CHAPTER TWENTY: Why Hello There~!

Two monsters rest in the room between times and spaces, one shuddering, one still, patient as Archemedies slowly stops shaking. Slowly, the reptilian monster calms, his spines steadying as he coils his tail around the cloth, and squeezes it tightly as Gaster waits beside him, patient as always. They stay like that, Gaster waiting, Archemedies overcome by memories and color, for a long time. Then the reptilian monster sighs deeply, and looks up. His opalescent eyes shine a little brighter, and he smiles up at his old friend, speaking slightly shakily when he does so.

"Thank you…"

He whispers, and Gaster simply nods. He, of all people, understands. His hands start up, flurrying as he signs;

'The cloth…it saved me, in a way. Why would I ever deny you the same peace, Archemedies?'

Archemedies chuckles, and still holds the cloth to him, close to his chest as he asks, his head tilted;

"How did you…how did you find this…?"

Gaster seems to perk up a little, his cloaklike form straightening up as he signs with an exited grin that surprises Archemedies, his hands almost blurring;

'It was given to me! I was spoken to, Archemedies! For some short time, this door connected with reality!'

he signs excitedly, and the grayed out monster looks at him in shock, his mouth slightly open.

"And…you did not leave? Why, old friend? If you had a chance to escape, why would you not…?"

Gaster falters slightly, but signs all the same;

'No, the door…it locked, was locked. The stranger- I never knew their name, they sat on one side and I on the other, and they told me how things are now. They even-'

But Archemedies steps forward, his tail still coiled around the cloth, and asks incredulously, his voice hopeful yet terrified, even as Gaster realizes his mistake with a wince;

"You…you found out how long we have been trapped? Gaster, please, tell me!"

The monster asks, stepping forward again as Gaster winces again, averting his eyelights nervously as he signs.

'I…it has been a long time. Long for me, and…'

Gaster avoids his friends' worried gaze as his hands pause.

'Longer for you.'

There is silence a moment, and finally, yet still somehow too soon, Archemedies quietly asks, the cloth still held tight against his chest;

"how long. How many years."

Gaster does some quick addition in his head. He met Her a year after his friend's disappearance, and two years later they married, then after another year they had sans…Then four years later, papyrus…twelve years after that, he fell…Then he was stuck in the void for thirteen years, so…

…Thirty three.

Thirty three years.

He can't tell him that. Not like that, he can't just say- How do you tell someone that? How do you tell someone their mind and soul have drifted in limbo for thirty three years?

"Doctor Gaster, please. I need- I need to know, old friend…"

Archemedies pleads, starting to look worried at his silence, using his full title as he only very, very rarely does. Gaster looks up, and sighs heavily. his hands slowly sign, as he himself works out a different figure, his expression tired and sad for many reasons, his hands slow.

'To…to give you some idea, my eldest son was born four years after you fell. and by now he would be…'

He takes a deep breath, and averts his eyes as he signs.

'He would be twenty nine by now.'

Archemedies's eyes widen in shock. his jaw opening slightly as his mind races to put together the pieces. This can't be true, he can't have been-

"Over thirty years?"

Gaster nods with a heavy sigh. Archemedies clutches the cloth tightly, every single muscle coiling up as the monster quivers, Gaster watching with deep sorrow as Archemedies experiences every stage of shock in under a second.

I can only imagine what he is feeling right now…if I were gone that long, my sons would be barely younger than I was when I fell. whatever family he had, i…I doubt they would remember him… But I can never remember him having any family, just…did he already lose everyone, even before?

Gaster slowly glides over, and sits next to his friend who trembles in the space between spaces. He simply sits there, as Archemedies reels and panics and grieves all in the same breath, his breath itself ragged as the monster's spines click together as he shakes in repressed emotion. Gaster knows his friend will not understand him, but still he says quietly, his hands resting limp nearby;

"✋ ?¬リᅠ ?¬タᆭ✋ ?¬リᅠ ? ゚モᆲ ?¬レミ ?¬ント…?¬レミ ? ゚ユニ?¬リ゚ ❄✋?¬リワ? ?¬レミ ?¬ワフ ✡ ❄ ✋ ? ✞ ❄ ?¬リワ ?¬リワ ✌ ✌✋ …✋ ✌? ?¬レミ ?¬レミ ✡…"

Which would mean to those who know the static of WingDings as language to be simply;

"I know…I know. So long lost…so much time, so many things never to be seen again…I am so sorry…"

Archemedies looks up at the gentle static and click of his friends rarely heard voice, his whole body quivering with silent pain, and Gaster signs;

'You have been trapped almost thrice as long as me… Arch, I am so, so sorry, you must've lost…so much, old friend.'

Archemedies chuckles in a choked manner, and looks away, shaking his head as tears gather, white against white as he shakes.

"Gaster, i…the worst thing is, I had no one to lose."

He looks back up, his voice breaking as oceans of pearly tears gather in his large, white eyes.

"Th-There is no one to miss me, there is no one to grieve me…nobody will ever care- or even know if I am dead or not. I'm missing, and the world functions perfectly without me…so what point even is there?"

Archemedies asks, voice breaking as more tears come, then fall, faster as he grieves three decades of lost time. but then Doctor Gaster sighs, and gently bumps his old friend with one shoulder. The grayed out monster looks up at his friend, older, scarred- changed, but still the same, somewhere deep down, where it matters. His friend, who was forced to forget him for thirty years…Who smiles sadly, making sure he can see him as he signs gently;

'Archemedies, you fool. I care whether or not you die.'

The grayed out monster begins to shake, white tears streaming down his scales, but Gaster continues gently, as Archemedies shudders raggedly.

'And besides, the point is you seeing the world again…seeing your home again. Seeing everyone again. the point is you meeting everyone- meeting my sons.'

He winks at his old friend, still smiling gently.

'After all, you and I have been friends for years! you deserve to know them. You deserve to know the world again, arch…I won't let you give up before we even try.'

Archemedies nods shakily as the tears begin to stem, his voice shaking when he speaks.

"a-and…I suppose, I would also meet the one who was persistent enough to marry you of all people."

Gaster sighs, and smiles sadly, looking away.

'I'm afraid not…she is gone now.'

Archemedies looks up at him, his expression sorrowful for many reasons. What he has lost, what his friend has lost… that they have met again here, in this godforsaken place, where everything is gray and time ticks without them, while they remain trapped outside it. Gaster is silent, and the two monsters sit side by side, emotions spent, for a long time. Then, Archemedies asks, gently and sadly, breaking the silence with his soft, whispery voice;

"will you…will you tell me about them?"

Gaster looks at his friend, who has just been told that thirty years have passed without him- but is still trying to help him. To comfort him. oh Arch… you really are a special type of friend.

Then, slowly, Gaster begins to sign.


Papyrus is bolting through waterfall, and Sans has sort of given up trying to remove the blanket from his foot.

It lives there now.

he's also given up trying to stop papyrus, resigning himself to dealing with the massive existential crisis he's gonna have on contact with blue, because, knowing his brother, he hasn't actually fully processed that bit yet. They bolt farther through caverns and across streams, papyrus taking a very inefficient route, but as soon as they burst out again near sans's sentry station-

"MWEHEHEH! I HAVE FOUND YOU!"

wh-what- WHY IS HE HERE

Sans hangs there, papyrus screeching to a stop, staring at the other sans- Blue. He now has his full outfit on, standing proudly in front of sans's waterfall sentry station, posing in a familiar manner. It's…quite an outfit.

He's wearing a light gray t-shirt with blue accents, the royal crest stitched over where a heart would be, the blue-and-yellow shoulder guards that look functional matching the vibrant blue gloves he wears that are both… missing thumbs for some reason…? a bandanna hangs around his neck, thick and a bright blue, the knot in the back producing two bright plumes of fabric that stick up like bows, framing his confidently grinning face. Also, in addition to the navy trousers he had been wearing before, the other sans now has blue-and-yellow knee pads too, with thick cheerfully-colored boots of a similar blue-and-yellow color scheme, which seems to be his thing. All in all, he actually looks kind of like a royal guard.

This most certainly is not a costume party outfit.

Papyrus stares down at Blue. His brother…but energetic? And…Doing things? What is this?

Blue stares back up at Papyrus. His brother…but energetic? And…Doing things? What is this?

Then, the tension is broken by a small voice shrieking in glee;

"Oh my gosh you ARE ANOTHER SANS!"

Blue jumps as though startled, and makes eye contact with bell, who is bouncing up on papyrus's shoulders, beaming with amazement. Papyrus just stands there, frozen with shock, as sans relaxes. His brother will be standing here for a while trying to sort this one out in his head. maybe he can squeeze in a quick nap…

"That. Is. So. COOL!"

She squeals, sliding down Papyrus's long frame like a ladder and clambering to the ground, racing over to the other sans and staring up at him in awe, taking in the very papyrus-like outfit and mannerisms of this skeleton.

"You look so amazing! And you sound just like papyrus!"

Bell stares up at Blue with awe, and blue returns her gaze with a similar awe, recognition dawning on him as papyrus stares open-jawed at the spectacle.

"W-WHY THANK YOU! YOU SOUND VERY…OH, ITS YOU! YOU ARE THE ONE ON THE PHONE! HUMAN, IT IS ME, BLUE!"

Bell blinks, then grins even wider, bouncing up and down with glee at meeting this energetic looking sans, her smile beaming gratitude.

