#the way gaster just slowly lowers his guard i swear you can almost see his smile | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

proxylynn · 6 years ago

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Underfell: File Name not Edgy Enough #10

Chapter 10: Skeletons WARNING: I WANT NO RESPONSIBILITY OVER SPOILING THINGS FOR OTHERS. THAT BEING SAID, THIS IS HOW FILE NAME NOT FOUND WOULD FUNCTION IN THE AU OF UNDERFELL. BEFORE YOU READ THIS, UNLIKE THE NICE TIME OF UNDERTALE, THIS WORLD IS KILL OR BE KILLED. THIS STORY WILL BE GRAPHIC, GORY, USE SWEARS LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS, AND DEAL WITH SENSITIVE SUBJECT MATTERS. FOR EXAMPLE, THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE READ THE FILE NAME RELOCATED SPOOF WILL KNOW HOW I PICTURE THIS VERSION OF LYNSIE COMING TO THE UNDERGROUND. IT IS NOT AN ACCIDENT. IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING DUMB. IT IS BECAUSE SHE CHOOSES TO END HER LIFE. SO TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. I MADE IT BECAUSE I NEEDED TO LET SOME OF THIS EDGINESS OUT OF MYSELF. WHICH I GUESS MAKES UNDERFELL LYNSIE EVEN MORE TRUE TO WHO I REALLY AM. ANYWAY, ENJOY. ^_^ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This feels familiar. Different, but familiar. This same darkness. This same unease. This same soul shivering chill of nothingness. Funny...Where's Gaster's door? Did we just revert to the old way? {Hey...Why are you here?} That voice... "Chara?" {Lynsie? What are you doing here?} "Hell if I know." {You need to leave this place.} "Not like I know how. But why?" {They took you and Asriel. I don't know where you are now, but you shouldn't be asleep while in Snowdin Town...Even if Sans is helping you, Papyrus is not bound by any promise.} That made my spine tremble. "Okay, you have a point there. But how do I leave from...what or wherever this place is?" {You have to wake up.} "I've never made myself wake up before." {Well, how do you normally know you're about to wake up?} "Normally? I become aware that I'm dreaming." {Like right now?} "There's the conundrum. I don't know if this is a dream. I mean, I'm fulling aware when I see Gaster, but I never..." {Wait...You've met Gaster?} "You know the guy?" {Stay away from him!} I feel like I flinched. "Dude, what's wrong?" {Don't go near him! He's dangerous. You can't trust him.} "Can't really do nothing about that. He comes to me. Not the other way around." {Then don't talk to him. Ignore him. Do what you can to keep him away from your soul.} "What? Why? How?" {Just try to...} Chara's voice starts to dampen, almost like he's going mute. I don't get to speak up as I'm forced away. "*gasps and coughs*" That was the weirdest awakening from that dream-thing yet. I can't see yet, I'm sweating and covered in goosebumps. My chest is tight from lack of air and movement. What the fuck is happening to me?! "HUMAN...I SEE YOU'RE FINALLY AWAKE." I shake my head and try to focus as my sight begins to come back. I can barely make him out as a white smudge in black. "Papyrus? What happened? Where is this?" I attempt to rub my eyes but can't. I yank them only to hear the clatter of chains. "NOTICING YOUR NEW ACCESSORIES, I SEE." "The hell? Why am I restrained?" "ONE CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL WHEN IT COMES TO SAFETY AND HUMANS." I scoff and rub my eyes into my shoulder, blinking a few times to get things cleared in my vision. Now that I can see, I find Papyrus standing over me, which is normal because he's taller than me, and Sans is off leaning on a wall behind his brother. I seem to be inside a small room of some sorts. There is a bowl of dry pet food with what looks like cut up hotdog mixed in, a squeaky bone chew toy, and a small pet bed. Like at the start of the forest, there is a wall of bars that separates 2/3s of the room, Sans is on the smaller watching side while Papyrus is on the larger captive side with me. The walls and floor are in terrible shape, even the two windows are in need of repair yet less than the rest of the room. I'm stuck in a kind of kneeling position due to the chains connected to the wall and floor. My wrists are connected to the chains on the wall and ankles to the ones connected to the floor. However, this doesn't concern me. What does get my attention is the fact that ALL my stuff is gone. The backpack with Flowey? Gone. My equipped gear? Gone. Even the ribbon? Yep, that's gone too. Frankly, with how thorough they were at disarming me, I'm surprised I'm not chained up in my underwear right now. [HP 36, ATK 18, and DEF 11] "Where is Flowey?" "THAT IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN." "I won't ask again. *stern* Where is he?" Papyrus growls and Sans taps on the wall. "relax, kiddo. the weed is fine. got'em in the house so he won't shrivel up." "WHILE I DON'T CARE TO HAVE THE PLANT IN OUR HOME. SANS DID BRING UP THE POINT THAT THE FLOWER IS MORE USEFUL ALIVE THAN DEAD." "Oh yeah? How so?" He grins. "YOU'D BE MORE COOPERATIVE IF THE HOSTAGE WAS STILL LIVING." My eyes widen into a glare. "If you hurt him..." "YOU'LL WHAT? AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU AREN'T IN ANY POSITION TO MAKE THREATS." "Oh sure, overreact much? Like I've done anything to actually prove I'd hurt you if I made a threat. Probably would embarrass the crap out of you, but nothing painful." "YES. SPEAKING OF EMBARRASSMENT, YOU HAVE LOWERED MY CREDIBILITY BY NOT KILLING THOSE DOGS." I scoff. "Dude, you captured a human and no one died. How is that not a good thing for you?" "YOU ALMOST MADE IT TO TOWN. YOU HAVE ONLY AN LV OF 1. EVERY MONSTER ON PATROL IS TRAINED TO KILL HUMANS AND IS UNDER MY WATCH. BY BEING NICE AND GETTING SO FAR, IT HAS MADE ME LOOK BAD." I look at him funny. "Dude...You wanted me to go through the puzzles and even agreed to my plan on making the dogs leave us alone. You were with me the whole way for fuck's sake! If you had any problem then you should've said something, ya jackass!" Sans wasn't paying all the much attention until that moment. Papyrus glares and growls deeply. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THAT MOUTH OF YOURS? KNOW WHEN TO KEEP IT SHUT, HUMAN. THAT'S YOUR LAST WARNING." "Bull crap! You're mad because some random assholes are talking shit about you? God forbid you yourself are happy to have done your fucking job without any issue and not care what some pussies say because they are too much of a bitch to deal with what you do. Oh no. Not the great and terrible Papyrus. You're the guy that chained up a girl that blacked out from intense vertigo. Oooh...You must be so scared." He slaps me hard enough to lock my jaw until it snaps back when I hit the wall. [HP ██████████████████████████ 26/36] "MOCK ME AGAIN! I FUCKING DARE YOU!" I can only think that his hit didn't deal more damage because of lack of space for me to fly, unlike last time. But now I'm not in a good mood. I've had enough. "Again..." "HUH?" "Touch me again. I fucking dare you! I will rip that arm off and shove it up your bony ass!" "YOU MOUTHY LITTLE BITCH..." He swings at me again and I lurch forward in a small lunge. This surprises him and he's almost caught off guard enough for me to chomp down on his hand, yet his reflexes are better than my jaw snapping. "YOU...YOU WERE GOING TO BITE ME? SANS? SHE WAS GOING BITE ME...I SAW THAT CORRECTLY, RIGHT?" Sans is now leaning into the bars with a worried expression. "um...y-yeah." "HUH...A DIRTY MOVE, HUMAN. I'M IMPRESSED YOU'D ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS. BUT..." He summons a sharpened bone and plunges it into my left shoulder, reopening the scar from when it was hurt the first time as I roar in pain. And it's not a clean stab either, only the tip exits out while the rest scraps my own bones. Blood seeps around the entry point slowly and Sans is visibly shaken by it. [HP ████████████████ 16/36] "BUT YOU'RE WRONG TO THINK I'D LET YOU DO THAT WITHOUT CONSEQUENCE." He twists the bone and I choke the yell my voice demands. The satisfied smirk he has grows as I bite my lower lip hard enough to bleed just to distract from this. [HP ████████████ 12/36] "IT HURTS, DOESN'T IT? YOU CAN TRY TO FIGHT IT, BUT YOU CAN'T HOLD OUT FOREVER. I CAN MAKE IT STOP. YOU KNOW THIS. AND I'M WILLING TO BET YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT IN EXCHANGE. SO I'LL ASK YOU, HUMAN, WILL YOU SWALLOW YOUR FOOLISH PRIDE AND SAY IT?" "*strained* I'm..." "YES?" "*strained* Not impressed..." He jerks the bone and I thrash harshly against the chains. More blood begins to come out. [HP ██████ 6/36] "pap...maybe this is a bit much." "SHE HAS TO LEARN, SANS. IF SHE DOES BAD THAN SHE WILL BE PUNISHED. SUCH IS THE CONDITIONING NEEDED IN PROPER PET TRAINING." "*strained* I'm not...a dog...asshole..." He grabs my face in one hand and forces me to look at him. His other hand still holding the bone firm. "YOU ARE IN NEED OF A RUDE AWAKENING, HUMAN. YOU ARE IN OUR CUSTODY NOW. IF YOU WEREN'T, YOU'D BE HAULED OFF TO THE CAPITAL AND KING ASGORE WOULD PERSONALLY RIP THE SOUL FROM YOUR WEAK BODY. IF IT WEREN'T FOR ME, YOU'D BE JUST ANOTHER BODY ADDED TO THE UNTOLD NUMBERS THAT WILL FALL TO US WHEN WE RETAKE THE SURFACE. SO GO AHEAD. BE DISRESPECTFUL. SEE HOW FAR THAT GETS YOU. BECAUSE LIKE ANY OWNER WITH A DISOBEYDANT PET, I HAVE A LIMIT OF HOW MUCH I CAN STAND OF YOU BEFORE I PUT YOU DOWN. AM I CLEAR?" I snarl, shaking my head from his hand and defiantly biting the bone. This gives them both very weird blushing looks, though Papyrus snaps out of this oddness first when I try to pull the bone out. "*SIGH* I WANT TO ADMIRE THIS RESOLVE YOU HAVE, BUT I'M NOT IN THE MOOD." With him being stronger than me, he has no issue pushing the bone in further in. I release it in my whimpers and end up yelping when he presses me to the wall as the bone pins me to it. [HP █ 1/36] "I DO HOPE YOU'RE COMFORTABLE. YOU'LL BE STAYING LIKE THIS FOR QUITE SOME TIME." Tears leak from the corners of my eyes but don't sting as bad as the dirty look I'm giving him. Papyrus shakes his head and moves through the bars with ease. "SANS..." "y-yeah?" "MAKE SURE SHE LEARNS HER PLACE WITHOUT DYING. I'D HATE TO HAVE WASTED MY TIME ON A HOPELESS CAUSE." "sure. no problem, boss." Papyrus heads to the door and opens it, the snowy wind blows inside. Wait...Am I in a shed? "USE YOUR TIME WISELY, HUMAN. THIS CAN EITHER BE PLEASANT OR TORTUROUS. THE CHOICE IS