To the movies
Frisk was in the black space again. She was scared and cold as she sat and curled herself into a small ball, huddling her arms around herself for warmth and protection. She knew it was pointless to try to escape. The darkness would never let her go, so instead she sat and waited, waited for him to show up, because she knew that he always did. Soon enough the white face was back just like Frisk had predicted, peering through the darkness, staring at her, watching her, observing her. Frisk felt herself shrink smaller as she begged with the darkness to take him away, to return her to being alone once again. It would be better if she was alone. The white face sneered at her as if sensing her desperation before a disembodied skeletal hand moved forward to grab her. Frisk braced herself, she knew that as soon as he touched her the pain would come back, but before he could someone else grabbed her shoulder from behind. Frisk spun around to see who it was that had snuck up on her, when she came face to face with Chara? Frisk almost cried in relief at seeing her lost friend, but the serious expression that Chara wore stifled her feelings of liberation.
“Frisk we have to run.” Chara said his red eyes stern and serious.
“Chara? What? I don’t understand?” Frisk questioned as she tried to move herself closer to Chara, tried to feel some level of comfort from him, but Chara just moved away from her reach.
“Frisk run!” He screamed.
Frisk shot up from the couch with a gasp. She was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. She took a moment to get her heartbeat under control as she replayed the dream again in her mind. It had started of like it always had, with her stuck in the black void. But then Chara came, that was new. Frisk almost never dreamed about Chara, and if she did it was always about her happy times with him living on the streets. He never came to her in nightmares.
“You all right there pal?” Frisk jumped off the couch and spun around upon hearing Sans. The sun still hadn’t risen; she had not expected him to be awake. Sans sat at the kitchen table staring at her intently. He was sipping at a mug of instant coffee as he fixed her with a worried look.
“Fine.” Frisk mumbled as she made her way to the kitchen and proceeded to fill a glass full of water from the sink. Sans still looked at her warily, clearly not buying her brief response.
“You sure about that?” He asked again. Frisk inwardly sighed, knowing that she would have to give him a better answer if she wanted to get him off her back.
“Nightmare.” She replied quickly as she turned away, and moved back over to the couch.
Sans gaze followed her. The kid definitely looked troubled; her eyes were still heavy with fear and exhaustion. He figured that her restless state of mind was probably caused by the candy. Some of it was probably still working its way out of her system.
“What are you doing up?” Frisk suddenly asked from the couch.
“Thought I’d get an early start to the day.” Sans replied nonchalantly, not mentioning the fact that he also had a lot of trouble sleeping that night, and eventually had just decided to give up.
“Figured I would go and see Asgore bright and early, and get this business between you and the other gangs sorted out pronto.” He continued, noticing that the kids shoulders seemed to relax a little at the thought that at least one of her problems would be dealt with.
“Good.” He thought to himself. Heaven knows the kid needed a break.
“Why don’t you go back to sleep.” Sans said as he got of the chair and proceeded to make his way to the door. “I’ll be back by the time breakfast is ready.” Frisk nodded as she started to bury herself under the woolly blanket again. Though she didn’t think it would be very likely that she would get much more rest.
“Tell you what.” Sans said suddenly turning back toward her. “I’ll tell Papyrus to let you sleep in. Give you a little bit of a breather.” He said from over his shoulder. Frisk was surprised at first by his apparent concern, but gradually she nodded slowly in response. She definitely wouldn’t mind a few extra hours of rest.
“Ok well, have a good sleep kid. I’ll be seeing ya soon.” Sans said in farewell, as he made his way out of the apartment. Frisk watched him go before she settled back into the couch.
She tried to forget about the nightmare, but seeing Chara again had really startled her. Frisk huffed as she turned on her side. She began thinking about all of the happy times that she could remember when they were living on the streets together. Of course those times had been hard, but they were also full of wonderful memories. Frisk smiled as she remembered the time that Chara had brought her up to the rooftops so early in the morning. She had been grumpy at him at first not pleased about being woken up from her slumber, but he had looked so excited, his rosy cheeks pinched by his large smile, and his red eyes sparkling as he led her up the fire escape stairs. Frisk found that she had no choice but to follow him. She was confused when Chara told her to sit and wait and also starting to feel impatent with him, but then when the sun rose and bathed Ebott in its radiant light, Frisk’s eyes widened in wonder.
