Archive of Our Own

“So, why do they look like old lady glasses?”

“W-Well… I don’t have a g-good explanation f-for that… But you know I d-don’t have the greatest f-fashion sense.”

“…That’s true.”

It was a nice, warm spring day when Alphys texted you asking for a favour. Her ambiguous message had baffled yet also intrigued you, and you trusted the monster – though you knew sometimes she could get out of hand when it came to her inventions – so you’d immediately agreed to meet her later that day.

Monsters were now a normal part of everyday life, though that was mostly because of how close you lived to Mount Ebott. Their fairly small population – or small in comparison to the overall human population – made it so that many humans didn’t get the chance to meet a monster. Typically, a human would get to see a monster if a) they saw them in media, b) a monster moved away or vacationed in another location (though, the chances of a monster being in your vicinity outside of the Mount Ebott area and coming across them were extremely low), or c) they live close to where the monsters had emerged from the recesses of Mount Ebott. It had been a few years since the emergence, but things had really settled down recently. Of course, there were the few humans that feared monsters and protested their integration, but, thankfully, nothing too major had hindered the new species’ progress toward equality. Big steps had been made toward monster-human rights politically, but monsters were kilometres away from complete social equality. Though, that was also still the case for human races, gender, religion, and sexuality, so that wasn’t much of a surprise, unfortunately.

On the other hand, monsters seemed to be strangely tolerant, empathetic, and understanding; it was kind of odd. Maybe it was odd in and of itself to say that having that kindness was odd, but it seemed the whole species was like that. There were definitely good humans, but there were also a lot of bad humans that were driven by anger, jealousy, and selfishness – even the good humans sometimes succumbed to those feelings eventually, it was just part of being human. But it seemed that being monster had a different definition. That’s why you deemed yourself lucky to be friends with the so many of the monsters you knew, though that was probably partly to do with the fact that the monster population seemed to suddenly quadruple for some reason. No one really knew the answer to why that had happened, but the odd multiplication suddenly brought a bunch of quirky characters to the mix such as monsters who were violent and edgy yet caring and monsters who seemed scary and scarred, but emotionally fragile and occasionally gentle. Those two descriptions weren’t of specific individuals like one would assume, but of whole portions of the monster population, the ones that had appeared out of thin air alongside the typical friendly monsters.

Anyway, you were thankful, because you considered many of these new monsters dear friends of yours. One of these dear friends was Alphys. And when your dear friend excitedly yanked you into her lab and shoved a pair of bright red cat eye glasses in your hand, like a good friend, you took it in stride. After a rushed explanation of the glasses’ function, you took a few seconds to process her words.

You played with one of the arms of the glasses absentmindedly as you stared down at them, you said your next words carefully as you considered the ramifications of what these funky-looking lenses could mean, “These glasses let you see someone’s stats?”

“Y-Yup!” She looked nervous, though she always looked nervous, so that wasn’t saying much.

“…The stats you usually can only see in an encounter.”

She slouched a bit further into herself, “…Y-Yup.”

“…….The same stats that reveal the status of a soul, the soul being the most private feature of a person, and those stats being something someone uses against another person to effectively fight them in battle.”

“Okay!” Alphys snapped up, back straightened and sweat dripping down her forehead, “I-I know it sounds bad. B-But! There are s-some monsters who can perform a check without being in an e-encounter.”

You were still a bit skeptical, “Boss monsters, right? But there aren’t that many of those. Plus, it’s not monsters that I’m too worried about. The fact that you asked me for a favour and gave me these stat-checking glasses means that you want me to try them. Me, a human. You can’t possibly tell me that you made these glasses that can check someone’s soul stats usable by humans. You do know how bad some humans are, right? So many humans would love to abuse this power! And don’t even get me started on how the government would use them. Alphys, please tell me you thought of this before you made these.”

The monster fidgeted in place, eyes darting around, “W-Well, I-I… I m-mean I thought i-it could help p-people, maybe for like s-security? I-If it’s that b-bad of an i-idea, I-I could j-just… n-not tell a-anybody?”

Shit, her stuttering got worse, “Alphys, I’m sorry for lecturing you, I didn’t mean to do that. I’m just… You’re really smart, okay? And I know you could probably make anything you think up, so I have no doubt that these glasses work just as you intend them to. That’s why I’m scared, because so many humans get drunk of off any bit of power they can get, and your genius might get exploited.”

The canary yellow scales on her cheeks reddened slightly, “I… I know. T-Thank you for worrying. I get k-kind carried away w-when I invent t-things.” Alphys wrung her hands, before she looked you in the eyes once again, “B-But wouldn’t it be so interesting for a human to be able to see stats? That’s why I asked you! I know you won’t abuse these, and we don’t know for sure if it’ll work with h-humans, so w-we might not have anything to worry about!” You could see how excited she was about this new invention of hers, and you felt bad for raining on her parade earlier, so you didn’t push her any further on the subject. You’d cross that road when you got there.

Sighing, you inspected the glasses closely, bringing them up to your face. Amazingly, they looked like normal glasses for the most part, a bit chunkier than a normal pair, but not awkwardly so. The lenses had an almost unnoticeable shimmer of something foreign within them, and when you squinted, you saw iridescent lines weaving around each other beneath the surface of the glass.

“So, I just put them on?”

She squeaked excitedly, eyes sparkling, “Y-Yes! A-Actually, we might need to do some soul calibration exercises first since humans are less in touch with their souls, b-but! After that, t-they should allow you to see anyone’s soul stats if you want to!”

You still felt a bit uneasy, “Isn’t it a bit invasive to see people’s stats without their knowledge?”

“Hmmm… t-think of it more l-like, um… like knowing someone’s last name! I-It’s a bit different in t-terms of the type of power you have over the other person, but it’s a similar concept. You don’t know s-someone’s last name until you really get to know them, and w-when you do, you can find all sorts of information on them.

