Chapter Text
Sans made friends easily. Always had and probably always would do.
He had a disarming sort of charm, a shortness to his stature and a demure edge to his expression that would sooth the most socially anxious of monsters. He was talented in the realm of being overlooked and unthreatening, a stark contrast to his younger brother.
Almost his exact opposite, Papyrus was tall, though thankfully not taller than Sans yet, all gangly limbs and birdlike squawking. He’d talk for hours at anyone, and sometimes even over them. He socialised with none of the ease which his older brother had, often giving people the wrong impression from the loud tone of his voice alone. Everything had to be done a certain way, usually in one of the most difficult ways. But despite his awkwardness, the younger of the two had a talent for taking care of himself that filled Sans with pride.
The two brothers had only each other for a while now and of course, even the closest of family need a break from each other sometime. The letters coming every other day set Papyrus on edge, pushing him to ask constantly in his typically neurotic fashion until his older brother snapped at him in response. After a heavy, worried silence over breakfast, Papyrus refusing to speak to him and sniffling into his chocolate-marmalade sandwich, Sans found himself a little more stressed than usual.
So when a couple of his college acquaintances asked if he’d join them for a drink after a late night in the labs, he agreed for once. He’d paused to send off a quick text to his younger brother, letting him know of his whereabouts and quickly shutting off his phone before he could receive a reply. Then he set off with his fellow students, fully aware that this was a bad idea with the stack of red letters clogging up the kitchen table but feeling particularly self indulgent, feeling like he deserved at least this.
Which left him where he was now, leaning against the bar as he patiently waited for the bartender to notice him. A gaggle of people next to him were chattering loudly, one of them stumbling back and bumping against him.
They apologised sincerely, quickly diving back into their conversation but that wasn’t what alarmed Sans the most.
There was a monster standing to his right, near enough twice the width of Sans and he’d just shoved into him on accident. Sans immediately slumped his shoulders to look non-threatening and sent the monster an apologetic grin.
“Sorry buddy,” Sans shrugged, slightly giddy after a few rounds of drinks and the monster gave him an honest smile, eyes intent.
“Don’t worry about it,” They looked him up and down, “How old are you anyway? You look a little young to be at the bar, son.”
Sans couldn’t help but twitch his grin as his amusement grew with the other’s forgiving demeanor, “I’m a college student, pal. You can check my I.D. if you want.” He teased, fully aware that with his height and the rareness of skeleton monsters, it wasn’t like people could tell he was an adult from the start.
The monster flushed, and now that Sans was looking at him, sort of resembled a lemur with a round, soft face and black smudges around his eyes. He was probably about twice his age but dressed very nicely. The student was tempted to look down to check for a tail but figured that would be rude in at least some circles.
They laughed nervously, “Sorry about that. Forgot that there was a bouncer on the door for a second there.” There was a lull in the conversation and Sans quickly turned away, already done with the conversation and dying for a heavy drink.
“H-hey, how about I buy you a drink, hm?” The lemur behind them asked pleasantly. Sans was well acquainted with the concept of ‘stranger danger’ but when his pockets came up with a measly amount of gold…
He gave the stranger a coy look and took him up on the offer.
A few drinks later (Sans watched carefully as it was made and didn’t take it directly from his new friend either, used to the game by now), the skeleton was feeling comfortably buzzed, his vision hazy and his inhibitions comfortably non-absent.
They’d been chatting back and forth for a good hour now at the far end of the bar, learning each other’s names and sharing a few amusing anecdotes. Sans was amused to find that his new friend had a tail nearly as long as his body, black and white ringed.
So when the monster leaned over and invited him back to their place, he couldn’t say that he was surprised. He was quite flattered though and made sure to let it show through when he leaned back with a sad little smile.
“Sorry, buddy,” Sans slurred slightly as he turned him down gently, “I’d be up for it but I’ve got a kid at home that I need to get back to.” Sans hoped that they’d respond well enough - the other monster had a admitted that they had a son of their own so they had taking care of a young child in common with each other.
The lemur’s grin became a little strained, “If you want, I can give you something a little extra?”
Sans’ smile twitched and he suddenly became aware that he’d lost track of his friends a while back. He tilted his head to the side, trying to subtly look out of his peripherals to catch a glimpse of the other students.
“Little extra how?” He replied goodnaturedly, slightly on edge but not enough to be overly wary. He figured that the poor guy was just trying to peddle some drugs in exchange for a quick romp. It wasn’t really illegal , though. Just considered a little sad if you were incapable of getting a real partner and very desperate if you’d lower yourself to paying for it.
