PATCHWORK SOUL

The First Plan Arc Chapter 17

A warm, sluggish heat permeated the air and made Sans want to fall straight back to sleep as his eyes opened. The muffled ringing of a phone registered in his mind, but there was no way he was going to try to find it. Would have been difficult, anyway, because he could barely move. The kid had passed out on him, cozied up under his arm and clinging to him lightly, and Papyrus was holding both of them close. Strange, he thought, that he had never felt so safe in his life.

The phone stopped ringing and he was left in a relaxing silence, listening instead to the soft breathing of the kid and his brother's gentle, sporadic snores. The faint light of his brother's golden amber soul shone through his shirt, and he was sure that, under the kid, he was doing the same. He would be okay not getting up for a long time. Even with the weird dream crap, he felt like he hadn't slept this well in ages.

He settled back farther into the covers and felt Frisk snuggle closer. He had no problems with that. The kid was warm. Still surprised him how okay with hugging skeletons she was. Strange to think about— kind of surreal for him, too— but skeletons must've been a morbid prospect for humans, right? But it was like it was the most natural thing in the world. He kind of felt that way, too. But it couldn't be that comfortable, though, could it? Either way, she never seemed to mind.

He closed his eyes again and had almost fallen asleep when he heard the muffled ringing of the phone again. He rubbed his brow and tried to feel his pockets. Nothing. He thought about it for a moment before he gently nudged Frisk.

"Kid?" he asked.

"...Hmm?" She was barely awake at all. "...Yeaaaah?"

"You got the phone?"

She didn't even open her eyes, fidgeted with her pockets, and then passed it to him in mostly limp fingers. Through bleary eyes, he looked at the number and recognized it as Alphys's. Reluctantly, he shifted out of the bed, though with the kid so close, she was an accidental tagalong. He looked down at her as she plopped, sleep-dazed, to the floor, then back at the phone. He sighed to himself and used his magic to gently float her back to Papyrus. He clung to her right away.

He slipped out of the bedroom and closed the door to avoid more noise, then answered the phone. Mostly just to stop it from ringing, if he were honest. "Yo," he said.

"H... Hello?" Alphys said.

"Sup?" he asked.

"...U-Um... Who is th-this?" she asked.

Sans rubbed his brow. "Dude, it's Sans."

"Oh! O-Oh, I'm sorry, y-your voice was all... Oh. You just woke up. S-Sorry! A-And I expected F-Frisk, this is her n-number, right?" she said.

"She's asleep," he said.

"Her too?! C'mon, S-Sans, it's already...! Oh..." She started to laugh nervously. "Oh man, it's... I-It's actually kind of early, huh?"

"Mhm."

"I'm s-so sorry!" Alphys said quickly. "I didn't realize...! Sorry, Undyne and I, we just stayed up and talked and watched m-movies and stuff, and I'm not even t-tired, and—"

"So it all worked out," Sans said. "Good. I'm happy for you guys."

"Y-Yeah! Yes! I... I'm happy, too. Oh! Oh, right, I was calling to invite y-you guys back over!"

"Yeah sure, when it's not, like..." He checked the clock on the phone. "4:30? Huh. Haven't seen this hour in years."

"I-I'm sorry! I thought it was later. It's a little hard to tell in Waterfall," she said. "A-Actually. I wanted to talk to you, too."