Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Papyrus wandered through a dark room dimly lit by echo flowers and mushrooms. He had walked this path frequently in his lifetime. Therefore, he had no need to touch the mushrooms that normally lit the way. In fact, he knew the path so well, that he didn’t even watch where he was walking as he stared down at his phone. He was waiting to receive a phone call, a text message, an instant message….anything to calm his worrying spirit.

A long red cape was draped over his shoulders. It was much longer than his typical scarf and it licked at his ankles as he walked. A gold pennant of the Delta Rune clasped the cape together above his collar bones. Silver pauldrons rested on his shoulders, holding the cape to his frame as it billowed softly in the non-existent wind. Even these had gold trimmed edges and small intricate designs carved into them. It was attire fitting for the ruler of the underground. To Papyrus, though, it felt wrong to wear such noble clothing. His authority was only temporary anyway.

Despite his new position, Papyrus never could bear to get rid of the battle body that his beloved brother had made for him, nor the scarf which remained wrapped around his neck and shoulders under the cape. He found a strange comfort in the familiar fabric, and greatly preferred it over the heavy material of the cape. The scarf even helped keep the metal of the pauldrons from weighing so much on his shoulders and dispersed the weight more evenly. However, it did nothing to ease the invisible weight of the underground’s hopes that hung from his shoulders.

It had been six months since the human had left the underground. Alphys, Asgore, Mettaton, and Undyne were all still on vacation. As time passed, Papyrus was beginning to wonder if that was true, yet he didn’t want to believe that his brother had lied to him, though. Still, he missed all of them greatly. The underground felt…. empty without them. Even if he didn’t really know Alphys or Asgore personally, he knew that Undyne cared a lot about them, which meant that Papyrus cared about them too. Maybe they were all vacationing together.

He missed watching Metatton’s shows. He couldn’t even stand to watch TV anymore. Seeing reruns of the rectangular robot’s programs merely reminded Papyrus that Mettaton wasn’t here right now. He was surprised that the idol hadn’t made any sort of announcement before leaving. Normally, he kept his audience very well informed of his antics. Papyrus wished he would come back soon. He had a movie to finish after all!

Papyrus sighed as his thoughts continued to wander. He began absently kicking a pebble along with him while he continued his journey. He had to abandon this venture as the pebble landed in a stream before him. He continued on his way, waving to Gerson as he passed the old turtle’s shop, but no words were exchanged.

As much as Papyrus wanted to care about everyone equally, he quickly realized that he missed Undyne the most. Without her, there were no cooking lessons, no training sessions, no toothy grin smiling at him encouragingly, no loud booming voice giving orders and offering praise, and no skeleton noogies. Yes, he even missed her rough and brash form of affection. He was actually beginning to think that perhaps he missed that the most. He wanted her back more than anything. His one, true friend had been gone for six months and he didn’t know how much longer he could bear it. Besides, without the Captain, how could he join the royal guard?

Although, he figured that his aspirations to join the royal guard were probably pointless now. He was the ruler of the underground after all. Despite this, he didn’t give up on his dream. Perhaps, if he was a good enough ruler, when Undyne and the king returned, they would immediately appoint him into the guard!

Papyrus jumped as he heard a sob coming from his right. He didn’t think anyone was nearby. He jerked his head to the direction that the sound had come from, only to be face to face with an echo flower. They always had the tendency to scare him, and jumping at the sound of them was a habit he still hadn’t been able to break. His eyes widened in mortification. He felt a sinking feeling in his soul as the flower continued to sob. Papyrus stood still for a moment, and just listened to the flower as it replayed the sounds over and over again in an infinite loop.

Papyrus knew what this meant: someone had walked past this flower recently while they were crying. He didn’t have to think very long about what could be the cause of the unknown monster’s sorrow. Just thinking about it only made guilt and grief rise up deep in his soul. He had been trying so hard to make everyone happy. He had been trying so hard to give everyone hope despite the fact that it was only seemed to dwindle more with each passing day. The new ruler knew that things looked grim. The human souls had disappeared, and many monsters were still missing. Trying to keep everyone happy and encouraged was beginning to take it’s toll on the tall skeleton. But that didn’t mean that he was going to give up! No! If he gave up, then everyone else would too! Then who would be left to keep the hopes and dreams of monsters alive?

Everyone was counting on him…..

With that reminder, he turned and continued onward towards his destination with a little bit more hope in his soul.

++++++++++

Any hope or happiness that Papyrus had gained in his little pep talk vanished as he stood at the entrance of a cavern. From here he could see the bright red ribbon wrapped around a long golden bone. It was propped up against a door …. exactly as he had left it four months ago. He had thought that it would be nice to leave Undyne one of her favorite things at her door so she could have something to welcome her home. Occasionally, Papyrus would switch out the ribbon for a fresher one so it still looked presentable for when she came back.

Normally, at the sight of this, Papyrus would turn and walk back to the capitol or wherever his next destination was. This time, he forced his feet to keep moving forward as he walked right up to the front door. He knocked on the door...but he already knew what the response would be. He just stood there and waited, holding onto a futile hope that the jaws of the door would open and Undyne would be standing there in the maw, inviting him in after giving the guard in training a good punch in the arm. After a few minutes of silence, he turned, pressed his back to the door and covered his face with his gloved hands. He slid down the door until he let his legs slide out from under him and the cold ground met his pelvis.

He felt the wetness of tears that were threatening to leak from his eye sockets. He didn’t want to let them. Rulers don’t cry! They are supposed to be inspirational and supportive! But ….he was just so….so tired. Tired of pretending. Pretending to have more hope than he actually did. Pretending to be happy. Pretending like everything was ok. It was all slowly beating away at the once exuberant skeleton. He hated not being able to show his true feelings. He couldn’t. Not when everyone was looking up to him. He couldn’t let anyone see his personality falter. Especially his brother. Not his dear brother that was doing so much to make sure that Papyrus’ new occupation wasn’t any harder that it had to be.

Sans was doing more work that Papyrus had ever seen him do. Papyrus knew that Sans used to work other jobs besides his sentry job, but even then, his brother was lethargic and did the bare minimum that he had to. Now Papyrus’ lazybones brother was doing all of the new ruler’s paperwork for him so that he could focus on taking care of everyone. That wasn’t the only thing that Sans was doing. He was also doing more than his part in keeping the everyday functions of the capitol running smoothly. He even organized appointments for people who wanted to come speak with the new ruler.

It pained Papyrus to see his brother slowly grow more exhausted day by day.This was the opposite of his normal routine, after all. He was happy that Sans was being more active, but watching his older brother slowly deteriorate in front of him was pure torture. Papyrus even noticed that his brother had stopped going to the door that led to the ruins ever since the human had come. He knew that Sans would spend hours there when he was supposed to be on watch for humans, although he never asked him why. He wished his brother would go. He always seemed to be just a little bit brighter after hanging around the door for a while.

Sans had spoken to Papyrus a few months back about looking into the barrier to see if there were any other ways to break it. He mentioned that it might give people hope if they didn’t have to wait for another seven ( potentially bad) humans to come. More importantly, he was willing to explore anything that meant that they could leave sooner. The suggestion was music to Papyrus’ metaphorical ears.The sooner they left, the sooner everyone would return from vacation. The sooner they left, the sooner everyone would be happy. The sooner they left, the sooner Sans could take a long, well deserved break…. the sooner his brother go back to being his normal, lazy self.

Papyrus had eagerly agreed, more than happy to have something that could possibly lift the spirits of the downtrodden monsters of the underground. Papyrus knew that his brother was smart. How else was he able to prank him throughout time and space? If anyone could find a solution to this dilemma, he was sure that Sans could. Or, at least, he hope he could.

Only a few days passed before Papyrus regretted letting Sans take on more work.

One morning, he woke up to find that Sans was awake before him. His brother was sitting at the kitchen table, working through a stack of papers with an empty coffee cup beside him and a half-empty coffee pot not too far away from it. Across the table from him was a very fresh bowl of oats (the kind with the dinosaur eggs in them) and a cold glass of milk beside it. Sans was even dressed properly, with blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a non-ketchup-and-grease-stained shirt. Even with the typical blue jacket still worn over all of it, Papyrus was impressed.

“SANS? WHAT’S ALL THIS?” Papyrus asked him. Sans looked up at Papyrus with a big grin plastered onto his face, although Papyrus could tell that it was somewhat forced.

“hey, bro,” the older skeleton said. “i just got up early to get a head start on these papers so i would have time to go to alphy’s lab to see if she had any information on the barrier.”

“IS IT OK WITH HER?” Papyrus inquired, tilting his head to the side curiously. Had Sans heard from her?

“of course, i used to visit her lab a lot when you were younger. she told me that if i ever needed anything to just stop on by, no questions asked,” Sans had explained, however Papyrus could tell by the slightest twitch in his smile that he wasn’t telling him the whole story. He didn’t press it though. Sans was already doing so much and he wasn’t going to pressure him about it. Instead, he took a seat at the table and examined the oats and milk in front of him. It was very fresh. The eggs were still in the process of turning into dinosaurs.

“oh yeah! i made you breakfast. i made it while i was waiting for my coffee to finish brewing…. thought it might save you some time,” Sans had remarked with a bit more genuine smile on his face. Without waiting for a thank you, Sans went back to his task at hand. Papyrus had examined the half empty pot. Sans would have had to put away all that coffee rather quickly if it was already that empty. Was he really that tired? Papyrus was grateful for the meal, of course, but his worry only grew as this became the new regular morning routine. Even this morning, Papyrus had woke to find a bowl of oats and glass of milk waiting for him at the kitchen table.

Papyrus felt tears threatening to spill once more as his concern for his brother brought the unwelcome liquid back tenfold. A hiccup escaped him and he gave a soft gasp of horror as he unhid his face. He quickly looked around to make sure that no one had heard their ruler crying, only to be faced with the empty cavern in which Undyne once dwelt.

His eye sockets welled up even more as they caught sight of the training area. The dummy had long since left. He remembered enjoying watching Undyne practice with the dummy and watching her in awe with rapt attention before she flashed him a toothy grin.

Papyrus curled up and brought his knees to his chest. He wrapped his arms around them and buried his face as much as he could before he finally let his tears roll freely. No one was here to see him anyway. He just needed to cry. There was so much that he needed to cry about. Him missing his best friend. Him being stressed out by the responsibilities of his new title. Him being a failure at being the leader that these monsters so desperately needed. His ever growing worry for his brother’s well being.

Once the tears began, he couldn’t get them to stop. He didn’t want them to stop. He simply just let them roll down his face, not concerned that they were dripping onto his cape and battle body. His body shook from the immense sorrow that he was finally able to let escape. Every once in awhile he shuddered as he hiccuped.

His body was beginning to feel sore and achy as he curled in tighter on himself. He didn’t know how long he had been crying or how loud he was. Quite frankly, he didn’t care. He just needed to cry.

A smooth, deep and very, very tired voice filled the emptiness of the cavern.

“there you are, bro. heh, i’ve been looking everywhere for ya.” Papyrus didn’t have to look up to know who the voice belonged to. He simply curled in impossibly tighter on himself so his brother didn’t have to see his disheveled appearance. His efforts were in vain as his body betrayed him once more when another hiccup escaped him. Even if Sans couldn’t hear him, his whole frame shook from the action.

“bro?” Sans asked, his voice now much closer to the curled up skeleton on the ground. The said skeleton didn’t respond as he heard his brother drag his feet over to his side and kneel down beside him. “papyrus?” he asked again. His voice dripped with concern and shortly after a bony hand was gently placed on the taller’s back. Papyrus finally pulled his head up and faced his brother.

He immediately regretted his decision as he watched his brother’s face contort upon seeing him. He could easily read all the emotions that were displayed on his face: pity, worry, sorrow, fear, guilt… so much guilt. Papyrus couldn’t bear to look at his beloved brother anymore as he wrapped his arms around him and planted his face on his shoulder. Smaller arms didn’t hesitate as they wrapped around his armored shoulders. The sad, broken ruler resumed crying. There was no use in attempting to hide it any longer.

The familiar smell of chemicals and the scratchy feeling of the fabric told him that Sans was wearing his lab coat, which had become part of his normal attire. Papyrus moved his face to his brother’s sternum and wrapped his arms tighter around him, clutching the hood in the back that hung over the lab coat. The feel of a more familiar fabric brought him some comfort. He didn’t want the lab coat reminding him of how different things were from just a few months ago.

Sans mercifully said nothing as he held onto his little brother. After a few moments, he began petting the back of Papyrus’ skull in an attempt to comfort him. Papyrus continued crying for what felt like an eternity. Even after the tears stopped falling, his body still shook with dry sobs and his hold on his brother remained firm. Sans said nothing the entire time, and just let his brother’s stress and sorrow soil his jacket and white t shirt while the rocks and pebbles beneath him dug into his knees.

Papyrus finally pulled his face away as his hold loosened and he released Sans’s hood. Sans gently kept his hold, but still allowed his brother to pull as far away as he wanted, which wasn’t but a few inches.

Papyrus looked up at his older brother. Although his tears had dried long ago, his face still had a soft orange glow from his distress and a bit of orange residual magic was beginning to crust around his eye sockets. Sans removed his hand from the back of Papyrus’ skull and gently wiped the matter away with his thumb.
“SHE’S NOT ON VACATION….. IS SHE?” Papyrus asked suddenly. His brother’s expression was heavy with guilt as he shook his head solemnly. Papyrus looked down and nodded slowly, showing his understanding. He would have started crying again if he had the tears or energy. Instead he just let his arms drop to his sides and his whole frame slump with the weight of this knowledge.

His best friend was never coming home. Which meant that no one else missing or “on vacation” was either. Papyrus fully understood the situation now. His position wasn’t temporary. It was permanent. He was now the new ruler. The new king….. And it was going to stay that way until he dusted. The fate of all monsters now rested on his shoulders and that realization only made them feel heavier to Papyrus.

“do you want me to shortcut us back so no one has to see you?” Sans graciously offered. Papyrus hadn’t even thought about other monsters seeing him in this broken state until Sans had mentioned it, but now that he thought about it, he really just wanted to go home. Papyrus only nodded. Sans stood to his feet and brushed off the pebbles that had stuck to his body from being in the same position for so long before helping Papyrus to his feet as well.

“Sans?” Papyrus asked. His quiet, solemn tone making tension hang heavy in the air.

“yeah, pap?” Sans returned, as he helped his brother dust off. Papyrus waited until they were finished before he looked Sans in the eye and asked,

“Did the human kill all of them?”

Several moments of silence followed. Papyrus could tell Sans was debating something from the focus in his eye lights.

“yeah,” he said quietly and then offered Papyrus his hand. Gloved fingers only took moments to intertwine with his. “yeah they did, pap.”

And with that, they left, leaving only a ribbon wrapped bone propped up against the door.

Chapter Text

Artificial sunlight streamed from the windows into the bedroom and onto an extravagant bed. The sleeping skeleton stirred as the light began to wake him from his slumber. Papyrus rolled over onto his back and threw an arm over his eyes. For a moment, he debated not getting up, but he knew better. The people needed their new king, and they needed him awake, bustling, smiling and (most importantly) preparing them their daily spaghetti. He sat up quickly, knowing that laying down for too long would only tempt him further.

It’s been seven months since the human came through the underground. Recently, Papyrus and his brother had to move closer to the castle. The trek from Snowdin to the Capitol was too time consuming, taking too many precious hours from their days. The royal family’s old establishment had been offered to the brothers, but it felt too wrong to Papyrus. He couldn’t possibly live in the old king’s home. Alternately, the castle was filled with a plethora of guest bedrooms as well as a kitchen and a handful of sitting areas containing couches, end tables, sofas, coffee tables, chairs and even a couple sets of dining sets.

Although not it’s original purpose, the brother’s were easily able to move into the castle. Each were able to pick their own bedroom, however, Sans promptly chose one of the bedrooms right beside his brother’s chosen room. Papyrus didn’t argue. On the contrary, he was glad that he could remain relatively close to his brother since they hadn’t talked much this past month.

Papyrus knew that the lack of communication was almost entirely on him. He just wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that Sans had lied to him about everyone being on “vacation”. He knew that Sans lied to spare his feelings, but he didn’t think that Sans should have kept up with the lie for so long. He should have at least told him after Papyrus was elected ruler of the underground!

Papyrus had begun to wonder what else Sans had lied to him about…. what else Sans was trying to protect him from. It bothered him, and he simply didn’t know how to converse with his brother anymore.

The tired king sighed and tossed his long legs over the side of the bed before extending all of his limbs for a good stretch. A few joints popped and the stiffness in his bones began to ease away. He examined his bedroom as he stretched. His bed sat against a wall with the door to the bathroom directly across from it. A little to the right, was the door to enter his closet, which was rather large so Papyrus guessed that it was more like a wardrobe. On the right wall, was the door that led to the hallway as well as the skull and crossbone flag and bone portrait that Papyrus had managed to bring over from their old home. To the left wall was a large floor to ceiling window that allowed the artificial light to begin flooding the room. To the right of that was a row of bookshelves and to the left of the window, was a personal desk. In the center of the room was a small sitting area containing a sofa, a reading chair and a coffee table. The room was rather large, but all the furniture made it seem smaller than it actually was.

Despite having more to keep track of, the whole place was still spotless with everything in it’s place. Satisfied that everything was in order, Papyrus stood and made his way over to the bathroom. One nice thing about the guest rooms in the castle was that each bedroom had it’s own separate bathroom attached to it.

Papyrus enjoyed being able to keep a place meant for hygiene neat and clean, but recently, he’d really missed sharing a bathroom with Sans. In the back of his mind, he wondered how many dirty clothes were strewn across his brother’s bathroom.

Papyrus shook the thought from his mind and turned on the hot water. He washed his face vigorously in hopes that it would make him feel more awake. He let his hands fall and grip the sides of the sink, letting the white noise of the running faucet soothe him.

He sighed and let the water drip from his skull as he looked up at himself in the mirror. Dark bags had long since began to form under his eyes. His bones had lost some of their magical hue and were looking pale and dry. The eyelights in his sockets were dim in comparison to their regular bright radiance. He looked like someone who was being worn down each and every day. He looked like someone who was being stretched too thin. He looked like someone who was just getting up and going through the motions….. And that wasn’t far from the truth.

He looked tired.

Realizing that he was wasting water, Papyrus turned the faucet off and reached for the hand towel to dry his face off with. He probably needed to throw it in the wash soon. He looked over to the laundry basket sitting in the corner behind him. He probably needed to do laundry in general. Sans probably needed to weeks ago. Papyrus figured he could ask his brother about it at breakfast. That could be a good conversation starter right? It wasn’t about appointments, or goings-on of the Capitol, or anything business-y… just regular, normal, homey things.

Papyrus rushed to his wardrobe to get dressed. He was eager to get to breakfast with his brother. He quickly began pulling his battle body off an armor rack that Sans had managed to procure for Papyrus and gave it to him as a gift. Papyrus enjoyed using it to plan out what he was going to wear the next day. It was nice to be able to see an entire outfit laid out as if someone was wearing it. He quickly slipped on his gloves and boots before wrapping the big heavy cape around his shoulders. He had gotten more used to it, but he still prefered the scarf that Sans had made for him.

Once the broach was in place, he strode out of his room and made his way into the kitchen, where he knew Sans and breakfast would be waiting for him. Sure enough, once he entered the kitchen, he was greeted with a bowl of steaming oats and a glass of cold milk on the table.

There was something missing.

There were quite a few things missing actually. The box of the remaining starting-to-get-stale cinnamon bunnies that had been on the counter was gone. So was the filled trash bag that used to sit beside the trash can. Papyrus checked the trash can that. It had a completely empty trash bag inside. The handful of dishes that were in the sink had been cleaned up. There was no pile of papers covering the other half of the table. No coffee pot or coffee cup, although the smell of coffee was still hanging in the air.

Sans was nowhere to be seen. As Papyrus approached his breakfast, he saw that Sans had left a note. He was quick to pick it up, open it and read it. He noticed Sans’ handwriting was larger than usual, which he was grateful for.

hey bro,
sorry i can’t be there to have breakfast with ya like normal. something came up and i had to head out early. don’t worry about it though. i’ll take care of it and be back in time for lunch. then we can go over what appointments you have for the day and i can help you with those royal guard applications. i’ve already gone shopping and gotten the ingredients you need so you can make your spaghetti. i set them on the counter for you. see you at lunch.

sans

Papyrus put the note down with a sigh. He didn’t want to know how early Sans had to get up in order to accomplish everything he had already. This was the first time his brother had ever been called out before breakfast though.

The kitchen felt awfully lonely as the king sat down and stared at his breakfast. He didn’t even really feel like eating anymore, but he didn’t want to waste the food that his brother had made for him. In the back of his mind, he knew that he would have to eat in order to keep his energy up. He still needed to make everyone spaghetti.

Papyrus lifted his spoon and stirred the oats a little bit. It was still steaming, but the little candy eggs had already transformed into dinosaurs and were starting to fall apart. His brother must have left before Papyrus had even gotten out of bed this morning. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to eat if he kept thinking about such things, Papyrus began shoveling down his meal with an occasional drink from the glass of milk.

Once finished, Papyrus moved over to the sink and placed the dishes inside. He took off the big heavy cape, folded it, and laid it carefully over the back of one of the chairs. He removed his gloves, rolled up his sleeves, and set to the task of keeping the monsters of the underground fed. The ingredients were still in bags, sitting on the counter, just like Sans had informed Papyrus that they would be.

