The abrupt sound of loud clattering startled Papyrus just as he was about to drift into dreamland. His eye sockets flung open almost immediately and he sat up on the couch in the living room.

"What happened?!" he gasped. His mind was still fuzzy with sleep, so he wasn't able to choke back a cry. What had happened? Did someone break into the house? Did someone hurt his brother?

"Oops, sorry, Pap," he heard Sans apologize from the kitchen. He poked his head through the doorway to look over at his tired younger brother. "I lost my grip on the pots. Don't worry, nothing's broken."

"Sans..." Papyrus sighed, rubbing the rims of his eye sockets with the palm of his hands, trying to rub away sleep but was unsuccessful. "You have your pajamas on. Why don't you put them into good use and go to bed? It's almost midnight."

"I would, but there's just too much cleaning to do, and you know how much I hate waking up to a dirty house. Besides, maybe if a certain brother weren't so lazy you wouldn't be waking up to my cleaning."

Papyrus heaved a heavy sigh and worked his way up into a sitting position, grunting in the process. He slouched in his sitting position, his eye sockets half closed as sleep was still threatening to overtake him. "Please, brother, just go to sleep."

"I can't, everything has to be clean before I go to bed!" Sans argued. "The sink needs to be disinfected, the cabinets need to be organized, the floor needs to be swept and mopped, the leftover tacos from dinner tonight need to be put up... There's just too much to do!"

"Bro, please..." Papyrus groaned tiredly. "Just go to sleep and worry about all that stuff tomorrow, please. I've had a long day."

"A long day of doing nothing at your sentry station," Sans huffed. "You know, as the older brother, I'm doing my absolute best to inspire and motivate you to actually get off your backbone and do some work, especially when it comes to all those twenty-some jobs you claim to have. Spending time at Muffet's isn't doing anything for you but get you fat and lazy off of that spaghetti sauce."

Papyrus found himself chuckling as a result of annoyance. He didn't mind his older brother's constant nagging of his lazy habits, but when he was tired it was very irritating. "Okay, bro, you can stop now, I get the picture. Look, just go to bed and I'll take care of everything in the morning."

"Yeah, right!"

"If it means getting you to sleep so that I can get to sleep, I'll do it."

"Sorry, but I don't believe you. Look, I'll be finished in a few hours anyway, so just be patient. Watch some NTT or something if you can't fall asleep."

Papyrus narrowed his eyes in annoyance and rubbed the bridge of his nose. His frustrated frown suddenly transformed into a sneaky smirk, and he sat up before patting the couch cushion next to him. "Hey, bro, I have an idea. C'mon over here and sit down."

"Um... Okay." Confusion etched across his face, the older brother walked over to the couch and sat down on it next to his brother. "What's up-Oof!"

He let out a surprised grunt as the younger brother picked him up and placed him in his lap, allowing him to lay down in his arms. Sans looked up at Papyrus, eye sockets narrowed in suspicion. "What are you doing?"

"Just wanted to help you relax a bit," Papyrus chuckled nonchalantly. "Perhaps I can help you fall asleep sooner."

Before Sans had a chance to object, Papyrus placed his hand on his round belly and began to rub it. The magic creating the pudginess stood its ground against the pressure, and Sans found himself relaxing to the gentle and soothing motions.

Soon enough, the older brother allowed his muscles - or lack thereof - to relax, and he splayed out in a heap of pure bliss on Papyrus' lap, breathing calmly and contently as a tired smile stretched across his face.

Papyrus chuckled as his gentle smile suddenly stretched into a devious smirk, and as he rubbed he arched his fingers a bit so the tips scraped gently against his belly.

Not expecting this, Sans let out a squeak as he was yanked back into reality. He squirmed a bit as his grin grew wider, and he was trying to choke back snickers and giggles.

"H-Hey, Pap!" he gasped. "B-Be careful! You know how s-sensitive my belly is!"

"I'm just helping you grow tired," Papyrus grinned mischievously. "Even if it means having to tickle your funny bone." As Sans snorted at the pun, he dug his fingertips into his soft belly and began skittering them around.

Sans' eyes widened as he let out a loud gasp of alarm before being thrown into hysterical laughter and thrashing. His belly was extremely ticklish, and he couldn't stand even half a minute of being tickled before being driven completely insane.

"P-PAPYRUS!" the older brother cried out, his legs kicking out wildly behind him. "MWEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA! ST-STOP THAHAHAHAHAT!"

"Nope, you're not tired yet," Papyrus snickered. He continued to tickle and reached his other arm around his hysterical brother to tickle the side of his belly, causing him to squeal and laugh harder.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! O-OKAY, OKAY, THAHAHAHAHAT'S ENOUGH!"

The younger brother chuckled, choosing to ignore him, and continued his tickle onslaught. At this point, the poor skeleton squirming on top of him was thrashing every which way as he cackled uncontrollably. Tears began to fall down his bright blue cheeks. He had to admit, his brother looked pretty cute being tickled like this.

"Now for a little something extra." The younger brother inhaled before blowing a raspberry on Sans' belly. Despite having no lips, magic alone was what allowed him and his brother both to perform such an act amongst various others.

Sans' eyes widened in shock as his grin stretched from cheekbone to cheekbone, and he let out a shriek of laughter. "OH, MY GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAWD! PLEASE STOP, PAPYHYHYHYHYRUS! I-I-IHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!"

"Hehehe, tickle tickle, brother," Papyrus chuckled as he blew more raspberries, causing Sans to squeal loudly with each one, every once in a while snorting loudly whenever he fell into borderline silent laughter as a result of not being able to catch his breath. Sans tried to push Papyrus' head away from his belly, though he found his strength was failing him greatly as he was weakened by his uncontrollable laughter. Whenever this would happen, Papyrus would just tickle the sides of his belly to activate his reflexes in pinning his arms against his sides to block out the tickles.

"P-PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE, BROTHER!" Sans wailed, slamming his socked feet down against the couch cushions. "MEHEHEHEHEHEHERCYYYYY!"

"Will you go to sleep now?" Papyrus asked before blowing another raspberry.

"OKAY, OKA-EEEEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHE! I'LL GO TO SLEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEEP! PLEEEEEEEEASE!"

"And you'll let me sleep in peace?"

"YEEEEEES! PAPYRUS, PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE! I'M BEHEHEHEHEGGING YOU TO STAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAP!"

"Very well, see to it you keep your word." With one final raspberry and yet another wail of hysteria from Sans, Papyrus stopped tickling. He snickered as his older brother panted heavily, struggling to regain his breath, as his body went limp with exhaustion.

"Y-You're so gonna get it..." Sans huffed, glaring tiredly up at his younger brother, before closing his eyes. In moments, overwhelmed with the exhaustion of crying, thrashing, and laughing, he began to snore.

Papyrus' cheeky smirk was replaced with a kind smile, and he was careful not to stir his sleeping brother as he picked him up and carried him to his room. He placed Sans in his bed and tucked him in before patting his head softly, who in turn smiled softly in his sleep.

"Good night, brother," Papyrus whispered before quietly leaving and closing the door. He stretched his arms upward as he yawned; now that that was over with he could finally get some actual sleep.