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“WOWIE your Majesty! I had a really fun time!” Sans’ enthusiastic voice echoed through the hall as he and the Queen walked down it. She held his hand, having not made a move to let go for their entire outing. Toriel’s smile made the golden hall shine brighter. She was wearing the outfit he loved to see her in the most: the one that she’d worn when they had gone crystal gazing for the first time. Since they were inside the palace itself, the Queen had forgone her usual cloak and the light from the hall’s windows highlighted every detail of her. Sans couldn’t stop looking at her.
“I did as well. I do so enjoy our time together, Sans.” She squeezed his hand. The familiar thrill of the physical contact shot through his bones like electricity. The prolonged hand holding was new, but not unwelcome. He wanted this moment to last forever.
Alas, they reached the throne room too soon for his liking. The golden flowers, which he would normally enjoy, were a sign that they would have to part. Sans sighed as they reached the threshold, ready to let go of her hand and return home. To his surprise, Toriel didn’t release her grip. In fact, she kept an iron hold on him as she held her place in the doorway. He didn’t have to look at her eyes to know that he was the object of her gaze.
Sans wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be flattered or scared to have her full attention like this. “Is something wrong, my Queen?”
Toriel was silent for a moment before she took hold of his other hand. She gently kneeled so that they could face each other eye to eye. Sans stood stock still, his eye lights close to bulging out of their sockets. He tried and failed to figure out what she was thinking when she spoke. “There is nothing wrong, Sans. Far from it, I should say.” The pad of her thumbs traced the bones of digits they touched. This sent a shiver down his spine. “This will come as no surprise to you, but I have noticed your dedication to the kingdom. And, to myself.” Toriel’s red eyes caught his blue eye lights. “I would like to formally appoint you as my personal knight. You would not be above Alphys in rank, but you would report directly to me.” A pink hue lit her cheeks. “That is, if you would like to accept such an offer.”
“I...would like that very much. My Queen.” Sans was too lost in her eyes to be excited for the opportunity of his lifetime. Inside their crimson depths were the patterns of stars he had only seen pictures of. If he wanted to, he could trace constellations and pick out galaxies as he stood there. Right now, though, they beckoned him closer and he had to obey. He could never willingly refuse his Queen. It was as their faces drew close together that he realized she was more than just Queen of the Underground.
Queen Toriel was actually sublime.
Their kiss was shy and soft in its touch, but its tenderness made Sans’ soul flutter within his ribcage. Toriel released one of his hands, only to find a place cradling the back of his head. Instinctively, he gently reached forward to stroke the fur that covered her cheek. It was soft against his digits, and combing through it proved to be immensely satisfying. The soft sound that came from his Queen confirmed that she enjoyed it as well. Sans could feel her lips press harder, and he followed suit.
They sat together kissing for what felt like forever. When they parted, he could hardly ask for more. His soul felt so full it was almost bursting. Toriel stood again, still not letting go of his hand. It was then that Sans noticed that she was now wearing a purplish blue sleeveless dress that came down to her knees and flowed like a river in Waterfall. It sparkled in the light from the throne room as he was lead to her living space. The Queen looked stunning in it, as she always did. The outfit wasn’t something he’d ever seen her wear before, but it had been something that Sans had only dreamed--
The realization suddenly hit him. He was dreaming! About the Queen! And they were--DOING things that he’d never dare to do while awake! His eye sockets burst open and Sans quickly sat up in his rocket bed. The pillow he had been clutching in his sleep was still in his arms. The indention in the shape of his face quickly told him all he needed to know about his dream. He threw the incriminating evidence across his room, not caring about the mess he made.
“PAPYRUS! OH MY GOD!” He shouted as he sped to his brother’s room. Papyrus sat up as soon as Sans entered, only to get bowled over as the smaller skeleton practically tackled him. “I’ve done something terrible!”
“What, did you step on a flower and you’re feeling guilty about it now?” The lazier skeleton’s voice droned. He faked a yawn to keep up the act that he’d actually been sleeping before Sans had barged in.
