Chapter Text
You sighed as the last scheduled interview- and your last hope for your bank account- stormed out of the cafe, still steaming after you’d politely taught them about consent..
…okay, it wasn’t that polite, but still-
You’d been searching for a roommate for almost a week now. Your only policy was that you wanted to talk to the candidate, in a sort of interview fashion. You’d sent out an advertisement and everything, but…
For some reason, everyone who showed up to talk about rooming with you was an ASSHOLE.
First, there was a girl who was convinced monsters were hellspawn. She talked to you for half an hour about her ridiculous conspiracies, despite the fact that you and her were LITERALLY IN A MONSTER-RUN CAFE. You tried to tell her she was being disrespectful, but nooo. Some people just freaked out, I guess. It had already been a few years since the monsters had been freed from the underground, and you, personally, had thought it was pretty amazing that a whole new race was joining the world! …but a lot of people had reacted.. Very negatively to say the least. There were riots. However, after Queen Toriel had discussions with leaders, things started to die down a little.
… emphasis on a little.
Hell, it had been three years since their release and people still were trying to convince the world that monsters were evil. You didn’t put up with any of it, though. By this point, the racism has faded from extreme to problematic. Still bad, but a bit more manageable.
Anyway, what were you thinking about?
Oh yeah. The people.
The second guy had been some sort of social media influencer, insisting that you let him pay only 10% of the rent. Something about “TikTok doesn’t pay enough!” You didn’t care enough to listen, though. You simply said, “I don’t think that’ll work with my current situation,” And sent him on his merry way.
The most recent guy had been sleazy, disgusting, and you didn’t trust him in any way. He’d been trying to make moves on you in a way that almost earned him a punch to the face- but not quite. You had smiled sweetly at him and said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t put up with this kind of bullshit at my apartment.” He’d cursed you out and stormed away.
Thank god.
Now you were alone, sitting at the little window table, looking out onto the skyline. You only had fifteen more minutes before you could leave, go home, and reconfigure your living situation. Maybe you would live at your aunt’s house or something. She didn’t live too far away. But you’d really rather not, she had… opinions.
You rested your head on the table. Maybe I’ll leave a little early. Not like anyone else is gonna show up anywa-
A bell ringing interrupted your thoughts.
Along with possibly the most energetic voice you’ve heard in your life.
“HELLO, HUMAN!! ARE YOU THE ONE WHO PUT OUT THE AD FOR A ROOMMATE??”
You snapped upright. Looking to your right, you saw a skeleton monster smiling widely, clad in a denim jacket, yellow t-shirt, combat boots, gray pants and a bright blue bandana around his neck. He seemed to be… how to phrase this… he looked like a skeleton on a mission. Regardless, he had still caught you off guard. “Uh. Ye. I mean- yeah, that’s me!” You quickly shook off your exhaustion. C’mon. Act like a normal human being. “Are you here to talk about an arrangement?” The skeleton nodded enthusiastically- then stopped. He tilted his head in thought, then seemed to decide something. “SORT OF. MY BROTHER IS LOOKING FOR A ROOMMATE!!”
…wait.
His brother??
Your smile wavered, suddenly unsure. “Was your brother unable to come to talk to me himself?” The skeleton thought for a moment again, then shook his head. “NOT REALLY. HE COULD’VE COME IF HE WANTED TO… BUT HE WAS TOO BUSY NAPPING, THE LAZY BONEHEAD!!” You raised your eyebrows and blinked a couple of times. The skeleton saw your surprised expression and quickly followed that statement up with, “BUT HE IS ALSO TIRED FROM WORKING ALL OF LAST NIGHT, SO I SUPPOSE IT’S WELL-PLACED.” He gave a small sigh. “I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY HE THINKS HE CAN KEEP THAT FROM ME, BUT HE CAN HANDLE HIMSELF.”
You smiled again. “So, he takes late night shifts?” That was something you could work with. You yourself had taken a couple when money was tight.
The skeleton shrugged. “I SUPPOSE ONE COULD SAY THAT. HE WAS FIXING THE CAR, WHICH ISN’T TECHNICALLY A JOB, BUT IT’S SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE!!”
“Fixing the car? Impressive.” A mechanic! That would be nice- you couldn’t fix anything to save your life. Anything you touched seemed to either spontaneously combust or break even more than it already was, so…
“HE IS VERY IMPRESSIVE!! DO YOU THINK YOU’D LIKE TO MEET HIM?”
The skeleton looked up at you, eyelights starry. Literally. His eyelights had somehow turned to stars. …how??? You had no idea. But you pushed it aside. “Absolutely! I just, uh… what’s your name? It’d be nice to know, even if you’re not interested in rooming with me. I’m (y/n), by the way! Lovely to meet you!” His eyesockets widened. “I COMPLETELY NEGLECTED TO INTRODUCE MYSELF!! MY SINCEREST APOLOGIES, HUMAN!! I’M THE MAGNIFICENT SANS, BUT MOST SIMPLY CALL ME SANS!! IT IS A PLEASURE TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE!!” You smiled.. This guy could cheer up anyone, it seemed. He’d certainly cheered you up, at least. His energy was infectious! “Right back ‘atcha.”
