Chapter Text
"Knock knock."
"who's there"
"Wooden shoe."
"wooden shoe who"
"Wooden shoe like to know!"
Sans forced out a laugh. Laughing was getting harder nowadays. It's meant to lift one's spirits, but Sans was never the lifting type. He was never built to carry much weight in the first place. And yet...
The female voice giggled alongside him before peppily speaking out again. "Alright, now it is your turn!"
Oh boy. Sans had to think of a good one.
"ok. uh... knock knock"
"Who is there?"
"spell"
"Spell who?"
"w-h-o."
The door laughed. He always made her laugh. Guess laughter can lift spirits after all. He felt a little lighter.
"heh" Not too much.
Slowly, the laughter died down. But there was hesitation between that and her next pun.
"Knock knock."
"whos there"
"Howard."
"howard who"
"Howard you doing?"
Sans... couldn't even laugh at that. He sighed heavily instead.
"im ok"
"It does not sound like you are. Are you tired? Do you need a nap?"
"no" Sans replied instinctively, before catching himself. "actually, uh, i am pretty tired. but i've taken enough naps already today, so i'm good."
"I see. How many naps did you take, if you do not mind me asking?"
"five."
"Five! It's ten in the morning!"
"yeah. pretty lazy of me, right? got a reputation to maintain."
The worst part of all this is, Sans wasn't lying. It hasn't been long since he was awakened from his last nap by a panicking Papyrus. He looked so scared and angry at the same time. Sans couldn't help but worry about him.
"Well..." The lady talked carefully, like she was walking on eggshells. Dang it, she shouldn't have to do that. It's not like Sans was going to snap at her. "Taking five naps before noon... I would not necessarily call that lazy. Not truly."
"how can it not be?"
"Well..." Sans heard her voice get closer. Seems like she sat down. "If you needed to sleep that much, then you must have been exhausted. Did... anything happen to you recently that you think may have caused such exhaustion?"
Sans gazed up at the falling snow, lost in thought. "dunno. not much has happened."
"Maybe we should take it back. I only worry for your wellbeing, you know. Although if you do not feel up for it..."
"nah nah, it's cool. i... i guess it's been a while since we got caught up, huh?" Despite her not being in front of him, Sans made an effort to make his smile look real. "so i guess i should start from a few months back..."
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life in snowdin was... good to start off with.
when we first moved in, we didn't have much. just each other, really. we got up to all kinds of stuff. like, uh... snowmen. and doing odd jobs around the town. my brother started a social media account. i started doing comedy shows in hotland. things were ok.
and then my brother met undyne. she offered to train him and we became sentries. but, uhh... she told me she wasn't actually considering letting my brother in the royal guard. it's a shame, really, cuz he really wants to be in that group. i know undyne has good intentions, but... ugh, i don't know how to tell him his dream won't ever come true. he's already been through so much, i don't wanna... yeah. i don't wanna talk about it anymore.
things were good for a while until... i can't remember. it's... just a lot. weird dreams and stuff, i guess. you don't need to know. really scary stuff. we're fine now, but i gotta admit, it's taken its toll on us. both of us.
it was a pretty big problem, actually. i don't know as much about it as i'd like to. it's nerve-wracking to think about. so i started... or continued... this project that i thought would fix all our problems.
but it didn't. it just made bigger problems. it got to the point where my brother and my friend had to fish me outta there. it was a bad time for all of us.
since then, not much has been going on. uhh, my brother's still chipper as ever. maybe a little too chipper at times, but you can't hate him for it.
"SANS, GET UP!!! IT'S THE START OF ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!"
"nnh... five more minutes..."
"NO, YOU'VE BEEN ROTTING IN YOUR ROOM FOR FAR TOO LONG, SANS!!! YOU NEED FRESH AIR! PLEASE COME WITH ME!!!"
"what's the point..."
"T-THE POINT?"
...
"HHH... HHH HHH HHH HHH HHH!!!"
"whoa whoa, ok, i'll get up! chill, ok?"
"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR, SANS!!! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!!!"
we've been getting up to our usual antics.
"NYEH HEH HEH HEH!!! LESSER DOG!!! YOU HAVE JUST BEEN JAPED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!!! ISN'T THAT RIGHT, SANS?"
"yup. that's right."
"NYEH HEH HEH HEH!!! BUT DON'T FEEL BAD! I'M SURE YOU WILL GET ME BACK SOMEDAY! OR, WELL, YOU CAN GET SANS BACK BECAUSE I AM TOO WITFUL AND CUNNING TO BE DECEIVED SO EASILY!"
"uh huh."
"...SANS, CAN YOU PUT MORE ENTHUSIASM INTO THIS?"
"sorry, bro. 'm just being a lazybones."
"SIGH..."
my brother's the leader, of course. he's a natural leader. i dunno how he doesn't see it.
as for me...
"SANS, I HAVEN'T HEARD YOU LAUGH IN A WHILE."
"sorry, i was just-"
"SORRY NOTHING!!! YOU DIDN'T EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE MY CLEVER JOKE ABOUT SHINGLES EARLIER!!!"
"it was a funny joke."
"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU LAUGH!!! YOU... YOU ALWAYS LAUGHED..."
...
"sorry."
well, i'm me. i've always been me. nothing of note there.
i'm just...
"i ruin everything..."
"NO YOU DON'T..."
"whoops. did i say that out loud? sorry."
"DON'T SAY SORRY! YOU SAY THAT TOO MUCH!!"
"sorry..."
"S-STOP SAYING THAT!!!!!"
...me. nothin's gonna change that.
"SANS, LOOK!!! I FOUND A BRAND NEW ASTRONOMY TEXTBOOK AT THE LIBRARY! ISN'T THIS EXCITING?"
"cool."
"...I THOUGHT YOU'D BE MORE EXCITED."
"...sorry."
nothing will ever change...
"HOW MANY TIMES WOULD YOU SAY THIS DAY HAS BEEN RESET? PERSONALLY, I HAVEN'T FELT MUCH DEJA VU RECENTLY, BUT THERE ARE SOME MOMENTS WHERE I... OH."
...
"I UNDERSTAND. YOU WANT TO BE ALONE."
--------
How long has Sans been zoned out for? Did he lose track of time?
He snapped out of it. "oh, uh... but that's not a bad thing. it's just routine, ain't it? and... being a person."
"Mhm."
The air felt heavy and cold. He thought skeletons couldn't get cold.
The weight was more apparent on the other side of the door.
"knock knock."
"Who is there?"
"ice."
"Ice who?"
"ice to talk with ya."
...
A laugh. That's good. Laughs can lift one's spirits. He hoped it was her spirit that was lifted.
As for him...
"Knock knock..."
"who's there?"
Might as well just go through the motions.