Chapter Text
It doesn't look right.
Sans stood in the doorway to his new room, lost in thought. Nothing looks... right. It's just not. What could be missing? He has the right carpet, his socks are all in the right place, his dresser and lamp are exactly the same, the treadmill's in the correct position. It took ages to convince Papyrus to let him bring the tornado of trash, but there it was, in the same place as it was before. The walls were all the same... Maybe it was the shape? When they moved, Sans had insisted that Papyrus takes the big bedroom again. To everyone else, it just seemed like brotherly generosity, the kind you would expect from Sans. But in reality, Sans just wanted the smaller room.
And it's not even the right shape.
It's a small rectangular, sure. But it's the wrong rectangle. It looks more... stretched out than Sans' previous room was. Sans didn't like it. He considered trying to push the walls out, but that wasn't going to work. This is the best he can do.
And the window! The window was in the wrong place too. It's the wrong shape, the wrong size, and it's in the wrong position. It's supposed to go ABOVE his mattress, not BESIDE it! Speaking of his mattress...
He knows it's old. And lumpy. And full of broken springs. But Sans really needs that mattress right now. It took a lot of persuading for him to get Undyne to grab it from his room. She should be back any minute now.
Papyrus offered Sans a "SUPER COOL BED" but he refused. He didn't like to disappoint Papyrus, but he really just needed that mattress. Sans didn't think it would be the same with an actual bed. Sorry, Papyrus.
Sans huffed. This is the best he can do.
He hates it.
"close enough, i guess."
He hates the living room.
He doesn't want to tell Papyrus that, though. After all, he was the one who arranged it.
It's not because of how it looks (well, it might be). It looks fine. Great, even! The lilac carpet was soft and pleasant to walk on, the cream-coloured wallpaper had this really nice swirling pattern that could easily put Sans in a trance if he looked for long enough. The stairs were in the right corner. Their old, green sofa had been replaced with a soft, indigo one. Complete with footrest, even! Sans loved using the footrest. They didn't have a proper coffee table before. But it was a welcome presence, placed right between the sofa and the TV. Ah, yes. The TV. The new, giant flat screen TV that just... stares him in the face every time he walks into the room. It was... fine. Just an average surface TV. It was presented on a blue TV stand, complete with shelves and drawers for various tools and gadgets underneath, as well as a gaming console that Asgore bought as a housewarming present. At the opposite end of the room, behind the sofa, was a desk with a brand new computer. Papyrus got the gaming keyboard because, "IT'S GLOWY AND RAINBOW AND IT LOOKS COOL!" Classic Papyrus. However, there was just about enough space for his pet rock. Covered in sprinkles. Yeah...
By all accounts, this living room was lovely. The issue, however, lied in Sans.
Everything just looks so WRONG! The TV was too far away from the door, and the exit door was NOT supposed to lead to a hallway! The window, like before, was also in the wrong place. What was Papyrus even thinking? Sure, the way the TV was positioned meant it could avoid the glare of the sun, to an extent, but it's so strange to see it on the adjacent wall to the windows. More than one window. Another thing that made Sans' eye twitch. At least some of his objects were still here. The aforementioned pet rock, the quantum joke book...
His sock.
Sans is holding his sock. He was going to place it somewhere, but now he's stumped as to where he's gonna put it.
Is Papyrus even going to do the sticky notes with him again? The old sticky notes were thrown away when they moved. At the time, Sans was fine with it, but now... Now he wished he never let Papyrus throw them away.
It hurts. It really hurts. Where should he put the sock? Next to the TV? But then it'll be too close to the stairs... Next to the door? No, the desk is in the way. Next to the door to the laundry room? Ugh, but it doesn't lead to the kitchen. Maybe he should put it in the same position as it was in the underground.
The underground... Sans felt a small pain in his ribcage. He tried to ignore it as he looked around, just trying to look for the best spot for his sock. Somewhere, anywhere...
Come on.
Just dump it somewhere, Sans!
Eventually, Sans decided on throwing the sock across the room and letting it land wherever. It didn't look right. But in this room, Sans doubted it would ever look right. Oh, well. At least his sock provided some familiarity.
