Sans let out a yawn as he made his way out of his bedroom, scratching idly at the back of his head. He started down the hall towards the stairs, eager to get a bit of breakfast in him before he once again had to trek out to Snowdin Forest with his brother. He couldn't believe the stubborn skeleton still insisted on going all the way out there, even though it was clearly wearing him down more and more each day. Papyrus was already almost seven months along in his pregnancy, yet he still couldn't give up on his silly quest to capture a human. Worse still, Undyne wasn't budging on her end either, still insisting he would give it up any day now. He swore, if she didn't give in and just tell Papyrus to stay home within the next week, he was going to march right over to her house and—
His internal threat was cut short when his foot caught on something, causing his face to abruptly and rather painfully meet with the carpet in front of him. He let out an annoyed grumble, rubbing lightly at his nose to make sure he hadn't broken the damned thing before looking down at what had tripped him. It was one of the wooden planks that had recently been taken out of the wall between his room and Papyrus's. It had probably fallen down from where it had been propped up next to the newly made door in the hall. He let out an exasperated sigh. There was another thing he could blame on Undyne. That was going to be the baby's room, and of course the sea sprite had insisted on helping them with the renovations to get it ready. Naturally, by 'helping' she meant taking a hack saw to the walls and bossing Sans around to do all that tedious 'putting things back together' stuff.
Sans made sure to pick the board up and prop it back against the wall so Papyrus didn't meet the same fate as him. If that happened, then he'd really have to kill Undyne for leaving that stuff there. Luckily it wasn't blocking the younger skeleton's way from his room to the rest of the house, so there was little chance of him tripping on it unless he tried to go down to his elder brother's room. Still, he didn't want to take the chance.
Upon descending the stairs to the living room, Sans came across a rather curious sight. Papyrus was bent over slightly, his hands braced against his knees, and he was glaring angrily at what appeared to be a heap of black cloth on the floor. He couldn't help but snicker lightly to himself, knowing exactly what was going on here. After all, that was about how far the gravid skeleton could manage to bend anymore without the risk of landing flat on his face, and his arms were clearly not quite long enough to reach whatever was on the ground. It was a little pathetic, but just enough to be funny.
"ya drop somethin' again, bro?" Sans asked with just a hint of teasing, finally deciding to show his poor brother a little bit of mercy. He came over and bent down effortlessly – to which Papyrus couldn't help but narrow his eyes in a bit of envy – grabbing the cloth from off the floor and holding it up to see what it was. It was a long black coat, about Papyrus's size. The material didn't seem that thick but it felt plush and warm, so much so that he had to seriously resist the urge to rub his cheek against it.
"nice jacket. where'd ya get it?"
"THE CINNABUNNY LADY GAVE IT TO ME." Papyrus replied, bracing a hand against his sore back as he straightened up with a small grunt of discomfort. "SHE SAID SHE WAS WORRIED THE BABY WOULD GET TOO COLD SINCE I DON'T HAVE ANY 'MEAT ON MY BONES'—"
"hah!"
"—AND SINCE I DON'T HAVE A NATURAL FUR COAT LIKE HER, SHE SAID I SHOULD BUNDLE UP MORE. SHE ACTUALLY MADE THAT FOR ME HERSELF! IT WAS RATHER THOUGHTFUL OF HER… I-I'M NOT USED TO JUST GETTING GIFTS LIKE THIS OUT OF THE BLUE."
"hey, maybe she's just showin' some appreciation for a regular customer." Sans replied with a smirk as he handed the coat up to his brother. It would make sense, after all. For the past several months, Papyrus had been getting cravings for Cinnamon Bunnies. He'd gotten them so often that it had practically become a morning ritual. Besides, the profit that the nice little shopkeeper had made off of him since the cravings started probably more than covered the cost of her making him that coat.
Of course, now that he thought about it… Sans took a quick glance around the room, and he spotted it in no time. A pink and yellow pastry box bearing the logo of the Snowed Inn Shop was sitting on the table next to his pet rock, clearly left there for him. One of the best parts about these cravings of his brother's was that he almost always bought enough to share. Sans casually made his way over to help himself to his 'breakfast,' plucking one of the rabbit-shaped cinnamon buns out of the box and biting into it hungrily.
