Another Medium

Part I : "Surface Tension"

by RumonGray

day 184 on the surface

hey,

Reset hasn't happened yet, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. I love Frisk, I do, but I can't shake the feeling like the rug could be pulled out from under us, y'know? We only made it to the surface one time before, and it only lasted a day. Long enough for me to write about it anyway. That's fine, I didn't get my hopes up then, either.

Not really sleeping, either. Sleeping is when the nightmares happen, and last time I even woke Papyrus up. I think I'd rather be tired instead of having him worry about me. He's too cool for me to start dragging him down. I was hoping they'd stop, but then again, these dreams have nothing to do with Frisk or the resets.

I'm also starting to wonder if they're real or not. They're so clear that they don't feel like memories, because the resets caused those to be pretty fuzzy at times. It feels like they're happening now. Like they're not dreams at all.

Three paragraphs, huh? Way too much. I need a break. Later.

"SANS!"

Just like clockwork, Papyrus' melodic voice shrieked from the other side of Sans' bedroom door. Every morning, at the exact same time, in the exact same tone, with no deviation whatsoever. Regardless, the corners of Sans' eternal smile curled up just a bit more.

It smelled like socks and sunshine.

"three...two...one."

The door swung open just like it did every single day. Papyrus' hands on his bony hips as usual.

"LAZYBONES! HURRY UP! FRISK IS JUST ABOUT TO LEAVE FOR SCHOOL, AND IT IS OUR DUTY AS FRIENDS TO WISH THEM THE BEST DAY EVER AND TO WARN THEM TO NOT GET IN TROUBLE!"

"oh...mornin' bro. didn't hear you come in," Sans grinned wider.

"GREAT. NOW YOU HAVE A HEARING PROBLEM, TOO? OF COURSE, IF YOU'D GOTTEN SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS AN ALARM CLOCK, YOU WOULDN'T NEED ME TO WAKE UP UP EVERY MORNING!"

"sorry pap, guess i just couldn't find the time."

"WELL PERHAPS IF YOU'D-" Papyrus thought for a moment and then rolled his eyes. "OH, I SEE, WE'RE STARTING EARLY TODAY! GOOD TO KNOW! NYEH HEH HEH..."

"hah, i guess you're right. i'll meet ya downstairs, ok mom?"

"...ALRIGHT, JUST DON'T BE LATE. FRISK IS LEAVING IN...FIVE MINUTES." The skeleton slammed the door shut with all the gentleness that The Great Papyrus could muster, which meant of course that it shook the entire house.

Sans chuckled and stretched his limbs, kicking off the blanket that barely covered him anyway. Finally giving in to inevitability, he stood up and scooped his familiar blue jacket off the floor. Slipping on his untied shoes, he placed his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes to focus, only to vanish seconds later.

"SANS! HURRY UP!" Papyrus shouted up the stairs.

"right behind ya, bro," Sans smiled, leaning against the front door.

Papyrus jumped and spun around. "GAH! I WISH YOU'D STOP DOING THAT."

"hurry up, pap, we're gonna be late," Sans reminded, opening the door and stepping outside, his brother following shortly after. Papyrus stood diligently at the end of their neighbors' lawn, almost seeming to stand at attention. All that royal guard training shining through.

Sans watched the sunlight slowly move across the street, stretching and molding the shadows in its perfect, uniform fashion. He still wasn't used to seeing the sun at all, and on top of that, he found his mind wandering more today than most. He couldn't figure out if something was wrong, or if it was because of what he'd written in his journal the night before. For some reason, he felt the need to take stock of the situation, to make sure everything was in place like it was supposed to be.

The neighborhood was pretty much a quiet suburb, present skeleton brothers excepted. Since leaving the Underground, most of the monsters that did leave ended up migrating to the local city of Ebott, named for the mountain or...the other way around. It was a large enough city, but it was still fairly remote, which worked out great for this new development in human history, since the government officials still had no real big plan for revealing anything in the near future. Many other monsters decided to remain in the Underground, however, which made sense. Not everybody was ready for so much change in so short a time span.

