Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

THUMP.

You looked over to the window just in time to see a soccer ball fall back down past the windowsill to the ground below. With a sigh and a smirk, you rose from your stool and approached said window, peering down two floors to see the owner of the ball and two other monster children looking back at you sheepishly. You pushed the bottom windowpane up and stuck your head out. One of the children cupped their paws around their mouth and called out to you.

“Sorry Ms. L/N! It was an accident!”

You chuckle at the adorable sight below you and answer back.

“It’s fine! Just be more careful, okay?!”

The owner of the ball perked up after seeing you weren’t mad and smiled a toothy grin. He wrapped his tail around the ball, drawing it closer to his body. You were impressed he was able to manage mundane tasks so well without arms.

“We will! Guys, we should probably move away from the building. My mom would kill me if we broke somebody’s window. Bye Ms. L/N!”

“You kids take care now!”

A warm smile stretched across your face as the three children scampered away. They reminded you of better times. Closing the window again, you made your way back over to the stool beside the easel, where the large white space of a half-finished painting glared at you. Looking at the clock on the wall behind it, you realized you had worked on it for five hours straight. When your eyes drifted across the back countertop and landed on a box of Chai tea, you decided a short break was in order. You set up a kettle of water to boil and eased into a nearby recliner with a sigh. You hoped you could get the painting finished quick enough so you could still relax before bed. Then in the morning you would deliver it to the sweet old lady on the first floor who had commissioned it; an impressionist style portrait of her fluffy grey cat, Smokey.

While you still enjoyed doing art commissions for a living, sometimes they just took up more free time than you would like. Time you could spend working on other art or music projects, or simply lounging around. It was really the only work you could find in this city that you could live with, aside from writing art material reviews. Or babysitting the monster ambassador and their talking plant every so often. Sometimes it still amazed you that they were your next-door neighbors, along with the Queen of the monsters, who was their adoptive mother. In fact, you were amazed with yourself when you had decided to move to the monster city all on your own three years ago, by the suggestion of your therapist. Really it was about time, considering you were already in your mid-twenties. It was an exciting yet terrifying idea at first, but you didn’t regret it for a second. The monsters you had been so curious about turned out to be wonderful company.

The Queen herself, Toriel, was sweet and doting, and was like a second mother to you. Not to mention she baked a mean cinnamon-butterscotch pie. King Asgore looked intimidating, but his calm and caring nature contrasted his features. You snickered when Sans had told you about his “King Fluffy-buns” nickname. The ambassador, Frisk, was a lovely child, and the pleasant demeanor they usually carried brought a good mood that was highly contagious. The talking flower made you a bit uncomfortable at times, but you could tell he was trying his best to change from whatever seemingly rude habits he had before. Then there were the skeleton brothers who lived in a house down the street from the apartment complex. The shorter one, Sans, was very laid back and lazy. You were pretty good friends by now though, and he had one hell of an arsenal of terrible puns, which you greatly appreciated. Puns that the taller brother Papyrus couldn’t stand, much to your amusement. He was Sans’s counterpart, being energetic and loud, and he loved to cook. Though what joy he lacked in word play, he put all in to puzzle solving, which you also appreciated. He was as active as Sans was inactive, which was how you were introduced to Undyne and Alphys after seeing the latter two sparring with each other. Undyne and Alphys were also opposites to each other; Undyne was also loud and energetic and loved to fight and wrestle, while Alphys was reserved and timid, and more intellectual. She had told you she was the former Royal Scientist, which made perfect sense just by looking at her. Her quirk was an extreme interest in anime, particularly a cat-girl themed show you had never even heard of. Despite their differences, they cared for and supported each other, which was almost painfully heart-warming to watch.

Another monster Papyrus had introduced you to was a monster he was seemingly smitten with. A ghost monster with a robot body named Mettaton, who was just as popular a celebrity above ground as below. He had a home with his ghost cousin Napstablook in Surface City as well, but they were gone on tours or performances most of the time, so you didn’t have the chance to play music with them that often, unfortunately. Mettaton was a talented singer and dancer, while Napstablook was talented with music production. Sometimes you wondered how they were related, however, because they too were opposites of each other; Mettaton being a full tilt extroverted diva, while Blooky was very shy and introverted. You supposed opposites attract in any type of relationship.

You were pulled from your thoughts by the sound of the tea kettle whistling and rose again to prepare your tea. As you sipped, you could feel the warmth moving down your body into your core, relieving some of the stress of the unfinished painting across from you. Yes, you really didn’t regret moving here, despite the ups and downs of settling in and making a living. Looking out the far window at the setting sun, you felt thankful your mother had recommended seeing a therapist all those years ago. Even if you were living in a dumpster, you would rather that than live under your father’s roof. To this day, he still has no idea how much he hurt you. You decided to disembark that thought train where it was and focus on the view.

Your laughter echoed through the living area as you scrolled through all the memes your social media had to offer. The finished cat painting rested against the entertainment center in front of you, ready and waiting to be delivered in the morning. You hoped she would like it after all the time it took to paint…and the amount of money she had promised for your work. Suddenly, your view of a particularly wordy post was obstructed by an incoming call notification. You glanced at the time.

Hmm. There’s only one person who could be calling me at nine p.m., you thought. You swiped the call button and raised the phone to your ear.

“Hey there Ms. Toriel!”

“Y/N dear! I’m so glad you picked up my child! I hope I am not interrupting anything?”

“Oh no, not at all. What’s up? In need of a sitter again?”

“That’s right. I have diplomatic meetings to attend all throughout the day tomorrow, and I’m afraid I will need you to watch the children in my absence. That is, if you are available?”

“Of course, its no trouble at all. I have a delivery to make in the morning, but I can come over as soon as that’s done.”

“Wonderful! Thank you so much my child. I do not know what I would do without you. The children do so enjoy your company. I will most likely return late in the evening, so I could pay you in advance if you would like?”

“No, no, its fine. Sounds like you’ll be pretty busy, so you can just get it to me whenever its convenient for you.”

“Well, alright then, if that is fine by you. Thank you again my child. I will see you in the morning then! Goodbye!”

“See you then Ms. Toriel.”

You flopped your phone down in your lap and let your head bounce back against the couch. You had a pretty full schedule for the weekend, but you supposed it wouldn’t be too hard to bring Frisk and Flowey along for the ride. And a bit of extra cash never hurt either. You stretched until your muscles hurt and ran a hand through your H/C hair.

Might as well get cleaned up and climb into bed so I’ll have enough energy for tomorrow…buuut I’ll probably end up staying awake too late watching Metube. Oh well!

With a sigh, you resigned yourself to your inevitable fate and headed toward the bathroom for a shower.

Chapter Text

“Y/N dear! Just in time! Come in my child.”

You gave Toriel a curt smile as you moved past her into the cozy looking living room. Thankfully your apartment was on the fourth floor, where Toriel’s generously sized one was situated just above yours on the top floor. They had ample space to move around, and a guest room you could crash in on the rare occasion Toriel came home very late at night, or when you were simply too tired to trudge back downstairs to your own room. You looked over to where Frisk and Flowey sat at a coffee table reading through what looked to be a game guide they had printed out. They lifted their gazes to you and Frisk grinned excitedly, giving you a small enthusiastic wave. Flowey nodded a quick, ‘sup’, with a mostly blank expression, but you could tell he was eager to get out of the apartment and into the sunshine. As the two of them continued a quiet conversation about whatever sort of game the guide was for, you took a seat on the plush loveseat as Toriel came from the kitchen, carrying two small blueberry muffins and a cup of what you assumed was golden flower tea.

“Here, I assume you have not eaten breakfast this morning?”

You looked up at her, eyebrows raised, then smiled warmly.

“Heh, you know me so well Ms. Toriel, thanks.”

“You really must remember to eat in the morning dear. I’ve heard that humans have an expression for this…it was…’breakfast is the most important meal of the day’, if I am not mistaken?”

Your cheeks were dusted a light pink as you rubbed your neck bashfully.

“Yeah, that’s the one. I just can’t seem to make myself eat in the morning most days. But your cooking never makes me feel apprehensive. Sorry to trouble you.”

“Ahh yes, I know how much you and all our friends enjoy the sweets I prepare. There is no need to fret over it my child. This is only what I have made for the children this morning. I very much enjoy baking, especially when others may enjoy it with me.”

You nod your head in agreement and thank her for the delicious-smelling baked goods. As you enjoyed the breakfast, Frisk grabbed Flowey’s pot and scooted closer to where you were sitting, setting the pot back down on the table. Flowey’s head still faced the pile of papers off to the side, craning his stem over to read. Frisk made a pouty face, then turned the pot until he was facing you, a look of surprise on his face that turned into a grumpy deadpan expression. He huffed and crossed his leaves in front of him, turning his gaze from Frisk to you. Frisk switched their attention to you with an excited look and began signing frantically, much to Flowey’s exasperation.

“Jeez! Frisk, slow down! I can’t understand you when you do it that fast!”

Frisk looked at him sheepishly, signing a quick apology. Then they started over at a slower pace.

“Thank you. What they’re trying to say, is that we got a new game the other day, and Frisk wants you to play it with us. If they remember right, last time you said you had training with Papyrus and Undyne today, but not till noon, so they’re hoping we can play the game until then. We also talked to mo- I mean Toriel earlier, and she said she doesn’t care if we go out with you today. They’re asking if you also have something going on at Grillby’s tonight.”

“Oh, yeah. Sans, Pap, Undyne, Alphys and I are grabbing some dinner, and I’ll probably jam for a little bit while we’re there. I’m sure the others won’t mind if you tag along…IF, you promise not to antagonize Sans, Flowey. I know you guys have some kinda history goin’ on, but could you try to be civil for once? Please?”

