Respectfully, God

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IMPORTANT information!!

If you can please spare a moment to read this, I would really appreciate it!

Firstly: most, if not all, of my Reader inserts, are ALWAYS Half Mexican-American and half whatever ethnicity YOU WANT! THE READER FOR THIS STORY IS HALF MEXICAN-AMERICAN! Or she can be a full Mexican if you’d like. If this is, for some reason, a deal breaker for you, then you are more than welcome to stop reading!

Second: I should mention now that I have 11+ more chapters already prewritten AND the entirety of this story planned to the end. That means that most, or rather, everything in this story is NON-NEGOTIABLE! Don't like how the story is going? I'm sure you can find something else!

This story, by the way, is going to be LONG. Most likely over 100 chapters, but hopefully, it won’t be that lengthy.

And Lastly: This story is also in Patreon! What that means is that there's early access content there! It gets uploaded once a week, and is ahead of the public release by 2 chapters. It is NOT an obligation to sub to my Patreon because my story is still FREE! You just have to wait for the release, that's all!

They’re standing right over there. They’re all the way over there in Timbuktu. You don’t understand why they’re–no, he. He is so far away.

He’s hard to see, though. His skeletal figure is so hard to make out–is he tall or short? What’s his skull structure? You only know he’s a skeleton because the tip of his fingers are exposed, but even the rest of his hand is obscured.

What is this? You think this is… You genuinely don’t know. You don’t know who this is.

“…ou …kn… me…”

What did… Is he saying-

'‘DON’T… RECOG… ME?”

Is he shouting at you this time, or just raising his voice? You’re certain it’s the same voice, but at the same time, you just don’t know…

You narrow your eyes and walk closer, trying to take matters in your own hands if this strange space is making it difficult. You walk, and you walk, and you walk. But no matter how long you walk, no matter how far, the skeletal man stays right where he is: so far away from you.

“…ome on, don’t you…” The skeleton shakes his head, desperation in his voice, “DON’T YOU REMEMBER ME?”

You slow to a stop, breathing a bit heavily from this strange sensation in your chest.

No, you don’t recognize him at all. You’ve never seen this person before. How are you expected to remember someone you’ve never met?

Is this Sans, or Papyrus? Or even Gaster?

You want to cry, you want to feel such sorrow for him. But you just don’t feel anything for them. How can you feel anything towards someone you don’t even know?

“…ease…” His voice breaks, so weak and soft and way too quiet. “…please… don’t give… on me…”

You narrow your eyes at his face. You think… You think you can see a feature on his face! You take a running start, and this time, it’s like his body is being dragged closer to you.

Just as you’re a meter away, he completely disappears into dust.

You slow to a stop, panting to catch your breath.

You want to miss him so bad, but…

You feel nothing for him.

————

Your eyes snap open with a startle to your heart. You feel so disorientated for a solid five seconds. Funnily enough, what grounds you back to reality is the sound of soft snoring coming from your phone.

With a relieved sigh from your nose, your heart slowly settles as Sans’ snores fill your head.

True to your word, you and Sans called last night as you were “going to sleep early.” You two were very lovey-dovey and kept going on and on about how much you missed each other. You and him shared what you were up to while the other was away, laughing at each other and yourselves at the one thing that was revealed:

You and Sans are hopelessly attached to each other.

Sans was more embarrassed about it than you were, but it was still embarrassing for you nonetheless.

Eventually, after several hours of yapping, you fall into a comfortable silence with each other while doing your own things. You’re guessing that somewhere along that, you and your boy-toy must’ve fallen asleep without hanging up.

It’s been a long time since you’ve fallen asleep with someone on the phone, you forgot how nice it is when it’s someone you actually like so much. You actually really like the fact you two ended up falling asleep together on the phone.

You grab your phone and turn it on–though quickly, you scramble to grab your charger to make sure it doesn’t die. Phew, that was close! You check your call time with the bone boy: about eleven hours and a half, still going strong of course.

You don’t want to end the call before he wakes up, but you don’t want to rush to wake him up, either. You suppose you can do something else to pass the time.

It’s been maybe close to another hour before Sans finally wakes up on his own. He does a little snort-type noise as he wakes up, it causes you to cringe a bit when the phone gets noisy from all the shuffling he’s doing.

“…mmph… wha the…” (You think) Sans smacks his phone to take a look at it. “ughhh… [y/n]…?”

You smile as you mark your place in the book you were reading. “Morning, sugar berry.”

“mmm. mornin’.” The monster yawns loudly, “how’d you sleep?”

“Pretty alright, actually. I didn’t realized that I passed out on you last night, sorry about that. How’d you sleep?”

“slept like a log.” Sans groans softly while, you assume, he stretches, “‘nd don’t worry ‘bout passing out. i thought it was cute. you snore so cute.”

“Wha–I do not!”

“yeah, you do. it’s very soft, but it’s there.”

…You can’t even say if that’s true or not, because it’s not like you’re aware that you snore. You were never told that you snored, either.

“Wait,” You narrow your eyes at the wall since you have nothing else to look at, “is it actually soft snoring, or am I loud and you’re just trying to protect my feelings?”

“…huh???”

Okay, you suppose he’s still too asleep to be answering such complicated questions.

“anyway, how you doin’? sounds like you’ve been awake for a while.”

“Meh, I’m alright. I was only up for an hour-ish, so I was reading one of the books I took with me." You answer with a smile, reaching over to grab said book.

“oh yeah? how’re you liking it?”

“You know, yesterday I wasn’t really feeling it because the romance was so bad. But then there was a plot-twist that the Alpha CEO wasn’t even the main love interest! It was rival company’s secretary! And the secretary is a woman! I lock the fuck in for doomed yuri, Sans.”

Mhm… What’s yuri? Is it related to that anime stuff that Alphys likes?

“sounds nice, babe. i’m glad you ended up liking it. i’m a lil’ picky about what i read myself, so i can’t get into things very easily.”

You chuckle, “We should have a lil Book Club, you, me, and Papyrus, where we read really shitty stories to each other.”

“sounds terrible, i’m in. i’ll talk to him about it when i go out with him later today.” Sans sighs with an easy smile, “y’know, [y/n]…”

Lowering your voice because you think you hear Toriel moving about, you answer softly: “Yeah?”

“i… i actually really liked sleeping on the phone. maybe ‘cause i missed you, but i had a better sleep when i could hear you.”

Yo… That’s really fucking… YO??? That’s so fucking adorable!?!? Holy shit, how do you even respond to this?! You want to squeal like a little bitch and cry, that was so adorable!

Honestly… You can’t say it on the same level as Sans, since you had passed out first without meaning to. But, you were really happy when you woke up and realized you two fell asleep together. You can’t remember the dream you had, but you woke up in a sort of panic that was nearly instantly soothed from Sans’ presence.

Gosh, look how far you’ve come with the bone boy.

It might be a good idea to share this with him, too. No point in hiding what you think and feel from him, especially if you think it’ll make him happy.

“Oh, Sans. You’re so fucking cute!”

“heh, thank.”

“I was really happy when I saw we fell asleep together, too. I–don’t remember what my dream was about, but I just remember waking up in a panic, and-”

“-woah, you okay?” He sounds a lot more alert now.

He’s cute.

“I’m okay, baby grill, don’t worry. Like I said, I really don’t remember it, so I’m fine. Anyway, I woke up in a panic, but as soon as I heard you snoring, I just–I felt so much better. I really liked it, Sans.”

You’re going to ask this because you have the sneaky suspicion that Sans is going to want to ask, but might be too embarrassed to do so.

“Do you think…” Truth be told, you’re a little shy yourself. You’re not used to being so… cutesy. “I would really like if we could do this again. Maybe until I get back home? If you’re okay with that-”

“absolutely.”

Oh!

You grin, “Woah, don’t make it sound like I’m forcing you now.”

There’s soft thumping sounds from outside your room, and your brain immediately registers it as Toriel walking by to the kitchen. It’s so nice how you’re already going back into the motions of being back here.

Ah, but if she’s awake, you should probably get up and help with breakfast. If you’re not watching her carefully, she’ll try to slip in snails into your food. It’s like the equivalent of a mom trying to blend vegetables into her baby’s food without the baby noticing so the baby can finally eat some fucking greens.

…You do not care to try snails quite yet, so you should probably go now, actually.

“-because i can’t work a hotdog stand with just one hand.”

…What? You weren’t listening. What did you just come back to?

You narrow your eyes at the ceiling, “What are you talking about–Are you jorking it right now?”

“…what?”

“Can you even jork it? Is that something you can do? Is that something you want to do?”

“i don’t think this is something i wanna talk about right now after just waking up.”

“Fair enough, I came swinging out the gate with that one I suppose.” You grunt softly as you start to sit up, “Alright, I hate to do this to us, but I gotta get going, pookie. Tori is gonna start making breakfast soon, and if I’m not supervising her, she’s gonna try to get me to eat snails.”

“oh? i heard snails can be nutritious.”

“See–Now, me personally, I am not eager to find out if eating snails in the Underground means I run the risk to eat magic snails, which would make them fall under the category of Monsters, which would turn me into a monster-eating maniac.”

“…a person who thinks all the time, has nothing to think about except thoughts.”

“…What?”

“i’m saying you’re overthinking it.”

You pout as you stand up, looking around your space for an oversized shirt you can throw on, “Leave me alone, you’re so mean to me.”

“how?”

“Because spiders here are monsters, aren’t they?”

“yeah, i… i guess they are…”

“So, it’s reasonable for me to assume that most, if not all life in the Underground, are also monsters. AH-HA! Checkmate, idjot!”

“why did you say idiot like that? you’re so weird.”

“Whatever, you love it here.”

You hear Sans sigh with a smile in his tone, “yeah. yeah, i do.”

You’re smiling as well, “I’m sorry, Sans. I really have to go now. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“no worries, [y/n]. talk to you later.”

You hang up with a quick goodbye, tossing your phone onto your bed. Now, where the hell is that one shirt you stole from Papyrus?

————

Today, Sans is accompanying Papyrus on patrol in the more crowded area of Downtown Snowdin. It isn’t often that he goes with his brother–it maybe happens once or twice per Reset. In this particular timeline, it’s been so long since a Reset, that Sans has been going with Papyrus more than usual.

For this particular instance though, Sans’ motive for going with his brother is simply because he misses you and doesn’t want to be alone with the cats.

Don’t get him wrong, he thinks Childe and Morax are “cute babies,” as you lovingly call them. But Sans is one to enjoy the company of someone who can talk back, and hanging out with his brother is always preferable.

Papyrus was keeping his strides shorter so that Sans could keep pace and hold a proper conversation. Papyrus just wanted to do a search around the area, and also touch up any puzzles and traps that have been set up here since way back when.

Their conversation topic?

Well…

“that’s how i know [y/n] likes me, bro. she offered to call every night, y’know.” Sans gloats as if he wasn’t the one who eagerly agreed because he was simply too flustered to ask first. “not to throw her under the bus, buuut, she might be a little obsessed.”

“SANS, HAVEN’T YOU BEEN SEVERELY DEPRESSED SINCE [Y/N]’S DEPARTURE?”

“hey, whose side are you on here?”

“I AM JUST SAYING, YOUR STORY HERE DOES NOT LINE UP WITH THE FACTS.”

Sans stutters, genuinely taken aback, “wh-you-the facts? what facts?”

“I BELIEVE YOU ARE THE OBSESSED ONE, SANS!” Papyrus nods with certainty, “NOT TO WORRY, OF COURSE. I BELIEVE [Y/N] IS JUST AS INFATUATED WITH YOU.”

“…say it, then.”

“SAY WHAT, B-BROTHER?”

“say that she’s obsessed with me.”

“I-I JUST DID-”

“-no, no. you said she’s infatuated with me. say that she’s obsessed with me if you believe it.”

“…I DO NOT LIKE THESE GAMES.”

“damn…” Sans stares ahead of himself, “am i really like that?”

“FRET NOT, BROTHER,” Papyrus pats him on the head. “I FIND IT RATHER ENDEARING THAT YOU ARE SO ATTACHED TO HER ALREADY. THESE TYPES OF CONNECTIONS WITH OTHER PEOPLE IS WHAT HELPS US GROW AS PEOPLE, AS WELL.”

“don’t you think it’s…” Sans rotates his hand in a circle in a vague manner, “i don’t know. don’t you think it’s weird for me? you know, like whatever i have going on with [y/n]: my feelings for her, how attached i am, and all that. isn’t it something you never would’ve expected of me?”

The reason he has to ask is because one, that’s his brother, he just has to know his brother’s thoughts and opinion. And two, Sans needs to understand what he must look like to an outsider. Papyrus will definitely read Sans better than anyone else, so he wouldn’t have to worry too much in general.

But there is another monster in the Underground that has an uncanny ability to read him, despite his efforts to be unreadable. (That’s Flowey, by the way.)

Papyrus, unsurprisingly, rolls his eyes. “YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO THINGS LIKE “LOVE,” BROTHER. JUST BECAUSE I’VE NEVER SEEN IT HAPPEN TO YOU, IT DID NOT MAKE ME BELIEVE YOU WERE ABOVE OR BELOW IT.”

Sans really doesn’t give Papyrus enough credit. That’s not to say Sans is always underestimating his younger brother’s skill or intelligence, just that Papyrus is always exceeding his expectations.

Honestly, Sans is pretty jealous of that aspect.

“IT CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD, I WILL ADMIT. BUT, ONCE MY SUSPICIONS WERE CORRECT, I NEVER THOUGHT IT TO BE WEIRD.” Papyrus stops walking to put his hands on his sassy hips. “DO YOU FIND YOUR FEELINGS FOR [Y/N] TO BE WEIRD?”

Sans stops walking as well, tilting his head while his ever-present smile wavers, “i mean… it’s a little weird that i would ev-”

“YOU DON’T MEAN THAT, SANS. YOU SHOULD TAKE IT BACK.”

Sans is a little taken aback from the seriousness that overtakes the other skeleton’s face and tone. It’s been a very, very long time since Papyrus was ever genuinely frustrated with his older brother like this. Sans almost drops his smile in sheer shock alone.

“wh–well, no. no, i don’t mean it like that-”

“I KNOW WHAT YOU WERE TRYING TO SAY, BUT I DON’T THINK YOU SHOULD SAY IT, ANYWAY,” Papyrus huffs, “EVEN IF YOU NEVER EXPECTED THIS FOR YOURSELF, OR… OR MAYBE YOU DID BEFORE, BUT YOU NEVER PURSUED IT, SO IT DIED OUT-”

Wow, Sans almost has an outward reaction to that. What is with his brother today???

“-REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT WAS, THESE FEELINGS ARE VERY SPECIAL, SANS. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS TREAT IT AS SUCH, BUT IN A GOOD WAY. ESPECIALLY FOR SOMEONE LIKE [Y/N].”

“what do you mean by that? [y/n] is the bees knees and all, but the way you said it…”

“WELL… YOU KNOW, SHE’S…” Papyrus looks away with slightly pink cheekbones, “FOR A HUMAN, I THINK SHE IS ONE OF THE REALLY PRETTY ONES, RIGHT? THAT ASIDE, SHE IS REALLY KIND, AND FUNNY, AND SMART, AND–WELL… YOU KNOW.”

“yeah, i do know.” Sans replies a bit more snappy than he genuinely intended to.

Papyrus either doesn’t catch the tone, or he completely ignores it. Nevertheless, he is unperturbed and he grins, but it nearly looks strained.

“I REALLY ENVY YOU, BROTHER. I SEE HOW HAPPY [Y/N] MAKES YOU. I THINK SHE HAS REALLY ADDED A LITTLE SOMETHING TO OUR LIVES, AND I SEE HOW MUCH YOU HAVE BEEN POSITIVELY AFFECTED BY IT. SOMETIMES, I… I WISH I HAD THAT FOR MYSELF. THE WAY YOU HAVE IT.”

Sans blinks owlishly, “wow, paps, i… i never knew you felt that way at all. i mean–i can’t ever remember a time you told me or expressed that you wanted a real love life. admirers and fans, yeah. but not an actual romantic partner.”

There have been previous timelines where Sans can recall maybe Papyrus showing a type of interest in (ugh) Mettaton, but it was always just a way a fan would admire an idol. Even as baby-bones, Papyrus never cared too much about the love stories in fairy-tales or gossips from other monsters.

Where is this coming from? Well, obviously, it’s coming from your sudden insertion to their lives. But Papyrus isn’t saying that he wants you like that.

…Right???

Papyrus shrugs his shoulders and starts walking, making Sans follow right after. “THAT’S BECAUSE I NEVER HAVE TRULY FELT THAT WAY BEFORE. THAT’S WHY I AM JEALOUS.”

Ahhh, okay! Phew, Sans was overthinking for a moment there.

“just… be careful, alright?” Sans teasingly gives Papyrus a nudge at his side, “you don’t want to accidentally lead people on, it’s wrong.”

“WELL, I KNOW THAT, SANS.”

OH, DOES HE NOW?! Well, he suppose those playful "dates" with Frisk in previous timelines was just Papyrus playing along with a kid in a very sarcastic way. It was always obvious to anyone that it was just for a silly fun.

“THAT IS WHY I NEVER BOTHERED TO TRY TO PURSUE A RELATIONSHIP.”

You know something? Sans really loves his brother–so, so much. No matter how many Resets have taken place, and no matter how many timelines he’s been through, Papyrus will never fail to surprise him, and keep him on his toes. His brother can never bore him, then again, Papyrus isn’t someone that is supposed to keep him entertained. He is just someone who is supposed to be his brother.

This whole conversation is something Sans is going to sit with for a while later on so he can fully digest it. To do it now will make him nearly shut down to be alone with his thoughts.

Now isn’t the time for that though. Right now, he is having a good time with his favorite person in the world.

Sans puts his hands in his pockets, letting his grin become mischievously, “if you want, [y/n] and i can be your wingmen. you said it yourself, [y/n] is one of a kind, i bet she can do it.”

Papyrus spots something, but he just rolls his eyes and smiles, “YEAH, RIGHT. MAYBE WE CAN ALL LEARN SOMETHING FROM THAT BOOK CLUB SHE WANTS TO DO.”

“hey, you never know. people get inspiration from stories all the time.”

“UH-HUH. CAN YOU CHECK THAT FOR ME? IT’S ONE OF THE TRAPS I’VE SET UP, CAN YOU MAKE SURE THE ROPE IS SECURE?”

Sans mutters an agreement, not minding the change in topic. He walks over to where Papyrus is gesturing to, and obvious rope that’s not well hidden in the snow. The Comic knows that touching it will just activate whatever trap there is, but he trusts that his own flesh and blood (bone and magic?) wouldn’t set him up to get one-shotted.

However, when Sans steps closer to the rope, he feels something strange beneath his foot, hidden in the snow.

Fuck.

A pie suddenly comes flying at him, slamming right in the smack-dab center of his face. The inertia of the pie was enough to knock him back into the snow with a very manly, totally not high-pitched yelp.

“NYEH-HEH-HEH!!” Papyrus cheers and jumps in place, “I KNEW YOU’D FALL FOR IT–NYEHHH!!”

Sans quickly sat back up and yanks the pie off his face. He throws the pie back at Papyrus, using Blue Magic to make sure it SLAMS into the other’s smug face.

“this is how you repay your poor bro for helping you out?” Using his magic again, Sans gathers up an intimidating amount of snow, “ohh, you’re in for it now!”

“WA-WAIT! TIME OUT! TIME OUT!!”

“you shall pay for your transgressions, traitorous brother of mine!”

“NYOO-HOH-HOOOOH!!”

Tags:

@lemonboy011

@velvetria

Gaster explains to you eventually that while you have a good amount of Determination, that because you’re not originally from this Universe, you are not blessed with any ounce of magic the way other humans would be from this world. Unfortunate, but oh well. (Ch. 43)

Then, you and Sans discuss the future plans of likely visiting other AU’s to continue the search for other fragments to piece together the mad scientist who isn’t really mad. For the time being, Gaster’s fragments will be contained in a Sci-fi as tube that he (me) couldn’t be fucked to mansplain. (Ch. 43)

Afterwards, Sans escorts you to the Ruins so you can visit Toriel for the next week. Sans and Toriel finally officially meet, with Toriel trying to be your wingman. She doesn’t know of your relationship with the skeleton monster, so it leaves you pretty mortified. Sans then visits Alphys to talk to her about the cameras around the Underground, and they have a lovely chat. They’re in agreement that they want you to stay alive and healthy. Eventually Undyne will learn about you, but Alphys will keep you safe until then. (Ch. 45)

Finally, Sans returns home (definitely wasn’t stalling ah-ha XD) and talks to Papyrus. He tells his younger brother about the goals you and he are working towards. That being “reviving” Gaster. Papyrus has mixed feelings on the matter, but is ultimately on the side of supporting him (and you) on this task. (Ch. 46)

A/N: Good? Good! Updates will be slow as I try to get back into the groove of things. Thank you so much to those who were patient with me. Life has been really, really hectic the past 6-7 (⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠) months. On top of that, I had that OG book of mine (that is now discontinued for reasons I legally cannot talk about) that I was working on almost every day since last November.

Anyway, I literally have this entire story planned start to finish, so I’m excited to get back into it! I’ll stop yapping now, hope you guys can enjoy the chapter! Sound the alarms! Spread the word! I’M BACKKKKK!!

Apolocheese if the formatting is wonky, by the way. I’m using Ellipsus instead of Google Docs now (FUCK Ai), and when I copy and paste it over, it tends to get all fucky-wucky.

Please like, comment, and subscribe! 🥹Especially comment, I’d love to see what you guys have to say since it helps motivate me!

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

“I miss my wife, Tails. I miss her a lot.”

Toriel raises an eyebrow, “Your wife? Dear child, you did not mention that you were married in your short time in Snowdin.”

As Toriel reads one of the books you brought along for yourself (Though, you quickly realized that it must’ve been a long, long time since she’s read a new book. You lied on the spot (So perfectly, too! For the first time ever in your fucking life!) and told her that you got it for her. The joy on her face made it so worth it, you don’t even care that you’ll have to pay for the books since you originally only rented them out.) on Chariel, you were lying on the floor with another book you were trying to speed-run so you don’t regret leaving it behind without finishing it.

It was an interesting story so far, but the plot is kind of losing you when you realized it was a “I fell in love with the Mafia Boss” type of romance.

You sigh and roll onto your front, “I’m not. But the brothers and I adopted two kitties. We named them Childe and Morax. You’d love them, I bet. Childe is a crackhead, but Morax mellows him out. I cringe a little bit saying their names, but like, who fucking cares, you know?”

Toriel doesn’t know, actually. She doesn’t understand the issue with the names, but maybe it’s a battle you’re fighting internally. And if she is being honest, she is unsure if she is ready to unpack all of that.

You feel so fucking bad, but things have been rather boring in the Ruins. You miss going to work (Stop the fucking press. You actually crave being a wage-slave.), and you miss…

Dude, you fucking miss your man and his brother. Is that wrong of you? You know you’re supposed to be a strong, independent nut-sack who don’t need no balls, but fuck man… You miss Sans. It hasn’t even been three days, and you really miss Sans.

This unhealthy codependency you have on the funky skeleton monster leaves you feeling a little embarrassed, if you’re honest. Okay, maybe not just a little bit. You’ve been doing a decent job at hiding it, but if you don’t lock the fuck in, Toriel is going to catch on.

“You know what we need to do?” You sit up and close your book, not caring much that you didn’t mark where you left off, “We need to go out into the city and do something. I got so used to just leaving the house when I didn’t want to be idle for too long. Don’t you ever want to do spontaneous shit?”

Toriel raises an eyebrow with a growing smile, “Today of all days?”

“Uh, yeah? Why?”

“Today is Migosp’s first recital. I figured you’d want to save your energy since they will also have audience participation. You know they will want you to participate.”

It’s your turn to raise an eyebrow at this. “Will busting it down white boy style take that much energy out of me?”

“Knowing you? I think so! You always give these things your all!”

Curses, she’s right. Actually, discussing this is reminding you of that time you challenged a bouncer at a club to a dance battle, resulting in your loss. Those were humbling times. However, you DID put your whole [Y/ussy] into that battle, so you can’t even say Toriel is wrong in her assumption.

Man, you miss your Theater Kid phase back in the day… Is Mettaton looking for a dancer? You would love to have a “[Y/n]” moment, maybe a rich Alpha CEO will be watching as you do your thing on the big TV. Then, he could fall in love with you and spoil you with riches so you could take it home and share it with Sans and Papyrus.

…You wonder if Sans would be willing to be the “[Y/n]” for you in the particular scenario. Actually, thinking about Sans in such a submissive position is really enticing…

“[Y/n]?”

“Hmm… Yes, Alpha CEO?”

“…Huh?”

Whoops. That was an inside thought that escaped you.

“Nothing, sorry. I was thinking about the book I was reading just now,” You’re such a liar. What’s wrong with you? “Anyway, I think you’re right. People say ‘Go big, or go home.’ And you know I always go big, T.”

Toriel giggles a bit, “I see. I am sorry we cannot go adventuring today, my child. Though on the bright side, it seems that being in Snowdin has done wonders for you. You are certainly more active over there, aren’t you?”

You smile at her, “Yeah, I am. I work two jobs in Snow-”

“-Two??”

“Well, one job is Thursdays through Sundays at a little restaurant, and the other is Mondays and Tuesdays at a small shop. I guess I’m just a workaholic, but I never considered it too much since my Mondays and Tuesdays are sooo lazy.”

“Ah, I see! You told me a bit about it over the phone, but I am really happy that it’s working out for you so well,” Toriel’s smile becomes a bit forlorn. “Truthfully, I’ve really missed you, dear one. But, I am so much happier knowing that life has been kind to you since you’ve left.”

“I was worried that you’d meet the same fate as the other children that’s fallen down here. The longest a human managed to… to stay alive has been a month.”

Yeah, that would have you scared shitless, too. Actually if it wasn’t for the fact that Papyrus understands a lot better to completely hide your existence from Undyne, you’d be scared to even stay with the skeleton brothers.

You wonder why Papyrus is so okay with lying about you to Undyne when he couldn’t even do it for Frisk. Probably because… Maybe because he knows that you intend to live with them for as long as you can? Or is it because you’re his brother’s girlfriend? Or is it because he just likes you more than he did Frisk?

Is it bad if you want it to be the last one most of all?

“But I’m okay, mom. I’m okay,” You turn where you’re sitting so you can face her more properly, “Sans and Papyrus have done a wonderful job at taking care of me, and hiding me from the Captain of the Royal Guard. The people in Snowdin–I don’t know if I can say that they’re ignorant to the fact that I’m human, but at the very least, they’ve never treated me differently. In fact, I made a lot of friends since I’ve been there.”

Toriel smiles warmly, tears forming in her eyes. She signs and wipes her eyes with her finger–it’s very lady-like of her.

“I’m truly relieved to hear that, [Y/n]. I will not lie to you, part of me still worries greatly that one day something might happen anyway. I cannot bear to imagine that day ever arriving, but it is still something that I think about often.” Toriel sighs with a smile, “But, it sounds like I am worrying over nothing. And that flower… it has not come to terrorize you, yes?”

Ah, yike. How do you explain to her that while, no, Flowey isn’t haunting your ass, that you know for a fact it’s more because he is waiting for a time to strike?

“No, I haven’t even seen or heard from him since then,” You choose to tell the truth, but you won’t go out of your way to say everything. “Things have been great, T. Honestly… maybe soon, it could be time you finally step out of this place yourself?”

Looking shaken at the prospect, Toriel only looks away from you. “M-Maybe a conversation for another time, my child.”

“Baby steps, Toriel. Baby steps.” You push your hands against the ground to stand up, “That being said… how about we go get something for lunch? I wanna get something to eat!”

“Ah, yes! I know just the place that serves delicious snail pie-.”

Brother eugh.

“-And this delicacy called ‘Shepard's Pie’!”

Let’s gooo! This will hopefully get your mind off the skeletons for now. This is usually about the time you’re preparing lunch for Sans.

————

Sans groans for the nth time, face down into the cushions of the couch. He is ignoring how Childe and Morax are using his bony back as a mini playground at the moment because he simply cannot be bothered.

He misses you so fucking bad, it’s actually so fucking embarrassing.

Papyrus is taking pity on him and going out to get food since you would be cooking for them by now. Papyrus tried to offer, but stopped when he saw just how fucking depressed his older brother is being about your absence.

Sans thinks the only reason why Papyrus isn’t in misery with him is because the taller monster is occupying himself with his training and patrolling and the like. Sans on the other hand…

Even the research he’s doing regarding Gaster’s fragment, the DJ, and all that crap–it all involves you, too! How easily you integrated yourself into their lives, that everything Sans wants to do reminds him of you.

EVEN NAPPINGGGGG!!! YOU TWO COULD BE NAPPING TOGETHER, BUT NOOOO!! NOW HE HAS TO NAP ALL BY HIM-FUCKING-SELF!!

Sans suddenly gets up, forcing the poor kitties to jump off him with a cute noise.

What is he even doing?! Doesn’t Sans have a job to do?! He needs to go around looking for Flowey! He completely forgot about that since he’s been embarrassingly yearning for you to return to him.

Alphys told him the other day that she’s been spotting Flowey on her cameras, just watching you (and possibly him and Papyrus by extension) from a distance. The last known location of the weed was by Waterfalls the day you all went Pussy Hunting-

He shouldn’t say it like that in his mind. Holy shit, you’re actually tainting him with your vulgar language. Has he been swearing more often since meeting you? He thinks he has…

Anyway, Flowey was last spotted in Waterfalls, but chances are that he’s back in the Ruins since you went there.

Sans slumps back into the couch. Well, there goes his plans to look for Flowey. How inconvenient.

He pulls out his phone and stares at it blankly. He could text you. You two don’t often message or call each other. Rather, you never had the need to. There hasn’t been a moment where you two aren’t together (outside of your work hours, of course), so you two never needed to do anything like that.

‘i mean… it can’t hurt, i guess,’ Sans thinks absentmindedly as he pulls up your contact.

——

You: hey

——

The bone boy is left waiting for four minutes until you finally reply to him. If he opens your message immediately, then that’s between him and the Lord.

——

Baby boy baby! Hello I miss you! :The Lover of All Time

(He thinks the new name for you in his contacts is pretty cute. Though, he might die of embarrassment if you ever catch it.)

