Sans and Frisk had a fun week. He hadn’t felt like talking about his past, or doing anything questionable. Just plain, fun, extravagance. Fancy restaurants, theme parks, cool views. His speed with teleporting was severely limited with a passenger, and Frisk couldn’t draw from time to restore themself without saving, sadly. So they had to pace themselves, but it was still a more widespread vacation than most people would ever experience.

At first, there was one thing that was bugging him. He really wasn’t feeling like having the meeting with Flowey yet. He didn’t want it hanging over his head, either, and by the second day of their little vacation, he decided to just put it off. Just let this dead timeline be a thing of fun and joy, putting off all the responsibilities and crap till after. Frisk discussed it with Flowey through texts, and he was fine with it as long as they finally settled on a time. The last save was on a Saturday, so they made their plan for Sunday afternoon, at the lab.

That settled, he proceeded to just forget about everything else, other than having fun with Frisk. No past and no future, no traumas and no dreams of what might be, no guilt and no second guessing - just laughter and play.

It was a good time.

One thing was twigging at him and it took some mental chewing before he figured out what it was. Sans had basically done the same thing, on returning to the country - screwing around to try to relax. And yet, despite the fact that the only difference now was that he was doing it with Frisk, it was actually working.

By the third day of screwing around, he gradually came to the conclusion it wasn’t just because he wasn’t alone, though that was part of it. He didn’t think visiting around with Papyrus would be relaxing in the same way. It was because he’d mentally shifted to completely trusting Frisk. Frisk didn’t know everything yet, but they were going to, and he didn’t have to worry about things like secrets and ticking time bombs. If he slipped and mentioned something, it didn’t matter. He could just relax with them.

A thought crossed his mind that brought his thoughts to a stuttering halt: this little vacation was kinda like a honeymoon. Ha, no, he was not thinking that thought, nope, he’d never even thought it in the first place.

Though he did hug Frisk tightly as he tried to shove away a feeling of guilt, and didn’t tell them why. Frisk didn’t pry, and just loved him, as they always did.

Even with Frisk’s power, all things come to an end eventually. And as much as Sans was enjoying himself, he did miss Papyrus. He was having an increasingly hard time avoiding thoughts of how much Papyrus would be struggling with both Frisk and Sans missing on a “secret mission” for so long. So, as much as he’d miss the absolutely fantastic, carefree romp they’d had, he wasn’t tempted to extend things.

The last day of the timeline came and Flowey confirmed he’d finished what he’d been up to. Sans had asked, and Frisk reported that it was apparently a couple of things – a test that Flowey wanted to cheat on, and also giving him enough time for financial exploitations. A week and a half into the future wasn’t much, but it wasn’t nothing.

They returned to Overground, and Frisk tentatively asked if Sans would be willing to help make sure they’d memorized everything successfully. He laughed and agreed, and they spent a couple of hours snuggling together with some snacks and drinks, going over everything. It was enjoyable on a number of levels. An easy task, with his good memory, and it was nice to work on something together.

Frisk had gotten a small list of things from Toriel, of things she’d tried that she liked, over text. They went over their plan for Toriel, as well as the reports Frisk had gotten collated from their office on the events since saving. Sans asked about the finance side of things and Frisk grumbled, saying they’d ask Flowey for some advice, but otherwise didn’t feel like dealing with it. That seemed reasonable to him.

Once they felt confident in their memorization, there was one last thing they wanted to do. They didn’t have to. It technically was absolutely meaningless. But it mattered anyway.

“It is good to see you both,” Toriel said from where she sat by the fire.

Frisk’s lips were tight at the things gathered there. A photo of their family - Toriel, Asgore, Asriel, and Chara. A child’s toy - presumably one of Asriel’s. An old, child’s drawing of a golden flower - which would be one of Chara’s, then. Toriel cast her gaze back to the fire.

“It is time, I take it,” she murmured.

“Yeah,” Frisk said softly, going to stand beside her chair. “We wanted to say goodbye.”