UP TO YOU." Papyrus leaves with a slam of the door and I wince from the vibration shaking the bone. Now alone with Sans, I try to relax. I need to think of how I'm going to deal with this and get Flowey back. "man...you really like to push his buttons." I look at the bone and try again to bite and pull it out. This gets that weird look to come back to Sans. "uh...d-do ya want some help with that?" I look at him and he flinches. The blush getting worse on his face. "n-n-never mind." He looks away but takes small glances when I grunt at each nerve being tugged. "*muffled* Damn it...Why is it so big?" Sans gulp and shudders into biting his own hand. "*quiet* fuck, kiddo...not this again...and why it like that?" I snarl and give up for the moment. I'll try again later. "*annoyed* So...What's this whole 'pet' thing he was talking about?" He blinks a few times and rubs his face to return to normal. "ya don't remember what was said at the bridge?" "Dude, I was so out of my mind I have no clue what you or him were doing. For all I know, you guys were playing checkers while in formal ball gowns." "never say that again." "Whatever." "look...ya got so messed up that pap gave up on the whole 'play with the human with puzzles' idea and was about to off ya. i came up with a quick idea of keeping ya alive as our pet so he can show off that he's so great that he bends a human to his will." "You played to his ego...Smart move, skele-dude." "yeah, but you're not really helping matters much with this whole rage against papyrus thing ya got going on." "He started it. Fucker wants to blame me for stupid shit he had no problem with because of other assholes. I ain't gonna take that! And I sure as hell ain't saying sorry! You hear that?! I'm not apologizing!" "YOU WILL IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU!" Sans jumps and I hop a little at the sudden shout from the window. "I'll apologize when you do for reopening my shoulder, ya smarmy turd!" "YOU WILL APOLOGIZE AND DO SO LIKE A PROPER PET! YOU SHALL ADDRESS ME AS MASTER." "The hell I will!" "enough!" Sans shouts and gets our attention. "i am not putting up with this crap! if we're really doing this, then there's got to be some ground rules!" He points to his brother in the window. "papyrus, meet me at the library. we need to talk." He points at me. "and you...just... *sigh* just don't do anything stupid." Sans leaves the room and now it's just me. All alone and pinned to a wall while also chained. I wait some time to make sure they really left. I don't hear anything outside except the wind. Now it's action time. I clamp my teeth on the bone again and do my darnedest to ignore the pain as I pull on it. It's a slow and very painful process. Pulling it inch by inch. But it gets easier when the wider part of the bone is out and only the thinner pointy part remains. When it gets that far, I just let it fall out on its own from weight and heave a heavy sigh of slight relief. The bleeding isn't so bad, by my standards at least. I can pack some snow into it when I get out. Now for the hard part, getting rid of the shackles. I'm not going to enjoy this, but I am grateful for three things. One, shackles have a set restraint clasp that can't be adjusted to different sizes. Two, I'm double jointed in a few areas, my wrists being one spot. And three, when you're a creative kid with no friends, you do a lot of weird things...like learn how to escape. I move my thumb and pinkie finger to be in my palm so that my right hand is thinned in a curve. "One...Two...Three..." On three, I pull my hand down hard. I hiss at the sting and the bones popping don't help it from sounding worse than it is. But the results are what I wanted. My hand is free. Bent and sore, but free. "Hell...*wince* I'm gonna be a mess by day's end. Mom's going to kill me." Grabbing the bone, I use it before the magic fades. Using the tip to pry out the pin that keeps the clasps together. It isn't long before my limbs are under my full control again. "Alright...Step one, done. Step two, in progress." Now able to move, I tackle the annoying issue of the bars. I exhale and make myself as skinny as possible before trying to squeeze through. These bars are a little bit easier than the forest ones, but still a huge pain in the ass. Both figuratively and literally. This shed is filled with many made up swears by the time I get my body past the bars. I contemplate on whether I should've tried going out one of the windows, but that's when I notice something weird about the shed's door. The doorknob is backward. [It's locked from the inside.] I laugh a bit and walk out like a boss. Though being touched by the cold snow air doesn't make my shoulder or inevitable bruises feel any better. To slow the bleeding in my shoulder, I pack a bunch of snow into the wound. It won't last long due to body heat, but it's a temporary thing until I can fix this better. "Step two, done. On to step three. Now...How do I get inside?" Beside the shed, is a two leveled house that I can surmise belongs to Sans and Papyrus. Spikes outline the structure, it sports a classic pirate flag and is adorned with strings of red ominous lights. To the left of the house is Sans's mailbox, which is full of threatening letters, and Papyrus's mailbox, which is also holding equally bad looking mail. Looking at the "FUCK OFF" mat at the door, I kick it up and scoff at my idea that a key would be there. I check the door nob, to no surprise, it's locked. Checking the window yields more interesting results. The frame wiggles and it loosens the clasp. With a bit of effort, the lock slips off the bracket and I'm able to lift it up. From where the window is, part of a black couch is underneath, which come in handy when pulling myself in. Mental note to self, breaking into a skeleton's house is oddly thrilling. I re-secure the window and look around. Flowey is in here somewhere. I just have to figure out where. "Step three, done. Step four, needs work." The first floor of this house contains a living room and a kitchen. The living room features a large flat-screen television. The living room also hosts a table with what looks like a pet rock sitting on it, which is covered in salt, and one of Sans's dirty socks with a series of sticky notes attached to it, I'd recognize those dingy yellow things anywhere. The sticky notes depict Papyrus nagging Sans to pick it up and they get harsher the with each continuing note. There's also stool by the couch that seats a book titled "How to kick ass and give no fucks" that contains a joke book inside, yet within that is a book on quantum physics book which itself contains another joke book that contains another quantum physics book. I feel like that means something more. But fuck if I have time to think about it. My snow shoulder patch is melting, so off to the kitchen I go. The kitchen is rather simple, containing a stove with a tinfoil covered lasagna in it that has a note on it reminding Sans to warm it up for supper, a trash can, a long countered sink, and a fridge that has containers labeled "pasta perfection" with a number next to it on one side and an half-empty box of doughnuts on the other side. "I'll take this, thank you very much." I grab a strawberry glazed doughnut and munch to bring up my HP before a hand towel into the wound. [HP █████████████ 13/36] "Okay, flower-boy ain't down here. Now if I were a somewhat evil jackass, where would I keep a hostage? Hmmm...*gasp* My bedroom! Of course." So to the stairs I go. The second floor of the house contains a framed painting of a bone in regal attire and four doors, two leading to Papyrus's room and Sans's room, the others are unknown though one is likely a bathroom. "Yo! Flowey! You here, bro?!" "*muffled yell*" "Called it." It sounded like it came from the first door and judging from the all the warning signs on the door, I have to say it's Papyrus's room. This is further proven true by the note on the door. [It's the door to Papyrus's room. It's covered in many labels...] [NO GIRLS ALLOWED!] [NO BOYS ALLOWED!] [NO SANS ALLOWED!] [PAPYRUS ALLOWED.] "Dude just keeps finding ways to come off as a pompous ass and yet cute at the same time. Well...till he stabs you that is." I check the knob, it's locked. "*muffled shout*" "I hear you, give me a second." I lack expect thief skills so I'm not so stealthy with this approach. "Screw the rules, I have boundary issues!" I kick the door near the knob and it busts open with a loud crash. "Knock knock..." Papyrus's room isn't what I was expecting. There's a chest of bones by the door, a desktop computer in the back right corner blocking the only window, a closet between the PC and a large bookshelf. Another pirate flag adorns the wall of the back left corner, an end table with figures resembling monsters of the Royal Guard is near the bed, and the bed itself is a black modified pro stock hot rod decked out with glistening flame decals. In the center of the room is a black rug framed with flames...and a suspicious looking box that looks big enough to hold a potted flower. Opening the box reveals a bound in string Flowey that's also gagged with a sock. I pull it out of his mouth and he spits in disgust. "Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! That was the worst thing I've ever experienced in my entire life!" "At least you're not dead." I snap the string and he stretches. "What happened to you?" I look at the now very wet hand towel. "Take a wild guess." He sighs. "Papyrus?" "Bingo." He groans as I pick him up. "You wouldn't happen to know where my stuff is, would you?" "What?! They took our gear?!" "My gear. Mine. I don't see you walking around with all that on your back." "Semantics. And no. I have no clue." "Damn it...