#but i had him be more of an asshole with a harsher upbringing/ worse relationship with edge

[tyranttortoise]

so... I had some pretty bad experience with a Red in another timeline a few years back. Plenty psychological and emotional trauma, plus just general disrespect even though we were soul mates. Most of the problems was just because I was younger and less mature. I was REALLY expecting when I took your quiz like... a mutt, or a undertale sans and then I get another fell boy. all i could think was "hell no." Can they even deal with the fact that their SO was once with another version of themselves?

@sinningpunk  ;D

Once a soul mate, always a soul mate, right?

You don’t know why you expected anything different – anything less than the cosmos playing a cruel joke on you.  You’d left that timeline behind with more than a few emotional scars; it had taken you reaching your limit to realize that just because you were soul mates didn’t mean you had to put up with his shit.  But you’d gotten out.  You moved on, put him behind you.  

And then you met Sans.

Oh, hell no.

As much as you tried to avoid him, it was inevitable.  You were both drawn to each other.  It was easy enough for you to avoid the burn in your chest, to pretend it was mere heart-burn, but it was much more difficult for him.  You knew it would be like that; you knew that he couldn’t pass up the pull of a soulmate, the promise of something solid.  This is a Fell timeline, after all, and the kill or be killed mentality left him craving stability and certainty underneath his gruff, flippant exterior.

You avoided him at first, but it was difficult to run from someone that knew all the right shortcuts.

“Just get lost, okay?  Can’t you see I’m not interested,” you spat one day with a little too much force.  Your chest burned.  

He furrowed his bone brows. 

“what’d i ever do t’ ya?  you don’t even know me.  i’ve jus’ been tryin’ ta introduce myself this whole time.”    

You actually laughed.  What did he do to you?  It’d take all day to explain what he did to you.  “I already know who you are.”

He looks surprised.  “my reputation’s spread to humans?  heh, didn’t see that happenin’ so soon.  still.  name’s sans.”  He holds out his hand.  You know there’s an electric buzzer in it, and you don’t take it.  It hangs between the two of you for a beat before he finally blurts, irritated, “what?  skeletons weird ya out?”

“Nope.  I was with one for a long time.  I learned my lesson.”

You rub your chest as Sans’s SOUL burns with jealousy.

He’s persistent.

You discover that this Sans is as tenacious as the one you left behind.  But even though he looks the same – same jacket, same gold fang, same yellow socks and untied sneakers – you discover that he’s also quite different.  For one, his smirk is more genuine, and on the rare occasion when you catch him off-guard with a pun (you have years of experience with them, after all), his guffaw leaves him looking unguarded and laid-back.  

He makes plenty of dirty jokes, and although he has a penchant for being in the right place at the right time whenever it comes to stumbling across you, he hasn’t been manipulative in the same way that the other Sans was.  His approach hasn’t even been the same.  

So you take him up on a drink.

And later dinner.

Then more drinks.

And before you know it, it’s become a regular thing.  You’ve missed this, as much as you hate to admit it.  It feels almost like the early stages of your previous relationship, only you can’t tell if the red flags are real or just you equating him to his other-self.  His brother isn’t even as much of a hardass, and instead of the stuttering fear you’re used to, Sans just gave him a “yeah, yeah, you got it, boss” when Papyrus lectured him.  

Yes, this version was quite different.  Even if they looked the same, you discovered even more differences later.  This Sans’s ribs didn’t have quite as many ossifications, and he didn’t mind when you touched his collar.  He also had a few piercings that… surprised you.

Pleasantly surprised you.

Years ago, you studied anatomy for a single purpose – you wanted to be able to learn all the bones so you could make your bonefriend happy.

This is something the Sanses have in common, it turns out.  

“stars, sweetheart, where’d ya learn–”

The question gets cut off.  When you had first started dating, Sans had hounded you over the fact that you said you’d been with another skeleton.  He’d never seen a skeleton other than him and his brother, and he knew Papyrus had never been with anyone.  You refused to tell him any details other than the fact that it was an emotionally-abusive relationship and the skeleton’s name was Red.  He scoffed at the name, calling it dumb (*who th’ hell has a color as a name), and you decided not to tell him it was a nickname.  

