Sans didn't think much when the human child came out from the Ruins. The kid was hugging himself against the cold, his black hair covering one eye as he trudged through the snow. He was murmuring something (didn't sound polite) and didn't notice Sans watching from the distance.
Kid had no EXP and no LV. Sans could tell that at a glance.
…
Brat's attitude did not reflect that.
"Turn around and shake my hand." Sans said in his 'creepy' voice. The boy turned, his one visible eye glaring at him. Was the kid trying to look scary? Didn't work too well as he was shaking like a leaf. The boy glared at the hand offered to him.
…
Sans cleared his throat.
…
Sans wiggled his fingers a bit.
…
This…. Was beginning to get awkward.
"Um." Sans blinked. "Alright. Don't?"
The kid snorted, turned his back to Sans and trudged on ahead. Sans snorted to express his irritation. Geesh. He almost missed the kids that dusted everyone.
….
Okay, not really. But at least he could just fight his frustration out on a genocidal brat.
Sans walked on ahead after the kid.
"So, hey, my brother is kind of a human-hunting fanatic, right?" Sans said. The kid tensed and picked up the pace. "Um. I think he's coming this way, actually." The kid stopped, glaring at Sans over his shoulder. Sans shrugged, motioning to the conveniently shaped lamp "If ya wanna hide behind that lamp over there, that'd probably help."
The kid…. Looked like he didn't believe Sans. Luckily, Papyrus tended to be loud.
"SANS!" Papyrus shouted from down the path. The human might as well have jumped half a mile as he scrambled to get behind the lamp. Sans just shifted his feet a bit and got ready for the usual schtick.
One schtick later and the human child was glaring at Sans.
"So, yeah. He's gone. You can come out now-"
"Who's side you on?" The boy practically spat.
So the kid could talk.
Sans shrugged "No one's, really."
"Are you going to kill me?"
Sans made a show of 'thinking' it over. "Hm….Nah. Don't really feel like it."
"So you're just gonna let your brother kill me?"
Sans shrugged "Eh. If he wanted to, I guess? But, well, he doesn't." The kid looked at him skeptically but didn't say anything, so Sans kept talking "Papyrus is harmless. Really. He couldn't hurt a fly." Maybe a story would calm the kid a bit, so… "Like, literally couldn't bring himself to hurt a fly. There was one in our house and he just…. Opened the door for it, trying to be polite. Unfortunately, that meant that a bunch of other flies got in."
The human said nothing.
Sans shrugged "Anyway, mind playing along with his puzzles? It'd really make his day."
The kid said nothing. Just glared.
"Cool, thanks. I'll be up ahead." Sans said, walking off in the opposite direction as he usually did.
Sans and Papyrus stood in the snow, talking about whatever it was Papyrus wanted to talk about for a while. Sans was beginning to think the human went back to the Ruins. But, he did show up eventually. Still with that glare.
Usual schtick.
But, like, this kid gave them his name.
"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU!" Papyrus declared.
The human snorted. " 'Papyrus'?"
"YES, HUMAN?" Papyrus said.
"…and his name is 'Sans'?" The kid said, jabbing a thumb at the mention skeleton. Sans waved.
"Yo."
"THAT IS INDEED SANS, YES." Papyrus said happily.
"….Right." The human rolled his eyes. "And my name's Bookman."
Sans chortled, covering his mouth with one gloved hand as his eye lights fixed themselves on Papyrus to see his reaction.
It was just about what you'd expect.
"HELLO BOOKMAN!" Papyrus said with a wave. "ANYWAY, CONTINUE! IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH!"
With that he raced off.
'Bookman' looked flabbergasted.
"What the heck." He said slowly. Sans laughed openly, shoving his hand back into his pocket.
"So, yeah, thanks for playing along, Bookman, my brother looks like he's having fun."
"T-that's not my name!" Bookman stammered.
"Anyway," Sans said, ignoring Bookman just to annoy the kid "dontcha worry, I'll keep an eye socket out for you."
He shortcutted away.
…
Sans was weird.
That was the conclusion Bookman came to. He sighed, hugging himself again as another onslaught of shivers besieged him. It was too cold here. Time to move on.
Ice. Puzzles. Dogs. Monsters. More Puzzles. More ice.
And it was really dark.
Bookman hated the dark. Only reason he left the Ruins. Well. That and he was half convinced Toriel was going to eat him in his sleep. The random abandoned shoes and the fact the lady conveniently had a child's room on standby didn't do anything to ease his anxiety.
Who was it she was saying would kill him? Asgore? Well, apparently the entire flippin' Underground wanted him dead so what was one more monster?
…
One more potential way to die, he guessed.
…
It was still dark. He was underground, so it made sense. But he didn't have to like it. And it was cold. Bookman decided he regretted wearing shorts today.
…
And he was still shaking.
Was he cold? He was…. Maybe it was hypothermia? Maybe he was tired? He didn't take a nap earlier, even though he wanted to. He was too scared. His face felt wet. Oh. He was crying. Of course.
And now he couldn't get his body to listen to him. He curled in on himself. He couldn't stop crying and he was cold and he was scared and he was tired and….
He just.
He just wanted….
…
He didn't know.
"BOOKMAN?"
The human dubbed Bookman jumped with a start, his foot catching on ice and he slipped to the ground. He prepared for the impact, for the sting of the ice on his face but it didn't happen?
Papyrus had caught him, holding him up in the air so they were eye-level with one another.
"ARE YOU ALL RIGHT, HUMAN? YOU'RE SHAKING." Papyrus said.
"P-p-put me down!" Bookman snapped, kicking his legs out.
"UH. ARE YOU SURE?" Papyrus said with a concerned frown. "YOU….UH. YOU'RE LEAKING."
"It's called crying, dummy!" Bookman snapped, tearing up some more as he delivered that scathing insult.
"OH! GOODNESS. NO REASON TO CRY, HUMAN! I KNOW I AM VERY IMPRESSIVE IT CAN BE UNNERVING BUT THE TEARS ARE UNECCESSARY." Papyrus said, grinning.
"Are you STUPID!?" Bookman snapped, hating how his voice cracked as more tears spilled over onto his cheeks. "Shut UP! Just shut UP! Put me down! Put me d-d-down!"
Sweat beaded on Papyrus's skull. "OH, PLEASE BOOKMAN, DON'T- OH GOODNESS." Bookman was full on wailing now and he was shaking so bad and he looked really cold….
Papyrus snorted, his face setting into a frown. "ALL RIGHT. MAYBE THAT'S ENOUGH FOR TODAY." Papyrus said, hugging the human to his shoulder. "YOU MAY FINISH THE PUZZLES TOMORROW, PERHAPS."
Bookman just kept sobbing, wailing, sniveling into Papyrus's scarf. Papyrus rubbed the boy's back in what he hoped was a comforting manner as they headed to the Skeleton Brothers' house.
Somewhere along the line, the human fell asleep.
A/N
So, Bookman Old Style is a font.