{Handplates chapter references: Nyeh heh heh, why me, two cool dudes, dodging}

"WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HIM? UH, ASGORE, RIGHT?"

Papyrus sat on the bed, his legs crossed and a teddy sitting in his lap.

He absent mindedly kneaded the little plush between his fingers, feeling how soft and squishable this toy is. It was a stark contrast to him, since he was just bones.

Sans knelt in front of a toy box on the floor, rummaging through it to find something to do.

"he seems nice.", was all he said, his entire attention on the contents on the chest in front of him.

It did not contain much, nor was it big but compared to Sans, it looked of considerable size.
He could probably sit in it if he tried.

"YEAH, HE'S BEING REALLY NICE TO US. DO YOU THINK THAT IS NORMAL?"

Sans picked up a spinning top, rotating it in his hand to try and figure out what this thing was good for.

At Papyrus's question, he raised a brow: "i don't know...it kind of feels weird?"

"YEAH BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY."

Sans sighed and let the spinning top fall back into the chest, continuing his search for entertainment.

There was a somewhat concerned expression on his face as he spoke: "i wonder why we can't remember anything...?"

"IS THAT WEIRD?"

"asgore seems to think it's weird..."

Sans had watched Asgore enough to know that he was confused about him.
At first, it was purely out of distrust and suspicion but Asgore had done nothing to prove a threat to him or his brother.

But as attentive as Sans was, he could see the small folds form on Asgore's face whenever he interacted with them.

The slight confusion that shimmered in his eyes whenever he discovered that something was...off about them or surprising.

Sans knew that Asgore tried his best to conceal it with his warm smiles and kind words but he knew that Asgore thought something was wrong with them.
Or not even with them as individuals but that, whatever happened before the two skeletons met him, the circumstances they lived in didn't make sense or were just....genuinely concerning.

Sans knew that with how everything looked so new to them and to Asgore so mundane and almost not noteworthy, that it meant they probably have been living in an entirely different world.

And it was...strange.

"IT DOES FEEL KIND OF WEIRD...I GET THIS FEELING LIKE, THERE'S SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT I'M FORGETTING BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS."

"yeah...maybe it has to do with these plate things."

Sans lifted his arm to inspect his plate, the metal reflecting harshly beneath the artificial light.

"MAYBE? I WONDER WHAT THEY MEAN. IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT'LL COME OFF. IT MUST BE IMPORTANT."

Papyrus hooked his fingers behind the plate attached to his hand, trying to pull on it gently. It didn't budge.

"..i guess."

For some unknown reason, Sans felt a weird uncomfortable sensation in the back of his skull whenever someone talked about the handplates.

He was desperate to solve the mystery behind them but this feeling made him also ponder if perhaps it was better if they didn't know.

His eyes landed on a strange object in the chest and he pulled it out, grasping the fabric of it.

It was a welcome change of topic.

"hey, look at this thing i found."

Sans lifted it up, revealing the gray fabric of a sock.

The bottom had a red circle painted on it and someone had sewn ears to each side of it.
Its googly eyes rattled gently as Sans turned it in his hand, the edges of the eyes slightly smeared with glue and a small nose was drawn on it with black sharpie.

"WHAT IS THAT?", exclaimed Papyrus, scooting closer to the edge of the bed to get a better look at whatever Sans held in his hand.

"maybe it goes on your hand like this..." He carefully stuck his hand into the sock, making little mouth motions with it.

"hey, it kinda looks like a face, doesn't it? mwap mwap mwap.", Sans made a couple of funny noises, moving his hand in sync so it looked like the hand puppet was speaking.
It made Papyrus chuckle.

"STOP THAT!"

"heh look at its eyes going around! woop woop woop"

Sans started to move the puppet's head in a circular motion, causing the black pupils of the googly eyes to swirl around.

Papyrus chuckled once more, this time a little louder.

"'hellooooo papyruuuuus, your neck looks tastyyyy, nomnomnom."

Sans made a silly voice and reached out towards Papyrus, letting the puppet munch gently on his neck.

The tickling sensation caused Papyrus to flinch away from him and he finally burst out laughing: "NYEH HEH HEH!"

