Your soul zoomed away, coming to the halfway point between you and the skeleton monster. It had hovered in front of you during previous battles, but it had never gone that far from you. Now, with how it was behaving, you might as well of been offering it up to the grinning skeletal freak who'd tried to attack you.
"heh. don't tell me you're sould on giving up so soon. that's so boring. the only time someone's soul goes that close to their opponent in battle is when they're askin' for a mercy killing," the skeleton chuckled, pointed gold tooth glinting as it caught the light.
Great. Your soul, which you weren't even aware of until two days previous, was now misbehaving. You didn't know how to control the damn thing! And now, because of whatever it was doing, you were going to be killed by some monster that made worse puns than you. You could almost hear you former friends telling you this was some twisted karma for all the bad jokes you had told over the years, but you pushed those thoughts to the back of your mind and focused on calling your soul back.
The skeleton hadn't stopped laughing as he summoned a pointed red bone in the air and motioned it toward your defenseless being. He did stop laughing when it disappeared and an inverted white heart appeared in front of him.
"what the f*ck?" he growled, looking between his now visible soul and you, "the f*ck did you do?"
"You think I know what's going on? You must be a bigger numbskull than you look!" you rolled your eyes at him, still focusing on figuring out how to get your soul back.
Your focus was disturbed as he suddenly yelled, and you watched in confused amazement as the once fearsome enemy fumbled desperately after his own soul. It was closing the distance toward yours quickly. You snorted at his embarrassing display. Not so scary now.
It was closing the distance toward yours quickly.
Oh. OH! That suddenly hit you as you ran stumbling toward your floating soul as well, desperate to try and give it some sort of protection.
The white soul collided with yours before you reached it, and you crumpled into the snowy ground. The feelings were overwhelming. It was like something that you never had even known was missing had suddenly been returned, and a joyful warmth spread like wildfire through your body. But there was a sadness too, the empty kind that you were all too familiar with, but this time it wasn't yours. And there was anger and desperation and hopelessness. The flow felt like it had no end.
You looked up, only to see the skeleton monster staring with pupil-less eyes at your souls. His smaller white one had been engulfed by yours, but was still visible on either side, creating an odd merge.
That strange sight alongside the sudden influx of emotion was too much for your body to take. With a sigh, the feelings came to a sudden stop and you crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
-[]-
"SANS YOU USELESS PIECE OF TRASH. OF COURSE YOUR SOULMATE IS A HUMAN. A WEAK MONSTER LIKE YOU HAD TO BE PAIRED TO SOMEONE JUST AS DISGUSTING."
The loud voice stirred you from your slumber, and you opened your eyes, squinting at the sudden light. You were in a living room of some sort. You were on a couch?
"yeah, yeah, boss. i get it. but the real issue here is how the hell we handle this."
The skeleton that had attacked you before was frantic, and gestured toward…oh. Your souls. Still bound together apparently.
"Sh*t," you sat up, immediately vetoing any plan you had of escape. As long as your soul was like that, you weren't going anywhere.
"IT IS AWAKE," a taller skeleton wearing some sort of ridiculous dark armor was apparently the source of the obnoxious voice.
You raised your hands up to rub your temples with a sigh. "Yeah, I'm awake. And not an 'it', thanks. Could you take it down a few notches by the way? I was just knocked out. My skull feels like it could split almost as much as I want to split both of yours."
'Boss' let out a groan.
'Sans' had some sort of twisted smirk on his face. "the bone-based threats and insults aren't goin' to help ya, pal."
You sneered back at him. "How about you shut up, bonehead, or fill me in on whatever the hell is going on? Because clearly I'd be dead if that was an option, so something has to be up."
The taller skeleton let out a laugh, "APPARENTLY THE UNIVERSE DECIDED TO PAIR YOU WITH SOMEONE THAT ACTUALLY HAS A BRAIN TO BALANCE OUT YOUR IDIOCY, SANS."
"How about you do me a favor and explain what you keep going on about? Soulmates? Paired? What's this nonsense?" Could this guy get any more annoying?
Another laugh. "OF COURSE! I, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS…"
Yes. Yes he could get more annoying.
"WILL TELL YOU WHAT IS GOING ON. IT IS AMUSING, IN A WAY, IN THAT IT IS AWFUL FOR MY WASTE OF SPACE BROTHER AND YOU."
He was too noisy. Your head pounded again, and to your surprise, Sans grit his teeth and let out a pained whine. "boss. can ya tone it down a bit? with the bond an' all their pain is driftin' over to me."
Papyrus (or was it Boss?) gave an irritated huff. "Very well."
