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Toriel was reading on her chair in the Ruins when she suddenly heard a big sound on the hall leading to Snowdin, as if someone used a powerful attack. Surprised, she went downstairs, only to discover a short skeleton monster wearing a hoodie and having a flower, the same flower that attacked some humans, tied to each of his bones, its face being in the skeleton's left eyesocket.
“Howdy!” the flower said, smiling while the other one looked in distress.
Toriel's first reflex was to make appear fireballs in her hands, looking angrily at the flower, “What do you want? And who is this monster?”
“Ohh, don't look so angry ~ I just thought that you would like to say hello to a good friend,” the look on the flower's face made Toriel tense.
“Lady run!” the skeleton suddenly said. Toriel stayed surprised for a second when she recognize his voice. Then, she watched at the flower again, an even darker look on her face, fire getting bigger on her hands.
“Let him go.”
“What was that? Letting him go? Why would I do that? This would be such a waste,” the flower was still smiling, pissing Toriel off even more, “This monster is pretty useful. He is way stronger than you think. Actually, what not showing you?” at that, the flower tightened its grip on the skeleton,making him raise his left arm, and a giant skull suddenly appeared, blasting on Toriel. She tried to protect herself with her flames but the attack was more powerful than she expected, hurting her. When it was gone, she saw that the flower had a mocking smile while the skeleton looked extremely worried.
“Golly! You're still alive? What a shame. Looks like we have to attack again,” at that, sharped bones appeared and started to fly at Toriel. This time, she was ready and threw fireballs at each bones, making both the attacks disappear along with a dense smoke, blinding all three monsters.
“You really think you can hide from us?” the flower asked, still sounding full of confidence.
“Who told you I was hiding?” locating the flower by its voice, Toriel made a fire tornado around the skeleton. When the smoke dissipated, she saw that the monster was using one of his skulls to protect himself.
“You really are an idiot if you thought that I didn't expect something like THAT,” the flower looked sure that they could win, “Come on, go ahead, try to hit us through his Gaster blaster.”
“I do not intend to hurt him. You, however...” she didn't finish her sentence, looking at it with a confident smile.
“Oh really? And how do you intend to d-” it suddenly stopped talking and its smile fell as it realized that its vines were burning. “What?!” the “Gaster blaster” disappeared as the flower lost its grip on the skeleton, who looked with his left eye at the flower with a cruel smile. When it fell on the ground, freeing the skeleton, Toriel stopped her attack and took it in her arm, looking at it with an angry look. However, despite what it did to the man and the humans, her intention wasn't to kill it.
“Now; about you,” before she could say something else, little white bullets appeared and she had to let go the flower to avoid being too much hurt.
“This is not over! I will come back!” it turned to the skeleton who was lying on the ground, unconscious, “You heard me trashbag? Nether you nor your stupid brother are safe!” at that, it was gone.
Toriel sighed, reassured that the flower was no longer here. But for how long? The door leading to Snowdin was completely destroyed, leaving some of the cold air in. She picked up the skeleton. He was badly hurt, bones crushed and his left eye cracked. Worried, she brought him to her guest room to heal and bandage his injuries. She noticed that his hoodie was torn up and decided to try to fix it. Before installing in her chair for that, she baked a pie in case the monster wake up.
The next day, when Toriel finished to get prepared, she went to check the skeleton and found him trying to sit, hurting himself at the effort. She hurried in the room, surprising him.
“Please do not try to move. You were badly hurt and need to rest now.”
She gently pushed him back in the bed. He didn't stop her and looked as if he wanted to say something but remained silent.
“I will come back to check on you later in case you need anything,” at that, she left the room, looking at him one more time before closing the door.
Some time later, she went back to see him, a slice of pie in hand. She opened the door a little and saw him sit on the bed, looking at his injuries.
“May I come in? I brought you some food,” she asked. He looked to her, surprised to see her before smiling.
“ 'course. But maybe knock next time. I don't wanna see you stop making jokes because of a bud.”
“I will try to remember that,” she came into the room, “How are you feeling?”
“Better than before, at least.”
Toriel put the slice on the nightstand and sat on the bed, next to him, a worried look on her face, “Would you mind telling me what happened with this flower?”
“I...” he looked hesitant. “The bud just went to talk to me. I didn't expect the thing to grab me like that,” he started to have a darker expression, “He just used me as a toy to kill other monsters, to see what could happen. Pretty sure he wanted to break me in the inside.”
“H-he?” shocked by what he said, this was the first thing that she felt saying.
“Yeah. Don't ask me how a soulless plant can have a gender.”
Soulless? Is that flower not a monster?
“Will you be fine?” she asked. He looked away for a second, thinking, before looking at her in the eyes.
“Can you check me?”
“What?”
“Y'know, check my stats.”
“Oh! Yes, just let me a second,” she said before checking him.
???: LV:10 ATK:15 DEF:9 HP:1
The man behind the door.
“You...you have 10 in LOVE!” No wonder his attack was so powerful!
He looked at her in surprise, then looked away, murmuring “no...”
“What?”
“no,” he repeated, still murmuring, “I won't be okay.”
