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Sans the skeleton was only 12 years old, but he had already seen more hardship in his life than most people twice his age. He and his younger brother, Papyrus, who was 2 years old, were homeless and had been for as long as he could remember. They never met their parents, or if they did, they couldn’t remember them. All they had was each other, and Sans was left to care for his baby brother all by himself.
They had been on the streets for so long that Sans had grown used to the cold, the hunger, and the constant need to steal and scavenge just to survive.
Sans sighed, making sure to keep a tight grip on his little brother's hand as they walked through Snowdin in search of something- anything to eat, he noted how he might need to resort to stealing instead of scavenging soon if things kept going the way they were.
“You good there bro?” Sans whispered to his younger brother, who used his free hand to chew on his boney fingers with his sharp teeth. Papyrus was incredibly small for a skeleton his age, reaching just above his knees.
“MHM!” Was all he got in reply, Sans smiled and nodded as he led his brother through the small town. Pulling up his hood and trying his best to avoid the stares he got from any pedestrians nearby even though his red scarf covered most of his face anyway. He was thankful he already put Papyrus’s hood up before they left waterfall.
They had been out of food and neither had eaten for days, looking in the forest had proved to be useless, so they were now checking other areas where they don’t usually visit, like Snowdin for example. A place that Sans had only been a handful of times, and never with his brother tagging alone with him.
Unfortunately, Papyrus had hit that age were his curiosity got the best of him, he had gotten into the habit of wandering out of their secret hideout whenever Sans left to scavenge for food for the both of them, so now Sans was forced to bring Papyrus with him.
The cold air was refreshing compared to what they usually breathed in at Waterfall, but it still gave Sans the chills, he was thankful that his little brother didn’t seem to mind the cold. How skeletons could get cold he had no idea, but he knew it was best not to question it since nobody would have the answer for him anyways.
While walking down the sidewalk Sans came across a rather dark alleyway. There wasn’t anybody there, so he decided to take a chance and explore it, hoping to find some edible food for him and his brother. As they entered the alley, they were greeted by a foul smell, but Sans was determined to find food for himself and his little brother.
Once they were about halfway down the alleyway Sans spotted some dumpsters, that must’ve been where the smell was coming from. He quickened his pace much to the annoyance of his younger brother who was now getting forcefully dragged along.
“Here ya go Paps,” Sans stopped in front of the dumpsters, and he pulled out an old worn-out rabbit plushy, the exact same one from his little brother's favourite bedtime storybook. “Play with fluffy bunny but don’t move, okay? Your big brothers gotta do some dumpster diving, and in ya wander off I’ll get bonely without your company.”
“NYEH HEH HEH! YES SAS!” The babybones giggled and eagerly took his favourite pushy from his elder brother before he plopped onto the cold stone floor to play.
Sans turned around to face the dumpsters and sighed. He didn’t want to run into anyone, so he had to work fast. He used a box to stand on so he could properly see into the first dumpster which was filled with discarded but still edible food, a rare sight to see in the Underground.
Sans eagerly dug through the dumpster and gasped at what he found, some guardian angel must’ve been looking down on them because inside the dumpster there were at least 5 still-fresh sandwiches, some barely touched fruit, and even a bag of chips!
But… something seemed off. Nobody would just throw this food away, unless it was poisoned and this was a trap, something Muffet was known for doing. Sans quickly pulled his hand away from the food. Why was all this just laying here seemingly untouched?
His reason came when he took a closer look and noticed the all too familiar dust of a dead monster in the dumpster scattered under the food. Someone had died here, most likely from the cold and these were their dropped items.
Sans’s hand wavered over the food as he silently prayed that for whoever died that it was a somewhat peaceful death. They couldn’t have passed any earlier than a few hours ago since all the food was still here and other hungry people like himself hadn’t already taken it.
At the thought of someone taking his finds Sans quickly snatched as much food as he could grab and shoved it all into his inventory for safe keeping’s before he turned to Papyrus with a large smile on his face. "We're gonna be alright, boss," he said, trying his hardest to ignore the specks of dust that now coated his fingertips. “We've got enough food here to last us at least six days, seven or eight if we’re careful.”
Papyrus, who was nearly always happy and optimistic, laughed at his brother’s enthusiasm and clapped his tiny bony hands in delight, holding onto his rabbit by the ear. “SAS! SAS HUNGRY!”
Sans winced at his brother's loud voice, sometimes he kind of wished his brother spoke lowercased like he did instead of uppercase. It would make sneaking around and searching for things without the fear of being heard by someone a lot easier.
“Yeah bro, I’m hungry too” Sans faced the dumpster again and used his arm to move around the junk to see if he missed anything. “We’ll eat later, okay? You can have a whole sandwich.”
Papyrus gasped dramatically, as if the thought of not sharing with his brother offended him. But the need for food quickly changed his morals, Sans noticed early on that his brother was a really bossy and dramatic kid. “SANDWICH?”
The elder skeleton brother chuckled, doing a quick look around the area before digging back into the dumpster and pulling out a small bag of unopened monster candy that was hidden under a bloody clothe. His eye-lights glowed brighter with excitement; this was the most food he’s ever found in a day!
