I've been playing a lot of Sans lately, so I'm just gonna drop a few snippets here. Turn that thang back around now if you can't handle this level of nerd.
Random Brother Moment That Means Absolutely Nothing
"SANS!"
The skeleton jolted out of his nap at the sound of his brother's voice. He looked around quickly, but, of course, didn't see Papyrus from his hiding spot up on the balcony.
"WHERE DID THAT LAZYBONES GO?" Papyrus said aloud, sounding not too far away. In fact, when Sans leaned towards the railing, he saw his brother down below in the side yard, rubbing a gloved hand against his jaw.
It was the day of the party, and as excited as Sans was for it, in his own laid back way, keeping up with his brother and popping between the store and home was taking a real toll on him. He'd been hoping for a longer nap, but it couldn't be helped. Some extra snacks would just have to hold him over. Hopefully the shadows under his eye sockets weren't too dark.
"hey, bro," Sans called down at his brother, pushing himself up to his feet.
Papyrus jumped and whipped his head around, until he finally turned and caught sight of the shorter skeleton leaned against the balcony rail. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE? DON'T YOU KNOW WE HAVE A PARTY TO PREPARE?"
"i thought you had it under control."
"I DO!" Papyrus shot back, planting his hands on his hip bones. "THAT'S HARDLY THE POINT! THIS IS YOUR PARTY, BROTHER!"
Papyrus... may have had a point there. "alright, i'm coming." When his brother didn't move right away, Sans made a show of sighing and slumping his shoulders, which only made Papyrus stomp a boot against the ground and call up at him again. Sans snickered, set his hands on the rail, and vaulted over it, jumping down onto the grass.
"THANK YOU," Papyrus said, his eye sockets narrowed as if he expected Sans to change his mind any second. Which wasn't entirely impossible. "NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION! CAN YOU SET UP THE TABLES WHILE THE GREAT PAPYRUS KEEPS AN EYE OUT FOR OUR GUESTS?"
"okay."
"so, for the sake of total honesty," Sans said as he rubbed his hands together, "my bro might not like it because, uh... i broke a window once... and the wall." Still, it couldn't be said that the skeleton was anything but confident as he turned towards the sofa, widened his stance, and pulled at his magic.
He felt it spark and gather with his intentions, and when he raised a pale hand, a large, thick bone materialized seemingly from the floor. A turn of his hand and a push of his will forced the bone to smack against the side of the couch, pushing it in front of the door without breaking its wooden frame. Somehow.
Another wave and twist of his wrist had two more equally oversized bones form between the sofa and the wall, shoving it again, closer to the kitchen. There was enough room behind and in front of it for any of them to get around the sofa, which was exactly what he was going for.
Considering the entire rearrangement took less than a minute, it was well worth the energy. At least, it was to him.
As his magic, and the last evidence of the huge bones, dissipated, Sans let out a sigh. He rolled a shoulder before the lights of his eyes eagerly found Minn's face.
There was something... beautiful in the way she would look at him, those rare occasions that he decided to use his magic for something other than getting them from place to place. In some ways, it made Sans feel like how his brother must, when he's in the midst of impressing a potential friend. When he only saw kindness and admiration shone in his direction, whether it was truly there or not.
With Minn, there was no doubt that it was real.
She was always impressed, whether it was something admittedly lazy like this, or something so small he hardly even thought about it. Small like that night beneath the stars. That night that he'd been so nervous, so scared that he would ruin this new, wonderful thing happening between them. That night when they had sat together, the cool ground padded by that silly blanket Sans hadn't even known they'd owned, the thermos in his hand freshly heated and still tingling with magic, and Minn sitting so close that, every now and then, he could have sworn he felt her fur brushing against his arm. She had looked at him then — though he would have never acknowledged that he was watching — as if simply stirring a drink had been the most interesting, the most impressive thing that she had seen in ages.
For the most part, the fact that he was a capable magic user wasn't even any sort of secret. Certainly he was as happy to not discuss his work for the king as he was to let people go on without knowing such work ever needed to be done. But there were still moments like this, chores he was too lazy to do the proper way or tricks he liked to play.
