KIND OF old drawing, bubble im gonna make something new for you cuz you deserve all the good in this world for feeding me so much to read, this is my part of the trade with @bubbleteasing! I'm just posting it since she had posted her part and... well, i didn't wanna post this without their permission first!
I LOVE YOU BUBBLE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH
A much delayed trade that I should've finished ages ago... Thank you @dizzyalex for being so incredibly patient with me 🥺
Without further ado, here's a little story about Sans and Alex's oc, Dolly!
The sound of chatter, the same tunes playing on the jukebox on loop, and the smell of grease filled the place as Sans sat down on his usual stool.
Stars, how he loved Grillby's.
It was his third time dropping by since his shift started. He wasn't a fan of being a sentry, but Papyrus loved it, and he could spend more time with him that way, so he didn't complain. Besides, sneaking into Grillby's while on the job was fun.
He gripped a bottle of ketchup with his bony hands as he bounced his feet on the stool's footrest, closing his eye sockets in anticipation.
"Please, tell me you're not drinking that again."
Sans blinked at Dolly as she wiped the bar with a white damp rag. He was impressed she still had her little yellow flower placed behind her fluffy ear since she opened up.
"what? i'm just enjoying the complimentary drink that came with my meal!" He shrugged, giving the bottle of ketchup a big chug.
"You ate a burger like three hours ago!" She shook her head as she leaned on the bar.
"so?" He licked the back of his teeth, closing his eye sockets nonchalantly, "it's free."
"I will literally buy you a drink if you stop doing that," she said with a desperate tone, clawing the edge of the bar with her paws.
Sans opened his eyes, looking at the ceiling with an indecisive look.
Should he accept a free drink over free condiments?
"nah," he shook his head, chugging the bottle of ketchup again.
Dolly's fur stood on end, visibly cringing at his gesture before sighing in defeat.
She lost her battle against the bottle of ketchup.
"i wouldn't say no to some casual conversation though," Sans hummed.
"Would you, now?" She cocked a brow, a small smile on her face.
"yeah, that way we can ketch-up," he winked at her.
She slapped her hand over her eyes as she leaned further into the bar, trying and failing to hide her wide smile.
"You're lucky I don't have much work at this hour," she said warningly, leaning her chin on her fist.
Sans looked back over his shoulder to see that there weren't that many people indeed. Dogami and Dogaresa were sitting with Lesser Dog on a table near the bar while a couple of rabbit monsters sat near the entrance.
"no wonder grillby went home early," he hummed. "are you on closing duty today?"
"Afraid so," she nodded, "but I'll finally have the weekend off to decompress a bit."
"oh, i'm an expert when it comes to that," he smiled proudly as he pushed the bottle of ketchup away. "what do you usually do?"
"To relax?" She blinked at him.
"yeah," he nodded, looking down at the bar after noticing she was directly looking at him.
"Well... I'd watch a movie or read a book if I can get my hands on any- but I honestly think I'm just gonna sleep through the whole weekend," she admitted, tugging her fur behind her ear with her index finger.
"sleeping is bed-er than any hobby," Sans yawned.
Dolly snorted, resting her forehead on the bar for a moment before cackling.
Sans smiled proudly as he watched her laugh, his smile dropping immediately when she stopped all of a sudden.
Someone who just walked in flagged her, so her demeanor changed back to a responsible worker.
"Give me a second and then I'll ask you what you're doing this weekend," she sighed, adjusting her apron as she started walking to the opposite end of the bar to approach the new customer.
Sans spun on his stool, noticing there wasn't just one customer, but an entire family of rabbits.
"that looks like it's gonna take more than a second," Sans mumbled to himself as he watched Dolly greet the customers and walking them towards one of the empty tables, "and i don't like waiting anyways..."
She was the waitress. Not him.
He chuckled at his own mental joke as he kept looking at her. He didn't envy her right now; running around the place taking everyone's notes. Always smiling.
It looked like a tiring job.
Speaking of which, he realised he really should get back to his station.
He sighed, giving the bottle of ketchup on the bar one last look before hopping off his stool, leaving it spinning for a second as he made his way out of Grillby's.
Part of him hoped Dolly would notice him leaving, but she was focused on one of the little rabbits. She pointing at something on the menu, reading it out loud for them.
That also reminded him he should head home and read Papyrus his bedtime story as well.
He shrugged, sticking his hands into his pockets as he pushed the door open with his shoulder, walking down the two little steps before landing on soft, white snow.
It was quite late, not that it didn't look like it thanks to the lack of sunlight. Or starlight. It was always dark in Snowdin.
Sans hummed along with the song playing at Grillby's as he backed home, even when he was too far to hear it.
...
It didn't take long for him to make Papyrus fall asleep, but he lingered around his bedroom for a moment, enjoying the peaceful sound of him breathing before heading back out of the house.
He decided not to teleport to his post. He would do that on his way back. He stretched his arms above his head, the sound of his bones popping filling the silence amongst the quiet neighbourhood.
As he got closer to Grillby's again, he heard the sound of music. A different tune in fact. He was surprised the jukebox was still going, he thought the tabern would've been closed by now.
He walked past it slowly, paying attention to the silhouettes moving around through the glass bricks. He was 90% sure Dolly and someone else were dancing, and by the sound of it, people were cheering them on.
He closed his eye sockets as he kept walking away, listening to the song as he kept walking, a shy smile on his face.
