This Is Halloween
10:27 PM
Y: Are you still awake?
s: barely. u bonely without me?
Y: Something happened
s: where r u
Y: Home
It's the fastest you've ever seen him teleport. You've got your head in your hands, sitting at the table. You sense more than hear his appearance and don't look up. The other chair scrapes slightly as he sits next to you and softly touches your shoulder.
"It was Emily and her boyfriend," you say in a croaky voice. A dry chuckle escapes you. "I don't even know the dude's name."
"we can call him asshole if that makes you feel better."
"That actually does." You give him a weak grin.
"so what did asshole one and two do?"
You tell Sans about finally making the connection to the fireworks man, and how they cornered you by your car. How they threatened you to keep quiet about the whole thing. You shiver at the memory. "I don't know what to do," you finish lamely, looking over at him. His sockets are pitch black. "Sans, your eyes are doing that bottomless void thing again and it's not really helping me to calm down."
"sorry." He closes his sockets. "it's hard to control. babe, tell me you're not thinking of doing what asshole says. you can't keep quiet about this."
"I know I can't!" you snap. You take a shaky breath. "Sorry. I didn't mean to yell."
"yell if you have to." Sans still has his sockets closed and his hands are curled into fists. You put your hand over his and rub his bones until his grip eases slightly.
"Look, I've thought over every option," you say softly. "Best case, I tell the cops, asshole and Emily get in serious trouble and go to jail. But for how long? No one died, no one even got seriously hurt. What if they only stay in jail a few months? What would happen when they got out? Or, what if asshole gets arrested but Emily doesn't? She could claim she had no idea what he was going to do with those fireworks. Then there'd be nothing stopping her from firing me."
He finally opens his sockets. The lights are back. "do you really think tod would let that happen?"
He's right. There's no way Tod would just sit by and do nothing. "No, he wouldn't but-"
"emily let her boyfriend threaten you right outside your work place. don't you humans have rules against work harassment?"
"Yes but-"
"they're just trying to scare you," Sans says firmly. "don't let them do that."
You look away from Sans. "I am scared Sans," you finally blurt out. "The station means so much to me. But Emily has more pull there than you think. If I lost my job...if I had to leave-" you swallow the lump in your throat "Sans, I don't know if I could take it. I love it there. And I've nothing else. No other work skills, nothing that I could contribute to the city. And if I lose the job, I could lose this place and then I might lose you too-"
"you're not gonna lose me like that." His voice is quiet, but steady. "if the worst happened, and you did lose your job and couldn't pay for this place, do you really think paps and i would let you go homeless?"
You wipe at your face as a few stray tears escape your eyes. "You'd do that for me?"
He nods and straightens slightly. "i never showed you your soul, did i?"
"Huh?" You're taken aback by the sudden change in topic . "My Soul?"
"don't tell me you forgot." He taps a phalange against your forehead. "i don't like making promises, but i really don't like breaking the ones i do make."
Oh. Right. To tell the truth, you had forgotten about him promising to show you your Soul. "I mean, yeah I want to see it but is it really the best time?"
Sans rubs a hand over his skull. "i'm not exactly...." He trails off then sighs. "i learned the hard way that waiting is the worst thing you can do. wait for things to change, wait for things to get better. waiting doesn't do anything. and then before you know it, you lose your chance and you have to start waiting all over again. so yeah, it might not be the best time but i think i've waited long enough."
He motions for you to turn towards him. Despite your hesitation, your heart is starting to pound with excitement.
"look, uh...this is normally something monsters only do when they're about to fight someone. it's gonna feel a little weird but i promise it won't hurt. you ready?"
You nod, holding your breath. Sans narrows his sockets, staring down at your chest. He releases a short huff of breath and twitches his fingers. Sudden pressure builds up in your chest and you gasp. The world feels like it shifts slightly, like it does when Sans teleports but you stay in the same place. There's a sharp popping sensation and all color drains from the space around you. It bleeds into the space in front of you and you gasp again as a shape floats out from your chest. It looks like a heart, but not a normal human one. Rather, it looks like something that could've come out of a cartoon. But it's real and solid and you can barely breathe as you stare at it. Even though the world around you has grown dull, your Soul is pulsing with color. Deep purple light swirls with a lighter tone of orange within its shape. It's full of life, hope and pain and it's completely and utterly you.
It's cracked.
Sharp red lines span the surface of your Soul, glowing brightly over the softer hues of purple and orange. "It-it's broken," you finally croak.
