Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Grillby crossed his arms and examined his new dining room table.  

“looks pretty good,” Sans said.  "sturdy.“  He kicked a leg.

Grillby examined Sans, instead.  

"yeah, no idea how you judge a table, sorry pal.”  

Grillby shook his head and started arranging chairs.

Sans left him to it, taking a seat on one of the stacks of boxes.  He sipped out of a juice box and looked around at the mess Grillby was just starting to get organized.  Sans kind of liked how it felt, all messy.  It was comfortable.  

Grillby would probably need a lot of help unpacking.  Sans sure hoped someone came along and did that.  

“hey, let’s order a pizza.”  He slurped the last of the juice and crumpled up the box.  He tossed it over into a pile of packing material.

“…go ahead,” Grillby said.  "I wonder if I will have everything unpacked before Gyftmas?  I could have a dinner.“  

"just shove the boxes you have left in the bathroom or something,” Sans suggested.  A dinner sounded like the sort of thing that Grillby had bought this place to be able to do.  "hey, am i invited?"  Because in that case, Grillby should definitely have one.

Grillby flickered in amusement.  "Yes.”  Of course you are, Sans read off of him.  "Papyrus, too, if he does not have other plans."  

It had usually just been Sans and Papyrus, underground.  The last few years on the surface had been nice.  Everyone opened up presents and then Tori cooked a huge breakfast.  Frisk spent the rest of the day getting shuttled around to all their friends.  Papyrus hung around and helped out with whatever Undyne was doing, and then came back and cooked dinner and Sans would fall asleep in front of their tree with all the hand-made pasta decorations. 

He and Grillby had been technically dating last year, but Sans had just stopped by his place and given him his present.  He fondly remembered the box of hilariously shaped novelty chocolates he’d gotten him.  Sans had even rearranged the ones he didn’t eat so the spaces shaped a heart, for extra holiday romance. Grillby gave him a sweater, which in retrospect Sans was pretty sure had been meant as a joke.  

"inviting anyone else?  like the dogs?”  It seemed like Grillby spent more time with Dogaressa and Dogamy now that they never stopped by the bar than he did when they were regulars.  

Grillby leaned against one of the chairs, considering it.  "…it might be too late for the puppy, and I don’t think Endogeny likes to go out often.“  He sighed. ”…maybe…I could invite my mother.  And siblings.  And their families.  But that is far too many.“

"yeah, where’d you find an extra table and extra chairs?  guess you have to scrap the idea.”  Grillby turned to look at him.  "what’s the glare for?  watch out, grillbz, i might go blind."

"Anyway. If I invite anyone, I should invite my mother,” Grillby said. He flickered uneasily.

“all right.”

“That won’t be a problem?”

“nah.”  Grillby continued to stare at him, so he clarified.  "she’s all right.  before you know it, we’ll be getting on like a house on fire," he said, winking.  She’d never been that rude to him, anyway, and he couldn’t judge her for being a little confused by Grillby’s taste.  

Grillby brushed his hand on the surface of the new table, looking at his own light reflected in the polish.  

"what about the rest of ‘em?”  He had met most of Grillby’s family, but they still blended together in his head like a big orange and sometimes green or black blur.  

“They probably all already have plans,” he said.  "And, traveling…"

"eh. it’s just whether you want to invite 'em or not, grillby,” Sans said, shrugging.  

Sans could’ve told him that most people would cancel their plans for a free meal from a professional cook, but maybe he was biased.  

Chapter Text

It was a freezing cold night for Gyftmas, but the skeleton brothers were as close to sweltering as a pair of skinless monsters could get.  The air inside Grillby’s new place was suffocating.  The walls were festive, glimmering with a powerful heat shield.

Grillby’s mom, Searily, was over by the drinks.  She took a flask out of a pocket and tipped some habanero sauce into her drink when she thought no one was looking.  She looked up again and saw Sans staring directly at her.  He held up a bottle of ketchup and squirted the contents into his own glass without breaking eye contact.  

She nodded.  They both took a sip of their drinks.  

Papyrus was having an enthusiastic conversation with her oldest child, Fryen.  Grillby was in the kitchen, where he had been most of the evening.  She had not seen him since he opened the door for her.

Searily carried her half-empty glass into the kitchen.  Her son was working intricate fire magic on a roast.  She decided to wait until he was done to speak up, but he must have heard her come in.  He turned around and she almost dropped her drink.  

He had been dressed very elegantly for the holidays, but the apron he had on over his clothes was so tacky it made her physically ill to look at it.  It glittered.

“Was that a gift?” she asked.

He glanced down at himself, perhaps having forgotten the monstrosity he had on.  He nodded.  

“It’s very festive.”  

Did she even know her own son, anymore?  She remembered him as a child with his enormous, carefully organized kitchen playset.  She remembered the first time  he baked successfully with his own fire magic and how brightly he had shone when he saw that the cookies hadn’t turned to char like all the times before.  He was always wearing aprons as a child, and some of them had been brightly colored, but even when he couldn’t reach the counter without a step stool he had better taste than this.  

