Sans quietly opened his bedroom door, stifling a yawn. It was late, way later than when he usually got home, but Toriel had wanted a lengthy update on how Frisk was doing in the Underground, asking him to detail everything. Conversations were difficult through the massive Ruins door, but Sans had complied. He never understood why she wouldn't just...leave the door open. He'd asked once, a long, long time ago, and she had refused to speak to him for days. It was probably best he left that topic alone.

Pausing in the center of his room, Sans stretched, much like a cat, and finally allowed himself to yawn hugely. Each joint popped and cracked, leaving the skeleton immensely satisfied and exhausted. 'man, all i want to do right now is go to bed.' Even as the thought floated through his mind, Sans outwardly cringed, eyelights sweeping over his dimly lit room. His bed was an absolute wreck; the sheets and blankets were nothing but a compacted ball in the corner, and he was fairly certain the mattress was beginning to grow mold, easily cutting that choice out. The floor wasn't an option either, as his little tornado had decided to do a bit of exploring and destroy...everything. Either that or Toby had come charging through like a wrecking ball. With his luck, probably both, and the end result was an assortment of God knows what scattered across his floor, most of which he couldn't even see in the dark. Normally, when faced with this scenario, Sans would go sleep on the couch and deal with Papyrus' peeved rant in the morning, but he was so tired he didn't have the energy to even shortcut downstairs, let alone walk.

Sighing, he rubbed at his eye sockets, yawning again. When his hands dropped, something caught his eye: his trombone, laying carefully in the only mess-free corner of his room. Sans stared, cocking his head to the side, then blinked and shrugged. "at least i know it's clean," he muttered, walking over with his hands jammed in his pockets. His trombone was probably the cleanest object he owned; it was his world, second only to Papyrus. It was the only thing he owned he actively took care of without his brother nagging at him. He even polished it twice a day. So, taking one last look at his precious instrument, Sans closed his eyes and snapped his fingers, smiling sleepily as he was suddenly hit with a wave of vertigo.

When the nausea passed, Sans cracked open one eye, his grin somehow becoming lazier as he gazed up and the now gigantic trombone. Shrinking himself wasn't something he did often, at the risk of Toby thinking he was a snack (as if the hyper little dog already didn't eat most of Papyrus' bone attacks), but it certainly was cool seeing the world so much bigger than he was used to. Magic flaring in his left eye, he prepared himself for the exertion of shortcutting inside, no way was he climbing up the bell, and in a brief flash of light he was there.

Sitting down, he slid down the slope of the bell into the inner tube of his precious instrument, immediately curling into a ball in the dark. He was so tired. His trombone was warm to the touch and humming with his own magic, making Sans feel like he was wrapped in a cocoon of comfort and safety. He sighed, pulling his jacket tighter around himself. The skeleton was out like a light within seconds.

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"SANS! WAKE UP, YOU LAZY BONES, YOU HAVE TO GET TO WORK!" Papyrus enthusiastically slammed his brother's bedroom door open, only to stop dead when he saw that Sans wasn't in his room. His eye sockets narrowed suspiciously. "SANS?"

There was a sudden tugging on one of his gloves. "NYEH? OH, HELLO, HUMAN! DID YOU SLEEP WELL?" He beamed down at the tiny child, who returned the expression. Frisk had taken to the skeleton brothers rather quickly, and Papyrus has been easily swayed to allow the child to stay with them. Initially, Frisk had spending their nights on the couch, but lately they had taken to sleeping with Papyrus in his room. The younger skeleton sometimes woke to the human curled into tiny ball, shivering violently and sobbing in their sleep. Papyrus always just pulled them closer, having dealt with Sans' night terrors for years. He couldn't help but feel his soul crack each time this tiny, young human woke screaming. He wondered if this the cause of these nightmares was the reason they never spoke.

But, right now, they were staring up at him with a quizzical expression, signing slowly, as Papyrus still struggled with their strange way of communication. "What's wrong?"

