#one of the kids: Papa says to wait till we’re 16

[brokestrapmountain]

you are all a bunch of punks for thinking boris’s yogurt family isn’t real because it’s so much funnier and in character for boris to ACTUALLY have a wife and kids that he barely sees. like ya he’s a liar nd half of the stuff that he says is bullshit but a random family is just so him…. it’s so dramatic ahahaha he’s a deadbeat

also love the idea of theo as an awkward step dad. he asks 12 year olds about taxes and has a mortifying realization that he’s become xandra

[tare-anime]

16.  Once upon a time in the far future……? (AO3)

Prompt: “Hey, look at me. I’m not going anywhere.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Loid, you have to-.... nnnggghh……" The Forger matriarch tried her best to speak through clenched teeth and concentrated on controlling her breathing till the pain subsided a little and she could continue, "You have to let go of me…."

"No way. We're in this together," Her husband stubbornly held her hand. 

"Loid, come on. You have to be reasonable! You can't….. nnngggghh!!" 

"Yor, hang on!! Please!! Somebody do something!" Loid pleaded and desperately searched for help. 

Throughout his life, he had never felt this much dread. He'd truly rather stop a nuke being launched, or defuse a bomb under the tight observation of a horde of SSS officers than have to stand by his wife and be helpless. 

A new surge of blood coming out of his wife and soaking her bed sheet just made his heartbeat skyrocket. 

"Loid! They're trying to help. But you need to let me go!" 

“No!” He firmly said, “Can’t I follow her and stand by her side throughout the process??” He looked at the nurse standing across him.

“Dr. Forger, you know full well that only authorized personnel may enter the Operating Room,” the woman answered flatly, clearly unimpressed by the antics that were happening in front of her. 

“But I-....”

“Loid!” Yor grabbed her husband’s chin and forced him to look at her, “Hey, look at me.”

After she was sure that her husband was focused on her, she continued as steady as she could, “I’m not going anywhere. These people will make sure I’ll be okay. You just need to calm down and ….. Ugggghh………. And let them do what they’ve already done so many times before.”

Loid gulped and still tried to say something, but Yor cut him, “Please? Just stay here. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Finally, he nodded, and with a trembling hand he caressed his wife’s head, and whispered, “Okay. Be sure to come back.”

Yor smiled, “I will.”

Loid then straightened his body and let go of his wife’s hand.

“Finally!!” the midwife rolled her eyes and started pushing the hospital bed, entering the Operation Room.

Loid wiped the sweat from his brow and sat down at one of the waiting seats across the OR’s double door. 

That didn't last long though. 

Drowning in nervous energy, Loid started to pace up and down, which made several people who waited there, obviously being in the same condition as him, give him sympathetic looks. 

“PAPA!!” 

Loid’s head snapped to his daughter who ran to his side, “Ssshhh… Anya. You may not run and yell at the hospital!”

Panting, the kid seemed to ignore his demand, “How’s Mama? Where’s my brother?”

“She's just entered the operation room. We’ll have to wait for some time.”

“This kid has been restless the whole way from school” Frankie who just arrived at his side chimed in. 

Loid chuckled, “Aren’t we all?”

"They'll be alright," Frankie gave his arm a few pats. 

"Yeah, Papa. Everything is going to be alright. Bond said so," Anya grinned. 

The calm energy of those two managed to calm him down to some extent, so the man was able to smile back, "I never doubt it." 

They then sat down at the waiting chairs, with Anya munching on her snacks, and Frankie sipping his coffee. 

Loid still had no appetite though. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity the OR’s door opened. 

“Mr. Forger?" 

“That’s me!!” Loid abruptly stood up, and ran to the nurse’s side, followed by Anya and Frankie.

“Congratulations! A very healthy boy!” the nurse smiled and showed him his son.

Loid’s heart melted when he saw the boy stir. 

“Hey there, Leon….” He cooed. 

“Papa, I wanna see him!” at Anya’s request, Loid picked her up.

“Hey brother!” Anya’s smile was so bright, while Frankie wiped at his eyes.

“We will bring your son to the nursery room. You can meet your wife in the recovery room in a few moments. Through that door,” the nurse pointed to another double door and started walking to the nursery room, with all the whole family in tow.

They watched through the window how Leon was being cleaned and measured. 

“He’s so cute, Papa!” Anya squealed. 

Every time Loid saw his baby wail and squirm, and blink his eyes, he felt proud. 

And he should share that pride with the mother. 

Patting his daughter’s head, he addressed them, “I’ll go meet Yor now.”

“We’ll wait here,” Frankie answered. 

Loid nodded and started to walk in the direction of the Recovery Room.

Entering the room, he put on the visiting gown, and silently walked towards the designated bed. 

Slowly he approached his sleeping wife. 

When he held her hand, her eyes fluttered open, and he gave her the biggest smile of a very proud father, “Hey…..”

Yor smiled back, “Hey. How’s our boy?”

“Kicking and screaming.”

Yor chuckled sleepily.

“He looks a lot like me though,” he added, feigning a disappointed look, “But at least he’s got your eyes.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Yor bemusedly asked. 

“I can already see how naughty he will be.”

Again, his wife could only chuckle tiredly. She then mumbled, “Hm…. sleepy….”

Caressing her hair lovingly, Loid kissed her forehead and whispered, “Sleep. I’m not going anywhere.”

Their family was growing. And even though there was a tiny bit of fear in his heart regarding the uncertainty of the future, with all of them on his side, Loid knew he could handle it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The OC was borrowed from @bluwwo​, and the pic/character design was borrowed from @musiciati​.

Once I saw a pic of 'types of husband at the waiting room' at the hospital. I chuckled because the pic was so dramatic. But then, when it was time for me to labor, I was the one who need to calm my hubby XD (He's such a sweetheart).

And that's the end of this series of one shot. Thank you so much for reading :D Until next time ^^

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MASTERLIST

[draco-kasai]

Hero Collaboration Program

Summery: High School Hero Collaboration Program! Helping Sophomore hero students connect with others around the world! Come join us for a two-week-long trip to one of our schools for an amazing once in a lifetime experience with students of Yuuei! Only a lucky 40 students will be selected for this program. They will be split into two groups of 20 and sent to different schools to have completely unique experiences!

A/N: AKA, A very ambitious fanfic I started because even though I have another fanfic in progress my brain decided to give me an idea and I just had to do it. These are all characters I adore and I even did lots of research on them to hopefuly get them down right. I also too many backstories and threw them into a meat grinder to remold them in a way that would make them fit into this universe. 

I love Class 1-A, but like they need to be taken down a peg or two, and I want to see them get their asses handed to them.

Ch. 1 part 3 of 3 Program Sign-Ups  

Chapter 1 pt 1 --> Chapter 1 pt 2  --> -Chapter 2-

“Hola mama.” a teen smiled softly at the woman behind the desk. His brown hair, that almost looked a reddish orange in the light, was a curly mess, almost hiding his two round, striped ears.

The older woman looked away from the computer screen she had been typing at to smile at her son, “Manny, Hola mijito. What brings you to the library? A project?”

“Um, no, not really…” brown eyes glanced over to one of the bookshelves. A girl with shoulder-length blue hair, and red goggles, gave him two thumbs up, a large grin on her lips before she left. Looking back at his mother, Manny spoke, “I, uh, wanted to know if you’d let me sign up for the Hero Collaboration Program!”

His mother tilted her head to the side in confusion, “Hero Collaboration Program?”

“Uh, yeah, It’s this whole program for first year hero students in preparatoria.” Manny began to explain as his mother turned to attend someone who wanted to check out a book, “Basically we go on a two-week-long trip to California, and meet and work with other kids from around the world. We’re going to be working with students from a specific school in Japan. Frida and I want to sign up as a team!”

“That’s very nice and all Manny but… well, why are you asking me?” His mother asked as she waved goodbye to the student.

“What do you mean?”

“Well… It’s just… you don’t usually ask me for permission with aanything since we don't... live together, you usually just go to your father or grandpapi. Never me…” Maria frowned, a hand fiddling with a hoop earring.

Manny let out a soft sigh as he ruffled his hair, “Well, yeah, but papa and -.... He would obviously say ‘yes’ and I wanted your opinion. I mean… I don’t see you as often as it is, and being with dad is great and all, but… you're my mom.”

Maria placed a hand over her heart, face full of concern, “Manny… ” Pausing, she looked around for a moment. Telling her son to wait, she walked off to speak to someone before coming back and grabbing her bag. Taking her son’s hand, she led them out of the library and over to a park. Sitting them both down at a bench, the older woman began to speak, “Now then… Is everything alright, baby?”

Brown eyes widened in surprise at his mother's question, “W - what do you mean?”

Maria let out a soft huff, “Manny, I may not be around often, but I can tell something is bothering you. I don’t think it’s my permission you were worried about.” her son let out a heavy sigh.

"Well… it's just that, ever since I decided to join the hero classes when we started preparatoria things at home have been… tense. Like grandpa has been distant and dad has been doting all over me more. Even training at home isn't even fun anymore! It’s so suffocating to even be home anymore! I’ve had to stay over Frida’s house a few times cause I just can’t take it!"

“The Suarez’s are letting you stay over?”

“Yeah, Mr Emiliano doesn’t really know what’s going on, but I think he has an idea… he’s been trying to be nicer to me...”

“When did this happen?”

“Um… Like a while ago? Uh, sometime in September?”

Maria frowns at this news. The fact that her son doesn’t feel comfortable at home anymore is worrying. Not just that, but he didn’t even come to her when this all started. Biting her lip, she asked, “Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”

Manny lowered his head, avoiding eye contact, “I didn’t want to bother you with my problems. I probably wouldn’t even have told Frida if she hadn’t been there when I announced my intentions for becoming a hero to them.”

His mother’s frown only deepened at this. He should know that he wouldn’t be a bother to her. No, not her son, never her son. She thought they were closer than that. “... Have you spoken to them about it?”

“...No… Whenever I try bringing it up, they just… brush it off or get distracted with something else. Besides, what am I even supposed to say to them?”

His mother bit her lower lip in thought. Her hand wandered up to gently pet her son’s head, eliciting a soft purr from him. She hasn’t been there enough for her son. Leaving her husband was difficult, but leaving Manny had been the hardest part. She would have taken him with her, but not even she was sure if her Mariachi band would do well, and they didn’t either till they finally caught a break. Once things for her had become more secure, she wanted to have Manny travel with her, to see the world, but he was already happy with his father and his best friend. She couldn't take that from him. Seeing him once a month was enough for her.

“Do you want to stay with me for a while?” She blinked in surprise at the sudden question that left her lips. Looking down, she could see the shock in her son’s face. He obviously wasn’t expecting the question either, “I mean… You can stay until you know what to say to your father and grandpa or… if you want, you could… can stay as long as you like.”

Manny stared up at his mother. He remained silent for a moment before he spoke, “Is… is that okay?”

“Of course it is, mijo. I have a spare guest room. You are always welcome. My door is always open for you, no matter what.” Many smiled weakly and hugged his mother.

“Gracias mama.” He mumbled softly into his mother's shoulder. The two sat like that for a while till Maria finally pulled away.

“Now then, let’s go get your things from the house, yeah?” She smiled softly as she whipped the stray tears from her son’s freckled cheeks. With a nod, they both got to their feet and began walking.

“So, did you really want my permission for the program?”

“Yeah, I wanted an unbiased opinion.”

“Well, I think you should go. Consider it a vacation.” She ruffled her son’s hair, “Will your girlfriend be joining you?”

“Yeah! We stopped by her dad’s work during our last recess. He was pretty okay with it. She may not be becoming a cop like the rest of her family, but they’re still pretty proud of her.” Manny grinned, “Frida and I are really excited about this!”

“I’m glad.” Maria found herself grinning as well.

Frida Suarez. Age 16. Seat 4. Student Rank 13. Hero Name: Rockster. Quirk: Quirkless.

Karate, Hand to Hand, parkour

Manuel Pablo Gutierrez O’Brien Equihua Rivera. Age 16. Seat 5. Student Rank 17. Hero Name: El Tigre. Quirk: Tigre

Has striped ears, tail and fangs. Has stripes going down his arms, legs and back just like a Tiger. Roar can temporarily paralyze anyone in range. When angry, his eyes turn green, making him lose control to instincts.

Agile, hand to hand, night vision, sensitive hearing

_______

“Good morning” A slim girl with slick waist long black hair mumbled as she walked into the kitchen.

“Oh, hey honey, you’re just on time. I made pancakes.” A large, buff man with blond hair placed another pancake on a plate.

“Good morning, Violet.” The girl's mother greeted from across the island as she fed the baby.

“Morning guys,” She ruffles her baby brother's hair, “morning Jack Jack.” The toddler let out a fit of giggles as he clapped his hands together.

“Where’s your brother? I don’t want him rushing through breakfast again.” The girl's mother looked around as she spoke. Violet shrugs her shoulders as she sits in her seat on the island and gratefully takes the plate of pancakes her father offered her.

“Probably still in the shower.” She responded, pouring syrup on her breakfast, “Uh, hey mom… did…did you look at that packet I gave you yesterday?”

“Packet?” Her father cocked up an eyebrow as he set down a plate for his son and wife, “What packet?”

“Bob, I talked to you about it last night.” His wife rolled her eyes fondly, cleaning her son's face, she nodded, “I did, I think you should apply.”

“Really?” Violet perked up, food in her mouth.

“Don’t speak with your mouth full.” Bob set down his own plate and took a seat at the island, “Last night? Oh, you mean the exchange program, right? Yeah, I don’t see why not, sweetie.”

“Ooo! Pancakes!” A younger blond shouted followed by a small gush of wind, the boy suddenly appearing in his seat.

“Dash, no running in the house.” His mother reprimanded, earning a soft sorry.

“Really? I can apply? Yes! Oh my gosh!” Violet cheers, happily wiggling in her seat.

“Apply for what? What did I miss?” drowning his pancakes in syrup, Dash glances at everyone.

“Your sister is going to be applying for a two-week hero program. She’ll be interacting and training with other hero hopefuls from across the country and other places of the world.” His mother explained. Jack Jack squealed from next to her and clapped his hands together.