“NOW! LET US GO TO MY BROTHER!! COME, (Y/N)!!” Sans took your hand and tugged you out of your chair. You laughed, pulling away. “Hold on, Sans, I need to get my stuff!” You grabbed your laptop, your book, checked for your keys and your phone, then nodded. “Okay, now let’s go!” Sans grinned. “HE ISN’T TOO FAR AWAY, LET’S GO!!” And the two of you left, off to find your new potential roommate.
————-
Papyrus rubbed his eyesockets. ugh, what time is it…
He picked up his phone from the floor of his messy, messy bedroom. …yeesh. He’d slept in until almost five. At night.
…that staying up late was doing worse on him than he thought. His bones ached, his head hurt, and…
He remembered the previous day.
…he still didn’t know how to feel.
Sans had mentioned moving out. Separating. They didn’t have to stay together anymore, there were plenty of opportunities to be separate, they could still talk, they could-
They would be separated, though.
…i can’t live alone.
And at that very moment, he heard a knock on his bedroom door.
—-------
“Are you sure he’s gonna be okay with meeting someone if he’s just waking up?”
“DO NOT WORRY, FRIEND!! HE’LL BE JUST FINE!!! HE NEEDS TO MEET HIS POSSIBLE ROOMMATE, HE CAN DEAL WITH BEING TIRED!!!”
You sighed, smiling. Hopefully Sans was right, but you were still… slightly worried, to say the least. You know you’d definitely be irritable if someone woke you up just to talk to someone you didn’t know.
Besides, would he even be friendly? His brother certainly was, but you weren’t moving in with his brother. You were moving in with a different skeleton (...maybe??) who you’d never met, and were about to meet. Maybe he was really mean?? Maybe he was disgusting??? Who knows.
…but it seemed as though you were about to find out, because right then, the door slowly opened.
Just slow enough for you to think it was sliiightly dramatic.
And then you saw your possible roommate for the first time!
…or, at least, his torso.
You were looking at possibly the tallest person/monster you’d ever seen.
He was wearing an orange shirt, covered in oil stains, that read, “Don’t bother me, i’m nerding.” in bold print.
“hey, uh, sweetie, my eyes are up here.” You heard an awkward chuckle following that statement, and you quickly looked up to find the (slightly orange??? Is that the skeletal equivalent of a blush?????) face of a skeleton. You felt your own face flush at wow, you had just been looking at his chest. “Oh my stars, I am so so sorry!! I- ack, that was really- I don’t normally look at people’s chests, I promise!” You stammered out. Your brain was short-circuiting, why was it short-circuiting?? The tall skeleton raised his eyebrows (browbones???) at what you had said. “Wait, wait, not like that!!!” Groaning, you slid your hand down your face.
God, this was embarrassing. Horrible introduction, (y/n).
“Okay, okay, let me start over. I’m (y/n)! It’s nice to meet you, and I deeply apologize for- well- that abomination of an introduction.” You awkwardly smiled, glancing over at Sans, who nodded enthusiastically. That gave you some confidence, at least!! “I’m, um, your possible roommate?”
The skeleton blinked, as if trying to process everything you just said. Upon further inspection, he had a longer skull than his brother, and seemed much, much more tired. However, he wasn’t… grumpy, or anything. Just… tired.
…you hoped you hadn’t scared him off.
—----------
…oh god, they were CUTE.
This new person, who he might move in with, was completely, unbearably cute.
This.. might be a problem.
—---
“uh, don’t worry about it, hun. happens all the time. betcha weren’t expecting someone of my height, huh?” He smiled at you, trying to let you know that it was, in fact, fine.
You relaxed a bit, smiling back. Thank the stars above, he was humoring you!
“anyway, i’m papyrus. sorry ‘bout my appearance, i’m bone-tired from workin’ last night.” Papyrus’ grin spread.
…was that a pun?
Oh my god, it totally was.
You held back a laugh- that was probably one of the worst puns ever.
Oh yeah, we’re gonna get along.
“Well, I hope you weren’t working yourself to the bone.” You raised your eyebrows, challenging him.
Pun fight pun fight pun fight, please, please I wanna pun fight-
“well, if i had, i wouldn’t be as humerus.” He winked at you.
And that’s when you burst out laughing.
You looked back up at him, trying to pull yourself together. He looked quite proud of himself, smug bastard. …you couldn’t be mad though, this was perfect.
“I can’t follow that, I forfeit!” You snorted. He grinned once more and took a mock bow. “i will claim my prize at a later date,” He joked, faking an accent.
You checked the time on your watch, and…oh. Crap. Your shift started soon-
“Well, as much fun as this has been, I must be going now.”
“wait, can i- could i get your number?”
… oh, he looked so sheepish.
That’s cute, he’s nervous-
HEY. You don’t need that. No crushing. Absolutely none. Not allowed.
…for now?
…fine. For now.
You nodded and pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil from your bag, thank god you had been carrying those around. After quickly writing your number down, you handed it to him with a smile. “We should talk more! It’s been really fun talking to you.”
A slight orange hue came across his cheekbones and he smiled back at you. “back atcha.”
…
…oh god, you were definitely crushing.
Well, that was fast.