oh man im so hungry

also! I need to write something else after this one, so who knows when I'll update next. It'll be Undertale related though, so check it out!

Chapter 5

It was quiet. The lack of any movement from the dead machine did nothing to ease your bloodshot nerves.

The tapping noises were not from the rain leaking through the ceiling, but rather the telltale drumming of bones across the wooden table that the skeleton had situated himself against. It was distracting, but perhaps it was exactly what he needed.

Sans' eyelights had sharpened to mere pinpricks as he listened to your tale. When he heard how Flowey had been speaking to everyone in a not-so-friendly manner, telling them secretive whispers from things that he had not been aware of, he became even more fidgety as the hood of his jacket came up. You pause before telling him that Flowey was Asriel reincarnated.

The fact that he hadn't bolted yet when you told him this spiel was surprising. If it were you, there would already be one leg out the door while the next prepared to begin a marathon run halfway across the underground. (Well, if someone had told you that monsters had existed before all this, you probably would've punched them in the gut.)

You share an awkward silence. Oh, wait, maybe not - he looks as if he's dissociating slightly. Perhaps telling him this now was a bad idea. In retrospect, maybe you should've told him this from the beginning. No, he'd probably have teleported out. Or killed you. Or both.

"Alphys fixed him," you said while scratching at your arm. "Well, 'fixed' is maybe not exactly the right word for it. She knew that monsters could not absorb monster souls, and the same for human beings who did not know that souls existed in the first place. So she experimented using one of the golden flowers. The plan worked, and Flowey was brought to life."

And that was exactly how you had met Flowey: the angry, bitter, and resentful monster who had wished more than anything to feel something good again. The thought of it sent shivers up your spine, and not in a positive way. He had died and come to the realization that nobody remembered him anymore. Toriel stared at him as if he were an imposter. The ones from the ruins were afraid of his presence.

The problem always seemed to come back to his ability to reset. It had really messed him up.

Determination, by itself, was a nuisance. To have the capability to make decisions without suffering the consequence of other effects made one apathetic, able to manipulate other people as they pleased. If Flowey were ever to be bored, he could settle for choosing more unsavory things. His morals turned grey, and his ideals changed.

That was exactly what had happened to him.

You wondered what could have been done if Flowey had chosen to open up from the very beginning, to give Toriel the chance to know that her son was still alive - just in a slightly less fur-covered body. Asriel's pictures were placed in the photobook within Toriel's room, and you had noticed it while she had pulled it out to show you the person he used to be.

Thing was, the other reason you were reluctant to ask Flowey who all these people were was that you yourself had never encountered them and you would be basing a first impression off of Flowey's (biased, nihilistic) opinion.

'Stupid,' he had called Alphys with a sneering grin. 'Weak and weak-willed. Easy to please.'

It appeared that the news was still settling in Sans' mind. He tapped the side of his skull for a while as he stared off into the corner of the room - the tapping, was it a nervous tic? - and stopped talking entirely, blocking himself off from any further conversation. You waited until he came to again.

The information dump had to be a lot for one person to handle. Therefore you waited in kind for Sans to muster up any sort of response, indicating that he was still fine and dandy.

"So," he began. "This 'Flowey' you speak of is actually the King and Queen's son, Asriel Dreemurr."

"Yeah."

"Aand she's actually the caretaker of the ruins now."

"...Yeah."

He ran his hand over his eye sockets, phalanges hanging limply there. For a moment, an angry expression passed over his face and you flinched abruptly. But it didn't seem to be directed toward you at all, and it disappeared just as quickly as it had come. You relaxed.

"Well, she goat me there. I just thought she was some other monster living in the ruins, but it turns out she's the royalist of them all."

You choked on a snort. He made a short bow in your direction and shoved one hand casually into his pocket, watching you attempt to stop smiling. It wasn't working too well, based on how Sans' grin seemed to become wider.

Apparently he was taking it all in stride. Either that, or he was very accustomed to letting things happen the way they did before going with the flow. That was something you were prone to doing as well, so you inwardly high five the skeleton dude.

