The Instances of Us - Chapter 1
**For everyone reading, please keep in mind that these are all MY AU's and aside from Classic Sans from the official Undertale I will not include any of the other more popular AU's in this fanfiction as I want this to be something a bit more independent that doesn't need to rely on already highly recognized Undertale AU's for popularity or traction.
If this does get popular it will mainly be due to the fact people genuinely like my AU's or Storylines. If it does not get popular that is also fine as not everything needs to trend. However, not including them does not mean that they will not be referenced as UnderVerse will be brought up a few times.**
**For clarification on the timelines placement- this takes place right after X-Gaster shatters Blue and Red's souls, and Sans is teleported back to his own AU. Anything else that happened afterward in X-Tale will not be referenced here.**
**For everyone that reads my content, you all are well aware of the fact that I tend to cater to some darker themes. There will be warnings in chapters where I deem audience caution is needed. Always make sure to take care of your mental health before reading fanfiction and remember that everything is fictional and all of the characters have varying storylines and lore so some will be darker than others by default. Thank you for reading and please enjoy the first chapter of this literate disaster lol.**
What made a Universe what it was? A prospect? A different timeline all together? What separates one world from another aside from actions causing different reactions? For Sans he has met so many different versions of himself that he was beginning to lose count of just how many he had gotten to know. So many different versions of him- or even not him but still having a similar facecard all the same.
Living in a world where he thought he was the only version of himself was certainly a lot easier than whatever he has been experiencing the last few months and at this point he would give anything to go back to it. Having been tossed between a few timelines, in fights that he was both prepared and unprepared for; experiending an odd metronome of loss, confusion and reaccumulation was tiring.
When the nonsense of the multiversal mayhem of the UnderVerse event was finally concluded he slept harder than he had ever slept before. Happy- no, elated to finally be back in his own timeline for good this time.
Despite the rest he had gotten, there is always something nagging in the back of his mind that somehow- someway, this is not over. That was the part he hated the most. Perhaps it was some kind of hypervigilance.
Maybe it was him being delusional and just not letting himself let his guard back down considering everything he had endured. That thought had soothed his nerves a little but it never really did get rid of the nagging suspicion that somehow all of this craziness was far from over.
All of these thoughts were festering in Sans' mind like termites as he sat at the table, slowly eating food his brother had prepared. Papyrus was always the coolest, after all.
The younger sibling of the two skeleton kin was chattering away as he ate his plate of spaghetti, enthusiasm radiated off of Payprus like a heater. He always was able to find the good in things- it's part of why Sans looked up to him so much (along with the fact he had no choice- because he was so short, but that's a fact everyone already knew).
The younger of the font-dubbed siblings seemed to catch on to the lack of attention in Sans' words and his excited chattering soon subsided as he tried to read the older skeltons face. Trying to gauge if the other was sick, stressed, tired, or all three.
Papyrus honestly had no idea what was going on with his bro but he knew enough to realize something was wrong. That much was clear when Sans had come back to them after going for 'a little walk' a few weeks ago. He and the others had picked up on something being off within a few hours, but Sans was a grown monster if there was a problem he surely knew he could approach the other about anything that was bothering him, right?
Hell, Sans was always telling Papyrus that if anything troubled him to tell someone as soon as he got the chance.
Thinking on it now... it definitely would not be the first time Sans had not followed his own advice. A lot of individuals were like that. Giving such good advice to others but not using the same knowledge to actually help themselves because sometimes it's easier to say than to do.
"Brother, you're silent. I know something is bothering you. You can tell me anything, you know that right?" Papyrus didn't hold back, there wasn't a need to talk around it, especially if there was something bothering the older skeleton to the point where he wasn't making the usual puns to try and rattle Papyrus's bones just a little bit.
A common deflection tactic of his- as years would prove time and time again.
Sans was snapped out of his stupor when he heard his brothers voice from across the table. He hadn't realized he even stopped paying attention, how long ago had that happened? His pinpricks rose from his plate to meet with the confused gaze of his taller kin- and for a moment his expression faultered.
Papyrus clearly knew something was wrong, and lying to him about there being 'nothing wrong' would only be a reason for the other to constantly ask him because he would know he was lying. Sans could only ponder if he would be able to explain the situation to him.