“Whoa, cooool! You’ve got to tell me how it goes! That sounds awesome! I want to sign up too!” Dash bounces in his seat

“Well, you’ve got to wait till you’re a sophomore in high school since it’s a sophomore only program.” Violet explained as she waved around her fork. Her younger brother pouted at this.

“Don’t worry, Dash, you can apply when you get to 10th grade too.” His father's reassurance made the boy grin, “Now eat up kids, It’s my turn to take you all to school.”

Violet Parr. Age 15. Seat 14. Student Rank 14 Hero Name: Violet. Quirk: Flyrogensis

Can create force fields to protect herself or use in battle. Is able to generate fields to throw or break through solid objects.

Hand to hand, stealth

_____

“Good morning Rudy!” A short, plump woman greeted her son happily, placing down a plate of eggs, home styled fries and wheat toast. On the table across sat a tall, scrawny man already eating happily.

“Good morning kiddo!” he greeted with a wave.

“Morning ma, morning pop.” Rudy smiled, sitting himself down at the table.

“Did you ever make your decision on that program you told us about a few days ago, sweetie?” Millie asked, finally sitting down to enjoy her own breakfast.

“Oh that’s right! That hero thing, right?” His father, Joe, turned his full attention to his son.

“Oh, yeah, actually I did. I decided to go ahead and apply.” Rudy’s green eyes looked away from his parents and picked at his food, “I uh, I still want to become an artist but… I also really like helping people. There’s a bunch of heroes out there that have more than one job and I thought, maybe, I could do that too.”

“Oh baby, of course you can!” Millie placed a hand over her son’s, prompting his eyes to look up to meet hers, “I work as an advice column writer and even do opera, all while keeping the house spotless and putting food on the table! If you want to do more than one thing, go for it.” She gave her son a smile that he graciously returned.

“I’m so proud of you, son!” His father grinned widely, giving him a hair ruffle, “You’re growing up to be such the creative young man! And I'm not just saying that because of the nature of your quirk!”

Rudy laughed as he swatted his father's hand away, “Stop it, pop” The laughter only grew as Joe drew his son closer to give him a noogie.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough now. No messing around at the table.” Millie lectured, a small smile still on her lips. Both father and son broke apart, shooting small apologies.

Rudy Tabootie. Age 16. Seat 18 Student Rank 15. Hero Name: Snap. Quirk: Chalk Art

Anything he draws with chalk becomes real or animated. Somehow he can defy all laws of physics and draw what he needs in the air in 2D, and it becomes 3D. His only limit is his imagination.

Hand to hand

____

“I’m heading out now!” A teenage boy called into his house as he stepped out.

“Wait, Jake, don’t forget Haley!” An older woman called as she walked down the corridor with a small ten-year-old following besides her.

“Awe man, seriously?” Jake frowns, watching his mother help his sister through the straps of her backpack.

“Yes, I have to head out in…now!” His mother’s eyes widened as she looked at her watch. Giving a quick peck on her kid’s foreheads, she ran back inside, “Johnathan, we have to go now!”

“Oh, oh! Now? Oh, shoot! Head for the car, I’ll be right there!” The older man with glasses was quick to tighten his tie and grab his car keys. Rushing past the kids, he gave them both a little hair ruffle before they entered the car and drove off.

“Well, that was somethin.” The siblings looked down the steps to see Jake’s two friends staring off where their parents had gone.

“What’s with the rush?” The male wearing a beanie asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Hi Spud, Hi Trixie. Mom has an early wedding to get too.” Haley explained hopping down the steps' while her brother locked the door, “Dad’s driving her before heading to work.”

“Hey there Haley.” Trixie smiled, the fairy-like wings on her back flapping about happily, “Guess that means we’re dropping you off on our way.”

“Wicked.” Spud grinned as he patted the girl’s head.

“Sup guys,” Jake greeted with a grin as he skipped the last three steps, “We should get moving unless we all want to be late.” He prompted them to start walking.

“Hey Jakey, did you tell your parents about that program you want to enter?” Trixie asked.

“The Hero Collaboration Program, right? Yeah, he asked. I don’t think he’ll get accepted, though. I mean, have you seen his grades? I doubt he’ll be accepted.” Haley waved her hand about dismissively, earning a glare from her brother. Trixie and Spud shared a look.

“Uh, the program isn’t based on grades.” Trixie’s words made the young girl blink in surprise.

“It… it’s not?”

“Nah, It's just an essay where you talk about yourself and an interview.” Spud explained

“Whoa - that’s ridiculous! It’s an exchange student program! It’s supposed to be based on grades! What kind of program doesn’t base anything off of grades!?” Haley tugged at her pigtails as she threw herself into a spiral.

“It’s a Hero program, Haley. We’re supposed to learn more about the hero world while we’re there and make connections with other students. They wouldn't even let us apply unless we were in the hero courses, and you gotta have at least a 2.5 to even get those classes. I’ve got straight B’s and one C. I'm golden if I can write a good enough essay and pass the interviews.” Jake sent his friends a grateful smile.

“That’s ridiculous! A 3.0 or a 4.0 student would benefit from it more! Why are they allowing such low grades in?” Jake rolled his eyes fondly at his younger sister’s ‘good grades are everything’ tirade. He almost cried out in happiness when he spotted her school come into view.

“Alright Haley~ Here’s your school, see you later, bye~!” Jake grinned as he gently pushed his younger sister towards the school doors. The little girl walked into the school, continuing her speech. Jogging back over to his friends, Jake gave them a smile.

“Thanks for helping with Haley, guys.”

“Naaah it’s no prob bro. Your sister is just focused on perfect grades. Wait till she gets older and realizes that that’s not going to help her with real world problems.” Spud nods as they all set down their skateboards.

Trixie pats her friend's shoulder, “Technically, Spud’s right, but we’re also not gonna let your little sister bully you just cause she’s got a 4.0 GPA. Besides, I'm sure you’ll get in, Jakey.”

“Thanks guys.”

“Anytime dude.”

“Alright, that's enough mushy stuff, let's go before the warning bell rings!” Trixie waved her hands about before kicking off, her friends close behind her.

Jake Long. Age 16. Seat 5. Student rank 18. Hero Name: Red Dragon. Quirk: Huolong

Can shapeshift into a dragon. He can also transform any part of his body into his dragon part without completely shape shifting.

Hand to Hand, Karate, parkour

____

A girl with ankle long blond hair skipped down the stairs of her house. Hearing the TV on, she assumes it’s her parents and calls out a greeting, only to pause at the foot of the stairs upon seeing her cousin. “Oh! Hey Finn” She grins, walking over to give him a hug, her hair shrinking down to be a bob cut.

“Hey Fionna.” Fin grins, ruffling his younger cousin’s hair.

“What are you doing here so early?” Fionna asked as she looked around.

“Mom and dad had their anniversary trip today and Jake and Lady’s place is kind of full 'cause of all the kids, so they dropped me off here.” Finn explained, walking with his cousin into the kitchen.

“Oh, that’s cool.” Fionna looked around the kitchen to see her breakfast already prepared and covered with saran wrap. “When did my parents leave?”

“About twenty minutes ago. I would have gone back to sleep, but I figured you might not see me, and I’d end up sleeping all day.” Finn yawned, walking back to the living room.

“Good call.” Fionna giggles as she grabs a fork and walks into the living room with her cousin.

“Hey, Finn, can I ask you something?” Fionna asks once she finishes her food. Her cousin hums in response, “You were, like, a sophomore once, right?”

Finn snorts at the question. Turning to face his cousin, he gives her a soft kick on the thigh with his foot, “Dude, I’m just one year older than you.” Fionna blushes, realizing the ridiculousness of her question.

Giving an awkward laugh, she clears her throat, “Right. Well, … did you apply for the Hero Collaboration Program?” Silence filled the room. Fionna was starting to feel nervous at the blank stare her cousin was giving her. She prepares to speak, only to jump in surprise as Finn bursts into laughter.

“Oh, oh, thank glob! I thought you were going to ask me for advice with Ignis! Yeah, I did though!”

“Whoa-” Fionna could feel her cheeks heat up at that. The image of a good-looking boy with a mohawk made of flames smiling at her made her face look like a tomato, “W - why would I want advice with Ignis?!”

“Are you kidding me? I’ve seen the way you get all flustered around him!” Finn grins, earning him a kick to the side. The force making him fall off the couch eliciting loud laughter.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Fionna huffed as she got to her feet and took her dirty dish to the kitchen to wash, “I just wanted your opinion on whether or not I should apply for the program! Jerk…”

With a gasp for breath, Finn rose up to his feet, his smile never faltering, “You’re going to apply?”

“Mmm, I’m thinking about it. I’m not sure, though.” The blond female sighs, dark blue eyes focused on the trickling water from the sink.

“Well, It’s not due till mid-December, right? You’ve got a lot of time to think about it.”

“I knoooow, it’s just that… I want to do it, but I’ve never really gone so far from home, I’m a little scared and nervous.” Fionna sighed, turning off the sink and putting the now clean plate away.

“You can’t think of it like that! Think of it like an adventure!” Finn grins, glancing at the clock and grabbing his backpack and Fionna’s.

“An adventure?” Fionna raises an eyebrow as she grabs her beanie that matches her cousin’s hat, only with bunny ears instead of bear ears.

“Yeah! But you gotta say it like this; AAAADVENTURE!” Finn pumped his fist in the air as he shouted, his other hand handed her her backpack. Fionna giggles.

“Alright, AAADVENTURE!” She shouts, making them both burst into a fit of giggles.

“Yeah, you got it! Whenever I get nervous or scared to go somewhere, I think of it as if I'm going on an adventure! I do the same thing when I’m lost, that way I don’t freak out about it.”

“Well, that explains why you came home with a large smile after being missing almost a whole day when we were eight.” Fionna grumbled as she opened the door.

“Yeah! I was scared, but I kept telling myself that I was on an adventure to find the castle! The castle being home. I even met a hero on the way! Did I tell you about that? It was awesome! She was so cool, it’s what drove me to become a hero!” Finn grins toothily.

Fionna blows her hair out of her face as she closes the door behind them both once outside. “I don’t think I could ever be so optimistic, Finn.” She turns to continue walking, she bumps into her cousin’s back. “Uh… Finn?”

“It’s not that I’m optimistic, it’s just that if I let my fear or nerves get to me, I would never get anything done. We’re studying to be heroes, Fionna, you have to, just, take a leap of faith.” Finn turned to face his cousin, eyes shining with resolve, “I’m not saying it’s bad to feel that way, no, it’s okay to feel nervous or scared or even sad. It’s a normal human emotion, we all feel it. What I am saying though is; don’t let those emotions overpower your mind and let it control you. You have to put yourself out there, even if it hurts you, or you regret it, at least you can say that you tried. You’ll always come out of that stronger and smarter.”

Fiona stared at her cousin in surprise. Reaching out, he gave her shoulder a soft punch, “Sign up for that program. Trust me, it’ll do you some good,” He grins widely, mischief in his eyes, “and ask Ignis out already.”

Fiona let out a gasp in surprise and punched her cousin, “Shut it, you! I thought we were having a moment!”

“Ahahah ouch!” Finn laughed as he rubbed his sore bicep, Fionna marching past him towards school. Finn was quick to follow.

“Hey… Finn…” Fionna spoke softly once the school came into view. Her cousin hummed in response, “Thanks… I never took you to be so inspirational.”

“Eh, I have my moments.” Finn smiles, patting her head

“And Finn?” A brightly smiling Fionna skipped forward to stand in front of her cousin, turning on her heel she beamed up at her taller cousin.

“Yeah?” Finn asked stopping in his tracks.

“You should totally ask out Ignis’s older sister, Lucerna~” her smile morphed into a wicked smirk as she watched Finn’s face slowly turn bright red. With a giggle, she waved at her cousin and ran to her friend group with a wave.

“F- Fionna!” Finn shouted before chasing after her, making her laugh louder.

Fiona Venture. Age 15. Seat 16. Student Rank 19. Hero Name: Bunny. Quirk: Hair manipulation

She can alter, grow out, regenerate, reshape and change the texture of her hair. Has complete control of her hair like another limb.

Hand to hand, sword

____ 

“Hey guys~! Have no fear, B.B is here to brighten your lunch!” A boy with green skin and hair gave a toothy grin, showing off his fangs.

“Oh joy.” A pale girl with short purple hair rolled her eyes fondly as the boy flopped on the lunch table next to her.

“Hey Gar.” Jaime gave a soft smile and half-hearted wave.

“Wh - what the hell kind of energy was that?” Garfield frowned as he opened his lunch box, “That was the most depressing ‘hi’ I’ve ever gotten in my life - and I'm dating Raven! Ah, no offense.”

“I’d be shocked if I even got offended with your antics at this point.” Raven shrugged.

Jaime gave a half-hearted laugh, “Sorry dude, I’ve just been having an, eh, day.” he shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh, dude, what happened?” Garfield frowns

“My mom is being a worry wart about the program.” Jaime sighed, taking a bite of his lunch, “We also had a pop quiz in Mr. Valencia’s class. I totally fucked that up.”

“Oooo ouch dude. I’m sure you’ll be able to convince your mom to let you sign up. You’ve got plenty of time, too. It’s not due till December.” Garfield attempted to reassure, “Plus, Mr. Valencia like’s watching his students struggle. He’s always got that wicked smirk when he announces pop quizzes.”

Jaime snickers, “Yeah, you’re right. What about you? You gonna sign up?”

“Heck yeah, I am!” Garfield raises a fist in the air, “It sounds awesome!”

“I'm still surprised that your grades are high enough to get into the hero course.” Raven smirks at the jab.

“I’m hurt that you don’t trust my natural smartness skills, mama.” Garfield pouts, his pointed ears drooping for effect.

Raven gestures to him as she stares Jaime dead in the eyes, “Jee, I wonder why.” her plain voice made the boy across from her snort.

Garfield Logan. Age 16. Seat 7. Student Rank 20. Hero name: Beast Boy. Quirk: Shape shifting

He can turn into any animal in the animal kingdom. Has recently discovered he could also become mythical creatures.

