Undertale: Reason to Live

Chapter 41

Once Frisk got his shoes and sweater on, Sans shortcut all of them over to Grillby's. Thankfully, it wasn't very crowded that night, so they found an empty booth to sit in quickly.

"Hey, Grillby!" Sans yelled at the flame man behind the counter. "Long time. No see."

"Sans, you see him literally every day," Papyrus said while letting Frisk climb into the booth in front of him.

"Well, every second without his warmth feels like an eternity," Sans replied as he sat down across from Frisk.

"Why do I put up with you?" Papyrus asked himself while sitting himself down.

Frisk turned around, stood up in the booth, and started jumping up and down on the seat.


"Frisk, what are you doing?" Papyrus asked as he grabbed his sweater and pulled him down.


"I'm just testing the seats to see how good the cushions are, Papyrus," Frisk said sitting turning himself around. "They're good."

"You can't do that in a restaurant," Papyrus said.

"Why not? I used to do it when I was with my parents. That's how we tested if the booths were okay to sit in."

"You just can't. God, we have to work on your social skills. I'm not going to let you turn into Sans."

"What are you talkin' about, Pap?" Sans said as Grillby walked up to take their order. "I'm a fantastic role model."

"Sans, you're lazy, you make bad puns, and you drink ketchup," Papyrus said while Frisk was snickering next to him. "You're the worst role model ever. I'm not going to let you corrupt Frisk."

"Why do you keep talking about me like I'm not here, funny bones?" Frisk asked teasingly.

Papyrus sat there in stunned silence for a second before he said, "My God. Did you just make a pun?"

"Yeah," Frisk admitted. "But I don't think it was very good…"


"It wasn't that bad," Sans said reassuringly. "We'll work on it. You make me so proud."

"I'm already too late…" Papyrus lamented.

"Hey there, Sans," Grillby said getting the group's attention. "I guess it's really true. I saw him with Papyrus and Undyne earlier, but I wanted to see him with you for myself. You've really adopted a human. Huh?"

"I haven't signed the paperwork yet, but yeah," Sans said looking at Frisk and then at Grillby. "He's our little brother now. Don't have a problem with him? Do ya?"

"Of course not," Grillby replied. "But other monsters might. You ought to do something about that."

"We're protecting him," Papyrus said defensively wrapping his arms around Frisk. "I'll fight any monster that tries to take him."

"You misunderstand me," Grillby said. "Far be it from me to tell you what you should be doing with your time, Sans, but I'm saying if you sign that paperwork certain monsters will be more likely to leave him alone…"

"I understand," Sans said understanding his meaning. "I'll get on it."

Frisk looked at Sans and back to Grillby silently trying to guess at their underlying meaning.

"Good," Grillby said. "Anyways, what do you want to eat?"

"A nice cream sundae," Sans said. "For the three of us. With soda on the side…"

"I'll take a water," Papyrus said letting Frisk go. "I don't know how you drink that crap, Sans."

"Okay," Grillby said as he turned and walked away. "Coming right up."

When Grillby finally disappeared into the kitchen, Frisk asked, "What was that about? What did Grillby mean?"

Sans leaned back and said, "I gotta get some paperwork done to legalize your adoption. With everything that's been happening the past few days, it hadn't even occurred to me, but it's something I have to do. I did some internet research, and thankfully, the process isn't that complicated, especially since no one else is exactly fighting over ya. I even know a way to get it done faster…"

"What exactly do we have to do to make everyone recognize that we are Frisk's big brothers now?" Papyrus asked.


"The law's pretty laid back. All ya gotta do is get a document signed by someone higher up who thinks you're responsible enough to raise a child."


"But you're super irresponsible. How are you going to convince someone you can be a good big brother?"

"I raised you after Dad died. Didn't I?"

"True…"

"Sans, who are the certain monsters Grillby was talking about?" Frisk asked. "What was he talking about?"

Sans looked at his concerned face thoughtfully and said, "You know. All the monsters who want your soul? They'll be more willing to back off if they know you have guardians…"

"Is there any monster in particular that I should be worried about?" Frisk asked with more concern behind his voice. "What are you not telling me?"

Sans sighed deeply and smiled before he said, "You've always been smarter than you appear. Don't worry about it. They're all threats right now, and we're doing everything we can to look after you. Okay?"

"But Sans…" Frisk replied.

"Here are your drinks," Grillby said standing there with a tray of drinks in his hands.

"Oh, thanks," Sans said grabbing his and Frisk's drink while Papyrus grabbed his.

Grillby then left without a word. Sans then started drinking his soda while he pushed Frisk's soda over to him.

"Come on, Sans…" Frisk whined.

"Give it up, Frisk," Papyrus said. "Sans isn't gonna budge. He never budges when it comes to keeping his secrets."

"Fine," Frisk relented before he took a sip of his soda. "Hey. This soda isn't bad."

"I knew you'd like it," Sans said.

