The Grass is Always Greener

Visitors

The laugh of a child, the slash of a knife, crushing blackness, and then...

Sans woke up slowly, as he usually did. There was no need to open his eyes. He knew what day it was, what time it was, what was going to happen. Everything was so predictable when it happened so many times in a row. It was warm in the room, like it always was. Not stifling, just pleasantly warm in a way that made him want to roll over under the sheets and just fall right back to sleep. He shouldn't do that.

He rolled out of bed and picked up the same clothes he always did, immediately blipping out of the room and into the kitchen. He grabbed some toast and then went straight to his sentry station, scarfing down the toast right after he came out the other end.

He sat down heavily, propping his feet up and leaning back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head and relaxing back, taking his job about as seriously as he always did.

Crack.

Sans sat up quickly, managing not to fall out of his chair this time, as the portal manifested in front of him again.

Well, if his mind had made it up, at least it was still doing it, right?

He got up and came around the front of the sentry station, holding his hands up in surrender when, immediately upon appearing and spotting him, Ink's eyes began to glow with magic. "Hey, take it easy, there. I'm not gonna attack you. Did you come alone this time?"

Ink regarded him for a moment before shaking his head and moving aside, allowing Blue to step through after him, followed by Comic.

"Are we it?" he heard Comic ask quietly.

"Yes. I doubt he will attack us, at least not immediately, and the three of us can handle something like that."

"You know, I can hear you guys," Sans called, causing Comic and Blue to grin while Ink regarded him with something like amusement.

"You can put your arms down, we aren't gonna restrain you this time," Comic called back as he began to make his way closer, followed by the other two. Ink waved a hand vaguely behind them and the portal closed. "At least, as long as you don't give us a reason to, right buddy?" Comic continued, coming to stop a few feet from Sans, who lowered his arms immediately. No reason to make himself look too weak.

"So..." he said awkwardly, scratching at his jaw.

"So." agreed Comic, his face lighting up in that infuriating smile again.

Sans glared at him, then turned his attention back to Ink before saying, "How long can you guys stay this time?"

Ink still seemed cautious, but not so much so that his tone was unfriendly as he replied, "About half an hour. It'll increase exponentially with every visit though. And as I mentioned before, if you prove yourself to be trustworthy, you can go to the other accessible universes and break up the monotony a little."

Sans nodded in understanding, then gestured for them to follow him. "Come on over here. It's not a great idea to just hang out in the middle of the open path like this." They all made their way over to the forest behind his sentry station and sat on this rock or another.

There was another long and awkward pause before Blue piped up. "Do you have any questions left over from yesterday? Since you didn't really seem to want to ask any then. But you seem much friendlier now!"

Sans looked at him, considering, then asked, "Is every version of me stuck in a loop like this?"

To his surprise, it was Blue who answered. "Not every Sans. I wasn't ever stuck in one."