CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: fonts and freakouts

There are now three monsters collapsed in the room of gray.

And the third, is the most damaged of all.

He's shaking and shuddering, his mind fractured and broken as a million sensations assault a panicked soul which pulses pitifully, the beat uneven and gapped where it shakes in his chest…because now, this broken monster has a chest- soul pulled together by the rewrite of time, given a body by the command of space…and all of it dragged back by the soul of Dr Wingdings gaster, that burned a blazing red. This new monster is collapsed in the corner of the gray room, his own fur gray like everything else. The fur on his face swirls a pure void black, every muscle in him twitching as he tries to come to terms with actually having them again. With feeling. With living, on some extent at all...

He has not lived in some time.

He is now the newest arrival to the gray room, a bipedal monster with long triangular ears and whiskers that make him look faintly like a cat monster, but in reality his bloodlines are as tangled as old yarn. a Mix-breed, bloodlines crossed between heck knows how many monsters, resulting in his slightly bizarre appearance. For if he were standing, he'd probably be about as tall as your average slenderman, and his arms are just slightly too long for him- his tail like a thick rope as the black shadows on his flat face curl like fur. A long lab coat pools around him as he shudders there, for he was once a brilliant engineer, but now…

…he is no one.

Literally.

Erased from existence, another victim of unfortunate accidents no one remembers…He too had volunteered, long ago, to be the first test subject of a direct soul trait transference. A human soul, forced to spill its feeble determination directly into his, hooked up to his very pulsing silvered soul- because despite his quiet nature, somewhere in there was a boss monster lineage which made him perfect for the job…Or so they'd thought.

If you hadn't guessed by now, It didn't go well.

His body had immediately collapsed as reality grabbed his soul by the strings he was never meant to see, yanking his mind out of his…everything, and shoving whatever was left into a limbo of static and pain as human memories tried to push through his soul, the determination rejecting him as he rejected the determination. But the echo of his soul latched on anyway. even as his mind screamed for him to just die like he was supposed to, to just end, to accept the fate he was dealt, his soul folded the determination into itself, and then…

He was nowhere.

Again, literally.

I'm not talking, 'in the void' nowhere, I'm talking literally nowhere.

As in, his mind completely pushed from reality, his soul unable to die because of the determination, eternally ripping him apart and stitching him back together again with every millisecond that passed, his own shattered consciousness eternally counting time as it drifted as debris of reality in an infinite lack thereof, kind of nowhere. His mind drifted so long…it was but a simple pulse of determination, after all, unable to think, to be, as he drifted in eternal staticking nothing…He hasn't had a body, he hasn't felt even his own presence, in over twenty years. He knows this, because while unable to think, his mind, compressed and faint like his soul, could still count. Could still tick numbers upward, could still tally away the moments of agonizing pain. And so he had counted. Every second.

630720000.

Every minute.

10512000.

Every hour.

175200.

Every day, every week, every month…

7300.

1042.

240.

Each decade that passed, was tallied in his mind.

2.

And now, here he was. moving. shaking. shuddering and twitching in the corner of the gray, gray room as his mind tries to un-compress itself, his soul beating with terror as he slowly regains the ability to use it…

And then, Gaster wakes up.

He feels...god he feels terrible…His soul wobbles as he himself does, slowly getting up and swaying side to side like some strange flower, his soul dizzied and weak after the experience with…that darkness. He stumbles, remembering the dark teeth that tore at the connection, his friend's soul wavering and phasing, reality roiling… Why does stuff like this always happen to him? He had only wanted to help archemedies, and then suddenly the void is trying to rip him apart as reality protests and rewrites itself in the process, everything just deciding he's an affront to reason as in the confusion he had nearly…nearly-

I nearly broke out…

He thinks, and suddenly nearly tips over, stumbling, his darkness shuddering as he wavers at the realization.

Oh my god, I nearly broke out…I was…i was me again, i can remember, i was…i was me, Archemedies was him, and we were nearly there, we were…snowdin. I could, I could almost touch…

He shakes there, weak and confused as he shudders in the gray room. Why didn't it work? Why isn't he-

The other soul. There was another soul. It was so weak, so terribly faint, but so, so determined. It…it saved me, and then it was…It was pulled in…The darkness it…It took the- the soul, it came here, i- wait, w-wait I- did i drag someone else into this hell!? No, nonononono-

He shudders at the thought, and spins around in panic, his mind whirling, staring into the corners of the room as his focus returns-

"[CROOKS?! OH MY GOD CROOKS IS THAT YOU?!]"

He screeches, as his eye sockets catch on the shaking form curled in a corner. The feline-ish monster only shudders in response, his fur a faint gray where it pokes out of the collar of his lab coat, his tail thrashing and writhing from where he lies in a gangled heap of limbs. gaster knows the shuddering monster can't understand him, but he's too stunned to speak again anyway, memories rearranging and gaps he didn't even know were there suddenly filling. Crooks, a quiet but occasionally fierce friend of his, his coworker in the lab. He had…he…

It isn't the same as what happened with archemedies, this monster was not friends with him for anywhere near the amount of time archemedies has, but he knew him long enough. It's enough to stop him in his tracks, and doctor gaster stares in shock, frozen in place. The monster doesn't respond, and continues twitching on the gray ground, his long tail lashing and writhing as his body spasms, gaster unable to react as memories assault him, flashing by and filling unseen gaps as-

As he remembers, something from a long time ago...

Gaster stands, in the middle of a room filled with boxes and knick knacks- for he is helping Crooks clear out his old office, the monster having been promoted into his department only a few days ago. Gaster is levitating a desk with his magic, humming a simple tune- 'wonderwall'- as he does so, but he stops when something falls out of a box and down to the floor with a sharp thump. Gaster reaches to pick it up, but stops in his tracks.

It is a small notebook with a battered, slightly burnt red cover, filled with neon tags marking different parts, but that is not what caused him to halt. Instead, it is the fact it has fallen open, showing detailed schematics for all manner of machines scrawled over its pages. Gaster stares down at it for a moment, then picks it up, seeming entranced as he reads through perfect calculations and theories that probably should be in some sort of scientific journal, instead of a battered notebook such as this.

Then, Crooks walks back into the room, saying something weary and indistinct about fallen boxes, but he doesn't finish, freezing in his tracks as he stares at Gaster, who looks up at him with an awed expression.

Did you make these?

He signs, and crooks begins to stammer, his ears flat back on his head in uncharacteristic nervousness, something about them being unfinished or not very good or- Gaster cuts him off.

Did you make these, crooks?