Sans moved over and sat on the end of the couch, and you moved off the middle to the other end.
Papyrus folded his arms and faced the two of you. "Every soul has another that is perfect for it. The first time that those souls have an opportunity to meld, they will. If my idiot brother had been paying more attention he would have known better than to start a fight with you, he should have sensed that you were his soulmate."
"hey! give a break here. i've met all the monsters in the underground, an' nothin'. i had assumed that i had been lucky enough to avoid the whole mess," Sans grumbled.
"Anyway," Papyrus gave a glare that warned him not to speak again, "You can choose to reject the bond immediately, but it is stressful on the souls. Since this runt only has 1 hp, if you tried that he would probably die. That is not completely unfortunate, after all, it would rid me of him and the king needs your soul. But, alas, if he died it might kill you in the process and release your soul before we can extract it. That leaves the option of accepting the bond."
Oh hell no. "Like hell I'm going to have any connection to this freak. Soulmates? What a laugh."
"You don't have any other choice. Besides, it will only be temporary. After the bond is accepted there is a timeframe of connectivity where you won't be able to leave each other, like a test period. After that month, the bond can be broken; the souls accepting that although they are made for each other, the people are not."
"Great. So I would have to live and associate with him (and probably you because you seem to live here) for a month so that 1) he can live and 2) my soul can be captured right after and put through torture instead of passing on. Am I getting that right?" You couldn't believe this. They actually thought you were going to agree to this.
"Exactly. You ARE an intelligent human." Papyrus did not seem to see the issue with this solution.
"look, i'm not exactly happy with this either, sweetcheeks, but it'll be better for both of us if ya just do it." Sans didn't look at you, gaze fixed blankly ahead.
"How about no?" you scoffed, "How do I reject the bond?"
"I'm not going to tell you that." Papyrus stared at you like perhaps he was reconsidering his 'intelligent' judgment.
"well then how do i accept it so we can get this whole trial period over asap?" Sans' natural grin twisted into something more wicked, "do i f*ck 'em? can i make 'em accept the bond?"
A skeletal arm moved onto the middle cushion of the couch as he suddenly leaned your way. You realized, as he leered in your direction, that you liked it much better when he didn't look at you at all.
"F*ck no!" You leapt off the couch, a wave of panic running through you.
Your soul responded, pulsing in discomfort, and Sans was immediately hunched over, letting out another whine of pain.
Papyrus slapped Sans' with a gloved hand. "Idiot, no. First of all, stop upsetting them. While you're bonded your soul will hurt you if you hurt or scare them. Second of all, you should know how accepting the bond works, you lazybones."
Sans sat back up, normal pointed grin back, and shrugged, "like i said, i didn't worry about it. i thought i had lucked out of this whole mess, and it's not like i was there when you and mettaton…"
"DO NOT BRING MY SOULMATE INTO THIS. YOU ARE LUCKY I AM HELPING YOU AT ALL," Papyrus suddenly boomed, red magic forming on his hands.
"i-i'm sorry, boss. won't happen again," sans shrunk in his seat.
The magic faded. "Very well. As for accepting the bond, both of you just have to say it. Your souls will each return to you, connected on a different level." His attention focused on you. "You will do this, human. It is either die now or die later, and I do believe that the latter option makes more sense."
Oh, yes, perfect sense. If you knew how to reject the bond you could kill Sans and maybe die peacefully in one stroke. But, on the other hand, you didn't know how to reject the bond, and accepting gave you another month. A month to figure out how to escape from this.
It was barely a whisper when you said it. "I accept the bond." It was out of frustration, but you hoped that maybe it sounded more broken or defeated. Let them think you had given up.
Sans did hear you and quickly stated the same, almost like he was afraid that you would somehow recant your statement, "i accept the bond."
Your melded souls came apart, each flying back into their respective body.
"Thank gods," you sighed. It felt better to have your soul where it belonged again, but you could still feel him, unfortunately.
Sans also patted his chest, appearing happy to have what belonged to him back. "there. now that's out of the way. i suppose that we just lock 'em in the shed for the month? we can't have other monsters seeing 'em, and it isn't like one of us can watch 'em all the time. you've got work, boss, i've got work."
"I think that you mean you have slacking off." Papyrus shook his head. "I will be calling you out of work for the next month. You will be staying home, inside, the entire time."
"what? why? come on! and like anyone is going to believe that i am sick that long."