"W-When you know someone’s stats it’s not terribly personal, but you do have a bit of leverage on them, but about the same a-amount of leverage you would have knowing someone’s l-last name; it’s your choice on what you do with that information. O-Of course, if you have extremely low stats it’s b-bad for others to find out, b-but it’s about the same as if you had a last name that had a reputation.”

That… that analogy made sense, “But I thought souls were really intimate, then why are soul stats not the same?”

“S-Souls are i-intimate, b-but the features of s-souls you see in an e-encounter are pretty s-surface level – y-you wouldn’t w-want your enemy t-to see such an p-personal part of you, r-right?”

“Okay…” seems like you still had a lot to learn about monsters and souls, “You said I had to do some soul calibration exercises?”

“Yes! Let’s go over to the couch to get comfortable before we get started!”

The soul calibration exercises turned out to be similar to meditation, and required you to be aware of your body, mind, and eventually your soul. At the end of the session, you were mentally exhausted, yet spiritually invigorated. You were starting to actually feel what might be your soul for the first time in your life, and it excited you – you cursed yourself for not doing this earlier.

Though you were disappointed that you weren’t in touch with your soul enough to use the glasses Alphys made, the monster in question only smiled when you told her this, stating that it was to be expected from an adult human who had never attempted to connect with their soul. When you asked how long it would take, she clasped your hand in her dainty claws and reassured you that you were progressing faster than she had anticipated, and that you’d probably achieve your goal in the next few days that you met up.

“T-Though, I guess it should have to been e-expected since you’re a v-very empathetic and open-minded human. A-After all, you’re friends with a lot of monsters.” That had made you flustered and red, and caused you to hurriedly state that you didn’t need those traits to be friends with monsters because monsters were great people that deserved to be treated with the same respect as humans. Alphys giggled at that.

And so, you continually met up with Alphys to progress her project when the both of you had free time. Sometimes you’d meet at your apartment, or her house (which unfortunately, meant Undyne was there. You loved the fish monster, but the woman did everything loudly and that made it so much more difficult to concentrate), but eventually the calibration visits came to an end. It took three more sessions until you finally could sense your soul, and it gave you a sense of serenity you seldom felt in your life. You were now kind of glad that you hadn’t felt this awareness of your soul right on the first day because you’re sure that if you hadn’t gradually learned how your soul would feel like as it resided within you, you would have been brought to tears by how at peace you were.

When you had described the new awareness you had attained to Alphys, she squealed in excitement and captured you in a hug, exclaiming that you were ready. After a moment, she had become aware of what she had done, jumping back and stuttering an apology. You only grinned and initiated a hug of your own, squeezing her tightly before letting her go. She gave you a soft smile.

You now once again faced Alphys, the glasses in your hands, but this time you were both seated in your small living room on either side of your worn couch.

You inspected the device as you sat cross-legged, back to the arm of the couch. Having not seen the glasses for more than a week, you re-familiarised yourself with its construction. Now that you had been working up to being able to use them, you were strangely intimidated by them. Despite the fact that they looked like old lady glasses.

“A-Are you r-ready?” The sound of Alphys’ voice brought you out of your staring contest with the bright red glasses. You made eye contact with the monster who fidgeted in place,

“I think so.” She continued to look at you expectantly. It was now or never, and you hadn’t done all those exercises to never try Alphys’ invention out.

You put on the glasses.

Blinking your eyes to adjust your vision to the new applicance on your face, you looked around before looking back at Alphys.

You frowned, “I don’t see anything.”

“I-I guess we didn’t go over t-that, huh?” She straightened a bit and turned her body toward you more, “When y-you use magic appliances like these, it’s much like using m-magic; it works through intent. T-Though, of course, appliances do your tasks for you so i-it’s much easier than using magic.”

“It’s a magic appliance? I thought humans couldn’t use magic?”

“W-Well, technically h-humans have magic within them, since s-souls are made of magic, b-but it’s much easier for monsters to perform magic because our b-bodies are direct projections of our souls. Using magic a-appliances only requires the presence of magic, but to perform magic, you would need a l-lot of training and direction from a h-human who’s an expert in human magic.”

Damn it, you were hoping you could do some sick magic. Magic was so cool.

“Okay, so how do I use intent?”

Alphys’ glasses glinted in the light as she shifted them. It was always made a warm feeling grow in your chest seeing her get into the zone when she talked about science and magic; she became so much more confident,

“Do you remember when you had to zero in on your soul in order to sense it?” you nodded, “And you discovered that your soul was a-actually spread throughout your whole body b-because you felt its warmth everywhere. W-Well, concentrate on that feeling in your body while you think about exactly you want to do, you have to genuinely want to check my stats to be able to a-access them.”

You did just that. There was a new tingly warmness that you felt dancing underneath your skin that had been always there, but you didn’t know it. You concentrated on how it gathered at your fingers and toes, and how it spread through your body like a slow tide washing on the shore of a warm beach. You revelled in the calmness that came with being connected with the culmination of your very being as you began to think about Alphys.

She was your friend, someone you had bonded with over your love of anime. Maybe you weren’t as passionate as she was, but it was hard to be more passionate than her in anything because she threw herself headfirst into anything she loved – that’s why you appreciated her so much because she was one of the most devoted and caring people you had ever met. Though, all your monster friends were incredibly caring so she had tough competition.

You wanted to check her stats, to check up on how she was doing so that you could make sure she was okay. You knew she had some mental health issues, and though Undyne helped her a lot in that department, some days she couldn’t bring herself up from her low. You wanted to make sure she was okay. You wanted to check her soul stats.

ALPHYS

HP – 28/30

ATK – 3

DEF – 3

*Is hopeful that her creation will work

“OH MY GOD!” your exclamation made the monster before you jump, “Alphys, it worked.”

There was a pause before a smile slowly grew on her face, giggles bubbling up from her until they turned into full-on laughter.

“It worked!!” Her tail swished behind her in her happiness. She grasped your shoulders, “What do you see?”

