I'm not one of you <Frans>

CHAPTER 33: Sans the skeleton

Time: Unknown
Location: The Caverns
The cold is too much to bear for my now frail body. I need to find some food soon, or I will starve. Will this skeleton will help me? Or will he be my fatality?

"Eh. Looks like she hung in there." The skeleton said as my eyes fluttered open. It didn't take much to adjust my eyes, since the entire world was much darker than it was in Snowdin. I must be in the caverns past the tall grass— I could feel the stunning difference in temperature where I was, it was like walking into a warm restaurant on a cold, windy day. "You weren't out as long as I expected." The skeleton said. "Fun." He grinned slightly. "Look next to you." He said.

I groaned slightly at the sudden growl of my stomach, and looked at the skeleton, who had his back towards the cavern walls, and one single knee propped up— his left— and his left hand was resting on top of it. His permanent grin looked towards the ceiling, where the fake, glow in the dark stars stuck high above us, illuminating the cavern in a nighttime appeal. "The ground, stupid." He said, not even glancing at my general direction. "Not me." He said, still staring directly above us.

Shifting my eyes downwards, I noticed a rather regular sized hotdog sitting on the ground to my right. It looked like it had just been prepared, and my eyes lit up, and went back to him, who was still staring at the ceiling. "Is this—?" I cut myself off, trailing off, wondering if the skeleton had actually gone to get me something to eat, finally noticing my degrading body. My stomach growled loudly once more as the aroma filled my nose with the scented hotdog.

"A hotdog?" The skeleton asked. "Yes. It is." He chuckled. "What? Don't have those on the surface?" He asked sarcastically, as if he knew what foods I ate along the surface already. Had he already been to the surface? Or was this his small connection with Chara?

"That's not what I.." I trailed off once more, chuckling a bit. "Did you just... make a joke?" I quickly asked, looking at the skeleton with confusion. And here I had thought that he was a goner— an emotionless husk, devoid of feeling. What caused him to kill so easily? So many questions swarmed in my head about this place, but I could barely utter a word towards the malevolent creature.

"Just eat the damn dog." He said, not in a particularly annoyed voice or angered voice, but as if he were holding back a small bit of laughter towards me. He looked down from the ceiling to meet my eyes, his gray hood was still up, resting on his smooth skull. "You don't want to starve, do ya?" He asked, throwing up his right hand to gesture towards the hotdog that was on the ground. It was in a small paper holder, the ones ya see at hotdog stands and such. Is that why I smelled condiments at that wooden station?

"I guess not.." I said, smiling a bit, excited to eat the hotdog that he had prepared for me. Biting into it, I ate it a bit too fast, swallowing it up as fast as I could to at least satisfy my stomach a little more.

"That'll be 5 G." He said casually, not looking at me. He only looked forward, grinning a bit, however, this grin wasn't as sinister as he previous ones. Did he have a split persona? Was this the true side of the skeleton before me? Before he became mad? Maybe he is capable of being treated, after all?

I shot him a look of confusion. "5 G?" I asked, not quite understanding his statement. "What do you mean?" I asked. What even was 'G'? Was it a form of currency in this place? It's obvious they wouldn't use dollars, only U.S. citizens used the printed U.S. dollar, so what form of currency did these skeletons have? If the underground was full of skeletons, what economy did they have? What society?

"I get it." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'll tell you what? Since I know you, I'll give you a deal." He said. "15 G." He said, looking at me now, as if we were trying to bribe me.

"15 G?" I asked. "That's not a deal." I chuckled slightly. "Wouldn't you... half it? Or ... lower? The uh...?" I asked, confused even more. Was their currency system so different that lower equaled higher? That made no sense though. what would it be?

"25 G. That's my final offer." The skeleton said with a huff. "Don't go telling the big man about this, I could get in real big trouble." He chuckled slightly. "If he were still here." His laughed darkened.

"Wait wait wait—!" I said, slowing the skeleton down. "G? What is G?" I asked. "Is it a form of currency? By level of deductive reasoning, using that letter with numbers can only mean establishing a type of worth." I said, my stomach rumbling for more food once more. I ignored it. It had food. Even if a small ration.

"You don't know what G is, kid?" The skeleton asked me, almost surprised. "Oh, right. You humans don't use the same currency as us." He chuckled. "It stands for 'Gold'. It's our way of exchanging money throughout the underground." The skeleton replied. He was almost talking as if he were... sane? Where did his insanity go? "How if you want a real deal, you have to give me L."

"L?" I asked. "What's that?"

"A letter I made up to put into context." He chuckled. "I'm just screwing with you." He said, chuckling slightly once more. There was a moment of silence, and the skeleton turned around, confused. "I wonder where Papyrus went.." He said, almost frightened. He stood up  rather suddenly, looking around. "Papyrus?" he asked.

Maybe I could ask him his name while he was like this? It would be better than to know him by his real name, rather than 'that skeleton'.

"Could I ask you a question?" I asked, standing up after him, but more slow due to my condition. It grabbed his attention for a few seconds, and he nodded. "What can I call you by? I never learned your name." I asked, nervously laughing a bit.

There was a moment of hesitation, and the skeleton turned around, and a sigh of relief came out of his mouth. "Oh! There you are." He grinned, almost as if his insanity were back. "I had thought that you left me, bro." He laughed slightly. "She was asking what my name was..." He said, turning around slowly and flashing a large, crazed grin. "... how rude of me." He chuckled.

"You don't.. uh— have to." I said, feeling the fear build up inside me, just seeing that smile that seemed to stretch on for miles. "If you don't want to." I said, trying not to let the tone of my voice quiver from the sudden fear in my veins.

"No, no, Girlie." He said. "I can tell you. He says it's okay." He gestured to the empty space behind him, where I could guess 'Papyrus' was. "The name's Sans." He said. "Sans the skeleton." He put his hands in his hoodie pockets and flashed me another wide grin. "And I'm your worst nightmare, Girlie."