Toriel smiled lightly. She got out of her chair and sat on the rug in front of the fire, patting beside her. Frisk obligingly sat down next to her, side by side. Sans remained standing, silent.

“It is all right, you know,” she said, gazing into the fire. “I know that I will be fine. The only thing that is happening is forgetting a week’s worth of memories.”

“Alphys tends to see it that way,” Frisk said, joining Toriel’s light tone. “She chatted my ear off about how various animes have handled all sorts of time powers, and how she thought my power was kind of like one of those characters. Or like the ones that have memory powers. So she interpreted her life as being an anime in dead timelines, I think? It’s weird, but she seemed to honestly be okay with things.”

Toriel chuckled.

“How many ways there are to perceive things, in the world,” she mused idly.

“some are less comforting than others,” Sans remarked. “you alright, tori?”

She sighed.

“I dislike the situation,” she said. “But I am not distraught over it. Especially since…”

She paused and looked over at Frisk and Sans, smiling at each of them.

“I feel that what I have done will be remembered, and for that, I am content,” she said.

“I will always remember you,” Frisk said, reaching over and hugging Toriel tightly. “The first Toriel I trusted with everything. The Toriel who accepted me, despite all I’ve done. Loved me, despite…”

Frisk trailed off, swallowing.

“Of course I love you, my child,” Toriel said, patting Frisk’s back soothingly. “The hard choices you have made have not destroyed the goodness in your heart, nor the will to do what is right.”

“no worries about me forgetting, either,” Sans said. “you’re stuck in my mind like glue. or like pie crumbs in my jacket.”

Frisk snorted at that, and Toriel laughed.

“I suppose that would mean you will remember for quite a long time,” Toriel said with a smirk. “Considering your laundry habits.”

Frisk squeaked out a laugh, covering their mouth to muffle it.

“hey,” Sans said, mock offended. “i resemble that remark.”

“Of that there was never any doubt,” Toriel said and Sans laughed.

“Thank you for everything,” Frisk said, smiling at Toriel. “I wish you could keep your memories, but at least I’ll always remember how much you’ve helped.”

Sans was secretly glad Toriel would be forgetting. It was awkward to admit, even in his own mind, but the idea of her remembering the things he’d said… he suppressed a shudder.

“You are quite welcome, Frisk,” Toriel said, then looked up at Sans, her expression contemplative and vaguely mournful.

He grinned at her.

“knock knock,” he said and her face lit up.

“Who is there?” she asked with a bright smile.

“what, you forgot me already?” he asked with a wink.

“Sans!” Frisk yelled, as Toriel started laughing.

Frisk joined in after a second, and Sans chuckled along.

“good note to leave it on,” Sans said and Toriel nodded, smiling. “thanks, tori.”

“Always, Sans,” she said warmly. “I hope you can speak more freely with my other self, in time.”

“eh, we’ll see,” he said lightly. “alright, frisk, do the thing.”

Frisk nodded and gave Toriel one last hug. Toriel hugged them back tightly.

“Goodbye, mum,” they whispered, and then the world went black.

Sans found himself laying on his back, in bed, where he’d been trying to recover from his conversation with Toriel.

Frisk would be just getting home from the grocery store. The plan was for Frisk to go in and cheerfully tell Toriel that they were hoping to chat with her about some things over dinner. Keep things simple, light-hearted, and upbeat for now, since Toriel was coming off of a hard conversation. Plus, Frisk had just said goodbye to the other version of Toriel. They both could use a little time to process things before diving into anything heavy.

Sans, though, wanted to talk to Papyrus. Nothing important, nothing serious, nothing that mattered in any significant way.

Just… just seeing that Papyrus was okay. Never abandoned, never left alone, never having had to wonder why Sans had just…

He swallowed and shot off a text message. Papyrus responded immediately about how he was in a bookstore, thinking of adding to his collection. Sans smiled at that and asked if he could come along, which Paps was delighted at.

He did have his game in a couple of hours, but until then, he just tagged along with his brother. Light hearted jokes and play, a few puns to make Paps start yelling… all normal stuff.