*sigh* Guess we're not leaving any time soon." Flowey's eyes widen. "W-What do you mean we aren't leaving?" "I mean, we are not leaving this house. Not till I find my stuff." I head out of the room and put Flowey down so I can fix the door. "Are you nuts?! Look what those crazy boneheads did to us! If we stay here, we are both going to die!" "And what do you think will happen if we can't call mom by curfew?" That makes the next remark die on Flowey's tongue. "...Good point." Yank the door back into its former place and tumble back a bit. "Pap is gonna be so pissed." "How do you plan to lessen this?" I pause for a moment. "I could do a little around the place. Maybe earn some points that way." "Why?" "I can snoop around while looking innocent." "...Sometimes you surprise me with evil ideas." "It's not evil if I'm doing good to get back what's mine." I pick up his pot and head downstairs. Maybe I'll start in the kitchen and work my way up. Heating up that lasagna seems like a good start. Maybe do some cleaning. But first I need to tend to this wound. [In Snowdin Town, Library] "OKAY SANS, EXPLAIN TO ME WHY WE HAD TO COME HERE AGAIN?" "like i told ya on the way...if we're gonna keep her like a pet, we should at least do some research on humans so we know what the fuck we're doing." "*HUFF* SOUNDS MORE LIKE YOU JUST WANTED ME AWAY FROM THE HUMAN." "that's just a bonus so the two of ya would shut the hell up for five minutes." The brothers stroll up the front desk where the librarian lizard looks extremely bored. "Welcome to the library, how can I be of...Oh. It's just you two. What do you want?" Papyrus sneers. "WE ARE HERE ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS, SMARTASS." "Oh yeah? Like what?" "we need any and all book ya got about humans." That made the lizard monster adjust their glasses. "This would be because of what the town is all chattering about, right? You two actually caught the last human?" Papyrus confidently poses. "INDEED, YOU HEARD RIGHT. I, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS, AM IN POSSESSION OF THE FINAL HUMAN." Sans rolls his eyes in annoyance as once again, Papyrus has stolen all the credit. "And why is that? Shouldn't the human be sent to the Capital to have its soul removed?" Papyrus was going to speak but Sans beat him to it. "this is the last human. we need to know what it knows. it's been ages since the last one, so who knows what shit is like on the surface. we need to interrogate the human and report the information before we blindly run up there." Papyrus looks at his brother in surprise. "Yeah, I guess that's a smart move. But just letting you know, my stock on human books isn't as good as you might need it to be. Aside from water damage, Alphys keeps having me send her any new books I find on humans." That made them confused. "WHAT FOR?" The librarian shrugs. "She doesn't tell me. The best answer I got out of her was something along the lines of 'needing info to improve Mettaton's lethality' or something like that. If you ask me, anything she does it that hunk of scrap is an improvement." Sans chuckles. "heh...that quack really thinks she can make the tin-can deadly to humans? hell, she can't even make it be the least bit entertaining. what's it gonna do? bore them to death?" "I know. She's wasting her time. But it's none of my business what she does." The librarian steps away. "I'll check what I have and see how much she's actually returned." The lizard goes to the many shelves and Papyrus snickers, gaining Sans's attention. "what's so funny, bro?" "HEH...YOU SURPRISED ME, SANS. I WOULDN'T HAVE GUESSED YOU WERE CAPABLE OF LYING WITH A STRAIGHT FACE." Sans rolls his shoulders. "never said i couldn't lie. i just can't do it to you." Papyrus smirks. "THAT'S GOOD TO KNOW." After about fifteen minutes or so, the librarian returns with a fairly decent stack of books. "Okay, fellas, this is all I got." Just merely glancing at the spines of these books showed them to be a rather random assortment. "WHAT IS THIS ONE?" "Anatomy & Physiology Workbook For Dummies. I've got a few of these 'Dummies' books and from looking them over, they're pretty much like a crash course rundown on whatever the subject is. This one is about the human body. It's actually pretty weird." "oh yeah? how weird are we talking about?" "Get this...Their bodies are mostly composed of water?" They laugh mockingly. "No, I'm serious. Look it up if you don't believe me. And the amount of water is different depending on gender. Males have about 10% more than females. It's so weird." Sans takes the book and begins flipping through it as Papyrus scoffs. "NONSENSE. SUCH THINGS CAN'T POSSIBLY BE TRUE. WHAT KIND OF CREATURE CAN MAINTAIN LIFE WITHOUT MAGIC?" "Humans apparently. None of these books mention anything on a human's magic abilities. Seems like the rumors were true. Humanity has lost its magic." "THAT'S GOOD. THAT MEANS THEY CAN NEVER TRAP US UNDERGROUND AGAIN." "I wouldn't be so eager if I were you. Remember that one human that came through. The yellow soul with that strange weapon?" "I VAGUELY RECALL SUCH THINGS, BUT GO ON." The librarian flips open another book. This one depicting weapons and battles between humans and other humans. "They've lost the use of magic, true. But they've advanced in physical weaponry. These bombs they have...I couldn't begin to imagine such things ever being real. The damage is incredible. The devastation to their own kind is unbelievable. We'd have to hit them hard and fast or we're goners for sure." Papyrus begins looking over the book when Sans suddenly lets out a slightly shuddering gasp. "HMMM? WHAT IS IT SANS? DID YOU DISCOVER A WEAKNESS WE CAN EXPLOIT?" Sans is sweating bullets and his cheekbones burning. "this is for real, right? this book isn't just making shit up?" This has Papyrus's attention. "Yes. It's a science book. Not science fiction. Why?" "so you're telling me that THIS is a real human fact?" Sans puts the book down on the counter and has it opened to the diagram of a human's skeletal system. "Yes. Humans have skeletons inside their bodies. It's like the core of their shape and everything else covers it. Why is that so...odd...?" Now the librarian is confused by the red tinting both skeletons' faces. "SO THERE'S A SKELETON...INSIDE OF THE HUMAN?" "Yeah?" Papyrus slaps a hand over his face and Sans slams his head into the book to hide his growing blush. "*muffled* fuck my life..." "You two are acting weird. Well, more so than usual. So...Just hand over your card and I'll let you take these so this doesn't get any more uncomfortable." "AGREED." Papyrus hands over his library card and the lizard takes Papyrus's information while also stamping the due dates into each book's time card. "Have fun learning, gentlemen." The librarian teases, making Papyrus huff while taking all the books and Sans pulls his hoodie over his head in shame of the still maddening blush he has even while leaving into the cold. "CAN YOU BELIEVE THE NERVE OF THAT GUY? MUST BE A TRAIT ALL REPTILES HAVE. JUST LIKE ALPHYS." "yep." "...YOU'RE STILL THINKING ABOUT THE BOOK, AREN'T YOU?" "i wish i could stop." "THAT...I CAN AGREE WITH YOU THERE. MOST UNSETTLING." "knowing this now makes everything so awkward!" "WE JUST HAVE TO IGNORE IT. IT'S NOT LIKE SHE CAN TAKE OFF HER SKIN AND WALK AROUND IN JUST BARE BONES. ...RIGHT?" "for the love of asgore, i really fucking hope so." "BE STRONG, BROTHER. DO NOT FALL PREY TO THIS NEW INFORMATION. SHE STILL THE SAME BITCH OF A HUMAN. THIS DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING. SHE IS OUR PET. AND WE WILL NOT BE CORRUPTED BY SUCH..." [RING] The sudden sound actually makes Sans jump in surprise due to being so wound up and Papyrus nearly drops everything from shock. "holy shit...*pant* that freaked me out so bad..." "WAIT...THAT ISN'T YOUR RING TONE." "it's not my phone. i took her's when we 'confiscated' her stuff." [RING] "WHO'D BE CALLING HER ANYWAY?" "probably this ghost she knows. or her mom." "HER MOTHER?" "it's a long story..." Sans pulls the old cellphone from his shorts pocket and checks the name that pops up. "yep. it's her mom. let me just..." Without warning, Papyrus snatches the phone from Sans in one hand while holding the books in the other. "pap, no! don't!" Too late. "GREETINGS. YOU ARE SPEAKING TO THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS, SECOND IN COMMAND OF THE ROYAL GUARD!" Sans's eyes go black and he knows damn well this isn't going to end well. "Papyrus? Oh! You must be Sans's brother. I've heard so much about you." That caught Papyrus off guard. He wasn't expecting to be known. Or to just be known as Sans's brother. "*AHEM* YES. THAT IS INDEED WHO I AM. NOW, WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THIS CALL?" "Well, sir, I do believe I am the one who should be asking the questions. For one, why are you in possession of my daughter's phone?" Papyrus grins evilly. "SIMPLE REALLY. I HAVE HER PHONE BECAUSE SHE IS NOW MY PRISONER." Sans cringes. "You WHAT?!" The shout was loud enough to make the phone receiver crack. "YOU HEARD ME. I HAVE YOUR DAUGHTER NOW. BUT DO NOT FEAR. SHE IS PERFECTLY FINE...IF YOU DON'T COUNT THE WOUND TO HER ARM THAT IS." There's eerie silence on the phone and Sans can't take this anymore. He rips the phone from Papyrus. "SANS! GIVE THAT BACK! I WASN'T DONE GLOATING!" "tori! it's me! don't believe a thing my bro said. h-h-he's just trying to get your goat. *nervous laugh* get it? ya know i'd never let the kid get hurt." "SANS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" "if ya want, i can give the phone to her right now and she'll tell ya how she's fine. that sound okay, tori?" "SANS..." Sans covers the phone. "you idiot, do ya even know how fucked up you're making this?" Papyrus glares. "DO NOT TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME, SANS." "pap, the human's mom isn't another human. it's asgore's wife, toriel." That name took a moment to click in Papyrus's head, but when it did, his skull only had the look of horror smeared on it. "T-TORIEL? THE TORIEL? THE QUEEN?" "yes! she ran away to the ruins and locked herself in, remember?" "AND HUMAN IS..." "she kinda adopted her." "AND I JUST...OH MY GOD, I JUST GLOATED OVER HURTING THE QUEEN'S DAUGHTER..." "yes, you did. now go get the human so we can save our asses from being cremated!" Papyrus needs no further prompting and rushes to the shed. Sans slowly follows. "sorry about that, tori. i had to tell my bro to go wake the kid. she's at our house taking a nap. poor thing worked herself to the bone trying to get to town, it was the least i could do to let her get some rest." "...This had better not be a lie, Sans. I am in no mood to be played a fool of." "tori, trust me. i hate making promises but never do i break them. the kid is fine. she's..." Sans pauses when Papyrus comes out of the shed with even more panic than he already had. "*SHOUT* SHE'S NOT IN THERE!" Sans almost dropped the phone. The human's gone? But how? She was chained up and pinned to a freaking wall for fuck's sake! How did she...where could she...? Okay, calm down. She