“You said you’ve been struggling with your bills right?” They smiled in sympathy, “I can help you out with that if you’d like.”
Fuck, he really shouldn’t have told him all that. And he was starting to regret all of those drinks that, although lacking in foreign drugs, were still enough to make him dizzy. Maybe he couldn’t hold his liquor as well as he first thought.
“I'm not a- ” He swallowed thickly, “I'm not one of those- ”
“250G. For the night.” The lemur said and Sans felt queasy because damn, that was really putting it on the table, wasn’t it? “And if the idea really makes you that sick then just don't take the money. Or give it to the homeless or whatever.”
He thought of the broken washing machine at home. He thought of the stack of red letters on the kitchen table. He thought of his brother’s birthday, a month away now and he still didn’t have the money for the things he wanted.
He would’ve slept with the guy anyway, right?
“Sure.” Sans replied, downing his drink without the other monster’s prompting and following their lead.
---
It wasn’t the first time he’d been around someone’s house before.
And it certainly wasn’t the first time he’d been to someone’s house for sex, either.
Walking away from the house the next morning, with a loaded 250G weighing down his pockets he decided that it honestly hadn’t been all that bad.
Sure, it had been a little awkward when he’d first come in the door and tripped over some kid’s toys but the other monster had laughed even more, falling on him with hot kisses and heavy hands before he managed to regain his balance.
And yeah, it had been a little rougher than he was used to, but in a good way, and when the older monster had groaned into his ear the name “Remmy”, that had set him back a bit but if he complained- would that have meant-
But it was fine.
It was fine.
Monsters had one night stands all the time, right?
The guy had been unbelievably sweet. He’d cleaned him up afterwards and hadn’t kicked him out of bed instantly afterwards like had happened before with that one squid monster from the Waterfall. He’d even made him pancakes the next morning, and Sans had been a little shocked when he’d discreetly set the money next to the plate along with a jug of syrup. He’d almost forgotten that it was for the money.
He gathered up his coat and determinedly ignored the family photos hanging on the wall on his way out of the house.
He could almost pretend it wasn’t
wasn’t
. . .
It’s not like it was a big deal, right?
---
He stood in the middle of a decently priced toy shop. There was the cheap version of the electric racetrack that Papyrus wanted but there was also a better brand version with two extra cars and an extra metre of track.
A monster woman pushed past him with her three identical furred kids, mumbling out an apology as she went. As if it was her fault that he was standing in the middle of a toy store and staring blankly at the racetracks on display.
Papy would really appreciate the extra two cars. He’d be able to have races with his friends (and he was sure that he’d make some friends sometime, he was just a little too friendly) and he’d probably really like the red one with the flames on it and neat little painted headlights.
He idly wondered how much he would get for a second time.
He swallowed down his nausea.
---
Papyrus got the cheap race track for his birthday but he still loved it all the same. Sans had refused to talk about what happened on the night he hadn’t come home, deflecting it with a cheeky wink and a “Not until you’re older, Paps” as if it had been such a good night that it couldn’t be spoken of.
After he’d pestered him enough, his older brother had heaved a great sigh and looked at him despairingly.
“It was terrible, bro,” He’d said with emphasis, “We did nothing but play chess all night and read the newspaper. Like boring adults. I didn’t make it back because I was too drunk to walk it back from Beesy’s house so I stayed the night.”
Papyrus grumbled in annoyance but left it alone after that. He’d only wanted to know because his brother had been acting weird .
To be fair to his older brother, chess made Papyrus want to cry sometimes too.
---
Sans had been writing up a lab report from earlier in the day when a bout of disillusionment hit. He leaned forward and let his head hit the desk with a solid thunk .
It wasn’t exactly a new thing to him.
Ever since -
Since -
. . .
Papyrus made it all a lot better though. Even if he’d been the one to cause it.
He threw his pen aside and abandoned the report, wandering off into the kitchen in search of something to take the edge off.
Not for the first time, he thought about that 250G.
---
Sans had been toeing the line at his workplace for a long time now - Papyrus was a morning person, sure, but he had a routine before he got ready before school and if Sans, in his usual morning daze, got it wrong, well -
Once, he’d accidentally put marmalade on both slices of his little brother’s morning toast instead of marmalade on one and chocolate spread on the other and the kid had thrown such a distressed tantrum that the neighbours of their tiny apartment had been banging on the walls.
