Chapter Text
It was a crisp April morning, and the Ebbot Innovation and Commerce Convention was being held from Friday thru Sunday during the last week of the month, and Sans the Skeleton ( Doctor Sans, if everyone was being polite) didn't know what to do with his damn self. It had been nine years since the barrier had fallen, and Alphys had finally managed to convince him to go to the silly event this year- the first year any of them would be attending. He didn't expect to get much out of it; he was comfortably involved in the research side of things, when he felt like it and life was going smoothly…wasn't that enough? Did he have to complicate his ‘work, home, sleep’ routine?
Apparently, yes.
“I'm worried,” she'd confessed to him the other week over coffee. “You're doing better…but you're not doing anything different. You don't have to live like you're dealing with a crisis when the crisis has ended, Sans.”
And there was a lot he could have said to that.
He could have said, “but what if you don't know the crisis is happening until after it's done? can you imagine how fucking scary that is, over and over again?”
He could have said, “imagine living years of your life as deja vu. constantly feeling like you should know each next bad thing, feeling responsible when you don't stop them.”
If he was feeling particularly self-pitying (which he did sometimes), he could have even said, “i can't stand it alphys, i can't live through it- not one single more time of getting my hope up for something…anything….and crashing back down again.”
But all of those would have been pretty upsetting for the woman, his old friend, who'd sat there looking so damn concerned and so damn fond of him, so he'd only sighed. He'd said it all before to her anyway. So instead…
“alright, alright. when is it again?”
Hotel rooms had been booked, suitcases had been packed (well, his was pretty empty, considering he could just flicker back home for anything he needed, but you were supposed to take a suitcase on a trip so he did), and her excitement the entire drive into the city was so infectious that he couldn't help but feel it a little himself. He'd offered to simply shortcut the two of them in and meet the rest of their folks there, but she'd gasped at him like he'd suggested heresy.
“Sans! It's a trip! The drive is part of the fun!”
So they'd done bad karaoke in the car, and gossiped together in a way that they hadn't in years, and by the time they arrived at the parking garage, he was almost looking forward to everything. Friday night was interesting- an expo night of a gazillion demonstrations, vendors, and company stalls set up in a huge room of the facility. The foreign humans had gaped at the sight of Monsters, which was pretty funny, and he got enough free pens, string bags, and bottle openers to last him the rest of his life.
All in all, not a bad time.
Near the end of the night, though, something rather interesting had happened. The crowds had thinned as he, Alphys, and Litbrick lingered chatting with a solar energy start up, and he turned to notice Alphys standing with her snout to the air.
“what, get a passing whiff of royal guard armpit?”
She snorted, shoving at him. “No, dipshit, don't you smell that? Something in here smells amazing.”
Giving her an incredulous look, he gave the air a cursory sniff…and blinked. Somewhere nearby, so faintly he could barely pick up the slightest hint of it, something smelled so sweet and delicious that he wasn't sure what to make of it. Alphys had a much better sense of smell than him- most of the organic Monsters did -and he grabbed her as she took a few steps away from the group with her eyes half-closed and almost walked right into a passing gaggle of humans while she sniffed. “c'mere lizardbrain, you're makin’ a scene. i smell it too, yeah.”
Litbrick, a glowstone Elemental without any physical senses whatsoever, was watching the two of them with vague horror in her well-mannered expression. “Whatever are you two doing over there?” The human man she'd been talking to nearly sighed over the graceful, unearthly warmth of her voice. “You look like hounds following a food cart.”
Sans started to answer, taking a breath in, but lost whatever he was about to say as that delicious, sweet smell absolutely filled his ‘nose’ in sudden full force. The freshest cut fruit, the sweetest baked treats, couldn't hold a candle to whatever it was. It smelled heavenly, absolutely delicious, and Alphys damn near swooned beside him.
They got out of there in a hurry, leaving Litbrick to enjoy her gaggle of admirers. Alphys shook her head and bid him a fast good night, trotting off with a hand covering her nose. He went for a walk, trying to shake the weird experience, and soon ended up in the main atrium of the building where they were handing out schedules and goodie bags for the next two days events. He got in line, then stumbled as someone behind him accidentally bumped him with her hip.
