The guests Toriel had mentioned were two honest-to-god skeletons. The neighborhood would be getting skeletons, and frankly you couldn't wait to see the look on your neighbors face when she first saw them walking down the street. You managed to keep a straight face when they were ushered into the dining room by an overexcited Frisk. The taller of the two had an energy that seemed infectious, and you could swear that his eyesockets actually sparkled when Toriel introduced you.

"ANOTHER HUMAN HAS COME TO MARVEL AT THE GREAT PAPYRUS! CLEARLY WHEN HEARING THAT THE MASCOT OF MONSTERS WOULD BE MAKING AN APPEARANCE, YOU COULD NOT STAY AWAY. I UNDERSTAND HUMAN. I AM VERY GREAT." You felt as if your arm would be yanked out of socket with how hard he was shaking your hand, but somehow you couldn't be upset at someone who seemed so genuine and nice.

"Uh, yes?" Before you could say more, he picked up one of the plates of curry, eying it curiously.

"HOW STRANGE. YOUR PASTA SEEMS TO BE VERY SHORT, AND THE SAUCE IS LIKE NOTHING I'VE SEEN BEFORE." You looked over at Toriel to see her and the shorter skeleton hiding their giggles, offering no help whatsoever.

"Well, it's not pasta, it's rice. It grows like that. Um, and the sauce is a vegetable curry. I just thought it would be good to, uh, bring a gift?" the others had sat down by now and seemed ready to begin eating, Papyrus perched on the chair beside yours. The shorter skeleton sat across from you beside Frisk and his smile seemed to grow even wider at your statement.

"it must be really rice to have your fans try to curry favor with you, eh bro?" Papyrus stiffened at the pun and turned to focus on his brother.

"SANS. WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT PUNS AT THE DINNER TABLE?" He set the plate down with a clunk and crossed his arms, looking rather put out.

Toriel hid a tiny bleated laugh behind her paw. Were all monsters this adorable? Oh, you'd be in trouble if they were, you already felt rather warm and fuzzy just being around these three. "Please Papyrus, it is alright. There's no need to be so steamed."

Papyrus flinched reflexively, but it seemed he wouldn't try to stop Toriel from punning in her own home. "I SUPPOSE I SHALL LET IT PASS THIS ONCE." He groused, making it seem like he was doing a huge favor. His attitude dropped once he took a bite of the curry and if his eyes had sparkled before, now they glowed. You imagined you could even see a faint orange tint taking up the space around his head, and were those roses blooming in the background? You needed to stop with the late night shojo binges, clearly they were affecting you.

"HUMAN, THIS IS VERY GOOD. ALMOST AS GOOD AS MY OWN COOKING!" You turned pink at the praise, glancing around the table to see Frisk shoveling the food in their mouth. Even Toriel seemed to be enjoying the food and it sent a flush of pleasure through you. This was why you loved cooking so much.

"Ah, I'm a chef. I have a restaurant just outside of town. I just really like cooking, so I decided to make it my career." It was more than a career, it was your whole life's passion, and opening your own restaurant had been the best thing you'd ever chosen to do. "It's connected to the planetarium up on the northern bluffs of Mt. Ebott."
Sans hadn't been paying much attention you noticed, but he tilted his head at this. "Planetarium?"

Monsters had been sealed away for centuries, and you suddenly realized they probably didn't know much about the surface. You felt embarrassed at how much you'd assumed, but they were so easy to talk to, you'd forgotten that this was a race that, according to all the reports, only knew about human culture from the garbage that managed to find it's way underground.

"A planetarium is a place that's dedicated to observing the stars and planets. Mt. Ebott has one of the strongest telescopes in the country, and they have a huge projector room that runs shows teaching about space exploration and constellations, it's really nice."

Sans grinned and nudged Frisk. "we outta check it out sometime eh kiddo? sounds stellar."

"Oh, it's out of this world. You have to come by sometime after you've all finished moving. I'd be happy to reserve you a table any time you want." You really liked the idea of having these monsters around. Already you were comfortable with them and their big personalities. "Speaking of moving, Toriel said you hadn't gotten to see your new house yet?" You were more than happy to steer the conversation away from yourself, not wanting the whole night to be derailed and focused on you when they already had made prior plans.

"us monsters are being granted housing in the area from several equal rights groups. we have some choice about where we live, but most of it is being taken care of for us, so we haven't gotten to see the place in person yet." Sans explained. "paps and i are moving in a few streets from here. daffysomething street."

"Daffodil. All the streets are named after flowers." You beamed. "I know exactly where you're moving. There's only one house on Daffodil that's vacant. We can go look at it tonight if you like." You hoped they'd take the offer. The only house for sale was the one right across the street from you, and you desperately wanted to spook the awful woman next door.

"Maybe sometime during the day. It's already dark out, and we wouldn't want to start off on the wrong foot by scaring anyone this late at night." Toriel was speaking carefully, but there was a thin note of iron in her tone that brooked no argument. You couldn't possibly fight that, even though scaring people was exactly what you wanted to do. You understood though, monsters were still in a delicate position, and stirring trouble was the last thing they needed.

"You're right." You agreed, a bit let down. Dinner had been finished for a few minutes now and you probably should be getting home before it got too late. "I hate to dine and dash, but it is pretty dark out, and I need to head home. You can keep the leftovers, I made extra so you'd have something to hold you over..." You felt a bit awkward excusing yourself from what had been such a nice evening.

"Thank you dear, it was so nice to have you over." Toriel assured you. "It's almost Frisks bedtime anyway." you stood and gathered up your carrier, holding still so Frisk could clamber off their chair and hug you around your legs goodbye. They gestured quickly as they let go, asking for your number and at the prompt, Papyrus seemed to perk to attention as well.

"YES HUMAN, I TOO WOULD LIKE TO EXCHANGE PHONE NUMBERS! WE CAN GET TOGETHER AND MAKE SPAGHETTI! UNDYNE WILL SURELY LIKE TO MEET ANOTHER PERSON THAT ENJOYS COOKING AS WELL!" You didn't know who this Undyne person was, but so far these monsters hadn't been anything other than pleasant company, and you weren't opposed to meeting more. You quickly input your phone number into both phones, before hugging the small child again. Toriel escorted you to the door and you wondered if she held everyone's hand like this when leading them around. It was cute and you felt a little bit like a little kid again as she patted your head goodbye. You weren't offended and she was just such a, well such a mom, that you couldn't be anything other than charmed.

You were halfway home when your phone buzzed. Glancing at the text you easily could tell it was Papyrus from the all caps it was written in. seems even in writing he had to be loud.

-HUMAN, PLEASE ADD THIS NUMBER TO YOUR CONTACTS!

Another slew of texts came in rapid succession.

-BY THE WAY THIS IS THE GREAT PAPYRUS!

-I FORGOT TO MENTION IT IN MY FIRST TEXT.

-BUT I'M SAYING IT NOW, SO YOU KNOW THAT IT IS ALRIGHT TO ADD IT BECAUSE IT IS ME.

-NYEH HEH HEH- PAPYRUS.

You added the number as you unlocked your front door, ready to head to bed where a little white dog was curled up and drooling on your pillows. Maybe Toby would enjoy having the skeleton brothers as neighbors.

After all, dogs love bones, right?