[Deleted]

OOC: Hi! Thank you so much for checking out my first Social event! I'd love to have you join! Please know, I'm only accepting one partner for this thread - Toriel's only got one passenger's seat! Additionally, I'd very much like to set up a post-deadline of EVERY FRIDAY before 8:00 CST! This thread is going to be a lil' more laid-back than your standard mission, but I feel like I should probably get in the habit of setting these deadlines before I impose one on my upcoming mission threads!

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Life looked so much different in a sphere. After residing in the Underground for literal centuries, Toriel thought she had it all figured out. She'd spend the rest of her days caring for the Ruins. She would restore order to a place that the Underground had long forgotten. In doing so, she'd bring hope in the monsters who couldn't bring themselves to move on from the vestiges of early post-war society. It was a life of solitude. Sure, Toriel would have more than enough time to provide for herself, but she'd never again know the comforts of keeping company. She was resigned to closing herself off from the world. To spend the end of days completely alone. That was her lot in life. Her fate. 

Who could've guessed that a dimensional shift would lead to such a change in perspective?

The surface offered so many new freedoms! There were indulgences that The Underground couldn't accommodate but, now that she'd come out on top, the world was her oyster! She was finally able to pursue her dream of obtaining a "normal" job. As a teacher, students would listen to her without thinking of her husband. As a faculty member, teachers would talk one-to-one with her without having to tiptoe around the semantics of royalty. She had peers and she had children. She'd live in a lovely one-room apartment. Smaller than her house in the Ruins, but much more manageable. A delightful space to keep to herself when she needed to refresh. Not to mention - there were dozens of brand-new technologies that she'd never even seen before!

Just the other day, she'd bought herself a car. Something modest to get her to work, but cozy enough to putt people around the Life Sphere in. There was so much she could do, now that she can get around the Life Sphere in a jiffy! Her favorite car-to-do quickly became going on rides with friends. Every weekend, she'd permit herself to take a trip with someone else. Whether it be a faculty member, a neighbor, or someone else she'd managed to meet during her time on Li. Today, she planned a special ride. That's because she wanted to do something special. She was going to see the sun rise.

Ring, ring! Her clamshell phone cried out. 

Ring, ring... The speaker warbled. It was an old phone, so it'd seen better days.

Beeep-! Oh. Straight to voicemail. Toriel was never too good at leaving these. It was always so embarrassing to hear them played back, but she wouldn't let herself be discouraged. She took a moment to steel her nerves before sending the following message: 

"Good morning! I hope I haven't woke you. Please forgive me - I'm a little early, but I wanted to make sure we'd catch it. I'm parked out in front. I've got something for you to eat. Oh, and tea - I prepared a cup of tea for you, too. If you wouldn't mind, could you let me know when you get this? Thank you, my chi- I mean, my friend. I'll see you soon."

[Mr.BadTimes]

* After a long time of... Well, pretty much doing absolutely nothing besides sleeping, Sans had returned to the Life Sphere. Where did he go? Who knows, and he most likely (well, definitely) forgot about it. Yet, he couldn't help but feel that something was different, a change in the winds. Standing in his usual posture, with that goofy smile and laidback look in his eyes, the crown prince of puns chuckled as he gazed at Life Sphere once again. That fresh air, the calm wind that gently touched his bones, it put M.r funny bones himself in the right mood to start out the day.



* Yet, that feeling of the change in the winds still put Sans on edge - nothing too extreme, but an unusual feeling. As though there was something, someone that he knew who had arrived within Life Sphere. Was it the Kiddo Frisk? Probably? Or maybe Papyrus or Undyne? Mmm, to see those two will be a -little- convenient to say the least...


* Then his phone rang, which played the very recorded message. The voice, the very voice made Sans pupil shrink, and his skeletal eyelids widened upon realising the very person's voice. There was only one person that he knew who spoke in that manner, the soft, heavenly tone, and especially nearly uttering those famous words; "My child."





*Sans felt his monster heart beat faster than usual, clutching his chest with his left skeleton hand, erratically looking left and right to make sure no one was watching him. In mere seconds, he disappeared, taking his traditional 'shortcut' to pass the time to find where Toriel was. For the first time ever, he was -ACTUALLY- in the mood to do something for once! That in itself can speak a whole volume for the famous lazybones.


* After taking several 'shortcuts', he managed to finally found her car, noticing that she indeed parked out front, and beyond the car was Toriel herself. The tall, elegant, plump, curvaceous goat mother who was the only one within the Underground to have loved and laughed at Sans jokes during his time as a lazy lookout. Goodness, it felt like forever ago... Yet, right now, at this moment, he finally saw her face to face.


* The Skeleton was still shocked, he wanted to burst in tears, embrace Toriel in a wonderful friendship hug and never let go. Yet, still, he remembered he had a reputation to uphold, and that he had to pull off his usual charm and wit. Even if he was going to be around Toriel of all people, Sans had a reputation to uphold. He dusted himself off, making sure his bones and signature clothes were presentable, hands in his pockets and proceeded to move before finally arriving behind Toriel:











 

[Deleted]

Toriel held a saran-wrapped plate in one hand as she made the call with another. Thank goodness, it was still warm. She'd prepared a pie just before she'd set out to her co-worker's place. There were so many apartment complexes on Brightwing Lane. She was beginning to wonder if she'd pulled into the wrong one. It looked like it. It seems like she'd missed a digit on this person's address and wound up on the other side of town. She double-checked the number she was calling. Sure enough, she'd dialed the wrong person too. She accidentally called a "Funnybones" instead of her faculty friend. She was readying herself to call the right number when, all of a sudden, someone had slipped into the backseat.

