Work Text
5 years ago, what people considered the impossible, became a reality. The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the entire world as a barrier thought to be myth broke, and out poured the stuff of legends. Monsters, a race trapped under the mountain since the dark ages, had spilled out and tasted fresh air for the first time in a long time. Leading this race, was a small child who disappeared only days before the event, Frisk. Despite being mute and severely underage, Frisk was named the ambassador to monsters. The initial shock had worn off a few days later, and soon monsters found themselves battling for the same rights that humans had.
While some humans rioted and claimed they didn’t want the monsters anywhere near them, others had argued that they were living beings just like us, and deserved freedom. The world was split into thirds. Those who supported monsters, those who were unsure, and those who advocated for them. I fell under the latter group, and wanted to support their freedom after I had finally just regained mine.
So, with the others who supported them, we gave shelter, food, and supplies to the monsters until the dust would settle, and I found myself approached by a group of 10 monsters whom all wanted to stick together. Seeing as I had plenty of room, I welcomed them to the best of my ability, and unfortunately faced backlash for it. It was only a matter of time before the media found out where the royal family was being hosted, and by extension, only a matter of time until they found me. I did my best to turn a blind eye to anything and everything on the media that involved me, and kept to my normal life as much as I could.
After a while, most of the monsters were able to move out, leaving just four in my house left to go. Asgore, Toriel, Sans, and Papyrus. It was then that Sans started gaining respect for me when I continued to shield his brother and even him from as much hate as possible. Sans had long since learned that I didn’t like fights of any kind, and while that doesn’t mean he trusted me, he appreciated that I stood up for his brother anywhere we went anyways.
It was only when I helped him through a night terror, getting hurt in the process, that he spilled about the resets, saying that he didn’t want his brother to lose one of his friends, and to not leave even if it meant that we couldn’t really talk again. I quickly put those fears to rest, assuring him to the best of my ability that I would stay right by his side,
both
of their sides, and that it would take a lot more than that to drive me away.
I didn’t add in the fact that I knew a similar hell to his
. He gained a newfound trust in me, even if it did start out small and cautious, and we found that we were quick to grow into good friends once most reservations were thrown out the window.
Now, the fifth year into their release, human-kind had for the most part accepted monster-kind and most to all Anti-Monster groups have been broken apart and made insignificant, and monster-kind had gained all its rights. Sans had finally learned of the majority of my past, and promised to stay by my side just as I had stayed by his, and Papyrus had become a cook to rival Grillby and Toriel themselves (Though he never
did
learn to get rid of old habits when it came to making spaghetti.) The economy has settled and even grew with the new flow of money and buyers, and Mt. Ebott was bought by Asgore and Toriel both, whom protect its environments and resources, and monsters were spread around the country, and even a few across the world.
And with the release anniversary a few weeks away, one of the most…
interesting
things of my life had happened.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
I’ve had some pretty crazy days in my life, I will admit. Both good and bad, for better or worse, my life has had it’s up and downs as I continuously fought and struggled to keep going.
Despite all that craziness, I never once expected to see anymore skeletons in my life other than the
3
2 I already knew. Yet here I stood, with roughly 9 skeletons in my doorway, one of them looking for all the world like he already knew the lecture that was about to come. After my gaze swept over the crowd and finally landed on him, cyan, and somewhat clear sweat started gathering on the crown of his head.
“i uh…. i can explain?” He says, sounding extremely sheepish.
And in response I slam the door back closed, turn on my heel, walk out of the entryway, and into the living room. A sound that even I can’t identify leaves my lips and I lay myself onto the couch and stare at the ceiling wondering what my life has come to.
“MISS Y/N? WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?” Asks my most precious roommate, Papyrus, and he came into view, wearing an apron that had batter splattered all over it.
“I don’t even know, Papyrus. I don’t even know.” I say.
I hear the front door creak open, and the shuffling of multiple pairs of feet as they all slowly trickle into the living room, with the original creator of this mess, Sans, hauling up the front. He stood there, in all his tired glory, and shuffled in place unsure as to how to approach me, probably.
“I would like that explanation now…
please
.”
“so you know that machine… the one we were all trying to fix? and how i stayed late because readings started spilling from the thing suddenly?”
I nod my head in confirmation, and I hear more shuffling. I peak over and see another skeleton in black and violet armor looking impatient and annoyed with everything, but thankfully he held his tongue.
“so i was looking into the multidimensional readings from the machine when suddenly there was a big spike, and the power shorted out. i may have… panicked a bit and went to the machine to see what i could salvage, but when i touched it it sent out a small shock wave, and i blacked out. when i came to, well…. these guys were here.” Sans finished explaining.
“And by ‘these guys’ you mean other versions of yourself, I assume.” I supply, “If the readings really
were
from other dimensions, which would only be the logical explanation for why they appeared, then you possibly caused the shockwave when your magic had touched the very thing that was meant to read and pull it.” I sit up, starting to wonder about what had caused it, “It’s very possible that they ended up in some sort of situation that was similar to ours, whether it be via storm or using their magic near some sort of machine similar to ours.”
“yeah, i’m thinking maybe the machine used my magic as an anchor and found ones similar to mine and when it found the ones that it was originally,
possibly
reading, then it yanked them over here.” Sans continued my theory, now mumbling to himself about the logistics of how that would happen.
“Now that’s all fine and dandy, but if the machine worked to get them here, how come you haven’t been able to send them back to their homes?”
Sans suddenly looked frustrated and sent a glare to the one in the purple and black armor, “well
he
threw a hissy fit and it ended up destroying the machine. not only do we have to order new parts, but when he destroyed it, the machine caught on fire, catching up a lot of our notes with it in the process. we basically have to start from scratch.”
I let out an annoyed sigh, raising my head, just to let it fall straight back onto the arm of the couch, lettin the spike of pain keep me from getting up and strangling the small skeleton.
“alphys is currently trying to see what can be salvaged, and i need to contact ‘sgore and let him know of our new… problem.” Sans says.
“And let me guess, they’ll have to stay with us until everything is sorted out?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“yeah.”
“This is why I told you not to mess around with the machine during a storm, dammit Sans. Okay! So! I guess introductions are in order, then. I’m Y/n, the human, if you couldn’t already tell. I lived here with Sans and Papyrus… errr,
my
Sans and Papyrus, not you guys- you know what, nevermind, you guys get it.” I say, starting to ramble but I shake my head, catching myself, “In private, I’ll likely call y’all by y’alls real names, but while we’re in a group, nicknames are in order. Who’s first?”
The group looks between themselves for a moment, before the smallest one steps forward. He’s wearing gray and blue armor with a baby blue bandanna to match and he has light blue gloves and boots, as well. I saw a pattern there. The previously blue dots in his eyes were quickly changed into stars with smaller, yellow stars in the middle. I resisted the urge to coo at the skeleton that would remind me more of Papyrus than Sans if it weren’t for his bone structure.
“HELLO, HUMAN! I AM THE MAGNIFICENT SANS- ER… WELL, WHATEVER NICKNAME I SUPPOSE I GET! BUT!! THAT MEANS I SHALL GIVE YOU A NICKNAME TOO!” The more enthusiastic Sans says, and I nearly
do
coo at him.
“I can agree to those terms,” I say with a smile, “I dub thee, the Magnificent Blueberry.”
The choice was almost obvious with that one. Too bad I’ve already dubbed Papyrus cinnamon roll internally, otherwise Blueberry would have gotten that one.
“AND I DUB THEE…!!” He pauses, seeming unsure as to what to call me.
He brightens up again, “LADY Y/N!”