Hand to Hand

_____

Shouta Aizawa let out a long, tired and heavy sigh as he went through the biology homework his students had turned in yesterday. He would have gone over them then, but honestly; he didn’t want to. He wasn’t too keen on doing this before his shift either, but he can’t really put it off forever. Even if he wanted to. Finally, finishing the last worksheet, he set it to the side, so he can hand them back out later. Glancing at the clock, he noted that it was almost 7 AM, and he should start heading to the school.

Leaning back on his couch, he rubbed the palm of his hands on his eyes as he let out a soft groan. He sat there for a few minutes, enjoying the silence, before letting out another long sigh and finally standing on his feet to finish getting ready. Once he finished changing, he headed to the kitchen and began preparing some coffee to take with him. The teachers 'dorms' was more like an apartment building complete with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and livingroom. The only reason the staff even bother calling it a 'dorm' is to not make the students jealous.

When his drink was finally ready, he took a long swing, unbothered by the scolding liquid, he let out a content sigh before filling up a thermos, grabbing what he needed and heading for the door. Putting on his shoes, makeing sure food was in his cat's bowl and throwing on his scarf, he walked out into the hallway.

“Ah, good morning, Aizawa.” Ken Ishiyama greeted, making his way down the hallway.

“Ishiyama.” Aizawa nodded, locking his door, he walked the same direction as his coworker.

“You needed me to come in during the heroics class today, correct?” Ken pressed the button to the elevator.

“Yeah, Yagi is going to conduct a kind of maze race today. I was hoping you can come in and create the maze as he gives his lecture to the students, maybe sooner if you can.” Aizawa explained as they both stepped into the elevator with a third-year teacher. They all gave one another a quick greeting.

“Hmmm a maze, huh? I’ll have to speak to Yagi about the difficulty he wants the maze to be, but I can make it.” Ken nods, “Once I’m done speaking to him, I’ll work on it during my third period break.”

“I appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem. Though, I kind of wish you guys had asked me yesterday, I could have made it after classes ended.”

“Yeah, sorry. You know how Yagi is. Doesn’t solidify any plans till the last minute. He hadn’t told me about it till 9 PM last night through text.”

“Yikes.” The third-year teacher commented softly.

“You have no idea.” Both teachers responded just as the doors opened to the dorm's common area. The space was filled with a handful of teachers finishing their morning routine before heading for the school. Walking past the counter, Aizawa snagged himself a muffin Lunch Rush made last night for the whole staff during one of his inspirational drives. 

Entering the teachers’ lounge, Shouta practically threw himself on his chair. Finishing off his muffin, tired black eyes turned to the stack of papers on his desk. He almost let out a groan when he read the title. Is it really that time of year already? Usually he participates as a chaperone since he usually expels his class, leaving them under the jurisdiction of another teacher. Unfortunately for him, it seems like he has a class this year. A class full of problem children, great.

“Hey Aizawa! Looks like this year’s one of those few years you’ll have an actual class, huh.” Kan walked over as he skimmed through the papers in his hand.

“Unfortunately.” Aizawa sighed

“Thank the gods” Nemuri sighed as she ran a hand down her face, making Hizashi snort.

“You know, if you wanted my class so bad, I could have expelled them this year.” Aizawa drawls out flatly as he takes a few papers and stands to his feet. This made Hizashi start cackling into his hand, while the raven-haired woman let out a whine.

“Um, what are you talking about?” Yagi asked from his desk.

“Ah, that’s right, I guess this program is still kind of considered new, huh.” Kan mumbled to himself softly.

“Every time Shouta decides to expel his class, they are placed under my care, since I don’t have a homeroom class and am technically considered a substitute teacher.” Nemuri shoots an accusing finger at her friend who pointedly ignored her in favor of going through the papers, “And because of that I’m usually stuck taking his class to California for this stupid program!”

“She’s just mad that they force her to wear a more modest version of her hero costume and speak without foul language when she’s working with the kids.” Aizawa added with an eye roll, “Honestly, I don’t understand why Nedzu doesn’t enforce that here too.”

“Agh, you hurt me, Shouta! What would I even be if not for my amazing, sexy self!”

“More approachable.” The man responded as he drank some of his coffee before turning to Kan, “Alright, I’m ready to go.” Both men made their way to Principal Nedzu’s office.

“I... erm, I actually wanted to know what program you’re all talking about…” Yagi mumbles sheepishly, “Though it’s good to know that the student’s he expels aren’t actually expelled.”

“Nah, they're basically placed on a probationary period for the whole year. I can’t say his methods don’t work, though, lots of those kids learned to work for things they want and not just half assing it.” Nemuri sighed.

“As for the program, it’s a program that Nedzu had finalized during our first year here.” Hizashi informed, “It’s called the Hero Collaboration Program. Basically, around the end of the school year, all first year hero students go to America to train and socialize with other students from across the country and around the world.”

Yagi perked up at this information, “Oh! That sounds like a lot of fun!”

“Even though they censor me, it is.” Nemuri leaned back in her seat, arms crossed, “There are quite a few field trips to museums, training activities, quirk theory classes and plenty of sparring. They even have a big party with live entertainment at the end of it, all along with a closing ceremony.”

“That sounds like a lot…” Yagi spoke in awe

“It is, but they’ve got a bunch of big companies from all over the place supporting them,” Hizashi nods.

“All the other departments have kind of similar field trips.” Higari Maijima piped in as he made his way to the printer, “The second-year support department are going to leave for theirs next week, third year business had one in the beginning of December and the third-year general education will have something a week before finals in March.”

“Ah! It’s good to know the youth of today are getting many more opportunities such as this to further their education.” Yagi grinned, “If only there were programs like that when I was back in high school.”

“Well, lucky for you, Toshinori, you’re going to be a chaperone for my class.” Shouta announced with an eye roll as he and Kan walked over. Once he was closer, he handed him two pages for him to go over. Its unfortunate he can’t choose who will be the chaperone to acompany him. It’s not that he hates Yagi, he’s a nice guy, don’t get him wrong, but the guy is still very new to teaching. He supposes him being a chaperone would be a good experiance for him though. 

“Done with your meeting with Nedzu already?” Hizashi rose a brow

“We just had to go over the usual rules and guidelines.” Kan informed, handing an excited Hizashi two papers, “A few changes have been made, but other than that it’s nothing new.”

Glancing at the time, Shouta almost let out a sigh in relief. He has 33 minutes before classes start. “Well, now that that’s all settled, I’m going to take a cat nap before classes.” He waved to his coworkers before heading over to his desk, where he pulled out his yellow sleeping bag. Making himself comfortable under his desk, he drifted off.

Shouta let out an annoyed grumble as he found himself being dragged out from under his desk. The warning bell hasn’t even rung yet, he’d know if it did. He has a digital clock he keeps under his desk to keep track of time. There are those rare days when he wouldn’t mind waking up or being woken up before the bell. Today, however, is not that day. Especially when he woke up to his best friend yelling at him and dragging him out from under his desk.

Shouta knows he can’t do much to get back at him without looking like a petulant child, so he opted for going completely limp. Make his friend's job just a little harder. And during lunch he may, or may not, throw a bunch of salt on his lunch when he’s not looking. Maybe he’ll even put a small pebble in his shoe just to inconvenience him. Who knows, he’ll decide later.

“Common Shou, class is starting soon!” Hizashi groaned.

Black eyes glanced at the clock under his desk, “The bell doesn’t even ring for another four minutes. There is no reason for you to wake me up and drag me.”

“Well, if you don’t get up, I won’t give you the coffee I made”

“Irrelevant, I can always take it when the bell rings.”

“It’ll be lukewarm by then”

“We have a microwave.”

“Ummm, you want to be in class on time?”

“Gross”

“If you’re not there early to give the announcement you wont be able to teach your students everything you were going to teach them and Toshinori is going to end up being the one to tell them during heroics class.”

Shouta pulled his feet away from Hizashi making him stumble back. Before he could complain, his friend was already on his feet and folding his sleeping bag. Glancing at his friend, he raises an eyebrow, “What are you waiting for?” He spoke coolly as he took the cup of hot coffee he'd made him. Shouta made sure to maintain eye contact as he drank his coffee, “Let’s go, or you’ll be late.”

The moment Shouta had closed the door behind him, he smirked at the scream of mild indignation his friend let out. Walking down the hallway, the older man made sure his steps were slow, he even took the long way there. By the time he made it to the door of his classroom, he waited for the last warning bell to go off. Once it had, he opened the door and stepped inside. The noise was quick to quiet down, and his students were in their seats. Good.

“Good morning class, before we start today’s lesson, I have an announcement.” From his peripheral vision, he could see his students exchange confused looks. Once he had reached his desk, he set down the binder he carried with him and took out the information sheets, “Class representatives.” He waved a stack of paper with a list of things they will need, Yaoyorozu and Iida were on their feet walking towards him immediately. Handing Iida the papers, he went through his binder again to pull out brochure-like guidebooks with the rules and regulations to hand to Yaoyorozu. Both teens eyed the papers, they gave them a curious look as they began to pass them out.

“If you read the information sheet, you’d see that both class 1-A and 1-B will be having a field trip abroad to America as a part of a program. The back of that sheet has -”

“What!? America?!”

“No way! That’s awesome!”

“What’s a ‘sophomore’?”

“It literally says right there on the paper, Denki.”

“I need to brush up on my English!”

“This is so cool!”

Aizawa shot his students a quirk enhanced glare, making them all flinch and fall silent. Once he was sure they wouldn’t speak up again, he closed his eyes. Rubbing his eyes with the palm of a hand, he continued, “As I was saying; The back of that sheet has everything you’d need to pack besides the obvious. As for the brochure, it has the rules and regulations you must all follow. Let me give you a quick rundown of the top 4 rules, pay attention because these are the most important ones. 1. You are not allowed to harm anyone with your quirk outside of training unless used for self-defense. 2. All property damage done outside of training with or without your quirk must be paid for - lucky for you lot the school pays for any damages done. You better not do it, though, it’s a lot of paperwork. 3. Inappropriate behavior will not go unpunished, depending on the offense it may result in program suspension for a few days or even get you sent home and possible suspension or expulsion here at school or the hero course program all together.”

“Whoa, these punishments are kind of brutal…” Kirishima mumbled.

Shouta took a deep breath before he read the last one. From the looks of disbelief from some of his students though, they already read ahead, “And lastly, your hero’s license in America is considered a permit. You are not allowed to engage in any villain fighting unless given special permission from a pro hero. If an emergency does occur, you are to only help civilians to safety. Once a pro hero appears, you must A) give them your name, B) State the situation and C) inform them of your training. If the hero decides it’s best you help tend to the injured, you are to do as you are told. If they allow you to assist them in battle, you must provide back up and not directly engage with the villain yourself unless absolutely necessary. Failure to follow this rule will result in an automatic three-week suspension of your hero license.”

“What?!” Most of his class began to complain.

“What if the hero needs help fighting!?”

“How are we only allowed to provide back up!?”

“Why can’t we engage?!”

“What do you mean ‘absolutely necessary’??”

Activating his quirk again with a glare, everyone fell silent again. This has never been an issue before, but that's because the first years aren't even supposed to have their licenses to begin with. Goddamn it. Letting out a long-annoyed sigh, Shouta began to explain, “Look. To begin with, you lot weren’t even supposed to get your licenses till next year but due to the villain attacks, things were rushed for your own safety. Also, the laws in America are very different from they are here, this applies to many other places as well. Once you are outside Japanese soil and somewhere else, you should have the common decency and common sense to follow their laws and to be respectful. Now, then, what they mean by ‘absolutely necessary’ is if the villain decides to attack you directly, you are free to fight back on the pretense of self-defense. Other than that, your priority is to help civilians out of the danger zone, that way the hero wouldn’t have to worry about them as they fight, and they can’t be used as leverage against them. If you are in a situation where the civilians are all out of danger and no other pros have arrived at the scene to help, you speak to the hero on the scene. If they give you orders allowing you to engage, then you are allowed to go into battle, however, if the pro tells you suddenly to back off, you must back off, like it or not.”

“That’s utter bullshit!” Katsuki Bakugo shouted in anger, “Why the hell should we even follow that rule?! We have our licenses; we should be allowed to engage right away!!”

“As much as I hate to agree with Bakugo, I must. Sensei, why must we do so much?” Tenya Iida asked

“It’s the law. Even if they are going into hero work, the hero licenses are treated like drivers’ licenses. First years are allowed to test for their permit allowing them to enter the scene and their top priority is to evacuate the citizens for the hero. Second years with permits must take a more advanced version of the first exam, and then they are allowed to engage in battle when they see it fit, as long as all the civilians are out of the way. Third years, retake both exams at once, after which they are given a license to become a first responder. In America, they have academy’s where heroes in training take the final steps to becoming pros. Once you finish that, you are given a pro license and are allowed to start an agency, become a hero course teacher, and many other things that I can’t bother going over.”

“Those stupid losers don’t even become pros without an extra year of school. That’s pathetic.” Katsuki smirked cockily, arms crossed over his chest.

“I… Their system sounds quite efficient, though.” Yaoyorozu spoke up softly.

“I mean, yeah, but imagine having to go to an academy just to become a pro even after having finished high school? Agh That must suck!” Mina groaned.

“Alright that’s enough. We’re not here to talk about the differences between here and there. You can do that on your own time. As for now, I want you all to remember that guidebook by memory. I don’t want any mishaps just because you forgot to read it over.” Aizawa went through the binder once more and handed the permission slips to the students in the front seats to pass back, “You all have until the end of January to turn these in. That means you all have three-and-a-half weeks to visit your family and have these signed. If you can’t visit for whatever reason, you have a fax machine in the dorms, use it. Any questions?” Nobody raised their hands, “Good. Start brushing up on your English you will need it, the trip is mid-February, next month. Now, let’s get started with today’s lesson.”

