"Sans?" Grillby asked, then he shook his head, "He's been coming in later lately. Normally about lunchtime." He answered and wiped the inside of a glass with a rag, "Every time he does come in, though, he's lit up. He seems very… happy." He said and set the glass down, picking up another and cleaning it.
"I've been noticing that too." Papyrus agreed, thinking deeply and leaning on the bar. "He's been coming home with new jokes, too. He even started picking up baking." He added, then looked up at Grillby, "Suddenly he wanted to learn how to bake pie! Absurd, right?"
Grillby shrugged, "It's making him happy." He said.
Papyrus nodded, "Yes, but he's missing out on work. He needs this job. Doesn't he have an outrageous tab here?"
"He just paid it off last night." Grillby shook his head. "He's clean."
Papyrus gave him a strange look, "Well, thank you anyway." He straightened up, "I'll go back out to look for him.
"Good luck." Grillby set down another glass.
Papyrus nodded and stepped outside, looking around for any possible place where Sans would be. He first checked the house. After knocking on his bedroom door and receiving no response, he figured that Sans wasn't home.
He then decided to check his post closest to the ruins. Though he wasn't there, he did find his footprints walking away from the post and toward the ruins. He took a deep breath and sighed heavily upon seeing Sans sleeping with his back against the door to the ruins. "Brother?" he called.
Sans gasped sleepily and looked up at Papyrus, "Sorry, bro." he wiped his eyes and stood up, glancing back at the door. "I'll come back now…" he started trudging towards Snowdin.
"Sans, why were you by the door?" Papyrus asked.
Sans stopped in his tracks, thinking for a while. "There's someone on the other side of that door, and she talks to me." He said.
"Like that flower did for me?" Papyrus asked.
Sans thought for a moment again, "You could say that." He smiled, "She's like my flower." He smiled brighter, then his smile faded. "Sh-she went back home and I fell asleep. I lost track of the time." He said and kept walking.
Papyrus watched him for a while, seeing that he had been acting strange. "Sans, are you alright?" he asked.
"Yep. I'm cool." Sans yawned, "Just waking up, y'know? I didn't sleep very well last night. How are your puzzles going?" He asked.
"Going great!" Papyrus beamed, instantly forgetting that his brother was acting differently. "No human shall ever get past them!"
"That's cool." Sans smiled at Papyrus' enthusiasm, "Hey, what do you want for Christmas?" he asked.
Papyrus thought for a while, "Excellent question…" he said. "Oh! A cookbook!" he exclaimed, "With lots of different ways to make spaghetti!" he rubbed his hands together excitedly, "Variety is always nice. Plus I get the feeling that you may be getting tired of my spaghetti." He eyed Sans suspiciously.
"Not at all." Sans denied whole-heartedly, "Though… I do like the idea of the other 'pasta'-bilities." He sneered and looked up at the taller skeleton.
"Sans!" he groaned and rolled his eyes, "Why? Why must you know?" he asked.
Sans shrugged, "So I can let Santa know what to bring you this year." He simply informed him.
Papyrus lit up, "You think I've been good this year?"
"Always." Sans said, "But… Santa has his concerns…" he looked down.
"What? Did I do something wrong?" Papyrus gasped.
"Of course not." Sans winked, "He just doesn't want you overworking yourself. He worries about the potential head of the Royal Guard."
Papyrus thought for a while, "Fair enough." He took a deep breath and sent a closed fist into the air, "Then I, the Great Papyrus, will take tomorrow off!" Sans had been telling Papyrus this for years, at least since Papyrus had been obsessing with joining the Royal Guard. Papyrus would come home tired and had even fallen ill several times just by overworking himself. Sans never wanted to discourage his hard work, and Papyrus won't believe him when Sans tells him that all of his training is getting him sick, so he began telling him that Santa says so. Papyrus bought it every time.
"Sounds good." Sans smiled. His stomach growled.
Papyrus heard the rumble loud and clear, "Are you hungry?"