I smile softly at him, and gesture around the living room, “You can sit pretty much anywhere you’d-
OOF!
”
Blueberry practically shot over to the couch I was sitting on, and went face first into my stomach, wrapping his arms around me tightly.
“T-That works…?” I say unsurely, “But I k-kinda need to breathe..!”
Sa-Blueberry looks up apologetically at me and loosens his grip. he adjusts himself so now he’s sitting on my lap, facing everyone else. I pat his head, and look back up, just in time to see my Sans sit next to me. We both miss his half-hearted glare towards Blueberry.
The next one to walk up to me looked like he just walked out of the nearest Hot Topic store after going straight to the edgy corner in the very back. he had on black basketballs shorts with yellow stripes going down the sides, and above that it looked like he had on a maroon turtleneck on under his black, fluffy, jacket that looked filled to the brim with fur, just like… well, Sans’. He had sharp almost shark like teeth, one of them on the right side of his mouth, gleaming golden in the light. He had two red pinpricks in his sockets, and he was studying me carefully as he stepped forward. His somewhat scowl had turned into a smirk after he finished studying me.
“i suppose staying here a while won’t be too bad with you here,” he drawls, and I pull a sour face, unsure what to take from that statement.
“...Thank….. you..?” I say unsurely.
“so sweet cheeks, what’ll my name be?” He asks.
“My name’s Y/n,” I supply not very fond of the nickname, “and my first thought would be MyMcChemicalRomance, but I suppose that’s too long. Therefore I’ll go with Red.”
Red’s smirk falters, “Red…?”
I nod, “Red”
“that the best you have?”
“Would you prefer Edgy?” I ask with a smirk.
“...i’ll take Red.”
“Red it is!” I cheer, “You can pretty much- okay.”
He pops out of sight in the middle of my sentence and suddenly lands on the couch next to a very uncomfortable looking Sans.
“I LIKE THE NICKNAME!” Blueberry says cheerfully, sending me a bright smile.
Dear god, he’s such a sweetheart. I smile back at him and pat his head before turning my attention back to the left over group. The next one to step forward is cheerful, almost like Blueberry in a way. He’s wearing a surprisingly complicated outfit, and I take a moment to look over it. The first thing to stand out to me is the giant paintbrush on his back that has ink staining the very tips of the bristles, and it’s handle is a normal, brown wood. His face has an ink stain on its right side of the chin, and his smile is a bit sharper as opposed to Sans’ lazy and rounded one. His eyes seem to change as he blinks, and it’s hard to pinpoint a certain pattern, but it’s amazing nonetheless. A large, brown scarf is wrapped around his neck, and as it descends to the floor it grows lighter until it nearly reaches white. Underneath it is what looks to be a long sleeved rashguard (for some reason?) with a pattern of 4 connected, light blue squares running down his arms. Those lead to light brown fingerless gloves on his hand, and over the rashguard (dear god, does he really not get hot in that??) Is a dark brown shirt with short, light brown sleeves. Over
that
is a work belt with what looked like vials of glowing colors lining most of it with pencil at the end. And holy
stars
if that wasn’t already enough he had pants to match the long sleeved black shirt that had the same light blue patterns running down its sides, and over that were dark brown shorts, and a jacket similar to my Sans tied around his waist, and to top all of
that
off, he wore tiger print sneakers.
Holy
shit
it felt like my eyes ran a marathon trying to comprehend his outfit. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the impatient skeleton from before stepped forward, interrupting him.
“EXCUSE ME, BUT IT’S
MY
TURN, FOOL. HUMAN! I AM THE MALEVOLENT SANS! IT MATTERS NOT WHAT YOU CALL ME, BUT I DEMAND TO BE TAKEN HOME!” Despite the fact that he seems like he would be a lot more violent and demanding than Blueberry, some part of me can’t help but think the two can’t be that different.
“Can’t help you there, but what I can help you with is giving you the nickname Blackberry,” I say, giving him a kind smile.
“Hey! I wanted to introduce myself first!” The skeleton with the paintbrush on his back exclaimed with a pout.
“TOO BAD! I WENT FIRST SINCE YOU DECIDED TO TAKE TO SLOW!” Blackberry sneered, “GET OVER IT.”
Ho boy
. I felt my smile twitch and I realized that my first thought may have been pretty far off. The first skeleton brushes him off, and faces me again with a bright smile, almost as if the argument (if it was even that?) never happened.
“I’m Sans, obviously, but you can just call me Ink! It’s what I tend to go by, anyways.” Ink says brightly, “Fair warning, I tend to forget things… a lot.”
I nod, “Duly noted. Nice to meet you Ink!”
Somehow, Ink’s smile grows, and he’s quick to sit on the floor in front of me.
“HEY! DON’T IGNORE ME!” Blackberry shouts, his skull flushed a nice plum color for some odd reason.
Blackberry takes a seat on the couch across from us, with a huff, decidingly giving up for now, though it doesn’t look like he was forgetting it anytime soon.
The next one to step forward looked like your stereotypical casanova, with his leather jacket that was unzipped and a white turtleneck under it. he had black jeans on that hung dangerously low on his hip bones, despite the fact that there was a belt on the jeans. His hands were tucked into the pocket of his leather jacket, and a single, piercing yellow eye stared back at me. There was a crack running down his right eye, and ended just beside the edge of his mouth, and there was a crack running up the top of his left eye, that branched off into a second, smaller, crack just before going over the crown of his skull. Hey, wait, I knew those cracks.
“So…” I say after a moment, “What nickname to give you…?”
He shrugs, “I go by G, more often than not, princess.”
“Princess?” I question, and he smirks a little.
“I mean… this is a pretty big “castle”.” He supplies, looking around the room.
I rub the back of my neck, “Yeah…”
He walks over, and sits in the loveseat to my right, and leans against its arm. He glances at me, winks, then faces the front. I face the front again, and watch as a skeleton in all white steps forward, and my eyes widen at the alarming red slash against the front of his jacket.
“Oh god!? Are you alright?? How- Wha- I’ll?? I’ll go get the medkit!” I say, startled, and get up to quickly (forgetting about Blueberry completely, and he somehow hangs on) start walking towards the kitchen.
The previously surprised skeleton quickly waves me away, and I falter.
“it’s alright, it doesn’t hurt anymore, i’m used to it. i tend to go by Geno, by the way,” He says, slouching back down, and I watch as he fiddles with the only colored cloth on his body. The red scarf is long, and looks pretty darn close to Papyrus’ scarf, if not a bit more tattered. his white jacket and white shirt do nothing to hide the red slash of blood along his jacket and shirt in a diagonal line. He wore the same shorts as my Sans and had white instead of pink slippers. White pixels surrounded his right eye, and a few surrounded the rest of his body, and a single and thin white pin prick was studying me.
“A-Are you sure?? Because I can-”
His face softens a bit, but he cuts me off, “Seriously, I’m fine.”
“Just because you’re used to it, doesn’t make it
fine
, though.” I counter, fidgeting.
His face goes blank for a moment, but he simply shakes his head, and sits down on the same couch as Blackberry, just on the opposite side.
With a sigh, I reluctantly sit down, and I glance at him one more time before facing the front again.
The next skeleton to walk up held a dangerous air to him. I was a little uneasy, but I let it slide as I studied him. He wore a blue, striped suit, and a fedora was low on his head, partially covering his eye sockets. He had dual berettas strapped to him, one on each side, and he had gloves that matched his suit color. His blood red tie contrasted against all the blue, and his black dress shoes looked newly shined.
