Monster Marriage Isn't Quite the Same

Sans teleported right back over to them with the clothes. "Here, Tori. Help them get these on." 

"I know, I know. I am sure Asgore is just rushing everything, but healing takes time," Toriel said. "This isn't just hit points, the cold to human flesh is like a poison. The other healer and I will get there though. They will be more than ready soon. I don't think that so much public is needed right now. Plus, they should stay warm. We need them to stay warm. Most important." She moaned. "I know my children are so well-behaved, but I don't like leaving them away too long." 

Sans laid the clothes on top of Frisky and Chance. "I have an idea." If he couldn't do it, the clothes would prevent them from getting hurt. The healer said that Chance had used his magic for warmth to save Frisky, so maybe Sans could do that too. It would give them some time to get Toriel's new kids. He placed his hands on the sets of clothes and watched a little bit of blue swirl around them. 

"Yes, that's an excellent idea. That is incredibly warm," Toriel said as she moved to the other side. "Excellent. Let us go and get the other children. With the other healer and this, it should help more than enough while we are gone." 

------------------- 

I was such a baby. Frisky opened her eyes back up. She was in the warmest, comfiest bed she'd ever been in. How was that possible? Where was she? Chance wasn't beside her anymore. She saw Sans at the edge of her bed. Humans took away almost everything he had, and I was about to do the same. "Sans?" 

Sans head popped up and looked at her. "You're awake." 

"Yep." 

"You didn't leave." 

"No." She put her arms back out. "My Frisk friends came after me, but, I couldn't do it. I'd rather spend my life in shackles than take your own child from you."  

"You know. Um, I hate promises . . . I do. I really, really do. They tend to be tougher work than I like to put in in the end." He stood up. "So, I'm going to make the promise instead. I promise that if you just don't run away from this, and you stay with Papyrus and I, I'll do what I can to make sure you don't ever feel 'owned'. No shackles. No magic against you." He looked over toward Papyrus once. 

Papyrus had a weird expression but shook his head yes. 

"We can't commit to you anymore," Sans continued, knowing he couldn't just trick her. "Your little Frisk friends aren't really going to be welcomed around the place for a bit either," he said firmly, "cause uh, me and Pap? Yeah, we talked it out and we're a little upset with them." She nodded. "They left you with no protection. Whatever it was, it was saving your life." 

"They left you with an absolutely, horrid, horrid Monster!" Papyrus spoke up. "Sans told me about that thing, and I-I-I, ugh! It saved you, but it's dead, so at least we don't have to thank it." 

Oh, the Balancer. "It's dead?" 

"It broke the rules of the board, and it deserved it!" Papyrus answered. "And! And that's all we're covering for that because that was just . . . bad." 

Sans held his bony finger up. "Oh, and uh, one more thing about those other FRISK's?"  

Yeah, she heard the unpleasant sound in his voice. 

"Yeah. Their little outburst changed everything. I have to marry you now," he finished.  

Damn. Friskarino was right about the marriage. "How did you figure out where I was?"  

"That little MP thing that Alphys had," Sans said. "It showed a teleporting alert." 

"I thought so." She smirked. "That should have been hidden. Friskarino must have unhid it. That's probably why he left last too. I guess he didn't know about the lost protection either." 

Sans and Papyrus both shared a look. It looked like they were debating about something. 

"So. Now I just willingly stand there and let myself get married?" Mm. "There is absolutely no way I can just agree to stay without marriage? Contract or something? I-I don't know exactly how it works." 

"Monsters don't work like that." Sans shrugged. "Sorry, I am. I know getting married to a guy like me probably wasn't in any of your future plans. But . . . you got a pretty outfit out of it?" 

Outfit? Frisky looked down at herself.  The first thing she noticed wasn't the outfit, but the blue mist around her. She had felt a lovely, cozy warmth all around her since she woke up. Blue. Sans. Sans' was using his magic for her, and not against her. He'd been warming the bed. She also noticed what he was referencing.  