"ALRIGHT, HOW DO I LOOK?"
Sans turned to see, already preparing some sort of comment about how the coat totally didn't make him look fat, but he froze in place before he could get a single word out. His eye sockets widened, and the half-eaten cinnabunny held in his hand was dropped to the floor. For a moment, he really could have fooled himself into thinking he was staring at W.D. Gaster when he'd still been pregnant with Papyrus. Now that he saw it on his brother, that coat looked exactly like the one their father had always worn. It didn't help that today just happened to be one of those days when Papyrus actually wore a white sweater underneath. He'd never realized before just how much the younger skeleton resembled the old Royal Scientist, but without the cracks in his face, of course. It was… eerie.
"SANS! YOU'RE MAKING A MESS! I'M NOT CLEANING THAT UP!"
The light scolding was enough to bring Sans out of his daze. He quickly bent down and scooped up the dropped pastry, stepping into the kitchen to toss it away. He lingered in there for a moment, staring blankly down into the trash can. Why did he not like seeing Papyrus like that? It gave him the chills, but he couldn't put his finger on why. Maybe it just subconsciously made him a little more nervous for his brother? After all, it hadn't been too long after the younger skeleton was born that Gaster had…
"MOURN YOUR LOST BREAKFAST LATER, LAZYBONES! WE'VE GOT TO GET GOING! WE'RE LATE TO OUR POST AS IT IS!"
"y-yeah. sorry. i'm comin'…"
The two of them trudged down the same old path out of Snowdin, making sure to keep to the snow that had already been compacted down by the travels of others. Sans made sure to keep their pace relatively slow, walking slightly behind Papyrus so he could keep an eye on him. He seemed to be doing okay so far, though he hadn't attempted to pick up the pace on him today like he normally might have.
"hey, are you sure you're up for this today? You look tired." Sans asked for what had to be the millionth time that year. As usual, Papyrus merely scoffed.
"'TIRED?!'" he replied, trying to put a little bit of his usual energy into his clearly weary voice. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOESN'T KNOW THE MEANING OF THE WORD!"
Sans let out a sigh, not fooled in the slightest.
"c'mon, papy… there's no shame in admitting you've hit your limit. i can pick up the slack for you until you're ready to come back to the job, and i'm sure undyne can, too."
"NO! IT MUST BE ME WHO CAPTURES THE HUMAN! IT CAN BE NO ONE ELSE!" he retorted instantly. "WE ONLY NEED ONE MORE SOUL! IF I CAN'T CAPTURE THIS LAST ONE, THEN I'LL—"
"yeah, yeah, I know…" Sans interrupted, having been in this old song and dance more times than he could count. "you'll never become a famous royal guardsman…"
Following that, Papyrus normally went on his usual spiel about how fame and popularity would make all of his dreams come true. This time, however, that tired old speech didn't come. Instead, he suddenly stopped walking, almost causing his brother to run right into the back of him.
"I-IT'S NOT JUST THAT ANYMORE… I…" he paused, taking a deep breath before releasing it in an almost mournful sigh. "OH, WHO AM I KIDDING? ALL YOU'LL DO IS LAUGH AT ME IF I TELL YOU…"
Sans stared up at his younger brother for a while, brows knit in confusion. This was definitely new. He'd never seen Papyrus truly embarrassed about anything in his life.
"i won't laugh. i promise."
Papyrus stared back for a moment, as though trying to judge if he was telling the truth or not, a faint tinge of blue spreading over his cheeks.
"A-ALRIGHT… I… I WANT TO HAVE THE CHILD ON THE SURFACE."
"wait… what..?" Sans asked, somewhat stunned. He certainly hadn't been expecting that.
"YOU HEARD ME… I WANT TO HAVE MY SON UP ON THE SURFACE. I DON'T WANT HIM TO GROW UP DOWN HERE IN THE COLD AND THE DARK LIKE WE DID. I WANT HIM TO BE ABLE TO PLAY UNDER THE SUN AND RUN AROUND IN BIG OPEN FIELDS. I WANT A BETTER PLACE FOR HIM THAN… THIS." He emphasized that last word with a sweeping gesture of his arm, indicating the gloom that surrounded them on all sides. "AND I WANT A PART IN MAKING THAT HAPPEN. THAT'S WHY IT HAS TO BE ME, AND WHY I HAVE TO DO IT BEFORE THE BABY'S BORN."