“Tha name’s Sans, but I sometimes go by Judge,” He drawls, walking up to me and holding out his hand. I cautiously shake it, trying not to eye his dangerous weapons cautiously.
I had barely refrained from asking all of them how they already had nicknames, and as my curiosity grew with Judge, I bit my tongue and nodded, “Nice to meet you.”
He smirks, bends down and kisses the back of my hand. I explode into a blush, and I saw Judge glance to my left, before sitting down next to G.
I looked at the next skeleton, noting that he was way different from the others. Instead of the base color of white for his bones, he was black with blue looking tear tracks running from the bottom of his eyes to the bottom of his face, his smile was yellow and looked a little more tense than the others. His jacket was black with a blue hue appearing at the top, and his shirt underneath that was red. His eye sockets were red and on the left side there was a yellow pinprick, and his right was a yellow ring around a royal blue circle. He also wore a pair of black shorts with blue stripes in place of the white on Sans'. His hand was fading from black into red, and his fingertips faded from red into yellow. Black pixels and ERROR's surrounded him.
He grunts and looks me over, “
I go by Error.
”
After he supplies nothing more, I nod and hold out my hand.
He sends it a withering glare, “
I don’t do the whole touching thing.
”
I put it back down and nod, “I can respect that.”
He raises and eyebrow, and leans against the doorway, making no move to come any closer. I see Ink roll his eyes out of the corner of mine, and my lips twitch upwards into a small smile.
At least this might not be as bad as I originally thought.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Taking a moment to assess everyone, I started to wonder what the next course of action should be. I watched as everyone faced me and Sans, as if waiting for one of us to tell them what exactly would be happening while they were staying here. The best options seemed to either be find a way to amuse them now and sort out housing later, or sort out housing now and see if I’d have to amuse them later. Sans looks over at me, a pleading look in his bright eyelights and I realized the decision was mine. After taking a moment to toss the ideas around in my head, I realized now might be the best time to sort out rooms, so there weren’t fights when everyone was tired.
I tapped Blueberry on the back, and he smiles at me to show I have his attention, “Hey, ya mind getting up? We should all probably sort out rooms for you guys to bunk in during your stay.”
Blueberry pouts, “CAN I HOLD YOUR HAND THEN, MISS Y/N?”
My gaze on him softens and I feel my heart melt a bit at his adorableness, “Of course.”
He cheers, “I CALL THE ROOM NEXT TO YOURS! THAT WAY WE CAN PLAN OUT MANY SLUMBER PARTIES!!”
I laugh at his enthusiasm, “Why not? Alright.”
“hey,” Red pipes up, “what if i wanted the room next to yours?”
“TOO LATE, I CALLED DIBS!”
“can i bunk with you then y/n?” Red asks with a smirk.
I raise an eyebrow in confusion, “But we have plenty of rooms for everyone.”
Red waits a moment, as if wanting me to comment further, but after a moment of silence, I tilt my head questioningly, and he huffs out a sigh, “yeah, yeah, alright.”
Blueberry stands up, and bounces on his feet, looking at me with stars in his eyes, “SO WE GET TO SEE OUR ROOMS NOW?!”
I laugh as I stand up, and he quickly grabs my hand, “Yes, now let's go figure this out before Papyrus walks out and has a heart attack. We can explain this to him after we get everyone settled down.”
I pause a moment, then face Sans, “And by that, I mean you’re gonna go explain that to your brother now while I show them their rooms.”
Sans grimaces a little, “aw come on, i wanna see their choices.”
We both know he just wants to put it off. I wave my free hand at him with a smirk, “Shoo.”
Sans grumbled, and walks through the second archway in the room into the kitchen where Papyrus still was. Everyone else stood up, an I waved for them to follow me through the archway that Error was leaning against, into the main hallway.
“So that’s the entrance to the living room and kitchen, as you saw. The doorway just up ahead on my left is the dining room. I don’t really know why they were built separately, so don’t ask.”
Just as I was about to continue to talk, Red pipes up.
“why were they built separately?” He asks cheekily.
Blueberry groans next to me, and I hear a few other groans along the collective snickers that they release.
“Har har har,” I say turning around and making a quick silly face at them before continuing with the task at hand, and I stop before a small staircase squished to the left side of the hall, while there was a narrow passage to the right of it.
“Behind this staircase there’s a door at the end of the hall that leads to the backyard, and to the right, there’s a small storage closet underneath the stairs. To the left is a small room that acts as a small studio and study.”
“can we see those later? or now?” Judge asks, looking a little interested.
“Yeah, later, but right now let's get the room situation sorted,” I say, waving them up the flight of stairs with me.
“so how exactly
did
you get a house this big, anyways?” G asks as we ascend the staircase.
“It was an inheritance,” I say, waving him off, and resisting the urge to stuff my hands in my pockets.
We reach the top of the first flight of stairs, and we all flood out onto the surprisingly wide hallway with many doors.
I turn and face them, “The first three rooms belong to Papyrus, Sans, and I, but you’ve got free reign on the rest. Though Blueberry did call the room next to mine, so that one’s already his.”
After saying that, I point to the third door down on the left side of the hall, “So that one’s yours, Blueberry.”
Blueberry bounces, and lets go of my hand, dashing for the door I pointed out.
“So basically, the first door on the right is Sans’ and the rest are empty on that side, and on the left- in order here- is Papyrus’ then mine then Blueberry’s. You guys knock yourselves out choosing a room, I’m gonna go see if Papyrus needs help with dinner.”
Hearing a mix of grunts and half-assed replies, I figured that it was good enough, and quickly descended the stairs and headed into the kitchen through the living room. I found Sans talking with Papyrus still, and I snickered at the utterly confused yet excited face Papyrus was making.
“SO YOU’RE SAYING I HAVE MORE BROTHERS??” Papyrus asks excitedly, bouncing in place.
I lean against the edge of the counter I was closest to and watch as Sans winces. He nods though, “yeah, something like that.”
Papyrus cheers, and starts mixing what looks like pancake batter with vigor, “THEN I GUESS I’LL MAKE SOME MORE BREAKFAST FOR OUR NEW BROTHERS!”
I silently chuckle, and shake my head. Despite how adorable Papyrus was acting I couldn’t help but worry with how quickly he was becoming attached to them. Especially since they’ll have to eventually leave.
“Well,” I say, gathering their attention, “You both have fun, but I have to head into work now. I’ll already have to come up with
some
sort of excuse as to why I’m late.” For once I was grateful that I always decide to get ready early instead of putting it off.
I give them both a silly salute, as they both gave me their goodbyes, though Sans looked pleadingly at me. I gave him a wink, and turned and left the kitchen.
