Pierian drags a hand across his face and peers at you with the dim flames in his sockets. Then a grin slides across his face as what you said registers.
"think this is the best way to wake up - i'll take ya up on that pal."
Little Momo marches pridefully up to Pierian's door; the right one to the apartment building. Hoisted up above her head is a boxed lunch wrapped in koi fish decorated cloth. She overhead the microwave fiasco and brought them lunch! The child insists on helping feed the skeleton. "Piiiieeee!" she called gleefully. There's a snort of a giggle from Red.
The skeleton in question... was having a bad day. He'd called into work and lay in bed with no plans to move ever again.
... Okay, so that was a bit dramatic, but he was depressed. Not being in a bar about it was a win, but he wasn't able to get any father than that.
Of course then there's a small child outside his door calling his name. A jolt of adrenaline shoots through him in the form of anxiety, and without really thinking about how, he's on his feet and peeking out the peep hole.
Its a small child alright, holding a cloth wrapped package over her head. And behind her is Red.
He looks back at his dark apartment. There's a couch with red plaid snuggy thrown over it, a mattress in the corner without a blanket, a music box by it, books obviously fished out if the dump piled around the room, and a small kitchenette that contained little more than a sink full of dishes and the aforementioned microwave.
He was not prepared for guests.
He looks back at the door. He couldn't just. Leave them out there. First off there was a child. Second off there was Red.
Pierian nods to himself once, twice, three times... and opens the door.
"heya little miss an' mister big."
He sounds cheery enough, but looks like he slept in his clothes... which isn't too far off from his usual appearance so.
Typical sharp teeth and pointed fingers of a fell sans. Missing left k9 - no replacement.
Eyelights are flames that dim and brighten / shrink and grow with his moods. Usually some shade of red however purple gets added to reflect intense feelings of love/ adoration.
Sleeveless red hoodie, dark red sweats, black velcro sneakers - unless otherwise stated.
Hood is ALWAYS on unless otherwise stated.
Stat Block
HoPe: 3
ATrophy: 22 (-21)
DeFiance: 11 (-10)
LoVe: 7
[ACT] -> [CHECK] // Created as necessary in thread.
Primary Soul Trait: Perseverance - Trait ability - allows him to withstand anticipated attacks without taking damage a number of times equal to his HoPe.
Stats may vary based on mood/ level of alcohol consumption.
Fighting style is long distance, quick precise attacks.
He teleports but not accurately. – I roll a dice to determine success or failure. There are levels of failure and so far he hasn’t gotten stuck in a wall or something, though his clothes have.
Currant age 27
Backgroundd)
1. Game Data and Before
Sans was an orphan.
As per usual in this line, he was apprenticed out at age 10 to Dr. W. G. Gaster along with Alphys.
They competed for his attention and approval.
When Sans applied himself - gives 110% - he excelled in his studies just noticeably past Alphys, and for a time he was the favored apprentice.
Sans fooled himself into thinking that it mattered. That Gaster might possibly care for him as a son. When he turned 12 Gaster rejected the notion thoroughly before getting redacted from the universe.
Interestingly enough Sans did find a file in Gaster’s things that suggested Gaster was his father, and more than that, he had a younger brother who was also in the orphanage system (It turns out Papyrus is not biologically related to either gaster or sans but sans didnt know that at the time.)
Sans reeling from his rejection, loss, and the vague notion he might be blamed for what had happened to Gaster, went to find his brother.
He developed an absolute loathing for all things science. Having always enjoyed clever wordplay his new thing became reading – specifically poetry, Shakespeare, and he also really enjoys Greek mythology.
His brother became his new purpose. Duty. Responsibility. Meaning in life.
He loved his brother and his brother loved him.
They are five years apart - Sans was 12 when they first met, making Papyrus 7.
Three years later - when Papyrus turned 10 - he was apprenticed out to Undyne, the Captain of the Royal guard.
Things had of course go to hell (fell) when Gaster was redacted, all the hope they had resting in him suddenly GONE making things rather scary for a while… Until Undyne - a mere sentry at the time - more or less single handily restored order through might makes right in the name of the king - to whom she is utterly loyal.
Papyrus was apprenticed to her, but Sans was essentially a dropout who she didn’t have to allow to tag along. That she did was more credit to Papyrus then anything resembling reasonable behavior from Undyne.
Sans worked to support his brother, learned to cook, and slaved away for both Undyne and Papyrus to help his brother have the life he wanted.
He would do anything for his brother, even learn to fight, even learn to kill, and even learn to do worse than kill…
But he’d rather work smarter not harder. He doesn’t like a challenge; he always stacks the odds in his favor so it’s not a fair fight, so he doesn’t have to kill. Only the stupid and the strong would leave an enemy alive, injured or not. The more people he left alive, the more people feared him. The more people that fear him the less would dare even look at Papyrus wrong. Which was the point… but when he did have to kill? He’d knock them out and shove them into a pit he had dug in the woods behind what eventually became his and Papyrus’ home. They couldn’t get out and would eventually dust.