Frisk looks over at Flowey with a pleading expression. Flowey lets out a long dramatic sigh, leaning his stem back and facing the ceiling.

“FIIIIIINE, I guess I can keep from poking at smiley trash-bag for one night, if it means I can get out of this damn apartment for once. Frisk is always at school during the week, and I can’t go anywhere on my own, as infuriating as that is. Toriel puts me up where I can get some sunlight but its never good enough. I need FRESH AIR damn it!”

You and Frisk giggle at Flowey’s animated tantrum. Frisk turns back to you and thanks you for letting them come along, then starts to excitedly explain the new game they were going to play. As it turns out, they had come across an old favorite of yours; The Story of Zorla: Four Spear Adventures. You were looking forward to playing it again. You felt a bit bad for them only having access to a Gamebox and nothing else. They had a computer, but it was so old that playing any high-quality games on it was impossible. You had a modest collection of consoles from your childhood up until now, however, and would often invite the two of them over to play games from your own collection. Frisk continued to talk about how they had gotten a copy of the game and other details as you patiently listened, briefly pausing to wave goodbye to Toriel.

“I am off now children. As usual, please behave for Y/N, and do not stay out too late. I expect you both to be home when I return. Y/N, I leave them to you. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to call me.”

“Will do. Have fun at those meetings!”

Toriel released an exasperated sigh, smiled, and walked out the door. When you looked back over at the kids, they were already across the room, setting up the Gamebox.

Heh. Eager beavers today I see. Yeah, I know they’re gonna like this game.

As they busied themselves with setup, your mind wandered to the day ahead. You found yourself feeling mildly nervous about training today. The sessions were starting to get a bit more intense now that you had better control of your magic. You thought back to the day you first discovered your magic with fondness. The second coolest thing you learned besides the fact that monsters were real, was that souls were truly a real thing. And human souls were remarkably strong, but humans had forgotten how to use magic. Another benefit to moving out here and meeting monsters, you had decided. You were sure you never would have learned to use magic without meeting them, and wouldn’t have learned what your soul trait was. Apparently, you were some sort of rarity, more than Frisk even. You had not one, but two dominant soul traits; KINDNESS and BRAVERY, the latter being much less than the former. You weren’t surprised; it fit your perception of your own personality perfectly. You did your best to stay kind no matter the situation, and at times you knew yourself to be unexpectedly bold and adventurous.

With Papyrus and Undyne’s help, you had learned to use healing magic through your KINDNESS, and very recently, you started learning to create blasts of offensive magic with BRAVERY, although it was much harder to do considering KINDNESS was your stronger trait. Undyne had told you that with enough practice you would be able to use fire magic, and maybe one day, even create weapon constructs. This information had you incredibly excited at first, but after starting routine training, the idea of being in a real fight had you worried. Practicing was all well and good, but when it came down to it…if your life, or the life of someone else was in danger…would you be able to quell your fear long enough to do battle? They made it look so easy. You, on the other hand, had never been in a physical altercation in your life. You didn’t have the answer to that question, but your friends seemed confident in you. Hell, even Flowey had said once under his breath that you had potential, and he rarely gives compliments. You supposed you would have to trust their judgement, and hopefully, if the time came, you would be able to step up to the plate.

Flowey’s scratchy, impatient voice cut through your thoughts and back to the task at hand. Frisk pulled at your sleeve, and you allowed them to guide you over to the TV, where the familiar title screen glowed before you.

It was almost noon as Y/N and co. walked down the worn concrete path toward the training grounds. Especially in Surface City, there were strict laws placed on the use of magic. Only healing magic and basic defensive magic were allowed in public. Mundane types of magic were allowed in homes, such as fire magic and simple levitation magic, but never anything more advanced, especially not offensive types. The only exceptions to these rules were in designated areas like the one you were headed to, or if you had express permission from the King and Queen as well as the government. Such designated areas were extremely few, this one being the only one in Surface City, after Undyne and Papyrus had made an appeal to both authorities. They had hesitantly agreed, so long as the area was clearly marked for training and sparring with magic, and sectioned off with sturdy barriers. As you approached the entrance, you inwardly chuckled as usual at the sign Papyrus had made to let the public know what the space was intended for.

TRAINING GROUNDS

GREETINGS HUMANS/MONSTERS!! THIS AREA IS INTENDED ONLY FOR MAGICAL TRAINING/SPARRING!! IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE INJURED, PLEASE KEEP A SAFE DISTANCE OF AT LEAST 40 FEET AWAY FROM SAID AREA!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING!!

THE GREAT PAPYRUS

(AN OFFICIAL VERY COOL ROYAL GUARDSMAN)

After reading over the cute sign as you always did, you pushed open the gate and stepped aside to let Frisk through first, carrying Flowey in front of them as they passed with a nod and grin. Following closely behind them, you spotted a familiar very tall skeleton enthusiastically waving at you from where he stood beside an equally familiar blue fish woman, who was flashing a huge sharp-toothed grin ear-fin to ear-fin. Despite it being mid-spring, the temperature was higher than normal today, and you found yourself very glad you had checked the weather before choosing what to wear. As both groups met, very tight hugs were exchanged between all, followed by headlocks and noogies. Undyne’s voice was the first to belt out into the warm air.

“Sup’ nerd-punk! You ready to get some super serious EXTREME training done today?!”

You nervously grinned and leaned back, folding your arms behind your head.

“Uhh, I dunno about extreme, but…yeah, I’m ready for some training. We’re going over blasts and healing like usual, right?”

Papyrus excitedly cut into the conversation.

“QUITE RIGHT HUMAN Y/N! AND ONCE THAT IS DONE, FOLLOWED BY THE USUAL SPARRING, WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO ATTEMPT FIRE MAGIC TODAY IF YOU FEEL UP TO IT!”

You were a bit surprised at that. Undyne had briefly spoken to you about fire magic last week, and you had asked Toriel a few questions on how she used it out of curiosity, but you had never tried it yourself.

“Uhh, really? So soon? We only just talked about it last week. Are you sure I’d be able to pull it off? I think I’ve gotten pretty good with healing magic, but my magic blasts aren’t even all that strong yet…”

“NONSENSE! YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU MAY BE CAPABLE OF UNTIL YOU TRY! WE HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOU HUMAN! AND EVEN IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO PRODUCE EVEN THE SMALLEST OF SPARKS, YOU MUST KEEP TRYING! THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO SUCCEED! ALSO, IF WE ARE UNABLE TO HELP YOU LEARN, I’M SURE QUEEN TORIEL AND KING ASGORE WILL BE ABLE TO HELP YOU. THEY ARE BOTH VERY GOOD AT FIRE MAGIC.”

“Pap is right nerd-punk! You never know until you try! Who knows? You might make some sparks, or even an actual flame today! Anything could be called progress!”

You couldn’t help but smile at their optimism and confidence in you. You briefly thought that it was nice to finally have supportive friends like this. If anyone were to teach you how to use magic, you were glad it was them. You balled up a fist and drew it up to your chest with a small shake.

“Well, guess I can’t really argue with that. Let’s get started! I’m ready!”

Undyne and Papyrus shared a heated battle cry as Frisk made their way over to a nearby bench with Flowey in tow. They set his pot down beside them and turned to sign a quick ‘this is going to be fun! Huh Flowey?’, to which he just shrugged.

“I guess. It’s just the same stuff they’ve been doing every week. Might be kinda cool if Y/N managed to actually make fire though.”

Frisk excitedly nodded and turned their attention back to the battlefield. First Papyrus and Undyne sparred together while you watched, and you took mental notes of their movements and listened carefully whenever they gave tips or advice. Next, you healed any injuries they had given each other and joined in for the second round of sparring, practicing your blast magic. You still weren’t perfect, but you got out a lot more shots than last time, and a few even found their marks. And all the while, you could hear Frisk cheering the three of you on, which admittedly helped you to a degree. Maybe it had something to do with souls that you didn’t know of yet. After that, you healed them again. They had told you early on that, unfortunately, you can’t use your own healing magic on yourself, so Papyrus gave you a few pieces of monster candy that he always made sure to bring for you. You didn’t have many actual injuries per se, since you have been getting better at dodging. It was mostly to help replenish your magical energy; you were still working on increasing the amount you could use before it was spent. Once all the bases had been covered, it was time to try fire magic.

“So….how exactly do I just…conjure fire from nothing?”

Undyne laughed and shook her head.

“It doesn’t just come from nothing ya dummy! Its not just fire, its fire magic! It comes from your soul, like everything else! Okay, so first you wanna hold your hand out and direct the flow of your magic to your hand, just like with the magic blasts.”

You nodded and held up your hand, focusing on the now familiar feeling of magical energy swirling and twisting around in the center of your chest. You willed it to move toward your outstretched palm, where a moderate amount coiled and settled in the center. A faint orange glow lined the edges of your fingers, bathing the nearby S/C skin in an amber glow, and Undyne’s eyes lit up. Papyrus’s smile widened and he brought excited fists up to his chest as his gaze focused on your hand.

“Yeah, that’s the ticket! Okay, so…I’ve never used fire magic myself, so to be honest I’m not sure what to do next. Maybe imagine making sparks with the magic? Imagine a flame in the palm of your hand? Man…probably shoulda’ asked the King or Queen about this ahead of time….think warm thoughts?”

