Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dust was the first.

It'd only been a couple years since Frisk got the Monsters to the surface. But only one since Sans began working on his machine. Why bother with it if it's only going to reset? That's what Sans' mindset was until Frisk promised up and down that they weren't going to reset anymore.

And even then, Sans held his breath (as much as a skeleton could), admittedly not trusting the kid in the slightest. But one year came and went and he slowly started becoming less tense, less apathetic.

He figured, why not finally get back to what he gave up on a long time ago. The machine. The one Sans believes can bring back W.D Gaster.

Begrudgingly, Sans required Papyrus' help to lug his machine and all of its parts and his tools up to the surface from their home in Snowdin, which in turn caused his brother to learn what he's doing.

Papyrus was, of course, very cool about it and supported his brother any way he could. Which mainly consisted of making the shorter skeleton take breaks, eat, sleep. ("heh, you know me bro, i'm just so marrow-minded right now." "SANS! EAT, NOT MAKE PUNS.")

The building phase was brutal. Things sparked and fizzled out before anything could happen and wires popped out of place for seemingly no reason. It took a few grueling months to even get the machine to turn on and a few more after that to begin testing.

Sans finally got the formulas and coding down and was finally, finally ready to start searching for Gaster's soul. His attempts didn't bring many results, though. Lots and lots of emptiness. He scoured the void for what seemed like forever before deciding to head back to the drawing board.

Then something happened.

The ex-scientist was just working on his notes at his desk when the machine suddenly sputtered to life. Sans jumped in his chair and spun around at the noise. He looks at it confused for a split second before his sockets widen and he falls out of his chair in his haste to get over.

He reaches the screen to find it flashing the words 'SOUL FOUND' slowly. Panicking, because he doesn't know what SOUL the machine could have possibly found on its own, (seriously, Sans thought the machine was off) he begins attempting to shut it down, his phalanges flying across the keyboard.

Errors start to pop up and the process overloads all other functions, causing the screen to freeze. Magic sweat dripped off of his skull as he took a few steps back to watch his machine shake in horror.

Something loud blares within the small basement before a boom resounds and then immediately after goes quiet. Smoke billows out, shielding Sans from seeing anything. He waves his hand to rid the curtain of thick white away from his face. It's silent as he creeps up to the front of the machine.

His fingers are together, ready to snap a Gaster Blaster into existence if need be. Only to fall backwards onto his coccyx when one spawns in front of him. Not conjured by himself.

It looks the exact same to his own except for the eyes. Instead of plain white eye lights, they are red, though the left one has a ring of blue on the outside. Quickly, Sans brings his own into the fray. It makes the basement all the more crowded with the large skulls taking up most of the space.

The smoke soon disperses just as Sans picks himself off the floor. His eye is lit with magic, blue and yellow swirling with intensity as he holds his breath in anticipation.

In front of him is, well, him.

An almost perfect copy of Sans himself. Complete with his iconic blue jacket and black shorts. The hood is up, (something Sans never does) and the skeleton is wearing untied shoes. Sans' skull shakes left and right minutely as he stares at a copy of him in confusion.

Both skeletons made no moves and said nothing. They just stood and stared. Sans couldn't exactly see the face of the double as it was being shadowed by the hood. The only thing he could see was the strangely colored eye lights; they copied the Gaster Blaster's.

"heya, pal...?" Sans decided to speak up, keeping his voice leveled. The double says nothing, his eyes continue to stay trained on Sans', unmoving, unblinking. Sans' eye lights rove over him and he goes still at the sight of the multitude of grey particles dirtying his jacket and shorts.

"where am i?" the question comes out hard and demanding. Even their voices are extremely similar, the intruder's being just a tad higher.

"my basement," Sans answers with a shrug and snaps his Blaster away in hopes it'll calm the stranger into doing the same. It doesn't and the imposing weapon stays floating at the ready. "let's just take it easy there, alright, bud?" Sans puts his hands up palms facing down in diffusing manner. Sans' copy slowly, begrudgingly puts his Blaster away. Sans' shoulders immediately loosens and he gives him a lazy smile. "so, how'dja get here?"

The glowing mismatched eye lights scrunch up and the skeleton growls, "you tell me, this is your machine, ain't it?"

So this copy-cat knows about the machine.

"sure, but what were you doing before you came through?"

"nothing," was his short response.

Sans frowns. "nothing? you're speaking my language," he chuckles, hoping to remove the tense atmosphere but it falls flat so he clears his throat and continues, "i mean, were you near your machine? maybe working on it?"

"no."

Sans sighs and pinches his nose bridge. So his machine turns on, goes haywire and brings a completely different SOUL through who knows where and brings him here. "right. right. throw me a bone here, would'ja?" Sans gestures to the machine's computer. His copy follows with his eyes before stepping back.

Sans takes this as permission to pass him, so he does, highly aware of the scrutinizing eyes on him as he does so. Horrifyingly, Sans, as he passed by, couldn't help but smell death on the stranger.

Thinking fast, with his double's focus on his passing by, Sans whirls around and throws his hand out. A 'PING' goes off and he has his copy-cat's SOUL in his grasp.

The intruder's eyes flare and he tries pushing himself out. "pal, buddy, you've got a bit of dust on ya'." Sans' eye sockets go dark as he holds the double's SOUL tightly and in the air.

The skeleton doesn't understand. This-this pansy looking doppelganger is able to hold him-him!- completely. His LV is high. Probably way higher than this guy yet he's struggling to even get a grip on his own SOUL to release himself.

"heh. knife to meet ya'. name's sans, sans the skeleton."

Sans doesn't appreciate the humor, deadpanning, "yeah, i gathered that much." He squeezes his hand. "now i asked ya' a question, bucko."

The Sans copy begins to sweat as he feels his SOUL tighten painfully. He has a lot of health, due to his high LV, but the Sans in front of him is frightening strong, he can feel it.

"you look as if you've never seen death before," he sneers.

"i've seen plenty of death. you, however, seem to be highly acquainted with it."

"heh. whatever it takes to stop the resets, right?" Sans' sockets widen, his eye lights blinking back to life but very tiny.

"what did you do in your timeline?" he asks, terrified for the answer but needing to know.

The Sans in the air grins widely before throwing his head back with laughter. He bends it back up and looks Sans in the eye sockets, his eye lights dilated into pinpricks, making him look insane. He cackles, "whatever it took!" He looks off to the side, his grin falling and his face scrunching into a sneer. "it stopped them, didn't it? fuckin' ungrateful..."

Sans takes a step back, wanting to keep as much distance between himself and his insane copy. He keeps the grip on the other's SOUL as he turns (but only halfway; he does not want this guy out of his sight) to his computer. He types some things in, trying to gather any information on where this guy came from.

His sockets impossibly widen in growing terror at the info he gains. A dying timeline. Hell, it might as well be dead already since there's no one in it. "you're...you..." Sans mutters.

The captive skeleton yawns. "say...this ain't our secret lab..." he mentions nonchalantly. Suddenly, his SOUL feels as if a million pins and needles are stabbing at it.

"you killed the entire underground?" Sans grits his teeth.

"wooow, your machine tell you all that?" he responds with an eye roll.

"it gathers together void energy from different timelines and universes in order to accrue enough information about it to determine if Gaster's SOUL pieces is within it or not." Sans explains, "what it gathered from your time is...nothing but dust. the entire underground is empty. what the hell did you do?"

"let me down," the dust covered Sans growls, "and i'll tell you alllll about it."

"not a chance," Sans sneers.

"SANS! OUR HUMAN FRIEND FRISK IS HERE! COME UP AND SAY HELLO!" Both Sanses flinch.

"gettin' chummy with the human, huh?"

"none of your business," Sans mutters, typing more things into the PC. Maybe he can reverse this and return this murderer to his timeline.

"wonder how many resets you've been through so far. hey, how many genocides did they commit, hmm? surely not that many, yea? i mean, here you are, working on this machine that never worked in the first place."

He goes silent as he's hit with an epiphany. This Sans worked on the machine. He got it working again. He's never applied himself so much to even get the thing started. So if this Sans got it working and if he knows himself (which he does) then time has stopped rewinding for a while. Long enough for this Sans to actually give a damn about something.

Like finding Gaster's SOUL pieces to bring him back.

"you're on the surface," he says, matter-of-factly.

Sans' shoulders tense minutely but Sans knows Sans and he notices it.

"fuck you," he spits, now trying to use all of his magic to get out of his more successful version's grasp.

"watch it, bucko," Sans frowns, turning to face his double again.

"SANS. IF YOU DON'T COME UP, I'LL SEND FRISK DOWN TO GET YOU." Papyrus's voice booms above.

"yeah sans, better get up there," the dusty skeleton glares at the other. "wouldn't want to keep paps waiting."

Sans sighs, rubbing his free hand over his face. He can not let Frisk down here. But he can't just let his double have free reign either. "listen up," he starts, "this is my universe." he points down for emphasis. "we are on the surface. things are different here. if i drop you, you can not do anything to harm anyone. if you so much as hurt a hair on the kid or paps, you'll be dead where you stand. i don't care if it breaks your timeline."

The captive Sans just shrugs with a smirk. "sure. no killing." He looks to his side again. "shut up." Sans shakes his head, not sure about this but letting him go anyway. He lands with a clack against the tiled floor.

He picks himself up and dusts himself off. Horrifyingly, the dust caked everywhere on him doesn't wipe off at all, earning a cringe from the original Sans. The two have a staring stand off. One skeleton thinks about how bad of an idea this is, while the other thinks about possibly killing this Sans and taking over his cushy life on the surface.

Though, this might be his only chance to be free. To enjoy the sunlight. To see his brother again. 'SURE, SURE JUST IGNORE THE BROTHER YOU HAVE' To stop wandering the empty underground as he slowly goes more and more insane.

"i can't believe i'm doing this..." Sans mutters to himself. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, letting it out and reopening them to stare up the stairwell. Grabbing hold of the banister, Sans begins dragging his feet up the stairs, acutely aware of the second pair trailing after him. He doesn't trust this version of himself. Not one bit. But after seeing that he's able to safely and strongly hold the SOUL of a monster with high LV, Sans is confident in his abilities to keep everyone safe.

The door to the basement opens before Sans can reach it. "BROTHER!" Papyrus is so tall you can only see his lower jaw below the archway. He's smiling widely. "OUR FRIEND FRISK IS HERE FOR THE SLUMBER PARTY I HAVE ARRANGED. AND NO SLUMBER PARTY CAN GET STARTED BEFORE DINNER!"

Papyrus moves away, presumably to the kitchen, while Sans sighs and reaches the top of the stairs. Sans notices it had become quiet, so he turns around to find his doppelganger standing stock still on the steps. His eye lights are gone and he's clutching something tightly in his jacket's pocket.

Confused, Sans summons a tiny bone and flicks it to the other skeleton. It bonks him on the forehead. Abruptly, his eye lights return, the left one flaming slightly, and he summons a large, pointed tipped bone, taking a battle stance.

Sans jumps back, hands up and sockets blank. "whoa! simmer down there, pal," he warns. The dust covered skeleton blinks and shakes his head, growling lowly but dismisses his weapon before climbing the rest of the stairs. He roughly brushes past Sans, hitting his shoulder.

"i'm gonna go talk to paps, just go sit down somewhere or something but stay where i can see you. and do not touch the kid." Sans waits until his double nods in acknowledgement and then heads over to Papyrus.

'WOWIE! SEEMS THIS SANS KEEPS HIS BROTHER IN THE LOOP WITH THESE THINGS!'

The dust covered monster ignores the passive aggressiveness thrown at him, opting to find his way to the living room instead. When he steps into it, a little brown haired kid is sitting on the couch, kicking their feet while watching TV. The kid notices 'Sans' and smiles, waving to him.

He grins and eerily approaches the couch. Frisk's waving gets slower and slower the closer he gets. Their eyes widen and they slowly make their way off the couch, taking several steps back but keeping their brown eyes on him.

The skeleton hops onto the couch, laying sideways and taking up both cushions. He places his arms behind his skull and lays back, closing both eyes. "heh, thanks kid."

A hand touches down on Frisk's shoulder, causing the kid to jump and whirl around. "sorry, kid." Sans rubs the back of his neck. He watches as Frisk glances back and forth between the two identical skeletons.

"The machine?!" they sign, eyes wide. Sans sighs, shoulders drooping. He rubs a hand down his face, nodding.

"stay away from him, got it?" They nod vehemently; don't need to tell them twice.

Papyrus steps behind his brother. Frisk cranes their neck to look up at the tall skeleton, smile falling back into place. "I WAS INFORMED THAT WE HAVE A GUEST TONIGHT! I HAVE PULLED OUT MY LEFTOVER SPAGHETTI SO THAT WE MAY ALL EAT TOGETHER. LATER WE SHALL ORDER PIZZA AND BUILD A FORT TO EAT IT IN."

"sounds like a cool plan, bro," Sans smiles lazily up at him.

"OF COURSE IT IS. ONLY THE BEST FOR OUR FRIEND AND GUEST." The energetic skeleton returns to the kitchen. Frisk's smile drops once more as they quickly begin signing at Sans.

"That monster looks like you! And he's covered in dust!"

Sans sighs, glancing over at the monster in question. Figures he'd fall asleep as soon as possible. "i know, kiddo." Sans musses the child's hair. "I'm keeping an eye on 'im. maybe don't engage with him if you can help it though, mkay?"

Frisk agrees, warily eyeing the sleeping skelly one last time before joining Paps in the kitchen. Sans moves over to the couch. His double has one arm behind his head, the other over the top of the couch, one leg bent up at the knee while the other hangs off the side.

"get up, bucko." Sans kicks the other's leg. With a choke, he shoots up, eyes darting around manically. Once they finally rest upon Sans' smirk, his eye lights narrow in disdain. "time for dinner." Sans doesn't bother to wait for a response as he turns and leaves without one. He doesn't really care if the guy joins or not. Only reason why he told him was because Papyrus wanted him to.

Once all three sat in their seats, the fourth entered. Everyone stares at him with different emotions. Sans; suspicious and vigilant, Frisk; wary and curious and Papyrus; excited and curious.

Silently the monster takes the remaining seat and sits. Papyrus eagerly slides a plate of spaghetti to him. "WELCOME OTHER BROTHER! I DO HOPE YOU ENJOY MY GREAT SPAGHETTI. IT MIGHT EVEN BE BETTER THAN YOUR BROTHER'S!" Both Sanses flinch but for different things.

"bro...don't call him that. he's not your brother." Papyrus frowns.

"UT THEN WHAT SHOULD WE CALL HIM? HE IS SANS," the skeleton points out matter-of-factly. Frisk's eyes blink over to the other Sans. He's lowered his head down far enough that his grey hood covers him. The only thing Frisk can see is his nasal ridge poking out from the shadows.

"i don't care what you call him, paps," Sans sighs, defeated. "but it will not be 'sans' or 'brother'," he adds sternly, making sure he knows Paps knows he means business.

"WELL WHY DON'T WE ASK?" Papyrus turns to the other skeleton. "OTHER SANS THAT IS NOT MY BROTHER, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REFERRED AS WHILE YOU VISIT?"

The monster just narrows his eyes, moving the sauce covered noodles around the plate with a pointed phalanx.

'THE HUMAN CALLED YOU DUSTY QUITE OFTEN! WELL, UP UNTIL THEY DISAPPEARED ON YOU OF COURSE.'

His nose scrunches up at that. That condescending tone of his and the nonchalant jab at reminding him that the human vanished on him souring his mood. Dusty was demeaning, but perhaps just 'Dust' would be fine. It describes him and as a bonus; it'll hopefully make everyone uncomfortable.

Slowly, Dust raises his head to face everyone. He grins widely and tells them, "call me dust." And just as he hoped, everyone looked uncomfortable. Frisk looked away, Sans' sockets went dark and Papyrus, bless him, attempted to hide his uneasiness.

"W-WELL AS LONG AS YOU LIKE IT AND THAT'S WHAT YOU WISH TO BE CALLED...WELCOME TO OUR HOME, DUST!"

Yeah, maybe being here for the time being can be fun.

~~

The machine didn't stop at Dust. A month later, another skeleton came through and he was big. Sans and Dust had been testing things out with the machine in hopes of fixing it (Sans was doing this while Dust was messing around). The two had come to a...tentative mutual agreement. Dust would behave and Sans would let him stay. He would not be allowed around anyone who knows Sans under any circumstances, though, since he can be mistaken for Sans way too easily. So with that being a rule, Dust gets bored quite fast and that boredom leads to bugging Sans which then led to the moment another monster came through.

Sans takes a few steps back, hand out at the ready to restrain the new guy. Dust sits on his swivel chair, looking bored and unbothered. "congrats," he drawls, "it's a skeleton."

A very big skeleton, way taller than Sans and Dust but so very clearly 'Sans'. Iconic blue coat, white t-shirt, pink slippers, and black shorts. Though every piece of clothing appears to be heavily damaged and stained.

The T-shirt is splashed with something reddish- brown, the blue jacket has what appears to be the exact same stains on the sleeves, the shorts looked relatively okay, a bit torn and ripped at the bottom, and finally, the slippers looked as if the wearer trudged through mud everyday without bothering to clean them. It's lost all of its fuzz, making it look pressed and scratchy.

But the kicker was the giant crack and subsequent hole on the top of the newcomer's skull. Right below it, his eye socket houses a large, bright red eye while his right socket holds nothing. It's pitch black and empty.

That's when Sans and Dust met 'Axe'.

~~

Axe was much easier to assimilate than Dust. Axe, albeit quiet most of the time, took everything in stride. He was, of course, agitated and hostile at first but once Sans explained everything as best as he could, Axe calmed down.

The first word to come out of his mouth was 'food'.

Sans sent Dust to go get him something to eat while he checked out the machine to see what info it accrued on this Sans' timeline. Reading what it found, Sans' bones begin to rattle and while skeleton monsters can't throw up, Sans places a hand over his teeth anyway, feeling like he should.

The excerpt he read on Axe's AU was gruesome and horrifying. He now understands why his first word was for food. It doesn't explain why what happened happened. Just that the CORE failed and the Underground fell into a famine.

Sans would love to get the info out of his alternate self but...Axe doesn't seem all there. But who could blame him? Sans can't imagine what he went through to get that wound, let alone what he's currently going through.

Sans sighs and shuts off the computer, double checking the machine and making sure it's off, too.

This just got a whole lot messier.

~~

It got even worse.

This time, the machine thought it'd be funny to spit out a pair of skeletons. Sans was alone this time (thankfully) since he didn't need Dust or stars forbid Axe scaring the newcomers.

One of them groans and writhes on their place on the tiled floor, apparently having had a rough landing. Sans stays in his seat and makes no sudden movements, wanting to get a read on the two before they can attempt to attack or something.

They're both small and Sans shaped so at least this isn't another Axe type scenario.

One is in a brown outfit with a large scarf billowing from his neck and a giant paint brush lies off to the side of him. But the other skeleton? Sans isn't entirely sure. The majority of his bones are black though his legs are red and his hands go from black to red up until his fingertips which are yellow.

The weirdest thing Sans notices are the thin blue lines running down the black skeleton's eye sockets. He appears to be unconscious. The other skeleton jumps up off the floor and looks around wildly.

The two's eyes meet but the newcomer pays Sans no mind as he keeps searching. He gasps, "There you are!" and happily picks the giant paint brush up off the floor and hugs it close. He brushes off the top of it from any grime.

Sans watches in confusion, wondering if he should say something. The newcomer does this for him, though, whirling around and taking a stance, pointing at him. "Classic Sans! What are you doing here!?" His eye lights depict an orange question mark and green triangle.

Staring at his odd eye lights for a moment, Sans opens his mouth to respond, only to be interrupted. "Wait! Where am I exactly? I didn't hop into this AU." The skeleton blinks to himself then looks down at the unconscious one. "WHAT'S ERROR DOING HERE?"

Sans jumps at the sudden volume increase and gets up. "uh...so i can only assume you're sans, right? and him, too?" The artist looking monster turns to face Sans.

