Warnings- abuse, PTSD, Underfell AU, foul language and crude humor
You couldn't stop shaking. Your run in with the Queen of the Ruins left you with more than just a scratch or two. The blood was freezing to your sweater, making the usually soft fabric hard and stiff. You stumbled on a rock and felt the frozen blood crack with the jostled movement.
Kneeling in the snow, you let a sob rip through your chest. The tears instantly froze to your face, so you tried to wipe your face dry before even more tears froze. You heard a gasp from a little ways ahead and looked up, scared.
"Who's there?" A deep, gravelly voice called over to you. You could feel your heart stutter, and your shaking was more than just the cold. Falling back into old habits, you started quoting things to cover your fear.
"Nobody." You responded shakily, thinking back to the man that managed to trick the Cyclops.
"Nobody my ass. Show yourself before I blast you to hell and back." The growling voice dropped two octaves.
"I c-can't" You squeaked out. Your legs were frozen, and even if they weren't your injuries would have prevented you from moving.
"Can't? That sounds like bullshit." The voice said, sounding closer. Someone came out from behind a snow covered bush. He instantly made you want to run.
He was a skeleton. A living skeleton. His black eye sockets had crimson lights blazing in them, making the blackness surrounding them even darker. His mouth was crowded with sharp fangs, one of them golden and reflecting the light off the snow. His mouth was turned up into an uneasy smile, but that didn't comfort you in the slightest. His jacket was black, with white fur along the hood and was wearing black short with sneakers.
It struck you that he was very sensible to wear something comfortable like sneakers. His voice cut through your thoughts again.
"What the fuck? You're a…" He swore a few more times under his breath, sweat beading up on his skull. You were taken back at the colorful language spewing from his mouth, but you couldn't feel your fingers anymore, so that took up more of your thoughts at this point.
The skeleton looked around frantically, as if he were afraid of being found. He quickly rushed over to you and yanked you to your feet. His boney hands were scalding hot in comparison to the icy numbness of your arm.
"What are you doing down here?" He growled quietly into your ear. Your teeth had started chattering, so it was hard to respond.
"T-t-tripped." Was all you managed to ground out. The skeleton monster saw your predicament and let go of your arm. He unzipped his jacket and tossed it at you, your frozen fingers unable to work the zipper.
He growled and angrily zipped the jacket, mumbling under his breath the whole time. It struck you that this skeleton monster had a bad temper.
"Damn fuckin humans, screwing with my routes… now I have to report to him… I was hoping to avoid that fuckass…" He grumbled, grabbing hold of the hood of the jacket and using it to drag you across a small wooden bridge.
The next clearing had a small wooden booth and a shattered lamp. You could see a figure looming in the distance, and the closer you got the more the fog cleared to show the figure in more detail. You felt your soul shudder at the sight of the new monster.
He was tall, the first skeleton barely coming to the underside of his breastplate. His shoulder pads ended in dangerous looking spikes, his midriff bare showing off his spine. A grimacing skull buckle rested on his pants, shining brightly. His skull was the most intimidating part of the whole ensemble. Sharp fangs, pointed eyes with glowing red pupils and a large crack covering the left eye.
"H-hey boss. Look what I caught for ya." The short skeleton said in a shaking voice. The taller skeleton glared down at the shorter first before turning his attention to you. You could feel his gaze burning through the jacket right to your soul.
"Why is it wearing your jacket, you imbecile?" He said, his loud voice commanding and terrifying. He crossed his arm, tucking his red gloves under his arms. You saw that his gloves were pointed at the end, most likely for claws. You gulped.
"It was frozen to the ground. A human ain't any good to us if it's dead." The shorter skeleton said with a tight chuckle. The tall skeleton glared back at you, somehow raising an eyebrow at you. He uncrossed his arms and took a step forward. The small skeleton took a small step back.
"I'll take it from here." He said, tightly grabbing your upper arm, causing you to cry out. He started walking away before turning back for a second. "Good job Sans." He said it so softy, you weren't even sure if he did.
The short skeleton, Sans, gulped and stared shaking even harder.
"N-no problem Bro." He replied.