Sans shakes his skull. "remember what i said before? when you were sick? you soul was broken but you pulled it back together with pure determination. that's what this is. those cracks are the glue holding you together." He's gazing at your Soul, the lights of his eyes wide and soft. "i've never seen anyone with as much determination as the kid. i've seen them do...impossible things. but i'm not sure that they could do this."
You feel a sense of pride wash over you and your Soul pulses brightly. "Can I touch it?" you ask him. Even in the faded black and white state the world is in, you can see blue light his cheeks.
"uh, yeah. if you want." He shifts his eyes away. "but don't hold on for too long. i don't think you're ready for something like that."
With shaking fingers you reach towards your Soul. You stop just above it's surface and look at Sans. He's staring off at the wall. The way he was acting was a little odd. Was this something too intimate for him to watch? What kind of rules did monsters have about this? Your curiosity is burning and you decide that you can ask about that later. You gently put one finger on your Soul.
Your body reacts instantly, tensing and filling with an almost painful heat. The most private and darkest parts of your heart feel like they're exposed to the open. The pain, the emptiness, the joy and sorrow and hope that you've held in your heart for so long hits you all at once, almost overthrowing you in its intensity. It hurts, but it feels good all at once and the sensation is so unfamiliar and intimate that you can't bear more than a few seconds of it. You pull you hand away like you've been burned. "That's enough," you whisper and you're not surprised to feel tears running down your face again.
Sans looks back at you and his sockets widen. "oh geez, i'm sorry." His fingers flicker again. Your Soul descends back into your body and color flows into the world once again. You gasp at the rush of everything returning to normal and slump against your chair. "crap, crap, i'm sorry, i shouldn't have let you touch it." Sans' hands flutter over you, unsure of whether he should touch you or not. You decide for him, crawling into his lap. The bones of his legs dig into you but it's an oddly comforting reality check. You bury your face in his shoulder.
"Just give me a second," you breathe. That was by far the most intense thing you've ever experienced and your head is spinning. You take in Sans' smell, using it to calm yourself down. He wraps his arms around you, holding you in place and starts rocking you gently.
"sorry," he mumbles again.
"It's okay. I asked for that. I just...wasn't prepared."
He rubs your back slowly. "i promise i had a point to all that."
You laugh weakly. "And what was your point?"
"i don't want you to give up. i did, over and over again because it was easier. being there in the underground, it got too hard to even try. i can see that there's a part of you that wants to give up. but i know that you wouldn't be able to do it. your soul is too determined to give up. i just wanted to show you that. a soul like yours doesn't know how to give up."
You sniffle and give him a gentle kiss on his cheekbone. How had you gotten so lucky, to find this wonderful skeleton? He was right. This was nothing to give up over. Not after everything else you'd been through. "Thank you. You always seem to know just what to say."
"nah. i'm just being your backbone."
It takes a second for that one to click. You snort in a very undignified manner. "If I wasn't recovering from seeing my own Soul I would be very cross at you right now."
"but you laughed."
You nuzzle his neck and grin when you feel him shiver. "Because I appreciated the attempt." Then you sigh. Amazing Soul experience aside, you still had Asshole to deal with. "Look, I know you said waiting is the worst thing I could do. But I'm not scheduled back at work until the day after Halloween. I just want to enjoy the holiday with everyone. Can I just wait until then?"
Sans shifts enough to give you a skeptical look. "not just an excuse?"
"I promise. And that will give me time to to figure out what I'm going to do about Emily."
He sighs. "fine. but will you at least call tod tomorrow and let him know?"
You really really don't want to. What if Emily overheard? But you nod. "Okay. Promise."
Soon after, you completely crash in Sans' arms. You wake briefly as he's putting you in bed, fumbling for his arm and manage to whisper "Stay". You sleep completely through the whole night, exhaustion from everything that had happened keeping your dreams uneventful and forgettable. In fact, you sleep a little too long. You finally wake up around one o'clock in the afternoon, tangled in Sans' grip. He whines quietly without opening his eye sockets as you struggle to escape the bed.
"Sans we overslept!"
Soft grumbles are all that answer you. He looks so cute curled up in your blankets that you can't bring yourself to force him to get up. You give him a quick kiss and start getting ready for the party. There's a lot of baking to be done. Cookies, puppy chow, hot dog spiders (per Sans request) and it takes you a while to find your brain shaped jello mold. Sans eventually drags himself out of your bedroom, rubbing at his sockets. The moment he sits down at the table, you slide over a bowl of melted chocolate and pretzel sticks. Ignoring his pointed sighs, you busy yourself with the rest of the preparation. This was the first time the group of monsters you called friends would spend time at your place and you wanted to make sure everything was perfect.
