Sans lied.

He didn't call Papyrus when he had a nightmare.

The trip was long, like Sans guessed, all three of them grabbing some dinner before they started off on the drive. Undyne and RG 02 both sat in the front while Sans thankfully had the entire back to himself, eating his dinner back there while talking to them. He ended up falling asleep quickly enough, but it didn't last long. His sleep never seemed to anymore.

As he figured, Sans was sitting up suddenly from a nightmare, finding that he was in the capital by this point, everyone else asleep due to the time, leaving the streets bare.

"You've only been asleep for two hours Sans, geez," Undyne said, "You sure you're nightmares are under control?"

"Of course they are," Sans said, "I'm so good at sleeping, I can do it with my eye sockets closed."

"We're going to be on the surface soon, so I guess you had good timing," Undyne said, "So you can see the real stars."

"Good thing then." He adjusting himself so he was leaning forward and could talk to the two more easily. "Have you looked at them yet?"

"Yeah, a few times," Undyne said, "But I like the sun more, especially during sunsets. We saw the sunset when the barrier first broke, you missed it."

"I can always see it tomorrow night," Sans said.

The stars...

It was just something else, seeing them in person. They were real, above him as Sans stared out the window in wonder. Sans could already name a couple of the stars, their names, some constellations. Ever since he was a child, and he heard of stars, he immediately grew attached to them. He often found himself climbing out his window when his parents were arguing to escape to waterfall, and he would star up at the rocks in hopes he would see the stars one day.

They were beautiful.

