" 🕈︎✋︎❄︎☟︎ ☞︎☼︎✋︎☜︎☠︎👎︎💧︎ ☹︎✋︎😐︎☜︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎💧︎☜︎ 🕈︎☟︎⚐︎ ☠︎☜︎☜︎👎︎💧︎ ☜︎☠︎☜︎💣︎✋︎☜︎💧︎? "

By the time the two of you got back to Sans's home, you were making light-hearted jokes and chatter, the tears from earlier forgotten. The scars created by your time here in the Underground were deep, but they would heal and fade with time, you just needed to let them.

The two of you walked in through the front door subconsciously, forgetting that Papyrus and Gaster would be there in the living room waiting for you both.

"Where have you two been?" Gaster stood in front of the doorway, startling you as Sans had just opened the door with his skeleton key. You immediately stood behind him in hopes that he might provide some sort of barrier between you and the angry parent.

You were almost trembling at the sudden appearance of the man, and Sans could feel his soul clench in sympathy as he realized you were hiding behind him. "sorry, dad." Sans began, standing a little straighter and covering you behind him more. "something came up and (y/n) wanted their old jacket... flamia was a little busy so she couldn't get it for them. then there was the snowstorm so grillbz came to get me so (y/n) wouldn't have to walk alone."

Now, it wasn't entirely a lie, but Gaster knew his son well. If Sans was going to leave things out of the truth, then it was because he knew that the other details would get him in trouble. What stopped the scientist from pressing on was how he subconsciously protected you from him. Sans's hands were out of his pockets, one scratching the back of his skull, and the other held out by his side stiffly, blocking what would have been the easiest pathway to you.

Gaster narrowed his eye sockets at the two of you when he realized what his son was doing. What really happened?

Gaster took a step to the side, allowing the two of you to pass. "Strike one, Sans." He spoke lowly, and although his words were foreboding, his expression was saddened, if not a little disappointed.

With the single warning, Sans took you by the hand and hurriedly rushed up the stairs with you in tow. The two of you would have rushed right into his room if it wasn't for the fact that Papyrus blocked the way with shining eyes that begged you to stay.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT, HUMAN?" Papyrus asked with a trembling frown.

Both you and Sans stopped in your tracks, sweat beginning to form on Sans's skull as the two of you glanced between Papyrus, who was at the top of the steps, and Gaster, who was still downstairs.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine Paps." You stuttered out.

"GREAT! THAT MEANS WE CAN DO THE PUZZLES IN MY ROOM RIGHT?" He immediately turned from worried to ecstatic, grabbing your other gloved hand.

Glancing towards the skeleton beside you, Sans gave you a subtle nod, and before you knew it, all three of you were in Papyrus's room. He was a little ball of energy bouncing around and bringing out his favorite puzzles, the bright grin seeming forever plastered on his face. Although you and Sans were both a little tense from their father's words, Papyrus always brightened your days. Even when Sans had been cruel, Papyrus always remained kind.

"What are we doing first?" You asked, welcoming the break that his company came with.

"JUNIOR JUMBLE!" He cried as he triumphantly held out pages he had just found. "I SAVED THEM FROM THIS WHOLE WEEK SO WE COULD DO THEM!" He beamed.

"Thanks, Papyrus." You said with a warm smile. "Now, let's get down to business and do these puzzles!" No matter what happened, Papyrus was always the one who welcomed you with open arms.

Sans was grateful for you cooperation, especially with how tired the two of you were after all those emotional exchanges. Still, you were willing to give more energy for his little brother's happiness. It warmed his soul in a strange way, but shook the thought away when Papyrus shoved a puzzle in his hands as well, a pen being slid his way.

Laying down on the floor, the three of you solved the blank puzzles. You and Sans breezed through yours quite quickly, considering that Sans was correct, they were for babybones, but Papyrus was just that in your eyes. He was still just a babybones, and both of you would be damned before letting him come to harm.

So the two of you bantered back and forth, throwing puns and jokes out into the open as Papyrus groaned and complained about your terrible jokes.

"What's a four letter word for frozen water?"

"snow."

"Thanks."

"snow problem."

A round of snickers came from the two of you and Papyrus resisted the urge to bang his skull against the floor.

"WHY DO I HAVE TO SIT HERE AND LISTEN TO YOUR BAD JOKES? I JUST WANTED TO DO PUZZLES!"

"Sorry, Papyrus." You noticed the grin that was unmistakably on his face and couldn't help but smirk yourself. "But you don't seem very upset about it."

"yeah pap, it looks like we really tickled your funny bone." Sans poked his little brother's spine to make him squirm at the ticklish sensation.

"You already used that one."

"YOU ALREADY USED THAT ONE!"

The two of you spoke together and Sans could only shrug. "tough crowd."

"Nah, just a bad comedian." You snickered before he gave you a little shove with his socked foot.

"oh yeah? well do you have any better jokes?" He challenged.

You sat up, a certain mischievous sparkle in your eyes as the flickered to Papyrus. "Oh yeah definitely."

"WAIT! NO! HOLD ON!" Papyrus knew where this was going, but it was too late to stop you now.