As he began cooking, Papyrus finally allowed himself to set his mind to his brother. He knew that Sans had gone to bed after he did last night, and Papyrus had gone to bed in the early morning hours. He knew that Sans must have gotten up early in order to be able to clean the kitchen, get groceries, do his regular morning paperwork and still have the time to make Papyrus his breakfast.

Papyrus looked at the clock on the wall. He became increasingly worried about the very real possibility that Sans didn’t actually get any sleep at all last night.

He began to wonder how much sleep his brother was losing by doing everything that he was. Losing too much sleep just wasn’t healthy! Looking back, he realized that Sans had been going to bed after him almost every night this week. Yet, the new routine hadn’t changed and his brother was still there waiting for him every morning at the kitchen table with paperwork, coffee, and his breakfast. The worry in his soul only continued to grow and began to churn.

Papyrus knew that he needed to do something. Something about his brother working harder than him, the king, wasn’t sitting right at all in his soul. This clearly wasn’t a job for just him, nor was this a job that only just two people could handle.

Technically, Sans was trying to pull two jobs. Not only was he assisting Papyrus in his everyday duties, he was also fulfilling Alphys’ old role by researching how to get through the barrier. Although, a formal declaration had never been made, Sans truly was the new royal scientist.

Papyrus’ mind was made up. He knew what he was going to do.

+++++++

Papyrus plopped down at the table after setting the large, nearly empty pot of spaghetti on the stove. He needed to sit down. Just for a minute.

He had been standing for hours serving monsters spaghetti. At least now, most of the monsters had been able to get back on their feet and provide for themselves, but there were still several monsters that were in need of help.

Papyrus sighed and rubbed his face with both hands. His cheekbones hurt from forcing himself to smile so much. He didn’t even know that was a thing that could happen. He wondered how Sans did it all day every day. Pretending to be happy and full of energy was exhausting, but he needed to be that way if the people had any chance of being happy and hopeful. He let his hands slide off his face and dangle at his sides. He looked over at the clock on the wall. He wasn’t expecting Sans to be home for another few minutes.

Papyrus stood and made his way over to the cabinets. He couldn’t serve any spaghetti for the two of them quite yet, but his throat felt dry from all to socializing that he did. As he was reaching for a glass, he heard the subtle sound of air being displaced. He looked behind him to see his brother standing there.

“SANS! YOU’RE HOME EARLY,” Papyrus said.

He examined his brother. Sans’ hands were stuffed into the pockets of his lab coat, his shoes seemed dirty, that forced smile was ever present, and the bags under his eyes looked darker than Papyrus had ever seen them before.

“eh, i didn’t want to give ya the chance to worry,” Sans said with a shrug of his shoulders. He closed his eyes as he made the statement. Papyrus frowned a bit. Sans has been saying that a lot lately.

“THERE’S STILL SOME SPAGHETTI LEFT OVER. I WAS GOING TO MAKE US PLATES ONCE IT WAS CLOSER TO LUNCHTIME,” Papyrus explained.

“heh, why don’t we go ahead and eat since i’m here?” Sans suggested. “that way we can get started early on those applications”

“ACTUALLY…” Papyrus began, looking to the side. He wrung his hands in front of his chest. “THERE’S SOMETHING I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT.”

“oh, yeah. sure, bro. whatever you wanna talk about,” Sans offered. Papyrus was glad that his brother was open to talk about things. He didn't seem to be trying to hide anything from him. “let’s get some grub first though. i’m starving.”

Papyrus nodded in agreement and took two plates out of the cabinet. After filling both of them with spaghetti, he sat down at the table where Sans was already working on separating applications into piles. He carefully placed Sans’ plate somewhere that papers weren’t occupying.

“so ya wanted to talk about somethin’?” Sans asked. He looked up from his task and grinned up at his brother.

“YES, THERE IS. I’M HIRING A NEW ASSISTANT,”

Chapter Text

“what?” Sans asked, his eyes widened in disbelief. His grin fell from his face.

“YOU HEARD ME. I SAID I’M HIRING A NEW ASSISTANT,” Papyrus repeated.

Sans was quick to stuff his hands into his pockets. He was getting nervous. Concern was written on the older’s face.

“is there something i’m not doing? am i doing something wrong? did i forget to do something? did i mess up on something?”

“NO, NO SANS,” Papyrus said moving his hands in a reassuring motion. “THAT’S NOT IT AT ALL!”

“then….why?” Sans inquired. “are…. are you replacing me?”

“NO!....WELL… YES…. YES AND NO,” Papyrus said. Sans raised a brow bone and gave him a questioning look. “IT’S NOT THAT YOU’RE NOT DOING ENOUGH, SANS. THE PROBLEM IS THAT YOU’RE DOING TOO MUCH! I MEAN… WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SLEPT?”

“last night,” Sans replied slowly. So Papyrus’ initial theory was wrong, but Sans still could not have had much sleep.

“FOR HOW LONG?” Papyrus asked.

“a couple hours. maybe a little less,” Sans said.

“SANS! THAT’S NOT SLEEPING, THAT’S NAPPING!” Papyrus tried to keep his chastising lighthearted. “YOU NEED MORE THAN THAT! NOT SLEEPING ENOUGH IS JUST AS UNHEALTHY AS SLEEPING TOO MUCH, IF NOT MORE SO!”

“i’ll be fine, bro. everything’s ok. it’s just been a rough past couple of months for everyone,” Sans reassured.

“IT’S BEEN SEVEN MONTHS SINCE THE HUMAN CAME THROUGH, SANS.”

“ok, alright, it’s been a bad past month then, yeah? we’ve been transitioning and making your position here more permanent, but everything’s ok. it will get easier as time goes on,” Sans rephrased. Papyrus was getting tired of Sans insisting that everything was ok. He knew that it wasn’t. He felt like Sans was trying to baby him, and it was getting on his nerves.

“NO, IT’S NOT OK, SANS! STOP SAYING THAT! YOU’RE HURTING YOURSELF!” Papyrus was a bit harsher this time.

Sans stood from the table. The plate of spaghetti still sitting there, untouched.

“bro, look,” Sans said, taking his hands from his pockets and motioning to himself. “i’m fine. i’m standing. i’m moving. i’m talking. my soul is beating. i’m. fine. everything’s ok.”

“STOP SAYING THAT!” Papyrus snapped. “STOP SUGAR COATING EVERYTHING THAT’S GOING ON! I’M NOT A BABYBONES ANYMORE. I’M THE KING. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON IF I’M GOING TO ADDRESS ISSUES PROPERLY. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FIX THE UNDERGROUND IF I DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING THAT’S WRONG WITH IT?”

Sans reeled a bit. Sure, Papyrus has yelled at him before, but normally it was lighthearted and about trivial matters. Now, he was serious, and it was about everyone living in the underground.

“just leave it up to me, bro. i’ll let ya know if there’s anything serious that needs your attention,” Sans said, stuffing his hands back into his pockets.

“NO, SANS!” Papyrus yelled. “I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE IT ALL UP TO YOU. IT’S MY JOB, NOT YOURS. THEY ELECTED ME AS RULER OF THE UNDERGROUND AND SO I WANT TO BE MY BEST AT IT. I CAN’T ENCOURAGE EVERYONE IF I’M HIDING BEHIND YOU ALL THE TIME.”

He frowned shortly after his outburst. He didn’t mean to yell or come across like that at all. He appreciated his brother’s help, but he didn’t want Sans hurting himself in the process.

He quickly realized that he had also started to sound full of himself. He knew better than to use his position against Sans. He looked over at him sadly to see that Sans wasn’t looking back at him. Instead, he was looking down with his eyes hollowed out.

“Sans… I…” Papyrus began quietly.

“sorry. i’m going to go make sure that everything is ready for your afternoon appointments with the citizens. which is your job. i’ll do my job as your older brother to take care of you. after all, i just wanna make sure you have the time to eat your lunch. now, if you’ll excuse me, your highness,” Sans said expressionless.

Nothing was left but the sound of displacing air. The breeze caused some of the applications to flutter off of the table and onto the floor.

Papyrus didn’t bother standing up to gather them. He looked sadly at Sans’ uneaten spaghetti and pushed his own to the side. He placed his elbows on the table and dropped his head into his hands. What did he just do?

In the process of trying to offer his brother help, he had only managed to make him neglect his health more. Even worse, he was mad at him.

+++++++

Golden light shone into the room where only the sound of birds singing and footsteps were heard. The king solemnly walked down the judgment hall as he made his way to the throne room. The argument from earlier was still heavily weighing on his mind. He needed to find a way to convince Sans that hiring a new assistant would be beneficial to them both. Hiring one anyway would only make Sans angry, if he wasn’t already. Trying to take on some of the duties Sans had been fulfilling would only tire them both even further. Maybe he could convince Sans if he allowed him to make the application and run the interviews himself…. but then that would put more work on Sans and he didn’t want to do that.

“Papyrus!” a voice called as another set of footfalls echoed down the hallway. Papyrus looked up from his feet to look up at the monster approaching him.

If he had a heart, it would’ve stopped. He wasn’t concerned that a monster had called for him so suddenly. He wasn’t concerned that they sounded worried. He wasn’t concerned about the fact that they were running towards him.

What he was concerned about, was the white and blue mass that the monster was carrying in their arms.

Papyrus’ eye sockets widened in fear and he rushed to meet the monster. His soul began to pound. Had Sans fallen down? He was silently hoping that wasn’t the case. He didn’t know what he would do without his brother. He couldn’t lose him. Not now. Not after Sans seemed so upset the last time he saw him. He would never be able to forgive himself if Sans had fallen down because of him.

“WHAT HAPPENED?” Papyrus almost demanded once he got to the monster. He immediately reached for his brother. The blue fox monster gingerly handed Sans’ limp form over to the king.

“I-I don’t know. I think he p-passed out, but I don’t know,” she stammered as she attempted to catch her breath.

Once Sans was in the king’s arms, the younger quickly looked for his brother’s soul. He visibly relaxed the moment that he found it. His brother’s soul was still beating, still letting out life giving energy. He hadn’t fallen.

“He’s alright…. You were right… He just passed out,” Papyrus affirmed.

The fox let out a breath she was holding in. She took a few more deep breaths, as she was still short of breath from her sprint.

“Oh thank goodness. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know how to tell if he had fallen or not,” she quickly apologized.

“It’s quite alright. We don’t have lungs or hearts like most monsters, so I’d assume it’d be difficult. Thank you for finding me,” Papyrus said.

“Of course, sir,” the monster reciprocated with a polite bow. “Would you be back in time for your appointments or….?”

“I would like to stay with my brother until he wakes up. Would you please explain to the citizens that came to see me that something has come up…… and that I will be making a public address at the end of the week?” Papyrus asked kindly.

“Yes. Is that all?” she asked with equal politeness.

Papyrus thought for a moment. This monster seemed reliable. He had seen her in the castle quite a bit in passing, but knew nothing of her.

“Well, I don’t believe I caught your name,” Papyrus inquired.

“Oh! My apologies. Faia, at your service,” she said with another polite bow.

“Ah, well, thank you, Faia,” Papyrus said with a smile. “I will go take care of my brother now.”

Faia nodded in understanding before rushing off to complete her new task. Papyrus watched her go for a moment. She certainly seemed dedicated and he wondered what her job here was. He figured he could ask Sans about it later.

+++++++

Papyrus used his foot to open the door to Sans’ room. He braced himself. He didn’t know what the interior would be like. He had never been in his brother’s new room before.

As expected, clothes were strewn everywhere, papers and empty ketchup bottles littered the floor, and Sans had apparently already taken the liberty of putting a new trash tornado in the room.

Papyrus sighed and walked to his own bedroom. It would be far easier to use his bed than try to navigate to his brother’s. He had to work a bit harder to get his door open with his foot, but managed and strode in. He gingerly placed Sans down on his bed and quickly retreated to shut his brother’s bedroom door.

He was just as quick to return to his brother and look over him. He appeared to be passed out from exhaustion. He searched for his brother’s soul once more so he could confirm his suspicion. Papyrus was proven right as the magical pulses coming from Sans’ soul were no where near their normal strength. It was a wonder he was still able to shortcut from place to place. Papyrus wondered how much of an influence Sans’ constant use of magic was. Skipping lunch probably also played a role in his sudden collapse.

Papyrus debated going and preparing a meal for his brother to eat once he had woken up, but he didn’t know how long Sans would be out and he didn’t want it to get cold. He also really didn’t want to leave his side.

He decided that it would be best to cook something for Sans after he was awake, and he went and fetched the chair from his desk. He set it down beside the bed so he could at least sit down while he waited for Sans to wake up.

He spent a long time just holding his brother’s hand and feeling the magic course through the bones there. Feel that he was still alive. Feel that he hadn’t fallen down. At some point he laid his head down, but he didn’t know when. He was just so tired.

+++++++

Papyrus was stirred from a dreamless sleep he didn’t realize he had fallen into by the feeling of a boney hand petting the top of his skull. Papyrus slowly lifted his head a bit and looked over at the skeleton the hand belonged to.

“hey, bro,” Sans said.

“You’re awake,” Papyrus said as a smile crept onto his face. Sans permanent smile made a slight tilt upwards and he kept petting Papyrus’ skull.

“yeah… i passed out in the throne room didn’t i?” Sans asked.

“I don’t know where you passed out. Faia carried you and found me in the Judgement Hall,” Papyrus explained.

“crap!” Sans exclaimed before he took his hand from his brother’s head and used both of them to rub his own cranium. “i was in the middle of collecting guard reports from her. i still gotta get those and archive them and you’re supposed to be meeting with you appointments and i haven’t made it to the lab yet today and-”

“SANS,” Papyrus called in an attempt to get his brother’s attention. It worked and Sans let his hands fall back down to his sides. “CALM DOWN. FAIA IS LETTING THE APPOINTMENTS KNOW THAT SOMETHING CAME UP AND THAT I WILL BE MAKING A PUBLIC ADDRESS AT THE END OF THE WEEK.”

“a public address? address what?” Sans asked.

“I’VE BEEN GETTING A LOT OF THE SAME QUESTIONS FROM MONSTERS. YOU WOULD THINK WORD WOULD TRAVEL QUICKER, BUT I’M GOING TO ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS AGAIN ANYWAY…..IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. THAT SHOULD CUT DOWN ON THE NUMBER OF APPOINTMENTS YOU HAVE TO MAKE FOR ME,” Papyrus said.

“that’s …. a really good idea actually,” Sans confirmed after a moment.

“I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO HAVE A NEW ASSISTANT BY THEN…. IF YOU’LL LET ME,” Papyrus added.

“are you serious? are we really doing this right now? why?” Sans asked. There was a hint of anger in his voice.

“I’VE ALREADY TOLD YOU. YOU’RE OVERWORKING YOURSELF,” Papyrus replied calmly. He really hoped that this wasn’t about to turn into another argument.

“and ya think the monster you pass it on to won’t be overworked?” Sans asked a bit spitefully.

“NO, I WAS GOING TO LET THEM HAVE HELP AS WELL. BESIDES, ONCE A NEW CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD COMES FORTH, NEITHER YOU NOR THEY WILL HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT GATHERING REPORTS OR TAKING CARE OF THEIR IMMEDIATE CONCERNS ANY LONGER,” Papyrus assured.

“oh, so you’ll let them get help? what is it really, papyrus? what am i doing wrong that makes ya want to replace me?”

Papyrus stopped and his eyes widened a bit. He remembered that was a concern of his brother’s at lunch too. Is that why Sans was so upset earlier? Is that why he’s being so defensive? Is that why he didn’t want Papyrus to hire a new assistant? Sans thought Papyrus was replacing him? That certainly explained why he suddenly got defensive when the topic was brought up over lunch.

“SANS, YOU HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING WRONG. I’M NOT TRYING TO REPLACE-”

“then why?” Sans repeated.

“I WANT TO MAKE YOU THE NEW ROYAL SCIENTIST.”

Chapter Text

“oh,” Sans said quietly, now looking rather ashamed of his outburst. “i... uh… i guess it would be impossible for me to be the royal scientist and help ya out around here, huh?”

“YES, I THINK IT WOULD BE, AND YOU’RE ALREADY DOING SO MUCH SCIENTIFIC WORK ALREADY. IT’S LIKE YOU’RE ALREADY TRYING TO DO BOTH JOBS. I’LL LET YOU PICK THE ASSISTANT YOURSELF IF THAT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT ALL OF THIS,” Papyrus offered.

“yeah... yeah it would actually. i wouldn’t let just anybody be my baby brother’s right hand man,” Sans replied, clearly hiding a sad tone in his voice.

“WHY, SANS, YOU’LL ALWAYS BE MY RIGHT HAND MAN! THEY’LL JUST BE MORE LIKE…. MY LEFT HAND MAN! NYEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus laughed at his own joke. Sans smiled a bit more and chuckled a bit too. It had been far too long since either of them had laughed at all.

“alright, bro. i’ll find ya a left hand man tomorrow. promise,” Sans said with a wink and then he made a move to get up. “i should probably go ahead and hit the lab if i’m gonna get any work on the barrier done today.”

“WAIT!” Papyrus yelled while his hand captured his brother’s. “WAIT! YOU SHOULD EAT SOMETHING FIRST! YOU JUST WOKE UP AFTER PASSING OUT FROM EXHAUSTION! CAN….. can science-y things wait until tomorrow?”

Papyrus looked at Sans with a pleading look. It was silent for a while, but Papyrus could tell by the way his older brother was looking at him that he was about to get things his way. The heavy sigh from Sans a moment later proved as much.

“alright,” he said. No sooner than the moment the words came out of Sans’ mouth had Papyrus wrapped his brother up in a bear hug and stood to his feet. This made Sans let out a short cry of surprise and left his feet dangling above the floor. Nevertheless, Sans chuckled and returned the hug.

“LET’S GET YOU SOME SUSTENANCE, BROTHER!” Papyrus happily exclaimed as he began carrying his brother to the kitchen.

“uhh… ya know i can walk, right pap?” Sans asked. He looked rather embarrassed about the situation.

“Nonsense, Sans,” Papyrus began. The quiet tone appeared to capture every bit of Sans’ attention. “You just passed out from exhaustion earlier. I carried you here then. It won’t be any trouble to carry you to the kitchen now. Besides, no one will be around to see you.”

“can i shortcut over there?” Sans asked.

“ABSOLUTELY NOT,” Papyrus said with returned vigor. “Shortcutting everywhere probably helped get you into this mess. Would it really hurt you to try walking somewhere?”

“shortcutting is faster though. why spend five minutes walking when i can use that time to get something done instead?” Sans asked with a wink. That lazy grin on his face tilted upward just a hair. Papyrus assumed that his brother was amused that he now had an excuse to be lazy in that regard.

Papyrus groaned in response, refusing to validate that logic with an answer. He watched as his brother’s grin grew just a bit wider. Apparently not answering was just as ineffective.

Still…. it felt good to see his brother smiling like that. A small genuine smile of his own tugged at his cheek bones. He felt something touch his face and he looked down to see Sans pointing a bony finger at him.

“heh, there it is,” Sans chuckled.

“There what is?” Papyrus asked, confused.

“that smile. been awhile since i’ve seen it,” Sans said. He reemphasized with another poke on Papyrus’ cheek.

“I’m almost always smiling, brother,” Papyrus said.

“yeah, but that’s your social smile. i know you, bro. you’re always smiling when you’re around people. i mean this one,” Sans gave another poke. A more playful grin began showing on his face. “this real one is the one i haven’t seen in awhile.”

“And you’re enjoying this opportunity to annoy me aren’t you?” Papyrus asked. His own smile tugged upward just a bit more. He honestly missed the lighthearted bantering they used to engage in.

“nah, what makes you think that?” Sans’ sarcasm rang clear as he poked his brother’s face yet again.

“Saaaaaans, stop,” Papyrus halfheartedly whined.

“alright, alright,” Sans conceded and kept his hands to himself.

Once they reached the kitchen, Papyrus placed his brother down in one of the chairs and went to the refrigerator to pull out some leftover spaghetti. In a few short minutes, both brothers were seated at the table with a plate of steaming pasta in front of them.

Papyrus found that he was much hungrier than he originally thought. It was most likely due to the fact that he didn’t really eat lunch either considering the day’s earlier quarrel. Once his plate was clean, he decided it would be best to try to engage in conversation since Sans wouldn’t be heading to the lab today.

“Earlier you said that you wanted to get some work on the barrier done. How’s that going?” Papyrus asked. Sans looked up at him with his mouth still stuffed with spaghetti. A few noodles were hanging out of his mouth. Papyrus guessed Sans was even hungrier than he was.

Sans slurped the noodles back before quickly answering. “well, i started doing my own work and figuring out how to run experiments on the barrier and i came across a bunch of information on the barrier that was already in the archives. i’m still looking through it all, but so far nothing that we don’t already know. mostly stuff about the differences in monster souls and human souls.”

“Oh,” Papyrus looked back down at his empty plate feeling downtrodden.

“but hey, i found this book on anti-gravity.”

“Oh?” Papyrus asked. He looked back up at his brother, curious. He raised a brow bone at Sans’ mischievous grin.

“yeah, it was impossible to put down,” Sans’ grin widened.

“Snrk- OH MY GOD, SANS!” Papyrus complained as a smile tried to force its way onto his face.

“but then it ended up getting stuck near the ceiling,” Sans continued. “that’s ok though. i’ve got no one but myshelf to blame.”

