Prompt: "Does it scare you? Knowing how ready I am to die?"


He didn't mean for her to find out this way.

He really didn't, but sometimes it just happens, something slips or breaks or cracks and now it's there, out in the open, between them.

Papyrus doesn't think of himself as transparent but today he guesses he is.

Or maybe he's just too tired to hide it any longer.

But at least it's just Undyne, she'll forget. It will get vague and foggy like all the rest, and maybe she'll look at him next time, feel something sad and tight curling in her chest, but she'll be unable to grasp it and he'll go on pretending like everything is fine.

Thank Asgore for small mercies.

"Does it scare you? Knowing how ready I am to die?" he asks. It should scare him more too.

It would scare any sane person, probably.

"Not really," she answers, hugging her arms around herself in a way that makes his bones feel like lead. Like something heavy that will crush him. And her eyes are not meeting his anymore.

He doesn't want to believe her.

"No..." he says, as if simply uttering that word will make things right again. "No, you don't- No-" he stammers, struggles through the words but it's too late because there are tears on her cheeks, something that should never be.

Undyne should never cry. Not about this.

Maybe he's just as stupid as they think after all. "How long have you-?"

"All the fucking time, Papyrus. From the very start." She unclenches her fists and there's dust clinging to her nails, small wounds on the inside of her palms and it hurts almost as much to look at them as if she cut him herself.

Funny, Papyrus always assumed he was the only self-destructive asshole in their relationship.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He wants to ask her, but it'd be silly. Because obviously her response would be the same as his.

Great minds think alike, but fools rarely differ, after all.

"This is good," he says, even when it feels like the worst fucking thing in the world. "It's good, isn't it?"

"I don't know." Undyne sighs and they're both so broken. Splintered beyond repair. They can't make a difference. "I just… don't know anymore."

Papyrus doesn't know either

The world shifts, reality tears and comes back together, they go back and they know.


Two updates in one day? You lucky bastards!

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