“We may be just a couple of street rats Frisk, but our back yard is a city of gold.” Charra laughed as he watched Frisks wonder filled expression. Frisk could only nod in agreement as she stared and watched the sun’s rays transform the dirty roof tops and shadowed alleyways of Ebott and coated them in a glistening layer of golden light. Frisk fell back a sleep on the lumpy sofa with a small smile on her face, and the image of Ebott basking in the light of the new dawn, shimmering like gold before her eyes.
When Frisk woke up again she knew that it was now much later in the day as she could hear the muffled sounds of the busy city buzzing from outside the brother’s apartment. She could also here the two brothers talking from the kitchen.
“SANS SHE HAS BEEN SLEEPING FOR SO LONG.” Papyrus whisper yelled to his brother.
“Let her be bro.” Sans replied quietly as he flipped through his newspaper.
“BUT SHE HAS ALREADY MISSED BRTEAKFEST! WE CANT LET HER SLEEP PAST LUNCH TO!” Papyrus huffed. Frisk snickered quietly to herself as she heard the taller brother pace agitatedly across the kitchen. It amused her how impatient Papyrus could be at times as it reminded her of the temperament of a child.
“Paps let her sleep.” Sans said again as he continued to read over the paper and took a sip of his freshly made mug of instant coffee.
“BUT I HAVE SUCH A FUN DAY FOR US PLANNED.” Papyrus whined. “I ALREADY INVITED UNDYNE TO COME OVER FOR LUNCH, AND SHE WILL BE HERE ANY MINUTE.” Papyrus continued. Frisk’s eyebrows raised in curiosity. Undyne was coming over? And what else did Papyrus mean by a fun day?
“Then we’ll wake Frisk up when she gets here, but until then let the kid rest ok?” Sans said to his brother, flashing him a plea full smile. Papyrus grumbled and sighed before plopping himself down on the other kitchen chair next to his brother.
“OH ALL RIGHT.” He finally agreed. “BUT THIS BETTER NOT BECOME A PATTERN. I ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE DEALING WITH ONE LAZY BONES. YOU BETTER NOT BE RUBBING YOUR BAD HABITS OF ON FRISK!” Papyrus huffed, fixing his brother with accusatory eye sockets. Sans chuckled.
“Sorry bro, can’t make any promises.” He replied through his light laughter.
“Don’t worry Papyrus I’m awake. I won’t turn into a couch potato like Sans.” Frisk said as she hoisted herself off the couch, and made her way into the kitchen to join the two brothers.
“Gee, thanks kid.” Sans said as he shot her an amused eyebrow.
“OH WONDERFULL FRISK, YOU ARE RIGHT ON TIME. GO GET DRESSED WE HAVE COMPANY COMING OVER.” Papyrus sang happily. Frisk smiled and nodded as she turned to go to the washroom to get changed, but before she could a very loud and overly pronounced knock shook through the door.
“OH NO SHES EARLY!” Papyrus exclaimed as he made his way to answer the door. “FRISK QUICKLY GO GET READY AND THEN YOU CAN JOIN US FOR OUR MONTHLY COOKING LESSON.” He instructed. Frisk cocked her head to the side in interest before turning back to continue to the washroom, but Sans caught her by the sleeve of her over sized dress shirt before she could make it too far.
“Hey, how you feeling pal?” He asked quietly, casually obstructing his brother’s potential line of sight with the newspaper. Frisk was quite for a moment, surprised at Sans apparent worry, before she tossed him a light smile.
“I’m fine now thanks.” She replied, and Sans let her go. His shoulders seemed to relax a bit, as if he had just let out a breath that he had been holding for a while.
When Frisk reemerged from the washroom, Undyne was now sitting at the table talking with the brothers as she was unpacking what looked like ingredients for spaghetti from a large brown paper bag. When her good eye landed on Frisk she shot her a sharp toothed smile.