You: missed you too like a LOT a lot

----

You’re adorable :) I was just thinking about how I probably have some unhealthy codependency on you or something :The Lover of All Time

Is that weird to say? :The Lover of All Time

Sorry that was probably an inside though :The Lover of All Time

----

You: no no don’t be sorry You: i’m glad you said that, really

You: honestly i think i’m the same way

You: i’ve been keeping up with my work, but other than that, i spend all my free time just moping around because i miss you

You: are we sad?

----

Aw probably :The Lover of All Time

But that’s just because we like each other so much! :The Lover of All Time

What are you up to right now? :The Lover of All Time

We should call later tonight before we head to bed. Wouldn’t that be nice? I miss the sound of your voice a lot :The Lover of All Time

----

You: oh thank fuck

You: yeah, i’d really like that [y/n]

You: i miss the sound of your voice too

----

Sounds good then! So what are you doing right now? :The Lover of All Time

----

You: i WAS gonna go on the prowl for a wild flower monster siting

You: but i’m pretty sure the weed is with you in the ruins

You: so now i’m gonna so some reports on the dj so i can better prepare for the next au

----

Mmm no no pues wow :The Lover of All Time

Make sure to take breaks please :The Lover of All Time

Toriel says hi btw lmao :The Lover of All Time

----

You: oh neat

You: tell her i said the same thing

You: so you’re with her right now then?

----

Ye we’re in the city getting lunch together :The Lover of All Time

The food should be out soon me thinks :The Lover of All Time

----

You: gotcha You: i’ll let you go then so you can enjoy lunch in peace

----

I’d hate to go, but Toriel IS giving me a look. Phones at the table is pretty rude… :The Lover of All Time

I’ll give you a call tonight ok? :) :The Lover of All Time

----

You: yea sounds good You: bye [y/n] You: … You: i’ll miss you

You: a LOT

You Deleted a Message

(Pleaseeee! Sans hopes you didn’t see that! Isn’t he being too needy??)

Lol :The Lover of All Time I’ll miss you too Bone Boy :The Lover of All Time

A SHIT ton!!! I WILL MISS YOU SOOOO MUCH!!! :The Lover of All Time

----

You: lol ok You: i will miss you THIIIISSS much!!

——

Sans see you type for a moment, but the little bubbles disappear. Toriel must’ve made you put your phone away finally. He sighs and tosses his phone onto the couch next to him. He texted you because he was missing you, but you ended up carrying that conversation in the end.

He is a terrible texter. He just hopes you won’t hold it against him…

With a sigh, he grabs his phone again to look through his photo gallery. Sans doesn’t have many photos, but the ones he has taken are very important to him.

The most recent one being the one he’s taken of you.

It was one of your days off work, and he took you to the Waterfalls for a little date. It tends to be one of your favorite date spots because of the atmosphere and scenery. At least, that’s what you told him.

In the photo, you’re sitting besides him on his left, leaning forward a bit while your elbow was propped against your leg. You’re smiling cheekily at the camera, trying to poke at the lens with your other hand because you were a little shy of having your picture suddenly taken.

You’re so pretty to him, it’s insane that he managed to bag a baddie like you.

…

Sans feels heat rise to his cheeks as he brings the phone closer to his face.

…Clink.

He quickly pulls the phone away from his mouth and chucks the device across the room. It doesn’t break against the wall only because he has enough common sense to short-cut it into your shared room instead.

AHHHH!! HE’S SO FUCKING–WHY DID HE KISS YOUR PICTURE?!?!? HE CANNOT BE THAT DESPERATE FOR YOU, THERE IS NO FUCKING WAY!!

The monster slumps further into the couch, nearly sliding off the sofa with how much he was trying to hide into the cushions. His hoodie is pulled up over his head, and he’s pulling at the strings so the hood can tighten around his face.

Sans is so fucking happy that no one was here to see that. That is SO mortifying–holy SHIT.

“wahh.”

Stiffly, Sans looks to his right and at the floor.

Childe and Morax were sitting there, watching him this whole time.

Is… Is Morax being smug right now???

Childe slow blinks, “wahh.”

Sans’ smile becomes strained, “you didn’t see anything, you understand me?”

Childe slow blinks once more, “wahh.”

Somehow, some-fucking-how, Morax looks even more smug.

This fucking cat definitely knows how to talk, he just doesn’t want to pay taxes.

Tags:

@lemonboy011

@velvetria

If I have successfully managed to woo your ass, please consider checking out the full (incomplete but a work in progress) story!!

As of now, it is on Hiatus, but there are 128 chapters for you to read in the meantime! I hope you can give it a chance!

Wattpad

Quotev

Ao3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46067605/chapters/115964152

Cover Art

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

Sans knew it was too good to be true. Flowey has been too quiet lately, Sans almost would’ve forgotten about him were it not for the fact that the weed is just a constant in the back of his mind.

He thinks the flower is watching you just to see what will happen with you, but Alphys swears this has only been a recent thing. If that’s the case, Flowey is probably getting bored by now. Maybe Flowey is starting to realize that you intend to stay here to live out your life.

In any case, if Flowey remembers their previous interactions at all, then he’ll be smart to not interfere. Sans can and will kill Flowey without hesitation.

God, that just reminds him of Frisk. He hopes (which is crazy for him to genuinely hope for anything at all) Frisk never shows up here ever again. Because honestly, Sans might just kill Flowey anyway, and he doesn’t want the damn kid to Reset that.

Unless… It’s been so long, can Flowey Reset now? Or is that power still with Frisk? He would imagine that if Flowey can Reset, then he would’ve done so already months ago. Flowey gets bored so easily, he would’ve done something about it by now.

Man. Where the fuck is Frisk, anyway?

Sans pockets the vitamin bottles Alphys handed to him, putting them away in his little aether for safe keeping.

“thanks for telling me all this, alphys,” Sans smiles calmly as he walks with her, “i uh, i appreciate it.”

Alphys nods as she hurries a few steps ahead to reach the panel to open the doors, “O-Of course, S-Sans. That fl-flower… you know it c-can o-only mean trouble…”

“speaking of, where did you last see the damn thing?”

“It was a f-few days ago wh-when you, [Y/n], and Papyrus w-went to Waterfalls and cau–and caught a few cats.” She informs him, “[Y-Y/n] went off to a path I couldn’t follow, but I-I think the fl-flower lost her, too.”

Shit. Maybe those stupid cameras aren’t so bad after all.

“you have my number still, yeah? keep me updated about the flower?”

“Yeah, o-of course!”

“cool. i’mma go look around for it, but chances are i won’t actually find anything.”

“Oh, b-before you go!”

Alphys runs back to her chaotic desk next to the large monitor screen. She searches for something under the desk for a moment, having to push aside a few things to grab at it. She really needs to clean up her work space soon…

Alphys grabs a purple wrapped box from under the desk, the box being rather large in size. Watching off to the side since she can’t see over the box, Alphys hurries back to Sans and presents the box to him.

He takes it from her hesitantly; it’s not very heavy, Sans could comfortably toss it without having to risk hurting himself.

“This is f-for her. I um… Pl-Please don’t open it. I-It ha–It has s-some uh… l-lady products… I-I ha-had to do a lot of… a lot of research, so…”

Immediately, Sans gets war flashbacks to your period and menstrual cycle talk. There’s a cyan glow around the box, then it disappears into the aether.

“got it. for [y/n]’s eyes only,” He almost winces but holds his expression together, “when [y/n] gets back next week… maybe you two can meet? i bet she’d like to have another pal who’s on her side.”

Alphys perks up with an eager smile, but it deflates as soon as it arrives. Her shoulders sulk and she fiddles with her hands.

“Oh, th-that’d be n-nice, but if I-I go to Snowdin suddenly, U-Undyne will know an-and ask me about it.” She sighs defeatedly, “An-And s–And sometimes Undyne comes by wi–comes by without calling first. S-So, it’s best not to r-risk it…”

Yeah, that’s… probably the best move for now. It’s nice of Alphys to take that into consideration, and to put you first over her desire to meet you. Still, it’s moments like these that remind Sans just how annoying Undyne’s prejudice against humans can be.

He laughs awkwardly, “well, eventually, i guess. we’ll figure something out.”

“Y-Yeah, for sure!” She pipes up, “Uh, may-maybe just tell her I-I said hello, a-and that I think sh-she’s neat!”

“i will, alph.” Sans puts one hand in his pocket, and the other up to his head for a lazy salute, “see ya.”

Sans was going to walk back to Snowdin, but he realized that he can’t afford to waste a lot of time. He told Papyrus he’d be back soon, so he should keep his word. And since Alphys knows this little trick, Sans has no issue just shortcutting out of there and straight into his home. More specifically, his shared room with you.

He still very much wants to look around for a wild Flowey sighting, but he should focus on his other tasks first.

Sans pulls your vitamins and special gift out of the void, leaving them on the dresser. Stretching his arms above his head, he leaves the room with a sudden laziness. Something about being home brings out that side of him; Sans can’t allow himself to get side tracked, though.

Ah, he can already hear your pretty little voice in his numb-skull: “Sans, do something.”

And all he can do is just nod like a soggy cat while saying “yes, dear.”

Such is life, he supposes.

“papyrus…!” Sans calls out, “you still here?”

Childe meows loudly from downstairs. Good to know the cat is chillin’.

“YES, SANS.” Papyrus responds from the living room, “WELCOME BACK. HOW DID THINGS GO?”

“miss her already, bro.” Sans says light heartedly, “nah, but in all seriousness, it was good. i met the monster lady who was taking care of [y/n] before she moved in with us: toriel. she seems nice, and she definitely sees herself as [y/n]’s mom.”

“TORIEL? THAT NAME SOUNDS FAMILIAR… I THINK I’VE READ THAT NAME BEFORE.”

Sans stops at the bottom of the stairs, letting the kitty, Morax, rub against his legs, “wait, what? read it where?”

“IN A HISTORY BOOK. IT WAS AN OLD ONE, BUT IT WAS ABOUT THE KING AND QUEEN. AS A FUTURE MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD, OF COURSE I HAD TO TAKE IT UPON MYSELF TO LEARN A THING OR TWO,” Papyrus is sitting on the couch, holding Childe up in the air and Childe is just limply letting it happen. “IF TORIEL IS THE QUEEN, AND SHE VIEWS HERSELF AS [Y/N]’S MOTHER, DOES THAT MAKE [Y/N] A PRINCESS?”

“uhh…”

“YOU WOULD BE A GOOD PRINCE, BROTHER! I CAN’T NAME THE REASONS WHY, BUT AS YOUR LOVING SIBLING, I AUTOMATICALLY THINK YOU WOULD BE A GOOD RULER ANYWAY.”

“…gee, thanks. happy to know compliments come easy to you.”

“ALWAYS A PLEASURE, SANS.”

Sigh.

Sans carefully walks around Morax, moving to the couch as well. He sits next to his brother, and finds delight in the way Morax immediately jumps on his lap. Huh, maybe you were right. Maybe the cats like them, after all.

“I TOOK THE CATS OUT ALREADY, BY THE WAY. CATS ARE RATHER PRIVATE, MORE SO THAN DOGS, YOU KNOW?”

“really? [y/n] said they’re a lot more independent than dogs, too, but haven’t they been pretty clingy?”

“I DID THINK SO AS WELL, BUT THEY’RE SO CUTE, SO IT’S OKAY!” Papyrus raises Childe higher, “DON’T YOU AGREE, CHILDE?”

“wahh.”

“ANYWAY, SANS. I WAS THINKING WE SHOULD GO GROCERY SHOPPING. MIGHT AS WELL DO IT NOW RATHER THAN LATER. HOW ABOUT IT?”

“sure, i’m game.”

If only to use this as an excuse to get out of the house. It’ll be good to see if Flowey would be anywhere, too. If Sans can’t even catch a glimpse of the damn weed, then he might be back in the Ruins to stalk you.

Isn’t he being too clingy? He needs to chill out and trust that you can take care of yourself. You can take care of yourself, and Toriel is with you, too.

Thinking of you…

“actually, papyrus,” Sans rubs the side of his face, “there’s something i gotta tell you. it’s related to the dj machine [y/n] and i’ve been using.”

Papyrus raises a bone brow, staying seated by his relative, “OKAY…? WHAT IS IT?”

“i told you how we’re going to these alternate universes and timelines using the machine…”

“YES, A NORMAL WEEKDAY ACTIVITY FOR YOU.”

“right, right. but… i never told you why we’re doing it.”

“Y-YES, WELL. I FIGURED THAT YOU WOULD TELL ME EVENTUALLY. WHEN YOU DEEMED IT TO BE IMPORTANT FOR ME TO KNOW.”

Sans nods, “yeah, that’s–i mean, that was the plan. at first. but… i decided that i need to tell you now since it won’t be fair if you’re the last one to know.”

Papyrus clears his throat, “YOU MAKE IT SOUND SO SERIOUS, BROTHER. BUT IT’S ONLY ME, YOU CAN TELL ME WHATEVER IT IS YOU NEED TO TELL ME.”

“i know, paps.” It’s Sans’ turn to clear his throat, “so… [y/n] and i have been working on bringing back… our dad. gaster.”

“…OH.”

“yeah… he’s–scattered across space and time, so we’re going around to collect his pieces and possibly put him back in one piece?” Sans’ grin becomes nervous, “uhm… so… yeah.”

“WOW, UH…” Papyrus looks away with a grimace. “THAT’S… QUITE THE PASSION PROJECT YOU TWO HAVE GOING ON. NYEH-HEH…”

Papyrus has to wonder now, if all those weeks ago, when you asked him about other skeleton monsters, was it because it was related to Gaster? Was this something you had known about for this long? Instead of directly asking him, you had to find a way to ask Sans instead.

“how–how do you feel?” Sans asks.

“I’M NOT–SURE… I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD BE MORE EXCITED OR HAPPY ABOUT THIS. AND I SUPPOSE I AM, TRULY! WHO DOESN’T WANT TO BE REUNITED WITH THEIR FATHER WHO GOT SCATTERED ACROSS SPACE AND TIME?” Papyrus scrunches his face, “BUT… IT IS DIFFICULT TO BE OVER THE MOON ABOUT IT. THE MEMORIES I HAVE OF HIM ARE VAGUE AT BEST, AND IT’S NOT AS IF I’M EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED, EITHER.”

Sans nods understandingly, listening quietly to his precious brother pouring his heart out.

“I’M SURE MAYBE I WILL FEEL DIFFERENT ONCE HE’S ACTUALLY HERE IN THE FLESH. IN THE BONEY-FLESH. BUT…” Papyrus makes a vague motion with his hand. He can’t put his thoughts and feelings into words, and it frustrates him to no end, “IS THIS WHOLE JOURNEY DANGEROUS TO YOU AND [Y/N]?”

Uhhhh-

“w-well… there were… you know, moments…” Sans shakes his head, “nothing we couldn’t handle, all part of the adventure.”

“SURE, SURE.”

Sans didn’t think this would be as awkward as it is. He expected his brother to be more hyped and ecstatic, but he clearly got it all wrong.

“TO BE HONEST, I’M NOT–IT’S NOT AS IF THE IDEA OF OUR FATHER RETURNING TO US IS UNPLEASANT, IT’S JUST… I DON’T KNOW, SANS,” Papyrus groans at his own ineptness, “I ALREADY HAVE YOU AND [Y/N], AND NOW CHILDE AND MORAX. I SUPPOSE WHEN I HAVE ALL I COULD NEED NOW, IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE WANTING MORE.”

…Oof. That hit really hard in a way Sans wasn’t expecting.

It’s clear that between them two, Sans is the one with more solid memories regarding Gaster. Papyrus’s memories are more foggy, and his emotions attached to said emotions must not be as strong, either.

Sans is essentially trying to get Papyrus excited about a stranger.

Papyrus might’ve been excited too, but that would be before meeting you. You have such a strong presence in Papyrus’ life, that you might’ve literally filled that void in him. He doesn’t need anyone else in his little family, he has it all now.

Honestly, Sans could learn a thing or two from his brother. They’re already in this situation, so Sans isn’t going to stop now. But if he were in Papyrus’ shoes, he wouldn’t feel the need to add anyone else too.

You, Sans, Papyrus–and the cats, as well now–the family is as complete as it could possibly get.

“i hear you, paps, i do,” Sans pats his brother on the back, “don’t think that you gotta feel a certain way just because of this. i told you since, well, he’s our dad, but don’t force yourself to be more happy or excited than you are. the day that comes that he’ll be here in person, i want you to be prepared for it.”

His shoulders relax some, “I APPRECIATE THE HEADS UP, BROTHER. HOW DID YOU AND [Y/N] GET INVOLVED IN SUCH A THING?”

“uhh… it came to her in a dream.”

“NYEH… WELL, ALRIGHT.”

So simple!!

“SO, I SUPPOSE YOU WILL NO LONGER RECEIVE ANY HAPPY FATHER DAY GIFTS,” Papyrus concludes with a nod, “AT LEAST YOU WILL STILL HAVE MOTHER’S DAY, SANS.”

Awe, that’s a shame. Sans actually likes getting gifts for Father’s day and Mother’s day. That’s the price he must pay to revive his dad from the Shadow Realm.

“there’s also one other thing,” Sans might as well bring it up now, “it’s about [y/n].”

“DON’T YOU DARE BREAK UP WITH HER, SANS. I WILL MAKE SURE YOU REPENT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LONG, LONG LIFE IF YOU DO!!”

“jesus, no! i’m not ending things with her! why–where did that even come from??” Sans puts his hand on his chest like he’s clutching his pearls, “papyrus, this is about her safety.”

“OH, I SEE.” He beams as if he didn’t just threaten his only family, “SO, WHAT IS THE MATTER? IT’S NOT UNDYNE, IS IT? SHE HAS AGREED TO LET ME GUARD SNOWDIN FOR A WHILE NOW, SO THERE IS NO REASON FOR HER TO HAVE HEARD OF [Y/N].”

Huh, so what Alphys said was true. Sans already knew that, but having confirmation is another thing.

“you remember how a long time ago, you told me about this flower that was telling you all sorts of thing? flattery, advice, predictions?” Papyrus nods, letting Sans continue, “call me crazy, but i think that flower… i don’t think it’s a normal flower. i don’t think it’s safe.”

Papyrus furrows his bone-brows, looking to the side, “IS THAT SO…? YOU KNOW, IT HAS BEEN A LONG WHILE SINCE I’VE SEEN THAT FLOWER. BUT ARE YOU SURE IT’S RELATED?”

“yeah, no doubt. the reason why [y/n] moved in with us in the first place was because of a flower that tried killing her.”

“AH, REALLY? I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A MEAN MONSTER, BUT YOU MEAN TO SAY THEY’RE ONE IN THE SAME?”

“i think so. that’s kinda why i don’t like letting her wander off by herself. i’m just worried, you know? and knowing how undyne is… she’s our great pal, but if [y/n] tried defending herself against a monster, it’s [y/n] who will be punished instead.”

“I DON’T WANT TO ADMIT IT, BUT YOU ARE RIGHT. UNDYNE’S OPINIONS ON HUMANS IS VERY… MURDERY.”

“exactly. for her sake, we gotta keep a sharper eye out.” Sans chuckles, “i know she’ll get annoyed with me for coddling or protecting her too much, but you understand my feelings, right papyrus?”

“OF COURSE, I DO. SHE IS IMPORTANT TO US BOTH. HUMANS CAN BE SO SQUISHY AND FRAGILE, WE MUST DO WHAT WE CAN!”

“yeah, exactly!”

“HOWEVER, THERE IS LITTLE WE CAN DO WHILE SITTING ON OUR BUTTS!” Papyrus jumps up to his feet, his cape billowing in the non-existent wind. “LET US DO OUR SHOPPING, AND AFTERWARD, PERHAPS WE CAN COME UP WITH A SORT OF SCHEDULE TO BEGIN SCOUTING FOR THAT EVIL FLOWER.”

“pfft, sounds good,” Sans’ eyes soften around the corners, “man, you really are the coolest there is.”

“NYEH-HEH HEH! AS IF I DON’T ALREADY KNOW. COME NOW, BEFORE YOU GET ANY LAZIER.”

“low blow, man. low blow.”

“SANS, YOU’RE LITERALLY SINKING INTO THE COUCH CUSHIONS AS WE SPEAK.”

“it’s a nice couch.”

Tags:

@lemonboy011

@adriixboo

@fetusbaconegg

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

You’re not going to fucking believe this! On your walk to the Ruins, you spot a familiar person near the Bridge of Eternal Agony and Suffering: the Nice Cream Guy!

You even point and grab Sans’ arm: “Yoooo! It’s the–It’s the fucking uh! It’s the fucking Nice Cream Guy!”

“oh, yeahhh,” Sans nods, “heard he moved his business to the core a few months ago. funny he’s back here, though. maybe he’s just visiting since snowdin is his home.”

“Ohhhh, so that’s where he was this whole time!” You smack your lips and laugh, “Girl, I thought he was fucking dead as fuck!”

“you say toxic shit and for what?”

Aw, look at him stealing your lines.

You nudge his side, “Hey, you want a Nice Cream? My treat.”

Sans rolls his eyes and widens his smile, “in this weather? yeah, it’s perfect for something cold.”

──

You and Sans stand outside the doors of the Ruins, standing awkwardly like a bunch of losers. It seems neither of you are quite ready to knock to get this over with. He already brought out your suitcase, holding it for you since he’s so polite.

“I thought you met her before already, this should be easy for you,” You whisper to him, having no idea how soundproof the door actually is.

“i have, but this isn’t usually how it goes.” Sans snaps his fingers, and your luggage appears by your side.

“Sans, go knock already.”

“nah, nah, nah. you’re way more familiar with this place than i am, you go knock.”

“What? But you’re my strong and capable man, you do it.”

“what is this? you’re pushing gender roles already?”

“GIRL, IF YOU DON’T MOVE YOUR BITCH ASS-”

“-okay, okay!”

Sans is the little bitch in the relationship, so he quickly gives in to your demands. He rapidly knocks his pink gloves against the door, stepping back to be by your side right after.

You like when he wears his pink gloves with his pink slippers; it’s really cute and it matches so well.

“if you need anything, call me. i don’t give a fuck if you think i’m in the ass crack of sleep-” You snort.

“-i want you to reach out to me the moment you need anything.” He puts a hand on your arm, “promise me.”

“I–Yeah, I promise.” Geez, what’s with all these promises lately? It’s not even a lot, but it is knowing that Sans hates them. “Sans, I’m going to be-”

Creeeaaak!

A white, fluffy hand grips the side of the door, pushing it open with much more ease than you had. A smile involuntarily colors our lips, bouncing on your heels in anticipation to see your goat mom again.

Toriel is barely out of the doors when you squeal like a little bitch. She beams at you as you shake off Sans’ hand to go hug her. Her arms envelops you warmly, and suddenly life isn’t so bad after all. You melt in her arms, fully enjoying the reunion and forgetting about Sans’ existence.

“Oh, my dear child! I have missed you so!” Toriel coos, swaying you side to side.

You’re nearly brought to tears, “Ohh, meemaww! You smell like Butterscotch Cinnamon pie…!”

“Yes, I made some for your arrival!”

“ALDLFHSKDJFH!! I MISSED YOUUUU!!”

“I missed you too, [Y/n]!”

You love women so much! You’re so glad there isn’t a man here to intrude in your space, even if that man is your boyfriend!

“uhm…”

Brother, eugh.

You pull away from Toriel to give Sans the stink eye. He has the decency to look sheepish for interrupting at least,

Toriel clears her throat and pulls away from you properly, smoothing out the front of her dress. She smiles at Sans with excitement, but it’s a calm kind of eagerness that is mellowed out with some anxiety of meeting someone new.

“hey,” Sans winks, albeit a bit awkwardly, “what’s up?”

Already off with the start of all time.

Kudos to Toriel, she keeps it together with a smile, “Hello, Sans. That is still your name, is it not?”

He already knows that Toriel knows his name, you told him before that you told her, and you talk about him sometimes on the phone. It’s still a little shocking to experience it this way, though.

“yup, that’s the name.”

“You already know, but I am Toriel. So nice to meet you properly.”

“same here. nice to know the face of the one [y/n] keeps calling goat mom.” Sans winks at you this time, much more smoothly than before.

You roll your eyes but say nothing since you know this is not your conversation. Sans is really smooth with talking to Toriel in general though. He seemed so nervous, but this facade he has on now is impressive. It’s actually a little freaky.

“Is that so! You know, [Y/n] really is such a sweetheart, isn’t she?”

Wait, what?

“yeah, for sure. tibia honest, i wasn’t so sure about her at first. but [y/n] put her whole backbone into being great, how could i not like her?”

Those were low-key mid as hell, what is happening?

“[Y/n] here is also very compassionate and considerate, is she not?”

Is… Is Toriel trying to be your wingman???

Sans’ grin widens as he looks at you, “[y/n] is great. my bro loves her, too. she fits right in our little family perfectly.”

“He loves her as well? And you see her part of your family? What an interesting implication!”

“Ayo!” You wave your arms frantically, “Are we forgetting about me?? Why are we having conversations about [Y/n] behind her back in front of her face??”

Your bone boy has a shit eating grin because he also knows what the hell is going on. He is living for it. You, on the other hand, unexpectedly hate this. You should’ve told Sans: you really don’t like having your parents involved in your love life.

“We speak only the truth, [Y/n]. We speak only the truth,” Toriel pats your head.

Sans grabs your forgotten suitcase and takes a few steps to bring it to you. Pouting your lips like an insolent child, you take it from him gently. Sans, that fucker, brushes his fingers against yours on PURPOSE?? WASN’T HE THE ONE WHO SAID NOT TO SHOW OFF YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO TORIEL???

“try not to miss me too much, [y/n],” Sans teases, “i’ll be back for you in seven days.”

Toriel puts a hand to her mouth, poorly hiding her shit eating smile like you can’t see it in your peripheral vision.

No.

“OKAYYY!” You snatch your suitcase this time, “Sans needs to go now! I think we should say goodbye!”

As Sans starts snickering, Toriel frowns at you light heartedly, “Now, now, [Y/n]. That is not polite. Why don’t you invite Sans to stay for lunch?”

Uh oh, that’s more than Sans was ready for. He had fun teasing you but staying longer than this isn’t something he mentally prepared for. Besides, he already told Papyrus he’d be back soon, and it took an hour just walking here.

“i would take you up on that offer, but i already told my brother i’d be back soon. and i got really important things to take care of, i can’t put it off for much longer.” Sans explains with sincerity.

The goat monster nods, “I understand, I wouldn’t want to hold you up, then.”

“You know, since you’ve met, you guys can exchange numbers now!” You suggest with a smile.

Eventually, Toriel WILL find out, so it’s best if she and Sans are on the best of terms. You’re not worried about anything “happening”; if Sans wanted to be with Toriel, he never would’ve gotten with you. If anything, you’re just worried they’re going to encourage each other’s bad punny behavior.

To your utter surprise, Toriel waves a dismissive hand, “I don’t believe that will be necessary, [Y/n]. Should anything of importance happen, you have his contact information.”

“Um-”

“sounds good. it was really nice meeting you, toriel.”

“Likewise, Sans!”

The skeleton looks at you with an uncontrolled fondness, “be good, alright? if you need anythi–if either of you need something, give me a call.”

You can’t fight back your soft smile this time, “I will, Sans. I’ll see you later. Now go, before a house drops on you.”

You grab your suitcase and Toriel puts her hand on your upper back to guide you into the Ruins. Sans stands there with his hands in his pockets. As the door closes, he starts to slowly walk away.

Thud.

The doors close shut, hitting you with a small gust of gold air that makes its way through. As soon as the door closes, Toriel claps her hands together gleefully.

“I truly believe Sans likes you, [Y/n]!”

Ugh.

You pinch the bridge of your nose, face heating up, “Dude–Toriel…”

Your goat mom pats your head lovingly, “I know he is a skeleton monster, but you don’t care about things such as that, yes? Give him a chance, [Y/n]!”

This puts you off (again). It takes a lot for you to not snap at her, but your irritation slips through your words, anyway.

“T, I really don’t wanna talk about this, okay?”

Luckily for you, Toriel mistakes your irritation for embarrassment instead. Taking pity, she lets it go. You drag your suitcase behind yourself, walking side by side with your goat mom.

“Soooo, other than that,” You start casually, “What’s up?”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Toriel beams, “You remember the Migosp who graduated and started professional ballet?”

“Oh, yeah! How is he, by the way?”

“He’s doing wonderfully! He’s inviting you and I to his first official performance tomorrow! Once we drop your things off at our home, we should go shopping for clothes since it is a special occasion!”

“Yes, that sounds great! Ah, I’m so excited to see him!”

────

As soon as the doors of the Ruins fully close, Sans turns on his heel to return to his previous spot. Sans stands in front of the snowy bush, looking it over with critical eyes. He crouches down and starts brushing off snow and moves the branches. 

Well, well, fucking-well.

Lo and behold is the shitty ass camera that’s been there for God knows how long. Sans brushes the snow off its lens, noticing the red, blinking light near the top. So it still works and is still active.

He stays squatting in front of the camera, debating about what he should do with it–with all of the cameras.

Should he destroy them, or nah? Or maybe it’d be best to confront Alphys directly? If anything important happens, these cameras are a good security. That’s proven to be true during the No Mercy runs, and it could be useful just in case Frisk comes back.

Still, he doesn’t like the idea of them being here used to monitor you specifically. You’re making a legit life for yourself here with full intentions to live here. Sans doesn’t want you to live like that–under constant monitor and scrutiny.

Sans taps the lens a few times. The red light stops blinking and stays steady: Alphys is looking at this camera now.

He nods subtly at the camera and covers it back up to keep it concealed.

Sans might as well go to Hotlands himself.

────

Sans knocks against the Lab doors curtly out of politeness only. He can very well just shortcut his way inside, but it’s the small things like this that make him seem more trustworthy and less threatening.

Well, Alphys knows a surprising amount about him just from their short time working together. His attempts to make himself seem nonthreatening might be useless, but hey! He’s not above proper etiquette anyway.

…Most of the time.

Luckily he doesn’t have to wait very long. Alphys wouldn’t normally open the door for just anyone, but she saw Sans in the camera by the Ruins. Since the skeleton never once interacted with the cameras directly, she figured he had intentions behind it.

