You paused, giving the perfect chance for the short skeleton to teleport away. He didn't take it. Sans was frozen as he looked at you, wide-eyed. You felt a slight strain in your chest, wondering if he was afraid that you caught him like this, or if he was just simply afraid of you. Samus looked at you, and you could swear that you saw her tighten her grip on Sans' arm bones.
"We haven't spoken, and… we need to." You said quietly, forcibly relaxing your shoulders when you realized you were still tense and ready to chase him. He didn't respond. You bit your lip and looked around before finally letting go of the door handle and sitting on the edge of the bed. Sans shifted his weight on his feet but continued standing.
"I…" You sighed, running a hand through your hair and letting it stay in there for a while. "I hate fights. Ours especially landed on a bad note, and I need you to know that I'm not some cold-blooded murderer." You stated flatly and dropped your hand to your lap, not making eye contact. You saw Sans flinch a little at that from the corner of your eye. Silence hung in the air for another moment, only making you more anxious.
"N-no. I know you aren't." Sans finally spoke, relaxing his stance. You waited for him to say more, but you just heard his mouth open and close some more. He didn't know where to begin. You decided to give the conversation from before another go.
"Humans are… dangerous. Look at any history we have and that much is clear. We don't have claws or magic of our own, so we make knives and guns instead." You coughed. "But what makes us human is that it is our choice to use them." You quickly added, making sure you didn't drive him away like last time. You still had trouble looking at him, so you just kept your eyes to the floor.
"That's why training is so important to me. One, I don't want to rely on weapons to protect myself. Two, someone won't always be there to protect me." You quickly listed off, voice speeding up ever so slightly. "When you tried to control me and tell me that I couldn't train…" You looked at your hands, flexing the fingers a little and trying to release your nerves. "It just-humans don't like being controlled. We like choices. When people push us to do things we tend to shove back."
Silence.
You opened your mouth to try again, feeling more stressed about the silence, but thankfully, finally, Sans spoke up. "I… I think I understand that now. I was-I mean… I'm sorry." His voice was a bit shaky, but he was talking at least. He brought his arm with Samus up to his chest, using his free hand to rub up and down her scales. "It's just… I've already lost so much… I was too worried about losing you too. And when you said the whole 'humans are the strongest monsters' thing, I just…" His sentence trailed off. He took a breath. "I'm sorry about… everything."
"I get that you were worried about me, and I thank you for that, but I don't think… I don't think we'll work out if you think I am yours to tell what to do." The words left your mouth before you realized what you were saying. Sans' breath caught.
"Is this… are we… breaking up?" Sans asked, voice low. Your heart tightened. Even after that fight and avoiding each other for days… he still considered you two a thing? Air was harder to breathe suddenly.
"…I don't know." You still couldn't look him in the eyes, damn it. You really didn't know. You liked him, you really did, but what you said was true. You weren't about to be controlled for sake of a relationship. "I need some time alone." You stood up.
Sans stumbled over his words a bit, stepping forward. "B-before you go… are you okay?" The question caught you off guard. You turned and faced him, seeing that he was looking a bit distressed at your body. You realized you still haven't changed out of your grass-stained, torn up clothing from yesterday's training with Flowey.
"Just intense training. I'm fine." You answered plainly, feeling even crummier at how concerned he was. He nodded, looking away from you.
"Right. Well… good luck." He stammered. "Just… be safe, alright?" He asked, eyes sad. "That's not me trying to control you or anything, I just… I worry. Don't be afraid to hit me up if you ever need anything."
Your throat tightened and you nodded quietly, turning away before your cheeks got too hot. "I'll try."
.
You ended up going back to Flowey's clearing later that same day, once you got cleaned up and took a nap. You set up a backpack of clothes and food this time. Who knew how intense this might be. Flowey was more than shocked to see you again so soon, but you didn't say much when you walked in. You simply headed to the willow, set your bag beside the trunk, and sat on the bed of flowers you previously slept on. Normally you'd feel concerned about destroying the beautiful flowers, but it seemed like these flowers in the clearing didn't have to worry about that. All of the destruction from yesterday was nearly non-existent, and you only noticed younger flowers in certain areas because you were looking. Probably had something to do with a sentient flower living here.
