Chapter Text
The first time Papyrus saw him, he was moving in. Papyrus was out playing by himself and saw the truck. He paused to watch as a tall skeleton in a black coat carefully led a small skeleton boy into the house before running home to tell his parents.
His parents told him to be careful. They were sure that the child was very nice, but there were plenty of other kids around. Like Undyne, who was not the sole, sickly child of the Royal Scientist. Undyne could spend a day with Papyrus. She might come home caked in mud, with some scrapes and bruises, but her parents wouldn't need to go collect her dust. Her parents didn't know the King.
Papyrus told them he would be careful. He could be gentle; it was Undyne who liked to play rough. He just wanted to talk to the boy. It was so rare to see other skeletons around, wouldn’t it be good to get to know them?
—-
The second time Papyrus saw him, he was sitting in the backyard of his house.
Papyrus was looking for a new pet rock. He had become worried that his was getting lonely. After several duds, he had just found the perfect rock, flat on the bottom with a slightly rounded top. In his excitement, he jumped to his feet with a ‘NYEHEHE’, holding the rock in the air, for all to see.
“h-hello?” A quiet voice called from the other side of some bushes. Startled, Papyrus tucked his new pet into his coat pocket and pushed his way through the foliage.
On the other side was a black metal fence, and behind the metal fence was the boy. He was sitting on a bench, a book laying open across his femurs. He wore very loose, plain white cotton pants and a matching top, which was tied closed on the side. It kind of made him look like an angel, the kind in picture books. Sharp white eyelights were looking at Papyrus, accompanied by a little frown.
“OH, HELLO!” Papyrus shook himself from his daze, and returned the greeting as enthusiastically as he could, standing on his tiptoes and waving with his hand all the way in the air. It was always best to greet a new friend with everything you had.
The boy jumped and turned to look back at his house. Papyrus followed his gaze, curious. When several long, quiet minutes went by without anything happening, Papyrus spoke, unable to keep silent.
“WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?”
The boy jumped again and spun around to face him, bringing a finger to his mouth. He marked his book, closing it and placing it aside. He walked slowly over to the fence, watching the ground and placing his feet carefully.
“please be quiet,” he said as he stopped a few feet from the fence. Oh. Papyrus dropped back down onto his heels, his arm falling by his side. “he might hear you.”
“WHO? YOUR DAD?” Papyrus asked, quieter. The boy still looked back at the house nervously, so Papyrus tried to whisper. “WOULD THAT BE BAD? I’D LIKE TO MEET HIM, TOO. I DON’T SEE MANY OTHER SKELETONS.”
“i don’t think that would be a very good idea, no.” The boy replied, looking away. Papyrus didn’t know what to say to that. It was always good to meet new monsters, wasn’t it?
“there aren’t other skeletons around?” The boy asked after a moment, bringing those bright eyelights back to stare at Papyrus.
“NOPE. MY MOM SAYS, WE’RE UN…HMM…UN…,” he tried to remember the word she had used, tilting his head and stroking his jaw, like they did on the TV shows.
“uncommon?” the boy asked. Papyrus perked up, grinning at him.
“YES! WHY? HOW MANY SKELETONS DO YOU KNOW?”
The boy looked down, his cheekbones taking on a soft blue color. Papyrus thought it made him look really pretty.
“i don’t really know anyone…just…him,” he said softly, nodding his skull towards the house.
“THAT’S NOT TRUE! YOU KNOW ME. WELL, NOW YOU DO!” Papyrus exclaimed, forgetting and speaking at full volume again. The boy looked up at him, expression scared, and Papyrus clapped his hands over his mouth.
“SAWWY,” he whispered from behind his hands, eyes bugging out of his sockets. There was a moment of silence and then the boy laughed. It was a small chuckle at first, but before long he was holding his rib cage, his mouth parted as bright, tinkling laughter spilled out.
“i don’t…i don’t even know your name,” he said between bouts of laughter. Papyrus dropped his hands, blushing a bit himself. He was ashamed he had forgotten even that basic piece of information. This was no way to start a friendship!