Her dress was white with special, dazzling snowflakes on the trim, but with a scent that reminded her of the mystic beauty of Waterfall. Above those were small echo flowers stitched into the dress itself somehow. Monster magic. It sure could make some incredible things. 

"Speaking of that marry thing, we still need to do it. Soon," Sans said. "King Asgore isn't always a fuzzy pushover." 

"Okay." As Frisky moved out of the bed though she watched Papyrus practically push her back in, unable to contain himself any longer. 

"You came back, you really came back just for Sans!" Papyrus yelled with excitement. "I promise, human, you will not regret this! Oh sorry, Sister! Sorry, not human!" 

"Papyrus, easy," Sans tried to move him back. "Calm down." 

Frisky watched Papyrus rush Sans next for a hug.  

"Okay, okay," Sans patted his back. "Plenty of time for hugging later. King Asgore is getting impatient, and bad things happen when he gets in a bad mood, so, let's get this done." 

--------------------- 

"Now." King Asgore sat with Undyne in front in the same place they were having a committing in.  

Sans stood up straight as much as possible, following Papyrus' lead. For once, Frisky wasn't standing up so straight. 

"Now, I know I heard this a bit before," King Asgore began. "How having a child without actually knowing about it shouldn't count, so on and so forth. And I know it is a miracle that the human came back on her own and will not need any kind of shackles for this ceremony. However . . . Sans the Skeleton. You were almost her brother and forfeited the knowledge of being your son's father." 

Sans looked toward Chance being held by Frisky again. Still sleeping. He looked toward King Asgore. "The situation was awkward. I didn't really know what to do, Majesty." 

"That is true, but there is a huge difference between father and Uncle. Do you understand that? There is also a large difference between brother and husband. These differences are massive in scale, and Monsters have fought and killed each other because of these differences in the past." 

Sans stared at King Asgore. He knew going from commitment to marriage wasn't going to be a pleasing experience with how the king found out about it. "I understand that, Majesty." 

"Uh huh. As much as I can sympathize with your plight, and I understand you have had a great deal of plight," King Asgore said once again. "You lied to me. Now, if the situation had not been cleared up, you would have only been the Uncle of your own child. The Uncle. You would have basically been denying your own blood's rights and knowledge to it's father." 

This was not looking good. He would have told Chance eventually, but he couldn't tell King Asgore that. He would just get into more trouble. "I just want them safe," Sans tried to reason. "It's all new to me, Majesty. I don't know. I don't know how I'll do as anything, but, I just don't want to lose them." 

King Asgore folded his hands, clearly in thought. "At the very least, you did quickly return to do the right thing. That is something I can't forget in this abundant display of errors. Honestly, had I not been here to see the grief you had felt when they were ripped away from you, I would probably forego this and send them with the second choice. After all, you lied to your King." 

"Um?" Alphys raised her hand from the corner. "Majesty? If I could just say a word?" She approached him. "I know Sans the Skeleton. I've spent time with him, and I can tell you, he didn't want to lie. But, h-he just found out in the cruelest way possible. By some data on a human device. Now, if he was cowardly, he did not need to pursue anything else. He could have pretended the data was fake. He didn't have to have a healing for the boy to find out the real truth." 

"Which records show don't exist. Which you insist is because of this so-called "motion shift," King Asgore added. "After seeing the evidence on that device and our own skylines, it's hard to forget that fact." 

"Not to mention, Sans the Skeleton, he did the difficult part for the barrier. He was the one who gave us the power to put up our own. Remember?" She pointed out too. "Sure, he isn't perfect, but no one is. And, um, considering all that. Don't you think he's earned a wee bit of maybe a kind of . . . break?" 

King Asgore patted one hand on top of the other. "A certain amount of boldness played a part in saving us. I have kept that secret from the public, but you did reveal it to me. Yet. As I said before, there is a huge difference between sister and wife. Son and nephew." 

"Majesty?" Undyne stood up and walked over by Alphys. "As leader of the Royal Guards I have had the privilege of Sans being my Sentry for a long time." 

