The Future Looks Bright
3. Future.
It had been a solid 7 years or so since Rian and Sans met. They had fallen in love. (And lust, but that’s another story entirely.) Monsterkind had gotten most, if not all, of the rights of any other citizen. (Marriage was still a little rocky, but intermarriage was recognized in most countries and states.) They had gotten older. Rian was now 25 and, after a few years of being poked and prodded, had stopped working in favor of going to college, working on a Sociology major, with a minor in theoretical physics. (They were hooked, after being subjected to Sans for so long.) Being an active theoretical physicist and a professor at the local university, Sans could more than afford to pay the bills while Rian did his studies.
Oddly enough, it had been Sans who broached the topic of having children and, after learning what it was to have a monster child, Rian couldn’t help but agree.
Monster children were the children of souls. There was no ‘being pregnant’, but there was a few months of caring for the new soul. Filling it with love. Teaching it compassion. The soul lived semi-independently of its parents, compared to a human; it couldn’t really be left alone for any length of time, but it lived outside of a body, waiting until it was strong enough to form its own body...
Their own bodies.
Due to the nature of human and monster souls, Sans and Rian, like most human-monster couples, ended up having twins. One, a bright, minty green, the combination of Kindness and Patience. The other, a muted shade of yellow-orange, the combination of Courage and Justice, and would probably be the child that looked most like a skeleton monster. At least one parent, or Papyrus, was always with the souls, and they were never more than a few feet from one another.
Sans cared for them quietly, holding them close as he went about his day. Rian, on the other hand, was much more enthusiastic. The human often read, sang, or just talked to them. The latter was what Sans caught Rian doing that day.
“I can’t wait to meet you two...” Rian murmured, Sans smiling fondly as he watched from the doorway. “Your other daddy doesn’t really say so but trust me guys, he’s excited too. Honestly... you’ll probably prefer him.” Now Sans was frowning, he’d heard Rian’s voice crack, but was hesitant to walk over. “I’m good at some things, and will take you to all the coolest playgrounds and movies but... I know that you’ll be bullied. Jerks are everywhere. Kids your own ages, adults... the world is still learning how to be kind to kids like you. They still have trouble being kind to... things like me. And I don’t think I’ll be able to protect you...”
Rian was visibly shaking now, and Sans slowly began walking over, stopping just behind his mate. Sans was well aware of the way Rian’s body dysphoria would sometimes act up, and that there were still many humans who couldn’t grasp the concept of a transgender person. Rian didn’t like to talk about it around Sans, since the human would often break down and refer to themselves as an ‘it’ when they were hurting, and that was something the skeleton didn’t tolerate. No one could talk bad about his Rian. Not even Rian.
“But your daddy Sans? He’ll definitely be able to protect you. He may seem goofy and lazy but... trust me. He’s so much more than that. I saw him get mad, once or twice- not at me, never at me, bless him- and he can be terrifying. He’s... patient. And fierce. He looks like a hurricane when he fights. And when he’s in the zone, nothing fazes him. He is the strongest, gentlest, most wonderful monster either of you will meet. I know he’ll be able to keep you safe and happy.”
Sans gently wrapped his arms around Rian. “what your dad really oughta be tellin’ you kids is about how embarrassed you’ll be of me. i’ll walk in and tell all of your friends the best puns, and all of your most embarrassing secrets. them bullies would avoid you just cause they’ll get tired of seein’ my ugly mug. your human dad will be the real hero in your lives, savin’ you from me all the time.”
Fighting back embarrassment, Rian huffed. “Daddy Sans doesn’t realize that I’ll probably be the one taking you to things like doctor’s appointments, and forcing you to do your homework, and making you go to bed at a reasonable hour... I won’t let you be night owls like your parents are.”
Sans kissed his mate’s neck. “babe, it’s 3am. they’re already nightowls.” The skeleton said, not unkindly, gently squeezing the human. “...someone say somethin’ to ya at school?”
Rian nodded, holding the souls closer. “Yeah... but I’ll be fine. I just... felt like I should say something to them. Let them know that even if they’re bullied, they’ll be loved. And protected. They have friends and family who will never stop accepting them. They won’t have to face the world alone.”
Sans smiled. “They know.”
4. Future pt 2
It had now been nearly a decade and a half since Sans and Rian first met. Sans was still teaching, Rian was now a key player in the sociological field of study, having done most of the current human-monster interpersonal studies that could be considered reputable. And their children... were a handful, to say the least.
Given the odd growth rate of monsters, the twins were now the equivalent of human 12 year olds. The minty colored soul had grown into Roman, a young boy who was mostly skeletal, which had surprised most of their group. If Sans and Rian were honest, Roman resembled Papyrus more than he did his parents, being more long and willowy than either of them, although he had Sans’ eyes, and his flesh-covered parts had skin the same shade as Rian’s. (it was confirmed by x-rays, and his human digestive system, that he had all of the organs of a human.) His legs below the knee, his arms, and everything above his shoulders was skeleton-monster.
The muted soul had become Arial, and she was a regular spit-fire. To the casual passer-by, she seemed human. But her right hand, from the elbow down, was nothing but bone, and she had Sans’ eyes, although the pinpricks had a slightly green tint to them, to match Rian’s green eyes. Her hair was a velvety, chocolate brown like Rian’s as well. Despite her human looks, though, she was much more a monster than her brother, and could wield magic just as easily and, someday, just as powerfully as Sans could. She was sassy, she was brave, and she would bring the fight to anyone who dared to try to bully her older (by fifteen minutes) brother. She could stomach human food, but had to consume monster food regularly to keep her magic balanced out.
Most of their classmates loved them. They were different, and they were fun, and their family threw literally the best Halloween parties. It was Asgore who had said that the children of the next generation, even those who had no monster relatives or no human relatives, would pave the way for peace... and he was right. Those children and teenagers who spent their childhoods with monsters happily and willingly bridged the gaps, and even the staunchest of conservatives were beginning to see that their new neighbors brought plenty of good things to the table. Education in all areas was improving. Less criminals went free, and less innocents were punished. Magic helped to grow better, more plentiful harvests. Technology was moving forwards with greater strides than ever before. Medicine was working better, and previously incurable ailments were now understood and treated with much better results.
For Roman and Arial, the future looked bright. Their parents, stubborn to a fault, were finally going to get married now that all 50 states would recognize the bond. Their ‘cousin’ Frisk, now getting out of college, was beginning the road to becoming a real politician. ‘Aunties’ Undyne and Alphys, happily married for the past decade, were in the midst of nurturing their second child. Uncle Papyrus and Mettaton were actually starting to get serious about each other. Asriel, the lost prince, had finally been determined enough to reconcile with his parents, and much of the scientific community was working to give him his old life back. Toriel and Asgore, practically the twins’ grandparents since Rian’s family had all-but disinherited them, had renewed their vows and were falling in love again more and more all the time.
The future looked bright.
The future looked bright.
The future looked bright.