Papyrus made the last few tweaks to his puzzle, and stepped back to admire it. He kept admiring it for a few minutes longer than necessary, because he was almost afraid to turn around, and see what Sans had been working on all this time.
He bravely gathered his courage, and shot a glance over at his brother. It hadn't been strange to have Sans around so much… the two of them had always been pretty inseparable. What he wasn't used to was this anxiety. The memory of finding that pile of his brother's clothes continued to haunt him, even with Sans sitting in the snow behind him, humming contentedly as he worked…
His shoulders slumped when he saw that Sans was just writing on a piece of paper. Again. Even after they talked about it, and everything!
Sans caught the look, and grinned up at him. *don't worry, bro. it's not as bad as you think.
He crossed his arms and marched over. "SANS, IF YOU JUST WROTE YOUR NAME ON THAT PAPER… I SWEAR!"
*naw. He surrendered the paper without a fuss.
The scrawling on the paper in front of him actually had the makings of an actual, for real, challenging puzzle. Not up to scale with his own, of course, but he was impressed, and the fact that Sans had put any effort into his task at all was encouraging. There was only one problem; there was no way to solve the puzzle in its current form. "UM…" how could he put this in a way that conveyed the problem without appearing to disregard his brother's effort? "IT'S VERY WELL DRAWN, SANS. AND I CAN SEE THAT YOU USED SOME OF YOUR SCIENCE EQUATIONS TO MAKE IT YOUR OWN. I'M SURE IT WILL STUMP THE HUMAN?"
Sans chuckled, still sitting in the snow. *relax, papyrus. it's just a blueprint. i was sorta hopin' that you'd help me build the actual puzzle. cause, ya know i'm too lazy to finish it by myself.
He felt his delighted smile melt into a frown. Sans actually asking him to help create a brand new, actual puzzle? Leave it to his brother to ruin a personal dream of his by making it about being lazy. But never mind that! The Great Papyrus could ignore such sluggish behavior this once, if only to make certain that the job actually got completed. He settled for sighing. "VERY WELL. SHALL WE SET UP THIS PUZZLE IN YOUR USUAL SPOT?"
*actually, i was thinking we could replace the puzzle by the gap with this one.
"WHAT?! BUT… BUT THAT PUZZLE IS… I…" As he tried to hide his dismay at having all his plans disrupted, his brother's chuckle quickly warmed up to a chortle.
He wiped away an imaginary tear with a wink. *just kiddin'. my spot'll work fine.
As much as he tried to discourage laughter at his expense, it was actually a relief to have Sans acting more like himself. "THE PLANS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS ARE NOT SOMETHING YOU SHOULD JOKE ABOUT, BROTHER. I'VE WORKED HARD TO MAKE SURE THAT THE HUMAN WILL BE GREETED BY SOMETHING THEY AREN'T EXPECTING, AND EVERYTHING HAS TO BE PERFECT. NOW, LET'S BRING THESE LEFT OVER PARTS TO YOUR TRAP, AND REPLACE THAT PIECE OF PAPER YOU WERE TRYING TO PASS OFF FOR A PUZZLE!"
Sans managed to make getting to his feet look lazy. To top it off, he lumbered over to the puzzle, and picked up only one piece the size of his hand before continuing on his way.
He rolled his eyes, and demonstrated the proper way to transport materials, by scooping up the rest of the pile, and shifting his weight until he could see through the assorted odds and ends. "IT'S NO WONDER YOU WANTED MY HELP. HONESTLY, SANS, YOU ARE SUCH A LAZYBONES! AT THIS RATE, THE HUMAN WOULD HAVE JUST WALKED BY, AND YOU'D STILL BE BUILDING YOUR PUZZLE! IF YOU WEREN'T ON BREAK, OR TAKING A NAP…"
"He fell ASLEEP in the middle of the battle!" He froze from the pain of the image in his mind as heard the words again, ringing through his head like they'd actually been repeated. As he stood there, another thought dawned on him. He'd overestimated the human's ability to change once before. What if that happened again? Was asking Sans to work harder than normal a smart idea?
*bro?
He looked through the pile of scraps in his arms, down at his grinning brother, seeing the concern in his eyes. *ya know, spacing out is kinda my thing. Sans closed his ridiculous pun with his customary wink, his eyes still asking if he was okay.
This was ridiculous. He was almost convinced that he was close to tears over something that would never happen now. They were fixing it. Why couldn't he stop thinking about how things had gone so wrong? If his lazy brother could grin and carry on like it was just another normal day in the underground, then surely…
He started to reach out to hug Sans, and the pipes and springs and assorted objects clattered to the ground between them, freezing him once more. They both stared at the pile of mostly metal at their feet like it had dropped out of the sky, instead of his arms.
His hand started to tremble a little, and he couldn't stop it, even though he tried to hold it still with his other hand.
And then Sans let his tiny section of pipe fall to the ground in a display of exhaustion, shaking the hand that had been holding it, and rubbing his wrist and just generally hamming it up.
It was so silly, it shouldn't have been funny at all. The idea that they were still standing here because their piles were too much to handle a second longer. And the way his mind kept replaying that last, tiny piece falling to the ground…
It cut something loose inside of him, and suddenly, he was laughing. He really couldn't have explained why he was laughing, but that simple act overrode everything else, and he couldn't stop.
Sans joined in, naturally, and the throaty chuckle only made him laugh harder, like that time Sans had convinced him to play that prank on Undyne. They'd spray-painted her door, and hid, trying to keep quiet, but every time one of them went silent, the other would start in again, until they were both snorting with laughter in a very un-royal-guardsman-like fashion. Undyne had found them before she'd seen the door, and just shaken her head in amusement, mutter something about knuckleheads under her breath. It was just like that, except, the underlying cause of their laughter was something that made him feel like he wanted to cry at the same time.
