Chapter Text
Sans guides you out of, what you now realize must be, his office. The two of you are just kind of…well…standing in the hallway. Holding hands. In silence. You try waiting for him to take the next move, however nervousness wiggles its way through your body like a parasite. You can’t help but squirm a bit in place.
“So…uh…this is…Yeah..” you try to form a coherent sentence but fail to do so successfully.
”yup.” Sans nods with his eyes closed still facing his now shut office door. The poorly taped sign still fluttering a bit from the movement.
“…Yeah.”
You attempt to tug your hand away from him again unsuccessfully. His grip on you remains steady annd unwavering. You are still a prisoner in his boney grasp. Instead of wrenching free from him your arms just swing a little with only the slightest of kinetic force. It might have even looked playful to someone was watching.
”…mmhm.”
The paper on the door in front of you stills, finally out of momentum. You’re now oddly and awkwardly aware of the placement of your feet and cannot seem to recall how a normal person stands. The buzzing of an electric light bulb on the ceiling down the hallway catches your attention in an irritating way. You don’t hear anything else.
This makes you realize that both you and Sans are holding your collective breath.
Some people in your position might be afraid that Sans was planning on doing something terrible. Say planning your murder, deciding where to hide your corpse, and what ‘accident’ he was going to say happened to you or something awful and creepy like that. Surely, at this very moment, he was deciding what his alibi would be when they found your body days if not weeks later. If they found you at all. Yes, surely some people would be worried about these things in your position this very moment. He did after all pull you into his office in a ‘stranger-danger’ type way.
But… this is Sans. You…know him right? Well, you think you kinda know him. Sorta. Sure, you didn’t know he was a monster until a few moments ago but still.
He wasn’t going to hurt you…right? He wouldn’t. You felt *almost* certain. After all, if he was going to kill you or threaten you in any way he would’ve done so already? Yes? Maybe? No? What reason does he even have to hurt you? That’s what some people in your position would be thinking at this very moment. Normal people. Humans with a sense of self preservation would in fact be worried about one or more of these things.
Instead you can only think one sentence in different variations over and over.
This is awkward. This is awkward. This is so very awkward. This is totally awkward. I can’t even with how awkward this definitely is.
“This is your office?” You manage to form a coherent sentence this time. Good job.
“for now.” Sans turns to look at you. He seems thoughtful. You aren’t sure what exactly he’s thinking about but he does seem thoughtful.
”….You uh…wanna get that dinner now? Or… actually I don’t know where we would even get food.”
“no worries” Sans beings to guide/tug you along. “i got an idea.”
Scratch that it’s definitely a tug due to your feet feeling like lead. The skeleton is practically dragging you slightly behind him across the hallway and down a set of stairs. After a bit, you briefly wonder if he’s leading you blind then you see a sign saying ‘break-room’ pointing in the general direction you two have been headed. He appears to know his way around here very well. You’re glad he isn’t bullshitting you then.
A human soldier guarding another office side eyes the two of you but says nothing. You must be cautious with what you say, this is still a military base after all. You’re about to enter the break room (you guess by the smell of coffee wafting in the air) when another soldier walking through stops in front of the two of you.
”Hey, what’sup Sans?” They say half good naturedly, half curious.
”the ceiling.” Sans winks back.
”Heh. Right, I should’ve know better. This guy’s a wise crack.” The soldier doesn’t quite laugh but doesn’t quite scoff either as they look towards you and gestures towards Sans with their left hand that is currently holding a sandwich. “You two know each other?”
“Just met a minute ago actually.” Sans cuts you off before you can thoughtlessly answer.
Only now does it dawn on you. He’s totally right. Neither of you can let anyone here know that you’ve met before today. If anyone knew that they might put two and two together. Two and two being that you had broken the law by exploring the mountain, then you had the audacity to apply for a job here. ON that Same Mountain. With the government.
Actually, you don’t know for sure but Sans had probably broken the law too in order for you to run into him before Monsters were made public knowledge.
Guess you two are going to continue being ‘partners in crime’.
”Th-that’s right!” You smile in a probably awkward but hopefully not way. “Just met.”
”Is that so?” The soldier quirks an eyebrow.
”Yup” “yup” you and sans say out of sync.
”And you two are holding hands even though you just met because…?” The soldier rolls the sandwich filled hand in a ‘go on’ manner.
