Sans Is Not A Good Cleaner
This is utterly surreal. You glance over at the skeleton seated among stacks of your books, making no effort to actually put them away. He's leaning against the massive beanbag that graced your living room, flipping through a thick book on various musical composers. Needless to say he had been thrilled to see the bag the moment the two of you got back from Grillby's and made himself right at home.
"i am officially declaring myself manager of the beanbag," he had drawled, almost disappearing in its depths.
"I thought we agreed you were on dish duty."
"you agreed to that."
It's probably better that you handled your dishes anyway. You had put the CD Abby had given you on in the background and the beat had helped you fall into a groove of tidying up. Eventually Sans slid from the beanbag and pulled the box labeled books towards him and for a moment you had been hopeful he was actually going to help. Hence the moment of clarity that has you shaking your head in disbelief. You have a skeleton in your living room, and you're annoyed he's being lazy and spreading your books everywhere. It's almost like you've fallen into one of the stories you love so much.
"was it a requirement for all these old composers to have such out of control hairstyles?" Sans asks suddenly. He holds up the book, pointing to a page with a portrait of Johann Bach, wild gray locks and all.
"Um, I think it was just the fashion styles of that time period," you say as you struggle to reach a higher shelf. Better to put the long-term storage stuff up high and save the lower shelves for stuff you use often. "I'm not too familiar with older sections of classical music history. I'm more of a modern-day music nut."
"i guess you could say-"
"SANS."
"it's not your forte!"
"Ha. Ha," you laugh dryly. "You gotta try harder than that. Or are you just running out of ideas?"
"i'll come up with something. i've been told i'm pretty clef-er."
That one gets a giggle out of you. "You know," you point out as he closes the book and sets it down, "there is a bookshelf literally in arms reach. Could you maybe put my babies on there instead of the floor? Alphabetically by series please!"
He groans loudly, pausing in his casual placement and moves them around. "yes sir."
You watch him do this for a second, feeling that old sense of doubt poking its head up. "If it's that big a bother, you didn't have to offer." You say this quietly, kind of hoping he didn't hear. If it truly was bothering him, you didn't want to push, but you really didn't want him to leave either. What was going on with you?
He seems to hear the hint of your serious question. "nah. i don't mind. i just like messing with you." He looks at another full box of books he hasn't even opened. "you really like reading, huh?"
"It's my drug," you say rather proudly. You finish with the dishes and stretch when it's all done. Sans has fallen silent and you turn to find him actually sitting up, nose deep in your encyclopedia of stars and space. His eye sockets are wide, the lights flickering quickly back and forth across the page with intense interest. You decide now is as good a time as any to take a break and join him on the beanbag. You plop down just above him on the bag itself so you sit a little higher than him.
"Do you like spacey science stuff?" you ask him, curling your feet up under you. He doesn't answer until you actually tap him on the shoulder and he jumps slightly. His gaze flickers to you, his smile more gentle than you'd ever seen it.
"heh, sorry. got lost there for a second. what did you say?"
You laugh. "I guess that answers my question." You lean closer to him, trying to get a look at the page. It's the chapter titled 'History and Constellations'. "Ah, excellent choice! I love constellations. I think my favorite is the story about Orion chasing the seven sisters." You point to the illustration in the book, tracing the patterns of the stars.
"that does sound like a good story."
You can't quite place the expression on Sans' skull. He almost looks a little...sad? He notices you looking and a little sigh hisses out from his teeth.
"we didn't really have stars. you know, down there."
Oh that would make sense. Being underground there wouldn't be a view of the sky. You couldn't imagine what that must be like. Living and never seeing the sky, never seeing the stars or the sun? That alone would have made you fight tooth and nail to escape had it been you stuck down there. Curiosity eats at you, but you don't ask. It didn't feel right to bring up a sensitive topic like that just yet.
Sans continues, his own bony fingers tapping against the book gently. "we had something that was close though. some of the caverns had glowing crystals in the ceiling. monsters used to visit there and make wishes on fake stars. i used to take paps when he was a baby bones. he was more interested in playing in the mud though. i actually found an old beat up telescope once," he adds, closing the book. "seeing the 'stars' up close made me want to know everything about them."
You lean back against the beanbag, trying to picture it. "I bet it was beautiful in its own way."
He joins you in leaning back, his skull tapping gently against your arm. "it was, but it's not the same. seeing them for real...there's nothing like it." He's staring wistfully up at the ceiling. "kinda makes you think it's too good to be true. like it could just one day...disappear."
"The stars aren't going anywhere silly." You point up to the ceiling, as if the two of you were outside and could actually see the stars. "That's why I love them so much. You can be anywhere in the world, at any point in time and the stars will be there. Even if you can't see them. They don't fade, and they don't vanish. They hold so much history and hope. I mean, people have been using the stars to pass on stories and navigate for hundreds of years! How cool is that?"
He doesn't answer, and you look down to find he's staring at you, with something almost akin to wonder. You feel your face light up with embarrassment. When did you turn into such a rambler?
"I know it's a lot more sciencey than that," you say with a cough, hoping he doesn't notice how red your face is. "P-plus my grandpa was a big space nerd and used to tell me all kinds of stories like that. He liked the romantic side of space. Oh, that reminds me of a joke he used to use all the time. What did the planet say to the asteroid?"
Sans grins again. "what?"
"Comet me bro!"
That sends the both of you into wild peals of laughter, and you spend the next little while swapping every space pun and joke you can think of. In fact, it's not until you hear a knock at the door and a loud voice calling "HUMAN! IT IS TIME FOR OUR RUN!" that you remember your plans with Papyrus. You groan, not at the idea of running, but at the fact you had spent so much time goofing off you had barely gotten anything done.
"You are a distraction," you say grumpily to Sans as you stand to let Papyrus in. You open the door and immediately get swept up in a tight hug. "Oompf!"
"HELLO HUMAN!" Papyrus has swapped out his white armor-like clothes for a large t-shirt with 'JOGBOY' written in uneven handwriting. A bright red sweatband is around his skull and his red scarf has been replaced with a slightly shorter cape. He narrows his eye sockets at you, noticing your attire at the same time. You hadn't bothered to change after work aside from losing your shoes.
"THAT IS A VERY...INTERESTING CHOICE OF CLOTHING FOR OUR EXERCISE."
You laugh, patting his arm lightly. "No, I'm sorry buddy. I was distracted by unpacking and completely forgot. Just give me a minute to change and we can get going!"
"hey bro." Sans waves from his slumped position on the beanbag. At this angle, it's hard to see much besides the gleam of his skull.
"BROTHER?" Papyrus shouts in surprise. "I DID NOT KNOW YOU WERE HERE."
"i was helping with unpacking," he says, winking in your direction. Papyrus looks so proud at this news that you can't find it in yourself to mention that his 'help' actually left more of a mess. You duck inside your room to throw shorts and a tank top on. You grab your shoes and water bottle, noticing that both brothers are standing outside the door, chatting together. You make sure to lock up and join the two outside.
"Hey Sans," you say casually as you lean against the wall and tie your shoes. "Am I correct in assuming it would be pointless to ask if you wanted to join us?"
"completely," he deadpans.
"I thought so," you sigh heavily, pushing up from the wall. As Sans turns to go back to his own place, you call out, "Guess I'll galax-SEE you tomorrow then!"
The look he gives you is so completely filled with glee you can't help but laugh loudly as your stomach does little butterfly turns.