AN: Before we get into the chapter, I wanted to extend a special THANK YOU to my Guest reviewer! Thank you SO So SOO much for your encouragement and kind words! I appreciate them like you wouldn't believe and it gives me hope that there is still someone out there who wants to read what I have to say!

Even if it's just you who is reading or if there are others who just happen to pass by on their search for content, I will continue! Thank you so much for your support!

And so, onto the story!

Chapter 11

Friction

It took a little while longer for the sour air in the lab to die down a little. Sans kept to himself mostly, avoiding contact or conversation with just about everyone. Everyone in this case, of course, meant the doctor and Gaine. The only direct contact he had with the doctor was in the morning before heading off to work on his project and though he saw Gaine in the morning as well as during lunch and at quitting time, they didn't speak. There had been one instance during lunch where Gaine tried to strike up a conversation. Granted, starting it off with "Well, looks like you broke the kid after all." was probably not the best way to go about it. Sans kept silent, sitting in his corner of the break room and poking at his food with a fork.

During this time, Gaster's deadline came as well and Sans had to pack up and leave. Really, it didn't take long. He wrapped up the few sets of clothing he'd been able to collect inside of his bed sheets along with his pillow. And, though it still stung a bit to look at, he took the name plaque from the outside of his door as well (he kept it inside his pillowcase for safe travel).

He had been wondering and worrying about finding a place within Gaster's timeline. He did notice that the prices of apartments seemed to rise the closer to Hotland he looked. Maybe because it was closer to the Capital . . . ? During the time Sans hadn't been talking to anyone, Gaine silently offered a little assistance. He'd noticed Sans reading through pages upon pages of listings and circling those that seemed feasible. While he was going through those, Gaine slipped a business card to him and kept walking. Looking at the business card, Sans saw the name of an apartment complex that was mainly composed of college students who couldn't live in the dorms on campus. Because of that, the prices were a bit lower than the typical monthly rent and most of the utilities were included.

Sans' eyes shot up and he wanted to thank Gaine for the info, but the Cat was already gone.

So, there he was, with everything he owned tied up in a blanket. Well, everything except the mattress. Maybe he'll go back for it. It had been Corbel and the doctor who helped him move it to his room in the first place . . . he wondered if the doctor would be willing to help him move it again. Asking Corbel was out of the question. Maybe Gaine? Or maybe not. After all, he could use his magic freely now.

Whatever. That was a problem for another day. He had his key. He had his studio apartment. He still had a job. That's all he needed. He opened the door and stepped inside the one-room living area. It was more space than he'd had in the lab and in the dorms back home . . . but having that extra space only made Sans realize how empty it was.

He closed the door behind him and locked it. He set his bindle down and just stood there for a while.

"Home sweet home, huh?" He said to no one.

Eventually, he walked to the center of the room, mapping out where the mattress would go . . . but after that . . .

Sans sat in that centralized location wondering why he felt so off. So strange. It wasn't as if he hadn't done this before. Squatting in empty homes, sleeping where he could. Living on the bare minimum. He even had more than the bare minimum now. He could afford this place and with the energy from the CORE powering it, it promised to be a pretty comfortable life too. This place was his for as long as he could continue to afford it. It was better than what he was used to.

So why did he feel so much worse? Why did he feel as empty as this room? He was used to being alone. None of this was anything new. Then why was his chest so tight as he sat there? Why did it feel like he was waiting for a tidal wave to crash over him and sweep him away? Why did he feel so hollow?

A familiar sting prickled at his eyes and he laid backward to stare at the ceiling instead. The tears can't fall if there's nowhere for them to go.

They said they were all getting together to hang out at Undyne's house after school because they hadn't done that since the dance last year. They said they were just gonna talk. But even so, Corbel could feel the ulterior motive even though it went unsaid.

This was an intervention.

No, not for an addiction or anything, but because of the distance that Corbel put between himself and the rest of his friends. They were going to force him to talk to them about what was going on. About why he hadn't been talking to them or to anyone about what had him so upset. The last they knew, Corbel was working in the lab with his dad and he was actually enjoying himself there. So what happened to change his demeanor so drastically?

