Work Text:
5.
Sans swung his feet back and forth, as he had a habit of doing when he was nervous. The chair he’d been told to wait in was far too tall for him, as most chairs were. He felt even more childish and self-conscious than usual, given the circumstances. He slouched down in the straight-backed chair, then immediately sat up ramrod straight again. Couldn’t have bad posture now… He had to make a good impression.
The pinpricks of light in his eyes darted anxiously to and from the door on his right. He was supposed to have been called in by now. Some hotshot CEO was leaving him here to sweat on purpose…
No, no. He couldn’t think that way. He was being… What’d the kid call it? Antagonistic? Somthin’ like that. The world wasn’t out to get him, or so they told him. Sans ducked his head down, instinctively trying to bury his chin in a hoodie that he wasn’t wearing. Instead, he tugged on his tie, letting out a little huff of frustration under his breath. Why was he here, making a fool of himself? What made him think he could do this?
Feeling a buzz from his pants, Sans shoved his hand in the pocket of his slacks, desperate for anything to keep him busy. One new message from Frisk. He glanced up at the door one more time before opening it,
“You’re probably already in your interview, but good luck!!! I know you’ll do great!”
A solid two lines of emojis followed the message, and Sans laughed out loud. The kid always went overboard with those stupid things, ‘specially the little colored hearts. He was just about to type out a reply when the door finally opened.
“Ah, Mr. Sans Snowdin, I presume?” An older guy stood in the doorway… Human, of course. Sans was well aware that there were no monsters working here. If he got this internship, he’d be the first. Quicker than he’d probably ever moved in his life, he jumped to his feet and hastily stuffed his phone back in his pocket.
“Yeah, that’s me,” He put on his best, most charming mask of a grin and held out his hand. The man seemed bewildered at the sight of his skeletal fingers. With a blink and a little shake of his head, he seemed to snap out of it. Sans felt just a little bit of tension leave his shoulders as the guy smiled back at him and shook his hand firmly.
“I’m Dr. Molter. It’s very nice to meet you… Come on in,” He stepped back and gestured for Sans to follow him inside. He did so, his bones rattling a little with his nerves. His hands twitched, itching to be shoved in his pockets. But he couldn’t do that; he had to look professional. Like he had his shit together. Head up. Back straight. Smile.
...Hell, this was gonna be harder than he thought.
“How are you today, Mr. Snowdin?” The doc asked as he sank into a leather-bound chair behind his desk. The desk itself was simple, but neatly organized. Not a paper out of place. The whole room smelled of oranges, the scent so overwhelming that Sans almost forgot to close the door behind him.
“I’m good… And you can just call me Sans, if you want,” He shrugged, as if he didn’t really care either way. But, in fact, he did. He’d been forced to come up with a last name for himself and Papyrus if he wanted to assimilate with the humans, and he wasn’t too proud of his lack of creativity. He hadn’t been back to Snowdin in a long time. That place wasn’t home anymore, and he regretted taking on its name.
“Good to hear, Sans,” The chair creaked as Dr. Molter leaned back in it. Sans took a seat on a much less comfortable chair across from him, “So, let’s get straight to it, shall we?” He picked up a small stack of papers and leafed through them, “I’ve seen a lot of applications for this position, but I must say that yours really stood out to me. Tell me… Why do you want this internship?”
Sans placed both hands on either arm of the chair, his back stiff and feet swinging wildly below his seat. He had to force himself to stop that, before he wound up doing something stupid like kicking the desk. He thought he felt a bead of sweat form on his brow, and he reached up to wipe it away before answering,
“Well, what else am I gonna do with an astrophysics degree, ‘sides work at NASA?” Sans could’ve kicked himself. Great, open with a self-depreciating joke… That’ll really sell it. To his surprise, though, the doc laughed. Not a pity-laugh, either; this one came right from the belly.