“Yeah Pap, a whole sandwich, just for you.” Sans’s smile got even bigger when he heard Papyrus’s small squeal of delight at the thought of finally eating. He put the monster candy in his inventory, imagining how excited his little brother would be to try it for the first time.
As Sans continued rummaging through a dumpster in hopes of continuing his lucky streak, he heard some commotion not too far away from his location. Backing away from the dumpsters, he grabbed the stuffed rabbit from his brother and putting it back in his inventory, he scooped up Papyrus and quickly looked to see what was causing all the noise, to determine if he should stay and keep looking for food or leave with his brother.
Papyrus’s young mind knew better than to speak, so he clung to his brother's oversized hoodie as the noise got louder the closer they got, Sans rubbed his back and quietly shushed him but froze as he turned the corner.
What was the saying? Curiosity killed the cat?
There was a group of shady looking monsters who were arguing loudly and gesturing menacingly at each other on the sidewalk not far from them, there were around 12 guys and nearly all of them seemed to be a different type of monster.
‘Okay, time to go.’ Sans thought, he really didn't want to stick around to see what would happen, and hurriedly deemed the area unsafe, so he quickly walked backwards and started to make his way back down the alley. But before they could get far, one of the monsters spotted them and yelled something to the others before he started to chase after them.
“Shit!” Sans hissed, running out of the alley and looking back just in time to see the stranger already halfway through the alleyway rushing at them.
Of fucking course, they couldn’t just get lucky this one time, there always had to be something bad that balanced the good. Sans should’ve known better than to think he could temporarily let his guard down and go explore the loud noises.
Sans was fast, with his HP being so low he was always on the run to stay out of trouble, but he was also carrying Papyrus, who was now clutching his scarf and wailing in fear. He could hear the man getting closer and closer, so he ran down the sidewalk past a few pedestrians ducked into an ever darker, more narrow alley and hid behind a stack of crates, both his and Papyrus’s hoods fell off during the chase.
"Shh, shh, it's okay, Pap," Sans whispered, holding his brother close to his chest and trying to listen for the man. "We're safe now, okay? C’mon Boss, please be quiet?” He pleaded desperately, tears forming around the edge of his eye-sockets.
But Papyrus was inconsolable, having been startled when he was jostled by the running. He was crying so hard that he was gasping for air. Sans was starting to feel panicky himself. Papyrus rarely ever cried. He had never felt so helpless and scared before.
He had never gotten spotted with Papyrus with him before.
Just then, the man appeared at the entrance to the alley, he was an Ice-drake monster but not one like Sans had ever seen before. He was a huge, imposing figure, with a rough face and a mean glint in his eye. He looked like he was ready to hurt someone, for what reason Sans didn’t know.
But that didn’t matter, because he knew full well that this guy probably saw him and his brother as free XP. Even if they were both wearing stripes and it was illegal to kill children, that didn’t stop the power-hungry monsters.
"Alright, you little shits," the man growled as he kicked away the crates which caused Papyrus to scream in terror. The man’s voice was low and menacing as he held out one of his wings. "You're gonna listen to me or you're gonna regret it, understand?”
Sans took a step back, holding Papyrus tighter. He was still too young and too small to fight someone like this. While he did know how to use his magic, the chance of him beating this guy was slim to none since he had no actual training from any other skeletons, and he knew it. His HP was bad enough, but he was also extremely malnourished, and was even weaker due to Papyrus being with him so he couldn’t outrun this guy, and he doubted a few bone attacks would scare him off.
But he wasn't going to just hand over their possessions without a fight, it had been days since either one of them last ate and he knew his brother wouldn’t last much longer without a meal soon.
He couldn’t run, couldn’t fight, and couldn’t negotiate. He had to lie his way out of this, there was no other option.
"We don't got nothing.” Sans said, trying to sound braver than he was. He felt his brother nod against his hoodie, panicked sobs still shaking the smaller skeletons body.
The man laughed, a harsh, unpleasant sound. "Ya think I'm stupid or something? I've seen you around here before. You've got a pretty good setup going, the two of you. You're the little street rats who everyone knows are always stealing shit. I know you have food, so hand it over and I might just leave you alone.”
Sans could feel his heart pounding in his chest, the Ice-drake could probably smell the sandwiches he had in his inventory. He had never been caught in a situation like this before, and he didn't want to be now. He could feel his magic react to the desperation on his soul, he needed to find a way out of this.
“GO WAY!” Papyrus shouted with all the force a two-year-old could muster, feeling slightly braver than before as he avoided looking at the man and kept his face hidden in Sans’s oversized scarf.
Sans winced, his soul stinging from the stress he felt. Just how desperate was this guy? They didn’t even do anything to him! “Look, I don't know what you're talking about," Sans said, trying to keep his voice calm as his red eye-lights tracked the man’s every move, ready to once again make a run for it if he needed too. “We're just a couple of kids trying to get by. We don't have anything you want."
The man eyed Papyrus and took a step closer, Sans took a step back in return, but he could now smell the alcohol coming from the man even though they were a good 7 feet away from one another.