A small snicker made its way from Papyrus’ mouth.He was sure there was a smile there by now, but he still tried to conceal it with a gloved hand.

“STOP!” Papyrus laughed.

“c’mon, bro. you’re smiling,” Sans said. He, himself, smiled proudly while his hands found their way into his coat pockets.

“I am and I hate it,” Papyrus said. His argument was weakened by continued chuckles.

“heh... i’d tell ya a chemistry joke, but i don’t think i’d get a reaction,” Sans said.

Through squinted eye sockets, Papyrus could see Sans close his eyes and slouch in his chair. He looked awfully confident in that joke, as if he was sure it would make Papyrus laugh.

“OF COURSE NOT, BROTHER! I’M TOO NOBLE TO REACT,” Papyrus retorted.

Sans opened his eyes and stared at his brother. It took half a second for the response to sink in before the older skeleton doubled over in laughter.

“oh my god, bro,” Sans said between laughing fits. “that was gold.”

“NYEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus’ laughter finally burst forth. Both brothers were sent into a spiraling fit of laughter and giggles. Soon they were both supporting themselves on the table and gasping for breath, but the laughter didn’t stop.

To Papyrus, it felt too good to stop. It felt good to keep laughing. It felt good finally feel a bit of happiness swell inside him. It felt good to see his brother overcome with laughter for the first time in far too long.

Eventually, laughter died down into exhausted huffs of air and sore rib cages.

+++++++

Although Sans didn’t make a trip to the lab that evening, the brothers still remained busy with other matters to take care of. Papyrus washed the dishes while Sans finally finished sorting through those pesky Royal Guard applications. Once those were all discussed and sorted into piles based on who would get interviews and who would not, they made plans for when and where the interviews would take place.

They began compiling a list of questions to answer for the address later that week. They went over the completed list and agreed that the questions were all relevant and frequently-asked. They then set about the task of organizing the questions by priority. They worked both forwards and backwards, trying to make the topics meet in the middle. The last ten or so topics proved to be difficult.

“what’s more important?” Sans asked. “providing more power or the progress of job creation in the core?”

“I don’t know,” Papyrus said with a yawn. “They’re so similar. Why don’t we just combine them into a broader topic and address them both at once?”

“ok, but then does it get tacked on below the high priority or above the low priority?”

“I don’t know,” Papyrus repeated. He laid his head down in his arms on the table.

“heh, you too tired to think, bro?” Sans asked. Papyrus only responded with a nod. “why don’t i make you some coffee? i could go for some myself.”

Papyrus lifted his head and looked at his brother curiously. He had never had coffee before. Well, none that was caffeinated anyway. When he was younger, Sans had let him try some decaf and he didn’t like it. It was far too bitter and he couldn’t see how his brother could drink it all the time.

“Does it taste as bad as what you gave me the first time I tried it?” He asked cautiously.

“well, yeah, but there’s stuff you can put in it so it’s not as bitter,” Sans said.

“Hmm… it’s worth another try,” Papyrus said.

Sans nodded and stood from the table. He made his was over to the counter and began making a full pot of coffee. Papyrus laid his head back down into his arms to rest for a moment.

“heh, don’t lay your head down too long,” Sans warned knowingly. “you might fall under arrest.”

“Snrk. Sans, that was horrible,” Papyrus said. He was glad that his head was down so Sans couldn’t see him smile.

“you’re smiling,” Sans said anyway.

“You can’t even see my face!” Papyrus said. He peeked his eyes out just enough to see the proud grin on his brother’s face.

“i can hear it in your voice,” Sans said with a shrug. His hand glowed faintly while he used magic to pull down two mugs for them to use. Papyrus noticed that Sans was putting sugar and some white liquid into one of the mugs. He covered his eyes again while he waited for Sans to finish.

He didn’t know how long he had his head laid down, when he was suddenly jolted awake by a ‘cla-thunk’ in front of him. He jerked his head up only to find a single coffee mug in front of him. He could hear his brother snickering off to the side.

“i told ya so,” the obnoxious older brother said as he sat back down in his chair. “heh, and you call me the lazybones.”

Papyrus only grunted groggily and sat up some. He picked up the mug in front of him and gave it a sniff. It definitely smelled like coffee, but there was something else there. It smelled sweet and oddly similar to candy.

“it’s a….uh… caramel macchiato.” Sans said. “i prefer my coffee black, but sometimes I make something more like this.”

Papyrus took another sniff. So that’s what the candy smell was. He cautiously took a sip, and his brow bones moved up in surprise.

“That’s… actually really good,” Papyrus said before he began drinking the beverage more fervently.

“heh, i thought you would like that. there’s not as much coffee in it though. i don’t usually warm the cream up either. that way it cools off the coffee. otherwise, it’s scalding.”

“Where did you learn to make this?” Papyrus asked.

“oh… i found it in a magazine a while ago. so i tried makin’ them myself.”

Papyrus only responded with a nod and kept drinking the ‘macchiato’ until it was all gone.

“Can I… have another one?” he asked. Sans chuckled a bit.

“let’s wait a minute to see what the caffeine does to ya. if ya drink too much, you won’t be able to go to sleep tonight. if ya like it that much though, i can go get some decaf when i go pick up more ingredients for your spaghetti. that way you can drink it without the caffeine,” Sans offered. Papyrus nodded in agreement. Sans grinned back at him.

“I think it belongs right below the high priority ones,” Papyrus said. Sans looked confused for a moment before he realized that Papyrus was talking about their previous task.

“right,” Sans said. He scribbled the note on the list.

+++++++

Many hours (and for Sans, many cups of coffee) later, all of the day's tasks were done. The one caramel macchiato seemed to be just enough for Papyrus. It woke him up and gave him enough mental energy to keep going until the day was done. He was amazed that it was only nine-thirty. He couldn’t remember the last time he had gotten to go to bed at a reasonable time. Hopefully this trend could continue once Sans wasn’t balancing two very important and very time consuming jobs.

“heh, wouldja look at that?” Sans said looking up at the clock. “maybe i did need a day off from science-y things.”

Papyrus nodded and stretched. That was really all he could manage at the moment. A yawn quickly followed.

“since it’s an early night and you seem pretty tuckered out, hows about i read ya a bedtime story?” Sans offered. Papyrus’ eyes widened back up. When was the last time he had gotten a bedtime story?

“PLEASE,” Papyrus practically begged. He lunged for his brother and wrapped him in a hug. Sans chuckled and patted his brother’s skull.

“alright, alright,” Sans said. “let’s go find fluffy bunny and get you in bed.”

“Oh! I always keep it on my night stand!” Papyrus said as he stood. “I…. read it too myself sometimes when you're busy.”

“...oh…” Sans said standing. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and he looked down. “can you read text that small?”

“Well, no,” Papyrus said. He frowned at his brother’s ashamed look. “But I remember every word to it! So I can at least look at the pictures and imagine that you’re reading it to me!”

“heh, well you won’t have to imagine tonight.”

Chapter Text

Sans was dragged from his sleep by his phone buzzing in his pocket. He grunted and lifted his head. He quickly realized that he wasn’t in his bed. Not even in his room. Papyrus’ favorite book was open underneath him on one of the pages near the end.

Through the dim light, he could make out the form of his sleeping baby brother. Sans smiled softly and reached inside his pocket, feeling around for his phone. He pulled it out and looked at the time.

His eye sockets widened. He had been sleeping through the alarm for the past twenty minutes. He was running late. He had to make Papyrus breakfast. He had to collect the guard reports from Faia. He was behind on those now. He had a lot to sort through. He had to find a new assistant for Papyrus. Maybe he could talk to Faia about it. She’d been such a huge help so far.

There would be people showing up soon to ask for appointments with the king. Should he go ahead and schedule them or should he tell them that there would be an address at the end of the week...tomorrow… and ask them to come back afterwards?

That address. He had to rewrite the list into something that would be easier for Papyrus to read. He was too tired to do it last night. They also finished sorting those guard applications last night. He had to call all of the accepted applicants and schedule all of them so they could get interviews done in a timely manner. Then there’s still the ever present issue of finding a new Captain since no one was stepping up to the plate since Undyne….

Then there was the lab. People had been asking for updates on the barrier ever since it was announced that he would be looking into it. That was one of the priorities for the address. He had to get something done. He had to show that progress was being made. He had to make sure no one would be upset with his brother.

He sighed and ran a hand over his face before looking back to Papyrus. He looked so peaceful while he was sleeping, a small smile was still on his face. Sans didn’t want to leave his side…..but he had so much that he had to do…. But the way Papyrus clung to him after he offered to read him a bedtime story…… Had he really been neglecting Papyrus that much? Was Sans so focused on helping the new king that he had been neglecting his dear baby brother’s biggest need?

Sans flopped his head back down on the bed and let out a heavy sigh.

“screw it,” he muttered as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

He pushed the book to the side and folded his arms more comfortably. He spared one more glance towards Papyrus. He reached out for his hand. Once he had Papyrus’ hand in his, he focused briefly on his brother’s life giving energy coursing through his bones. The sign allowed Sans to relax further.

He laid his head back down on the bed and allowed memories of a smaller set of bones all bundled up in his arms to lull him back to sleep.

+++++++

Papyrus stirred awake when artificial sunlight struck his face. He went to throw an arm over his eye sockets only to find that he couldn’t. He pried his eyes open to see what was holding him down. He blinked a few times at the hand that was wrapped around his and the skeleton that it belonged to. Shouldn’t Sans be up by now?

“Sans?” Papyrus called quietly. He only got a soft snore in response. Papyrus sat up some, careful not to disturb the skeleton beside him. He looked over and saw his favorite book still open and pushed over to the side. He picked it up with his free hand and placed it back in it’s proper place.

He watched Sans sleep for a few moments. His brother definitely needed and deserved his sleep, but Papyrus knew there were things that they both had to get done. He wished he could stay here and just allow both of them the much needed rest, but sadly, the monsters needed their king and their king needed his right hand man.

He pried his hand away from his brother’s before gently shaking his shoulder.

“Sans, wake up. We have a lot to do today,” Papyrus said. Sans shifted a bit and lifted his head.

“hmm? oh...mornin’ paps,” Sans greeted him with a lazy smile.

“Good morning, brother,” Papyrus said with a smile of his own. “Did you sleep well?”

“yeah. i slept real good. sorry i didn’t get up to make ya breakfast.”

“I’m actually more concerned about you getting a proper night’s sleep, and I’m very glad that’s the case!” Papyrus said happily.

“welp, let’s go get some grub then and we can get started, huh?” Sans said with a grin. He sat up and stretched. His back popped a few times. Papyrus figured it was because he was slouched over the bed all night, but he knew that his brother could get a good sleep practically anywhere.

“Sounds wonderful, brother!”

+++++++

The rest of the week went by without any further incidents. The address at the end of the week went well. Sans was officially dubbed as the new royal scientist and Faia the new royal assisant. The address went so well, in fact, that Papyrus decided to make it a weekly occurrence. Citizens were able to approach Faia with questions, which would be compiled and answered at the end of the week.

Sans was still hanging around the castle a fair bit to make sure that Faia transitioned into her new position. Papyrus admired how Sans did keep certain duties such as buying ingredients for him and fixing him breakfast (which now included a caramel macchiato instead of a glass of milk). He was especially elated at the fact that Sans tried to be home in time to read him fluffy bunny before bed at least three times a week.

If only they could find a new Captain of the Guard…. That would make things run more smoothly. Faia would be able to perform her duties without Sans’ assistance and Sans could devote his full attention to the barrier. Papyrus sighed at the thought while he watered the flowers in the throne room.

He had been putting off looking for a new Captain for quite some time. He really didn’t want to do it. In his mind, no one could be better for the job than Undyne. She lost her life to protect the king. She died doing her duty and Papyrus wasn’t sure he could say any of the others would do the same. Those that would have perished in hotland fulfilling that same duty.

Papyrus felt guilt swell inside him. He thought he had turned the human from their ways. He thought the human had turned over a new leaf. He thought that through his inspiration and motivation, the human had come out to be a better person….

But he was wrong.

All he did was let the human walk right past them. Vouched for them. Led his best friend to her demise.

Papyrus didn’t notice that he was dropping until his knees landed in the flower bed below him. He let the watering can fall from his hand and he covered his face.

It was his fault. He was the reason Undyne wasn’t here anymore. He should have followed the human. He should have made sure the human wasn’t lying. He should have fought beside Undyne….

Maybe then she wouldn’t be dead.

Maybe then, they could have defeated the human, or at the very least died protecting Asgore like true royal guardsmen. Papyrus would have been fine going out that way….

But that’s not what happened. That’s not what Papyrus did. Instead, Papyrus had happily stayed at home, anxiously waiting to see when the human would call.

Undyne was out there dying while he stayed at home hoping to hear from her killer.

The thought made his soul churn in disgust.

He hoped the human would never call again. He hoped he never had to see another human again.

He let his hands leave his face to pound the ground below him with his fists. The pain of the impact ran up his arms and began seeping into his rib cage.

Papyrus looked down, startled. How hard did he hit the ground? He lifted his hands to examine them. He saw a few flowers stuck to his gloves from being flattened by such a force. In that moment, he realized that he was letting his pain turn into anger….

But that wasn’t him.

That was not a very Papyrus thing to do.

Papyrus growled as he stood to his feet, only getting angrier at himself. He needed to go on a walk, go train, go do something to ease him. The watering can was abandoned on the ground as the king’s feet forced him towards the exit of the castle.

+++++++

Papyrus stood in front of the stove as he stirred the spaghetti. Normally Sans would be the one to cook dinner, but Papyrus had insisted on cooking after the day’s earlier events. Thankfully, Sans didn’t argue. Instead he told Papyrus that he would go spend a couple hours at Alphys’ lab to try to find some more answers about the barrier. At first, Papyrus didn’t want his brother to leave his side. Sans had convinced him however, by promising to be back in two hours, and Papyrus knew how Sans was about promises.

He remembered the first time Sans had left to go to the lab. That day Papyrus had insisted on cooking dinner as well, hoping that the familiar dish would help him feel closer to his best friend during her absence. Papyrus’ stirring slowed as he remembered the fact that Undyne was now dead.

Dead. What did that word really mean? Does it only mean that all physical manifestations of the person no longer exist? Does it mean that the person in their entirety no longer exist? No. He still had memories of her, right? He still missed her dearly. She still existed in his heart. That means she’s not completely dead, right?

His eyes drifted over to a little fish shaped tea cup sitting on the counter.

+++++++

“hey, bro,” an unmistakable voice said behind him.

Papyrus turned so quickly, a noodle flung out of the pot. There stood Sans with a stack of papers in a manila folder tucked under one arm.

His attire was different. More different than the different it had already been. Over the now regular lab coat was an extra layer; a white, plastic translucent coat. Even over his shoes, he had what looked like clear shower caps, but they were clearly designed to be put over shoes. To top it off, Sans had a pair of goggles hanging around his neck.

“SANS!” Papyrus said, slightly startled. He looked over to the clock on the wall. Sans had only been gone for an hour and fifty minutes. “YOU CAME BACK EARLY.”

“yeah, i didn’t want to give you the chance to worry,” Sans explained with a lazy shrug. There it was again. Papyrus swore that he was hearing that phrase more and more as time went on.

“YOU’RE DRESSED…..DIFFERENT,” Papyrus pointed out.

“oh, this,” Sans said inspecting himself. “it’s just lab stuff bro. keeps any chemicals and stuff off my bones. anyway, i think i found some files that could be useful. i’ll look over them while we eat.”

“OH…. ALRIGHT,” Papyrus said as he turned back to dinner.

In the meantime, Sans removed his plastic outer garments, sat down at the table and began going through the files. After a few minutes, he teleported somewhere, only to come back with a pad of engineering paper. He took a pen out of the pocket on the front of his lab coat and began scribbling down numbers, only breaking concentration when a plate of spaghetti clanked down on the table in front of him.

“thanks, bro,” he said before stuffing a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth, being careful not to let any sauce drip on the precious papers spread out across the table. He continued to work as he ate. Papyrus took the seat across from Sans, making sure to give him plenty of space to do his work. Papyrus ate his own food slowly, not particularly in a rush to do anything else for once.

“no,” Sans said after several minutes filled with nothing but the sounds of clanking forks and the skritching of pen on paper.

Papyrus looked up at Sans, but said nothing knowing that his brother was deep in thought and was speaking to himself. He didn’t want to break his concentration.

“that can’t be right,” Sans said as he set the plate far off to the side and began frantically scouring over the pages. He occasionally looked back to his engineering pad as if to make sure he got his reference figures right. After about a minute of this, Sans tore his recent calculation out of the pad and began working all over again, leaving the remainder of his food discarded to the side. Papyrus went back to eating, knowing that trying to get Sans to eat would be pointless at this exact moment.

“really?” Sans asked himself. “does everything check out if i work backwards?” These murmurs continued for a while.

Papyrus tuned them out. He didn’t even notice Sans was trying to talk to him until his name was called.

“papyrus,” Sans said. It seemed like he was trying his hardest to keep his voice in a calm tone.

When Papyrus looked up at him, his brother’s face was plastered with a wide grin. Papyrus sat up straighter at this sight, giving Sans his full attention. It had been far too long since he had seen his brother smile like that.

“Sans?” Papyrus asked in a quieter tone to let his brother know that he was genuinely listening.

“you only need one,” Sans said excitedly.

Papyrus tilted his head to the side a little, not sure what Sans was talking about.

“one soul, paps! you only need one soul to cross the barrier! it won’t break it, but you can cross it. i know it’s not exactly what we were looking for, but it’s something isn’t it? now we’re right back to where we were before the human came down! asgore needed seven, but...maybe the human crossing it weakened it somehow! this is good news, paps! you can tell everyone that we just need one soul!”

The thought of being the one to gather human souls made Papyrus’ soul tense up painfully. That meant he had to kill a human. Was he capable of doing that? What if the next one that fell down here was nice? He couldn’t kill them, could he? They had decided it would be case-by-case, even if he knew now that the last human had stripped him of his friend, his idol and his king.

“paps?” Sans, asked, sensing his brother’s distress. When he didn’t answer he left his seat and walked up to him.

“hey, bro. you ok? you’re lookin’ really pale there,” Sans pointed out. Papyrus didn’t respond. He just kept thinking the current scenario over in his head.

“hey, paps,” Sans said taking his brother’s shoulders in his hands. Papyrus looked up at him. “you don’t hafta kill a human. we can find a guard who can do it. i can even do it if ya want.”

Papyrus shook his head. He was a bit concerned that Sans sounded nonchalant about the issue.

“NO, EVERYONE’S LOOKING UP TO ME,” he said, trying to wear the bravado he used to always have. “I SHOULD BE THE ONE TO DO IT.” He fell silent, dwelling on that thought.

“hey, c’mon bro, look at the bright side. tomorrow you get to tell everyone that we aren’t starting over, and that we’ll be out soon,” Sans encouraged.

Papyrus’ face lit up. He could tell everyone that.

He could give people hope again.

Chapter Text

Once again, Papyrus was rudely awakened by the artificial sunlight striking his face. At one point he closed the curtains so it wouldn’t bother him, only to have Sans wake him up thirty minutes after he was supposed to get up. After that ordeal, Papyrus decided to trust the light more than his internal clock. He grunted as he shifted enough for a few of his joints to pop. He must not have moved all night. Well…. the part of the night that he slept, anyway.

Yesterday had been such a big day. After three long weeks of searching and facing the difficult task of finding a new Captain of the Royal Guard, Papyrus had finally found someone that he felt wouldn’t put Undyne’s name to shame. In fact, it was an old war veteran by the name of Gerson that recommended the young lad to the king. Papyrus was a bit worried at first.

He already discussed the appropriate qualifications with the remainder of the guard: first, the new Captain would have had to have been in the guard for the past three years; secondly, they could have no more than three behavior citations; third, the new Captain must exhibit phenomenal leadership skill; and lastly, they needed to show proficiency in fighting skills.

Papyrus felt a bit uneasy about these requirements, thinking that he didn’t meet any of those himself. However, it was his fellow monster kind that elected the new King into his position, and the requirements for the Captain were more than necessary.

When he met the young monster, Papyrus found himself a little intimidated by his appearance. He was a tall dragon-like monster with bronze-ish scales. His eyes were a piercing green color, and claws adorned every finger and toe (Papyrus assumed this was the reason he didn’t wear boots). He also wielded a strange weapon: it looked like a sword, but it was slightly curved. It looked more like the ones Undyne used to describe to Papyrus as being from an anime.

When Papyrus stood from his throne and approached him, the young guard quickly fell to one knee in respect.

“Oh! Please don’t do that. Please stand up,” Papyrus asked, completely flustered by the situation. Usually the guards would put a fist over their soul and give a slight bow.

“I apologize,” The monster said as he stood. “I’m incredibly honored that you have chosen me as a potential candidate to take the office of Captain. I… don’t feel like I can live up to Undyne’s legacy.”

“You were recommended to my by Gerson. Him and Undyne were…. close, near family... and given his past experience, I felt like I would be disrespecting him and Undyne to not at least meet you,” Papyrus said with a tight frown on his face. He was doing his best to hide his pain. Just merely mentioning Undyne was sending pangs to his soul.

“I see. I feel honored none the less,” the monster assured.

“Why don’t we have a seat in the dining area and I’ll go make us some tea?” Papyrus suggested.

“That sounds delightful,” the dragon monster said with a hint of a smile. Papyrus escorted the monster to a foyer where there was a small table with chairs where the two could comfortably sit.

