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And on that day Sans learnt that maybe this world was a little more than he thought it was.
Sighing contentedly, you leaned back into Sans’ warmth. You felt his bones vibrate as he chuckled and pulled his hoodie closely around you, smothering you in his warmth, his arms wrapped tight around your middle as he rested his chin on the top of your head, his warm breath occasionally ruffling your hair.
The two of you were sat on the roof of his house, a common activity for the two of you. He had purposely gotten a house near the edge of the city, where the light pollution was less. He adored looking at the stars, and you adored looking at him, so this was an activity you both loved doing.
You were perfectly satisfied and your soul buzzed with the very energy being with him gave you. You had never thought someone could shape you so much as a person. But Sans, he made you want to be a better person, to do things with your life you had never wanted to do. He filled you with ambition and determination, whereas before, you had been perfectly content lazing around at home all day, eating instant noodles and watching TV.
Of course, the two of you still had lazy days together, but they were more by choice then obligation now. They were something to look forward too, rather than the grim predictability of the next day.
You hadn’t planned on what you were about to say next, but it seemed like the right time, and the words were bubbling along your tongue, trying to break free.
“Babe?” Your heart was pounding against your ribs as though it might break out of them.
“Mmm?” He answered, and you could feel his jaw moving slightly against your hair. He was only about a head taller than you, but it was something he was very proud of. It made him feel…not superior, but rather heroic. Like if it came to it, he could protect you from anything.
You raised your head and saw him looking down at you, twin lights observing you, all the details of your face which he had seen so many times before. Every time he found something new about you to admire, the way your eyes were shaped, the mix of colours in them, the way your smile was a little asymmetrical but still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. They way your freckles were scattered across your face like a galaxy of their own. The way your hair would tangle in his hands, and fluff up in the mornings, much to your frustration.
You spoke nervously, but you were confident in your words. “I love you.” You buried your head in his neck, heat rising to your cheeks.
“Hey. ___?” You felt a pair of hands on your shoulders, pulling you away from his neck. Hesitantly you looked up at him. He was smiling at you, a look of childlike wonder on his face. “I love you too. I love you so much. I never thought in a million years I would find someone like you. Heck, I never thought I was goin’ to get out of the Underground, let alone that the kid wouldn’t reset.”
He was talking, of course, about Frisk. The human ambassador, who had been the bane of his life for a very long time, and yet held the key to his happiness. It was a twisted paradox. He hated them so much, for every time they reset, or killed anyone, and yet he blamed himself more than anyone. Always forced, to wait until the Hall of Judgement before he could act, always doing just a little too late. Never able to warn anyone of their approaching death, because what was the point? Even if he did and they died, Frisk would reset anyway. Until the one day that they didn’t, and he found you.
You smiled and pressed your lips to his teeth. He wound his arms around your waist and you leant into the contact, your arms draping over his shoulders. You were so happy in this moment, that nothing could ruin your mood, even the cold air seemed to be in blissful harmony with you right now.
Then, an odd tingling feeling starting at your heart began to spread through your body. It was like pins and needles, but so strong it was almost painful. You separated from Sans, but his hands never left your waist. He clung to you with a vice like grip, like if he let go, you might dissolve in his hands. It was so different from how he normally was with you, normally so sweet and gentle, only resorting to any kind of force if he was feeling the heat of the moment.
“Wha-?” His face contorted into pain and anger and he was muttering under his breath, growing louder with every syllable. Cyan tinted tears fell from his eyes, staining your clothes.
“No, no no no! Please Frisk! You PROMISED!” There was pain in his voice and his left eye erupted into blue flames, and he clasped you closer to his chest, as though you were about to be ripped away from him. The tingling sensation grew and your eyes felt heavy.
“Sans…?”
“Y-yeah?” His voice shook, and you couldn’t tell if it was with anger, fear, or the sobs that were wracking his body.
“I’m so tired….” You sighed sleepily, wanting nothing more than to give into the blackness calling to you.
“I know sweetheart, I’ve got you.” In a shaky gesture, he pressed his teeth to your lips, one last time, tears falling from his eyes and landing on your cheeks. You raised a hand and cupped his cheek.
“Hey, don’t cry, I’ll see you in the morning. I love you Sans.” You whispered, and for some reason his sobs seemed to get louder, heaving through his body and yours.
Then your eyes closed and it all went black.