Sans turned his attention to the row of small houses on the block. When everybody came here, they found a society that found money even more important than the monsters themselves did. Thankfully, GOLD was worth quite a lot of money on the surface, so a lot of the growing pains were alleviated immediately.

Around the middle of the lane he saw Alphys and Undyne's place, which was a bit bigger than most, if only so Alphys would have more space for her work. Since getting past the barrier, Alphys seemed more confident than usual, and resigned herself to finding ways that monsters could be of more help in the larger society that they were now joining. Her studies led her into developing technologies that took advantage of monsters' greatest and unique asset: their magic.

At the very very far end of the lane was where Asgore lived, alone. It stood out amongst most of the others for having an incredibly well-cultivated garden packed into such a small space. The other noticeable landmarks of the king's "domain" were rather early this morning: several black cars parked out front told Sans that government officials were already chatting and having tea with Asgore. As for Frisk being an ambassador, well, it was a nice sentiment, but Frisk was still a child, and children are rarely taken seriously in the human world, so Asgore accepted the responsibility. Sans mused whether he was doing it to make up for the mistakes he'd made as a king, and maybe as a husband.

"man, asgore's startin' early today, huh?"

Papyrus turned towards Asgore's home and nodded. "GUESS THAT MEANS UNDYNE'S THERE TOO. A ROYAL GUARD'S WORK IS NEVER DONE."

"well, she's not really a 'royal guard,' she's just acting as asgore's bodyguard in case something bad happens. probably won't but you never know."

"WELL, NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN WITH UNDYNE AROUND. SHE HAS THE FASTEST SUPLEX-AND-SIMULTANEOUS-NOOGIE ARMS OUT OF ALL OF US."

"yeah, i guess she's determined to keep ol' fluffybuns safe. oop-speaking of..."

The front door squeaked open slowly as Frisk stepped out, followed by Toriel, smiling as always. The child dashed forward, jumping in order to land defiantly in front of Papyrus, beaming him that patented smile. Papyrus scooped Frisk up, spinning around and drawing them in for a hug.

"WOWIE! ONE DAY YOU MIGHT BE AS GOOD A HUGGER AS THE GREAT PAPYRUS, RIGHT SANS?"

Sans chuckled. "well, they might have to 'bone up' on their technique first."

"SANS!"

Toriel immediately chortled.

"LADY ASGORE PLEASE DON'T ENCOURAGE THE SKELETON."

"Hah, I am sorry Papyrus, it is just that he really tickles my...funny-bone!"

"OH MY GOD!"

Papyrus set the human back down and placed his hands on their shoulders. "HUMAN FRIEND, IT IS IMPERITIVE THAT YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY. AND...PLEASE DON'T FOLLOW MY BROTHER'S EXAMPLE, OKAY?"

"yeah," Sans nodded, "follow papyrus' example and stay outta trouble. ready to go?"

Frisk nodded as Sans tussled their shaggy brown hair.

Toriel, not wanting to be left out, stepped forward as well. "Farewell, my child. Be good, won't you? And Sans, you be careful, too."

Sans grabbed Frisk's hand and placed his other hand in his pocket, turning to smile at his brother and friend. "don't worry, we're taking a shortcut," he winked.

And then they were gone.

Toriel gave a happy sigh. "I still don't know how he does that. It was a shock when he first showed me."

"SANS HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT, I THINK. IT WASN'T UNTIL RECENTLY THAT HE ACTUALLY...TOLD ME ABOUT IT THOUGH, BUT I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS WEIRD HOW HE WAS ABLE TO BE AT GRILLBY'S AS SOON AS HIS BREAKS STARTED."

"He really shouldn't go there so often, the food is horrible!"

"I AGREE. OOOH, LADY ASGORE, THAT REMINDS ME! SANS PICKED UP QUITE A LOT OF SPAGHETTI FROM THE MARKET THE OTHER DAY, AND I WAS THINKING OF MAKING A HUGE BATCH IF YOU AND FRISK WANTED TO COME OVER TONIGHT?"

