It was possibly the longest four hours of his life
"I BELIEVE IN THE HUMAN BRIT, SO I AM CERTAIN THAT HUMAN LENA WILL BE FINE!" was Papyrus' determined and hopeful declaration, though the small, distressed noises he made every few minutes and the worried glances he kept sending in the direction of the human's apartment did little to support that claim. Sans did his best to keep himself preoccupied. The sounds permeating the drywall did little to help him keep his mind on the quantum physics book clenched tightly between his bony fingers, though, and soon enough he found himself sitting slouched against the armrest of the couch, eyes closed as he tried to listen more closely. The read on her soul was difficult to grasp, but it was chaotic. It writhed as if it were a wounded animal in a great amount of pain, and it did things to his own soul that were far from pleasant.
'When the fuck do we get to go over there?!' He growled and dragged his fingertips along his skull, pressing against his closed eyesockets. His patience was beginning to wear thin, which was unusual for him. He tried to blame it on the fact that it had been hours without hearing a single thing from the humans, except for that he could discern through the walls. Even though they were unclear, they were sounds he never, ever wanted to hear again.
When his brother's phone finally went off he watched from the couch as he lunged for it, hands trembling with the nervousness that he'd been trying to keep from leaking onto his expression. "IT IS FROM THE HUMAN BRIT! SHE SAYS THAT WE MAY COME OVER NOW." Sans nodded and pushed himself to his feet, fighting the urge to cut a doorway straight into her living room and joining Papyrus at the doorway. He suddenly looked unsure of himself. "SHOULD WE PERHAPS BRING SNACKS FOR HER? METTATON SAYS THAT GIRLS LIKE TO EAT SWEET THINGS WHEN THEY ARE UPSET." Sans snorted at the mention of the cyborg, giving a small shrug of his shoulders.
"Sure, bro. 's worth a shot," he drawled, a bit of a smile tugging at his face as his brother was already digging through their kitchen cabinets. Looks like all those extra snacks from when Frisk was over were going to be put to good use afterall. Pausing for just a moment with thought, Sans snatched the half-empty (or was it half-full?) bag of monster candy off of the kitchen table and shoved it into his jacket pocket, opening and holding the door for Papyrus, whose arms were full, nearly overburdened, with boxes of snacks. They found themselves at her door quickly enough, and, after receiving a small look from Papyrus, Sans reached out and rapped his bony knuckles against the door, waiting.
"Here, press this over your eyes, babe. They'll be here soon," Brit mumbled softly, pressing a cold, damp washcloth into the shivering woman's hand. Lena gave a watery smile up at her but, when she saw that it was not returned, it fell, and she nodded tearfully. There never was any point in trying to force herself around Brit, as she'd realized long ago. She gave a small, shaky sigh and pressed the cold cloth to her closed eyelids, shivering at how cold it felt. It was a similar routine, one that she'd played a part of several times; sometimes, she was on the other side, but, this time, it seemed like she was the one receiving.
A knock at the door startled her, and a hand on her shoulder calmed her before it pulled away, and the sound of the door opening met her overly-sensitive ears. Gods, her head hurt. Crying always made her head hurt. Brit was the same way, thus why she'd already been given plenty of water and tylenol. 'She's too good a friend...'
"Hey guys, come on in," the taller woman greeted, her voice quieter than normal. She must have somehow told them to keep it down, because Papyrus even sounded softer when he spoke.
"Hello humans! We have brought snacks for you!" he said happily, and Lena could hear Brit's smile in her voice as she began to take the boxes and set them on the table.
"I can see that. Thanks, Paps." Sans reached into his pocket and pulled out the small bag, holding it out to the short-haired human, who raised a brow at it.
"'s monster candy. Give 'er one every hour an' she'll start feelin' better..." Why did he sound so tense? Brit snorted and pushed the bag back at him, pointing toward the couch where Lena sat curled into the armrest.