He signs, staring at the mix-breed monster as Crook's ears somehow flatten further and he mumbles a hesitant yes, nodding. Gaster immediately perks up, and grins encouragingly, waving the red notebook in the air while signing cheerfully.

These are wonderful, crooks! Why have you not shared them? This is genius!

Crooks looks surprised, and let's out a relieved sigh, rubbing the back of his longish neck with one paw, his dark-furred face a sharp contrast against the white wall of the lab as his purple ears twitch.

I-its nothing, really, i just…do that sometimes. They aren't finished, nowhere near good enough, I…it's nothing.

He dissolves into mumbling, and gaster shakes his skull incredulously, still grinning. The tall, long limbed monster has always been rather…hesitant, but gaster never thought that he would go so far as to call something like this 'not very good' just because it was he who made it.

Crooks, you are one odd monster. These are absolutely genius, as are you! Really, even I could not come up with something as brilliant as this!

Gaster signs, and tosses the notebook to crooks, whose mouth is slack in shock.

I- what? No, you are the royal-

He stutters, catching the notebook in fumbling paws, but gaster just chuckles goodnaturedly, signing with a flurry of hands;

I may be the royal scientist, but everyone has their strengths and weaknesses my friend! Come on, we have got to show these to the rest of the-

He pauses, his hands stopping where they float in the air, then adds;

team…At least, only if you want to. They are still your designs, you must decide whether or not to share them.

Doctor Gaster smiles reassuringly at the stunned mixbreed monster, and gestures to the book.

But I mean what I say. You really are a genius Crooks- that I do know!

Crooks just stares at him, then slowly nods his head by way of a yes, gaster chuckling warmly, the desk still floating forgotten in the air.

Then let's go! We can move your desk later, crooks, for now we science!

Then, the memory dissipates, and gaster stares in shock at the now familiar monster having a mental breakdown in the corner of the room. Memories flash by him still, this monster, yet another friend, who volunteered for an experiment no one remembers…

Crooks, curled in the corner, makes a choked noise that sounds like glass shards through a vacuum, and gaster snaps back to his senses. He blinks. What is he doing? He needs to help him, he- Blinking, gaster glides forward as fast as he can manage, kneeling as best he can by the shuddering monster and shaking him lightly, but Crooks only makes more unnatural sounds and begins to vibrate harder as gaster begins to panic. He shakes Crooks harder, as roughly as he dares, but this time there is barely any reaction, which is almost more concerning. Gaster swears under his breath.

He needs help.

He needs Archemedies.

This monster cant understand him, in fact gasters hissing static might only make things worse- he needs Archemedies voice to help calm him. its likely the only thing that will. He remembers archemedies often being a voice of reason to this monster when he was in one of his panics over something gone wrong- archemedies calm, assuring nature in times of stress had made him perfectly suited to reassuring Crooks when things got rough…

…the trouble is, archemedies is also very unconscious.

He curses under his breath in wingdings, unable to help the shuddering monster, his voice of static only distressing him further as he glides quickly to archemedies, determined to wake him. He curses his unintelligible font as he shakes his friend- repeating his name over and over in his hissing font as he tries to force the hiss into something more understandable, exasperated by his own failure.

Meanwhile, in the corner, Crooks shudders- the mixbreed monster making sounds as if glass could scream as he vibrates in a state of total mental overload, his body shaking raggedly. It's…beginning to scare Gaster now. The shadowed skeleton growls in frustration, and shakes archemedies harder, one of archemedies spines sticking straight through the hole in gaster's palm as the skeleton shakes him yet harder in a desperate attempt to wake him. No response, not even a twitch.

Frustration wins, and Gaster begins hissing WingDings through his teeth in exasperation as he shakes his friend, trying to force the clicking and hissing to form into words, into something helpful, doctor gaster making frustrated hisses of choked static as in his mind, in his soul, something begins to shake-

And something within Doctor Gaster's soul, snaps.

Be very, very careful what you wish for.

The shadowed skeletons body begins to shudder, and he draws his hands back with a strangled yelp, choking and coughing as his soul shudders, the void unbound by realities' brittle rules. Gaster doubles over, pain spiking through his body, his cracked and shattered soul glitching as the broken skeleton gets exactly what he asked for. Fonts are a natural rule, and in the void…well, not much is natural. Doctor Gaster might've been a skeleton once, but to look at him now, you wouldn't be able to tell, and, as such, the skeleton outside time now no longer counts as a skeleton…and, by extension, no longer has a font.

As I said. Be very careful what you wish for, because you just might get something worse.

Gaster simply stays there, choking as shudders rack him, his near-exhausted supplies of DT the only thing keeping him from collapsing like the other two monsters trapped here with him. Then suddenly, something settles, and Doctor Gaster begins to cough and gasp, trying to catch his breath after the most recent ordeal of many. He's still shaking hard, but manages to keep from falling, covering his face with his hands as he desperately tries to calm down, pained tears springing up in his eyesockets.

That, thank the Angel, is when Archemedies wakes up.

Gaster doesn't see or hear him moving at first, the reptilian monster groggily shoving himself up with his face, (reminiscent of MK) and stumbling a little as he tries to figure out what the hell is going on. Then, he winces, hissing a little with pain as a spike of pain jolts through his head. What happened to give him this bad of a migraine…? At the sound, Gaster's head snaps up, and Archemedies starts as he sees the pained, terrified expression on his friend's face. There are literal panicked tears in the corners of his eyesockets, and at the sight of Archemedies, gaster begins to try to speak, his hands raising to sign- but only a garbled choking noise comes out, the broken skeleton's hands shooting up to his neck instead as his panic spikes. Archemedies is immediately filled with concern, stumbling forward as gaster chokes.

"G-gaster? What's- oh god, gaster what's wrong?! Why are you-"

At Archemedies words, gaster suddenly begins to sign rapidly, a panicked expression on his face as his hands shake in the air;

'Everything! Everything is wrong!'

Archemedies blinks in surprise and concern, voice stuttering slightly in confusion as he asks;

"Wh-what do you mean!?"

Gaster makes a garbled, choked noise, his expression panicked as the broken skeleton signs in a flurry, his hands stopping and starting and shaking almost unintelligibly;

'I- he- I don't know what to do! Nothing makes any sense anymore Arch I- I can't talk, I can't talk and everything hurts and nothing makes sense and- a-and-'

Gaster seems to be in a state of total panic, his hands just shaking as they sign 'and' over and over, Archemedies interrupting him with a concerned plea of;

"'And' what? What are you talking about?!"