And that is the end of chapter 1! I’ll post chapter 2 whenever I finish it. Hope you guys are intrested in the story thus far! Much thought went into it. :) 

Chapter 1 part 1 --> Chapter 1 part 2

-Chapter 2-

[songfell-ut]

Chapter 16 ha ha help

These are getting more and more tiring, but we’re finally getting somewhere! Ha ha seriously send help @lostmypotatoes or anyone else whose contributions made (some parts of) this a lot of fun to do. Chapter is here.

 Just like Sans’ discovery of her “stripes,” Frisk only found out she could make barriers because of Papyrus.

They were playing in Snowdin, as they did almost every day. That evening, it was just her, Papyrus, and Asriel; Sans was nowhere in sight, which meant he was off napping somewhere. He did that a lot.

Someone had thrown a ball and gotten it stuck high up in the town Christmas tree, and the three of them were taking turns trying to get it down. The Prince was being very careful, flicking little fire-wads to hit the ball without burning it; Papyrus was in much better control of his bone-throwing than Frisk would have guessed, able to tap the ball in any direction with near-perfect accuracy. Of course, he could have used blue magic, but where was the fun in that?

It became evident after a few tries that the ball was almost loose already, so Papyrus proposed instead that they see how many times they could hit it without knocking it down. Frisk put her rocks aside, watching the skeleton and the young boss monster nudge the ball back and forth on its perch. It nearly fell so often that the child was soon standing right against the tree, trying to look straight up through the branches.

“Come away from there, Kris,” Asriel said after his next turn. “In fact, it’s time to head back now. Mama’s got another pie in the oven. Would you like some, Papyrus?”

The skeleton perked up. “OF COURSE, YOUR MAJESTY!”

“Wonderful! Come along.” Asriel held his hand out, and the little human skipped over to take it.

Then they heard the fateful cry: “ONE MOMENT, NYEH!” Papyrus threw one more bone to get the ball down, but in his haste, he aimed too high. It struck just below the decorations atop the tree, knocking down a great shower of powdery snow…and the heavy, pointed star.

The crack of breaking wood made them look up, and they glimpsed the star falling just before the snow hit their faces. Asriel could have moved them away in time, but the cold flakes in his eyes distracted him for one crucial second, and Frisk knew the star was going to hit them. Asriel was going to get hurt! She felt something strange burning in her chest, and she yelled at the top of her lungs, wishing with all her might that they’d be safe—

The star went plink off something, and Asriel’s grip tightened much too hard as the rest of the snowflakes settled to the ground. The ball came tumbling down a moment later, bouncing off Asriel’s shoulder.

“KRIS! YOUR MAJESTY!” Papyrus’ hands were clapped to his skull. “OH MY GOD! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!”

“Yes,” said Asriel. But then Frisk whimpered, and the boss monster released her, aghast. “Oh, no—Kris, I’m so sorry! Did I—”

Frisk couldn’t help a little sob. Asriel had almost crushed her hand!

Papyrus was also near tears. “I…I DIDN’T MEAN—IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN—”

The Prince suddenly looked stern. “Never mind,” he said curtly. “It was an accident. Kris will be fine.” He held out his hand, which glowed a familiar green. “Here.”

Frisk grabbed at the light, wiping her face on her sleeve as the pain eased into a twinge, then nothing at all. Why was Asriel—

“PLEASE GO ON WITHOUT ME,” Papyrus said wretchedly. “I DON’T DESERVE PIE.”

“It was an accident,” Asriel repeated. “But it was a very easily avoided one. I think it’d be best if you stayed here while I have a talk with Kris.”

The skeleton nodded so hard that Frisk wondered how his skull stayed attached to his spine. “YES, PRINCE ASRIEL, YOU ARE COMPLETELY RIGHT. I WILL DO LAPS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT I’VE DONE.”

Puzzled, Frisk looked up at Asriel. “But it wasn’t his—”

“Thank you, Papyrus. That will be all,” the Prince said over her.

The moment Papyrus had jogged out of sight, Asriel squatted and seized her by the shoulders. “Do you know what you just did?” he demanded.

Frisk felt her eyes welling up again. “I…I’m sorry, but I don’t understand,” she whispered. What had she done wrong? Why was Asriel letting Papyrus think he was the one who’d hurt her? And why was he looking at her like a total stranger? Frisk sniffled again, more tears sliding down her cheeks. If Asriel hated her now, she didn’t know what she’d do!

The Prince let out a long sigh, head drooping. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. Come here.”

The child threw herself into his outstretched arms. “It’s all right, Kris. You did nothing wrong,” he murmured, patting her hair. “In fact…”

Something about the way he said it made Frisk’s spine prickle. But when he gave her one last pat and released her, he was smiling again. “Would you like a ride?” he asked cheerfully.

Frisk nodded, and the young boss monster swung her up to sit on his shoulders, mindful of his horns. He let her grasp them in each hand, then turned his whole body to look around. Luckily, it was late enough that no one was out and about; even if they had been, the fallen snow had blotted out the flash of gold. Off they went, Frisk enjoying the view and their brisk pace.

The ferry wasn’t there yet, and no one else was waiting. “So,” Asriel said, stopping on the riverbank. “You didn’t know you could do that, did you?”

Frisk shook her head. “What did I do?” Remembering his reaction, she said, “I hope it wasn’t something bad. I’m sorry if it was bad.”

She felt him sigh again. “No, Kris, it wasn’t bad. You protected us both with a barrier.”

“A barrier?” After a couple of weeks Underground, she’d gotten the impression that barriers were an extremely bad thing. “But…aren’t they—”

“It’s true that we monsters are afraid of them. That’s why I squashed you,” he said sadly. “Again, I am very sorry for that. I won’t do it again, even if you make more barriers.”

She’d scared him? Frisk hadn’t been prepared to hear that, ever. “But how did I do that? Don’t you have to have magic first?”

He chuckled. “Yes, you do, which means you have magic.”

Frisk wound her forearms around his horns, resting her cheek on the downy fur atop his head. He smelled like soap, and…perfume? She didn’t realize what it was yet: she was too distracted by the idea that she – dumb, boring Frisk – could do magic. That was for grand sorcerers and sorceresses, not grimy little kids who scrubbed pots all day and slept on the floor. If she had that kind of power, wouldn’t she have noticed by now? Couldn’t she have made her back stop hurting, or lit Cook on fire to stop her from beating the other kids?

“It’s a very special gift,” Asriel said solemnly. “Not many humans have their own magic anymore, and you have enough to make barriers! Nowdays, humans with that much power tend to be…” He trailed off.

There was that funny voice again. Frisk didn’t like it at all. “Tend to be what? Am I in trouble?” she asked anxiously.

“Of course not,” he answered. “But it’s important to know that you can do it.”

“Why?”

“For one thing, you need training.” The Prince tapped her leg. “If you’ve never used it before, you should have a lot of power saved up. Also, did you know that it’s easier to use magic Underground than on the surface? That may be why it hasn’t happened till now.”

“Do…” Frisk squirmed until Asriel put a steadying hand on her back. “Do you think…could I stay here and learn?” she asked in a rush. “Monsters are good with magic, so…”

She couldn’t see Asriel’s expression, and didn’t know why he was quiet for so long. “No one here knows how to make barriers,” he finally said, “and I’ll be honest with you, Kris. I think you’d better not tell any other monsters about this.”

Disappointment rose up and nearly choked her. Not only did she have the one kind of magic monsters couldn’t teach her to use, it was the kind they were so scared of that even Asriel panicked when he saw it! Frisk pressed her face into the back of his head, sniffling.

“I’m so sorry,” the Prince said quietly, and she couldn’t hold it back anymore.

The ferry still wasn’t there. Asriel swayed from side to side, patting her leg softly, and she soon calmed down, trying not to get any more snot in his fur. “There may be something we can do,” the boss monster said, his tone so resolute that Frisk sat up straight. He reached up and put her back on the ground, staying at her level. “Who are your parents?” he asked.

Frisk blinked. “M-my mama’s name is Rosa. She works in the castle. My father is dead.”

Asriel grimaced, but not in a sad way—more like he didn’t believe her. “It’s true!” she insisted.

“I don’t think you’re lying,” he reassured her, lowering his voice as a couple of other monsters came up to wait for the ferry. “I’m just not sure that the grownups have been telling you the truth.”

She frowned. “But…why would they lie to me?”

“Why indeed,” murmured Asriel. Then the ferry rounded the corner of the riverbend, and the conversation was over for now. Everyone stood aside for Asriel, the Royal Guards bowing as he greeted them and Frisk took her favorite place at the very front. This time, though, she couldn’t enjoy the breeze in her face or the water splashing around the boat. It was too much to think about—she had magic, monsters would hate her if they knew, people might have lied to her about her parents…

Why did he think she had other parents? Was it something to do with her magic? Did this mean she had a real mama and papa somewhere waiting for her?

Asriel was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice her staring at him for several seconds. When he did, he tried to smile, but she wasn’t fooled. Something was wrong, or at least different, something very important. If only Papyrus hadn’t knocked that star down! They wouldn’t have found out she had magic, and Asriel wouldn’t be so worried or say these strange, sad things.

Frisk was already tired of thinking about it. She’d just be careful not to get scared and use a barrier again. She wasn’t going to tell anyone, and she trusted Asriel not to tell any of the other monsters. She’d be fine. Everything would be okay. It had to be.

 ~

             “…isk. Frisk! FRISK! Hey—”

           Two voices went “Shhhush!” and “P-please be quiet!” at nearly the same time.

           “What?! She’s just standing there like—”

           “Maybe she needs to just stand there like that,” retorted Alphys, uncharacteristically firm.

           “Yes, I agree,” said Toriel. “Let’s leave her alone for now. Will you ladies please assist me in setting the table?”

           Undyne muttered something very unladylike, but followed the boss monster out of the room, letting Alphys shut the door quietly behind her.

           It was Frisk’s own fault. Upon arriving, she had gone looking for the bathroom and opened the door of the guest bedroom by mistake; the moment she turned on the light, she was confronted with a sort of shrine to Toriel’s children. Old toys and books lined the walls, the closet was half open, and miniature portraits showing Chara and Asriel in various poses were arranged around one large family painting on the bureau. Frisk had told herself that it would be hard to see the room they’d played in when she was little – mostly jumping on the beds, with a generous helping of The Floor Is Lava – but she hadn’t been prepared to see everything exactly where it had been, and especially not the pictures smiling up at her like that.

           The others had found her staring at the bureau, a hand to her mouth. Frisk was profoundly grateful to be left alone: she sat down on a bed, grabbed Asriel’s old pillow, and buried her face in it to cry for a long, long time. Every time she started to slow down, she thought again of riding on his shoulders, or of him pretending to be scared when he discovered her in the golden flowers, and the pain was as fresh as it had been the first time she’d remembered him, just a few hours after reclaiming her memories.

           What if she had listened to her instincts back then and told the Queen about her magic? Toriel would’ve known what to do. At the very least, she could’ve negotiated something on Frisk’s behalf with the other humans; Frisk would still have been forced to leave, but she would’ve had the comfort of knowing she had friends Underground, and that she could visit them on holidays or even have them come to see her. Instead…

           Poor Asriel. Frisk had been able to keep from thinking of him by staying busy, and with the company of her giant apprentice, basking in his cranky, awkward, completely wonderful affection; now she couldn’t calm down, no matter how hard she tried to get up and turn away from the pictures.

           A little voice kept nagging her to say something to Toriel now about the things she’d remembered. The whole tragedy might have been avoided in the first place if she had just talked to the Queen…but no, that was different. If Frisk, the would-be ambassador to the monster race, were to say, “I have a solid idea of whose fault the accident was, but no details whatsoever,” what would that do for her mission?

           It would reignite the debate over what had happened, with enough new information to destroy any trust the monsters might have in her, but not enough to bring anyone closure. She’d be better off going straight to Asgore and announcing that she and Sans were planning to create the world’s first human-monster hybrid! She might as well, the way Sans was behaving…

           Frisk looked again at Asriel’s pictures, the white fur of his cheeks and his golden eyes, just like his mother’s. It had taken her a while to figure out that he only had those scary facial stripes and black sclera when he was prepared for a fight; they’d faded by the time they met Toriel on their way out of the flower cavern. Frisk glanced at the picture next to it, an older one of Asriel with his arm around Chara, and reached over to turn it around.

           Footsteps in the hall. Frisk snatched her hand back, ducking her head as the door opened. Someone sat next to her on the bed, and a huge, gentle hand stroked Frisk’s hair out of her eyes. She looked up, expecting to see Sans, and started a little as Toriel smiled at her. “I know, dear,” the boss monster whispered. “It never gets easier.” She drew Frisk against her, squeezing tight. “You…you learn to live with it.” Frisk felt her swallow hard. “Would you like to talk about it?”

           Frisk was getting so tired of crying! She shook her head, ignoring another stab of guilt as she wrapped her arms around the former Queen. Now was the time to say something about the past, or the future, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. For once in her adult life, she wanted to be taken care of and told everything would be all right, and eat homemade pie, and have her first-ever real slumber party, dammit! Besides, it was only the second night of her visit. So she allowed Toriel to pet her hair until her sobs had quieted, resolving to have a nice time for a single stupid night.

           When Frisk was more or less calm, Toriel produced a handkerchief from somewhere. “Stop using your sleeve. Here, blow your nose,” the boss monster instructed, and the human did so. “There we are, my child.” Like a true mother, Toriel folded the handkerchief up and put it right back in her robe. Frisk tried to hide her disgust, but Toriel just chuckled. “I meant to ask sooner—aren’t those Sans’ old clothes?”

           Frisk had to smile as she sniffled again. “Yes, ma’am. Papyrus spilled spaghetti sauce on my last clean dress. He had this in the back of his closet, so…”

           “I see. I can’t believe Sans was ever so small,” murmured Toriel, tugging down the blue jacket. “Would you like to borrow something else to wear?” She brightened. “I still have Chara’s things. She was much taller than you, but her old dresses are—”

           “No! No, thank you,” Frisk said, a little too quickly. “I…” She looked at the bureau again, then at the closet. Everything smelled clean, but not as if Toriel had come in and given it a quick once-over before their arrival; the room seemed eerily well-kept, like people still lived in it. “I forgot how comfortable boys’ clothes are. Could I please keep these on, or maybe wear something of Asriel’s?” Toriel looked disapproving, so Frisk added, “I promise I won’t let my tail stick out.”

