Chapter Text
The surface.
It was a place he dreamed of, imagining it's open sky and vast landscape, a place at night that had real stars, and not glowing crystals on a cavern ceiling. He'd seen it from the pages of moldy books and magazines. A place that had seemed like some far off fantasy.... But it didn't matter, nothing did, so why bother? It would all just reset eventually, like it always did, time, and time....and time again.
Sans learned very fast in the beginning, that telling people about the resets didn't matter, they would just forget after the next reset. And the time after that.... And the time after that....... Telling him he was crazy, had delusions, wasn't getting enough sleep, or having too much sleep.
..So one day he decided that he'd stop trying. He'd stop trying to confront that stupid flower, he'd lost count how many times he's killed that thing... But it kept coming back, somehow... He wondered if it had anything to do with the amount of D.T. that was put into it.
But one day? It disappeared. Every now and then he would hear Papyrus say something about it... Maybe the flower was finally getting bored... Honestly, he didn't care.
As long as he could be with his brother, and still talk to the lady behind the Ruins door. This living Hell of a time-loop was bearable.
"hey pap, undyne sent us an invite to a costume party. you wanna go?" Sans asked, his brow bone up in a curious way. The skeleton was lounging on the couch, his hands crammed into his jacket pockets as he looked to his brother on the other end. It only took a fraction of a second before the younger, yet taller skeleton answered, teeth spread in a big grin. "A costume party?! WOWIE!! That sounds like fun! Yes! Answer yes!"
Sans chuckled at his brother's enthusiasm, it was always something he could count on... And it always made him smile. "alright, alright. though, whadda' ya' gonna go as? ya' need help makin' the costume?" He'd ask as he brought out his phone that was laying in the bottom of his pocket, going to text back a quick response of 'sure' before he pressed send.
Papyrus tapped his finger on the side of his teeth in thought before he had the brilliant and awe inspiring look of an idea. "OH! How about a Superhero?! Like in those magazines we looked at." He nodded quickly, already overly excited about the idea.
Sans couldn't help himself but grin at the thought. "a superhero huh? i think we can pull that off, maybe we can head over to the dump and see if anything interesting fell down today. sound good?"
Papyrus nodded again. "Yes! Can we go now? Maybe we'll run into Undyne there! Oh but... She's been spending time with that person in Hotland a lot lately. I thought she hated Hotland..? I don't blame her really, moving walkways and heat, It's terrible!" He shook his head. "Spikes and snow and ice! Now there's where fun is! Nyeh heh heh!"
Sans shrugged. "undyne's captain of the royal guard, so sometimes she has to go places she doesn't want to. guess bein' top of the royal guard can be a 'royal' pain." He snickered, which only made Papyrus sigh in disgust. Sans though waved him off. "but yeah, we can go now." He'd hop off the couch, making sure his phone was snuggly fit in his pocket, along with his key ring. Papyrus followed his lead promptly, practically wiggling in place out of excitement. The brothers left their two story house, Sans locking the door behind them, the elder brother resuming his slouchy posture with his hands crammed in his coat pockets while Papyrus walked straighter with eagerness in his step.
It was quiet in Snowdin today, probably due to the fact that it had started to snow. And when it snowed in Snowdin, it poured.
Snowdin after all was at a higher elevation within the cavern, but it only took a matter of fifteen minutes or so for the brothers to work their way down the hill and into the fine fog cloud that separated the cold climate of Snowdin from Waterfall.
Papyrus broke the silence then as he smiled down at his brother. "Sans? I forgot to ask, what are you going to go as?"
Sans shrugged as they walked along. "i dunno, somethin'."
Papyrus crossed his arms as he pondered for a few moments. "Well it must be creative!"
Sans shrugged yet again. "let's just focus on your costume, alright? i'll help ya' with whatever ya' need."
Papyrus frowned a bit as they came out of the fog, crossing into Waterfall. "Well... alright. AHEM! SO! I was thinking something red! Oh and white, with blue shorts! I can call it my Battle Body! Nyeh heh!" He nodded. "What do you think, Sans?"
Sans smiled up at his brother. "sounds cool, i don't think we'll find a cape, but i think i have an old red sheet that we could make it into one for ya'."
Papyrus beamed at the idea. "NEAT! That sounds like a wonderful idea! Oh I can't wait to make the costume! Everyone shall see how GREAT I am! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!"
