Behind Closed Doors: Chapter 11 - Long-Winded Confessions
[TRIGGER WARNING: SELF-HARM]
Papyrus is oddly delicate for an armor-clad skeleton, to your surprise. He puts you down gently on the welcome mat, hops inside and gestures to a shoe-stand next to it. "NO SHOES, INSIDE, PLEASE!" Something about that always-friendly voice fills you with a bit of ease, even though he is considerably loud. You slip your battered work-shoes off and place them delicately on the stand, hoping no one will ask. Afterwards you stand and stretch, studying the insides of Papyrus' home. For lack of a better term, it's 'homey', if that's even a word.. You look up momentarily to find Sans with his hands on the arm railing, with a lazy smile and one hand raised with minimal effort for a wave.
"sup, bro? bringing work home with you?" Sans asks with a smirk, causing Papyrus to grumble through his teeth. "YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT MY WORK 'ALWAYS' GETS FINISHED BEFORE MY SHIFTS, AND NO, THIS IS DIFFERENT!" Papyrus exclaims, matter-of-factly with his finger pointed upwards again. "THE HUMAN IS INJURED, AND I REFUSE TO ALLOW A BATTLE WITHOUT BOTH OF US AT OUR BEST! RIGHT, HUMAN?" He turns to you with a bright smile, as if that was the perfect option for this scenario. You blink and very briskly shake your head, not having expected to be called on minute one. "Wh-Oh. Yeah, a wise and very kind move on your end, Papyrus. It's just a small cut, though, so I'm sure it'll be good in no time." You raise both hands, showcasing the wound and smiling in a sheepish manner.
The tall skeleton leans down to inspect your hand, squinting while taking his gloves off. "HOLD STILL FOR A MOMENT, PLEASE." His voice is surprisingly gentler, but without fail is still a couple decibels higher than necessary. It's certainly one of his quirks though, and admittedly, it's starting to grow on you. His two long bony hands grasp yours by their fingertips on each side of your palm. "HMM... YOU HAVE EATEN, RIGHT HUMAN? SANS MENTIONED EARLIER THAT YOU HAD A CUT BUT ALSO THAT HE HAD SUGGESTED SUCH A THING." You nod slightly and smile a little more sincerely. "I did eat, yeah.." A sigh escapes you as your shoulders untense slightly, and you continue. "..and Sans? Where have those been my entire life? They're 'amazing'." Sans smiles wider and walks down the stairs and shrugs. "they've always been there. you just need to know where to look to find great places, and great people." Sans winks again, but afterwards his eyes fixate on the wound on your hand. "so, if you ate, why isn't your wound closing?"
When you shrug, the two seem puzzled. "I 'did' eat, I promise. There's no way I could fake eating that thing." Papyrus smiles and idly comments. "IT IS RATHER NICE AND FLUFFY, ISN'T IT?" You nod happily and peer over the hand being held stationary. It doesn't look much different.. the redness is still there, but it's really, really tender now. Papyrus grazes it with a finger and feels your hand tense slightly. "AH, SORRY. THIS IS- HM.." The sudden realization hit you, and you can't help but ask. "So.. how is eating food supposed to heal my wound? I noticed the nice feeling I got earlier, but I figured that was just from putting something in my stomach." Both skeletons, one at a time, look up from studying your hand. They both stand up and Papyrus lets your hand go for a moment. Papyrus placed a fist in front of his mouth and cleared his throat.
"MAGIC IS VERY TRICKY WHEN IT COMES TO HEALING, HUMAN.. WHEN A MONSTER CHOOSES TO ATTACK, THEY NEED TO WILLFULLY WISH HARM ON THE MONSTER- OR IN YOUR CASE, HUMAN, IN QUESTION. THAT IS WHY SOME MONSTERS' ATTACKS SEEM WEAKER THAN OTHERS. MONSTERS DON'T TYPICALLY WISH TO HARM OTHERS.. HOWEVER, IN YOUR CASE, MONSTERS NEED ONE MORE SOUL TO BREAK THE BARRIER TRAPPING US IN HERE."
You pause and tilt your head. That makes sense.. the more you attempted to befriend some monsters, some got more aggressive, and some even flat-out tried to fake hits on you. "That.. I understand that, I suppose.. but what does that have to do with my cut?"
Sans stands up as well from staring at your wound, placing a bony-hand on his brother's humerus and interjects. "he didn't finish. healing magic is the same thing, but in reverse, kinda? the food we eat down here is made mostly with healing magic.. the physical part only being there so you can chew, swallow, that sort of thing. after you eat the magic stored inside the food spreads to wherever your body directs it, like bruises, broken bones, and cuts." As Sans finishes that part Papyrus squats this time, seeming a little concerned. "THAT'S WHAT I'M SLIGHTLY CONCERNED ABOUT.. THE FACT THAT YOUR BODY SEEMS TO REFUSE HEALING THIS BIT MEANS ONE OF TWO THINGS. THE FIRST BEING THAT YOU DO NOT WISH FOR THE WOUND TO HEAL, BUT THAT CAN'T BE TRUE RIGHT?" As Papyrus asks that question you immediately raise your brow in concern and shake your head. "Uh.. no? It hurts, and I really wouldn't willfully wish for a cut to stay open like that."
