"Going to work."

"Okay."

They avoided each other like the plague. It had been a solid week since then, and neither could seemingly muster up the courage to face the other. Instead of eating breakfast with his brother, Sans opted for leftovers, or some toast for a quick escape from the kitchen. When their parents came over, Sans stayed as little possible, retreating into his room to dwell over what happened. The only time he actually left was briefly, when he gave Frisk his phone because theirs broke. He got the phone back the next day, though, so he only left his room for two small periods.

It wasn't as simple as a kiss, no, of course he had to make out with his brother and almost took off his hoodie. What would have happened if Toriel and Frisk hadn't barged in?

What had he done?

Papyrus hated him now. There was no doubt about it. Why wouldn't he? Sans took advantage of him while he was vulnerable! Papyrus was avoiding him, they hadn't talked one on one since then, it was pretty clear he hated him.

Sans started picking up work again, but Alphys was oddly absent from the labs. Maybe because she and Undyne hated Papyrus and Sans now. That would make sense. Sans' explanation he sent to Undyne sounded unbelievable, and after Papyrus attacked her, they had every right to be mad. Sans could deal with that. He cared about them, so he let them become distant. Instead, he received direct orders from the King about what needed to be done. There was papers in Alphys' basement, Sans had to bring them up. Write up a list of what each machine did. Things like that. None of it made much sense, but he complied. Money was money.

Sans idly tapped his phone against his pelvis bone, listening to the small thud, the sound lessened by his shorts. Papyrus was in the hallway, doing something. He couldn't tell what from inside of his room, but he could hear Paps in the hall.

And, as he was avoiding him, that meant Sans couldn't go into the hallway. To get to the kitchen for some lunch. He was hungry. Desperately hungry, the kind of hungry where he started to nibble on the tips of his digits and bounce his feet against the floor. He barely had a breakfast, and he was kind of banking on Papyrus doing something later to exit his room. He'd been cooped up in his bedroom all day, waiting for an opportunity that wouldn't come. Was Papyrus staking out his room? No, his bro was doing things, he probably didn't even realize that he was gone.

It was fine. They'd get over this. Maybe he could make an excuse to why that happened. He wasn't thinking right. He got caught up in the moment. Sorry.

That sounded good. Okay. He'd use the drunk excuse, but Papyrus was a skeleton, he knew normal drugs didn't work on them. The only type that could get him drunk was rather expensive, and there was no plausible explanation to how he would get his hands on it. Or how he managed to even drink it without Papyrus noticing.

But Sans, still wanting to avoid him, didn't want to risk that discussion yet. Maybe they could pretend it never happened. He'd rather never face his feelings. Face the truth of many things. Instead, he'd lock them away, like he always did, unable to confront his own mistakes.

Sans let his magic warp, landing in the kitchen without a hitch. Yeah, he wasn't going to confront Papyrus until he had to. Because that's what Sans always did. Run from his problems, time and time again. What a coward. His magic even reflected that. Letting him dodge, and dodge, but never confront head on.

"So teleporting, huh?"

Sans jumped so fast one could compare him to a cat. Shit. Shit. His Mom. She had been in the kitchen, he hadn't noticed they were visiting. She saw him.

No, no, they couldn't - teleporting was the only backup plan he had! They couldn't do anything to him or his brother if they didn't know his tricks! With no money, no outside friends, he didn't have anyone or anything else but his magic!

She wasn't even doing anything. Simply standing in the doorway between the hallway to the rooms and the kitchen. No doubt she had been waiting for him to walk out, why else would she stand there? So she would have known he would have teleported.

"I was waiting for you to leave your room, I can't say I expected to see you leave your room that way," She said, strolling up to him inside of his own kitchen like she belonged, lightly patting his head as he tried not to tremble. "I didn't think any monsters could even do that. You're going to have to tell me some more about it, sweetie. Perhaps on our hangout session today!"

"W..." Sans swallowed back vile. He felt sick. "What?"

"For our bonding time! Gaster said you agreed, so I was waiting for you to come out to remind you! We picked today. So I figured I'd take you out somewhere. For Mother and son time. But I'm glad I got to see some of your magic. It's cute."

Cute. That's what she called him. Because she knew, once again, she had the upper hand. Usually Sans would check with Papyrus if they were visiting or not, so he wouldn't teleport in front of them, but he hadn't been talking to Papyrus at all!

His only backup, his last plan, down the drain in an instant.

Without much choice, Sans just turned back to the fridge. What was even the point? His parents were going to win. They always seemed to. He already had too much to stress about, his relationship with his bro. The very relationship he probably destroyed last night by forcing himself -

Okay, yeah, Sans wasn't getting anywhere with these thoughts. That happened a lot to him. Something would happen, then his thoughts would loop like a toy train on a round, one way track. Around and around, not going anywhere, simply repeating.

Once again, he would have to admit a defeat from his parents. He was already in a bad position from last night, and mentally drained from his derailed thoughts. And if it was just him and Jandle, then it'd be a good excuse to stay away from Paps a little longer, right?