"YOU SHOULDN'T QUESTION ME, BROTHER," his voice dropped suddenly again, and for a second he seemed just tired, "If either of you go too far away from each other during the first month of bonding, you will get extremely sick. It can be fatal. That is why I worked as guard for Mettaton's show the first month after we bonded. You are right, the human cannot be seen, so they have to stay inside, and you have to stay with them. As for people believing you are ill, not many would care anyway, but I will just tell them you have fallen down. With the way you are, they will more than believe that."
Papyrus' became even quieter, if that were possible, "Please, just do this one thing for me."
Sans' stiffened stance softened, "yeah. i can do that for you, bro."
That was… strange. For a second there it almost seemed like they cared about each other.
"SO, TRASHBAG, TAKE YOUR TRASH HUMAN SOULMATE UP TO YOUR TRASHPIT OF A ROOM, BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE THEY WILL BE STAYING. DO NOT LET THEM IN MY GLORIOUS ROOM. DO NOT FORGET WHAT I HAVE TOLD YOU ABOUT SCARING THEM, THOUGH TO BE HONEST, I COULD CARE LESS IF YOU GO THROUGH SOME PAIN," Papyrus suddenly pulled himself up to his full height and straightened his shoulders, "I AM OFF TO REPORT THAT I FOUND YOU FALLEN DOWN."
"whatever, your lordship! i'll do whatever you say, sir!" sarcasm dripped from Sans.
And they were back to being at each other's throats. Great, now you were stuck with these two weirdos.
"well, sweetheart," Sans stood and offered a hand off the couch, "guess i should give you the tour."
One of them showing you around the house, giving you an excuse to look for ways to potentially escape later? Yes, please.
"Stop calling me stuff like that." You took his hand.
-[]-
It was time to sleep, and despite being unconscious for a good part of the day, you really needed to rest.
Sans had given you a tour of the house minus Papyrus' 'glorious' room and you were disappointed to say that all of the windows were boarded shut, meaning no easy escape there. He did mention that because no one could see in the windows you had full run of the house, which was nice.
The living room was actually rather homey and had a TV, but Sans told you that all of the shows were run by a violent robot, Mettaton, and would potentially be too gory for your delicate human tastes. You had sat down for an hour, hiding your disgust, and watched a game show where contestants that gave the wrong answer were dropped into a shark monster's tank just to prove him wrong. This also gave you an idea of what Papyrus' soulmate was like and how they were similar. Well, they were both very loud.
He then showed you the kitchen and warned you that Boss had a thing for pasta and that was about all you would be eating. You figured it could be worse. About that time Papyrus got back and made spaghetti for you all to eat. From there, it was time for bed.
This led you to your current issue. The skeleton brothers fully expected you to sleep in San's room. It was dirty. Papyrus hadn't lied about it being a trash pit. There was literally a vortex of trash spinning in the corner of the room, but that wasn't what was bothering you.
You were frozen in the doorway, eyes locked the single bed Sans sat on as he patted the space next to him.
"come on," he yawned, "i'm tired, you're tired. get over here so we can sleep."
Your mind flashed to what he had said earlier on the couch, the feral look in his eyes, what you had felt through the bond. Just… can i make 'em? "I-I'm not comfortable sleeping in the same room as you, much less the same bed."
A small whine of pain came from him. "seriously? are you still upset about that?" Apparently your worry was enough to resonate.
"Of course I'm still f*cking upset about that!" you yelled, "Why in hell's name would I not still be upset by that!"
He rolled his eyes. "look. despite whatever vibes you got from boss' touching 'leave my soulmate out of this' bull, when it comes down to it most monsters view these relationships as physical. if ya show any other sort of love toward your soulmate in public, it's seen as a weakness. romantic love just isn't a thing that we do down here, and if ya do ya hide it. so of course when I am trying to remember how this whole thing goes my mind automatically strayed, well, there."
To hell with this society, to hell with this skeleton, to hell with his brother, you just didn't want to be there. Was that too much to ask?
"i'm sorry."
Did he just say…? "What was that?"
Sans laid down facing away from you, "i'm not sayin' it again. if ya aren't comfortable up here ya can sleep on the couch. the only reason that we had ya up here was so that you wouldn't run away, but i think that you have enough self-preservation to know better because if ya run away you'll just sick."
Without another word you went back downstairs and curled up on the couch.
Okay, he was still awful, but maybe not as awful. You could survive this month, then you'd escape.
You repeated that mantra in your head until you drifted off to sleep.
-[]-
The fifth night you woke up in panic. Falling. You had jumped. As you fell you regretted it, but when you landed alive you still felt sick that you were alive. A flower mocking your failed death. A goat woman the first person to be nice to you since you can remember, but her food is poison, her love suffocating. And all along the way the voices still follow. Why do you try? Why are you still alive? Why? Why? Why?