Until Papyrus came into his room with the sock in hand.
"SANS!!!" Papyrus screamed, foot stomping on the floor in irritation. "I WANT YOU TO EXPLAIN WHY YOU THOUGHT LEAVING YOUR SOCK IN THE LIVING ROOM WAS A GOOD IDEA!!!"
Oh, crap. Play it cool, Sans.
"eh, i was just too lazy to pick it up. you know me. i never had the BACKBONE to do my own laundry." He made sure to use finger guns.
Papyrus didn't seem impressed by his punnery.
"SANS!! UGH, WE JUST MOVED IN HERE! AND FOR THE FIRST FEW WEEKS, I WOULD PREFER IT IF WE KEPT THIS PLACE SPIC AND SPAN!!! THE GROUND MUST BE SO CLEAN AND SOCKLESS, YOU COULD EAT OFF IT!!!"
"wouldn't that be hard, since we have a carpet?"
"IT IS A FIGURE OF SPEECH!!!"
"alright, if you say so."
"GOOD!!! JUST..." Papyrus' face softened. "PLEASE TRY. FOR ME?"
Sans flinched. How could he deny a request like that?
"ok."
That familiar pang of pain returned, but Sans ignored it.
"THANK YOU. NOW THAT THAT'S SORTED!" Papyrus tossed Sans the sock. Sans tried to catch it, but, well... butterfingers. "I AM GOING TO MAKE SOME DELICIOUS HOUSEWARMING SPAGHETTI!!"
"didn't we already have housewarming spaghetti, like, three times?"
"THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH A FOURTH HELPING OF WARM HOUSES!!!" And with that, Papyrus marched out, humming his own theme song like the lovable dork he is.
"alright, buddy. whatever you say."
Part of Sans wanted to cry. His other parts were too stubborn to let him.
He slowly peeked around the corner to watch Papyrus bounce down the corridor. The closed corridor. It almost felt claustrophobic. Just like the...
Sans needed some privacy.
The sky is quite fascinating. The way it always changed... It never stayed the same. One minute, it could be the brightest blue he had ever seen. The next, it could be peppered with light, fluffy clouds. And the next, it could be dark and grey, with tiny little water droplets spilling out of them. Clumsy clouds.
Sans hadn't seen the sky in ages. Not voluntarily, anyway. He was forced to look at it through the (misplaced) window of his bedroom.
His bedroom is nothing like the old one.
It's the easiest thing to manage, really. Despite the fact that the sky is always changing, at least its presence is a constant. That's what Sans enjoyed about it... At least, he thought he enjoyed it. Whatever.
If there's one constant Sans can look forward to, it's Grillby's delicious food. When Grillby shared the news that he was going to open his restaurant on the surface, Sans was overjoyed! At least he'll have Grillby's, still. That part wasn't going to change any time soon.
Except it did. It so did.
Sans froze just outside of the building. It looked... mostly the same, at least. But at the same time, it looked so out of place. Maybe he was just used to it having snow on the roof or something? Or perhaps it was the new outdoor dining area? Or the garden that it certainly didn't have before? Or the fact that both humans and monsters go here now.
Sans has nothing against humans. In fact, he could say he really likes them, despite everything they've done and everything they're capable of doing. It's just so... strange to see so many of them at a monster establishment like this. Before, it was only Frisk, and now...
That familiar pang of pain returned. Just ignore it.
Why is he hesitating?
Whatever.
Sans held his breath as he opened the door, hoping, praying that it didn't change that much on the inside...
Thank goodness it didn't. The same people were here. Everything was in the correct place. The only difference now is that more humans were here, and he's pretty sure the space behind the bar is bigger. Oh, thank Delta.
Welp. Time to do his usual stuff.
"hey, guys."
As Sans walked towards the bar, he heard the familiar greetings of all of Grillby's patrons.
"Hi, Sans! (Hello, Sans!)"
"Hey, Sans!"
"Hi, Sansy~"
He appreciated the familiarity of it all.