“I suppose you would be right,” Still feeling like he needed to save the situation, Sans continued on hurriedly,
“I really love what you’re doin’ here, though. It’s been my… dream. To work here, I mean,” He felt heat rising to his cheeks. God, this was already going downhill. He knew he’d be bad at interviews; he wasn’t much of a talker, and certainly didn’t like talking about himself. He avoided situations like this like the plague. He had to keep it cool, though. If he could just keep it together for ten minutes…
“Good,” The doc said with an approving nod, “And how did you hear about this program?” Thankfully, Sans remembered practicing this one. Frisk had been quizzing him on a bunch of common interview questions for the past two weeks. It’d been obnoxious at the time, but he’d be thanking them as soon as he got out of this hell.
“I heard about it from my advisor in Boulder… That’s where I did my undergrad studying. Dr. Piatt told me about it, and it’s been on my mind ever since,” Sans gave himself a mental pat on the back for not making a complete fool of himself this time. He caught himself swinging his feet back and forth again, and resolutely hooked his ankles around the legs of the chair so he’d cut it out.
“Oh, yes, I know Joe. He and I worked together for a short time. How is he as a professor?” Sans broke eye contact and shrugged,
“Y’know… He’s pretty good,” Privately, Sans thought he sucked. Nice guy, and willing to teach a bag of bones like Sans, but that was about the best praise he could honestly give him as a professor. Molter laughed quietly, seeing through Sans’ lie,
“Well, I always thought Joe would be better suited for field work than on a campus, but I digress. But anyway… Tell me a little about yourself. What’re your strengths?” Sans drew a blank for a moment. He’d practiced how to answer those two questions separately, but not together. Which one should he pick? He felt himself beginning to sweat again,
“Uh… I-I’m a good problem solver. I’m good at seein’ what’s wrong and figurin’ out what to do about it,” Sans cringed internally at himself. He hated every moment of this. Why’d he put himself through this? He didn’t need to. He could’ve been just fine working retail the rest of his life. Pap was the one with the big dreams, not Sans…
But, speaking of Pap, his bro was so proud of him for doing this. For six years, every time he’d go to class, Pap would have this big grin on his face like he’d never seen anything so great in his life. Sans couldn’t find it in him to disappoint his brother. And besides… He wanted this, didn’t he? For the first time in his life, he wanted something for himself. He couldn’t very well give up just because he was scared of a little interview. As unpleasant as it was now, he’d get through it.
That was what Frisk would say, anyway.
“...And I’m a good listener. I don’t always talk much, sure, but you’ll never have to tell me anything twice,” He managed to get out the rest of his scripted answer with a bit more grace. He allowed himself to relax a little, his spine resting against the back of his chair. He looked the doc in the eye. The guy wasn’t out to get him. He had nothing to fear. He had this in the bag… Yeah. This was going fine.
“How about your weaknesses?” Sans paused. He had an answer for this one, of course. It was a common question; the doc wasn’t throwing any curve balls at him. But, in the moment, he felt unhappy with the answer he and Frisk had rehearsed. It wasn’t honest. Before he could exercise his better judgement, he found himself telling the truth,
“Y’know, I haven’t always been… Well, gung-ho about chasin’ my dreams or any of that. Not really a goal-setter, to be honest. For a long time, I just felt like there was no point. Things would end up the same no matter what. Dunno when I started thinkin’ that, or why, but…” He caught himself rambling, and took a breath, “That’s changin’, obviously. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t. And it wasn’t like the motivation came naturally… It took me a solid ten years to get the courage to start goin’ to school, to begin with. But, now that I’m here, I feel like I’ve got something goin’ for me for the first time,” Subconsciously, he placed a hand on his chest, then let it fall when he saw the doc staring intently at him. He cast his gaze down, suddenly very interested in the grainy wood of the desk. When his interviewer didn’t say anything, he ended lamely by mumbling, “That’s it, I guess.”
The silence stretched on for an uncomfortably long time before Sans heard the creaking of the doc’s chair as he sat back into it further. Finally, the human spoke,
“Well, thank you for sharing that, Sans. It’s been a pleasure speaking with you,” Sans’ eyes snapped back up sharply,
“That’s it?” He couldn’t believe that the interview was already over. That couldn’t have been it, right? Was it a good thing or a bad thing that it had gone by so quickly? He hadn’t gotten to say everything he’d practiced…
“Unless you have any questions?” Aside from the obvious “Was I any good?”, Sans’ mind was devoid of questions. He shook his head numbly, to which the doc continued, “Then yes, that is all,” Dr. Molter stood up and held out his hand. Sans mimicked him. The doc smiled, “I’ll be emailing you in a few days. But, between you and me…” His grip on Sans’ hand tightened, and he winked, “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“T-thank you,” Sans replied, bewildered. It wasn’t until after he’d said goodbye and shut the office door behind him that he really comprehended what the doc had said.
