Sans awoke at the table he and Alphys had been working at to a bark from Snowy. At first he assumed the dog was just hungry, but then there was a loud bang.
"SANS!" screamed a familiar voice.
Sans froze.
Bang! Bang!
"Open up, Sans! I know you're in there!" Undyne roared. Sans's eye socket turned blue with magic, preparing to shut the bedroom door to protect the twins, but-
CRASH!
The door flew off its hinges as Undyne threw her weight forcefully against it. The fish warrior pointed at the short skeleton with an accusing finger. "You!"
"Me?" Sans asked, his eye socket quickly going back to normal as he began trying to play it cool. Maybe Undyne didn't-
"You've completely abandoned your sentry post!"
Oh. He hadn't really thought she didn't know.
"What can I say?" Sans shrugged. "Watching for humans is boring. Science is much more interesting." He smiled lazily at her, and Undyne growled. "If you're going to quit your job you need to give notice!" she screamed. "I could have spent this time training someone to take over your post for you, but no, you-"
Snowy began barking from his place in the open doorway of Chara and Frisk's bedroom. In a desperate attempt to keep him quiet, Chara ran over to the annoying dog and lifted him into their arms to put a hand over his mouth to silence him.
A blue magical spear struck the ground where they had been a second before snatching up the pup, making them scream in fear.
"Sans, I don't believe it!" Undyne crowed happily. "You actually found a human!"
Frisk screamed too, horrified as they realized the danger their sibling was in.
"No way!" Undyne was beaming now. "You actually caught two? That's one more than we need!" She laughed. "I guess you can keep the extra SOUL for yourself, then!"
Undyne turned to look at the skeleton, who was struggling to keep his anger in check until her guard was completely down. "But why didn't you take them to King Asgore right away? Were you doing experiments on them or something? I know that-"
She was cut off as Sans's eye suddenly flashed blue as he turned Undyne's SOUL blue and threw her onto the ceiling.
"Sans, what the-!?"
"Don't you dare talk about taking my kids' SOULs," Sans growled. "I'll dust you if you try."
"What are you talking about!?" Undyne demanded. "Those are humans, Sans! As in human SOULs! As in breaking the barrier! Seeing the surface!"
"I'm not using Chara or Frisk to see the surface," Sans snapped.
Undyne growled and three spears appeared before her. She tried to throw them at Chara, but Sans slammed her into the wall and the spears disappeared.
"Don't even try it."
"Sans, stop it!" Undyne growled. "As your superior I order you to capture the humans and release me!"
"I don't take orders from you or anyone else in the Underground," Sans hissed. "There is absolutely no way I am hurting them."
"What would your father say!?" Undyne demanded.
"If my father would kill innocent children to escape the Underground then I want nothing to do with him."
"They're humans!" Undyne protested. "How innocent can they possibly be!?"
"Say whatever you like," Sans spat. "You won't change my mind. I won't have their blood on my hands. Especially not after all I've done to help them trust me."
"Asgore is going to have you dusted for treason to the crown if you do this!" Undyne warned. "And don't think I won't tell him! If you want to keep this a secret you'll have to dust me!"
Sans scoffed and tossed her aside, to the open doorway, quickly teleporting over to block her from getting to the twins.
"Go and tell Asgore if you want. And tell him if he tries to take either of their SOULs, I won't hesitate to dust the King of the Mountain."
Undyne glared at him and scoffed in disgust. "You're sick, Sans," she snarled. "Turning on your own kind for humans."
"You're sick for wanting to kill six year olds," Sans retorted.
Undyne held his cold gaze for a few moments, then turned and limped away, heading towards Hotland.
Sans sighed. He had really hoped things wouldn't go this way.
~(*)~
Sans had managed to calm down Frisk and Chara with difficulty. Chara had nervously seated themself beside Sans, but he'd gently kissed their head. "We don't have to talk about it right now. Go play for a bit and relax, baby bones."
Chara had sighed in relief and headed for their room and their Winter epic.
Sans was more concerned with Frisk, who seemed scared of him now. They shuddered when his bony hands touched them and whimpered when he got close. Sans wondered if this was because they were still tense from their nightmare or if it was due to the way he'd dealt with Undyne when she'd tried to capture the twins earlier. He really hoped it wasn't his fault; he'd never meant to scare Frisk or Chara, only to protect them.
