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Sans didn’t really like the idea of soulmates.
He didn’t understand it. It seemed the universe must once again be mocking him. In a world where love was hard enough to come across, aside from the acronym, it seemed a bitter joke to him that everyone had someone in the universe who was perfectly suited to them. Little black marks that would dictate your whole life.
And yet everyone had the marks. It was hard to know what they were based on or what magic caused them, but they were never wrong. Numerous had tried rejecting them, tried dating other people but it never worked. Many were born with them, and only a few rare cases known as ‘blank canvases’ were without them entirely. Some even accumulated them later in life. The first words your soulmate would ever say to you, branded onto your body. Curling across his humerus were the vexatious words, in beautiful black cursive, contrasting with the white bone below. They seemed too good to be true. If it weren’t for the fact, he had seen the marks work their magic before he would reject the idea entirely.
He couldn’t comprehend someone speaking to someone as beastly as him in a tender manner or even at all. The things he’d done had surely condemned him to a life of solitude.
But there they were, the words that had been a silent companion to him all his life.
He’d seen it work first hand though. First of all, with Undyne and Alphys, whilst they were still trapped. No one had seen it coming, the two were so different. People were astounded by the development, although no one could deny it was good to see love in the underground again. This lead to the development of hope in the underground, and even some monsters gaining their marks. Toriel and Asgore were even able to revive their marriage, their soul marks reminding them exactly how much they meant to each other.
Then after Frisk had freed them he’d seen it again, only this time with Papyrus. His soulmate. He knew, of course what Papyrus’ soulmark said. He’d grown up with him, changed his clothes when he was a baby bones, he’d known he had them. And, as much as he was ashamed to say, he had looked at them. He wanted to know what kind of person was soulmates with his brother. He never told Papyrus he knew, until one day the young skeleton had come to Sans and told him what the marks said. He had been taught what they meant by Gaster before his death so he knew exactly what this meant to Sans.
A monster should only tell someone they felt close to, whom they trusted with their lives what the words said, lest it be used against them. Sans had never told anyone his. Instead he wore a baggy hoodie to cover them and tried to pretend they weren’t there. It was less painful to try and believe you didn’t exist.
When Papyrus met them, it was as though his whole life changed. He was more compassionate, less aggressive and smiled more often. Sans had met them. They were pleasant enough, but what he couldn’t comprehend was how someone could exist who was quite so perfect for Papyrus. Yet they were.
Sans had lived many timelines, had experienced many resets. He’d met every monster in the Underground in at least one timeline. He knew you must be a human. But he’d never made it to the surface. Papyrus had never found his soulmate before. Sans had yet to find you. He was scared to say the least. He was scared about whether you would reject him. Would you be able to cope with a monster soulmate? Could one turn to dust by being rejected, especially with HP as low as his? He didn’t know. That was what scared him the most. He wasn’t scared of death; he had experienced that over many timelines. He had even killed people himself. He’d killed Frisk hundreds of times, and they were just a kid. How could you deal with that? It wasn’t a big deal to him. but it could be to you. He’d known how every timeline was going to play out until now. The surface, was new and big and unknown. How would you react when you found him? Would you turn and run screaming? What did your mark say? Did you even have a mark? He didn’t know anything. And he was afraid.
Your name is Y/N. Y/N L/N. You are a human, and you live in a world inhabited by humans and monsters. Oh, and one more thing. Everyone has a soulmate, a person made entirely for them, their perfect companion in life. You are no exception to this rule. The words are curled around your upper arm, a short phrase. You’ve spent many hours looking at them, evaluating them, wondering what the person would be like, what context the words would be said in.
You try not to obsess over them, mostly glad that you have a soulmate. You’re a relatively patient person and happy to wait for the person to come into your life. It’s easier that way. You can’t deny you’re excited to meet them, but the novelty of the fact has worn off as you got older. You’re 18 years old and you have better things to do than look for your soulmate. You just pray you meet them before you’re 50.
Although you suppose you’ve come this far without them, and you don’t need a soulmate to validate you. But still the voice of doubt nags at you. Will they like you? What if they’re disappointed by you? What if they can’t cope with your anxiety? You can’t deny you were a little jealous every time you saw a couple in the street. Lucky people who met their soulmates as children, people who have established lives together. Soulmates had eliminated the need for dating and so you had never experienced the sensation of a kiss on the cheek, of an arm around your waist, or waking up next to someone. But then you think of your friend who had just found their soulmate. There was always hope. You were sure your soulmate would be worth the wait.
On your way to work that morning you stopped for a coffee and took your time, travelling down the cobbled road, water from last night’s rain still reflecting from the smooth stones of the road. The soft rich smell of coffee mixed with chocolate rises from your plastic cup, mingling with the dampness and smell of the rain. The condensation from your breath rose in the air, a swirling cloud, dissipating quickly in the cold air.
You heard the trickling noise of water from the gutter as it dripped down, threading a silvery path down between the stones of the street. You use your shoulder to push open the heavy polished oak door of the library. You step inside into the smell of old books and the gurgling of hot water in the pipes, hopelessly trying to heat the old stone building. It sapped the heat faster than ice melting on a hot day. The big arched windows were tightly locked in a desperate effort to preserve the mild warmth in the air. You nodded to your co-worker and made your way past the tall shelves to your desk, piled high with books.
