Cleaning Up
As expected, you have nightmares. Flashes of being thrown into a pit of flames, feeling fire eat at your skin. They're all ones you've had before but they still strike terror through your whole body. Your limbs feel bogged down by sludge as you try to force yourself awake, desperate to escape. But as soon as you feel the cool touch of bones against your face you stop struggling and almost immediately slip back into a slightly easier sleep.
Sans is already up when you wake the next morning. The two of you are still on the couch. At your soft grumbling, he looks down at you and gives you a wide smile. "morning sleepy. thought i was supposed to be the lazy one."
"Given the fact that you're still lying here with me, I'd say you're still the primary holder of that title." You yawn widely and rub at your eyes. "You know, I think I can count the number of times I've actually slept in my bed on one hand since I bought the freaking thing. no offense, but you're not exactly a goose feather pillow."
"rude. and after i stayed with ya all night to chase away the bad dreams," Sans sighs dramatically. You can't help but stiffen a little at that. He notices, and quickly pats your head. "sorry. i'm just messing with you."
You let out a small, strained laugh. "Right. Um, I'm sorry about that."
His bony finger pokes your cheek. "look, you really don't have to apologize. what you've been through...anyone would break down. hell, i'm surprised you've held yourself together so well."
This was so weird. You poured your deepest and darkest secrets to this guy. You completely opened yourself up. But there's no regret. Instead, you feel an odd sort of contentment. It almost feels too good to be true. You pull the blanket up around your face. "Are you sure about this?" you can't help but ask quietly.
Sans tugs the blanket away from your face. "i'm probably the laziest guy we both know. so if i actually put effort into something, it means i want it. you're worth a bit of work."
You blush at his admiring tone. "It's just embarrassing," you mumble. "Breaking down like that."
"just as embarrassing as dancing in the kitchen?"
"I told you to forget about that!"
He grins widely and shakes his head. "nah, can't forget something that cute."
You stick your tongue out at him. A sigh hisses through your nose and you play with the edge of his shirt. He's definitely made of bone, but his clothes have actual shape to them, like they would on a human body. You poke lightly at where his belly would be. Your fingers sink into the cloth slightly, but there is definitely some resistance there. "You don't actually have a pillow shoved under there do you?"
Sans lifts up his shirt, letting you peer at the complete lack of anything but bone underneath. There's no visible sign of what gives him shape under his clothes. "That's so bizarre," you mutter. You can't stop yourself from running your fingers against his rib cage. His bones are oddly warm and you can feel the soothing hum of energy running through them. "How does this even work?"
He makes an odd little noise. "uh...magic?"
You poke him again and he squirms. Is he ticklish? You dance your fingers over his ribs and he starts to shake a little under your touch.
"h-heya pal, that's-pfft!" He tries to smother a laugh and suddenly you're wide awake. Grinning devilishly, you tickle him until he can't hide his laughter. He tries to get away but finds himself trapped by the couch. His laugh is contagious and soon you're laughing along with him. He attempts to tickle you back, but you pin his hand down before he can grab you.
"i give, i give!" he finally gasps.
"Never give up! Never surrender!" You crow in your best Tim Allen impression.
"what are you even-oh geez!" His face goes bright blue as your fingers brush against his neck bones. "o-ok that's kind of a sensitive area."
Now that's an expression that sets your heart racing. Perhaps a little too much. You finally cease your attack and fall back to the other end of the couch. Both of you spend a few seconds trying to get your breath back. You jump when you feel bones on your feet. "Ahh!"
"relax. this is far too easy for my revenge. i'll get you back later," he promises with a smirk. You ease up slightly as he studies your foot. He presses his phalanges against the top, turning the limb slightly. "huh. there's barely any squishy stuff here. i can actually see your bones a little. are humans actually ticklish here?"
"Some of them. Not me of course," you drawl. "Just warning you now, I claim no responsibility if I accidentally kick you in the face."
"noted." You wiggle your toes as he starts tapping his bony fingers against them. He's oddly fascinated with your digits.
"You don't have a foot fetish, do you?"
"a what?"
Your phone rings, interrupting that delightful topic. You lean over the edge of the couch and stretch for it, since Sans is showing no signs of releasing your foot. "Little help?" you groan as you fight not to topple over. The phone glows blue and slides within reach. "Thanks." You sigh as you look at the call number. Tod. You had completely bailed last night without making any kind of effort to help. Of course, you weren't on the clock when the explosion happened so you technically didn't do anything wrong. "Hey, Tod."
"Oh thank God," Tod breathes. He sounds tired. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry I didn't stick around last night. I was...well I had a pretty bad attack."
"I figured. Listen, I'm sorry to ask, but can you come back to the park to assist with clean up? Also, I told the police about that group of punks you dealt with earlier. They think that they might have had something to do with the explosion and want to get a statement from you."
Sans runs a finger down the bottom of your foot and a shiver crawls up your spine. You make a face and kick him lightly. "I got something even better. I think I saw the guy who did it."
"Seriously?"
"I think so at least. I saw a guy throw a big brown bag in the fire right before everything happened so I think it's safe to assume it was him."
"And you're sure it was a man?"
Something in his tone sets your nerves on edge. "Yes, I'm sure. Why?"
A deep sigh. "Look, it's not me making the assumptions but...there were a lot of monsters at the festival. Word has been going around that it was a monster trying to disrupt the dance and hurt people."