He walked over to the couch where Frisk sat quietly watching Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! and munching on Monster Candies.
"Can I talk to you, kiddo?" Sans asked gently, sinking down next to them.
Frisk nodded slowly, looking a bit frightened.
Sans smiled, and began to sign Frisk, as he knew they loved it when he did.
Did I do something to upset you? He asked, his small falling as he considered the possibility.
Frisk shook their head firmly.
Then what? Was it really just the nightmare that had them so on edge?
Him. Frisk fingerspelled back simply.
Sans frowned sadly at the thought of whatever this Him had done to the twins. He gently pulled Frisk to his side in a comforting hug.
"He's never going to hurt you or Chara again, Frisk," Sans murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to their dark brown hair. "I promise you that. No one will, but especially not Him."
Frisk looked up at him, then slowly opened their eyes so he could see the beautiful ocean blue irises.
Sans smiled at them and gently planted another kiss on their forehead. "You know, Frisk," Sans smiled fondly, "you have beautiful blue eyes."
Frisk blushed at the compliment and buried their face in his jacket, a small whine of protest escaping their lips as they hid from him.
"Silly baby bones," Sans murmured, ruffling their hair affectionately.
~(*)~
Chara was nervously playing with their fingers while Sans watched patiently. They had finally come back to talk about Him, but seemed to be having trouble finding the courage to start.
Chara's red eyes flicked nervously towards their bedroom door. They wished they had waited longer.
"How about this," Sans said softly, placing a bony hand over Chara's, "why don't we start with something a little easier, okay?"
Chara nodded, relief flooding their body as Sans smiled encouragingly at them.
"Can you tell me why you and Frisk climbed the mountain?"
Chara's face fell slightly, but yes, they could tell Papa about this. They were sure Sans wouldn't be furious with them if they told him this story. Maybe disappointed, but they couldn't imagine any angry shouting.
"Our…. Our parents weren't very nice to us," Chara whispered. "Th-they wouldn't feed us a lot of the t-time, a-and…."
"And?" Sans asked softly, keeping the anger boiling in him rather than letting it get to the surface where it could frighten Chara.
"Th-they would hurt me," Chara mumbled, one hand going to their arm. "Th-they would b-burn me and c-cut me. Th-they s-sometimes did it to F-Frisk, b-but…." Chara finally looked into Sans's eyes, DETERMINATION blazing in them like a fire. "I-I wouldn't let them h-hurt Frisk i-if I could stop i-it."
"How would you stop it, honey?" Sans asked softly, wrapping Chara in a comforting hug.
"I-I would t-tell them they c-could do wh-whatever they w-wanted to m-me," Chara mumbled, suddenly looking away again. They couldn't meet Sans's gaze; that part felt like something that would make him mad.
"So you went to Mount Ebott and fell?" Sans asked, petting their hair to try and calm them down.
"We jumped."
Sans froze mid-pet.
"You…. You jumped?" he repeated, fighting to keep his voice calm. He wasn't mad at Chara or Frisk, but he was furious with these so-called 'parents'.
"I…. I thought it would be easier to j-just go away and n-never go back there so they c-could hurt us," Chara mumbled. "I…. I felt b-bad that F-Frisk was going to d-die, b-but they said they were okay with it a-as long as we went t-together…."
Sans struggled to hold back tears. He couldn't imagine his sweet, loving baby bones attempting suicide. The thought broke his heart, but even more than that, it sparked a fury in him to anyone who would dare harm the sweet little baby bones.
"Chara," he murmured, gently pulling Chara onto his lap and hugging them close, "I will never hurt you like that and no one else ever will either. When we get to the surface, I swear to you that I'll keep you safe from those people who called themselves parents. You and Frisk don't need to be afraid of them anymore."
Chara looked up at him, and he saw tears in their red eyes. They gave him a shaky smile and rested their head on his chest. "O-okay, Papa."
Sans shifted so they were now lying down on the couch. "That's enough for now, baby bones," Sans murmured, rubbing their back gently. "Try to get some sleep."
