Love Has Its Barriers | Soriel

Chapter 4 : An Answer?

"There's no way I heard just heard something-" Sans thought to himself as he recollected his thoughts, "Last I checked, the ruins were as good as gone."

Yet, as much as he tried to convince himself otherwise, the joyous monster was still behind the door, and as dumbfounded as he may be, he had to muster up some kind of reply.

"Dishes." Sans instinctively replied, as he looked back at the door he was so carelessly leaning on with hesitation.

"Dishes..who?" Finally initiating a conversation after centuries of silence, Toriel had almost forgotten how it felt to have a kind warmth in her voice. Long ago, she had been known for being a "mother" of sorts to the underground, something that had been lost once her children were taken from her.

But to see it return, and with such humor and delight, was pleasing, yet shocking to the monster.

With a tired sigh, he simply replied, "Dishes a very bad joke."

Toriel, with a smile in her expression, felt herself giggle at the joke, and soon let the amusement overcome her as she laughed for what was the first time in years. 

After all, she lived in the ruins, hardly a house of entertainment. Desolate, barren, mostly composed of empty hallways lined with deadly traps. For the few monsters who remained there with her, they knew her only as a powerful boss monster. A former queen.
Worst of all, the monsters who lived near her cottage could hear her cries for hours. It was child's play for her to keep a front whenever she was outside, but she felt the privacy of her own home beside the warm fireplace. It was almost perfect atmosphere for her to cry. And it helped..but not before her grief struck her twice as hard as before.

That's odd.

"That sure as hell wasn't meant to be funny. If anything I threw that together in a whim." The short skeleton thought to himself as he heard the abundance of laughter from behind the door, "Maybe she's in a real good mood? Either way..it's almost like she'd never heard a joke before. ..Hell, even smiled in ages."

Sans chuckled lightly as he heard the lady behind the door. Even with her subtly desperate undertones. There was something warm, almost motherly of her gleeful giggles. It was..comforting in a way. Knowing that you made someone's day with a simple joke.

What might happen when someone tries telling more jokes? Imagine that, she'd be scared out of her skin if he kept himself on a roll.

Well, wouldn't hurt to try.

"Heard the one about the skeleton who couldn't go out to the party?"

Toriel thought for a moment before quietly replying, "I can't say that I have."

"He had no body to go with!" 

Toriel laughed hysterically at this point, as tears of laughter started to race down her cheeks. She desperately wanted to recollect herself, but she hadn't laughed in decades..she could at least do herself this small favor, just once. As she recollected herself. As she began to feel calmer, she almost started to recollect a sliver of the joy from her past memories.

She couldn't say that joke made her nearly as happy as those beautiful moments had, but she'd admit, it gave her a small taste of the same joy and passion she'd felt before. Which was exactly why she didn't try to stop the skeleton from continuing, and continue he did.

"Damn, she ok?"

So many thoughts were racing through Sans's mind, most of which questioned the sanity of the woman behind the door. 

Then again, he couldn't be one to judge, could he?

He wasn't the ideal monster, nor did he ever aspire to be. Sure, he was lazy, irresponsible, and got a habit for staying out late, but he wasn't completely unhappy.
He had a brother he cared for, and cared for him alike. A small group of friends around Snowdin, a couple nice coworkers, and something of a polite acquaintanceship with the bartender, Grillby. ..Especially considering the times Grillby brought him home in a drunken state. The hangover was hell, but he moved on like always. Typically, his life was quite mundane, but he never craved adventure, much unlike his younger brother. 

After a minute of thought, he found himself laughing along with the former queen. After all, he was the one telling jokes to a lifeless door. 

Either way, it wasn't a bad way to spend the time, all things considered.

He'd spend the rest of the afternoon there, letting the hours fly by. The hell with guard duty, he'd actually found a friend. ..Though, his brother wouldn't be all too happy. Sans looked up at the snow ridden sky, realizing Papyrus would be back to check on him soon.

"Hey, it's been fun but I..got work."

Toriel stopped abruptly, recollecting herself before replying,

"Oh. Yes, of course, I understand."

"You'll be back here tomorrow right?"

She hesitated. ..Sure, she had a great time, and he had a great sense of humor. But there still lies the chance of him figuring out who she really is, maybe even report her whereabouts to Asgore. Was she really about to put herself at risk for a stand-up comedian? 

No, that's ridiculous. I must keep herself safe, and that means no close attachments whatsoever, that would be foolish-

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Cool, see ya."

And with that, the short skeleton walked back to his post, pleased to make one more monster roll with laughter. Toriel, however, was left with a stunned silence. She began to walk back home, puzzled with her own actions.

"What have I done?"