Chapter Text
A clock was ticking somewhere across the room, the steady back and forth like a metronome. He could swear it was getting slower as he had been focusing on it, it had to be a few hours now; just monitoring as time moved forward. Lying on his back with arms draped over his middle he could only stare at the ceiling, listening. It was so quiet. Quiet usually meant danger, and he was always acutely aware of possible danger. The predator was careful not to make a sound; prey would hold its breath. Humans called it the calm before the storm. He hadn’t been on the surface long enough to experience what storm they referred to, but it felt right. Often when monsters sought out and destroyed one another it was silent before it was deafingly loud.
He had experienced peace without repercussions since sleeping on Daya’s couch. So what was causing him anxiety now? What made this silence so different?
Chancing a glance at the time he pulled his phone out and peeked. After the initial shock of blinding light he saw it was four in the morning. He hadn’t slept at all, and now Daya would be up and moving around in a little over two hours. Groaning he pocketed the device and welcomed the dark expanse that swallowed him up once more.
It had to be his thoughts keeping him awake. Bouncing in his skull like a ball, buzzing around and just as annoying as an insect. Did Papyrus care? He had to be worried. Sans always worried for his brother, and Papyrus used to fret over Sans constantly. As a babybones he would constantly scold Sans when he would return home with some sort of injury, often insisting on bandaging it himself. What happened? Even after he joined the guard and toned down any kind of physical or verbal affection, there were still the silent glances. Those looks of pure trust; confirmation that their alliance was as strong as it ever was. He hadn’t seen that look in so long, since coming to the surface perhaps?
It made sense. Papyrus had finally found his place; he was part of the first group of monsters making a home for their species on the surface. Underground Sans still had a purpose, contributing to the family funds; Papyrus still had a use for him. Here? He really was useless wasn’t he?
He felt a growl rumble through his chest as he closed his sockets, a feeble attempt in willing the thoughts away. Perhaps a distraction was needed. Swinging his legs down he situated into a comfortably slouched sitting position. Feeling around and finding the remote, he flicked on the television, ensuring to quickly mute it as soon as it clicked on. Settling on a news station he found his eye lights skimming over the ticker at the bottom. It didn’t take long for his sockets to begin drooping again. Resting his chin on his sternum he let the smallest hint of sleep sneak in.
The sounds of stirring jolted him awake. Sun was filtering through the slatted blinds signaling that Sans had gotten at least the tiniest hint of sleep. He rolled his head hoping to stretch out his aching neck, the way he had fallen asleep was less than comfortable.
“This looks exciting,” the sarcasm was clearly present in her statement. “I used to watch that shopping network to fall asleep.”
Grin in place, Sans turned to the human currently resting her face in her hands and her elbows on the back of the couch. “i’ll keep that in mind next time insomnia hits me, sweetheart.”
Daya’s cheerful energy waivered slightly, “Am I safe in assuming you’ll be staying here while I work?” She wouldn’t admit it to him, but she liked his company at the shop. Even when he did nothing it was like his presence bolstered her confidence, especially when dealing with short-tempered monsters.
He lowered his eye lights, “actually, i was kinda thinking of tagging along.”
“Really?!” Jerking her head up in surprise, she noticed his hands were fidgeting like they always seemed to when he was nervous.
Taking a deep breath, he sighed and rubbed the back of his skull. “yea, i’ve been thinking ‘bout what your pops said, and i’m pretty sure the dogs that stopped by the shop were guards. if that’s true then somethin’s going on and i want to know what.” Sans was always sticking his metaphorical nose where it didn’t belong, but knowledge was power and it was how he had survived this long. Brushing aside the fact he also wanted to keep an eye on this human, there was no reason for him NOT to go to the shop today.
“Awesome! Let me grab a bite and we can head out.” She headed for the kitchen before pausing and turning back to him, “you hungry?”
“naw, i’m good dollface.”
“Suit yourself,” Daya shrugged and disappeared around the corner. Sans pulled out his phone and flicked his thumb over it to unlock it. Of course there were no new messages, why had he been hoping there would be?
Glancing up he noticed a human standing in front of a familiar fence on the TV. Eye sockets going wide, he scrambled for the remote and quickly unmuted it.
Daya reappeared with a granola bar in hand and confusion settled on her face. “What’s going on?”
A bony hand came up in request for silence. The television was still settled on the news with the anchor elaborating on some event, but she couldn’t recognize the area they were filming.
“Security had reported a missing person by curfew but police stated a non-interference policy. The monster guard were allowed to continue their search outside the perimeter early this morning. The remains in question were found shortly thereafter.”
As if it was just a simple traffic report or comment about the weather, the casters quickly changed over to a new story
Daya stared in dumb shock before lowering herself onto the empty section of the couch. “Sans... are they talking about...”
“yeah. someone killed a monster outside of the neighborhood.” Hearing the scraping of bone her gaze shifted to the skeleton. His face was in his hands rubbing briskly like he was trying to wake up first thing in the morning. He froze, “boss knew... that’s what the message was about. he was worried... he was making sure it wasn’t my dust they were looking for.”
“Oh my god, I am so sorry.” Her hands came up to cover her gaping mouth, she could only feel empathetic pain as she continued to stare. “Should... should we get you back to the neighborhood?”
“naw,” his answer was gruff, but he quickly composed himself. “you gotta get to work and now i really wanna keep an eye socket on you. if someone is willing to kill a monster who knows what they’d be willing to do to a monster sympathizing human like you.”
A hint of a smile graced her features, “that’s very nice of you, but you don’t need to do that. I can take care of myself.”
“i don’t doubt that, but what if i said it would make me feel better?” His voice was meek but never waivered.
She let out a small huff of a chuckle, “alright Sans. If that will make you feel better then let’s get going, I don’t want to be late for work.”
The wide grin and carefree demeanor returned as he got up and followed Daya out the door. Sans took one last look around before closing the door. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be back for quite awhile.