He blinks at him multiple times for a good few seconds before gasping again and pointing at him, crying out, "Classic Sans? What are you doing here?"

"who are you?" Sans tries again.

His eyes turn into a purple flower and yellow star as he grins widely and puts his hands on his hips, returning his paint brush to attach to his back "My name's Ink!"

Sans frowns. "you're not uh...ya know...me?"

Ink is quiet for a second before spluttering into laughter. He wipes a rainbow colored tear from his eye. "Well if you wanna get technical, then sure I'm a Sans. Ink Sans maybe. But I've only gone by Ink for a long long time soooo."

Sans' head is starting to hurt.

~~

Ink might have been pleasant, if not a bit airheaded, but when Error regained consciousness, it was a whole fiasco.

Sans couldn't get Ink to sit still for one moment so he sent him upstairs to get acquainted with the others. He heard the words Dusttale and Horrortale and then stopped listening, using his magic to close the door Ink left open.

Sans figured he'd stay down here and keep an eye on the strangely colored skeleton for the time being. One moment, Sans would be checking his notes and the next, he'd turn around to find something floating above the monster lying face down. Sans leans to try to get a closer look but, oddly enough, it's blurry in his eyes.

Not wanting to turn his back to it, Sans brings his notes to his lap instead. Only a little bit goes by when two more strange floating boxes begin flickering in and out of reality. Sans is half tempted to fetch Ink, figuring if the two came together (plus he called him Error), he would know what this stuff is.

Then, the sound of the Windows start up plays, causing Sans to jostle in his chair in surprise. The black skeleton slowly picks himself off up the floor, grumbling to himself and fixing his clothes. The weird boxes continue to blink around him, only this time, Sans could make out the word 'error' accompanying them.

Error turns around, confusion written on his face before making eye contact with Sans. He jumps back, eyes wide. Sans notes his sockets are red and have different sized pupils. Just what kind of 'Sans' is he?

"Who the hell are you?!" his voice comes out a little warbled and scratchy. Error rests his fingers just under his sockets, ready for anything. Sans holds his up to try to placate the other. The glitchy skeleton's pupils dart back and forth, mouth twisted in a sneer.

"name's sans." Error doesn't let up his stance.

"Obviously," he jeers, rolling his eyes. Sans chuckles and shrugs.

"welp, seems you know me. this s'my lab." He then gestures to the machine, Error's eye lights following. "that's my machine. you came through it."

"I came..." Error looks from the machine back to Sans. His shoulders and hands drop. "Huh?"

Sans shrugs again, finding Error's confusion funny. "ink did too i guess. and others."

"Ink? Oh this has his name written all over it," he growls and rubs his skull, looking defeated. "Whatever, I'm outta here," the skeleton snarls and waves his hand. Nothing happens. He does it again, waving faster. Still nothing. Sweat begins to run down his skull now as he frantically waves both hands.

Sans just watches with his signature grin. "you alright there bud-ghk!" Sans' question is cut off by thin blue strings shooting out from Error and wrapping around his SOUL. Error lifts Sans into the air a little bit and approaches him, his lips curled and eye sockets narrowed.

Inwardly panicking, Sans slyly struggles in his grasp, wondering what these strings are and how he's doing it and how to get out of them. "What did you do?!"

"i don't know what you're talkin' about, pal," Sans remains calm, his grin looking easy but tight in the corners.

"I can't port out of here!" Error yells in frustration when his only response is a halfhearted shrug from the classic. "Arg! You're useless!" His eye darts to the side, suddenly remember the stupid machine almost every Sans and Papyri have. Grinning, he walks over to it, keeping one hand extended out towards Sans and keeping him captive.

"hey-buddy, might not want to mess with that, it's what got us here in the first place." Two blue beads of magic sweat form on Sans' skull, his pinprick eye lights warily watching Error's every move.

"You and every other idiot in every other AU always messing with this shit..." Error mumbles to himself, ignoring the Sans he has in his grasp.

Taking his chance, Sans musters up enough magic to take Error's in surprise, breaking the strings and releasing his SOUL. Startled, Error turns around and jumps back, eyes roving over the other skeleton. "How-" He doesn't get another word out before Sans takes hold of his own SOUL.

As he holds the glitching heart, Sans feels pins and needles throughout himself, causing him to shiver in place. Ignoring the captive monster's struggling, Sans approaches his machine to make sure everything is in place. Thankfully, Error hadn't managed to mess anything up, allowing Sans to let out a sigh of relief.

Error continues to squirm in his grasp, yelling out obscenities all the while, as Sans decides to bring the ornery skeleton upstairs. Maybe the other one that came with him can figure out what to do.

Upon entering the living room, Sans finds all three doing something different. Dust is napping on the couch (go figure), while Axe just sits on the floor, a faraway look in his eye. Ink is yapping to Axe about something (who is totally listening aptly if you asked the colorful skeleton), drawing on some printer paper he must have gotten from Papyrus.

"Hm?" Ink looks up and then smiles. "Error!" He jumps up and puts his hands on his hips, tilting his skull while his eyes change into a question mark and circle. "What are you doing, Classic?"

Sans scratches the back of his skull, eye lights looking off to the side as he asks, "do you know how to...subdue him?"

Error lets out an offended gasp. "Subdue me!? You motherfuc-" Ink takes his brush and swipes it horizontally in the air. A blob of black ink launches itself at the skeleton, plastering itself across his teeth and cutting him off. Said monster narrows his eyes at the artist, furious.

"I can take him from here!" Ink exclaims. "I'll just drop him off at the anti-void on my way home." Error's eye dots roll in their sockets.

"uh, about that. buddy already tried to...port somewhere. couldn't do it." Sans begins to sweat, feeling as if he knows what's about to happen.

Ink frowns, putting his hand to his chin. He takes his brush and gathers his magic, placing down what he assumes would be a portal to hop universes onto the ground in the form of an ink puddle. He jumps onto it, splashing the surrounding floor a bit.

Nothing. Blinking, he stomps on it a couple more times for good measure. Axe, having finally moved at the commotion, gazes down at the spot of paint that had landed on his tibia.

"Huh." Ink shrugs, "Well that's weird. I can't port either."

