Adjusting to the kid being around the house took more effort than any of them anticipated. Sure, Papyrus blustered about with joy to have a friend staying over- "LIKE A SLEEPOVER, BUT EVERY NIGHT!"- but a human was a very different creature from a monster. The brothers took the time out to make sure to have enough food in the house for the kid to eat; Papyrus prepared spaghetti, of course, and Sans (in spite of his caution) often brought home an extra burger from Grillby's- just to make sure that the kid didn't subsist on Papyrus' cooking. They set up the couch as a bed for the kid, tracking down three extra blankets in case they got cold.

Even the glorious MTT program on TV wasn't much entertainment for the kid, though, and they didn't have much stimulation around the house. Papyrus loaned them a few of his books, and the kid smiled and read through the shorter ones in about a day. The manuals were often discarded, much to Papyrus' dismay. Sans initially invested in borrowing books from the library, and that helped a lot. The kid was really interested in the history books, saying there was much that the humans didn't know about what happened.

Once it became known that the skeletons had a new 'pet' human, and once the initial concern died down, the other inhabitants of Snowdin didn't dare leave the care of the child to the strange skeletons alone. The shopkeep brought over fresh cinnamon bunnies and hot food at least once a day, Grillby added a few more veggies to the to-go box that Sans would take home, and the innkeep had a few extra toys that her own weren't playing with as much, so she brought them over for the kid to enjoy.

But the human stayed reclusive, even when the other kids invited them out to play. They looked out the window, and an array of fear and sadness filled their expression to see the monster kids walking away from the house after getting no response.

"why don't you go with 'em?" Sans asked, standing not far off from where the human was perched by the window. "you look like you want to."

They sighed, letting the curtain fall back in place. "I do. But I'm scared."

"scared of what? the kids? naw, buddy, they're not that scary," Sans chuckled.

They gripped their arm so tightly their knuckles turned white. When they spoke, it was a whisper. "...I'm scared of me."

Sans nodded. "worried that if you start playing, you'll fall back into the murder thing?"

The human scowled at him. "Do you have to put it like that?"

"yep." He chuckled, edging his head to the side to dodge the pillow the human threw. "i don't feel you deserve the kid gloves, pal, so you're gettin' unadulterated, brutal honesty out of me."

They rolled their eyes to the ceiling, then let their head drop to the knees they'd drawn to their chest. "...I don't want to go back to that. Ever again. I'm... I'm happy like this."

"i'm glad to see you exercise caution instead of throwing yourself into situations where you might go back to knifing some random guy in the street." Sans popped open the ketchup bottle he had in his hands, and took a swig. "that said, i don't think it's healthy, or helping you very much, to isolate yourself like this."

"But I'm not isolated!" The human reeled on Sans, slamming their feet to the floor with a dry slap. "I have you and Papyrus! That's all the company I need!"

"so you've got one friend who is often out patrolling or taking care of other business, and one 'friend' who still has a chip on his shoulder that he's not dusting off anytime soon. this is somehow enough for you?"

The kid's response of silence was answered with another huge gulp of ketchup. When they spoke, Sans opened only one eye mid-chug to indicate his attention. "...It's still better than where I was before. I'm okay with this."

Sans finished his gulp, wiping his teeth clean. "if you say so, kid. but i still think you'd do better to get out once in a while. it's a lot easier not to be mad at people if you have fun with them."

"Can you... come with me?"

Sans sighed, lowering the bottle thoughtfully. "you know, i'd really love to, kid, but i'm really just waiting until papyrus gets back. i got my own jobs i gotta do. speakin' of, how many 'dogs you want?"

"Dogs?" The human's eyebrows shot up into their helmet of hair. "What do you mean? The guard dogs? For what?"

Sans laughed. Every time he laughed, it felt like a challenge to the endless nightmare he was still recovering from; a burst of life where things had started to shrivel away. Every laugh healed another scar.

"my hot dogs, kid. the ones i sell. i abbreviated it to 'dogs, with an apostrophe, y'know? maybe i shoulda included more letters."

The human blushed, but grinned. "So, like... h'dog? Ho-og? Wait, that last one sounds like a pig."

Another chuckle from Sans. "i like either of 'em. but how many?"

While the human considered their response, the door slammed open. With only a small jump from the human, and a pleased glance from Sans, neither one was surprised to see Papyrus catapulting his way inside.

