Chapter Three: Worries and Journal Entries
The snow had stopped falling by morning. Sans watched the lights flicker on throughout the town, their soft electric light slowly brightening the dark room.
It was unthinkable that Sans was awake at this time, but he had nothing better to do. Worries and nightmares chased him even when asleep, his mind replaying his death over and over again in whispered mockery.
Some final resort Sans had been. Killed by a cheap trick; that was all he amounted to. Somehow, Sans wasn't as surprised at his failure as he would have hoped. Sans could faintly recall the kid dodging each of his attacks with ease, a bright white smile bobbing through the dim caves.
The kid must have practiced.
Sans groaned, wishing he had access to the fridge. He didn't know if Papyrus still kept ketchup around, but at this point even three-month-old ketchup would be acceptable.
A door upstairs swung open, and Sans' white pupils snapped upwards as he traced his brother's movements. Papyrus stretched with a yawn and shambled downstairs, surprisingly tired for the chipper skeleton's usual morning bird self.
Papyrus reached the living room and froze at the sight of Sans, rubbing his eyes and blinking once. "OH! YOU'RE STILL HERE!" He said in puzzled delight.
"where did ya think i'd do? petal my way out of here?" Sans asked, quirking an eyebrow. "i don't own a bike."
Papyrus scratched his head, looking sheepish. "NO, NO, I JUST. I'D GOTTEN USED TO HAVING THE HOUSE EMPTY SO I KIND OF FORGOT YOU WERE…"
"it's fine, buddy. happens to all of us," Sans told him. He returned his gaze to the window; a few monsters were stepping outside and getting started with their day. "did you sleep well?"
"YES! OF COURSE I DID!" Papyrus assured him, quickly walking past Sans to busy himself in the kitchen.
That was odd. It wasn't like Papyrus to run from a topic. Sans watched his brother's back as he washed last night's dishes and sighed, understanding all too well what was happening. "you… you don't have to do that."
"DO WHAT? CLEANING? IT'S NO TROUBLE! I LIKE DOING IT!" Papyrus replied, puzzled.
"no, not that…look," Sans looked away. "you don't have to lie to me, okay? if you don't feel well or whatever, then it's fine to tell me. you don't have to pretend; contrary to my appearance, i promise not to go repeating whatever ya tell me to other people."
"O-OH. …IS IT THAT OBVIOUS?"
"yup."
"I SEE."
The two returned to silence. Finally Papyrus spoke, carefully, hesitantly, testing each word he said.
"I DIDN'T. DIDN'T SLEEP WELL." Papyrus' voice wavered for a moment. He set the dishes down with a clatter, walking back to the sofa and sitting next to Sans. "I SLEPT PRETTY HORRIBLY, ACTUALLY."
"you work as a sentry, right? i'm sure your boss would understand if ya slacked for one day and just took a nap," Sans said quietly, reaching out one of his leaves. It barely brushed against Papyrus' arm.
"NO! I CAN'T WORRY HER ANYMORE THAN I ALREADY HAVE!" Papyrus argued, his hands tightening as he clutched the edge of his nightshirt. His voice cracked once more, and Papyrus kept shaking his head furiously from side to side. "IT'S FINE. I HAVE ENOUGH HP THAT NOT SLEEPING ISN'T THAT DRASTIC OF AN ISSUE FOR ME. I DON'T NEED TO STOCK UP ON ANY EXTRA. MY SPAGHETTI IS ENOUGH TO KEEP ME GOING!"
Sans frowned, studying Papyrus. "that's not healthy. i'm sure skeletons can go without sleep just fine physically, but mentally? it's a bad idea."
"I'M FINE," Papyrus protested again. "EVEN ON A NORMAL DAY I ONLY REST FOR ABOUT FOUR HOURS. CUTTING THAT DOWN TO ONE OR TWO ISN'T THAT BAD."
Sans' frown deepened. He sighed. "you don't sound fine, papyrus."
Papyrus didn't reply, instead staring fixedly down at his hands. Then he shrugged. "I'M SURE I'LL BE BETTER IN A LITTLE BIT. THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS STANDS BACK UP, AFTER ALL, NYE-HEH. HEH…"
The awkwardness of the situation persisted; Sans' gaze returned to the window.
"welp. it's stopped snowing outside, and it's been fun, but would you mind setting me down outside? i think i need to get going," Sans finally spoke.
"SO SOON?"
"sorry. i have to go."
"W-WELL THEN, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL SEE YOU OFF SAFELY!" Papyrus said, reaching for the bowl. Sans watched his brother pick him up and take him outside, finally setting the bowl down in the snow. "IS THAT GOOD?"
"yup. perfect." Sans nodded and waved a leaf at Papyrus. "thanks, paps."
"NO PROBLEM! IT WAS MY PLEASURE!" Papyrus said. He frowned suddenly, staring at Sans unhappily. "BUT… I NEVER THOUGHT OF A NAME FOR YOU LIKE I PROMISED."
"nah, i thought of a good one."
"OH! WHAT IS IT, THEN?"
"well, since you saved me and really uh, inspired the whole name thing, i thought i'd name myself petalton. like, uh, a skeleton but flower-wise."
Papyrus' face went blank for a split second, and then he blanched, covering his face with one hand. "OH MY GOD. YOU- YOU- YOU'RE JUST AS BAD AS MY BROTHER WAS!" For once, sadness didn't shadow the word brother, and Sans laughed softly.
"thanks for the compliment."
Papyrus scowled even as his mouth curled into a smile, but this time he didn't stop it. "WILL I SEE YOU AGAIN?"