"Which I see and have all records. Mishaps. Strikes against." King Asgore reached for the papers. "Which in all honesty is making me wonder if you will speak for or against him right now." 

"Yeah, it's true he's not the best at . . . staying awake," Undyne said gently. "But, he is there when he needs to be. When I had a little snafu with the mother of his biological child, he handled it well." 

"I remember talking about that incident. I would have killed you," King Asgore said. "I think any Monster would have at least tried to fight for that crime." 

"Her identity and loyalty was unknown at that time. He did not know anything about the prisoners relation to him," Undyne continued. "Her back has no scars on it, I know that. I never asked but I'm fairly sure it wasn't Papyrus who healed her. We've gone over this. Then, there was the Ipeccaci Spaghetti. By your own orders, they would have died. He spent time and money to get them to a  healer. I just want to bring these facts up again." 

King Asgore rested one hand beneath his chin and tapped his fingers on the table in front of him. "Sans the Skeleton, Alphys and Undyne have put a lot on the line to vouch for you. They have given me solid facts and stories before you even came back." 

"Oh, will you stop it and just agree already?" 

Sans looked behind him and saw Queen Toriel, her four new kids in front of her. 

"Stop poking your citizen. It's a marriage, not a permit to build a home or something," Toriel scolded him. "Honestly, Asgore." 

"Tori?" King Asgore's royal demeanor seemed to fade away. "My beloved Toriel?" 

"Mph." Toriel looked away. "I am here because I expect my children to get married today. I would never miss that." She looked back in front and toward Frisky. In her hand she held some echo flower wreaths. "As confusing as you two are, you are a part of the one I took special care for, and the one that helped me . . . helped me let go." She held the wreath above Frisky's head and placed it on her. "And my other child." She took a smaller wreath and placed it on Chance's head. "Because of you, even though I have new children, I have the courage to come away from the ruins with them as well. They won't be locked away due to my fears." She smiled at them lovingly. "I will just dispose of whatever tries to mess with them." 

"I see," Frisky answered, not agreeing or disagreeing with her. "You're raising the conduits?" 

"I am raising four," Toriel said proudly, gesturing to the children in front of her. "This strapping boy is Matt, that is Lucas, that is Patricia, and that is Margolia. All proper human names." 

"They are conduits," King Asgore corrected her. 

"Human." 

"Conduit." 

"Human." 

"Conduit." 

"Just agree already!" Toriel said in a great huff. 

"Um. Of course I would have agreed," King Asgore finished. "I will allow this marriage to take place then. Undyne, please tell the humanologist standby that he will not be second choice." 

Sans stepped back a bit.  A humanologist? They already had a second choice waiting. Yeah, he really didn't have much time after all. 

"Fine. Undyne, most of the committing requirements were the same, however, it is now just one taking care of them." King Asgore looked toward her. "Is it possible that he can do that?" 

"If I adjust his work schedule, yes," Undyne answered. 

"Well then, let us begin. Which location?" 

"Snowdin is where he lives." 

"Alright then. The most social place is Grillby's, correct?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Well then. We shall dismiss to Grillby's." 

------------------------------------------------ 

Frisky watched around her. She knew a Monster marriage wasn't supposed to be the same, but it felt more than slightly different. Not every Monster had the strength to travel great distances, or to teleport across the Kingdom, so to avoid family and friend issues, the marriage was held in the living location and most social area of the couple's residence. She forgot about that. I can't believe I am actually getting married . . . in Grillby's. 

A quick burger in Grillby's was one thing. Getting married there felt different. Especially once she remembered exactly how many Monsters Sans had been buddy-buddy with. A likeable Monster. Not only that, but marriages in the Underground weren't always a common occurrence. The Underground was only so big. Therefore. It felt awkward walking to Grillby's when rows of Monsters were lined up like a parade outside of it, cheering them on. 

It didn't take long though as Toriel was scolding Asgore again for not remembering the human's condition. Then, she was quickly brought into Grillby's with Sans. 

Inside, there was barely any room to move. Some of Sans friends called to him and he bantered and joked with them about everything. Frisky didn't care. Sans didn't get much time in the spotlight after all. 

