Dinner #2
“Tori’ll be hostin’ Thanksgiving. you’ll come, right?”
You and your skeleton boyfriend - wow, so weird to think about - were having your almost nightly stargazing session. Instead of wearing his coat, he held you in his lap, covering you with his own warmth as you watched the sky.
You hummed out in agreement. Of course you would go.Why would you have any reason not to? It was nice of Sans to ask you anyways.
“so, how’s training with Undyne?” he asked, resting his chin on top of your head.
After your conversation with Sans about defending yourself, Undyne had happily agreed to help train you to get stronger. It was tiring. You were never really fit, and your poor eating habits gave you no energy. Once she found out you were skipping a lot of meals, she gave you a hearty breakfast every morning you trained. She told Sans as well, since you avoided mentioning it. He always made sure to have food available whenever you came over. So much like a mother. You felt a pang in your chest.
“It’s been alright. I’m really sore though,” you sigh. Moving around as much as you were was not fun. But, you do have a reason to not give up.
“you should take a warm bath or something, ease those muscles,”
“You don’t even have muscles! How do you know? Gosh, you’re acting so much like a mom,” you teased, ignoring the pang getting tighter.
“‘cause i care ‘bout you, babe.”
You went quiet. Not that many people ever said that aloud to you. It was weird to hear it.
“It’s getting colder out,” you decided to change the subject.
“wanna get going back then?”
You nodded, while you would have loved to spend longer out, the coldness was starting to bite at your skin.
Sans looked at you with a smug grin, standing up and picking you up as well. You squeaked and held onto him tightly from the sudden movement.
“My legs aren’t broken you know, I can walk!”
“doesn’t mean you have to.”
“Sans,” you giggled at the thought that popped up in your head, “you know that saying, ‘If you love me let me go?’ or something along the lines of that. Please.”
He gave you a defeated look before setting you down. You reached for his hand, but he pulled it away and shoved it into his pockets, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“if i can’t carry you, you can’t hold my hand.”
“Fair game,” you laughed, starting on your walk home.
Ten minutes into your walk, you’re almost at your apartment, “Hey, Sans,” you said before you got too close to forget to talk.
“hmm?”
“I-I know you probably think I’m all better now, since I haven’t freaked out in public for a while,” you mention, “But, I’m really not better. I don’t think I ever will be.”
“i’ll still love you no matter what.”
“Th-that’s not what I’m g-getting at,” mumbling, you fiddle with your fingers, “I-I’m just saying, while I’ve been fine around everyone individually, I doubt I’ll be good at the beginning of the Thanksgiving dinner. Being around a lot of p-people at once, even if I know them well, it, it just gets overwhelming.”
“...i understand,” he said, pulling you closer to him as the two of you walked.
“Thank you.”
You sat in front of your flowers, unable to sleep. Undyne was definitely going to notice your current bad sleeping habits as well, you can’t help but wonder how she would deal with that. The lilies had to be brought inside due to the cold, so now they were resting on your coffee table. It was nice to sit in a comfy couch when drawing them instead of the easy to move, but not very soft chair outside. While you loved drawing your flowers, you were itching to draw something else.
You glanced towards the blue sketchbook you’ve been taking out more frequently. It was resting next to the flowerpot, begging to be drawn in. You gave into temptation, and replaced your flower book with the blue one, opening to the next fresh page.
The page was filled with tiredness, and it didn’t fit like you had thought. Sighing, you finished the drawing though, you always tried to finish them. Once the page was filled and dated, you flipped the cover back and set it over the flower book, moving to turn off the lights and go to bed. You remembered reading somewhere that blue helped with sleep, maybe that’s why you felt so relaxed after drawing. Despite that, you knew it wasn’t the case.
It didn’t matter though, it made you sleepy enough to get to bed.
Thanksgiving Day came much quicker than you expected. The time between Halloween and this holiday seemed much shorter this year, maybe because you actually had people to celebrate it with. Even though the holiday wasn’t much of a celebration as it should be. It just reminded you of how horrible the human race was and probably always will be. At least you got a whole bunch of food cooked for you.
You yourself baked some pies, since it was the only kind of food you were confident in making. When you first helped out making them with your mother, you found out you were pretty much a natural and helped baked them every year. You had made two, a simple pumpkin pie and a pecan pie. Both were delicious in your opinion. Hopefully no one was allergic to either.
Stuffing your charger and earbuds in your bag, you satiated your anxiety from waiting by doodling some of your flowers. Until you heard a soft knock at your door. Setting your book and pencil down, you strode your way over.