Hah. As if I’d call in for a day off of work just to save his sorry ass from the crowd of multiple versions of him. Especially since I actually
liked
my job.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
I head out the front door after snatching up my keys, and I bask in the warm sunlight that greeted me as I left the house. Taking a moment to breathe in the smell that fall brings in the crisp air, I head over to my car and quickly head to work where I knew Boss would be waiting, taking a moment to run through my mental checklist of what had to be done today. Despite the craziness that came in the form of many skeletons, the world was still turning and I had to focus on meeting all of the up and coming deadlines of the commissions I had gotten. With things like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas coming up, people were starting to commission more for decorations and presents to get ahead while they could. When I got to the building, I would have to check my emails and letters to see if any more requests or changes came in, so I knew what would be best to work on. Some people liked the paintings and drawings to be done within a few days, and I always made sure to let them know that it would cost them quite a bit more if that were the case. It might be rare, but nonetheless people still requested it to be done that quickly, which meant that schedules had to be changed, and time managed much better. Then again, that’s why Boss was there. Despite the teasing nickname and the fact that she was more of my secretary than my Boss, she was still a significant help in figuring out what needed to be prioritized and when I needed to turn down certain commissions because of time crunches. As I pull into the parking lot of my building, I realized that I really shouldn’t have driven on autopilot like I just had, and that I needed to be more careful about that next time. I turn off the car and pull the key out of the ignition, stuffing it into my pocket, and quickly exit my car after grabbing my purse from the passenger seat. My quick strides lead me through the front door, and within seconds, I was already sitting at my desk where canvases and papers sat waiting, some of them blank, others with concept sketches, and others already half done or nearly done. I pick up my sketching pencil and shove it behind my ear so I wouldn’t forget where it is, and roll my chair over o a separate desk which held a small laptop with two monitors hooked up to it. I turn on the laptop and monitors, loving how I could roll my chair around instead of standing up to move everywhere. As I waited for the screens to turn on completely, I turned around and rolled to my third and final desk which held all of my supplies, which were strewn about in an organized chaos that only I could understand. I pick out some acrylic paints I knew I would have to use today, and set them inside a small palette to pour them in later. I quickly grab a few charcoal pencils and blending stumps, and set them to the side at the edge of the desk, knowing that I would have to use them for a portrait piece later on. “Already at it, I see,” A teasing voice says, and I quickly turn around, seeing a girl standing there, leaning against the doorframe. She had beautiful chocolate colored skin that matched will with her short black hair, and her sky blue eyes popped out against the colors, making them seem that much more bright, as they stared at me, with a raised eyebrow. I shake my head, a smirk growing on my face as I let out a huff of air, “You nearly gave me a heart attack, Boss. I didn’t even hear the door open.” “That’s because you left it open, smart one,” She continues in the same teasing tone. “Ah, big oof,” I say, and roll back over to my first desk, that faced the door in the middle of the room. I take a moment to scan the room, seeing if I could spot the piece I was working on with the closest deadline. The door that lead to the front of the store lay in the middle of the wall at the front of the room, surrounded by drawers and extra canvases and sketchbooks, that have yet to be properly used. Inside the drawers were mostly back up supplies and newer supplies that I haven’t touched yet, while the desk against the back wall, my third desk, was covered with my older supplies and the ones I used most often. parallel to the left wall was my second desk with my now booted up laptop and screens, and the desk was mostly clean except for water bottles, some empty some not, which I used more for cleaning the paint off of the brushes than as actual drinks. My first and main desk, facing the front of the room where the door was, it littered with canvases half finished and concept sketches waiting to be turned into their finished products, as well as littered with all types of pencils and paintbrushes, and even a few pastels I forgot to put up. On the right side of the room there was a single painting hanging on the wall, a present from a fellow artist, and an easel, which was currently empty. I never really used it much, but when it came to oil painting, I always used it, not wanting the painting to accidentally be ruined because of it’s extremely slow drying process. That side of the room was mostly clean as well, though there was a small sink in the corner closest to the back of the room that I used to wash off my hands to properly clean off the oil paints from the brush, using what I often referred to as “liquid gold” which was the most efficient thing to use to clean off oil paints. That poor sink was long overdue for a good scrub to be rid of the stains that the paint has left behind. If it was even possible to clean them off anymore. There, leaning up against the easel was the piece I have been focused on due to its rapidly approaching deadline, and I quickly roll over and snatch it up, creating space on my first desk to set it down and prepare to continue where I left off. “Anyways, there is a reason that I stopped by other than to chat. You’ve got a very important request from Asgore who would like a painting of a buttercup field with a background of your choice. He says that he trusts your judgement on that regard. He also says that he knows you’re quite busy, so he won’t expect it for at least three weeks, and he wanted to give you ample warning in advance. So, I figured it’d be a safe commission to take on since you can take your time on working on it and spread it in between pieces, but obviously I came to ask you first.” Boss says, and she pulls out a small tablet from under her arm, hand poised at the ready to type out my answer for me. She may be my friend, but she still took her job quite seriously, and I always was happy about that fact. She was always able to find an amazing balance between doing her work and still having fun with me, which I admired greatly. I brightened up when hearing Asgore’s name, “Of course! Anything for a good friend. Don’t tell him, but we’re definitely giving him a discount after all he’s done for me. I know he won’t let me give it to him for free, but I might as well make it cost less for him.” I say, getting up, and walking over to study the blank canvases at the front of the room, “I think oil paints might work well for this one, as well since I have ample time.” “Great! I’ll be sure to let him know. Don’t forget that the Starry Night commission is almost at its deadline, I suggest working on it first.” Boss says, nodding her head to the nearly finished canvas next to a sunrise city commission that was a few days away from its own deadline as well. “Yup, will do. In the meantime, get some rest. Don’t think I haven’t noticed the fact that you’ve been coming in earlier and staying later than normal. I don’t want you overworking yourself, Boss.” I say, sending her a reprimanding look. Boss sighs, but I can tell that she’s not actually mad. Whatever has her pushing herself, I know she’ll tell me eventually. We’ve been able to support each other for as long as we’ve known each other, and that’s what has brought us so close. She knows more than even Sans about me, and I know practically everything about her. Our trust runs deeper than Earth’s core itself and I couldn’t be happier to have her by my side as a sister. But despite wanting to know what was wrong, I knew I needed to give her time and space to figure everything out. If she needed help, I have full faith that she’d seek me out. She gives me a small smile, “I’ll be watching the front in case anyone drops by and is interested in buying a piece or asking for a commission. You just work on doing as much as you can without burning yourself out.” I nod, and she leaves the door slightly cracked as she leaves the room. I look around my desk, my eyes scanning for my favorite sketching pencil. My eyebrows furrow as I don’t see it, and I scan a second time, thinking I might’ve just missed it the first time round. “The pencil’s behind your ear!” Boss shouts out, as if knowing exactly what just transpired without even being in the room. I resist the urge to facepalm as I shout out a quick thanks, and pluck it from behind my ear, adjusting it in my hand to get a comfortable grip on it. I happily lose my sense of time to the art in front of me, letting the vision in my head play out onto the canvas in both pencil and paint as I work. I love my job so much.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Edited since the stream finished a bit ago, lol. I've got some news for y'all! I'm not actually dying, but boy do I feel like it, and we're not entirely certain what's going on yet but hopefully we find out soon. I won't bore ya with the details, but all in all it's difficult to do anything that requires any sort of energy, so that's great. I'm low-key half dead while typing this, so I'm not even sure if half of what I write will make sense but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also, ya boi is now juggling a job on top of school, so life has been fun, but hey! It means I'm getting paid and can save up for some thing's I've been wanting that'll hopefully help in the long run, like a proper tablet for drawing and writing, and a new headset that doesn't cut out some audio and maybe the will to actually do something productive. I've still got quite a few projects as on-going, as well, so keep an eye out on updates about those on my Tumblr! I will also be answering pretty much any and all questions you have on there, so feel free to yell at me at any time. If you want to, you can also drop by my Twitch Channel and yell at me to update if you ever see me live. Especially yell at me if you see me live and haven't updated in a while. Speaking of updates, the next one will be coming out in hopefully just a few hours. Not immediately mostly so I have time to comb through the chapters I've written and compare it to my current outline and make sure there are no deviations and that it follows through what I need it to. I have also learned my lesson, and any future stories (not including W...ATA) I will hold off on posting until I have quite a few more chapters to back it up in case of events like this where I pretty much get so busy I drop off the map for anyone who doesn't see me inside school hours. I want to type more, but I'm losing energy fast and want to get this chapter out, so I'll probably put more on my tumblr. On to writing!!