"Is… everything alright?" Flowey asked, appearing once more beside you. You leaned your head back against the bark of the willow tree, closing your eyes and taking a breath.
"I don't know. I just… don't know." You lamely stated, motioning vaguely with your hands. Flowey tilted his head at you. You looked at the flower, not sure exactly how much you trusted it. "Flowey?"
"Yes?" He jumped.
"How much can I trust you?" You asked. Might as well get straight to the point.
He looked startled. "Uh… I mean, I learned my lesson from yesterday if that's what you mean. I'll stop when you tell me to, and try not to go over the top…" He stumbled over his words a bit. Hm. With how flustered he was, it was easy to accept it as the truth.
"You said I should rest today, but I feel… restless. Let's do a small training session, alright? Just basic easy stuff to distract me." You requested. The flower nodded quickly, looking ready to duck into the ground. "But remember," you started, making him pause. "If I say I'm done, we are done." You locked eyes with him in the 'or else I'll burn this entire place down on you' way. He nodded again before disappearing underground. You sighed heavily, stretching a moment before standing up. Checking your pockets you felt the two rectangles, more for self-assurance than anything else. Taking a few steps away from the willow, you pulled your arms across your chest, focusing on getting pumped up. "Alright, start."
No sooner had the words left your mouth had the ground shifted under you, making you jump and roll out of the way. "Sorry flowers." You mumble, brushing them off and standing. More vines appeared, darting this way and that, though you found it immensely easier to deal with during the daylight.
Slide to the left, jump to the right, duck, roll, dodge. It went on for a while before you got tired of the simplicity. "You don't have to go so easy on me." You proclaimed to the vines, jumping over one that swiped at your feet.
"Sorry." Flowey's voice said from under you, catching you off guard. You looked down just in time for a vine to fly up, effectively punching you right in the jaw. You fell back on your rear, hands flying to your mouth and pressing hard. Ow. "Whoops, I thought you were ready for that." He popped up, tilting his head. You couldn't tell if he was actually sorry about it though. You were going to give him a piece of your mind, but your jaw disagreed about opening at the moment. "Are you done?" Flowey asked. You shook your head, using one hand to get ready to stand up. "Then I'll just keep going."
Vines wrapped around your ankles and tugged at you, causing you to yelp. Your arms immediately tried grabbing at the ground, but the grass and flowers were too smooth to get a good grip. You were lifted up, and you found yourself hanging upside down close to the willow. Flowey appeared in front of you, turning his head nearly all the way around to face you like you were right side up.
"I realized you were right to question your Soul earlier. Most monsters will in fact use it against you." You felt your chest tighten, and out your Soul popped. Just the smallest bit of white was seen at the top of it, but other than that it looked perfectly fine.
"Wh- what?!" The vines holding you suddenly loosened, nearly dropping you. You shrieked, bringing your hands to above your head to protect you from the fall, but another vine wrapped around one of your arms, stabilizing you. "What happened to your Soul!?" Flowey asked, and you couldn't help but to laugh at that reaction. He look so shocked, it even looked honest.
"What do you mean, 'what happened?'" You huffed. "You happened. Your seed broke my soul." How didn't he know that?
"I overheard Smiley Trashbag and Alphys talking about something about one of my seeds… but this…" A thin vine reached towards your Soul, making you nervous. "What did they-"
"I'd rather if you didn't-" You started, but your sentence turned into a scream in your throat as the vine touched your Soul, pain racing across your entire body. Your shaky eyes focused on your Soul, seeing that it looked like it was being branded white by the vine.
The vines holding you up released you and you collapsed onto the ground, body shaking. You felt your breath going too fast as you got onto your hands and knees, snatching your Soul out of the air. You could feel your fingers ghost along your body, but thank goodness it didn't hurt. You pressed the Soul against your chest to shove it back in, but it simply squished against it. "Come on…" You muttered, pressing harder.
