Red's birthday had never really been something to celebrate. In a world where the air was sometimes so thick with dust you would choke on it, parties were an idea only considered by the king and those with a death wish. It came every year, like most birthdays tend to, but he did his best to ignore it. He would have preferred they forget the day altogether, but Fell had always done something to celebrate the occasion. He'd always said that he was celebrating one year closer to Red's death, to which Red responded that all he'd have to do to speed that up was give him back the cigarettes he'd confiscated.

Birthdays weren't quite that important to the Great and Terrible Papyrus.

All this aside, it wasn't really much of a surprise that on his first birthday that wasn't spent living with his brother, he forgot about the day altogether.

It started off like any other. He woke up with Sans half wrapped around him, one hand having managed to shove itself between Red's radius and ulna, with the sounds of Blue making breakfast echoing in through the open door. He took a deep breath in, trying to identify what it was that Blue was making. There was...bacon? Was that bacon? He had no idea, but the late night they had spent watching Chopped made him sniff the air again, grinning to himself as he BS'd his way through a dish description.

Ah, yes, here we have the deliciously greasy meat strips with the scrambled birth sacs of the unborn...

He snickered to himself, hoping that it really was bacon and eggs so that he could irritate Blue by calling it that when he got downstairs.

Reaching down, he carefully detached Sans' hand from his arm, rolling back over to wrap him up in his arms and tug him close. After a moment of contemplation, he shifted, moving himself down so that it was his head tucked into Sans' chest. Breathing in deeply again, he grinned to himself, feeling Sans' arms wrapping around him subconsciously. Fuck, he had no idea how a guy who always seemed to have ketchup stains on his jacket smelled so goddamn good . Maybe it was a Sans thing. He'd have to ask Blue if he could smell him, too, to confirm the theory. Right after he made that joke from earlier. He snickered to himself again. Why the fuck did Blue put up with his shit anymore?

He let his eyes drift shut, on the verge of falling back to sleep.

Of course, sleep could never last with the Sansational Blue anywhere in the vicinity. Red was jerked out of the beginnings of a pretty good dream when something landed on him quite suddenly, almost knocking the breath out of him. Sans woke at the same time, swearing under his breath and his eye lighting up for a split second before he realized what was happening.

Red opened his eyes as slowly as he could, turning to face their attacker with a look on his face that would have made any lesser monster turn tail and run, but just made the skeleton on top of them chuckle and peck a kiss onto his forehead.

Blue cuddled down into them, covering them both in kisses and only responding to their tired groans with exclamations about the magnificent breakfast that awaited them downstairs and how they needed to get up and greet the day.

Sans rolled over, curling up just enough so that he could bury his head into Red's chest and mumble something that neither of them could understand, but Red knew was probably not complimentary. Then he gently pushed Blue off and sat up, accepting the inevitable. Blue tried to sit up too, but Red pulled him back down and planted a solid kiss on his mouth before flicking him on the forehead, murmuring, "What did we agree about the whole 'jumping on us while we're sleeping' thing?".

Blue grinned, completely unabashed. "To not to. But you won't wake up otherwise, and besides, I love surprise cuddles! And you know that you do too!"

Sans made a vaguely sarcastic noise from the direction of the closet, and Red agreed with him. But he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, even as he said, "Still, Blue, it does kinda hurt."

Blue rolled over, clapping a hand to the place where his soul was hidden under his shirt. "I'll tell you what hurts, Red--"

"Your face?" Red responded as he sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and turning back to wink at the other. Blue had a hilariously confused look on his face, stopped in the middle of his dramatic speech as he was, and Red just snickered as he stood, crossing the room to the closet and peeking around the edge of the door.

"We have the same face!" Blue called after him, and Red snickered again, drawing Sans' attention.

The other had stripped off his shirt, ready to change into something fresh for the day. It'd become a habit for both of them to improve their hygiene since Blue had threatened never to touch them again if they didn't, and Red had to say, he was certainly okay with Sans having to change his clothes every single day.

In response to the lecherous grin he was receiving from his boyfriend, Sans winked saucily, picking up the shirt he was planning to wear and swinging it on one finger. "Well hello there, sailor!"

Red gave a snort, reaching past the other to dig around in his own dresser, coming up with a red sweatshirt and one of the six pairs of black-and-yellow basketball shorts he owned. "Well that is just inappropriate!" he exclaimed in a passable imitation of Blue's voice, echoing an oft-repeated phrase that always served to irritate both of them.