With this, gaster makes another strangled, choked noise and forcibly points to crooks, his hands still visibly shaking as Archemedies turns to follow where his finger is pointing.

"What are you talking abouHhhhHHHOLY F***-!"

Archemedies shrieks, cutting off his own sentence with a vibrantly worded screech of panic, gaster just making unintelligible choking noises as he tries to say 'I know!' with little success.

"Gaster- that, th-that isn't actually…"

Archemedies fumbles, using his tail to point at crooks, gaster just shrugging by way of a response, still very much panicking, still just as confused and disentoriated as his friend, If not more so. Gaster is still in a visible state of panic, but something still catches his eye- Crooks, crumpled on the ground, is no longer shaking.

In fact, he's perfectly still.

gasters eyesockets widen, and he whacks Archemedies hard on the shoulder to get his attention, gesturing to crooks and signing in panic;

'NOT MOVING! VERY BAD THAT HES NOT MOVING!'

Archemedies spins around at the (rather painful) contact, only barely understanding the blurring signs, then panicking as he realizes what they mean. He turns wildly back towards crooks, yelping as he sees the unfortunate accuracy of gasters statement, his white eyes as big as dinnerplates. He somehow stumbles over to crooks, shaking, mumbling "no no no no no" to himself over and over as he panics, Gaster following close behind, still making garbled vowel sounds as he himself panics about multiple subjects, on multiple levels.

"Crooks?! Crooks, can you hear me- c-Crooks, wake up damn it!"

Archemedies cries, skidding to a stop beside the collapsed monster, panic written over his face as gaster starts choking again in the background. He prods crooks hard in the back with his tail, but there is no response from the motionless monster, gaster coughing raggedly as the reptilian monster desperately smacks crooks across the face with his tail. Archemedies mind races wildly- what should he do? What can he do? What will wake Crooks up? …What was it that woke him up?

Pain. Pain woke him up.

Archemedies can't exactly summon an attack- he was never taught to, and he can't just magically give crooks a migraine, and that means the only thing left would be to… Archemedies can't think of anything else for it, and gaster is having some sort of coughing fit, so he doesn't exactly have any suggestions…Archemedies closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and bites down hard on Crook's arm.

Nothing happens.

Archemedies realizes that further lowering this monsters HP probably wasn't the best of ideas.

Then, crooks gasps raggedly, the mix-breed monster twitching and curling into a shaking ball, his breathing shuddering but regular. Archemedies releases the shuddering monsters arm, and gives a sigh of relief, Crooks tail twitching. the cat-like monster seems to need a moment to recover…that's understandable, archemedies himself barely understands the situation…But something else is still very much happening. gasters choking has not lessened, in fact it has considerably worsened. His eyesockets are wide, and both hands are clawed around his neck- the shattered skeleton hacking and coughing in such a way that if he had a throat, it would be raw by now. As it is, the skeleton is getting a splitting headache of his own- but he can't seem to stop. Archemedies turns worriedly, and stumbles back over to his friend, gaster just shaking and hacking with wide, terrified eye sockets.

"G-Gaster? What's wrong, are you alright?"

Archemedies asks worriedly, tilting his head in concern, the skeleton before him just hacking and shaking his head wildly by way of a firm 'no'. Archemedies pauses, unsure of what to do exactly. Nothing like this has really ever happened before- for obvious reasons.

'Cant breathe- can't, hurts-'

Gaster signs shakily, still choking, Archemedies completely at a loss for what to d- wait.

"Gaster by all the stars, you don't need to breathe! You're a skeleton for surface's sake!"

Archemedies snaps in panic and frustration, and Gaster just shoots him a glare as he signs quickly, trying to suppress his coughs;

'Hurts!'

He signs forcefully, still choking.

'Maybe If I just keep going-'

He signs, annoyance fading back into panic as the mangled monster shakes with wracking coughs. Archemedies eyes widen, and he shrieks in frustration and alarm;

"GASTER NO THAT IS SHOCKINGLY BAD IDEA YOU NEED TO STOP CHOKING FOR ****'S SAKE!"

He cries, his spines standing straight up as the reptilian monster vibrates with alarm and frustration at his friends panic-induced incompetence.

'I would if I COULD arch!'

Gaster signs back, irritated now, and Archemedies growls with frustration.

"Just stop breathing! You're a skeleton!"

Archemedies growls, and Gaster blinks at him for a moment. Oh yeah. …he really needs to stop underestimating Archemedies. Then, gaster forces himself to take a deep breath in, holding it for a long moment as he tries to stop the muffled coughs that still wrack him.

"Honestly, how you got a PHD, I will never know."

Archemedies mutters as gaster stifles a round of coughs, making muffled 'khrk-!' Sounds as he shakes, but still manages to sign;

'It was mostly due to your unending nagging.'

Archemedies laughs dryly, gaster still shaking as he tries to wrestle the coughs under control,.

"Worked, didn't it?"

Archemedies responds tiredly, gaster just nodding as he repeatedly represses more coughs, the skeleton slowly managing to get them under control. Archemedies waits, occasionally looking over his shoulder to check on crooks- he's stopped twitching, but is still breathing, more deeply now. Good. That means he's most likely unconscious…which gives him and Gaster time to figure out what the heck to do with him. Speaking of gaster, the shadowed skeleton has finally stopped choking, still shaking slightly- but that's okay. At least he's not panicking anymore. Gaster slowly straightens up, and shakes himself slightly, no longer breathing at all- a strength skeletons possess, Archemedies once again having to look up to meet his friends gaze.

'…well that was an experience I never want to repeat again. Ever.'

Gaster signs, looking shaken, and Archemedies nods his agreement.

"Agreed. That was terrible."

There's a long pause before the reptilian monster next speaks.

"So…what exactly is happening again? Did I miss something?"

Archemedies waves his tail at crooks.

"Because I just had years of my career rearranged like playing cards and believe me, I can now sympathize with your…hesitation, from when you first saw me. Remembering all that was…unpleasant."

Gaster snorts in amusement, He shakes his skull at this friend, signing;

'I am just as confused as you. He was already there when I awoke.'

He shrugs weakly, glancing at crooks with a worried air.

'Is he…Alright? By the way? No wounds?'

He asks, and Archemedies shakes his round head.

"No, no wounds from what I can see. his soul beat is normal, his breathing….a bit shallow, but he seems fine, or at least, as fine as he can be whilst unconscious."

Gaster nods, relieved.

'Good…at least maybe we have time.'

He signs, glancing back at crooks.