"Fine then, if you don’t have anything I want…” The monster repeated, his voice low and menacing. “Then hand over the kid, don’t make me ask ya again runt.”
No.
No.
Sans felt his soul turn to ice, the red eye-lights in his sockets disappearing at the mere thought of handing over his baby brother to this creep. Who knows what this guy would do if he got his hands on Papyrus. His brother was the only thing he had left, the only spark of joy Sans had in this fucked up shithole.
Sans shook his head. He refused. He would rather die one billion times than give up his little brother. “Yer crazy if ya think I’m handing over my brother.” He said fiercely, with no eye lights he looked scarier and more intimidating than before, and he knew it. “I’ll kick yer ass all the way to the fucken Core before I let ya lay a dirty feather on em.”
The ice-Drake didn’t like that answer at all, he pulled out a long rope from his inventory and crouched down low, stretching the rope as his eyes switched between the two children. “I’m sure you’re already aware, but skeletons like yourself would sell pretty well on the black market given the rarity.” He took a step forward and Sans changed his stance, ready to run or even teleport if he really needed too.
“Now you, you’ll put up a fight and will probably remember this moment. So, you would be a pretty useless slave. But him on the other hand…” He smirked and used a wing to motion towards Papyrus. “…won’t remember a thing, he’s what? One? Two? Give ‘em a few years and some proper discipline and he’ll do whatever the client wants.”
The ice-drake continued to walk forward until they were only 3 feet away from each other, but he came to a quick stop as dozens of blue-ish red bones erupted from the floor and quickly circled the two skeleton children like a moving shield.
“Heh, never seen something like that before… maybe you’ll be more useful in a fighting ring…” The Ice-Drake mumbled, cautiously moving around the bones to try and find an opening. He clearly didn’t know what these attacks did, but everyone knew skeleton magic was strong and he obviously didn’t want to take the risk of touching it.
Sans was about to say something else when he heard the sound of a door opening from behind him. He turned just in time to see another person step out from the shadows and found himself sidestepping to get a better view of them without turning his back to the Ice-drake.
This person was different from most monsters Sans had seen in his life, and he heard Papyrus give a small gasp at the new monster’s appearance. He was a blue fire-monster, a fire elemental. Which were rare nowadays, fire elementals were nearly as rare as skeletons and as far as Sans was aware, barely anyone knew anything about them except for the fact that they were incredibly powerful and protective over their kind.
The young fire-elemental wore fancy black shoes, grey pants, a black and light grey striped suit with a dark red tie, their sleeves rolled up to their elbows, they had black glasses that covered their eyes, and had a white apron around their waist. They looked like they came from a family of money, someone who always dressed to impress.
"Leave em alone Marty,” the fire-monster said, they sounded young, and it was then did Sans noticed that this mysterious stranger was in stripes like himself, so the elemental was under 18. “These guys are mine."
Marty sneered, his talons flexing themselves on the snow coated concrete. "What could you possibly want with these kids, Grillby? I've got dibs on em."
The fire-monster apparently named “Grillby” shrugged, he sounded bored and was seemingly not caring about the situation all that much. "I don't want to fight with you, Marty. And my mother with have both of our asses if she finds out about this, but I won't let you hurt these children, you know the law.”
Sans couldn’t tell if the bone rattling was his own or his brothers, possibly both. He wrapped the overly large red scarf tighter around himself when he suddenly felt the air get thicker with magic as the Ice-drake did a check on Grillby, in turn Grillby did the same to see who he was really up against. One of the first signs a fight was going to break out.
CHECK:
Marty
LV 9
HP 648/700
ATK 70
DEF 60
Drunk, angered due to losing his life savings because of a deal gone wrong. Prepared to make the money back by any means necessary.
CHECK:
Grillby
LV 2
HP 400/405
ATK 60
DEF 60
Grillby refuses to back down, justice and bravery fills his soul. He is confident that he will not be beaten in this fight.
Marty didn’t seem to like that answer, and he also seemed to hesitate once he realized that the other monster's ATK and DEF stats were much closer compared to his then he originally thought despite being much older in age. With the distraction Sans was slowly edging away from the two towards the end of the alley. “As if you give a damn about the law, get yer ass outta the way or I’ll make ya. I don’t give a damn if you’re ten-“
“Fourteen.” Grillby interrupted, fixing the glasses on his face. “And I seriously doubt you can make me do anything; I can smell the alcohol in your breath from here.”
Marty's eyes narrowed and he lunged at Grillby with a roar of rage. Grillby having not actually expected the other to be mad enough to attack was momentarily stunned, but he quickly regained his footing and launched a barrage of fire magic at Marty. Using defensive magic rather than offensive.
Sans was amazed at the power and skill the young fire monster had, but he was also scared for his brother. Papyrus was now clinging to him tighter than before, watching in both fear and amazement as bright blue light engulfed the area, he turned around and was prepared to run but-
Just then, one of the men who had been arguing with Marty earlier appeared at the entrance to the alley right in Sans’s path. He was a tall, lanky Ice-Drake with a scar across his right cheek.