Sure enough, Blue let out a muffled groan, and Sans did his best to maintain a serious face, holding in his laughter. Chuckling, Red left the closet, flopping down to sit on the edge of the bed and groaning loudly. "I don't fucking wanna get dressed, it's too hard!" He flopped back on the bed, giving Blue a pleading glance and making grabby hands at him. "Blue, can you take my clothes off for me?"

Blue stood, very calmly, then seized a handful of the sheets, throwing them over Red's face and topping it off with a pillow, which he chucked a little harder than was probably necessary.

Sans burst into laughter, and Red heard him cross the room to Blue. Wriggling as best he could in his blanket cocoon, Red managed to work his boxers down over his hips, prompting Blue to throw more blankets at him.

"Fuckin' exhibitionist!" Sans called from somewhere near the door, and Red laughed loudly as he heard Blue reprimand him for the language.

Quickly escaping his blanket prison, Red dressed quickly and headed downstairs, following the amazing smell of what he was now fairly certain was bacon into the kitchen. When he entered, Blue handed him his heaping plate with a smile that quickly turned into an eye-roll as Red made the joke he'd been planning since earlier that morning.

"Red, please do not use the word 'sacs' to describe anything I've cooked, ever again."

Sans, who had been staring into the distance at the table and probably tuning them out, looked up at that, looking confused. "Uh..."

"Don't ask," Blue quickly responded, taking a seat at the table and ignoring Red's laughter.

They ate quietly for a few minutes, and then Blue broke the silence with an exclaimed "Oh! Hang on, I need to ask you guys something!" Then he stood up quickly and disappeared from the room.

Red looked at Sans, but he just shrugged, and then Blue was back. He had the wall calendar with him, which meant he was going to do some scheduling.

Oh, joy. Scheduling.

Blue was, if nothing else, a monster of routine. He planned out every event in advance, carefully copying down the details onto the much-mocked calendar that hung by the front door, and if something was not written on the calendar, Blue would not be present. Both Red and Sans were used to their own brothers being a bit...focused on their planning, but neither of them had been anywhere near prepared for the pure excitement and joy that was Blue's scheduling .

He sat in front of them, setting down the calendar and taking out a pen from who knows where, carefully crossing out Friday so that the calendar was up to date. Then he turned his attention to the next Monday and said, "I know that both of you forget to ever write anything on the calendar, but do you know of anything that you're supposed to be doing on Monday night?"

"Nope." said Sans, his voice full of sarcastic enthusiasm, at the same time that Red mumbled around a mouthful of eggs, "I don't really do anything, ever, so..."

"Great!" Blue exclaimed. "Then you'd both be available to go visit Papy and Fell? They've invited us over for dinner that night."

"Only if the great calendar demands it of us."

"We are yours to command, O merciful calendar."

Blue studiously ignored them and wrote down the details for the dinner, and Sans and Red traded snarky grins.

Red's gaze drifted down to the all-powerful calendar, and his eyes caught on today's date. Wait...

He swallowed what was in his mouth, then leaned forward, getting a better look in case he was just reading it wrong. "Oh." he said aloud as his observation was confirmed.

Blue glanced up at him from his writing, one brow raised. "If you're about to make another joke about the calendar, you can go upstairs and--"

"No..." Red said, waving him off before he stuffed another bite in his mouth. "No, it's just that I'm getting older. It's fuckin' weird."

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Blue said, wrinkling his nose, but Sans' eyes were narrowed, watching Red.

"What do you mean, you're 'getting older'?"

Red shrugged, swallowing again before replying, "I'm 27 now. It just feels weird is all." Stuffing his last bite into his mouth, he stood and carried his plate to the sink. He would never in a million years admit it to Fell, but now that he was being forced to do his own dishes right when he was done with them, he was starting to enjoy having a clean kitchen--

"Wait, what?"

Red glanced over his shoulder as he turned on the water, frowning at the confusion in Sans' voice. "I said, I'm--"

Sans shook his head, looking slightly frustrated with how dense Red was being. "I thought you were 26. What do you mean, you're 27 'now'?"

"Oh!" Red said, understanding lighting up his eyelights as he rinsed his dish, turning to put it into the dishwasher as he said, "It's my birthday today."

"RED!?"

Jumping violently, Red shot Blue an accusing glance. "Holy hell, sweetheart, are you trying to break the eardrums I don't even have?"

