Presents
It’s Gyftmas and Hanukkah, and you suppose Christmas as well, but none of you are even celebrating it. By some great coincidence, as Frisk pointed out, the last day of Hanukkah fell on the same day as Gyftmas. Apparently the dates for Hanukkah change every year? That’s what Frisk said anyways, though you don’t really get how the date for a holiday could change, but you’ll maybe be able to find out next year when-
Next year? It’s funny how when you’re just thinking about it now, it doesn’t seem like such a strange thought. Like something a normal person would think. But next year? What would be not one, but almost two years on the surface?
You really don’t know if that’s going to happen, or if it will be RESET.
You suppose it doesn’t matter. Well, you had supposed it didn’t matter. But… as much as you hate to admit it, for fear of attachment, this time on the surface has been… better than other times. Not just because it’s the longest you’ve been up here, but that’s maybe a helping part of it.
It’s strange… but not a bad strange you presume, and you look towards the rest of the family as you try and stifle a yawn. Frisk woke everybody up at 6:30 a.m., which you’re not particularly fond of, but then again it is Gyftmas. Everyone’s gathered in front of the Gyftmas tree that you all decorated, and a small side table is next to it, with a menorah set up for lighting later tonight.
The presents are clearly divided into small piles for each person, Frisk obviously having the biggest pile, but Papyrus not far behind. Seems ‘Santa’ really went all out this year. You can clearly see what presents were from Toriel, neatly wrapped and tied with ribbons, color coded to each person. The few presents you got (because let’s be honest, you’re not the type of person to really go all out on anything) are messily wrapped with copious amounts of tape sticking off it. Hey. You tried. A little bit.
The rest are kinda hard to guess, but from judging from your own present pile, stacked with a whopping total of three gifts, Alphys and Undyne both shared a present (which was wrapped in such a way that you’re 100% sure Undyne did it), and and Asgore got you one as well. Toriel seems to have given you a gift, although the kid probably ‘shared’ it with her. You don’t have a gift from Papyrus, as you can tell because his wrapping skills are very… ahem. Unique. But, you do deserve that, since he’s already done so much more than he should have for you.
Frisk is quite literally tearing through their presents, but not quick enough that they don’t say thank you to ‘Santa’ after each one. You’re pretty sure that they know that Santa isn't real, celebrating Hanukkah and all, but they play along and keep the act up for Papyrus as well.
Everyone else starts to open their presents now, Undyne and Alphys both blushing when they find out they both got each other bathing suits. Asgore holds a brand new, very fancy, tea set in his paws, and Toriel says she has no idea who actually got it for him, and although she won’t admit it, Asgore gives her a knowing, yet thankful, smile. Toriel in return opens her present from Asgore, a large cookbook from the surface, and new culinary tools. You look over at Papyrus, who has already gone through a large amount of presents, and is about to open another one you had gotten him.
“WOWIE! I’VE NEVER SEEN THIS ONE BEFORE, HAVE YOU SANS?” He holds up a brightly colored action figure to your face. “wow, haven’t seen that one yet. looks super cool. like you pap.
He blushes slightly, not having expected the compliment, but regains himself quickly. “BUT OF COURSE! ONLY THE COOLEST ACTION FIGURES FOR THE COOLEST SKELETON!” He quickly adds, “BUT OF COURSE YOU ARE WELCOME TO PLAY WITH THEM TOO, FOR YOU ALSO ARE A ‘COOL SKELETON’. NYEH!”
“aww thanks pap.” You reply, knowing that never in a million years with you ever play with his actions figures unless he wants you to. Not really your thing.
“SANS!” Papyrus practically whines after he cleans up the wrapping from the last present, “WHY HAVEN’T YOU OPENED ANY OF YOUR PRESENTS YET! SANTA CAME FOR YOU THIS TIME!”
“just waiting for the right time.” You hold up the present that looks to be from Toriel. “what do you think it is?” You shake the present a small bit.
“SANS! DON’T SHAKE IT! WHAT IF IT’S SOMETHING BREAKABLE?!”
Frisk catches your attention, ‘Yeah, Sans, you never know. Got to be careful with your presents.’
You let out a long dramatic sigh. “fine, fine. alright, let’s open this thing up.”
You hold the present in your hands, it’s only a small rectangular shaped thing that’s pretty light. You really doubt it’s something breakable. You’re about to tear into it, but you notice everyone in the room has turned to stare at you.
“uhhh… why’s everyone. ya know. looking? at me?”
“You took too damn long! Everyone else already finished opening their presents, and you haven’t even started!” Undyne basically yells.
“okay, okay, sheesh.” You mutter, begging to open your present.
You throw the wrapping paper aside, revealing nothing but a box. You struggle with the tape on both sides of it, acutely aware that everyone is watching you, before finally managing to open it.
“oh my god. tori.” You stare at the joke book in front of you.
“UGH I CAN’T BELIEVE SANTA WOULD GET YOU SOMETHING AS HORRIBLE AS THIS!” Papyrus interrupts, trying to hide the smile on his face as he looks at your own.
.75/.75 HP
You skip through the pages and land on a random one. “hey, hey. what do you give a lemon in distress?”