"O-oh yeah! I remember you! You helped me!"

She says, gratitude basically rolling off her soul. Suddenly, she darts forwards and wraps her arms around Blue, saying into his shirt, still grinning:

"Thank you, you have no idea how much you helped!"

Blue immediately hugs her back, a huge bear hug that lifts the gleefully squealing human off the ground, happy to have made yet another new human friend. His smile widens slightly, and sans can tell with a chuckle that his other self and bell are gonna get on like a house on fire… Unfortunately for his sanity, but hey, at least the kid is happy.

"MWEHEHEHEH! WHY, YOU ARE WELCOME HUMAN! I WAS SIMPLY DOING WHAT WAS RIGHT TO DO- AFTER ALL, OTHER ME GOT QUITE UPSET!"

Sans winces, but Bell doesn't acknowledge this, and thankfully papyrus seems to be too deep in an existential crisis to notice. Bell giggles, and looks up at the familiar- if also new, face.

"I love your laugh! it sounds just like papyrus's!"

Blue raises one nonexistent eyebrow, proclaiming;

"HUMAN! YOU ARE CONFUSED, MY BROTHER GOES 'NYEH HEH HEH' NOT 'MWEH HEH HEH!' …UNLESS THAT IS DIFFERENT HERE?"

Bell looks at him in confusion.

"No, papyrus says Nyeh heh heh, but then…does that mean…"

She turns, staring at sans, and remembering how much jalapeño had reacted when she'd stuck her fingers through the gaps between the large blasters ribs. If she did the same thing to sans, would that be the skeleton version of…She grins. Sans feels a chill go down his spine, remembering the exact same thing.

"Absolutely not, kiddo, I ain't letting you get anywhere near-"

Papyrus slowly turns his head to look at sans, his eyesockets glinting. Suddenly, sans remembers one of the games he would play with his younger brother, when he was still actually smaller than sans.

Caterpillar.

Uh oh.

sans quickly teleports away, appearing on top of his sentry station with a wink, his slippers thumping against the wooden roof, but the blanket drags him down with an undignified 'Gahk-!' sending him hurtling into blue and bell with a huge ungainly clatter of bones.

I'm sure you can imagine what happened next.

"GET HIM!" "Get him!"

"gak- nooo, my only weakness, tiny haaaands-"

"SMALL HUMAN! DO YOUR WORST! I SHALL ENLIST-"

"NYEHEHEH! I TOO SHALL HELP IN THIS ENDEAVOR!"

"OK NEVER MIND HES COMING NOW!

"pppftt- wait paps no you're too bi-!"

CRASH!

The sentry station now has a pile of tangled bones inside it, one of papyrus's boots sticking out from the pile of disoriented bones, sans stuck on the bottom with Bell smushed on top of him.

"pfffft-mweh-! Mwehehahah-"

comes the muffled sound from within the pile, as papyrus tries to push himself out, unsuccessfully, blue collapsed underneath the large skeleton.

"Kid, ok you can- m-mwehehehahaha-! G-geeze, kid-!"

The pile is vibrating now, papyrus almost managing to get himself out, Blue having already gotten his head poked out of the pile. Suddenly, with a clatter of bones, the pile comes undone, sans immediately, but albeit gently, attempting to remove Bell from on top of him, her hands firmly shoved between two of his ribs. After a moment of sans trying to suppress his mweh-hahaing, and bell pulling, she suddenly falls backwards into a disoriented blue, who's head clacks against the door behind him with a small symphony of bones. Sans just lays there, resigned to the future teasing that will probably never end, as Blue rubs his skull, and Bell rubs her hands, which are slightly sore now.

"so…so you DO go mweh heh heh-! well, mweh ha ha, but that's basically the same i think."

Bell suddenly proclaims, grinning wildly at him, seemingly immensely pleased with herself. but sans only make a tired fingergun at her, not getting up, saying lazily:

"eeyup. you got it, kiddo."

He lifts his head up and winks lazily.

"just ah….don't tell alph. I'll never hear the end of it."

Blue lets out a triumphant 'MWEH HEH!' Right as papyrus lets out a similar 'NYEH HEH!' And the two skeletons suddenly turn to look at eachother incredulously, sans relieved to be out of the spotlight.

"YOU…LOOK LIKE MY BROTHER."

two voices say at the exact same time, and Bell giggles, sans joining her with his own amused snort of laughter. The two excitable skeletons scrutinize each other, then say at the exact same time in the exact same tone;

"BUT ENERGETIC AND MORE COOL- WH- NYEH!"

"BUT ENERGETIC AND MORE MAGNIFICENT- WH- MWEH!"

They both exclaim in surprise, sans feigning offense at his brother's comment.

"aww, c'mon paps, I'm plenty cool! I'm a real nice guy!"

Blue immediately bursts into laughter, bell giggling madly from where she sits beside Sans, who still lays on the cool stone with a goofy grin at the wonderful audience he's stumbled into. This is even better than snowdrake. Papyrus growls with frustration.

"NYEHHHH! FORGET WHAT I SAID ABOUT YOU BEING COOL AT ALL! SANS, THAT WAS TERRIBLE!"

blue looks at papyrus incredulously, exclaiming with a flourish that makes his bandanna bounce;

"IT WAS NOT TERRIBLE! IT WAS A WELL CRAFTED JOKE! NICE, ICE, A COOL TEMPERATURE- IT MADE SENSE IN CONTEXT! MY BROTHERS PUNS HOWEVER…"

Blue shudders, as papyrus stares at him in shock, and sans blinks in surprise at the compliment.

"HE MAKES ICE JOKES IN HOTLAND! AND LAVA JOKES IN SNOWDIN! AND DESERT JOKES IN WATERFALL! IT'S ATROCIOUS!"

The other sans shakes his head wildly, the bright blue plumes bobbing at the motion as a disgusted shudder runs up the small skeletons' vertebrae.

"AN AFRONTMENT TO COMEDY!"

Papyrus thinks hard for a moment, his expression deeply conflicted, as sans exits his sentry station, still in just a shirt and shorts. bell follows behind, still wearing his jacket, as they watch the two strikingly similar skeletons stand off.

"I…SUPPOSE THAT WOULD BE WORSE THAN SANS'S PUNS…BUT STILL! HE MAKES SO MANY OF THEM! IT GETS OLD VERY FAST, NEW SANS!"

blue considers this for a moment. Then, he perks up, his eyelights flickering a pale blue for a moment as he proudly proclaims;

"WELL, THEY SAY YOU CANNOT HAVE TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING! AND PLEASE, CALL ME BLUE!"

Papyrus lets out a small 'nyeh?' Of surprise, asking curiously;

"BLUE? WHY IS THAT?"

Blue waves down at himself, his frozen grin widening a little as he flicks his blue bandanna in a way that reminds sans of when papyrus swirls his cape.

"BECAUSE I AM…WELL, BLUE!"

He puts his gloved hands on his hips, adding with a wink and another infantesimal widening of his grin;

"NOT EMOTIONALLY, OF COURSE."

papyrus tilts his head, frowning a little, trying to decide whether that counts as a pun or not, before sans interrupts;

"hey hot-sauce, why're ya here by the way? I thought I told ya to stay inside the lab."

Sans asks, his gaze sharp and calculating as the tension suddenly spikes. Blue looks at him in concern, remembering the reason he came in theu first place.

"TO CHECK ON YOU, OF COURSE! YOU WERE GONE FOR THREE WHOLE DAYS! ALPHYS COULDN'T MANAGE TO FIX THE EQUIPMENT AND WE COULDN'T GET A SIGNAL THROUGH TO YOUR PHONE ANYWAY, SO SHE SENT ME TO FIND YOU!"

sans seems satisfied for a moment, then narrows his eye sockets suspiciously.

"…why not send the Riverperson? They know their way around, why didn't they come? Seems a little unnecessary, bud."

Blue winces, and rubs the back of his skull as he explains.

"I DON'T KNOW WHY…BUT THE RIVERPERSON IS…I THINK THEY ARE SCARED OF SNOWDIN, ACTUALLY. THEY CAN'T BRING THEMSELVES TO GO THERE, AT LEAST, NOT NOW THAT THEY HAVE REMOVED THEIR HOOD…"

Blue looks worried, and sans let's his expression soften with a sigh of resignation, Bell and papyrus glancing between the two sanses and trying to figure out what's going on.

"…it's ok, I believe ya. You said the equipment is still…er, glitching out? hey paps, you mind if I go an' help alph' fix it?"

He asks, turning to the tall skeleton while jabbing a thumb in the direction of the lab. Papyrus's eye sockets widen, and he seems to bristle at the mention of Sans returning to the lab, one of his neon red boots beginning to tap against the stone irritably.

"I ABSOLUTELY MIND! YOU HAVE BEEN ASLEEP FOR THREE DAYS SANS, I AM NOT ABOUT TO LET YOU GO RUNNING OFF BACK TO THE LAB AGAIN! AT LEAST, NOT WITHOUT ME TO DRAG YOU BACK! I FORBID IT!"

He crosses his arms, and blue adds to his statement in a similar tone, his hands still on his hips.

"YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING ELSE FOR A WHILE! ALPHYS WILL MANAGE, I'M SURE! ANYWAY, I HAVE NOT MET THIS WORLDS GRILLBY, WE COULD DO THAT INSTEAD, AND YOU CAN GO BACK AFTER YOU HAVE EATEN!"

he holds out a gloved hand, asking;

"DEAL?"

sans grins, a bigger grin than he's managed before, and shakes blues hand with a glint in his eye sockets. He does need some good food, and anyway, it's not like it'll take that long, right?

