A/N: More quarantine writing stuff! I hope everyone is keeping well. Thanks for reading! It means a lot to me.

Gaster stepped in, "I once again must bring your attention to this matter; what, or who has the other half of Frisk's soul?"

Sans grunted, sockets empty in near anger, "i dunno, but considering they haven't bothered to tell us yet, i presume no-one good."

Alone with their thoughts for a while, Frisk analysed the burgundy walls of the skelebros living room. The floors were littered with odd pieces of socks, jumpers, sweet wrappers, and generally looked as if no one had bothered to clean up in months.

She stuck her nose in the air at the faint smell of cooking burgers in the oven. Papyrus was looking after her, cooking dinner for them both while Sans had 'business to attend to', which was no doubt probably just napping.

Sans had seemed quite upset lately, it didn't entirely surprise Papyrus that he wanted to stay away from home for a night, as long as he didn't make a habit of it.

"Human! Food is ready!" the enthused skeleton announced from the arch, carrying it into the room on a plate. Frisk smiled, taking it from him graciously and being somewhat surprised, but impressed, that dinner actually looked edible for once.

She bit into it happily, which made Papyrus even more delighted while watching from a distance.

"You like it?! Am I getting better?"

She smiled and nodded enthusiastically, offering a thumbs up.

Papyrus clapped his hands together and puffed his chest out triumphantly, "Great! Then I will make us! Dessert!" he swiftly made his exit to the door, leaving Frisk alone with her thoughts again.

A feeling of contented warmth spread throughout her body. She scoffed the burger down in one go, at peace for the first time in a while.
And when the wall seemed to grow a new shadow for a split second, she gripped the seat apprehensively.

Papyrus pulled out a massive white bowl from the cupboard and stared at it.

…Now what…!? You can't make dessert if you don't know the ingredients!

He glared daggers into it in accusation. Fine! I will make it up! As I go along!

He acquired some flour, some sugar…what next…this is so…difficult…?

CRASH!

Pulling his attention away from his soon-to-be monstrosity, Papyrus quickly strode towards the arch to the living room, "Human? What was that sound? Have you fallen off the sofa again?" he paused, suddenly alarmed, "Have you dropped my delicious burger?!"

Instead, he saw the child had changed clothes. Ah, that was it.

He sighed in exasperation, "Frisk, did you fallen over putting on your new jumper? Did you get burger sauce all down it?" he looked around the room for the discarded blue jumper, wanting to make cleaning it his responsibility.

"Sans said I had to take care of you…so I will. I will clean up your mess! Because, I am the Great Papyrus, a Babysitter!" he paused and narrowed his eyes, "…that sounded much better in my head…"

"You fret over the most stupid things." the human said, chuckling to themselves, and turning away, "It's nothing, go back to…whatever the hell it was you were doing."

Papyrus exhaled heavily, "And now you're upset again…are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"But…you were just happy, and now your voice seems all dark and angry and I'm not sure what I've done…if I even did anything…did you actually not like your dinner? I'm sorry, I—"

"Quit jabbering, Papyrus!" the human yelled, still not turning around for some reason, "God, no wonder Sans can't standing being around you!"

…What…?

Taken aback, Papyrus stuttered with a half nervous smile, "I…I'm sure you didn't mean that. What's got you all upset? We can sit down and talk about this if you like? I will do my absolute best to look after you—"

"I don't need looking after, you idiot!" the human spun around; Papyrus gasped as their eyes shone crimson red, "I haven't got much time and having you here is…irritating," she threw out an arm, eyes glowing in delight as she grasped the knife on top of the shattered plate, "So stay out of my way, or you'll regret it."

"M-maybe you're upset about your jumper…? If you don't like the green one you're wearing now I can wash the purple one…"

Gritting their teeth, the human's eyes turned to Papyrus to stone as they threw out a hand, sending him crashing against the burgundy wall. "I said stay out of my way." Their voice cracked halfway through the sentence, hand visibly shaking, but they seemed to notice and regain control. "Just…leave me alone Papyrus."

Papyrus tried to pull himself together, shocked at Frisk's power and anger, "I don't understand…why are you so angry? And how are you using magic…?"

He instantly regret his words and whimpered as Frisk stormed up to him, holding the knife up to his throat as he cowered against the wall. "One more word out of you and I'll turn you to dust," she spat, sharp blade lightly scratching his neck.

"…Okay," he whispered, staring down at the knife, "…just…"

There was a brief pause, but Frisk sighed, dropping the knife down on the floor and refusing to look at him, "Go back in the kitchen."

Papyrus blinked rapidly, confused, "What?"

"GO BACK IN THE KITCHEN!" Frisk screamed, a harsh edge to their voice that sent a shiver down his spine.

Without another word, Papyrus quickly scampered off back to the kitchen, placing both hands on the counter sceptically and trying to regain his composure.

By the time he walked back outside to stand up for himself, Frisk had gone.