"Getting there." Sans confirmed.
"Fear not! I shall make the spaghetti meal of the century!"
"For the sentry?" Sans corrected.
"Of the, not-" Papyrus froze upon catching the pun, "Not for the sentry anymore." He grumbled while Sans laughed.
"Okay, okay, does sentries sound better?" Sans corrected.
Papyrus bumped Sans playfully, "Fine." He said with a smile.
"How'd training go with Undyne this morning?" Sans asked.
Papyrus sighed, "No sparring today." He looked down, "Just another cooking lesson."
"But you love cooking. You want a cook book for Christmas."
"I do." Papyrus nodded, letting Sans into the house first, "But… the thing is… I have more of a desire to become part of the Royal Guard, more than to be a cook, of a chef. But If Undyne keeps teaching me how to cook… I don't know…" he looked down, "Sometimes it feels like she's trying to get me interested in something other than the Royal Guard." He sat down on the couch, "Like she doesn't want me there…" he said sadly. "You know it's been my dream since we were children."
Sans nodded, "I understand, bro." he said, then thought for a moment. "I've always wanted to be a scientist. Remember I had that job for a while? With Dr. Alphys?" he knelt in front of Papyrus so he could see him better.
Papyrus nodded, "You weren't there for very long." He noted bitterly.
"True, but that's because I realized that I found something that I love more." He smiled.
"And what would that be?" Papyrus asked.
"Being your brother. That's why I got the job for being the other sentry." He said, "I'm not saying that you won't like being a knight as much as cooking, but… I think what Undyne is trying to do is to widen your perspective. Give you a hobby." He said.
Papyrus thought it over for a moment, "So she's just helping me with a hobby?"
"Yeah, bro." Sans nodded.
Papyrus lit up once more, "Wowie!" he smiled, "She must be so excited with the hobby she must've forgotten all about our training!"
"It happens." Sans shrugged.
Papyrus stood up, "You must be starving!" he said and stood straight up, "To the kitchen!"
Sans smiled and followed Papyrus, sitting patiently at the table while his brother dug around for ingredients. His eyes began to drift closed and he fell asleep before Papyrus had the chance to turn around to ask how hungry he was. Papyrus scoffed and turned around to begin cooking. After he boiled the pasta, his phone rang loudly in his pocket. He quickly fished it out after jumping and answered, "Hello!" he greeted cheerfully, "Undyne! We were just-" he paused, having been interrupted by a panicked voice on the other end of the conversation. Sans had jumped up and stretched. "What!?" he gasped, dropping the pot of spaghetti on the floor.
Sans jumped again, "What's wrong?" he asked, attempting to help pick up the pasta and pot. Papyrus waved his hand to shoo Sans away, considering how hot everything was, Sans could very well burn himself.
"Y-Yes, ma'am." Papyrus nodded, kneeling by the mess, "Understood, ma'am." He nodded, a serious look washing over him. "I'll be right over." He said before hanging up. "Uh, I'm sorry, Sans…" he looked down at the mess that was made on the tile. "Uh… would you like to get something from Grillby's?" he asked, "I uh… have to go to the ruins… humans fell into the ruins and they've killed the caretaker." He said, still staring at the pile of pasta, "They're running loose and Undyne said she needs my help." He explained, then he looked up at Sans, then froze upon his expression, "S-Sans?"
His eyes were widened in shock and blackened in fear. His body trembled with rage and his fists were clenched. He finally closed his eyes and held his head, "No, no, no, no…" he groaned. "I- I'm going with you…" he said.
"A-are you sure?"
"I want to make sure… make sure you're okay…" Sans said grimly.
Papyrus watched Sans in shock, then he nodded, "Alright then." He stood up, "Let's get going then." He said, "Stay close to me."
Sans followed close behind Papyrus and said nothing. Though Sans was normally quiet excluding the puns and few words of encouragement, the silence unsettled Papyrus. He wanted to ask about the caretaker and if Sans knew her, but he had a feeling he knew the answer. He didn't want to provoke the smaller brother. "D-did you know the caretaker?" he finally asked.