“Are you going to faint?” Grillby asked.

“No, no, I’m fine,” she said.  She took a soothing sip of her drink. “Do you need help with anything?”  

He shook his head.  

She remembered him talking more, too.  Maybe it was just his mother he didn’t like to talk to.  But, what was she thinking?  He had invited her to celebrate Gyftmas with him, hadn’t he?  There was no need to steep herself in self-pity.  

The doorbell rang, and Grillby took off his apron and walked past her into the living room.  Sans was already opening the door.  

“GRANDMA!” A ball of energetic fire slammed into her and she reached down to pet its head with her free hand.  

“Darling, it’s been three days and I swear you’re taller,” Searily said.  

Her youngest grandchild beamed at her.  

Sans shook her other son’s hand.  "hey.  braise, right?“  

"Yeah,” he said.  He looked Sans up and down.  "Nice shirt.“  

"thanks. hey, check it out.”  He hit a switch, and the lights on the Gyftmas tree on his sweater started to blink.  

Sans, she expected this sort of thing from.  Not her son.  

“Wow,” Braise said.  

Searily’s grandchild squealed in delight.  

“She’s been in the car a little long,” he said.  

“hey, kiddo,” Sans said, holding out his hand.  "put ‘er here, for a new friend.“  

Searily knew this one, so she took a few steps in the opposite direction before the loud PHBTHTHT! filled the room.  

"never gets old.”  

“SANS! LEAVE THAT POOR CHILD ALONE!”  Papyrus stormed over.  

The poor child was giggling.  Well, at least Sans wasn’t bad with children.  She would look on the bright side.  

–

Grillby sat at the head of the table.  Something was nagging at him – was it the sense that he forgot to put something out?  He scanned over everything, making sure he hadn’t left a salad in the fridge or forgotten to set out the salt.  

When it sunk in that he had not forgotten anything, he realized that he must be uneasy for some other reason.  Why?  He cooked for more people than this every day of his life.  The setting was different, but the guests were less likely to throw a tantrum if their meat was overcooked.

His sister, Barb, had most of the table’s attention.  She was in college, and everyone had questions about what a human school was like.  

When Sans heard she was majoring in chemistry, he immediately asked: “so why do chemists like nitrates so much, kid?”  

“What?  Why?”

“i hear it’s cause they’re cheaper than day rates.”

She groaned.  "Ok, fine.  But what do you do with a dead chemist?"

Sans’ eyes sparkled.  "what do you do?”

“Barium.”

Everyone else at the table quickly tried to start their own conversations.  Grillby was pleased at how well Sans was getting along with his family.  Papyrus seemed about ready to explode from the excitement of meeting new people.  Even Braise couldn’t really hate someone who distracted his bored child with card tricks.  

That uneasy feeling hung on.  He hadn’t forgotten anything, and no one was giving Sans or Papyrus a hard time.  What was it that was bothering him?  Grillby tried to ignore it.  

The last time Grillby had seen his brother’s young child, they had been small enough to hold in his hand.  He had seen pictures since then, of course, but it still felt like they had grown huge overnight.  It was the same with his sister.  Every time he saw her, she looked more like an adult and less like the odd child who accidentally blew up their mother’s kitchen combining random ingredients in a pot.  

The uneasiness turned into an ache.  Did he miss his family?  What a strange question.  Of course he had to miss them.  But even a few hours with them was wearing him down.  They were exhausting.  Still, it hurt to see how much had changed every time he saw them.  

Sans nudged him.  "hey.”  Someone must have distracted Grillby’s sister, because it was impossible that Sans had run out of bad science jokes already. 

“Yes?”

“you’re lookin’ like you’re not firing on all cylinders, there, buddy.”

“Do I seem…distracted?  Sorry.”  They both spoke quietly.  Sans leaned in a little, not looking directly at him.

“hey, no problem.  you can’t take the heat, though, i’ll figure out something and you can run for it.”  

“I am fine for now, but I will let you know.”  He nudged Sans with his knee.  He didn’t want to imagine what kind of distraction Sans would come up with.  

Fryen said, “What are you two whispering about?”  

“telling grillbz my best gyftmas joke.  hey, good timing.  i’ll tell everyone.”  

“SANS!  YOUR BEST JOKE RUINS THE HOLIDAY EVERY SINGLE TIME!  DO NOT INFLICT IT ON ME AGAIN!  THINK OF IT AS A GYFTMAS GIFT TO ME, YOUR FAVORITE BROTHER PAPYRUS.”  

“nah, got you something already.  ok, here it is.”

