MagiStream

(All the protectiveness :3 )

........
//Alphys' lab

Sans could tell Mira was disappointed when he said she should rest rather than actively help with the cooking. It made him feel horrible, and yet he knew he'd feel much worse if he relented and let her help, and she ended up getting hurt even worse because of it. It was clear she didn't realize exactly how severe injuries to a Soul could be, despite his efforts to explain it. Sans wasn't really sure how else to explain why injuries to a Soul were more dangerous than injuries to a person's physical body, and wondered if perhaps Alphys could explain it better. She did know a lot more about Souls than he did, after all.

Sans was relieved to hear Mira agree to simply talk him through the steps to prepare a meal, though he still felt bad, knowing she'd rather be walking around and helping... Sans wished he could just let her, but he couldn't while knowing the chances were high that it would make things worse. If he did and she ended up even more seriously injured, he'd never be able to live with himself.

"i'm truly glad you're feeling better," Sans said, "but while the medicine made the pain go away quickly, it doesn't mean the underlying issue is all better, too." Sans sighed inwardly, thinking for a bit before he thought of something that just might help her understand the injury a bit better. "this is kinda a random analogy, but, think of, like, a scarf or something with a tear in it. as long as the tear is there, it'll get caught on random stuff, and that can make the tear larger, right? so until it gets patched up, wearing the scarf around will only make things worse. right now, think of your soul like that. it's not exactly the same obviously, but if you try to do a lot while your soul is still recovering, it can make things worse. that's why we're telling you to rest until it's healed. i wouldn't be telling you to rest so much unless it was important... i really am sorry."

Sans was relieved to hear Mira laugh when he joked about Papyrus not wanting them to make lasagna without him. "yeah, definitely. the pastabilities are endless!" he said, smiling back at her. "so, what would you like for lunch? uh, i should probably warn you i'm definitely not an advanced cook by any means, so maybe not something too complex... but otherwise i should be alright as long as you talk me through it."


...........
//Toriel's house

Alia was quite surprised that Toriel didn't seem upset, or possibly even mad. Instead, she simply sounded stunned, which Alia supposed made sense considering she had no idea Chara was there. It must have been shocking for Toriel to hear her bring them up, even indirectly and awkwardly as she had. But, Alia had no other way of explaining why she couldn't take the room, than to say it felt like it belonged to children other than herself.

Alia looked up again, a bit of hope rising up within her as she realized Toriel really wasn't upset with her for feeling this way. She was rather surprised to hear Toriel actually start to tell her a bit about Chara, as this was something she had figured Toriel would likely never mention. Alia noticed she was speaking slowly, and worried that she'd brought up painful memories. Of course, how could they not be, since Chara was dead and as far as Toriel knew wasn't floating just a few feet away. She hadn't wanted to make Toriel sad, so she looked up at her apologetically. If only she could tell her Chara was right here! But saying so right now, when Toriel couldn't actually see or hear them, would be just as cruel.

Somehow, she would find a way to reunite them. But there wasn't really any feasible way for her to do so right now. So she would just have to try her hardest to figure out a way until she found one.

Alia felt some tears welling up in her eyes when Toriel called her a good child. She couldn't recall anyone saying that to her before. Sure, a teacher would occasionally say she'd done well on a test or assignment or something, but nothing like this. And her parents certainly wouldn't have said it. Chara seemed to guess, and possibly even understand, what she was feeling. "She is right, Alias," they said with a kind smile. It took all of Alia's effort to keep the tears from spilling.

"Th-thank you, Toriel," Alia managed to stammer, smiling gratefully at the kind monster. She was glad Toriel wouldn't expect her to sleep in the room. She really didn't mind the idea of sleeping on a chair or even the floor, if it meant she was staying somewhere where people actually cared about her.

After taking a minute or so to recover, Alia tried to discreetly wipe away the remaining traces of tears from her eyes. She smiled up at Toriel again. "Um, so, the pie smells delicious! You're clearly an amazing cook," she said, hoping to change the subject from the awkward conversation and distract Toriel from how she'd accidentally brought up memories of Chara.

