Chapter 16: Burgie

Of course she brought you here. Where else would she have taken you? Grillby's was really kickin', filled to the brim with monsters, some of which you recognized from last time. Guess monsters have busy Fridays too, huh…

Whitesong pulled you through the packed room to a booth on the right. She sighed heavily, reminiscing, "Just like in the underground…" She waved one of the servers over, a young dog monster with sweat on his brow and splots of sauce on his apron. "Hey, Yorkie, me and my friend would each like to have a burg." The monster looked confused for just a moment, sniffing at the air. Recollection spread across his face, and he barked an 'aye-aye, Debbie!' with a playful salute and a wink, then trounced behind the counter and into the kitchen.

I look at Whitesong, feeling about as confused as, er, Yorkie had looked a moment ago. "...Debbie? Is that a nickname, or did he confuse you with someone, orrr-"

"Actually, Debbie is a convenient simplification of the letters 'D.B.' which stand for 'Drunk Bunny'. It's what we called Whitesong in the underground-"

...Sans?

...Did she plan this?! For Sans to be here? The memory of your last encounter with him brought your face to the boiling point. God dammit I know he playfully flirted with me, he carried me, it was almost romantic as fuck but goddamn it you're an adult who doesn't swoon over circumstantial situations in which your skeleton friend saved your life. It's cool senorita. This. Is. Fine. Don't. Goddamn. Blush everywhere. You've been blushing SO MUCH FOR NO REASON AND-

Once again, you're broken out of your thoughts by the realization that a conversation is happening and you're not in it- between Whitesong and your new unapproved favorite subject. "Sans, I don't even drink that frequently anymore-"

"Only every weeknight now compared to 24/7 before, a remarkable mark-down from just a few years ago. How much we've grown in these last couple of years~~"

"Ha! Haaa! Okay, I get it, it's pretty funny, Debbie, but we don't have the time to make fun of each other- we're on a tiny bit of a timer now. But, we'd be delighted if you'd join us." You tried sounding casual and cool, which, surprisingly, worked, or so you think. All that emotional duress really wore you out, but you suppose it's not a bad thing at this point.

Sans smiles in a friendly way. "I'd be happy to join you guys. It'll be nice to hang out while shit isn't hitting the fan."

"Or an axe isn't hitting the door."

"I hear that," Whitesong says. "You know so damn-well I hear that, chica," she laughs.

The three of you talk for a few minutes until the burgs arrive, an extra one brought to Sans, along with his usual order of a.. Uh, an entire bottle of ketchup. You decide to not inquire about it due to the shit-eating skeletal grin beside you.

You all enjoy your food in relative silence, just appreciating the patrons around you, several of which you're surprised are also human.

Sans sees you gazing at the other customers, and asks, "Know any of them?" He seems nervous, but that just might have been his way of expressing that he's full.

You shake your head. "Don't know even one of them."

"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense." It stays quiet for a minute longer, until you swear, something happened underneath the table, making Sans perk up. He chuckled, although you swear you saw his head sink just a little. His chuckle trailed off, and he looks at you and asks, "So, Joy, uh, Whitesong told me you've been feeling kinda.. Trapped? I understand that feeling. I mean, like, being in Daystay is nice, but it's rough at the same time. I know we literally live one complex away from each other, but if you'd like to just get out, you can come hang at my apartment. I know Papyrus would be overjoyed- heh, overjoyed- to have you over to do a puzzle or something. Feed you dinner or something." He seemed much more confident once he finished that compared to when he started, but you paid it no mind.

"O-oh! That sounds nice, actually. You can probably count on me coming over sometime, definitely."

"Just make sure to give us a heads-up before you get there- I tend to worry when some stranger goes knocking on my door."

"No problem. Thanks for the invite, Sans." You grinned shyly at your half-eaten burg, realizing it pleased you that you could hang with Sans whenever.

Whitesong smiled from across the booth, an evil little buck-toothed grin that was hiding something, but she covered it up quickly by saying, "Aaaand now that we've got that out of the way, how about some drinks on me?"