She doesn’t say anything, only moving aside so Sans could enter. With a nod, he struts in with his hands in his pockets.

“good to see ya, doc. nice day out here in hotlands, huh?”

“Uhm… y-yeah…” Alphys touches the panel by the wall that closes the Lab doors. “but it’s the same every day, s-so…”

That is true.

“N-Not that I don’t, uhm, like these sudden and su–suspicious visits, Sans,” Alphys chuckles awkwardly, “but… ho–but how about we just uh, how about we just skip to the part you really wanted to t… to talk about?”

Sans’ smile widens, “good idea. let’s go to one of the conference rooms?”

The yellow monster nods, shuffling past him awkwardly. The skeleton follows her to the elevator, laughing internally at the suffocating silence.

The True Lab is bigger horizontally, while this Lab is bigger vertically. On the upper floors contain observation rooms, conference rooms, exam labs, etc.

Standing together in the elevator, Alphys takes them to the second floor where most of the rooms are conference rooms. This place is gathering dust since it’s just Alphys, it almost makes Sans sneeze.

Alphys leaves the elevator first, her lips quivering. He’s lucky he’s great at reading expressions, he can tell she’s trying not to laugh at the silence. She takes them to the first room on the right, opening the door that leads into a small room. There’s a round table and a few chairs, all covered in a thin layer of dust.

They sit across from each other, trying to maintain a professional distance but also they’re not exactly as close as they were before. Alphys sits hunched on her chair, wringing her hands together on her lap. Sans leans back in the chair, draping an arm on tha back of the seat and manspreads.

What a cuck.

“so…” Sans starts oh so casually, “you know about her, then?”

“I–… Y-Yeah… Yeah, I know about her,” Alphys sits up straight and flails her hands anxiously, “B-But I s–I swear! I-I haven’t told Undyne or Asgore about her at all!”

Alphys slumps back in the chair, exhausted, “Eugh, in fact, I had to go out of my–out of my way to make sure U-Undyne wouldn’t go to Snowdin town this whole time.”

Sans raises a bone brow, “how? what do you–what are you talking about?”

“I had to tell Undyne that s-shh-she sh-should leave it all to Papyrus. Th-That one of the ways he can prove himself is to guard Snowdin alone. I-I would monitor him and S-Snowdin through the cameras.” Alphys smiles awkwardly, “Undyne was reluctant at first, but sh-she agreed eventually. S… So that’s why she hasn’t been there in a while.”

Sans is… mildly impressed, if he’s honest. He did notice that ever since you came along, Undyne hasn’t been to their house at all, even though she used to visit (for Papyrus) often. On top of that, Papyrus has been out of the house a lot more lately, too. That must be the reason why.

The skeleton almost frowns but catches his expression to stay as it is. “but why protect her?

“I s-s-saw when you and the hu-human first met, when she had that big suitcase. The au-audios don’t work on the cameras, but I was able to put the pieces together on my own. Es–sp-Especially since the human hasn’t left Snowdin at all.”

Alphys continues, “I-I admit that I think… I think Asgore might know, a-anyway. H-He always knows somehow…”

That he does. Sans is able to read the scientist easily so he knows she’s being honest. But still, Asgore knowing about you in any way doesn’t sit well with Sans. It fills him with a lot of anxiety, actually.

“you didn’t exactly answer my question,” Sans says instead.

“I don’t really h-have a reason why. The human…” Alphys looks at him expectantly, “I don’t know her name…”

Sans doesn’t say anything. He has no intention of sharing it.

“Uh… Anyway, I don’t have a reason why, but the human–sh-she’s just trying to live like the rest of us, right?” There’s an unintentional bitterness that she can’t contain, “It’s a sh-s-s-shame that… we just need one more soul.” Alphys smiles and shakes her head, “But u-unlike her, we will live on for another few more hu-hundred years. We can wait for a n-natural time for the human.”

The reminder of your mortality makes Sans grimace. It’s not something Sans likes to think about, like, at all. Sans himself is about your age in human standards, if only a little older. Ohhh man, Sans wonders if there’s a way to extend your lifespan.

Probably not in any way that isn’t fucking with human evolution in a way that’s not fucked to humanity.

…Probably best to discard those thoughts.

“Sp-Speaking of,” Alphys nervously scratches her cheek, “I-I made uhm… I made some s-supplements for her.”

“…” Sans sits up properly, “what do you mean by that?”

“W-Well, humans need these certain vitamins and such to survive, S-Sans. Monster food might be c-completely harmless, but her b-body s-st-still needs to consume proper nutrients and s-su-substances. H-Haven’t you noticed her losing a-any weight? I-I can’t tell through the c-cam-cameras.”

…No, not really. Sans sees you everyday, so if there’s a subtle difference like that, he doesn’t think he’s noticed.

It definitely doesn’t help that your appearance is not something Sans cares much about. Not that he DOESN’T find you attractive, but your looks are not the reason why he likes you. You could turn into a man tomorrow and Sans will like you the same as before.

In any case, if Alphys brought it up with him, then…

“she probably noticed it, too.” Sans says with a nod, “she’s a human doctor, she’s really smart.”

The monster perks up, “Th-That’s really cool! Then before you go, I-I’ll give you the pull she sh-s-should take. You can h-have her read the labels, and sh-she can tell you herself if they’re good for her or not.”

“…thanks. she’ll-… i’m sure [y/n] would appreciate it.”

Her smile becomes sympathetic, “Undyne is going t-to find out even-eventually. Everyone in Sn-Snowdin loves he-loves her, so they haven’t s-s-said anything, b-but it’s only a m-matter of time.”

“i-i know, you’re right. but, not yet. i just need more time.”

“Wow…” Alphys’ smile softens into something more gentle, “You really care about her, don’t you, Sans?”

Ooookay, this is deeper than Sans wanted to go. Alphys can put the pieces together on her own, but Sans isn’t interested in verbally confirming anything himself. Not to her, at least.

“so, anyway. those vitamins?”

Alphys snorts then clears her throat, “Yeah, I-I have them. So… are we… cool?”

“yeah, i guess,” he shrugs, “just try not to watch [y/n] too much though, okay? humans live for, like, 80 to 90 years. i don’t like the idea of her being stalked for that long.”

“Hopefully by then, [Y-Y/n] won’t need to hide.”

That’s a little too optimistic for his taste, but Sans low-key appreciates the sentiment. Just as he stands up, Alphys looks alarmed.

“A-Actually, Sans! Before you go! I-I need to tell you something…”

He looks at her with weariness, “what?”

“Y-You see, lately…” Alphys rubs the back of her neck, “there’s been this… flower, th-that’s been following and watching the hu–[Y/n] go to work. In fact, i-it’s been watching her for a while now.”

Sans’ entire body goes rigid, “a flower…?”

Tags:

@adriixboo

@lemonboy011

@fetusbaconegg

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

It’s the next day, and you’re so fucking excited! Toriel knows you’re showing up soon, as you had called her yesterday afternoon.

You told her that Sans would like to meet her as well, and… Well, your goat mother had something a little interesting to say.

“I am excited to meet him! You’ve only had kind things to say about him,” Toriel’s tone turned teasing and a bit… knowing? “Only good things to say about him. I think I will need to have that talk with him, hm?”

You’re not sure how to feel about that. Is she supportive or secretly resentful? Does she know, or is she suspecting and is testing you?

Your relationship with your actual mother isn’t the greatest, and you never involved her with your love life.

You learned not to include her when Kōrenki’s condition was only worsening. And when your days slowly turned into devotion to taking care of him before he passed, your mother had nothing nice to say about anything.

She made you feel like Kōrenki’s passing was something you had to make up for, especially to his family. You don’t know why she had suddenly changed like that. No matter how much you tried explaining it, she couldn’t understand. Or maybe she refused to.

Anyway, after that, you made sure to never include your mom (and by extension, your poor dad) in your love life. And no matter what bad blood you have with your mom, Toriel could never replace her or be a better version of her.

Toriel is not a replacement, but rather an addition. You see her as your mother as well, and because of that, your vice extends to her.

Sans might’ve been nervous at the thought of telling her of your relationship for one reason. But you’re hesitant about telling her because of your own past experience.

Her meddling, even though she’s just joking, you hate it. You almost snapped at her on the phone but held back by literally biting your tongue. It’s not her fault you have issues, so it’s not fair to pass it on to her.

…UHGHHH!

That’s not important! You’re not even going to tell her anyway for Sans’ sake! You shouldn’t think about this, you’re so excited to see her, you don’t want to sour that with unnecessary thoughts!

You accidentally slam the refrigerator door close, wincing at the sound.

You just finished preparing some things for the brothers before you leave. You’re worried they’re going to starve and perish with you gone, so you’ve made a few meal preps that can last them 3-4 days. Papyrus can eat his own cooking and Sans can always eat Grillby’s but you still worry for them.

You have your things packed and ready, so you’re just waiting for Sans’ to get up when he’s ready. You don’t think he’s going to oversleep since he knows how excited you are.

He might be a lazy bum, but when Sans cares about someone or something, he cares and it shows.

Papyrus should still be asleep as well, his cute keychain is still on the table. It has a MTT charm attached to it, it’s actually really nice. You want one yourself, but would that be too suspicious? No, right? You’ve seen MTT shows with Papyrus before, you should ask him about it when you get back.

Oh, you need to refill the cat's food and water bowls that are in the kitchen. Childe and Morax are good about sharing the bowls, but you know you need to buy them separate ones eventually. They also don’t have an indoor litter box since they know how to go outside.

It’s really funny that dogs and cats still need to use the bathroom but monsters don’t. As far as you know, cat and dog food should be made of magic, too. Maybe it’s different for proper animals rather than monsters that present as animals.

You should write that down in your notebook.

After refilling their bowls, you absentmindedly wipe your hands on your jeans. You're changing out of them before you leave, it's fine if they get a little dirty.

Hearing the click of a door opening and closing, you walk to the living room to be nosy. Sans is walking down the stairs in his white shirt and basketball shorts. With him are the two cats, playing around his feet. Sans almost trips down the stairs once or twice because of that.

Childe and Morax sleep in your shared room since they took a liking to you (and Sans, but mostly you). They woke up when you woke this morning, but surprisingly they stayed and curled up with Sans.

Maybe it’s a man thing to be in denial.

“Good morning, baby boy,” You smile, walking towards him, “You don’t have to be up yet. I was ready for you to get up in another hour or two.”

Your bone boy shrugs his shoulders, “i couldn’t go back to sleep with you gone-”

Aww!

“-‘cause childe and morax only like sleeping with you around. they woke me up ‘cause they were playing a lot, and now i can’t sleep.”

Oh.

You smack your lips and walk away. The cats follow behind you, meowing and rubbing against your legs.

Whatever, you want a little breakfast before you shower.

Sans snorts and follows after you as well, “you got your stuff ready, right?”

“Yep, all packed by the couch,” You open up the food museum and look inside, “So, what are you gonna do while I’m gone?”

“you know i hate workin’, but i might as well start working on making the blueprints for the–what did you call them? the sci-fi tubes?” Sans stands idle in the living room, watching you, “i still gotta work on doing somethin’ about the cameras around the area, but maybe another day.”

You know that moment when you check the refrigerator for something to snack on, but nothing catches your eye? So you keep checking every 10 minutes thinking something new will spawn knowing damn well that’s not gonna happen? That was you this entire morning. This is actually your fifth time checking the damn refrigerator.

You head over to Sans, bro is looking like a scrumptious bag of bones early in the morning. He watches you intently while you fix his shirt.

“Remember to take breaks, and don’t forget to feed the babies. Well, they’ll make sure to remind you themselves if you forget,” You smooth out the wrinkles on his shoulders, keeping your hands there, “Hang out with them, too. I think Paps is gonna go back training with Undyne today.”

“ughhh,” Sans groans, hanging his head, “they’re gonna mess up my workshop.”

“You can leave them in the house, then. Just remember to come back to take them out for potty breaks.”

Sans leans closer, eye-lights glancing down at your lips with intention. You close your eyes and you feel his teeth against your lips.

“yeah, yeah,” Sans mumbles lazily against your lips, his fingers slipping into the loops of your pants. “less talking, more-”

“I KNEW IT!! I KNEW IT–I KNEW IT–I KNEW IT!!!”

Sans jerks away with a red, embarrassed expression. Papyrus is leaning over the rails on the second floor, pointing accusingly at you and his brother.

His eye-sockets are wide and very anime. His smile is wide and he’s practically vibrating in place.

You smile in amusement, putting your hands on your hips while Papyrus jumps down the railing like the fucking Giga Chad he is. Sans moves away from you, hiding his red face in his hands. Having skeletal hands does nothing to hide his face though.

“I THOUGHT IT WAS RATHER SUSPICIOUS YOU AND MY BROTHER DECIDED TO SHARE THE ROOM SUDDENLY, AND WITHOUT ADDING A SECOND BED! NOT ONLY THAT, BUT DON’T THINK I HAVEN’T NOTICED HOW AFFECTIONATE YOU’VE BEEN WITH EACH OTHER!” Papyrus’ grin turns mischievous, “SANS’ BEEN LOOKING AT YOU DIFFERENTLY FOR A WHILE NOW. YOU’VE BEEN SPENDING ALMOST ALL OF YOUR TIME TOGETHER.”

You laugh at Sans’ expense, “We didn’t mean to hide it from you, Paps. I guess I just legit forgot to bring it up.”

His eyes sparkle… with magic, you presume, “SO, THEN IT’S TRUE?! YOU AND MY BROT–YOU AND SANS ARE TOGETHER?”

You nod, “Yeah, we are!”

Poor, poor Sans. You don’t know why he’s so embarrassed. Perhaps he prefers having his love life private in general, even from Papyrus.

Or probably because he got caught trying to get freaky with you in the living room.

“I KNEW IT!!” Papyrus cheers, jumping up and down while pumping his fists in the air, “THE TENSION AND THE VIBES WERE TOO STRONG FOR IT TO BE CASUAL!”

You give Sans a knowing look, “Told you that you weren’t subtle.”

He weakly glares at you.

“Well, you can talk to Sans about it, but I–” You pat San’s shoulder, “–gotta go shower before we leave for Toriel’s.”

Sans deadpans, “bruh.”

Cue evil laughter.

“OH, ALRIGHT! HAVE A NICE SHOWER!”

“Pfft, thanks.”

You kiss Sans on the cheek (much to his embarrassment) before heading towards the stairs. You hear Papyrus start snickering and Sans making some sort of annoyed grunt, like he’s trying to tell his brother to shut up.

Childe and Morax follow you, but when you open the shower room door, they run away.

Shame, they’re still traumatized from their flea shower. You’re still traumatized, too. You’re lucky Sans had food ready for you to heal up from that.

As soon as you close the shower room behind yourself, Papyrus leans down to taunt his brother.

“SO. YOU AND [Y/N], HUH?” The taller skeleton straightens up and wipes a fake tear, “SIGH, THEY GROW UP SO FAST.”

Nuh, God.

“paps, please…” Sans wants to pinch the bridge of his nose, but alas, he does not have one.

“SANS, I BELIEVE THAT WE NEED TO HAVE ONE OF OUR HEART-TO-HEARTS. OR RATHER, A SOUL-TO-SOUL,” Papyrus clasps a hand on Sans’ head, “YOU SEE, WHEN TWO MONSTERS LOVE EACH OTHER VERY MUCH-”

“-okay, paps! we are not talking about this!” Sans scrunches his nose, “wait a minute, [y/n] isn’t even a monster.”

“YOU ARE SO RIGHT, SANS. WHEN A HUMAN LADY AND A MONSTER LO-”

“-papyrus, seriously.”

“THERE IS NO NEED TO BE SO EMBARRASSED, SANS. IT’S ABOUT TIME WE TALKED ABOUT THIS, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE…” Papyrus narrows his eye-sockets, trying to think of the right words, “CANOODLING WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND.”

Sans wants to cry. He hunches over and rubs his face, trying to will away the magic that’s heating up his skull.

“I KNOW THIS IS NEW, SCARY TERRITORY FOR YOU. YOU’VE NEVER SHOWN ANY INTEREST IN THE MONSTERS BEFORE, I ALWAYS FIGURED YOU MUST'VE BEEN EMOTIONALLY AND/OR SEXUALLY REPRESSED.”

“oh, my god. papyrus.”

“LUCKILY, I AM THE BEST WHEN IT COMES TO DATING. I HAVE STUDIED THE SCIENCE AND THEORIES OF THE JOINING OF TWO LOVERS, UNLIKE YOURSELF. BUT NOT TO WORRY, BROTHER. AS YOU KNOW, I AM THE MASTER OF ROMANCE, AND WILL OFFER YOU ALL OF MY ADVICE, MY TIPS AND TRICKS–ALL OF THAT AND MORE TO MAXIMIZE YOUR DATING POTENTIAL!”

“papyrus, please. shut up…”

Sans moves to leave to his room, but Papyrus stops him in his path. He lifts his shorter brother in the air, carrying him to the living room and sets him on the couch.

Sans sinks into the cushions, praying the sofa will consume him.

“AS YOUR LOVING AND RESPONSIBLE BROTHER, IT IS MY JOB TO INFORM YOU ON TOPICS THAT YOU MIGHT NOT BE EDUCATED IN. SO, ALLOW ME TO BEGIN…” Papyrus clears his throat and poses, “THE TALK™.”

“papyrus… don’t do this to me, man.”

Papyrus does not listen of course, because not only is this the funniest moment to tease the hell out of Sans, but also because Sans might actually need this help.

Sans has never shown an interest in anyone before, so Papyrus wants to help him. You are so good for Sans, Papyrus really wants this to work between you two, never mind that you’re human and Sans is not.

“WHEN PEOPLE LOVE EACH OTHER VERY MUCH AND HAVE WANTS TO TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL-”

Oh, God no. A love talk, Sans could probably survive that. But a sex talk too??

“-THEY WILL BEGIN AN INTIMACY THAT CAN BE EXPLORED WITH TOUCH. THOUGH, THAT MAKES ME CURIOUS. HOW WOULD THAT HAPPEN BETWEEN A SKELETON MONSTER, AND A HUMAN?”

Sans could feel his soul imploding and his face catching on fire. No, his entire head is on fire! He’s going to combust!!

“WELL, ANYWHO. WHILE PROCREATION IS USUALLY THE MAIN PURPOSE OF COITUS-”

NOO-HOO-HOOOO!! WHY MUST SANS BE THE ONE TO SUFFER THROUGH THIS?!?!

“-IT IS NOT SO UNCOMMON FOR MOST COUPLES TO ONLY COPULATE OUT OF PASSION, DESIRE, AND LOVE. AS FOR YOUR RELATIONSHIP, SANS, IT’S BEST NOT TO FEEL PRESSURE OR TO PRESSURE FOR COITUS IN A RELATIONSHIP.”

This must be Sans’ personal hell. Did he die without knowing and got sent to monster hell? That’s the only explanation for this.

This is it.

It’s so joever.

“NOW, LET’S GO OVER THE DO’S AND DON'TS OF COITUS.”

“noooo…”

────

When you get out of the shower, you’re clean and dressed in that winter dress you haven’t worn since your first day arriving in Snowdin. Your hair has grown a bit, it’s been months of being in the Underground, after all.

Ah, you’re also a little paler than before. It’s not really noticeable, but it is to you. It makes sense, you haven’t had sunlight in a while.

…You need to find a supplement of Vitamin D. You made your choice to stay in the Underground indefinitely, but this cannot be healthy for you. You’re not sure what kind of scientist Alphys is, but you know for sure Sans isn’t the kind of nerd you need either. Your encounter with Alphys might be inevitable after all.

Childe and Morax were waiting outside the shower room door, looking up at you with them big ol’ eyes. You coo at them and pet them, listening in to the conversation happening down stairs.

“-TO TAKE CARE OF HER. DON’T LET POST-COITUS CLARITY STOP YOU FROM PUTTING HER NEEDS FIRST.”

What the actual fuck are they talking about?

“hurhhhgg…”

Sans sounds close to death!

You walk down the stairs slowly, listening in because it’s low-key interesting.

“YOU SHOULD REALLY TALK TO HER ABOUT IT FIRST BEFORE YOU GET INTIMATE, THOUGH. TO BE TRUTHFUL, I DO NOT THINK EITHER OF YOU ARE READY FOR CHILDREN.”

OKAY, you need to intervene now.

“I think it’s way too soon to talk about things like that,” You interject with a laugh, “Like, way too soon.”

Sans, your sweet, sweet Sans, is nearly half-way into the couch, his blush is strong but he’s mortified more than anything. With you coming back, he perks up with hope.

Ah, such fragile hope that you will save him.

You suppose you should.

“I’m glad you’re helping him out, Papyrus. But Sans and I gotta get going now,” You soften your smile, “I’m gonna miss you.”

Papyrus allows this distraction, turning his back to Sans to face you. The moment he does, Sans shortcuts right out of there.

“MUST YOU LEAVE SO SOON? WH–YOU JUST GOT BACK…” Papyrus looks down, fidgeting with his gloved hands.

“Oh, I know, baby, I know. Just another week, and I’ll be back before you know it,” You gesture for him to get closer, “I’m counting on you to take care of a few things while I’m gone.”

He widens his eye sockets, leaning close, “WH–YOU’RE COUNTING ON ME? FOR WHAT?”

“Sans is gonna get lonely again with me gone, and he might fill that emptiness with busying himself. You gotta make sure he doesn’t overwork himself. Check in on him, even if he doesn’t let you.”

Papyrus looks up stairs, already knowing Sans left the couch. He makes a contemplative noise, considering your words carefully.

“YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THAT. FOR THE LONGEST TIME, IT HAS ONLY BEEN SANS AND I. WE’VE ONLY RELIED ON EACH OTHER, LEANED ON EACH OTHER, SUPPORTED EACH OTHER. BUT NOW WE HAVE YOU, AND YOU’VE DONE ALL OF THAT FOR BOTH OF US,” Papyrus smiles at you, “YOU’RE ALREADY SO IMPORTANT TO BOTH OF OUR LIVES. SANS WILL NOT BE THE ONLY ONE WHO WILL FEEL LONELY WITH YOU GONE.”

Bro… What…

You’re tearing up, Papyrus becoming blurry in your vision. Your heart squeezes tightly in your chest. The tall skeleton pats you on the head, treating you gently because he knows.

You don’t love Sans more than Papyrus, and you don’t love Papyrus more than Sans. Sans is not more important to you than Papyrus, and Papyrus is not more important to you than Sans.

You showed more concern for Sans not because you care more about him, but because… You didn’t think Papyrus cared about you as much as Sans did.

What a fool you were to think that way, even for just a minute.

“OH, [Y/N],” Papyrus leans over to hug you, patting your back, “PLEASE DON’T UNDERESTIMATE YOUR PLACE IN OUR LIVES–IN MY LIFE. I WILL MISS YOU DEARLY. I’VE BEEN MISSING YOU DEARLY SINCE YOU LEFT WITH SANS.”

You whimper pathetically, hugging him back, “Papyrus…!”

Your heart soars with love and appreciation. You love Sans and Papyrus so dearly, so so much. Already, you would consider them your family. You love them unconditionally, yet ironically, you never expect that love to be given to you in return.

The affection you get from Sans is one thing, but the affection Papyrus is giving you now is something else.

It’s so much and it’s so wonderful.

There’s an additional love in your soul that does not belong to you. It’s Gaster–He’s not here, but yet he is. Gaster is witnessing this moment, and you can feel the pride he feels for Papyrus. The pride he has in his son’s kindness and empathy. The pride he has for his son’s personality and strong character.

Ooh, this moment is too much for you.

Papyrus pulls away and fucking pets your head, “I WILL TAKE CARE OF SANS WHILE YOU ARE AWAY.”

“Make sure you’re taking care of yourself too, Papyrus,” You rub his arms up and down, “I made the mistake of putting this responsibility on you without even thinking, but you need to be taken care of, too."

Papyrus jerks in surprise. He understands his role in the Underground very well. Be the idol of positivity and never falter in his morale. Be bombastic and show off his greater strength while (mostly) hiding any insecurities he might have. Take care of others because he is strong enough to do it alone.

That is his role here in Snowdin, in the Underground. Papyrus understands this well, it’s just something that fell on him naturally over time.

Papyrus looks away for a second. You’ve only been around for a short time, yet you see through a lot of Papyrus’ walls that he put up. You see through all this and address it when no one else does.

Maybe Sans sees through it too, but he doesn’t do or say anything about it otherwise. If Sans knows all of Papyrus’ inner secrets, then Sans does nothing with it.

And… Papyrus is sure the same is true for Sans. The hidden things Sans keeps to himself, you must see through it and handle it with integrity. That must be why Sans has taken such a liking to you.

Honestly… Papyrus might be a little jealous.

“I… I WILL, [Y/N],” Papyrus awkwardly clears his throat, “WHEN YOU RETURN AGAIN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE ANOTHER DAY OF FUN?”

“Yes!” You immediately agree eagerly, “Paps, we should come up with some game plans to get Undyne to accept you into the Royal Guard!”

“OH, YOU ARE SO RIGHT! BUT HOW WOULD WE EVEN DO THAT?”

You tap your nose twice and point to him, “That’s what we gotta figure out together when I get back.”

The door to Sans’ room opens and closes, Childe and Morax start meowing at, presumably, Sans’ return. Sans is talking to them, but you’re more invested in your conversation with his brother.

“Actually, I might have something in mind! How much do you know about The Odyssey?” You ask.

“THE WHAT?”

“Bro, Odysseus had a lot of big brain ideas in that book. I’m sure I can find something in there that we can use for inspiration. You’re really strong, right?”

Papyrus poses dramatically, his cape flowing in the wind, “UH, OBVIOUSLY.”

“I knew it. So if you can’t prove yourself to Undyne with your strength because that’s not working, you can prove yourself with your smarts!” You smack your fist onto your open palm, “Papyrus, you’re a lot more witty and self-aware than anyone gives you credit for. I think we can use that to our advantage.”

“are you trying to get my bro to rob a bank?” Sans chuckles as he joins you two.

“DON’T BE SILLY, BROTHER. WE’RE GOING TO OUTWIT UNDYNE INTO LETTING ME INTO THE ROYAL GUARD!”

“Yeah! That’s the spirit!”

“…yeah, okay,” Sans readjusts his jacket, “you ready, [y/n]?”

You nod, “Yep! Oh, my bags-”

“-i already took care of them,” Sans waves a dismissive hand, “pap, i’ll be back in less than two hours. you’ll probably need to let the cats out in a bit.”

“I CAN HANDLE IT,” Papyrus puts his hands on his sassy hips, “I’LL BE EAGERLY AWAITING YOUR RETURN, [Y/N].”

“See you soon, Papyrus.”

Your walk to the Ruins will take about an hour. Sans made it clear he doesn’t want to stay long, only enough to meet Toriel and to make some talk with her. You think she’ll try to keep him longer, so that will be fun to witness.

Ah, you’re so excited to see her!

Tags:

@adriixboo

@lemonboy011

@fetusbaconegg

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

You coo at Childe, your new ginger cat, waving a toy in the air to play with him. Childe was jumping for the toy like a crackhead, but that’s just typical orange cat behavior.

It’s a nice Tuesday morning, chilling in the workshop with the two cats and your bone-friend. You’re sitting on your bean bag while Sans was doing something on the DJ machine. Today is the day you and Sans agreed to talk about all that’s happened lately.

You were responsible and made a small list to remember what you need to talk about. You don’t want to forget and complicate things later on.

Also, you totally named the black cat Morax because you’re fucking hilarious like that. You thought of Zhongli instead, but Morax was a little less cringey for a cat.

The skele-bros didn’t get it, but they agreed since their suggestions were met with hisses.

You are the ultimate pussy magnet.

Sans sighs and moves away from the DJ machine. The other bean bag chair is across from yours but is currently occupied by a sleeping Morax.

Sans looks at you, “[y/n].”

“Yeesss?”

“your cat stole my seat.”

“Hmm?” You look up, “Awe, but he looks so peaceful! Childe.”

Childe perks in attention, watching attentively of the toy you’re setting down.

“Childe, go play with Morax.”

Childe slow blinks at you, “wahh.”

So true.

You don’t know if it’s because he got bored with you no longer playing, or because he actually understood you, but the orange cat moves to the other bean bag.

He watches Morax intensely, lowering himself down and wiggling his butt. Oh, dang he’s getting ready to pounce!

Childe jumps elegantly onto Morax, waking him up from his peaceful nap. Morax’s ears go into airplane mode, meowing angrily at the other. He chases the orange cat off the chair, chasing him around the lab.

They’re not hissing or using claws though, so it must be another form of their playing.

Sans sits down, scooting closer to you, “they must’ve been friends for a long time, huh?”

“Righhht. Friends…” You recognize their behavior towards each other in downtime, and it’s not as casual as you first thought, “Historians will definitely call them best friends.”

Sans snorts, “what does that even mean?”

You shake your head, pulling out the torn paper from your pocket, “Nothing, nothing. I’m glad we didn’t separate them.”

“what you got there?”

“Oh, I made a list of things I needed to talk to you about. I figured we might as well use today to get it over with.”

Things to Talk About (in order of importance)

-Toriel Visit -Swap-Paps’ gifts -Really tired after using the mini-dj -Cameras around the Underground -Gaster said hello the other day -Also Gaster is on my soul (teehee?)

It’s… a lengthy list, but the first three shouldn’t take too long to go over. This is going to stress the hell out of poor Sans.

…Oh, well. RIP Bozo, part of your job is to stress out your mans. That’s why only Kōrenki could handle you before, now you can add Sans to the roster. Let’s fucking go!

“how responsible of you,” Sans crosses his arms and leans into the bag, “alright, i’m ready. what’s first?”

“I told Toriel I’d visit her for a week, remember? Since we’re back early, I might as well go tomorrow. I miss her a lot, and I wanna see her.”

Sans throws his head back, “ah, that’s right. uh, i mean… we just finished unpacking yesterday, but we can get your stuff ready later. still want me to drop you off there?”

You smile, “Yeah, I’d like that. And… maybe it’s time to meet Toriel?”

“um… yeah. i think so.” Sans blushes and looks at the cats, “please don’t take this the wrong way, but… maybe we keep our relationship a secret from her?”