You chuckled at the ridiculousness of her suggestions, but decided they were worth as good a shot as any. You tried to imagine a flame appearing in your hand, slowly getting bigger and brighter as the flames grew. After a few moments, the magic still lining your fingers had ebbed and shifted a bit, but no flames appeared. You shook your head and tried again, closing your eyes to try and focus more. Undyne and Papyrus watched your hand with bated breath, hoping a flame would appear there. Then, just as you were about to give up, you felt it. There was a brief moment where your palm felt increasingly warm, but not uncomfortably hot. You heard a little noise, like the sound of the wick in a pocket lighter igniting. A flash of light shone before your eyelids, and you opened them in surprise. Undyne looked shocked, and Papyrus’s grin had grown even wider. You looked down just in time to see a tiny speck of light drift down to the ground and vanish. Your gaze shot back up to your friends, who then triumphantly shouted at you. You could see Frisk waving their hands around in the air and cheering brightly, while Flowey had a look of mild surprise on his face.

“HOLY CRAP DUDE! YOU ACTUALLY MADE A SPARK!! IT WAS A TINY ONE, BUT IT WAS THERE! I SAW IT!!”

“CONGRADULATIONS HUMAN Y/N! YOU PRODUCED A SPARK! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT IF YOU REALLY TRIED! NOW YOU JUST HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE A COMPLETE FLAME! I AM VERY IMPRESSED! ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL RESULT OF TRAINING WITH THE GREAT PAPYRUS!! NYEH HEH HEH!!”

“I mean...it was just a tiny little spark…”

“C’mon nerd-punk, give yourself more credit! You actually made something on the first try, without even knowing how to do it! That’s definitely progress!”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point…”

“You bet I do! Anyway, that’s probably enough training for one day. Next time you see the King or Queen, you should totally tell them about this. They should be able to help you make a flame or two.”

“UNDYNE IS CORRECT, HUMAN Y/N. I HAVE FAITH THAT ONE DAY, YOU SHALL BECOME A TRULY GREAT MAGE! PERHAPS CLOSE EVEN TO THE SKILL OF ONE SUCH AS I!”

“Heh, thanks Pap. I really appreciate you guys. So…Grillby’s tonight?”

“Oh yeah, totally! I’m bringing Alph along too. It’s been a while since we’ve all hung out together. And a while since we’ve heard you tear up the stage, nerd-punk!”

You blush at her words. You didn’t think you were that good a musician, but all your friends certainly did. No matter how many times you played, you were always nervous doing it in front of people, especially people you knew closely. But even if you made mistakes, they were always very supportive of you. Another reason you were glad they were your friends. You glanced over at Papyrus who made to cross his arms, sighing before he spoke.

“HMM. WHILE I DO NOT ENJOY SO MUCH AS BEING NEAR SUCH GREASY FOOD, THAT IS WHERE I WILL GO, SO LONG AS MY WONDERFUL FRIENDS WOULD LIKE TO BE THERE. ESPECIALLY IF IT MEANS I CAN HEAR THE AMAZING SOUNDS MY MUSICALLY TALENTED HUMAN FRIEND PRODUCES THERE. INDEED, THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL LOWER HIS STANDARDS THIS EVENING, AND MY LAZYBONES BROTHER WILL BE THERE AS WELL. HE WOULD NEVER MISS AN OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT THAT WRETCHED ESTABLISHMENT.”

“Thanks Pap. Oh, Frisk and Flowey will be tagging along with me tonight too, if you guys don’t mind. And don’t worry, I already made Flowey promise to be on his best behavior. Otherwise, his little leafy ass will go straight home.”

As you said this, Frisk walked over with Flowey in hand, and you shot him a narrow-eyed glance, to which he rolled his eyes and looked away, crossing his leaves and slouching over. Frisk giggled and smiled up at you and their other very tall friends.

“Yeah, I guess that’s alright. As long as he doesn’t start anything with Sans. If he does, I’ll make sure he wishes he was never planted.”

Undyne looked over at Flowey with a balled fist and a sinister smile on her face, to which Flowey paled slightly.

“Yeah, yeah, I got the memo already. Jeez. You guys act like I’m gonna go on a killing spree or something.”

Frisk met eyes with him and gave a very disapproving look. One that made you think very nervous thoughts. Frisk almost looked like they knew he was making a joke about something he did in very poor taste. Flowey simply gave them a smug grin, flashing his…teeth? You still weren’t sure how he just suddenly had teeth in his mouth sometimes. You would usually just chalk it up to some sort of magic and avoid thinking about how dynamic his face was. Flowey seemed like a good kid…flower…monster-thing, but you could tell by now, he must’ve had a dark past he wasn’t very proud of. Frisk shook their head and the pair turned back to the group, with Frisk giving a reassuring thumbs up. Flowey rolled his eyes again. You cleared your thoughts and put your hands on your hips.

“Okay, well, it’s settled then. See you guys tonight!”

You all exchanged spine-popping hugs and waved your goodbyes, then your group headed back to Toriel’s to let Frisk put on cleaner clothes and tidy up Flowey’s pot. Then they followed to your apartment so you could change and hang out until it was time to leave.

With your sax case in one hand and Frisk’s hand in the other, the three of you made your way down the street to Grillby’s in the late afternoon sun, where you could see in the distance that Sans was waiting outside beside Papyrus. You could also see Undyne and Alphys making their way to the restaurant from the other side of the street. Undyne’s arm shot up when she saw you and waved wildly, jostling and flustering Alphys with her other arm in the process. You smiled exasperatedly as you and Frisk waved back, then rejoined your hands. Papyrus noticed the exchange and did the same, while Sans glanced between you and his grin widened. He simply raised a hand from his jacket pocket and winked at you. Your smile grew and you nodded in greeting. After over and under-excited hellos were passed around, the party made their way inside the building, and chose a booth that was closest to the bar against the right wall. However, the booths were only big enough for about four people, so you grabbed a chair from a nearby table for Frisk to sit in. They smiled thankfully and signed a quick thank you, then sat and placed Flowey in front of them on the table. You sat beside Frisk to their left, and to your left were Sans then Papyrus, and on the other side was Alphys and Undyne. Thankfully, Papyrus was tall yet narrow, and he sat as close as he could to the wall, so you and Sans had just enough room to be comfortable.

After a few minutes of catching up with everyone and some light conversation about current events, then catching the brief, knowing look exchanged between Sans and Flowey, A green flame monster approached the booth and greeted everyone cheerfully before taking the orders. Not too long after, everyone was happily chatting and chowing down. Papyrus had chosen spaghetti (no surprise there), Sans had fries and was working on his second bottle of ketchup, Alphys and Undyne were sharing a big plate of nachos, Frisk was enjoying some monster-shaped chicken nuggets, occasionally holding one out to Flowey who proceeded to bite the head off (again, completely unsurprising) before Frisk finished it off, and you had decided on a simple cheeseburger and fries. Thankfully Flowey had thus far kept his word on not bothering Sans, so the evening was going smoothly. Eventually everyone had finished their meals, and after a few more minutes of conversation, Undyne turned her attention to you.

“Hey nerd-punk! Looks like the band finally showed up! You gonna head over there and lay out a jam soon?”

Suddenly everyone had their eyes on you, making your face heat up with nervousness. You had recently finished a new jazz piece after working on it for half a year, and had passed it around to the other members of the band last time you were there. It seemed pretty well-received, so they had agreed to open the show tonight with your piece. You were very worried about how well the crowd would react to it, and your usual anxiety was much worse this time around. A nervous smile crept across your face and you rubbed your neck.

“Heh, yeah I guess so. I’m admittedly kinda nervous about my piece. I hope it doesn’t sound like a complete train wreck.”

“NONSENSE HUMAN Y/N! YOUR MUSICAL SKILLS HAVE NEVER FAILED TO PLEASE EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY NOT ME! YOU WILL DO JUST FINE!”\

Sans looked from Papyrus to you and his neutral grin stretched wider.

“Yeah, Paps is right kid. You’ll do just spine. Tibia honest, you’ve got way more skill n’ I do on my trombone. Trust me, you’ve got some real sax appeal.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, especially seeing how much Papyrus was visibly cringing beside his brother. You knew Sans was trying to cheer you up, but you would have laughed either way with how much you liked bad puns. You were startled from your thoughts by the sound of Undyne slamming her fist against the tabletop.

“Yeah, what they said! You just gotta go over there and do it! Break their legs!!”

“Umm, a-actually Undyne, I t-think the c-correct phrasing is, ‘b-break a leg’.”

“Yeah yeah, same dif. Y’know what I mean Alpf! She’s just gotta do it!”

“W-well, yes, that’s t-true.”

“WAIT…HOW WILL THE HUMAN BE ABLE TO PLAY PROPERLY WITH A BROKEN LEG??”

“S’ a figure of speech, bro. It means good luck.”

“OH….THEN YES HUMAN Y/N! DO BREAK MANY LEGS FOR THE BEST OF LUCK!”

Flowey groaned and held a leaf to his face while everyone else giggled at Papyrus’s antics. You thanked them for the vote of confidence and stood up from the booth, grabbing your sax case from under the table. You glanced down at Frisk, who gave a confident smile and two enthusiastic thumbs up. Flowey just looked at you with a shrug and a deadpan face with his eyebrows raised. You chuckled and turned away from the group, looking back with two fingers saluting them as you made your way over to the small stage in the corner of the room.

As you passed the bar, you looked over at Grillby, who lifted his gaze from the shot glass he had been drying and nodded politely at your acknowledging smile. You reached the stage and stepped on, greeting the other monsters who were busying themselves with setting up the sound equipment and instruments. There were three of them; A rotund fish monster tuning a sleek, dark blue bass (pun definitely intended), A horse monster in shades plugging in an electric guitar painted with orange flames, and a large plant monster who was adjusting the volume on a well-worn burgundy keyboard. You began to put together your own instrument while answering questions about the sheet music and giving advice for the equipment settings. The four of you weren’t an official band exactly, but you had each discovered a mutual love for music and skill with your respective instruments. You all had decided on a whim to meet up at Grillby’s one weekend to play together. Grillby seemed to have been pleased with the performance and decided to offer the unused old stage to the four of you as a platform on a regular basis, to which you had all excitedly agreed. Currently, you didn’t have a name picked out for your rag-tag group of musicians, but the four of you were in the process of coming up with ideas, which you passed around to each other for a few minutes before you began the show.