The answer you give doesn't seem to clear any worried faces. Even Sans seems a little confused. "that's, uh... that brings us to the second conclusion; that wound wasn't an accident." Papyrus turns his head over towards his brother and gives a lighty frustrated look. "SANS, THE HUMAN WOULDN'T POSSIBLY WANT TO-" Your foot shuffles idly, and that causes Papyrus and Sans both to see you sporting an uneasy face, not looking them in the eyes. They look back at each other with concerned faces, and Sans turns back to you to ask, "..buddy, you okay? something you want to talk about?"
You raise your hand at first and start off by saying, "No no, everything's-" but even you can't finish that sentence. After a long pause, a sigh escapes your lips and your shoulders slowly slouch. "..Yeah, I suppose I should talk to someone else about this." Papyrus places a hand on your shoulder and guides you to the couch, sitting you on the end and himself in the middle. Sans rests an arm on the back of it, standing and leaning in towards you. "so, what's eating at you, human?" Papyrus sat up straight for a moment, stating "OH MY GOODNESS.. WE HAVEN'T EVEN EXCHANGED NAMES!" You blink with raised eyebrows and shake your head lightly. "Oh, right. I'm-.. Oh, wait, Sans, didn't you get my name?" Papyrus glances over to his brother with a raised brow, and the shorter skeleton just grins wider and wider.
"SANS-"
"i'm surprised you remember, but to be honest.."
"DON'T. YOU. DARE"
"not manny people ask me that question."
Papyrus leaned back into the sofa with his hands over his eyesockets, loudly groaning and stomping his feet on the ground. "OH MY GOOOD, SANS!" You can't help but laugh just a small bit, considering the low mood you brought on- No. Not those thoughts, not right now. Later. Your thoughts are interrupted by Sans lightly nudging your shoulder with his elbow. "so what's up?" When Papyrus turns his head back to you, he places a bony hand on your shoulder, commenting "IF YOU DON'T WANT TO, IT'S ALRIGHT." A conflicted expression fills your face as you feel your guts churn from fear, but you interrupt that thought yourself. "No. I.. need to get this off my chest fully. It's not a pretty story, but I may as well tell the truth." You sigh and rub your face with your hands for a moment, before starting.
The two of them lean in a little as you bring up memories of growing up in poverty, going from school to school and not making that many friends, if any at all.. memories of eating every other day because of money issues with your parents. One smoked too much to care, and the other had a habit of getting very violent when she drank. Frequently. You tell them about the moment you completed highschool and how you got your own apartment and job, only to have constant rent increases to the point of being homeless and losing everything.. about how you gave up finally, and climbed Mount Ebott. Finally, you finish with how your 'fall' wasn't really a fall after all.. it was planned. You jumped. When you finish your long-winded story, you seem not to cry this time in the middle of it. You notice you're still shaking like a leaf, though.
After your last statement, it's dead-silent in the living room for what seemed to be a long, long time. You look over from Sans to Papyrus, and before you can say anything Papyrus places an arm around your shoulder and squeezes you from the side. The silence is abruptly broken by you saying "Please, please don't pity me." The both of them look at you in confusion for a moment, then to each other. "we're not pitying you, buddy. honest." You grab your arm and squeeze it in embarrassment, having opened up like that. Papyrus notices and taps your shoulder. When you look up, he offers a considerate smile. "IT'S NOT PITY, IT'S EMPATHY, MANNY." Without warning, you hug Papyrus with a squeeze for a brief moment, but as you let go you realize he's still holding you. "Hey, uh, Papyrus?" Sans is watching with a smirk, but before Papyrus says anything the three of you hear the grumbling of your stomach.
"I TOTALLY FORGOT, I WAS GOING TO COOK FOR YOU!" Papyrus let go and had the biggest look of disappointment you'd ever seen on a skeleton's face. It was sweet, though, that he cared so much! A glance out their window shows empty dark streets.. looks like it's 'night time' for monsters. "It's alright, don't worry! I guess if it's not too much trouble, breakfast in the morning?" As Papyrus ponders this idea, Sans gets up and walks towards the door. "if we're not cooking.."
"..wanna go to grillby's?"
This one felt long-winded, but I hope it's a good read! I want to try and post a little more now that almost everyone is cooped up due to the Covid Craziness. Leave a review, inbox or anything if you have feedback!
-RampantMemory