At her statement, Chara closed their eyes, seemingly focusing on the scent of chocolate flowing from the kitchen. They smiled happily. Alia grinned.

Mira truly not wanting to upset Sans seeing as the skeleton was already very clearly stressed out from...honestly, everything that had been going on lately and beyond that, the girl simply wanted her best friend in the Underground to be happy and learn to enjoy himself more, her unfortunately, or fortunately, being unaware of the fact that the power of Resets had torn his emotional state to tissue paper and her insistence that she drive herself farther than her Soul could handle wasn’t really helping that right now.

Mira really did care for Sans a whole lot, him being the first monster she had met in the Underground in what was beginning to near a week or so since she fell. They were both stubborn in their own ways, liked bad puns, were big eaters, and generally just seemed to like being around each other, it almost seeming like fate was trying to bind them together as best friends despite their different species.

“Yeah, I do understand, Sans, I get it”, Huffing a bit under her breath as she seemed to understand Sans scarf analogy about her Soul much better than it simply being injured in some obscure way, the girl didn’t dare to move off of the table in defiance of the monster as she got the hint that she needed to stay out if she was actually going to recover in time, “You d-don’t have to be sorry though, I should be listening to you and Dr. Alphys more...you guys are really smart and stuff...”.

Mira happy to be able to get off the topic of her Soul though as Sans suggest he would do his best cook something up for lunch, the girl thought for a second or two on what might be able for him to make with simply guidance, “How about grilled cheese? That should be easy~”. Keeping on her belly as she rested a elbow on the table and propped her chin up, Mira was still exited to see Papyrus when he showed up, her knowing that the tall skeleton had likely been worried sick of her whereabouts until now.


...........


Toriel had lived a very, very long life and had many memories tucked away, the ones about her dearly gone children being among her most important ones despite her not often wishing to dwell on them when things were looking hopeful as they were now. Alia was a blessing to Toriel, even if the child honestly didn’t belong in the Underground any more than any other human did, the Ruins being quite lonely without company in one form or another.

The goat mom was going to take good care of Alia, her already debating on what school subjects a youngster like her might benefit from with living Underground. Sure, she could teach her the basics as monsters and humans could both benefit from math and reading, but there were wonderful things like botany and Monster history Alia could learn as well, Toriel sensing that her new child was quite the intelligent one despite her apparent lack of self confidence.

As for Alia not liking her new room? Well, there -was- always the possibility that she could simply move Alia to the room she had declared ‘under maintenance’ eventually, her understanding that the child may have not enjoyed the thought of living in another, past child’s shadow seeing as many of the belongings within had belonged to both Asriel and Chara long ago.

“Oh! I have already cut you a slice, my child, I almost forgot to give it to you. I was going to leave it in the room as you slept, but...”, Toriel smiling happily as she did hope Alia enjoyed the rather unusual combination of chocolate and cinnamon, it didn’t take the goat mom more than a minute to bring Alia her giant slice of pie, Toriel settling back into her chair with a comfortable sigh soon after as she seemed to still be dwelling on something from earlier, “I’m sure that by now you have realized there is more than just the Ruins, haven’t you?”.

//Alphys' lab

Sans still felt bad, knowing that Mira didn't want to just rest even though she seemed to understand why he and Alphys were telling her to now. Really, he felt like a horrible friend, even though he was trying to be a good friend. Trying his best to hide that he was basically a mess inside at this point, Sans kept up his usual mask to seem calm and collected.

Sans really hoped Mira's Soul would heal soon. If it was this difficult now, he couldn't imagine how hard it would be if it wasn't healed quickly. Maybe when Alphys got back, he could ask if she had an estimate on when Mira's Soul would be healed... While he didn't want her to feel any pressure or like she was being rushed, knowing that healing a Soul was a very delicate process, he'd definitely feel better knowing how long this was going to last.

Sans nodded, forcing a smile onto his face despite his inner turmoil, when Mira suggested he make grilled cheese. "good idea," he said, heading over to where Alphys kept some food items on hand. It was mostly instant ramen, but Sans eventually found some bread and cheese, which he brought over to the stove. Rummaging around in a cabinet, he found a pan to cook the sandwiches in. "is there anything else i need?" Sans asked, not sure if humans made grilled cheese differently than monsters did.

