Fallen twice (Potato x Sans)

[PossessedPotato]

Mira really should have been more wary of her current situation to be fully honest, the naive girl having been mostly taken in by the friendliness of the monsters down here and the charming puzzles concocted by the taller of the skeletons named Papyrus.



Luckily, as it was, she wasn't in any real danger, the girl taking great joy in rubbing the greater dogs belly as Sans and Papyrus meanwhile discussed where the stray human would be staying, her wandering the Underground without a home being a very bad idea with her lack of knowledge on...really anything down here.


Of course, her sleeping on a dog bed was simply a idea from Papyrus who knew much less about humans than Sans did, him never having gotten a complaint from Fridk when he had attempted to 'capture' the human so long ago.


"Ah yes! A human bed, I should have thought that true!", Papyrus seeming a bit sheepish as he also remembered how humans had descended from skeletons, of course they would prefer a regular bed, "I will be sure to secure one that is perfect!".



Greater dog wandering off as Mira turned her attention back to the brothers, a cold wind from somewhere, somehow, blew through the trees, Mira taking in a breath as she gave the skeletons a nervous smile.



"Good news human! My brother and I have decided that you will be staying with us if you choose!", Papyrus seeming quite proud of the shared decision as Miras eyes brightened up, she nodded at the idea, looking to Sans for conformation.



"In the meantime I suppose we should show you to your new home!", Papyrus not wanting to scare Mira with the 'gauntlet of deadly terror' or any other puzzles for the matter right now, traversing to Snowdin town with the brothers, Mira took in all the sights of the cozy little town, some of the monsters, mostly bunnies and dogs, seeming to think her odd but not making a deal of it as she had thought they would.



Papyrus pointing things out such as the 'librarby' and the inn, it almost reminded Mira of a regular human town on the surface, her being curious to check things out on her own sometimes to get a feel of where she would likely be living for a long while.



"And this, dear human, is our house!", Papyrus noticing that Mira seemed a bit awestruck at his introduction, he almost thought he had said something wrong before Mira shook her head and smiled happily.



"I've never lived in a house this, uh...big...its so cool!", Mira genuinely being happy as she had spent her life in cramped apartments and the like, she didn't question how a house like this was in the Underground as she was just content to be away from the cold, "Thank you!~".



-----------------------



Toriel, despite knowing that the Underground ever since Frisk had made it through the barrier, was a slightly safer place for fallen humans didn't want young Alia wandering out of the Ruins on account that...well, Alia was simply a child and most of the Underground was wilderness with many traps and a mixed bag of monsters.



Alia was free to explore the Ruins though as they saw fit, the monsters that inhabited it being far too weak to even think of harming a child. Being a boss monster, the monsters of the Ruins also feared Toriel and they knew they would have to deal with her if they harmed Alia.


Still....there was a inkling in the back of the goat moms mind that perhaps she should do something about the entrance in the basement to the wider Underground. Alia didn't seem the type who would want to wander away, but....perhaps it was best to be cautious.



Assuming Alia was distracted by exploring, Toriel decided to act on her intuition and slipped away to the basement, her never having gone through with her threat to Frisk to destroy the door in her heartbroken anger.


The coldness of the stark, empty door wasn't something Toriel enjoyed being near...it reminded her far too much of her past mistakes, worries, and failures....

[SeriousSans]

Sans was relieved that Papyrus quickly agreed to get Mira a regular bed rather than a dog bed, and smiled as he replied, "i know you will, bro." Fortunately, it seemed like Mira had not overheard the topic of their conversation; he didn't want her to get the wrong idea and think that Papyrus saw her as a pet or something.

When Mira turned back towards the brothers, Sans smiled back at her, letting Papyrus speak up to announce the offer to stay with them. Papyrus was the more outgoing of the two, after all, and Sans admittedly tended to just go along with whatever Papyrus wanted. Of course, Sans would be happy to let Mira stay with them as well; though he had been nervous at first about finding a fallen human, Mira was quite friendly and seemed to want to get along with everyone, so he wasn't concerned anymore.