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After finally locking up the shop with Boss, we both leave the building as I shoo her out of there to get some proper rest. Thankfully she doesn’t complain, but I am worried by the anxious expression on her face as she leaves. I let out a soft sigh and stretch a bit, trying to get rid of the stiffness in my muscles from not moving around much all day. I quickly unlock my car and toss my purse into the passenger seat of the car, closing the door behind me and starting it up. Despite my earlier thoughts, I zone out a bit, my body working on autopilot as my brain wanders to the art pieces sitting on my desk, waiting to be finished. I was able to finally finish both pieces whose deadlines were only two or three days away, but I was disappointed that I barely started other commissions. I shake my head, and put all my focus into driving as I went through the city, happy to be close to home. After a while of driving, I pull into the driveway, not bothering to pull the car into the garage, and I quickly turn off the car, grab my purse, and head back into my house. The cold air stings my nose a bit, but I don’t mind it at all as I walk through the front door, ready for some food and sleep. If I was lucky, maybe I’d even play a video game for a little bit before bed, but something told me that wasn’t likely. As I walk through the entryway to the living room, I freeze at the sight of an unfamiliar skeleton lounging on the couch. They turn and face me, and my shoulders drop as I remember that alternate versions of Sans now temporarily lived with us. Right. It was Judge who was currently on the couch, looking for all the world like he wanted to do something other than sit. It honestly amused me much more than it probably should considering he was a Sans . I nod in his direction, “Sup.” He nods back in my direction, looking a little confused, but I don’t pay much mind to it, as I pass him and head into the kitchen where it looked like Blueberry and Papyrus were both standing over the stove. “NO, NO, NO! SPAGHETTI IS FAR SUPERIOR TO ANY OTHER DISH, AND THAT IS A FACT!” Papyrus exclaims, and Blueberry almost looks genuinely offended by the statement. “THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE! TACOS ARE OBVIOUSLY MUCH BETTER THAN SOME PLAIN PASTA DISH!” Blueberry counters, crossing his arms. I had a feeling that this conversation has been going on longer than I think it has. Based on Sans’ expression as he hid in a corner, I figured that gut feeling was correct. I spy an assortment of ingredients scattered across the counter attached to the stovetop and I see that they all belong to the two dishes that the cinnamon rolls were fighting over. “HUMAN Y/N!” Papyrus shouts, grabbing my attention, “I’M GLAD TO SEE YOU’RE HOME!! NOW PLEASE, TELL SA- ERR, BLUEBERRY THAT SPAGHETTI IS FAR MORE SUPERIOR TO TACOS!” Blueberry brightens when he sees me, and he bounds over, grabbing my hand, “LADY Y/N, YOU’RE BACK!! BUT PLEASE, TELL PAPYRUS THAT TACOS ARE OBVIOUSLY BETTER THAN SPAGHETTI!” I froze, not expecting to be dragged into this argument, and as they both sent me large, pleading looks- seriously they were skeletons how did they do that - I had no idea how I would get out of this. “I uuhhh….” I look back at the ingredients along the counter, and it’s like a lightbulb goes off over my head, “Why not both?” Blueberry tilts his head, but Papyrus seems to understand, to some extent, what I had in mind. Papyrus smiles brightly at me, “I SUPPOSE BOTH IS ALRIGHT, AS LONG AS YOU HELP, HUMAN Y/N!” I smile back at Papyrus, “Of course! I would love to help!” Sans takes this moment to butt in, “it works for me, but we may need a lot of food, on top of all the skeletons, frisk ‘n tori are coming with asgore to assess the situation we’re finding ourselves in.” “Works for me,” I say happily. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen them, so I’d happily welcome their presence, even if it is under odd circumstances. I start shooing them out of the kitchen, “As nice as it would be for us to cook together, I’d like you guys to go relax, okay? I’ll take care of dinner today, you guys go have some fun.” “AAWWW, BUT I WANNA HELP!” Both Papyrus and Blueberry say simultaneously, and I have to hold back a snort. God, they are so alike. “I know, I know. But like I said, you can help tomorrow. Papyrus, you wanna show Blueberry your puzzle collection? I think both of you could enjoy working together.” Blueberry brightens, “PUZZLES?!” Papyrus also beams, “AH, BUT ONLY THE BEST OF PUZZLES! HMM… IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE SOMEONE DO THEM WITH ME…. ALRIGHT!! LET’S GO!” They both bound out of the kitchen, and I laugh softly at their enthusiasm. Sans seems to also be fond of the way they interact, and I watch as he follows them out the door at a much more leisurely pace. I take in a breath, and let my shoulders drop, and let the smile fade from my face. Right, time to start dinner then. I hum under my breath as I get started assorting everything, and I pull out the phone tucked in the waistband of my jeans and quickly pull up a recipe. I let the song in my head take over my thoughts as my body worked on autopilot to cook the dish that I had thought of. The doorbell rings when I had only just dropped the spaghetti noodles into the boiling water, and a smile appears on my face knowing who had arrived. I slightly lower the temperature to the stovetop, and exit the kitchen into an empty living room. Crossing through the room, I head into the main foyer and open the front door. To no surprise I find myself quickly wrapped up into a furry hug, and a warm, deep laugh greets my ears. “Ah, Y/n, it has been far too long indeed,” Asgore says happily, squeezing a bit. The small smile I had before now dwarfs my face as I hugged him back, “It hasn’t been that long, besides, a king’s job is a very busy one I’d imagine.” “Ah, that it is,” Asgore says, releasing me. I look over to Toriel who has a warm smile on her face, and next to her is a bouncing Frisk. I open my arms and Frisk rushes from Toriel’s side and quickly squeezes me into a bone-crushing hug. “Heya, little one, nice to see you here! Look at how tall you’ve grown you little squirt!” I say, patting their head, before giving them a quick noogie. They huff at me and fix their bob cut as Toriel walks up and gives me a soft hug. Damn these royals were gonna spoil me with their soft as fuck hugs again, weren’t they? “Hello again, my child. It is wonderful to see you again, despite the odd circumstances.” She says, and I hear the small smirk in her voice. I laugh, “Yeah, it’s gonna be an odd while here in this household.” “Nonetheless, I’m sure we’ll enjoy our visit,” Toriel says brushing past me, “Now, it sounds like you’ve got something cooking. Mind if I help?” I beam at her, “Of course I don’t mind! You always cook the best stuff! Well… I don’t think I could ever choose between you or Grillby though.” Toriel and Asgore both laugh, and I see Frisk’s shoulders shaking with silent laughter. “Hey Frisky-bits, you wanna go to Papyrus or Sans and catch up with them a bit?” They give me a large smile and dash up the staircase, and I see Toriel shake her head at the child’s energy. “Ah, with Frisk’s birthday coming up, it seems as though they’ve had a never ending supply of energy,” Toriel says, “All of Monster-kind wants to attend, naturally, so I’m not quite sure about where it’ll be. I think Frisk wants all of them to come, considering they’ve befriended pretty much all of us.” I walk with Asgore and Toriel towards the kitchen, “Ah, thanks for the reminder, I’ve gotta start working on my little project for them, now that it’s coming up. I hope they’ll like my gift.” “Of course they will!” Asgore says confidently, “They always have enjoyed your gifts quite much. I think they’re picking up your talent for art as well, I haven’t seen them without a sketchbook and pencils in months. You’ve influenced them quite a lot.” I fidget a little at that, “Ah, hopefully only good habits.” Toriel gives me a teasing smile, paired with a fake glare, “They’ve picked up your habit of only eating snacks for lunch, so I’d say not all good ones.” I let out a snort, “Hey! I’ll have you know that I’m an adult that can do what I want! Even if it’s me acting like a child!” Toriel rolls her eyes good naturedly while Asgore lets out a soft laugh. We finally enter the kitchen, where I quickly head back to the boiling water, and get to