You sit up and Sans stops playing with your feet. "People are trying to blame monsters for this?"
"Word of mouth and it travels fast. Jerks say things to other jerks and suddenly you turn a campfire-"
"Into an explosion," you finish in a whisper. This was really bad. The festival was supposed to help the general public see that monsters were just like ordinary people. If they were being blamed for this, all that progress could be lost. Or worse.
"The sooner you can get down here to help clear things up the better." You hear a loud noise in the background. Tod groans. "I gotta go."
"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can." Sans is grimly watching you as you hang up and swing your legs off the couch. "I'm sorry to run, but can you give me a lift in a few minutes?" You couldn't exactly drive there without a car. He nods silently and you give him a quick kiss on his skull. You're pleased to see a blue blush dust his cheeks. "You okay?"
"yeah." He sighs. "do you mind if i ask paps to meet you there? he'd be happy to help with cleaning up."
"Sure, if he doesn't mind. I'm sure we can use the help. Where is he?"
"he had a short shift at work this morning. which is where i've gotta go or i'd stay too."
You snort. "And what, offer verbal encouragement?"
"that is my strongest talent." He grins but it's a little sad.
You lean down slightly so you're eye (socket) level with him. "Hey don't worry about what people are saying. I'm gonna talk to the cops and we'll get this cleared up. Okay? I'll see you in a few minutes."
You run back home and throw on some actual clothes. You start to grab the p.j's from Sans and stop. Well, you were technically his boyfriend now right? It wouldn't be so odd to hang on to some of his clothes. He's waiting for you outside and holds his arms out. A few seconds later and you're stumbling back into a dark corner of the park. You stop and gasp, observing the damage. It looks like a few stands closer to the pit actually caught on fire from the fireworks and are just piles of blackened wood and plastic. People are scrubbing at blackened marks on the stone and the air is still heavy with the smell of ash. Your breath catches in your throat as the fiery memory starts to rise in your mind. Sans puts a reassuring hand on your back.
"don't push yourself if it gets too hard," he says softly. "do you need me to stay with you?"
You shake your head, clearing it of the cobwebs. "No, don't skip work cause of me. Besides, Pap will be along soon right?"
Sans chuckles. "yeah, i had to convince him to finish up his shift and not just rush over. got your keys?"
You nod and squeeze his hand. "See you tonight."
He disappears and you feel a slight pang of loss. Clingy much? You brace yourself and head into the thick of the mess. You soon find Tod, who is talking to a pair of officers; a black woman with the largest set of curls you've ever seen and a much smaller man. Tod notices you and waves you over. "_____ this is Officer Leinbach and Officer Beeson. Go ahead and tell them what you saw."
The officers nod at you and you quickly recount what you saw just before the fire exploded.
"Did you see any details we can use? Hair? Clothing?" The man, Beeson, is jotting down notes.
It's hard to remember. With all the noise and your panic attack, a lot of those details are fuzzy. "He had long hair," you say slowly. You try to conjure up that memory, being careful to remember the happiness you felt while dancing with Sans and not the terror from the explosion. "About to his shoulders. And he was tall. He looked familiar but...." You're forgetting something. You're forgetting something important but it's lost in the haze of your attack.
"Could he have been with the group harassing the spiders before?" Officer Leinbach asks you. You shake your head.
"No, most of those guys were college-aged. I'm pretty sure this guy was older than that."
The officers exchange a look. "So you were dancing with your boyfriend?" Beeson confirms slowly. "Did he see the man as well?"
You really don't like the look he's giving you. "He wasn't on the lookout for nut cases with fireworks," you say a little coolly.
"That's fine," the female officer says quickly, tapping her partner on the shoulder. He sighs and scribbles on his notebook before ripping a page out.
"If you remember anything give us a call here." He hands you the paper and you nod. The cops soon take off, seeming to have all that they need. You hope that this will be enough to at least calm down the rumors that monsters were behind the prank. You dive into the clean-up process, made quite a bit harder with the fire damage to deal with. You're honestly a little shocked no one was seriously hurt, going by how far the damage actually spreads.
You're there for a little less than an hour, struggling to put a large duffle bag filled with metal poles into one of the trucks when the weight is suddenly lifted from you.
"BE CAREFUL HUMAN!" Papyrus peers down at you, easily lifting the bag into the back of the truck. "THIS LOAD SEEMS A LITTLE TOO HEAVY FOR YOU."
"Oh hey! Thanks Pap." You give him a quick hug. "You're really doing me a huge favor. I hope I didn't pull you away from your job."
"NOT AT ALL! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS WILLING TO LEND A HELPING HAND," Papyrus says proudly. And sure enough, with his help, cleaning up finishes a lot faster than anyone expected. You and Papyrus are just finishing up with the last of the trash bags.
"And the power forward makes his move!" You grab the bag, thankfully light, and toss it to Papyrus. He easily catches it and slam dunks it into the dumpster bin. "And he scores! The game is won and the crowd goes wild!"
"NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus cheers as you whoop loudly. "THAT WAS AN EXCELLENT PLAY!"
You blow on your finger guns. "I got mad skills bro."
Papyrus laughs loudly. "YOU SOUND JUST LIKE MY BROTHER."
"Oh yeah? I'll take that as a compliment," you say with a wide smile. You happen to glance past the still laughing skeleton and notice two guys heading towards you, one of them with a large camera on his shoulder. You recognize the logo on his jacket from the local tv news station. "Um, I think we've got company."