Sans made his way down the stairs, gathering himself so he wouldn't break down when he saw Pap alive, something that happened frequently the reset after a genocide run.
Then there was the thing he was always grateful for, that he was the kind of skeleton with a permanent smile. It made it much easier to hide the way he felt.
He saw his brother bustling around in the kitchen, setting two plates of spaghetti on the table. "hey, bro," Sans walked over to him, "how hungry do you think i am? i may be so thin you can see my ribs but i don't need that much."
"THEY'RE NOT BOTH FOR YOU," Papyrus blatantly ignored his little joke, "ONE'S FOR ME. I WAITED SO WE COULD EAT TOGETHER."
"oh," Sans gave him what he hoped was a lazy grin, "you didn't have to wait up for me, bro. it's probably 'pasta' your time to get to work."
"SANS, NO," Papyrus took his place at the table, tapping his feet on the floor as he waited for his brother to join him, "BESIDES, I DON'T HAVE WORK TODAY. I JUST HAVE TRAINING WITH UNDYNE."
"right," Sans pushed the spaghetti around the plate with his fork, "i forgot it was that time of the week."
"IT IS ALRIGHT BROTHER," Papyrus grinned, "I KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE AS GREAT A MEMORY AS MINE."
"nobody has as great a memory as you," Sans complimented him absentmindedly.
"I KNOW THIS SANS," Papyrus acknowledged, "BUT I ACTUALLY HAVE A QUESTION I WANTED TO ASK YOU."
"what's up pap?"
"DID YOU... HAVE A NIGHTMARE LAST NIGHT?"
Sans nearly dropped his fork as his eyes darted up to Papyrus' face, "what do you mean?"
"WELL, I JUST HEARD SOME WEIRD NOISES LAST NIGHT," Papyrus looked slightly sheepish, "AND IT SOUNDED LIKE IT CAME FROM YOUR ROOM, AND UM- I PEEKED IN AT YOU AND YOU WERE TOSSING AND TURNING QUITE A BIT. BUT WHEN I ASKED YOU IF YOU WERE OK YOU JUST MUMBLED FOR ME TO GO AWAY."
"yeah, i'm fine," he focused on the spaghetti again, "i guess my bones were sore from so much time in bed."
"SANS..." Papyrus hesitated a little, "YOU'RE HIDING SOMETHING FROM ME, I CAN TELL. WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT'S BOTHERING YOU, I CAN HELP."
"you know me paps, there's nothing wrong," he shrugged, "i'm just being my lazy self."
"SANS-"
"oh, don't worry about me bro," he waved his brother off, "you have training to go to and popularity to gain."
"SANS-"
"well, your spaghetti was great and all-" Sans quickly stood, pushing back his chair, "but i'm goin to grillby's."
"BROTHER WAIT-" Papyrus reached for him, so Sans quickly teleported away. Papyrus sighed quietly, "I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU DO THIS TO YOURSELF SANS..."
HP: 0.85/ 01