~(*)~
Sans awoke from his nap with Chara to a knock at the door.
"S-Sans?" called a familiar nervous voice. "I-I came by with Mew Mew Kissy Cutie and some other animes…. C-can I come in?"
The skeleton yawned and stretched, carefully shifting Chara off of his chest and laying them down on the couch to continue their nap without him.
He looked into the kids' room as he headed for the door and saw Frisk on the floor, petting Snowy. The dog looked as if he were in heaven. He probably was.
Sans opened the door and immediately narrowed his eye sockets when he caught sight of Alphys's companion.
"What are you doing here?" he spat at Undyne, fury evident in his voice.
"I'm here to watch anime with your little nerds, pipsqueak!" Undyne roared.
Sans smirked. "Is that so?"
"U-Undyne, r-remember what I s-said b-before?" Alphys asked nervously.
The fish warrior sighed.
"I talked to Alphys about the humans."
Sans would have raised his eyebrows if he had them. "And?"
"And I'm not going to hurt your brats. Or tell Asgore about them. Or, you know, any of that." Undyne scowled, then threw and arm behind her back to rub her neck. She looked away, her expression abashed. "...I guess I wasn't really thinking about your feelings since you're sort of a parent now. So… I'M SORRY, PUNK!" Undyne roared the apology, then turned and found a huge boulder near the door to suplex so she could get rid of the mushy feelings in her chest.
Sans sighed. "That's the best I'm going to get, I suppose." He stood aside. "Come on in." He eyed the two monsters as they entered. "But I'm going to be watching you the whole time."
"Oh! Great! You can watch Mew Mew Kissy Cutie with us too!" Alphys beamed.
Sans shook his head slightly. She really was obsessed. Maybe the surface had a word for this strange condition that made Alphys obsess over fictional characters and write lengthy fanfiction.
"Frisk," Sans called, giving their doorframe a gentle rap with his knuckles, "Alphys and Undyne are here to watch that Mew Mew Kissy Cutie anime with you and Chara."
Frisk looked up from Snowy's belly rub and caught sight of the fish warrior. They shot Sans a worried look, but he just smiled at them. "Don't worry, kiddo. Papa already talked to her. She's not gonna hurt you kiddos."
Frisk smiled, then signed to Sans.
"Yeah, Snowy can watch too. I don't care about dogs on the couch."
Frisk beamed at him.
"Just make sure he behaves, or he might end up in the doghouse."
Frisk giggled at the joke and lifted Snowy into their arms, hugging the pup to their chest.
"Wanna wake up Chara?" Sans asked innocently.
Frisk shot him a devious smiled and he grinned back. "I thought so."
He carried Frisk to the couch and plopped them gently beside it. Frisk looked at Chara, sleeping peacefully on their back with their fingers interlaced over their chest.
Frisk held Snowy over Chara's belly and carefully plopped him down.
Chara's red eyes shot open. "Wazzat?"
Frisk giggled as Chara looked around wildly for whatever had woken them. Then the red-eyed child yelped as Snowy began licking their face, wagging his little fluffy tail.
"Frisk, you little nerd!" Chara chided, grabbing their sibling in a headlock and giving them a gentle noogie while Frisk squealed in protest, patting Chara's hands so they would release them.
"Alright, kiddo, is that's enough," Sans said, gently pulling Chara's hands away so Frisk could escape. "Alphys and Undyne are here to watch that Kissy Mew anime or whatever it was called."
"Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!" Alphys chimed in, holding up a DVD case and pointing at the title with one claw.
"Yeah, that," Sans agreed, gesturing to the case as well.
Chara wasn't paying attention to them though. Their red eyes were trained suspiciously on Undyne.
The Royal Guard held her hands up in a sign of surrender. "Easy, punk, I'm cool," she insisted.
Sans patted Chara on the head. "Don't worry about her, kiddo. Just sit with Frisk and eat some popato chisps and watch some anime with your old Papa Skelly Bones and his friends."
Chara turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow at him.
Sans glanced at Undyne and Alphys, then rethought his answer. "Okay, friends in progress."
Chara grumbled. "...I'm only sitting by Papa."
Sans smirked lazily. "I can live with that."