'To figure out what in the name of the surface I did to bring him here.'

he continues, and Archemedies suddenly gets a flash of memory, a snippet of the disorienting experience that gave him such a splitting migraine. He remembers feeling his soul slide apart, held together only by gasters sheer force of…

"oohhhHHOOOH MY GOD YOU-"

Archemedies suddenly screeches, then cuts himself off and inhales sharply through his nose, gaster just watching, knowing what's coming as the reptilian monster tries to find the right words to express how goddamn impossible all that was.

"Do you even realize how goddamn impossible all that was!?"

And as predicted, he fails.

The reptilian monster flies off into a wild, frustrated rant, pacing back and forth as he does so, gaster just watching in mild alarm as his friend spews a million-and-one reasons why that was not possible. After a few minutes of this, he suddenly spins back around towards gaster and demands in frustration;

"How did you have a ****ing FISTFIGHT with REALITY ITSELF and WIN!?"

He demands, his spines standing straight up and quivering as gaster tries to find the words for an answer-

"I mean- you! You defied death, you defied reason, you defied-"

But Archemedies continues anyway.

"I mean, thank you for saving my life but- but still how in HELL are EITHER of us even ALIVE?!"

With this, Archemedies finally stops, glaring up at gaster with a mixture of frustration and confusion and awe as he breathes heavily. Gaster just…stands there a moment, not having witnessed one of his friends signature 'confusion rants' in quite some time. They'd made him rather infamous in some wings of the lab, but in others (like the soul wing) most found it endearing. Last time was probably way back when they had first discovered the possibility of higher…nevermind, right, he needs to answer him.

'Well, there could be the fact that I appear to have determination now, if that-'

"excuse me WHAT!?"

Archemedies screeches, gaster starting slightly at the sudden sound,

"YOU HAVE WHAT NOW!?"

Archemedies demands at top volume, the reptilian monster looking as if he's about to fly off into another rant, his spines shaking slightly as Archemedies incredulous glare pins gaster to the ground with its intensity.

'Determination- and no, I have no idea how. I am just as lost as you are, arch!"

Gaster responds a little hurriedly, cutting off Archemedies next question as the reptilian monster opens his mouth, then shuts it again.

"Holy f***…"

Archemedies mutters incredulously, rubbing his pounding forehead with his tail as Gaster just gives a tired nod.

'I wish I had more answers for you, but, well...'

He replies, trailing off, his shadowy body bobbing slightly as he shrugs.

"…why do you keep doing the impossible?"

Archemedies asks, and Gaster just shrugs again, replying with a question of his own.

'We are in an impossible place, aren't we?'

Archemedies shoots him a sharp look.

"Dammit, don't get philosophical on me now."

He orders, gaster stifling a chuckle as Archemedies sits down with a small thump, still rolling everything around in his head. After a moment, Gaster catches his eye, signing;

'don't worry, I won't.'

He signs with a smirk.

'You look like you are trying to unravel the secrets of the multiverse though.'

He adds, archemedies giving him a tired glance, his head still pounding with a splitting headache.

"Gaster, you somehow generated determination completely out of the blue, forced my soul to keep itself together with said determination, yanked him-"

Here he waves his tail at the collapsed, unconscious form of crooks, his voice growing more bewildered and frustrated as he speaks,

"-out of wherever his soul was drifting using whatever was left of that determination, screamed at reality itself, commanded void space to your will, managed to somehow generate enough determination to actually pull my soul back together, and all in the span of what? An hour? Gaster, you are literally breaking every known universal law just by continuing to be! I have lot to think about!"

He cries in frustration- not at gaster, but at his lack of understanding considering what gaster did. Gaster himself just blinks at him tiredly, watching as Archemedies brain whirrs.

"There has to be some logic to this!"

Archemedies cries, spines bristling. Gaster simply shrugs.

'I swear have no idea how, or why. One day, in the void, I simply woke up to it. I saw my own soul flickering with determination, and then…'

He shrugs again.

'There was a doorway here. As if something had hurled a brick and smashed right through reality.'

Archemedies just stares at him for a moment.

"Gaster, we're talking about the fabric of the universe right now, not a windowpane."

Archemedies states flatly, and Gaster tries not to chuckle, his gaze flicking back over to crooks as Archemedies resumes his thinking. He tilts his skull slightly, examining the limp form…he still looks the same, from what gaster can remember. A bit more monochrome, but otherwise, exactly the same…right down to the grayed out coffee stains on his lab coat. Archemedies eventually looks over as well, following his friends gaze. They stay in silence for a long moment, simply processing repaired memories as they sit there, lost between impossibility and a hard place.

"…what happened to him, anyway?"

Archemedies asks quietly, and Gaster flinches.

'…H-origin trait interface, first trial.'

Gaster signs stiffly, avoiding his friend's curious, assessing gaze.

'…I…to be honest, it's really all my fault that he's here.'

Gaster signs, turning his face away,

'It's all my fault…you, him, me…all of it.'

As Archemedies watches, Gasters eye lights fade out, looking off into the distance with only regret in his gaze and a weak, empty smile.

'After all, everything happened because of me. My miscalculations. Even now, the mistakes, they seem so, well…'

"Let me guess- Obvious?"

Archemedies asks, cutting him off. Gaster looks up, and nods, repressing a sigh as Archemedies chuckles a bit, frustration long faded. Even after all these years, he can still read gaster like a book.

"To be completely honest, I know how you feel."

Archemedies continues, the reptilian monster the one avoiding gaster's gaze now.

"…it's like every mistake is a thousand times more idiotic, like if you'd done only one more thing right, you might not be here, he might not be here, things might've been better if only…"

Archemedies sighs heavily.

"Listen. I've had thirty years to punish myself for not seeing what seems so obvious, and…well, I ended up getting so lost in my own self-pity I thought it was only five."

Archemedies looks up at Gaster, and meets his gaze steadily, a steel in his opalescent white eyes.

"In other words, don't you dare be like me."

Archemedies warns wearily, holding his friends gaze as gaster processes this with an expression somewhere between regret, grief and worry. The reptilian monster just gives him a weary smile, and looks back towards crooks, his own expression simply…tired. He's been staring into the darkness for so long, trapped in a place with no hope or sound, yet unable to sleep…that's all he wants to do by this point, really. Sleep, and perhaps never wake up…

'…Archemedies?'

Gaster asks, his extra hands floating into Archemedies gaze to catch his attention, the reptilian monster turning his head to reply.

"Yes?"

He responds, and Gasters hands halt for a moment, the shattered and shadowed skeleton staring off into space, still wrapped up in his regret- but a little less tightly than before.

'I'm glad that we, at least, do not have to be alone in…this.'