Seeing Mira look at him for confirmation, Sans nodded, "of course you can stay with us." Sans was glad that Mira seemed happy with the suggestion; it seemed like Papyrus was set on her being their guest and he wouldn't have wanted his brother to become disappointed if she had decided she would rather stay somewhere else. Besides, it would be nice to have someone around who didn't complain about his sense of humor. It wasn't like Sans could really help it at this point; puns and bad jokes had become his coping mechanism, one he didn't see going away anytime soon.

As Papyrus led the way to town, Sans followed along, keeping an eye out to make sure the town's residents didn't crowd around Mira. Fortunately, everyone seemed willing to give her space, which Sans was relieved to see. While he let Papyrus do most of the talking as usual, Sans did comment on a few things during the tour, like pointing out Grillby's and telling a couple of puns about things they passed, though he tried to be quiet so Papyrus wouldn't overhear the latter. It wasn't like he wanted to annoy his brother, after all.

Soon the trio reached the house, and Sans watched in slight confusion as Mira looked awestruck by it. As she explained the house was bigger than she was used to, Sans felt even more confused. Their house wasn't tiny, but he would never have expected to hear a human call it big. It was a simple two story house, after all, and he had read in a book that had fallen from the surface that there were much bigger buildings than he could even imagine on the surface.

Skyscrapers, if he was remembering correctly. Buildings so big they actually looked like they reached the sky. Compared to those, why would their simple house be considered 'big'?

Sans shrugged off the thought. Maybe there weren't actually very many of those large buildings on the surface. Maybe most buildings there actually were more in line with the sizes of the buildings here in the Underground. After all, he probably shouldn't put too much stock in books about things he had never actually seen. Mira had experienced being on the surface first hand, so he would take her word for it on this.

At least she seemed happy, that was the important thing. So, Sans pushed the thoughts aside and opened the door for Mira and Papyrus to enter, figuring Mira was probably really cold by now and likely wanted to get out of the snow.

"do you need anything? maybe some water?" Sans asked, still not entirely sure how long Mira was out there before he found her. Staying hydrated was important though, he was pretty sure humans needed lots of water. Maybe he should do some research on what else humans need to live... Frisk hadn't stayed in the Underground for very long, so there was probably a lot of stuff he had no clue about when it came to what humans needed.


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


Alia had begun wandering around the house, with Chara following and narrating about the various things the two came across when they were not too caught up in memories. Alia had quickly realized that one of the rooms had been Chara's, when they were alive, and stayed out in the hallway as Chara revisited it. She couldn't help but feel a bit worried Toriel might suggest she use the room. That would feel even more like she was replacing them than she already did, and Alia really didn't like that feeling. Watching Chara float around the room, smiling at memories, Alia felt an even stronger desire to reunite them with the monsters.

Eventually, Chara rejoined Alia in the hallway, and the two continued on. Chara's comments soon helped Alia relax again, and she was giggling as they left Toriel's room and moved on to the next. Except the next door was closed, and had a sign on it claiming the room was under renovation. Chara had floated through the door with a curious expression, but when they returned they looked troubled. Alia decided not to ask what they found; she figured if she needed to know, they would tell her.

At the end of the hallway, they found a mirror. Alia approached it, and Chara said, "It's you!" Though she had known logically that a ghost would not appear in a mirror, not seeing her friend's reflection beside hers made Alia rather sad. Nonetheless, she smiled back at Chara, not wanting them to feel worried about her.

As the two returned to the room Toriel had previously been reading a book in, Alia was surprised to see she wasn't there. Chara suggested she might be in the kitchen, so the two headed there to check, but Toriel wasn't there, either. Alia was now very confused; Toriel hadn't entered the hallway while the two had been exploring there, so where could she be? It didn't take long for Alia to guess what had happened. Maybe, just like her parents on the surface, Toriel just didn't have time for her. Really, it shouldn't be surprising if Toriel was busy with her own life, Alia told herself.