Blue jumped up from his seat, putting his hands on his hips and glaring at him. "Why didn't you tell us your birthday was coming up?!" He paused, then dropped his hands from his hips, his entire posture shifting into dejected disappointment. "Why didn't I figure out your birthday was coming up?"

"...Well, I mean, I forgot that my own birthday was today until I saw the date, so..."

"That's no excuse!" Blue exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "I'm your boyfriend, I should have known!"

"What about me, Blue? I didn't know either." Sans chimed in, looking guilty but obviously trying to assuage some of Blue's guilt.

Blue just waved a hand dismissively at him. "You're not the organized one, you don't have to feel as bad."

Snorting with laughter, Red shook his head at the conversation, turning to close the dishwasher before returning his attention to the other two, who were now regarding him with matching expressions of deep thought. Sometimes he forgot that they were all the same person, but it was moments like this that it became very obvious. The only difference between their faces were the slightly dimmed cyan of Blue's eyelights, and Red found himself grinning between them, a poorly-timed joke about twins on the tip of his unsummoned tongue.

"So how are we celebrating, Red?" Sans asked, standing with his own empty plate and crossing the room to stand next to Red at the sink.

Red furrowed his brow, letting himself be pushed lightly out of the way. "Well, I mean, that dinner with the Boss on Monday is probably--"

"No, with us , dumbass."

"Sans! Don't be rude, it's his birthday!"

There was a pause, then, "Does that mean I can call him a dumbass when it's not his--"

"Sans!"

"Is that something that you normally do?" Red asked, interrupting Blue's lecture. He could feel his face getting warm, embarrassed as he always was by his lack of understanding of a culture that wasn't...murder.

Sans' face cleared, his smirk replaced by an understanding sort of pity that kind of made Red want to smack him, despite knowing that he had the best of intentions. Blue looked confused for a moment, then he realized, his brows coming together sadly before he stood up, joining them by the sink and setting his plate inside before turning to face Red. "Yeah, it's pretty normal for there to be a...date, or some sort of special thing for people that are in a relationship." He smiled widely, grabbing Red's hand and planting a kiss on his knuckles before dancing away, saying, "It's so that we can celebrate with you, and make you feel special!"

At the kiss to his hand, Red growled playfully, making a grab for Blue and managing to bump into Sans hard enough to knock the plate out of his hands as the smaller skeleton evaded the weak attack. Sans gave Red a look, but he just smirked back, leaning back against the counter and folding his arms before what Blue had said clicked, and he snorted. "Why do I need to feel special? It's just a birthday."

"Well there's your answer," Sans said, picking the dish back up and putting it in the dishwasher before turning around, leaning back against the counter's edge and grinning at Red. "It's the anniversary of the day you were brought into the world. I never would know so many dark jokes if that hadn't happened." Pushing up off the counter, he crossed the room, pushing in his chair before pausing. Then, throwing it over his shoulder like it was an offhand thought, he said, "Oh, and that whole thing where you are one of the three most important people in my life, and we both love you and would like to celebrate the fact that you exist."

Sans turned back to the chair, putting all of his attention to making sure that it was pushed in perfectly. Red could feel a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth, and he glanced over at Blue, who was looking between them with heart-shaped eyelights. They made eye contact, and Red couldn't help but smile at the expression on the other's face.

"Red," said Blue, drawing Sans' attention away from the already perfected chair. Red just grinned uncertainly, unsure how to respond to what they were saying. This was such a....strange concept, honestly. The fact that the day he was born was something to be celebrated ...

"I love you," came Blue's voice, his normal exuberance calmed into something far more serious, but still filled with all the joy that he always seemed to have for every aspect of life. "More than I could ever tell you. And I know that Sans does too. Even if you don't want...well, even if you feel as though you might not deserve it, or you don't understand why we would even want to celebrate your whole existence, can we still--"

He was cut off as Red crossed to him in two steps, scooping him up into his arms and hugging him tightly. After a moment, he let go with one arm just long enough to gesture for Sans to join the hug, pulling him in close as soon as he was within reach.

"I fucking love you two so goddamn much," he murmured into the side of Sans' skull, tightening his grip around Blue's waist.

There was a split second of pure, peaceful silence.

"Red since it's your birthday, I won't make you put a dollar in the swear jar."

Grinning, he pulled back, looking down at Blue roguishly. "Damn...I think I might like this whole birthday thing!"