"Marty, what the hell is going on here?" he growled, and Grillby used that chanced to push the much larger male away from him and move so he was in front of the two skeleton children. Using his body like a shield to block them from any future attacks.
Marty spit out some blood and scowled, pointing behind Grillby at Sans and Papyrus. "These kids are mine, Jack. I found em first."
Sans took a step back and winced when his back hit the wall, he held Papyrus a little bit tighter and tried to collect his thoughts. His magic was still wonky, and he tended to avoid attacking anyone due to his HP and, ATK, and DEF. Teleporting would be extremely risky in this situation, he had no practice and had only ever done it twice before so there was no telling where he and his brother would end up, they could land anywhere in the Underground.
Not to mention he didn’t even know if he could teleport two people at once. Plus, teleporting would take up a lot of his energy that he didn’t have to spare. But if things escalated any further, he might have no choice.
While he was thankful for Grillby stepping in when he did, Sans knew that fighting was not an option for him and he needed to get out of here, fast.
Jack's eyes narrowed at his brother as he watched the elder pick off some burnt feathers, speckles of blood on the ends. "I don't give two shits about these kids. I'm more interested in what the hell's going on with you and Ember’s kid."
Grillby stepped forward, despite being much smaller than the two adults his face was calm, and his voice was stern. "Marty and I have a disagreement over these children. But it doesn't concern you, I would leave before my mother realizes I’m no longer in the kitchen.”
Jack's lip curled in a snarl. "Your mother is an old fool who thinks she’s so great just cause she fought in the war. This concerns me if it means you're getting in the way of my family's business. Now, scram before I make you regret it kid.”
Grillby hesitated for just a moment but didn't back down. He stood his ground, his eyes blazing with fire behind the dark glasses. (Pun intended) “It would be wise to not insult my mother, she wouldn’t take kindly to you threatening her only child. I won't let you hurt these children, this town is messed up as it is and I won’t stand by and watch you take them, especially not behind my mother's bar." He said sternly as he pointed to a slightly opened door which must’ve been where he had come from.
That was all Jack needed. He lunged at Grillby, drawing a knife made of ice from his inventory and shooting ice spikes at his head which Grillby used his fire to melt the ice to mist before it hit him. Sans knew they were in trouble. He held onto Papyrus tighter and took this as his chance to run, but Marty was too fast. He caught up to them in a matter of seconds and grabbed Papyrus by the arm.
Sans gasped as Papyrus was ripped out of his grip and he could’ve sworn he heard his soul crack when his brother yelped in pain as Marty wrenched his arm, dislocating it from his shoulder.
“BROTHER!” Papyrus screamed, orange tears streaming down his face as he stared at his brother in betrayal and terror, like he couldn’t believe his older brother had let him go.
Sans felt a surge of anger and fear when he made eye contact with Papyrus. He had never felt such a strong urge to protect his brother before, because his brother had never been in any danger aside from starvation.
But now, this monster had his hands on his little brother. He had gone out of his way to attack them- to attack two children for no good reason. To probably try and sell them away as slaves for someone else’s bidding, or put them into a fighting ring for their own entertainment.
Something within Sans settled, it was a feeling he had never felt before. It was almost as if there was a voice whispering to him that this man deserved punishment, that he had to be punished for his actions. And Sans couldn’t help but nod slightly, agreeing with the voice. Sans was filled with a sense of determination, determined to keep his brother safe and out of harm's way.
Sans reached deep within himself and unlocked something he didn't even know he had, something that burned him and made the marrow in his bones feel hot. With the reflexes no child should have, he summoned a sharp red bone in his hand, his left eye blazing a bright red as he spun around and stabbed Marty straight through his arm.
The Ice-Drake screamed , releasing his hold on Papyrus who fell to the ground with another cry of pain, Marty reeled back with as he stared at Sans in shock. Like his magic attack had surprised him, and Sans watched fascinated as a solid 20 hit points were slowly taken away from him, going down quickly one by one as if he was poisoned.
A surge of energy flowed through his body, and he before he knew it, he had raised his hand in the air, a loud *DING!* could be heard echoing across the alley as Marty’s soul was encased with blue magic. Almost as if Sans had done this hundreds of times before, he threw the other into the wall. Marty was once again caught off guard and went down, the rope in his talons falling harmlessly onto the floor beside him.
With Marty dazed the floor Sans directed his attention to the fire elemental who was fighting and clearly winning against Jack. Sans knew he didn’t have the energy to do what he just did a second time, they had to get out of there, fast. He rushed forward and scooped up Papyrus from the floor before he hightailed past Grillby and Jack as they fought.
“GO SAS! GET WAY! GO!” Papyrus hid his face in Sans’s chest as Sans turned the corner out onto the streets of Snowdin just in time to see Grillby forcefully pin down Jack and the back door of the bar open to reveal an angered white fire elemental, presumably one of Grillby’s parents.
‘Probably Ember, which was Grillby’s mom based on the way they were talking about her.’ Sans thought as he ran down the sidewalk as fast as his legs could carry him, the last thing he saw was the older white flame knock out Jack with a single hit before she pulled the smaller blue fire elemental in for a protective hug which the younger instantly returned.