A huge grin split his face in half. Did that mean he got in?! He barked a quick laugh, then dug in his pockets to find his phone. An uncommon feeling of pride welled in his chest. He was really going somewhere… For once, he was gonna do something. Something he cared about a lot. Something his brother could be proud of him for.
He texted Frisk a single thumbs-up.
4.
“Hey, pay attention!” Sans’s head shot up as he felt a sharp flick on his skull. He gave Frisk a cross look and rubbed his head.
“Jeez, take it easy, will ya? I’m payin’ attention,” He mumbled and laid his chin back on his arms. A couple of freshman girls walked past the table he and Frisk were sitting at and shot him identical, disgusted looks. He glared back at them half-heartedly. Frisk either didn’t notice or completely ignored it. The kid puffed out their cheeks; an adorable habit of theirs when they were frustrated.
“Is that so? Then name just one of the six features of a cancerous cell.” Sans idly traced circles on the table, his boney finger making an abrasive sound as it scratched on the wood.
“Uh… Y’know… There’s that one. With the things on the end of the chromosomes… You know what I’m talkin’ about.”
“Do you mean ‘unlimited replicative capacity’? Because you have to know those words exactly.” Sans snapped and pointed at the kid, flashing the most winning smile he could muster under his crippling exhaustion,
“Yeah, that’s the one. Read my mind.” Frisk furrowed their brows, and Sans knew he was in for it.
“Saaaans… You have to remember this stuff! It’ll be on the final!” Sans let his hand fall, slapping the table louder than he’d intended. He cringed at his own volume and buried his head in the crook of his elbow,
“Dunno why I havta take biology, anyway. I’m an astrophysics major… when m’I gonna use any of this?” His words were muffled by the fabric of his hoodie, but he knew Frisk had understood him. There was a long pause before they replied heatedly,
“Well, I don’t know, but you’re so close to being done! Just one more test, and then you’ll never have to take bio again,” They reached out and rubbed his back soothingly. It didn’t help. The fact remained that Sans was garbage at biology. If it was monster biology, then sure. He’d probably do alright at that. But it wasn’t; this was all human crap. Monsters didn’t get cancer, or have a digestive system, or live among complicated ecosystems of plants and animals. He wasn’t even remotely familiar with any of it, and he was well aware that he was at a distinct disadvantage compared to the rest of his all-human class.
But he knew he shouldn’t complain to Frisk. Kid was taking all sorts of crazy, political science classes that were way over his head. They should be studying for their own finals, not helping his sorry ass muddle through introductory biology. With a deep breath, he pulled himself together and sat up straight in his chair,
“Okay, so… Run me through the six cancer cell things again. I just need to hear it one more time.”
Well into the night, Sans and Frisk could’ve been found in the library, buried in open laptops, notes, and books. They kept to their table in the corner, sometimes studying together, and sometimes completely ignoring each other. It was during those times when Frisk was lost in their own work that Sans was in the greatest danger of falling asleep. He vowed silently that he’d never procrastinate to the point where he had to cram like this again. But, then again, he’d said the same thing last semester…
Once the ever-present murmur of voices in the library started to die out, Sans decided he’d had enough. He’d crammed as much into his skull as possible. If he didn’t know something by this point, he sure wasn’t gonna be able to learn it now. Frisk looked over at him as he started packing up,
“Leaving?”
“Yup. Too tired… I’d be better off just getting some rest,” He stood up, then paused, “...You get some sleep too, kid,” He was never very good at being the responsible adult figure, especially not now that he and Frisk were going to school together. But he felt he had to give it a shot every now and then. The kid rolled their eyes and waved him off,
“Yeah, I will. Your test is early tomorrow morning, so don’t forget to set your alarm. Don't want another incident like last semester...” Sans cringed at the memory,
“Oh, trust me, Pap won’t let me forget,” Frisk laughed and rubbed their eyes tiredly,
“Okay, goodnight.”
