Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Your name was (Name) (Last Name), or, rather known as Doctor (Last Name). None took you very seriously, of course, with your profession and all, but that didn't matter. You were busy in your home, a humble, rather large inherited house, at least twelve bedrooms and five bathrooms. You were spoiled. You lived completely alone in this house, and while some may say that the quietness, especially this deep into the country, hundreds of miles from civilization, would drive one crazy, you were different. You found the tranquility as your own sanctum.

You even had your own personal library, which you formed into an office at the same time, which usually doubled up as your bedroom. You had a proper bed, yes, but most of the time the rough, sturdy, unforgiving wooden bench between two of those large bookcases just called for your touch. You felt too compelled to give it, each and every night after slaving away at your work. You were currently in the same room, reading a new book you had bought and sipping from a cup to calm your mind. You had earphones on, known for blocking out almost all sounds in reality except for those which it gives you, and found yourself playing some ambiance.

Your book was new, yes, but had the feel of an old, worn out copy. Maybe that was just due to you having picked it out of your collection not long ago. Maybe it didn't exactly count as 'new' anymore, but you had yet to read it (that you could remember) just yet. Your fingers ran over the cover, feeling the soft, smooth texture and feeling a smirk twitch onto your lips. The paperback was still rather straightened, not exactly bent away just yet. It was reasonably thick, but would take maybe a day and a half without sleep to completely cover.

Ah, yes, Jeff Meldrum. You didn't exactly read his works just yet, but there was no better place to start than Sas-

Something's wrong. You were quick to set the book aside, running a hand down the closed cover, tracing the disturbing eyes, before returning to your previous thoughts. Something was incredibly wrong. You just knew it. It might have been a feeling deep in your gut, or maybe it was the fact you just heard a giant explosion from rather close nearby. You were always a bit sensitive to sound, but you also weren't exactly deaf to the sounds of giant breaking glass. At least, that's what you assumed it had sounded like.

It might not have been the brightest of decisions, really, but when has the name (Name) (Last Name) been regarded as bright? You were just a scientist who studied something that people claim is a waste of your own personal knowledge. You were already grabbing your knife off the table, a dark pocket knife that flicks out into a sharp blade, as you opened the door. Your thoughts were wasted as you hurried to start up your dirtbike, used to going through beaten paths in the woods behind and around your house. It'd be easiest to find what caused the noise by doing that.

You were revving the engine in no time, speeding off and feeling your body bounce as the wheels jumped from each little ramp-like hill until you forced yourself to stop. Movement. You quickly pat at your chest, cursing yourself for not bringing your camera, especially as such a novel experience was met with you. That wasn't some sort of creature, nor a blow of the wind, the color stood out against the dark tree trunks and even darker leaves and needles. Pure white, with a golden accent, maybe a mane of sorts, above its head.

Unfortunately, it seemed to notice you just as you noticed it. Its head tilted, and you felt your hands return to the handles of your bike, ready to speed away if it proves dangerous in the slightest bit. This wasn't going to end well and you knew it. You don't know what this creature is, but you know one thing for a fact - it isn't human. 

The creature seemed to sense your unease, giving you a near-friendly look and motioning to something nearby to take notice of you as well. You stiffened at the sound of twigs breaking and leaves rustling as something pushed through the bushes, only to relax once seeing the relatively human nature. Then you panicked again. Was that a child? You felt your breathing pick up as they slowly walked towards you, hands moving a flurry.

It took you a moment to catch up to what was going on, holding up your own hands and gesturing for them to slow down. You assumed they were speaking in signs, and your own voice tended to leave you once in a while that caused the same thing to need to be taught. You just needed to re-watch their movements. Right as they nodded, seeming to gather your intentions and getting ready to move again, you heard a loud shout.

You flinched at the sudden noise, grabbing your knife and flicking it out right as another humanoid creature popped out, a sharp spear, glowing cyan blue, pointed directly at your face. You two were at a stand still as the small human child quickly shoved the second creature away.

"Oh, come on! They have a WEAPON! How do you know that you can trust them?!" the second creature shouted, sounding very human besides a slight lisp, which you assumed came from its yellowed, sharp teeth, a small gap in between the front two. It stood tall, around six feet in height, with blue skin and dark red hair tied back in a ponytail. Along its neck were slits, like gills, and you noticed that at its sides were more, along with the outsides of its thighs. It wore a black tank top, dark blue jeans, and red boots, but the jeans and top had holes sewn out of them around the other gills. Maybe to help it breathe underwater without as much restrictions. You didn't even notice it suddenly turn on you, snarling, until another voice was heard.

