umbra.

the shadow and light. but switch it around and the umbra can become the penumbra, and vice versa.

[♥] 6 a.m. | toriel❜s house [selected]

the sun had risen up as both monsters and humans were beginning to do so as well.

the morning light was available to give its warming vitamin d to all, but then with all that light, there was a blanket—a not so comfortable one. the blanket was dusted with packed speckles of water vapor, subbordinated by an electrical and vacuum phenomenon.

cumulunimbus thunderclouds had already formed and sloppily positioned themselves in the stratosphere making the sky dark, blocking the light from the ethereal sun.

the weather brought melancholy to the beginning of the day; so winter cold and gloomy. the sound of heavy raindrops pitter-pattering over the roof and the ground roughly made the silence of the coldness seem louder; the heavy rain was as if it was portraying what lonesome silence would sound like if audible.

perching on the good side of such a bad weather, classes were suspended in all schools at all levels, bringing joy to the students even if it was just a week of being in school. but on the bad counterpart, it may have ruined plans that were made to be taken outside and also kept the children from playing with their friends in the grassy fields or the asphalt grounds. but then again, the coldness could be comforting at times and the sound filling in the void in people’s eardrums in a soothing manner.

in contrast to all of these things, one side beats them all; the bad side of encountering a thunderstorm, because after hearing one complain regarding this, this made the negative side beat the positive one—and that complaint was that there was no power.

the wifi connection was dead, the lights were unavailable to provide for their morning darkness, the toaster was down, some cellphones were on low battery and could not be charged, the television was gone for now, and the heater could not be turned on due to the lack of current—which was why all the monsters (and human child) living in a particular house were gathered in front of the fireplace, arguing over the warmest spot like a litter of puppies. toriel, though, was sitting on her comfy recliner, enjoying the heat without any worries other than the monsters might accidentally shove one another into the fire.

“this is my spot!” frisk argued, pushing the ex head of the royal guard away from their mentioned position, which was right in front of the fireplace.

“it’s mine now since you left! And finders keepers!” undyne yelled back defensively, the human’s small arms being no match to her strong figure, as she sat on the carpet with her arms crossed, immovable.

“NO, THIS SPOT IS FOREVER MINE!” frisk shouted into the fish’s ears, trying to push her away from their spot once again, filled with determination that they would regain their rightful throne back.

“how can someone so expressionless be sO LOUD?!” undyne questioned, getting louder at the end of her senence, making alphys giggle at the
two arguing over something so simple.

“now, now . . . ” toriel hushed in a mellow tone.

“can i cook my spaghetti over this fire directly?” papyrus asked innocently, pointing at the fire.

“are you kidding me?” flowey raised an eyebrow, already looking done. first, undyne and frisk, and now, this.

toriel, who was currently sitting on her recliner snuggly, was worrying about someone—other than undyne and frisk who might accidentally push one or both into the fire. she was debating in her mind whether she should knock on the door to his bedroom to check up on him, or; stay with the others until he comes down on his own and just ask him about why he took so long to join in their little gathering.

toriel gave in with her discombobulating decisions and stood up from her seat. the goat turned towards her beloved family sitting within the area of the fireplace. her standing up from her perfectly comfortable spot triggered everyone who was craving for warmth. toriel noticed this and said in a dark tone, “take my spot, or else . . . ” then she lit her left hand with her fiery-like powers. the others nodded compliantly and frantically, terrified. seeing this response, she chuckled then went upstairs to check up on her infatuation.

she walked down the hallway, so cold as if abandoned and so eerily quiet. ‘what is he up to?’ she thought curiously. the cold surface of the floor gave a presage of, somehow, foreshadowing what will happen next. she stopped in the middle of the hallway to rub her hands together to keep herself warm. It feels as if there was a snowstorm just outside the very house. toriel proceeded to walk anew, clutching her thick coat around her torso, breathing over the cold temperature.

