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It took several months for King Asgore to negotiate things on the surface before the rest of the monsters could leave the Underground. It was understandable, after all; how often did you have to accept the reality that an entire race of magical beings had been living underneath your mountain for centuries? Not often I’d wager.
Using the soul of the murderous child you’d helped to take down, the last needed, the barrier was dismantled. Not knowing what to expect, Asgore left with a small team of trusted companions to see what awaited them on the surface. These individuals would be responsible for protection, scouting, and eventually would be the first individuals that breached the long disconnect between humans and monsters.
So it came as no surprise to you when your boyfriend and his brother, as close as they were to the king (being sentries), were not on the list. Alphys, the human “culture” expert, had advised the King that humans might react better to monsters who were smaller, and less intimidating to them. Fluffy and cute, ya know? Things that didn’t scream “shoot first, ask later”. As much as you loved Sans, his visage didn’t exactly scream approachable. Sharp teeth, glowing eyes, and well, the fact that he was a walking, talking skeleton. You recalled just how terrified you were of him when you met him.
With a rustle of sheets, you rolled over in bed and wrapped an arm around the width of his ribs, which rose and fell softly as he slept. You couldn’t help but smile. He’d snuck into your bed yet again.
With much convincing from Sans, his brother had “welcomed” you into the family, and the two had renovated the shed into a small but cozy place for you to live. Sans had his own bed, but he just as often ended up in yours. Not that you’d be here much longer.
Tonight, you see, was a special night. For more than one reason. Colorful lights twinkled beyond your frosted over window, illuminating the outline of a festive tree set up in the center of town. The needles were browned and burnt, and mostly fallen, but once a year the Monsters did their best to “spruce” it up for the holiday. Heh. Sans would like that one. You filed it away to use later. The display on your phone read 1am, making it officially Gyftmas.
You didn’t quite know the full history, but it was similar to a lot of human wintertime traditions, from the giving of gifts to the decorating. From what you could understand, it all came to be from giving a certain monster gifts to cheer him up after some teens terrorized him. Now it was tradition. Either way, you’d been stressing over just what to give Sans for weeks. It had to be special. You wanted to show him just how much he meant to you; that you loved him with all of your heart and SOUL. You pressed a button on the side of your phone again, lighting up the screen and showing the last message you’d just received, from the kind bunny merchant at the shop. You hadn’t known until just this second… but this. This was perfect.
“Psst. Hey Sans. Wake up!” You whispered, shaking him gently.
“* mrghph! five more ‘mnutes paps” He mumbled grumpily in response. Leaning in, you pressed soft lips to his teeth. The tips pricked at the thin skin, but it was a unique feeling you had come to love about him. Eyelids fluttered drowsily open, the lights within coming to life like fireflies. “* sweetheart? ‘s that you?” That always worked.
“Wake up Sans!” You were excited. It felt like your bloodstream was full of mentos and fizzy soda. He was… less so.
“* wassup? ‘ts still dark out?” His gruff voice posed it as a question, but it was pitch black outside. You found your fingers playing with the small gap between his radius and ulna anxiously.
“I just got a text from Glenda that Asgore finally lifted the ban...” A pause for effect. “We can go see the surface!” You watched as his eye lights visibly brightened. He turned to face you, a huge smile straining the sides of his mouth.
“* right now?* You nodded.
More shuffling of sheets and a clunk as his bare feet hit the wooden floor. He picked up his jacket from the foot of the bed and slung it on in one fluid motion. He grabbed you next, cocooned in the tangled sheets and nestled comfortably against his broad sternum. You were glad you’d worn pajamas to bed suddenly. He took a moment to squeeze you affectionately as he jammed skeletal toes in fuzzy black slippers. With a sudden chill and an ear popping flash of darkness, you found yourself no longer looking at your wall, but in an unfamiliar bedroom.
Where were...? There was an almost comical race car bed jammed into one corner, and sharp and foreboding weapons were hung above it by hooks and nails. The rest of the room was likewise a mishmash of things suitable for an eight year old beside things usually found in horror films. Add to that the very tall, gangly shape snoozing in the car bed, and you surmised that this room must belong to -
“* papyrus! bro! wake the fuck up!”
As it turned out, the terrifying younger brother did not have a froggit jumpsuit, or any other adorable night time wear. You and Sans were both wrong. Instead, as he jumped three feet off the mattress and landed crumpled on his tailbone, you learned that he wore his armour to bed. The entire steel and leather, pointy as fuck ensemble. You tried really hard not to laugh.
“Pffft!”
Okay, maybe you didn’t try that hard. Papyrus tried to recover as best he could, brushing himself off and abashedly untangling his blankets and… stuffed animals(?) from the points of his armour.
“SANS! WHAT IN ASGORE’S NAME ARE YOU AND YOUR HUMAN DOING IN. MY. ROOM? IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT NO LESS??”
The older skeleton, more excited than you’d ever seen him, spun around excitedly and launched at his brother, bringing the three of you into a super awkward and pokey embrace.
“* no need to get “rattled” bro, we’re about to see the surface!” He joked. Papyrus groaned, but it certainly got him going.
One more trip through the void brought you all into the middle of a large room. The stone brick walls were almost invisible behind tightly coiled vines. It was packed wall to wall with hundreds of monsters of all shapes and sizes. Small volcanoes whispered to humongous missile laden jets. Rabbits huddled together with anthropomorphic cats and bears and dragons. Some of the monsters you saw… were hard to describe. The only similarity between them is that all of them were scary as hell. Everywhere you looked, moonlight glinted off of fangs and claws and glistening skin. Many eyes glowed in the dark, like wild animals; while others created light with their ethereal forms. Admittedly, you were a bit frightened. Before today, you had only gotten to see a handful of the snowdin locals. Many of the monsters in the Underground were kind of violent, cranky and quasi- insane from years and years of resets slowly warping their minds and bodies. Deep down, they were all decent folk, but you didn’t want to lay your life on the line for first impressions. In addition, Sans wouldn’t chance having you taken away, even if Asgore had all the souls he needed. He’d told you in confidence that he thought the King was still salty towards humans in general, and would make up any excuse to rip that precious, amazing soul from your body. His words - not yours.