"Do not call me your brother, you pathetic piece of bone. It was a mistake to compliment something like you." The taller skeleton spit at him, a red bone materializing and attacking Sans. He barely dodged in time and scrambled away, not responding.
"W-why did you attack him?" You found the courage to say. The tall skeleton turned his glare back to you. His grip on your arm tightened and you could feel his claws cutting through your skin, through the jacket and your sweater.
"You are not allowed to speak, human. You are to listen, and not make a single sound. You will do what I say." He spat at you, dragging you through the snow. You tried to keep your footing, but you tripped. He didn't slow, and simply dragged you behind him.
The tall skeleton dragged you to a small town. All the buildings were boarded up, but you could see light filtering from the cracks of the boards. There was faint whispering as you were dragged, but you never actually saw another living thing.
He pulled you to your feet in time to throw you into a cage in what looked to be a shed next to the only house in the town that wasn't boarded up and falling apart. Locking the cage, the tall skeleton glanced back at you and almost smiled.
"Nyeh heh heh." He laughed cruelly. "Now, I have a bartering chip against that pansy ass king. You, stay put and don't make a single sound." His eyes glowed blood red and you felt something wrap around your throat. "Or else."
He left you with that threat, cold, hungry and scared.
The next morning – you knew it was morning because there was light coming through the crack under the door- you wished you were dead, or at least sleeping to avoid the pain of the cold. Overnight the water in your hair had frozen, leaving your head a heavy mass of frost. You stopped shivering a few hours ago.
You knew that was really bad for your health, but you were starting to think that maybe getting so cold you fell asleep and never wake up might be better than whatever these damn skeletons had planned for you.
The door opened, but you couldn't find it in you to raise your head to check who it was. You felt hot hands touching your cheek, and you managed to flinch a little. It was like pure fire was touching our skin.
You heard swearing from above you, but you weren't able to connect the voice with a face. Warm arms picked you up and suddenly it was like you disappeared. Everything went numb, and suddenly you were warm.
Too warm, actually. You felt the front in your hair melting quickly, soaking your sweater and making you damp. The heat of wherever you were made sweat bead up on your face. The hands were fluttering on your cheek, your forehead, your shoulders.
"Oh fuck… shit! Boss'll kill me if you die…" The voice said. You were warming up enough to think a little bit clearer.
"S-sans?" You croaked, wincing at the pain in your throat. He sucked in a breath and crouched in front of you again.
"Oh fuck… at least you can still talk. Here, you gotta eat this." Something warm was shoved into your hands. Focusing your eyes, you saw an iced bun. A shaking hand lifted your hand to your mouth, prompting you to take a bite.
Instantly, all your aches and pains were gone. Your fingers were no longer stinging, your nose warm and your breathing easier. Sans handed you a towel to wipe off the icing as he checked the door again. He seemed really scared of something
"T-thank you." You said, the words not hurting as you thought they would.
"Don't thank me yet kid. You're in a world of trouble…" He started sweating and checked again. "Boss'll be back soon… I gotta come up with some excuse…" He started shaking, making you feel like reaching out and giving him a hug.
"It'll be okay." You said, trying to console him, even a little.
"N-no it won't. Boss is a raging lunatic. He's violent and vicious. He'd kill his own f-father…" his skull whitened even more.
"You got this." You encouraged him. You could tell you were starting to get through to the short skeleton. It filled you with determination. "I believe in you!"
"You b-believe in… me?" He seemed horrified at the thought. His shaking increased and you could hear his bones rattling. "N-nooooo… no I'm worthless. I'm pathetic… I'm a lazy piece of shit… I always have been and I always will be." He sounded so small, so beaten. You felt your chest swell with the need to destroy whatever hurt him.
"Don't say that." You whispered, horrified he could think that of himself. "You're not worthless or pathetic. You're amazing Sans." You smiled warmly. You felt a twinge, knowing you were over exaggerating a little bit.
"A-amazing?" He looked up at you, eye sockets wide and scared. Just as you were about to say it again, there was a slam from downstairs. Sans let a single horrified yelp escape before he shoved you on the bed. "Don't make a fuckin sound." He commanded before suddenly disappearing completely from the room.
