Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, story, or any part of the game known as Undertale, and I doubt I could ever hope to remake it better than Toby Fox if given the chance.
Warning: Long author's note at the bottom! Important notice for all current followers as well as scheduling details included!
A glob of white snow splattered across the young child's neck, dampening the tufts of hair sticking out from under their hat. Their entire body shuddered violently as they felt it drip down their back under their striped sweater and bulky purple jacket.
"Human!"
Frisk turned around at the sound of the booming voice to see two familiar figures trotting through the snow towards them. One of them carried a large number of boxes stacked so high that they could barely see, and the other was flicking snow off his bony fingers.
A smile breaking out on their face, Frisk hurriedly called over their shoulder, "Mom! Mom! Sans and Papyrus are here!" They ran over to the duo, bracing their legs.
"Yo, kiddo, what're ya doin'?" Sans stuffed his hand back inside his jacket pocket once it was completely free of flurries, his broad grin ever in place.
"Incoming!" Kicking up a cloud of white, the child pounced, flinging their body towards the shorter skeleton.
Sans just barely had enough time to react before Frisk was plummeting to down to a rather packed snow drift. A quick step and he flitted through a minor shortcut to stand, arms outstretched, in the perfect position for Frisk to land with a dull thump in his arms. He let out a sigh of relief when Frisk embraced them in a warm hug. "Easy there, kid. You never snow when I'll be there to catch ya next."
Frisk giggled and wrapped their arms tighter around the bony neck. "Aw, c'mon Sans! You always catch me. Even Toriel doesn't worry about it anymore."
"I would certainly hope he was worth my trust by now."
The embracing duo turned to see a woman with fur just as white as the falling flakes rushing over. Her smile was gentle as she took in the three of them standing smiling and giddy out in the chill air.
"Hey, Tori," Sans said, setting Frisk gingerly back down. A light blue colored his cheeks as he took in her features.
"Greetings, your majesty!" Papyrus attempted to raise one arm in a wave but only managed to nearly topple his stack.
"Just Toriel, if you would. I gave up that title long ago."
The entire group lent a hand to the lanky skeleton. Even Frisk managed to get their arms around a relatively small box. But when Sans reached out to take a box, Papyrus made a point to raise the remaining boxes out of his reach. Looking down at him with narrowed eyes, the younger brother shook his head.
"Sans, I would normally scold you for your laziness, but after the hours you have been working, I, the Great Papyrus, will take it upon myself to carry your load!"
"How much have you been working?"
Sans winced at Toriel's tone. He silently cursed Papyrus' big mouth. "They've just got me working doubles up at the shop for a little while, that's all."
"Again?" Toriel began to walk back to the house, her arms now loaded up with several boxes.
"It's just for the next few weeks. No biggie." Sans trotted ahead just a bit so he could open the door for them.
"Sans, I thought we decided on you boys moving in with us so that you wouldn't have to work so much." She stomped the snow from her boots before she stepped inside. "It's begun taking its toll."
"Hey, it's just for a little while longer." He patted Frisk's head as they passed and gave them a wink. "Besides, I remember making a promise to help a certain kid with Christmas shopping. I'd like to earn a little extra cash for that trip to town."
"I thought you didn't like making promises," Toriel sighed, looking to him over her shoulder.
He placed a hand against Frisk's back to usher them inside and out of the cold. "What can I say? The kid's very persuasive."
"Toriel is right, brother." Papyrus stopped in the doorway to pass a sideways glance at his brother. "It isn't as though the Great Papyrus cannot take an extra shift myself if you want to save a little something for a little someone!"
"Thanks, bro, but I'll be fine. What're they gonna do? Work me to the—" His eye socket clinked as he winked. "—bone?"
Papyrus scoffed, abruptly turning away.
Inside, Sans could hear Toriel and the kid snicker. Classics. Always worth it, he thought.
Stepping in, Sans made sure to shut the door behind him to keep the chill out. He couldn't stand the cold, truly. With no real insulation, it was never easy for a skeleton to stay warm without using an excess of magic. That was nothing for Papyrus who had built up a great deal of stamina with his near constant training, but for Sans, it was always too draining to try. Granted, it wouldn't have been much of a problem in Snowdin. His trusty jacket always kept him comfortable—not toasty, but comfortable, but above ground, the winters were harsher, more sporadic, and even if it were a pleasant day outside, you never could tell if the next day would drop to below freezing. Well, according to the weather men you could, but they were about as informative as Alphys' "history books" most days.
A light tugging on his jacket pulled him out of his thoughts. His peered down just a bit to see that Frisk was looking at him with uncertain eyes.
"You shouldn't work so hard for me," they said with a furrowed brow and a jutting bottom lip.
Sans chuckled, patting their hair again as they passed into the living room. The warm beige tones and plush looking furniture was doing nothing for his energy levels, but he'd be damned if Pap was going to go rifling through and unpacking all of his things just because he'd been working a little extra.
"You're all too on edge. Don't be so square about this."