Sans throws his head back and groans. Great. Not only are the other two stuck here until he gets the machine working, the two other, odder skeletons can't use their strange ways to teleport home either.

~~~

Ink and Error have managed to call a truce. A lot of arguing occurred but Sans played a good middle man. He's just happy he doesn't have to worry about, who Ink called 'the AU Destroyer', and his strings attacking him, the others, or Papyrus.

The three learned a little about the two. Learning that Ink is the opposite to Error, being the Watcher and Guardian of all AU's and having a hand in creating them, too. Error called themselves outcodes.

Papyrus, as always, was super cool and took this in stride, helping the newcomers into their new rooms. Sans is forever grateful they bought a large house.

~~

One more. One more Sans came through before the classic one called it quits. This Sans was primarily clothed in reds, blacks, and yellows and had extremely sharp teeth; one even having been replaced with a golden one. His eye lights were red and he seemed to always wear a scowl.

He wore the classic 'Sans' shorts except the usual white stripe was yellow and instead of the usual shirt and jacket combo, this Sans wore a red, turtlenecked, wool sweater with a black and yellow striped scarf wrapped around his neck.

Of course, he was another 'hostile' one, having lashed out in panic, so he had to be restrained before he hurt anyone (that being Sans, Ink and Dust who were in the basement at the time). Ink called his AU Flowerfell, a variant to Underfell.

At the name of his universe, the edgy looking skeleton cringed and looked away. Sans let him go, sensing this one might not cause as much trouble as Dust and Error had. He immediately relaxes and stuffs his hands into his pockets, pinpricked eye lights scanning over everyone else.

He settled on being called 'Fell'.

~~

That was all a year ago. Sans and the others stopped working on the machine lest they pulled more wayward skeletons through. Most didn't want to go back to their respective AUs anyways.

Papyrus had started teaching Axe how to cook per his request. Error kept to himself most of the time, staying in his room and avoiding interactions with the others while only really coming out to eat. Ink was always moving, always jovially telling whoever would listen to his ideas.. though everyone could see the lingering sadness his strange eye lights would attempt to hide.

Fell was quiet; never really speaking on his own accord unless one brought him into conversation. He didn't like talking about his AU and would get mad if Ink attempted to explain for him. His first time meeting Frisk was a disaster. He had taken one look at the kid before his eye lights distinguished and he shortcut-ted out of there. Sans couldn't get him to leave his room for a week.

But Dust? Dust was and still is Sans' biggest concern. Sure Axe was big and scary looking, Error was volatile and prone to going off the rails over little things but Dust was...eerie.

The skeleton liked to talk to himself a lot, often staring off at nothing while doing so. Sans tried many times to understand what was happening but Dust would refuse to elaborate and Ink was no longer privy to explaining the other's AUs after Fell's meltdown over his own being talked about.

Not only was he creepy, he was dangerous. His LV was uncomfortably high and he would get urges and would sometimes lash out at the others. Ink and Sans would have to restrain him if he got really bad. He almost never slept at night, opting to take multiple naps throughout the day, and causing Sans to paranoidly stay up those nights just to keep watch.

But through all of that, Sans can't say he hates any of them or wishes they weren't there. They've formed a sort of bond, a sense of camaraderie (even if Error vehemently denies it) between them. They do their best to understand and respect one another. It was his fault they were all here in the first place.

And it's not always so bad. Being here, on the surface in such a peaceful timeline, has done them wonders.

Axe now talks a lot more. He's working on his memory but he actively engages in conversations more. The others help with his broken speech where they can.

They all learned Error was funny when he wasn't being a prick (Ink swore up and down previously but no one believed him at the time) and that he loved telenovelas. He gripes about the lack of his AU television channels but secretly loves the ones this universe has to offer even if he grumpily denies it.

Fell, though quiet as ever, had started writing. He always refused to show his work but would occasionally and softly read excerpts to Frisk. Speaking of the kid, Fell slowly became used to seeing them. Eventually moving up to interacting with them when they approach him first and then finally being comfortable enough to read to them.

Frisk adored the sharp toothed monster. Sans isn't sure when they became so close but he's happy to see it. Fell sometimes gets a sad look on his face when looking at the kid but...he'd tell you he'll be fine every time he'd be asked.

And that's when you fell through.

Chapter Text

You were walking home from your favorite convenience store, carrying a paper bag with both arms filled to the brim with goodies. It's almost Halloween and you were stocking up to stay in for the holiday. You planned to have your porch light off and no decorations in the yard to make your house look as uninviting as possible.

Why? You hate Halloween. Always have. You're terrified of monsters so much so it's irrational at this point. You hate horror and all things scary. Even cartoons that depict monsters goofily give you the heebie-jeebies.

Dracula, Werewolves, Frankenstein, Zombies and hell even Godzilla and Bigfoot will get you to cover your eyes. And don't even think about bringing up the 'Alien' movies and the Xenomorphs. That kids show Goosebumps? Gave you nightmares when you were a kid. 

I think you get the gist. And yeah, you know they're fake. You know they're just movies, props, special effects, etcetera, but that doesn't stop your brain from having a complete meltdown over any and all depictions of those things.

So imagine a tear on the sidewalk opens up and you, none the wiser, trip and fall into it. Imagine falling down but being spat up onto a hard tiled floor through said tear.

Imagine feeling the aches and pains of a rough landing and opening your eyes to the bright overhead lights reflecting off the white tile floor and blinding you instantly. Imagine seeing your grocery contents spilled out all over the place, some items breaking open like some cans of soda.

Then imagine looking up and around you at your surroundings and spotting three skeletons staring at you with wide opened, endless pits of darkness they call sockets.

And these weren't prop skeletons. Not the plastic kinds you find all over the stores as soon as September starts. Not the giant 50 foot tall ones people dress up year round for every holiday because they're too lazy to take it down.

Actual, moving, (are they BREATHING?) skeletons wearing clothes with what appears to be colored liquid running down their skulls to which hold a surprising array of malleability to express complex emotions no skeleton has a right to display.

You screamed. Loudly. Ear piercingly. Backing up into a corner in a pathetic attempt to get away from them.

The machine decided at that moment to fizzle out (how was it on in the first place?!) and break down, sounding like a balloon that's slowly letting out its air.

The skeleton with a grey hood over its head speaks, voice monotone and sounding annoyed. "good going, your machine brought in a human this time." It blinks and eye lights appear in the sockets, one blue and one blue with a red ring around it. It then scoffs and looks away, muttering, "jackass," but loud enough on purpose to the others can hear.

Your heart drops. Oh joy, it talks. Wait...it talks? That means it's a person...right? You frown and look down, thinking.

Your head shoots back up, causing two of the three to startle in place. "Ha-ha very funny!" you say, tone of voice depicting the opposite of being amused. "You can come out now! You got me! Ha-ha so funny, pretend to have your sister kidnapped by a skeleton cult to scare her!"

"uhhh," one of the skeletons have the gall to look confused as if your jerk of a brother didn't pay or coerce these guys into pranking you. Like he does every Halloween.

"You can take your costumes off now." You shakily stand up. You know now this is a prank and it's all fake but you still don't like how realistic they look. "My brother put you up to this right?" You don't let them answer, instead, groaning and tugging at your hair. "Where's the hidden camera? I bet he's laughing his ass off right now."

Sans is unsure of what to do. Dust stands to his right, bored, while Fell fidgets in place to his left. You tap your foot in annoyance as your eyes rove over the room. Hesitantly, not wanting you to scream like that, ever if he can help it, Sans approaches you. You flinch when he gets close so he stops.

"Please," you sound defeated, "please just take the costume off. I hate monsters." Sans takes another step back as if he was burned, hurt and confusion in his eyes. Inwardly, he laughs deprecatingly. Of course, his machine brings him his SOULmate and she's prejudiced against Monsters.

He hears Dust sneer behind him and then shuffling ascending the stairs. "we- ah, sorry..." Sans starts, "how do i explain this..." he groans, wiping his forehead. "we didn't kidnap you. we don't know your brother. we're not wearing costumes."

You eye him up and down like he's crazy. "Skeletons don't walk and talk," you say matter-of-factly. "Or breathe. What do you take me for?"

Sans supposed you might have never seen a skeleton Monster before considering him and his brother (now the others) were the only ones. How does he get you to believe he's not a costume, though? Lift his shirt? He flushes at the thought of just straight up showing you his ribs. That wouldn't exactly be appropriate.

Calmly, he extends his bony arm out. You flinch and stare at it. "You're scaring me..." you admit.

"please...just feel my hand, look at my arm, i'm not a costume." Sans gestures behind him with his shoulder. "neither is he or the one that left."

You hesitantly lift your hand and shakily place it atop his, palm flat on his. You squeak at the feeling; hard and smooth. Slowly, your eyes crawl up his arm to the ulna and radius. Sans takes his other hand, making sure you're watching him, and sticks it in between the two bones.

You scream and rip your hand away. Quickly, the skeleton throws both hands up in a placating manner. "w-what kind of Monsters are you familiar with?"

You shake your head in denial. "Wh-I-uh...Dracula? Werewolves? Fucking- Skinwalkers? Not...not walking talking skeletons?!"

Sans straightens up, eyes scrunched in confusion. He turns to look over his shoulder to Fell. The quiet skeleton shrugs. You place a hand over your heart, your breathing beginning to pick up. "Skeletons are just stupid Halloween decorations...They aren't real, you're probably having a nightmare. A highly realistic one where you can feel pain..."

The classic skeleton cringes then remembers he can find out info on your universe. Quickly, he moves to sit in his chair and read the screen. You don't notice as the sweater wearing skelly stands behind the blue jacket wearing one as you continue to ramble to yourself.

Sans and Fell read up on everything the machine found out.

Together, they utter one word, "fuck."

~~

Your world has no Monsters. No concept of SOULs or LV or EXP. Only fictional monsters like the ones you listed. Sans recognized some of them, like Dracula, as it had been an old movie he and Papyrus saw once.

His SOULmate didn't hate Monsters. You hated monsters. Sans knows the other two had felt your SOUL just as much as he did when you came through. Dust left probably because of your presumed bigotry but Fell stayed, having felt everything and was frozen in awe at the beauty of your SOUL. The song it unconsciously sang when being in the presence of your mates.

The two let out the biggest sighs of relief when they learned you didn't hate them but were just afraid of them. They could work with that. Sans spins in his chair to face you, about to speak but you shakily beat him to you.

"S-so if you're real...does that mean other monsters are real?" Your eyes widen and you stare at the two. Beads of sweat accumulate. "A-and if this isn't a prank by my brother...wh-what are you going to do to me? A-are you gonna harvest my bones?!" 

Sans and Fell look on with various levels of horror at even the thought of such a thing. Surprisingly, Fell steps forward, grinning as sweetly as someone with sharp teeth possibly could. "n-no! sweetheart, you got it all wrong."

Your mouth twists into a grimace as your eyes dart back and forth, suspicious of the two. "look here." Sans points to his computer monitor. Hesitantly, eyeing the scarier of the two skeletons, you peer over Sans' shoulder. The screen shows two dots. "this," a phalange taps the screen over one of the dots, "is your universe. one where Monsters do not exist. real Monsters, like me and Fell here." He then taps the second dot. "this is our universe. the one you fell into, where a race of all different kinds of Monsters escaped from below a mountain we were imprisoned under."

You skim over the little info shown on both of the universes. "S-so, monsters exist here...like...Werewolves and stuff?"

Sans chuckles, "no of course not. the ones you're thinking of are all fiction. Monsters, the race, are made up of love, compassion, and hope. we're not the scary things that go bump in the night."

"So if the machine brought me here...you can send me back, right?" you shyly ask, eyeing the machine in question. Sans and Fell cringe, though they expertly hide it. Even if they could send you back, there's no way in hell they're going to lose you just like that. Not when they just found you.

Both skeletons let out a dry chuckle and avoid eye contact with you. "that's sorta been the problem... you're the sixth person to come through and we haven't been able to send anyone home."

Your heart drops. "B-but you're working on it, right?"

"we actually stopped working on it a year ago... we have no idea how you came through." Your blood runs cold and you suddenly feel very lightheaded. If what this skeleton Monster is saying is true...then you're stuck in some alternate universe you know nothing about where a race of Monsters walking around is the norm.

You won't be able to see your brother again. Your parents. Your friends. You look at their faces, hoping and praying to see some sort of sign that they're joking. Or maybe you can wake up from this nightmare to find yourself on your couch, having eaten enough junk food to put you in a food coma.

Anything but this.

"No..." You shake your head in denial, backing up until your back hits the machine. You whirl around to stare at it with wide eyes. "Nononono! Take me back! Please!" You begin smacking the device, desperation leaking through tears. A hand gently touches your shoulder, making you spin around and smack it off in haste. "Don't touch me!"

The red wearing skeleton blinks, hand held up in the air and eyes holding sadness within them. "please, sweetheart you have to calm down," he tells you softly. You look at him like he's crazy. Calm down? Calm down?! 

You stop and blink. Or just wake up...right? Yeah, just do that instead. Calm down and wake up. Easy. Sans and Fell slouch in relief once they notice you've stopped panting and smacking the machine in panic. Maybe now they can talk to you calmly.

Sans gets close to you, about to grab your hand, when you suddenly turn to the wall and sit down, crossing your legs over one another. The two pair of eye lights confusedly glance at each other before landing back on you.

"Come on, wake up!" you tell yourself, starting out quiet. You slap your cheek lightly. Nothing happens so you smack it a bit harder. "WAKE UP!" You use both hands just once before a bony one catches both and restrains them.

You slowly turn your neck to face the one who grabbed you. He's kneeled on the floor, face twisted in a grimace as his eye lights rove over your tear-stained face. "shh," he somehow makes a hushing noise.

You stare at him, voice defeated and scratchy, "Please...please just send me home..."

Sans sighs. "i'm sorry...i-i can't." He hates the look of devastation on your face. He squeezes your shaky hands. "you're safe here. i promise. we'll take care of you, okay?" He swivels his neck. "Fell...could you have Ink clean this mess really quick?" At that, everyone's eyes look at the mess your groceries made. Sticky soda stains the floor and Hershey Kisses had spilled and scattered everywhere.

Fell nods, taking one more glance at you before leaving. Sans sends calming waves from his SOUL to yours in hope it calms you down some more. Maybe it'll help you feel more comfortable with his touch.

Strangely, he notes, it only serves to make you sleepy. You yawn, the adrenaline draining fast and leaving you exhausted.

You look down, finally realizing he's still holding your hands. Still unnerved by the feeling, you tug them away, noting his sound of displeasure and thinking it weird. The both of you stand up and Sans shuffles his foot awkwardly.

"we have plenty of room here...we can set you up in your own room and get you all the essentials you need..." You just nod, not really paying attention. "come on, let's get you upstairs to take a nap." Sans walks to the stairs and then turns around to watch you slowly meander after him. He grins and says, "i promise, you'll feel much bed-ter when you wake."

It's very small, but you manage to lift the corners of you lips just enough for him to notice.

~~

Ink stands at the top of the stairs to the basement, hands clutched together against his chest and worry in his eyes. He feels it, the waves your SOUL gives off and it's nothing like he's ever felt before.

He worries, though, because even though your SOUL feels heavenly so close to him, Ink can feel the despair and agony spilling over from it. 

And it's all his fault.

~~

Axe felt it as soon as it happened. You fell through and his SOUL panged. Immediately- instinctually, Axe knew what it was and what happened. His SOULmate is here. You're here.

But as soon as the elation of your presence came, the doubt and shame moved in. What are you going to think of him? He's big and scary and slow and... But he can take care of you. He knows he can. He's a Sans and Sans takes care of his own. He might not look it, but he'll prove to you he can and will be able to take care of you in every sense of the word.

You must be so scared right now. Axe can feel it and all he wants is to wrap you in his coat, zip it up, and rest his chin on your head while you nap on him. He wouldn't want to exasperate you with his intimidating presence, though. 

So for now, what he can do is make you something to eat.

Error felt a strange tingle; a prickling sensation in his chest. He ignored it as best as he could, trying to focus on the TV in his darkened room. It wouldn't go away until he acknowledged it though. Pestered, he closes his eyes to focus on the feeling.

It was his SOUL. Strange, he doesn't typically get sensations from it. Hell, he hardly remembers it being there most of the time. Error rolls his eyes and pushes the thought and feeling to the back of his mind. Who cares, he's watching TV right now, he doesn't have to time question whatever it is his SOUL is feeling. It's probably trivial anyways.

Ink can't feel. Not on his own, that is. He doesn't have a SOUL. Never had. He always questioned why it was that Error, his opposite, got a SOUL but he didn't. Why, why, why? Did he not deserve one? Was he not a real Monster? A real Sans? As far as he knew, no one else was like him. He was unique. He gained emotions from ink vials he kept on his person.

Even Nightmare has a SOUL. So why can't he have one?

When Ink messed with Sans' machine, he didn't know this would happen. He just wanted to get home. Back to where he felt safest. Where he can watch over and protect everyone. He's been here for a year and his Broomie still can't take him back to the Doodle Sphere.

Error's given up, Dust and Axe don't want to go back and Fell is indifferent. So why can't he just let it go? He's in a safe universe, he doesn't have to worry about defending AUs from Error anymore so why?

Why did he have to mess with the machine after Sans told everyone not to. It was too unstable anymore. It brought nothing but trouble. So maybe Ink was bitter. Maybe that's why he turned it on and pressed some buttons. But when nothing happened he stopped. Ink stopped and thought to himself.

The universe doesn't need him anymore. It has Dream. Someone with a SOUL and a pure heart like him can protect them. He hid in his room for a while after that. He stopped taking his vials; there was no point if he wasn't going to interact with anyone.

But then you came through and for the first time, Ink felt in his chest, the soothing touch of a SOUL. It was small, miniscule even, but he could feel it. His plain white eye lights turned fuzzy around the edges, shaking in their sockets before turning into upside down hearts; Monster SOULs.

And he felt it instantly. The call of your SOUL. 

And it was calling...to his.

Dust didn't need a SOULmate. He's gotten by just fine and just because you suddenly popped up here, didn't mean he had to drop everything for you the moment he felt your SOUL sing to his. You didn't even like Monsters anyways, what good is his SOULmate to him if you hated him?

The concept is stupid anyways. Dust scoffs to himself, turning to look out the bay window he's sitting at. Ugh, his LV is flaring up with his annoyance and Dust turns at the sound of Axe getting up off the couch and shuffling into the kitchen. He wonders how the big guy will take the news.

Not his problem, Classic can tell him for all he cares. 

Fell thought you were the prettiest person he's ever seen. Your SOUL shined bright and sung the most beautiful song he's ever heard. Fell never thought in a million years he'd ever see the sun let alone meet his SOULmate. Yet here you were; inexplicably brought through the machine everyone gave up on and turned off. Though somewhere in the back of his mind, Fell tries to figure out why and how it was on again but he can't possibly be bothered by it if this was the result.

After Frisk- his Frisk- passed in his arms, he had fallen deep into depression. He couldn't save her, his Angel, the Underground's Angel. He never thought he'd care much about anything after that. His brother became insufferable, not understanding and wouldn't listen when Fell tried to talk to him about it. Then he got sucked into this world. Such a nice, loving world where Monsters treated others with kindness.

After Dust, Fell was the best one to work on the machine so of course he tried to help his brighter, happier self (happier being said extremely loosely here, knowing that skeleton has a lot of baggage, too) to send everyone home but Fell just couldn't really put his all into it. Who cares if he got stuck here? Not him. Who cares if he got sent back? He'd just waste away there, too, but with constant reminders of his failure.

And then you dropped in. Him, Sans and Dust had heard something strange come from the basement and that's always not a good sign. The three had stopped at the bottom of the stairs just in time to see you come up from the floor, a strange sight considering (from what Sans said) everyone else fell from the ceiling.

It was instantaneous. The call, the song, the feeling of your SOUL against his. Monsters latch on very quickly to SOULmates so it took no time at all for Fell to accept the feeling as soon as he felt it.

But then you said you hated monsters and his SOUL felt like it splintered for a moment. He was in awe of your beauty but he may also have been disassociating at your declaration, praying it was a joke or something. Though, of course it would be just his luck to find his other half only for them to hate his kind.

Sans thankfully cleared up the misunderstanding and Fell had never felt such relief in his life. You may be afraid of them right now but...he won't mess this up. He'll protect you with his life. He'll do right by you when he couldn't with Frisk. She told him to be happy and with you here he plans on fulfilling her final request.

~~

Sans has a hand wrapped around the basement door's handle and hesitates. How are the others going to react? Dust is already misinformed and annoyed and he has no idea how Axe, Error or Ink will be. Ink doesn't have a SOUL, Sans remembers, but he's still a Sans...so if you're Sans' SOULmate...what does that mean for the artistic skeleton?

And Error... Oh boy, Sans will have to have a talk with everyone. Maybe after he puts you to bed. Eye lights glancing around warily, Sans isn't sure if any of the others are going to come running or what. He thinks about possibly porting you to the empty spare room they have but decides against it, not wanting to scare you any more than you already are.

A shuffle off to his side gains his attention. Sans sighs, "Ink, why are you hiding?" He hears a little 'Eep!' from around the corner. You furrow your eyebrows and stare in confusion, blinking slowly and swaying in place a little.

Around the corner, Ink breathes out and tries to gain the courage to face you. Should he just come out? What does he say? He taps his phalanges against the wall behind him. He hears Sans mumble something to you and then the sound of footsteps pattering away.

His eye lights shift into a blue tear drop and red circle as he sighs, titling his chin until it hits his chest. He lost his chance, Sans already took you away.

You follow the lead of the shuffling skeleton, anxiously eyeing your surroundings the entire time. You think you see another skeleton in the corner of your eye but quickly remove it from your sight all together. After ascending a flight of stairs, you walk down a hallway of rooms. All of the doors display different designs on the doors.