Snowdin was covered with a thick blanket of crystal white snow, the dust delicately sweeping as Sans kicked at it absentmindedly. He was on his way back to his house, internally but irately monologing about everything they had discussed in the lab.

The hell did the kid do, separating their soul like that? and why keep it a secret, especially from me, knowing i might find out. must be someone i really hate.

and I don't hate many people.

Deciding to put his worries aside to help Papyrus, he finally approached the wooden door, lazily flinging the door open in fatigue.

"i'm home, pap," he called, leaning on the door as shut. He waited a few moments and narrowed his eye sockets at the strange lack of response. "pap?"

At that, the tall figure of his brother raced out of the kitchen, looking visibly shaken.

"Sorry, brother! I had my eye on the dessert!" he announced with uncertainty.

"if you don't mind me saying bro you look a little rattled,"

Papyrus scratched the back of his neck, "Eh…it's nothing."

Now Sans was really concerned. Didn't even condone him for a pun. He could always tell from that.

"nothing eh? stop lion to me pap."

"Honestly, I'm just…distracted. O-on my dessert!"

Not even a reaction.

"c'mon bro, i can tell something's up. you ain't hit me for all these bad puns yet," he winked but his smile dropped when Papyrus looked away. "uh, hey, come sit down."

He looked tense, but his brother made his way to the sofa and sat down with a soft exhale, seeming distracted. But it was definitely not because there was a pie in the oven.

"something happen with the kid?" he suggested with caution, wary about all the unknowns with their soul. There is a possibility the kid fell ill, or maybe even told him who was the bright new owner of the other half of Frisk's soul.

"Perhaps I'm just not up to babysitting as much as I thought," Papyrus avoided the question and eye contact altogether, "Besides…Frisk isn't that safe with me. I'm…I'm useless. I can't even take care of…maybe Toriel is a better option,"

Sans sighed, "don't say that, you're fine. tori couldn't help cos she was with us. Frisk had fun, right?"

Papyrus squirmed, "You could say that I guess…?" he laughed nervously, but stood up from the sofa, "I'm gonna check on the pie! I mustn't burn it! Frisk seemed to really enjoy dinner earlier so I don't want to ruin my cooking win streak!"

Despite entire demeanour suddenly changing, Sans wasn't buying it. He slouched down the sofa with a hmph while he watched Papyrus leave the room as if he couldn't escape quick enough. Must be a very important pie.

"take your scarf off, you can't feel the cold," he suggested, his eyes slowly glazing over as he watched the window's night sky.

"…I think I won't, this time, brother," he called from the kitchen.

"huh. welp, suit yourself."

you're a bad liar.

Eventually Papyrus came back out, but looked rather deflated. "Actually, brother, I think I would prefer it if I went to sleep."

Sans wasn't entirely surprised, "what 'bout your 'dessert'?"

Papyrus sighed, "It wasn't that great, so I threw it away…I'll try again tomorrow!"

well, something is definitely wrong. Pap never throws his food away.

Sans decided he wasn't going to push, at least not yet. Usually if he wanted to talk about something he would come to him. Hopefully he was tired or having an off day, but if it continued, well…he'd have to intervene.

"Well…I'm going to bed. Can you—"

"yeah yeah, I'll read ya your story," he pulled himself up off the coach and jabbed his finger at the stairs, "c'mon, let's go."

His spirits lifted, Papyrus made a beeline over to the stairs and ran up, Sans sluggishly following from behind. He'd probably go to sleep as well. Boy, was he tired from doing a whole lot of nothing.

Clearing away the dishes, Toriel yawned, about ready to go to bed. Where was Frisk? She very much hated going to sleep with an empty house…

Slam!

Talking of the devil.

"Frisk, dear, it's late! Eleven o'clock in the evening! Where have you been?" she called out, walking into the living room to find the child curled up on the sofa. "Oh dear…"

The child snivelled, not daring to look up, face planted on the pillows.

Toriel sat beside them and pulled them on her lap, rubbing their purple and blue back jumper, "What has happened? You poor thing, are you seeing things again?" she remembered the brief meeting she had with Sans and Alphys yesterday.

Frisk shook in her arms, before finally mumbling, "Something's happening to me…and it's not good," she grasped her stomach, "and I feel ill."

Toriel chuckled, "I suppose that's because of your meal with Papyrus. He is improving but…there's definitely room for improvement," she stopped when she realised the child wasn't reacting, "What do you mean something is happening to you?"

There was silence. "I can't say."

"Of course you can, use your words, Frisk."

"No I mean, I literally can't…not yet…not right now…I…" she suddenly welled up and sobbed, "I did something bad."

Frowning, Toriel pulled Frisk closer, a large hand on the small child's back to keep them safe, "And what did you do?"

Perhaps she was talking about the timeline. It didn't matter much, everyone else was beginning to understand what Frisk had really done. She knew about half their soul being missing, at least.

"I got upset at someone, I don't know why…it was just…random. They didn't do anything."