Sans immediately pulled away, both of them staring at each other in genuine surprise.

The silence stretched out for a moment as Papyrus stared down at Sans, a small but visible blush spreading across his cheeks.

"...is that how you laugh?"

Papyrus's reaction was to grow slightly defensive about it. The blush caused by embarrassment deepened and he crossed his arms in front of his chest, averting Sans's look.

"I....I GUESS? WHAT, WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT?"

Sans immediately put up his hands, trying to calm his brother. He had a somewhat apologetic look on his face: "nothing, it's just....i don't think i ever heard you laugh before."

The blush on Papyrus's cheeks lessened and he leaned forward, pointing at Sans as if accusing him to overplay his embarrassment: "YEAH WELL...I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU LOOK HAPPY BEFORE EITHER, SO THERE!"

"i look happy?"

"YEAH! YOUR SMILE'S REAL AND UP IN YOUR EYES, AND YOU'RE ALL RELAXED AND LOOSE. WHAT, AREN'T YOU HAPPY?"

Sans just stared at his brother for a moment, contemplating his words.
He hasn't even thought about it, barely acknowledged these new and positive feelings swirling inside of him.

But it was true.
He was happy.

It felt so natural with Papyrus by his side, he had almost not noticed.

The small skeleton smiled even wider in response, his eyes expressing genuine happiness.

"yeah, yeah i am."

"YOU KNOW....ME TOO."

.

.

.

"Sans and Papyrus continue to grow, like seedlings in new sunny soil.

It's amazing how quickly they learn and adapt, and they're so eager too! I can hardly tear Sans away from the books he finds.
He's so bright and curious...it's familiar for some reason but I'm not sure why...

However, one time..."

"who is that?", asked Sans Asgore as he entered the room.

He was sitting on the floor, an old book on his lap.

Asgore walked up to him, leaning down slightly to look at what or who he was pointing at.

It was one of Asgore's old photo books. He buried it so deep in his shelf, he almost forgot about it.

He recognized the picture. It was an old polaroid picture of him and others during a ceremony.

He remembered it was to honor someone but the name and face slipped his mind.

Asgore followed with his eyes to where Sans was pointing.

Beneath his finger was the smiling face of a young, human woman. Asgore's heart ached slightly at the memory of her.

"it's her, right?", Sans suddenly asked, making Asgore blink in confusion.

"H-her? What do you mean by that, young one?"

Sans just shrugged.

"i dunno. it just came to mind."

Asgore felt slightly caught off guard by that statement but decided to brush it off for now.
He knelt down beside Sans, taking the book from him and looking at the picture once more.

Asgore studied her features for a moment, her [h/c] hair, her bright smile.

It was a group picture of the whole family but the spot next to her looked strangely empty.

Like someone was missing but Asgore told himself it was probably nothing.

"This, little one, is [Y/N]. She was the first human in the Underground. And a very special one as well..."

Sans just stared at her face as Asgore began talking about her. About what a human is and other things. What made her special.

He could not help but feel like there was a sense of familiarity. He felt strangely...content, almost calm when he looked at her and he could not quite explain why.

"He had a lot of questions about [Y/N] for some strange reason.
I do not mind the curiosity but it still strikes me as odd that he almost immediately sought her out.

And what he said as well...it was as if he knew something but didn't dare to say it...or couldn't say it.

I let him keep the photo book for now. Maybe it will make them more curious about other monsters as well.

As they adjust to life here, I have so many questions.

The amount of things they don't know, the behaviors they've learned...it's not quite that they've been treated badly, but more that they've never been treated well.

When I gave Papyrus a compliment yesterday, his face lit up like he'd never heard one before in his life.

Sans's health never seems to improve no matter how much he eats or rests, and Papyrus insists that it's normal...

It's all so strange.

Where did they come from? Someone taught them that cipher and that someone had to be a skeleton...

But skeletons were the first on the front lines during the war, along with goblins and the imps...they were brave but...

there were no survivors.

So where did these two come from? Where are their parents?
Where is their family?

And if they have neither, where have they been hiding this entire time?

The Underground isn't that big a place..and how could they have hidden for so long and yet know so little about the world?

It's like they appeared out of thin air.

But that's impossible...isn't it?"