"God damn it, Sans."

Silence.

"So, uh," you speak up after a while. "Should this be the moment where one of us gets angry at the other for not telling each other sooner?"

"Kid, we literally just met-" he checked his wrist and mimed an invisible stopwatch, which you cackled at - "eight hours ago, and then you fell asleep for around five of them."

You wheezed. "True."

He shrugs. "Besides, putting it into a normal conversation where you introduce yourself and then go, 'hey, look, I don't even know you, but I have this super-duper important thing to say that's directly related to almost all of the problems that exist in your life. No pressure.'"

"Does anyone else know? About the Gaster thing."

He puts his head in his hands. "Probably not. Not that I ever asked anyone. I think we all just simultaneously forgot."

Your hand tightened inside your pocket. "Shit. If I only knew how to translate whatever the fuck he was saying to me..."

"Well, isn't that just a skele-ton of troubles on your mind."

"I cannot believe you're dewing this to me right now," you mourned, and just as you spoke a drop of water fell from the ceiling and into a puddle with a small plink. "I get you're a comic, Sans, but you're going to drive me up the wall someday. This is a serious question."

"Whoops. I'm just trying to make sure you're not causing trouble. Raining on anyone's parade is an ex-dropping experience and - wait, come back, where are you going? I promise I'll drop the subject."

"I'M NOT LISTENING," you yelled, already halfway down the rest of the room in order to reach the door while covering your ears. "I'LL SEE YOU INSIDE."

The door opened back up to the living room. You promptly shut the door behind you and locked it.

Then you fall to the floor, exhausted. That was a conversation you did not want to go through again, despite how important it had been for Sans to mention it. There were a lot more questions on your mind, but you let it go when you hear a loud thump.

The shit-eating grin when he teleported onto the couch just after you turned back around made his day, and your unfazed, deadpan glare only made it even more worth it. He began chuckling, bone-shaking laughter filling him with joy as you pretended that he didn't exist and slumped over him in a heap.

There was no escape from the puns. You fell onto his boney lap just as Papyrus called for the two of you loudly, gesturing to come over and into the kitchen.

The lack of response made Papyrus lean back curiously and notice that the two of you were not getting up.

Sans couldn't move even if he tried, and so the both of you laid there like a couple of potatoes while Papyrus stomped into the living room and saw you slumbering away.

"SANS! YOU HAVE INFECTED MY NEW FRIEND WITH YOUR ABHORRENT AND LAZY ATTITUDE!"

"I don't know, Paps. They seem pretty damn pasta out."

"SANS!"

You finally shoved yourself off the couch while snickering and landed hard with a whoop before they could continue to banter with each other. "Okay, time to go," you said, and with a heave you headed over to the table.

The wooden seats were comfortable enough for you to draw your legs up and to the side, soft cushion easing weight on your kneecaps as you put an arm over the chair's support. Papyrus soon followed in after, carrying Sans under one arm. You watched as he placed Sans down as if setting a piece of furniture before turning back to the pot.

And oh, wow, that was a really big stain on the wall. How many tomatoes did he even use? How did some of it even get on the ceiling?

"So," Sans drawled, and your attention turned back to him. "What now? Are you going to the barrier? Meet our king?"

You pause and blink. "Oh, yeah. I was too busy running from certain things and chasing after others to really stop and take it all in."

"THAT IS A GOOD IDEA! YOU ARE WELCOME TO STAY HERE ANYTIME! OUR DOOR WILL ALWAYS BE OPEN."

"Really? Thank you so much. I'd appreciate that."

The most interesting thing you remember from before you fell down was the runes, how you tried tracing them and understanding what that dialect was exactly. The crackling code that Gaster had spoken, you tried to think of anything you could repeat in order to break down the individual parts.

It sounded only like static to you. The thought made you jerk back to attention when Papyrus placed down a plate of spaghetti in front of both you and Sans, waiting eagerly for you both to try it.

"PLEASE, EAT! IT MUST HAVE BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU'VE HAD A MEAL."