Once Grillby noticed you all were set up and ready to play, he lifted a stirring spoon and tapped the glass with it, drawing the attention of everyone in the bar before gesturing a hand toward the stage. You took a deep breath and spoke into the microphone.

“Hey everyone! How we doin’ tonight?”

A round of ‘goods’ and whistles filled the room in response, with a few clap-and-a-halfs.

“Alright! Well, my friends and I are gonna start off tonight with a little something I came up with recently, then we’ve got a few good jam pieces to play for ya after that. I hope you guys enjoy it.”

Clapping and excitement wafted up to the ceiling and spread throughout the restaurant as you backed away from the mic and whetted your reed. After glancing around at each other for confirmation, you raised your hand and began snapping your fingers to tempo.

“One, two, three, four…”

The song started out slow, then the smooth, up-beat sound of a feel-good swing tune met everyone’s ears. Their seemed to be a smile on every face in the room. You even looked over at the booth where your friends sat, noticing Flowey’s expression of faint but pleasant surprise. The rest of your friends were smiling open and closed mouthed and gently tapping fingers or toes to the beat or swaying side to side. You felt a smile twist around the mouthpiece of your saxophone as the satisfaction of the crowd’s enjoyment washed over you, and you began to play with much more of your heart and soul, which noticeably improved the quality of the music. When the song finally ended, you slowly lowered the instrument from your mouth, waiting for the reaction. The room suddenly erupted with cheers, whistling and applause. You heard screaming and whistling from your friends as well, looking over at them with an obvious red blush on your face. You released a breath you didn’t realize you were holding and gave a small wave, and your gaze wandered over to Grillby, who calmly flashed you an ‘ok’ sign with his hand and nodded a few times. You turned and lightly bowed to the rest of the crowd, reaching for the mic again.

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting such a warm response from everyone. Thank you all so much. I’ll be sure to come back with another piece in the future. Let’s hear it for my friends back here too, they did an awesome job!”

Another eruption of cheers and whistles from the crowd and bashful expressions from your band mates’ faces.

“Alright then, on with the show!”

More clapping spread through the room as the four of you flipped through your sheet music to the next number. You continued to play with extra feeling through the rest of the songs after that initial confidence boost. The applauses and cheering seemed louder and more enthusiastic that night, which left you in high spirits, and you strolled back over to the booth with a spring in your step, where your friends were waiting with big grins and hardly contained excitement. You barely had time to sit back down before your ears were assaulted.

“HUMAN FRIEND Y/N!! THAT WAS A MOST SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCE!! WE ARE ALL VERY PROUD OF YOU!! AND TO THINK YOU WEREN’T CONFIDENT THAT IT WOULD BE ANY GOOD!!”

“YEAH NERD-PUNK!! THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!! THAT WAS YOUR BEST PLAYING YET MAN! I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW GOOD YOU ARE AT THAT, YOU TORE THAT STAGE UP TONIGHT!!”

“I-I have to agree Y/N, that was v-very impressive! You should d-definitely keep writing more pieces, I-I think y-you sound like a p-professional.”

You could feel the warmth in your face spread and you knew you were blushing madly. You never expected your piece to be so well received.

“Guys c’mon, my face is a complete mess right now. Thank you…it means a lot.”

“Ehh, were only tellin’ it like we see it. Ya got skills kiddo. You outta go on tour with Mettaton and Napstablook with talent like that.”

“Maybe…I’m not sure if a professional gig is something I’m looking for, but…I’ll give it some thought.”

You felt a tug at your sleeve and turned to look at Frisk, who was signing incredibly fast, much to Flowey’s displeasure. He raised a leaf and smacked the back of Frisk’s head, who was startled and turned him with a guilty face. You chided Flowey for being so rude, who huffed and apologized. Frisk began to sign more slowly, visibly struggling from passion.

“Okay, so, Frisk is just talking about how good your music was and that they are super proud of you and blah blah blah….yada yada….oh, and they think you should definitely talk to Mettaton when he’s back in town. Papyrus said last week that they should be back in the first week next month.”

“Well, I dunno…I might consider a one time gig, but…like I said, not sure if I’d want something more permanent…I do art stuff too, and it would take up most of my time.”

Frisk looked slightly deflated at that, but gave you a supportive smile and continued to sign.

“They’re saying they understand and you should do whatever you’re most comfortable with. Jeez, this is too sappy…What? I’m saying it aren’t I? Anyway, Frisk says yay for you and all that, and thanks for taking us with you today.”

Frisk nudged Flowey and raised their eyebrows at him.

“What? I’m not gonna…ugh. Fine. Frisk wants me to tell you that I think your music isn’t a total dumpster fire…happy now?”

Frisk seemed satisfied with Flowey’s praise of you. You knew that it was probably the best he could do, so you smiled and accepted it with a thank you. You all continued to chat for a little while longer until you looked at the time on your phone, wincing at how late it was. You didn’t have long before Toriel would be home, and you wanted to make sure Frisk and Flowey were home before her like she asked.

“Alright guys, I’d better get these two home before Ms. Toriel. Wouldn’t want to get them grounded. I’m glad we all had a chance to meet up for a change, it’s been too long.”

Everyone else felt that they should head out too and started moving out of the booth. Grillby came over and you all agreed to evenly split the bill. Sans just told Grillby to put his part on his tab, to which Grillby sighed and nodded. With that, the group exited the building and parted ways, agreeing to meet up again sometime in the near future. You took Frisk’s hand again and began the journey back to the apartment complex. As you walked in comfortable silence, you looked down and noticed Frisk had a worried expression on their face. You squeezed their hand, pulling their gaze from the ground and up to you.

“You alright kiddo? You look kinda sad…don’t worry, I’ll make sure you guys don’t get in trouble if we’re late. Ms. Toriel will understand.”

Frisk’s eyebrows furrowed a little and they shook their head. Seems like something else was on their mind. Flowey noticed this and rolled his eyes with a small huff.

“No, that’s not what they’re worried about. I’d tell you but they told me they want to keep it a secret.”

Frisk looked up at him suddenly and gave him a disapproving look. They must not have wanted anyone to worry about whatever it was. Flowey held his leaves out at his sides and raised his eyebrows.

“Don’t look at me! You’re the one walking around looking all sad! If you just come clean about it like I said, we could probably do something about it!”

Frisk sadly looked away.

“C’mon, we both have plenty of info about it, and you know damn well a certain someone could probably help us. Why won’t you just listen to me? If it’s bugging you this much then just spill!”

Frisk didn’t look back up from the ground.

“Hey, I don’t know what this is about Flowey, but it sounds pretty important. Whatever it is, it has Frisk worried. I think they should take as much time as they need to sit on it and decide what to do, so don’t pressure them into anything they aren’t ready for, alright? Some things take time.”

Flowey looked up at you with narrowed eyes, then sighed deeply, looking back at Frisk.

“It ain’t gonna get solved by doing nothing. I know you’re just as curious about it as I am Frisk. The sooner we get help, the sooner we get answers.”

With that, Flowey resigned himself to just watching the stars as you walked home. Frisk eventually brought their gaze back up to you, looking apologetic. You gave them a patient smile.

“It’s alright Frisk, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but…if there’s anything I can help you with, don’t hesitate to tell me. No matter what it is. I care about you kid. Heh, you too Flowey.”

Flowey looked away out of irritated shyness, and an expression passed over Frisk's face for a moment, as if they had remembered something. Then there was a grateful smile on their face. Then they looked up at the stars with Flowey, seemingly lost in thought. Your vision turned to the night sky as well, until you could see the apartment complex coming into view.

As it turned out, Toriel was indeed home before you, and you took a minute to explain why you were late, which seemed to satisfy her. You had learned over time that she worried an awful lot about the children, and wondered what she had experienced in the past to warrant that behavior. It must’ve had to do with whatever happened while the monsters were still trapped underground, you decided, but you had never asked any of your friends about it. You had to admit, you were very curious about it, still wanting to learn as much as you could about monsters and their history, but it always seemed like too sensitive a topic to discuss. Any time you had witnessed it come up, everyone had looked so crestfallen about it, so you didn’t pry. You decided early on that you would wait until they told you themselves, if, and when they were ready to. They seemed to pick up on this from you, and you could tell they were grateful, so that was the status quo you had accepted for the past three years. After speaking with Toriel about the day’s events, you bid them all farewell and goodnight, and headed back to your apartment.

When the door closed, you leaned against it and slid down to a crouch, finally taking notice of how tired you felt. You still found yourself curious about all the things you didn’t know about your friends, and about why Frisk had seemed so sad earlier, but the last thing you wanted to do was go around poking your nose in other people’s business, no matter how curious you were. A sudden thought occurred to you then.

I mean…I don’t have to be so direct with it. Maybe I’ll start with Toriel. She’s been around a long time from what I’ve heard. She might be comfortable talking about it, at least a little.