You stop in front of one; it has reds, blues and yellows all over it with mismatched black squares scattered around. Feeling a strange prickling in your chest, unconsciously, you reach a hand out and brush a hand down the painted wood.

Sans, noticing the lack of your shoe covered footsteps, turns around. "princess?" The Monster immediately cringes at the instinctual pet name slipping out. He doesn't know your name, but even if he did, he probably wouldn't call you by it anyways.

Your neck twitches and turns his way. "Huh?" Your gaze flickers back and forth between the short skelly and the beautifully painted door.

"you alright there?" He waves his hand, beckoning you, "come on, your room's over here."

"Y-yeah..." Maybe your chest feels weird because of the travel through dimensions? Or was it universes? (If you're even going to believe that over this all just being some sort of fever dream)

You enter your new room and take note of everything (or lack of everything) inside. A simple bed on a simple wooden bedframe. The bed spread is a deep purple with matching pillows. A single nightstand sits to the side of the bed with a single lamp on top. Finally, a four drawer dresser against the wall under a square window.

You move on auto-pilot, taking a very neat seat on the edge of the mattress. It sinks under your weight a little. You place your hands in your lap and just stare forward into the open, empty closet.

Sans sits and watches you in the doorway, smile tight in the corners. He's not sure what to say in this situation. Does he comfort you? Does he leave you alone? Stars, what he wants to do is hold you in his arms and share SOUL waves with you.

But he knows you're terrified. You've just been displaced and dropped into a whole new world. Everything you thought you knew is now changed. Monsters exist when they didn't in your world. There's magic here, how will you acclimate to that? Will you be overly sensitive to it?

There's so many different outcomes that can come from this that Sans can't possibly predict or prepare for any likelihood scenario. So for now, all he can do is send over small waves of comfort through your shared link.

It's not as strong as it could be since, while they've accepted you, you probably don't even realize you have a SOUL let alone a SOULmate even if you did feel some things subconsciously so there's no chance of you accepting them without them explaining it to you.

Which they will not be doing as that would only lead to more problems. Speaking of they, Sans needs to speak to everyone. White eye lights flick back and he sighs. 

Quickly if Ink thinks he's being sneaky while lurking nearby.

With whispered words of checking on you later, the blue jacket wearing skeleton leaves you by yourself, the door clicking close behind him. Sans, if you remember correctly from back in the basement.

You frown and stare down at the head of the bed. Are you really going to go to sleep in some stranger's house? You're still not one hundred percent convinced you haven't been kidnapped for some elaborate prank. Your brother has been getting bold.

But then how do you explain the skelly man sticking his bony hand through his bony arm? You can't. Which is why you're going to lay down, close your eyes and wake up on your couch with a movie playing in the background.

Surely.

As Sans walks down the hallway, he nonchalantly does a drive by as he rounds the corner, tugging on Ink's scarf and dragging him along. "Ack!" Ink chokes as he's brought down the stairs. "C-Classic!" Sans doesn't let him go until they reach the living room.

With a gesture from Sans, Ink takes a seat on the couch with a pout, his hands squeezed in between his legs. The Monster roves his eye lights around the room; Ink is here, Dust is napping next to him and that's it. He sighs, "where's everyone?" He kicks his foot out and disturbs Dust's dangling arm.

Said skeleton snorts and wakes up violently, sitting up and looking every which way. When his multi-colored eye lights land on Sans' he grumbles and lies back down, crossing his arms. "big guy's been in the kitchen," he tells him, jabbing a thumb to said room.

Sans' bones move as if he's furrowing his eyebrows. "Ink, think you could run up and grab Error? we need a family meeting." Ink opens his mouth, smiling, before Sans cuts him off with, "without getting sidetracked. pop up, grab him, pop back down. got it?"

Ink's eyes turn into a black square and yellow circle with a look of determination. He nods and makes his way upstairs.

"Dust, where's Fell?" Sans' only response to that is a halfhearted shrug. With an eye roll, Sans decides to just get Axe for now. Walking through the doorway to the kitchen, the savory smell of a hearty dinner overtakes him. "wow, what's cookin' good lookin'?" Sans chuckles at his own words as Axe turns around.

The bigger skeleton stands in front of the stove, hunching over a large pot. "...soup." The two stand there, looking at each other as Sans waits for him to continue. He doesn't, leading to an awkward moment of silence before Sans fakes a cough into his hand.

"uh- anyway," he jabs his thumb over his shoulder, "we're havin' a meeting sooo..."

"can't," Axe says as he turns back to his pot, "busy."

Sans chuckles as a bead of sweat forms on his forehead and he looks away. "we need to have a chat about our new...roommate. this is important, yanno? surely the-" Sans steps onto his tippy-phalanxes to see the soup. It's simmering but not boiling. "-surely the soup can rest for a moment?"

Axe visibly takes in a deep breath and holds it for a second before dramatically letting it go. "fine," he grumbles.

Sans' shoulders relax and he turns to go back to the living room, knowing Axe will be right behind him once the food is safe to be left on its own. Thankfully, all of the others are already in the room and waiting.

Error is up in the corner, sitting on some of his string with a scowl on his face. Fell sits in the bay window seat while Dust and Ink retook their places on the couch. Sans decides to take a seat on the single seat recliner just as Axe shuffles in and drops to take a seat on the floor.

"ok, i'm just gonna jump right in. everyone felt something earlier, right?"

Surprisingly, it's Error who speaks first. "You mean you all felt that strange prickling sensation too?" All eye lights land on his different sized ones. He shrinks back a little before going on the defensive. "What!? Are we or are we not talking about that?"

"uh..." Sans stutters, "prickling isn't what i'd use to describe it but..." He then looks down, finger to his chin, "although a prickling sensation may make sense with your origins..."

"ahem," Dust clears his throat to interrupt Sans' ramblings on Error's SOUL. He rolls his eyes at his double's sheepish grin. "just spit it out! we're talking about the fact that the machine just pulled in our SOULmate."

Error widens his eyes in shock. That's what the feeling was for?! A SOULmate? Hell no, that can't be it. Why would he have a SOULmate?

"Ok, great, Sans has a SOULmate. So what?" Error sneers.

"Error," Ink speaks up, his eye lights plain white dots that are typically only active when he's emotionless. "She's Sans' SOULmate." He makes a sweeping motion with both arms. "We're all Sanses."

The black skeleton begins to splutter, trying to make any excuse or reason for you to not be a SOULmate to him specifically.

"Ink." Fell walks around the couch to stand in front of it on the other side of the coffee table. "ya a'right?"

All eyes land on the artist who begins to sweat rainbow liquid. "Y-yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

"yer eyes," Axe lazily gestures to his sockets.

Ink, confused, reaches a hand up and rests it right under his right socket. "What's wrong with them?"

"nothin' they're just plain dots. you stop taking your vials?" Sans queries, worried for the Monster's mental state.

"O-oh!" Ink chuckles weakly, "I can't really control them, eheh. But, ah-" He glances around and shrinks himself back into the couch cushions. "I may have...maybe accepted her as my SOULmate?"

The room goes quiet, each skeleton processing what was just said.

"The FUCK does that mean!?"

Sans closes his sockets in thought. When a SOULmate is accepted, the first person accepts a piece of the other's SOUL, starting the link between SOULs. The second person then has to accept a piece of the first's in return, binding and finalizing the link.

So if you were Sans' SOULmate and there are currently six Sanses in one universe, all Sanses would be eligible to accept a piece from you, including a Sans that didn't have one to begin with.

"Ink...you accepted a piece of her SOUL?" Fell finally asks what everyone else is wondering.

"I-! I think so? I'm feeling so many things at once without having taken a vial in quite some time so..." The artist splutters and waves his hands back and forth. "B-but I think it's just a small piece! I don't exactly have a full SOUL or anything."

"if we all...accepted her as our SOULmates..." Axe huffs, "she's down a lot of...SOUL matter...until she accepts us...in return..."

Fell's eye sockets are the first to widen in horror. "oh shit he's right." He looks to Sans whose eyes have also widened as his eye dots shrunk into pinpricks.

Dust chuckles darkly. "psh, yeah good luck gettin' her to accept you. she hates us." Dust may have also (stupidly) instinctively accepted you as soon as you dropped in, too, but he can ignore it as if you weren't here.

'SURE, KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT! AS IF YOU'RE NOT ITCHING TO HAVE THE CLOSENESS AND GENTLE TOUCH OF ANOTHER!'

Dust sneers at his phantom brother over Fell's shoulder, earning a strange look from the sharp-toothed Monster in return. Ink whirls around to look Dust in the eyes. "W-what!?" He can't- he won't believe that unless you tell him yourself.

"no-no!" Sans holds a hand out to Axe, making sure he stays seated as he tries to calm Ink down all the while Error makes weird noises in the corner. "she doesn't hate us as Monsters, she's terrified of monsters. as in the fictional kind."

"like vampires and werewolves," Fell adds helpfully.

Ink breathes a sigh of relief and tilts his head to lie on the back of the couch. Axe nods, seemingly more to himself than anyone else and pushes himself up off the floor and heads back into the kitchen. Dust tilts his head down until his grey hood shadows his face.

So you don't actually hate them?

'AS IF YOU CAN BE ANYTHING BUT HATE-ABLE!'

"tch," Dust sits up but keeps his face in the shadows, "so then what? who gets her?" He gestures to this universe's Sans. "you?"

Fell cringes as Sans winces, "nobody gets her...she's...she's someone to be protected and cherished." He first looks to Dust, making sure his next words come out loud enough for Axe to hear from the kitchen, before looking to Error, "it'd be wrong to withhold your SOULmate from you guys so... she's kind of all of ours?"

Ink nods excitably, eyes turning into yellow stars. Axe walks back out from a steaming bowl of soup. He grunts in what everyone assumes to be in agreement to Sans.

"How do I return the piece I already accepted?" Error suddenly asks.

"you don't want her?" Fell asks, voice rising in astonishment at the end.

"I-I!" Error's cheeks flare up bright yellow as he splutters, "I don't want a SOULmate ok? Why would I care about any of that anyway...?" He crosses his arms and avoids eye contact with the others. "Besides, I clearly didn't realize I did what I did."

"pal...you can't exactly return it..." Sans grimaces, "best you could do is sever the bond before it's finalized. but that would hurt you and especially her."

Error sweat drops and goes silent. Without another word, he rips open a portal for the short distance to his room, disappearing from the conversation entirely.

"uhh," Fell glances to the others in worry, "should we be worried?"

Ink snorts, "Snrk! Nah. He won't do anything like that. He's a big softy." Sans isn't so sure about that statement but he does believe Error wouldn't just sever the bond so rashly.

A tap on his shoulder gets his attention. Sans has to crane his neck back a bit to reach Axe's eye. The red orb is bloated in its socket. "sup'?"

"made her...food," he lifts the food in question; the steaming bowl of soup.

"oh, yeah, i'm sure she's starving. how soup-er of you, Axe." No one laughs at Sans' pun and he deflates, admitting to himself that it wasn't his best.

"Oh!" Ink stands up and shouts, "Can I take it to her! Can I? Can I?"

"she's a bit...skittish right now, Ink."

"...i made it..." Axe grumbles. Fell shares a look with the original. No way in hell are they letting Axe bring that up to you. No matter his good intentions, he'd terrify you.

Sans is about to speak in attempt to let the big guy down easy when a resounding yell bounces off the walls.

"FUCK!"

~~

You woke up in the same bed you fell asleep in. Nononononono! You were supposed to wake up on your lumpy couch in your own home! Waking up here...on a stranger's bed? It just proves you weren't dreaming.

You really did fall through a crack of space and time, landing in a completely different universe where monsters like walking talking skeletons exist. You take a deep breath, hold it, then release it. You do that two more times before holding in the final one.

"FUCK!" you explode, voice laced with utter despair. You're stuck here. What are you going to do? You know no one here! Do your parents exist in this AU? Would a version of you already be here? If you aren't how will you get a job without an identity?

You're startled out of your thoughts when the bedroom door is flung open. The blue jacket wearing skeleton from earlier stands in the doorway with his eye sockets wide and eye dots wildly looking around.

"wh-what's wrong!?"

You can only mutter, "Fuck..." again at the sight of him. You lean down and put your head in your hands. "This is really happening..." you laugh in disbelief. You look up and point to the nervous skelly. "You're a real walking talking skeleton."

His eyes flicker left to right before settling on you. He nods slowly and you groan. Unsure on what his next move should be, Sans just shuffles his slipper-ed foot around on the wooden floor.

"How many are there?" you ask with an arm over your eyes.

"Monsters? i dunno, a lot?"

"No!" You cry and sit up, "How many are here? Living in this house?"

"o-oh," Sans chuckles, a faint flow under his eyes catching your attention but it leaves as quickly as it arrived. "there's seven of us."

A sarcastic laugh filled with disbelief escapes you. "Greeaaat! One for each day of the week..."

The skeleton Monster heaves a sigh and approaches your bed but makes sure not to be too close to you. "i understand this is a lot..." Sans frown deepens as he looks at you. "but i promise you're safe here. and i don't make promises lightly. it's my fault you're here so...anything you need, i'll do it."

You peak out from under your arm, eyes squinted. You find his glowing eye dots unmoving. "Can you...work on the machine?"

You watch him flinch, confused as to why he's make such a reaction. "it...it sorta broke down after you arrived. your sudden pull through was extremely taxing on it and it's practically in parts. i'd be starting from square one."

Your lip quivers at the info. You wonder how long it took him to build it in the first place but opt out of asking more about it, noticing the extremely uncomfortable face he's making. "O-ok..." you say, throwing your legs over the bed and standing up. "So what now?" You emphasize the question with a shrug of your shoulders.

The grin makes a reappearance upon the skeleton's face. You absently think it looks much better than the previous frown he sported. "well...the other's are really excited to meet you."

You cringe. Do you really want to meet other Monsters at this time? You're barely holding it together with the harmless looking one. Maybe you can just get it over with? They are shorter than you, just by a little, but it'd definitely make you feel better about meeting them.

"Maybe I can get something to eat?" As if hearing you, your stomach grumbles loudly, causing a flush to erupt over your cheeks. You groan as Sans laughs.

"sure, kid." He waves you over to follow him. "one of us already made some soup, hope that's ok with you?"

Your feet begin to shuffle towards him, a small smile gracing your lips. "I love soup."

"heheh, eggcellent."

"Uh-!" You stop in the middle of your sentence and glare at the skeleton. He turns back, grinning widely with a socket closed. "That was an egg pun, wasn't it?"

"yeah..." he somehow smiles even wider, "but if you didn't get it, don't eggpect me to eggsplain it for ya'."

You splutter and bend over, holding onto your knees as giggles spill forth. "Tha-that! Hehe- That was two in the same sentence! That was bad!"

Sans continues walking, facing forward again. You figured he was done but hear him add, "you certainly cracked up from it, though."

You chortle and catch up to him, lightly smacking his shoulder with yours. That makes his eye lights brighten and go fuzzy around the edges. Quickly, you descend the stairs and pass by a living room until you reach an archway leading to what is clearly a kitchen.

Before you can enter, though, a skeleton hand shoots out and blocks you. Sans apologizes when you reactively flinched. "i'm just gonna go in and see who's there." You nod and watch him disappear. He comes back around in under a minute and tells you, "everyone but Error is in there..."

"Uhhh...." You avoid eye contact, not wanting to be rude but also really not wanting to go in there if there's that many at once. Sans notices your hesitation and bails you out.

"it's okay, i'll go grab you a bowl." You nod in thanks as he leaves you again. Some banging goes on and you have to refrain in peeking around the corner at it. Suddenly, Sans' voice could be heard. "wait, Axe, buddy you can't."

You only hear a rumble in response and then a snicker from someone else. Whoever this 'Axe' is appears to not listen because Sans makes one last feeble attempt at stopping him just as you see a very large figure walk through the archway.

Your eyes widen and you take a step back, looking up at the giant skeleton. "Oh shit..." you whisper, taking a couple more steps back. The skeleton wears almost identical articles of clothing to Sans. But glaringly obvious is the giant hole in his head, making his height pale in comparison in the intimidation department.

The Monster turns to face you and you blanch. He has a scowl on his face and his single eye light is small within its socket. But as soon as said eye spots you his face relaxes and eye light dilates, almost filling the socket.

"heya...li'l bit," his voice is deep. Even deeper than Sans and you thought his was the lowest baritone you've ever heard. The hulking skeleton takes a single step towards you, extending the hand holding the bowl out to you. "made you somethin'."

"Ah...ha..." you chuckle nervously, noticing Sans at the corner of the archway, watching with a grimace on his face. Your eyes dart from him to who you could only assume is Axe. You're unable to even muster a polite smile to the Monster offering you food. You can't help but stare at his head wound in horror and curiosity.

"Axe..." Sans mumbles, trying to get the big guy's attention. Said skeleton ignores the smaller one with a sneer, eye darting to his side to look at him. At the moment his eye leaves you, you glance around for an exit or somewhere to go.

To your left is a door and to your right is the living room. Mind made up, you clutch the door knob and fling the door open, immediately taking a step through and almost tripping on a stair. You miss the look of surprise on both of the skeleton's faces as you shut the door behind you, quickly pressing down on the button lock.

A noise of disappointment can be heard through the thin wood as well as Sans sighing. You groan and slide your back down the door until you sit on the top stair. "'m sorry..." You hear the big one rumble quietly.

You throw your head back and make a bang onto the door, moaning in guilt. You made the big one sad with your stupid fear. He was just trying to offer you food! But then you think back on the hole in his head and one giant red eye light along with his piecing grin. An involuntary shiver rolls through you.

He is terrifying. You're not afraid to admit that. But you don't think it's his fault for that, either. You want to stand up and walk out, confront the Monster and apologize but you just can't get your body to move. You're frozen in fear, something you go through a lot.

A light rap on the wood startles you. "you okay, kid?" Sans' voice calms you down a bit and you breathe in deeply.

"Yeah," you answer as you breathe out. "I-I think so."

"listen...Axe is a little rough around the edges...but he's a big softy at heart." You want to believe Sans, you really do as he hasn't led you astray yet, but you just can't get Axe's face out of your head. Frustratingly, your mind betrays you and warps his visage into something nasty and grotesque.

You whine into your hands. Sans turns and forlornly shakes his head at his larger double. It seems like you're not coming out for a while. Axe frowns and looks down at the bowl then at the door. Silently, he places it down in front of the door and then shuffles away with Sans.

You hear both sets of feet leave after a small clink of ceramic is made against the floor just beyond the door.

You wait a few minutes in silence before cracking it open and peering out. The bowl of soup is still steaming. You snatch it up and blow on the contents before shoveling it into your mouth. You moan at the savory taste and, realizing how hungry you really are, scarf it down.

An embarrassingly loud burp escapes your throat before you can cover it and you can only pray no one was around to hear it. Thankfully, you haven't heard much except the low drones of the television in the next rooms over.

Gingerly, you push open the door slowly as to not make noise and attract attention. With the coast being clear, you step out, bowl in hand and make your way to the kitchen. You pass by the living room, keeping your head down.

Once you enter the kitchen, the hairs on your arms and back of your neck suddenly stick up. The air feels staticky and fuzzy. Finally, you notice the figure sitting at the table and freeze in place. The figure turns his head and you squeak in surprise. The skeleton is black with blue tear-like lines running down his cheeks from his sockets. Speaking of sockets, his are not endless voids of darkness, but are instead red and his pupils are different sizes with one being a small yellow pinprick and the other being a larger yellow with a blue pupil.

Your eyes have trouble focusing on his with the multiple pop ups of glitchy text spelling 'ERROR' around him.

Neither of you make a move, probably waiting for the other to do it first. Slowly, Error waves a hand across the air. A noise not unlike a staticky TV channel tickles your ears as a small tear opens up. Error doesn't take his eyes off you as he steps through. The portal closes up and you're now in the kitchen by yourself.

You mouth a silent 'WTF' to yourself and put your bowl in the sink. Brushing off the surprisingly unconfrontational encounter, you exit the kitchen and, having to pass the living room to get to the stairs, enter said room.

It's dark but the TV shines a bright cone of light at the couch in front of it. A skeleton lounges on it, lazily watching until his eyes flicker to you at your entrance. It's the third skeleton that left first when you arrived in the basement. His hood is still up and because of that, you can't make out his face except for the glow of his eyes.

"Uh..." you awkwardly lift a hand in a weak greeting, "...hey." The Monster just snorts and returns his attention to the television. Your gaze finds the stairs and you're about to move over to climb them but stop. This skeleton looks almost identical to Sans...sans the eye light colors. Maybe he's chill like him, too?

If you have to live with these guys, maybe you can try to be civil? Your eyes rove over the lounging skeleton. You frown. He's not as scary as Axe...but he's definitely more intimidating than Sans. I mean, who wears a hood indoors?

"you gonna just stand there or come watch idiots on game shows?" You jump at his voice. It's much like Sans but a little more higher pitched. Silently, you take a seat on the far end of the couch.

He doesn't seem to take offense by it so you curl up your legs to your side and begin watching what he has on; Family Feud. Well, at least this universe has something familiar to you. A little while goes by and Dust has taken it upon himself to periodically glance over to you and see what kind of faces you make.

When he makes joke about the answers, your lips twitch as if you're trying to hide the fact you're smiling. When you get one right, you silently cheer, pumping your fist into your chest. You never uncurl yourself or become more lax and comfortable in his presence though.

'SHE'S NOT EVEN THAT PRETTY. IT'S JUST LIKE YOU TO HAVE SUCH A BORING SOULMATE.'

Dust's brother suddenly comes right out of the gate with an unsolicited comment, earning a low growl from him and a roll of his eye lights. You, however, jump. Hard. Your arms reach over the top of the couch to hold on in your fright. Eyes wide, you look to Dust.

"What the fuck was that?" You look every which way for the loud yet wispy voice. "Do you guys have ghosts, too!?" you whisper yell, voice shaky.

Dust just stares at you with the widest eyes you've seen on any of the skeletons, now sitting up straight on the couch. His eye dots flick over to the apparition of his dead brother over your shoulder before back to you. This happens for a good long 30 seconds before he finally speaks.

"...you heard that?"

"You mean that loud fucking voice that somehow sounded like a far away whisper at the same time? Yeah." You emphasize with a slow head nod.

'HUH. MAYBE SHE WON'T BE BORING?'

The voice startles you again, sounding closer now. Dust begins to sweat and avoids eye contact. "i gotta go," is all he says before literally disappearing in front of you. You jump again, this time off of the couch.