~(*)~
A few weeks had passed since Alphys and Undyne came over to watch Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. The anime hadn't been a favorite for either Chara or Frisk, but the twins had half-heartedly agreed with Alphys that the anime was great.
Alphys and Undyne came over regularly for Anime Wednesday and Friday, while Papyrus now joined them for Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday dinners. Most of these dinners were Papyrus's spaghetti, which Chara and Frisk bravely ate, but it was clear that they weren't the biggest fans of the taste. Sans had rescued them recently by making more dishes for dinner so the kids had more to eat besides heaping plates of strange tasting pasta.
Sans was getting more trusting of Undyne and Alphys, who Chara and Frisk each referred to as "Auntie", and Sans had smirked internally when that had started and every time it happened since. It was almost as if Chara and Frisk could sense the romantic tension between the two. Actually, he didn't doubt that. It was thick enough you could slice through it with a dagger if you were of a mind to.
Chara and Frisk were still getting used to his constant shouting, but Papyrus was now "Unca Pap", and he wore the name like a badge of honor. He constantly boasted to Sans, Alphys, Undyne, Chara, and Frisk that he was "easily the most fantastic 'unca' any human had ever had before".
Days were perfect, but Chara had to admit they were a bit curious about what was outside. Every time Sans answered the door, they caught glimpses of Waterfall outside. It looked beautiful. They didn't have a desire to leave, but they did wish they knew more about the outside world. After all, outside had those pretty blue flowers and the pale, calming light shimmering along the purple walls of that section of the Underground.
After all, it wasn't like there was any six year old without even a bit of curiosity inside them. However, their experiences had quelled curiosity strong enough to encourage wandering past their boundary in both Chara and Frisk. Chara suspected Frisk was curious about the strange things they could see in Waterfall beyond as well, but aside from wondering why they occasionally saw monsters bending to the blue flowers or what the strange plaques on the wall said, they were content.
After all, satisfaction may bring it back, but first curiosity had to kill the cat.
~(*)~
The day started like any other.
Sans had made breakfast for the twins had fixed a bowl of dog food for Snowy. Then he'd gone to wake the twins.
He didn't need to though. As soon as he reached the door, he heard pained whimpers and groans. Worried, Sans peeked inside the bedroom. "Chara? Frisk?"
Chara mumbled something venomously when the light from the lab came into the dark room, then groaned as they held their pillow tightly over their face. Frisk moaned in pain and turned over on their side, pressing their face where the bed met the wall and lying with their hands over their stomach.
"What's wrong?" Sans asked, worried. The twins never acted like this before. Sure, they weren't always up for mornings, but they never acted like they were in physical pain.
Because Frisk was lying on their hands, they couldn't sign an answer to Sans. So, for the first time in a long time, Sans heard Frisk's sweet voice, though this time it sounded weak and hurt, rather than cute and happy.
"Sick," they moaned, and Chara moaned too, as if in agreement.
Sans paused. True, she wasn't a medical doctor, but Alphys was a doctor, and she knew more than almost any monster about humans; certainly more than any other monster aware of the twins' existence.
So, he went over to the twins' beds and gently tucked them in snugly, fluffed their pillows, and fetched them each a cold, wet washcloth to put over their foreheads and eyes.
"You two hungry at all?" he asked, but they both cringed at the idea of eating food, so he merely gave them each a gentle, awkward hug and a kiss before departing with a "I'll be back in a minute, you just try to feel better".
Then he headed over to his lab tables to find his misplaced cellphone.
~(*)~
"Sans, like I said, I'm not-"
"Alphys, you've said that three times already. You're the best I've got considering my options. Are you going to help me or not?"
Alphys sighed, glancing at the door to the twins' room.
"Fine," Alphys agreed. "I'll see what I can do."
The scientist picked up a bag she'd brought with her and entered the room.
"Chara? Frisk? How do you feel?" Alphys asked as she shuffled inside.
"Fuck off," Chara snarled fiercely. Sans choked as he tried to stifle his laughter.
I'm giving this kid the best Giftmas present I can think up.
"U-um, c-c-can I t-t-take a l-l-look at y-y-you?" Alphys asked nervously, gesturing to her bag. "S-Sans will b-be here the whole t-t-time, s-so you'll b-be s-s-safe…."