At least that's the vibe he got from this "hang-out".

Just like last time, they were all lying flat on their backs in a circle staring upward into the nothing above them. To make it seem more casual, they talked about meaningless and trivial matters like which classes were giving them issues and which teachers were the easiest. Then, came the seemingly innocent segue into their after-school activities and how Undyne was still training with King Asgore and how she still hasn't been able to beat him yet in battle, or a new song that Napstablook was working on or how Metta was thinking about starting a collection of journals to chronicle his rise to stardom.

Throughout the conversation, Corbel remained silent, not even adding in his two cents when he normally would. He did release a long and nearly silent sigh every once in a while and while there was no specific tone or anything behind them, his closest, recently distanced, friends could feel the heaviness in those sighs.

"And what about you, Mr. Lab Tech?" Undyne pushed, "Any new projects happening that we should know about? Now that the CORE is complete and spreading all throughout the Underground, what's the next big thing we should look out for?"

Corbel shrugged but didn't speak.

"And how about with your dad?" Came the next question as Undyne continued to search for the thing that might hint to what was bothering her friend. "You guys still getting along?"

Corbel shrugged again, "Sure." He answered tersely.

"Corbel, dear." Metta pushed, turning his head to get see the Skeleton more clearly, "Surely there's more to the story than that. Tell us. Have amends been made with your mother as well? How has she been?"

"She's fine." Corbel answered. "I'm fine. Dad's fine. We're all fine, okay?"

There was a sharp silence that followed. The other three looked quickly among themselves in an inaudible conversation.

Finally, it was Undyne who broke that silence. "Alright, what the hell, man!?" She bit, her frustration coming to the forefront of her tone. "All we did was ask a question. Do you have to bite our heads off for it!?"

"That's not it. I'm not 'biting your head off' I just . . . can we drop it?"

"Not now, we can't!" She bit back, "There's something seriously wrong going on here and we're not gonna let it go until we get to the bottom of it!"

"There's nothing to get to the bottom of." Corbel muttered, turning to his side and away from the conversation. "Just don't worry about it, okay? It's fine."

As Corbel frowned outward toward the edge of Undyne's yard and at nothing in particular, he didn't notice the movement around him. It wasn't until he saw the semi-translucent form of a certain Blook that he woke from his pointless starting.

"why are you so upset?" Napstablook said in his trademark half-moaning sigh

"Oh . . . hey, Blook . . . I'm not really upset. That's not it . . . I'm not angry."

"no one said you were angry. i thought you might be upset. those are two different things. but the way you're talking right now . . . you do sound angry."

Corbel huffed, mainly to try and hold back from becoming angry. ". . . I'm not angry . . ." he muttered, "Especially not at you guys . . . I'm sorry."

"But you are upset." Undyne stated.

Corbel sighed. "Maybe I am . . . but I really really don't wanna talk about it. Please, can we . . . just not . . . ?"

"Wait a minute." Said another contemplating voice. "I know that tone. It seems exceedingly familiar. Come, Corbel, dear. Say something else."

". . . Shut up, Metta."

"Ah! That's it! There it is!" The ghost proclaimed, joining his cousin just within Corbel's field of vision. "That's the familiar somber melody of dejected teenage monsters everywhere. A song that plays on endless repeat within the hallways at school."

"And in 'Normal-Person' that would mean . . . ?" Undyne pried.

"Ladies and Gentle-Blooks." Metta announced, "Our dear Corbel . . . is in love."

"Huh . . . ? You don't say." Undyne hummed.

Corbel nearly growled but didn't speak.

"But of course!" Metta continued, "Think about it. Just a few months ago, he was just as chipper as could be, rushing off to the lab with a grin on his face and a spring to his step. He was constantly daydreaming and even humming and giggling to himself during lunch. And now he's become this withered shell of what he was, huffing and moaning in ways that makes Napstablook look downright cheerful. My guess is, whoever it was Corbel had his heartstrings tied to, did not return his affections. In fact, it's possible that he's been outright rejected. After putting his whole heart into this person, he has been utterly shunned. Cast aside! That is why he hasn't made any attempt to socialize and he shuffles his feet to do anything. And since he hasn't been rushing off to the lab every day after school like he once was, I can only guess that whoever it was, is another of the doctor's interns."

