Work Text:
It was a slow day, just like all the others. There was never a busy day at his sentry station, as no humans ever came through here. Sometimes he still questioned why he even continued to work here, before remembering the pleading face of his brother. He couldn't care less about anything, but he sure as hell didn't wanna worry Papyrus.
And so, Sans got up without much fanfare. He may be stuck in this area, but no one's gonna come check on him anyway, so why not do something more fun?
Using a shortcut, he quickly transported himself to a familiar door. He slumped down, leaning against it with his back and listening for any movement on the other side.
He then rocked his knuckles against it's surface: "Knock knock."
After a few seconds of silence, the voice of the lady sounded out from the other side: "Who is there?"
The skeleton's smile seemed to stretch. Looks like she's here today.
"Orange."
"Orange who?"
"Orange you glad I came back!"
A chuckle sounded from behind the door and Sans very much counted that as a win.
A knock responded to him: "Knock knock."
"Who's there?
"Shore."
"Shore who?"
"Shore I am!"
He could only respond with a laugh of his own.
---
She sounded quieter today, more subdued.
He noticed it pretty early on. Her responses were delayed, she was more hesitant to tell jokes of her own and her usually warm laughter held this weird weight, like it wasn't exactly right...
But who was he to pry?
...
...Or maybe he could ask.
"Knock knock."
There was a short wait: "... Who is there?
"House."
"House who?"
"House'about you tell me what's up?"
There was a very short giggle from the other side, before a tired sigh followed it.
Then: "My skeleton friend, I have to request a favour of you..."
Now, Sans may be lazy and unmotivated, but he could tell easily when a situation was serious, and so, for once, he didn't interrupt her with a joke.
She continued: "If a human ever comes through this door...could you please promise something to me?"
Okay, now it was getting a bit more difficult for him to sincerely consider helping. He hated making promises.
"Watch over them and protect them, will you not?"
Alright, the important thing to remember, is that Sans can make promises, he just sees it as way too big of a commitment. Swearing something means doing whatever you can to uphold that, 'cause if you just make promises willy-nilly, it kinda defeats the whole point of them. If you say you'll do it, then you better do that thing, or you won't be trusted with secrets and responsibilities ever again.
But even so...
He couldn't bring himself to refuse her. She did have an honest appreciation for bad puns after all!
With a sigh, he answered: "Whelp, 'right, I promise."
---
As he stared at the thing, which claimed to be human, in front of him, Sans could only sigh.
Sorry lady, this is why he never made promises.