"Sans, is something bothering you too?"

The shorter skeleton visibly cringed at the tone in his brothers' voice, it was unnaturally quiet and full of uncertainty, something you would usually have to really strain your ears in order to hear if he was speaking. Sans let the tips of his fingers run over the top of his skull, a heavy sigh escaping the smile permanently etched onto his skull – he wanted to lie to them both, he had been doing it for so long it seemed natural anyway.

"it's ok, bro. don't worry 'bout it."

Over the few years he had been lying, his skills had improved greatly. Now he was able to disguise his tone so he could portray fake emotions that would almost seem real, but still Papyrus and Frisk didn't seem convinced. Sans felt a trickle of sweat dribble down the side of his skull, which was strange considering he was a skeleton and didn't have any sweat glands. But it happened anyway.

"Sans..." Frisk began slowly, reaching out a hand to gently press it on where his humerus would be located, their eyes full of worry. They had just confessed their own problems, so they were all in a touchy place and he had a feeling he couldn't get out of this one for once. "You can tell us what's bothering you. Please."

He cleared his throat, pupils flicking to the side with anxiety.
"i'm good, kiddo. can we just call it a night?"

There was silence as they opened their mouth to reject the question, before they felt Papyrus lightly nudge their shoulder, offering a meaningful look. Frisk clamped their mouth shut and looked a little confused, didn't he want to help his brother?

"Okay, Sans." The tall skeletons' voice had now returned to it's normal loud and enthusiastic state, as he turned to the small child beside him. "Would you like us to ask Toriel if we can 'sleep-over' (is that what you humans call it?), just in case you need more support?"

Sans shuffled closer to his brother and looked a little more anxious than before, he wasn't eager to stay here in case Frisk decided to pester him more. To his horror, they nodded their head and he felt himself getting lift up by his younger brother. "Okay, we shall ask her now!" With a few confident strides the two brothers were out of the room and Frisk was left alone on their bed.

You really are an idiot, aren't you?
Hee, just ignore me.

They gently rubbed two fingers in circles on their temples, which was sightly relaxing but didn't remove the tension they now carried. What had happened with Sans back there? It didn't make any sense – they were confessing their problems and then suddenly he seemed to have some sort of episode in the space of two minutes.

It really was troubling.

More than anything they would love to help out their skeletal friend, make him happy like his brother always seemed to be. Something seemed to be off with Papyrus though, they had always pictured him as naive and loud but the level of maturity he used to handle that situation was surprising. Well, sometimes others have sides to them they don't show often… He did have a clever mind with puzzles and words, so they could tell he obviously wasn't stupid.

There seemed to be a lot of mysteries to the skeleton brothers.

Their eyes grew heavy now – they were only a kid, and kids needed plenty of rest. They could contemplate it all in the morning, for now it was time to rest… Their eyelids closed over like a protective seal and they slowly drifted off into sleep.

The familiar crunching of feet in the snow was more than enough for Frisk to turn their attention to what was behind their back. Deep brown eyes blinked momentarily before they saw two hands reach out towards them. One was pure bones, and the other was red gloves.

The problem was, these hands didn't have any owners.

Their own skinned hand gingerly took the first one – it looked like Sans', with the sleeve of his blue hoodie circling around it. There was a flicker as it started to made static like noises… What was going on? They tried to pull away but the hand had a firm grip on theirs.

Their other hand was now placed onto the red glove.

Frisk felt trapped, as they were suddenly being dragged across the snow by these two hands, the hands who they assumed belonged the their skeleton friends. What was going on? Why were they doing this? They looked down at their feet, and their pupils dilated immediately.

Crimson trickled down the bottom of their shirt and down their pants, a visible and bleeding wound across their belly – the pain was unreal. Then what sounded like a sword being scraped across metal sounded, it was continuous and violent, and they felt like a spider being trapped inside a web. They felt like death was coming towards them… The hands tightened on their own and they were being dragged at a quicker pace, the grip they were held in stopping them from doubling over in pain.

Then the pain spread to their neck.

It was like nothing they had ever felt before, it was like someone was slowly ripping open their flesh from the inside – like a thousand little fire ants biting through your flesh only to pour out in the millions from the gaping wound, obliterating your skin with violent bites. Frisk opened their mouth and screamed, but no sound came out. Then it happened.