Papyrus was completely fine and there was no reason at all to feel guilty for having abandoned him in that dead timeline. Right?

By the time they parted ways, Sans begrudgingly had to admit that Toriel had a point. He hadn’t said goodbye to the last Papyrus, because he hadn’t wanted to face what he’d done. The only thing he needed to do in order to prevent Papyrus from being that hurt and confused again was simple. Trust. That was it - he just had to trust his baby brother.

He wished it was easy.

On the bright side, there was an easy distraction coming up. Four o’clock arrived on schedule, and he arrived a trifle early. He was on drinks duty today, so he brought a case of assorted sodas. The smell of hot dogs filled the room as he opened the door and he laughed.

“good choice of grub,” he said as he made his way inside.

Undyne was already there, and he guessed she’d been there for a while. He made his way to the game table and squeezed his way into the conversation. Alphys was easily prodded into prattling about her work. She’d finally finished designing the website for the organization that she, Sans, and Frisk officially worked for. M.O.N.S.T.E.R. - Multifunctional Organization for Networked Security, Tactics, and Emergency Response. Asgore had been so proud of that name.

Technically, most of the funding for MONSTER came from Frisk’s foreknowledge, but it was officially all through the crown, so whatever. It made it feel like he worked for Asgore and not Frisk, which was especially good considering recent plot twists in his life.

He loaded up the website on his phone and glanced over it. It was pretty solidly put together - Alphys was better at the technology side of things than the aesthetics, so she’d probably hired some web designers to help with it, because it looked sharp. Overview, mission statement, key staff - it had it all.

“sweet motto,” Sans said. “‘protecting the present, shaping the future.’ who came up with it?”

“It was a team effort,” Alphys said.

“I did the protecting the present part!” Undyne said with a huge grin.

“we actually look like an official government org, instead of just a hodge-podge cover for frisk’s job and timeline power,” Sans said with a chuckle.

“We are an official government organization, though?” Alphys said. “Just because we’re kinda small…”

“Not that small!” Undyne said. “You have like five people working for you! That’s so awesome!”

“frisk has about a dozen working for them, i think,” Sans said. One of which was Flowey, officially. “i don’t actually go into the office ever.”

“You’re on the site, though!” Undyne said. “Look, you’re listed as the official Head of Emergency Response.”

Sans chuckled at that. He did know that was his official job title, though it was weird to see it listed like that. Most of his actual “work” had been in dead timelines, teleporting Frisk around as, together, they figured out how to prevent disasters from happening in the first place. Which meant that, as far as he was concerned in the true timeline, he did practically nothing and got a solid paycheck out of it.

Of course, he’d now actually have to both do the job and remember doing it. That was fine. Might even be fun.

“with it being all official looking now, i wonder. if i’m head of the department, maybe i ought to have people working under me, too,” Sans said.

“We’ve still got quite a lot of money coming in from Frisk’s investments,” Alphys said. “We can pro-”

“Sorry I’m late!” Tom’s voice said from the front door. “Traffic was worse than usual.”

“It’s two minutes past four, you’re not really late,” Alphys said.

“You’re so late! You should do some pushups!” Undyne said, as Tom came into the room.

He gave her a bemused look and Sans grinned up at him.

Tom was a strange addition to their group. He was one of Undyne’s coworkers at Toriel’s blended school for monsters and humans. Undyne had decided that, since he was into human history, as well as being awkward and nerdy, he therefore needed to become Alphys’s friend. Naturally, that also somehow meant that he was joining their tabletop roleplaying group.

Sans wasn’t entirely certain that Tom had ever actually agreed to anything throughout this process. But that was fine - he had fun with the group. He could be a little on the plain side, comparatively, but his nervous delight at their antics, as well as his delight about working with monsters in general, were clear to see.