"oh . . . is that what's going on?" Napstablook sighed.

Corbel narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth, turning his gaze to the ground to avoid the stares of the other three. He drummed his fingers heavily on the surface, trying to force himself not to make fists. He no longer trusted himself to speak without snapping or lashing out at them so he remained silent. He told them he didn't want to talk about it. That should have been the cue to stop! Take the friggin hint!

"Really!?" Undyne scoffed, "How lame!"

"Wha- lame!?" Corbel's frown became an all-out scowl and that fist he was trying not to make began to form in front of him all the same. He breathed deeply, letting it out as a long steadying sigh. Eventually, he pushed himself up to a sitting position and then to a standing one.

"I don't have to listen to this." He muttered. "I'm going home."

"No! Corbel, don't!" Metta called as Corbel made to take his leave. "Don't go! Now that we know what's going on, we can help! Like before with your father! We can help you take the steps you need to getting over this person and moving on!"

"I never said that's what was going on." Corbel hissed back at the ghost.

"Exactly. You're not talking about it. Like you said you wouldn't. Please, Corbel. Let us help. Let us in again."

"Eh, just let him go." Undyne scoffed again, her hands behind her head as she stared upward at nothing.

"Let him go?" Metta repeated in disbelief. "We can't let him go in this state!"

"Yeah, we can. Obviously, that's not Corbel."

Napstablook looked between his two friends. "then who is he?"

"That's what I wanna know." Undyne answered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Corbel asked darkly, glaring at the ground somewhere between them.

"Let me put it this way," Undyne answered, "There's no way any friend of mine could be such a WUSS!"

"A wuss!?" Corbel finally bit back, turning completely to glare at Undyne who was now sitting up and eyeing Corbel with a smirk.

"So you got rejected. Big deal. News flash: it probably won't be the last time! Instead of bouncing back and moving on with your life, you're sitting here moping and feeling sorry for yourself . . . like a lame. friggin. wuss!"

"Just because it isn't how you would do things or if you think it's 'lame' doesn't mean you get to downplay how I feel!"

"yeah. aren't you being just a little harsh?" Napstablook chimed in.

"Well, he hasn't shown me anything more to convince me otherwise. I'm only calling it as I see it."

"What the Hell, Undyne!?" Corbel snapped, "Quit acting like such a bitch!"

"You first!"

Before he knew, Corbel found himself face to face with Undyne. She stood to square off with him, using her height to her advantage and peering down at him with a condescending smirk. He was nearing his limit and it took everything he had not to take a swing at her right then. He released his fists, flexing his fingers. He should just walk away. Don't even give her the time of day. Just go home and-

"Do it!" She egged, "Do it, punk. I fuckin' dare you!"

Corbel took a step back. She was doing this on purpose. She just wanted a reaction. He knew it . . . But damn, it was working. He made to turn back around and head home. This was the LAST thing he needed right now.

"That's what I thought." She spat, looking Corbel up and down. "Bitch."

Without another thought, Corbel let out a resounding cry, the sound ripping from the back of his throat as he spun back, his fists clenched once again.

Of course, Undyne was waiting for him, that grin unshaking. When his attack came, she was ready, easily dodging out of the way. The second blow came as well and she ducked it, stepping through the gap between Corbel's arm and his foot to quickly get behind him. From there she hooked both arms through his, clasping her hands behind his neck and completely immobilizing him, trapping him in a full Nelson.

"Undyne! Corbel!" Metta cried trying to make it to his friends, get between them if he could, "Guys, stop! Stop that right now!"

"You stay out of this, Blook!" Undyne demanded, her grip becoming tighter as Corbel struggled.

"Let go of me!" Corbel all but snarled, "Undyne! Get off! Let me go!"

"Not a chance! You've gotta get out of this yourself!"

