Yo I took a break from my digital design CPT to write fanfiction. You can tell I have my priorities straight.
Anyways, this one-shot is connected with my pervious one-shot "There Are No Bad People, Just Bad Things Scared People Do" but…I guess it can work as a little thing on its own? I don't know. It's basically just Sans' point of view when he wakes up before Frisk.
Well I'm going back into my tiny hiatus. Gotta make good art for my CPT and portfolio so I can get in the collge.
Sans' stared at the ceiling, hands behind his head as he listened to the child's soft breathing. They've fallen asleep long ago, but Sans kept awake, the memory of what just happened eating away at him and denying any slumber.
He knew the kid already forgave him, but he couldn't forgive himself. He knew deep down the burden of what he has done. He hurt them. They weren't safe with him. In fact, part of the reason why Sans couldn't let himself sleep was because he didn't want to wake up from another nightmare. With Frisk beside him in bed…who knew what he could do to them.
His mind kept wandering back to what they said. 'there are no bad people, just bad things scared people do'. The memory let out a dry, humourless chuckle out of him. If only they knew. If only they knew how horrible some people could be, how horrible some monsters could be. If only they knew about…
Sans turned his head to glance at the small child beside him. Only the top of their face could be seen peeking out of the blanket, their eyes closed tight as their body moved with their breathing. He covered them with his part of the quilt a while ago, knowing full well that he didn't need it.
The skeleton wondered if they knew already. Knew about HER. They didn't seem to, and they never brought it up. He knew that in a different timeline, they were possessed by HER. He knew that the child lying beside him would never harm a single soul on their own. He had a good feeling about this run. Maybe things would turn out better. He just prayed that last night's events wouldn't interfere with their innocence about the world. With the way they were going, he would never think about hurting them on purpose.
But that didn't change the fact that he did. Sure he wasn't in the right mindset when it happened, but he still felt like a horrible being. It could be his entire fault that this timeline would go to hell.
There are no bad people, just bad things scared people do…
…was Chara just a scared person…?
Sans sat up and rubbed his skull. No. He wouldn't think about that. He didn't want to think about that possibility. At least…not now.
Giving a sigh as he ran a hand down his face, the skeleton looked back to the child before glancing at his clock. The numbers glowed mockingly, telling him how much sleep he already missed, but he didn't care. He decided that now would be a good time to do what he planned before Papyrus woke up. It would keep his mind busy at least.
Making sure to avoid the small figure beside him, Sans stepped down from the bed, rolling his neck as he headed out the bedroom door and into the bathroom.
Soon after, he returned with a cold, wet face towel in his hands. Bringing his stool back towards the bed side, he sat down beside the child.
Frisk was facing the wall away from him, and he gently slid a hand underneath their cheek and forced their head to turn towards the ceiling. He brought the covers down just a bit so he can fully expose their face. Brushing their bangs back with his hand, he winced as he fully saw the injuries once more.
The bump was still red and swollen, and while the nosebleed stopped a long time ago, a dry, red smear was still painted on their face.
Taking a deep breath, Sans folded the wet cloth and began to gently wipe the dried blood away. It took a few moments, but soon the mark was gone, leaving nothing but pale skin in its wake. He folded to a new side as he wiped down their cheeks as well. While the tears streaks were hardly visible at this point, he still wanted to make sure.
When that was done, he brushed back their bangs again and gently pressed the cold cloth to the bump on their forehead. He was aware of the other bump on the back of their head, but his priority was to take care of the visible injuries first. He kept the towel there for a while, glancing back to the digital clock every so often.
A small noise was heard beneath him, and Sans looked down to see the child's face twist in discomfort. The skeleton immediately took the towel away from their forehead. Did he press to hard? Did he hurt them again?
Frisk gave an audible whimper, this time a pained expression appearing on their features as they squirmed a little, clutching the fabric above their chest.
Oh no…
"…kid? frisk can you hear me? what's wrong?" He already had an idea of what was happening, but he held onto the hope that it was something else. Was it a nightmare? Did they have a stomach ache?
Frisk gave another small cry of pain as they opened their eyes just a crack. They looked like they haven't fully awakened yet, but they knew who was addressing them. They replied, their voice hoarse and weak. "H-hurts…"
And that confirmed it. Sans knew why their chest hurt. It was a result of the intense magic he used on their soul when he threw them across the room.
