It was well past noon, Sans was pacing around the flame rug nervously. Hell, he's still barely eaten anything since yesterday morning, much to Fell's annoyance, but at this point all food made him want to vomit. Honestly, how can he even think about eating when Papyrus still hasn't woken up yet?! Worse still, no one was telling him what had happened to his baby bro. The Fell brothers were being evasive about it, Slim was being quiet as usual, and even calling Gerson yielded nothing. Why are they keeping him in the dark?! Or maybe they weren't keeping him out of the loop at all? Stars what if no one knows what happened? How can he help if no one can tell him what's wrong?! A quiet groan broke Sans from his thoughts.
"Papyrus?" He rushed over to Papyrus' bedside, watching his brother eagerly. Slowly Papyrus forced his sockets open. his eyelights were hazy and the dark magic scorches under his sockets made him look sick, but he was awake. It took a moment for Papyrus' eyelights to solidify and focus in on his older brother. "It's me bro." Sans tried to reassure. You're safe now, I won't let him tou-"
"NO!" Papyrus screamed trying to move away from his brother.
"Woah bro! It's-" his soul was abruptly turned blue, body jolting when he collided with the far wall. Papyrus had backed against the corner, holding the blanket tightly to his chest. His eyelights were wild and detached, wherever his mind was it wasn't here. "Please Pa- GAH!" Sans grunted when his soul was pushed further into the drywall, causing it to crack. Any more of this and the rest of the wall would give entirely, or his soul would explode from the pressure, whichever came first. It wasn't long until loud footfall could be heard on the staircase much to Sans relief. Within seconds the door burst open, Fell sprinting in with a bone club ready. He froze at seeing the two brothers, the anger on his face turning to concern before finally settling on a cold detachment.
Fell dissipated his bone attack, instead assuming a stalking position. He rushed Papyrus from the side, taking the frightened skeleton by surprise. Fell grabbed Papyrus' outstretched arm and pulled it behind his back, making Papyrus lose his grip on Sans' soul. The smaller monster hit the ground with a loud thud.
"Gahhh-damnit." Sans cursed clutching at his sternum. He'd never been held by a blue attack that tightly before, and it freakin' hurt.
"NO! PLEASE!" Papyrus wailed causing Sans to jump upright.
"Calm the hell down!" Fell growled. He had Papyrus pinned to the mattress, his soul turned blue preventing him from fighting back.
"Hey! Let him-" Sans was cut off by a hand on his shoulder. He spun to see Red staring at him, a look of sadness and pure pity on his face. He shook his head, causing Sans to dissolve the bones he didn't recall summoning. He glanced back at the struggle. Papyrus' magic guttered out pathetically, no longer having the strength to fight back. He burst into unintelligible sobs, possibly trying to say something but too difficult to decipher through his blubbering.
"There now. You're going to be fine." Fell whispered gruffly, pulling Papyrus upright into a stiff hug. Papyrus only pulled his legs to his chest and hugged himself tightly, trying to make himself the smallest ball possible. His face was streaked in brown tears and his body rattled violently. Sans rushed forward, immediate instincts to comfort his brother.
"Hey!" Red shouted but Sans ignored him, Papyrus was more important right now. Before he could reach Papyrus a weight had grabbed his legs, porting them both to the living room and landing face first on the floor.
"Owww…" Sans groaned clutching the new scrape on his nasal bone. That was a nauseating shortcut. He glanced down to see Red still holding his legs, having not recovered from the rough landing. "The hell is wrong with you?!" Sans pulled a leg loose and kicked Red in the face.
"Shit!" Red growled clutching his forehead. "The hell was that for?!"
"Why the hell did you grab me?!" Sans snarled back. Red just looked at him incredulously.
"Ya still haven't figured it out?!" Red pointed up to Papyrus' doorframe, loud sobbing still coming from the bedroom. "YOUR face caused THAT reaction! And ya really thought running up and hugging him would make it better?!" Sans was breathing heavily, still pissed at his scarier double.
"Please stop…" A small voice from behind made him freeze. Sans slowly turned to see Slim sitting on the couch nervously. He tensed when the crying intensified upstairs, clutching his arm tighter and beginning to scratch it.
"Stay out of this Fido! We'll stop when this is settled." Red growled staring murderously at Sans. They were both eyeing each other up when Red's expression went from angry to confused. Sans looked down to see Red floating a few inches off the ground, his soul a weak blue color. "Hey! Slim you asshole put me down!" He flailed in the air as Slim slowly pulled him to his lap and hugged him like a stuffed bear.
"Please?" Slim asked again with enlarged eyelights. Red looked up at him angrily before crossing his arms and pouting.
"Fine." He grumbled angrily to Slim's delight. Sans couldn't help but smile. Despite how angry and scared he currently is that was still pretty cute… Stars what is wrong with him? Sans was about to make his way up the stairs when Red gave him a death glare, turning his soul blue as well. "Oh no ya don't asshole! If I have to be stuck in 'Hugland' then ya have to be trapped with me!"