“Yo punk!" She called. " I See your back on your feet.” Frisk nodded. She was still a little apprehensive around the overzealous fish women, but Undyne really didn't seem to notice as she continued to grin enthusiastically at Frisk.
“So Papyrus tells me that you want in on our cooking lessons.” She said raising a snarky eyebrow. “You think you got the guts?”
“OH DON’T WORRY ABOUT FRISK, SHES A HUMAN AFTER ALL, SHE HAS PLENTY OF THOSE.” Papyrus chimed in encouragingly. Sans stifled a laugh as he snorted into his cup of coffee. Undyne rolled her eye at the shorter brother. Papyrus just looked between the two confused.
“I suppose?” Frisk answered, unsure if she really wanted to get involved. Especially if the produced meal was anything like she had experienced from before. Frisks stomach was already doing flip flops at the memory.
“Alright punk, you sit and watch for a bit and when you feel confident enough you jump in got it ?!” Undyne instructed as she turned back to Papyrus.
“Papyrus let’s see what you’ve got!” She demanded. Papyrus squared his shoulders like a soldier as he gave Undyne a salute before bursting into action. He quickly grabbed a large pot and filled it with water and set it on the stove before he cranked the burner as high as it could go.
“Let’s see if we can beat our last time Papyrus!” Undyne encouraged as she started punching tomatoes into paste on a cutting board. Frisk just sat in shocked silence as she watched the two practically beat up the kitchen. Sans sat next to her, continuing to read his newspaper as he held it in front of himself, casually blocking the splatter.
When Undyne was finished with the tomatoes, Papyrus rushed over and scraped their sad looking remains into another pot before also placing it on a flaming burner set to high. At that point the water started to boil. Undyne rushed and grabbed a box of salt as Papyrus grabbed the box of noodles, both of them then flung there entire contents into the boiling water. Frisk grimaced as she rubbed at her already aching stomach, no wonder the pasta didn't agree with her, she was basically eating food infused with rage.
Papyrus then grabbed a long wooden spoon and proceeded to stir the pot with the force of a tornado.
“HARDER! HARDER!”Undyne chanted as Papyrus furrowed his brow and ensued to turn the pot even faster. It almost looked like his skeletal arms were going to pop off.He continued to stir the noodles even after all of the water had either evaporated or was spilled out of the pot by his furious movements. He then dumped the noodles into the already burnt tomato sauce before passing it to undying who then dumped the entire pot full onto a plate.
“Grubs up nerds.” She said as she placed the pile of spaghetti on the table between Sans and Frisk. Papyrus was behind her his hands placed on his knees as he panted desperately trying to regain his strength.
“H- HOW DID WE DO UNDYNE?” He asked between shaky breaths. Undyne glanced at the clock, a grin spread across her face.
“You managed to shave off a whole two minutes.” She replied happily, slapping Papyrus hard on the back. He winced slightly before a magnificently proud smile stretched across his face.
“NEYHEHE, ALL IN A DAYS WORK FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS.” He said breathlessly. “I’LL BE ABLE TO JOIN YOUR BATALION IN NO TIME UNDYNE.” Frisk noticed Undyne wince slightly at Papyruses comment as her grin seemed to waver at the edges.
“You sure will Papyrus.” she replied, her voice not as confident as before. Papyrus however, didn’t seem to notice as he now posed heroically in front of the plate of pasta.
“NOW SANS AND FRISK YOU'll GET TO HAVE THE HONOR OF DINING ON MY TRIUMPH.” He said proudly as he scooped two rather large portions of the pasta and placed them respectably in front of both his brother and the human.
“Thanks bro, looks good.” Sans said without batting an eye. Frisk on the other hand was fighting very hard to control her grimace as she eyed the mushy and burnt plate of noodles before her. Even the smell of it was starting to make her feel queezy.
“MAKE SURE YOU EAT UP LOTS FRISK, AS YOU WILL NEED ALL YOUR ENERGY FOR THE ACTIVITIES I HAVE PLANED FOR US TODAY.” Papyrus said with a smile. Frisk cocked her head to the side in curiosity. She then looked to Sans, but he just shrugged back at her, his lazy grin still plastered on his face. Frisk sighed when she realized she wasn’t going to get an answer out of him before turning back to her plate of pasta. Papyrus and Undyne tuned back to the counter as they proceeded to clean up the mess that they had made as Frisk poked cautiously at the plate of noodles with her fork.