~💙~

my brother deserves to be happy. that's the feeling i get.

"DID YOU SEE THE LOOK ON HIS FACE? THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME.", Papyrus turned away from the wardrobe that he had been rummaging through, his brows furrowed slightly.

Sans immediately protested: "there's nothing wrong with you."

"THEN WHAT'S THIS? WHY DO I HAVE THIS WEIRD SCAR AND YOU DON'T? AND WHY DID HE LOOK LIKE THAT WHEN HE SAW IT?"

Papyrus turned now fully to Sans, pointing at the scar that dragged across one of his cervical vertebrae (his neck).

He referred to Asgore who looked both shocked and concerned when he made that discovery.

Sans knew that Asgore meant no harm with it but he was also aware of how much opinions of others mattered to him and to Papyrus this stare felt to him as a sign of disapproval.

like, before we got here, he didn't get treated like he should.

"I DON'T WANT HIM TO LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT...I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT."

Papyrus knelt down, opening the drawer which was in the bottom of the wardrobe and began searching through it.

and i get the feelin that maybe i didn't help as much as i could have, wherever we were, and whatever we were doin.

Sans watched his brother for a moment quietly, a pained expression on his face.

He didn't want Papyrus to feel like this.
Ever.

He was the most amazing person in this world and he deserved only the best, which included him always feeling the best.

Sans averted his gaze for a moment, thinking.

and i want to fix that.

With a new sense of determination he pushed himself off the bed, that Sans was leaning against and walked up to Papyrus, sitting down next to him.

"you know...maybe it's cause only the coolest skeletons have scars like that."

Papyrus froze in his motion, seeming to consider Sans's words. He slowly turned back to his brother, a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.

"...THE COOLEST?"

i feel like i owe it to him to be better.

Sans noticed that he was getting through to him, deciding to double down on his word.

He leaned a little closer, a playful smile on his face: "yeah, like...a scar like that means you're really strong, and probably did something really heroic to get it. like in those stories asgore read us. you remember?"

"...YOU THINK SO?"

i just want him to be happy.

"definitely."

Papyrus's hand subconsciously went up to his neck, his fingers carefully tracing the outline of the scar in his bone.

"BUT THEN...WHY DON'T YOU HAVE ONE TOO?"

"ah...i don't need one. you're cool enough for the both of us, huh?"

There was a flicker of hesitation in Papyrus's eyes and he slowly reached into the drawer, pulling out a gray scarf.

"I GUESS...MAYBE IT COULD BE SOMETHING COOL.", he mumbled as if trying to convince himself.

He grasped the fabric of the scarf tightly, feeling it with his fingers as he continued to contemplate.

"UH...WOULD IT BE...UNCOOL, IF MAYBE, IT WAS JUST SOMETHING BETWEEN US, LIKE, A...SECRET MAYBE...?"

Sans's face dropped as he watched Papyrus wrap the scarf around his neck and tie it into a knot in the back.

It was clear that he was not entirely convinced by Sans's words and the reaction that he received from Asgore seriously took a toll on him.

"WE'D BOTH KNOW IT WAS SOMETHING COOL, BUT..."

Papyrus averted his gaze as if trying to make up a plausible excuse.
To hide from his brother how much this scar actually affects him.

really...that's all i want.

Sans just shrugged casually, now also reaching into the drawer with a hint of a smile: "sure, no problem."

"hey...", Sans called out to his brother softly and Papyrus turned his head back to him.

Sans held the scarf that he picked up to his neck: "what do you think, this color look good on me?"

"SANS, YOU DON'T HAVE TO..."

Before Papyrus could say anything more, he had wrapped the brown colored material around his neck and secured it with a knot.

"what? it's the coolest fashion right now. does it look good?"

The corners of Papyrus's mouth twitched into a small, but genuine smile, tears forming on the bottom of his eye sockets out of pure appreciation for his brother.

And the way he always made him feel better.

"....YEAH...YEAH I THINK IT DOES.", Papyrus finally replied, now beaming at his brother as the tears slipped down his cheeks.

Even if he didn't say it, Papyrus knew that he had the bestest brother in this world.

that's all i ever wanted.

