Undertale: Severed Ties (SansxFrisk)

Chapter 9

Frisk gasped for air, on her hands and knees. Adrenaline still coursed through her. The intensity of her run took a minute to recover from. When the lingering fear left her eyes, Frisk sat up.

Sans stood, nonchalant as ever. "Well, that was fun. Wanna go to Grillbys? Oh, wait...we're at Grillbys."

For the first time, Frisk noticed the beech-wood floor and maroon walls.

They took a seat at the bar and ordered fries. In the stillness, both gazed at the counter top. The human was first to burst into laughfter. "Did you see Undyne? Bwhahaha, I've never see her so mad."

"Me neither. You think it's safe to go to class tommorow?"

"Let's skip. Just in case."

Sans gazed at a ketcup bottle resting on the counter. "What should we do instead?"

Frisk envisioned all the possibilities. "Hmm, we could go to the zoo. But that's kinda far away. We could visit the rose gardens. No, that's boring. What about the library? We could each search for the dumbest book imaginable."

"And we'll ask a stranger to judge which book worst! The loser has to read the book."

Frisk laughed. "You'll regret making that rule."

The fries came. The teens discussed their plans as they ate.

"At three, when you get off work, come to my house," said Frisk. "It's closer to the library."

"I don't have a library card," said Sans.

"You can use mine."

"Okay." Sans chomped on a fry, still looking at the ketchup bottle.

"When are you gonna drink that?" Frisk asked.

Sans tensed. He pulled his eyes to the ceiling. "Hey, can I tell you something?"

Frisk gave him a serious nod. What was going on?

The skeleton hesitated. "I...don't actually like ketchup."

Frisk was dumbstruck. "What?"

Sans pushed the bottle away. "I only drink it for shock factor." He picked up a fry. "Crazy right?"

"Wait. If you hate ketchup why don't you, I don't know, stop drinking it?"

"It's not that simple."

"It isn't?"

Sans tilted his head back, gazing at the ceiling. "We all have traits that identify us. People want to be unique so they latch onto those charactoristics. I'm the joking type. Everyone knows that. And that's probably all I will ever be. I can't go against who I am naturally, but I can take it to the extreme. That way, my personality is entertaining. People will remember me. I'll have a place in this world."

Frisk stopped chewing. "Is that really how you see it?"

His shoulders bunched up. "Yeah."

"I don't hang out with you because you drink ketchup. And I certainly don't hang out with you because you tell jokes that are sometimes funny." Frisk smiled to herself. "I can name a bunch of good things about you that have nothing to do with your jokester persona. You're laid-back and don't bother with pointless formalities. Because of that, people's stress decreases when you're around. Plus, you're resourceful and kind. Just yesturday, when Undyne shot me down, I didn't know what to do. I was starting to believe there was something wrong with me. Then you thought up a prank that settled the whole dispute while getting back at Undyne. And you made it look so easy."