It was horrific.

Two bodies matched up with the hands – Sans and Papyrus. But they kept glitching in and out of static, blood dripping over the sensitive surface of their bones and eyes deep black abysses. Black fluid rolled out in the tons from the rim of their eyes, like thick oil oozing out of a broken vehicle. Various cracks ran down their faces and every joint they had was now joined by a sharp, spear like bone that pierced into the marrow of whatever bone they were joined into.

"Why didn't you spare us?"
"kids like you should be burning in hell."

Tears gathered up on the rims of their eyes, seeping through their bottom eyelashes and pouring down their face. Had they done this to them? Oh god, it was all their fault – they knew it, they knew that breaking the barrier was all a dream. Eyes squeezing shut, their expression turned into a pained one, fingers tightly gripping onto the hands that trapped them.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"I wanted to spare you – I really wanted to, please forgive me!"
"Please..."

The two skeletons looked even less sympathetic than they had before, if they even harboured any sympathy in the first place. Sans blinked once, a sickening crack echoing throughout the air as another crack ripped up the middle of his eyesocket. Free hand moving, he wiped off the oil-like fluids and flicked them right at Frisk.

"you'll understand one day, kid."
"you can't just keep resetting."
"or there will be consequences."

Their heart felt like it was being ripped in two. These were their two closest friends, what had happened? Was that conversation just a dream? Frisk was starting to forget what reality even was anymore…

"W-W-What…. About…. Toriel?" They wheezed.

Papyrus bent his neck to a completely unnatural angle, a laugh wheezing through his cracked teeth. It sounded familiar, it sounded sinister and they swore they had heard it before. They have heard it before, they just refused to remember.

"She is dead. Because of you."
There was a series of sickly coughs now coming from both skeletons, before they suddenly straightened up and pointed accusingly with their fingers.

"And you're next."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Frisk shot up from their bed, sending the blankets flying to the end of their bed with the force they had used. Pressing a hand firmly against their chest, they sat there panting for a few moments – it wasn't real, it wasn't real.

But it will be soon.

The shuffling of footsteps made them immediately freeze with fear – they had screamed pretty loudly, but some part of them still hoped nobody had heard them. Their heart practically stopped as the door slowly creaked open, a skull peeking over the side that made them tense up completely. They weren't ready for this, go away, go away!

"Human? Are you okay?"

It wasn't Sans, but that didn't make the situation any better. Papyrus was just as disturbing in the dream, if not more considering the ending of it. Frisk tried their best to put on a brave smile, waving a hand dismissively in front of their face. "Go back to bed, Papyrus. I'm fine."

The tall skeleton stepped inside to their dismay, carefully shutting the door as quietly as someone who loudly enters every room could. He then clapped his hands together and spun on his heel to face the human, a meaningful but not negative expression on his face. "You know I rarely sleep, Frisk. There is no need for it," Papyrus did have a reputation for this. He would only rest if he was absolutely exhausted, and it would only take around four or five hours for him to have full energy again.

"Then go back to whatever you were doing," They breathed exasperatedly.

But the tone they had used didn't deter the optimistic skeleton, as he ambled over and seated himself awkwardly on the end of their bed. "No, I don't have anything important to do anyway. Care to tell me what's bothering you?" It was a much different approach and wording than Sans had used, but Frisk somehow found this particular way more annoying – or maybe that was just them being moody.

"I don't want to talk about it."

There was a pause between the two before Papyrus' lowered his voice again, the same way he had done when he had that short discussion with them and Sans. "Sans has bad dreams too, Frisk. He has so many that I'm afraid I can't help him anymore," his voice was almost strained as if he was holding back a few tears. "I want to help him so badly as he is my brother, but there are some things you can't do."

Another pause.

"But I wish to try and help you as well, it's not too late yet."

Frisk crumbled under the sincere smile they were offered, words getting caught in their throat. They could only imagine what it would be like, to see you're own family member in such distress but not quite being able to help them. They had never really thought of Papyrus' side of things, given he was usually such a happy guy – and even now optimism radiated from him, unlike the moment with Sans' episode.

"….Okay. I had a nightmare and… It really scared me."

Without even realizing they had shuffled closer to the tall skeleton, who rested a glove on their shoulder reassuringly. "You can tell me about it, if that helps you, human."