The child gave another whimper, this time louder than the previous one and Sans immediately set to work. He placed the wet towel on his lap as he reached out to them. He gently placed one hand on their head while they other rested on their chest. "shh, it's ok. everything's ok. just go back to sleep, alright? this is just a bad dream."
Unknown to Frisk, Sans hands were engulfed in a blue flame, and they would have panicked if they saw it. But before they could say anything, a new exhaustion hit them. Their eye's suddenly felt like lead, and they notice a strange tingling on their chest and throat. But they were too tired to question why. Despite the weird sensation, the child found themselves falling back to sleep peacefully, a comforting warmth engulfing their body.
When he saw their eyes closing and the change in their breathing, Sans slowly took his hand off their chest, calling back his magic as he absent mindedly combed his fingers through their hair. He was very inexperienced with healing techniques, but he knew how to reverse the effect of his own magic.
Well…most of it. There was no doubt that Frisk would still wake up with the uncomfortable burning in their throat and chest. But he took care of the worst of it so they could peacefully go back to sleep. He would be lying if he said he didn't use that spell on his brother sometimes, just so he could avoid reading the whole story of fluffy bunny when he was dead tired.
Untangling his hand from the human's hair, Sans flipped off the blanket before gently gripping the ends of their makeshift nightgown. A moment of hesitation passed before he started slowly rolling it up, past their thighs and stomach. He needed to see how bad the damage was, just in case he needed to do anything extra. Frisk didn't move, probably due to the heavy magic that put them back to sleep.
Finally uncovering their chest, Sans couldn't help but whisper a curse. There was a large, deep red mark spreading across their skin, as if someone had furiously scratched the area. It reached up to their throat, but it wasn't as visible since he didn't concentrate much on that part when he…
Wandering his pupils to check for anything else, Sans saw some deep, purple marks forming on the side of their ribs. He hoped that they didn't fracture anything.
Rolling the shirt back down to their knees, he covered the small figure with the blanket again, watching them nuzzle back into the warmth of the fabric. They seemed to be ok, and Sans was hesitant to use more magic on them. He decided that giving them some monster food in the morning would benefit them better.
Looking back to the clock, the older one gave a tired sigh. Papyrus would be awake in fifteen minutes or so. His brother was always an early riser, much to his annoyance.
Getting up from the stool, he glanced back to the child once more before heading downstairs.
Papyrus awoke to the sounds of a familiar song in his ear holes. Sitting up in alarm, he yanked the headphones off his head as realization came over him. He only wanted to listen to one song before going to bed. He didn't think he would fall asleep to the music.
Then again, it was a very good CD.
Pushing that thought aside, Papyrus quickly got out of bed. What if the human needed something during the night and he wasn't able to wake up because of his headphones? Surely they would have taken them off if it was an emergency. Still, he wanted to double check.
Walking out of his bedroom and leaning against the railing, the tall skeleton was perplexed to see his brother up before him. He rubbed his eye sockets before opening them, only to have the same image of Sans collecting the human's clothes before him.
Wait…
"SANS! WHERE'S THE HUMAN!?"
In response, Sans gave a small jump before looking up, flashing his usual grin towards his brother. But behind that grin, he was inwardly panicking. He had to think of an excuse, and fast. "hey pap. the uh…kid's still sleeping in my room. i…wouldn't wake them if i were you."
Papyrus glanced towards his brother's room before hurrying down the stairs to the shorter one's side. He tried his best to whisper, nervously fiddling with his hands. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM? IS THE HUMAN SICK? HOW DID THEY EVEN GET IN YOUR ROOM?"
Sans gave his most reassuring smile as he folded the child's clothes on the couch. "well…it's the darnest thing really. i woke up and found them in my bed. i guess they sleep walked all the way into my room. ya know how much of a pain sleep walking is, right bro?"
"I CERTAINLY DO. I STILL REMEMBER YOU SLEEPWALKING INTO MY ROOM AND CRASHING ON THE FLOOR LAST TUESDAY!" The tall one placed his hands on his hip bones as he stared down to his brother. "HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING THEM THAT STRANGE HABIT OF YOURS?"
Sans just gave a chuckle before throwing his brother a wink. "i guess you can say it's…"
"SANS!"
"…in their bones."
"UUUGGGGGHHHHHH!"