In your shock, you finally looked around. It was obviously a bedroom, but it didn't look that lived in. A simple bed, dresser and lamp. No decorations, no pictures or clothing lying about or any sign that someone had been in here in years.
You heard voices from downstairs and felt fear grip at your soul. The voices got louder, and something crashed. Footsteps – more like stomping – come up the stairs. You realized you had mere seconds to hide, to move, to do something. All you managed to do was throw yourself behind the bed and cover your eyes.
You were almost completely sure your head was sticking over the edge, but even being slightly hidden made you feel safer. The door to the room slammed open, crashing into the wall. It sounded like the knob hit the wall so hard it made a hole.
"Where is it?" A menacing voice growled. You felt your mouth dry up almost instantly. A moment of silence passed before something roughly grabbed your hair and yanked you up. It was the tall skeleton, his eyes glowing red and casting an eerie light on everything. "You thought you could hide from the Terrible Papyrus? You pathetic scum…" He growled at you, throwing you towards the door. You slammed into something, stopping you from flying out the door.
Sans stood by the door with what looked like a bruise on his cheekbone. You weren't sure how a skeleton could bruise, but you guessed a magical skeleton monster could be different. His eyes held none of the vulnerability they did mere minutes ago. Instead, his eyes were as cold and hateful as the tall skeleton's, as Papyrus'.
You noticed his one hand was shoved in the pocket of his jacket, but the other hung listlessly at his side. You thought the fingers looked twisted, but you couldn't be sure at that angle. Papyrus grabbed you by the collar of your sweater again and pulled you up to his face.
"My good for nothing brother told me you were dying… I see his pathetic ass was lying, yet again. He shall be punished, no doubt about that." He growled out, not looking behind him. You could see Sans flinch violently.
"N-no! He was right! I was freezing and I couldn't breathe and my hair was frozen and-" You rambled on, hoping that maybe you could save Sans from whatever Papyrus was going to do to him. Papyrus pulled back a little, eyes narrowing.
"You are lucky, Sans. It seems your story checks out. Though, I am quite livid that you decided to go behind my back and move the human." He whipped his head around to glare at Sans, who coward under his gaze.
"L-leave him alone!" You found the strength in your voice again. He froze and slowly turned his head to you again.
"What did you say?" He asked, each word filled with anger. You shrunk back a little, but refused to back down.
"I said, leave him alone! He saved me. Don't be so mean to him!" You were all fired up. He stared at you for a moment before cackling loudly.
"It has been a while since anyone has had the guts to stand up to me. That takes real moxie." Papyrus turned to Sans and threw you at him. "Care for this. It is our biggest bargaining chip against that shit 'king' of ours. If anything happens to it, you're dead." He growled out the threat and left the room with a flourish, his red cape fluttering behind him.
Sans stood there, silent, as Papyrus left the room. He stayed silent as the door slammed. You went over to him and placed a hand on his arm, making him flinch and finally look at you. The hardness in his eyes faded as soon as they met with yours. He let out a shuttering breath and placed a shuddering hand to his forehead.
"O-oh my god…" He moved to the bed and sat down, covering his face with both hands. "Oh my goooood…." He moaned.
"Are you alright Sans?" You asked, worried about him.
"He just… left." He mumbled into his hands. "Boss said he was gonna teach me a lesson, but he just… left. You got him to leave." His head shot up, looking at you with a mix of confusion and awe. "He's never gone back on a threat before."
"I can't believe he said those things to you." You said angrily. Sans glanced at you again, uneasy.
"He has every right. I'm just a fuck up. He's the one who keeps those shit heads away from us… Besides… It's all my fault he's like this in the first place." His voice dropped down to a whisper, and you felt your heart go out to the monster.
"What do you mean?" You asked, moving to sit next to him on the bed. You wanted to help him as best as you could.
"It may not seem it, but I'm the older brother. I raised him from a fuckin baby bones. One day, I just… lost my temper. I'd had a long day, ya know? The littlest thing could've made me snap. Unfortunately, what tipped me over that metaphorical line was Pap. I don't even remember what he did." Sans said, running a hand over his forehead. "But whatever it was… I just snapped. I fuckin snapped. Threw the kid against a rock. A fuckin rock. It cracked his skull and made him hate me…" A few red tears trickled from his eyes.