Suddenly she felt something flick her knee from under the table. She looked back and saw Sans gesturing for her to pass the plate over to him with his pinpricks. Frisk nodded before making sure that Papyrus or Undyne weren’t looking in her direction as she stealthily moved the plate of noodles under the table to Sans awaiting hand. She watched him as his expression remained casual, the lazy grin still fixed to his face, when he brought the plate back into view on his side of the table it was completely empty. Frisk felt her eyes widened in confusion. Sans then replaced her empty plate with his full one as he passed his plate under the table back to Frisk, when Frisk received the plate from under the table top however, it too was also completely free of any spaghetti.
Frisk stared dumbfounded at the empty plate, before shooting a curious look to Sans. He just sat smugly, tossing Frisk a teasing smile. After a moment Frisk began to look around the kitchen to see where Sans had stashed the noodles. She even ducked under the table, thinking that maybe he had stuffed the pasta into his slippers. Sans just chuckled as he watched the very puzzled Frisk try to figure out the mystery of the missing spaghetti. His grin widened slightly at the look of determination present on her face as she tried to come up with an explanation.
A few more moments passed before another softer rap on the door sounded through the apartment. Papyrus quickly went to answer it and greeted Mittsy as she walked into the room.
“MISS MITTSY SO GLAD YOU COULD MAKE IT, THOUGH IT IS A SHAME THAT YOU JUST MISSED LUNCH.” He said
“That’s ok Papyrus.” Mittsy replied with a knowing grimace. “I will just have to catch your next batch.” She said.
“Papyrus what are you planning?” Frisk asked in curiosity. Papyrus then promptly spun around and posed proudly.
“WELL MY DEAR FRISK, I THOUGHT THAT IN LIGHT OF ALL YOUR FANTASTIC WORK THAT YOU DESERVED A REWARD.” Papyrus declared. Frisk raised an eyebrow.
“SO I ARRANGED A SURPRISE TRIP TO THE MOVIES!” Papyrus exclaimed, looking giddy with delight. Undyne rolled her eyes.
“Papyrus it’s not a surprise if you tell her.” She said as she motioned over to Frisk.
“OH RIGHT.” Papyrus said as he sheepishly rubbed his skull. “I SUPPOSE ITS NOT. I’M SORRY FRISK, I DIDN’T MEAN TO SPOIL IT.” He said guiltily.
“Heh, Don’t worry bro. I don’t think the kid minds.” Sans chuckled as he motioned to Frisk, who was now staring at Papyrus with eyes as big as saucers, full of excitement.
“Well now that the cats out of the bag, what did you plan on taking us to see?” Mittsy asked.
“NYEHEHE, A TALE OF BROTHER HOOD AND BETRAYAL WITH A PINCH OF ROMANCE AND DECEPTION!” Papyrus replied excitedly. Undyne let out an exasperated huff.
“Don’t tell me we’re gonna see another one of those crime movies. Papyrus your already in a gang, don’t you ever get tired of this stuff?” she asked.
“OF COURSE NOT UNDYNE! BESIDES GANG LIFE LOOKS MUCH MORE ROMANTIC WHEN IT’S PORTRAYED ON THE BIG SCREEN.” Papyrus replied matter-o-factly.
Soon the party left for the theater. Sans bought the tickets as well as the snacks as Papyrus waited in line giddy with excitement behind him. Frisk looked hungrily over all the treats displayed on the counter top, her stomach rumbled greedily as she remembered she hadn't had anything to eat yet today.
“Here kid.” Sans said, passing her a rather large bag of popcorn. “If you don’t stop that grumbling my brothers going to get suspicious.” He said with a sly wink. Frisk nodded a brief thank you, and eagerly accepted the popcorn before she shoveled a few handfuls into her mouth as the group entered into the viewing area.