“Hey Sans,” you smiled when you opened the door. He actually wore something less casual, but it still fit him. He was in a light brown turtleneck sweater, with black pants instead of his usual t-shirt and shorts. His signature blue hoodie was still on him, but you guessed that.
“heya babe, ya ready?”
You rushed to grab the two pies and your bag, “Yep!”
He chuckled and led you to the car Papyrus was waiting in. You greeted him as you slid into the back seat, Sans following you soon after. He held your hand the moment it was free, and joked around the entire ride there. Just like last time.
Toriel had greeted you, and gladly took the pies you brought and the spaghetti (surprise!) Papyrus and Sans made.
Sans stuck by your side most of the time, rubbing his thumb over your hands. You were thankful for that, it really helped your anxiety.
Alphys and Undyne had yet to come, but Asgore was here, playing with Frisk until they had noticed you and the brothers. You squeezed Sans’ hand and he gave you a reassuring smile.
As Frisk bounded towards you, they gave you and Sans a big grin, while signing something to you and Sans.
“sure am too, kiddo,” he chuckled, leaning down to peck you on the cheek. Frisk scrunched up their face, deciding to run over to Papyrus instead.
“What did they say?”
“they're glad we finally admired our undying love for each other.”
You held a hand up to your mouth as you laughed They were too cute. Sometimes you almost wantes your own kid when you saw Frisk. You just knew you would be a horrible parent.
Sans reluctantly left your side - you had a hard time convincing him - and you were left alone to chat with Asgore. He congratulated your new relationship status. When you asked how his work was going, he got a solemn look in his eyes. Apparently, whole monsters still had most of the rights humans had, they were still pretty discriminated. The only monster the humans took seriously at meetings was Asgore himself, they were skeptical over any other monster. He said while you and Sans were wonderful not many people exactly accepted monster and human relationships.
“Ugh, that's horrible!” you exclaimed. There was just so much hate in this world, “Love is love! As long as it isn't pedophilliac or incest, it shouldn't matter who loves who!”
Asgore smiled and patted your shoulder.
Don't flinch. DON’T FLINCH.
“We need more humans like you, _____.”
“I just don't understand why we feel like we have the need to push you down like the way we are! You guys are alive, living, breathing beings just like us! You have memories and feelings too, yet we’re treating you like garbage!” you groan, disgusted with your kind.
Before Asgore could say anything else, there was a brash knocking at the door. Must be Undyne and Alphys. You felt your chest tighten.
“Hey punks! Ya miss me?” Undyne shouted into the room.
“S-sorry w-we’re late,” Alphys followed soon after, “M-mettaton wanted t-to be fashionably l-late.”
“METTATON?” Papyrus voiced your confusion, though he sounded more excited.
“Hello, darlings!~” a third voice called from behind Undyne and Alphys.
Your chest tightened. Another new person. You really needed Sans right now.
As you stood to find him, the third person - probably Mettaton - caught your eye. You apparently caught their eye as well.
“Ah! _____,~ it’s so nice to finally meet you!” the tall robot (?) gave you a large smile, picking you up in a hug. You tensed up into an incredibly stiff position in his arms. Panic was rising up in your already tight chest.
“heya bud, i’d greatly appreciate it if you’d put my date down,” Sans called from behind you. What a life saver.
Mettaton looked like he was going to object, but did end up setting you back on the ground. You let out a shaky laugh and thanked him. That was enough contact for tonight.
Sans made sure no one jumped at you like that for the rest of the visit, and understood when you didn’t want to hold his hand. It still felt bad to let him down.
The dinner was wonderful. Both Undyne and Sans made sure yo had a lot of your plate. It was cute to see them worried about your eating habits. Though you knew you should try to fix your bad habits at least somewhat.
While the meal went much better than the first time, there was always going to be that underlying tightness in your chest, and you’ll always find yourself holding your breath. But you felt more or less comfortable around everyone now that you know them a little bit more.
Everyone was still leagues ahead of you. You were still pretty useless.
Quickly shoving that thought to the back of your mind, you dug into your food.
Your pies were well received, which made you incredibly happy. Toriel even asked for the recipe for your pecan pie.
“you did great today,” Sans smiled down at you when you got to your apartment door.
“I-it gets easier when I know them,” you laughed nervously. You were very glad you weren’t an emotional wreck after all this.
“welp, guess it’s time for me to leave,” he gave you a wave, ready to turn around and make his way back to the car.
“Not yet,” you blushed, pulling his head down so you could kiss the spot where the bridge of his nose would be.
It was official. Blue was definitely your favorite color.