"Okay, what the FUCK is happening anymore?!" you cry in utter confusion.

"you alright, kid?" One more time, you jump in your spot and whirl around to see Sans at the bottom of the stairs.

"Okay, if one of you jump scare me one more time I'm going to lose it." You breathe out and run a hand up your forehead and over your head. Sans has the gall to look pleased, though you notice a bit of sheepishness mixed in. He shuffles up to you, taking a seat and patting the spot next to it.

You reluctantly join him with a sigh, leaning back. "Dust botherin' ya'?"

"Nah," you admit. "Just standoffish I guess." Sans chuckles lowly.

"yeah, that sounds like 'im."

"Met whoever Error is, too, by the way," you mention with a shrug, halfheartedly focusing on the game show.

Sans hums, a bit surprised you managed to run into the elusive skeleton so quick. "how'd that go?"

"We stared at each other in the kitchen before he ripped open a tear in fuckin' reality and dipped," you say with a deadpan. Sans splutters in laughter from your tone and dry delivery. You smile a bit, too, his laughter contagious. "Dust also disappeared but at least he didn't rip a hole in the middle of the kitchen."

Sans groans, laughter petering out. "ah, man, they weren't supposed to do that in front of ya' so early." You look over to him and raise an eyebrow in question even though he's also watching the TV. "we call 'em shortcuts. little jumps between the void to get to one place from another."

"Ah," you hum, "sounds perfectly reasonable for a gaggle of skeletons."

"hmm, wouldn't we be more like a graveyard of skeletons?"

Your eyes widen and you sit up, unable to keep the loud, "HA!" from bursting out of you. Before you can laugh any more a yawn cuts in, making your giggles sound funny and earning a few chuckles from your couch mate.

"so looks like you just haven't met Ink yet..." Sans says, more to himself than you. You hum. All of these Monster's names are weird. Axe, Dust, Ink, Error, Fell? "oh, and don't forget Paps."

"Paps?"

Sans turns to you with a wide grin, voice full of pride, "Papyrus, my little bro. you'll love him, he's the coolest. sweetest skeleton around." You smile, the genuine admiration he has for his brother adorable.

Wait a second... "Papyrus? And Sans? Like the fonts?"

"actually, they're typefaces. but yeah."

"That's," you yawn again, "hilarious..." It's getting harder and harder to keep your eyes open. The more you blink the longer they stay closed each time and before long, you pass out with the sounds of Family Feud in the background.

Sans stays sitting, watching you with gentle eye lights. He should probably get you to bed so he can sleep, too. He's exhausted. Today has been a whirlwind of emotions. But they're good ones he thinks...well, mostly good ones.

He has you here. You're afraid and want to go home but you're still here. And based on how the machine really did break down, you'll be here for the foreseeable future and for now, that's okay with Sans.

The other's are antsy for you and Sans just hopes you get used to them sooner than later. Your SOUL knows they're your mates but you don't... but being around them more will sooth you without you even realizing it.

You breathe in deeply, breaking Sans from his train of thought. Right. He should get you to bed. The skeleton huffs as he sits up and steps off the couch. Standing in front of you, he debates on how to do this. Does he just port you to your bed? Lift you using his blue magic? Or carry you up himself?

Stars, he'd love to carry you but on the off chance you wake up, you might freak out. And he would prefer to not scare you away from him. So, with a gentle touch, Sans takes you and himself to your room in the blink of an eye.

Thankfully, you don't awake as you land on your bed. He then hums, looking you over, not sure if it'd be worth it to wake you up to get under the covers. He notes the clothes you're wearing; they're dusty and grimy from the basement floor.

Yeah, they'll need to go shopping big time for you.

Chapter Text

"Goooooood morning!" A jovial voice awakens you from your sleep. You groan and shift in bed before your eyes shoot open and wonder how the hell did you get here? You must have walked yourself up half asleep last night or something.

You blearily see a figure standing in the doorway with its legs spread apart and finger pointing towards you. "I need a lock on my door..." you mumble to yourself. Somehow, the figure took your words as an invitation and enters fully as you sit up and rub your eyes. "Oh wait, all of you fuckers can teleport at will," you remember as your eyes rove over the new face. "My privacy is cooked."

It's another skeleton (what else?). He's a bit taller than Sans, Dust, and Fell but not nearly as big as Axe. There's a splatter of black on his cheek next to his wide grin (again, what else would his face hold other than a grin? It seems to be the norm for these guys) but what catches your attention is his eye lights.

Unlike the others who have simple dots, this skeleton has shapes. One is currently a purple flower while the other is a green exclamation point. You're a little taken by them, so much so that the silence starts getting to Ink who begins to shuffle in place.

He clears his throat, rubbing the back of his neck as you blink back from your trance. "Eh-heh, are my eyes making you uncomfortable?" he asks sheepishly.

"Wh-what?" You almost jump back in surprise. "No! No they're so cool!" you reassure him. "They're not like the others so they caught me off guard."

Ink brightens and his eye lights turn into different colored stars. "Really!?" 

You laugh and nod before your eyes scrunch in confusion. "So uh...what are you doing here, anyway?"

Ink becomes bashful and avoids eye contact. "W-well! I haven't met'cha face to face yet so I wanted to say hello before anyone else could get to you! I'm Ink!" You hum, figuring that's as good a reason as any you supposed. You then lean back on the bed a bit to reach over to the nightstand, instinctively reaching for your cell phone.

Only to find it's not there and this isn't really your room.

"Ah...shit..." you sigh sadly. Ink watches in worry before remembering what he came in here for (not counting finally meeting you). 

"Oh! Hey! By the way, I'm taking you shopping! Well...with Classic of course..." he looks off to the side with a pout. 

Shopping? While, yes, you need to go shopping since you literally had nothing on you except for your groceries, wallet (speaking of, where is that?) and the clothes on your back, you also dread the thought of doing anything of the sorts that'll cement everything that has happened as permanent or reality.

You yawn and tell Ink, "I don't know who Classic is, but if they're another Monster...I dunno, can't you guys go without me?" You really, really don't want to venture out into this new world.

Ink blinks a couple times, mouth forming into a straight line, before laughing. "Of course you've gotta come, Dewdrop! We're shopping for you after all! We need your sizes, preferences, human things only you would know to get..." He then frowns and looks down, putting his hand to his chin. "What else?"

You just stare at him as he ponders, mouthing a quiet, "...Dewdrop?" to yourself.

"Ah!" His eyes change into a red dot and blue exclamation mark. "And I'm here to help your creative side shine! Whatever you get for your new room, I can change to your liking!" He smiles so proudly, jabbing a thumb into his chest.

"You uh..." you chuckle awkwardly, "...you an interior decorator or something?"

The skeleton blinks again as if all thoughts escaped him before once again smiling and admitting, "I have no idea what that is!"

"Ugh..." you groan and flop back onto your bed. This skeleton is cute but damn if he isn't scatterbrained. This'll be a long day.

~~

Turns out, Classic is just Sans. You learned after asking said skeleton about the mystery monster before earning a chuckle and explanation that it's his nickname for him from Ink. The colorful skeleton begins diving into a tangent on alternate universes and timelines, explaining that they're all a variant of Sans and 'Classic' is just that.

The Classic Sans. A Sans from an original timeline/universe. You got lost somewhere in between his explanation on timelines as the three of you ate breakfast. If you're following right, Axe and Dust are from alternate timelines while Fell is from an alternate universe.

And then Ink says something about him and Error being 'outcodes' and you completely lost all track of everything. Sans just watches you try to keep up while chuckling under his breath. Thankfully, someone comes to save you from your brain exploding.

"GOOD MORNING!" You're immediately thrown off by the very tall skeleton bursting into the kitchen. Sans' smile somehow gets wider as he closes one eye and waves lazily to the newcomer.

"'sup paps?" Your eyes bulge at Sans. You're saying this is Sans' younger brother?! He's huge! Sans then throws a wink your way as if knowing exactly what you're thinking. "you remember me telling you about our new roomie, right?"

Papyrus gets a twinkle in his eye...actually, you lean in and notice an actual twinkle in his right eye. He gasps and fidgets in his spot. "I DO REMEMBER! HELLO NEW HUMAN ROOMIE." He puts a hand to his chest. "I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

You can already see how sweet this Monster is, so you try to hide your feelings of trepidation for the big guy. "H-hi," you say, lifting your hand.

"Do you have school today, Papyrus?" Ink asks with a mouthful of cereal. You tilt your head and await his response.

"I DO, INK! I'M JUST HERE TO GRAB SOMETHING ON THE WAY." Papyrus does just that, bending down to grab something from the fridge. He comes out with a large water bottle and an orange.

"What-uh," all eyes land on you, making you lose your composure for a second before continuing your inquiry, "What are you in school...for?"

"I AM TRAINING TO BECOME A NURSE!" Papyrus poses with an enthusiastic grin.

"yup, bro's gonna be the best Monster nurse there is," Sans chimes in. "i've got a good gut-feeling about it."

"SANS!" His voice is one of annoyance but you can see how hard Papyrus keeps his mouth from grinning. Sans just smiles; the kind that reaches his eye sockets. A beep from a watch on his wrist goes off and he gasps. "I MUST GET GOING! GOODBYE HUMAN AND BROTHER AND COLORFUL VERSION OF MY BROTHER!"

As soon as he leaves, you eyes wander over to the clock on the stove. All of that happened in less than three minutes. "Is he uh...always that loud?" You hope you don't sound rude for asking that.

Sans shrugs as if he's gotten that question a million times (he has). "whaddya' mean? that's his inside voice."

His voice was so deadpanned you're not sure if he's joking or not. But he makes no move to clarify and you're too tired to push it so you get up and take care of your bowl. You turn around from the sink slowly and twiddle your thumbs.

"So...do I really have to go? I don't want to uh...you know..." you spin your hand around, trying to think of the right word.

Sans gives you a look of pity and gets up to take care of his own breakfast bowl. He pats your arm once before remembering your aversion to being touched and sighs, shoving his curious hands into his coat pockets.

"we'll be right there with you, kid. but you do need the essentials." His eye lights grimace as he looks down your form. You look so...haggard. "there's a mall not too far from here, i'm sure you'll like it." Girls like malls, right? Sans hopes he's right.

Ink doesn't let you get any other words in edge wise before he's gripping your wrist and pulling you outside. He only lets you go once you're in front of an SUV. Sans is already in the driver's seat (because of course he is) and Ink eagerly piles into the back.

You groan and step inside. Immediately after buckling up, you pull down the visor and open the built in mirror. With three of your fingers, you run them down your face with a grimace. You've got dark circles under your eyes and your hair's a mess. You scrunch your nose and try running your hand through your hair, getting stopped periodically and having to untangle knots.

"I look and feel gross..." you mutter. Sans' eye lights flicker to you for a second before getting back to the road.

"you look fine."

You give him a look, "I look hungover." That earns a snort from him.

"we'll get you some clothes you like to change in while there...a hairbrush, too." You huff and cross your arms, leaning back into the seat and looking out your window.

"I have to go in there looking like this first, though..." you grumble. 

"I think you look great!" Ink suddenly says, poking his head through the middle. You jump and glare at his smiling face. You're under his scrutiny, making you feel self conscious and...are those upside down hearts in his eyes??

Sans elbows the other skeleton, making him whine and pout but return to the backseat.

It doesn't take too much longer until the three of you are pulling up to a decent sized mall. You scan the area and see some humans milling about but no Monsters. Did they take you to a mall their kind doesn't frequent? If so, that's considerate of them and you'd be happy for it.

You step out of the car once Sans parks and fix your crumpled shirt while breathing in the crisp, fresh air. You steel yourself for this trip, taking a deep breath before releasing it and eyeing the boys. "Let's get this over with."

Both smile and nod. Sans starts walking towards the entrance while Ink gestures his head for you to follow, making sure he slows his eager pace to stay side by side with you. You take a gander at all the strange looking cars and wonder who the owners could be. Some were super tall, like a party bus, while others were weirdly shaped.

They just scream Monster cars, making you swallow the lump of anxiety that formed in your throat. Don't think about it, just don't think about it. Sans never specifically told you what kind of Monsters there are but maybe the majority are small? Your wishful thinking at this point is slowing you down and Ink has to grab your hand to pull you along.

Spooked, you quickly retrieve your hand, the texture and feeling of his bones disturbing you. Ink looks down at his hand before blinking at you. Oh man, one of his eye lights is a raindrop. Before you can apologize, he does, "S-sorry! I forgot you're not used to us."

You notice Sans watching the interaction with a look you cannot decipher. "It's...it's okay," you tell them, "I was lagging behind but I'm okay."

The two boys nod and continue forward, both now falling into step beside you but not too close.

You're not sure what day it is but it might as well be the weekend with how many people are here. As soon as you step inside the mall, crowds of people are littered everywhere and that's just from what you can see.

You almost want to grab hold of Ink's billowing scarf but so far the only thing you've seen that isn't human was a little flying creature? It had wings, legs, arms and little antennae atop its head. Okay...you assume that's a Monster, obviously, but that's not so bad. It's just a little moth?

You eye it the entire time as you pass by the group it's with, only cringing to yourself afterwards at how weird you're being and how uncomfortable you probably made it.

"howzabout we start in here?" Sans' voice gains your attention and you turn to look at what he's gesturing at. It's a relatively decent clothing store, not expensive but not trashy. "i'm sure you'll find some jean-uinely good items here." He emphasizes his pun with a wink, earning a snort from you.

"Do you have puns for every scenario?" you ask, biting your lip to prevent any more chortles to escape.

Sans grin grows and nonchalantly shrugs while responding with, "yeah, i'm woven into this lifestyle."

You stare at him with wide eyes. "Stop." He laughs as you turn and head inside the store. Ink starts 'oohing' and 'ahhing' at all the different clothes, going off about the designs, styles and textures. "So what am I allowed to get?" You turn to look at Sans but find him heading back towards the entrance. "Sans?"

His shuffling stops and he swivels to look at you. "you can grab whatever you like. we'll be going to more stores, though, so keep that in mind." You gesture at the opening.

"Where are you going?" You hope you don't sound too nervous. There aren't any Monsters nearby currently after all.

"gonna go grab some human hygiene items from a different store. you want to brush your hair, right?" You bring a hand up to the mess you call hair, wincing at the tangles you can feel instantly. 

"Y-yeah." He nods.

"Ink'll stay with you. feel free to cruise around and i'll find you guys later." With one last wink, Sans turns the corner and he's gone. With him being gone from your sights, you suddenly feel the lack of Ink's presence.

You whirl around, eyes scanning the racks and walls of clothes for the colorful skeleton. "Ink?" you call out. Immediately, a white skull pops up from over a rack. You giggle at him, his eye lights blinking between circles, squares and triangles every time he blinks.

"Dewdrop!" he exclaims, coming around to you and holding up a few different shirts in his hands. "Try these!" You take a gander at the shirts and smile, grabbing two of the three.

"I'll try these ones!" You hold them up and he smiles, nodding and following you over to the back where a couple changing rooms are. 

"Okay! While you do that, I'll go find some more clothes!" you hear Ink say before his energetic footsteps fade away from you.

Having a moment to yourself, you take a deep breath while taking your shirt off. You stare down at it in your hands. These articles of clothing you're currently wearing are some of the last things you have from your universe. You...almost don't want to change at all and instead desperately cling onto the last remnants you have.

But you know that's gross and unhygienic and Sans is being nice enough to buy you new things so you shouldn't spit on his kindness.

'It's his fault you're in this mess though.'

You frown at the unwelcome thought. You don't know all of the specifics, you have no right to point blame at anyone. Sans and...Fell you think it was looked just as surprised at your arrival as you were.

You yawn and wonder how you're still tired after taking a nap yesterday and sleeping through the night. Dropping your shirt onto the small corner seat, you begin putting on the new one. It's a simple pastel green cotton tee with art on the front. The front depicts faded mushrooms and greenery. It's cute and soft.

You nod to yourself in the mirror, liking it. The other shirt you brought is the exact same except the color is purple and the art is of the sky with clouds. You take it off and put your old shirt back on before peeking out the door.

"Ink?" The skeleton hasn't come back in the time you've spent in here and you've become curious as to where he is. No answer. You bundle up the hangers with the shirts and step out. There's the lady at the register and two more ladies browsing around but no skeleton.

Ah shit you hope he didn't teleport somewhere on you. You wander around the store, trying not to look lost, when you round a corner and see him. "Hm?" He notices you with a blank stare, saying your name in question. "Oh! There you are! I was lookin' for ya!" He steps up to you, handing you some blue jeans and dropping them into your arms. "Found some pants!"

You want to reach up and scratch your head in confusion but with your arms being so full, you opt for making a weird noise in the back of your throat. Ink was looking for you? In the corner of the store? "Uhh..." you don't know how to respond while he just smiles up at you like nothing happened. "I was in the changing room. Waiting for you."

One blink; white circle, blue triangle. Two blinks; red question mark, blue square. Then Ink tilts his head. "What?" His eyes lower to your arms, seeing the shirts. "Oh! You tried those on? Yay! What did you think?"

You feel like you're in the twilight zone. "Yeeesss? I like them a lot," you say slowly. You then check the pants he gave you. They're all different sizes with only one of them being yours. "Why don't we check out and look at another store?" You put each wrong sized pant away and then head to the register.

Ink is confused for a moment, wondering why you'd put the pants he gave you away but catches up as you're placing your items on the counter. The lady is sweet, making small talk that you reply to with short sentences before she gives you your total.

You look to Ink who you find to be staring at you with a bright smile on his face. You flush under his gaze, clearing your throat and asking, "Um..Ink, do you have money?"

"Oh! Yeah!" The skeleton Monster happily slaps a plastic card down onto the counter. You take it and swipe it, the machine beeping soon after to let you know you've completed the transaction. The cashier bags your clothes and hands it to you with a smile.

The two of you leave the store, standing right outside the entrance as you look around. Ink bounces in place, asking, "Where to next?" excitedly.

"Uhh," you hum, reading the nearby store names in your head. Oh geez there's a Victoria Secret and you'd really like to get new undergarments but like hell you'll be going in there with Ink. "How about that one." You point to an H and M. When the both of you approach it, Ink takes a look inside and scrunches his face.

"Everything in there looks boring! Let's go there!" You follow his pointed phalanx to a Spencer's. "Looks colorful and fun! I'll bet it has cool clothing!" Does this skeleton get out? Should you tell him it's not exclusively a clothing store? You wish Sans was here. Wait, how old is Ink anyway?!

"Hold up!" you call after him as enters the store. Thankfully, he doesn't go far. He stands in front of the wall with the displayed t-shirts, hands on his hips and mouth twisted in thought. You're just going to go for it and ask, "Ink, how old are you?"

"Huh?" His eye lights turn into a yellow diamond and green dot. He smiles. "Oh, I have no idea! I don't age like everyone else."

He goes right back to checking out the shirts as if he didn't just tell you he didn't age. At least that means he's an adult...right?

"Here!" You let out a huff and look down at the shirt he gave you. It's a black tee with rainbow tie-dye, psychedelic mushrooms. "I love all the colors mixed together," he says, rubbing a finger over the art.

You notice he gave you an extra small so you put your bag down and fold it back up, placing it back on the shelf. He looks stricken for a split second before realizing you're just grabbing a different size.

"I like it," you smile and tell him honestly. You really don't mind what you get and if picking it out makes him happy, then you're happy to let him do so. Ink cheers and moves further in. Ah shit. You catch up to him and quickly get his attention. "Hey! So, I'm thinking we go somewhere with uh...pajamas?" 

"You don't want to look around here more? This place is cool!" Ink is just so excited! It's been a while since he's been out and with all of these new and exciting feelings with his new SOUL piece, he wants to check everything out!

You glance at a figure in the corner of your eye. It's some type of rope, spiraled like a coil and their head is on fire. "Y-yeah, definitely," you don't take your eyes off the Monster, pulling on Ink's arm. "Please?"

Ink notes the anxious tremor in your voice and frowns. He tilts his head to peer past you, wondering what you're looking at and finding a Pyrope. Oh, you might be afraid of fire! Of course you guys can leave!

"Why don't you head out and I'll buy your shirt!" he offers, gesturing to the cool mushroom shirt he picked out for you. You look down at it, forgetting you even had it.

"Yeah...okay, I'll be right outside..." You hand him the shirt and fast walk out of there. You sidle against the wall. That Monster was on fire! So far you've seen a tiny moth Monster and a big fire Monster! That's such a jump! What other kinds can there possibly be?

You're unable to think any longer about it when Ink comes out. He places your newly purchased shirt into your bag. You run a hand through your hair. Okay, you have some clothes to start with. Maybe you can buy the rest online?

Suddenly, in the distance, your eyes land on a big, furry grey wolf as they walk."Ohhhh shit what the shit?" Your voice quivers and you quickly look away. "S-Sans said Werewolves don't exist!" you mutter to yourself.

Ink just looks at you weirdly and then jumps when you grip his shoulders. "Ink! Can we please leave? Please? Call Sans or something?" 

You're beginning to sweat he notices with a grimace. He would love to shortcut you away from whatever is making you nervous but his shortcuts work different from everyone else. First and foremost, he'd need his Broomie which he left at home. Second, he can only take other magic users through his puddles since organic beings like humans wouldn't be able to go through.

Thinking, he pulls his cell phone out from his pocket and clicks on 'Classic' in his contacts. You relax a smidgen when you hear the deep voice on the other end. In a blink of an eye, Sans is standing next to Ink, eye sockets creased in worry.

"what's up? you ok?" Sans watches as your eyes glance around nervously. You're clearly uncomfortable but what happened? 

"Can we um...can we please leave? I-I got a couple things." You lift your bag for emphasis. "I-I could get the rest online or something?" Sans sighs.

"of course, kid." He extends a hand out and surprisingly, you take it. Wait, no, you gripped the cuff of his jacket sleeve. Progress is progress he supposed. While the three of you head back towards the entrance close to where you parked, Sans keeps an eye light out for whatever may have spooked you.

But he doesn't see much. A Whimsun there and a couple Moldsmals here. Taking a peek over to you, he sees you repeatedly glancing back. Sans is glad he at least got the essentials for you. Hair brush, toothbrush, toothpaste and toiletries. He hoped this mall trip would get you somewhat acclimated with the idea of Monsters but by the looks of it, it only made you paranoid.

