A PURPOSELESS LIFE is not a life worth living. It was a saying Sans had heard one too many times over. It always made him think, it made him wonder about his own mortality, about his own purpose in this life he had been given. Sure, everyone had a purpose— Papyrus’ endeavors to become apart of the royal guard, Mettaton’s dream to become one of the biggest television stars in the Underground and on the Surface. Even Alphys, Toriel, King Asgore... they all had some sort of dream, a hope they held on to that kept them alive, that helped them flourish. It was the soil for the roots of their own aspirations, and they were blooms strong against trial and doubt.
And yet, when Sans thought about himself, about his own dreams and aspirations; the very purpose he walked the among others in this world— he found himself coming up empty.
The kid. That’s all he ever saw when envisioning his own future. He saw their round face and flushed cheeks, sometimes they carried a toothy grin and other times they wielded a blade like an executioner. No matter how far he tried to look past all of that, all he saw was the determined little squirt, very much present and very much in his way. It was a life Sans would have never imagined living, in this endless loop like a hamster on its wheel. He was stuck, and then again always in motion. Things always stayed the same and yet they never truly did. Just the very thought of it nearly drove the skeleton insane.
His thoughts were heavier than lead in the back of his head that day, the beginning of yet again another RESET. He would soon meet with the human at their first rendezvous spot, where they would exchange dialogue that had been tried and true so many times before. It was all so bland to him now, a monotony that brought a strange comfort and also wanted Sans to claw at his head. Sometimes he would wonder about the human and how they felt about all of this. Did they see this as their purpose in life as well? Were their fates really intertwined for eternity? More than anything Sans wanted to ask, but he found himself far too afraid of the answer he might receive. Why? He wasn’t sure. The anxiety was apparent in the twinkle of his eye socket as he reached for the latter’s hand to shake, the words feeling cold as they slipped out almost robotically.
“*dontcha know how to greet a new pal? turn around and shake my hand.”