........

Papyrus reached the lab and rushed in, knowing it probably would have been politer to knock first, but he just had to check on Mira as soon as he could! "I'M HERE!" Papyrus called out as he entered, soon finding Sans at the stove with some ingredients for sandwiches and Mira resting. Papyrus looked at Mira hopefully. "HOW ARE YOU FEELING?"


..........
//Toriel's house

When Toriel returned with the slice of pie, Chara smiled even more. Alia grinned, figuring the sight must be reminding them of times Toriel had brought them a slice of chocolate pie... She felt bad that the ghost probably would not be able to eat any of this slice. She just had to find a way for Chara to be able to eat chocolate again! They clearly loved it a lot.

"Thank you, Toriel," Alia said politely, picking up a fork and taking a bite of the pie. It was incredible! She'd never tasted anything like this before. Especially after being so used to eating the same few, easy to prepare meals for so long, she wasn't expecting this delicious flavor. "It's delicious," she said quietly, looking very happy.

"Of course. It is chocolate, after all," Chara pointed out with a grin. Alia grinned back.

When Toriel spoke up again, about the rest of the Underground beyond the Ruins, Alia nodded. She didn't want to upset Toriel, so she felt a bit nervous. At least she hadn't had to bring it up herself; that would have been even more difficult. "Yes," Alia said, managing a small, hopeful smile. Perhaps Toriel would let her visit the rest of the Underground, after all? She still felt like there were answers waiting beyond the Ruins, and she very much wanted to find them.

Maybe she'd even figure out how to reunite Toriel and Chara!

And of course, more monsters meant more potential friends. Now that Alia knew what it felt like to have a friend, she wanted to make more friends. Though, even now she knew that Chara would always be her best friend; the one who had helped her out when she felt the most alone, the one who had always been so quick to try to reassure her when she felt uncertain, the one who always seemed to know how to make her smile or laugh.

Alia took another bite of the pie, wishing she could share it with them.

It would have been wrong for one to say that Mira was completely ignorant anymore of the fact that Souls were very much a embodiment of a human or monster and that having one injured was much more serious than, say, a physical injury that could be healed with some basic treatment, the girl being a fast learner and having absorbed what Sans had told her earlier.

Even if she -was- stubborn, it wasn’t as if Mira was going to be stupid and attempt to go against what Sans was telling her with it being best for her to rest and such, the thought of actually hurting her Soul even more terrifying terrifying the human almost as much as the encounter in the Void had.

Oh...s-she did need to ask Sans about...well, that ‘demon’ she had encountered earlier who had led to this whole mess, Mira being unsure on how she was going to bring it up seeing as she was almost sure it had been the same figure she had seen in her nightmares a few days ago.

Mira really, really didn’t need for Sans to think she was insane or something, but....

“I think that should be okay. Seems a lot of monster food is really similar to human stuff, huh?”, Mira watching as Sans found some stuff to make a quick lunch out of, Mira was rattling her brain on how to bring up her questions about the entity from earlier when the lab door flew open without so much as a knock, the shocked human nearly cringing in pain as her Soul reacted to the sudden stimuli.

S-so this is what Sans met by it being best to not exert herself? Even just a basic human reaction like this was enough to make her nerves flare painfully.

“Hey Papyrus~”, Mira smiling small at the eager skeleton brother as he asked how she was feeling, the girl was honestly very happy that Sans hadn’t mentioned -how- she had been injured, her not needing another monster to know that she had been attacked by their own kind, her not knowing yet that it had been purely out of desperation, “Dr. Alphys gave me some meds so I’m feeling pretty good right now, a-and Sans here is helping a lot too”.

.................



It was clear that Alia was a very smart from the beginning, the child oddly having the mannerisms of a adult despite being so young. It wasn’t as if Toriel disliked this trait, but it was very odd that this little human seemed like she was somehow doing her best to ‘please her’ as if she thought she might get in trouble for the slightest misstep.

