Content warning: Suicide mention

"Hey, kiddo, whatcha doin' there?"

Frisk looked up from their work. They liked to sit out on the back porch, where there was natural light and fresh air and quiet. Sans pulled out a chair right next to them and flopped into it, like he always did with every piece of furniture he descended upon. They gave him a big grin.

"Homework for math class. How was the mall? Everything go okay?" they asked. It was common for people to throw nasty comments at monsters, though a crowded place like the mall usually kept them safe from actual attack.

"Yeah, actually. Got a few dirty looks, but a little kid asked for Papyrus's autograph. Bein' famous enough to be recognized, it got him all starry-eyed," Sans chuckled. Frisk shook their head admonishingly and rolled their eyes, but the smile pulling at their mouth was worth it. "You know who sent the kid over, though?"

Their shook their head, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Holly did. We said hi to her at her store, and this kid and her dad walked up…" He regaled Frisk with the happy story, his permanent grin a bit more genuine than usual. His hands were more animated than usual as he mimicked Papyrus's reaction to the human girl; when he finished, Frisk clapped their hands together and squealed.

"That's so nice! Holly's sweet… I think she has a soft spot for your bro, though," they giggled. "Maybe she has a cruuuush on him," Frisk teased, winking and pointing their fingers at the short skeleton. Sans just shook his head and laughed.

"Not everyone's out to date everyone, ya flirt," he teased, ruffling their hair. He leaned back and tapped his fingers against the metal edge of the patio table, his grin falling into something more serious. "I got somethin' to talk to ya about, kid," he said. Frisk's eyes sharpened and they looked suddenly much older than fourteen. "Holly came over to our house a while back. Undyne brought her." He glanced over, and Frisk dipped their head for him to continue. "I figured if Undyne trusted a human enough to bring 'em to meet Papyrus, they're pro'ly all right. But I had to check, just to make sure." He leaned back in his chair, digging into a pants pocket to produce his pack of cigarettes. He tapped one out and sighed before continuing. "Holly's got EXP."

Frisk's face didn't change much, save for an eerie flatness behind their brown eyes. "So, Holly… she…"

"Killed someone, yeah," Sans finished, lighting his cigarette. "Seems to be only one, I think. She doesn't have very much."

Frisk winced and looked away. They weren't sure why Sans was telling them this, since they… no, that entity—had betrayed him so many times. Perhaps because they still held on to the ability to reset, in case things went sour…

Frisk and Sans's relationship was strange. Sans trusted this part of them, the part that remained just Frisk, friend to monsters. But they could see the way he looked at them sometimes, like he was regarding a bug he very much wanted to squash. The teenager stayed quiet for a few minutes, chewing on their lip.

"So… what are you gonna do? Make her leave?"

His eyes had a faraway look to them. "I could do that. But I think it'd be better if I asked her about it first. Give her a chance to explain."

The teenager tilted their head at him. "Why'd you tell me about this?"

The skeleton shrugged and flicked ash off the end of his cigarette. "You're the only human I have to go to with this sorta thing."

Frisk rolled their eyes. "Monsters always have good intentions, even if they do bad stuff sometimes. Humans… aren't that simple." They frowned slightly with the effort of trying to explain. "There are a lot of Flow—bad people out there who do things just for themselves, or because they like causing pain to others. But I don't think Holly is one of them."

Sans nodded, looking somewhat mollified. "I can live with that. For now."

Holly arrived at Toriel's at the same time as usual. But before she stepped onto the little stone pathway that led to Toriel's front door, Undyne rounded the corner, looking surprised and then pleased to see her human friend.

"You off to work?" Holly asked, noting the sharp security uniform her friend wore.

"Sure am, I'll be gone 'til super early in the morning," she confirmed. "Watch Alph for me, would ya?" Undyne gave one of her customary grins and waved before ducking into her car, having to hunch down into the seat as usual. Holly waved back and walked slowly backwards until her friend was out of sight, and turned to open the door.

"Helloo-oo!" she called, immediately kicking off her flats at the entrance. Alphys looked up from her laptop as she sat on the couch, surrounded by papers in a sort of organized chaos.

"Hey," the monster greeted, giving a distracted smile before diving back into her work for the university. "Sorry Holly, I'm so far behind on this and I gotta f-finish…"

Holly waved the apology off. "It's fine. Just so you know, all your salvageable stuff's been moved into my place," she added, remembering the call from the apartment's manager. "They're looking at camera feed to prove that you guys didn't… y'know," she concluded. Holly noticed that Alphys's tail was curling up slightly at her side.