Papyrus ruffled their hair, going back to scanning Sans' room. "NOTHING IS THE MATTER, HUMAN! SANS JUST APPEARS TO NOT BE IN HIS ROOM, WHICH IS...UNUSUAL, BUT I AM QUITE CONFIDENT MY DEAR BROTHER HAS JUST FALLEN ASLEEP SOMEWHERE AND DIDN'T THINK TO TELL ANYONE WHERE HE WAS GOING." The talker skeleton finished his sentence with a huff, crossing his arms. At Frisk's slightly alarmed expression, he decided to elaborate more. "THE LAST TIME SANS WENT 'MISSING', GRILLBY FOUND HIM THE NEXT MORNING PASSED OUT IN HIS PANTRY AND SNUGGLING WITH A JUMBO PACK OF KETCHUP." He shot Frisk a reassuring smile. "I AM SURE SANS IS FINE, FRISK."

Frisk giggled, and Papyrus let out an exasperated sigh. "I'M GOING TO GO GET GRILLBY. HE HAS AN UNUSUAL AND VERY USEFUL TALENT OF BEING ABLE TO FIND SANS, WHEREVER HE MAY BE." He crouched down to Frisk's level, placing one gloved hand on top of their head. "YOU STAY HERE AND SEE IF HE'S ANYWHERE IN THE HOUSE. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE BACK SHORTLY." Frisk beamed at him, then darted into Sans' room. Papyrus stood, then marched out the front door.

'SERIOUSLY SANS, THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THIS MONTH.'

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"I AM SO SORRY, GRILLBY, I HAVE NO IDEA WHY SANS IS ACTING LIKE THIS! EVER SINCE THE HUMAN-"

Grillby cut him off with a chuckle, his voice crackly with equal parts amusement and exasperation as he stepped into the skeleton brothers' home. "It's fine, Papyrus. I'm always happy to help find our strange little skeleton." His voice always reminded Papyrus of the way wood crackled and popped in a hearth.

Their conversation was cut short as Frisk came bounding down the stairs, giggling madly. They grabbed one of Papyrus' hands in both their own and began attempting to drag him toward the stairs, still giggling to themselves. Papyrus and Grillby exchanged a look before turning back to the tiny human. "WHAT IS IT, FRISK? DID YOU FIND SANS?" They nodded enthusiastically, and Papyrus finally allowed himself to be moved. "WELL, THEN LEAD THE WAY HUMAN!"

Frisk lead him up the stairs, Grillby following in their wake, and dropped Papyrus' hand just before they raced into Sans' room, bouncing up and down beside his beloved trombone. The younger skeleton paused, confused. "FRISK? SANS ISN'T IN HERE."

Frisk stopped bouncing long enough to hastily sign "Look inside." before they dropped to floor to lay flat on their belly, peering into the trombone.

Papyrus glanced back at Grillby. He was not nearly as good at reading the fire monster's emotions as Sans was, but even he could see the confusion and curiosity dancing in his flames. Succumbing to his own curiosity, Papyrus stepped forward, following Frisk's example and pressing his right eye to the opening of the bell. He frowned. "IT'S TOO DARK; I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!"

"Allow me, Papyrus." Grillby took his place, and the usually-stoic monster immediately burst into laughter. "Well, the little human certainly found your brother!" He tilted the trombone downwards, and Papyrus' jaw dropped to the floor as Sans, barely the size of his hand, came sliding out and onto Grillby's palm, still fast asleep.

Grillby stood slowly, cradling Sans in one hand, and gently handed the sleeping skeleton over to his shell-shocked brother. Frisk tugged on Grillby's pant-leg, and simultaneously the two monsters crouched down for the human to see. Gently, Papyrus poked Sans' skull. "SANS? SANS, WAKE UP!" He poked him again for good measure.

Slowly, the miniature skeleton blinked awake, then jolted upright in alarm and let out a half-strangled, panicked noise. His magic sparked as his left eye flared a deep blue, chest heaving as he stared up at the giants surrounding him, before recognition set in and his expression changed to his normal lazy grin. "oh. hey bro. what's up?"