You open your lids and golden light floods your vision. Very bright light as it burns your eyes.
“Ack!” You sit up and the room spins sickeningly. You grab your head to stop the spinning. The room slows and then steadies and you look around. Far above you, light streams in through a hole in the roof, made of purple rock with stalactites hanging from it. You seemed to be lying on a bed of golden flowers, although how you got there you weren’t sure.
Did you fall from the hole? It reminded you of a cave. A cave you were sitting in. Wait a moment, it was a cave. A cave? Why were you here? And where were you before? The last thing you remember was sitting on a roof with…..SANS! You took to your feet and were running down the path. You didn’t know where he was, but you had to find him. He wouldn’t leave you would he?
You rounded a corner and almost trampled a flower. A tall, golden flower which reached your knees, with a face. That alone was enough to make you stop dead in your tracks. You stopped instantly and toppled over from your momentum. Sans wasn’t here to catch you like last time, and it hit you like a slap in the face as you hit the dirt. The pang of pain which travelled through you was only partially due to your impact on the ground.
You were the same height as the flower now, and it spoke, eyes closed as though it was speaking some memorised speech.
“Howdy! I’m Flowey! Flowey the-“ It opened its eyes. “Who are you? You’re not Frisk!”
“Sorry?” You didn’t know why you were apologising but it seemed so confused. “Look, I’m trying to find someone. Can you help me?” You didn’t know why this flower might know where Sans was, but you vaguely recalled Sans muttering about a flower. Maybe they were friends and the flower would know what happened to you and to Sans.
“Well that depends on who you’re looking for.” The flower replied, looking less confused, and more confident as every second drew on.
“I’m looking for Sans?” Normally you would have introduced yourself as his girlfriend but for some reason you felt that the less this flower knew about you the better.
The flowers face contorted. “Him?! You’re looking for that Smiley Trash bag?! OH SURE! I can help you!” The malice in his voice terrified you and you pushed yourself back from him, onto your knees. It seemed to come out of nowhere, as the flowers face twisted into a sly smile. You didn’t trust this flower anymore.
At that same moment a small F/C heart was pulled out of your chest. You stared at in surprise. It was large but fragile looking and seemed to radiate a pleasant warmth.
Flowey seemed to examine it for a moment. “My my, what a nice soul. Too bad I’m about to consume it!” Consume it? That didn’t sound good. Flowey surrounded your soul with white bullets. “Now, die!” The bullets began to close in around your soul, spinning in a terrifyingly slow dance. They kept closing in, as you watched in horrified silence, aware that this flower really did mean to kill you, seemingly just for knowing Sans. Just as they hit you felt an odd warmth. Then a large fireball, coloured yellowish orange appeared and struck Flowey so hard it flew out of your vision.
“H-hello?” You called into the darkness, wondering if the owner of the fireball might be hiding in the shadows. Did you want to attract their attention? They might do you harm!
Although they did save you from Flowey so it seemed unlikely.
“Oh my. Are you hurt? Fear not. I am Toriel, keeper of the ruins.” You heard a soft voice call out, and any fears you had melted away. The voice was warm and caring. You heard soft footsteps, and a monster appeared, giant, white and very fluffy looking.
“Um… No, I’m okay, I- got lost, and I was looking for someone? I thought, maybe the flower could help me…” You explained, gathering your strength and standing, brushing off your knees of the cold mud which had seeped through on your fall.
“Oh? You came looking for someone…down here?” The monster was clearly female, warm brown eyes were lidded by thick black lashes, and her mouth curved upwards in a gracious smile. A rather simple but stunning dress outlined her figure, the deep purple of the fabric contrasting with the stark white of Toriel’s fur.
“W-well I’m not really sure where he is, but, I need to find him! Please…can you help me?” Something about your pitiful expression must have tugged at Toriel’s heartstrings as she extended a large white hand to you.
“Very well my child, I will help you if I can, although my knowledge of the personage in the Underground is somewhat limited. What is the name of the person you are looking for?”
“Uh, he’s called Sans…” You said, hesitating. You didn’t know whether she would know who he was, but you were cautious about giving any more information after Flowey’s reaction. However, it seemed a blank look was all she could draw, indicating to you she did not know where, or who he was. You weren’t sure if you were disappointed, or relieved that her reaction was so bland.