You feel your face heat up. “Yeahhh, she’s like a mom to me, and I was never the type to tell my parents about my love life. How do you feel about it, though? Weren’t you two close?”

His blush dies at the question. He forgot you know more about this stuff because you’re like him. Still… His feelings for Toriel haven’t been romantic in nature for a while. As for how she feels about him… He isn’t sure he knows.

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t gotta talk about it,” You sit up straighter, softening your voice, “To be blunt, it’s not really any of her business regardless. So, it’s best to just act like we’re only friends around her.”

Sans nods, grateful for your save, “yeah, thanks. it’s just not–i’m not-”

“-You don’t have to explain. This isn’t exactly easy to navigate. But you’re still meeting her, right?”

“yeah, i can at least do that,” The skeleton sighs deeply, “okay, next on the list?”

“Oh, right,” You look at your paper, “Oh, right!”

You dig out the box you’ve preemptively put in your pocket earlier. You present the orange box to the other, not reaching it further since you, admittedly, don’t want him reading the letter. It’s too private, and you don’t feel comfortable with him seeing it.

“oh, yeah. i saw that,” Sans leans forward, “but what’s in it?”

You hesitate, “It was–a gift from the other Papyrus. The other Sans drew me a little doodle, and Papyrus wrote me some DIY skin care products you can make with the glow stones.”

“he gave you something?” Sans’ grin falters, “i told you he liked you.”

You deadpan, “Dude.”

“sorry, sorry. so… he gave that to you before he left? when did he–was it when he gave you a hug?”

You cross your arms, not impressed with his tone.

He holds his hands up in surrender, “okay, i get it. so… what? what about it?”

“I was wondering if I could keep it here in the lab,” You point to one of the drawers, “I’m not planning on bringing souvenirs from every Au we visit, but it feels better if I keep it here.”

He shrugs, “sure, i don’t mind it. they’re all open so just put it where you want.”

“Thanks, baby boy!”

Sans blushes and rolls his eye-lights but says nothing else. Time for the next thing on the list.

“Uhm, so…”

Your eyes land on Childe and Morax. They’re napping now on top of each other, Morax's little mouth looks like it could be turned up in a smile.

You love cat.

“You may or may not have been right to be worried about me,” You wring your hands together and straighten your back. “I feel good now! But I did get really dizzy when we came back using the mini-DJ. And I napped for five fucking hours.”

“i’m glad you brought that up, actually. that was something i wanted to talk to you about,” Sans crosses his arms, furrowing his bone-brows, “it was fine using my shortcuts the first handful of times, but the stress of magic is slowly piling up on you. and then using the dj was a big heap of magic at once. the second time around wasn’t as bad because you experienced it before, but it was really close.”

“I was fine when you were using the shortcuts the other day, though. The day we came back.”

“that might be because compared to the dj, the magic usage for shortcuts is nothing.” Sans narrows his eye sockets, “i don’t get it though. the human kid never showed signs of being affected by my shortcut magic. logically speaking, as an adult who’s much stronger, you should be fine from it as well.”

Yeahhh…

‘IF ONLY. THERE WAS SOMEONE OUT THERE. WHO CAN TELL ME. WHAT THIS COULD POSSIBLY MEAN…!!’

…

‘GASTER.’

“Alright. Alright. Stop yelling.” The tired voice groans in your head, as if you woke him up, “What is it? You will have to repeat it for me.”

You purposely make a face like you’re thinking so Sans doesn’t think you’re hearing the Voices™ even though you literally are.

‘Sans and I are talking about why I’m being affected by magic lately. Specifically, the magic that comes from his shortcuts and the DJ. He said the human kid from before was never affected by it, so why am I different?’

“Oh, is that all?”

‘’Oh, Is ThAt AlL-’ Fuck you mean by that?’

“I was expecting Sans to-”

“uh, [y/n]? you okay?” Sans calls in concern.

“Shh, Sans,” You make a “calm down” motion with your hands, “I’m talking to the Voices™.”

He smiles sweetly, “oh, okay.”

“…”

“wait, what?”

“As I was saying,” Gaster continues without a care in the world, “I was expecting Sans to have figured it out already. Perhaps he has forgotten your origins already. You do behave as though this is originally your world, so I suppose I can cut him some slack.”

‘My origins? Does where I come from really matter?’

“Of course it does. It is also the explanation of why you are unable to Save or Reset despite your Soul.”

…

???

“Sorry,” Gaster clears his throat, “I paused for dramatic effect.”

…You outwardly sigh. Sans gives you another concerned look.

“As you should know, humans were known to have magic a long, long time ago. After all, it was the seven HUMAN mages that had summoned the barrier in the first place. Over time, the amount of humans who have magic dwindled significantly, but it never truly disappeared. Even now, humans cannot use magic, but it is still within their biology. Only slightly.”

You nod along to Gaster, listening intently to his tale.

Sans is worried for your mental health, but he’s not about to say anything. So what if you’re mentally ill? It just adds to the experience. Still, he’s getting a bit… bored.

Using his magic, he takes the cat toy that you had put down a while ago. He might as well entertain the kitties while he waits.

“That being said, you are not from this world. You are from a world without an ounce of magic. The reason why that child was unaffected by Sans’ shortcut magic, and why they can Save and Reset is because they have magic.”

“Though, it’s definitely not the same amount of magic or power that us monsters possess. But that very small, very minute amount is enough for these purposes.”

‘…So… I’m affected by it because I have no magic in me. But I am getting used to it.’

“Yes, that is correct.”

‘And you’re saying if I did have magic, I could’ve been able to Save and Reset?’

“Yes. After all, your Determination is much greater than anyone I’ve seen before. Even compared to that child.”

Huh… You don’t know what to do with that information. Is that why your Soul is gold? Because it’s just straight up Determination? Is that something you should unpack later?

“If that is all,” Gaster sighs in a tired (old man) manner, “I will be going now.”

‘Oh, okay. Thank you, by the way.’

… Nothing. He was gone as soon as he announced it.

Fucker.

Sans has been playing with Childe the whole time, Morax is still sleeping like an old man. You wonder how old these cats are, Childe is clearly the younger one with all that energy he has.

“Sans,” You beam, “I finished speaking to the Voices™.”

“…” Sans gives you a once over, “you’re talking about gaster, right?”

“How’d you know?”

“…” He sighs, “you freaked me out at first. i still can’t get over that you’re just–that you can just talk to him.”

You look at your list, “Funny you say that! That’s actually the last two things I wanted to mention! We’ll be skipping number four, though…”

“pfft. will you feel better if we put a pin in this to talk about number four?”

You nod.

“shoot. i can be patient.”

It is absolutely killing him inside, but he’ll do it for you.

“Remember how you were saying that we couldn’t risk monsters seeing me? Snowdin has been chill about it (“heh-heh, nice.”) but we can’t risk any more than that.”

“yeah, and i still think so.”

“Right. But… The cameras.”

“…the…” Sans blinks, “cameras…”

You nod, “The cameras.”

Sans drags his hands down his face, groaning and sinking deep in his bean bag.

Yeah, he definitely fucked up.

He is cooked.

You are cooked.

You are fucking cooked.

“So, anyway,” You crumble up the paper, “Back to Gaster!”

“we cannot just skip over that. i can’t believe i forgot about the damn cameras,” Sans whines, “they’ve been so useless to me before you came along, that i just completely forgot they were there.”

“I mean, I’ve been here for a few months and we haven’t gotten any surprise visits from Undyne or King Asgore.”

He shakes his head, “no, i still don’t like it. i’ll do something about it, don’t worry.”

Uhmm… You ain’t sure you like the sound of that…

“You’re not gonna, like… go ape shit, are you?”

“you’ve mistaken me for someone who has the energy to go that far,” Sans waves a dismissive hand.

“If you say so,” You shift on your bean bag, getting more comfortable, “But if I see you on the news, I’ll go out of my way to clear your name. Don’t worry, I gotchu.”

You’ll just ask about it when you get back. If Sans is serious about standing on business, he should be done with it by then.

“now that that's out of the way, we can finally talk about gaster.”

He closes his eyes for just a few seconds. When he opens them again, he snaps his fingers to summon–oh, it’s the soul-fragment.

It looks the same as ever to you, if there's a difference to it then you don’t notice it. You only saw it for a short time back in UnderSwap, and it’s been with Sans ever since.

“only you can see it, right?” Sans asks.

“Yeah,” You make an upside down heart with your thumbs and index fingers, “It’s like this, but it has hard edges to it instead. It’s white with a weird, purple-black aura glow around it.”

“you said you’d tell me why that is,” Sans’ smile becomes weaker, “i think i can guess why, but i’d rather hear it from you.”

“I will, but you can’t freak out, okay? I only just found out on the day we came back, but I wanted to wait until now because I didn’t wanna stress you out.”

Sans simply nods, gesturing for you to keep talking.

You take a deep breath. “So… Gaster is kind of… with me…”

Sans snorts, “yeah. i figured since you were just talking to him in your head.”

“Right, but…”

“but…?”

“He’s not possessing my Soul or my body or anything, but he’s just kinda…” You scrunch up your face, shoulders hunching up and you force yourself to say it. “He’s like, on my Soul? He’s just riding along and chilling.”

Sans blinks and suddenly his left eye is glowing the same yellow and cyan. His eye frantically searches around your body, though staying in the general area of your chest where your soul would be. You don’t feel like he’s peeping at your soul, but his intense gaze makes you fidget nonetheless.

The skeleton monster sighs and closes his eyes, “i can only sense your soul, nothing else…”

So that’s what he was looking for.

“Gaster did tell me that it was just a really small piece of him, so maybe that’s why you can’t see him or sense him? You couldn’t use your Blue magic thingy on the fragment before because it wasn’t tangible enough, remember?”

“yeah, i know. i was just… hoping.” Sans sits up again and looks at you. his eye-sockets back to normal, “i gotta be honest with you, [y/n]. i don’t like the idea of gaster free-riding in your head like that. you don’t feel dread or scared?”

You are NOT correcting him on that. You think he might lose it even further if you tell him what you mean.

You shake your head, “The only reason I had a chance to capture Temmie was because Gaster was helping me. Seeing the fragment, knowing where exactly it was, how Temmie was using it, and everything I know about it was because of Gaster.”

You continue, “I spoke to him again the day we came back, but it was only him explaining all this to me. He’s still here with me, but at the same time, I can’t really feel him anymore.”

Which is true. You know it in your heart and soul that Gaster is still lingering, but you get the sneaking suspicion that he’s not going to answer you if you try calling out to him again. He sounded really exhausted earlier, it must’ve taken a lot just to tell you that little information.

Gaster said he was stronger because the fragment is back in this Universe, but it’s clearly not as much as you thought originally. Not as much as he originally thought, either.

You suppose you’ll dream about him again if he really needs to talk to you.

“i gotta think about all this…” Sans mutters.

“Of course, take your time.”

That’s why you two chose a day to talk about all this, after all. Thinking it over is part of that process.

In the meantime, you start to play with Childe again. He’s such a crackhead, you love him. Morax also moved to sleep closer to you and Sans. He was in that mid-car crash position, but that’s how you know he’s sleeping good. You wish you could sleep like a cat.

Oh, to be a liquid.

Sans’ quiet sigh brings your attention back to him. Childe meows at you when you stop looking at him, but he quickly gets over it to bother Morax instead.

“okay… i don’t like it, [y/n]. i really don’t. i don’t know what he’s thinking, but…” Sans leans forward, his smile almost gone, “you have to promise me you’re not feeling in danger.”

You smile with as much reassurance as you could muster, “I promise, Sans.”

“and you have to promise me that you’ll tell me if you think you are.”

“I promise, Sans.”

Sans nods, backing away just a bit, “i hate making promises, [y/n]. but if you can keep those promises to me, then i promise you that i’ll take care of it the moment you need me to. no matter what.”

Making promises to him though, with someone like Sans, it feels heavy.

You know what promises mean to him, and how much they’re worth to him. It, admittedly, has your face heating up. He made you promise him something, and in return he made you a promise, too.

Shit has your heart aflutter, Goddamn.

“I understand, Sans. I’ll keep those promises to you. Right now, I really do feel fine.” You reassure him again.

There is a very small tinge of pink on his cheek bones. His smile widens yet softens, leaning back in the bean bag. He looks over to the DJ machine and gestures to it lazily.

“smoothly onto other things,” Sans winces, “the dj. it’s–kind of out of commission.”

You smile nervously, “What, like it’s broken?”

“no, no. nothing like that. only that it might take a month or so to work again.”

“How come?” You laugh, “Is Gaster being a little shit again?”

“nah, he’s chillin’, but it’s a matter of magic. the amount of magic energy it needs to make these jumps are insane. maybe in three to four weeks, it’ll have enough magic energy to work again, and we’ll be on our way to the next au or at.”

“On that topic, do you know what the next Au will be?”

“hm, no. it doesn’t work like that. maybe in the final week, like how it was last time.”

“Okay, so from a month from now. I’ll be better prepared to call off work this time, haha!”

Is it corny if Sans finds genuine happiness from your laughter? Maybe. He should probably keep that to himself.

“more alternate universes and alternate timeline’s mean more fragments. more fragments mean i gotta find a better place to store these things,” Sans looks in the general direction of Gaster’s fragment.

“i think i know what to do with this one for now, but eventually i will need to make a chamber that will be enough to stabilize the fragments when they’re together. you’ve written it down in that little notebook of yours, right? a monster is almost all magic, but that magic can be pretty fickle and fragile in vulnerable moments like this.”

You nod, “Mhm, mhm. Like in those science movies where the test subjects are in those big tubes with weird liquid in them!”

“pfft!”

“…”

“…oh, no you’re serious.”

“What do you mean ‘oh no’!?”

“i mean, yes and no. visually, yes, you can think of it like that. but the functionality is different, and the same logic applies to those movies.”

Sans looks off into space as he yapps, “in this case, it’s less that we’re growing and nurturing something, but rather we’re keeping something maintained and preserved. something to gather the surrounding particles too so that every little speck of gaster will be brought back. it’s going to be a stabilizer, to hold the fragments and keep it together. when gaster gets stronger to materialize himself more and more-”

The Comic falters and chuckles. You look a bit lost and he was already trying to go out of his way not to use big words.

“sorry, nerd stuff. t-l-d-r, it’s like those science movies.”

You pout, feeling a little dumb that you can’t keep up. You shouldn’t feel bad though, this is not your area of expertise, it’s Sans’.

“I don’t know shit about any of this stuff, but if you think we need it, then I think so too,” You hold up a thumbs up, smiling meekly, “I wish I could help you, but, you know.”

He shakes his head and waves a dismissive hand, “don’t worry ‘bout it, babe. this is where i get to shine and be the star for once.”

“That’s true, I really admire this side of you. I’ve always liked a man with a big…”

“…”

“…”

Sans blushes.

“Sense of intellect.”

“that felt kind of flat.”

“I was gonna say brain but you’ve got a hollow skull.”

He laughs, so kudos to you. Look at you with your hella rizz.

“Anywayyy,” You look at the fragment, “What did you wanna do with it?”

“hm, a simple container will be fine for now, but i don’t have anything like that here…”

“…Dr. Alphys should have some in the True Lab, right?”

He narrows his eyes, “how do you…” Oh… OH! “oh, right. you know. uh, yeah. i guess she does, huh?” Sans stands up with some struggle, “i’ll be back, then.”

You snort, “You’re just gonna steal it?”

“well, yeah. that place doesn’t have cameras so i’ll be fine. just an in n’ out mission. i’ll only take one so she doesn’t notice a thing.”

“Be safe, bone boy.”

Sans winks at you while offering a solute. Next moment, he blinks out of existence, the soul-fragment left behind. It’s a jarring experience to see that from an outside perspective-

“MRAH!!”

Childe jumps up on all fours, tail puffy with airplane ears as he stares where Sans just was. Morax was still lying down, but he was also looking where Sans used to be.

You start snickering when Childe does that little scaredy cat shimmy, his back all arched while walking on his little toe beans.

Bro is skimpering and skittering. You love cats.

“Pspspsp,” You tap your fingers together, “C’mere Childe, c’mereee! Pspsps!”

“wahh.”

Childe starts hopping towards you, his body language relaxing but now he’s in a very playful mood.

Oh, here he comes! Here comes the boy!

Giggling like a little bitch, you start waving your hands at the cat, playing with him because he’s just a baby.

“We should cut your nails, baby,” You mention to Childe.

But Childe does not respond, because Childe is a cat.

Shame.

There’s a strange static in the air, then BOOM! In an anticlimactic fashion, Sans appears again in the workshop with something in his hands.

He looks kind of frantic and–is he sweating? What the hell happened?

“Are you okay?” You stand up to get close to him, “You were only gone for less than a minute.”

“yeah, yeah. i uh, i…” Sans holds up the container, “got the thing.”

“Sans, what happened?”

“you remember those uh… those experiments alphys did?”

Ooh…

“You ran into one?” You grimace.

“shortcut right in front of it.”

“…That’s a lil’ funny.”

“jumped right out of my fucking bones. nearly scared me half to death.”

“You okay, though?”

“yeah, yeah. i’m good.” Sans looks at the glass in his hands, “alphys had a lot of empty ones, i really doubt she’ll notice it’s gone.”

It’s the same glass vase you’ve seen many times before. The one used to keep the human souls inside.

The human souls of children.

Seeing it slaps you with guilt. You should find time to go to Waterfalls to find the Dusty Tutu and Ballerina Shoes.

“How do you feel about this?” You take the jar from him, “This is all to bring Gaster back, but how do you feel?”

Sans doesn’t answer you at first. Instead he uses magic to blindly grab the fragment he left behind. He pulls the fragment towards you two, bringing it close so you can put it in the container.

“i don’t know,” Sans whispers finally, “no… that’s not true. i’m confused, but… i feel nervous? happy? doubtful… hesitant. excited. i’m feeling a lot of things,” He shakes his head, “this changes a lot, y’know? and what am i gonna tell paps?”

“Maybeee we should tell him? Let him know what we’re actually doing going to all these Au’s.”

“yeah… better late than never… but…”

You don’t want to overstep here. Papyrus is your little pookie, but he’s still Sans’ brother first. Whatever else happens, you don’t have a right to interfere.

If Sans wants to wait a little longer to tell his brother, there’s nothing you can do but respect his wishes.

You know if the roles were reversed, you wouldn’t appreciate Sans telling your siblings something you weren’t ready to share yet. The difference is that Papyrus is a grown man, but the principle still stands.

Sans helps you with putting the fragment into the container. You don’t feel any different now that it’s confined, so that means Gaster isn’t closed off from you. You didn’t think it would work that way, but you can’t be too careful about these things 

You move it and put it on the counter where the rolled up blueprint is at.

Since you’re here, you might as well find a drawer to put your box in. Maybe you can put your notebook in here too, the one you use to write your observations and learn about the monsters.

“So,” Biting the inside of your cheek, you think how you should word this. “When we got to UnderSwap, it didn’t look out of the ordinary at first. But then Gaster confirmed that we showed up during a time where I haven’t shown up yet. But he more or less confirmed that the UnderSwap version of me will show up there eventually.”

You turn around and lean on the counter, “We didn’t think time travel was involved, but it very much is. One day, we might show up in an Au when I’m already there.”

Sans groans, hiding his face, “i can’t believe the old man told you–is telling us not to worry about it. then again,” Sans rubs the side of his cheek, “that papyrus said he doesn’t remember resets, so maybe that’s why. because there isn’t a real risk to seeing you when it’ll all be reset anyway…”

“How come you’re the only one who remembers? Are you the only one who remembers?”

He shrugs his shoulders, sitting down on your bean bag since that was closer.

“i dunno. i didn’t always remember. but somewhere along the line, i was starting to. i stopped questioning how since in the end, it doesn’t matter why. the fact is, i can remember resets, nothing can change that now.”

Well, you suppose that’s true. But what if only a “Sans” can remember? Swap-Papyrus couldn’t remember even though he has the Sans role and personality, but you never once considered if Swap-Sans could remember.

You doubt it, but it’s not like you asked him, and he never hinted if that were the case, either.

Anyway, this only raises a very important question.

“Sooo…” You clasp your hands together in front of yourself, “If we meet another me, are you gonna smooch her?”

“what!?”

“Well, ‘cause if you like me in every Universe, I am 100% positive that if I also liked you in every Universe, too.”

Sans waves it off, “maybe, but you’re the only human i want. just like how you said i’m the only bone boy you want… right?”

You smile softly, “That’s true. It’s just you, Sans.”

Sans blushes, but that’s to be expected by now, “same here.”

“…I wouldn’t be mad if you wanted to smooch another me, though,” You continue casually, “Like, as long as I can watch. I’m not vanilla, in case you didn’t notice.”

His face explodes in red, “what?! you–are you say–why would you-”

“-Oh, my God.” You throw your hands up and roll your eyes, “I’m sorry. Never mind, Mr. Vanilla.”

Sans sinks into the bean bag, his jacket bunching up to hide the lower half of his face. You let the silence fall, not genuinely bothered by his reaction.

You know Sans gets flustered when you come on strong, you were only teasing him.

You end up putting your boxed gift in the very last drawer since that one was empty.

The others were filled with the photo album, a badge, and crumbled blueprints.

The badge was pretty interesting, actually. The front held the symbol of the Delta Rune with:

SANS

Research Assistant

When you flip it over to the back, you see a fine-print. “Royal Scientist 🕈︎👎︎ ☝︎♋︎⬧︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎’s Personal Research Assistant.”

You could ask Sans about the WingDings, but you don’t need to. Ever since that dream, you’ve been able to understand WingDings. It appears that you’re capable of reading it, too. Does that mean you could write it?

Hm, something to test out later.

The photo album peaks your interest, too. You refuse to look through it without permission, and you can tell now isn’t the best time to ask about it.

The crumpled blueprints look all similar and somehow glitchy. They must belong to Gaster, but it’s incomprehensible despite your understanding of WingDings.

“um… [y/n].”

After two minutes, Sans is ready to talk again.

You close all the drawers and turn around, giving him your full attention. He’s not looking at you, but that’s okay. There’s a strong blush on his face still, he looks so cute.

“i’m not… i’m not really interested in that stuff,” Sans admits weakly, “‘m not saying it’s completely off the table, by the way. just that before, i never had a desire for it. and when i did use to–when i used to like someone that way in the past, i never felt the need for it either.”

Ohh, that’s why he went all quiet. Sans was trying to think of a way to gently let you down. From how he’s phrasing it though, he made it sound like you shouldn’t give up hope.

With genuine curiosity, you ask, “And now?”

Sans gives you an obvious once over then looks away. His blush only grows.

“i don’t think i’m ready for that any time soon, but… you know… i wouldn’t have had such a strong reaction from just your kisses if it was a turn-off for me.”

‘FUCKING SCORE!!’

Look, as much as a degenerate you are, sex truly isn’t everything for you when it comes to a relationship. You have no problem if you two are never intimate, and if it becomes an issue later down the line, that’s something to work out later. But now, there is no need.

You won’t dare rush Sans or make him feel like he owes you anything, you are fine with what you have now.

“We don’t gotta worry about that, Sans,” You say earnestly, “For now, kissing is still fine?”

Sans nods, relieved to the bone. It seems he didn’t have to worry so much, of course he didn’t. You never gave him reason before to think you’d blow up in his face about something, so it wouldn’t be different this time.

You bend over and start petting the ginger cat. “What about you Childe? Are you and Morax date-mates?”

Childe only meows at you and gives your murder mittens. His nails are long, but he’s not during it to hurt you. In fact, he might be trying to get you to play with him. AGAIN.

Jeez, this cat has a lot of energy…

Sans snorts, “those cats only like you, by the way.”

“No way.”

“yes way. morax was sleeping on my ribs and kept putting his little face against my nose. i think he was trying to suffocate me.”

“Aww, he likes you!”

“no way.”

“Yes way! Trust. If a cat really hates you, they let you know.”

Sans side eyes Childe, who is now letting you pet his tummy.

You’re playing a dangerous game doing that. Sans has little to no experience with cats, but even he knows not to pet a cat's stomach.

That’s proof right there! Literally proof that you’re the fucking favorite! Sans can’t blame them cats either, but still.

Shit is brutal out here for a skeleton.

Tags:

@adriixboo

@lemonboy011

@fetusbaconegg

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

You had a very funny dream when you took that nap with Sans.

You were some teen boy in the kitchen, doom-scrolling on a social media app. You were getting up to go to your room to sleep, but then your dad stopped you.

“Son,” he said, “before you go to bed…”

You replied, “Yes, dad?”

“Change the coffee filter.”

*Vine Boom Sound*

“Okay.”

And then you woke up.

Dang, you didn’t get to change the coffee filter before you woke up…

You’re a terrible son.

Hm, wait. You’re sure you went to bed Big Spooning Sans, but he’s not here now.

How strange that he woke up before you did. How late is it? You couldn’t have slept for more than an hour or two, right? You checked the time before sleeping, it was barely noon when you got back.

You sit up on the bed, stretching lazily as you are in no hurry to become a functioning member of society.

Damn, you’re still sad you never got to change the coffee filter…

You get up and slip on Sans’ pink slippers because you don’t feel like finding your own. They’re really comfortable, too. It’s a little chilly, so you grab your jacket that you left on the dresser. After that, you dig out the box that was still hiding in there.

You don’t know where to really put it… Maybe you can ask Sans for a place to keep it or something. For now, you’ll leave it on the dresser. You’re not trying to hide things from Sans, and he’ll end up finding it eventually anyway.

Leaving the room, you already hear the speaking voices of Sans and Papyrus downstairs. You try keeping yourself quiet, listening in to their conversation.

“-ood as it could’ve been. we met another version of you, too.”

“WOWIE, REALLY? WAS HE COOLER THAN ME?”

“it’ll be a warm day in snowdin before anyone becomes cooler than you, bro.”

“AS PER USUAL, THAT IS TO BE EXPECTED. AND WHAT OF YOUR MISSION? DID YOU AND [Y/N] FIND WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR?”

“yup. it was a little rocky at first, but we managed to get the job done,” You hear the cheekiness in his tone, “[y/n] made sure we all put our back-bone into it.”

“UGH, I’M GLAD I DIDN'T GO.” Papyrus huffs and crosses his arms, “IF THERE WAS ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU, THAT MEANS ONLY DOUBLE THE TERRIBLE JOKES.”

“speakin’ of, this wasn’t the only time we’re gonna do this. [y/n] and i might go on another trip in a month or so.”

“IS THAT SO? SO, YOU TWO WILL BE DISAPPEARING AGAIN SOON… HM?”

You lock eyes with Papyrus on your way down the stairs. Man, you were trying to sneak up on Sans but there was no helping it the taller one was facing your direction.

Papyrus beams like a thousand Suns, getting those sparkly anime eyes that he does sometimes. He runs to you with his arms spread; you feel so fucking loved.

“[Y/NNNN]!!”

“PAPYRUSSSS!!”

Papyrus lifts you into a hug, arms tight around you while you reciprocate the gesture.

You’re starting to get used to the slight weight on your soul that is Blue Magic. Papyrus will often use it on you whenever he lifts you up to make sure he never drops you. You never realized how subtle it's always been, but it’s obvious now due to experiencing it from the others.

Baby boy baby.

“I’VE MISSED YOU DEARLY SO, [Y/N]!!” Papyrus tells you with love, “IT WAS SO INCREDIBLY LONELY WITHOUT YOU!”

Sans puts his hands on his hip bones, “uh, what about me?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“I GUESS I MISSED YOU, TOO.”

Brotherly love at its finest.

Papyrus sets you on your feet, making sure you’re stable before releasing the slight hold on your soul. He puts his hands on his sassy hips, smiling at you wholesomely.

“SINCE THE HOUSE WAS UNBEARABLY QUIET, I’VE SPENT MOST OF MY TIME WITH UNDYNE. IN FACT, I JUST RETURNED HOME TODAY SINCE YOU BOTH HAVE LEFT.”

☹️ Baby…

You purse your lips with pity, “Awe, I’m sorry, Papyrus. But how are you feeling now? You said this is the first time you’ve been back?”

“OH, I’VE BEEN FINE OTHERWISE,” As he talks, Sans walks over to regroup with you both, “I MORE OR LESS HAVE BEEN SLEEPING OVER WITH UNDYNE. TRAINING, JUST HANGING OUT, HAVING COOKING LESSONS. SHE HAS BEEN TIRED ALL DAY FOR SOME REASON, SO I THOUGHT I SHOULD COME BACK TO LET HER REST.”

Sans snorts, “bet you tired her out being over there all the time.”

You laugh too, “That’s true. You have a lot of energy that is hard to keep up with. Not in a bad way! You know I love your energy so much, Papyrus.”

“OH, I KNOW, I KNOW. UNDYNE IS MY BEST FRIEND, TRUE, BUT YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO MATCH MY ENERGY THE MOST, [Y/N],” Papyrus poses dramatically, “IF ONLY HER OPINION ON HUMANS WEREN’T SO… MURDERY. I BET YOU TWO WOULD GET ALONG GREAT!”

…Yeahhh. Sure. You love Undyne’s character in the game, but if you met her in reality…

Oof, you fear your personalities would clash too much. Especially your ideals…

“Maybe one day, but for now, ‘tis only a distant dream,” You put a hand to your chin in thought, “You know what, though? It has me thinking…”

“about what?”

“Sans, you told him that we’ll be doing this again, right?” At his nodding, you continue, “I don’t feel good leaving Papyrus here all alone. That means we should get a pet! Something to keep us all in company for these reasons!”

“uh…” Sans rubs the back of his skull, “we’re all out of the house now-a-days, though. then we’d have to get two pets to make sure they’ll always have company. but even then, we wouldn’t be able to take care of dogs with how sparse our time is.”

Papyrus scrunches up his face, “I MUST, UNFORTUNATELY, AGREE WITH SANS HERE. (“unfortunately?”) HE CAN BARELY KEEP HIS PET ROCK FED. WHAT HOPE WILL WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF A COUPLE OF DOGS?”

“I love dogs, don’t get me wrong. I had a big puppy back at my parents home, but that’s not what I meant.”

“??? huh?” You grin, “I was thinking of something more– independent.”

“???”

“Cats!”

──

Papyrus had rushed to his room to change into something that is “fit to find some kitties.” You and Sans are waiting for him in the living room, sitting on the couch together.