“Well, your name for one. I also see that you’re missing 2 HP for some reason, you have 3 attack and 3 defense, and you’re extremely happy about your success.” Your eyes wandered away from the words to see a bar next to them, it was less than half-way full, slightly higher than empty, “There’s… also this weird meter that shows up, what is it?”

Suddenly, Alphys jumped back, face completely red. She stuttered incomprehensible words as she curled into herself.

“Breathe, Alphys! It’s okay, I was just curious.” You wondered why she reacted so strongly to your question,

“I-I-It’s! I-I saw it i-in a manga a-and I wanted t-to s-see if it was possible.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I totally understand.”

“N-No! I-I’ll tell you. Y-You’re going t-to be t-testing the glasses o-out for a while a-and I want you to know w-what you’re seeing.”

You nodded. She took a deep breath in to prepare for her next words, “It’sahorninessmeter!”

“…Did I just hear you correctly? Did you say a… horniness meter?”

Alphys desperately avoided your eyes, “I-It’s a meter indicating s-someone’s…e-excitement…at a given m-moment.”

“Oh, okay.”

“I-I swear I f-forgot I p-put that i-in! I-If I knew I w-would have taken i-it out before g-giving it to you.”

“No, it’s fine, I’m not judging. I just kind of want to know what kind of manga you’re reading.”

“…I-It was a y-yaoi.”

“Ah.”

“W-Well! N-Now that we’ve established that you’re a-able to use the appliance, I’ll l-leave you to trial it for a month. Note d-down any significant o-observations and we’ll go over t-them to see what further i-improvements can be m-made.”

“Did you include the horniness meter so you could use it with Undyne?”

The squeal of embarrassment that came from Alphys was pitched so high that your ears hurt.

It took a few days for you to be able to check people without a strong attachment to them driving your intent, but after a bit of practice, you could simply want to check someone and their stats would appear. You preferred not to check any of the people you interacted with just because you still thought it was an invasion of privacy. But because you had agreed to be Alphys’ guinea pig and had to check a moderate amount of people in order to give her enough data, you chose to check strangers who you knew you would likely not see again.

You found that most humans had an HP of around 20, an ATK of around 5, and a DEF of around 3. On the other hand, monsters tended to be about the 40 range for HP, 8 ATK, and 5 DEF – of course, it varied for person to person, but that was generally where the average lied. The dialogue that sat below every person’s stats tended to be kind of boring, though the monsters’ were a bit more quirky sometimes. You’d taken to sitting in the nearest park some days just to people watch, or in this case, stat check. Even during times when you didn’t use the glasses for their intended purpose at all, they’d remain on your face because you were so paranoid about allowing something so important to get misplaced or stolen. The people in your life questioned your new fashion addition, but eventually learned to ignore it without the slightest suspicion.

In terms of the horniness meter… well, you tried not to pay attention to that, but it was really hard when it was right there. Most people were about at the halfway point on their meter, you wondered if that had any significant implications. Were people just horny all the time? Or was that not that horny? Or maybe that just means that people are just open to sex all the time but don’t actively pursue it? Whatever the answer, it really wasn’t your business, so you tried to pay it no mind. You also tried to pay no mind to the people with meters that were extremely full… they can do them. Or do other people.

It had been about a week since you’d started wearing the stat-checking glasses, and its novelty kind of wore off. It was fun at first, but checking stats really had no purpose unless you wanted to check up on someone you cared about or… well, if you wanted to take advantage of someone’s stats.

You were sitting around at home, having already gone out to people watch earlier that day and had adopted the desire to not be outside anymore. So, you laid on your couch, in pajamas, scrolling through memes on your phone. Suddenly, you heard a banging at your door, causing your heart to jump out of your chest. You quickly sat up and glanced at the offending piece of wood. Who could it be? You weren’t expecting anyone…

Heart beating loudly, and soul buzzing, you padded over to the front door and placed a hand on the knob. Was this a good idea? What if it was someone scary? No, you lived in a decently peaceful neighborhood, it’d be fine.

You unlocked your door and carefully opened it, and before you could see who was on the other side, they pushed it open the rest of the way and you were enveloped in something.

What?? Shit! Were you going to be kidnapped? Or killed? Wait, this feeling…

“Cherry?”

The thing that was wrapped around you, that you now realised was a person, grumbled in response. He shut the door behind him with his magic before picking you up and placing you on his lap as he sat on your couch.

Cherry, or rather Sans, was one of the monsters who came after the first wave of monsters that arrived. He was part of the group that seemed so haggard, paranoid, and run-down – the group that humans seemed to be most afraid of. Though, there really was no reason to be afraid of them other than their appearances, and even then, how they looked was a direct result of the suffering they had to endure.

You weren’t sure why there were separate groups of monsters with different temperaments, or why it appeared that they had somehow came from completely different regions of the Underground that were closed off from one another, but you connected the most with Cherry’s group.

When you had first met Sans, it was through one of your other monster friends. You had lamented to your friend, who was basically a floating eyeball named Mis, about how it seemed that every time you tried to bake something new it always turned out unpleasant, meaning you’d have to throw it out, consequently wasting food.

Mis had brought up the suggestion of bringing your failed experiments to their co-worker who would eat anything. You were unsure since it seemed like you were dumping your problems onto someone else, but your friend told you that their co-worker would greatly appreciate the food and would be upset knowing that you threw away edible goods. From then on, you would coordinate with Mis anytime your baking went awry, asking them when their next shift was and meeting them before then. Though you were still a bit hesitant, whenever you expressed these concerns, they assured you that the recipient of your food was always ecstatic every time they came in with a tray of flunked sweets.

One day, when you had texted Mis asking when they were good to get your latest failure and hang out, they had responded that they were currently on shift with their co-worker and that you could drop by if you had the time to give the food directly to the person that had been eating it. You accepted because you wanted a chance to thank Mis’ co-worker for taking what essentially was your burdens away from you. Their acceptance of your mistakes was what had made you hold back less when it came to your hobby of baking and experiment more, which had resulted in you having much more fun and feeling much less pressure.