Grillby only half listened to Sans’ best holiday joke.  He had heard it multiple times over the years and in an ideal world he would continue to hear it for many years to come.  He was learning Sans’ favorites, and had started blandly stating the punchline before Sans was halfway through the joke.  Would Sans still be telling this Gyftmas joke in thirty years?  Maybe he should have bought him a new joke book.  

–

Grillby disappeared into the kitchen with some dishes a few minutes after everyone was done eating.  Sans wasn’t sure what his deal was.  Papyrus collected an enormous stack of plates and hurried into the kitchen, too, feeling helpful.  Everyone else avoided the kitchen to stay safe from the potential avalanche.  

Grillby’s mom had her sunglasses pointed towards Sans like she was thinking about talking to him.  He shrugged and went over first.  

“hey why does santa have three garden plots?”

“Because…” She glanced at the small child in hearing range, and said nothing about the king.  

“so he can hoe, hoe, hoe,” Sans said.  

She nodded in acknowledgment and sipped her drink.  "Actually, despite that, I am glad you came over here.  I had a little question. You don’t have to tell my son I asked.“  

"uh.”

“This place seems a little big for one person to live in alone, don’t you think?”  

No wonder Grillby was avoiding everyone.  "uh.“

"I don’t want you to think I disapprove,” she said.  

“well, he can afford the place so there’s no reason to disapprove, i guess.”

“Of you moving in here,” she said.  "I may have given the impression that I disapproved of you.“  

"weird how we got that idea.”  

She leaned in.  "You don’t have to keep it from me."  That would have been nice to hear, if he had actually been keeping something like that from her.  He started to change the subject, but she kept talking.  "You are very good with children, I’ve noticed.”

Sans felt sweat trickle down the back of his spine.  "kids are ok."  Now he really needed a change of subject.  Something inappropriate enough that she’d refuse to talk to him for the rest of the night.  

Braise came over and put his arm around his mother’s shoulders.  "Hey.  We ever sitting down and opening gifts?  That's the point of this, right?”

“Why are you asking me?  Your brother’s still in the kitchen.”

“oh, hey, i’d better make sure grillbz isn’t buried in dishes,” Sans said.  He was gone before she had time to say another word.  

Chapter Text

“IF YOU FEEL THAT WAY, YOU SHOULD INVITE YOUR FAMILY DOWN MORE OFTEN!  BUT ONLY ONE OR TWO AT A TIME SO IT IS NOT SO OVERWHELMING.”  

Grillby was leaning back against the counter, arms crossed, talking with Papyrus.  

“thought you were lookin kinda burnt out,” Sans said.  

“SANS! I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF A PEP TALK!  IT IS RUDE TO INTERRUPT SOMEONE MID-FLOW.”  

“sorry, bro.”

“BUT…YOU ALSO LOOK LIKE YOU NEED A PEP TALK?  SO, GOOD TIMING!”

“…is my family giving you a hard time?” Grillby asked.  

“uh. they’re wondering if you’re done in here.”  The stack of dishes looked clean.  Grillby usually just used fire magic to burn off the food, and then brushed the ash off.  It didn’t take him long.  

“WHY ARE YOU SWEATING?” Papyrus asked.  

“…did they ask you…”  

“OH!  THEY ASKED ABOUT THE W WORD!  THAT IS WHY YOU FLED INTO THE KITCHEN!”

“what w word?”

“YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHICH WORD I MEAN.”  Papyrus winked.  

“do i need to get out a dictionary.”  

“…did they really?” Grillby asked, alarmed.  

“nah.  if it helps, though, i think everyone decided i was a better target for their nosy questions.  so you can probably leave the kitchen.”

“YOU ARE THE WORST POSSIBLE TARGET FOR THOSE QUESTIONS,” Papyrus said.  "THEY SHOULD ASK ME!  WHAT ARE THEY ASKING ABOUT?  WAIT!  WAS IT THE M WORD?"

”…isn’t that the same one?“ Grillby asked, confused.  

"NO!  THE OTHER M WORD!”

“maybe?” Sans said.

“NO!  NOT MAYBE!  GOD!”

Sans had meant “maybe you’re right,” since he had been asked about whether he was moving in, but now he had a headache.  He rubbed his skull, between his eye sockets.  

“…I probably shouldn’t make you deal with this by yourself,” Grillby said.  

“three separate relatives asked me if and when i was moving in here,” Sans admitted.  

“…when?”

“i just changed the subject.  anyway.  let’s go open presents before the kid explodes.”

Papyrus’ eyes narrowed.  "I AM COMPLETELY IN FAVOR OF GOING TO OPEN GIFTS, HOWEVER…"

Sans regretted admitting anything, but luckily Grillby was on his side and didn’t want to talk about it either.  

"…exploding is an accurate description of what their tantrum would look like," Grillby said.  

"you explode a lot as a kid, grillbz?”

“…only periodically.”  

The door swung open and Braise walked in.  "Yeah, Grillby was kind of a suck-up.  You done in here?"

