Alphys hunches over and brings her glasses back to the top of her snout. Her fish girlfriend watches quietly from above, resting her chin on top of her spiky head when she decides to skim the letter again. Still unconvinced with what she read, she narrows her eyes at the letter in her hands, trying to search for anything abnormal -- a hint that would give out the strangeness of the writing. Sans is watching the scene from the camera on your phone, the face call marking already half an hour since Alphys began her investigation. It's unusually quiet for a place with three people -- four, counting Sans -- in one same room.
“I believe I have good news for you, (miss/mister) (L/N). Come to my office this Wednesday at two in the afternoon if you want to be informed.”
Alphys reads the letter a few more times after that, looking progressively puzzled with each read. She sets the paper down in front of her and huffs, eyes centered sharply on the letter and how empty it was compared to the first one you received from the mayor. You would be head over heels with joy if the letter didn’t sound or look as eerie as it did to everyone present. To everyone's agreement, it felt off and morose when compared to the hopeful words of the decision the mayor had come to.
“You shouldn’t trust this letter,” Alphys comments, standing up from her chair once Undyne steps back. She walks to your side and folds the paper in two, giving it back to you, an apologetic look on her face. “It- It may be the mayor’s handwriting, but. . . . it doesn’t sound right. You really sh- shouldn’t go there alone. It’s dangerous.”
“They wouldn’t even let me keep my phone with me during the meeting,” you mention, frowning. “I don’t think they’ll let anyone else pass.”
“You should still go with someone else,” Undyne intervenes, crossing her arms. “We’re not risking you getting hurt again -- You said it yourself the mayor excused Jessie over that time they attacked you. What’s to say he won’t do the same when he finds out Jessie’ll be in prison for a lot longer? Even if you want Sans to be free, you should still be careful. I’ll go with you even if it’s just to wait by the parking lot.”
“It’s alright. I couldn’t possibly ask for tha-”
“I’m not gonna fall for modesty, (Y/N). Now’s not the time for that. I’ll go with you, and if you’re not back or done with the meeting in an hour, I’ll ask the town hall about you. We wouldn’t worry if you at least had your phone with you.”
“Undyne’s right,” Sans speaks up, voice muffled by the sound of the school bell ringing from not too far away. “I don’t trust that guy if he’s willin’ to overlook what Jessie did to you. And I doubt it’ll be that easy to get ‘im to change his mind now that Jessie attacked you again.”
“D- Do you have any marks around your neck?” Alphys asks. She has her back to you and Undyne now, hurrying to tidy her desk before the next group of students arrived. “I know this is a touchy subject, b- but maybe seeing the damage will get the mayor to soften up a bit.”
With all the changes you had been exposed to, you had barely given much thought to the physical damage Jessie left on you. Your major fear was of waking up abruptly with them on top of you again, but -- beyond that reoccurring nightmare -- you really didn’t pay much mind to the cut on your lip or the sore pain surrounding your neck and shoulders. Finger and nail marks from when they tried to pin you down were still visible on your skin, but you tried to ignore them whenever you showered and by buttoning up the collar of your shirt more than usual.
Without a word, you unfasten the buttons of your work uniform, revealing faded marks around your neck and a few right below your collarbones. The room falls into a deep, uncomfortable silence, begging for someone to speak up.
“I really hope the cops do somethin’ more about this,” Sans comments, a hint of anger in his tone. “Jessie broke out way too easily.”
“Didn’t they get eighteen more years in prison after this?” Undyne asks, raising an eyebrow. “I agree that won’t help much if they don’t up the security at that place. If anything, that’ll just make them angrier.”
The sudden shift in attention from the conversation between the three towards you makes you stand up straight. Undyne stares at you, a stern, searching look present in her eye as her mouth falls into a perplexed frown.
“You should stay at Mettaton’s hotel for a while more -- At least, until we know you and Faust’ll be safe somewhere else.”
