GrymTale is by an artist on DeviantArt named Ash-Shruf. They are REALLY talented to make such an amazing AU~ A world where everyone is kind of sad and things are looking grim... Well, except for Sans, who has a special someone in his life. ^_^

Just for reference, Sans is named as Grey in this AU. Enjoy~

~~~~~

Cold.

The world felt cold.

It had always been that way for me. A cold, barren place.

Devoid of pure light and only filled with false hope.

The meaningless wishes of our freedom...

My world has forgotten them.

And by extension, so have I.

And yet...

Somehow, in some way...

My world... suddenly became so beautiful...

And I know why.

~~~~

"Oh... hey sunshine, what are you doing here?"

I watch as the person beside me shuffles their body closer to mine. "Bored..." They simply replied as their head leaned on my shoulder, making my heart skip a beat. "You were whimpering," They added quietly, as if they did not want me to hear it but I did anyway, reaching out for my hand and intertwining my fingers with their own. That small, yellow glowing butterfly landed on their hand, too.

I was startled, how they managed to hear me in the dead of night, where most of the monsters were fast asleep in their homes and here I was, at the waterfall. Again. And they still found me.

It's so strange... Truly it was, how they managed to find me and reassure me when I needed it.

I did not admit to them why I couldn't sleep, but it seemed like they knew already. In the sea of thoughts I had about that one recurring nightmare, the images I see every night as I close my eyes, I could hear them. I could hear them trying to speak with me, trying to bring up conversation. Asking me how was my day or what did I like to do. They always ask those things. They rarely changed the subject. Maybe that was their tactic to get an answer from me?

And then, when I would silently refuse to answer their questions, they would hum a lullaby, a little tune they always hear at the statue near the waterfall. Something that was apparently playing from a music box, they told me. It was... peaceful, to say the least. Somewhat sad, and even melancholic in tune. But when they sing it, it sounds so different. Like it is a shimmering glimmer of hope, a song that is destined to go far...

Like them, I thought to myself. And it was true; this human could have the destiny of setting us free, Gerson had told me before. Something about how the royal crest of the Underground spoke so such a prophecy including them in it. So if that legend is true, this person was supposed to be a hero.

And they're trying. I know they are. I see it day in and day out. They have died a number of times, I've seen them, and yet, they are completely unfazed.

Though... I can't exactly understand why they chose to stay with Papyrus and me when they could be saving other people.

"Hah, yeah... Same thing happened again, you know me..." I explained simply, sighing. So much for a good explanation. I have been talking a lot more since I met them, but a ramble would be harder to maintain. Either way, there was no way I could sleep after seeing those images. Some of the visions that belonged to me... and some of them that I have never seen.

"Aren't you tired? Sleepy?" They asked again, voice full of concern, and I could not help but smile when they asked. Usually, Pap would ask me that kind of question, but the kid's voice sounded... a lot calmer than Pap's.

I didn't know whether I should say the specifics, but considering the number of times I've had this dream, I suppose I owed the butterfly something.

"I just see these... images at night, that's all," I started slowly. "Like, pictures of experiences that I know and don't know, things that I have seen and other things that I've never seen before... It doesn't make any sense right?"

They shook their head. "Keep going," They encouraged.

Their assurance made my soul relax. "Some of them... seem a lot happier than the things down here. Sometimes, I see myself looking much happier than I am right now, next to you, sunshine,"

I don't know if that sounded like a flirt, but they giggled as their face turned red anyway. A chuckle escaped my mouth before I continued. "Other times, though," I said sternly, my eyes warning them of a not-so-nice story. "Other times, I see... carnage,"

"Carnage?"

"You know... Bloodshed. Horrible things like that, and they're not my memories. It's so strange, and I can't explain it. I don't know who's dying, all I know is that they're dying." Word after word was spilling out of my mouth as I recalled those sleepless nights. "And sometimes, I get these horrible, dramatised versions of the things I see everyday... Things that just, haunt me..."

I did not notice it until now, that my butterfly had been rubbing their hand along my back, brushing their fingertips against my backbone as they reassured me.

"I guess... my depression is worse than I thought it would be. Because if I imagine those things at night, I just get more scared. People always say that you're not supposed to get attached to anything if you don't want to be too sad... And I've always been attached to Pap, 'cause he's my brother. And yet... " I finally turned to them, their sad, sympathetic eyes reading my own.

"Ever since you started staying with us, sunshine, I get these nightmares even more. I see... things that may hurt you, or would kill you again and again... It sounds so silly... " I chuckle pathetically. "Me, a skeleton who has never felt attached to anyone in his whole life, and yet I don't feel it around Pap, but around you."

Their eyes suddenly widen at my last few words, and I decide to stop talking for a while.

Silence... Almost like a welcoming grave... Though it doesn't feel like a grave when they're here.

And then, they move a little. As the butterfly flits away for a while, they crawl over to my thighs and shift their chest closer to my ribcage, essentially straddling me. My soul almost pops out of my bones, but I managed to regain composure. I'm not too sure if my cheekbones are getting hot or not, I just see them.

And then, they make a strange request. Something they have never asked before.

"Grey... Can you lift me up a little?"

I was taken aback. For such an... intimate position, they want me to carry them in my arms? Huh, wasn't exactly expecting that.

Nevertheless, I do as they ask. It was the least I could do for them anyway, after coming to find me and all. And the good thing was that they were pretty light, too. Stupid human doctors who couldn't help someone like them...

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt something on the top of my skull, a surface that is warm and welcoming. Along with a pair of limbs wrapping the sides of my skull, their hands cradling my head like a precious child. The fuzzy sensation in my soul (I think they called it, affection? Love?) returned the same way I discovered it the first time some weeks ago, enveloping my whole body like a hot blanket. I can't help but coil my own hands around their figure, slender, small, the figure of a sick patient and yet... it soothed my soul.

"Close your eyes for a minute," They whispered against my skull, quiet and consoling. "And focus on my heartbeat, in my chest."

My eyelids close and my head leans closer to their chest. I knew a little bit about human biology, from what they have told me about their experiences with treatments and stuff. But when I leaned in and listened closely, I heard their soul, their true heart, beating loudly. Like a beautiful rhythm. Like an enchanting melody.

"What do you hear?" They ask.

"Your heart," I whisper back.

"It's beating, right?"

"It is," I answered. "It sounds... beautiful."

I could envision something in my mind with that melody, a memory from a while ago.

I was... happy for the first time in my life.

I was playing in the lake by the waterfall, a smile on my face.

I am... laughing. Laughing with someone.

That someone is a hazy image, at first. I see them running towards me, with another grin on their face. I spot my jacket on their shoulders, short chocolate brown hair landing on their neck, their body landing on mine as they envelope me in a hug and their hands reaching for mine to help me up again.

I recognise them. The image becomes clearer. I know who made me happy.

"Come on, Grey! Let's go-!"

The memory stops when I open my eyes.

"Grey...? Grey, are you okay?"

...

For the first time that night, I find myself smiling.

"Better than ever, sunshine..." I replied. "Better than ever before."

~~~~

I never understood why I took a liking to this human. Perhaps it was my curiosity or my interest of humans. I guess that I still had to figure that out.

But for now... I was certain of one thing.

This human... My precious little butterfly... My sunshine...

They've become my comfort. They've become my happiness.

And for once, my world did not seem so gloomy anymore.