Saying Goodbye
Chapter 5
You woke up before the sun today. Sans was gone, but you could hear moving downstairs, as well as his carefully measured voice. Your father was still snoring away in his room, and you could not tell if Toriel was up and about or not. If she was still abed, you had no idea how she could sleep through Asgore's thunderous snoring.
With a sigh, you swung your legs over the bed. You ached again, but that was pretty normal for you. In a few moments you would know if it was stiffness that made you hurt or the sickness. You were used to the constant aches that went with it, your bones had grown weaker where the cancerous cells had made their way from their initial site to their boney neighbors. You padded over to the dresser and pulled out sweatpants and a plain shirt, dressing quickly and throwing Sans' abandoned hoodie over it all, zipping it as you went down the stairs.
You saw Sans leaning against a wall, facing away from you with his phone to the side of his head. At first you were not sure who he would be calling this early, then he flinched and held the phone about an inch away from himself and Papyrus' loud voice blasted into the room. You didn't get the whole thing, but you were fairly certain he said that he would stay over at your apartment with you two tonight to make sure that... something, something... You couldn't hear the rest as Sans put the phone closer to his head and he began speaking again.
"Look Paps, just... Just don't go too crazy and... We will be home soon." there was a pause and he nodded, running his free hand over his skull with a sigh "I know. Look, just make sure that if you tell people that they don't flood them, okay? They doesn't need that right now."
You cleared your throat, smiling a little as the short skeleton spun around in surprise, his shoulders pulled up to where his ears would be. You laughed, like you always did when that happened, but the sound felt wrong. Your smile dimmed a bit as you moved to make coffee, humming to yourself as you moved on the the refrigerator to start pulling out things for breakfast. Cooking something was a good way to keep your mind occupied, and it would be a nice surprise for your parents.
"Yeah, they're up now. We will be home in a while, bro. Go ahead and go for your run, Undyne will keep you busy til we get home."
He clicked his phone shut and dropped it on the table. He stood watching you as you absently stirred the batter in the bowl in front of you while your eyes scanned the cupboard for cinnamon. Reaching out with his magic, he shuffled things around faster than your tired eyes could follow and chuckled when you made a wild grab for something that looked like it might be what you were after. Cayenne pepper. Nope, not that.
"Oh my god, just give the cinnamon, assbutt."
He snickered at the name, replacing the majority of the contents of the cupboard back in their places, but holding on to four other containers and spinning them around your head. The two of you always played like this. Sans would put things up too high for you to reach, or flick them just out of your reach just as you went for them, just to get you riled up a little. Usually, you would retaliate with putting something like salt in his coffee, or switching his ketchup with hot sauce, but being at your parent's home curbed that impulse. Your eyes locked onto the cinnamon and you started silently counting to time of it's orbit.
As you snatched it out of the air, you laughed and tried to turn back to flash him a smile, but your feet tangled and instead you stumbled backwards and hit the counter with your back. Your yelp of surprise and pain wiped he smile off Sans' face as his magic released the other jars, which went spinning to the floor.
"I'm sorry, I didn't-"
You held up your hand and let out a slow breath. It had hurt, but only for a moment, now just a dull ache remained. You waved off his apologies and bumped your forehead against his, just standing still for a moment.
"I-"
"Don't worry, Sans. It's fine. A stumble isn't going to kill me. I seem to have the best luck with falls, you know. Now, other things might, but a fall? Nah."
His eyes went dark and he was silent. Your attempt at humor clearly far missing it's mark. You look down, suddenly feeling guilty for the attempt at making the situation better with a joke. You both jumped when you heard the door upstairs open and Toriel's feet moving quickly down the stairs. Her face cross when she appeared, her eyes scanning the room. When she saw the jars on the floor (the nutmeg still rolling forlornly under the table) she fixed you both with a glare.
"You two better not have been roughhousing. Frisk, you know you can't-"
"I know. I'm sorry mom."
"Sorry Tori."
Both of you glanced at each other, then quietly went about making breakfast as your mother fussed over the bruise forming on your back and trying to get you to go sit while she finished cooking. You managed to convince her to let you do it, and before long the smell of pancakes, eggs and bacon filled the house. Sans had taken a seat by Toriel after you chased him off for hovering.
You watched your family eat and smiled to yourself. You knew that these times would not last much longer. You knew that soon the normalcy would be forced and you would be back to having people hover constantly, watch to see how much you ate today as opposed to yesterday, checking your skin for blisters. You knew soon you would have to deal with losing control of your bladder and bowels again, and the vomiting and itching.
But that was a thought for another day. For now, you were not hurting and you could still take care of yourself.
One day at a time.