Turtle-Side-Note: FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER, I HAVE FINALLY UPDATEDDD! ... Also... who gets the title reference? ;D

No one?

Welp, at least I tried...

NOW GO READ!

...Please. :3

The day turned into the afternoon.

The three monsters were all in the living area by now, but none of them were saying a word to each other as they waited for Frisk to come back from playing with M.K. The house was relatively quiet with the exception of the sounds coming from the game Papyrus was playing and the creaks every once and awhile from the house settling.

Toriel was seated at the computer desk, typing away at an email about some meeting she, Frisk, and Asgore had coming up. Papyrus was sitting criss-crossed on the sofa, the character he was controlling on the television screen was jumping through portals and what not as he solved the puzzles in each area. Sans was curled up next to Papyrus, leaning against him as he blankly stared at the game Papyrus was playing, despite having absolutely no idea what was going on or the objective of the game.

Sans' phone buzzed in his pocket, making him take it out and look at it curiously. It was Undyne texting him in a group chat.

Hey, nerdsssss, are youuu there, I'm bored?

His phone buzzed again before he could even respond, Alphys answering back.

Undyne, I'm literally sitting on the same couch as you.

Undyne responded.

And?

Alphys just sent back three periods, allowing Sans to get a word in.

'sup "bored" and "literally"

Alphys, once again, just sent three periods, Undyne however responded with a...

SHUT UP, SANS! Don't make me come over there and beat you!

Alphys then sent, with a laughing emoji following her text.

You just wrote that straight-faced.

Sans quickly chimed in.

wait, but i thought she was gay?

Alphys then sent.

Omg, you're right 0o0 HoW coUlD i Be sO blInD?

Undyne responded.

Alphys, don't feed into it, you're gonna make it worssse.

Alphys' text popped up at light-speed.

You're the one who was bored XD

Undyne sent.

...Oh yeah- ^.^"

Suddenly, someone new popped in. It was Grillby.

Undyne, for the last time, please don't throw me in group chats while you know I'm working.

Sans rolled his eyes, knowing from this happening about fifty times before that this wouldn't be 'the last time' Grillby would have to send that same exact text.

Undyne quickly sent back.

OOPS! My bad! I'm just used to clicking your name. ><" I'll remove you in a sec.

Grillby sent through one last text before Undyne booted him.

Thank you.

Alphys suddenly came in.

It's official, Grillby is the last person on earth who has any manners while texting.

Sans texted back.

you say that like it's something we didn't know.

Undyne came back in.

No, he's more like the only one left with any manners anywhere. I don't even know how he does it with his job, I'd be so pissed at everyone by the end of the day.

Alphys replied.

Same ><

Undyne then replied.

Wait, shit. What if this is all an act and he's really planning on destroying the world 0o0

Alphys sent back.

wut-?

Undyne then practically gave a speech in return.

No, just- Hear me out. In movies the killer is always the one you least expect. I mean, besides Papyrus, Grillby is the last person I would expect to be the bad guy. So, like, what if he is just trying to make us all think he's good, but he's really an evil- robot- super- mastermind- of- destruction o-o.

Sans sent back.

... how much anime have you two been watching?

Alphys then replied to Sans.

Clearly too much. Help.

Sans sent.

ha, no, she's your problem.

Undyne then replied back, quite furiously.

GUYS, NO! LISTEN TO ME! I THINK I KNOW HIS SECRET!!! HE'S JUST NOT EVEN REAL AND WE ALL THINK HE IS BUT HE'S JUST AN APPARITION FROM AN ALIEN THAT WANTS TO COME AND DESTROY US ALL! NGAAABHVSKAGVXKUSVSUB

Sans made a strange face at his phone before saying.

what are you on and where can i get it?

Alphys replied.

She's on a couch and I say check out K-Mart for one.

Sans replied.

ayyy-.

Undyne then wrote back, almost as furiously as before.

FOR THE LOVE OF ASGORE, SANS! YOU INFECTED MY GIRLFRIEND, NOW I NEED A NEW ONE!

Alphys just sent a sad-face emoji. While Sans just replied with,

whoops.

He looked up from his phone, noticing Toriel staring at him.

He quickly sent.

gtg, i got the goat stare.

Sans put down his phone, Alphys and Undyne sending two more messages before leaving the group to not bother him.

Alphys replying with.

Oh no-

Undyne finishing it off with.

Again? Papyrus keeps saying she's been at you. Tell me later if I need to beat anyone for you, nerd.

The skeleton looked towards Toriel, raising his brow at her questioningly. "what's up?"

Toriel gave him a stern look, "You were so entranced by your device, you didn't even hear the door." She said in a smooth, firm tone.