"O-oh. That's good, at least," she stammered, trying to be positive.

"Yeah. They don't seem to want to charge you for damages if they can help it." The stout monster fidgeted. "They did mention that you may have to keep paying until the contract is up, though."

Alphys sighed. "Thanks. I'll tell Undyne later on."

"Sure thing."

Holly left her to her work and walked back to the kitchen table, where Frisk and Toriel worked on their own projects in companionable silence. They both gave preoccupied greetings, just as Alphys did, so Holly opted to leave them to it to join Papyrus. The tall skeleton seemed to be taking stock of Toriel's pantry.

"Hey Papyrus!" she called, and he turned in surprise.

"Oh, hello there! I was just wondering where Toriel kept her pasta…" he said, moving things aside carefully to look. "Ah, it's not spaghetti, exactly… but we have this!" He produced a box of penne and rattled it. "It's sort of a funny shape, though…"

"Oooh, I like penne. Wait a sec, Pap, let me look for a few things, so I can show you my grandma's recipe!" He stood aside and Holly and searched through the pantry herself, finding various ingredients they needed. She didn't know Toriel's kitchen as well as her own, but it seemed to be well-stocked and organized; lofty goals for a retail employee.

Soon, the counter was covered with things ranging from fresh veggies and pasta sauce to a cutting board and a large colander.

"Okay, I know Undyne taught you her way of making pasta, but today you're gonna learn something that Undyne isn't so good at."

Papyrus looked scandalized. "But, Undyne is good at everything! She was the head of the Royal Guard, you know, and a renowned chef!" He hesitated after saying this, deflating a tiny amount. "Well, all right, maybe not a renowned chef. But she knew how to cook things."

Holly laughed and put a hand on Papyrus's arm. "Nobody is good at everything, honey," she said, accidentally letting the habitual endearment slip. "We are going to learn patience and restraint today." She walked over to the fresh veggies she'd picked out: a large white onion and a zucchini. "To start, we're gonna chop these up. This is a chef's knife, see the wide shape? It's used for most of your work in the kitchen. Okay, now watch how I chop these so you keep your hands safe…"

She walked him through every step, letting him help to form handmade meatballs, talking him through using a sauté pan while simmering the sauce on low heat, showing him the importance of olive oil in the noodles to keep them from sticking and to keep that Italian flavor. Papyrus was a very quick and enthusiastic learner, though a bit clumsy with his hands. He kept trying to do things in a forceful manner—driven into him by Undyne—but Holly reminded him that he should stir gently.

He began stirring the sauce one last time before it was ready, but got overeager and splashed some on his shirt. "Whoops!" he cried, jerking the wooden spoon out of the pot, which served to only fling more sauce. It splattered across his face and all over the stove and counter top.

Holly began giggling—Papyrus's face was so shocked, and the spaghetti sauce was only making him look even goofier. "Put the spoon back, silly! C'mere, I got a paper towel for your face," she said between chuckles. The skeleton smiled sheepishly.

"Nyeh heh, I was merely having a taste!" he insisted, to which Holly just smirked. She gestured for him to bend down a little so she could reach his face.

"Sure you were, Pap. A little there, and… okay. Oh, wait, I missed a spot, come back!"

"What? Where?" Papyrus asked, bending down as directed only for the tip of his nose bridge to be met with her finger. His face scrunched—a skeleton monster phenomenon Holly had long stopped wondering about.

"Boop. You are too cute," she laughed. Papyrus scowled and stood to his full height, crossing his arms.

"Am not! I am intimidating and awe-inspiring!" he insisted, blushing.

"Are tooooo," she sang.

"Am not!" Papyrus whined, stamping his foot. A deep laugh sounded off to the side, and the pair of them looked over to see Sans leaning against the doorway.

"I dunno, Paps, I think she's right. You are pretty cute," he said, giving Holly a wink. Her smile fell for a brief second, but came back when Papyrus began sputtering about how very not-cute he was. She backed off and let them banter a bit while she strained the noodles.

"Dinner's done!" she sang. Papyrus immediately quit arguing and clapped with excitement.

"Oh good! I will go tell the others and we can enjoy Holly's grandma's recipe that I, the Great Papyrus, helped to cook!" He ran to Frisk's room, since the teen had finished her homework and had retreated into solitude for a while.

Holly felt Sans's presence strongly as he watched her bustle about, cleaning up some of their mess and gathering place settings for the table. The two of them hadn't been alone together in quite a while; usually, there was at least one other person present as a buffer. Now, the dread of having a "talk" hung over her, despite doing her best to act natural about all of it.

