Bath time
The next few days passed more or less the same as the first. Frisk would eat breakfast with the brothers, and go down with them below to the bar to get their daily assignments. Along with the brothers Frisk had also now started to receive her own jobs. They were small and usually very trivial, they mostly consisted of simple deliveries or transport work. They were the kind of jobs that Frisk was already used to, only now instead of just having a drop off deadline, she also had a deadline to get back to the apartment as Sans was very particular about her curfew. On one occasion, after she had finished making a drop, she had decided to stay out a little late and take a stroll through the city. She rarely got anytime to herself anymore with the shorter skeleton’s constant supervision, and she really just wanted a bit of a breather from his relentless suffocating presence. She was going to go down to the harbor and watch the sunset, like Papyrus had suggested when he first showed her around the area, but as soon as she turned the next corner there he was, leaning against the side of a building, his ever-present grin plastered on his face, fixing Frisk with his dangerous dark eye sockets.
“You're late.” was all that he said as he led her back to the apartment. Frisk shot him annoyed glares for the entire trip back as she followed behind him.
The days that she didn't have an assignment she would either tag along with Papyrus, if she was invited, or stay cooped up by herself in the apartment. It wasn't like the brothers had locked her up within the tiny living space, or had ordered her not to leave, but whenever Frisk tried to go out she would always notice at least two different monsters in the bar keeping keen to her presence. Then, when the brothers would return in the evening, sans would always end up interrogating her. It wasn't obvious, at least not to anyone else in the room. He would casually ask her about her day and what she had been up to, but because he rarely made conversation with her on normal days, to Frisk it became very apparent. It was a warning; he was making sure that Frisk knew that he had his eyes on her.
Today was one of those non work days. Frisk grumbled as she sat on the lumpy couch tapping her foot agitatedly, she was bored, very bored. This lack of freedom was definitely something she was unfamiliar with, and was one of the hardest things that she found herself adjusting to. With a frustrated sigh Frisk flopped back on the couch. She then looked down at her raggedy clothes. It had been a while since she had washed them, and they were looking dingier then Frisk would have liked them to be. Frisk looked up at the clock on the wall, it was barley noon she would have plenty of time before the brothers came home. She could give her clothes a good scrub in the bath tub and they would be completely dry with time to spare. Frisk hopped off the couch and headed over to the tiny washroom. She rummaged through the cupboards as she waited for the tub to fill, until she finally found what she was looking for, a bar of soap.
Frisk grinned happily at her prize, it had been a while since she had gotten to use soap, and it made removing the dirt from her clothes as well as from herself so much easier, as hot water could only take you so far. As the tub filled Frisk decided that she would indulge herself with a hot bath before she did her laundry. After all, she would only be able to enjoy this luxury until the month was up, and Frisk intended to take full advantage of her allotted time, after which it was back to washing with a bucket on a rusty nail. Frisk giddily undressed before sinking in to the hot water. She let out a very contented sigh as she let herself relax. She then grabbed the bar of soap and removed it from its packaging. She gave it a small sniff, it had a musty spicy smell, it was a scent that Frisk would expect for a man’s brand, but she didn't care as she lathered up the bar and scrubbed at her body. Frisked began to hum happily as she washed, making sure to get every inch of herself squeaky clean. She then lathered some of the soap into her hair and scrubbed it into a rich foam. She giggled playfully as she blew some soap bubbles into the steamy air, using her fingers as a bubble wand. She stayed in the bath until her fingers started to prune, before rinsing herself off and wrapping herself in a fluffy white towel.
Frisk then drained the tub and refilled it with fresh water as she grabbed her undershirt and cotton button up, throwing them in, and allowing them to soak for a few moments. She then went to work, using the bar of soap to scrub all of the, dirt, soot and grime from her clothes. After Frisk had finished ringing out the excess water from her shirts, and had hung them over the shower curtain rail to dry, she moved to grab her trousers. But, just before she put them into the tub, Frisk heard something from outside the bathroom door. She paused and listened, before she heard the front door of the apartment open and close. Her eyes widened as she heard heavy footsteps move through the living area and in to the kitchen.
“Paps?” Sans called as he made his way through the apartment. Frisk felt her heart sink.
“Why now?” She thought. “Why of all days did he have to come home early now?!” In her attempt to hastily get up off of the bathroom floor, Frisk knocked the bar of soap into the tub. She winced as it clattered over the edge, before making a loud splash as it hit the water.
“Papyrus?” Sans called again as Frisk heard his footsteps move toward the bathroom. “You in there bro?” He asked as he rapt on the door.
“I-I’ll be out in a minute.” Frisk replied shakily from the other side of the bathroom door.
“…Oh.” Sans said as he moved away from the door and headed back to the kitchen. Frisk buried her head in her hands as she cursed angrily.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!” She cussed as she pulled on her thankfully still dry trousers. She then grabbed her soaking wet shirt, and proceeded to ring it out as best as possible, but her efforts left her with little satisfaction. Frisked huffed as she struggled to pull on the cold wet cotton shirt, she then took a moment to gather her courage before she opened the door and strutted over to the kitchen.