You decided to try the next time you spoke with her. Maybe you could start with asking about monster history; How the monsters were sealed away. You had heard some of it in news reports in the few months after they came to the surface, but it was pretty vague. You wagered it was a sensitive topic for both humans and monsters, and so the information was being protected. But it’s not like you were going to use it for malicious intent or anything, so…maybe she would tell you. Either way, you knew you had to plan the conversation carefully. You were dying to know all about what went down in the underground, but you also didn’t want to intrude on anyone’s personal life or make them uncomfortable, especially not make them distrust you. Was it really worth it to risk burning bridges for the sake of curiosity? If you weren’t careful, you could end up losing your friends that you loved so much. You could feel a painful tug at your soul at the thought. Rising back to your feet, you decided this was a dilemma for future you, and made your way to your bedroom to drown in Metube videos for a while.

Chapter Text

“Aaaaand post.”

You clicked the submit button and waited for the page to reload. The screen flashed, and there before your eyes was the newly published review you had spent hours writing and proofreading. You really didn’t like being up so early, but you knew it had to be finished this morning or it wouldn’t get finished today at all. So here you were, up since six-thirty in the morning, looking back at a well-written review for a new brand of illustration markers that had just entered the market a few days prior. Sometimes you wondered how you had survived this long being such a terrible procrastinator.

 Deciding not to dwell on it, you stood up from your desk chair and stretched, until you were light-headed. Releasing a breath and resting your hands on your hips, you decided to make a light breakfast and work on another art commission that was due two days from now. You changed into some simple sweats and a well-loved band t-shirt and made your way to the small kitchen, letting your eyes adjust to the light coming from the windows you had neglected to curtain last night.

Hmm, should I bother with eggs? Or maybe just some tea and toast? I dunno, maybe oatme-

BUMP.

“AHH! SON of a BITCH!”

Looking down at your poor pinkie toe, you noticed you hadn’t been paying attention to where you were going, stubbing it on the large metal easel you had also forgotten to put away the day before. Hissing and waiting for the initial wave of pain to pass, you took a glance around the living area. The front door, living space, and kitchen were all situated in one large main room, only divided by a small kitchen island and the couch in the middle of the room. The only other room was the hallway with the bathroom and your bedroom, neither of which were very open either. The main area was pretty large, but your art supplies and a few instruments took up enough space to make it feel smaller than it actually was.

I really outta consider saving up some money to move to a bigger place. The apartments on the top floor seem pretty spacious, considering how big Toriel’s place is.

You continued over to the kitchen and busied yourself with breakfast to try and take your mind off the pain in your foot. After deciding on a bowl of dinosaur egg oatmeal and some English breakfast tea, you plopped down on the couch and pulled up some meme videos on Metube. As you ate, your thoughts wandered to your plans for tonight. You had a meeting with Toriel in the evening you were anxious about. You would start the conversation about advice for using fire magic, of course, but were still figuring out how to ease into the underground conversation. You hoped you wouldn’t be making her too uncomfortable with it, but the thought of finally learning about what had occurred beneath the mountain that was just a half-hour’s drive away from here was too tempting to pass up. Every time you looked out your bedroom window and caught sight of the peak of Mt. Ebott, your curiosity grew. There was such an exciting sense of mystery and adventure to it, as if beckoning you to explore its depths.

Guess my curiosity is finally getting to be too much, huh. Oh well. Was bound to happen eventually.

You spent another hour watching more videos before you finally managed to peel yourself off the couch and clean your dishes. When that was done, you looked back at the TV hesitantly before deciding to turn it off and get to work on that commission. Apparently, the old woman you had finished the cat portrait for had gone and told all her other old lady friends about it already, because this was the first of three more pet portrait orders you had to paint and send off by next weekend. Of course, you were thrilled to have more money come in, but you had to admit it was tiring sometimes to do the same type of piece so many times in a row. At least you didn’t have to put that much thought into the composition. You spent a few minutes setting up your paints and brushes and went to work, filling in the pre-drawn outline of a photorealistic bulldog on crimson satin sheets.

After painting for a solid five hours, you were stopped mid stroke by the sound of your phone ringing on the kitchen island. You finished applying the paint that was still on the brush, dropped it in the water cup and got up to answer the call. You took a quick peek at the caller ID and made sure to hold the phone a bit further away from your ear, so as not to suffer any damage to your hearing.

“Hello?”

“GREETINGS HUMAN FRIEND Y/N!! HOW ARE YOU DOING ON THIS FINE SUNDAY MORNING?!”

“Heh, morning Pap. I’m doin alright, how are you?”

“THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS DOING VERY WELL TODAY! SO IS MY BROTHER, WHO IS AWAKE MUCH EARLIER THAN USUAL. WHILE I AM HAPPY TO SEE HE HAS NOT SLEPT UNTIL THE AFTERNOON, I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF HE FELL ASLEEP AGAIN LATER.”

“Haha, yeah, that sounds like a typical Sans thing to do. I was actually wondering when you were gonna call, I’ve just been working on a commission all morning.”

“OH? SPLENDID! THAT MEANS YOU HAVE PROPERLY WARMED UP FOR OUR PAINTING SESSION TODAY! I AM VERY EXCITED TO LEARN THE WAYS OF COLOR USEAGE! WILL YOU BE ARIVING SOON? I AM QUITE EAGER TO GET STARTED.”

“Oh, yeah, I can leave here in a few and make my way over there. No problem.”

“EXCELLENT! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS READY! AND AFTER THAT, I SHALL PREPARE THE FINEST SPAGHETTI DINNER YOU HAVE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE OF EATING! NYEH HEH HEH!! ARE YOU SURE YOU WOULD NOT LIKE MY BROTHER OR I TO PICK YOU UP?”

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s not too long of a walk over, and my bag of stuff isn’t that heavy. I thought I’d take some time to walk in the fresh air. I haven’t exactly been spending as much time outdoors as I probably should.”

“VERY UNDERSTANDABLE, HUMAN FRIEND. SUNSHINE AND FRESH AIR ARE VERY IMPORTANT FOR HUMANS AND MONSTERS ALIKE! I DO NOT BLAME YOU FOR WANTING TO TAKE A LEISURELY STROLL. HOWEVER, TRY NOT TO WALK TOO SLOWLY. FORGIVE ME HUMAN FRIEND, FOR I AM TOO EXCITED TO WAIT MUCH LONGER.”

“No worries, Pap. I know you’ve been looking forward to it. Just let me gather my tools and things and I’ll head right out.”

“WONDERFUL! I SHALL EAGERLY AWAIT YOUR ARIVAL HUMAN FRIEND Y/N! PLEASE TAKE CARE ON YOUR WALK OVER, AND LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING ANY STREETS!”

“Ahah, don’t worry Pap, I will. See ya in a little bit. Bye.”

You tapped the end call button and lowered your phone to the countertop with an amused smile. You would never get tired of how precious Papyrus is. Shoving your phone in your pocket, you began putting away the paints and brushes and packing up the supplies you would need into a duffle bag. Once that was done, you washed up in the bathroom, pulled your H/C hair back into a ponytail, and closed the window curtains in the bedroom (after taking another long look at the mountain that stared back at you) and the living room. Slinging the duffle bag over your shoulder, you took one last look around the apartment to be sure you hadn’t forgotten anything, grabbed your keys from the hook by the door, locked up, and made your way down the flights of stairs and out into the midday sun.

The noon air was crisp and fresh, and thankfully the slight chill helped to keep you cool while the overhead sun shone down on you. As you walked, you took in all the scenery around you. You could see monster children running up and down the opposite sidewalk, along with older monsters chatting with their neighbors or doing mundane things like watering flowerbeds or mowing their lawns. When someone waved at you, you waved back. When a smile came your way, you returned it. You could even see a human walk down the street every so often, and you nodded at them as you passed.

 Despite how much you enjoyed living in Surface City, it was still nice to know you weren’t the only human there. You didn’t know any here aside from mere acquaintances or neighbors, but that didn’t bother you. You had plenty of friends anyway. It was just nice to know that at least some other humans were comfortable around monsters, considering how tense monster/human relations were still, even after four years. Things had calmed down, sure, but it was still an uneasy peace. Moving to this city was a welcome change of pace after being around nothing but humans your whole life. They were all different, and yet the same. Monsters were just so much more unique and interesting to you. Not to mention they were typically nicer, more considerate, and more understanding than humans were. You would never understand why some humans were just so nasty and mean. Rather than dwell on negativity, you reminded yourself that you were making a constant effort to be better, and let those thoughts slip your mind as you continued your walk.

Another upside to living here was how clean the streets were. You rarely ever saw trash laying around, and if you did, you always made it a point to pick it up yourself. There were hardly any cracks in the streets or sidewalks either. Most people kept their yards pretty tidy, and the park down the road was absolutely beautiful. You supposed the King had something to do with it; of the few times you had been to his home, the yards and inside rooms were always filled with healthy and beautiful flowers. The park was as well, having one large garden full of many different species and several smaller flowerbeds scattered throughout the plot of land. You made a point to spend time there at least once a week to appreciate the beauty and peace, at least when you weren’t there for training.

After stopping by an adorable little lemonade stand run by an even more adorable little bunny monster, you could finally see Sans and Papyrus’s house on the horizon. It was a moderately sized wooden building, which was a bit odd looking compared to the cookie-cutter houses around it, but it still had a bit of its own charm. There was also a small garage and driveway, where Papyrus’s shiny red convertible was parked in all its flashy glory. He had taken you out for joyrides in it a handful of times before, and though personally you wouldn’t own a convertible (way too easy to break into), it did handle very smoothly, and you were impressed by Papyrus’s driving skills. He was very responsible on the road and didn’t speed. You inwardly cringed when comparing your own driving skills to his. You were definitely not that careful. He also kept it in immaculate condition; you were shocked when he told you it was a twelve-year-old car.

It must be a vintage model if it still runs so well. Gotta be a nightmare trying to find parts for it though.

