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Sans stumbled through the front door out of the rain, swaying as he dropped face first onto the sofa. He simply lay there for what felt like hours and hours, listening to the steady, soothing drumming of the rain. It matched the pounding in the side of his head. He curled up on the couch, pulling his knees up to his chest and shivering, squeezing his eyes shut in attempt to sleep. He could feel the aches from exhaustion deep in his bones, but no matter how he tried proper sleep simply would not come to him. He drifted in a state between consciousness and dreams, unable to commit to either. Sighing and rubbing his temples, Sans tried to block out the thoughts that cluttered his mind, his head still feeling heavy and dull from the alcohol.
Unfortunately, the buzz had long since worn off, and all he felt from it was slightly sick and dizzy, and his mouth felt a bit fuzzy. He groaned into the cushions yet again when he felt something soft and warm come into contact with him. He slowly blinked awake, looking about in the dark but seeing no one.
Someone had placed a blanket over him.
He gave a small smile, curling up and pulling it over his head to dry off the rest of the rain that he had brought in with him. Sans gradually sat up, swaddling himself in the blanket and letting out a long, quiet breath, thinking.
Spend what time you have with the people that love you.
Sans felt a buzzing in his pocket and he inwardly groaned. He mentally kicked himself for taking off from Alphys's place, but it was a bit too late to change that now. He checked his phone with one hand, still not leaving the warmth of the blankets as the glow lit up the darkness of the room.
The message from Alphys was surprisingly much longer than any messages he was used to receiving from her, and he scanned it quickly for important details but only surmised that she wanted him back at the lab in the morning. He wasn't looking forward to it, but the guilt would continue to hang on his shoulders until he apologized to her. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to put it off until seeing her in person, but he was just too tired to do it immediately. He sent a simple 'ok' as a response, sticking the phone back into his wet pocket and sighing.
"Uncle Sans?"
Sans nearly leaped off the couch in shock, heartbeat hammering away in his ears.
"Hot Belgian Waffles," Sans breathed heavily, hand on his chest as he stared through the dark at Frisk. She was rubbing her eyes with one hand, other hand tucked behind her back. She wore panda print pajamas, identical to the ones he had seen Asriel wearing previously. "I nearly jumped outta my skin, kiddo." he let out an uneasy chuckle.
"Sorry..." she mumbled sleepily and clambered up onto the couch to sit beside him. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"What's got you up at three in the morning, kid?"
"Asriel snores," she grumbled, and Sans snickered. "... What's so funny?"
"Sorry," he grinned down at her as she snuggled next to him, using his belly as a pillow. "Still thinking of him as a flower. Snoring flowers are just kind of a funny image."
"I fail to see the humor in the situation," she frowned, slowly closing her eyes. "He snores so loud! At least if he was still a flower he wouldn't need to sleep."
Sans only shook his head.
They were silent for a while, listening to the drumbeat of the rain on the roof. It was soothing, in a way, and before long Sans had started to finally drift off.
"... Uncle Sans?"
"Hmm?" he replied without opening his eyes.
"... I'm really glad you and Miss Alphys could help Asriel so much. I've never seen him as happy as he is now."
"Don't worry 'bout it," Sans yawned.
"Uncle Sans?"
"Hmm?"
"Is Mom gonna be okay?"
Sans slowly, gradually opened his eyes, forcing himself to focus.
"What makes you ask a question like that, kid?"
"I think..." Frisk started quietly, curling up against him until she wormed her way into the blankets with him. "I think she really worries about Asriel, 'cause Alphys said that if he gets hurt even a little it could be really bad and he has to drink that gross purple stuff every day just to keep from melting like the am-amana-amalagamamas...?"
"Amalgamates," Sans corrected her quietly, staring out the window at the storm.
"Yeah. Those," she nodded slowly, stifling her own yawn as she struggled to stay awake. "Mom gets really, really worried about him sometimes."
"Is that so."
"Yeah," Frisk yawned again, her speech growing slower. "I tried t'tell her that she doesn't need to worry 'bout Flowey – I mean, Asriel, anymore, but... I mean, I even told her that I'll protect Asriel, but she's still worried... and-and she just seemed so sad but no matter what I say it just doesn't seem t'help..."
She trailed off, mumbling something into his belly that he couldn't quite hear.
"How 'bout we figure it out in the morning?" Sans patted her on the head.
"Okay," she murmured without opening her eyes. "Good night, Daddy."
Sans blinked.
Just when he thought he couldn't possibly love that kid any more than he already did.
She was already breathing heavily, as sleep had carried her away. He could almost feel his heart starting to break, and he felt the sudden urge to dry his eyes as he smiled.
Maybe Grillby really was the best person to come to for advice.
"... Heh. Good night to you too, kiddo."
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A/N
Just a bit of fluff that I wrote in some spare time. Next chapter should be significantly longer. See you then! (And thanks for all the comments! They really do brighten up my day. ^_^)