Corbel continued to fight, trying to break free of Undyne. And he continued to cry out in frustration.

"Let me go! Please! You're going to dislocate my shoulders! Let GO!"

"No! Look. You're in a bad spot right now, aren't you!? And it doesn't look like it's getting better any time soon. Now, you've got two options here. You can either roll over and take it . . ."

"LET GO!"

"Then fight BACK! Get out of it! C'mon, Puffball! I know you can! FIGHT ME!"

Corbel cried out once again, putting all of his effort into bringing his elbows down and in toward his sides in a swift movement, breaking Undyne's hold from the back of his neck and her control over him. He grabbed tightly to one of her wrists and spun hard, using his momentum to bring an elbow around toward her. It made contact with her cheek, successfully knocking her away and creating a distance between them.

But Corbel's anger hadn't subsided just yet. Channeling his energy, he flexed his fingers once again, summoning his magic. In an instant, several white and orange bones sprang into existence and he sent them hurtling toward the Fish monster. With a wide expectant grin, Undyne shot backward, a magic spear tight in her grasp. With a few expert movements, she was able to block, dodge, or power through each attack.

On her turn, she did the same, sending spears in Corbel's direction. Her skill was well beyond his due to her training and raw talent, but Corbel knew his friend and her style. After years of playing and sparring with her, he knew what to expect. And he knew how to prepare.

He summoned a weapon of his own, an oversized humerus, to use in defense against Undyne's attacks. He was familiar with her bullet patterns and he knew how to avoid them. She liked to attack from all sides, keeping her opponents guessing where the next spear would be coming from. Just like outside of battle scenarios, he needed patience and perseverance to deal with her.

He glared at her, focusing intently on her movements as she took her "turn".

The first wave came, predictable. As spears shot at him from all directions, he was easily able to deflect them with this bone. Child's play. Not only was she obviously TRYING to irritate him into a fight, but now that she had him fighting, she was going EASY on him!?

"Wait! What the-!?"

That last set . . . Looked off. They followed a different pattern. Slightly quicker than the others and they were . . . Yellow?

Corbel prepared to block these spears just like the others. He waited for them, trying to get the timing just right. When the first came, he moved to deflect it, only to have it switch course at the last second and it came at him from a different direction!

He wasn't able to move fast enough. The spear hit, shaving off a bit of his HP, but before he could recover, three more regular spears slipped past his notice and made contact as well. Those were followed by four more of the strange, yellow, direction-changing spears.

Frantic and spinning, trying to regain an idea of what was going on, Corbel fell forward to his knees, a significant chunk of his HP depleted. He huffed, trying to catch his breath. Well, that was a new attack. Something she must have picked up in training.

"ooohhhhhh noooooo." Napstablook moaned, ". . . this isn't a sparring match anymore, is it . . . ? ooohhhhhh noooo . . . . . . . . ."

"Blooky's right!" Metta called again, "You two shouldn't be fighting like this! Knock it off already before someone gets seriously hurt."

Corbel leaned forward on his bone, panting as he used it to stand once again. He wasn't beaten just yet.

"There he is!" Undyne cheered as she watched Corbel pull himself back to his feet, "There's the Corbel we know and love!"

"What's the point . . . ?" He groaned, "Where's the point in any of this?"

"You should be feeling a lot better now, right, Puff?" Undyne grinned, dismissing her spears and calling off the fight. "Now that you've had a chance to work out your frustration, you can use that momentum and keep going! And did you catch that little life lesson in there too!? Kinda awesome, right?"

Corbel released a final growling cry, summoning a torrential rain of white and blue bones now over Undyne. None of them hit, but they did trap her in place so she couldn't move without taking damage.

"What the Hell is wrong with you!? What part of 'stop' don't you understand!? Don't you get it!? I never wanted to fight! And I don't want to 'talk about it'! I just want to go home! That's what I've been saying since this stupid intervention thing started! And if you just listened instead of trying to force me open, we wouldn't be here right now! I'm not you! Don't just assume I work the same way! Just do me a favor and leave me the FUCK alone!"