“Hey,” You tap his arm, “why didn’t you wake me?”

“you looked too peaceful, i couldn’t bring myself to do it. ‘sides, i did try waking you, but you were dead asleep,” Sans chuckles, “it was pretty impressive ‘cause that’s usually my job. still, i figured that if you were out cold, that just meant you needed it.”

You check the clock on the far wall, wincing at the time. It’s fucking passed 5 pm, you napped for 5 fucking hours. Damn, you were a lot more exhausted than you originally thought. Or maybe the magic of the DJ machine had affected you more than you thought. You should tell Sans about that, but not now.

“Hm, we should go out to eat with Papyrus for dinner,” You look over at the skeleton, “I don’t really feel like cooking today.”

“that’s a good idea. anything in mind?”

“As long as it’s a place that won’t give a fuck about me looking human, I’m fine with anything. Other than Grillby’s, of course. Your bro isn’t a fan of that place.”

“i think i know a place in the capital. wanna get dressed before we go?”

You smile at him, teasing him and poking his arm, “You saying I look too homeless to go out?”

“no way, hot stuff. ‘m asking just in case since we’re going out for dinner.” Sans bone brows twitch, “uh, crap. i-i didn’t mean it like that, swear. i was just-”

“-I know, I know. You were just being considerate,” You look down at the slippers you stole from Sans, “Do you need these?”

Sans looks down at his own shoes: blue and white with untied laces. He doesn’t wear shoes over his slippers often, but that spontaneous change worked out for you.

The only reason he switched it up now was because your slippers were still packed away in his Void, and he didn’t want you walking around with no shoes.

“nah, they look better on you, anyway.”

You shrug, “Then nah, I don’t need to… change…”

Sans raises a brow, looking over to where your eyes had suddenly moved to. In doing so, he felt a strange dread settling in his metaphorical gut. Your shoulders are shaking from trying to contain your laughter.

How could you be laughing in a time like this?!?!

Papyrus is jumping down the stairs with a new shirt over his battle body. It’s a black shirt with a white print that says “BOY”. Written on top with white marker was the word “CAT” in a classic Papyrus font. It looks really recent.

CAT BOY…

You cover your mouth with your hand, trying so fucking hard not to laugh because poor Sans looks mortified. You lean over to whisper in his acoustic meatus. (A/N: Yes, I had to look that up. Don't expect me to use that ever again, that name is so unserious)

“The internet would have a field day seeing him like that,” You snicker.

“don’t you–” Sans light heartedly pushes you away, “shut!”

“I’M SO EXCITED!” Papyrus bounces in place, “I HAVEN’T SEEN ANY CATS HERE IN SNOWDIN, BUT I HAVE DEFINITELY SEEN ONE OR TWO IN THE WATERFALLS.”

“actually, paps. before that,” Sans pats your leg and stands up, “wanna head to the capital to get something to eat?”

The younger monster tilts his head, “GO OUT TO EAT? I COULD ALWAYS COOK SOMETHING UP FOR THE THREE OF US! I HAVE NOTICED THAT [Y/N] HAS BEEN THE ONE MAKING US FOOD SINCE SHE MOVED IN. I THINK IT’S TIME I HELP OUT AS WELL.”

Hell fucking no. You’re not about to do all that. There has been an obvious reason you’ve been the cook and you’re not letting that change.

Fuck, you really need to find a day soon to tell Papyrus the truth.

“Nope, sorry,” You firmly shake your head, “I don’t wanna clean today or tomorrow. Honestly, I just want to eat out today.”

“UH… OKAY…?”

Papyrus just shrugs it off because he’s a fucking Giga Chad like. Papyrus fucking strikes a pose suddenly, one hand on the hip and the other pointing in the air. Then he twirls really fast, and suddenly the shirt is nowhere to be seen.

“That was really impressive,” You say honestly, your expression mirroring your feelings, “How’d you do that? Magic?”

“LIKE I NEED MAGIC FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT,” Papyrus rolls his eyes… somehow, “I CAN MANAGE THAT WITH MY SHEER WILLPOWER ALONE.” You legitimately believe that. Like actually from the depths of your soul.

“are you ready then?” Sans asks.

“YEP!”

“cool beans. then we gotta take a lil’ shortcut. we gotta hide [y/n], remember?”

“I SUPPOSE SO. BUT UNDYNE IS MOST LIKELY SPENDING THE REST OF TODAY IN HER HOME.”

“still…” Sans eyes flash with something like concern when his gaze casts to you, “you don’t know who would recognize [y/n] as a human and spread the word. we’re lucky enough no one in snowdin is saying anything, but we can’t be too careful.”

Wait, that just reminded you of something. The fucking cameras. There are cameras all over the Underground, isn’t there? Sans must know about them as well, there’s no way he doesn't. Maybe he’s forgotten about them after all this time (you certainly have).

But if that’s the case, surely Alphys should already know about you by now. So why hasn’t she said anything to anyone? Or maybe she told Asgore, but even then, why hasn’t it been brought up? Unless Alphys is rooting for you the way she roots for Frisk.

Another thing you need to discuss with Sans.

Man, there is a lot you need to talk about with this guy.

Still, you’re not bringing this up since you don’t want to ruin the vibes. This isn’t something anyone needs to worry about right now.

Papyrus’s voice brings you out of your thoughts. “GOOD POINT, BROTHER. IN THAT CASE, SURE, WE CAN USE YOUR FUNKY LITTLE SHORTCUTS.”

“now, i wouldn’t say little.”

“YOU SHOULD KNOW SIZE DOES NOT MATTER, SANS.”

“…wait, what?” Sans narrows his eye sockets, “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“YOUR HEIGHT IS SHORTER THAN THE AVERAGE IN SOCIETAL STANDARDS.”

“…”

You tuck in your lips to hide your smile. Sans gives you an unimpressed look, the expression awkward since he’s still keeping up his smile.

The Comic huffs and crosses his arms, “are we going now, or what?”

“Yeah, yeah. Lead the way, bone boy.”

“READY WHEN YOU ARE, BROTHER.”

──

Sans ends up taking you both to a hole in the wall in the Capital, a small pizza establishment by a huge yellow, triangular monster. His head was a triangle and so was his body.

He called himself Top Chef and said shit like: “Mama Miba!”

Hell yeah.

You three were getting weird looks admittedly, but that was only because you all were playing with your food. The cheese was so cheesy and you managed to pull the cheese at a long distance before it finally snapped!

None of you gave a shit though, you were all having fun with each other. It was only a few days, but you did miss your Papyrus.

After you all had your fill, you’ve boxed the remaining pizza to take it to go. You paid for it since you’re fortunate enough to have your own Gold now without needing to rely on someone else.

Ah, that reminds you that you need to talk to Sans about paying rent again. You don’t think he’ll be open to it anymore since you’re his girlfriend now, but you need to find a compromise anyway.

Anyway, after the pizza dinner, Papyrus gives Sans some directions to a place in Waterfalls. When he short-cuts you all to the location, it looks unfamiliar to you.

It’s quieter yet you can see more houses along the road in the middle path. There’s a hill to the left that curves upward and to the right, leading somewhere else. There is a right path that leads to fewer houses, and the middle path seems to head towards a very quiet neighborhood. The glow stones here are smaller and more sparse as well, giving it an abandoned feeling.

“i haven’t been here in a while,” Sans whistles lowly, looking around with you.

“THIS IS A LOWER PART OF WATERFALLS, AND RATHER ANTISOCIAL, TOO. THE MONSTERS IN THIS AREA TEND TO KEEP TO THEMSELVES. IT IS NOT VERY LIVELY DESPITE BEING POPULATED, SO REALLY, UNDYNE WILL HAVE NO REASON TO BE HERE FOR WHATEVER REASON,” Papyrus poses with a firm nod of his head, “IN FACT, MOST MONSTERS HERE AVOID HER BECAUSE THEY’RE INTIMIDATED BY HER BOISTEROUSNESS.”

What the hell is that word? Is it even a real word?

“OUT OF RESPECT, UNDYNE AVOIDS THIS PLACE TOO AS LONG AS THEY DON’T ACT OUT OR CAUSE REASON FOR HER APPEARANCE.”

Huh. That’s neat to learn about the world. This is obviously another inaccessible part of the game that you can walk around freely now.

Undyne is such a hero for these monsters, huh? Even if she’s rude, she does everything for their sake and respects them deeply. Even if they’re scared of her, the monsters respect her as well.

It would be really cool if it wasn’t so dangerous and hypocritical towards you. 

You grin appreciatively, “You really put a lot of thought into this, huh? I don’t give you enough credit, Papyrus. But your consideration and thinking ahead like this is really admirable.”

“wow, yeah…” Sans blinks in realization, smiling widely, “you really thought this out. even though the surprised adoption hunting was out of the blue, you thought it out while we were out.”

Papyrus, though he tries to play it cool, blushes red. He clears his throat and looks ahead, posing dramatically as his cape flows in the wind.

“HMPH! WHAT, LIKE IT’S HARD?” Papyrus isn’t bothering hiding his self-satisfied grin, “DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

What a cool guy!

Papyrus does his cool anime-girl transformation twirl, his Cat Boy shirt appearing once again.

“I’M SURE I’VE SEEN AN ORANGE CAT, AND A BLACK CAT. THEY NEVER STAY TOO LONG IN ONE PLACE BECAUSE OF THIS LITTLE WHITE DOG THAT COMES BY OFTEN,” Papyrus looks back at the hill that leads up, “IT WILL BE BETTER IF WE SPLIT UP.”

Sans grimaces, “uhh…”

You shrug, “It’ll be fine, Sans. If anything happens, I’ll scream bloody murder. You’ll be able to get to me and find me with your cool shortcut bullshit.”

Hesitation is clear on his face. Looking between you and his brother, he sighs and sags his shoulders.

“alright, alright. if we find anything, let’s meet back up here,” Sans gestures to the area, “cool?”

“RIGHT-O!”

“You got it, boss!” You point to the right path, “I’ll head this way.”

Papyrus points up, “I WILL SEARCH THE AREA ABOVE.”

Sans jerks his thumb to the middle path, “guess i’ll go this way.”

“Alright!” You clap your hands, “Let’s move out, team!”

Papyrus gives you an enthusiastic cheer while Sans only weakly pumps his fist in the air. You three split up from there and begin your separate search.

Just to be on the safer side, you made sure to stick to the shadows and cave walls. There were only two other houses down this way, then it starts to branch out into a wider path.

You do, in fact, make sure to pluck a few glow stones from the walls. Not many, only two but those were pretty big, Hopefully it will be enough for the skin products, you can have Sans and/or Papyrus try them out with you!

Eventually, you reach a deadend. It’s a large field of Echo Flowers that surrounds a pond of the pretty cyan water. There are lily pads and Water Sausages in the pond, but not many.

You love the marsh, the Waterfalls are so nice.

There isn’t anything here though, you should head back and find Sans or Papyrus...

“It is peaceful here, is it not?”

“WAH!!”

You look around but immediately realize that it was literally in your head. Moreso, you recognize the voice and the laughter that is now following it.

Oh, brother! This guy STINKS!

“Sorry, I did not mean to startle you. I suppose I hadn’t made my presence known before I spoke.”

You sigh, “Geez, man. I was this close to tweaking out…!”

“…Tweak out?”

You snort, “Anyway. Yeah, this is–The Waterfalls were always my favorite.”

“Mine as well. Whenever I needed a place to think, or work something out on my own, I would venture deep in Waterfalls. There is an abandoned, lonely dock not too far from here. I would stand there, and stare into the nothingness. It was… It was always humbling.”

An abandoned, lonely dock, huh? It reminds you of Goner Kid…

“How are you talking to me like this?” You ask Gaster, “I don't even have the fragment with me.”

“I suppose it is enough already that you have found it and brought it back here to our original universe where the other piece of me is. It won’t be for long, unfortunately. I suspect after this talk, I would have exhausted too much energy. I won’t be able to communicate with you for another while.”

“So then. Will you finally tell me how this is at all possible?”

You hear some hesitation in his tone. “Alright, but you can’t get mad at me.”

Bruh. Be so fucking for real. He's such a child.

“I am not in your head, not necessarily. Well, I AM, that is how you can hear me, after all. But that is not WHERE I am. More precisely, I am with your Soul.”

…What?

Gaster must sense your anxiety as he immediately follows up with a more in depth explanation.

“I am not possessing your Soul, nor am I IN your Soul. Instead, think of it as… I am riding atop it. Simply latching on for the ride, but never in control.”

You scoff, “And you expect me to accept that explanation? How do I know that’s true?”

For a moment, you feel cold. A stark chillness that overtakes your entire body and soul. Your legs are moving–that’s not you, you’re not doing that. Your body is walking against your will, all on its own. Your body stops near the pond, sitting itself down by the cyan water.

Then, that feeling is gone. Your entire body shudders and you’re in control again.

“That,” Gaster says, though you feel some guilt that you know is not yours. That guilt you’re feeling, it belongs to Gaster. “That was me possessing your Soul and controlling it. Have you felt that at all before just this moment?”

“No… No, not once…”

“Exactly. If I were to ever take control in any way, you will know it. But I do not desire that. In truth, it is the fact that your Soul is so strong in the way that it needs to be, that I was able to hold onto it at all in the first place.”

“I… I can’t lie and say I’m not nervous about you just casually with my Soul, but…” You scrunch up your nose, putting a hand on your chest to will your heart to stop fucking racing, “I guess if you wanted to, you would’ve done something already.”

“If you want, I can share MY Soul with you so you can feel my true intentions. That way, you will know I am not lying.”

“You know what?” You throw your hands up, “Fuck it. Yeah, lemme see that shit.”

Gaster laughs and it bounces (pleasantly) in your head. Next, you feel a heavy warmth that hugs your soul in your chest.

Sincerity. Openness. Honestly. There is no desire to hurt. No desire to deceive. There is confidence and perhaps some loneliness.

Something flashes before your eyes. Your eyes are still open and yet you can see blurry, vague images before you. It’s transparent as if there is a shitty projector right before you.

Blurry figures of a short and tall figure. They seem familiar.

Another image, the same figures. They feel like Sans and Papyrus despite only being unclear silhouettes. There comes a third figure. This one is completely shrouded in smoke and glitches, but it’s pulling the two skeleton brothers into an embrace.

Then it’s gone.

You feel Gaster separate his Soul from yours. Even so, you can still feel lingering emotions.

Embarrassment, sadness, shame, longing, and a yearning to reunite.

The feelings are so strong, you feel yourself involuntarily tearing up. And these feelings are not yours.

It’s quiet.

You were… You were not supposed to see that. Gaster was so willing to be honest with you to reassure you, but he accidentally shared his deep desires, right? Somehow, you just know that’s right.

“My apologies. I hadn’t meant for that to happen.”

Before, you could only hear his voice, and feel a small pressure in the back of your head. But now, you can feel these underlying emotions that don’t belong to you. Because of that, you know of what he just said–he is being sincere.

“What just happened?” You whisper.

“As I am not at my most complete, I don’t have the strongest control of my own Soul’s happenings. Your Soul is still kept to yourself, but I believe I have shared a connection of myself to you.”

He is being truthful.

“So, it's a one-way thing?”

“Essentially, yes.” Gaster sighs, voice tinged with embarrassment, “I guess it’s for the best. I don’t have anything to hide from you, and at least this way you will know I am being truthful. After all, the Soul cannot lie.”

Again, he’s being honest.

You rub at your temples, “Ugh, this is a lot… Is this how I was able to see your fragment, by the way? When the others couldn’t? It’s because you were legit with me?”

“Not ALL of me, of course, but yes. A small, minuscule piece of myself is now with you. With your SOUL.”

“Gotta be real with you, Gaster, I like my privacy.”

“It is not as if I spy on you. Only when I sense you thinking of me, or when I sense you to be alone, do I bother with ‘entering.”

“…Like a Pokemon…”

Gaster sighs, “Yes, [Y/n]. Like a Pokemon.”

Kekeke.

You wonder… “Can you hear my thoughts?”

“Only if you want me to.”

Hmm…

‘I want to French kiss your son.’

…

You try again, but this time you want him to hear. ‘I want to hold hands with your son.’

“Uhm… Okay? Go for it, I guess…?”

Yeah, it’s true. You felt as much when he said it to begin with, but you wanted to make sure. 

“It kind of feels unfair,” You admit to him, “That this emotional connection is only one-way, it feels unfair to you.”

“Do not worry. I truly have nothing to hide, and I am not interested in invading your privacy. If there is something you need for me to know, I will trust that you will tell me yourself.”

“So…” You purse your lips, staring out to the calm waters, “Is there any particular reason you showed up?”

“No, no reason at all. Answering your questions wasn't an issue, but really, I suppose I just wanted to say hello.”

He says that, but you felt that loneliness from earlier. And now too, you can still feel it.

Talking to you now has eased some restlessness within him. Even when you don’t reply and let the silence settle, Gaster feels better. Gaster feels at peace.

Being scattered across space and time, only have that 1 in a 1,000 chance to come across anyone, that must be lonely for anyone. And now that he’s with you…

You think if you were in his shoes, you wouldn’t want to let go. Even if it meant you couldn’t stay around as much as you wanted, you’d take any chance.

And now here you are, teaming up with his son just for the chance to put him back together. To bring him back “to life” and be known again. To be whole again, and to no longer just exist as a concept.

And here you are to give Gaster another chance to come back and to finally be with his creations turned children. Those two skeleton monsters who were originally created to be his assistance in his studies, but he couldn’t help but raise them with genuine love. With your help, he’ll finally get to be with them again.

It’s so hopeful and wonderful-

Ah, these aren’t your feelings. These are Gaster’s.

You don't think he's aware you can feel this. No need to tell him, you suppose.

You stay there for a few more minutes, basking in this moment. Unfortunately, you really do have to get going…

“Alright,” You speak softly under your breath, “I have to find a cat somewhere else. I wasted too much time sitting out in the open.”

As you stand up and dust yourself off, Gaster starts speaking.

“There are not many, perhaps only one or two. The cats are monsters, much like the dogs. However, they are far more domesticated than the dogs, and are willing to be taken in a home.”

“Oh, that’s perfect! I’ve had cats too growing up, so I know how to handle them.”

“You might have some luck near that guard’s house, Undyne. Since, you know,” You hear the cheekiness in his voice, “cats love fish.”

“Ughhh, okay. I guess I’ll check it out. Oh, hey!” You snap your fingers, “Can you be, like, a detector for me and tell me if she’s on the move?”

Gaster replies with confusion, “No…?”

“But you did that for me with Temmie back in UnderSwap!”

“That is only because they had my fragment, [Y/n]. And not to mention, I barely had the strength to control your Soul as a demonstration. What makes you think I can do anything else?”

You smack your lips, “Man, whatever.”

“You can simply regroup with them and tell them to find the cats for you. No need to pout.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it, I got it.”

“I… I must go now…”

No, he doesn’t. In reality, he can spare the energy to stay around for a while longer. But he doesn’t need to say it to you.

You can feel his real reason why.

Gaster will be too sad to see Sans and Papyrus and not even talk to them. He refuses to control your body for any selfish reasons, but he is not strong enough to face them just yet.

That is why he only communicates with you. Even though Sans knows Gaster is around now, it’s just a step too far for Gaster to really interact with Sans in any way.

“That’s okay,” You whisper gently, “I’ll talk to you next time, then.”

“I–… Yes, Until next time, [Y/n].”

It’s quiet. That small pressure in the back of your head is gone now. You feel it in your Soul that the remnant of Gaster is still with you, but he’s intending to be dormant for the time being unless it’s necessary.

You… get the feeling you should wait to tell Sans. At least until the day he said he wanted to talk about everything in general. Again, assuming Gaster knows your grip about not wanting to hide things from Sans, he must be okay with you sharing this interaction.

Fuck, you should probably write down ALL the bullshit you need to talk to him about at this point.

You walk down the path to return from where you started from. To your surprise, you can already see Sans and Papyrus back at the meeting point. Sans seems to be carrying a super fluffy black cat. One of his hands is holding the cat by the scruff, and the other is holding the cat’s butt for support.

Do not let bro hold cats, what is he doing…

The kitty (it looks like a full grown cat) has warm brown eyes, though as you get closer, they appear more gold. The pupils are thin and it has airplane ears, the fluffy tail is curled up between its legs.

Poor baby. It’s not escaping Sans, though.

Sans smiles in relief when he finally notices you coming over. Ah, you see faint scratch marks on his skull.

“KITTYYYY!!” Life imitates art CaseOh, “You guys found one already!”

You hold your hand out to the cat, letting it sniff your hand first. Its ears perk towards you and start squirming in Sans’ hold. You hold both hands out, taking the kitty from your bone friend.

“this one was a pain,” Sans gladly hands off the cat to you, “it was friendly at first, but after i picked it up and walked away, it started getting angry.”

“Awe, but it’s just a babyyy!” You coo at the baby, cradling it in your arms. “Hi, babbyyy!!”

The cat meows, letting itself be held. You can feel it purring.

Papyrus huffs, “THAT IS ONE DOWN, JUST ONE MORE TO GO.”

“It might be good to check around Undyne’s area,” You hum, giving your attention to the cat, “Obviously I’m not talking about me. You two can look around.”

Sans might be jealous of the cat. “uh, why?”

“Fish.”

“…”

“…”

Papyrus shrugs, “IT CAN’T HURT TO TRY. LET’S GET GOING.”

With that out of the way, Sans escorts you to outside the Waterfalls that leads to Snowdin. And by escort, it was just a shortcut. Your home is down on your right, but you’ll be waiting right out here for the skeletons.

The black cat is by your feet, playing with the random stick you found and is waving around. It’s so cute and fluffy. Miraculously, the snow isn’t sticking to its fur. Maybe it's a cat monster thing.

“Hey, kitty. I’m going to take you home with me, okay?”

The cat meows, suddenly stopping to groom its fur.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

When the cat starts grooming further down, you have enough courtesy to look away. Unfortunately you did catch sight of a small lipstick, you didn’t look away fast enough.

Whelp…

At least you know he’s a boy.

You toss the stick in the snow, waiting idling for who knows how fucking long. Eventually, the cat moves and sits on your feet to escape the cold snow. He’s surprisingly light, and his little toe beans and body have a light brown tone.

So demure.

“wahh.”

…?? You look down at the cat at your feet, thinking it was him. But one, that didn’t sound like him, and two, he’s looking to the left with alert ears. You follow the cat's gaze and smile at the arriving Papyrus and Sans.

Woah, their clothes are fucking torn up. Is Sans limping?? Hello????

Papyrus is holding an orange and white cat with very short hair, dangling the poor cat and the cat is just letting it happen. The cat has a white belly, snout, socks, and a striped tail. You think you see pink toe beans. It also has airplane ears, the tail lowered as it flickers and puffy with irritation.

You can tell this one is a boy too, though most orange tabbies usually are.

You snort, “What the hell happened? Did the cat win?”

“YES.”

“yes.”

The orange cat meows again, but it sounds more like a “wahh” than a meow. The orange kitty squirms out of Papyrus’ hands until he manages to jump down. He starts trotting towards you–Actually, he’s coming towards the black kitty who is waiting patiently.

“wahh.”

The cats begin rubbing against each other, and you can feel them purr against your legs. Ugh, your cuteness aggression is rising!

“Aww, I think they were mad that we were kidnapping them from each other,” You state the obvious, watching them with awe, “It’s a good thing they’re reunited now. They’ll definitely stay with us willingly as long as we keep them together.”

The ginger kitty looks up at you with his round blue eyes, pupils dilated and his tail raised high.

“wahh.”

You obviously need to name the ginger cat Childe, there’s no other option.

You could be funny and name the other one Zhongli or something, or maybe not. You’ll think of something. Or, you can let the skele-bro’s pick a name.

“Come on, kitties,” You gently step away, walking towards the house, “You’re living with us now.”

The black cat follows you first, which prompts the ginger to follow. You’re almost positive the ginger cat could care less about following you, he’s just here for his cat companion.

You unlock the door and hold it open, watching the cats readily go inside. They’re probably going to love having a proper home to live in–a warm home to live in. Hm, you should give them baths and/or check for bugs and fleas.

Bathing cats is basically a death sentence, but you’re willing to do it for their sake. They’re so cute it’s definitely going to be worth it!

…

Meanwhile, Sans and Papyrus stay rooted to where they were, watching with defeat and amazement. The cats clearly favored you immediately, while they fucking nearly died just trying to get them to begin with.

Maybe cats just don’t like bones?

But little do they know that you’re just a natural pussy magnet.

Tags:

@adriixboo

@lemonboy011

@fetusbaconegg

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

Much to the disappointment of the other chucklefucks, you and Sans could only stay inside the home of the Swap Brothers. You could not risk being seen by other monsters more than you already have.

You and Sans aren’t even from this Universe, your sudden and inevitable disappearance would cause an even bigger suspicion, would it not? Because of that, it’s better this way.

It’s fine though, since Swap-Sans, Swap-Papyrus, and Chara were fine with staying back with you two.

In the words of Swap-Sans: “IT IS LIKE A NEVER-ENDING SLEEPOVER EXCEPT THAT IT WILL END IN JUST A FEW DAYS!”

That is definitely one way to think about it.

Sans certainly enjoyed staying in and doing absolutely nothing. Most of the time he was slumping on the couch and just watching you and the others do your thing. Sans joined in when you all were playing Monopoly.

But it quickly turned into Knife Monopoly when he kept landing on all your guys’ property…

…

But other than that, it was nice! For the passing days, you four (five, but Sans didn’t count) played family games together and cooked at home.

Cake disaster aside, you made sure your ass was the only one cooking even if it tired you out. You did not want to risk another incident.

When you weren’t busy doing that, Chara would keep bugging you about learning more Sign Language. You didn’t actually mind it so much, you just felt a bit embarrassed that you didn’t know how to teach it properly. They were enthusiastic about it nonetheless, and so was Swap-Sans.

To your disappointment, Swap-Papyrus wasn’t around as much. That’s not to say he was gone a lot, but he certainly wasn’t in the house as much as Swap-Sans and Chara.

Still, he was always chill and kind towards you and Other Sans, making Swap-Sans and Chara’s life miserable with terrible puns.

Their joint efforts of puns was enough to make you cry, too. They were so bad but that’s what made them so good.

In terms of their relationship, the three skeleton monsters got along a LOT better than when they first met. There was a teasing remark here and there, but it was obviously all in good fun. The hostility and tension was completely gone.

The fragment was originally the cause of their negative emotions, but now that it’s in your possession, it only brought you all closer together.

Wow, you love the Power of Friendship. You genuinely hope that the next Au will be easier, or at least it will become nicer like it is now. But all good things must come to an end.

Just as discussed beforehand, you and Sans only will stay for a short time. At noon on the third day, it was time for you to say goodbye.

You, Chara, and the three skeleton monsters stand in the living room together, with yourself and Sans standing by each other. You’ve cleaned up the mess on the couch considering you and your boy toy have been living on it for the past five days.

Poor Swap-Sans was already in tears, tilting his head down because bad bitches cry perpendicular to the ground so as to not ruin their makeup.

Not that Swap-Sans is wearing makeup, but you know.

Chara was pouting and looking at their feet, sadness clear on their face.

Swap-Papyrus is just a chill guy, so he was just standing there with his hands in his pockets.

Damn, you didn’t know he was chill like that.

“I WILL MISS YOU DEARLY, [Y/N] AND OTHER SANS. I KNEW THIS DAY WOULD COME, BUT I WASN’T AS PREPARED AS I THOUGHT I WOULD BE.” He lifts his head and shows you his shaky smile. “I MUST ADMIT THAT I MUST MAKE THIS SHORT. I FEAR THAT IF I PROLONG THIS, IT WILL ONLY MAKE ME WANT YOU BOTH TO STAY FOREVER.”

Sans chuckles, “nah, i get it.”

“Yeah, same here,” You straighten out your comfy jacket, “It was wonderful to meet you. We might never see each other again, but I’ll always cherish the time we spent together: good and bad.”

“YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE ME CRY!”

Swap-Papyrus winces, “but you’re already crying.”

Bro is just like you for real.

“WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WHEN I MISS YOU?”

You smile sympathetically, “Oh, Sans. We’re gonna miss you too. But you know what always helps me out when I’m missing someone? I remember that they’ll always return to me in the things that make me think of them.”

The Sans next to you can’t help but look at you when you say that. He’s never thought of it that way, but that is a really nice way to think of it. You said it with such certainty too, it must be a way of comfort to consider things that way.

However, all your words do for Swap-Sans is make him cry harder.

“WHAT A LOVELY THING TO SAY!” He sniffs grossly (somehow), “AUGHHH! DON’T LOOK AT ME!!”

Swap-Sans covers his eyes with his arm, speeding away towards the front door.

Wait, what? He’s leaving just like that?!

Swap-Sans skids to a halt right at the door. He drops his arm and his shoulders hunch upward.  The room is silent, enough so that you can hear his shaky exhale. Your heart squeezes for him.

“IF I TURN AROUND NOW, I REALLY WON’T WANT YOU TO GO, SO…” Swap-Sans says with a weak, wobbly voice. “I WISH I WAS STRONGER THAN THIS, I APOLOGIZE-”

“-you don’t gotta be sorry for anything, bud,” Sans interrupts with a soft tone, “i’m kinda flattered you already care so much. and hey, we’re gonna be thinking of you, too.”

Swap-Sans nods slowly, taking in a deep breath. “IT HAS BEEN WONDERFUL GETTING TO MEET YOU TWO.”

“And it was great meeting you too!” You wave even though his back is still towards you, “Goodbye, Sans.”

“GOODBYE, [Y/N] AND OTHER SANS.”

Even in this moment, he will still say “Other Sans,” some things are just not meant to change. You think you hear another sniffle from Swap-Sans but he’s already opening the door and leaving.

Aw, the goodbye felt a bit… lackluster, but you’re not about to demand for a better one. There’s only been one time you couldn’t say goodbye to someone, and remembering the pain of it makes it easy for you to sympathize.

Swap-Sans might regret it later, but right now he didn’t want to risk making an ass of himself, and that you can understand.

Poor baby.

Chara holds their notebook out to you.

*I should check on him. I’m going to miss you a lot. You were really cool, like a cool big sister.