“‘Night, kiddo,” With that, Sans hefted his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the library. He threw his hood up before walking outside; not because the cold bothered him, but because people tended to stare. Not that the weird looks and the whispers got to him much, either, but sometimes he was just too tired to deal with it. So he hid his face as best he could and walked with his head down.
That was why he didn’t see the human in front of him before he walked directly into them.
“Oh, sorry,” He mumbled and tried to skirt out of the way. A spike of fear lanced through his chest when the person grabbed his arm to stop him. His eyes went dark as he prepared to defend himself-
“Sans! What a lucky coincidence!” Sans looked up, startled. Turned out that the person he’d bumped into had been his physics professor and advisor, Dr. Piatt. The man was smiling brightly down at him, as jovial as ever. Sans let out a shaky breath,
“H-hey… Uh, is it?” Piatt let go of his arm to dig in his coat pocket. Sans watched, growing more curious as the adrenaline began to leave him,
“Yes! I was just going to drop off these pamphlets in the library. But, since you’re here, I’ll just give you one…” He furrowed his brow and dug around in all of his pockets until he found the right one, “Ah! Here, please,” Sans wasn’t usually one to take pamphlets from people off the street, but since it was his professor, he felt like he had to. He glanced down at the paper and recognized the logo immediately,
“‘NASA Pathways Recent Graduates Program…’” He read aloud, then frowned after skimming the front page, “Says ya have to have graduated… I’m still only a sophomore.”
“It’s never too early to start thinking about internships, Sans!” Dr. Piatt beamed, his breath billowing into a cloud in the frigid air, “You’re a bright student, I really think you’d have a good shot at getting in! My former colleague, Dr. Molter, just took over running the program. He’s very… er… progressive, so don’t worry about that,” He nodded, as though that settled the issue, “Just think about it, alright?”
“I suppose,” Sans responded noncommittally. Piatt seemed to take that as a ‘yes’.
“Great! Then I’m going to get inside where it’s warmer… It was good seeing you!” He gave Sans a quick wave before hurrying off toward the library. Sans blinked, shook his head, and continued on in the opposite direction. He found a trash can at the entrance to the lot he was parked in and held the pamphlet over it.
Before it could slip out of his fingers, he paused. What was he going to do after school? Frisk had coerced him into going to college, and Pap loved the idea so much that Sans couldn’t have said no. It had been pretty easy to go to school at the same time as the kid; they basically filled out his application for him, showed him how to register for classes, and helped him with all of those little details that, on his own, would’ve overwhelmed Sans so much that he wouldn’t have even tried. But, now that he was here… What was it all for? He loved his major, shockingly. He kinda thought that studying space might make him lose his interest in it, but that wasn’t the case. The more he learned, the more fascinating it all became. But, once he graduated, he wouldn’t get to experience that anymore. Not unless he actually worked in the field.
His grip on the pamphlet tightened, and he slowly brought it back from the trash. He held it with both hands as he read it more thoroughly, flipping through the pages with fervor. Maybe… This wasn’t such a terrible idea. Hell, if Piatt thought he could get in, why not give it a shot?
He could at least think about it.
3.
“SANS?!?” Papyrus yelled, and Sans closed his eyes, hoping he could get away with faking asleep. Unfortunately, no such luck. His brother stormed into the living room, as evidence by the loud thudding of his feet on the carpet, “SANS! GET UP, YOU LAZYBONES! THE HUMAN WISHES TO SPEAK WITH YOU!!!”
Sans groaned, then pried himself up into a sitting position on the couch. He yawned, hoping to preserve the facade that he'd been sleeping. Normal people didn’t usual lay on the couch and stare at the wall for indeterminate periods of time, after all. He reached up and felt Papyrus place a laptop in his outstretched hands.
“Thanks bro,” Sans said, and Papyrus let out a triumphant “Nyeh!” before leaving the room. Sans lowered the computer onto his lap and tilted the screen back to his liking, “Hey, kid. ‘Sup?”