"deal, bucko."

Papyrus yelps, waving his arms wildly as blue stares at him, uncomprehending, just as sans tightens his grip on blues hand, grabs papyrus, and teleports, Bell along for the ride as she clings to his shirt for dear, sweet life. …And anyway, he's not about to miss a chance to drag his brother to grillbys.

Alphys will be fine, he's sure.


Meanwhile, in an alternate world…

Red tears out the door, firing blasters behind him as he leaps out, teleporting mid-air to literally anywhere that isn't here as both panicked and furious yells echo behind him, but he doesn't listen. He falls past unfamiliar places and sensations, his mind whirling and eye glowing a blood red as he flees as far as his confused, weakened magic will take him. He doesn't teleport often- boss didn't like it- but the situation seemed to call for it.

Damn lizard…

He has a sudden sense of deja vu as he falls through space- from the last time he came to this confusing world. That idiotic papyrus had immediately freaked out when he fell into their kitchen at some ungodly hour, and the stupid-looking version of him hadn't helped things. so, he ran. Like he's doing now. The sensations stem, and suddenly he's face down on hard rock, burning heat making him choke as he pushes himself up, the air scorching his nonexistent lungs.

HOTLAND.

his eyesockets widen in terror as he automatically thinks;

I'm in Undynes territory-!

But then, he shakes himself, snapping back to reality. Undyne doesn't…she's not here, and if she is, she'll be weak like everyone else in this damn place…He shivers, unable to imagine that. In his world, this section of the underground is ruled by Undyne, the terrifying Overguard of the underground.

The job of the Overguard?

Rip any human that survives snowdin and waterfall to bloody shreds.

He shivers, remembering the one, singular time he had seen the vicious monster in action.

He had stood in a huge crowd of monsters, each one firing their attacks with huge cheers when a dust-covered human got too close, making arena walls out of their cheering and roaring bodies and raking claws. He had seen the looming monster strike blow after devastating blow within the arena, tearing the human apart with a vicious ferocity, and he had seen the human strike back out with its last breath, spitting blood in her face with an expression of pure spite. He had seen her, one eye gouged out by the dying human, dripping white liquid dust from the gaping hole in her face that was twisted by rage and triumph as she tore the human apart even as it died with a smile, it's hand signing one last insult into her face as she roared. she had stood, covered in blood and things indescribable, as she ripped the blazing purple soul from the human's dying body. Red had been there, when she held up the mangled corpse, pouring blood onto the boiling ground, as the monsters around him roared with delight and bloodlust.

He hadn't.

He pushes himself up, scrambling to his feet, shaking slightly as his eyelights dart around the fire filled cavern, panicked. He spots no one. He doesn't see undyne either. There's just rock and lava in this small cavern, a couple different tunnels branching out as steam-blowing contraptions hiss from where they run through the wall. The core pipes. Slowly, he begins to walk, his shaking hands shoved into his jacket pockets as he stubbornly refuses to remove the heavy fur coat in the boiling heat, heading in the opposite direction of the hissing pipes.

Sweat runs down his skull.

He keeps walking.

it feels like he's going to melt.

He keeps walking.

His skull begins to steam.

He keeps walking onwards, feeling as if he's boiling in his nonexistent skin, until he finally growls in frustration and stops, removing the fur jacket and tying it around his waist in annoyance, tugging the sleeves into a tight knot. …He doesn't really know where he's going. But, refusing to acknowledge this, he continues on, stubbornly hopping down boulders and walking through obscure caverns until he is sure no one will find him, the pipes having disappeared hours ago as he heads further into rural hotland.

Then, he rounds a corner, and finds himself in a large cavern, the roof so high he can't see its end as it dissolves into darkness despite the pools of lava that illuminate all hotland caves. he stops, and breathes a sigh of relief, the sound echoing a little in the high cavern he now finds himself in, the temperature no less sweltering, but at least it's safe.

Then, something lights up above him.

He spins, and backs up against the wall, the skeleton staring in bewildered shock as strings of fire begin to crisscross the cavern and latch to its walls, a million tightropes of flame beginning to illuminate the cavern's dark ceiling with every thread. What….what is happening right now?! Red stares upward, his skull tilting farther and farther back, staring up at the huge cylindrical cavern that stretches up and up and up. he just gapes, finding he can now see millions of tiny holes dotting the walls, little balls of fire pouring from them and leaping from the flaming tightropes that crisscross the walls, racing wildly across the maze of fiery threads as Red stares in wary, dumbfounded confusion.

Then, someone calls down in possibly the weirdest font he's ever seen, their voice crackling and blazing playfully;

لماذا مرحبا هناك

(Why hello there~!)

…this is not worth the trouble. He doesn't understand a single word of whatever they just said, and this is not worth it. he'll just find another hiding pla- Whoever it is, laughs gleefully. It's definitely time to go. Red slowly begins to edge towards the cavern entrance, the small corridor he followed to get here, but his path is suddenly blocked by flaming threads.

لا يحدث ، وجه حاد

(Oh hoh hoh! Not happening, Sharp face!)

The unintelligible font cackles, the tone still gleeful, its words still meaningless to Reds metaphorical ears.

من الوقاحة الدخول بدون دعوة

(It's rude to enter uninvited~!)

Suddenly, as red squints up at the flaming font, trying to discern where it's coming from, a figure leaps down from somewhere within the tangle of fiery threads, landing gracefully in the center of the cavern, not too far from him, smiling a flaming smile. Red stares.

it's…grillby…?

But…not Reds grillby. The fire elementals flames crackle a warm, cheerful orange, and his eyes are obscured by swirling pale yellow glasses that somehow stay on his familiar face without any hooks, but what actually catches Red's eyelights are what he's wearing.

The fire elemental rocks gleefully on the heels of dark navy shoes, emerging from the bottom half of the elemental's bright pastel-blue suit that clashes nicely with his own pale orange flames, which crackle upwards in an excited way above the swirling yellow glasses. His hands are covered by thick black rubber gloves that appear to be covered in scorched stickers, and to top it all off there's what looks like pastel pink bow tie tied neatly around his collar, grillby's familiar face cracking a not so familiar excited grin a few inches above it.

Red just stares at him, escaping all but forgotten. this might be the farthest one could possibly get from how his grillby acts, dresses, and talks. The fire elemental wags one rubber covered finger at him, saying in his bright flaming font with an almost comical grin on his face;

وأنت بالتأكيد لست صديقي الأزرق العزيز أو ربما سوف تكون حمراء

(And you certainly are not my good friend Blue! Or perhaps you would be Red?)

The fire elemental crackles, breaking out into laughter at his own joke. Red just stares at him, then squints and slowly asks;

"Who the hell are you?"

Grillby tuts at him, fiery threads hanging down around him and little balls of fire sliding down them to gather by his feet, the elemental's loyal summoned servants.

الآن ، الآن لا الشتائم, وجه حاد, أو أنا قد ينزعج فقط

(Now now! No swearing, Sharp Face, or I might just get upset!)

The fire elemental says, his tone slightly condescending as he decides he doesn't like this strange new skeleton, Red still not understanding a single word. But, he does hear the condescension.

"H-hey, ya better not be laughin at me!"

Red snaps, his voice catching in confusion at the start in a way he immediately hates, bristling as grillby chuckles slightly too darkly for reds liking.

أوه لا ، يبدو كما لو كنت لا تفهم…

(Oh no, it seems as if you don't understand…)

Grillby shrugs, his smile growing sharper as the living flames rise up in pillars around him, the small balls collecting into mounds of fire as he says in a playful yet threatening tone;

أفترض أنني سوف يكون فقط لجعل لكم

(I suppose I'll just have to make you~)

Red, though not understanding a crackling word, understands a threat when he hears one and prepares to teleport but- Fiery threads shoot onto his soul, coiling around it and shooting back out to anchor it to the walls until it glows a bright orange on similarly coloured flaming threads, strung up with puppeteer magic, grillby cackling from where he sits amongst the roiling fire.

لا مفر من المتعدي المشاغب

(No escape for the naughty trespasser~!)

He sings gleefully, as Red dodges balls of fire desperately, panicking as he desperately tries not to die, yelling every curse he knows at the fire elemental along with desperate pleas as he dances away from plume of fire after plume of fire. Grillby squints at him, dubs him as dramatic, and shrugs. Trespassers get burnt, those are the rules, and this imitator of his friend is not exempt.

Meanwhile, papyrus is in a complete frenzy trying to find him.

He's combed the entirety of snowdin, waterfall, and everywhere he can think of in hotland and new home, but there's no sign of the alternate skeleton. This is very, very bad. It wouldn't have been as hard if, say, the kid ran off somewhere- they're new, they don't exist here, and papyrus could describe them without much trouble. Here? Well, how's he meant to just ask someone;

"Hey, have you seen a skeleton who looks exactly like my brother in every way except he has shark teeth and trust issues?'

That's not something you can just ask. And who knows what will happen if someone else finds him first!? Red could die- his HP being so….so very abysmal as it is. He paces, outside the lab, just having talked with a confused undyne. The nervous fish monster had not seen him on any of her cameras- but had also been very confused at what under the earth he was talking about.

"Blue is in a…costume, or something, you mean?"