When you arrived at the small shop, Mis was at the counter. Upon seeing you, they greeted you before heading to the back. When they came back, there was a large monster with them. They were at least a foot taller than you, and was large width-wise as well, and slouched as they shuffled over beside your friend. Oh, and they were a skeleton monster, which was quite rare. The huge jagged whole in their skull made you wince, and the way their single bloated eye light glowed red as it focused on you might have been part of the reason why you started sweating. Their stiff smile didn’t budge as Mis introduced them as Sans, the person that had been eating your food.

You had, admittedly, been intimidated by this large, beat up skeleton, but you put all your effort into kindly smiling and telling them your name before thanking them. When they didn’t say anything, you started feeling nervous, but his slow drawl of,

“no…i should be….thanking you………” made you brighten up considerably.

After that, whenever you baked something that you didn’t like, you would go and visit Sans at work. Of course, you had to text Mis in order to know when he was working, but your system worked. Well, it worked until the time you had a backlog of food because you were too busy with your own work to visit Sans. When you entered the store with your hands filled with tins, visibly overwhelmed by the number of things in your hands, Sans quickly appeared in front of you and took some of your load, the tins looking two times smaller in his larger hands.

That day, Sans had given you his number so that you could text him if you needed help carrying your food, or if you wanted to meet him near your apartment for convenience. You thanked him, and proceeded to visit his workplace soon after with a tray of baked goods that wasn’t failed for once, expressing your thanks for his kindness.

This led you to start texting Sans rather than Mis when you had experiments you needed to get rid of. At first, you would simply ask Sans when he was on shift and visit him. That changed when Sans took a break from work for a few weeks, causing you to invite him to your apartment instead in order to pick up your latest creation. When he arrived, of course you invited him in. You offered him a drink out of politeness and he agreed, that led you to sitting with him at your couch (it really was the only option since your dining room chairs were much too small for his form), and making conversation with the quiet monster.

You found that, after having an actual conversation with Sans, you kind of liked him. Before inviting him to your home, you were neutral about the skeleton since he never said much but didn’t seem to be a bad person. The short period of time that you spent with him in your living room enlightened you to how sweet, funny, thoughtful, and dare you say it, downright adorable he was – his careful temperament in contrast with his, admittedly, terrifying visage made your chest squeeze in affection for him. Sans was just a big cinnamon roll that needed some love.

From then on, you would actively try to text and meet up with Sans. He was a bit distant at first – probably because he was cautious about some weird human bothering him – but you eventually got him to relax with you and you’d found one of your closest friends in him.

You’d started calling him Cherry when you met another Sans. Monsters seemed to have an odd naming system, where monsters from the same race that looked very similar would have the same name. You didn’t get it since it was super confusing, but you didn’t want to be insensitive to monster culture.

This new Sans was so much smaller than your Sans, and so much more energetic. He was about your height, and while your Sans was soft-spoken and didn’t have too many words to offer; the new Sans constantly jumped around and said as much as possible, as loud as he could. It was honestly a shock – the two Sanses were like day and night, the difference was so stark that it was odd that they shared a name.

When he introduced himself, the new Sans informed you that he had the nickname “Blue” that he mostly used around other Sanses. You had asked what your Sans’ nickname was and he replied that he didn’t have one. You insisted in giving him one and, after much deliberation, decided on “Cherry” because his eye light resembled one in how it was red, round, and bright-looking like a fresh cherry (and because you’d met him through your baking, and was thankful that you did, but you kept that to yourself). The consequent red blush on Cherry’s face made you giggle at his cuteness.

When you had found out that his portion of monsters had starved underground. Well, you found yourself guilty about all the meals you had taken for granted in your life, for all the food you threw out, and most of all, you felt so sad for your friend. You wished he never had to go through the hell he went through; he told you he had resort to eating fallen humans, and you could see the shame and pain in his pinched expression, could see him waiting for your disgust and horror. You were horrified, you were horrified that he had to suffer through that, that the monster that you had come to care for so much went through so much and that you couldn’t do anything to alleviate his pain.

After his confession, you started to be hesitant about seeing him. You would feel such a pervasive guilt when you thought about showing your face to him, but you didn’t want to give him the impression that you were afraid of him, so you attempted to act as if nothing was out of the usual. Of course, Cherry confronted you about your abnormal behaviour and didn’t take your bullshit excuse that nothing was wrong.

You’d confessed that you were afraid he’d hate you if he found out how careless you had been about food in the past, tears trailing down your cheeks. As he embraced you, Sans reassured you that, though he hated the thought of wasting food, he understood that the surface was abundant with it and that eating every little bit was unhealthy to small humans that had access to all the food they needed and more. He stated that his need to not waste food was an instinct that carried over from the Underground, and that it probably wasn’t the healthiest (you knew he’d been seeing a therapist, and assumed that that was where he had talked about this topic).

He promised that he wouldn’t get mad at you if you couldn’t save every bit of your food, and you had responded that you would at least try your best, and that he had permission to eat your food anytime he wanted. The two of you had smiled at each other, his the softest you’d ever seen it and his eye light expanded and fuzzy. Your own smile was shaky but genuine, your eyes red and squinty as they gazed up at your favourite skeleton.

Ever since then, the two had been honest to each other about your troubles, which was why you were concerned when Cherry simply held you in his arms on your couch without saying a word.

“Cherry? What’s wrong?”

His silence wasn’t unusual, but when you inquired about his worries, he would usually answer in some way. This time though, he only squeezed you tighter and nuzzled his face into your hair. You peered up at him, his eye sockets were closed and his grin relaxed.

You were really getting worried. He looked fine… but you weren’t completely sure since he wouldn’t tell you.