The short skeleton just tried to hold in his growing laughter as he placed the neatly folded clothes on the arm of the couch, heading towards the kitchen. His brother followed him, trying to keep his twitching eye socket under control. "THAT STILL DOESN'T EXPLAIN HOW THEY GOT INTO YOUR ROOM. ISN'T IT ALWAYS LOCKED?"
Sans was quiet for a moment as he opened the cupboard, bringing down a plate and a box of leftover cinnamon bunnies. Putting the treat in the microwave, he simply smiled again and gave a half-hearted shrug. "beats me. maybe my teleportation skills are rubbing off on them too."
"I SWEAR TO GOD IF THEY TURN OUT TO BE A MINI VERSION OF YOU I'M MOVING TO UNDYNE'S HOUSE!"
"aw papyrus, i know ya wouldn't do that. you'll miss us too much. And i'm sure the kid and i would be sad to see the coolest bone in the world leave the house." Placing the now-warm treat on the plate, Sans gave a giggle at his brother's reaction. His arms were crossed, and a tight frown was plastered on his face. However, he couldn't help the small blush of orange appear on his features, no matter how hard he tried.
"…WELL…SOMEONE HAS TO TEACH THE TINY HUMAN GOOD MORALS AND MAKE THEM GOOD FOOD. IF I LEFT THEM WITH YOU, THEY WOULD JUST BE ON A DIET OF GREASE!" Papyrus lectured as he followed Sans back into the living room, where his brother picked up the folded clothes and put them over his shoulder while carrying the plate. "AT LEAST MAKE SURE YOU WAKE THEM UP! WE HAVE PUZZLES THAT NEED TO BE CREATED!
The short skeleton stopped at the end of the stairs as he turned towards the taller one. "…actually bro, maybe we should let them sleep for a little longer. the kid had a rough night. they kept waking up a lot. i guess it was because of the sleepwalking or something."
Papyrus' face now softened into one of concern. "ARE YOU SURE THEY'RE ALRIGHT SANS?"
While the older one kept his easy smile, his fingers tightly gripped the plate as it trembled a little. "…they're fine bro. a little treat should make them feel right as rain. plus, as soon as they wake up, they'll already have breakfast and be dressed. that way, they won't waste time in having to make something to eat and stuff."
Papyrus didn't seem convinced. "I'M NOT SURE THAT MUCH SUGAR IS A HEALTHY BREAKFAST."
"eh, nothing wrong with treating them once in a while." Before Papyrus could say anything else, Sans quickly walked up the stairs and entered his room, shutting the door behind him.
Once inside, Sans finally let his smile drop. He gave a shaky inhale as he shut his eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling. He felt like pure scum. He had no right to lie to his brother like that. And knowing that he was lying just so he could protect his own skin…
Sans opened his eyes again as a small smile tugged on his mouth. He made a small joke in his head about how he didn't have skin and decided to save it for later. Taking one last breath, he went to the middle of the room and placed the folded pile of clothes on the floor before nestling the plate with the cinnamon bunny on top. Making sure that it won't fall, he went over to the child's side again. They were still sound asleep, head facing towards the wall as they buried their head deeper into the covers. Sans smiled fondly as he reached over and tucked the blanket around them more securely before running a hand through their hair once more. Double checking to make sure everything was in order, he walked out of his room and quietly shut the door.
The two brothers preceded the morning as usual. Papyrus seemed to drop the subject all together, just asking how the human was doing when he saw Sans come out of his room. The shorter one just gave a yawn and said they were fine before heading downstairs to get something to eat. He listened to his younger brother go on about how he was going to make new puzzles with the human's help, giving a nod and a small reply when necessary. He was still dead tired from last night, but he tried to mask it as just a part of his lazy persona.
Sitting on the couch while staring at the blank television screen, Sans waited for Frisk to wake up while his brother made himself some breakfast. It shouldn't be long now. They shouldn't have any memory of him putting a sleeping spell on them. His brother never did, just stating how he never slept so soundly in his life. Sans just hoped humans were the same.
His brother's loud voice brought him back to reality as he saw the kid walking down the stairs. They looked to him, and he gave a small wave in acknowledgement. They waved back, a tiny, tired smile on their face.
Sans inwardly gave a sigh of relief. Even if it was a small gesture, it still meant a lot to him.