couldn't have gotten far. There has to be some sign of her nearby. "Sans? Is everything alright?" Sans begins to sweat profusely and gulps nervously. "y-yeah! everything's fine. the kiddo's just being fussy is all. let me put ya on hold for a sec while i calm her down." Sans hits the button to pause the call. "what do ya mean she's not there?!" "SHE'S NOT IN THERE, SANS!" "are there any clues? ya fucked her shoulder up, maybe there's a blood trail." Taking a moment to settle down, Papyrus lets his training take over. Looking back in the shed, there is a slight trail of blood droplets starting at the wall where they let her, then a big smear of it on the bars, and then leading out of the door. Sans could see the hunter in his brother take hold and calmed down. Once Papyrus had a target in mind there was nothing that escaped his sense until he found it. Papyrus took notice that the blood had stopped outside the shed but footprints took their place. These prints lead him to his own home and even stranger still, the window. "SANS...SHE'S IN OUR HOUSE." Sans comes up to him. "how do you know?" "THE FLOWER IS WATCHING OUR TV." Sans took a look to confirm his brother's words. Yes, Flowey is seated on the floor in his pot and watching television. Though the human is nowhere to be seen, it is very convincing to believe she is indeed within the residence. They waste no time in entering their home and Flowey is tackled before he can scream. "okay, weed, we know she let ya out. now tell us where she is!" To add some more convincing, Papyrus produces many sharpened bones that take aim at his face. Flowey panics but his cries are all muffled, all he can do is point to one of the doors upstairs. "THE BATHROOM!" "got it!" Sans teleports into the bathroom, leaving Papyrus and Flowey alone. There's deafening silence before screaming and swears are heard. "Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out!" Sans appears on the outside of the door completely red skulled and panting, his left hand gripping his chest like his soul was about to escape. "SANS? WHAT HAPPENED?" He can't speak. Words fail to form in his mouth. All he can do to let Papyrus know that something at least went okay was give a shaky thumbs up. This wasn't as reassuring to Papyrus as Sans wanted it to be and he leaves the flower to check on his brother. "SANS? WHAT HAPPENED? DID SHE DO SOMETHING TO YOU?" Sans shakes his head. "DID YOU SEE SOMETHING?" He nods. "WELL? WHAT DID YOU SEE?" Sans only has enough cognitive thought to spit out one word. "everything." Papyrus goes to ask what he means by that, but seeing how shaken up Sans is, he decides to let it go till he's calmed down. Seconds later, the sound of water being drained clues Papyrus a bit more into what just transpired and he too shares the stunned look his brother has. "I was trying to warn you..." Snidely remarks the flower. "But I suppose that's the price you pay for just rushing in where fools dare to tread." Papyrus in no mood for smart-mouthed flowers. He carries Sans downstairs and sits him o the couch before leaving back to the shed to recollect the books he left there. "Awww...You don't look so good. What's the matter, Smiley Trashbag? Never seen a girl like that before?" "stop..." "Must've been something to really rattle you up like this." "stop." "Funny. I never thought I'd see the day when something got under your skin." "i said, STOP!" Sans's voice roars and his eyes go dark with only the left flaring a violent intense red. Flowey instantly regrets his choice to be a turd at this moment. "do not mock me! i will fucking end you! i will give you a very bad time! i will..." "You'll what?" My sudden voice breaks his rage and his glowing eye dims a little. "i'll make mulch of him if he doesn't stop being such a huge pain in the ass." "Of course you will..." Now out of the bathroom, I'm stuck wearing my bloody clothes and have my hair wrapped in a towel. "Flowey quit being a little shit." "But I..." "I could hear you through the door. Don't antagonize him." He grumbles as I descend the stairs. Sans doesn't look at me. I don't blame him. He saw way too much. "You okay?" "i'm fine." I don't believe him. "Want to reset this moment too?" Flowey looks at me funny upon hearing that. "i don't think that'll work this time." I plop down on the couch away from him. "Damn...And just when things with us were going cool again. Lady luck is being a real bitch today." That musters a small smile to his face but it's short-lived. Moments pass till Papyrus comes in with books and he isn't pleased to see me. "YOU WERE TOLD TO WAIT IN THE SHED." I want to clash with him on that, but choose not to. If I'm stuck here, for the time being, I might as well make it pleasant. Well...as pleasant as it can possibly get. "You're right. I'm sorry." That has Papyrus dropping the books. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" "I said, you're right. I was told to stay put but did not. I'm sorry." My shift in obedience even takes Sans by surprise, his eyes reverting to their normal white pinpricks. I get up and head to the kitchen. "I will admit to not being the most well-mannered person. Definitely not getting a 'good girl of the year' award for such things. But I had some time to think while you boys were gone." "OH YEAH?" I get quiet and they hear the over squeak open. "THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Papyrus rushes over and sees me pulling the lasagna out. "What's wrong? If I leave it in there it'll burn." He's confused. But when I set it down and lift the foil, all this steam comes wafting off. "YOU...YOU HEATED IT FOR ME?" "Like I said, I had some time to think. After getting inside here..." "HOW DID YOU DO THAT BY THE WAY?" "The window. It'll need to be resized or change the lock because I just had to shake it and it came loose. I recommend a temporary fix by jamming something into the frame." "DAMN IT. MY IMPENETRABLE FORTRESS HAS A FLAW. I MUST FIX THAT." "I got Flowey and let him watch TV while I did a few things. First thing, I fixed your bedroom door." He glares. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BEDROOM DOOR?" "Had to kick it open to get to Flowey. But I repaired what little issues such force caused." "IF YOU TOUCHED ANYTHING IN THERE..." "Please, you insult me with such an idea. All I touched was the box holding Flowey and nothing else. By the way, your room, very badass." He gets a faint smile. "GLAD TO KNOW YOU CAN RECOGNIZE SOMETHING SO OBVIOUS. NOW WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU DONE AROUND HERE?" I begin cutting into the food and plating it. "Well...After patching my shoulder I did some lite dusting and cleaned up any blood I tracked in with me. Then I searched the couch to find about 50G under the cushions and under the couch itself, which the pet rock is now guarding in case you want it. Plus...I picked up that sock. Damn thing was bugging my brain just sitting there. Not sure what room is Sans's so it's sitting in my pocket for now." I feel his hands rest firmly on my shoulders and I freeze. "HUMAN...THANK YOU." "Um...You're welcomed?" Why is this making me so nervous right now? "YOU HEAR THAT SANS?! EVEN THE HUMAN IS CAPABLE OF PICKING UP SOCKS!" "good for her! i don't give a shit!" "*SCOFF* GOD, HOW HE ANNOYS THE PISS OUT OF ME." "Easy now. You're both just on edge. Nanny tends to have the effect when mad." "NANNY?" "It's a nickname I gave mom before I started calling her mom. It's a goat joke." "AH. I SEE YOUR HUMOR IS JUST AS BAD AS HIS." "Either way, Toriel can be very protective. And you telling her I was hurt? Not a smart move. You're lucky Sans talked her down or we'd all be in some serious trouble." "*GRUMBLE* WHATEVER." I hand him a plate. "Here. Go relax and eat. Now is the time for peace." He looks at me funny. "Is something the matter?" "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED IN THAT BATHROOM TO MAKE YOU SO PLEASANT? YOU DIDN'T DRINK THE BODYWASH, DID YOU?" "*giggle* No silly. I'm just in a better more. I'm fine. Could use some healing magic to seal this wound, but otherwise okay." "HMMM...PERHAPS AFTER SUPPER, I MIGHT OBLIGE YOU WITH THAT." "I thank you ahead of time if you do." He smirks and returns to the living room. I gather up three more plates, one in each hand and one clasped hard in my teeth, before heading back to join them. I serve Flowey and move the plate from my mouth to the free hand. I then hand a plate over to Sans and takes it from me without looking at me. I frown at this but know he has to settle down. I sit on the floor and eat with Flowey. Aside from the TV playing, not a sound is made between the four of us. It's really uncomfortable. So...I try to change that. "So...Who's the robot?" Flowey gulps a large bite down. "From what I've gathered, its name is Mettaton. It's actually not that bad." "Huh? Looks familiar." "What do you mean?" "I swear...I've seen that machine before. I just can't place it." "Weird." "Eh. I'll come to me later." "So what did mom say?" "Oh, she was pissed! But I talked her into being okay. If she ever asks, we slept over. The reason I may or may not have gotten hurt was due to slipping on ice and colliding with stalagmites. Got it?" "That...That's believable. You can be a klutz sometimes." "*mock gasp* Sir, you speak ill of me? Have at you!" I nuggie Flowey and he nips at me to make me stop. This childishness plays out in front of the brothers and has them puzzled. "ARE YOU SEEING THIS?" "i am. it's so weird. like she's a different person." "DO YOU THINK THIS IS COVERED IN THE BOOKS?" "don't know. but one of those has to be a psychology book of some kind." "DO YOU THINK...IT'S POSSIBLY A RUSE?" "what? like she's faking it?" "EXACTLY." "i don't know...not sure ya can fake something like that." "DO WE...DO WE STICK WITH THE PLAN?" "the pet idea?" "YEAH?" "maybe. we gotta spin something to keep those assholes in town from narking us to undyne." "SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE DIGGING OURSELVES INTO A PRETTY DEEP HOLE HERE, SANS." "we just have to make a plan. but for now...she doesn't leave this house." "AGREED." "Hey, guys..." That broke up their little huddle. "Could I have my backpack back? I'd like to change into something less torn and blood caked." "YOU'D HAVE TO ASK SANS FOR THAT. HE TOOK YOUR THINGS. I JUST HAD THE FLOWER." I look at Sans and he flinches when he makes eye contact. "If it helps, I'll make a trade." I dig the sock out of my pocket. "Item for an item?" He looks annoyed but puts his plate down. "fine." He teleports away and Papyrus growls. "DAMN IT, SANS! YOU FORGOT TO TAKE THE SOCK!" "i didn't forget...i just didn't want to have it." Suddenly Sans is upstairs and opening a door. I mentally mark that as his room and it won't be hard to remember either. That door was the odd one with multicolored flames seeping out from under it but oddly they didn't burn or have any heat as if it's an illusion. "*SNARL* YOU WILL TAKE THIS DAMN SOCK AND PUT IT IN YOUR ROOM, OR SO HELP ME I WILL..." "you'll what?" A bone is launched and harpoons itself in the wall beside Sans's head, rattling him big time. "TAKE. THE. FUCKING. SOCK. NOW." "uh...okay, i get it. toss it here, kiddo." I ball the sock up and throw it. He catches it with ease and enters his room. Seconds later, Sans appears on the couch again with my bag. "here." He holds out the bag. "Everything in there?" "yeah." "That include my gold and items?" He sneers. "ya don't trust me?" I groan. "Don't start this crap. I have a right to ask since you guys stripped me." I snatch it from him and head back upstairs. "the fuck ya giving me attitude for?!" "Stop now before you say something stupid." "so what? now you're calling me stupid?!" "Oh my god...Grow up! You saw me naked! Get over it!" I slam the door behind me and roar in annoyance. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not even over. Nothing like coming out of deep thought soaking in a tub and opening your eyes to see a stunned skeleton staring at you like he's seen a dead body. Why? Why did he look at me like that? The first time anyone, let alone a guy, sees me nude and they looked terrified. My self-esteem went down the drain with the bathwater. God, I hate my life. I change into a spare outfit and tie my hair back up in the ribbon. Once I'm done, I look over myself in the mirror. [It's still you, Lynsie.] [HP 36, ATK 26, and DEF 14] "Not quite. But getting there. There's always room for improvement." I exit the bathroom and see Sans is gone. Probably in his room. Papyrus appears to have grabbed another plate. The guy enjoys his own cooking, that's for sure. Flowey's zoned out on watching TV, he's such a kid sometimes. I get down there and join them. I toss the bag under the table with the rock and grab a book Papyrus brought in before sitting beside him on the couch. What a strange assortment these things are. They all had something to do with humans. This one, in particular, is called "Evolution and Selection of Quantitative Traits". So far not a bad read. "WHAT IS THAT ONE ABOUT?" "The synopsis on the back says...Evolution and Selection of Quantitative Traits presents a holistic treatment of the subject, showing the interplay between theory and data with extensive discussions on statistical issues relating to the estimation of the biologically relevant parameters for these models. Quantitative genetics is viewed as the bridge between complex mathematical models of trait evolution and real-world data, and the authors have clearly framed their treatment as such. This is the second volume in a planned trilogy that summarizes the modern field of quantitative genetics, informed by empirical observations from wide-ranging fields (agriculture, evolution, ecology, and human biology) as well as population genetics, statistical theory, mathematical modeling, genetics, and genomics. Whilst volume 1 (1998) dealt with the genetics of such traits, the main focus of volume 2 is on their evolution, with a special emphasis on detecting selection (ranging from the use of genomic and historical data through to ecological field data) and examining its consequences." "IN ENGLISH?" "What makes something work in a species so that THAT creature continues to thrive while similar beings that lack such traits don't. Like for example, there are two types of birds that live in a heavily wooded area. Food starts to get harder to come by because it starts going into the trees. The bird that evolves first to take advantage of this new way of eating, by digging into the trees, is the bird that will get to keep going while the other dies out. Makes sense?" "AH. THAT SEEMS VERY LOGICAL. HOW DOES THAT WORK FOR HUMANS?" "Eh. Humanity hasn't really evolved for a long time. I think noticeably, we stopped when Homosapiens came about and made Neanderthals die out. Though they didn't die out completely. There are still traces of Neanderthal DNA in most of the population, which shows they were able to crossbreed and keep going that way." "SO THESE HOMOSAPIENS...THEY ARE WHAT IS KNOWN AS MODERN HUMANS?" "Correct. Advancements in DNA research has allowed us to trace our line back 85 million years ago when primates diverged from other mammals." That shocks him but then has him confused. "WAIT...WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY PRIMATES?" "Monkeys and Apes. Humans evolved from them." "NO..." "I know. Sounds like complete bull. But the proof is in our blood. Yet that doesn't stop most people from thinking that's crap and we just poofed on the land because religion says so." "BUT HOW DOES A MONKEY OR APE TURN INTO A HUMAN?" "Human evolution from its first separation from the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees is characterized by a number of morphological, developmental, physiological, and behavioral changes. The most significant of these adaptations are bipedalism, increased brain size, lengthened ontogeny otherwise known as gestation and infancy, and decreased sexual dimorphism. The relationship between these changes is the subject of ongoing debate. Other significant morphological changes included the evolution of a power and precision grip, aka, our hands, a change first occurring in Homoerectus." "YOU KNOW AN AWFUL LOT ABOUT SUCH THINGS." "She's a nerd." Flowey interjects and I playfully shrug. "He's not wrong. I like to study random stuff that keeps my interest." "THEN IF YOU DON'T MIND ME ASKING, WHEN DID HUMANS EVOLVE TO HAVE SKELETONS INSIDE THEM?" I tilt my head confused. "I'm not sure I understand the question." "IN ONE OF THE BOOKS WE GOT IT SHOWED THERE IS A SKELETON INSIDE OF HUMAN BODIES. WHEN DID THAT BECOME A THING?" I think hard. "Well...When life began forming in the ocean, ages ago, nothing had bones because gravity is less in water and when all life is just fist, you don't need an internal support system. One-celled animals don't have any support system that holds them in a certain shape. Plants do have a support system, but it's the cellulose in the cell wall of each cell, rather than bones. Ain't that right, bro?" Flowey rolls his eyes and focuses on the show. "Early multi-celled animals like jellyfish, sponges, and worms also didn't have skeletons, but beginning with arthropods, about 550 million years ago, animals began to make specialized structures to support their bodies and give them a definite shape. The earliest skeletons were exoskeletons. They were on the outside of the animal. Modern lobsters, crabs, snails, and insects have exoskeletons. By about 510 million years ago, eels began to have their skeletons on the inside as well as on the outside in the form of their scales. They evolved first notochords and then vertebrae to protect their delicate spinal cords. These early inside skeletons or endoskeletons were made out of cartilage rather than bone. Sharks still have skeletons made out of cartilage to this day. Which makes finding their fossils very annoying. You mostly just find teeth. Big sharp killer teeth." "INTERESTING." "By about 480 million years ago, some fish were beginning to have teeth, so they could eat other fish. To protect their heads, some fish evolved their teeth into skulls. The earliest skulls look like lots of tiny teeth. Fish also evolved two sets of fins, one near their heads, and the other about half-way down to help them swim faster. During the Devonian period, about 400 million years ago, many seas were very shallow, and fish evolved to be able to live in very shallow water. Their fins developed into legs, because crawling worked better than swimming in these puddles, and they developed finger-like appendages to help them balance when they were moving. Gradually these lungfish evolved into amphibians, about 375 million years ago, and lived more and more on land. Their bodies were not supported by the water anymore, and they needed stronger bones to hold them up. And it really just kept going from their the more land dependent life became. All the way up to the bones we have now." "THAT IS INCREDIBLE. TIME AND DETERMINATION TO LIVE REALLY AMAZES ME SOMETIMES." "Wanna see?" He cocks his brow as I put the book down to pull my left arm out of its sleeve and bring it out of my shirt's collar. Now seeing the bandage, I peel it down to show the gaping hole his bone made. "If you look up in middle of it, you can see part of my scapula and humerus. You cut into there pretty deep to move that much muscle to expose the bone. Rather impressive actually." The look he gets is a weird mixture of curiosity and restraint. "Papyrus?" He doesn't respond. He just keeps his eyes locked into the wound. It's beginning to unnerve me. I move to put the bandage back on but he stops me, holding my wrist away. I don't move now. I let him do what he wants. Slowly the hand holding my wrist starts feeling the bone behind the thin layer of skin. Those eyes of his, so intense and yet holding no ill intent like he tends to display. I pay more attention to that hand and fail to notice the other begins to test touch the inside of the hole for bone until a raw nerve makes me hiss. "SENSITIVE?" "*wince* No...Painful..." "DO YOU WANT ME TO STOP?" "*strained* If that's okay, yes." "THEN SAY THE MAGIC WORDS." I glare at him and he smirks. "*weak growl* You jerk..." "I DIDN'T HEAR YOU. CARE TO TRY AGAIN?" He shoves his fingers in deeper and I bite my lip hard. This feels so weird. Why is he blushing? Is he enjoying this? Why am I blushing? The fuck is wrong with me?! Nope! So much nope! This ends now! "*stressed* Please stop, Master!" The room goes silent. Flowey even turns off the TV in shock. Papyrus grins triumphantly and takes the offending hand out to cover the wound instead. "GOOD GIRL. FOR THAT, YOU'VE EARNED THIS." His hand starts resonating with healing magic and I feel nothing but shame. "YOU DON'T LOOK HAPPY." "I feel disgusted with myself." "AND WHY DO