After fifteen minutes with no response, your worry increased. You could only think of one solution other than waiting for him to finally respond. You hoped he wouldn’t get too mad.

SANS

HP – 5/1

ATK – 1

DEF – 1

*He missed his human during the last week and needs to recharge.

Those stats were… very concerning, but you couldn’t bring them up without telling him about the glasses. And the dialogue; that made sense, you hadn’t had time to meet with Sans that whole week while you would normally see each other at least twice a week. You wondered why he wouldn’t just tell you that that was what was wrong?

Your eyes naturally drifted to the other piece of information that sat next to Cherry’s stats. You couldn’t ignore it – why was his meter full?

Maybe he was pent up? Maybe you could help him find someone to let off some steam.

For some reason, that thought unsettled you.

Or maybe he had found a significant other and hadn’t told you yet? Maybe he was still in the honeymoon phase with them and wanted their company.

That made you feel even worse. Your soul shuttered.

Well, whatever the reason, hopefully his problem would be resolved by the time you saw him next. For now, you only held him tighter, finding comfort in his warm embrace.

The next time you saw your friend was the next day, since you had apologised for being absent in the last week and had promised to make more time for him. The soft look and eager grin he sent your way made your heart clench. The two of you met at his house, and were planning on watching some episodes of a show you had recently picked up together. While you were scrolling through the streaming app you used, Sans was in the kitchen preparing some snacks. The song you hummed under your breath abruptly stopped when you heard a pained exclamation from the kitchen. Alarmed, with your friend’s low HP on your mind, you dropped the remote and rushed to Cherry in a sprint. Upon reaching him, you checked his stats.

SANS

HP – 3/1

ATK – 1

DEF – 1

*Is annoyed that he stubbed his toe.

You sighed in relief at the revelation that he was, for the most part, okay. Now that your panic was subsided, you noticed that the skeleton had his arms filled with food – which was quite a feat since he was a pretty big boy – and you realised that he probably hit his toe because he couldn’t see the ground in front of him.

“Are you okay, Cherry?” you asked as you approached him, taking some of the snacks from him.

He adjusted the remaining snacks in his arms, “yeah…hit the…table…..thank you.” You smiled at him, affection bubbling within you,

“You should have asked for help, dummy! I would have gladly come to your rescue.”

Sans chuckled, “oops…i’ll ask the…next time…i need saving.”

“You better.”

You couldn’t stop thinking about his full meter up until the moment you fell asleep that night.

Why did thinking about how Sans was apparently perpetually horny do weird things to you? You hardly wanted to admit that thinking about how turned on your friend apparently was while he was beside you made a tingle rise in your abdomen, and as for your crotch… well… let’s just say there was an immediate change of climate down there.

You shouldn’t even know these things! You were invading his privacy by snooping on his stats and his… horniness. Truthfully, you had originally resolved to not check his stats again after the first time, but that meant ass now that you had. Fuck, you probably should tell him, but then you would have to mention the horniness meter and that would be a can of worms you didn’t want to even touch. Would he be disgusted with you? Maybe he would call you a pervert and never want to see you again. Why were you so worried about his reaction anyway? He should understand once you told him about Alphys’ invention, but you were extremely worried about how your friendship might be affected by the fact that you were privy to knowledge about him that you weren’t supposed to know.

At this point, you considered Cherry to be a precious friend, maybe even your best friend. You were the type of person who tried to make connections with as many people as you could, and thus had a lot of friendships, however, many of those friendships died out or morphed into a situation where you saw each other a few times a year. Cherry was arguably the first person who you felt actually wanted to keep you around, the first person who assuaged your deep sense of loneliness; he was someone who you treasured deeply, and was one of the first people you felt like may have felt the same way about you and, as a result, wouldn’t leave. The possibility of Sans leaving you after you confessed that you could see his stats… well, it terrified you to death. You felt something special between the two of you, and though you didn’t know how to put a name to it, you didn’t want to lose it.

The next time you saw your skeleton friend was at the park. Sans tended to avoid crowded places, which limited you quite a bit when you chose places to hang out outside your houses. The park was perfect because it was a large, open space that was abundant with nature – something that you took every chance to experience with him since you knew about his situation Underground. Sans was eager to appreciate the aboveground every day he could as well. There was a fine balance between managing Cherry’s anxiety around people and desire to utilise the freedom he now held.

As the two of you sat on a park bench watching the clouds go by, you were hit with the sudden urge to check him. You knew that doing it a third time would be making your crime more severe, but you just had to know if he was even feeling needy during such a calm moment.

SANS

HP – 4/1

ATK – 1

DEF – 1

*Content being with his favourite human.

You weren’t sure if the dialogue was what made your face red, or the fact that his meter was still full. You were suddenly way more aware of the fact that the two of you were cuddled pretty closely, your thigh pressing against his, arms linked together, and your head on his humerus. The two of you were always this cuddly, why had you never thought twice of this before? Why were you thinking so much about it now?

“Hey.”

Your thoughts were interrupted by a man who now stood in front of your bench, behind him were two other people, a nervous-looking man and a woman with her arms crossed.

The man who appeared to be the leader of the group spoke again, “Get that disgusting monster-fucking shit out of here. This is a public park, not your filthy fucking bedroom; if you’re betraying our species then do it where you won’t poison everyone else’s eyes.”

You felt a rumble by your side, aware of how tense Sans was. You gripped him more solidly.

“Sir, as you said, this is a public park. We aren’t doing anything illegal or indecent – we’re just enjoying our time in this park just like you.”

He sneered, “Yeah, it would be fine if your friend were a human, but he’s a monster, a disgusting danger to humanity.”

There was a feeling rising in your chest, your soul seemed to buzz throughout your being, and you were ready to stand up to defend your dear friend. However, as you moved to do just that, it was Sans this time who adjusted his grip, pulling on your arm to make sure you stayed in place. You glanced at him, worried by his blank expression, sockets empty. You opened your mouth,

“What’s going on here?” A voice spoke before you could.

