Yes hello I am a smoll person who needs many feels and many things to happen aka comfort fics. Its gonna resolve around all the characters helping you out. The topics may vary, etc, etc. This is what some of my attacks feel like, so I'm sorry if its not that accurate for you and I promise i'll make it as accurate as possible. It may feel a bit rushed but there were some moments I couldn't describe the feeling of (also no one really comforted me so I feel like I didn't portray it that well. I'll change it if necessary) Please Enjoy. (And yes, the chapter name is, in fact, a pun.)
Your anxiety attack started after your day out with Undyne and Alphy.
Of course, it had been a normal day so far. You both decided to head out downtown of the city you all settled down in, walking down to the cute little pier to watch the waves of the bay ripple under the sun. Alphy looked slightly uncomfortable with being outside, always fidgeting with her cute white dress (they had gone dress shopping earlier. You were happy about it) and looking around uncomfortably.
After all, due to being monsters, people were skeptical of them, and would judge them first hand with their appearance. So, she was uncomfortable with eyes on her after that. Undyne, however, didn't give a care. She wore a black sportsbra, due to the heat, and cargo pants and boots. Her hair was in its normal high ponytail, and she was laughing and grinning, sometimes shooting glares at people staring at them too long. You?
You were simply you.
You talked with them a long time, eventually Undyne hoisted you up on her shoulders as she was walking due to you falling behind a little. You didn't mind.
After their day at the pier, you all began to set home. That's when you noticed the tightness in your chest.
Of course, the people looking had made you uncomfortable, especially when they they stared at you on Undyne's shoulders. You felt uneasy and uncomfortable, but you refused to let it get to you. You had almost forgotten in happened, with how much fun the three of you were having. So why was your chest tightening at the mere thought of it?
You shrugged, rotating your shoulders as you rested against Undyne's head, running a hand through her hair. She seemed to enjoy it when you did that, but refused to show it, as you couldn't take your mind off of today.
C'mon, kid. Lighten up...You grit your teeth slightly. Where was this feeling coming from? You felt this way before, for sure, but not because of some strangers looking at you. Get it together!
You were so lost in thought, silently beating yourself up and telling yourself you were stronger than that, that you hadn't noticed the monsters stopping in front of your house. You got snapped out of your thoughts, looking down as Undyne grabbed you with surprised gentleness, picking you up and off of her shoulders before setting you on the ground.
"Hey, Punk. We gotta get going. I gotta go kick Alphy's butt at this new game we got." Alphy looked startled. "Gah, well, metaphorically? I mean?" You smiled at the two. How cute.
You waved at them, holding your fingers up in sign language, bringing your index and middle finger in front of your eyes before pointing out then down, signing 'see you later'.
Thankfully, the lessons that you were giving them seemed to pay off. They smiled, nodding before waving.
"H-have fun, Frisk!"
You stuck your fist out to them, sticking your thumb and pinky out to say 'same.' While it wasn't 'you too', Undyne took it as the same thing. Or she just really like that sign. It might've reminded her of those surfer guys, or a telephone, or...something you didn't know what. But she knew it, at least, as she gave you the signature large grin of her's before walking off back down the street.
You turned, reaching for the doorknob, turning it and walking inside. Toriel was in the kitchen, looking up as you walked in. She smiled warmly at you. "Hello, Frisk!" You waved, smiling and voicing a small hello to her. She seemed pleased as she walked over, pulling you into a warm hug.
You loved her hugs. The small tightness lessened a little.
"How was your day downtown?"
You placed your right hand to your mouth, holding out your other hand before placing your right hand on top of your left, palm up. 'Good.'
"Oh, that's lovely, dear!" Thankfully, Toriel was an expert at learning Sign language, however didn't sign back that often. Sometimes they would play games, signing to eachother more complicated things while everyone wondered what they were doing. Except Sans. For some reason, he practiced even more than both of you, signalling he was probably really into it.
You glanced over to what she was making. Mmm...butterscotch pie...spahgetti...a burger and a tray of fries...wait.