"WHITESONG, NO-"

"HAA! I'm just kidding! We've gotta be back to work in ten minutes, Joy. You done with that burg?" You look down at your plate, and push it away.

"Yeah, I think I'm ready to go. You have a good day, Sans! C'mon Debbie, let's go."

"I am going to kick you out of my car if you ever say that to me again, Joy m'boi. Let's get going already. And, bye Sansy."

"Heh. Later, Debbie; CC."

You and Whitesong walk out to her car, and you keep thinking to yourself- CC? What does that mean?

Without even having to bring it up, Whitesong says, "You know, that could have stood for 'Cutie-cakes', 'Cuddle Cloud', or… 'Candy Cane'."

You sit yourself in her car, buckling up, in silence for just a moment. ….Goddamn it. There aren't enough nicknames in this world, apparently.

When you got home after the rest of your shift, you're stuck with looking at your phone, trying to find someone to text or talk to. Whitesong's gonna be on for a couple more hours, Dr. Alphys and Undyne are undoubtedly busy. You could message your friends back at home, or your mom and dad, but you decided who you really wanted to talk to was Sans.

It's been pretty inevitable lately- you can admit to yourself you're… fond of Sans. You're not sure you're specifically into him, but you can't deny that you just have a thing for him. His cocky demeanor and genuinely dumb humor makes him vastly different from your ex, but somehow, incredibly appealing. You loved how sweet and honest your ex was, but Sans was another ballpark of.. Mysterious? You know that's a loaded word.

Mysteries are made to be solved, and you weren't sure you wanted to know how he threw humans around, banging them against a dumpster, or how he can make shit float- wait a minute, those things actually correlate, don't they?

Welp.

But, you suppose it's not really the things he's capable of that puts you off- it's his inability to be honest about it. He kept trying to hide his powers, kept being nervous, which worries you.

You're not an idiot. You went to school to be a damn-good nurse, and you thrived because you were intelligent and worked hard every day. Sure, there were social mountains you had to climb to get by, but those were everywhere- the point was, Sans was trying to hide things from you, which was, frankly, unacceptable.

You're not blinded by the fact he's saved you twice that you'll simply accept everything he says, you decide. But you want to give him that chance, because he's so engaging- he's cocky and confident without being a total asshole. He's funny as hell, he's attractive, he's sweet, with a tendency to worry, or so it appears.

And he's damn more-reliable than your ex, who couldn't stick it out with you once the going got rough.

You lay down in the still-unfamiliar bed, and raise up your phone to text Sans.

:) Hey, how's it going? This is Joy, and I was wondering if it'd be cool if I hang out later this evening? Past 8, maybe?

He took a minute to respond, but he replied,

Snas: Uh, well, I would say yes, but Papyrus goes to bed at 8, and I don't wanna wake him up if it's past that time.

Your heart sank. You really were excited to take him up on this offer earlier.

Snas: Although, if ur up to it, I could come over, and we could hang for a bit. I can. Bring over crosswords? If that sounds cool?

You brighten up over this offer.

This is much better.

:) Yeah, that actually sounds great. See you later?

Snas: It's a date. See ya.

…

…

…

He sat next to you in the diner, rather than next to Whitesong- clear indication they're not together.

He's saved your life twice.

He low-key but not really complimented your butt multiple times.

…

"Oh my god this is a date."

NOTES: So, it's been like, a year almost. Since I posted a chapter. Honestly, it was mostly depression that kept me from posting any more. I started hating my first chapters, then my work. I hated working on it, and in fact, dreaded it. But I don't feel that way now. I read through it all, and i made large improvements to my standards. This is the longest I've ever written about anything which makes me proud of myself.

I want to thank everyone who's given the time to just click on a silly Bone phrase and give me such nice compliments- even the stats regarding this story inspired me to write more, and for that, I'm so grateful, guys. I want to finish this. I truly do, but I suppose only time will tell. And, on that note, I'd like you all to have a wonderful day!