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“You gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me. Are you being serious right now, Wings?”
The older of the two skeletons let out a deep sigh, pressing the tips of his phalanges to his temple. Gaze hardening as it shifted to the other male, his voice was laced with exhaustion and irritation, “Yes, I am. Is that really how you want to react to this, Sans?” He gestured to the large envelope on his desk, a stack of papers peeking out from the end that Sans had practically torn open. Remaining silent as she processed the information, Adrienne blinked, visibly in disbelief. She’d wanted to know who her parents were for what seemed like forever, and half of the picture had just been painted for her. Her grey eyes refocused themselves, her attention intently on the large skeleton that stood beside her. He was her father. Her biological father. Her chest swelled as she looked up at him, a sense of wonder washing over her.
Sans, however, was less than pleased with what he’d learned.
WingDings was tense on the other side of his desk, his eye lights flickering briefly to Adrienne before shifting back to his eldest son, “I will give you some time to adjust, if that’s what you think you might need.” Jaw clenched tightly shut, Sans simply stared at the older skeleton defiantly, his voice coming out as a low growl, “I don’t want any time to think. I don’t need it, either.” Looking between the two men, Adrienne frowned; It was clear how upset Sans was, and as she began to wonder if it was because of her, her frown deepened.
She reached out to gently touch his arm, which he prompt yanked away from her, a growl slipping past his maw. He didn’t bother looking down at her, and she was almost relieved. She didn’t want to be in his line of sight, should his magic flare up. As if he was trying to convince himself that this entire situation wasn’t happening, his sockets held a nearly pleading stare as he kept his attention on WingDings, “Wings, there’s gotta be a mistake here. It is possible that our samples could have somehow gotten mixed together or somethin’?” The skeleton in question shook his head, “No, that wouldn’t be possible. The samples were taken at different times, and held in completely different containers. If anyone here is mistaken, I’m afraid it’s you, son.” A louder growl could be heard as Sans’ left socket lit up with unmistakable angry, bright red magic, and he snapped, “I AIN’T MAKIN’ ANY MISTAKES, OLD MAN.”
WingDings shrugged, beginning to relax despite the anger his son was displaying, “Are you sure about that? Hybrids are very rare, and it would have to be intentional to make one so strong.” With narrowed sockets, Sans’ gruff voice became pointed and accusing, “If you’re suggesting that this is all happening because I wanted a child, you’re wrong.” WingDings quirked a brow bone at his eldest son, “So you’re saying she’s nothing more than an accident? A little slip up in the heat of the moment?” Sans answered without hesitation, “You’re damn right I am! Last time I checked, I don’t have any kids.” Adrienne felt her heart sink as she stared up at him, her eyes widening slightly. She tried to force out a string of words, and in turn, her voice was a mere mumble, “So… I’m an accident then, Sans? You don’t want me?” Caught up in his anger, the skeleton finally turned his attention to her, his scarlet gaze piercing, “Yes, you are. I didn’t mean to make you. Just because we share genetics, that doesn’t make you my kid, so don’t you dare start callin’ me ‘dad’.”
Tears began to prick at her eyes and she broke down, her teeth bared in a familiar expression of rage and frustration. She shouted at him, her words coated by hatred that was strong enough to make his soul feel as though it was beginning to shatter, “YOU’RE SUCH A FUCKING JERK, AN’ I HATE YOU! I WISH IT WAS YOU THAT DIED INSTEAD OF MY MOM!” Turning and darting out of the room before he could say anything in response, she slammed the office door shut and left him alone, under the clearly disapproving sand annoyed stare of WingDings.
Though he would’ve loved nothing more than to drown out his feelings with mustard and booze, it was because of WingDings that Sans found himself standing just outside Adrienne’s closed bedroom door, feeling anxious and unsure how to proceed. Despite bickering frequently and taking great joy in knowing how much of a nuisance he was toward her, he cared about her, and the thought of losing her filled his soul with an odd sense of dread and guilt. He knew he needed to talk to her but he had no idea what to say or do, and he could already picture the look of hate and disgust she’d regard him with once she found that it was him that wanted to speak to her. Sans didn’t like any of it and he knew he needed to make things right, but he had no idea how. Maybe Adrienne was right. Maybe it should’ve been him that died, instead of her mother… Hell, he was sure her mother would’ve handled this so much better than him if she were in his position, and his soul ached. Not a lot of things made him feel guilt, sadness, fear, or regret, but as it currently stood, he was feeling all of those painful things at once. He chose to shove his feelings down instead of dwelling on them, and he lightly knocked on her door.