Another form laid next to you and pulled you to their chest. There wasn't a heartbeat, but there was a soothing thrum that works the same. They gently laced their arms around you, rubbing your back gently and hushing you quietly.
"shhhhh, you're not alone."
"you're okay, shhhhh."
"shhhhh, just breathe."
And as your tears finally slowed, "there you go, shhhhh, shhhhh, go on. go back to sleep."
When you woke up in Sans' arms on the couch the next morning the night came rushing back to you.
He woke as you shifted and immediately got up, pulling at the neck of his red t-shirt. "when ya get upset like that i can feel it. makes it hard to sleep. don't do that," he grumbled before wandering toward the kitchen.
That was your only interaction other than watching literally horrible TV and dinner pleasantries the first week.
-[]-
"Papyrus, I think that this old food is pasta its expiration date," you joked as you pulled open the lid of the Tupperware container marked for dinner that night.
Sans heard and laughed from the other room, "you oughta be careful being that saucy with boss."
Groaning, Papyrus walked over and peered into the container, begrudgingly nodding when he saw the beginnings of some sort of mold.
"I WILL MAKE SOME FRESH!" he announced, pulling out a pot and filling it with water to boil.
It was always funny to see him like this, wandering the house in full armor as always, but also completely overjoyed to be doing housework. Cooking, cleaning, it was an all the time thing with Papyrus. He loved taking care of the house, and he loved taking care of Sans though he would never admit it. Or, at least, that is what you had put together in the two weeks you'd been there.
You certainly hoped that you were right about him being a big softie with what you were about to do.
"Papyrus!" You tugged at his arm, trying to pull him away from the stove he was about to light, "Forgetti the spaghetti. If I have another serving my stomach will get quite upsetti, and you and I will be filled with regretti."
As you started you monologue Sans moved to the kitchen and leaned on the doorframe. His grin got wider as Papyrus' scowl darkened. "watch it, do any more of that and i think that his temper will boil over. look at that, there's practically already steam comin' outta his ears. hey boss, you're starting to look a bit overcooked. ya gonna be okay?"
You released your grip on Papyrus and laughed, hands automatically flying up to cover your smile.
"NNNNNNN-" Papyrus looked like he was about ready to explode, "NYEH! IT IS NO WONDER THE UNIVERSE MATCHED YOU TWO AWFUL JOKESTERS."
His hand rested on the handle of the pot of water he was about to boil and his volume dropped. "What is wrong with my pasta?"
Oh. Oh no. You didn't mean to upset him. "Oh, Papyrus," you grabbed his other hand comfortingly; "There isn't anything wrong with it. I love pasta. It's just that humans have to have a varied diet. If I had something different at least once a week- it doesn't even have to be something particularly good for me- it would be a lot better for me."
"YOU NEED SOMETHING ELSE?" Papyrus was completely befuddled.
You tried to smile patiently, "Yes. I can live on just pasta, but I might get sick if I do that for too long."
"WELL WE CAN'T HAVE YOU GET SICK, THAT COULD RUIN EVERYTHING."
Sans looked overjoyed for some reason. "boss! boss!"
"WHAT, SANS?" Papyrus reluctantly acknowledged his brother.
"you should go get some chow from grillby's."
"NO."
"come on. it isn't like we have anything to cook here other than pasta."
"NO. HOW WOULD I EVEN EXPLAIN GOING TO GRILLBY'S? THE ENTIRE TOWN THINKS THAT YOU'VE FALLEN DOWN AND I DON'T EAT THE FOOD THERE."
"ya could say that you're trying to entice me to get better because… with me sick ya have to do all the house chores and that is unbecoming the second in command of the royal guard."
"THAT… ISN'T TERRIBLE," Papyrus pondered for a moment, "FINE. BUT JUST BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH A SICK HUMAN."
You were glad that whatever that was had settled down. "Uh. So what do they serve at this 'Grillby's'?"
Sans began to walk over, painting a picture of the amazing food with wide gestures. "only the best cheap and greasy food that you'll find in the underground. it'll be a nice change from boss' gourmet food won't it? so, are ya gonna want a burger or fries?"
"I think you mean 'you are going to love the burger and the fries', I am so having both!" your mouth was already watering. You would kill for a good cheeseburger.
Sans patted your shoulder approvingly before turning to Papyrus, "that is my type of person, right there. well, ya heard them boss, a burger and fries for them and my usual for me."
"I WILL BE BACK. LET US HOPE YOUR LIE ISN'T AS HORRENDOUS AS YOU," Papyrus marched out the door, letting it slam dramatically behind him.