The goat mom was really trying to help this new child to realize she -could- be herself, but her protective nature was likely not giving the best impression of this, Toriel simply wanting Alia to remain safe and sound in the Ruins until she was a bit older and more capable of taking on the Underground by herself.

“Outside of these Ruins is the outer Underground. It’s the home of the rest of the monsters...”, Starting her tale hesitantly as she wasn’t really keen on explain -why- monsters lived down here in the first place, she could of assumed that perhaps young Alia already knew in some sense since she was a human after all, “None of them would dare harm you though, my child. Monsters simply want to exist in peace”.

“It’s a very dangerous place for someone as young as yourself though. Monsters can use magic to get themselves out of trouble, but if you didn’t have a guide I fear what would happen to you...”.

Not intentionally trying to spark a bit of fear into Alia’s young heart with the mention of how ‘dangerous’ the Underground could be for a human, Toriel’s mention of a guide was vague, but it wasn’t as if she wasn’t mentioning it for a reason.

Alia was clearly strong and Intelligent and it would only be a matter of time until she did want to leave the Ruins, so the best thing Toriel could do was drop hints on exactly what she would need in order to navigate the caverns and cold landscape outside.

//Alphys' lab

Sans was relieved to hear the ingredients he'd found would be suitable for making lunch. "great," he said with a smile, which he hoped it wasn't too obvious he was masking his inner turmoil with. At least he was distracted for a bit by Mira's observation about monster food being similar to human food. "hmm, i guess so, aside from monster food involving magic. that's what allows it to heal physical injuries... like that hot dog i gave you." Sighing, he added, "i don't think it'll work on injured souls, though. sorry."

Just as Sans was putting together a sandwich to start grilling, the door of the lab opened and Papyrus rushed in. Waving to his brother, Sans was silent as Papyrus spoke with Mira, figuring he wanted to make sure she was alright as quickly as possible. Sans was sure he'd been worrying about her the entire way here. Hopefully, he wouldn't make too much of a fuss about it.

Sans was somewhat surprised when Mira said he was helping; Sans had been feeling like he wasn't being very helpful, actually. It was kind of a relief to hear Mira apparently didn't see it that way. Though, it still didn't change much with his inner turmoil. There was just too much else going on there as well. Returning his focus to the sandwich, he began the process of grilling it.

.........

Papyrus smiled back at Mira, feeling relieved when he heard she had taken some medicine and was feeling better. Surely that meant she would be all better in no time! Papyrus was quite confident in Alphys' abilities, especially since she was the royal scientist. It was also good to hear that Sans was helping out as well. Papyrus smiled in Sans' direction, though it seemed his brother was focusing on grilling a sandwich. It really was rather surprising, how much more effort Sans was putting into everything now. Of course, he'd always been willing to put in extra effort to help Papyrus or a friend who needed it, but these past few days, Sans really hadn't been lazy, well, at all.

Papyrus could tell that Sans already considered Mira a good friend, and figured that was probably a big part of why he'd been so much less lazy recently. It was clear he wanted to help her adjust to the Underground, and was doing everything he could think of to try to help. But Papyrus figured that also meant Sans was probably quite stressed out and worried about her being injured. After all, it seemed this injury wasn't something he could make magically go away, and knowing Sans, he'd be blaming himself for that.

"I'M GLAD THE MEDICINE IS HELPING! AND SANS AS WELL!" Papyrus said, trying to set aside those thoughts for now. "I SEE SANS IS MAKING LUNCH, BUT IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP?" Papyrus wanted to help out somehow as well, and while he wasn't sure what exactly the injury Mira had sustained was, he was sure there must be something he could do to be of assistance.


..........
//Toriel's house

Alia listened eagerly as Toriel began explaining about the rest of the Underground. She thought this was a good sign; if Toriel was willing to tell her about it, perhaps she'd be willing to let her visit it, too. She smiled as Toriel said the monsters wouldn't harm her. Since Toriel knew she wouldn't be in danger because of the monsters, surely there was no reason why Alia couldn't explore a bit? Then again, Toriel seemed so hesitant... Why would she be so hesitant to let Alia explore the Underground? Especially since it sounded like she'd let Chara explore.