Tom did not do any pushups, despite Undyne’s playful badgering, and they set everything out for the game. Character sheets, dice, snacks - all the usual things.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Alphys nervously adjusted her glasses as she set the scene. They’d all been invited to a ball, hosted by the Duchess of Elencort, because of their group’s infamy with wild adventures. Sans’ bard, Bones Malone, had put in a lot of time into making sure everyone knew how awesome their group was, so he personally took all of the credit for getting them in.

After all, the good Lady had a dungeon with a prisoner that needed rescuing. Sans was more concerned with good times than the overarching plot - especially since he derailed the plot so much anyway - so the prisoner’s identity as the son of some noble, who was important in setting up some sort of rebellion against the false king… eh. Undyne’s paladin was all over it, though. Especially since her backstory was that she was secretly a princess, raised as a warrior of light. She’d declared that they would storm the castle, kill the king - and he’d play a victory fanfare. Everyone wins!

Except the false king, naturally.

“Okay, so you have all arrived at the ball, which is located here,” Alphys said, pointing out a large room on the map of the Duchess’ manor. “It’s filled with nobles and celebrities, all in extravagant attire. The air is buzzing with conversation and music, and full of the smells of fancy finger foods and wines. What do you all do?”

“I go inside!” Undyne said.

“we all do, all together,” Sans said, flashing Undyne a grin. “bones will start playing his lute and charming the people around, to try to keep anyone else from noticing them so they can head downstairs.”

Tom nodded seriously.

“Okay, Sans, go ahead and roll a performance check. Undyne and Tom, roll stealth,” Alphys said, and they all did so.

His roll was mediocre, but Bones was built for performance, and so it was a pretty good result anyway.

“who knew being a bard could be so instrumental?” Sans asked, winking at the group, and got a solid dose of excellent groans in response.

Tom’s results were also good - better than Sans’ - but Undyne’s paladin was just not built for stealth.

“Almost all of the nobles have been distracted, and none of them notice Tom - I mean, Shadowfoot, as he makes his way out of the room,” Alphys said. “One of the nobles, a handsome young man, approaches Tempest.”

She coughed and adjusted her glasses nervously, turning to face Undyne.

“Why, my lady Stormblade, you are even more beautiful than the stories say,” ‘he’ said, as Alphys dropped her voice low and tried to sound suave. “May I have this dance?”

Sans grinned at the faint blush on her cheeks.

“A… dance?” Undyne asked, glancing at the group nervously.

Sans and Tom exchanged amused looks, as Sans held himself back from snickering.

“careful, undyne,” Sans said with a grin. “this dance could turn into a real knight to remember.”

“S-she’s a paladin, not a knight,” Alphys protested weakly.

“but she’ll always be your knight in shining armor,” he said with a wink and she hid her face, squeaking.

“Uhhhh,” Undyne said, an adorably cute smile pulling at her cheeks. “I, uh, will try to get out of it. Uh, can I try persuasion?”

“Y-yes, but it’ll be against his charisma, since he’s going to try to insist,” Alphys said and Undyne nodded.

They both rolled, and Alphys’ roll was much higher. Undyne sighed.

“I’m gonna be stuck up here?” she asked.

Sans laughed.

“you could just reject him and run, though that’d draw attention,” Sans said teasingly. “but no worries, undyne - i’m up here, too. guaranteed not to be boring.”

She grinned at him.

“That’s true! Okay, Mr. Noble-man! I accept your dance!” Undyne said, shifting into the more grandiose voice she’d made for her paladin, Tempest Stormblade.

“bones would notice that, right?” Sans asked and Alphys nodded. “he’ll make his way close to tempest and her new buddy, just in case.”

“The noble is an excellent dancer and guides you into a smooth dance,” Alphys said, her eyes sparkling. “After a minute, he asks you, ‘What brings you to the Duchess’ ball?’”

“Uh, I heard… that there was something interesting in the dungeons,” Undyne said with a bright grin.

Sans snickered at that.

“oh, my dear companion, to think you’re not only interested in the infamously depraved dungeons of our delightful duchess, but would openly admit it to someone you just met?” he asked, in an affected voice of exaggerated charm. “how bold, how daring!”