He heard Marty shouting after him, promising to get him next time before two separate screams of pain erupted from the alley and the temperature around them started to rise at a drastic rate. But Sans didn't look back. He kept running, his soul pounding in his chest.
He was scared, he was tired, and he was confused, but he was also determined to protect his brother, no matter what. Nothing else mattered except keeping Papyrus safe, the voice in his head agreed with him. And right now, they weren’t safe.
Not out in public with all the watching eyes. Skeletons were rare monsters to encounter, and Sans knew he and his brother could be captured and sold for thousands on monster trafficking markets, they weren't old enough to go out in public and be seen because their magic wasn't formed enough to protect them if something like this happened.
Collecting all the magic he could, Sans imagined their hideout. He pictured their bed and the rocks, he imagined the water puddles by the entrance, the crystals that decorated the ceiling, he remembered how safe he felt when he was in there and how much he wanted to-
*POP!*
Before Sans knew what was happening, he crashed onto the floor of their secret hideout, he twisted himself so Papyrus would land on top of him and gasped for air, trying to catch his breath.
His permanent smile faltered as he closed his eyes and rested his head against the rocks, the warm atmosphere was nearly suffocating. Their current home was deep in the forest of Waterfall. It was a small, cramped cave that they had found one day while scavenging for food. It was too small for adult monster to get into, and they had made it into a cozy little home for themselves months ago.
Sans was happy with their little temporary home but it he knew wasn’t fit for Papyrus to be raised here. So, Sans currently had his eyes on this small, abandoned house near the edge of Snowdin, the only problem was there was an old couple with high LV that already lived there. Luckily they had no kids from what he could tel, and their age would make it so they would both die within the next few years.
He also had yet to fully check the place out because he didn’t want to leave Paps alone anywhere, but he also wasn’t going to risk bringing his little brother along, especially not after what happened today.
“SAS?” Papyrus was still crying, sniffling while using his good arm to poke at Sans to make sure his older brother was alright. “SAS OKAY? BROTHER HURT?”
Sans sighed before giving his brother the most genuine smile he could muster up, which mustn’t have been that genuine based on the sad look he got in return. “Nah Paps, I’m just a little rattled is all.” He said with a wink, rewarding him with a tiny smile.
He sat up and carefully placed Papyrus on a makeshift bed of moss and leaves before he pulled out some cloth from his inventory and started to wipe away the morrow seeping out from the small cuts made by Marty that were running all along Papyrus's arm, trying to be as gentle as possible.
Papyrus winced and whimpered; tears were still streaming down his face, but he didn't wail. He was trying to be brave for his big brother, who noticed how silent his usually loud and excited brother was being.
"Don't worry Boss," Sans said, much more gently than he was used to. "Doctor Sans will have you fixed up in no time."
"HURT SAS” Papyrus said, his voice small as more orange tears collected in his eye sockets like saying it just made it more true. “MAKE IT NO HURT SAS, PEASE?”
Sans's smile faded. He felt guilty for not being able to protect his brother better, but he also felt dumb for investigating to see what the loud noise was. “I know, bro. I'm sorry. I promise I'll be more careful next time."
“NO NEXT TIME…” Papyrus wildly shook his head in fear, the previous events still fresh in his child mind. "…PEASE NO NEXT TIME, DON WANT YOU GET HURT SAS..."
Sans felt a surge of love for his little brother, it still shocked him that despite his little brother being only 2 years old he could already speak in small sentences. He hugged him as tight as he could without causing the other harm, trying to transfer some of his strength to him through his soul. “We’re going tibia fine Paps, trust me on this.” He said with a wink, rewarding him with a small snort from the younger.
"Hey Boss," he said, trying to distract him as he felt around to try and find any other injuries he was unaware of, so far it just looked like a few small cuts and the dislocated arm. “Do you know what's a skeleton's favourite drink?"
Papyrus tilted his head to the side, using his good arm to wipe away any remaining tears. “DON KNOW…”
"Bone-a-fide coffee!" Sans said, eyeing Papyrus’s dislocated shoulder with distaste. That needed to be popped back into place, and since skeleton monsters were much different than regular monsters this wouldn’t hurt as much since they had no flesh, veins, or blood.
Papyrus smiled at the terrible pun and tried to hide his giggles behind his hand. "SILLY SAS…"
Sans chuckled and rubbed his little brothers head who eagerly leaned into the touch. "I'll tell you another one. Why did the skeleton cross the road?"
Papyrus's eyes lit up with his childlike curiosity. "WHY?"
"To get to the body shop!" Sans said with a laugh. Papyrus joined quickly in, and for a single moment, they were both just two kids, enjoying each other's company and forgetting their troubles.
That moment unfortunately, could not last.
“Okay Boss, I’m gonna pop your arm back into its socket. See this?” Sans sobered up after a moment and pointed at Papyrus’s arm which was being held on by magic but was slightly put out of place from where it should be sitting.