It took him a while but he finally managed to peel away from Papyrus, who was especially frustrated because Sans had forgotten to fetch his favourite blue t-shirt out of the wash last night and Papyrus always had to wear his blue shirt on a Tuesday since Tuesday was a blue day. Obviously .
So he was a little late. Not a big deal, right?
Unfortunately, his manager did not seem to share his opinion, giving him a disappointed frown and a worried squint with their five eyes.
He’d been late too many times, the monster had explained to him with an upset tone, he’d used up his second and third chances a long time ago.
That they were really sorry but it wasn’t working out.
Sans laughed and joked that it reminded him of his last girlfriend. His boss, (old boss now, it seemed) didn’t seem very amused by it all.
Even while sitting through the humiliation of being fired, attempting halfheartedly to beg for his job back (he’d lost his appetite for grovelling a long time ago) and unsurprisingly, getting rejected once again, his mind was working frantically to come up with a plan to save this.
He sighed. He laughed self-deprecatingly when his old manager told him he had potential and that they were sorry it had to end like this.
“It’s fine.” Sans said, “It’s no big deal.”
---
Holding a stack of red notices, the now jobless skeleton had the sinking thought that it kinda was a big deal.
He let out a breath shakily through his nose and levelled his expression. Papyrus was never very good at picking up on expressions and the emotions of other people but with the luck that the older skeleton was having this week, he didn’t want to take any chances.
“You got that homework done yet, buddy?” He said instead, sliding the incriminating mail into the top drawer of the side table by the door, the one covered in scuff marks and dents because the both of them were forever bumping into the damn thing on their morning rush.
“Yeah!” Papyrus shouted back, grinning up at his older brother without a care in the world. He’d pushed the homework aside and was now furiously colouring a picture in that might’ve been some kind of bird. Or maybe a rabbit. Sans took a quick look over the homework, skimming some of the answers and fighting a laugh when he’d seen the kid’s answer to “Name five animals that live in Antarctica.” He’d written “THREE PENGUINS. TWO SEALS.”
He had no idea what exactly lived in ‘Antarctica’ but it seemed right enough so he put it aside.
Sans leaned closer, eyes on the drawing, “That a friend of yours, kiddo?” Maybe this time-
“Yes, he is!” The kid bellowed in his high-pitched voice, straightening his shoulders and puffing out his chest a bit. Sans let out a sigh of relief.
“Although I suspect that he may not be real,” Papyrus continued hurriedly, “But that does not matter because my belief in our friendship is more than real enough for me.”
Ah. Another imaginary friend then.
He couldn’t be too disappointed though - he was sure that Pap would make real friends on his own time.
His little brother went on to explain how amazing his friend was in his usual eloquent ways, waxing on about their “friendly eyebrows” that Sans thought looked more angry than amicable.
His name was Horace and Papyrus insisted that everyday they leave out half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for him incase he got hungry.
Sans nodded and smiled encouragingly through the explanation, amused that his little brother could come up with so many details in such a creative way. Maybe he could be a writer some day.
“An- an- ” Papyrus stumbled. He laughed.
“Calm down, Paps,” He said with amusement, “Take a deep breath and let your mouth catch up with your head.”
“AND!” His brother shouted, “SUNFLOWER SEEDS! Because Ms Harvey at school always says that birds like seeds but I do not know any other seeds but sunflower ones an’- an’ - I think poppy seeds are p- poison and I do not want to kill my new friend!”
Sans nodded. He didn't know all that much about flowers either. There was a lot of stuff he didn't know outside of quantum mechanics and filing lab reports and it was starting to show.
“Can we buy sunflower seeds next time we go shopping?” He asked hesitantly, spinning a pencil fretfully between his fingers, “For Horace?”
He swallowed down thoughts of red letters and due payments and grinned, “Sure, kiddo.”
---
“I just need more time.”
“A’ve already given ya extra time, bab. I was sympathetic tha first few times ‘cause ya’ve got a wee bairn to look afta but it’s been a month now- ”
“ I know ,” Sans interrupted sharply, sending an anxious glance at the back of his dingy apartment but thankfully, his little brother must’ve still been in the bedroom and out of hearing range where he'd left him. His landlady ruffled her feathers in agitation, fixing her one good eye on the thin slither of him peeking from the door.
Her heavy, three-toed boot was lodged between the door and the frame, or else he would’ve slammed the door on her ages ago.
“I’m sorry. Honestly,” He mumbled roughly, feeling a headache pounding behind his sockets and he must’ve looked terrible because her expression softened in sympathy, “I’ve just- It’s just been a rough couple of weeks. I’ll get you the rent, I swear.”