"Sans, please move faster than a snail crawl!" you plead with him. "The chocolate is gonna harden up and melting it again could burn it!"
"uuggh fine," he groans. He waves his hands and the pretzel sticks glow blue. He dips at least four of them at a time into the bowl. Lazy, but effective. "did ya call tod yet?"
You almost drop the apples in your arms. You dump them on the counter top before you answer. "Not yet." Your phone floats next your head. You give Sans an exasperated look and snatch the device out of the air. "Make sure those pretzels are coated well enough, lazy bones," you mutter as you bring up Tod's number. He doesn't answer and you're not sure if you're happy about this or not. You decide to leave a message, feeling Sans' gaze crawling up your back. "Hey Tod it's me. Um, something happened after I left last night and I need to talk to you about it when you have a chance. Give me a call." You hang up. "Happy?"
Sans hums in confirmation. At that moment you hear a massive thud against your door. You leave the phone on the counter and open the door. You're greeted by the sight of Undyne balancing an entire couch on her shoulder.
"What kind of nerd doesn't even have a couch?" She shifts her grip slightly. "Well, c'mon, don't make me stand out here all day!"
You quickly step back and wince as Undyne scraps the edge of the door as she forces the couch through. Well, there was a security deposit you weren't getting back. "Do I even want to know where you got this?"
"The university was throwing it out. Move it!" she snarls at the couch when it gets stuck briefly. "Alphys told me that you didn't have a couch and she wanted to make sure have one for tonight."
"And where did Alphys hear about that?"
Sans coughs quietly from his spot at the table.
"I see." You can't quite manage a glare at your boyfriend. "And they just gave it to you?"
She laughs loudly. "Like the weakling humans they are, they were having a tough time getting it out to the dumpster. So I said I'd take it off their hands and came straight here!"
You can't help but laugh as you picture the blue fish lady walking all the way from the university to your place hauling a couch. Did it count as stealing if they were throwing it out anyway? Probably not.
Undyne finally succeeds in pushing the couch into your living room and you have to admit it looks good next to your beanbag. "Finally! You've gotta have somewhere for us to sit if you're gonna invite us over." She kicks the bag. "Did you think we could all fit on this?"
"Hey, don't kick my baby!" You throw yourself onto the beanbag dramatically. Undyne glares at you for a minute before flopping down too.
"Okay, this is pretty comfy," she grumbles. "Still not gonna fit everyone."
"Fair enough," you laugh. You look up just in time to see Sans shuffling over. "Ah wait-!"
He too drops down, landing on both you and Undyne and the weight of his bones on your stomach makes a great 'oof!' of air escape you.
"What the hell!" Undyne yelps, shoving Sans' slippered foot out of her face. "Get off me!"
"nah," he says simply, head on your chest. You give the top of his skull a quick smooch and Undyne sticks her tongue out at the two of you.
"Gross."
There's a tapping at the door and Alphys peeks her head in. "Hey everyone. T-the door was open s-so I-"
Undyne hops up and strides over to her girlfriend. "There you are slow poke!" She wraps the dinosaur monster in a bear hug and kisses her snout. Both you and Sans fight to hide your snickers.
Toriel and Frisk show up with Papyrus in tow soon after and the party starts full swing. Toriel, bless her, has brought pie and a number of other Halloween themed dishes for dinner. Frisk is dressed up as a werewolf, little tuffs of fur sticking out of their ripped jeans and flannel shirt. The outfit is complete with a cheap set of fake teeth (which soon get forgotten on the counter). You all crowd around your small dining table, borrowing a few chairs from Sans' place. Your mouth waters as you sit next to Sans and stare at the feast spread out before you. With your spider shaped hot dogs, brain jello, apples and caramel combined with Toriel's signature pie as well as a steaming dish of hamburgers cut like skulls, veggie tray and pumpkin muffins and all the different deserts, you don't know how you're going to be able to eat it all.
Papyrus has of course contributed to the feast with a worms and dirt dish (which turns out to be spaghetti). Frisk takes a huge helping of this, eyes glinting as they go for the biggest meatballs. Everyone loads up their plates and your apartment is filled with the sound of laughter and chatter. It's been a very long time since you've had a group so noisy over to your home and despite the slightly chaotic nature, you are filled with a content happiness.
"You would not believe the creative ideas that many of the children have," Toriel is saying, talking about the kids in her class designing Halloween themed crafts. "Jimmy made an entire jack-o-lantern out of paper and paint!"
"gee tori, you certainly sound delighted about pumpkins."
"SANS!"
