Nightmares and Bedtime Stories

"I forgot to tell you," Sans said, his voice sounding a little irritated, "something important. I need a pay raise and more hours." 

Was he kidding? "A pay raise? More hours?" Undyne got her hair out of her face. "You can't even stay awake for the little work you have now." 

"It depends on your idea of awake," Sans replied, "still, I'm going to need a pay raise and more hours." 

"Why?" 

"Because you just freed Frisky and Chance, so now I have to really hurry. I don't have much time left. I can't put it off much longer anyway." 

"What are you blubbering-" Undyne didn't finish her sentence as she found herself in an encounter.

Sans pushed his hand in the other direction from where Undyne was sitting, making Undyne fly to the other wall. 

Undyne rubbed her head unenthusiastically before reaching for her spear, which became pinned to the wall. 

"See. How to explain?" Sans started. "I didn't really care before what was happening. Who was really in charge of FRISK. I didn't even try to stop them in the timelines unless it was an all-out battle to kill every Monster they could." Sans pointed at her, making her rise to the middle of the room. "It was real boring, resetting, and almost numbing. I followed clues that popped up every now and then, but other than that, I didn't really care about anything at all. Everything was pointless." 

He pointed downward, slamming her to the ground. "I died several times too, like everyone else. But, you probably knew that." He flung his arm up, sending her in the air, and then crashing down below again. "I bet Alphys told you that, but I know she didn't tell you everything. She knows I like privacy, and she probably can't remember everything." Sans brought her back to the middle of the room and stood her back up. "And I'm not bothering with it all again. It's draining, and it's a lot. So, just keep this in mind." 

He stuck his hands back in his coat. "I'm worth a pay raise." He approached her closer where she was constantly growling and giving him dirty looks. "Yeah, I know, annoying huh? I've never been affected by board rules. Probably a guardian thing. I don't know. Anyhow, back to the interview. One hit point doesn't matter if I know how to dodge, but that handicap is gone too, due to a little ditty I heard." He took his bony finger and shook it at her like she was being bad. "You don't know want to see what I can do now." 

He took his magic completely off of her. She quickly grabbed her spear, but before she did anything, he used his magic to lift it up. "I'd much rather just do what I do now. Hang out. Tell jokes. I like that kind of life. Lots of magic means fighting and Royal Guard and things. I'm not interested in that unless it's an emergency. So, if we could keep this between us, I'd appreciate it." He took his magic off her spear again. 

UNDYNE: ACT: TALK "How the hell are you so strong?!" Undyne panted, holding her spear at her side. 

Sans scratched his skull. "Like I said, a little ditty Frisky let me play. Now, Frisky and Chance." He waved his hand around. "Alphys tell you about the human experimentation?" 

UNDYNE: ACT: TALK "Yeah, she did. A horrible, cowardly race." Undyne stood up. "Spying on us. Entrapping us. Even now, they are hiding and killing innocent Monsters to try and grow strong. There are no innocents except that boy. Which apparently was a woman. Still trying to get used to that." 

"Hm. Knew there was a reason I haven't heard of any around here lately." Sans shook his head. "So, 'cause Chance was a kid, he was innocent. Just older humans are supposed to die." 

UNDYNE: ACT: TALK "King Asgore's order." Undyne sighed. "A horrible species. They had no right to manipulate us." 

"Can't quite disagree," Sans admitted. "I almost want to wipe every single one off the face of the planet. Heck, the only reason FRISK ever even made it to Snowdin is because I made a promise to watch the human. A thousand years, probably more, thinking we were down in the dark. Surrounded by cavern walls. Entrapped. Manipulated memories. So, I can't blame ya, but, that 'horrible race' also did something else too." 

UNDYNE: ACT: TALK "Help us reach the 'surface'?" Undyne groaned. "I know, there are some few good ones. I remember hearing about that." 

"Yeah, but that's not what I was going to say." His eye socket suddenly had the vision of an actual eye inside of it. Undyne had never seen that before. Ever. It was so creepy and the sheer power radiating from him was so intense! "Leave my humans alone." 

UNDYNE: ACT: TALK "Your humans?" That phrasing. That look. Undyne couldn't move, and she did not know if it was from his magic or . . . her own fear. Fear of that look in his eye. 

