Life with the monsters was peaceful. November passed quickly and there was the greatest, most delicious, and absolutely the most memorable Thanksgiving. Bailey and Dayna were invited of course and they loved the monster food. Unfortunately her dreaded monthly visit came in that morning after.

Her timing was always weird. It starts at the ending days of a month and finishes in the first week. Krissa groans into her pillow while being curled up in a fetal position, trying to will away the pain. Cramps were hell.

There was a knock at the door. "YO punk! Breakfast is getting cold."

"Leave me alone to die." She whines. Classic Lilo impression right here. Hm…. She and Sans need to have a movie night again. That would be nice. Chara's ghostly image hovered over her when she looked up. "What?"

So happy I died before puberty.

"Just go talk to Frisk or something. I wanna be left alone…. But first… Are you actually a girl then?"

I'm a human.

"Never mind. Fuck off."

Wow. This is a whole new you.

They leave be and she rolls onto her other side. She needed something to drive away the pain. Another knock at the door. Ugh. Who was it this time. "Damn it just let me be!"

"knock knock."

"Who the hell are you? I'm calling the police." She grouches.

"red."

"Grandma don't want your muffins red." She can hear him snickering. How is she supposed deny him entry now? She loves his laughter.

"open the door or be red-y for a scare."

Ah. He's just going to teleport. She gets up, wincing from the cramps in her sides. Krissa goes to open the door. She stares up at him. "What you want?" He was wearing sweats. A white sweatshirt with a… sleeping white dog with Zs hovering over its head. His pants are long and black with white stripes down the middle just like his shorts. Pink slippers still present as always as well as his gloves.

"undyne said you were dying and uh… i smell blood on you." His lights flicker up and down. Probably for injuries and his face softens when he didn't find any. She became very aware of her current attire under his sharp gaze. All she had on was a grey tank and those damn Mickey boxers.

She crossed her arms to hide a little bit. "What's with the dog?"

"this guy? we came to know him as the annoying dog. somehow he became the unwanted, er, unintentional mascot." He chuckles, watching her go back to her bed and collapsing onto her side. "you gonna tell me what got your sailor mouth going?"

Pain did bring out her less than polite vocabulary. Her cheeks heat up at the mention. "It's something human girls go through. Every month. You missed witnessing my other times, thank gods above." Sharp stab made her hiss.

Sans walked in, looking down at her in concern. "it hurts too?"

"Yes. A lot. At least for the first three or two days."

"and this is called…."

"A period Sans. I'm on my period. Go away. Don't want my stink to ruin your appetite."

"nah. i'm not really hungry. do you have any of that pain medication?"

"All out. My heat pad is back at my house."

She rolls into her stomach, hiding her face in her. Shuffling can be heard before the bed dips beside her legs. Pressure was felt on her sides through the cloth. A long sigh of relief escaped her lips. "is that where it hurts?"

"Yeah. Y-you don't have to help m-"

"i want to. doing favors for my girl is normal right?"

The still present blush datkens. "Your girl huh?"

"i-i-i mean s-since we went on a d-date meant that-" Her heart squeezes at how nervous he sounded. Like he was regretting saying it.

"Sans." His hands twitched. "I'm okay with us being a thing. Being 'your girl' sounds pretty nice actually." She murmurs the last bit, feeling shy. The expression is something she never imagined she would say at any point in her life. He sighs with relief and the bed moves again.

His legs straddled hers and his hands returned to pressing down. Warmth began to seep from the bones and into her skin. Krissa closed her eyes to relish in this moment. His heated magic felt like a campfire in the cold of winter.

Another sound reached her ears. A rumbling that was low and soothing. The sound was so similar to something she heard before. From a completely different creature. The idea made her laugh. She propped her upper body up and turned her head to look at him. He looked daze. "Are you… purring?"

His lights snuff out and sockets widen but they return just as quickly. For a skeleton, his eyes are surprisingly very expressive. "i uh… sorry. that um. heh. can't really explain that." His cheeks dust with blue and she couldn't help but smile. He's so cute when flustered. She lays back down with her cheek against her arms. "you feeling better?"

"The pain's all gone. Thanks so much Sans." Part of her wanted to hug him when he got up but she restrained herself and just settled for grabbing his sleeve. Krissa smiled up at him gently. "Now go. I need to get dressed. And it's Friday, I need to go to work in an hour."

All through the day she was in her own little world. Bailey watched as her favorite employee overwaters the bushes and snips off perfectly good blooms. She eventually just moved her to less damaging work. Which meant she was stuck at the counter again.

Flowers were all out of season except for the ones in the greenhouse but those were the last. The shop normally sells crop protection in order to keep gardens alive. It was ten minutes till break when Dayna waltzed in. Her striped in her hair was now red and green.

