It had been a very difficult month for everyone: to say that Tabatha's other friends did not take the revelation of her stalker stepmother well was a severe understatement. Toriel had been shocked to her core, as had Asgore, but while the former queen's first instinct was to smother the young woman with affection, the monster king had immediately made contact with Joseph Strong to gather the details and see if there was anything he could do to increase her protection. Thankfully word hadn't gotten out to Undyne or Alphys yet—that would be a complete disaster. Out of everyone though, nobody was more concerned than Papyrus. He still went about his day as normally as possible, continued applying to colleges wherever he could, but he was preoccupied, prone to sitting in silence for lengths of time or outside of Tabatha's door when his brother was inside tending to her. He never let his stress show, but it was apparent to everyone that he was merely putting up a front so his human-friend wouldn't take notice.
But most surprising of all was when Sans had stopped by Grillby's to let the old fire elemental know why his star employee would have to take more time off. According to the short skeleton, he had taken the news quietly before deciding to ask why. When told that there had been an incident, the bartender had seemed to just let it be. To everyone's immense surprise, he had come to the skeleton brothers' home the next day to speak with Tabatha and even went so far as to prepare a proper meal for her while he listened to her story. Grillby had then given her an enchanted candle that, once lit, would ensure that he would be able to hear no matter the distance—just if she ever needed to talk to somebody who would just listen without comment.
All in all, despite the stress their human seemed to be doing better. The support of her friends was really seeming to help with her anxieties, though she often didn't dare come outside of her room when the windows were open, feeling too exposed otherwise. Papyrus had been an immense help in keeping her company, always ready to come upstairs should she call and delivering food thrice daily. Sans continued to monitor her Soul on the sly and was relieved when he saw that it was healing from the incident with her stepmother, albiet at a much slower rate than would be ideal.
It was a recovery in waves: some days were better than others. There were days where she would let Sans take a shortcut to Grillbys and she'd work a few hours under both his and Grillby's protection. There were also days where she wouldn't leave the bedroom and only would let the older of the skeleton brothers come in to check on her and use his magic to reassure her Soul that she was truly safe.
According to her Uncle, it had been more than three years since she'd seen her stepmom face to face and seeing her in the flesh had been the cause of this PTSD-type relapse. It wasn't the first time she'd suffered such a reaction to the trauma inflicted by all those years of constant emotional abuse, but there would be no telling how long she would take to recover and resume her usual cheerful outlook. He had mentioned, though, that he'd never seen her able to get up and about so soon after an incident before, so that was promising.
Of course the heart of the problem was the human herself: she refused to stop worrying. Even on good days, she was caught having bouts of anxiety, thinking about where her stepmother could be, what she was doing, how far she was going to go to find her or the skeleton brothers. On worse days, she would cling to Sans and Papyrus when they tried to leave the house, begging them to just stay in and be safe, to not risk getting tracked to work or to Frisk's school. Sometimes she barely seemed like the same woman they knew and cared about. Still, there were always the times when everything was almost normal—and those were the best days of all, the eye of the storm when they didn't have to worry.
"Ooh, somebody's out of the hoodie," Tabatha teased Sans from the couch. "Who you all dressed up for?"
"shut up," the stocky skeleton grumbled, a blue flush on his skull. He wasn't really dressed up, but he was wearing something different than his usual style choices: a nice cream sweater and jeans, a less beat-up pair of sneakers on his feet. "Mia just wanted to hang out."
"Pretty made-up for 'just a hangout'."
It was one of the human's better days again today, the third one this particular week: she had come downstairs and done the laundry of her own volition, through she still wore her pajamas and hadn't gotten up until ten in the morning. She wasn't glancing over her shoulder or out the windows compulsively either, meaning the paranoia was on the down-low as well. It didn't entirely erase the fresh memory of her sobbing for the better part of the night after a horrific nightmare, but the brothers were going to take what little they could get.
"i'll be back by six," Sans informed the young woman. "you need me before then, there's more than one way to get me."
"Have fun, ya bonehead," the brunette chuckled. "Tell her 'hi' from me."
"will do. see ya later Pap."