"Papyrus really gets along with you, huh?" he said after a minute. His tone was casual.

"Y-yeah, he's really sweet. He… sorta reminds me of my sister," she answered with a tight smile that she flashed over her shoulder. "They're both taller than me, for one," she chuckled lightly.

There was another long pause. "You and Michelle always get along like that?"

Some of the anxiety melted from her face. "Yeah, we do. Well, except when we argued for all of five minutes," she laughed. "We never could fight for very long. We played a lot of games together as kids, or drew stuff for each other. Y'know, art trades, things like that. Or we'd talk about story ideas and big worlds, for hours…" Holly's smile was fond, but she remembered that her sister wasn't here with her, and her eyes lowered. "I miss her."

Sans stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. She noticed he wore the same one a lot; it was faded and frayed in places, suggesting that it was a favorite. "That sounds real nice. She ever come to visit?"

"Ah… not yet. It's… expensive to get plane tickets," Holly admitted, expression falling . She straightened up and began putting servings of dinner on plates. "I'm just gonna… get dinner on the table before it gets cold," she said.

"Yeah, okay."

Papyrus came back a few moments later to help out with dinner, effectively becoming another buffer between Holly and Sans.

Dinner turned out to be very good; everyone had looked as if they were bracing themselves for another of Papyrus's enthusiastic failures until they actually took a bite. Holly held back her laughter for the expressions of sheer relief all around the table. Even Papyrus himself was impressed. He mentioned that he would consider using some of Holly's techniques from now on when he cooked.

Toriel's fur was stained orange around her mouth, despite being dainty and neat when she ate. Frisk seemed to enjoy the lapse in decorum, though, since they kept giggling every time their mother turned to face them. The flustered monster volunteered to clean up, and Alphys got up to help. Papyrus went to watch a show starring Mettaton (he complained that his show was only weekly now instead of 24/7) and Frisk hopped up to go with him. Holly thought the teenager shot Sans a look before going, but it was so fleeting that she couldn't figure out what it meant.

"Hey, you wanna come outside with me? Could use a smoke break," Sans said from the other side of the table. Holly felt herself tense, even though she was expecting it.

"Y-yeah, sure."

The pair of them headed through the sliding door, Sans closing it behind them. He went around to sit at the now-familiar patio table. As he grabbed the pack of cigarettes from his hoodie pocket, Holly tilted her head curiously at him.

"So… why do you do that? Skeletons don't have… lungs or anything," she asked, turning a light shade of pink. "Or, um, if that's rude to ask, you don't have to answer," she stammered, fidgeting. His amused chuckle put her at ease as he answered.

"Nah, s'not rude. Skeletons are kinda rare, even among monsters." He took a drag of his cigarette, the smoke blowing out of his nose hole when he exhaled. "I used to smoke a while back in the Underground, until we ran outta these. Limited supply down there. Now that I got 'em up here, though…" He shrugged and took another drag as if to further his point.

"No, but, I mean, does it have the same… effect as it does on humans?" she continued, no longer feeling uncomfortable with the question since he'd put her at ease.

"Well, the nicotine does work on me. The ill effects… well, there are some, but seein' as I don't have flesh, there aren't too many." He shrugged. "Plus, I kinda like havin' somethin' to do with my hands." He glanced off to the side. "Anyways, I wanted to chat with ya when we had a chance."

Holly's insides twisted nervously, but she fought to keep her voice level. "Y-yeah? What about?"

He went quiet for a moment, seeming to mull over how best to start. "My friends seem to really like ya so far." She couldn't help the little leap in her chest at that, though she wondered why he'd bring that up first. "Undyne trusts you. Alph seems comfy around ya. My bro… well, he gets along with everyone. But he seems to especially take a shine to ya." He glanced to the side again. "And, uh, so far I got no complaints."

At this point, the young woman was blushing brightly. "U-um. Thank you?" she began, but he held up his right hand to stop her.

"I just got a question for ya. It's important that you answer me truthfully." He flicked ash off the end of his cigarette. His pupils burned into her. "Holly. Have you ever hurt anyone? Badly?"

Her brows immediately furrowed. What kind of question was that? "What? No, of course I haven't," she said. Sans shifted in his seat to lean forward.

"D o n ' t l i e."