Chara seemed to guess what she was thinking, and tried to reassure her. "It is very unlike her to just disappear without a word. She must be around here somewhere. Maybe she is downstairs?" Alia would have been unconvinced if it had been anyone else saying that, but she trusted Chara. So, she nodded and headed downstairs, and after following the path at the bottom of the stairs, finally found Toriel staring at a large door.

To Alia, this seemed like Toriel was contemplating leaving. She felt like she should have known better; sooner or later, everyone got tired of dealing with her. She was too awkward, too bad at socializing, too... Whatever it was that kept annoying everyone. Maybe she should just accept it-

"Mom?" Chara spoke up, sounding extremely confused. Alia glanced at them, feeling bad. If only she had managed to find a way to help Chara speak with the monsters... Alia was used to this, but Chara shouldn't have to watch Toriel leave like this. She probably wouldn't leave at all if she knew Chara was back.

It was really just for Chara's sake that Alia spoke. Maybe she could buy herself a bit more time to try to find a way to reunite the two. Then they could be a family again, and Alia would be the one to leave, if that was what Toriel wanted. "Toriel?"

[PossessedPotato]

It was safe to say that Mira knew she was completely out of place in this odd town of monsters, some of them staring at her and whispering comments she felt were, naturally, about a human of all things walking in seemingly out of the blue.


Sure, Sans and Papyrus were being incredibly kind to her despite her position as a entirely different species than them....but it didn't help the fact that Mira desired nothing more than to be able to go home and think of this as nothing more than just some strange adventure she could look back on in the future and think of as some strange hallucination.


Of course, she couldn't deny the reality of what was in front of her, Mira feeling a warmth of happiness in her heart that the two brothers weren't leaving her to her own devices in this world. God knows what she would have done if she was left to fend for herself, her fear of monsters likely meaning she would have hed up in a cave somewhere for her own safety.


Mira, having grown up in not the best conditions, was naturally awestruck a bit by the brothers house, Papyrus beaming with a bit of pride over it all and how he had managed to effortlessly impress the new human.


"I'm uh, actually a bit tired....", Mira blushing nervously as she was definitely not the type to ask for anything ever, was really just craving a place to get her mind together and rest and....figure out where she would go from here in terms of...everything.


"In that case let me show you to your room, human! Its right up the stairs to the left", Papyrus being as happy as a skeleton could be as he led Mira to her new dwellings, he knew he needed to keep his excitement down over Mira more the time being so she didn't scare off, "Dont hesitate to let me or my brother know if you need any human things!"


Mira giving a slight nod as she finally began to let her mind take in exactly what her new situation was as she sighed and plopped on her back on the bed looking up at the wooden ceiling, she clearly needed space to adjust, Papyrus even taking the hint and not pursuing his interest in the humans....everything for now, returning downstairs to begin working on a wonderful welcome meal for their new guest.


"What do you think of our new human, Sans?", The tall skeleton having read that humans lived spaghetti, it was natural that he would cook his famed dish for Mira, Undyne having shown him a way to even make it edible!


-----------------------

Everyone that she had let her guard down and allowed a human to leave...the worst possible outcome had happened, not a one of the children that had passed through here ending up with a soul in the end, besides her truly determined Frisk of course.


But Frisk had been different than the other children, somehow more widened to the world than most at their young age. It had been something that the goat mom had taken notice of with how determined they had been to escape to the rest of the wider Underground....


To escape from this prison that monsters called home.


To leave her behind in the pursuit of freedom-


No! She knew she needed to stop thinking like that. To pin all her hopes and dreams onto a child was a mistake that had ended terribly in the past due to her naivety in the pursuit for a better life for all in the Underground, her dear Asriel and Chara paying the price for her moment of negligence.


