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English
Series:
Part 3 of Tiny Underground Humans
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Published:
2018-12-26
Completed:
2018-12-26
Words:
2,517
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2/2
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Pet Peeves Swapped

Chapter 2: Closeness

Summary:

Power outage! What to do now?

Chapter Text

Sans had been doing better, lately. He’d been able to sit across the table from Jasmine during dinner, and he could sit on the opposite end of the couch comfortably without being distracted or shaking when Papy watched TV with Jasmine on his shoulder.

It was nice, actually, and he’d been able to talk with Jasmine a lot when he’d been home.

But he still couldn’t touch them, and now it made him irritated. He wanted to cuddle like he saw Papy doing. He wanted to pet their hair and hold them and have them on his shoulder. But he couldn’t get closer than a foot away without feeling horribly anxious.

“PAPY, WHAT IS YOUR SECRET? YOU CAN TAKE SUCH GOOD CARE OF JASMINE AND NOT BE SCARED. WHY?” He finally asked one day while his brother was helping him reach the tall sink.

“uh….it’s mostly because i know they won’t hurt me. they literally can’t, bro, even if they wanted to. they’re too small, and they love us, besides.” Papyrus looked up and saw little stars in his brother’s sockets.

“THEY…LOVE ME?” Sans breathed, excited at the idea.

“yeah, bro,” Papyrus assured, smirking at his brother on top of the sink. “you’ve really improved, and you’re a skele-ton of fun.”

“PUNS! NO!” Sans huffed, but he was too bolstered by the knowledge he had at least won the tiny human’s affections.

Jasmine was sitting on the floor, watching Sans. “Um…Sans? What are you doing?”

“I AM TRYING TO WILL MYSELF CLOSER.” He was flat on his belly on the floor, pouting, “BUT I CAN’T SEEM TO MOVE.”

Grinning, Jasmine asked, “Would it work if I moved instead? You’ve been doing so well, Sans, and I wanna help!”

He felt a twinge of trepidation, but Sans nodded, “I THINK THAT’S BEST.”

Nodding, Jasmine walked up slowly, and Sans made a small hum of discomfort, but stayed put. When they reached him, Jasmine asked, “I’m right here, Sans. Do you trust me?”

“Y-YES…?” He stammered, worried.

“Alright.” His affirmation was enough for them to place their hand gently on his cheekbone.

Sans blinked….then he relaxed totally. He’d done it! Jasmine was touching him and he was still alive, and nothing horrible had happened. “WE’RE TOUCHING!!!”

“Yes, we are!” Jasmine laughed, still gently petting his cheek, then getting brave enough to nuzzle him. “I’m so proud of you, Sans! You’ve worked so hard and you overcame your fear!”

A slow clap came from the doorway, and both of them looked up to find Papyrus watching them with a very pleased smile. “that’s my baby bro. knew you could do it. and good job helping, j, ya did good.”

Sans blushed deeply and Jasmine laughed, at least until the lights went out.

“dang it, i didn’t read the weather report this morning,” Papyrus huffed, a bright orange light glowing now from his right socket, casting eerie shadows. “let me see what’s up and i’ll be right back.”

He slumped down and opened the door, letting in a blast of cold air and snow flurries, “ah. blizzard. yeah, that means the core conduits are blocked up.”

Cupping Jasmine to his cheek with only a slight tremor, Sans frowned as he sat up, “PAPY, THAT MEANS THE HEAT IS OFF. CLOSE THE DOOR.”

Doing as told, Papyrus came back and picked Sans up, “that means there’s nothing we can do except conserve heat and energy till the storm blows over. c’mon, everybody goes to the rocket bed.”

“BUT I’M NOT EVEN SLEEPY!” Sans wriggled, but Jasmine clung to his face. The tiny human was worried. Skeleton monsters weren’t as vulnerable to extreme temperatures as others, and especially different from humans. It would be an interesting night.

Papyrus opened the door to Sans’ bedroom, then plonked Sans and Jasmine into the bed, “there, just hang on while i get all our blankets and stuff.”