Not that Alia could bring that up. There was no reasonable explanation for how she would know that, without explaining about her ghost guide. So, she'd have to find a different way to convince Toriel to let her visit the rest of the Underground.

When Toriel continued, saying the Underground would be dangerous for her without a guide, she felt hopeful. After all, she had a guide! Unfortunately, she couldn't actually explain who it was... But perhaps she didn't need to. If she just let Toriel believe she had a monster guide, maybe she'd be allowed to explore! She knew she could count on Chara to keep her out of any troublesome spots, just like they'd helped her with that strange puzzle... She glanced over at Chara, who nodded.

"Of course I will be your guide," Chara said.

"What if I had a guide?" Alia asked, smiling hopefully at Toriel. "I would be very careful, and listen to them. I can come visit you frequently as well, so you'll know I'm alright!" Despite Toriel claiming the Underground could be dangerous, Alia wasn't scared at all. She knew she had nothing to worry about, if Chara was there to help her out. Of course, that didn't mean she'd be reckless. She would take any warnings Chara gave her seriously.

Alia felt like she was finally getting closer to the answers she was looking for, and she felt Determination filling her. She knew she could convince Toriel to let her explore the Underground!

Mira actually being quite happy that Papyrus had shown up when he did as she could feel the urge to insist she could walk rising up again despite her assurance to Sans that she would rest, the girl welcomed the distraction and tried not to seem like she was in tiring pain in front of the overeager skeleton.

Even with medication though, Mira could still feel the pain of her back trying to spasm and her lungs not wanting to cooperate fully, almost as if a vital piece of her very being going missing had taken a part out of how her body wanted to work.

Not that she would tell Sans any of this though, her unwilling to make her best friend any more worried about her than he already was and give him more of a reason to tell her to rest until her Soul was fully healed.

Even if she was among the most stubborn type of human, in the end Mira had no intention of upsetting Sans by pushing herself too hard, that human knowing at least one way that she might be able to give Papyrus a way to ‘help’ seeing as he seemed quite eager to play a part in her recovery.

“I-if you like you can bring back some books eventually. I’m not ‘allowed’ to get up for most things so I’m kinda stuck here for now”, Rolling her eyes playfully at the mention that she wasn’t allowed to get up, Mira really did hope that eventually her Soul would heal enough so that she could at least exert the energy of not toppling over as soon as she stood, “Maybe this will be a good chance to read more about monster type stuff, yeah?~ Apart from you and your brother I have to admit...I really don’t know much about monsters”.


...................

Toriel knew that times down here had obviously changed since Chara was alive, her once having let the determined child explore the entirety of the Underground with Asriel as long as they promised to avoid certain areas such as the CORE for rather obvious reasons. Sure, she didn’t assume they always listened, but....

Not allowing herself to linger on the thoughts of her two deceased children and what comes of have possibly caused the events of so many years ago to occur, Alia was here now and needed her focus and attention, Toriel blinking a bit confused as Alia seemed to be under the impression that she could just ‘get’ a guide through the Underground.

S-she had been purposefully trying to -dissuade- Alia from wanting her as a guide, the host mom getting the wrong impression as she couldn’t see that Chara was the one Alia was actually referring to as a guide.

“Ah...my child, I myself am much too old to lead you through the entirety of the Underground if that is what you are insinuating”, Laughing a bit as she couldn’t help but be curious on what else Alia may have had in mind as a guide, Toriel figured it was likely a Froggit or other creature she had befriended earlier, “I trust that you would be careful out there, but it still doesn’t prevent my worry that you might get lost...”.

Humming a bit under her breath as she -could- think of at least one monster who might be able to help Alia out, it was a long shot...but maybe her old friend she sometimes spoke to through the Ruin door could help, “Actually, I may know -one- monster who could lead you through towards Snowdin....but that is quite a ways away from here...Hmm, I can permit this if you are truly honest about checking in frequently~”.

//Alphys' lab

Papyrus nodded eagerly at Mira's suggestion that he go get some books for her to read. "SURE, I'D BE HAPPY TO GET SOME BOOKS FOR YOU!" Papyrus was relieved to hear there was something he could do to help. "I'LL GO TO THE LIBRARY AND FIND LOTS OF BOOKS ON MONSTERS!" Papyrus would make sure Mira had plenty to read while she was resting, so she wouldn't have any chance to be bored.