"Yo Ruby! Gemstone? Earth to Krystal?"

"Huh? Fuck you want?"

"Damn. You are on cloud nine and shark week. Ouch."

Bailey walked out from the back. "She has it bad for the skeleton Vamp."

The short woman swoons dramatically. Her cheeks also turn pink. "Well I know the feeling."

Both friends turn their heads. "No way."

"Yup. Her name is Fuku and man can that girl do wicked tricks on a pair of blades! It was like she was dancing on wheels. I was practicing at the park and there she was. She rides right up to me with her skater girl friend and starts asking me questions about music! I offered to tell her more and she said 'it's a date'."

Krissa grinned and hugged Dayna over the counter. "So happy for you!"

"Easy on the hugs. You'll suffocate me with your lady pillows." She blushed and shoved her away to cross her arms. "They're both monsters too. Fuku is completely made of GREEN fire! Like the greek fire from fucking Percy Jackson!"

Bailey chuckled and started counting up the money earned so far. Dayna turns around. "Her dad is also Grillby the bar owner you talked about."

That made sense given that they were both elementals. She hasn't seen any others even after about a month of living in the monster community. She gets her thick green jacket from the coat rack at the door. She needed to go to her house and collect a few important things.

When she made the treck to the place she called home for so long, he got to work on getting what she needed as fast as possible. Finding the trap door compartment under her bedroom rug, she lifts the lid and takes out a small burgundy painted wood box. She lifts the lid, releasing a gentle chiming tune.

There is an iron skeleton key with a butterfly shaped handle. The belly was an oval cut emerald. She picks it up gently in her hands. She fingers the leather cord tied to the center loop before slipping it over her head. The next item was an envelope, followed by a circle locket.

She fidgets with the key and smiled at the weight. When her parents died, the left behind these small yet significant items. The key to the olden day mansion further hidden in the woods that her father worked hard to reconstruct as her childhood home. The locket with their faces. The music box with her favorite lullaby. Finally, the envelope holding her inheritance she never opened even after graduating high school.

It is highly likely that she never will. Part of her was afraid of the responsibility that comes with all of that money. With her job at the shop and being the only other employee, her salary was good. The other person was Franklin. A boy she never saw because he took her place on her off days.

Krissa closed her eyes and placed the items back into the music box before placing it into her dimensional box. Break time was ending so she needed to head back home. She looks down at her key. Maybe Sans would like to see it. He already liked the old ruins. Could be a date.

She winces. Pain was back with a vengeance. Time to grab her heatpad and stop by the pharmacy.

When the day was over and her cramps were dulled with medication, she found herself taking a long soaking hot bath. She already washed and scrubbed. Now she was just relaxing. Magic tubs were incredible. The water never gets cold and stays the same temperature.

Bailey is planning on closing shop for the winter as a vacation time. She was starting to fall asleep so she pulls herself out of the water and wraps a towel around her hair and body.

She sees her phone lit up on the dresser when she came into her room. She picked it up and scowls. There was a text from an unknown number.

Unknown: I see you have fallen far.

Unknown: Correct yourself before you land hard.

These confused her. She didn't recognize the area code either. Nowhere in this town had those digits. She shook her head and deleted the thread. She didn't need any foreboding random cryptic texts to ruin her now peaceful life.

Oh! She didn't get the mail yet. She pulls on her nightie and a bathrobe before hurrying down the stairs. She waved at Toriel who was reading a book in the living room as she passed. What she did not expect when going out the door was snow. A thin layer already covered the ground. Guess she's making a run for it.

Krissa yelps at the cold stone path hitting her feet. She made her trek to the mailbox quick and grabbed the letters that have been redirected to this address for her. After that, she put them into the magic box and rushed back. The wet hair at the tips have hardened in the cold air.

It was only a few minutes in the snow. No harm done.

….

….

….

She looks down at the thermometer, coughing into her fist. 99 and 100 was measured in both of her ears. With a long sigh, she placed the device back into her sink cubby before pulling out her medications. Damn. No antidepressants. And now that she's sick, she can't go get her prescription. Got painkillers but was stupid to not keep track of the other pills she would have needed.

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

She ran her hands through her hair. Tears prick at her eyes. She stumbles back to her bed and lays down. It was so cold. Chills rack her body over and over but when she pulls the blanket over her, she gets too cold. Covers off, covers on, off, on. It was driving her insane.

Toriel came in to see what was wrong and then proceeded to scold her about running outside yesterday no matter how little the time was. She was tucked under a lighter duvet cover with a warm and moist rag being placed on her forehead.