"We just finished,” Grillby said.  

“Before we go, can I say something?”

Sans realized they were all going to be stuck in the kitchen for the rest of the night and possibly forever.  At least they wouldn’t starve.  

“Go ahead.”  Grillby had been starting to move, but he leaned back against the counter again.  

“Mom’s freaking out about you out there. She can’t even ask about the business without you getting weird about it, and you've been hiding out in here most of the night.  Just lie about whatever’s up, so she doesn’t have to worry about you being out here in this human city by yourself.”

“She’s overreacting.  She almost fainted when she saw the apron I was wearing.”

“that mean she’s not gonna like the matching one i got for her?” Sans asked.  

They ignored him.  

“I am not avoiding her,” Grillby said.  "She’s misreading this."  

"OH NO!  I FORGOT MY PHONE IN THE LIVING ROOM, AND I AM EXPECTING MANY IMPORTANT CALLS EVEN THOUGH IT IS A HOLIDAY, BECAUSE I AM A VERY IMPORTANT SKELETON!”  He grabbed Sans’ arm and started tugging him out of the room.  

“what.  i have my phone, already,” Sans said.  "and i’m not an important skeleton.“  He was not released.  "bye, grillbz.”  

Grillby gave him a look that read please save me, but Sans was already being yanked out the door.  

“THEY ARE ALMOST DONE CLEANING UP!” Papyrus loudly declared to the living room.  "WE SHOULD ORGANIZE THE PRESENTS AND GET READY!"  

The youngest member of the family jumped to their feet and ran over to the tree.  

Sans glanced at the kitchen door and waited.  A couple minutes later, it opened and Grillby and his brother walked out.  Sans wasn’t sure what he was reading off the brother, but Grillby looked pretty tightly wound up.  He doubted they were having another fun family Gyftmas party the next time it rolled around, which was a shame.  He was pretty sure Grillby’s family would be less pushy if they saw him more often.

The child must have been told to wait for everybody, because they barely caught sight of their dad and Grillby before they started tearing wrapping paper off of a huge box.  Their excitement was difficult to contain, and bits of paper caught fire and smoldered on the floor until one of the adults put them out.  

Sans picked a bow off the floor and went to sit next to Grillby.  "hey,” he said.  He patted him on the back, sticking the bow there.  

“I am very tired,” Grillby said, quiet.  

“hey, it’s not that bad,” Sans said.  "i think your mom’s drunk, anyway."

Grillby laughed, surprising him.  "No.  It would take much more than what she’s had.  Sometimes she…pretends, so she can get away with being a little rude.”

“that’s pretty clever,” Sans said.  "she had me fooled.  i’m pretty sure she was about to ask me when we were going to give her another grandkid when i ran for it."

Grillby turned to look at him.  He started to laugh, again, shaking with it.

"yeah, i know, right?”  Everyone was looking at them.  "hey, who wants to hear the joke i just told grillby?"

Grillby shook his head.  "No, no, leave them alone.  They are opening their gifts.”  

“it’s really good, though.”  

“SANS, GIVE US FIVE MINUTES OF PEACE,” Papyrus said.  "WE ARE BEGGING YOU." 

"How many are we having?” Grillby whispered.  

“i think once we get into the double digits we should slow down,” Sans said.  

“I don’t know.  I’ve always wanted a hundred and forty-four.”  

“hey, there isn’t a better guy to give you a full gross of kids.”  He had to appreciate the setup Grillby had handed to him.  

Grillby looked confused, for a second, and turned his head.  "…did you put a bow on my back?"

"how’d that get there?”

Grillby didn’t move it.  Sans collected some more gift bows as the evening went on, and stuck them all on.  He tied a ribbon around Grillby’s wrist.  The kid got in on it, and Grillby thanked them politely when they stuck three bows onto his knee.  

You are very good with children, Searily had said.  

Grillby stared at Sans, sometimes, when he joked around with kids.  Sans didn’t think he was actually great with them.  They started crying on him, he patted them on the back and handed them over to their parents.  He just had the same sense of humor as the average eight year old, so they got along ok.  

Well, they were hopefully years away from that conversation.  Grillby hadn’t even worked through whatever was going on in his head and asked him to move in yet.  Sans had been bracing himself for two months for him to bring it up.  He didn’t have any idea how he wanted to answer, yet, so he’d been hoping for a few more months of waiting to figure it out.  His big Gyftmas present this year from Grillby’s family was that he probably wasn’t going to get to avoid it anymore.  

Braise left first, hoisting his sleeping child on his shoulder as he gave everyone his goodbyes.  Sans expected Papyrus to leave soon after that, but he kept hanging around until it was just Grillby, Sans, Searily, and him.  

“I am going home tomorrow,” Searily said.  

Grillby brushed off a few of the bows and went to sit next to her.  

Chapter Text

Papyrus started cleaning up in the dining room.  Sans sat in one of the chairs at the table to keep him company.  