"GOODBYE BROTHER!" Papyrus called from the kitchen, not looking up from the spaghetti sauce he was making. "I WILL HAVE DINNER READY BY THE TIME YOU RETURN."
The door opened and closed, leaving the pair alone in silence. The tall skeleton released a breath that was entirely unnecessary but helped loosen the tension in his ribcage.
If anything had been more difficult this past than his best friend being rendered almost completely helpless, it was dealing with the onslaught of jealousy he'd been feeling towards his brother. Intellectually he knew that Sans was best qualified to look after her with her emotional and Soul-related problems, but that didn't help with his desire to be the one helping Tabatha, to be the one spending so much time with her.
"I AM ALMOST DONE WITH LUNCH, HUMAN TABATHA," he informed his friend. "WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO AFTERWARDS?"
"I was thinking we could keep on with Star Wars. We're on Attack of the Clones...we can eat while watching if you like."
"IT IS UP TO YOU, BUT I AM IN AGREEMENT!"
The last of the noodles were cooked as Tabatha jogged back upstairs to fetch the DVD. The lunch was plated and served as the disk was loaded and the brunette snuggled into the tall skeleton's lap, taking her plate from him. They ate and watched the drama unfold in silence, chuckling at the right times and giving the occasional remark.
"I always feel so sad at this part," the young woman sighed as Anakin knelt before Padme and confided that he had murdered a village of Tusken Raiders. "It's really the first time that it becomes apparent he's going to fall to the dark side."
"WHY? BECAUSE OF THE VIOLENCE?"
"Sort of, but more of why the violence occurred. Anakin loves very powerfully and as a result feels great pain when he loses those people. He channels that pain into anger to take it out on others...and slips away from the Jedi Code by letting his passions rule him. Not to mention that by losing others that he's loved, he just gets all the more determined to preserve the live of those he has left...no matter the cost."
The lanky monster did not reply to that, but instead cuddled his friend closer, as if in reassurance—though for whom it was not clear. When at long last the credits rolled, he loosened his tight grip around her body and allowed her to put the movie away in its case.
"TABATHA?" he dared ask, his voice low and tentative. When she glanced over with a grin, he continued. "SINCE TODAY IS ONE OF YOUR BETTER DAYS...I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT YOUR STEPBROTHER—IF YOU'RE ALRIGHT WITH THAT!"
"What about Gareth?" she questioned back, genuine interest in her tone. "And of course I don't mind; it'd actually be a relief to talk about him after so long."
Papyrus breathed out another unnecessary sigh of relief as the human settled into the cushions and leaned against him.
"DO YOU HAVE PICTURES OF HIM? I KNOW HE WOULD NOT HAVE ANY RESEMBLANCE TO YOU BECAUSE YOU DO NO SHARE BIRTH PARENTS..."
"Yeah, hold on..." Tabatha took out her phone and flicked through her photo gallery, stopping close to the bottom. "That's him, in the glasses."
Handing over the device, the tall monster gazed at the photograph. On the left was a much younger Tabatha, maybe twelve or so years of age and wearing a black hoodie with the hood up. At her side was a tall young man with shaggy blonde bangs and a bushy ponytail. His blue eyes were wide and shining behind the thick-framed glasses and there was an unmistakable spattering of freckles across his nose. His arm was around his stepsister's shoulder and he was waving at the picture-taker with a wild and happy abandon.
"SO...WHAT WAS HE LIKE?" Papyrus prompted.
"He was so sweet," Tabatha chuckled. "He was the one who introduced me to giving anonymous tips at restaurants and he always had something nice to say. Plus he never had anything negative to say, even when people were impolite to him. Kinda reminds me of you, to be honest. He had that neverending positivity..."
"SO DO YOU," the skeleton remarked.
"Well, I actually learned that from him. I was really shy as a kid and never spoke to anyone. Gareth helped get me out of my comfort zone and realize that people are generally good."
"HE WAS YOUR ROLE MODEL?"
"Isn't every big brother?"
"NYEH...TRUE," Papyrus murmured, thinking of Sans. How different would his life be if he hadn't had his brother there to encourage him?. "I AM SORRY THAT HE IS NO LONGER HERE—I WOULD VERY MUCH HAVE LIKED TO MEET HIM."
