Entry # 5 of "Cheer Up The Skeleton" week on Tumblr. The prompt was "Music." Inspired by the song "The Dumbing Down of Love" by Frou Frou / Imogen Heap.
Why wasn't it working?
Sans workshop, or rather, the large shed in the backyard, was cramped enough as it was without all the parts strewn about. Stripped wires, fuses, conductors, resistors, all of them scattered about the floor like puzzle pieces that forever awaited completion. Beyond them, a large cylindrical machine stood like a monolith over the skeleton.
A monument to his failure.
Sans grabbed the blueprints again, struggling once more to transcribe the symbols that their creator preferred to use. "For security," he'd always said, "so that my secrets can stay secrets."
But Sans always knew what the symbols stood for, in fact, it was rather easy for anybody to decipher them if they knew the code. Their creator always trusted in a person's desire to not put in more effort than they believed to be required. Every extra step was one more barrier to completion. Sans hated it most of all.
On top of that, it smelled like bones and scorched electronics.
He pored over the blueprints again, his hands beginning to tremble. None of it made sense. He had everything he needed, he put everything where it belonged, but there was something missing. Something that wasn't written down, something that may have very well been an accident in the first place, so it wasn't documented. But everything was here, and it all fit together! It even received power and never once lost efficiency!
Sans' shaking hand picked up a heavy brick, a leftover PC power supply.
"it doesn't make any damn sense!"
The object soared through the air, but his target, the wall, turned out to be just too short. The window, on the other hand, was perfect. The sound of shattering glass jarred Sans to a newfound state of awareness. He was...angry? He hadn't felt so angry since...
Wait. If he heard that, that meant that someone else...
"Three...two...one..."
The shed door, abnormally unlocked, flung open, and Papyrus already had his hand on his hips.
"SANS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! BE CAREFUL!"
"sorry! ...sorry, pap, i'll fix the window when i can."
"THAT'S FINE, BUT...WHY ARE YOU SO ANGRY? AND WHY HAVE YOU BEEN IN HERE SINCE THIS MORNING?"
"this morning? pap, it's only..."
Sans pulled out his phone.
"...it's six forty five? pm?"
"YOU'VE BEEN IN HERE ALL DAY. WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON, ANYWAY?"
"nothing. don't worry about it."
"SO WHAT'S THAT MACHINE? WHAT DOES IT DO?"
"nothing. no really, it doesn't do anything, no matter what i try. it's missing something and i can't figure out what."
"SO...JUST STOP?"
"papyrus, i'm not going to stop, i have to finish this. if i do, i can-"
"I DIDN'T MEAN FOR GOOD, NUMBSKULL. JUST TAKE A BREAK. GO FOR A WALK, THAT ALWAYS HELPS ME WHEN I CAN'T FIGURE OUT A PUZZLE."
He didn't know if it was guilt for breaking the window or maybe admitting that Papyrus was right, but Sans stood up and grabbed his jacket.
"...might work. thanks bro."
"OF COURSE. BUT YOU SHOULD REALLY PICK UP THE GLASS IN THE YARD FIRST."
"heh, sure thing."
Even with his frustration clouding his mind, Sans still enjoyed the sunsets. Nobody could really blame him though, he'd only experienced exactly three hundred and sixty seven of them, sixty eight if the day the barrier shattered counts.
His hands had finally stopped shaking, but they were still making tiny fists, shoved forcibly into his pockets as he walked. His mind was a jumbled mess, much like the wires of the machine he was trying to fix. Problems upon problems upon problems, and it felt like somebody was switching variables or moving decimal points without his permission.
On the right, he saw he was about to pass by Alphys and Undyne's house, and the thought crossed his mind for just a second. Maybe he could ask for help? Alphys was always good at reverse-engineering, even better than Sans. She might not be able to create things on her own as well, but if something needed to be fixed, she was the right person...or monster...for the job.
He stopped for a second and stared at the house, a single light on in the front, which he knew to be the living room. The window was open, probably to cool the house down, and the curtains were billowing inside. That's when he heard it.
A starting chord chiming from a piano.