"... Where are we going?" Sans asked quietly.

"Oh, hun, that's a surprise!" She giggled, pressing her hands together at seeing his cooperation. "I'll tell you when we leave, though. Trust me, it'll be very fun!"

"I... okay," Sans mumbled, "I guess I'll just grab lunch and be in my room, then."

"I made mac and cheese!" Jandle said, "I'll grab you a bowl!"

Sans simply sat down at the kitchen table, soft chatter from Gaster and Papyrus humming around the living room. He didn't dare peak his head inside to say hello. One parent was bad enough, he didn't want to throw another and a brother into the mix.

He would have shared that rhythm if he had anyone to share it to.

It was becoming a little concerning how little Sans was seeing his friends anymore. Alphys and Undyne were long gone, Toriel and Frisk were way busier than normal, and... that was about it. Sans could go to the bar, it's been forever since he's seen Grillbs.

Yeah. Sans would do that. Another day for sure, but he was certain he'd go back there again. For his own sanity. He really missed going there.

Jandle eagerly handed Sans his bowl of food, and it did look pretty darn good. Even had some of those little green things chopped up and scattered along the top with a thin layer of bread crusting. Sans couldn't recall what they were, but it tasted good all mixed together.

"Thanks for lunch," Sans sighed.

"That's what Mothers are for, sweetie," She hummed out, happier than normal.

Sans didn't say another. Man was he tired. But also hungry.

She didn't push him to stay, which Sans was rather grateful for. So, with a bowl of mac and cheese, he went off to his room with another teleport, too ashamed and tired to even walk away. Melting into the ground sounded nice.

He's just become so defeated nowadays. Why even bother with fighting back? They did whatever they wanted without facing any obstacles, and they talked their way around Sans everytime. Better to just keep Paps safe. Make sure no one else was getting hurt. And, if he somehow managed to snag evidence, send it to the police.

For now, it'd be best to just... lay back. Like he always did. He was willing to pretend everything was fine if Paps did.

Lord, everything was derailing so quickly. What even happened? One moment, everything was good. Nice, even. They escaped to the surface, found relationships, happiness. Then in came his parents, and now look at them. Their friend group entirely shattered in an instant. What did his parents even do to make it this bad?

His head hurt.

~~~~~~

Gaster was quite used to the sight of the human. Little Frisk. The savior of Monster kind. Eh. The kid never really did much, so he never did care. Sure, they managed to help monsters escape alive, but they would have been just as useful dead. Either way the barrier would have been broken. Congratulations for... existing? Why would he bother to give praise to someone like that? Especially a human who didn't even need love?

Quite bothersome. But they were young. And he knew their 'victory' only came from the adults within their life. That was about it. What other talent did they have but pretend to be full of determination? If it weren't for the circumstances surrounding them, along with their lack of knowledge about his children's magic (teleporting was a surprise, and certainly did explain a lot about his eldest child's talent) they would have found their children again. Children were just that. Young, naive, and dependent.

"Hello," Frisk belted out to him, a typical greeting.

Gaster sipped on his coffee, eyeing the child. Toriel was out, and Papyrus was outside with Jandle looking at the few flowers Toriel had allowed Asgore too tend for. They were declining in health from all of the recent drama. Gaster doubted the old King would never even be allowed to glance in the direction of the garden here again. Serves him right, though. A tiresome, annoying, pathetic man he was. Good riddance.

"I don't think I have to bother with conversation, no need to keep up my image around you," Gaster said, setting down his coffee. "No one ever would have believed Sans about us driving away Undyne, and no one will believe you."

Believe it or not, letting a few children know small, different parts of their true intentions was actually quite helpful. Children were very imaginative. So letting a few know real secrets, and plenty more receiving fake ones melted the real ones into the absurdity of the others. That's why he and Jandle would have been quite fine if Sans had told anyone during his years of escape. Even now they can work around it. Because he was a child. And who ever believed them?

Of course, he couldn't tell Frisk about everything, but one little detail could get lost in the other tales children spew out. Gaster has a secret twin. Jandle actually had four children and ate two of them. Gaster and Jandle were both secretly the King and Queen. It was fun to spread little stories.

"And it doesn't matter if I tell you we did trick Undyne into hurting Sans, and that we also did threaten her," Gaster said, tilting his head, "I mean... who would ever believe you?"

He turned, and picked up his coffee again. Frisk's expression widened a little. What a funny expression. He had to try and taunt little Frisk when his wife was around. Jandle would love that.

"Now get out of my sight, you brat," Gaster said, shooing them away with a hand motion. "I actually want to enjoy my coffee."

Once he was done dealing with the kid he couldn't care less about, Gaster looked down at Sans' room. Still inside. Hiding away until Jandle would force him out. A good strategy, admittedly. They couldn't exactly force themselves in with attacks without drawing attention in this situation. But it didn't seem like he was avoiding just them anymore. Why was Papyrus targeted, too? That boy was also acting rather... off.

"Jandle, dear," Gaster called out, opening the front door. "Why don't you take Sans out for your Mother son date now? I can do something with Papyrus now."