You wrapped an arm around his shoulder, trying to comfort him. He flinched away a little, but let you hold him as he continued his story.
"Soon after that he started training for that damned royal guard. He was told he would never make it in because he was too soft, so instead of looking for a new profession, he decided to toughen himself up. I found him going around, killing froggits to get stronger. When I tried to yell at him for it, he threw me against the wall. He showed me who's the alpha." He chuckled sadly. "He sure made it in to the guard after that. He got stronger and stronger and stronger. He became my boss, and he took charge. I tried pulling the big brother card maybe twice. Both times he slammed me around so much I couldn't move, then he made me go to work anyway."
"He sounds awful." You finally said, feeling hatred for Papyrus grow.
"It's my fault he's like this. Now I gotta pay the ultimate price. I want him to succeed, of course I do. But at the same time, what kind of brother is afraid of his sibling?" he asked, almost rhetorically. You didn't have an answer, so you just rubbed his arm in a comforting manner.
You realized his hand was will messed up. With a silent question, you take his mangled hand in your own and gently – or as gently as one could – put the bones back into place. He flinched at a few of the louder cracks, but overall stayed quiet. Sans brought his hand up and wiggle his fingers, almost in shock that it didn't hurt.
"Thanks…" He muttered and leaned against you slightly. You just smiled and rested your head on his shoulder. After a second, he started crying a little again. Not heavy sobs, like before. Rather, slight hiccups and thin trails of tears silently streaming down his skull.
The two of you stayed like that for a while, you comforting Sans, and Sans crying gently, muttering things like "all my fault" and "I deserve it" under his breath.
The next morning, you were alone. Sans must have snuck away after you fell asleep. You rubbed your eyes sleepily, cringing at your stomach gurgling. It had been almost two days since you ate anything. You stood and crept over to the door, creaking it open an inch.
You listened, hoping to hear silence. Instead of silence, you heard a faint snoring coming from down stairs. It was a deep snoring, and you seriously doubted that Papyrus' shrill, threatening voice could change into such a deep snore.
Creeping down the stairs, you saw you were right. Sans was sitting on the couch, head lolling to one side. A thin trail of reddish drool dripping from his fanged mouth. You thought he looked so young when he was asleep. You realized that the bruise on his cheek was completely gone. It should surprise you, but you guessed in a world of magic, making a simple bruise heal was no big deal. Especially to a magical skeleton.
Just as you were about to wake him, Sans jumped, the lights in his eyes lighting up bright. He lifted a hand and surrounded you with a red aura, lifting you off the ground.
"S-sans?" You yelped. Your voice made Sans snap to attention and drop you not so gently onto the ground. You landed flat on your butt with an oomph.
"Oh, um… sorry kid." He said a little shakily. "Nothing good ever comes after being woken up, in my experience." He held out a hand to help you up, which you were grateful for. You could tell he was letting down his walls, at least a little.
"Do you want some breakfast?" You asked, hoping to put the short skeleton at ease, at least a little bit. He hesitated before nodding and following you into the kitchen. You made a simple breakfast, mostly because there was barely any food in the fridge.
While you scarfed your food down, Sans just picked at his plate, not really eating anything. You didn't mention his lack of appetite, which he seemed grateful for. You took his plate after a long, silent meal and turned to placed it on the counter.
When you turned back around, you saw that Sans was fast asleep again, snoring gently with his head resting on the table. You thought that it was odd, that he would just fall asleep like that. Before you could wake him, however, Sans jumped awake, flailing his arms around.
"Are you okay?" You asked, concerned for your… you hesitated to call him your friend at the time.
"Y-yeah…" He said with a sideways grin, the sweat beading up on his forehead.
"What's wrong?" You said softly, hoping to get him to open up.
"I… Pap- Boss doesn't believe me when I say I can't help it, but I really can't help it." He said standing from the table and moved to the couch again. You followed after him and sat next to him, placing a reassuring hand on his arm. "I just… fall asleep! I don't want to, but I can't help it. I just fall asleep sometimes. And when Boss finds me sleeping at my post he gets real mad."