Everyone but Toriel groans. “What do you give a lemon in distress?”
You chuckle slightly before you respond. “lemon aid …”
Toriel bursts into laughter, but Undyne is quick to stop you from reading another joke. “Yeah, very funny. Stop. Open your next present.” She hands you the one supposedly from her and Alphys, “Here.”
This time your tear into the wrapping easily, and immediately come across your gift without having to wrestle with tape.
“oh.” You’re actually pleasantly surprised. “wow this looks really good.”
You hold up the very dramatic and intense box cover for an anime. It looks like it’s pretty good.
Alphys blushes, seeing that you like it. “Maybe, i-if you want, w-we could watch it together. L-like you, me, and Undyne. Only if you w-want though.”
“of course, alph.”
“ANIME PARTY V.2! Yeah! It’s about time we started a series with this nerd!”
You laugh.
.8/.8 HP
“It seems as though you have one more present.” Asgore say, suddenly speaking up as he gives you your gift.
It’s a little hastily wrapped, although you suppose that Asgore does have big paws, so it might be hard to do intricate details. You open it up and find another box, this time not taped thankfully, and you pop the lid off.
Pulling out its contents, you make sure to flash Asgore a smile.
“look at these, bud .” You say, showing the variety of packaged flower bulbs in your hands to Frisk.
There’s lilies, roses, dandelions, and many more you can’t name just from the picture on the front. You do notice however that there’s no golden colored flowers. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.
.85/.85 HP
“welp, guess that’s that. what are we doin’ now?” You say, organizing your gifts together in a small pile.
“WELL…” Papyrus gives you a mischievous look, “I KNOW SANTA DIDN’T BRING YOU ANYTHING ELSE… BUT I GOT YOU A PRESENT?” He seems unsure of himself, “BUT YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL AFTER WE LIGHT THE MENORAH.”
“...okay?” You respond, completely unaware for what’s in store for you.
“Well in that case,” Toriel stands up, “I have to finish making dinner for later. Perhaps we can have an early dinner and light the menorah afterwards? Does that sound good? Then Sans can open his present.”
The rest of the day passes rather quickly, which you find yourself hating because you’re actually feeling pretty happy today. Dinner is great, as per usual with Toriel’s cooking. You’re family is great, just relaxing with one another without a care in the world.And you’re… You’re doing good today. It’s nice.
You walk over to wear the menorah is, with Frisk already standing there, right when you finish dinner and soon everyone follows your example. Apparently, you even managed to convince Toriel and Papyrus to wait until after you open your gift to do the dishes.
‘Here.’ Frisk hands out small slips of paper to each person, as they’ve been doing each night.
On the paper is the phonetic spelling of the Hebrew saying before you light the candles. You honestly had no idea there were other languages, let alone certain rituals that had to be performed with them. But, hey, it’s kind of funny to watch all of you try to pronounce the words correctly at the same time, even though you have sheets in front of you.
Frisk starts everyone off as they begin to light the shamash. Everyone mumbles over their words and tries their best to keep up with Frisk. They only actually said it aloud the first night, so really you don’t have much to go off of.
“ Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam, asher kidishanu b'mitz'votav v'tzivanu, l'had'lik neir shel Hanukkah.”
Frisk finishes lighting the eighth candle right as everyone finishes speaking. ‘So…’ They give a small smile, ‘Is it time for Sans’ present?’
“lemme guess kid, you know what it is?”
‘Maybe…’ They sign, laughing.
“OKAY! EVERYONE OUTSIDE!”
“Outside?”
“YES SANS, OUTSIDE. I KNOW IT’S A FAR DISTANCE FOR YOU TO WALK.”
“okay, okay.” You respond, beginning to head out the front door.
Everyone stares at you as you walk and Papyrus stops you before you even turn the handle. “UM SANS. THE BACK DOOR.”
Yup. That would make sense.
You swivel 180 degrees and begin your march towards the back door, with everyone following suite behind you. You open the door to the back yard, and a slight chill blows over you. You walk out past the deck and into the grass, spotting your gift.
It’s not wrapped, not even decorated in the slightest, and you couldn’t be more happy for that fact as you get to see it right away. Your mouth twists into the biggest smile you’ve had in a long, long time, and you almost run towards it.
You ignore everyone staring at you for the moment, and just stare at the beauty in front of you instead.
It’s a telescope. Not just any crappy old junkie telescope like you had underground. Not just any telescope that you would even casually see on the surface. No, this is like professional stuff. It’s basically twice your height and the optical tube is so big you doubt you could even wrap your arms around it. It’s like the most top tier thing you could get. This… this most of cost so much money, and yet. And yet Papyrus still got it for you. Because he thinks you’re worth it.
1/1 HP
You turn around suddenly, and run up to Papyrus, who was standing just a few feet behind you. “thank you…” You murmur, pulling him into a tight hug, “thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.”
Papyrus gratefully returns you hug, going so far as to lift you up in his embrace. “YOU ARE QUITE WELCOME BROTHER! I AM SO GLAD YOU LIKE IT!” He puts you down, allowing you to breathe for a moment.
He comes close to you, and says quietly, “Merry Gyftmas Sans.”