Chapter Text
Sans was warm to his touch.
Papyrus slid white, boney fingers across dark fingers, pretending to not feel the weight of Sans gaze on him. Sans fingers twitched slightly, and Papyrus automatically pulled back, before delicate finger bones could be caught and pulled off. Old memories of when crueler monsters had taken off his gloves surfaced, and for a second, he was scared.
Sans stilled immediately, and Papyrus tried to force a smile on his face. He shouldn’t be so nervous- this was his brother after all!
…His brother that was human, his not-brother that had been lying to him for years. Did he even really know Sans at all? He thought he had- Sans had been the lazy slob that had too many nightmares, that enjoyed hugs and bad puns, ate his spaghetti, live in Grillby’s and somehow paid for the house. Sans couldn’t clean out his mailbox if his life depended on it, and never bothered feeding his pet rock. He had several sentry stations, had spent too much time at the door in the ruins. Sans loved drinking any kind of condiment he could get his hands on and loved stargazing. He did it every night since coming to the surface.
But Sans had never told him anything, had he? Papyrus knew that, but he was a little surprised at the complicated feelings that arose as he stared at a flesh hand. It was just like Frisks. Identical even, except for the different, darker tone.
His smile slipped a few seconds later as he stared at the hand extended to him. Sans seemed to of dropped into silence, and Papyrus couldn’t think of anything to say. He struggled for a few moments, hands half drawn back, before he reached out again to Sans hands. Sans remained perfectly still, eyes glinting at him like little pinpricks of light.
Papyrus ran his distal phalanges across skin, marveling at the soft moldability of human skin. It was very soft and dry. Not at all furry like most of the creatures that had skin in the underground. It felt… nice, honestly. He didn’t like it when fur or feathers slipped through the space between his fingers, and the human skin was quite soft to Undyne and Alphys’s rough, scratchy scales. He ran his thumb across the back of Sans hand, before turning it over and pressing his hand against Sans in comparison.
Sans huffed quietly at the motion, the knotted, worried crinkles around his eyes beginning to ease. His hand remained pliant in Papyrus’s, as Papyrus nyeh-ed triumphantly at having a bigger hand. A low chuckle managed to fill the air, shattering the oppressive silence. “like what you feel?”
Papyrus, if he had a tongue, would’ve stuck it out at him. Instead he humphed loudly, phalanges resting lightly against a wrist, feeling a pounding, unsteady beat through his bones. “You are quite soft! It feels very nice.”
The pounding ratcheted up, even as Sans slumped further in his seat, burying his face in his jacket. His mask was still on. Papyrus wondered what kind of face he had, with flesh on it. What kind of face his… brother? Was Sans his brother? Did he even want to be? “Sans?” He had no throat or lungs, so his voice shouldn’t of squeaked quite so hard.
Sans straightened a little, the pounding calming a little. “Yeah?” His voice was just as horse as Papyrus’, a fact that he took a little comfort in.
“Can I- May I take off your mask?” He wanted to see. He could feel his soul aching to see what exactly Sans had hidden from him for so long. Would it even mean anything, like this? Papyrus wasn’t certain, but, his soul ached to see what exactly Sans looked like. Even if it shouldn’t matter.
The pounding took a sharp dive upwards. “Uh, yeah, sure. I did say whatever you wanted, didn’t I?” Sans twitched as Papyrus let go of his hand, and started reaching for his mask. Papyrus watched avidly, as white pulled away to dark skin. He had always had bad eyesight, so he still wasn’t able to quite tell the break from mask to other parts of Sans costume. But he could see the stark contrast between skin and shirt.
Papyrus scooted his chair a little closer, fingers reaching out slowly to caress a soft, chubby cheek. It was a lot different from Frisk- he always had his gloves on around Frisk. Bones didn’t have a lot of feeling to them, but he could faintly feel the warmth from cheeks, the soft, gentle texture of skin. It was quite fascinating.
And then there was the hair thing- unlike Frisks straight hair, Sans hair was apparently curly and wild. He wasn’t about to sink his fingers in there (the thought of how it could get tangled between the delicate bones gave him the shivers) but he was willing to do the same thing he did with Frisk. He leaned in close to nuzzle at the wild, curly hair, feeling it scrape along his mandibular and maxilla. A wave of heat slapped against his face.
Confused, Papyrus pulled back for a brief second. Sans dark skin had changed color. “Oh, Sans, I didn’t know you could change color.” Wait, Papyrus was pretty certain that was a bad sign. “Wait! Oh no! Are you sick? I don’t know how to take care of sick humans!”
Sans head snapped upwards, “What, no, Paps! I’m not sick! Just- a little flustered. I’m fine.”
Papyrus crossed his arms, eyes narrowing. “Are you now?” He wondered if this was yet another lie. Sans nodded quickly.