"Sounds like narcolepsy. You're right, you can't help it. You're not doing that on purpose to upset Papyrus." You tried to console him. Sans just chuckled sadly and shook his head.
"If fuckin only… but nah. Boss likes to take his anger out on me and finding me asleep is his favorite pastime. He just loves beating the shit out of me." Another chuckle, this one more bitter than the last.
"Sans, do you understand that your brother shouldn't beat you?" You asked, afraid that he honestly thought he deserved this kind of treatment.
"Of course. It's my fault he cracked his skull. He's just keeping us safe… besides, I'm the one who always disappoints him. I'm such a disappointment. I'm the failure. I'm pathetic… worthless, worthless Sans." He started scratching at his arm during his little tirade. He curled in on himself, as if trying to make himself seem smaller… as if he was preparing himself to be hit. The thought that Sans was so used to this behavior made your blood boil.
"No." You said with more authority than you ever had before. He looked at you, shocked at the strength in your voice. "You're none of those things. You have to believe me. You're brother has been beating you up and destroying you mentally. He has been abusing you for who know how long, and you're just letting him!" You ranted, wanting nothing more than to help him. He just looked at you with wide, vulnerable eyes.
"Hehe if only kid… nah I know what I am. I know what I deserve…" He trailed off sadly. You were about two seconds away from ripping Papyrus' head off next time you saw him.
"He's wrong Sans." You tried again, practically pleading. He just waved you off and the red lights in his eyes dimmed. Just as you were about to say something again, he fell asleep again, his head drooping forward onto his chest.
His faint snoring followed you out the door as you snuck away. You didn't care what was going to happen to you, you just had to make sure Sans was never hurt again. Part of you knew it was strange to care so much about a captor, but you knew he was in so much pain. No one deserves that kind of life, not even a skeleton monster.
You found yourself in the middle of pool, the warm water actually pretty soothing on your tired feet. In the maybe three hours since you snuck away from Sans, you had been attacked close to a dozen times, and it took maybe half a dozen to realize that you could reason with them.
It was disorienting to die, that's for certain. You had to sit for a good fifteen minutes before the cave stopped spinning enough to move on. You were about to turn the corner when you felt a cold breeze. Sneaking forward, you realized you had somehow doubled back to the area between the snow town and the waterfall section.
Shivering, you tried to hide again, not wanting to draw any attention to yourself. As you were about to duck behind a rock, you heard a shout.
"Sans you fuckin piece of good for nothing trash." The voice screamed. You felt ice run down your spine. You knew that voice. You heard a second voice respond, but couldn't make out what it was saying. The first voice spoke again.
"You had one fucking job, but no… Your lazy ass fell asleep and let it escape! The king was supposed to come tomorrow for the negotiations. Now… you're going to be the one to explain to him why where is no human."
You ran towards the voices, knowing in the pit of your stomach something was about to go horribly wrong. Sans and Papyrus were standing in a clearing just outside of the town, the taller skeleton towering over the shorter, who was visably trembling. You could hear what Sans was saying at this distance.
"I-I didn't m-mean to-" He was saying, barely able to speak. "I… I j-just, I couldn't h-help it B-boss. I can't help f-falling asleep-" Sans was cut off by Papyrus backhanding him violently, causing him to fly into a nearby snow poff.
"Enough of your bullshit. I knew I should have fed you to the dog guards years ago…" Papyrus growled, his red magic flaring and curling over his skull. He raised his hand threateningly, his magic wrapping around his clawed fingers.
Just as he was about to strike Sans again, you threw yourself between the brothers. Suddenly, the entire side of your face was on fire. Literally. Papyrus' red fire that was aimed for Sans and was instead covering your cheek.
It took a few seconds for Papyrus to realize what had happened, and in that time you had sustained some very painful burns. His magic fire disappeared with a snap of his fingers. In an instant, a pair of arms were around you
"What the actual, ever-loving fuck did you do that for?" Sans asked. Through the ringing in your ears, you thought you heard tears in his voice.
