Sans appeared back in his parallel house and, for what might have been the first time in days, he conked out on the couch. It wasn't typical for him to do, but he had been awake for nearly every night since he got to this other world. With no alcohol, no smaller monsters to pick on, nothing else to calm him down, he'd been run out to exhaustion. As a result, he was just able to reach the nearest soft surface before passing into unconsciousness.
When he opened his eyes again a few hours later, feeling a little less lousy and still groggy, he wasn't alone in the living room. Instead, he found himself making eye contact with this world's Papyrus.
Again he had a moment of painful anxiety, heart moving hard inside him, while they stared at each other. Papyrus looked just the same as before, eyes almost bugging while taking in his appearance again- apparently startled that he had woken so soon. Neither of them said a word, either a greeting or a threat.
But then, Sans reminded himself of how stupid it was, of who he was dealing with here. why should i be the scared one? So he jumped up to his feet, relaxing and smirking at the other version of his brother. "yo. you just come down?"
Snapped out of his own shocked state, Papyrus sputtered, "Ye-YES! ...AND YOU JUST WOKE UP."
"no shit," he sneered. Now, judging by Pap's face, that was a bit out of character for his brother. But it was too late for that, wasn't it? Thanks to that kid. Well, and because of his own carelessness too. Surely, given that he was called "pointy" earlier, Papyrus already knew his true face, so it was probably impossible for him to look friendly; even so, he eased his expression a bit. And he spoke without a care in his voice, "i'm kinda thirsty. you don't mind if i get more orange juice, right?"
"WHAT A STRANGE QUESTION," he heard, and once more he was caught off guard; Papyrus wasn't quivering all of a sudden. "I BOUGHT IT FOR YOU, REMEMBER?"
A strange question? Sans snorted, rolling his shoulders. "...you bought it for your bro, not me."
"WELL-" Yes, that made his new brother stumble, his red-gloved hands coming together in a tense motion. "T-TECHNICALLY YOU... ARE MY BRO, RIGHT?"
Sans raised a brow, and then there was another loud snort when he resisted laughing. Wow. That was one way of looking at it, although that didn't seem very loyal of this Papyrus. This is definitely not how his old one would have acted to find some imposter in his place- although he couldn't imagine the imposter having too hard a time there either, saving his brother the trouble of taking him out. "i guess," was all he said.
Despite how relaxed he might seem on the outside, the truth was that even as he walked past Papyrus into the kitchen he was still waiting for something. Every couple of seconds he would breathe and realize the tightness in his chest, reminding him of the anticipation, and there was no way to truly relax. Papyrus was saying little to him, just standing there and watching, alternating between cheer and that anxious, grimacing expression. As if he thought Sans didn't notice his discomfort.
Sans silently took a carton of orange juice and carried it back into the living room.
Previously when he was drinking from these, he had used a glass because he figured it was something his other self would do. ..As it turned out, the other Sans also drank straight from the carton, but Papyrus was ecstatic to see him using a cup instead, so it worked out anyway. This time Sans didn't bother, uncorking the carton and taking several long swigs. He didn't hear any objections from his new brother while he gulped it down, so he supposed the glass-using period of his time here had fortunately come to an end.
When he finished, he wiped his mouth and grinned meagerly over at Papyrus. If this guy wasn't going to say anything, beads of sweat going down his skull, then maybe Sans would have to do that. "aha," he started, huffing and and poking a claw into the carton. "well boss, i'll be honest."
His pupils flickered and faded away, leaving black sockets. Papyrus stiffened.
"i really, really did not want you to find out."
With that, he took another gulp of orange juice. It wasn't half bad, this magic human drink. It felt a little heavy, taking several seconds longer than usual to turn into magic matter, but it tasted great. He was feeling it swish in his skull when Papyrus finally replied to him. "BUT DON'T YOU FEEL BETTER NOT HAVING TO KEEP IT A SECRET ANYMORE?"
"not really."
