Work Text:
Fandom: Undertale
Prompt: “Hands off!”
The kid is gone.
Sans cursed, tearing apart the blankets at every sentry station, hoping he’d just forgotten which one he’d left them at. The fabric groaned under his fingers as he ripped them away. Nothing.
He fuckin’ told them not to wander off.
There. Golden petals. Leading away from the sentry station near the RUINS.
Sans hurried along the trail. Thank the stars the kid was easy to find.
Well, maybe not.
“Never seen a human before,” the monster leered, dragging the kid along by their arm, “and never one with flowers growing out of ‘em.”
“And you ain’t gonna be seeing much of anything for much longer,” Sans growled under his breath, trying to get around behind them. Luckily, the monster seemed far too fascinated with the kid to notice him sneaking up.
“Wonder what happened to you,” the monster mused, the light glinting off the blade dug under the kid’s chin, “thought humans were supposed to like their kids.”
Their kid.
Stars. Nah. Not a chance.
That’s Sans’ kid now.
“hey, buddy.” Sans grinned at the way the monster jumped three feet in the air. “don’tcha know you should pick on people your own size?”
The monster didn’t get a chance to reply before Sans summoned a blaster.
“hands. off.”
His eye blazed red and the blaster fired. The kid coughed as dust rained down around them. Quickly glancing around—his blasters were loud and odds are somebody heard that—he grabbed them and took a shortcut to one of the back caves in Waterfall.
“what were you thinking?” he growled, lifting their chin to check they hadn’t been cut, “i told you not to go looking for trouble.”
The kid shrugged helplessly.
“yeah, yeah,” Sans muttered, “i know. trouble comes looking for you.”
He pulled away to check the entrance of the cave—no one came back here but better to be safe—when he heard something.
He whipped around, summoning an attack, but no one came. It was just him and the kid.
Oh shit.
“are…are you cryin’, kid?”
Their hands cradled their head, golden petals barely peeking through. Sans couldn’t imagine how much that must hurt, given that anytime he so much as tugged on a petal wrong they winced. If they were crying through them…
“hey, hey,” Sans said, rushing to crouch by their side, “shh. shh.”
He did it mostly out of reflex. Papyrus, when he was little, cried so loudly Sans feared he’d bring the entire Underground down on their heads. But this kid wasn’t making a noise. The only thing Sans could hear was the faint rustling of fabric as they trembled.
Shit, he’s really out of his depth here.
Get it? ‘Cause they’re in Waterfall?
More like water you doing here, right.
“alright, hey, it’s okay, sweetheart.” Sans tried to pry their hands away from their face. “you’re gonna hurt yourself doin’ that.”
The kid let him take their hands but Sans couldn’t see anything through the flowers. Droplets ran off onto their lap and some small part of Sans marveled at how…soft it looked.
Golden flowers…ringed in the pastel blue light of Waterfall…little drops of water on the petals…
“hey,” he said, gently prodding the kid’s shoulder, “let’s go see the echo flowers, hmm? you like those, right?”
The kid nodded. Another reason Sans liked this cave was it let out into a chamber near the back where echo flowers grew. A great way to get the kid to calm down was to sit next to them and listen to the flowers copy the pitter-patter of the water running down the sides of the cave.
“want me to carry you?”
They nodded, still trembling, and raised their arms.
“alright, upsy daisy.” Sans took their wrists and guided them around his neck, picking them up gently. It was a short enough walk, plus the rocking motions would help them calm down.
“here we go,” he said, sitting down in front of the small patch of echo flowers, their quiet blue light mixing with his magic to fill the room with a light purple, “can you hear them?”
The kid nodded, not letting go of Sans’ hoodie. He ran his hand over the back of their head, realizing that they’re probably as shaken about what just happened as he was.
“that must’ve been scary,” he said, rocking them back and forth, “i’m sorry.”
Somehow, they grew smaller, curling in on themselves to the point where he may as well be a wall, head pressed against his chest and hands tight around him like he’s going to fly apart. Gently, he maneuvered their head so their cheek rests against him. He tried to get some warmth back into them, rubbing their back, running his fingers through their hair, letting them cuddle into the soft plush of his hoodie. Hushings and soothing noises permeated the damp air around them as they cried. It’s a quiet cry, the quietest he’d ever heard. If it weren’t for the little tremors he could feel against his abdomen and the wetness on his chest, he’d have wondered if they were crying at all.
Any observations as to why and how they’ve learned to cry so quietly were quickly chased from his mind in favor of holding them close.
Eventually, the sobs tapered off and they sagged against him.
“you’re okay, sweetheart,” he said, “i ain’t going anywhere.”
They sat back a little on his lap, holding his skull between their hands. Their fingers ran over the bone, over the cracks, coming to rest on his cheeks.
“find something interesting?”
Their hand came away and they signed something.
I love you.
Sans’ SOUL stuttered in his chest.
“…sweetheart?”
They did it again, more firmly this time.
I love you.
The only kind of love Sans was used to is, well, LOVE. That and whatever grudging affection Papyrus gave him because he felt obligated or whatever.
This, though…
“…you know you’re my kid, right?” Sans’ SOUL fluttered when they smiled and nodded in return. “good. we ain’t going anywhere, are we?”
They shook their head, turning around and leaning against him, their head just brushing the underside of his chin. Sans curled his arms protectively around them, watching the echo flowers. His voice came back, quiet but multiplied.
“you know you’re my kid right? good. we ain’t going anywhere, are we?”
No. No, they weren’t.