Undyne glared at him, Alphys turned bright red, and Tom burst out laughing. Sans just grinned.

“H-h-he has no idea what you’re talking about, and asks what you mean?” Alphys stammered, so flustered that she didn’t ask in character.

“everyone knows that anyone who goes into the duchess’ dungeons gets… boned,” Sans said with a wink. “or perhaps the rumors are wrong? we wouldn’t want to cause any sort of disruption… tempest, let’s go speak with the fair lady herself and ask as to the truth of this matter.”

“Uh… what?” Undyne asked. “You think we should ask about kinky dungeons?”

“you gotta admit, this is definitely a way to cause a distraction,” Sans said, out of character. “as soon as shadowfoot gets back with the prisoner, we’re outta here.”

“Oh my god,” Alphys said, putting her face in her hands.

“He’s got a point,” Tom said with a grin. “How is that going anyway?”

“Yes, let’s do that, instead of… instead of… right,” Alphys said, flustered, turning her attention to Tom as Sans snickered again.

Sans leaned back, happy to watch and relax as Alphys focused on running Tom through his little heist.

This was nice. Just some good times and good food with friends, laughing and playing and messing around. He loved the cute little glances that Undyne and Alphys shared - especially when he’d teased them earlier. Tom was clearly getting a kick out of things, too, still wearing a goofy grin even as he was dealing with the extremely serious business of breaking into the dungeons.

Sans sighed contentedly as he munched on a hotdog. A week and a half vacation full of uncertainty, murder, accidental stranding at the south pole, confessions and connections, morally questionable abandonment of all friends and responsibilities, plus some legitimately fantastic times with Frisk, in multiple ways… and here he was, making his friends all laugh again. Like nothing had ever happened.

It was… liberating was a good word for it. A feeling of freedom. It almost felt like the power sort of belonged to him, considering Frisk’s devotion. Being in the real timeline again, seeing things play out, being reminded of the permanence of things, while knowing that freedom was within his grasp… it felt good.

Tom very seriously snuck past the Duchess’ guards, playing things by the book. No complications, no foolish hijinks, no questionable decisions - just a straightforward, well thought out, cautious break in by a skilled rogue. Sans joined in with the group, cheering and encouraging as he went along.

Tom made it to the locked door at the dungeon, and Alphys decided to switch back to Sans and Undyne, to see if they kept attention on themselves. Really, Sans wondered how that was even in question, but it’d be fun to play it out.

“so bones gets to the duchess, and he says,” Sans said, before shifting into the exaggerated voice he used for Bones Malone again, “hey duchess, you ever hear the one about the knight that walked into a bar… and said ‘ouch?’ guess they weren’t as sharp as their sword!”

Tom chortled and Undyne burst out into raucous laughter, as Alphys groaned. He grinned at their reactions.

“S-she is, uh, amused at your silly joke?” Alphys said awkwardly.

“that’s great, ‘cause i’ve got lots more,” Sans said and Alphys put up her hands as though to ward him off.

“Wait, but we were gonna talk about the kinky dungeons!” Undyne said.

“that was the plan, but i was thinking it doesn’t really showcase tempest’s skills enough,” Sans said and Undyne’s eyes lit up with glee.

Alphys looked excited, too, and Tom looked interested. Sans mentally nodded to himself - definitely the better approach.

“alright, so here’s the plan…” Sans said, leaning forward.

A minute later, they put their plan into action. Sans - or rather, Bones Malone - got the attention of the attendees and told them that they’d be sharing some stories of their most recent adventure. Bones cast an illusion, pulling forth scenes and circumstance, as he played his lute. His music and illusions served as a background for Undyne, as Tempest, to proudly share their victories.

Undyne started getting really into it, and Sans suppressed a grin as another idea occurred to him. He described how Bones shifted the illusion over the table, and then into the form of the monster they’d slain.

As predicted, Undyne declared that Tempest pulled out her sword and struck the illusion, showcasing her might.

“whoops,” Sans said. “the illusion’s on the table with all the food! guess you should roll to see if you hit it, huh?”