Sans wandered back over to the couch followed by you, "you're going to really like grillby's food. he maybe wants to kill me, but he still knows how to do a burger right."
You sat on opposite ends of the couch, as per usual. That had kind-of become the standard for you two. Passing touches had become normal within the last week: a friendly pat on the back, a high five after a bad joke, etc., but that was where it stopped. There was nothing more like the night he came and comforted you, and you were comfortable with that.
For awhile you sat in silence, but Sans soon looked over at you, "hey."
"Yeah, Sans?" you responded lazily, having started to automatically drift off without the television on.
"you've proven yourself to be rather good at puns, a hobby that i also share. how about we make it a game?" his eyes seemed to grow brighter with a pulse, "how about we make it a wager?"
That was enough to wake you up, "A game of wits. Sounds interesting. What would we be doing?"
Sans sat up straighter, apparently pleased you were considering his suggestion, "simple. we'd pun back and forth at each other until one of us fails to do so."
You hummed, considering, "I'm in for that, but what was this you were saying about a wager?"
Sans snorted, "well i figured that part was simple enough to understand. whoever wins gets something, perhaps at the other's expense."
"Yeah, I got that, but I'm asking what I'd be getting or losing," you stuck your tongue out. Childish, maybe, but it got your irritation at his smart*ssery out loud and clear.
"well," he twiddled his thumbs, thinking, "if you win i'll show you the stack of human movies that we've collected from the dump." He saw your face light up, "that's right. something to watch other than people getting torn to shreds."
You gave him a small glare. He had to have been hiding those for leverage. Still, it was an appealing offer. "What would you want if you win?"
He didn't even hesitate, "i want you to touch me while we watch mettaton's shows."
You wanted to explode, but you didn't. Instead, you took a deep breath and cursed him out as calmly as you could. "What the f*ck, you d*ck. I thought we were getting to be on semi-friendly terms here and you've got this weird sh*t? I mean come on."
His face became puzzled, like he was trying to figure out what he did wrong. Then, it clicked. "oh sh*t no. that's not what i meant. here i am trying my hardest not to be a creep. i didn't even mean you, like, cuddling me. i meant, uh, like, holding hands."
It was cute to see him flustered. No. Nope. Take that thought back right now. "Okay, then. Less bad. But why do you even want to hold hands? Isn't the whole point of this to just kill me after the month is over?"
His face turned red, embarrassed. "look, you might not sense it because you're disturbed by the shows as well, but I ain't exactly great at stomaching all the gore that can be on 'em sometimes. Soulmates are automatically comforted if they are touching each other. It would just be a way to help both of us cope with the violence for the time bein'."
Okay. You still weren't exactly comfortable around him, but it wouldn't be horrible if you lost the bet. You could do this. "You're on for the pun war."
Blush fading, his cocky smile returned, "you're going down."
-[]-
You laughed at your own joke, the war at this point going strong for a good fifteen minutes. Sans and you had slowly moved closer, getting in each other's faces with one awful joke after another.
"ya shouldn't do that, ya know," Sans grabbed your hand and pulled it down away from your face.
"I will laugh at my own jokes if I want to! And I didn't hear a pun. Do you admit defeat?" You took a dramatic stance, puffing your chest out and placing your hands on your hips.
"alright, i agree. i didn't make a joke there, and i'm defeated," he grumbled, leaning back onto the couch. "i wasn't sayin' ya shouldn't laugh at your jokes though. hell, i laugh at mine all the time. i was saying ya shouldn't cover your face like that. why do ya do that anyway?"
Huh. He was talking about a habit of yours, covering your mouth when you laughed. "Well, I remember that someone once told me that I look weird when I laugh. I guess I just subconsciously took it to heart."
He looked personally offended. "they were wrong. ya don't look weird when ya laugh. ya look-"
The door swung open and shut with a slam, the aroma of greasy food filling the atomosphere.
"THERE!" Papyrus yelled, throwing a bag in your direction, "SOME GROSS FOOD. NOW I'M GOING TO GO SEARCH THE UNDERNET FOR A WAY TO RID MY HOUSE OF THIS HORRIBLE SMELL."
He dramatically stomped upstairs, and you ripped open the bag and pulled out your burger and fries. "Yessssss," you hissed. Then, pausing, you searched the bag. "Sans, I think he forgot your food. All that's in here is a mustard bottle." Sans looked like he was about to interrupt, but you kept speaking. "Do you want to share?"
He laughed, but it wasn't his usual deep, confident laugh. It was a nervous one, covering up his surprise. "uh, no. ya don't need to share with me. just hand me the mustard, will ya?"