"I couldn't let him hurt you." You managed to say, the movement of your jaw cracking the burnt skin on your cheek. Without meaning to, a few tears spilled down your face.
"Shit! I cannot be the one responsible for damaging the goods." Papyrus said angrily, pacing in the snow.
"Here kid. You gotta eat some of this." Sans pulled out a piece of candy from his jacket pocket. It was old, and a little fuzzy, but it tasted non-licoricely, and honestly wasn't too bad. Immediately, you felt the pain in your cheek lessen. It was still there, but it was no longer beyond excruciating.
"This is all your fault, you worthless bag of bones." Papyrus growled out. Sans flinched but didn't turn to face his brother. "If you had just done your goddamned job, like you were supposed to, it wouldn't have gotten injured."
"Stop callin 'em "it". They ain't a thing, ya freak. They're a person." Sans growled back. Both you and Papyrus froze, you out of fear and Papyrus out of shock.
"I'm sorry… what did you say?" The taller skeleton said, his tone a threat in itself.
"I said…" Sans stood and turned to face his brother. "Stop being such an ass, boss."
The skeletons stared each other down, Papyrus staring at Sans with side eye sockets; Sans staring at Papyrus with a hard expression and trembling fists at his side. The silence was broken by a deep chuckle.
"Took you long enough." Was all Papyrus said. Sans visibly fell back, his face dropping all emotion. Papyrus just crossed his arms.
"What the fuck-?" Sans managed to say.
"You always were spineless, brother. Never standing up for yourself. Letting everyone walk all over you. Pathetic." Papyrus said, looking bored at the conversation already.
"Why are you doing this?" You explained, holding some snow to your cheek. Papyrus turned his red eye to you, almost as if he had forgotten you were there.
"Doing what, human?" He asked, sounding like a parent talking to a small child. He really pissed you off.
"Treat Sans like shit all the time?" You asked, feeling your anger bubbling over. Somehow, Papyrus raised an eyebrow at you.
"I don't think you quite understand the situation, human. In this world, it's kill or be killed. Someone like my brother would be taken out in an instant." He said so in a factual manner, as if he was talking about the weather.
"Pap…" Sans practically whispered, his words almost lost completely in the wind.
"Do not speak to me Sans." Papyrus snapped, but he seemed almost uncomfortable. "I did what I had to do. You cannot dwell on past mistakes."
"What the fuck Papyrus?" Sans screamed, his voice carrying in the wind. His magic started going crazy, crackling out of his eye socket and over his head. "I know I messed up. I get it. But you… you did this for how many years? You treated me like shit got how many years? And I put up with it?"
"Sans calm the fuck down. You are too stupid to understand why I did what I did." His brother spat at him. Sans flinched away out of habit but didn't move back.
"Then go ahead, Papyrus. Explain it to me." Sans said. You were proud of him to standing up for himself, but you were afraid for his bodily health.
"Down here, any bit of kindness, of weakness, is destroyed. When we were children, it was not so rough, but times have changed. After joining the Royal Guard, the threat grew exponentially. I had to make sure no one targeted us. Particularly you. You were good to me as a child, and that would have been a big, glowing target for those monsters out there. I needed to train you, make you stronger so you would survive until I found the bargaining chip."
"Hehe, this really shouldn't come as a surprise… I always knew you thought I was weak." Sans had ducked his head down. His shoulders were shaking. "But I'm not. I never was, bro. You beat me up and destroyed me mentally to make me stronger, but I was never weak."
A large monster appeared in the air, above Sans' shoulder. It looked almost like a giant dog skull, with fangs erupting from its mouth and spines sticking out behind it. Its eyes were blood red, just like its owner.
Sans was nothing like the skeleton that had cried on your shoulder the night before. He was feral, his fangs glistening and his eyes burning. The thing by his head shot a beam of magic right at Papyrus, who barely jumped out of the way in time to avoid being incinerated.
"Sans, what the fuck are you doing?" Papyrus screamed angrily. "You almost killed me, you pathetic waste of space!"
"Waste of space my ass!" Sans screamed back, firing again. You watched in horror as the brothers fought. You wanted to help, to stop this, to do something, but you were frozen in place. Literally. There was a red glow surrounding your legs, keeping you from being able to move even an inch.
