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The rain had finally begun to let up by the time they carefully wandered down the mountain's trails. The drizzle dripped freely through the pines as they meandered along the path. The occasional distant peal of lightning could still be seen as the storm passed them by, the rolling thunder growing further and further away as they descended. Water bounced off of them as they walked, Chara's hand firmly in Void Sans's.

"Not a problem, Tori," Sans spoke into Void's borrowed (ancient) cellphone. "Just have the others stay there for now. Yeah, of course. We're on our way down now."

He clicked it shut and handed it back to Void, wearily trudging along in front of their impromptu train with Chara practically being dragged along.

"Whelp," Sans stuck his hands in his pockets after brushing the rain from his face. "You about gave Tori a heart attack and Alphys had a semi-nervous breakdown. Not to mention my brother hooked up with a robot, but I'm not entirely certain I can pin that one on you. Hope you're proud of yourself, kid."

Chara hung their head in shame, unable to quite meet his gaze.

"It was a pretty stupid thing to pull," Void said quietly as they walked. "Just what were you tryin' to prove by that little stunt, anyway?"

Chara didn't respond.

"... Suit yourself," Void gave a limp half shrug.

"What, that's it?" Sans glanced back at him. "No monologue about how it was an irresponsible and stupid thing to do?"

"Nah," Void shrugged again. "I figure that's best left to the motherly authority. You tellin' me that she's not gonna grill the kid over this?"

"Fair enough," Sans matched his shrug with one of his own.

Sans suddenly shivered and convinced himself that it was only because of the rain. He felt a little bit sorry for the kid.

The wrath of Toriel was not something he wanted on his head.

That was partially why they omitted a certain 'nearly falling to their deaths' bit from their explanation, which Sans quietly felt as if he was going to regret later.

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The warm glow of the television screen cast long shadows over the sofa, dancing shades skittering across the room. Sans sleepily watched a bored weatherman explaining the sudden influx of rain, jabbing at different areas across the map with a pointer. He almost forgot that Chara was sitting beside him in the dark, curled up in a spare blanket with a steaming mug of hot chocolate to warm her hands. They stayed like that for quite a while, in relative silence, listening to the droning of the weatherman as the light rain continued to drum on the roof and tap gently at the windows.

They had returned to the quiet home after a tearful reunion, and Toriel had stayed up with them for a long while before finally meandering off to bed with a quiet kiss to Sans. Chara made a gagging motion but watched her leave, and they sat for a long time in quiet.

"... Are you just gonna stay up all night?" Chara asked at last, not looking up at him.

"Unless you've got any better ideas," Sans withheld a yawn. He cast a weary glance over to his sleeping duplicate with his feet kicked up in the reclining chair just off to the side of the fireplace, occasionally emanating quiet little snores. "Besides, somebody's gotta keep an eye on you."

Chara pulled the blanket a little tighter, scowling. They took a small sip of their still steaming cocoa, watching the television.

"... I know what you're up to," Chara said after a few minutes, and Sans blinked awake.

"Whuzzat?"

"You're trying to make sure I don't sneak off again."

"I thought we already established this?" Sans flipped the channel on the television to a game show where humans acted out scenes from slips of paper that they'd pulled from a hat.

"Don't attempt to get smarmy with me."

"Who says 'smarmy' anymore?" he snorted. "What'd you do, kid, eat an old thesaurus or somethin'?"

"You know what I mean," they replied coldly.

Silence washed over the room like a wave for a little while, and Sans absentmindedly flipped through channels until he found an odd black and white film about a monster made from an amalgamation of human parts and given life. It was fascinating in a way, but he still had to fight to keep awake.

"... Do you think I'm a demon?"

Sans blinked, looking down at the child beside him. They were not watching the screen any longer, however, instead gazing deep into their empty cup.

"A demon?" Sans cocked a skeletal eyebrow. "Nah. A weird little kid who's made some dumb decisions? Sure. But nobody thinks you're a demon, kid. You'll be alright."

"... Thanks, I guess," Chara answered almost silently, still not looking at him.

"Don't mention it," he grunted with a small shrug.

"You couldn't pay me to."

Quiet once again swelled to fill the room, and Sans readjusted himself to a more uncomfortable position to ensure that his eyes didn't close. But from all the exertion recently, the lack of sleep from the last few days, he could still feel his eyes drooping...

At least, until he remembered something strange, and his eyes shot wide open. His trembling hand drifted to his chest where he could have sworn that he'd find a wound, yet found nothing but his thin shirt.

"... So," Chara swirled the remnants of their drink around without looking at him. "Funnybones over there told me something."
"What's that?" he fought to keep his voice even, suddenly unable to look directly at them.

"Sans – my Sans, not you – he told me that sometimes, he would get these..." they mimed holding something with their hands. "These weird dreams that he couldn't tell whether or not they were memories. Visions, almost. Dreams where everything goes right. Dreams where I'm... different."

Sans was wide awake now, a couple theories bouncing around his head, but he kept them to himself.

"Did he now," Sans said quietly, casting a glance once again back to his doppelganger.

"So how can he have dreams like that?" Chara asked quietly. "How can he have dreams about a world neither of us have ever seen?"

"Sanses are weird sometimes," Sans shrugged. "Although it is entirely possible that due to the proximity of our timelines the two of us could have developed a low level psychic connection that allowed us to catch glimpses of the other's world every now and then."

"How would that even work?" Chara blinked, looking up at him.

"Pffft, I dunno," he lied, looking back to the television screen. "Shouldn't you be resting up for tomorrow, anyway?"

"Why?" they frowned again. "What's important about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow's Monday."

"... And?" Chara rolled their hand through the air expectantly.
"And your mom is a schoolteacher," Sans changed channels once again, more out of distraction than anything. "You seriously think she's gonna just let you out of her sight for eight hours out of the day?"

Chara groaned deeply, holding their head in their hands.

"Sucks to be you, kid," he chortled. "I don't have to do anything tomorrow."

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Sans read and reread the note to ensure that he hadn't missed anything, and he desperately wished that he hadn't read it at all.

Sans,

Would you mind watching the children for me for the day? Something has come up with Alphys, I'll be with her all day and I won't be back until sometime tonight.

Thanks!

Love from Tori

"... Goddammit."

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