"uh," Sans said, fumbling with his words. Originally he had planned to call it over, but Papyrus had smiled again. And he clearly still wasn't over Sans enough to live completely on his own yet. Maybe Sans could still do something for his brother after all. A feeling Sans couldn't place filled him, a cold feeling that didn't reflect the situation at all, but Sans ignored it. "y-yup. i'll be around, buddy."
"GREAT! WOWIE, I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL UNDYNE THERE ARE TALKING ECHO FLOWERS! SEE YOU AROUND P-PETALTON!" Papyrus stumbled over Sans' fake name, then he waved and went back into the house.
Sans waited a moment and then took a shortcut, bowl and all, to his lab.
.
journal entry #437
if you're reading this, then thank god the kid reset.
once more, i think i'll reiterate what i wrote in #436, the last time around this happened: kill the human on sight. it doesn't matter if they're being kind and loving to monsters or not; they are dangerous.
papyrus is fine this run… mostly. emotionally, i'm concerned about 'em.
currently unknown causes have resulted in resurrection after death; the little brat managed to kill me early on the last run. i was fooled by an innocent act and stabbed near waterfall's sentry station.
not sure why, but somehow, i woke up as an echo flower similar to the entity called "flowey."
the kid… i think the human left the underground. if this affects the resets or not has yet to be seen.
chances of reversing my strange condition are looking pretty bleak, anyways. i'm not sure what to do with myself for once, so i guess sleeping will have to do. at least i don't have work anymore.
anyways. this has been a petaltasticly weird run, and i'm going to go looking for ketchup and try and figure out how you can prevent this from happening. good luck, buddy.
.
Next, Sans found Undyne wondering Waterfall Caves.
Sans had been poking his head up every so often to scan the perimeter for the tall woman, relieved to once again be in the welcome climate of Waterfall Caves. Here, he blended in much better; he merely closed his eyes if a monster happened to wander too close for Sans' comfort.
After an hour of fruitless searching, however, Sans sighed. Maybe the guardswoman wasn't around today. Just his luck.
He turned to leave, and the water beside him flickered, his reflection staring back up at him. Sans jerked, startled, before staring back down at it. He was a fairly nondescript echo flower, he realized, but his smile and eyes looked similar to his old body's. He was also a slightly lighter shade of blue, although it was nearly unnoticeable unless under close inspection. Two leaves, darker than his petals, sprouted from near the base of his stem.
Sans' eyes narrowed, and he resisted the childish urge to knock something into the water to scatter his reflection into hundreds of ripples. He sat there, another wave of tired apathy washing over him, when heavy footsteps distracted him.
Undyne, clad in shiny armor and tramping across the Caves, was passing by. She seemed preoccupied with her thoughts, but Sans paid it no mind. This was more important.
"hey, you're head of the royal guard right?" Sans piped up as she passed. Undyne halted, her visor tilting as she searched her surroundings, hand raising as if she was considering summoning a spear. Upon seeing no one but the few echo flowers, Undyne sighed.
"Is one of the kids playing a prank on me with the echo flowers again?" She groused, but there was no harsh bite to her tone. "Don't they have anything better to do?"
"nah, it's not a prank. i promise, from my own tulips," Sans commented, popping up in front of Undyne.
Instantly she jumped backwards, skidding away and summoning blue spears which immediately locked onto his location.
Sans raised his leaves, grinning up at Undyne. "woah, no need for that. just here to talk, that's all."
Undyne's eye narrowed, and she allowed her grip on the spear to relax some although it remained in her hands, glowing a pale blue hue. "What the hell?" Undyne opened her mouth once, and then shut it, studying Sans for a long moment. "Since when could Echo Flowers talk? Or move?" She finally asked.
"eh, it's not important." Sans moved forward, roots tugging him easily through the soil. Undyne didn't move, just shifted her grip on the spear and eyed him warily. "just wanted to have a chat about one of your guards."
"One of my guards? Who?"
Sans grinned, pleased to be getting his way. "papyrus. the tall skeleton, with the red scarf? he's in snowdin-"
"Yes, yes, I know who Papyrus is," interjected Undyne. "What about him?"
"i uh, bumped into him yesterday." Sans said. "he's not doing so hot. partially because he lives in Snowdin, but also… he told me he isn't sleeping. like, at all. and if i'm not mistaken, that's pretty bad for even skeletons to do, right?"
Undyne jerked, startled. "Wha- he… he told you this?"
"yup."
Undyne's spear vanished with a flare of light, and she stalked past Sans as she started pacing. "That idiot! He said he was doing fine two days ago, what in the world is he thinking?! No wonder his attacks seem weaker even when he begged me to make him stronger again two months ago!"
Sans watched, a small prick of relief flooding into his system. The apathetic feeling finally withdrew a little bit. "so you'll sort this out? do something 'bout it?"
"Of course!" Undyne snapped. "That idiotic little… if he wasn't alright he should have just told me!"
"he doesn't seem like the type to want to burden others," Sans said quietly. "…welp. that's all i had to say, so see ya around."
"Wait! Who are you? Why did you tell me this?" Undyne called, but Sans had already vanished back into the soil as if he had been a mirage the entire time.
From the shadows, he watched as Undyne looked around in frustration before storming off towards Snowdin. He sighed, relieved. He was sure Undyne at least could take care of Papyrus now that she knew he needed the help.
The next step, Sans supposed, was to gather information. Even when the world reset, this would all be for naught if this pattern repeated. Better figure out what happened now and give himself a heads up so he could prevent it in another time.
Sans turned and dove underground again, swiftly tunneling back towards the very spot where he woke up two days ago.
A/N: Sorry for the delay! I was pretty busy lately, so I didn't have a lot of time to write.
Betaed as usual by FlightlessTree~
Beta Notes: Another great chapter-I'm so curious to see how Sans gets to the bottom of this!