Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Falling... Falling ... You were falling . Straight towards the ground. Your life was flashing before your eyes...

You weren't exactly the luckiest girl on the planet, far from it; in fact you found it to be unlucky if you ever did get blessed with sudden luck, but that didn't stop you from being so optimistic. You learned that life will always try to bring you down in ways that just didn't seem fair, but you learned to persevere through it all. The only thing though, was that you were shy. Really shy. And people happened to not even take notice of you because of how quiet you were. But that didn't stop you from gaining a friend. He was a good friend. Like a brother almost. He was the complete opposite of you, so full of energy and always getting you to try things and come out of your shell.

Fast forward to your early teenage years and the most devastating thing that could ever happen in your life happens. You lose a parent. Your mom to be exact. Car crash. She was on her way to pick you up from soccer practice; an after school extra curricular your friend dragged you into and you played for two years straight. You were actually really good at it. But after that, you felt you could never play again. You gained a crush and potential boyfriend in high school... only for him to move away three months into the relationship.

Fast forward to your young adult years, where you're fresh out of high school and searching for a career to pursue, you get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. You were a witness to a murder. You would've sworn that would have been the end for you when the murderer had pinned you down and brought that knife to your throat but in some stroke of luck there was a witness to that. Unfortunately though, that meant you now how to go to court and testify, where you learned the murderer was actually part of a gang. The thing was though, in some stroke of either luck or unluckiness, he was considered elusive, which meant he was important and very dangerous, which made you and your family a target during the entire trial and even after for a small period of time. What luck.

Fast forward to the beginning of the month in present time. Everything was normal, at least for you. A fumble here, a scrape there, an embarrassing moment waaaaaaaay over there. You were working proudly in a factory job assembling parts of various, everyday machines like washing machines. You had that job for five years. Sure it was located in the next city over from your home town but you figured it was about that time to become independent. The work was easy enough, the pay was good, the insurance was better, the people were... okay. However, a year into working at your job, something unbelievable happened.

There was a mountain located close to the city you had moved to known as Mt. Ebott and what came out of that mountain shook the whole world. Monsters. Monsters emerged from the mountain. You didn't know how to react to news like that. After all, monsters were supposed to be fiction! For the first year, you tried to avoid monsters at all cost. Not that you were racist. You were just scared. But of course, as was your luck, you couldn't help but run into monsters. They were so kind. Well... most of them were anyway. You couldn't blame the ones that weren't. After all, once monsters emerged and tried to gain rights as citizens, there were riots. Riots of which your luck would have you accidentally in and end up putting you behind bars for a few hours. Luckily local police believed that you were in fact just an unlucky person and nothing went on your record.

As you were working your shift in the beginning of the month in the present time, there was a big meeting that ultimately resulted you and many others in being laid off. What luck. You actually thought that this job was the one positive thing to come into your life... Well, besides your best friend but you haven't exactly spoken to him in a few years after he married his boyfriend now husband. That was a good wedding. But now, you were jobless. And as your luck would have it, try as you did, you could not find a single job opening that fit your skills.

You didn't know how to drive. You took buses and walked to your destinations so you couldn't do delivery jobs. You were too shy to take on any kind of job that involved full on customer service like being a cashier. Hell, it took you five years to even slightly open up to your now ex-co-workers. You were terrible with kids. They made you anxious. There was another kind of factory job but that was two cities away and you didn't want to move. Of course, the moment you had that thought your bad luck punched you in the gut.

You were late on paying rent. Again. You couldn't help that your paycheck and your due date was a week apart. You tried reasoning with the landlord but of course, you were too shy to stand up for yourself when he kept saying no can do. You had spent a month trying to search for a job but your luck wasn't the best as always. Every time you thought you snagged a job, you would get a call saying you didn't get the job or you didn't pass the interview. And then, your landlord gave you a week to pack your things and move out. Your well-known perseverance was slowly deteriorating. Everything just seemed to go straight to hell and nothing you did could stop that train wreck.

Which lead you to where you were now. You were exhausted mentally. You were always slightly depressed but you never were so much so that you considered suicide. No. You couldn't do that to your friends and family. It wouldn't have been right. You just needed the air. You were on the rooftop of your apartment complex, looking out over the city. It was a little pretty at night, and the view of the mountain wasn't all that bad. If you squinted hard enough you could see the beginnings of the monster city that claimed the land next to your city.

Just when you thought you got your will to keep moving on, to persevere... you were suddenly confronted by a masked and hooded figure. You tried fighting them off, trying to remember those techniques you learned from the self defense seminar you took last year, but you were so scared that you couldn't remember anything! You did however, manage to stomp on your assailant's foot, causing them to groan, but that just made things worse. You heard their voice. They spat out curses at you and when you finally pushed away... you tumbled over the edge.

And here you were now. Falling. To your death. You only hoped that the terrified screams you let out warned those below to at least move away and avert their eyes. They didn't deserve to see you die.

***

The sound of steady beeping was the first thing you heard when you slowly came to. What was that noise? Were you dead? You groaned as you blinked your eyes open only to shield them from the harsh lights above. The beeping continued. You recognized that sound now. It was the sound of one of those hospital machines that tracked a patient's heart rate. You blinked a little, your eyes slowly adjusting to the light, and you peeked around the room. Was room the appropriate word to use? No. You started to hear more. Conversations. People were running around. Doctors. Nurses. You were in a hospital. You weren't the only patient around. There were many others all sectioned off by curtains. What was this part of the hospital called? You couldn't remember.

You slowly sit up from the hospital bed you were in, groaning. Your head and throat hurt. What happened? Why weren't you dead? Not that you were complaining it's just... you shouldn't have survived a fall like that. The curtain on your left gets pulled back some and you see a doctor. No. A nurse. They weren't dressed like a doctor. When she sees you awake she stares in surprise before smiling.

“Hello.” She said.

“H-Hi.” You hoarsely say, throat dry.

“Ah. You're thirsty?” You nod and she walks around and reaches over to a tray that was beside the bed. She then hands you a water bottle. “Your friend got this for you while you were still passed out.” Friend? What friend? You take the bottle though and guzzle down some water, all the while the nurse was going over what you presumed was a routine check like checking your stats that was clearly on the monitor on your left. She then asks you questions.

“Do you know where you are?”

“K-Kind of.” You answer. “Obviously I'm in a hospital I just... don't know if this Ebott General Hospital or St. George. I-I'm assuming Ebott though because... it's closer to my apartment.” She gives a smile and nod.

“That's right. Excuse me.” She shines a light in your eyes. Pupil test. “Can you recall what happened to you?” She puts the light away and checks your pulse.

“I-I... The last thing I remember was... falling.”

“Yes, your friend did say that he saw you falling. You're lucky he caught you.” What? How was that possible? “Do you know why you were falling?”

“Um...” You try to recall, only for a masked face to flash in your mind, causing you to gasp and jump a little, startling the nurse. “S-Sorry... I... I remember...” You take a deep breath. You were fine for now. “I was on the roof of my apartment complex and... someone jumped me. I-I don't know who. They wore a mask and hoodie. And then... next thing I knew I was falling...”

“Oh my.” The nurse says. “I'm so sorry that happened to you honey. No doubt though that you caught the attention of a lot of people. There are actually some police that would like to talk with you. I think you can understand why.” You nod. Of course, you knew you wouldn't be able to provide much information. At least you could ease their thoughts and tell them for a fact that you weren't suicidal. When the nurse was finished she excused herself. Before she could completely walk away you stopped her.

“E-Excuse me...!”

“Yes?”

“How... How did I get here again?”

“Your friend honey. The one that caught you. Oh. There he is now.” You turn your gaze and stare, eyes wide. It made sense how you were alive now. Walking your way was a tall skeletal monster. He looked about six feet tall, maybe a little taller! He wore a shirt that said 'Cool Dude' and had on jogging shorts. Was this monster... jogging when he caught you? When you locked eyes, or rather eye sockets, with him, he let out a gasp and looked like he was about to cry. He rushed over and you flinched at his fast approach and his sudden loud voice.

“OH! IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AWAKE! I WAS SO WORRIED!” You keep staring, mostly in awe. The nurse then shushed him.

“Excuse me sir, you're in a hospital. I'm going to have to ask to keep your voice down.”

“OH! O-Oh. E-Excuse Me.” He apologized, his voice lowered to a somewhat normal tone. He then turned his attention back to you when the nurse walked away with an approving nod. "You Gave Everyone Quite A Scare." He said. "Luckily I Was There To Catch You!" You somehow found your words.

"H-How did... you catch me exactly?"

"With My Magic Of Course!" He then... frowns? At least to the best of his ability. "If I May Ask... Why Were You Falling From Such A Height?" You knew what he was trying to imply.

"I-I was... Shoved. F-Forcefully. I was attacked." His sockets widened with shock.

"That's Horrible!" You nod and glance away, giving a nervous laugh.

"Y-Yeah well... That's just my luck." You look at him and see he's confused. "I'm... Not the luckiest person in the world." You say. "Bad things happen to me all the time. No big deal."

"No Big Deal?! No Offense Miss But What You Just Went Through Was A VERY Big Deal! Your Assailant Is Still Out There And They Need To Be Apprehended Before They Cause More Trouble!" You couldn't help but smile a little at how this stranger was so concerned for you, a stranger. You frown though and look down, remembering you couldn't do anything about your attack.

"Y-Yeah but... I can't do anything. I don't... Have enough information. I never saw his face." The monster makes an odd sound, almost like an annoyed hum only... it sounded like 'nyeh' and you look at him. You never did get his name. You give a shy smile. "U-Um... Thank you for saving me though." He beams and smiles.

"But Of Course! How Could I Not?! I Wouldn't Be The Great Papyrus If I Could Not Help Out A Human In Trouble!" Ah. So his name was Papyrus. He seemed like a really nice monster. The nurse came back and informed you that the police were on their way to take your statement. You nod and she dismisses herself. A thought then ran through your head.

"What time is it?" You say aloud.

"It Is Almost Seven Thirty A.M!" Papyrus happily explains. You snap your head at him and stare. Seven thirty?! The time you remember before being pushed off was it being ten at night. A thought then comes to you.

"W-Wait... Papyrus were you... Here the whole time?" You ask wearily. He nodded his head.

"Indeed! I Could Not Simply Walk Away After Bringing You Here! I Had To Make Sure That You Were Going To Be Okay!" You flinch. You feel bad.

"O-Oh. I-I'm sorry Papyrus-"

"What? Why?" He asked, confusion clearly on his face.

"I-I... Y-You waited around in this crowded hospital-"

"Because I Wanted To. How Could I Let Myself Walk Away When There Was A Chance That There Was A Different Reason You Were Falling Off That Building?" You tear up a little. How was it that this stranger was so kind to you? You knew monsters were mostly docile beings but still.

"Th-Thanks Papyrus." You sniff and rub your eyes a little. He smiles.

"But Of Course!" He then rubs the back of his neck. "Um... Nyeh Heh... I Don't Even Know You're Name. May I Please Have it?" You smile and nod, wiping away the stray tears.

"I-It's Y/n. Y/n L/n." He smiles and holds out his hand.

"It's Very Nice To Meet You Miss Y/n." You giggle and shake his hand, taking notice of the way it felt. You didn't know what you were expecting from a skeletal hand. It felt just like you thought, though there was a small sensation that tingled in your hand when you shook his and it slowly disappeared when you let go. Huh...

***

You were released from the hospital after the police came and took your statement. You sighed. Yet another bill you had to find a way to pay. Papyrus made good company. He reminded you a lot of your friend, which probably made you feel a little more at ease with him. He took you out to breakfast and even though you declined because you didn't even have your wallet on you, he insisted. You learned a little about Papyrus. He was such an enthusiastic individual. He loved to cook, clean, hang out with his friends. He even complained about how lazy his older brother could be and how he's always picking up after him. Huh.

“W-Well, thank you for breakfast Papyrus.” You say as you and him leave the cafe. “I promise to pay you back.”

“NONSENSE!” He proclaimed. “YOU NEED NOT PAY ME BACK! I WANTED TO DO THIS!” You shuffle. You didn't like how that sounded, you didn't like being a burden, but from what you gathered about Papyrus... it didn't matter to him. He was just helping you out.

“Th-Thanks...” You hesitate. “... W-Well, see you later.”

“OH. UM...” You look at him and he's glancing away nervously. “YES WELL... I'M SURE YOU MUST BE GETTING HOME...” He looks at you. “WOULD YOU MIND IT IF... I ACCOMPANY YOU?” You blink. What?

“Wh-Why?”

“I JUST... WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU GET HOME OKAY. WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH... SURELY IT WAS TERRIFYING. YOU FELL FROM SUCH A DISTANCE.” You blink. That was sweet of him. You shuffle. You realize that the gravity (no pun intended) of your situation had yet to sink in. It was only when he said that did you remember... You almost died.

“I-I... Th-Thanks Papyrus.”

“IS THAT A YES?” He asks, a little excitement in his voice. You nod shyly and he smiles. “WONDERFUL! SHALL WE?” Oh. You look around. You thankfully recognize this part of town. You obviously had to walk home though. You didn't have your bus pass.

“Um... Yeah. B-But we'll have to walk. I don't have my bus pass or any money on me. A-And-!” You stop him as he opens his mouth to say something. “P-Please... I really don't want you to spend anymore money on me. I-I need the exercise anyway.” You give an awkward chuckle.

“WELL...” He looked and sounded conflicted before he let out a sigh. “ALRIGHT THEN.” You give a smile.

“Thanks. Um... My apartment is this way.” You lead the way and Papyrus strikes up more conversation with you, asking you questions.

“IF I MAY ASK?” You look up at him. “WHAT WERE YOU DOING ON THE ROOF?”

“O-Oh. Well... I just needed the fresh air. Clear my mind. This month has been... exceptionally bad. H-Heh. B-But that's not your problem. It's fine. I deal with bad things on a daily basis.”

“MAY I ASK WHAT HAPPENED?” You hesitate. “OH. I'M SORRY. I'M PRYING.” You give a nervous chuckle.

“Y-You're fine Papyrus. Um...” Were you really about to tell this stranger what's been happening with you? But... He did save your life... And he is sticking around... You let out a sigh and give a half smile to him. “Well... I um... I'm getting kicked.” He gives you a confused look and you keep your eyes on the ground. “F-From my apartment. N-No big deal. I just need to find some boxes and pack up.”

“OH! I'M SO SORRY!”

“I-It's fine. It's my fault. Heh. I'm always late to paying rent anyway. I-I needed to move out of there anyway.” That was a complete lie. It was a nice apartment for just lil ol' you.

“HOW LONG DO YOU HAVE?”

“U-Um... T-Til the end of the week. B-But it's fine! I can just call my friend and see if he and his husband will let me stay with them. Th-They live out of town but it'll be fine.” Silence. Awkward silence. At least on your end anyway. You look up at Papyrus and he's... looking at you completely worried. Oh boy... “I-It's fine Papyrus honest.”

“WHAT ABOUT YOUR JOB?” You flinch and glance away. And it seemed obvious to him what that action meant. “OH...”

“It's fine.” You say with a weary smile. “Really. Do um.. Do you happen to have any boxes I can use? I-I don't mean to sound like a bother-”

“NONSENSE!” He sounded almost offended. You then swear you see him have a lightbulb moment. Oh no... You didn't like that look. “WHY DON'T YOU STAY WITH MY BROTHER AND I FOR A BIT?” You STARE, eyes wide and mouth open.

“P-Papyrus...!”

“JUST UNTIL YOU CAN FIND A SUITABLE PLACE AND JOB.”

“P-Papyrus I-I-I...! I can't do that! W-We just met! We don't know anything about each other! Wh-Why would you...?! Wh-Why would you... do that?” You could feel tears start to build, though out of either happiness or embarrassment you didn't know. He then gives a big smile.

“BECAUSE I WANT TO. IT'S THE LEAST I CAN DO FOR A FRIEND.” You look up at him, surprised.

“F-Friend? B-But Papyrus we...” You stop as he somewhat frowns.

“OH. DO YOU... NOT WANT TO BE FRIENDS?” What kind of heart breaking question was that? You hated how disappointed he sounded and you felt like a complete bother now.

“N-No Papyrus of course I want to be your friend... It's just...” You look down and shuffle awkwardly. “Are you always this... kind to strangers?” He lets out a... laugh?

“NYEH HEH HEH! STRANGERS IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR A POTENTIAL FRIEND! AND I'M ALWAYS NICE TO FRIENDS!” You give an awkward chuckle.

“That's... one way to think... I guess...” You frown. “B-But Papyrus you gotta be careful. People... People can be mean.”

“ARE YOU MEAN?” You look up at him, a little surprised by the question.

“I-I... I try not to be...” He smiles.

“THEN THERE'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT! SO? WHAT DO YOU SAY? YOU'D BE ABLE TO STAY IN THE CITY AND LOOK FOR A NEW JOB!” You glance away.

“W-What if though... I didn't want to be in the city?” That was a complete lie. You really liked this city. You just wanted Papyrus to realize that he was jumping the gun.

“OH.” The realization in his voice was clear. “DO YOU... WANT TO STAY IN THE CITY?” You give a chuckle and nod.

“Of course I do. I was just... throwing the 'what if' question.” He lets out a sigh of relief and smiles.

“THEN COME STAY WITH ME FOR A BIT. WE HAVE A SPARE BEDROOM. IT'S A GUEST BEDROOM ACTUALLY BUT YOU WOULD BE A GUEST IF YOU SAY YES!” He was so... sweet. And kind... And no doubt something awful was going to happen should you accept this sudden stroke of pure luck. It would have been just your luck.

“U-Um... I-I'll... think about it Papyrus.”

“THAT'S NOT A NO!” He says with a smile, which makes you smile. Just what were you getting yourself into? When you finally arrived at your apartment complex, you look up at the tall building. You suddenly feel small and heavy. The feeling of falling comes rushing back to you. You didn't even realize how scared you looked until Papyrus said your name.

“Y/N? ARE YOU OKAY? YOU'RE SHAKING.” You look at him and see he's worried. Maybe... taking his offer wouldn't be that bad after all. “ARE YOU... REMEMBERING THE FALL?” You gulp and nod a bit before giving a weary smile.

“Y-Yeah. I-I'm fine though. Th-Thanks for walking me home-”

“MAY I ASSIST YOU TO YOUR APARTMENT? YOU... LOOK LIKE YOU COULD COLLAPSE AT ANY MOMENT.” At the mention, your legs did seem heavy. They felt like they were about to give out from under you. You give a slight nod.

“U-Uh, yeah. Thanks. I appreciate that.” He gives a smile and the two of you walk in and take the elevator to the fifth floor. Your apartment was the first door on the left. It was convenient for you, especially why you have groceries. You approach the door only to realize... you didn't have your key. You give out a chuckle. “Um... I don't... I don't have my key...”

“IS THIS IT?” You look at him and stare in surprise when he pulls out a key from his jogging shorts. It was indeed yours.

“Y-Yes. How-?”

“I HEARD IT HIT THE GROUND WHEN I CAUGHT YOU. I OF COURSE PICKED IT UP. SORRY FOR NOT RETURNING IT SOONER. I GUESS I WAS STILL A LITTLE FRAZZLED BY THE WHOLE SITUATION THUS FAR.” That was... understandable. You take your key and open your door. You then turn to Papyrus with a smile.

“W-Well, thanks Papyrus.” He smiles.

“BUT OF COURSE! DO YOU THINK WE COULD EXCHANGE PHONE NUMBERS?” You blink. Right. If you really were going to think about Papyrus' offer, you needed some way of contacting him.

“Oh. Yeah. Of course. One second.” You head into your apartment, leaving your door wide open for Papyrus to enter. You grab your phone that was on the coffee table and flip it open. It was a flip phone. You felt like all the new fancy phones that could literally almost do everything wasn't worth paying fifty to sixty dollars a month. This phone was cheap. It did what it needed to do. It only costed you twenty dollars a month.

You head back over to Papyrus, phone in hand, and with a smile, say, “Alright, I have my contact sheet up.” He gives a smile and already has his own phone out. It was a touch screen. It didn't look like any of the newer, fancier phones. An old model then. The two of you exchange numbers and he leaves. Not even a minute after the door closes, your phone rings. You answer.

“H-Hello?”

“JUST MAKING SURE IT'S WORKING!” Came Papyrus' voice. You giggle a little. That was kind of cute.

Chapter Text

You couldn't even fathom what it was you were witnessing right now. Papyrus visited your apartment the next day with a single box in his hands. Not that you were complaining if that was all he had but... then he blew your mind when he tried explaining the kind of box it was. He opened it up and all you could see was darkness in the box. WHAT?! He then proceeds to pull out A LAMP from the box before placing it back in. You had to admit, that was the coolest thing you had ever witnessed.

“H-How...?! Wh-What even...?!”

“IT'S A DIMENSIONAL BOX! MIX MONSTER TECHNOLOGY WITH MONSTER MAGIC AND YOU ARE GIVEN THE EASIEST AND MOST EFFECT WAY OF MOVING WHATEVER IT IS YOU NEED FROM POINT A TO POINT B!”

“That is... so cool.” You continue to stare into the black abyss that was the inside of the box and Papyrus chuckles triumphantly. “How does this... even work?”

“WELL, I DON'T KNOW THE SCIENCY PART OF IT BUT WHAT I CAN EXPLAIN IS THE BASIC USE! IT'S SIMPLE! YOU CAN PLACE WHATEVER YOU WANT IN IT AND PULL IT OUT WHENEVER YOU NEED IT! PEOPLE CAN USE THE SAME DIMENSIONAL BOX BUT THEY ARE ONLY LIMITED TO THEIR OWN ITEMS! AND ALL DIMENSIONAL BOXES ARE CONNECTED SO YOU CAN ACCESS YOUR ITEMS ANYWHERE WHENEVER THERE IS A DIMENSIONAL BOX!”

“That's... amazing!” You give him a really big smile. “Thank you for letting me borrow this.” He held up a hand.

“NONSENSE! IT IS YOURS TO KEEP!” You stare at him, shocked.

“W-What? P-Papyrus I can't-”

“IT IS FINE! I HAVE A SECOND ONE.” That... made you feel somewhat less guilty. You look back at the box.

“I-Is it... collapsible?” He nods and flips the box over, watching as nothing falls out from the other end, and he undoes the simple fold over on the bottom before folding it accordingly.

“EASY TO PUT TOGETHER AND TAKE APART FOR EASY STORAGE!” You smile. He then proceeds to fix the box back up, all the while saying, “I KNOW IT HAS ONLY BEEN A DAY AND I HATE TO SOUND RUDE OR PUSHY BUT... HAVE YOU BEEN THINKING IT OVER?” You look down. You had actually. From the moment he left yesterday and... even after you woke up from your nightmare. But obviously... you had some concerns.

“I-I um... I have. Just... Obviously I think you can share my concern when I ask... Is your brother okay with this?” All you gathered from Papyrus yesterday was that his brother, who went by the name of Sans, was the eldest and was a 'lazybones' as Papyrus put it.

“IT'LL BE FINE! DON'T YOU WORRY! HE MAY BE A BIT OF A MOTHER HEN BUT HE'S USUALLY OKAY WITH A LOT OF THE THINGS I DO! NOT THAT I REALLY NEED HIS PERMISSION. I AM A GROWN SKELETON. I'M SURE A TEMPORARY ROOMMATE WOULDN'T BOTHER HIM TOO MUCH!” That... didn't help your anxiety. Of course his brother would be protective of him. Papyrus was the youngest. It was an older sibling's job to be protective over their younger siblings.

“P-Papyrus... maybe you should... bring this up to your brother.” He sighed and frowned.

“I WOULD BUT HE WON'T BE BACK UNTIL THE END OF THE WEEK. AND I CAN'T REACH HIM EITHER.” You STARE. WELP! That wasn't what you wanted to hear! “AND BESIDES, YOU SAID YOU NEEDED TO BE OUT BY THE END OF THE WEEK RIGHT? IT WOULD'VE TAKEN TOO LONG. BUT NOT TO WORRY! SANS IS A REALLY FRIENDLY GUY, JUST LIKE ME!” Oh how you only hoped...

***

You spent the entirety of the day and the next packing up your apartment into your new dimensional box, with obvious help from Papyrus. He even blew your mind when he said you could pack away your furniture. He showed you how and you swore your head was going to explode from the sheer impossibility of how the box worked. What blew your mind even more, after you had packed everything you needed, was that when you lifted the box, it was light as a feather!

As you left your key and made your way down to the bottom floor, you feel as if your eyes are gong to pop out of your head as Papyrus leads you to a red freaking non-hooded sports car parked nearby!

“WHHHHAAAT?!” You exclaim, totally confused yet surprised. Papyrus gives what sounds like a victory laugh.

“NYEH HEH HEH! I SEE I HAVE CONTINUED TO BOGGLE YOUR MIND!”

“Uh, yeah! Holy crap Papyrus! I...! I-I...!” A thought hits you and you frown. Papyrus had opened the passenger door for you only to look at you curiously.

“WHAT'S WRONG?” You look at him.

“Where... Where do you live Papyrus?”

“DID I NOT SAY? I'M SORRY. SANS AND I LIVE AT THE BORDER BETWEEN THE MONSTER CITY AND EBOTT CITY.” Wow, okay that was a bit of a drive then. Your apartment was smack dab in the middle of the city. You felt bad.

“I-I'm sorry you had to drive such a distance-”

“NONSENSE!” He grabbed the box and set it in the back seat before guiding you into his car. As he shuts the door and enters the drivers side, another thought hits you.

“P-Papyrus?”

“YES?” He says, clicking his seat belt in.

“... What were you doing this far in the city the other day if you live at the border?”

“I WAS TRAINING!” He said happily. You look at him, confused.

“T-Training?” He nodded.

“YES! I AM GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MARATHON THAT'S HAPPENING IN A MONTH!” Oh right. The marathon. It was a huge charity event whose goal was to raise money for funding in a cure for cancer. There really was no winning or losing. After all, it was for charity. You looked up at the sky, watching the buildings go by. You didn't even notice Papyrus start his car and drive. This view was... different. You nervously look at Papyrus, who is happily keeping his sockets on the road.

“S-So um... the marathon.” You awkwardly say. “How uh... how long have you been training for it?”

“SINCE IT WAS ANNOUNCED FOR THIS YEAR!” He said happily. “YOU SEE, I'VE PARTICIPATED IN THIS MARATHON FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS NOW!”

“Really? Wow. That's really cool of you.”

“NYEH HEH HEH! NOT ONLY IS IT GOOD EXERCISE BUT I'M TAKING PART OF DOING SOMETHING GOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY. AND THAT IN ITSELF IS A VERY GOOD REWARD.” You smile.

“Yeah.” You look around the car a bit. It really was a nice car. You heard about how monsters brought a ton of gold with them when they surfaced but you had no idea if something like that would wreck the economy. You still didn't know. “So uh... heh... this is a really nice car.”

“ISN'T IT? IT'S MY DREAM CAR!” You look at him, a little surprised.

“Really?”

“OF COURSE!”

“How long have you had it?”

“THREE YEARS!” You stare. It was in really good condition for three years.

“W-Wow...”

“INDEED! I TAKE EXCELLENT CARE OF IT AND I MAKE SURE TO MAINTAIN IT DAILY!” You smile. He really was a cool guy. The rest of the way was filled a few idle chats. Papyrus asking you how long you've lived in the city, what your job once was, what you liked and you asked the same questions back. You learned Papyrus was actually trying to become a police officer and that his favorite past time was cooking and watching Mettaton's specials.

You remember hearing about the robotic multi-talented pop-star and how he was the only source of news for monster kind. Pretty soon he became famous amongst humans. And apparently Papyrus knew him well. They were good friends in fact. Imagine that. Being friends with a star.

.......

It sounded stressful. Pretty soon, after an awkward silence, Papyrus turned on the radio. You didn't take him as a kind of quiet person. You figured he had so many more questions for you... but he probably felt your anxiety as the two of you drove closer and closer to the monster city. You obviously had never been to the city, let alone the border and it wrecked your nerves hard. Sure you've seen other types of monsters in the city but even after four years on the surface they tended to keep close to the outskirts. You couldn't blame them though.

Even after they gained citizenship, there were so many riots. Riots in which you would accidentally get stuck in from time to time because you in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was vandalism of monster friendly places and the constant racist talk that was said to passing monsters just trying to live a normal life... And then there was the worst type of actions... Monsters getting killed, or rather, dusted as the term was for them. It was horrible. The first few years living in the city after they emerged felt like a nightmare.

You blinked and the next thing you knew you were entering the border between the monster city and Ebott. It was practically country area. Houses and medium sized neighborhoods scattered around and ahead you could see on the horizon of the monster city. Could you even call it a city? More like a town. It wasn't as big as Ebott, that was for sure. There were barely any tall buildings and most of them looked like they were homes anyway. Papyrus drives into a nearby neighborhood and you take it all in. It was cute. The open air was welcoming. You then look at the clock on the radio and stare. Has twenty minutes passed already? You then started to wonder if maybe Papyrus was... overdoing his training for the marathon. Before you could say anything, Papyrus rolls up to a house, proclaiming,

“HERE WE ARE!” He pulls into the driveway and you stare. It looked... cute. It was wooden like a cabin on the outside and it looked about two stories. You figure the top was just an attic what with how low the ceiling looked. The porch was nice and big with a nice roof over it and a bench swing and table was set off to the side underneath. You then jump as Papyrus opens the passenger door. When did he get out? You unbuckle yourself and get out, your attention back on the house.

“Wow... You live here? It's so... amazing.”

“THANK YOU!” You turn to grab the box only to see Papyrus had beaten you to the punch and is already heading towards his door.

“P-Papyrus! I-I could've gotten the box!” You rush over to him and when he opens the door you can't help but admire the inside. You were greeted to a really nice living room. You could see a kitchen just beyond the living room and beyond the kitchen was what looked like a dining room.

“FOLLOW ME! I'LL SHOW YOU TO THE GUEST ROOM!” You follow Papyrus across the living room and into a hallway with three surrounding doors. The middle door was open and you saw that it was a bathroom and the door on the right was closed. He lead you to the door on the left and opened it. As you entered the first thing you noticed was the open window and how its natural light lit up the sky blue painted walls. It had a view of the porch. You then noticed the closet doors on along the left wall and further along was a dresser with a mirror. Along the right wall was a double bed, as well as a night stand with a lamp and digital clock on it. Everything was so neatly placed and cleaned.

“Wow... This is amazing.”

“I'M GLAD YOU THINK SO!” Papyrus placed the box down onto the bed and gestured to the room. “PLEASE! MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE! I'M GOING TO GO AND MAKE US SOME LUNCH!” You give a smile.

“Thanks Papyrus.”

“OF COURSE! PLEASE, ONCE YOU FINISH, JOIN ME! I'LL GLADLY SHOW YOU THE REST OF THE HOUSE!” You nod and Papyrus walks out of the bedroom door. You look back at the room. It really was nice. You frown. You really had to make it up to Papyrus now. Not only him, but his brother. You suddenly got anxious. You REALLY hoped his brother wouldn't freak out too much at your presence here.

***

Papyrus startled you when he walked through the bedroom door, proclaiming lunch was ready. You were busy going through your belongings from the box, debating on what to keep in and what to take out. You followed him to the dining room, which was indeed past the kitchen. The kitchen was amazing. No walls separated it from the living and dining rooms, making it appear much bigger than it was. You noticed a slightly opened door along the left wall of the kitchen that showed a washer and dryer set. When you reached the dining room you saw another door along it's left wall. It was closed but you figured that it possibly another room. Maybe Papyrus'.

The lunch was amazing. Papyrus had made spaghetti and it was the best you ever had. You told him and he beamed. He was really proud and the entire time he was talking about how he was currently working part time in a restaurant while studying to become a police officer. He really was amazing.

“Well... that's really cool Papyrus. You're doing things that you love doing but... you do know that if you pass and move on to be a police officer... you probably won't be able to work at the restaurant.” He lets out a sigh.

“YES. I KNOW.” He then gives a smile. “BUT! THAT DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T STOP COOKING! EVEN IF I DO BECOME AN OFFICER OF THE LAW I COULD STILL ATTEND EVENTS! BRING MY COOKING TO THE LOCAL PANTRIES! AND I WOULD BRING ONLY THE MOST EXQUISITE CUISINES!” You smile.

“You're so cool Papyrus.”

“NYEH HEH HEH! I KNOW!” After lunch Papyrus showed you the house. You were right. His room was the one connected to the dining room. It was obviously the master bedroom. And that room by the kitchen. You were right. A wash room that just fit the washer and dryer units. When you hit the living room you watch as Papyrus slightly pulls down a hide-a-way stair case from the ceiling that lead into the attic. “ALTHOUGH, YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T GO UP THERE WITHOUT SANS' PERMISSION. HE KEEPS A LOT OF THINGS UP THERE.” You nod.

“Noted.” He then says the room across from your was indeed his brother's. He then showed you the garage and the back yard. There was a decent sized pool. How nice. After the small tour you head back to your temporary room.

“ARE YOU GOING TO NEED HELP UNPACKING?” You shake your head.

“No. Thank you though...” You hesitate. This was all so nice... Unfortunately that meant the bad luck would hit hard. And you figured it might happen when Papyrus' brother returns home.

***

Oh how on the nose you were . Three more days had passed. You were still looking for a job. That was the most important step before you could even think about finding a place to move to. You decided to take a break and sit out on the bench swing on the porch, a nice cup of tea Papyrus just made in your hands. You had come to realize just how caring Papyrus was. He was always off and out of the house, be it he had to get to class or he was preparing for the marathon but he always made sure to leave you out a snack and drink. That was so nice of him. And he always made it back for dinner. Just yesterday you tried to cook dinner as a way of showing thanks... only to be told that unfortunately Papyrus couldn't eat it because it wasn't made with magic.

Right. Of course. Just your luck. You apologized but he said not to worry. At least now you knew. And as Papyrus put it, 'At least you have something to eat for lunch tomorrow!' What an optimistic guy. The weather was a little gloomy today. Though, it's to be expected for mid spring. You know what they say. April showers bring May flowers. And as if on cue, you heard the thunder rolling up above. You looked out at the neighborhood, noticing the monster children playing around, not caring of the coming rain. Because of Papyrus, you were introduced to a few of the neighbors, which was nerve wrecking. But they were really nice. But that didn't help your anxiety.

You're suddenly hit by something round and flat and you drop your tea all over you, the cup breaking as it made contact with the ground. In your daze, you heard the monster children approaching and apologizing. You blinked, seeing their worried faces, before giving a nervous chuckle.