"NYEH HEH HEH!" he cackled brightly, his hands on his hipbones. "TODAY IS A BEAUTIFUL DAY! NO SIGNS OF TROUBLE, THE PUZZLES ARE ALL SET IN CASE ANOTHER, MEANER HUMAN SLIPS BY, AND I HAVE GOOD NEWS!"

Regardless of the tense mood still hanging in the air between Sans and the kid, both of them smiled without reservation at Papyrus' return. In fact, either one of them could say that Papyrus' interruption was welcomed.

"BUT FIRST..." Papyrus dropped down to his knee, and held his arms open for the human. "I BRING HUGS FOR MY BEST FRIEND! SO YOU BETTER COME GET THEM!"

The kid giggled, launching over to Papyrus in an instant. As soon as they were in arm's reach of the skeleton, he scooped up the small creature and swung them about playfully, the two of them laughing happily. Once the momentum faded, he them in a hug, his arm supporting the child as he made his way over to Sans.

"BROTHER..." he started, his smile faltering slightly. "YOU SEEM WELL!"

Sans let his own smile grow warmer for every inch of hesitation he saw in Papyrus' expression. "i'm good, bro. really good. that spaghetti you left for me this morning was really good. i liked the addition of ketchup for a sauce instead of your usual marinara."

Papyrus glowed with joy at his brother's praise, something that tightened his grip on the human. "I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE THAT! I SAW YOU DRINKING A LOT MORE KETCHUP LATELY! SINCE BOTH ARE MADE WITH TOMATOES, I MADE A SUBSTITUTION!"

"i'm happy you were thinkin' of me, bro, but i'd've been happy with anything you made me."

Papyrus hid the welling of tears in his eyes by sniffing heavily, and then lightly headbutting the human- very lightly. The human tittered gleefully at the affection, and rubbed their forehead against his. Of course, this didn't really help with the tears, and Papyrus had to sniff deeply again.

"ANYWAY!" He interrupted his own ascending spiral of happiness. "THE GOOD NEWS THAT I MENTIONED! UNDYNE HAS INVITED ME FOR ANOTHER TRAINING SESSION!"

"you mean a cooking lesson?" Sans kept the grimace behind his grin. Far from improving, those lessons were worsening Papyrus' skill with cooking.

"CORRECT!" Papyrus jutted his index finger up, grinning triumphantly. "SHE WANTED TO DO IT TODAY, IN FACT, BUT I TOLD HER I HAD TO BE HERE!"

Sans chuckled softly. "i'm glad watching the kid is a priority for you, bro."

"OF COURSE IT IS! THEY ARE MY BEST FRIEND!" He lightly booped the kid on the nose, who giggled in response. "I WOULD NEVER SHIRK MY DUTY TO MY FRIEND! BESIDES, YOU NEED TO LEAVE FOR YOUR OWN WORK, DO YOU NOT? I WOULD BE A HYPOCRITE IF I KEPT YOU FROM WORKING!"

The kid sported a mischievous grin a split second before wildly scrambling out of Papyrus' embrace, climbing around the tall skeleton before latching their arms around his shoulders and their legs around his spine. Their face buried into the cape Papyrus always wore with a gleeful squeak.

"NYEH HEH HEH! I THINK THE LITTLE ONE WANTS TO PLAY!" Papyrus's own grin grew ten sizes, and he began tromping about the living room, giving the human a safe but bumpy ride. "SANS! YOU GO ON AHEAD!"

Sans finished the last swig of ketchup in the bottle, setting it carefully on the floor where he stood, and strolled over to the front door. "yeah, you're right. i've got a lot to do today, so you two-"

He froze, his hand on the doorknob. He slowly turned back to Papyrus, who was getting down on all fours, the kid now riding on his shoulders comfortably. "uh, bro... did you happen to tell undyne why you had to be here today...?"

"OF COURSE!" Papyrus paused in his play to give Sans a knowing smirk. "I WOULDN'T LIE TO HER! I THINK SHE'S PROUD THAT I'VE MADE A FRIEND, ACTUALLY!"

Sans felt sweat gathering around his crown. "uh... did... did you mention that your new friend... was a human?"

"I DID!" Papyrus' exuberance was matched only by the diminishing playfulness of the kid, who slid off his back at the news. "SHE WAS VERY INTERESTED TO HEAR-" he looked to the human, confused. "WHAT'S WRONG?"

"uh, right, you know," Sans sauntered further back into the living room, smiling with more than a slight twitch to the edges of his grin. "maybe i'll stick around this afternoon instead. my 'dogs aren't selling as well as they could be, and i think maybe i should... maybe i should be here."