“I’M PAPYRUS. THE GREAT PAPYRUS, TO MY MANY FANS!” He stood straight, putting his hands on his hips and looking into the sky with a serious expression. It was hard keeping a straight face, though, as the boy produced more of that pretty laughter. Grinning, he dropped the pose and looked at the other monster.
“WHAT’S YOURS?”
“oh, i’m sans,” he replied, shoulders still shaking occasionally with lingering mirth. Sans. Papyrus smiled at him.
“NICE TO MEET YOU, SANS.” Papyrus reached a hand through the bars. Sans stared at it for a moment, almost looking scared. Papyrus was about to pull it back when delicate phalanges landed in his. Papyrus raised and lowered their arms once, twice, three times, and then let go. Sans gave him an amused look, drawing back the hand and holding it to his sternum with the other.
“you too,” he said, smiling. The smile dropped away as he looked back at the house. “i have to…he’ll come looking soon. will you…will you come see me again, sometime?” he asked, his voice getting smaller as he went. Papyrus perked up, excited.
“OF COURSE!” He promised. Even though he hadn’t left, he could hardly wait to come back and see his new friend. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he felt the rock. “OH, SO YOU DON’T GET LONELY WITHOUT MY AMAZING COMPANY, TAKE THIS.” He presented the rock to Sans.
Sans stared at it, confused. “what is it?”
“IT’S A PET ROCK, OF COURSE!” Sans slowly took it from him, looking it over. “JUST REMEMBER TO FEED IT EVERY DAY, AND IT WILL BE YOUR FRIEND. UNTIL I COME BACK TO BE YOUR FRIEND.”
Sans turned the rock over in his hands a few times, smiling at it.
“what do I-,”
“Sans!” A deep voice from the house called, tone clipped. The smaller skeleton turned, expression scared.
“you have to go,” he whispered, looking back at Papyrus. His smile returned for a moment, though Papyrus thought he seemed sad. “see you soon?”
“YES!” Papyrus nodded, turning and pushing his way through the bushes.
—
The seventh time Papyrus saw him, Sans seemed a little brighter, a little lighter on his feet. He met Papyrus at the fence looking nervous, but excited.
“he’s gone. he went to see the king!”
Papyrus grinned at the news. He didn't dislike the doctor. He didn't dislike anyone. However, Sans’s fear of his dad often cut their visits short. Today, they could talk as long as they wanted, and he began to do just that.
“do you…do you want to come inside?” Sans asked, as Papyrus was re-enacting that week’s adventures with Undyne. Papyrus paused, arms outstretched to indicate the approximate size of the froggit they had climbed, thinking she was a rock.
“IS THAT OKAY?” He asked, arms falling. He didn’t want to break any rules.
“as long as he’s not here, yeah. come on, there's a tree a little ways down. you can climb over!”
Sans looked so excited, Papyrus couldn't help but drop his concerns and come along as the smaller skeleton led the way to said tree. It had grown over the top of the fence, its branches dipping towards the ground on the other side. Papyrus was excited too, of course. Seeing the other’s room was a huge friendship step. He wondered if Sans could come see his room someday.
Climbing the tree was easy work, Papyrus plenty strong and the branches spaced regularly. He dropped down on the other side a moment later. Sans watched the whole journey with a smile. As soon as Papyrus was upright, the smaller skeleton led the way up to the house eagerly.
The house was empty. Not completely, but it sure felt like it. It didn’t have any of the…stuff that made a home, well, a home. The table was gray stone, with six chairs, and looked like it had never been used. The living room had furniture, but no photos or decorations. Papyrus felt uncomfortable walking through the house, like he was soiling it just by being there.
Sans didn’t seem to notice, walking through the rooms without stopping once, until he reached a door. He opened it with a little flourish. Lights flickered on as the door opened, revealing a stairway leading down.
Papyrus followed the other skeleton into what he assumed was a basement. He wasn’t at all prepared for what was there instead. The room was full of machines, which were beeping, whirring, and blinking. He stared, trying to look everywhere at once.