           The boss monster laughed so loudly that she had to cover her mouth. “Oh, dear. I cannot believe I’d forgotten about that!”

           Early in her visit, Frisk had noticed how Asriel’s tail showed through a slit in his robe, but she didn’t realize that his parents kept theirs hidden until one family dinner when Asriel sat down the wrong way and nearly hit the roof. It turned out Asriel had insisted as a teenager that it was better to have one’s tail out; even as a young adult, and after several instances of getting it bent or grabbed or sat upon, he’d stubbornly refused to let his mother sew his clothes back up.

           “Really, Lady Toriel,” Frisk said once their giggling had died down, “I’m fine for tonight. These are basically pajamas anyway.”

           Toriel snorted. “Yes, they certainly are.” Sigh. “All right, my child, just for tonight. We’ll pick out something else for you tomorrow.”

           “Thank you so much.” Frisk hugged her again. “I need to wash my face,” she said, freeing herself from the goat monster’s embrace, “and then I’d love to have some pie. I’ll be out in a minute.”

           Toriel smiled sadly. “Of course, Frisk. We’ll be waiting.”

           The priestess’ hands were shaking a little as she fetched her gray bag from the entryway. How often did Toriel change the sheets on those beds, as if expecting someone to sleep there? How much time did she spend alone in her empty house, staring at pictures of her dead children? How was the poor woman still sane at all?

           Damn everything! Why hadn’t she told them about her magic when she first discovered it? Why had she let Asriel talk her into trusting someone she knew was a bad person? How much of what had happened was her fault, and how much of her memory was even accurate?

To hell with it, she thought, turning from her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Time for pie.

Luckily, when Frisk came out to the living room, her thoughts were diverted by the sight of Undyne and Alphys sitting in front of the fire with their heads together. “Er,” said the priestess, and Alphys nearly jumped out of her skin.

           “Hey there. Feeling better?” asked Undyne, completely unperturbed.

           “Uh…yes, thank you.” Bemused, Frisk glanced at Alphys’ bright-pink scales. She’d always wondered how that worked—monsters didn’t even have blood. “Let’s eat now. It smells fantastic,” she said, smiling as the royal scientist made a beeline for the table.

           At Toriel’s behest, and in keeping with what they assured Frisk to be sacred slumber-party tradition, the others had already changed into their nightclothes; the next step was enjoying the pie Toriel had baked before coming to get them. “This is amazing, Your Majesty,” Undyne said around a huge mouthful. “Thanks for having us over.”

           “Yes, thank you f-for inviting me,” Alphys said to the table at large, adjusting her borrowed robe.

           “Of course,” Frisk replied. “You still have a few things to open. You, too, Lady Toriel.”

           The former Queen had been staring at her plate, and glanced up a moment later. “I…I’m sorry, dear. What was that?”

           The Captain blinked, adjusting her pajama-wear eyepatch. “Uh…the pie is good?”

           The boss monster nodded vaguely, and the three younger women glanced at each other. Toriel had been quiet and distracted the whole evening, ever since she and Sans arrived at the brothers’ house; Sans had opened the front door and teleported straight into the kitchen, leaving the goat monster looking as though someone had smacked her in the face and run away.

Every one of their questions thus far had been answered with the insistence that nothing was wrong, but Alphys tried again: “A-are you sure you’re all right, Lady Toriel?”

           “Yes, Doctor, thank you. I…” She sighed, shaking her head and fluttering her long ears. “Forgive me. Where are my manners? Here I am with such wonderful guests, and I’m wasting time wool-gathering!” She grabbed the pie tin and dished out new slices to Frisk and Undyne, who had finished theirs, and then to Alphys, who was still halfway through hers and had to pick up the remainder to make room on her plate.

           “So,” said Undyne, stealing the half-slice out of the scientist’s hand and cramming it into her own mouth. “Whaff our day loo’ like humorro’?” Catching Toriel’s glare, the fish monster swallowed the entirety in one gulp. “I mean, for tomorrow, what do we need to do? Finish giving stuff out, stop by Alphys’ lab, then go see that creepy metal jerk?” When Toriel looked puzzled, Undyne explained, “He took Frisk’s laundry with him so he could get that stain out, and he wants to measure her for more clothes. If we go there first, we’ll be there all friggin’ day.”

           Toriel clapped her hands with a poofy sound of fur on fur. “My goodness, that’s right! We should go shopping for Frisk! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

           “It w-would,” agreed Alphys. “We don’t have to spend a lot of time studying y-your magic yet, Frisk. You might as well have some fun first.”

           Frisk glanced at Undyne, half expecting an objection, but the Captain’s eye was alight. “That’s right! We’ve missed twelve birthdays and Gyftmases since you left!” She sprang to her feet, fists clenched. “And now you’ve brought us all this cool crap, and we haven’t given you anything!” Undyne grinned again, eye narrowing. “Fuhuhuhu! We’re gonna get you so much stuff. You’d better be ready!”

           Alphys smiled fondly, looking down at her pie. “What?” Frisk asked.

           “Things have been so t-tense with Sans gone. It’s been too long since she did her evil laugh,” the royal scientist almost whispered. Her smile widened. “I really missed it.”

           Toriel chuckled as Undyne sat down abruptly, scales tinted purple, stuffing more pie in her mouth. “Indeed. I am so very glad you are here, Frisk,” the boss monster said softly.

           That was Frisk’s cue to say that she didn’t need anything, being here with everyone was gift enough…but she didn’t, because it would be fun to go shopping, dang it. Besides, she’d given the monsters so much stuff that it would make them feel better to buy her a few things in return. “Technically, it’s closer to thirteen,” she pointed out cheekily. “My birthday is in just a few weeks, not long before Christmas. Or Gyftmas.”

           “Really? That’s perfect!” Undyne gave the table a dish-rattling thump. “What day?”

“Uh…” Crud. Frisk tried to remember which date she usually used, but her mind was tired and mushy. It’d be easier to tell the truth, especially with people who wouldn’t judge her. “I actually don’t know the exact day,” she confessed. Maybe just one lie by omission: “My real mother is dead, and my foster mother wasn’t sure exactly how many weeks old I was when she got me. She could only narrow it down to late autumn.”

“Oh, my poor child,” said Toriel, her distress echoed by the others’ shocked expressions. “Can’t you check your birth certificate? Or ask your father, if he is still alive?”

Frisk winced. “I don’t think my father knew I existed until I was about ten. It’s funny you should mention my birth certificate—I’ve tried to track it down, but the only copies I’ve found were from people trying to sell me forgeries. None of the prints ever matched mine.” She snorted. “Rosa couldn’t even tell me which part of the city I was born in.”

Alphys looked ready to cry. Undyne patted her with one hand, and pounded the table again with the other. “Man, humans are the worst! Of all people, you’d think the frickin’ King would be held responsible for his own damn kids! How much did that jerk get around, anyway?! I can’t believe—” She suddenly stopped mid-rant. “Are you okay, Your Majesty?”

           Toriel was staring at Frisk, almost looking through her. The boss monster’s hand had clenched into a fist, bending her fork into a strange shape. “Your father is King Stephin?” she inquired, sounding distant. “Are you certain, my child?”

           “Yes, Lady Toriel,” said Frisk, hoping to get this over with. “He had fifteen illegitimate children, including me, and he started taking an interest in us when I was about ten. As soon as the delegation got back safely, he had me packed off to St. Brigid’s.” She was not going to let herself get weepy again! “Do you remember me telling you how I had my memories removed? It was partly because he came to see me and asked them to do it.”

           Toriel gave her a long, hard look. “Do you mean that you were ten years old when you visited us?”

           Where had that come from? “I…yes, ma’am. Why do you—”

           “So you’ll be turning twenty-three this year, whenever the date may be?”

           “Yes,” Frisk said again. What was going on, and why was Alphys staring at both of them like that? “Lady Toriel, what—”

The tension was broken by Undyne giving the table a two-fisted whack. “Let’s just pick a date and throw you a party! Mettaton’s doing that stupid ball thing before you leave, but we can do another shindig later! We’ve gotta make up for lost time!” She nudged Alphys, nearly knocking her out of her chair. “Right?!”

The scientist clambered back up, and said breathlessly, “Right. We could all use a little more f-fun.”

“…I like the way you girls think.” Toriel forced a smile. “What’s this about Mettaton and a ball?”

“He wants to celebrate Frisk’s visit with a dance,” Alphys answered. “So…”

“So he’ll make you do all the work, and take all the credit,” Undyne muttered. “That’s why I hate that guy. I’m telling you, the next time he tries to pull that crap, you should just send him to me!”

“That settles it,” said Toriel, sounding nearly normal. “Tomorrow, we’re going to pick up something nice for all of us to wear, especially Frisk.” She put down her mangled fork. “Dr. Alphys, it looks like we each have three gifts left. Shall we open them before bed?”

Minutes later, the living room looked as though someone had stuck a firecracker in a Christmas tree: paper was strewn everywhere, boxes thrown aside and ribbons collected into colorful heaps for reuse. At everyone’s insistence, Alphys went first; Frisk directed her to the biggest box, and they ended up having to politely take the figurines away from the royal scientist in order for her to finish opening the others. The second  box was a stack of romance- and slightly-action-oriented comics, which Undyne immediately confiscated until Alphys opened the third package: the last two novels in her beloved Adventure Lady series.

It took quite a while to work through all of the lizard monster’s squeals, dancing-about, and hugging of boxes – and Frisk – but she eventually wore herself out, and she was persuaded not to start on the novels yet; instead, she and Undyne each selected a comic and not-very-surreptitiously started flipping through them while Toriel opened her presents.

Frisk prided herself on her gift-giving acumen, and sure enough, Toriel was overjoyed to receive a copy of Educational Principles and Practice, Vol. 1; they both laughed about how it should be “Principals,” to blank stares and a mutter of “Nerds” from the floor. Next came a boss-monster-sized lambswool shawl, which she immediately draped over her shoulders as she tore open the last box. “How lovely!” the goat monster exclaimed, lifting out each of the little bottles in turn. “I ran out of bubble bath years ago! Thank you so much, my child!”

“I made the moisturizer myself,” Frisk said, and was rewarded with a giant hug. She stepped back and actually pinched herself to confirm that she was awake, reminding herself to stop questioning her happiness and just enjoy it. And speaking of reminders— “I have one more thing for you, Lady Toriel,” she said, shoving down her apprehensions. “One moment.”

All three monsters watched her retrieve her satchel and pull out a folder, selecting a single sheet of paper. “Here,” Frisk said shyly, holding it out.

Toriel took it, putting her reading glasses on and tilting the paper toward the fire. “Sheet music?” The boss monster squinted at the title – “Home” – then examined the notations as Frisk held her breath. “I…” Toriel cleared her throat. “I am sorry, Frisk, but I cannot read music.”

“Oh.” Frisk deflated a little. “I’m sorry. I thought you could.”

“Nah, that’s me,” Undyne said, flipping a comic page. “Remember how you used to sit on the piano while I played it?”

Frisk did remember now. “Yes. I’m sorry,” she said again.

“That’s all right, dear.” Toriel gave Frisk a big, eye-crinkling smile that reminded her too much of Asgore. Misinterpreting the human’s expression, the goat monster raised a finger. “I’ll tell you what, my child. When we visit Hotland tomorrow, we can bring this and ask someone to play or sing it for us. Is it a tune I know, or would you like it to remain a surprise?”

“Er…I guess it can be a surprise.” Frisk took the paper and stuffed it back in the folder. Maybe that was for the best…

“Well! Thank you again, Frisk.” Toriel nodded as the others murmured agreement. “I believe it’s time to settle down for the night.” The boss monster stood and surveyed the room, hands on hips. “Let’s clean up, girls. We don’t have enough beds, so would you all like to sleep in here?” They nodded so enthusiastically that Toriel’s smile broadened. “Wonderful! I’ll be right back. Put all the gifts on the table, and the wrapping paper can go in the kitchen for now.”

           As the boss monster bustled off down the hall and they began picking things up, Alphys lowered her voice: “F-Frisk, do you know why she was asking about your b-birthday? Asgore asked the exact s-same thing about you being ten years old.”

           Frisk thought about it, and hesitated, and made herself say, “I don’t know. We’ll see if she asks me anything else strange.”

           “What I can’t believe is you being as strong as a boss monster,” Undyne declared, wadding all the paper into a fist-sized ball. “That’s crazy! I mean, I didn’t think humans could have that much magic!” She gave her toothiest grin. “So, basically, you and Sans are—”

“Perfect,” Toriel said briskly, striding back into the living room and setting down a huge stack of linens. “We have just enough for three pallets! Claim your spots, ladies, and we’ll get you comfortable. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow. Can I invite you back here for tomorrow night, Doctor?”

The lizard monster was delighted to accept, but Frisk wasn’t so sure. It was nice to see Alphys and Undyne so happy, but…did Toriel expect them to stay here every night of her visit?

As they arranged the blankets and sheets into makeshift sleeping bags, Toriel chattered about all the “campouts” Chara and Asriel used to have in the living room, but Frisk didn’t hear much of it; she was lost in thought about Sans. Toriel didn’t seem to suspect anything, but they had to tell her sometime very soon. Frisk didn’t know how they were going to convince the former Queen that maybe one human with magic and determination could successfully pair off with a monster—maybe they could appeal to Toriel’s concern for Sans’ welfare, not to mention that Frisk was literally his only option?

…Ouch. She rubbed her temple, trying to shove that thought back down where it belonged. Hadn’t she just scolded Sans last night for “joking” that she was only interested in him because some weirdo in a robe said she’d get pregnant soon? If he was really just interested in her SOUL, then he’d have shown some interest much sooner, wouldn’t he?