They stayed silent for a time, both looking away from each other, until Toriel asked, “Maybe you should warn your brother.”
“Huh?” he looked at her again.
“Your brother. He must be worry about you. You are here for two days now.”
“I...uh...well...” He started to look away, trying to put his hands into his shirt before realizing that he didn't have pockets, “Where's my hoodie?” he randomly asked.
“It was torn so I took it to fix it,” she looked away, blushing a bit, “I hope it does not bother you that I...took your belongings like that.”
“...guess not, if ya wanted to help...but can you bring it back?”
“Of course,” she stood up, walking to the door. Before going out, she faced him, ”You can eat if you want. This would help you getting better.”
She closed the door before waiting for an answer and went to the living room. When she took the hoodie, she heard a sound coming to it. Curious, she started to reach for the pocket where the sound comes from before stopping, a bit embarrassed. What am I doing? This is not my business.
She came back to the room with the hoodie. When she entered, the man was eating the slice, looking as if it was the best meal he ever tasted. When he saw her, he put the rest aside, taking the hoodie and putting it on.
“Thanks. I'm Sans, by the way.”
Realizing that she never introduced herself, Toriel quickly said, “I am Toriel. Nice to finally meet you.”
“Same,” Sans said, taking the slice again, “This stuff is good! No wonder ya wanted me to try to make one.” Toriel couldn't help but laugh at that, before thinking of the music from his hoodie.
“I think someone tried to call you earlier,” looking at her with a questioning look, he finished the pie before taking out his phone from his pocket. He looked at the screen for an instant before sighing, looking sad.
“It's my bro...” Toriel wasn't surprised by that. Judging by the way Sans always talked about him, she knew that the two were very close.
“You should call him to reassure him.”
Sans looked down at his phone, thinking, before starting to compose a number. Toriel decided to get out of the room to leave him some privacy. She went to the kitchen to make lunch.
After some time, she heard footsteps. She went to the living room and saw Sans coming in, looking worried.
“Are you sure that you feel well enough to walk?” she directly asked.
“Yeah, no worries...” he looked away, “I told my bro where I am. He wants to come. If he does, can ya tell him that I'm sleeping and need to stay alone? I don't want him to see me like that,” as he said that, he showed his skull, a big bandage being on the left side of it.
“I understand your fear; but I believe that your brother should be warned about what happened to you. He is your brother after all.”
“I know but-”
“Is he even aware of the existence of the flower?” she interrupted, trying to convince him.
“...yeah. The thing tried to make him believe that he was his best friend but let his mask fall in front of him. Thing is, my bro believes that there's good in everyone.”
“Then it would be better if he knew about how badly this flower hurt you.”
“That won't change his point of view,” Sans was looking at her with a serious face.
“Would that at least make him be more careful around the flower?”
“Well...may-” Sans was cut off by a new voice coming from downstairs.
“SANS? ARE YOU THERE?”
Sans started to look panicked. Toriel put a hand on his shoulder, looking at him with a reassuring smile.
“Everything will be fine; but you need to face your brother and warn him.”
She started to walk to the stairs, her hand still on Sans' shoulder. He followed her, still looking hesitant about that. Suddenly, she saw another skeleton coming from the stairs, looking worried. He saw her while still on the stairs and stopped, apparently not realizing Sans' presence.
“GREETINGS. I GUESS YOU'RE THE LADY SANS TALK TO EACH DAY? SORRY TO BREAK INTO YOUR HOUSE LIKE THAT BUT MY BROTHER TOLD ME THAT HE WAS HERE, IS THAT TRUE?”
“Sup' bro?” Sans said, looking suddenly way more calm.
“SANS!” Papyrus ran to him and hugged him, making Toriel loose her grip on Sans' shoulder, before looking at his brother, “I WAS SO WORRIED FOR YOU! WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER YOUR PHONE SOONER? AND YOU LOOK SO BAD! IS FLOWEY REALLY THE ONE WHO DID YOU THAT?”
“Sorry bro, I was a bit too tired to answer. And yeah, the bud did me that.”
“I SEE...” Papyrus stood up, facing Toriel, “THANK YOU FOR TAKING CARE OF MY BROTHER. AND SORRY AGAIN FOR BREAKING IN.”
“This is fine, do not worry,” Toriel said, smiling, “Your name is Papyrus, right? Your brother has told me so much about you; I must say I am really glad to finally meet you. My name is Toriel.”
“WOWIE! I DIDN'T KNOW SANS WAS TRYING TO MAKE ME POPULAR! ENCHANTED TO MEET YOU, LADY TORIEL,” he turned his gaze to his brother again, “SAY, SANS. DO YOU THINK YOU CAN GO HOME NOW?”
“Well...about that...” Sans looked at Toriel, scratching his neck, an hesitant look on his face, before looking at his brother again, “Papyrus, can we talk for a bit?”
“OF COURSE!”
“You should go to the guest room. I will finished to do lunch while you are talking. Papyrus, do you wish to stay with us for it?” Toriel asked.
“I CAN? REALLY?”
“Of course! And that way you can stay more with your brother.”
