one: delayed reaction

Sans couldn’t complain too much. His career had launched and skyrocketed into success, people actually enjoyed being in his presence, he did immensely well in all his ventures, and all-in-all, things were going great.

The only problem was that he felt empty. But having found his Soul Mate, he expected as much. Well, ‘found’ wasn’t really the right word, was it? He had ‘met’ his Soul Mate; but then, in a moment of stupidity caused by anxiety, he had left her without even getting her name.

At first, Sans had berated himself. After all, he had asked her name and hadn’t waited for a response. All he knew was that she had ____ eyes and _____ hair, was about ____ tall and had a ____-shaped face and ____-colored skin.

Oh, and she was a mage. Yeah, a mage who used white magic. Go figure, there was white magic. And the only known white magic user was his Soul Mate. At least, he hoped she was only one.

It should have been easy to find her. Well, except it wasn’t. Over two years since their first encounter and he still hadn’t found her. Not only that, but with his new-found fame, he had had to be far more careful not to arouse suspicion. Only Nate knew anything, and he had asked his human best friend to try to find her. But the girl didn’t want to be found; or she was unwilling to use her magic and thus, it was impossible to find her.

Standing backstage as Mettaton finished up his concert so that Sans could start his comedy routine, the skeleton stewed in his thoughts. From the cheers of the audience, he could tell that the entire theatre was completely packed. True enough, the tickets had been sold out for the next four months.

The skeletal entrepreneur sighed. He felt restless, frustrated, and worried. Sitting on a stool just out of sight of the audience, he let his leg bounce as his mind tried to focus on going over his routine instead of the woman who he’d been trying to find the last year.

Granted, he normally didn’t have to think so hard about what he was going to say when he went on-stage. But with desperation consuming him, it was hard to keep calm.

“You doin’ okay, boss man?” Ugh, of course Nate would approach him. The man had very keen eyes, though as they bore into Sans’ distressed form, the skeleton couldn’t help but be frustrated by his best friend’s ability to see through him. Granted, Sans was no doubt making it easy to see how panicked he was.

“mhmm.” Sans hummed, not looking up at the brawny human he’d met in college. It was a lie, of course. But Sans could try to play it off as nerves for the show.

“Dude, what’s eating you?” Yeah, Nate was way too observant. But that’s what made him so reliable. And it was better to just be truthful in his presence. Sans owed him his life, after all.

“i’m just beating myself up again for not taking that girl with me…”

“You talking about your Soul Mate?” Nate inquired. Sans nodded. The man sighed. “Dude, calm down. You’ll find her again eventually. And like I said, she might come to one of your shows. It would make sense.”

Sans leaned back, propping his head against the wall. “yeah, i guess so. i’ll keep my eye sockets open.” He turned to his second in command who grinned empathically.

“Yeah, I will, too. Err, but I’ll use my eyeballs.” Sans snorted. The man gave him a thumb-up. “Heh, I gotcha covered. Just give me a sign.” He winked, his grin showing just a hint of cheekiness.

Sans smiled. “thanks. i will.”

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Mettaton purred into the microphone. “It is that time! May I present to you the founder and CEO of Gaster Industries…the comedian with the greatest of punchlines, Sans Aster!”

Sans shook his head. As per usual, Mettaton was too much. Turning to Nate, he saluted him. “wish me luck.”

“Knock ‘em dead!” Nate retorted, much to his boss’s amusement.

“thanks.” The skeleton replied dryly as he walked on stage. Stepping into the light, he felt a buzz from the audience that made him falter a moment. However, he shook it off and stepped over to the flamboyant robot who was holding out the microphone for him.

“thank you.” Sans said, taking the device. Mettaton walked off the stage, sexy swag in his wake. Sans chuckled. “i swear even his walking seems to scream, take me now.” The audience chuckled.

“so, i see a lot of people here tonight. it almost feels like you enjoy it when someone talks your ear off about silly or nonsensical things. hell, look at me. i got a bro who does the same thing. so, now you know why i’m called sans. sans any ears, that is.” The crowd grew livelier.

And so, the routine began, and Sans got more and more into the jokes. As a master of reading the audience, he ended up changing a couple of the jokes. He smoothly transitioned from one story to another, kept control of the mood with ease, and exaggerated his speech or the movements of his body when necessary, even going so far as to use silly voices here and there.

It was during the last ten minutes of the hour-long routine that the buzz he felt in the beginning sharpened and he faltered, his eye-lights sweeping back and forth until they landed on someone. Even in the dark, with the lights above blinding against him, he could find her.

It was her. She had come.

However, he couldn’t stop and so he managed to make his falter into a joke and flawlessly kept the audience from thinking the wiser. When his routine was done, he stood.