Corbel threw his bone to the ground and turned on his heel to walk away, picking up his messenger bag on the way and swinging it over his shoulder. The last thing he did was release his magic, dismissing all of the bones and freeing Undyne. He left the group there staring after him and wondering if maybe a line had been crossed that couldn't be un-crossed.

As he trudged home, he had to think of what he was going to do next. Thanks to Undyne, he now had to make sure any lasting evidence of their struggle was hidden. Surely his parents would know right away that something was wrong if he showed up with over half of his HP missing and bruises all over him . . . he checked his watch. His parents shouldn't be home yet, he could get home, shower, change, and restore his HP before either one of them noticed he'd been in a fight.

The plan seemed to go off without a hitch, though he remained in sour spirits throughout the evening and again, he didn't eat much when dinner came around . . . he wasn't really hungry, having eaten earlier to bring his HP up after his fight with Undyne. But at this point, his parents didn't pry. They understood that he needed space . . . which was more than he could say about the others. But even his parents, though they didn't push, still gave him passing glances, showing their worry through their looks toward him and toward each other.

Finally, during dinner, Nyala couldn't keep quiet anymore. She'd noticed something more strange than even Corbel's normal levels of "off". He seemed more anxious and restless, as if he didn't know what to do with himself and sitting in one spot was irritating him. After being so listless and sluggish for so long, seeing him so tightly wound was cause for concern.

"Corbel?" She began, being sure to leave off any pet names, "How was your day? You haven't said a single word all evening."

Corbel shrugged but otherwise remained silent. Here we go again . . .

Again . . .

The same story. The same situation. The same script. Nothing was changing . . .

And nothing was going to change . . .

Unless he changed it . . . Unless he did something to free himself . . . Unless he fought back and took control of the situation.

Damn it, Undyne was right after all.

"Actually," He started quietly.

His voice was reserved and soft to the point that his parents actually halted in their movements as if the slightest motion would be too loud and they would miss what he had to say. It sounded as if he was about to make some grand speech that he'd been rehearsing for a while now.

No, it was nothing like that, but he did have their undivided attention. At least they knew how to listen . . .

"I was thinking . . . that maybe I should . . . start going back to the lab after school."

It was his parents turn for silence and they shot the briefest of glances toward each other. They'd heard him correctly, hadn't they? He was actually considering going back to the lab . . . and it was his decision? He wanted to go back . . . ?

"Oh." Gaster answered, doing his best not to seem surprised, "Well, if you think you're ready."

"I honestly don't really know if I am . . ." Corbel answered, still not lifting his eyes to meet either one of his parents, "But I won't know unless I try . . . and if I'm not . . . then, well . . . I'll have to start somewhere right?"

Nyala released a shallow breath she must have been holding for weeks now. "Of course. After all, no one knows your boundaries better than you do. But I have to say. I'm proud of you for showing the strength and maturity to face this . . . I know it must be difficult for you."

Corbel hummed, staring down at his nearly untouched plate and poked at the food there with his fork.

"I dunno if that's what I'd call it." He admitted. "It's more like . . . If I don't, I'll just . . . Waste away."

"Still, the fact that you're choosing not to, shows strength on its own." Gaster added, already finished with his plate and sipping on his drink. "And of course, we can start you back slowly and get you back up to speed. You've missed quite a bit while you were gone. Did you have an idea of when you were ready to start back?"

Corbel thought it over, his face twisting into a contemplative pout. "Maybe after the weekend would be best. Start fresh on a Monday, you know?"

Gaster nodded, a tiny grin on his face. "Sounds like a good idea. And for a while, I'll have you assist me until there are projects open for you to work on."

"Understood." Corbel answered professionally with a slightly playful undertone. He hesitantly returned the tiny smile.

Finally. A hint of the old Corbel began to shine through.

Monday came around more quickly than he'd anticipated and Corbel found himself hesitating at the entrance to the lab, his hand gripping tightly on the door. He'd come straight from school and he was still trying to shift gears. Seeing as he hadn't been back to the lab in a while, it took a bit longer to make that shift.

