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He isn’t sure when it happened but he can’t be mad at it. For the first time in a while he’s actually smiled and he’s not even up on stage where it usually happens. He’s sitting beside the one and only, Dave Strider. They’ve been here for a while, just talking about their days and their lives. San’s knows he should take it easy on the cider but he can’t help himself.
This is only the second time they’ve seen each other, the first being when the kid invited them to the other’s house.
“So you’re telling me that, you
also
had someone who fucked with genetics?”
“Yep. I even worked with her. Uh. Sort of. It’s a long story.”Dave takes a drink from his glass with the umbrella in it. “Fucking timelines man.”
San can’t do anything but nod, “Tell me about it. At least you didn’t have
Jerry
.”
San’s watches Dave go still, they’ve been at this for a while so he knows Dave is remembering events that didn’t and won’t happen. It’s just a couple seconds before he sneers and shivers, “Uh, gross. At least you didn’t have Equius.”
Flashes of grey skin, a broken orange horn, and similarly broken glasses flash through his mind. He can almost
feel
the sweat coming off the creature. He shakes his head slightly to come back to the current time.
“Now that’s gross.”Dave raises his glass to San’s before downing the rest of his drink, “Yep, the sweating is worse in person if you believe that. He’s somewhere out west training horses.”Another memory, sharp eyes and a blue hat.“With Nepeta?” Her name feels weird in his mouth and tries not to dwell on the fact he knows its a she.“Yep. Horses and cats. Which isn’t surprising for them.”San’s feels the laughter in his rib cage before his thought is fully together and shakes his head, “We better not let them meet Aaron.”A brief pause and a rather loud snort of laughter from Dave is finally what tips San’s over. He’s clutching his sides as he laughs and almost tips off the bar stool. Strider grabs his arm and keeps him up right, “Hey, slow your roll, you bag of bones.”Dave shakes his head and even with the minimal movement of his face San’s knows he smiling as he sits back down. He pushes the half glass of cider away from San before the skeleton can grab it. “Bro, I’m cutting you off. Papyrus would have my head if I let you have another one.”This flash is a little more painful, a volcano erupting, something going terribly wrong. A decapitated head of a friend being held high.A heavy hand on his shoulder brings him back, “Sorry. That was some bad wording on my part.”“Heh, don’t worry about it. It was going to come out some day. I’m sure you’ll get some bad flashes of everything soon enough.” He stops himself from saying their name, “The kid wasn’t exactly kind in most of my timelines.”Dave nods and lays money on the bar getting up from the stool, “Come on. We should start getting back.”San’s slides off the bar and shoves his hands into his jacket pockets. “Bro pestering you?”
The comment makes Dave snort, “Nah. John is though but I feel like if I don’t get back soon Bro might come looking and
nobody
wants that.”
The comment makes everything go sideways for a second. His HP is up and so is his LV. One second he’s in the bar, the next he’s back in Snowdin. Fear grips his soul as dust settles.
“
SANS!” Bosses voice rings out like a threat
.
A hand grips his shoulder and a soft voice is what brings him out of the memory, “Sans? You alright?”“Yeah, yeah. I’m alright. Just another bad memory.”Dave squeezes his shoulder before letting it drop, “If you need to talk about it just let me know. We can sit down and chill.”Sans nods for the first time actually taking the offer to heart. “Thanks. Same to you.”Strider nods and lets a rough chuckle out, “Thanks. Same time next week?”“Sounds like a plan.”They walk out of the bar and start the trek to the bus station, “Mind if I bring a friend?”Sans raises a brow at Dave, hoping he isn’t bringing Equius, “Depends on who it is?”“What’s the fun in that?”“Well if it’s going to be like that I’m bringing someone too.”