Sans closed his eye sockets a moment, and reopened them. His eye sockets were back to normal. "Sorry about that. I get in little moods sometimes. Anyhow, do whatever you want to the others. King Asgore or otherwise. I'm not going to fight you on it. I don't care, but not Frisky or Chance." He closed his eye sockets again and sighed. "Frisky's goal was a lie. She doesn't know it yet, but the only goal was to make us fight. All the timelines, resets, genocide, it was all the human's game to make me strike Chance. To light up his own magic." 

"Magic?" 

"That kid. The body of the one you actually fought? Yeah, that was mine. I already lost way too much. So many pictures. Way too many pictures." His voice became uneven. "Want more, Ask Alphys. Ask her whatever at this point." He opened his eyes again, weary. "How'd the interview go this time?"

UNDYNE: ACT: TALK. "You came face to face. Rattled some of my hit points. Kept control. Much better than last time. When you first applied, you were on the other side of Snowdin from me." She sighed. "So, a little Monster is yours that you didn't even know about." Shoot. Undyne closed her eyes, feeling terrible. Horrible. "You should have told me sooner! Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" 

MERCY: Spare. "I have enough to deal with. I can't do everything." 

"This isn't a little thing, Sans! There are procedures, rules, requirements." She grasped her head. "If he starts showing magic, then you can't hide the truth." Not one pun since he walked in the door. In fact, lately his puns had almost been gone. The little lazy jokester. Poor little lazy jokester. "Okay, I'll up your salary," Undyne agreed. She eyed him carefully. "You should be more than a Sentry." 

"Don't really want that." 

"What are you going to do?" Undyne said, cornering him, in an emotional sense. "Standard Monster rule would say marriage." 

"Committing under secrecy." 

"Ah, I thought so. Sneaking under the radar. I don't blame you. Especially since you and Papyrus are the only Skeletons in the Underground. Which would mean you'd have another duty." 

"Yeah, I know." Sans backed up a little. "So don't tell anyone. Please." 

"Do you think King Asgore will fall for it long enough?" Undyne asked. "Is it showing any magic yet?" 

"Is he showing any magic yet," Sans corrected her. "Not yet, but something will happen soon. Alphys will make the new barrier transparent and King Asgore should be so fascinated by it, I don't think he'll think about it too much." 

"Good because as pure-hearted as that human can be, I doubt she'd be into you much. You're kind of . . . uhhh, never mind, but you are lacking a lot, Sans. You will have to take care of two extra people. Even with Papyrus committing to them too, and an advance in salary, you still might not be approved." 

Sans groaned. "Fine. Emergency Royal Guard. Only in emergencies. I don't want to deal with anything unless everyone else gave it their all. But, don't tell Papyrus though, he's in training. I don't want him feeling bad." 

"Agreed." Undyne nodded. "So. The human. Heh, it's always been a little unpredictable. Are you wanting both contracts, or just hostile?" 

Sans tapped his slippered foot on the ground. "As nice as we've been to each other. I don't see . . ." He stopped tapping his slippered foot. "Hostile." 

"Smart choice. Probably only choice." 

"One more thing." Sans yawned. "But, uh, try to give the humans with P on their outfits a chance if you can? They never hurt anything. Okay?" 

"Hm. Well. I'll keep it in mind," she said slowly. 

"Not a rule of course. I just trapped them down here forever too, so you never know. Might decide to change sides." He turned and gave her a quick goodbye before taking a shortcut back home. 

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They had been worried. Beyond worried. Sans didn't make one joke and barely talked at all. Papyrus criticized her all the way home, while Sans trotted behind. Quiet. It was already late by the time they got back to Sans' and Papyrus' house again. 

Frisky and her son were brought upstairs to go to bed, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she did something wrong. She had to become FRISK to neutralize the poison. She didn't know how long it would take before she lost control of herself after she saw him start to vomit, and she knew it was her chance to take care of Undyne. To make her understand, once and for all. 

It was always a victory when she won over an enemy without fighting, but that radiant feeling was gone tonight. Sans was up first on watch and tonight he was just sitting on the couch. She had noticed lately that him and Papyrus were rubbing their necks a lot. In fact, Papyrus was rubbing the backs of his legs too because of the couch. I scared them. I-I really worried them. It had to be done, but I never meant to hurt them. And look, because of this prisoner situation, they are still hurting each night for us. Their bones are not made to sleep on that couch. 