“O-Oh. I-It's alright. N-No harm done.” You weren't kidding when yourself when you said children made you nervous. You just felt that your bad luck would somehow end up hurting one of them and you definitely didn't want that. You look around and see what hit you lying next to you. A frisbee. Heh. Kids still play with those? You grab it and stand up, getting off the porch and handing it to one of the kids. “Here you go. Just be careful. And you might want to head inside soon. It looks like it's going to rain.” They thanked you and ran off. You smile and wave before turning your attention to the mess you made. Right. A broom and dustpan.

You rush inside and quickly grab it from the storage closet. You clean up your mess and gently place it in the trash. You had to remember to tell Papyrus when he returned so that you could pay for it later. You then sigh at the sign of your shirt. Great. The longer it sat the worse the stain so you quickly grabbed a change of clothes and figured it was best to probably take a shower now. You head into the bathroom with your change of clothes. They were pajamas really. It was just something fast to pick out and put on. You turn on the shower, waiting for the water to warm. You noticed the other day that the water in the bathroom heated up rather slowly.

When it was finally feeling warm was when you decided to strip yourself, starting with the shirt because the tea mess was starting to stick to your skin and then you move to your pants. As you place them aside and are about to take off your bra you suddenly feel like time freezes as the door suddenly opens a voice you've never heard before says,

“paps why are you cleaning the bathroom? it's not tues-” You stare at the stranger and he stares back. He was a skeleton. He was about your height. Definitely shorter than Papyrus. Was... Was this...? Oh God . His sockets were dark as he continued to stare at you and you suddenly felt very scared and very anxious. He then quickly walks out, closing the door behind him, and you feel like your face is on fire. That was so embarrassing! As you stand there like an idiot for who knows how long, you decide against the shower and turn it off. Instead you grab a washcloth and clean off the spots where the tea soaked through and you quickly change into fresh clothes, gathering up your dirtied ones and keeping them close to you.

You hesitate by the door. You really didn't want to open it. Unfortunately... you had to face this issue at some point. So you nervously turn the knob and slowly open the door, peeking into the hallway. No one was there. You decided to dash towards your room only to jump and gasp at the skeletal stranger that was more than likely Papyrus' brother leaning over your dimensional box, which was by the bed. At your sound he quickly looks up and you see that his sockets aren't a black abyss anymore. There were lights in them.

Your legs locked and your stare locked onto his. You were shaking. This was NOT how you wanted things to go. You at least wanted Papyrus here! His brother, you presume, stands up and glances to the side awkwardly with an awkward smile.

“er... sorry about... that.” He said. His voice was definitely lower than Papyrus'. He then looks back at you and you flinch. You say nothing. He then looks at you. He looks like he's... sweating? “so uh... who're you?” You flinch again and look down at the floor, trying to appear as small as possible. Who were you? Who were you ? Oh god what was your name?! You feel the panic rising and you didn't realize just how bad you were shaking until you heard him say,

“whoa, whoa. easy miss. i ain't gonna hurt ya or anything. i just wanna know what you're doing in my house.” You let many shaky breaths, trying to form words but you just stutter.

“U-U-Um... P-P-P... I-I-I...” You swallow, eyes still on the floor. “I-I-Inv-v-vite... P-P-Pap...”

“papyrus invited you?” You quickly nod, not looking up. “huh...” You then hear him start to move and you flinch as he's approaching you! Oh God what do you do?! You're just standing there in the doorway, maybe he's just trying to leave and not approach you. Yeah! You quickly move away from the doorway, eyes still on the ground and you see him stop in front of you. NOPE. Definitely not leaving yet. You then notice what he's wearing. At least his bottom half anyway. Black basketball shorts and pink slippers while wearing socks. You then flinch at his voice.

“l-look, miss. i'm just gonna... head out to the living room. i'm gonna call paps. why don't you... stay in here and calm down?” You say nothing and stare at the ground, only looking up when you see his feet turn around and walk away. You slowly glance up. He was wearing a blue jacket. When he turned the corner towards the living room you frantically, yet quietly, close the bedroom door. Guess laundry was going to have to wait. You chuckle to yourself, a little out of your mind. Here you were, the brother walking in on you and making everything awkward and frightening, and you were worried about doing the stupid laundry.

***

Papyrus had returned home and you were still freaking out in your room in a corner. When his familiar knock came to your door as well as his voice, you couldn't find it in you to respond.

“Y/N? I'M COMING IN.” When he got no response he slowly opened the door and looked around for you, only to look at you confused as you were in a corner practically contemplating your life right now. “Y-Y/N? ARE YOU OKAY?” He said worriedly. The concern in his voice broke you out of your freak out. You didn't like how sad he sounded. You look up at him and clear your throat.

“U-Uh... Yeah... S-Sure...”

“I'M SORRY Y/N. SANS WAS SUPPOSED TO COME HOME TOMORROW.”

“I-It's fine...” You stand up and shuffle on your feet, gazing away awkwardly. “We were... bound to meet sometime...”

“HMM... WELL... WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET HIM OFFICIALLY?” Honestly no! It was so embarrassing! But you had to face the music sooner or later. With a hesitant nod you follow Papyrus out of your room and to the living room, where you see Sans sitting on the couch, looking like he was contemplating his life... or planning your death. His sockets were an abyss again and that was scary as all hell. When you got further into the living room you noticed that he blinked and his little eye lights were back. They whipped up and looked at you nervously before looking at Papyrus with a nervous smile.

“BROTHER, I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO MEET Y/N. SHE'S GOING TO BE STAYING WITH US FOR A LITTLE WHILE.” You swear you saw his smile tighten and twitch as Papyrus said that and his eye lights flicked onto you, in which you flinch and look down at the floor. “Y/N, THIS IS MY BROTHER SANS.”

“H-H-Hello...” You said meekly and flustered.

“h-heh. um... i-i'm sorry bro did you say she was... staying with us?”

“JUST FOR AWHILE! SHE GOT KICKED OUT OF HER APARTMENT AND LOST HER JOB! I'M JUST TRYING TO BE A GOOD FRIEND AND HELPING HER OUT.”

“h-heh. of course. that's very cool of you paps. so uh... how come i've never seen or heard of her before?”

“I MET HER JUST A LITTLE AFTER YOU LEFT.” You flinch. This was so embarrassing. You shouldn't be here. You should've just called Derek-

“is that so?” You hear him sigh, a little heavily at that, before saying, “welp,” You heard him get up off the couch and you see his feet approaching you. No. You can't keep being shy about this. Just face it now. You can get through this. You can persevere. When he stops in front of you, you slowly look up and meet his sockets. They look... rather friendly. As well as his smile. He holds out his hand. “sorry about earlier. let's start over, yeah?” You look at his hand before back up at him, grabbing his hand. You then stare as his grip was very tight and threatening yet his face said another thing. Of course he wasn't happy you were you. Not wanting to frighten Papyrus you respond with a nervous smile.

“Y-Yeah. I would l-like that...” He gives a final threatening squeeze before letting your hand go and looking at his now joyous brother.

“I KNEW YOU TWO WOULD HIT IT OFF!”

“totally bro. i don't mind her being here so long as she helps around the house.” He sounded and looked so casual. How often did he do this?! It was frightening how casual he was being. “hey bro, you should probably start dinner. gotta make sure i-”

“SANS.” Papyrus said in a warning tone, which made you stare at him surprise. You have yet to hear him sound anything like that!

“put some meat on my bones.”

“GAH!” Papyrus then stomps off towards the kitchen and you stare in surprise. What just happened?

“if you don't mind paps i'm gonna steal our new roommate for a second.” You whip your head back to Sans and he's still staring at you with what you can definitely say was a fake happy expression. Oh no. What made it worse was that Papyrus' mood did a complete one-eighty and he said rather happily,

“GO RIGHT AHEAD! YOU TWO BOND WHILE I MAKE SUPPER!” He chuckles.

“let's head to your room pal .” You knew he said it quietly enough to where you could hear but Papyrus couldn't. NOPE. Not gonna happen. You wanted Papyrus around in case his brother tried anything. He walked around you and you didn't move. You had to stand your ground on this- wait, what was your body doing? Why was it moving on it's own?! You were finding yourself following Sans to the guest room and no matter how hard you tried you couldn't seem to control your body.

You walked in first, Sans behind, and he closed the door. Oh. So this was how you were going to die. Screw falling to your death, you were going to die by a monster's hand. You suddenly had control of your body and you whipped around only to jump back and fall as Sans was right behind you. He looked very serious.

“so,” He started. You couldn't break eye contact with him. “you're staying here with us huh? and all because my brother fell for your sob story.” You flinch. What? At least... that wasn't how it completely went. “i don't know if you've noticed, but my bro really likes to help those in need. but the fact that you are here in a complete stranger's house for not even knowing them for a week? what are you after? because i swear to god if you try anything funny with or around papyrus i will not hesitate to make sure you never see him again.” You were shaking. He was so threatening. Again, it was to be expected. You had to find your words. You were just staring in fear.

“I-I-I... I-It's n-not...” C'mon speak! Defend yourself! He huffed and gave you an uninterested look.

“huh. you sure are timid. can't even speak right, you're so scared. then again,” He looked serious again. “you are at my mercy.” You try swallowing the lump in your throat and you avert your eyes. You really couldn't stand the look he was giving you. It made you want to cry. In fact, you started to tear up. “it doesn't matter.” He says. “one way or another i'll hear about why you're here and i'll learn your motive. in the mean time...” His pause made you glance up at him only to flinch and stare. His sockets were an abyss again. “ i w o u l d n 't t r y a n y t h i n g i f i w e r e y o u. ” You shake. THAT was terrifying. You frantically nod you head in understanding and he blinks, eye lights returning and an easy smile on his face.

“good. i'll be keeping an eye socket on you.” He then turns around and walks out of the room. When he turns the corner you fall back on the floor, staring at the ceiling. What the HELL did you just get into?

Chapter Text

You barely came out of your room for the next three days except to use the bathroom or shower. You really didn't want to cross paths with Sans but you forced yourself to at least eat lunch and dinner with him and Papyrus when Papyrus wanted you. How could you say no to him? He's been such a sweet guy. But... the fact that he kept worrying about you every time you shook when you were around Sans made you feel guilty. You shouldn't be worrying him. When he finally confronted you about it just earlier today, you just passed it off as your shyness, to which Papyrus immediately set up a movie night that involved all three of them. You flinch, but nervously agree anyway.

When the time came, Papyrus came into your room, saying everything was ready.

“WE JUST ALL NEED TO VOTE ON THE MOVIE!” It was at dinner that Papyrus suggested a lot of movies and it took a long, awkward while to narrow it down to three, to which Papyrus said that everyone could vote on what to watch first at the start of the night. With an anxious sigh, you follow Papyrus to the living room. You see Sans sitting on one end of the couch, remote in hand and pointing it at the television, and he glances up at you, making you flinch, which makes him smirk. Oh no. Papyrus just sat down at the other end of the couch and was motioning you to join and sit in the middle. You saw that made Sans give his brother a nervous look when he wasn't looking before looking at you.

No way you could sit next to him... But you really didn't like the way Papyrus looked when you decided to sit in the chair. Internally groaning, you will yourself off the chair and between the two. You notice Sans give a quiet grunt and shuffle as far from you as he could. That was... fine you guessed. You didn't dare lean back into the couch.

“so,” He said, making you flinch and sit up straighter than you were. “what should we watch? i'm obviously down for anything.” You stare at the three movies that were side by side on the screen under the 'watch later' section of the streaming app the boys were using. You don't think it's Netflix. It's only been four years since monsters emerged and this streaming app had movies that were from the underground. How did you know? Mettaton was on all of the covers you didn't recognize. In fact, one of the movies that was up for vote was one of Mettaton's movies. The others consisted of a movie called 'Ghost Rider' and the other was 'Ghostbusters.' You always did wonder though what kind of entertainment the monsters had when they were underground. So you look at Papyrus.

“U-Um... I-I vote for uh... Mettaton's movie. I've never really seen any of his works-” You're cut off by Papyrus' surprised gasp and stare.

“YOU HAVEN'T?! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO EARLIER?!” He reached across and grabbed the remote from Sans, who was already holding it to him. “YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE METTATON'S MOVIES! WE SHOULD ALL MAKE A DAY OF IT AND HAVE A MARATHON!”

“yeah. sounds good paps.” Sans said nonchalantly. “say uh, are any of these snacks human safe? don't want our roomie here getting sick on monster food.” Papyrus opens his mouth before stopping and staring, realization on his face.

“OH. NOT A PROBLEM! I CAN JUST QUICKLY HEAT UP A BAG OF POPCORN JUST FOR YOU Y/N AND I'LL MAKE SURE NOT TO ADD MAGIC TO IT!”

“O-Oh, Papyrus that's alr-” But he's already up and heading towards the kitchen, leaving you alone with Sans, whose chuckle gets your attention. You slowly move your head to him and he's smirking at you.

“heh. you have no idea the kind of rabbit hole you just jumped down by picking a mettaton movie.” What? Why did he say that? That suddenly made you anxious. He then leaned back into the couch more. “and the best part is you get to suffer through it alone.” WHHHHHHHHYYYYY did he say it like that?! No. No. He's joking right? You noticed during the lunches and dinners that Sans had a tendency to throw around puns and jokes, despite Papyrus' protests. You probably would have laughed at them too if you were scared out of your mind. He had to be joking right? But... his face said it all. He wasn't. The microwave went off and Papyrus is hurriedly coming into the living room with a bowl of popcorn just for you, snapping you out of your panic.

“Th-Thanks Papyrus.” You say with a nervous smile.

“OF COURSE!” He sits back into the couch, a small bowl of popcorn in one hand and remote in the other, selecting the movie. “PREPARE TO BE LEFT SPEECHLESS BY THE ACTING WONDER THAT IS METTATON!” The movie plays and you sit back a little. You give a glance to Sans- Wait. His sockets were closed and he his breathing was even. Was this dude ASLEEP?!

you get to suffer through it alone. His words echoed in your mind. You heard Papyrus groan.

“AUGH! NOT EVEN FIVE MINUTES IN AND HE'S ALREADY ASLEEP! TYPICAL.” Typical?! “THAT'S FINE ANYWAY. HE'S ALREADY SEEN THIS ONE. I KNOW THIS IS ABOUT ALL OF US BONDING BUT WE CAN JUST TRY AGAIN TOMORROW NIGHT!” He said enthusiastically. Oh boy... Just what were you in for now?

***

You stare at your ceiling, lying in bed with a headache. Awful. It was so. fucking. awful! You really didn't like to swear, be it alone or in company, but when it slips out you just can't help it. And this moment... definitely called for a swear. How could Papyrus... like that?! Then again... Mettaton was the only source of entertainment in the underground... B-But come on! That movie lasted WAY longer than a normal movie should have. It went on for FOUR HOURS. Four hours! And there was supposed to be MORE movies like that?! And Papyrus wanted to have a marathon with you that involved them all?! Now you understood Sans' words...

But then that suddenly made you feel guilty. You shouldn't have been too quick to judge. If Papyrus likes them so much, surely there was something you missed. Papyrus did seem like the type of person to be fascinated by anything though. It was just one movie... where all the rolls were played by Mettaton himself... B-But still. They couldn't be all bad right? Yeah. After all, Mettaton was the only star of the underground. It was placed on him to provide entertainment to those that were under the mountain. Yeah. You could do it. You could have a marathon with Papyrus. You could persevere through it. For him. He's been such a great friend...

Friend... Was he your friend? You've been living with him for a week now. You kind of know his routine. And he's even been helping you look for a job in the monster city... Why did that thought sound so good yet so terrifying? Sure it meant you could see other monsters but... could you handle that? Plus, what about housing? You heard how monsters don't necessarily have to use a toilet in a bathroom. You figured the reason Papyrus' house had one was because his home and the homes close along the border were actually still part of Ebott city. The homes further down were indeed built by monsters, for monsters. What were the chances of you finding a place to live that didn't include a toilet? You chuckle to yourself. With your luck, the chances were high.

Still, the gesture was sweet. You obviously couldn't bunk with Papyrus and Sans forever, especially when Sans doesn't like you. No. You'd just have to keep at it. You could do it. You'd find a suitable job and soon enough, a suitable place to live.

***

You STARE at Papyrus. He's jumping up and down giddily in his seat at lunch. He just told you that he got you an interview at the local bakery when he was out earlier.

“W-What...? P-Papyrus...” You're at a loss for words but are obviously very happy at the notion. A wide smile threatens to split your face. “S-Seriously? Are you serious?”

“YES! I AM VERY SERIOUS! I CAN EVEN TAKE YOU TO THE INTERVIEW FIRST THING TOMORROW AFTERNOON!” He sounded so excited and you couldn't help but notice the way Sans was looking at him. A warm, content and honest smile, his sockets relaxed. You flinch and look back at Papyrus when his eye lights flick to you.

“W-Wow. Papyrus I don't know how to thank you.”

“YOU CAN THANK ME BY ACING THAT INTERVIEW AND BLOWING MISS MUFFET'S SOCKS OFF!” Muffet? Like from the nursery rhyme?

“Y-Yeah, I can try. B-Besides it's all up to her, not me.”

“I'M SURE YOU'LL BE FINE! YOU GOT THIS! I BELIEVE IN YOU!” You smile. A bakery huh? And it was local, which meant popular. You hoped that it was just a small job like being a dishwasher or, if it came down to it, a cashier. Customer service job or not you knew how a bakery worked. People would come in and either pick up an order, place an order, or buy existing, already made products. And bakeries were small... right? Still, you had to ask.

“S-So um... what exactly am I interviewing for?”

“MUFFET SAID SHE'S LOOKING FOR HUMAN HELP SPECIFICALLY.” That... makes you flinch and look down nervously. “IT'S NOTHING BAD! SHE TOLD ME THAT SHE FEELS SHE NEEDS TO SEE WHAT HAVING A HUMAN AROUND WOULD DO FOR HER SALES.”

“O-Oh...” That sounded like you would have to be up front to have a job like that, which meant... cashier. But... she was looking to see if a human would boost her sales? Did that mean that after a certain amount of time, she would fire you if she wasn't getting her results? “That... sounds a little risky Papyrus.” He looks at you, confused.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”

“I mean... what if I don't meet her expectations? What if she hires me and puts me on trial... only to fire me because she's not getting what she expected?”

“AH. I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN. BUT! FEAR NOT! I FEEL LIKE THAT WOULD NOT BE THE CASE!”

“H-Heh. Th-Thanks Papyrus but... you seem to be jumping the gun again. You really should... consider the... the 'what if's'...” You slowed your speech and avoided eye contact with Papyrus as you noticed Sans giving you a warning stare. It wasn't a glare. Just an unsettling stare. Like he was saying 'don't ruin the mood.' Papyrus though hums indecisively.

“WELL... SAY THAT DOES HAPPEN THEN... WE CAN STILL KEEP LOOKING. WE CAN'T GIVE UP! WE'LL FINE YOU A JOB!” You look up at him with a smile. He was very optimistic. Though, the mood was ruined when Sans chuckled.

“hope ya like spiders.”

.......

“W-What?”

“OH! RIGHT! MISS MUFFET IS A SPIDER MONSTER.” You drop your fork onto your plate with a loud clatter and scoot back in your chair. NOPE.

“huh. guess ya don't.”

“O-OH.” You hated that sound of disappointment. You groaned internally and grit your teeth. “I-IT'S OKAY Y/N. I WOULDN'T WANT TO FORCE YOU TO DO SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT TO-”

“U-Um.” You cut him off and give a nervous smile. “N-No. No. It's alright Papyrus. A job is a job and it's not like she's... gonna eat me or anything... right?” Sans chuckles and that spikes your anxiety. This fucker really didn't help. He deserved to be sworn at.

“NO OF COURSE SHE WOULDN'T DO THAT!” You let out a small sigh of relief and a nervous smile.

“Th-Then I can give it a shot. I promise. I-I'll try my best.” He smiles.

“THAT'S THE SPIRIT!”

“H-Heh.” You scoot back towards the table and pick up your fork to finish off your lunch. “S-So um... when tomorrow am I meeting her?”

“YOUR INTERVIEW IS AT TWELVE THIRTY! WE SHALL LEAVE HERE AT ELEVEN!” You give him a confused look.

“H-How far in the monster city is she?”

“SHE'S ACTUALLY REALLY CLOSE BY. A GOOD FIFTEEN MINUTE WALK FROM HERE ACTUALLY!”

“O-Oh...? Okay but... why so early?”

“IT IS BEST TO BE EARLY THAN TO BE LATE!” You... guess you couldn't argue with that? But still.

“M-maybe we could leave at... eleven forty-five?” You bargain. He brings a hand to his chin, in thought.

“HRM... ELEVEN THIRTY.” Welp. You tried. It was better than eleven. You give a weary smile.

“Deal.” He smiles and collects the dishes.

“PERFECT!” He then walks off and before you could stand up from your seat Sans is blocking your way, his back towards the kitchen and his brother, making you flinch. You honestly had no idea how he could move so fast.

“Y-Yes?” You say, not looking at him.

“it'd be cool of you if you could nail this job. paps obviously worked hard to get you this interview with muffet and believe me when i say, she's very picky.” You fidget. Thanks Sans, that totally didn't raise your anxiety to the max at all.

“I-If I don't get it, I don't get. That's just how things can go. S-Sure I'll feel guilty if I don't get it. Is that what you want to hear? That maybe if I disappoint your brother enough he'll kick me out?”

“paps wouldn't do that. not while you're still in need of help. but...” He leans closer and you shrink. “i hate seeing him disappointed. disappoint him too much and he'll be the least of your worries.” You shrink a little more and he walks off. You chance a glance up only to see him already at the living room, plopping on the couch. How ?!

***

You stare in awe. Muffet... was not what you expected. She was actually cute looking in her apron and her multiple eyes actually didn't freak you out, or her multiple limbs. Her bakery was definitely something else though. It had a kind of gothic aesthetic to it will all the black, grey and purple. Like you had hoped, it was a small looking bakery and it looked like a normal one too. There were displays cases all along the walls and a few table displays evenly spaced on the floor. They all displayed many kinds of yummy looking treats. And towards the door in the way back was the cash register sitting on yet another glass display, with a cupcake ferris wheel loaded with ten cupcakes set next to it! It was adorable. You wouldn't have minded if you got the cashier job.

“Ahuhuhu~” Muffet giggled, getting your attention. Right. You were in the back getting interviewed. “So you've worked in a bakery before?” You nod.

“W-Well... Bakery, Cafe... S-Same difference right? I-I mean... they're both cute and serve light snacks.”

“And what were you? Were you a hostess?”

“Y-Yes but... only for a few weeks. I um... I got moved to dishwasher.”

“How come? You have such a darling face.” She brings one of her hands up to your face and tilts up your chin, getting a good look at you. “You should show it off dearie~”

“O-Oh... I'm not... that good looking. I'm... average. B-Besides, I wanted to be moved to dishwasher.”

“Why?” Everything in you told you to not explain your reasoning. Employers obviously hated it when they hear that someone who's trying to get into a job that involves some kind of customer service isn't a people person. It's the exact opposite of what they're looking for. She then giggles, grabbing your attention and letting your chin go. “I'm not blind dearie. You've been a nervous wreck and stuttering the entire interview. You can't handle strangers, can you?” You look down.

“I-I'm sorry ma'am. I know that's not what you're looking for-”

“Hush, hush~” She brings a finger to your lips, startling and silencing you. You look up at her. “Dearie~” She bats all her eye lashes and gives you a sweet smile. “You have no idea the type of person I am even looking for.”

“S-Someone to... help boost your sales right? P-Papyrus said-”

“Papyrus doesn't know what I'm looking for either. Only I know what I'm looking for and dearie... I believe you could be it.” Your eyes go wide.

“S-Seriously? B-But... I'm so awkward.”

“Ahuhuhu~! Exactly! Pair your awkward shyness with this adorable little face of yours, get you in the right uniform, and dearie... You'll attract all the right kind of attention.” You stare.

“O-Oh... W-Wow...” You flush. That was really nice of her to say... you think. “W-Wait so... does that mean I get the job?” She giggles.

“I'm going to need your measurements to put together your uniform but... yes. I will put you on a trial and we shall see where things go from there.” You smile wide and she giggles again. “Oh, look at that adorable smile~! No doubt about it dearie. You were made for this.” She then snaps and you are suddenly surrounded by tiny, round black spiders, which makes you jump and squeak. “Ahuhuhu~ Relax dearie. They won't hurt you. In fact, you should probably say hello your new co-workers.” You stare at her before looking at all the spiders around you. They all... waved. And they were wearing bow-ties. You give a weary smile and wave back.

“H-Hello.” You say. Muffet giggles.

“I advise you stay still for a moment dearie. We can't be having the wrong measurements. Arms out.” She puts a pair of hands under your arms and brings them out to a T. “Legs apart.” You obey. She then tilts your chin up and gives you a smile. “And let me see that beautiful smile again.” You give a nervous smile and she giggles. “This will only take a moment.” She then steps back and snaps her fingers again and the spiders around you start to... crawl all over you. You do everything in your power to not fling them off. You close your eyes though only for Muffet to say, “Oh no, dearie that just won't do. Please open your eyes. Tensing up will only ruin the measurements.” You hesitate before slowly opening your eyes and looking at Muffet.

“I-I'm sorry. I-I just... I-I'm not saying I hate spiders or anything! I-I just...! Th-This feeling is weird.” She giggled.

“I know you don't hate spiders dearie. I would've noticed right away if you did. You just have a small fear of them. I do hope though that this experience will show you that not all spiders are ones to be afraid of.” Yeah. You hoped so too. When everything was done, the tiny spiders disappeared into the ceiling's crevices and Muffet guided you towards the front, where you saw Papyrus was waiting outside by the window, looking in expectantly only to smile at the sight of you. “Your uniform will be ready in a week. May I have your current address?”

“O-Oh um... I'm currently staying with Papyrus and his brother.” She giggles.

“I see~ I know where they live. Your uniform will arrive by mail. You will start the day after you receive it. The bakery opens at seven and it closes at seven. I expect you to be here half an hour early.”

“Y-Yes ma'am. Thank you ma'am.” She giggles again.

“And please, when you arrive, just call me Muffet. Or Miss Muffet. Ma'am makes me sound old, ahuhu~” You nod with an apologetic smile.

“Yes Miss Muffet.” She giggles.

“Good. Now, run along dearie. It's obvious Papyrus is eager to hear the news.” You nod and wave before exiting the bakery, smiling because of Papyrus smiling.

“WELL?!” He exclaimed happily. “HOW DID IT GO?!”

“G-Great! I start sometime next week!” You say, your smile threatening to split your face you were so happy and relieved. He then actually squeals and surprises you as he picks you up in a hug and twirls, all the while exclaiming,

“I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT! THIS IS SO GOOD FOR YOU Y/N!” He holds you out, laughing happily and in your dazed state you laugh a little too. Papyrus was strong for being someone made of bones. He lifted and twirled you with ease as if you were a doll. “TONIGHT WE CELEBRATE!” Oh.

“C-Celebrate? How?” You ask, nervously.

“I WILL MAKE THE BEST DINNER YOU HAVE NEVER HAD!”

“P-Papyrus... You don't have to do that.” He places you down on the ground and you almost tumble, legs weak from when he spun you around. “I-It's just going to be a trial anyway. We won't know if I truly get it until after.”

“STILL! IT'S WORTH CELEBRATING! YOU'VE BEEN SEARCHING SO HARD IN FINDING A JOB.” You give a small smile.

“W-Well... This one was all on you. W-We should celebrate you too. I couldn't have done it without you.” He smiles.

“THAT SOUNDS WONDERFUL!” The two of you then start to walk back towards his house. “SAY, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DISH? I SHALL MAKE IT FOR YOU TONIGHT!”

“O-Oh, Papyrus you shouldn't...” You stop. You realize arguing with Papyrus now would fall on deaf ears... Heh. Oh God, was Sans' bad humor rubbing off on you? You give him a smile. “W-Well... I do like a good casserole.”

“A CASSEROLE IT IS THEN! WHAT KIND?”

“Ch-Chicken is good.”

***

You're on your laptop, still looking over and pinning potential job postings, just in case your time with Muffet doesn't work out. It was a little close to ten o'clock. Dinner filled you up and the movie you watched to try and bond with Sans flopped because he fell asleep twenty minutes in. You had a feeling if it wasn't for Papyrus, he probably would've fallen asleep instantly just like last night. After the movie Papyrus went to bed and Sans went to his room and you did the same. You were startled when there was a knock at the door. You looked up and froze as Sans was standing in the doorway. Oh. Great. What did he want?

“so...” He started, easy smile on his face. You noticed that he always seemed to smile... Except for the times he's threatened you, but even then some of the smiles he did give were threatening ones. “you got the job huh?” You swallow.

“U-Uh... N-No... I-I mean... Y-Yes? I mean... I-It's just a trial.”

“do you know for how long?”

“I-I assume a month.”

“hmm...” There's silence between the two of you and you bravely decide to break eye contact and go back to looking at your screen, only to jump and nearly toss your laptop out of your bed as Sans is now by your bed side and practically looking over your shoulder as he says, "still looking for a job? smart." He chuckles, amused at your reaction. You look at him, flustered.

"Wh-What do you want Sans?" You ask nervously. "I-I'm trying my best to g-get out of here as quick as I can. Y-You think it's easy being here-?" He sighs, cutting you off.

"look." You stare at him, skeptical, as he's looking at the edge of your bed, his smile drooping. He then flicks his eye lights to you, making you flinch. "you're shy, you scare easily, you're a practical doormat." You shrink a little. "obviously someone like you has no ulterior motive. you actually really are just some unlucky human girl." You look at him.

"A-And you figure this how?" He scoffs, as if almost offended.

"what? you think i don't listen to my brother? he told me more about why you were here. gotta say... getting tossed off a roof? pretty sure that tops getting fired from your job and getting evicted from your apartment... but luckily for you, papyrus was there. if he wasn't? well... we both know we wouldn't be having this conversation." You stare at him.

"S-So...?"

"so..." He rubs the back of his skull and glances away. "let's start over. for real this time." He holds out his hand and gives you a smile. "the name's sans. sans the skeleton." You look at him and his hand skeptically before staring at him.

"...Why?" You see his smile falter just a little. "Why are you doing this now? Do you feel guilty?" His hand lowers some and his smile falters more.

"well... can you blame me for acting like i did? i leave for a week only to come home to a complete stranger in the house while my brother is gone only to learn you are nothing more than a stranger yourself to paps and vice versa, plus you're a human-"

"W-Whom you've... also walked in on." He glances away and you see his cheeks... glow a faded blue?! Was he... blushing?!

"i said i was sorry about that." He looks back at you, the glow gone and his hand still out. You sigh and look at his hand before back at him.

"You don't... Like humans." He flinches slightly.

"i wouldn't say that-"

"N-no, I get it. I've been caught up in a lot of riots to know why you feel that way."

"wait..." He lowers his hand and gives you a suspicious look. "you were part of the riots?" You chuckle and shake your head.

"No. Believe it or not... It was just my luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. If it wasn't for the police believing that... I am indeed just unlucky... I'd probably have a record consisting of being apart of multiple riots."

"huh... that does sound like bad luck." You look down, small smile on your face.

"But it's okay. I've been in worse situations." You give a half chuckle. "Like getting tossed from a rooftop." You look at him and you're surprised his hand is still outreached. He's giving you a rather... sad sympathetic look. You then decide to grab his hand and shake it. It's firm but relaxed. Not threatening. "L-Look, I get it. Papyrus is your brother. Family. You'd do anything to protect him." He stares at you and you giggle a little. "He's such a sweet guy and... So optimistic. I owe him everything. I would never hurt him. So don't worry." You let go of his hand and he stares at you, putting his hand back in his pocket.

"yeah well... he is a pretty cool guy." You nod and smile.

"I agree. He's... He's such a good friend to have." Sans chuckles.

"he's the total opposite of you." You look down with a sad smile.

"Yeah." You see him somewhat flinch.

"i-i mean... i'm not saying that you're not cool or whatever. i mean... after going through all the shit you've been going through and still trying to move forward? that's some determination you have." You look at him.

"Determination? I mean... Sure I guess but... What really gets me through it is my perseverance. I always seem to find a way to move on. To not look back. To think better. Of course... I can't just ignore the 'what ifs' though, especially with my luck."

"i dunno. i think you've been having great luck so far." You scoff a little.

"Yeah. And now I have this huge wave of bad luck forming just waiting to crash down on me. That's how it usually goes. Any kind of good luck I receive gets... taken away from me. Papyrus helping me? Definitely major good luck... I just hope I'm out of here before it all doubles back and... Causes the two of you hurt of any kind. I don't want that."

"wow... that's... huh..." You shrug.

"That's just how it goes for me. I bet the bad luck will strike when I'm at Muffet's. She says I'm what she's looking for... But how long will that last I wonder? What if I put her out of business?" Sans chuckles, in which you look at him a little surprised.

"believe me, muffet can easily put herself out of business if she keeps outrageously fluctuating her prices." He then gives you a reassuring smile. That's definitely different. "just... be whoever muffet wants you to be."

"She says being myself is what she's looking for." His shrugs.

"well then... be yourself. you'll do fine. you've gotten this far." You give a nervous smile.

“Y-Yeah. Living with two complete strangers because one of them is very insistent.” You say playfully. He chuckles.

“yep. that's paps.” There's an awkward silence between you two as you look down at your laptop. “w-well...” You flinch and glance over at him. “guess uh... goodnight then.” You nod.

“Y-Yeah...” He gives a bit of a friendly smile and turns to leave. A thought then comes to your mind. “H-Hey Sans?” He stops and looks at you.

“'sup?” You shuffle.

“Where uh... Wh-Where did you go? Papyrus never said.” You see him suddenly sweat and his eye lights dart off to the other side of his sockets. He then gives a nervous smile and what sounded like a nervous chuckle.

“a-ah. i just... needed some space.” You flinch. It was obviously personal.

“I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. That was st-stupid of me. Forget it.” He chuckles again, only less nervously, and looks at you and gives a shrug.

“don't worry about it. the problem's been dealt with. well, g'night.”

“G-Goodnight.” He walks out and you bring your hands to your hot face. That was embarrassing. You sigh and look at your laptop's screen. Sans wanted to try again. He didn't see you as a threat... Why was that a little insulting? Not saying that you were a threat. You were far from it. You were, in fact, practically a doormat. It was probably because of the constant attitude he kept giving you over the past few days. Every time at meals, he would hate joke in a sense where you would get it, but it would fly over Papyrus' head. He made you feel small...

You sigh. You can't exactly blame him. After all, he was just trying to be the protective big brother... You snicker. He was the big brother. That thought was a little funny considering how much shorter he was than Papyrus. You probably should be feeling guilty for laughing about it but... he deserved it a bit. You could feel bad starting tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Now that Sans was giving you a chance it made you even more anxious. Not that you had to become friends with the guy but... it would make Papyrus happy if you could at least try. So what did you know about Sans...?