Right. Crap. He hasn’t let go of your hand. To be fair you haven’t let go of his either. He had loosened his grip when the soldier came into view, you could have gotten away then. You didn’t want to though. Your brain freezes up and your now sweaty grip on Sans’s hand wiggles a bit in fear.
“A-” you almost squeak something stupid that might not have even been language but gladly Sans is quick on his feet and answers in a relaxed manner.
”well this cutie here was hungry and the poor thing didn’t know where the break room was. thought i’d do the gentlemanly thing and show them. course i can’t have them wandering away and getting lost again so you see-“ he raises your clasped hands and shrugs with a cocky face “i just had to give them a hand.”
You can’t help but snicker. This was the Sans you missed so desperately. Smart and always ready to accent things with a dumb joke. Warmth fills your face, you did not miss the fact he was calling you ‘cutie’ again (and now in front of someone else!).
“Sans.” The soldier tuts and smirks, their voice a tone of fake chastising. “I gotta say, I didn’t take you to be such a flirt. But really? ‘Cutie’ is the best you got?”
Sans shrugs. You blush. It was kind of nice to hear he didn’t flirt with everyone. If you were more confident you might even admit that you liked being called a cutie. His Cutie. But that would be silly…right?
The fear you had seconds before melts gradually away as he continues to joke with the soldier. You pipe in a few quips of your own once in a while. You roll your eyes and exaggeratedly saying that you would definitely not be able to find the lunch room on your own. Everything suddenly feels so natural again.
So what if the two of you need to make it seem like you’ve just met. Sans was excelling in that department. So well even you almost believed him. You couldn’t pull this off on your own, but luckily you didn’t have to.
“I’ll let you two get back your late lunch date then.” The soldier leaves but not before sending you both a pointed wink that you oddly don’t find as charming as the ones you’ve seen Sans do.
Sans leads you inside of the poorly furnished ’lunchroom’. You were right to assume it was more along the lines of a glorified coffee lounge with a barely functioning refrigerator buzzing noisily in the corner. There were metal countertops bolted lazily to one of the walls as well, you hazarded a guessed that it was meant to be a prep area. A dirty microwave had been mounted on the wall above a cheap looking oven. It was probably the nicest appliance in the room. Once you orient yourself Sans gestures towards one of those crappy folding chairs next to an equally crappy half plastic half metal folding table. You miss his steady hand the moment it leaves yours. You try not to let it show.
“What’s on the menu then?” You try for your typical banter as you roll your eyes and sit. The chair creaks wearily beneath you.
“food.” Sans smiles. There’s a glint in his eye lights of genuine affection with an underlying pixie-like shine.
”Ah. My favorite.” You smile back at him and lean on the table, your head in your hand.
With a chuckle Sans enters a closet-like area mentioning something about ingredients. It must be a pantry then.
You attempt to casually peer into it but Sans was already walking out with a small stack of things. You weren’t sure how he had time to grab any of it though seeing he was only in there for 3 seconds.
As he puts ingredients together he makes crappy egg puns that leave you playfully groaning. You try to help him prep but he refuses to tell you what he’s making so you have no idea how to assist other than cracking the eggs he’s been joking about. With the misdirection skills of a professional magician by the time you have a semblance of an idea what your making Sans has already put the damn thing in the oven.
So instead of helping more you just have to wait. That’s fine by you when your partner in crime is distracting you. The two of you were happy to continue casually joking, waiting for your meal in the oven, when a new face walks in. Another human soldier.
Sans doesn’t pay them too much mind but acknowledges them with a nod. They spare you a nod as well with extremely tired looking eyes. If you hadn’t spent all that time with Sans in the woods you wouldn’t have noticed that Sans’s body language shifted ever so slightly. To the average onlooker Sans would still appear nonchalant, but you knew better. Something about this new soldier put him on edge. It reminded you of the first time you met Sans and he snapped at you. Stars. That was so long ago now.
The soldier yawns before going about prepping a sandwich on the countertop. You try to ignore them but that change in San’s body language makes you uneasy. It doesn’t take long to put the pieces together. By the way Sans is keeping an eye on the human soldier, he doesn’t know or trust this one very well.
“So you’re new here then?” Sans glances at your eyes.