"Oh, that's a splendid idea! I'll make some garlic bread to go with it!"

"GARLIC BREAD...? WITH SPAGHETTI?"

"Just trust me, they go well together. Just don't forget to pick up Sans from Grillby's so you two can pick up Frisk, okay?"

"OF COURSE! BUT FOR NOW, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, MUST GO ON PATROL. TAKE CARE!"

Toriel watched Papyrus jog away almost comically, and laughed warmly. "You too."

It smelled like morning dew and solace.

Sans' mid-morning to afternoon couch hibernation was going well. A half-empty bag of potato chips, a green couch, and a remote that was just barely in danger of falling on the floor. All he needed now was to not have any dreams, so perhaps he could truly get the sleep he wanted.

It smelled like the typical routine.

Images swirled in his head, once again the usual suspects. Fragments, pieces of timelines best left forgotten, others that could have been, but never were. This was usually when Sans would focus...well, focus as well as one could do once in dreamland. The result was both a boon and a curse, becoming lucid. He had all the control over himself that he wanted, but he couldn't control the one thing he wanted, the scenery.

He knew this house well. Snowdin, complete with a second Sans lying very still on the couch. His arms were crossed and he didn't seem to be moving, almost as if he were lying in state. It was a small shock, to be sure.

i'm dreaming. i'm dreaming, this is just the past. i'm not in snowdin anymore, i'm on the surface. this is a dream.

The dreamer looked over his past self with keen interest. His breathing was very slow, almost nonexistent, and his toothy smile was turned down slightly. He noticed that his arms seemed to be hiding something, covering some sort of lingering pain.

i remember this. this was the "reset" after the kid...after the kid killed everybody. papyrus told me that i was seemingly comatose for a week. he said that he could barely feel any sort of magic coming from me at all, he said he was so afraid he was going to lose me. that means that this is the reset when...

That's when Sans noticed something else. Sitting on the corner table was a vigilant, and terrified Papyrus. His gaze was fixed squarely on the couch-dweller's closed eyes, and he had to keep clasping his hands together to keep from shaking even more than he already was.

papyrus didn't tell me he watched me so intensely. he told me he didn't eat...or sleep. that's so messed up. i'm sorry papyrus i'm so sorry...

"p...pap..." Sans whispered

"SANS!" The skeleton bounded off the table like a puppy who's master had just come home. He knelt in front of the couch, wanting to scoop his brother up but holding back just in case. "SANS! OH SANS YOU'RE AWAKE! I'VE BEEN SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU AND SO HAS UNDYNE AND EVEN THE PATRONS AT GRILLBY'S WERE STARTING TO WOND-"

"hey...hey pap...slow down. breathe, please."

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO BREATHE, BROTHER! YOUR BREATHING WAS SO WEAK THAT IT WAS PRACTICALLY NON-EXISTENT."

"i...how long was i out?"

"ABOUT A WEEK. WELL, MORE LIKE SIX DAYS AND SOME HOURS BUT IT FELT LIKE A WEEK."

"you...did you watch over me the entire time? did you even eat?"

"NO! I DIDN'T EVEN SLEEP BECAUSE I NEEDED TO BE HERE. SANS...I COULDN'T EVEN FEEL YOUR MAGIC. I MEAN, I CAN NOW BECAUSE YOU ARE AWAKE BUT I WAS SO SCARED YOU WERE GOING TO 'FALL DOWN.'"

"i'm sorry," Sans uttered, rising up to a seated position and placing his hands on his brother's face. "i'm sorry pap, i don't know how i can ever make it up to you."

A teary-eyed Papyrus instinctively embraced Sans, giving small, and yet still great, sobs. For a brief moment, the two felt their magical fields begin to intertwine, which fed the same emotions into Sans, watering his eyes as well.

yeah...this was a moment all right. i don't ever want to see him like that again.