Once you guys reach the car and get inside, only then is when your shoulders drop and you relax. Ink is strangely quiet so Sans speaks up. "so...everything ok?" He flinches back when you turn and glare at him.

"Y-you said Werewolves don't exist." Sans blinks in confusion, turning to look at Ink for some answers but only getting a shrug in response.

"they don't. humans don't turn into wolves here."

Your eyes scrunch and you look down. "So...so there are just normal wolf...Monsters? The wolf I saw was just a Monster? Not...not a Werewolf?"

Sans relaxes and smiles. "yea, princess, you only saw a good ol' regular wolf Monster. no one shapeshifts under a full moon, i promise."

You take a deep breath, feeling stupid now. "Sorry...They were just...really big and...and walked on two legs my brain just instantly screamed..." you trailed off, hoping they got the gist of what you're saying.

"hey, it's alright. you're in a new world with new people. it's scary, we get it." You nod but don't look at either skeleton. You hear a sigh before the car starts up.

The ride home is quiet.

~~

You bring your new clothes inside and find two skeletons on the couch. You weren't expecting to see them but you're unsure why you would think that considering this is their home. Their heads swivel at the noise of the door closing behind when Sans and Ink make it in.

One large red eye and two red dots meet yours. Axe and Fell it appears. You try to smile at them, you really do, but it just ends up crooked. Sans stands beside you, leaning forward to make eye light contact with Ink. "why don't you and Ink bring your stuff up? the things i bought earlier are up there, too. feel free to organize and put stuff where they need ta' be, alright?"

Thankful for the out so you don't have all eyes on you, you nod and hurry over to the staircase, Ink trailing behind.

Sans sighs and rounds the couch, sitting down in between the other two. "she's...still scared." It's not a question.

The classic skeleton rubs his face. "of course she is...s'not like me taking her out helped any. she barely tolerates us. what was i thinking?" At this rate, Sans is only going to make you worse off.

"you can't cure someone's extreme phobia right off the bat, 'nilla," Fell says with a grimace. "i know you feel the tug and urge to comfort and protect her and i know you're tryna help with her fear because you want to get closer...but ya' gotta let her go at her own pace."

Sans growls, hating that his edgier counterpart is right. "i know, i know... i just wish she'd feel it, too."

~~

As you look down on your bed at the array of items Sans got you, you ask, "Am I...am I being too unreasonable?"

Ink hums, thinking on it. "I don't think so..." He gives you a sad smile. "It's not easy facing your phobias." He thinks about Error and his phobia. "Just know that we are here for you." Ink feels waves coming from your SOUL. His bones become warm at the sensations. He tries sending some back, wanting you to feel him.

You smile. "Yeah...I-I know logically my best chance is exposure therapy but...it's hard, ya know?" Ink nods. "But...I'm surrounded by beings that didn't exist all my life. Now they exist, albeit a bit different, and I'm...so scared."

A single tear escapes as you squeeze your eyes shut. "Oh...Buttercup..." Ink whimpered. 

"You-you guys have been nothing but nice and-and welcoming! Sans said you'll all take care of me and I can't even-I can't even look at one of you without fearing for my life!" You break down at the foot of your bed, tilting your head down so your hair curtains your face.

Ink feels so many emotions. Sorrow and grief are the most prevalent. "We-we can go slow for you! One step at a time!" He tries to sound reassuring, "We would never want to make you uncomfortable! However you want to go about this, I'll back you up one hundred percent!"

You take a peek at Ink. His eye lights are a yellow star and upside down white heart. You laugh. "Thank you, Ink..."

You're scared out of your mind.

But Ink makes you feel safe. He makes you feel like you can get through this. His words made your chest feel fuzzy and warm.

But maybe, just maybe?

You can get through this. At least until you can get back home.

The sound of the door opening causes you to gasp and quickly wipe your face from tears. "everything ok up here?" It's Sans.

Ink's eye lights dart back and forth between you and Classic. "Y-yeah," you sniff and if Sans heard it he doesn't mention it, "everything Is perfect, thanks for getting these." You wave your hand over the items.

Sans cranes his head, gesturing for Ink to leave the room so the two of you could talk. Said skeleton shuffles out. "hey..." Sans walks around to see you. "i'm sorry i...took you out. it was too soon and...it overwhelmed you."

"Y-yeah...it did but... I forgive you." Sans' sockets widen minutely in surprise. "You were just trying to help. You all are."

You watch him reach into his pocket and pull out a rectangular box. You eye it curiously as he hands it to you. There's no marking or any hints as to what's inside so you open it gingerly. It's...a cell phone. A bit blocky and thicker than the norm (though the norm nowadays is paper thin).

"A new phone?"

"yeah uh, Ink mentioned you reached for one this morning but i guess yours didn't come through with you? so i picked this up from a friend. it's all set up and everything." You look up, jaw hanging open as you're about to speak but Sans quells your worries. "don't worry, this is her extra extra one she doesn't use anymore."

You huff through your nose, smiling and turning it around in your hands and checking it out. "Thanks Sans..." You think you see some color appear on his cheeks but it's gone a split second later. 

"heh, of course. i want you to be as comfortable here as possible."

Sans makes you feel calm. Relaxed.

Closing your eyes, you take a deep breath in, idly placing your new phone atop your bed. You hold your breath for a moment as Sans looks on with an arched brow. Finally, you release it slowly.

"I'm gonna do something." His eye dots flicker. "Just...don't move, okay?"

"uhh..." Sans gets nervous as you slowly approach him but relaxes as soon as he feels your SOUL. And then all of a sudden your arms are wrapped around his torso. He can feel you wobbling but your grip doesn't waver once. Cautiously and oh so gently, Sans brings his up and around your back.

You stiffen at the touch and he almost retreats until you squeeze him lightly. Hugging Sans. Being in his arms; it's scary. You can feel his ribs against you and your brain is screaming 'NOT NORMAL-NOT HUMAN' but at the same time it impossibly feels right.

You feel light yet heavy. A yawn interrupts you. You groan and back away, flushing and turning your face away. Sans chuckles lowly, his eye lights fuzzy around the edges. You just hugged him and he's never felt so...ethereal. Both of your SOULs soar from the contact.

"Okay..." You shake your arms and shoulders, "Okay I just hugged a skeleton. And I'm okay for doing it!" Sans laughs at your self reassurance. You turn to Sans. "Can I get something to eat? All this made me hungry."

"heheh, sure, kiddo." You let him lead you out of your room and down the stairs. The couch only holds a napping Fell now. "Axe is probably starting lunch," Sans tells you.

"He-" you wring your hands, "he made the stew last night, right?" Sans nods.

"it was good?"

"It was the best stew I've ever had," you admit with a shy nod.

"the big guy would love to hear that comin' from you." You glance at the kitchen archway, debating if you should go in or not. Sans notices your struggle and suggests, "if you're not ready, he'll understand. i can always bring your food to you."

You chew on your bottom lip. He looked so proud to give you your food last night when you first encountered him and then he was so sad when you ran away. You really don't want to hurt his feelings again.

Maybe you can sit and watch him make lunch from a distance? Observing from afar counts as exposure therapy, right? Surely.

Mustering up what little courage you can, you take a step into the kitchen. A shocked Sans follows right behind you. Immediately you hone in on the hulking skeleton at the counters, sandwich fix ins strewn around him.

At your arrival, he turns around, causing you to squeak and quickly hide behind Sans. Axe blinks. Sans just smiles and shrugs, going to take a seat at the table. "what's for lunch, buddo?"

You stare down at Axe's feet, feeling his gaze on you still and not wanting to meet it. "...sandwiches." He watches you shuffle awkwardly. You really came into the kitchen? And you haven't left yet?

Sans waves you over and you just barely catch the gesture from the corner of your eyes. You shuffle and take a seat as far from the counters as you can, making sure Axe doesn't make any sudden moves; which he doesn't.

"what do you like on yours?"

You realize Sans is talking to you after a moment and you stammer, "Oh uh-anything I guess?"

"any...allergies?" Axe asks without turning around. His voice is low and rumbly. It makes you feel sleepy.

"N-" you yawn, "-ooo." 

"lettuce get the works, Axe," Sans comments with a wink. You hear a huff of laughter from the bigger skeleton. You give him a deadpan until Axe shuffles away from the counter. You go stiff and your breathing halts. Sans notices and keeps a wary gaze on you.

You think you're doing pretty well so far all things considered but it isn't until Axe turns around fully when you instinctively rush to stand up from your chair. The big Monster's face falls and he tries not to look at you directly in fear of you running.

"I-I'm sorry I-" you hover a cupped hand around your mouth. What do you even say? I'm terrified of your presence even though you've never done anything to me? You're horrifying to look at even though you can't control what you look like?

Axe gives you a small smile. "'s alright..." He then returns back to making everyone's lunch. Your lip wobbles as you take your seat, groaning and hiding your face in your arms down on the table.

Sans awkwardly holds a hand above your shoulder, wondering if he should try to console you by touch. You suddenly take a deep breath, spooking Sans into retreating his hand. You let out the breath, long and slow, groaning, "It's noooooooooot."

Axe and his smaller counterpart share a look. "'m finished." His deep voice is closer than before. You squeeze your eyes shut and hear the clank of a plate being set down beside you. You mentally pat yourself on the back for both not fleeing and not shaking in your boots.

With a small tilt of your neck, you peek from under your arms just enough to see a plate with a delectable looking sandwich on it. Axe takes this time to silently walk around you. Sans gives him a weird look, wondering what the hell he's doing but Axe pays him no mind. Not when you're this close to him.

He can feel your SOUL. It pulls him in and all he wants to do is caress you and return the feeling. Prove to you he can provide. He can protect. The need to scent you, mark you, show others you're his, his to protect, to care for, is so strong.

You finally lift your head enough to glance around the kitchen. Axe must have left to let you eat. He's so considerate, too and all you do is act like he's...like he's a horrible disgusting being. You frown, chewing your first bite of sandwich. "Gosh damn this sandwich is amaziiiinguh," you whine.

Sans grins, watching you eat while sometimes flickering his eye lights to Axe; who is still hovering behind you, completely silent, completely still. His one red eye enlarges, an indication he's happy from what Sans assumes is from your words as you unknowingly gave him the highest compliment you could have given him.

Especially since it's coming from you.

You glance over and swallow your bite before saying, "You're not gonna eat?" Sans' own plate has an untouched, picture perfect sandwich just sitting there.

"nah," he leans back in his chair and puts his hands behind his skull, "i'll wait for everyone else. Axe should have rounded them up by now."

Your sandwich comically slips from your hands. "Shit. Did I just disrespect some Monster etiquette or something?!" You didn't know he was calling everyone to lunch, honest!

Sans grins at you, slyly lowering his hand down his side to aggressively wave Axe off, giving him a hard stare. The bigger skeleton rolls his eye and takes a small shortcut to the living room, not wanting to make noise by moving away and spooking you.

"donut worry, pal." You watch as Sans rhythmically taps his phalanges on the table. "it'd make me feel crumby if i were to stop you now."

You're glad you didn't take another bite as he spoke when an unflattering snort escapes you. You cover your nose and avoid eye contact in embarrassment. Sans chuckles, resting his skull on his fist, his elbow holding him up resting on the table and watching you devour that sandwich.

The sound of shoes shuffling against tile gains your attention. Fell and Ink saunter into the kitchen with a billowing Axe right behind. Ink smiles and waves at you before going to pick up a plated sandwich from the counter. Everyone seems to know whose is whose.

You notice Axe keeps his distance, eating while standing up against the far counter. You feel so bad you're uneasy around him more than Ink and Sans. Fell pulls up a chair, causing you to flinch.

He freezes while in motion to sitting, his eye lights scanning you nervously. Before you or him could do anything, Ink pushes him aside and flourishingly takes over the chair, planting himself down with dramatics.

Fell is completely flabbergasted, blinking as if he can't believe that had just happened. "Heya sunspot!" Ink cheers, digging into his lunch and ignoring the looks the other three skeletons are giving him.

"heh heh..." you turn to Sans just as he stands up. He pats his double on the shoulder. "you can take my seat, 'm done anyways." Your eyes widen and quickly flick down to where his plate is. It's empty. 

'WTF?' You never saw him move to eat it once! 

You notice the red wearing Monster stops just beside the newly opened chair, staring at you....or is he looking slightly below you? "'s that ok with you, sweetheart?"

You chest warms at his caution towards you, flaring with appreciation. "Y-yeah! Yeah," you smile and gesture to sit to which he does so happily. Sans seemed to have made an exit. The kitchen quiets down, the sounds of everyone munching on their lunch the only thing prevalent.

"so, er...what didja get from the mall today?" Fell speaks up, giving you a friendly smile (as much as one can with a mouth full of sharp teeth).

You flush, noticing all three skeleton's eyes are now on you. "Oh! Uh...just some clothes, really..." You really don't want to talk about why you came home so quickly.

"She saw a Pyrope in Spencer's! I think she's afraid of fire." You smack your forehead. Thank you, Ink.

"I'm not afraid of fire!" you insist, "It was just...you know...they were big and...their head was on fire! It was jarring... to say the least..." you trail off, no longer confident with your words of defense.

"sorry you didn't have...a good experience..." Axe huffs, pity in his eye.

You smile wistfully, about to thank the big guy when Fell suddenly breaks into laughter, startling all three of you. "wai-wai-wait! did you," he leans onto the table, elbow placed down with his hand and finger pointed towards Ink, "did you say Spencer's? y'all went into Spencer's?" He looks you in the eye. "you went into Spencer's with this guy? that's a fuckin' riot."

Your cheeks burn. What is he insinuating?!

Ink pouts with his cheeks puffed up (how?!). "What's so funny about that? Spencer's is cool! Had lots of colorful and fun stuff!"

Fell snorts, leaning back into his chair and folding his arms. "oh i'll bet there was," he says, a huge, cheeky grin on his face.

"A-anyways! We didn't stay for long because of the...you know, Pyrope." You glare at Fell and then become sheepish. "A-and then I saw a wolf...man."

"ya don't like wolves, li'l bit?"

Your fingers scrape the back of your skull as you chuckle awkwardly. "Ah it's more so...Werewolves," you mutter. "I'll just get the rest I need online. Does anyone have...a laptop?"

Axe shakes his head. "Error, Sans and Dust have one."

"Thanks, A-Axe," you manage to look at him long enough to give him a genuine thanks. Another yawn disturbs you and you groan right after. "Ugh, I've been so tired since getting here. S'that normal?" You look to each separate skeleton. "Is it like...multi-dimensional travel fatigue?

"Not for me! Whenever I hopped between AUs, I'm always fit as a fiddle!" Ink jabs a thumb into his chest proudly. Fell raises a brow bone, unimpressed.

"not everyone is as experienced as you with AU traveling, pal." Ink brushes the back of his skull, eyes closed with a rainbow flush on his zygomatic bones.

"Ah-ha... I forgot."

"Plus," you point, "you're like-magic."

"you think it's different since you're organic?" Fell asks, suddenly highly interested in this hypothesis.

You shrug. "I mean, maybe? I wouldn't have a clue." You look down at your new phone to check the time; 2:15. "Man, it's still the afternoon and I'm exhausted." Your comment is emphasized with yet another yawn. You stand up and grab your plate. "I think I'll just," you jab your free thumb towards the living room, "just go lie down on the couch for now."

The three skeletons nod, though Axe carries a look of worry in his eye. "i got the dishes," he tells you. You only flinch slightly, giving him a smile and actually handing the plate to him. He takes it with surprise and elation.

The couch is surprisingly very comfortable for looking how it does; old and worn. You set up a pillow against the arm and settle down, tucking one hand under your chin and using your other to use the remote to turn the TV on.

It appears that most channels are the same from your universe but with some random programs you do not recognize.

Opting for something simple for background noise, you turn and close your eyes.

~~

Fell raps a knuckle against Dust's unnerving bedroom door. Ink tried having him decorate it more but all he did was blow white glitter all over it and call it good. Every time Fell's red eye lights fall upon it, it never fails to cause a shiver to run up his spine.

Before, the edgy skeleton talked to Sans about what you said at lunch. The idea of an adverse effect from your trip into this universe taking a toll on your body got Fell thinking and talking it over with the original.

Sans went to talk to Alphys and Fell was tasked with talking to Dust. He is the only other Monster here that has experience with the machine; from their home universe and this one. Axe lost too much with his injury and Ink hasn't got a clue about it.

Dust is very smart, even rivaling Sans. Fell, of course had enough knowledge to help but his skill set was more favorable towards the mechanical side of the machine whilst the other two, the technical side. 

"fuck off," is the response heard from beyond the door. Fell rolls his eye dots and opens the door anyways, stepping just inside to close the door behind him. Dust is sat criss-cross on top of his bed, mismatched eyes glaring at the intruder with his laptop in front of him.

"we need ta talk."

Dust sneers minutely. "then talk to Sans."

Fell shakes his skull and takes another step. "a'ready did, pal. we need you on this, too."

A snort escapes the brooding skeleton. "what could you possibly need me for?" He doesn't give Fell the chance to explain, immediately continuing, "whatever it is? i don't care." 

"we need to figure out the lasting effects on our SOULmate. she's been exhausted since arriving." Dust narrows his eyes and shuts his laptop.

"maybe because six psycho skeletons took a piece of her SOUL? immediately after she arrived at that. ever think of that?" 

The red skeleton cringes. Him and Sans talked about that point. It's possible but shouldn't last more than a day if that was the case. "no, she shouldn't still be tired even with all six of us accepting her. we think something else might be wrong an' we want your help. maybe the machine can figure something out or..." Fell trails off with a sigh. He doesn't know why Sans thought it was a good idea to try to get Dust to do anything helpful.

Dust's eyes lower as he quietly growls to himself.

'SO THE GIRL IS TIRED. WHO CARES? YOU'RE TIRED ALL THE TIME.'

There's no way your travel through that rip is causing any symptoms. All five of them were fine. A year later and nothing went wrong. Why would it suddenly hurt you? Sans and Fell are probably just overreacting.

Like Paps said, he's tired- hell all of them (except maybe Ink) are always tired ("It's a Sans thing!" Ink told them.) so why can't you be?

Just because you're organic and they're magic, doesn't mean your trip was any different than theirs. Space and time, plus traveling through the void, is risky business of course, but Dust knows it's not anything a human can't handle (when done right, which the machine technically did).

The Frisks of their timelines are such prime examples of space, time and void travel with no problems. Dust scoffs at the thought of these two tripping over themselves trying to solve a problem that's simply not there. If they stopped and thought for a second, they'd realize what he did awhile ago. 

Dust waves Fell away and opens his laptop back up. "she's fine." 

Said Monster snarls, his sharp teeth on full display, "you don' know that, Dust."

Now fully irritated and done with this conversation, Dust slams the laptop back down and points at Fell. "if you would just pull your skulls out of your coccyx, you would know that she's fatigued, yes, but only because of the situation. not anything that has to do with how she came here."

Fell furrows his brow bones and goes to respond but Dust cuts him off. "and you wanna know how i know? she's fucking terrified. don't you get it? how am i the one that gets it?!" Dust throws his hands up in confusion and disbelief, dryly chuckling. "brand new universe, brand new species. no one she knows or ever loved will be seen again. thrown into a house of Monsters she is forced to trust because we're her only choice."

"she's our SOULmate-" Fell starts to retort.

"she doesn't know that, idiot. her whole world got turned around and you love-sick fools are probably just stressing her out and causing her fatigue with how much you're trying to calm her SOUL."

Fell is completely at a loss for words. He's astonished by how much sense Dust is making.

'DO YOU THINK IF THEY PUSH HER TOO MUCH SHE'LL KEEL OVER?' 

Dust sighs. "just leave her alone." At that, Fell silently disappears. With no more audience, Dust shifts and cranes his head to look into a specific spot in the air. "and where the fuck did you learn the word 'keel'?"

~~

The TV fades into the background while Fell sits on the recliner, hands clasped together as he leans forward on his elbows and burns a hole into your sleeping form. Everything Dust said replays in his mind on a loop.

Is he right? Are they really stressing you out this much? You seemed pretty comfortable with Sans and Ink, right?

Ugh. Fell wishes he could just pull your SOUL out and check you out himself. But that would be extremely inappropriate and would just freak you out even more. Before he can fall deeper into worry, Sans appears right in front of the TV.

Fell starts before shushing the skeleton and gesturing to your sleeping form. Sans then gestures to the kitchen so the two of them head there. "what'd Alph say?" Fell asks quickly.

Sans sighs. "she wouldn't be able to do much without seeing her. she wants to scan her SOUL," he says, tone indicating that that's not happening.

Fell nods with a frown, crossing his arms and leaning back in the chair. "absolutely not. it's fragile as it is." He then goes sheepish. "besides...uh Dust told me some interesting stuff."

Sans perks up. "really?" Fell proceeds to recap all that he was told. Sans takes it all in with rapt attention. "i can't believe we didn't see that. fuck." The original buries his skull in his arms with a loud groan. He's angry. Angry at himself for not realizing this. Angry at Dust for being right. Angry at the world for making your SOUL think you're not safe in it.

"Axe isn't helping even though she is trying to make an effort. Ink is probably overwhelming her even if she feels more relaxed near him. s'all subconscious. her SOUL is practically working overtime to regulate everything."

Sans rubs his face, eye lights dim. "how can we help her, then?"

"Dust said to leave her alone." Sans stares at his red counterpart with a weird look. Fell scoffs, "it's not as if i want to do that either, 'nilla." Fell then huffs, gets up and then starts to leave but not before saying, "but if it's for her? anything."

~~

Waking up from your impromptu nap, you're surprisingly feeling refreshed and much better. A different program plays on the TV and the living room is empty, you note as you rise into a sitting position. The sky outside has grown dark, indicating your nap lasted longer than what you wanted.

You lean over and grab your new cell phone off the coffee table. 7:45. Ugh. You rub your forehead, wincing at the greasy texture and feeling an oncoming headache. You really need to get situated here. Sans said it'd take a while to rebuild the machine, right? Which means...you need a job and a car just to name a couple. You doubt your current I.D would pass here which means you also need to be- what? Reregistered? How would that work?!

'Hey I'm a twenty something year old adult who showed up out of nowhere, may I register myself as a U.S citizen?'

You snort at the absurdity. 

But, well, Sans did say they'd help you out while here, right? So just stay calm and take it one step at a time. Maybe the first step should be able to look your skeleton roommates in the eyes...eye lights.

"heya," that low baritone voice startles you in your seat. Turning, you find Sans at the bottom of the stairs, hands stuffed into his jacket's pockets with an easy grin on his face. "you missed dinner. Axe wanted to wake ya' but we thought it'd be better if you slept."

You rub your eyes and blink them to become more awake. "Yeah. I think I needed it. Thanks."

Slowly, the skeleton shuffles closer to the center of the living room. He gets beside the armchair and hops up over the arm, settling down sideways, feet hanging off the arm and bouncing lightly.