"Go give her one yourself. I'm gonna help Paps get all these sweets sorted out." The look in her eyes was not a questioning one, and he felt his fingers curl into the plastic bag more tightly as he moved toward the sofa. It pained him to see her like this, even if he couldn't see her face clearly because of the washcloth. Her soul was dim and dark, not at all like its usual sunny luster, and it throbbed with obvious pain. His own soul clenched in his chest, and he breathed out a sigh as he plopped himself down on the couch next to her, bouncing her enough that she startled slightly. When she pulled the cloth away, he ached in an odd way when he saw that her eyes were all red and swollen, much like Frisk's got after they'd done a lot of crying.
"Oh...h-hey," she said weakly, her face quickly morphing into a smile, though it looked off. Cracked around the edges. Tearing at the seams. His soul clenched even more tightly and he returned the smile. Of anything, forcing yourself to smile was something he could understand.
"Hey. Paps brought a ton 'a shit to snack on. 'n here, I brought ya this," he said, reaching into the bag and pulling out one of the small, round candies. When she made no move to grab, it, he set the bag on his lap and pulled her hand over, flipping it palm up and placing the candy in it. "It, uh, helps." Her smile faltered the smallest bit as she looked down at her hand curiously.
"Candy...? Oh, I um... I'm not really hungry-"
"Eat it," Brit suddenly piped up, voice flat, and Lena flinched slightly, frowning. Sans watched as their eyes met, a silent argument going on between them that they couldn't read, and Lena huffed a sigh as she popped the candy into her mouth. "Good girl." The human leaned across the back of the couch and wrapped her long arms around Lena's shoulders, hugging her tightly as she nuzzled her nose against her freckled cheek. Sans might have tensed when she pressed a kiss there, as well, but he refused to acknowledge it. "Now," the human said brightly, resting her chin against Lena's shoulder and pointing lazily toward the racks of disks next to the television. "Papyrus, how's about you grab 'Wreck It Ralph' and put it in for me, pretty please?"
"OF COURSE!" he agreed immediately, face suddenly taking on a bit of sheepishness. "I mean, of course!" He was intentionally trying to keep himself quiet...bless him. He immediately moved over to the racks and peered closely, squinting his eyesockets slightly as he tried to read the small print on the spines of the cases. When he found the one that had been requested, he plucked it out and held it triumphantly out toward the humans, who couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.
"Sweet. How's about you put that in, babe?" the tall human muttered, leaning in to nuzzle Lena's cheek again before releasing her hold on her and standing up. "C'mon, bonehead!" She reached a hand out and tugged on the fur lining of Sans' hood, jerking her thumb toward the door. "We're going to go get drinks from the convenience store."
"Huh? But you don't have to do that..." Lena protested slightly, her smile falling instantly, and Brit simply waved her off.
"Nah, you don't have anything decent to drink over here." She gave a laugh at the slightly offended expression on the other human's face, reaching out to pet her head affectionately. "And my back's killin' me today, so he's gonna help me carry stuff." Sans raised a brow bone at this, but the look she gave him made him feel as though it were less a choice and more of an order, so he shrugged and got to his feet. As he shuffled toward the door after her, she pulled on a sweat shirt obviously too large for her and turned back to the two left on the couch. "Paps, what do you want? I know what you want, Lena."
"May I perhaps..." Papyrus paused, looking slightly embarrassed. "...Chocolate milk?" Brit snickered and nodded, giving him a small thumbs up.
"Got it! You two go ahead and start the movie, we'll be back before you know it!" She closed the door behind them, leaving Papyrus and Lena on her couch glancing from the door to eachother in slight confusion.
"What do you suppose that was about...?" Lena asked, pulling her knees up to her chest. Papyrus simply shrugged and reached for the remote, pressing 'play' and starting the movie. They slipped into silence as the movie began and, curiously, the human glanced over at the skeleton sitting next to her. "Hey, um... Were your eyes glowing earlier..?" she asked hesitantly, surprised by the eagerness of his nod. "Why...?" Was that a rude question to ask? Probably. Before she could open her mouth to apologize for it, though, that same soft orange glow met her eyes, and Papyrus sent her a warm smile.