Your eyes left your friend to look over to the woman in the navy-blue uniform that strode over. She was a dark-skinned human woman with a stern expression on her face, posture authoritative and intimidating. Her gaze was fixed on the group of people who had engaged you and Sans.

Her scowl deepened when she received no answer, “I hope you’re not bothering this lovely couple, are you?” the leader looked at the police woman with wide eyes. The woman behind him started shuffling in place, and the other man looked like he was going to have a panic attack.

“N-No ma’am, we were just leaving.” The leader responded before the three of them rushed to leave. The police officer directed her attention to the two of you, her expression softening.

“Sorry about that guys, can’t stop idiots from entering public parks. Good thing I was patrolling this area when a kid approached me about some troublemakers giving monsters weird looks.”

You were surprised, usually law enforcement didn’t bother too much with the frequent occurrences of monster harassment that happened. You guessed that your surprise showed on your face.

She smiled, “The world can’t help but be divided by the knowledge of another intelligent species living on this Earth with us, but it’s up to those who are more mentally prepared for that shift in perspective to show everyone else that we’re all not that different.” The officer straightened up further and sent you a nod, “Well, have a nice day folks.”

Shaking away your shock, you bolted up, eyes following her retreating figure. You cupped a hand around your mouth and exclaimed, “Thank you!” she waved her hand without turning.

You looked back to Sans, not concerned about his silence, but wanting to assess how he was feeling. The skeleton was back to his normal state, red eye light in his left socket and shoulders slack. His eye light rested on you. You realised that you had never willed away his stats. Normally, they would go away once you didn’t desire to see them anymore, but you guessed that they were still present due to your concern for his wellbeing.

SANS

HP – 4/1

ATK – 1

DEF – 1

*Was ready to FIGHT if those fuckers touched his human.

Your face flushed once again, but deeper. You were concerned that he apparently was close to risking himself by attacking some humans – for your sake no less – but you were relieved that his meter was half full now.

A gentle smile grew on your face, “I guess it’s not that hard to find good people, huh?” he continued to stare at you, his expression not giving away what was on his mind, “I hope you don’t take what that guy said to heart – you definitely deserve the world and more, and I’m so happy spending time here with you.”

As you spoke, you cradled his skull with a hand, running your palm along the side of his cheek with feather-light touches. The eye light that was connected with your own pupils expanded before Cherry closed his sockets and nuzzled into your touch, a content sound coming from his ribcage. Your soul seemed to twirl and heat in your body as you pet Sans, moving to sit by his side once again.

“you’re a…good person……and i……..found you.”

You really did try to ignore his meter as it rose to the brim once again.

Right after the incident at the park, the two of you immediately decided to retire back at Sans’ house. Apparently, Papyrus, Sans’ brother, would be out for a while, so you had the house to yourselves. You were a bit sad that you couldn’t spend time with the younger brother; you were friends with him too, but you hadn’t seen him lately. He was a pretty busy skeleton, but you admit that you should have reached out to him more in order to make plans. Papyrus was one of the sweetest and gentlest people you knew, and it was regretful that his appearance, which had been negatively affected by his experiences in the Underground, often made people overlook his incredible personality.

Another part of you was nervous about being left alone with Sans. This whole stat checking thing was messing you up; maybe you should stop wearing the glasses around your friend so you wouldn’t be tempted anymore, but that didn’t fix the fact that you knew how Cherry apparently felt all the time. It would probably be best if you ‘fessed up… or, you could try to fix his problem so that you could wipe your guilty conscious! You would be happy because then he would be happy! It was a win-win, right?

You ignored the part of you that still turned in guilt.

When the two of you were on Sans’ massive couch, you turned to him as he switched on his television. In the process, you pulled away from the arm he had wrapped around you which made him draw his attention away from the device to your face in question. Your heartbeat sped up and your throat tightened in anticipation. You cleared you aforementioned throat, becoming nervous due to his piercing gaze for the first time in a long time,

“So… are you feeling…stressed lately?” He cocked his head and you looked away in embarrassment, hands coming up to flail as you tried to formulate the right words, “I-I mean, are you, I don’t know, how are you feeling lately? Tense? Do you need to let out some steam?” you face palmed internally, face feeling warmer than usual.

Cherry continued to stare at you in confusion, “i’m…fine?”

“Uh… well, that’s great that you’re fine! But, uh, are you feeling, maybe, pent up? I’ve never seen you with a… partner?” sweat was starting to drip down your face, and you couldn’t make eye contact with him anymore. You fidgeted in place, “What I’m trying to say is… I’m worried that you never seem to engage in any s-sexual activities.” Fuck that sounded terrible, “Not that that’s a bad thing! Uhh! You’re allowed to not like doing those things!... but some recent events have lead me to believe that that may not be true.”

When you were done spitting words out, you glanced up at Cherry’s face. What you saw, you had never expected.

There was an expression on your friend’s face that you had never seen before, one that made your belly hot, and your legs weak. Usually, Sans was lax, with perhaps a guarded expression when the two of you were out, but he always looked like he was ready to drop and take a nap at any given second. Now, well, now he looked akin to a beast about to pounce on their prey, prey that was trapped within the beast’s den, with no chance of escape. His grin was stretched wider than usual, sharp canines glinting in the light; his lids lowered. But it was his single red eye light that caught your full attention, it was contracted and brighter than ever, like the compact light of a dwarf star. His posture was rigid, ready to pounce, but you had no idea what he wanted to pounce on.

You.

Your mouth was as dry as a desert, and you took a sharp breath when he spoke,

“what recent…events?”

You squeaked at the low timbre of his baritone voice, there was an edge that wasn’t there before. Shit, was he mad or something? “I! It’s, well, it’s not important. What’s important is I want to help you if you want it.”

Somehow, though you couldn’t take your eyes off of him, he had moved closer to you without you noticing, a hand coming to rest on your thigh that was curled underneath you. You shivered violently, a heat traveling from his hand to your core.