work. Thankfully, spaghetti doesn’t normally take long, nor is it complicated, so when Toriel asks what she can do, I ask her to simply help me by setting up the table while I finish off the spaghetti noodles and mix in the sauce. She quickly gets to work when I tell her where the plates are and Asgore takes the initiative to find the pitchers and start pouring out some lemonade and premade tea. I thank him when he leaves to go set them on the table, and he merely smiles at me. Toriel comes back almost immediately after and starts helping me put the spaghetti into the taco shells and set them onto a platter where everyone could take them from, and before I could lift up the plate, Toriel swipes it up, and balances it expertly, and pats me on the head, “Thank you for making this for us on such short notice.” I waved her off, knowing better than to try and fight her, and grab various types of fruit and a large bowl, getting started on a small side dish of fruit, “It’s not a problem at all Toriel, you should know this! I always enjoy the company.” She smiles softly at me, “It still means a lot to us though.” She leaves the room, and a small smile stays on my face as I finish chopping up some fruit, and I quickly put it all into the bowl, putting the knife into the sink, and quickly rinsing off my hands, and scooping up the bowl, and a large plastic spoon, and shove it into the mess of fruit. I open a drawer and grab a handful of forks, close it with my fist, and head over to the dining room, setting everything down on the table. Never before have I been happy that we’ve had such a ridiculously long table in our house. The smell of food has already brought down Papyrus, Blueberry, and Frisk, the latter of which was bouncing in place next to Toriel and Asgore, who were watching the child with adoring eyes. Blueberry seems to be peering at Frisk curiously, but doesn’t say anything, which I find odd, but decided not to question it as he turns to me. “INDEED, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU MIGHT HAVE FOUND A GOOD MIDDLE GROUND TO OUR DISHES, EVEN THOUGH MINE WOULD HAVE BEEN SUPERIOR! I CAN’T WAIT TO TRY IT!” He says happily. I smile at him in thanks, then turn to Papyrus, “Hey Pap, mind calling everyone down for dinner?” He beams at me, “OF COURSE!” He takes in a large breath, and I step towards the royal family, putting my hands over my ears, with them following suit. “EVERYONE!!!” The house practically quakes with the volume of his voice, like something out of an animated cartoon, “DINNER!!! IS READY!!!” He turns and beams at me, as I slowly lower my hands, and I smile back at him, “Thank you!” I say a little louder than normal, my ears ringing a bit. “YOU’RE QUITE WELCOME, HUMAN Y/N!” He says, back at his normal volume. I gesture for everyone to sit, and they do so, as everyone else starts wandering into the room. I notice Error simply linger against the wall, and I remember hearing his earlier comment about not liking to touch people much, so I figure he doesn’t like being around them either. I put two tacos on a plate, and scoop up some fruit, sliding the plate in his direction as a silent offering. He simply raised an eyebrow at me, and I shrug, turning back to the table, but out or the corner of my eyes, I see him swipe up the plate and start eating. The corner of my mouth twitches up, but I don’t comment as I listen to conversations wearily start up. Sans seems to be talking intently with Asgore and Toriel, and Frisk seems to be listening to whatever they’re discussing. Red, G, and Judge seemed to have started up their own conversation, while Blueberry, Blackberry, and Papyrus are in their own amicable conversation, though Blackberry does look a tad bit confused. One thing’s for sure, is that the skeletons have mixed reactions about seeing Frisk. No surprise though, considering the resets must be different in their worlds, or even the kid themselves. I wonder just how different they are. My eyes snag on Geno, who’s watching the kid intently, almost as if he expects them to jump up and start slaughtering everybody. That… I’d have to ask about that expression for sure. Ink also looks like he’s surveying the crowd, and when our eyes meet, I give him a kind smile and keep watching the rest of the crowd, eating in relative silence. Ink’s lingering gaze finally left me, and went back to watching the skeletons interact, and when I sneaked a glance at him, he seemed amused when he spotted Error in a corner. There was a tap on my shoulder, and I turned to see Frisk looking up at me with pleading eyes, and their lower lip slightly outwards. I laughed softly, and put my hand on the top of their head, and ruffled their hair before removing it, and patting my lap in an unsaid offering. They brightened up, beaming at me, and climbing into my lap, making themselves comfortable, and swiping a piece of fruit off my plate and pop it into their mouth. I reach over and grab a piece for myself, doing the same thing, before wrapping my arms over their shoulders and resting my chin on the top of their head. The best part about hanging out with Frisk was that we didn’t always have to fill the quiet with any conversation. Both of us always enjoyed the comfortable silence, simply enjoying the fact that we were sitting next to each other. We still chatted with each other, obviously, but nonetheless it wasn’t something we had to do all the time. It was always a nice change of pace. I could feel the eye(light)s of some of the skeletons on me, but I paid it no mind, as I closed my eyes and enjoyed the peace that surrounded this moment.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It looked like pretty much everyone had finished eating what they could or wanted to, and almost as if on the exact same line of thought, Toriel stood up, and started to collect the plates around the table. She sends a stern glare my way as I open my mouth to tell her to let me do that, as if already knowing what I was about to say. I deflate a little, but let it be, and focus back on Frisk who’s watching Sans and Asgore talk. It looks like the tail end of their conversation though, because Asgore seems to excuse himself, and stand up. As he passes by me, he thanks me for the meal, and I watch as he turns out of the room and further into the house. After he leaves my line of sight, I turn to Sans, who’s watching me, and I raise an eyebrow in question. He tilts his head to where Asgore had disappeared, and I get the message. I quietly whisper for Frisk to have fun, before gently pushing them, trying to convey that I want to get up. They get the message and slid off, bounding over to Sans, who gives Frisk a relaxed smile.
I stand up, and silently push in my chair, taking a left out of the dining room, and head behind the stairs, down the hall, where the door to the backyard was. I open it and peek out, spotting Asgore on the back porch, watching the sun start to set in a peaceful silence. I slip outside, softly shutting the door behind me, and walk up and stand next to him, remaining silent and keeping my eyes on the sunset.
“Is everything alright?” Asgore asks after a moment of silence.
I glance over at him, noting his slumped shoulders, and slightly slouched back, “I should be asking you that.”
As always, it looked as though he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
He meets my gaze and gives me a smile. It’s weak, but I know that there's at least a hint of genuineness to it.
“I'm fine-”
“Fine is not the same as okay. Fine is what you say when you want to hide the pain from the people you care for most.” I cut him off, “Asgore,
please
. I know this song and dance because we've done it in the reverse roles. You can
talk
to me.”
He lets out a sigh, and turns back to the sunset, “... Despite being here a long time now, human governments still aren’t sure what to do with us. No doubt they fear very mixed reactions about if a monster were to try and get a political position, and they aren’t sure what to do with
me
since I’m meant to be the king of my people. I already told them that I would happily revoke my title of king once my people are protected, but they fear it won’t change my people’s loyalty to me, should something happen.”
I hum in acknowledgement, “So they’re still skeptical about monsters is what I’m hearing. They still feel as though you’ll wage war because of your title being revoked. And if something were to happen even
after
the title is revoked, they fear that you’ll get your people to still follow you into war anyways.”