That was most definitely true - you had left Toriel's place and the soup she'd made had been astounding, along with the plethora of fruits and vegetables that she had gathered from some of the kind monsters you now knew as Vegetoids. The thought warmed you up again, and you sheepishly picked up your fork.

The snail pie she'd mentioned didn't even sound that bad, to be honest. Snails were not your thing, but she had improvised and added other ingredients that were more towards a quiche instead - meat-based, definitely.

"Thank you again for letting me eat here," you say as age-old ingrained lessons kick in and you bow your head politely. "The underground... the monsters here are so nice. I'm so honored to have met the both of you."

And before you say anything else utterly reprehensible, you shove the fork in your mouth.

The fire for the spaghetti had been set high for very long during your slumber up until the return from the secret room, so the food was soggy in some places (way overcooked) and perfectly fine in others which was absolutely alright with you.

Yet again, you felt yourself smiling through the fork.

"It's really good," you said in surprise. "You did great, Papyrus."

Unbeknownst to you, Sans' eyes widened as you began shoveling more food in your mouth and Papyrus started tearing up in the corner of his eyes, happily reflecting over his new friend enjoying the wonders of spaghetti.

The food actually wasn't that bad. The orphanage kids had tried cooking by themselves once, just whenever the matrons weren't looking and with you as their supervisor to make sure they didn't hurt themselves in the process. Their dishes were... nightmarish. But still, you ate each and every one because wasting food was the worst thing you could do to them and you didn't care if you threw it up later. They had enjoyed it.

Besides, spaghetti was a really hard dish to mess up that badly. Seafood, like oysters and clams, really made your palate sour. Anything else was pretty much fair game.

Hunger now abated, you pick up the plate and stack it over Sans', whose meal was gone by the time you looked up again. You didn't question how fast he ate the spaghetti, if at all. The telltale noodle sticking out of his jacket pocket spoke wonders, though, and you found yourself scrunching your nose up as Sans pretended he didn't see you staring.

"I'll be heading out," you say after finding yourself a second helping. The food wasn't even that bad, and you were wondering why Sans looked as if you had plucked the eyeballs out of a carcass and ate it in front of him. "Thanks for your hospitality...and the rest."

"NO PROBLEM, FRIEND! I AM WILLING TO HELP YOU ANYTIME."

He frowned then as if he were forgetting something and had just realized what the thought had been. "I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU'VE TOLD ME YOUR NAME YET, CORRECT? I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED IT IMMEDIATELY IF YOU DID."

Sans shrugs when you glare at him. You were sure you'd mentioned your name before and he'd merely forgotten to inform his brother.

"My name is Java. But you can call me Z."

"Can catch a few z's myself," Sans jokes, and you grumble in pain. Papyrus smacks his brother upside the head before he could have the further chance to pick up a couch pillow and scream into it in mock rage.

The novelty of the drunken stupor you'd been having for the past few hours was finally wearing off. Their welcome had been nice, but already you were starting to get an itch to leave before something happened and you compromised your situation. You weren't sure whether Papyrus would suddenly jump to capture you if you revealed yourself as human.

Sans doesn't seem to have told his brother yet. It's a relief.

After picking up any items that may have fallen off the table, you get up and place the dishes in the absurdly tall sink before saluting to the two. "I'll see you later."

"See ya," Sans says, and Papyrus shouts a "GOODBYE, Z!" as you finally leave the house and head on out into the wild.

"Hasta la vista."

Snowdin was a quaint, heartwarming place despite the cold biting into you the moment you stepped out into the snow. You shivered and walked briskly past the remainder of the buildings and down the riverside, which continued to flow alongside you at a slow and easy pace. One of the ice cubes fell below the dark river and disappeared, making you double-take before moving on.

You take out the phone you'd been given by Toriel and flip it open, checking to see if you'd gotten any messages from the goat monster. Attempting to press some of the buttons were rather difficult, as some had the letters scratched off or were stuck and had to be used with more force. You eventually gave a scrambled 'hjelluio' before sending it, praying that Flowey would be able to translate.