"Calm down! I'm sorry, I should have asked permission first, but just calm down!" Flowey popped up in front of you. You jumped back, breathing hard and shielding your Soul with your hands. He didn't move. You waited a moment, waiting for him to try something else, but he just held his leaves out and looked worried.
You took a deep breath. He made a mistake. It's okay. You are okay. You swallowed, inhaled, and… The Soul seeped back inside of you, assaulting you with the bright colors and powerful scents around you. You gasped, leaning forward again on your hands. Where you ever going to get used to that?
"I'm sorry. I forgot you folks with Souls need to give permission about that kind of thing-" Flowey backed up a little, curling into himself. Your pocket vibrated, cutting off Flowey's apology.
Your shaky hand quickly pulled out your phone, seeing [vertebae]. [what was that? are you okay?]
He must have felt it too, you figure. You quickly tap in a response, depending more on autocorrect that you would have liked. [Training, sorry. I'm good.] You bit your lip and hit send. You took a moment to settle the rest of your shakiness, looking up to see Flowey still looking concerned.
"You just…" You sighed and sat properly on the ground. "One; explain the seed, and I might forgive you for that. Two; explain the Soul thing, and don't do that again." You demanded.
"The seed?" He looked confused. "I… I really don't know about that. It was a plain old attack, honest! I never even heard of anything like what Alphys was describing ever happening before…" He kept looking at the ground. "The reason it hurt when I touched your Soul however… that was because you didn't give me permission. Your Soul assumed it was an attack since it wasn't wanted." Flowey's leaves folded into each other, apparently a flower's equivalent to hands tying themselves into knots. "I-I mean, if the intent was malicious the result will hurt if you give them permission or not, but even if someone means well… if you don't want it, it can still do a lot of harm." Flowey explained more, swallowing and sinking even further down into the dirt.
"… Okay."
"Okay?" Flowey looked up, shocked and relieved.
"You explained yourself, and I trust you. I forgive you, Flowey." You spoke. His eyes widened slightly, before a small smile crossed his face and he nodded. "But for now… I think I need to go home. Thank you for training with me. And for the Soul lesson." You smiled at the flower, and it slowly grinned back.
You stood up and grabbed your backpack, and headed out of the clearing.
The edge of the clearing where the rest of the trees gathered was nearly impossible to see through at this point. Vines and overgrowth were thick, flowers blocking little visibility that you would have been able to see from the park in the first place. You shrugged to yourself, pushing your way through. You finally got to the sidewalk of the park, looked back to see perfectly fine woods, and turned just in time to bump into someone wearing blue.
"Ooph!" Sans grunted, dropping his phone and a paper bag he was holding. "Sorry, I-" He looked up, startling when he noticed it was you. "Oh! Hey…" He looked confused.
"Hey! Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." You quickly bent down and picked up the bag and phone for him. You noticed there was already another dent in the paper bag, like it fell before.
"I thought you were training?" Sans asked, accepting the items, he looked you over and glanced past you, towards the trees.
"Was, but I decided I had enough for today." You shrugged nonchalantly, turning and starting to walk down the sidewalk. After a couple steps you realized Sans wasn't walking with you, so you looked back at him. He seemed shocked, but quickly caught up and started walking with you.
"You… okay?"
"Just a bit banged up."
"Here," he reached into his bag, pulling out a pumpkin cookie. "Spider baked goods never fail to patch you up." He smiled a little. You felt yourself smile a bit and accept the cookie.
.
The two of you walked towards your apartment, not saying much but it didn't feel awkward at all. It felt… nice. He didn't comment on your grass stains, or say anything against training. Instead he was just simply walking with you, throwing you an almost genuine smile every so often.
"I'm glad I ended up bumping into you. Heh. I was worried you'd be stuck in the weather coming up." Sans bit into his own cookie, waving it up to the clouds. There were a lot of them, but you wouldn't have thought anything of it. Thankfully you were pretty close to your apartment now, so there wasn't anything to worry about.