The switch was sort of made for him when the door began to move and a towering monster emerged, almost blankly looking ahead. It seemed as if he didn't even see Corbel until he nearly knocked him over.

"Oh sorry . . . Hey, if it isn't Kid Gaster! Welcome back."

"Oh, uh- hi, Mr. Gaine." Corbel answered through a slightly relieved sigh . . . of all the people it could have been, at least it wasn't . . .

"So, how are you feeling? The doctor said you were a bit under the weather, so I hope it's better now."

"Well, I . . ." Corbel stammered for a moment, "Well, I guess I am, I mean- it is, yeah. Thanks."

"Good to hear. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to run checks on the CORE. The doctor is in his office if you want to check in with him."

"Yeah. I'll do that. Thanks, Mr. Gaine."

"No problem, Kid."

Gaine left then to head off to the CORE and run his checks. Corbel took advantage of the exit and the fact that Gaine had opened the door for him in order to finally make it inside the lab. He'd head to his dad's office first.

He crossed through the atrium.

Didn't the doctor say Corbel would be assisting him for the time being?

He pressed the down button on the elevator and waited for it to arrive.

He supposed it would be much easier to do that than to just start fresh on a brand new . . .

The elevator arrived, a single chime announcing the event. Good. Corbel was ready to get started again. He felt better than he had in a long time.

The door opened and immediately, Corbel's face fell. Inside, clutching a clipboard, was the one person Corbel had been dreading seeing. The reason he'd been so hesitant to even open the front door.

Sans seemed distracted as he read through the list on his board. His posture seemed a little hunched, not in relaxation, but in fatigue and even his eyes looked more sunken than usual . . . had he not been sleeping well?

Corbel froze completely, unable to even breathe as the world around him screeched to a halt. When breath and feeling finally seeped back into him, he found he was trembling slightly and the little bit of air he was able to take came in short shallow breaths.

"S-Sans . . ." He gasped.

The other Skeleton stalled as well, tearing his eyes away from his paper in response to the halt in the elevator's motion as well as the faint sound of his name. At first, he didn't say anything when he saw Corbel standing in front of him, looking utterly terrified by his presence, though his expression fell even more and became a heated glare.

"Oh, it's you."

If anything, Corbel's nerves stiffened under the intensity of Sans' harsh gaze and his breaths became even more shallow. Anything more and he swore he would be able to hear his bones clacking together like a frightened child. Was Sans . . . mad at him . . . ? What did he do to make him mad?

Both turned their eyes away from each other and passed wordlessly, switching spots. Sans continued walking, heading toward wherever he'd been going before. He didn't look back.

With his hands shaking, Corbel reached out and swiped his keycard in the reader before pushing the button for the level where his dad's office was located. The door closed and the elevator began its descent.

On the ride down, Corbel lifted his hands to his mouth. He hadn't been expecting a reaction quite like that. What the heck? Why was his chest so tight all of a sudden? Why was it so hard to breathe? And why was Sans so mad at him?

His hand raised from his mouth to his eyes . . . tears . . . ? What the . . . ?

No, he was supposed to be better now. He was supposed to be able to at least pass by without incident . . . Why was he still like this . . . ?

Damn it . . . maybe he wasn't ready after all . . . Maybe he should just head home. Try this again another day . . . ? No, he had to start somewhere. That's what he told his mom . . . So, as a start, he'd make it to his dad's office.

And so it continued. Corbel and Sans kept working around each other and avoided the other as much as they could. And for the most part, Corbel was stuck to his father's side. Again, maybe it felt a bit childish . . . but it was how he was handling the transition back. He helped his father when he needed and worked categorizing and filing the paperwork in the downstairs office when he wasn't needed for an experiment or for a test. It's how he got by.

Until one day, when he was running an errand for his dad and had to collect results from the other two interns. As expected, it was fairly easy to get the results from Gaine. Corbel just had to wait for a decent lull in the Cat's work in order to ask him for his results without interrupting him too much. That was the easy one.