Anywho the point is the only thing - ONLY thing - Sans actually cared about was taking care of his brother.
And his brother wanted to be a boss monster… Which lead to Papyrus sacrificing his humanity to gain more and more Love. Which lead Sans to loving someone incapable of giving a shit about him back.
One day the human fell.
Sans – it being instinctual the first time – killed the human.
Unknown. Threat. Destroy before it can dust you. And hell it worked right?
Only of course it didn’t, and after a while Sans got tired of trying to make death stick to Frisk and let things go as they would, all but ignoring the kid and reading his (to quote his brother) useless pointless drivel.
The kid at that point wanted nothing more to make Sans suffer at that point, had figured out a bit about levels and killing, and did the logical thing – killed Papyrus.
Sans was LIVID.
But he also knew that it wasn’t enough to kill the kid at this point.
So what’s a vengeance hungry skeleton to do?
Torture.
By trial and error he figured out the best way to hurt the kid while keeping him alive and suffering as long as possible.
The only thing Sans cared about was keeping his brother alive - and Frisk learned the hard way to value that.
Eventually it became obvious that there was no possible way for Frisk to murder their way to freedom. Even after everyone was dead - including Sans and Papyrus - Frisk was just as trapped as they were.
So one day Sans is living in the gore edition of groundhogs day… and the next they’re free.
He doesn’t even know how.
But no one else knows about the resets, about how long he was trapped in this cycle of kill or be killed…
And the human government on the surface is Fully Prepared to give all due reparations for the entrapped (and apparently entirely forgotten) race of monsters, and is more than willing to bend over backwards so they can all cohabitate peacefully?
And hell Frisk even seems like they’re totally okay with allowing things to play out this way for the most part.
So… everyone else is moving on… and Sans… isn’t needed. Papyrus is the Captain of the guard – having beaten Undyne in combat ( with Frisk’s help) and reached the most coveted level of 20. His brother has so far out passed him that Sans doesn’t have to work to support them. Doesn’t have to do anything. And he’s more than a little messed up as he learns things about Frisk…
Its a lot like having been on edge for so long that when things are finally okay… your mind and body seem to realize its safe to break down and everything hits him all at once.
So he drinks his time away.
He drinks his money away.
He drinks his health away.
He drinks his reputation away.
Sans basically drowns himself in alcohol wherever and however much he can get it.
2. Post Pacifist
Pierian – a name he gained after attending a human poetry run club drunk off his ass – knew nothing about the timelines to start with.
He drank, he went to poetry clubs in secret, he kept a journal (it survives resets for reasons, I actually have a headcannon I don’t want to go into now that covers this) and changed all the names in it to Greek mythos figures, and he survived each day persisting despite a desperate wish to die (due to emotional abuse / manipulation from his brother, Icarus, his own self-loathing, and his obligatory existential crises).
Seeing as monsters very survival seems to depend somewhat on mood – depressed monsters occasionally losing all HoPe and Falling Down and eventually dusting – he HAS managed to die a couple of times, but Icarus – Pierian’s journal name for Frisk – is rather attached to the only person, monster or otherwise, that remembers everything. Despite claiming his favorite toy is boring and broken now, Icarus will check on Pieran every two weeks and if he’s not alive he will reset the timeline.
Due to nightmares he teleports in his sleep – how many times had he died because he’d worn himself out and fallen asleep in battle? If he’d only teleported as he woke he’d have survived – leading him to his first alternate timeline.
Personality type stuff
He’s a wordy fellow, quotes poems and Shakespeare, and usually drowning in his own shit even when he’s actively trying to help other people out of their shit.
His sloppy way of talking is part laziness, part trying to be tough, and partly because he has an idea of who he should be in his head and tries to be that person. His actual speaking voice he uses rarely. When emotionally vulnerable` its smoothed out though still low. When emotionally shut down for serious battle minded type stuff its more abrupt and no gravel to the tone.
Pieran threatens to hurt and or kill people on other’s behalf as a sign of affection. This can and frequently does happen almost immediately after meeting someone.
Low key terrified of children… but also greatly wants them and people in general to NOT make his mistakes, to be better than him and his brother.
Mom friend-ish. –ish because he has no idea how to help or take care of people except “violence to end the problem” and “feed them”.
Very obviously deferential to most Papyrus’ when they’re being bossy or mad.
When particularly anxious or upset he’s like this with most people.
Slightly Agoraphobic – which is why the hood is always up.
Tells: Worrying teeth together: Thinking, considering, hesitant but has an idea. Tugging on hood: Nervous or embarrassed. Clutching arms with various levels of pressure: upset, scared, anxious, self-loathing, fear, panic.
Blush ranges from red to purple. The darker the shade the stronger the emotion.
Actually has a very short temper but it’s usually explode and then move on. He does curtail it on others behalf.
You can tell when he’s feeling put on the spot/ cornered/ you’ve hit a nerve because he’ll lash out verbally / make a pointed comment.
He cheats at cards… when he’s sober/ when he remembers.