“Sorry!” It was a human woman; she smiled at him apologetically as she trotted after the group she was with. He waved her off, accidents happened after all…and then that same smell slapped him in the face, strong and heady yet somehow light and tempting, complex enough that he couldn't get enough of it, and so fucking good that he didn't understand what was happening for a moment. So good that he caught himself tilting his head back and breathing in over and over, like a starving person might outside of a bakery, only he was standing smack dab in the middle of a crowded convention center atrium. Of course that was an immensely weird thing to do, so he made a face at himself the second he realized what he was doing and stomped on his own toes.
It was going to be an… interesting weekend.
-
Goddamnit, it was you.
Something you were wearing- some perfume or something -smelled so ridiculously, uniquely amazing that Sans was almost positive it was magical. It had to be- no natural, mundane scent, no matter how rare or well blended, could have had the same effect. He realized it as he and Lacefly stood in line behind you and a group of other human women, waiting to receive the day's badges and all, and Lacefly had reached up to touch you gently on the shoulder.
You turned, and Sans hummed to himself- human women could sometimes be so interestingly pretty. Soft and smooth looking in an esoteric way, all of them outwardly similar in a way that invited the eye to look closer.
“Oh, yes?”
Lacewing smiled, her delicate, cream-colored antenna fluttering in the evening light. “Hi, I'm sorry to interrupt, but your perfume is so lovely! May I ask, where did you get it?”
The fragrance hit him as you flipped your hair over your shoulder, smiling at his coworker, and Sans licked his lips without even meaning to. “Wow, thank you! I actually bought it at a…a Mountain store? Is that how you would say it? I moved here a few months ago, and went into New Home through the, um, the ‘NewNew Home’ gate.”
Lacewing giggled at your hesitance, her voice buzzing in her thorax. “We know, the names are terrible. But our King loves them, so we love them for him.” She waved a dainty little foot toward you. “It really suits you so nicely, I am very sensitive to artificial fragrances and it doesn't bother me at all! Do you remember the store name?”
“Hmmm…” You tapped your lower lip, and Sans cocked his head- was the color there natural? It didn't seem to smudge when you touched it. Admittedly, he’d never really paid much attention to humans before. Something his brother berated him for ceaselessly. “I think it was called…something with alchemy in the name? I can check the bag when I get home, are you on Fatebook?”
“I have an Undernet account!” Lacewing pulled out her phone. “They’re cross compatible now!”
The two of you worked on ‘friending’ each other, before someone called you, and you smiled apologetically, stepping out of line. Sans gave a hesitant one back while simultaneously trying to stop breathing…and hoped that would be the end of that. Not that you weren't pretty, or immediately friendly to his people, but he was about to go fucking nuts if he had to breathe in that perfume for one more second. It made him want to be close to you, made him think weird shit like, ‘i wonder where she put it on?’ and ‘humans are kinda shaped like me, i wonder if we…’
He cut that thought off in a hurry. Of course he dabbled, had the occasional fling…but never with a human, yet, and was perfectly happy keeping it that way. Occasional. No need to start swooning over a random mortal who'd apparently hit the perfume lottery.
A good night's sleep would cure whatever this fascination was.
…
But…
But it didn't.
Because he'd apparently chosen the same classes as you the next day, and you ended up being all fun and entertaining and shit, and soon Sans had such a liking for you, despite his best efforts not to, that he didn't know what to do with himself. Yes you smelled delicious, like the sweetest, ripest fruit he'd ever found. Yes, it literally made him want to take a bite out of the air every time you were close…which was a tremendously creepy and weird thing to think about a stranger, and so he tried his best not to. But also you were kind, and funny as hell, and pretty in that weird, exotic way that humans had, and god.
On his first occasion of actually meeting you and talking to you, at the coffee hour that accompanied the opening presentation the next morning, you'd ended up standing beside him at the back of the room- all the seats had been, sadly, taken. You'd arrived late with your little group, same as he had, and he'd caught you outright grinning at a joke he'd told off-handedly to one of his own staff. Thank god, you hadn't put that fucking perfume on that morning- he could actually answer your occasional, whispered comment without getting distracted by it. Then a few minutes into the dry, droning talk, the presenter put a slide into the PowerPoint that literally had so much information in it that the font was illegibly small, and Sans’ soul flipped over on itself as you mimed getting blown backwards off your feet by the amount of words. You fell into one of your own coworkers and then into him by accident, and soon he was giggling right along with you as the damn presentation only got worse from there.