Sans wasn’t sure why he decided to go to the library. Perhaps the cold wind that was billowing through the town today had chilled him to the bone and this was a last ditch attempt to escape the piercing breeze. Either way he soon found himself leaning against the door, looking at up at huge shelves towering with books of all genres. The air in the library had a slightly musty smell to it, but Sans decided it was far from unpleasant, unlike the old library in the Underground which had smelt of damp and rot. An older woman was peering at him distastefully over the top of her glasses as he approached the counter hesitantly. He wasn’t sure why he was here exactly.
“Can I help you?” The woman asked in a shrill voice. Sans winced inwardly.
“Uh, yeah. Do you have a section on astronomy? I’m feelin’ pretty ‘spaced out’ today.” The woman raised a sharp greyed eyebrow at him.
“Over there. 5th shelf.” She spoke, nasal voice scraping Sans’ non-existent eardrums. A steady hand indicated the section he wanted.
“Ah. Thanks darlin’.” He inclined his head to her and headed for the way she had gestured. His shoes squeaked slightly against the polished wooden floor, the rubber soles damp from the rain covered cobbles.
He surveyed the selection of books, before coming upon one he hadn’t seen before which looked as though it might have some details on astrophysics. However, it was on the fifth shelf and Sans was only tall enough to reach the third whilst on tip…phalange? There were no steps to be seen and with the hard librarian occasionally looking in his direction he didn’t want to use his magic. So he placed his oversized shoes on the excess shelf and managed to steady himself. Climbing onto the second shelf he found he was just tall enough that his phalanges grazed the edge of the book. Triumphantly he lunged forwards and grabbed the book. Unfortunately, in doing so he let go of the shelf that was allowing him to keep his balance and toppled off the shelf.
Realising he was falling Sans let out a quick “Fuck!” Never had he regretted more that he couldn’t use his magic on his own soul. Thankfully an injury outside of a battle scenario wouldn’t kill him so he could survive the fall. He braced for the impact but instead found himself landing on something soft, and warm which went “Oof.”
Cracking a socket open he realised he was in fact a few feet off the floor and that he was in the arms of a human who had presumably caught him. A very attractive human.
Opening both eyes he shot them a sheepish look as they set him back down on his feet. He noted he was actually a couple of inches taller than them so felt a little disgruntled about having to be caught by them. That feeling vanished however when they looked at him and grinned cheekily.
“Hey there. Isn’t it a bit soon for you to be falling for me?”
Oh. Well, shit.
You weren’t sure what had made you stand up from your chair. Maybe it was the growing cramps in your legs or the boredom of merely stamping returned book which drove you from your plush chair. You decided to stretch your legs by patrolling the aisles. You were sure your co-worker wouldn’t object. She looked scarier than she was. Well. Mostly.
The library was mostly empty, with the exception of a few older people and…a skeleton? Apparently he had disregarded the steps next to your desk which were used for reaching the higher shelves and had endeavoured to climb the bookcase to retrieve one of the books on astronomy from its high perch. He was dressed in a pair of black shorts, with golden-yellow stripes down the outside of each leg. Massive black, red, and yellow shoes engulfed his feet with huge yellow socks reaching a third of the way up his ankle bone, and black laces undone, the ends damp from the rain. He had a heavy black hoodie on his torso, white faux fur surrounding the hood, and a thick red turtleneck. Two bright red lights danced in his sockets and his teeth were sharpened to points. One of them was shining golden and looked to be a fake dog tooth.
As you watched, you walked behind the skeleton to ask if he needed any help, when suddenly he lunged forwards and grabbed the book. The momentum of the action caused him to wobble and then fall backwards, failing to grab the shelf in time to save himself.
Without thinking you thrust your arms out and caught the skeleton. He was far lighter than you were anticipating, although he still fell with enough momentum to cause a small groan from you.
Looking down you saw he was looking at you, a faint red blush playing across his features. Woah he was cute. You hadn’t thought skeletons could even be cute. He should be intimidating but somehow… wasn’t. Wordlessly you set him down and swallowing your embarrassment grinned at him.
“Hey there. Isn’t it a bit soon for you to be falling for me?” You groaned internally. Why, of all things did you have to make a pun. You waited for him to make a face, offer an awkward thank you and high tail it out of the building.
“I’ve always been known to enjoy the occasional trip.”
Oh. Oh.
The two of you looked at each other and grinned, both wide, delighted grins which made your cheeks hurt.
“I’m Y/N.” You introduced. He smiled a massive toothy smile at you.
“The name’s Sans. Sans the skeleton.” You sniggered. You never would have guessed that one. You smiled and held out your hand awkwardly. He rolled his eyes at you and grabbed you by the shoulder, pulling you in for a hug. He was warm and softer than you expected. He smelt spicy, like mustard and coffee.
Somehow you knew there was some credit to this whole soulmate thing after all.