It was a miracle. Watching the glittering particles of snow and feeling them touch his hands. Sans had finally felt a new freedom he'd never thought he'd experience. A form of relief washing over him as the world of the Underground was again so close. So close in fact, he can already sense the dampened energy that had left with him. "Papy! It's so... cold out here!" It didn't matter if he shook like a leaf, he was only a step from the porch and already wanted the snow to freeze him to the core. He let more snowflakes touch and melt on his porous arms, Papyrus hurrying outside with a small hoodie for the occasion. "careful bro! the weather is gonna affect you more with your stats so low!" He had fears on to what he's allowed Sans. Now if he locked the door at night and maybe put a cover on the window... "Aw, it won't be that bad if I walk without shoes right? Won't the cold go right through me?" "heh, I guess so- ARE YOU BAREFOOT!?" Papyrus was quick to notice Sans was in fact without shoes and picked his brother up from the ground. Nevermind how the weaker of the pair kicked his ribcage. "Papyrus I'm fine!" "oh no you don't! i'm implementing a new rule! no going out of the house without shoes!" "Awww Papy!" The pair quickly retreated inside. From the couch, Sans admired his work. Since Papyrus trusted him outside of his room, several places were left in such a state of disarray, that in the short term granted the pale blue skelly a wave of euphoria. Cleaning was his major coping mechanism, and it made him so calm over the last few weeks. Their original plan to go outside was kind of, awkward as the two were more tired than ever. Sleeping away the day befoee they realized their plans had derailed themselves. And now with Sans committing to sleep with some new medication instead of his tireless stress night full of scratching and crying- He and Pap have looked forward to lowering his pill intake. A bit closer to acting normal. To being normal. The older, taller of the brothers reared his head from Sans' room and held out some new wear that would work against the cold. And Sans would need those more than ever. It was a simple get up, thermal pants, a thick black winter sweater, a new star pattern hoodie- actually he wonder where Papyrus got that from. And a fuzzy looking pair of snow boots. Sans rubbed his pair of gloves and felt some odd excitement rush over him. "so these are the best you got, i'll rush over to grillby's tomorrow and see if I can get some more fire infused stuff but for now this'll do." "Thanks Papy!" He should've picked out those clothes for himself. Dumb Sans does it again. "I'll shuffle these on." "better be quick, and do wear socks." Papyrus smirked as Sans rolled his sockets and pulled the clothes apart to fish out the hidden pair of socks he had to fish out from the thermal pants. How does one not hide socks in the shoes? ... Instantly, things were... weird again. And Sans understood weird. Weird was what made him and Papyrus stand out from the rest of the town. Weird was his notorious record of killing loved ones. Weird was the ability to hear to much when Pap could hear practically n o t h i n g. Watching Papyrus cope with his own anxiety was like a state of dysphoria choking Sans as he wished he could've spoken up as kids. Back then was not kind, but back then he was convinced he was the problem to all their family problems. No one said mom wanted to die too. From the moment the happy neighbors had given their 'welcome back' and 'I missed you's to Sans, he was immediately reminded why he hated adults so much. So many rude words and such negative thoughts that had Sans clenching Papyrus' hand ever tighter as the town had this one horrible thought. "I'm sorry." "huh?" The two had stopped by Muffet's, almost inside when Sans let out a concealed sob that's been wanting to escape him since his first welcome back into Snowdin. "I don't get how they can be so... awful to you. You didn't do anything." "i think that's the point-" "No! I mean, you didn't do anything bad!" Sans scowled, not at Papyrus, but at the lingering eyes that bored into his back. Those so angry at the wrong person, now scared away by the right one. "sans... let's go inside." Papyrus reached out for a hand and placed another on the door. "you need to get out of the cold for a while." The younger shivered at the notice. Free from snooping neighbors, the ones who thought so highly of themselves, that's why they left Hotland. And now they were freezing the boondocks of the Underground. Sans fixed his tattered ascot over his heavily damaged face and took Pap's hand. Feeling his brother's warmth seep into his clothes grounded him as the smell of spider baked goods convinced him to drop it for now. Muffet's was a good distraction. It's warm and good food and a array of alcohol that'll dull the sharpest wit. Maybe that's why Papyrus went here a lot...