You were so busy gawking that you forgot that you were still being held by a large skeleton. For someone made of bones, he proved himself to be very comfortable. He shifted and you redirected your focus to the brothers, who were talking with some of the monsters around them. The blankets had been adjusted to cover more of your head; Sans must still be trying to hide you from the other monsters. From what you could hear, the barrier was just ahead. Everyone had gathered and was just waiting for the word.
As if prompted, a booming voice carried over the clamour of the crowd. The citizens of the underground quickly grew silent. You couldn’t see over everyone, but you knew that the voice belonged to none other than King of the Monsters - Asgore Dreemur.
“Attention, everyone! My trusted team has been working for months to improve monster/human relations to a level where we could live comfortably among them. It has been a hard road, and we were received… somewhat unfavorably. It seems the humans view things unlike themselves as a threat. Still, they have slowly come to accept our existence and integration in a civil manner. Today, I have deemed it safe enough for the rest of us to finally leave this cursed place, and start new lives under the same stars our ancestors watched.”
You heard assorted sniffling. This was a pretty overwhelming moment; some of these monsters, like Sans and Papyrus, had been born under this accursed mountain. This would be their very first time experiencing the wonders of the surface world. The Sun… The Stars… Seasons.
You could hear your boyfriends soul thrum with concealed emotion. Your fingers found their way under his jacket and lay flat against the part of his sternum that you knew concealed the white, upside down heart. In response, his head dropped to nuzzle your scalp and a content hum sent a breeze through your hair. Unseen before you, Asgore continued.
“I will not lie, it will be hard. Houses will be small, but available. Jobs will be hard to come by.
You will be forced to flee when before you may have fought. While some of humanity has shown itself to be kind, many places are quite alike the Underground. I ask you as your King, to lay down your weapons and sheath your claws. We must all work to make a place for ourselves in this new world. I think… in time… it will be worth it. Do not kill, and do not be killed. This is a message I used to tell to my late son, and one I now pass on to all of you.”
Sensing the close of the speech, the group of monsters grew restless.
“Now go. We’ve waited long enough.” Asgore finished and stepped aside, judging by the surge of people leaving the room through the far side.
Luckily for your small trio, one of you possessed teleportation powers. With a zip, you were at the very front of the crowd. Even in his rush to get his first glimpse of the surface, your boyfriend somehow still managed to be lazy.
Then he must have saw. His entire body went slack beneath you, neck craning to gaze at the sky above. You’d emerged on a grassy outcrop high up on the mountain. People rushed past you, but Sans seemed cemented in place. It wasn’t long before the field was nearly empty, save for a few monsters who were also stunned into silence. Papyrus hovered behind you, a gloved hand firmly rested on his brother’s shoulder, squeezing. He refused to show it, but you were positive that Papyrus was just as affected. The only tell was how tightly he was holding on to Sans, as if he was steadying himself with the contact. Although it had been a relatively short time for you in comparison, the fresh summer breeze felt amazing on your skin. It was heavy and fragrant with the scent of pine and grass, cooled by the night. With wide eyes, you took in the view. Below, you could see a dark mass sprawling for miles in all directions, like a deep green ocean. Dotted along it were small clusters of lights, cities and towns. It was beautiful.
“Sans…” Your voice was quiet and awed, as was everyone else's. It seemed… wrong to speak too loudly in such a moment. You fisted at the fabric of his jacket. “You have to see this.”
A drop of hot liquid landed on your cheek from above, accompanied by a subdued sniffle. Sans? You squirmed until the blankets fell from around your head and you could look up at your boyfriend. The pinpoints of his eyes were blazing; glowing as brightly as the billions of stars that had caught his attention. The sky was clear; deep blue and filled with specks of light, shining like a million fireflies. The moon hung in the sky like the largest, fullest snow poff you had ever seen. It painted the brothers bones the lightest blue.
Sans had never known just how far off the mockery of the crystals in waterfall were up against the majesty of the real thing. This was… this was on an entirely different level. Another tear traced a red line down his cheek and fell to fade into the mass of bedsheets in his arms.
The astonishingly soft skin of your small hand brushed across his cheekbone, wiping away the trails of magic.
“Is it everything you dreamed it would be?”
He tore his eyes away to look down at you, and silhouetted against the night sky, you saw just how similar they were to those bright points of light. He looked likewise into your wide eyes, and saw the expanse of the universe reflected in them. Your soul sang happily for him, and he could feel his calling out in response.
“* nah.” His face, all sharp angles and hard lines, went as soft as he could manage in unhidden affection. “‘ *t’s much better.”
After all, all of his dreams up until now involved making it to the surface, and seeing the stars. He considered that a pretty lofty goal in itself. As kids he had promised his brother that one day, they would climb this mountain that they were all buried under. Once they got there… well, he’d never given it much thought.
He’d never imagined that he would have you there with him. Someone who loved him for who he was, frightening and scarred and damaged. Who on the deepest level, shared a connection that filled each day with new hope. You… whose SOUL rivaled the brilliance of every single dazzling speck that shone in that field of black velvet.
With you, he not only saw the beauty of those stars; but a future beneath them.
It was the perfect present.
“Merry Gyftmas Sans.”