And that presence she had felt ever since Alia had fallen....why did she continue to feel this age old presence that ached her very soul to its core?


"Go back upstairs and be a good child, won't you?", The usually composed goat mom's voice seemed to hesitant a bit as she didn't dare turn towards Alia almost in fear that she would see something she would regret, "This door, it leads to the wider Underground...I'm going to destroy it for your own good".

[SeriousSans]

It was a relief to Sans that Papyrus seemed willing to let Mira rest after she explained she was tired. Papyrus rarely seemed to rest himself, and Sans was sure his brother was eager to show Mira around the house more and make her some of his famous spaghetti, so he hadn't been sure how Papyrus would take the comment. Fortunately, he hadn't had to step in and say anything, since Papyrus had quickly accepted it and led the way to her room.

Seeing Mira seemed somewhat embarrassed about admitting she was tired, Sans smiled reassuringly at her. After falling into the Underground and all, it was only natural she would feel tired. Sans was glad she was willing to say something when she needed to rest.

"sleep well," Sans said, waving to Mira and then heading back downstairs so as not to disturb her while she rested. Noticing Papyrus heading straight to the kitchen, Sans grinned at his brother's predictable decision to make some spaghetti. Of course, he had been sure that Papyrus would want to make some for Mira; Papyrus had been practicing making the meal for quite some time now, and even though Undyne's training methods could be rather chaotic, Papyrus had definitely been improving.

Hopefully the meal would help Mira adjust somewhat; Sans wasn't sure when she would be able to go home, but he hoped she would be able to feel comfortable here in the meantime. After all, this whole thing must have been a shock for her; monsters, a whole world hidden under a mountain, and the barrier... It was probably a lot to take in.

"she seems nice," Sans replied to Papyrus's question. "you did a great job with the room, by the way." Sans was very relieved that Papyrus had in fact taken his advice seriously and given Mira a regular bed rather than a dog bed.

Sans hoped that Papyrus's spaghetti-cooking efforts were not too loud and that Mira was able to fall asleep easily. While Sans had long since gotten used to the sound of Papyrus practicing making the meal between cooking lessons, it did involve a lot of stirring the noodles really fast and squishing various vegetables for the sauce. It didn't faze Sans anymore, but he figured it might seem rather unconventional to a human...


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


Alia wasn't sure what she had been expecting. Perhaps for Toriel to turn around, surprised, and act like she had never been thinking about leaving at all. Or maybe for Toriel to say she was just about to go get groceries or something like that. But Alia was not at all prepared for what Toriel said instead. Go back upstairs and be a good child, won't you? The words struck Alia like a shove from one of the bullies at school. She actually felt herself stumble backwards a bit, as memories appeared in the front of her mind.

"Can't you see I'm busy? Go away, I don't have time right now." Alia had been five, and tried to show her parents a drawing she had made. "Just be a good child and go read a book or something." The time Alia had approached her parents while they were watching a show on TV. A few more memories followed, before Alia was finally pulled out of her thoughts by a worried-sounding voice.

"Alias? Are you okay?"

Alia looked over at Chara, who seemed extremely concerned. Taking a breath, she managed to nod at them, before turning back to Toriel. The goat monster hadn't even looked at her once. That only made Alia more sure Toriel didn't want her around. It wasn't a surprise, really. Toriel wanted a good child. Someone like Chara. As hard as she had tried, Alia just wasn't capable of being one, according to her parents on the surface at least.

Well, at least she didn't have to worry about replacing Chara anymore.

"I-I'm sorry, Toriel... I won't bother you anymore. I can leave if you want, there's no need for you to destroy anything," Alia said. Having been so distracted by memories, she hadn't fully heard what Toriel had said about why she was going to destroy the door and, due to the first statement, figured it had something to do with trying to get Alia to go away.