Frisky wasn't her original size, she was small, and Frisk was even smaller. Even though it was Sans' bed, it was still bigger than the couch. She always curled up with Frisk in her arms anyhow. She'd done that since he was a baby, too scared any moment that he'd become a re-reset. Frisk had gotten comfy in his spot, almost already going to sleep. That was to be expected. "Sans?" 

"Not really in the mood for a talk," Sans said quickly. 

Great, that wasn't going to work. However, she remembered something. She moved over toward the other side of the bed and held out the Mercy sign toward him. 

He groaned. "That's cheating." He rubbed the front of his skull. "You almost killed yourselves tonight." 

"Frisk has a failsafe guarantee."

"Then you almost killed yourself tonight."

"Well, what did you want me to do?" 

"Stay there where it was safe." Sans laid down on the couch. "Why can't you just listen?" 

"I have to find my own way," she reminded him. "It's who I am." 

He didn't answer right away. "If it had been Undyne, then I would have talked to her." 

"You already did that once. Last I saw I'm still prisoner." 

"No, Alphys did it last time. This time, I would have talked to her." He closed his eye sockets. "No one's out to poison you anymore. Guaranteed." 

"I don't know. If I got the point across enough, then why didn't she free us?" Frisky didn't get that part. She could have sworn she heard Undyne say she freed them at the end, but Sans said she was just delusional and would have to wait until they confirmed it. "Maybe I'm rustier without six other soul soldiers. Everyone pulls their weight." None of the conversation made Sans happier though. She held the Mercy sign and wiggled it back and forth. "You promised." 

"Just promise me you won't do anything like that again?" Sans demanded. "You're not immortal anymore. Even as FRISK, you couldn't take the heat." 

Well, that was tricky. "I promise that I will think more before putting my life in peril." She had to add the last part. 

"And jumping Chance either. Don't jump him," Sans warned her. "Promise me, unless multiple lives are at stake. And I mean multiple, that you won't do that to the kid no more." 

"How many is multiple?" 

"Unless it stops genocide with another conduit. Isn't that something to the phrasing your used to?" A little edge was still in his voice.

"Sorry. Okay." Frisky nodded. "I promise that as long as we are in the Underground, unless it is considered absolutely pertinent, I won't jump in him." Although I want to add that that poison would have killed him if I didn't do that. But, he should know that already and I refuse to argue. 

"Good." She could almost feel the relief that came off of him. "From you, I bet that's the best I can expect. But you better keep it. Better get some rest too." 

Best he can expect from me? Oh well. "About that." Frisky looked beside her. "You and Papyrus are always hurting yourselves on the couch. Why don't you sleep in the same bed with us? I know it's kind of a funny thing to ask but-" 

She didn't even finish her request before she saw him disappear off the couch and appear on the bed next to her. He didn't bother to use the blankets. 

"Thanks, that was literally killing my bones night after night. No flesh cushioning you know." He laid his whole body down happily. It didn't take long before he was completely asleep. 

Well that took the awkwardness out of it. She laid back down close to Frisk, only slightly touching Sans on the side. 

Sans rested for half an hour, too comfortable to move much when he felt Chance's tiny hand next to his skeletal one. He looked over and saw Frisky flipped the other way. She often did that. Her hair was tussled around as she slept with no problems. The Mercy sign was still by her feet. It was the only time she looked off guard. 

Frisky was always on guard. She had to be to make it down in the Underground. Figuring out how to dodge, when to dodge, when to avoid, when to help, and when to act. Traveling back and forth so many times. 

Before he even knew what he was doing, he reached out and touched her cheek. Soft. Too soft for the Underground. That softness shouldn't be allowed. A scaly, tough exterior was what she needed. At least some fur to stand the cold. Yet, she just kept marching on. Day after day. 

He felt Chance's hand twitch again and looked back down. If Frisky woke up right now, she'd see it. A skeletal arm and hand, surrounded with the blue glowing magic around it, like a transparent skin. He grabbed the blankets and pulled them over him, so he had an excuse to cover his bony hands up. I really, really don't have long. Even if he doesn't share it, he has no control over it. 

Once his arm moved back to normal, Sans finally tried to get some rest again. 

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"No way, I refuse!" Frisky was getting dragged by the ball with San's own magic. "I refuse to have anything to do with you! What kind of father are you supposed to be?! You murdered my ship! You murdered my friends! You're going to have to drag me in kicking and screaming if you want this so bad!" 