The woman was going to make sure she would have her rest and gave her the stare down before leaving. Word about her apparent cold spread to the other residents. First came Papyrus with his many bottles of water.

"YOU MUST STAY HYDRATED OR ELSE THERE IS NO GETTING BETTER!"

"Heh… Thanks Papy. You're so thoughtful." Her voice was scratchy and rough at this point.

Next was Undyne with a bowl of warm soup and Asgore with a mug of golden flower tea. She sat up and hugged them both. Asgore rubbed his forehead on hers like an actual goat would do, making her blush.

Sans entered her room a few minutes later. Krissa was sore and having trouble with eating. "need help?"

Need help?

You going to be a burden on all of them?

Her thoughts were becoming negative again. He wants to help. She assures herself. With a meek nod, Sans vanishes, a flash of blue she never noticed that happens when he teleports. He came back with a chair and set it beside the bed and close to the dresser where her drinks and food was.

Sans holds the bowl up and scooped up a spoonful. He feeds her silently but it wasn't awkward.

He pities your state.

She bites her lip roughly. Sans noticed her wincing with certain movements and used his heated hands to massage the muscles on her arms through the cloth of the long sleeved pajamas that Toriel changed her into. Tears well up again against her will. "S-sorry you keep helping me like this. Don't...don't you have a class or...you know. Better things to do?"

He looks at her closely and his grip tightens slightly on her shoulder. She looks away to hide her face in her hair. "stop that way of thinking right this second. red, look at me."

She does.

"good. i don't mind taking care of you. none of us do. are you okay? do colds make humans feel sad?"

"N-no….." She croaks. "I'm out of medication and sickness always makes me feel so fucking helpless. On top of that is my period and that alone messes with hormones." Her voice crumbles into a sobbing mess. She barely registers that his arms wrapped around her and pulled her to his chest. Her face nuzzles the wide sternum through the shirt.

"sssssh. it's okay. you are not a burden. we all care for you. can you repeat that back?"

"I'm n-not a burden."

"and?"

"Everyone cares for me."

"good. Feeling better?"

"Y-yeah. Thank you Sans."

"now let me help you finish this soup. i have a class in an hour but i'll come back with some burgers at lunch. sound good?"

She smiled up at him, her eyes becoming a happy ruby red. "Thank you so much."

This will be a long week. Colds stick around for awhile but now…. She doesn't feel so bad about it. First thing she needs to do after feeling better is getting those pills so she won't be such a mess anymore.

Sans left after feeding her all of the soup and she drank the rest of her tea. The food with soothing magic started to make her sleepy. She closed her eyes and laid back down, muscles not protesting as much as before.

A few hours of sleep passes before a scent wakes her. She could smell the burgers and that made her stomach growl. Sadly sans wasn't there. Just a sticky note on the takeout bag.

- you were still asleep and didn't want to wake you. don't worry. grillbz's burgs never get cold.-

She feels her forehead and notes that there was a fresh rag. Krissa smiles gently and takes the bag. Inside was a favorite of hers. Bacon cheeseburger and….. Really Sans? He filled the bag with mostly ketchup packets. Maybe there was more and he drank them all. Does he drink so much that his kiss would taste like it?

Her face heats up at the train of thought. Nope. Stop that. Too soon girl. Way too soon. What would kissing a skeleton even be like? NO STOP! Krissa scarfs down her burger quickly and flops back onto her pillows. Just go to sleep and forget about that for now.

Constant beeping. Everything was dark but there was so many other senses being overloaded. Painfully cold ground. Ice cold water blasted onto her. Stinging pain in her eyes.

There voices barking out commands. Or by the tone, sounded like commands. She feels a sob rip from her throat when a blunt blow is slammed into her stomach.

Suddenly a loud VSHOOOOOM filled the room, followed by a male screaming in pain. The next thing she felt was being lifted. She felt so light that she might as well have been a doll.

A roar bellows out.

She wakes with a start, panting and clutching her chest. The cold went on for thirteen days. With that dream, the fever finally broke. The fever itself might have caused her to have it. She takes a shower to wash off the sweat.

When she got dressed into a casual sweater and jeans, she was excited to be out and tell the others that she was okay now. However, grim faces were the first things she sees. On the T.V. was a news broadcast.

The county over from ebbott was the location. "There was a monster and human targeted while on an outing together. The monster was identified as a cat name Roe. Teen in age. The human is a nineteen year old male by the name of Dylan."

"Are they a couple?"

"School friends by the reports of their classmates. Roe's family left ebbott so they wouldn't be reminded of their imprisonment. Sadly both young individuals have gone missing just like several cases further away in the other towns and cities that openly welcome monsters by the majority."

"With both species at risk, the police are working overtime to locate the victims. Hopefully they can find them before any or many casualties take place."