........

Nothing. Just that apparently he liked making really bad and cheesy jokes and puns, despite Papyrus' protests, and he's hesitant around humans in general. You think he has a job. He's been gone for most afternoons and comes back just before dinner. Oh. And he's protective over his brother. Can't forget that. You stare up at your ceiling. It was the next day. According to the calendar on your phone it was the fourth Sunday of April. Next week started May. Have you really only been here for a little over a week already? It flew by so fast.

Papyrus went to class. You started to become familiar with Papyrus' schedule... Because he wrote it down for you in case you ever needed him whilst he and Sans were ever away. You learned though that the day you arrived to live with him, he asked for time off from work... which made you feel terrible. He shouldn't have done that. But he insisted. Said he had unused vacation days. Apparently he's been working at the restaurant for three years.

Huh... Three years. And monsters have only been on the surface for four. The anniversary was in early June... That was slowly approaching. Did... Did the monsters even celebrate...? Of course they did. They had to right? It was the day they surfaced after being underground for who knows how long... Should you get Papyrus and Sans something? Sure June was almost a month away but... you didn't know if you were going to be here that long.

Your stomach growls. It's one o'clock. Both Sans and Papyrus left after breakfast. Meaning you have the house to yourself... but you decided to stay in your room. You didn't want to disturb anything in the house. Besides, you had your laptop. You could browse the net, watch videos, listen to music, read the few books you had in your digital library. Though if you looked in your dimensional box you had hard copies of other books too you had yet to read. You were very content in your room.

You head towards the kitchen and make yourself a small lunch. Until you actually got that job you wanted to take as little as possible from the brothers, but you made sure to do your weight and more in chores, to show them for the umpteenth time that you were grateful for letting them, or rather Papyrus at first, help you during your crisis. A motion Papyrus keeps telling you is unnecessary. Up until last night though, Sans couldn't have cared less. If anything, he tried making more work for you.

You wondered how things would turn out now. He wanted to start over... So what did that entitle? Hopefully it meant he would be just a little nicer... But again, you couldn't blame his attitude. You were a stranger in his house. He knew nothing about you and you knew nothing about him. Papyrus? Oh, you knew a lot considering he practically told you everything about himself the first few days you were with him, before Sans came home. But Sans? What did he like besides bad jokes? Did he work? What was favorite hobby? Besides sleeping. Oh yeah. You noticed. The dude was always snoozing the day away when given the chance. You couldn't tell though that if he was just exhausted from the days, you presumed, he worked or if he really was a bit of a 'lazybones' as Papyrus had said.

These were all questions you would have to write down and ask at a later date when you aren't so... cautious of him. Something then came to you that you couldn't believe you have yet to ask. What kind of magic did he and Papyrus have? Papyrus said he caught you with his magic. How? And the day Sans came home... Your body moved on its own until you were put into your room. Did Papyrus and Sans have the same kind of magic? They were brothers after all. Surely they had to... But that sounded like a really personal question. You didn't want to make them, or yourself, uncomfortable. Did the monster city have a library? Maybe you could visit that. Surely it could have the information you were looking for. And maybe have answers on monsters in general-

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG-!

You dropped your plate and your food as the sudden loud and continuous banging came from the front door. You panicked. Who was that? None of the neighbors knocked like that. As if to answer a voice you hadn't heard before shouted from the other side as the banging stopped.

"Papyrus! Open up! Papyrus!" You shake. Who was that? Obviously they knew Papyrus... She. The voice was female. Either way, she sounded very... impatient. "If you don't open up I'm gonna come in punk!" You jump. Oh no. You didn't know if you could handle this sudden stranger beating the crap out of the front door-

The door literally flew off its hinges as it was kicked in, causing it to break in half and get hurled into the wall which made you jump and scream and fall back onto the kitchen floor, your view obstructed by the kitchen counter of the stranger that just broke the door.

"Papyrus?" Came the stranger's voice. "What was that scream?" You heard their footsteps walk into the house and in the living room. You couldn't move and you stared as a blue face peered over the counter and saw you, staring back at you in surprise. The first thing you noticed besides the stranger's color were the fins on the side of her head. She was a fish monster? You then jumped as her surprised look turned to a snarl. You saw her sharp... Yellow teeth.

"Who're you?" She asked very demanding, rounding the counter and standing to where you saw all of her. Blood red hair. Eye patch over her left eye. She was very muscular. Tall. Like, a little taller than Papyrus tall. Her fists rested on her hips as she continued to scowl. But by the time you took in the last of her features... You passed out.

***

You groaned. Your head hurt. What happened? You went to roll over only to yelp as you fell onto the floor. You then hear a chuckle. A familiar chuckle. You rub your head and look up to see Sans sitting in one of the living room chairs, looking at you. Chuckling at you.

"hey there. have a nice fall?" You groaned and stood up.

"I-Isn't the joke 'have a nice trip, see you next fall?'" You say, rubbing the back of your head. Man it really hurt. He chuckled.

"yeah, but you didn't trip." You give a bit of a chuckle when you think of something else.

"Y-You should've said 'you look floored.'" He lets out a snort.

"you're right. what was i thinking? that's so much better." Yes! You got him to laugh. You sat down on the couch and you heard him say, a little concerned, "you okay?"

"I-I think. My head's... killing me. B-but I'm sure some medicine will make it go away. Don't worry about me." You say, giving him a smile. You see him frown a little.

"did undyne do that?"

"Wh-Who?" He stares at you, searching your face for something, before saying,

"undyne. she uh... came by earlier. tall. blue. a real fish outta water." Your eyes widen and you flinch. You whip your head towards the front door only to see the door broken in half and leaning against the wall.

"Oh my God..." You let out. You look at Sans in a bit of fear. "I-I... S-Someone broke the door! Broke into the house-!" He held up his hands.

"whoa, whoa. easy." You look at him in surprise. How could he be so calm about his door being broken?! Or that some stranger did it and just waltzed into the house?! "take a breath." You do and it's a shaky one. He then put his hands down. "alright. now first thing's first, you must be hungry yeah? paps found your uneaten lunch next to you." At the mention your stomach growled. And on cue, Sans turned his gaze towards it.

You noticed the first few times that whenever your stomach made a noise of some kind Sans would look at you rather curiously, but still keep a look of 'i don't care about you' on his face. Well... That last factor was gone now and you actually saw what he looked like curious. You wrap your arms around you and gave a nervous chuckle.

"O-Oh. Y-Yeah I was making lunch and-" You stop and flinch and look back towards the kitchen. Before you could even get up Sans said,

"don't worry. papyrus cleaned up the mess." You flinch and look down.

"I-I'm sorry. I should've done that."

"hey. it's fine." He stood up. "c'mon. paps made both of us lunch before he left with undyne." You look at him, unsure, but he's giving you an easy smile, like saying it really was okay. You stand up and follow him into the kitchen. Yep. Your previous lunch was gone. You felt bad. You wasted food. Their food. You then jump as there is a plate being held in front of you. Sans chuckles.

"you're really jumpy." You take the plate. It has spaghetti on it. "but i don't blame you." You follow him to the dining room table and sit across from each other. "undyne can be a lot to those who haven't met her yet. though,” He chuckles. "i don't think i've ever met someone who passed out right in front of her." You flush and look down and poke at your food with your fork.

"I-I-I... I didn't know what was happening I... Th-The door just flew open..!"

"yeah. that's normal." You snap your head up and look at him in surprise. Though he's looking at his food in annoyance.

"Wh-What?!" He sighs and nods, leaning his head into his propped up hand.

"yep. we usually end up replacing the door at least five times a month, three if paps or i are able to answer the door before she busts it down." You stare, completely stunned.

"Wh...? That's crazy." He shrugs and his eye lights flick up to you, smile on his face.

“eh, that's just how it is.”

“And you two are just... okay with this?” He scoffs and rolls his eye lights.

“as if. but it can't be helped. that's just how undyne is and paps and i have just accepted our fate of forever buying doors.” You look down before snapping your head back up after having a thought.

“Sh-She doesn't... do that to all the doors... does she?” You ask, anxious, to which Sans chuckled and shook his head.

“nah. it's usually just the front door.”

“Usually?!”

“yep. there have been a few times where we had to replace the back door too, but it's mostly the front.” He chuckles. “can tell you right now, paps and i are the furniture store's number one door buyers. they really a door us there .” If you weren't so anxious right now you probably would've acknowledged his pun but now you were worrying that this sudden fish monster would just bust down the guest room door, making Papyrus and Sans having to replace it, which in turn would make you feel bad because if you weren't there then they wouldn't have to-

“hey, hey, hey. calm down.” His voice breaks you out of your panic and you look up at him. He looks nervous but tries giving a calming smile. “relax. you're shaking. what are you freaking out about?” Of course he could tell when you were freaking out. You did everything you were doing now whenever he intimidated you. The only difference now was that his reaction wasn't smug, but concern.

“I-I-I... I-It's just the front and back r-right?” He nods.

“yeah- oh.” He chuckles. “afraid she'll bust down your door?” You nod. “nah. don't worry. she wouldn't do that. trust me.” That somewhat eases you. You take a few breaths.

“S-So um...” You start, fiddling with the fork in your hand, looking down at your food. “She was... asking for Papyrus...?”

“yeah. she and paps were supposed to go out and do some training but she arrived an hour early. heh. she always has been eager.” You frown.

“... I'm sorry.”

“what? why?” You hear the confusion in his voice.

“I-I... I dragged you guys away from... wherever you were-”

“it would've happened either way you know. even if you weren't... w-well...” He stops and you give a small smile.

“You can say it.” You say with a half chuckle. “If I wasn't here? Or that I'm shy? Cowardly? A doormat?”

“t-timid sounds like a better word. but um... either way, if you were here or not, paps would've gotten a phone call and we still would've came home to a broken door... it's not your fault you know.” You give a slight hum and poke your food. You have yet to take a bite out of it. “you uh... should probably eat.” You decide that yes, you were hungry, and start in. The rest of the time between the two of you didn't last long when Sans was suddenly done with his food. You still had no idea how he did that either, eat so fast. You at least see Papyrus eat normally. A thought comes to you and you look at Sans as he's making his way to the kitchen.

“U-Um...” He stops and turns. “How... How long was I out?” He chuckles.

“'bout an hour.” You shrink and look down at your plate.

“S-Sorry.” You hear him sigh.

“don't know why. anyway, paps and undyne should be getting back within the next few hours or so.” He gives a chuckle. “think you can stay conscious long enough to say hello?” You flush and shrink a little more. If this Undyne was friends with Papyrus and Sans, it would make sense that Papyrus would want to introduce you to her, and you could tell Sans knew it.

“I-I'll be sure to... not pass out.”

***

The time passed and you jumped when you heard the familiar fish monster's voice coming from outside. You were watching television from one of the living room chairs. Sans was passed out on the couch. You looked up to see Papyrus entering the living room with Undyne behind.

“-And I'm telling you Papyrus, you're gonna ace that physical!” She said.

“OF COURSE! THE TRAINING I HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH TO PREPARE FOR THE UPCOMING MARATHON HAS BEEN NOTHING SHORT OF MY ABSOLUTE BEST EFFORTS!” When he looked at you he gave a gasp. “OH! YOU'RE OKAY! SANS WAS SUPPOSED TO LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU WOKE UP AND HE NEVER DID.”

“oh yeah.” You look at Sans to see just one socket open half way. “sorry bro, was too busy making sure our roommate was okay.”

“So.” You jumped. Straight out of your seat and luckily you catch yourself from falling to the floor and instead awkwardly turn around quickly and stand stiffly as Undyne is standing behind the chair, arms crossed. She looked... annoyed? No. Curious... and maybe a little annoyed.

“Y-Y-Y-Y-Yes?!” You squeak. You watch as her eye looks you up and down and you shuffle, anxiety rising high. You swallow hard and she scoffs.

“You're staying here with Papyrus?” You swallow again.

“Y-Y-Yes. I-I-It's only t-t-t-temporary. I-I-I w-won't be here l-l-long.” You break eye contact and look down and fiddle with your hands. It was the only way from passing out again because you could feel it building, making your head hazy. You then hear her scoff.

“Wow. No doubt about it. You're a total weenie.”

“UNDYNE BE NICE. I WILL NOT TOLERATE RUDENESS IN THIS HOUSE." That makes you inwardly chuckle nervously. You wondered what Papyrus would think if he learned about Sans' attitude towards you before last night. "Y/N IS A VERY KIND PERSON.” He continues to say. You flush a little. That was nice of Papyrus to say.

“I-I-I try...” You let out.

“Well at least I know I have nothing to worry about.” In other words, she didn't see you as a threat... just like Sans. You then flinch as you see her hand appear in front of you and you slowly look up at her and... she has this big, happy, toothy grin. Was she... trying to be friendly? “Sorry about earlier. I'm Undyne, Papyrus and Sans' friend.” You swallow and give a nervous smile.

“H-H-Hello. I-I'm Y/-Aaaah!” When your hand meets hers she practically yanks it and is shaking it rather hard and rapidly, like she was just over excited, and the reactions just shakes your entire body. She lets go and you actually have to stable yourself. “U-Um... I-I'm Y/n.” She gives an amused huff before turning to Papyrus.

"Well, I'm off! I'll see you tomorrow Papyrus! Sorry about the door." As she heads out you can just barely make out Sans' agitated voice from the couch.

"...no you're not..." Papyrus waves from the door before heading over to you.

"Are You Alright?" He asked, voice filled with concern. You nod.

"Y-Yeah. I-I'm sorry Papyrus-"

"Why?" You look up at him. "You Didn't Do Anything Wrong." He says with a smile. "I Get That Undyne Can Be Intimidating At First But I Can Assure You She Is One Of My Best Friends And She Would Never Intentionally Hurt You." Right. For all you knew she was doing what Sans did; throwing up a facade because they didn't want to alert Papyrus. Even so, you gave a nervous smile to Papyrus.

"O-Okay." He smiles back. "S-So um... Where did you go?"

"OH! DID SANS NOT SAY? I WAS OUT TRAINING."

"Training? For the marathon?"

"KIND OF. YOU SEE, I HAVE A TEST COMING UP. A PHYSICAL TEST FOR THE ACADEMY. I LEARNED ABOUT IT EARLIER TODAY AND GAVE UNDYNE A CALL. SHE'S THE BEST PERSON TO TRAIN WITH."

"O-Oh! When is it?"

"AFTER THE MARATHON! SO, UNDYNE FIGURED WE COULD KNOCK OUT TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE AND NOT ONLY TRAIN FOR MY PHYSICAL BUT FOR THE MARATHON!" You smile a little.

"Good for you Papyrus. Is uh... Is Undyne participating in the marathon too?"

"SHE IS! THOUGH, SHE GETS JUST A LITTLE BIT COMPETITIVE." You give a nervous chuckle. Yeah. You could figure that.

"S-So um... She's coming over tomorrow?"

"INDEED! SHE'LL BE VISITING AROUND THE SAME TIME FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS!" Well at least you could brace yourself. You shuffle a little though and Papyrus catches it. "WHAT'S WRONG?"

"O-Oh, um... I'm just... worried about the door." You somewhat lie as you motion to the doorless front. Sure, you worried for the door but you worried for yourself.

"Ah. Right... WELL, SO LONG AS SOMEONE ANSWERS THE DOOR IT WILL BE FINE!" You gulp. That meant that you would have to answer the door if the boys weren't around. Oh joy... You shook your head. No. You could do it. You could... make an attempt. At least she wasn't full on like Sans and was passive aggressive in her demeanor and handshake. She actually seemed full on excited to meet you. Why?

"Papyrus?" He was at the closet door, going through a storage tub. He turned around.

"YES?"

"What uh... Did you... Tell Undyne anything about me?"

"JUST THAT YOU WERE STAYING HERE FOR AWHILE. IT'S RUDE TO TELL PEOPLE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE'S PERSONAL LIVES WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION. OF COURSE, SHE DIDN'T PRESS THE MATTER FURTHER SO I THINK SHE WANTS LEARN HERSELF." Aw.

"I-I see." He gives you a smile.

"OF COURSE, IF UNDYNE GIVES YOU ANY PROBLEMS YOU JUST LET ME KNOW, OKAY? I WILL PERSONALLY HANDLE IT." He pulls out some kind of black mesh from the tub he was looking through and hangs it in the front door's frame. You then hear a lot of clicking and see the middle of the mesh come together. Oh. It was one of those outdoor mesh screens to keep bugs out of a home whilst a door was open. That's smart, especially with the spring weather.

"Okay." You finally answer. Two weeks. And you started your trial for Muffet sometime this week... You really hoped things would go well.

***

You jump as you hear rapid knocks at your bedroom window. You look up from your book to see a smiling Undyne and she's waving at you. Oh boy ... You give a nervous smile and wave and she disappears only for you to hear her voice from the living room. She's early again. Luckily for you, you ate lunch on time.

"Hey punk!" You take that as an indicator to leave your room, albeit nervously, and meet Undyne in the living room... Boy was she tall and intimidating. But her smile didn't look as so.

"H-Hello." You say. "Y-You're, heh... E-Early... A-Again."

"Yeah, I know. I did it on purpose this time. See, I wanted to talk with you." Oh. That definitely spiked your anxiety. And with Papyrus and Sans gone again today you were left alone with Undyne. You shuffle nervously and give a nervous laugh.

"O-Oh?"

"Psh! Relax punk it's not like I'm gonna interrogate or eat ya. Though I do have some questions." Of course she did. She waltzes into the living room but doesn't sit down. You, though, hang back a little.

"S-Sure." You say with an anxious smile. "A-Ask away, h-heh..." She turns and faces you.

"First question, and don't take this personally or anything because I can totally tell you're a total Whimsun-" What? "-but be straight with me. I'm not gonna have to worry about your presence here am I?" Ah. Of course. You shake your head and wave your hands frantically.

"N-No, no! Not at all! I-I swear! I would never-!"

"Heh heh! Good! Because if anything did happen," She gave a very wicked and menacing smile and oddly enough, despite her obviously very sharp teeth and her towering size, it paled in comparison to Sans' threatening look. Those dark... empty sockets with that... tight, disturbing smile and that voice... It sent shivers down your spine. "You can bet your punkass that Sans isn't the only monster you have to worry about." You swallow and nod your head.

"I-I-I unders-s-stand!" You squeak. Her smile is no longer threatening and her head fins move, as if agreeing with your attitude. You suddenly wondered if working at Muffet's was going to be a good idea...

"Glad we got that outta the way! So then," She finally sits on the couch, or rather, it's edge. “Papyrus.” You blink and she continues. “He's a really caring guy, don't ya think?” You nod.

“O-Oh, yeah.” You give a nervous laugh. “A-A little too caring. I-I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that b-but... H-He really jumps the gun on a lot of things.” You rub your arm.

“I'll say!” She laughs. “Letting a human stranger live with him and Sans? Totally gun-jumping!” You give another nervous laugh, glancing away.

“Y-Yeah-” You flinch and wave your hands. “N-Not that I'm not appreciative of him though! A-After all he...!” You looked down and fiddle with your hands. “He... did save my life.”

“What?” You glance up at her and see she's looking at you curiously.

“Y-Yeah uh... h-heh... He uh... He saved me.” Her eye widens a little, curiosity in it.

“What happened?” A nervous laugh escapes you again.

“J-Just some bad luck. I uh... heh... got thrown off a building. Oops.” You see her eye widen more as she stares at you in shock. She then sputters.

“W-Wh-Hu?! Oops?! You get thrown off a building and all you can say is ' OOPS ?!'” She slams her hands down onto the coffee table and you practically jump five feet in the air. “You could've died!”

“W-W-Well... y-yeah... I mean... B-But it was just my l-luck anyway, h-heh... I'm not the luckiest human girl on the planet right now... Not the first time I've stared death in the... f-face... w-what?” She was staring at you in surprise and you shuffled.

“Wow...” She let out. “Aren't you... bothered? Shouldn't something like that put you in like... therapy or something?”

“W-Well... I-I guess technically yes but...” A nervous chuckle. “Never really could... afford it.” You give a weary smile and wave a hand. “I-It's fine. Sure I get the occasional nightmare but I mean... Up until about five years ago I usually just... consoled with my friends and family. They helped me persevere.” You see her head fins are drooped and she's looking down at the floor. She then looks up at you.

“Wow... Maybe you're... not a total weenie like I thought.” What? “You're actually pretty tough.” You glance away and rub your arm.

“W-Well, I wouldn't say that. I'm, heh... a doormat. A wallflower.” You give a small smile. “A-And I'm okay with that-”

“You just need some help raising your confidence.” You look at her and see she's full on smiling at you confidently. “You're gonna join Papyrus and me for training when he gets back.” You flinch.

“O-Oh, n-no, I couldn't. I mean... that's a time for just you two I wouldn't want to get in the way-” She laughs, cutting you off.

“You wouldn't! Not only do I wanna see what it is you're made of, but I'm sure you being there will give a lot of support to Papyrus.” Well... You did want to support Papyrus. “And beside, I'm not exactly giving you a choice.” You feel yourself pale. Oh. Guess you were going to train with the two then.

Chapter Text

When Papyrus got home and Undyne told him that you were joining them, he was so ecstatic and how could you say you didn't even want to go when it made him so happy? So you threw on some shorts and a tee-shirt and joined them. Little did you know that the kind of training the two were doing was... a little out of your league. And by a little, you mean a lot. Sure, it started with jogging around the neighborhood , in which you could not keep up with either of them because they were practically sprinting with their long legs, but then it lead to going to a monster gym, on foot you remind yourself, where Undyne had you on multiple types of equipment.

On one hand, Papyrus was a sweetheart and helped you out a lot by keeping you hydrated and encouraging and praising you for your jobs well done on certain equipment and encouraging breaks. On the other hand... you learned just how much of a different level Undyne and Papyrus were on. The amount they physically lifted, the boxing sparing match was insane, the certain equipment meant for gauging and strengthening monster magic, which you would most definitely have to ask about later, and the actual encounter fighting was something you had never seen before. Sure you've heard how monsters could pull anything with a soul into an encounter but you've never actually seen one... or been in one until Undyne practically pulled you into one.

“A-Are you sure this is a good idea?” You had asked.

“You are consenting right?” You nodded somewhat hesitantly. A year after monsters surfaced it became law that monsters were strictly forbidden to use their magic on humans unless it was in dire emergencies, self defense, they were part of law enforcement, they were doctors, or they had the consent of the human. Sure you were curious about how monster magic worked but the fact that an encounter was called 'an encounter' made it sound a little terrifying.

Undyne smiled wide when you nodded. “Then it's fine! It's not like I'm gonna hurt ya or anything. So, ya ready?” You nod again and suddenly you were thrust into a world of black and white. You were still the a room dubbed as 'The Encounter Room', but everything inside just... turned black and white. On one hand, it was pretty mind blowing. On another... you were terrified. Sure it was one thing to see it happen during Undyne and Papyrus' encounter but... now you were one of the participants. You squeaked as something light blue was tossed at you. You somehow managed to grab it and stared at it in shock. It was a spear. You looked up at Undyne.

“W-What...?”

“You're gonna need that.” She said with a smile that... looked a little wicked. You then heard Papyrus' voice and turned around to see him not far off, sitting on a bench.

“YOU GOT THIS Y/N! UNDYNE GO EASY ON HER! I'M PRETTY SURE SHE'S NEVER BEEN IN AN ENCOUNTER BEFORE!”

“I-I haven't actually.” You stated.

“THEN PLEASE INDEED GO EASY ON HER!”

“Psh! Don't worry Papyrus! I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to her!” The two of you look at each other, you nervous and anxious as can be, and her with a smile on her face. “Alright punk! Make your move.” What? Suddenly, four black and orange boxes appeared in front of you. And... They had words. Fight? Uh, not if you could help it! Act? Items? Mercy? You look at Undyne completely confused.

“I-I don't understand.” You say.

“That's fine. This is your first encounter.” She says. “So as you can see, you have your options in front of you. Obviously you got your Fight option. It lets you make your move on your opponent. Of course, intent is everything. So in your case, if you chose to fight and tried to strike me when you actually didn't want to, I wouldn't take a hit because it's obvious you would put no intent behind the attack.”

“That... makes some sense.” You say slowly, looking at the blue spear in your hands.

“The next option is Acting. When you Act, you can either check a monster's stats or try and persuade them into not attacking you-” Welp you knew what you were doing. “-or just have a conversation with them.” Now that you were confused about.

“B-But... why? Wouldn't talking without the encounter be... better?” She laughs.

“Well sure, but most of the time, the conversation parts are forced. The other person has to answer. No 'ands' 'ifs' or 'buts' about it.” OH. Well THAT was anxiety raising.

“H-How will I even know what to talk about?”

“You'll just know.” She says with a smile. “Now your next option is your Items. Whatever you have on your person will be there and every item is unique in an encounter. Most of the time though,” Her tone shifted. She started to sound... a little serious. “Monsters just bring healing items since there will be times when there will be intent in an encounter and people could get hurt.” You nod.

“M-Makes sense.” She hesitates for a moment before continuing, her tone seemingly back to normal.

“And then you have your Mercy. You can either try and run away from an encounter, or if you have indeed persuaded someone to stop attacking you, you can spare them and end the encounter.” Okay... It didn't sound that hard. Just act and spare or attempt to run away... Or the option you know you could never really do was fight until they most likely gave up. “Oh, and one more thing.” You look up at her and she's smiling. “Make sure you protect your soul whenever you get into a not-so-friendly encounter.” You blink.

“W-What?” She points at you and you look over yourself only to see a small glowing heart, and not a human heart but an actual cartoon looking heart that children draw , that's half green and half purple hovering just in front of you. How did you miss THAT?! “Wh-Wh-What?!” You hear Undyne laugh.

“What? Never seen your soul before?” You shake your head but can't stop looking at your soul. It looked... so pretty.

“N-No... Never...” You finally pry your eyes away and look at her. “U-Um... I'm sure the answer is obvious but... Wh-Why should I protect my soul, exactly?” She stares at you in disbelief.

“Seriously? Monsters have been on the surface for four years and you don't know anything about the soul?” You shake your heard. “Huh... Well, to keep it short and for you to understand, if your soul takes damage, you get hurt. Take too much damage, and your soul will shatter. Shatter means dead, and you don't want that.” You flinch hard. Yep. The answer was obvious and very much terrifying. “Relax. You can only take damage if there's intent behind the attack. Look, I'll show you. Just make your move first.”

You look down at your options. You obviously chose 'Act' and when you did you were greeted with four options: 'Check' 'Talk' 'Brag' 'Return'. Well those were... interesting. Brag? About what? You weren't a boastful person... Though now that you thought about it, you guess you did feel a bit proud of yourself for being with Papyrus and Undyne today. This was way outside of your comfort zone. You looked at 'Return' and questioned what that meant. Did it mean... return the spear? It was the only thing you could think of that belonged to Undyne. You went with the 'Check' option though and instantly a box appeared in front of you with numbers and letters as well as a sentence.

Undyne- AT: 10 DF: 10

Finds your timidness cute

You flush and look up at her in surprise and she's smiling.

“It's true ya know. You remind me of my girlfriend.” Awww. She has a girlfriend? And... she was timid like you? That meant... Maybe Undyne knew how to handle you. Her smile then turned into a smirk. “My turn.” Your eyes widened and your legs locked as a spear WAY bigger than the one you had appeared and fit perfectly in her hands!

“W-Wait! Wh-What are-?!” You panic.

“Psh! Relax! I said I wasn't gonna hurt ya. I'm just showing you what I mean about intent in attacking.” She gripped her spear in one hand and took a stance. OH! She was going to throw that at you?! You gave the spear you had a death grip and you shook in your spot. She then threw the spear and you closed your eyes, obviously too frightened to move and waited for impact. You feel... a nudge? It vibrated throughout your entire being but... nothing was painful. You peeked open your eyes and noticed that above your soul was a green bar and above that was a single digit. Zero. Then it disappeared. What? You look at Undyne and she's smiling.

“See? No damage! Because I didn't have any intent behind the attack. It's a great scare tactic I can say that much.” She laughs at her last sentence. The four boxes appear in front of you again, making you jump. “Now it's your turn!”

“I-I-I...” You struggle with your words. You felt like you were going to pass out. You had enough for today.

“Hey.” You look up at her and she gives a thumbs up. “I can tell you're not looking so hot. Why don't ya hit 'Mercy'?” You look over at the 'Mercy' option and select it. A single option in yellow text was available. 'Spare' it read. You select it and the room returned to normal and the spear in your hand disappeared. The sudden rush of colors only made the urge to pass out increase. You suddenly feel something on your back. You look to see Papyrus. Oh. You had almost fallen over and he caught you.

“Are You Okay Y/n?” He asked, obvious worry in his face and voice. You stare, a little dazed, before giving a nervous chuckle.

“O-Oh. Y-Yeah. Just a little... lightheaded. I-I'm sorry.”

“I think that's enough for today.” Undyne said, approaching. “Why don't we head out, yeah?”

“Indeed!”

“O-Oh. I-I'm sorry guys-”

“Why?” You look up at Undyne and she's giving you a confused look. You glance to the side awkwardly and rub your arm. “You do realize we've been here for like, three hours right? And that's not including the two hour jog we did around the neighborhood and the half hour jog here.” Wait... Seriously? You look up at her in surprise and she laughs. “Yeah! Time sure flies when you're having fun right?”

“Th-Three hours here...? O-Oh... Wow I... heh.” The two let out a laugh and you can't help but laugh with them. Did you really have that much fun that you didn't notice the time? Apparently. Papyrus handed you a water bottle as the three of you left the monster gym. They sky was a deep red and orange and you noticed the creeping of blue catching up. As you took gracious sips you looked at you phone. The time was six ten. You suddenly felt very tired and very weak the moment you realized... you all jogged to the monster gym.

“Will You Be Okay To Walk Back Home Y/n?” Papyrus asked. You give a weary smile as he gives you a concerned look. Apparently it was obvious on your face and in your body language that you weren't exactly fine.

“I'll be fine. I swear. It's not that long a walk ba-AAAAH!” You let out a small shriek as you are lifted into the air by Undyne and placed on Papyrus' back, arms suddenly over his shoulder, hands grabbing desperately at his shirt at the sudden movement and legs going through his arms. You were... Getting piggy backed.

“You look like complete shit there punk. We really worked you out.” Undyne said with a smile. “Just relax. You look like you could collapse at any second and we don't want that.” Papyrus turns his head and gives a smile.

“JUST HANG ON TO ME!” For being a skeleton, Papyrus was strong. He held you with ease and the odd thing was that you would've thought your legs would sink straight into his non-existent sides but... It actually felt like there was something there under the shirt he was wearing. You stare, face flushing a little in embarrassment and a bit of shame.

“I-I'm sorry-”

“You sure do apologize a lot for things out of your control.” Undyne said. The two start walking and you glance over at her. “That's like... the tenth time you've apologized today.”

“I-I just... hate being a burden. H-Heh.”

“But like... you're not though.” You look down with a sad smile and hum. “I'm serious. I may have only known you for less than a day but I can tell you're not completely helpless.” You glance back to her. “You try. And when you try, you triumph.” She says with a smile, which makes you smile a bit in honesty. “You just gotta work on your self confidence. I could tell when we arrived at the gym earlier you were totally freaked. Out of your comfort zone, were ya?” You flush and look down.

“I-I... A little I mean... I wasn't properly... dressed for it-”

“Psh! Ya look fine to me. Anyway, maybe it's a good thing you're holed up with Paps and Sans. You could not have met any other monster that's quite as energetic as Papyrus,” You hear Papryus give a hearty 'Nyeh heh heh!' “Or as lazy and easygoing as Sans. They're like... probably the perfect balance for someone like you.” You look at her and give a nervous smile.

“W-Well I mean... I-I guess... B-But I mean I'm not staying with them. It's just until I get enough money saved up for an affordable apartment back in the city-”

“Why?” You blink.

“Undyne.” Papyrus said. “It's Her Choice. After All, This Arrangement Was Only Temporary-”

“No I mean... You like living in the city? All that... compactness? Okay I mean... sure. I might be a little biased on that fact because of being underground and all that but like... The places there aren't cheap. I know. You do know you'd be better off like... in the less crowded areas of Ebott right? Like... You could actually own a house out here in country area for the same price those crappy apartments charge you each month in the city.”

“W-Well I mean...” You stop and think. The only reason you were in the city was because of your previous job. Yeah you liked the city but... you had to admit... a lot of things happen in the city that seemed to feed into your bad luck. Ever since you landed in Papyrus and Sans' home though, not as much bad luck has happened. Then again, you weren't exactly working. It was only a matter of time before you had to actually walk outside. “H-Huh..."

“What's up?"

"Well um... I mean I guess you make a point... B-But I don't have a lot of... People skills. My last job was just an assembly line position. H-Heh. Little contact made in that line of work. A-Also um... It's closer to the next town over. That's where my family and friends live."

"Oh? So what are you doing in Ebott then? Being independent?" You somewhat nod.

"Y-Yeah I... I wanted to venture out just a bit. Plus uh... I don't know how to drive and the assembly job was the first beneficial job I got and it was in the city and it would've been better to just move there you know?" Undyne nods.

"Ahhh. I get ya. This is starting to make a lot more sense." You give a shy nod and smile. "So then... What are ya gonna do now?"

"W-Well, I've recently interviewed for a Miss Muffet and-"

"Muffet?" She looked at you, surprised and you nod.

"Y-Yeah. I heard she can be um... Picky."

"No shit." She said, rolling her eye. "So do you know anything?"

"I-I start sometime this week." Her face was covered in shock.

"No shit?! With Muffet?! Damn!" She... Smiled. What? Okay, mixed vibes. "Congratulations!" You flush.

"I-It's just a trial though. I-I won't know for sure until it's over."

"A trial?" She asked, totally confused.

"Y-Yeah. She was apparently looking for certain human qualities that might help boost her sales. A-And she thinks I might... have those qualities."

"Really? You?" She sounded surprised.

"Undyne That's Not Nice-"

"I-It's okay Papyrus. I was shocked too." He looks back at you and you smile. "I mean... I was pretty sure I didn't have any kind of redeeming qualities but... She says there's something about me she likes so... It's a plus."

"Of Course You Have Redeeming Qualities! You're A Great Cook -Even If I Haven't Really Tried Your Food-, You Have Such A Nice Smile, You're Very Kind, And You're Braver Than You Think You Are." You flush.

"A-Aw Papyrus I... Th-That's sweet of you to say."

"And It's All True! This Skeleton Does Not Tell A Lie!" You smile and look at him.

"Thanks... You're such a sweet guy Papyrus."

"Don't forget cool." Undyne said with a smile. "Though not as cool as me though." You give a giggle. "Hey Paps, do ya think I can stay for dinner so I can recharge?"