"Are you really making box puns now?" Cardboard tops could be heard ripping open in the same direction as Papyrus' voice.
"Aw, Pap, they aren't so bad once you open up to them," Sans sniggered, ignoring the flustered "Nyeh," that followed. He rounded a corner and darted down a hallway where he'd heard Toriel and Papyrus go. It only took a minute to locate the two spare rooms at the end of the hall, one on either side exact opposite of each other—a couple of new, much cheaper places for the brothers to lay their heads down at night.
His brother had ducked into the one on the left while Toriel set her boxes down in the room on the right. Inside was nothing special: plain white paint on the walls, beige carpet, a small closet tucked into one wall, and a window with navy curtains set in the far wall. His dresser was set up against the wall beside the closet, and there were already a few scattered socks in one corner or another. What Sans didn't expect to see was the unfamiliar bed complete with comforter to match the curtains and all neatly made beneath the window.
"Uh, Tori, I think we got the wrong room."
"Hm?" The goat woman followed the skeleton's gaze over to the bed. A smile spread across her face as she turned back to him. "Oh, no, no. This is in fact your new room, and that is your new bed."
His eye sockets shut for a moment before opening, looking back at the bed with his grin faltering. He hadn't even noticed that Frisk had come up behind him until the child had set their box down to grasp at the skeleton's cold hand. Sans found himself being tugged past Toriel and over to the bed by the smiling child who immediately flopped down so they were sitting at the foot. An inviting pat and a tilted head were all Sans needed to crawl up onto the mattress himself, still too shocked for words.
"Do you like it?" Toriel asked. She admired the two from her position crouched over a now open box.
He nodded his head, his returning grin a mix of gratitude and confusion. "Why would you spend the money for something like this?"
"Honestly, it hadn't crossed my mind until Frisk mentioned that you did not bring your bed over when Papyrus brought his." She began to pluck out odd articles of clothing, mostly plain, wrinkled shirts, and set them off to the side in a neat pile. "When we asked Papyrus about it, he told us that your bed had somehow…broke?" She crossed her eyes at him, one fuzzy ear twitching.
With a shrug, he just said, "It fell apart."
Though he knew it wasn't quite what she was looking for, she appeared satisfied with him admitting to his bed's destruction for the moment. "May it rest in pieces."
Despite Frisk's groan, Sans couldn't help but laugh. Even without the door to fuel her jokes, she always managed to find a way to sneak a few into their everyday conversations.
"Pap didn't move his bed in until two days ago, though."
"That is correct." Toriel hesitated a moment, a light color appearing on her cheeks.
"We got it yesterday!" Frisk suddenly chimed, bouncing where they sat.
The little skeleton stared at the child, his pupils widening, expecting them to crack some sort of joke. Instead, they just sat there with their legs swinging over the side of the bed as they unzipped their jacket.
Frisk went to toss the jacket on the bedpost, but Toriel spied him with a severe glare.
"Where do we hang out jackets in this house?" she tutted.
The child sighed, looking down abashedly. "On the coat rack." They grabbed the fluffy article and slid off the bed. "Sorry, mom."
Once they had made their exit, Toriel stood to close the door. She laid her palm against the wood for a moment, her frame unmoving.
"Hey, what's with the sudden privacy?" Sans tried to keep his voice light, but the corners of his mouth tightened.
"Sans."
Her quiet tone made the magic pulsing through him run cold. He knew exactly what was coming, and he hated it. She shouldn't have to worry about him; she shouldn't have to worry about anything outside of her daily life, not after what she'd been through, the suffering she didn't know she'd seen.
She turned slow until she was facing the skeleton entirely. Her hands wrung about each other, and she leaned her full weight against the door. "We've all been worried about you. Papyrus says you have only been sleeping one or two hours a night and that you toss and turn constantly."
The force of her gaze was too much, and he found himself staring down at the carpet. One heel knocked back against the mattress, clacking the tarsals together noisily.
"He says that you have skipped some meals to take a few moments to rest, and that Grillby has called asking about you more than once. I thought that maybe since you were both moving here today that you might rest a bit better not having to always be working, but…"
Hearing her voice fade away, Sans risked a glance up at her. Her forehead was scrunched up, her brows furrowed. The corners of her mouth were stretching downwards to the point that he had to force himself not to teleport right in front of her and embrace her. Sudden shortcuts always surprised her in the worst of ways. But worst of all was the concern darkening her eyes. That normal bright twinkle had been overcast by a slew of grey storm clouds.
Damn if he just couldn't stand it.
"Tori." He slipped off the mattress, careful not to mess up the carefully laid out blankets. Her gaze bore into him as he made his way across the room, but he kept his eyes down until he was standing an inch from her. "Listen." White bones clutched at white fur as their fingers intertwined.
He finally raised his head, and Toriel was surprised to find that his grin was still in place in spite of his serious gesture. His eyes, too, appeared much gentler, their glow dimmed just a bit, his brow raising sympathetically.