Realizing you had been distracted by Papyrus’s car, you shook your head and approached the front door. You adjusted the strap of the duffle bag on your shoulder and shifted the cup of lemonade to your other hand so you could knock. After only two knocks, you were startled by the door suddenly swinging open and Papyrus’s beaming face greeting you.

“HUMAN!! YOU HAVE ARRIVED!! I AM GLAD YOU MADE IT HERE SAFELY! HOW WAS YOUR WALK?”

“Hey Pap, it was great. I even stopped by a cute little lemonade stand on the way here.”

You held up the cup of lemonade in your hand, and Papyrus’s grin seemed to widen.

“AH YES! OUR PLEASANT BUNNY NEIGHBORS ALWAYS HAVE A STAND AT THIS TIME OF YEAR. THE LITTLE ONE MAKES DELICIOUS HUMAN LEMON JUICE. I ALWAYS MAKE A POINT TO GO OVER AND SUPPORT THEM WITH A PURCHASE. ANYWAY, PLEASE COME IN AND MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME FRIEND Y/N!”

You nodded as he took a large step to the side, holding the door open for you as you passed him and slipped off your shoes. As you looked around the room, you noticed Sans sprawled out on the worn green couch, reading what appeared to be a rather thick joke book as the TV played some sort of astronomy documentary on low volume. He looked up at you when he heard the door close and laid the book face down on his leg, giving you a small wave. You raised up three fingers from the hand wrapped around the strap of your duffle bag and wiggled them. Papyrus laid a large bony hand firmly on your shoulder to get your attention.

“ALLOW ME TO RETRIEVE SOME SUPPLIES FROM MY ROOM, AND WE SHALL SET EVERYTHING UP AT THE KITCHEN TABLE. SANS, WE HAVE A GUEST, AND SO I WILL ASK YOU TO ACT ACCORDINGLY. ONE MOMENT PLEASE HUMAN FRIEND.”

With that, Papyrus gave your shoulder a few gentle pats and hustled up the stairs into his room. His legs were so long he could go up three steps at a time. With a chuckle, you turned to look over at Sans, who hadn’t moved from his place on the couch. Meeting your gaze, he sighed and let out a loud yawn, stretching until you heard a few pops emanate from his body (which was pretty strange because you were certain he hadn’t any cartilage between his bones. You assumed it was just magic being weird again). He righted himself to make room for you and you plopped down beside him, then he leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head, closing his eyes and folding one leg over the other. After a few beats, he opened one eye socket and looked over at you.

“Preciate ya doin’ this for my bro kid. Ever since he saw that commercial a while back for some fancy new laptop, he’s been curious about how art works, and how anyone is so good at it. I don’t really care about stuff like that, but I can’t watch him stay stuck on a problem for long without wantin’ ta help. He’s been pretty eager ‘bout the whole thing. In fact, he called ya the moment after I reminded him you were an art nerd.”

You laughed a little at the nickname and the thought of Papyrus’s eyes twinkling as he watched the commercial. From the way it sounded, you figured it must’ve been a commercial for the latest JackBook and Adobis deal. Having been an art student for a bit of time yourself, you knew how fancy and progressive those commercials and people in that community could be. You weren’t surprised Papyrus had been taken in by it; they always made it look so interesting. Not that you were complaining; any excuse to introduce a friend to one of your hobbies was a plus.

“I’m not surprised to be honest. Stuff like that can look pretty mesmerizing and impressive to just about anyone outside the art circle. Not to say that it isn’t, but that’s the way those commercials work. It’s designed to make you want to know more, and buy the product. Having said that, I’m glad Pap is only interested in art itself, and not wanting to buy a bunch of expensive crap; I’ve personally never liked using anything from that company. The quality isn’t bad, but they charge an arm and a leg for everything.”

“Yeah, same here. But my bro’s a smart guy, so he picked up on that pretty quick. He’s also smart enough to know there’s more ta paintin’ than slapping some color on a canvas. That’s where you come in, kiddo.”

“Happy to help, especially with a hobby of mine. I planned on teaching Pap about the basics of color theory; it really changes your view of the world if you can remember it. It’s some fascinating stuff in my opinion. Oh hey, did you know colorblindness is more common in human men than in women? Women are typically able to see a broader range of color than men due to a higher number of photoreceptor cells in the eyes. That’s part of the reason for the stereotype among humans that women are more particular about color than men.”

“Huh…didn’t know that. Figured it was just a social construct among humans or something. Human bodies are a lot more complicated than they look. Makes me glad most questions about monster physiology can be answered with one word: magic.”

“Can’t argue there. Though you gotta admit, human anatomy is pretty astonishing sometimes.”

“Ditto. I’d like to think I’ve learned a lot about humans since we came to the surface…turns out they’re way more physically complex than I thought. Ain’t too surprised, though. I read an article online a while back…said that even humans don’t know everythin’ about their own bodies.”

“Hah, yeah. That’s very true. The human body is incredibly complicated. It’s…very well designed, and yet…very poorly designed. We’re very resilient and vulnerable at the same time. Don’t ask any of us why...hahah.”

“Heh...gotcha.”

Before the enthralling conversation could continue, you were interrupted by the sound of Papyrus eagerly marching back down the stairs toward you. He had a brand-new wooden easel tucked under one arm, and what looked like an unopened paint set with quick-drying acrylics and brushes in the other. You beamed up at him and rose to your feet, picking up your duffle bag from the floor as he gestured a hand toward the kitchen.

“AFTER YOU, MY ARTISTICALLY TALENTED FRIEND! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS READY TO ENRICH HIS LIFE!”

“Glad to hear! C’mon, I’ll show you how to set everything up.”

With a quick smile thrown in Sans’s direction, returned by a wink, you led the way into the kitchen and took out your own easel and supplies while Papyrus mirrored your movements with enthusiasm. You only had to correct how roughly he tried to handle the materials; something you assumed he was carrying over from Undyne’s cooking lessons. Papyrus had also asked you about cooking before, and despite not having completely kicked the habit of aggressively handling the ingredients, he could at least make spaghetti that was edible now. You’d had to explain to him that slow and careful was much more effective, and that keeping all the tools and ingredients clean and sterile was vital to the taste of a dish, along with using the right type and quantity of spices. He had been ecstatic to learn this, and thankfully he had mostly caught on. You were certain that he would be a regular gourmet chef in no time with how passionate he was about perfecting his skills.After setting everything up and having Papyrus pull up a chair so you were side by side, you eased into your own chair and cleared your throat.

“Okay, so… before we start, I’d like to teach you a bit about color theory.”

“HMM…I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT…WHAT IS IT?”

“Well, it’s basically about what colors go together and how they affect each other visually.”

“OH! IN THAT CASE, TEACH AWAY!”

“Alright. So…first I’ll have you explain to me what you already know about colors, so we don’t waste any time.”

“OF COURSE! I STILL REMEMBER SANS’S LESSONS FROM WHEN I WAS JUST A BABYBONES.”

Papyrus began to list off everything he knew with his pointer phalange pointing up in a matter of fact way.

“THE PRIMARY COLORS ARE RED, YELLOW, AND BLUE. THE COLORS OF THE RAINBOW ARE, IN ORDER: RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO, AND VIOLET. COLORS THEMSELVES ARE SIMPLY A SPECTRUM OF LIGHT, AND, OF COURSE, SUNSETS ARE RED BECAUSE THAT IS THE COLOR THAT TRAVELS FURTHEST.”

“Nicely done Pap. That’s a good bit of information. So you already know that the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. Now, in addition to that, the secondary colors are green, purple, and orange. These obviously are just the basic colors, while there are many lighter, darker, brighter, and dimmer shades of each that go in between. There are two things I’d like you to be familiar with: complimentary colors, and color relativity. Each primary color and secondary color forms a two-color pair called complimentary colors. Those are red with green, yellow with purple, and blue with orange. These colors will almost always look naturally good beside each other. Oh, and before I forget, black and white aren’t technically colors. They, and every shade of grey in between, are referred to as shades. When you want to change the basic appearance of a color, you add shades to it, which would be a certain amount of black, white, or both. Are you following so far?”

Papyrus seemed to think carefully about your question before answering.

“YES, NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, THAT DOES MAKE SENSE. I ALWAYS WONDERED WHY THOSE COLORS LOOKED SO NICELY PAIRED TOGETHER. ALSO, I ALWAYS THOUGHT BLACK AND WHITE WERE COLORS…SO! WHAT IS COLOR RELATIVITY? THIS IS GETTING VERY INTERESTING.”

Unbeknownst to the two of you, Sans had meandered his way over to the kitchen entryway and was leaning against it, listening to your conversation. Papyrus’s words put a warm smile on your face. You were glad to have someone who appreciated information like this as much as you did.

“Well, what that means is, a color will look different depending on what colors are around it. Here, it’s easier to understand if you can see it.”

You picked up a small practice canvas and a palette and proceeded to squeeze white, black, and red paint onto the pallete. You used a brush to mix a tiny amount of black paint with the white until it was light grey, then took another brush and painted a red square onto the canvas. Once it was mostly dry, you painted a smaller grey square beside the red square and another grey square over the red square. You put both brushes into a water cup and gestured toward your handywork.

“You see there? I used the exact same grey to paint both of those squares, but the red color around the second square makes it look lighter than before, doesn’t it? This is what I mean when I say color is relative. The square on the left is the grey’s local color, the color we can see, and the square on the right is its relative color.”

Papyrus gasped and held his hands up to his jawbone, his eyes sparkling with wonder. He picked up the small practice canvas and held it closer to his face.

“WOWIE! I NEVER NOTICED SUCH A THING BEFORE! THIS IS VERY COOL!”