He was tempted to go back to Grillby's, but he decided against it and teleported to his post.
It was so quiet now compared to a couple of seconds ago. He was almost thankful for having some peace and quiet, but then he realised he was alone with his thoughts.
Which he didn't like very much.
He eyed the thick wooden door as he pondered if he should knock on it or not.
Welp, he needed someone to talk to, so he might as well try to start some conversation with someone.
He teleported right next to the door, leaning his back against it.
"knock, knock," he grinned as he rested his head close to the door frame.
But nobody answered.
He sighed, giving the dark, plain ceiling a look with disappointed eyes.
"i should just head home," he groaned, massaging his nape while he kicked the snow over his slippers.
The walk back to Snowdin was peaceful. Quiet, as usual, but surprisingly cathartic.
He skipped through his brother's puzzles with ease, avoiding all the little traps he had become so used to since he helped him build them.
Once he arrived to the flashy Snowdin sign, he realised the silence kept lingering. All the business were closed already, but he could see Grillby's lights still shining through its windows.
"weird," he squinted his eye sockets as he walked closer to it, noticing someone was still in there while no sound was coming from inside. Not even the jukebox.
He stopped on his tracks when he heard the little bell above the door ringing, followed by a quiet groan.
"It's so cold!"
Sans eyed Dolly's breath, turning into faint little white clouds every time she huffed while locking Grillby's front door
"you seem happy."
She jumped, turning around to see Sans standing right beside the steps.
"You scared me!"
"since when am i scary?" Sans tilted his head, smiling.
"I just didn't expect you back at this hour," she hissed as she looked at the keys she was holding, wondering if she should ask him if he wants another drink or just lock the establishment all together.
She was tired. Her shift had been too long and she had been dancing for the last hour or so.
"you seem drunk," Sans pointed out, noticing her hesitation. "want me to walk you home so you can get there safely?"
"I'm not drunk," Dolly just shook her head, chuffing as she locked the door. Maybe she was a little bit tipsy. She allowed herself to drink a couple of shots after the last few clients lured her into it, but that was it.
She was a former royal guard. She didn't need anyone's help.
She turned around, raising a brow at him as she smiled with confidence, "And do I look like I need HEL--"
Sans took a step back, avoiding her kicking him as she slipped through the step on her ass.
It was clear now that someone had spilled something and it froze, making the surface slippery.
Dolly only wished she hadn't said that right before tripping.
"i-cy..." Sans nodded slowly, trying his hardest not to laugh, "is that a trick question or...?" He offered her a hand.
She didn't even want to look up at his grin, too embarrassed to even accept his help.
"even if you don't need my help we're headed towards the same direction," Sans chuffed as she stood up, slapping the dirt off her clothes with her hands.
"Sure," she cleared her throat, feeling her blood through her cheeks as she blushed, "if you're set on that," she shrugged, still avoiding eye contact with him.
"just so i can arrive safe and sound," Sans winked at her.
"Right," she chuckled, "I'll make sure of that."
The two of them started walking without saying another word. Dolly was surprised by how quiet Sans was. He was looking at the dark ceiling, his neck completely stretched.
"What're you looking at?" She asked curious, following his line of sight.
"oh, you know," he shrugged his shoulders, "just practicing for when we get to the surface."
"I can't wait to see the stars," she smiled, still looking at the dark rocks above their heads. "I wonder what they look like."
"they're shiny balls of hot gas," Sans hummed, "they're-"
"That sounds... not pretty," she looked at Sans with her wide eyes and her ears pulled. "I thought they were made of magic or something!"
Sans snorted, laughing in earnest as he looked at her, "they're really far away, you don't have to worry about them."
"Right," she gulped, hugging her arms as she kept walking.
"you should read about them," Sans tilted his head to the side as he looked at her. "they have some great books about astronomy in the librarby."
"I'll keep that in mind," she yawned, "but I think-"
Sans stopped on his tracks as Dolly started slipping on a big frozen puddle, fighting with her own legs before giving up and falling on her ass.
Again.
Sans could've probably prevented it, but he didn't.
"you should know, walking over ice is very whiskey."
She groaned, tilting her head back to look at the dark ceiling, "I am not drunk!" She whined.
"here," Sans approached her, giving her a hand.
She accepted it with whatever little dignity she had left, and stood up leaning on him to avoid slipping again.
"no thank you?" Sans raised a brow bone.
"Just know..." She sighed, preparing herself for what she was about to say, "that you're thank-tastic."
"..." Sans stared at her.
"Was it that bad...?" She asked hesitantly.
Sans finally bursted out laughing, even resting his hands on his knees as he bent over.
Dolly smiled proudly, interlocking her fingers behind her back as she stretched her arms.
Sans kept giggling to himself as they finally reached the point where Dolly had to take a turn to get home. It was time for them to part ways.
"Well," she started, looking at Sans with a shy smile, "thanks for..."
What was she thanking him for, again? He barely protected her from her own clumsiness.
"teaching you how to be funny?" Sans offered, a shit eating grin plastered on his face.
"Yeah," she snorted, rolling her eyes at that.
She was already funny before meeting him.
He turned around, looking back at her over his shoulder, "see you on monday?"
She sighed, trying to ignore that she needed to work again next week before nodding at him with a sincere smile. "Goodnight, Sans."
Sans winked at her before looking ahead and continuing his walk. He kept humming the same tune until he finally reached his home, but even then he was still thinking about the next Monday.