"SANS...I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, BUT PLEASE...I WANT YOU TO TELL ME. I WANT YOU TO TELL ME EVERYTHING. YOU'VE BEEN SO DIFFERENT AND IT WAS SO SUDDEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BROTHER WHO TOOK CARE OF ME? WHAT HAPPENED TO MAKE YOU SO...DISTANT? IT'S LIKE A SWITCH WAS FLIPPED AND SUDDENDLY YOUR LIGHTS WERE OFF."

"i...i don't think you'd believe me if i told you. papyrus...it's best you didn't know."

"DO YOU NOT TRUST ME?"

"no, it's not that, it's just..."

"DO YOU THINK I'M...TOO STUPID TO UNDERSTAND IT? YOU CAN TELL ME, I'VE...HEARD THAT BEFORE, EVEN IF IT WASN'T REALLY TRUE."

"no! i...okay, pap. you win. i'll tell you everything i can, but to do that, i need my journal. could you go get it? it's the book on my bed."

"OF COURSE! JUST...LAY HERE AND RELAX, I'LL GO GET IT!" Papyrus said. He gently laid his brother back down and wiped his eyes as he headed upstairs.

this was when i decided to tell him about all of this. about how the timelines were being reset, how i used my journal to keep track of them, and about how in some of those timelines...he didn't make it. i never told him it was because of frisk, but i did tell him of the timeline that happened previously, or at least, i told him what i could. i kinda rapidly scrawled that into my journal before, i guess, i stumbled downstairs and collapsed on the couch. no...before i...died?

pap actually understood a lot of what i was saying. there was a lot of hugging and crying, from him mostly. i told him that i'd repeated the same span of time dozens of times over, and that it just...wore me down. according to my journal, i started out with a strong drive to find out what it was, then i turned to sadness and despair, until i finally got here. i just didn't have it in me to really try feeling anything anymore. i told him that was why it seemed like i had changed overnight, because to him...i suppose i did. i still asked him not to tell anyone.

The dreamscape washed away, leaving sans in a void with his thoughts.

i told him all this because in the last timeline we...fought. we fought because i didn't want to tell him, and i'd never seen him be so angry and disappointed in me. and in that timeline i lost him...again. but this time i felt like i'd lost something even worse. i lost all of papyrus, not just his body. not just his attitude or his voice. i felt like i was losing his very existence.

i...also told him all of this because i knew another reset was coming, and he would just forget all of it anyway. how fitting, because this was the very last reset we've had. so now he knows. he just does and i...

CRUNCH.

Sans awoke to find himself on the floor, his bag of chips breaking his short fall. The afternoon sun forced him to squint a little as it forced its way into their house. He stood up and brushed the remaining crumbs on the floor, leaving the bag where it lay.

He sighed. "It's that late already, huh? I gotta get over to Grillby's."

He went to open the front door, and as he did, the knob turned on its own. It swung open to a very surprised Papyrus.

"...SANS?! YOU'RE NOT AT GRILLBY'S AT THIS HOUR?"

"heh, nope, guess i crashed on the couch again."

"WELL THAT MAKES THIS EASY, THEN! IT'S ALMOST TIME TO GO GET FRISK!"

Sans nodded, and paused. He closed the door and gave another heavy sigh.

"before, we go. hey, papyrus...do you remember what i told you? about the stuff i wrote about in my journal?"

Papyrus' face grew long. "YES...ABOUT THE TIMELINES. COULD WE...NOT TALK ABOUT THIS NOW? LOOK, IF YOU'RE STILL WORRIED ABOUT IT I CAN ASSURE YOU I HAVEN'T TOLD ANYBODY ELSE."

"it's not that...i just wanted to know."

"WHY?"

Sans re-opened the door and smiled a bit wider. "...wishful thinking i guess."

"O...KAY."

Sans gave a low chuckle. "c'mon, let's go get frisk, okay?"

"ALRIGHT."

Papyrus slammed the door shut and pulled out his house key, turning it in the lock with a barely audible "NYEH HEH HEH."

It smelled like bones and doubt and unconditional love.