“Heh…you think so? Then check this out.”

He handed you the canvas and you took up the brushes again, this time taking the same red and making lighter and darker colors of it on the palette. You painted a light red and dark red square beside each other, and then smaller red squares inside each with the original shade. Then you turned back to Papyrus and handed him the canvas again.

“Do you see? It even works with the same color in different shades.”

 You grinned in satisfaction at hearing his small gasp and seeing his expression fill with even more excitement and wonder than before.

“WOWIE HUMAN!! ARE YOU SURE THIS IS NOT A MAGIC TRICK? BECAUSE IT DEFINETELY FEELS LIKE ONE. HOW AMAZING!”

“Nope, no magic here. Just science.”

“HMM. I AM BEGINNING TO UNDERSTANT SANS’S INTEREST IN SCIENCE NOW. THIS HAS BEEN VERY FUN AND EDUCATIONAL SO FAR!”

“I’m glad you’re having fun Pap. So now that you know all this, what do you say we actually start painting now?”

“GREAT IDEA! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS READY TO CREATE A MASTERPIECE!”

You grinned at his usual moxie and got up to pull some things from the duffel bag. You wanted to start with something simple, so you brought over some plastic fruits and a few small, colorful glass vases. You also pulled out a white tablecloth and spread it out haphazardly on the kitchen table, making as many interesting curves and folds as you could without it being too busy. Then you placed the fruits and vases around on the center of the tablecloth until you were satisfied with the composition. Papyrus watched you work with strong curiosity and interest, as did Sans with more mild interest. You took a moment to look everything over with your hands resting on your waist before you sat down again, and you began to put out the paint you would need onto a clean palette. Papyrus did the same, seeing what colors you chose and decided on what colors he wanted to use.

“Alright. Today, we’re going to do what’s called a still life painting. I want you to look at what’s on the table very carefully and do your best to paint it. You’re a beginner, so it doesn’t have to be spot on, just make it look as close as possible. Remember to keep the head of the brush a good few inches away from your fingertips for better control, and you don’t need to use much paint when marking out the outlines of the shapes. While you paint, I want you to keep this phrase in mind: Paint what you see, and not what you think you know. Does that make sense?”

Papyrus nodded confidently, and after telling him not to hesitate to ask if he had questions, you both got to work. Sans decided to shuffle back over to the couch and continue his reading, while you and Papyrus had a light conversation going in between brush strokes. After a few hours, you both finished, and took some time to compare your work to the model. You were impressed with how close he had gotten on his first try. He wasn’t much better than you when it came to painting fabric, but it looked like he had the shapes and colors down with only minor inconsistencies here and there. He seemed to have taken your words to heart, which brought a warm and proud feeling into your chest.

 After looking at both paintings and discussing them for a few minutes, you had him pick out a color and sign his name. You used F/C paint and marked your initials, while he chose bright red paint and signed out his whole name at the top, eliciting a giggle from you at the ridiculousness of it. Both paintings were then laid out on the table by the door to dry, and the art materials were all cleared away before Papyrus spoke up again.

“THANK YOU VERY MUCH FRIEND Y/N! THAT WAS A LOT OF FUN! NOT TO MENTION ENLIGHTENING! I WILL NEVER SEE COLORS THE SAME WAY EVER AGAIN! IN A GOOD WAY, THAT IS.”

“Ah, don’t mention it. It was fun to teach. You’ve got some talent there, Paps. I hope you don’t let it go to waste.”

“OF COURSE NOT! ESPECIALLY NOW THAT I KNOW HOW FUN IT IS! NOW. THIS CALLS FOR A CELEBRATION VIA AN AMAZING ITALIAN DISH, COOKED TO PERFECTION BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!! WILL YOU BE STAYING FOR DINNER FRIEND Y/N?”

“Sure thing. I wouldn’t want to miss the best spaghetti ever.”

“WONDERFUL! THEN I SHALL GET COOKING RIGHT AWAY! FEEL FREE TO RELAX AND WATCH THE TELEVISION WHILE YOU WAIT.”

And with that Papyrus swiftly ducked into the kitchen, leaving you and Sans alone on the couch. Sans still had his nose in his joke book, while you idly watched whatever sort of movie was playing on the tv for a few minutes, before your thoughts wandered back to tonight’s plan. Now that Sans sat right there beside you, you wondered if it would be a good idea to ask him for information. You knew the two of you were good friends, but you also knew how scary Sans could be when you pushed his buttons. He didn’t usually try to look all that menacing; he could simply exude this horribly intimidating aura that would make anyone think twice about bothering his friends. That was the last thing you wanted to happen (you had to admit it was still pretty scary to you), but you also wanted answers. It might be tricky to even start that kind of conversation with someone like him; he was difficult to read, and sometimes he could even tell what you were thinking just by looking at your face.

As if on que, you were startled by Sans doing just that.

“You alright over there? You’ve got a pretty serious look on your face.”

You were slightly jarred from your thoughts and looked over at him, and he could tell. He took the opening with a knowing smirk.

 “That expression…it looks like the expression of someone who’s planning something very carefully…”

Your face reddened at that. How the hell did he figure that out?! You rubbed at the back of your neck and gave him an embarrassed look, chuckling nervously.

“How could you tell?”

“Ehh, it’s just…somethin’ I have a lot of experience with. Anyway, spill kid. What’s on your mind?”

It would seem Sans was making the decision for you. You hesitated, cautiously considering your next words.

“Promise you won’t be upset?” You tried sheepishly. This seemed to make him more suspicious, but he didn’t seem angry or serious. Not yet.

“C’mon kid, y’know I hate makin’ promises. ‘Sides, how am I s’posed to promise that when I dunno what you’re gonna tell me? Just spill and we’ll go from there.”

Taking a deep breath, you decided it was pointless to keep it from him. He was smart, and you were sure he would find out eventually. He’d be able to tell you if it was a good idea or not.

“Well…I’m meeting with Ms. Toriel later tonight for tea, and…I’ve been really curious for a while so, before I try asking anyone else…I was gonna try asking her about how you guys came to the surface.”

Sans’s browbones raised slightly at this, and you swore you could see a look of pain and misery flash through his eye sockets. But the last thing you wanted to do was reopen anyone’s wounds, or worse, make Sans upset with you. You quickly tried to explain yourself, frantically waving your hands in front of you.

“I know it’s a sensitive topic for sure…I picked up on that a long time ago…but the more I think about it the more I can’t stop. Every time I look up at that mountain a part of me begs to learn the truth, not just for the sake of knowing but so I can also understand monsters better. I don’t know what it is that everyone seems so uncomfortable talking about, but…I figured it would be best to try asking Toriel first, since she’s the Queen. That kind of position makes you pretty good at deciding what’s best for people.”

Sans’s expression hadn’t changed much at all as you spoke, aside from the white lights of his eyes fading and going out. You were just glad he had let you talk without interrupting. You were visibly nervous at this point; you didn’t want to make things awkward between you. He let out a big weary sigh and flopped back into the couch, running his bony hand down his face. His phalanges held the bridge of his nose for a moment, and you could see his usually permanent grin finally relax into a neutral frown before he leaned forward and looked at you from the corner of his vision, skull resting in a bony hand. His eye lights came back but were very dim.

“Humans really are too curious for their own good sometimes. Heh.”

He paused for a moment, examining you.

 “Look kid, I know what sort of person you are by now. I’ve seen your soul. I get that you wouldn’t do anything against anyone, and that if you did know, nothing bad would come of it intentionally. I don’t have to explain to you how personal that info is. But ya gotta understand somethin’…some pretty serious shit went down in there. It wasn’t all bad, but it wasn’t all good either. We were trapped down there for centuries, with limited space and limited resources. We were desperate to find a way out. I won’t stop ya from askin’ questions, but you might wanna think about what knowin’ all that stuff will do for ya. It might change your opinion of monsters entirely. Maybe for the worse. So ya gotta ask yourself…is it really worth it?”

You considered his words for a moment. You had honestly been determined to know the truth for a long time, you just didn’t put much thought into it until now. You had seen everyone. All of your friends. It’s been three years, so you were pretty comfortable around them, and you were confident they were all good people. You felt a twinge in your soul when you responded.

“I’ve already decided that it won’t change how I feel. Sure, if it’s bad, it’ll take some time to process, but I feel pretty good about my ability to judge character. What you did in the past doesn’t matter as much as what you do in the present does. It doesn’t matter who you guys were then. What matters is who you are now.”

Sans looked a bit surprised, but only for a few moments before he closed his eye sockets and chuckled to himself. His usual smile returned to his face as he looked at you again.

“Y’know...you reminded me of the kid just now. Even when things went downhill, and even when they were in danger, they were willing and able to make friends with everyone. I dunno if humans can be like that in general or if it’s just you two, but I get the feeling you guys are pretty unique. Most of the humans I’ve seen ain’t exactly model citizens. It’s a nice outlook to have and all, but ya better make sure it doesn’t getcha hurt one of these days.”

Papyrus’s sudden startlingly loud voice interrupted the discussion, cutting the tension in the room like a hot knife through butter.

"HEY YOU TWO!! MY LATEST CULINARY MASTERPIECE IS READY TO BE EATEN! GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT!"

You turned to look at each other again with uneasy smiles and both let out breathy sighs before heading over to the kitchen.

 Papyrus’s spaghetti had gotten noticeably better since the last time you tasted it. You told him as much, which had him puffing his chest out with pride and complimenting your culinary taste. Even Sans genuinely admitted that it was good, after tasting it and deciding it didn’t need ketchup after all. He still insisted on drinking a bottle of the tomato and vinegar concoction on the side, however.