More than anything, there was his brother, Papyrus.
Papyrus, who was a prime example of the best that monsterkind had to offer. Someone who was strong, powerful, but always kind. A monster that could completely stop an attack from hitting mere millimeters from your face just because he was worried you wouldn't be able to take it. A monster that, like him, could see more in a person than they even knew they let show.
His sweet, perfectly imperfect brother was the greatest proof of Sans' own magic. The brother that Sans had taught and trained, right up until the day that Undyne took over for him. And without a doubt, she would have said the same thing that Sans already knew. Papyrus was more than capable before he ever set foot in her yard.
And Minn, Minn only had to say a single word, a single whispered 'wow', and Sans felt like he did when he and his brother were children. When he would guide Papyrus through the motions, the feeling of drawing on his magic. When Papyrus would look at him with stars in his eyes. Stars that, even only in memory, burned brighter than those they'd seen since arriving on the surface.
A single word. Brighter than the stars ever looked in that clear sky as they watched two ridiculous little monsters dance around one another on their first real date. Warmer than cocoa shared between them, the taste sticking to the backs of his teeth. More brilliant than the warm light of the moon, shining against her dark, unruly tufts of hair. As memorable as the first bone his brother had ever created, as the painted sky when they took their first steps out from under the mountain, as flailing together while music would 'do do do-do' right over the sound of their laughter.
He loved her.
"c'mon now," Sans said to her then, tingling fingers settled against her back. "let's get that fluffy butt of yours resting. you should be able to see just fine lying there, yeah?"
"uhh... yes and no?" he answered, sounding a bit unsure of it himself. He looked down at the opened bag and his less than neatly folded clothes. At the little bit of lint sitting in the corner of the drawer. A drawer that didn't smell of sour apples like his other one had.
Sans listened to the quiet sound of Minn taking a brush to her hair, and of his own rough fingertip as it slid along the top of a wooden panel. "don't get me wrong. i love this place. it's the first one me and papyrus ever had that was actually ours."
Sans truly did love this house. He loved the time spent here with his brother, when they were free to do as they pleased.
But it was also the place that saw the darkest times of his life.
"i remember, when my brother started getting interested in the royal guard. he admired those silly canines right off the bat, running around with their weapons and their armor. before he even thought of going straight to undyne himself, he had me help him train."
He turned just enough to look back at Minn, a bony hand lingering on the dresser, his fingers hooked just inside the drawer. The other, he waved vaguely as he went on, "not that i minded. i'm his brother, y'know. i helped him get a handle on his magic in the first place. just... you know how he is when he has his sockets set on something. it's his number one priority. so it became mine, too. and somehow, helping him train and shooting the breeze with the guard every day at grillby's got me work as a sentry."
Sans' eyes turned to the far side of the room then, at a stain on the wall just over his mattress. Remembering how it had been, the things that were never truly a secret but that he and the king were all too happy letting their people never acknowledge... The lights of his eyes seemed duller in his dark sockets.
There was a bitter breeze winding its way through the woods. Towering trees, black and bare shadows that huddled together in these parts of the forest, groaned under the cold touch of the wind. They leaned and swayed, following after the child.
The child that ran, dirt caked on their clothes and sweat souring their skin. They wouldn't cry, they were too brave for that, but not brave enough to keep their legs from carrying them away.
Away from the beaten path. Away from that ancient stone door.
Away from the shadow that followed them.
All it took was one look back, one glance at the empty eyes watching them just a few yards back - always a few yards, it was always there, always closer than the last time they'd looked, a face as pale as the snow itself that was nothing but black eyes and gleaming teeth - their worn shoes slipped, sending them tumbling down. That was the end, that figure, that monster, would catch them this time -
Sans watched the human fall, and watched as their head cracked against a rock that jut up out of the snow. He watched as their blood seeped over the snow. Their life trembled, then flickered. For as brave as the child had been, bravery didn't equate to determination.
"... and... well, things are different when you're on the other side of it. when monsters actually depend on you. it's not all looking cool and keeping your puzzles calibrated."
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