Frisk laughed, Grillby appeared to roll his eyes, and Papyrus' face dropped into an expression of flat annoyance. "YOU HAVE A JOB, SANS. WHY WERE YOU EVEN IN THE TROMBONE?"

Sans shrugged, reclining back on Papyrus' fingers and crossing his hands behind his skull. "bed's a mess, floor's dirty. didn't feel like walking downstairs." He started, eye glowing and making a surprised noise when Papyrus suddenly lifted him by the hood. "whoa! take it easy, pap!"

"COME ON, SANS! MAKE YOURSELF BIGGER!"

"nah."

Frisk tapped Papyrus on the knee, drawing both of the skeletons' attention. They opened their mouth before quickly closing it, cheeks a faint, rosy color as they signed, "Can I hold him?"

The brothers exchanged looks before Sans shrugged. "sure. i don't see why not. just don't drop me, kid." Papyrus carefully placed the older skeleton into Frisk's open palms. Sans crossed his legs, then stared back up at Frisk, whose face glowed with awe and wonder. "hey." The human simply beamed, rubbing the back of his skull with their finger. The miniature skeleton practically melted in her hands. "oh...kay, that...feels really nice, actually." He closed his eyes, leaning into their touch. Frisk was borderline vibrating; their whole body was shivering with excitement. Sans cracked open one eye, his features creasing with worry. "you uh, you alright there, kiddo?" Suddenly he was being gracelessly dumped into Grillby's lap. "wh-hey! Frisk!" By the time Sans managed to get himself upright and sitting in Grillby's palm, with the fire monster's help of course, the child was long gone. "uh...where'd they go?"

Grillby oh-so-helpfully shrugged while Papyrus' eye sockets narrowed. "I HAVE NO IDEA BUT I DON'T LIKE IT."

All eyes turned to the doorway when someone cleared their throat. Frisk was back, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry I dropped you, Sans. I just got so excited!"

Sans just smiled. "it's fine. but uh, whatcha wearin' there, kid?" And just like that Frisk was bouncing up and down again, racing back over to Grillby's side. They were wearing a different sweater; instead of the usual and ever-present blue and purple stripes, it had green and blue stripes and just had to have been handmade by Toriel when they were still living in the Ruins.

"I wanted to get this sweater because it has a pocket. See?" They pulled open the rather large breast pocket sewn neatly to the front for emphasis. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind just riding around in my pocket all day. You wouldn't have to go to work." Frisk added the last part with a sly grin, signing much too fast for Papyrus to follow. Probably the only good thing to come out of the hundreds of RESETs is that Sans was perfectly fluent in sign language, making understanding Frisk, even when they were signing at the speed of light, a breeze.

All three monsters in the room blinked. Then Sans made a very happy sound, eyelights morphing into the shape of tiny stars. "frisk that is single handedly the best idea you have ever come up with!"

They grinned, clapping happily before gently picking Sans back up. They held their sweater pocket open, and the older skeleton hopped inside, immediately snuggling down until only his head was visible. He closed his eyes, opening one just in time to see the exact moment Papyrus comprehended Frisk's signing, slight outrage appearing on his face. Sans glanced up at Frisk, smirking. "kid now might be a good time to run." Frisk nodded in agreement and scrambled to their feet, both of them laughing as the human ran out the door.

"HEY! HUMAN! SANS! GET BACK HERE!" They both could hear Grillby laugh as Papyrus raced after them. By that time they were already outside, tearing down the streets of Snowdin and shrieking with delight. Papyrus continued to chase after them, but now his own voice was tinted with mirth. "SANS, STOP USING THE HUMAN TO GET OUT OF WORK! COME BACK!"

"gonna have to catch us first, bro!" Frisk laughed, and Papyrus signature laughter echoed back in return. Sans felt a warmth spread through his soul.

Out of all the RESETs, this one was his favorite by far.