"No," Chara hissed.
"How about you, baby bones?" Sans murmured, sitting down on Frisk's bed and lovingly ruffling their hair. "You okay with having Dr. Alphys take a look at you? I just want to help you feel better, but to do that I need to know why you feel so yucky in the first place."
Then will she go away and let us sleep? Frisk signed, looking exhausted and annoyed.
"Yes, sweetheart. I promise."
Frisk reluctantly sat up, leaning against Sans as they tried to stay awake.
Alphys hurriedly opened the bag she had brought along with her, and began pulling out what medical equipment she had. "Okay, let's start with vitals," Alphys said, mostly to herself.
Sans felt Frisk tense at his side. They gave a distressed whine. From the other side of the room, Chara growled sharply.
Sans gently lifted Frisk so they were on his lap rather than sitting next to them. He hugged them, pressing his face against their hair. "Shh, little one, shh. It's okay, precious one. Papa Skelly Bones is here."
That seemed to work; Sans's light mood appeared to put the child at ease. Frisk slowly allowed their body to relax and leaned back against the skeleton.
Sans smiled to himself.
"Don't worry about those scary words," Sans continued to soothe, gently rubbing Frisk's upper arm with one bony hand. "Papa isn't going to let anyone hurt his little Chara or Frisk. You can count on that, baby bones."
While he was speaking, Alphys finished getting out the medical equipment she was looking for. Sans took the thermometer she offered Frisk and after a short moment of stubbornness, they allowed him to stick it under their tongue. Alphys wrapped their arm with something strange and cold, then took Frisk's wrist in their claws to check their pulse while she squeezed a small pump. Frisk jumped as the strange wrap began to tighten around their arm.
"Frisk, it's okay," Sans assured them. "It's not going to hurt you, but it will be uncomfortable. It's not going to last very long, little one, I promise."
Frisk whined at him as the wrap grew tighter, and eventually he looked up, his eyes turning to black voids as he glared at Alphys.
"Hurry up."
"S-sorry," Alphys mumbled. After another two more pumps, she scribbled something down in a notebook and quickly allowed the wrap to loosen around Frisk's arm and removed it.
More scribbling as she added her notes on Frisk's pulse and checked their temperature according to the thermometer. Then Alphys pulled out a stethoscope.
Frisk glared at the offending object and hissed softly.
"Hush, little one," Sans murmured, petting Frisk's hair and rocking them gently. "She won't hurt you." He paused, before growling softly. "Papa will blast her if she tries."
Alphys tried not to visibly shudder. She knew he would. She didn't want to be on the receiving end of a Gaster Blaster.
When the doctor had finished listening to Frisk's breathing, she produced a small wooden stick. "S-say 'aah'," Alphys instructed as her voice shook.
Frisk made a face and glanced up at Sans, as if looking for him to back them up.
"Just stick out your tongue," Sans said gently.
Frisk pouted, but obliged. Rather than "aah", a sound suspiciously like "fuuuuck" escaped Frisk. Sans snorted.
Paps was gonna hate this. He couldn't wait.
The short skeleton wondered vaguely where Chara had picked up such language. He didn't need to wonder where Frisk learned it. He was sure Chara had taught their sibling every curse word they knew.
He respected that.
Alphys nodded to herself as she removed the wooden stick from Frisk's tongue. "Okay."
Sans looked up from Frisk, who was sticking out their tongue and making soft spitting noises, as if the stick tasted of something disgusting.
"Well?" He demanded.
"I think I know wh-what's wrong," Alphys mumbled. "But I'm not totally sure…."
Sans tucked Frisk back into their bed and allowed them to to turn their back on Alphys and himself to try and sleep.
"Your turn, Chara Kitten," Sans said, trying to sound upbeat. "Why don't you come snuggle with Papa Snoozy Bones while Dr. Alphys tries to figure out your weird human biology?"
Chara glanced at Alphys, growling softly in their throat, before looking over at Sans. They relented, allowing him to lift them onto his lap and sighing as they settled themself beside him.
Papa Snoozy Bones, Sans mused to himself. He sure felt like snoozing. He needed a nap after all this.
