Male Trust in Sneeze (Sans, Undertale)

[Deuce Williams]

Wrote this way too late because I couldn't get it out of my head. Frisk is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, also sign language is in bold

It was supposed to be a drabble... it got away from me...

-~-~-

Frisk had a lot of times in their relatively short life where they felt as though they couldn’t be happier, and most of them occurred right where they were: nestled deep in a squishy couch, Papyrus’ excited form wriggling on one side and Sans’ arm thrown around their shoulder from the other. The fading sun outside dimmed the skeleton brothers’ living room, but all the light they needed glowed from the massive tv screen on the opposite wall. They’d been dying to show Sans and Papyrus their favourite movie ever since the Barrier broke and now, with government talks complete and proper bills passed, they finally had a moment to relax. So, with schedules correctly timed and steaming bowls of popcorn passed around, the three of them were going to do just that.

For a while, it went wonderfully! After hearing the movie was a particular favourite of Frisk’s, Papyrus was determined to enjoy it too. Sans they were a little more nervous about, since he had a tendency to doze off if sitting still for longer than fifteen minutes, but so far his eye sockets had drooped to half-mast and resolutely stayed there. From their place pressed against Sans’ side, Frisk felt a little thrill of happiness as his ribs swelled in a tense inhale at a dramatic scene. He was really getting into it!

The scene ended, but he took in another shaky breath. Frisk frowned. It hadn’t been that dramatic. They craned their head up to give their bony buddy a confused look, then froze.

Sans’ still-lidded eyes were glazed and unfocused, flashing in and out of the darkening room with every unsteady blink. Though he didn’t really need to breathe (it was a courtesy to other, less skeletal creatures), his chest stuttered with soft, stuttering gasps.

That expression on his face… Frisk had only seen it once before.

Sans was going to sneeze.

Alarm gripped their heart, and they gripped his jacket just as hard. They’d want to be well grounded by the time the inevitable explosion burst out. The movement alerted Sans, however, and the undulating ribcage stilled some as he cast his eyelights down. “Ehh…” the hitch left Frisk white-knuckled. “Everything okay down there, kiddo?”

No, everything was not okay, the last time he’d done this, he’d nearly brought the entire house to the ground! Frisk managed to pry one hand from its death grip on his jacket to sign sneeze up to him.

Sans made a sound between a laugh and a hitch. The forefinger of his opposite hand came up to rub serenely at his nasal cavity. Frisk eyed it like it was a lit fuse. “Yeah, I guess I got a lihh… a little something goin’ on. But don’t worry,” one eye closed in a cheeky wink, “I nose it’ll o-only be a small one.”

The pun dragged a long-suffering groan from Papyrus as he reluctantly tore his eyes from a quick-witted fight scene. “Just sneeze and be done with it, Sans, I’m attempting to study this pirate’s cool moves.” Finally, his attention switched fully as Frisk frantically shook their head. “Oh? What’s the matter, human?”

“Ahh… I think they don’t want me to snuhh- sneeze.” Sans tilted his head in a manner resembling the way someone with eyebrows might quirk one. “I can’t help it, buhh-HHUUuh—” he pressed his finger harder against the gaping hole where destruction lurked, but managed once again to talk down the impending sneeze with another rub and a light sniffle. “—can’t help it, buddy. What’s got you so worried?”

Frisk unclenched the other hand to sign explosion before grasping their lifeline again. To their surprise, both skeletons laughed, though, the tail end of Sans’ deep chuckle morphed into another series of ticklish gasps, glowing blue tears gathering in the corner of his squinted sockets. It seemed his finger had made a permanent home across his nasal cavity.  

Papyrus took over the explanation as Sans hitched and sniffled against the tickle. “There’s no need to worry, human! When Sans expects a sneeze, he has complete control over the outcome. It’s only when he’s surprised by it that his magic decides to misfire.”

“That’s a prehh-pretty on the nose explanation fuh-fuhUH—ugh, for it, Paps.”

Papyrus threw his hands up and turned angrily back to the movie, conversation apparently over. Frisk loosened their grip, but still kept close to the sneezy skeleton.

He noticed that too, of course, things rarely slipped Sans’ eyes even when they were half shut with sinus irritation. “H-hey, don’t worry, squirt. It’s snot gonna be lih… like last time, I promise.”

The last words brought some comfort. Sans never made a promise unless he fully meant it. Frisk tried to follow Papyrus’ lead and concentrate on the movie, but Sans’ feathery inhales made focusing very difficult.