“I do not believe I know him…However, I know someone who may! Further in the Ruins, through the door to the rest of the Underground, I have a friend. If your friend is down here, he will know him, I am certain of it. I will ask him to look out for you. But first, please, come to my house and sleep. You will need all your energy to find your friend.”
You faltered, but Toriel had seemed nice enough that you agreed and followed her into the Ruins.
Sans P.O.V
He groaned as he slumped against the door which lead into the ruins. He knew Toriel was going to make her usual spiel about looking after the human, however, after what they had just done, he really didn’t feel like he owed the kid anything.
3 years.
3 years without a reset. 3 years on the surface. 3 years building up a relationship with ____. 3 years ripped away like nothing, like paper in a storm. It really hurt, knowing, even if he could convince the kid not to kill again, to break the barrier, to give them a chance again, you wouldn’t remember him. And even though he could spend time getting to know you again, he would have no guarantee the kid wouldn’t reset again. Their promises meant nothing, he knew that now. Well, he did always hate making promises, and he guessed he hated other people making them even more.
He sighed and remembered the first day he’d really started to get to know her.
The two of them had been sitting on the sofa together, and he’d stretched his legs across you, half expecting you to shove them off. But you didn’t seem to mind, you just smiled and continued reading the book you had out. After a couple of minutes, you lowered it and spoke.
“Hey Sans?” He hadn’t been expecting you to talk to him. The two of you had spoken before, but he had thought he had scared you off with his last talk. His tales about resets and saves and judgement. But it seemed you believed every word he said. He didn’t know whether he liked that, or whether it scared him.
“Yeah?” He replied, settling down on the sofa.
“How come you’re so lazy? Is it because of the resets?” You’d asked, curiously.
And he’d sat up right and looked at you seriously. “You can’t understand how this feels, knowin’ that one day, without any warnin’… it’s all goin’ to be reset. Look, I gave up tryin’ to go back a long time ago, and after a while, gettin’ to the surface lost its appeal too. ‘Cause even if we did, we’d just end up right back down there, without any memory of it, right? To be blunt…it makes it kind of hard to give it my all…Or is that just a poor excuse for bein’ lazy…? Hell if I know.” He laughed. Who was he kidding, acting all philosophical? He didn’t know what he was doing or why. He was just enjoying what he had whilst he had it.
You hadn’t said anything for a moment after that. He’d understood. There weren’t words. Any attempt at empathy would be fake and He hated sympathy.
Instead, you leaned forward and hugged you, and in his ‘ear’, you whispered “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you have to carry that alone.” It was a funny thing that humans did, apologising for something that wasn’t their fault.
3 damn years you had spent together, building up a relationship. Him, being asexual, being afraid of any kind of emotion, of contact, being afraid you would get bored and leave him. Countless nights of you reassuring him, and telling him you would wait forever if that’s how long it took, or even longer. That you didn’t care if he was never ready, you would never force him to do anything he felt uncomfortable with. You respecting all his boundaries because you were a nice person. Because you so genuinely cared about him, and his comfort. Because you loved him. Because you had all the two of you needed to make your relationship work. All taken from him because the kid got bored.
He growled and punched the snow. Damn snow. Damn cold. Damn door, damn Toriel and most of all damn Frisk. Then he sighed. Guess this was his punishment for actually doing something. He laughed bitterly and lifted his ketchup bottle out of the snow. Clumps of snow fell from it. It was cold but still drinkable. He took a slurp. You’d always found his diet amusing, although you tried to encourage him to expand his palette. It had still been a work in progress.
“Excuse me?” Started up Toriel from behind the door. Here we go, same old record.
“Yeah?” He replied, not bothering to put in the usual effort to sound somewhat interested.
“If a human ever comes through this door… could you please, please promise something?”
“Shoot.” Damn kid, you were fast this time. But still, are you gonna kill them all this time or…?
“Watch over them, and protect them, will you not?”
“Heh. Sure lady.”
“Oh, and if you see someone called Sans, will you tell him a human is looking for him?” He stiffened. That was new. Then he smirked. He’d be looking for them too.
“Sure. Look, I’d best be off…Papyrus will be waitin’ for me and all.”
“Of course. Stay safe, my friend.” He listened until he heard he footsteps move from the door.
With that he stood up and checked his watch, which hung limply from his wrist. It was getting late. He was going to go home and drink till he passed out. Frisk would be fine. He’d see them at his station anyway.