You looked over, placing your right hand to your temple before bringing it down, using an upside down 'same' like before, tilting your head slightly before looking at the extra food. She glanced over her shoulder, before smiling.
"Oh! Sans and Papyrus are coming over. I know Papyus loves spahgetti, and Sans...he told me anything greasy was good." You nodded in understanding. You hand up your right hand face up, thumb turned inwards, before lowering your pinky and ring, crossing your middle and index finger, before returning to the same position before. 'brb.'
You turn, hopping up the stairs to your room. Once inside, you shut the door, looking over at yourself in the mirror.
Same old frisk. You smiled, but felt the tightness returned as your breathing got shaky. You sat down in front of the mirror, watching yourself as you took big, long breaths to chill out, the sunset fading over Mt. Ebott in the distance as it casted a golden color in your room. You relaxed more, and more, and more. The peaceful chime of birds, and the wind chime outside, and the distant sound of cars, started to relax you as the tightness, for the second time, slipped away a little bit.
Thus, once you were better, you pulled out your sign language book, and started practicing to yourself in the mirror. Walk. Come. Go. Dance. Sing. Okay. Goodbye. Hello. Sorry. What is your name? How are you? Are you okay? Do you need help? You moved your hands slowly, getting each basic stroke correct, before getting more complicated. I am alright. Do you want to go eat? Are you hungry? My name is... My day was great! I am very happy. You smiled, getting those right, too, even though they were a mix of some of the others. You didn't mind, it wasn't that complicated.
You turned when you heard the loud sound of Papyrus at the doorway. You expression brightened as you ran downstairs, spotting the two skeletons as they walked into the house.
"THANK YOU HAVING US OVER, TORIEL!" Papyrus yelled, even though technically it wasn't that much yelling for him. It was just how he spoke.
"'sup, Tori." Sans spoke in his mellowed out tone. Gosh, those two were exact opposites. San's eyes focused on you, and you felt a pang in your chest. What..? "hey, kid! it's been a while." You signed a quick hello to both of them as Papyrus turned.
"AH! HUMAN! SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!" The tightness returned at his yelling. But why? You have heard his yelling many times before. What was so different? You smiled at him, walking over and held out your arms. In return, Papyrus scooped you up and gave you a hug.
"woah, bro. don't give them that much of a bone crushing hug, okay?"
Papyrus nearly dropped you. You couldn't help but smile as you hugged him briefly, before he set you down. You turned to Sans, and held out your arms as well. He seemed pleased, pulling you into a short hug, before Toriel ushered you all into the dining room.
Once setting out the food, you all sat. Sans and you had to sit in stools to reach the table. Papyrus and Toriel had to hunch to eat. It felt like home, but...
The tightness was increasing in your chest.
You started to pick at some of the fries you grabbed, before going to twirl the spahgetti on your fork. Slowly, you felt the tightness grow, causing you to frown and focus on your breathing. Flashes of today, all the looks people gave you, entered your mind. Flashes of days before, getting picked on. Flashes of you suddenly being the center of attention. Flashes to Sans' face, his pupils gone, as he told you the words 'you'd be dead where you stand', that night they went out to dinner. Flashes of Toriel's look of hurt, and sadness, when you hugged her before leaving the ruins. Papyrus..? He didn't give you looks, but he sure embarrassed you a few times, and those seemed to attack you. Slowly, you raised the fork full of spahgetti to your mouth, making sure you breathed through your nose as you chewed, yet tried to be quiet about it.
No one seemed to notice.
Papyrus was almost teary eyed at the spaghetti. "OH TORIEL! YOU MUST TEACH ME THIS RECIPE. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM TRULY AMAZED." You flinched at the yelling, as it seemed to echo in your eardrums. Toriel's response came louder than normal...or was that just you?
"Of course, Papyrus. You and Frisk can help me cook some time." She beamed, before looking at Sans. "Sans, you can be the taste tester, if you want or you can come join us."