The challenge came when he needed to ask Sans. Corbel spent the better part of ten minutes trying to find the best way to approach the other Skeleton and the majority of that better part of the ten minutes was spent pacing, close enough to be able to easily get to the room he was working in, but far enough away that the other wouldn't be able to hear him. Besides, Sans was working on a delicate experiment that required full concentration. If he came bursting in asking for an update on any results he might have found thus far, he risked ruining his current experiment and making Sans even more upset with him.

About halfway through his pacing cycle on the eighth and a half minute, there was a crash and the sound of glass shattering.

"Shit!" Came Sans' exclamation followed by a deep groan.

Right away, Corbel came. Ending his pacing cycle and rushing in to help Sans.

"H-hey. You okay?" Corbel asked, immediately helping to clear away the broken glass.

"Oh, yeah . . . I'm fine. Hey-hey, careful, kid."

"Yeah, I know."

Together, they were able to dispose of the failed experiment, safely cleaning up the spillage and discarding the equipment that had been compromised.

"What happened?" Corbel asked, reading over the procedure and the results that they were looking for.

"Wish I knew." Sans answered, restarting the whole thing. He gathered the materials and set them aside as Corbel finished reading. The younger of the two double checked the supplies list with what was written.

"I-if you don't mind . . ." He offered, "I wanna help."

"Even after you said you wanted off of the project?"

Corbel hesitated, "I-I did say that . . . but that's not . . . why . . ."

"Nevermind. Yeah, you can help. It beats having you walk in circles out there. It's kind of distracting."

"Oh . . . I-I'm sorry."

"It's as bad as someone hovering over your shoulder while you're trying to work."

"I didn't think you would be able to tell I was there."

"Your tennis shoes squeak. Just a little."

" . . . Oh . . ." Corbel looked down at his shoes. And here he thought he was being quiet and careful.

"Well, anyway. Are you helping or not? You hold this steady while I add the first agent."

"Understood."

From there, the two of them worked and it did go a lot more smoothly, Sans noticed. As he kept the equipment steady and adjusted the things that needed it, Corbel read off the next step. Until it got to one part.

"Here we go." Sans announced, "This is where it went wrong last time."

"It says to add three drops of-"

"Yes. I did that."

"While lowering the flame from the Bunsen."

"That . . . It exploded before I could get to it."

"You didn't do it at the same time?"

"Kinda difficult to pull off, don't you think?"

"Well, that's why . . . I'm here."

As he said it, his voice trailed off. It was his natural response whenever Sans said something like that. He'd gone directly back into it as if it was just another normal conversation . . . And really, it was. It was their first real conversation since the fiasco last time, but it felt so natural . . . So easy to slip back into their normal roles.

Corbel turned down the Bunsen burner's flame as Sans added the next ingredient.

"Hey, Sans . . . ?" Corbel began slowly.

"Hm?" The other responded.

"About what happened . . ."

"Corbel, maybe now's not the best time."

Corbel hesitated for the slightest moment. But he continued forward. If he didn't say it now . . .

"Maybe it isn't . . . but please. Something's been bothering me and . . . I just . . ."

Sans sighed, using a glass wand to thoroughly mix the solution, "Alright fine." He complied, "Shoot."

"I-I . . . w-well." Corbel stammered. Why was it so difficult to speak all of a sudden? "That day . . . when we last spoke, it was . . . w-well . . . it was . . ."

"It was a shit-storm. You can say it." Sans added the next reagent, "Lift the beaker a few centimeters?"

"Yeah . . ." Corbel answered, following the instruction, "Yeah, that . . . well. I-I know I was really upset at the time . . . I guess I'm still pretty upset, actually. But . . . I didn't realize just how much it was bothering you too. I-I can't believe it didn't cross my mind that y-you were just as upset as I was. S-so . . . I'm sorry about that . . . But the day I came back and we met at the elevator . . . The look on your face when you saw me . . . it hurt. You looked so angry . . . and to think that it was because of something I did . . . I-I never wanted to . . . I'm sorry I upset you so much."

