtains weren't drawn and they headed to the window; the moon was high, visible through the treetops, shining silver on the carpet. How long had they been asleep? It barely felt like they had slept at all. They rubbed their eyes and plodded upstairs, the nightmare fading as they went to the bathroom; until, when they turned out the light, all that was vivid and fresh was the fear. That lasted longer than the memories most nights.
They headed over to Sans' door. They just wanted him right now, to just be there, to know that he wasn't going anywhere. It was selfish. They paused, and turned away, before stopping to listen.
A small noise, but one Frisk knew from experience. He wasn't having a peaceful night either. Thoughts of what to do, what they should do or want they wanted fled their mind; all that mattered was that he was hurting, and they could help. They crept in, closing the door behind them, and knelt next to his bed while their eyes adjusted.
One hand was hanging off the edge of his bed; Frisk was more used to comforting him when they were in the bed, but they took his hand and leaned over to try to hug him as best they could. It was awkward, trying to lean over and hold him, the edge of the bed in their belly and his ribs against his face; but they managed. His twitches and noises slowly subsided and they sat back, wondering if they should quietly leave.
His eyes were open; his glowing pupils focused on Frisk.
There was a long pause, where they just stared at each other and Frisk felt more foolish with each passing second. Then he spoke.
"Hey, kid. What's up?"
"You were having a nightmare." The words were out before Frisk processed them- they had never talked about his nightmares, the closest they had got was commenting on his sleep and he had brushed it off in a way that suggested he didn't want to talk about it. There was another pause, before Sans sat up.
"Yeah, that happens. But you know that."
Frisk got up and sat next to him. "Me too."
"You wanna talk about it?"
"Do you?"
"I asked first." His grin almost looked real in the low light from the window, just for a moment.
"I... don't really remember much of it, now. Just the fear. And um. I remember... Everyone dying." They shrugged, purposely skipping over how he had been last and most scary. "That's... not new though. So, um, your turn?"
Sans stared at the floor. "I dunno, kid. Some of it's... stuff that happened, but not in this time, you know? And some of it's just stuff my mind pulled up."
"What about tonight?" There was a pause.
"Just... Seeing people die, or disappear. And not really remembering it. Sometimes that's the worst part, just having a vague feeling about it. It's always clearer at night, but hell if I know if I'm remembering, or if my mind's filling in the blanks for me." He shrugged. "Doesn't matter, but it makes it hard to know if anything matters. How do I know I'll remember anything I do?"
"You still think that? Even after getting out?"
Sans turned his gaze to Frisk. "Not all the time, but... At night, yeah. It's hard not to, sometimes it's damned impossible. What if tomorrow we all wake up back down there, and I don't remember this conversation, or last night? What if it's all gone- again?"
"That's not going to happen." Frisk folded their arms; his grin took on an amused tilt.
"Oh, well, if you say it's not, that solves everything."
"It's not! It's not, I'm not going to have to watch everyone die again, I'm not going to die over and over again, and you're not going to wake up like none of this ever happened. I won't let that happen. Not again."
"Heh. You're really starting to grow up, aren't you, buddy? Gotta admire that determination of yours. Saved all our skins- or bones. Although I'm kinda gonna miss kid-Frisk."
"Huh?" Frisk was completely thrown by the direction he'd taken the conversation in. "What're you going to miss?"
"Your innocence. The way that all you needed to make the world right was a hug, and sleeping in everyone's bed was just a thing you did to make the demons go away."
"I still like hugs!" Frisk protested.
"And everyone knows it," Sans teased.
"And- and I can still sleep in your bed. I'm not too old for that. If you want me to. If it will help."
"Eh. If that's what you want, kid, go right ahead."
Frisk didn't need a second invitation. Whatever their logic had been to sleep on the sofa, it had all vanished between their own nightmares and Sans'. They burrowed in and lay with their back against against the wall, in their 'usual' spot, and he lay down next to them, tucking the duvet in around them.
"Sleep well, Frisk," he said. Frisk grabbed his hand and he curled his bony fingers around their warm ones.
"You too, Sans."
Being in the familiar place lulled Frisk into sleep quickly; when they dreamed, the nightmares weren't immediately there. And when they did pop up- as they always did, sooner or later- their friends were there, to beat them back, and to remind them that they didn't have to face them alone.