"Of Course! Y/n? Would You Like To Assist In Making Dinner Tonight? I Can Show You How To Make Food Fit For A Monster!" You blink. That... Was probably a good idea. The last time you made something for Papyrus he couldn't eat it because it wasn't made with magic and so you never tried again.

"O-Oh, yes please. I... I really want to learn how so I can make you a proper meal to make up for last time." Undyne snickered.

"Last time? Let me guess, you made human food for Papyrus?" You flush in embarrassment.

"Y-Yeah. I didn't know it had to be made special. He didn't eat it but was very kind with the rejection."

"You don't know much about monsters do you?" You shrink back a little.

"N-No. Sorry." You hear Undyne groan and see her roll her eye.

"Uggghh! Stop apologizing! You literally have nothing to be sorry for."

"Sor-" You stop yourself and glance away. "U-Um..."

"You know you can always ask if you have a question, especially since you're living with two monsters. Or at least visit a monster library." You glance away.

"W-Well... I do have... A few questions in mind. B-But I don't want to get into anything personal or anything!" You panic at the end. Undyne and Papyrus laugh.

"You Can Ask Us Anything Y/n." He says with a smile. You fidget your hands a little.

"W-Well um... I... I have been curious about... How it was you saved me Papyrus. You say you used your magic but... What kind of magic do you know?" You felt him stand a little straighter and he held his head a little higher, like he was proud.

"I Know A Lot Of Magic! The Kind I Used To Catch You That Day Was Blue Magic."

"A-Ah..." You had no idea what that entitled and apparently it was apparent in your voice that you didn't know as Undyne spoke.

"I'm gonna tell you in a way Alphys would explain. That's my girlfriend by the way." She smiles, making you smile. "Think of blue magic like... Manipulating gravity, only instead of gravity, it's your soul. A user of blue magic, like Paps, can add or subtract weight from your soul, making you feel either really heavy, or really light." You blink.

"So..." You look at Papyrus. "You made my soul... Light?" He nodded.

"Yes! And Then I Easily Drifted You Into My Arms And Took You To The Hospital!" He proudly said. You smile.

"So... Is that it?"

"Well, not really." Undyne said. "Like I said, it manipulates the soul meaning you can get dragged around with it too." You look at her, confused and she laughs. "A good example of that kind of manipulation is Sans using his magic to move the remote to him because he's too lazy to get up and get it." You blink, still confused, and she stares at you in shock. "Wait... You've never seen him do that?" You shake your head. "Huh. That's weird."

You go into thought. Manipulate the soul? Drag it around? Why was that familiar...? You stiffen. The day you met Sans. Your body moved on its own when he wanted to talk with you. Is THAT what happened?!

"Y/n? Are You Alright?" You blink and look at Papyrus before giving a nervous smile.

"O-Oh, yeah. I-I'm fine. Just uh... Thinking." He lets out a hum before saying,

"If You Would Like, If You Are Having Trouble Visualizing It, I Could Show You An Example!" You let out a nervous laugh.

"A-Aha. I-It's fine Papyrus. I have a pretty good idea about what Undyne is saying." So Sans could use blue magic. But the way Undyne was explaining it, blue magic didn't seem like the right type of magic that could make Sans move so fast whenever you blinked. "What um... Wh-What other kind of magic is there? What else do you know Papyrus?" He's practically beaming.

"I Know Many Other Types Of Magic! There's Orange And Cyan And Even Green! Though, I'm Only Good At The Healing Type Of Green Magic. Undyne Really Knows How To Handle The Other Side Of It." You look at Undyne and she's smiling.

"Yep! Green magic has multiple sides to it. It's used for healing as well as becoming a defensive type of magic. If I green'd your soul during the encounter, the only thing you would be able to do if I did attack you was block my attacks with the spear I gave you. No running away." You stare, eyes wide.

"O-Oh..."

"Yep." She says rather proudly.

"When We Get Home You're Going To Be Using Green Magic For Cooking!" You look at Papyrus.

"W-Wait, what?" You're totally confused.

"Yes! It Is Green Magic That Makes Monster Food, Well, Monster Food! Green Magic Has Healing Properties For The Soul And Since We Monsters Are All Magic And Soul And Not Physical Like You Humans, We Use It In Everything."

"That makes sense..." You frown. "B-But then, that means I can't cook for you."

"Actually you can." Undyne said, getting your confused attention. "You humans can actually buy green magic as a substance." Your eyes go wide. What?! She laughs. "You didn't know that?! Ha! It's like a big seller in the city!" You shrink as much as you can for being piggy backed, embarrassed.

"I-I didn't... know." Undyne continues to laugh and Papyrus looks back at you.

"It's Alright Y/n. We Can Go To The Store Sometime Together And I'll Show You What To Look For!” You give him a smile.

“Th-Thanks Papyrus. That would be really great.”

***

“C-Can I... ask you something?” Dinner had gone great. You watched as Papyrus taught you how to cook monster food, or rather, magic infused food. He was using his own magic but he said that the amount of magic used in a dish depends on the size of the dish. That made sense. After dinner was over and Undyne left, saying she would see you again tomorrow, you felt like you were going to collapse just hearing say that. Could you even do the same thing tomorrow?

When all had calmed down and you had taken a well deserved shower, you were sitting in one of the living room chairs watching whatever show Sans had put on after Papyrus went to bed. A thought had suddenly come to you. When you spoke up, he looked over at you.

“sure. what's up?” You fidget.

“W-Well um... S-Stop me if this is personal or anything but... earlier today I learned a little bit about magic from Undyne and Papyrus and... w-well... I-I was just curious...” You glance up at him, seeing his confused face, before looking down. “What uh... What magic do you know?” There was silence. Awkward silence. You didn't dare look up. Instead you shook your head and flailed your hands in panic. “F-Forget it! I-It's personal right? I-I shouldn't have asked!” You quickly stood up and walked towards your room. “W-Well goodnight-!”

“whoa, whoa, calm down.” You stop halfway but you don't dare turn around. You hear him chuckle. “sorry it's just... what all did undyne and paps tell you?”

“F-Forget it, it's nothing. I-I can just visit a library or something. I shouldn't have bothered you-” You squeak as you're suddenly turned around by a sudden tug at your chest. You didn't do that. The moment you are turned around the tug is gone and you stare at Sans awkwardly, hands fidgeting with each other.

“c'mon kid. you're not being a bother. you're curious, right?” You look down. You didn't turn yourself around. That had to be blue magic that did that right? Yeah. It happened to you before.

“U-Um... Y-Yeah...” You glance up at him. “Th-that was... Blue magic wasn't it? J-Just now? B-Because I know I didn't... turn myself around.” He rubs the back of his neck.

“er, yeah.”

“You uh... also did that the day we met.” He glances away.

“y-yeah.” Silence.

........

“W-Well now I know so you don't have to say anything else so goodnight!” You turn around only to be stopped as a hand pulls on your shoulder.

“w-wait.” You jump and turn around to see him behind you. HOW DID HE DO THAT?! “look uh... you know i'm sorry right?” You nod.

“Y-Yeah but I mean... y-you don't have to be. You are entitled to your feelings.” You glance away and give a nervous laugh. “I-I wouldn't... care if you still hated me.”

“hey, i meant it when i said i wanted to try again.”

“I-I know but... still. I haven't exactly... done anything to change your mind and opinion of me. A-And that's okay. N-Not everyone has to like me. No one has to like anyone.”

.........

“do you hate me?” You snap your head up and stare at him in surprise before flailing your hands and shaking your head.

“N-No! Goodness no! Oh my God have I been giving off that vibe?! I'm so sorry if I have! I-!”

“h-hey, whoa, calm down.” He grabs your wrist, stopping your flailing hands and sets them down. He chuckles nervously. “no you haven't been 'giving off that vibe.' i know it's only been a week but i mean... you have been in your room a lot.”

“I-I swear I'm not avoiding you or Papyrus or anything I-I'm just-”

“i know.” You stare at him. You feel like he's being skeptical. So you try to assure him.

“I swear I am so grateful to the two of you I don't know how I could ever show my gratitude-” He chuckles, making you stop.

“just... do your best kid, alright?” You nod.

“Y-Yes, absolutely. I swear.” He nods and chuckles.

“good. well... g'night.” He walks back over to the couch and you turn and enter your room. At least now you knew he wasn't all that upset about your presence.

Chapter Text

Sore. Sore. So, SO SORE. Something was touching you. Touching your shoulder. Shaking you. Your tired and buzzed mind could faintly make out voices around you.

“...kid ya gotta wake up. c'mon.”

“SANS WHY ISN'T SHE WAKING UP?!” That was Papyrus. He sounded... scared.

“paps, you gotta relax.” That was Sans. He sounded... less scared. Again you were shaken and this time, you groaned. The shaking stopped and you heard Papyrus.

“SHE'S ALIVE!” What? Your body stirred a little and the moment it did you suddenly felt like you got kicked in the gut. You groaned at the feeling, bringing your arms around you.

“hey. y/n. c'mon kid, up and at 'em.” You rub your eyes and see Sans is hovering over you, hand resting on your shoulder and looking a little worried and his eye lights seemed especially bright, then again you were just waking up, and Papyrus looks... panicked.

“G-Guys what...?” Your tired eyes take notice of the room. It's somewhat dark. What time was it? That would explain Sans' bright eye lights. You groan again at the feeling of being kicked in the gut. “Nnngh...”

“Y/N?! ARE YOU OKAY?! WHERE ARE YOU HURTING?! I CAN HEAL YOU!”

“paps, i told you, you can't heal her.”

“AND WHY NOT?!”

“it's not something you can just heal.” What were they talking about? You slowly sit up and notice the dimensional box right next to you. “hey.” You look back at Sans, still sleepy. “i can't access your things if they're still in the box. so wake up a little and find a change of clothes and head to the bathroom, alright?” You rub your eyes.

“W-Wh...? Guys what's going on-?”

“YOU'RE BLEEDING!” Papyrus blurts.

“What...?” It then hits you. Your eyes shoot open and your face flushes. “O-Oh my God...” You grab the box and dig through it and pull out a calendar. You frantically flip to the current month and week and look between it and the next week which started May. Your face then pales. You shove the calendar back in and look at the two in an embarrassed panic. “I-I-I...” You can't get the words out.

“hey. calm down. breathe. both of you.” Sans says, looking at you and Papyrus. “y/n.” He gives a rather... calming smile, though his expression looked a little panicked. “paps and i will take of this,” He tugs at the end of your comforter. “you take care of yourself, alright?” You nod slowly, a little confused at why he was being so calm whilst his brother was full on panicking but you didn't question it now. You grab the whole box and you don't dare look back as you rush towards the bathroom. After taking what seemed like the most embarrassing shower ever and gathering your necessities out of the dimensional box, you hesitate on opening the bathroom door. Judging from your now dirtied clothes, you didn't make that big a mess as you thought. Still... it was embarrassing!

You were early. You weren't supposed to start your period until next week. Well... they did say that exercise can bring it about early and boy did Undyne put you through the wringer yesterday. The shower helped soothe your sore muscles but now...? Surely it would've taken more than one day of exercise to cause this right? You sigh heavily before slowly opening the door, clothes in hand and keeping them close. You changed into a different pair of pajamas. The moment you walked into the living room you flinched as Papyrus' voice rang out.

“Y/N! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!” He was instantly in front of you, looking you over before taking your clothes. “HERE! I'LL TAKE THESE! YOU GO SIT!” Before you say any more, he rushed off to the laundry room, leaving you stunned. You then jump as suddenly Sans was behind you and drapes a blanket over your shoulders and is leading you to the couch. When you sit down, you look up at him, totally confused.

“U-Um...” Before you say anything else Sans is placing a hot pack in your hands and directs it over your stomach. The sensation felt... really good actually. You sit back in the couch and let out a sigh.

“feel good?” You look up at him.

“Y-Yeah but um... wh-what's going on? And what time is it?” Sans chuckles.

“it's currently six thirty seven in the morning.” Papyrus reappears and stands next to Sans and looks down at you worriedly, at which you give a nervous smile.

“W-What's wrong Papyrus?”

“W-Well...” He sounds like he's calmed down a bit. “I... S-Sans Assured Me Whilst You Were In The Bathroom That... This Is Normal For A Female Human?” You flush.

“O-Oh.” You glance down awkwardly. “Y-Yeah um... I-It's um... It's called a... a p-period. I-It's normal...” You then have a thought and look up at him. “Do uh... Do you... not know what it is?” He shakes his head and you flush.

“No. Which Is Why I'm A Little Surprised Sans Does.” You look at Sans and he's looking away nervously and a light blue blush dusting his cheekbones. Your attention is brought back to Papyrus when he speaks. “Are You Sure You're Alright Y/n?” You give a nervous smile and nod.

“I-I'm fine, I swear.” He nods and sits down next to you.

“If You Need Anything You Just Let Us Know! Sans Said That You Will Be Experiencing Bodily Discomfort In The Stomach Area And That Heat Works At Soothing Said Discomfort.” You... can't help but flush and giggle a little. Sans is sitting in one of the chairs, eye lights focused anywhere that wasn't you. You look back at Papyrus.

“U-Um... Yeah. Heat helps with the cramps...” You glance away, a little embarrassed about your next sentence. “H-How uh... How did...?”

“We Know?” You nod. “Well, I Was Doing My Normal Morning Routine When... Well... I Smelled Blood Coming From Your Room.” Your head shoots up in surprise.

“W-Wait you... You smelled...?”

“we uh, have very acute senses.” Sans says, getting your attention. “all monsters do.”

“O-Oh...” Your eyes widen as you come to realize that you might've just freaked them both out. “Oh... Oh man, I-I'm so sorry if I worried you guys! I-I didn't even think-!”

“you're fine kid.” You flush again and sit back into the couch, hands fiddling with the heat pack.

“S-So... How do you know about... this?” You ask him. He chuckles nervously and glances away.

“w-well... one doesn't live on the surface for four years and not read up on certain human material. especially when one... encounters a similar situation such as this.”

“A-Ah...” Well, at Sans was educated. But... You look at Papyrus, who is still looking somewhat worried yet also confused. This was going to be awkward to explain to him. “P-Papyrus? Do you... have any questions?”

“I Have A Lot But... I'll Ask When You Feel Better.” You smile a little.

“I'm feeling fine, I swear. The cramps only last for a couple of days and they're easy to deal with. A-At least for me anyway.”

“we don't have any medicine to help but we'll make sure to stock up for your convenience.” You flinch.

“O-Oh, n-no. Don't worry about it. Really. I don't need medicine. I-It's easy to ride out-”

“Nonsense!” Papyrus said, sounding almost offended. “If You Need Medicine Then We Will Get Some For You!” You look up at him nervously.

“P-Papyrus I'm serious. Don't worry about it. I'll be fine. Medicine just... helps a little. Th-The heat pack is a great substitute I swear.” He gives a skeptical look and hum and all you can do is give a nervous smile.

“How Long Will This Last?”

“W-Well... The cramps only last for about two days. Three if uh... if it's really bad. A-As for the remainder of it... f-five to seven days.” He looks at you in utter surprise.

“A Whole Week?!” You nod.

“Y-Yeah but like I said, it's fine. This is normal for uh... human women.”

“How Often Does It Occur?!” You flush and avoid eye contact.

“O-Once a month. I-I'm early though so...” There was a bit of awkward silence before he spoke up again.

“Are... Are There Other Symptoms We Should Know About?”

“W-Well... They're not... really symptoms but... I can get a bit... moody s-so if I snap at you for some reason that's totally not worth snapping over, please don't take offense to it.” You give him a nervous look. “I-It's just a human body thing that I have no control over.” He nods in understanding.

“Anything Else?”

“W-Well... my senses can tend to get a bit... out of whack. Like... right now? This heat pack smells like popcorn and I can hear the birds outside. S-So um... I'll be sensitive in all five of my senses. Um... what else...? I-I guess I'll be more... snackish but I mean it's not that big of a deal... And um... That's... really it.”

“Is There Anything You Will Need Besides Medicine?” You flinch and flush and flail your hands and shake your head.

“N-Nothing I can't get for myself! I-I still have money left in my bank account s-so I can get what I need for myself! Y-You two don't have to do anything, I swear! I-I mean... all of this is just enough, I swear.”

“Are You Sure?” You nod and he hums indecisively. “I Guess This Means You Won't Be Able To Join Undyne And I Today. Or For The Rest Of The Week For That Matter.”

“O-Oh uh... I-I actually can I-I just... need to be careful.” You say nervously. He shakes his head.

“Nonsense. I Will Not Allow You To Participate For The Remainder Of Your Crisis.”

“P-Papyrus it's not as bad as you're making it sound-”

“Nope! It Is Final! You Are Not Joining!” Well... you were somewhat relieved but... you still felt guilty. “In Fact! I Shall Call Undyne Now And Tell Her That Neither Of Us Can Do The Training Today!” You flinch as he brings out his cellphone.

“P-Papyrus you don't have to do that!” You say, grabbing his wrist.

“Nonsense! I Want To Be Here To Help You Through This.” You flush.

“P-Papyrus I've gone through this for half my life. I swear I'll be okay. P-Please don't cancel something as important as this because of a... a normal human bodily function.” He stares at you, uncertain, before shaking his head.

“Nope! I Am Staying Here!” He then proceeds to stand up and head towards the kitchen while putting the phone to his skull.

“hey.” You look over at Sans, who is taking Papyrus' place on the couch. “once paps has his mind set to something, he'll see it through.” You look down.

“I-I don't want him to make such a fuss-”

“eh, unfortunately he's gonna. this is something he's never experienced before.” You fidget with the hot pack. “after awhile he'll come around though. see it's not as bad as it is in his mind.”

“I-I'm sorry.” He scoffs.

“for what? being human? kid.” You glance up at him and he's giving a rather calm smile. “i knew this day was gonna come eventually.” You look back down only to flush as a thought enters your mind.

“How um... How did you come across... this situation before?” He flinches.

“a-ah, well... it's more of... i haven't encountered it personally per say but rather... overheard the topic being discussed by a group of human women and... got curious.” He scratches one of his cheeks and is glancing away. “t-to be honest, when i read up on it i was a little... worried. especially when you showed up. these... cycles you human women go through, they're... they're an indicator of sorts that, in monsters would usually cause them to be practically under house arrest between a week and a month.” You stare at him in surprise. “b-but considering the signs are... rather faint in you humans and don't really... effect a monster's senses unless they're looking for it... there's nothing for us to worry about while you're here.”

“W-Wait so...” You try processing everything. “Y-You're saying... that monsters... go through this too in a way?”

“how do i explain this...?” He's blushing and looking away awkwardly. “uh... well there's no other way to call this except that... monsters, male or female, go through... well... heat cycles. that's... what you're going through isn't it? a heat?” You flush.

“U-Um... N... Not... particularly I mean... I guess you could say I'm... at the end of said cycle. Th-That's what the bleeding is.” Were you REALLY having this conversation? Wow, this period has made you bold and the day hasn't even started for you yet.

“r-right, right. it's the...” He twirls his wrist as he's trying to recall something. “the shedding of the uteran wall because you missed your high opportunity chance of bearing children.”

“That's... a way to put it.” He glances at you and then at your stomach before glancing away again.

“s-sorry just... i-i'm a little curious, not gonna lie.” You give a nervous chuckle and glance away.

“W-Well, trust me when I say I think you're better off reading medical journals than learning from me. I-I barely know what's going on with my body most of the time anyway.”

“well i mean... i guess but... with you here... the emotion is genuine. one can't just... understand the emotions from just reading.”

“I-I guess.”

“like... these cramps. do they hurt?”

“W-Well in the beginning they did but obviously over time the body gets used to it and you don't really feel the pain anymore. It's more like it's just... an annoying tug in the stomach.” You giggle a little. “B-But if you hook a guy up to a machine that simulates how a period actually feels to us women, they'll be begging for mercy.” You see that catches his interest.

“how so?”

“U-Um...” You look towards your room. “I-I need my computer but I can show you these really funny videos where-” You stop as he's digging into his pocket and handing you his phone.

“here. show me.” You hesitate. Oh. He was... actually letting you touch something of his. Now that you thought about, he was actually willing to be sitting next to you right now. It usually went with either you or him occupying a chair while the other occupied the couch with Papyrus, and it usually went with you being in the chair, not that you minded.

You slowly grab his phone and go to the web browser, typing in key words because you couldn't remember the names of the videos you saw, just their thumbnails. You find the first video you were looking for and lean a little close to him, phone in your hand. You're surprised he doesn't back away but instead leans closer to look at his phone.

“H-Here, watch this. This is an actual machine and these guys are not actors.” As the two of you watch the videos, you can't help but giggle at the reaction the men are having after being hooked up and at Sans' confused face as the videos go on.

“is it really like that? are those questions true?” You nod your head and giggle.

“Yeah. That's how it really is. But I mean you can only take so much from this video being a guy yourself. You don't know what it'll actually feel like. I mean sure we could find a machine for funsies but I mean-” You stop, realizing what you said before glancing away awkwardly. “U-Um... I guess... You wouldn't really be able to know because... well...” He chuckles.

“because i'm a skeleton?” You avoid your gaze more and flush.

“I-I'm sorry is that rude? That was rude wasn't it?”

“nah. it wasn't rude. i get it. it's a muscle thing.” You give a nervous chuckle only to flinch when your stomach growls. It is only then that you smell the breakfast that Papyrus is cooking. Sans laughs a little. “guess we are up a little early huh?”

“Y-Yeah. What time is it?”

“seven o' five.” At the mention of the early time, you yawn and he chuckles. “hey.” You look at him, wiping away the tired tears that formed when you yawned, not even noticing how close the two of you had gotten when watching the videos. “that pack doing okay?” At the mention, you grip the pack slightly closer to you and flush whilst glancing away.

“O-Oh, yeah. It's still nice and hot. Thanks.” He shrugs.

“so like... you're not gonna be incarcerated the entire time are you?” You shake your head and flail your hands.

“N-No, no! I'm perfectly capable of moving around, I swear! I can still do my side of the chores and everything else!” He chuckles.

“it's not me you're gonna have to convince.” He motions behind, towards Papyrus, and you sigh.

“I-I know I just... don't know how.” He shrugs.

“eh, you'll find a way. no doubt though until you convince him that he'll probably baby you.”

“I-I really don't want that. I'd be such a bother and I might accidentally snap at him and... oof... I hate seeing him so disappointed.” He snickers.

“yeah, me too.” You shuffle a little. “so, would you say you would call this a lazy day for you then? since apparently the first few days are supposed to be the worst.” You give a nervous chuckle.

“N-Normally no. C-Cramps or no cramps, if I had a job right now I would still have to go in. I would just... probably be cranky.”

“buuuuut,” He dragged out, sounding... obvious? “since you don't currently have one...” He drifted off, eyeing you slyly. You look at him and giggle a little.

“Y-You're just trying to find an excuse to be lazy.” He chuckles.

“until paps figures out you'll be fine on your own, you can bet i'm using your discomfort to my advantage. no offense though.” You giggle a little more and shake your head.

“None taken.”

***

It wasn't even two hours later when Undyne came to the house, barging through the mesh that was hanging in place of the door. You were sitting rather comfortably on the couch with Sans and Papyrus, watching television when her intrusion made you jump and almost drop your water.

“UNDYNE?” Papyrus said, confused. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? I SAID WE COULDN'T DO TRAINING TODAY.”

“You never miss a day Papyrus!” She... scolds? “You can't just miss a day because the human is going through a normal human thing!”

“Th-That's what I tried telling him.” You chime in.

“You see?! C'mon man, you can't miss any of this! Not if you want to pass that physical!”

“B-BUT...”

“P-Papyrus I was being serious.” You say, getting his attention. You give a small smile. “I really will be alright. Like I said, I've been going through this for half my life and will continue to keep going through it until I grow old. It is rather sweet of you to care so much though.” He lets out a rather concerned hum before sighing.

“A-Alright... ALRIGHT. LET ME GO CHANGE.” He gets up and goes and Undyne waltzes over to you.

“So,” She says, getting your attention. “You'll be fine in like... three days right?”

“K-Kind of. I-I can still join you guys just... I can't do too much-”

“Yeah, yeah I get that but I mean like... when the cramps die down.” You look at her a little surprised and she laughs. “What? You think you're the only human woman I know? Psh! Nah! I got a workout group! Trust me, I've heard everything I need to know from them.”

“O-Oh. Well... I-I'd give it um... two days?” She nods and smiles.

“Great!” She then gives a rather... mischievous smile. “Bet ya freaked out Sans and Papyrus huh?” You flush.

“M-More Papyrus than Sans. Sans is actually somewhat educated.” You see the confused look on her face as she looks at Sans and when you look at him he's looking away and a light blush dusts his cheeks again.

“You know about this kind of thing?” Undyne asked, surprised.

“i-it was just something i stumbled upon. besides, isn't it supposed to be common human knowledge? i'm just trying to keep up with the humans 'dyne.” She lets out a suspicious hum only to look at Papyrus as he enters the living room, dressed in his workout clothes.

“ALRIGHT. I'M ALL SET. NOW SANS, YOU KEEP AN EYE SOCKET OUT FOR Y/N.”

“yep.”

“IF SHE NEEDS ANYTHING YOU WILL HELP HER.”

“totally bro.”

“P-Papyrus he doesn't have to-” You start but he interrupts you.

“NOPE! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! LET US GO UNDYNE BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND.” She rolls her eye and lets out a groan, shaking her head.

“The punk's gonna be fine Papyrus, with or without Sans' help.” She looks at you with a smile. “I'll see ya when we get back. I'll bring ya somethin' sweet.”

“O-Oh Undyne you don't-” But the two were already out the door. You sigh and lean back into the couch, Sans chuckling.

“welp, guess it's just us.” You fidget.

“You don't... have to be around me. You know what I'll just go to my room-” You go to stand only to be grabbed by your wrist and pulled back down onto the couch.

“sit down kid. you're not going anywhere.” You look at him in surprise and he points the remote to the television. “i think maybe it's about time we had that... bonding time paps keeps wanting us to have.” Your eyes widen more before doubt crosses your face and you frown some.

“Y-You don't mean that. Every time we've tried you fall asleep.” He... chuckles nervously.

“no offense to paps, but i'm really not all that interested in many movies and shows like he is. also um... i only did that because i... kinda didn't want to be a part of it.”

“H-Heh. I figured.” You say with a sad smile.

“b-but um... i really mean it this time.” You look up at him and see he's glancing away and... blushing a little. “i... kinda want to get to know you now.”

“Sans like I said yesterday you don't have to-”

“but i want to.” He looks at you. “i'm serious.” You stare at him only to smile a little.

“Well... okay.” You see his shoulders relax and he gives a smile. You sit back in your spot. “So what are you interested in then?”

“well... you humans really have a wide variety of comedies.” You can't help but giggle.

“Comedies are good. Know of any good ones?” He gives a smirk.

“let's start with my favorite, shall we?”

Chapter Text

It's been two days since your time of the month snuck up on you. While Papyrus was out with Undyne, you actually got to spend time with Sans and you learned something about him; that you could never beat him in a pun war. What took you minutes to try and think of a comeback, took him mere seconds. Which now that you thought about it, the fact that he liked watching comedies and listened to comedians meant he knew how to come up with puns and joking material easily. Besides that though, you learned that he actually did care for you just a bit.

When the doorbell rang he told you to stay put whilst he answered it only for you to stare in confusion as he presented you with a box.

"says it's addressed to you." He said. You take the box and gasp at the return address. It's from Muffet. You shoot straight up from the couch, still staring at the box, mouth gaping.

"O-Oh my God... Oh my God it's the uniform!" You could feel your face continually shift from smiling to gaping and no words except a stutter come out. "I-I-I...! Oh my God!" You squeal and hug the box only to stop and stare at it. "O-Oh... Oh that means I start tomorrow... Oh..." You could feel the mix of panic and excitement run through your body. "Oh my God I... I need to sit down." You plop right back into the couch, already tired, and Sans sits next to you, chuckling.

"sheesh kid, it hasn't even been five minutes yet. calm down a little." You look at him. "you're gonna do great." You look down at the box.

"I hope so... God I hope so." There was a bit of silence between you two before he spoke up.

"so it's the uniform huh? you should probably go make sure everything fits."

"Right... Right." You stand up and head towards your room, gently placing the box on your bed. You stare at it for awhile, anxious, before finally opening it up. You STARE at the contents of the box. It was not what you were not expecting. You carefully take out each piece of the uniform and lay them on your bed; a dark purple women's polo shirt, a black ruffled skirt, dark purple stocking thigh highs with a crossing pattern over them and a pair of black loafers. THIS was your uniform?! You feel your face flush. No way you could pull something like this off! You were really hoping that Muffet would be alright if you asked to wear pants instead of the skirt.

When you were laying out the outfit, you noticed a note was at the bottom of the box. It was a reminder to you from Muffet about when you would start and what she was expecting from you tomorrow. You knew it. Cashier. Well, it didn't say cashier. It read 'Store Front Caretaker' but you deduced that meant having to man a cash register. It was fine though. You had some experience, albeit a brief one.

You look at the clothes again before taking a breath. You had to do this. It was the job's uniform. So you carefully dress yourself, making sure not stretch out anything. To your surprise, everything fit you perfectly. Sure Muffet had her spider employees measure you but you were still surprised. You hesitated on the stockings though but you nonetheless put them on and then the shoes. You looked at yourself in the mirror above the dresser. You... Looked okay. You felt the black and purple weren't really your colors. You definitely felt like your hair needed to be stylized though. Surely a regular ponytail wouldn't work and you hated letting your hair down.

You suddenly heard Undyne and Papyrus' voice in the living room. Welp... They were going to see you in the uniform one way or another. Wrapping your hair up into a bun you take a breath and open your door and head to the living room. The first one to notice you is Sans and... He's staring as if in surprise. His eye lights were small and his sockets were wide and... You swear you see just a hint of blush.

"What are you looking at?" Undyne said before turning around and staring at you. "OH." Papyrus had done the same and now all three were staring at you, which made you shuffle and flush nervously.

"D-Does it look bad?" You ask. You see that your voice snaps them all out of it and Papyrus is the first to speak, or rather let out a squeal of excitement

"OH MY GOD! Y/N IS THAT YOUR UNIFORM FOR MUFFET'S??" He asks excitedly. You nod.

"Y-Yep. Just came in not too long ago... So do I look okay?"

"Are you kidding?!" Undyne said with a big smile. "You look great!"

"I'M SO EXCITED FOR YOU Y/N! THIS MEANS YOU START TOMORROW!" You can't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"Oh. Tomorrow?" Undyne said. You nod at her.

"Yeah. Muffet said the day after I get the uniform I start work. S-Sorry but... I don't think I'll be able to work out with you guys anymore. N-Not until I have a better understanding of the work schedule."

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT Y/N! YOU JUST FOCUS ON YOUR NEW JOB!" Papyrus is practically jumping with glee and you smile more and even giggle. “THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT! A WONDERFUL STEP TOWARDS YOUR GOAL!” You nod. You feel a little confident in yourself. You notice Sans is still staring and you glance away awkwardly and flush. You did notice that when you made the brief eye contact with him, he practically jolted and glanced away awkwardly as well. “WE SHOULD CELEBRATE!” You snap your head up to Papyrus and stare in surprise.

“O-Oh. N-No Papyrus we shouldn't.” You say. “W-We already celebrated remember? When I passed the interview?”

“THAT WAS FOR THE INTERVIEW! THIS WILL BE TO CELEBRATE GETTING YOUR UNIFORM AND STARTING YOUR FIRST DAY TOMORROW!”

"I-I..." You know arguing with him would result in someone getting what they wanted, and that person was usually Papyrus. You let out a defeated sigh. "O-Only if it's a small one." You say. "I-I don't want to get too overworked." You nervously chuckle. You see that makes Papyrus think before asking nervously,

"Y-You're Situation Won't... Prevent You From Working At Your Job Will It?" You shake your head.

"N-No it won't. I swear. I just... Don't want to celebrate too hard. Don't wanna be late for my first day because I was celebrating a little too much you know?" You say awkwardly with an awkward smile.

“AH! THEN DO NOT WORRY! WE SHALL CELEBRATE THE PERFECT AMOUNT!” You smile. It's all you can do.

"S-So how do you want to celebrate Papyrus?" You ask regretfully. He shakes his head.

"NO NO Y/N! IT'S NOT HOW I WANT TO CELEBRATE IT. IT'S ALL UP TO YOU!" Oh. So... He was letting you choose-

"you uh, might wanna change outta that if you're gonna be celebrating and... all that." You look at Sans and he's still not looking at you. Why? Whatever the case, he was right. You had to keep this uniform in top condition for tomorrow.

"R-Right." You turn and head back to your room to change but not before hearing Undyne give a rather... weird laugh and Sans saying in annoyance,

"shut up undyne."

***

It was six in the morning. Muffet's bakery opened at seven and she asked you to arrive half an hour early. And the walk there took roughly fifteen minutes. Which meant you didn't think your wake up schedule through enough when you woke up to the six o'clock alarm you set. You weren't all that surprised to see Papyrus up that early. He was always an early riser. You had quickly taken care of what you needed to do and dressed yourself in a hurry and put your hair into a messy ponytail. You could fix it later.

"Um, Y/n?" Papyrus said from the kitchen as you entered the living room. "Doesn't Muffet's Open At Seven?"

"Y-Yeah uh... And she wants me there half an hour early and I have..." You check your phone and pale. Even though you were rushing it, it took you ten minutes to get around and ready. "I-I have to go if I'm going to make it! B-Bye Papyrus, see you later!" You walked out the mesh, hearing Papyrus wishing you luck, and quickly made your way towards Muffet's. You had just made it when you reached the bakery and walked through the door, bell jingling. You looked around as you tried to catch your breath. No one was around. Maybe the back? Before you take a step forward you jump back and gasp as suddenly a black spider drops in front of your face from its webbing.

"O-Oh! O-Oh. H-Hello. I-I'm on time..." It... waves a leg rather dismissively and points to the door at the back before zipping up towards the ceiling. You swallow and straighten out your uniform the best you can before heading towards the back, where you see Muffet standing over her desk with some papers in some of her hands, back towards you. "H-Hello Ms. Muffet?" She turns and looks at you and you practically see all her eyes sparkle as she lets out a gasp.

"Oh dearie~! Look at you, look at you!" She places the papers down and approaches you, arms out and examining every part of you. "Ahuhuhu~! You look so lovely! Although..." She has a set of hands mess with you messy hair a little. "Your hair could be a bit better."

"I-I'm sorry Ms. Muffet I-I um... I was a little rushed this morning... I'm sorry."