"Who's that?"
Sans stopped in his tracks. Oh, right. Of course. The humans didn't know him. How could he forget? Welp. Guess he could whip out a joke.
"no body important."
Despite the lameness of the joke, everyone laughed. Even the human who asked the question. What a nice guy.
It didn't Sans long to find his usual seat.
"hey, grillby. i'll have an order of burg."
Grillby nodded and headed into the kitchen. Out of the corner of Sans' eye socket, he could see the beginnings of a little corridor that led... somewhere. From here, he could see that one side was almost entirely window, and that it led into the... garden...
He looked away. Maybe if he didn't look, Sans could pretend that he was still in Snowdin, and that a bunch of humans just fell down or something. Right? Right?
It was a stupid thought.
Directly beside him was the same fish guy from the underground. The corners of Sans' smile shifted upwards.
"hey, man."
"There you are, Sans! About time you showed up! Honestly, we thought you would be the first one here on opening day!"
Oh, of course. Opening day...
"yeah, sorry about that. i must've napped through it or somethin'. heh."
"Hahaha! Classic Sans."
"yup. you know how i am. heh heh." In reality, Sans completely forgot about Grillby's opening day. He was too busy trying to adjust to the surface. At least for a moment, he could pretend that nothing changed at all.
Why, oh why does Papyrus have to move so fast?
And not just physically, either. Sans was used to Papyrus on the go. It's his main thing. That skeleton cannot sit still for long, and neither can his mindset, it seems.
Sans doesn't get how Papyrus does it. He knows that it's a new chapter of their lives, but does he really have to change everything? The house, the environment they're living in... At least they haven't moved to the city. They were originally going to, sure, but they decided against it when they actually visited and both twins almost completely shut down from the intense stimuli.
Shutting down due to overwhelm was quite typical of Sans. Not so much for Papyrus.
So they moved to the countryside instead! The area beside Mt. Ebott. It has a lovely view, there's a forest nearby where they could go exploring (and potentially place some puzzles down, but there were laws against that, sadly), and it's where a lot of monsters ended up anyway, so at least they're surrounded by familiar friendly faces.
They could even visit the underground if they wanted to. But it's not the same. It will never be the same. It's practically a tourist attraction now.
Sans watched closely as Papyrus rearranged his bedroom AGAIN. Seriously, it's the third time this week. He could see the blue sparks shooting from his gloved hands as he lifted his desk with magic, just to place it in a completely different location.
The pain returned. Welp. Might as well strike up a conversation.
"sup?"
Papyrus hiccuped in surprise, almost deactivating his magic and dropping the desk on top of his race car bed. At least that stayed the same
"SANS!!! DON'T CREEP UP ON ME LIKE THAT LIKE A... CREEPING... CREEPER!!! CREEPINGTON!!!"
"sorry, paps. just wanted to see what you were doin'."
"WELL, I'M OBVIOUSLY GIVING MY ROOM A MAKEOVER!!!"
"again? jeez, how many appointments has it made with you, huh?"
"WHAT?"
"i mean, is it even paying you for this?"
"OF COURSE NOT, SANS! DON'T BE SILLY! FURNITURE DOESN'T HAVE MONEY!!!"
"yeah, i know, i was just..." Sigh. "nevermind."
Sans looked out into the hallway. Closed. Closed hallway. Sans no no likey... Whatever.
Meanwhile, it seemed that Papyrus has a lot on his mind. Sans couldn't help but ponder why Papyrus was so obsessed with rearranging everything. It wasn't like this before. Yet another change Sans has to adapt to. It's okay. He can go with the flow. It's fine. He's FINE.
Why does that pain in his ribs keep coming back? Maybe he needs to see a doctor. Nah. That would just worry the others. Sans can deal with it on his own.
Sans couldn't help but noticed the wallpaper Papyrus used.
"hey, skull and crossbones. nice."
Papyrus lit up. "I KNOW!!! ISN'T IT AMAZING? THERE'S SOME LEFT OVER IN CASE YOU WANTED TO, UM, DO ANYTHING WITH YOUR ROOM!!"