His next words made your breath shaky, since his skull was so close to your face,

“and how are you gonna do that?”

You let out an embarrassing squeal when your body reacted intensely, you were pretty much panting at this point, and your skin was one fire. You jumped away from his touch, scooting backwards so that your back met the couch’s arm rest; but your eyes never left his, his eye light expanding and contracting once again, slate blue tongue coming out to graze over his dangerous teeth.

Stop it! This is your friend! Maybe you were reading his signals wrong – Cherry did often get human social norms mixed up. And who could blame him? He was a monster who grew up with a different culture! You should just push down your inappropriate feelings and try to help your friend.

You gulped down what little moisture was in your mouth, “I-I…I was thinking maybe we could find someone. You know, someone that could help you relieve your stress; I’m sure there are plenty on monsters that would be more than happy to do that!”

The growl that came after your words vibrated through your whole form, not at all helping with your situation.

He advanced once again, standing up before you and causing you to back up into the corner of the couch. His looming form should have intimidated you, but you somehow felt safer than ever.

“find…someone? i don’t…want that.” He leaned down to your face, phalanges resting on the cushion behind you and the arm rest, effectively caging you in.

“what i want…is so…much better.” He took a deep breath in and let out another rumble, “and smells so…good.”

“W-What do you want?”

Sans chuckled at your question, “lamb…i want what’s mine.” That last word seemed to send shivers throughout your whole body, and you let out an involuntary whimper.

The skeleton’s eyelids dropped further down and his eye light dilated once again, but this time, bigger than you’d ever seen it before. He leaned down, nose brushing against your exposed neck, and one of his hands lazily resting on your waist. The squeeze of his claws made your legs clench together and the brush of his canines on your skin caused a gasp to escape you.

“and it seems my little lamb…wants me too.” His hand on your waist started to drift down, claws trailing lightly against your sensitive skin. You had never realised how sharp they were until now. When his phalanges reached the apex of your thighs, Sans easily pushed your legs apart, digits zeroing in on the wet patch on your pants. You hadn’t even realised how wet you had gotten until now.

You bit your lip when Sans snarled into your neck, and his phalanges continues to lightly rub up and down the length of your slit.

“in my way.” Was the only warning you got before your pants were ripped away. You didn’t even know that was possible – you thought that that only happened in cheesy romance novels and hentai. Your gaping ceased when phalanges located your clit through your underwear and applied pressure. You cried out, hands coming to rest on Sans’ large ribcage, fingers clenching into his shirt as his teeth clasped around your shoulder and bit just hard enough to break the skin. The pain only added to your pleasure as he rubbed your most sensitive spot in slow circles.

His jaw unhinged and he started to lick at the wound he created, “you’re delicious…little lamb.” every stroke of his tongue corresponded with each circle of his finger, sending pleasurable sparks to even your fingertips. Your legs naturally spread wider, and your head tilted to give him more access. Though you tried to silence yourself, you couldn’t help the mewls that escaped you, fingers digging into the fabric of Sans’ shirt, wrapping around his ribs.

Sans cursed quietly, drawing back from you. You made a sound in disappointment, hazy mind demanding that the pleasure come back. Your lust clouded eyes landed on Sans, whose eye light gazed back of you, seeming to pierce your soul. He growled, then started to make his way down your body. The absence of pleasure was starting the clear your mind, and hesitation started to slip in. You opened your mouth, squeaking out your hesitance,

“W-Wait-!”

But you were only able to say that much as Sans had already discarded your underwear, and was knelt down in front of your core. He took a deep breath through his nose before diving in, tongue licking a long stripe up from your entrance to your clitoris.

You let out a cry, toes curling as his tongue slipped into you, and hands darting out to his shoulders so that you could bring him closer. His tongue seemed to be so much more flexible than any human’s, and longer too; it curled its way through your canal. You clenched down especially hard when it brushed against a certain spot within you.

You whined when his tongue retreated, but your moans picked up once again when his fingers replaced it. His tongue, instead, curled around your clit, Sans’ teeth pinching and sucking around your sensitive nub.

Two of Sans’ thick digits were bent upwards so that they rubbed against the roof of your channel, slowly, but roughly, thrusting in and out of you. Your legs clasped around his body, ensuring he would continue his ministrations. You could feel your end coming, your head was thrown back, and your fingers squeezed harder on his shoulders,

“S-Sans! Please, faster!”

The following rumble against your clit combined with the increased speed of his phalanges was what pushed you off the edge, your voice coming out in a shout, and you may or may not have exclaimed Sans’ name several times during the peak of your ecstasy. Your soul vibrated more than it ever had, accompanying the high your body was in to create an orchestra of pleasure. Sans continued his actions to draw out your orgasm, but stopped once your body started to relax.

In your relaxed state, you failed to notice Cherry get back up and shove down his pants, rubbing his rigid shaft once it was exposed. But you sure did notice when he rubbed that shaft against your wetness, snarling at the sensation of your combined sexes. Your eyes shot open at the feeling, immediately zeroing in on the appendage that you didn’t know Sans had.

It was the same slate as his tongue, but less flexible. It was curved and smooth, and extremely thick. You weren’t sure if it would fit in you. You watched as a drop of pre-cum joined the coating that was already present on the rest of the phallus. The feeling of Sans’ dick against your tired pussy was delicious, and you didn’t know if you had ever wanted anything in you more in your life.

He continued to rub himself along you, his eye light ablaze, and his teeth parted and jaw slack, “i’ve wanted you….for so long…little lamb.” The head of his cock caught on your entrance as if he were about to push in, “fuck…you’re mine. no one else…can have you…can fuck you.”

His possessive words woke you out of your stupor, their unexpected nature shocking you. Your new awareness made you realise what exactly was happening and how backwards it all was.