The screeching laughter was already in your ears. You tried not to make any expression from the thought of it.

The surrounding area began to grow darker and darker, and as you looked up you realized that the cave entrance had stretched shadows across the dirt in a somewhat menacing manner. The glowing mushrooms dotting their way along the walls made it slightly more accessible, and you tried not to reach down and pluck one out from its spot in case they were actually poisonous. Or extremely rare.

Shrubs and other still life growing out from the ground were almost all glowing as well, and their light emanated brightly enough until the entire cave seemed to shine with their presence. The crystals seemed to add into that factor, adding more reflective surfaces for it to bounce off of.

Yet again, the thought of how the orphanage was probably doing in your absence made you pause before walking even faster, clutching the phone in your pocket. There was no signal and no way to call them without getting static - when you tried the orphanage, only the sound of that cursed wrong number song showed up and you growled to yourself in annoyance.

The bandages had been bloodied up completely when you woke up, and you'd resorted to using whatever cloth strips you had left from your shirt. At least it wasn't freezing, and for most of the time the alcohol had been enough of a distraction for you to stop noticing, but it was starting to feel again in pangs. Strenuous activity was not on your bucket list at this stage.

The sound of rushing water was still there, but the river itself had vanished, likely flowing in through some of the walls and further down into the network system. Before you keep walking to follow after, you notice an indent in the wall.

"What...?"

You peer closer at the runes.

The writing was blue this time, similar to the rest of the underground foliage and the occasional insect, but upon touching it the runes promptly vanished. You traced after it curiously, traveling while keeping an eye out for the rest of the undecipherable code.

(It flickered at times as if the words themselves were changing. You wondered if you were supposed to see this.)

The rock face was still glowing. You started hacking away at some of it with a nearby stone, ignoring the recoil traveling up your arm in favor of collecting some of the dust. A few pieces of rock fell into your waiting hand, and you observed them as the parts where the rune had been stopped glowing once separated.

You pocket the remaining stone pieces anyway and chuck the rock you'd been using aside. You cross the bridge.

The echo flowers follow after the sound of your footsteps as you move past yet another sentry station. No one was around, luckily, except for a Whimsun who quickly ducked away at the sign of your presence.

There was a separate path leading up to a cliff's edge. You wandered about, trying to find an easier path up, before shrugging and scaling up the wall using crevices and jutting roots as handholds. There was nothing of notice when you checked above, so you jumped back into the shrubs that looked suspiciously like seaweed before stomping away.

(The clanking of metal echoed behind you before fading out as well. You barely notice it.)

Ducking to check on the water's temperature let you know that the water was still somewhat cool, so you look around to see who else has found solace in staring out past the water's edge. A few monsters were in your close vicinity, but none of them attacked you as you pulled your hood over your head.

You greeted Loox with a small nod and a wave. Its eye did not move, and carefully you avoided saying anything while backing away in the notion that the monster didn't want to be bothered. You guessed correctly - it looked much happier by the time you were out of its sights.

Whimsalot and Final Froggit hovered closely together as they floated by on one of the rocks traveling on the waterway. You briefly studied their silhouettes, wondering if they needed any assistance coming back to shore, until Whimsalot picked up their friend's hat and flew away. Final Froggit jumped into the water and swam in strong, powerful strokes after them. You blinked.

Madjick bowed to you, floppy disc of a hat bobbing politely as he did so. "Please and thank you," he murmured before babbling away, body winking out of existence.

A tall being stood near the waterfall as it dropped rocks down below. You cautiously neared it, but shook when it trembled.

Knight Knight's staff slammed into the floor with a sharp thunk, resonating with the reverberation. The strike proved to be far more effective than you'd expected when you saw hairline cracks from the pole spreading out like a black spiderweb.

You look upward at her face for a moment, wondering what had made her get so angry, when you realized that she was actually fast asleep and she had dropped her hand from her weapon, letting it go in the process. Inwardly, the thought of it slicing your feet in two made you shiver and you discreetly sidestepped her as you continued on.