"Oh pishposh dearie. Nothing I can't fix up." You blink. What? She giggles. "Follow me please~" You do and she leads you into a bathroom and sets you in front of one of the mirrors. "This'll only take a moment." She snaps and suddenly from the ceiling comes down two groups of spiders, one group holding a comb, the other a hair brush. You then stare in awe as Muffet made quick work with your hair, making it look... Well, not a mess.

"There we go! You look positively adorable! I believe humans call this a waterfall braid" You turn your head. You don't know how to describe it... And you frown."Oh no. You don't like it dearie?" You jump. You didn't mean for Muffet to catch that.

"O-Oh! No that's not it Ms. Muffet, honest! I-I really like what you did! B-But I could never recreate it if this is what you want out of me..." She giggles.

"Ahuhuhu! Oh dearie! Of course I'm not expecting this out of you. I just want you to look cute for your first day and that plain old ponytail didn't make you look cute enough. I do expect you though to somewhat stylize your hair. After all, you are something to show off here. I need you looking your best as well as doing your best." You nod.

"Y-Yes Ms. Muffet." She smiles.

"Now then, let's get started on getting you familiar around here." You nod and follow her to the front. “Now, you do know how a cash register works don't you dearie?” You nod.

“Y-Yes. I was a cashier for a brief amount of time.”

“Well that's all fine and dandy dearie but I doubt you've ever used one of these.” She moves out of the way from the front counter and you take a closer look at the cash register. It... looks like one of those old antique cash registers, which now that you look at it, really fits in to the theme of Muffet's bakery, and it's in really good shape. But still... You shake your head and she giggles. “That's fine. I can quickly show you how to work it as the day goes by.”

“Y-You... actually use this?” She nods.

“Indeed. I've had it ever since I took over the business back in the underground. Never failed me once.” She pats it lovingly. “And I've made sure to keep it in excellent shape. After all, what's a business without it's trusty partner?” You give an awkward smile.

“Y-Yeah.” She giggles.

“Now listen closely dearie, because I will only repeat myself once should you forget. Your duties as an employee are as follows;” She gestures to the whole front of the story. “You are to keep the displays nice and clean as well as restock them when necessary, I will let you know when and with what until you get the general idea. The floors are to be nice and swept, the windows to be crystal clear. And that is all of your janitorial duties. As for your customer service duties,” She then holds up three fingers.

“There are three types of customers; those who are here to pick up an order they had previously placed, those who come to place an order, and those who come to buy pre-made goods in the displays. Each type of customer is to be treated the same way; with a lovely smile and helpful service.” She then puts her hand down and folds a set of arms and frowns. “Unless of course they are being exceptionally rude or unreasonable. Should that happen, you call for me. I shall deal with the unruly.” You nod and she smiles.

“Good. Now then, every day I will leave a note about the amount of orders that will be picked up that day. It is your job to write down any order placed in a day and by the end of the day, give said list to me. You must familiarize yourself with my prices as well as learn how to give estimate duration periods for how long an order can take.” You nod nervously and she giggles.

“Don't worry dearie, you'll learn as you go.” You swallow and nod.

“Y-Yes Ms. Muffet...” On the inside though, you were really hoping for some kind of booklet or menu or something that you could get so that you could memorize the prices and names of any of these products. A thought came to you. “Do um... Do you have your own website?” She blinks, looking a little surprised, before laughing.

“Ahuhu~! Oh my~! All that time with Sans must have turned you into a jokester as well dearie~!” You blink, confused. What? When she sees your confused expression she stops. “Oh... OH! You weren't saying it as the joke sense.” Joke sense...? ... OH! Website. That was actually a little funny. Muffet clears her throat. “Ahem. Forgive me dearie. To answer your question, no I do not have an internet site. Now I know that it would probably be great for business but I'm only one monster trying to fulfill all these orders as is. Now yes I get help from my lovely spiders but they can only do so much as well with their size.”

“W-Well um... If you're worried about orders, you don't have to place a form on the site. You can just... list prices and display all your products...” She blinks and looks at you with a small smile, placing her tilted head into one of her hands, making you stop and shuffle a bit. Was that out of line to say?

“Well I know that.” She says with a giggle. “Trust me dearie, I've tried making myself a website. I even tried getting others to help me. It's just... I don't know if you've noticed but everything in here is made for a monster and considering most monsters live on this side of the city and know where I'm located, there's just no need to advertise my business in that way.”

“B-But what about human customers? Don't you... get those?”

“Ahuhu~ Of course I do dearie but not a lot of humans live around here. I know you're trying to be helpful Y/n and I appreciate it but you have to understand, it's been three years since we came out from the underground and humanity has still yet to fully accept us.” You frown and look down.

“I-I'm sorry Ms. Muffet.” She tilts your head up and gives you a smile.

“Don't be sorry dearie. You have a good soul. I can tell. Now, chin up and give me a smile.” You smile a little at her enthusiasm and she giggles and pats your head. “Good. Now then, let me show you where I keep the cleaning supplies.”

***

Not long after Muffet officially opened the bakery did the first customer make their way in, the first thing they obviously noticed being you, which made you nervous. They stared at you in curiosity and surprise but with a smile. It was a bunny monster.

"Well hello there. I don't recall seeing you around." She says sweetly. Muffet giggles.

"This is her first day." You flush and give a nervous smile.

"H-Hello there Miss. U-uh, w-welcome to Muffet's." The bunny giggles.

"So nervous." She approaches the counter and holds out a slip of paper, a receipt? "I've come to pick up my order."

"Yes yes, of course." You watch as Muffet takes the receipt, gives it a look, and turns around and walks through the doors that lead to kitchen area. "Oh Y/n dearie~!" She calls, making you flinch and hurry through the doors. You never really did see the kitchen yet. It was a decent size and there were... Spiders everywhere, groups doing various things from mixing to baking to cleaning. You turn your head to see Muffet by a large fridge and pulls out a purple frosted bundt cake with what looks like decorations in white frosting to represent webs and black frosting to represent spiders.

"This is where the cold orders are stored." She hands you the receipt. "Take a look. Each order is marked differently. You see that 'R' in front of the order number?" You nod. "That obviously means it can be found in here. Now, look below that one." You do and see another order. The beginning is marked with a 'P.' "Can you take a guess at what that means?"

"U-Um..."

Let's see... This is a bakery so what's something bakery related that starts with a 'P'?

"It means the order can be found in the pantry, which is located up front." Pantry. Of course. You follow her out and watch as she places the cake down and walks to the pantry that's sitting right next to the kitchen doors. Of course. She opens the glass pantry doors and pulls out a bag of... black donuts? "When it comes to retrieving an order, always do refrigerated first and then pantry. I'm not saying I don't trust my customers but there have been times when a customer would go off with their items without paying." You flinch.

"I-It's not already prepaid before hand for an order?" She shakes her head and places the donuts next to the cake.

"Nope. As silly as that sounds I made that rule so that I can see which customers I can and cannot trust." You watch her work the register before saying to the bunny, "That will be twenty five dollars." You stare. Twenty five dollars for a small bundt cake and what looked like half a dozen donuts?! However, the bunny more than happily obliges, digging through her purse and holding out the exact amount. You watch Muffet log it before gently placing the cake and donuts into a cloth bag the bunny brought with her. It's theme was decorated like the shop.

"There you go dearie~"

"Thank you Muffet." She then turns to you. "I wish you good luck on your first day and I hope to see you more often." You give a smile and nod.

"Th-Thank you Miss." She then walks out and you look at Muffet. "U-Um... So I don't understand-"

"About the 'pay later' rule?" You nod and she giggles. "It's simple dearie. Not everyone is able to pay upfront for an order, so I made the rule so that whoever places an order will have the time to collect them money to pay it off when they do come to pick up their order. Of course, say someone isn't able to make the pick-up date, the price will increase as I will need space for more orders. An order will only be put on hold for two days before being put on display for someone else to buy. Though yes monster food doesn't spoil like human food, like I said, I need the space for future orders."

You nod. That made sense... But...

"But what about if they never arrive? Isn't that just... A waste of time?" She giggles.

"Didn't you hear me dearie? The order gets displayed for the public to buy. Either way, someone will be leaving with some delectable goodies. It's not my fault, nor would it be yours, if a customer forgets their order. If they get mad, they only have themselves to blame." You nod nervously. “And, should someone come for an order and not have the money, you must refuse their service and remove their goods from the counter so that they do not make off with them.” You nod nervously again and Muffet smiles and pats your head. “Don't worry dearie~ I will always be close by in case things go south.” She then smiles, her cute little spider fangs poking out. “Now then, show me a smile~!” You give a nervous one and she giggles. “We'll work on that. You got to have confidence in your smile dearie~”

“Y-Yes Ms. Muffet.”

***

Five hours. Five hours had passed and you got to see so many different kinds of monsters walking into Muffet's bakery, be it to pick up an order, make an order or just buy something. And each and every monster that walked in all did the same thing; look at you in curiosity, or with an occasional glare which made you more nervous than when they just stared. Those that were friendly though greeted you with kindness and some even asked you questions about yourself. Muffet said that knowing the customers helps when it comes to receiving orders.

You didn't realize just how much time consuming cleaning the bakery front was. The sweeping was an obvious constant, what with the foot traffic, but cleaning the many display cases and the front store windows to Muffet's standards took a good two hours. She really wanted her displays and windows to shine. You hoped that it didn't always take two hours. And then there was the restocking of the displays. Muffet told you which products went where and how they should be arranged in a certain way. That took up another good hour and a half. The rest of the time was spent watching Muffet handle orders. And now here you were, in the back room taking your break and eating lunch. Muffet gave you a 'spider croissant', a bottle of 'spider cider', and a 'spider doughnut' after you told her that you've never eaten any of her products before when she asked the question.

“If you're going to work here you need to know what to recommend to customers, and that includes knowing how everything tastes so you can describe it to those who have never had it.” She had said, to which, it made sense to you. You were extremely thirsty from the constant work so you started with the spider cider. It instantly sent a tingle throughout your body as it hit your tongue. You've eaten monster food before thanks to Papyrus. Before him, you didn't even try. You knew that monster food was made of magic, you just didn't know that it was desperately needed for monsters. You thought it was just optional.

After learning how to cook monster food from Papyrus the other day, you learned that humans couldn't consume too much monster food as it held no nutritional value and it didn't exactly fill the stomach, even though it looked, smelled, and tasted like regular food. It then made you wonder if Papyrus made your food and his and Sans' separate because of that difference... You felt guilty on that thought.

The spider cider tasted delicious. Like apple cider yet there some other thing you could taste but couldn't place. You then took a bite out of the doughnut... and moaned. It was so good! How could a doughnut taste this good?! You washed it down with the cider and realized how full of energy you already were. Monster magic was crazy.

The rest of day flew by fast. It was ten minutes until closing when the bell above the door jingled, meaning the door opened, and you turned to greet whoever walked in with a smile. You were a little surprised with yourself how good you were getting at greeting customers with a smile that wasn't as shy as in the beginning.

“Welcome to Muffet's-” You stopped and stared at a rather extremely giddy Papyrus, stars in his sockets and a smile so wide it threatened to split his face, and an impressed Undyne. Papyrus squealed and practically jumped for joy.

“LOOK AT YOU!” He exclaimed happily. “WORKING SO HARD AND WITH SUCH A WONDERFUL SMILE!” You flushed and fidgeted in place.

“Th-Thanks Papyrus. I-I've been working on it all day.”

“There was a lot of confidence behind it, I can tell.” Undyne said with a smile.

“Ahuhu~! Papyrus! Undyne! Welcome~!” You turned and saw Muffet approaching and she grabbed your shoulders with a set of her hands. “I take it you're here for dear, sweet Y/n? Let me tell you, I can tell she's going to be the talk of the city amongst the monsters. She's been so good for her first day!” You flush more and look down, embarrassed. You didn't do much. You spent all day learning the basics and greeting people. You never got to handle any orders one-on-one.

“HOW WONDERFUL TO HEAR!” Papyrus said.

“So when exactly do you get off?” Undyne asked. Muffet giggled.

“The shop closes at seven, which is in ten minutes. Y/n will be able to leave after we count orders, which should take another ten. Think you two can wait that long?”

“INDEED!”

“Sure. Though, I actually came along to place an order myself.”

“Ahuhu! Right this way then Undyne!”

***

“Here you go dearie.” You blink as Muffet hands you a cloth bag. You look at her in confusion and she giggles. “Don't think I didn't notice how uncomfortable you were getting in that skirt.” Oh. Right. “As cute as you look, I don't want you getting uncomfortable while working here. Sooo~ I made a phone call to a friend who owed me, gave them your measurements, and they were able to get these for you~” You blink again before looking in the bag, staring in surprise. In it was a pair of black pants... no... there were two pairs as well as another skirt.

“M-Ms. Muffet I... Th-Thank you!” You say with a smile. “I-I wanted to ask about this earlier b-but I didn't want to seem rude.” She giggles and waves a dismissive hand.

“Nonsense dearie. If there is ever a problem, you let me know, alright? I'll make sure to make it right.” You nod, smiling, and she giggles again. “Ahuhuhu~! Such a darling smile~! Now then, you should head off. Papyrus and Undyne are waiting.” You nod and turn to exit her office only to stop and remember something. You turn back and fidget.

“U-Um...” She blinks and tilts her head.

“Yes dearie?”

“My uh... schedule... What is it?” She blinks in surprise before giggling.

“Ahuhu! Oh my! I completely forgot to tell you didn't I? I'm sorry~” She turns around, facing her desk, and her hands search through the many papers on it before she holds up a calendar and looks it over. “Hmm~ Today is Friday and...” She trails off before turning to you. “How do you feel about working Saturday's? The store is always closed Sunday's so no worries there.”

“I'm fine with working the weekend.” She smiles.

“Wonderful~ In that case you work Tuesday's through Saturday's from six thirty a.m. to seven fifteen p.m.” Oof. This was going to be some trial period. You nod, accepting the schedule.

“Thank you Ms. Muffet. I'll see you tomorrow then.” You open the door to leave.

“Indeed. Oh and Y/n?” You stop and turn and see her with a smile. “Please get some rest and try not to run late again.” You flush.

“Y-Yes Ms. Muffet.”

“Also, don't think I didn't notice your smell.” You blink, confused. What? She giggles. “I've been around plenty of humans in these past few years to know that females go through a monthly phase.” OH RIGHT! You stutter.

“I-I've been meaning to bring that up-” She holds up a hand, halting you.

“It's quite alright dearie. I do suggest though that you keep track of it and let me know so that I can give you the necessary time off.” You stare, confused, to which she tilts her head. “You don't know? And yet you are living with Sans and Papyrus...” She lets out a huff and puts two sets of hands on her hips. “Fine then. I shall explain briefly. Some monsters have a higher sense of smell than others. No doubt a lot of customers today smelled the blood on you while others were oblivious.” You flush, embarrassed, and she continues.

“And I know that human females go through a monthly heat which ends with the bleeding. What I'm saying Y/n is that you need to keep track of the time before that happens. Because it is during that time when you will emit a scent, though a very weak one, saying you are ready to mate and believe me dearie no one wants to be around for that awkward moment.” You flush more. That made sense. You knew what she was talking about. You then have a thought.

“B-But... The whole process lasts for like... two weeks. What... what would happen if...?” She giggles.

“All I'm asking is that you keep track of the time before. You can still work once you start your bleeding phase but before that, I need to know so I can give you the time off.” You nod.

“Y-Yes Ms. Muffet.” You have another sudden thought. How come Sans and Papyrus weren't affected...? Wait. Muffet just said and it reminded you of the same thing Sans said; humans give off a weak scent and only monsters who are looking for it will notice it... And those two weren't looking for it... right? Definitely not Papyrus. He was freaking out just the other day when you started. Sans though... He did say he knew this day would come eventually... Was he looking for it? You flush. That was a weird thought... But then... what if it was for protection? This was making your brain hurt. You decided you'd ask later. “W-Well um... thank you Ms. Muffet.” She giggles and waves goodbye.

“Not a problem dearie~” You exit and meet Papyrus and Undyne outside.

“Ready to go punk?” Undyne asked. You nod and the three of you make your way back to Papyrus'.

“So what are you doing here Undyne?” You ask along the way. She smiled.

“I was placing an order. Ya see, Alphys and I really like watching anime together and we make a thing out of it where every month we set up a date and invite whoever and just spend two whole days watching nothing but anime. It's like a sleepover for nerds.”

“Oh. That sounds really fun.” You say with a smile, even though you don't really know that many animes.

“Hell yeah! It's fantastic! Hey! You should join us!” You flinch.

“O-Oh uh... I-I don't know I mean... You barely know me and I have no idea what Alphys is like-”

“ALPHYS WAS ONCE THE ROYAL SCIENTIST!” Papyrus chimes in. “SHE IS VERY SMART BUT IS ALSO VERY SHY. BUT SHE REALLY LOVES WATCHING ANIME AND STUDYING HUMAN SCIENCE.” You look up at Papyrus and blink.

“She's...” You look at Undyne, who's just smiling. “She was the scientist?”

“Yep! And a damn good one too!” Undyne said proudly.

“SHE EVEN MADE METTATON!” Papyrus squealed, which made your face pale. SHE made METTATON ?! You suddenly get flashbacks to the movie you watched with Sans and Papyrus that one day... and shiver. Oh boy... “I KNOW! ISN'T THAT JUST AMAZING?!” You look up at Papyrus. It seems he mistook your facial expression. Yes you were shocked but not for the reason he thought.

“The marathon is next weekend.” Undyne said, getting your attention. “What's your schedule looking like?” You pale even more. This was too sudden, especially since you just started your job.

“U-U-Um... I-I-It's...” You look down and fidget with the bag strings. “W-W-Well...”

“Hey.” You glance up at Undyne and see she's giving an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Didn't mean to put you on the spot. You don't have to come if you don't want to. After all, you did just start your job.” Oh thank God she was understanding. “Maybe next time? Hopefully?” Well...

“I-I'll think about it.” She smiles wide.

“Awesome.” You spend the rest of the time talking about your day, halfway along the way parting ways with Undyne, until you get back home, where you notice there's a front door.

“Oh. You got a new door.”

“YEP!” Papyrus says happily before opening it for you to which you smile and enter. “ARE YOU HUNGRY Y/N? I SHALL MAKE YOU SOME DINNER!”

“Oh, you don't have to Papyrus, I can make my own-”

“NONSENSE! YOU'VE HAD A VERY EVENTFUL DAY! YOU JUST GO CHANGE AND RELAX!” He bounds his way towards the kitchen, leaving you to stand and stare with an unsure smile at the door before your attention is dragged away by Sans, who's snickering at the couch.

“hey there. how'd your day go?” You give a smile.

“It was... eventful.” You see him eye the bag.

“what's that?”

“Oh. Something from Ms. Muffet. A new addition to my uniform.” You swear you see him sweat for a second but then it disappeared.

“o-oh yeah?” He stutters.

“Yeah. Just some pants and another skirt, which, no offense to Ms. Muffet, thank God because I'm not a fan of skirts.”

“a-ah. well then, that's good. glad to hear it went well. anyway, now that you two are home i'm gonna head to bed.”

“SANS IT'S ONLY SEVEN THIRTY!”

“and i have a skele-ton of work to do tomorrow. probably gonna work myself down to the bone.” You giggle a little as Papyrus lets out a furious 'NYEH!' You then look at Sans as he stands up to head to his room. You still didn't know what it was he did.

“Hey uh, Sans?” He stops and looks at you.

“yeah?”

“What um... What is it that you do anyway?” He shrugs.

“meh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that.”

“O-Oh. Okay then.” You didn't want to press. At least now you knew he worked. He chuckles.

“welp, see ya tomorrow.” You nod and watch him disappear into the hallway.

“Y/N! YOU SHOULD GO CHANGE!” Ah, right. You give him a nod and smile. Today was a good day.

Chapter Text

Falling... Falling ... You were falling . Straight towards the ground. So this was it? This was how you were going to die? Everything just seemed to move in slow motion as your life flashed before your eyes. You just wanted to spend some time on the roof to collect your thoughts after you just got laid off of your job and was then told that you had to leave your apartment by the end of the week, which was only three days away. It was just your luck anyway. Just as it was your luck that you got jumped at the top of the apartment complex and got tossed off the roof. Great. You had no idea who it was you pissed off now. You seemed to be doing that a lot lately and it's not like you could help it. Your shy and awkwardness just really bugged the people of the city and then they'd give you looks whenever you're 'too kind.'

You didn't blame them though. Ever since monsters surfaced from the mountain four years ago, everyone was put on edge. All those anti-monster riots... all the violence... all the racism. You weren't racist towards the monsters. Sure they were big and scary and were violent the first year and a half upon surfacing but they've changed, adapting to human society. However, it was because they were big and scary and could use magic, you tried your best to avoid monsters whenever you go out. The last thing you needed was agitating a monster and getting put on yet another hit-list.

You were all alone too. Living on your own. Your best friend lived hours away with his husband because they didn't want to live near the monsters and your parents... well... They were gone. Died four years ago, just after the monsters surfaced. Wasn't due to monsters though. Was due to humans... They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Suddenly, time caught up with you and you remembered that you were falling. Fast. Wind whipping your hair every which way. You actually took a second to wonder if it was even worth yelling, to warn the people on the streets of your soon-to-be gruesome impact ... Instead you just... smiled, and let the tears fall before you passed out, your body and mind completely exhausted and ready to accept its fate.

***

Noise... Noise... What kind of noise? It... kind of sounded like talking... Were you dead..? There was something else. A different kind of noise... Beeping? Ugh. Your head was pounding. You groan. You go to open your eyes only to quickly shut them, white blinding your vision. You had to blink a few times to adjust and when you did you looked at your surroundings in confusion. With blurry vision you could make out whites and greens and grays... You heard the beeping still. You let out a groan and rubbed your eyes, trying to clear your vision, and when you finally looked around, you saw you were in a hospital bed and... was hooked up to a machine set up on your left. What were they called? They tracked heart rates you knew that much.

And then you noticed something that... didn't belong in the room. Was it even a room? You could hear talking coming from every direction but your vision was obscured by the curtain surrounding you. The thing you noticed that didn't belong in your area... was a really, really heavy and thick looking black coat with a fur trimmed hoodie, set on the back of a chair on the right side of you. That wasn't yours. Whose was it and what kind of lunatic wears a coat like that in the middle of spring? And how did you get here? Weren't you supposed to be dead? You jumped when you heard the curtain get dragged and in walked a nurse, who stared at you in surprise.

"Oh! You're awake." She then proceeds to move the curtain away somewhat and now you understood why you heard voices everywhere. You were in the ER. People coming in and out, doctors and nurses running around, taking care of patients. You look back at the nurse, who's by the machine and writing something down. "I'm going to ask you a few questions if that's alright." You nod.

"What is your name?"

"I-It's Y/n. Y/n L/n." You respond.

"Do you know where you are?"

"W-Well, a hospital obviously. I-Is this... Ebott General?" She smiles and nods before frowning as she eyes the heavy coat on the chair and looks back at you.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"I-I..." Why were you here? You shake your head. "I honestly don't know. I... I thought I would be dead actually."

"And... Why is that?" Why did she say that so hushed...?

"B-Because the last thing I remember... I was falling from the roof of my apartment complex."

"Do... You know who did it?" You blink, confused.

"U-Um... N-no. No they wore a mask."

"Were they human or a mon-"

"well, well, well." You see the nurse practically jump five feet in the air at the deep voice. You see a... skeletal hand grab at the curtain, dragging it away, and you stare in utter shock and fear as you are staring at a rather massive skeleton. He was a little wide and was definitely taller than you. Probably by a head or so. He had a grin on his face and you noticed that one of his sharp... sharp teeth was golden on his left side. Floating around in his sockets were red eye lights, and they were staring at you. You also noticed that his sockets had... some kind of red bags under them, making him look like he hasn't slept a wink in awhile.

"look who's awake." He said, walking in and toward you. At least now you knew who the coat belonged to. You noticed that he was... wearing a red turtleneck sweater and black jean shorts with a chain leading from the waist to the right pocket... How was he not burning up alive? Could he not feel? He is a skeleton you guess. He chuckles, getting your attention.

"was afraid yous was dead there fer a minute. gave everyone a scare, ya know that doll?" You noticed the nurse wasn't making any contact with him, leaving you to continue to stare, which you saw made his grin falter and his sockets narrow. Oh. You just pissed him off. You know that look well enough. Of course you pissed him off, you were doing nothing but staring at him when he walked in. "ya know sweetheart, if ya take a picture it'll last longer." You jump and look down, not only in embarrassment but because you could hear the slight agitation in his voice.

"U-U-Um... I-I-I'm sorry..." You stutter. You hear him huff before moving into the room and sitting in the chair. You then jumped and stared as he held out a water bottle. You look up at him in surprise and he's... still smiling. But you feel like he's judging you.

"figured you'd be thirsty. i know i would be if i failed at killin' myself." What...? You jump and flail your hands.

"N-No, no! That's not what happened! I-I wasn't trying t-to kill myself!" You stutter.

"then why is it that i caught ya fallin' off the roof of a rather tall buildin'?" He asks.

"I-I was shoved off." You notice that he's still holding out the bottle so you decide to take it, not trying to be anymore rude. He whistles... How?

"got tossed off? man, ain't you lucky i was around?" He says with a... wink and a smile. You give a slow nod.

"Y-Yeah..." You notice his sockets narrow at you again and you realized that it was because you were being rude. You haven't thanked him. "I-I mean! Th-thank you for saving me sir!" He... snorts.

"pff! nah, nah sweetheart. i ain't no 'sir.'" He holds out his skeletal hand. "the name's sans. and you are?" You carefully grab his hand and shake it. It felt... normal?

"Y-Y/n." He smirks and lets go of your hand.

"well y-y/n," He mocks. "since ya were assaulted and not suicidal, you outta take care of the business that's waitin' fer ya at the desk." You blink. What? You look at the nurse and see she's just... writing something down. When you looked at her, she moved and looked at you, gave a glance to 'Sans', before looking back at you and saying,

"Because we did not know the... exact circumstances in which brought you here, police have been called to take your statement... E-Excuse me." She quickly leaves... Leaving you with Sans. You fidget with the water bottle, still not opening it. You then jump at his voice.

"so, do ya know who did it?" You glance at him and... see him looking at his phone, leaning back in the chair, looking bored.

"N-No they... wore a mask."

"they?" He said, still not looking up.

"W-Well it was one person but I don't want to assume... Though it's possible they were a guy. We... Did struggle. I heard them grunt and whatever..."

"know why someone would wanna end yer life?" You chuckle a little and look down, but you noticed that got his attention.

"I don't have an exact reason but... there are a lot. I guess I... tend to get on someone's hit-list what with... how annoying I am."

"annoyin' huh? ya don't seem it." You chuckle again.

"Give it some time... H-Heh. Oh and uh... I'm also the unluckiest girl in the whole world and bring bad luck to all around me."

"oh yeah?" You nod.

"Yeah..."

"what were ya doin on the roof?" You blink and glance over at him, seeing him paying attention to his phone again.

"... Why do you care?" You jump as he snaps his eye lights up at you and... scowls a little.

"what's that suppose' ta mean?" Oh shit.

"Wh-What I mean is...! W-We're just strangers! We don't know each other! We don't... have to know about each other." He frowns and... furrows his bone brows? Staring at you, before eyeing you skeptically.

"yeah. that's true... if i really wanted i coulda just let ya hit the pavement and splatter all over but i didn't."

"... why?" You ask. He rolls his eyes lights.

"ugh, nevermind." He stands up and grabs his coat. "four years and you humans still ain't trust us, after eveythin' we did to abide by yer rules." He slips on his coat and shoves his phone in the pocket. "guess a monster just can't be nice huh?" Oh you felt really guilty. "see ya never lady." He then proceeds to walk away.

"W-Wait, wait! I-I'm sorry it's not what you think!" You see him wave a dismissive hand, not turning around, and walked up to the desk, getting a nurse's attention and pointing over to you before walking away and out of sight. You sigh. Great. If you weren't on his hit-list before you certainly were now.

***

You were discharged after answering to the police. Apparently you weren't the only one to be shoved off a roof. It's happened to five other people, only they weren't so lucky. When they asked how you survived... You weren't sure. When you mentioned Sans the police deduced he used magic to save you and they called you lucky. Yeah right.

You realized that you had nothing on you except your apartment key so you had to walk the whole way back... And it was going to be a long walk. You jumped, however, when you exited the hospital and heard someone say,

"there ya are." You turn and see Sans leaning against the building... smoking. That was a bit of a funny concept. "took ya long enough." You blink in confusion.

"Y-You're... not gone?" He shrugged.

"thought about it. really did." He kicked himself upright and flicked his cigarette down and stomped it out. "buuuut i figured that since ya got no way of gettin' back to yer place, and we are a long ways from the buildin', i could at least give ya a lift." You blink in surprise.

"O-Oh! W-Wow. Th-Thank you." He shrugs and chuckles.

"ain't no skin off my nose."

.......

Oh my God that was a joke! You giggle and see that made his smile widen. He chuckles and winks. "shall we?" You nod, feeling a little more confident.

"Y-Yes, thank you." The two of you start walking and you suddenly realize something. It's day time, you guess around noon with how high the sun was. When you were falling it was night. “U-Um...” He looks at you. “W-Were you... with me all night?” He snorts.

“pft, nah. i went home and got some sleep like a normal person once you were settled in.”

“Then... why'd you come back? You could've just... stayed home.” He glances down at you before looking back ahead and shrugging.

“i didn't wanna owe ya.” Owe you...? Wasn't it the other way around? YOU owed HIM.

“That... doesn't make sense.” You say. “I'm the one who owes you. You... You saved my life when you didn't have to...” He stops and you nearly run into him. You back up immediately as he turns and looks at you... with a smirk. Oh... Oh you got played.

“huh, guess that's true. ya do owe me. in that case,” He pulls out his phone from his coat pocket. “mind if i have yer number?”

.........

“Holy shit...” You quickly cover your mouth when you heard yourself actually say that instead of thinking it. That was freaking smooth of him. You flush and stutter, flailing your hands. “I-I mean...! U-Uh...!” He laughs and you actually get to see how sharp his teeth really are... This monster could literally take a bite out of you and people would deduce it to a shark bite.

“god damn that was hilarious!” He laughs. He finally settles down and... wipes away the clear-red tears that was streaming from his sockets. “ahhh i gotta tell that to the boys...” He then snickers. “snrk. nah, nah sweet cheeks. it ain't fer what yer thinkin'.” He then smirks and... eyes you. “though i mean... unless...?” You're practically all red. You shake your head and flail your hands.

“N-No, no I-!”

Wait... That sounded rude and since it's towards him he might find it racist... “I-I mean I...! Th-That was just... unexpected!” He lets out an amused hum and shrugs.

“too bad.” You stare, totally flustered and confused.

“W-Why do you want my number?” You ask.

“insurance reasons.” He says with a shrug. What? He chuckles at your confusion. “look lady, yer the sixth person ta get tossed offa buildin' in these past few weeks and yer the only one who's survived. i just wanna make sure that you don't go pointin' fingers in my direction.” You stare, a little offended.

“Wh-Why would I do that?” He shrugs.

“same reason why humans always blame monsters first before their own. ya hate us.” You furrow your brows a bit.

“I don't hate monsters.”

“well sure, ya say that-”

“A-And I mean it.” He looks at you skeptically. “I-If I hated monster I wouldn't be talking with you right now or letting you walk me home.”

“ya could just be tryin' ta be nice. i know well enough that you humans like ta fake a lot of things.”

“W-Well I'm not faking anything with you Sans.” He lets out a curious hum before pocketing his phone and starts walking, making you jump and quickly catch up.

“alright then. i'll believe ya. just so ya know sweetheart, if i find out that you do point a finger towards me,” He chuckles and you glance over at him only to pale. His grin was threatening and as well as his stare and when he spoke it was definitely lower and threatening. “ i'll make ya regret it. ” You swallow and nod frantically in understanding. He chuckles and his voice returns to normal. “good. now then, follow me. i know a shortcut to yer buildin'.” You blink, confused as he... takes a wrong turn. When you follow him and try to explain he's going the wrong way, you're suddenly grabbed and shoved up against him, not being able to see anything. Before you could even let out a yelp you felt the floor give out from under you and... you felt weightless. It lasted for all of a second before you were let go.

You stumbled away from him and lean against a wall. That was an experience and a half. Your head was spinning and your stomach felt like it was flipped. When you finally somewhat got your bearings, you stared in complete shock as you looked across the street. There was the apartment complex.

“W-What...?” You hear him chuckle.

“see? shortcut.” You look up at him and he's just grinning.

“B-B-But... Th-The hospital is like... thirty blocks away!” He chuckles again and grabs your shoulder.

“here. why don't i help ya inside? never know if yer attacker is still around. plus ya look like you could hurl at any second.” You hesitate. That... did make sense. You bet that your attacker was expecting your body on the ground once they left the building. To not see you there... there was a chance they could still be hanging around to finish you off... or would they? You don't even know who it was that attacked you or why. They wore a mask and clothing that covered every inch of their body... Was it possible you were just a random hit? That you just so happen to have some quality someone just couldn't stand? You look at Sans.

He definitely looked like a capable person and he most definitely could scare off anyone he wanted to... But the fact that you just literally teleported thirty-some-odd blocks in a second with this stranger was a terrifying thought. You don't know anything about him... But he did save your life... and he did bring you all the way to the apartment complex... and he was willing to help you...

You nod, finally, and he walks you across the street and in front of the building, to which you stop and look up... That really did look like a long way down... You get nudged, breaking out of your thoughts, and you look at Sans. He looks a little concerned.

“you okay?” He asks. You give a weary smile.

“Y-Yeah. I'm okay. Don't worry about it.” As the two of you walk in you notice that many people turn their gaze and stare between you and Sans. You didn't dare meet anyone's eyes, especially Sans'. When you get to the elevator and press the button to call it, you turn to him and say with a nervous smile, “W-Well thank you for getting me home. I really appreciate it.” He chuckles and shrugs.

“'s not a problem doll. although, ya do still kinda owe me since ya won't let me have ya number.”

“O-Oh um... W-Well I mean I never really did say... n-no.”

“then you'll let me have it?” You nod.

“Y-Yeah but um... I don't have my phone on me.” He quirks a brow.

“you... don't know your own number?”

“W-Well I mean I do it's just-” DING! The elevator doors opened and you went to enter only to be knocked, or rather violent shoved, into Sans, who caught you with ease. “S-Sorry-” You start to say, only to stare as Sans shouts angrily,

“ey!” You blink and stare as Sans is staring down the person who shoved you into him, who was walking away quickly. “get back here an' apologize ta the lady!” You watched as the person ignored him and exited the building. Sans grumbled. “sonova bitch...” He looks down at you. “you okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” You say, standing up and entering the elevator, him following. “S-Sorry about that.” He gives you a really confused look.