The next thing that surprised her though was Alphys, King Asgore and Undyne right behind Grillby's counter, with papers. Again. They were discussing GOLD content, fighting issues, nutrition, weather dialogues.  

"Um, yeah, Frisky." Undyne called her over. "I need you to fill this out." 

Frisky grabbed the pencil and looked at it. A list of things to cook? "What is this?" 

"You need to know at least one dish if you're married," Undyne said. "Really, it's good to know like five. There's ten lines. You can add different varieties if you want to, too. Like, if you can make tomato spaghetti and cucumber spaghetti, it would be two different dishes. Just do your best." 

Hm. "Why?" 

"Why? Cause we'll know what kind of thing to send. For cooking." Undyne seemed surprised at her. "Don't worry too much, Sans can live off catsup alone. You have different nutritional needs though." 

"Lots," Alphys added. "Make sure you put anything you can think of. The Underground probably can't do everything, but um, it could do anything? You never know what will line up." 

Oh. In a minute, she handed it back to Undyne. "Here."  

Undyne handed her another page. "Okay. See if there's anything else to add." Frisky did the same thing and handed it back again. "Anything else? Here." She handed Frisky about ten pieces of paper. 

Frisky was far from a gourmet cook, but she took care of her and her son on the ship. When they weren't on missions, then they had to eat more accurately. They couldn't live off of Grillby's, hot dogs, Monster candy and astronaut food. Glamburgers and Steak were good, and so were other things, but they were far from the cry of protein and vegetable varieties humans needed. So, she did her best in adding everything. She had no idea what the Underground could actually provide. She had no idea how the food system worked.  

But if she didn't give it her all, she was afraid she might be stuck with snail pie or something. That seemed to be Alphys point. Not the most appetizing dish to live on the rest of her life. Besides, she just . . . really wanted Sans and Papyrus to have some good homemade food for once too. 

French fries, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, porkburgers, fish tacos, pork/beef/chicken/any kind of meat enchiladas, pork/beef/chicken burritos . . . 

As she got going she just wrote the number of varieties because it felt like it was taking forever. 

Tacos (3), pasta (over 10), macaroni and cheese (10), hot dogs (10), wings (2), Casseroles (at least 10). 

It took awhile. She didn't want to get fancy with any hard dinners that she'd need recipes for so this had to do it. She just couldn't keep it up. Afterwards, she added a note about desserts (Desserts: Cakes, cookies, brownies, pies, ice creams. Many varieties.) 

There. If there was any of her food that could be modified to fit, it would be much easier to live Underground. She gave the papers back to Undyne and went back over by Sans. 

Undyne just looked at all the papers. She gestured for Frisky to come back over and had a whispered conversation. "Yeah, I thought so. Monsters don't usually eat so much variety." 

"As long as I can get more than snails, I'll be happy," Frisky answered. "Any kind of meat, except snails, and I can substitute."  

Undyne just gave her an odd look. "I see the history of your culture was still pretty accurate. You have a large base of nutritional needs." Undyne grinned. "You should open up a business when you're cleared for it in a year. Really bring in GOLD. It takes a long time for that kind of stuff though. Locations aren't always easy to find. You might actually be better off joining forces with Grillby. Heck, if Grillby knew this, he probably would have put in a bid for you too." 

"Oh." Helping with the GOLD would be good, but Frisky knew where she was needed right now. The here and now was all that mattered. "I want to help detect intruding humans who are good or bad. I knew many of them. I would have an easier time identifying them, and their chances of going rogue." 

"Pfffttt. You'll get all the chance you'll want. Didn't you know? You'll be next to Sans most of your day for the first three months. Gradually less after that. It's a Monster bonding thing, so, yeah. You're stuck like glue. Sorry. Try not to die from his puns." Undyne started stamping the papers. "Don't worry, he'll get stuck with bonding time with your kids too. I mean, kid." Undyne's eyes went over toward Alphys. 

