Sighing tiredly, you brought your palm up to rest your face on, elbow digging uncomfortably into the counter. The clock on the wall helpfully informed you of the dwindling time left on your shift, ticking away much more slowly than it had any right to do.
Maybe working a night shift on the same days as classes was a mistake. Grillby was such a good boss, though, that you couldn't just decline the request to work until closing. Nobody stayed until four in the morning on a Wednesday though, so you'd spent several hours alone in the bar waiting for customers who would never appear.
You were too tired to be happy when the clock hit four and you got to change the sign to "closed" and lock up. The walk to your dorms was, thankfully, all well-lit roads.
Well-lit roads you had fully intended to stay on until you heard a low groan of pain. You paused near the dim alley you had heard it from and cursed your nature as the groan came again. How could you just ignore it? Short answer: you couldn't.
Any hope it was just a drunk was dashed as your eyes adjusted to the darkness. Leaning against the brick wall, half-hidden by a dumpster, was a monster. At least you assumed it was. Normally, human skeletons couldn't groan. They looked bruised, although you weren't entirely sure how that was possible, and a skeletal arm lay uselessly on the ground next to them, covered in dust.
You recovered from your shock as quickly as you could, kneeling in front of the armor-clad skeleton. Seems it hadn't helped him as much as it perhaps should have. "Hey." You stated gently, trying to ascertain if the monster was conscious before touching them.
Eye-sockets opened and small blue lights appeared inside. You assumed this was their way of seeing. The lights trained on you before widening, and the skeleton tried to scoot away from you, eliciting a grunt of pain. "PLEASE," a masculine voice begged, "PLEASE DON'T HURT ME ANYMORE."
You flinched, even though you had a good idea why he was so beat up in the first place. Slowly, to avoid spooking the skeleton into harming himself any further, you dropped your bag to the side and raised your hands up in front of you. His blue pupils watched every bit of it carefully. "I'm not going to." You reassured him. "I don't like pain, no matter who's feeling it. May I help you?"
Not that you were willing to just leave if he said no, but thankfully you didn't need to worry about that as he slowly nodded. As slowly as before, you reached into your bag and brought out a can of sea tea, a handkerchief, and a water bottle. Handing him the can to drink, you informed him of what you were doing as you wet the handkerchief and moved to clean him up, knowing that it often helped keep people calm. His multitude of bruises and cuts faded a bit as he sipped at the magical drink.
Dirt and grime clung to his bones, and you were absolutely certain that your handkerchief would have to be thrown away after this. Still, you scrubbed gently at what you could reach without disturbing his armor or injuries.
Until you got to the detached arm. You paused as you picked it up in your left hand, your other cleaning the stub left on him. He spoke up as you debated with yourself. "HUMAN, I KNOW YOU CAN'T FIX THAT."
As if to save you from leaving him in pain. How could you just leave it when you could fix it? You shut your eyes as you responded. "Say I could. I have no right to ask this of you, but could you keep it quiet?" You didn't wait for his response as your hands lit up in a bright, cobalt energy.
Suddenly, you could see all of him in your mind's eye. Every pain and bruise. Every cut carved into his bones. Firstly, you focused on the missing limb, bringing the two stubs together so they matched up properly. The magic in your hands urged the two pieces to fuse, taking quite a bit of energy until they were done.
Once that was finished, without bothering to open your eyes, your hands trailed over his pains and eased them away. Reattaching a limb wasn't exactly an easy feat, but since you had the ability to heal his pains, why shouldn't you?
The skeleton shifted as the glow ebbed from your hands and you leaned back on your heels to rest your head on your knees, exhaustion catching up to you. The image of him in your mind faded as you released your hold on your magic.
The lethargy hit you like a brick wall. Or did you hit it? You weren't quite sure how that worked. Too much. If you didn't get to bed soon, you were probably going to collapse or something. You forced yourself to focus. The skeleton still needed help.
"Do you have someone you can call?" you croaked out. "It isn't exactly safe here." Blindly, you reached for your bag, slipping the phone out of its pocket and holding it in front of you for him to grab.