She had asked in her hesitant voice, to Papyrus's immense frustration. He had done his best to explain things, but as mentioned previously, it was challenging. He has no idea what to do. Where would he have gone? …where would blue have gone? Papyrus knows that Red is nothing like Blue, mainly because he's a psychological tire fire- but that's just it. Underneath everything, he's basically the same skeleton as blue, somewhere…very, very deep down. It's just circumstance, right?

So where would blue have gone?

Where would a sans have gone?

Papyrus paces, then remembers one place he hasn't checked. One place that this other sans could have gone- one place that any sans would go, If he knows sans. One place he hadn't checked, simply because it's so- so far away! Exactly where red would have gone to hide-! He immediately teleports to grillby's cavern with a panicked crackle of magic, desperate to find the alternate version of his brother while his father restrains Alphys back in snowdin-

-The smell of hotcats, the feeling of harsh rock, the sound of electronic music, the chittering of living flames, the sharp glare of light against armor, the stench of burnt nice cream-

And then he's there.

"GRILLBY WHAT THE FRESH HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Papyrus screeches, stumbling to his feet and staring up at the cyclones of fire, Red weaving between them as grillby perches on his tightropes of flame, grinning merrily as he orchestrates the chaos. Red spots him, and screams out, his skull dripping sweat as a cyclone misses him by inches-

"GET ME OUT OF HERE YOU ABSOLUTE PIECE OF-"

Whatever insult he was going to fling is interrupted by a dancing pattern of flame shooting towards him, Red only barely dodging, yelping as one nearly hits his arm, his soul leaping between strings wildly.

"GRILLBY, Y-YOU CAN STOP NOW- HIS HP- GRILLBY, STOP PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU-!"

Papyrus shrieks up at the fire elemental again, louder, but grillby seems unable- or unwilling- to hear him, and suddenly there is a humongous roar of flame. A huge fireball appears on the cavern floor, Red yelping where he hangs in mid air above it, his soul held up on the maze of strings using blazing puppeteer magic. The fireball cracks open, and roars up at the shaking skeleton, grillby laughing and saying something indistinct in his crackling sharp font, waving at the humongous fireball with one rubber gloved hand as smaller fireballs rain from above. Papyrus swears under his breath. Grillby is infamous for this attack, and Papyrus isn't sure Red can survive it, the skeleton shaking and weaving through the flurry of fireballs as the huge mass of flame chomps towards him.

"GRILLBY, STOP! GRILLBY CAN YOU HEAR ME, STOP RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR-"

The fire elemental ignores him, watching with glee as Red dances through the fray, yelping and spinning in panic as his soul darts from one string to another, desperately trying to avoid the fatal fire. Red, high up on the strings, can feel the searing heat bake him as he dodges, too tired to scream, too tired to go on, as the unrelenting heat beats down on him, a distant voice shouting for someone to stop, far away…

And, overcome, that's exactly what he does.

Papyrus sees the skeletons' eye sockets drift shut, falling sideways limply as the heat finally gets to him, the fireball leaping up from below in a shower of fist-sized sparks-

but it bites down on a cage of bones.

Papyrus's eye is blazing as orange as the flames as his attacks block grillbys, the elemental blinking down at him in surprise, papyrus snarling in return and jerking the cage of bones down to smash on the fireball with a crash, Reds soul held blue within it as papyrus jerks it up again and towards him, Grillby yelping and leaping down as his demonic pet whines. Papyrus unsummons the cage while it's still hurtling towards him, catching Red and slinging the unconscious skeleton over his shoulder as he glares at the fire elemental with disgust. Grillby snaps his head up, yelling something indistinct and accusing at him in his crackling font, but Papyrus interrupts him harshly.

"Check 'im. Now."

the elemental goes to speak again, but papyrus cuts him off sharply, demanding in an icy voice;

"I said check him."

The fire elemental blinks at him, then grumbles something under his breath, staring at Red for a moment before his eyes, glowing slightly behind the glasses, fix on something papyrus can't see. The fire elementals flames suddenly lower, dying down from the frustrated crackling of before, Grillbys equivalent of going pale, his expression pure shock. Papyrus snorts. Yeah right, he should be shocked. Grillby is just lucky he didn't hit Red, otherwise…

Welp, you can imagine.

Papyrus hefts the unconscious skeleton over his shoulder, and turns, shaking his skull as he walks away. Blue describes grillby as 'excitable.' Papyrus thinks of him as 'murdery.' As he walks away, he hears footsteps click against the stone after him, and looks back to see grillby running after him, stopping and holding out a canteen of water in one gloved hand. The fire elemental nods towards red, looking apologetic and slightly frantic as he offers it out, the water sloshing in the metal canteen as the fire elemental sees Reds burned clothes and winces. Though quick to violence, the fire elemental is furiously apologetic afterwards, the one trait of his papyrus can respect. Papyrus raises one non-eyebrow at him, looking tired and slightly exasperated.

"…look, I appreciate the gesture, but if you're touchin' it it'll be boilin' by now-"

Papyrus says as gently as he can manage right now, but the fire elemental shoves it into his chest with a sharp crackle of his confusing font, papyrus instinctively grabbing it and flinching, expecting its metal sides to burn.…but it doesn't. Grillby taps his rubber-gloved palm and sighs slightly, papyrus blinking at the canteen for a moment before mumbling a slightly surprised thank you and turning away, eager to get this exhausted and definitely unconscious skeleton back to where he won't almost die from heat exposure.

It's a bad idea to fight a fire elemental in hotland.

Papyrus teleports in short jumps, making sure to ease Red out of the heat without shocking him, knowing firsthand the kind of full body breakdown you get if you teleport from the 'brick oven' heat of hotland to the 'meat freezer' cold of snowdin. It isn't fun…he knows that from experience. He teleports through outer hotland first, the temperature beginning to become more pleasant there, then uses the Ferrypersons service to travel to Waterfall, exhausted by teleporting so much while also carrying the added weight of Red's unconscious form. The Ferryperson makes no remark at Red, simply singing a song about six little foxes telling tales as they paddle their boat down the river, papyrus breathing a sigh of relief as the heat fades behind them.

There's a pause, as papyrus catches his breath and the river rushes by in its usual way. The Ferrypersons floral mumu is bright as ever, and he notices it's goldenflowers blooming on their cloak today. It's always somehow a different flower each time you ride, but he's never seen goldenflower before…He shakes his skull. Unimportant. He's nearly there anyway- the boat slowing to a gentle stop.

He gets off, paying the Riverperson their usual fare of 1g, and intentionally avoiding the often over-concerned Gerson- a kindly turtle monster who's inn is near here- by using a little known side passage, ducking between stalactites as he winds through the dark passage with practiced accuracy even in pitch darkness. He appears out in an obscure side cavern, a battered guitar still standing in the corner as he sighs, lifting the unconscious red with blue magic and shaking him in the air a bit in an attempt to wake him. He doesn't move, his sharp teeth glinting dully in the dim light of the blue magic, his entire body limp. Papyrus releases the magic with a small huff of annoyance, letting him fall for a split second before catching his soul with blue magic again, right before he would have hit the ground. Still no reaction.

…That worries him…

Red should have woken up at that- skeletons don't have an inner ear, but they get the same snap awake if they fall over, a very helpful instinct keeping them from sleeping while they fall- which is useful to him at least, since papyrus has a tendency to sleep standing up, and blue has a tendency to push him over whenever he does. blue…papyrus wonders for a moment where he is now, if he's safe, if he's…He sighs, pushing away his thoughts, setting the unconscious skeleton down as Red's skull clinks a little against the stone wall, the blue magic releasing him entirely. Papyrus kneels down and pokes him in the forehead, waiting patiently for the skeleton to wake up and yell at him or something. Nothing. Then, he gets an idea. It's not the most dignified way to wake him, but Papyrus still pops open the canteen and promptly pours it over Red's head with only minimal smugness.

"PPPTHB- WHO THE SH-"

that did it. Red scrabbles against the wall, trying to back up into space that isn't there, his breath coming in rapid gasps as steam rolls off his skull, papyrus simply watching tiredly as the confused skeleton rubs evaporating water out of his sockets, tipping his skull forward and knocking it to get the water out as he splutters;

"W-WHAT THE HELL'D YOU DO THA-"

Red starts, glaring up at him angrily as water still trickles out from inside his skull, but he stops in his tracks when he sees just who he is yelling at, his eyelights contracting.

"-t for…"

He trails off, his gaze wandering down to his own shaking and steaming bones in confusion, his steam fogged mind deciding papyrus is much less important than this, his eyelights pinpricks.

"wh-what the hell…"

Red shakily mumbles under his breath, shaking as waves of heat pulse through him, his bones retaining the temperature too well for his own good, his soul pounding as it attempts to drive out the heat.

You see, skeletons absorb heat from around them, storing it around their soul to warm it, a little like how lizard monsters like Alphys have to heat their blood using hotrocks. This also means that, unlike the lizard monsters who have actually functional respiration systems, the area around a skeletons soul can actually become so hot it boils their soul alive…To try and avoid this, the soul will divert heat to the air pockets in the skeletons bones and eventually into the skull itself as a last resort, meaning a skeleton can feasibly bake alive in the right conditions.

Red met almost all of those conditions.