"Please, please do not fight, Undyne. They don't seem to mean harm, they're just startled. Aren't you?" It was the larger, first creature, slowly walking towards you. You stumbled back, holding up the knife again as your bike knocked over, nearly taking you down with it. The large creature stopped, hands held up to show no harm, and, most importantly, no weapons. "Calm down, little one. We mean you no harm either. May I explain?" Its voice was deep, slightly gravely, and you found it soothing. It was like a parent talking to a scared child.

You looked at the warrior creature, the child, then back to what you had assumed to be the alpha, before slowly nodding. They seemed sentient and intelligent enough to talk, talking clearly as well. The small human seemed to be smiling up at you after you decided to allow the alpha one to talk, but you still felt like something dangerous was watching you. Something was lurking nearby.

Something you weren't sure if you wanted to meet.

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You nodded cautiously as the child and alpha creature explained. So far the story went as such; Monsters were real, trapped underground, and were freed by this random child. You... you had trouble understanding, but the alpha creature seemed friendly and comforting. You were distracted rather often by him, however.

ASGORE had most certainly taken note of your staring, but it was never at him directly, rather at his body. You especially seemed focused on the cape fluttering back from his shoulders, previously having covered his golden armor which caught the light just perfectly. UNDYNE, however, just seemed annoyed when you stopped paying attention to the small human, rolling her eye and looking back over her shoulder. The others must be getting suspicious by now...

You found your voice after a little while of silence after the human's quick hand-gestures forming a story. "...My-" you stopped, voice disappearing again as you caught the warrioress's gaze. She was intimidating, and you felt your sins crawling on your back, weighing heavily on your neck. You opened your mouth once more, but your words faded before they even reached your tongue yet again. 

The small human glared up at her despite having closed eyes, and she huffed angrily, glancing off and away. At least that was some less stress for you, but you still needed a minute to gather your thoughts once more. As soon as you did, though, you were quick to open your mouth and spread them outwardly before they could fade away again, just like an echo of sorts.

"My house is nearby. If-" your voice cut out for a moment, "-If there aren't too many of you, you could stay there for just a little while." You took a breath of relief afterwards, relieved that you barely stuttered. It was something you were proud of, how your words didn't tremble. Of course you still made mistakes, but it was much better when you could still make some sounds without it sounding like a choppy cellphone connection. The alpha tilted his head in shock and confusion for a moment, before breaking into a smile. Even the warrioress seemed shocked yet a bit grateful for your offer.

"There aren't many of us outside of the barrier just yet. Just myself, my wi-er, ex-wife, Frisk, Undyne, Papyrus, Sans, and Alphys." his smile grew more nervous, "I... do hope that that isn't too many you could be able to help?"

You took a moment to breathe, thinking. You had lots of room at home, and that surely wasn't very much, but... Could you really handle that many people in your house? You can barely keep your sanity in tact and fully calmed when you visit a single family member, who knows what kind of stress you'll be forced to be under with so many in your house, constantly! Even thinking of it made you rather unsettled, breathing speeding up without you noticing it.

"Well-" you tried to speak before covering your mouth, feeling yourself tearing up. God, you're pathetic. You just nodded, the alpha and warrioress shooting you worried looks. The alpha you understood, but the warrioress had you confused. Did she feel a change of emotions to you? Maybe she noticed your fear and hesitance and no longer believes of you as any sort of threat... That would make sense.

The child, all but forgotten, suddenly tugged at your panstleg, making you jolt and yank back. They didn't seem offended, but the warrioress got into a defensive position.

They signed something much slower than before, head tilted and face showing worry. It was just a simple combination of 'O' and 'K', but you managed to pry one of your hands away from your face to sign back a small 'YES'.

They seemed to give you a small smile as you calmed down, glancing back up at the monsters.

"Yes. You... you can stay."

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The smiles on their faces warmed your heart. The child, as you had learned to be 'Frisk', had a soft, gentle, closed-mouth smile that reminded you of purity and kindness. Asgore, the alpha, was fatherly in a way, giving you remorseful and thankful eyes with a somewhat wary grin. Undyne, the warrioress, as you had learned, had a slightly intimidating grin that shown off each of her teeth, thick and dangerous.

"I would-" you stopped yourself, glancing away as pressure settled back onto you before you looked back up at the largest of the monsters, "I would like to meet the others, if that's alright. The other-the other monsters." you winced internally at how weak your voice had sounded, but Asgore just nodded and stepped back.

