What You Could Be
Chapter 14: What You Could Be
For a skeleton, Papyrus sure felt like he was sweating an awful lot.
"Two ninety-five," Undyne slammed the ground with her palm, determined stare powering him onward. She wore black jeans and a workout tank top, flaming red hair pulled back into a ponytail to stay out of her eye. "Come on, Paps, push it!"
He strained his back ramrod stiff as he forced himself through two more push ups, sweat dripping down between his brow bone. His arms felt like gelatin and he was definitely dizzy, but he wouldn't let Undyne down. No, he couldn't let her down. He pushed and struggled to lift himself, the blue magic constantly weighing himself down was almost too much to bear. But as with all things, he grit his teeth, screwed up his eye sockets in concentration and shoved hard no matter how much it burned. If he had muscles he was sure that they would be on fire by this point.
"Three hundred!" Undyne crowed victoriously as she helped him to his feet. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" she was bouncing on the balls of her feet eagerly, her smile wide. "Alright, now for laps around Waterfall!"
If you say so.
"Yeah, let's do it!" Papyrus forced his voice loudly, although it lacked the emotion that he wanted it to. He felt drained as it were, but he could focus on that later. Why was he so unenthusiastic lately? Maybe the constant exercise would help to clear his head. He glanced around when Undyne started stretching, catching a glimpse of what he thought was a yellow flash out of the corner of his eye socket. There was nothing there though. He shook himself a bit, trying to clear his head. He was seeing things. Physical and magical exertion could do that sometimes, if a monster was pushed hard enough. One time he had pushed himself so hard that he thought he saw a completely gray monster staring over the edge of a cliff, but they were gone the next moment and he had spent over three hours worriedly trying to find anyone that looked like that in Waterfall to no avail. He had resigned himself to not start losing it when he pushed himself to the edge, and for that he had to be stronger. No matter what, he needed to be stronger. For Undyne. For Sans. For Frisk.
Papyrus felt himself fill with determination as he closed his eye sockets, taking in a long, steady breath that he exhaled quietly. When he finished the lights in his eye sockets burned just as brightly as ever, and he was even getting a bit excited at the prospect of his morning run. He stood ramrod straight and rolled his shoulders, working out the kinks in his back as he steadied himself yet again. Undyne prepped him to start, one arm stretching to the ground as they knelt before she gave the signal. They didn't start off with a full sprint, although Papyrus knew for a fact that they would be working up to it. He pumped his legs hard as he strained to keep up with the much faster and more agile Undyne, the captain easily staying almost two yards ahead of him at all times. Papyrus's gaze narrowed to the small of her back.
Waterfall was already warm, and his soul was slamming in his chest, booted feet pounding through puddles as he kept an even pace just behind Undyne, watching her hair bob gracefully with every leaping bound. He didn't want to be left behind, his face burned with just the thought of being left in the dust, and he shoved himself onward, breath huffing and chest heaving as he pumped his legs harder and harder, single minded in his goal. Undyne even gave him a surprised glance as he sprinted past her in just a few leaping bounds, and she was bolting forward at a full sprint before long, racing neck and neck with him around Waterfall. Undyne was cackling and Papyrus was gasping for breath as he darted forward, mind deliriously blank as he pushed himself onward. He had to push himself, had to be stronger. Needed to be stronger, for Sans, for Undyne, for Frisk, for everyone. It wasn't about him, the people needed him to improve. Stronger, stronger, stronger. Better, harder, faster, stronger. It was this that spurred him further, needfully, faster as he slammed one foot after another, arms pumping through the air as he let out a victorious nyeh!
Papyrus was out of breath as he came skidding to a halt before Undyne's house, sweating and gasping heavily. Undyne seemed to be in a similar boat, her grin absolutely manic as she stood before him, hands on her knees as she gasped.
"Holy shit, Papyrus!" Undyne beamed at him. "Where did that come from?"
It took him several long minutes to catch his breath, his chest and legs burning and aching. Papyrus just shook his head when Undyne offered to help him stand. He needed to be able to do it on his own. He cracked his sore back and rolled his shoulders, leveling himself out for a few moments as she stretched.
"Alright punk…" her grin grew almost feral. "Now that our warm up is finished, time for a sparring match!"
"Already…?" Papyrus frowned a bit worriedly. "Don't you need to-to catch your breath, or-or-"
"No stalling!" Undyne slapped him on the shoulder. "Hurry up and start attacking, let's get this show on the road!"
Papyrus sighed and obliged, stretching out his right arm. Every single day with this. But he would force himself onward anyway. His thoughts narrowed to a single point, his shoulders stilling as he focused. A cascade of magic swirled in his fingertips and a small, easily dodged straight line of bones slid over the ground toward Undyne. She just stared at him for a moment before sidestepping them, her wide smile slowly fading.
"Come on, Papyrus," she glowered at him. "I don't need training wheels! Crank it up to eleven already, hit me with everything you've got!"
