Everything was new.

The holiday routine was still mostly familiar.  Sans had breakfast with his brother, Tori, and Frisk, and then they all went to the town tree set up at the local park and opened the anonymous gifts that had been left for them.  Frisk always got a ton from grateful monsters, and Papyrus got a good number, himself, these days.  There were a couple for Sans and Toriel, too.  The two of them had a fun time guessing who had sent them their gifts, and guessing as wrong as possible.  

Sans always needed a nap after all that excitement.  Sometimes the nap started before the excitement was over, and he'd wake up in the back seat of Papyrus' car or to find himself being carried over Toriel's shoulder.  If Frisk had drawn on his face while he was sleeping, Sans left it on for the rest of the day.  It was usually pretty festive, anyway, and you were supposed to encourage creativity in kids, right?

Very little of that routine had changed.  The last couple years he'd finished up the night at Grillby's place.  Grillby had always been up for a more serious thing between them, but Sans hadn't had enough energy underground to not be wasting Grillby's time.  

Capping off the night at Grillby's apartment hadn't felt new, though.  It was just a more formal, planned version of something they already did.

Toriel drove them both to Grillby's place.  That was new.  She'd changed out of her hideous Gyftmas sweater into a blue dress with snowflakes all over it.  Sans thought it was nice, but he'd liked the ugly sweater better.  She had left on her battery powered blinking light necklace, so Sans wasn't too upset.

The bar was fully decorated for Gyftmas.  Grillby had tried to go for classy, but his sign was still broken which ruined the effect.  It read "G illby's"  Sans hoped the big G would go, too, before it got fixed.  

Grillby had even decorated the dank, greasy staircase up to his apartment.  The white lights made nice and clear the mysterious stains on the walls.  

"It seems like he is very festive, this year," Toriel said.  She carefully balanced her pie tin in one hand so she could hold onto the rail.  

"think they had a sale on lights.  but, yeah."

"Perhaps he was dreaming of a bright Gyftmas.  Just like the ones he used to know?" She smiled.

"every gyftmas is bright for grillbz," Sans said.  

She stopped walking. "Sans.  I am sure you would prefer I not ask, but...are you all right?"

"what?  what'd i say?"

"You do not seem to have all that much holiday spirit, at the moment.  Are you nervous?  Or...I admit, I was worried that I was intruding.  Is that what this is?"

"nah.  you're always welcome, tori.  you know that.  i mean, i think with the, uh, wardrobe change, i've got the idea you might kind of have your hopes up about how this usually goes.  last year he made  looked like a few hundred gyftmas cookies and we worked through 'em and then passed out in front of the tv.”

"But this is your tradition, and I am...well, perhaps we should make our own traditions."  She had asked if he was nervous, but he was thinking that had just been a ruse to bring up her own worries.  

"year before that he did a dinner but we finished it in ten minutes and watched bad horror movies in front of the tv 'til we fell asleep.  gyftmas is kind've a long day."  He shook his head.  "grillbz likes you.  if he wanted to pass out at eight pm with just me, he wouldn't've been the one to bring up the idea.  that's not how he works."  

"He is not the one I am concerned about."  

"oh.  i think bro's all right with it."  

"Yes, very funny, Mr. Bones.  You are aware of who I am talking about."  

"ok.  i don't think the kid gets a say in who you go out with."

She turned around on the stairs.  She was higher up, which added to her already impressive height.  

"and i'm fine, tori.  can we quit hanging out on the stairs?  once we get up there, it'll probably, uh, elevate my mood."  

"I am simply asking for you to step up and tell me why you are so uneasy."

"that's a tall order, there, tori.  i'm just tired.  i can make something up, i guess."

"I am just hoping this will go well," she said.  No joke.  She really was trying to talk to him.  

"it's tough. no matter what i say, it'll end in stairs."  

That took her a moment, but when she got it, she laughed.  "Oh, tears!  Aren't you hy-stair-ical?"  

"i'll liven up once i see whatever grillbz's made for us," Sans said.

She nodded and they climbed the rest of the way up.  Normally, Sans wouldn't mind a little break in the middle of a long climb, but that conversation had been more exhausting than the walk.  

Grillby opened the door for them suspiciously quickly.  Sans hoped he hadn't been listening in.  

"Happy holidays!"  Toriel switched on her necklace and handed Grillby her pie.

He nodded in thanks. Sans noticed that Grillby had dressed up more than he had last year. Well, that just meant that Sans was the only one with the real holiday spirit, in his "I'm not short I'm just a tall elf" shirt and festive green sweatpants.  They were just his regular green sweatpants the rest of the year, but some of the stains almost looked like they were supposed to be gyftmas trees if he wore them with a holiday shirt.  

"hey, yeah, merry gyftmas.  you look good," Sans said.  

