Papyrus' own soul lurched in phantom pain.
Sans soul was a mess and it looked painful.
A normal monster's soul was white. It would be in the shape of an idealized heart with the round bits pointed down and the pointy bit facing the sky. A human soul (Or so Papyrus had read) was colored brightly. The humans main personality trait would be shown by the color of its soul. Also although human and monster souls shared the same shape a humans would be inverted.
The soul Papyrus held in his hand was neither human nor monster.
It was some kind of frankenstein hodgepodge made of bits and pieces of both monster and human souls. It was like someone had shattered two souls with a hammer then picked the pieces that fit best together and tried to make a new composite soul out of them.
It still maintained the shape of its original human orientation. The human parts were a dull listless cayan the monster bits were traditional white. In some places the souls didn't fit together properly and there were crevices and cracks littering its surface. Papyrus wondered how it was able to hold itself together. By all means Sans should be dust by now.
Well he would be dust soon anyways if he didn't do anything to help.
For a moment Papyrus tried to remember what cayan represented. In a flash of inspiration he remembered it represents selflessness but this was not the time for that. Sans needed help.
Because about fifty to sixty percent of Sans core was monster based Papyrus decided that he would try an energy transfer. If that didn't work he would have to call undyne for help.
He needed to focus on his magic and pull out enough to stabilize Sans without killing himself. It would not be easy, even though Papyrus had much more HP than Sans his energy stores were naturally low, where Sans were high.
Two large skeletal hands cupped the little mess of a heart gently as if they was afraid it would break at the slightest touch. When Sans core was safely secured the hands began to glow with a soft orange light.
Papyrus' analytical mind monitored his own magic levels closely. He knew he could go down to about ten present and still maintain his physical form. However his body would pass out at about twenty percent to try and keep that from happening.
"Seventy five-percent..." He mumbled to himself as he cracked an eye socket.
His eye light glowed with the same magic as his hands. The light was pointed directly at the
distressed "skeleton" lying in his lap. Sans breathing was still shallow, the "bone" of his forehead was creased in discomfort.
Papyrus increased his output and the light of his magic increased a bit.
"Fifty-percent..."
When he increased his magic he could feel Sans, by degrees, relax into him slightly. That was a good sign. After a few more minutes Sans breathing evened out and his "face" relaxed.
Blackness was starting to creep into the corners of Papyrus' vision at this point but he pushed on regardless.
"Thirty-percent" His words were starting to slur and his head was drooping. Papyrus would have kept going until he passed out. However at the twenty five-percent point he felt Sans shift in his lap.
Looking down he saw the little guy had moved and appeared to be sleeping soundly. With his face pushed into Papyrus' orange hoodie one arm wrapped lightly around the taller ones waist.
"Sans?"
He just pushed his face further into the warmth of the orange hoodie and mumbled something illegible.
Papyrus let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding in.
"What'd you say?" Papyrus asked with a smile on his face.
Sans turned his head slightly eyes still closed and repeated "Shhhhhhhhhh Sans is sleeping."
Papyrus' smile only widened in response as Sans snuggled back into his former place. He was actually totally exhausted himself and since It seemed as if Sans wasn't going to die on him anytime soon. Papyrus decided it was time for one of his patented nap breaks.
He let the orange magic fade out of his hands and opened them slowly. The core still looked terrible but the monster bits seemed more white and the human bits shone with a dazzling light that put its earlier dull state to shame.
Satisfied with his work Papyrus let the soul dissipate once again letting it return to where it belonged.
Trying not to wake the sleeping "skeleton" Papyrus managed to maneuver them both under Sans sheets. Sans had kept his hold on Papyrus the whole time and when they were both comfortably settled in Sans arms were still loosely wrapped around Papyrus midsection.
As the younger of the two lay in bed on the edge of unconsciousness he thought he heard something that made a pit form in his stomach. The next morning he wouldn't be able to tell if it was a dream or not. But it the half memory of it would haunt him for weeks to come.
" 'm sorry papy Please I'm sorry don't be mad."