Really, the thing she felt the worst about was that Chara still could not talk with Toriel. Alia figured they would miss her a lot; if only she could have found a way to reunite them so they could stay together at least. Maybe if Alia could find a way later, Chara could go back and stay with their mom afterwards. The thought was only a small comfort, but at least she wasn't feeling completely hopeless about it anymore.

.....

Chara was really confused by how Toriel had been acting. They had never seen her like this while they were living in the Underground. She had always been there for Asriel and themself, whenever the kids had needed her. Toriel never would have disappeared without telling them, and what was this about destroying the door? Why would Toriel want to do that? Toriel had never been the destructive type, at least when they were alive. Even when she used her magic, it was usually to bake a pie or something like that. Not to break anything.

But Chara did not have much time to consider these thoughts before they noticed Alia seemed to have been affected by what Toriel had said. She seemed lost in thought about something; not anything good, if her anxious expression was anything to go by. Chara could not help but feel worried about her; in the short time they had been friends, Chara had noticed a lot of similarities between the two.

The way Alia was acting now reminded them a lot of when they had first fallen into the Underground, and thought they would be intruding on the kind family that found them if they stayed around. They just hoped Toriel would figure that out in time...

[PossessedPotato]

Papyrus was aware that, especially with humans, he could be a bit much and didn't want to scare Mira into wandering away from Snowdin and getting into trouble as there were many dangers one such as her kind could get into down here.


He had even made his puzzles more human friendly! The skeleton was aware that somebif his past ones had been rather dangerous for non monsters and with the way everyone talked, at least before Frisk fell, humans were dropping into the underground every other decade and he needed to be ready!


The eager skeleton had never actually -seen- a adult human though and adjusted accordingly, him naturally assuming adult humans were just like grown monsters (of which he wasn't far off). So far he had assessed that Mira was logical, quiet, hardy, and quick to act and had all the potential to be a good friend.


Now, Papyrus was naturally learning to cook beyond spaghetti with Undynes help but it was the quickest and easiest thing to make for a hungry human, at least according to Papyrus. He really wasn't even -sure- how much adult humans ate so maybe his habit of cooking huge amounts of food would work out this time?


What a mystery!


"I've been reading up on humans and according to 'A monsters guide to human anatomy' humans need to eat multiple times a day. Its odd but I think they simply go through energy faster than monsters do", Papyrus actually making a point as many monsters, as foid as converted to magic in them, didn't need to eat every day or desired to, the skeleton was putting in the effort to care for Mira with what knowledge he could aquire.


Papyrus was no dummy even if his way of thinking was a bit convoluted at times. With Mira sleeping upstairs the skeleton at the very least was assured that the human was comfortable and regaining strength, her being lucky that she had managed to land where she had -when- she had, Snowdin forest being prone to bad weather at the best of times.

---------------------


Toriel was definitely not herself, the fact that she seemed to have been pushed completely over the edge by grief likely not being touched upon by someone as young as Alia. The goat mom was notoriously harmless but she simply couldn't allow this child to leave the Ruins, the danger being far too great for her to let it happen.


There was something in Alia, whether a uncanny resemblance or some odd presence, that hurt Toriels very Soul and brought back all the pained memories of her dear Chara. It was...difficult to not push such things onto Alis though as the child obviously didn't know who Chara was, but hundreds of years of repression and pain had to bubble up at some point....


Toriel absolutely did not want to harm Alia though and knowing very little of the child's meek mental health clenched her fists, her already regretting the words she had chosen in her moment of weakness.


"Alia, I am sorry. I didn't mean to be quite so harsh. Its just....", The goat mom shaking her head as she had immediately resorted to treating Alia like a defiant Frisk from so long ago.


"I just want you to be safe, understand?", The smallest of weak smiles crossing her face as she knelt before Alia but didn't dare to touch them for a usual hug, she had at least picked up on the child's disdain for touch, "I was so assured that you were going to leave and be hurt or worse....I should have learnt this by now, but if you want to leave for the wider Underground I cannot stop you".