I see Asgore nod out of the corner of my eyes. I lightly clench my fist, thinking how stupid it is for everyone to
still
be hung up on the monster’s appearance in society.
“They’re thinking of revoking monster’s rights to travel out of the country, as well,” Asgore says after a moment of silence.
I seeth at this, and clench my teeth, “
excuse me?
”
“They don’t want us in other areas in the event of a war between nations, they said. They claim it’s for our safety but-”
“-but they just don’t want you fighting on enemy lines,” I finish bitterly, “What kinda bullshit excuse is that? They don’t have the right or the power to do that. The only way they could now legally do that is by restricting
all
of their citizens or by revoking your citizenship, either way will cause an uproar.”
“I don’t know what I could do, though,” Asgore says, “I can’t anger them or risk having my people slaughtered in a war, or even
enslaved
.”
“And having a child try and state something like that, and they’ll just simply dismiss Frisk. They won’t take them seriously, and just say that a child won’t understand the risks involved and say it’s for everyone’s safety.” I continue, starting to pace around the small patio, my eyes glued to the wooden structure, “This is so stupid.”
“It practically seems as though you and Frisk are the only humans that fully support us,” Asgore says with a sigh.
I stop pacing, and lay a hand on his arm, giving him a reassuring smile temporarily shoving my anger to the side for his sake, “You know that isn’t true though, right? Before monsters had gained full rights, remember all the riots? People helping your fight for rights, and even sheltering you all against the anti-monster groups that had popped up at the time.”
He smiles down at me, “I know that, and yet-”
“It still feels as though the distance between races is crippling,” I finish, “I getcha. I don’t think I could ever
truly
understand, as much as I’d like to, but I get what you mean.”
Asgore pulls me into a hug, “Thank you, my child. Truly, you are a wonder.”
I laugh, and wrap my arms around him, basking in the warmth that he radiated. If anything, it was a wonder to me how monster-kind could be so damn great at hugging. They are all such kind souls, and I hope that one day the rest of humanity could finally realize that.
He lets go after a moment, and sends me a soft smile, “Well, we should probably get going. Frisk has school tomorrow, and I’ve still got much work to do.”
I hum, “Now that I think about it, the painting you’ve commissioned is
after
Frisk’s birthday. What do you need it for? You know I’d happily make you one without you having to pay.”
Asgore pats my head, “You’ll see, once the time comes little one, and you
know
that I’d try to find a way to pay you back anyways. Might as well make it simple.”
I huff, hearing the implications, “You’ve looked up my prices haven’t you.”
He laughs, loud and full, and I’m at least happy to hear the joy back in his tone, “But of course! So don’t go trying any tricks now. I’ll know if you lower the price.”
I pout, “Come on! I gotta give you
some
sort of a discount.”
The paw resting on my head, ruffles my hair a bit, “You’ve already done so much for us, sheltering us when we first came out, and all of monster-kind is
still
grateful for the kindness you continue to show. Please do not undermine the fact that we are paying you back.”
I feel a stab of guilt at his words, “I know you guys think you have to pay me back, but seriously,
you really don’t
. Like, come on, we’ve established this.”
Asgore shakes his head, “Please little one? If not for monster-kind, then how about for a friend? Just let it happen this time? Please?”
I huff, “Now you’re making me feel bad.
Fine
, fine. I’ll let it happen. But just this
once
, you hear me?! Not letting it happen again.”
He beams down at me, and I resist the tug upwards on my lips.
“Ah, thank you, little one.”
I shake my head, this time letting the smile settle, “People don’t normally thank other people for having them pay full price on a piece of art. Or on anything for that matter.”
“But you of all people know that monster-kind isn’t normal.”
“In a good way.”
Asgore shakes his head at me and chuckles, “In a good way.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Asgore heads back inside after another moment of watching the sunset, and I follow behind him, and softly shut the door behind me, locking it up. We both head back into the dining room, and Frisk quickly runs over to Asgore, hopping at his feet, their hands clasped, and their eyes fully blown into puppy-dog eyes.
Seemingly already knowing what they were going to ask, Asgore lightly chuckles, “I’m afraid you can’t stay any longer, little one. You’ve got to go to school tomorrow.”
Frisk’s expression sours, and this time I laugh. I walk up to them and ruffle their hair, “Don’t worry, I’m sure it won’t be long before you come back. Maybe you can convince one of them to let you stay over during the weekend, yeah?”
They brighten up, and immediately turn towards Asgore, looking hopeful.
“Go ask your mother, I’ll let her decide,” Asgore says, letting Frisk scamper past him, towards the kitchen.
I smile, watching them retreat into the living room, towards the kitchen, and I turn back towards the dining room as Asgore addresses the skeletons.
“I’m afraid that while I’d like to be able to chat with you all individually, that I must leave. I’ll see what I can do to let you all have the same freedoms as the rest of my people while you stay here, but in the meantime, I must ask that you avoid public appearances.” Asgore says apologetically.
“AND WHY MUST WE?” Blackberry questions rather forcefully, “WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP US FROM EXPLORING THE SURFACE THAT WE’VE BEEN WAITING A LIFETIME FOR?”
Asgore flinches at this, but it’s barely noticeable, and I interject before this could turn into an argument.
“It’s not that we’re keeping you from the surface, Blackberry. This is more for your safety, if anything. You all wouldn’t be recognized as monsters who left from this world’s underground, and you guys don’t have citizenship yet until you’ve all been registered. The government here doesn’t exactly have the
best
track record, and if I’m being honest, they might take advantage of the fact that you guys don’t have your roots in yet,
especially
if they find out that you’re from a different universe.” I explain to him, and I watch as he grows a bit more contemplative. He still looks pretty aggravated, but at least he doesn’t look like he’ll run outside on a rampage anymore.
He huffs, and remains quiet. I give him an apologetic smile when he looks my way, and Asgore cautiously starts back up.
“It shouldn’t take too long before we can take you into town and get you all registered, but in the meantime, make yourselves familiar with this area, and even try to relax. I’m not sure how long it’ll be before you all can get home, but hopefully we can get you back where you belong.”
Everyone remains quiet after this, and I hear Asgore softly sigh. He turns to me, a kind smile on his face, and he puts a paw on my shoulder, “Thank you again for the dinner, little one. Hopefully next time I come over, it can be on much lighter terms and we can properly catch up.”
I smile up at him, “Of course!”
With that, he turns and leaves the room to wait out in the foyer. Toriel walks in with Frisk, the latter of which immediately dashing over to me and latching onto my legs. I chuckle at that, and put my hand on top of their head, lightly patting it, and look back up at Toriel. Being mindful of Frisk, Toriel brings me into a hug.
“Oh, my child, it was good to see you again! I do hope that next time we can both work together and make some pie.” She says.
I pat her back, and silently relish the warmth of her hug, “Naturally! I don’t think I could pass up
that
opportunity.”
She chuckles, and heads over to where Sans was still seated, and I focus my attention on Frisk.
“So, were you able to convince her to let you stay over one weekend at some point?” I ask, crouching down after they loosen their grip a little.
They nod rapidly, with a bright smile on their face, and they quickly latch onto my torso instead of my legs when I got low enough. I chuckle and ruffle their hair a bit, “You’ve gotta let go at some point, kiddo. You have school, I have work, and so on and so forth. At least it won’t be too long ‘till we see each other again, considering your birthday is coming up, as well as the anniversary for monsters emerging from the underground.”
They puff out their cheeks, and still hold on tight. I stand up, wrapping my arms around their back, and they quickly attach themselves like a koala around my side. My smile remains on my face at their antics, as I walk over to Toriel who looks like she’s almost done with her conversation with Sans. When she saw me walking over, she stifled a laugh at the sight of Frisk, who won’t let go of me.