An hour later at brunch- which was already a sin in itself because what kind of fucking convention had talks and classes before the free food -serendipity ended up seating him, Alphys and Litbrick, and Lacewing at the same table as you and two of your people, and soon he had the whole lot of you laughing hysterically. It felt good, as it always did, but it especially felt good to see you in particular blushing from laughing so hard, holding your face in your hands. Your hair fell forward over your shoulders as you wiped your eyes, grinning wildly as you caught your breath, and for the first time in almost ten years Sans wondered what human hair would feel like in his hand…it looked so soft.
Some time later, while he was ambling along the long main hall and deciding what early afternoon presentations he wanted to attend, he rounded a corner and heard you and two other human women snickering like menaces as you all scurried by, coltish in your heels thanks, in no small part, to the bloody marys you each held in both hands. You waved as you passed, and not even ten minutes later, the hotel announcement system crackled.
“Welcome attendants! As a reminder, please do not touch the photo wall or the welcome board! Thank you!”
Cocking a curious brow, Sans turned on his heel and went for a wander, stepping out over at the large entrance atrium in the direction the three of you had come from…and when he saw what was there, he nearly fell over laughing. He had no idea how you'd all done it- the large, backlit letterboard was nearly seven feet off through ground -but somehow you'd all scrambled the inane welcome message on it. It had read, ‘Welcome to the 202x Thirty-Third Annual ECULS Ebbot Energy and Conservation Unified Leaders Summit!!! Ready to Learn?’
It now read-
‘Nerds Drinking, Pretending At Learning! Also Sex? Wee!’
-with the rest of the letters scattered on the floor. Giggling like he was addled, Sans settled in to watch the building's employees frantically trot back and forth for a few minutes, all of them plainly trying to find a ladder or something, until a touch on his shoulder and that familiar, absolutely delicious freaking scent on the air made him smile without meaning to. For fucks sake, you must have brought it along with you- he grit his teeth for a moment, mastering himself, then turned to face you. You were standing there smirking, holding out a fresh bloody mary to him and gesturing to the sign. “I'm so glad you enjoy our work”, you murmured, barely -contained laughter in your voice. “We've been doing it for a while, but with our Monster cohorts here to appreciate our efforts for the first time, this year's had to be particularly good.”
He took the drink, feeling a bit flattered by your attention, and noticed the chili flakes sprinkled on the top. “would ya look at that- how did you know i liked mine hot?”
You winked at him. “Call it a woman's intuition…or call it me only realizing that they made it spicy as hell like ten seconds ago, and trying to pass it off on some friendly fellow before I dumped it in a plant.” Holding out a hand, you introduced yourself by name. “And I think I was having too much fun at brunch to actually catch your name, I'm sorry!”
“sans.” He waited for you to do the usual silent ‘*blink*, huh’ that humans did for Monsters that didn't use surnames, then went on, “you're a miracle worker, i can't tell ya how much i was afraid this was gonna be borin’.”
“Not with us here!”
Grinning despite himself, he shifted his weight and took a sip. “so you came to this even before you moved to town?”
You raised your phone, taking a picture of the besmirched board. “Yep! Past six years…oh shit, that security guard saw us earlier.”
Sure enough, a sour-faced old human was stomping over toward the two of you. Throwing caution to the wind, Sans held out a hand impulsively, his mind's voice of reservation seeming very quiet and distant in the face of your attention. “wanna take a shortcut?”
You cocked your head, hesitating for only a moment before taking his hand in your own- he liked that, though you were a good seven inches taller than him in your heels, his hand was much bigger than yours. "You know what? Why not. But what does that mean, exactly?”
Sans winked. “hold on tight.”
And the two of you disappeared.
Were you too old for a crush? Probably.
Were Monsters kinda weird and creepy looking, sometimes? Absolutely.
Was that damned Skeleton man just the funniest and fun-est person you'd ever met? God yes.
He'd disappeared the two of you earlier somehow; one second you'd been trying to figure out how to escape the security guard down near the first floor entrance…and then next, you'd been blinking in the huge, lovely atrium on the third floor.
You'd needed a moment to get your bearings, leaning on his immediately offered arm (it was plain he was used to that reaction), then faced him, admiring his easy smile on that strange, alien-but-not face. “I'm often jealous of magic,” you'd confessed, inwardly melting a little as his smile grew with your words, “But never as much as I am now. You lucky bastard, that’s so cool.” Then motion sickness had caught up with you all at once, which had led to the two of you sitting on a nearby couch chatting for so long that the afternoon events had long come and passed by the time either of you realized how much time had passed.