Papyrus shakes his skull a little as red sits there, his bones clicking slightly as his bones steam away the cold air. This dummy- he fled from battle, only to immediately get himself back into one, the second one possibly being the most unfair fight possible for a skeleton- just short of fighting a human chiropractor. What a dork…well, that's one way he's like blue. Papyrus sighs and responds to Reds half-question flatly, waving at the steam coiling up off of Reds still boiling bones, too tired from his couple hundred teleportations to put much energy into it despite his racing mind and automatic concern for this skeleton with blues face;

"ya got into a fight with grillbz then collapsed from heat exposure, so yeah, that's what happened."

He shrugs, as if it's no big deal red could have been boiled alive, despite the fact he's still internally screaming from the experience, the large, very tired portion of his mind protesting at the fact he's still awake. He's exhausted from teleporting that many times- his second hand panic overruled by the fog of tiredness as he continues.

"Good for you, I found ya in time. You were half dead already- passed out mid battle. I just saved your sorry tailbone and bought'cha here, but considering you're only heating up the faster ya breathe…"

Papyrus waves in the direction of the river sounds with one hand, a tired expression on his skull as Red's breath suddenly catches, the skeleton trying not to breathe with a panicked expression, steam coiling thickly from his bones as the smaller skeleton stares down at his shaking hands.

"…So long as you don't wanna die from heat exposure an' all, best bet would be to jump in the river."

He states tiredly. Red is staring at him now, and papyrus returns it with barely a blink, seemingly unfazed. He's gotten used to hiding things around those with sans's face, especially panic... Red doesn't move, just stares at him with pinprick eyelights and tries not to breathe too deeply while his overheated mind wrangles with papyrus's suggestion.

"Well? Whatcha waitin' for?"

Papyrus asks, as Red breathes shallowly, steam still coiling off him, his mustard-yellow shirt drenched in sweat, a few new scorch marks burned on its edges. Red glances at the steam coiling off him, then back at papyrus, eventually snapping shakily back at him in a low growl of a voice, wary and rough but too drained to be full of the usual hostility;

"…that… that'd kill me, you d-dumb ****-"

He snaps almost accusingly, his voice cutting off as he coughs slightly, his eye sockets narrowed even as papyrus stares at him blankly, uncomprehending. Then, papyrus internally 'oohh's', and realizes- This skeleton is literally unable to take a hit of any sort, including those without actual intent behind them. so him and river rocks…not a good mix. Papyrus blinks, then speaks, trying to wake himself up internally as his mind fumbles a bit, his soul drained of energy by his million-and-a-half teleports.

"oh, yeah that's right, your HP…"

He trails off as Red's bones steam thickly and the stalactites drip water in distant notes, the caves of waterfall never silent as an awkward pause stretches out.

"…how'd that happen, by the way?"

Red just huffs at him dismissively, looking away as steam coils from his skull. Papyrus's eye lights are caught, though, by the empty space where one sharp tooth is missing from its socket- he hadn't noticed that before, does that mean-? His eye sockets widen, and Red looks back at him in confusion as papyrus snaps to attention, asking urgently;

"Wait wait, hold up, you got a tooth knocked out?! Red, geeze lemme heal you, ya must be in the point zeros-"

He reaches a hand out, his eye flickering a faint green, but red scrambles back, snapping as his eye flares red for a moment before pitifully flickering out;

"G-get away from me! It's an old one you dumb **** I- boss knocked it out, I'm f-fine and I don't need your… your help! i just r-really…"

He begins to trail off as the steam from his bones coil thicker, but Red's voice picks back up again, the smaller skeletons' sharp teeth snapping together as papyrus stares at him.

"…Feel like I'm in a g-goddamn oven, s-so get back!"

he finishes, his voice weaker than usual, his eye managing to produce only pale red sparks as papyrus looks at him in concern, confusion and admittedly some pity too. Isn't 'boss' this guy's brother? The guy papyrus fought? He certainly seemed pretty tough, just a sucky fighter. There was certainly some talent there, but the guys' patterns were pathetic, if not nonexistent… But… wait. This sans has only one HP. His brother would have had to…

Red, confused, squints at the skeleton in front of him who sits silently, as he feels heat boil in his rib cage and steam clouds his vision. What is wrong with this dopey version of boss? Why does he keep looking at him like that- it's creepy and he doesn't…trust… the smaller skeleton trails off internally, a wave of heat pulsing through him even as sharp, cool air pierces the steam.

"What- why're you- s-stop makin' that face! It's almost weirder than y-you are-"

He tries, but steam clogs his voice- the boiling fog beginning to coil out his mouth and eye sockets, the shorter skeleton gasping raggedly, the clouds of steam signaling that red is very close to overheating, in his case fatally. papyrus shakes himself back to attention, and internally sighs. Why is he surprised? Of course in this skeletons' horrific world, people try to kill their own brothers. But right now, he needs to make sure this… mentally unstable, sorry-excuse-for-a-threat skeleton doesn't die in possibly the dumbest way possible. He suddenly grabs Reds soul with blue magic, the smaller skeleton still choking on the steam that balloons out his eyesockets and mouth- and shrugs, winding up his magic to teleport one last time while remarking tiredly;

"...guess I'll just have to dump you in the snow then."

And then, they're falling, sensation flying past with only a puff of steam in their wake...


Somewhere else, another sans falls through space, this one with three others in tow as they flash past sensations. Blue is still clinging to his arm tightly in surprise, papyrus grumbling as sans holds onto his elbow, with bell wrapped around him like a baby koala.

-The sound of water, the feel of flower petals, the smell of cold, the baying of dogs, the shimmer of lights, the feeling of pages, the scent of pine, the laughter of children, the warmth of an open door-

The ring of a bell, and they're inside grillbys, blue looking incredibly shaken and Bell blinking from where she suddenly stands beside him. Papyrus shakes his head, sighing, as eleven sets of eyes stare in shock at papyrus, two Sanses, and a human, all having appeared out of thin air. Sans sometimes drags his brother here, but since when we're there two of him? And isn't that the human that saved his life? What's going on? Grillby's eyes shift a little behind his glasses, as if he's raised one invisible eyebrow, but that's the only reaction from the serene fire elemental, still cleaning a glass with a cloth as he always seems to be. He doesn't speak, as usual, unfazed.

Sans grins. Alphys can wait, he hasn't been here in almost an entire week, and he desperately needs some food that isn't ramen or cookies- along with a decent break from craziness…Then, a swirly-eyed bunny pipes up from one table, staring drunkenly at the two sanses while her ears wobble and she hiccups, surrounded by empty glasses;

"W-why's- *hic* there two s-sansy's? an- an whyyyyyyyys one of em dressed like- *hic* -p-papy…?"

The dog squad are muttering amongst themselves, and dogaressa gets just close enough to take one quick sniff at blue, then pulls back, shrugging at her husband, who is confirming that bell is, in fact, human. Lesser dogs neck stretches out quizzically, it's long furry neck forming a question mark in an impressive maneuver that sends playing cards tumbling off the table. the plant monster just stares at bell in awe, while the horse monster near the jukebox lifts up his dark glasses to stare at blue with confusion. A dog guard smoking milk bones squints in blues direction, but can't make anything out, since blue is just staring in a kind of confused awe at the different personalities of the familiar faces, which seem to have been shuffled like playing cards.

Bunni…dunk…?

Ives….sober?

He's never seen the plant monster so coherent, nor the usually scholarly rabbit monster so intoxicated.

The bird and fish monsters by the bar just wave their bottles, clearly too drunk to care. Greater dog, however, gets right up near blue, and hops about, panting happily at the sudden arrival of more bone-monsters who might summon treats. Blue blinks, a little surprised at the attention, then he smiles and pets the large guard between the ears with one gloved hand, summoning a large bone for him to chew. Greater dog retreats, chewing happily, and suddenly blue is surrounded by the dog monsters, all of them yapping wildly for a treat. Sans chuckles, and walks to the bar, hopping up on one seat, bell sitting beside him as blue happily summons bones for each of the dog squad. A few monsters are still suspicious, but relent, turning back to their food and drink. Papyrus pouts near the door, but sighs, coming over and settling himself on another stool as blue staggers over, his bandanna a little chewed by one overzealous dog.

He hops up as well, wiping some slobber from his shoulder pads, but stopping once he sees grillby looking at him.

The fire elemental sort of commands attention when he wants it, since, being made of fire, he can be incredibly intimidating. He's staring at blue calmly, assessing him, still cleaning a glass that by now, is sparkling. Blue looks up at him. Grillby, looks down at blue.

'…what can I get you.'

He signs eventually, the skeletons in the room seeing the words type out beside him in a wispy font as he signs, and blue perks up, a little surprised. Sign didn't translate to font in his universe, so it's a little surprising to see it happen here. Sans chuckles at how unfazed the bartender is, and is about to speak before blue begins to sign himself, replying with a seamless flurry of his gloved hands;

'Do you have soup? I'm not really from around here, so I don't know the menu.'

Grillby seems surprised, but definitely pleased, nodding and turning to sans with an expectant air, his flames crackling a little merrier than usual, the unexpected signing having put him in a rare good mood. Sans turns to papyrus, and papyrus turns to bell, who bravely starts the order verbally, since none of the skeletons except blue actually know how to sign.

"Uhh…may I have the fries please, Mr Grillby?"

Sans ruffles her hair, slightly relieved, and adds;

"I'll have the same, grillb. whadda you want, paps?"

Papyrus looks surprised, then grumpy, then embarrassed, eventually mumbling in a still quite loud voice;

"…MILKSHAKE, PLEASE."