~💙~

"Are you sure you've never used magic before, Papyrus?", Asgore called out as he swiftly evaded another of his attack patterns.

"Your patterns are very advanced, and..."

Asgore stopped and stared at the bones that stuck out of the ground.
They were a mix of white and blue, some of them constructed in a way that it was difficult to dodge them or assume the next move.

Asgore brought his paw up to his beard, combing through it as he thought: "familiar..."

"REALLY? I'M DOING A GOOD JOB?"

"Yes, although, I can't quite place..."

Sans was a little further away, three orange traffic cones are propped up around him in a triangular arrangement, safety tape connecting them as his own "safe area".

"BUT I'M NOT EVEN HITTING YOU! YOU KEEP MOVING OUT OF THE WAY!"

"Oh, that's just..."

As Sans listened to their conversation, a strange wave of déjà vu came over him and he lowered his gaze as something in his mind seemed to briefly flicker.

~🤍~

"so, what's on schedule today?", asked 1-S as he followed after Gaster. The hallway was quiet except for the echoing of their footsteps.

"Survival in combat."

"combat? you sure you got the right one of us? cause..."

"Because you inflict pitiful damage, no matter the circumstances, and just one successful strike would kill you, even from a child.
I am aware of your limitations.
It's hard to imagine you lasting more than one turn against a human, as things are."

"turn?"

"Mm. You've played games with your- Subject 2, haven't you?"

"yeah."

Gaster turned to 1-S: "That is how humans see combat.
You will act and they will wait for you to finish, and then they will act and you will wait for them to finish.
So it'll go until one of you dies or escapes."

1-S listened intently to Gaster's words, raising a brow: "but why? that's dumb."

"That's how it works. It's not a game if there aren't rules. They will always take turns, no matter who they're facing. Always."

"how do you know?"

There was no response as Gaster kept walking. 1-S could sense that it wasn't all to it though.
He knew Gaster was withholding things. He stopped walking, looking away almost in a disapproving way: "...why do humans hate us so much."

Gaster stopped as well, looking down to the ground: "Not all- ...I don't think they hate us.
They are stronger than us, and...usually killing us benefits them, so they kill us.
There can be exceptions. Anomalies almost if you may say but...that's all there's to it."

"...'kill or be killed'...", repeated 1-S the very sentence that Gaster had taught them so long ago. His gaze darkened.

"So it goes. Even if someone as weak as you is not exempt."

1-S scoffed, turning his head away: "why even bother doing this, it's not like anyone will ever come down here..."

Gaster placed his palm on the hand reader, the door hissing as it opens: "I'm making progress but I still can't predict the future...yet. There are few drawbacks to teaching some basic skills, and many potential benefits."

"even for me?"

"Even for you.", Gaster looked down at 1-S, their eyes meeting for just a second before Gaster turned away again and entered the room. 1-S followed.

"Now, you cannot attack, and you cannot defend, so if you can't run, you must find other ways to survive. There's no room for error.
I'm glad at least one of you inher- ...that you're smarter than Subject 2.
If anything will save you, or at least buy you time, it will be that."

1-S's eyes darkened more and more as he endured listening to Gaster about how pathetic he is.
Why did he make something as broken as him?
Why can't he just be...good enough?

"It's all you have."

Gaster started to roll up the sleeves to his lab coat, standing directly across from 1-S.

"For now, at least, you should learn how to-"

Sans suddenly perked up as he looked at Asgore and Papyrus: "dodge. he's dodging."

Asgore immediately turned to Sans: "Yes, that's right, Sans...how do you know that?"

"i...i dunno."

Sans lifted his hand to rub his head, the sudden feeling he had before suddenly vanished.

It felt like a strange empty feeling flickering inside of him but that also faded almost immediately.

"OH DO YOU THINK YOU CAN TEACH MY BROTHER HOW TO DO THAT?"

"Well...I can teach him it in theory...but he'll have to practice with you, just to be safe. Is that alright, Sans?"

Sans's eyes were still trained on the ground as he tried to figure out what was going on inside of his head.

Did he maybe accidentally trigger some part of memory?

His eyes subconsciously wandered to the plate on his hand.

"yeah...yeah it's...fine..."