Between him, Sans, and Alphys, Mira would be feeling better in no time, Papyrus was sure of it! "I'LL BE RIGHT BACK! DON'T WORRY, MIRA! SOON YOU'LL HAVE TONS OF BOOKS AND BE ABLE TO LEARN LOTS OF NEW STUFF!" With that, Papyrus rushed off to the library with barely a pause.

.........

Sans was glad to hear Mira give Papyrus a task so he would feel like he was helping. Though, he felt bad when he heard Mira talking about how she wasn't allowed to get up. As focused as he was on making the sandwiches, he hadn't noticed her playfully rolling her eyes. Inwardly, he sighed, hoping that the books Papyrus found would keep Mira from feeling bored during her recovery.

Why couldn't he have gotten there sooner? Then they wouldn't be dealing with any of this. Of course, there was no way he could have known about the door or the Void or Gaster, but he couldn't help but blame himself for not finding Mira in time. Once she recovered, Sans was definitely going to make a point to learn the layout of the other areas of the Underground better. Nothing like this would ever happen again.

Sans finished grilling the first sandwich, and brought it over to Mira. "how's this?" he asked, hoping his efforts to make a comforting meal would be successful.


.........
//Toriel's house

Alia was confused at first when Toriel spoke, the kind monster apparently thinking she had meant for Toriel to be her guide. While Alia was sure Toriel would make an excellent guide, regardless of what she herself thought of her abilities, that certainly hadn't been her goal. After all, with Toriel around, Alia couldn't really talk to Chara. She'd been intending for Toriel to think she had found another monster who would be willing to guide her through the Underground safely.

That way, Alia could actually just explore with Chara, without having to worry about Toriel finding out about Chara's presence before Alia could find a way to help them actually be able to communicate with each other. When she and Chara had been exploring in the Ruins together... It had been the most fun she'd had in a long time, maybe ever. She wanted that again, but knew with how protective Toriel was, she wouldn't really get many opportunities here in the Ruins. Toriel would probably insist on accompanying her most of the time, and while Alia knew she meant well, and truly did appreciate Toriel's concern, sometimes she would just want to hang out with her friend.

"As if I would ever let you get lost," Chara said. "I spent countless hours exploring with Rei. I know this place like the back of my hand. Well, uh, when I had a hand." They smirked, holding up their ghostly hand.

Alia barely managed not to laugh, and simply grinned at them. "Don't worry, Toriel! I won't get lost! I'm sure I'll have the best guide ever!"

Alia was curious when Toriel mentioned apparently knowing of a monster who could lead her through Snowdin. She immediately smiled hopefully, figuring if there was someone Toriel trusted to guide her, she would have a much better chance of getting to explore. The only downside was, how could she slip away from them and explore with Chara without them telling Toriel about it? Well, she was sure she could figure it out! Maybe she could convince them to let her explore on her own for a little bit, and when they saw she turned out fine, they'd let her go off on her own more often and not tell Toriel?

"Of course! I can visit every day if you want! Thanks, Toriel!" Alia looked extremely excited, beaming up at the kind monster. Truthfully, Alia didn't mind visiting Toriel frequently in the slightest. She wanted to make sure Chara could still see their mom a lot, even if they couldn't actually communicate with her... Yet. "So, who is it?"

( :;;; Mira seems like she keeps unintentionally making Sans feel guilty. Noooo~ She loves you my dude!)

(Also, for plot sake Toriel is going to name drop Sans ^^)

Mira wanting to hopefully continue her research on learning about monsters and how they lived in the past and present, and potentially about the Underground, the girl could tell that there was still a awful lot to learn if she wasn’t going to be left in the dark about what was likely to be her new home for longer than she had been hoping.

It wasn’t as if she had given up entirely on getting back home....it was just that there didn’t even seem to be a -starting point- for anything in terms of even just getting one person to the surface much less a entire race of monsters....

Everything just felt kind of...hopeless right now.