"It is something unique to skeleton monsters. I don't know why, but it is something we do to comfort eachother. When I was small, I can remember Sans doing it to help soothe me." Then, with a small pause, he pulled the human into his lap, moving one of the couch pillows to rest between her back and his chest, trying to make her comfortable. The small bit of light wasn't overly obvious, but, for some reason, she could feel herself being soothed by it. As bony arms wrapped around her, she leaned back into him, sniffling softly. "I do not know what is wrong, Lena, but we want to help..." He used her name, not 'human Lena' or 'human', but her name, and, for some reason, she began to cry, a smile spreading across her face.
"Thanks, Papyrus..."
Just on the other side of the door, Sans had his hands shoved into his pockets, eyelights focused on the human's face, only the slightest bit suspicious. "Welp, c'mon, no dragging your feet now." She headed down the stairs and toward the parking lot, and Sans followed after her, a safe distance between them. It was strange for her to suddenly demand that the both of them leave for a task that obviously only required one person. His mind was working overtime trying to figure out her motives, and when she walked right past her car and toward the sidewalk, his suspicion increased. His steps slowed, and, eventually, she took notice, turning to him with a frown. "What's up?"
"I'd like to ask you the same." She rolled her eyes at him and sighed, tapping her foot impatiently. "Why'd you need me to come with ya? We both know you can handle a grocery bag by yourself." A flash of irritation crossed over her face, then she sighed again, more heavily.
"I wanted to talk to you. Alone," she added, intercepting his question before he could even ask it. "Look, I wanted to tell you what happened today, and...some other stuff. This isn't easy for me, either, okay? Just...c'mon, we can't go back without the drinks now." Sans felt uncertainty still, but the look of desperation in her eyes broke him, and he shrugged his shoulders, shoes scuffing against the ground as he walked to catch up with her. Her legs were so much longer than his, he had slight difficulty keeping up with his lazy pace. She seemed to notice this, though, and slowed her strides a bit. They began the walk toward the convenience store in silence until, eventually, Sans couldn't bear it anymore. His curiosity was eating away at him.
"So? What happened? All I heard from Paps was that she came home an' was upset." The human sighed, pulling her hands inside the overly large sleeves of her sweatshirt to shield them from the cold. When had it gotten so chilly? It wasn't this cold earlier, was it?
"She got fired." The bluntness of the statement made Sans misstep slightly, eyesockets widening as he whirled his skull to look up at the human. Her brows were knit tightly and her jaw was set, green eyes burning with anger. "Apparently a couple of her co-workers saw the two of you on your walk from Grillby's, and they made a big stink over ...over her being friends with monsters." The jolt of guilt through his soul was agonizing, and it must have been obvious, because Brit stopped suddenly, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him. "Don't go thinking you can 'spare her' by not being her friend anymore, either! This isn't your fault or hers. Stupid racist sons of bitches..." Her fingers dug painfully hard into her forearms and she hissed a sigh, turning and continuing her walk, though much more quickly. "She was so close to getting her teaching degree, did you know that? That was her dream, and those motherfuckers took it away from her all because of- of what?! Who cares if she's close to monsters?!" A few monsters who were out milling around overheard her outbursts and turned to stare, but she took no notice to them. Sans struggled to keep up with her again, huffing slightly as he had to jog to keep up.
"She...she didn't even put up a fight," the human suddenly said, voice watery and, when Sans finally caught up, there were fat tears dripping from her chin, teeth digging into her bottom lip so roughly that he was almost certain she'd bite through it. "That's just how she is, though, y'know? Minimizing's lead to her just...just letting people fucking do whatever they want, and she can't say a goddamn thing."
"Minimizing?" He was so confused. What was she talking about? The human was starting to hiccup as she spoke, making less and less sense, her words getting jumbled together. He hadn't been trying to look at it before, but the waves of her soul's aura were getting more and more chaotic. "Hey, hey, calm-"
"And that's just how it goes! That's how you end up thinking you don't deserve to feel and that you're better off not feeling anything, because everyone just fucking says you're wrong!" He jerked a hand out of his pocket and grabbed the human's arm, spinning her around to look at him.
