Secret Santas
Just a cute little story I made on A03 a while back that I decided to post here on Christmas.
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Fourteen year old Papyrus loved Gyftmas. The decorations, the caroling, getting to pick out the perfect presents for his brother and friends, baking Christmas cookies, exchanging presents with Sans on Christmas morning...
And the surprise gifts from Santa under the big Gyftmas tree in the center of Snowdin, which the monster children always gathered around Gyftmas morning, picking out their gifts and happily squealing at what was inside.
There was always something nice for Papyrus underneath the tree and Santa always knew what he wanted, even if he had forgotten to tell Santa(who sounded a lot like King Asgore) about it in the weeks he visited before Gyftmas.
But there was one thing that was bothering him.
There were no gifts for Sans from Santa underneath the Gyftmas tree.
Whenever he asked where Sans's gifts were, Sans had just shrugged and told him that Santa gave gifts to younger monsters and that he was too old. He didn't seem to care about not having a Santa gift and just smiled and affectionately watched his brother open his gifts.
Papyrus always tried to get Sans something extra nice as his gift from him to make up for it, but he still felt bad Sans didn't get anything from Santa. Even if his brother was too old, he certainly deserved it.
And then one night a few days before Gyftmas, he found out the truth.
He had been heading back to the house after a visit to King Asgore when he saw his brother creep out of their house, holding a gift wrapped in bright red wrapping paper. Sans hadn't seen him, and Papyrus decided not to call out to him, instead deciding to keep quiet and watch from his spot near the Libarby. He watched as Sans set the gift down under the tree and then went back home.
Papyrus waited until Sans went in. Then he crept over to the Gyftmas tree to see who the gift was for. It was easy to spot and he read the label.
To Papyrus, from Santa.
Sans had been Papyrus's Santa all along.
Papyrus had tears in his eyes as he realized this, but the tears weren't from disappointment.
They were from gratitude and love.
Even during the tough times after their dad disappeared when money had been hard to come by and Sans had to work at all hours to support them, he had still spent his hard earned money to get Papyrus gifts and pretend they were from Santa. All to make Papyrus happy.
Sans was the greatest brother ever. And the best Santa of all!
But now it was his turn to make Sans just as happy. A task truly worthy of the Great Papyrus!
Papyrus smiled softly as he stood up.
This year, "Santa" WOULD have a gift for Sans.
...
On Gyftmas morning, Papyrus was bouncing as they headed to the Gyftmas tree, the soft red scarf Sans had given him that morning blowing in the wind. "C'MON, SANS! WE GOTTA GO SEE WHAT SANTA BROUGHT!"
Sans laughed. "Slow down, bro. Your gifts will still be there. He was wrapped in the blue hoodie Papyrus had eagerly presented him with that morning. Papyrus had made it himself with King Asgore teaching him. The king had even taught him how to sew protective runes into the material to help guard Sans from injury(though he kept this part secret from his brother).
Papyrus was too excited to wait despite this. He picked up Sans, making him laugh even more, and rushed out to the Gyftmas tree. He couldn't wait to see Sans's expression when he found out that he had a gift from "Santa." He waited for the younger monsters to be done, then "searched" for his present, not wanting Sans to realize he had caught him, especially not when Sans was subtly watching him with anticipation from his seat nearby.
Right before he made his way to his own present, Papyrus gasped happily when he came upon the spot he had placed Sans's gift the night before. "SANS! SANTA BROUGHT A GIFT FOR YOU THIS YEAR!"
The look of confusion and disbelief on Sans's face was priceless. "What?"
"THERE'S A GIFT FOR YOU FROM SANTA! COME HERE!" Papyrus told him. He noted that Sans must have been pretty shocked, as his brother actually got up and came over to look for himself rather than lazily insisting that Papyrus bring it over to him.
"It can't be for me..." Sans started to tell him then looked at the label of the gift wrapped in shiny blue paper. "It actually is? I mean..."
"WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? OPEN IT!" Papyrus told him eagerly, excited to see what Sans thought of the gift, not even caring about opening his own right now. He had spent hours searching the dump the day before yesterday for the perfect present for Sans and when he had finally seen it, he knew Sans would love it.
Sans still looked surprised but nodded and tore the paper off the gift. He grinned as he saw what was inside.
It was a pair of fluffy pink slippers, just his size. Sans had always preferred slippers to shoes, saying they were more comfy, but his own brown pair were starting to get worn out. And these new slippers were even softer than his old ones had been and Papyrus knew they'd be extra comfortable for his brother.
Sans was quick to take off his old slippers and slide his feet into the new ones. They fit perfectly.