Sans could do nothing but stare for the longest time. Was this really Papyrus he was talking to? He'd never imagined he'd hear his younger brother say something so… grown up. He'd kind of hoped, in the back of his mind at least, that the flamboyant skeleton would mature a bit with a kid on the way, but he honestly hadn't expected him to, especially not to this point.
Unfortunately, all this really did was complicate matters. With this new revelation, it was clear that Papyrus had doubled down on his quest to capture a human. He wasn't just doing this for himself anymore, and because of that he wouldn't be giving up on it, no matter what.
'jeez, papy… why ya gotta do this to me?' Sans thought to himself. He now understood how Undyne could have so much trouble saying 'no' to Papyrus. After all, how could he tell him to give up on something like that without feeling like the biggest jackass on the planet? Of course, it also meant that it was doubly important to convince Undyne to order him home as soon as possible.
"hey, look… why don't you head up to the sentry station on your own? it's not too far now. i gotta head back. i, uhh… i think i left my phone at the house. i'll be right back, okay?" he announced hastily, quite purposefully neglecting to respond to what his brother had said a moment ago. Papyrus didn't seem too upset over it. After all, he'd kept his promise not to laugh.
"ALRIGHT. AND… I PROMISE TO BE CAREFUL." The taller skeleton replied, giving his brother a small smile as he tacked on that last bit of reassurance that he'd behave himself. Sans, satisfied with that answer, merely replied with a nod before quickly heading back up the path towards Snowdin.
Sans, of course, didn't go all the way back to Snowdin. Instead, he merely made his way down the path until Papyrus was well out of sight, ducking behind some bushes at the side of the road when the coast was clear. He then pulled out his phone – which was most definitely not left at home – and dialed Undyne's number. He had to wait a few rings before she picked up.
"Yeah, whaddaya want? This better be good!"
"depends on your definition of 'good.' look, this can't wait anymore. you gotta order papyrus to stop. it's kinda gettin' too close to the wire to be playing chicken with him."
"I… I know that, dammit! J-just give it a little more time. You were sayin' earlier this week that he's startin' to wear down. He'll be calling it quits any day now!"
"dammit, undyne… he could go into labor at the damned sentry station and he still wouldn't call it quits. he's being stubborn as hell about this, even more so than usual."
"Yeah, I seriously doubt he could get any more stubborn than—"
"he wants to have the baby on the surface."
There was dead air for almost a full minute after that last interruption. Finally, he could hear the sudden rush of air by the speaker as Undyne let out a sigh of defeat.
"Alright… I'll be over to talk to him tonight after you guys get back."
"thanks."
Sans hung up after that. Well, that had gone more smoothly than he'd feared. Here he thought he'd be arguing the point with her for a solid hour without her caving in. He supposed that crazy fish lady really did understand Papyrus if just hearing that single scrap of new information was enough to completely switch sides on the issue. Now, even if she'd gone so far as to disband the entire Royal Guard to discourage his human hunting, he'd still have a reason to be out there. He really wasn't going to quit. Not unless something drastically changed around here.
Sans eventually climbed out of the bushes and back onto the main path, brushing the snow and leaves off of his coat sleeves before placing his hands back in their usual spots in his pockets. He had to get back to Papyrus, but he couldn't exactly rush. After all, he had to make it look like he'd gone all the way home and back or his brother may suspect he'd been up to something. Oh well. It's not like he was in any real rush. After all, if Papyrus just sat there at the sentry station, what could possibly happen to him?
"okay, sans, don't fuckin' jinx it now…" he grumbled to himself at that last thought. But really, what could happen?
Papyrus had just made it to the sentry station by the time Sans had finished his phone call with Undyne. However, he didn't immediately take his usual seat inside. The expectant skeleton narrowed his eyes hatefully at that little box of a prison cell. He really didn't want to sit there all day again, he wanted to do a bit of actual patrolling! His gaze shifted back towards the path home. Knowing that lazybones brother of his, Sans would likely be a while getting back. What harm could a little extra walk do him?