"I knew I could never explain this to you. You could never comprehend the reasoning behind my plan." Papyrus said as he dodged another blast. He threw a magic bone at Sans, or rather at the thing that was firing at him. You realized that Papyrus wasn't aiming for Sans at all. He was just trying to hit the skull monster.
"Sans stop!" You screamed as loud as you could. The effort caused the burnt skin on your cheek to pull and rip, but you didn't care. You needed to stop this. Sans heard you, dropping his guard for half a second to glance over at you.
That half second was all Papyrus needed. He threw a bone right at the bone monster, hitting it right in the middle of the forehead. The bone monster looked momentarily surprised before shattering into shards and disappearing.
"You sick bastard-" Sans screamed and went to throw himself at Papyrus. Thankfully, he was also wrapped in a dark red glow, causing him to crash into the snow. He began wriggling and cursing, but he was as stuck as you.
As soon as he hit the ground, the force holding you down disappeared. You jumped to your feet and rushed to Sans, who was starting to slow his wriggling.
"Sans are you alright?" You asked, crouching in the snow next to hm. He just glared up at you, but his face softened at the concern you were showing.
"…'m fine…" He mumbled, looking away from you.
"Sans…" Papyrus said softly, or as softly as he could. Sans begrudgingly looked up at his brother, his glare coming back. "I am… sorry. I was never very good at… being in charge of you in particular." Papyrus seemed very uncomfortable.
"No fuckin shit." Sans spat out. Papyrus actually flinched a little.
"Sans, hush. Let him talk." You said, placing a gently hand on his forehead. The small skeleton quieted under your touch.
"I realize I should never have pushed you quite so hard, but it was necessary. You must understand that. Do you remember the day of my swearing into the guard?" Papyrus asked, looking his brother in the eye.
Sans sat on the couch, waiting to hear back from his brother. He was terrified, because Papyrus would either get in, or get executed. That was the stipulation for applying. If you weren't up to standards, you were taken out of the gene pool.
The front door quietly creaked open. Sans jumped to his feet and spun towards the door, hoping to see his brother, not a member of the guard carrying a ceremonial urn.
But there was no one there. The door was still open a crack, but Sans couldn't see anyone. He poked his head out the door and looked around, but didn't see any footprints in the snow. He assumed it was the wind and shut the door again.
"Damnit Papyrus. You better fuckin come home…" Sans muttered and went into the kitchen. He started making something to eat, knowing he probably wasn't going to eat much of it. There was a sound behind him, but he just ignored it. The house was known for its creaking and moaning, especially in a storm. He turned around to put something back in the fridge when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.
"Sans!" Papyrus screamed from the living room. Suddenly, a bone was sticking out of the wall, dust gathering on the kitchen tiles. Sans turned a fraction to the bone, but was too relieved to see his brother alive and well. He rushed to Papyrus, letting the shadow leave his mind.
"He was trying to assassinate you, when your guard was down. Because everyone knew you were too soft." Papyrus said, his tone grave.
"What…" Sans was shocked. He had managed to get to his feet, only to double over as if he was punched in the stomach.
"See, I knew you wouldn't be able to understand. What, did you honestly think I enjoyed doing that all these years? Did you never realize it was I that healed you in the night… so you wouldn't be in so much pain…?" Papyrus trailed off almost uncertainly. "Do you really think so little of me?" he asked, him flippant attitude back. Sans pulled his head back a fraction.
"Well, yeah!" He said. It was Papyrus' turn to look shocked.
"Are you really as stupid as everyone believes you to be?"
"Are you that much of an abusive asshole?" Sans asked with the same condescending tone.
Don't you two see?" You said, trying to get them to stop fighting. "All this happened because you never talked to each other. Sans just proved he was strong, so why do you keep hurting him?" You asked Papyrus, tears in your eyes.
"I…." Papyrus was, for the first time, speechless. Even Sans seemed surprised at his brother's tongue tied-ness. Papyrus growled and threw his arms in the air. "I am done with you fuckers!" He said before stalking away. You and Sans watched Papyrus as he walked away, both a little numb. Eventually, Sans dropped to his knees and started shaking again.