“I bet you will find some awesome ones!~”, Mira smiling brightly at Papyrus despite her heart and her entire being slowly sinking into the reality that she was most likely never going to get back home, the girl watched as Papyrus decided to go off to the library almost as soon as he came, him truly being a odd monster If she had ever seen one before.

‘Can’t say I’m not a little jealous that he can run everywhere~ W-well...at least he is happy though. Pretty soon I will be able to get up and be myself again too, just like Alphys said’

Her stomach thanking her when Sans made her a sandwich, Mira thanked the skeleton happily as she was sure that it would help her calm down a bit to have a full belly, taking a bite of the monster food thoughtfully, “It’s very good~! Thank you so much, Sans!”.

The magic of the food warming her damaged Soul ever so slightly, Mira could tell something was bothering Sans by the time she decided to hand him half of her sandwich in a token of starting a conversation, “Hey...So besides this mess, got anything on your mind? We always talk about me but I almost never hear anything about what -you- have going on, you know?~”.

........................


Toriel beginning to get the sense that perhaps young Alia had a ‘imaginary’ friend of sorts with the very subtle little ways she could see the human occasionally laugh or glance into what was just space for her, if the goat mom had somehow saw that Chara was there she would have probably thought she was losing her mind, it probably being best that the lost child wasn’t visible to her for the moment.

Brushing the thought of ‘imaginary’ friends aside though, Toriel was much more focused on the serious matter at hand of Alia wishing to leave the Ruins as long as she had a guide by her side, that being the absolute only way she was willing to let the child go into the greater Underground.

“Truth be told, I think you and your guide will get along quite well”, Laughing a bit as she was going to have to assume that her sentry friend was going to going to take a liking to Alia and her sweet demeanor, Toriel sensed in her heart that she could trust them to look after this child and guide them, just as they had done for Frisk so long ago.

“His name is Sans. I often speak with him through the Ruin doors, but truth be told I can’t give you a description, my child. Leaving this place isn’t in my best interest these days so I rarely contact those in the Underground anymore”, Gently petting Alias hair with a soft paw, Toriel had long ago accepted her purpose as a exiled Queen and that it would be best to remain out of sight and mind, “He is a sentry in Snowdin and has helped other children long before you to remain safe”.

(Don't worry! Sans will be fine )

............
//Alphys' lab

Sans was glad to see Mira seemed happy when he handed her the sandwich he had made. A genuine smile appeared on his face when he heard it had turned out well. "you're welcome. i'm glad it's good," he said, hoping that the meal would help her feel better. While he'd been planning to go make sandwiches for himself and his brother, when he saw Mira wanted to talk, he brought a chair over and sat next to her.

Her question about what he had on his mind surprised him. Sans had thought he'd been doing relatively well at hiding his inner turmoil behind his normal mask of a smile. By now though, he supposed he shouldn't be surprised Mira had seen through it, even with everything she had going on herself. Unfortunately, discussing most of the things he was dealing with would probably not be helpful for her healing process. Genocidal flowers, depression, and now all of this with Gaster... It was some pretty messed up stuff.

Most of the reason why he didn't really talk about himself was because there wasn't a whole lot he could talk about without just completely ruining the mood of the conversation. It was easier to talk about the other person, or Papyrus, instead. Or puns, but he had a feeling Mira would know he was trying to avoid the subject if he started with those. Sans thought carefully, trying to think of something, anything, happy he could talk about.

Finally, Sans sighed. "there's some stuff on my mind, but, uh, it should probably wait for now. it's not exactly... happy. i'd rather talk about something that'll cheer you up, you know? if you have any questions about me, you can ask them, though." Sans smiled reassuringly at Mira, not wanting her to worry about him when she already had her own problems to deal with. Sans guessed she'd already figured out something was really bothering him, so there was no point trying to lie and act like everything was fine.


..........
//Toriel's house

Alia smiled hopefully when she heard Toriel thought she and the guide Toriel had in mind would get along well. She hoped Toriel was right- it would be a lot easier to convince this guide to let her go off on her own sometimes if they got along well. Plus, if she couldn't be talking with Chara while exploring, she'd like to at least be talking with another friend.