“Uh, yes, that would be right,” Alphys said.

“That’s fine! Nothing can go wrong from this!” Undyne said, throwing her dice a little enthusiastically.

Fortunately, it wasn’t quite hard enough to shatter the die. Yet. She went through an average of two dice sets per game, so they were due to break at any point now.

As the die bounced in the air, Sans very carefully exerted a little bit of magic. A quick timefreeze just as the die was close to settling, and a spot of gravity magic to make sure it landed on the number he wanted… perfect.

When time unfroze, Alphys blinked a little, and gave Sans an uncertain look. She clearly caught the fact that the dice moved oddly, and he winked at her.

“Natural twenty!” Undyne yelled, standing up. “Critical hit!”

“O-on the table?” Alphys asked weakly, giving Sans a bemused smile.

“Oh no,” Tom said with a laugh. “What’s that going to do this time?”

“well, that seems obvious enough to me,” Sans said. “we’re trying to distract people, so…”

“Uh, yeah, so, um, I g-guess what happens is that, uh, the table is hit really hard-” Alphys said.

“THE HARDEST!” Undyne yelled.

“Y-yes, the hardest any table has ever been hit,” Alphys said, and Undyne raised her fists. “No, wait! Please don’t hit my table!”

“Oh, right,” Undyne said with a sheepish grin as she sat back down.

“we’re aiming for a zero furniture casualty session,” Sans said.

“We aim for that every week,” Tom said.

“one day, we’ll get there,” Sans said. “gotta keep hope for the future.”

“Seems optimistic,” Tom said, an amused smile on his face.

“Hey!” Undyne said. “We will totally get through a session without destroying furniture!”

“Well, that would be nice,” Alphys said. “But it’s okay, really, I don’t mind.”

“so, the duchess’ table is in worse shape than this one?” Sans prompted.

“U-uh, yes,” Alphys said, adjusting her glasses again. “A-actually, I’ll just let Undyne decide. S-since it’s a critical hit and all. Just how hard did Tempest hit the table, and what happened?”

“All right!” Undyne said, standing up again. “So listen up! Tempest Stormblade pulled out her sword, the mighty Blade of Heroism, and struck at the giant illusionary monster with all of her might! ALL OF IT! The table was a huge wimp and just blew up from the attack, sending food and table pieces absolutely everywhere!”

“i catch a piece of flying food and eat it,” Sans said.

“Uh, sure,” Alphys said. “Um, so there’s a lot of important nobility at the ball right now, and uh, that would mean that they’re all covered in food, wine, and wooden shrapnel.”

“can i catch a flying, intact wine bottle, too?” Sans asked.

Alphys put her face in her hands.

“Why not,” she said, her voice muffled.

“sweet,” Sans said, popping open another can of soda, and taking a sip. “the delicious taste of chaos.”

“Okay, well, I think we should find out if Tom has been successful or not,” Alphys said, looking flustered.

“Heh, yeah,” Tom said. “It’s kind of a shame, really. Everything’s been going so well for me, and I’ve missed out on all the craziness.”

Sans grinned at that. He could help with that problem.

“W-well, I’m sure things will be fine,” Alphys said. “Nice and straightforward dungeon break-in. So, you’re going to pick the lock?”

“Yep,” Tom said. “Rolling time?”

“Rolling time!” Undyne cheered.

Tom laughed and tossed his die. Sans pulled the same stunt again, locking down time at the last moment and changing the number it landed on. He didn’t ever cheat to make things go better for his own character, or even for the group, really - only to make things more interesting. And since the group was there to have fun, that meant, as far as he was concerned, it was a good thing all around.

“Natural one,” Tom said, looking nervous. “Um, so I fail at picking the lock, I guess…?”

“Uh, well, with our houserules, it just means something goes horribly wrong in the attempt,” Alphys said. “Uh, so, um…”

“you pick the lock, but whoops, it’s the wrong dungeon - you found the sex dungeon that tempest and bones had talked about upstairs,” Sans said with a grin.