Hmm. "Kids aren't a bad thing," Frisky said, knowing that Alphys watching two of the conduits wasn't going to make it any easier for those two to get together. Undyne just gestured for her to head back over. Frisky looked over toward Chance in Papyrus' arms. He was starting to groan. It's okay. I promise. No matter what happens. You'll be safe here. 

"Alright Sans the Skeleton and . . ." Undyne looked toward Frisky. "Are we just going with Frisky still? Sans the Skeleton and Frisky have agreed to a mutual marriage, and not a hostile marriage. Right?" 

"Yep," Sans answered. "No shackles or chains." 

"That's the best kind! Good going, Sans!" One of his friends cheered for him in the crowd. 

 "Good." Undyne looked back at her papers. Undyne moved some papers to the sides as she looked back at Frisky. Undyne went by several more papers. "Okay. Uh, how old is the boy Papyrus is holding?" 

Frisky began to answer. "He is-" 

"Guess," Sans interrupted. Papyrus came over toward Undyne with him. 

"He's small." Undyne picked up his arm. 

"Very small still," King Asgore added. "I would say a good . . . two years? What say you, Undyne?" 

"Hmmm. I could have sworn . . ." Undyne bit her lip.  

Chance yawned and started to wake up. "Uh, hey, what's going on?"  

"Not two at all. He speaks well." King Asgore approached Chance. "Hello there, little one? Do you know where you're at?" 

Chance shook his head. "No. I was in the snow, then Sans saved us, and then I don't remember what happened." 

"Nice sentence structure." King Asgore patted his head. "I'd say . . . eight? Seven?" 

"Six," Sans confessed with a really heavy sigh. "He's six." 

"Yes," Papyrus agreed, also with a heavy sigh. "He is about six." 

"Yeah, I thought so. I could have sworn he spoke." Undyne sighed. "Sans." 

"What?" Sans shrugged innocently. "Nothing wrong with a guessing game. Our family like puzzles. Right, Papyrus?" 

"Right!" Papyrus agreed enthusiastically.  

"Hmm." 

Sans lowered his skull while Frisky looked toward King Asgore. 

"Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" King Asgore asked Chance. Chance shook his head but groaned. "Good. Now, this isn't going to hurt at all, but it's very important for Monsters to be truthful. So, I am going to do something very simple to make sure you're a good boy and tell the truth. Okay?" 

Wait. Questions? Frisky lost her relaxed state. Fast.  "What questions? Why are you asking him questions? What kind of magic are you using?" 

Everyone sort of looked at her funny. Sans took a step closer. 

"Relax, it's just a high-level truth magic spell. Don't worry," Sans said. "King Asgore's not going to ask about the barrier or anything," he said. "Just, need to not . . . be so bold in front of the King? Kay?" 

High level truth magic?! There was never any of that against the FRISK's! "No, I refuse." 

Sans tapped his bony fingers together. "Uh, Frisky? You can't just say no to the King." He was definitely not happy with her. "He's going to do it to us too right before it becomes official, so you need to deal with it. Okay?" 

"Why?" No. 

"When we do that, it won't be in public. Okay? No one will overhear anything. Relax." He took a deep breath, glanced back at her a second before looking forward again. 

Magic. Truth magic. No. No, no, no. Frisky felt her breath getting heavier. How strong was it? Exactly what would he say to the king? "Why?" 

Sans looked toward the king, shrugged and chuckled. "Y-you know the boldness of humans, Majesty?" He turned to look at her again. "Kay. So. You're not quite getting it. Um. Frisky? Marriage is going to happen. Monsters confess everything before marriage for a longer lasting marriage. Maybe it's not the human way, but that doesn't matter. It's not going to change but, there is something that could change if you keep making King Asgore . . . not happy. Make peace. Stop. Okay?" 

Frisky turned to face forward. Okay. Human marriage was much better now.  Much, much better now! I don't want to. I don't want to do this. Why is this so important? How come a marriage can't have secrets? Sans doesn't need to know this stuff! I don't want him knowing. She felt herself tighten up. When I was Frisk, I could hide better. Afterwards, I was so scared of him killing me for Judgment Hall that he didn't pick any of it up. Why? Why do we have to do this? She looked toward the back of Grillby's. I made my choice. I can't leave. I don't want them knowing. I didn't want them to ever know! She squeezed her eyes shut as she started to hear the questioning begin. 