There was no warning. Nobody had announced their arrival. No one had approached the car. As far as she could tell, the car door wasn't even opened! How could anyone be back there? Toriel felt her paws clam up for a moment. They clutched the steering wheel tight as her mind raced with possibilities. She was working with rather powerful magic-users lately. Not the least of which was Miss Dell'Thayme, a fellow teacher at Hylia's Grace Academy. She'd warned Toriel about an insectoid takeover. She'd said something about wasps and war. Was that it, then? Had the bees caught up to her? Paranoid, Toriel listened for any buzz-buzzing or fly-fluttering. However, all she could hear was the rustling of a baggy pleather coat. That and - bones? When she recognized the sound, an audible gasp escaped her. She checked her rear-view mirror to verify.

Suddenly, puns. Sans strung together so many puns. By this point, most anyone would've preferred to encounter the bees. Not Toriel. She was really drinking these puns up! By the second "tea," Toriel had begun to howl with laughter. Leaning on the steering wheel, she practically busted her gut with laughter. Thankfully, she'd pulled her keys out of the ignition. If she hadn't, there'd be a good chance that they'd both be careening into the side of the apartment building by now. Toriel tried to collect herself, drying her eye with a napkin she'd left in the cup holster.

The sky began to brighten up. The pie was getting colder, too. It didn't look like she'd have enough time to drive to her faculty friend's house. If she wanted to get to the edge of town before sunrise, she'd need to head there now. So, she decided to take a risk. She placed the pie in her passenger's seat. She patted the headrest, prompting Sans to join her up front. Beside her, there was a set of plastic cutlery and a spill-safe sippy cup. Presumably, that's where the tea was. She had a cup up by her, too. The presentation of the meal wasn't that great, but she'd never had to bake for someone on-the-go before. The boss monster cleared her throat, averting her gaze from the skeleton before asking him that ever-important question.

[Mr.BadTimes]

* For the first time since settling in at Life Sphere, Sans was beyond relieved to be with someone he knew from the Underground. He showed his charming smile and laughed along with Toriel, participating in the merry fit of chuckles and giggles from the onslaughts of puns he had blasted out. his skeletal eyelids rested in the usual position, leaning forward as he rested his elbows on the back of Toriel's seat, looking at her wonderful, gorgeous eyes. A pair of eyes that he could lose himself at her beauty.


* Then he heard her words, mentioning of achieving a position in the Royal Guard if he -dared- to continue flattering the former Queen of Monsters, along with her return pun of being boned. It was at that point that Sans proceeded to laugh, placing his right skeletal hand on his bone head, wiping a tear with his left index finger. He really missed these moments, a fainting memory taking him back to those days of him telling knock-knock jokes by the massive door that led to Toriel's home.











* Ah, the dangerous combination of flirting and puns. Truly, for one such as Sans, this was a powerful combination that few can survive... Actually, that was a lie, many people can survive his flirting and puns and may often find them pretty terrible. Yet still, he just simply could not help himself, and some may even notice a hue of light blue on his skeletal cheeks. Was he blushing? One could hardly say (of course he was!). He noticed Toriel's motion of her hand and knew what it was Toriel offered, musting what little non-laziness energy in his lazy bones, and made his way to the front directly next to her, noticing the fine tea seat and the smell of that delicious pie was all too irresistible, and how can a skeleton be able to smell is anyone's guess!



*That's when he heard such a proposition made by Toriel; to go for a ride. Now to any dirty mind, they could take that phrase for any meaning, and Sans was BEYOND tempted to pull out a Joke. But he noticed the seriousness of her voice, the look in her eyes. It was meaningful, and far be it for him to ruin the moment. He closed his eyes and opened them, looking directly forward to observe the sky slowly getting brighter. He would not ruin this moment for Toriel.

[Deleted]

So, they set off. Toriel started the car with a jump. She put her pedal to the metal, kicking up pebbles before allowing the vehicle to settle. She didn't realize how quickly she'd pulled out until she'd looked over to her passenger. The pie had wrestled itself from his lap and began to jostle around. That wouldn't do. Toriel was elated at seeing her old "pun pal" again, but that's no excuse to hurry off into the sunset- er, sunrise! When she got her license, Toriel also agreed to become a responsible driver! After all, if she wasn't going to set a good example for the kids - what sort of caretaker would she be?! So she tried to contain herself. She kept herself from barreling into another fit of puns and, instead, opted to talk about something more casual. Hopefully, she wouldn't be reduced to a giggly mess so soon.

 

Back when the Royal Family was still "Royal," Toriel loved to tease her son - Asriel. She'd hug him in front of his classmates. She'd pinch his cheeks in front of his teachers. Sometimes, they would allow her to sit in class while he gave a presentation - and she'd be sure to overwhelm him with affection after each one. By age seven, Asriel had become an expert at tolerating his parent's constant doting. Be that as it may, Toriel had one line that never failed to embarrass him. It was her coup de grace. Asriel knew he was in for it when she'd lift him up, put her muzzle to his forehead, and give a hearty -

"You sound so grown up!"

Oh, it never failed to make him blush! There was some truth to that statement, though. If someone's changed, you can hear it. Something in their voice clicks and, suddenly, they sound - different. Toriel had long since passed her golden days. When she departed for the Ruins, she didn't think she had much more room to grow. And yet, here she was. Picking up new skills, learning new recipes. Perhaps Sans felt the same way. She'd saddled him with quite the responsibility there at the end. After all - to preserve the life of the last Fallen Child, that was not an easy promise to keep! Nonetheless, there were no children to look after anymore. No seals to bind them, and no barriers to keep them from one another. Toriel reveled in this excitement. It hadn't fully sunk in yet but, after coming face to face with the skeleton behind the door - she realized. For once in her adult life, she was free. Truly free.