You laugh loudly but then you're distracted by a piece of broccoli that lands on your plate. Frisk gives you a wide smirk when you look up. Oh is that how the night was gonna turn out? You pick up a grape and toss it back at them. They surprise you by catching it in their mouth, rather than dodging it. You give them an impressed clap. They excitedly motion for you to do the same, grabbing another piece of broccoli. They miss your mouth by an inch and frown. Wait, they sign and grab bigger ammo. The kid carefully selects a meatball from their plate, positioning it on the end of their fork. Okay, this might not end so well.
"Um, Frisk-"
Sans, finally noticing that the two of you are up to something, starts to turn. "what're you-"
Frisk slams their fist on the edge of the fork, sending the meatball flying through the air. It seems like the entire table watches in fascinated silence as the food sails gloriously through the air and lands smack dab in Sans' right socket. He yelps and flails and the movement makes his chair tilt backwards. He hits the ground with a heavy thud. The table explodes with various degrees of roaring laughter and horrified gasping.
"Oh my gosh!" You leap from your chair to help him. "Sans, are you okay?"
He's flat on his back, bones twitching. "j-just meaty," he stutters, giving you a weak thumbs up.
Undyne is howling, smacking the table with her fist. "Nice shot kid!" Frisk accommodates her high five, looking only a little guilty.
It's absolutely horrible of you, but you can feel yourself shaking with suppressed laughter. Holding it back only gets harder when you notice spaghetti sauce on the edge of his eye socket. "Um, what should pffft I do? I think you've got a little something in your eye."
"Just reach in and pull it out," Undyne calls helpfully.
"i think that might be impastable," Sans cracks but you can't help but notice the lights are gone from his eyes. He's right though. You don't think you could fit your hands into his socket. Plus the idea of reaching inside his head sends shivers up your spine. You help him sit up and he groans.
"i can feel it in my skull."
"Okay, just stay calm. Maybe we can tilt your head and make it fall out again?"
He nods slowly but before either of you can move, Frisk suddenly appears at your side.
"don't-!"
They shove their smaller hand inside of Sans' socket and he jerks wildly. After a few seconds of fishing around, Frisk triumphantly pulls the meatball out and holds it over their head like a trophy. This sends Undyne to the floor with the force of her laughing. Poor Sans looks completely shell shocked. It's his expression more than anything that breaks your hold over your laughter. Papyrus and Toriel are the only ones not giggling at all.
"BROTHER, ARE YOU OKAY?" Poor Papyrus looks downright concerned.
"i'm good bro." Sans slowly gets to his feet and pats Frisk on the head. "i'm gonna go wash my skull out for a few years." He teeters down the hall, disappearing in to the bathroom. You're not sure if you should follow him or not.
Frisk taps you on the shoulder. They look worried. "Is...Sans...mad?"
You give them a reassuring rub on the head. "No, it was accident. And it was just as much my fault as yours. He'll be fine. Let's get ready for the Halloween movies!"
You and Toriel clean up from dinner as Frisk, Papyrus and Alphys go over the movie selection. Alphys brought several dvds of her own, but she's thrilled to discover that you've got a decent collection of anime as well. You have to promise to have a few anime marathons with her before she actually looks at your Halloween collection. They decide on Nightmare Before Christmas to start, with Hocus Pocus next on the list. You all grab various snacks and make yourselves comfortable. Despite her methods, you're really grateful to Undyne for bringing the couch. You couldn't picture the regal Toriel attempting to fit in on the beanbag. You actually have to take a spot on the couch because, despite her complaining, Undyne has claimed a section of the bag. So naturally, Alphys is curled up next to her and Frisk wants to sit on the bag and be next to Papyrus at the same time, so those two take up the rest of the space.
The movie starts and you're about to get up to check on your traumatized boyfriend when he finally slinks out of the bathroom. You make room for him on the couch and he wordlessly slides up next to you. He wraps his arms around your side and buries his skull in your shirt.
"You okay there? I was getting worried."
He moans into your side. "that wasn't fun," he mumbles.
"I spa-get-hetti why that would be the case. Ow!" You yelp as he jabs your side slightly. He looks up at you, smirking.
"that's for laughing before. that's two times i gotta get you back for now."
"Bring it on, bone boy."
Sans chuckles before turning his attention to the tv. He keeps his arms wrapped around you and you notice Toriel watching the exchange. She gives you a warm smile and a nod of approval. For some reason, this makes you blush. You rub Sans' skull as you watch Halloween movies all night with the oddest company. Your skeleton boyfriend and his brother. The queen of monsters and the ambassador who freed them all. A fish lady and her dinosaur girlfriend. Despite everything that had happened- the explosion, the stares, the threats from Asshole and Emily- you've never felt so welcomed and at home.