Would he be able to make it make sense? Explaining a completely alternative timeline to anyone- let alone multitudes of them- was only grounds for a long conversation that he wasn't sure he had the energy for.
It was late, and Sans was tired. He had been the entire time he'd been back because he can't rest easy with the lingering worry for the other versions of himself he had barely known for that long. He saw their souls get shattered- and he had no clue if there would be any hope for them to recover or even be alive after that. All there was room for was speculation and blind hope and both of those things got people nowhere.
"I'm not fine. I'm thinking about a lot Paps. I'm not feeling too hot either. Call it a bone-deep exhaustion.. heh.." a half-assed pun in a small attempt to divert the mood despite the fact hat didn't feel like much of an option. Papyrus didn't even react at the attempt before he frowned and pushed his plate to the side. He stood up and walked over to Sans, leaning against the counter just a few feet away. "You're starin' bro... it's quite an eye-ful."
"I'm worried, Sans. I don't know what you're trying to deflect but you do this when you have something serious you don't want to share with me." The taller skeleton rubbed the back of his head, before sighing. "I don't know why you seem to think I can't handle what you have to say. I know I'm not quite as smart as you but you can't keep expecting me to say nothing when you hide something from me..." his usual playful demeanor and excited voice had completely vacated.
The crease in his brow bone and slumped posture seemed to indicate a profound disappointment.
Sans didn't know how to respond to that. Part of him wanted to lie, and say that everything was fine, that the other one was imagining things. What kind of brother would be be if he lied so profoundly when he had already been caught?
Papyrus was far from dumb, even if the younger brother didn't quite understand everything the way Sans did in most scenarios. It would be insulting, honestly. Trying to imply he thought so lowly of someone he looked up to despite being the older sibling.
Maybe Papyrus wouldn't understand, but the other probably wouldn't say Sans was crazy or outright not believe him.
"Alright bro, you caught me," Sans started before putting his hands up in a form of surrender. "It's late tonight, though. I'll tell you what- let's just go to bed and I'll tell you what's gnawing on me tomorrow morning- when we have a whole day to stew it over... okay?" His eyes opened again after a resigned closing of his eyes and a shrug- something he often did. His pinpricks drifted to Papyrus, trying to gauge his expression. There was still evident worry in it- but he didn't seem quite as frustrated anymore. Thankfully. "I promise, we can talk about it tomorrow, Paps."
Papyrus nodded before letting out his own sigh, his back straightening. "If you say so, bro. Go get some sleep, Lazybones. I'll get the dishes done." There was a ghost of a smile on Papyrus's face. The playful jab at Sans was meant to alieviate the tension, at least a fraction. Even if not completely it would be better than the air between them right now.
"Heh, yeah." Sans stood up, taking his half eaten plate to the counter. He set it down before looking back to Papyrus, pausing for a moment. "Thanks for dinner Bro, it was really good. I'll see ya in the morning." He contemplated another pun, but decided against it. Shambling off to his room, where it was cool, and dark. It would work, for his persistant headache.
The room was almost empty- Sans never really did tend to keep a lot of stuff in his room. Save for the few items that were spread around, there wasn't much to look at. A sock here and there, a book or two. Maybe a wrapper from a granola bar or something.
Sans never did like keeping his room too occupied, he didn't have too many passions, and most things of luxury he did have sparsely left where they'd been since they were put into the room. Surprise there, one would suppose.
Flopping on his bed was a common practice. So was staring at the ceiling. He had always had restless nights- before before this multiversal madness. Sleep never came to Sans easily, and that would probably be a truth he endured for the rest of his days.
Listening to Papyrus shuffling around in the kitchen was a little calming, the sounds of dishes clattering around in the sink and the steady sound of running water were soothing, strangely. Even the little bit of talking Papyrus did with himself as he came up with plans for the coming day, or puzzles he wanted to set up for fun.
It was nice, hearing Papyrus brainstorm things, because his ideas were always cool, even if they were a little crazy sometimes.
Eventually, after quite some time of trying to lull himself to sleep, rest did finally find the restless skeleton in the form of a deamless expanse of darkness, followed by an odd sensation that felt a lot like falling.