toriel unanticipatingly heard a quiet groan emit from sans’s room. this made her worry rise even more. just the suspense and anxiety of what may be behind the door blocking her from the unknown knowledge of what may be causing the skeleton to groan.

she stepped infront of his bedroom door and placed a hand on the knob. taking in a deep breath to relieve herself, she opened the door gently, the door creating a quiet creaking sound.

her eyes widened at the sight. she didn’t exactly expect someone as calm and collected as him to be acting in this manner.

sans was curled into a ball under the covers, lightly but palpably shivering and tears falling down his eyes. he was having a nightmare so full of stressful fright that it gave him a painful headache. another detail was a very noticeable trail of thin blue smoke was coming out of his left eye socket.

toriel closed the door behind her quietly and scooted over near the trembling sans, hesitant on what she should do. “what is he dreaming about?” she curiously asked herself, her eyes still scrutinizing the sight before her hazel brown eyes. she sat on his bed for a few seconds in deep thought. if she touched sans, he won’t lash out on her, right?

she delicately placed a hand on sans’s shoulder, making him flinch at the sudden physical contact—which was apparently enough to wake him up.

“s . . . sans?” toriel called to him gently, a sweet smile plastered on her face. seeing him in such misery brought her down into that mood as well, sympathizing with the skeleton immediately at just the first second of hearing his mysterious and low groan.

sans’s eyes started opening, wide and petrified. “t-tori?” he said in almost a whisper. the mentioned lady was glad to see the skeleton relax a bit, her hand that was perched upon his shoulder feelinf the way it relaxed after calling her name.

“you’re having a nightmare, sans,” toriel said, wiping his tears away and cupping his boney cheeks.

sans slightly blushed then looked away, holding her wrists gently. “i-i’m sorry,” he apologized, sorrow filled in his eyes.

“why? you shouldn’t be.” toriel cooed, removing her hands from his face; her soft and soothing voice doing an amazing job at calming the other down. “we all go through troubling nightmares. it’s not a burden for md to wake you up.”

“i-it’s just that . . . it happens all the time,” sans started, his breath hitching as flashes of the nightmare roamed around in his head. memories of the genocide route displaying itself horridly in his mind, reminding him of how scarring it was to have everything lose its innate progress and repeat over and over and over again. just one more reset and sans knew that it would drive him insane. meanwhile, toriel watched as discomfort wrapped around sans and the thick unsettling atmosphere in his cold bedroom, but she just kept quiet, stroking the shorter’s hands with her thumbs.

“everything keeps repeating itself just like two years ago. it’s like reliving that actual nightmare and it just boggles my mind.” sans tried his best to explain without sounding pathetic. “the fact that everything is basically just deja vu and have the same outcomes make it seem like dreams that are actual memories, because of how they occur so frequently that they became blurry rather than clearer.”

toriel lack the knowledge regarding what sans was talking about or referring to but she was certain that he had this sort of information in store in his head that was exclusive to him, based on what she just heard come out of his mouth. peculiar, sure, but a bit anticipated; since he was the son of a mysteriously missing scientist—someone who held astronomical knowledge beyond normal. because of this, sans might have developed something rather strange as well. maybe it was hereditary, maybe not—all she was aware of was that something might be going on that was behind plain sight.

behind the plain and default layer we mortals foolishly stand in.
beyond the austere horizon, lying in the planes of infinite possibilities and alternate remarks, beyond comprehension.

“sans?” toriel called and he hummed in reponse.

“what do you mean by reset?” the ex queen asked curiously. sans frowned upon the reminder that he was the only one who witnesses and sees everybody’s death. including his own. frisk and chara was there, sure—but they were the causes of the pain of having resets.