"Holy fuck…. That was the scariest thing I've ever done… holy shit…" He was muttering. You went over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I honestly thought he was going to kill me. I never knew about the assassin… He saved me…" His shaking lessened as he stood.
"Maybe there's still hope." You said, hoping to convince him maybe it was true.
"Maybe." He repeated, staring after his brother. You took his hand and pulled him towards the town. He followed behind like a tired child following a parent's guidance.
It was late, that was all you could tell. After you had taken Sans back to the house, the two of you crashed on the couch. There was a soft light coming in from the window, and under any other circumstances you would have said it was the moon.
What woke you were low voices coming from the kitchen. The light wasn't on, but there was a soft glow coming from the door frame. You inched off the couch to the doorframe to try to listen to the conversation.
"I will… try harder from now on. We are a team as of now." That was Papyrus. You would recognize that terribly frightening voice anywhere.
"A team, huh?" That was Sans, sounding equal parts dubious and hopeful.
"Look, I understand I was unfair to you, but you have proven yourself this afternoon. If we work together, we are sure to be able to overthrow the king. We won't have to worry about-" He cut off abruptly, the glow all but disappearing - leaving you in almost pitch blackness.
Suddenly, a glowing bone was pinning you to the wall by your shirt. A surprised yelp was all the managed to slip past your lips before the room lit up. Papyrus was standing a few feet from you, hand outstretched. Sans was over by the light switch, hand still on the flicker.
"Human?" Papyrus' non-cracked eye widen in shock. If your shoulder wasn't throbbing, you would have laughed at his expression.
"S-sorry…" You said, sorry for being caught. Not sorry for getting them to talk out their issues.
"No, I am the one that is… sorry." Papyrus seemed uncomfortable apologizing, but he glanced at Sans, who gave him a discrete thumbs up. The shorter skeleton came over and rested an elbow on your head.
"We should be thanking you kid. Would ya believe it? The fuckin human was right!" He chuckled deeply. "And better yet, we don't hafta use you as bait anymore. Ain't that great?"
You felt your face whiten a little at the thought of being bait, but neither monster seemed to notice. Or, they noticed, but didn't seem to care.
You watched Sans and Papyrus interact. Papyrus still seemed reluctant to speak directly to Sans, or touch him, and Sans seemed nervous, and still flinched a little when Papyrus moved too fast, but it was a start. A start of what they should have been from the beginning.
Brothers.
I really feel like I'm a broken record with these ANs. First thing, I'm sorry for such a long gap. Almost two weeks is really unacceptable, but with school work out of the way for now, I should have a little more time.
Secondly, I don't know how good this actually is. I know it doesn't follow the usual format, but I really wanted to show this aspect of the AU. Everyone romanticizes Sans and Pap's relationship, but honestly I don't see it as anything but abusive in 90% of the things I see about it. I still love the AU though, as you may have gathered from Afterthought. I just love New Yorker Sans I guess. Whaddya gonna do about it, huh?
As for suggestions, if you could send in ones that are AU specific, that would be very helpful. I have about one idea for each AU, but I could always use more fuel for my AU addiction.
On a more serious note, EVERYONE PLEASE READ THIS! I'm not going to use any names, but about two days ago I got a message. One of our fellow readers was going to kill themselves that night. That message was supposed to be a final farewell. It scared the hell out of me, and I honestly thought I was going to be too late. I honestly thought that this was going to be an 'in loving memory' message.
Thankfully, it's not. We talked, and they said they would hold off, which isn't ideal but it's much better than losing a friend.
If anyone is feeling like they can't handle like, that they can't go one even one more day, just know that you're loved. You have pets and friends and family members that love you and care about you and would be devastated without you. If you ever need to talk, please talk to me. I know it can be scary to talk to a stranger, but I promise I would never judge you.
Holding in these kinds of feelings are literally the worst thing you can do. They'll breed and ferment and bubble over until you pop. Please, find help before that popping zone.
Stay DETERMINED everyone!
Imma end this here. I have more to say, but it wouldn't work well after this.
Until next time!
~Starlight