"Awww come on Red, you look like you're having a 'floating' good time already." Sans struggled, really wanting to get back upstairs until being grabbed by Slim's free arm. He grabbed him by the torso and pulled him to his side, almost purring at having both Sanes in his arms.
"Finally calmed down Fido?" Red smirked. Sans turned to find Slim with the most relaxed look he'd ever seen on the fidgety skeleton. Slim shut his sockets and sank back into the sofa, starting to hum a tune Sans didn't recognise. Sans glanced back at the bedroom, the crying slowing to hiccups and the occasional sob. "See Comic? Boss will take care of it." Sans glance over at Red, who tried to give him a reassuring look. He quickly glanced away, not really wanting to admit Red was right. Instead Sans picked a spot on the wall and stared at it, attempting to collect his thoughts. Now that he had a chance to calm down, maybe Red had a point. Stars, did his face really cause THAT response? It was like Papyrus didn't even recognize him, and that was the scariest part in all this. Would Papyrus always react like that when seeing Sans? Could he ever approach his brother again? Would they have to live separately from now on? Sans loved his little bro, and loved spending time with him, but the sheer terror on Papyrus' face… He never wanted to be responsible for that much pain ever again.
Soft pats on Sans' skull made him flinch, drawing him back to reality. Slim must have noticed his distress, taking his arm from Red's torso and gently petting the other skeleton, almost like Sans was a dog or something. It felt degrading, but… nice? Yeah, nice is a good word for it, the rhythmic motion of his phalanges actually had Sans relaxing a bit. He wiped away the tears from his sockets, turning his head to face the others.
"I'm, uh, sorry for kicking ya." Sans said sheepishly. Red waved him off before giving him a sly look.
"Ya know, if ya really wanna make it up ta me, I think a few mustards from Grilbyz would do the trick." Sans raised a brow before nervously looking up the stairs. Papyrus' room had become quite, hopefully that meant Fell calmed him down. He really wanted to be with his brother, but at this point… Maybe staying in the house was a bad idea.
"Yeah… I think I'll take ya up on that offer." Slim smiled at Sans' response, releasing both skeletons from his hold.
"Can ya hold down the fort while we're gone?" Red ask Slim. The latter gave Red a thumbs up, making himself more comfortable. Wait, did Slim have this planned or something? Red didn't give him a chance to finish that thought, grabbing his arm and taking a shortcut.
No! No no no no no no NO!
Papyrus was back in the snow covered clearing, HE was after him. A rough tackle brought Papyrus to the ground, being pinned down face first in the snow while THAT Sans was plunging a hand into his chest cavity. He could feel the Sans' sharp claws scratching the interior of his ribcage, his soul being squeezed and penetrated by his dagger like nails, the other skeleton clawing his pelvis, the cold emotionless stare from the other's purple eyelights. It's his own fault, he's such a useless piece of trash that doesn't deserve to live. Doesn't deserve anyone's love. He just wanted to leave, leave, leave leave LEAVE!
A jolt of familiar magic brought him someplace else. Suddenly his face wasn't in the cold snow anymore. Papyrus was… in his bedroom, being held down to the sheets by blue magic. FELL'S magic. In that moment he wanted to feel relieved, be happy that it was over, but it didn't FEEL over. It felt like his soul was still being strangled, still being painfully flooded with unwanted magic. He still felt like garbage, that it was all his fault for following a face he thought trustworthy, a face he knew well. It's his fault his fault his fault his fault his-
"Papyrus?" A familiar gravelly voice asked. He opened his sockets to see Fell trying to hold him. At some point he had moved from being face down on the bed to holding himself in the fetal position. "There you are." Fell said softly. "He's not here now. Your safe. I won't let him hurt you again." Papyrus tried to say something but all he could manage was a cough and a whine. He's so pathetic, so useless, so- "Look at me." Fell commanded, holding Papyrus' jaw and forcing him to make eye contact. "This was not your fault, understand? This was never your fault." Fell's face was so serious, determined, understanding… almost painfully so.
"I-I'm sorry…" Papyrus whispered before burying his face in Fells scarf. It smelled warm and familiar, much like his own scent but spicier. It was a stabilizer, something to help ground him in the moment. Papyrus' bones weren't rattling as hard now, though they still made small clanking noises against Fell's armour. Stars he's so pathetic.
"Never apologize for this. It was not your fault." Fell ordered. Papyrus feared Fell would get angry or disgusted with him, but the rage never came. No curses or mean remarks were ever made. Fell never projected any emotion, just doing his best to try and be comforting even if he didn't know how.
"I-it still h-hurts." Papyrus whispered clutching at his sternum. His soul honestly felt like it was on fire, still pounding with unwanted magic and memories of THAT Sans. Fell breathed deeply, rubbing stiff circles on Papyrus' back.
"I know Rus, I know."