You pat their head and ruffle their hair with a grin. They laugh silently but don’t bother shaking you off.

“I’m gonna miss you too, Chara. I hope when I meet my Universe’s version of you, they’re just as sweet and kind as you.”

The child nods eagerly, scribbling something down before showing Sans.

*It was nice meeting you too. Please take care.

Despite whatever reservations he might have towards the human child, Sans understands now isn’t the time. Best not to sour a nice moment, so he’ll be polite as well regardless if it’s genuine or not.

“it was good to meet you, kid,” Sans says with a wink.

Chara hesitates in place. They step forward nervously, then they practically lunge at you. You almost flinch, but their little arms go around your waist and they’re just–

They’re giving you a nice hug.

You reciprocate of course, allowing this moment to convince yourself that this is genuine.

If Chara Resets, if they change and become cruel, you don’t want to keep that mental image of them. The way they are now, the kindness and innocence they’re showing you now, this is how you want to remember them.

They pull from you and smile sheepishly, rosy cheeks getting darker from their boldness. You pat their head again.

“Bye, Chara.”

Chara nods their head at you, stepping back and looking at Swap-Papyrus. The tall skeleton waves them off, asking for them to check in his brother. Chara readjusts their hold on their notebook, agreeing silently before rushing to go after the other monster.

Now it’s just you, Sans, and Swap-Papyrus.

The tall skeleton snorts, “y’know, even though we got off the wrong foot at first, you guys turned out to be really cool. i’d say we all get along great now.”

“of course we did, we’re not unreasonable,” Sans rolls his eyelights, his smile easy and relaxed.

Swap-Papyrus visibly winces, “speaking of being reasonable. once you both leave, sans–my bro and i will tell the kid about the doll. once we do, they’ll most likely reset the timeline. if–when that happens, i’m not going to remember this.”

Oh…

Well, that certainly was a bucket of ice water down your back.

Now that Swap-Papyrus brought it up, it does make you think. Sans isn’t supposed to remember past Resets either, but for some reason, he can. You wonder why it has to be different with him.

“that aside,” The skeleton with the orange hood shifts awkwardly, “i just wanted to tell you that even if i won’t remember, meeting you now made me excited to meet my universe’s version of you. even if it turns out to be someone else taking your role, i know that i’ll have fun anyway.”

If it does turn out to be Elliot in this Au, you have some… concerns. You’re worried Swap-Papyrus might project onto Elliot and/or see Elliot as your replacement. But… No, surely not. Either way, if the timeline Resets, Swap-Papyrus wouldn’t remember so it would be a clean slate.

You laugh and wave a dismissive hand to play off your bashfulness, “That was–Papyrus, that was really sweet. But you know, Sans here was low-key emo about my arrival at first, so I don’t have high hopes for you.”

Sans groans and hangs his head back at the other monster laughing alongside you.

“ugh, don’t remind me. i’m a changed bone-boy now, i swear.” Sans shakes his head, “learn it from me then, take a chill pill in the future.”

“sure, oh wise elder of mine.”

“yeah, yeah. aren’t i all knowing.”

Suddenly, Swap-Papyrus steps up and pulls Sans into a fucking hug. But it wasn’t anything heartfelt, it was like one of those man-hugs a bro will give his bro because they’re too macho to share they actually care. Sans just chuckles and reciprocates the gesture, patting his back (despite there being no back to pat, they make it work).

Men.

But actually, it’s still wholesome. These two fucking hated each other when they first met, and now? Ah, such cute times.

When Swap-Papyrus moves away, it’s your turn to suddenly be pulled into a hug!

“Oh!”

Okay, sure! This is happening!

You feel a small weight added in your pocket when he begins to pull away. You try not to react, and seeing him wink made you feel like you should keep it a secret for now.

“i’d make it last longer, but i don’t want any skeletons in my closet,” Swap-Papyrus teases, holding his hands up in false surrender.

Sans rolls his eye-lights, “you’d think i’d have a bone to pick with you over a simple hug?”

“…”

“…”

Sans almost pout, “what?”

“dude, you are not chill at all when it comes to your lady here.”

“Yeahhh, gotta agree with bone man here.”

“you too?” Sans sulks as he looks at you.

You shrug, “What do you want from me? You’re not exactly subtle about it.”

Swap-Papyrus hums, “meh, he’s a lil’ subtle ‘bout it, [y/n]. it’s just that we’re not easy people to trick, you and i.”

“gee, thanks.” Sans snaps his fingers, summoning the mini-DJ. “glad to know i’m only obvious to some people.”

You pat his shoulder to console him.

…It doesn’t really work.

“Is it time?” You ask him.

“yeah,” He says, “time for us to go.”

Sans holds his free hand to you, you don’t need to think or hesitate to take it. You’re not wearing his gloves this time, but you’ll be back home soon enough anyway that it won’t matter.

Swap-Papyrus takes a few steps back to give space, stuffing his hands in his pockets. His gaze bounces back between you and the shorter skeleton, though for the most part he keeps his eye-sockets on you.

You smile and wave slightly, “Goodbye, Papyrus.”

Swap-Papyrus’ own expression becomes gentler, forlorn. You feel… bad.

“bye, [y/n].”

And then the world goes black right before your eyes.

——

This time, you feel and know that you were only out of it for a few seconds. The next moment, you’re almost falling over from dizziness, your vision blurs sideways with you. Luckily, there is a familiar weight that grips your soul, keeping you from falling and eating shit.

You look down at your chest with your clearing vision, seeing a strange print on your chest. It’s vaguely heart-shaped except the only thing that you could see was a blue outline of it.

Your body is being pulled back upward, the weight is so much more different than before, though you suppose last time you were running for your fucking life. Sans makes sure you’re stabilized on your feet before he releases that gravity on your soul, even then he keeps his hands on your arms to hold you.

“c’mon,” He mutters, leading you off a platform, “sit down, okay? i got you.”

You find yourself being led to a beanbag chair (the one you’re always using so it’s yours but it’s not technically yours but it’s totally yours), sitting down in a clumsy motion. Your world spins slightly but other than that you're getting your shit together pretty okay all things considered.

Rubbing your eyes with your hands, Sans kneels in front of you and puts the mini-DJ down on the beanbag. Then he puts his hands on you to check if there is anything wrong with you.

You let him since you think he needs to see for himself even if you tell him you’re fine. (Which you are. You felt pretty dizzy but it was gone as soon as it came.)

“I’m okay, baby blue,” You lower your hands with a smile, “It was just for a sec, but I’m good.”

Sans sighs and slumps forward, his forehead resting on your leg. You let him just chill there, leaning forward to rub the back of his spine through his jacket. He hums in contentment; he could probably fall asleep right then and there, but he needs to take care of you, first.

“Oh, what was that effect, by the way?” You ask him, still rubbing his spine, “I think I saw my soul, but it was just the outline. How come I couldn’t see all of it?”

“mmn…” Sans doesn’t wanna talk, he’s so comfortable like this, “i can’t really see human souls outside of battle. using blue magic outside of battle like that won’t be super visible, so… ‘specially ‘cause i’m not using it to hurt you.”

“Ahh, I see. Blue magic is pretty neat, hm?”

“mmh…”

Holy shit, Sans wasn’t even tired before, but staying like this will actually make him pass out. You just have that effect on him, and he doesn’t even mind it.

Sans straightens up and picks up the mini-DJ, messing with it for whatever reason.

It looks like you’re back in Sans’ lab, it certainly looks the same way you left it.  Sans must be checking to make absolutely sure this is your Universe, but you don’t need to double check. Just from feeling alone, it feels like home.

You need to do some mental math for a moment to determine what day it would be in this Universe, and you’re pretty sure it should be a Sunday now. As for the time? You don’t fucking know; time traveling and dimensional jumping can really fuck a bitch up.

You need to invest in a mini calendar to keep track of time for these adventures. You can do that another day, though.

The skeleton snaps his fingers and the mini-DJ dissipates into nothing. You wish you could just casually store things away into the aether with a snap of your fingers. You would never had to carry a purse ever again, only ever for the drip and style.

“alright, it all seems to be okay,” Sans nods, patting your leg as he pushes himself to his feet, “stay sitting here for a little longer, yeah? i’m gonna go find paps to let him know we’re back.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

He rolls his eye-lights and scoffs a laugh. Sans casts one more look at you before short-cutting out of the room.

It warms your heart how much Sans tries to dote on you. He might be a little too worried about you though; you might be human but you’re not fragile. Then again, you have the same mental image of Sans that he must have for you. Someone who must be protected even if they can protect themselves.

Ah, that reminds you.

You stuff your hands in your jacket pockets, feeling a small item in your left pocket. Swap-Papyrus had slipped this in somehow, you didn’t get to see what it was. You wonder what is so important and secretive, that he waited until you left to hand it over.

You take it out of your pocket, holding it in the center of your hand.

It’s a small orange box with a cyan string tied around it one way to keep the lid secured on. You think the string is supposed to be a bow, but it’s clearly tied in the same way you’d tie a shoe.

At least the attempt was there.

It’s a pretty small box, all things considered. It’s about 3 inches (8cm) tall, 3 inches wide, and 2 inches (5cm) tall. You want to shake it, but it could be fragile so you shouldn’t risk it. It’s not heavy, but there is some weight to it.

You pull one side of the string, letting it fall to your lap to lift up the lid.

Inside the box is cushioned with a velvety, light orange silk. There is a glowing purple gemstone that takes up almost the whole box, though underneath it you can see paper.

You take out the stone and hold it for a moment. It buzzes pleasantly with magic, inside it almost looks like… a strange liquid. It reminds you of the stones in the Waterfalls–it MIGHT be a stone from the Waterfalls in UnderSwap.

Setting it down on your lap, you pick out the other contents of the box. There is a folded paper that looks to be folded about 4 or 5 times. Hasn’t it been proven you can only fold a paper 7 or so times? Anyway, you’ll check that last.

Finally, there is a small, sturdy note card flushed on the bottom. Just like this, you see Swap-Sans and Swap-Papyrus’ respective signatures written there. You have to kind of dig it out due to how perfectly it fits in the box.

When you flip it over, you smile.

It’s a cute doodle in crayon of the Swap brothers. It’s more than just stick figures, but they’ve been drawn super simplified and cartoonish. It’s actually really fucking cute and pretty good.

You suppose it’s time to finally unfold the other note. In doing so, it’s pulled out to be a full-sized paper with something on the back, but you’ll get to that in a minute. It’s written in a Papyrus font, no doubt the revealer of who clearly wrote this.

—

i hope you like the drawing my bro did. he was super excited when i told him i wanted to send you off with a secret gift to take back with you, and drew that up for you. he’s the coolest, right?

the glow-stones from waterfalls tend to store raw magic in them, it’s what lets them glow to begin with. if you crack it open, pure magic in the form of liquid will come out. it’s not strong enough to do much, but mixing it with water, baking soda, and whatever berries you like can turn it into a skincare product.

i only know that ‘cause of girl's night with dr. undyne, alphys, and sans. neat, right? i’ll include some formulas on the back for you to try it out.

the kid is most likely gonna reset when we tell them what happened to the doll, and i’m not gonna remember meeting you when that happens.

i won’t say it then (by the time you read this, you’ll already be gone) but i’m gonna miss you a lot. i’ll miss your sans too. you guys were really fun and i know we had a rocky start but even then i thought you were great.

and even though i won’t remember you in the next reset, i hope you will remember us at least. that’s the main reason i’m gifting this to you.

maybe in another universe, you guys stayed longer. maybe in another universe, you even brought along your papyrus too.

in another universe, we all could’ve been a dysfunctional family. the 4 skeletons and the weird human girl who wanted to tell us 7 dick jokes in a life-or-death situation.

anyway, i’m running out of space, i wanna save the back for your cool formulas so i’ll leave it here.

please don’t forget us, [y/n]

-papyrus (from the other universe)

—

…

OOUUGHHH!! YOU’RE GOING TO SHIT TEARS AND CRY!!

You move the paper away, trying not to let the few tears land on it. With the back of your hand, you rub your eyes to dry them.

Ugh, you don’t know why that got to you. You didn’t expect Swap-Papyrus to care so much already.

Maybe seeing you with Sans made him sentimental knowing that one day, Sans’ happiness will be his, too. Or maybe he just genuinely liked your company in just that short time. After all, you and Sans were the newest things to his ordinary, routine life.

No matter what the reason it is, you love the gift, you really do.

You flip the paper to check the back. Sure enough, in a Papyrus font are three separate sections with directions to make three products.

“Strawberry Face Mask,” “Green Tea Brightening Mask,” and “Sugar Face Scrub.”

Hm, you don’t think this little stone will be enough for them all obviously, but you promise to use the glow stone he gave you first. You’re not super crazy on these type of things, but now you MUST use them if only to honor Swap-Papyrus!

You fold the paper back up neatly, putting away the items back into the box. You struggled with putting the string back around it, so you decided to just ball it up neatly and put it in the box, too. You don’t want to throw it away, it’s special to you even if it’s just a string!

And due to the perfect timing of the Universe and pacing that was predetermined, Sans short-cuts back into the lab just as you had put the box in your pocket.

Wow, how convenient.

Sans is carrying a water bottle and some kind of… fruit energy bar? His smile softens and he hands them both to you. 

“just in case, please eat it,” He pleads like a pathetic kitty.

You smile back in gratitude and say thanks, taking it from him. “It’s cute you care so much. I’ll take them, but I feel fine now.”

Sans nods, “sure, but i don’t wanna put your health at jeopardy or risk it.”

Ugh, all these men are making you emotional today. You grumpily open the water to chug that shit because you’re getting kind of mad.

“papyrus wasn’t in the house, so he’s probably out doing his thing,” Sans puts a hand on his hip bone. “in the meantime, we should relax and unpack later.”

Since he’s bringing that up, that reminds you that you’ve moved into Sans’ room. He’s been bunking with Papyrus since then, but…

“If you’re fine with it, I don’t mind sharing the room with you,” You tell him, unwrapping your energy bar, “Now that we’re together, it should be fine–IF you’re comfortable with it.”

Predictably (in a good way), Sans’ cheeks go red.

“yeah, sounds good. moving out of pap’s room right when i moved my things in there though…” Sans shakes his head, “it’s gonna take time for me to move back in my room.”

“You know Papyrus and I will probably do most of it, though. We just gotta find a day for it.”

Sans snaps his fingers to summon the mini-DJ, looking over it again. You let him do what he needs to do, busying yourself with finishing the drink and snack Sans had got for you. It tastes fine, you’re not usually eating these unless you don’t have time to make breakfast before work.

“by the way, [y/n],” Sans puts the mini-DJ on the DJ machine on some sort of charging port, “we’re fine to take it easy today and maybe tomorrow, but for sure-for sure, we need to talk about everything that happened. the day after tomorrow at the latest.”

“Sounds good to me,” You crumple up the wrapper in your hand, “but nap time now?”

Sans nods, “nap time now.”

“Slay.”

“what does that even mean?”

“You know, like,” You make a limp-hand motion, “slay.”

“…i think you need that nap, [y/n].”

“Okay!”

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EEEE okay I think that's it! If you made it this far-

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

You’re back in the Swap brother’s residence, standing around the living room like a bunch of losers. You have your hands up, cupping the fragment and presenting it to the group.

But none of them can see it.

“Dang, that’s crazy.”

Sans deadpans at your tone.

“Anyway, are you guys okay, though?” You frown in concern, “I mean, it’s not making you agitated or making your magic go fucky-wucky?”

“I PERSONALLY FEEL FINE.” S-Sans shrugs.

“yeah, same here. i dunno, maybe it’s because it’s in your hands now?” S-Papyrus suggests. “that stupid doll always has the worst intentions, maybe that energy kinda is what fucked with it.”

Bro is basically saying Temmie’s vibes were off, and now you’re giving the fragment good vibes.

“Hmm…” You eye the fragment, “That could be it…”

Amplified it.

“Or maybe the fragment was always like that, but Temmie amplified it ten-fold,” You add on, “And now that it’s in better hands, it calmed down? It IS still a soul, after all.”

S-Papyrus looks at you, impressed, “yeah, that could be it! you’re pretty smart, i wouldn’t rule it out.”

Wow, S-Papyrus giving you praise more openly? Actually it looks like all of their moods have improved significantly. The effect of collecting it seems instantaneous. You’re glad you did it as soon as you did.

“i should put it away for now,” Sans holds a hand out, “don’t want it out in the open and you constantly worrying about it.”

You don’t feel a resistance to the idea, you would imagine there’d be the Voices™ telling you so, so you allow it. Sans waits until he feels the weight of it in his hand. He tries to look at it from different angles, maybe in a different light he’ll be able to see it.

No dice.

He snaps it away, leaving it in the void with the Gaster Blaster.

You remember seeing it.

You will suppress that memory. 💙✨💫💅

“Well…! That was certainly a fucked up adventure, huh?” You stretch your hands above your head, “I wanna shower really bad.”

“YEAH…”

“yeah…”

“same here…”

“…”

“…Dibs!”

They all groan in displeasure. Ha-ha! Fuck yeah! You pump your win at your success. After the fucking day you had, you had better get the first call to the shower.

Your duffel bag is still by the couch, so you quickly get some clothes to change into and hurry to the washroom upstairs. You know there are extra towels in their cabinet based on your previous sneaking around last night.

Should you be a bitch and take a long, full shower? Or will you be a pal and take a quick shower?

…You’ll decide once you get in there.

──

They didn’t mean to have the conversation without you, but they were not going to just wait possibly 30-40 minutes for you to get out of the shower.

They might be on better terms with each other now, but still not enough to sit with each other in silence.

Sans is holding up the mini-dj to them, “it’s fine now, but it needs to recharge for about a day. after that, it’ll be enough to take [y/n] and i back to our au.”

“WHY DOES IT NEED SO LONG? YOU BARELY USED IT.”

“you think this thing runs on infinite power?” Sans answers his counterpart, “it was using a lot of its stored-up magic energy to locate the fragment in the first place. it can regenerate its own magic, but it’s gonna need time to make the full jump back to a whole other universe.”

S-Papyrus smiles, “sounds good. it’ll be nice to hang out, anyway. i guess you’re pretty chill.”

“of course i’m chill. i’ve been outside for the last two hours.” Sans winks.

“hah, that’s true, isn’t it? no wonder you’re such a cool dude.”

“awe, don’t sell yourself short. that’s usually reserved for me.”

“i guess being nice to myself isn’t such a tall order.”

“for sure. for one, you’re such a humerus guy!”

“UGH, GREAT! NOW THERE’S TWO OF THEM!” S-Sans throws his hands up in defeat, marching towards the front door, “I CANNOT STAND FOR THIS!”

S-Papyrus snickers behind his hand, “no worries, bro. wanna take a seat instead?”

“THAT WAS TERRIBLE.” S-Sans opens the door, “I AM GOING TO FIND THE HUMAN CHILD TO TELL THEM WE ARE ALL OKAY. IF THEY ARE NOT BUSY, I MIGHT RETURN WITH THEM.”

S-Papyrus waves him goodbye, but S-Sans doesn’t look back to see. The younger one doesn’t seem to mind it though. 

“you know,” Sans tells S-Papyrus as soon as the door closes, “the kid might not be happy with us getting rid of that weed–eh, the uh, the doll thing.”

S-Papyrus shrugs his shoulders and says, “maybe. but maybe they’ll understand. if not, it’s not like i’ll remember any of this if they make a reset. this isn’t the first time i cause that thing a couple of resets anyway.”

Sans widens his eyes, his smile threatening to fall off.

“…what? what do you mean? you don’t… you don’t remember them?”

S-Papyrus understands instantly, “hey…”

Sans shakes his head, laughing humorlessly, “no. don’t. ugh… man, of course, i got the short end of the stick across the multiverse.”

“can’t be that bad. i mean, you got yourself a girlfriend. one who can actually stick with you during all this sci-fi crap.”

Yeah, a girlfriend that Sans nearly lost because of his own inadequacies. He never would’ve brought you along if he knew your life would be in danger in any way. Maybe next time he should just go alone…

Sans blushes, looking down, “yeah, guess so. you might get yourself a partner too, you know.”

This time, it’s S-Papyrus’ turn to blush and roll his eyes. “yeah, right. how did that happen, anyway? you and the human?”

“dunno. [y/n] told me as much as she could. she just fell in one day when on a hike with her friend.”

“and the friend wasn’t there with her?”

“apparently not. she said that he–that elliot and her had missed each other when going up the mountain.” Sans keeps the explanation short, “in our au, we don’t have that doll, we have a damn flower. she said that it dragged her down by force.”

“huh…” S-Papyrus frowns, “you know that’s weird, right?”

“uh, yeah. very much.”

“the doll, temmie, it never did anything like that before. not that i remember or have been told about it, at least. there must be a reason…”

Sans shifts his weight to the other foot, debating something in his head for a moment. He comes to a conclusion rather quickly, luckily. It wouldn’t hurt to discuss this with someone who shares a similar position as him. Maybe Sans can be given a different perspective on things or insight on matters he hasn’t considered before.

“our human–their name is frisk–they haven’t been to the underground in months. i kept track, it’s been over six damn months–no, actually that’s before [y/n] showed up. it’s been close to eleven months by now.”

S-Papyrus looks shocked, as he should fucking be after hearing that shit. It’s not like S-Papyrus can remember the past Resets, but he knows there’s been a lot based on the expression on Chara’s face when he “first meets them.” He can’t imagine what it must be like for someone who can actually remember. Someone so paranoid about when the day could Reset, and it will all be gone.

Sans seems like a decent skeleton, S-Papyrus would hate for him to suffer more than he needs to.

“would it be messed up if i hope the kid human never comes back in your timeline?” S-Papyrus offers.

Sans finds his smile to turn more genuine and grateful. “no, not at all.”

“you think…” S-Papyrus hesitates. “if–when chara stops coming by, that’s when my version of [y/n] will show up?”

“maybe it will be elliot instead,” Sans jokes, “after all, everything is swapped in this universe.”

S-Papyrus doesn’t say it out loud, won’t say it out loud, but he isn’t sure how to feel about that. He’s sure Elliot will be great and all, but… S-Papyrus has already gotten the pleasure of knowing you, not Elliot.

Sans winces minutely, waving a dismissive hand, “but who’s to say, right?”

The taller skeleton snorts, “oh, what? so only you get the girl in the end?”

“ha-ha! hey man, i’m lucky she even wants a piece of this. i ain’t about to risk it for shit.”

Not anymore, anyway.

Swap-Papyrus almost sounds jealous as he smiles: “good for you, man. i’m… i’m glad you have that.”

The taller skeleton mentions something of water, walking away towards the kitchen for just that.

Sans knows S-Papyrus meant it genuinely, but it does have him thinking.

Sans is fortunate to have you, isn’t he? He says it all the time, over and over, but Sans hasn’t fully wrapped his skull around the magnitude of that. Of just how fucking lucky he is that you, of all people–beautiful, intelligent, hilarious, kind, wonderful you–want him in any way.

He is seeing it now first-hand, that not every Au is going to have a wonderful you. And if they are, they will never be the true, original version of you that Sans gets to have.

All. For. Himself.

Sans was just complaining earlier, but honestly? He has to be the luckiest version of himself in the entire multiverse just for having you.

But that’s what makes this all the more scary for him. You could’ve died today were it not for the fact that things just happened to work out for you. If he knew…

You would probably find some way to convince him though, right? And honestly… He needed you to find that fragment. Sans and the others couldn’t even see it! You knew so much about it too, things Sans needs to know but he doesn’t for some reason.

In a purely logical stance, you need to be with Sans for these endeavors.

Sans doesn’t like the idea at all, though. He might be a skeleton of science, but he’s not above admitting that seeing you get hurt scared the fucking life out of him.

──

You are squeaky clean and out of the shower after 20 minutes! You’re chilling on the couch while S-Papyrus sits across from you on the floor. Since you’ll be staying the night again, he didn’t want to dirty the couch by sitting on it. Sans had shortcut to the washroom right after you since he couldn’t stand his damp clothes.

The lanky monster told you what Sans told him and his brother about your departure, how it would be sometime tomorrow when the mini-dj is recharged. You can’t help but feel a little disappointed at that, but you keep that to yourself.

However, now that times are simpler, S-Papyrus is taking the time to explain how the mini-dj most likely worked. He’s not the builder of it himself, so he could only come to some guesses and possible explanations. But what he failed to realize is that you’re dumb as shit when it comes to this topic, so you couldn’t refute him for anything that could be wrong.

Because you couldn’t fucking tell otherwise.

The door opens and someone runs in, but you are more focused on the monster sitting with you and what he was saying. Though whoever ran in, jumps on the back of the couch right next to you.

Chara smiles widely at you, their hair an absolute mess and their clothes ruffled and dirty. They wave at you, and only then do you notice they’re not holding their notebook.

“Hey, little man!” You greet them with the energy they’re giving you, “Wow, you had an adventure when we were gone?”

They nod eagerly, kicking their legs in the air. As S-Sans starts talking, Chara grabs your hand and puts it on their head, making you give them head rubs.

Eugh, you can feel dirt and snow in their hair. Looks like everyone needs a bath today. You power through it since you can just wash your hands in a bit.

“THE HUMAN AND ASRIEL WERE PLAYING WITH THE OTHER KIDS IN THE AREA.” S-Sans closes the door, Chara’s notebook in his hands, “I THINK THEY WERE PLAYING A KICKBALL GAME THAT HAD NO RULES OR REASONING.”

“Ahh, a free-for-all kickball game,” You nod understandingly, “You guys had a lot of fun though?”

Chara nods again, reluctantly pulling away so they can hop off the couch. They hold their hands out for their notebook, giving a nod of thanks to S-Sans. They lean the book against the back of the couch to write before showing it to you (and S-Papyrus).

*How did your guy’s adventure go? Did you find the thing you needed to go home?

“Sure did, kiddo. It was a piece of cake.”

“speaking of cake,” S-Papyrus pipes in, “wanna stay over for tonight and bake one?”

Chara widens their eyes.

*Yes, please! But what’s the occasion?

You tell them: “Since we found what we needed, my Sans and I will be leaving sometime tomorrow.”

*Oh… ok. So soon?

“Ah, well…” You look around for help, but S-Sans and S-Papyris look at you with expectant amusement. “I mean, I did take ten days off work and it’s barely been two. But, I don’t know. I can’t make that decision without Sans, so I’ll talk to him about it later, alright?”

*Ok!

By the time Sans gets out of the shower, you and the others are watching TV together, lounging lazily on the couch. Everyone is so dirty, that they got banned to the floor. Even when Chara tried pulling some puppy eyes on you, you’re a stone-cold enough bitch to say no.

You’re not paying attention to the show at all, you think it’s some NTT show or other. The rectangle robot with a blue cap on screen is having a rap battle, absolutely wrecking the small monster girl opponent.

…It reminds you of DustTrust Phase 3, Slaughter in the Spotlight. You can’t explain why.

What’s the worse one to end up in: DustTrust, or the Sans Hates Women Au?

God, how fucking terrible would it be if you ended up in the Sans Hates Women Au? Should you tell Sans about that Au just to see how he reacts? Probably not.

S-Papyrus jumps up to his feet when Sans makes it downstairs. “dibs on the next shower!”

His brother groans, but since he is too slow to call dibs, he must stay on the floor and continue waiting. Everyone knows the international dibs protocol, so it’s good that he’s respecting the rules. Eager to be clean, S-Papyrus just shortcuts to, presumably, his room then the washroom.

Chara frowns and scribbles in their notebook.

*I did notice that Sans and Papyrus are pretty dirty just now. And if the other Sans was in the shower too… Did something happen?

If Chara is asking, then that means S-Sans didn’t tell them about your run-in with Temmie. That might be for the best. You’re not sure if you want to be around for that conversation. From the subtle look S-Sans is giving you too, you think you’re right.

You sit up properly on the couch, “I told you we found the missing piece, but not how or where. It was deep in downtown Snowdin forest. Like, really deep. It was really hard to dig it out.”

That’s lying by omission, but you’re not technically wrong. You don’t feel bad for lying this time, but also you do because you’re keeping the state of Temmie a secret-

Sans sits right next to you, his side flushed against yours. His arm drapes behind you on the couch rest, hand landing on your shoulder so casually. Sans is dressed the same as before, just missing his trademark jacket.

He smiles at you, and you smile back.

The sound of Chara writing in their book brings your attention back to them.

*Oh, ok I understand! By the way other Sans…

Sans raises a bone-brow, “me? what is it, kid?”

*Do you really have to leave so soon? [Y/n] told me that you 2 have technically 10 DAYS of vacation!

Sans looks at you slowly, “uhh… [y/n] and i can talk about that later.”

“Yes,” You glare playfully at the child, “That’s exactly what I told them already.”

Chara smiles nervously and whistles while looking away. However, they don’t know how to whistle so they’re just accidentally blowing small spit bubbles.

S-Sans stands to his feet, stretching his arms upward and popping his back audibly. “I JUST REMEMBERED I MUST REPORT BACK TO ALPHYS. I SHOULD DO SO BEFORE IT GETS ANY LATER.”

“Report back? Did you go see her this morning?” You ask.

“INDEED, I DID. IT WAS NECESSARY SO I COULD CANCEL OUR EARLY TRAINING. THOUGH NOW THAT I AM NO LONGER BUSY, I SHOULD TELL HER AS SUCH.”

“boooo,” Sans gives the other a thumbs down, “just stay in for today, it’s lazy sunday.”

“IT’S TUESDAY.”

“i said what i said.”

What? No, both of these two are fucking idiots, it’s fucking Thursday.

You called off work on Wednesday, arrived in UnderSwap the same day, and spent one night. It’s now midday–it should be Thursday.

Unless these are the effects of time travel alongside dimensional jumping? If so, keeping track of time is going to get very challenging.

You should create a handbook/calendar to keep track of days whenever you and Sans embark on these adventures.

You clear your throat, “If you do, you should probably wait until after you can shower. She’ll definitely be able to recognize you got into a… you know.”

“AH.” S-Sans snaps his fingers, “YOU ARE CORRECT. IN THE MEANTIME THEN, LET’S FINISH THIS SHOW!!”

The skeleton sits his boney ass back down next to Chara. He puts his hands behind himself to lean back, watching the screen with those starry eyes of his.

