No One is Happy with This (Undertale)

13 ~ An Answer or Two

Lucky for you, Toriel has some errands to run, and she drives you out to Sans and Papyrus's house before heading out. Now that you're here, though, you still have to build the courage to ask Sans your questions.

Building courage takes a long time, you find. Long enough for you and Papyrus to spend some time cooking, and then some time to play Smash Bros with Sans (Sans always wins. Always.) and then some time to eat some spaghetti (Papyrus has actually gotten really good at making spaghetti).

Finally, after several hours, you think you're ready. It might also be because you finally have a minute to catch Sans alone while Papyrus cleans up in the kitchen, and because Toriel is on her way to pick you up. Regardless, you decide now is the time, and you're going to talk to Sans.

After all, you reason, he did tell you to ask him questions if you had any. So there's no reason for you to be nervous.

I'm just doing what he said. You give yourself a little pep talk. No reason to be nervous. None at all. I mean, it's not like by asking these questions, I'll give him nightmares for months and then he'll hate me forever and we won't be friends anymore. No. Nothing like that.

You look at where Sans is sprawled on the couch, looking lazily at the tv.

No, no reason at all to be nervous.

You take a deep breath, and step towards him. "Hey, Sans?"

His gaze slips over to you, the skeletal equivalent of a cocked eyebrow on his face. "yeah?"

You take another deep breath. Best to just get it over with, you guess. And suddenly, you're speaking in a jumbled rush, merely attempting to get it all out before you lose your nerve. "SoIknowyousaidthatthere'sareasonyoudon'ttalkaboutwhathappenedbecauseithurtsbutIcan'tstopthinkingaboutitandyoutoldmetoaskyouquestionsandIcan'tstopthinkingaboutitandIswearI'mgonnaEXPLODE!" You run out of breath and pause, panting.

For a moment, Sans just looks at you.

Here it comes, you fret, now he's gonna hate me.

But, to your surprise, he just chuckles. "i was wonderin' how long it was gonna be before you burst."

You blink. "H-huh? You're not mad at me for-.. for asking questions about it?"

He snorts a little. "kid, if i was gonna get mad about it, why do you think i woulda told you to talk to me? i mean, don't get me wrong, i'd rather not talk about this stuff at all, but believe me, i know how difficult it can be to give something up when you've already put so much determination into it."

Of course, that only makes you wonder more. What could Sans have put so much determination into that was hard to give up?

Sans continued before you can say anything. "but, in the end, i appreciate that you listened to me, and tried to drop it. and also, that you're actually coming to me, instead'a snooping around where you don't belong."

You climb up onto the couch to sit next to him, bouncing just a little in excitement (the couch jangles a little bit with each bounce, and you make a mental note to check it later for loose change). "So does that mean you'll answer my questions?" You ask eagerly.

"now hold on, kid, slow down!" Sans gestures placatingly. "just because i appreciate your actions doesn't mean this stuff is suddenly easy to deal with! have a little mercy!"

He's grinning. He looks amused. But under his light tone, you can tell he's serious.

You blush a little. "Sorry."

He laughs a little again, and shakes his head. Then he sighs. "frisk, listen. i told you to ask me your questions. now, why would i do that if i didn't intend to answer them? i-... i've been thinking on this for a little while now, and... nightmares aside, maybe it's time this stuff was brought out into the light, y'know? but... let's just take it slow. nice and easy. alright?"

You nod, excitement rising in you once more.

"'kay. good. so, then... just one question, okay? preferably an easy one. let's just start small."

You nod. Start to talk. Stop.

You have a lot of questions, you realize. Way more than you thought, and too many to choose from easily. So, then...

You start to ask Sans who is dad was, then stop. An easy question, he said. Something small. You don't want to hurt Sans.

So...

"... Why don't you want-..." you hesitate a moment, and look towards the kitchen. It sounds like Papyrus is still washing dishes. You continue, quietly. "Why don't you want Papyrus to know about your job as Judge?"

Sans looks a little surprised. Pleasantly so, you think. You bet he was probably expecting some considerably different question.

Then he laughs a little, and responds in the same quiet voice. "i'd've thought that one would be kinda obvious, kid. just think about it for a minute: what's the biggest part of my job? what's it all about? why does it require someone with my... capabilities as the employee?"

That's easy. "So you can kill the humans with too much Lv."

Sans nods. "exactly. now, think about pap. think real hard about his morals, and how he responds to dangerous enemies."

You think about it.

... I, Papyrus, welcome you with open arms!!...

You quickly stop thinking about it.

But you get the idea. "You didn't want him to know you'd be killing people."

"yeah. papyrus... i love my brother more'n anything else in existence, and... y'know, his entire childhood, i tried to teach him that violence is always bad, and murder is never the answer. i don't wanna go telling him then that 'oh, yeah, it's ok to respond violently to violence'. and... and i don't wanna lose that respect he has in me."

You blink a little. That's... a lot deeper, a lot more emotional than you expected. You're beginning to realize that Sans is a lot deeper and more emotional than you ever expected. He's always hidden things so well behind that grin- yet another scar from his past, you now know- and you've never really realized just... how much he's been through, how much he's done. Like-...

"So you did raise Papyrus on your own?"

Sans just looks at you for a long time. Then, with a sigh, he stands up and stretches, cracking his back in the process. "one question at a time, frisk. one question at a time."

Then he walks out of the room.

You stare after him, pondering. It's not a lot, you realize, but you're making progress. And Sans is, too! Maybe, by talking about this, not only will you learn what you want, but it'll help Sans work through it!

Maybe, maybe talking is all the help Sans needs. He's never told anyone about any of this, so maybe...

Maybe he just needs you to listen to him.

Of course, you're still curious about his dad. But if talking is enough to help Sans...

Well. He's the only person you haven't been able to help yet, really. So maybe this is how you can do it.

Maybe you can finally make everyone happ--

Your thoughts are cut off as someone knocks on the door of the house. You rise off the couch to get the door, and head home with your adoptive goat mother.

And you realize, that, despite the one-question-only rule, you are more than satisfied with the day's events.

§

A/N

AAAAAAAAND WE'RE BACK!

Vacation is, however unfortunately, over, so that most likely means we'll be getting back to your regular so-very-frequent update schedule! (:

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Comments and votes are my Favorite Things, and every notification I get makes my day!