He collapsed into the snow beside his brother, each of them still giving the occasional laugh. He somehow found his voice again. "WE ARE A MESS."
Sans didn't miss a beat. *heh. nice one, bro.
He hadn't intended to make that pun, but there was no point letting on. "SERIOUSLY, THOUGH. IF THIS IS STRESSING US OUT SO MUCH AFTER JUST ONE TIME…" But if Sans was right, it hadn't been just one time. It was just the first time he'd remembered, and been able to confirm the suspicion that something horrible was going on. Was that the change he was seeing in his brother today? Or was it just his own mind paying extra special close attention?
He shifted in the snow, craning his neck to get a look at his brother.
Sans was lying on his back, eyes closed, looking content, to the untrained eye. But The Great Papyrus was an expert at detecting the most minuscule of details, and there had been something in Sans's laughter that, if not quite broken, had been a little cracked, at least.
*ow.
"WHAT'S WRONG?"
*i'm lying on something.
"SO MOVE."
*can't, bro. too tired.
He sighed as he rolled nimbly to his feet. "NEVER FEAR, BROTHER. THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS HERE TO RESCUE YOU FROM YOUR OWN SLOTHFULNESS."
He pulled Sans to his feet, rolling his eyes when he saw that his brother had been laying on not one, but several pointy, potential puzzle pieces.
Sans put his hands into his pockets, tipping his head to the side.
He smiled, and started picking up the pieces again. "DON'T WORRY, BROTHER. WE'RE ALMOST THERE, AND I'M SURE I CAN MANAGE TO CARRY YOURS AS WELL."
The comment sent them snickering again as they scrambled to find the pieces in the snow before they froze in place and became a potential danger to anyone walking though.
A random Snowdin resident passed, shaking their head with a smile at what was probably a ridiculous display, but he could worry about such trivialities later.
The made it to their destination without further incident, and Sans shot him a hopeful glance. *breaktime?
He shook his head firmly. "WE HAVE TO FINISH BEFORE THE HUMAN COMES BACK! BESIDES, I AM INTERESTED IN THIS PUZZLE OF YOURS. I HAVE A FEW SMALL SUGGESTIONS TO MAKE IT BETTER… IF THAT'S OKAY?"
Sans shrugged, taking the lack of a break in a stride. *course not. you're the puzzle master around here.
Sans usually let him work on his puzzles by himself, so it was surprising to discover how easy it was to work with him. He didn't need to explain nearly as much as he'd have suspected, and it was fun just working along in silence. Sans kept a steady pace, even if his brother's side was getting finished at a much slower rate than his own. "THIS IS NICE."
Sans nodded in agreement. *yeah. it's been a while since we did anything like this.
They both paused, and he wondered if Sans was wondering if it had really been that long. Then again, for all they knew, there could have been years of 'resets' since the last time they'd just worked on a project like this. Somehow, that didn't bother him as much as the thought of all the things that could have happened. All the moments like these that had been stolen from their memories. Potential friendships that had happened, and if there were so many resets, then it only stood to reason that he had become the most famous member of the royal guard before. Sure, he'd seen that there were a lot of bad things that could have happened, too, but a memory was a memory. If they'd lived it, it didn't feel right that that should just be… erased, any more than they should.
If his brother had been thinking anything of the kind, he didn't hint at it. *i need a piece to connect this section, here. got any ideas?
He blinked. "WHY?"
*ta turn it, and activate… his voice trailed off and he scratched the back of his head. *oops. i didn't notice you changed that bit. or that one.
He crossed his arms, getting defensive. "YOU WERE TAKING TOO LONG! BESIDES, I CHANGED IT ALL THE WAY UP THROUGH, AND IT"S BETTER THIS WAY. HERE. JUST CONNECT THIS TO THAT PIECE OVER THERE. OH, AND I CAN USE THIS PIECE OVER HERE. SET THAT ON TOP OF THAT ONE… AND, WE NEED MORE PIECES."
Since they were completely out of anything useful, Sans didn't have to nod in agreement, but he did anyway. As he turned, his eyes lit up with such a hopeful expression, he was certain that some brilliant idea was about to be suggested.
*breaktime?
He slapped his own face. "NO! IT'S BACK FOR MORE PIECES TIME!"
Sans sighed, his enthusiasm for the project seeming to drain out of him. *ok.
He felt bad that he had to be so firm when Sans was trying to help, but it seemed that his brother needed a reminder of why you couldn't just drop a task in the middle because of a flimsy excuse like being out of parts. As they walked back through Snowdin, the silence that fell between them wasn't uncomfortable, but he didn't miss the wistful glance Sans shot towards Grillby's as they walked by.
They were on a tight schedule, but… his brother had done extraordinarily well, for Sans standards…
He stopped short, and Sans crashed into him. "FINE."
*huh?
"GO AHEAD AND GET SOME OF THE GREASY SLOP THAT YOU CALL FOOD. I CAN HANDLE GETTING THE PARTS. BUT TRY NOT TO TAKE TOO LONG, ALRIGHT? I DON'T WANT… YOU HAVE A JOB, TO DO."
His grin seemed to widen. *thanks, papyrus. you're the greatest.
He fought back a grin of his own at the words. Sans really was ridiculously easy to please, and not above trying to use flattery to nudge odds in his favor for next time, however well deserved that flattery might be.
He ignored the twinge of anxiety as Sans closed the door. His brother wasn't going to run into any humans in there, and knowing Sans, he had plenty of time to get back with the rest of the pieces for the puzzle.