“why're you apologizin'? it was that asshole's fault.” You let out a hum, not arguing.

"A-Anyway, I do know my number but I would also like to put yours in mine you know?" He stares at you, searching your face for... something, before saying,

"... sure." The rest of the ride up to the fifth floor felt like it went on forever. You fidgeted and kept your eyes on the ground, even when you heard Sans tapping away on his phone. When the elevator doors open, you walk out only to stare. Your apartment was the first door on the left wall and it was slightly cracked open. "what's up?" Your answer is a heavy sigh and you walk towards the door and push it open, to which he says, "wait, wait. is this yer place?" You nod and look at the damage.

Well... there wasn't a lot of damage. Sure some things were tossed and some picture frames lay on the ground, broken, but it wasn't that bad. At least there was no writing on the wall. You casually stroll in with a heavy sigh and look for your phone. You hear Sans stuttering.

"w-why the hell aren't ya freakin' out?! y-yer place just got broke inta and trashed!"

"I-It's alright." You say, turning to him with a smile. "I don't have anything of importance anyway." You go back to looking and find your phone on the floor. Good ol' flip phone. Sturdy piece of technology. You pick it up and open it, making sure it still works. It does. The screen is a little cracked but no big deal. You smile and turn to Sans only to stare. He was roaming around your apartment with a glare, mumbling under his breath. "I found it." You say, getting his attention, only to flinch when his glare is set on you, in which you look down and shrink.

"why're you okay with this?" He asks. You give an awkward chuckle and shrug.

"W-Well uh... I-It may have happened... once or twice before already. E-Even then I never really had anything valuable to steal so..."

"fuckin' stars above, you really are some unlucky human girl ain't ya?" You just give a nod and go to your number and hold out your phone to him.

"Here you go." He looks at you screen for a second before back to you, to which you shrink a little. "W-What?"

"you got a place to stay?" You blink.

"W-Why?" He stares in shock.

"why? y/n, yer place got broken inta and ya have no idea who done it! not only that, but there's a chance it was yer attacker and it's pretty obvious that they can come back if they wanted ta finish the job!" You stare, a little surprised, lowering your hand and placing your phone in your pocket.

"O-Oh um... I-I guess that's true but..." You give a half smile. "I-It won't matter anyway. I'm uh... getting evicted anyway. Got three days to pack up." You fidget. "You um... wouldn't happen to have any spare boxes would you?"

"are ya shittin' me?!" He grabs your shoulders, making you jump, and gives you a serious look. "do you really not care about yer own life that yer willin' ta let this all just slide?!" You blink in surprise. Why does he care so much...?

"I-I-I... I-I'm just used to it I-I guess..." You frown. "W-Why do you care so much?" He lets out a heavy sigh and releases your shoulders, running a hand over his skull.

“'m just...” He looks at you before looking at the state of your apartment again and then back at you. “i know what it's like is all.” You give a confused look. “what? ya think we monsters had it easy underground? we don't exactly have it nice up here either.” You flinch. OH! Did the sight of now and knowledge of your previous break-ins trigger something in him?! Of course you heard that monster used to live by a 'kill or be killed' rule underground, which made them short tempered and violent but even you know that they've been trying their best to be kinder, despite half of humanity constantly trying to put them down. You look down.

“I-I'm sorry I... O-Of course I've heard about the hardships monsters have been facing. I-I can't imagine the things that have happened underground either.” He lets out a sigh and grumbles something. You don't catch it. You look up at him. “B-But... This kind of thing has kind of become... normal to me.” You give an awkward chuckle. “Y-You live your entire life with bad luck at every turn, you learn to expect things and prepare for that worst case scenario and... not have a lot of high hopes.”

“but ta not care about yer own life though? ya know how easy of a target ya woulda been if you were in the underground?” You smile and shrug.

“P-Probably be dead on the spot right? But um... Of course I care about my life. If I didn't, trust me, I wouldn't be here now.” You look back at your apartment. “Yeah this is serious but... it's done. Nothing looks like it was taken. I don't really keep important stuff with me. Hmm... Now that I think about it my wallet's not on the table...” You say casually, looking at your dining table. “Oh wait, there it is.” You go and pick it up off the floor and open it. ID was still there, library card, spare change, rewards card. The only thing missing was some paper bills and your credit card. “They just took my credit card. I can easily cancel it.” You hear him walking towards you and you give him a smile as he looks at you with utter confusion.

“Oh! Right. You want my number.” You get your phone out again only to jump when it's swiped away. You look at Sans as he's looking over your phone before... doing something. Was he adding in his number? He then handed it back, saying,

“here. added m'self and downloaded the d-box.” You blink and look at your phone screen. You go to the main menu and see that there indeed was a new application labeled 'D-Box.' You look up at him in confusion.

“What's um... D-Box?” You ask.

“it stands fer 'dimensional box...' you never heard of it?” You shake your head. He gives a half chuckle. “heh... let's just say it'll make packin' much easier fer ya. here, lemme show ya how it works.”

Chapter Text

“SANS! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO MAKE SURE YOUR 'NIGHTLY PARTNERS' WERE TO BE GONE BEFORE I LEFT FOR WORK OR TO NOT MAKE THEIR PRESENCE KNOWN WHILE I'M STILL HOME!” You just wanted a shower...

After spending most of the day fixing up and packing everything in your apartment into your newly acquired D-Box app, with help, Sans insisted that you crashed with him and his brother in their spare bedroom until you found another place and got a steady job and well... where else exactly could you go on such short notice, especially when you didn't have a way to pay currently? Sans seemed like a nice enough guy plus he wasn't living alone so it wouldn't be all that weird... right? Right. You even learned from Sans that his younger brother, Papyrus, was actually a police officer. So surely you were definitely safe with them for the time being right?

You even got to see Papyrus when you went to file a report on the assault of the apartment. Sans walked off as you filed the report and you noticed he was talking to another skeleton. He was... very tall and... scarier looking than Sans. How was he the younger brother?! What either you or Sans failed to mention to him though was that you were going to be with them for awhile. You then spent some time talking with your bank regarding your credit card and it was a battle and a half. You expected it though. By the time you get to Sans' place, it's already getting dark out. Sans says his brother was going to be home late today.

You learned that Sans and his brother lived in the city and not in the outskirts like some of the monster population. They lived in a nice townhouse area that was actually kind of far from where your now old place was. Good, you figured. You could try looking for jobs and places on this side of town. You spent the night in their spare room without a problem. That is until, you decided to get up early and take a shower so that you could feel fresh and go out to look for a job asap because you did not want to feel like a complete freeloader to these very scary looking monsters.

Just as you were undressing, the bathroom door flung open and you jumped practically sky high and had a staring contest with... Papyrus. You were completely flustered and embarrassed but Papyrus looked... angry. He then marched out of the bathroom, yelling at Sans and you heard him bust down his bedroom door. Which lead to now.

You skipped the shower and dressed and sat with Sans on the living room couch downstairs where you and him explained your situation in as few words as possible because FUCK Papyrus was scary. He scowled at both of you, arms folded and foot tapping. You shrank under his scowl and Sans sweated and gave a nervous smile.

“s-so ya see boss, 'm just helpin' the lady out.” He said. “nuthin' wrong with helpin' right? isn't that what the kid kept tryin' ta drill inta our skulls from day one?” Papyrus glared skeptically at Sans, who sweated more. How was that even possible?

“SANS. YOU BARELY KNOW THIS WOMAN. YOU MET HER YESTERDAY FOR ASGORE SAKE! AND YOU!” You flinch as his volume increases and is directed towards you. “I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT YOU! THIS IS MY HOME TOO AND I WILL NOT LET SOME TROUBLEMAKING HUMAN STRANGER LAZE ABOUT IT LIKE THEY OWN THE PLACE!”

“sh-she ain't gonna be a problem boss, honest. i-i saw it after all. ya honestly think i would help just any human?” Papyrus shifts his gaze back to Sans.

“YES IF THEY WERE ATTRACTIVE ENOUGH TO YOUR STANDARDS.” Sans flinches and you flush. You didn't find yourself that attractive.

“i-it ain't like that!” Sans quickly says to defend himself.

“IT DOESN'T MATTER! HUMAN!” You flinch and sit up straight and look Papyrus in the sockets nervously. “DO NOT THINK THAT I WILL NOT RUN A BACKGROUND CHECK ON YOU. YOU MAY BE PART OF THE ON-GOING INVESTIGATION REGARDING THE OTHER JUMPERS BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I SHALL BE AS SYMPATHETIC AS MY IDIOT BROTHER!” You nod frantically.

“I-I understand sir!”

“IF I FIND ONE THING MISSING FROM MY HOME, SO HELP ME-!”

“sh-she wouldn't do that, right doll?” You nod again.

“I-I would never sir, I-I swear! I-I'm indebted to both you and Sans!” He gives a huff.

“ANOTHER THING! IF THERE'S ONE THING I LEARNED, IT'S TO PAY OFF YOUR DEBTS. SO I EXPECT SOME SERIOUS COMPENSATION IN EXHANGE FOR ME ALLOWING YOU TO BE HERE.”

“Y-Yes of course! I-I-I'll uh...! I-I'll clean the house! I-I'll cook! Errand runs, whatever I can do for you!” Papyrus... chuckles.

“NYEH HEH. I EXPECT ALL THAT AND MORE.” He then frowns. “EXCEPT THE COOKING. I'M THE ONE WHO DOES THE COOKING AROUND HERE.” You nod.

“Y-Yes sir, whatever you say!” He nods in approval and waves a dismissive hand.

“NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I HAVE TO GET READY FOR WORK.” He then walks off and up the stairs and both you and Sans sink into the couch and release your held breaths when you hear a door close.

“fuckin' hell...” Sans lets out before looking at you. “ya really shouldn't have told paps that you were indebted to him too.” You look at him, a little confused.

“B-But I am. L-Like he said, this is his home too and he's going to tolerate my being here. I-I owe both of you seriously.” Sans fixes himself, sitting up straight on the couch, and sighs.

“yeah i know that but paps is... he'll really uh, heh... work ya to the bone. make ya prove yerself that yer trustworthy enough ta stay with us.” You nod.

“A-And I will. I understand how he feels. I mean... it may have been four years but humanity still isn't... all that nice to monsters.” He lets out an agreeing hum. You give him an uncertain look after having a thought, to which he says,

“what?”

“What um... What did you mean you... saw it? Saw what?” He flinches and looks at the other side of the room, sweating.

“w-well um... it's uh... it's a monster thing er... rather a me thing... i uh...” He runs a hand over his skull and mumbles.

“W-What?” His cheekbones flush red and he still avoids eye contact.

“i uh...” He mumbles again. You stare, confused. You then flinched as he let out a short snarl and said in a hushed yell, “i checked yer soul aight?!”

..........

You're even more confused.

“You... checked my soul? What does that mean?” You see him glance over the couch and up the stairs before looking at you and saying lowly,

“look, don't tell paps i said that alright? dunno if ya know this or not but... it's kinda illegal fer monsters ta use magic on humans without their permission and even more illegal and morally wrong to look at another's soul without permission.” You stare, still confused but also surprised.

“W-Well wait... i-if you don't want me to say anything then why did you straight up bring it up?”

“because paps'll think that i meant i saw yer physical actions of kindness or whatever it is that makes you appear to not be a threat.” You blink but say nothing else. You then have another thought.

"Why do you call your brother 'boss'? Are you in the force too? Is he your supervisor?"

"n-no uh... it's just a habit." He then narrows his sockets and gives a serious look. "also, don't ever call him 'boss' capiche? he gets real touchy with it and won't hesitate to show you how much he hates it." You swallow and nod.

"G-Got it." He sighs and leans back in the couch, looking extremely tired. You have one last thought and say before he passes out, "So um..." He glances over at you and you flush a little. "Sh-Should I uh... Invest in ear plugs?" He chuckles.

"probably. paps can be awfully loud in the mornin's and he tends to wake up at ungodly early hours. i've lived with him my entire life though so 'm used ta it." That... wasn't the reason you asked but you just say nothing and nod. It's definitely more than likely rude to question about a person's sex life... And now that you thought about it, you realized he's been calling you by rather... intimate nicknames. Sweetheart, sweet cheeks, doll? You come to the conclusion that... he more than likely calls every woman those nicknames.

You jump a little as you're knocked out of your thoughts by a soft snore. You look at him and see he's completely out. If you had to guess, he wasn't a morning person, seeing as how the time is only almost seven thirty in the morning. Your stomach growls. You're hungry. You look towards the dining room on the right, which if you were to take another right would lead into the kitchen. You'd make yourself something but... this wasn't your home. Whatever was in the kitchen wasn't yours. Sure you could get the food and utensils you packed up out of the D-Box, which still surprised and confused you, but you didn't want to make it seem like you were eating their food or use their stove or microwave without permission. You look at Sans, who's still asleep. Oh how you wished you could ask him. Instead, you take a deep breath and stand up and head up the stairs. Taking a left you see the bathroom door open and Papyrus inside, fixing himself up while looking in the mirror. You swallow and approach.

“E-Excuse me Papyrus?” You see his sockets shift towards you before looking back in the mirror.

“WHAT IS IT HUMAN?”

“W-Well uh...” You fidget. Nah. You know what? It's fine. You can wait until lunch. Hopefully by then Sans would be awake. But you couldn't just leave Papyrus now. What was something you could talk about with him...?

“WELL?” He says, agitated, making you flinch.

“U-Uh! I-I just uh... w-wanted to say th-thank you for... t-tolerating me.” He huffs.

“WELL, AT LEAST YOU HAVE MANNERS. UNLIKE THE OTHERS.”

“O-Others?” You say. Did he and Sans host before? He groans.

“YES. OTHERS. SANS' 'NIGHTLY PARTNERS.'” OH . He turns and looks at you and you flinch. “WHICH REMINDS ME. I GUESS I OWE YOU AN APOLOGY FOR WALKING IN ON YOU LIKE THAT.” You flush.

“O-Oh uh... I-I mean you don't have to. I mean this is your home and you had no idea. I-If anything I should be apologizing to you. I-I thought when Sans and I stopped by the station that he told you about me b-but I guess he didn't.”

“OBVIOUSLY.” He says, rolling his sockets. He turns off the bathroom light and walks past you and down the stairs, to which you hesitantly follow. You jump when you see Papyrus literally smack Sans in the head so hard that he goes forward and falls off the couch, to which he yelps in surprise. “WAKE UP YOU LAZYBONES! YOU'RE ALREADY UP THIS EARLY, MIGHT AS MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL!” You hear Sans grumble and rub the back of his head, standing up off the ground.

“y-yeah boss.” He says.

“BECAUSE OF YOU TWO I AM RUNNING LATE. YOU ARE TO HELP THE HUMAN-” He stops and looks at you in a bit of confusion. “ERM... I NEVER DID QUITE CATCH YOUR NAME. AFTER ALL, I'M GOING TO NEED IT TO RUN THAT BACKGROUND CHECK.”

“I-It's y/n. Y/n L/n sir.” He nods and looks back at Sans.

“YOU ARE TO HELP Y/N LOOK FOR A SUITABLE JOB. THE SOONER SHE IS BACK ON HER FEET, THE BETTER.”

“yep.” Sans lets out with a sigh. “got it.”

“GOOD. I SHALL RETURN HOME BEFORE DINNER. I EXPECT TO HEAR THAT AT LEAST SOME PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE.” Sans just nods and you nod nervously. And then in a hurry, Papyrus leaves the house. Sans lets out... a really big yawn and once again you see how sharp his teeth are.

“'s too early fer this...” He says. “'m goin' back ta sleep. make yerself at home or whatever doll.” He then sits back on the couch and just like that, he's out. Welp... He did say to make yourself at home... You decide to take that as a cue that you can make yourself some breakfast, using your own things from the D-Box. And then after, you figured a shower would be in order.

***

“so what was yer last job anyway?” You were sitting at the dining room table with a laptop Sans let you borrow. He finally woke up a little before lunch and afterwards he gave you the laptop because he said he 'didn't feel like going out today.' You thank him for letting you use it and go to the browser and start searching, Sans taking a seat next to you.

“Well um... I-It was just some factory work. Paid well enough. Had good benefits.” You didn't see him narrow his sockets as you were still looking over a website.

“so what happened?”

“Got laid off.” You say with an awkward chuckle. “I-It's fine though. I-I wasn't there that long and it was kind of... boring.”

“how long were ya there fer?”

“Th-Three years-” You stop and yelp in surprise as Sans slams his hands on the table. You look at him and see he's standing up and looking a little angry. He opens his mouth, you think to shout, but then he stares at you, searching your face, before sighing heavily and sitting back down. That probably triggered something in him.

“'m sorry.”

“I'm sorry.”

........

You both said that at once and stare at each other, him in confusion though.

“why're you sorry?” You look back at the computer screen.

“I-I triggered something again didn't I?”

“again?” You give a nervous chuckle.

“Y-Yeah. Y-You know, yesterday? You were... very expressive when I didn't take the break-in seriously. That... triggered something in you, right?” He lets out a sigh.

“aight... yeah. yer right. 'm a little pissed. but can ya blame me? ya gave three years of yer life to yer job and yer actin' like it was no big deal gettin' laid off...” He stops and you see he's realized something. “... how many jobs have you had?” You shrug.

“Q-Quite a few.” You then awkwardly chuckle. “I-I remember this one time when I was still a teenager and I got fired three days into the job. Fastest fire I've ever had.” You jump when you hear... growling. You stare at him, realizing it's coming from him, and he's glaring at the table. “S-Sans,” You jump when he flicks his eye lights to you. You give a nervous smile. “I-It's okay. Really. That's just my life.” He huffs and looks away.

“don't take this personally or anything but... god, how 're ya not dead?” You chuckle and shrug.

“I dunno.”

***

Papyrus returned home around seven thirty and he startled you when he slammed his hands on the dining room table, where you still were looking through job sites and updating your resume. Sans had left the house around six and had yet to come back.

“HUMAN!” Papyrus shouted at you when he slammed his hands down. You paled and stared at him. “YOU ARE A CRIMINAL OF HATE!” You blink. What? “YOUR DATA HAS SHOWN UP IN MULTIPLE REPORTS REGARDING ANTI-MONSTER RIOTS OVER THE YEARS!” You pale more. Oh no. Papyrus had the wrong idea.

“N-N-No!” You stutter. “Y-You got it all wrong!” He glares.

“OH DO I?” He stands tall and knocks the computer off the table, you hear it crack and shatter, making you jump. “I KNEW I COULDN'T TRUST YOU.”

“P-Please Papyrus w-w-wait!” You hold your hands up in defense.

“I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! I WILL NOT TOLERATE HAVING SOMEONE LIKE YOU LIVING IN THIS HOUSE! YOU ARE TO PACK YOUR THINGS AND LEAVE IMMEDIANTLY!” You try to speak but nothing but stutters are coming out. You then stop speaking all together when you're knocked out of the chair. You look and see... a wall of bones. You scramble up and stare at Papyrus as he's glaring more. “THAT MEANS NOW !” You jump and quickly run to the spare room you were staying in, closing and locking the door. You shake as you lean against it. He wasn't going to listen to you. It was all just a misunderstanding. You weren't even part of those riots. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time every time. Even with the door closed you could hear Papyrus downstairs yelling... like he was talking to someone.

“-I SWEAR TO ASGORE WHEN YOU GET HOME YOU ARE GOING TO GET IT-!” You feel he's called Sans but with the way he kept talking, he probably got Sans' voicemail. You look around the room. The only thing you got out of the D-Box was your phone charger and your comforter. You quickly put them away and take a few moments to catch your breath and steady yourself before you unlock the door and open it. You can hear Papyrus pacing and grumbling downstairs. If you were fast enough you'd be able to grab your shoes and jacket and leave. You sprint, hurrying down the stairs, only to jump when you get to the door and Papyrus yells.

“IF I FIND YOU ANYWHERE NEAR HERE OR NEAR MY BROTHER I WILL HAVE YOU PUT IN JAIL FOR HARRASSMENT!” You grab your shoes and jacket and sprint out the door and down the sidewalk. You had no idea where you even were. You didn't know this part of the city. When you were sure you were far away enough and took enough corners, you slowed, catching your breath. You quickly put on your shoes and jacket and looked around. Yeah. Definitely lost. You let out a heavy sigh and start to walk.

***

You don't know for how long you were walking but it was definitely dark now. Street lights were on and there weren't a lot of people out. You were getting a little cold, gotta love the spring nights. You were able to spot a playground and decided to rest on one of the benches. You finally reach for your phone and check the time. It was only eight twenty five. You sigh only to flinch when your phone goes off, ringtone piercing the quiet air. You quickly answer.

“H-Hello?”

“where are you?” It's Sans. You blink in surprise. He sounded... worried.

“I-I uh... I dunno. S-Some playground park. L-Look Sans don't worry about it I'm fine. I-It was my fault anyway-” You hear the tone that lets you know he hung up and you stare at the screen before it fades to black. You then jump as you hear your name.

“y/n?!” You look up and see Sans at the other end of the park. The two of you lock eyes before you jump and yelp as he is suddenly in front of you. “are you alright?” He asked, sounding even more worried and he was sweating.

“Y-Yeah I-I'm fine.” You see him dashing his eye lights in every direction before he grabs your arm, lifting you up from your seat.

“c'mon you shouldn't be out here alone.”

“W-Wait Sans-” You stop as you're suddenly thrust into some kind of darkness, feeling weightless... and now very sick. Color soon returns to your eyes and you feel completely dizzy. Everything was spinning and you leaned against Sans for support.

“sorry.” He says. You blink a few times only to stare. You're back at the house and standing in the living room. You also smell something cooking. You scramble yourself away from him in a panic. “whoa, whoa wait a second.” He says, grabbing you.

“S-Sans I can't be here.” You panic whisper. “Y-Your brother-”

“SANS!” You jump and turn around to see Papyrus suddenly marching towards you and Sans with a glare that could kill. “JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! I KICKED HER OUT!”

“ya didn't even let her try ta defend herself paps!” Sans yells back. “you don't know fer sure if she's anti-monster!”

“HER RECORDS CLEARLY STATE OTHERWISE!”

“will ya at least hear her out?! fer fucks sake paps yer a cop! aren't ya supposed ta let people explain their situation first before comin' ta conclusions?! ya can't just ignore her because yer afraid she'd dust us in our sleep! that'd be wrong!” You stare in surprise as Sans tries to defend you. You jump when you hear Papyrus growl and give you a hard glare. You tug at Sans' coat sleeve.

“S-S-Sans don't w-worry about it.” You say. “I-I'm just gonna go. I-”

“the hell you are.” He says, looking at you. “i ain't lettin ya go out there alone at this time of night.”

“S-Sans-”

“what? so yer sayin' paps is right? are ya anti-monster?” You shake your head.

“N-No! You know that! I told you-!”

“then tell him.” You slowly glance over at Papyrus, who's face remained unchanged. You swallow hard.

“P-P-Papyrus... I-I-I... Y-Y-You got it a-a-all wrong.” You wait for him to saying something but when he doesn't you continue. “I-I don't hate m-monsters. I-I was never part of any of those... those riots. I-I was just in the w-wrong place at the wrong time a-a-and I got f-falsely arrested. I-I got put in the system f-for something I didn't do. I-I-I even gave my statements b-but... I-I guess it's hard to believe that out of hundreds of people who were there to support those riots, one person wasn't part of it... A-And the more times it happened, the less people believed me. S-So...” You chance a glance up at Papyrus and see he's in thought. You look at Sans and he's looking at Papyrus, waiting for his response. You flinch and look at Papyrus when he speaks.

“I DID NOT SEE SUCH STATEMENTS IN YOUR FILE.”

“I-I wouldn't be surprised if they never turned it in. W-Would be my luck.” You chuckle nervously.

“c'mon boss, give her a chance.” You look at Sans. “she's already indebted to us. and it would be cruel ta send her back out there considering...” You glance back at Papyrus and see he's now just slightly glaring at you.

“... Fine.” Whoa. He actually had a normal voice. You stare in surprise. “HOWEVER!” You flinch. “SHOULD THIS ALL PROVE TO BE ONE BIG LIE, YOU CAN GUARENTEE THAT THE PUNISHMENT FOR BOTH OF YOU SHALL BE NOTHING SHORT OF SEVERE! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!” You nod frantically and you hear Sans sigh in relief.

“crystal boss.” Papyrus huffs and turns back around and towards the kitchen. Your legs suddenly feel like jelly and you go to tumble only to be caught by Sans. “you okay doll?” He asks. You look up at him and he's just smiling.

“Y-Yeah. Th-Thank you...” He shrugs.

“not a problem.” He sets you on the couch and sits next to you on the edge and frowns a little. “'m sorry about paps.”

“I-It's okay. Really. It's understandable. I-I would be weary too with a record like mine.”

“a false record.” Sans sighs heavily and sits back. “ya got any more surprises you should tell us so paps doesn't blow a gasket again?” You think only to shake your head.

“N-No.”

“ya haven't been ta jail fer anythin' else?” You shake your head again only to stop.

“U-Um... I-I mean it was an accident b-but it was just the one time.” He quirks a brow.

“what?”

“I-I uh... I shoplifted one time. B-But it wasn't even my fault! I didn't even buy anything, I was just window shopping!”

“what happened?”

“W-Well I was in the mall one time and I was checking out that one music based store because I've had my eye on a certain guitar-”

“wait wait wait.” You stop and look at him and he's looking at you confused yet surprised. “guitar? you play guitar?” You flush and nod, looking down.

“Y-Yeah. M-My dad taught me how to play. Th-Though it's... been a few years since I've played one. But um, anyway,” You say, waving a dismissive hand. “I go in, window shop, go to walk out and the next thing I know the alarm is going off and I'm dragged off by security because apparently I had fifty dollars worth of picks in my back pocket.” Sans snorts and you flush.

“h-how?” He snickers. “wouldn't ya have felt somethin' fillin' yer pocket?” You flush more.

“Y-You would think.” He laughs and you shrink. You look at the dining room and then at the front door before realizing something. “H-Hey um...” He calms to chuckling and looks at you, wiping away those clear-red tears. “Why were you... so worried about me being out?” He stops abruptly and you flinch as he stares at you. He sighs.

“um... l-look, there's somethin' ya gotta understand. this is a monster majority neighborhood sweetheart. and it may have been four years but... some monsters still hate humans around here. and you, a human, walkin' all alone in the dark... yer practically beggin' ta be a target.” You pale.

“O-Oh... W-Well... Th-Thank you then.” He nods and sits forward and grabs the television remote. You then remember something. “Oh um... one more thing.” He looks at you and you wince. “I-I'm sorry about your laptop. I-It... kind of got destroyed.”

“... did paps throw it?” You nod and he chuckles. “'s fine then. wasn't yer fault. needed a new one anyway.” The moment he turns on the TV you flinch as you hear Papyrus yell from the kitchen.

“TURN THAT OFF! DINNER IS ALMOST READY!”

Chapter Text

A week had passed. One very... Long... Week. You were almost late to work four times and the one day Muffet had you on the register for training, you messed up a few orders. Thankfully though, Muffet was overseeing your work the entire time and corrected your mistakes. She understood your anxiety and said that she would try again with you another day. On a different day you encountered your first angry customer. A human customer. They had failed to pick up their order within the limited time and when they finally came to pick it up, it was already gone. Bought by someone else. You couldn't help but watch in awe as Muffet dealt with them in such a calm manner.

But the worst day you ever had was when one day you almost dusted a handful of your co-workers, the little spiders that did all the behind the scene work in the bakery. Muffet asked you to carry a rather heavy box to the back and into storage and along the way you tripped and fell. In trying to help you, a bunch of the spiders quickly came down and caught you and the box, but just barely. You still feel awful but you would definitely feel even more so if you or that box had crushed any of them.

Finally Saturday hit. The first Saturday of May. The marathon was tomorrow. Papyrus was so pumped about it. You heard about how his and Undyne's training has been going throughout the week at dinner time and couldn't have felt more proud of them. They were working really hard, and that made you want to work hard. When you were about to take your lunch break after a seemingly good first half of your shift, Muffet surprised you.

“Y/n dearie, you're free to go home~” You stared at her as you were about to log your break.

“W-What?” You say, confused and surprised. She giggles.

“Ahuhu~! Yep! I'm closing the shop early. I'm going to need the time to go over my goods for the marathon tomorrow.” You blink in surprise.

“You're going to the marathon?”

“Of course! All those people there are definitely going to be good for business. And ten percent of the profits made will go towards the charity.” She tilts her head at you. “Are you going to the marathon? To cheer on Papyrus? I heard he's been working extra hard for this.” You nod and smile.

“Yeah, I am. No way I would miss it after hearing about how excited he's been for it all week.” She giggles.

“Good, good~!” You smile only to frown a little after realizing something.

“M-Ms. Muffet um... Are you sure it's okay if I go home? Won't you need help?” She waves two dismissive hands.

“Nope! Don't you worry about me dearie, I have everything under control. This isn't the first time I've gone to this marathon. Now go on and get out of here~” You nod and go to collect your things, bidding Muffet and the spiders goodbye as you walked out the bakery door. You then realized that this was the first time you were walking back to the house without Papyrus. Every day throughout the week, Papyrus would come to the bakery and walk home with you. You found it sweet. You decided to use this time to actually look around the neighborhood, seeing as how you knew nothing about it. You thought about going home to change first but decided against it. If you went back to the house, chances were you were going to stay there for the remainder of the day.

You dig your phone out of your pants pocket. You really were thankful that Muffet allowed pants as part of the uniform. Earlier this week you wore the skirt once... and it was on a rather windy day. Gotta love Spring weather. Fortunately nothing too bad happened. You flip open your phone and look at the time. You probably had an hour or so before Papyrus got home... You still had no idea about Sans. He really did work odd hours. Tucking your phone back into your pocket you continue your walk. You found the grocery store, a barber shop, a clothing store and a few eateries. And the more you traveled into the monster city, the more monsters you saw than humans. You had no idea that there were so many different variations of monsters. It was a little intimidating. You did however, get noticed by a handful of them and you remembered them as well when they would enter Muffet's bakery.

A little more walking in and you came across a large park, were you saw monsters and humans, kids and adults, just walking or playing or lounging around. You noticed the rather large fountain with a rather large statue that was smack dab in the middle of said large park. You knew who the statue was of. The monster king. Who hasn't heard of King Asgore? Of course, the statue was a lot taller than he was. You may have never met the king but you have seen some pictures and interviews of him and he may be a tall monster but he was probably just a head taller than Papyrus, not counting his massive horns.

As you admire the statue a bit closer you noticed that there was more to it. It wasn't just Asgore. There was a human and another goat-like monster behind him. You knew who they were as well; Frisk, the monster savior, and their adoptive mother, the former monster queen. You... were drawing a blank on her name. You frown. You suddenly felt guilty. It was like saying that she wasn't as important but of course she was important! She was the former queen, she's acting in place of Frisk as ambassador until Frisk got older, what was her name?!

“Excuse me ma'am?” You break out of your thoughts as a voice from close by called out to you. You turn and look to see a blue bunny monster behind a cart, whose front read 'NiceCream', giving you a rather patient smile. You look around before looking back at him and pointing to yourself. He laughs and you flush in embarrassment. “Yes you ma'am! You're looking mighty troubled. The statue giving you a hard time?” He says. You approach and fidget, still embarrassed.

“N-No, it's not that.” You say. You were getting a little better at speaking to people, thanks to Muffet. All the interactions at the bakery helped build your confidence. “I-I was just... admiring it.”

“With a frown?” You flinch. Were you looking suspicious?!

“I-It's not what you think-?!” He laughs again, interrupting you, and you flush more.

“I know it's not ma'am! I'm just sayin' you looked really panicked.”

“I-I-I...” You swallow. “I-I uh... f-forgot... a name.”

“A name huh? Well let's see,” You look up at him and see him looking at the statue. “Ya got good ol' King Fluffy Buns,” He says with a big smile. “That's what most monsters call King Asgore. He's nothin' but a big ol' teddy bear. Nicest guy ever.” You smile and chuckle a little. That was neat fact. “Then ya got the little squirt themselves, savior to all monster kind, Frisk. Nicest kid ever. Best customer too.” He says with a chuckle and a wink. “And then ya got the former queen herself, Madam Toriel.” Toriel! That was her name! Your face must've been obvious because he laughed after he looked at you. “That must be it then huh? Ya forgot Toriel's name?” You flinch and flush, looking down.

“I-I don't mean it in disrespect I-I was just-”

“It's alright ya know.” He says, interrupting you, making you look up, confused. He smiles and chuckles. “She may be monster ambassador until the squirt gets older but it's Asgore that's mostly on and in the news. She would rather work behind the scenes so don't feel bad if ya forgot about her. She doesn't like the spotlight.” You nod in understanding and felt just a little better, but still guilty. “Aw c'mon. Don't frown ma'am. Say. How about ya have yourself a NiceCream huh? It'll bring a smile to your face.” You blink.

“What's a... NiceCream anyway?” You ask. He stares at you in surprise but at the same time you can see it on his face that this wasn't the first time he's heard someone say that.

“You don't know? Why, it's only the most delectable frozen treat for all ages and they all come with encouraging messages. The best part, is that the messages are magically made. It caters to the buyer and gives them the appropriate encouraging message for their situation.” You stare, surprised. That sounded really amazing.

“R-Really?” You say. He smiles and nods.

“Yes indeedy~!” You see him open a hatch on the cart and pull out what looked like a wrapped popsicle. “Here, on the house.” You stare as he holds it out to you.

“O-Oh! I-I...” You hesitate and stare, unsure. “A-Are you sure? I-I mean I can pay.” He chuckles and nods.

“Very sure ma'am. Think of it as a free sample. If ya like it then great! Just means you'll buy one next time and the time after that and so on!” He says with a smile. “If ya don't like it, that's fine too. I'll just have to find another way to make you smile. You know what they say, the genuine the smile, the happier you'll be, and everyone deserves to be happy.” You smile and giggle. “See? You're happier already!” You nod and grab the wrapped treat.

“Thank you very much sir.”

“Call me Blu. 'Sir' is just way too formal.” You nod and open the wrapper, pushing the sickle up. It's green in color and when you lick you notice that it's soft like ice cream. How was that possible? The surprise on your face was apparent as Blu chuckled. “Pretty neat right? Won't find anything quite like it anywhere else in the world. Mostly because I'm the only one who makes them.” You stare at him in surprise.

“You make these? Like... handmade?” He nods.

“You betcha!” You look back at the treat and decide to take a small bite off the top. You could feel the magic from it tingling your tongue and the flavor... You couldn't exactly place it, but it was very pleasant. Very satisfying. Like it was something you needed.