More monsters appeared. Moldsmal, Loox, Aaron, another Moldmal, another Aaron...

A sound startled you, and you turned to see a close resemblance to one of the monsters you'd met previously. Astigmatism opened its eye and dilated upon noticing another person in the room. "Don't pick on me," it said softly, and you nodded as you avoided moving in too close for an encounter.

Its sigh of relief was all you needed to hear before you ducked past another corner.

Woshua burbled as you passed by, rubber item within its bathtub-shaped back rising and falling with the water's surface. You nodded as it chirped a 'get clean! get clean!' and placed your hands for it to tip the clear liquid over. You felt something soft surrounding you and marveled at the green magic, making small cuts that you hadn't noticed before on your arms fade away.

The stalactites in the ceiling sparkled and shimmered with blue light, emanating its hues and colors across the floor of the hallway. The cave was dimmer in parts, but the lanterns came to life whenever something tapped on them. You didn't ask how it worked.

There was a basket full of umbrellas. You picked a red one and unfurled it, springing the lock open. It stayed up in a wide arc, shielding your head from any wayward drops.

Instead of continuing past the rest of the umbrellas, you remembered that you were forgetting something and turned back to assess the statue currently being pummeled by rain. You didn't question it and placed the handle into the statue's arms. It fit perfectly as if it was always meant to be there. After a moment, you left the area.

You listened to the echo flowers until their words became jumbled, tapping the mushrooms as you went.

A Moldbygg gave you quite the surprise. You greeted it curiously, thinking it to be one of the Moldsmals that you'd seen earlier and throughout your travels only for it to rise up and spook you. The pleasant nod you gave it placated the creature, and with that instigation settled you traveled on.

The monsters seemed friendly, but perhaps that was because of the way you were naturally trying to avoid most of them. The light couldn't make out most of your face, which was very lucky for you as you continued on without much purpose. Sightseeing, mostly. That was the right term for it.

But the barrier prohibiting the monsters from leaving concerned you.

It reminded you of the broken pieces up when you fell through the hole in the ground, the symbols on the walls of the ruins, the glowing path that you were still tracing in the promise that it would lead you somewhere. What were you accomplishing? What could you do that the other fallen ones had not?

Eventually, it stopped. You ended at a pathway with no wall, but after checking it thoroughly you realized that there was actually an opening that was excruciatingly hard to see the first time, and at the wrong angle. You passed through and kept moving.

The clanking of armor alerted you. In your path stood a tall, spear-wielding monster.

(Nowhere to run. Go forward and die.)

Undyne glares through the helm of the silver armor she had equipped, tinted black from having one half of her cast in shadow. The tension increases as you stop in place, unable to keep your eyes off of the very obvious threat.

You laugh nervously.

"Human-"

"Ahahaha, nope!" you say. She stops. "Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope."

And then you're quickly running back the way you came, large and thunderous footsteps indicating that you were not going to stick around to whatever the person had in store for you. The arguably short-ranged weapon had skewering potential if you did this wrong, but luckily the environment would be able to block most of her hits.

This was an unacceptable way to die. You did not want to be defeated by someone who actually knew what they were doing, let alone had the full intent of carrying through with their plan. You wanted to die in the least painful way possible, and bleeding out was not one of them.

There was an incredulous period of silence, and then Undyne screeched loudly, "Wait! Come back here! Stop fucking running!"

There was no way in hell you were going to try and go past her. Briefly, you consider stopping and letting her get close enough just to spite her when you continue running off, but then the menacing glare of light emanating off the wall stops you from going through with that idea.

You duck when you hear the sound of her spears whistling past your head, blue magic glowing for a brief moment before extinguishing. Your heartbeat pounds against your chest as you weave around corners and tall weeds, covering your tracks while praying that she would eventually have a limit to those things. After manifesting enough energy you put on a second boost, startling the person behind you as she attempts to outrun your pace but utterly fails.

The armor probably wasn't helping much, either. Your strides are long and you've run long distances before, but it was starting to affect your breathing as the wound opened up again. Fucking shit.