Grillby stepped back and read Sans' shirt.  He flickered, briefly, in amusement.  He reached into his pocket and took out a gift bow and stuck it on top of Sans' skull, and then leaned down to kiss next to it.  "...Merry Gyftmas," he said, quiet, and then stood up straight again.  

"thanks.  for that."  Sans said, looking down.  Tori was right next to him. He could feel her giving him a once over.  

"Oh!"  She clasped her hands together.  "I believe I understand, now!  Sans is embarrassed!"  

Well, now he was.  He looked up and Grillby was nodding in agreement.  

"How sweet," Toriel said.  "You do not need to be embarrassed around me, Sans."  

She was making it worse 100% on purpose.  

"you tryin to get under my skin, tori?" he asked, snickering.  

"I can see right through you, mister!" she said.  

They both laughed. Grillby shook his head and carried the pie over to his kitchen.  He got out a bottle of wine and held it up.

"Oh, yes, thank you," Toriel said.  

Grillby poured glasses for her and Sans and set them on the coffee table in his living room.  Last year dinner had been out when Sans got there, but everything was extra-fancy with Toriel there.  

It hit Sans, suddenly, that Grillby liked Toriel pretty well, but probably thought of her mostly as the ex-queen.  Grillby wasn't going to throw together whatever he had on hand for a queen.  Sans thought the wine was a good idea.  It was tough to be intimidated by Tori after she'd had half a bottle.  

Toriel and Sans settled down on the couch and Grillby brought over a plate of appetizers.

"hey how come there's no hors vors when it's just me?" Sans asked.  

"Would you say that word a second time?"  Toriel asked.

"hoard vors."

"I do believe it is pronounced 'hor deers,'" she said, laughing behind her hand. 

"nah.  it's ‘or vords,’" Sans said.  

"...why did I let you in my home?"  Grillby asked Sans.  "...hor d'oeuvres."  

"that's somethin you gotta ask yourself, gillby."  If Grillby got his sign repaired in the next month, it would be entirely because of Sans.  

Grillby went back into the kitchen.  There were only three rooms in his apartment, and the kitchen and living room were one unit, so Sans watched him put his apron on and check on something in a pot on the stove.  

Toriel took a long sip of her wine.  "You were right, though, Sans.  Today was a very long day."

"especially with a kid."

"You cannot disappoint a child!  Not on a holiday.  I have been up since...well. I am not sure I really even slept.  Someone has to set out the presents from, ahem, Santa."  She said "Santa" with a bitterness not normally reserved for the name.  

"gotta eat those cookies and drink that milk," Sans said.

"It is terrible, but someone must make that sacrifice.  It is true." She laughed.  

"the real trick's putting everything out when they're too revved up to sleep," Sans said.

"I am surprised you do not just put everything for Papyrus under the town tree," she said.  

"there's gotta be something there when he gets up, tori, c'mon."  

"I do wonder, when he has his own children, if you will still do this for him."

"yeah."  

"Yes, of course."  

The appetizers were the little cocktail weenies that were Sans' favorite.  Sans cleared off a good percentage before Toriel noticed he had already started in on them.  She had been too busy with her wine.  

Grillby came over while they waited for his mysterious (but Sans guessed probably snail based) dish to finish settling.  He poured himself a glass and listened to Sans and Toriel tell him about everyone they'd seen that day.  Sans asked Grillby about his family.  He wasn't much for talking, but he updated Sans on the health of the relatives he'd met.

Toriel sighed.  She was on her second glass of wine.  "It is a little bit of a relief to be around adults, for a change."  

"tori got me a bunch of socks," Sans said.  "'cause she's amazing.  check 'em out."  He pulled off his slipper, revealing a pair of socks made to look like black formal shoes.  "you guys aren't the only ones who got fancied up here."  

"...if I take off my glasses, it's almost like you're wearing real shoes."

"right?  it's great."  

"Sans decided to give me a set of plastic children's sippy cups made to look like wine glasses."  

"at first i was gonna get 'em for frisk."

"But then he had a flash of good judgment."  

"doesn't sound like me.  anyway, this is a leadup."  Sans pulled a box out of his inventory.  It was nicely wrapped.  His brother had seen that Sans had just written "4 gillbz" on an unwrapped box, and wrapped it for him.  

"This should wait until after dinner, should it not?"  Toriel asked.

"eh."  

Grillby took the box and carefully looked it over.  Did he expect a trap, since Sans seemed to have made some effort to wrap it?  That was a good idea. Sans would have to remember that for Grillby's birthday.  

There was a flash of light and heat, and Papyrus' careful wrapping turned to ash.  The box was a little singed, but intact.  Grillby opened it.  He took out a brand new apron.  Sans had thought his old one was getting a little frayed and tired.

The apron read: Is it hot in here, or is it just me?  

Toriel laughed out loud when she saw what it said.  Grillby took off the apron he had on and put on his new one.  

"...thank you," he said, shaking his head.  

"and you thought i wouldn't get you something you'd use."  