…Like…like getting flustered when she offered him that stupid fork during their very first real conversation…or agreeing to stay in the first place…or ignoring the opportunity to escape when she was sick from teleporting back to her rooms. Or all the odd looks she’d noticed, especially at her damn feet. Or him being so irate when she showed him her proposals, or the noise he made when she came out in her skin-tight All Souls dress, or being upset that everyone was going to see it, or his instant willingness to pose as her husband for the festival, or—

Frisk bit the inside of her cheek. She knew Sans cared for her. What was making her think like this?

As if in reply, cold prickled over her scalp and down her back. She glanced at the hallway, almost expecting to see—

“Hey!” Undyne snapped her fingers for the third time, startling Frisk out of her reverie. “Did you hear Her Majesty?”

“Ah…no. I’m sorry.” Frisk smoothed out her pallet and stood up to accept a plate with the last slice of pie. “Thank you, Lady Toriel.”

“You’re very welcome, my dear.” The goat monster bent over to renew the magic inside the fireplace, then smoothed the hair out of Frisk’s eyes again, surprising the human with a light kiss on her forehead. “Good night, Frisk. Good night, Undyne, and good night, Alphys. I’ll be right down the hall if you need anything.”

Frisk smiled as the others bade Toriel good night. Was this what being a normal person felt like, having a mother and friends?

Undyne could barely wait for Frisk to finish her pie before she sat down on her pallet and leaned in to ask, “So, what do the humans think of you and Sans? Are they okay with it, or are you important enough to get away with it?”

The human sighed, getting up to put her dishes in the sink. “They don’t think anything is going on,” she said. “He’s a skeleton, and that’s that.”

           Alphys squinted at her in disbelief, and Undyne said, “Wait a damn second. You mean to tell us he spent all that time with you, in your room, and no one even thought something could be going on? Do they have any idea how much magic a boss monster has to work with?!”

           “Really, I thought h-humans had more imagination than that,” Alphys remarked.

           “Yeah! You’re all supposed to be a bunch of perverts!” Undyne shook her head in disgust. “Can’t you guys do anything right?”

           Frisk had to laugh as she settled back onto her pallet. “Humans have no idea how monster reproduction works,” she explained. “I barely know anything myself.”

“Then listen up!” Before Frisk could stop her, Undyne leapt onto the armchair. “Here’s the facts of life, kid, and I’m not gonna hold anything back! You ready? It goes like—”

           “Instinct,” Alphys said hastily. “You decide to be parents, and you combine your m-magic, and then you have a baby. Or an egg, or a cub. It d-depends.”

           The priestess thought about it as Undyne grumbled at the interruption. “Sans implied that you need a male and a female to reproduce,” she said. “Is that true?”

           “Pffffft! Are you kidding?” Undyne gesticulated so wildly that the armchair pitched back and fell over, the fish monster gracefully shifting to stay atop it. “That’s just for bosses!”

           “It’s true,” said Alphys. “Lady Toriel had to incubate Prince Asriel like a human because there was s-so much magic involved.” She squirmed, claws twisting into her blanket. “O-otherwise, any two monsters can decide to h-have a b-b-baby.”

“Any monsters?” Frisk repeated. “Two men, two women—”

           Alphys turned a remarkable shade of orange-red, actually quite pretty to look at, and Undyne nodded so emphatically that she somersaulted onto the floor. “With enough magic, you can do anything,” she said proudly, folding her legs and leaning forward. “If you want a kid, the first thing you do is tell Asgore, and he gives you both a big hug and writes you…I guess humans would call it a birth certificate, except the kid’s not there yet.” Shrug. “Anyway, you both rest up and eat a lot, and then you decide where you’re gonna do it.” Undyne pointed at the floor. “It can be anywhere, but most people like to go somewhere special.” She smiled at Alphys. “Where’d we go if it was the two of us? I’d say the garbage dump.”

           The scientist paused, made a series of incoherent noises, and dove under her pallet, only her tail sticking out. “Why the garbage dump?” Frisk asked curiously.

           “Duh! It’s where we met!” The fish monster cackled, slapping her leg. “Look at her, all cute ‘n lumpy under th—”  Snort. “Oh my God, Frisk, we still have to tell her about that! And Alphys, you’ve gotta tell us what happened with Sans and Asgore!”

           Frisk heartily agreed; it was as good a time as any to get everyone on the same page. They coaxed Alphys into sticking her head out long enough to tell them about Sans’ conversation with the King, which seemed to have gone about as well as could be expected; then it was Undyne’s turn to relate the scene at Grillby’s, and how fun and easy it’d been to screw with Sans.

Of course, she also had to mention Gerson’s revelation about boss-monster attraction. “Frisk really is that strong, then?” the scientist asked, incredulous. “Sans said she was j-just like a boss monster, but…”

           “That’s what Gerson said,” the Captain replied with an air of finality. “Anyway, Sans was trying to convince everyone he thinks humans are all gross, and you know what that goofy bastard said?”

Once the story was finished and they were done laughing – nervously, on Frisk’s part – Undyne resumed her lecture: “So, when you’re ready to have your kid, you go wherever you decided, and everyone knows to leave you alone so you can concentrate.” She held her hands up and spread her webbed fingers to indicate a large oval between her and Frisk. “You both decide on a size and shape to aim for, and then you combine your magic to start forming it. How long it takes depends how powerful you both are, and what you want your kid to be—anywhere from a few hours to a whole day. When the baby’s done growing, you all go home, eat something, and get someone to watch the kid so you can sleep for a couple days. Boom! You’re parents!”

           “What do you mean, ‘combine your magic’?” Frisk demanded, too curious to care if she was being rude. “What does that entail, exactly?”

           Undyne cocked her head, scratching behind her fin. “Whaddya mean?” she asked. “You just do it. Think of what you want and why you’re doing it with that person, swap your magic with them, and focus it together for a really long time.”

           “But when you ‘swap’ your magic, how do you actually do it?” Frisk persisted. “Do you have to be physically touching each other?”

           The scaly monsters exchanged glances, more confused than embarrassed. “You just do it,” Undyne said again. “I mean, did anyone ever teach you how to sneeze? Once you’re ready, it just happens.”

           “It’s completely unique to each couple,” explained Alphys. “The important thing is your intentions, and your f-feelings—trusting your m-mate enough to have your magic directly connected with theirs, and wanting a ch-child badly enough to expend all your power. It can be through touch, or purely magical, though I think it’s usually b-both, depending on your individual preferences. It mostly operates on instinct.” Squirm. “At least I th-think so. People don’t r-really talk about it that much.”

           “Exactly! That’s my smart lady.” Undyne ruffled the spikes on Alphys’ crest, smirking as the scientist retreated again.

           Frisk supposed that made sense; if Sans were to partner with, say, another skeleton, he probably wouldn’t bother to imitate any human parts. But if she was a human who essentially qualified as a boss monster – still a strange thought, however gratifying – then it’d have to be done the human way, which meant…improvising.

“I don’t get how you don’t get it,” the Captain said to Frisk. “Isn’t it the same for you guys? At least a little?”

           The priestess sighed. “No. For one thing, only a male and a female can make a child, and it always has to grow inside the female. We instinctively crave physical contact, but that’s about it. We have to be taught how to do it, or else the whole race would probably die out.”

           That was an exaggeration, but not much, judging by the questions Frisk remembered the other girls asking in their class, and the things she had believed at that age. For example, she once overheard an older girl referring to a boy having “popped a boner” and concluded that the male organ must function like a jack-in-the-box, which seemed impractical at best, and potentially quite dangerous.

           “What you’re saying, then,” Frisk continued, “is that monsters only do it when they’ve made a serious, loving commitment to being parents?” She shook her head. “That’s the exact opposite of most humans. There’s no magic to invest, and usually not much forethought.”

           The monsters looked as horrified as Sans had been when he and Frisk conversed on the subject. “Is that how your dad has so many kids?” Undyne asked. “You just…”

           “I’d say ninety-nine times out of—no, more like nine hundred ninety-nine times out of a thousand, it’s purely recreational. There’s a huge demand for medicines that prevent pregnancy,” replied Frisk. “And a lot of humans – especially young women – think it’s more romantic to ‘follow their heart’ and just hope they don’t get pregnant. If they do, and it’s out of wedlock, the man is only held responsible based on social status and his own morals.” She stared into the fire,

the magic flames flickering in orderly patterns. “Powerful men can do almost anything they want. I was lucky that my father acknowledged me at all.”

           Shocked silence. “No, I’m not joking,” Frisk muttered. Completely against her will, she thought again of Chara railing at Asgore and Toriel— “If they get someone pregnant, they don’t have to deal with the consequences, do they?”

           It was hard to keep from scowling, or feeling queasy. Everything came back to Chara, didn’t it?

           “Well,” Undyne said in disgust. “That’s total crap. We’ve gotta get everything straightened out peace-wise so you can marry Sans and stay here.”

Alphys nodded eagerly, but Frisk felt as if she’d been punched in the gut. Undyne leaned down to peer into her face. “What?” demanded the Captain. She glanced at Alphys. “A couple weeks ago, Frisk talked to some guy who’s never wrong, and he said that if she got her memories back, she’d have a baby within a year. Then she comes here, and I find out Sans has been gnawing on her—”

“Undyne!” snapped Frisk, cheeks aflame.

“Well, it’s true! I know you’re not like other humans, so…” Undyne raked her loose hair out of her eye. “I’m assuming the best here. I mean, don’t you wanna get married?”

“Of course I do!” Frisk almost shouted. “I love him, and I hate that we have to hide it like this! It’s illegal with humans because they think of monsters as a cross between animals and public utilities, and I can’t do anything here because the last human who lived here was a spoiled, manipulative piece of—”

She stopped at the sight of tiny golden sparks crackling in the air. Both monsters had recoiled as far back as they could, Undyne against the capsized armchair and Alphys up against the low bookshelf. “Sorry,” Frisk said hastily, and the sparks vanished. Where had those come from? She hadn’t put up a barrier—was she just that angry?

Wait. It was easier to use magic in the Underground than on the surface, and her barriers always got more fizzy when she was upset…was her magic more reactive to her emotions down here? She hoped not, or else she’d have to be very careful to avoid scaring any more monsters.

Undyne scooted forward. “Yeah, I think we’re done for now,” she said. “We should get to bed. Gonna have a busy day tomorrow, and you’re probably pretty tired.”

“Yes, very.” Frisk rubbed between her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you, or…”

“That’s all right,” Alphys said, offering a timid smile that made Frisk feel exponentially worse. “Um…y-you know, you can talk about it with us, if you w-want. But you don’t have to.”

“Yeah! We’re your friends,” Undyne said stoutly. “Yell, scream, throw things—that’s what friends do!”

The priestess chuckled. “Thank you.” She rose on her knees and hugged Undyne around the middle, then Alphys. “Thank you both so much. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Alphys was pink again. Undyne grinned. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s be good and get to sleep.”

Frisk slid under the blankets, letting warmth sweep over her and wash away the bitterness. On impulse, she said, “Who wants a lullaby?”

“Oh. D-do you sing?” asked Alphys.

Frisk didn’t think of Chara. She just took a breath, and the monsters blinked at each other in pleasant surprise as humming filled the room. It was Sans’ favorite song, light and sweet, and Undyne could barely mumble something complimentary before her eye drifted shut, Alphys following a few seconds later. Frisk had to let it taper it off soon after; it was so nice to think of Sans, but she couldn’t stay awake any longer. At least she’d see him tomorrow…

 ~

             Back a third time: in bed with her husband, she let him tip her head back so he could run his teeth and tongue over her throat. She remembered now how busy she’d been with work this week; they’d barely seen each other, much less been intimate. No wonder he was so eager, or that she couldn’t stay mad at him for waking her. Frisk sighed as his hand ran down her side, thumb stroking the delicate skin of her hip before it slid underneath for an appreciative squeeze. He nuzzled her cheek, then looked up enough to lock eyes before he kissed her.

Frisk pulled him closer, glorying in the slight pain of his ribs grinding against hers; not only was it the feeling of being close to him, she knew from experience how much Sans loved her softness. She was a little bemused when he sat up after only a minute or so, but he was breathing so hard and fumbling so awkwardly with his shorts that she had to recognize it as a compliment. Her body warmed in anticipation as he moved her legs aside to—

           Sans almost never cursed, but he muttered something very impolite as the doorknob rattled. “Daddy?” Rattle, rattle. “I’m hungry.”

           “it’s after midnight, kiddo,” the skeleton said irritably. “go back to bed before you wake your mom. she’s gotta be up in a few hours.”

           A token whine; sullen footsteps trudged back to their room, the door of which was nearly slammed shut.

Frisk sighed. “How does she do that?” she mumbled. “I swear I—”

           Her only warning was a glint in his socket and a sharp movement forward—her hands latched onto his shirt, jaws clenched to keep from crying out. “Sans! That’s…” Frisk bit back a moan as he leaned over her. “That’s cheating,” she whispered furiously.

           Sans chuckled. “not if i’m doin’ it with my wife.” His hips moved slowly. “get it?” He ground his teeth as she retaliated by rubbing her calves along his pelvis. “it’s…y-yeah.”

           Frisk smirked. He was so aroused that he couldn’t even come up with a followup joke! That was gratifying. So was…well, everything else he was doing. She leaned up to pull him in for another kiss, but he buried his face in her neck instead, gripping the sheets for better leverage as his pace quickened.

           There was nothing for it. Frisk hung onto him for dear life, dimly aware that she was getting louder, no longer caring if either of the kids heard them. It didn’t last very long, but that was fine: for the first time in a long while, Sans had to bite her shoulder as he shuddered to a stop, which was enough for her a moment later, leaving them both a panting, sticky mess—in other words, perfect.

           On one hand, she did actually have to get up in…crap, only four hours? Frisk glared at the alarm clock, then closed her eyes, stroking her husband’s skull as he caught his breath. Sans mumbled into her ear, and Frisk smiled, whispering back. At least she wouldn’t have any trouble getting back to sleep!

 ~

             Sans didn’t make a conscious decision to get up and go find Frisk right now; he just woke up and, a moment later, found himself standing in the dark entryway of Toriel’s house. Magic raced through his bones so hard and fast that he had to get ahold of himself long enough to adjust his vision. The colossal skeleton moved cautiously to his right, where the bedrooms were, then paused at a sound from the living room. A little snore, rustling…snickering?