“W-Wow.” You say, eyes wide. “This is amazing!” He smiles wide.

“Yeah? Glad ya think so! Enjoy it ma'am! I hope to see your smiling face again!” You thank him and walk off to explore more of the park. You were feeling very energized now. No doubt though it was the magic in the treat. Monster magic always seemed to give you more energy. Of course, you took your time on the treat as you enjoyed your surroundings. Everyone just seemed... so happy. Content. Maybe this place could be a nice place to hang out? You couldn't exactly stay in your room the entire time on your days off, even if you've only had one day off so far. You pull out your phone after awhile and look at the time. You should probably head back to the house. You were still in uniform. You quickly eat the rest of your treat and notice that on the stick was a message.

“'Your luck is going to change for the better.'” You read aloud. You then pause and stare at it. Was it? Was your luck going to change? You knew it was supposed to be an encouraging message, Blu said so, but... When it came to your luck, if it started to change for the better, it only meant something worse was going to happen later down the line... With a sigh you throw it away in the nearest trash bin and go to turn only to stop and stare at a sight on the other side of the park. Sleeping against a cart that said 'Fresh Dogs'... Was Sans. Was... Was that his job? You hesitate for a moment, contemplating on whether going over was going to be a good or bad idea, before finally thinking 'screw it' and slowly walk over.

When you approach you look him over. He was really out. Snoring too. You still can't figure out how someone can just sleep whenever and wherever they wanted to. Especially Sans. He was always going to bed at a reasonable time and even before you got the job at Muffet's he was sleeping when he wasn't gone and out of the house... Now that you thought about it, weren't sleeping patterns like that a sign of depression? You only knew this because you were slightly depressed yourself. You were diagnosed at an early age so of course you heard about the symptoms and read up on them as well... Maybe you were just overthinking things. Sans could just be overworked. He did say that he worked 'here and there' and did 'a little of this and that', which meant this couldn't be his only job. Yeah. He had to be working multiple jobs-

You sneeze. You covered it but you startled yourself and then looked at Sans in a panic only to flush and stare. He had a socket cracked open and an eye light was staring at you and he had a smile on his face. He chuckles.

“bless you.” He then shifts, sitting up straight and leaning into a propped up hand. “surprised to see you here y/n. though, aren't you supposed to be at work?”

“M-Ms. Muffet closed the bakery early... F-For tomorrow... F-For the marathon.”

“oh yeah? sweet.” You see him look you up and down before asking, “i'm guessing you didn't go home right away.” You flush and fidget.

“N-No I... I wanted to see the neighborhood since... I don't know my way around and... I've been here for about three weeks.” He chuckles.

“man, has it already been three weeks? feels like you've been here longer.” You give a nervous chuckle only to stare in confusion as he suddenly holds out a napkin to you while with his other hand points to a spot on his cheek. “you're lookin' a little green there kid.” You flush and quickly grab the napkin and wipe the area. Yep. There was some NiceCream on your face. He chuckles. “now you're just red.” You give an awkward chuckle.

"Th-That's so embarrassing..." You glance down at the cart and then up at him. "S-So um... you sell hot dogs." He chuckles and shakes his head.

"nah, nah, nah. not 'hot dogs', just ''dogs.'" You blink, confused. What?

"Dogs...?" You echo. He nods.

"dogs." What the...?

"W-What's the difference?"

"wanna find out?" You would be lying to yourself if you weren't just a little curious so you hesitantly nod.

"S-Sure." You watch as he prepares what looks like a regular hot dog on a bun but then you noticed something strange on the 'dog.' “W-Wait, wait. Is that...?” You stare as he holds it out to you. Son of gun there was a small puppy face at the end of said 'dog. It's suddenly the cutest thing in the entire world. You can feel just how wide your eyes are and how big your smile is as you stare at it. "O-Oh my gosh that's so cute!" You squeal. You take it and turn it around and holy crap it has a cute little puppy tail at the end! How were you expected to eat it now?! You're dragged out of your thoughts as Sans chuckles.

"you're uh... supposed to eat it y/n, not want to pet it." You flush hard and flinch.

"I-I...! I-It's just...! I-It's so cute! H-How could I even eat this?" He snickers.

"easy. ya just open your mouth and take a bite and chew." You give an awkward chuckle and look back at the 'dog, hesitant before going in for a bite... It... crunches? But like, a good crunch. And it tingled. Definitely another monster food item. Made sense. This was a monster based park. As you take that first bite you also swear you hear the sound of a dog barking. Startled, you jump and look at the now headless 'dog in a panic before flushing as Sans laughs.

“W-What was that?” You ask, the panic in your voice apparent.

“pfft! s-sorry y/n i just -snrk!- i really wanted to see your face!” You flush more and fidget, looking down. “pff. a-as you can probably tell, that 'dog is monster food. that bark was just part of the magic infused in it.” You give an awkward chuckle.

“H-Haha. F-Funny. Y-You got me.” You say. He stops and gives a bit of a concerned look.

“i-it's just a joke kid. it only happens on the first bite, i swear. i didn't mean to make you feel awkward.” You flinch.

“I-I know! Th-that it's a joke I mean! I-It's funny! Very clever, haha! A-A dog bark coming out of a hot dog! N-No one would think anything of it at first!” You awkwardly laugh, avoiding his gaze and fumbling with the remaining 'dog. With a quick glance up you notice that you're making him feel a little awkward, judging from how he's nervously looking away from you. Now this was just awkward. “S-So um... W-What do I owe you?” You say, hoping to get out of here now. Of course, you couldn't exactly avoid him. You did live with him.

“a-ah uh... d-don't worry about it.” You finally look at him and frown.

“S-Sans I don't think I could handle getting two freebies today.”

“two?” He says, curious, before chuckling. “is that what that was on your cheek? your first free sample?” You nod with a bit of a smile.

“Y-Yeah. Uh... It was called NiceCream. It was... so good. A-And the vendor was really nice.” He chuckles and leans into a hand.

“neat. did you read the message it came with?” You nod.

“Yeah. It said 'Your luck is going to change for the better...'” You frown a little.

“you don't exactly sound happy about that.” You flinch.

“I-I mean...! S-Sure it was encouraging b-but...” You sigh. “C-C'mon Sans, you know my luck. It's the reason I'm even here. I-I've been living with you and Papyrus for three weeks now a-and then this past week at work has been... rough. A-And every time some kind of good luck comes my way it just means bad luck follows shortly after.” He's silent for a moment, off in thought, before saying,

“you sure are being pessimistic about this.” You look up at him, a little confused. “i mean yeah, getting thrown off a building isn't exactly the best thing but like... that's all you're thinking about. you've been so focused on the bad that you haven't exactly been seeing the good.” You're silent and he continues. “yeah, it was super bad luck you got tossed... but it was extremely good luck that paps was there to catch you. and yeah, ya lost your job and apartment. i wouldn't exactly call that bad luck as it was more like... that's just life. but either way, paps offered you a place to stay while you got your head together, which you accepted, and then ya got yourself that job at muffet's thanks to paps.” He then chuckles.

“i dunno about you but i'd say you've been having plenty of good luck lately.” You open your mouth but he stops you by holding up a finger and saying, “and before you say anything, ya gotta understand y/n... all new jobs take time to get used to. you're in a whole new environment that is way outside your comfort zone. that's definitely going to take some time to get used to. that's not bad luck y/n, that's just life.”

“B-But-”

“yeah the falling accident the other day could've gone south but it didn't. you didn't dust anyone. and even if you did it wouldn't have been on purpose. nothing would've been gained from it. it would've been an accident, no intent behind it and muffet wouldn't have gotten angry with you, no matter what you think. if anything she'd probably be a little grateful.” You stare, surprised Sans would even say that.

“W-What? W-Why would you say that?” He blinks, a little surprised at your reaction.

“what...? wait...” His sockets widen, smile tightens and he sweats a little. “y-you... you don't know how muffet makes her treats?” What? What kind of question was that? You've seen the kitchen, seen how the spiders and sometimes Muffet would be busy baking. Everything... seemed normal... Was it not?

“D-Doesn't she just... make them like everyone else would? Y-You know, flour, eggs, sugar, the works?”

“i-i mean yeah but...” He hesitates, staring down. You can tell he's contemplating on what to say next. He then looks up at you and gives a nervous chuckle. “l-look y/n uh... don't uh... don't make what i'm about to say freak you out or... make you want to quit.” You blink, totally confused and a little worried now.

“O-Okay...?” You say hesitantly. You're getting nervous now. He makes a swallowing motion and proceeds to say,

“so uh... there's a reason why muffet almost always begins her treat names with 'spider.' it's not just because it's made by spiders and that its theme is spiders...” You can tell he's searching your face, which was looking at him in confusion and suspicion. “... it's because it's also made... with spiders.”

........

What? “o-or rather, spider dust...”

........

“W-WHAT?!” You exclaim, the information finally catching up in your brain.

“y-yeah uh... s-spider monster dust is added to the mix, thus making any of the baked goods monster food because... while yeah monster dust is dust there's still trace amounts of magic in it. a-and you should know by now that... in order to make monster food, magic needs to be added to it.” You feel like you're going to be ill.

“S-So... So you're say that... all those items... th-the donuts, the-the... the cider...?” He nods slowly.

“y-yeah. s-sorry y/n. i thought you knew. it's uh... common knowledge amongst monsters and i thought that since you're working for muffet she would've told you-” You run and double over into the nearest trash can. You can't remember the last time you threw up but you were pretty sure throwing up included the contents of your stomach. When you were hurling there was no sign of the 'dog you just ate and ditched onto the ground when you ran for the trash can. You flinch as you suddenly feel a hand rubbing your back and you glance to see Sans, looking rather guilty.

“s-sorry.” He says. “it may be common monster knowledge but uh... even we try not to think about it too much when we-” He stops and winces as you hurl a little more. “yeah okay i'm gonna shut up now.”

***

After you finished throwing up, Sans closed up his stand and walked you back to the house, since you were still queasy. When you arrived, you surprised Papyrus.

“OH! YOU'RE HOME EARLY-! Oh... Y/n Are You Okay? You Don't Look Well.” You give a weary smile.

“I-I'm fine Papyrus, honest. Just... found out something I didn't know about until now. I-I'm gonna go change and... relax a little bit.”

“Would You Like Some Lunch? I Was Just About To Start Making Some.” Bless Papyrus.

“U-Um, no. N-Not right now. I'm not hungry.” You head to your room, change, and lay on your bed with a groan, hands over your stomach. You stay like that for awhile before flinching as a knock comes to the door. “Come in.” You sit up as the door opens and you see Papyrus peek in.

“Y/n?” You give him a smile and giggle.

“Yeah?” He walks in with a glass of water and hands it to you, to which you take in surprise and confusion. “Oh um... thank you.” He nods with a smile before frowning a bit.

“Sans Briefly Told Me What Happened And I Would Like To Apologize.”

“W-What? Why? For what?” You say, confused.

“For Not Telling You About How Muffet Makes Her Treats. It's Just Common Knowledge Amongst Monsters That It Slipped My Mind To Tell You When I First Found The Job For You.” He fidgets with his hands. “You're Not... Going To Quit Are You? Hearing Something Like That Probably Has You Freaked Out.” You stare, wide-eyed.

“N-No! Goodness no Papyrus! I-I could never quit!” You say, waving a hand. “I-I mean I'm totally freaked out but I'm not going to quit over it. Yes it's a... very disturbing fact b-but... despite that... I-I'm finally starting to get used to the job. Plus you worked so hard to get me the job. S-So what if Ms. Muffet uses... s-spider dust...” You shiver a little, almost feeling like you're going to gag again but you hold it down. “I-I'll just... politely decline any treats she offers and not buy anything from her.” Papyrus hums.

“I Know It's A Weird Thing For You To Think About... Maybe You Should Talk With Muffet. She'll Explain It Better Than I Can.”

“I-I'll think about it.” You say with a weary smile. You look back at the glass in your hand. “Um... Thank you for the water.” He smiles.

“You're Quite Welcome.” You smile back.

“So um... you ready for tomorrow?” You see that puts a confident grin on his face.

“NYEH HEH HEH! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS MORE THAN READY! THIS SHALL BE A MARATHON TO REMEMBER!” You giggle.

“Just remember it's not a race. This is for charity.”

“OH I KNOW THAT! YOU JUST HAVE TO MAKE SURE YOU TELL UNDYNE THAT. SHE CAN GET VERY COMPETITIVE YOU KNOW!” You giggle. “NOW THAT I'M THINKING ABOUT, IF YOU'RE GOING TO ATTEND AND CHEER ME ON, WE SHOULD PACK YOU UP SOME SNACKS AND DRINKS! IT IS GOING TO BE A LONG MARATHON AFTER ALL!” You blink.

“Oh um... I-I can just buy things from the concession stands. It's no big deal Papyrus.”

“NONSENSE! THE MARATHON IS GOING TO LAST FOR ALMOST FIVE HOURS!”

“P-Papyrus you do know that ten percent of the profits made from each working stand goes towards the charity right? It's why they're there. To provide refreshments as well as support the marathon.”

“OF COURSE I KNOW THAT. BUT ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT WITHIN THE ALMOST FIVE HOUR PERIOD YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO LAST YOU THROUGH IT? THE PRICES CAN BE OUTRAGOUS.”

“W-Well I... Y-You have a point. I do need to save up. I-I guess... packing some water and a few snacks wouldn't hurt.” He nods.

“INDEED! NOW THEN, LET US TAKE A TRIP TO THE GROCERY STORE YES?” You blink, surprised.

“O-Oh! You... You wanna go now.”

“OF COURSE! BESIDES, WE NEED A FEW THINGS FOR DINNER ANYWAY.”

“Oh um... okay then. Give me a few?”

“OF COURSE! I WILL MEET YOU AT THE CAR!” He walks out of your room, closing the door behind and you let out a sigh, looking at the water. Oh right. You still had that. You take a sip and instantly feel relief yet also energized as you feel the familiar tingle. You chuckle a little. Magic water. At least you were feeling better.

Chapter Text

Papyrus had woken you and Sans up at an early time. Yes the marathon started at noon sharp but because of the amount of participants participating, Papyrus had to be at registration between seven thirty and eleven since it was Papyrus, he wanted to get there before the registration even started. You and Sans fell asleep on the ride to the city, only to wake up to the sound of an excited Papyrus as he found a parking space. After getting a cooler and two folding chairs out of the trunk, the three of you lugged your way to registration.

“YOU TWO GO FIND A PLACE TO SET UP! I WILL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY!” Papyrus says with enthusiasm. With a sleepy nod, you and Sans walk around and find a decent enough spot. As you set up, Sans is already asleep in one of the chairs. You chuckle a little and look around. You were kind of surprised to see so many people already here and setting and signing up. You were even more surprised at the amount of stands that were setting up. You've never really been to any of the marathons in person. Shoot, you've never even watched them on television. You usually heard about how it went from your co-workers. Not that you weren't interested. You would donate some money every time the marathon came around since your old job would have a donations box in the break room.

“YO PUNK!” Before you can even register the voice you're suddenly picked up and squeezed in a bear hug. You squeal in surprise, which startles Sans awake, only to look up and see a smiling Undyne. “Good ta see you here!” She says. You give an awkward chuckle.

“H-Hi Undyne. G-Good morning.” She places you down and you wobble a bit. “You seem really excited.”

“Heck yeah I am! Oh! Wait one second!” She turns around and you see her scan the area before she lifts up her hand and waves, shouting, “Alphy! Over here!” You blink in surprise. Alphy? As in Alphys? Her girlfriend? You stare in the direction she's looking at, looking for Alphys. Grant it you may not know what she looks like but from what Undyne has told you, she's a shy individual-

Oh my God. You stare as a rather short, yellow lizard type monster struggles through the growing crowd nervously, waving and giving a nervous smile to Undyne before walking over. She was shorter than you and Sans. She was actually kind of cute.

“Y-You sure are e-extra hyped for this Un-Undyne.” She stutters. “J-Just remember this isn't a r-race. D-Don't get too competitive. A-And remember n-no magic.” Undyne laughs.

“Please! I don't need magic to win this thing!”

“A-Again, not a race.” Undyne waves a dismissive hand.

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway!” You practically fall forward as Undyne slaps your back, a little too hard. “Y/n! This is Alphys! Alphys, this Y/n.” You fidget and give a nervous smile and Alphys does the same.

“N-Nice to meet you.” She says.

“S-Same.” You say. “I uh... I heard a lot of good things about you.” You watch as her face turns red and she hides her face in her hands.

“Y-You have? Oh geeze...” She then taps the tips of her claws together. “I've uh... h-heard a little about y-you as well. U-Undyne really seems to have t-taken a liking to you.” You flush a little and look at Undyne, who's just smiling. “S-So um... a-are you here to support Undyne?”

“and papyrus.” Sans says, startling both you and Alphys.

“O-O-Oh! H-Hi Sans! I-I didn't even s-see you.” He shrugs.

“no biggie al.”

“I-I heard all about P-Papyrus' progress through Undyne. A-And not just about the tr-training for the marathon. H-His physical exam is soon is-isn't it? H-He must be nervous.” Sans waves a dismissive hand.

“naaah. c'mon alphys, this is paps we're talkin' about. he's more than well prepared. been workin' himself down to the bone getting ready for this. couldn't be more proud of him.” You can help but shake your head and chuckle a little at Sans' attempt for a joke, to which he chuckles. “what? not tickling your funny bone ? tibia honest though my puns aren't all that great in the morning. i'm better at ribbin' in the afternoon.” You snort a little, as well as Alphys, and Undyne groans and rolls her eye, which was then accompanied by an even louder, more familiar groan.

“HONESTLY SANS, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT TIME OF DAY IT IS YOUR PUNS WILL ALWAYS BE AWFUL!” You turn and see Papyrus approaching, wearing his assigned number. You blink and look at Undyne. She doesn't have one.

“Lookin' good Papyrus!” She says, grabbing him and putting him into a head lock. “You better watch out because I'm going to be putting in a hundred and ten percent into this marathon!”

“NOOOO! DO NOT NOOGIE THE SKELETON!” You giggle a little.

“hey uh, 'dyne?” Sans says, getting everyone's attention. “kinda hard to put in a hundred and ten percent when you're not even registered yet.”

“H-He's right Undyne. Y-You should go get in line before it g-gets too late.” Alphys says.

“I know, I know. I just wanted you to meet Y/n first.” She releases Papyrus, who rubs the top of his head, and runs off with a smile. “I'll see you guys in a bit!” You chuckle and are about to sit down in the second chair before realizing you and Sans are no longer alone. You turn to Alphys.

“Would um... you like to sit?” You offer. She flinches and flushes.

“O-Oh! I-It's fine. I-I'm good. Br-Brought my own chair.” You then watch as she digs out a phone from her pocket and points it to an empty spot. You then jump back as a folding chair appears out of nowhere. You stare in awe only to flush when you hear Sans chuckle.

“dunno why you're so surprised y/n.” You turn and look at him. “she just used a dimensional box.” You go wide eyed.

“W-Wait...” You look back at the chair and then at Alphys, who is looking at you confused, before looking back at Sans. “Y-You mean... The dimensional box isn't just some... teched-out cardboard box?”

“W-What?” Alphys says, confused. “Of course it i-isn't. It's also a ph-phone application.” You look at Alphys as she takes a seat in the chair. “A-Anyone can download it. It's compatible with even the o-oldest phone models since it's a c-combination of science and m-magic.” You dig out your phone and Alphys nods. “Y-Yeah. E-Even with that kind. A-Are you saying you don't h-have it downloaded b-but you have things in a box?” You give an awkward chuckle.

“W-Well uh... In a sense.”

“W-would you like me to download it for you? I-It's a quick and easy p-process.”

“Would you? That would be amazing.” You hand her your phone and watch as she does... something. You can't really tell. She then hands it back. That was rather quick.

“Th-There you go.” You grab it and look through your phone for anything different. You notice on the menu is a blue capital 'D' and the text under it reads 'D-Box.' You give Alphys a smile.

“Thank you very much.” She flushes.

“N-Not a problem.” You sit down in the chair and Alphys says, “S-So um... you're here for Papyrus?”

“THAT'S RIGHT! Y/N HAS BEEN SO SUPPORTIVE THESE PAST FEW WEEKS! A REAL GOOD FRIEND!” Papyrus says while stretching.

“H-How do you guys know each other?” Papyrus stops and looks at you and you noticed that Sans flinched a little from the corner of your eye.

“UM... W-WELL...” You smile and chuckle at Papyrus.

“It's alright. It's not exactly a secret guys.” You look at Alphys, who's looking at you in confusion. “I um... I'm living with Sans and Papyrus temporarily. You see, I lost my job and was evicted from my apartment and Papyrus was a real sweetheart and offered me a place to stay until I found myself a new place.”

“O-Oh. I-I'm sorry to hear about that.” You shrug. Undyne must not have told her that part.

“It's fine. I mean... Papyrus has been a real help. I got a job at Muffet's bakery because of him.” Her eyes go wide.

“W-Wait seriously? Y-You got a job with Muffet?” You nod.

“Yeah and it's been really good so far. She's been so kind and helpful. Grant it I'm on a trial period but um... I think I might actually have this job locked in.”

“Th-That's pretty neat. So I guess that m-means I'll see you at the bakery s-some times.” You blink.

“Oh?” She nods.

“Y-Yeah. U-Undyne and I like to have these m-marathons of our own.”

“Oh right! Undyne did mention that to me last week.” She stares in surprise.

“Sh-She did?” You nod.

“A marathon of watching nothing but shows? Sounds like a great time.”

“O-Oh! W-Well um... F-Friends of friends are always invited. I-I know Papyrus and Sans couldn't m-make it last week because Papyrus had to f-focus on training and studying for his police exam coming up b-but when the next one comes around just k-know that you're invited.” You smile.

“Thank you Alphys.” She flushes.

“I-It's not a problem... So um... D-Do you like... anime?” You flinch. Anime? As in... those Japanese animations?

“I mean... I know what it is. I haven't exactly... seen any particular ones as of late but um... I heard they can get really good.” You lied. You had no idea how good anime really was.

“O-Oh they can be. There are s-s-so many different types that there's always s-something for everybody. Y-You should most definitely come to the next marathon.” Well that... sounded reassuring. Always something for everybody huh? Maybe whenever you do go over you might find something you'll like.

“So long as it's on the weekends, it shouldn't be a problem. I have Sundays off and I work Monday through Saturday.”

“Th-That's perfect! Th-The marathons usually turn into a giant sleepover anyway!” She was getting really excited and to be honest, so were you... until your face dropped and you paled as you heard Papyrus say in utter excitement,

“FRISK!” You whip your head in the direction of Papyrus and stare as you see... two tall goat monsters making their way over. You then stare as Papyrus picks up and twirls a teenager around in his arms. You know that teenager... You know those monsters...

O-Oh my God... You shrink as much as you can and try to slide out of your chair. You flinch though when you hear Sans.

“y/n? what're you doing?” You flick your eyes at him before looking at the monsters and teenager again. Sans follows your gaze before saying with a chuckle, “ahh. i see. don't worry about it y/n. they're very nice people.”

“I-I can't I-I-I... I need to go. I-I'm not prepared for this...!” You shoot up and quickly walk off in the opposite direction, ducking and weaving between the crowd. Where did all these people suddenly come from...? You hear Sans call your name but you don't stop and look back. You feel your heart racing a mile a minute. No way. It was just no way. You were not mentally prepared to meet the KING, the QUEEN, and the AMBASSADOR of monster kind- You suddenly stop and fumble forward as you had ran into someone, taking them down with you.

“O-Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!” You say, scrambling up. “I-I wasn't watching where I was going...!” You help the man you knocked over up and he gives a groan.

“N-Nah, nah. I wasn't watching were I was going. Are you okay...?” He stops and stares at you and you stare at him. He was just a little taller than you, kind of lanky but not skinny and had shaggy red hair and emerald green eyes. “U-Um...” He finally says, getting your attention. You flush a little as he's staring like he was in awe of you. You fidget and look down. “S-Sorry sorry just... I don't mean to stare... Um...” He holds out his hand and gives a shy smile. “H-Hi. I'm Finn.” You flush a little and shake his hand. Thank God working at Muffet's has somewhat helped with your people skills... Somewhat.

“H-Hi. I'm Y/n.” The two of you let go and he rubs the back of his neck.

“So um... You participating in the race or just watching?”

“W-Watching. Er, cheering, actually. I-I'm here with some friends to cheer on a friend.”

“Oh, cool. Say um... c-can I buy you a drink? A-As an apology. I mean, I did run into you.” You flush and flinch and wave your hands.

“O-Oh no! I-I mean, I'm the one at fault! I knocked you down! L-Let me!” He gives a small laugh.

“How about we buy each other a drink?” You flush and nod. That... made sense? The two of you walked to the nearest stand and waited in line. “So uh... I'm not... very good at small talk.” He says with an awkward chuckle. You give one yourself.

“M-Me either. B-Believe it or not I'm... actually really shy.” He lets out a laugh and you flush.

“S-Sorry, sorry. I don't mean to laugh but... me too.” You blink in surprise. He chuckles. “Yeah I... Believe it or not I'm... like really shy... Especially when I'm around pretty girls like yourself.” Your face explodes and you feel yourself let out a squeak which makes your face feel even hotter.

“O-Oh I-I'm n-not...! Th-that...! U-um...!” You fidget and keep your eyes on the ground. Wow where did that come from?!

“I-I'm sorry was that too forward?” You glance up at him and he's looking away, guilty. “I-I didn't mean to make you feel awkward. I-I just thought you heard that all the time.” You let out a nervous chuckle.

“I've um... I've heard it a-a few times but um... I never really...” You fidget. Change the subject, change the subject! “W-What about you?”

.......

The HELL was that question?! You flush and shrink into your jacket as he stares at you in surprise, his face red. He then lets out a laugh and you cover your face. “I-I'm sorry I...! I don't know wh-why I even said that! I-I...! H-Hhhh!”

“Pfft! I-It's okay, snrk! B-Believe it or not, I get told that a lot but uh... all the girls that say it to me aren't really my type anyway.” You bring your hands down slightly and notice that you and Finn are up next in line. “So uh... you know what you want?” You glance up and look at the drink menu. Cheapest thing available was water.

“I-I'll just... take a water. A-And you?”

“A water? Are you sure?” You nod. “Okay. Well um... I hope you don't mind but I'm not exactly... awake yet so uh... I'd take a coffee. Black if that's okay?” You nod. You could handle that. You weren't a major coffee drinker but when you needed the energy you usually got one from Muffet before your shift started... Which brought an unsettling feeling in your gut. You're reminded of how Muffet makes her products. When the two of you approach, you both say the other's order and when you go to pay, you freeze. Your wallet wasn't with you. But... that's not possible. You know you had it on you when you arrived... D-did... Did you leave it behind with Sans and Alphys? You turn to Finn to say something only to stare as he's paying for both.

“O-Oh my God I-I'm... I'm so sorry I-I thought I had my wallet and-”

“It's alright, really.” He says with a smile. “At least now I'm making it up to you.”

“B-But I'm not making it up to you.” He hands you the water bottle and the two of you move away for the next customer.

“But you have.” You blink, confused and he gives a nervous chuckle. “I got to know you a bit.” You flush and look down at the water bottle, fiddling with the barely loose wrapping.

“I-I'm sorry.” He chuckles.

“Don't worry about it. Seriously.” He takes a drink out of his coffee and you look around. There were a lot of people and monsters around. “S-Say um...” You look at him and he's flushing a little, glancing between you and his cup. “Do you think like... We could have each other's number?” You stare in surprise.

“O-Oh uh...”

“I-I don't mean anything weird by it or anything. Just... well you seem like a really nice person. Maybe like... we could be friends. We already have something in common.” You flush, as well as him, and you give a small smile.

"Um... S-sure."

"Yeah?" He says, a little excited. You nod and pull out your phone and you see him do the same only to stare at yours. You flush, a little embarrassed. From the looks of it, Finn probably had the newest, latest phone model. "Oh wow. Those things are still around? I haven't seen a flip phone in ages." He then flinches. "I-I'm not trying to make fun, honest. I'm just legit surprised."

"I-It's fine. I-I know it's a rare thing to see but it gets the job done. Does what it's supposed to do. A-And it's sturdy ya know?"

"Oh yeah definitely." You exchange numbers and give him a smile.

"So um... I should get back to my friends..." You stop as you look around. Wait... Where were you? "U-Um..."

"What's wrong?"

"I um... h-heh... I-I don't remember which way I came from..." You say with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh. Well uh... Lemme help you out yeah? You said you're with friends here right? What do they look like?"

"W-Well um... one of them is a lizard I think? The others are-"

"y/n!" You stop and turn around and scan the area before you spot Sans making his way through and to you. You give a sigh of relief seeing him before stiffening, remembering the reason why you walked off. "geeze kid you sure walk fast when you want to." Sans says, reaching you. You then see him flick his eye lights towards Finn and you swear you saw his smile tighten and eye lights dilate for just a split second. You frown a little. You knew Sans didn't like strangers, having personal experience. You're still pretty sure he's still being cautious with you, which you couldn't blame him. But... You didn't like that look.

"S-Sorry I just... I don't think I can go back. N-Not if those three are going to be there." Sans shifts his attention to you, giving a worried look. "I-I'm not mentally prepared."

"okay, okay." He brings a hand to your back and... rubs. That's... strange behavior. You learned a lot about Sans during your time with him and Papyrus. One of the things being that he wasn't exactly fond of physical touch unless it was by Papyrus, and on some occasions Undyne. He wouldn't touch someone unless he had to and he would avoid situations where getting touched was going to happen.

You look up at him and notice he's... giving a rather caring yet guilty look. "you don't have to go back." This was definitely weird...

"Um..." Finn says, getting both of your attention. You flinch and flush.

"O-Oh my gosh I'm sorry Finn. Th-This is the friend I came here with today. H-His brother is participating in the marathon."

"Oh. Neat. Nice to meet you." He holds out his hand and you feel the hand on your back flex and stiffen. Sans doesn't return the shake, his other hand shoved protectively in his jacket pocket. You look back at Sans only to flinch. He was looking... rather calm. As if nothing was bothering him. You knew that look. He used that look on you.

“'sup.” He says casually before looking at you, making Finn drop his hand and drum his fingers against his coffee cup nervously. “friend of yours?” You flinch.

“I-I mean... I don't know?” He raises a brow.

“I mean,” Finn says, getting both of your attention. “I would like to be... B-But that's up to her obviously.” He gives a nervous chuckle. “W-We just met. Literally just... ran into each other.” You flush in embarrassment.

“oh. i'm not interrupting anything am i?”

“N-No uh... I was actually going to find my way back but um... I-I got lost. A-A lot of people have suddenly showed up and I got disoriented.” Sans snorts.

“obviously.” You flush. And then... another odd behavior from Sans. He brought his hand up and around your shoulders, giving the far one a soft squeeze. “well, remember,” He motions his head behind. “we're seated a bit ways over there.” You nod and he smiles, pats your shoulder, gives a glance at Finn, and then walks off. You let out breath you didn't know you were holding and watched as Sans disappeared into the crowd.

“Hey um...” You look at Finn, who's glancing between you and the crowd nervously. “Are you okay?” You give him a confused look.

“Y-Yeah, why?”

“Well I mean... Don't get me wrong, I don't know the guy but... Is he uh... your boyfriend?” Your face explodes and frantically wave your hands.

“N-No, no! H-He's just a friend!” You and Sans? No way! You barely knew each other plus even if you two did hit it off you honestly feel like you weren't his type... Was he your type...? Your face explodes more at the thought. Why were you thinking this suddenly?!

“S-Sorry, sorry. I just... No offense but I know uh... possessive behavior when I see it.” You stop all movement and stare at Finn.

“P-Possessive?” Was... Was Sans being possessive...? No. He was being protective. You knew what that looked like, Papyrus being the main example. “N-No he's... he was just being a little protective. I mean, I am his friend and... I did kind of... storm off earlier before I ran into you... A-Also um... Please don't take offense but he uh... doesn't like strangers.” You give a nervous chuckle. “I-I should know. I mean, I was a stranger once myself to him and he was very protective of his brother whenever I was around since I was friends with his brother first.” You see Finn hesitate, giving you a look of uncertainty.

“I-I swear, I'm fine. But um...” You flush a little. “That was nice of you to be concerned.” He flushes and gives a nervous smile.

“W-Well yeah I mean...” He then frowns. “I know that abuse, be it physical or mental, can change a person and...” He trails off and you frown. Did he experience abuse?

“I-I'm sorry if that brought up anything for you.” He gives a small smile.

“It's fine. But seriously, you're okay?” You nod.

“Yeah. Promise.”

“Okay.” He hesitates a little before saying, “So um... do you mind if I asked why you stormed off?” You flinch.

“Oh um...! I-I uh... g-got overwhelmed. Sans and Papyrus' friends started showing up and... I don't know them at all and I just didn't want to seem like a third wheel.” You say with an awkward chuckle.

“Ah. That's understandable.” A thought occurs to you.

“Say um...” You start, getting his attention. “So... why are you here at the marathon?” He chuckles and gives a smile.

“I'm here supporting a pal as well.” You then see his face change to surprise. “Oh crap um... I-I should really go find him. Before you I was heading to registration to meet up with him.” You flinch.

“O-Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!” He gives a chuckle.

“It's fine. I'm only a little late. Besides, he's understanding.” You give an uncertain look and he chuckles again. “Seriously, it's fine. So uh, I'll see you later? Maybe? After the marathon?” You give a small smile.

“M-Maybe.” He smiles.

“Cool. If not, that's cool too. You have my number.” You nod. “Well, see ya Y/n.” He then walks off and you look in the direction of where Sans pointed before he left you. You then suddenly hear your phone go off and see a message from Sans.

Sans

tori and asgore left. guess frisk is taking part in the marathon too. they're in a long line at registration. it's safe to come back for the moment if you want.

That gave you some relief. You put your phone in your pocket and when you went to move you felt something in your back pocket. You go to check and stare. It was your wallet. But... you left that behind right? Did Sans slip it into the pocket when he approached...? You shake your head. Well, you had no need for it now.

***

You had to admit, you would've thought watching people run throughout the city for almost five hours would make you bored but you were enticed the entire time, cheering for Papyrus and Undyne and sometimes Frisk. The monster ambassador was definitely older than what they were depicted like in the park statue. Although, halfway through, they called it quits. They were at their limit, like the many others before them, but you could tell from the smile on their face that they had the best time ever.

But then, after getting picked up from the king and queen, the three royals sat with you, Sans and Alphys, which wrecked your nerves tenfold. When they introduced themselves to you all you could do was glance around nervously, to which Frisk laughed at because you reminded them of Alphys, who flushed and hid her face in her hands. Sans did surprise them though when he mentioned you were... his and Papyrus' new roommate. Grant it that's what you were but... it was only temporary... and Sans didn't mention that part.