"so how are you feeling?"

You assume he's asking about the maybe effects of your travel through space and time. "I think I'm okay. I don't feel as tired now." He nods with an emotion you can't quite pin down. Silence follows and you're about to awkwardly make an exit to retire to your room when you remember your previous thoughts. "Oh, hey," you start, gaining Sans' attention, "so...I'll need an I.D, yeah? Would mine still, I don't know, be valid here?"

Sans thinks for a moment. How can he say this without making it sound awful? Without making you feel awful? Seeing the usually laidback Monster suddenly sit up, entwine his fingers together, and stare directly at you is extremely unsettling. You fold quickly and divert your own eyes.

"after you uh...arrived, i looked into you. we found your wallet on the floor in the lab, hope you don't mind we looked at your I.D?" His grin is strained.

You shrug. "It's fine. What did you find?" You're more worried about this than him going through your wallet. All it had anyways was your library card, I.D, some food gift cards and a couple crumpled dollar bills.

"you uh...you don't exist here."

You freeze. That doesn't make sense. There should be an alternate you in every universe, right? Even the ones where Monsters exist? Sans winces at the look you make; your lips are twisted to the side and your brows are furrowed with a far away look in your eyes.

Hoping to explain and enlighten you, Sans continues, "we scoured every database we could uh get access to. of course your hometown was first but no one with your name came up. we checked surrounding states and while- yeah there's people with your name- none that came up were you."

"May-maybe I live abroad in this life?" you try, voice starting to waver. Sans gives you a sad smile and shakes his skull. "Maybe I was...I don't know born Asian? Have you checked other countries?" You don't let Sans answer that and instead continue to reach for a reasonable explanation. "'Cause, I mean there has to be an alternate me right?"

You spiraled so much you didn't notice Sans has appeared right in front of you, kneeling on the ground. He hovers a bony hand right above your knee, not touching but showing his want to comfort all the same.

"i'm sorry, kid. sometimes realities don't align like that. there's so many possibilities out there. so many different factors; you could have existed here but maybe in the eighteen-hundreds. we can't know and we'll probably never know."

You sniff, keeping your head lowered so Sans can't see your face even with him kneeled in front of you. You don't think you've ever heard Sans speak this much. Certainly not this much without a single pun thrown in. Dread fills you as you realize that he's completely and utterly serious about this.

"What..." You almost don't want to ask, but you have to. You have to know, "what about my parents? My brother?"

This time, Sans' hand does touch down on your knee. You flinch but ignore it and instead focus on the warm feeling coming off of him. "trust me, princess. Error, Dust and I scoured everywhere and every thing we could. and without knowing your family tree...there's just not much we could find."

"I'll-I'll make one! I'll draw up a family tree and then maybe...?" You tilt your head up just a bit in order to see Sans' concerned sockets from beneath the curtain of your bangs.

The white dots that make up his eyes search your face before he finally heaves a sigh and puts on his best smile. "of course. but i can't make any promises..."

You nod. You know that's the best he can do. You know that. But it's still not enough. You don't exist here and chances are, your family doesn't either. You're utterly alone.

And that's scarier than any monster you could ever imagine.

Chapter Text

The next morning, you finally take that long over due shower. The shampoo, conditioner and body wash Sans picked out for you were heavenly. You rinse and wash for a good half hour before feeling refreshed and clean enough to exit.

Picking up the set of clothes you picked out, you get dressed and then look at yourself in the mirror. You look leagues better already; the dark circles under your eyes are almost completely gone, the knots in your hair are smoothed out, and your skin feels healthy and soft.

Time to be an adult today. You need to get your I.D situated and order the rest of the essentials you need online. To do that, you need to ask one of the skeletons for their laptop. Naturally, you try Sans' door first.

He doesn't answer after the first couple knocks so, not wanting to disturb him in case he was still sleeping, you move down a door. You remember one of them telling you Sans, Dust and Error had laptops so now you need to figure out which door belongs to who.

The door down from Sans' is decorated beautifully; colors swirl all around with small intricate detailed flowers scattered everywhere. This must be Ink's. Turning around, the door directly across from Ink's is that strange looking one you stopped by when you first arrived here.

Now knowing what you know, this door must be Error's. It has the same color pallet as his bones after all. Your first and only meeting with the bizarre skeleton had left you feeling on-edge, so you shyly knocked twice, subconsciously hoping he wouldn't answer.

But it was either borrowing his or Dust's laptop and you're not sure about that guy just yet. A muffled voice answers your tap. "What?"

You clear your throat, "Uh-um it's me," you say your name, "I was wondering if I could borrow your laptop?"

A loud, staticky sigh follows the sound of shuffling as the door clicks and opens just enough for you to spot the red sockets of Error's skull. He doesn't look too pleased to see you, you note, so you give him a shy smile in hopes he'll lend you his device.

His odd eye lights scan you from head to toe before he finally responds with, "...Why?"

"Well after yesterday's mall disaster," you chuckle self-deprecatingly, "Sans said I could just get the rest of my stuff online. So..."

Again, Error sighs like this is a huge inconvenience to him. Because it is; he has shows to watch and a SOULmate to ignore and you're currently interrupting both of those tasks.  "Alright," he says, walking away from the door but leaving it cracked open.

You assume he's gone to grab the laptop and lean forward a little. You can't help but peek inside. It's dark but illuminated with light from a large television that's mounted onto the wall. Blue string hang from the ceiling everywhere. Connected from wall to wall, overlapping and crossing each other all over.

Hanging from some of the hammock situated strings are dolls. You can't get a close look at them by the time Error comes back, though, which makes you quickly stand back up straight. His yellow tipped phalanges curl around the door and opens it more to be able to slip the thin device through.

You gingerly grab it and press it up against your chest. "Thank you," you smile at him. His eye dots avoid eye contact as he grunts and clicks the door shut.

Like you thought before; a peculiar skeleton indeed.

~~

What should you get first? Some more clothes for sure and Sans already bought plenty of personal hygiene products so... Figuring you'd think of more later, you begin browsing a selection of clothes on a major shopping site.

You find a plethora of all kinds of clothes one needs; pajamas, pants, socks, underwear, bras, shirts and many more. After adding everything to the cart, you wince at the subtotal. You should probably text Sans first before purchasing anything.

So you pick up your phone and navigate to the messaging app. The device itself is very strange, not like anything you've seen before; the layout is weird, the apps are weird and the storage system is a mindfuck in of itself. Must be a Monster thing to be able to just store matter into a cell phone.

You feel giddy at the thought of being able to just hold stuff in your phone instead of having to carry a backpack or purse. But that's beside the point. You quickly send a text out to Sans, praying he'll get back to you soon.

As you await his answer, you begin browsing other things. Things you might want instead of need. From what you've seen so far, Monster made things are incredibly cool and you're interested in checking them out once you have money to spend. You would never take advantage of Sans' KINDNESS by buying unessential things with his money so you can wait for these types of things.

A grumbling barges in on your wandering thoughts and you twist your lips at it. You're hungry, which isn't surprising, but you're none too happy about venturing out to the kitchen right now. Axe could be down there and you don't want to encounter him alone.

The grumbling continues but this time a stabbing pain accompanies it, causing you to wrap your arms around your stomach and lean forward while groaning. Okay so maybe coming across Axe is the least of your worries right now.

You wait for the pain to pass before climbing out of bed and exiting your room. The house is quiet, you note, as you make your way down. Not surprising since all of the skellies, minus Papyrus and Ink, seem like the brooding silent types.

No one is around. The place is still, almost eerie without them mulling about. Which is saying something considering this place is packed full of skeletons. You can't help but creep up to the kitchen with trepidation. You hate the sigh of relief you let out when you find no one occupying the space.

Your phobia has never made you hate yourself any more than it's doing now.

Confirming that Axe is not here, you begin rummaging through the fridge for something that catches your eye. There appears to be a lot of pre-prepped food, judging by the multiple containers of different types of pasta with the days they were made written down on a sticky note on top of the lids.

You sift through them, pushing some aside, to see what else the fridge holds. Humming, you decide to just pull out one of the pasta containers. Maybe you can have some of this? You glance down at it but it's a little hard to tell what it is with the condensation that accrued on the inside of the lid.

It may be some kind of alfredo judging by the white sauce but before you can pop open the lid to find out, another wave of stabbing pain greets you, causing you to gasp and the pasta to slip from your hands in order to grip your gut.

The glass container shatters upon making contact with the kitchen floor. Thick shards of it scatter and slide every which way. Your knee jerk reaction to hop and avoid the glass betrays you as you step on a large piece.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuck!" You cry and hold that foot up. You look around the ground to make sure the surroundings are safe to walk in and make your way to the table, walking on your heel with the injured foot awkwardly and sitting down.

You lift your foot and hiss at the sight of such a thick piece sticking out from your sock. Blood has begun accruing around it, discoloring the sock and seeping through. You give it a light tug but immediately stop when the pain becomes too much.

Suddenly, two skeletons appear in front of you, looks of panic on their faces. "what happened?!" Sans speaks first before both pair of eye sockets land on the utter mess you made on the floor.

You scream at their arrival, instinctually putting your feet down to stand up. "Gah! Fuck!" you cry out again after putting pressure on the glass and quite literally feeling it go deeper and lift your knee back up, holding it with both hands.

Sans and Fell scan the kitchen, finding the glass littered everywhere until your cry of pain quickly brings their attention back to you. The two had felt it in their SOUL when you got hurt and dropped everything they were doing to port to your location. Being in your presence makes the pain you feel almost go away completely unless it's a strong enough pain. When far from a SOULmate, any pain they feel makes the other feel it strongly to activate the instinct to protect.

Quickly, Fell goes over to a closet and pulls out a broom and dust pan while Sans walks through the mess to kneel down in front of you, uncaring of the crunch of glass under his shoes but making sure to wipe away a clean spot to kneel lest he wants his bones to get scratched.

"are you ok?" he asks though his eye lights dart back and forth between your face and your foot, a grimace replacing his usual smile.

You squeeze your eyes shut and respond with an exaggerated, "Fuck no! It hurts!" Sans pumps his hands forward.

"ok! ok, just hold still and we'll get it out," he reassures, hating the pained look that stays present on your face.

"What the fuck is going on down here?" Error's voice pierces your ears and the hairs on your arms being to feel frizzy as he enters the kitchen with a look of annoyance. Fell gives him a look as he sweeps.

"shut th'fuck up, glitchy." Error sneers back at him before his eyes finally realize the mess and widen.

"Oh, that was what that noise was," he mumbles to himself. Sans heard, evidently, since his skull whips around to glare at the black skeleton.

"you heard and didn't come down to see?" he snaps with an air of disbelief but really, this is Error we're talking about. After Dust, he's the most aloof and introverted one here so it really doesn't surprise him that he didn't come down to investigate.

"I heard a crash, ignored it, then my SOUL made a weird ping and I'm here now, aren't I?" he grumbles, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"well we don't need your help now," the classic retorts with a roll of his eyes.

Error snarls, "I wouldn't have wanted to help anyways, asshat." He turns and begins shuffling away. "I'm going back to my room, don't bother me."

"Is he," you hiss when Sans lightly touches the glass, "always like that?"

"yes," is all he says before turning to Fell. Said skeleton had just finished picking up the mess. "do we have a med-kit?"

Fell shrugs, "not a human one..."

Sans sighs. "we might just have to bring you in, kiddo," he tells you regrettably. "the shard is too thick and none of us know how to remove it properly." 

"No!" You shake your head vehemently. "No hospitals, please," you beg, earning looks of curiosity from the two. 

"kid...we can't get it out on our own." You look off to the side, lost in thought and watch as Fell steps over to stand beside Sans, a grimace on his face as he looks down at your foot.

He nods his head, agreeing with Sans, "yeah, medicine has really evolved with the Monsters surfacing. getting this out would probably not even take ten minutes."

If that's the case...you think about how that might mean you may not need a shot to numb the area or anything. Because as if having teraphobia wasn't enough, you've got trypanophobia, too (among other things...).

"So you don't think they'll need to inject me with anything?" you finally ask. Both skeletons give you a strange look.

"...inject? nah," Sans responds slowly. His smile returns as he stands back up and offers a hand to you. "come on, we'll get you all fixed up and then howzabout i take you to my favorite place?"

"you sure about that, 'nilla?" Fell butts in before you can accept or decline Sans' offer. Both you and Sans look at him, causing a bead of sweat to accumulate on his skull. "i mean, i'm down for grillbz as much as the next guy but...ya know it's..." He rubs the back of his skull, "it's a big Monster hang out."

Sans' eye sockets droop. "yeah, you're right...scratch that for now, huh?" he directs the last part towards you, grinning and closing one eye.

"Um..." Your eyes dart back and forth between the two almost identical skeletons, "Sure..?"

Sans nods once before reaching a hand out to you. "you ok with takin' a shortcut?"

You stare down at his bony appendage. It looks so human but his bones are thicker. You hesitate with your own hand hovering over his. You touched him before, back when he proved to you he wasn't a costume, but you're uncertain in touching his bones directly again.

His smile wavers at your hesitation. Fell watches with a pitiful glance towards Sans before his phone begins blowing up. He pulls it out of his pocket and opens it; Axe is sending off texts rapidly, asking about you.

Fell almost smacks his face. He totally forgot to text the big guy after making sure you were okay. If he and Sans felt it, Axe felt it, too and with his magic reserves being so limited, he's unable to make such a big jump from his work to home to check on you.

His phalanges slide across the screen as he texts him back to quell his worries. Nothing Fell says calms the skeleton, though. So, with a sigh, Fell says, "i've gotta get back," before immediately disappearing from sight.

"What-uh, what do you guys do for work?" you ask, wanting to distract yourself from the pain and impending trip to the hospital.

Sans looks away, shoving his offered hand back into his jacket pocket. "mostly odd jobs. a couple of us work in a lab..."

Your eyes brighten. "You work in a lab?!"

Sans blinks and turns back to you. His SOUL stutters at the look in your eyes; pure curiosity and amazement. "y-yea. me an' Dust." Though Dust only works when he has consecutive 'good' days. Same with Axe and his hot dog stands.

"That's so cool! I mean," you shrug, "I already knew you guys were smart- what with the machine in the basement and all- but working in a lab? That's like, max smartness." You laugh at your own wording.

Sans chuckles. "yup. heh, i can tell you about it sometime." He looks down to your injured foot. "but for now... we should getcha fixed up."

You follow his gaze with a grimace. There was a feeling in your chest that made you feel calm and relaxed that you almost forgot about the shard of glass sticking out of your foot. "Right..." you trail off. Sans reoffers his hand and this time you take it, if just slightly.

"sorry, kiddo, in order to shortcut as safe as possible, i need you to hold on tighter than that." Sans will not risk losing you in the void even if you're still uncomfortable with touching him directly. That's non-negotiable. Sure, it's a miniscule chance to do so with how experienced he and the other's are, but it's still there regardless.

"O-okay," you take his hand completely, linking your fingers through his phalanges. He's smooth to the touch yet you can feel how worn and worked his bones are. You're also surprised by how warm he is and how warm his grasp instantly makes you feel.

Sans can't help but smile widely at your entwined hands. "close your eyes," he warns.

You follow his instructions and suddenly you feel like you're free falling. Your stomach lurches and you almost let go of Sans in reaction but he pulls you into his chest before you can. He hugs you closely and, as quick as it started, it's over and you're now surrounded by voices.

Hesitantly, you open your eyes. You're standing in the middle of an emergency room. Monsters and humans alike blink in surprise by your sudden appearance. Slowly, you detangle yourself from Sans and look around. "That was- hurk!" you're unable to marvel at Sans' power when your stomach suddenly lurches and your throat seizes up.

You bend over and quickly expel stomach acid all over the emergency room floor, groaning the whole time. Your belly aches from what little you spit up and your mouth and throat burns. You feel a bony hand pat your back and hear a few people around you groan at the gross sight you made.

Sans gives those few a dirty look. He should have figured your first time would be like this but he wasn't exactly thinking about that when your foot is so injured. A nurse quickly approaches the two of you with a grimace. "Hey there..." the lady says, placing a hand on your shoulder as you lift yourself back up. You wipe your mouth, embarrassed.

"Hi..." you croak in response. 

"How long has that glass been in there?" she asks, guiding you to sit in a nearby chair. Sans lets you go and joins you in the chair next to you.

You wince and lift your foot up, resting your leg on your knee. "Like-ten minutes?" You're not sure. Time feels weird right now.

"Well, we'll get it out right away but first," the woman hands you a clipboard with a piece of paper clipped onto it, "are you able to fill this out? It's just basic medical information we need."

You blanch as you take it from her. She tells you to have Sans bring it up to the counter when you're done and leaves. Scanning the page, you have no idea how to fill it out. You have no I.D which means you have no prior or existing medical records! "Wh-what do I do?" you whisper to Sans in a panic. Said skeleton gingerly takes the clipboard from you and reads it over with an uncomfortable grin.

Sans hands it back, procuring a pen out of nowhere along with it. "just fill it out as best as you can, ok? i'll take care of the rest." You frown down at it before hearing Sans sigh and get up. "i'll grab you some water, be right back."

Your eyes track him all the way until he disappears around the corner. This is fine. You tap your pen as you think. You'll fill out the easy, basic stuff first like your name, date, DOB, and allergies.

Thankfully, you have no allergies that you know of (hopefully being in a whole new universe doesn't give you any) and no previous, serious medical history.

You're startled by a cut of water entering your vision. You look up to see a smiling skeleton offering said cup to you. You smile back and take it, greedily downing the whole thing in a few gulps. "Thanks," you hand it back to him. You then hand over the clipboard, asking, "How's this?" as you do so.

Sans looks it over. "should be ok. i'll bring it up." He gets up and heads over to the counter.

You're alone for a few seconds before a voice says, "That looks gnarly," in your left ear. You gasp and whirl around to find a deer-like Monster suddenly beside you.

You calm your beating heart, eyes instinctively looking over the Monster from top to bottom. They appear to have a broken antler, judging by a whole chunk of it hanging on just barely.

"Ah-heh," you chuckle awkwardly, avoiding eye contact, "hardly." You look at the protruding glass with disdain. "Was a clumsy accident, hardly anything I'd call something cool like gnarly."

"Eh," the deer waves a hoofed hand, "you look like you're taking it like a champ, anyway."

"Yeah well," you gesture to their antler, "what about yours?"

A pinkish brown blush overtakes the Monster's furry cheeks. "Heh...just a friendly dispute."

Your eyebrows shoot up. "Friendly?" you ask in disbelief. What kind of 'friendly' dispute ends in a broken piece of one's body?!

"Yeaaa..." the Monster rubs the nape of their neck, "us bucks can get pretty rowdy when we disagree. It was all in good fun, though. It's how we settle things." The buck's eyes look up. "This time just got a bit out of hand. I'm alright, though." Your mouth hangs agape slightly. You can't imagine having a limb just barely dangling from you and being 'alright'. He holds a hoof out to you. "I'm Reggie by the way."

You smile down at his 'hand'. You're talking to a Monster right now and while he may be one, he looks just like earth's natural wildlife. Just a talking buck. Not a moment later, your hand is in his and the two of you share a handshake, telling him your name in return.

Before you could make any more conversation with the kind deer, Sans returns, hands in his pockets. "hey, kid. they're ready to take you back." You and Reggie look at the skeleton, who in turn stares back at the buck Monster, eye lights slightly smaller than usual.

You stand up on your good leg, holding yourself steady with a hand on Sans' shoulder. "Right." You turn back to Reggie. "It was nice to meet you!" You wave as Sans helps you walk to a room.

Sans guides you to and helps you sit on the medical bed before taking a seat himself on one of the extra chairs. "you doin' ok?" he asks, his white eye dots flickering every which way over your form.

You shrug. "Yeah, I mean, I barely feel it if I don't move my foot."

Sans leans back in his seat, closing an eye socket and lazily eyeing you with the other. "nah, i meant interacting with that Monster. he wasn't bothering you was he?" 

"Oh," you shake your head, "no, Reggie was really nice." Sans doesn't respond; he just stares at you with an unreadable expression, causing you to avoid eye contact, feeling awkward under his gaze. Wanting to break the silence, you continue, "Are...a lot of Monsters...animal like?"

"sure. plenty. Monsters quite literally come in all shapes and sizes." Sans can't help but feel envious of this 'Reggie'. You showed no signs of fear when talking or being near him yet your SOUL still pings with a little bit of panic (subconsciously of course) near him and the others.

The two of you are unable to say anything else when a light knock at the door rings out. A second later, the doctor arrives with... Papyrus trailing after him! Your face turns to shock and surprise.

Sans' grin expands at the sight of his brother. "Hello! I'm Dr. Nacli and this is Papyrus, he's my shadowing nurse for today." The man gestures to his tall apprentice. 

"HELLO! OH!" Paps notices who it is in the room with him. "HUMAN ROOMMATE AND SANS! I WOULD SAY IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU BUT IT APPEARS THE CIRCUMSTANCE IS NOT A HAPPY ONE." The skeleton's eye lights land on your injured foot.

The doctor chuckles and smiles at Sans. "Ah, this is the 'wonderfully lazy' brother of yours, hm?" Sans winks at the man. "I've heard much about you, Mr. Sans. But, that aside, let's see what we're looking at here." Dr. Nacli approaches you and examines your foot. He gingerly lifts it up a bit. "It looks quite deep... Is there any nerve pain?"

You shake your head. The doctor glances at Papyrus who then approaches you, too and takes your foot from the man. "IF IT'S NOT DEEP ENOUGH TO CAUSE NERVE DAMAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF YOUR FOOT, IT WILL BE AN EASY REMOVAL."

"Precisely," the doctor smiles. "Papyrus, if you could get the numbing agent..." Your eyes widen at the word 'numbing', fearing you're going to get a needle poked in the bottom of your foot. The tall skeleton exits the room to do what was asked as you nervously wring your hands.

