Christmas Wishes || Undertale

Chapter 6: The Morning After

No amount of pain could ever keep The Great Papyrus down on Christmas morning. Even though Sans knew this, he was still unprepared for the loud banging on his door. He awoke with a jolt, momentarily forgetting about the previous night's events and pulling his pillow over his face with a groan.

"It's too early, Papyrus, five more minutes," he grumbled.

"No, you lazy bones, it's time to get up!" Despite his words, there was no missing the fondness in his voice. "You can't sleep through Christmas morning, we have gifts to open!"

Christmas morning? Wait, that was right, it was Christmas morning. The events from the night before came flooding back. The fear, the anxiety, the attack, the guilt, and the alcohol he had guzzled in an attempt to drown it all out.

"Sans! You better not have gone back to sleep!"

"Nah, I'm up." Sans took a deep breath before forcing his smile just a little wider and getting out of bed. He could do this. For Papyrus, he could do anything. With this in mind he made his way over to the door and opened it, casually leaning against the door frame. "Hey there, cool guy."

Papyrus looked less than amused. "Sans, this is no time for flattery! There are gifts to open!"

"Heh, yeah, I bet Santa left you a ton of presents," Sans said, following Papyrus when he took to the stairs. Though Papyrus was moving slower than usual due to the pain he was no doubt still in, his enthusiasm was still made clear with the slight bounce in his steps. Sans' smile grew soft at the sight.

"Don't forget about your presents, Sans," papyrus said. "Aren't you excited to see what Santa got you?"

With that, Sans' permanent smile soured just a little. Of course he should have known Papyrus wouldn't notice "Santa" didn't bring Sans gifts. Why should he? However, that didn't keep it from making his soul ache. Even if Santa did exist, Sans was more than certain he would never be good enough to get more than a lump of coal. Not after everything he'd done. Still, there was no need to burden Papyrus with all of that. He forced his smile a little wider, crinkling the corners of his eye sockets. "Yeah, sure thing, Paps."

Luckily for Sans, Papyrus didn't seem to notice the change in his smile. Instead, he took off towards the Christmas tree the second he feet hit the bottom of the stairs. Sans couldn't help but chuckle at his excitement. Man, his brother was the best. Papyrus took his place by the tree before looking up at Sans and bounding his leg impatiently.

"Come on, lazy bones! I can't open presents if you don't hurry up!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Sans shuffled down the stairs before taking his place across from Papyrus. "Alright, go ahead."

Papyrus didn't even give a second's hesitation before tearing into his gifts, grin stretching wide when he saw what was inside. "Wowie, new action figures! Just what I asked for!"

"If anyone deserves it, it's you," Sans said. He watched as Papyrus picked up another present, blue paper with a carefully tied red bow, and his brow furrowed in confusion. Weird, he didn't remember wrapping that one. Papyrus read the attached tag before holding it out. "It says this one is for you!"

Sans' sockets widened. For him? That couldn't be right. He took the gift and read the tag, and he couldn't help the way his smile softened. The tag definitely had his name on it and, though it said "FROM: SANTA" in clear, bold letters, Papyrus' scrawl was unmistakable. "Huh, it sure is."

He set it on the ground and untied the bow before tearing into the paper. He then hesitated a moment, finger bones hovering over the flaps of the box before opening them and peering inside. He sat there a moment, staring at the contents without reacting. However, he didn't miss Papyrus' uncomfortable shift as he tried his hardest not to react to Sans' silence.

"Is... is everything alright, brother?"

Sans was silent for a moment longer before he looked up at Papyrus with a genuine smile. "Yeah, all good. Santa sure knows what a guy wants."

Papyrus immediately perked up at that. "Really? You really like it?" His eye sockets widened when he realized how painfully obvious he was being and he quickly looked away. "Not that I even know what it is! I assume it's more ketchup to fuel your bad habits."

Sans chuckled, deciding to just play along. "Nah, even better." He reached into the box and pulled out a small, soft stuffed dog. Its fur was patches of black and white, arranged to look like a skeleton. A soft, light blue jacket rested over its shoulders and front legs, and Sans couldn't deny that there was a resemblance.

"Wowie, Sans, it looks just like you!" Papyrus shouted, doing his best to feign surprise.

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it," Sans chuckled. He turned to Papyrus, shooting him a wink. "Guess I'll have to tell 'Santa' thank you."

"I'm sure he'd appreciate a thank you letter," Papyrus said with an affirming nod, completely missing the meaning behind Sans' gesture. Sans just chuckled before setting the dog back in the box. He would set it in his room later, up on a shelf so it wouldn't get caught up in the mess of his room.

"Yeah, I'll make sure to write him one." Sans stood, extending a hand to Papyrus. "Come on, let's go get some breakfast."

"Breakfast spaghetti does sound good," Papyrus agreed, taking Sans' hand and letting the older skeleton help him to his feet. He immediately headed for the kitchen with Sans trailing behind him. They could clean up the wrapping paper later.

As he sat at the kitchen table and watched Papyrus rummage though the cabinet for a pot, Sans' thoughts strayed back to the present he had gotten. Though stuffed animals weren't normally his thing, Papyrus had clearly put a lot of thought into it and that's what made it special. He couldn't help but smile to himself as he watched Papyrus turn the burner up way too high before pouring the noodles into the water. Papyrus really was the best brother a skeleton could ask for. He always seemed to know just what Sans needed.

With such a cool brother like Papyrus by his side, he could endure these resets just a little longer.

With such a cool brother like Papyrus, he could do anything.