Sans looked at her confused, before he heard a knock. He looked her over for a moment, only to receive an impatient glare. He sat up, knowing exactly who was at the door.

It was Frisk.

Sans hopped off the couch. Toriel opened her mouth, about to remind him of what was to be done and how it was to be done, only to be interrupted as he said, "i know. gonna go apologize right now." He walked out of the room, feeling bad that his voice came out harsher than he intended it to, but not having enough time to correct himself as he walked to the door.

Papyrus was still on the couch, remaining silent, when he heard Toriel say something to herself, but the taller skeleton had a strange feeling that she wanted him to hear it as well, "Sometimes I think his attitude is bigger than his own body."

Papyrus put down his controller, something about that statement urking him enough to do something he hadn't planned on, "YOUR MAJESTY, I BELIEVE HE WASN'T TRYING TO BE RUDE." Papyrus surprised himself, his normal chirpy tone coming out almost as snappy as the old queen's remark.

"Child, how can you be so sure?" She said, giving the far younger skeleton a look of shock.

"MY BROTHER IS NEVER PURPOSEFULLY RUDE TO PEOPLE THAT HE TRULY CARES ABOUT. EVEN WHEN HE'S UPSET." Papyrus said, confidence filling his words, "I RESPECT AND UNDERSTAND WHY YOU THINK HE WOULD BE TRYING TO 'GET BACK AT YOU', HOWEVER, I KNOW THAT IS NOT IN HIS NATURE."

Toriel blinked at the tall skeleton, not knowing how to respond to that.

Papyrus looked straight into Toriel's eyes, never once did his own contain an ounce of uncertainty, "IF ANYTHING IS BIGGER THAN MY BROTHER'S BODY, IT'S HIS ABILITY TO CARE FOR OTHERS HE LOVES, DESPITE THEM NOT EVEN SEEING IT." He stood up from the sofa, the floorboards creaking under his feet. "NOW, IF YOU WILL EXCUSE ME, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, MUST MAKE DINNER" Papyrus turned off his console, before spinning on his heels and heading in the direction of the kitchen.

Toriel remained with a dumbed, blank expression on her face, before her brows furrowed. She still didn't understand. She just wanted to understand why he was acting so hatefully towards such a sweet child.

She leaned back in her computer chair. He acted hatefully towards the very person who freed them all, and no matter what scenario's she ran through her mind, not a single answer made sense. The exception to this being the reason that he was doing all this because he was seeking attention.

As much as she cared for Sans, she couldn't treat him any differently she would treat anyone else acting as he did. He was... very much like a child in her eyes. A very intelligent child, but a child nonetheless.

She drew a hand down her face, leaning back in her chair. There were moments where she wished he was still a mysterious voice behind a door, telling jokes half the time, rambling about his brother the other half. He didn't have a noticeable flaw at that point in time, he didn't ignore her, he didn't attack innocent children, he didn't refuse to respond to her. He was just nice...

Mr. Nice guy.

The nice guy who kept an old lady from losing her sanity behind a door, trapped in almost complete isolation. The nice guy who made her laugh for what felt like the first time in decades. The nice guy who remained silent as she told him things that made her soul heavy. The nice guy who kept a promise to a stranger...

Where did he go?

*****

Sans shuffled to the door before coming to a halt in front of it.

He stared at the handle of the door, as if it was both his worst and enemy and greatest fear, before he sighed to himself, aggravated.

If he was being honest with himself, somewhere, deep down, he actually did feel sorry for what he did... everything he had done to the child for the past few months. But, his own stubbornness kept any sincere feelings of regret from coming to the surface.

Maybe... maybe things would have been different a few resets ago, but now... he couldn't trust them anymore. He had a constant fear he would wake up in Snowdin one night... wake up with dust and a red scarf at his bedside... wake up with a knife plunged in his own chest and a devilish smile from a child staring him down until his body combusted into nothing but dust.

He shuddered internally at those thoughts, but didn't show any external discomfort.

Maybe he did like the kid the first time around... the second time... the third time... hell, he still was trying to have hope for them the tenth time around. But... now... he just felt disgust towards them. Not exactly hatred, but disgust... that word seemed fitting.

Just, pure repulsion. No matter how many times he tried to put himself in their boots, he could never see how they saw the decisions they had made as 'right'.

He was also quite aware that it was pretty bad that he had an easier time in the past understanding Gaster's actions, who quite literally tied him down to a chair against his own will as well as countless other things, than he did an eleven year old child's actions.

He shook his head, snapping himself from his own thoughts before opening the door. "heya, kid..." He said, looking up to a child who didn't look surprised at all to see him there from the number of times this exact scenario had played out in the past few months.

"we... gotta talk."