“Hey, Frisk changes colors a couple of times, without getting sick, right? And you’ve taken care of me before- nothing’s actually different.” Well, that wasn’t true on Papyrus’s part. No matter how he tried to make himself smile these past few days since finding out Sans secret, he hadn’t been able to shake off the sense of betrayal. The tiny kernel of anger.
“Isn’t it though?” Papyrus mumbled. He wasn’t sure why it was Sans betrayal that hit him the hardest- he knew how much his… how much Sans loved his secrets. But he had thought that he knew his br- He thought he had known Sans. But apparently he didn’t know anything, and it hurt more then when Flowey would insult him, or Frisk giving him an exasperated look. He knew how to deal with that, to keep his smile up.
He didn’t know how to deal with this.
Papyrus had crashed at Undyne’s place for a few nights, not citing the reason why until Undyne had tossed him into the same room as Sans and told him he was going home that night so better hash it out now sucker. That was why they were here. Papyrus had asked to feel the human skin and confirm with his own eyes that Sans was actually human, Sans agreed, and everything was still very, very awkward.
Sans sank into the seat, hands shoving into pockets. And for a second, Papyrus could really see the person he considered his brother. One eye closing lazily, body relaxed and open, as slippered feet tapped against the floor. It was familiar, and easy, and without really thinking about it, he leaned onto Sans. Sans never asked for hugs, so Papyrus took it upon himself to give him hugs, and-
Wait.
Papyrus began to pull back, not certain if Sans actually liked them or not. Sans shifted so Papyrus could lean against him a little easier, and stared up at him without his perpetual grin. Papyrus scratched the back of his head. His instincts were telling him that Sans needed comfort, but he wasn’t sure what to say- what to do!
“Nyeh.” He muttered darkly, before leaning in again, resting his head against a curly mop of hair. He could feel the strands tickling against his face.
“So, uh, what brought this about anyways?” Sans questioned, and Papyrus could feel the heat coming off of Sans in waves.
“Well, I have been crashing at Undynes place, and she said that I was going to be heading back home today because the house burned down. Our spaghetti making has become much more intense since Frisk has come into the picture. She said she will be crashing at Alphys.” It was kinda an answer!
“Oh.” Sans eyes closed for a brief moment. “If… if you, uh, still don’t feel comfortable with me, then I can-“
“Nonsense!” Papyrus made a split moment decision. “I won’t back down from this challenge!”
“Challenge?” Sans nudged him slightly in the chest with an elbow, not dislodging him from where he was leaning. “What’s the challenge?”
“Obviously to learn more about you. I mean- I thought I knew a lot about you but now I know more things! Like you aren’t actually my brother!” Sans flinched, the tremor rocking against Papyrus’s bones. Papyrus plowed on determinedly, “And that you have hair! I would touch it but I’m afraid it would get caught in my fingers. That would hardly be ideal.”
“Yeah, your fingers are pretty delicate, ain’t they?” Sans chuckled, a warm sound that flooded Papyrus with warmth. “Sorry about startling you earlier.”
“It’s okay Sans!” Papyrus said, a little surprised at just how okay it really was. He paused for a moment, before scooting back a few steps so they were facing each other again. Sans tracked him, eyes alight. When Papyrus extended his hands again, he pulled his hands out of his pockets. “Your turn Sans!”
“Huh?”
“Well, it is only fair that if I get to touch you, then you can touch me if you want!”
Sans seemed paralyzed. “I-uh-that’s-“
But he was leaning forward, fingers hovering over Papyrus’s. Papyrus didn’t pull away. “You sure? Your fingers are pretty delicate-“
“I wouldn’t of offered if I wasn’t certain!”
“Alright then, if you don’t mind me-“ Sans fingers folded around his bones, and Papyrus could feel the warmth and pounding beat in his hands. “I’ll admit, I always wanted to try holding your hand without gloves.”
“Wowie, really?” Papyrus laughed a little at the thought- at least he wasn’t the only one fascinated by hands.
Sans slid his thumb across his metacarpals, the skin dragging on sensitive bone. Papyrus did his best not to squirm. He didn’t quite succeed, from the way Sans paused, letting him finish moving before starting up again. He was a little surprised how light and hesitant Sans touch was, compared to his normally steady hand he did everything with.
It wasn’t like Papyrus didn’t know how a number of monsters who found Sans charming- he had to admit when Sans wasn’t just lying about and being lazy he was quite attractive. And Sans did have a sharp wit- he just had too many puns. And, like this, he could really understand why people sent Sans love letters and not him. There was just an air of complete seriousness and single-minded devotion to achieving his goal. What his goal was, Papyrus didn’t know, but- he was quite determined!