YOU FEEL THAT WAY?" "Because you're humiliating me in exchange for aid." "DO YOU WANT ME TO STOP?" I look away. "No." "NO WHAT?" I lower my head. "*mumble*" "WHAT WAS THAT?" "...No, Master." "THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT." Flowey just shakes his head at me and I glare harshly. "AS A SHOW THAT THIS SORT OF BEHAVIOR IS ACCEPTABLE, I WILL PERMIT YOU TO SLEEP ON THE COUCH." "Where would I have slept otherwise?" "THE SHED OF COURSE." "...I'm not even surprised." He pulls his hand away to reveal the healed flesh and stands up. "I TRUST YOU'LL BE A GOOD PET AND MAKE SURE THE FOOD IS PROPERLY STORED AND THE DISHES DONE BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP." I sneer and grip the couch. "Yes, Papyrus." He eyes me before turning away. "I'LL EXCEPT THAT FOR NOW. BUT DO GET USED TO CALLING ME MASTER." He heads upstairs to his room and I internally scream bloody murder while putting my arm back in my shirt the right way. "The hell did I miss?" "Not now, bro. Not now." I get up and take his plate to the kitchen. "What are you doing?" "Being a whipped bitch and hating myself for it! What else does it look like?" I kick myself as I do as told. I put the food into a correctly sized container, mark a date and number it, then put it away. Dishes don't take long to do and I set the books up on the table for them later. I even end up making sure the window and door are secured. "Why are you doing this? We have our stuff. We can leave." He's right. I have him, the bag, all my stuff, and the door is right there. So why am I doing this? Why can't I seem to even grip that idea as an option to take? "Lynsie? Hey...Are you okay?" "...I don't know." My hands are shaking and I can't feel it. Is it nerve damage? Or is something going wrong in my head? "Why don't you take a break? You've had a long day." "Yeah...Yeah, that sounds nice..." I pick him off the floor and set him on the table before flopping face first onto the couch with a groan. I want so bad to shut down and forget this happened. But I can't. I have one last thing to do before I can. I pull out my phone and dial up the only other number that isn't Toriel. [RING-RING] "...hello?" "Blook-man, it's me." "Lynsie! hey...you still coming over?" "I'm in Snowdin Town." "wow. you made it halfway. you really are something else." "Listen...I don't think I can make over by, what I'll guess is, nightfall." "how come? is it that bad out there for you?" "I am currently in the house of Royal Guardsmen Sans and Second in Command Papyrus. So...Yeah, I don't think I'm leaving anytime soon." "holy shit! are you alright?!" "So far. Kinda got this weird situation where I'm gonna be made into a pet thing going on, but other than that..." "do you need any help?" "Blooky, as sweet as that is, I ain't gonna risk you getting in trouble over me." "...then what are you going to do?" "I'll find a way. You know me." "if you need anything, just call and I'll come as fast as I can." "I know. You're a good friend, Blooky. I'll try to get over there. I just don't know when." "don't rush. the royal guard isn't to be taken lightly. hell, the captain lives near me." "...You're just telling me this now?" "in my defense...I never really thought you'd leave the ruins." "Yeah, can't fault ya there." "um...can I call you back later?" "Dude, you can call me anytime. Sorry if I bugged ya while you were doing something." "n-no! not at all! I wasn't doing anything! alright, got to go now! bye!" [CLICK] "Huh...That wasn't suspicious at all. Goodnight, Flowey." "Take it easy, human." I put the phone away and get comfortable. At least I'm indoors now and out of the cold. I can't imagine trying to sleep in that shed. A little nap will calm my nerves and bring peace to me weary soul...I hope. [Many hours later] Sans had woken up, as he often does, from non-restful slumber. The tossing and turning due to bad dreams always left him exhausted. This drained feeling is what drove him to always raid the fridge for a quick bite and feel recharged. How often he did this depended on pure randomness, but rest assured, it happens none the less and this night was no exception. Rummaging the fridge after teleporting down there, he scarfed down two or three doughnuts before chugging a large bottle of mustard he kept in the crisper. So far, a very normal replay of past nights for him. Yet in deciding to walk back to his room, something new caught his attention. The human was stretched out on the couch looking both uncomfortable and yet comfortable at the same time. Papyrus must have let her stay inside for some reason. He had to admit, he had no idea how she was managing to sleep on that thing. The couch, when used for sitting, was fine, but laying on it was another matter. It was lumpy and jangly when the springs were pressed on, so not the best bed in his opinion. But there she was. Out cold and dead to the world. He slowly approached her. Oh, how easily she could be taken out right now and no one would know. "heh...really? after everything, you really can just sleep like nothing happened?" Of course, there was no response on her end. "tell me to grow up. where the hell do ya get off telling me that shit? you don't fucking know me. you don't know half the fucked up shit i've been through. tell me to get over it after you've seen some little shit kid kill your brother and slaughter everyone before killing you. try getting over that and then you'll be on my level." He rubs his brow and sighs. "the hell am i even doing? ya can't even hear me. so why? why do ya do this to me? why are you making things so difficult? none of this has ever happened before. this is different. you weren't supposed to be here. it's a mistake. a big middle finger in the shitty comedy that is my life. like the killer kid wasn't tormenting enough, now i gotta deal with this woman that unintentionally sets me off? oh ha ha, real funny. what's next? a random house is gonna fall out of the sky with little people singing about candy and friendship? dear god, i hope not." She stirred a little to roll over. "*incoherent mumbles*" He knew he should stay quiet. He had no reason to speak. But the words left him before he could stop. "what did you say?" That seemed to draw life into her as her head lolled to look at him. Her eyes dull and hard to keep open. "Sans? You okay, buddy?" She really didn't hear any of that? He internally thanked whatever force out there for at least doing that much and got a tad bit closer. "yeah, i'm fine." "You're not mad at me anymore?" The way that came out of her sounded so innocent to him. A big difference between the girl he knows. "i wasn't mad you." "You weren't?" "no." "Oh, good. *yawn* I don't like seeing you sad. Your smile is so cute." That slowly drowned out of her as she began nodding off again and it caught him off guard. What did she mean by that? Was that even real or just the sleep talking? He wanted answers and shook her a bit. "hey, kiddo. wake up." "*whine* Two more hours, Nanny..." "i ain't your mom. now look at me." A tap on the cheek got her eyes open and the speed nearly made him jump. "Sans? What's wrong? *yawn* Is everything okay?" He just stared at her for a moment before chalking what he heard to just be nothing but sleep speech. "nah. everything's fine. just making sure you're not dead." She looked at him oddly yet let it slide due to tiredness. "Thanks." Having nothing further to investigate about her, he turned and headed towards the stairs. "Sans, wait..." He paused in mid-step. "I...I want to say...I'm sorry...For the awkwardness after that whole, you know..." That made him look back at her. This whole time he figured it wasn't bothering her past that initial intrusion, but in reality, it's been eating at her too. She was putting up a tougher front while Papyrus was around than he was. It made him feel just slightly sympathetic about it. "kid, don't mention it. i accept the apology, but let's just let that die from our thoughts. maybe give that reset thing a try." That made her smile and it had him feeling odd about it. "I'd like that." "good. then when we wake up, none of this will have happened. deal?" "Deal." She got nestled back into the couch and he began walking up the stairs. "Goodnight, Sans." Those moments. These little bits where there's no hostility. Where things are relaxed and nice. Where there is no fear and it feels safe. Those were the moments he longed for. And it scared him that she was the reason he felt any of that. "whatever." He continued up to his room and opened the door. He could feel her eyes on him yet he resisted looking back and entered his room. Now free from her gaze, he exhaled deeply and slinked over to the mattress he called a bed. This was the one place she had the weakest effect on him, but still some power none the less. She wasn't supposed to be here. Frisk was supposed to come, not her. Why this change? Why now? Such a random anomaly showing up and doing things that were so out of place made his skull itch with burning questions. Yet despite most of these questions, other thoughts would come to his mind. Like, does it even matter all that much that she's here and not Frisk? Was this really so bad? Would he had really preferred the return of that kid and causing more chaos to the timeline than to deal with this odd woman? It's not like Frisk ever gave a damn about him or Papyrus. In fact, that brat never gave a shit about any of them. So why was this bugging him so much? Maybe it was just the sense of repetitiveness that was making things weird. Expecting things to go the same way as they always had even with a new variable was foolish. Of course, things would change. And while most changes were bad in this world, this human didn't really bring any of that with her. She wasn't mindlessly going from point A to point B just to reach some unknown goal. No, she was staying put and learning. She was getting to know them. Trying to understand them. Frisk never did that. But this human...Lynsie...She was at the very least trying. Trying to do good. Trying to be better than what they thought humans were like. Trying...to be his friend. It made Sans frown at such a thought. "kiddo...don't waste your time on me. i'm not worth it." He drew his ripped sheets over himself and shut his eye sockets. Maybe in sleep, none of this would matter. Maybe when he wakes up, this will all be gone. She'd be gone. And that scared him the most.

