You'd decided it would be better to leave him alone. You'd spent the rest of the night away from them─── Not too far away that you couldn't be reached, but left sitting just a little outside of Sans' lab. You'd been like this for hours - sitting in the snow with your bloody crutch rested against the wall.

You hugged yourself── The cold nipping at your skin, and quickly, you were left shivering.

It was the middle of the night, and the temperature wasn't growing any kinder. The town had become a place of silence ──── No monsters. No talking. No lights. Nothing. Whether Frisk had driven them away, or plain slaughtered them all - there was no way of telling. The place no longer held any life, and now, with Papyrus injured ───── There was a sadness here like nothing else.

You sniffed, rubbing your hands together and trying to keep warm ─
Eventually, you hear a pair of footsteps trudge in the snow, followed by a lazy slump against the wall, just a little further away from you.

"he's dreaming," his voice was blunt, but relieved. Sans stared into space just as deeply as you did ─── You don't look at him. You just nod.

White eyes eventually look over to you with a turn of his head─── Hands stuffed to his pockets, he lets out a breath, "you cold?"

Again, you nodded.

You don't watch him── You just keep looking ahead. You felt the shame - and while you needed to talk to explain what had happened, you couldn't right now. His words were harsh, and you couldn't get the image of him crying out of your head──── Hearing his voice crack in your head over, and over, there was something about seeing him crumble right infront of you that contrasted watching it on a screen so powerfully.

Eventually, you're given something. Stuffed in your face was the fluffy coat he usually adorned over his shoulders, "take it."

It's now, you look over with wide eyes─── Brows arched, before more tears bead at the corners of your lids, you shake your head and whimper. You couldn't talk, and you see his brows furrow as the tears line your cheeks. You shuffle a little bit away, sniffling to yourself - you.. couldn't.

Your eyes squeeze tight. Papyrus looked so broken─── He pleaded to keep you safe, didn't he?
"hey ─" he just wanted you to be okay, and you caused this mess. You should have been closer ─── You should have fought for him, like he fought for you.

You feel something against your arm── A light shake.
"kid - " your head snaps and you see his own, "you're not thinkin' about how i snapped at-"

It was funny that he seemed so composed, but when things diverged from his plan ─── He often was left stumbling even over his own words. He wasn't equipped for difficult things - Sans just wanted things to be simple... for things to feel simple.

He didn't know how to help someone when they cried.

"it didn't leave a mark, did -" without thinking, he tilts your jaw up to see angry red lines - almost immediately, he tried to make the situation seem better than what it was, "i mean - it's better than your..."

Your brows furrow, and for a moment your lip curls───
But you say nothing, hugging yourself tighter─ Looking back away to the snow piled by the empty buildings.

"kid.."

You feel something nudge against one of your hands─── felt. Warm, coarse felt─ Your eyes squint back to him, and he pushes his jacket a little harder against your hand, "can ya.. gimme a bit of a hand here - "

"-don't make me feel bonely."
It's then that you shift─── Letting out a huff against the chilled air, you finally talk, "──Won't you get cold?"

You run your fingers over the fur ─ It was soft.. tickling your skin.

You could hear the relief in his voice as you finally began to talk, "nah - skeletons don't have skin. go on, take it," another nudge of the coat, "y'need it."

It's with a purse of your lips, you finally take it── Slinging it over your shoulders and burrying your face into the plush material. It was huge on you - It being a little large on Sans meant that you were practically sinking into it.

But it was warm ─── It was so warm. It felt nice─ It hugged you just like your mother used to.
You look back over to Sans, just sitting there in his t-shirt against the cold weather - you naturally wanted to feel sorry for him.. but perhaps it was better to take his word.

The first thing you say is pathetic, and in truth─ It leaves his hands squeezing against his knees,
"───I didn't mean to hurt him."

There's a pause looming over the both of you─── He wanted to say many things, but he knew better. Sans was a man of many secrets, and the longer you knew - it was becoming easily a matter of both what he said, and what he refused to.

Eventually, looking to his slippers, he huffs too, "i know you didn't."

Your eyes widen ─── He.. He thought..
"──You mean.. you know I didn't── That I don't..."

"you've been trying hard, haven't you?"

The question was direct, but in the end ─── Had you really noticed?

"I've just been trying to make things okay."

"you have."

"But what about what I did?"

"i'm still angry about it - and 'yer not exactly above consequence," the skeleton sighs─── Before kneading his fingers to the back of his neck, "but i still value the effort you've been placing in. i'm not going to be a prick about it if you're tryin' t'make things right."

He looks over, "'yer just a kid, after all. it's in 'yer job description to mess up, right?"

And then that grin cocks, "───even if it's a big mess up."

Your brows furrow, and you look down to your feet. He made it sound so easy─── But in the end, he was just an easygoing guy, wasn't he? He wasn't made of cruelty, nor was he made of forgiveness. He was the judge of this world, and judgement was always subject to change.

During your neutral runs, he'd shown you patience───
And now, he showed you more.

"an' i guess i messed up too," there's a chuckle from the happy skeleton─── giving his stomach a pat as he stretched out, looking up to the sky above, "i shouldn't have done that to ya when you've been tryin' so hard - fair enough?"

There's a pause. You let him continue,

"i'm not the best at keeping my cool - as much as it seems like i am a professional at this.
when you involve my little bro, things do get unnecessarily complicated.

but that's not an excuse - and sayin' what i said wasn't the best way to go about it, just like what you did wasn't the best way to go about... whatever happened in 'yer little head."

He tilts his head up, giving you a happy wink of his socket, "so how about we say it's even for now? we can go back to tearin' at each other's throats when this is all over - but 'fer now, let's just take care of what's goin' on."

You pause, holding to his jacket as silence takes over you. Lowering your head, you feel your hair kiss against your cheeks - This was a difficult place, but it's when things were peaceful, that you learned to cherish the moments. You didn't have anywhere to save, or anywhere to hide─── All you had were the seconds passing by, and whether they were chaotic, or heavenly.. It was never to be properly decided.

So for now, you let the both of you have this moment's peace. Tilting your head back against the wall, you feel your eyes slowly lull, "How long does it take for Frisk to recover their save?" you ask, voice droning as you grew more tired.

"it varies. sometimes it takes a few seconds - and other times, it can take weeks.
depends on how brutal the attack was."

You take in a deep inhale, letting your body run lax, "I hope they take a while."

Slowly, you begin to fall asleep, "I want to at least have two legs to kick them with.. y'know..?"

As you drift off, the skeleton lets out a light chuckle. You were so frail── You tried to act tough, but when it came to it, you were pretty damn fragile. You'd fallen asleep right in the middle of the snow── With nothing but a jacket to keep you warm.

"yeah, i know."

But regardless, he smiles. Picking himself up─── He scoops you up, tossing you to his shoulder. With a rattle of his keys as you snore lightly on his shoulder, the door to his lab opens up, and you're placed in a comfy seat across from his workbench.

He'll keep you here for the night - at least then, you won't wake up with a cold.

Quietly, he pulls out tools, and materials ── Hammering away back again.

"sleep tight, kid."