“you have been a lovely crowd tonight. it’s always so sad when i have to leave. make sure to pick any ears off the floor on your way out. i’d really rather not be billed for that. thank you for your support. i hope you have a wonderful evening. till next time.” He winked and vanished in a flash of blue and yellow light.

“Something happened.” Nate stated when his boss appeared beside him backstage.

He frantically explained, “she’s here. i sensed her. and saw her. i gotta track her down before she leaves.”

Nate put his hands up to placate him. “Dude, that’s probably not going to work.”

“then help me!” He growled as he tore off. Stepping outside, he was almost immediately bombarded with fans. Yelping, he made a shortcut just in time that led him to the roof. From there, he looked this way and that as the crowd began to filter out.

“where are you?” He muttered. The minutes passed, and the final stragglers emerged, but he couldn’t find her. “she couldn’t have already…” From the back, she probably looked like anyone else. With the crowds so large, the Souls merged together so it ended up confusing his Sight. He should have paid more attention to her friends. “damnit. i was so close.”

“____, he totally looked at you.” Dina laughed. Coming in close, she whispered. “Probably knows of your status.”

I shrugged. “Maybe.” After all, he might have remembered me from that night.

“Well, happy belated birthday. I’m sorry it took so long.” She hugged me.

I laughed. “Thank you!”

I gasped and turned back towards the theatre as a wave of anguish and rage permeated the air. From where I stood, I could just barely make out a person on the roof, their blue and yellow aura giving them away.

It felt like he was calling out to me. So, I sent out a happy thank you in reply.

“_____, you coming?” Dina called.

I turned back. “Yeah, sorry. I’m coming.” Sorry, Sans. I gotta go, or else our secret will be found out.

Sans gasped as he felt her response. “no, come back.” He let his magic into the air again. But he received no response other than the remnants of an apology. She was gone.

“damnit, she doesn’t know that she’s my…” He choked on a sob. He quietly pleaded, “please come back. come back to me.”

“Sans.” Nate said from behind him. “It’s getting late.”

Sans turned, the expression on his face leaving the man before him speechless. “You need the day off tomorrow?”

Sans closed his eyes and slumped to the ground. “yeah, i think so.” Damn, his voice had cracked.

“Okay, I’ll let the others know you aren’t doing well.” Nate rested his hand on the skeleton’s shoulder. “We went out partying and you overdid it.” Sans nodded. Nate only lied when it was to protect someone else. Sans valued him for that.

Sickness wasn’t much of a thing for monsters, so claiming that Sans had a hangover was the only thing that worked. As the boss, he wouldn’t get into trouble for something like that since he had more than one person who could cover for him. While Sans had been sober for over a year and a half, only Nate was truly aware of it.

Grillby might have known, but if he did, he didn’t say anything about it when Sans came in for a meal. Sans had fabricated the idea that ketchup affected him like alcohol, so it was easy to act like he was drunk whether or not he had asked Grillby to mix the ketchup with alcohol or not.

Sans sniffed. “thanks.” Nate nodded and walked back inside.

Turning back in the direction his Soul Mate had gone, Sans let out a small whine before gritting his teeth and staring off, determination flooding through him. “i will find you one day. i just need you to make it a little easier for me, love.”

“She said you were fantastic.” One of his associates who worked with Doctor Alphys, Doctor Lisa ____, told him a few days later when she came to drop off some papers on his desk. “I wish I could have gone. But I have a job to do here that often leads me to staying late. I’m glad ____ went, though. Even if it was a late birthday present. It was clearly worth the wait.”

Sans smiled. “tell her i said thank you.”

“Oh, I will.” She turned to leave. “Have a good day, Sans.”

Sans chuckled sadly when the door closed. “i’ll try.”

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the choker. Rubbing his phalanges against the fake gem hanging from the collar, he felt a little closer to his other half.

“You told him I went?” I asked, blushing. My mom had called to tell me about her conversation with Sans.

“Yes, he told me to thank you.” My mother replied brightly.

“Did you tell him anything else about me?” I inquired.

“Hmm, no, ____, sweetie. I try to keep work and home life separate. But he was looking a little down, so I thought it would be nice to tell him you enjoyed his show.”

I sighed softly. “Okay, thank you.”

“I definitely think you should come in to work with me soon.” She mused.

If I did, they would learn about my magic and then the truth would get out. No thanks. I’d rather not get Sans or myself in trouble.

“That’s okay, mom. I…I’m too busy to do that.” Yeah, working for the Gier Company was time consuming. Not to mention awful. But others didn’t need to know that. I need to my job to pay bills.

“Suit yourself.” My mother sniffed. “I need to go, ____, sweetie. Have a good evening.”

“I will. Thank you, Mom.”


“You’re welcome, dear. Bye.”


“Bye.”