Your P.O.V
You slept well in Toriel’s house. The bed was soft and she seemed reluctant to let you go, but assured you her friend would keep an eye out for you. She then asked you not to come back, assuring you that it was not personal, but that she could not bear to become more attached to another human. You weren’t entirely sure what she meant by that, but she hugged and sent you on your way with a piece of butterscotch cinnamon pie. You felt a pang in your chest as you bid her farewell. Toriel was nice. She accompanied you to the doors, which she bid you goodbye out of.
You exited through the long corridor, through the heavy doors and came out on a snowy path. Dark trees lined the way, casting heavy shadows, and restricting your view.
“Snow?” Shivering you decided that it would be best to make your way through this place quickly. You weren’t dressed for snow. On the roof, you had had Sans and his hoodie to keep warm. You walked on, having to jump over a massive branch which lay in your way. Then you continued on until you came to a strange gate. Shrugging you ducked through the bars, which were at least twice the size of you and kept walking.
It almost seemed as though they were meant to be a barrier, but they were far too wide to stop anyone getting through. Except maybe someone like Asgore. Sans had told you about the king of monsters, and you’d seen him picking Frisk up from school a few times. Maybe that was what the bars were for.
You came to a clearing with a small sentry hut in a small clearing. It was well made, out of wood and tiles, with thick snow on the top. There were small bottles of relish, mustard and ketchup behind it.
“Hey kid. Took your time huh?” A voice echoed eerily through the quiet forest. It didn’t seem to come from any one location, and it seemed uncomfortably familiar, although the forest distorted it beyond recognition.
“Wh-who’s there?” You asked spinning around in fear.
“I gotta ask kid. Why wait so long? Did you know what was gonna happen? Or did you just get bored?” You didn’t know the voice, but the style of speech was familiar to you. It was a bitter tone, one so strangely familiar…
“S-sans? If this is you, it isn’t funny!” You cried in desperation.
“Isn’t funny?!“A bitter laugh echoed around the clearing. You saw a shadow appear from behind the sentry hut. One you were certain hadn’t been there before. “Well what do you know. Other people being afraid isn’t funny.”
“You know what else isn’t funny? Spending three fuckin’ years, thinkin’ that you weren’t going to reset. That I could actually move on from this place, and find someone to love, only to have it ripped away from me because some brat, got BORED!” Never before had you heard such raw emotion come from one person. It made you swallow, and tears pricked your eyes, that a stranger could be so unbelievably angry at you.
“I-I’m sorry.” You whimpered.
“Sorry? Sorry?! I don’t think you know the meanin' of the word. But let me tell you somethin’. I do not regret a single moment of my time spent with them. And even when I finally get out of this hole again, I’m goin’ to find them. And even if I can’t ever be with them again, I will never forget the memories I got with them.” The anger turned into passion.
Very slowly the figure stepped out from the shadows. “So now bud, you’re gonna have a bad time.”
As the figure stepped out you were in motion. That figure was incredibly familiar to you, one you could never mistake. You ran towards him. “SANS! You’re okay!”
He glared at you for a second, so angrily, with so much bitterness and hatred burning in his sockets, it was enough to freeze you where you stood. Then his sockets widened. “Holy shit ____?!”
“Sans!” You cried again and before you could even register what happened, the small skeleton was wrapped around your frame, examining you, your eyes, your face, looking for any sign of harm.
“___, how did you get here? Are you okay? You aren’t hurt are you???” He asked, desperately holding your face in his hands.
You shook your head, tears falling from your eyes happily. “I don’t know. I just woke up in a cave. I’m fine, Toriel helped me, I’m okay! There was a flower though and he was horrible.”
“Flowey?! He better not have lain a vine on you.” He snarled. Your eyes widened.
“N-no, Toriel saved me. But, apparently I replaced Frisk. They aren’t here anymore, no one’s seen them.”
“Oh thank Asgore. Oh thank you so much. Thank you for rememberin’ me.” He cried, tears dampening your shoulder as he buried his face against your neck.
“Of course Sans. I will never forget you.” You wrapped you arms around your skeleton and let him sob. There would be time to talk later. For now, it was enough that you were together.
You didn’t know what was about to happen, but as long as Sans was with you, you trusted him to keep you safe. The two of you had a big task ahead of you, but you knew you would accomplish it together.