Sans huffed and winced as the belt was pulled yet tighter, with a muffled pop the thin layer of magic that usually kept clothes out of the gap between his hips and ribs gave out. Catty let out a cry of triumph. She quickly started winding the belt snugly around Sans's spine before carefully tying it off.
"was that really necessary?"
"Of course!"
"Like totally," Bratty agreed with a giggle. She helped hold Sans still and kept the robe in place as Catty tugged the belt for that final adjustment.
"okay. but why?"
"Because you're, like. one of the few monsters who can."
"but it's really uncomfortable."
"Maybe we should loosen it just a tad?" Bratty asked.
Catty shook her head, "It'll be uncomfortable no matter what unless we let him be normal. And it'll, like, totally ruin the look if it's loose! It's just for the day anyway."
Sans sighed, "yeah, guess i'll just have to suck it up." She was right, it would be uncomfortable but no more than any ill fitting clothes.
"You'll like this part, you get to sit down now."
"oh boy," Sans said unenthusiastically as he moved to sit on a stool while Catty and Bratty pulled out paints and brushes. Wait… Sans squinted as the pair zeroed in on his face. What does he even need make up for? Well, it was something to keep them busy and his mind occupied until it was time to start the ceremony anyway. Sans sighed and closed his eyes as the feather light touches started.
The door burst open, Papyrus crashed in. "SORRY I'M LATE! EVERYTHING IS SO CROWDED I WAS AFRAID I WOULDN'T MAKE IT AT ALL."
"hey bro, nice entrance." Sans smiled up at Papyrus, his eyes softening with relief.
Bratty made an unhappy noise. She pulled out a clean handkerchief and licked it before rubbing it over Sans's face, gross.
"That entrance was totally wicked awesome!" Catty said gleefully before refilling the brush with paint and turning back to Sans's face.
"THANK YOU BOTH! IT WILL BE MY ONLY GRAND ENTRANCE TODAY, I DON'T WANT TO OUTDO YOU AT YOUR OWN WEDDING!"
"and i appreciate the huge sacrifice that is for you."
Papyrus beamed.
"You're, like, just in time," Catty said cheerfully. "We're just about done, now if you could just hold still…"
Sans sighed, he'd been holding still in various poses for them all morning. He was worn-out from all the holding still he'd had to do. Catty and Bratty made a few more swipes with the brushes, then they both got up and switched places. Papyrus moved closer to watch them with interest.
"Close your eyes again, please," Bratty asked. Sans did so, waiting patiently as the feather light touches continued. Then the girls sat back, causing Sans to open his eyes warily, and looked over their work before nodding to themselves. They both put away the brushes, then Bratty picked up a polished mirror for Sans to inspect himself. Sans thought he looked better before they started, but it still wasn't bad.
Papyrus came to stand next to Sans. "YOU LOOK VERY WELL, BROTHER."
"you look pretty good yourself," Sans replied, gesturing to Papyrus's outfit. He had actually changed out of his armor, something he hadn't done since Sans had it commissioned, in honor of the occasion. He was wearing all his best clothes, an explosion of colors that were fully enhanced by the plethora of bright yellow, white, and a few orange flowers he had tied or pinned to any piece of clothing the flowers would stay tied or pinned to. Very likely they were all flowers Papyrus had grown himself, Sans thought some of them looked vaguely familiar.
All in all, Sans thought his bro looked pretty damn good.
There was a knock at the open door, everyone looked over to see Fieri standing in the doorway. "It's about time to start, is everyone ready?" His face fell into a frown when he spotted Papyrus. "What are you doing here?"
"TO SEE MY BROTHER ONE LAST TIME BEFORE THE CEREMONY, OF COURSE! GOOD, LUCK, SANS. I'LL SEE YOU OUT THERE."
"thanks, bro." Sans gave Papyrus one last hug before he left. Catty and Bratty tsk'd and quickly straightened out his robes, adjusting everything to be just so. Sans tried to hold back a sigh.
"Well then, let's all get into place."