“I AM CONFUSED,” Papyrus said.  "DOES GRILLBY NOT WANT YOU TO LIVE HERE?"

"uh.  well, i guess i’m kind of a pain to live with, but that’s not it.  you ready for me to move out, bro?”  

That hurt, actually.  That was a sore spot he’d been avoiding.  

Papyrus could take care of himself, mostly.  He had a good job and knew how to feed himself and keep a house.  Sure, he’d run into problems and need help, but who wouldn’t?  Sans would always be around, and Papyrus had lots of other friends.  

Sans worried about Papyrus being a public figure and living so openly when there were humans who hated monsters, but nothing bad had happened yet, right?  The worst that was actually likely to happen was his brother would give away his money to some con artist with a sob story.  Probably all the while realizing they were a con artist, but hoping to make them a better person.  Papyrus might even be able to do it.  

Sans would miss just having him around.  Honestly, he needed his brother more than his brother needed him.  That was pretty obvious.  He made it a little easier to get out of bed in the morning.  

“I…AM NOT SURE ‘READY’ IS CORRECT?”  Papyrus sat down in the chair next to him.  "BUT IF THIS IS WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY, THEN I SUPPORT YOU COMPLETELY!" 

"i don’t know.  things are pretty nice how they are now.”  

“IF YOU PREFER TO STAY…WELL, YOU ARE NOT EASY TO LIVE WITH!  IT IS TRUE!  BUT I WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO.”  Papyrus said.  

Oof. That was kind of a stab right through the ribs.  "nah.  he asks, i’ll probably go along with it."

Papyrus stared at him for a minute, frowning.  "DON’T JUST GO ALONG WITH THINGS LIKE THIS.”  

Sans stared back.  "ok.“  

That was apparently the wrong thing to say.  "SANS!  I AM TRYING TO HAVE A SERIOUS CONVERSATION!”

“…ok?  look, can we just lay off this for tonight?  i’ve been up for five hours in a row and i’m pretty worn down.”  

“FINE. BUT WE ARE GOING TO DISCUSS THIS LATER.  YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU WANT!”  

“yeah.  when i’m less tired, i’ll probably know.”

They left the dining room.  Searily was at the door and Grillby was with her.  She gave Sans a hug goodbye.  

“ok, normally that would’ve cost you 3000g, but i guess it is the holiday of giving,” Sans said, shrugging off his discomfort.  

She patted him on the face and gave Papyrus a little wave before leaving.

“THAT WAS NICE!  IT WAS LIKE SHE WAS WELCOMING YOU INTO THE FAMILY!  AND THEN YOU RUINED IT!”  Papyrus said.  "OH WELL!"  

"not gonna tell you what your tab looks like,” Sans said.  

Papyrus considered.  "IF IT WOULD NOT BANKRUPT A COUNTRY TO PAY IT OFF, I AM NOT DOING MY JOB AS YOUR BROTHER!  NYEH HEH HEH!" 

"yeah, i can’t ever call it in.  it’d throw the world economy into chaos.”

Papyrus looked like he was getting revved up for a hug, and a big one.  Grillby and anything else in the immediate vicinity risked getting pulled in.  Not even light could escape Papyrus’ hugs.  

–

“tell your mom how many kids we’ve got planned?” Sans asked Grillby, while Papyrus was outside making sure the earlier light dusting of snow was cleared off his car.  

“She can be surprised.  Sans, am I being unreasonable?”

“uh.”   Sans just wanted a conversation that didn’t feel like someone verbally dumping a ton of bricks on his skull.  

“She’s family.  It’s normal for family to want to know what’s going on.”  Grillby looked even more tired than Sans felt.  "I just…hate what she does when she knows I don’t want to tell her something."

"yeah, she’s kind of underhanded.  getting you a date for that wedding when you were already bringing one was crossing a pretty big line.   pretending to be drunk tonight.”  

“She has always been like this.  I don’t think the rest of them realize how…tiresome it is because they’re used to it.  But…I think my brother was right that she is acting this way because she’s worried about me.”

“it’s not great behavior, but it’s understandable.”  

“You’ve never been underhanded because you were worried about your brother.”

“uh.  pot and kettle, grillbz.”  

“Exactly,” Grillby said.  "I know what it’s like caring about someone who won’t tell me a damn thing.  The petty, immature behavior it can lead to."

Sans was quiet.  

"I invited her to come down and visit me next month.”  

“good?”

“Yes.  I miss my family.  I just can’t deal with them all at once, like this.  Not right now.”

“hey, she’s all right.  we’ll take her out and show her this city’s not that bad.”  

“Maybe that will help.”  He tugged a ribbon off his wrist.  "Sans, would you sleep over?" 

"huh.  woulda thought you’d be done with people by now.”  