He signs, looking over at his friend sadly.

'This is a terrible place to be alone in.'

Archemedies stares up at him for a long moment, then…he nods, agreeing, gaster staring back off into the distance with a worried expression. Archemedies smiles tiredly to himself, his gray scales shining dully as silence settles back over them.

'…Archemedies? Do you think we'll ever…understand any of this…?'

Gaster asks suddenly, and Archemedies blinks. He looks around him, at the gray room, at crooks, at gaster…even down at himself. Gray scales, gray tail, and battered soul that should not be beating. he looks back up, and replies;

"…to be honest?"

Archemedies stares down at the floor, weary and distant, every spark in him spent long ago as he sits in the room of gray- lost between impossibility and a hard place with someone he hasn't seen in 30 years, yet remembers so clearly it seems like only two days since they were both running over theories, in a world still with color...

"No, I don't think we ever will."


And with that, somewhere else, it's morning.

Sans wakes with a small groan, his eyesockets blinking open as the skeleton wakes with a small shiver up his vertebrae, sans simply laying there and staring at the ceiling as he tries to remember why he's in paps's room?…Then, he remembers. Sleepover. right. Too lazy to go back to his own room, that's why…he yawns, his jaw opening with a small click, the skeleton chuckling a little as he does. He's gotten used to it by now- it's kinda ironic, how things can get put in perspective… who cares if your jaw opens when your dead dad is apparently somehow still half alive and giddy alternate versions of yourself are running around? He shakes his head a little. It's way too early for that… probably. What time even is it…? He tries to raise his arm to look at the battered watch on his wrist, but something stops the movement.

Sans blearily props himself up, and starts a little, seeing Bell curled beside him, arms clasped around his stomach (or lack thereof) in a loose hug, still obviously asleep. He chuckles, remembering papyrus doing the same thing when he was small- little kids are all just mini heart-melters, human or monster. He pokes the small human awake, prompting a small 'mmh?' From the child, the human shifting a little. She rubs her eyes with a yawn, and blinks at him a moment, before sans asks with a chuckle, one non-eyebrow raised;

"plannin' on lettin' go anytime soon?"

He asks in amusement, and Bell just yawns again, releasing him and rubbing her eyes blearily as she sits up, her hair a bushy mess of tight dark chocolate curls.

"Mrmf…sorry sans…"

She mumbles, still half asleep, and sans chuckles.

"nah, s'fine kid. I don't mind."

He yawns again, and she looks back up at him, her hair sticking out in every direction as the small child blinks herself awake, the mountain of blankets a tangled mess around them, papyrus still fast asleep.

"Did you…have a nightmare…?"

She asks, her sentence broken by yet another yawn as the small human tilts her head at him tiredly. Sans blinks at her, and pushes himself up to sit a little straighter with a small chorus of clicking bones, shaking his arm lose from the tangle of blankets and asking;

"hmm? what're ya talkin 'bout, kiddo?"

He asks, his grammar somehow even worse than normal, since he's still only half awake himself, the skeleton stretching with another chorus of clicking vertebrae.

"You were talking in your sleep…about losing someone?"

Bell responds, looking up at him as sans pushes himself to his feet with a small grunt. The skeleton sighs, and gives her a tired smile as he shakes himself awake.

"eh. don't worry about it, it was probably nothin. i talk nonsense a skeleton, kid- thanks for caring though, heh."

He assures her, thankful that whatever nightmare he had, he doesn't remember it...it was probably the core one again, all things considered…Bell makes a huffing noise, suspicious, but lets the subject go, turning around and beginning to poke papyrus awake. The small child rubs her eyes, yawning as sans heads towards the door, his slippers discarded somewhere in his own room as he pads down the hall.

he's soon downstairs, making toast as distant sounds of talking and 'nyeh!'ing come from Papyrus's room, the toaster beginning to smoke a little as he yawns. He squints up in the direction of the noise, and shrugs, chuckling to himself as he sits down at the kitchen table and crunches down on the definitely burnt bread. He grimaces at the terrible taste, and looks down at the charred bread with a huff, black crumbs stuck to his white skull. Probably inedible, even by his amazingly low standards. He turns in his chair, and closes one eye socket, aiming for the trash can as he pulls back to throw-

"WOOF!"

He misses, making a startled 'irk-!' Noise at the sudden bark, and his eyesockets widen as a little white dog bursts out from under the sink and catches the toast in its mouth, immediately beginning to chomp on it happily. It bears down ferociously on the food, it's little teeth clicking together as the small dog munches happily on the half eaten charcoal-texture bread. Sans blinks at the little white pomeranian, then chuckles to himself, getting up and walking to the dog as it chomps on the burnt bread. He crouches down with a small huff of amusement, and picks the small dog up, lifting it to eye level and asking it with one non eyebrow raised;

"jeeze- where were you for three weeks, buddy? Paps nearly tore up snowdin searchin' for ya!"

The dog just yips at him happily- and promptly starts to lick his face, sans spluttering a little as he tries to ward off the persistent little pink tongue.

"h-hey- pfft, I'm happy ta see you too, tobes- but seriously, you can cut it out now- pfftpft-"

sans splutters, laughing as the little white dog furiously licks the crumbs off his skull, having to crane its neck forward as sans holds it at arms length, it's tiny legs pumping. He laughs, and drops the persistent canine gently onto the ground, the little dog immediately beginning to bound around his feet as sans opens a cupboard and rummages around inside, having to stretch to reach into the very back- finally grasping a lone bottle of ketchup and bringing it out with a small 'heh.' He pops the top off entirely, and the dog bounds around the table legs, yipping as sans downs half the bottle in a single gulp. He grins. Man- he hasn't had ketchup in like, a week…

"Grrrrr-Yip!"

Sans flinches a little, and looks down at the dog, which is now persistently chewing on one of his leg bones with ferocious determination, it's tiny teeth dealing very little damage to him as it makes tiny little grr noises. The skeleton just stares down at it for a moment, then snorts, grabbing the small dog by the scruff of the neck and hauling it up.

"pfft- your assassination attempt is foiled, dog- I ain't made of paper anymore, heh."

Sans chuckles, and the dog just yips at him, sans dropping the little white Pomeranian with another amused snort, summoning a bone for him to chew as the little dog yips excitedly. He heads for the table, but is suddenly and very rudely interrupted by a huge -CRASH!- from upstairs, sans cringing at the sudden noise. He stays there, waiting for a moment, then looks back at the dog, asking it as the small animal stares up at the ceiling with its tongue lolling out;

"…whaddya think the chances are that wasn't somethin breaking?"

