Sans woke up on the floor, his eyes blinked open to find himself staring at the empty space under his bed. He vaguely remembered Grillby laying him down at some point, which probably explained him being wrapped up tightly in a blanket and another one draped over him. It was nice. Almost made Sans not want to move and undo all of Grillby's careful work. He shifted and stretched out his legs anyway, even he couldn't stay still forever.

"SANS? ARE YOU AWAKE?"

"huh?" Sans tried to roll over, not easy while tangled up in two blankets. He managed to get a look over his shoulder, Papyrus was sitting in his overstuffed chair. "hey bro, morning."

"GOOD AFTERNOON," Papyrus corrected with a grin. "HERE, LET ME HELP YOU WITH THAT."

"thanks, appreciate it."

Papyrus knelt down next to Sans and started peeling him from his comfortable prison. Once free, Sans sat up and Papyrus made a displeased noise. "THERE'S SOOT ALL OVER YOUR FACE." He reached out to wipe it off, only succeeding in smearing it all over his gloves and Sans's face.

"oh uh… is there? heh."

"YOU WEREN'T EVEN NEAR THE HEARTH. OR ANY OF THE FIRES AT ALL, REALLY. WHERE DID YOU EVEN GET THESE MARKS FROM?"

"the hubby."

Papyrus paused, giving Sans a side eye. "WELL… I'M GLAD TO SEE YOU TWO GETTING ALONG. BUT! WE SHOULD PERHAPS CLEAN YOU UP BEFORE TALKING TO THE PRIESTS."

"oh yeah, got a lot to tell them. they waiting on me?"

"YES," Papyrus stood up and tried to clap the soot from his hands, it didn't budge. "BUT THEY CAN WAIT A LITTLE LONGER, THEY APPARENTLY HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO."

"man, that sounds boring."

"I KNOW! ANYWAY, I'LL JUST WASH YOUR FACE OFF…" Papyrus turned around as he surveyed the room. "SANS, YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO WASH YOUR FACE IN THIS ROOM."

"yeah, but it's not like i'd bother even if there was."

Papyrus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand, the other resting firmly on his hip, then he pointed at the fireplace. "YOUR BREAKFAST IS IN THERE. YOU EAT WHILE I GO GET SOMETHING TO WASH YOU WITH."

"sure thing, bro." Sans gave Papyrus a thumbs up the other didn't see as he stalked out of the room. Sans shrugged to himself, then turned to find a covered tray sitting half in the fireplace, the holy flames gathered around it blinking curiously up at him. "hey guys, keeping my breakfast warm for me? that's so sweet, you deserve a little extra." He winked at the holy flames, who all crackled and flickered in gleeful anticipation.

Between Papyrus's diligence and Sans's usual reluctance to do more than absolutely necessary, they eventually got Sans fed, washed, and dressed in fresh clothes. "every day for two weeks straight, i think that's some kind of record," Sans commented as Papyrus carefully tied off his belt.

"I DO BELIEVE IT IS, LET'S SEE IF WE CAN KEEP IT GOING."

Now fully dressed, Sans sauntered over to the archive, Papyrus trailing cheerfully behind him. Just as expected, Sans found the five head priests all seated in a semicircle around one empty chair. Sans took that as his cue and sat down while Papyrus hovered nearby. "grab a seat bro, you may as well hear this too."

Fieri huffed, but otherwise didn't comment.

Terry leaned forward, his thick muzzle fur ruffling before he spoke. "So, did you speak with Lord Fiersome this time?"

"yup, got more information on the whole bridegroom thing."

All five priests perked up at this.

"it's really a marriage, not just some ceremonial title thing."

Bonnie tittered, "Of course, hun, we don't doubt that." She motioned to Sans's middle, where his hands had come to rest without him thinking about it.

Sans chuckled, "yeah, but what i mean is that i'm not some special case. every mortal bridegroom has been married to their god, we're not just a different kind of oracle or some sort of example or… or metaphor or what have you." Sans waved a hand vaguely.

Ignis frowned, "Then why were some of them so short? Why did most of them end at all?"

"no one likes to talk about failed marriages." Sans winced when he heard a dismayed gasp from Papyrus, maybe he shouldn't have brought his shamelessly romantic and tender hearted brother along for this. "it's pretty sad when a love story doesn't have a happy ending."

"That is sad," Ignis agreed morosely as she sat back in her seat.

"yeah." Sans looked down, both hands fisted in the fabric over his knees. Then he took a deep breath and looked back up. "that said, i'm in this for the long haul. fiersome and i are married, so that means i'm sticking around for the rest of my life."

There were several sounds of approval from the others, including a very proud "NYEH HEH HEH," from nearby.

"so, with that out of the way, fiersome told me that everything in and around the temple technically belongs to him. all the temples in his name, actually. and as his husband that means they belong to me too."

The priests all sat up straighter, sending each other nervous glances.

"Well, yes…" Geoli said carefully. "You're his husband, even without the triplets we would listen to whatever messages you delivered."

Sans shook his head, "no messages this time. just uh… i hate my bed."

Geoli smiled sympathetically and nodded. "We figured as much yesterday. In fact, I took the liberty of arranging for a replacement, it should be here later today or tomorrow."

Sans smiled gratefully at Geoli, "thanks, but that's not everything. the chair is okay, but if we got something firmer i'd rather replace it too. and i'm tired of my room being crowded by all those meaningless gifts."

"What?" Fieri asked in shock. "No! Those were sent by wealthy patrons, we absolutely will not insult them by throwing away their gifts!"

