I do not own Undertale. I did not create Underswap.
WARNING: This story will contain an unhealthy/abusive relationship.
Thank you for reading!
Chapter 1:
It wasn't obvious. If you didn't really know that small skeleton, you would never know anything was wrong. Perhaps that's why no one did anything until it was much too late.
Sans wasn't happy. Sure he smiled all the time, but that was more a matter of physiology than mood. He hadn't ever been able to manipulate that smile into anything else. For once, he was glad of that. It made pretending so much easier.
It was early in the morning, maybe three o'clock, and Sans was doing his best to sneak out of the house. Sitting grumpily on the couch, was Papyrus.
Forcing himself to breathe quietly, Sans evaluated his situation. Getting past his brother wouldn't be hard, as long as he was sleeping. The taller skeleton slept like a rock making it possible to walk right past him. If Pappy was awake, there was no way he'd be able to leave yet.
With a final creaking stair, Sans got his answer.
"What are you doing up?" Papyrus growled with orange blazing in his eye.
"I-I w-wanted-" Thinking quickly, he conjured a reason. "I wanted to get a glass of water. I woke up pretty thirsty!"
The tall skeleton grumbled as he picked himself off of the couch. With slow steps, he approached one of the locked cupboards. He paused momentarily before fishing the key from the necklace under his hoodie.
"And what are you going to give me for this?" It was more of a threat than a question.
"W-Whatever you want, Pappy!' He tried to sound cheerful, even a bit eager. It was if he wasn't being asked to pay in some way for a glass of water.
When the taller skeleton handed him one of the cups with water, he noticed it was a half cup. It wasn't half full. It wasn't half empty. It was just half.
Papyrus must have been in a generous mood.
"Thank you, Pappy!" Sans gulped at the clear liquid. "I think I'll go back to bed now!"
"Hand."
Reluctantly, Sans reached out to his brother who was now wielding a particularly sharp knife. Fighting just made it hurt more.
"Not that one, you idiot!" There was a smidge of anger in his voice.
Again, Sans reached out. This time, he offered his dominant hand. It was Papyrus' favorite.
The orange glow died down as Papyrus prepared to work. "If you so much as squeak, I'll give your ribs the same treatment."
Sans just nodded.
One finger at a time, his brother slid the knife across bone, shaving of parts and etching patterns into it.
The first was his pinky. It was already decorated with a small teardrop pattern. More tears were added along with thick vines dancing between each tear drop.
His pointer finger depicted a war scene. Papyrus added odd skull shapes obliterating a human army. The ring finger had a nonsensical pattern of shapes.
His middle finger was covered in a strange language. It had no more space so the words were just engraved deeper into the bone. This left only his thumb.
It was a diagram of the stars from the surface. Specifically, it contained the stars' alignment on the day of the War. It was the only 'art' that Sans didn't mind.
"Go back upstairs." Papyrus returned to the couch. "I'm watching a show. Don't disturb me until I'm done."
Sans scrambled up the stairs. If Papyrus wasn't in such a loving mood, he would definitely have a few cracks in his skull to fix. As it was, he was grateful. His hands were easy enough to hide, that's what his gloves were for.
Hiding the scars seemed counter intuitive for most monsters but the small skeleton knew the truth. No one would help even if they knew something. Who would believe that laid back, honey loving Papyrus had this side? It wasn't a matter of if they could help, no one would.
Settling back onto his mattress, Sans remained sitting. He focused the little magic he had on speeding up the healing of his hand. Tomorrow was the day for errands. A painful throbbing hand wouldn't allow Sans to finish his chores and go out before his brother's temper flared up.
Papyrus might be in a good mood now, but it was only a matter of time before Sans messed something up. Really anything could set off the tall skeleton. Some days, the tacos were overcooked or too spicy. On others, so much as looking at his brother brought out his wrath. But for now, Sans was content. With all the other ways Papyrus could get payment, this was by far the nicest.
This story will update every Friday (unless something comes up). Thanks go out to YourFriendTavion for beta reading for this story. Reviews are always greatly appreciated.