He asks the dog, which tilts its head at him, one white ear flopping over as it stares at him quizzically. Sans sighs goodnaturedly.

"…yeah, not very high."

He answers himself, and begins to head back upstairs, shaking his skull with a small smile. He's barely taken two steps when papyrus screeches from above:

"SAAAAAANNNNNNNS I BROKE THE HUMAN HELP!"

Sans blinks in alarm - broke the human-!? then sets the ketchup bottle down on a counter, shortcutting directly up to his brothers room with a small pop as he imagines a couple hundred different disasters that could have occurred. Of all the things for pap to have broken, the human might be the worst choice. The scene he finds, however, is thankfully not nearly as drastic as anything he'd imagined. Bell is sitting on the floor, wincing and holding her knee, a box of what appears to be VHS tapes and other miscellaneous junk upended on the floor- papyrus in the center of it all, looking near tears as bell winces in pain.

"SANS I AM A TERRIBLE FRIEND THE HUMAN IS HURT HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN I'M SO SOH-HOH-ORRRRRRRRYYYYYY!"

he wails, and sans sighs in relief, walking over to Bell and crouching down as the small human starts with surprise at papyrus's panicked wailing. She turns her head towards papyrus and begins to protest, but sans interrupts.

"eh, leave 'im be, kiddo- let him get it outta his system."

she looks up at him worriedly, but sans just asks while pointing to the offending knee:

"can I see?"

She blinks, and nods, wincing a little as she takes her hands away, papyrus only wailing louder when he sees the cut on it. It's fairly clean- and not that big either, most likely just caused by one of the various sharp edges of the tapes strewn about the room. It seems papyrus was trying to get something down from one of the higher shelves, but accidentally…dropped some stuff. sans sees a few drops of shining red blood welling up, bell flinching a little at the sight of it, and asks over papyrus's wailing;

"…alright kid, howzabout we go downstairs and get'cha a bandaid, eh?"

he asks, and bell nods, papyrus still wailing loudly in the background about how terrible a wound it is. Sans sees her downcast expression, and continues with a sly grin;

"you wanna take a shortcut?"

Bell immediately looks up, excited but unsure if he means it. Sans just gives her his signature grin, and Bell immediately perks up, seeing he's serious. She grins, and begins nodding hard as sans chuckles, the small child forgetting any pain in her excitement. Papyrus still wails in the background as sans scoops up the small child and hops upwards through space- teleporting mid-air down to the kitchen with a whoosh of sensation.

They flash past everything from the feel of fur to the smell of burning toast, bell giggling madly, sans watching in amusement as the child reaches out into the sea of pure sensation with small hands, smiling gleefully. Sans just watches, pleased by the amazement and joy she shows at every new thing…it's downright heartwarming.

Then, they stand on the familiar checkered kitchen tile, Sans's bare feet click-clacking onto the cool surface. Bell still held in his arms, he walks over to a cupboard and opens it, reaching to the top shelf and tugging down a shoebox full of various monster first-aid supplies, setting it down on the counter with one hand while the other arm remains supporting the child. Bell peers into the box with curiosity as Sans digs through it, seeing various types of bandages and plasters- including something called 'crackgel' in a bright orange tube that looks a little like toothpaste. Papyrus still wails faintly in the background- something along the lines of "I MUST TURN MYSELF IN FOR THE CRIMINAL I AM!" or something much like it, bell peering into the box with that same fascination as sans finally draws out a pale blue cardboard box of bandaids.

He sets her down atop the kitchen table, the child swinging her legs and watching curiously as sans makes the box float in the air with blue magic, the skeleton dusting off his hands and plucking it right back out of the air with a satisfied huff. He promptly dumps out the box into his hand, seemingly underestimating how many plasters are in the box, a barrage of bandages in an array of sizes flying everywhere, bell giggling as Sans splutters, a couple bandaids having flown into his eyesockets.

He fishes them out of his skull with an exaggerated disgusted shudder, rattling his bones as he does so, his theatrics earning more delighted giggles from bell as his bones clatter together in a cacophony of clicks. He grins as the small child vibrates with giggles, levitating the remaining scattered bandaids and sending them to stack back into the box, plucking the last one out of the air and holding it up with pretend pride. He sees bell staring at him in amazement, and tilts his skull, asking;

"hmm? what's that face for, kiddo? I do somethin amazin and just not realize it?"

He asks in amusement, and bell grins, pointing to the still-floating box of bandaids and asking;

"Can you teach me to do that!?"

She asks in great excitement, her eyes shining. sans blinks, then chuckles, shaking his skull a little at the small human. He ruffles the child's hair, and responds with a small grin;

"heh- sorry kid, gravitas magic is kinda a skeleton family thing."

He responds, taking the plastic off the plaster and setting the box down on the table as bell gasps;

"Really? That's what it's called? 'Gravitas' is such a cool name!"

She exclaims, tugging up her trouser leg to reveal the offending knee, simultaneously asking;

"So wait…you get your magic from your parents? What were they like?"

She asks, and sans pauses a moment, almost unnoticeably, a flicker going across his expression that bell only barely misses. then, he gives a small 'heh' and kneels down to apply the plaster, answering as he does so.

"heh. yeah. us boss monsters usually have one special thing that runs in our families- with us skeletons, it's usually gravity stuff. Papyrus can make it increase to like 200%, and I can…y'know, make it do pretty much whatever- can't make it turn completely off though. that was dads thing."

He answers, standing up and brushing off his hands as bell tugs her trouser leg back down, bending and unbending her knee with a grin.

"as for my parents…they were pretty cool."

he answers, and bell looks at him strangely for a moment, before asking;

"Did they make good pancakes?"

She asks with an air of great importance, squinting at him. Sans blinks. Then, he smiles, winking at the small child as he responds;

"…yeah. yeah they did."

Bell immediately grins wide, showing the gap from her missing tooth.

"Well good cuz' mine didn't and I need you to teach me!"

She exclaims without missing a beat, and sans bursts out laughing, the small child grinning with pride at being able to make sans laugh- without the use of a pun this time. He wipes small tears from the corners of his eyesockets and grins, ruffling the child's hair as he comments;

"heheh…I've taught you well kiddo, that was a good one. caught me off guard."

Bell beams back up at him, as sans lifts her down from the table and jabs a thumb in the direction of papyrus's wailing, remarking with a grin;

"hey, why doncha go show paps yer okay now, m'k kid? it'll probably cheer him up a little. oh, and uh…tell 'im I'll make breakfast this time."