"heh. uh, i'll pass. thanks anyway, though."
Papyrus' face fell a little. Sans couldn't bare it. He looked around everywhere except for Papyrus.
Wow, that wallpaper does look really nice.
THUD! Guess Papyrus found a spot for his desk. Hooray...
The view from Mt. Ebott was just as beautiful as the day they left it. That was before it really sunk in for Sans, he thinks. That they were actually... free. Yeah. Free. Did Sans ever want to be free, though. Sure, the surface sounded nice, but ever since he found out about the timelines, the surface just lost its appeal.
Speaking of timelines, this moment of silence gave time to think about his OTHER selves. Were they still underground? They must be. Are all of them even alive? Sans can't say for sure. Are they happy? Heh. Probably not. Sans wasn't happy, knowing that at any point, time would just reset. It was terrifying. Depressing. Draining.
And yet, he found himself... missing it? Why?
It was familiar. Resets were all about the familiar. The same day, occurring over and over again, without any memory of it. Nothing but vague half-memories and deja vu everywhere.
It happened to Sans too, but... He preferred hiding them away. Every time he looked at that kid's face, a flood of weird flashes entered his mind, but they left as soon as they appeared. It was... frustrating, to say the least. To know that everyone else has better memory than you do, despite the fact that you're the one with the actual knowledge as to why.
He wonders if anyone else ever suspected anything. He has a good feeling that Asgore might have, at least. He's like that super parent that somehow knows all their children's secrets. It's funny to think about.
But ever since they moved to the surface, the flashes of half-memories, the deja vu, they all just... stopped. Have they never gotten this far in the timeline before? After so long, Sans kind of... craved it again. It's so weird having a memory that's working normally, at least. At least, as normal as it could be.
Sans always had a tendency to let his thoughts run away from him. That's the most likely reason why he didn't notice tiny pitter-patters of someone heading towards him until the last moment.
He tore his eyes off the mountain view for a moment to see who else is arriving at the cave entrance.
"oh. hey, kiddo."
The kid in the striped shirt. The one who saved them all. The determined one. Frisk.
The human gave Sans a small wave, along with a sheepish look. He can tell they didn't expect Sans to be here. He can say the same for them, honestly.
"whatcha doing out here alone? wouldn't tori get worried about you?"
Frisk gave a small flinch at that. They bit their lip and looked down sheepishly. Oh.
"you snuck out, didn't ya?"
The child flinched again and gave Sans a worried look.
"heh. don't worry. i won't tell 'er. wanna sit?" He patted the spot next to him. Frisk nodded and obliged.
It didn't take long for Sans to read their quizzical look. "oh, nothin'. just staring at the view. nice day, huh?"
Frisk gave a small nod, which Sans returned.
"yeah, guess you could say it is rather viewtiful."
Frisk crossed their arms and pouted. That made Sans let out a small chuckle. It's nice to have some company.
"by the way, you didn't answer my question before. whatcha doin' out here?"
Frisk shrugged. "Just... wanted some space, I guess."
Ah. That's reasonable. Sans wasn't one to judge someone for wanting to take a break. Especially when that someone's been working hard enough already.
"that's fair."
The two sat in silence for a bit. Just two buds, enjoying the view. It almost made Sans feel better about the big changes in life. For a moment, Sans completely forgot that things were never going to be the same again.
But then the thoughts flooded back, and just like that, that pang of pain returned. Sans knew the exit to the underground was behind him. He could just go inside and... look at everything again. But something about that just... didn't sit right with him. It wouldn't be home. It's not home anymore.
Why was 'home' so... difficult?
Then he felt it. A childlike arm wrapped around his ribcage, across his back, and a tiny hand rested on his shoulder.
Did Frisk just... give him a side hug? Oh... Aww, that's lovely!
"heh heh. thanks for that, kiddo. i, uh... i really needed it."
Frisk gave Sans a smile before leaning on his shoulder. This kid was truly something special.