 After dinner the three of you sat and watched MTT reruns for about an hour before Papyrus chose to turn in for the night. You decided to get going before you were too late for the meeting at Toriel’s. You hugged and said your goodbyes to Sans and Papyrus before they both went upstairs so Sans could read Papyrus’s bedtime story. You gathered your supplies and a generous container of spaghetti leftovers into your duffle bag and walked out the front door. You had barely taken a step forward after shutting the door before Sans took a shortcut right behind you, making you curse and spin around with an annoyed glare. He simply chuckled and stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets.

“Jesus Sans, what the fuck?”

“Heheh. Heya kiddo, forgot I wanted to tell ya somethin’.”

He then took a shortcut again, appearing behind you and placing a bony hand tightly on your shoulder. He leaned in until his ever present grin was right behind your ear. You hated to admit it was making you nervous.

“I really hope ya don’t bother anyone on your little quest for knowledge. Cuz if ya do, I’ll know.”

You quickly got over it, however, because you knew Sans well enough to know he wasn’t actually threatening you right now. He just wanted you to be careful. Clearly whatever these secrets were, they weren’t bad enough for him to try and stop you from finding out completely. That was a good sign, right? You lowered your eyelids and made a deadpan face.

“Oh no, I’m so scared. Throw me a bone Sans, we’ve been over this already.”

Your eyes widened at the unintentional pun, and you finally turned to face him. His eye lights had gone out again, and he was struggling to keep on an intimidating face, but he had noticed the pun was accidental as well. Your lips curled into a mischievous smile, then you started making faces and elbowing him to try and make him laugh. It wasn’t hard. Soon he was rolling around on the driveway and you folded your arms across your chest tightly, trying and failing to suppress the smile. Eventually he got up and wiped a blue glowing tear from his eye socket, slapping a hand down on your shoulder again.

“Yeah, I was just givin ya shit. Thought I’d try and get one last good laugh, but damn, that wasn’t what I expected. I’m impressed though, usually one’a my routines like that’ll make anyone shit their pants. You’ve really grown a pair since we started hangin’ out, huh?”

“Thankfully. I’m still an introvert at heart, but I was a total gullible pushover when I was younger. Couldn’t say no to anyone, and it didn’t take much to intimidate me. So, I guess I should actually thank you for that. Anyway, shouldn’t you be reading to Pap right now?”

“Oh yeah, told him I forgot to tell ya somethin’. Wouldn’t want him to get all cranky. Have fun at Tori’s kid.”

With that, he stuffed his hands back in his pockets, winked, and vanished. You released an exasperated sigh and made your way back down the street toward home.

It had been too long since you tasted Toriel’s cinnamon-butterscotch pie. It reminded you of all the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals you had ever been to, at least the good ones, with good food and company. It just seemed like the perfect flavor for autumn to you, knocking pumpkin spice and peppermint straight out of the water. Of course, it was currently spring, but you wouldn’t keep yourself from enjoying it at any time of the year. You sat comfortably on Toriel’s loveseat, listening to the casual conversation between Frisk and their mother about what was going on at school next week. Flowey didn’t seem to care much; he was too busy stuffing his gaping maw with pie. You couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable around him sometimes. The conversation soon moved to your attention, and Frisk and Flowey told you about how far they had made it in the Zorla game while Toriel took care of the dishes. Eventually she finished and came back with a fresh pot of golden flower tea, setting the tray down on the coffee table and taking a seat beside you. She lowered her voice and addressed you as she prepared the drinks.

“Now then, allow me to put the children to bed so that you will have my undivided attention.”

You smiled into your tea when you heard the sound of the children moaning about how they weren’t tired yet. While the three of them slowly disappeared down the hall, you took a moment to think about what would happen next. What sort of information, if any, were you about to be given? Would at least one of your questions finally be answered? You had to remind yourself not to expect anything from her. You knew she would tell you if she felt comfortable talking about it. Soon Toriel came back, and sat down again, pouring herself a cup of tea and taking a deep breath.

“Now then my child, you had something you wanted to ask me, did you not?”

This is it.

“Uh, yeah…I mean...it’s something I’ve been really curious about for a long time.”

For a moment you looked up at her to gauge her reaction. She was listening intently with raised eyebrows and a patient smile. You took a breath and continued.

“Well, I…don’t really know much about how monsters made it back to the surface. All the news reports at the time were pretty vague, and I imagine they must’ve censored the information for a reason…I don’t want to pry, or to make anyone uncomfortable, but…I see that mountain every time I look out my bedroom window…I’d like to know what happened down there. I know it really isn’t any of my business, but...I feel like…if I knew, I’d be able to understand monsters better, yknow? Especially my friends…But if that’s not something you or anyone else wants to talk about, then that’s okay. I understand if it’s a touchy subject.”

Toriel seemed a bit taken aback by the question. It looked like her mind went somewhere else for a moment before she smiled and looked down at her lap. She took another sip of tea and cleared her throat.

“Of course, I cannot blame you for wanting to know more. You are correct; it is a rather difficult subject to discuss. Can I assume that I am the first you have asked about this?”

“Yeah, directly anyway. I figured it would be the smartest thing to do, and I didn’t want to go around asking upsetting questions and have you hear about it indirectly.”

“A wise decision, my child, and a kind one. I suppose it could be beneficial to give you some information about that, seeing as you live here as part of the coexistence program. And I know you are worried dear, but please do not be. I have seen you, and I have placed my trust in you. You are a good person, with a kind and brave soul. However, I am afraid this is not just my story, it is everyone’s, and so there is only so much that I have a right to tell. I must still protect my people, which includes their privacy.”

You tried to contain the swell of hope that rose in your soul as you put on a calm respectful expression.

“Of course, I completely understand. I’d hate to upset anyone over this.”

“Yes, as would I, my child. That being said, I would like to ask you for something in return, if you find it reasonable.”

That piqued your interest. You had expected a kind ‘no’ at the worst, but you hadn’t anticipated this. You didn’t have reason to believe Toriel would ask you to do anything too crazy, so you supposed a deal was only fair.

“Umm, sure, what is it?”

“I’m sure you are aware of the sort of meetings I have frequented as of late. Frisk has been doing a wonderful job as our embassador, but unfortunately, they have still not been able to gain much favor with the humans, being so young. I believe having a second opinion would aid us in the delegations. I will tell you what I can, and in exchange, I would like you to act as a secondary ambassador alongside Frisk in order to help monster kind gain the life it deserves here on the surface. It will not take up too much of your time, I assure you. You will simply be coming along with me to my meetings whenever I bring Frisk with me as well. It would also help shed a promising light on the coexistence program if they see that the humans living here are doing well. So, what say you, Y/N?”

You were shocked to say the least. You hadn’t realized she trusted you that much. You didn’t exactly have the best confidence or self-image in the world, so she had more confidence in you than you did to be sure. The idea of sitting in a room with so many important decision-making suits fed your anxiety. You had to look at this as an opportunity. You always felt guilty for the way humans had treated monsters. They were trapped underground for centuries after all! And they were still subject to petty crimes and speciesism to this day, which was part of the reason you tried to treat them with kindness. Aside from the fact that they were living, breathing, sentient beings just as humans were. You quickly decided this wasn’t something you could pass up. If you could make a difference somehow, now was your chance. Thinking about how you would personally have a chance to change the world for the better, filled you with BRAVERY.

“I’ll do it.”

Toriel seemed surprised at your facial expression. She smiled sweetly and nodded in reply.

“Wonderful. I am so glad you want to help us, my child. I am sure things will slowly start to get better, with your help. Now, as for my end of the bargain…It is quite late in the evening now, but Asgore will be visiting on Friday afternoon.”

Toriel had a slight look of discomfort on her face. You empathized with her. Mending a broken marriage must have been one of the most difficult things on the planet to do.

“And so, I believe that would be a good time to discuss things in more detail. You would have more than just one side of the story.”

You finished your tea and set the cup down on the coffee table, as did Toriel. You nodded in agreement as she continued on for a few more moments, until a muffled noise from the hallway distracted you. Soon she noticed as well, and a look of disapproval came over her.

“Children, come out now, I know you are there.”

The sound of small gasps and shuffling feet came from the hallway until Frisk trudged into view, holding Flowey in their arms. Both their faces were flushed with embarrassment. Frisk maneuvered the pot into one hand, and with the other they made the sign for ‘sorry’. Toriel sighed and smiled with her brows furrowed.

“It is fine, my child, but please do not make a habit out of eavesdropping. That goes for both of you.”

A look came over Flowey’s face for a second, as if her words had reminded him of something, but then it returned to a pouty expression. Frisk nodded their head in agreement, then meandered over to the coffee table, taking a seat before it on the floor and placing Flowey on top of it. The two of them exchanged looks, then Flowey began to translate their words for you.

“So, yeah, we heard all of that, and Frisk is thanking you for helping them out with the political stuff, but their worried about what you’ll think of everyone once you know about what happened.”

You smiled down at them with compassion and sighed.

“It’s alright Frisk, I know you guys well enough by now that my feelings won’t change. I know whatever it is must be serious…but I’m confident about that. I’ll be going into this with an open mind, and no expectations. You don’t have to worry. I know you’re good people.”

Frisk looked relieved at hearing this and scrambled over to latch onto you in a tight hug. You chuckled and returned it with a comforting pat on the back. Toriel smiled and held a paw to her soul at such an adorable display. Flowey visibly cringed. Frisk pulled away and looked you in the eyes, as if searching them for something. They signed the word ‘friend’ then they held out their hand and curled their fingers in, leaving the pinky sticking straight up, gesturing toward you. You got the hint and wrapped your pinky around theirs tightly, nodding to them.

“Pinky promise.”