“i don’t need you to understand what i’ll say completely. i moght even sound crazy to you, but, i just need a little bit of venting for now,” sans started, avoiding eye contact at how absurd he knew this would get. he already told someone about similar information but all they could do was blink like a time bomb

and that was exactly what happened.

toriel didn’t understand, as mentioned. something about restarting and a neverending loop of a string now badly tangled in the fabric of space and time, with that string becoming a chain holding him captive and mentally torn. she felt awfully bad about sans’s situation. the goat could not relate to it in any way since it was very much unimaginable; something she was only able to hear in movies resembling what sans just attempted to delineate. she felt bad because the aforementioned situation was bothering sans in a negative way and seeing this miserable reaction from him makes her feel down as well. yes, she didn’t understand what exactly is going on but imagining it deeply made her sympathy in her heart spark. it was still frankly hard to process in terms of the entire frisk-waking-up-in-the-underground scenario restarting all over again, but she just needed a little more deliberating and maybe more context about it. she could ask alphys about such a complex thing and maybe she could give an understandable answer.

but as of now, here she sat on sans’s bed, clueless and unable to help him. toriel felt bad since a lot of people rely on her for advices, help or comfort and she could always give a response. but in this situation—to the monster she wanted to help the most because of her undeniable romantic feelings for him—she was, for once, incapable. at the time someone like sans needed some sort of reassurance the most, she could not give him anything but a pat in the back. sure, he may tell her that that was enough and he was content with that, but she sure was on the opposite side of that. toriel wanted everyone the best because if they feel happy, so does she. and in situations like this where advices nor comfort could not be given properly, she felt rather vulnerable.

what made her start feel devastated though was not only the lack of advices in her head, but the statement sans just uttered about witnessing everybody’s deaths over and over again, and he blamed himself for such event, even! she just can’t fathom any of what was being thrown at her because she had never witnessed such phenomenon that only seemed possible in science fiction.

sans noticed the sudden disappointment in her eyes, his features turning soft upon seeing the saddening sight before him. “tori,” he uttered, hoping she would get rid of her downcast but she never did. the skeleton was unsure of what made her mood drop, but he sure as heck was not allowing that to happen to such a lovely woman. “i’m so sorry.” he mentally cursed at himself for giving out too much overwhelming information. “i didn’t mean to—”

sans was cut off by a warm embrace that brought the same sensation to rise onto his bony cheeks. he was too shocked to react so he remained sitting on his bed, frozen despite being engulfed with toriel’s warmth.

“no need to apologize, sans. i am the one who should be sorry.” letting go of the hug, toriel looked at the aforementioned monster in his sockets with genuine sympathy. “i didn’t know you were experiencing something like this.” her eyes began to well up with tears which eventually cascaded down her cheeks. sans apologetically looked at her with wide eyes, not exactly aware of how to comfort his infatuation.

she wiped her tears immediately after they fell and looked at sans once again, who shot her a heart-melting smile and returned the hug. “shh, please don’t cry, tori,” he replied in a soothing voice, rubbing circles on her back. “it’s not your fault, really.”

he did the same gesticulation as the goat did — he let go of the hug and looked into her beautiful yet glossy hazel brown eyes, holding her hands in his with his thumb caressing the back of her hands. “please don’t blame yourself for something out of your control,” sans spoke gently, as if raising his voice to another decibel would shatter toriel.

sniffling, the ex queen responded, “it’s just that i want to be there for you but— i just can’t even imagine the pain you went through with the world reseting and coming back to the time when frisk fell in the underground. it sounds so tormenting! and you see everyone dying? i couldn’t even handle hearing about the news back when asgore did you–know–what to one child, in contrast to you seeing multiple deaths before you firsthand? it all just makes my heart ache so much. i am so sorry for you, sans.” she tightly hugged the skeleton anew, a fresh new set of tears falling from her face. she just wished she could magically make sans not witness that ever in his entire life, but she couldn’t and all she could do was accept and comfort him — in which she felt wasn’t enough.

toriel felt arms wrap around her torso and she immediately felt more relaxed. being in this position with sans felt so right. if only she could be his but she knew the skeleton could not possibly like someone like her, however that shouldn’t be the main priority in her mind right now. she must be there for sans at all costs and treat him with as much — platonic — love.

letting go of the hug for the nth time, sans looked up at the goat and smiled. not the trademark mischievous grin of his but an unfeigned and heartfelt smile that reached his eyes; and toriel could not melt enough by how captivating he looked with such an expression — something definitely new to her eyes.

while the two lovingly stared into each other’s eyes, just admiring the other’s features under the dimly lit room, sans cupped toriel’s cheeks delicately as he wiped of the tears off of her face.