You did as he asked and had to hold back a gag as he popped open the lid and took a swig.
"don't knock it kid. ya just mustard try some." He offered the bottle to you, a red tongue coming out between his teeth to clean off some of the yellow condiment.
It was your turn to laugh, chuckling at the oddity of the offer and the idea of skeleton's having tongues.
And you made a conscious effort not to cover your face.
-[]-
The next week was full of movies. Sans had lost the bet. Disney. Pixar. Dreamworks.
You thought that maybe the reason he had hid them was because he didn't like them, but you could tell that he actually really enjoyed them. There was a warmth you could sense during the heartwarming cheesiness of the films.
Eventually you figured out the reason he hadn't brought them up was Papyrus. He didn't like the movies, and Sans would automatically switch the television over to Mettaton whenever he came home.
At one point you tried to ask why he did that. Sans stated lazily that 'boss liked to have mettaton in the background' and that was all he would give you. It did give you some awareness, despite its unclear glory, and you began to notice that although Papyrus never sat down to watch the shows, he loitered. He would take a particularly long time to clean the living room or, more awkwardly, would stand perfectly still in a corner of the living room and stare, glaring down at the television.
This unfortunately meant that you were not completely free from watching the messed up TV down here. A few days after the bet you had considered. Sans had said that touching would comfort you both.
Scooting over to the middle cushion, you reached out and grabbed his hand.
Sans flinched in surprise, starting to pull his hand away, but you wouldn't let him. "ya don't have to do that. i lost, i get it. i know i make you uncomfortable. go on, head back over to ya side of the couch."
You smiled knowingly at him. "This isn't for you. It's for me. You were the one that said contact would be a comfort."
He was dumbfounded. "yeah, i did. that's true. uh."
It seemed like he was going to go on rambling for longer, but you lightly squeezed his hand and turned your attention back to the television. He stopped talking and mostly relaxed, but gave you a light squeeze back in return.
Within a day you noticed the difference. Holding his hand made you feel a little less sick to your stomach watching, and it was nice. It wasn't that whatever you were watching seemed less horrible to you. It was more like there was a gentle assurance through the bond that you were there for each other.
You felt comfortable and safe, so it was no surprise to you when you started nodding off. It was a surprise to Sans, however, when you did fall asleep and your unconscious form leaned against him and automatically snuggled in.
He didn't move you, and when you woke up from your brief nap, you didn't bother moving away.
From that point forward you always sat together like that.
-[]-
At the end to the third week you woke up panicked. You were fighting. Was that a human? No. Demon. A playback showed you monsters dying over and over. You'd seen it happen again and again. You were fighting. Maybe you could do it this time, get them to stop, protect your brother.
Realization came. These weren't your memories. Calm came over you, but you could still feel that panic in the background, frantic and churning.
It had to be Sans. You pulled yourself up off the couch and ran up the stairs without much thought, tossing open the door to his room.
Red magic leaked from his closed eye, face contorted into a mask of terror. He had managed to kick all his sheets off; they formed a tangled mess at the end of his bed. The trash tornado, terrifying enough, was responding to his magic, red and turning at an intensified rate.
You should have been terrified, but instead, you walked over to the bed with purpose and laid beside him.
Grabbing hold of his trembling form, you pulled him to you, his head pressed against your chest. "Shhhhh, you're not alone."
He began to struggle with less vigor, slowly relaxing into you. "You're okay, shhhhh."
You let your fingers gently trace his skull, petting, consoling him. "Shhhhh, just breathe."
The light behind his closed socket finally disappeared, and he sighed, leaning further into you.
"There you go. Just sleep." You weren't sure if he had even woken up. Either way, he seemed calm now. You quietly observed his sleeping face. When he was like this, the strained smile loosened. He was still smiling, but it was more natural this way.
You yawned. You'd just stay a few more minutes to make sure he was going to be okay. Then you would head back downstairs and go back to sleep.
-[]-
Your sleeping form was curled against his side.
He had known something was up when he woke up feeling fine. Normally he just didn't let himself sleep for long. Easiest way to avoid the nightmares. But when he did really sleep, normally it was a horrorshow that he would wake from screaming.
And there you were. You must have come in and somehow calmed him down. He wasn't sure how you did it. After all, Paps had tried before and found it a lost cause. He didn't care though, he was just glad you had.
He wanted to thank you, tell you how much it meant to him, but he didn't want to wake you either. You were so peaceful, cuddled beside him, the bond giving him readings of the gentle happiness that good dreams give.