“Wait! W-What are we doing?” you put your hands on his chest and pushed him gently but he wouldn’t budge. He growled in discontentment but didn’t continue pushing into you either. However, his length did twitch against you, making you blush – if it were possible to blush any more.

“i was about to mate you…make you mine…” god, you were going to pass out if anymore blood rushed to your face. Maybe you should have felt scared, or disgusted by his possessive words, but it only made the fire in your abdomen burn hotter - you wondered what that said about you.

“W-Where did this come from, Cherry?”

One of his hands came up to the small of your back, pulling you further into him. Despite the situation at hand, you’d never felt more comforted and at home as you did in his solid hold.

“like i said earlier…i’ve wanted you for…a long time………..but i didn’t want to…push you…”

Sans’ claws stroked your back, leaving tingles in their wake, “How can you push me if you don’t tell me anything, silly?”

“i thought it was…obvious?”, he grunted out.

“It was?”

“i’m always…courting you…and leaving my…scent on you…and rubbing your scent…on me…and giving you food…….”

You guessed Sans was always touching you and cuddling with you, but you just thought he treated all his friends like that. Then again, you’d never seen him do that with anyone else, not even his own brother. Actually, now that you thought of it, when you’d befriended him Sans had actually avoided touching you for a while. This changed one day when he started laying the touching on thick. The change had shocked you at first, but you had quickly gotten used to it, and even enjoyed the affection. To be completely honest, you were a bit touch-starved, and lonely, and you loved that Sans seemed to enjoy your companionship and gave you physical attention. As for the food part, well, maybe you should have connected the dots given his past hardships. Sans was always bringing food to you, cooking, and feeding you. Like literally feeding you; he would usually hand feed you a portion of what he was eating, and wouldn’t take no for an answer unless you convinced him you were about to burst from how full you were.

According to Sans, all those behaviours were him… courting you? You wondered what else you apparently missed. Somehow, this revelation was making you more flustered than the position you and Cherry were in currently.

You gazed into his sockets, placing your arms underneath your body so that you could support yourself on your elbows. One hand came up to cup his skull, bringing him closer, causing you to shift your weight to accommodate the fact that you now were on one elbow. Unfortunately, your shifting pushed your lower half against Sans’ once again. 

He snarled, eye sockets closing as he thrusted his hips into you. You groaned at the stimulation, surprised you were still turned on, your hips stuttered back in response; the reciprocation unintentional, caused by your body’s pleasure.

Cherry started a desperate grind, pants leaving his parted teeth and eye light hazy. He used his hand that was on your back to grip your waist, pulling your body into his, while his other hand found purchase on the couch under you.

You whined at the feeling of his solid girth on your wet folds. Sparks flew from where you were connected, and it was as if your blood had turned to magma. Your eyes couldn’t help but close, your mouth opening to gape instead. It was so good, you never wanted him to stop.

But it had to stop.

It was extremely difficult when you once again, pushed him away. Of course, he didn’t budge, but he did growl and look up to make eye contact with you when you did it again. Upon seeing your stern expression, Cherry ceased his movements and backed away, though is phalanges didn’t leave your waist. He rested his forehead on yours and closed his sockets. He took a few deep breaths and a minute of silence.

Finally, he opened his sockets, “why now?...what made you…notice?”

Should you tell him? You would be doing precisely what you were afraid of doing, if you lost his friendship – and whatever was developing between the two of you – now, you would break.

But, of course you should tell him.

“I…I really didn’t notice. These glasses I’m wearing…they’re Alphys’ invention. They let you see stats…and someone’s level of, uh, arousal.”

You looked away, and there was another beat of silence.

“so, you…could see…that i was horny.”

You swallowed, “Yeah…and it seemed that every time I saw you, you were, like, max levels of horny. I was a bit worried about your wellbeing, I mean, it can’t be healthy to be like that constantly. Also, I might have not been able to stop thinking about it…”

Sans snorted, butting his head into your hair, “when you checked me…i was with you.”

“What do you mean?”

You shivered at his smooth rumble that vibrated on the side of your head, “i’m always horny…around you.”

Suddenly feeling hot again, you stuttered, “W-Well- I- uh-!” you cleared your throat, “You’re not mad?”

Cherry stopped nuzzling into your hair to once again meet your gaze, “why would i…be mad?”

“Because I kept checking you and invading your privacy.”

“it’s okay to check…those that trust you.”

His features were the most relaxed you’d ever seen on him.

“…do you trust me?”

“of course.”

"And how about the horniness meter?" 

"pfft." Cherry snickered at your words, "it got us here....so i'm...happy."

The relief that flooded through you was refreshing. 

He chuckled, “as for...checking...it’s fair…'cause i check you sometimes.”

You liked the way his eye light danced with mirth, “Oh...” hold on, “You’ve checked me? Wait you can check people without entering an encounter? You’re a boss monster???”

“yes…are we done talking?” his lids lowered and he thrusted his somehow still hard member so that it bumped into you once again, “…i want to…finish what we…started.”

You squeaked, “N-No! We should talk first about what’s going to happen between us!”

Sans leaned down to brush his teeth against your lips, tongue coming up to lick the seam of your mouth.

“can’t wait…let’s do that after.”

“No, I- ahh!” his hand once again migrated to your clit, pressing down as his hips jerked ever so slightly, wanting entrance.

The look he sent you was somehow both pleading and devious, you sighed, “I-I- fine! But we have to talk afterwards.” His smile became purely devious and smug.

Sans scooped you up and you found yourself suddenly in his bedroom, laid on his mattress. The skeleton loomed over you on all fours, his pants were still around his knees. As your head spun in disorientation from his teleport, the feeling of regret sunk in. The low chuckle that came from Sans only fuelled your regret.

“you never said…that we would talk after…one round…” he lifted one of your legs up so that it was bent with your knee directed toward your head, his hand traveled toward the back of your thigh and squeezed it firmly, “and we’re definitely…not gonna stop at one…lamb chop.”