Now you were laying around your hotel room around ten that night, not at all sleepy, with a bottle of riesling and a huge bag of chisps from the hotel's multicultural snack bar (‘mineral’ flavored- a concerningly salty-sweet-sour-spicy…carbonated? snack that was, honestly, rather addictive), and the only thought your addled brain would muster was how you wished you could still feel the man's heavy thigh pressed up against yours. The two of you had naturally gravitated closer and closer to each other as you'd talked, before seemingly realizing at the exact same moment that you were practically plastered against each other's sides and jumping apart a bit. It had all felt so…so fun. So easy. He was easy to talk to, easy to laugh with. Easy to joke around and tease- he'd taken your poking fun at his height in stride, when so many human men would have flared angry at you. Yet it had been impossible not to, when the two of you had gone to stand at the same time but the seam of your skirt had caught under your heel, making you trip right into him. Of course, he'd just pushed himself to his feet, which meant the poor man's face had been momentarily but absolutely buried in your cleavage. He'd resurfaced snickering while you'd blushed and slapped at him, shrugging easily when you'd gently teased him for being at boob-height.
“what can i say? gives me easy access.” He'd winked then, and the warmth in his gaze had been too exciting for how silly and innocuous the moment really was. “not my fault you're wearing stilts, either. i get the appeal-” he'd wiggled his hand in the air to show the curve of a woman’s back and hips “-but they sure do put a vertically-challenged fella at a disadvantage.”
And so now you were restless and wide awake, switching between staring at the ceiling or scrolling aimlessly through your phone, imagining back to Sans- such a strangely handsome man- and his very gentle flirtations with you. Or at least you hoped he'd been flirting- you thought he was. Monsters certainly weren't ‘uncommon’ anymore, and you'd even heard of him before, but you'd hesitated earlier to assume that the famous Skeleton researcher you'd heard stories of was the same as the one you'd found yourself near on and off all day- it would be rude to assume that there weren't other skeletons around, right?
Would a man like him ever be interested in a human woman like you?
And was it weird, to think him attractive? His ease with people was delightful all on its own- it was obvious he was used to working crowds, whether professionally or in his personal life. And equally as entertaining was his incredibly laid-back way of going through life… or at least, what you'd seen so far of him seemed that way. He’d spent brunch with his feet kicked up on a chair, lounging back with his dark blue sweater hanging open- a sweater his coworker, Doctor Alphys, said she'd nearly had to net him in the street to get him to put on. Otherwise, he'd apparently planned to come in a t-shirt and shorts. The khaki shorts had stayed, making quite the unfortunate fashion statement paired with the sweater, but alas- no one could be perfect, right? His sense of humor and general niceness had more than made up for it, and you'd nearly cried laughing as he'd blown silent raspberries with a magical blue tongue, shaking his head so hard that his ‘lips’ had smacked back and forth, and made all sorts of other god-awful faces all at the rude-ass waiter who'd snubbed the Monsters at your table. His look of gratitude when you'd sweetly started ordering family-style for the entire table, your eye fixed on the waiter in a way that said, ‘Refuse me, I dare you’, had been the cherry atop the morning's sundae.
Something rather funny had happened with him too, you'd noticed. Several times, in fact- once or twice at brunch, while you'd been sitting beside him, and probably a dozen times as the two of you had chatted the afternoon away. It was hard to be sure of course; facial expressions didn't carry over as easily on the oddly malleable bone of his body as it did on a human face.
But you'd swear the man had been smelling the air around you.
The perfume oil you were wearing was new- you'd just bought it the week before the silly symposium started -and it was nice to know that it was appreciated! The scent was delightful, light and sweet and fruity, and stayed fresh and clean on your skin despite wearing it for hours. Perhaps it was just a Monster thing- he'd never been creepy about it, at least outwardly. He definitely wasn't trying to be caught, which would have been a whole new layer of ick. No, he'd timed his careful, deep breaths through his ‘nose’ very carefully, perhaps not knowing that humans had fairly wide peripheral vision.
Something tapped on the wall behind your bed's headboard, making you jump- guiltily, you realized you'd been lightly drumming your toes there, laying upside down in the bed as you were. “Sorry,” you called softly, not knowing if the person in the room beside yours could hear your voice or not.