"SANS!" Papyrus stood again, placing both hands on his hips. "HOW IRRESPONSIBLE OF YOU! I DO NOT PERSONALLY UNDERSTAND THE APPEAL OF THOSE THINGS, BUT I HAVE IT ON GOOD AUTHORITY MANY OF THE DENIZENS OF HOTLAND ENJOY YOUR MEAT-LIKE PRODUCT! BESIDES, AFTER I ALREADY TOLD UNDYNE THAT I COULDN'T MAKE IT TO A LESSON-"

"i'm sorry, bro, i really am." Sans' grin grew more urgent. "but i-i would really like to spend some time with the both of you, anyway. it's not often we get to hang out, the three of us."

Papyrus tried giving Sans the long, hardened stare he imagined he would need as a Royal Guard someday, but the trickle of joy at Sans wanting to be with him kept it from staying stern for very long. He crossed his arms and huffed indignantly to mask his growing smile. "I SUPPOSE SOME ALLOWANCES CAN BE MADE IF YOU ARE TRULY SO LONELY, BROTHER!"

Sans' hand went to the back of his neck, to disguise the shaking. Undyne. The head of the Royal Guard, who had taken Papyrus under her wing to keep him from harassing her every night. Another lifetime, he'd felt sorry for her and grateful that there was someone else that Papyrus could pester instead of him. Another one of those perspective changes that filtered in over so many resets; she'd done Papyrus a favor, by giving him an outlet for his enthusiasm without ever discouraging him or putting him in a place of danger.

He'd once thought she kept him out of the Royal Guard because he was incompetent; it couldn't be further from the truth. Papyrus was just as competent at sparring as any other guard. What he lacked was not skill or resilience, but a hardness in his soul that you'd need to kill someone when you needed to.

Undyne, on the other hand... she didn't get where she was by being a kind-hearted soul. Her brutality and ferocity had once intimidated Sans. Of course, he was numb to a lot of brutality now. He was so tired of it... and now the head of the Royal Guard knew that there was a human living in their midst, he doubted it would be long before she would come to fulfill her duty to the king.

Sans tried to bring himself back to the present, but he couldn't shed the sudden weight of dread building in him. The human was docile enough now, but if forced back into violence, what would they do? Would they revert? Would they kill Undyne? Would Undyne kill the kid? No matter what, conflict would ensue.

And the kid might reset again.

He couldn't. He couldn't let that happen, he couldn't lose the progress he'd made with Papyrus, he couldn't lose his trust again, he couldn't wake up screaming because Papyrus was dead or wake up from that void place of death, he couldn't keep killing and killing and killing-

"BROTHER?" His head jolted up, and he gasped to see both Papyrus and the kid staring at him with concern. "WHAT'S WRONG? IS THERE SOMETHING OTHER THAN MISSING ME KEEPING YOU FROM LEAVING FOR YOUR JOB?"

"uh, no... no." He reiterated firmly, grinning. "but i am feeling kinda tired. you guys mind if i just watch for now?"

"OH MY GOD, YOU ARE SUCH A LAZYBONES YOU CAN'T EVEN PLAY!? NYEH HEH HEH HEH- EH... AHEM..." Papyrus cut his chuckle off, putting his hand over his teeth. "I-I MEAN... IF... IF YOU ARE TIRED... THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL TAKE UP ANY OF YOUR SLACK!"

"thanks, bro," Sans dropped onto the couch without further ceremony, letting his eyes close for a moment. "you're too good to me."

He was getting a lot better at burying his fears around Papyrus, though he still definitely had trouble keeping it cool. The human knew better than Papyrus what Sans was hiding, and for all that Sans waited for the human to turn around and destroy everything they'd all built together again, he was glad that at least the human hadn't tried to tell Papyrus what had happened to get to this point. Their war was between them.

"ALRIGHT, HUMAN! I HAVE AN IDEA FOR FUN THIS AFTERNOON!"

"What?" The kid smiled broadly.

"I FOUND SOME JUNIOR JUMBLES FOR US TO PUZZLE OUT!" Papyrus dug out some of the puzzle books he'd picked up at the shop, and splayed them between his fingers gleefully. "THERE ARE SOME OTHER PUZZLES IN HERE TOO, BUT THEY'RE BORING, AND I WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO-"

A loud knock pounded at the door so fiercely that the wall shook. Before the last knock could stop echoing, a familiar, hard but firm woman's voice spilled in from outside."PAPYRUS! I'm here to meet your friend!"