Frisk sat between Sans and Papyrus in the theater, with Undyne and Mittsy on either end of the group. Papyrus chattered excitedly telling her all of his favorite things about coming to the movies, and Frisk felt herself growing impatient with anticipation as she listened to him intently . She had never seen a movie before, but she had always been curious about them, and now that she was here sitting in a theater with the feature film about to start she found it very hard to contain her enthusiasm.
As the film began Sans couldn’t help but let his pinpricks wonder over to Frisk. She was sitting on the very edge of her seat, her eyes wide and glued to the screen. He chuckled to himself when he saw her shimmy closer to the moving pictures during the moments of suspense, or when she jumped slightly in her seat at the surprise shootout scenes. The kid seemed to like the movies as much as his brother did. Sans smiled as he made a mental note to take her again sometime.
After the film had ended the group began to wander back home through the streets of Ebott. The sun had now just started to set bathing the streets in a warm orange glow. Frisk and Papyrus were chatting happily, discussing their favorite parts of the film. Even Undyne had joined them; she seemed to have actually enjoyed the flick despite her past grumbling about it. Soon the three had started replaying some of the action scenes as they held there fingers like mock pistols and pretended to shoot at one another.
“You’ll never take me alive copper!” Frisk shouted as she ducked behind an ally wall and continuously shot imaginary bullets back at Undyne and Papyrus.
“WE SHALL SEE ABOUT THAT YOU RUFFIAN!” Papyrus bellowed, shaking his fist at Frisk in vigor.
Undyne all of a sudden did a barrel role, as she fired multiple rounds in Frisks direction. As Frisk tried to make a break for it, she faked a hit to the shoulder. With a gasp she stumbled out of the ally way clutching the imaginary bullet wound.
“I aint so tough.” She said as she collapsed dramatically to the ground. She then burst out laughing as Papyrus and Undyne came rushing toward her, whooping in triumph.
Sans felt his smile widen as he watched the group’s performance. His brother was cheering and praising Frisk for her spot on interpretation, even Undyne who was normally stricked and stern while working had taken the opportunity to loosen up a little. He had also never seen the kid so animated before; in fact this was the first time that he had actually heard her laugh so honestly. Mittsy also giggled at the display from next to him as they both trailed behind the rowdy bunch.
“This was a good idea.” She said to Sans, a soft smile on her face as she watched Frisk get swooped up in a hug from Papyrus.
“Ya, my bros full of those.” Sans replied with a light shrug. He then rubbed at the back of his skull guiltily. He really didn’t want to leave the lighthearted moment so soon, but he knew there was some important business that needed to be discussed.
“So Mittens, I hate to spoil the mood and all but I gotta ask, did you find out anything interesting regarding the info that I told you about?” Sans said, making sure his voice was quite so the three playful individuals up ahead didn’t hear him. The soft smile that had graced Mittsy’s face quickly fell into a light frown.
“I did actually, and unfortunately it isn’t good news.” She replied. “Whoever it was that warned Frisk about the other gangs was right to do so, it looks like everyone has their eyes out for her.” Mittsy began and Sans felt his smile grow more forced as she continued.
“I don’t know how Asgore’s going to convince her to stay by the way things are going.” Mittsy said sadly.
“Heh, well just between you and me Mittens, I think the kid has already made up her mind.” Sans replied. "She’s going to leave as soon as her times up.” He said. Mittsy sharply turned her head in Sans direction in surprise.
“What? But she has been doing so well! We need her Sans, you have to try to convince her to stay!” Mittsy exclaimed, almost a little too loudly.
“Sorry pal but it’s the kids choice, and frankly I think it’s a good one.” Sans replied. “It isn’t safe for her here. Sooner or later the human gangs are gonna find out about her, and when they do there will be a very big target on her back.” He said, his voice taking on a dark tone. “They’ll make an example out of her. They’ll use her to scare off other humans from working with monsters.”
“But if she actually joins our organization she will have protection from Asgore, and as well as everyone else!” Mittsy retorted. “Even you have to admit Sans, that being with monsters is better than how she was living before. She had no one!” Sans just chuckled darkly in response.
“Come on Mittens, you can’t be that naïve. You know what the others think about her. She’s human, she’ll always be seen as an outsider to them, Asgore included.” He shot back. Mittsy pursed her lips in a pout.