You grab the folded blanket and spread it out over you and Sans, snuggling closer to him because you’re a cheesy bastard. You bring your legs up on the couch and slouch a bunch, getting into that comfortable gay posture. Sans lowers the arm that was behind you so that it’s properly around your shoulders.

Finally, you take a look at the screen.

NTT, Napstaton, is posing dramatically behind a DJ mixer set.

…

S-Sans looks enthralled.

Good for him, honestly.

You’re not paying attention to the screen at all, mostly fiddling with Sans’ hands under the covers (No, that is NOT a euphemism for something else. You’re not that much of a degenerate, there are kids around!). You doubt Sans is paying attention either, probably sleeping with his eyes open because he’s a fucking pro like that.

Poke, poke.

You look down at Chara who has crawled to the side of the couch. They hold up their notebook.

*Remember earlier, you asked me if it was easier if we… signed?

“Ah, right.” You introduce yourself in ASL as an example. “Sign Language.”

*Can you teach me some of that?

Ughhh, you kind of don’t want toooo! You wanna be lazy and just do nothingggg!

“Sure,” You sigh with a passive smile, “I don’t see why not.”

You unfortunately must untangle yourself from your boy-toy to do this. S-Sans turns around with curiosity, watching quietly to watch this unfold.

You bundle up your baby boy Sans tucking him in so he’s just a bundle of blankets and a head on the couch. His eyes can barely peak over the top.

So cute.

He looks so cozy.

You sit more properly on the couch, “Alright, first things first. Wanna learn the alphabet?”

Chara nods eagerly as S-Sans turns fully around.

“WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?” He asks.

“Gonna teach them Sign Language. It’s another form of communication so they don’t have to keep writing so much.”

“CAN I LEARN AS WELL SO I MAY SPEAK WITH THE HUMAN?”

You smile, “Yeah, of course. I’m sure Chara would appreciate that too, right?”

The child agrees with excitement, practically bouncing in place at the prospect. S-Sans settles next to the little human, sitting back on his legs with his hands ready on his lap.

You spend the next 10 minutes with them going through the letters of the English alphabet. You went through it all once, then went back to slowly go over with them again. Unsurprisingly, “m, n,” “p, q,” and “t” are the ones you need to go back on the most.

They get it down faster than you thought they would, but you suppose you underestimated them. Papyrus (and thus, S-Sans) always proves to be smarter than anyone gives him credit for, and you think with all the Resets, the child must’ve aged mentally, too.

“That’s pretty good so far, I’m impressed, guys!” You clap your hands together, “I’m not a pro at teaching someone sign language, so I’m not really sure where to start first… To keep things simple, how about I show you how to introduce yourself?”

“what’re you guys up to?”

Woah, you didn’t even hear S-Papyrus come down. He must’ve shortcut down here in that case. He’s wearing the same shit as last time, just cleaner.

You wonder what it’d be like to not have personal body odor so you can wear the same shit every fucking day. You know they have the same copy of their shirts and pants and whatever, but still.

“[Y/N] IS TEACHING US HOW TO USE SIGN LANGUAGE!” S-Sans beams up at his brother, “WE JUST FINISHED LEARNING THE ALPHABET.”

“oh? pretty cool,” He points his thumb over his shoulder, “it’s your turn to shower, bro.”

S-Sans groans in reluctance. He was bitching when S-Papyrus got in the shower before him, and now he’s bitching that he has to step away from the lesson to shower. He is a little too relatable.

“[Y/N], WILL YOU CONTINUE TO TEACH ME ONCE I FINISH?”

MANNN! You really did not mean for this to turn into an actual lesson thing!

“Of course,” You tell him anyway because you lack the balls when it comes to small matters like these.

Pleased, the shorter monster is more willing to drag himself up to get himself clean. Lucky for him, he showers with his battle body, so it’s a 2-for-1 deal!

“After Sans is finished, you need to wash up too-” You look at the clock. Damn, it’s not as late as you thought. “-and get ready for a late lunch. It’s almost 5 pm.”

Chara does a full eye roll with their head but agrees nonetheless. This is a perfect teaching moment. You scooch over to Sans to let S-Papyrus sit on the couch.

“Hey, hold your dominant hand up like this,” You hold up your fist, “then move it up and down like this, like how you would nod your head yes.”

Chara follows your instructions. In your peripheral vision, so does S-Papyrus.

“That’s how you say yes.” You smile teasingly, “So, I’ll say this again. After Sans is finished, you need to wash up as well, okay?”

Chara giggles silently as they frantically say “yes” in sign.

“seems easy enough,” S-Papyrus sits up straighter, “mind if i join you guys?”

“Not at all, the more, the merrier. As a matter of fact,” You turn your head to your bone boy, “You wanna join us, too?”

The cozy skeleton pulls his hand out from the covers, showing you random letters from the alphabet. Actually, they’re not random at all, are they?

You need to think about the letters he’s putting together to spell it out in your head.

You deadpan when you finally realize-

“been paying attention all along.”

────

It has been… really tiring today.

With what went on with Temmie, then entertaining Chara for the rest of the night since they wanted to spend time with you. That was fine and everything, but you’re allowed to want to relax and not deal with kids.

Baking was a fucking disaster, too. S-Papyrus had to buy something from Muffet’s instead because of the fucking monstrosity that came crawling out of the fucking oven-

…

You don’t want to think about it anymore.

Anyway, it’s bedtime for all of you fucks. Chara is sleeping over, so they’re bunking with S-Sans and his big race car bed.

You wonder what it must be like to cruise while you snooze…

Readying the couch, you remember something you meant to mention before.

“Oh, Sans. I forgot to tell you something.”

Sans is sitting on the floor again, writing in his journal. He looks up to give you his full attention, left eye glowing that beautiful cyan and yellow.

You grin, “Gaster says hi, and congrats on the relationship.”

Sans groans and lightly thumps his forehead on his open journal.

“y’know, i have very fuzzy memories of the guy, so i can’t say if that’s new of him or not,” Sans straightens up with a light blush, “but if it turns out that he is the type of dad to embarrass his own spawn on purpose, i don’t know what i’m gonna do.”

You laugh with him, keeping as quiet as you can since the others are already asleep or are trying to.

“by the way,” Sans hums, “when we were searchin’ for the fragment, how did you know how to find it? actually, you knew a lot of things that i didn’t…”

You scrunch your nose, “Let me tell you when we finally get back to our Au?”

“hm? sure, i can wait.”

“Thank you.”

You and Sans fall into a comfortable silence after that, not needing to fill the silence to enjoy each other’s company.

You sit on the couch with the blanket over your legs, writing in your own notebook. It’s been a while since you had the time to just sit and write. You still enjoy writing down all the things you’ve learned about monsters and the Underground and all the magic.

Like right now, you’re writing down the things Gaster has been sharing with you. More accurately, his explanation of the Core and what it does. You just think it’s neat.

You might not understand the science about it, but that doesn’t make it less fascinating for you. Sans might know about this stuff too, but maybe he’ll like reading it over later anyway.

You close the notebook and set it on the floor by the couch, making sure it won’t be in the way when you get up. As that is happening, Sans either has gotten bored with writing or maybe he wants to accompany you on the couch. Either way, he snaps his journal away and gets up slowly. Sans moves to the couch, raising the covers to get under next to you.

Blinking, his glowing eye goes back to normal, leaving you both in semi-darkness. As dark as it could be when the outside world is still bright outside due to no Day-Night cycle.

“lemme ask you something,” Sans starts quietly, keeping in mind the other residents in the house.

You hum for him to continue. Sans shifts your arm so that he can hook his arm with yours, interlocking his hand with yours. Luckily the ghost pain has faded now, so you’re able to comfortably do so.

“the thing the kid said earlier–did you really want to stay longer?”

“Uhm… I don’t really know…” You say that, but then immediately remember Gaster’s desire for Sans to make connections with more people. “I mean, it would be really fun, I think. You know, like a nice break. We don’t even have to do anything here if you don’t want to.”

The corner of his already smiling lips (lips?) quirks up more, “this is gonna sound funny, but it does feel safer for you to be here. the flower back in our au is still alive, but the fl–the doll in this one is gone. there isn’t really a threat against you here.”

You smile, “Not true. This Au’s Undyne is Alphys, and the Sans here is just as close to her as Papyrus was with Undyne.”

“yeah… maybe we shouldn’t stay here then.”

Oh, God. It’s time to pull this card. You really didn’t want to since you feel so entitled, but you have your own separate mission to complete.

“But I want to.” You state firmly.

Sans searches your face for anything, a small discrepancy that he can exploit to find any excuse at all to refuse you.

He can’t seem to bring himself to do it anyway.

Sans lets out a deep sigh, “maybe we can stay a few more days, then. does that work?”

“Yes, thank you! And really, there isn’t a need to stay here longer than we really have to, so it’s a good compromise, right?”

You can’t help but feel bad for Papyrus, too. Sure, he expressed his disinterest in this stuff, but you still love the guy and want him to be included. Also, you can’t simply drag these things out just because Gaster wants you to. You have responsibilities now in that Au.

Now that he’s holding your hand, he brings it above the covers and looks at your palm.

“are you really okay?” Sans asks quietly.

“There was some ghost pain earlier, but my back and hands healed just fine.”

You think so, anyway. Every time you look down, you’re expecting your hands to be bleeding and torn and horrific to boot. You almost want to see and feel the pain that came with your experience today, but there isn’t anything.

It’s kind of fucking with your head…

“no, no. i…” He thinks about how he wants to navigate this, “i saw that look on your face. when i finally caught up to you and you were holding down the doll. you hated it. but… you also liked it. hurting that doll-freak, i mean.”

…Yeah…

“it also said that you have a lot of LOVE, and,” Sans runs the back of his head with his other hand, “it’s not my business, i know that, so i won’t ask. and you know i’m not gonna try looking for myself.”

He wants to look so bad, you bet. You bet that it’s killing him inside, knowing that you have a high enough LV to get Temmie going fucking feral for you. He probably wants to pull you into a battle just to check your stats.

Sans is not going to do that or push you about it because he knows who you are, and he respects you, and respects your autonomy.

But you bet it’s fucking killing him inside.

You shift so your body is facing him properly. “What about you, Sans?”

You’re deflecting, Sans knows that. Were this conversation happening even just a few days ago, he would’ve deflected right back. However, in recent events, recent conversations, and self-reflections since upon arriving to this Au, Sans realized something else on top of everything.

Sometimes, you’re going to be the one who reaches out to him. Sometimes, you’re going to be the one who initiates actions or conversations. Sometimes, you’re going to back off when you realize you’ve gone too far. Sometimes, you’ll do everything you can to make sure to accommodate Sans in any way.

And sometimes, Sans is going to have to be the one who does the same for you.

You’re deflecting right now, and normally, Sans would defect right back.

This is one of those times where Sans has to be the one to carry on even when he doesn’t want to. Because he is so certain you would do the same if the roles were reversed.

“i’ve been through a lot of hurt, and i’ve been through enough to be able to hurt others.” Sans moves as well to face you, never letting go of your hand. “after doing something like what i did to that doll? i know i can sleep comfortably at night.”

Your face scrunches up, looking down at your lap.

No, Sans didn’t kill Temmie. For the sake of not fucking up too much, he left that honor to S-Papyrus. Since Temmie is just a doll with no Soul, and this is a Pacifist timeline, it didn’t have any ExP either. Sans isn’t going to tell you that though, the part where it was actually the other skeleton who finished the job.

Sans tilts his head, “but you’re not like that. just because you have the capacity to hurt, it doesn’t mean you enjoy it, not really. not in the way other people enjoy hurting other people.”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I was trying not to think about it too much, if I’m honest,” You mumble, “I think if it came down to it, if I really needed to, I think I could’ve finished Temmie off myself. But… I wouldn’t have enjoyed it. Maybe in the past, I…”

“you what?”

Ohhh, God. You’re really doing this.

This isn’t a part of your past you like to talk about with anyone. You can’t keep it a complete secret, but you don’t think now is the time to get too deep into it either.

Still, Sans deserves an explanation, a reason behind your thoughts and feelings on the matter. Besides, he has to find out sooner or later.

“When I was younger, yeah. I fought all the time. I don’t consider myself a fighter, but that doesn’t mean I’m ignorant to it,” You start measuring your hand with Sans’ trying to keep your hands busy. “Now that I’m older, after what I’ve been through, I don’t enjoy it at all. Maybe it also has to do with the fact that Chara reminded me of something that I don’t have.”

“and that is?”

“The ability to Save and Reset,” You laugh humorlessly.

Sans tenses up.

“If something happens to me, there is no do-overs for me. I can’t do what they do. And with Temmie… putting myself in their shoes is too easy. Knowing that if my life ends, there is a way to bring me back, but I am not the one who gets to decide if that happens. That power is in someone else’s hands,” You shake your head, “I know it’s silly, and maybe even wrong of me. But I felt bad for them. I felt scared for them.”

You sit in silence with him for a short time. Sans is thinking over what you just dropped on him. Hints of your violent past, your confirmation that there is a little more to you (though he already suspected as such).

And an even bigger reminder that Sans cannot be careless or slack off at all when it comes to you. Frisk is not here, and your Determination is not stronger than theirs because you cannot Save or Reset.

If Flowey gets you, if Undyne gets you–Fuck! If Asgore ever learns about you (he thinks he already does) and decides to do something about it…

Caring for someone is so tough. Caring for a human is tough.

“you’re so sweet for caring at all. even after what happened, you’re able to feel that deeply for someone like that.” He murmurs.

You think about Kōrenki. You think about the night you nearly beat someone to death with your bare hands. Were it not for Kōrenki pulling you away before it was too late, that person would’ve died because of you.

You think about the words Kōrenki told you that changed your perspective for good.

The words that were the starting point of putting you on a better path of life, and changed you to who you are not.

“Life is precious,” You whisper weakly, “If you take it, do not take it lightly.”

Sans thinks those words over carefully, having a strong understanding that those words mean something to you. He understands that and is taking more time to really think them over.

He… No, he can’t say he never thought of it that way. More accurately, he stopped thinking that way after all this time.

After all these years, he’s forgotten. He is the Judge who has turned himself into the Executioner. Not that he has ever killed for no reason, but he has gotten too comfortable with having to be the one to do it.

Sans saw it in Swap-Papyrus too when they killed Temmie. That ability to hurt others, without it hurting yourself.

To think that Sans was worried of how violent and dangerous you could be when he first heard about you. But in the end, he’s the heartless one between you two, and you are the fragile one.

He will not coddle you, but Sans will protect you.

Sans tugs your hand hard enough for you to fall against his side. You do nothing to move away, welcoming the affection. He maneuvers you so that your head rests on his shoulder, using magic passively so that it’s a comfortable rest for you.

Sans kisses your temple, his magic tingling you as he speaks against your skin.

“you’re good, [y/n]. you are so good. i pro–i swear to you now, that i’ll make sure you are never in a position where you feel like you have to go that far,” He removes his hand from yours to hug your shoulders, “what happened today, let me be the one to take care of it. now, and in the future, i’ll take care of it for you. trust in me. i can handle it.”

Inexplicably, your eyes start to water. Your soul is so heavy with mixed emotions–good and bad. Sans’ reassurance, Sans’ promise declaration to you, his touch and affections, you never expected it and it’s so much.

Yet, it’s so good.

You’re crying because of multiple reasons, silently but not alone.

“I don’t ever want either of us to be in that position. I’m not naive enough to believe that Mercy is the only way to solve every problem, but I want to believe that maybe it can be anyway.”

Sans kisses your temple again, “i know. i’m sorry today went the way it did.”

“‘S not your fault.”

“i know.”

You lean closer to him, sniffling, “Let’s go to sleep now, Sans. I’m so exhausted.”

“same here. i can nap all night.”

You smile, “I think that's called… sleeping.”

Your smile, as small or fleeting as it may be at the moment, is such a reward.

Sans snorts, nuzzling his cheek on yours, “tomato, to-ma-to.”

Tags:

@lemonboy011

@adriixboo

@fetusbaconegg

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‼️DISCLAIMER‼️ Most, if not all, my reader inserts are female and have a half-locked ethnicity/nationality! The reader is half Mexican-American, and half whatever YOU want!

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https://archiveofourown.org/works/46066414/chapters/115960975

Quotev

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

You feel a weight on your soul, and suddenly your body is being flung back against the jagged walls of the mountains.

The wind is knocked out of you, and the pain spikes and runs up your spine. You fall to your hands and knees, unable to pay attention to the wall crumbling and breaking down from where you used to be.

Holy fuck, you can’t breathe! You can’t even make a sound from the pain, useless as you try desperately to get the air back inside you.

Someone is now in front of you–S-Sans–he thrusts his hand upwards, summoning a wall of bones that creak and groan as it protects you both from the falling debris.

Wait, what about Sans and S-Papyrus?!

You think you catch a glimpse of them disappearing and reappearing erratically. Perhaps they’re shortcutting out of the way. God, you want S-Sans and S-Papyrus to be safe, but is it wrong if you want Sans to be the safest?

Temmie’s face emerges from the darkness (Since it’s Sans and S-Papyrus who have the magic eye, you and S-Sans are left in the dark.), a grin breaking their face and their fur seems matted. Just how long have they been down here?

“OOHHH!! I knew dis lil’ thing was TOO GOOD to be TRU!!” Temmie’s cute, squeaky voice brings you out of the fucking immersion, you’re not gonna lie. “Tem just knew there had to be others who WANT IT!!”

Okay, you’ve decided. You cannot fucking die to Temmie, that shit would be so fucking embarrassing.

S-Papyrus shout brings you out of your thoughts: “i fuckin’ knew it was weird i haven’t seen that damn doll in weeks!”

Ohhh, you see what’s going on here. It doesn’t take a genius (hopefully) to put two and two together.

Temmie (this Au’s “Flowey”) found the fragment and took it for themselves. But what the hell could they have been doing with it all this time? You thought that-

✋︎f this m□︎■︎⬧︎ter is t♒︎e equivalent to that Flower in our original universe, I w□︎nder, has it been trying to fuse with it all along✍︎ Impressive that the little thing was able to see it, however. Or maybe they can’t see it at all and were only able to sense it like everyone else.

‘Wait, so only I can see it? Why? Actually, more importantly, why wasn’t it successful?’

Because a m□︎nster cannot absorb the soul of another monster.

‘I thought Temmie was a doll in this Au, no?’

You hear the impressed tone in the–in his voice.

That is true, yes. And in our original universe, that Flower is just a flower.

‘So why isn’t Temmie successful this time?’

Because I refuse to let it be.

‘What the–Is that–Can you just do that??’

Why not? You needn’t worry. It won’t be able to use the power of my soul-fragment for very long. Just hold out until then.

‘THAT IS NOT REASSURING!!’

S-Sans grabs you by the hand, his hold on you tight and almost painful were it not for Sans’ gloves. He pulls you to your feet and drags you to run. You stumble over your steps but S-Sans’ control is more impressive than you thought–You feel that same weight on your soul again, S-Sans must be helping you a lot to keep moving.

There’s another crash–Temmie was trying to grab you again and S-Sans pulled you away just in time. Why does Temmie want your ass so bad?

“tem’s gotta have dat hman SOUL!!” Temmie licks their teeth, their long, freakish tongue is sharp and rotten. “i can feel it, u a hman with lots of LOVE!!”

Ah, that’s why.

See, you should really just stop questioning everything.

Temmie’s words made you freeze up though.

You have no idea how it works from an outside perspective, but if Temmie fucking gets you and puts you in battle with them to get your soul, your LV will be on display.

You can’t see it the way the monsters can, but if being the Judge allows you special privileges, you have a feeling that Sans and S-Papyrus will see it clear as day.

The doll’s head spins in place, and you can hear the stretching of the fabric as it does so.

“Even thos i can’t absorb the cool thing, tem can still use sum of its magic!”

You and S-Sans meet up with the other two, everyone panting slightly from the sudden exertion. Sans rakes his eyes over your form to check for injuries (not that he’d see the ones on your back

“It’s–It’s possible the magic disorder could be Temmie’s doing,” You explain to them shakily.

S-Papyrus almost narrows his eye-sockets, “how would that be possible?”

“???” You throw your hands up, “How is anything possible!? Magic!!”

Laughter rings out obnoxiously, almost as if from a broken toy. “and Tem can do a lots more with a SOUL LIKE URS!!”

“we can’t do anything here.”

“What-”

Sans’ hand clamps down on your shoulder, and he shortcuts with you. You couldn’t close your eyes in time.

For a moment, you feel like you’re floating lifelessly in an endless void.

There is no sound. There is no sense of touch or anything else.

In front of you was the scariest fucking shit you’ve ever seen.

A large, animal skull that is over twice your size. You recognize what it’s supposed to be, but in that moment, all you can think about is how that thing doesn’t need any magic to kill you.

Then there is white.

You fall to your hands and knees, the cold of the snow shocking you back into the present. Sans pulls you up, an apology tumbling out of him quietly.

You look like you’re outside the mountainside of where you entered the Waterfalls.

No, wait. There are too many trees and too much snow to be right outside of it, but you can see the mountainside a few meters away.

You look around, “Wait, where’s the other Sans and Papyr-”

Just then, S-Papyrus and S-Sans show up in a blink. S-Papyrus blinks away his glowing eye, just as S-Sans hurries towards you.

“Are you guys okay?”

“[Y/N], ARE YOU HURT?”

You clench your hands to hopefully hide their shaking, “I’m fine, just–”

“-IT WAS VERY SUDDEN,” S-Sans nods in understanding.

You look between Sans and the taller skeleton, “How ‘bout you two? You guys okay?”

Sans doesn’t answer, too busy looking at your backside. Shit, are you bleeding through your jacket?

S-Papyrus nods weakly, “yeah, i’m fine. i think we-”

If S-Papyrus was about to be cliche and say “i think we lost it,” then he doesn’t even get the chance because a large, Temmie hand breaks out of the fucking mountain. Rocks and boulders spray out but that is the least of your concern when the hand reaches to grab the nearest object: S-Papyrus.

Sans pulls you back while S-Sans tackles his brother roughly into the snow. Temmie’s hand anchors to the ground. You hear something heavy being dragged, presumably Temmie dragging themselves out of Hell. Then the mountain wall breaks, no need to stay around any longer.

You drag Sans away this time, meeting up with the others and you four keep running through the forest. You should all probably deal with the problem rather than run from it, but that’s a hero's way of doing things. None of you are being paid enough for this shit!

“Hey! You know, I’m totally down for that Pacifist life,” You shout at them, slowing down, “but can we all agree that we gotta fucking end that thing?!”

“agreed!”

“you’re the boss!”

S-Sans, both surprisingly and unsurprisingly, is the one who hesitates. “AS MUCH AS I DO NOT LIKE THE IDEA, I WOULD BE FOOLISH TO THINK THAT THING IS BETTER OFF FREE! IT IS MUCH TOO DANGEROUS!”

Stall for just a little longer. It cannot keep up this unstable power of mine.

‘Got it.’

You dig your feet into the snow, making the others skid to a halt as well.

How are you going to stall it? You can’t keep playing chase, lest you all accidentally draw it to the shop or uptown Snowdin. You think lore-wise, S-Papyrus would most likely be the most capable of stalling Temmie without risking his life. Would you be able to convince him to do that, though?

You look at S-Sans, thinking it over. He might be the easiest to convince. And if you can convince him, then maybe his brother would step in as well.

“Well, Sans,” You reach your hand to pat S-Sans’ back, “This is as great of a time as any to prove you’re worthy of the Royal Guard!”

Predictably, S-Papyrus does not appreciate you volunteering for his brother. He glares at you, about to say something but-

Fucking Temmie Flakes (As opposed to Friendliness Pellets, right?) fly right at your group. S-Sans acts first and acts fast, pulling up a wall of bones for them to crash into instead. The bones crack and sizzle under the weight of the Temmie Flakes–Just what the hell are those things made of?!

S-Papyrus blinks.

S-Sans looks at him almost smugly.

“…okay, fine,” S-Papyrus concedes, “thanks, bro.”

“OHH!!” Thump. Thump. Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump- “Tem’s gotta have that hman SOUL NOW!!”

Sans looks at you, “time to play keep-away with the human.”

Fan-fucking-tastic. You just love when you’re the center of violence!

The trees break and bend as Temmie brute-forces their way through to get to you. The sound is obnoxious and loud, making you wince. You could also be wrong, but it looks like Temmie has shrunk in size–is currently shrinking in size. Is the power wearing off already? You can still see the fragment, but it’s looking duller as well.

There’s that same weight on your soul again, this time it feels different, like it’s coming from someone else (someone familiar). Your body is forced to move back against your will, and Temmie is stopped by the Swap brothers getting in their way. If they’re still there, then is Sans the one using his magic on you?

“WAH!!”

You fall unceremoniously on the snow, back stinging in pain from the impact and the dirty water seeping into your clothes.

“crap–sorry!”

Sans kneels to your side, helping you up to your feet. You throw him a weak smile.

“Gotta say, Sans,” You wink, “not the worst date I’ve had before.”

He sighs but his smile widens anyway, “now really isn’t the time, [y/n].”

You smack your lips in displeasure, “It’s never the time for anything.” You stand up with his help, dusting yourself off. “We just need to stall for a little longer. It can’t keep using the fragment’s magic.”

He furrows his brows, “how do you know that?”

“Uhh-” What do you even say? “…The Voices™?”

“???”

Yeah, that was expected.

“I’ll explain it when we’re not about to get fucked in the ass.”

Sans grabs your hand and pulls you to the side, running out of the way of a Temmie Flake thrown your way. It crashes into the snow, blowing up the snow and clouding your vision. You swipe at the air in front of you as you both keep going, but the snow and dirt does not care for your vision.

“maybe save the dirty jokes when we’re not running for our lives!”

You have to keep up with Sans, one step behind and your hand will slip out of the glove, “I can’t make jokes during the craziest moment of our lives? That’s how I cope!”

“cope some other way!”

You spot the Swap brothers up ahead, their backs pressed against each other while looking around frantically. Temmie isn’t anywhere to be found.

You and Sans slow to a stop near them, also looking around. The place looks ruined, with broken trees and shards of discarded bones here and there. They’re looking around still, so you doubt they’ve defeated Temmie.

The snow is settling now, the four of you huddling together with your backs toward each other.

“Where did it–Did you see where it went?” You ask with a suppression in tone.

S-Papyrus shakes his head, “no, the doll just–it went small all of a sudden and it-”

“-IT WENT INVISIBLE!!” S-Sans stresses, “WHAT KIND OF MONSTER EVEN DOES THAT!?”

Bro sounds close to tears. Honestly, you would shit tears too if you saw that firsthand.

“watch the ground,” Sans says to you all, “look for any footprints or kicks of snow.”

A hush settles over you.

Your collective breathing is the only thing over the silence. Your eyes are straining on the ground, ears perking up at anything scuttling, and any sound of a branch breaking, any crunch of snow. Where could Temmie possibly be?

“Can’t you guys do the thing on the doll since it has the soul fragment?” You ask hastily.

“what thing?” Sans asks.

“The thing! Like–You know. When you used your magic to grab my soul!”

They don’t say anything, but you can tell with the rise in tension–of magic–that they’re trying out your suggestion. Since you have the best view of Sans, you watch him work his magic. His right eye is glowing again, gaze frantically moving around.

His eyes lock onto something, and his glowing eye flickers.

“i-i can’t,” Sans whispers loud enough for you all to hear, “i can’t lock onto it. it’s not tangible enough for me to grasp, and the–what did you call it? a doll? it doesn’t have a soul of its own.”

“Man…!” You grit your teeth, “This is fucking bullshi–AHHH!”

You can’t begin to comprehend what the fuck just happened.

You feel something tight wrap around your waist and it pulls you away from the group. Sans’ reflex proves useful for once, grabbing your hand tightly, just for it to mean nothing.

Your hand slips out of the glove.

Of course.

Because why would things ever be simple for you and go your way?

Sans drops the glove and tries reaching for your soul to keep you put, but you’re dragged too far already by the time he tries for it.

You start thrashing and pulling the thing that’s wrapped around you but to no avail.

Frantically, you reach out and grab onto the passing trees, the branches, snow, rocks, whatever the hell you can get your hands on. The other glove eventually rips off during your struggle. Because of that, your hands start tearing up and bleeding from the constant attempt to grab onto something.

Fuck, it hurts!

The snow and dirt are getting into your bloody hands, but you can’t stop!

You grab onto a close tree, finally managing to dig your fingers into the bark. A yelp tears out of your lips, and the skin on your hand tears wider as Temmie keeps trying to tug you away. The blood is consistently pooling out of your hands.

“Ah!”

The thing that was around you finally let you go, dropping you fully on the ground. You hear frantic and small footsteps around you. You force yourself on your knees, looking around for the direction of where that noise is coming from.

Fuck, you’re in so much pain! The nerves in your palms are no doubt torn and fucked up to no end. It’s taking everything in you to not cry like a bitch. Actually, if you weren’t dealing with Temmie, you might’ve already curled up in a fetal position and sobbed ugly tears.

Your vision is getting blurry from unshed tears and the light-headedness caused by this pain.

It is hiding because it is weak. Act. NOW.

There’s an up-kick of snow on your 10.

Digging your fingers deep into your torn-up palms, the blood nearly squirts out your hand and builds up on your palms. It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts-

You throw your hand outward in a horizontal arc, your blood flying and splashing onto an invisible figure a few feet away from you. Your blood clings onto the doll monster, revealing its location.

Temmie is in shock at your actions, enough so that it must’ve ruined whatever concentration they had and revealed themselves fully. Your blood is dripping from their face crudely.

You force a grin through the pain, “Hi, there.”

Wasting no more time, you lunge at Temmie and tackle them down.

Push your dominant hand into its face.

You do that without question. Your blood gets into Temmie’s eyes, and it screeches loudly. It thrashes against you wildly, trying to break free. Unfortunately for them, they're unaware that you're a lot stronger than you let on.

Its tail is its weakest spot. You should know what to do with that.

Furrowing your brows, your other hand snatches on the tail and you yank it up. You hear stitching pull and tear easily under your strength. Temmie is screaming at you, and you yank it again. You feel the tail rip almost halfway off.

This feels terrible. Look how easily you’re hurting them. Is that the type of person you want to be?

“[y/n]!”