Sans continued into the room and hopped up onto a bed like the one at the doctor’s office. He swung his legs, watching as Papyrus wandered deeper into the room. When Papyrus came to a stop in front of him, he smiled nervously.
“what do you think?” He asked.
“IT’S REALLY COOL!” Papyrus replied, turning to peer at some glass bottles holding liquids in the colors of the rainbow. “IS THIS YOUR DAD’S LAB? I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BIGGER, FOR THE ROYAL SCIENTIST AND ALL.”
“this is his personal one,” Sans replied, looking down at his hands in his lap. “there’s a big one outside the city he goes to sometimes.”
“NEAT!” Papyrus said absently as he went to look at a desk covered in colored plastic pieces and stacks of papers. “OOH, PUZZLES!”
“he has me do those,” Sans commented, voice flat. Papyrus looked at the papers, finding math problems, a Junior Jumble, and some crosswords. The plastic pieces were actually several different puzzles where you put the pieces together to make different shapes.
He hummed as he put one together into an interesting shape. Satisfied with his work, it looked like his face, Papyrus let his sockets roam over the rest of the desk as he turned back to Sans. He lit up as he noticed a familiar gray shape.
“THE ROCK! HAS IT BEEN A GOOD FRIEND? ARE YOU FEEDING IT?”
“oh,” Sans hopped down off the doctor bed and walked over to the desk. “i didn’t know what to feed it…so i asked him, and he told me rocks don’t need food. he said he was going to get rid of it, but he must have forgotten.”
Papyrus stared at Sans, scandalized. “WELL THAT’S NOT VERY NICE!” He turned and picked up the rock, giving it a quick pet. “LET’S TAKE IT BACK TO YOUR ROOM, AND I’LL TELL YOU WHAT IT EATS.”
He turned to look at Sans, who was looking down at the ground and fidgeting nervously. The smaller skeleton didn’t make to move and lead the way back upstairs.
“SANS?” He asked. Sans looked up at him, his cheekbones a much darker blue this time. His eyelights shifted to the side.
“this, ah, this is my room…”
—-
The twelfth time Papyrus saw him, they spent the afternoon sitting on Sans’s bed, back to back, leaning against each other. Sans’s dad was at his big lab, and they had at least a few more hours before he came back. Papyrus was fiddling with a cube puzzle absently while they talked.
“do you like jokes?” Sans suddenly asked, during a lull in the conversation. Papyrus paused, letting the puzzle drop to his lap.
“JOKES ARE OKAY, I GUESS. THOUGH, MY DAD’S ARE REALLY BAD.”
Sans didn’t reply.
“WHY?” Papyrus looked over his shoulder, but all he could see was that Sans’s skull was bowed.
“i tried telling him a joke and he got mad at me. he said they’re a waste of time and thought process.” His voice deepened, like it did when he tried to mimic his dad. Papyrus frowned, turning back to look at the puzzle.
“WHAT WAS THE JOKE?”
“what do you call an alligator that wears a vest?”
“FASHIONABLE?”
Sans chucked, his shoulders moving against Papyrus’s.
“an investigator.”
Papyrus leaned forward, pulling himself to the edge of the bed and hopping off. Sans hovered for a moment, face turned towards Papyrus with an expression of surprise. Then, with a poof of his white shirt, he fell flat on the bed.
“what was that for?” He asked, tilting his head to look at Papyrus.
Papyrus put his hands on his hips and did his best to school his face into one of gentle disappointment. He leaned over Sans, staring down at him. The other skeleton peered up, his smiling dimming as he waited for Papyrus to speak.
“THAT WAS A VERY BAD JOKE, SANS, WORSE THAN MY DAD’S.”
“but,” Sans pointed out, his phalanges coming up to rest on Papyrus’s cheek bone. The spot they touched tingled pleasantly, and Papyrus found his skull moving slightly into it. “you’re smiling.”
“I AM,” Papyrus admitted with a sigh, said smile threatening to overtake his face as he saw Sans’s grow wide. “AND I HATE IT.”
He was treated to more of Sans’s joyful laughter.