His temporary calmness was short lived when Papyrus suddenly picked up the child, bringing them towards him and shouting, "SANS! THE HUMAN IS INJURED! WHAT DO WE DO?!"
At this, Sans' pupils wandered over every feature on the human's face. Then he saw it. The red bump was still visible on their forehead. It wasn't as bad as last night, but it was still noticeable. He gritted his teeth, scolding himself for being so stupid and forgetful. The cinnamon bunny could only fix internal injuries. Marks, scars, and bruises would still be there.
He looked into the child's eyes, a silent plea for mercy as he tried to come up with words.
""um...i...i d-don't..."
He noticed how their face showed genuine concern before they were taken out of his line of sight and brought back up to Papyrus' face. "HUMAN! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU TO GET THIS INJURY?!"
Sans felt his breath hitch and his throat tighten. This was it. His brother was going to find out just how much of a horrible person he is. He'll hate him, and he'll take the kid somewhere else, somewhere safe. The hope for a happy ending would be crushed right in front of him, and he has no one to blame but himself. He knew that Frisk promised not to tell his brother, but what's stopping them from breaking their promise? He broke his, so it was only fair they break theirs as well. Sans shut his eye sockets tight, waiting for the blow.
"I just tripped and fell down while trying to get a glass of water last night. But I'm ok. It'll go away."
It was slow, but soon the realization that everything was not going to hell hit the older brother. He opened his sockets in alarm, looking back at the two figures before him.
"PLEASE DO BE MORE CAREFUL TINY HUMAN! IF YOU EVER NEEDED ANYTHING, YOU SHOULD HAVE COME TO MY ROOM! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD MAKE SURE HIS GUEST IS AS COMFORTABLE AND SAFE AS POSSIBLE!"
It took all of Sans' willpower to not laugh out of disbelief. They weren't safe. As long as they were around him, they would never be truly safe. Papyrus didn't know this. His baby brother still thought they were safe under the same roof as him.
Why was this kid defending him? WHY WERE THEY DOING THIS?! Don't they know how stupid they are?! Don't they realize that no matter what they told him, no matter how many times they reassured him, he was still a horrible creature who sinned far too many times then he could count?!
"SANS, STOP STARING INTO SPACE AND GET READY! YOU MUST GET TO YOUR POST AS WELL!"
He didn't realize his brother and the kid were looking at him. He didn't even notice that his hands were balled up tightly into fist in the pockets of his hoodie. He glanced over to the small one, who just wore their innocent smile at all times. DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! He wanted to scream at them, but just held it in as his brother looked on with concern.
"SANS?"
"...eh, i'll catch up with you two. i think i'm gonna catch a few z's to make up for last night."
"SANS YOU LAZYBONES! YOU HAD ALL NIGHT TO SLEEP! NOW IS NO TIME FOR-"
Before Papyrus could finish, Sans already made the show of closing his eyes and giving a loud snore, knowing that his brother will buy it. He couldn't be around them right now. He had to clear his head. The weight of what just happened was still gradually being lifted off his chest, and he just needed to be alone right now. He was scared of what he will do, but he knew he could go through it alone.
His wish wasn't granted. It was like the universe personally had something against him. He heard Frisk saying that they were going to stay behind and bring him over when he 'wakes up'. Again, Sans wanted to say how stupid they were, but he just kept still and pretended to sleep. Maybe they will go away if he stays like this.
He heard the door open and close, a sign of Papyrus' departure. He knew the kid was still there. He kept his eyes closed, praying for them to leave, to just give up on him.
A new weight was brought onto the couch, and Sans could feel something small and warm leaning against his shoulder. The gesture wasn't hesitant like last night when they hugged him. This gesture was sincere. It was calm.
The older brother cracked an eyelid open as he looked down to the tiny child. Their eyes were closed, but a small smile was still visible on their face.
…Goddammit.
Gently lifting his arm, Sans wrapped it around their shoulders as he brought them closer towards his chest. He wasn't really sure what else to do. The kid was determined to stay here with him, and the least he could do was make them more comfortable.
Maybe…maybe in time, he could forgive himself. If Frisk really was this set on forgiving him…then maybe there was still some hope. Hope for a happy ending for all of them. All set on this tiny, determined child.
Sans hesitated for a moment before nuzzling the side of his face on the top of their head, letting it rest there as he closed his eyes.
He never slept more soundly in his life.