Sh*t. He cared about you. You were beautiful the way you were right now. He wanted nothing more than to be able to stay right there, forever. Though, at the same time, he really wanted to kiss you.
Shifting slightly, you woke up, more comfortable than you had been your entire life. You were not on the couch. Your tired eyes tried to focus on what was in front of you. Red shirt. Oh, so that was…
Sans. As you looked up to face him he was… were those hearts in his f*cking eyes? But that wasn't just it. His entire gaze was like he was staring at the most amazing thing he had ever seen. It was… embarrassing? Touching? You weren't sure.
A skeletal hand hesitantly came up and caressed your cheek, "thank you. for helping me."
So he did know that you'd helped him. A warm feeling blossomed in your chest. And he had thanked you, he appreciated you.
Sh*t. You cared about him. You'd say that it was some odd Stockholm syndrome, but with everything else, you weren't so sure. The jokes, the nightmares, the connection that you could literally feel in your soul. You were soulmates, and you worked together.
Smiling, you realized that you had to be looking at him the same way, because he cautiously leaned down and nuzzled your cheek with his teeth. You realized that this was his form of a kiss. It was strange; you were able to feel each tooth, the gold one cold against your skin.
You stiffened in surprise, and he immediately pulled away. "i'm sorry. i-i just wanted to… and you… you look so beautiful… i just had to kiss you… i'm… sorry."
You stared emptily for a second. It wasn't that you didn't like the kiss, you were just caught off guard. And now you were curious.
Placing a hand on either side of his skull, you pulled him in for a real kiss, your lips pressing down on his teeth. Though he froze for a moment, he quickly wrapped his arms around you and returned the pressure.
It was strange, the simple turning of his head that he gave definitely not the same as lips, but all the affection was there and you loved it.
After a moment you moved away, his arms still wrapped around you. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to, and it looked like you wanted to too."
He sighed, pulling you closer to him, and you obliged, cuddling into his chest.
"ya know sweetheart, i think i might care about you."
You let out a happy hum as he gently rubbed your back. "I think I might care about you too."
-[]-
You started to sleep in Sans' room.
Kisses on the cheek and passing touches, though less so when Papyrus was home.
Shared stories of positive memories.
Shared comfort with negative memories.
Bad jokes and good fun.
The last week went by fast.
-[]-
"SANS!" Papyrus burst into the bedroom, waking you both rather suddenly.
"why so early, boss?" Sans groaned, rubbing his socket with one hand and holding your hand with the other.
Since you had started sleeping in each other's company you were both able to rest soundly through the night. A discovery was made: both of you liked a good sleep almost as much as you liked each other, having been deprived of it for so long.
This did not make you morning people.
Papyrus actually grabbed Sans and threw him out of the bed. "IT IS TIME SANS. THIRTY DAYS. YOU CAN BREAK THE BOND NOW."
That was enough to wake you both up. You shot out of bed like a rocket, Sans jumped up from the crumpled pile he had become on the floor.
"Is it really that time already?" you wandered over to Sans and brushed some imaginary dirt off of his shoulder. You were afraid to look him in the eye. Maybe it had been a fluke. You were terrified that you were going to look at him and his gaze would be hard and cruel, ready to kill. It would be easy, right? After all, your soul meant their freedom.
Papyrus tapped his foot impatiently. "YES, HUMAN. NOW ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SAY YOU DON'T WANT THE BOND. EITHER OF YOU. THEN IT WILL CEASE TO BE."
"boss- bro –i don't think i can."
What was that? You looked up at him. His expression was pained, and one of his hands came up to caress your face.
Magic flashed into existence. "RIDICULOUS, BROTHER . THIS CANNOT CONTINUE. BREAK THE BOND SO I CAN DELIVER THEM TO ASGORE."
Papyrus made a grab at you, but Sans pushed you back, stepping in the way. "i'm not doing it. we belong together. i can feel it." Sans' voice changed into something you had never heard before, "you should know better than to ask this of us. you know the pain of breaking the bond with someone you care for."
Papyrus' eyes widened, and with an angry hiss he raised his clawed glove. A row of red bones appeared, aimed directly at Sans and you. "NO. YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO SPEAK OF THAT."
Well. You were going to die. With that look on his face, the bones, yeah, you were going to die. So you might as well ask your question.
"Wait. I thought that your soulmate was Mettaton?"
Papyrus' glare faltered, the bones flickering. "YES. HE IS."
"So what are you going on about? You clearly love him, not letting Sans talk smack and watching all of his shows. What do you mean you broke the bond?"
He collapsed, bones disappearing. "I do love him, and that is why I broke the bond."