"I will be okay." A soothing lilt wound its way through his words, and he thought he could see her eyes find a bit of their usual sparkle. "I know that my track record ain't exactly good, but you gotta trust me on this one. These extra hours are just temporary—just until the Christmas is over."
"But that is still three weeks away!"
Grip tightening around her hand, he reached up with his other to stroke her cheek, not caring that he had to stretch on his tiptoes. "I know, I know. But this is the first Christmas me and Pap get to spend with you and the kid. Hell, you should hear him talk about it."
"Language."
"Sorry."
Through the door, they could hear the muffled voices of Frisk and Papyrus, the latter's being much louder. Toriel took a moment to listen to their calm conversation, their occasional laughter, leaning her head back against the door so that her cheek was resting against the frame. Sans watched her face, enraptured as her eyes closed and her features loosened in the content he knew she only felt when surrounded by her happy family. A hum escaped her lips as another moment passed.
"I mean it, Toriel."
Her head snapped down to look at him at the sound of her full name. She gnawed the inside of her cheek in thought, looking over the skeleton's features for any form of insincerity, knowing full well he was awful at lying to her. "I suppose I can allow this, but only if you promise me that after this Christmas you will finally take some time off and get rest."
"Promise." There was no hesitation in his voice. He pressed his hand further into her cheek, watching with no small pleasure as she nuzzled into his touch. "Besides, we still gotta hit that concert you're so excited about."
"Oh, you remembered!"
"Course I did." His thumb traced her quirking lips and her rosy cheeks that burned brightly enough to be seen through her fur. "You've been talking for months about how excited you are to see Shyren and that one singer—Ellie Cura was it? And I'm not a skeleton to back out on a date with such a beautiful woman."
She giggled and leaned down to place a feathery kiss against his mouth, the feel of fur on teeth tickling them both as always. Now it was Sans' turn to blush again, his cheeks flushing vividly.
"Let's finish unpacking then," she told him. "I would rather not have your brother finish before us and…take the liberty of cooking dinner."
"That thought's enough to—" His grin turned into more of a smirk as he spoke. "—chill anyone to the bone."
To any readers who have not seen my other works:
Thank you for tuning in and giving this fic a shot! There will be a great deal of both happy times and sorrowful times ahead, so buckle up, kiddies. It's time to ride the feels train!
Also, I love criticism provided it is helpful. If you have any suggestions be they stylistic or plot, feel free to let me know in the reviews or my PM box!
P.S. For any curious readers who look at my other fics, rest assured that there will be no sexual content in this fic unless it services the plot in a specific way, and any such mentions will only be vague insinuations. I do not write Skele-fucker, Goat-fucker, Robo-fucker, or whatever other Undertail sins you can think up. Ships? Yes. Smut? No.
Stay tuned for a message after the following!
To my current followers:
I know that this probably isn't what you were expecting me to post after so long of being in the dark. Allow me to explain: when I came to college last year, I hit a bit of a rough patch. I kept trying to write my usual stories, but it became clear pretty early on that I wasn't finding as much joy in them as I should. Long story short, combine changes in everything, a dose of reality, and a few very personal dilemmas, and it all leads to a very, very dark road in which I didn't touch a book or pen for months at a time. Nothing felt right about writing anymore, and I'm sorry that my posting suffered for that.
But thanks to my wonderful fiancé and a few very close friends, I have begun picking up the pieces and reassessing what I need to do to make myself happy, and in turn, start churning out chapters for all of you again. Rest assured that "Strength" is still going, but there will be some major revisions. I realized over the Summer that I did not like how the piece was going at all, and so I've chosen to rewrite most of the story. The main storyline will not be changing, but the pace and the attention to detail will, so don't lose hope if you haven't already! During the revision process, I will be writing and putting out this new Undertale fic as I have recently become proud Undertale trash. Also, I feel as though the particular story line I have thought out for this fic will be a very good outlet for the remainder of the depression I want to finally leave behind me while still providing something that might bring a smile to someone's face (or maybe it will cause tears…hopefully both).
What I mostly want to say is that I'm sorry if I've let some people down with my lack of posting. So many of you stayed loyal to reading my work even after I wouldn't post for months at a time, and you believed in me enough to encourage me with amazing reviews and follows/favorites! Instead of rewarding that like I should have, I disappeared, and I cannot convey how sorry I truly am. From now on I will attempt to post on a regular schedule, though it could be subject to change occasionally as I now have a magical thing known as a job! ( /*o*)/ For more details on this schedule, look below at the final notification!
To everyone:
The posting schedule for this and many of my other stories will be provided via Tumblr. My account name is still "quietauthor13" and the name of my blog is "To Write is to Live Again and Again". It will be specifically for the purpose of posting schedules, asking questions, and posting fanart (if anyone feels the urge to get extra-creative with any stories, submissions would be more than welcome). Please, though, keep all questions and such SFW!
A great thank you to all of my lovelies who stuck with me after all this time and another to those of you who gave this new fic a shot! It really means the world to me. Read, review, and enjoy! =^.^=