She listened as Toriel spoke about the guide- Sans. She felt excited to meet him, even if she didn't really know much about him yet. She tilted her head in concern when Toriel said it wasn't in her best interests to leave the Ruins. Chara looked confused and worried as well. "Why not?" she asked, the question slipping out before she could stop herself, with her hastily adding, "I-if you don't mind, I mean." Alia couldn't understand why Toriel would feel she needed to remain in the Ruins, since all the monsters sounded so nice.

There was definitely something going on here, with Toriel refusing to leave the Ruins, and not contacting other monsters much... Then there was the room that was 'under renovations', which Chara had seemed concerned by when they checked inside... Between Chara's death and Alia's arrival, something must have happened.

Despite her concern, Alia relaxed quickly when Toriel began petting her hair. It was a comforting gesture she'd never experienced before, and she smiled up at her. Chara smiled as well, watching.

Upon hearing that Sans had guided another child, Alia assumed that must have been Frisk, the one who had claimed to have visited the Underground and returned. Well, if they had been able to explore the Underground and survived, surely she could as well! She wondered why Toriel had been so reluctant at first, knowing another child had done so and turned out fine.

Besides, Alia even had something Frisk hadn't- a ghost guide who could help her if she ran into any difficulties on her journey. Not that Toriel knew that. Anyway, Alia felt confident that she would be just fine while she explored the Underground.

(Mira is just a worried bean for him xD She knows something is up, even if she doesn’t know what it is yet)

Mira easily being able to assume that whatever was bothering Sans likely had to do with the fact that they had encountered that strange ‘demon’ in the Void a few hours before, the girl really didn’t know much beyond that though on what was upsetting Sans seeing as she knew nothing about Flowey, Resets, or the fact that Gaster was more related to him than she could even begin to think.

Sans had done so much to help her through all her time in the Underground that the least Mira felt she could do was to help him talk through whatever was on his mind, the kind girl more than willing to listen to whatever he wished to speak about to help him feel better.

“O-oh, Uhh..well, sometimes talking about unhappy things can help get it off our minds though”, Mira half having assumed that Sans would try to navigate the conversation away from him with how she knew the skeleton by now, the girl wasn’t persistent in trying to get him to talk about the ‘unhappy’ things on his mind if he really wanted to keep them a secret.

Well, at least Sans was willing to admit that there -was- some stuff on his mind instead of hiding it away...that was a start, Mira understanding that he may have not been comfortable enough with whatever was bothering him to just discuss it it openly.

“I think I know a lot about you already~ Your a really cool skeleton who takes good care of his friends who doesn’t seem to think too highly of himself for some reason”, Mira smiling lightly as she was trying to help with Sans self esteem just a little bit, the girl had asked Sans lots of stuff about himself the other night but it had mostly devolved into talking about magic and the human world, her still being curious about so many things about Sans and monsters in general.

“Well, I guess I am curious about something...and it’s probably a stupid question, but...you and your brother, you seem to be named after fonts. Is there a reason behind that?”, Trying to think of a harmless question rather than something deep that could potentially just give Sans more to ponder on, Mira felt like she could feel his stress boiling into her from the table she was sitting on.

....................

“That’s not something we need to discuss right now, young one. I just want to help you make a good decision before you go on your adventure. I will admit, I am still very worried about you going off like this, but...it’s your choice”, Toriel very much remembering how vivid she had gotten long ago when Frisk had wanted to leave the Ruins to find the barrier, she had attacked the child in a fit of anger before she had came to her senses, her unwilling to do the same to young Alia.

This was Alia’s choice to leave the Ruins and explore the Underground with a guide by her side, Toriel only being able to hope that Sans would be willing to protect yet another human from harm until they could find a way to pass through the barrier successfully.

“Ah, anyways, if you are going to be going to Snowdin than you will need protection from the cold! Here, this should assist you in your travels”, Toriel taking notice of Alia’s lack of any warm clothing as she went to rummage through a nearby closet for a moment before returning with a warm looking, striped scarf, she gently placed it around Alia’s neck in a way that indicated she had likely done the same many times before for others.