“Is ya sure, bab? ‘Cause tha’s a shelter down tha- ”
“No.” He gritted out - he's been homeless before, he's done it all before and the thought of going back made him sick, “Thank you. I just need another week.”
She gave him a suspicious look, feathers fluffed up and yellow eye searching.
“Fine.” She squawked reluctantly, “I’ll give ya another week.”
She barely managed to pull her boot out of the way before the door slammed closed, Sans muttering an apology when he heard her indignant noise.
“Who was that, brother?”
Sans startled, hiding his shaking hands by stuffing them in the pockets of his hoodie. He turned around to see Papyrus leaning around the door to the bedroom and sending him a worried look.
God, he was so young. Too young to be dealing with this- the top of his skull barely reached the door knob for godsake.
He swallowed a sigh and grinned at his brother anyway- and if it was a little sorrowful then it's not like Paps would notice anyway. He crouched down and the younger monster stumbled closer.
“Sorry kiddo but we might have to move again soon.”
“WHAT?” Papyrus shrieked, “But I've only just gotten all my things in order an- and I nearly made a friend the other day! What is it- did- ” His voice dipped into an anxious whisper, “Did I do something wrong- ”
“No.” Sans interrupted straight away, “You didn't do anythin’ wrong bro, chill.”
“It was that lady at the door, wasn't it?” His little brother’s eyesockets narrowed at the thought and Sans felt a twinge in his soul at how adorable his brother was, “Was she some sort of despicable ca- charackater!?”
He snorted at the determined expression on his brother’s face and Papyrus must have taken it as some sort of sound of fear.
“Do not worry, brother!” He puffed out his chest with his hands on his hips, “We can set a trap for the scary lady! Maybe some sort of net! Or tickling machine!”
“Well a tickling machine sounds like a laugh but we can't tickle her because- ” Sans wracked his mind for an excuse, “Because she’s a vampire. And vampires are immune to tickles.”
Papyrus looked amazed at this new knowledge, nodding along as if it all made sense, “Of course! That must be why you're so scared!” His squeaky voice lowered into a whisper again and he ducked closer to his older brother conspiratorially, “They wanted you to join their secret vampire cult, didn’t they?”
“Yep. Which is why we might have to move in a few days. Or else they'll come find us again and while I ain't got anything against vampire types, their cult makes you pay a subscription fee.” Sans rambled, his nerves finally showing as he unwound from the tense conversation, “And I ain't payin’ 20G a week just to go to some sucky meeting. They'll drain me bone dry .”
“Oh.” Papyrus said blankly, “Well, I'm sure the meetings aren't all that bad. Do they play board games?”
“Kiddo, it was a joke.” Sans laughed lightly.
His little brother still looked bemused.
“ Sucky ? Vampires?”
Papyrus said, “I hate it when you do that.” He held his knuckles to his face to stifle his giggles.
“Oh shush, you're smiling,” Sans teased, scooping his little brother into his arms and only letting his eyes drop when it was out of his brother’s sight.
---
They hadn't exchanged phone numbers the last time.
Sans didn't want to admit that he was relieved at the sight of Ringo leaning against the bar.
Less relieved at the sight of him surrounded by a rowdy group of monsters.
Trying to gather up some courage, he thought of his little brother. The saddened look in his face when he delicately rearranged all his figures to face the bed as a part of his usual nightly routine. His quivering lower jaw as Sans read out his bedtime story.
Sans tapped the lemur on the elbow, ignoring the leer one of his sharp-toothed friends sent him.
His face held no trace of judgement or accusation but Sans found himself flushing all the same, uncomfortably aware of the reason he was here.
“Hey kid,” The lemur monster greeted him pleasantly, eyes creasing at the corners in a sly expression.
---
He nearly left the table twice, persuading himself into the idea and out of it over and over again.
The other monster could tell it wasn't working and offered to buy him a drink first.
Well, if he couldn't muster up his own courage, liquid courage would have to do.
---
“St- stop,” Sans panted, spread out on his back with his head tilted away. The bed was soft and cool behind him where its owner was hot and hard in front of him.
The lemur drew back immediately, his heavy breath warm on his cheek.
“What's wrong?” He asked through pants, so concerned that Sans felt silly for doubting him at all.
“Uh, nothin’,” He mumbled, “I just needed a minute.”
The other monster looked down at him with obvious sympathy- or maybe that was pity.
