Chapter Text
Monsters were finally free.
After the human, Frisk, fell down and tredged the Underground through sheer determination and kindness, they somehow managed to break the barrier, releasing monsters from their previous prison. Nobody knew how the barrier had been destroyed, so many rumours and legends began to float around about the mysterious memory gap monsters had and the missing human souls. Frsik themselves never talked about how they did it, either, not even to their closest friends.
Though, monsterkind seemed to have let that get by because not long after they were set free, the King offered the human to become the Ambassador. It was a big title for a kid that was like- what? Nine or ten years old? But Frisk didn't even hesitate when they accepted their new role. Nobody could say for sure if they were aware of the responsabilities they had to take care of or if they just thought the title sounded cool and decided to roll with it.
Nevertheless, with the human as their moral lead and with a whole new world in front of them, monsters couldn't be happier.
It has been two months since monsters were set free. To say that things were going swell for them would be a grave overstatement.
It seemed like all of monsterkind had their hopes a little bit too high for how humanity would receive their appearance, especially with how most didn't even believe the war between humans and monsters was real. Sure, not everyone expected to be met with sunshines and rainbows and they were well aware that it would take a while for humanity and monsterkind to adapt, but this was… a little bit more than they expected.
First of all, it seems like popping out of the ground and suddenly asking the nearest city to welcome your kind wasn't a very good way to start things off. Even though none of the monsters ended up flooding the cities right off the bat- thanks to the King and the Royal Guard's efforts- humanity still seemed startled by the fuzzy goatman's appearance. Which soon led into discovering the rest of the monsters and social media flood and mass hysteria and yadda yadda yadda…
Second of all, it seemed like humanity wasn't really keen on believing that monsters actually meant no harm. Most of their initial reactions to seeing a monster were screaming, crying, yelling at them to "go back where they came from", trying to make sure they didn't make eye contact with them, hide their children or all of the above. It wasn't… the kindest of greetings. Most monsters were less hurt by the words being said to them than they were by the mere idea that humans feared them. After choosing to befriend Frisk following their journey through the underground, monsters were excited to meet more humans like them. Unfortunately, it seemed like Frisk was one of a kind.
Their reputation only seemed to get worse once what happened to the previous fallen children reached the public. That was a… rather uncomfortable discussion that hasn't been fully resolved yet.
Those first two weeks were absolute hell. Conferences and interviews between humans and monsters basically every day, humans constantly barating and even trying to attack monsters due to their fear and hatred for them, despite them not having done a single thing. It was all just a war on the verge of starting all over again, depending solely on what monsterkind can say to make things right.
If you'd ask him, he would've told you that he thought they will all be sent right back to the underground. One way or another. Knowing the tension between the two races and humanity's clearly superior power over the other, they could be considered lucky if they weren't just eradicated on the spot. In fact, they must've been the luckiest beings alive for being allowed to set up camp on the Surface while things were getting sorted out between the King and the goverment, even though they were only ever allowed to camp next to the now non-existent barrier.
King Fluffybuns was already giving his life away to protect and shelter his kind, showing up to every conference meeting possible to negociate with the leaders of the world about monsters' rights and citizenship. Only the Angel knows how much time he spent working and how little he slept during those weeks.
But, in the end, it all worked out. Kinda. The King's efforts paid off and monsters were allowed to be part of society, but not without a struggle. With the amount of monsters there were and the government's reluctance to let them blend into their everyday lives, very few monsters actually managed to gain citizenship. It was a complicated process that was based on each monster's financial worth, whether or not they had children and so on.
With how specific and grueling the process was, Sans considered himself lucky when he managed to get a hold of his and his brother's citizenship earlier than most. Perks of being the Royal Judge, he supposed. And also because he was friends with the King. That was probably a factor too. But now, with his citizenship, Sans could actually have the normal things that most people have. For example, the option to buy a house. But renting out an area to have a house in was already hard enough, especially with how most sellers wanted to charge him extra just for being "not human".
But that ended up solving itself pretty easily too- humans seemed to hold a lot of value in gold, despite it being the natural currency for monsterkind. So, thankfully, even with the added charge, he managed to buy a plot of land in a less inhabited part of town.
Despite that, the area wasn't shabby at all. It was a lone street that lead nowhere, being surrounded by trees. It was pretty close to Mt. Ebott, though that came at the cost of it being far, far away from the centre of town. Maybe that's why there were so few humans here, too.
But now came the easy part: getting a house. Well, it was easy for Sans, for everyone else it was absolutely unimaginable, considering the monsters' current situation. For him, it was as easy as taking a shortcut. Sans' ingeniously lazy solution to getting a house was to simply teleport the one from the underground right to the surface. Nothing is better than being able to say "home sweet home" after just moving in. Papyrus seemed enthralled by it too, though he did briefly chew Sans out for his laziness.