It wasn't exactly a big secret that Undyne enjoyed playing the piano, but she didn't really play to audiences. Outside of helping Shyren with lessons, the warrior always preferred to be alone with the music she played, which was a shame, since she was really good.
He didn't know why, but he felt himself gravitate toward the side of the house. He walked up against the wall next to the window, raising his hands behind his head and leaning back.
The chords came one after the other, none of them out of place. It became clear that Undyne was, in fact, playing, and not Alphys messing around with the keys in a nervous tic. No, this was professional quality. Not a single note out of place, no wasted flats or sharps. It wasn't clear what song Undyne was playing at the moment, but then something else began to really surprise Sans.
She began to sing along.
This was certainly a side to Undyne that nobody had seen. The normally abrasive, over-enthusiastic heroine was so controlled here. True discipline, exercised in just about any form, could conquer even the bleakest of battlefields, including those of the heart. It was gentle, like it was another instrument being controlled by a true master. Just like her playing, there was nothing jarring, no broken notes, no unexpected rasps or hiccups. It was passion, absolutely channeled into pure emotional bliss.
And just like that, the knots in Sans' mind began to unravel. Gone were the angered fits of misaligned soldering accidents. No wiring mishaps, no power output losses. No parts getting lost under tables, no scratched fingers from the tiny pieces, no exhaustion from trying to install something that just barely fit. It all washed away in waves of song, drifting out to sea to be claimed by the Sirens.
In the empty space, Sans' mind was able to think clearly again. And it hit him. He knew what was missing.
"that's it!"
The piano stopped. Sans grimaced and prepared for the worst as the front door immediately slammed open.
"Who's there?! I swear to god I'll..."
Undyne looked at the flinching skeleton, who somehow was still smiling.
"Sans?! What the hell are you doing here?!"
Sans looked at Undyne's face, which was blushing a very bright shade of red.
"i...uh...sorry, i'll head home now."
"Wait!"
Sans stopped dead in his tracks.
Undyne gave a heavy sigh. "...Were you listening? To me play?"
"yeah. and sing. it was...really good."
"No it wasn't! Okay?! It's not good! And if you tell anybody-!"
"undyne, chill. it was really really good. i'm serious, i didn't know you could sing, and your voice is great."
"S-stop!"
"sorry. guess...you don't like an audience, huh?"
Sans put his hands back into his pockets and started to walk away.
"Why...did you stay to listen?" Undyne asked, looking to the side.
"i was...mad about something. papyrus suggested i take a walk, and before i knew it, i was just...here. listening.
"You? Mad? Hah! I bet Pap was beside himself!" Undyne chuckled.
"yeah, well, i kinda broke a window out of frustration, so i guess i owed it to him i guess."
"Oh man, he hates broken glass!"
"ha ha, yep."
They stood in silence for a moment, both of them just as embarrassed as the other.
"So...you said "That's it!" Undyne mocked his voice, "Did...you figure out what was wrong?"
"i think so, yeah. your 'terrible' playing," Sans said, using air quotes, "kinda helped me calm down and think a little bit better."
Undyne squinted her good eye for a second, then stormed back into the house, slamming the door, of course.
Sans sighed, and gave a light chuckle before turning back toward home. The sound of the door flying open again stopped him as he spun on his heel.
Undyne bounded down the steps and handed Sans a small device. A thumb-drive.
"Here."
"what's this?"
"It's...a copy of the song I was playing. It helps me calm down when I'm really mad. Alphys gave it to me, it's really good."
"is it better than you singing?"
"Pssssh! No way! And if you tell anyone, especially Mettaton, I'll permanently clamp your jawbone shut!"
"alright, alright, noted."
Sans looked down at the tiny device resting in his bony hands before clasping it tightly.
"...thanks."
Undyne's eye widened. Sans wasn't making fun of her? He wasn't deflecting with a joke? Just...thanks?
"...No problem. If..."
Sans tilted his head.
"If you want to listen to me sing again, you have to tell me, alright?"
The door slammed shut again, along with the living room window. Sans gave another laugh and headed for home.
It smelled like sunsets and smiles.