Written for The Monthly Prompt Bank 2024
January prompt: small child yells "I pooped my pants!" in public

Why was Frisk always so quiet? In all the time they'd known him, the small child hadn't spoken a single word. He laughed at Sans' horrendous puns, he would smile and nod, he even gagged and made noises of disgust the first time he was presented with a platter of Papyrus' rancid spaghetti. But he didn't outright say that his friend was funny. He didn't say that the younger of the two skeleton brothers was a bad cook. Some things were just obvious, which was Sans' answer whenever anyone questioned why the child didn't speak.

Papyrus struck his fist against the table. "NONSENSE, SANS! UNTIL I HEAR HIM VERBALLY STATE THAT MY COOKING ISN'T FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION, I WILL NOT BELIEVE SUCH FOLLY!" He then pushed the plate of spaghetti toward the child, grinning broadly. "GO ON NOW, HAVE A BITE OF MY CULINARY MASTERPIECE."

The child eyed the plate of spaghetti, his lips quivering as bile crept into the back of his throat. He wasn't sure if he was going to vomit or cry. Or both. And was that... mold on the meatballs? How long had this mess been sitting on the counter? A week? Two weeks? Fifteen resets ago?

Hesitating slightly, Frisk picked up his fork and twirled it around a length of pasta, forcing himself to consume the foul substance. He ate every last morsel of spaghetti, though he was already regretting his decision after the first bite. Of course, Papyrus was overjoyed, but Sans was concerned. He thought the child looked a little green around the gills.

Frisk was trembling like he had a bad case of the chills, and his forehead was glistening with beads of sweat. Somehow, he managed to give Papyrus a thumbs up, though he looked as though he were going to pass out.

Not wanting to hurt his friend's feelings, the child kept quiet throughout the remainder of the day. By mid afternoon, Frisk was nearly bent over double with a stomachache as he left the house to help with some errands. He didn't even hear the skeleton brothers arguing in the aisles about whether or not ketchup could be used in place of pasta sauce. The gurgling in his abdomen drowned out their petty squabble.

He clutched the shopping basket, wondering if anyone else could hear the rumbling in his belly. Sans swept his arm across the shelf, knocking several bottles of ketchup into the basket. The skeleton then decided to distract his little brother by launching into some of his favorite cooking puns, which wasn't exactly helping the situation. Frisk uttered a low moan, tensing the muscles in his lower region. If he didn't get out of here quickly, he was definitely going to have a bad time.

"OF COURSE YOU WOULD THINK ORDINARY KETCHUP IS A SUITABLE TOPPING FOR SPAGHETTI," Papyrus said with a sigh. "YOU DON'T HAVE THE REFINED PALATE OF A TRUE CHEF."

Sans shrugged. "eh, i dunno about that, bro. i'm pretty good at cooking. i just don't do much of the cooking around here because we don't have the right equipment for the job."

"THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT?" Papyrus eyed him suspiciously.

"everyone knows the best way to cook an alligator is in a croc pot."

Papyrus groaned, covering his face with a gloved hand. Frisk groaned too, but for different reasons.

"and you can't cook a tree branch in a non-stick pot," Sans continued, eliciting further groans of annoyance from his sibling. He waved a finger, grinning broadly. "that's just basic knowledge, paps. ya gotta have the right equipment for the sorta dish you're making."

Finally, Frisk let out a shrill cry, dropping the shopping basket and wrapping his arms around his waist. He couldn't hold it any longer; they were nowhere near the restroom, and he didn't have Sans' teleporting ability. Papyrus' horrendous spaghetti was going to come back and haunt him in the worst way imaginable.

"uh, you okay, kid?" Sans asked, abandoning his routine as both he and his brother turned to face the child.

Frisk shook his head. "I pooped my pants!" he wailed, tears streaming down his cheeks.

All throughout the store, monsters turned their heads in the direction of the crying human.

Papyrus crossed his arms over his chest. "PLEASE TELL ME YOU AREN'T GOING TO MAKE JOKES ABOUT THIS TOO, SANS."

"nah, poop jokes aren't my favorite," Sans admitted. "but they're a solid #2."

Despite his inappropriate humor and apparent lack of concern, the skeleton told Papyrus to finish the shopping while he took Frisk home to get cleaned up. He wasn't heartless, he just had the unfortunate habit of cracking jokes at the worst time. After all, it's what helped him through the resets. And when all of this was said and done, nobody would even remember it anyway.