“If you don’t mind waiting here, I’ll go fix us some tea. Do you have a preference?” Papyrus asked.

“Oolong if you have it,” the other monster said. Papyrus gave a kind nod and made his way to the kitchen.

Upon talking to the monster, he found that the name of the sword was called a katana, and that the guard was only a few years older than Papyrus himself. The name of the dragon monster was Paxan, and he was the last remaining member of his family after the human came through.

After a few more talks with Paxan and asking his fellow guard members about him, Papyrus had no doubt in his mind that Paxan would be a wonderful Captain. While Paxan seemed intimidating, he was actually a very kind and gentle monster.

According to the other guard members, Paxan could take leadership in scenarios where it was needed. He paid special attention to the abilities of each monster and what they were capable of. He suggested ways to divide up tasks for them as needed. In a sense, Paxan was already naturally beginning to take on a higher role of authority through sheer respect alone.

Yesterday was finally the day that the new Captain officially accepted his role in front of all monster kind. Papyrus remembered what Undyne’s ordination was like in his younger days. He was thirteen when his soon-to-be-best-friend had her ceremony. At the time, he had paid attention to every detail, as a future Royal Guard should! After all, this was to be his boss someday. With these bittersweet memories in his mind, Papyrus attempted to give Paxan every bit of the same respect.

It was a lot of work. The celebration lasted a full afternoon and evening. The entire Underground had shut down for the event. Sans even came back out of the lab for a week to help Faia organize the whole thing.

There was a speech from the King himself. Papyrus focused on the attributes of Paxan more so than the death of the previous Captain. However, it was impossible for the subject to be completely avoided. Tears were valiantly being fought back by the king the entire time he told of her noble death. Although Papyrus managed to keep his eyes relatively clear, the rest of the audience wasn’t as successful. Even Faia had to wipe away a few tears.

This was quickly followed by the vows of Paxan, and then the official appointment. That was the hardest part for Papyrus, as it was customary for the retiring Captain to present the new one with their helm. Undyne had removed her helm before attacking the human, so it was the only thing that remained of her.

As Undyne was, obviously, unable to be there, it fell to Papyrus to hand the helm off to the new Captain. It took every ounce of control on his part to keep it together as he handed the only surviving piece of his best friend’s armor to her replacement. He couldn’t bear to look at Paxan as he did so, opting to look at his feet instead. Despite his best efforts, a few silent tears ran down his skull. Paxan, in his kind nature, gave Papyrus a few pats on his hand to sympathize with his grief. Papyrus looked at the kind monster to see his reptilian eyes were glassy.

The new Captain stood after he accepted the helm, and both monsters took a few moments to collect themselves before continuing on with the ceremony. Paxan was to give a speech to his comrades as their new Captain. It was incredibly moving, with many words about how he hoped he could adequately fill the position as well as the previous Captain had. He claimed for that to never be possible.

The Captain’s name, however, was never mentioned. Papyrus assumed that it was for both of their sakes, to prevent any other breakdowns. Alas, it seemed ineffective to the crowd of monsters below them as the occasional cry or sob broke out.

After the heart wrenching ceremony there was a feast that accompanied an evening of celebration…. which…. left Papyrus a little unsettled. It was only one little detail, but it was one that bothered Papyrus. The new Captain was supposed to sit on his right. It was only a formality, and certainly appropriate, but Papyrus felt like he was betraying Sans in a way. Especially after assuring his brother that he would always be his right hand man. Correspondingly, Faia was his “left hand man” or er…. woman.

In the end, Papyrus didn’t want Paxan to think that he distrusted him. Therefore, he allowed the new Captain to sit to his right. Sans, much to Papyrus’ relief, didn’t seem bothered by it and easily took the seat to his left. Faia followed behind, also not seeming to think much of it and sat beside Sans. Now that the brothers were in arms reach of each other, it didn’t take long before Sans began soothing Papyrus with a few comforting pats.

Once nearly all the guests had left, Paxan decided to take his leave so that he would be well rested for his meeting with the king in the morning. Papyrus didn’t argue. He left the celebration after everyone had gone to get his own rest. Papyrus was elated that Sans had opted to walk with him rather than teleporting straight to his room like normal. Once they reached the bedrooms, Papyrus hesitated. Sans stood by his side, also not moving any closer to his room.

Papyrus could not have possibly appreciated Sans any more than he did in that single moment. For the older brother gently tapped Papyrus before opening his arms for a hug. Papyrus knew that Sans wasn’t the one that needed the hug. Many of the cleaning staff were still out and about. So he pulled Sans into his room and closed his door before collapsing into his embrace. It wasn’t long before tears began to roll down his face.

He didn’t say anything. Nothing needed to be said.

As time passed, Sans ushered Papyrus deeper into the bedroom, opting to settle them both down on the couch where it was more comfortable. Papyrus had no complaints. He felt heavier as his body was wracked with more tears. He was sure Sans was pushing his limits as to how long he could support his weight.

Papyrus ended up with his head in his brother’s lap. Sans gently petted his head while the younger cried himself to sleep.

+++++++

Papyrus sighed as he realized why his pillow felt so hard. He had fallen asleep on the couch. No wonder he felt so stiff. He was surprised by the hand that was still petting his head. Before Papyrus could say anything or make a move to get up, a soft, yet gruff voice filled his ears.

“hey, bro. you finally awake?” Sans asked as the petting stopped. Papyrus grunted and sat up. He looked at Sans to find that he was beaming up at him with a pencil in hand. It looked like he was using the end table to do some work. But where did…?

“i got it from your desk,” Sans supplied, twirling the pencil. The confusion must have shown on Papyrus’ face. Leave it to Sans to use magic to bring the office supplies to him rather than to bother getting it himself. Then again, Papyrus figured that Sans probably didn’t want to wake him.

Even though Sans didn’t have nearly as much paperwork to do, he was still almost always working on calculations of some sort. Even at breakfast. It was somehow less unsettling to Papyrus than when he was doing regular paperwork at breakfast. Probably because he knew that there wasn’t exactly any due dates for this sort of thing and according to his recent boost in enthusiasm, Sans was doing work that he probably enjoyed more. He wondered how long Sans had been working.

Now that Papyrus thought about it, Sans looked incredibly tired. Both had been able to catch up on sleep a little bit since Faia and Sans had begun splitting the work. After learning how close they were to freedom, the overall morale of the citizens seemed to increase, which certainly eased the stress on the skeleton brothers (and Faia) as well.

So any additional lack of sleep was more visible on the skeleton pair, and a lack of sleep was certainly visible on Sans. His smile seemed a bit dull and it wasn’t just from a lack of coffee. The bags under his eyes seemed a bit darker than normal.

“What time did you get up?” Papyrus asked.

“well... uhh… you fell asleep about three hours ago...i uh…” Sans said slowly while he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “i didn’t sleep at all. i decided to get some work done instead. i haven’t exactly gotten much lab work done the past couple of days because…. well, you know.”

Papyrus knew this behavior. This is how Sans talked to him when he knew Papyrus wouldn’t like what he was going to say. Sans was certainly right. Papyrus did not like it. He let out a heavy sigh, but he was too tired to scold Sans with as much vigor as usual.

“You know I would prefer if you got some rest over getting lab work done” he softly chided. “Sleep is important for your health, and you know neither of us have gotten much recently.”

“i know, but i’d still feel bad if you didn’t have any progress to report in your weekly address,” Sans said. Papyrus just sighed and slumped onto Sans’ shoulder. He didn’t have the energy to argue about that this morning. Sans let out a soft chuckle.

“is it coffee time, bro?”

“Please.”

+++++++

Papyrus sat at the table, downing his bowl of oats before properly waiting for the eggs to turn into dinosaurs, while Sans stood at the counter preparing the coffee maker. Sans opened the cabinet to take out two coffee mugs.

“Sans?” Papyrus called.

“yeah, bro?” Sans asked.

“Can you…. Put mine in the little fish teacup?” Papyrus asked. Sans’ smile faded a bit and he slumped over a little.

“are you sure?” He asked.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Papyrus said. Sans held his gaze for a moment longer, but he didn’t argue any further than that as he obeyed his brother’s request. A few minutes later, a small, fish shaped cup was placed in front of Papyrus.

But something was off.

The coffee didn’t have the sweet caramel smell like it normally did. It smelled… just so faintly of chocolate, and there was whipped cream on top. Papyrus wondered for a moment if Sans had given him hot chocolate instead.

“i decided to show you something different,” Sans said. “it’s called a mocha… it’s kinda like hot chocolate with coffee thrown in. if you don’t like it, i can make you your usual. no biggie.”

Papyrus gingerly picked up the cup and took a sip of the coffee. It was good. Not as great as the caramel macchiato, but it was still good. It definitely tasted how Sans had described, but less creamier than he had expected. The chocolate didn’t do as much to cover up the taste of coffee as the caramel did, but interestingly enough, the coffee taste didn’t bother him very much. Perhaps he was acquiring a taste for the bitter liquid. Papyrus almost audibly grunted at the thought.

“how is it?” Sans asked.

“It’s pretty good,” Papyrus said. Sans stifled a laugh. He raised a brow bone. “What’s funny?”

“i just think it’s fan-tashe-tic that you like my coffee, bro,” Sans said with a grin. Papyrus initially groaned, but as the pun set in, he raised his hand to his face and found some whipped cream just above his teeth.

“Oh my god, Sans! Shave your puns for later,” Papyrus retorted. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his face to hide his smile. Sans began laughing.

“but it’s hairy important,” he replied before leaning against the table in laughter.

“Oh my god, it’s not even made of hair,” Papyrus said as he still struggled to hide his grin.

“you’re still smiling,” Sans said.

“I am and I hate it!” Papyrus said.

“i still count that as a win,” Sans said with a wink. Papyrus only gave an exaggerated groan as he went back to drinking his coffee. Sans continued his giggle fit.

Papyrus wasn’t going to lie. He still definitely liked the mocha better than drinking it black like Sans preferred. Although he noticed that Sans’ first coffee of the morning would always be something not-black like Papyrus’. Perhaps he just didn’t like to take the time to hand-make coffees like that, so chose to drink it black instead. Papyrus wouldn’t put it past him. Sans gave a bright smile and set back to his work while Papyrus continued to eat his breakfast. A soft smile managed to remain on his face after the jokes and giggles subsided. It was good to see Sans joking again even if he was sleep deprived. Papyrus was almost finished with his meal when a knock came at the door.

“Yes?” Papyrus asked.

“Sir, Paxan is here for his meeting with you,” Faia’s voice came from the other side. Papyrus let out a heavy sigh. He left his bowl of unfinished oats on the table and picked up his cup of coffee.

“On my way.”

Chapter Text

Papyrus walked slowly on his way to the throne room. He was in no rush to get there. Last night’s ceremony had worn horribly on him and he didn’t feel that he was ready to speak business with the new Captain just yet. Although they had agreed that they would meet together first thing in the morning, he hadn’t expected that it would be quite this early. Some small part of him had to admire the fact that there was somehow a monster in the underground more punctual than he was.

He didn’t watch where he was walking; he knew his way around the castle by this point. The skeleton’s gaze was focused down at his feet and at the cup. His mind began to wander back to Undyne. He should have listened to her. He should have captured the human and handed them over to her like she said. Papyrus remembered their last meeting clearly. Undyne in full armor and her one visible eye very clearly angry with him for not following his orders.

She had seemed more exasperated than angry though, as if she expected Papyrus to let the human go free. Papyrus had felt that maybe that was it. That was his only chance to become a member of the royal guard and he blew it. He remembered how he felt when Undyne said that she would take the human’s soul herself. He felt shocked and mortified. The human had become good, or so he thought. There was no need to kill them. He had wanted the human to live out their second chance.

His non-existent stomach churned as he remembered how he felt…. How wrong he was in that moment. He felt that he would vomit as the memory continued to when he approached Undyne and tried to convince her that they didn’t need to kill the human. She had turned on him angrily. She yelled at him. Reminded him that humans were the reason they were stuck there. Reminded him that this was the last human soul they needed. Reminded him that they had been stuck underground long enough. Undyne had been furious.

The last time he physically met with his best friend, she had be furious. Papyrus had made her mad…. And she was mad for a good reason too. Worse, his last words to her in person were a lie. He had said that he would help her anyway he could, but he didn’t. Instead, he lied to her. Lied to her about what the human was wearing. He continued helping the human and warned them of Undyne rather than helping his best friend…… he helped the human murder his best friend.

Papyrus snapped out of his thoughts as bright yellow entered his vision. His vision refocused and he saw flowers beneath his feet. He looked up and felt something wet dribble down his face. Was he crying? When did he start crying? As his vision cleared and he looked out in front of him, he felt his soul sink. He was already in the middle of the room by his throne and Paxan was standing right there in front of him. The new Captain was witnessing the king crying.

Papyrus felt himself break down even more. He didn’t know why. Maybe he just felt that ashamed, or that embarrassed. Maybe the dam of his emotions had finally cracked and broken down. Maybe he just couldn’t keep up the facade anymore. The king froze as he watched Paxan slowly approach him. Papyrus looked down intently at his cup. He couldn’t bear to look the new Captain in the eye in that moment. Papyrus tried to keep his bones from rattling from the intense emotions he was feeling. He couldn’t tell how unsuccessful he was until a gentle, but firm hand was placed on his shoulder.

“You miss her too,” came a gentle yet gruff voice from the monster in front of him. It was more of a statement than a question. That was true, but wasn’t necessarily the source of his sorrow in that moment. Did Paxan even know?.... Did his brother even know?... Did they know that he was the reason that Undyne was dead?

Papyrus finally looked up and captured the gaze of Paxan. The tall, bronze, intimidating looking dragon monster was looking at the king with green eyes that were deep with sympathy. Papyrus found no judgement in those eyes, only kindness and compassion…. Maybe even a little understanding. Those eyes eventually wandered down the cup Papyrus was holding in his hands.

Papyrus looked down at the cup as well. It took him a minute to understand why it had captured the Captain’s attention. It never crossed Papyrus’ mind that as he was walking with his coffee, the beverage was contained in the fish shaped tea cup. He was carrying his best friend’s small trinket with him through the whole castle.

Undyne was known for wanting to have tea for her and her guest whenever she had a meeting with someone at her house. Occasionally, Papyrus would come to training to find Undyne in the middle of the meeting with a royal guard, the fish tea cup always placed directly in front of her.

Papyrus looked back up at Paxan. He wouldn’t be surprised if the monster had drank tea with Undyne at times. As he came to knew the dragon monster, he found that tea was his favorite beverage. Perhaps it was just something all reptile monsters happened to have in common. Paxan kept his eyes on the cup for a moment longer before returning Papyrus’ gaze. The bronze dragon gave the king’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before letting go.

“I apologize if I overstepped any boundaries,” Paxan said as he quickly took a step back and gave a conciliatory bow. Papyrus couldn’t help but feel guilty. Paxan was only offering comfort and consolation.

“NO! NO, PLEASE DON’T BE SORRY,” Papyrus said quickly. “JUST…. Let me sit down, please.” Paxan gave a respectful nod and moved back to stand about fifteen feet in front of the throne, leaving Papyrus plenty of space to seat himself. Papyrus sat down and shakily took a sip of his coffee before setting the cup down on the arm of the throne. A slightly uncomfortable silence filled the air.

“You’re welcome to start,” Papyrus said. Paxan’s movements were slow as he gave a nod and reached behind him. He brought his arms back in front of him, revealing the helmet given to him just the night before. Papyru m s’ soul sank. Was Paxan resigning? Was he about to have to begin the search for a new Captain yet again?

“I don’t deserve this,” He said solemnly. Papyrus must have visibly whittled, because Paxan immediately reacted. He reached his hand out slightly in a way that wordlessly asked for patience. “This helmet represents so much more than just the service of the previous Captain.” Papyrus could feel himself relax as he realized that Paxan was only speaking about the helmet. The quiet in the room became less oppressive.

Papyrus agreed with Paxan, although he knew that he didn’t have to vocalize it. Papyrus knew that Undyne’s helmet represented more than just her position…. It represented her. It represented her leadership and her courage. It represented those lives that she saved that day. Quite possibly, it even represented the strength of monsterkind…. Physically and spiritually. However, this then begged the question….

“Who deserves it then?” Papyrus asked, somewhat to himself, before he could stop himself. Another silence fell as Paxan pondered. A few moments passed as Paxan seemed to be deeply considering the King’s question.

“Nobody…. No one person in particular deserves it…. Everyone does. This is a symbol and a reminder that everyone needs….. Regardless of if we deserve it or not,” Paxan concluded.

A small fire lit within Papyrus. Paxan was right. None of them deserved Undyne, nor what she did. Perhaps what the underground needed wasn’t another symbol of hope, but a symbol of strength and perseverance. Monsterkind was not weak. Monsters were strong. Their souls were made of love, mercy and compassion. In the end, that was all they needed.

+++++++

Papyrus walked into the throne room with a watering tin in hand. Usually, this would be the time that he would take care of any visitors with questions, or do interviews for the guard. Now that a weekly address was a part of the schedule and the new Captain was appointed, Papyrus had the time to take care of the smaller, menial tasks around the castle.

Even Faia seemed to have more time now that Paxan had completely taken over his duties. Paxan had been taking his duties on bit by bit while the ceremony was being prepared. Now that it was official, Faia even had the time to buy Papyrus his ingredients for spaghetti. Sans was now hardly seen around the castle as he spent his time in the lab, working diligently on finding a way to break the barrier.

Faia was supposed to be arriving soon for their afternoon meeting. It was during this time that they usually discussed the questions of the citizens that came up during the day, reviewed the Royal Guard paperwork, addressed any needs that arose, and so forth. Papyrus’ small fire that was ignited earlier that day grew with the thought of the underground functioning smoothly without anyone having to overwork themselves.

“Pardon,” came a soft voice from the King’s left. Papyrus looked over to see the familiar blue fox standing there.

“OH! HELLO FAIA! I’M SORRY, I WAS LOST IN THOUGHT,” Papyrus said. He wore the faintest of smiles, but it was a true smile. His first true smile in a long time. Not a smile when Sans told him a funny joke, but a smile that showed that he was just the slightest bit happy. Faia returned the small smile with one of her own.

“It’s quite alright. You seem more yourself today,” She noted kindly. Papyrus tilted his head slightly.

“I do? Well, perhaps I’m just excited that we are all going to be taking on less of a workload. Everyone has been working far too hard these past eight months,” Papyrus explained. Faia’s face took on a look that Papyrus couldn’t quite piece together. Usually, Papyrus was very good at reading the emotions of others, but somehow, Faia was a little hard to read.

“Wow… I can’t believe that much time has passed already,” she said quietly. Papyrus quietly hummed to himself as he realized that’s what the face was for. His own face fell slightly as it grew more serious. They were supposed to be having a meeting, after all.

“Faia,” He said and the fox perked up at her name. “Do you think there are enough funds in the treasury to construct a memorial?” Faia was quiet for a moment.

“I suppose it depends on what sort it is, and how big you wish for it to be. May I ask what for?” She queried.

“For Undyne. Paxan and I were talking earlier today,” Papyrus explained. He nodded toward the throne where the helmet sat safely on his seat. “He brought that back by during our meeting this morning and we both decided that it should be something that stands as a symbol of strength for all monsterkind, not a status symbol for one.” Faia turned her attention to the helmet settled on the throne. After a moment she turned back to the King with a light in her eyes.

“I believe that’s a wonderful idea, your highness!” She said happily. A smile came across Papyrus’ features once more. If just the idea of it could bring a light to his left hand man, who was so overworked and struggling alongside the skeleton brothers since the beginning…. What could it do for the whole underground?

“I told you there was no need to be so formal,” Papyrus said in the softest of chuckles.

“Apologies… it’s just… so many monsters owe their lives to her… and we think that the helmet was her only belonging that her dust fell on… And she loved and cared about her position so much. I really think her essence lives on with that helmet and I feel that her life needs to be honored and respected,” Faia notioned resolutely.

Papyrus admired her thoughts. He believed them to be undoubtedly true. They provided even more reason for the memorial to be constructed. Undyne… no… his best friend deserved every bit of the people’s respect. In his mind, she deserved more respect than anyone, even himself, or his brother, or Faia, or Paxan. She deserved all of it.

“Would the cavern her house is in be reasonable?… maybe even with a statue?” Papyrus asked.

“Of course!” Faia immediately responded. “I’ll speak with artists and workers right away!” She trotted off happily. Papyrus didn’t even bother trying to stop her despite the fact that there were other things to discuss. This was far more important.

As the fox reached the door, she stopped abruptly and turned back towards the king. A more solemn look was on her face.

“Papyrus? What did Sans do before he was your assistant or the Royal Scientist?” she asked. The tall skeleton tilted his head curiously at the question. He knew that his brother had worked many jobs. Probably some that he didn’t even know about, but it was necessary if they were to pay bills and have a place to live.

Papyrus reflected on that for a moment. Sans worked many jobs and Papyrus only worked one. Sans gave all of his time working so Papyrus could work towards his dream of becoming a Royal Guard. On top of that, he gave Papyrus everything while Sans had so little. He snapped himself out of thought quickly as he realized that he was probably taking too long to answer.

“He had several jobs. He needed them so we could live reasonably,” He provided. Faia averted her gaze and nodded before trotting off once more.