It didn’t help that they just didn’t stop.  Another fifteen minutes saw Sans no closer to sneezing, but no less desperate for it either. A constant stream of soft hitches caught his uneven breath, out of even his control. He kept at rubbing his nose with a finger, whether to stall the sneeze or coax it out, Frisk didn’t know. Maybe it was stubborn, maybe it was stuck, but the anticipation was the worst part.

“Oh my god!” Apparently Papyrus thought so too. He slammed the pause button on the movie, twisting in his seat to face down his brother. “Sans, you’re such a lazybones you even procrastinate a sneeze! Obviously you need some help from your cool and awesome companions!”

“Ohhhhh… obviously…” Sans wheezed around his finger.

Papyrus grabbed one of Frisk’s hands in his much larger glove. “When we were small, I would often help Sans with stuck sneezes by rubbing his nasal bone. Of course, I haven’t stopped helping him with this, but your tiny, fleshy fingers would unstick it much faster, if I’m right.” He preened, striking a pose best he could while sitting. “And I usually am!”

No disappointing Papyrus. Frisk faced Sans again, said tiny fleshy hand at the ready, and silently asked for permission.

His skull tipped in the barest nod, shoulders heaving with the intensity of the sneeze. “Duhh-huhhUH—D-don’t worry, weh-we’ll keep y-yuh… you safe.”

Frisk trusted them.

They reached forward, gently easing Sans’ finger out of the way and replacing it with their own. They’d held the skeletons’ hands before lots of times, been trapped under legbones in dogpiles and smoothed craniums under their palms when seated high on shoulders, but they’d never explored the textures of their friends’ faces. The bone around Sans’ nasal cavity was smooth like stone, and warm (though whether that was normal or from all the rubbing, they couldn’t tell). Air sawed in and out in shallow breaths, rushing around their finger with a slight whistle. Frisk certainly didn’t get this opportunity every day. They may as well make the most of it.

They replaced the length of their finger with the tip, placing it gently at the top of the opening. At the tip of the upside-down heart. Just that gentle pressure had Sans’ head tipping back in preparation. Using a little bit of their fingernail, Frisk followed the curve of the heart down to the center and Sans’ previous stammering breaths escalated into deep, shuddering gasps. “OooooooOOUHHHH—O-oh, thahhhhhh… that f-fehh-feels… I-I’m gonnuhh-huh-HUH—” He hovered there, on a sneezy precipice, but he wasn’t quite ready, not yet.

Frisk traced up the other side of the heart, scratching their nail a hair harder at the top. Sans’ couldn’t stop hitching now, hands floating up to catch the emerging sneeze. But no, still something else was needed…

Ah.

In one quick flick, Frisk drew their nail up the length of Sans’ nose bridge.

Time seemed to slow as Sans approached release. “Uhhhhhhh…” The first gasp came, unhindered and oddly cartoonish. Sans’ eyesockets shuttered closed completely. “Hiih-hiHH-HUUUUUUUUUUH…” the second gasp stammered at the beginning, betraying the true size of the monstrous sneeze plaguing his sinuses. A third gasp, like an approaching train, “H-HUUUUUUUHHHHH—”

Frisk dove for cover behind Papyrus.

“HAH-HA-HUUAAAAAHHH-SHOOO!”

Sans unloaded the sneeze uncovered (which Frisk understood. If he’d tried to direct it into his elbow, he likely would’ve blown his arm off). Thankfully, his left eye stayed unlit and the house remained upright. It might not have had the same destructive force as the one they’d seen before, but there was no denying the unstoppable nature of Sans’ nose once he got past the initial tickle. Frisk smiled to themself. Sans sneezed like a dad.

And it seemed he wasn’t done. “Whuuh-hahh—One m-more… uhh-uhhhh… hi-HAAAAA-XHUUUUH!”

He settled, panting, and scrubbed at his nose with a sleeve. “Ugh. ’Scuse me.”

Frisk stared, open-mouthed. Surely… surely this couldn’t be old hat for their laid-back friend?

“Wonderful. If you’re quite finished, can we get back to the movie? The pirate is almost about to confess his affection to the heroine.” Papyrus wasn’t at all bothered by the immense power of Sans’ sneeze, hitting play on the movie again, so Frisk figured it was just… normal.

How strange their life had become since their fall to the Underground.

Sans held out an arm, and they quickly scrambled back to their place. Bless you!

“Thanks, kiddo,” he sniffled again, thankfully just aftermath of the main event. “So? Was that as scary as you thought?”

No. It hadn’t been, not with people they trusted nearby. A lot of their life was like that right now.

Still, they signed, if you feel another one coming on, warn me so I can get an umbrella.

Sans chuckled warmly, ignoring Papyrus’ irritated shush. “Will do.”