Nonetheless, Frisk’s growing age was definitely showing, because my back was already getting little twinges of pain from the added weight of the child.
“Geez Frisk, you really
are
growing, aren’t you?” I tease, “Soon I won’t be able to hold you like this, or even give you piggyback rides.”
Frisk practically turns my bones into splinters when I say this, their grip becoming iron and tight, and I let out a little whoosh of air from the force behind it.
“W-wow kiddo, c’mon, you know that doesn’t mean anything bad. S’just saying that you’re growing up, and becoming mature. Well…
somewhat
mature.”
Toriel laughs again, and gently pries Frisk from my side, who looks legitimately sad. I put one of my hands back on their head and look into their eyes, “Don’t worry though, I won’t be going anywhere. I’ll be right here with ya through every step of the way.”
They cheer up a little at this, at least, a small smile gracing their features again. I shoot them a bright one in turn, “There’s that smile again.”
“Well, thank you again my child, and we shall hopefully see you again soon. I’ll be sure to contact you about working out a date for Frisk to stay over.” Toriel says, keeping Frisk on her hip like they were a toddler.
They didn’t seem to mind though, and happily latched onto Toriel’s side, but kept their gaze on me.
“Will do, Toriel, I hope you have a good night.”
She smiles at me, “You as well!”
With that, she leaves the room, and I hear the front door open, and close a second later. The day’s exhaustion finally hits me now that it’s for the most part quiet, and when I scan the room, I realize that most of the skeletons have left, except for Sans, Judge, and Geno. I head out of the room, head through the living room and into the kitchen, where I get to work cleaning up what little mess that’s left over. I’d have to find a way to repay Toriel for cleaning, for sure.
I hum to myself to keep the silence from getting too stifling, and when I turn towards the island counter and catch sight of the door, I stop humming immediately and feel a bit of heat rush to my cheeks when I realize that Geno is awkwardly standing there in the entryway.
“..Sorry,” I say after a moment, though I wasn’t entirely sure what I was apologizing for. I just felt as though I had to.
“... you and frisk are pretty close,” He says in reply, though it seems more like he’s questioning why.
When I glance up at his face and see the curiosity on it, I realize that he might actually be questioning why.
“Yeah, they’re a good kid. Been working hard to help monsters integrate into society since they first came out of the mountain. I’m glad to see them lightening up now that the majority of it has passed.” I say, quickly getting back to work, and scrubbing the pot I used to make spaghetti with a soapy sponge.
“huh.”
It’s silent for a moment, and I feel Geno’s stare burning into my back as I quietly wash the leftover dishes.
“why are you helping us?” Geno asks after another moment of silence.
I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow in question. His posture is stiff, despite trying to appear casual by leaning against the doorframe, and his smile is tight and barely visible beneath the long, red scarf around his shoulders. One hand is gripping the scarf, while the other is stuffed in a jacket pocket. He’s guarded… closed off. Even a bit nervous if I was reading his body language right.
“Why wouldn’t I? Sans was the one to make the bone-headed decision to forcefully rip you guys out of your universes. It’s the least I could do to help you guys until the machine is fixed and ready to send you back.” I say with a shrug, holding eye contact. Geno’s smile twitches downwards for a fraction of a second.
“but what do you have to gain from this?” He asks, an edge to his tone.
My eyebrows furrow, “Uuh…? Nothing really? Maybe some good company and jokes, I guess?”
“then
what do you have to gain?
” He asks again.
“You already-” I pause, realizing what this is about.
I sigh, putting down the pot, and dropping the sponge, letting my hands rest on the lip of the sink, as I watched the water trickle out of the faucet.
“Look, I don’t know what you’ve been through, and I don’t know who brought whatever picture of humankind you have in your mind, but please understand that I’m not them.”
“i’m not-”
“You
are
, whether or not it’s subconscious or conscious thought, you’re
doing it
. I used to have a similar mindset, but I want you to understand that not everybody is like them. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of human’s who are assholes, and you’ll probably encounter a lot of them, but that doesn’t make
everyone
an asshole.” I cut him off, trying to get my point across.
I continue at his silence, “Think of it like this, comparing me and the rest of the human population to one bastard is like me basing my opinion of monster-kind off of a single mistake you may have made. But I
don’t.
Because not everybody is the same. Some humans
still
base Asgore’s reputation from what he did while he was underground, but I don’t care. No… that’s not right. I don’t disregard the action completely, but I can understand why he did it. I also am now really good friends with him and- not that I’d ever really tell him- see him as an almost father figure. So… please, don’t make an image of me based off of someone else.”
I face Geno again, tearing my gaze from the still flowing water, and see that he has a far off look on his face. I sigh and turn back to the sink, picking up the sponge and getting back to work on the dishes. The silence is practically stifling, but I won’t be the one to break it. Either he’ll say something, or he’ll leave. Either way, it’s up to him how he interprets what I said.
“how much do you know about what happened underground?” Geno asks after a particularly long stretch of silence.
“Do you mean its history, or the resets?” I ask.
“...so you know what frisk did then.” Geno says.
I nod, “They started it, yes, but when they realized what they were doing was wrong and tried to stop, something else took control.”
“and you don’t judge them for it?”
“It’s… a hard fact to accept, I will admit. The fact that a
kid
could commit mass genocide like that, but at the same time it’s easy to forget the fact that they
are
a kid. They were never taught the rights and wrongs, they were never taught the severity of their powers or the consequences that followed it. They were only exposed to some horrible stuff before they fell down that mountain, and they had to be far more mature than any kid had to be. They had the burdens that almost any adult would crumble under, and despite their faults they’re doing good now. So, no, I don’t judge them off of their past actions.” I explain.
After finally finishing the pot and setting it aside with the other clean dishes, I grabbed a rag and got to work on drying them and putting them away.
“i-” Geno sighs, “i’m not exactly gonna tell you my life story, and i certainly am not going to easily place my trust in you after
one
conversation, but… i can also see what you mean. i know when i’m in the wrong, and that is now, when i assumed you’d be like them. so, i’m s-”
“Don’t apologize,” I cut him off quickly, “You don’t really have anything to apologize for.
Yes
, you automatically assuming everyone likes them is bad, but it’s also expected if your background is anything even
remotely
similar to my Sans’. You had a pretty bad impression of us from the start, so it was natural for you to be defensive and cautious.”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I see him study me, probably because what I just said is almost the exact opposite of what I told him before.
I shrug my shoulders at his questioning gaze, “I know that it contradicts, but that’s just how it is. You have to learn the middle ground between instinct and logic in cases like this.”
“you’re an odd one.” Geno says finally with a small, barely noticeable shake of his head.
“Odd in a good way, hopefully,” I say with a small smile in his direction.
“That’s yet to be decided,” He says.
I let out a small chuckle and consider the small, genuine smile on his face a minor victory on my part.
With that, I finish the dishes, and look out the window to see a starry night outside.
“The stars are particularly bright since we’re closer to the countryside than the city, if you’re interested. I, however, am tired as fuck and I’m heading to bed. G’Night.” I say with a small smile his direction, and brush past him as I head towards the staircase in the foyer.
“Y/n,” Geno calls out, surprisingly quiet for having so much force behind it.
I turn around, “Yeah?”
He turns contemplative and seems to have an internal battle for a moment as he shifts around before he finally speaks.
“thank you.”
My expression softens, and I give him a slight smile, before turning around and heading up the stairs.