Filling the screen was an image of the very same thirteen-year-old kiddo who’d freed all of monsterkind from the Underground. ‘Course, that had been a few years ago… Now, the kid was much taller and much more gangly. All limbs, that one. Tori insisted that they’d grow out of this awkward phase. But, in the meantime, Sans was having a blast teasing them about their braces every chance he could get.
Frisk waved at him enthusiastically, their webcam choppy and lagging. The kid wasn’t much of a talker, though they’d been getting better and better the older they got. Still, Sans didn’t expect a reply to his query, and continued on as if they’d asked the same of him,
“I’ve been catchin’ up on some Z’s, myself. Pap never lets me get any sleep the night before Christmas, so I’ve gotta brace myself for that,” He pointed to his own teeth and winked, just in case Frisk didn’t pick up on the pun. They groaned and slapped their own forehead, to which Sans chuckled.
“Why doesn’t he let you sleep?” The kid asked in a soft, melodious voice. Sans shrugged,
“Eh, he likes to wait up for Santa. The ol' Kris Kringle must be real sneaky, though, ‘cause the presents always get under the tree without Pap or I even noticing,” Sans winked, and Frisk giggled, covering their mouth with their hand as they did so. Sans glanced over at the tree in the corner of the room, already devising a plan for how he was going to get the presents under there this time. Every year, Papyrus got more and more inventive in his methods to catch Santa. This year, he was even talking about setting up surveillance cameras. Sans wasn’t quite sure yet how he was going to get past that.
“Sans?” The kid asked quietly, bringing Sans out of his daze, “I was wondering… can you help me with a homework problem?” Frisk held a piece of paper up to the webcam. Sans squinted, but couldn’t make anything out.
“Gonna have to read it to me, half-pint… My eyes ain’t that good,” He leaned back on the couch, propping the laptop up on his knees precariously. Frisk pulled the paper back and frowned, looking down at the keyboard as though considering typing it out instead. They puffed out their cheeks, frustrated, before turning the paper around with a flourish and beginning to read,
“It’s a crossword… it says ‘Ceres is the largest object in the…’” They looked up expectantly, and Sans answered automatically,
“Asteroid belt.” Frisk smiled and hurriedly wrote it down. They continued,
“A shooting star is really a…”
“Meteoroid.”
“Something that’s bigger than a meteoroid but smaller than a planet is a…”
“Asteroid.”
The longer this went on, the stronger the kid’s voice became. Halfway through, Sans had the thought that he maybe shouldn’t be just giving them all of the answers. Wasn’t he supposed to encourage them to find the answer themselves, or something? Eh, well. Tori wasn’t around to scold him for it, so he might as well give the kid a freebie. It didn’t take long to knock out the whole crossword.
“You know a lot about space!” Frisk pointed out as they stuffed their completed homework in a folder, then put that folder in their backpack.
“Well, space is pretty cool. I’ll nova understand how anyone could not be interested in it,” Frisk laughed again, but they were not deterred,
“Really, though! You should go to school to be an astronaut!” It was Sans’ turn to laugh. He shook his head,
“Is this ‘cause of that career day thing you guys had to do yesterday?” Frisk crossed their arms,
“No! I just think you’d be a good astronaut. You’re so good at space stuff!” Sans paused, trying to think of a way to let the kid down gently. Sure, he knew a lot of random space facts, but that was a far cry from actually making a career out of it. Sans could never see himself going to school for anything. As interesting as astronomy was, he just wasn’t cut out for it. He wasn’t smart enough, or motivated enough.
“Uh… Don’t mean to burst your bubble, kid, but I don’t think they let monsters in space,” He said with a shrug, “But, hey. Maybe I could take a shortcut to the ISS one day. Bet the humans would love the company.” Frisk didn’t giggle this time. Even through the crappy webcam, Sans could tell they were fixing him with an intense look,
“Anyone can be whatever they want to be,” They said, firmly, “And that includes you.” Sans fidgeted uncomfortably under their stare. Sometimes, it seemed like the kid could look directly into his soul, even though he knew that was illogical.
“Well, I’ll think about it. Ya happy now?” Finally, Frisk smiled and nodded, “Good. I gotta go… Got some real important napping to get back to,” He winked, and Frisk rolled their eyes, “Tell your mom I said ‘hey’.” They nodded resolutely, then waved goodbye. Sans waved back before ending the call and closing the laptop.