Aside from that, Sans didn't have much else to worry about, neither did most of his friends. They all found their own homes too. Toriel ended up adopting Frisk and was now living with them somewhere only a few streets away from Sans and Papyrus, Alphys and Undyne ended up renting out an apartment in town and Asgore was allowed to move in with Toriel until he got the "important political stuff" sorted out.
Considering the amount of stress monsters had been going through for the past few months, Papyrus and Undyne declared that they should all spend every Saturday hanging out, usually at Toriel's place. It was a nice habit they proposed to get into and, so far, none of them had missed a single day. Well, aside from Asgore, but he was rarely ever home anyways.
They would usually just hang out and chat about how their lives had been going as Papyrus, Toriel and Undyne made food and tried to not burn down the kitchen. It was a sweet thing to take their mind off how they're currently being treated by most of the world and Sans would never want to miss something like this.
Though, with every hang out that ended, Sans would immediately be hit in the face with all the shitty things he had to do. It's not like after you manage to settle in things would be nice and dandy. In fact, one of his biggest worries was one often brought up during his meet-ups with the others.
"So, has anyone found a place to work yet?" Toriel had asked one time.
Sans, in all truthfullness, was not interested in the slightest in looking for a job.
Not only were the chances of a monster actually getting a job slim, but, even if they did, they would probably be treated like shit. Can you really blame him for not wanting to partake in that? Humans still hadn't accepted them and it seemed like they were hell-bent on keeping it that way.
As much as Sans disliked having to go through 10 interviews just to get one low-paying job, he couldn't just do nothing. He still had his "big brother" responsibilities. Buying that plot of land was pretty costy too, as now he was left with only half his savings. Sure, those would last him a while, but he'd have to do something at some point.
There wasn't anything specific that Sans wanted to do, so he decided to just try his luck with every low or moderate effort job he could find in the daily newspaper. Lo and behold, after 20 interviews, he'd managed to score 3 jobs.
It was far from the easiest thing, as humans were veryyyyy squeamish at the idea of working alongside a monster. For some of the jobs Sans applied for, he'd get kicked out before the interview could even start. He was lucky to get through at least one interview without being bluntly declined halfway through.
The jobs he did score were some that were clearly struggling, partly due to their lack of employees and to their lack of popularity. Those jobs were the types that would ring you up on random days that you're supposed to have off because they're understaffed. He would also sometimes have to work on Saturdays and Sundays, but he didn't need to go to his jobs every weekday.
But to make matters worse, his pay was lower than that of the other employees because he was a "newbie". Sans could tell it was just a way for them to sugarcoat their distaste for monsters.
But, at least, for now, he should be able to pay the rent for him and his brother. So he's content with just that.
Speaking of Papyrus, it seemed like he was interested in looking for a job too. Much unlike Sans, Papyrus tried to look for jobs he thought he could enjoy and help teach him more about his passions. His main objective was getting a job in a restaurant, as a cook.
Though, that was much, much easier said than done. Don't get him wrong, Sans thought Papyrus' cooking had great potential, but he wasn't skilled enough to become a chef in a brand-name restaurant just yet. Especially considering the only cooking experience he ever had was with Undyne of all people.
But even when he eventually would become one of the best cooks in the world, Sans would still be skeptical about the humans' compliance with the idea of a monster preparing their food.
It was a common trend in public jobs. Humans were very afraid of what monsters could do to them if they were to blend into every day life, blatantly refusing to be served by or to communicate with a monster. That was also one of the reasons as to why Sans was rejected when he applied as a cashier. Angel knows what he could do to the poor children? Tell them a pun? They'd be shaking in their bones.
Knowing that, Papyrus was rejected again and again, sometimes before he could even walk into the interviewing room. And he'd always come back with the same hopeful reasoning of "MAYBE THEY JUST HAD TOO MUCH STAFF…".
One evening, Papyrus had come back from his 5th rejected interview. Sans has already gotten home from his job, slacking off on the sofa when his brother walked in. Sans could always predict the answer the interviewer had given him.
He hated seeing his brother like that, so he always tried to get his mind off of things before he could sulk. But, before he could even try, Papyrus had begun talking in an unnaturally melancholic tone.
"WELL… THEY REJECTED ME AGAIN…" the voice had caught Sans off guard, making him glance at his brother. He seemed... Sans couldn't quite put his finger on it. He'd never really seen that kind of expression on his brother before. It was a foreign one- one so surreal Sans wouldn't be surprised if this were a dream.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING WRONG…" a chill had gone up Sans' spine as he heard those words. He wanted to step in and distract Papyrus, but he wasn't sure what he could say in the moment. The situation felt both new and familiar at the same time. But even if he did find the words, Papyrus would have interrupted him again. "BUT MAYBE… THAT JUST MEANS I HAVE TO TRY SOMETHING NEW!"
His cheer was immediately back where it should've been.