“THEN COUNT ME IN IT!”
After that, the two skeletons started to walk away, leaded by Sans, while Toriel was going back to the kitchen.
Toriel was setting the plates when the two came back. The three of them ate without much talk and none of the brothers mentioned their discussion. After eating, Sans directly said “I'm gonna go sleep” before going to the guest room. Toriel went to do the dishes, followed by Papyrus who wanted to help. As they were doing it, she noticed that Papyrus seemed lost in his thoughts. After some time, he stopped and looked at her.
“LADY TORIEL, CAN I ASK YOU SOMETHING?”
“What is it?” she stopped too, looking at him with a curious look.
“WHEN MY BROTHER AND I TALKED, HE TOLD ME THAT HE WISHED TO STAY HERE UNTIL HE FEEL BETTER. WOULD IT BE FINE FOR YOU?”
“Sans wants to live here? With me?” she couldn't help but feel embarrassed at this idea. “I-I mean, I am still worried for him so it would arrange me to have him living in a close place; but are you sure that this is fine for both of you? What about you?”
“I WILL STAY AT OUR HOME IN SNOWDIN AND WILL DO MY BEST TO WARN THE OTHERS ABOUT FLOWEY. AS FOR SANS' JOB, I'M GOOD FRIENDS WITH UNDYNE, HIS BOSS, SO EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY!” at that, he started to do the dishes again.
“If you say so...” Toriel still felt worried. Maybe this is because of what the flower said...
After they finished with the dishes, Papyrus decided to go back to Snowdin. However, before that, he went to check on his brother, followed by Toriel. They found him agitated, as if he was attacked. Papyrus instinctively went to wake him, and Sans woke up screaming, instantly sitting down, shaken. Papyrus hugged him, and when Sans realized it, he returned the hug, tears rolling down.
“SHH. IT'S OKAY, BROTHER. I'M HERE NOW. IT WAS JUST A DREAM,” Papyrus muttered.
“Y-yeah...” Sans couldn't say anything else, tightening his embrace harder.
While the two brothers were together, Toriel was still at the level of the door, looking at them with a sad smile. She decided to leave the room, waiting in the hall. After some time, Papyrus came out of the room, saying that he had to go now. Toriel accompanied him downstairs. Before he left, Papyrus asked if he could come back everyday to see Sans, and Toriel told him that he could come back anytime for his brother.
The rest of the day was calm for both Sans and Toriel who spent it making bad jokes, happy to finally be able to talk without a door between them.
The next day, Toriel was reading when Sans came in the room, going directly at her.
“Hey Toriel. Can I ask ya something?”
“What is it?”
“You're a Boss monster, right?” at that, she felt uneasy, not wanting to think of her past as a queen, “And the fire in this room, it's your magic, right?”
“Y-yes?” she didn't understand where he wanted to come to.
“How much control do you have on your magic?”
“A complete control; why do you ask?”
“Can you train me?” he suddenly said, looking serious.
“W-what?”
“I'm LV10 because of the bud now. I need to control it. I don't wanna risk hurting you again; or my bro...” he looked away, wearing a sad expression. Toriel put her book aside, standing up.
“I understand. And I would gladly help you. Come on,” she started to walk to the door leading to the rest of the Ruins.
“Wait. Right now?”
“Why not? Unless you do not feel rest enough?” she stopped while saying that, looking at him in worry.
“no no, I'm fine. Let's go.”
They started to train in front of the house; and Toriel had to admit that his magic was very strong. However, as he was running to her to attack, a bone in hand, he fell on the ground. Surprised, Toriel looked at him entirely, only to realize that a vine was attached to one of his legs. As Sans went to his knees, he turned to see what was blocking his leg and stopped moving, paralyzed when he saw the vine.
“Howdy!” the two suddenly heard. Flowey was here, behind Sans, smiling. “What? Surprised? I told you I would come back though. So, smiley trashbag, you really thing controlling your magic will help you against me? Ah! What a jok-” before Flowey could finish, Toriel threw a fireball at him, enraged to see him mocking and trying to terrorize Sans that way. The vine on Sans' leg disappeared, leaving him to stand up. Toriel walked in front of him, ready to protect him against the flower, who was still here, some bits of petals burned down. He looked at the two angrily before smiling again, looking at Toriel.
“You think you are really smart, don't you? You act as a wall to protect this idiot here; but what will you do when he will left, huh?” Flowey turned to Sans, “What do you think trahsbag? You really think you can protect from me? You really think that your brother is safe out there?”
“Enought!” Toriel said, a fireball in her hand as Sans was looking away, surely afraid for his brother. Flowey looked hesitant for a second and went away.
“...Thanks...” Sans suddenly said, still looking away.
“You are welcome my friend,” she didn't turn to face him when she said that, still looking at the spot where the flower disappeared. After a time, she turned to him, “Sans?”
“Yeah?” he looked at her, still having a sad expression.
“Do not worry about what Flowey said. Your brother told me that he will be careful;” Toriel smiled at Sans, ”...and as long as you need it, even when you will go back to your home, you can always count on me to protect you.”