Sans looked over at you. His expression faltered, pupil shrinking a second, before turning normal. Did you see things? He showed no sign of any shocked reaction, as he turned to Toriel. "sounds fun."
You took a few deeper breaths, their voices practically ringing in your ears, louder than normal as it echoed. The clatter of silverwear, the shifting of weight, the sound of chewing plus your own breathing soon started to become too much, as if echoed louder and louder in your head. Your hands started shaking, and you hid them under the table, unable to eat anymore anyways. Toriel noticed, signing a quick 'are you okay?'
You shook your head slightly, patting your stomach before keeping your index and thumb together, as if holding a grape. 'No, stomach hurts slightly.' Toriel looked troubled at this. You looked at the skeletons, who noticed this small dispute. Sans was staring at you, Papyrus was looking confused more than anything. The big guy was horrible at signing...but you didn't dare tell him that.
You held up your hands to them, signing 'be right back' to them, which Papyrus at least understood. Then, you hopped off your stool (with slight difficulty) before going upstairs to your room.
And then you crumbled.
Your breath quickened, and each one got shorter, as you felt dark spots in your vision. You mentally screamed at yourself, trying to calm your breathing, but it wasn't working. You couldn't feel your fingers at all, slowly becoming numb, as you began to wheeze. You shook horribly as thoughts got thrown into your head. The looks of disappointment, of anger, of annoyance or judgement towards you, even if it was small, all came rushing to you as you started feeling smaller and smaller.
Looking around, the room seemed to get bigger around you, no warm glow from the sun to give you a peaceful aura. The darkness loomed in, all around you, and you fall back, pulling your knees to your chest as tears began to prick at your eyes. You couldn't feel your hands or feet, you couldn't stop shaking, you couldn't breath. Your chest hurt. Your heart hurt. Your body hurt.
You tried your best to take deeper breaths, but began choking, breathing staggering and wavering horribly. You curled tighter into yourself as the shadows seemed to move in your room, dark spots forming in your vision from the lack of air. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
b
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e
a
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h
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But you couldn't. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't get the air in.
That's when someone opened your door to reveal you in full glory of panic.
You could barely see the person, and yet there was a faint blue glow to help you. You looked up, blood running cold as you saw sans.
His grin was gone. One eye became bright blue, and was wide. He stood there, shocked for a moment at your wheezing, trembling state on the ground, a mixture of horror and astonishment on his face...and fear.
"oh, kid!" His voice rose a fraction as he quickly crouched to you. You choked, trying to gasp for air as tears streamed down your face. You were trembling worse and worse, your chest hurting more and more, your shaking increasing and increasing as bony hands grabbed your shoulders. There was thumping as you heard people come up the stairs, probably Toriel and Papyrus, as you heard a few gasps.
"Oh, child!" That was Toriel. You heard her rush forward, but sans looked over and she stopped.
"don't crowd her. it makes it worse."
You spluttered, coughing as you felt your vision blacken more and more. "kid. kid! hey, look at me, look at me a second." You tried to blink away the tears, fighting the darkness threatening to close around you, forcing yourself to look at sans.
His eye was glowing brightly, his hands shaking. You realized that he was scared.
"look at my eye kid. you see that? see how its glowing?" As he said it, it seemed to go from brighter, to darker, almost completely gone, before slowly lighting up again in a slow pattern. "yea, that's it kid. wanna know something? you're amazing, okay? you mean so much to us, alright? you need to breathe. follow how its glowing, okay? breathe in time with it. try and get some air into your lungs, k?" You spluttered, trying to nod, as you focused on his eye. Everything else was so dark, it was hard to see, but that remained.