"Momma! Sans, why are you doing this?! Why are you hurting my mom? Why did you hurt everyone?! Why? What kind of dad are you supposed to be?!" 

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Sans found himself wide awake again, looking straight at Papyrus. 

"Umm . . . Sans. Are you sweating?" 

Sans teleported out of the bed. "I'm fine." He rubbed his skull. 

Papyrus sighed. "That I'm fine sounds more like I'm anything but fine. Are you okay?" 

"Yeah. Sure. Frisky's inviting us to sleep next to them." 

"Ehh." Papyrus looked at the couch to his bed. "I don't think it would be any more comfortable for me. I will take the couch." 

Sans shrugged and headed away. He'd go sleep the rest of the night in Papyrus' bed, and by morning, he'd be off to . . . I know I don't have long. Should I push another night? If I took Chance, I probably could. But why bother? I've got everything. He just wanted one more selfish night where no one hated him. That dream was so vivid. It wasn't even of the committing. He had seen everyone there, all his friends. Him in a tux and Frisky was in a nice dress. Everyone else was dressed beautifully . . . like it wasn't just a committing, but a marriage. Everyone smiled and waved and cheered, ignoring Frisky and Chance as they were viciously being pulled up by him to the altar. Screaming and blaming him for everything. 

That was too much. That was just too much. It was bad enough to think about how bad a committing was going to go. If anything screwed up, if anyone squealed, how in the world would she ever want to be . . . be with him? Dragged down the aisle. No, I can't think about that. That's not real. It'll be fine. Papyrus won't tell anyone. Toriel won't tell anyone. Alphys won't tell anyone. Undyne won't either.  None of them are going to go against me. No one else knows. But night after night of this thinking wasn't going to do him any good. Should he take another night? Should he just get it over with while it was safe? 

Because he was just lying there. Lying there for who knows how long. He fell asleep a couple of times, but he just had another nightmare again. The same kind. The same clothes. The same everything. 

Trying to hold on. To just hold onto this time, it was like . . . like living the same time over again. Even if the future wouldn't be as bright, he couldn't just stop time. It couldn't reset. Life moved on and . . . did I just hear a laugh downstairs? 

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Chance woke up later that night, looking at his mom. She was always hugging him. It was even easier now because he was miniature. He understood that part, but there was more to it than that. Someone wasn't telling him something. He was used to that, but there was something even bigger than the usual. His mini-size let him slowly wiggle away from his mom. It took a good twenty minutes though, too fast and she'd wake up. She had really fast reflexes. 

Once he was down, he looked toward the couch. Papyrus was keeping watch right now, which made this next part easy because when Sans' brother slept, he slept. When Sans' slept, he was a super light sleeper. Papyrus didn't have that ability, and he watched them most of the night, so around 3 he finally fell into a really deep sleep, hunched over the couch. 

Chance already knew from his books that the answer wasn't going to be textbook. He pointed to his ball. Having nothing better to do, he had practiced when Papyrus hadn't been looking. He did learn how to bring it up, just a tad. He could hold its position too, but he couldn't make it go very high. He concentrated and when it got off the floor about an inch, he floated it slowly towards the door. He pointed towards the door handle. 

He'd never done two at once yet, but a handle was just a small scoot in a circular motion. He tried it and it was easy. Once the door was open, he drifted his ball away with him. 

Now, there had to be an answer to this secret somewhere. 

It took a little bit of searching, but he found something interesting. Books. There were books hiding behind a tiny bookshelf by curtains. Interesting books. There wasn't anything inside that told him what everyone was hiding, but they were still fascinating. All kinds of neat facts. 

He was currently reading about the Underground's History. Magic made the fighting systems. He knew a little about it from the human side, but it was the Monster's source of magic that really blended the two together. Then there was information about Hotlands, the place that MK had told him about. Then there was some information about Snowdin, and he tried not to laugh when it said that 'a constant source of Monster magic and hope keeps the snow coming'. This is so great! I never get to read so much. Look at everything that's out in there in the world. 

"You just had to do that, didn't you?" 

Sans! He lost his concentration and his ball dropped to the floor. Sans grabbed it and him. Busted. "Sorry! I wasn't trying to escape or anything, I-" 

"Wanted to read." Sans bent down and looked at the books. "Wanted to figure out what's happening to you. You'll be getting that answer soon enough. But, how about one bedtime story before I put you back to bed?" 

