Papyrus squinted at the lamp, dark sockets narrowing in suspicion. He leaned forward, careful not to throw Frisk off balance. "WAIT...WHAT'S BEHIND THAT CONSPICUOUSLY-SHAPED LAMP?"

Cover. Blown.

Sans winced, his shoulders tensing—as if his body needed more tension. "uh, i don't know." In all honesty, he was too afraid to look back.

Almost immediately he straightened, frown shifting to an innocent grin. "OH! IT WAS JUST A SHIFTING SNOWDRIFT. NEVER MIND! FALSE ALARM."

Sans's gaze shifted to Frisk, who smiled nervously, clenching their hands. Some nervous habits they seemed to pick up from him, both of which he was displaying now, with the addition of unflattering amounts of sweat. "heh heh heh. of course, bro."

Usually he was so calm about lying! Why was he freaking out now, of all times?

And of course, his brain decided to activate the worst possible coping mechanism for the situation: humor.

"so, uh...uhm..."

"YES, SANS?"

By now, his skull was probably 75% covered with salty regret. "i...uh...wh-what do you call a three-humped camel?"

Papyrus sighed, once joyful expression instantly falling into disappointment. "WHAT?"

Pause for dramatic effect.

"...pregnant."

Before his brother could even start his usual Scream of Complete and Total Exasperation, Y/N burst into riotous laughter.

Everyone froze except her. While they mimicked statues, she was busy breaking her ribs from how hard she was laughing. She slammed her fist into the snow a couple times, using the heel of her hand to push tears away from her eyes. "That was a new one! Oh, God, I'm going to die."

"YOU ARE? THAT IS QUITE CONCERNING!"

It was only then that the situation seemed to hit her, and Y/N froze too. Half leaning out from the path of the lamp's protection, cheeks flushed from frostbite and happiness, hair mussed with a strand or two stuck to her cheek from getting in her mouth, eyes wide.

Faintly, she managed to answer his question, pulling at those annoying pieces of hair. "Um...I, uh...don't think death is in my near future, so you...y-you don't have to, um, worry about that."

Awkward silence. Her hands were getting cold in the snow.

"WAIT A SECOND!" Papyrus announced out of nowhere, causing everyone in earshot to wince. "YOU'RE A HUMAN!"

She pursed her lips. "That's...correct."

He pointed a singular gloved finger in her direction, an action that was surprisingly intimidating, coming from a sweet individual like him. "AND I'M SUPPOSED TO CAPTURE YOU!"

Y/N tilted her head to the side, letting her hair fall with her. "That sounds a bit concerning."

"IT WILL NOT HURT!"

His tone was assuring, the words not so much.

"Doesn't really make it better?"

Papyrus was quiet for a long moment, so concentrated in thought that he resembled Y/N at twice her usual attention span. "...MAY I PLEASE CAPTURE YOU, HUMAN?"

Y/N paused. "Well, I mean...since you asked so nicely—"

"NYEH-HEH-HEH!" Papyrus threw his head back, almost butting it into Frisk's stomach. "EXCELLENT! THIS WILL BE MY SECOND CAPTURE! WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR A LONG TIME FOR ANOTHER HUMAN!"

"uh, paps—"

"I MEAN, WE HAVE FRISK, BUT WE DECIDED TO ADOPT THEM AS A FRIEND! THEY HAVE BEEN A VERY HELPFUL ADDITION TO OUR HOUSEHOLD. THEY ARE BETTER AT TELLING TIME THAN EITHER OF US—"

"paps?"

"—AND THEY ARE VERY QUICK AT RUNNING FOR THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER WHEN AND IF WE NEED IT!"

"papyrus!"

Papyrus seemed to blink to his senses, becoming aware again of the world around him. "OH, MY APOLOGIES. WHAT IS IT, SANS?"

Sans shifted his weight to his other foot, leaning his head that direction. "frisk wants off."

Papyrus glanced over his shoulder, seeing Frisk leaning down and pointing at the ground. "OH. SORRY, FRISK."

From his tall stature he sunk to the ground on one knee, lowering enough for Frisk to hop off. Y/N noted that they were just barely shorter than her, but still taller than Sans. Everyone was taller than Sans, it seemed.

The human ran at her, and she tended before she realized that Frisk had turned, throwing their arms out in a defensive position in front of her.

Papyrus rose once more, furrowing his sockets. "FRISK? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Frisk shook their head, pouting disapprovingly.

"BUT—FRISK—"

They gave him puppy eyes, sticking out their lip even more and widening their pupil as much as they could. Their dark brown iris really helped sell it.

Papyrus groaned, burying his face in his hands. "OH, WHAT'S THE POINT? YOU'RE TOO ADORABLE. I SUPPOSE THAT WE MAY KEEP THE HUMAN FOR A TIME."

Frisk grinned, pumping their fists in the air.