Sans didn't answer at first.
"Or… maybe it wasn't even her, maybe it was-"
"She was the only one living there…" Sans cut him off.
"Boys!" a deep, regal voice called out from behind them.
The two skeletons turned around and found King Asgore trotting behind them. Papyrus gasped and knelt, "King Asgore!" Sans, however, just stood silently with one eye present, the other eye blank.
"Papyrus, there is no need for any of that…" The king tapped the trainee's shoulder and invited him to stand. "Are you two headed for the ruins…?" he asked grimly.
"Yes sir!" Papyrus nodded after straightening up.
"The… caretaker…" Asgore looked down.
"Is… dead, yes. Did you know her?" Papyrus asked, failing to notice the tension rising from his brother.
"Sh-she was my wife." Asgore let out a shaking breath.
Papyrus gasped, "Sans! You've been talking to the Queen this entire time!? Why didn't you tell me?"
Sans appeared to be in just as much shock as Papyrus, "I- I didn't know…" he looked down, his eyes darkening again, "I didn't even know her name…"
Asgore was silent for a moment. He took a deep breath, "Let us investigate…" he said, He was aware that the Queen had a friend, but he was never told as to who it was. He and the two skeleton sentries continued toward the ruins, however as they reached the doorway, Undyne looked down at Sans and looked up at Papyrus, "Send your brother home." She said.
"Undyne, he wanted to-" Papyrus argued.
"Papyrus." She snapped, "He is a liability. We don't know where the humans are, and if he gets hurt-"
"Undyne, he's fine." Asgore stepped in. "He knew her… he was her friend."
Undyne froze upon seeing Asgore then knelt, "I'm sorry about Toriel, your majesty."
Sans warmed at the sound of her name. He closed his eyes briefly and wiped them dry, sniffling silently and taking a deep breath.
Undyne stood up, "But with all due respect, if there are any humans here with the intentions to kill, there could be a civilian casualty." She said, "I do not recommend that Sans stays here."
Sans had already begun wandering around, finding that they seemed to be in a basement of someone's home. Toriel's he could assume. He reached main floor of the home and found some photos hung on the walls. The monster he had been speaking to was a goat-like woman, as it was revealed she stood beside King Asgore and a young child resembling the two. He remembered the prince, and that long ago the prince had died after going to the surface and getting attacked by humans. The family was heartbroken, as was the rest of the kingdom. It was a dark day for the Underground. He took a deep breath and proceeded through the house. She had a lot of books sitting around, some joke books, some books on snails, romance books, adventures. He knew she loved reading and even offered to bring her a new book from the library and read it to her.
"Sans!" Papyrus approached him, causing for him to jump, "I'm sorry brother, but-"
"Undyne wants me to go home." Sans finished for him, wiping his eye again, "I get it…" he sighed.
Papyrus sank, knowing that Sans was highly upset about this. He sighed and knelt to hug his brother. "I'm sorry…"
Sans only accepted the hug, but he never pulled his hands from his pockets. "I should get going." He said and began walking off. "I'll text you when I get home…" he said.
"Please be careful." Papyrus suggested nervously. By the time he turned around, Sans was already gone. He sighed, "Be safe…"
Sans' feet crunched through the snow as he walked home. He'd teleport, but he wasn't in the mood. A huge confusing swirl of emotions twisted his magic stomach and made him dizzy. He finally opened his eyes again, catching a glimpse of footprints in front of him. They looked familiar, but didn't at the same time. They looked like Papyrus' but smaller, even smaller than Undyne's. He stopped for a moment, matching his own footprint. They were almost the same size, but the footprints were still smaller. His heart jumped, "Human…" he breathed, seeing that the tracks led to the village. However, they led behind several bushes that shook. He watched them carefully. His eyes blackened with suspicion. "I know you're back there." He called out, his left eye beginning to glow, "Either you show yourself, or I come back there. Your choice."