Sans smiled more softly, his brother's positive attitude rubbing off on him. "they sure will pap. ...they sure will."
~~~
The brother's walked for nearly an hour more, talking about Papyrus' costume, different ideas for spaghetti , and of course a strategically placed pun every now and then. Which was irritating for Papyrus, even though he secretly thought they were clever...
They made it to the garbage dump, seeing much of the unwanted items that no Monster would touch. Things like torn stuffed animals beyond repair, random wrappers from anything from candy to snack cakes. Various other materials or scraps.
"Hmm..." Papyrus looked around the area, his beat up boots sloshing through the shallow water as Sans walked close behind. "Oh! Over there!" Papyrus said as he took off into a run, while Sans just casually walked before eventually catching up. "find somethin'?" Sans asked when he came up behind him, watching his younger brother dig around in a pile before he pulled out what looked like old football shoulder pads with a chest guard. "How about this?! I can use my magic to form bone over it, and we can smooth it out, and make it my own!"
Sans smirked at his brothers find and gave him a thumbs up. "sounds good to me." The elder brother moved a couple things around with his slippered foot, making the slipper squish. He'd made a mental note to make sure they both took off their shoes before going back in the house... After walking back over to a different pile, something caught his eye, and he bent down to move a few things aside, and pulled out a couple black curtains, the edges were frayed but... He nodded to himself. "hey pap, they're kinda dirty. but if we wash em' up we could make an undersuit, so that stuff doesn't rub your shoulder bones the wrong way."
Papyrus walked over, going to inspect the material before nodding in approval. "You are right Brother! It shouldn't take too much of this stuff either!"
After about twenty minutes of walking around and gathering materials, the brothers were satisfied with what they'd found, and walked up, and out the low valley known as the Garbage dump. Though Sans could have sworn he seen a misplaced golden flower in a dark crevice while they walked along the path...
"You know." Papyrus started. "I was thinking of visiting Undyne, but then she would see all this stuff for my costume! And I want it to be a surprise! Let's just go home brother."
Sans chuckled as he carried the black curtains, some red gloves with the cuffs torn, and a couple tubes of paint with half the paint gone in them. "fine by me, this stuff needs washed before we can do anything with it. we kinda smell anyway..."
Papyrus looked down at his very wet and very dirty worn boots and nodded. "Yes, and The Great Papyrus will not allow himself to be presented in such a way."
~~~
Back in Snowdin the snow had picked up to near blizzard conditions, which was fine for the brothers. The cold didn't effect them nearly as much as it would for a Monster with flesh, the both of them took off their shoes and socks at the door before Sans unlocked it. Both of them promptly walking in before closing the door, followed by putting their spoils onto the table.
"WELL! That was certainly fun." Papyrus chimed as he looked to his brother, who... had already sat down on the couch and put his feet up on it. "SANS! PUT YOUR FEET DOWN!" Papyrus yelled. While Sans just looked at him for a moment with a smile before he put them back on the carpet. "fine, fine. go get a shower, i'll go after you."
Papyrus sighed, having his hands on his hips. "Really brother, after how much time it took for us to find such a good couch, get it home, and get it cleaned up. Sigh... Fine, what do you want for dinner after I'm done?"
Sans already had his phone out by then and was dialing a number. "already got it covered."
Papyrus blinked at him. "Pizza?" Sans nodded. "yep." The taller skeleton began to smile again. "With... extra cheese?" Sans nodded again. "yep." Papyrus made a fist pump then nodded. "Very well! I'll be back downstairs in a bit then." Sans just gave another thumbs up as he held the phone to the side of his skull.
Nighttime fell, and it was nice.
The brothers talking about Papyrus' costume, designing it together, eating pizza in their PJ's. All while their clanky washing machine rattled on in the strangely shaped basement. Like in the shape of a backwards 'L'. Only because Sans workshop laid on the other end, it's only entrance being behind the house.
The rest of the evening was spent watching Tv, another cooking show with Mettaton, which Papyrus absolutely adored watching. Sans however only half watched, his thoughts wandering on the day, and that it was actually... Kinda fun.
However, even the happiness couldn't sway his thoughts forever as he dwelled back on what he thought he saw in the dark corner on the way home earlier. He could have sworn it was that stupid flower. ...Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him.