"C'mon Papyrus, there's no skin off my nose. Why the long skull? Am I rubbing your bones the wrong way?" You kicked your feet back and forth leisurely, knowing full well that you weren't making any sense.

You could hear Papyrus's teeth grit together. "THOSE WERE THE. WORST. JOKES. I'VE EVER. HEARD." He laid his face into the carpet, arms spread out before him. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?"

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see his teeth quirk up into a smile. You nor Sans could hold back the glee from his denial; the three of you laughed, Papyrus begrudgingly, but laughing nonetheless.

This was what it meant to be a child.

+

+

+

The three of you had played together for the rest of the day, which had amounted to about 4 straight hours in total, before dinner. It was the first time you'd gone downstairs to have dinner with them since Wednesday, but you felt a lot safer with Sans on your side, and Papyrus distracting you from facing his father. Gaster also spared you from an interaction with himself as some sort of silent mercy.

It went as smooth as it could have gone with trauma, to say the least, but now it was time to test the limits of something else.

"do you want to sleep up here?" Sans off-handedly gestured to his bed. "it's probably not... comfortable for you to sleep on the floor."

Had the two of you not had that heart to heart earlier this afternoon, you would have looked at him strangely. Instead, you stared at him with a cheeky smile.

Nudging him with your elbow, you said "Looks like you're finally warming up to me."

He rolled his eye lights and shoved you toward his bed and the two of you climbed on. You didn't even bother teasing him about the closeness. Sans's clothes and blanket weren't the only thing that was terribly comfortable. You sunk into his plush bed and hummed in content.

"I can't believe you've been hogging this to yourself for the whole time." Your voice was muffled through the bedsheets.

Sans flopped down beside you, shoving you slightly to make room for himself. Both of you were surprised at how familiar you two were becoming. Although, a few traumatic experiences did tend to speed up the process.

"well, you never asked." He teased with a tired smile. The two of you were exhausted from the day's turmoil. The events would be enough to wear down an adult, so of course the two of you needed a little peace.

"... Well, I guess I never thought you'd actually say yes." You kept your face huddled into the pillow, a little embarrassed by your own confession.

"it was a good thing i was the one to ask then, huh?"

The two of you chuckled, "Yeah, I guess so."

There was another silence between the two of you. Luckily it wasn't as awkward as it could have been, but even as you were slowly drifting to sleep, you couldn't help but realize that this may have been the first time you weren't afraid. You weren't scared to fall asleep. You had a friend to watch your back.

"did you mean it?" Sans spoke up suddenly, reminding you to pull your face out of the pillow before you suffocated. "when you said you would... protect me and papyrus?"

It was almost impossible to miss the blue magic dusting his cheekbones when they provided light in the dark room. "Yeah, I do." Shifting on the bed and curling beneath a different blanket than Sans, you turned to look at him, his white eye lights bright in the dead of night.

"then i mean what i said too." He took a shaky breath; you could hear it from where you laid. "i won't let anything happen to you." He had been taking short glances at you the entire time, but now the two of you stared at each other.

You couldn't help but feel touched, and a part of you knew that he did too. You had a mutual agreement - and it meant more now that you knew more about each other. Still, did he even know anything about you?

Did you know anything about you?

"... but i need to know what happened with you and my dad." He finally said. You could see the anxiety on his expression - his eye sockets were a far darker void than the room and it's crystal nightlight in the corner, his eye lights were fuzzy around the edges, but closer to tears than joy. "please - i just..." He was at a loss for words.

But you thought you knew what he meant. "You're scared, right?" You asked, already knowing the answer. "That... he's not as great as you think?" He didn't reply, but with a sigh, you finally caved.

It wasn't easy mustering up the courage - it had taken more than a few moments. Minutes passed by, and the only thing keeping you from thinking he was asleep was the way his eye lights would drift back to you patiently. Clutching the blankets, you spoke.

"He hurt me." You began. "It... was going fine... I think. At first, he pulled out a book and started explaining stuff to me. How you were all trapped here. How my soul could get you guys out... How mine was just stronger than normal ones because of the color. How a human soul was a thousand times stronger than a monster's... but I still don't understand." You huffed, glaring at the ceiling with knitted eyebrows and a frown that was more angry than anything else. 

"I still don't understand why he needed to take a... 'sample'. He stuck a damn needle into my soul, Sans." You finally turned to look at him again, little tears of frustration pricking the corners of your eyes. "And I still don't get why! Why couldn't he have done it in any other way? That's why I hate your dumb blue magic! I tried to run, but he used it on me before I could - I! - "

You shoved your hands into your face, a muffled scream coming out of your mouth as you tried to keep your emotion quieter, in fear of waking the others. Your breathing was ragged, tears freely rolling down your face now, despite how you tried to turn away... And he placed a hand on your shoulder, his bone brows knitting together as he stared at you with wavering eye lights. 

... you didn't need to handle this alone anymore. 

Turning to face him, you pulled the blanket over your head and he hugged you through it. You could sob and wail into the blanket as you wished. Both he and it would provide you with comfort in this momentary peace. 

Finally telling someone - telling Sans, filled you with determination and hope.