The screen shuts off. Asgore looks absolutely devastated. She hurried down the rest of the steps and hugged him around the neck. He flinched only a moment before lifting his arm to curl around her shoulders. Toriel and Frisk join and even Chara who enters her.

"This is terrible news. It's also unsettling that they are getting closer to us everytime we watch." She shook her head woefully. "Never mind that. How are you feeling?"

"Much better thanks to everyone. Thanks for the tea Dad." She hugs Asgore tighter and nuzzles her face into his blonde mane of hair. He lets out a heavy sigh before nudging her back with his snout. She pulls away and turns to the kitchen and sees Sans leaning against the wall.

"back from the dead huh?"

"Look who's talking skeleman."

"touche red, touche."

"So what's for breakfast?"

She passes him but instead he caught her in a hug. Over the week he was there to ease the soreness in her muscles, the arms mostly, and that seemed to have gotten him to be more comfortable with showing physical affection.

It was improvement and she liked how she was almost at the level of papyrus. Almost. She can never be held in the same light of him. He's way cooler than her obviously. But just the fact that he was opening up more made her extremely happy. She was still careful though. Didn't want to accidentally trigger his fear after all. Which is why she never initiates anything herself.

"pancakes. batter hurry and get some before they get cold."

Krissa shoves his arm away. "Nope."

"fry won't you love my puns?"

"Nope nope."

"you'll make me fry."

"You aren't allowed to do the same one twice."

"yes i pan."

She sighs while serving herself a small stack of fluffy goodness.

"c'mon. i know you clove it." That one was random so she looked over to see that he held a jar of spices. Clove. He had fucking props. When it hit, she coughed into her hand to cover a startled laugh.

"I don't have time for you."

"don't you mean….thyme?" He lifts another jar that of course, reads thyme.

"I just got better. Can I not go one day without your jokes?"

"you had more than a week. i think it's long overdue."

She laughs and shoved a fork full into her mouth. So good. A muffled sound escapes her. It may or may not have been a moan. Realizing how that may have sounded, her face ignites with heat and she looks away from her boyfriend who was still in the damn room.

Sans chuckles and to her luck, he was right behind her. She looks up and takes the fork she had another of skewered pieces. He takes a bite and grins at her. "hm. pretty good. hope you won't cheat on me."

Krissa regains her composure to fire back a tease of her own. "No way. Not even the fluffiest stack of pancakes drowned in maple syrup will be sweet enough for me."

His face dusts with blue magic before he chuckles again. "red…. i'm so proud of you."

"Shut up." She grumbles and goes back to eating. Sans continued to steal her pancakes. It started with making her look away and when she heard the chink of hard bone against metal, she turned back to see that he had taken the bite for her.

Sadly he had many, many ways of distracting her. Calling in their friends to talk to her for random reasons. Like 'hey krissa wants to ask you something' and then she has to explain the falsity. Plenty of time for him to rob her. "If you keep doing that. Will be grabbing more than I'm eating.

He only chuckles before reaching for another bite. She pulls the plate away and hurries off. But Sans appears in front of her. She changes direction and runs to the other arch but he stopped her again. "you shall not pass." He says in his best Gandalf voice.

"Chara?"

Yes?

"How good are you at jukes."

I'm an expert at do- dodgeball if that gives any clue.

"Help escape?"

Sure. How?

"Tell me when and how to move."

Roger roger.

"You like starwars?"

Hell yeah!

Sans was looking at her with confusion since to him she spaced out. Suddenly she puts the plate down and gives him a mischievous smile. "Catch me if you can. Then I might make you something even better than pancakes." Krissa stepped up to him and poked his chest. "Tag. You're it."

The look in her bright ruby eyes made his soul flutter and he was frozen. She started a game with him and the reward sounded promising. She's a good cook and it's been awhile since he tasted her food.

He blinks and looks around to see her running. Her soul was bright so it was easy to locate her. She was heading to the garage in which he took a shortcut to and laid across the car hood in an iconic pose from titanic. So when she did run in, he stated simply, "paint me like one of your french girls."

Her face got that adorable pink blush on her cheeks that he caught before she turned to run the other way. The game continued for a while. He could end it at any time but he was enjoying her laughter way too much to do that. Something intrigued him though. Her agility seemed to have increased just by how she is sliding and ducking under his arms and legs.

Sans wouldn't lie about this bringing back some negative memories but the atmosphere was completely different so he didn't let it bother him. Red eyes, rosy cheeks, and how she dances around him skillfully. It was all just Krissa. And he…..

And he loved her as her.

He teleports to interrupt her path one last time before wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly. She huffs and looks up at him with that expression that warms him up.

"Gotcha."