Papyrus nodded, his smile fading as the pain started to set in again. Sans saw this coming and flicked the other gently on the forehead to redirect his attention.
“OUCH!” Papyrus held a hand to where Sans had flicked him and scowled at his big brother. “NOT NICE SAS, NO HITTING!”
“That right Boss.” Sans chuckled, moving his shaking hands too Papyrus’s shoulder so he could quickly pop the arm back into its socket properly since the only thing keeping it from detaching itself was Papyrus’s magic. This shouldn’t hurt too much, hopefully…
…God he really didn’t want to do this. He had done this a few times with himself, so it shouldn’t be much different with Paps. Though he wasn’t sure how his little brother would react to it, so he had to act fast. “You only hit if someone if they hit you first, or if you think you’re in danger.”
“LIKE THE MEANIES.” Papyrus stated, and Sans mentally started counting down. Taking his eyes off his brothers shoulder he smiled and nodded at Papyrus.
“That’s right Boss…” Sans said, his soul filling up with anticipation, one… two… “…just like what I did to the meanies.” …three!
*CLICK!*
“AHH!” Papyrus’s shout echoed around the cave, he flinched away from Sans’s touch and rapidly looked between Sans and his sore shoulder. Big orange tears collected in his eye sockets once again at what he felt was utter betrayal. “NO! BIG OUCH! SAS HURT BROTHER! BAD SAS!”
“I know boss I’m sorry…” Sans said apologetically as he raised his hands in surrender to show he was all done. “But hey, it doesn’t hurt anymore, right?”
Papyrus paused, he blinked up at Sans in confusion before looking at his arms and very slowly moving it. It still felt sore, obviously, but his brother was correct, it didn’t hurt anymore!
“SAS MAKE HURT GO WAY.” Papyrus acknowledged as he looked back at Sans, gently shrugging his shoulder to test it out, the younger was clearly confused. “SAS HURT BROTHER TO MAKE THE HURT GO WAY?”
Sans tried his best not to wince, technically Paps was correct but wording it like that made it sound much worse than it really was.
“Yeah Boss, I had to pop it back into placed. See?” He pointed to the others shoulder but made sure not to touch it. “Do you see how it moved? It’s closer to your collarbone now.”
Papyrus followed Sans’s finger and nodded slowly; his brother was telling the truth. “KAY… BUT NO DO THAT AGAIN SAS.” Papyrus huffed, irritated that his brother gave him no warning at all even though it would have been way worse if he had.
Sans’s smile returned, he rubbed Papyrus’s skull to try and make the younger less huffy “Got it Boss, you’re in charge remember? Next time we’ll both decide on what to do.”
Boss was the nickname he had given Papyrus a few months ago when the younger learned how to run. He had left Papyrus alone for too long while scavenging and the younger skeleton got bored so he decided to go look for Sans himself.
Cue a soul attack, 3 panic attacks, 2 anxiety attacks, and one pissed off older brother once the younger was found playing in a puddle deep in waterfall.
It was after that day did Sans decide that they would make decisions together, therefore the reason he called the other Boss. It was his own way to show his little brother that he valued his opinion despite the other being younger than him and not understanding their situation as much as he did.
Papyrus giggled at the reminder and nodded his head, he seemed to really enjoy the nickname and smiled almost every time Sans called him that, though he still preferred being called Paps.
“What?” Sans asked playfully as he teasingly scratched Papyrus’s ribs through the sweater making the younger erupt into playful, childish giggles. “Did I tickle your funny bone?”
“HYEH HEH HEH! NAHAHA SAHAS, STOHOP IHIT!” Papyrus squeaked, pushing the others larger hand away with his own to try and stop the mini tickle attack he was receiving.
Sans did in fact stop once realizing his brother was in slightly higher spirits than before, he really enjoyed his brother laugh, it was unique and suited him perfectly.
Sans moved a little closer to his brother and raising a hand in front of him. Signalling for Papyrus to move closer as he took off his red scarf and wrapped his around his little brothers neck, he briefly wondered if that damn runt of a kitten would sneak back into their cave like it did yesterday, Papyrus had gotten attached to it and named the thing “Doomfanger” after it repeatedly snuck in just to cuddle with the young skeleton, the cat couldn’t have been more than 3 months old and it already had part of its ear missing.
The Underground wasn’t just cruel to its people, but the animals as well. For a moment he hoped the mangey kitten would return just to make his brother less upset, and for some reason he was fairly certain it would happen sooner rather than later.
“Okay Boss” Sans started, putting his hand in front of his brother's chest where his soul was hidden beneath the stripped sweater. “I’m gonna do a quick check on ya alright? It’ll only be for a few seconds, I promise.”
“OH…” Papyrus’s mood changed drastically, for some reason the younger never liked getting his stats checked, as if his young mind was ashamed of them. He put his hands in his lap and stared at them sadly. “OKAY SAS… PROMISE?”
“Pinky promise.” Sans interlocked their fingers and made a false serious face, he wanted to get it over with, not liking seeing his brother this way. He felt his magic fill the air as he performed a check on his brother, Papyrus’s shoulders relaxed slightly at the familiarity of his brother's magic.
