Sans propped his head up on his hands, listening intently to the Princess of Monsters as she read from the book. Her voice was a song, rising and falling and lilting and lifting. She read each character different, she read dialogue different from narration. She read of stars and adventures and space. Of beautiful swirling galaxies and the Milky Way.
A beautiful voice interrupted only by his own. He hated it, how much he didn't know. So many of the words went right over his head, so he had to stop her and ask what they meant. No matter how many times he interrupted her, she remained calm and patient as she explained with a smile. After it was confirmed Sans now knew the meaning of the word, she'd go back to reading just to be interrupted again not too long after. There was certain harmony to it he found he couldn't ignore. How easily she'd explain, how she'd read, how even, eventually, his questions found a spot in the music.
Sans stole glances. He stole quick looks of her eyes, of her shoulders, her claws. And he found her claws dissolved into paws that curled into the cover of the book as if they were cupping water. That her gaze was soft yet bright, gleaming when action picked up but still sparkling as it died down. Her shoulders were down, lax, and she was completely at ease.
He could've killed her right then, he found; she was so invested in her own world. His stomach sunk at the thought, and the thoughts that followed. Her words began to fade away from his focus as his mind wandered.
His wounds would be healed soon enough. And then that happens, what would happen next? He'd just go back to dusting monsters left and right? What if he had another run in with Sydna? With the Nurse? With Marty? With her? His throat went dry as his chest tightened.
He wouldn't be able to kill any of them. Not even Marty. What would he do?
"Excuse me, Mr. Human?" Toriel's voice shook him from his thoughts "Are you feeling all right? You look awfully pale…"
Sans shrugged, shooting her a wink "Yeh, dontcha worry 'bout me."
She smiled with a tilt of her head "Very well, if that is what you insist."
Sans nodded, shuffling to reposition himself "I kinda zoned out there though. Mind re-readin' the last two pages?"
Toriel rolled her eyes, flipping back to designated number. She cleared her throat, beginning to read again when the door was all but kicked down.
"Toriel!" Sydna howled, sprinting to her side. Disregarding the book in the claws of the Princess, she grabbed her arms and yanked her to her feet.
"Sydna? What is it?" Toriel sputtered as she stumbled to gain her balance.
"A group of humans!" Sydna reported quickly "Maybe twenty of 'em. Heading right to camp!"
"…I see," She said. She smoothed down her skirts, flexing her paws to summon spheres of flame. Snorting, she trotted away "Did you tell Asgore?"
"Yes Ma'am," Sydna said, following her stride for stride. There was no trace of the friendship Sans had gotten used to seeing between them. In its place was a disturbing distance, no longer two monsters, but a Queen and her Soldier.
"Mr. Human," Toriel addressed him. Her eyes were still bright, but no long a soft glow. Rather more like the glint of a knife.
"Yeah?" Sans said.
"I am going to ask you to be on your own for a short while," She said curtly. On Sans's nod, she turned and left, Sydna following along.
And the music came to an abrupt halt.
Sans swallowed, sweat running down the sides of his face. His heart marched in his chest. Heat came to his face in waves. Would he have to choose so soon? He shook his head and picked up the book Toriel had discarded. A few of the pages had become crumpled when she dropped it so he did his best to smooth it back out.
Staring blankly at the pages, his heart sunk lower. Again he shook his head. Closing the book and tossing it to the floor, the human dropped to his side, curling up as much as he was able. His eyes squeezed shut. And eventually, he drifted off to sleep. To a memory.
"Sans! Sans!" cried a shrill voice. Sans woke with a start, all but falling off of the tree limb he had been snoozing on. A quick search and he found the speaker. A quick flick of the wrist and his knife was in his hand, and he was on the ground in front of the fair-haired child.
"What is it!?" Sans snapped, blue eyes blaring bright.
"W-wow!" Squeaked the boy. "S-sorry, Sans! I didn't mean to scare you! I just wanted to show you this!"
Sans sighed, letting his body go lax before he turned to look down at his companion. A fair-haired boy with bright blue eyes, a splotch of freckles across his round face. He grinned up at him, presenting what appeared to be a rather lopsided pinecone. Sans grinned and ruffled his hair.
"Well, you lose points for show, but it's a nice 'cone there, Phyllis." He said. Phyllis stuck his bottom lip out in a pout.
"Well if you didn't sleep in trees all the time, I wouldn't have had to yell." He pointed out with a shrug.
"Point taken." Sans said with a bit of a chuckle. He shoved his hand in his pockets, smiling fondly at the boy as he broke into a grin.
"Sans!"
The voice broke the dream.
"Toriel!?" Sans exclaimed, turning on heel to stare into the darkness. He stumbled back, bursting through Phyllis like he were made of fog. The grassy, sunny mid-day suddenly went black. Sans shook his head, clutching at his scalp. "No, that can't be Toriel, she doesn't know my name..."
Blood splattered the ground in front of him. Sans jumped, his foot slipping and sending him plummeting into the ground. He scrambled, frantically trying to get back to his feet. But cold, clammy fingers interlocked his own, latching them to the ground.
"Gah-!" Sans yelped, throwing his body back. But his hands stayed where they were, and when he jerked his fingers let out a sickening craaacck! Sans bit down on his lip to avoid screaming.
Wincing, he looked through one eye. Beneath him was a smiling face.
"There you are~!" It cooed. It's smile slipped down into a frown "Now if only I can find you in the real world."
"….Who ARE you?" Sans strayed to ask. The face smiled, the corners of that ghastly grin curving inward at the corners of its eyes.
"I'm-"
"WAKE UP, ASSHOLE!"
"Gah!" Sans jumped, kicking out on instinct. The monster who woke him up ducked underneath his leg, straightening the glasses that sat on his snout. Sans rubbed his eyes "Marty? Goddam, dontcha think ya can wake me up with a bit more tact?"
"First, good job using that word correctly." Marty said with a curt nod "But that's not why I woke you up-"
"Shi-shoot, am I behind on my studies or somethin'?" Sans said.
"No." Marty snorted "Human, listen, this is important. The Princess and Sydna went out to fight off some invaders but there's a bit of a problem… That being, they haven't reported back to camp yet."
Sans frowned "Why the heck would Toriel go out? Shouldn't she be in the camp givin' orders?"
"That's what I told her." Marty snorted "But that's not important. Human, NEITHER of them came back yet. Which means they're either dead or they need help."
"And…you want ME to help?" Sans muttered, arching an eyebrow. Marty snorted, slapping his claws onto Sans's shoulder, steering his face so they were eye-to eye.
"Do you want them to die?" He scowled. Sans pushed him away.
"Of course not! But how d'ya know they need help? It could just be a long battle."
"Intuition." Marty said "And mine is never wrong."
Sans snorted "Intuition ain't a hell lot to go off of. Call me when its fact-"
"HOOMAN!" A new voice squeaked, barreling in through the door. The Nurse stumbled to her feet, covered in scrapes and twigs. She bolted over to him, slapping her paws on either side of his face. "TORI AND SYDNA IN TWOUBLE! SURROUNDED! TOO MANY OOTHER HOOMANS! HALP!"
"It just became fact." Marty muttered. He reached into a bag Sans just now noticed he brought and pulled out a large, jagged knife. The blade in between his claws, he handed it to Sans.
The human stared at it a moment. A grin creasing his features. He took it "Oh, good ol' Knifey. Knife to have you back-"
"NU TOIME FOR POONS! HELP DA TORIS AND SYDNAS!"
Sans flipped the knife into his hand, hopping to his feet "On it."