“Well maybe things can change.” She argued sharply. Sans let out a tired sigh.
“You and me both know that the only reason why Asgore brought on a human in the first place was because we were desperate.” Sans explained.
“You know how he really feels about them, and honestly I don’t blame him, especially after what happened to the guy’s family." Sans continued, chancing a look at Mittsy. Her eyebrows were furrowed in what Sans knew was her stubborn nature to disagree with him, but she wasn’t fighting back, which meant that she could see his point.
“You can’t honestly expect Asgore to grant Frisk the same protection as everyone else in the Pansies.” Sans said. “As soon as the kid poses too much of a risk he will cut ties with her, and then she will be all on her own. Her against every other mob organization in Ebott. If the kid does stay, she’s as good as dead.” Sans concluded harshly. Mittsy let out a frustrated huff.
“Well, who’s to say Asgore won’t change his tune.” Mittsy replied. “After all Sans, you did.” She said, flashing Sans an impish smile. Sans just rolled his eyes as he averted his gaze away from her.
“You can’t deny it Sansy, you’ve developed a real soft spot for that girl.” Mittsy continued, snickering to herself.
“Heh, like your one to talk.” Sans shot back. Mittsy just continued to smile.
“You’re right.” She replied. “I’ve actually been quite taken with her, she’s kinda like the little sister I never had.” Mittsy said her smile taking on a sad note as she continued to walk next to Sans.
“Say, why don’t you let me take Frisk out on a job with me tomorrow?” She asked suddenly. “Let me see if I can at least try and convince her to stay.” Sans just let out an over exaggerated huff at Mittsy’s request.
“Oh come on Sansy.” She pleaded. “It’s just a little recon work. I won’t let anything bad happen to her.” Mittsy said, fixing Sans with the biggest, sparkly puppy dog eyes that he had ever seen. Sans grumbled inwardly to himself, but he knew that he had no real choice in the matter. After all Mittsy was the kind of monster that always ended up getting her way in the end.
“All right fine.” He replied. “But if the kid still decides that she wants to go, you gotta let her.” He said raising a stern brow bone at Mittsy.
“Ok, it’s a deal.” Mittsy said with a grin. She was fairly confident that she could convince Frisk to stay. She was very good at getting what she wanted after all.
When the group finally made it back to Grillby’s, Frisk was surprised to see that the bar was mostly empty. Only a few monsters were scattered throughout the space, sipping there drinks, or talking quietly among themselves.
“Heya Grillbs, slow night?” Sans greeted as he sauntered up to the bar everyone else following behind him.
“It’s not too late to get a bite to eat is it?” He asked. Grillby shook his head as he continued polishing his glassware.
“Grate, thanks pal.” Sans drawled as everyone else gradually took their seats.
“SANS I DON’T SEE WHY WE HAVE TO EAT OUT TONIGHT. I COULD JUST AS EASILY MAKE ANOTHER BATCH OF SPAGHETTI FOR EVERYONE.” Papyrus grumbled as he sat discontented at the bar.
“But Paps, one of the most important parts of an evening out is going out for dinner where someone else does the cooking for you.” He said with a wink. Papyrus just rolled his eyes.
“THAT JUST SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER EXCUSE FOR YOU TO BE LAZY.” Papyrus shot back at his brother. Sans chuckled.
“What can I say Paps, I have been known to lasagna couch, your accusation is completely Pastable.” Papyrus groaned noisily from next to his seat beside Sans.
“What’s the matter bro, penne for your thoughts?” Sans replied, his playful grin growing.
“NO! I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU!” Papyrus huffed as he crossed his arms angrily and turned away from Sans, trying hard to ignore him.
“Awe, bro there’s no need to be pasta aggressive.” Sans continued. “Can’t we work this out?”
“IM WARNING YOU SANS.” Papyrus snapped.
“Heh, You being serious Papyrus, gnocchi –ddign?” Sans drawled.
“STOP!” Papyrus screeched, earning a few turned heads from the other monsters scattered around the room.”
“Alright, alright, no need get all worked up.” sans replied putting his hands up in a gesture of defense. “I gotta say though Paps, you get mad fusilli reasons.”