"SEE, SANS! YOU'RE NOT TOO OLD FOR SANTA AFTER ALL!." Papyrus cheered and picked up Sans, pulling him into a huge hug.
Sans hugged back happily and looked up at Papyrus with a lot of affection. Papyrus would later reflect that Sans had caught on, especially since in his excitement over getting Sans's gift ready, he had forgotten to write in a different font for the label, so Sans could clearly read his handwriting(though even if he had tried, Papyrus was never good at changing his handwriting so it probably would have been pretty obvious anyway). But Sans never admitted that. Instead he simply shrugged and said, "Guess not, bro."
Sans didn't stop smiling the rest of the day. Neither did Papyrus. Not even the new Mettaton figure Santa had given him made Papyrus happier than seeing his brother smile.
...
As the years went on, the "Santa game" became even more creative. Both brothers knew by now that the other was Santa and knew that the other knew, but of course neither admitted that. That would spoil all the fun!
Instead, they came up with new and crazy ways to surprise each other with "Santa" gifts, not just on Gyftmas day, but all through the Gyftmas season, often hiding them in strange places they knew the other would find. And they were always careful not to let the other catch them.
After the Annoying Dog had chewed up his old ones, Papyrus found a new set of fuzzy pajamas gift wrapped under his pillow from Santa.
After waking up from a nap at his Snowdin Sentry station two weeks before Gyftmas, Sans had found a package from Santa that hadn't been there before his nap. It contained a coffee mug reading World's Greatest Brother, along with a box of his favorite coffee and a bottle of ketchup from Grillby's.
Papyrus found a giftwrapped cookbook in the cabinet where he kept his spaghetti.
An astronomy book was left at the telescope Sans always used.
Papyrus came across a giant box with all the materials for an "Invisible Electricity Maze," when heading to the cardboard sentry station.
They even enlisted the help of friends for their surprise gifts.
An amused Asgore dressed as Santa would go find Papyrus after visiting the children and give him a special gift.
Whenever Sans was upset about not being able to find a certain part for his machine, Papyrus disappeared for a while and Alphys couldn't be reached on the phone. Later, that exact part was found gift-wrapped on Sans's machine, of course from Santa. Papyrus, who hadn't known exactly what he was looking for, had asked Alphys for help and the two had scoured the dump until they found it.
...
And of course, friends of the brothers also started receiving mysterious gifts from "Santa."
Asgore was one of the first recipients the year after the Santa game began. Papyrus would come up to him and give his list to "Santa" each year, and when he handed out the gifts for the children, there would be one last gift in the bag that read "To Santa, from Santa." Whenever Sans came over to give reports close to Gyftmas, Asgore would find a gift hidden somewhere in his throne room. He got gardening tools, new types of tea to try, cookies, the occasional book, and once a thick purple scarf. Asgore treasured these gifts and it always made his Gyftmas a little bit brighter.
Alphys began finding "Santa" gifts in her lab; new manga for her to read, lab equipment, parts, all sorts of books, and even a fixed up DS with a Pokemon game inside.
Sans made sure the lady behind the door would find the giant gift bag from Santa containing all sorts of treats and decorations. Of course, she didn't open the door until Sans left, but the next day the bag was gone and she told Sans about the wonderful gifts Santa had gotten for her, and told him a ton of holiday themed puns and jokes.. He could hear the smile in her voice that entire day.
Undyne gave Papyrus a hug and a noogie one year after she found a gift package from "Santa" containing a small collection of tiny knives, spears, and shrukian stars.. Apparently, Papyrus still couldn't disguise his handwriting.
And of course Flowey pointed that out on his first Gyftmas after meeting Papyrus. Papyrus had led Flowey to the Gyftmas tree, saying that Flowey had missed getting his gift from Santa. His flowery friend had thought the idea was "stupid," but Papyrus finally convinced him to go to the tree. After they had found the beautifully wrapped gift basket, Flowey had given him a strange look and said, "Papyrus, I know that's from you. You must be an idiot if you think I can't recognize your handwriting." Yet the flower had still begrudgingly thanked him and dug into the gift basket that contained all his favorite treats, and he seemed happy, which was more than enough for Papyrus.
...
The game was their best kept secret that wasn't actually a secret. Whenever anyone commented on their gifts, the brothers would always say they were from Santa(even when Papyrus was mocked by Jerry and some others for "still believing in Santa".) It was fun for them both, and even in the days when Sans was at his lowest, or when Papyrus felt like everyone looked down on him, a secret Santa gift from their brother would always make them smile, helping them get through their darkest days.
...
And now in the present, they had even more to smile about.