Every word feels like a code you have to decipher. Your mind is certain you have to overthink each movement he makes so that you may find the hidden meaning.
Think. You need to think through how you go about this. Neither of you will be in a good place if any people here realize you’ve been breaking the law and secretly meeting each other.
And so a fake casual discussion begins. You pretend to introduce yourself and your line of work. Sans pretends to have never heard this information before. The conversation feels stale in your mouth. Luckily the soldier doesn’t read too much into it. They take their sandwich and leave right before the oven timer sleepily beeps.
You watch Sans take the food out of the oven. That’s when you realize it’s a quiche. Odd choice but you don’t mind. You help get the quiche on paper plates grabbing plastic silverware to go with it. Neither of you seem to know how to get back to your previous rapport now that you’ve been interrupted and forced to play the ‘just met’ card again so soon. You hate feeling so uncomfortable in your own skin as you sit down across from him. This was a proper meal and a proper hang out in…sort of public. You’re embarrassed to think that you had hoped your semi-kidnapping would have turned out better. It had been going well until they showed up. If you are honest with yourself you wouldn’t say you even hoped it would feel like a da-… a friendly hangout. That is to say, you had hoped it wouldn’t turn so sour and bland so quickly. A fear wells up in you that Sans could be realizing you’re boring. That there were more interesting people he’d rather be eating with. Think! How do you pop this awkward atmosphere without making it obvious you knew him…. some small talk might not hurt right?
“Do you have a favorite color?” You play with your fork then look up at him.
“what?” He chuckles.
You notice he hasn’t touched his food yet either.
”Just curious.” You shove a bite in your mouth to shut yourself up before you say more.
”hmm.” Sans is either genuinely contemplating the question or faking contemplation to make you more curious. The ass. It makes you smile softly.
“If I had to guess I’d say…blue?” You try. But the thought of blue gives you an idea.
”nah. not sure I have a favorite. well. maybe I just didn’t have one before. lately I’ve been partial to green.” He looks at you pointedly as he says this in an almost flirty way? But you don’t make a connection, and assume he’s just being silly. After all what could be flirty about the color green?
“Never would have guessed.” you say casually. You've decided just now that you will tease him. Payback for ignoring you for so long. After this tease perhaps you will begin to forgive him. “It’s too bad though.”
“why’s that?” His brow bone crinkles the slightest bit giving away that you’re worrying him. How cute.
”I was just hoping it’d be cyan so we could share a favorite.” You take another bite and enjoy the melty cheese.
“oh.” Sans’s cheeks get a hint of that cyan blue you were talking about. Aha! There’s the confirmation to your suspicion. It is like a blush! You smile in a self satisfied way.
“Hey, would you look at that” you point your fork his way for a second. “That’s the kind of blue I’m talking about.”
You pierce another bite of quiche onto your fork. It’s delightfully warm in your mouth. A smile forms against your will. You are deciding whether or not to continue teasing him when Sans fake(?) coughs to get your attention back.
“you seem…happy” sans remarks gesturing to your expression.
another coded sentence? Or is this genuine? You aren’t sure. You decide to try a secret message of your own.
“I am.” You reply, “I feel comfortable around you. Almost like we’ve met before”
His smile widens. Ever so slightly.
“funny. I was just thinking the same.”
You bask for a moment in how attractive his boney smile is. Curse him for hiding it from you for so long! And those eyes. Your fingers twitch wishing to draw all these new features you want to obsess over.
“damn.” He says disappointed.
Worrying you did something wrong you look around a bit panicked. Then Sans points at both your plates. Ah. Damn. Unfortunately as you look down you see that you’ve both finished eating. Damn.
You both reluctantly clean up and dispose of the plates and whatnot. Sans looks at the clock in a forlorn way. Clearly he has somewhere to be. It’s disappointing but you don’t want to overstay your welcome. You two have “just met” after all.
“I ah. That is to say, thank you. Sans. For the dinner.” You smile and force yourself to take a step away from him. It’s practically painful.
“yeah. no problem. guess I’ll see you around the office sometime.”
”For sure. I’d love to.” Your face becomes the slightest bit more warm.
“this was fun. we should do it again some time” he winks.
You smile brighter and look away somewhat timidly as the two of you part ways. It appears you two will keep your secret together a little longer.