The double-timbre voice he'd used when they first met was back, the same empty look on his face. He looked like Death himself, but right now it pissed Holly off more than anything. "What is this, an interrogation?" she asked hotly. "Sans, I get that you're more cautious than everyone else. You just want to protect Papyrus, right?" Her frown deepened when he stayed silent. Waiting. "No, I never hurt anyone. What are you trying to imply?"

He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers together over his chest. His cigarette trailed smoke. "By now, you know that souls are real, tangible things. You can see echoes of them when you dance with someone," he said, his voice back to its casual baritone, though more serious than she'd heard it before. "I have this… ability, of seeing into people's souls without calling them out. I can tell if someone has killed or hurt someone with ill intent." The smoke blew slightly in the wind and sputtered against his skull. "Your soul has the look of someone who's killed before."

Holly's heart thudded uncomfortably in her chest. "B-but that's impossible! I swear, I would never hurt another person—" Her voice caught in her throat before she could continue, suddenly realizing. Oh. Oh, no. She couldn't… she couldn't talk about that.

"…Except?" Sans prompted, his pupils flicking across her face as if trying to read it. One of her hands reached down to clutch at her chest reflexively.

"…S-Sans, I can't… i-it's not what you think," she stammered, and her eyes shone with tears. "Please, I don't. I can't talk about this, b-but. I… I promise I never killed a-anyone… else." She was shivering. Humiliated.

"Anyone else?" he echoed. She wasn't sure what his expression was like, because she didn't dare look up at him. "What do you mean by…that…" His voice trailed off as he put two and two together. "Ah. I see." He went quiet.

He'd figured it out. She wrapped her arms around herself and avoided eye contact at all costs, afraid of what he'd say if he could see the emotions brought out by his line of questioning. Memories—unwanted, unbidden—of a dark, calming void, and being thrown back into the harsh light and searing pain; wanting to go back to the comfort of nothingness… Later dealing with the guilt and horror of knowing she'd have left Michelle alone and swearing to never try again…

She made a choking sound and she realized she was crying for what felt like the millionth time this month. She pressed her palms to her eyes and a sob escaped from between her teeth. God, he probably thought she was pathetic now.

She got out of her chair to stand up, though she wasn't sure where she was going to go in this state. Part of her wanted to go inside and wash her face of streaked mascara, then pretend that none of this had happened. Another wanted to pace and work off all this negative energy. A big part of her wanted to get away from Sans so she didn't have to see him look at her like she was a victim. Holly had experienced far more of that than she'd liked in her life. She expected him to treat her like fragile glass now; she was upset with him for digging into things that were none of his business, but mostly she was bitter and angry at herself for being so pitiful in the first place.

"Hey…"

Holly looked up to see Sans standing right next to her. His hands were stuffed into his hoodie pockets and his expression was sheepish. She fully expected to see pity there, but, curiously enough, there wasn't a trace of it written in his face.

"'m sorry. I didn't really figure somethin' like that into the equation. Hell, I didn't even think that counted…" His left hand reached up to rub at the spot between his skull and neck vertebrae—a nervous gesture that humanized him. He was just one monster, doing his best to protect the ones he cared about. Holly hesitated just a moment before throwing her arms around him.

Sans stiffened for a few seconds before she felt the low rumble of his chuckling through his chest. She could feel his ribs, even through the thick fabric of his hoodie. He reached around and rubbed circles on her back with one hand as she smudged her tears into his shoulder. "It's okay," she sniffed. "You d-didn't know." Holly vaguely recognized the scent of ketchup and cigarette smoke in his jacket. She pulled back to look at him. The lights that made his pupils were larger than usual, and his brow was scrunched in concern.

"You gonna be okay?"

The question made her think of that text he'd left for her after her panic attack at Alphys and Undyne's apartment. He'd cared about her even then, after he'd seen that in her soul. Her mouth twitched in a near-smile. "Yeah, I think so," she sniffed. She wiped her face with the heel of her hand. "Thanks, for… not asking me to talk about it," she said softly. He inclined his head.

"Think I already asked ya enough, tibia honest," he commented, the edge of his mouth raising in a lopsided smile.

She let out choked little laugh at the joke. "You've used that one before. And don't worry about it, Sans," she said, giving him a watery smile. "I just hope that maybe…" Her face reddened and she fidgeted at the ends of her long sleeves. "We can be real friends now?"

He barked out a laugh at that, though it didn't seem mocking. "Yeah, sure we can, Holls."

A/N: Edited by Akinai_Sere and CadetSparkleWolf. I'd like to thank my anonymous reviewers here, since I can't send a PM to you! I appreciate you all!