Welp, hopefully 2016 will be a lot kinder to me than this past year, which was the worst of my life. Just imagine me at my computer, lazily throwing confetti into the air. Happy new year, guys! thanks for the support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Pap is a precious cinnamon roll, thats all im gonna say.
He felt his heart stop at the familiar feeling. This couldn't be. There was no way in hell… He had destroyed the kid, completely. He had vaporized their soul for crying out loud! Still, there was no denying that the space around him had gotten colder, and it was as if a pair of eyes were watching his every move. This wasn't real… this was a nightmare. This had to be a terrible, awful nightmare he couldn't wake himself up from… Could his mind even take it if it wasn't? He suddenly felt a chill go up his spine, and his pupils narrowed. He gasped, and his left eye blazed blue as he sent a bone flying directly behind him, to his right. Beakers and other assorted objects shattered and crashed. When he spun around, fists clenched, chest heaving, he felt his whole world spin as he realized there was no one there. He could have fucking sworn…
"SANS?" a familiar sleepy voice called from just above. Shit. He'd forgotten about how close his lab was to where the bedrooms were positioned two floors above, and the walls weren't exactly soundproof. He'd waken Papyrus with his racket. He buried his face in his hands. This was just what he needed…
Thinking fast, he teleported to his room, and dove for the safety of his mattress just as his little brother began pounding on the door. He let out a silent sigh of relief, thanking whoever he could think of that it was always locked. He couldn't have ever pulled off half of his fables and lies to Papyrus if it wasn't.
"BROTHER? ARE YOU AWAKE? I HEARD A NOISE. I'M JUST MAKING SURE IT WASN'T YOU… ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Sans stared down at the floor, wanting nothing more than to just disappear. It was only hours ago that he was being crushed in his brother's embrace, hoisted upon the shoulders of cheering monsters he had never met, and congratulated for every possible reason under the sun. Now? He felt lower than the grimiest corners of the trash piles Alphys spent her free time exploring. He felt himself about to choke on a sob. When would this torment end? What had he done to deserve all this?
"Y-yeah P-pap… it's okay… I… I…"
Fuck. He wracked his brain for any sort of excuse that would satisfy his brother's prying concern. He hated lying to Papyrus. He hated keeping things from him. He was Sans's best friend, as lame as that sounded, and anytime a detail couldn't be shared, it felt like a knife in his sternum.
"I dropped something."
Papyrus gave an audible grumble of disbelief, and Sans held his head in his hands. For the first time in his life, he wanted nothing more for the taller skeleton to just get lost. God, he wanted to tell him everything. He wanted to share every detail, scream it from the rooftops until he broke down and cried, but even if he somehow got him, or anyone to understand, that freak would just bring it right back to square one. Before he even realized it was happening, his eye was blazing once more, and he was sobbing so hard, big blue tears pouring out of his sockets, that he was hyperventilating.
He was lost. He was so alone, and out in the middle of nowhere. Walls seemed to build up all around him. Here he was, finally losing his damn mind. This was it. He couldn't run any longer. Everything hit him at once, and he let out a scream of anguish. If the kid wanted to show up at this moment, cut him into a million tiny pieces, and let him rot? He'd welcome them with open arms. He didn't even hear Papyrus's cries of worry. He was too far gone. It was a full scale panic attack, and not even an anchor three times his size could reel him back down now.
Unknown to the trauma unfolding on the other side of the door, Papyrus rested his skull against the wood, and knocked harder.
"S-SANS? I KNOW LATELY YOU'VE SEEMED SAD… VERY SAD… AND I UNDERSTAND YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH A LOT WITH THE HUMAN… BUT PLEASE… TALK TO ME. THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL ALWAYS LISTEN! I'M VERY WORRIED… OPEN THIS DOOR!"
Sans rocked himself back and forth, trying to get a grip. His eyes blurred, and his hands were shaking so hard, he couldn't even get them to his face to wipe his tears away. Suddenly, the door sprung open with a click, and it came to his attention that Papyrus had remembered the location of his spare key, in case of emergencies. Shit. Double shit.