Grillby nods, giving Bell a rare smile, and disappears into the back, leaving the sparkling glass on the counter. Blue turns to sans and asks him in a fascinated voice, his head tilted to the left in a very papyrus-like way, looking intrigued:

"I DIDN'T KNOW SIGN WENT INTO FONT HERE! THAT WAS A PLEASANT SURPRISE TO BE SURE! AND YOU WERE RIGHT, THIS PLACE IS A LOT NICER THAN MUFFETS WHERE I'M FROM!"

sans shrugs, surprised himself that it isn't a thing where blue is from, but bell interrupts any answer he might have given.

"What's a font?"

Blue stares at her blankly, and sans mimicking his expression exactly, papyrus giving a similar 'what?' face, turning away from the crowd of monsters to which he was explaining the situation to stare at her incredulously. It was as if she'd just asked 'what's a rock' or something along those lines. Then, Sans blinks, and tries to explain, not very successfully.

"Uhh, we skeletons can see words in the air when people talk. skeleton voices have different types of letters, like handwriting, I guess? We call the different letter-type thingys 'fonts', and everyone has a slightly different font."

Sans shrugs, but Bell is fascinated now, and won't let him stop, looking as if she's about to launch into a tirade of questions before blue excitedly jumps in to continue the explanation.

"ME AND OTH- I MEAN SANS, HAVE THE SAME FONT, COMIC SANS! BUT HE IS A LOWERCASE, AND I AM AN UPPERCASE! WHERE I'M FROM, MY PAPYRUS IS LOWERCASE, BUT THIS PAPYRUS IS UPPERCASE,"

he explains, waving at papyrus, who has returned to his task of explaining things to a large crowd of curious onlookers.

"SKELETONS ARE NAMED FOR THEIR FONTS! FOR EXAMPLE, PAPYRUS SPEAKS IN PAPYRUS, ME AND YOUR SANS SPEAK IN COMIC SANS, AND MISS HERMAN WOULD SPEAK IN, WELL, A.R HERMAN!"

sans blinks, asking in a confused voice as papyrus glances back at them in bewilderment;

"Who's Herman?"

Bell, seemingly distracted from the fascinating naming system of skeletons, echoes the question. Blue blinks, and looks at both sans and bell in confusion.

"YOU KNOW, HERMAN? THE NICE LADY SKELETON WHO WEARS A BIG BLUE FRILLY DRESS AND SPEAKS SPANISH A LOT? YOU DON'T KNOW HER?"

Sans shakes his head, and blue frowns, or frowns as much as he can with a fused jaw.

"Talks a liiiiiittle like this?"

He says, his voice twirling and twisting, becoming higher and sounding a lot more feminine, barely a trace of his own uppercase 'font' left unhidden. Sans's eye sockets widen, and Bell just stares at him open-mouthed. He sounded so different.

"H-how did you just-"

Sans stutters, and Bell just stares at him with stars in her brassy-gold eyes. Blue seems amused by their reactions, and keeps going, imitating the twirly skeleton from his world, throwing one arm over his face dramatically.

"oh little angelito, do come and skate por favor! The ice is SOOOooOOo wonderful today!"

He says, in a slightly off but still pretty decent imitation of a Spanish accent. He grins a little wider, pleased with the awed expressions. Sans stares at him, then asks slowly;

"did you just….change font?"

Blue nods, a little confused, one nonexistent eyebrow raised as papyrus gapes at him, impressed. The crowd of monsters gather around him, whispering and staring, but blue doesn't seem to mind.

"YES, CAN'T YOU? IT TAKES PRACTICE, BUT IT'S PRETTY EASY TO IMITATE AT THE LEAST. HAVE YOU NEVER TRIED?"

Sans just stares at him. He can't imagine- changing fonts? Could this guy change to a cipher font? WingDings? From what sans remembers, WingDings is one of four dingbat fonts, do those count as normal enough fonts for blue to 'imitate' his way into speaking them? And wait- there are other skeletons where he's from? The implications of this make his head spin. Papyrus? He's just impressed. Not even he, the great papyrus, can achieve that! then, suddenly, sans's thoughts are interrupted, bell asking with wide eyes;

"Can you teach me? To change fonts and stuff?"

Blue chuckles a little, then explains, not unkindly;

"HUMANS DO NOT HAVE FONTS! OR, WELL, YOUR WORDS ALL LOOK THE SAME. OTHER MONSTERS HAVE SLIGHT DIFFERENCES IN THEIR 'FONT'- WHICH WE CALL 'ARIAL' -BUT HUMANS HAVE NONE FROM WHAT I CAN TELL!"

Bell looks disappointed for a moment, then she suddenly looks up, making eye contact, and says slowly, in a voice that sends a surprised jolt up sans's vertebrae;

"Is this a font?"

All the skeletons stare at her, or rather, a spot just above her right shoulder, all their eyelights locking on something she can't see. Then, sans's grin gets very, very big, and papyrus just gapes. But blue beats them both to it, proudly proclaiming in an amazed voice;

"YES! THAT WAS! KALAM- HOWEVER DID YOU MANAGE IT? ME AND CHARA TRIED FOR AGES!"

bell grins proudly, explaining how she'd just tried to talk like papyrus- but sans immediately stiffens, and blue notices, his eyelights again flickering a light blue.

"OTHER ME, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? YOU SEEM TROUBLED."

Bell and papyrus immediately turn to sans with concerned faces, Bell's feat forgotten. sans stiffens further at the attention, trying to avoid three piercing gazes.

"I- uh, who's chara? to you, I mean, cus'…"

Sans trails off, rubbing the back of his skull, his expression troubled and distant, but he manages to repress his memories.

"…here, they're kinda…dead. Have been for a long time."

Blues eye sockets widen, and he recognizes the expression on the troubled skeleton's face. He's seen it on his brother, when anyone mentioned frisk, the human prince that died… 'a long time ago'. Chara had told him how the vengeful spirit of frisk had hounded them across time and space, forcing them to do terrible things, until they had finally managed to shake the terrifying ghost by trapping him with mad mew mew in the dump, far away from snowdin. And papyrus…Blue has heard enough nightmares and drunken rambles from his brother to piece things together. He just…pretends not to know. But in this world…

It must be swapped, right?

Frisk, hounded by chara, and instead of papyrus 'remembering'…

Here, it must be the version of him who remembers…

It must be chara doing the killing…

Blue looks at the other him in a new light, puzzle pieces clicking into place.

"OH. I SHOULD HAVE REALIZED SOONER…I AM SORRY, IF I AM CORRECT, THAT NAME MUST BE PAINFUL TO HEAR? I'M SORRY IF IT BROUGHT BACK ANYTHING…UNPLEASANT."

Papyrus looks at his brother quizzically.

"SANS? WHAT IS COOLISH YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

Sans is very, very uncomfortable. He doesn't want to talk about this, especially not in front of papyrus. Papyrus…he shouldn't know. Sans already remembers to many genocides because of that save and…If he tells papyrus…remembering that, it would ruin him. And Blue…sans can't quite figure him out. He's like papyrus in so many ways, but keeps surprising sans with his… knowledge, of the situation. Does he know everything? Or only guesses? Despite his openness, this other sans could quite easily have just as many secrets as he himself does…But thankfully, The food comes, and both papyrus and Bell forget about the difficult topic, Blue pretending to do the same as the plates are set down with a small 'clink' against the bar counter. Blue immediately smiles up at Grillby, signing fluidly;

'Thank you very much for the food, Grillby!'

As sans watches, grillby gives a small smile- the only way you can tell is if you watch the corners of his eyes- and nods, signing in return;

'You are welcome.'

He turns to sans, his expression- as always- unreadable.

'I suppose this will go on your tab…?'

Sans is about to respond, when blue checks his inventory and signs;

'How much would that be?'

Sans looks at him, surprised, as Grillby responds in his usual unfazed manner;

'For the food? That would be 20g.'

Blue nods a little, then offers four coins, each reading '5g' on their surface, along with asgore's sigil. he tilts his head and signs, interrupting (and also ignoring) sans's refusal of the help;

'Do you take these?'

Grillby inspects the coins for a moment, then nods, accepting the coins as sans facepalms.

"Aw c'mon, you didn't have t-"

But he doesn't even get to finish before blue cuts him off, looking incredulous;

"NONSENSE! I'VE SEEN MY BROTHERS TAB, AND IF YOU ARE ANYTHING LIKE HIM YOU DON'T NEED ANYTHING ELSE ON IT!"

he insists, putting his blue gloves on his hips as his bowl of soup steams on the bar counter. Sans sighs, shaking his head, but he is interrupted a second time, the start of his sentence again cut off as a plant monster nervously approaches Bell, causing everyone to fall silent. The plant monster shuffles there for a moment, then asks tentatively, his leaves twitching a little;

"U-uhm, i- you're a human, right…?"

Bell nods, spinning her stool around to face him with a slightly nervous smile. This is one of the first monsters to recognize her as human without being openly told- and she's…a little nervous. Ok…a lot, a lot nervous. Papyrus begins to drink his milkshake, keeping one eye socket on Bell as both sanses watch, one wary, one open, the crowd of monsters whispering among themselves as the plant monster, Ives, speaks again.

"Oh, well, y-yeah I guess that's obvious…but, uh, I've always wanted to- to know what the surface is like, and I was wondering if you could tell me maybe please?"