"OH. MAYBE YOU JUST NEED TO GET MORE THINGS OFF YOUR CHEST!" He took a quick look around the room and added, "LIKE WHERE YOU'VE HIDDEN SANS, FOR INSTANCE!"
How transparent. "nope, can't tell you that," he said, picking unconsciously at the carton with his claws. "you'll have to make do with me."
"BUT WHY NOT?"
He couldn't believe he was having to explain this to him, the fool looking completely earnest as he stood with his hands clasped together. Eyes returning, he said, "because if i tell you where he is, then i'll have no choice but to go back to where i came from. and i am not ever, ever doing that," with a bit of a growl in his voice, he added, "as i already told the human."
"BUT WHY?"
"why?" Now his pulse quickened and he jerked up, glaring. What part was he questioning? Was he going to have to explain himself? That alone made his breath a little shorter. "-what do you mean, why?"
Papyrus paused, putting a hand to his jawline, and then continued on in that same unruffled speech, "I WILL EXPLAIN IT SLOWER FOR YOU." He ignored Sans' irritated expression, or perhaps didn't even see it. "YOU ARE A SANS, RIGHT? EVEN IF YOU LOOK... DIFFERENT AND YOU ACT... DIFFERENT FROM MY SANS."
Not what he expected. "... yeah." Sans started drinking again.
"WELL, IF YOU'RE ANOTHER SANS THEN THERE MUST BE ANOTHER PAPYRUS AROUND THERE SOMEWHERE TOO, RIGHT?" Now Sans started choking, and Papyrus' eye sockets widened. "I'M RIGHT, AREN'T I?"
"fuck off," was all he was able to sputter out, orange juice seeping through his teeth.
But the skeleton in a ridiculous costume refused to be daunted, apparently even by his swearing, "THERE MUST BE! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR THERE TO BE JUST ONE OF US! SO... if.. IF YOU HAVE A BROTHER, THEN HE MUST BE MISSING YOU RIGHT NOW JUST AS MUCH AS I MISS MY-"
But his proclamation was cut off by Sans' own flat and sardonic laughter, wiping the juice off his skull with his hoodie sleeve. "i can guarantee you that is not true."
"BUT HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?"
The only thing that kept Sans from snapping from the frustration was that dumb, oblivious look on Papyrus' face, marred by a disturbed quirk of his eyebrow. Both his brothers were so easy to read. Sans counted from ten, rubbing his hands on his face. "well, i'll explain it slower for you."
Immediately Papyrus was shaking his head, "NO, THAT'S OKAY, I HAVE A SHARP WIT!"
"sure thing boss," he sneered. The disturbed quirk returned, and he took a slow breath. "okay, uh... do you see this gold tooth?" The gold tooth he now tapped; he'd worn it for a while now, and the thing was treated by everyone as if he had always had it. Just another obnoxious part of his appearance. But the truth was it had only been "installed" in his mouth less than two months ago.
Papyrus nodded, "YES, I SEE IT!"
"good. this tooth..." his voice trailed off, as the raw memory came back into his mind. His eyes narrowed, and changed; Papyrus took a step back, seeing his left eye flashing red so suddenly. Scowling, Sans finished and glared with that red eye. "i got this tooth because of 'my papyrus,' you see?"
There was sputtering, likely at the sight of the eye. But then, "WOWIE! HE GAVE YOU A GOLD TOOTH?"
"wha- no!" Rage flared, but he's not so weak as to lose control to rage, even given what already happened. "-i mean yes, but no. i mean he knocked my tooth out." Honestly, it was a miracle that hadn't happened sooner. But maybe his Papyrus had been waiting these last few years of beatings, waiting for a special occasion to do irreparable harm; surely, being made a Royal Guardsman was a very special occasion. Sans smiled bitterly. "knocked it right the fuck out."
"OH-" There it was. An awkwardness, a halting of his speech. And then, just as quickly, the other skeleton bounced back. "-BUT NOW YOU HAVE A COOL GOLD ONE!"
It was juvenile, and it was a lie, but Sans hissed, "i wanted it to be silver."