“So Bro- sans!” Sans stopped at Papyrus’s voice, eyes leveling with Papyrus’s as Papyrus skipped over calling him brother. Papyrus rocked on the chair, feeling something tingling through his bones every second Sans had his fingers on him. “I- Have you told anyone else?”
Sans glanced up at him, eyes narrowing slightly, “I thought you’d of spread the word by now, so no.”
“I haven’t told anyone.” Papyrus stated firmly, “I was surprised by the knowledge, but I wouldn’t just tell anyone without your permission Sans.”
Sans grinned at him, and Papyrus blinked, a little taken back by the force of the smile. Human smiles were very pretty, weren’t they? “that so Papyrus? Thanks. I wasn’t really planning on telling anyone tibia honest.”
Papyrus groaned at the pun, resisting the urge to gently whack him like he usually did. Sans eyes wrinkled oddly around the corners, as his smile actually seemed to reach his eyes. Papyrus reached out with his free hand to lay curious fingers on the wrinkles. “I never realized how moldable human flesh was,” Papyrus remarked, “It’s a lot different then bones.”
Sans snorted as he reached up to press a hand against his cheek. Papyrus twitched at the touch- usually Sans had two or three layers of cloth to add just a little bit of distance between them. Like this it was… Papyrus wasn’t certain what the word was, he just knew he liked it.
“Yeah, we kinda do that.” Sans muttered, before he pulled back, scratching at one cheek awkwardly, “So, uh, you wanna come home with me? I know a shortcut.”
“Okay Sans!” Papyrus climbed to his feet, gather up gloves and discarded mask.
Sans shortcuts always left him a little dizzy, but when Papyrus’s vision had cleared, Sans was opening the door to their house on the outskirts of a bustling port city. There was a brief stab of worry about Sans being out and about without his mask, before it faded with the reminder that they were surrounded by humans- a human wearing Sans-like clothing could hardly matter much! Or he hoped at least. Still, it had been a long time since he had been home, and Sans was in the doorway, watching him carefully. Was he worried that Papyrus would change his mind? He couldn’t back out now! Papyrus blinked away the last bit of darkness- and entered into chaos.
There were socks, blankets, a few plates of stale spaghetti, grillby take-out, human take-out, mold and-
Papyrus could feel a little eep of terror escape him at the sight. “What did you do to the living room Br-SANS!? It’s a mess! A complete and utter mess!!” Papyrus stormed into the living room, eyes shooting to where the closet holding the laundry basket ought to be. It was wide open, and it looked like some living mass of dirty laundry was spilling out of it.
Papyrus swore he had only been gone for a few days. How in the world could Sans create this black hole of a mess?!
Sans looked a little guilty when Papyrus shot him a look of disbelieving anger. “Sans, go attempt to unbury the couch. I will take care of the rest!”
“mmkay.” Sans didn’t seem to be attempting to slack off for now, which Papyrus gleefully took full advantage of.
------
Sans slumped against the mattress he’d left lazily on the floor, and breathed in deep.
His brother was back.
Papyrus was back in the house, and they were talking. He rested his eyes against the palms of his hands, and silently thanked whatever watched over humans who had their souls irreversibly turned into part-monster for at least letting him attempt to make things up to Papyrus.
But there was never a good time to tell Papyrus, that he was originally human, and when they got up to the surface, his days had just been too full. Papyrus finding out had been the furthest thing from his mind. To be honest, Sans didn’t plan on telling anyone anything. Papyrus finding out had been a mistake, and when Papyrus had refused to come home, stating that he’d be at Undyne’s instead, Sans had about near had a panic attack.
The past week had been lonely- waking up at odd hours of the night was infinitely less fun when he didn’t have a cool brother nearby to talk too before heading back off to bed. It hadn’t hit him how much he had emotionally depended on Papyrus to help him get back to sleep, until Papyrus wasn’t there anymore.
Sans glanced at the door- through the walls he could hear Papyrus attempting to clean up the mess he had made of the living room without anyone to keep in check his self-destructive tendencies. He should probably go out and help, but he needed this selfish minute to just relax. Besides, Papyrus would redo whatever he did.
Humming floated through the door, and Sans touched his cheeks. He could still feel Papyrus’s boney fingers on the soft skin, a caress that had his heart thundering a mile a minute. It had been such a nice sensation- and the bright flush was back. Sans buried his face into the stinky mess of blankets and sheets and tried to think of something other then the delicate finger-bones that he had gotten to touch.
Papyrus wasn’t very sensitive as far as Sans could tell- when making that costume, he’d accidentally pricked Papyrus a number of times along the shoulder bones. But Papyrus hadn’t even been able to tell- he’d been the one to apologize to Papyrus’s clueless acknowledgement.