"yeah, yeah, got a lot to do today." Sans took his place beside Fieri, not looking forward to everything they had to go through to get to the end of the day. It was going to be a long one.
They walked out to the outer court, where a crowd had gathered. Sans and Fieri stood at the entrance, elevated above the crowd by only a few steps. Sans smiled and waved, a cheer erupted from the crowd in response. They turned and a procession of priests (hey, he finally figured out what a group of priests should be called) was already lining up ahead of them. There was the soft lilt of some instrument being played, the ringing of bells, and then they started walking.
Slow measured steps in time with the music being played, they walked the distance up the hall from the outer court to the inner. The first few priests in the procession stepped aside just outside the inner court, standing to either side of the wide entrance. The rest of the procession filed in quietly, priests peeling off to stand to either side as they continued in. Once Sans and Fieri reached the altar the music stopped.
Fieri stepped to the side, Sans stood before Lord Fiersome's altar. There was no one to join hands with, no one to exchange vows to, no one to break their first bread with. No mortal, anyway. Sans couldn't do any of these things with the bonfire burning merrily away just past the altar.
Instead Sans had the joy of staring at Fieri as he spoke a blessing over the union. Papyrus, the visiting head priests from the other cities, the mayor, and quite a few of the city's wealthiest noblemonsters were lined up against the wall to bear witness. Sans was just glad he didn't have to clasp hands with Fieri or a stand in for Lord Fiersome. Somehow it felt less real without all that, like this would maybe last a year and then he could go back to his life.
Fieri spoke his final blessing. A ball of fire flew out of the bonfire and settled floating just over Sans's head. He tilted his head up, trying to see what had just happened, but the flame moved with his head.
"Face forward!" Fieri hissed.
Sans did as he was told.
"Friends and colleagues, here stands Lord Fiersome's new husband." There was light applause from the gathered witnesses, and enthusiastic applause from the brother of the bridegroom. "And now to present the newlywed to the populace."
"lead the way." Sans managed to resist the urge to shove his hands into pockets he didn't currently have, a placid grin plastered firmly on his face. A parade through the streets on foot, as if sitting still hadn't been exhausting enough already. Why couldn't they just harness up a couple nightmares and take an open carriage through the streets instead? At least he had the feast to look forward to after this. The coming evening not so much, but the usual summer solstice party should be good stuff at least.
The sun was hanging low in the sky, dimming to a heavy red the closer it got to the horizon. This was about the time the city guard would show up to shut the city gates and Sans would be wrapping up his stall for the night or sharing a quick meal with Papyrus before heading to their night watch jobs. Instead he was standing by Lord Fiersome's altar once more as Fieri droned on and on about duty and all that. He couldn't help zoning out, he'd heard the speech three times already during the practice runs.
Once the room emptied out Sans sagged with relief. Now he just had to spend the rest of the night standing watch over the altar like his new "lawfully wedded husband" stands watch over the citizens of this city as they sleep. Yeah, that sounded like so much fun. He rolled his head, his neck gave a satisfying crack as some of the tension was released.
If he was going to do this he was at least going to be comfortable! Sans found the knot that his belt was tied in and began trying to untie it. It took quite a lot of time, it was fully dark before he was even halfway there, but eventually he got the knot undone and the belt loosened. Sans breathed a sigh of relief, his posture going limp now that the intrusion was finally gone. It had been distracting him all day!
Now Sans was left wondering what to do with the belt. Should he just leave it off or tie it back around his newly reformed magic? If Fieri showed up tomorrow morning and found him half dressed how much of an aneurysm would he have? Did Sans want to deal with that? Should he risk leaving it until morning and possibly getting caught?
A sudden change in the light drew Sans out of his thoughts. He looked up and around, turning in place. There were suddenly flames burning on the walls, Sans was fairly certain there hadn't been torches there before, or anything hanging off them either. More light and a soft sound from the entrance had Sans finally turn fully around.
"grillby?"