CHECK:
Papyrus
LV 1
HP 11/15
ATK 5
DEF 5
Is shaken from previous events, acting brave but feeling freighted and confused.
“Oh Paps…” Sans’s eyes widened, and he hastily pulled out a container of healing gel from his inventory and started to apply it to the small cuts along his arm. It was nearly empty and likely could only be used a few more times before they ran out.
“SORRY SAS…” Papyrus apologized; Sans had no idea what for, but he decided not to comment on it this time. Once the healing gel was applied Sans waited for the green gel to fade into the nearly all healed cuts before he checked his brother again.
CHECK:
Papyrus
LV 1
HP 15/15
ATK 5
DEF 5
Is shaken from previous events, feeling guilty for not helping his older brother.
“Hey.” Sans said sternly as he put the healing gel back into his inventory and pulled out some scruffy bandages, preparing to make a sling. “Boss, can you look at me? Please?”
Papyrus sniffled and looked up at his older brother with those damn puppy eyes. Sans would give anything and everything just to make his brother smile, he hated seeing him sad like this.
“You ain’t got nothing to be sorry for, you got that?” Sans said calmly as he carefully maneuvered the bandages around Papyrus’s arm. “It’s my job to look after you, alright? Not the other way around, you don’t gotta feel guilty about a thing. It’s okay to be scared, those meanies were scary, weren’t they?”
Papyrus nodded sadly, his sharp teeth grinding together in frustration as his young mind concluded that he wasn’t able to properly help his brother without being more of a hassle.
“You’re allowed too be confused or scared Paps, hell, be angry if you want to. I’ll always be there to watch out for ya, someone's gotta have your backbone.” Sans finished putting Papyrus's arm into a sling and settled down next to him on the poorly made moss bed. “And that someone’s me, kay?”
He gently wiped away some of the stray tears that were still running down the younger skeletons cheekbones before he pulled an old scruffy blanket over them both and hugged his brother close to his chest, listening to the slow beat of the others soul. Sans hoped that doing this calmed Papyrus down as much as it did for him.
He took in a shuddering breath as he imagined what could’ve happened if that Grillby kid hadn’t shown up when he did. And he couldn’t get rid of the burning question; why did the blue fire elemental willingly put himself in danger just to help them?
That Grillby guy was just a kid, only 2 years older than him and he could already fight so well, likely from his parents guidance. So many things could’ve gone wrong is such a short amount of time. He could remember the ice-cold fear he felt when Papyrus was wrenched out of his grip and dangled in the other monsters' talons, how scared he felt for his younger brother.
“S’KAY, SAS SCARED…” Papyrus somehow noticed his mood and reached up to gently pat Sans’s face in an attempt to comfort him, which made the older chuckle. He was pretty sure his brother was an empath of some sort, and that was no joke. “SAFE NOW, NO MORE SCARE, YOU SAVE US.”
Sans felt his eye sockets water, he sighed and closed his eyes as Papyrus played with the worn-out strings of his hoodie. “Yeah Paps, we’re safe now.”
After a few minutes Sans felt sleep tug on him from the corner of his head, he forced his eyes back open. Thinking about it for a moment before doing a check on himself.
CHECK:
Sans
LV 2
HP 1/1
ATK 1
DEF 1
Tired yet thankful to be safe back home, feeling conflicted about his magic and what to do next.
The older skeleton rolled his eye lights and scoffed, wasn’t that the damn truth. He had no idea what had happened back in that alleyway. All he knew was that the fucker had hurt his little brother and deserved punishment, it was like some part of his soul judged the monster in front of him before deeming him punishable.
He saw the damaged that was done to the monster, 20 hit points were taken away from the Ice-drakes HP. But that didn’t make any sense since Sans could only take away 1 HP at a time, and all he did was use a normal bone attack before teleporting away from the fight.
It almost looked like his attacks did damage even after he stabbed the Ice-drake, like he made the others HP bleed. But that couldn’t have been possible because no monster in history was able to do that.
Well, no monster in history from what he’s aware of has the ability to teleport either yet here he was… maybe it was just a skeleton thing where you’d get a cool magic ability nobody else could do. Hopefully his little brother would get a unique ability as well so he could keep himself safe.
(He would somewhat regret this wish 4 years later when he found Papyrus levitating upside down nearly 15 feet in the air, without any use of blue magic. Apparently manipulating gravity was a thing that could be done, the younger skeleton brother was also a legitimate empath by the age of 10, so Sans called it.)
Sans yawned and used a hand to rub at his eye sockets, sleep sounded absolutely heavenly right now. Teleporting was still a new thing for him and teleporting from Snowdin to a small cave in Waterfall took a lot out of him. They should probably eat the food they managed to gather, but he felt so damn tired.
“BUNNY?” Papyrus watched his brother with a focused gaze and lowered his voice to the closest thing he could to a whisper, which wasn’t that much. “BUNNY SAS? SAS SEEPY? NAP?”
Sans inwardly groaned but didn’t let his annoyance show on his face, he reached down and started rubbing his little brothers back.