"Sans?" you looked to your soulmate for more explaination.
He was sorry for upsetting his brother, but spoke anyway. "no one in the underground knows that pap and metta are soulmates, and they were careful to keep it that way. remember what i told you earlier about how most monsters treat this relationship?"
You nodded, you remembered too well.
"well, with papyrus as vice-captain of the royal guard and mettaton as the star of the underground, both of their lives are highly scrutinized and highly public. if people knew, there would be kind of an expectation- for both of them- to publicly fight for dominance. paps would be expected to be in charge or he would be known as the laugh of a royal guard. mettaton would be expected to be in charge or he would lose all respect his viewers had for him."
Papyrus interjected, taking over in a broken voice. "He said he would let me. He would give up his respect for me. But even if that was okay, we still wouldn't be happy. We wouldn't be able to live together. All of our interactions would have to be violent. Every time we would run into each other in public I would have to play the terrible papyrus, and everyone would expect me to… I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't treat him that way, so I broke off the bond. Mettaton didn't see my logic. He was very distressed. After all, when the bond is broken there is no fixing it."
He stood, trying to regain some semblance of control, "We don't speak anymore."
Well. That was awful. "I am so sorry, Papyrus. This wasn't mine to know. A certain somebody should have left well enough alone." You sent a glare at Sans that should have been able to drain the 1 hp right out of him.
"i would apologize, but don't you see, bro? we could be happy here. you could keep telling people that i'm sick, or hell, that you've finally dusted me. we would just stay here, together," Sans took your hand again, clutching it desperately as he made his case. "don't make me live as a broken half like you."
Papyrus didn't speak for a long while.
He actually didn't speak for the rest of the day.
No one did.
There was just silence, you and Sans clinging to each other.
Finally, Papyrus returned to the room.
"I WILL ALLOW IT."
He left.
But you weren't paying attention to that. You were too busy hugging Sans to you, both of you crying tears of relief.
-[]-
Another month. It was wonderful.
You all had figured out a rather smooth scheme. Papyrus told everyone that Sans had finally died, and it didn't seem like anyone had any doubts.
There was the problem of when people wanted to come visit Papyrus for any reason, but Sans actually thought of something for that. Papyrus boarded up the door to Sans' room and told whoever came to visit that it was a disaster area, completely unsalvageable. Whenever someone came to the house, Sans would teleport you both inside the room and you were very quiet until Papyrus gave the okay that they were gone.
This left Sans and you free. Well, free as long as you stayed inside. You didn't mind the house arrest, though. For the first time in a long time, you were happy. You thought that it would last.
It's no wonder you didn't predict them coming.
-[]-
"okay, sweetheart, it's okay," Sans tried to comfort you as you sat sobbing next to the barrier.
"It is not okay, Sans! I told you that it wouldn't help coming here! There isn't any way for us to get out!" You could hear the sounds of fighting coming from the other room, Papyrus apparently still holding his own against the guard.
Sans joined you on the ground. "well, actually," he grabbed your hand, pressing something into it.
You stared down in horror before throwing the knife away. "Don't you even suggest that!"
He shrugged. "if ya kill me and take my soul you can pass through the barrier. if ya don't, then you'll die with me."
"I can't hurt you." You slapped him as he started to levitate the knife back over, "And I won't let you hurt yourself for me either, bonehead."
He groaned and pulled you into a tight embrace. "why do you have to be so stubborn?"
Was this really going to be it? Everything ending because you all had missed something? Something had given you away, but even one small mistake was enough to ruin everything.
"I don't want to lose you," you cried into his shoulder.
He pushed you away from him and held you at arms' length. "look at me. if there is one thing for certain, we won't lose each other. we're soulmates. the universe will find a way to bring us together again."
A flash ran through your mind as you remembered something from Sans' nightmare. There were resets, awful resets, just like he had told you, but for a second there was something different. Sans, clad in blue, and someone, you, sitting together on a bench, watching some kid play in the snow.
With that, you knew that Sans was right. "I love you."
His smile faltered, frustrated sadness cracking his voice, "i love you too. now let's go and try to fight the entire underground."
Sans was strong and you were determined, but it wasn't enough.
As a blow finally caught him and he started to turn to dust, you saw the flash of red light come toward you, and you felt a small pain in your chest.
You collapsed. Sans was within crawling distance, and you moved slowly over to him.
"You killed me," you coughed.
"i couldn't let them have you."
You reached out your hand, and he grabbed it with what little strength he had left.
It was going to be okay. You would see him again.
By the time the monsters got across the room, all that was left was your soulless body, your hand curled around a small pile of dust.