"Num-numb? Is that really necessary?" You laugh awkwardly when you get two sets of stares in return. "I-I mean, I'm totally fine without any...uh injections. I'm tough." Your voice wavering betrays your words.

Dr. Nacli just guffaws good naturedly before coughing and clearing his throat in a fist. "Sorry, excuse me!" He looks down over at your paper you filled out over on the nearby counter. "You must not have been to the doctor's in quite some time, hm?"

"U-uh yeah, I mean, it's been a while." Your mouth is straight as you weakly let out, "Yup." as if trying to convince yourself of this.

Sans stays silent and gives you a sly thumbs up. That just serves to make you feel even more embarrassed than you already were. 

"Well, here at Ebott City, medicine has flourished and evolved with the Monster's help. We need not to use syringes for anything other than when a patient needs a specific medicine type injected directly into the bloodstream as soon as possible. So, for something little like numbing, we use a specialized cream," the doctor explains.

At this point, Papyrus bursts back into the room, earning a startled jump from both humans in the room, the other, smaller skeleton is relaxed as always as if this is a normal, everyday occurrence (it is).

"THE NUMBING CREAM, DR. NACLI!" Said doctor takes the offered tube with a chortle and a thanks. The man wastes no time in squirting some lime-green colored cream onto two of his fingers and rubbing it onto the bottom of your foot all around the protruding glass.

You've since taken off your sock and the area around the glass has become red and irritated, so when the cream is applied, immediately the area becomes soothed and you can no longer feel anything but a chill.

With expert precision, the doctor removes the shard. You feel the tugging but nothing else, making a face at the sound it makes when being pulled. Papyrus, once Dr. Nacli takes the glass out and moves back, quickly dives in to clean up the wound.

You're amazed. The shard came right out without any fuss! And you didn't feel a thing! You go to excitedly stand up but Papyrus uses his long arm to prevent you from doing so. You give a questioning look.

"YOUR FOOT STILL HAS AN OPEN WOUND, HUMAN." You lift your leg to see the bottom of your foot. The glass left a large gash. Your cheeks flare up in embarrassment; you shouldn't have assumed the cream was a cure-all. Ah, shit, you're going to need stitches aren't you? Your stomach begins churning at the thought. Stitches are worse than shots.

Sans gets up, knowing the end to this visit is quickly approaching and stands by your bedside. "ready to go, kid?" he asks nonchalantly. 

"But, my foot?" you trail off, gesturing to the area.

A bony hand pushes itself into your face. Between two phalanges is a stereotypical looking wrapped hard candy. "MONSTER CANDY!" Paps announces at your confused face. "IT WILL SEAL YOUR WOUND. IT WON'T PREVENT SCARS FROM FORMING BUT SCARS ARE JUST PROOF OF BATTLES WON!"

You gingerly take the candy and roll it around in your fingers. A piece of candy this small will heal that nasty gash just like that? You turn to Sans who gives you an encouraging grin, winking. You unwrap the item and toss it into your mouth, instinctively sucking on it. It's...strange. As soon as it lands on your tongue, you feel your foot go tingly, almost like it's being lightly tickled.

The taste is...odd. You want to describe it as a pine tree but that wouldn't be quite right. Your face suddenly recoils in disgust as a wave of what could only be described as the taste of sap overwhelms you.

"heh, what flavor is it?" Sans asks with a knowing grin.

"It taste like a damn tree!" you reply, mouth open and wanting to spit the thing out.

Sans puts a bony hand over your mouth, not touching but hovering right over it. "nuh-uh, doc's orders, gotta eat the whole thing."

You eye Papyrus in hopes he'd contradict Sans but he only nods enthusiastically. "MY BROTHER IS RIGHT. YOU NEED TO CONSUME THE WHOLE THING FOR IT TO WORK EFFICIENTLY."

You can only whine in complaint as you force yourself to finish the revolting thing. "Bleh," you stick your tongue out after swallowing. "I need a soda..." you whisper, slouching your shoulders. Both skeletons chortle, having heard your comment.

"I'M NOT ONE TO INDULGE IN SUCH SUGARY DRINKS, BUT I AM A FIRM BELIEVER IN TREATS AFTER DOCTOR VISITS." You hop off the bed and look at Papyrus questioningly while he turns and rummages through a drawer.

He spins around with a big smile and a sucker in his hand. You gasp excitedly, dramatically for him. It was a green one, too! Your favorite flavor; lime. "Thanks, Paps!" You take the candy and rip the wrapper off, shoving the garbage in your pocket before taking an experimental lick.

You can't help if your face recoils in disgust at the sour green apple flavoring that attacks your taste buds instead of the expected lime. You just hope Papyrus didn't catch it because, as you turn to face Sans, of course he notices and does nothing but laugh quietly at your despair.

"It's great, just what I needed to get rid of the Monster Candy's taste." 

"GREAT!" Papyrus begins exiting the room, turning to tell you, "I WILL BE RIGHT BACK WITH YOUR AFTER VISIT. DON'T LET MY LAZY BROTHER TAKE A SHORTCUT BEFORE THEN."

You mock salute him, earning a nod and smile as the door closes. As soon as it does, you pull the sucker out of your mouth. "Ugh. I hate sour and green apple things!" You glare at the candy as if it dishonored you personally.

"heh, don't look so blue about it." Your glare is immediately redirected to the punning skeleton. "at least it's better than tree, right?"

"Barely," you grumble as you wrap it back up in its wrapper and shoving it back into your pocket to hide it from Papyrus. Your stomach takes the following silence as the moment to sing the song of its people. Your cheeks burn in embarrassment as Sans chuckles.

He's about to ask you if you want to go to lunch when his brother comes back. "YOUR AFTER VISIT. PLEASE SEE YOURSELF OUT AND DON'T COME BACK, NYEH!" The three of you share a laugh.

You fold your papers up and deposit them into your phone's storage (that's still SO cool to you). "I'll try not to, Paps, thanks." He leaves for the final time and you turn to Sans who lifts and offers his hand to you. You grimace and ask, "Do we have to 'take a shortcut'?"

"the more you do, the more you'll get used to it?" he says in a way that makes it sound like it's a question as if he doesn't know the answer for himself. He doesn't take humans along on his shortcuts often, okay? And Frisk is way beyond used to it for him to even remember if they were ever not in the first place. "why don't we get something to eat instead?"

His SOUL pings in happiness when your eyes light up at the suggestion. "Yes! I'm starving!" You then frown, "Oh shoot I totally wasted whoever's pasta earlier."

Sans shrugs and leads the way out of the emergency room. "eh, no use crying over spilt pasta. Axe will understand. i'm pretty sure Fell already informed him, so."

"That was Axe's food?!" you shout in surprise as the two of you step out of the building. Sans' eye sockets droop with concern over your worried tone.

"hey, 's alright. it was an accident." Sans knows how sensitive Axe is with food. Never waste it and never take it for granted but an accident is an accident and Axe knows how to differentiate the three. Your face doesn't relax so he continues, "really, princess, it's fine."

The two of you begin walking down the sidewalk when the term of endearment he used finally catches your attention. "Princess?"

Sans flushes a light blue color and adverts his gaze and skull, stuttering, "i-uh i meant kid-" but you just cut him off with a laugh.

You look up a put your pointer finger on your chin. "Is nicknames for strangers a Monster thing or something?" 

"h-huh?"

"Well, Ink's called me a flower before and I'm pretty sure Fell has used 'sweetheart' a couple times. Then Axe has said 'li'l bit' directed at me; which, I have no idea what that means by the way."

The skeleton groans, "it-it's just uh, well skeleton Monsters are er- more affectionate?" He wants to smack himself in the face for that poor excuse. He can't exactly tell you they've already become super attached to you. Let alone explain the SOULmate thing.

You immediately take it at face value, not exactly knowing any better about Monsters and their culture. "Well, okay. I guess you can call me whatever." You shrug.

Sans sighs in relief, putting his wide grin back onto his face. "so, whatcha' hungry for?"

Another shrug. "I have no idea. I wouldn't know what's good around here, ya know?" There's a trace of longing laced in your voice. You smack your lips, cringing at the lingering sour flavor on your tongue and add, "But as long as there's pop, I'm down for whatever."

Sans grins, knowing the perfect place.

~~

Sans brings you to a brick building tucked in between two obviously newer, modern looking ones. A neon sign hangs in the middle, looking in need of repair with one of the lights flickering.

'Mo's' it reads. 

"after Grillby's, this is my favorite hole in the wall," Sans explains as he opens the heavy, black metal door for you. You enter and begin looking around. It looks like a classic, stereotypical pizza parlor. It's dim but the lighting makes it feel cozy. The décor is highly dated with the tiled floor, thin, wire chairs and even red and white checked table cloths on all of the tables.

You almost snort at the absurdity of it all. You could have mistakenly walked into a television set it looked so...fake. Like someone tried way too hard to make this place look authentic.

Instead, finding literal holes in its brick walls, you end up saying, "It certainly has-ah...holes in the walls." You gasp and cover your mouth, scared you'd just offended Sans and his second favorite spot. He just chortles and moves further in, comfortably hopping up onto a seat at the bar.

You join him as he says, "adds to the charm," with a wink. 

You peer over the counter, noticing a classic 'soda hose' and your mouth immediately begins to salivate at the thought of some good old fashioned Coca-Cola to quench your thirst and rid the aftertaste of the things you ate at the ER. Though, you're unable to see what soda's are available so you're not sure if Coke is even a thing in this universe.

If it isn't, you pray there's something similar or even just your universe's equivalent. As Sans hums and looks over his own menu, (definitely not periodically eyeing you and watching the weird, thoughtful looks you make as you look around the place) you finally notice that there's no one here.

No patrons, no man behind the counter. No one. You half think Sans brought you somewhere closed but the other half remembers he quite literally opened the front door for you to enter.

"so, whatcha feel like to eat?" Sans ask as he puts his menu down and turns to face you. He puts his elbow down on the counter and rests his bony cheek in his hand, grin wide and eye lights searching yours.

Scanning the menu really quick, because you were so distracted looking around and thinking mundane things, you quickly choose, "Uhhh, I guess a slice of pepperoni would be nice." You place the menu down as well before remembering and tapping the drink section on it. "Oh! And a large Coke." You're so happy this universe has that. Also, pepperoni is always a safe choice. You can't get pepperoni wrong!

"heh. nice." Sans swivels in his seat to face the counter. He brings a hand up to his mouth and shouts, "hey! Jimmy! we're ready out here!" You jump at the way his voice booms with his low baritone levels. Soon after, a man exits the kitchen through a swinging door. He has a rag over his shoulder and an apron over his clothes full off flour, stains and grease.

"Sans!" His eyes crinkle with his smile as he approaches. He spreads his hands on the counter, far apart to lean, before his brown eyes reach you. "And who's this pretty lady?" Not expecting that, you can only laugh awkwardly and avert your eyes back down to the menu to distract you.

Sans snickers lowly. He introduces you to the man to which he holds a hand out. You look down at it, thankfully being able to repress grimacing at the sight of dried, crusty marinara sauce caking it.

He notices your gaze and laughs in embarrassment, quickly wiping them off. "Ah, well anyway...My name's Jimmy. I run this fine establishment." You smile but then frown.

"But, where is everyone? The other workers?"

Jimmy lets out a hearty laugh, causing Sans to answer for him. "Jimmy has said he hasn't had staff for six years now." Your eyebrows shoot up. "he runs this place completely solo." The skeleton exaggerates 'solo', dragging out the last 'o'.

"Completely!?" Both men nod. "How?!"

"Don't need anyone but me to make the pizzas," Jimmy explains. That may explain the very limited menu, though. "If I can do it right myself, why hire others that only might?"

You're not sure if you should be horribly concerned for this man's health or extremely impressed. You choose the latter. "That's amazing. But..." You glance around, "Where are the customers?" If he's been so successful, where is everyone?

"Eh, I usually get pick-up orders during the day. The dine-in patrons come in late. Less traffic inside is less work for me, haha!" You supposed that works out good for him. If there's no one inside, he can just stay back in the kitchen making orders the whole time. Jimmy claps his hands, flour puffing off of his chest lightly, "So! What can I get started for you two?"

The two of you tell him your orders and, with a wink, retreats back to the kitchen. With the silence that comes with his leave, you can't help but think that Sans probably brought you here because of the lack of people and most importantly, Monsters.

He's been so considerate since you've arrived that you can't help but feel guilty over the phobia you can't control. You're so damn nervous around him still. Your brain won't stop whispering to you that this just isn't normal. Skeletons don't walk and talk. They don't breathe and they don't just create machines to pull people from different universes.

It's only been a few days since you've arrived but you still feel completely alone and lost. These skeletons around you haven't done anything to you but you can't help but think:

What is Sans really capable of?

And if the other's really are alternates of Sans.

What are they capable of? 

Sans pulled five other versions of himself through the void.

So why were you pulled? 

Hell, what was Sans even trying to accomplish? How did you get grabbed if all he's done so far was grab himself?

You're afraid of the answers.

Do you dare to ask for them, though?

Gathering the nerves to do it, you take a deep breath before letting it out slowly through your nose. Sans watches in curiosity before startling in his seat with you abruptly swivel your barstool to face him.

"Sans." Said skeleton's eye sockets furrow inquisitively. "Why did your machine pull me through?" you ask slowly.

That question must have shocked him because Sans' eye lights suddenly distinguish, leaving his sockets pitch black and empty. You almost immediately backpedal on your inquiry before he sighs. His eye lights come back, but very dim, as he looks back and forth between you and the direction of the kitchen.

"kid...we can't talk about this in public. the machine cannot be discussed around anybody but me and the other Sanses," he tells you, voice serious.

Your chest tightens with indignation. This machine totally uprooted your entire life and you can't discuss it? You're practically alone! In a completely different room is an older man who probably can't hear the two of you. Especially with Sans' deep voice.

You furrow your eyebrows. "But why?" you push, "Why me?" You use both hands to push against your chest for emphasis on yourself.

"kid..." Sans sighs.

You cut him off from whatever he was about to say but make sure your voice is low. "No! I deserve answers! I've been here for three days and I'm so confused and overwhelmed and..." Your voice grows small, "I just want to know why I was brought here..."

Sans' typical grin drops at that and he turns away from you, facing back towards the counter. What does he tell you? He doesn't exactly have a concrete answer for you. His only hypothesis on why it was you who came through is based solely on the fact that you're his SOULmate.

"kid..." 

"Me, Sans! It doesn't make any sense! I'm a nobody! Nothing special in any sense of the word and yet I was the one you pulled through? Why not another Sans?"

Sans' SOUL flares at the deprecating words you use on yourself. You are not a nobody. You are special. With a grimace, Sans turns back to you. "kid...i don't have all the answers, trust me, I wish i did but i don't. the only possible reason i can think of for why the machine decided to bring you through is that you're possibly connected to me; us."

You look away from him, glaring at the counter in deep thought. To the side, Sans watches your SOUL flicker with uncertainty and despair. He quickly sends off comforting waves but to his surprise, your SOUL rejects them outright. 

He does not like the sound of that. Your SOUL should subconsciously accept the comfort and care even if you weren't aware of all of it. For your SOUL to reject him like that? It's trying to protect you. But why? It knows you're his SOULmate, so why would it decline him when his SOUL is only trying to calm yours down?

Sans wishes he could just bring it out to see for himself. But you know nothing about this world. You probably don't know anything about SOULs or that you even have one.

The skeleton goes to talk but is interrupted by the kitchen door swinging open. Jimmy comes through with two plates, placing the correct one in front of you and Sans. "Pepperoni for the lady and plain cheese for the skeleton." He looks exasperated with Sans' choice of slice. After setting down your guy's food, Jimmy slides out a couple of tall, plastic red cups. He takes the soda hose and fills both up with Coke and slides each over.

Sans grins and thanks the man while you stay silent, staring down at your plate. Jimmy heads back to the kitchen and Sans lets his grin drop. Unable to resist any longer, you pull your cup over, bring the rim up to your lips, and chug down as much soda as you can before running out of air.

You cough at the burn and take a moment to regain your breath. From the corner of your eyes, you notice Sans watching you. With a sigh, you ask, "You'll find out, though, right?" You take a big bite of pizza and hum pleasurably at the taste. One bite in and you can easily figure out why this man's 'one man business' is so successful. When you don't hear a response from the Monster sitting next to you, you look over to him. He's staring down at his food. "Sans?"

With an alarmed start, he faces you. His cheeks flush just barely but against his white skull, you can make out some of the color. "y-yeah. we'll figure it out."

The two of you continue to eat in silence until you blurt, "Why did the machine explode at my arrival, anyway? Is-is it even safe?"

"kid, really, we gotta stop talking about it." You shrink at his stare.

"But..." 

"i know we haven't known each other for that long..." Sans takes a chance and puts a bony hand on your shoulder. "but i promise you're safe. the house is safe. the machine is safe... while broken." His hand squeezes your shoulder in hopes to comfort you, even if just slightly.

Something within you trusts Sans and his words. And when his hand finally leaves your shoulder, for some reason, you inwardly long for it to return. It was warm. It was comforting. It was safe.

You ignore the weird feelings and quickly finish off your pizza. "Thanks for lunch," you murmur.

Sans grins widely at the sight of your SOUL becoming lighter. The food must have done you some good. Hopefully, his words helped, too. 

"heh- it was the yeast i could do," Sans says with a shit-eating grin as he hops off of his seat. 

You hop off as well before stopping, not following him as he begins to head to the entrance. "Wait..." Did he just-?

Sans turns and winks, "what? was that pun too cheesy for you?"

"Damnit Sans..." you groan and walk past him, hearing him laugh and follow as you do. You open the door for him and, as he exits, you say, "You're a real pizza work, ya know that?" He freezes as you step out behind him, the door closing by itself behind you. He turns around slowly, eye sockets wide and eye lights fuzzy. Your cheeks burn at his gaze. "Wh-what?"

Somehow, Sans' grin grows wider. His zygomatic bones burn a little darker this time as he declares, "i a-dough you for making such a good pun."

The two of you stare at each other for a moment before you both bend over in giggles. "I-I can't believe I did that!"

"it was amazing! a pure work of art. you're a punster in the making." Sans leans back up as he wipes a translucent blue tear away from his eye socket. You're stuck watching him in wonder. How does he work? What is the tear made out of? The same stuff their sweat is? For that matter, how do they eat? How have you not wondered about that until now?

You're suddenly overcome with the need to find out how these skeleton Monsters work. 

"kid?" You blink back into focus. "heh, lost you for a moment there."

"Sorry," you smile and shake your head as if the motion could clear your thoughts. "Was just thinking. But- hey! Did you ever get my text?" You gesture to his coat, assuming his phone is tucked away in one of the pockets his hands are always making their home in.

Sans takes his cell phone out and turns it on. "ah, i did not. i must have been busy with something. then your SO-er then i popped home to find you hurt and so yea...." 

You nod. "Yeah you and Fell really showed up out of nowhere. Scared the shit out of me," you brush your bangs out of your face with a laugh when you remember the scene of those two popping up with panic written all over their faces. However... "Hey... why did you two get there so fast...?"

"h-hey you found stuff to buy online?" Sans flashes his phone at you, showcasing your texts. "that's great, glad you did. and don't worry about asking me if it's okay to purchase. get whatever you may need."

You smile warmly, admired with his generosity for someone who's practically a total stranger. You gently bump his arm with your own. "Thanks."

~~

After making it home, you quickly disappear to your room, eager to make the online purchase for your stuff. Once that's done, you're able to lay back in bed and give yourself a moment to relax. Due to your accident this morning, you weren't really able to get anything productive done today but...you feel like you understand Sans a little bit more now.

You still have lots of questions for him but for now, you feel alright. Turning to your side, you begin getting comfy on top of your covers. You just want to close your eyes for a few minutes. It's been a wild ride all day. However, with your wriggling around to find that perfect position, your foot kicks the laptop off the bed.

It lands with a heavy thud. You shoot up and off the bed in a panic. Eyes wide, you gingerly pick it up and place it back down on your mattress. "Please don't be broken..." you repeat over and over.

With a look of utter despair, you notice a chunk of the shell was taken off of the top corner of the lid. 'Shitshitshitshitshit!' You quickly wipe off the plastic shards left behind before putting your hands on your head. What do you do? You can't just keep Error's laptop from him!

Okay, just think about this rationally. Error hasn't done anything to you to make you think he'd explode at you for damaging his laptop. However, the only interactions you have had with him so far have been very...nerve-wracking. He's not exactly been friendly per say.

You smack your cheeks. "Come on! Own up to your mistake you stupid bitch!" You check the time on your phone; 4:40. Dinner is usually five thirty or six-ish so you should have plenty of time to work up the courage to return Error's laptop, make nice with the broody skelly and then lay back down in bed and relax like you wanted.

With a forced pep in your step, you scoop the laptop up and make your way to Error's door. You knock and only allow one thought of running away and leaving the laptop for Sans to return brush past your mind. 

Though the longer he takes to answer his door the more courage you're losing to confront him. "E-Error?" you ask while rapping again lightly. You startle when his door pushes open a tad. Okay, so maybe you could just leave it on his bed? Then talk to him later? You nod to yourself, yeah that sounds perfectly fine!

You tip-toe into the empty room. You remember the string he has...strung up everywhere and look upwards at them all. Oh! Those are...dolls hanging from some? You can't reach them but a few of them look just like your other skeleton roommates. They're so cute! They must be hand made, too!

Reaching Error's bed, idly noting how high it sits, you set his device down and give it a couple pats for good measure (and totally not for your anxiety's sake).

*DUN DUN*

You whirl around with a gasp at the loud sound effect. The TV is on, playing some show. You sigh and wonder how you missed his big ass TV being on in the background. Your eyes stay glued to the screen in hopes to figuring out what is playing.

When people show up and begin talking, you're left confused for a split second. They're speaking Spanish? "Wha-? Oh my gosh he's watching Spanish telenovelas." You realize with a deadpan. Then you snort, not expecting this was something the glitchy skeleton would like.

Thankfully, Error has subtitles on so you're able to get a grasp on what's going on in the moment. A woman is huffing about two different men to what looks like her personal maid. You chew on the skin of your thumb-tip. 

Wait when did you start sitting on the ground? You notice your leg rubbing against the carpet and itch it before returning your gaze to the television.

"¡Pero Isabella! ¡Los quiero a los dos! ¿Cómo podría elegir?"

"But Isabella! I love them both! How could I possibly choose?!"

"Boooo!" You groan, "You can't have both! That wouldn't be fair to the other!" 

"What are you doing in here??"