Toriel blinked, staring at the door. Somebody answered.

Someone lived on the other side of those doors.

Someone was living in the ruins.

Toriel took a moment to process this before resuming her joke. After all, now she had an audience, so now wasn't the time to be silent.

"Juno," The short female said, shoving her hands into her pockets as she spoke.

"Juno who?" The voice asked.

From what Toriel could tell, it was a male, probably a little bit older then her. He also sounded as if he hadn't spoken to someone in a long time, and his voice sounded lost, hopeless.

He sounded so dead inside.

As if he had lost everything.

"Juno any other bad jokes?" Toriel asked, giggling to herself.

Now, this voice didn't just chuckle, or giggle like she did. He howled with laughter, making Toriel laugh with him as she listened.

He liked her joke!

"Knock knock," Toriel said, a newfound source of self esteem rising within her soul.

"Who's there?" The voice asked, sounding more excited then before.

"A little old lady."

"A little old lady who?"

"All this time, I had no idea you could yodel."

Once again, the mysterious monster behind the door burst with laughter, Toriel joining him. She felt happiness bursting through her, the kind that gave her hope.

Someone really liked her jokes, they didn't get annoyed like some of her friends did.

"Hey, I got one," The voice said, "Knock knock."

"Who's there?" Toriel asked, grinning to herself.

"Robin."

"Robin who?"

"Robin you, hand over the cash."

Now it was Toriel's turn to howl with laughter. Needless to say, this guy was good at these.

She was pretty sure she had just made a new friend.

The short girl pressed her back against the door and slid down, sitting down against the door as she said another joke. For some time it was just like that, Toriel saying a joke before the man behind the door said a joke. It just went back and forth for some time, joke after joke spilling out from their mouths.

"Oh, I need to go now," Toriel said, realizing how late it was.

"Will you be here tomorrow?" The voice asked hopefully.

"Of course, same time," Toriel said, smiling reassuringly at the door even though the monster behind it couldn't see her.

"Then same time it is," The monster said, "Have a nice night."

"You too," Toriel said before walking off.

~~~~~~

Sans woke up feeling pretty bad that morning.

His bones had creaked when he stood up, so he was forced to go more slowly on his human search. Of course, like many of his days inside of confined space of ruins, he didn't find any, which was a relief for him.

Maybe a human won't fall down.

Maybe a human won't have to suffer what the other six did.

However, the skeleton knew eventually, a seventh human would fall down, and they would be greeted by Sans, and he knew they'd grow bored inside of the ruins and would want to return home.

The skeleton was at average height for a monster, wearing a long black hooded robe that covered practically his entire body. He had long dark blue sleeves that went further down then his fingers, which he often paired his hands together in front of his chest. The design on the robe was a Delta Rune symbol, the familiar symbol of the monster kingdom. He often looked calm, but that was a defensive mechanism, one which he caught his 'enemies' off guard with before a fight.

Sans didn't look it, but he really did despise himself. Those lives he could have saved if he just tried, but, in the end, he didn't want to hurt them, so he let them pass through the doors. Whenever he looked in a mirror, he didn't see a runaway King, he saw a filthy human killer that couldn't protect anyone.

So, when Sans was done with his daily rounds of the ruins, he went to the door after eating lunch to check it out, making sure it was still locked.

But he heard a voice saying a joke.

So he approached the door and listened to the joke, a soft smile spreading across his face. It had been awhile since he smiled, it had been years since the last human had fallen down, so it had been awhile since he smiled, or even talked to anyone.

But this voice made him smile with their silly joke, and they probably didn't even know he was listening.

So, he answered their next knock knock joke and didn't hold back his laughter when he heard it, his eye sockets tearing up and his ribcage hurting from how much he was laughing.

It has been awhile since he felt happy.

And its been years since he had said a joke.

So, he told her one, and she laughed too, making him feel hopeful.

Not all monsters were bad.

Just some were.

So, after some time of saying puns, Sans the skeleton realized it was his scheduled time for dinner, but before he could say anything, the female on the other side beat him to it.

"Oh, I need to go now," She said, Sans hearing her stand up.

"Will you be here tomorrow?" He asked hopefully, turning his head to face the door, since he was sitting against the door.

"Of course, same time," She said reassuringly.

"Then same time it is," He said happily, "Have a nice night."

"You too," She said before walking off.

Sans pressed his hands against the door along with his skull, listening to the footsteps fade away from the door. Then he smiled slightly, turning around as his soul glowed with a new found happiness.

He had a friend that wasn't going to leave him!

Sans had walked back to his house within the depths of the ruins with his happy grin on his face, rather pleased with the outcome of the day. Once he arrived he fed his pet frogs dinner before he fed himself, going to bed shortly after.

And that night, he didn't sleep with any nightmares.