Chapter Text

The king walked into his kitchen and stretched his arms above his head. The rest of the day had been quite eventful…. but also not when put in comparison to how things used to be. He looked over at the clock and his eye sockets widened a bit. It was only four-thirty! Dinner wasn’t for another hour and a half and Sans wasn’t expected to be home for another thirty minutes! Well, or hour if he decided that he was going to stay late, but he was usually very good about letting Papyrus know whenever that was the case.

Therefore, Papyrus determined that the best possible course of action was to let out some stress and use his extra time to make a super-extra-special dinner. He was quick to take off the heavy cloak and drape it over one of the chairs, leaving his more familiar, old and worn scarf around his neck. He rolled his shoulders to let our some stiffness before practically bounding towards the fridge to see what he had to work with.

+++++++

Papyrus set the last of his chosen ingredients on the counter and looked them over as a whole with a triumphant smirk. This will truly be his best creation that he had made in months! When was the last time he got to experiment with his cooking just for the fun of it? He shook his head to force out the negative thought. Now was not the time for moping about the past. He had dinner to cook. He walked to a cabinet to retrieve a pot when the familiar sound of displacing air was heard.

“SANS!” Papyrus called excitedly as he turned to look at the shorter skeleton. He then looked up at the clock. “You’re home early.”

“didn’t want to give ya the chance to worry,” Sans said with his usual shrug. He looked tired from a long day’s of work, yet he didn’t look as tired as when he first took on the duties of being the royal scientist. The way his grin was less forced, the way how he didn’t slouch quite as much, the slightly lighter color of the bags under his eyes: they all told that he was slowly, but surely becoming more well rested. Months ago, Sans’ current appearance would have worried the younger skeleton, but now it only filled him with relief. A smile crept onto his face.

“Well, dinner will be ready soon. So go take a shower and wash off all of that lab slime that you got into today,” Papyrus said. Sans gave a playful salute before the soft pop of his disappearance filled the air. Papyrus couldn’t hide the smile that was now plain and clear on his face. Things were finally starting to get better.

+++++++

The next morning, when the sun hit the King’s face, he didn’t groan and throw his arm over his eyes, as had become his new routine. Instead, he simply faced away from it before opening his sockets. A smile came back to his face as he recalled that last evening was not a dream. He really did have time to experiment with his cooking. Him and his brother really did get to enjoy dinner at the table at a leisurely pace. He really did get a bedtime story last night without feeling that he was stealing some of Sans’ precious time away.

It couldn’t really be true, could it? His mind instantly raced to find some sort of proof that he wasn’t still dreaming. The King gave himself a few pats on his cheek to ensure that yes, he was awake. He quickly jumped out of bed and rushed straight to the bathroom. He stood in front of the mirror and took in his complexion.

He still had bags under his sockets, although they weren’t as dark or pronounced. His bones no longer seemed as dry and pale as before as they took on the slightest hint of the color of his magic. The magic in his eyes seemed to shine just a bit brighter. Overall, Papyrus himself appeared much brighter. As he went to brush his teeth among other things to make himself presentable for the day, his mind went back to his brother.

Would he look much better after a good night’s sleep? The pair had gone to bed promptly after dinner deciding that the extra sleep was well needed. Dinner had been filled with happy conversation and, of course, Sans’ ridiculous puns. The older had even managed to pull a few snickers out of Papyrus, much to the younger’s annoyance.

After the king draped the large cloak over his shoulders and clasped it in front of him, he quickly made his way to the kitchen. The smell of coffee down the hall told him that Sans was already awake. As he walked he noticed that the skip in his step was ever so slightly beginning to return. The smile on his face became more permanent as he identified that, yes, he was feeling much much more like himself.

As he entered the kitchen he found his bowl of oats still very fresh on the table along with his glass of milk. However, the table was completely void of large stacks of papers or calculations or books. Instead, there was a single pad of yellowish paper that Papyrus identified as Sans’ engineering paper. Perhaps he was still planning on doing a little bit of work at breakfast. Sans himself was standing at the counter making coffee for the pair.

“mornin’ bro,” the said skeleton greeted. He turned toward Papyrus a bit to give him a big grin. “you look like you slept well.” Sans, himself, looked like he had gotten a good night’s rest. The bags under his eyes were certainly dwindling and the clothes he was wearing looked…. dare Papyrus think… clean?

“Indeed, brother. You look like you are feeling particularly more rested as well,” Papyrus said. Sans gave an especially lazy shrug at the comment.

“i guess that means it pays off to be lazy,” he teased.

“SANS! That is not what I meant at all and you know it!” Papyrus lightheartedly chastised. Despite his scolding, he couldn’t hold back his smile, nor his chuckle. Sans’ own grin turned upward slightly as well. He returned the taller’s berating with another shrug and gave a chuckle of his own.

Papyrus couldn’t help but notice that his brother’s laugh didn’t seem dry or forced. It didn’t even seem tired like in their recent laughter surrounding his jokes. It sounded more like Sans… more like the lazy, happy-go-lucky skeleton that Papyrus remembered. It sounded…. mirthful. Papyrus felt his sockets sting as tears began to prickle and form into existence. Papyrus snapped out of his mini trance when he noticed Sans’ face suddenly fall.

“bro?” he asked as he abandoned his coffee making to stand in front of Papyrus. He looked over Papyrus in a way akin to a mother looking over a small child for injuries. Papyrus let out a light chuckle as he realized that he had accidentally caused Sans concern.

“I’m fine, brother. I’m just… happy. You seem much more like yourself and I’m glad for it. I hate seeing you ragged from overworking yourself. It’s not a very Sans-like thing for you to be,” Papyrus explained as he wiped his tears from his eyes. Sans’ face melted into something more relaxed and a soft smile came onto his face.

“heh. you got me there. it’s good to see you more yourself too. it really sucked to see you with no energy and knowing that i could do nothing about it,” Sans explained. “being exhausted and not excited about anything is not a very papyrus thing to be,” he added with a wink. Papyrus gave a soft laugh of his own.

“Indeed not. BUT!” he exclaimed, placing his hands on his hips. “We are boondoggling! We both have work to get to, and while I am happy that you are more yourself, brother, I refuse to let your laziness rub off on me!” The king energetically waved a pointed finger around at the last bit in a way that made the older laugh.

“sure, bro,” Sans said before going back to making the coffee. A full smile broke out on Papyrus’ face and he moved to sit at the table to enjoy his breakfast. He downed his milk quickly, knowing that coffee would be placed in front of him soon. He paused for a moment as he thought, did he really need the coffee? He had much more energy than he had a couple days ago. Then again, did one good, full night of sleep make a big enough dent in his months of accumulated sleep deprivation?

He certainly doubted it. A small part of him hoped that he would need coffee today. He really enjoyed the hand crafted beverages that Sans would prepare for him in the morning. Papyrus very visibly winced at that last thought. He realized that he was growing to not only tolerate coffee, but enjoy it. That was not anything that he thought he would have to admit in his lifetime.

“what is it now?” came the voice of the older skeleton as two cups were placed on the table. The younger looked up at Sans with a grimace on his face. For a moment, he wasn’t sure his pride would allow him to admit such a thing to his brother. Before he could talk himself out of it, he explained.

“I think I actually like coffee now and I’m disgusted at the thought,” he said, opting not to look at Sans although he could sense the grin growing on his face.

“is that so?” Sans obviously teased. “well, i made a mocha and a macchiato this morning so you can choose which one you want.”

Papyrus quickly looked over at the two cups and singled out the lighter colored one he knew to be the caramel macchiato. He quickly took the cup and turned away to take a sip of it so he wouldn’t have to look at his brother’s face. He could hear the older chuckle and take a seat at the chair across from him.

The sound of a pencil scritchng on paper filled the comfortable silence that had nestled in. After a few minutes, Papyrus let his slightly hurt pride brush off of him as he resumed eating his breakfast. Just as Papyrus finished, there came a knock at the kitchen door.

“Papyrus?” the recognizable voice of Faia called. “I’ve the the questions for the address compiled and ready whenever you are.”

“Ah! Thank you Faia, I shall be there shortly!” Papyrus called after her.

“I’ll be in the throne room,” Faia announced. The soft pitter patter of her footsteps could be heard as she trotted away.

“welp, guess that’s my cue to go to work,” Sans said as he stood up from his chair and collected his calculations. Papyrus stood and put his dishes in the sink, minus the coffee cup which he figured wouldn’t hurt to carry around.

“Have a wonderful day at work, brother! Oh! Have you discovered anything new? I don’t want to rush you brother, I would just like to know in case monsters have any questions about it,” Papyrus asked. Sans gave a hum and looked around as if he were searching for a thought.

“not really. i kinda ran into a dead end with that ‘one soul’ thing i found out. i found some old files though. i’m going to start going through them and hope to find something to make this easier,” He explained. Papyrus gave an understanding nod. You can’t rush progress after all!

“Alright. Thank you, Sans…… for everything,” Papyrus said. The smile on Sans’ face widened just a hair.

“no problem, bro,” he replied. “catch ya later.” The sound of displaced air reached Papyrus a second after Sans’ form vanished. Papyrus took in a deep breath to steel himself for the day before grabbing the remainder of his coffee and heading out.

+++++++

When the King reached the throne room, it took him a moment to locate his left hand man. He looked around for a moment. The large double doors at the front were closed. When he placed his coffee on the arm of the throne, he finally spotted her. There she was, curled into a little ball on the seat of the throne, asleep.

“Faia?” he called. The blue fox jumped with a start.

“Oh, oh my god! I-I’m so s-sorry. I… I didn’t mean to,” Faia spewed with other combinations of apologizes as she practically fell off the throne. Papyrus took pity on her. Closer inspection revealed that her fur was a bit matted and not pristinely groomed as he was used to seeing her. Even in her alarmed state, her ears weren’t perked up all the way and her eyes seemed a bit sunken in.

“It’s alright, Faia! Please don’t be alarmed,” Papyrus attempted with a soothing motion of his hands. “You look…. Unwell. Please do not feel guilty for falling asleep here. It’s just a chair.” Faia quickly became much less tense and a bit more relaxed.

“I…. I guess you’re right. It is just a… just a chair,” she stammered. She stood to her feet and attempted to regain her composure. “My apologies, I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“It’s quite alright. Why don’t we go ahead and take care of the address and then you can have the rest of the day off? We can afford those now that we are more appropriately staffed,” Papyrus offered with a soft smile. Faia nodded and looked down.

“Right… Right right,” she said and gathered up her papers. Papyrus noticed the slightest tremble in her hands. Was she nervous? Over what? Papyrus already told her that she wasn’t in trouble for falling asleep on the throne and she seemed to be doing better just a moment ago.

“Sit down, please,” Faia requested. Papyrus nodded and took a seat, hoping that it would ease his friend’s anxiety. Faia timidly handed the papers to the King. All the words written in larger letters as had become common practice under Sans’ advice.

Along with the larger letters for Papyrus’ easy reading, the questions were also sorted with the most asked questions at the top and trickled down to the least asked questions. It had become common practice as it helped the address making process go by smoothly. Papyrus read over the first question and felt most of his magic leave his skull. He worried that he would faint right there on the throne.

Why didn’t Sans judge the human?

Chapter Text

Papyrus felt his own hands begin to tremble as he gingerly placed the papers in his lap. His brother’s job as the judge of the Underground had entirely slipped his mind. Was this what caused Faia to ask him what Sans used to do before he was the royal scientist? Does this mean that Sans has let the human go? Does this mean that he didn’t fight the human at all?

Does this mean that Sans is the reason that King Asgore is dead?

Papyrus’ breath came more quickly and shook with the onslaught of emotion that began bombarding him. He had to force himself not to hyperventilate. Despite being a skeleton and not technically needing air, it was still a luxury and still had the capability of making him pass out. Sans said it was because it had to do with toxicity or something.

Papyrus came to the conclusion to force himself to stop breathing altogether. It took a long moment as it had been quite sometime since he hadn’t breathed. The last time he remembered was when he was training with Undyne and breathing was becoming laboring and far too troublesome. It had scared the Captain of the Guard initially, but she eventually got over it when she realized that it actually kind of made sense.

Papyrus caught his breath hitching at the thought of his deceased best friend. His ribcage began to burn as he forced all the air in his system to stay put. The burning got worse and worse, like how your legs feel when you suddenly start walking after running for some time. However, it slowly ebbed away as the pain hit its peak.

“Papyrus?!” came the voice of Faia, accompanied by a hand shaking his shoulder. Papyrus looked up and saw concern written all over her face. Right. He probably should have warned her first.

“Sorry, Faia. I’m alright. I’m a skeleton. I don’t need to breathe. I just…. Don’t need to be hyperventilating and passing out,” he explained. It felt strange to feel the air move around in his ribcage and past his mouth without him forcing it. It was hard for a moment to keep himself from inhaling after he spoke. Realization slowly dawned on Faia’s face. She gave a solemn nod before letting go of the King’s shoulder.

“How many monsters asked about this?” Papyrus asked. Faia looked down ashamed. Papyrus wondered if this was an issue he should have been addressed with sooner.

“We had one or two last week. This week over half of the questions were that one…. In some form or another,” She explained. Papyrus felt a pit growing in his metaphorical stomach. That many? The public, in general was becoming angry with Sans because he failed to do his job properly? Papyrus shook his head. He needed to calm down. He was certain his brother had a reason for making the decision that he did.

What should he do about it, though? He couldn’t just ignore the question. Not when that many monsters had concerns about it. He couldn’t ask his brother about it. He already had so much to stress about and be worried over. People were already looking to him to somehow get past the barrier and free all of them. Papyrus couldn’t add this burden onto his shoulders. Sans had just started getting better, the younger didn’t want to make it worse again.

He wondered how vaguely he could ask Sans about it without him catching on. That would prove tricky as he was much more observant than he let on. Papyrus knew this. The only exception to this rule would be an instance, such as previously, when he was too absorbed in his work. Papyrus wondered if he could use Sans’ work as a cover for the questions. It might work.

“Papyrus?” Faia called again. Papyrus shook his head as he realized he was getting too lost in thought. He then turned his attention to the blue fox in front of him. “What are we going to do?” She asked. Papyrus looked down.

“I don’t know…. I think… I think I will try to ask him something vague about it if I feel that he won’t catch on. He already has everyone looking to him to do something about the barrier,” Papyrus explained.

“You aren’t going to tell him?” Faia asked. She recoiled slightly as if she were a bit appalled at the idea. Something about that reaction sparked something in Papyrus that he didn’t like.

“You didn’t,” he curtly pointed out. Faia shrank back much more visibly this time. A pang of guilt hit the King immediately. What was he doing? That was not a very Papyrus thing to do. He forced himself to take a deep breath now that his wave of anxiety had passed. He needed a clear mind if he was going to properly find a solution to this dilemma.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap,” Papyrus apologized looking down at the papers in his lap again.

“No. You’re right… You’re…. You’re right. I didn’t tell him. Maybe I should have before giving you the list instead of expecting you to tell him instead,” Faia returned.

“Well, we’re not going to get anything done about it if we both just sit here sulking over poor communication skills,” Papyrus gently supplied. Faia nodded and straightened back up.

“If we aren’t going to tell him, then what are we going to do?” Faia asked.

+++++++

Papyrus absentmindedly stirred the pot of spaghetti on the stove. What was he going to do? What was he going to say to Sans when he got home? How can this even be entirely about Sans? What was more important: protecting Sans or giving the public the answers they deserve? What would Papyrus tell the public anyway? He didn’t know the answer to their question. It could be very possible that Sans simply wasn’t there when the human came through. Perhaps he was selling something at one of his stands. Perhaps he was at Grillby’s. He could have even been at home.

Papyrus knew he wasn’t usually home at that time, but Papyrus had been waiting outside Undyne’s door until long after the human left…..waiting for the human to come and hang out with the two of them…. Thinking that Undyne and the human could be friends, when in reality the human had long since killed his best friend.

Papyrus stopped as he realized he was stirring too fast, causing noodles to go everywhere. He was getting angry with himself again. He didn’t need that. Not now. Not when he had his brother’s issues to deal with. Maybe Sans didn’t know? Maybe he didn’t even know people were so upset with him. Papyrus knew he shortcutted straight to the lab every day, and he hadn’t seen any grease stains or other evidence of him visiting Grillby, which was probably the only other place his brother would go.

Maybe if he just asked Sans as if he really just wanted to know for himself, he would get an answer. He would find that Sans wasn’t there, that the human had managed to slip past without being judged. Even then, the Underground would probably still be angry with him, but perhaps not quite as much as if he had the option to stop the human and then didn’t.

The sound of displaced air startled the King. He let out a distressed ‘nyeh’ as he jumped, sending a few noodles flying out of the pot. There stood Sans as always, but it shouldn’t be time for him to be home yet, should it? Papyrus checked the clock and then regarded his brother. Nothing different about him, except he was early. Earlier than early. Not the five or ten minutes he was usually early by, but a whole half hour!

“bro?” Sans asked with concern in his voice.

“SANS?” Papyrus asked as he gauged the clock one more time before turning his attention back to his brother.  “You’re home early. Earlier than usual.” Sans gave his typical shrug and Papyrus instantly knew what words would come out of his mouth next. He steeled himself to keep from showing his concern.

“heh, didn’t want to give ya the chance to worry,” He said, just as expected. Too late, Papyrus morbidly thought.

“Well, dinner won’t be ready for quite some time. Why don’t you go take a shower?” Papyrus suggested. He tried to force his hands not to linger directly in front of him. If he kept doing that, he’d eventually start wringing them together and then Sans would know something was wrong.

“you ok, bro?” Sans asked. Well, so much for that. Papyrus gave up on trying to hide his concern on his features. Well, he guessed that now would be as good of a time as ever to ask Sans about it.

“I….. I have a question for you, brother,” Papyrus managed. Sans posture slacked a bit. Papyrus guessed Sans didn’t think that it was anything too serious and was showing relief.

“of course, bro…. anything,” Sans said. Papyrus wanted to flinch. No, Sans definitely did not understand the dire circumstances currently present, nor the severity of the question Papyrus was about to ask. He was afraid that Sans would run away from the question. Run away like he does for every other conflict, but Papyrus didn’t want that. He didn’t want Sans running away from him. Sans can run from conflict all he wants, but Papyrus never wants Sans to run away from him. With that in mind, Papyrus stepped forward and wrapped his brother up into a hug. Sans gingerly returned it.

“Were you in the Judgement Hall when the human came through?” He finally asked. He felt Sans freeze, and his hands grip into the scarf. He felt Sans somehow sink while simultaneously stiffen. He wanted to run. Papyrus knew he did. He didn’t want to answer. That made Papyrus fear the worst.

“Yes,” came the older’s voice softly. Papyrus felt his arms loosen from his brother in shock, and he flinched away from him as he did. He couldn’t help but wonder as a question kept repeating itself in his head: why?

“you want to know why i let them go,” Sans stated. It wasn’t a question. Papyrus could only find himself to stand back and nod. Sans looked down at the ground, but he didn’t seem incredibly ashamed. He stuffed his hands into his pockets.

“they weren’t all bad, papyrus. they had the potential to be a good person. they could have been so much worse. they could’ve killed me, or grillby, or a lot of other people….. they could have killed you…. but they didn’t. i wanted to give them to be the chance to be the person you knew they could be,” Sans explained. Papyrus felt his metaphorical gut sink. Sans spared them…. For him?

Papyrus thought he would faint. Sans knew that the human had killed Undyne and Mettaton when Papyrus didn’t. Did that mean that it was Papyrus’ fault? Should Sans have judged the human according to what he knew rather than what Papyrus knew about the human at the time? Regardless, if Sans spared the human because Papyrus believed in them, that ultimately makes it Papyrus’ fault, doesn’t it?

It would be the same reason that Undyne’s death was his fault. He believed in the human and helped them along in their journey. It was his fault that his best friend was murdered, and it was his fault that her killer got away. Papyrus was happy that he lacked a stomach. Otherwise, he might have thrown up from the intense emotion coiling inside of him.

“But….  but they killed Mettaton… and Undyne…. And so many others,” Papyrus reminded. He felt tears begin to streak down his face. He wasn’t sure when they got there, and he currently didn’t have the care to wipe them away.

Sans finally looked up at the taller skeleton and Papyrus instantly wished that he hadn’t. The moment their eyes met, Sans’ face turned and he frowned. Papyrus saw a large mix of emotion cross his brother’s face: guilt, sadness, and shame among others. Sans quickly looked back down and Papyrus saw his shoulders come closer together, like he was trying to shrink in on himself from the guilt.

“i know…. i just wanted to give them another chance,” Sans said. His voice was warped from something. Perhaps guilt? Or perhaps he was fighting tears himself. Papyrus saw Sans’ feet spread to shoulder width apart, a sure sign that he was about to shortcut somewhere.

“WAIT!” Papyrus called and flung himself onto his brother again, wrapping his arms around him tightly. He halfway collapsed on the floor due to the height difference, but he didn’t care. “Please don’t go…. Please don’t run away from me.”

A buildup of magical energy that Papyrus didn’t notice before fizzled out. Sans was certainly about to shortcut away. The older didn’t move. He stayed completely still as if he were made of stone. Papyrus felt a few tears drop down onto his shoulder. So Sans was crying. Papyrus didn’t want that. Sans had no reason to cry. He only did what he thought was best…. for Papyrus’ sake.

“Please don’t cry. It’s not your fault,” Papyrus begged.

“you’re disappointed in me,” Sans stated rather bluntly.