That shut him up, until finally he said, "BUT..." For a moment, Sans expected more to come after it. There did, in the form of another, "BUT-..." Papyrus touched a gloved hand to his mouth in thought. His expression continued darkening, brows furrowing, eyes searching for an answer on his fingertips. Sans, by contrast, took in his troubled posture with disbelief, his own brows raising. "...WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?"
Some twisted sensation went beating through his chest, and to push it away Sans scoffed, albeit weakly. "... cuz, he can't stand me. that's how it's always been."
"I DON'T BELIEVE THAT!"
A pause. Then Sans bared his already bare teeth, "yeah? why don't you?"
"BECAUSE IF HE'S REALLY ANOTHER ME-"
"yeah, yeah, i get it," he cut in, and Papyrus put his hands on his hips with a frown. Sans shrugged, "you can stand your sans. i'd wager that you can even enjoy having him around, if you wanted to. but my bro isn't really like you. he's, uh. well. pointier."
He finished off the carton in his hands and considered another while Papyrus went on protesting, eyesockets getting big. "THAT'S TERRIBLE! I THINK THAT-... CLEARLY THIS OTHER PAPYRUS IS NOT AS GREAT AS THE TRUE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND HIS INADEQUACY HAS CAUSED HIM TO ACT OUT. IT'S NOT NATURAL FOR BROTHERS NOT TO CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER!"
"whatever you say, boss."
"THAT'S THE SPIRIT, POINTY SANS!" A second of cheer was interrupted by more thoughts; Sans wondered the precise speed at which Papyrus- any Papyrus, really- could think. With those big eyesockets he had begun staring at Sans again, and not for the first time he wished that he hadn't found out so that he wouldn't look at him like that.
Sans shrugged it off, tossing the juice carton into the trash for an excuse to turn away from that face. "well, nothing you can do about it, buddy. now you know."
"...MAYBE I COULD COME WITH YOU WHEN YOU GO BACK!"
Now he froze and whirled back around, his own eyesockets wide. "say what?"
"YEAH! I CAN TALK TO YOUR BROTHER FOR YOU!" Papyrus took a step forward, pumping a fist, and Sans nearly choked. "AND... UH... YOU COULD GIVE ME MINE AFTERWARDS!"
"that's a terrible idea," he snapped, and before Papyrus could say anything else he added, "because that assumes that I even want to go see that son of a bitch again. and i don't."
This time there was no input from his taller, more cheerful, stupid new brother. He was wringing his hands now, surprisingly at a loss for words from Sans' proclamation. Sans grimaced at him, huffing for a little more air. "...couldn't even if i wanted to, anyway. there's no way back from here."
The face looking at him now was also something of a grimace. "REALLY? WHY'S THAT?"
"none of your business," he grumbled, starting to sweat again. "so, uh, if you want to kick me out, now, that's fine. it's been lots of fun." A weak sneer. "but i'm just saying, you're not gonna see the other sans again just by doing that."
But Papyrus waved his hands at him, shaking his head, "NO, NO. I DON'T WANT TO KICK YOU OUT."
"... you don't?"
"LISTEN TO ME, POINTIER SANS," Papyrus said, crossing the distance between them and laying a hand on his skull. "I KNOW THAT YOU MUST HAVE HAD A HARD TIME ON YOUR OWN WITHOUT A PROPER PAPYRUS TO HELP YOU."
"do not touch me."
"BUT THAT'S WHY JUST THROWING YOU OUT WOULD BE WRONG! YOU SEE, I'VE DONE A LOT TO HELP MY BROTHER, SINCE HE'S ALSO LAZY AND IRRESPONSIBLE LIKE YOU ARE. BUT WE BOTH TRY EVERYDAY AND HE'S BEEN GIVING IT ALMOST 30% LATELY, WITH MY HELP!"
Sans looked upon Papyrus helplessly, brushing his hand off. "... are you mocking me?"
"OF COURSE NOT!" He patted Sans on the skull, not noticing how he flinched at each touch, before retracting his hand. "I MEAN THAT I CAN HELP YOU TOO, IF YOU WANT! AS LONG AS YOU TRY, I'M SURE YOU'LL BECOME A MODEL CITIZEN AS WELL!"