“NEYGH!” Papyrus groaned as he buried his head in his arms on the bar counter in frustration. Frisk giggled at the brothers antics, while Mittsy outright laughed. Undyne just grumbled and rolled her eyes, clearly being on the same page as Papyrus when it came to Sans puns.
After they ate, Undyne had decided to buy everyone a drink. She even managed to get Frisk to accept one after her nonstop heckling and teasing. Frisk sipped slowly at the strange purple liquid presented to her, being extremely careful with the substance so she would not end up like she did the last time she had dared to be adventurous with the stuff. Undyne on the other hand shot back her drink quickly before slamming the empty glass on the table. Apparently alcohol made the fish women even more aggressive and competitive as she ended up coaxing Mittsy into a drinking game. The two were soon laughing and joking like longtime friends in there buzzed state, as Frisk Papyrus and Sans chuckled from the outside of the main conversation.
“Undyne why don’t you play us a little something sweet?” Mittsy slurred, her brown furry cheeks stained pink from the booze.
“Pfft, what? No.” Undyne replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. Her own cheeks coated with a deep teal blush. “No one wants to hear that.” Frisks ears perked in interest. Undyne knew how to play the piano?
“Why not?” Sans chimed in. “It’s a quite night, a little music wouldn’t hurt the mood any.”
“YES UNDYNE, IT’S BEEN SO LONG SINCE WE HEARD YOU PLAY.” Papyrus added his hands clasped together in a pleading gesture. The dark teal blush deepened as Undyne cleared her throat.
“Well I mean, as long as Grillby doesn’t mind.” She replied, averting her gaze, though Frisk could see that there was a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
Grillby paused from his work behind the bar, in order to give Undyne an encouraging nod. Undyne then quickly took to her feet and briskly made her way to the worn out piano as if she were excepting a challenge. However, as soon as her fingers made contact with the yellowed keys her aggressive disposition completely changed into a loose and soft one. She began to play a jaunty, upbeat, jazzy foxtrot.
Frisk watched in wonder as Undyne’s fingers gracefully and skillfully danced their way across the ivory keys. She had no idea that Undyne could play so well, or could be so gentle and controlled as she handled the old instrument with such care and consideration. Frisk immediately recognized the tune that Undyne had decided to play as ‘I cover the waterfront.’ It was a fairly popular song at the time and Frisk had heard it play over the radio quite frequently when she used to sit outside some of the cafes of Ebott listening to the music playing softly within on the afternoons after she had completed a job. Sometimes she would even go inside to listen and treat herself to a chocolate malt. Soon she found herself silently mouthing the words along to Undyne’s colorful embellished piano accompaniment.
Sans watched Frisk from the corner of his eye socket. Her face had practically lit up the room when she first heard Undyne start to play. He figured she would like it, he had guessed that the kid was a music lover from the first time he had heard her play the piano. He was glad that she also seemed to have good taste, as he watched her quietly mouth the words to the song and subtly tap her foot on her stool along to Undyne’s skillful playing. When Undyne finished playing her happy tune, the room quickly filled with applause and a few cheers and whistles. Frisk was one of the more enthusiastic members of the audience as she clapped her hands eagerly, a big bright smile stretched across her face. Sans then suddenly got an idea.
“Hey kid why don’t you give it a go?” He asked Frisk, making sure he was loud enough that Undyne would over hear him. “You play pretty well after all.”
He smiled as Frisk turned a bright scarlet, raising her hands and shaking her head profusely in an effort to protest his request, but it was too late as Undyne had already started making her way over. Undyne stared at Frisk severely making sure to hold her captive with her eye contact not so much as offering frisk a chance to escape with a blink.
“You play?” She asked, and Frisk found she was at a loss for words, unsure how to respond to the now extremely attentive monster.
“Not- not very well.” Frisk managed to stammer out. But, unfortunately Undyne didn’t seem satisfied by her answer alone as she took Frisk by the shoulder and dragged her out of her seat, before plopping her down on the bench of the antique baby grand piano.
