Where most nights were haunted by night terrors that had Sans waking up in full on panic mode(and typically a few things on fire), tonight's dream was endless black. A void. It was a rare relief on nights like these. He wouldn't wake to a searing pain in his soul, his eyes wouldn't be blurred by endless waves of tears, he wouldn't be questioning his sanity the next time he opened his eyes.

In the darkness of this dream however, a light appeared. It was warm, and soft, like the how all of the monsters imagined the sun might look. And in that beautiful ray of sunshine sat a figure, curled in on themself like they were scared or hurt.

Sans instantly recognized them as Frisk and tried to call out to her, but he had no voice. Not even air passed through his teeth, just silence. Fear began to pulse through him and he tried to run to her, but every time he got within arms reach, she would stand and run away, the sunlight following her as she did. Even so, Sans continued to chase after her. She seemed so distraught and lonely, he couldn't just do nothing.

And then he heard it.

Her quiet sobbing filled his skull and it reverberated through every bone in his body. His soul echoed back the sound, getting louder with each hiccup and hitch of her breath. It filled him with guilt and dread.

He should be there to protect her, to hide her away from the things that terrorized her young mind, like he did Papyrus. But he hadn't, and now she was crumbling right before him, and he couldn't do anything to help her. 

Finally finding his voice, he called out to her.

Slowly, Frisk turned to face him, and he froze at the sight.

She was covered in blood, and in her hands was a skull..... His skull.

---

The sound of quiet sobbing jolted Sans from his normally deep sleep. His eye was blazing once more as he searched for the cause of the sound. When he finally found it, he tensed, his eyes returning to their normal white dots.

Frisk was crying on the other side of the couch, her face buried in her hands and her shoulders shaking softly. Did she have another nightmare? She'd had many when she was younger and came running to his room for comfort when they were especially bad. Back then he would hold her in his lap and rock her back and forth until she finally calmed down enough to tell him about it, and then, with a gentle round of reassuring her everything was alright, they would slide under his covers and go back to sleep.

However, it had been a while since she'd had one this emotionally crippling for her. 

" Frisk..," he whispered, starting to reach a hand out to her, but paused. She hadn't liked it when he'd touched her earlier, so what if that wasn't the right thing to do? What if she needed Paps more right now? After all, no one in Underground could disagree that Papyrus' hugs were the best. Maybe he should wake him up...

No, if that were the case, she wouldn't have come to him.

Ok.

Cautious, he placed a light hand on Frisk's shoulder and leaned a bit closer, but not too close. "Frisk? Hey, kiddo, what's wrong? Have another bad dream", he spoke gently.

He wasn't sure how to handle her right now. In the past, he would have instantly swept her into a hug, but now... He didn't know. He didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was, but he didn't know any other way to comfort her.

Screw it. He couldn't stand to see her like this.

Gently, slowly, he scooted next to her and wrapped his bony arms around her, gently pulling her into a soft embrace. He kept his arms loose enough that if she wanted to pull away, she could, but tight enough to make her feel safe.

" Hey now, what's wrong, kid? That bad? It's ok, you're awake now. It was just a dream, alright? See," he said, taking one of her fleshy hands in his boney one and holding it out in front of her.