Chapter Text
What were the skies like before they were imprisoned in the Underground? It was a question Papyrus had pondered many times, sitting beside his older sibling, gazing up at the glittering rocks that dotted the caverns.
"ya know, i hear stories about these things called clouds," Sans casually mentioned, turning his head so that the bleached bones that formed his brother's features were just visible in the pale lights sparkling overhead. "they were these... i dunno, puffy things like cotton. some of them were purple and red and yellow, and the clouds would catch the colors of the setting sun. must have been quite a sight, those clouds."
Papyrus' eye sockets widened at the thought. "REALLY? LITTLE PUFFY COTTON BALLS IN ALL THOSE PRETTY COLORS?"
Sans nodded, his hands in his pockets. "eh, sumthin' like that. older monsters who still remember the tales, they say the skies went on forever. the clouds were long, and there were lots of stars at night."
"OOHHH."
Sans couldn't help chuckling at the sound of his baby brother's murmurs of fascination. He'd take him to the surface world if he could, to see the sunset and the stars. Down here they could only imagine what it must be like. But even their dreams were limited, having never seen the night sky or even the clouds before. How do you imagine something you've never seen, blind to the world and without knowledge of its creation?
Silence followed, mingling with the occasional squeak as a mouse crept through the darkness.
"SANS?"
"yeah?"
Papyrus pointed at a glimmering rock formation on the ceiling. "THAT CONSTELLATION LOOKS LIKE CHEESE!"
The older of the two brothers released an audible groan.
"AND THE ONE RIGHT NEXT TO IT LOOKS LIKE A MOUSE, SANS! IT'S THE DETERMINED MOUSE, FOREVER TRYING TO GET THE CHEESE! OH, AND THAT ONE LOOKS LIKE DOGGY DOO-DOO. BUT I WONDER WHERE THE DOG CONSTELLATIONS ARE. CAN YOU HELP ME FIND THEM?"
Finally, Sans gave in and started laughing, even though his brother didn't know what was so funny. What sort of constellations might they see on the surface? More cheese? A couple of spider donuts? Or maybe even a hotdog buffet with more annoying dogs trying to get at everything on the table.
Maybe someday they would escape the Underground and explore the world above. Until then, they had to settle for petrified cheese stuck to the ceiling.