“Show me.” She demanded sternly. Frisk sat as still as a statue in front of the instrument. Butterflies fluttering heavily in her stomach, as she chanced a look around her at the monsters who were either staring in apparent interest, or with snarky smiles, ready to jape her if she so much as pressed a wrong key. The most terrifying of them all however was Undyne, who stood with her arms folded fixing Frisk with an attentive stare.
Frisk swallowed hard as she shakily placed her hands on the piano keys, wracking her brain trying to think of something to play. She decided she would try to make it through another popular tune and hoped that it would be somewhat recognizable to the group of monsters that surrounded her in the bar. She took a deep breath as she went over the movements in her head, making sure that she remembered them before she began to play.
Frisk’s playing was much slower, and much more melody based then Undynes, as she was nowhere near skilled enough to add in all the decorative and eloquent embellishments that Undyne could play. Her playing was simple, but still nice to listen to. Sans chanced a look to Undyne, and was glad to see that she was staring intently at the kids hands. Her brow furrowed in concentration, keeping track of Frisks movements, and making mental notes as she muttered them quietly under her breath as she watched Frisk play.
As the kid continued to play through the verses, Sans noticed that she had actually started to become more comfortable. She was now beginning to hum subtlety along with her playing, and soon she was singing the words to the tune very, very quietly. But Sans could still make them out from his position by the bar.
“Under a blanket of blue, just you and I beneath the stars, wrapped in the arms of sweet romance the night is ours.”
Sans rested his head on his palm as he leaned his elbow on the bar top. The kid really wasn’t that bad. Her voice was soft and sweet, and just a tad unsure of itself. Sans thought that with a bit of practice, and a bit more confidence, she might actually be a good little singer. Maybe she could even make a habit of playing in the bar on quite nights like these.
“Under a blanket of blue, let me be thrilled by all your charms, darling I know my heart will dance within your arms.”
Mittsy and Papyrus were smiling happily as they watched Frisk play through the movements of the smooth jazz song. Papyrus then quickly got up and taped Mittsy on the shoulder. He then whispered something into Mittsy’s ear. She giggled and nodded as she got up and took Papyrus’s offered hand, the two then began to dance in a slow waltz circling playfully in front of the bar.
“A summer night’s magic enthralling me so, the night would be tragic if you weren’t here to share it my dear.”
Sans laughed as Mittsy and Papyrus continued to dance bouncily. He even noticed Undyne start to tap her foot along to the rhythm of the simple love song.
“Covered with heaven abouve, lets dream a dream of love for two, darling I know my heart will dance under a blanket of blue.”
Frisk then suddenly stopped playing as she slowly retracted her hands away from the faded keys.
“Sorry.” She said quietly, averting her gaze. “That’s all I really know.” Her previous blush had returned in full force, as Mittsy and Papyrus cheered and applauded. Even a few of the other monsters scattered through the area clapped lightly when Frisk had finished her performance. Undyne then slowly strolled over to Frisk as the bar began to settle down. Her arms were still crossed over her chest as she looked down at Frisk with a firm gaze.
“Not bad punk.” She said commendably to a surprised Frisk. “Your basics are fairly strong, but your timing could use a little work, have you had lessons?” Frisk continued to stare at the floor as she fiddled with her shirt sleeve.
“A few, when I was younger.” She replied hesitantly "but I haven’t really played in a long time." Undyne nodded, before she also seemed to take on a slightly embarrassed tone.
“You know, I could teach ya a few things,” She began as she also averted her gaze. “If you want.” Frisks head immediately shot up as she looked to Undyne with a shocked expression.
“Really?” She asked. Undyne’s teal blush immediately returned as she rubbed at the back of her neck.
“Ya, I could stay for an extra hour or so after I’m done with Papyruses cooking lessons. If uh, Grillby doesn’t mind us using the piano and all.” She replied, glancing over at the flame elemental. He nodded back to her, before turning to Frisk and flashing her a pleasant smile.
“I would really like that.” Frisk replied, smiling up to Undyne, rosy blush still present on her face. Undyne smirked back at her, her confident aggressive demeanor starting to return once again.
“All right then punk it’s a deal, but don’t expect me to go easy on you.” She said raising a snarky eyebrow. Frisk just giggled, and nodded back at Undyne.
“I’ll work hard I promise.” She said.