“May…. maybe a little, but I still love you, Sans. You only did what you thought was right. Please stay,” Papyrus said. After a few long moments that felt like an eternity, Papyrus felt his brother’s arms wrap around him in return. The silence settled back in and neither skeleton spoke. It seemed as though neither skeleton had anything more to say.

Papyrus’ body was feeling sore and stiff from remaining in the same uncomfortable position for so long. Regardless, he continued to hold onto his brother as if he would disappear the moment he let go of him. In all reality, it was a definite possibility. He didn’t want Sans to go, and he didn’t want Sans to feel bad. He wanted his brother to know that he still loved him.

“hey, bro?” Sans asked. Papyrus let out a hum of recognition, not trusting his voice. He wasn’t able to force himself to look at his brother in this moment. “your pasta is burning.”

Papyrus immediately shot up and rushed towards the pot on the stove. Sure enough, almost all of the water had boiled out. All of the noodles were bloated from being overcooked and the strands that were close to the sides above the water had already burned and stuck to the pot. It was beyond salvageable. The King let out a heavy sigh as he took the pot off the stove and set it in the sink. He filled it to the brim with water to soak for easy cleaning later.

He turned back to where Sans was, expecting him to be gone. Expecting that he took the opportunity to shortcut away. To his surprise, he was still standing there, looking down with his hands in his pockets.

“I think we still have some leftovers in the fridge,” Papyrus supplied in an attempt to remain off-topic.

“‘s’okay... i’m not really hungry anyway,” Sans said to the floor. Papyrus looked down. He wasn’t really hungry either. There wasn’t really anything left to do for the day either. Papyrus just had the feeling of impending doom as he thought about how to deal with the address tomorrow. Right now Papyrus was just exhausted from an emotionally overwhelming day. He wanted nothing more than to go to bed right now, as much as he hated to admit it.

“Will you read to me?” Papyrus asked.  Sans finally looked up from the floor. For a brief moment, he looked as if he was trying to gauge the younger skeleton before he sighed and nodded.

The pair silently made their way to Papyrus’ room where they settled in as they normally did for bedtime stories. The only exception was that Papyrus handed Sans a larger book rather than Peek-a-boo Fluffy Bunny, hoping to make his brother stay longer. Even then, when the book was finished, Papyrus didn’t feel that it was enough. As Sans turned to leave, the younger grabbed his hand.

“Please don’t go,” Papyrus begged. “I can sleep on the couch, and you can take my bed, if you want.” Sans stayed still for a long time. Papyrus didn’t say anything, unmoving in his proposition.

“i can take the couch, bro. it’s your bed,” Sans provided before pulling free.

He shuffled over to the couch and pulled off the blanket that once belonged to their lumpy couch back home. He quickly settled in, yawning and taking up his spot on the couch. Papyrus watched sadly for a moment before he determined that Sans was not going to run off. Feeling a bit more at ease with his brother in the same room, he rolled over and attempted to go to sleep.

+++++++

When rays of artificial sunlight struck the King’s face, he responded by throwing his arm over his eyes. Sleep had not come easily last night. This left him feeling ragged and exhausted. He wished more than anything that he could just take the day off. Take the day off to stay in bed, catch up on sleep, and not deal with the large crowd of monsters asking questions about his brother.

Taking a moment to build his resolve, Papyrus eventually forced himself out of bed. Looking over at the couch, he saw a blanket tossed to the side as well as a pillow that had fallen to the floor. So Sans was already up. The smell of coffee reached Papyrus and his head tilted to the side a bit in confusion. He followed his sense of smell until it brought him to his nightstand. There sat a caramel macchiato in a familiar fish shaped cup along with a note.

Papyrus picked up the note and read it quickly. Upon so he felt some relief wash over him. Sans had decided to spend the entire day at the lab. He wouldn’t be there for the address. Good. That way Sans won’t have to deal with the stress of Papyrus’ mistake. The whole situation was Papyrus’ fault and so Sans shouldn’t have to deal with the consequences for it. Although, Papyrus knew that, scarily, Sans would be willing to do so for him.

With a heavy sigh, Papyrus picked up the cup of coffee and began to get ready for the day. He trudged into the bathroom and looked forlorn at his appearance. Any progress that had been made looked like it had been reverted with yesterday’s events. It was going to be a very long day.

+++++++

The address had gone horribly. Papyrus had tried to explain that Sans was enacting Papyrus’ decision by letting the human go, not his own. Monsters were outraged. Calling Papyrus’ words unkindly things and demanding that Sans be there to answer for himself. Faia stood to the side all the while and eventually began to tremble at the onslaught of the monster’s accusations.

The monsters were so unruly, in fact, that the address had to be cut short, and Paxan was left to quell the roaring crowd. Papyrus felt guilty for it. So many people were having to deal with the outcome of his bad judgement, and the general public wouldn’t believe him. None of them thought it was Papyrus’ fault. They all just wanted to blame it all on Sans.

Papyrus crumpled into the kitchen chair with a defeated sigh. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take. What would happen if monsters got too angry? Would they dethrone him and demand a new king? Papyrus bitterly thought that perhaps that would be best as he wasn’t a very good choice to begin with.

As he placed his elbows on the table to rest his head, something caught his attention. Another note was sitting in the middle of the table in Sans’ unmistakable handwriting. Papyrus quickly picked up the note, desperately hoping that everything was ok.

hey bro,

sorry i’m not there for lunch. i already ate. i promise i’ll be there for dinner, though. i hope your address went well, but i’m sure it did. you always do an awesome job. you’re so cool. i might be a bit late to dinner tonight. i feel like i’m on the verge of discovering something big.

Chapter Text

Sans flipped through some notes as he walked down the hallway of the true lab, on his way back upstairs to the main computer where he could run some more calculations. Alphys certainly had some strange findings on determination. Sans sighed sadly as he looked over the effects of determination on monsters. He wished Alphys were still here. He knew that she was horribly ashamed for what she did, but in Sans’ mind, she really had nothing to feel guilty over.

True, perhaps she should have waited a little while longer before using more determination to fully understand its effects. She wouldn’t have known that though. Her thing was mechanical and electro-magical engineering, not biology. However, she did do everything she could to bring them back and, technically, she did despite the negative side effects. He remembers first coming to the lab to find footage that she had of Undyne’s death playing on repeat on the giant computer screen. The Captain became so determined she simply melted away. He had debated letting Papyrus watch it after seeing him so torn up over her when he finally figured out the truth, but he quickly decided against it.

He wished he had gotten to the lab sooner. Then maybe he could have saved the amalgamates and sent them to their respective families. However, when he got here, the months of neglect had left nothing but dust. It took him the longest to collect everything he could and contact the families. Strangely enough, he couldn’t find anything of Alphys. He remembered during one of her past depression phases, she had debated throwing herself off a waterfall into the abyss.

He could only assume that was what she did after Undyne and Mettaton’s death. As much as Sans liked to think of her as a friend, those two were really all she had left. He wondered if it would have been different if he had bothered to keep in better communication with her after he left the labs. His soul twinged with guilt, but deep down, he knew that he couldn’t have done anything. None of it was in his control anyway.

The sound of clattering papers had Sans turning quickly to look behind him, a balster forming above his head just as fast. A few papers fluttered as they finished their descent to the floor. Sans examined the stack in his arms and determined that he had dropped a few things. With a labored sigh, he gave his blaster a pat on the snout before dispelling it and walking over to the papers on the floor to gather them.

Perhaps now that things were slowing down and becoming easier, he would be able to confide in his brother a bit more. At least about everything concerning Alphys. While he knew deep down that her suicide wasn’t his fault, he figured that the extra reassurance from Papyrus would help…. And if it was his fault at least then he could fully accept it. He really really didn’t want to tell him about Undyne, but he figured that his brother had the right to know. Maybe he would tell him once Paxan was better settled into his new position.

Sans shook his head violently. He didn’t need to be getting distracted. He had to get a lead something so Papyrus could have something to tell the monster folk next week. He figured two weeks of delays would cause too much unrest. Monsters were given hope and were now far too impatient to get out. Sans knew that before he left to work in the lab full time. Even if he couldn’t get them out at this very moment, the frequent updates could at least keep them stated and keep them hopeful. That was the important part.

His brother seemed much more at ease now that everyone was more hopeful. The taller skeleton had been trying for months and months to get monsters to not give up with no avail and Sans could tell that his brother was starting to doubt himself because of it. However, since the discovery that only one human soul was needed to pass through the barrier, monsters have been much more hopeful. Monsters were slowly becoming happy again. Even if Sans didn’t really work directly with the populous as a whole anymore to know on a first-hand basis, he could tell in the way his brother was starting to shine closer to his previous brightness.

He let out another labored sigh as he finished gathering the papers. He finished making his way to the elevator and pushed the up button so he could go back up to the main floor. He really needed to focus. Too many distractions were not going to create a very productive day. The elevator made a dinging noise, signaling its arrival and Sans stepped in as the doors opened. He quickly leaned back against one of the walls for support.

Today was going to be a long day.

+++++++

Sans scoured over notes and printouts at the desk, trying to find any patterns in the findings. Irritation had started to bubble up inside him long ago. He wasn’t finding anything that he didn’t know already. Human souls had a higher ratio of determination than monster souls, the large amount of determination is what allowed human to just pass through the barrier, determination was the only trait that could break the barrier, so on and so forth.

Sans tossed the papers on the ground with a growl of frustration. He wasn’t going to get anything done at this rate! He rubbed his face with both hands as if he could scrub away what irritated him. He then switched to rubbing his temple with a sigh. He was starting to get a headache. Maybe he was hungry. He usually got a headache when his magic was running low on juice.

He looked at the time and saw that he had about forty-five minutes until it would be time to go home for lunch. He briefly wondered how the address went. It was fine, he was sure. There was something slightly unsettling about not knowing what was on the monster-folk’s mind this week, but at the same time, he was relieved that he didn’t have to deal with it anymore.

He wasn’t really too much of a politics person. People person sure, but when it came to political matters, Faia could have it any day. He was certain that if something pressing came up, that Faia would tell him about it… or at the very least, Papyrus would. He shoved those thoughts aside for the time being and tried to focus back on his work. Why couldn’t he seem to just focus today?

What would happen if he used raw determination on the barrier? Would it just go through? Would it crack it? If it left a crack, would the barrier fix itself? Does the barrier even crack, or does the field just get weaker?  What would a weakened barrier be like?

Could he make it weak enough that monsters could pass through and he wouldn’t have to completely destroy it? Would raw determination just hit the barrier and dribble down? Sans let out a grunt as he pondered more and more. What if he just used a pipette to place a small amount of determination on the barrier? If it weakened the barrier in any way, maybe he could find a way to fuse magic and determination to sort of weaponize it…. Like a cannon of sorts.

Something clicked in Sans’ mind and his eye sockets widened. He quickly stood up and moved somewhere in the room with more space. With a quick flick of his hand, his blaster came roaring to life right in front of him in a cackle of energy. The blaster opened and separated its jaws as it collected magical energy but didn’t fire it. Sans held its maw gently as he peered inside. He stared at the collected magic intently… searching for something. His eye sockets widened when he found it.

“oh,” Sans couldn’t help but say out loud as realization hit him smack in the face. Swirls of cyan and yellow were mixed within the raw magic of his blaster. His canon, so to speak. His mind shifted to the avian version in the true labs that he knew his father left behind. Pipes leading into it to feed it raw energy rather than tying it to a host. “OH!”

A buzzing sound caused Sans to jump upright in his chair. He wondered for half a second what it was before instinct from experience past told him it was the doorbell. Movement on the computer screen caught his attention and he saw a video of a familiar monster standing outside his door. A wide grin tugged at his skull. Not wanting to take the time to walk, he shortcutted the few short feet to the door and opened it.

“hey, grillbz!” He greeted, unable to contain the happiness in his voice. Man, when was the last time he had been to Grillby’s? When he couldn’t recollect he managed to say. “uh… long time no see. what brings you my way?” The fire elemental answered by holding out a bag to Sans. It was a brown paper bag, but the grease stains settling on the bottom left nothing to the imagination as to what was inside. Sans felt the smile on his skull pull upwards a bit more. Damn. He didn’t know how much he missed Grillby’s cooking until it was right in front of him. Grillby said that Sans hadn’t visited in a while and so he decided to bring him lunch.

“gee, thanks grillb,” Sans said and took the bag. “yeah, sorry i’ve been a bit of a stranger. it’s been a really weird past couple of months. ya’know. moving into the capitol and all, and becoming the royal scientist and then this whole thing with the captain of the royal guard and stuff.” Grillby nodded in understanding.

“hey, ya wanna come inside and catch up? i’m sure hotland is much more comfortable for ya than back home,” Sans offered. Grillby shook his head and politely declined. He explained that he had to get back, because there was usually a rush right after the address. Perhaps some other time on a day when things wouldn’t be as busy.

“ah, right. glad to hear business is still going good. i won’t keep ya then. thanks for lunch. you can just add it to my tab,” Sans said with a wink. What amounted to a small smile on a fire elemental graced Grillby’s features. He explained that it was on the house. Sans chuckled a bit at that.

“well, see ya later grillbz,” Sans said. Grillby gave his farewells as well, but after a moment also asked Sans to be careful. The request took a different tone than his usual one. It sounded almost as if he were pleading. Sans looked at Grillby confused for a moment and then chuckled as a realization dawned on him. Was Grillby worried that Sans was literally working himself to death like his father?

“aw, you don’t gotta worry grillb. i’m not gonna try anything stupid like my old man did,” He said. What counted as a frown showed on Grillby’s face before he bid Sans goodbye once more and began to walk away. Sans frowned a bit as well, although all it really amounted to was his smile being a little less pronounced. It was still good to see old friends and he supposed Grillby had a reason to worry. He watched Grillby make his way to the Riverperson before closing the door behind him.

Sans took a moment to debate if he should take the bag home and eat it. Then again, that wouldn’t really be fair to Papyrus, even if he didn’t like grease. Sans placed the bag on an empty spot on the table. He would just run home real quick and leave him a note.

+++++++

Sans grabbed another fistful of ketchup drenched fries and stuffed them into his mouth. A printout of fresh calculations sat in his other hand as he poured over them. He had to know if this was do-able. It probably was if this is what his father was chasing after right before his untimely death. Sans paused a moment as a vaguely amused chuckle left him at the realization that he was, indeed, becoming like his father.

Growing distant. Hardly leaving the lab. Only really leaving to sleep or eat and sometimes not even that. Staying up all night to run calculations by hand. Doing anything he can to make time for yet more science. Deeply, secretly, absolutely loving his work to the point that he didn’t care if it was running him ragged. Doing science was intoxicating at times. Knowing so much more than others and being able to learn and know beyond what was previously known brings with it a sense of power. It was like a drug. Always needing more. Becoming addicted to the thought of learning something new. If left alone, Sans would never leave the lab and keep doing Science until his body couldn’t keep up with him anymore.

This. This is exactly why Sans left the labs in the first place. Right after his father’s death, he couldn’t stand the thought of becoming the person his father was. He couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Papyrus behind because, he too, had worked himself to death. Then again, he was nowhere near the prim and proper perfectionist that his father was. Papyrus had ended up with most of that trait.

Sans finalized this thought by licking some dribbling ketchup from his hand before it landed on any papers. If it wasn’t for Papyrus, he probably would never leave the lab, he thought grimly. Then again, he just left his little brother alone for both breakfast and lunch to be at the labs. That realization didn’t sit well with Sans. He remembered that he left a promise on the note to be back for dinner.

He groaned and stood. He really needed to focus on his work or he wasn’t going to have any results from the day except for some theories. There he goes again. Being just like his father. Sans growled at himself and shortcut his way to the place where they stored the determination.

+++++++

Sans stood at the barrier with a Pasteur pipette filled with determination in his hand. The red liquid glowed faintly, leaving a little hint of red shining onto Sans’ bones. The royal scientist took a deep breath before gathering some magic in his system and bringing the dropper closer to the barrier, ready to shortcut out of the way the instant there looked like there would be trouble. He pressed the tip of the dropper gently to the barrier and squeezed the bulb. When the pipette was empty, he stared at the droplet. It sat there for a moment, rolling down the barrier.

Sans glared at it like it had offended him. He had really hoped for more than that. Crick. Sans jolted in surprise as the determination suddenly vanished and he scoured the surface for the cause of the sound until he found it. It was barely visible on the shimmering, glassy surface of the barrier, but it was there. The faintest of cracks. After a few moments, the crack began to close, starting at each of the ends and fusing back together until they met at the middle.

A wide grin tugged at Sans’ face. This is exactly what he wanted to find.

He ported to the lab only for a brief second to deposit the pipette safely before going straight home. He couldn’t wait to tell Papyrus. He wasn’t disappointed to find Papyrus already at the stove when he arrived at the kitchen. The taller skeleton whirled around at the sound of displaced air that now surrounded Sans.

Sans was caught a bit off guard when Papyrus suddenly flung himself onto him in a similar fashion as the previous night. Oh yeah. Papyrus was disappointed in him yesterday. An awkward feeling washed over him. He wanted to tell Papyrus about his findings, but at the same time, he still felt pretty bad about yesterday. But what was he going to say? It wasn’t the end of the world so he didn’t really care? That he knew timelines were shifting around and it was going to stop after the human left so he just let them leave? He knew that wasn’t going to fly. If he was honest, he didn’t really know how many people the human had killed until after the fact.

“Sans,” Papyrus said. Sans looked down at his baby brother, finally returning the hug after he realized that he had been lost in thought.

“yeah, pap?” he returned.

“Will you take the day off tomorrow?” Papyrus asked.

Chapter Text

Sans’ sockets widened a bit. Any other day, or before the human came at least, he would be more than glad to take Papyrus up on the offer. But he was so so close to breaking the barrier. He briefly wondered if his work ethic was starting to concern Papyrus too.

“i appreciate the offer, but …. but, bro! i’m so close to finding a solution! i figured out what dad was doing! i tested some determination on the barrier today and just a milliliter cracked it, papyrus! we probably have enough to break it if we-” Sans was cut short by the look that Papyrus gave him. The taller skeleton was looking up at him pleadingly with tears pricking at the edges of his eye sockets. Sans could also make out the same disappointed look that was buried beneath all of that.

Was he really concerning Papyrus that much? Was he disappointed in him because of his decision to let the human go or because his work ethic was becoming scarily similar to their father’s? Sans had promised Papyrus that he would never leave him like their dad did. Yet here he was, opting to stay at the lab for his meals… only seeing Papyrus for the first time today at four in the evening. He quickly crumbled under that look.

“alright,” he said, tightening his hug. “i’ll take tomorrow off.”

“Thank you, Sans,” Papyrus said before burying his skull deeper into Sans’ hoodie. “You smell like ketchup and grease. You went to Grillby’s didn’t you?”

“correction. grillby came to me. he paid me a visit at the lab today and brought me lunch. told me to be careful. i guess he noticed my work ethic becoming more like the old man’s,” Sans said with a dry chuckle. He felt Papyrus flinch in his arms at his words. He frowned.

“am i really worrying you that much, pap?” Sans asked. The only response he got was Papyrus hiding his face in his jacket and nodding. Sans let out a heavy sigh.

“‘m sorry,” He said. “i’ll take tomorrow off and spend the whole day with ya. no calculations at breakfast, no going to the lab, no science at all. how does that sound?”

“Fluffy bunny tonight too?” Papyrus asked after a long moment. Sans berated himself for neglecting Papyrus so much.

“fluffy bunny tonight too… and tomorrow night if you want,” Sans confirmed.

+++++++

After dinner and bedtime stories, it didn’t take much convincing to get Sans to take up a spot on Papyrus’ couch once again. Sans wasn’t going to complain. Calculations covered his room and he’d be tempted to look at them if he stayed there for the night. Besides, he didn’t think he could deny Papyrus too much of anything at this point. Hell, he read Peek-a-boo with Fluffy Bunny five times tonight.

He had thought that by reading to him at least three times a week, Papyrus’ need would be sated. He had thought that Papyrus wouldn’t want a story every night… not with how much he’s matured in the past year. Sans let out a labored sigh. What he wouldn’t give to have back the life they had before the human came. He didn’t even care if that meant they would be stuck underground for the rest of their lives and that he would never get to see the real stars. At least Papyrus would be happy.

Sans had found a lot of scary similarities between the two of them in the past year. Like how they both can manage to smile through just about anything and everything to fool someone into thinking that they are happy. Only in private do they ever really let those smiles drop. Or how when they have a focus on accomplishing something, neither of them really stop until that said thing is accomplished. Granted Papyrus’ goals are usually more…. Simple and not as broad as Sans’ are. Then again, when Papyrus wanted the underground to be hopeful again, he practically ran himself ragged.

Sans honestly missed watching Papyrus drive himself to accomplish his more childish goals the year before. Have friends and be a member of the Royal Guard. That’s all he ever wanted. While Papyrus was now technically in command of the entire guard, and it technically belonged to him, Sans knew that it was the furthest thing away from what his brother wanted. He also noticed that Papyrus wasn’t really out to make friends anymore after the human had betrayed his trust and killed what friends he did have. Sans really was all Papyrus had left.

Sans hated the human for that. Papyrus had friends and found meaning in going after his aspirations, but the human took all of that away from him. He also noticed Papyrus’ sense of trust was struck severely. He’s noticed that he’s had to make a lot more promises to Papyrus to get him to be calm about even mundane things. Such as being back from the lab in two hours, or being there to read him a bedtime story three times a week. For some reason just his word isn’t good enough anymore. He has to promise to get Papyrus to believe him.