Sans repositioned himself, leaning against the door so he could look up at the stars as he drifted back off to sleep. It didn't take long before he was asleep once again, welcoming the darkness under the stars as the car rocked gently down the road.

~~~~~~

The sheets were warm.

They were really thick and warm, fluffy too, nothing like the thin blankets he usually slept with. That's why he woke up quickly, sitting up in the big bed.

This wasn't his bed.

He didn't know this bed.

Sans must've been carried inside from the car, probably by Undyne and RG 02. They must've carried his stuff too, which he really didn't want them to do. His plan was to keep his stuff in the car so he could move out easier.

The room was as big as his entire house, it was impressive how big it was. It looked a bit old, all of the furniture already in there dusted. Probably from not being cleaned after the war, humans didn't dare touch any of the monsters old materials, which was nice. That meant that they could move into the old houses and wouldn't have to deal with finding new ones or building them.

The bed was so comfortable that Sans didn't want to force himself out of it, but he did anyway, already missing the warmth from the fluffy sheets. Fully standing up, Sans gawked at his surroundings, finding that he looked like an ant in such a large room. The boxes containing his stuff was already loaded into the room, one of the boxes was open and a pair of his clothing was pulled out and set next to the bed.

Remembering that he forgot to text his brother, Sans sat back down onto the bed and pulled out his phone, sending his brother a quick text.

Sans: heya paps, sry i forgot to text u when i got hre, fell sleep

Papyrus: There you are you lazy bones! I figured you fell asleep, how was the surface?

Sans: cool, the stars were amazing, 10/10 recommend

Papyrus: Did you meet Asgore? How was he?

Sans: hvnt met him, don't want 2. serisly paps u know i dont wanna be zinged

Papyrus: I know, but he is housing you in a castle! You should at least thank him!

Sans: i mean, he didn't really give me a choice, u know i like small houses

Papyrus: You can't blame him after going so long without a soul mate! I understand your conflicting beliefs, but he still is the King.

Sans: aaaaa i know, ths freaking sucks, tibia honest im screwed

Papyrus: SANS!

Sans: if i stop making puns will u help me get out of this?

Papyrus: Asgore is already aware of your feelings, but he said he wants to try to win over you anyway. He is looking for love, not sexual intercourse Sans. I know you're scared about it, but Asgore is a good guy and he won't be like our parents.

Sans: just because he wont be like them doesnt mean that he likes me, he doesn't even know me paps! he just thinks we should be dating because we zinged, he hasn't bothered to try to get to know me before trying to seduce me r whatever

Papyrus: He has not been trying to seduce you, you silly bones! He doesn't want to have sexual intercourse, he just wants to get to know his soul mate!

Sans: the frst thing he can know is that i ain't gonna be his soulmate

Papyrus: You've definitely made that clear, Sans, very clear.

Sans: sry im just frking out a lil bro

Papyrus: You're doing great! I'm sure everything will be just fine, and Asgore won't force you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.

Sans: yea, ur right, sry, im just having jitters, i dnt like this, its all a bit too much

Papyrus: It's fine to be overwhelmed Sans, but you're perfectly fine. Asgore won't force you to do things like our parents, he wants you two to fall in love before you guys become anything. If that never happens, then you'll never be a couple. Asgore said he will respect your opinion, but he does still want to try and fight for you.

Sans: thx for the pep talk bro, didnt mean to go all wild on ya, ur prob busy packing and moving

Papyrus: I'll always set everything aside for you! Don't worry about it, you're scared about a relationship and that's understandable. I was honestly scared when I started dating Mettaton, but it was for a different reason that I wouldn't be good enough, but we've gotten past that. If you don't like something, just tell Asgore and he will step back, he wants to earn your love, not force your body. If you're really uncomfortable with the castle, just tell him and he will move you out.

Sans: i wanted to at least try out the castle tbh, i might not stay but its still pretty cool i mean its a freaking castle i gotta at least try it paps

Papyrus: I figured as such brother. I also told him you feel weird about having servants serving you constantly, so they won't be cleaning your room since you like it dirty. Unfortunately.

Sans: u know me 2 well

Sans threw himself onto the bed behind him, a groan being knocked from his system as he made contact. Sure, Sans was thankful for the entire castle and everything, it was awesome! But he wasn't sure what to do about it? Say thank you?

Actually, yeah, he was sure to do that. However, physically doing it was a different story. The bed was just so comfy, and the thought of talking to his zing made Sans worried. If Asgore wanted to, he could order the skeleton to be the Queen, and Sans would have no choice. Maybe he could just lay on the bed and never leave and have to deal with the reality of his situation. Yeah, that sounded nice.

Sans was sure Asgore was normally a good guy. His parents were, when they were apart they actually were great people. They would smile and laugh, crack jokes and be nice. That's why Sans liked it whenever they were apart and not thinking about one another, it felt like he had real parents. But as soon as Mom was late coming home, or Gaster forgot to buy groceries again, they both would get angry again and he would miss valuable sleep from their arguing.

Yeah, sleep sounded better. Go to bed and never wake up, never have to think about stupid forced zings or anything else.

No, nevermind. He'd just have another nightmare. A usual occurrence at this point in his life, it was a part of his schedule at this point.

Speaking of schedules, he was hungry. Not having eaten breakfast since yesterday, Sans was about to ask Papyrus to bring him some food, only to remember that his brother was all the way underground.

Oh, great.

Now he had to get up and go explore around.

The funny thing about a castle was that it was giant and finding a kitchen would be terrible. And with Sans' stubby little legs, he would be exhausted by the time he did find it. Sans should have kept himself awake for when they reached the castle, so he could have at least looked around and knew the way out. But nope, he had no idea where to go.

And looking out into the hall, Sans was disappointed to find there was no convenient maps located about. No people, either, or any signs to direct him in any location.

So, naturally, back to his phone!

Sans: heya, paps, uhhhh... im lost

Papyrus: What do you mean you're lost?

Sans: unfound, kaput, gone forever, stuff lke that bro

Papyrus: Didn't you go to your room? Just trace back your steps!

Sans: no, i was sleeping, duh

Papyrus: Why must you be this way Sans

Sans: eh, u luv me

Papyrus: Because I must. Anyway, maybe just explore around, get a sense of your new home!

Sans: but im hungry and it's big, im going to die of starvation before i ever get to the darn kitchen

Papyrus: No you won't, and it'll be some exercise to get your bones moving for once!

Sans: nuuuuu thats evil, im going to die here

Papyrus: That's what you get for not picking up your sock! You even left it here when you moved! I picked it up and had to put it back down because it's been there so long the carpet underneath is a different color than the rest of the carpet!

Sans: totally worth it

Papyrus: Go exercise and find your food yourself! Unless you'd like for me to contact King Asgore and tell him his dear soul mate is lost and needs his help!

Sans: k i got it, fine aaaaaa

Absolutely evil of Papyrus. Sans had no choice but to pocket his phone and do a game of pick a random direction before he instantly got utterly lost. It wasn't even after a minute before Sans realized he didn't even remember which room he had come from, turning around to try to return, only for all of the doors to look exactly the same.

Darn it.