You were probably going to bleed all over yourself by the time you stopped to take a short rest.

"Motherfuck!" Undyne shouts.

She crashes into an unsuspecting boulder behind you, and you momentarily yell over your minor success. You're nearing the wooden bridge again, and the falling rocks are child's play to you as you avoid getting yourself pushed off into the platform below. Undyne snarls as she misses her next chance, halting just before the next rock forces her behind even further.

For some reason, Sans is at the sentry station when you return to the stop. He blinks curiously at your panicked expression, then looks behind you to see Undyne rampaging with the fury of a raging bull on fire, and his eyelights vanish.

"Oh, shi-"

You picked him up out of pure instinct, earning a startled "oof!" and continue running, ignoring the surprised yelp from Undyne as she realizes you'd just captured a hostage. No time to backtrack, though, and you run while holding Sans in your arms as he stares up at you, glowing tiny white circles for eyes that just continued shrinking.

There was no time to adjust your grip, either, so you settled for the impromptu bridal carry as he held on for dear life.

"Well, you just swept me off my feet."

"Sorry! I wasn't thinking!" You rush your words as you barrel past the river, down past Papyrus' mailbox, nearly slam the both of you into the Gyftmas tree before you spin ninety degrees to the right and duck behind the iceberg house.

Undyne seems to have been flabbergasted when you disappear in front of her. Slowly, you creep out back and make a break for it so you can head back around to the cave entrance, hearing her turn and shriek again in surprise before slumping over. It appears that she's run out of stamina.

Sans seemed to be handling this perfectly well despite the death threat you'd just placed on the both of you, and for that you promised inwardly to treat him to dinner sometime. The suffering you put yourself through made you sigh, and then you waited for Undyne to appear again as you made the shortcut back into Waterfall.

You nearly dropped him as you slowed to a crawling pace, still full of adrenaline and breathing heavy. Sans wasn't saying anything, still, but you assumed that he was alright enough considering he hadn't jumped out of your arms yet. Or teleported.

The blood on your shirt informed you that the wound had broken in once again, and you needed to wash it soon before the fabric stiffened.

The river was still ice cold when you put your hand in, but you washed out the spot anyway. Going deeper into Waterfall would probably help with the freezing, but it would take a while before it dried completely.

You have absolutely no words for what just happened. The excuses leave your brain before you can even think to open your mouth, and you sigh in resignated defeat.

"...Is she gone?" You ask after returning to the sentry point.

Another moment, and you put Sans down before anything else happens. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stood with you as you warily checked behind the cover of the trees every few minutes, just waiting for someone to pop out and scare you.

"Yup. Went to visit Papyrus."

"I'm willing to pretend this never happened if you promise me to never speak of it again."

"Speak of what again?"

You snort at his unflappable humor. He seemed to be staring at something within the water, so instead you peer over to take a look as well.

The waterfall carried many pieces of junk that humans had thrown away deep into the mountains, often things that they wanted to be kept secret. Things they wanted never to return. Perhaps that was where the legends had come from and why the people of Ebott had trusted it so much, but the results were that the monsters could use whatever parts the humans had thrown away.

A heavy-looking couch floated over to you two, and you nudged it a bit to let it continue to float down the water and to wherever its final resting place would be. You furrow your brow in contemplation as you process his words.

"They know each other very well?"

"Yeah. She's teaching him on how to become part of the royal guard."

"Hm. Cool."

He paused before picking something off of the next item floating down and giving it a slight shake. It jingled merrily and he brightened, pocketing the bell for future use. You suppressed a giggle and averted your gaze in order to check on a piece of a scarf, patterned and half-waterlogged from the grimy water. With a quick wipe you noticed something lying underneath and rummaged through the remainder of the garbage piled up, withdrawing a small instrument that you remembered seeing before.

It felt right, sitting there in between your fingers. You grasp tight and don't let go. It seemed to be in decent shape, although most of the decorations had been scratched off and it was showing signs of wear. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any rust on the keys.