It would be their first Gyftmas on the surface and Papyrus was absolutely thrilled. He and Sans would exchange gifts in the morning and then spend the day at Frisk and Toriel's with all their friends.
After sneaking Sans's special "Santa" gift into the shed that had been converted into Sans's new lab, Papyrus went happily to sleep that Gyftmas eve, thinking happily about the day ahead.
...
He wasn't at all surprised that morning when he woke up to find a box from Santa on his bed. Happily unwrapping it, he found a pair of glasses, just like the ones race car drivers used. He looked at them in confusion, but just shrugged and grabbed his "brother present" for Sans before running off to wake up his brother.
"MERRY GYFTMAS, BROTHER!" he called out happily, jumping on Sans's bed.
Sans mumbled "Five more minutes..." but didn't seem to mind at all when Papyrus just picked him up and carried him out to the living room where Sans's gift was waiting. Papyrus gently set the tired skeleton down on the couch and handed him his gift from him.
Sans quickly ripped off the paper to reveal a hoodie Papyrus had made for him that was blue with the words "SANS-sational Brother" on the front. He grinned and quickly slid it on over his undershirt. "Thanks, Paps. I find this gift very...HUMERUS."
"SANS!" Papyrus groaned, but he also tried to hide a laugh.
And of course Sans noticed. "Aw, c'mon, bro. You're smiling."
"I AM AND I HATE IT!" Papyrus grumbled, though he actually didn't mind. Though he did have the feeling Sans was going to barrage him with bad puns for the rest of the day, so he quickly changed the subject. "I GOT A...RATHER PERPLEXING...GIFT FROM SANTA THIS MORNING." he admitted.
"What was it?" Sans asked curiously, even though they both knew he knew what it was. Papyrus showed him the glasses and he smiled. "Oh! Santa must have figured out what I got for you. Look outside."
Papyrus glanced out the window and his eye sockets widened. Sitting in the driveway was a shiny red convertible, the exact one he had always dreamed of owning. He moved outside to get a closer look, almost like he was in a trance, going up to the car and running his fingers gently over it, admiring the sleek lines.
"So what do you think?" Sans asked casually as he joined his brother outside.
"I LOVE IT!" Papyrus cheered and picked up Sans, hugging him and spinning him around. "THANK YOU, BROTHER! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"
"I'm glad you like the car, but keep that up and we'll find out if magic skeletons can puke." a dizzy Sans groaned.
Papyrus sheepishly put him down. "SORRY."
"It's okay, bro. Now why don't we take your new car for a spin!"
"A FINE IDEA, BROTHER! BUT FIRST...I COULD HAVE SWORN I HEARD THE SOUND OF SLEIGH BELLS COMING FROM THE ROOF OF YOUR LAB LAST NIGHT..."
"Hmm, I probably should check that out." Sans said with a smile. Papyrus watched eagerly as his brother opened the door to the lab, revealing the present hidden inside.
Sitting inside the lab with a silver bow and a gift tag reading "From Santa,"was a tricycle, exactly the right size for Sans, with a motor attached. A few months ago, Sans had been watching Stupendous Acts Of Science, a show he had gotten hooked on, and Papyrus had happened to be in the room with him. One of the people on there had created his own motorized tricycle and Sans had thought it was awesome and even debated on building his own, though he had never got around to it. Papyrus had immediately decided that it would be the perfect "Santa" present for Sans. He had bought the parts, and paid Alphys to help him build it. And the smile on Sans's face right now made it all worth it.
"Santa must have remembered how cool I thought this was. He's pretty awesome, though of course no one is as awesome as The Great Papyrus." Sans said, his permanent grin completely real. He gave his brother a hug. "Now why don't we load the gifts into the car and drive our two awesome presents to Tori's?"
Papyrus nodded with a wide smile and ran into the house to get the gifts for their other friends as well as the new spaghetti dish he had made for the party and quickly loaded them into the back of his car. He then hopped in his car and sat in the driver's seat, starting the engine and savoring the feeling of being behind the wheel of his dream car while Sans pulled his new tricycle up and started the motor. They then drove off together, Papyrus enjoying the feeling of the wind blowing against his skull and thinking about what a perfect Christmas it already was.
And then Sans passed him up, tricycle going at its full speed.
"SANS! YOU'VE STILL GOT TO OBEY THE HUMAN SPEED LAWS!" he scolded his brother. Sans laughed and did slow down a bit, though kept just a little bit ahead of Papyrus to tease him. Papyrus shook his head and hid a fond smile, and the two Santas drove off to Toriel's together.
...
Please let me know what you think!