I Never Meant

Chapter 4-Sans' First Pun

I don't remember exactly when it happened, just that Sans was still 5 and Papyrus was still not even a year old. Sans had been going to daycare for a while, and I believe he may have asked his care taker (if that's the correct name for them) about it. All I know is, I wasn't expecting it.

"Hey Dad?"

"Yes Sans?"

"What's a skeleton's favorite instrument?"

"What?"

"A tromBONE!"

I must admit, I laughed. A lot. It wasn't even a funny joke, but it was so out of the blue and unexpected that it got me. Sans hadn't exactly been the happiest child recently. He had begun to miss his mother, and probably even his little sister. So the jokes were a nice change. 

They became more frequent. At first it wasn't really a problem. They weren't all that funny after the first few times, but they weren't annoying. However, it soon seemed as though puns and jokes were the only things Sans would say, and it was honestly very aggravating. I didn't think it was a problem until I snapped.

I was trying very hard to work with my magic, which can be very hard to control at times. I assumed Sans was in bed, so I missed the sounds of feet on the stairs. I concentrated on the thing I wanted to pick up with my magic, and I could feel it grasp the item. I opened my eyes to find my son a few feet off the ground, bathed in a redish glow.

"Sans! What are you doing?!? If I hadn't opened my eyes, you would have been smashed into the wall!" I yelled, gently lowering him to the ground.

"Well, that wouldn't be very SANS-ational." He replied, and I nearly grabbed him with the magic again.

"Sans, what is going on with all these puns? Where did they come from? Why is that your only responce to anything anymore? What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly very conserened. If the puns were messing with his ability to make good decisions, then I may have to ban them. Especially with his low amount of HP.

"Nothing's wrong Dad, I just......" He got suddenly very quiet. "Mom used to make jokes." He began to cry and I rushed to him again. I held him tight, trying to shield him from his pain. "I asked about what happened to Mom and New at daycare.....and, and she explained that, they're....." He sniffed, and I rubbed his back.

"Sans, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't explain, and I'm sorry any of this had to happen. The war will be over soon. No more fighting. I promise, things will get better. I'm not going to let that happen to you, or Papyrus, or any other innocent monster ever again." I continued to whisper soothing things until he fell asleep. I carried him upstairs, and lay down with him in my bed. I pulled Papyrus from his crib, gently, and brought him over to the large bed.

My family, small and broken as it was, slept beside each other that night.

And when we closed our eyes, it almost felt as if we were whole.