He adds, and bell looks almost disappointed for a second, before apparently brushing it off, the small human quickly hugging the skeleton around the middle and bounding away up the stairs, calling papyrus's name along with a healthy amount of reassurance. Sans chuckles…that kid's so damn pure if he had a heart it'd probably be mush by now. He turns back into the kitchen, and opens a cupboard. There's probably some bread left for sandwiches, or something…

[somewhere around twenty minutes later]

Papyrus and bell finally descend from papyrus's room, chattering away merrily to themselves, papyrus carrying the box of VHS tapes in his arms as bell trots down the steps beside him. Papyrus dumps the box down on the couch, bell scrambling up so she can dig through it, the tall skeleton warning her to be careful not to cut herself again by mistake.

"I WILL GO PREPARE BREAKFAST!"

he adds, and bell looks up in confusion, asking;

"But…didn't I tell you sans was doing it?"

Papyrus lets out a triumphant 'NYEH HEH HEH!' before responding confidently;

"YES, BUT MY BROTHER IS FAR TOO LAZY TO COOK! HE'S PROBABLY SLEEPING RIGHT NOW!"

he proclaims, his gloved hands on his hips- the tall skeleton having slept in his battle body, as usual. But, a voice rings out from the kitchen, catching the younger brother's attention.

"in a shocking turn of events, i am actually not sleeping right now."

Sans remarks, papyrus spinning around with an incredulous 'NYEH!?' And staring in shock at sans, standing in the entrance to the kitchen, a battered frying pan balanced atop his skull, his hands shoved into his shorts pockets.

"oh, hey kid. i made breakfast. ya might have to fight paps for it though."

Sans remarks in the direction of Bell, reaching up and taking the frying pan off his skull, tilting it forward slightly so Bell and papyrus can now see it's full of pancakes- or rather, one big pancake, which fills up the entire pan. sans grins, winking as he adds;

"…heh. just kidding. i made like six of these bad boys- enough for both've you."

He says, jiggling the frying pan and making the gargantuan pancake within jump and flop. Papyrus just gapes, apparently floored by the idea of-

"WHAT!? SANS!? COOKING!?"

Papyrus exclaims in shock, darting over to his brother and grabbing his skull by the sides, asking urgently;

"SANS!? ARE YOU FEELING ALRIGHT!? ARE YOU SICK!?"

he shrieks, bell giggling from the couch as sans blinks back at his brother, his voice slightly muffled by his brothers gloved hands- which are smushing his mouth- as he replies;

"pap, calm down, im fine, i just made pancakes s'all."

Papyrus just splutters incredulously, bell inspecting the pancake at a distance, impressed by its size.

"BUT SANS! YOU NEVER COOK! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOU KNEW HOW!"

sans just shrugs, grinning.

"hey, I've watched you do it plenty of times. you pick some stuff up after a while."

Bells eyes suddenly widen at this, and she glances at the pancake with a slight air of fear- though enthusiastic, papyrus is not the best chef- but sans winks at her. Technically, he wasn't lying exactly, just bending the truth a little. He did learn some of it just by watching- but not papyrus. Bell, relieved, slides down from the couch and trots over to sans, tugging the frying pan down slightly so she can pull out the warm pancake, taking a huge bite of it as sans chuckles and papyrus still splutters indignantly, rambling on about how dumbfounded he is that his brother has actually done something for once. The small child is silent for a long moment…then another long moment, and another, until it's been a good few minutes, papyrus's spluttering petering off into confused silence as sans eventually asks;

"…uh, you ok there kid?"

There's still no response, bell just standing there, frozen, gazing off into space with a half-chewed mouthful of pancake- at least, until tears begin to bubble up in her golden eyes. Papyrus lets out a panicked 'N-NYEH!?' And turns to sans, who is similarly distressed.

"SANS! WHAT DID YOU PUT IN THAT THING!?"

sans just shrugs, looking panicked as large tears continue bubbling up in bells shining golden eyes, the small human beginning to hiccup as sans fumbles, the smaller skeleton completely at a loss for what to do.

"i-i dunno? the usual stuff you put in pancakes?"

He starts to say, but bell interrupts him with an emotional wail of;

"Th-this is the best thing e-eeeeevvvvveeeerrrr"

She wails, swallowing hard and immediately taking another huge bite of the pancake, mumbling through her mouthful of food;

"I dithn't know it wasth even pothsible to make sthomthing this b-beautiful…"

She wails through a mouthful of pancake, as the skeleton brothers just blink at her in shock.

"oookkaaay, humans have weird reactions to magic food, got it."

sans observes, but bell is still in a pancake-induced euphoric haze, and just keeps munching on the pancake, large tears rolling down her cheeks as she continues without hearing;

"I-it's like tathsting with my feeeeeeeeelllliiiiinnngggs"

She wails, as papyrus picks her up and inspects her worriedly, the humans legs dangling off the ground as she just keeps wailing nonsense about building a temple to lord pancaken the wise, or something of that variation, still procedurally chomping on the infinity-pancake.

"SAAAAAANS, WHATS WRONG WITH THE HUMAN!?"

Papyrus asks sans worriedly, who thinks for a moment, his nonexistent eyebrows furrowed as he thinks hard.

"uh…well, I heard once that when humans get, uh… when they have too much ketchup or somethin', they get really…emotional?"

He suggests, trying to remember the specifics.

"…and I guess since magic is technically made of emotions an' intent n'all, it coulda done the same thing…?"

He tries, shrugging, papyrus just staring at him blankly before letting out a frustrated cry of;

"SANS, WHAT DOES KETCHUP HAVE TO DO WITH THIS!?"

He screeches, and sans sighs, simplifying his answer as bell continues her euphoric rambling.

"she's on a magical sugar high, bro."

Papyrus blinks, looking back at bell, who he's still holding at arms length. The small human is trying to stuff the remaining half of the pancake into her mouth, large tears still sliding down her cheeks as the small human is overwhelmed by magical euphoria. That explanation probably would fit the bill…papyrus quickly sets her down on the couch and gently removes the pancake from her hands with a worried 'TH-THAT IS ENOUGH FOR NOW, SMALL HUMAN!' Before turning back to sans and whispering intensely, still holding the pancake;

"WHAT DO I DO NOW?"

Sans just shrugs, rubbing the back of his skull as he thinks hard. What do you do with an overwhelmed, vibrating, highly emotional child…? What did dad do when, say, some unsuspecting adult had given papyrus a candy at the age of six and he'd gone ballistic? Sans thinks back, the brief silence stretching out a little longer.

"uh…I dunno, wrap em in a blanket and put on a movie or somethin? that might distract em…or just make em fall asleep. eithers fine with me."