“Look, son,” He started to say and Sans had to swallow a bout of nervous laughed when he called him- called him- “If you need a minute then it’s fine. We can call this whole thing off if you really want to.”
“No, no, I can,” Sans levelled his expression and tried to gather up the lust and fire he'd had on the first night. He was still quite an attractive monster, he reasoned. It was stupid to have their weird stigma about it when he'd already done it the once. “I can do it.”
He nodded and leaned back, resting his hands on the skeleton’s spread knees and rubbing them comfortingly.
“Have you- ,”The younger monster stumbled, “You got anythin’ to drink?”
---
Pancakes.
Money by the syrup jug.
Sans hoped he wasn't going to start associating pancakes with prostitution now.
He didn't think he could take the loss of one of his favourite breakfast foods.
---
The door clicked shut behind him, a little anticlimactic after the events of the past few days.
He'd made enough money to pay off the landlady though, and even had enough leftover to pay a month in advance.
She'd given him a curious frown when he'd laid the money on the table. Tilted her head to the side to squint at him with her one good eye.
It didn't matter where he'd gotten it and he wouldn't have told her even if she had asked. There was nothing wrong with two monsters bumping uglies on a regular basis, even if there was money involved.
“SAAAAANS,” His little brother screeched, barrelling out of the bedroom and latching onto his waist.
“Hey bro,” Sans scooped up his younger bro, hefting him up to sit on his hip, “You didn't burn the flat down while I was gone, did ya?”
Papyrus sniffed in feigned offence, “Does it look like I've burnt the flat down?”
“I dunno, my eyesight isn't all that good these days. Boy, is it hot in here or is it just all this fire?”
“Saaaaaans.”
“Okay, okay, I'm done.” Sans peered at him with a critical eye, exaggerating the motion to get a giggle from his brother, “Speakin’ of done, you finish that maths homework from yesterday yet?
“Uhh.”
“Come on kiddo, you know that you can do it in a jiffy if you try.”
“How long is a jiffy?” Papyrus squinted up at him.
“Uhh,” Sans shrugged, “‘Bout five minutes maybe?”
“Well that is impeh- impel- ausible. Impelausible.” His little brother declared, unwrapping his arms from Sans in a clear motion for him to set him down.
Putting him back on the ground, Sans wheezed slightly, “Geez kid, you're getting heavier by the day. If I didn't write the shopping list then I'd think you'd been eatin’ rocks.”
“I'm not that heavy!”
“Yeah you are.” Sans grinned at him slyly, “You're growing up. ”
“Nooooo. I don't wanna grow up.”
“Aw c’mon Paps, don't pout.”
“Sans! Quit being silly! I can't pout when I don't have lips!” His little brother whinged.
---
Sans told him later on, the two of them side-by-side and working on their respective homework. Although the maths involved on Sans’ papers was a bit more advanced than his younger brother’s homework.
“We're not gonna have to move back into temporary accommodation again.” He said, diligently working through his calculations while peering at the other out the corner of his eyesockets.
The only indication that Papyrus had heard at all was the slight pause in his scribbling, but it was only for a moment and Sans could've imagined it.
“We- ,” Papyrus stuttered and yeah, Sans hadn't imagined that pause, “We're not?”
“Nope.”
“But you lost your job.”
“Yeah but I'm asking a few of my friends if there's any openings where they work. One of them helped me out and gave me a little money.” He shrugged, typing in a sum on his clunky calculator with quick fingers. “We should be good for a month or two though.”
There was another pause and Pap’s pencil dropped to the table.
“You okay?”
“Yes.” His little brother was tapping his palms on the table and Sans took the motions as the usual sign.
“How are you feeling?”
“I don't- ..,” Papyrus stopped and his brother waited patiently while he untangled his thoughts to give a proper answer. “I think I'm glad?”
“Yeah?” He encouraged. He couldn’t remember much from the parenting books he’d read years ago but he was sure that talking about feelings was helpful somehow.
“Yes.” His little brother said thoughtfully, hands not slowing down even as his mind unwound, “I don't want to go back to the homeless shelter.”
“Me neither, bro.”
“It smelled a little bit.” Papyrus continued and Sans nodded slowly. “And the room wasn't big enough for us both. I'm happy where I am.”
“You happy?”
“Yes. I think so.” His brow bone creased and he looked so adorable that Sans felt a wave of brotherly love wash over him.
Sans leaned over and pecked him on the forehead, “My happy Pappy.”
“Sans,” He giggled. “That's gross.”