"What's that thing?" Sans asked, head craning over your shoulder to take a look.

"Forgot the name. Shoot. It's a finger harp."

You press down on the metal keys and let it go, hearing the sound ring clear through the box. It was slightly dingy and you tilt it sideways, letting the murky water pour out of it.

You try again. It played a little better this time. The sound seemed to have stunned the skeleton beside you, and he freezes in place.

The melody you played was just something you remembered from the old lady you'd met. She sang it whenever the children asked for a lullaby, and it soothed your heart more often than you could count. It promised old things, of gnarled trees aged far past human years and roots embedded deep into the earth, the sky turning golden as the woodlands sang its morning call.

It reminded you of the nights outside your home, peering down at you through the window pane. You looked up anyway, beginning to walk on the path again as Sans followed after you.

When you squinted for long enough, you could just barely make out the rubies and sapphires and topaz and other small gemstones embedded deep into the walls of the ceiling, and when the light went through them they created a kaleidoscope of colors that brought tears to your eyes.

"They're so pretty," you said, feeling homesick and missing the more familiar stars you'd lived under and taken for granted. "The night has its own perks when you gaze up and see entire galaxies, but living in a polluted area for an extended period of time blots them out until you can't see anything anymore. I've grown used to seeing nothing up there and pretending that I never wanted to in the first place."

You didn't notice that the way you spoke had affected Sans slightly as he jerked back, eyelights winking out before hazing back in with blurry vision.

"Ah," he spoke quietly, and your glance shifted back to him. "Me, too."

You waited a moment before turning to him and leaning closer as if sharing a very important secret.

"So, what are you gonna do about the machine?"

You sit down beside him as he settles in, placing his elbows on his kneecaps and letting all of the air out of his nonexistent lungs. "I don't know."

"Okay."

The thought seemed to have been a recurring one, considering he didn't even crack a pun this time. Instantly you feel the need to distract him or to say anything else, but he looked as if he wanted some quiet.

Then you look up and begin prodding him gently.

"Uh. Hey, guess who's behind you," you whisper to him, and he jerks around in startled surprise. Good timing, for once.

Papyrus stands there, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

Both skeletons begin sweating profusely as they acknowledge each other, and silently you raise a brow in Papyrus' direction. He winces. You angle your head to see if Undyne is following him, but there is no one else around and you visibly relax.

And then you stiffen again as Papyrus' gaze turns to you.

"Hello, Z. Undyne has stopped by, asking if I'd seen a human around here."

You stare.

He wrings his gloved hands nervously.

"B-but there's no human! Around here! Obviously! So I told her that I hadn't seen anyone, of course. Whew!"

You continue to stare. Sans begins sweating even more now.

"Y-yeah, Paps. I didn't see any humans around here. Right, Z?"

Papyrus stops talking. So does Sans.

A cricket vibrates.

Nobody speaks.

Outside of your scouting area, a black mess of goop bubbles inaudibly near the lakeside. Then it sinks.

"Yup!" You say, and they both release a breath of air that seemed incredibly suspicious but refuse to open their mouths any further. Then Sans is doubled over laughing.

While Papyrus begins to rail furiously on his crying brother for laughing at a 'possible human escape', another thought comes to you and you raise your head up. The gems in the ceiling twinkle back in unison and your heart softens a bit, your body leaning back to take it all in.

Both him and Papyrus blink back in unison when your exclamation hits. "Yo. Let me tell you some things about the star patterns that I remember. I may not have seen them in awhile, but the thing about the stars is that they don't change too much over the years. This ceiling reminded me of the night sky, and some of them actually look sort of close. I'll try to remember all the constellations I can think of..."

Upon recognizing that it was about due time for a topic change and finding that the new subject was much more interesting, Papyrus lit up and shuffled closer as he sat down on a nearby rock, sitting down before staring at you expectantly. Sans hid in his jacket slightly, shifting several weeds around with his foot and eyelights blinking up as he waited for you to begin.

