Brothers, A prequel to Brother

Chapter 2: Walk

"So, how was school?" Sans said quietly. He pulled his purple jacket tighter around his body as we walked home in the dry, cold air.

I cleared my throat, "high expectations from all my teachers and strange looks from students."

He gave an awkward nod, "sounds about right. I'm sorry about this morning. I had a rough night."

"It's okay," I adjusted the backpack on my shoulders.

"Undyne gave me an earful after I took a nap. You're such a bad example," he mimicked, "how is Pap supposed be a good person when you're getting piss-drunk every night?"

I giggled and shook my head, "she's not much better, though."

He chuckled and threw his arm around me, "when she gets drunk, she eats everything. Like, everything." He made a gesture with his hands similar to eating.

I laughed, "do you make sure that she doesn't eat too much?"

"It's my job, I guess."

"What's Undyne's job?"

"To make sure that I don't get in any fights."

I laughed, "I hope I get good friends like that when I get older."

"Why not start now?" He cleared his throat, "I mean, don't you want friends?"

I looked down at my long, slender fingers, "no one wants to be my friend." I sighed and looked at him, "to them I'm just a baby."

He gave me a weird look, his eye sockets pulled together pulling up a corner or his lip up into a smirk. "A damn smart one, then."

I felt my eyes widen, "I'm telling Undyne you swore."

He shook his head, "Undyne swears too, in fact, she swears a hell of a lot."

"Twice."

He shook his head, "you know, a lot of people swear in high school."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, i just thought you'd want to know."

"Wha-why?"

"I-I don't know, I just said it. You're younger than them, Pap. There are going to be more people like Undyne and I than people who are good people."

"You're a good person, and so is Undyne."

"Not like you are, Pap. You're honest, kind, and really, really, smart. It kind of blows my mind sometimes that the two most incapable people raised the most capable child in the underground." he gave a sarcastic laugh, "I don't even have a job."

I sigh, "but Sans, you're brave and smart too. You always say what you're not, but you're a lot of good things too. I'm shy, Sans. I have never had a friendship, no, any relationship with anyone besides you and Undyne." I shook my head, "and now I'm going to school with people who know everyone except me."

He doesn't reply. He just nods. I think about the ghosts for a moment, about the soft smile that always lingers on Napstablook's transparent face. So sure of him and his cousin. That feeling is in Sans, I know it. Every time he smiles at me, hints of pride echoes throughout his face. The other ghost, Mettaton, is a lot like me. Maybe I should try to be his friend. The incident in math flashes in my mind. I laugh.

"What?" Sans laughs softly.

I tell him about how I screwed up everything in math, causing him to laugh. The laugh carries me home, making me less upset and more lighthearted.