Work Text:
Alphys rolled over and stuffed a pillow over her head, hoping futilely that it would block out the blaring of her alarm clock. It didn’t do anything except muffle the sound, and she groaned at the start of another work day. Throwing the covers back, she climbed out of bed and yawned, stretching her arms over her head and flicking her tail back and forth to shake the feeling back into it, then set about her day.
She brushed her teeth, showered, and changed into a comfortable pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, then threw her lab coat overtop it all and put her glasses on, shuffling downstairs to the lab. To her surprise, Sans was already there and waiting for her. He didn’t have his coat on, but he normally didn’t bother with it, so she wasn’t surprised.
“G-good morning, Sans,” she greeted, shuffling over to him. He yawned, repeating the statement and pressing his teeth to her head in an approximation of a kiss. She smiled, flustered, and moved away to begin working. “You’re h-here early. Normally I have to c-c-call you in.”
“Oh, I never left,” he stated. Alphys froze, turning back to face him, and finally took notice of the shadows underneath his eye sockets. They were nearly as dark as her own, and that was saying something. “I wanted to get everything done so you wouldn’t have to work today.”
The lizard woman frowned. “The C-Core data –“
“Already configured.” He tapped a thick, manila folder sitting on her desk, neatly labelled and filled with tabs.
She narrowed her eyes. “The repetitive nature of t-the echo flowers –“
“Analyzed and sorted.” He nudged another manila folder.
“The amalgamates?” she tried.
“Just finished playing and feeding ‘em twenty minutes ago. They’re good for the day.”
Alphys looked at the skeleton in shock, at a total loss for words. Her mind buzzed, having anticipated sitting down for a full work day’s worth of science, and he had gone and completed it all for her.
“W-why?”
“It’s Christmas,” he said, as if it were the simplest thing on earth, and leaned in to kiss her lips this time.
She reciprocated shyly, feeling a little incompetent as she moved her lips over bone. It wasn’t as if they’d never kissed before, she just… never got any more confident at it. His arms circled hers, drawing her against him, and she placed her hands on his shoulders. When they pulled apart, she was blushing and there was steam on the lens of her glasses. Alphys pulled away slightly to wipe them and he chuckled.
“D-don’t laugh! They fog up every time you kiss me like that!” she weakly defended.
“It’s cute,” he hummed, caressing her cheek. “Merry Christmas, Alphys.”
“Merry Ch-Christmas, Sans,” she replied, smiling despite herself. “Um, I…I g-got you a present.”
“Good, I got you one, too,” the male said, pulling away. Alphys tilted her head, confusion painting her expression.
“Y-you stayed in the l-l-lab all night completing our p-projects,” she stated, “w-wasn’t that your present?”
Sans smiled and shrugged. “Sure, you can count that as a gift,” he said, crossing the room. He nudged a chair aside and picked up a large box, bringing it back to her. “This is the real one, though. Here, open it.”
Alphys carefully took the box, minding her claws, and smiled at the wrapping job. Instead of traditional, decorative paper, the skeleton had used pages of an old manga she’d found at the garbage dump and immediately hated.
“I w-was just going to b-b-burn that book, but this is much m-more creative,” she praised, setting it down. “H-hold on, I want you to have y-yours, too!”
Sans waited downstairs while she scuttled back up to the living area of the lab, retrieving his gift. She handed it to him with a sheepish smile, having used traditional wrapping paper. It looked like there was more tape than paper, however, and he could clearly see several, definitive claw marks that were taped down. He smiled fondly at it and laughed a little.
“Thank you,” he said. Alphys shrugged, adjusting her glasses.
“I was g-going to have someone else wr-wr-wrap it, but I didn’t want to impose on anyone’s f-festivities –“
Sans kissed her snout and she squeaked. “It’s special because you did it yourself. I don’t care what it looks like,” he hummed. He gestured to her gift, then, with a nod. “Did you want to open them at the same time?”
The lizard monster nodded, lifting hers up. She was more excited to tear up the manga pages than anything, and it showed.
“One…”
“T-two…”
“Three!”
They both laughed, tearing the presents open and lifting the lids on their boxes. Sans found a plush, galaxy-themed blanket inside, as well as a large bottle of ketchup. Alphys found another box. Lifting the lid, she found…yet another box. And a box in that box. The male watched, amused, as she grew increasingly bemused, and opened smaller and smaller boxes until she stumbled upon a little, black one.
Her hands began to shake. Sans lifted the box up and got down on one knee, and her whole body began to shake.
“Alphys,” he began, and she started crying.
“O-oh, no,” she squealed, covering her face and turning away, “oh d-d-dear, S-Sans, I –“
“Hey, don’t cry –“
“I’m n-n-n-not fit f-for m-m-m-m-m-“ she stuttered, coughing. “M-marriage! Oh g-gosh, I kn-kn-know we’ve b-b-b-been together f-f-for m-more than tw-two years, now, b-b-but I n-never thought you would w-w-w-want to sp-sp-“
She paused, hiccupping, and began to have a meltdown. Sans straightened again and set the box aside, hugging her from behind.
“You’re working yourself into a fit, Al,” he said, cooing softly and nuzzling the top of her head, “relax, everything is fine.”
“A-a-and I’m cr-crying on Christmas, and th-th-th-this is sup-p-posed to be a h-happy t-t-time,” she stammered on, as if she hadn’t heard him.
“Alphy…”
“And I h-h-have such b-b-bad habits, I d-d-don’t even brush my t-t-teeth every day, and oh, god, w-what d-d-do you see in m-me!?”
“Everything,” he stated, with such conviction it startled her. She looked up into his face and he turned her around, brushing his thumbs under her eyes to clear some of the tears away. “I see everything in you, Alphys. I see a passionate scientist, a kind doctor, myself…” he winked, getting a giggle out of her, “and my best friend. Nothing would make me happier than getting to spend the rest of my life with you.”
He paused. “And getting Papyrus to cook more than spaghetti, but you’re definitely first, I promise.”
Alphys sniffled, wiping away the last of her tears. “B-but, why me?” she asked. “You c-could probably have whoever y-you wanted.”
“Because I love you,” Sans stated, like nothing else could ever be as concrete as that. He picked the box back up and opened it, revealing a silver ring with a dark blue gem the same hue as his iris. In fact, when she slipped it on…
“D-d-did you enhance this w-with a piece of your magic?” she inquired, examining it intently.
“Mhmm.” The male turned his eye a familiar cobalt, watching the ring light up in response. “Now, whenever we’re apart, a part of me is always with you, y’know?”
“J-just like in my anime’s…” she whispered, awed. Sans smiled, rubbing the back of his neck.
“So, uh…” he said, “is that…a yes?”
“Oh!” she cried, then threw her arms around him excitedly. “Yes! Y-yes, Sans!”
“Thank god,” he breathed, embracing her tightly, “I wasn’t sure how this was going to go if you’d said no, because, honestly, I wrote up a resignation letter in case you did.”
Alphys rolled her eyes and snorted. “Wh-what if it was a t-temporary no, or I wasn’t ready right n-now?”
“…two weeks notice?”
The lizard laughed, and it was music to his ears. He kissed her forehead and swayed, a bubbly happiness settling itself in his chest.
“I love you, Alphys,” he murmured against her skin. “Merry Christmas.”
“M-Merry Christmas, Sans,” she replied. “I l-love you, too.”