           Right. The slumber party. Against his better judgment – any judgment at all, really – Sans crept down the hall and peered around the corner of the living room, where two people lay fast asleep; a third person was crouched over one of the sleepers, chortling to herself.

           The boss monster kept a tight rein on his urge to walk over, grab Frisk, and take her straight back with him to his cold, smelly, bedless room. At the very least, he wanted to ask Undyne what the hell she was doing to his human.

He didn’t get the chance: a silent presence behind him made him gulp. “Hey, Tori,” he mumbled, half-turning.

Toriel was in her normal clothes, looking tired and extremely unhappy to see him. “What are you doing here at this hour?” she asked coldly.

His bullshitting reflex saved him as webby feet padded over from the living room and Undyne joined the goat monster in glaring at him. “I was thinkin’ about that big load of food we need ta pick up, and who all should be goin’,” he said. “Frisk probably wants me to bring her an’ maybe you, Undyne, but I think it’s too dangerous fer her. I wanted ta grab some papers from ‘er and jus’ go take care of it by myself.”

“All by yourself?” repeated Undyne, and Toriel asked, “Right this moment?”

“Yeah. I can shortcut everything home way easier if it’s just me.” Sans jerked his thumb at the living room. “All I need are the invoices out of ‘er bag, and I can take care of the whole thing while you guys are doin’ whatever.” He shrugged. “I don’t want ‘er wastin’ her time in the Underground with that crap. She never hangs out with other girls, so this’ll be good for ‘er.”

“How considerate of you,” Toriel said warmly. “I know how much magic you possess, Sans, but surely you won’t attempt to take yourself and all that cargo back here single-handed? What if you can only come partway and get caught out in the open?” The goat monster looked around Sans. “Would you consider going with him, Captain?”

“Nah, she can stay here,” the skeleton answered. “I’ll get a room in the village if I need ta rest up. And if I really wanna keep myself in shape…” He didn’t have to fake a shudder. “Pap’s got plenty’a food in the fridge.”

The women were silent for a moment. Undyne came forward slowly to clap him on the back ribs. “Sans,” she said gravely. “I salute you.”

Toriel sighed. “I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. If your mind is made up, I will not stop you. Undyne, would you get the papers from Frisk’s bag, please?”

And so it was that Sans found himself committed to the biggest solo grocery run imaginable, all because of a sex dream. It was good to know that he could still lie as long as Frisk wasn’t in the room, but he wished he could’ve found out in a more convenient way. Eh, whatever; it was true that she needed girl time, and that she’d be in danger if they ran out of magic and were discovered by poachers. He had his disguise, but she was way too cute to pass as anything but herself.

So Sans accepted the folder, flipped through for the most boring-looking, number-filled papers, and helped himself, taking note of the sheet music – ha – without giving it much thought. “Welp, ‘m off,” he said to the other monsters. “Tell ‘er ta have fun, ‘n I’ll be back soon.”

“Of course, Sans. Please, be careful, and don’t take any foolish risks,” Toriel urged him. “We will send out a search party if you’re not back within forty-eight hours.”

“And Frisk’ll probably insist on coming,” Undyne added pointedly. “Don’t get captured or die, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” The giant skeleton waved the papers at them. “I’m gonna say bye to Pap, and then I’m off. Toodles.”

True to his word, Sans went back to the house, woke his brother, and apologized in advance for eating all the spaghetti, explaining that he needed the energy in order to go get another load of food for everyone. Papyrus was two-thirds ecstatic and one-third fretful. “I CAN SEE YOU ARE ALSO SICK WITH WORRY,” the younger skeleton murmured as Sans choked down the last plateful. He wasn’t stupid enough to have his tongue out, but there was just something about Pap’s cooking that transcended texture or flavor. “ARE YOU SURE YOU CAN DO THIS ALONE?”

“Yeah,” Sans said feebly, reminding himself that the stuff basically counted as food. “I’ll be fine, Pap. I’m gonna be really careful.”

Papyrus put his hands on his fake-armored hips. “HMM. I HOPE THAT MEANS NO HUNTING.”

Sans tapped his fork on the plate. He had wondered if his brother was going to say anything about that. “Nah, bro. No hunting. No animals, not anythin’. I’m just gonna get the stuff Frisk ordered and come right back. I promise.”

The smaller skeleton – Sans was never going to get used to that – nodded, only looking a little skeptical. “NYEH! WE’LL WAIT FOR YOU, THEN. DON’T TAKE TOO LONG, BUT MOSTLY, TAKE CARE.”

“Sure thing.” Sans rolled the papers up loosely, tucked them into an outside pocket, and gave Papyrus a brief, manly embrace. “Take care of ‘er. I’ll see ya later.”

“OF COURSE! I WILL ALSO SEE YOU, NYEH-HEH!” Papyrus held his smile as Sans winked out of sight. Then he sighed, his whole body drooping. “…I HOPE.”

 ~

             Frisk woke to the sounds of laughter, voices, and a door closing. For a moment between rubbing her eyes and raising her head, the priestess had no idea where she was, or what she was hearing—was Sans making breakfast for the kids? Had she overslept? Why was the bed so hard?

           She pushed herself up onto her elbows and saw the living room of Toriel’s house, blankets and pillows heaped around the cooling fireplace. Right; they’d had a slumber party. Frisk yawned, sitting up for a deeply contented stretch. She could hardly comprehend it: they had stayed up late talking about girl stuff, and she had no responsibilities for today except to go shopping! Maybe she really should stay at Toriel’s for the rest of the trip…

           “Good morning, sleepyhead,” Toriel said, with an odd quaver in her voice. “Would you like some breakfast?”

           Frisk scratched her forehead. Then she scratched it again, checking under her nails, and decided she was imagining things. “Yes, please. I hope you’re not using your pie ingredients.”

           “Why not? I have butter, eggs, and salt, and three hungry houseguests.” Toriel waggled a finger to spread the fire magic more evenly beneath the skillet. Her shoulders hunched a little as Frisk got up and wandered into the kitchen. “Would you please set the table for me?” she asked without turning.

           “Certainly.” The human went to fetch four plates and glasses from the cabinet. “Where are Alphys and Undyne?”

           “Reading those silly comic books in the guest room,” the goat monster said tolerantly. “I’ve never seen grown monsters who loved those things so much.”

           The priestess found the silverware drawer and set out forks and napkins. “You seem to be feeling better,” she commented. “We were a little worried last night.”

           “Yes, of course…and speaking of last night, Sans stopped by very early this morning.” Toriel transferred the scrambled eggs to a serving bowl. “He’ll be busy today with a few errands, so we won’t be seeing him, but he said to have fun with the girls.”

           Frisk mumbled acknowledgment, her face growing hot. Had he had the same dream, or memory, or whatever it was? Was he avoiding her?

Toriel was quiet for another moment. Then: “I hate to gossip, dear, but… when Sans was apprenticing under you at the castle, did he seem…fond of anyone? I mean, has he grown attached to any humans beside yourself?”

           Frisk felt the hairs on her arms standing straight up. “Er…may I ask why? Did he say something last night?” she asked, sounding only mildly curious.

           The boss monster shook her head. “Please, Frisk. I’d rather not discuss it until you’ve answered my question.”

Frisk wanted to tell the truth so badly that she had to bite her lip before she answered, “I don’t know. We didn’t talk much with any one person. The only people he really interacted with were the sorcerers in charge of developing the solar panels.”

           “Ah, yes, humans don’t have them yet.” In one motion, Toriel cracked two more eggs into the skillet, incinerated the shells, and flicked the ashes into the sink. “By ‘sorcerers,’ you mean men and women with considerable amounts of magic?” A drop of egg splashed the stovetop as Toriel stirred the mixture, raising a little plume of steam. “Forgive me for asking, my child, but are any of them particularly strong? Perhaps one of your siblings?”

           Frisk stared at the table. Time to stop dancing around the subject, or at least come a little closer. “I think I know why you’re asking, Lady Toriel. Yesterday at Grillby’s, Gerson told us that boss monsters are only attracted to other boss monsters, or someone equally powerful,” the priestess said quietly. “Is that true?”

           An embarrassed pause. “That old—” Crack went another egg. “Yes, it is true.” Crack. “May I ask how the subject came up?”

Well, Sans had obviously said something, or Toriel had otherwise figured out there was a human involved…but she still didn’t seem to know who he meant. “Undyne was teasing him about liking humans. Gerson explained that it was basically impossible, but Sans acted as though it’d already happened,” said Frisk, trying to stay calm. “I won’t ask whether Sans told you anything in confidence, but…yes, he has met several extremely gifted humans.” When there was no response, the priestess turned to face the stove, where the former Queen stood rigid. “Toriel, please, tell me honestly—what’s the worst that could happen if Sans were to marry a human?”

           Crack. “He could not.” Crack. “It is not my personal opinion. It is fact.” More egg splashed the stovetop as Toriel stirred the mixture. “Neither humans nor monsters would recognize their union. She would be an outcast among humans, and we would not trust her enough to let her live here.” Crack. “Asgore would suspect Sans of collusion with humanity, or even treason, especially if he chose someone related to the King. Everyone in the Underground but myself and Papyrus would think likewise.” A giant sigh. “The best-case scenario is that Sans would have no home but what he and his wife could make for themselves, and he would have her for only a few decades at most before she withered and died. I don’t even know if they could have a child, but if they did, Asgore would feel threatened by—”

           “What if we changed any or all of that?” Frisk took a few steps into the kitchen. “Why couldn’t monsters learn to trust at least one human? Why can’t we try to convince Asgore that he doesn’t have to fear and hate everyone, and Sans isn’t a threat?” She couldn’t keep her voice from rising: “Why not give Sans a chance to have a few years with someone he loves, instead of making him live forever in abject misery?”

           Silence. Toriel turned the skillet to scrape more eggs into the serving bowl, mixing them all together. “You may be in a position of authority, my child,” she said, so gently that Frisk’s hackles rose, “but there are many things you do not understand yet.”

           Frisk took a calming breath. “I understand that when someone says that,” she said politely, “they’re either hiding something, or trying to end an argument where they know they’re wrong.”

           Toriel stopped moving. The ring of fire on the stovetop flared so high that Frisk had to control the impulse to turn and run. “Listen to me, child. I know that Sans is your friend, and that you are concerned for him,” the boss monster said to the flames, deadly quiet. “I feel the same way. If it were possible to allow him to be happy with someone, anyone, I would be overjoyed. But I will reiterate: the things I have said to you are not a product of my own narrow-mindedness. They. Are. Facts.”

           Frisk’s chest burned. “Facts can be changed, Lady Toriel,” she murmured. “I’m not claiming anything will be quick or easy, only that it may be possible. It stays impossible if we do not try.”

           The flames on the stove winked out. Toriel went to the refrigerator and took out a fresh jug of milk. “Go get the other girls, please, my child. Breakfast is ready,” she said brightly.

           So be it. “Yes, ma’am,” the priestess replied.

           “Uh…” Undyne’s awkward voice made Frisk turn to face the hallway. The Captain and the royal scientist were glancing around, clearly afraid to interrupt. Undyne looked up solemnly. “Frisk, I just wanted to saaaHAHAHAHAHA!” The fish monster nearly collapsed, staggering into the wall as she howled with completely unexpected laughter, raising a shaking finger toward the human.

           Bewildered, Frisk looked at Alphys. The latter tried to cover her mouth, but as her eyes met Frisk’s, the lizard snorted so hard that her glasses fell most of the way off. Another look, and Alphys was wheezing, sitting down hard. Undyne was already gasping for breath, but every time she looked up at Frisk, she nearly screamed. “Oh my—oh my gaaaaahahahaha!”

           Frisk whirled around and glared at Toriel, who was still facing away from her, but whose head was bowed and shoulders shaking as her laugh finally burst forth in great, rolling peals, forcing the goat monster to lean against the counter and gradually start slithering to the floor. She risked a peek at Frisk and clutched her gut as the human down stared at her. “My…my ch—” She shook her head, falling onto her side to giggle helplessly on the kitchen floor.

What in the—Frisk shoved past her debilitated friends and ran to the bathroom mirror. That was why Toriel had sounded so strange at first, and why she hadn’t turned around: in giant black letters on Frisk’s forehead and across the bridge of her nose, someone had written SHARKY WUZ HERE.

She knew her skin had felt itchy! What the hell was it written with? Indelible ink?! The priestess was so angry that…she…actually…had to admit it was pretty damn funny. She glared at her reflection, but it was no use: Frisk buried her head in her hands and allowed herself to laugh silently for nearly a full minute.

Out in the kitchen and living room, the monsters were starting to run out of steam, amusement fading gradually into concern as the human remained silent. “F…Frisk?” Undyne managed. She tried to get up, but the best she could do was a half-crouch against the wall. “Hey, Frisk? You okay?”

There was a distinct sniffle as Frisk emerged from the bathroom. Toriel wiped her face on her sleeve, sitting up against the cabinets. “My child? Are you all right?” she called.

Frisk came shuffling down the hall, her head hanging. She walked past the concerned monsters and sat down on her pallet, giving another noisy sniff.

           Undyne grimaced. “Hey, come on. It was just a dumb joke.” The Captain hobbled into the living room and bent over Frisk. “It’s a tradition to—”

           Whap went Frisk’s pillow, square in the fish monster’s face. Undyne fell flat on her back as Frisk burst out laughing. “This had better come off, Sharky,” she said, trying to sound very angry and absolutely failing.

           Undyne smacked the floor, giving another shout of laughter. “Who…who said it was me?! Why would you think that was my nickname?” She grabbed her own pillow and sat up for a swipe at Frisk, mindful of her much greater strength. “It was probably Her Majesty!”

           “Oh, really? Is that how it is?” Toriel got to her feet with difficulty. “I…” She had to pause for a few more giggles before she could say, “I suppose I’ll just comfort myself by eating this entire breakfast by myself.”