He asks in a rush, his vines twining around each other nervously as a small crowd of monsters watch with expressions ranging from facinaton to poorly hidden fear. Bell blinks, then her smile widens, relieved. Sans relaxes as blue perks up, the other skeleton adding;

"OH! YES! I TOO WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT THE SURFACE!"

Suddenly, emboldened by blue, more monsters chime in, sans looking around in surprise as voice after voice adds to the request, bell looking from face to hopeful face.

"yeah! what's it really like up there?"

"What's the air on the surface smell like?"

"What's a star?"

"Are humans really made of blood?"

"Where do ya…*hic* c-come from, sweetie?"

"You smell like sunshine! What does sunshine feel like?"

"Bark, bark bark yip bark!"

The last question comes from greater dog, his large fluffy head resting in Bell's lap as he pants, his yips and barks not understood by anyone present, but bell smiles at him anyway. With a deep breath, she begins to answer, her eyes shining. Every monster listens with wide eyes or open mouths as Bell describes the surface vividly, and joyously, her eyes shining a brassy gold as she talks, brilliantly describing the wilds of her faraway world as Blue drinks his soup and sans discreetly pours mountains of ketchup over his fries.

She speaks of towering redwoods, wildflowers that bust from dried-up riverbanks like the bursts of song from the birds, and the glorious, golden sunshine…all the wild things, like wolves and jellyfish and woodpeckers, storms and weather and the sky and the moon and the sun- all the glory of nature, and every monster feels a strange longing rise in them. A longing for these things, this freedom…

And then, she starts talking about her home.

The pound of rain, its chaotic patterns on stone streets, the beams of sun and the motes that dance in them, the cats that wind in alleyways and the grass that is soft and spongy under bare feet in the sweltering summers, huge, magnificent ships that sail into great harbours, clock towers with clicking gears and shining bells, the bustle of human markets and the busy, hot stables in which horses bray and nicker…

the shimmering city on the horizon, how the sun glints off its towering spires, the roofs and gardens and streets of her own harbour village, filled with cats and rats and travellers from far off lands with their ships full of shining riches, and about how every morning, she would race to the top of the clocktower, climbing above even the golden bell that hangs in its chamber, to sit on the very top on the terracotta slates of its roof- watching the sun rise over the town in all its glory…

Then, as monsters eyes shine with awe, she talks about the sea.

How boats traverse it's wild tempers, huge hulls made of wood slicing through the waves, beautiful and wild as the spout spray in their passage, their hulls carved with the images of snakes, mermaids, birds- some with eyes painted on their sides to give them safer passage through darkness and storm alike, those manning these ships hailing from far-off lands of bone and axe, How it is deep and wild and dangerous, it's fickle mood sending any unprepared to its depths, entire ships swallowed by its maw as unseen eyes gaze up from the deep, the souls of those lost to its wild moods that toss and turn and churn through every hour in an ever constant roar of water and power…

About how the tales of huge beasts coiling in its deepest places were so common, so revered, the haunted sailors that told these tales by the docks with sea glass gazes, staring into the distance as they told their tales of endless jaws and tentacles choking the clouds- old, terrible beasts that once ruled the shores themselves, forced to the edge by brave heroes long dead, How that is what the word monster meant to her- a wild, glorious sea beast with its scales shining in the sun, powerful and ancient as it roils and crashes among the waves that tower higher than houses, its shadowed bulk great and endless- the last wonder of the world for many a sailors weary eyes.

the monsters, huddled around the small human, gasp and whisper, their eyes wide and shining as they listen with rapturous attention. Sans and Blue listen with almost identical awed expressions, their food finished, as the small human describes the wonders of her world, even grillby having stopped to listen, his own pearl white eyes slightly wider than usual as he does, his flames crackling thoughtfully. This kid has one hell of a knack for storytelling… Sans thinks, his eye sockets wide, the brilliantly vibrant images forming in his head as Bell talks.

Slowly, Dogaressa raises one white paw.

Bell stops, and tilts her head, a little nervously, asking;

"Oh, uh, do you have a question…?"

dogaressa nods, and asks in her slightly quavering voice, her eyes bright under her hood as she asks;

"You…said there were dogs on the surface? Like us?"

She pauses for a moment, a little nervous.

"…And what are wolves, really? You said they were like dogs…"

she trails off, and her husband nods as if to back her up, adding with a small bark;

"Yes! Are there really dogs still on the surface? And humans…pet them?"

they seem excited by the prospect, and whispers break out as other monsters wonder at the idea. Monsters…left on the surface? Living with humans? Bell looks slightly panicked, and tries to explain as best she can, the whispers fading as she speaks;

"Oh…uh, no, not dog monsters- just normal, non-magic dogs! They go on four legs and bark a lot, and they don't wear clothes, and aren't magic. Humans take care of the non-magic dogs, and the dogs protect them!"

She thinks for a moment, trying to think of other differences between the dog guard and normal dogs.

"They don't talk- and they're a lot smaller too! they come in lots of colours, brown, black, rusty- sometimes they have spots, or lots of different colors mixed together!"

She pauses, looking around at the curious pure white canine faces, the dog guard having edged to the front of the enraptured crowd.

"They have lots of different kinds of fur too- thick fur, short fur, long fur, or curly fur- like my hair! Some of them are short and long, others are tall and fast, and oh- right, some don't have any fur at all! Those dogs are called Xolo's."

Gasps ring out from the dog squad, and whispers break out, paws cupped around their muzzles as they whisper into eachothers pure white ears, shocked at the thought of a dog with no fur. Suddenly, one of them asks, from the back of the crowd;

"An' whattabout wolves?"

Bell thinks for a moment.

"wolves…are like dogs, non-magic dogs, but a lot bigger and stronger with thick gray fur and huge big teeth!"

She says, curling her fingers into claws at the edges of her mouth to show what she means, and the dog guard quickly begins to whisper as Bell continues.

"They hunt in these big packs- and they're so big they can take down moose! there's a pack leader, the strongest and smartest- who leads them all, tells them where and what to attack, and makes sure they're all safe."

greater dog barks happily, and the dog guard begin to nod, agreeing;

"Yes, yes like us!"

they turn inwards, their wagging tails facing bell as they converse among themselves, the other monsters trying to eavesdrop unsuccessfully. Then, dogaressa turns back towards bell, the rest of the dog guard following suit as she asks in her quavering voice;

"So…dogs are our non-magic brothers, and wolves are more like our…cousins?"

she asks, her white head tilted quizzically under her hood, and bell nods, happy with the comparison as more whispers break out among the monsters.

"Yes! There are cats too- like that guy who works for mettaton, but a lot smaller and on four legs with a rounder face- oh, and they don't talk either, they just kinda meow at you."

She says, and the dog guard perks up.

"Cats…we can chase without getting yelled at?!"

One of them asks excitedly. Bell looks surprised, then shrugs, answering slightly tentatively;

"well…I- I guess? but since they don't talk, they might just hiss and scratch at you instead, so it probably wouldn't be the best idea."

The dog wilts slightly, but another monster pipes up, the plant monster named Ives- his vines still twitching a little as he asks;

"Are…are there plants like me, up there?"

bell looks him up and down, then nods, telling him confidently;

"Yes! I remember, the arboretum had a plant like you!"

She says, pausing as she tries to remember the name, Ives gasping a little in excitement, his leaves fluttering.

"…Venus fly trap! That's it. It was a lot smaller than you though- it's jaws were about the size of a lily pad, and it didn't have thorns, or talk, but otherwise I'm sure you're the same plant!"

Ives tilts his large head forward slightly, his stem curving as he asks, fascinated as the other monsters start to whisper all over again;

"What is an…arboretum?"

Bell perks up, her eyes shining.

"It's this huge, magnificent glass building, full of exotic plants! It's one of my most favorite places, because it's so full of color and sunshine…"

She frowns a little.

"…but the head gardener thinks I'm a nuisance."

Ives vines curl up as he imagines such a place, his leaves spreading out automatically as he thinks about all that glorious sunshine, for plant monsters are the one of the only ones who innately know of such things. Bell smiles at him, but then more monsters pipe up, asking about their own surface counterparts.

"Are there horses up there, little gal?"

A horse monster sat by the jukebox asks, his green dyed mane catching her eye as he leans against the bar.

"Wh- what about- *hic* b-bunniiies?"

the drunk bunny monster asks, still surrounded by empty cups as she smooshes her furry face against the table.

"And what about FIRE!?"

One overexcited dog asks, pointing at grillby, who looks slightly surprised at being in spotlight. Bell waves her hands in front of her, the flurry of questions dying down as she answers to the best of her ability;

"Yes, there are horses, but they're a lot bigger and taller and go on four legs and don't talk, some humans even ride on their backs! The- the horses don't mind though!"

She answers, and the monster by the jukebox raises his eyebrows as bell continues, facing bunni now;

"-and yes, there are bunnies, but, uh, they're very small and don't talk, dont wear clothes and…"

Bell pauses, debating whether or not to tell the bunny monster about hunting.

"And, well, sometimestheygeteatenbyotherthings okay moving on!"

She blurts out hurriedly as bunni hiccups confusedly, looking towards grillby now.

"A-and, uh, we do have fire up there, but it doesn't move or think like grillby does, and it certainly doesn't look like him! It's more just normal fire."

she giggles a little, as grillby looks at her, curious.

"And it doesn't sign either!"

she tilts her head, thinking about any other differences or similarities.