Sighing, Sans moved to just hold Jasmine in his lap, “I HATE WHEN THIS HAPPENS. THE CORE IS SO FAR AWAY THAT THE MAGIC POWER PIPES GET CLOGGED ALL THE WAY OUT HERE IF THERE’S TOO MUCH DISTURBANCE IN THE WEATHER MAGIC. SO PAPY MAKES ME TAKE A NAP WITH HIM UP HERE WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT SO WE CAN STAY COMFORTABLE AND NOT USE UP OUR FLASHLIGHTS.”

“So this happens a lot?” Jasmine asked, already getting a little chilled in their light clothes and cuddling into Sans’ gloves.

“NO, MAYBE ONCE IN A GREAT WHILE, BUT IT’S STILL IRRITATING,” he sighed and closed his hands in on them just a bit. “DON’T WORRY, WE’LL BE ALRIGHT. IT USUALLY ONLY TAKES A FEW HOURS BEFORE THE GUARD OR UNDYNE GETS THINGS FIXED.”

Just then, Papyrus came back with an armload of blankets, dumping them over Sans, who responded with an angry “MWEH!”

“heh, okay,” the older brother shut the door and draped his lanky frame over the outer side of the bed, “all ready for the snow nap. you get tangled up in your explanation, bro?”

It took a moment, but Sans popped out with Jasmine in hand, “BROTHER, NO! BUT I AM GLAD YOU LET ME EXPLAIN THINGS.” He sighed, then lay down facing the wall, “ALRIGHT, COVER US UP. IT’S GOING TO BE A LONG NIGHT.”

The boys had been asleep for a bit, but Jasmine was freezing. Even burrowed under the covers between the skeletons, it wasn’t warm enough. A whimper woke Papyrus up, and he sleepily drew them against his chest, “what’s up, j?”

“P-papy, I’m f-f-freezing…” they nuzzled desperately into his hoodie.

“What’s wrong with Jasmine?” came the drowsy response from Sans as he too woke.

“they’re cold, bro. here, i know what to try, but….eh, jasmine, ya know how we’ve been talking about how monsters work versus humans?” He asked, a worried expression tilting his brow bones down.

“Y-yeah?” they felt his soul pulse weaken, being in tune with him as they were.

“well, i could take you in, y’know, just for the night? you’d be safe since you’re alive an’ i kinda love you,” his long fingers stroked their back gently as Jasmine started shaking, “but i don’t want to risk it if you’re going to be traumatized.”

“Papy, just do it,” Sans muttered, pulling himself in tighter against his brother’s body, “They’re brave and won’t let fear win. They helped me already so they’re a superhero.” He was still half asleep, so he wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying.

Jasmine felt very encouraged by those words of confidence, and asked, “Is it okay if I keep my eyes closed?” They didn’t want to see what was about to happen.

“sure, j. i don’t blame ya,” Papyrus laughed softly, nuzzling their head a bit before assuring, “i’ll make it quick. just relax and you’ll be warm in no time.” Very gently, he slid them into his mouth and closed it behind them, already feeling them respond to the warmth on their chilled body. Though it was uncomfortable, he swallowed them without much ado, shaking off the scratchy feeling of their dry clothes in his throat. “ugh…you okay now, j?”

They squeaked when they plopped out onto the cushy surface of his magic, but responded, “Yeah…I’m….I’m fine. Just glad to be warm.” Unable to stop themselves, Jasmine let the nervous tears drip off their face, but cuddled into the soft orange glow around them. They trusted and loved both the skeletons, really, and getting over this fear was the least they owed them. They were safe, and warm, and closer than ever to Papyrus. It was alright.

Outside, Sans wrapped his arms around his brother as he dozed off again, slurring out, “There. Now we’ll all cuddle.”

Papyrus rolled his eyes (as best he could) but hugged Sans close as he tucked the many blankets tightly around both of them. Jasmine was scared, but they were also radiating trust and affection, too, so he knew they’d be fine, at least for the short duration of the power outage. With nothing else to do, and eager for more sleep, he closed his sockets and let his mind drift out as he focused on the peaceful pulse of the two souls he cared for most.

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