It took a few seconds for him to take it. Several beeps later and the skeleton's loud voice rang out from somewhere above you. You mentally shrugged, figuring he'd stood up. "HELLO? YES BROTHER, I-. NO I-. I GOT ATTACKED BUT-. AN ALLEY NEAR MUFFET'S."
Several things happened then, in such quick succession that you weren't entirely sure if they weren't simultaneous. A loud pop sounded through the alley. A bony hand grabbed your collar and dragged you to your feet roughly, startling you into opening your eyes. There was another skeleton, dressed in an orange hoodie growling something at you. You brought your hand up as quickly as your exhausted body would allow, slapping the offending appendage off of your clothes.
Your mind didn't quite register what it was saying to you as you flinched away, stumbling back from the threatening presence. The skeleton you'd helped stopped the second one from grabbing you again as you landed unceremoniously on your butt. "THIS HUMAN HELPED ME, AND LENT ME HER PHONE TO CALL YOU."
"you said you got attacked. where are the ones that attacked you?" a second, quiet-yet-masculine voice demanded, eyeing the unfinished drink in the first skeleton's hands. Perhaps it would explain just how unmarked he was.
This must be the brother then. You again stopped registering what they were saying as your tired eyes inspected the two curiously. He was much taller than you, probably standing at six-and-a-half feet at least. Your eyes shifted to the armored skeleton. Now that he was standing, you could see he was shorter, not even coming up to his brother's chin. Probably about your height then.
The taller one seemed to be more anatomically correct as a human skeleton. That was a mean assumption that you immediately scolded yourself for. The taller one actually moved his jaw when talking though. Watching in interest as the smaller skeleton talked without opening his jaw at all, you missed the fact that both of them had turned to regard you.
Apparently, your dazed mind wasn't quite finished with regarding the taller skeleton as a threat; a fact you were forced to note as you found yourself flinching and scooting away when he reached toward you. It was surprising to you, because you hadn't even consciously registered the fact that he had moved. Dumbly, it occurred to you that you'd copied the shorter skeleton's actions from earlier. You stared, uncomprehending, at the outstretched limb hanging in the air as an odd expression crossed both brothers' faces.
You had no idea what was going on.
"HUMAN?" You blinked at the short skeleton as his loud voice finally pierced through the haze enshrouding your mind.
"Skeleton?" You responded stupidly, not quite sure what he wanted your attention for.
The permanent grin on his face stretched, and you equated the new expression with being happy. "AH, HUMAN. YOU MAY CALL ME THE MAGNIFICENT SANS. THIS IS MY LAZY BROTHER PAPYRUS."
You responded with only your name as you gazed around, wondering which way your dorm was. Was walking worth it? Couldn't you sleep here?
Someone was talking to you again. You looked up again at the skeleton brothers. "-ome, kid?" What?
"It's five in the morning." You blurted, remembering. Both monsters seemed surprised by the sudden outburst.
"uh…?" The tall-Papyrus glanced at his brother, unsure. The Magnificent Sans seemed just as confused. The confusion seemed to turn to borderline panic as you curled up on the concrete to go to sleep. You swatted limply at the gloved hands trying to shake you as voices entered your ears.
"IS THE HUMAN BROKEN?" was the last thing that made it through the fog in your head as you drifted. It had been so long since you healed someone, you'd forgotten how tiring it was. And how dangerous when already tired. You should have stopped after the arm.
Sans glanced at his brother worriedly, preparing to ask a question before realizing you had asked him not to tell anyone you had used magic to help him. But were you okay? Humans generally didn't curl up and go to sleep in alleyways when they had perfectly good homes and beds, which, judging by your well-kept appearance, you definitely had.
"IS THE HUMAN BROKEN?" He asked instead. Papyrus didn't seem nearly as worried as he was, which assured him a little.
"i think she's just tired bro. maybe we should just let her sleep." He suggested.
"VERY WELL. SINCE YOU SEEM TO LIKE IT SO MUCH, OUR COUCH SEEMS LIKE AN ADEQUATE COMFORTABLE PLACE FOR HER TO SLEEP." Without giving time for Papyrus to protest, the elder skeleton scooped you up and began the trek home with long, practiced strides.