"then don't throw them away, char," Sans said in his most authoritative, big brother voice. "put them in the main temple, or the archive, or shove them all in your room. pick one, i don't care. i just don't want them in my room." While Fieri grumbled, Sans turned to Papyrus. "hey bro, wanna help me sort through what stays and what goes?"

"I'D BE DELIGHTED TO HELP YOU CLEAN YOUR ROOM, BROTHER!"

Sans nodded, then turned back to the others. "right, this is for the rest of my life, i want to be comfortable."

"That's perfectly understandable, hun." Bonnie winked and smiled mischievously at him. "And as devoted servants of your husband, it's our honor to make you as comfortable as possible." Her eyes slid over to Fieri as she spoke, a sharpness leaking into her words that was clearly not directed at Sans.

Fieri coughed and straightened out his robes. "Of course, whatever you wish. Did Lord Fiersome send along any other messages or instructions?"

"nah, we mostly just talked about what life is going to be like now. when i get to see him, my duties, what day-to-day stuff is going to be, that sort of thing. so for now nothing else is changing, i guess." Sans shrugged.

"In that case, it seems we have some duties to perform." Terry heaved himself out of his chair, then turned to Geoli. "Shall we go see what we can do about that chair, then?"

Sans was sitting on his new bed, this one much firmer and far more comfortable than the first. He sighed happily as he leaned back into firm pillows that did so much more to support his spine than the bags of cloud fluff ever did. The room became just that much brighter, light gathering into a form in front of Sans that resolved into Grillby. Sans smiled and held his arms out in welcome. Grillby happily climbed onto the bed and engulfed Sans in a hug. Their faces met, Sans happily drinking in the heat and flames Grillby gave off.

"… Hello."

"hi."

"… I see you redecorated." Grillby propped himself up to look around the room without moving from his spot.

Sans laughed and nudged Grillby's shoulder, his husband obligingly rolled off and let Sans sit up. "yeah, took your suggestion to heart."

"… It is much more pleasant with less… stuff." They looked around the room, Sans smiling at the lack of fancy vases and statues of people or gods he didn't recognize. "… The bed is different too."

"yeah, haven't gotten a chance to test it out yet, but i already like it better."

"… Oh! You have fire sprites in your hearth."

"huh?" Sans glanced up at Grillby, who was looking down at the fireplace.

"… I didn't notice them last night. And they look utterly spoiled."

"you mean the holy flames?" Sans looked down at the fireplace himself, where five pairs of glimmering black eyes stared up at him.

"… We just call them fire sprites. You overfeed them."

"they work hard keeping my room nice and toasty, let me spoil them."

Grillby laughed, "… I suppose spoiling them for a little while won't hurt them."

"your concept of a little while and mine are probably vastly different."

"… Probably." Grillby looked over the rest of the room, pausing as he came to the nightstand. "… You have an earth sprite too."

"i do?" Sans asked, looking around the nightstand like he expected something to jump out at him.

"… A rock earth sprite, specifically." Grillby got up and gently laid a hand on Sans's pet rock.

"oh, that's just balboa, my pet rock."

Balboa gave a pleased rumble at the attention.

"i think they like you."

"… They're spoiled, just like your fire sprites."

Sans shrugged, "so?"

Grillby leaned down to peck Sans on the head. "… Just pointing out facts."

"you like that i spoil them." Sans grinned as he pulled grillby back onto the bed with him, eager to cuddle more with his husband.

"… Now you're the one just pointing out facts?" He let himself be pulled onto the bed and folded Sans into a warm embrace.

"sure, and while we're at it i got some head priest facts."

"… Ugh, really?"

"yeah, they uh… they wrote out a list of questions they got for you." Sans picked up a piece of paper from the nightstand next to Balboa's new home.

"… I spend all day dealing with these mortals and now they want to intrude on what little time I get to spend with you?"

"well, you haven't given me any messages to pass along to them. that's one of the few things they know for a fact i can actually do."

"… I don't care, I have precious little time with you as it is. I don't want to talk about other mortals."

"okay." Sans flung the paper away from him, it flipped through the air a few times before landing on the hearth. "oops, looks like i dropped it."

"… Is that a fact?"

They both giggled. Then Sans snuggled closer to Grillby. "so, how was your day?"

"… Hectic and busy, just like every day is. How about you?"

"well, i spent most of it cleaning the room out. the most interesting thing was probably when i had a conference with the head priests."

"… I thought I told you I don't want to hear about other mortals."

"then talking to me's going to get pretty boring, i gotta deal with them all day too. can i at least talk about my bro?"

Grillby nodded. "… Family is the exception. What'd Papyrus do today?"

"he helped me get this place cleaned out and everything put in new homes, it was great."

"… He's a very caring brother, you're lucky to have him."

"yeah, he's the best." Sans chuckled, then perked up as he heard some particularly loud fire crackling. "what's that?"

They both sat up from reclining on the pillows to look over at the fireplace. All five fire sprites had come out onto the hearth and were eagerly devouring the list Fieri and the other priests had carefully written up. Grillby and Sans both burst into laughter.

AN: Look at those two adorable dorks being hopelessly mushy with each other. I could write that all day long, they're so cute! So yeah, expect a lot of that this fic, Sans dealing with annoying mortals during the day and then just cuddling and snuggling with his hubby when the sun goes down. Sans doesn't like having to put his foot down, it's too much work. Hopefully he won't have to do too much of that with Fieri.

… Who am I kidding, that's his entire character in my notes: control issues. Ah well, at least Sans isn't afraid to stand up for himself. I'm so proud of him not just rolling over and taking it.