"Okay. I'm gonna stop you right there," Sans said, his voice short and maybe a bit heavy. "Let me set something straight. Yeah, that day . . . well, yeah, it was a shit-storm. And the aftermath . . . was less than ideal, but nothing about that was your fault. There's no reason for you to blame yourself. I don't. So, don't apologize for feeling. Heh, maybe I am upset . . . and maybe it was showing through on how I treated you, and that's not fair. None of this is because of you, so . . . yeah. I'm not mad at you. I never was. Maybe I was worried . . . you said you needed time, but I didn't know you'd be gone for so long . . . and this project . . . it's kinda difficult to do alone- as you can see. Oh. You can turn the fire off now."

Corbel did as Sans took the finished solution and separated it into five pre-labeled test tubes, "I'll need these to run some tests tomorrow." He explained, "So, thanks for your help."

"Yeah. Of course."

"Anyway," Sans continued, taking the test tubes, stoppering them, and storing them in the room's small refrigerator, "As I was saying. I know you said you needed time, but you did kinda leave me hanging. All of a sudden, you asked to be taken off of the project and I was out of a lab partner . . . and a really awesome one at that. And then, the doc kicked me out and that was-"

"Wait, he kicked you out!?" Corbel pressed, his brows knitting together, "I-I thought you'd saved up enough and decided to move out. I was happy for you!"

"Well, I had . . . but the doc . . . gave me a little nudge to actually go do it."

Corbel sighed at the news, grumbling a little to himself, "Damn it, Dad . . . no wonder you were so upset when you saw me."

"No!" Sans pushed, "Well . . . yeah . . . maybe a little, but I know it's not your fault! And you shouldn't think it is . . . But because of that, before you did come back, I was a little worried, I thought I really had lost you as a friend . . . even though you said you weren't going anywhere . . . you didn't come back . . . plus the look on your face when you saw me that first day back. . . and even today, when you were out there walking around in circles . . . does the idea of even looking at me scare you that much?"

Corbel thought about the reaction that first day and the feeling he got whenever he thought he might have to interact with Sans . . . it was frightening . . . or if not that, it was definitely the source if his anxiety.

"Yeah," Corbel admitted, "I was scared."

Sans' eyes fell as did his expression. "I see . . ."

"But I wasn't scared of you . . . maybe more that I was afraid of what seeing you again would mean . . . to me a-and to you . . . something happened that day that can't be undone . . . and I was afraid that nothing would ever be the same. That there was no way to go back to the way it was before . . . especially with how we left things . . . I-I still . . . I'm still dealing with those feelings, but I really want to . . . I don't want to lose you either. But I . . . I had no idea how to even approach you again after that. I couldn't just pretend it never happened- that it wasn't a huge deal . . . because it was . . . and I wasn't expecting you to be so upset too. I didn't even know how to look at you again, much less talk to you . . . so this right here, what we're doing right now, is a miracle to me."

Sans hummed a little, taking in every word. Of course, it would be hard for him and really, Sans hadn't expected him to just snap and get over it . . . if someone told him to 'just get over' Ava . . .

Sans' eyes fell to the floor. There's no way he could do something like that . . . and if that's the way Corbel was feeling . . . about him.

He really hoped he wasn't setting the kid up for something major later on down the road, potentially hurting him even more by asking that they stay friends. He said he was still dealing with those feelings. There had to be something he could do. Some way to protect him from something like that happening again.

If that was the case, maybe he could help Corbel cope. Maybe he'd be able to move on.

Alright, time for step 1. Reconnect. Reestablish their bond. Show Corbel that it was still okay to talk. That it wouldn't be all pain when they were together.

"Well," Sans answered, finally raising his eyes to look back at Corbel, a hint of a normal smile in place, "What do you say we tackle this thing together, then? One miracle at a time?"

At that, something seemed to spark in Corbel. Maybe it was Sans' confidence in the way he said it, or that this was the first smile they shared since that day, tentative as it was. But whatever it was, it was contagious.

His soft smile solidified when Sans raised a loose fist out to him in a gesture of solidarity.

"Yeah . . ." He answered, raising his fist as well to bump Sans', "One miracle at a time."