“tori, do you want to sit by the fireplace? it would be ablazeing if you’ll agree to come with me.”

sans’s adorable invitation made toriel chuckle, which was a blessing to the skeleton’s nonexistent ears. “i could do that for an enfire day at this weather,” she retorted, resulting for both of the pun–loving monsters to cachinnate.

“but would you light to do that with me?” sans asked with a grin.

“of course, sans! i wood love to.”

the two laughed out loud, replacing the ominous silence with pure yet concealed love. i swear, of these two would be in a wedding ceremeny, they would just start exchanging puns, slowly killing papyrus.

the skeleton got off of the bed and put on his favorite blue jacket on that had feathers littered on its hoodie. he turned towards the lovely woman sitting on his bed and held out his hand. with a playful smirk, he asked her, “shall we?”

toriel giggled at the flirtatious look on sans’s face and replied with “gladly” before taking his hand — only to retract hers instantaneously.

sans looked at her, perplexed. was she suddenly allergic to skeletons or something? he eyed her in perturbation.

“sorry, sans. it’s just that you’re hand is so cold all of a sudden!” she remarked, cautiously placing her furry hand back on top of the other’s bony ones, the cold from his hands attacking her warm ones once again. “it wasn’t this cold just a while ago when we held hands,” she pointed out, now standing up.

“eh, i don’t really know why it suddenly dropped cold, either.”

liar.

the reason why his hand felt so cold as if he’s dead and rotted into his skeletal remains was because of how utterly nervous and embarrassed he wad after realization hit him like how regina george got hit with a bus.

“well, we should most definitely go to the fireplace downstairs, come on.”

and with that, the two headed out of the bedroom and hallway that used to be filled with so much anxiety. now, it only made them feel nothing but the heat from each other’s body under the stormy snowy weather.

the two laughed at each others’ jokes regarding flames and winter, still holding hands as they trudged down the banister with obvious lovestruck expressions plastered onto their faces. they were too into the moment to notice that they were literally trudging down the steps so slowly, as if it was already their wedding where toriel must be walking doen the aisle. they were too into their world that time did not matter that much anymore — nor the judging looks from their family.

frisk noticed how undyne had momentarily stopped arguing with them to look into a certain direction, only to notice that the others were looking that way as well.

they noticed toriel walk back into the room. “oh, hi goat— OOH!” frisk gasped to the point where they choked violently on air.

the others began squealing and participating into the teasing as well. papyrus being so proud of his brother, but at the same time, as a brother, was willing to embarrass the soul out of him at the soft situation that completely destroys his chill façade.

however, asgore walked out of the room which caused suspicion to spark but sadly, only frisk felt that feeling as they eyed the strange goat who wandered into the kitchen after seeing his ex walk into the room with his close friend’s son.

ok, understandable tho.

until asgore casually returned with a box of dry cereal in his hand. oh, he was just hungry nvm—

“hey, i sense something in the supposedly cold air!” undyne teased, laughing teasingly at the end. “some sort of warmth? but from how if it feels like it’s coming from my right side when the fireplace is by my left!”

“o–oh my, toriel w–what is that you’re holding? hmm?!” alphys teased with a grin.

undyne laughed out loud then spoke, “holding hands? what comes after holding hands again, papyrus?”

the mentioned skeleton smirked. “oh— i think . . . kissing?”

alphys squealed while undyne’s grin only grew larger. “i already saw them do that by the hill two times! how about after that?”

“after that?”

“next 👏 move 👏”

“m . . . making out?”

“stop it with how slow the action is! can’t we just move onto se—”

“woah, okay!” toriel intervened. she was