Papyrus tossed his scarf like a mean girl might toss her hair. "WELL THEN, I SUPPOSE WE MUST GET YOU SITUATED! COME ALONG, HUMAN. LET'S SEE ABOUT SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS."

He began to trot down the path, and Y/N hurried to saddle up beside him and look up with what was hopefully her most grateful smile. "Thank you, Papyrus. It means a lot to me that you're willing to let me stay. I'm not being a burden, am I?"

Papyrus stopped in his tracks, gasping. "OF COURSE NOT! YOU ARE VERY WELCOME TO OUR HOME! NO BURDENING OF ANY SORT!"

Y/N's smile melted into one of relief. "Good. I'm glad."

As the taller skeleton turned away, the shorter one was quick to appear on her other side. "well, then. guess you didn't need my help there, huh?"

Y/N played with her hair, staring at the lock she was twisting in between her fingers. "I guess not. Frisk really saved me there."

Sans nodded. "they're good at that. they're very merciful."

Her heart shifted in her chest. How familiar. "That's a good quality to have. Mercy."

"i agree."

Sans studied the ground, shrinking in between his shoulders as he thought, then mumbled, "say, uh..."

"Hmm?"

"...what...what do you think about...monsters?"

Her lip twitched. "What do you mean?"

"i mean...well...i don't know what i mean. never mind."

Silence. The atmosphere was seeped with awkwardness now, as the two managed to keep in step while unable to look each other in the eye.

Finally Sans found a jumble of words at the back of his nonexistent throat and let them loose. "i guess what i was trying to say was...i know some humans aren't very fond of monsters. i've only met a few myself, honestly, and, um...i-i just want to know if public opinion has changed."

Y/N looked down at the snow, as if it could answer the question for her. When it neglected to, she had to think about it for a moment.

Her mother had told her about the war between monsters and humans that happened long ago. Humans had killed Asriel—the son of Monster King, Asgore, and the gracious Queen Toriel—out of fear, and the king's compassion collapsed under his grief. He declared war on humankind. Ash and blood spilled alike, in depressingly large numbers, but in the end it was more ash that decorated the earth. Humans reigned victorious.

Her mother had always said that the monsters had been forced under the ground, deep within the planet—as a child she believed her, as an adult she had forgotten, and now she knew for sure. When further questioned about how she knew, however, her mother clammed up. Nothing. Y/N was never allowed to know. What she did know was that was that her mother always told the story the same way, every time it was asked for: disdain for humanity. Complete disgust. She believed that humans were wholly in the wrong, not to mention that they were imbeciles for killing Asriel and didn't deserve to win the war.

If she was honest, her mother talked as if she wasn't one herself.

Y/N looked back at Sans, turning her hand back and forth in a so-so motion. "Well...it's difficult to gauge. I mean, people just think you're a fairytale now. Being honest, I did as well. But if you managed to find your way to the surface..."

She paused. "You're too vast in number and too powerful for any organization, governmental or otherwise, to take you away and experiment on you."

"comforting."

"There would be racists, of course."

"can't forget those. always a few."

"There would be the enthusiasts. Mostly Internet people, I think." The touch of a smile came to her lips. "The Internet would love you guys."

Something about her tone made him smile, too. "i have no doubt."

"But mostly I think people would just be indifferent. That's a good thing. As long as the enthusiastic minority is louder than the racists, they'll side with them. The good ones, I mean."

"and if they side against us?"

"...It's not going to be pretty."

"oh."

Y/N grimaced, knowing her sense had run away with her mouth, and sought to immediately rectify that with another stream of syllables. "But you shouldn't worry about that right now. If you're anything like me, you don't need anything else to add to your anxiety."

Lucky guess. Or maybe not. "heh. dang right."

And so the four walked in their line, down a snowy lane that felt oh-so-homely. Past their weary feet went a cozy inn, a Librarby, and a bar that reminded Y/N of little towns with a bright neon sign reading 'Grillby's.' It was quiet and peaceful. Monsters were sparsely dotted around the white landscape, barely taking notice of the additional human but speaking amicably with each other. Finally they all stopped in front of a two-story house, painted a dark blue hue and decorated with festive, blinking Christmas lights.

With a prideful, puffed chest, Papyrus announced: "WELL, THIS IS IT! OUR HOME!"

"It looks very nice, Papyrus."

"NYEH! I AM VERY GLAD YOU THINK SO, HUMAN!"

With that he pushed open the door, holding it for the other three as they entered the premises.

The room was, thankfully, warmer than the outdoors. Frisk moved to flop on the faded, worn green couch in the living area—the springs squeaking dangerously underneath their fleshy weight—then gestured to Y/N to do the same.

She crossed the room to settle next to them, much more gently. Looking around, she noted a doorway to what seemed like a kitchen area, if the checkered tiles were any indication. In front of them was a television set, currently off, and a table with a rock on it was off to the side. On the other side of the room a flight of stairs led upwards, to a second floor.