A moment passed, before…
*knock knockknock knock knock…*
Smiling, you used your toes to answer back to the shave-and-haircut rhythm with two little taps in reply- seemingly, all was forgiven. Then you turned around, snuggling back on the pillows and slowly sinking into a delightful white wine and cable TV-induced stupor.
-
The next morning, a glorious, ass-crack-of-dawn Sunday, you froze in all your tousled-haired, makeupless glory when you stumbled out into the hallway for the evilly early hotel breakfast…only to see Sans stepping out of the room right beside yours.
You must have looked like a fish out of water, because he started grinning the second he saw you. “ah yes, the glory of laying your wet, human eyes upon a miraculously magical monster, so soon after dawn…” He shut up as you flapped a sweatshirt sleeve at him, snorting. “Shut it, it's too early. Christ, why is the first thing at eight a-m today? Fuck me…”
The calcified pervert started to say something with an evil grin, doubtless a ‘boner’ joke if you'd picked up his style by then, so you cut him off by turning on your heel and marching toward the elevator. “ I'm going to go make a waffle. You should come make a waffle, too.”
He flickered into existence directly off your elbow moments after you'd pressed the elevator button, and you nearly shot up the wall with how badly it startled you. “oh sorry sunshine . didn't mean ta get a rise outta you.”
Shooting him a filthy look, you stepped into the doors as they opened and hit the button for the ground level- quite the trip from your 18th floor rooms. “Lazy, lazy, lazy. You could have just walked down here. Sheesh.”
Shrugging, he leaned back on the mirrored wall of the elevator and grinned, closing his eyes. “sounds like effort.”
“Woooow.” Trying not to smile, you crossed your arms, waiting for the thing to tick down the floors. It only stopped once, the woman there jumping back so comically upon seeing Sans that it made you laugh from the sheer ridiculousness of her response.
The moment the doors closed, you flipped her off. “Cunt.”
Sans hummed. “it bothers you that bad? i saw how you looked at the kid yesterday when he was being weird about me n’ the others at brunch. why get your blood pressure up for little ol’ us?” He never opened his eyes, never lost that perpetual smile from his odd, almost motionless lips as he spoke.
It was too early to make up a good lie. “Sans, I work in marketing. Nonprofit healthcare technology marketing. Every single day, I get up and go to work surrounded by actual damn demons wearing human skin, whose sole goals are to make as much money as possible off of keeping people sick and dying for as long as possible. I literally have to sit there and listen to them share their plans for how to make medicine and treatment…hell even hospice, even dying…as miserable and marketable and expensive as possible.” Something about his face, so serious and intent, made you feel safer somehow, as if you could share your real emotions about the subject. “They make me feel sick. They sit there and laugh, and slap each other on the backs, and go to expensive ‘networking’ events with each other…and Sans, I swear on my Soul, there's nothing behind their eyes at all! That's what scares me about this world, and I can't stand them anymore. Not…not your people. Not good people, no matter what they…look like.” You finished the diatribe lamely, realizing you'd practically been yelling at the man…and then the elevator *dinged* for the first floor.
He pushed off the wall and waved you ahead of himself, an odd look on his face. “...after you.”
Goddammit, he'd sworn he wasn't going to do this. He'd called himself every name in the book all night, continued to all morning-
stupid, stupid!
absolute fucking dipshit idiot!
-and none of it stopped the feeling in the slightest.
He even tried swearing at you in his mind for a second, to see if that would help… and he couldn't bring himself to do it. Wasn't that pathetic?
For almost a decade, he'd gotten up every morning with a single motto, practically a mantra. ‘don't get attached - don't stress over any of it’. It didn't matter that Frisk had promised, pinky promised even, that they'd only ever reset in a true, terrible emergency. It didn't matter that the damn prince had lost his ability to do so at the same moment he'd traded leaves back for arms and pollen for a conscience. It didn't even matter that, for the last nine and a half years, life had gone so threateningly smoothly that Sans had nearly lost his edge. Had nearly stopped waiting with his breath half-held for the Next Bad Thing.
No. That single, simple thought-
(Don't get attached, don't get hooked on something or someone, don't let the world catch you caring- really caring. Let it all flow by, hakuna matata baby.)