Now, contrary to popular belief, Sans is a hugger. At least with his closest friends he is. And don't get him started on Papyrus! With strangers and acquaintances, Sans usually reserves himself to just handshakes and headpats, maybe even an occasional side hug if they needed some comfort. But with his loved ones? Hugs, cuddles, being picked up and carried around, tickle fights, playful wrestling, noogies, they were all on the table. And for Sans, the more pressure the better.
Usually, it took a lot of time and trust for Sans to allow someone to use those kinds of physical affection on him. But in Frisk's case, it was almost instantaneous. It took only a day for them to enter his metaphorical heart and live there, rent free. They were up there with Toriel, even! So to Sans, it only made sense to give them a big bear hug in return. Sure, the position was a little bit awkward, considering that Frisk is only using one arm, and they're sitting next to each other, but it didn't matter at all to Sans.
Frisk, on the other hand, was frozen in shock. Or was it surprise? Oh, well. They resigned themselves to their fate. Being hugged by a skeleton around the same height as them.
Unfortunately, the hug wasn't enough to quell Sans' thoughts. He couldn't help but let his mind drift back to the underground, to the resets and to... home. The pain in his chest had subsided a little, but Sans suspected that it was mostly due to Frisk's presence. Speaking of Frisk...
He wondered. For a brief moment, he wondered. Do they still have the reset ability? If so, then maybe they could... make this pain go away, in a sense. It's not like anyone will remember, right? It wouldn't hurt to ask.
"hey, um... frisk?"
"Hm?"
"uhh... do you... can you... uhh..."
Frisk deadpanned. "Spit it out, Sans."
"can't. no saliva." Sans chuckled. Frisk gave a small pout in response.
Soon enough, Sans' chuckles died down.
"what i meant to say it, do you still have that, uh, weird... time travelling ability?"
Frisk froze. Oh, crap. Oh, crap, now they know he knows. What was Sans even thinking? Crap crap crap!
"You know."
Why aren't they surprised?! Did he... Oh, CRAP! Stay cool, stay cool!
"you know i know?"
"I know you know as much as I know."
"so you know that i know, but i didn't know you know i know about what you know."
"Yeah. You know."
"i know."
"...How long did you know?"
"forgot. you?"
Frisk just sighed. Sans knew it was dumb.
"sorry."
"It's okay." Frisk's voice dropped to a whisper. They almost seemed... worried? "Is it about, um... The other timelines?"
"no. not this time... line."
Frisk let out a small giggle. At least that released the tension a bit.
"Thank god. Wait, Sans... Do you think I'm going to... you know..."
Sans released the hug to look at them right in the eyes... For a few seconds. Then he just stared at their button nose instead. Eye contact hurts, even when their eyes are closed.
"nah. i know you could never hurt me." There it is. A sincere smile. Despite everything, Sans knew that Frisk would never... Wait, why are they making that face? Did they... hurt him...?
It doesn't matter. Whatever they did, Sans can forgive. He's already forgotten it, clearly.
"hey, uh, you still haven't answered my question, by the way."
"O-Oh! Right..." Frisk giggled nervously. "Do I still have it? Um, well, I would, but... I don't think it was exactly mine to begin with. Sorry."
Not theirs to begin with? Now that's... weird. Perhaps Sans should look into that.
Nah. The resets already gave him enough trouble. What was he thinking, trying to go back like that?! When everyone's happy?! When his friends are thriving on the surface?! When PAPYRUS was thriving on the surface?! Selfish, selfish!
"Why'd you ask?"
Well... Even if Sans didn't care if he was being selfish, Frisk couldn't even use their ability anymore anyway. So why bother?
"nothin'."
Frisk's cocked an eyebrow, but they didn't push him. They know better than to push Sans like that. So they just hugged him instead. That appeared to give Sans some peace of mind, anyway.
Sans didn't hesitate to hug back, in any case. Human hugs are warm and squishy, like a padded skeleton, almost. It's lovely, Sans thought. This kid might as well be his guardian angel or something.
The pain in his chest hasn't fully faded away, but it's bearable, knowing he's got good friends by his side.
He just wished he was home.