"Storm coming?" You asked, rubbing the corners of your mouth to make sure you didn't have any more crumbs stuck to them. You basically inhaled those cookies Sans handed to you, they were just too good.
"Oh yeah, big warning on the TV said in two hours. Mostly high winds and rain, you know how it goes." He rubbed the back of his head. You laughed, pulling the keys to your apartment out of your pocket and spinning them around your finger.
"Oh man, good thing then-" Sharp pressure appeared at your throat, cutting off your words. The keys slipped from your finger and clanged onto the ground.
"Told'ya they'd eventually come back." A not-so-familiar voice said beside your ear, grabbing you from behind and pressing the knife even harder against your neck. Warmth trickled down to your chest.
A flare of blue caught your attention as Sans dropped the bag of baked goods, though he froze when a metallic click was heard. "Ah ah! Not so fast, monster!" You strained to turn your eyes enough to see a man in a grey jacket step out of the shadowy alleyway, half of his face looking like he survived a wildfire. His nose was broken. He held a dark gun pointed straight at your chest, smile growing on the good half of his face. "You so much as wave a finger and I'll fill your exquisite partner here full of lead." The Human Pride leader smiled. Sans' pin lights darted between you and the gun, as if trying to judge how fast he'd be able to react.
"Now I'm not exactly a hard guy to please. I just want some LOVE is all. Shame you had to wreck my beautiful face, now ain't it?" Another man came out of nowhere, grabbing Sans from behind. He tried to jerk away, only to have the man punch across his face, driving him to the ground. "Ah! What did I just tell you?" The leader yelled, stepping forward.
"I dare you to move, buddy." He leered, looking down at Sans and cocking the gun, still pointed at you. Sans's hands tightened into fists on the ground, but he didn't move. He kept his eyes on you. "Now there's a good monster. Here's what's up." The leader motioned with his free hand, and the man behind Sans yanked the skeleton to his feet, holding his arms behind him.
"You are going to take everything we dish out, and if you do anything, my man splits your pretty pet's neck wide open. Capiche?" The leader smiled, not waiting for an answer before swinging his foot at Sans' leg, a sickening crack greeting it. His knee bent at an unnatural angle as he collapsed onto his good leg, screaming out. "Thats a good monster." The leader snickered. He slammed his boot into Sans' chest, and you heard the unmistakable sound of ribs snapping.
You screamed and pulled at the grip holding you back, only to have the knife bite deeper into your throat. "S-stop! Please!" Your voice strained, but the leader didn't look like he heard you. Sans was shaking on his hands and knees, eyes brimming with pained tears. He looked almost… confused?
A hand grabbed Sans' hood, yanking him back and making him face the leader on his knees. "Now, a monster like you… As powerful as you are, I'm sure you've got plenty of EXP. I'm almost sorry I went after that other one before you." He leveled the gun to Sans' head. "But hey, he'll make a good snack when I'm finished here." Sans' eyes widened and he jerked forward to do something, only to have his head jolt back, a new black hole appearing in his forehead.
The blue in his eye flared for just a split second before it blew out like a flame. Your mouth was open and you heard yourself screaming, throat getting painfully tight before you were dropped. One of your hands grabbed at your throat, immediately becoming soaking with warmth. The other pressed against the ground, barely able to hold you up.
Your eyes couldn't leave Sans' body as it collapsed, clothing suddenly acting as if the body beneath them really was just a skeleton, as if there was nothing solid between the cloth and bone. You tried to reach out, tried to touch his expressionless face, but you could only watch in horror as the bones crumbled into a grey dust.
"'Ey boys! Would you check this out? The pet bares their Soul at the monster's death!" The leader laughed and you couldn't help but to look down at it. Your Soul hung heavily in front of your chest, the band around it fading to white before breaking off. The rest of your soul looked like it was bleeding white, just the edges of the bottom faintly red. It wasn't enough. The crack down the center split even further throughout the Soul, and the last thing you saw was it breaking apart.
.
.
.
[RESET]