A bedtime story? Sans carried him to Papyrus' room where he was supposed to be sleeping. Sans moved over toward the bookshelf and pulled out a different book. He brought him over to Papyrus's bed and sat him in his lap. "All about Monsters: Skeletons?" 

"You're a good reader for a six-year-old human," Sans said as he ruffled his head. "How come?" 

"I just am, but it doesn't really work like that with humans anymore. At least, not me and momma." 

Sans opened the book. "What do you mean?" 

"Hmm. If you unlock my ball and chain, I'll show you?" Chance asked. Sans took it off and Chance hopped off the bed. He moved across the room and closed his eyes. He pushed his hands in the air. Then flipped several times across the room. He walked back over to Sans. "My brain is like that." He held his hands up in the air and pinched it. "Even though souls come and go, my brain just seems to hold onto some stuff." He shrugged. "If I didn't, I couldn't read, or do that, or-!" 

He felt Sans pick him back up. "I think I get it," Sans said. 

"I don't really age when I'm asleep and there are souls in me. Neither does momma when she's inside me. I could be 200 and I'd never know. Oh yeah, except my grandparents are still alive. At least that's what momma says." 

"It's fine, no worries." Sans held the book up. "You want to read it?" 

"I thought I was getting the bedtime story?" 

"Well then, there's a chance you read the situation wrong." 

Chance couldn't help it as he smiled. Sans was cool. He liked to make puns like his mom, but it was genuine, not because he was trying to keep him in good spirits so his chances of his sanity staying intact was greater. He'd heard all kinds of jokes in his life off of albums and stuff too. Standard for conduit rooms. 

But Sans' stuff, it wasn't really the stuff he said. It was how he said it. Someone couldn't help but smile, no matter what the joke was. He took turns reading with Sans and learned so much. He learned that Skeletons were closer to people than he thought. In fact, they kind of were people. They could have ears or hearts. They could even fully manifest themselves as a person. That explained why there were so many Skeletons that actually escaped capture all those thousands of years ago. 

Skeletons had to use a certain degree of magic to physically make any of it appear, so they only used it for hearing and other basic functions like seeing. In fact, they had the power to even get rid of their own bones, but that was suicide, because without bones, they no longer existed, and could not manifest themselves back. They were either some sort of invisible spirit for the rest of their lives, or they died. No one knew. 

"So . . . you get stuff when you really need it. Like, visualize it? Or . . ." Chance moved closer to the book, looking at the picture. "Or when you instinctively want something? It doesn't use any magic if it's something you really need?" 

"Yep. Doesn't happen very often. Mostly cravings. It usually takes not getting a really good burger after a week of the same homemade food." 

Homemade food was Sans way of saying Papyrus' spaghetti every single night for a week. "How come you still have your tongue? You've eaten different stuff by now, right?" 

"I don't know. It'll eventually go." Sans chuckled. "Maybe it's waiting for cake with catsup frosting." 

"Oh, momma's cake was good. I miss it." 

"Okay, thinking about that this late at night isn't good. Just, you got the basics though, right?" 

"Yep." 

"Good. And . . . without the physical, it doesn't mean you can't. You need to remember that. Real important." 

Why was that real important? 

"It's . . . with a Skeleton, it's just a little different. You've got to just keep exploring for a new way to feel and see. Just, like magic, you know? You don't physically see, but you magically see." Sans put his ball and chain back on and put him back in his room. It was up to him to sneak into his mom's arms as Sans closed the door and went back to bed. 

Wriggling out was easier than wriggling in. Before he even made it back on the bed, his mother opened her eye and looked at him suspiciously. Oh, she is going to figure it out. "Frisk? What are you doing by the bed?" She picked him up and placed him back into bed. "It's not going to do any good to try and escape. These balls are a lot denser than they look, okay? You can't move far. Just, get some rest." 

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Sans laid on Papyrus' bed, staring up. I didn't even know he had some slight magic to control, and now he can already pick up his ball and chain?!  Couldn't I get a little break? One, tiny, measly break? 

He tried to close his eye sockets, block out reality just a bit, but it wasn't going to work. He reached for his cell with the intentions of two important phone calls: Alphys and Undyne. 

It was time to get it done before any other Monster knew about Chance's magic. 

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