"I don't understand how you two can drink that stuff," Papyrus said in disgust while sipping his water.

Sans put down his drink and said, "Alright, kiddo. Time for the truth…"

Frisk looked at Sans while putting his drink down on the table as he waited for him to ask his question.

"Yes?" Frisk asked in preparation.

"Where did ya meet Varda?" Sans asked.

Frisk froze for a moment in hesitation before he said, "I don't know if you'd like the answer to that."

"Don't be silly, Frisk," Papyrus said. "Why wouldn't we like the answer to that question?"

"Well…" Frisk said.

"You were doing something illegal. Weren't you?" Sans asked.

"How could you guess that?" Frisk asked back.

"The cop who chased you said that you were a petty thief," Sans replied.

"Frisk, how could you?" Papyrus asked crossing his arms in disappointment. "Why would you be a delinquent? Why would you steal?"

"I had no choice," Frisk said defensively. "If I showed up at the food pantries too often, people would suspect me. I couldn't get a job. There was nothing else I could do if I wanted to eat…"

"What were you doing when you met Varda?" Sans asked.


"I was where I usually was on a Saturday evening," Frisk said. "I was picking pockets outside of a crowded bar…"

"Frisk," Papyrus said in disapproval.

"I was better than other kids who did it," Frisk replied defensively while looking at the table. "I never took cards. I only took cash, and I left the wallets on the ground next to them where they'd be found…Anyways, it was a Friday summer evening soon after I returned to my hometown. I'd say like three days after I came back maybe. I was picking pockets outside of a theater bar where people were drinking and smoking cigarettes outside during intermission. I had picked a wallet and was in the alley nearby counting my money to see if I had enough to get dinner. I guess Varda saw me run off with the money because she flew over and told me that if I didn't come inside and watch the rest of their show she would call the cops. I went inside with her and saw her dance and do tricks with her brother while he played with his fire magic during the intermission. It was amazing. Then, I watched the rest of the improv act. I didn't get all the jokes, but it was funny. When the show was over, I played video games with Varda and her brother in their parents' apartment. They had pizza and let me sleep over. It was fun. I started coming over every week. I told them my parents didn't mind."

"Why wouldn't you just move in with them?" Papyrus asked. "Varda liked you. Her family did, too. Why not just tell them the truth?"

"It's not that simple up there," Frisk said looking up at Papyrus defensively. "It was too risky. If anyone found out, they could have called social services and I would have been taken to the orphanage. I couldn't go back there. Besides, their apartment was so small. They would have said no for sure."

"You don't know that," Sans said.

"Well, I wasn't going to risk it!" Frisk yelled leaning forward on the table with tears coming out of his eyes. "I wasn't gonna go blabbing about my situation to everyone I met. I didn't want to get locked up in the orphanage and possibly get adopted by some jerks who expected me to call them Mom and Dad like my parents never even existed. I did what I had to do…"

"It was still stupid," Sans replied calmly. "You know that right? You had someone who loved you, but you ran away from her and wouldn't let her help you. How do you think that made her feel?"

Frisk sat back down, wiped his tears, and leaned back in his chair.

He then sighed and said, "What difference does it make now? I'll never see her again."

He sulked without responding as he thought over his actions.

Grillby finally brought the nice cream sundae, but Frisk still sat silently.

"Frisk?" Papyrus asked breaking the silence. "Do you want any of the sundae?"

Frisk shook his head.

At that point, Sans finally said, "Come on, kiddo. This thing is huge. We can't let it go to waste. What's wrong?"

"You were right," Frisk said sadly trying to hold his tears. "I was mean to Varda, and now, it's too late. I'll never see her again."

"Why do you say that?" Papyrus asked before shoving a huge spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. "She could come visit."

"No, she can't," Frisk said. "What if she overreacts and calls the army? There would be another war. I can't risk that ever happening. Even if she didn't, I could never ask Varda to come here."

"Why not?"

"Varda's magic comes from her freedom. She's free-spirited. She would never tolerate being trapped here like we are. I don't want her to be unhappy."

"You really do care about her."

"Yeah, she's my friend. I should have asked her if I could be part of her family."

"I'm glad ya didn't," Sans finally said.

"Really?" Frisk asked.

"If ya did, we would have never met," Sans said. "It's like what the scriptures say. The Almighty uses our screw-ups to do good things. Right?"

Frisk smiled slightly while picking up his spoon and said, "Yeah."

Frisk was silent for another moment while Sans and Papyrus ate from their sundaes before he said, "I'm sorry about being a pain in the ass these past few days."

"Don't worry about it, squirt," Sans said in between bites while Papyrus continued eating. "What are brothers for? Now, get some ice cream before Papyrus eats it all."

"Hey," Papyrus spat back. "I am not eating it all. You're just too slow."

Frisk smiled and finally took his first bite of ice cream in almost three years. Nothing ever tasted so sweet.