And that’s what led them to this current moment: Her hands repeatedly clenching into fists around the edge of her bed, and then unclenching again as she scowled up at him, her bottom lip occasionally twitching and her grey eyes unusually glassy. He knew that she wanted him to leave, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that. She scoffed, her knuckles white as she tightly gripped the edge of her bed, “How about you just fuck off already? I said I needed to be alone, and if you care about me at all, you’ll listen to what I’m saying.” Sans felt a very minute amount of agitation spark within him at the tone she spoke to him in, but he chose to ignore it as his gaze slowly came to refocus on her. The way her lip trembled, her flushed face, that weak, half hearted scowl accompanied by an air of defiance and betrayal… It was too much for him. He stepped into the room and nudged the door shut behind himself, to which the tee responded by scooting back away from him, growling loudly, “God damnit, I thought I told you to-”
Caught by surprise and letting out a startled cry as she tumbled over the side of her bed, having scooted too far backward, she squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the feeling of her body slamming down onto the floor. The floor itself was carpeted, but it was by no means soft enough that she’d be ok with falling. The impact never came and she hesitantly cracked an eye open, torn between relief and rage as she saw Sans’ red magic surrounding her. She was relieved that he’d caught her in time, but also very, very annoyed that he was still present.
Grumbling something under his breath as he settled on the edge of her bed, he watched her quietly as his magic brought her closer to him. When she noticed the distance between them rapidly shrinking, Adrienne hissed, “Put me down, you piece of shit! I’m done, and I want you to go away!” The massive skeleton monster said nothing, only watching her silently with an unreadable expression.
And then he surprised not only her, but himself as well, wrapping his large, broad arms around her and pulling her into an uncharacteristically gentle hug. Removing his magic from her, his grip on her tightened the smallest bit as she began to struggle against his hold. His grip wasn’t hard enough to hurt her, and it was just enough to keep her from running away from him again. Beginning to grow even more frustrated, she spat out every colorful name she could think of, aiming each of the verbal attacks at him. Normally, she’d say at least one thing that would infuriate him or make him laugh, but he did neither, delicately resting a hand on the back of her head and running his fingers through her hair as he cradled her small body close to himself. At such an unexpected change in his behavior, her voice came out as a barely audible mumble, “Sans… What are you doing? This isn’t like you.” Trying hard to avoid looking at her, Sans could only murmur the softest reply, “...’M sorry… I didn’t mean it.” Arching a brow and glancing up at him, her voice remained soft, though rather than concern, it held confusion, “What are you talking about?...”
He hesitated, his usual grin now a dismal frown, “What I said… I didn’t mean it. Just got carried away, I guess.” The teen could only stare at him in disbelief, silent as he finally focused his crimson eye lights on her, “You’re not a mistake… I just…” He paused, looking away from her again, “I panicked. Y’know how hard it was to raise two younger brothers in a city as harsh as Fell, by myself while dealing with drug addiction bs? Wings was almost never around, and when he was, he was always so distant. He didn’t act like a dad to any of us… He was more like a stranger. Without him, it was hard looking after Paps and Toby so much, but I managed it somehow, and you have no idea how often I think about that and feel like I didn’t do good enough, or like I somehow messed them up.”
The teen swallowed the lump in her throat as she listened to him, only able to whisper after a moment, “Sans, I…” Cutting her off as he looked back at her, he offered her a faint smile as he gently ran his thumb over her cheek, “You look a lot like her, y’know… Your mom, I mean. I don’t remember her all that well, but I do remember noticing her eyes when we met. Up ‘til that point, I’d never seen a human with grey eyes before, and I thought they were beautiful.” Adrienne felt her bottom lip tremble as she continued staring at him, not expecting what came next.
Although she could tell his smile was a little strained, he let out a soft sigh, his rough voice still just as soft as before, “Y’know what?... Fuck it. While we’re at it, you don’t have to call me ‘Sans’ anymore. If it makes you happy, then you can call me ‘dad’ instead.”
As the tears began to roll down her cheeks, she whined, her own voice cracking as she weakly shoved him, “F-Fuck you!... I hate you so much… I really, really hate you!” Expression softening, the skeleton sighed again, his mandible shifting into a relieved smile as he felt her wrap her arms around him, her hands curling into fists around the fabric of his shirt. Moving a hand to her back, he gently began to rub along her shoulder blades, trying to offer even the smallest bit of reassurance as he chuckled softly, carefully resting his head atop hers, “I know, I know… Ya don’t have to tell me twice, kid.”