"welp." Sans settled in next to Y/N, a light blue dusting his cheeks as he chuckled. "welcome home, i guess."

"Home," she echoed, looking down at her hands. In her pants pocket, the pin burned, almost searing through the nylon and her skin. But then again, she always did have an active imagination.

As Y/N looked up, though, and saw Sans smile at her, that fire that had dimmed behind her eyes burst again, back to life.

"I'm glad to call this place home."

And she meant it. She really, really did.

(•)

For the rest of what was left of the day, Y/N spent her time in concentrated observation of the happenings of the strange familial unit. Two skeletons and their human, bickering and talking and all that. It was a sight to behold. As she sat on the couch, she watched them run around the house, bouncing like atoms from one room to another. Their conversations continued, no matter the distance between participants. She sat there quietly, simply admiring the spectacle. Never had she been allowed to participate in such a lively atmosphere. Imagine the rest of the monsters here! Gathered, chatting, laughing, moving. She wished dearly for such a moment.

Night was falling before she knew it, or the equivalent of one. Night was difficult to gauge in the Underground, but she figured her circadian rhythms were working properly when exhaustion came upon her.

Then things began to slip, at once; Papyrus called a goodnight to the house, Sans read him a story in a slow, smooth voice, and Frisk signed a sleep tight at her before they too retired up the stairs. Soon it was only her and Sans remaining on the first floor. She was still on the couch, while he was perched on the stairwell, both scrolling on their phones and unable to let sleep find them.

Finally Y/N yawned to herself, unable to contain the stretch towards the sky—or, rather, whatever one might call the above area of a glorified cave system.

Sans's gaze flickered up. "tired?"

A sleepy, sarcastic grin jutted up the corner of her lip. "What gave it away, I wonder?"

He shrugged. "dunno. it's a mystery."

Y/N glanced around, twiddling her thumbs in her lap. "By the way, where am I going to sleep? I was thinking the couch. If you have extra blankets I could make it a real nice situation."

Sans furrowed what could be considered brows. "uh, no." He pointed behind him, up the stairs. "you're going to sleep in my room. i'm the one sleeping down here."

She crossed her arms, raising her chin in defiance. "No, I'm staying. It's your room."

He chuckled, half to himself. "i don't think you understand the words coming out of me. i'm staying, you're going."

"No."

He sighed, standing up and cracking his knuckles. They popped rhythmically, one to the next, until his arms were fully stretched out in front of him. "i guess we do this the hard way, then."

"Excuse—ME!?"

Sans's pupil began to glow a soothing neon blue, and a similar, hazy aura began to form around her as she was lifted in the air, defying gravity.

Y/N squealed, as quietly as she was able. This experience was simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying. She rather liked keeping her body un-bruised from an inevitable fall. "Sans, put me down! Put me down!"

He held the hand not outstretched and burning with magic fire against his mouth, hiding his laugh in it. As much as this was fun, Frisk and Papyrus would be more than mad if he interrupted their beauty sleep. Pissed, actually. Of course his family had to be normal with their dumb normal sleep schedules.

It was with a huff and pouting expression that Y/N was forced to ascend the stairs, floating alongside the skeleton—who himself looked rather smug. He pushed open the door, hovered her through, and set her down on the bed. For once, he had tried to do some spring cleaning, and there were actually visible results. Most of the mess was contained to the edges of the room, the tornado was corralled to a smaller size, and the bed was clean and made.

She looked away, puffing her cheeks childishly. "No!" she whined.

"yes."

Y/N gave in then, groaning as loudly as she dared. "Augh. Fine. Whatever."

She pulled at the laces of her sneakers, but as the knot was too stubborn to come apart, she just grunted and pulled the whole thing off, almost punting the shoe across the room. The other followed its twin's lead. Then she curled under the blanket, hiding her head underneath the covers so only her hair was visible. In a muffled, almost inaudible mumble: "But now I owe you two."

Sans shrugged. "fine by me."

Silence pierced the air, awkwardness beginning to seep in again the longer he stood there. Was he waiting for something? Probably someone to end his miserable excuse for an existence already. What a cheerful thought as a send-off for the day.

He ducked his head, coughing. "well, um...goodnight, y/n."

Y/N poked her head above, staring intently back with deep, E/C eyes. "Have a good night, Sans. Sleep well."

"you too."

She hummed, satisfied, before turning over to face the wall. She was very certain, for once in her life, that no demons would be able to get her tonight. There was no reason to be afraid.

Sans too turned, but to leave the room and shut the door behind him with a gentle click. He sighed, rubbing the back of his skull as he wandered down the steps, skillfully dodging each creaking edge. The couch welcomed him gratefully with a squeak as he flopped on his back, staring at the ceiling.

Drowsiness. What a concept. It actually had him, tonight. His sockets began to droop, and his last thought was of shimmering waves of H/C before he succumbed to the darkness.