He lifted his head to try and play this off, but before he could even speak, a pair of arms were hugging him close. He gasped and tried to tell Papyrus to leave him be, but all that came out was a strangled and pathetic attempt at a noise, which in turn caused him to be held tighter. He struggled, and let out another whimper, but Papyrus wasn't giving in. Not this time. Sans finally relented, and with a loud and awful sob, he clung to him like his life depended on it. He gripped the fabric of his brother's scarf so tight, he could feel it beginning to tear. Papyrus simply closed his eyes, cooing comforting noises, and stroking the smaller skeletons back, like he'd always done when Sans wasn't feeling well.
"I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry…" Sans cried, trying to cease his trembling. "I- I c-can't… you won't u-unders-stand!" Papyrus pulled him closer.
"HUSH, LAZY BONES. I TRUST YOU. EVEN IF IT IS NOT SOMETHING THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN COMPREHEND, I STILL WISH TO BE HERE FOR YOU. I WANT TO SEE YOU HAPPY, OR AT LEAST, NOT THIS SAD."
God, had he mentioned how cool his brother was yet? Sans took him up on his offer, and rested his chin on his shoulder, crying for what seemed like hours as Pap continued to comfort him, and wipe his tears away. When he had finally calmed down enough to speak, and not shake with every simple movement, he sighed, completely drained. Papyrus sensed this, and smiled softly.
"I KNOW JUST WHAT TO GET FOR YOU! WAIT HERE…" Sans couldn't help but laugh a little as his brother went bounding downstairs. A few minutes later, a hot plate of spaghetti, and a cup of tea sat on his lap. The taller skeleton sat at the edge of the bed, a story book clutched in his gloved hands. The title "Fluffy Bunny" gazed back at him. Sans smirked. He had read Papyrus that book so many times, he could probably recite it word for word if he wanted to. Still, he decided to humor him.
"Thanks, Papyrus… you're the coolest." He seemed to light up at the praise, and waited expectantly for Sans to begin his meal. Sans started to eat, and in his honest opinion? His brother's pasta that night was the best thing he had ever tasted. He was home, safe, and for now? His paranoia couldn't get to him. He took a long sip of the hot tea as Papyrus cracked the book open, and began to read to him at once.
"THERE ONCE WAS A BUNNY WHO LIVED ALL ALONE IN THE FOREST… THIS BUNNY WAS-"
"Very fluffy." Sans finished for him, snickering as his brother visibly stiffened.
"NO! THIS IS A STORY FOR YOU TO ENJOY, BROTHER! ALLOW ME TO READ IT TO YOU!"
Sans smiled at him, and gave him an affectionate pat on the shoulder.
"I'm just pulling your leg, bro… go ahead."
Papyrus nodded, and continued to read. Sans pulled the blanket that he had been given closer, and yawned, curling up slightly as his brother's loud voice continued the story. The words began to blur together, and become nonsense as his eye's started to close, and he finally had been able to drift off to a peaceful sleep. Once he started to snore, Papyrus gazed at him lovingly, and patted his head gently.
"SLEEP WELL, SANS. TOMORROW? I'LL LET YOU REST UNTIL SIX AM… INSTEAD OF FIVE." He then switched off the light, and left the room, keeping the door open in case Sans needed him again. He was soon asleep himself, and every light in their home had been switched off for the night. The place was silent, still.
Outside, a light coating of snow began to come down, and dress the ground below. Everyone in Snowdin had retired to their homes for the night, and the streets were empty.
That was until the sound of footfalls seemed to echo in the deafening quiet that was now surrounding the little cozy town, and a figure emerged from the darkness.
A red-eyed young child, looking of about eight, stood beside a lone tree in the snow-covered fields surrounding the village. Red eyes gleaming, they smirked, climbing with ease to the highest branch, and swinging their legs under themselves playfully. A knife held in one hand, they twisted it around, loving the way the handle felt heavy, and menacing in their grasp. A golden flower let out a low snarl, and coiled itself tighter around their shoulder, vines twitching in anticipation.
"Well, Sansy…" the voice that spoke was not one, but two combined, the flower's, and the child's, as one. "Looks like it's not game over for us just yet…." With one last glance at the window that Sans was sleeping beside, they were gone, their laughter echoing throughout the quiet winter air, and a single golden petal fluttering down to the snow down below.
Uh oh... will Sans lose his mind in the next chapter? will Papyrus ever stop waking up early? will I ever stop annotating? all this and more to come!