"Sans? What are you doing? Come on!"
There were few things in life Sans prided himself on. Being a hotdog tycoon, raising his baby bro, constructing a self-sustaining tornado, and surviving all these years on Papyrus' spaghetti were a few, if not the only examples of what made his soul swell up with pride. Sure, there were a few other things that would by funny to pass around in circles of people he knew, but holding the Underground's largest known tab wasn't something he'd look back on fondly come his last days on a deathbed. Or dustbed.
But if you were to ask Sans what his biggest regret was, it would be wasting his time.
"What's taking you so long, lazybones? Let's go!"
He remembered once having a great disdain (fear) of wasting time, but that was before the resets. Who would have thought a few simple time loops would reduce him to the living potato he was now. He was always taking his time. After all, he had all the time in the world right?
Wait.
No...
No, he didn't. Well, not anymore. Or at least he thought he didn't. He sort of stopped paying attention after the anomaly released them from the Underground. Hopefully for the last time, though he wasn't as hopeful that it was the first time.
An entire two months (two months, sixteen days, and six hours, but who's counting, right?) had passed since the barrier had been broken, and every day Papyrus insisted to see the sunrise. That's over sixty times Sans had seen the sun come up, and it was just as memorable as it was the last few times. So why did it feel like he'd seen it a thousand times over? Like he had been seeing the same sun for years? A simple sunrise wasn't the only experience he felt, though. Every day he was constantly in situations where he always felt like he knew exactly what to do or what to say. The other day, Sans found himself gawking at an orange sweater he'd sworn he'd never seen before in his life. And yet, out of the blue, he bought that sweater on the spot out of his own pocket. It wasn't even Christmas, and yet Papyrus took it up like he'd actually been expecting it. He absolutely loved it, despite it hanging off his frame like one of the former queen's traditional robes. Sure, you could call it brotherly intuition that Sans just happened to know what his bro liked, but it was moments like those that just stuck to him more than any dog residue could. He felt like days were just slipping away from him. For some reason, this unnerved (scared) him despite having done it for years. How many times did this anomaly reset?
"You scared bonehead? Bawk bawk bawk bawk!"
Wow, how mature. If the question must be answered: no, he wasn't scared (he was terrified). He was just cautious (petrified). Of course, he had his precautions (nightmares), but wasn't going to admit this aloud. Yeah, you could dust him on the day he willingly admitted that. Why he was so reluctant to tell others, he couldn't place. It was probably because the thought shook him down to the bone.
"Sans? Are you okay?"
Sans hadn't felt this content (fearful) in a long while. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had actually felt motivated in a while. However, with died away hopes and dreams resurfacing, so also came the less desirable feelings (terrors). Before now, he had only been wary (scared) of the anomalies and their infinite time loops. However, with each passing day he felt himself relaxing as his memories and the world around him weren't wiped away, no matter how much he had anticipated it. The other day, it had occurred to him that this could possibly be the last one, but he dismissed it (refused to believe it). He couldn't get his hopes up, though it didn't matter either way. There was never any sort of payoff; everyone just forgot and it all started again.
"Sans? There's no need to be afraid! The Great Papyrus will be right next to you, every step of the way!"
He once asked the kid how many times they'd reset already. They didn't look surprised by that question. Sans wasn't surprised when he didn't get a straight answer.
"Come on! I've got you! You can trust your tall and handsome brother!"
Sometimes he wondered how many years were wasted away just to be reset again and wasted once more. Those thoughts tended to keep him awake (terrorize him) at night.
"Sans..."
Sometimes he wondered if he could just spare himself from all this. He couldn't stand (hated) it all. The oblivious looks on everyone's faces. The never-ending feeling of déjà vu. The constant waiting for another reset. He wondered if he could just take himself out of this reset. Just once get out of this dream (nightmare).
"Sans, it's okay."
He just wanted to sink and never get swim back up again.
"Come here, Sans."
He just wanted to sink.
"You won't sink. I promise. I won't let you."
Papyrus gingerly grabbed Sans by the ribcage, slowly pulling him close so his brother could grab onto him if he needed. Sans the bare bones of his feet graze the water, and in that moment in time, all his worries and dark thoughts were washed away, only to be replaced with a fear that shot straight through his bones. He desperately clung onto Papyrus' like a koala during a hurricane. The guard gave a light snort, but a quick slap on the elbow from the scientist shut her up.
"Wowie, you're I didn't know you could could hold onto something that tight," Papyrus commented, referring to Sans' death grip on one of his ribs. Sans would have relaxed if he could, but that would mean sinking. He didn't want to sink. Not anymore. Not when Papyrus was still here, still holding onto him, unwilling to let go and let his brother drop.