"WELL, AT LEAST FOR NOW. PERHAPS I JUST NEED MORE EXPERIENCE…" Papyrus moved one of his gloved hands to his chin, thinking hardly. His movements always felt very cartoon-ish, even in the most serious of moments. "MAYBE IF THEY WON'T ACCEPT ME AS A COOK, THEN THEY MIGHT ACCEPT ME AS A WAITER! THAT WAY, I CAN OBSERVE AND LEARN THE MASTERY OF THE UTMOST TALENTED CHEFS!" He beamed, looking as proud as ever. "AFTER ALL, THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW TO FIND, EVEN FOR SUCH AS AMAZING CHEFS LIKE ME! NYEH HEH HEH! I CAN'T BELIEVE MY INTELLECT SOMETIMES!"
Sans managed to regain his senses after a hopefully not-so-conspicuous silence where he struggled to think of a reply. "heh, you're right. that's an amazing idea, bro. i'm sure it'll work great."
"I'M GLAD YOU CAN RECOGNIZE MY AMAZING BRAINSTORMING SKILLS, BROTHER!" the younger brother boisterously laughed. "NOW, I MUST DELVE FURTHER INTO THIS IDEA! SANS, WHERE IS THE NEWSPAPER?"
"uhh, p' sure it's over there on the counter" Sans said as he snuck a glance at the kitchen counter to check whether the daily newspaper was actually there or not.
"SPLENDID! THANK YOU, SANS!" Papyrus yelled as he enthusistically grabbed the newspaper and then ran back to his room at maximum speed. "THE WORLD MUST PREPARE ITSELF TO BE SERVED BY THE GREAT FUTURE WAITER PAPYRUS!!!" he'd shut the door just as quickly.
To say Sans was perplexed was… something.
At first, he was worried for his brother, considering the unfamiliar tone and expression. But now? He couldn't figure out what he was feeling. It did seem like he was something close to disappointed, as anyone would be after their 5th rejection in a row, but the sudden change really caught Sans off-guard.
For anyone else, it could be a method of trying to push their feelings down or hide them- but for Sans' own brother to feel so hopeless, so vastly different from his usual brightness and pride- …he didn't want to think about it.
Chances were, though, that he really was truthful about what he said. Papyrus was never the type to just give up, even when it seemed completely hopeless. Yeah, that was the cool brother he knew. It weighed less on him to think like that.
He sat there and wondered, though… If Papyrus was feeling hopeless…
How much could he even help?
After all, he was currently sitting at the bottom of the barrel. It probably didn't seem like it to anyone who knew him, having been lucky enough to gather basic necessities in a short amount of time. Objectively speaking, he should be the most hopeful monster right now. But, in the back of his mind, a question always lingered.
What if this didn't matter?
Just like everything else so far, this, too, probably didn't matter either.
In a way, it mattered. It mattered a lot for monsterkind to be free, to explore a world most of them hadn't even witnessed before. It mattered a lot for those who wanted to make their dreams a reality. It mattered a lot for the monsters who, even through the humans' fear and hatred for their race, wanted to make friends.
But, in the end, it could all be for nothing.
The anomaly still existed and Sans didn't think that messing with timelines only applied to the Underground, it just wouldn't make any sense. Besides, he had a pretty good guess of who the anomaly might be.
The kid seemed strangely familiar. Some of their actions were weird, too. Just like how they solved Papyrus' puzzles and discussed with the humans, it always felt like they just knew what to say. And, of course, not to forget the barrier mysteriously disappearing along with them not saying a word about it.
It was still speculation, though, so Sans couldn't be absolutely sure. Maybe the kid was just that smart. But the chances for that were low.
So, if they or whoever the anomaly is, is still around, then…
Could they just set everything back to the beginning again?
All of the monsters' efforts, all of their pain and relief, all of their progress… All gone, like it never even happened.
A chuckle escaped Sans.
The real kicker is… Sans feels like he's thought about this before.
It's like he's been here before- on his couch, after Papyrus' 5th rejected interview, pondering on the "what if"s. Talk about déjà vu, huh? Except it's not normal to have déjà vu over something that had never happened before.
Who knows if they're going to "reset" their world again? Maybe they will, maybe they won't. All Sans knew was that this served as a great excuse for him to be lazy. He could do absolutely nothing and he could be completely justified for it. So, maybe it's not all bad.
He could do nothing because it could all amount to nothing in return.
That's why it didn't matter.
But sulking like this wasn't going to get him anywhere either.
Instead, since Papyrus had already gone back to his room and was probably going to stay in there looking for job offers for quite a while, Sans could take this opportunity to sleep. He's still got a reputation to uphold as the "laziest monster underground". And so, he shuffled a bit on the couch just to get in a more comfortable sleeping position and slowly closed his eyes.
He could think about everything else after he woke up.
If it all didn't end up not mattering, right then and there.