-had kept him going through those darkest early months, fresh out of the Underground. It was a little piece of armor around his Soul, a spell made of nothing more than a thought and a promise to himself…
…and fuck if you weren't ruining it!
Why here?! Why now, after so many years of women who'd been interested in him? Why did he care about this one?! Stars in the fucking sky, he barely even knew you! Yes, the two of you were becoming fast friends, and yes you'd been completely genuine in the elevator, and yes everything the two of you had talked about the day before had been interesting, and stimulating, and bright and exciting…but still!
Sans scowled at the roasted breakfast potatoes before him, as if they were the reason he was so out of sorts, and stabbed a few onto his plate before moving down to the next station on the breakfast buffet. Of course you were there, staring down at a waffle maker with your eyes half-closed, a small smile on your (interesting, pink, soft-looking) lips. He wondered, helpless to resist the thought, what you were thinking about; what secret, inner thing was making you smile, and if it possibly had something to do with him.
That mantra of his seemed mighty quiet and distant when put against the loveliness of your face…the curve of your body as you stood there, your weight on one leg…
And then you realized he was getting closer and glanced over at him- christ the way you smiled. As if just seeing him made your morning better.
His hand tightened on the plate until the ceramic made a godawful squeal against his fingertips.
-
Dangerous. Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. He couldn't enjoy the rest of his day, despite spending every moment of it near you that he could. It was supremely pathetic and he knew he needed to stop, needed to make a friendly excuse and leave before he really did fuck himself over…but each time he built up enough willpower to force himself to do it, you'd make some funny little comment just for him, or shoot a grin his way, or sneak him a piece of table-scatter candy under the table, and he'd be back at square one.
He made it through lunch somehow, even managing to get a few good giggles out of Alphys, Trick, Lacefly and a few of your human coworkers too, then grit his teeth into something like a smile at the afternoon's presentations. Afterward was a three hour break before a formal, fancy dinner that signaled the end of the conference, and he wasn't sure if he was dreading or desperately looking forward to the end of the most confusing three days he could remember.
You'd started yawning sometime around two-thirty, drooping in your seat as the lecturer droned on, and finally caught him by the arm as the two of you left the room together. Bemused, and wearied by his own waffling, he went along with you as you pulled him a few steps away from the general crowd, closer to a nearby fountain. The moisture in the air helped carry the scent of your perfume to him like the sweetness of standing near a cotton candy vendor, as if he could taste the damn stuff.
“Hey, Sans, so…I…wanted to tell you something?”
He motioned for you to continue, fighting not to stand closer to you, like a plant trying to resist turning to the sun.
“Okay, I, um…I just wanted to say…” A deep breath. “Look, if I've offended you or anything, I'm really sorry.” You were biting your lip, staring somewhere past him. “You seem…upset with me? Maybe? I can't quite, well…ever since this morning…”
Aw, fuck. Damn it all. Sans immediately shook his head, cutting you off as he stuck his hands in his pockets to find something to fiddle with. “nah, you haven't done anything wrong. not a thing. you're fine, i promise. i'm just…not feeling it, today. but it's nothing to do with you-” (liar) “-so don't even worry your pretty head about it.”
You still looked terribly unsure, so he dropped the pen cap he'd been flipping over his fingertips and held a hand out. The potted plants around the fountain made a nice little privacy screen for the two of you. “now i ain't sayin’ you look green around the gills or nothin’, but you do look a little bushed. wanna take a shortcut back across the street, plant yourself in bed, catch a few z's?” When you didn't answer for a moment, he wiggled his fingers temptingly. “think about it- delivery, straight to your own doorwaaay…”
Finally, you smiled a little, putting your hand in his. “Well…okay. Yes, please.”
He took a deep breath, held it, and twisted his mind in just the right way.
As you had before, you stumbled a bit when he flickered the two of you back into existence outside of your hotel rooms- the last two at the end of the hall. Luckily, there was a bench nearby. He helped you a few steps over to it, supporting your arm as you lowered yourself shakily down.
“Wow, wow… I’m so freaking jealous of that. Dizzy wooziness not withstanding.” He grinned gently at that, waiting a few moments as you found your bearings again. Then, before he could do anything, you leaned a little closer, and he noticed a slight flush had raised slightly on your cheeks. “Okay, you're not upset with me?” He shook his head emphatically. “Oh good, that's…that’s good.” You were still holding his hand. “So I’ve, um, really enjoyed these last two days with you. I work across town, at Ebbot Tower General, so I'm amazed we've never run into each other, I…I'd hate to lose touch, and um…well, you know, you're great to talk to, a-and kind-” And then you cut yourself off, plainly biting the inside of your cheek, and looking up at him with so much hope and nervousness in your eyes…
Oh.