"You're surprised?" the robot scoffed, laying down beside the pool and under the sun, tanning his metal. It would be a cold day in Hotland when he would ruin his machinery with water and chlorine. "Who would have thought the little darling would have had a fear of swimming? Especially when you're surrounded by all that snow all the time."
"Everyone has their fears," the king said with a chuckle, sitting at the edge of the pool with his feet lightly kicking in the water. "Sans is no different." "Y-yeah, bones are quite dense," the scientist argued. "Unlike being much lighter than the rest of us, his mass is condensed within his bones to the point of sinking in most liquids."
The former queen gave a small smile as she waded through the clear water and over to the shallow end of the pool. "Come join us, sillybones," she said gently; motherly even. "We've got you. Even if you do sink, we'll be here to bring you right back up." Her voice usually made him feel relaxed and safe, but he couldn't exactly feel that way when there was three feet of straight death right below him.
"Just tell me when you're ready Sans. We'll go a tad deeper," Papyrus said, his voice so unnaturally gentle. He wouldn't be ready. He would never be ready. He would dust before he let that water go anywhere higher than his pelvis. However, that softness in his brother's voice was convincing him otherwise. The smaller skeleton hadn't heard him say anything gently in months; years if you count the resets. At least he assumed it was years. He prayed it wasn't years.
"I'm ready," Sans said under his breath in a barely audible, forced wheeze. Papyrus stepped a few feet more into deeper waters. Sans' leg huddled up to try and escape the cold liquid that threatened to envelop him, but the water was already touching the bottom tips of Papyrus' ribcage. There was no escape. Nowhere to go.
Papyrus slowly lowered his older brother into the water, stopping when he began to kick his legs wildly at it's icy cold surface. The water felt so smooth against Sans's legs, and yet he still felt like it was trying to suck him in with the gravity of a black hole. However, it wasn't until the water came up to his pelvis that he began to truly feel fear grip his soul.
"P-Papyrus," the small skeleton whispered, grip tightening even more, "y-y-you're not gonna drop me, right?" He was pretty sure his sockets were empty, but believe him when he said that the were pointed at anywhere but the water, mostly his taller brother. Papyrus gave his brother a look of surprise. "Drop you?" he asked, making the idea sound as ludicrous as it really was. "Sans, I will raise you higher that the sun if I have to! No brother of mine is going to be defeated by such a watered down opponent!"
The anomaly giggled. "Pappy, it IS water," they said, swimming over to them. Papyrus gave a nod. "That just shows how watered down it truly is!"
"Please don't let me drown," Sans asked (begged), instantly grabbing the two's attention. Papyrus' usual overconfident expression turned into one of worry. "Sans?"
"Just- please. Please." He had Papyrus so close, and yet it felt like he could leave him at any second, when he needed him the most. When the kid just felt like it.
"Don't you worry, Sans," the taller skeleton said softly. "I won't ever leave you. I'll be right here with you every step of the way. I'll always pick you right up every time you start to sink."
Papyrus was the only thing Sans could see. That ever cheerful grin always made his days just a little brighter. "Always?" Sans whispered. "Always," Papyrus promised. "Not that you need me. You can do it! I believe in you! I've always believed in you! We all do! See?"
Damn. He had to look somewhere else, didn't he? Sucking in a nonexistent lungful of air, he shakily forced his gaze to somewhere besides his brother.
There were his friends, gathered around him the two skeletons. The former queen (Toriel), the guard (Undyne), the scientist (Alphys), the robot (Mettaton), and the king (Asgore). All of them gave Sans happy (encouraging) smiles. They were all here for him. They all wanted to help them. They all cared.
Sans looked down as the anomaly began to swim over to them. They looked up at Sans and smiled softly (caring), their eyes sympathetic (kind). "You won't sink. Ever," they promised. For the first time in his current life, Sans found himself wanting to believe the anomaly (Frisk). He found himself feeling uplifted by them. Sans felt hopeful.
The small skeleton's grip loosened. He slowly gazed down at the still frightening depths of the water. Five feet of water was goddamn frightening and don't you tell him otherwise. Though, he supposed it wasn't that bad. The water didn't feel as cold as it had moments before. It didn't even look that deep now that he thought about it. And- geez, look at his feet. He gave his foot an experimental kick, watching the water manipulate the bones to look disfigured and unnatural. It made him laugh. It actually made him laugh.
"We're here for you, Sans. You have nothing to fear," Papyrus said, catching his attention with that usual jovial grin. And for once in a long while, Sans actually believed it. Sans no longer wanted to sink.
Sans felt happy (happy).