"…but sometimes the crackling of fire sounds like talking, and some humans think they can read the future in it, if that counts!"

She adds, grillby raising his invisible eyebrows as sans watches bell entertain the crowd of monsters, answering questions and generally having a good time. Sans smiles a little, glad that she's having fun, and listens as she describes the concept of fortune telling to the crowd which hangs on her every word. Blue is similarly entranced, his existence all but forgotten as the monsters gather around Bell, blue watching and listening with wide eye sockets as bell talks. Then, he feels a warm hand tap his shoulder, and he turns, seeing grillby looking at him. After a moment, grillby signs;

'…I was never told your name.'

It's a statement, not a question, but blue just grins and replies all the same, signing fluidly;

'My name is blue. It is a pleasure to officially meet you!'

Grillby looks at him a moment, then nods a little, signing at him with his trademark unreadable expression.

'…if I may ask, where do you come from?'

blue winks at him, and signs exuberantly and without hesitation, any warieness you might have expected nonexistent in the smaller monsters demeanor as he explains;

'I am from another universe! I was brought here by mistake, but I am sure I will get home soon!'

He stops signing to wave down at himself, sans taking no notice of the silent conversation as grillby again raises his invisible eyebrows.

'I am a version of-'

He pauses, then asks;

"UH, HOW DO I SIGN SANS?"

He asks, genuinely not knowing. He automatically signed grillby's name as 'fire', which was apparently correct, but he doesn't automatically know how to sign his shared name of sans. This means it is not part of the 'sign' font he is speaking (does signing count as speaking?), and grillby will have to show him, or he will have to resort to just signing 'skeleton' or something similar in its stead. The fire elemental automatically shows him, (a variation of the sign for 'without') and blue nods, signing a quick 'thank you!' Before continuing.

'I am a version of sans, and he is a version of me! In my world, most things are mixed compared to this one, people having different personalities mostly. like how me and this world's papyrus are very alike!'

He signs, and grillby looks down at him, his expression unreadable as he signs in return, his hands slightly slower than normal, as if he is hesitant to ask;

'…so in your world, there is a version…of me, as well as everyone else, I presume, but who...acts differently.'

blue nods, and responds with a widening of his fused grin;

'Yes! My world's version of you would seem quite strange to you if you were ever to meet him!'

Grillby tilts his head slightly, his white eyes half lidded as usual, barely seen behind his glasses.

'…I'm not sure I understand.'

Grillby appears to have a tendency to avoid asking direct questions, instead just stating that he doesn't know or understand something and waiting for whoever it is to explain. Blue doesn't seem to mind though, his blue gloved hands flurrying in return as he explains.

'For example, In my world you especially are quite different! You talk a lot and wear a bright blue suit with swirly glasses, and you have a buffet in hotland instead of a restaurant in snowdin!'

Blue pauses a moment, trying to remember a sign he learned for muffets name before continuing, grillby looking faintly confused at his wor- uh, signs.

'And muffet- she talks only very rarely, usually to tell someone they're banned, mostly signing like you do. she has a restaurant in snowdin where I'm from, and my brother goes there a lot, just like your sans comes here a lot from what I can tell!'

He finishes, having signed muffets name as a variation of 'spider', his hands coming to rest on the counter as bell explains human currency to the crowd of curious monsters- sans still oblivious to the silent conversation. Grillby's hands are still for a long moment as he thinks, His flames crackling.

'…in your world, I talk, and muffet…signs.'

He asks in his unquestioning manner, his hands hesitant, as if the fire elemental hasn't quite processed this information. Blue nods, and begins to sign again, as grillby watches with a sort of…distant curiosity, mixed with disbelief.

'Yes! My version of you talks quite a lot, actually. Muffet can keep up three conversations at once with all those hands of hers, but rarely does- She mostly just signs with two, while the other four mix drinks or write stuff down on a little notepad. It's actually very impressive!'

blue signs, remembering the quiet spider fondly. She tells him things sometimes, just random things, mostly about the spiders in the ruins- she says it's because his brother is around so much she feels like she knows him, but blue thinks she's lonely sometimes, what with her family stuck in the ruins.

Grillby thinks about this, trying to imagine what such a buffet would even look like- what this version of him would look like, but finds it nearly impossible to imagine himself as chatty or excitable as muffet, or muffet as a bartender like him. She's not the best at pricing from what he can tell, and isn't she more of a baker…? This small skeleton does look impeccably like sans…He remembers something distantly, some friend he has since forgotten, that told him about alternate universes and such…Maybe this skeleton is to be believed. Slowly, he signs;

'…I presume I speak what you call 'standard' in your universe, then.'

blue looks surprised, then signs curiously, one non-eyebrow raised questioningly;

'no, no, he speaks in a totally different font to standard! Most people don't understand what he's saying a lot of the time, because his voice is in a font that is really specific to fire elementals, but I figured it out!'

blue signs proudly, as grillby stares at him. Blue continues, still with a proud air;

'I surprised him by speaking it one day- and he just started talking and talking! We talked for a very long time- he had so many stories to share!'

Blue thinks for a minute as Grillby starts in surprise.

'Do you think this world's muffet would have as many stories if I went and talked to her?'

Grillby just stares at him, dumbfounded. It's not like grillby's never tried to talk to other monsters, he did- quite persistently- when he was younger, but over time he just kinda gave up on it. There aren't many fire elementals, so considering only his excitable niece, Fuku, and her parents can understand him- and since they all know sign language anyway, he just started using it all the time…or at least, he thinks that's all. For some reason he has this sneaking sensation that there was once…someone else who understood…multiple someone elses…? Blue looks up at the fire elemental who stares at him, and tilts his head, slightly confused. Did he say something wrong? Did he offend the fire elemental? What if it's a sensitive subject for him? Blue and Grillby hold each other's gaze for a long moment, before;

حسنا ، أعتقد أنه لن يضر لمحاولة

[ …well, I suppose it won't hurt to try. ]

A quiet, crackling voice says, the font appearing in glowing slashes that cut the air like embers, Blue smiling at the familiar flaming font that appears around the fire elemental. Sans looks up at the noise, turning to the flaming bartender, and then freezing as he stares at the mouth grillby has suddenly gained. Grillby meets his gaze, raises one non-eyebrow, and speaks again, his voice quiet and crackling like a campfire given speech.

تبدو متفاجئا

[ …you look surprised. ]

it's as if the fires that make his face have simply…cracked open, flames licking downwards and upwards in a way that reminds sans of the Riverpersons shadowy jaws- though definitely less terrifying. blue looks over at him briefly, a little amused by his reaction, then responds to the fire elemental in a font that crackles with glowing white hot embers in the air;

أنت على حق! ما زلت سالمين!

[ You are right! It did not hurt! ]

the skeleton snorts at his own joke, sans just staring at the unintelligible font that has appeared in the air, which looks like it's on fire somehow?! Grillby stares in a similar fashion at blue, his flaming mouth open slightly as he slowly processes this turn of events with his usual unreadable expression. grillby glances between the two sanses which stare at him, his expression still unreadable, and speaks again, his voice quiet and warm as he points to sans with one hand, the other arm resting against the bar.

هو لا يستطيع فهمي ، هو يستطيع.

[ …he can't understand me, can he. ]

blue shakes his head, grinning, as sans stares open jawed at the fire elemental that just spoke. Sans can remember seeing grillby make…noises under his breath sometimes, the loudest of which being an exasperated sigh here and there, but he's never actually spoken before! The closest thing Sans had ever seen from him was a couple weird glowing lines around his face sometimes- he'd thought they were sparks, but apparently he was just…mumbling under his breath or something? But- but Sans didn't know he had a mouth! Slowly, sans nudges papyrus, who turns quizzically, making a questioning 'NYEH?' As he is drawn away from whatever Bell is talking about, sans just pointing at grillby unhelpfully. Grillby snorts slightly as sans tries to explain, waving his hands about as grillby goodnaturedly catches papyrus's gaze with a gentle wave, points at himself, then speaks in his warm, crackling voice, slightly amused at the reactions everyone is having;

مرحبا ، الهيكل العظمي القديم

[ …hello, papyrus. ]

Papyrus makes a surprised 'NYEH!?' His second 'nyeh' of the hour, as he stares at the fire elemental in shock. Blue snorts a laugh, and says in the fiery font, winking goodnaturedly as he speaks;

نعم! مرحبا كبار السن الهيكل العظمي!

[ yes! Hello papyrus! ]

Papyrus glances between the two, shellshocked as he tries to process the fact that the famously silent bartender has a voice and a mouth, sans wearing a similar expression as blue laughs merrily. The laughter attracts Bell, the crowd of monsters trailing behind her as she hops back up on the stool, having moved to a table earlier. She gasps when grillby says hello, and her eyes shine as sans fumbles his way through an explanation, Blue stepping in to fill the gaps as bell asks blue question after question about fonts with a gleeful grin. At popular request, Blue helpfully demonstrates the fiery font, stepping up on the bar stool and flicking his bandanna proudly, listing off every ingredient of nice cream and making grillby laugh, which starts off a whole flurry of amazed questions directed at the bartender- the conversation turning to awed questions and won bets placed long ago.

laughter and talk last long into the night, all thought of the lab abandoned as the lights of Snowdin glimmer in the dark, the warm pub inviting and cozy as more questions whirl and spin like the glittering snow that piles in thick blankets…

Far away, someone smiles.