Although, he supposed a good part of that was his fault as well. He shouldn’t have lied to Papyrus and told him that Undyne was on vacation. He should have just told him what happened. Guilt settled heavily into the depths of Sans’ soul. He should offer to show him the footage. Papyrus would probably want to know. It wasn’t right for him to keep it a secret. Papyrus wouldn’t keep a secret from him. That was just as bad as lying, and would probably further damage their relationship if Papyrus found out on his own.

Then it was decided. He would offer to show Papyrus the video in the morning.

+++++++

Sans woke the next morning to the feeling of a soft, heavy weight settling on top of him. He grunted as he stirred, it turned into a growl as if he were trying to intimidate away consciousness.

“I’m sorry, brother!” The voice of Papyrus came quickly. Sans quickly opened his eyes. He didn’t mean to growl at Papyrus. He didn’t hurt his feelings did he? Papyrus stood there, already dressed for the day, looking a bit taken aback. He continued apologizing,

“I didn’t mean to wake you up! I was intending to let you sleep. I just thought you might sleep better with a blanket over you.” Sans lifted his head enough to examine the blanket that was now laid over him and he gave out a soft chuckle.

“sorry, pap. didn’t mean to growl at ya. what time is it anyway?” Sans asked, now wondering how Papyrus was up before him. Heh, that’s something he would never have wondered a year ago.

“Oh! Uh… Four in the morning. I couldn’t sleep. So I figured I could get an early start to the day! Maybe make you breakfast for once?” Papyrus offered. Sans’ brow creased. Now that his vision had time to adjust, he could see how tired Papyrus looked. Bags were returning under his eyes and he wasn’t even really smiling at all.

“you look really tired, bro. you sure? i’m sure even just a couple hours of sleep will be better than no sleep,” Sans provided. Papyrus only shook his head and began wringing his gloved hands in front of him. The younger was worried about something. Sans sat up.

“I can’t sleep,” Papyrus said again. “It’s not that I haven’t tried, I have and-”

“papyrus,” Sans said as he reached out and grabbed Papyrus’ hands. “what’s wrong?” He was looking up at Papyrus with sockets full of concern. Papyrus looked down and away from him. He tried wringing his hands again, but he quickly stopped. Sans’ hand was still holding his tightly.

“You… said you figured something out at the lab last night… what was it?” Papyrus asked. Sans could tell Papyrus was trying to change the subject. Papyrus never asked for an update. Sans would always just tell him what he discovered whenever he came across something. Pieces quickly fell into place.

“did the address really go that bad?” Sans asked in return. He was now looking at Papyrus the way a mother would a child if she knew they were lying… or about to. Papyrus looked up at Sans for a moment. A look flashed in his sockets before looking down again, but Sans already knew he had caught him. He waited patiently for his brother’s response. After a moment, Papyrus nodded.

“about me?” Sans asked again. This time, Papyrus flinched but no response came. Sans waited patiently. He knew that the silence would get to Papyrus eventually. Soon enough, another nod came from the taller skeleton. Sans sighed and stood before pulling Papyrus into a hug. The hug was quickly returned tenfold.

“‘m’sorry, papyrus. i’m working as fast as i can on the barrier. i’m not smarter than alphys or dad. i’m making progress though, slowly but surely. I just can’t have something new for you every week like they would be able to give you,” Sans explained. Papyrus seemed to sink into Sans’ hug, but in a rather discomforting way. The taller’s arms loosened around the smaller. Sans knew that something about what he said didn’t sit right with Papyrus, or at least it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

“You said you found something last night. Will you show me?” Papyrus asked as he let go.

“yeah,” Sans quickly agreed. “let me go to my room and grab some paper and i’ll write it out for ya, ok?” Papyrus nodded and Sans got ready to shortcut to his room. A hand stopped him as it grabbed his. He looked down to see Papyrus’ hand holding his. Sans said nothing as he began to walk.

Papyrus probably didn’t want him to use any magic today and would prefer him to rest. Not that shortcutting takes too much out of him, but he figured there would be no way for Papyrus to know that.

They both walked to the room next door and Sans actually had to force the door open a little. He had forgotten how rarely he actually used the door. Both stepped inside and Sans peeled away enough to walk over to his mess of a desk. His eye sockets caught hold of an engineering pad that was in his little seating area. It was covered in old coffee cups and crumpled papers of discarded calculations and other trash, but it was closer than his desk. He walked over and picked up the pad, conveniently finding a drafting pencil right beside it.

He turned around to face Papyrus to see a horrified look on his face. His bones were pale and he looked on the verge of tears. It took Sans a moment to realize that he wasn’t looking at him, but at something past him. Sans turned and looked in the direction of Papyrus’ attention. His eye sockets widened as he caught sight of what Papyrus was looking at.

His window was wide open. His sheets were all bundled up on his bed as they usually were. What was chilling, was the burn and scorch marks on the largest lump of blankets. The whole bed wasn’t burned down, just scorched. This was fire magic. Sans felt the magic in his bones grow cold. Someone tried to kill him in his sleep?

Sans was quickly snapped out of his trance when a large hand grabbed his upper arm firmly and dragged him out of the room at an insane speed. Once out of the room, Sans had the chance to get his bearings and realized that it was Papyrus as he watched his brother use his free hand to quickly close the door. The other was still latched firmly to his arm.

Sans couldn’t find any words to say. He was shocked and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t afraid. Someone had broken in through his window and shot fire magic at his bed. It didn’t have to be much, just enough to damage Sans’ only hp. Someone had come into his room in the night to kill him, and they didn’t even have to put too much malice behind it for it to work.

A jerk pulled Sans from his thoughts as he found Papyrus dragging him along. He didn’t know where they were going, but Papyrus’ other hand now held his phone and it was already pressed against his skull.

“PAXAN! PLEASE, I NEED YOU HERE NOW! SOMEONE HAS TRIED TO KILL SANS! PLEASE!” Papyrus begged through the phone. Sans couldn’t see his brother’s face, but he could tell that he sounded desperate, afraid, and on the verge of tears. Papyrus continued to drag him down the hall, until he abruptly changed directions and started heading back to his room.

“OK…. ok….. Alright,” Papyrus continued. Whatever Paxan was saying seemed to be calming Papyrus down, if only a fraction. Papyrus continued to drag Sans into the King’s quarters. Papyrus ended his conversation with Paxan and hung up the phone. He didn’t speak to Sans as he locked the bedroom door and began dragging Sans, more forcefully now, to the fireplace, his grip tightened ever so slightly. Sans winced.

“pap, you’re hurting me,” he informed. Papyrus quickly flinched back and let go. However, he didn’t stop as in one fluid motion, he wrapped an arm around Sans’ spine and made to carry him football style. Sans squawked in indignation as he was carried to the fireplace.

“papyrus, what is going on?” Sans all but demanded. Papyrus said nothing as he walked right into the fireplace, crouching down and placing a hand on the side wall to their right. Sans felt Papyrus push against it and a low rumbling was heard as the wall began to move.

It swung inward, like a door. Dust and ash crumbled and fell onto Papyrus’ arm as he kept pushing until it was completely open. In front of them was a stone staircase leading downwards. Papyrus didn’t hesitate to bring the two of them inside and began closing the door behind them.

“where are we going?!” Sans asked. He inwardly cursed at himself for sounding so frantic and afraid. It wasn’t as if Papyrus was already flipping his lid as it were.

“Somewhere safe,” Papyrus quickly answered as an orange glow filled the stairwell they were now in. Papyrus moved to carry Sans more comfortably.

“you know i can walk right?” Sans asked as Papyrus continued to manhandle him. He tried to turn to pull loose from the hold or at least look at his brother. Papyrus settled for carrying Sans more like a child. His eye lights showed determination and were glowing a brilliant orange as they illuminated the stairwell.

“Not risking it,” Papyrus said sternly as he began walking down the stairs. Sans found himself unable to argue and allowed himself to be carried down the stairs. Papyrus’ eyes continued to glow and Sans could see tears starting to roll down his skull. Sans reached up and started wiping them away. Papyrus seemed unfazed and kept moving down the stairs with determination. Eventually, they reached the bottom of the staircase and found a door.

Papyrus tried to open the door only to find it jammed. He maneuvered Sans to one side before using his opposite shoulder to slam into the door, forcing it open. He stumbled in slightly, causing Sans to hold onto him for dear life. The king quickly regained his balance and Sans observed the room. It looked like another bedroom, but smaller. There was even what looked like a little kitchenette and a curtained off area. Maybe a bathroom. This was a bunker of sorts.

They turned and Sans was looking at the door again as Papyrus closed it and locked it. Afterwards, Papyrus seemed frozen in place.

“bro?” Sans called. Papyrus jerked a little and began walking over towards the bed. He sat down with Sans still in his arms before he adjusted to wrap his arms around the older’s shoulders tightly. Sans returned the hug and let Papyrus burry his skull into his shoulder.

With a bit of shuffling, Sans managed to get his feet planted firmly on the floor while still allowing Papyrus to lean forward onto him. He felt Papyrus begin to cry in earnest as the younger’s shoulders jerked and a patch of wetness began to grow on Sans’ shoulder.  Only then was Sans able to detect his own trembling. The weight of the moment finally crashing down on him.

Is that why Papyrus was being so demanding? Then again, Sans knew his brother prefered to have control over every situation he faced. Papyrus probably felt helpless and was struggling to regain control of the situation. As moments passed, Sans could feel his brother’s trembling get worse and worse.

“pap. i’m right here. i’m alive. i’m fine,” He tried to assure as he held on tighter. The younger’s hug tightened to borderline painful, but then immediately loosened as if it burned.

“that wasn’t too tight… almost though,” Sans assured. The hug’s previous intensity returned, but only marginally softer. Sans couldn’t help but admire his brother’s control over his strength. For a moment, Sans thought that he heard Papyrus say something until he realized that he was whimpering as he wept. Was he really that scared?

Then again, Sans figured that he didn’t really have any room to speak as he was still trying to get his trembling bones under control. His instincts told him to comfort and protect Papyrus, but at the same time, he wanted to feel protected himself. Papyrus was so upset because someone had tried to kill him. He didn’t know what to do. Should he keep trying to assure Papyrus that he was fine? Should he take the moment to be afraid himself? Would that cause both of them to be too frantic?

Who even tried to kill him in the first place and why? Why? Were they unhappy with Papyrus and decided to go for him instead? Should they tell the public that this happened? But why? Why did they want him dead? Was Papyrus afraid for his own life as well? Did something happen in the past week that made the public upset with him? Papyrus would have told him if that were the case thought, right? Although, he did just get Papyrus to reveal that apparently some monsters were getting frustrated with Sans’ lack of progress in the labs.

Maybe Papyrus was seeking comfort more than anything. Sans was taking the day off to spend it with him, because he had neglected him yesterday after all. If Papyrus was wanting to be more protective and supportive, Sans imagined that he would try to comfort him more rather than just drag him to a bunker. Sans’ skull would probably be pressed against the taller’s shoulder rather than the other way around.

“Don’t go far from me,”

The subdued sound startled Sans out of his thoughts as he looked down to Papyrus. Tears were still pouring from his sockets and he looked like he was begging yet trying to be protective at the same time.

“Don’t go far from me. If I can’t see you, you are too far from me,” Papyrus said. There it was again. That nearly demanding tone trying to gain control in a situation where neither of them had any. Sans nodded without hesitation and moved to hold onto his brother’s shoulders. He felt Papyrus move so that the younger had one hand on the back of his skull and the other on his back.

“i won’t. i promise,”

+++++++

After what felt like an eternity, the sound of the fake wall moving and heavy footsteps coming down the stairs were heard coming from the other side of the door. Papyrus manhandled Sans to be behind him while he summoned a row of bones in front of them to act as a shield. Thank the stars Paxan had the foresight to call out to them before attempting to open the door.

It took some coaxing, but Paxan eventually managed to convince the king to leave the safety of the bunker, assuring him that guards had already done a sweep and were currently hunting down the suspect. The tracks led away from the castle and a patrol had already been established as well as a lockdown, preventing anyone from leaving or entering the castle at this time. Aside from themselves and the guards, the only other people currently in the castle were Faia and a handful of cleaning staff, whom had been escorted to the throne room for the throne room for the time being.

Breakfast was forgone for the day and replaced with a meeting held in the throne room where it was decided that the castle was to remain on lockdown until the culprit was found. After an interrogation (which Sans would have loved to conduct himself, but was quickly shot down) done by Paxan it will be evaluated whether or not this monster was working alone or if security needed to remain at a heightened state.It was also decided that all of the staff members would be escorted by a guard member throughout the next few days.

The cleaning staff each had one guard to follow them, but Papyrus also offered to allow them to be escorted home as well if they wished to have the day off. One had taken him up on the offer, but the remainder wanted to stay in the castle where they felt safer. Faia was to have three guards escorting her at all times and the royal family was to be escorted by Paxan and four other guards.

Sans wasn’t the biggest fan of being followed around all day, but he knew that he had no room to argue if his brother had any say in all of this. His brother, of whom, was king so he knew he was just shit out of luck. Despite having many questions, Sans opted to just stay quiet throughout the whole meeting, Papyrus had enough questions for both of them, many of which couldn’t be answered until the failed assassin was caught.

Chapter Text

Papyrus sighed as he stared down at the eggs he was cooking. He managed to wake up in time to cook both of them breakfast rather than Sans having to do so. Thankfully, he was able to get ready for the day without waking his brother, who had taken up a permanent position on his couch. It has been a week since someone had attempted to assassinate Sans. Neither of the brothers had fully recovered as they were still rather tense from the whole endeavor.

The culprit was found later that same day and Papyrus had him brought to the throne room and talked to them without Sans present. Apparently the one staff member that had been escorted home had spread the word and now many monsters were concerned. By the time the culprit was found, there was a large crowd outside the castle wanting to see him. Papyrus had quickly decided that it would be a private matter that should be taken care of inside the castle and then the public would be addressed immediately after. Paxan agreed.

Sans had, of course, wanted to be there, and even brought up the fact that he was the judge. Papyrus managed to ease him by pointing out that maybe his judgement wouldn’t be best in this particular situation since the attack was aimed towards him and also explained that Paxan would be present to provide his own opinion. Sans clearly wasn’t happy but allowed it anyway.

When it was time to speak to the assassin, Papyrus expected someone who was in a vengeful rage. He had a rather unpleasant awakening. The culprit was practically dragged in. They appeared unable, or at least unwilling, to walk. He was placed gently on his knees in front of Papyrus. When the monster looked up to the king, Papyrus saw no anger. Only immense sadness. He didn’t see someone who wanted revenge. He saw someone who was wallowing in despair and loneliness.

Papyrus allowed the monster to speak first, to which he revealed that his wife and two daughters were killed by the human. Life for him had been meaningless since then. He had wanted to fall down, but couldn’t find himself to. He wanted to speak with Sans, see why he had let the human go after they had taken everything away from him and so many others. He couldn’t reach him at the lab as Sans never answered the door and he was never in public anymore. Faia had refused to let anyone talk to him. So he snuck in. When Sans wasn’t there, he threw a tantrum and threw a fireball at the bed.

What happened next….. Papyrus could swear he could feel his soul begin to tear apart. The monster begged for the death sentence… begged to be killed. The monster’s soul wouldn’t allow him die without hearing from the judge that allowed the murderer of his family to walk away.

Papyrus didn’t know how long he was silent for, but it felt like eons. He didn’t know what to do. If this person was telling the truth, they had no intention of killing Sans. Their only intention was to die themselves. He couldn’t find himself to be angry with the monster, nor allow them to leave in fear of what they may do to themselves. Should he explain the situation to his brother and ask him to talk to his would-be killer? But then the monster would surely die.

Would it even be safe to let Sans speak to them, or to tell them? Then surely he would know that monsters were upset with him letting the human go, but then what would he do? Perhaps the culprit needed time for their grief to run its course….. But it had been a year. Papyrus didn’t dare think about how long this monster had wanted to fall down without finding the ability to do so.

Would it be so wrong then, to grant a dying monster his final wish so he can die peacefully?

Papyrus began to speak but found himself choking on his words. He rubbed his sternum over his aching soul and looked to Paxan. He found only the same pity in the dragon monster as he felt. Yet, somehow Paxan maintained his kind features and gave a slow nod of encouragement to Papyrus. Papyrus turned back to the monster.

“I will explain the situation to my brother. I think after knowing the circumstances, he will be more than willing to talk to you,” Papyrus offered. His soul winced at the look of (dare he say?) hope in the monster’s eyes. “For now I would like to keep you here. I can have you sent to a guest room rather than the prison cells. I do not feel comfortable letting you leave when many people may be unhappy with you.”

The monster had happily agreed. The guards that brought him in helped him stand, and the monster seemed a little more capable of walking on his own rather than having to be dragged. Papyrus felt a sense of pride at watching one of the guards allow the monster to use him as support while the other kept a hand on his back, ready to aid if needed.

Papyrus watched them leave before turning to look at Paxan. The Captain of the guard seemed to know exactly what was on Papyrus’ mind.

“I think you made an excellent decision. Whether his intention was to kill your brother or not, it was an intention fueled by grief… not anger or hatred,” he said. The barest hint of a smile tugged at Papyrus’ featured and he gave a slow nod before standing.

The pair headed to the kitchen where Sans was waiting. Paxan allowed the two guards standing at the door to the kitchen to go home and explained that there was not currently a threat. Sans apparently made some coffee and had already downed half of the pot. He still looked very perturbed. He didn’t like having to be ‘babysat’ as he put it.

Papyrus doesn’t think he could forget the look of guilt that was on his brother’s face when he explained the situation. Sans insisted that he speak to the monster. The response honestly came as to no surprise of Papyrus. Paxan lead the way out and towards the corridor where the guest bedrooms on the opposite side of the castle from the royal family’s were.

Along the way, they came across one of the guards that had escorted the monster to a room. He informed that the other guard had stationed himself outside the door to allow the monster some privacy while he came to inform Paxan of where he was being housed. The guard then escorted the trio directly to the room where the other guard was standing watch.

Papyrus’ stirring of the scrambled eggs stopped as he recalled what happened next.

They opened the door, but found no one inside. The royal family waited outside while Paxan inspected the room. Upon further investigation, a pile of dust was found sitting right in front of the window. Just the mere hope of being able to speak to the judge was enough to allow the monster to finally pass.

The following week passed by in near silence. The only conversations were ones where Sans, Papyrus, Faia and Paxan were all present. Even then they were all of matters of the utmost importance. It was decided what would be said of the incident in the weekly address. It was also decided that Papyrus would remain accompanied by Paxan and that other guards would be assigned to guard Faia. Sans was allowed to return to the lab under the premise that guards would be stationed there to guard the two doors.

The structure of the building was the only reason Paxan and Papyrus allowed for him to return. The building was constructed of concrete and metal with no windows for someone to sneak in through. The only other option aside from the front door or back door would be the ventilation shafts. However, due to the nature of the chemicals stored inside, the ventilation system had a top-of-the-line monitor and control system. Any blockage that was detected and couldn’t be removed by the system would signal an evacuation alarm.

Papyrus could tell that Sans wasn’t too happy about having to remain ‘babysat’, but the older gave no opposition and even programmed the ventilation control system to send a text to Paxan and Papyrus’ phones should the evacuation alarm be triggered. Papyrus was glad for it. While he trusted the Paxan and the guard, he felt a little more in control of the situation knowing that he would be well informed.

It would have put his soul at ease, had it not been for the unbridled guilt that he still felt. He couldn’t help but feel responsible for the death of that monster. Would he have still fallen down if the issue with Sans was addressed when it was brought up in the weekly address over two weeks ago? If Papyrus paid closer attention to the people and consoled them better, would he have known of the issue and tackled the problem sooner? Could he have saved his life, and possibly many others that may have fallen down for similar reasons?

Papyrus felt his soul churn. How many others were in the same position as that monster? How many others wished they could fall down and join their loved ones in death only to be held back by all of their unanswered questions?

While Papyrus knew that his soul contained no execution points, he felt as if he had them. He felt the weight of his sins weighing heavily on his shoulders and crawling on his back. He felt disgusting. He felt (not for the first time) like he didn’t deserve to be king.

“hey, bro, your eggs are burning,”

The sound of his brother’s voice made Papyrus jump. He looked over to Sans who was already making a pot of coffee. How long had he been in here? The words that the older had said finally registered in Papyrus’ mind and he paid his attention to the eggs. He scraped the bottom of the pan to find the bottoms of the scrambled eggs an ugly black color. On top was a large amount of uncooked egg. This was entirely unsalvageable.

“At least the bacon and biscuits are already done,” Papyrus said with a heavy sigh as he turned off the eye to the stove. Sans gave a nod and continued making their morning coffee on the opposite side of the kitchen. Papyrus sighed once again and began carrying the ruined eggs to the trash can.

He supposed that the only positive about this incident was that people weren’t demanding answers at the weekly address. The situation in its entirety had been explained. The crowd of monsters had been solemn and silent. Sans had been present as well, and Paxan’s second in command had joined them on the stage as well to help Papyrus feel safer. He supposed that the public knew that Sans now at least had an inkling of their pain.

He filled the egg pan with water and let it rest in the sink to soak for easier cleaning of the remaining burnt on parts after breakfast. Both of the brothers finished their tasks at the same time and sat down to eat in silence.