It slowly faded, before reappearing slowly. Off, and on...off, and on...in...out...in...out. "lemme tell you something, kid. i had a friend, a pal i would meet at grillby's back underground. know somethin? they had attacks, like these, all the time." The soft hum in his voice, followed by the glow, slowly began to calm you. You felt like it was impossible to breathe, but slowly your lungs expanded, a little tiny more each time. It was slow, painfully slow, like you were inhaling nails. "hey, look at me." You noticed you were looking off, and slowly starting to choke and breath abnormally again. "they were awfully quiet and shy because of it. too much attention would send them into a fit of panic, yea? they didn't wanna open up or talk it out, but i got them too. you know what? they were an amazing person, smart and funny, but they got judged a lot, yeah? they were almost as funny as you, as i would put it. you gotta fight this, kiddo. i can't keep leaving you breathless every time i visit, okay?" You couldn't help but smile at the pun. "yea, see, there's that beautiful smile, kid. that's what im talking about." You focused intently on his words, the low hum of his voice, the light in his eyes.
"when i was little, tiny baby bones, i had attacks like these. it was like i was inhaling nails. i would have them sometimes, and sometimes even as i'm older i have them. its something we need to learn to deal with, yeah? these attacks, called anxiety attacks...they can be some nasty stuff. for me? it gets hard to breathe, and i cant stop thinking of bad stuff. its real hard to deal with, but it makes you stronger and stronger each time. wanna know something, kid? you're super strong for this. you're so strong, you give Undyne a bad rep. you're the strongest person i know, okay? you took things head on and didn't give up. which means, you can't give up here. fight to breathe, kid. you're doing just fine."
You hand't noticed it, since you were so focused on his words, but you slowly had begun to calm down. The world had stopped spinning. The darkness cleared slightly. Sure, your chest still hurt, but you could take deeper breaths. Not as deep as before, but still long enough for your lungs not to burn. You looked at sans closely. His eye continued glowing, even after you were mainly calmed down, and you realized that't probably the longest you've heard him talk in a while. You sniffled, pulling away slightly to rub your nose on your sleeve for a second, before throwing your arms around him in a tight hug.
"Thank you...Thank you..." You whisper, though it sounded croaky.
He hummed quietly, wrapping his arms around you, and saying nothing as you listened to him breathe. It was weird, since skeletons didn't need to breathe, but he seemed to do it naturally and on habit. You fount yourself following his breaths, mimicking his breathing, until it was fully better for you, but even then you stayed in his arms.
You felt relaxed, and at peace. You closed your eyes, feeling a strong sense of relief flood through you.
You both stayed like that for a long time, Toriel and Papyrus standing in the doorway quietly, looking relieved. Sans was the first one to let go. He held you at arm's length, studying you with his normal eyes. "you okay, kid? can i get you anything? do you want us to sleep over? i can call Undyne and Alphy. if Toriel is okay with it, maybe even Asgore?" You knew Toriel wouldn't be okay with it, but nodded at the first two. Then, you brought your three middle fingers up, placing them to your lips in a verticle manner so only your index finger touched your lips. 'water'.
Papyrus ran downstairs immediately when Toriel whispered what you signed. You looked over at her, and she rushed over, fussing as she hugged you tightly. Her fur was so soft...you yawned, hugging her tightly as she kissed the top of your head. "Oh, my child. I was so worried, I was so scared. I sent Sans after you, in case something happened, and when he sounded so startled when he saw you, i feared the worst." She rubbed your back, and you were grateful for her presence. Papyrus ran in, holding the pitcher and a cup of water, and he quickly filled it in front of everyone before handing the cup to you.
You drank quickly. Oh, your throat was so dried up...
"woah now, don't drown." Sans spoke up. You lightly hit his shoulder after Toriel released you.
"AHEM...AH...HUMAN, I WILL DO THE HONORS OF CALLED UNDYNE AND ALPHY OVER. WE SHALL HAVE A SPLENDID SLUMBER PARTY!" Slumber, indeed. You noticed how tired you were, eyes drooping slightly. Sans rested a hand on your shoulder, patting it gently.
"we're all gonna be here for you, kid."
"Indeed. Please do not hesitate to tell us if something is wrong, okay? We care so much about you."
"SOMEONE WHO IS AS COOL AS YOU DESERVES A LOT OF DETENTION, LIKE I DO."
You smiled. Surely, your family was the greatest family you ever deserved.