“This isn’t funny!” Sans huffed and sat back on the dingy mattress. He let Papyrus sit up before continuing. “It’s AWFUL and COMPLETELY not fair to Her Majesty that I--I dreamed about her.”
He couldn’t have heard that right. “You what.”
Sans’ face, which had been blue when he came into the room, turned a brighter cyan. “I--I dreamed about the Queen and myself…” He covered his face with his hands. “It was so dirty of me to do so! I’m so ashamed of myself!”
On the one hand, his brother really was worried about this dream of his and needed Papyrus as support through this. On the other, he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know the extent of whatever Sans thought of as dirty.
Papyrus’ loyalty to his brother outweighed whatever natural preservation instinct he had. “Okay, so what happened?”
“Well the Queen and I had gone on a date which I don’t remember the contents of but we were walking down the golden hall to the throne room and then we stopped just before it to part like we always do but then she took my other hand--we were holding hands the whole time to my shame--and knelt down and told me that she wanted me to be her knight and of course I said yes but then we started kissing and I’m fairly certain I kissed her first but she kissed me back as I’m certain she never would outside of a fantasy but getting back to the topic at hand then we parted and I was certain she was going to lead me into her home and she was wearing this lovely dress I’d seen in a human magazine and that’s when I realized I was dreaming and that I was taking advantage of the dream representation of the Queen and woke up to get you.” Sans said all of this without stopping for air. Not that he needed any, but his face flushed when he’d finished.
Papyrus tilted his head away and covered his face with a hand. Sans twisted the hem of his pajamas in his hands. “I know, you’re just as disappointed in me as I am in myself. Oh, how could I ever think about the Queen like that? We’re friends! Really good ones! All of my in-intentions with her have been towards deeping our rela--friendship! I swear!” Even from his the corner of his eye socket, Papyrus could see that his brother was glowing cyan in embarrassment.
Despite Sans’ worries, Papyrus was actually hiding his face so that his real expression wouldn’t show through. It had been a really long time since he’d last felt this giddy, but laughing NOW wouldn’t help anything. “Give me a minute.” He muttered before teleporting to his lab to safely laugh his head off. A number of scenarios had run through his mind, but none of them had lined up with what Sans had dreamt. He really should’ve known better. After successfully recovering, Papyrus teleported back with his neutral expression intact.
In the time it had taken for Papyrus to recover, Sans had already paced around the room several times. With his reappearance, the smaller skeleton had grabbed his brother’s sweatshirt by its front. “Please don’t think badly of me, brother! I know that my dream has betrayed the friendship between myself and the Queen, but--” He was interrupted by a gentle but insistent pat on top of his skull.
“You really thought I’d think badly about you for a dream? Please, sans,” Papyrus winked down at his brother. “It’ll take a lot more than that to really make me think badly of the coolest brother in the underground.” Lazily, he snaked an arm around Sans and gave a gentle squeeze. “I know you, and I know that your intentions are pure, even if your dreams...aren’t.” Papyrus put his other arm around his brother and hugged him. The gesture was both to comfort Sans, but also keep from showing how dangerously close he was to laughing again. “But having dreams doesn’t mean you’re gonna act on them, right?”
Sans tightly returned the hug and spoke into his brother’s chest. “But of course! Why would I?”
I can think of a few really obvious reasons, Papyrus thought. Out loud, he said, “Right. So how about we sit and watch some Dapperbot until you feel sleepy again?”
Sans didn’t need any time to think about it. He beamed up at his brother’s slightly amused face. “That sounds wonderful!” If he knew the real reason why Papyrus had run off before, he wasn’t saying it. Whether it was because Sans had genuinely not noticed or because he was allowing his brother a chance to be the comforting one for once, it was hard to say.
For now, though, Papyrus spent some time sinking into the couch cushions and watching TV with his coolest bro. It was a little weird having their roles reversed, even for just a moment. A good kind of weird. With a little sigh and a slight grin, Papyrus briefly wondered if his dad would love to hear the news that his baby bones was growing up. Maybe he’d bring it up later.