"Hey!" She stared at him, eyes widened, chest heaving with little breathy sobs, her eyes starting to look just as red as Lena's had been. "You're not making any sense," he said carefully, each word measured and said with enough volume for her to listen, but not too much for him to be 'yelling' at her. She slowly calmed down, looking ashamed as she raised her sleeve-covered hands to wipe at her face.
"S-sorry...sorry..." She spent a few moments like that, muttering apologies and wiping her tears, trying to regain control over her breathing. Sans slowly retracted his hand, browbones furrowed in concern and, when she looked up at him and noticed it, she gave a watery laugh. "You remind me of my husband when you make faces like that." The smile she gave him was grateful, warm, and sincere, and he felt his cheekbones flush. Was that a compliment? It certainly sounded like one. "Ahhh, crap, and I'd been doing so good today, too, not crying..."
"Bein' strong for someone else tends to end up like that," he said simply, mouth quirking up into a small smile when she snorted. "You gonna try all that again?" She nodded, taking a deep breath to steady herself.
"It's hard for me to talk about things without getting emotional. I'm probably, like, the most emotionally unstable human ever. Don't judge others based off of my shortcomings!" she said, though her tone was joking.
"I'd never." She reached out to punch his shoulder and he dodged easily, watching with a bit of a smirk as she lost her balance and stumbled across the sidewalk. "Got ya fallin' for me?" he teased, raising a browbone as she laughed, giving him a knowing glance.
"Not me, but I know someone..." His cheekbones glowed blue and he shoved at her gently, grumbling as she laughed at his embarrassment.
"It's because of that, honestly...that I'm wantin' to talk to you, I mean. Gotta make sure my girlfriend's goin' into capable hands." His skull spun at that, eyesockets widened incredulously. She raised a brow at him, smirking. "What?"
"Is she really your...uh..." She snorted loudly and covered her mouth as she practically doubled over laughing, and he only realized too late that he'd been got. His blush burned ever brighter and he shoved his hands deeper into his coat pockets. "Shut up."
"Ohhh my god, your face! You've got it bad for her, huh?"
"Weren't you gonna talk to me about something other than this?"
"Changing the subject, are we, bone-boy?"
"I'll make you carry the drinks home by yourself."
"You'd leave me high and dry like that?" He couldn't help it, he snorted a laugh, and she looked positively victorious. "Hey, we're here already." He glanced up and saw the lit sign of the convenience store/gas station, and he was only partly surprised by how fast the time seemed to pass. It took them a second longer to enter the store because she'd spent longer than necessary trying to push on the door obviously marked 'pull', and oh, he wasn't going to let her live that down. Though, from the way she grumbled and cursed at him, it obviously wasn't the first time. He smirked.
He stood by the door, hands in his pockets as she grabbed two bottles of each kind of drink: chocolate milk, cream soda, Dr. Pepper, and...wow. It only took him slightly by surprise when she stuck two bottles of ketchup on the counter along with the rest of their things, and she sent him a small wink. She fumbled with her wallet and he took the opportunity to quickly pull out his own, sliding the money across the counter toward the cashier.
"Hey, no, fuck you! I'm paying!" she shouted, trying to reach the cash, but a faint blue glow surrounded it, and it flew into the cashier's hand. "Dammit!" She pouted, shoving her wallet back into her pocket as he did the same, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Th-thanks, come again!" the skiddish-looking cat monster said, and Sans gave a small wave over his shoulder.
"Later, Burgerpants." The door closed behind them ("Hey, good job! You got it right on the first try!" "Fuck you, Sans!") and they began their walk back to the apartment, though this time the human's strides were short and slow, for more reason than to make sure Sans kept up. "You don't gotta tell me if it's that hard for ya," he said, and she shook her head.
"No, it's important. Stuff you need to know about Lena..." This piqued his interest, though he tried not to make it visually obvious. He cracked an eyesocket open and glanced at the human from the corner of his eye, watching as her expression became determined.
"So? Where do ya wanna start?" She paused, giving a small, sad smile as her hand gripped the handles of the plastic bag more tightly.
"I guess I should start back when Lena and I first met..."