This was not what he expected when he realized that Papyrus had found out. Shrinking in posture, he backed up a few steps and avoided looking him in the eyesockets, his mouth of locked together teeth still put in a twisted grimace. At this point, even his own brother would've kicked him out. But at the same time, he didn't know what "turning him into a model citizen" would entail. He didn't think that this one used the punching and kicking method, but... "uhh." Apparently he couldn't speak very well right now, but at some point- once he had his voice together- he'd have to make sure that Papyrus didn't go blabbing, like the human.
While he was having these dashed and anxious thoughts, he heard more talking from his less violent brother. "BUT... UM... WHILE WE'RE ON THIS SUBJECT, I WANTED TO ASK YOU SOMETHING."
"ask me what?" Sans felt that if this went on too much longer, he could actually start wheezing.
As was becoming usual for him in their conversation, Papyrus looked a mix of unease and fake cheer. "IF YOU CAN'T BRING SANS BACK, COULD YOU AT LEAST, UM, TELL ME IF HE'S ALRIGHT?"
Was he alright? There wasn't a good, honest answer to that question. He hadn't been thinking about it at the moment that they switched, but his world was surely much harder to stay alive in than this one. Sans shifted uncomfortably. Without any means to look in on that world, unable to get into the shed and ignoring his brother's phone calls, there were a number of ways that this Sans might have died and he wouldn't know about any of them. The worst-case scenario was that, worse than being dead, he might've already been erased from existence- if his theories were correct about that kid.
So Sans swallowed and said hoarsely, "yeah. uh. he's probably fine."
Then he, for the first time, saw resolve on Papyrus' face- and yet, didn't know what this resolve was for. "THEN..." He was sweating too much, the rate of his heartbeat rising, watching such an expression. "... FOR NOW, THAT WILL HAVE TO BE ENOUGH."
Luckily, while indoors he didn't notice someone toying with the lock on his shed with trembling yellow fingers. Now that it was morning, now that the rain was gone, it was much easier for her to focus on the task at hand. Alphys studied the key in her hands for only a brief moment before using it to unlock the door, taking a deep breath.
When she was inside it would be even harder for him to notice, for as soon as she was inside the small little lab, Alphys closed and locked the door behind her with that small silver key. She took several deep, shuddering breaths, mumbling to herself, "Y-you can do this, you c-c-can do this, y-you can do this... I-i-it's for Sans, you can do this." So repeating the mantra to herself, until even the stuttering disappeared, she walked into the lab and explored the drawers built into the counter.
Everything in the lab, in contrast to San's room, was put away neatly and organized. There were no scraps of paper or junk on any of the surfaces, will save for a single blueprint on the counter and a tall rectangular shape covered in the blanket in the corner. It was the blueprint that she concerned herself with initially, and after that with a trembling hand Alphys pulled the blanket off of the machine, to study in conjunction with it.
"Oh w-wow..." She breathed, looking over the contraption in front of her. A little bit like a phone booth attached to an engine and a complex keypad, but anyone with the blueprints in their hands like Alphys could probably tell that it was so much more complicated on the inside. On the front was printed the word "TIME" in big silver letters, just above the doors for the booth. Alphys took a gulp of breath as the blanket crumpled to the floor in her hands. "W-w-wow, I didn't think that he had gotten this far without me..."
She looked back at the blueprints, comparing them to the machine, looking over the wiring and Sans'scribbled notes. Then, again trembling, she pushed a small power switch on the front of the engine. Nothing happened, and Alphys sighed. "Y-yeah, didn't think he'd... g-g-gotten it working yet."
Her search wasn't over yet, and rifling through the drawers she murmured again to herself, "Can't let myself... get distracted..." Surely she didn't have an awful lot of time. "Ah, darn it Sans... wh-where did you go?"
Author's Note: Many thanks for your reviews guys! 0W0
Next Chapter: The Many Worlds Theory