The oceans were the first thing you described. None of them had likely ever seen the sea before, especially not when the sun rose or fell or when diving deep below the waters to find coral and fish and so many things native to their home.

"-and the skies change from orange and yellow to pink, then purple, then this really nice shade of blue that eventually darkens into black. Those are some of the nicest sunsets that you'll ever see," you gushed, and from the looks of it they seemed enthralled as well.

"Sunrises give the same feeling, though it's more yellow and pink and warmer colors than anything else. Pictures never do quite cut it, although we did try our damndest in paintings and photos. You gotta be there to get the entire range of colors, they're something out of a fairytale."

You hadn't really taken your time while traversing the ruins, and in hindsight you wished you did. It was very hard trying to avoid the caretaker, monsters, and the presumed weed that popped out at inopportune moments and nearly noticed whenever you dived for cover. That sort of lilac reminded you of the purples you'd find in a sunset, all bright and warm and mixed with other hues.

There was a rustle in the brush next to Papyrus' knee, and then out came a Froggit bobbing cheerfully in a friendly hello, eyes winking with white lights in a nonthreatening and rather adorable way. A spectator.

"-and with forests and fields, where should I even begin? There's that scent of fresh air and a really good feeling if it rained just yesterday, and the dirt turns into this really rich dark brown that's cool to the touch. The grass is wet and it clings to you and gets really scratchy and annoying if you run too fast, but there are so many mushrooms that you can find and there are birds singing and all the plants and berries you can think of."

"I've heard them before," Sans muttered. "In the Judgement Hall. They're at the windows, too. The birds are so... tiny."

"Their wings are extremely fragile, and their bones are light so that they can fly freely and go wherever they want, even beyond the trees - well, you probably know all of this, anyway, considering all the anatomy books of animals that you can probably search for in the trash heap," you mention, rubbing the back of your head.

"We haven't found one of any animals yet, no," he replied, though he sounded absentminded.

The winding of the music box surprised you, and you craned your head to hear it more clearly. Papyrus jerked up from his seat, listening to the song playing as well.

"What's that song?" You ask them. Sans shrugs.

"No clue. Someone probably left a player lying around and the echo flowers picked it up."

The music drew you closer, and you start walking towards where the sound was coming from. Based on the expressions of the skeletons behind you, they both seemed interested in the source as well.

Eventually the three of you stop before the room where you'd left the umbrella, the echo flowers creating an ambiance that somehow accompanied the music in a positive aspect. You turn to them again, but they seem just as flabbergasted as you are. You step forward.

The statue was old and worn away heavily by the cracks in the ceiling letting the water come through in small drops, but with the umbrella something within it had clicked and had begun a humming note that you found unfamiliar, yet soothing. Perhaps if you'd stayed just a little longer, you would've heard it before you left.

The song made you pause for several minutes, and slowly you crouched down and listened to the song play over again.

(The promise of sharing a new song with the orphan kids made you smile.)

The strange glowing runes on the wall were hard to read in some parts, so you focused on the ones that were still mostly untouched. Some of them were words of encouragement, words that a monster could take on a human soul and use it for power. Most of them were words of despair. Humans were too strong, and only those that fell down could save them now.

Both Papyrus and Sans seemed to have read them already. Either that, or they just didn't care. You glance at them as Papyrus bounces from echo flower to echo flower and adds happy little messages, Sans treading along behind him, and laugh silently to yourself.

You wondered where these parts of monster culture had come from, the parts where they shared gifts and listened to other people's wishes and prayed for things other than the parts that were picked from the remaining human items and lore, scrambled together for their own purposes and held by faith and hope. You wondered if there were any remnants from the time when monsters had been free, untrapped by the barrier.

You wondered how monsterkind had grown to be so strong in isolation.

"Reminded me of something," you muttered to yourself. "I guess the melting guy really did me a favor this time. Thanks, Gaster."

thank you again for coming this far! I have a lot of undertale-related things to draw. If you'd like to come by and take a look at anything, feel free to look at the rest of my stuff. I'll keep writing eventually.

See you later!