But those hands- at even the slightest pressure, Papyrus was squirming. Still trusting him, but squirming from the sensations, and unbidden his mind began to bring up the dirty dreams of a blue heart dripping with need. Of Papyrus squirming on the bed like he had been in the chair, rocking back and forth, gloves (fingers now) desperately clutching bedsheets as Sans caressed the heart with his fingers, head thrown back and the whimpers.
Sans hands strayed to his pants, before he forced himself to pull back. Now wasn’t the time. He studiously ignored the fact that there was never a good time to have wet dreams about ones brother, and tried to think of icy-cold mountains instead. He thought of dust, and just like that, it was gone.
Right. Go clear off the couch. He could do that.
The couch cleaning didn’t take long, and Sans perched in the middle of it to watch as Papyrus made cleaning magic happen to whisk away a weeks worth of despondency. Papyrus was humming a simple tune- something about spooky scary skeletons? Sans wasn’t certain- he had been gone from the surface for most of his life, and he was bone deep in catching up with the astrology news.
He may have a book of stars carefully stashed away in Snowdin for the next reset.
The tv flickered on a astronomy show, and Sans cleared his throat carefully, “Hey, uh, Papyrus?”
Papyrus’s head turned at his voice, and Sans attempted a smile, “Got a show you wanna watch with me?”
“Sans, I have only been cleaning for-“ Papyrus squinted at a clock, before continuing, “Three hours! At least let me clean for three more before interrupting me!”
“C’mon Papyrus, union deals say you work for two and get a break.” Sans cajoled, “We can change the channel if you want- Mettaton is probably showing off his new play. The sequel to the one with the ice-cream.”
“Well…” Papyrus hesitated, shooting another look around the still cluttered floor. The laundry basket was overflowing, and the washer could only do so much. “I suppose I could take a break until the washer is done.”
Sans grinned as he patted the couch- Papyrus sat down, but didn’t lean over like he usually did. Sans told his aching heart to suck it up- Paps had his entire world turned upside down. He had noticed Papyrus avoiding the use of the word brother. He could deal with a little bit of distance right now. He dug the remote from out of the couch cushions, and passed it over.
In a couple of flicks they were staring at an old rerun of one of Mettaton’s shows. Sans frowned, “Huh? Isn’t today Wednesday?”
“No Sans, today is Thursday.” Papyrus said, quietly. Sans nodded, brain catching up now that Papyrus had provided him the time.
Papyrus couldn’t read the tiny print on the tv programs, so Sans would read it instead, and he did have a pretty good memory. Good enough to remember things that didn’t happen. But- “Thursday huh? Musta lost track of time being skele-lonely.” Not his best, but hey. “So, uh, we missed his new show, but there’s a Bob Ross painting thing going on.”
Papyrus bounced in his seat eagerly, “Which channel? Which channel?”
Sans dragged the channel out of his memory, grin easy on his face as he watched Papyrus flicker through the channels, before settling on the painting. They let Bob Ross’s soothing tones pour over their ears. Papyrus was always into art- Sans had been pretty darn impressed by the bridge-canyon painting. Papyrus had really taken the ‘one perilous bridge per region’ to heart. Even if the perilous bridge was actually a painting. Still, that was some amazing perspective going on.
Papyrus nodded along to the man’s voice, clutching a pillow to his chest. Sans leaned back, watching Papyrus. Every so often, he could feel his hands twitching up towards his face. It felt so weird, not to have on the mask, like his face was exposed. His hands too, though they were shoved into his pockets.
Sans shifted further down into the couch, staring at Papyrus’s gloved hands, and wondered idly if he should go get his mask. Would it make Papyrus feel more or less comfortable?
On screen more grey was being placed on top of grey. Papyrus was nodding as a knife was brought out. Sans went back to staring at Papyrus- the painting knife was nothing like a kitchen knife but he still… had his issues.
Papyrus wavered in front of his eyes- Sans scrubbed his hands against his eyes, attempting to stay awake. But the fractured sleep he had gotten was dragging his eyes down. At the very least, he should go and dig out his mask incase someone came over… but nobody ever visited and…
His body slowly titled forward, eyes falling shut as a soothing voice lulled him to sleep. His body slid sideways, and he could feel Papyrus reaching out like they usually did to tuck him into the body side. A slight smile appeared on his face- Papyrus wasn’t the worlds comfiest pillow, but he was one of the most reassuring. A gloved hand fell on his shoulder, and hesitated. Sans leaned in anyways, mumbling, “Wake me up if someone comes bro.”
A hand froze on his head, before Papyrus huffed softly, “Very well then. Enjoy your sleep you lazy bones.” The glove swiped over his mass of curly hair, a gentle tug that helped tip him over the edge into sleep.
He did so, nose buried in the scent of bones.