Sans was scanning over a newspaper, and was about to take the first sip of his freshly made cup of coffee, when Frisk walked into the room. He paused momentarily with his mug raised to his teeth as he gave her a once over.
“Why are your clothes all wet?” He asked.
“I needed to wash them.” Frisk replied curtly, not even glancing In his direction as she fought to crush the blush she felt rising to her cheeks.
“…Huh.” Was all Sans said as he proceeded to take a sip of his coffee. He then dug out a telegram from his pocket. “This came for you by the way.” He said passing it to Frisk.
Frisk took the telegram, noticing that it had already been opened. She wasn't surprised. Sans’ had made it a habit to personally check over all of her instructions, so he always knew what she was up to.
“Looks like you’re gonna be doing a pretty important job kiddo.” He said, not even trying to hide the fact that he had read her assignment.
Frisks eyes widened as she read through the message for herself. Sans was right, this would be important. She was scheduled to meet with a wealthy business man, Alico Ames, in two days’ time. Frisk knew that name, and knew that Alico Ames owned at least half of the hotels and underground cocktail bars in the city as his establishments were very popular meeting places for many of the members of Ebott’s gangs. He was known for being able to provide his customers with the finest blacklisted products that money could buy, he was also known for being a snob as well as a huge flirt. Frisk continued to read through the instructions as she paced over to the couch. Her brow furrowed as she started formulating a plan of attack in her head, two days wasn't a lot of time, but Frisk was confident that she would be able to manage. Her job was to negotiate a sales price on a shipment of magical contraband. Asgore was specific in relaying that she should not accept anything less than 30,000 G.
Frisk sat on the couch and pursed her lip, she would have to scout out the meeting spot tomorrow, and come up with an escape route if things didn’t go well. Frisk looked at the address for the meeting location provided in the telegram and felt her stomach lurch. The meeting spot would be in one of Alico’s hotels, the Bouton D'or, It was one of the ritziest joints in all of Ebott. Frisk looked down at her wet tattered shirt and patched up trousers. There was no way that she would be able to show up to a place as fancy as that looking like a wet street rat, she would be turned away before she even got through the front door. Frisk sighed, she would have to use some of the money that Asgore had given her to buy some new clothes. There was just one problem with that however, as Frisk had absolutely no idea what the hell she was doing when it came to fashion and clothing, She had never even bought clothing before. She had always just worn whatever she could find that fit, sometimes occasionally resorting to stealing a garment or two from someone’s clothes line.
“Sans ?” Frisk asked reluctantly as she looked over her shoulder at the skeleton sitting at the table in the kitchenette.
“What’s up kid?” Sans replied, not taking his eyes off of his newspaper.
“Where do I go to buy clothes?” Frisk asked. Sans was silent for a moment as he turned his gaze to Frisk, his brow bone raised in confusion.
“…You don’t know where to buy clothes?” He asked. Frisk suddenly felt her cheeks grow warm as she turned her face away.
“I’ve never needed to before.” She replied matter-o-factly.
“What about the clothes you’re wearing now?” Sans asked, probing Frisk further.
“I found them.” Frisk replied as she felt her blush continue to deepen. Sans just sat in silence for a few moments. Frisk decided that she was sick of his teasing as she got up to leave.
“Forget it.” She grumbled as she made her way to the apartment door.
“Kid wait-“ Sans began, but was cut off as the apartment door swung open before Frisk could reach for the handle.
“GREETINGS BROTHER AND FRISK!” Papyrus exclaimed happily as he entered the apartment, with what looked like a brown paper bag full of groceries. However, once his gaze fell to Frisk his smile faltered. “FRISK WHY ARE YOUR CLOTHES ALL WET?” He asked.
----------
Frisk pulled on the dress shirt that Papyrus had lent to her after she had explained her situation. She had tried to insist that she was fine wearing her wet cotton button up, but Papyrus wouldn’t hear of it.
“NO FRIEND OF MINE WOULD EVER HAVE TO ENDURE THE UNCOMFORTABLE FEELING OF WET CLOTHING, NO SIR NOT ON MY WATCH.” He said as he ushered her into the bathroom to change. Frisk wouldn’t admit it but she was actually becoming quite fond of the taller skeleton brother. He was always so thoughtful and endearing. Frisk couldn’t even remember the last time that someone had shown her this much kindness…actually she could, but she preferred not to think about it.
Frisk sighed as she did up the last button under the collar. The shirt was huge on her. It hung like a dress as it fell past her knees, and she had to roll the sleeves up at least a dozen times over. Frisk frowned at her refection in the bathroom mirror. The oversized shirt completely engulfed her small form making her appear even smaller than normal. Frisk grimaced, she looked like a child.
“Well at least it’s more comfortable then wearing a wet shirt around all day.” She thought to herself as she exited the bathroom. Frisk could hear the brothers chatting in the kitchenette; she also heard the sound of clanging pans and something sizzling. As Frisk rounded the corner to the kitchen she saw that Papyrus was cooking something over the stove …well actually it looked more like he was burning something.