The rest of the time, you were positioned on Sans' other side, away from the others, focusing on the screen and thankfully the others were too busy chatting amongst themselves to notice you. When the final stretch came around, you couldn't help but sit at the edge of your seat in excitement. There were still a handful of people who were still going strong, most likely because they had been training for this just like Papyrus and Undyne have been. To you, it didn't matter if Papyrus and Undyne came in the top fifteen or so. You were proud of them for making it so far after all the hard work they've been putting out.

You stand up out of your seat. You were thankful that Papyrus had indeed gotten to registration early. You and Sans had picked out excellent seats right by the starting line. You stare with excitement in your eyes and a wide smile on your face as you can see the remaining group fast approaching. You can see Papyrus and Undyne. You cheer. Who cares if it got lost in the roar of the crowd? You were just happy.

When Papyrus and Undyne crossed at the same time, you jumped up and down and rushed over to them, water bottles in hand. The marathon was over. Your friends were awesome.

“Papyrus! Undyne!” You say excitedly. The two are obviously catching their breath but they're grinning like mad at each other, the obvious look that they had fun on their faces. They looked at you when you called them and gave an even bigger smile. “You guys were awesome!” The two laugh.

“W-We really were w-weren't we?” Undyne said. You hand them the bottles.

“I'm so proud of you guys!” You instantly lunge and hug Papyrus with a squeal of happiness and before you could register what it was you just did, he's picking you up and twirling you around excitedly.

“THANK YOU Y/N! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF OURSELVES AS WELL!” He sets you down and you're in a fit of giggles. You then stop cold as you hear Asgore, Toriel and Frisk behind, congratulating Papyrus and Undyne. You shrink and back away as far as you could only to bump into Sans, who chuckles. You flush.

“S-Sorry.”

“it's fine. i don't think i've ever seen you this excited before. not even when paps found you the job at muffet's or when muffet hired you.” You smile up at him.

“I'm just really proud of them. I know how hard they've been working for this.” You then flinch, realizing that could've came across as something else. “N-Not that I'm saying I wouldn't be proud of them if they didn't make as far as they did-!” Sans laughs and you shrink and flush in embarrassment.

“i know what you meant y/n.” He pats your shoulder. “you overthink things too much.” He heads over and joins the group around Papyrus and Undyne and you smile only to get your phone out curiously as it went off. You look. A text message from Finn.

Finn

Congratulations to your friend! Don't worry about meeting up. Gotta take my friend home lol. Maybe next time though? We could like... set up a hang out date?

You smile and reply.

You

Thanks! I'm really proud of him! And that's totally fine. Tell your friend to get rest and plenty of fluids! Also... I'll think about it. My work schedule is pretty packed. I do have Sunday's off though so those days could work.

“Whatcha doin'~?” You practically jump ten feet in the air and look up from your phone and stare at... a smiling Frisk in front of you. You pale and stutter and fidget and avoid eye contact.

“I-I-I... U-U-Um...” Frisk gives you a look of concern and steps back.

“Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you.” You say nothing and notice Frisk shift nervously.

“S-S-Sorry...” You finally let out. “I-It's just...” You trail off. Frisk gives a chuckle and you glance up slightly.

“You're intimidated. I get it.” You flush a little.

“I-I'm so sorry I... I-I just... I'm not...” Frisk puts their hands behind their back and rocks on their feet.

“No yeah I totally get it. You're shy. Also like... if I weren't me I would totally be intimidated by the king, queen and ambassador of monster kind too if they just suddenly appeared out of nowhere.” Frisk smiles. “I promise we don't bite.” You chuckle a little and see that makes Frisk smile a bit bigger. “So you're Sans and Papyrus' roommate? I didn't know they were looking for one.” You fidget.

“A-Actually um... I-It was offered? And I took it? I-I was in need of a temporary place to stay and... Papyrus being the sweetheart he is, offered and... h-heh, here I am.” Frisk laughs.

“Of course. Isn't Papyrus just awesome?” You smile and nod.

“He's the best.”

“Bet Sans didn't like it though.” You give an awkward chuckle.

“Y-Yeah. He can be... intimidating.” Frisk snorts.

“I know. So, how long have you been with them?”

“Th-Three weeks.” Frisk looks at you... surprised.

“Really? Only three weeks?” You hear the surprise in their voice. You watch as Frisk looks back at the group, go into thought, and then look back at you and whisper, “Are you doing okay over there?” You blink. What?

“Y-Yeah I'm fine... W-Why?” Frisk glances back once more before getting a little closer to you and whispering,

“You can be honest with me. Has Sans been bullying you at all?” You flinch, or rather jump, at the statement.

“N-No, no!” You whisper back. “I-I mean... Sure we had a rough first week when we met b-but... he's been nothing but kind since. D-Don't get me wrong, no doubt he's still probably weary of me b-but it's understandable. He wasn't exactly... informed about Papyrus' hasty decision until it was too late...”

“Are you sure?” You nod.

“Yes. I promise.” Frisk gives a small look of uncertainty before nodding.

“Alright.” Frisk then gives you a look of suspicion and says normally, “I'm not going to have to worry about you am I?” You wave yours hands and shake your head frantically.

“N-No, no I swear! I-I would never do anything to hurt either of them!” Frisk gives a big smile and chuckles.

“Ahh, I'm just messin' with ya. It's kind of obvious you would never do something like that.” You flush and give an awkward chuckle only to stare as Frisk holds out a hand rather awkwardly, their palm facing the ground. “I really would like to get to know you though and be your friend. Anybody who can become friends with Papyrus AND Sans deserves a medal. Those two are on opposite sides of the spectrum it's amazing how well they work together and can make a common friend, especially Sans.” You give a small smile and shake Frisk's hand only for your face to explode in red as you hear the rather loud sound of 'phftftftftftft!'

Frisk laughs their head off and you hear Sans, Toriel, and Asgore howling in laughter. You look at the group and see said three bent over in laughter while Papyrus looks unamused and Undyne rolls her eye and chuckles and Alphys hides her face in her hands. You then stare as Frisk holds up their hand and... a mini whoopee cushion is rested on their palm.

“Ahh man! The ol' whoopie cushion in the hand gag! It's always funny!” Frisk laughs. You blink, registering what happened, before you give a rather big smile and laugh along with everyone else. At least you were no longer nervous.

***

You had no idea Sans could drive. You've always seen him in the back seat whenever Papyrus dragged him to the grocery store. You had said goodbye to everyone, even Toriel and Asgore, albeit it was an awkward goodbye but at least Frisk broke the ice with you first so you weren't that nervous, and when you got to the car you sat in the back while Papyrus took passenger.

“You can drive?” You asked in awe when Sans took driver and started to adjust everything for him. He looks at you through the mirror and winks and says with a chuckle,

“i can do a lot of things y/n.” You flush and say nothing as you've embarrassed yourself enough and watch in surprise as Sans seamlessly pulls out of parking space, drive through the city and onto the road back towards the house. “so i think we should all go and celebrate.” He says along the way. “whaddya think paps?”

“THAT SOUNDS LIKE A WONDERFUL IDEA!” Papyrus says excitedly. “OF COURSE I WOULD LIKE TO GO HOME AND CHANGE FIRST FOR I AM NOT IN PROPER CELEBRATING ATTIRE!”

“'course bro. got any place in particular in mind?”

“SO LONG AS IT'S NOT ANY PLACE WITH TOO MANY GREASY DISHES, I DO NOT CARE!” Sans chuckles.

“cool. and y/n can pay.” You flinch and snap your attention to the front. What did you just miss?! Sans snickers and Papyrus scolds him.

“SANS THAT'S NOT FUNNY!” Papyrus turns around and gives an apologetic smile. “DON'T LISTEN TO HIM Y/N, HE'S NOT SERIOUS.” Sans snickers.

“how can i be serious if i'm sans?”

“SANS OH MY GOD!” You relax a little, finally understanding that Sans was just joking, and chuckle a little as Sans makes more jokes and Papyrus keeps protesting against them. Today had been a very good day.

Chapter Text

He hated his heats. It meant leaving Papyrus alone for an entire week and sure he trusted his brother to be home alone, he was a grown skeleton after all, but he was still Sans' baby brother and the fact that Papyrus was currently going through school and training to become a police officer worried him. It may have been four years since the barrier broke and monster returned to living on the surface but the racism and danger still lurked around every corner for monsters. Becoming an officer of the law would just put a bigger target on his brother's back. Sans has seen how cops are treated sometimes and how there were actually dirty cops. He didn't want his brother hurt or framed.

And stars he loved his brother but he was just way too trusting of strangers, especially human strangers. It was always up to Sans to judge them and scare them off accordingly. He didn't hate all humans, just those with bad intentions, since intent was everything to a monster. Which was why he was so surprised when he returned home and found a woman he's never seen before in the main bathroom, practically almost naked, and Papyrus no where to be found in the house. If it wasn't for the fact that he just walked in on a lady and made a complete fool of himself, he would've checked her immediately. Instead he quickly backed out, closing the door, and looked towards the guest room before walking in and looking around. He saw the dimensional box on the floor and looked around the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for the box.

He heard a gasp and turned as he saw the woman, dressed. She looked... absolutely terrified. In fact she was actually shaking. He glances awkwardly away and gives an awkward chuckle.

“er... sorry about... that.” He said. He looks back at her and sees her flinch. He wasn't even trying yet to frighten her. She sure were jumpy. He sweats a little as she says nothing and is just staring at him in terror. “so uh... who're you?” He asks, hoping for an answer. Instead she flinches again and stares straight down at floor. Geeze. He doesn't think he can recall ever meeting a human who was so scared like this. She didn't seem like a bad person. He hasn't checked her yet to make sure though.

He stared as he saw her body shake and she started mumbling in a panic. He barely caught the words coming out of her mouth.

"Wh-Who am I...?! What's my name...?!" He heard. Uh oh.

“whoa, whoa. easy miss. i ain't gonna hurt ya or anything. i just wanna know what you're doing in my house.” He says in assurance, hoping to calm her down. He hears her take many shaky breaths and stutter out her response.

“U-U-Um... P-P-P... I-I-I...” She swallows, eyes still on the floor. “I-I-Inv-v-vite... P-P-Pap...”

“papyrus invited you?” He put together. She quickly nods, not looking up. Papyrus... Invited her. Okay. Not the first time his brother invited people over... But what was she doing in the house alone? Where was Papyrus? “huh...” He goes to move towards her and he stops as she flinches and back away. He notices her shake as he stands in front of her.

“l-look, miss. i'm just gonna... head out to the living room. i'm gonna call paps. why don't you... stay in here and calm down?” He really needed to know what was going on. As much as he didn't like strangers, the fact that this stranger was just so... timid, even more so than Alphys ever has been, he can't help but feel... A little pity. She says nothing in return, still staring at the ground. He takes it as his sign to leave and does so. He enters the living room, pulling out his phone and dialing Papyrus' number whilst sitting on the couch. The call was answered immediately, as per usual.

"SANS?" Came his brother's questioning voice. He let out a small sigh of relief. At least his brother sounded okay. "IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT?" He chuckles.

"yeah paps um... i'm home early. heat's gone. so um, where are ya?"

" OH. " He heard the shock in Papyrus' voice. " UM! W-WELL, I'M ACTUALLY A FEW MINUTES AWAY FROM THE HOUSE. JUST WENT TO GET A FEW THINGS. "

"uh huh. so uh... is there something you wanna tell me?"

"I WOULD RATHER DISCUSS THIS FACE TO FACE. I'LL SEE YOU IN A FEW MINUTES."

"sure paps." He hangs up and lets out a sigh, dragging a hand down his face. He didn't like how Papyrus sounded. Like he was trying not to expose a secret... And the secret was the mystery human woman in the house. When Papyrus walked through the door Sans sat up a little straighter in the couch.

"BROTHER. WELCOME HOME." He says, trying, and failing, to be inconspicuous. Sans gives a nervous chuckle.

"th-thanks pap. s-so uh... how was your week? who's the girl?"

"RIGHT. SO UM... WELL... HER NAME IS Y/N. SHE'S A FRIEND AND..." He really didn't like how nervous Papyrus was getting. Now he was getting a little suspicious of the woman. "C-COULD YOU... WAIT JUST A SECOND SANS SO I CAN GET HER?"

"sure bro." He watches Papyrus place down some grocery bags and head towards the guest bedroom. He can make out Papyrus' half of the conversation and when he finally walks out with the woman next to him he says,

“BROTHER, I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO MEET Y/N. SHE'S GOING TO BE STAYING WITH US FOR A LITTLE WHILE.”

WHAT?! His smile tightens and twitches and he flicks his eyes lights towards her, which she notices and flinch and look down. Staying? She was staying ? “Y/N, THIS IS MY BROTHER SANS.”

“H-H-Hello...” She says meekly and flustered. He gives her a quick once over, trying not to judge her just yet. He had to make sure he heard that right.

“h-heh. um... i-i'm sorry bro did you say she was... staying with us?”

“JUST FOR AWHILE! SHE GOT KICKED OUT OF HER APARTMENT AND LOST HER JOB! I'M JUST TRYING TO BE A GOOD FRIEND AND HELPING HER OUT.” Of course. Leave it to Papyrus to take in a homeless person. He couldn't help but be on high alert now. He knew nothing about this woman, this 'Y/n' if that even was her name. But he couldn't let Papyrus know how much of a wreck he was inside.

“h-heh. of course. that's very cool of you paps. so uh... how come i've never seen or heard of her before?”

“I MET HER JUST A LITTLE AFTER YOU LEFT.” His left socket twitches. So... she's been living here for a week already... with his brother... A complete stranger. Why didn't Papyrus send him a text? He would've read it once he was over his heat. He probably would be able to handle the situation better.

“is that so?” He says with a sigh. “welp,” He gets up from the couch and stands his full height. He needed to let her know that he wasn't fond of her. He was actually a little surprised by her sudden boldness to look up at him as he stood in front of her. He gives his best friendly look, as to not discourage Papyrus, and he holds out his hand. “sorry about earlier. let's start over, yeah?” He watches as she observes his hand before hesitantly grabbing it. When she grabs his hand he made sure to get his message across by squeezing rather threateningly. He could see the surprise and nervousness on her face as he did.

“Y-Yeah. I would l-like that...” She says with an even more nervous smile. She didn't rat him out or react like he expected. Was she putting on a show for Papyrus as well? He gives a final squeeze before letting go and looking at his brother. He's ecstatic.

“I KNEW YOU TWO WOULD HIT IT OFF!” He says in excitement. They didn't but Papyrus didn't need to know that.

“totally bro. i don't mind her being here so long as she helps around the house.” If she was going to be here he was most definitely going to make sure she was kept busy so that she wouldn't try anything. But first, he needed to have a talk with her. “hey bro, you should probably start dinner. gotta make sure i-”

“SANS.” Papyrus said in a warning tone, to which he caught her staring at him in surprise. Ah. She was in for a treat if she had yet to hear Papyrus groan at his jokes.

“put some meat on my bones.” He says with a wink.

“GAH!” Papyrus groans loudly before stomping off towards the kitchen. He chuckles a little and then looks at her.

“if you don't mind paps i'm gonna steal our new roommate for a second.” He watches as she whips her head towards him in surprise and he sees her pale. Good.

“GO RIGHT AHEAD! YOU TWO BOND WHILE I MAKE SUPPER!” His brother says happily. He chuckles.

“let's head to your room pal.” He emphasized. He walks around her, heading towards the guest room and when he turns to look at her, he sees she hasn't moved. He figured it either had to be out of fear or didn't want to leave the comfort of Papyrus. If that was so, she was smart. But not smart enough. He reaches out, searching for her soul, and grabs her with his magic. He could see the surprise on her face as she suddenly started moving against her will. When she and him were safely in the room, he closed the door and released her, in which she quickly turned to face him only to stumble and fall back as he was right up on her. He dropped his facade.

“so,” He started. She kept eye contact with him and he could see the fear in her eyes. What was she guilty of? What lie did she tell his brother into convincing him to let a complete human stranger live with them, two monsters? “you're staying here with us huh? and all because my brother fell for your sob story.” He sees her flinch. So she was guilty of something. “i don't know if you've noticed, but my bro really likes to help those in need. but the fact that you are here in a complete stranger's house for not even knowing them for a week? what are you after? because i swear to god if you try anything funny with or around papyrus i will not hesitate to make sure you never see him again.” She was shaking, staring in fear. She couldn't even form a sentence.

“I-I-I... I-It's n-not...”

.........

Is he going too far? She was... really shaken. She honestly looked like she was going to pass out... He huffs.

“huh. you sure are timid. can't even speak right, you're so scared. then again... you are at my mercy.” She finally looks down, shrinking under his gaze. He then saw some tears start to form. She was... crying...? He couldn't let that cloud his judgment. “it doesn't matter.” He says. “one way or another i'll hear about why you're here and i'll learn your motive. in the mean time...” He extinguishes his eye lights and notices that the pause makes she look up at him only to flinch hard. “i w o u l d n 't t r y a n y t h i n g i f i w e r e y o u.” he says threateningly. She shakes and nod frantically, getting the message. He blinks, eye lights returning, and puts on a rather pleased smile, knowing that she was scared of him.

“good. i'll be keeping an eye socket on you.” He then turns around and walks out of the room, leaving her speechless. When he appears in the living room he hears Papyrus say to him,

“SAY SANS?” He looks over at him.

“yeah bro?”

“I KNOW YOU JUST GOT BACK AND THAT YOU'RE PROBABLY VERY UPSET AT THIS WHOLE SITUATION, BUT TRUST ME SANS. Y/N IS A REALLY GOOD PERSON! SHE'S GONE THROUGH A LOT AND HAS BEEN TRYING HER HARDEST TO FIND HERSELF A NEW JOB AND A PLACE OF HER OWN. AND WHEN SHE'S NOT DOING THAT SHE'S HELPING ME AROUND THE HOUSE! SO... GIVE HER A CHANCE?” He sighs a little. Bless his brother. He gives a nod.

“sure bro. i'll try.”

not.

***

He's been silently torturing Y/n for three days now whenever he was home and not 'working.' And yet somehow, she hasn't run for the hills yet. And what really surprised him was that when Papyrus was noticing how jittery she was, she didn't rat him out. Now be it was because she was terrified of him and was afraid he'd do something to her or she just didn't want to worry Papyrus, he didn't care. She was keeping your mouth shut and she gave the excuse it was just her extreme shyness. But then... after she said that, Papyrus had an idea that Sans wasn't fond of. Movie night. A chance for everyone to bond, as Papyrus put it.

Sans never really made the attempt at asking his brother how he even met Y/n and what sob story she told him to convince him to let her temporarily stay with them. He was too busy trying to make her life hell here. Dinner was spent mostly between her and Papyrus wondering what to watch. He didn't really care. He would throw his two sense in just to not make Papyrus suspicious, but in all honesty, he wasn't going to watch a movie. He was going to nap. He needed it anyway. He's spent the last three nights watching over her secretly, just in case, and looking through her things. It didn't help that apparently most of her belongings were in the dimensional box that was set in a corner. The only thing he found of hers outside of it was clothing and her phone, which had nothing suspicious on it.

When the time came Papyrus went to the guest room to fetch her, telling Sans to ready the television. She barely come out of the room, which irked him a little because it meant he couldn't keep an eye on her or intimidate her without Papyrus getting suspicious. Remote in hand he goes to the appropriate streaming app. He hears her and Papyrus coming into the living room. He glances over at her and smirks when she flinches before he looks at Papyrus with a smile as he sat down only to stare as his brother was... motioning her to sit between them. He looks at Papyrus nervously and glances over at her. She's terrified and nervous and declines the offer, ready to sit in the chair but... Stars above the moment she did that Papyrus had on a rather sad look and she caved and sat herself between them, Papyrus satisfied, him annoyed. He moves as much as he can away from her without being too suspicious.

“so,” He said, noticing her flinch and sit up straight. “what should we watch? i'm obviously down for anything.” He had the streaming app up and the three selected movies under 'watch later' on the screen, all of which he wasn't interested in the slightest, especially that Mettaton movie. And then... she said something he knew she was going to instantly regret.

“U-Um... I-I vote for uh... Mettaton's movie. I've never really seen any of his works-” She's cut off by Papyrus' surprised gasp and stare.

“YOU HAVEN'T?!” His brother exclaims. “WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO EARLIER?!” He reached across and grabbed the remote from Sans, who was already holding it to him. “YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE METTATON'S MOVIES! WE SHOULD ALL MAKE A DAY OF IT AND HAVE A MARATHON!”

“yeah. sounds good paps.” Sans said nonchalantly. “say uh, are any of these snacks human safe? don't want our roomie here getting sick on monster food.” Not that he cared. He just wanted a moment with her. Papyrus opens his mouth before stopping and staring, realization on his face.

“OH. NOT A PROBLEM! I CAN JUST QUICKLY HEAT UP A BAG OF POPCORN JUST FOR YOU Y/N AND I'LL MAKE SURE NOT TO ADD MAGIC TO IT!”

“O-Oh, Papyrus that's alr-” But he's already up and heading towards the kitchen. Sans chuckles, getting her attention. This was going to be interesting.

“heh. you have no idea the kind of rabbit hole you just jumped down by picking a mettaton movie.” He can see the anxiousness on her face. He smirks and leans back into the couch to get comfortable. “and the best part is you get to suffer through it alone.” He watched as she had her internal panic attack only to be distracted when Papyrus came back with a bowl of popcorn, which she accepted nervously.

“Th-Thanks Papyrus.”

“OF COURSE!” He sits back into the couch, a small bowl of popcorn in one hand and remote in the other, selecting the movie. “PREPARE TO BE LEFT SPEECHLESS BY THE ACTING WONDER THAT IS METTATON!” The moment Papyrus clicks the movie Sans shuts his sockets. He's already seen all of Mettaton's awful movies thanks to Papyrus. He then internally chuckled as he heard his brother complain.

“AUGH! NOT EVEN FIVE MINUTES IN AND HE'S ALREADY ASLEEP! TYPICAL. THAT'S FINE ANYWAY. HE'S ALREADY SEEN THIS ONE. I KNOW THIS IS ABOUT ALL OF US BONDING BUT WE CAN JUST TRY AGAIN TOMORROW NIGHT!” He said enthusiastically. Sans let out a snort but passed it off as a snore. Yeah right. Like that was going to happen. He could feel exhaustion start to take over him. He really needed this nap. Even after the movie was over he went straight to his room, not bothering on watching over the human tonight. It would be fine. So far she hasn't done anything suspicious yet.

***

Sans was able to catch his brother before he left for his morning jog. Yesterday Papyrus was ecstatic because he was able to get Y/n an interview with Muffet, which surprised Sans since the spider monster was a picky one. The interview was later today.

“say paps, got a second?” He says, stopping his brother.

“OF COURSE! BUT I HAVE TO SAY SANS, IT'S IMPRESSIVE TO FIND YOU AWAKE AT THIS TIME.” Sans chuckled a little. The time was seven in the morning. Sans usually didn't get up until noon if he didn't have work. But he figured if he was going to finally get anything out of Papyrus regarding Y/n, the time was now.

“i wouldn't say i'm awake. still a little bone tired.” He chuckles as Papyrus gives him a disapproving stare.

“SANS.” He holds up his hands in defeat.

“sorry, sorry.” He puts his hands in his pockets and gives his brother a nervous smile. “so um... y/n. i realized i never asked how you two actually met when i was away.” He has still yet to judge her. He felt it unnecessary at this point. He stares as Papyrus shuffles nervously, glancing away. He didn't like that. When Papyrus was nervous it made him ten times more anxious. “bro?”

“Well... The Truth Is...” Papyrus was using his 'inside voice' and that made Sans tense. Papyrus rarely ever did that. Papyrus then looks at him nervously. “I... Caught Her.”

.......

what? He gives a confused look.

“you... caught her? what does that mean?” Was she a user? No, he would've seen it plus she would be trying to hide any marks if she was.

“I Mean I... Caught Her... As She Was Falling... Off The Top Of A Building.” Sans sockets widen and he whips his head towards the hallway. Before he could process anything else, Papyrus spoke. “It's Not What You're Thinking.” He looks back at his brother. “She's Not A Danger To Herself Or To Others.”

“wh...? paps what other explanation could there be if you caught her from falling to her death?”

“She Was Jumped And Got Tossed Off.” Sans stiffens. Tossed...? “Luckily, I Was There To Catch Her. If She Hadn't Screamed I... I Fear I Would Have Missed Her And...” He goes silent and Sans looks down. He... understood. “So Um... After I Caught Her I Immediately Took Her To The Nearest Hospital. She Didn't Wake Up Until The Next Day.” He then gives a smile. “I Was Relieved When She Did Wake Up. We Became Very Fast Friends, Despite Her Shyness.” Sans gave a weary smile only to frown a little as Papyrus frowned. “She Told Me About How She's Been Having A Very Bad Few Weeks. She Was Fired From Her Job Of Five Years And Was Getting Kicked Out Of Her Apartment. She Had A Week To Leave.” Sans winces. Now he felt guilty. Fired, evicted and thrown off a building all within a few weeks? And then he comes back home and makes everything hell for her... It was actually amazing how strong she was being.

“After Hearing All Of That... How Could I Not Help Her?” He looks up at his brother. “She's A Really Good Person Sans. I Know She's Timid But... Give Her A Chance? And Stop Scaring Her.” He flinches and Papyrus rolls his sockets. “Oh Please Sans It's Pretty Obvious. You Don't Like Strangers, That's A Fact. Add That To Her Extreme Jumpiness Every Time You Even Look At Her And The Fact She's Been Holed Up In The Guest Bedroom Ever Since You Got Home, I Knew Something Was Up.” Sans shrinks a little under Papyrus' disapproving gaze.

"s-sorry paps."

"Don't Apologize To Me. Apologize To Y/n. Get To Know Her Sans Instead Of Trying To Scare Her Off. She's Such A Lovely Person Underneath All That Timidness. Like Alphys!" Sans gave a slight nod. So... she was going through a lot... And he was making it worse. "You Know, She Says That She Is The Most Unlucky Human Girl In The World. But I Don't Believe That. If Anything She's Been The Most Luckiest Human Girl In The World! After all, She Is Friends With Me!" Sans gives a chuckle.

"yeah... you sure are cool bro."

"Indeed! So, Will You Give Her A Proper Chance?" Sans glances at the hallway before looking at his brother nodding.

"yeah."

"GOOD!” Papyrus was back to his regular tone. “WELL, I'M OFF! I'LL BE BACK TO PICK UP Y/N FOR THE INTERVIEW!" Papyrus heads out the door and Sans stays in place for a bit. The most unlucky human girl in the world huh? And yet... despite her constant timidness and everything he did to discourage her... she kept going. He figured maybe... it was time to hear her side of the story.

***

If it wasn't for the fact that he wasn't in a movie watching mood, he probably would've stayed up for it since the movie was somewhat entertaining and not a Mettaton movie. Papyrus had cooked Y/n a special dinner in celebration of passing her interview, which surprised him. Apparently she was just what Muffet was looking for. He had to go to his room to collect himself before talking with her. He needed to stay calm as he confronted her. When he was sure he wasn't going to do anything, he made his way to the guest room. The door was open. He peaked through and saw her on her laptop. He knocked and saw her jump and look up only to freeze.

alright. just listen to her sans. He thought to himself as he gave a smile, which she eyed suspiciously.

“so...” He started. “you got the job huh?” She swallows.

“U-Uh... N-No... I-I mean... Y-Yes? I mean... I-It's just a trial.” How did that even work?

“do you know for how long?”

“I-I assume a month.”

“hmm...” There was a bit of awkward silence between him and her as he and her just... stared at each other. When she broke eye contact with him and went back to focus on her laptop, he shortcutted to be right next to her and look over her shoulder and at her laptop screen. She was on a job search site. She jumped and nearly tossed her laptop off when he was suddenly next to her. He chuckles at her reaction. “still looking for a job? smart.” She turns and looks at him, her face red and flustered.

"Wh-What do you want Sans?" She asks nervously. "I-I'm trying my best to g-get out of here as quick as I can. Y-You think it's easy being here-?" He sighs, cutting her off before she had a chance to say anything else.

"look." He starts, looking at the edge of the bed, feeling guilty. When he flicks his eye lights up to look at her, he sees her flinch. "you're shy, you scare easily, you're a practical doormat." She shrinks a little. He didn't mean to sound so blunt but he was just stating the facts he's gathered over watching her and her actions over the past few days. "obviously someone like you has no ulterior motive. you actually really are just some unlucky human girl." She looks at him, a little suspicious.

"A-And you figure this how?" He scoffs and rolls his eye lights.

"what? you think i don't listen to my brother? he told me more about why you were here. gotta say... getting tossed off a roof? pretty sure that tops getting fired from your job and getting evicted from your apartment... but luckily for you, papyrus was there. if he wasn't? well... we both know we wouldn't be having this conversation." She stares at him.

"S-So...?"

"so..." He rubs the back of his skull and glances away. "let's start over. for real this time." He holds out his hand and gives her a smile. "the name's sans. sans the skeleton." She looks at him and his hand skeptically before staring at him.

"...Why?" His smile falters. "Why are you doing this now? Do you feel guilty?" His hand lowers some and his smile falters more. She had a right to ask those questions.

"well... can you blame me for acting like i did? i leave for a week only to come home to a complete stranger in the house while my brother is gone only to learn you are nothing more than a stranger yourself to paps and vice versa, plus you're a human-"

"W-Whom you've... also walked in on." He glances away and blushes. He was really hoping he and her could just forget that moment.

"i said i was sorry about that." He really was. It was the only time he was sorry for startling her. He looks back at her, no longer blushing, and he holds his hand out once more. She sighs and look at his hand before back at him.

"You don't... Like humans." He flinches slightly. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea if this was going to work between her and him.

"i wouldn't say that-"

"N-no, I get it. I've been caught up in a lot of riots to know why you feel that way."

"wait..." He lowers his hand and gives her a suspicious look. "you were part of the riots?" She was a monster hater? Then what was she doing living with two of them? Was he right all along to be suspicious of her? She chuckles and shakes her head.

"No. Believe it or not... It was just my luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. If it wasn't for the police believing that... I am indeed just unlucky... I'd probably have a record consisting of being apart of multiple riots." He squints a little, still a little suspicious.

"huh... that does sound like bad luck." She looks down, small smile on her face. He stares a little. That's the first time her smile wasn't a forced or nervous one.

"But it's okay. I've been in worse situations." She gives a half chuckle. "Like getting tossed from a rooftop." His expression softens. How could she smile about that? If what she was saying was true... How was she so timid yet so strong? She looks back at him and then at his hand. He then stares as she grabs it. He wasn't expecting that but he returns the handshake as a handshake should be, firm yet relaxed. Trusting.

"L-Look, I get it. Papyrus is your brother. Family. You'd do anything to protect him." He's still looking at her with a bit of worry only to stare as she... giggles. She genuinely giggled. A genuine emotion of happiness. She's never done that... And it was such a reassuring sound... Why? "He's such a sweet guy and... So optimistic. I owe him everything. I would never hurt him. So don't worry." She says, making him blink back into reality. She let go of his hand and he stares before putting his hand in his pocket. So he really had nothing to worry about with her huh? He chuckles.

"yeah well... he is a pretty cool guy." She nods and smiles, to which he stares a little. A genuine smile.

"I agree. He's... He's such a good friend to have." Sans chuckles.

"he's the total opposite of you." She looks down with a sad smile.

"Yeah." He flinches. He didn't meant to say that.

“i-i mean...”

nice job sans you're supposed to be making up with her not insulting her. “ i'm not saying that you're not cool or whatever. i mean... after going through all the shit you've been going through and still trying to move forward? that's some determination you have." He nervously looks at her as she looks at him with a bit of confusion.

"Determination? I mean... Sure I guess but... What really gets me through it is my perseverance. I always seem to find a way to move on. To not look back. To think better. Of course... I can't just ignore the 'what ifs' though, especially with my luck." That... kind of was the definition of perseverance... Did that mean her soul was purple?

“i dunno.” He says. “i think you've been having great luck so far.” She scoffs a little. Another first. She had enough confidence to actually scoff at him.

"Yeah. And now I have this huge wave of bad luck forming just waiting to crash down on me. That's how it usually goes. Any kind of good luck I receive gets... taken away from me. Papyrus helping me? Definitely major good luck... I just hope I'm out of here before it all doubles back and... Causes the two of you hurt of any kind. I don't want that." He blinks, confused. Was... Was that seriously her life? That every good thing she did or came across instantly got met with some negative reaction? He may believe in karma but even that seemed a little extreme.

"wow... that's... huh..." She shrugs.

"That's just how it goes for me. I bet the bad luck will strike when I'm at Muffet's. She says I'm what she's looking for... But how long will that last I wonder? What if I put her out of business?" The way she said all that so nonchalantly worried him a little... but he couldn't help but chuckle at the concern she had for Muffet.

"believe me, muffet can easily put herself out of business if she keeps outrageously fluctuating her prices." He wasn't wrong. Sure after monsters were freed Muffet's prices dropped but they were still high. He then gives her a reassuring smile. "just... be whoever muffet wants you to be."

"She says being myself is what she's looking for." His shrugs.

"well then... be yourself. you'll do fine. you've gotten this far." She gives a nervous smile.

“Y-Yeah. Living with two complete strangers because one of them is very insistent.” She says playfully. He chuckles. Playfulness... Was she already getting used to him? Was all this talking getting her to open up and trust him? He was definitely starting to feel... something.

“yep. that's paps.” There's an awkward silence between him and her as she moved her attention back to her laptop. He figured that she and him have talked long enough. “w-well...” He says, seeing her flinch before looking up at him. “guess uh... goodnight then.” She nods.

“Y-Yeah...” He gives a bit of a friendly smile and turns to leave only to stop as she calls out to him. “H-Hey Sans?”

“'sup?” She shuffles nervously. What was on her mind?

“Where uh... Wh-Where did you go? Papyrus never said.” His eye lights dilate and he starts to sweat. How was he supposed to answer that? Humans still have yet to understand monster heats plus... it was personal. He gives a nervous smile and chuckle.

“a-ah. i just... needed some space.” It was the best, comfortable answer he could come up with. He sees her flinch.

“I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. That was st-stupid of me. Forget it.” He chuckles again, only less nervously, and looks at her and gives a shrug. At least she didn't push it.

“don't worry about it. the problem's been dealt with. well, g'night.”

“G-Goodnight.” He walks out, closing the door behind him, and walks into his own room before letting out a heavy sigh.

alright. a good start. just gotta... not be as much of an ass as i was these past few days. i can do this. for paps. she really doesn't seem that bad...