He shook his head.  "I don’t regret spending Gyftmas with you.  Or with your brother, actually, or any of them.  This…hasn’t been the best year, for a number of reasons, but…I’m happy you were with me."

"yeah,” Sans said, touched.  "ditto.“   He shifted over so he was sitting closer.   

He was tired of not being at home, surrounded by his own stuff.  But he didn’t want the bf going to bed alone when he really didn’t want to.  Sans knew exactly how he could resolve this problem.  His stuff just had to be here.

Not yet, though.  He wasn’t ready yet.  If Grillby asked him today, though, he’d say yes.  Because he would want to say yes, eventually.  

He was almost sure of that.  

"It’s too late for Papyrus to be driving all the way back,” Grillby said.  "Tell him that.  He can take the couch."

"since i’m about to fall asleep here, and you look as bad as i feel, maybe he gets the bed.”

“…no. I’m getting up.”  Grillby went to find Papyrus.  Sans slowly dragged himself up and shuffled towards the bedroom.  He pulled off his shirt and tossed it on the floor so he didn’t sleep on the switch inside his sweater and he was sleeping again before he found out if Papyrus took the couch.  

–

Sans woke up a few hours later.  Grillby was awake, reading.  Even when Grillby was exhausted, he wasn’t always able to sleep normally at night.

Sans put his head on Grillby’s shoulder and tried to figure out what was going on in the book.  Grillby kept hitting Sans in the face with the pages when he turned them.  He wasn’t even trying to avoid doing it.  After a while, Grillby set down the book.  "Yes, Sans?“

"happy day after gyftmas.”  

“Thank you.”

“paps sleep over?”

“Yes. I don’t know if he’s actually asleep.  When I went out last time, he was just watching television.”

Sans got up and went to check on his brother.  The day must have worn him down, because he was actually sleeping.  His head lolled back and he was snoring, gently.  Sans shut off the TV, tied his brother’s shoelaces together, and went to grab a snack from the fridge.  

He brought a lot back with him, figuring Grillby might want to share. They worked through the leftovers together.

“hey, grillbz, you picked a place with a lot of extra space.  you notice that?”  

Grillby glanced away from his book, for a second.  "I could barely fit a couch in my old living room." 

"it’s kind of big for one guy, though.”

“Yes.”

“almost like you got it thinking you’d have someone else living here with you.”  

“Hmm.”  He set down his book.  "Sans, how long a drive is it to your brother’s work, from here?“

That was a pretty interesting subject change.  ”'bout ten more minutes than it takes him now."

"You knew that immediately.  I have a question.  If you could imagine the ideal living situation for yourself, what would it be?  Who would be there?  It doesn’t have to make sense.”  

“just me and six fridges.  the floor’s made out of something soft to sleep on so i don’t have to climb to take a nap.  i guess you could come by sometimes.”

“Sans.”

“ok, ok.  you could live there.  and papyrus and tori and the kid.  paps could have his friends living next door so it didn’t get too crowded.”  

“Could the rest of us have beds instead of sleeping on the floor?”

“sure. there’d be beds, too, there’d just also be the floor as an option.”

“I don’t think Toriel is going to want to move.”  

“nah, she’s got a good thing going there, but you did say 'ideal.’  i have breakfast with 'em most days so it’d be pretty convenient having her around.”  

“But there’s no reason Papyrus couldn’t live here.  If he didn’t mind.”

“i wouldn’t want to make the two of you deal with that.”

Grillby considered him.  "Well, we’re adults.  We can decide ourselves if we want to deal with it."  

"i think paps is probably sick of living with me, honestly,” Sans said.  "i’d feel better about it if he got a roommate, but maybe someone he got a say in."  

"He said that?”

“he says that all the time.”

Grillby didn’t look like he was buying it.  "I’ve been thinking, for quite a while, that I would ask him to move in here, too."

"go ahead and ask.”  Sans shrugged.    

Chapter Text

Papyrus was squinting at a frying pan.  Grillby had arrived in the kitchen just in time.  He tried to take his pan back, but Papyrus moved it away.

“YOU LET ME SLEEP ON YOUR COUCH, SO I AM GOING TO PROVIDE BREAKFAST FOR EVERYONE THIS MORNING!”  

“…what were you thinking of making?”  If Grillby hung around and told himself it was a lesson, it was a little less painful watching Papyrus use his kitchen.  

Maybe he should rethink sharing a house with him.  But even if it was just Sans moving in, Sans was going to use the kitchen at some point, too. It wouldn’t be just Grillby’s anymore, regardless.  

He hadn’t shared a kitchen in over a decade.  Was he too old to be moving in with people?  Maybe he couldn’t adapt to it anymore.  One of his mother’s partners had asked her to marry them a few years ago, and she had just said that she didn’t think she wanted to adjust to living with another person, again.

He was too young to be turning into his mother.  "…could I ask you something?" Grillby started.  