Papyrus strode defiantly past the little shack, heading down the path leading towards the Ruins. All he would do was make one short jaunt down to the main gate of the Ruins and come right back. Surely something like that was okay. After all, it wasn't that far of a walk, and the path out that way was mostly level. Surely that fell under his promise to be careful.
He made his way across the small bridge in the path, slipping through the bars of his 'expertly-crafted' gate with little effort, even considering how large his belly had gotten. Perhaps Sans really was onto something when he said he'd made them too wide… Well, it didn't matter now. He'd fix that at a later date.
Pretty soon the door to the Ruins was in sight. Papyrus let out a small grumble to himself. Dammit, he knew it would be quick, but he didn't think his little detour would be over that soon. He let out a sigh, unconsciously resting a hand against the swollen barrier in his abdomen, feeling a familiar wriggling within. Perhaps even this short of a walk was getting to be too much for him? The baby certainly didn't care for it, given that he'd started to 'complain' already.
"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT… YOU WIN, KID. I'LL GO BACK…" he grumbled, gently rubbing at the spot where he knew the unborn infant's back was pressed close against the barrier, hoping that might calm him a little. Oh well. It had been worth a shot, but he knew he'd better go sit down and wait for his brother to join him back at the…
Papyrus froze, catching movement out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned back towards the Ruins and, much to his surprise, the door was open. But… That was impossible, wasn't it? The doors had been sealed for ages! And… Wait… What was that in front of the door? It looked to be a figure, a small one, possibly even shorter than Sans. Was it… a child? The skeleton was so stunned by this development that he stood immobile as the creature approached, stopping mere meters in front of him. Finally, a word came to him, an identification as to what this strange thing simply must be.
"HUMAN!" Papyrus announced with a huge grin on his face, trying his best to revive his usual boisterousness in his voice as he puffed out his chest heroically. Or, at least what he hoped looked 'heroic.' It was hard to tell how it came off, given his current physical state. Then, his eyes narrowing suspiciously, his grin began to falter slightly, a seed of doubt taking root. "N-NO, I MEAN… HOLD ON JUST ONE SECOND, YOU!"
Papyrus turned from the creature so it couldn't see him pull a small booklet from a pocket inside his coat. It was titled, appropriately enough, 'How to Identify a Human.' He flipped through it hastily, more or less skimming the contents of the pages. Okay, moppet haircut – check. Skin coloration – yeah, totally one of those listed there. Clothing – yep, it wore clothes alright. Well, that settled that! He snapped the booklet shut and replaced it into his coat before turning to face the human once more.
"HUMAN! I, THE GREAT—GAHHH!" Papyrus's reignited speech was cut short suddenly when he looked down to find that the human was not standing a few yards away where he'd left it, but was now standing mere inches from him. He hastily drew back a few steps, already thoroughly creeped out by the little primate creature from the surface world. He then tried his best to recover the trembling remains of his confident grin, though all he really managed was a shaky half-smile.
"TH-THAT'S VERY RUDE, YOU KNOW! Y-YOU SHOULDN'T SNEAK UP BEHIND PEOPLE LIKE THAT!" he scolded half-heartedly, taking another step back. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous. Was it the calm, hungry smile on its face? Could it be the two glints of red behind that veil of brown hair? Perhaps the toy knife it held in its hand, a fine layer of dust covering the plastic blade? No, surely not. This may be a human, but it was but a child. How much harm could a little lost child do him?
Sans was about halfway back to the sentry station when he heard his brother's ringtone sound from inside his pocket. That was odd… Was Papyrus already beginning to wonder what was taking him so long? Perhaps he was moseying along a bit too slowly…
"hey, bro. what's up?" he answered casually, but his brother didn't reply immediately. He could hear sounds on the other end, quick footsteps through thick snow, the sound of a branch breaking, and, most worrying of all, Papyrus's ragged, breathless panting. He was running from something. Sans immediately took off up the path at full sprint, running faster than he could remember having ever moved before in his life.
"papyrus?! what's wrong?! what's going on?!" he shouted over the phone, trying to get some clue as to what had happened and just how much danger his younger brother had stumbled into. It took a while for Papyrus to catch his breath enough to give a coherent answer, but when he finally did, it chilled the shorter skeleton to the core.
"H-HUMAN!"