FurtherDown

Chapter 18

   Sans was sweating profusely, clenching his hands into fists as he smiled awkwardly letting his pinpricks float around the room. The courtroom felt as if it kept getting hotter and hotter. He studied all of the faces, memorizing each wrinkle and smile, their hair color, the clothes they wore, their accents. Tensom spoke slowly and openly, choosing his words carefully as he stood tall on the witness stand. His lawyer nodded as he recited the story, pressing his hands flat together and bringing them to his lips. Soon, Sans was called up to the stand by Tensom's lawyer to say his piece. Sans also spoke tentatively, doing as Tensom told him, running through the arguments in his head. He kept his cool answered the questions with all the right answers until it was over. Finally, a week later, Tensom arrived at the camp with a piece of paper, a pen, and a huge grin on his face. Sans smiled back, his 'eyebrows' twitching.

   "Did I win?" Sans asked with a tinge of hope in his voice. Tensom nodded, winking afterward as he held out the paper and the pen for Sans to sign. Sans took the pen and signed his name within seconds. Frisk laughed and ran into Sans' arms, Sans hugged her back, squeezing her tightly. Papyrus then ran over picking both of them up in his arms and spinning around. Then Undyne joined in, then Toriel, until every monster was hugging Sans in one big blob of smiles and laughter. They all knew that this meant that they could finally merge into the city and live the lives they always dreamed of living.

   Toriel straightened out the fuchsia and purple paper tablecloth that was draped across the dining room table.

   "Ooh, hothothothothothot!" Papyrus exclaimed as he rushed a hot pot of boiling eggs over to the sink to drain the water. Toriel giggled at the comical skeleton softly, walking into the kitchen to check on her cake. She pulled her on her oven mitts and gingerly pulled open the oven. A wave of heat rushed out, brushing across her face as she lifted the cake out of the hot oven and set it on the counter to cool. Meanwhile, Sans and Undyne were hanging up a banner over the fireplace that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRISK!, well, at least Undyne was. Sans was laying on the couch while Undyne stood on a stepstool, hanging up the banner.

   "Sans, get over here and help me!" Undyne growled through gritted teeth as she shot Sans a death glare from over her shoulder. Sans ignored her. She held a piece of the banner up with one hand and used the other hand to search for a thumbtack. Suddenly, a corner of the banner that had already been pinned up to the wall started to loosen.

   "Sans!"

   "I've got it, relax." Sans merely raised his finger, catching the banner before it fell with his magic, raised the banner back up to where it hung, and pinned it back down, all without moving off the couch. Undyne watched this with a stale look on her face, rolling her eyes.

   "Thanks, I guess." The fish-woman muttered. Sans smiled knowing his laziness got under her skin.

   "No problem bass."

   "Don't push it." Sans sniggered, shifting into a more comfortable position. Undyne stepped down from the stepstool and took another step back to look up at the banner with finality. She sighed then turned to Sans with her hands on her hips, looking down at him expectantly. Sans had his eye sockets closed, but knew the look on her face; he could feel it burning into his face. Finally, he timidly opened one eye socket which Undyne quickly grasped and locked onto with her glare.

   "Why in the world are you of people so tired? You literally did nothing for all of last night and all of today. In fact, Paps said you slept in till ten. What the fuck is your problem?" Undyne pressed. Sans winced under his breath at her harshness but opened his other eye socket reluctantly as he sat up.

   "I'm nervous." Was all he could manage. Undyne looked at Sans with a muddled look across her face.

   "What do you mean you're nervous? Nervous about what?" Undyne asked, dropping her hands. Sans rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, his eyes avoiding Undyne's eager look. Sans finally reached into his hoodie and pulled out a neatly folded bunch of papers and stuck them out towards Undyne. She looked at them, puzzled, but took them and unfolded them, reading the title. As soon as she read the title, her eyes widened in awe, her lips slightly parted. She covered her mouth with her hand and continued to read the first page, then flipping to the next, and the next. The skeleton watched her steadily, studying her facial expressions. She finally looked up at him with a smile spreading across her face.