There said fire elemental was, burning a cheerful, soft orange as he stood just inside the entrance to the hallway and looking just as Sans had last seen him. Spectacles reflecting the light of the bonfire hid his expression, shirtsleeves rolled up past his elbows, grease stained apron tied around his waist, and heavy leather boots. A brilliant smile split his face open and he started walking closer.
"grillby, you can't be here, you'll get in trouble. you'll get us both in trouble." Sans took a small step back, then another.
Grillby didn't respond, simply kept slowly, quietly walking towards Sans.
"you sure have some timing though," Sans barked a short, unhappy laugh. "you were supposed to object before the wedding."
Grillby shook his head, the smile on his face only widening and glowing all the brighter.
"no wait, listen," Sans backed away faster, Grillby right in front of him now. "there's a good chance this thing's only temporary." His tailbone hit the altar, nearly causing him to fall over as his balance wavered. Sans leaned back, a hand resting on the altar to steady himself. "i still gotta ask lord fiersome about it but this might only be for, like, a year." Sans was leaning so far back his other hand had to brace against the altar to keep himself from falling onto it. "if you're really serious about us… if you could just wait a little while…" Grillby was leaning forward now, looming over Sans. Out of desperation Sans did a little hop to sit on the altar, scooting as far back as he could get and leaning back when that wasn't enough to stop Grillby's advance. "just a year… just a little wait…"
"… And if I don't want to wait?" Grillby placed a hand on either side of the altar, caging Sans in as he leaned forward until their faces were mere inches apart.
"you're not supposed to touch that, you'll piss off lord fiersome."
"… No, I don't think I will." Grillby's smile quirked into a smug smirk. His flames flared brighter, going from a soft orange and gold to pale yellow and white. They grew taller and taller until they couldn't go any higher and fell behind him like a long mane of hair. His clothes were eaten away, charring and flecking off as ash, even the spectacles got swallowed up. Underneath more clothes were revealed, shining and colorful.
Sans breathed out slowly, "lord fiersome."
"… Yes." He smiled all the brighter, a wide half moon of blinding white taking up most of his face, his eyes glowing just as brightly as they crinkled with his smile. One of his hands moved up to cup Sans's face.
"wait, hold on just a sec." Sans leaned even further back, a hand up between them. Grillby obligingly gave him some space. "are you really grillby or were you just disguised as him just now?"
"… 'Grillby' was only ever a mortal guise I would put on to better interact with the mortals in my care."
"so that was you this whole time?"
Grillby… Lord Fiersome… the elemental nodded.
"every drunken ramble, every meal you brought me, every slurred drinking song, all the drunks i watched you kick out… that was a god this whole time? when…" a blush lit up Sans's face, glowing almost as brightly as the fire elemental in front of him, "when we kissed?"
"… Yes, I'm sorry for the deception, I never planned to fall in love with you."
Sans looked away, his blush glowing so bright he could see it reflecting off the stone altar he was still sitting on. He didn't expect Lord Fiersome's… Grillby's… the other's hand to gently cup his face and pull him to look at him. Their foreheads touched and all Sans could see was blinding white.
"… I do love you, and after that kiss I hoped you felt the same way. I'm sorry I couldn't find a better way to tell you, but I want you by my side for the rest of your life."
Sans's grin spread wide, he threw his arms over Grillby's neck and held him tightly, foreheads still pressed together. "yeah, i'd like that too." He shifted the angle of his face so their mouths connected, drinking in his new husband's heat. A strong, warm arm wrapped around Sans, pulling him closer and supporting him as Grillby… Lord Fiersome… Sans's husband deepened the kiss.
AN: So we started with two dorks finally confessing to each other and we end with the same two dorks actually married. How many of you saw that coming a mile away? XD Honestly, even if the ending was obvious I still had fun making it happen.
Okay, so for those of you that are happy with the ending and that's enough story for you, there you go. For those of you who want to see where I want to take these two dorks next, chapter 1 of part 2: Divine Honeymoon will start next week (I know I usually take a week off between long projects, but since these are technically the same project we're skipping the break). There will be a slight bump up in the rating and also a few new warnings, so please watch for those when it's posted. Otherwise I'll see you guys there.