#undertale #underfell #Anomaly #Lynsie #Sans #Papyrus #Gaster #Grillby #grandpa semi #napstablook #mettaton #flowey #chara #frisk #Asriel #asgore #toriel #undyne #alphys

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trifoliate-undergrowth · 7 years ago

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Crisco 129: Dystopian Sansby Dream AU-pt 2

-In which the title starts to make a liiiiittle more sense, and I dump down all the lore I thought up for this without meaning to so it doesn’t get tangled up with everything later on.-

Sans found Grillbz at a table by the window in the main café, still shut and deserted. Grillbz’ own natural light was the only light except a greyish color from the window. The sun was on its way. Grillbz glanced at him, smiled, and kept eating. Was he purposefully avoiding eye contact? Sans sat opposite him and started on his own eggs. He needed some time to process this as well. And they didn’t have time to talk. It took Sans the same amount of time to finish his two eggs as it took Grillbz to finish his own helping, then Grillbz disappeared into the kitchen to prep while Sans unlocked the door and turned lights on.

They served guards on border patrol, almost invariably humans, but a few dead-eyed monsters as well. It wasn’t a bad setup—as Grillbz had pointed out, they were allowed a generous portion of the better type of food, and most of the humans viewed them either as furniture or pets: Sans had only been threatened once, not counting a couple of drunken jests late at night on weekends. He’d heard someone say “Think I can land it between his ribs?” from behind him and turned, not liking the sound of it. A heavy breadknife slammed into his side, glanced off and clattered on the floor. He fell backwards, partly from shock, partly from the force: he was not a heavy monster. He stood quickly and stumbled into the back. Grillbz was humming. He glanced over. “What?” “Help me.” Sans unbuttoned his vest and pulled his shirt up. “..What.” He exhaled. It wasn’t bad. One rib bruised, one chipped with a hairline crack. Grillbz knelt in front of him, taking in the damage. “What happened?” Grillbz asked. “Someone threw a bread knife at me,” said Sans, pulling his shirt back down. He laughed. “It’s fine, just startled me. I can—“ Grillbz stood suddenly, walked to the door and flung it open. Sans tensed. Grillbz didn’t slam the door, only swung it briskly open, but to Sans, who had spent a lot of time around him, he might as well have. His movements were always precise and controlled. “Who did it?” he growled, standing in the doorway. Fuck, thought Sans, what’s he going to do? He can’t start a fight, he’ll get us all deported. He scrambled up to stand behind Grillbz, who hadn’t moved. The café, previously bustling, was quiet, and practically empty. Steve, one of the regulars, finished sipping his coffee before slowly lowering the mug back to the table and glancing at Grillbz. “It was Donivan and some of his buddies.” Grillbz was frowning now in confusion. “And where did they go…?” “I wouldn’t worry about it.” There was a muffled thudding noise from the side of the building, and some considerable swearing. Steve twitched the muscles around one eye and returned his attention to his coffee. Grillbz backed into the kitchen, steering Sans with a hand on his head. He took a moment to process what had happened, then smiled thinly. “Let’s get a bandage on that.”

Steve was back today, he came in when the light was still mostly grey. Grillbz waited on him himself, he’d stay in the kitchen only when things got busy. Sans walked to the window and looked out. It was a dry cold day. The sheets of ice dust hanging in the air were stained dull orange from the still-invisible sun. He could see the border: the fence itself was flimsy-looking here, simple chain link and razor wire, but there was no cover beyond, just dead waste. Snowdin was the end of the line. Grillbz was complaining about the scarcity of eggs. “Ridiculous,” said Steve. Grillbz glanced up for a moment, just long enough to make eye contact with Sans (at least, Sans counted it as eye contact. Grillbz’ eyes weren’t visible except as a flickering blur when he wore his glasses, but Sans had gotten used to reading him despite this.) He kept his poker face but Sans thought he detected a hint of smugness.

The orange dusty light deepened. The guards brought it in with them through the door, and Sans watched it hungrily. He was really, although he knew it was useless at the moment, watching for another body to appear behind theirs, tall, walking through the dust in a red scarf. It was unlikely he still had that.