He allowed himself a brief moment to consider it. Him. Going to school. Getting a degree.
Sans snorted and shook his head. Yeah, like that would ever happen.
2.
“Just a bottle of ketchup for me, Grillbz,” Sans said with a wink. He leaned his head on his hands, his feet swinging back and forth under his stool. As Grillby went into the back to get a fresh bottle, Sans let his smile fall for just a few, precious moments.
He tried not to listen to the excited voices around him, but it was hard not to. They were all talking about the same thing; the Barrier being broken. Everyone was all talk, no action. The Barrier had been down for a good few hours now, and no one was makin’ any effort to actually go and see it. But Sans had been out there. Only for a minute.
He didn’t honestly know why he was so pessimistic about it. Didn’t know why he’d seen the sun setting over the horizon and turned right back around to burry himself back under the mountain. He just… Didn’t trust it. Not one bit.
A bottle of ketchup slid over to him from across the bar. Sans quickly plastered on his smile again,
“Thanks, Grillbz,” He tipped his head back and squirted a dollop of ketchup into his mouth. Sans looked around to see if anyone was staring at him disgustedly, but no such luck. Everyone was too busy talking to care that he was drinking a condiment. It was a shame; he really enjoyed people’s reactions. It was half the reason he drank ketchup. He shrugged and took another gulp.
It was around then that he noticed Grillby still staring at him. For a guy who was literally always on fire, he was pretty easy to overlook. He rarely ever spoke, and seemed to blend into his surroundings. Like an ambient fireplace. Although, Sans didn’t think Grillbz would appreciate the comparison.
“‘Sup?” Sans asked, secretly uncomfortable with Grillby’s staring. There was a reason he was sitting at the far corner of the bar; he wanted to be left alone. But he supposed that, if anyone was going to invade his space, he’d rather it be Grillbz than anyone else.
“Rumor has it that you were there when the Barrier broke,” The bartender stated as he wiped a glass with a rag. Sans shrugged,
“Dunno who coulda told ya that, since everyone else who was there is outside right now. But yeah, you’re right.” Grillby didn’t elaborate on his sources. He always seemed to know the latest gossip, but was rarely ever interested in it. This time was an exception, apparently. He set the glass down and moved on to wiping down the bar.
“You’re not outside,” He said simply. Sans continued to swing his feet. Back and forth, back and forth...
“Nah. I was for a bit, but it was nothin’ to write home about,” He hunched his shoulders. Grillby stared at him for a bit, then went back to wiping the counter. Neither of them said anything more on the subject.
Sans didn’t notice right away when Frisk walked into the building. The conversations were too loud and the kid was too quiet. He didn’t notice them until he felt a small hand tugging at his sleeve.
“Huh? Oh, hey, kiddo,” Sans gave them a lazy wave. Frisk frowned at him, their expression accusing, “What? You want a drink?” He held out his ketchup bottle, to which Frisk wrinkled their nose. They took it from him and stood on their tiptoes to set it back on the counter. Determinedly, they grabbed his sleeve and tugged. He allowed himself to be pulled off of the stool. He waved goodbye to Grillby as he was dragged out the door and into the brisk air.
Snow crunched underfoot as the kid lead him down the road. In the streets, kids were celebrating. Adults were huddled in circles, talking in excited voices. Sans couldn’t muster the hope to match their optimism.
Once they passed by his house, Sans finally dug his heels in,
“Alright, kid. Where we goin’?” Frisk pulled on his sleeve, then puffed up their cheeks when he still wouldn’t budge. They pointed upwards, and, of course, Sans knew what they meant,
“Think I’ll pass. You go on, though… Tori’s probably missin’ you.” Frisk didn’t leave. They grabbed his wrist with both hands and pulled as hard as their little body would allow. Their feet slipped on the snow and ice, and they almost fell backwards. Wordlessly, Sans started walking back to Grillby’s, literally dragging the kid behind him with every step.
They kept their balance for an impressively long time before, eventually, they did fall. Sans didn’t look back when Frisk slipped, letting go of his hand as they tumbled down. The snow would give them a soft landing; they’d be fine. However, Sans did stop to turn around when he heard a wet sniffle.