"YOU CAN ALWAYS DELVE THE UNFATHOMABLE DEPTHS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS’ WELL OF KNOWLEDGE,” Papyrus said.  He was frowning as he picked a tiny piece of eggshell out of the frying pan.  

“…do you like living with your brother?”

“IS THIS…”  Papyrus lit up.  "ARE YOU GOING TO ASK MY PERMISSION?  BEFORE YOU ASK HIM TO MOVE IN HERE?  GRILLBY, THAT IS ROMANTIC, BUT A LITTLE SILLY?  OF COURSE I WILL SAY YES!  AND THEN, SOME DAY…“  He stared off into the distance.  "I WILL BE THE BEST SKELETON AT YOUR WEDDING!”  

Grillby couldn’t make himself keep watching Papyrus cook, so he started getting out silverware.  "……so you are saying that you don’t want to live with him, anymore?  Are you looking forward to being on your own?" 

Papyrus gave the eggs an irritated look.  "THAT IS INCONSEQUENTIAL!” He jabbed at them with a spatula.  "WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THE CONTINUING PROGRESSION OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MY BROTHER."

"…is it?"  The eggs had been cooking for too long.  Grillby hovered over the silverware drawer, clutching the forks in his hands, trying not to interfere.  Papyrus scraped them onto a plate, and Grillby relaxed his grip before he melted the metal.  

"YES?  OH!  MAYBE IT APPEARS I AM BEING SELFISH, AND I AM JUST ANTICIPATING THE WEDDING, BUT THAT IS NOT TRUE AT ALL!  I HAVE NOT SEEN MY BROTHER AS ENERGETIC AND HAPPY SINCE–” He shook his head.  "–FOR A VERY LONG TIME!  HE BARELY NAPPED YESTERDAY!  YOUR MOTHER HAS ACCEPTED HIM INTO THE FAMILY!  THE ONLY WAY TO MOVE IS FORWARD!  AND OUT!  OF THE HOUSE!"

"…so you are tired of living with him?“ Grillby didn’t care about "progression” or any kind of timeline for his relationship with Sans.  He had a very specific question he wanted answered, and Papyrus seemed to be missing it.  Grillby set the silverware out on the kitchen table.

“WHAT?  THAT QUESTION IS COMPLETELY BESIDE THE POINT?  I TRUST THAT YOU WILL TAKE VERY GOOD CARE OF HIM WHEN HIS AMAZING BROTHER IS NO LONGER IMMEDIATELY AROUND TO DO SO.”

Grillby rubbed under his glasses.  "…well.  If you aren’t attached to the place you are living, and if you didn’t want to change things too much, there is plenty of room here."  He had chosen this place assuming Papyrus would also be moving in, but then realized he had no idea what either of the brothers actually wanted.  At some point, he just had to ask.  Did the two of them ever have a direct conversation about anything?  He had thought it was Sans’ fault, but Papyrus was only a little better.  

Papyrus got out three plates.  He seemed on edge.  "IT IS TRUE THAT I AM A SUPERIOR ROOMMATE TO MY BROTHER.”

Grillby didn’t say anything.

“SOMEHOW, I DID NOT ANTICIPATE THIS QUESTION?”  

The kitchen door opened and Sans shuffled in, yawning.  He pulled back a chair and eased himself into it.  "oh hey, you made breakfast, bro?  it looks…eggcellent."

"SANS!  IT IS TOO EARLY IN THE DAY TO START!”  

“yeah i guess it’s the crack of dawn.”

“AT LEAST YOU SEEM TO BE IN A GOOD MOOD,” Papyrus said, sighing. “YOUR…SUNNY SIDE IS UP!  NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!”  

“oh my god.  good one.”  Sans chuckled.  "that’s the best yolk i’ve heard in days."

"ONLY THE BEST IS TO BE EXPECTED FROM YOUR BROTHER!  HE IS EVEN TALENTED AT SKILLS HE DESPISES!” Papyrus said, cheerful.  He carefully set one of the eggs on Sans’ plate, considered it, and then drew a smiling skeleton face on it in ketchup.  

“nice.”

Grillby sat down, quietly watching the brothers and poking at his own breakfast.

“SO!”  Papyrus clasped his skeletal fingers together.  "I HAD A QUESTION, SANS!"

"uh.  shoot.”  

“IF YOU ARE MOVING HERE ALONE, THEN YOU CAN TAKE HOWEVER MUCH TIME YOU WANT, BUT IF I AM ALSO MOVING HERE, THEN I NEED TO SCHEDULE IT PROPERLY!  IT HAS TO BE ON A WEEKEND AND I WANT TO START AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.”  

Sans stared blankly at his brother for a few seconds, and then looked at Grillby.  "that was quick. bro, he hasn’t even asked me to live here, yet."

"Move in with me,” Grillby said, immediately.  "If you like."

"ok.  sure.”