You look at Sans’ voice, feeling relief wash through you. You see him only for a few seconds, then he shortcuts right in front of you. As he’s kneeling down, Temmie manages to move your hand down to bite at it.

“Argh! You son of a-”

That moment you flinched was enough for them to wiggle free. Unfortunately for them, they seemed to have forgotten you still have a death grip on their tail. Temmie stops moving immediately when it begins to rip more, almost whimpering in pain.

This feels familiar, doesn't it? The act of hurting someone like it's just another pastime for you.

Sans grabs Temmie by the back of the neck like someone would grab a cat by the scruff. You take a shaky breath, looking around Temmie’s body. You find it on their back; the fragment. Sans is staring daggers at your hands still dripping with blood.

You pay it no mind as you hold your hand out to the fragment.

The fragment jumps just a centimeter, then it floats away from Temmie’s back and hovers over your hand. You cradle it like it's fragile (it probably is) and step away. You bring it close to your chest like that’s the best way to protect it.

You and Sans perk at the Swap brother’s arrival, smiling at them. If they’re just as horrified by your hands, they don’t say anything about it. Although, Sans and S-Papyrus attitude changes when Sans steps away from you, still dangling a silent Temmie in the air.

Is Temmie… accepting defeat? Their expression is still murderous, but they’re not fighting back at all.

…Their tail is curled up between their legs, trembling.

You look away, muttering, “I don’t want to see what’s going to happen…”

S-Sans understands you the quickest. He hurries to your side and ushers you to start walking away.

“COME WITH ME, [Y/N],” S-Sans leads you gently, “LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR HANDS…”

You only take a few steps when S-Sans stops you. He takes off his thick blue gloves, holding them out to you. You scrunch up your nose, but he stops you before you can protest.

“YOU ARE FREEZING, AND IT’D BE BEST TO COVER THEM UP UNTIL WE CAN CLEAN THEM PROPERLY,” S-SANS reasons with you, “I WILL HELP YOU WITH THEM.”

You silently give in, no use in arguing with the sweet boy. S-Sans puts them on you as gently as he can, but there’s only so much you can do to lessen the pain. They’re kind of tight on you, around the wrists, but you suppose that’s needed when they’re designed for skeletons.

He holds his left hand out (Which is more… thicker than you thought. Skeleton hands aren’t supposed to be thick, but that must be something S-Sans done purposely). You pass over the fragment to him, and you can see the confusion on his face.

S-Sans looks past you, “COVER YOUR EARS, [Y/N].”

…You do.

It takes some effort, but eventually, you push the back of your hands against your ears. The gloves are amazingly absorbent, you can’t feel any blood trickle down your arms. There’s an added pressure over your ears, buzzing with the feeling of magic.

Everything is quiet.

You want to look back, but S-Sans stops you, pushing you to keep walking.

You let him.

S-Sans and you continue walking for a while. S-Sans is still holding the fragment, weighing it in his hand. You can see it just fine, but apparently, the monsters can’t. You hope that S-Sans doesn’t think you’re crazy and just gave him air to hold.

You see the shop not too far ahead, putting your hands down now since it should be fine. You see… something against one of the trees. You’re a little too far to tell what or who it is.

You look down at your hands and click your tongue: “Ah, Sans. I’m sorry, man. Look at your gloves.”

“HM?” He gives them a sideways glance, “OH, DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT, [Y/N]. I HAVE MANY SPARE AT HOME.”

“Yeah, but…” You wiggle your hands with a chuckle, “It’s so gross!”

Now that you two are closer, you can see that against the tree is Pollux! He’s minding his business and reading a book. You recognize it, you think, something he read in the original Au. He must’ve heard your conversation, as he looks up with a semi-annoyed look.

That quickly morphs into surprise and concern.

Pollux fumbles with the book and almost drops it. Luckily, he slams it closed and holds it against his chest, but his poor bookmark falls to the snow. Pollux does not seem to care.

“Holy, fuck!” Pollux narrows his eyes and steps forward, “Shit… You’re hurt!”

Besides you, S-Sans widens his eye-sockets and freezes up. Monsters don’t bleed, so by elimination, Pollux must’ve realized you’re human. Is that okay? Does Pollux care? Will he tell Alphys??

“Just–stay right there,” Pollux makes a waiting motion as he starts heading towards the shop, “I’ll get something for you. Just. Wait.”

Pollux is already through the door, the bell ringing softly.

“Sans, help me take these off?” You hold your hands to S-Sans, “I can feel them starting to stick to me.”

“OH, RIGHT, OF COURSE.”

It feels kind of strange to just call him Sans. You know that’s his name, but it’s weird because you already have a Sans.

You could call him a nickname, but he made it clear that he did not desire one. And honestly, you would be the same way. You’re not “Classic [Y/n]” or “Swap,” just “[Y/n].”

The skeleton removes the gloves one by one, looking away once they’re both off. He has never seen a human injury like that before. Chara has gotten scrapes and bruises here and there, but nothing like this. Never like this. He drops the gloves on the snow without a care.

He almost wants to cry.

Actually, the tears build up in his sockets anyway.

“Awe, Sans. You don’t need to cry. This,” You gesture to your hands, “ended up working out for me. So, really, we should be thankful.”

That is the wrong thing to say.

“I WISH I WAS STRONGER TO HAVE PROTECTED YOU,” S-Sans grimaces, “IT JUST TOOK YOU LIKE IT WAS NOTHING, AND I WAS TOO SHOCKED TO DO ANYTHING. I FEEL SO FRUSTRATED BY MY OWN WEAKNESS.”

‘Ugh, be still, my heart!’

“Sans, it’s okay. It wasn’t because of what you did or what you didn’t do. It’s not your fault,” You smile reassuringly, “I mean, even the Other Sans and your brother couldn’t act fast enough. I think… I think we ALL did the best we could. That monster thing was a fucking weirdo, right?”

S-Sans laughs weakly, agreeing with you while wiping his eyes.

You know there isn’t a way for you to fully rid of his guilt. Were you in his shoes, you’d continuously beat yourself up, too. You can only hope that S-Sans will take this moment to learn from instead.

The bell from the shop rings again, signaling someone coming out of it. It’s Pollux, of course, carrying a few Cinnamon Buns, bags of chips, and bottles of juice.

That’s way too much for you, isn’t it?!

Pollux looks at your hands, horrified.

“Holy fuck!”

The emo monster shoves the items into S-Sans’ arms, almost dropping them since one of his hands is occupied by the (seemingly) invisible fragment. But the skeleton has good reflexes. S-Sans is confused as to why he has to hold it, but he’s more than willing to let the scene unfold before him.

Pollux sticks his tongue out (which is also black, and of course, he has a tongue piercing), concentrating on unwrapping the Cinnamon Bun.

You raise a brow, “This isn’t-”

“-This should heal you,” Pollux narrows his eyes, “What’s your name?”

“It’s [Y–AUGH!!”

S-Sans blinks, “OH.”

Right when you opened your mouth, Pollux shoved the bun into your gullet, forcibly feeding you sweet buns. You want to laugh so bad, but you also don’t want to choke and die so you have to focus on chewing.

“Your stupid fucking hands all fucked up. Did you think I’d make you hold this yourself?” Pollux grumbles, holding the pastry against your lips.

“Mph-frm-smn-phm?”

“Stop talking,” Pollux frowns, “Just be good and eat your damn food.”

If you showed this Pollux to your sweet Pollux, you know he would have tears in his Latina eyes. You don’t hate it though, you’re sure there are people out there who are into this, too.

It takes 3 Cinnamon Buns for your hands (and your back, but you weren’t bringing that up with them) to heal fully. Pollux was kind enough to use the sleeve of his shirt to wipe off your hands, wanting to see past the blood to know if you’re fully healed.

Curling your fingers into fists, your fingers noticeably tremble at the action.

Pollux clicks his tongue, “Damn it. You still need-”

“-No, it’s okay,” You can’t explain it, but you feel like your HP really is maxed out. “It’s just ghost pains. But that’ll fade away over time. Hands have some of the most sensitive nerves.”

“Ah, alright…”

You give Pollux a smile, “Hey, thank you for helping me out, even though I’m human.”

S-Sans’ own smile becomes nervous, “SPEAKING OF WHICH… YOU WILL NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT [Y/N], WILL YOU?”

“Like I give a shit about what she is,” Pollux gestures to himself, “Clearly, I think humans are cool.”

“Ha-ha, I guess that’s true!” You grin, glancing at his name tag in an obvious way. “Still, thank you, Pollux. That was really sweet.”

That strange white blush you know and love quickly forms on Pollux’s face.

“Ju–You–Shut up!”

Pollux moves around you and storms back to the shop. You and S-Sans start giggling like bitches but him clearing his throat catches both of your attention. Pollux’s eyes go to your feet where the bloody gloves lay.

“I’m not going to tell anyone, but you should still be careful,” Pollux mumbles, “There’s been a human kid going around lately, but… I can’t say everyone will be as nice as me when it comes to a whole adult.”

Not giving you time to reply, he enters the shop and slams the door behind himself.

You and S-Sans look at each other.

“THAT WAS A LITTLE OMINOUS, RIGHT?’”

“Yeah, but I’m sure he means well!”

Still juggling the snacks in his arms, S-Sans holds out his hand to you, the one still taking care of Gaster’s fragment. You take it from him with both hands, something in your head telling you to treat it gently. It looks the same as before when Temmie had it, maybe more… glitchy?

“SO, THAT REALLY IS THE FRAGMENT?” S-Sans asks, “YOU KNOW, I DON’T THINK ANYONE BUT YOU CAN SEE IT. AFTER ALL, THAT GUY JUST NOW, POLLUX? HE DID NOT MENTION IT, EITHER.”

You snort, “Then why did you carry it? What if I was making it up?”

He shrugs, “IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE HOLDING SOMETHING, SO I JUST FIGURED YOU COULD SEE IT. AND BESIDES, WHEN IT WAS IN MY HAND, I COULD FEEL THE WEIGHT OF IT.”

You wonder why only you can see it? Maybe Gaster can tell you another time.

You drop your hands and are pleasantly surprised when it floats the same as before. Guess you don’t have to worry about that, hopefully, it keeps following you, too.

Looking back down, you still can’t fight the guilt. “Hey, I’m still really sorry about the gloves. I know you said you have spares, but still.”

“HM? IT’S FINE.”

And just to show off how fine it really is, S-Sans lazily thrusts his free hand upward. The area beneath the gloves glows before bones arise and tear the fuck out of it.

He does it again, and again, and again.

The only thing that’s left is finely shredded blue fabric and specks of red.

…

Dude, what the fuck.

“BEST NOT TO LEAVE ANY EVIDENCE. WE WOULDN’T WANT ANYONE TO BE SUSPICIOUS, RIGHT?” S-Sans shifts the snacks in his arms, “AND ALSO, THE HUMAN CHILD MIGHT BE WORRIED IF THEY SAW IT.”

“Oh, yeah, huh?” You smile, “You’re so magnificent, Sans.”

He blushes red and his smile wobbles. He looks away while stammering out an agreement.

What a cutie patootie.

Your attention is brought to the crunching of snow. Sans and S-Papyrus are walking together, hands in their pockets and carrying an air of nonchalance. You don’t see dust on either of them, but you know what happened.

You don’t know how to feel about it–how you should feel about it.

Part of you is like: Fuck yeah! Concrete!

The more sensitive ass part of you is… You think it’s pity? You feel bad for what happened despite what Temmie did.

Sans speeds up slightly to reach you, immediately putting his hands on your shoulders. He looks you over thoroughly, even checking your back. So he did notice the injury before.

“are you okay?” Sans asks with obvious worry, “are you in pain? you ate food, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. We got some snacks and it healed me up-”

You barely finish your words when Sans pulls you in for a tight hug. His hands grip the back of your jacket, cringing at the drying blood he touches.

“‘m sorry. i wish–i should’ve done more to keep you safe. you should’ve just stayed back at the house-”

You pull away from him, cupping his cheeks to interrupt him. His face is cold, but that’s to be expected when you’ve all been outside for hours.

[ Since you’re taller than him, you do have to lean over to be more eye-level. / Since you’re about the same height, you don’t have to struggle much to be eye-leveled with him. / Since you’re somehow shorter than the guy, you need to pull him down some so you can be eye-to-eye (socket) with him. ]

“Sans, I’m okay. Everything is okay.” You rub his cheeks with your thumbs. Your voice is soft, barely a whisper, “I got a little hurt, but it wasn’t anyone’s fault. I could explain it and tell you it was technically my fault, but I feel like you’d blame yourself anyway, right?”

He doesn’t meet your eyes, your words are ultimately right regarding the situation.

“still, i…”

Your voice turns into something more sweet, like you’re consoling someone younger. You don’t mean to, but it’s more like a habit coming back. When you had to comfort your younger siblings when they got in trouble, or when you had to reassure your brothers when they accidentally saw you hurt.

…Or when you are talking with a cute puppy or kitten, you know the voice. Either way, it comes out of you rather instinctively. It’s time to pull out all the stops: using the words like “baby” and “sweetie.”

“I know, baby, I know. If it was you, I’d feel the same way,” You smile and boop his little nose with your thumbs, “But we’re all okay now, aren’t we? Maybe that’s all that matters.”

Sans looks over your face carefully. Finally, he sighs and closes his eyes. His hands raise up to yours to gently hold your wrists. His head leans forward to bump his forehead lightly on yours.

Feeling you, actually feeling you like this, it’s… grounding for him.

“yeah… yeah, you’re right,” He murmurs, “we got through it and–everything worked out okay.”

Remembering you two aren’t exactly alone, Sans jerks back with a growing blush. It’s not as red as it could be, but you’re not blaming him for focusing on other things right now.

The Swap brothers have the decency to know to give you two privacy, so they had moved away. S-Sans was showing him all the free snacks you got, and S-Papyrus was choosing a bag of chips to yoink.

Sans takes you by the hand to regroup with the others. Just as you suspected, the fragment does follow you without needing you to hold it. Pretty convenient, you wouldn’t want to accidentally fuse with it, after all.

…That is a curious thought now, isn’t it?

“Hey, gamers,” You call to them, “I gotta ask for my peace of mind, but you… dealt with Temmie, right?”

S-Papyrus nods, looking like he’s about to say something but you hold your free hand up to stop him.

“Maybe I don’t need to know any more than that.”

“…right,” S-Papyrus rips one of the chip bags open, “well, i’m beat. you all ready to go?”

“YES, FINALLY,” S-Sans is walking already, his eagerness in his steps, “I COULD’VE USED A NICE SHOWER AN HOUR AGO!”

Sans chuckles, taking you with him, “well said.”

Even though you all are walking in silence, the atmosphere is nice and lively. The Swap brothers are walking together ahead, sharing the chips while you and your bone-friend kick it back, hand in hand.

Sans’ hand is holding yours tightly, his thumb occasionally to and fro to soothe himself.

And you? You have to bear every second of it because it hurts.

You know you ate enough to fully recover, so why? Why are you in pain? Why are you suffering ghost pains?

Or maybe the magic food did the best it could, and you still have to suffer the repercussions. If monster food could heal everything, there would be a lot less burden on the Royal Scientists and the Amalgamations hiding in her labs.

You weakly squeeze Sans’ hand back.

It’s fine, you can bear it for a little while longer.

Tags:

@lemonboy011

@adriixboo

@fetusbaconegg

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

In the middle of downtown Snowdin forest, your search goes just as well as yesterday. That’s to say, super fucking shitty. After about an hour of mindless wandering, Sans throws caution to the wind to pull out the mini-dj.

You knew that it would be working now, Gaster told you as much but it’s been confirmed now that you see it. You, S-Papyrus, and S-Sans huddle close around Sans looking over his shoulder (and over his head for S-Ppayrus).

The mini-dj is… You don’t know. You’re not knowledgeable enough to know the proper terminology of what you’re seeing. Luckily the Author did research and doesn’t want to keep the information to herself so she’s happy to share exactly what it is you’re looking at.

The screen shows a PPI radar in a dull, dark green color. There’s a bullseye-type indicator locked on the center of the screen, a hollow circle that sits right in the bullseye. As the radar rotates around the screen, it blinks dimly and another circle will appear East. There is also an arrow at the bottom of the screen, pointing northeast.

Sans points to the very center of the bullseye, “this is were we are. and this-” Sans points to the circle in the East, “-is the… general position of what we’re looking for–the fragment.”

You tilt your head, “How does it work? Like, how is it tracking it?”

S-Papyrus and Sans give you a look.

You hold your hand up, “Okay, okay. Nerd explanation later.”

Sans points to the arrow, “this is pointing in the right direction of where to go. it’s also 3rd dimensional so if it’s above us or below us, it’ll show us exactly that.”

You look at your man lovingly, “You’re so fucking smart, Sans.”

He blushes and looks down, “heh, what’s the point of being a nerd if i can’t show it off to my girl?”

S-Sans groans and rolls his big ‘ol eyes. “FLIRT LATER, WE DON’T WANNA HEAR ALL THAT.”

“jealous.”

“WHA–ME? PPFT–NO, I’M NOT.”

“anyway,” S-Papyrus taps the screen over Sans’ head. “looks like it’s in proper working order.”

“It looks like it’s leading further East of downtown Snowdin,” You tilt your head again, “What is even East of this place?”

“THE WATERFALLS.”

“the waterfalls.”

“waterfalls.”

Damn, okay.

Wait.

“Wouldn’t that be Northeast, then? Not directly East?”

“IT’S NOT A VERY COMMON ROUTE, BUT THERE IS A CONNECTION FROM DOWNTOWN SNOWDIN TO THE WATERFALLS,” The Royal Guard in training explains, “NO ONE USES THAT ROUTE THOUGH. THERE AREN’T ANY CRYSTALS THAT GROW, SO IT’S EXTREMELY DARK.”

“not to mention, the roads there are uneven and can lead into dark, deep pits,” S-Papyrus continues, “it’s not safe. that’s why i have a post all the way out here. just to make sure no one’s feeling stupid enough to pass through there.”

You look at Sans form confirmation. He nods, not saying anything since all was already said.

You throw your head back dramatically, “Ughhh! Yeah, we definitely gotta go down the creepy, dark path.”

S-Papyrus winces, “don’t jinx it, [y/n].”

“If the fragment is all the way in Timbuktu, then how the hell is it still affecting those in downtown Snowdin?”

S-Papyrus shrugs, “magic spreads. i imagine if this fragment is super strong and brimming with magic, maybe it can still reach this area, but only this area?”

Ehhh.

But–fine. It doesn’t seem like that’s all there is to it, but what do you know about magic? If S-Papyrus says that’s what it must be, then you’ll just have to trust that. Still, it doesn’t feel… right.

S-Sans perks up, “MAYBE INSTEAD OF WALKING THROUGH IT, PERHAPS OTHER SANS CAN USE THAT NIFTY SHORT-CUT TRICK TO GET [Y/N] THERE, AND PAPYRUS CAN GET ME THERE WITH HIS.”

S-Papyrus twists his face, “that’s probably not a good idea. if i’m feelin’ it, then sans number 2’s gotta be, too. my magic is feeling kinda out of control.”

“yeah, i feel it too. i wouldn’t be worried if it was just us, but [y/n] is only human,” Sans casts you a glance, “she already showed signs of being affected by it when under the stress of it.”

You frown with a protest ready on your lips, “It should be fine, I can just tough it-”

“-NO, NO. I DID NOT THINK OF THAT WHEN SUGGESTING THE IDEA,” S-Sans pats your shoulder, “I’D RATHER NOT RISK IT, YOU ARE TOO GOOD.”

“…Thanks.”

“come on,” Sans begins to walk in the direction indicated on the mini-dj, “let’s get going.”

Walking further out into the forest, there are already different changes in the environment, the ceilings of the cavern get lower, the trees become sparse and the snow fickle out. More water puddles appear on the ground, the dark blue grass emerges from the fading snow, and the walls start to narrow. Because of how narrow it’s getting, it’s getting darker too.

The arrow on the mini-dj is pointing more toward the East and you think slightly downward.

Still, you prevail as the tension grows.

It’s only a few more moments of walking, and the area gets narrower and you all have to move to walk in a line essentially. The trees stopped appearing, and the darkness is making it more spooky. There’s a mountain wall ahead, clearly, the barrier that separates downtown Snowdin from the Waterfalls. There’s a narrow crack in the mountain walls, probably just barely big enough for you to fit.

S-Sans scrunches his cute little face, “WELL, THIS IS IT. MAKE SURE TO STAY CLOSE TO US, [Y/N].”

You barely nod, “Yeah… Okay. Uh, single-filed line, fellas.”

S-Sans walks up to the narrow entrance. He snaps his fingers and drags that same hand downward. A medium-sized bone appears that has a faint cyan outline around it, and he catches it before it falls. Tossing it in the air and snaps his fingers again. The bone starts to glow a bright cyan color, spinning rapidly in place while hovering over his hand.

You beam, “Wow, that’s a cool trick! Is that like a flashlight?”

S-Sans beams as well in pride. “SOMETHING LIKE THAT! IT’S A SIMPLE ENOUGH TRICK, AND REQUIRES NO EFFORT WHATSOEVER!”

Even though you’re all working together now, that apparently doesn’t change the competition between everyone. Sans still isn’t stoked about his counterpart making you happy in any way, shape, or form.

“yeah, so simple that i can do it too.”

To prove his point, Sans does the exact same thing as the other, but he summons a bone that is noticeably bigger.

…Is that a euphemism for something, or…?

Just for the fun of it, S-Papyrus grins cheekily and does it as well.

…His bone is the biggest of them all.

You can’t keep it to yourself anymore. The demons are winning.

“I have, like, seven boner jokes locked and loaded if you guys are ready for it.”

No one is impressed with you.

Understandable.

The bones Sans and S-Papyrus summoned dissipate into dust, leaving S-Sans with his original bone(r). Before anyone goes in, Sans snatches your wrist, getting everyone’s attention.

You look back at him with confusion, nodding your head at him in silent question.

“what’s wrong?” He asks.

Your face shows your confusion, so he goes on.

“you’ve had this look on your face. like something’s wrong. last time i listened to that gut feeling of yours, it ended up working out for us.”

You shake your head, “Yeah I–Look, I know that I don’t know shit about magic, but… I don’t know. Papyrus’ explanation for the magic thingy bullshit doesn’t sit right with me.”

You sigh and continue, “I wish I could explain it, but I can’t. Sorry.”

Sans takes off his gloves and urges you to put them on. You smile at the action and adjust them over yours more comfortably.

S-Papyrus puts a hand on his hip, “what about it makes you nervous?”

“Doesn’t that explanation just seem too easy?”

No one has anything to that, they can’t say anything to that–You’re completely right.

S-Sans goes in first, then S-Papyrus shimmies in after, then yourself, then finally Sans walks in very close to you. You end up having to start walking sideways to fit through the crack. Luckily for the monsters you’re traveling with, they’re nothing but bones so they’re able to fit.

Whether it’s because of your chest, your ass, or your stomach, something or other ends up getting in the way for you to comfortably fit through. It’s so embarrassing that occasionally Sans would have to help push you through, or S-Papyrus would have you pull you by the arm to get you unstuck.

You’re gonna fucking kill yourself, you swear to God. This is so fucking embarrassing.

Eventually, after a few moments of that, the mountain pass does open up, but not in a way that matters. You’re no longer squished between the mountains, but now the path has split up and that leaves a small walkway. It’s so small that you ALL have to press your backs to the wall and shuffle along.

This is so fucking scary, what the fuck?

“No wonder no one fucking comes here,” You say breathlessly, hands desperately grasping at the wall behind you.

S-Papyrus nods subtly, “you said it. i know we all agreed it’s risky, but this is too much. i think i’m just gonna shortcut my bro and i to the other side.”

Sans is deadpanning and S-Sans is at the beginning of a protest, but the moment S-Papyrus puts his hand on his brother’s shoulders, they’re gone. There’s a flash before your eyes, and suddenly the Swap brothers are ahead of you all on the other side of a wider path. Looking over, you and Sans see you have about another meter to go.

You turn to your man, “I think… I think it’d be safer if you shortcut us both there, too. Or at the very least, shortcut yourself.”

“not gonna happen,” He rejects it immediately. No surprises there. “we’re already this far, we just got a little more to go.”

“Yeah,” You sigh, “yeah, you’re right.”

It’s not that bad, you suppose. You only need to keep going-

☹︎□︎□︎🙵 ♎︎□︎⬥︎■︎📬︎

Look down.

…What?

You look down against your better judgment. You have to narrow your eyes but it does nothing. It’s a bottomless pit of nothing.

Sans raises a brow, looking down as well. “what is it?”

On the other side, S-Papyrus and S-Sans look over the edge, too.

…

…

…

You feel a pull.

It needs you.

It needs your help.

💧︎♋︎❖︎♏︎ ❍︎♏︎📬︎

Save me.

You start to lean forward-

“Ah!”

A bony hand slams against your chest, pushing you back against the wall hard. Sans’ smile is completely gone, his eyes harsh and swirling with a mix of anger, confusion, and fear.

“what the hell are you doing?!” He snaps at you.

You blink, looking back down, “The fragment is down there.”

Sans keeps his hand on your chest, unwilling to risk moving it off you. He doesn’t move his eyes off you, using his other hand to pull out the mini-dj. Reluctantly, he looks at the screen of the mini-dj.

The radar is going haywire, spinning at a rapid pace. The arrow is now pointing downward, and the dot looks bigger on the screen now. He hasn’t been able to look at it since entering the mountain pass, but there’s no denying that you’re right.

Sans sighs heavily, right from the soul, while he snaps the mini-dj away.

“fuck, [y/n]. you scared the hell out of me.” Sans's hand is slightly shaking on your chest, “were you about to jump??”

You furrow your brows, confused by your own actions. Were you really? Jesus, you’re so emo.

“I don’t–Sorry. I felt this pull and…” You tilt your head down, “there was this garbage noise asking for help. To save it.”

Sans can’t help the scrunch of his face while looking at the other skeletons. They’re all having the exact same thought.

Ugh. Of course, it’s down there.

Sans offers them a defeated look, “meet you two down there?”

They simply nod in defeat as well. What else is there to do, really? There’s a blink, and they’re gone. Sans hesitantly moves his hand from your chest to grab your hand. You smile at him apologetically, sorry for scaring him the way you did.

He tells you what he always tells you before a jump: to close your eyes. You do so, of course.

There’s a pound in your head this time, it’s so heavy. Sans used too much magic by accident with the shortcut this time (not that you would know that was the cause of it), and the magic pools in the front of your head like a migraine. It’s gone after a few seconds, and you feel fine otherwise.

You feel the squeeze on your hand, Sans’ minimal way of telling you you can open your eyes now.

“Fuck,” You flinch, “it’s so dark…”

Sans blinks and suddenly, his left eye is glowing and lighting up the area. So pretty.

There’s a source of light behind you, bringing your attention to that. It’s S-Sans and S-Papyrus. To your surprise (or maybe you’re not that surprised at all) S-Papyrus’ left socket is glowing, and it’s the same swirl of cyan and yellow. You got used to fanart depicting him with an orange eye, but yeah, you guess that wouldn’t make sense.

Bummer, if you’re honest.

No, wait. The cyan is darker, like a deep blue. Blue and Yellow… Yellow is Justice, but what is blue again?

…Would an orange eye contact lens work on him?

This place looks as creepy as you were expecting. The mountain walls are narrowed upward, creating a triangular shape within the cavern. The walls are so jagged and rough-looking, that you should be careful about not bumping against them.

Sans holds up the mini-dj, distaste evident on his face. The screen is glitching out like crazy. Maybe it’s because the fragment is causing it to freak out, or maybe it’s for something else. Sans must not think it matters, because he snaps it away with a scoff.

“THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO GO FROM HERE,” S-Sans de-summons the bone considering the light from Sans and S-Papyrus is more than enough now. “STILL, I BELIEVE IT’D BE WISE TO STICK TOGETHER.”

“good idea, bro.”

You can’t decide if it’s because they’re naturally more protective, or if it’s for other reasons, but you and S-Sans end up walking together behind Sans and S-Papyrus. You think it might be because you’re a mortal flesh bag, but you can’t think why S-Sans would be in the back.

Does Swap-Sans have the same low HP as Sans? Or was that passed onto Swap-Papyrus? You feel like such a fake fan for not remembering something this simple.

Man, the further you go forward, the more heavy the atmosphere feels. Even you are starting to feel the stress that comes from this amount of concentrated magic. You can only imagine it feels a lot worse for the others right now. 

Just what the hell are the effects of Gaster’s fragments?

P❒︎♏︎par♏︎ ⍓︎our⬧︎♏︎●︎f.

Prepare yourself.

You whisper softly, “Be careful. Prepare yourselves.”

They get even more stressed.

Understandable.

There’s a small, faint light coming from the left narrow corner. Sans holds his arm out to stop you all from walking. Putting a finger to his nervous smile, he inches closer to peak around the corner. He backs away immediately.

You frown, “What? What did you see?”

“well…” Sans casts a sideways glance, “i found the source of what’s causing the magic fluctuation. i can feel it in my bones.”

S-Papyrus raises a brow, “…but?”

“…how willing are you to go into a possible battle?”

Like you’re in a Scooby Doo episode, you all decide to peak around the corner. Going from the bottom up, you crouch down to look, then S-Sans looks above you, then Sans, then finally S-Papyrus.

Sitting there in an open space, is… you think it’s a doll.

A Temmie doll.

Sitting there almost lifelessly but there is a subtle rise and fall of the shoulders. The chest is open and revealing a hollowness; there is no stuffing, no internal structure, nothing.

Hovering outside of the doll is an upside-down soul. It’s white with a black-purple aura. It’s not round, rather it has eight flat sides.

Th♋︎t’s m♓︎■︎e.

That’s mine.

“That’s it,” You whisper, barely above a whisper. “They have the fragment.”

“what the hell is that freak doing with it?” S-Papyrus asks just as quietly, “i can’t see it-”

Temmie’s eyes snap wide open.

Their face breaks into an unnaturally wide smile, filled with sharp, rotten teeth. Their body begins growing in size, ripping and tearing fills the air. Their head begins tilting to the side, but then it keeps tilting. It keeps rotating until the head is completely upside-down.

Temmie brings up its right clawed hand–it’s almost the size of your entire fucking body.

Then they reach right for you.

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