Seeing Frisk sitting on the ground, tears streaming down their chubby cheeks, just about broke Sans’ heart. Frisk had always given him an odd feeling; he never felt totally at ease around them. Maybe it was even partly why he had such mixed feelings about the Barrier being broken. But seeing any child crying and knowing he’d been the one to cause it… Well, it sure didn’t make him feel like a good person.
“Aw, jeez,” He hurried over to Frisk and put his hands under their arms, lifting them to their feet. They wiped their eyes with their sleeve, but it didn’t do much other than smear the tears on their face. Their breaths were shuddery, and they hiccuped.
“Alright, you wanna go to the surface? I’ll go to the surface with you, so long as we take one of my shortcuts. That sound good?” Frisk nodded and wiped their face again. Sans reached down to take their hand in his, “Okay, follow me.”
One shortcut later, and they were back in the judgement hall. Sans held Frisk’s hand in a firm grip as he walked briskly down the hall. His slippered feet made no noise, while the sound of Frisk’s footsteps on the tiled floor echoed throughout the giant room. Sans had to force himself to keep his eyes forward, instead of glancing over his shoulder at shadows that he knew weren’t really there. This place always gave him a bad feeling… Like he was being watched, or followed. But, just like how he felt about the kid and the surface, he didn’t know why. He was beginning to see a pattern, there.
Neither of them said a word as they ventured from the judgement hall to the King’s quarters. Sans wasn’t even totally sure if Frisk was capable of talking; he didn’t think he’d ever actually heard them say anything. Despite the silence, Frisk brightened up considerably once they reached the place where the Barrier once stood. The child tightened their grip on his hand and ran forward, pulling Sans outside as if they had something important to show him.
It was dark out, unlike the first time Sans had seen the surface. If it weren’t for the sudden change from stale, cave air to fresh oxygen, Sans wouldn’t have immediately noticed he was outside. The other monsters must’ve gone hiking down the mountain, because there wasn’t another living soul in sight. Sans looked back at the kid, silently wondering why they’d brought him here. They pointed upwards again, with such enthusiasm that Sans couldn’t help but to follow their directions and look up.
Sans felt his soul flutter in his chest when he saw what Frisk was talking about. The sky, so impossibly far away, was velvety black. Bright, flickering pinpricks of light twinkled down at him. The stars stretched endlessly through space, far too many to count. So many more than he could’ve imagined. The longer he looked, the more he began to realize that the sky was not entirely black; there seemed to be smudges of purple, blue, and amber, like nebulous clouds disrupting the void. And then of course there was the moon, which was so bright that it cast a dull glow over the whole landscape. It was just enough to be able to make out the silhouettes of the trees below. On the horizon, the still lake water perfectly reflected the stars and the moon and the nebula, making it difficult to tell where the sky started and the land began.
It all made Sans feel incredibly small.
For the first time, he felt like there was something here for him. The whole universe was stretched out before him. He wasn’t sure what he was gonna do with it yet, but it was there. And it was always gonna be there, for as long as it may take him to figure it out. He let out a long, shaky breath.
“Thanks, kid.”
1.
The lights were subdued, but dazzling nonetheless. Purple, blue, and amber specks twinkled down at him. People wished on these lights up overhead. They drew constellations out of immobile rocks far above. But Sans had to wonder how these stones compared to the real deal. They sure looked like stars to him… At least, based on what other monsters described them as. Those lucky few who had been around before the Barrier was formed, and who had seen the night sky for themselves. But Sans would never really know.
With the sight of the glowing stones above and the indistinct whisper of a field of echo flowers around him, Sans felt, strangely, that he was missing something. It was sort of like deja vu, but it went deeper than that. Like he was supposed to be somewhere else, doing something else. Something important to him.
But that was ridiculous. There wasn’t much of anything that was important to him. The one thing that qualified was standing a few yards ahead of him.
“SANS? ARE YOU COMING?!?” Papyrus’ voice snapped him out of his daze. His brother was looking back at him. Sans must’ve seemed pretty spooked, because Pap looked concerned rather than annoyed. Sans glanced back up at the fake stars, hoping they might give him some kind of answer.
They didn’t.
“Yeah, bro. I’m on my way.”