Oh.
Oh you were...
Sans distantly realized that more than a couple seconds had passed while he stood there with his mouth hanging open, staring at you, when you let go of his hand and leaned back a little again looking terribly unsure and wary…and only realized what he'd done after he'd reached out and grabbed yours again. For a long few moments, he couldn't figure out what to say…
So he settled for honesty.
“i ain't good at this.” He couldn't look away from your gem-bright eyes, so clear and crystalline under the stark hall lights, and his voice was even quieter than he'd meant it to be. “like…super bad. not that i'm some raging piece of shit or anything, but…i’ve been through some stuff, you know? everything was years ago, but it still…it still gets to me, and…ah…”
He couldn't exactly dump the whole truth in your lap, not here or now, but god, how did anyone keep secrets from you? You sat there, staring up at him with your beautiful face that so obviously sparkled with a flash of hope as you realized he'd picked up what you were putting down…and then your expression filled with sadness as he tried to explain so many years of fucked up shit in so few words. “just, you know, heh, some uh…some really ugly shit in the underground, stuff no one else could really fix, and i had to get involved to protect the people i care about, over and over. keeps me up at night, keeps me from hoping too much for good stuff, ya know? cause if you don't get your hopes up, then you won't be disappointed if…if…”
Your brow furrowed as he stuttered, searching for the right explanation, and finally he was cut off by you raising a gentle hand, never letting go of his other as you laid your fingers on his other arm. He shut himself up, the warmth of just that tiny touch seeping through his sweatshirt's sleeve.
“I'm…so sorry.” You started rubbing your thumb back and forth, a tiny, soothing motion. “So sorry you had to go through something awful. I know it's a dumb sentiment, everyone goes through bad times, after all. But I wish you wouldn't have had to- oh.”
Sans was stepping forward before he knew what he was doing, was pulling free of your hand and wrapping his arms around your shoulders before he could even think. More than a few trusted people in his life had shared similar sentiments to him. Hell, two of those people had been the ones directly responsible, or at least had been in a ‘different life’. So why did it mean so much coming from you? You, who couldn't possibly know? You, who had no context at all, who couldn't possibly have the faintest idea what he was even referring to? He didn't know, had no space in his mind to consider the mystery- everything had screeched to a halt the moment he felt the warmth of your body pressed up against his chest and arms. Then, nervously, you hugged him back around the waist, scooching forward a little on the bench so you could tuck your head sideways against his chest, and if he moved his head just a little bit he could press his lips to your hair.
It was, objectively, a rather silly moment to feel touched by- in the middle of an ugly hotel hallway, the hug itself more than a little awkward for a first hug because you were still sitting, and all of it was happening moments after he'd basically told you he was damaged goods…
“You're a really nice person,” you murmured, a seeming non-sequitur except you were probably saying it to try to make him feel better, and his Soul flipped over in his damn chest at the realization. “Really funny, too. Thank you for bringing me back here. I…hope you've had a nice time so far this weekend. Your town is beautiful.”
“i had a nice time because of you.” It wasn't at all a cool or collected thing to whisper as a pretty girl hugged you close and tucked her feet between yours, but it was honest at least…and why did that little touch move him more than anything else so far? Such a tiny sensation, and yet the feeling of your flats between his ratty black sneakers rocked him from head to toe. Then he had to tilt his head back for a second to hide the dipshit smile that spread across his face when you yawned into his chest, your shoulders shaking under his arms. “Oh…sorry, I'm just so sleepy, I didn't sleep very well last night…”
He stepped back a little, helping you to your feet and instantly missing your touch. “take a lil’ nap, then. you've got plenty of time before that dinner tonight.”
Smiling, you shook your head as you turned out of his hold toward your doorway. “Not if I want to look pretty for it, I-”
He cut you off. “you look pretty right now.”
That made you fumble your keycard, made you blush and stutter for a second as you fought your door…and then, before he could do anything else, you leaned down a little and kissed him right on the cheek.
“See you at dinner?”
What else could he say?
“sure.”