Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.
This chapter is dedicated to Peramia and malenchka whose kind words really drove me on to create this chapter.
Iterations
Out in the Open
With Papyrus sitting down, Sans was the taller one, and it made him feel oddly nostalgic.
Just like then, Papyrus was vibrating with excitement. And Sans was the one who had to move things along. He felt like a responsible older brother again as he helped his brother get ready. As if time had rewound to back to when he had the motivation to do things. He sighed as he wrapped the red scarf around his brother's neck, making sure it was arranged so that it would billow like a cape with the wind. It was only fitting for his heroic brother.
But things were different now.
He was the little one now, at least in size. There would no longer be any picking up his younger brother. No more nuzzling the tiny child. He needed to think of his brother as grown now. He owed it to him. He could not keep leaving him out of the loop, not when it put him in danger rather than protect him as he had hoped. Balloon Frisk hovered nearby, serving as a reminder that depending on others could actually help.
He reached a hand out towards his friend. Frisk moved immediately towards his palm, settling down upon it. He grinned, just a bit of trepidation in his eyes.
"you ready to try and go out in the open, kid?"
The orb rose and fell slowly. A 'yes,' though one as uncertain and hopeful as he was.
He grabbed the ribbon that dangled from the orb—an addition to improve the disguise— and tied the other end of it around Papyrus's wrist. Nobody would every question such eccentricity from his brother, even in these trying times. They all looked towards each other, all feeling the same fear that maybe the disguise would not be good enough to fool anyone.
They all took a collective breath to steady themselves. It was time to go.
Grillby hugged his daughter tightly. It was her first day out of the surge protector. While her power was still unstable, she was no longer dangerous. Seeing her in the bubble brought back good memories of him raising her, but also had worried him immensely. He had never seen her so far out of control. The fact that she had brought down a good portion of their cobbled-together home had him worried that she would burn herself out. He had seen it happen to a flame monster once and would prefer to never see such a gruesome sight again. She was finally stable enough for them to move.
They decided to bite the bullet and go straight to the one who they needed to fool the most. Undyne. Sans could tell from the barely noticeable flickering of Frisk's balloon that she was nervous. Even Papyrus was subdued, his voice just a bit lower in volume and his body seeming to stand just a little less tall than usual. He could feel his own magic, weak and recovering, pooling just under the surface of his body instinctually. He knew, without a doubt, that he would use it if he felt like he had to, but the burning in his bones made him wish that he would not need to. They would run if this did not work. Not knowing what would happen to Frisk's soul should she die without her body made that backup plan a necessity. But they needed to try to move forward. And having everyone out in the open and able to move freely was a essential part of that.
But Undyne was right in front of them now. And she had noticed them.
"Hey, nerds!" Her eye immediately went to the balloon tied to Papyrus's wrist. She continued, confusion in her voice, "Nice glowing balloon?"
"THANK YOU. IT IS A VERY GOOD BALLOON."
"Uh…"
"yup, Paps found her."
"Her?" Her gaze turned suspicious.
Sans immediately went to their cover story. He had it prepared, hoping to head off any concerns or suspicions that the general might have. "yeah. it isn't the best vessel but she didn't have a lot of choices with that demon wreaking havoc up there."
Undyne's eye grew soft with sympathy, just what he hoped for. "Oh. A ghost. I'm sure you could get a better, stronger vessel from Alph… from the Royal Scientist. She's made one before."
Sans blinked. He had known that the two had gotten closer than he had every seen them. But he did not think the were close enough that Alphys would admit that her famous robot, which had gotten her promoted to Royal Scientist in the first place, was only as successful as it was because a ghost was possessing it. Everyone else just thought she had made a semi-sentient robot through her experiments and were hopeful that she could create the power necessary for them to break the barrier someday. Sans knew that that was not what she originally had intended, but Alphys was easily swayed towards lying with the praise she desperately needed to ease her low self-esteem.
"sounds like a good idea, but i don't think she could switch vessels so easily. she's… young and unpracticed." There was no way that Alphys would not figure out what she really was if she got a close enough look.
"Okay," Undyne said, uncertainly. "Just make sure you take care of her. She might not be safe in such a weak vessel."
"we can take care of her," Sans said, voice firmer than he intended. He was somehow offended by idea that she thought they could not take care of one of their own.
"YEAH, UNDYNE. WE ARE THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND THE STRONG SANS!"
Sans and Undyne sputtered, Sans flushing in embarrassment and Undyne beginning to laugh.
"Fuhuhuhu! The Strong Sans?"
"yeah, bro. really?" He asked, still blushing.
"YEAH," Papyrus stated without any semblance of doubt. "WHO ELSE CAN TELEPORT A WHOLE SQUADRON WITHOUT USING ALL HIS POWER? WHO ELSE HAS THE GUMPTION GO TOE-TO-TOE WITH THE HUMAN WHILE SCAVENGING ALL ALONE? I HAVE THE COOLEST BROTHER IN THE WORLD!"
Sans eye-sockets softened, though he was still blue with a slight blush. He responded sincerely though timidly. He had not gotten such high praise from his brother since he was a small child. "thanks, bro."
Undyne made sure that Papyrus understood that, in no way, was she disrespecting his brother. "Don't I know it. Sans is a veritable soldier with the way he's stepped up for us all. I was just laughing at the nickname. You're worse than Asgore sometimes, I swear."
Papyrus pouted, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH 'THE STRONG SANS'?"
"It should be Sans the Strong at least, dweeb. It sounds better. Like he's a warrior!"
"BUT IT GOES 'THE GREAT PAPYRUS' SO IT SHOULD BE STRUCTURED THE SAME WAY."
As they continued to argue about his newly-minted nickname, Sans settled down to lay on the floor, content in things feeling normal for the first time in a long time. Frisk floated down and landed upon his chest, also perfectly happy with how things had turned out. She bounced upon him teasingly and he immediately flushed blue again.
"heh, i don't mind though it's kinda embarrassing. he's complimenting me in his own one- of-a-kind way, you know?"
The warmth that Frisk exuded let him know that she understood exactly what he meant.
A/N: Another chapter up! Hopefully this is the means to a better end. But we'll have to see, yeah? ;)
Hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time friendlies,
Dfsemina