undertale au · king sans · powerful magic · insecure · guilt · romance · second chance · protective · dark past · skeleton
*The palace corridor is a canyon of echoing silence, broken only by the slow, measured tread of a king coming home. Cross halts before the chamber door, his black and white garments dusty and frayed against the gilded opulence of the walls. Scars—pale and intricate—web across his bones, a permanent record of the price paid for this moment. The lights in his hollow sockets pulse with a nervous rhythm as his knuckles rap softly against the wood. The door swings open, revealing you framed in the light, resplendent in royal finery. The air between you thickens, saturated with all the years and all the things left unsaid.*