"I was in the snow, and it was so cold. I-I couldn't really see anything else, but then there were these two hands -" They lightly pressed theirs against the skeletons'. "One of them was yours, and the others was Sans. So I took both of them, but then the grip got strong and I couldn't break away from the grip. They started dragging me across the snow, then…."

Frisk then began to describe in great detail what the two brothers had looked like in the dream and what they had said, only to see the slightly unsettled look on their friends' face. He seemed to not be able to fully understand the meaning of the dream.

"What are… Resets?"

Shit shit shit shit shit. Papyrus wasn't meant to know about them – not even Sans was meant to know, but that didn't turn out the way they had hoped. Biting their bottom lip until it drew a slightly bit of blood, they leaned over and wrapped their arms around where Paps' ribcage would be, cheek pressing against the chest-piece he wore.

The skeleton seemed surprised, but affectionately pulled them into a more comfortable position, seating them on his legs. They were already crying, which upset him even more. "Wowie, that sounds like a hideous dream." Fingers ran through her hair, something Papyrus had picked up from watching Toriel mother to child. "But they aren't real, that's what I have to tell Sans all the time. You will always have me and Sans, and we would never do… That."

Frisk let a tired chuckle pass through her lips, pulling back from the embrace slightly. If only he really understood, maybe the nightmares would make more sense to him. Maybe he would understand… But they would never burden him with that knowledge that they shared with Sans.

"I had a bad dream once too, where you killed me. But I just reminded myself it wasn't real, and everything was okay again!"

Their stomach dropped. Papyrus had dreams about it too? He was extremely lucky that he didn't understand everything, otherwise who knows what havoc it would wreck on his loveable personality. But they shook their head to clear the thoughts and hugged him once again.

"I know, Pap." They sighed heavily, "Can I… Can I sleep with you and Sans… Please?" Frisk looked up at his face, searching for an expression that would give away the answer. A kind smile greeted their searching eyes, which filled them with relief.

"Of course! It will be like a real sleepover!" Papyrus lifted them off his lap and carefully placed them back onto the floor, patting their head lovingly. "I would suggest you sleep next to Sans, though. I won't be sleeping tonight, I'm far too busy!"

Frisk was tempted to ask what but they already knew the answer – cooking spaghetti or looking at his 'many fans' online. They offered an amused smile and gripped his hand, a flare of unsettlement in their chest as a picture of the dream flashed through their mind. But they shrugged it off as their friend walked them to the couch. Sans was sprawled along most of the couch, his hoodie covering his face as he was led on his stomach.

Papyrus picked them up and placed them next to the short skeleton, before wandering off into the kitchen somewhere to do god knows what, probably something involving cooking spaghetti or at the very least a pasta of some kind. How he could off of days with no sleep was beyond them, but they assumed it was because he only had magic to recharge instead of a whole functioning body.

They were too afraid of having another nightmare to go back to sleep, but they knew they were going to drift off eventually – the very least they wanted was some support but if they slept with Papyrus he would most likely wake them up accidentally. Frisk let their eyes drift to the skeleton beside them and they shuffled closer, prodding his femur. When that didn't work, they just kept prodding different parts of him in the hope it would wake him up.

To their joy, he did.
"hnnnnn – what…? frisk? what's up, kid?"

They took a deep breath and prepared to explain the nightmare, but quickly came to the decision that he didn't need to hear it until later… Or never. It might make his own situation worse. "I had a nightmare and Papyrus said I could sleep with you..." They pulled off their own attempt at puppy eyes to be extra convincing. Go big or go home.

Sans lifted himself up to make room for them, his back pressed against the back cushions of the couch. "c'mere, kiddo," his voice was tired as always, but he had a more affectionate tone to it than the other times they had talked to him.

Frisk shuffled over and pressed themselves against his side, as a short arm wrapped around their shoulders and held them close. No words were said as the two closed their eyes, silently enjoying eachothers company as they went to sleep.

There was a lot of things that needed to be said in the morning.
The thought of figuring out their problems filled Frisk with determination.

This was posted on Archive Of Our Own yesterday and posted on here today, so if you're wondering why I updated so quickly it's because of that reason. I'm planning to update daily, up until next week because I have school ;u;

Sorry for any mistakes.
Hope you enjoy.

Ciao.