But now, faced with the fact that you’re very much familiar with skeleton anatomy and which bone is sensitive where, you can see the gears turning in his head.  His grin falters, and he leans back, running a hand over his face.  Bone scrapes bone, and you wince a little.  This is where he’s going to change, where he’s going to make some sort of quip and get possessive, where he’s going to remind you that you’re his soulmate, that no one else would have you, and –

“ya really loved this guy, huh?”

You didn’t expect that.

You’re quiet for a moment, but he’s been fairly open with you so far about his past.  “Yeah,” you finally manage.  He flinches. “We were… uh, we were… soulmates.”

His hand falls from his face.  His crimson eyelights are so tiny that you can barely notice them in his sockets.  “what?  but – but you’re… we’re…”

He’s floundering; he’s never said the words aloud, didn’t even realize you knew that monster soulmates were a thing.  “Yeah, I know.  We’re soulmates, too.”  

“ya knew?  then how’s that possible?  one soulmate’s rare.  findin’ two so close together, an’ both of ‘em bein’ skeletons… how the hell?!”

You should tell him the truth.  You’ve been with him long enough to discover that he and his counterpart may be the same, but they also couldn’t be more different.  And you’ve really started to fall for him.    

But will he still want to pursue this after you tell him about the other timeline?  

Only one way to find out.

You suck in a deep breath. 

“It’s possible because… it was you.”

His expression goes blank, and the past spills out of you in a rush.  

It had been threatening to overflow for too long.

Sans, to his credit, takes the news better than you expected.  He listens while you speak, though he does light up cigarette after cigarette in his room.  Papyrus will have his ass later, but he can’t be bothered with caring right now.  

So, your previous bonefriend, the one that treated you like dirt and made you give him the cold shoulder for an entire month – the one that you still got a sour look on your face when you talked about – was him from another timeline.  The whole timeline-hopping thing aside, the idea that some other version of him treated his own soulmate like that?  

*what a fuckin’ idiot!

Everything made so much sense.  He knew why you shunned him, why it took so long to break down your defenses.  He knew why you gave him such a guarded look at times, and why you sometimes hesitated before you said spoke, like you already knew how he was going to react – and why you seemed so surprised by how he actually reacted.  

When you finally finished, he was calm.  Eerily calm.  

You, on the other hand, couldn’t stop fidgeting or even meet his gaze.

Finally, he broke the heavy silence.  “ya know i’m not him, right?”

“Yeah,” you breathed, trying to steady your voice.  “I wouldn’t be with you if you were.”

“good.  ‘cause that me?  he was a damned fool.”  Sans reached out and wrapped his arms around you, guiding you onto his lap.  His hold on you was tight, trembling with a desperation that belied his steady baritone.  “i would never… you mean too much to me, ya’know?  sweetheart, i jus’ want you t’be happy.”

You swallow past the lump in your throat.  Your eyes feel hot.  “So… you’re not too weirded out by it?”

“hell yeah, ‘m weirded out.  but that don’t change anythin’, not really, ‘cause that wasn’t me.”  He pulls back and moves to cup your face in his hands.  “as long as you see me when ya look right here, that’s all i care about.”

“Sans, I do.  You’re nothing like him, and I know that.”  You cup his cheek.  He looks so vulnerable – more vulnerable than you’ve ever seen.  “I love you, Sans.”

His eyelights search your gaze for a moment, before relief washes over him.  “i love ya, too, sweetheart.  yer mine, ya got it?  that other asshole’s never comin’ back, an’ if he does break the timelines, i’ll kick his ass.”  He suddenly smirks.  “hell, kickin’ my own ass would be therapeutic an’ shit.”

You smile, feeling lighter than you have in so long.  The tension’s been cut between you, and Sans suddenly lifts you up, your legs around his waist.  You make a startled squeak and cling to him as he turns around and then falls onto his mattress, pinning you beneath him.  

His smirk’s taken on a whole new meaning.

“now that all that’s outta th’ way… where were we?”

(*Imagine Masterlist)