"The Great Papyrus meeting the Gentle Gareth?" Tabatha smiled at the thought. "World peace would be declared in a week with you two working together."
"DO YOU REALLY THINK SO?"
The brunette went to answer, but was cut off by a giant yawn. The trainee guardsman immediately leapt to his feet and picked his friend up and began to march upstairs, frantically apologizing for keeping her up and occupied when she clearly needed her rest, that her fragile human self needed to be tended to and she shouldn't be indulging the curious skeleton when it was time for her to rest—she hadn't slept very much last night after all.
The young woman had laughed at his antics, but allowed him to tuck her in and draw the curtains, calling him a worrywart and reminding him that she wasn't made of glass. She was asleep before fifteen minutes had passed. Papyrus returned to the kitchen to clean up his mess from cooking, but while his hands were working, so too was his mind—far too hard.
Tabatha said that Gareth was similar to him...did that mean she saw him as a brother-figure? Was he her newest best friend and nothing more? His Soul ached at the thought.
NO, DO NOT THINK SUCH THINGS, he told himself firmly. IT IS NOT THE RIGHT TIME FOR SUCH THINGS! TABATHA NEEDS KINDNESS AND SUPPORT, NOT A SUITOR!
BUT WHAT ABOUT AFTER SHE HAS RECOVERED? that other part of him suggested. Papyrus began to sweat a little. When had such...devious little voices entered his head? Devious voices with a very good point, he had to admit. But no, he couldn't afford to be selfish...even if that selflessness kept him securely in the friend-zone.
How odd. He had never thought of the friend zone as a bad thing before.
It was well after midnight when Tabatha awoke again, groggy and hungry. Daring a trip down the stairs, she found a plate of homemade pizza with a note that designated it as hers. Smiling , the young woman ate the cold food and put her dish in the dishwasher when she had finished. Carefully, she made her way back up to the second floor on the dark.
She decided to chance checking in on her housemates before going back to her own room, just to make sure they were both safe and sound. Sand was easy: she could hear him through the door and when she dared to peek, the vibrating lump of blankets was a telltale sign he wasn't going anywhere—it was like being wrapped in a straightjacket.
Tabatha was actually a little surprised to find Papyrus asleep in his room; she'd never caught him asleep before. It was almost cute seeing him curled up under the quilt, holding a pillow tightly to his chest. He didn't stir when she closed the door behind her, nor when she came across the floor.
The brunette smiled as she looked down at her friend's resting features. She knew how lucky she was to have him here to support her, knew how hard he worked to keep up his cheerful attitude despite how worried he was, despite how much effort it took to care for her. There were times she felt undeserving of his support, couldn't bear to see him, could hardly stand to look Sans in his eyesockets. How much was he willing to give when he had already given nearly everything?
"I really don't deserve you, Paps," she sighed. "Then again, I don't suppose anyone really does; you're too precious for this world."
As quietly as she could, the young woman leaned over and pressed her lips to the skeleton's brow bone. She knew it was poor repayment for what she cost him, but at this point there was little else she could give back.
What she didn't know as she closed the door behind her was that the sleeping monster's dreams had just taken a very pleasant shift.
And here it is! Sorry for being late again but...holidays. Hoped everyone had a good one, whatever you're celebrating!
UltimateGamer101: Did you like? *wiggles eyebrows*
TabbyCat: "Mans"? For some reason that makes me think of a shoe brand. And I don't remember why I chose the stepmom to be the crazy one. I just knew that it was her stepbrother who died when I first formulated Tabatha's story.
KHR-Yunalesca: Sans is so used to routine via the resets, new stuff makes him nervous because now there's no guarantees. Glad to know my big reveal still had some surprises left; I was worried I'd given it all away through half-mentioned hints. And yeah, her stepmom was pretty brutal, but that is the result of someone being so protective they get controlling.
Cranky Mesuinu: Thanks so much! It's been tricky to try and present that angle when all the source material is Paps being too adorable for his own good. And I'll have to think about those ship names—they're pretty good.
KING TEMMIE: o, I HOPe tEM iz dOIn' oKAYz in SChooL nOW! ANd Dream iz GlAD u liek da FIC! mAEk Dream ver hapPY!