He remembered being jammed into a cupboard with Papyrus, who was then much smaller than him and fit comfortably between his knees. Sans’ face was pressed against the scarf, which smelled faintly of home. He thought of home: the gloss on the wood floors, the particular smell of the curtains in his father’s study. It had only been a few hours since they’d left it but already home had become a mythical place. There was a closet on the second floor that was still full of their mother’s clothes, Gaster had kept them and Sans had once found him sitting in there on the floor, face pressed into the fabric. Papyrus’ scarf had once belonged to her. He didn’t remember her at all, and Sans could only remember, in brief piercing flashes, her voice and her smell. That night Gaster hadn’t been back at the usual time, and when there was an unfamiliar knock at the door Sans wondered whether he ought to answer it. But someone whispered the password in Wingdings through the mail slot. He opened the door. It was one of the scientists who worked with dad. He looked a bit like a terrified cat on stilts. “Pack your things.” Sans spun Papyrus around and herded him back to their room. They’d drilled this. Papyrus still couldn’t do it in the prescribed two minutes without help, he kept getting distracted. “SANS WHICH SOCKS? STRIPES OR SQUIGGLES?” Sans batted the closest pair into the suitcase. “Those are fine.” The tall cat was waiting impatiently, pacing up and down. Sans grabbed Papyrus’ suitcase so it wouldn’t bang on every stair going down, slinging his own duffel bag across his body. “Where’s dad?” he asked. “Is he safe? Are we going to meet up with him?” “YEAH!” Shouted Papyrus. Sans shushed him. “He’s dead,” said the cat. Several seconds passed, then Sans understood with a sudden certainty that they were never coming back. The house became silent and strange around him. “And I need you to be absolutely silent and stay close behind me.” It was snowing as they followed him outside. Sans was plagued by an idea that, after all, and despite all the drills, he had forgotten something. Something terribly important. He couldn’t remember what it was.

Hiding in a cupboard was a welcome change to the cat’s fast-paced walking in the cold. It gave him a chance to hug Papyrus, and smell the smell of home clinging to his clothes. After a while there were voices in the room outside, and a warm light. Grillbz opened the door, looked at them blindingly for a moment, said “oh fuck” and slammed the door shut. There was a muffled, but only slightly muffled, argument from the other side of the door. “They’re kids, I can’t take care of kids.” “Just one, the other’s sixteen. He’ll help you out with the little guy.” “Why can’t you take them?” “Me? I’m surprised I was able to get them this far. They’re been rounding us up too. Everyone who worked with him. Heh, probably got the janitor. All you need to do is keep them safe, it’s more than I can do.” After a bit more whisper-shouting from both parties Grillbz opened the door a second time and looked at them. Sans recognized him. They’d been introduced at one point, though he couldn’t remember where or why. “Come with me?” he said at last, offering his hand. Papryus took it and staggered out of the cupboard. “WHERE?” Grillbz jumped. “Could you please not shout.” “I’M NOT SHOUTING!” Grillbz glanced at Sans, who was in the act of slithering ungracefully out of the cupboard. Sans gave him what he hoped was a ‘he’s always like that, be nice’ look. Grillbz appeared to understand. “Alright. Don’t say anything while we’re walking. We need to be quiet.” Grillbz pulled his hood down over his face and led them outside. Papyrus, mimicking the motion, hid in his scarf. It was still snowing heavily.

That was when Grillbz had the first place. The building would have fit four times into the new café. He was working all of it himself because he didn’t feel like hiring anyone else. He removed his parka carefully, wincing when the encrusted snow brushed against his skin, slung it across the counter and crossed his arms. He wore all black in those days, his face and arms were the only things clearly visibly in the room. He looked at them for a few moments, as if unsure what to do with them, then nodded towards a table. “Sit.” Papyrus had reached for Sans’ hand at some point on their trip and Sans wasn’t about to let go now. He lifted Papyrus onto his lap and sat holding him. Grillbz looked at them, then down with a grunt. He pondered the floorboards for a few moments, looked back up. “How do you feel about waiting tables?” “Me?” said Sans. “Uh, fine.” “Good. Because that’s about all I can do for you.” “AND WHAT WILL I DO?” asked Papyrus after a pause. “You will stay out of sight as much as possible.” “OKAY!” he said, accepting his new mission immediately. Grillbz frowned at him and uncrossed his arms. “You know about your father.” “HE’S REALLY DEAD?” “Shush. Yes, and you must never speak of him.” “WHY NOT?” “Because he’s been erased. It’s now a crime to say his name. He can only be referred to as Entry 17, and that’s only if you know information that we’re not, technically, supposed to know. You’re better off pretending he never existed.” Papyrus stared at Grillbz. “BUT WHAT IF WE FORGET HIM? WHAT IF WE FORGET HIM LIKE WE FORGOT MOM? I DON’T WANT TO FORGET HIM!” His voice rose to a broken screech. Grillbz addressed his next words to the floorboards. “You can talk to your brother, or me, but only when no one else is around. You have to be certain of that.” “SANS!” “He’s probably right, let’s talk about this later, OK?” “BUT—BUT—BUT—BUT.” He began crying. Grillbz abruptly scooped up their bags and disappeared into what Sans had thought was a closet, but then he heard the creak of a staircase followed by two muffled thuds from above their heads. A moment later he reappeared. “You can sleep in my bed for tonight.”

The upstairs was a single room with a bed, a battered wardrobe and a few crates. It took half an hour for Papyrus to stop crying, after which he passed out. Sans scooted him under the covers and fell asleep next to him. Grillbz had disappeared and he didn’t care to where. His next memory was of waking to a soft noise. Looking up, he saw Grillbz undressing with his back to him. He turned, and Sans saw a dull, almost grey-red patch on the gold of his upper left arm. It had the shape of numerals. 129. They had started marking monsters who’d been taken in for questioning and were found suspicious, but recently the numbers were longer and had letters included. He must have been arrested early on. There should be a mark after the number showing why he’d been released: a dash for not enough information found, a star for good conduct—which amounted to betrayal. Sans couldn’t see it from where he was. He didn’t think it was a star. Maybe there was no mark, and he’d just done time for something minor. But Sans doubted that the Confederation would have been focusing on minor crimes within the first 200 arrests. Grillbz shrugged on a clean shirt and went downstairs, where Sans heard him moving quietly.

After a few weeks Sans had decided that he liked helping Grillbz, who, for his part, grudgingly admitted that it was easier to manage the café with help. Two years later they had relocated to a larger building closer to the border, where border patrols came in a steady stream throughout the day, and Grillbz had made Sans his business partner and co-owner officially. They’d settled into a routine that worked for both of them; Sans did the talking, defused tension, made jokes, memorized orders and preferences and delivered food, and Grillbz cooked, cleaned and kept things organized. Either could switch if necessary and they both multitasked when things were busy.

The rest of the day passed quickly, and with no time for dreaming. By the time of the afternoon lull Sans was definitely ready to talk about that kiss, but Grillbz was still avoiding eye contact with a strange persistence. Sans hoped he wasn’t regretting it, and had to make a mental effort not to come up with multiple ways the situation could go horribly wrong. At the same time, he didn’t dare think about how… right it could go, not until he’d gotten Grillbz to talk to him. And that was even harder. By closing time he’d wound down a little, mostly because some degree of burnout was inevitable after a full day of excited anticipation. He locked the door and closed the blinds, then tilted his head back, stretching out a crick in his neck. He heard movement somewhere close behind him. “Sa—“ “YES” “—ns?” “Yeah yup? What? Sup?” He turned. Grillbz was standing a few feet away, near one of the empty tables, which was covered with crumbs and smears of Crisco. “….” What if he hadn’t even been aiming for Sans’ mouth. He’d been going to kiss him platonically on the forehead and then Sans moved at the last minute and messed it all up and now he was uncomfortable. Oh God that would be horrible. Grillbz slipped a pair of tokens out of his vest pocket and tossed them on the table with a small smirk. Sans picked them up. “Hey. Steve had a spare card for eggs? Sweet, that’s an extra two dozen past our allowed portion.” “Mm.” “So we’re back on track. Did you know he’d do that?” “Educated guess. But no.” “I don’t know how you do it.” Grillbz reached over and moved Sans’ hand so the tokens slid over each other, showing that the one on the bottom was different. Sans internally screeched, and was grateful that skeletons could not blush. “What.” He said. “Who the hell had a spare butter token?” “Also Steve.” “How?! This is for half a pound!” “Yes. He’s decided to donate it because he’s a nice fellow. But it’s just for him and the other officers.” “And you.” Grillbz smiled. “Naturally I’ll use a small amount myself, yes. I am sick to death of Crisco.” Sans made a face, he was sick of Crisco too. Crisco, he reflected, was not meant to be used heavily in cooking, as they were forced to use it. It should be used to oil machinery. Maybe it could be used as furniture polish. He was sure there were good uses for Crisco, aside from cooking. “Do you want to go yourself or do cleanup?” “I’ll go.” He was back to feeling like he could walk up the walls and he didn’t want to stay inside. Grillbz nodded and pressed his hands around the tokens, completely encasing Sans’ skeleton hands in his large warm ones. (internal screaming intensifies.) Then he went for a rag to wipe the Crisco off of tables.

Sans zoomed outside so he could internally scream at the sky in privacy, then began walking quickly. He was going to finish the trip and corner Grillbz before he went to bed. He had to talk to him tonight, there was no excuse not to now. He hummed tunelessly as he walked. This was going to be a good night. He’d jinxed it, hadn’t he.

--Well this ~is~ a dystopian fic, yeees?~ ….Hmm yes, Papyrus. I wonder, where is that little ray of sunshine?--

Part 1

Part 3

#sansby #dystopian au #undertale fanfiction #sansby fic #sfw with some swearing

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