Your discussion comes to an end as the second bell rings, signaling it was time for students to start making their way into the next class. The same loud noise can be heard from the phone displaying Sans’s face on screen, the broom in his hold letting you know it was time for him to begin his next shift for the day. It was paining you to think you were both standing in the same school, yet unable to get close to each other due to his sentence.
“Can I call you after work?” he asks. “I wanna talk with you separately.”
Alphys wiggles her eyebrows at the skeleton when she overhears him and laughs when you do the same. You take the phone off her desk and wave goodbye at her and Undyne, seeing students already entering the science teacher's classroom.
“Sure,” you reply, snickering. “You don’t have to ask me, though -- Just call me when you’re out.”
★
The cheery atmosphere at Alphys's classroom vanishes when you step out, Gerson's words popping back in your mind. You stare at your phone and calculate how long it would be until Sans ended his shift, but are met instead with a message from Solana asking when it would be good to catch up.
How does the par-
You erase the message the second you start typing the word 'park'. That had been one of the few places Jessie had followed you to in their time stalking you. The pictures they took are now fresh in your mind, forcing you to come up with another meeting spot.
How does the mall across from Toriel's school sound? I'm about to head back to work, but I was thinking we could meet there after.
Sounds great! Meet you there at six? :)
Sure, that works just fine. :)
You slip the phone back in your pocket as soon as you send that message. It had almost been a full week since you last saw Solana in person, but you were no less eager to stay in touch. She had been one of the main people to encourage you since day one, cheering you on when you wanted to get something done, and putting you in place when you were thinking about giving into uncertainty and backing out.
You start your march back to work after that, recalling you had taken more than three days off since the day your car broke down on you. With the mild paranoia of crossing paths with Jessie again, you almost despised taking the bus as a replacement for the loss of your car. Working overtime was a tempting yet risky option now that you were thinking of saving up for a new used car.
Your eyes are glued to the time on your phone as you make it down the school's hallway, the screen marking roughly twenty minutes until it was time for you to clock in again. It was of no doubt you would get fired today if you were to receive a tardy mark again -- Almost four consecutive absences and two days late had placed you on thin ice, and you were a little too close to ending up jobless again.
Caught in a spiral, you don't notice you're blocking someone's path until you bump into them, their short height leading you to grow anxious at the thought of bumping into a student making their way to class. What leads you to stop altogether in your meltdown is the familiar sight of short, brown hair and a striped sweater.
"Frisk?" you speak up, a sigh making your body shudder from top to bottom. "I'm sorry about that -- I. . . I didn't look where I was going."
The child quirks an eyebrow and tilts their head to the side, curiosity sparking their expression when they inspect your state. "Are you okay, (Y/N)? You look worse than Alphys during public speaking."
You don't catch their entire sentence with how fast their hands form words, though you're able to understand enough to give an answer. "I'm okay."
“Are you, really?” they ask again, a grin showing on their face.
"Maybe just a little overwhelmed right now," you confess, letting your shoulders fall. "I. . . I don't know what to think or do with my life anymore."
“And now you sound like Burgerpants." Frisk giggles at their own comment, the way their face lights up adding some joy to your own visage. “Wanna go with me and Mettaton for dinner tonight? We can talk about your future love life now that Sans’s gonna be free.”
"Frisk. . ." you mutter, caught off guard by their words.
"I'm kidding -- But we can if you want.”
”Thanks for the offer but. . .” You trail off on your sentence, the plans you made with Solana crossing your mind. “But maybe next time? I’ve kind of already made plans for tonight.”
“Let’s keep in touch, then,” they propose, a smile on their face. “You can’t keep this all to yourself, right? Figured you were with the grumpy face you had before bumping into me.”
You wave goodbye at them after confirming you would call them when you were free. Frisk doesn’t look convinced until you pinky promise, the incredulity in their expression changing when you assure them you wouldn’t break it. The last words you see them sign before you zoom off towards the next bus heading for work are ‘stay determined’.
It’s not until then that you remember they were the same person who faced the monsters Underground -- the same person who still chose to stand with the monsters despite the truth behind both sides: how neither humans or monsters were free from the aftermath of their choices.