Chara wasn't as willing to cooperate with Alphys as Frisk was, even with Sans there to comfort them. They snarled when Alphys got close and at slapped the blood pressure wrap and stethoscope when they were produced for them by Alphys's claws. They seemed defiant when it came to Alphys's attempts to examine them. When Sans reproduced the offending medical equipment, Chara seemed more reluctant and nervous than uncooperative.
With sighs of resignation, Chara would allow Alphys to continue the examination without further protest until the next medical item that angered them too much was offered up. Then they would strike it away from her claws and resume their defiance until Sans calmed them down with more gentle words of love and reassurance and persuaded them to allow the examination to continue.
When Alphys at last finished with Chara, Sans tucked them into bed too and gave them a gentle kiss on the forehead in the form of a soft bump. "Get some rest, Chara Kitten," he murmured, gently moving some light brown hair away from their scarlet eyes. "Papa will come in and check on you and Frisky Fox in a little bit, okay?"
Chara mumbled an agreement and Sans gave their shoulder a comforting squeeze before turning to lead Alphys out of the twins' bedroom.
"Well?" the skeleton demanded after closing the door. There was a faint click as it shut.
"I-I believe the twins are suffering f-from a mild illness," Alphys explained, nervously pushing her glasses up her nose with a claw. "It's nothing too bad. It's probably from all the extra exposure to bacteria in the Underground. We have to deal with different germs and such down here and they haven't managed to build up an immunity yet."
Sans sighed. "Right. Should have guessed." It seemed so obvious- of course they would be more susceptible to the Underground's bacteria.
Well. He supposed that it made sense he would forget about that, seeing as he was a skeleton. No immune system, and all that.
"So, what do I do?"
"I-I'll get you some books from the library about sickness and treating it. I-I'm sure it can't be t-too different between m-monster kids and h-human k-kids."
"Okay. Thanks, Alphys." The small, orange monster turned to scurry out the door.
Still worried about that threat to blast her, it seemed. That was fine. She should be worried. Without a certain degree of fear instilled in them he couldn't fully trust those who knew about the twins not to run to the king and queen or to attack them and extract their souls themselves.
The skeleton sighed and looked back over at the door. He hoped they would recover soon.
~(*)~
A few hours and six thick books later, Sans was ready. He knocked softly on the door. "Chara? Frisk? Sweethearts, I'm coming in, okay?"
"'K-kay…." he heard Chara mumble. Sans nodded to himself and stepped through the doorway.
"How are you feeling, kiddos?"
"S-sick," Chara whined.
"I know, baby bones, I know," Sans murmured sympathetically. "Is there anything Papa can do to make his baby bones feel better? Maybe get you a drink or a treat?"
Frisk raised their head a bit, looking interested.
"Yes, sweet Frisky Fox?" Sans smiled. "What can Papa get you?"
It was Chara who answered."D-do you have hot ch-chocolate here?" they asked.
"Why, indeed we do, Chara Kitten," Sans said with a grin. "Do you want that too, Frisky Fox?"
A small nod and a signed yes from the dark brown haired twin was his answer.
"Okay, little ones," Sans murmured. "I'll go get you some hot chocolate. Do you sweethearts want to come watch a movie with me?"
Chara and Frisk seemed to consider this, then nodded together. Sans smirked and, with a small flick of his hand, had turned their usually DETERMINED red SOULs a dark blue. It reminded Chara of Willow's SOUL. What was it again? INTEGRITY? That sounded right.
Sans made sure they had their blankets, their fluffiest pillows, and their favorite stuffed animals, and carefully maneuvered them out of their room and onto the couch in front of the TV.
"Sit tight, sweethearts," Sans murmured. "I'll get your drinks. You two worry about agreeing on a movie. And try to keep your Papa Skelly Bones's weak stomach in mind."
"N-non-existant s-stomach, you mean," Chara mumbled before coughing.
Sans wanted to lift them into the air and cry with happiness at their joke, but resisted the temptation. He didn't want to make anything worse; they already didn't feel good.
He contented himself with chuckling and saying, "Good one, baby bones."
He had never seen the twins' faces light up with so much joy before. As soon as he approached them with the two mugs of hot chocolate, they beamed at him with pure euphoria.