"Let's try and see if that worked. Now, not feeling too well?" King Asgore patted his head. "Where's it hurt exactly?" 

"It hurts all over," Chance said. 

"Well. You Conduits are strong ones, aren't you? Okay, let's try again." 

Sans watched Frisky fidget like crazy. He looked toward Papyrus. They usually didn't do it, but just like they pushed magic and tried to reach Chance, they could reach each other the same way. And Sans really wanted to say something, whether it wasted magic or not. Pap? Frisky is not looking good. 

Soul bearing might just be new to her? It's okay, Sans. Are you hiding anything? 

I don't know. I don't think I'm hiding anything she doesn't already know. We went through a lot together. But, she interrupted the King constantly. She knows better than that. She didn't even reference him as Majesty and even said no to him. 

Yes, I noticed that. Well, you'll know it all soon I suppose. 

But, Pap? I mean, what do you think she's going to say? 

I don't know. I, I really don't know. But, but at least there won't be anymore secrets. You used to have so many yourself, Brother.  

I know, and it's hard. It's really hard. The deeper they go, the harder it is. Pap, I never told you, but . . . I . . . for the longest time, being stuck in the resets, I . . . 

It's alright, Brother. I get it. Just, get through this, and we'll all go home happy tonight. I mean, she came back with Chance! Let's just get it done. This whole mess has already taken up the entire afternoon. Shortly after this, it will be bedtime, and the start of a new day! Let's be thankful for that. 

You're right. New day. Thanks, Paps. You're the best. 

Asgore pushed a little more magic into Chance. He had done three rounds of his truth magic and was still getting a vague answer. After the fourth try, he asked again. "Okay. You Conduits are very strong little Monsters. Now, where does it hurt exactly?" 

Chance breathed slowly. "My chest hurts, my stomach hurts, my eyes are so sore I can't keep them open, my right leg hurts, my right knee hurts, my right arm hurts, my throat hurts, and all my fingers hurt except for my left thumb." 

"That's better," King Asgore smiled. Let's begin. How do you like Sans the Skeleton?" 

"Lots. He's cool." 

"Do your mommy and him get along well?" 

"Uh huh." 

"Do you think he is a responsible fellow? Could he take care of you and your mom?" 

Frisky noticed Sans looking a little nervous while some Monsters in the crowd chuckled and said things like 'this is over now'. 

"Sans responsible?" 

"Yes." 

"Sans is the most responsible Monster I know. Without him, we'd be dead by now. What a weird question." 

"Good to hear. Let me introduce myself. I am King Asgore. I rule the Underground," King Asgore continued to talk. "Don't be scared. I once had a human for a daughter." 

"Oh. Well, I'm a boy. I hate it when people confuse me, but, I get it a lot because when I'm a conduit and a girl controls me, then I'm technically kind of like a girl. It's annoying." 

"I am sorry to hear that," King Asgore said lightly. "Mankind was not very kind to you, were they?" 

"Mankind is doing what it must to survive the viciousness of Balancers. While mankind created them, they are slaves to them. We have no say. We are rodents. We are worth nothing, and if a use isn't provided to a human, they will die." Chance coughed. "I'm not supposed to . . ."  

"You should speak the truth," King Asgore said. "The more you struggle the harder it will be. Whatever it is, speak your mind." 

Chance coughed again. 

"That sensation won't disappear until you say what you need to say," King Asgore insisted. 

Chance took long, drawn out breaths. "I'm not supposed to talk like . . ." He coughed again. 

"There is no reason not to express yourself," King Asgore said delicately again. "Please." 

"Fuck Balancers, those bastards should rot in the pits of hell for what they do to us." Chance coughed again.  

"I see. Some very, very strong feelings from a child. I am . . . going to take note of that." King Asgore said.