Together Forever and Again | A Stanley Parable x Undertale Oneshot

Cold

And cold it was, the night that Sans finally gave in. He'd been trapped underground for so long- and though he cared about his brother, though he cared about every damn monster here...

He needed to get out. He couldn't handle being stuck repeating the next month over and over even one moment longer. He needed an escape... and he'd always had access to one, though there was really no point in telling anybody else.

It wasn't like they could make use of it, anyway.

Sans stared blankly at his bedroom door, the colorful mist seeping from under it a deceptive enticement. He knew that once he stepped through to a place he'd never been before, there was no guarantee he'd ever be able to make his way back. But he also knew that any other choice he made was doomed to be erased.

If he thought of it that way, he really didn't have another choice to begin with.

He took a deep, needless breath. Though he didn't have lungs, the air rushing through his teeth and past his ribs soothed him. He laid a hand on the door, glancing back momentarily to his lounge.

He would never, as far as he knew, see Papyrus again. Was that a truth he was ready to grapple with? Did it matter if he was ready if he thought he might never truly be?

Sans flung the door open, using brute force to overcome his debilitating hesitation.

There was no other choice.

He told himself that over and over as he stepped through the door, and stepped into the endless darkness beyond.

~~~

Stanley's life had always been out of his control. The poor man rarely left his office- he didn't even know if he had a family. He knew he had coworkers, oh yes- but he didn't know their names. Just numbers.

Just letters.

Just buttons.

Stanley. Loved. Pressing buttons. Even if only because it was his only anchor in the sordid office around him. No, in his entire world- though there was no difference between the two.

Buttons were all Stanley could be sure of in life. Every day he woke up at his desk with a new assignment. Press some more buttons! Rearrange where your coworkers sit... by pressing buttons! Stanley had even caused some mayhem in his own way- when he didn't press 432's button, the man was never even given a computer. More computers for Stanley!

He had watched, uncaring, as his dear coworker slipped into lunacy, with only a pencil sharpener to keep him whole.

Stanley did not know why he hadn't cared at the time. In hindsight that had been kind of fucked up. But Stanley had never thought that far before. In fact, Stanley wasn't sure he had ever thought at all.

Stanley did not know why there were now words inside of his head.

Despite all this, Stanley was soon struck by a sudden urge that he had not once felt in his entire miserable little life before.

Curiosity.

It took all of Stanley's strength to pull himself away from his computer, away from his keyboard with the buttons upon buttons. But he hadn't had a command in so long, and with his buttons doing absolutely nothing in return...

Stanley stood. Stanley could not remember the last time he stood up. In fact, Stanley quickly realized he couldn't remember anything. He felt as raw as a newborn baby, exposed to the world for the first time.

And then he was hit very hard in the head, and collapsed to the ground.

~~~

Sans cringed as he felt the door he had just opened hit something hard. He took a moment to recollect himself, sighing as he closed the door behind him.