           At that, Alphys got up and tried to creep around the fringes of the now-full-blown pillow fight, but Undyne grabbed her ankle. “Hold on, Doctor! This is a question of honor, and you’ve gotta help me settle it once and for all! I—” She stopped as Frisk tried to catch her unawares. “HEY! Knock it off, you damn cheating human!”

           “Never!” Frisk had gone for her blind side, and ducked behind her pillow to avoid retaliation. “Alphys, help me!”

           “Mmm! This is wonderful,” Toriel said loudly, sparing the scientist from having to choose sides. “I’m so glad I have it all to myself!”

           Undyne dropped her pillow, but before she could stand up, Frisk said, more seriously, “Wait a moment, please. I need help getting this off my face.” She crooked her finger at Undyne. “We’ll be right back.”

           The Captain followed her to the bathroom. “Yeah, I have no idea how to get that stuff off,” she admitted. “I used one of the really nice pens out of Toriel’s desk.”

           “Splendid.” Frisk opened the medicine cabinet as Undyne closed the door. “That could’ve gone better,” she said quietly.

           “What?! That was fun as—oh. Right.” The fish monster sat down on the edge of the tub. “Yeah, so…Her Majesty knows something is going on with a human, but she doesn’t even suspect it’s you? I mean, you’re powerful enough to be High Priestess, you spent way more time with Sans than anyone else, and he really cares about you. How is she not putting that together?”

           Frisk sighed, selected a bottle of baby oil, and began rubbing it on her nose and forehead. “Toriel’s been alone for much too long. Now that I’m back, she still wants to think of me as a little girl, and being involved with Sans doesn’t fit that image.” The human dumped most of the bottle out and slathered it on. “It’s convenient for now, but when she finds out…”

           “Hmm.” The Captain gave her a hard, squinty stare. “That’s not gonna stop you, is it?” she demanded.

           “Hell no,” Frisk said. She was smiling, but she had never been more serious in her life…or at least she would be, once she got the damn ink off.

 ~

             It was now late afternoon. Sans was standing at the counter of a large grain clearinghouse in human form, hands in his pockets, waiting on someone who’d run off to find someone else who could assist him. He glanced around for the fifth time, but there wasn’t much point. There were shelves lined with burlap sacks that reminded him of his old shirt, wood floors, brick walls, and nothing else. At least if he’d brought Frisk with him, he would’ve had something to look at!

           If he’d brought Frisk along on this stupid impulse trip, he also wouldn’t be waiting for these dickwads to take their sweet friggin’ time tracking his stuff down; she would have done her scary thing at them and gotten their fleshy butts moving. He was doing his best to look intimidating, but it wasn’t the same with his disguise on.

           …But if he’d brought Frisk along, he’d be thinking nonstop of that damn dream, and his entire day would’ve been a frustrating waste. As it was, he was only thinking mostly of that damn dream, and the day had otherwise been really boring. This was the third place Sans had been, and according to the invoices, there were a couple more to go; he didn’t know why he’d assumed that everything they’d ordered would be sitting around in one place, ready to go, because holy shit, it wasn’t.

           At least the nice lady at the first warehouse had convinced him not to try getting everything together and heading back out tonight. She’d seen that he was completely clueless and given him some advice on what to actually do: show the invoices today so they could get it ready for tomorrow, then rent a couple of carts in the morning, bring them to each warehouse, inspect the cargo for damage, sign the bill of lading, make sure it got loaded safely, and head to the next damn place to do it again until everything was ready to go. Then he could worry about getting home.

           All these stupid, tiny, essential details—was this what Frisk’s life was like, running around arranging crap for everyone? No wonder she was so damn tired all the time! It was like being pinched to death!

           He was profoundly grateful to exit the last warehouse, even if the sun’s dying light was right in his eyes as he stepped out. Sans squinted his way down the street and selected the first okay-looking pub he saw. The place was noisy and crowded, but warm enough that he decided to sit down at a table near the door.

It was seriously weird to be by himself among all these people. With nothing better to do and the servers too busy to notice him yet, Sans relaxed as best he could, half listening to the humans’ chatter.

“That’s seriously the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” someone was saying loudly at the next table. “I don’t care how all-powerful it’s supposed to be, it’s a skeleton.”

Sans turned his full attention to that table as the guy’s friends murmured agreement. “Yeah, if that’s the worst thing they can come up with, it’s pretty damn stupid,” one said.

“You wanna know what I heard that’s actually true?” The first speaker’s voice dropped just enough to sound impressive. “If the whole monster thing works out, the King’s gonna legally adopt her—new title, next in line for the throne after the Prince, the works.”

This did impress his friends, who were thoughtfully silent. “Nuh-uh,” someone finally said, and they laughed.

“I’m not kidding! My brother-in-law just got back from the city a couple hours ago. The sorcerers did a big demonstration of those…those panel things, whatever the fuck you call ‘em, and they actually worked. The King was there, and a bunch of people said he couldn’t stop talking about everything the High Priestess was doing.”

“So how’d you get from ‘the thing works like she said’ to ‘huzzah for Her Majesty’?” asked a skeptic.

The knowledgeable human smirked. “He was asking for all kinds of paperwork when they got back to the castle, including adoption stuff. The Prince isn’t doing too good—” He paused, nodding agreement with their sympathetic murmurs. “I know. Poor little man. But—”

“Good evening, sir!” A smiling, apple-cheeked waitress was between Sans and the other table. “What’ll you have?”

“Water.” When she opened her mouth again, he said, “Just bring me whatever’s at the top of the menu.”

The waitress blinked. “Yes, sir. Can I interest you in—”

“Bye,” he snapped, and the woman moved on, trying to hide a scowl.

To his irritation, the humans were now talking about sheep or something. Sans stared at the back of one man’s head, his thoughts buzzing like flies. Had he jinxed it somehow? Just yesterday, he’d been thinking what a great ruler Frisk would be, and now, if these random assholes were to be believed—

Someone had made a dirty joke about a guy spending too much time with his sheep, and the table was getting so loud that Sans contemplated moving somewhere else, or leaving entirely. If he stayed at a decent inn, he could get food there just as easily.

“You’d better watch out. They thought my cousin was doin’ that, and he had to sell his whole farm to pay the fine,” said the grossest-looking human.

This revelation was met with even louder derision. “That wasn’t a sheep, stupid,” the talkative guy commented. “He was gettin’ cozy with a monster. Remember, the little one they were using for the mill?”

Sans’ entire body locked up. Dimly, he knew he had to make his legs move—he had to get out of here before he heard anything worse than—

“He didn’t actually do anything,” the gross guy insisted. “They just found him in the pen.”

Another round of merriment. “Yeah, drunk off his ass! If I was her, I’d’ve knocked him out, too! He got charged with attempted bestiality and letting her escape!”

“Nah, not bestiality,” someone said. “It’s…what’s that fancy word?”

“Miscegenation,” said the gross guy. “Fuckin’ a monster. He got lucky they didn’t throw him in jail. He just had to sell everything he owned and go work for someone.”

Sans stared down at his table’s cracked, beer-mug-stained surface. He was no longer listening to the group. So, it was actually against the law? That meant…

The noisy table gradually ceased talking and turned to look at Sans, who had started sniggering, then laughing to himself, and gotten so loud that the humans around him were edging away. “You okay there?” someone asked cautiously.

“It’s a fucking crime,” Sans said, distantly aware that it was in fact a deeply messed-up and unfunny issue. “Get it?” He got up, shaking his head, a hand to his side. With an incoherent sound, the disguised monster ignored the waitress’ approach with his food and staggered out the door. He could eat later; right now, he just needed to stop laughing at the sheer, ridiculous number of reasons why he should never ever see Frisk again, much less spend the rest of his life with her. At this point, what else could even happen?!

In a way, it didn’t matter: it was about infinity too late to decide that they’d better just be friends. Whatever happened, they could handle it between them, he told himself, and very nearly believed it.

 ~

 It wasn’t a sex dream this time, but the first thing he saw after falling asleep that night was Frisk, so he’d take it. “Heya,” said Sans, extending a bony hand. They were in Toriel’s living room, Frisk lounging in the armchair. “Come here often?”

           She smiled at him as he pulled her to her feet. “Not often enough,” she said, squeezing his metacarpals. “I’m so glad to see you.”

           “Yeah?” For a moment, Sans thought she’d grown way taller; then he realized that he was his normal shape, but human height. He opened his arms, and Frisk came right in to snuggle against him, sighing as he pulled her closer. “How was yer day?” he mumbled, running his phalanges through the ends of her hair.

           Her body rumbled as she laughed a little, and his SOUL almost purred with sheer happiness. How was he supposed to ever stop hugging her when it felt like this? “It was wonderful,” she said into his chest. “We had our slumber party, and then Papyrus came by in the morning to say hello, so we took him around to give out the rest of the gifts, and he came shopping with us.” Another giggle. “He’s actually got a great eye for color coordination.”

           “Yeah?” Sans ignored the tiniest pinprick of jealousy. “Thanks fer includin’ him.”

           “Of course!” The human squeezed him for emphasis. “I’ll spare you the full fashion show when you get back, but some of the things we got are really cute. I can’t wait to wear something that’s not black or gray.”

           “Or purple?” he teased her.

           “Or…” Frisk stopped, then thumped him in the ribs as he snickered. “You know I hate that stupid dress! I might as well go out wearing nothing but body paint!”

           “Okay,” Sans said agreeably.

That earned him another thump. “So,” Frisk said, very dignified, “then we went to see Mettaton.” She wriggled a little in excitement. “He’s already started teaching me a few different dance steps. The only time I’ve ever danced was when I was here, and it was so much fun! We’re going back tomorrow so I can practice.”

Sans tried to envision his normal, giant self dancing her around, and shifted his weight uncomfortably. “Glad ya liked it. Are you all back at Tori’s tonight?”

Frisk nodded. “We played cards until Undyne got carried away.” Snrk. “I bought some waterproof eyeliner while we were out today. I can’t wait for her to wake up tomorrow.”

That didn’t mean much to Sans, who figured he might as well ask, “Did they tell you what I’ve been doin’, where I am now?”

           He felt her tense up. “Eventually, yes.” Frisk pulled back enough to glare at him. “What were you thinking? You should’ve waited for us!”

           Sans let his head drift downward till his forehead was resting on hers. Was she wearing makeup, or were her lashes always this long? “I was thinkin’ of that dream from last night,” he said casually, “an’ then I wasn’t thinkin’. Tori caught me comin’ in to say hi.”

           Frisk’s eyes widened, face flushing. “Sans! You can’t do that! What were you even going to do with everyone else right there?!”

           Sans paused. “Hold on a sec.” He didn’t know if it’d work in a dream, but just in case, he released her, pulled the silver chain from his coat pocket, and slipped on his disguise. Frisk jumped back as he wriggled his human hands. “There we go! Now I can feel stuff, and now—” He reached down to run his fingers through her hair, his other arm pulling her close again. “I don’t have all those damn teeth in the way,” he said, and leaned down to kiss her.

           To his hurt surprise, she pushed him away, turning her face aside. “Hold on a second,” she protested. “I…” Frisk saw his expression and sighed. Her arms came up around his neck, and Sans had to try very hard to focus on anything else besides her softest parts smushed up against him. “You have to warn me before you do that,” she chided him. “I’ve only ever seen you like this a handful of times, and you startled me. That’s all.” She placed her palm on his cheek, and he wasn’t embarrassed to put his hand up to hold it there. “All right,” she said after a long moment. “Now you—”

           The rest of the sentence was lost to history: his mouth was on hers, arms almost crushing her. Frisk made a sound deep in her throat, and he ran his hands down her back and up her sides as her lips parted again. It was so much better not to have to worry about biting the crap out of her! Their teeth could still knock together a bit too hard or catch each other’s lips, but that was a tiny annoyance compared to the feeling of her breath on him, how he could ease his tongue into her mouth and let her explore him right back without snagging anything on his fangs.

           That also meant he could pull her hair back to expose her neck and bury his face in it, his other hand free to roam over her backside. It was a struggle to formulate anything coherent, much less to ask her if her physical limitations applied to dreams, or if they could lie down and pick up where they’d left off a couple nights ago.

           Frisk’s throat moved. He thought she was encouraging him to start biting again, until she said, “I’m going to try to speak with Asgore tomorrow.”

           Sans’ fingers dug into her waist. “Why.”

           “Because I have to show him that I’m not afraid of him. Don’t worry, he likely won’t agree to see me yet. It’s just important to try.” Her hands tightened, almost trembling. “And I have to talk to him about…”

           It came back to him in a flash, everything Grillby had said— “About Chara?”

           Frisk’s hands were definitely trembling. “I don’t think Toriel could handle it. Not yet. But I can’t hide it much longer.” She swallowed hard. “Can I tell you about it when you get back?”

           Sans frowned, resting his cheek where her neck met her shoulder. “Of course. Whatever ya need.” He paused, playing with her hair. “So, no offense, sweetheart, but…why are we talkin’ right now instead of makin’ out?”

           “Because Undyne saw what I did to her face, and she’s hitting me with a p—”

           Just like that, Frisk was gone. Sans stared at the empty space his arms were grasping, and allowed himself to slowly pitch forward until he fell into the armchair. He scooted and twisted around to face forward. Well, just because Undyne had ruined his chance to screw around completely consequence-free with the woman he loved and wanted with every fiber of his being, that was no reason to pout, was it? Except that it completely was! Fuckin’ Undyne!

           Sans exhaled, closing his sockets. His real self was so tired that he might as well stick around here for a minute, where no one else could bother—

           Something moved, so quiet that it wasn’t really a sound so much as a disturbance in the air. It didn’t feel hostile, but the giant skeleton felt a stab of foreboding. He peeked upward, and immediately felt his sockets grow wide. His mouth moved, but there was no sound. All it could do was shape the words Prince Asriel?

           The figure nodded slowly. Sans watched in awe as it knelt, golden eyes dark and solemn in the firelight. There came the soft, deep, courteous voice Sans remembered: “Tell her I’m sorry.”

           Sans shook his head. “Sorry for—wait!” Asriel was standing, stepping back with a shake of his head. “Prince Asriel! Hold on! Come—”

           It was no use. Just like in real life, the Prince was gone.