"There are quite a few of us, though, so I do hope that you won't be startled." Shoot, did he already pick up on how jittery you were? Oh gods... Either way, he left Undyne and Frisk with you while he went back towards where he had come from, and you heard voices. One was stuttering, another baritone, one feminine, Asgore's own deep voice, and a loud shout. So far the shouting voice was the only one you could hear clearly, and each time it started up you flinched.

Undyne gave you a strange look, and you felt yourself shrink under her gaze, quickly looking away once again. "I'm... sorry, I just-"

"That's just Papyrus. He doesn't mean to hurt you. He couldn't hurt anyone, I promise." she gave you an easygoing smirk despite how rudely she had just cut you off, making you smile back despite focusing intently on the ground. She seemed to warm up to you rather fast. You didn't notice how she was standing next to you until her hand slapped against your back, making you yelp in pain. She laughed, as if expecting this, but you felt yourself tearing up already. She was too close, she was touching you, she was loud and violent and scary and-

Your heart rate picked up incredibly quickly and your ears started ringing. You panicked, reaching down to your pockets, flinching once more as you realized the world was spinning. You hadn't bothered to change out of your pajamas, really. An old T-shirt with a few holes in it covered your chest, while your legs and feet were covered by loose pajama pants and white socks, old rainboots protecting them from the dirt and mud. You had noticed how you still were holding your knife, hands shaking as you looked down, only able to focus on the dark object.

A scream broke out from your throat as you were suddenly touched, a voice managing to break through your own shriek. They were murmuring something to you, and your ears tried their damnedest to try and focus on it, along with your eyes. The world slowed down from the violent screaming and spinning, your breath still going fast but gently calming down. You could hear more voices beyond the one talking to you.

"...didn't do anything that..."

"...freaking out for no reason..."

"...attack looks intense..."

"...not a good idea to..."

Finally, your hearing returned a bit more as you watched the one in front of you. They were short, and you focused on the feelings. Claws prodded your shoulders, gentle but sharp, and you found it oddly relaxing. The voice was slightly nasally but also rather feminine, coming from a yellow-orange, maybe golden, colored reptile. Glasses were over their snout and hooked back behind finned ears, and they looked rather chubby, actually. They wore a labcoat over a black dress with white polka-dots, without any shoes covering their digitigrade legs.

You calmed down as you focused on this, looking back up into sapphire blue eyes and finally listening to their voice.

"...calm down. It's okay. Just focus on me, okay? You're doing great." they spoke quietly, stuttering every now and again. You took a deep breath, closing your eyes, before nodding and gently pulling away. They quickly let go at the slightest chance you didn't want to be touched any longer. "Are you feeling better?"

Your voice cut out, so you simply just nodded, glancing at the others as they all had calmed down. So far this reptilian creature seemed the kindest, which was all you had known properly. There was also another mammal, similar to Asgore, but wearing a set of purple robes rather than thick golden armor, and lacked the golden blonde hair, with much shorter and less sharp horns. They had red eyes and stood just as tall as Asgore. They gave off a maternal vibe, giving you a concerned gaze that dug straight into your very SOUL.

Besides them was a skeleton, just a head or two shorter than the regal looking monsters, but despite looking rather scientifically accurate, besides being a living skeleton and all, they still appeared rather emotive. Their jaw hinged up towards their cheekbones, but the little line between bones curved up or down, it seemed, like a smile or frown. Currently it was slightly downturned, upset and worried. They wore a thick white chestplate, covering their ribs but showing their spine. Their arms, legs, and spine were all covered by black silk, though, rather... Erm, for lack of a better word, skin-tight. They also had dark blue shorts, incredibly short, and far below those were red boots, very similar to the boots you were currently wearing. Along with that was two red gloves covering their hands.

Looking to the right a bit more, you saw another skeleton, this one shorter than you by quite a bit. They were just as tall as the child, Frisk, and even the lizard was higher up than them. The lizard went to around your midsection, the child to your hips, and the other skeleton mocking that. They seemed to be... chubbier, somehow. They wore a blue parka with a grey-inside hood, hands stuffed in their pockets as they seemed to be glaring at you. Their eyesockets were bigger than those of the other skeleton's, deeper as well, and their mouth looked much more... drawn on, really, moving much more like a human's mouth, teeth covered slightly as they seemed to be snarling at you. Black basketball shorts nearly covered their entire legs with how short the monster was, and blue, untied sneakers covered their feet. Finally was the rather adorable pair of loose-fitting pink socks that poked up from their sneakers.

Despite the glares of the shorter skeleton, you felt much calmer. Maybe... Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.