“I think you were wrong, before.  Papyrus is not sick of living with you, as far as I can tell.”  Grillby supposed he was just making trouble by saying that.  Oh no.  Was that something else his mother would do?

“WHAT?  WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT, BROTHER?”  Papyrus asked, aghast.  "I MEAN, I AM SICK OF YOU NEVER CLEANING UP AFTER YOURSELF, AND FILLING OUR REFRIGERATOR WITH GARBAGE!  THERE HAS BEEN A SOCK IN THE LIVING ROOM FOR YEARS NOW!  YEARS!!!  HE FOUND ONE THAT WAS IDENTICAL TO THE SOCK IN OUR OLD HOME!“  If there was a “but” coming, Papyrus hadn’t reached it yet.  

"heh.”  Sans set down his fork.  "ok, look, paps, don’t uproot your whole life."

"WHY NOT?  BUT IF YOU DON’T WANT ME HERE, THEN THAT IS COMPLETELY FINE! THAT DOES NOT HURT MY FEELINGS AT ALL!”  

“what?  of course i want you here.”

“…ok,” Grillby said.  "…i need to get ready to go to work.  You can decide this, yourselves."  He stood up.

"OKAY?”  When Grillby closed the kitchen door behind him, he heard Papyrus continue, “BUT WHY WOULD YOU THINK I DIDN’T WANT YOU AROUND?”  

He couldn’t hear how Sans answered.  He doubted the answer was honest.  

–

“no idea,” Sans said.  "ok, bro.  take a deep breath, here."

"WE DON’T HAVE LUNGS.”

“you really want to move here?  come on.  you love that place.”  

“BROTHER. WHY DID YOU THINK…?  WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID?”  He looked worried.  Genuinely hurt.  

“nah.  i just wasn’t in a great mood.  don’t sweat it.”

“I SUPPOSE WE DO SWEAT, UNFORTUNATELY,” Papyrus acknowledged.  "I AM CONFUSED.  SANS, I AM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU WANT?  YOU SAID THAT AFTER YOU WERE RESTED, YOU WOULD KNOW."

"what i want?  that’s easy.”  

“OKAY?”

Sans pushed his plate away.  "i don’t want to mess up your life.  you’re happy where you are, right?"

"I DON’T CARE WHERE I LIVE,” Papyrus said.  "SO LONG AS I CAN SEE MY FRIENDS.  AND...KEEP AN EYE ON MY ONLY FAMILY?  YOU BARELY EVER SLEEP OR EAT AT HOME, AND I AM DOING MY IMPORTANT WORK AND AM OFTEN AWAY, AND…I HAVE BEEN MISSING YOU?  I DON’T BELIEVE THAT IS STRANGE?"

Sans sighed.  Between Tori, the kid, and Grillby, he spent most of his time out of the house.  When he was there, odds were usually good that Papyrus wouldn’t be.  He still tried to get back to tell him a story, but it hadn’t been working out, lately.  "i guess i haven’t been there, much.”

“YOU ALREADY LIVE HERE, SANS."  He pressed his hands against his rib cage.  "IN YOUR SOUL.”

That was the most embarrassing way Papyrus could have put that.  Sans covered his face with his hands.  "i guess."

"SO TELL ME.  WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

“i want you to move here.”  He was lazy.  He wanted all the people he cared about right where he didn’t have to go out of his way to see them.  

Papyrus crushed him in a hug before he could say anything else.  "I AM NOT SURE WHY THAT WAS DIFFICULT TO ADMIT, BUT THANK YOU FOR DOING SOMETHING THAT WAS HARD FOR YOU!"

For a monster that had no lungs to start with, Sans sure suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe.

–

"Someone open the door for me, or I’m knocking it down!”  Undyne rushed towards the building carrying half a truckload of boxes in her arms.

“WAIT!  THAT IS THE PLACE I AM GOING TO LIVE!  IT NEEDS TO HAVE A DOOR!” Papyrus took a flying leap and got the entrance open before she barreled through it.  

“heh.”  Sans leaned against the moving van, keeping an eye socket on everyone rushing around.  Most of his stuff had turned out to already have trickled over to Grillby’s.  There was one box of his in the truck.  

Grillby stood nearby, flickering nervously as he waited for inevitable property damage.  Sans walked over.

“good thing they got involved.  it’d have taken me three years to get this far on my own,” Sans said.

“…maybe that was my ulterior motive,” Grillby said.  

“just admit you love my bro.  who doesn’t?  you would’ve been heartbroken if he turned down the offer.”  

“…of course.”  He put his arm around Sans’ shoulders.  

“this whole day’s been pretty moving.”

“Yes.”  He looked down at Sans for a moment, and then leaned down to kiss him on the top of the skull.  "Welcome home, Sans.“  

"thanks.”  He chuckled.  "that was kinda cheesy, grillbz.“  

"Live with it.”  

“guess that’s what i’m doing.”  He slipped his arm around Grillby’s waist.