"Never thought anyone got this excited about this stuff. What's with you two?" he asked, offering them their respective mugs.
This was our favorite thing on the surface, Frisk signed.
"Well, I guess in that case you're not in too big a hurry to leave, eh?"
Chara shook their head. "Th-the Underground is w-way better!"
Sans smiled. "So, what are we watching?"
~(*)~
The twins did not recover overnight, which was either a good or a bad thing, depending on the viewpoint.
Sans enjoyed the twins' extra clingy behavior; it was nice to be so unconditionally loved and to have someone- or, two someones- to look after. They were constantly demanding some sort of attention, whether it was cuddles, a story, a snack, or a hot chocolate refill.
The bad part was it was getting worse.
The first time Chara vomited Sans screamed and ran off to find Alphys, completely forgetting that he had methods of reaching her that didn't involve sprinting at full speed through Waterfall to her lab in Hotland. Methods like teleportation, cell phones, and the Undernet.
Call it an overreaction.
Alphys could barely understand the skeleton when he burst into the lab, threw her medical bag into her arms and, seizing one of them, turned to sprint back towards his own hidden Waterfall lab, dragging her along behind him.. When they finally burst back inside together, Sans's shrieks became more clear.
"ALPHYS OH MY GOD SOMETHING CAME OUT OF CHARA BUT NOT A LITTLE SOMETHING A LOT OF SOMETHING AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS AND I'M SO WORRIED ABOUT MY BABY BONES!" He stopped to draw a deep breath, and as he did, a new thought seemed to occur to him. With an extra shriek, Sans seized Alphys's lab coat in his bony phalanges. "OH MY GOD ALPHYS ARE THEY GOING TO DIE!? TELL ME THEY'RE NOT GOING TO DIE ALPHYS I CAN'T LOSE CHARA KITTEN!"
Frisk made a panicked whimpering noise from the couch before vomiting as well.
Sans seemed on the verge of tears as he shrieked yet again. "FRISKY FOX, NO!"
Alphys sighed in relief as she understood what was wrong. She carefully pulled herself away from Sans. "Sans, they're going to be fine."
"BUT THEY-"
"Listen to me!" Alphys said forcefully, which was as close as she could get to shouting. "Sans, they just threw up. It's a normal reaction when you get sick. Their bodies are trying to get rid of the toxins so they're expelling their stomach contents."
Sans stared at her, his mouth slightly open and his expression bordering somewhere near where bewilderment, shock, and horror met. Humans were so, so weird. No, scratch that- anything with a body- fish monsters, dog monsters, humans- all of them were weird. Being a living skeleton was so much fucking easier.
As soon as the thought occurred to him he had to grin a bit to himself; oh, he was totally Chara and Frisk's dad.
"If they vomit," Alphys continued, and Sans guessed 'vomit' was another word for 'throw up', "you should try to let them settle their stomachs. No food for a little bit, and only things like crackers or ginger ale when they're ready to try and keep food down.
Ick, what a restrictive diet.
Sans went over to the twins while Alphys went to the kitchen to line large bowls with paper towels in case the children threw up again. Sans cleaned what vomit there was almost instantaneously with his magic; just because he was a lazybones when it came to picking up his sock collection didn't mean he'd force them to deal with messes themselves.
To make the kids feel better, Alphys offered to watch a few episodes of Gosick with them before she left to go back to her lab. She was tempted to try her claw at a joke- afterall, watching Gosick while sick? Surely there was a fantastic pun hidden there- but she resisted the urge. She still had to worry about Sans himself.
~(*)~
Sans had to admit that, even if the twins being sick was miserable for the trio of a family, it was amusing to see the reactions of Papyrus and Undyne when the children showed signs of illness.
Complaints of headaches and upset stomachs were met with concern by Papyrus, who would ask if puzzles or spaghetti would make them feel better. Undyne would fiercely fluff their pillows (meaning she fluffed them so violently they were torn open and feathers were scattered around the room to flutter onto the couch and the twins' hair and noses; this usually resulted in lots of extra sneezing which was another human thing Sans was not used to and honestly still put him on edge) and yell that she was going to make them tea. "Golden flower tea, of course! Only Asgore's favorite will do for the little nerds! Even if they are wimps!"