“Oh my god YES!” Undyne yelled, as Tom burst out laughing.

“No, but, it’s not supposed to… but…” Alphys spluttered.

Alphys was bright red. Sans took in her expression carefully - she was embarrassed, but also definitely having fun. He didn’t need to back off with his teasing.

“you can’t tell me you have a better idea for a failure than that,” Sans teased.

“O-o-okay,” Alphys said. “Sure, I guess, if Tom’s okay with that.”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay with finding a kinky dungeon in the middle of a high stakes heist?” Tom asked wryly. “Shadowfoot stares in astonishment for a tiny bit longer than is wise before slowly and carefully closing the door and trying to find the correct dungeon.”

“What if our guy’s in there?” Undyne asked. “Maybe you need to go check every person.”

“Oh my god, no, no, no,” Alphys said, raising her hands in protest as Sans laughed. “No, he’s not in there, he’s definitely not in there.”

“But Shadowfoot doesn’t know that,” Undyne said.

“You definitely saw that he wasn’t in there,” Alphys said before Tom could speak.

“because shadowfoot did such a good job at looking at people’s faces, instead of anywhere else?” Sans asked.

“Yes,” Alphys said emphatically.

“Or maybe Shadowfoot knows what our friend looks like in compromising positions,” Tom said.

Alphys squeaked into her hands and Tom laughed again.

“Alright, no more of that,” Tom said. “Shadowfoot goes and tries to find the right dungeon.”

“maybe he can ask for directions,” Sans said. “obviously this place gets a decent amount of traffic.”

“Yes, he asks a guard and he gets directions to the right dungeon,” Alphys said, shaking her head.

“But he didn’t even say that he was gonna do that,” Undyne said.

“or roll for anything,” Sans pointed out.

“It’s fine,” Tom said, smiling. “So I get to the right dungeon and get in?”

Sans chuckled to himself as Alphys used the opportunity to pull herself put back together. Things went unnaturally smoothly for their slinky rogue, as Alphys embraced the straightforward sanity of his straightforward heist. Sans didn’t offer any more ideas - he was saving them for when Tom made it upstairs.

There was still a ball of worry in Sans’ gut - what to do about Papyrus, his upcoming meeting with Flowey, what exactly he should do about the idea of embracing a long term future with Frisk - but in this moment? This was good. Part of the true timeline, the last timeline, never to be forgotten.

He didn’t even have to worry about a random emergency making them abandon this timeline, because they had foreknowledge showing no issues. And hell, even if there were… he smiled as Undyne cheered on Tom successfully breaking out the prisoner dude. Even if there were some disaster, his memory was good enough to handle redoing things. And he had to admit, it wouldn’t be bad to do all this again, either. Making Alphys blush and Undyne cheer at his inappropriate jokes; setting Tom up for a bit of chaos and twisted success… it was fun.

“You make it back to the ballroom,” Alphys said. “You see a bunch of shocked and upset nobles, covered in food, wine, and bits of table, with Bones and Tempest standing in the middle. What do you all do next?”

“i see him and our guest, right?” Sans asked.

“Yes,” Alphys said.

“excellent,” Sans said with a grin. “i’ve got just the thing. first, bones casts one more illusion, but just out of sight - a perfect image of mettaton.”

“Wait, what?” Alphys asked. “Mettaton? But… why? What?”

“trust me,” he said.

He cleared his throat and threw out his hand with theatrical flair.

“noble visitors of the duchess’ ball, i pose thee a question,” he said, in Bones’ voice. “was this a distraction?”

He grinned.

“the illusion of mettaton appears and from him, loudly, everyone hears,” he said, and then shifted into his best impersonation of Mettaton’s voice, “ooooooh yesssss!”

Laughter and chaos followed, both in that moment, and in the hours following. Good times were had by all, and the weight in his heart lightened. Toriel maybe had a point, even if he wasn’t quite up for asking for help. There were people and things that mattered. Him and Frisk? They’d find a way. They’d be alright.