“AH FRISK, THERE YOU ARE! HAVE A SEAT DINNER WILL BE READY SHORTLY.” Papyrus said. Frisk nodded and smiled at Papyrus as she saw that he was wearing an apron that read ‘kiss the cook’ on it. Frisk hesitantly took her seat across from Sans, as she tried to see what Papyrus was making. it looked like spaghetti, but was much more blackened then usual.
“Smells good bro.” Sans said from the opposite end of the table as he lazily rested his chin on the palm of his hand.
“I THINK THIS WILL BE MY BEST BATCH YET.” Papyrus replied happily as he fanatically stirred the pot of rapidly boiling noodles.
After a few more moments Papyrus presented his culinary creation a heap of burnt noddle’s under a ladle of burnt tomato sauce. Frisk looked down at her plate and actually thought that she would have preferred one of the cold jellified Tupperware containers in the fridge over the scorched plate of noodles in front of her. She looked up to Sans who had already eaten half of his plate without displaying so much as a grimace.
“HUMAN WHAT DO YOU THINK ?” Papyrus asked as he smiled sweetly in her direction. Frisk was determined as she picked up her fork and shoveled bite upon bite of the crispy noodles in to her mouth. She choked back her gag as she slammed her fist down on the table, forcing herself to swallow. She then gave Papyrus, who was now slightly startled, a quivering thumbs up as she left her plate bare.
“WOWIE FRISK! YOU MUST HAVE REALLY LIKE MY SPAGHETTI! THAT WAS PROBABLY THE MOST PASSIONATE DISPLAY I'VE EVER SEEN!” He said, stars sparkling in his eye sockets. Frisk just nodded in response in fear of something other than words coming out of her mouth if she opened it to reply .Sans just sat shocked from across the table.
That night Frisk tossed and turned on the lumpy couch, her stomach was very unhappy with the brick of charcoal pasta that she had previously forced down her throat. Frisk groaned as a cold sweet broke across her forehead. She got up and held her arms around her painful abdomen as she made her way to the kitchen for a glass of water.
“Heya.” Sans sounded form behind her, standing by the fridge in his sleep clothes and pink slippers. Frisk almost dropped the glass in the sink in her surprise. “Heh, you’re not looking so hot pal, what’s eating ya?” Sans replied with a chuckle. Frisk turned around to give him an unimpressed glare, but the best she could muster was a queasy grimace. Sans grin turned slightly apologetic at the sight of Frisks discomfort.
“Sorry.” He said, rubbing the back of his skull sheepishly. “I guess it’s not really the best time for jokes.” Frisk was slightly surprised at his remorseful attitude, as well as very, very suspicious of it.
“Look pal,” Sans continued ignoring Frisks narrowed eyes. “I know you and I haven’t exactly gotten off on the right foot, but I want to thank you for making Paps so happy today.” He said. “You know you didn’t have to eat the whole plate, he would have been satisfied if you just took one bite.” Sans said laughing lightly.
“You did.” Frisk replied as she struggled to fight off a spell of dizziness. Suddenly Sans stance went from sheepish to downright guilty.
“Uhhhh….” He stammered as a few sweat droplets appeared on his skull.
“You didn’t?!” Frisk asked in astonishment.
“Hey keep your voice down.” Sans cautioned, but Frisk just shot him a disappointed glare. “Alright, alright, I know, but hear me out; a guy can only handle so much pasta.” Sans said in his defense. “Besides, I really never had much of a stomach for it.” He said tossing Frisk a wink in an effort to dissolve the tension. Frisk just continued to stare at him unimpressed.
“Jeez kid, tough crowd.” Sans said. “Look, how about I make it up to you? I’ll buy you dinner , give you a break from spaghetti, how does that sound?” Frisk raised an eyebrow at Sans offer, she knew him well enough by now to know that whenever he made a deal there was always something in it for him, weather it was relayed to her or not. Her stomach, however, urged her to agree to his offer, it turned sour as another wave of pain shot through her body at the thought of eating another plate of Papyrus' pasta.
“Traitor.” She whispered to it, before begrudgingly giving in to its demands.
“Ok, fine.” She said reluctantly. Suddenly Frisk felt the color drain from her face as a massive wave of nausea washed over her.
“Hey you ok pal?" Sans asked. “Are humans supposed to get that green?”
“Bathroom.” Was all she managed to spit out as she slapped a hand over her mouth before running past Sans into the washroom, slamming the door behind her.
Sans winced as he herd her wretch from behind the door. He felt a little bad for the kid. He knew his brothers cooking wasn’t the best, which was why he decided to pay her back for her current miserable state with a free meal. Well, that and he wanted to figure out more about who she really was. The kid had seemed nice enough during the past few days that she had been staying with him and his brother, but sans knew better then to trust appearances. Besides, he really didn’t like the idea of living with a stranger and this way everyone got something that they wanted. Frisk got a break from spaghetti, and sans got information, it was a win-win really, whether the kid new about it or not.