"...I should..."  Grillby looked towards his bedroom.  Sans guessed that was where he was keeping his present for Sans.  

"nah, that can wait.  it just seemed like a good time for what i had to give you." 

He nodded and went back into the kitchen.  

"My gift is a little less interesting," Toriel admitted.  "Perhaps next year I will know him better."  The wine was having an effect.  She thought she was whispering to Sans, but her whisper was loud enough that Grillby would be able to hear her from the kitchen.

Sans started to relax.  He wasn't sure how this 'dating two people' thing was supposed to work, but he mostly wanted them to like each other. He didn't want it to get weird.  

Day to day, he just didn't think about it too hard.  It was what it was. Breakfast with Tori and late nights with Grillby.  Neither of them had a lot of time, and Sans had time but was pretty lazy, so everything stayed low-key.  Just how he liked it.  

Gyftmas with both of them felt like a big deal.  It felt new.  There was something going on, and they were all acting like it was going to stay that way, indefinitely.  Toriel talked about next year. One of these days, she'd ask him to stay at her place and keep staying there.  Grillby hadn't had another serious boyfriend since the last relationship ended, and he'd implied he wasn't really looking anymore.  

Everything was moving slowly, but so much faster than Sans was ready for.  

Toriel poured herself another glass of wine and brought it with her to the table when Grillby waved them over.  She exclaimed when she saw the Gyftmas dinner he had made--with snails, in honor of her--and teared up a little from the sentiment.  And from the wine.  

She nudged at Sans' leg with hers when they were seated.  He nudged back. She nudged him again, so hard he almost fell out of his chair.  She caught him, laughing as she apologized, and nuzzled at his cheek before attempting to seriously eat her dinner.  

"what'r you so happy about?"  Sans asked.  Grillby was watching them.

".........cute." That was all he would say.  

"Anyway," Toriel said, clearing her throat.  "As I was saying earlier, it is very nice to get to spend some time having adult conversations with other adults."  She looked very prim as she cut a snail apart.  "But...I am at a loss.  What do adults talk about, I wonder?  Is it...cartoons?  Trading cards?"

"naps," Sans suggested.

"I am due for one of those," she admitted, "But that does make me feel a little too old, to say."  

"......taxes," Grillby said.  "......politics?"  

"don't get tori started on politics," Sans said.  

"I do have some opinions," she said, dark.  "But they are not festive."  

"............food?"

"Oh!  Sans was telling me that you made holiday cookies last year.  I always make the same two kinds.  What are your favorites?"

That was a subject that could get Grillby talking, over anything else. She and Grillby exchanged recipe ideas until dessert.  

After dinner, they brought their glasses back over to the couch.  Grillby turned on the television, and Sans flipped around until he found something to watch.  Toriel protested and tried to get the remote away from him.  There was a brief struggle and she knocked the gift bow right off his head.  Sans gave up before she was ready to, and she picked the station.  Grillby picked up the bow and put it back in the middle of Sans' forehead.  

They exchanged the rest of their gifts.  Toriel and Grillby had both spontaneously decided to buy each other wine.  Grillby gave Sans a new joke book and an expensive eyepiece for his telescope.  Sans had no idea how he'd figured out the exact right one to get him. Everyone else had gotten Sans gag gifts (other than Papyrus, who had gotten him a framed picture of himself, in all sincerity.  Sans cherished it), so Sans wasn't sure how to react.

"thanks." He turned the box over in his hands.  

Grillby was watching him.  He still had his hot new apron on.  

He tried again.  "i mean, it's really something.  thank you."

He nodded and touched Sans' hand.  Maybe Sans wasn't wording it well, but Grillby seemed to get that he appreciated it.  He hoped so.  

There were two empty wine bottles, on the coffee table.  Sans had finished a single glass.  Grillby and Toriel could both sock away an amount that would probably kill him.  They weren't even that drunk, either of them.

"i'm kind've a cheap date, compared to you two," Sans said.  

Toriel thought that was hilarious.  

The wine and the long day started to have a real effect on Sans.  He was nodding off when Toriel suddenly sat up straight.  He looked up at her, the lights in his eyes dim and bleary.  

"what?"

"I just remembered!  I had one more gift.  Well, perhaps a 'gift' is not the right word.  It is a local human tradition, but I do enjoy it. My child kept using it to make trouble."  

"and now you'll make trouble with it," Sans said.  

She fumbled around, and then remembered all over again how to access her phone inventory.  She took out a sprig of green that Sans recognized, immediately.  Grillby brightened.  He knew exactly what he was looking at.  

She dangled the mistletoe over Sans' head.  

"like you need that," he said, embarrassed.  

"Happy Gyftmas!" she said.  She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the cheek.  

Grillby leaned in, too.  Sans' face felt hot, and not just where he was being kissed.  

"all right, all right.  happy holidays," he muttered.  They both kissed him a few more times before sitting back up.  

"What a friendly tradition!"  Toriel said.  

Grillby nodded.