Something like that, anyway.
The vomiting had, perhaps, his favorite reactions.
When they'd thrown up in front of Undyne, she'd merely shaken her head in exasperation, jumped up from her place beside Sans on the couch, and emptied sleeves of saltines onto the children's blankets, shouting, "KEEP YOUR CRACKERS DOWN LIKE WARRIORS!"
When Papyrus witnessed it, Sans had been in the kitchen making the twins more hot chocolate and warming them some cinnamon buns.
"SANS!" Papyrus screamed. He looked up as his brother raced into the kitchen with him. "SANS, THE HUMANS HAVE EACH EXPELLED A VILE SMELLING AND CHUNKY LIQUID FROM THEIR MOUTHS! WHAT THE FUCK, SANS!?"
Sans wanted to cry; hearing Papyrus swear was always so funny, probably due to the rarity of such a thing, but never before had he been graced with the opportunity to hear Papyrus say fuck. Oh, he loved these kids so much. Giftmas was going to be splendid.
Eventually, though, the twins did recover, and Sans decided to celebrate the occasion by having a Gosick marathon with Alphys, Undyne, and Papyrus, complete with the twins' favorite foods and bottomless mugs of hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream and marshmallows on top. It was a night of laughter, happiness, and love. Sans couldn't have been happier, and he knew Chara and Frisk shared his sentiment even without asking them.
~(*)~
Shear sneered and flipped up the collar of his long jacket against the bitter cold and fierce wind, glancing into the nooks and crannies of the various alleyways and shop stoops. He wouldn't have to be out here doing this if the fucking cops had just kept their noses out of his and Tansy's business. He was glad to be rid of his brats. Well, he was glad to be rid of Frisk; he missed having the compliant punching bag they'd named Chara around, but it wasn't that big a deal. At least, not before the authorities started asking too many questions. Now he had to find those pills.
It wasn't looking good. He didn't see any kids at all; let alone a pair of crybabies who barely resembled each other and were wearing those stupid oversized sweaters his mother had made for them before she died. He was still pissed off that they were so attached to those damn things. Neither of them even looked good in stripes; they made them look more overweight than they were.
He sighed. Looked like those brats really were stupid. If they weren't in town, they were probably in the forest.
God, he hated nature.
Those little bitches were going to pay for this.
~(*)~
(AN: Man, no Him reveal just yet... I'm sure it will come soon, though! In the meantime, we do have the appearance of Undyne, the story of how Chara and Frisk came to the Underground, and two new names to consider. To answer IsReallyAGuest, I'm so sorry if I made the italics confusing; I'm fairly certain I didn't use them for anything that they aren't commonly used for. I use italics for: thoughts, memories, sign language/unspoken words (and sort of translations?), emphasis, and for titles of things like anime. Which reminds me, Gosick is a real anime! A pretty good one, too. As for at the end, that was sort of a mix of memory and emphasis; Sans was remembering how Chara said they had to tell him about HimHim gets italicized because when referring to Him as if that's his name, it gets emphasized. Oh, and during a memory, everything that would normally be italicized is left alone so you can tell it's sign language or whatever else.
Also! Exciting news! We got a cover image for the story done by a friend of mine who's a fan of this story! They write on Wattpad under the name WordMaster737 and their story there is Something in the Shadows, a Rise of the Brave Tangled Frozen Dragons fic (and that fandom has a mouthful of a name and someone should help me think of something better to give them). Please feel free to check it out if you are interested!
Finally, I'm going to make two tumblr blogs for Sans Souls- one. sans-souls-official, for people to ask questions and for me to play around with AU ideas, like an Underfell version of this story (geez, can you imagine?) and one, sans-souls-fanfiction-official, where I'll be reposting the story once I finish it here; it will get chapters as I add them to ArchiveOfOurOwn. Meanwhile, FanFiction gets this story first, just because I love you guys the most. So if you have any non-spoiler questions to ask, please feel free to visit the tumblr blog! Thank you all so much for reading, and please review if it's not too much trouble! Thank you very much! Chapter Five should be here soon!)