Papyrus inspected his coffee with a raised brow. That didn’t look how it normally did. He picked it up and gave it a sniff. A distinct smell of vanilla accompanied the scent of coffee. The king took a small sip to sample it and determined that it wasn’t too bad. He also found that it had quite a bit of milk in it.

“vanilla cappuccino,” Sans said flatly.

“Oh…,” Papyrus said. Sans hadn’t even given him the chance to ask. “Thank you, brother.”

The remainder of breakfast was silent. When the pair were finished, both brothers just sat there. Normally, Sans left first to head to the lab. Since this hadn’t happened yet, Papyrus assumed that Sans had something that he wanted to say. The older remained focused on his cup of coffee as he spoke.

“i uhh…. i found some footage of waterfall where the human was coming through. i found it a while back… but i had thought you didn’t need to see it… but i know now that it’s not my decision to make…. so if you want to see what happened to undyne, i can take you to the lab and let you see the footage,” Sans explained. Sans then looked at Papyrus, but then down with an expression that the younger easily recognized on his brother as shame.

Papyrus was frozen as he took in the information Sans had just given him. He had footage of Undyne fighting the human? Undyne’s death was captured entirely on camera? He didn’t know how to feel about it. What was he supposed to feel? Relief? Sadness? The only emotion he got was his ever present guilt only growing and bubbling inside of his soul.

Did he want to see? Did he want to see the fate of his best friend after he had let her down? Did he want to see the human he aided kill her? Did he want to watch the results of his betrayal?

No. He couldn’t handle it right now. Deep down, he knew that he should… but with another monsters death that he had caused fresh on his mind…. He just couldn’t.

“I appreciate the offer…. And your honesty, Sans. I just…. Too soon?” Papyrus offered. Sans nodded in understanding and silently stood to leave for the labs.

“Sans?” Papyrus called. The older finally looked up. Papyrus was doing everything in his power to keep from trembling, but it was a futile attempt. “Please…. Please be careful. I know you hate being babysat, but…. I …. I can’t…. I can’t lose anyone else.” That was all Papyrus could get out before his bottled in emotions broke free in the form of tears and sobs.

Papyrus buried his skull in his gloved hands as he wept. The soft plinks of tears hitting armor could be heard in the deathly silent room. It wasn’t long before familiar arms wrapped around the king’s shoulders. Accompanying was the now familiar smell of chemicals and scratchy feeling of the lab coat. Papyrus hugged back as if Sans would dust if he ever let him go.

“You’re not gonna lose me, bro…. i promise,” Sans responded. The older didn’t make a move to leave after the promise was given. He just stood there and patiently waited for his little brother to finish crying and take all the comfort he needed to get through the day.

+++++++

A week passed. Sans, yet again, was not present at the address. The public, yet again, was growing restless. Papyrus, yet again, felt entirely at fault for their discontent.

The said king was sitting on his throne wondering what to do and was beginning to feel more and more useless. He had thought that his brother had picked up on the monsters restlessness after the incident, but he had been wrong. Sans was none the wiser. He only continued to teleport between the labs and the castle, spending absolutely no time socializing with anyone but Papyrus. The king was shaken from his thoughts as he heard a soft knock on the door. He shook his head clear and rubbed his eye sockets in case of any stray tears and announced,

“COME IN!”

The door opened and Paxan walked in. The Captain closed the door behind him and walked up to the King before kneeling.

“I told you not to do that,” Papyrus reminded sadly. Paxan stood to his feet.

“My apologies… old habits die hard I suppose,” He said.

“What’s wrong?” Papyrus asked.

“Sir, everyone…. Everyone is growing restless and… and rowdy. Civilians are beginning to question and harrass guards about Sans and about any progress on getting out of here and other questions they don’t have the answers to. We need to do something. They aren’t happy with your word for his anymore,” Paxan explained.

The doors slammed open without a knock or any announcement as Faia came bounding into the room. Papyrus stood up and Paxan looked equally alarmed. They both waited for Faia to reach them and catch her breath for a moment.

“What is it, friend,” Papyrus asked worriedly.

“There’s…. There’s a… *pant* ...riot at the doors of the lab.”

Chapter Text

The throne room was eerily quiet as Faia’s words took a moment to sink in. A riot? The citizens were this upset? What if the guards posted at the door to the lab were over run? What if the upset citizens got inside to Sans? What would they do to him? Papyrus didn’t want to think too hard about the possibilities. He needed to act before it was too late.

With a new sense of haste, he quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Sans’ number. When there wasn’t an answer, Papyrus began to fear the worst. Had they already broken through? Was he too late? He needed more guards on site. Just as he was about to order Paxan to take a unit to the labs, his phone began to ring. The King answered without even checking to see who it was.

“SANS?” He asked, urgency and worry dripping from his voice.

“pap? what’s wrong?” The tired, gruff voice responded, clearly worried as well.

“I NEED YOU TO TAKE A SHORTCUT HOME. NOW,” Papyrus responded.

“why?” Sans asked. Why? Sans had never questioned him like that before. What was wrong with him? .. Oh no….Had he already seen and figured it out?

“JUST COME HOME, PLEASE!” Papyrus begged in desperation. He needed to make sure Sans was safe. He could fix this. He just needed time.

“how long has this been going on, papyrus?” Sans’ tone was different. It was flat and frankly, quite terrifying. It wasn’t angry or scolding, but a form of cold on its own and it brought a chill up Papyrus’ spine.

“Please… just come home…. We can talk here,” the younger brother attempted one more time. The call ended abruptly as Papyrus’ phone alerted him that the call had ended. He stared at his phone in horror. He dialed again. He waited and paced the throne room anxiously as he waited for Sans to pick up. The call went to voicemail. He tried again…… and again.

+++++++

Sans felt his phone continue to buzz in his pocket. He continued to ignore it. How could Papyrus hide something like that from him for so long? True, Sans didn’t know how long monsters had been unhappy with him, but this sure as hell wasn’t something that just happened overnight. He realized that the “assassin” should have been a big clue. This is something that had been left to simmer and now it was starting to boil over and Sans was at the center of it. Worse, if Papyrus has been trying to cover this up for so long, then monsters had to be upset with him too. This is the very thing Sans was trying to prevent in the first place.

The more he thought about it, the more an emotion simmered in him. An emotion he was desperately trying to suppress. For once…in a very long time… he was angry with Papyrus. Though… he supposed this was karma getting back at him for lying and telling Papyrus that everyone was on vacation… and keeping the charade going for six months. Guilt quickly overpowered anger and with a deep breath, all his frustrations were relieved. Now he just had to figure out what to do about this mess.

He sighed out some of the remaining pent up pressure and then jerked, hoping he didn’t give away his current hiding spot. He looked out and was relieved to see that there was no break in the busy pacing of the bartender tending his guests. Sans had been both surprised and thankful that his usual hiding spot under the bar had been left clear for him when he popped in suddenly. Of course, his appearance didn’t go unnoticed by the said owner of the bar. The flame elemental silently acknowledged his new guest by slipping him a glass of whiskey.

Sans knew that the last thing he needed was a clouded mind in a situation like this. However, the glass he was handed was half of a serving. Enough to help him calm down, but not enough to get him buzzed. So the skeleton accepted the beverage and began sipping. He needed the time to think anyway.

He knew that he needed to do something, but he didn’t know enough about the situation to act upon it. Fortunately, the television that was playing one of Mettaton’s old dramas switched to the news. The clack of the remote finding a resting place on the shelf above of Sans told him that it was Grillby’s doing. Sans listened silently to the reporter covering the situation at the labs. It was easy to hear from his position due to the rest of the bar growing silent. The riot at the labs must be new information to all the patrons present as well.

Eventually the room was filled with chattering again. Some were surprised, others not so much. Between the news reporter and the gossip circling the bar, Sans was able to glean enough information about the situation. So they were mad that he let the human go. There were some other factors playing into their frustration, but that was the bottom line. Even with his system filled with a little liquid courage, the royal scientist still felt his anxiety spike.

He tapped Grillby’s leg on his next pass. When the flame elemental gave him his attention, Sans flattened his hands and brought them together, as if clapping. However, before getting there, he put his thumbs on the tips of his fingers, asking or a little more. The monster looked at him with what amounted to a look of pity. Grillby seemed to take a moment to gauge Sans before taking the empty glass from him and replacing it with the same amount as last time. Sans quickly downed it, letting it buzz slightly in his bones. He waited for the high to start dying down before he placed the empty glass and a handful of gold beside him. With the breeze and sound of air filling a void, he was gone.

+++++++

The shouts of the throng of people standing at the door of the labs created a roar that was near deafening. Nothing a monster said could be understood through the shouting of the other monsters around them. The two guards standing at the door held their halberds crossing over each other to block entry. No one was trying to force their way through… for now. However, there were a few monsters in the faces of the guards demanding entry.

While one of the guards remained alert and poker-faced, the other was beginning to look overwhelmed and was starting to lose stature, his halberd lowering slightly. The other guard gently tapped him with the blunt end of his halberd to get him back into focus. It only marginally worked as the guard went back into his stance, but still looked very uncomfortable.

In a moment’s notice, the crowd of people erupted into an impossibly louder roar accompanied by fingers pointing up in the air. Just as soon as the volume increased, it began to decrease as monsters began looking up, following the fingers and were driven to silence. There, standing on top of the labs, was Sans.

The skeleton waited a moment longer for everyone to find him and for them to quiet down. When the shouts and pointing had simmered down to muffled whispers of those talking to the monsters next to them, Sans shuffled a bit. Even with the liquid courage in his system, he was nervous and a bit afraid of what would happen. He wished he had time to prepare a proper response, but he decided that now was the time. He had already made a scene anyway.

“i didn’t know how many monsters the human had killed when they came to the judgement hall,” Sans said. For a quiet and relatively small monster, Sans was loud enough for all present to hear him. “however, i knew what their stats were when they entered. when i looked at ‘em, i determined that they weren’t entirely bad, and that they could…. that they could be a better person if they tried. they weren’t anywhere near as bad as they could be.

“so that’s why i made the decision that i made, but regardless of what it was, what’s done is done. it’s not goin’ to change anythin’ that the human did down here. so i guess now my question to all of you is…” Sans’ eyes dimmed a bit and he looked a bit defeated as he weighed the consequences of what he was going to ask. But, hey. He was the judge, right? What kind of judge would he be if he wouldn’t even take the judgement of his own people?

“what is it that you want from me? an apology? do you want some sort of compensation? justice is about what’s fair after all, ‘s not always about what’s right...right?” he began to ask. Murmurings began among the crowd, but for the most part, Sans held their utmost attention.

He could see a variety of responses. Some were beginning to look down in guilt and shame. Others were beginning to look defeated. A handful, though not many, were looking angry. He could tell that not many of them knew what it was that they actually wanted. What were they doing here then? Mob mentality? Perhaps they had pent up frustration at the human and Sans was the easiest to point the finger at?

Sans hoped that wasn’t the case. They were monsters after all. They were supposed to be made of love, hope and compassion. Hate was supposed to be the human’s weapon… not theirs. He stepped off the roof of the labs, a platform appeared under his feet as he stepped down some. His eyes grew dark and hopeless as he began again.

“do you want to kill me for not stopping the killer?” Sans asked. Once he fully stood on the platform, it began to make it’s way down.

“what is it that will make you feel like justice has been served? what will make you stop this rioting and be content with what has happened? do you want to fire me? do you want a new judge?”

“YES!” a random voice from the crowd rang out. Sans’ platform stopped where it was, about halfway down to being on the same level as everyone else. More murmurs began and the crowd grew a bit loud again, but no where near the volume it had been previously. Sans looked around to evaluate the vote. He could see some still looked guilty or defeated. However, most were nodding, looking more confident, staring at him expectantly or some other non-verbal queue that told Sans that this is what it was that they wanted.

“fine,” Sans said, deflating a bit as his shoulders slumped and his form became less tense. “i’ll give up my position as the judge. i’ll come up with a way for everyone to vote for a new one, or i’ll have the royal assistant do it. i understand if you don’t really trust me with such a thing at this point. anyhows, i’ll be at the address this week. you folks can ask whatever you like and i’ll answer.”

+++++++

Papyrus wandered through a dark room dimly lit by echo flowers and mushrooms. He had walked this path frequently in his lifetime, though not much in the past year or so. Therefore, he gently tapped the mushrooms that normally lit the way as he walked past each one. A long red cape was draped over his shoulders. It was much longer than his typical scarf and it licked at his ankles as he walked. A gold pennant of the Delta Rune clasped the cape together above his collar bones. Silver pauldrons rested on his shoulders, holding the cape to his frame to keep it from falling off his body as it drug on the ground behind him.

Despite his new position, Papyrus never could bear to get rid of the battle body that his beloved brother had made for him, nor the scarf which remained wrapped around his neck and shoulders under the cape. He found a sense of shame in the familiar fabric that was made for him with love… a love that he betrayed, but he still prefered it over the heavy material of the cape. The scarf even helped keep the metal of the pauldrons from weighing so much on his shoulders and dispersed the weight more evenly. However, it did nothing to ease the invisible weight of his guilt and his responsibility over the seemingly crushed spirits and hopes of the entire underground.

To say that things between him and Sans were tense would be an understatement. Sans had been cold and quiet since the riot. He would speak to Papyrus, but only when necessary. Papyrus wanted him in the castle where he thought it was safer until things calmed down. Rather than his usual stubbornness about being babysat or needing to get work done in the labs, Sans only nodded in affirmation and did what Papyrus asked.

By the second day, Papyrus couldn’t stand being at home anymore, despite that usually being his favorite place to be. He decided the best thing to do would be to go on a walk, or go train. However, Paxan advised that they both stay at the castle until after the address. It made sense, but that didn’t mean Papyrus liked it. In the end, he stayed at home, either in the garden or taking Paxan up on an offer to train with him in a more open area.

When the address came, they started early in anticipation of the questions. Papyrus had seen the news. He knew what Sans had promised the public even though he wouldn’t talk to him. Due to that, they left the agenda open. No schedule, with the only speech being at the very beginning where Faia presented the voting method for electing a new judge. For the most part, the address was just Sans being interrogated by the public.

The whole ordeal ended up taking an entire day. Had it not been for Gerson bringing by a basket of crab apples and the nice bunny lady from Snowdin bringing them cinnamon bunnies, they wouldn’t have even eaten that day. Papyrus hated it. He had to be present, but there was nothing he could do other than sit back and watch the public tear into Sans. It was… terrifying. He could tell that some looked like they at least wanted to slap him, one even being bold enough to mention the intent.

Just as terrifying, were those who came looking in a similar condition as the “assassin”. Those who looked like they hadn’t eaten or slept in days and were burdened my immense amounts of grief. Some even cried and hugged Sans, merely seeking comfort from him. It was the last one of the day that Papyrus thinks none of them will forget. Late in the evening hours, when everyone else had gone out of sight, another depressed monster came to Sans.

She asked Sans what the value of a life was. Sans was stunned and for a moment and didn’t know how to respond. Papyrus saw him mutter something quietly to the individual. She nodded with a look of peace coming onto her features. She leaned into Sans for comfort. Not long after they embraced, she crumbled to dust in Sans’ arms.

It was impossible to get Sans to leave his room the following two days. Papyrus occasionally came by to knock on the door and leave a plate of food there for him when no answer came. Sometimes he could hear the scritching of pencil on paper and other times he could hear pacing, or nothing at all. Save for dinner the first day, when Papyrus came back by, there would be empty dishes sitting outside the door for him.

Papyrus supposed he could be grateful. Usually dishes never left Sans’ room unless Papyrus himself went in to grab them. So he knew this was Sans’ way of telling Papyrus that he was still there. When Papyrus saw the full dinner plate on the morning of the second day, he had gone into Sans’ room as he feared for the worst. His brother wasn’t there, but of course he couldn’t expect Sans to stay all the time when he could take a shortcut to wherever he wanted.

Around noon of the third day, Sans finally emerged. Papyrus had already been fixing a new batch of spaghetti so he simply filled a plate for Sans as well. When he got in close proximity, he could see the severe bags under Sans’ eyes and the horrid smell of alcohol coming from his person. With a huge wave of guilt, but no words, Papyrus added a glass of water and a bottle of pain pills next to the spaghetti. Sans raised his left hand and put the tips of his fingers to his chin before extending his hand out with his palm up. A simple ‘thank you’ but Papyrus was thankful that he was at least communicating again…. And that he knew where Sans went previously.

The rest of the the day passed in silence. As did the beginning of the next, at which point, Papyrus couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to go for a walk. Sans didn’t want to talk to him anyway. His feet drug on the ground as he continued making his way to their previous home. It had been so long since he had been there, and frankly, that was the only place he could think of to go. As he passed an all-too-familiar cavern, he couldn’t help but look inside at the statue of the strong warrior he once called friend.

His footsteps slowed as he saw the statue and the golden colored bone that still stood at it’s base. He lingered only a moment before he continued on. He was glad to see that the helpful bird had survived the human’s masacre and they still happily carried Papyrus over a disproportionately small gap. The king continued on, still stopping occasionally at things he came across along the way: the hallway filled with echo flowers, one of Sans’ old posts.

Footsteps stopped as Papyrus caught view of what lay in front of him now. A cloud of mist. The one that happens when the humid air of Waterfall interacts with the cold air of Snowdin. The same one where he last saw the human…. The same one where he made the mistake that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

A breeze of cold coming from Snowdin blew past him, making his cape billow in the wind. He had forgotten how having a cape blow behind him made him feel so cool. The cold was inviting and familiar but also daunting. The sound of footsteps quickly approaching from Waterfall broke Papyrus out of his daze as he turned to meet the incoming monster. Running up to him was the Captain of the Royal Guard.

“Papyrus!” He called out. The metallic dragon monster’s feet slowed as he neared. “You didn’t tell me you were leaving. You should still have someone accompany you for now until events from the riot settle down.”

“Sorry. I just…. Needed to get away for a little while,” Papyrus apologized sheepishly.

“I understand. At the very least let us know where you’re going. You gave your brother quite the scare. He wanted to look for you himself, but I managed to talk him into staying at the castle,” Paxan explained. What? Papyrus had worried Sans? Oh no. He didn’t intend to do that at all. It’s just… Sans wasn’t talking to him and he didn’t want to approach him if he was still upset.

“I…. I just don’t know what to do. He won’t talk to me and I don’t want to upset him by doing anything that…. I just don’t know,” Papyrus rambled, his shoulders slowly drooping as he spoke. Paxan regarded his King sadly for a moment.

“I believe there is a saying out there that says the tongue is sharper that the sword.
What is spoken… or not spoken… tends to have a great impact on people. Perhaps Sans misunderstood your silence as frustration towards him,” Paxan attempted.

Papyrus stopped to think on his words for a moment. He hadn’t thought of that. Was he really being cold to Sans in return? He wasn’t meaning to be. Not at all. He wasn’t even angry with Sans. Seeing his older brother on TV only made Papyrus feel more guilty as he saw Sans stand up for the same ideals Papyrus had when he last interacted with the human. Had his expressions resulted in the clouding of Sans’ judgement?

He thought over the phrase again and something caught his attention. The sword? His thoughts went on a rabbit trail as he looked at the sword Paxan always had with him. The slight curve to it was curious and he had always wondered about it but never asked.

“Paxan…. Do you mind if I ask what kind of sword you have?” He asked. The Captain looked a bit surprised by the question. Although taken off guard, he didn’t look upset about the question at all. He even had a soft smile as he unholstered it from his belt and handed the sheathed weapon to the King.

Papyrus took it gingerly. It certainly looked like one of the swords Undyne used to talk about. A katana. Papyrus put a hand around the handle before slowly pulling it out. That’s odd. It looked very similar to what Undyne had described before, but the blade was on the wrong side.

“I come from a line of blacksmiths. For generations my family has been trained to make the weapons for the Royal Guard. This blade was inspired by an anime Captain Undyne told me about. She even got Alphys to let me borrow the DVD. This is called a sakabatou, or ‘reverse-blade’,” Paxan began explaining.

He held his hands out for the sword and Papyrus handed it to him. Paxan finished unsheathing the sword and dropped the scabbard on the ground to demonstrate, holding the sword with both hands and taking a stance. The blade faced towards him, not Papyrus.

“The main character used to be an assassin and vowed that he would never take another life and so this is his weapon,” Paxan continued explaining. He gently and slowly swung the blade towards Papyrus until the blade gently tapped on his arm. “If you were parrying this with a bone and the blade recoiled back. The person getting hurt would be me, not you.” He gave Papyrus a moment to let all the information sink in while Papyrus marveled at the blade.

“Sans found the DVD when he was sorting through Alphys’ things and gave it to me. I still have it if you would like to watch it,” He offered. Papyrus’ face lit up. That was such a wholesome moral for the main character to have, and for him to be a previous killer, no less! Was it possible that the ideal him and Sans both stood by wasn’t so wrong after all?

+++++++

Papyrus came home with the DVD in his hand and a soft smile on his face. He was excited to watch this. Maybe Sans would like to watch it with him? Maybe that would make his brother feel a bit better. When he entered the kitchen, he saw Sans standing there pacing before he caught his attention. Sans still looked upset, but in an entirely different way. Half a second passed before Sans was tightly hugging Papyrus’ ribcage.

“i’m sorry, bro. i’m sorry i gave you the cold shoulder and wouldn’t talk to you. i’m sorry i ran off the other night. i’m sorry i let the human go. i’m sorry, papyrus…. i’m so so sorry.”