There was a heavy sigh. "Frisk, you can't be to blame if you are having a bad day. It is okay. You can apologise to them tomorrow. For now, I think you need to get some sleep. It is late after all."

Frisk sniffed, and nodded glancing up at Toriel and being tightly grasped as the mother stood up, "Let's get you to bed."

All huddled up in bed, Frisk wriggled around comfortably and shut her eyes.

"There you go, see, there was no reason to cry, was there? It will all be better tomorrow," Toriel gave her a gentle pat on the head.

Knock knock knock.

Frisk froze.

"Goodness, who could that be this time of night? I will be right back dear," Toriel quickly stepped out the room and hurried down the stairs, but Frisk ran up behind her.

"No, don't answer it," she pleaded, hanging over the stairwell.

Toriel paced closer the door, "It would be rude of me to leave them hanging, my child," she shrugged, turning towards the door and opening it. "It's fine, see? It's just Sans!"

Eyes wide, Frisk turned and stormed up the stairs as fast as possible, feet sliding on the carpet in a hurry.

"I apologise, I do not know what has gotten into her," Toriel sighed, but turned to Sans and smiled, "What can I do for you?"

Sans' voice grew low, "where's the kid?"

"I presume they've gone back to their room to sleep, why—oh!" Toriel stepped back as Sans marched through the door and made his way to the stairs, "Sans…that is rather rude. Where are you going?" she followed after him, slightly worried.

Half-way up the staircase he yelled, "need to find Frisk."

Toriel exhaled heavily in exasperation, "Couldn't this have waited until tomorrow? We were about to sleep!"

Barging into the room, Sans eyed the room for the child before laying eyes upon the trembling heap in the corner.

Sans stared at it for a while, trying to decide how to approach the matter. He was planning on going in eyes blazing and demanding information from the kid, but it would be wrong to, in their current state.

Still, he stared down at the child hiding under a blanket in the corner of the room, one eye glowing blue but he remained wordless.

"…Sans, I do not like where this is going. What has happened? They came back distressed an hour ago—"

"so it was you, huh," he spat at the kid. The lump in the corner of the room didn't move. "i've lived here for a long-time, kid but i haven't ever seen my bro shaking as much as he did today for a long, long time. he ain't himself and it was right after he spent the day with you. so, tell me what happened."

Toriel put a gentle hand on his arm, "Sans, perhaps we should wait until—"

"nah, tori, i'm sick of watching this get out of hand, i'm sick of them lying and, kid," he yanked back the blanket with his magic, making Frisk squeal, her arms raising as a shield, "the second you upset my bro, you crossed the line."

Frisk huddled herself, choked with fear and shaking their head, but not entirely sure what for.

"Sans," Toriel demanded, pushing him away from the child, "You need to leave. Now."

Both creatures had a stare down for an uncomfortable period of time, before Sans finally let his guard down, his eye fizzing out. "tori, you don't get it, do you? there's something going on here and the kid is lying about everything. if there really is no more resets, and the kid takes it too far, then—"

"Calm down, Sans," the motherly creature hushed, pulling him away from Frisk and giving them a you're welcome glance, before leading Sans out the room.

She continued, "I know there has been quite a lot to take in lately but you are getting ahead of yourself. Frisk is ill, but she is not evil. We all know this. You said so yourself. If there is something wrong with them, which there is, we must find it within ourselves to fix them. And we will," she paused and quietened her voice, "Just not like this…"

Sans took a moment to take it in, before sighing and shrugging it off. "yeah, i know. just don't know what to do, you know? she won't come to the lab with us, gaster has zero social skills and will probably scare her off anyway, she's lied about everything she 'admit' so far and now my bro is shaken up and its up to me to deal with it."

Toriel gave a tired smile, "It's not up to you, it's up to us," she emphasized, then gestured at Frisk's room door, "If there really is something else going on then we will get to the bottom of it."

"this whole thing with Frisk's half a soul…freakin' me out man. don't know who they gave it to. and they won't say."

"It scares me too, Sans," she sighed, fatigue creeping up on her and stifling back a yawn, "With only half a soul she is weaker than you. These days I'm afraid of what will happen when she falls over."

"or falls down," Sans mumbled to himself, but then stretched in fatigue as well and pushed himself away, although Toriel followed him down the stairs.

"I hope you're going home now."

"yea," he relented, making his way to the door, "but listen," he turned around to face Toriel and said sternly, "make sure the kid goes to our lab tomorrow. don't care how, but we need to do some tests. will give everyone else a peace of mind at least."

Toriel sighed, but ultimately she was growing fonder of the idea since the epiphany with Frisk's broken soul. "I will take her there myself if I have to," she said with certainty, although felt a sudden wave of relief unexpectedly.

"ok. good. well. cya tomorrow, tori," he murmured, before closing the door.

Toriel released a heavy sigh, her head in her hands in exasperation.

Finally, something was being done.

To Be Continued...

A/N: I have another chapter ready for tomorrow, but I hope you enjoyed! Not sure if anyone still reads these lmao