He knew the younger was hungry, starving even, just like himself. But he could already feel sleep start to take over his body. “I’m too tired right now Boss, we’ll read Fluffy Bunny later, okay? And then we can eat some food…”
“SANDWICH?” At the mention of food Papyrus perked up, but otherwise he remained silent and simply took in the warmth of his brother's hoodie, the adrenaline rush finally starting to wear off.
"Yeah boss, sandwich." Sans chuckled, a real smile forming on his face when Papyrus giggled happily and finally settled down for a nap.
“Everything's going to be okay, lil bro," Sans suddenly whispered sleepily after a few minutes' past, he gave Papyrus’s smaller form a gentle squeeze. “I promise."
Papyrus jumped a little when his brother spoke before he nodded sluggishly, already half asleep as he snuggled closer to his older brother and yawned. “I KNOW SAS, LOVE YOU..."
Sans’s breath hitched and he shut his eyes, feeling a sense of peace as he slowly drifted off to sleep knowing when they woke up, he and Papyrus finally could eat. He knew they were going to make it through this fucked up life, they just needed to be patient.
But for now, he focused on the relaxing hum of his baby brother's soul, and the soft breathing that came from Papyrus indicating he had already fallen asleep. He stayed there, ignoring the feeling of a small bundle of fur sluggishly crawl next to him and lay beside Papyrus’s rib cage, he had no doubt that his brother would share his food with the damn cat once he was awake.
Absently he reached out towards what he knew was Doomfanger based off of the horrid smell, and he let the kitten smell his hand, promising himself that he would be more careful with his brother in the future. He would make sure that anyone who dared touch his brother with malicious intent was going to have a bad fucking time.
Their situation would get better, he would be sure of it, it had too. They would both get through this together. No matter what, nothing would ever separate them.
“I love you too Paps…”
Sans blinked away the memory and hummed from where he was seated on the couch, opening his eyes to glance at his younger brother who was in the kitchen warming up some of his famous leftover lasagna from last night, with their pet cat weaving between his legs asking for attention. He watched as the younger looked at his claws with fascination, which then turned into disgust as he quickly started washing his hands to get rid of whatever dirt he no doubt saw was on them.
That memory was nearly two decades old, Grillby was 34 and still lived with his overprotective (plus really scary in Sans's and Papyrus's opinion) mother Ember, he also owned the most successful and liked restaurant/bar in all of Snowdin, unknowingly under the protection of most of the town's residents plus the royal guard. Sans was now 32 and worked as a head-sentry for the Royal Guards in Snowdin, and Papyrus was 21, soon to turn 22 in a few weeks, the second in command of the Royal Guard, and best friends with its captain, a female fish-like monster named Undyne, who was 26.
That damn cat Doomfanger was also still alive, somehow. Sans tried his hardest not to think about how such a scruffy, skinny, and overall weak kitten could’ve survived the hellhole they lived in, and how Papyrus had convinced him to allow the scruffy cat to live with them as a “guard cat” as his brother had called it a few years back.
The damn thing was spoiled rotten by his little brother, not that "The Great and Terrible Papyrus" would ever admit to doing such a thing.
Letting out a small huff of a laugh, Sans pushed himself off the couch and went to sit at the table because as his brother put it “NO DECENT MONSTER WOULD EVER EAT ON THEIR OWN COUCH SANS!”
Sitting down in his chair and resting his chin on his hand, Sans’s red eye-lights tracked Papyrus’s movement in the kitchen, listening as the microwave began to beep soon followed by quiet grumbling from the taller skeleton as he opened the microwave to pull their food out, but not before grabbing some mustard from the fridge and putting it in front of Sans with a disgusted expression.
Using his power of the judge, Sans did a quick check on his brother when the other placed the food on the table and sat down, wanting to remind himself just how far they had gotten.
CHECK:
Papyrus
LV 5
HP 1400/ 1400
ATK 170
DEF 150
Feeling happy and content.
"...WHAT?" Papyrus suddenly asked him suspiciously, clearly having sensed his stats being checked.
Sans shrugged, giving the younger a real smile at the knowledge that right now, in this moment, they both were happy with their lives, even after all the hardships they'd been through. He gave a small laugh and waved the other off. "It's nothin boss."
Papyrus narrowed his eyes in return, blinking down at his cat when Doomfanger jumped onto his lap, before doing a check on his older brother as some sort of mini form of revenge for doing it on him without permission.
CHECK:
Sans
LV 13
HP 1/1
ATK 1
DEF 1
Feeling amusement and happiness.
Letting out a small chuckle at the suspicious look he was rewarded with, and saying his thanks to Papyrus who dropped the subject in favour to eat, or as their counterparts had nicknamed him “Edge”, Sans otherwise known as “Red” grabbed the mustard container and squirted some into his mouth, smile widening at the grimace followed by a sound of disgust coming from his brother sitting across from him as they began eating. Doomfanger settled down in Papyrus’s lap as the taller skeleton tried to sneak a few pieces of meat to the feline without Sans noticing, a barely hidden smile peaking through the bright red scarf he always wore around his neck.
God, his little brother was so cool.