He finally suggests, and papyrus immediately nods enthusiastically, grateful for any advice- even from sans- and rushes off to fetch some blankets, ordering sans over his shoulder;

"YOU PICK A MOVIE- AND DONT PICK ANY OF THE MTT COOKING MARATHONS! THOSE ARE KINDA VIOLENT!"

The tall skeleton commands as he bounds away. The discarded pancake lands on the floor with a small 'smek,' and sans chuckles before turning to the tv, bending down to shuffle through the jumble of cracked case-less CD's in the cardboard boxes beneath, muttering to himself as bell stares into space behind him with a longing expression;

"I ain't puttin' on mettaton, that's fer damn sure…"

He mutters, shuffling through the CD's. Most of the CD's are, in fact, recordings of mettaton marathons, marked with masking tape and labeled in his brothers handwriting. Actual intact CD's- the ones with stuff actually on them that is- from the surface are rare, and anything they do get to work is often dated so far in the past not much from them is credible. And since there can never be any distinction between fiction and non-fiction, alphys's animes are technically just as likely to be accurate as anything else. but, he and paps still own a few surface movies- all of them (they assume) for kids, but it's not like papyrus particularly minds. Either way, the skeleton brothers haven't watched any of em in ages, almost not since…

"oh, eh, this might work…"

Sans mutters, drawing a single CD out from the box. This one seems new to him- papyrus and undyne probably found it during one of their 'human history hunting' sessions- and still has its case. most of the cover is incomprehensible due to water damage, but he can still make out part of the title…

"na-usic-ä…?"

Sans tries, most likely butchering the pronunciation. He shrugs. Seems okay- as long as it's not mettaton. He turns back towards bell, who has stopped crying, and is now staring at her hands and squinting. He holds up the case, asking;

"this okay with ya, kiddo?"

He asks, bell looking up at him, not responding. She stares at him blankly for a long moment, before muttering;

"I have…so many haaaaaaannnnnddddss…"

She mumbles in awe, and sans snorts despite himself. Wow. His terrible cooking really did a number on her.

"…I'm just gonna assume that's a yes then."

He chuckles, and bell blinks at him a little, squinting at him now.

"you…have lots'a bones…"

She mutters, and looks down at her hands again.

"And I, have…..less bones….."

She mumbles, and sans snorts. Geeze, this poor kid. Who knew pancakes were such deadly weapons?

"heh, yeah, you probably do ki-"

"NYEH-HEH-HEH!"

Before sans can finish, his brother pops up from behind the couch- having masterfully sneaked up during the one sided conversation- and wraps bell tight in a fluffy blue blanket, the human yelping in surprise at the sudden spike in coziness as the tall skeleton vaults over the couch and thumps down beside her, grinning triumphantly. Sans starts at the sudden noise- then relaxes and chuckles, seeing it's just paps and raising one non-eyebrow as he asks;

"…so, I guess this means we're all set?"

he asks, and papyrus goes to 'nyes' his approval, but stops, his gaze catching on something by Sans's feet with a shocked expression. The shorter skeleton looks down, confused, and sees the little white dog happily munching on the remains of the pancake.

"T-TOBY!?"

"PUPPYYYY!"

two voices shriek, and papyrus dives over the coffee table to hug the little white Pomeranian, while bell squeals with delight at the sight of the small dog. Sans has to step back to avoid getting whacked by papyrus's elbow, and his foot knocks into the tv stand, making him wince with pain and hop on one foot as bell scrambles under the coffee table to pet the dog between the ears where it's head pokes out of papyrus's bear hug. In a matter of seconds, the scene has dissolved into chaos. The dog is licking bells face, papyrus is bawling over the dog, bell is giggling madly, and sans is trying to balance on one foot while still holding the CD.

Eventually though, they all end up on the couch, the dog sandwiched between Bell and papyrus, (who quickly started to pretend he hadn't missed the dog at all) sans on the other side of Bell, the blanket stretched over them all as bell feeds the dog popcorn. Bell has, at last, calmed down some- the dog having had a calming effect on the small human, one hand permanently stationed between its ears for pets.

After some struggling with the remote, they finally manage to start the movie, bell watching with wide eyes as sans munches on popcorn. it's animated, and actually seems pretty good. At first he thought it was an anime, but it quickly turned out to be a lot more detailed than most of the animes Alphys has forced him to watch…Maybe a bit too detailed- Papyrus cant stop asking him questions sans has exactly zero answers to.

"SANS, WHY IS THAT HUMAN RIDING A BIG SPARROW?"

"I dunno bro, I think it's just part of the movie."

"SANS WHY ARE THERE MUSHROOMS EVERYWHERE? WHY IS THE VILLAGE ALL RUINY?"

"i dunno. I think you have to just watch."

"SANS! LOOK! SKELETONS! I THOUGHT HUMANS DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT MONSTERS?"

"I uh…don't think those are skeleton monsters paps."

"BUT SANS! I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT ELSE THEY COULD-"

"…Papy...Shhhhhh…"

Bell whispers, reaching up to rest her small hands on papyrus's chin, the tall skeleton immediately falling silent as the movie changes pov. Sans smiles to himself as bell watches with wide eyes, papyrus also getting caught up in the film. A tale is told of mankind fighting eachother almost to their own extinction, (that makes sans snort, yep, sounds like something humans would do) and of insects sweeping the earth, poisonous jungles growing behind them. Then, as a masked human glides through a magnificent jungle of mushrooms and insects, sans leans over to bell and whispers;

"…the surface doesn't actually look like that, does it kiddo?"

Sans whispers, and Bell shakes her head, engrossed in the movie.

"No…i think it's meant to be a made-up world…but I like it anyway."

She whispers back, and sans chuckles, taking a handful of popcorn and trying to eat it as quietly as possible as the on-screen human speaks for the first time, and…

"Wooooaaaahhh…"

Comes the collective whisper from the two monsters and human, even the dogs ears pricking up at the image onscreen. Everyone just stares in awe as the animated human tests her blade against the beautifully painted 'ohm shell' with a sharp ringing noise, everyone watching with stars in their eyes.

"man…this is so much better than Alph's animes…"

sans whispers under his breath, and papyrus nods with a small 'nyeh…' of agreement.


(AUTHOR NOTE: I can never resist a good Miazaki reference- if you're reading this and have never seen a Miazaki film, go. Go right now. I'm not messing around, it's a borderline spiritual experience. Oh- also; buckle up, will you? because im releasing the next few chapters soon and boy, you're in for a ride.)