"I-I'll try harder," he swallowed dryly. He raised his arm again and sent out an undulating wave of fibulas, again, all of which were easily avoided. He wouldn't start off full blast, he even kept the magical attack in a neat, tidy pattern, and Undyne seemed mildly irritated by this as well.
"Harder," she commanded. "Faster too!"
She flicked her wrist and his soul shivered as it turned green, several spears floating in the air behind her. Papyrus nervously resisted the urge to step backward, knowing that it would do no good.
"You ready for this?" Undyne grinned wildly.
"I was born ready," he clenched his fists, a long femur conjured into his hand as he batted away the incoming projectiles, simultaneously sending out a rippling wave of bones that ruptured the earth. Several jutted down from the ceiling, causing her to duck and weave nimbly through them as she summoned more spears, each of which were easily batted away by Papyrus.
He felt the sweat rapidly coming back and pour down his bones as spears rocketed and ricocheted in multiple directions, some flying off in random directions. She batted them so hard that they blew chunks out of the wall, but neither of them slowed even a bit.
"Come on, Papyrus!" Undyne bellowed, deftly hurling spear after conjured spear at him. He couldn't back away but he could still slip to the left and right, nimbly sidestepping one spear after another, and watched as one of the magical spears embedded itself nearly a quarter of the way into the stone wall just behind him. He was lucky that she wasn't giving it her all, and he could tell. Maybe that was what he deserved for fighting the way he did, maybe she was just being polite. Either way, it was starting to make him just a bit angry. What, did she think that he couldn't handle it or something?
"Bring it already, hit me Papyrus!"
Instead, Papyrus reached into the well of magic and cast out his arm, sending a wave of incrementally heightening bones that ripped and tore through earthy soil, each and every one at an easy and manageable pace.
"Dude!" Undyne was looking offended now. "Come on, I know you can do better than that. Put your all into it already!"
Papyrus bit back his words, struggling to focus through the magically induced battle haze. She was goading him and he knew it, and it seemed to be going nowhere. He needed to be stronger, but he couldn't just go all out on her. Or any one, for that matter. He couldn't do as she instructed, no matter how much he wanted to. It would mean hurting someone. Papyrus could absolutely not allow himself to unleash it all, not ever again. He had to stay calm, had to stay focused, had to stay in control of himself no matter how gradually it seemed to be slipping through his phalanges in the sieve of growing anger.
"Are-are you certain you want me to do that?" Papyrus frowned, shifting from foot to foot. "Maybe we can just-"
"Yes I'm freakin' sure!" Undyne stamped a foot against the earth in irritation. "Nyagh! How many times have we trained, Paps?"
"Wait, I was supposed to be keeping count?!"
"No, no," she pinched the spot between her eyes, flicking a new spear into existence and gripping it hard. "What I mean is, we fight all the time. I know how your attacks work. I know when you're holding back. "
Papyrus froze up instantly, panic and unease flooding his chest.
"So hurry up and turn me blue already, bonehead!" Undyne flipped a spear into the air and caught it nimbly between her fingers. "At least give me a challenge when I kick your butt, jeez ."
Papyrus sighed again and shook his head, slowly leveling his arm toward Undyne. He couldn't fight off the uncomfortable feeling of being watched, and it was upsetting that he couldn't see anyone else around. She held still for just a moment so that he could more easily focus on her soul, and it was pulled from her tank top in a brilliant shade of blue.
"Now this is more like it…" Undyne grinned ferally, her breathing quickening.
"Are you sure you want to do this-?" he tried to ask before he was interrupted.
"Alright, let's rock this!" Undyne screamed at the top of her lungs, whipping another spear out of her opposite hand. "Bring it on, punk!"
And with that, the real battle began.
Papyrus was filled with discomfort the entire time he dodged spears, throwing bones out faster and faster to keep up the pace. There was simply no way that he could go all out on someone, let alone his closest friend and mentor. Too many unknown variables, too many things that could go wrong. What if she missed her window of opportunity to dodge and someone was seriously injured? Papyrus didn't even know if he could live with himself for hurting someone that badly, the idea of accidentally harming someone seemed absolutely horrifying, but he fought on regardless, sidestepping and dodging and reflecting spears like his life depended on it. Which, with as speedily and accurately as the spears were flying, might have been the case. Wave after wave of rocketing bones flew through the air, some crashing into oncoming spears and exploding in little clouds of magical debris. Papyrus was panting heavily, leveling a conjured bone like a club at her, spinning it swiftly through his phalanges rapidly as Undyne rushed forward with a battle cry.
Papyrus casually slipped out of the way, attempting to trip her up with the makeshift club. Undyne backflipped over it practicedly and hurtled a pair of spears through the air at the same time. He managed to quickly summon a small wall of bone shield to catch them both, and the shattering sound was heard as it echoed through the caverns when more of the spears rammed and stuck halfway through. Papyrus whirled a couple more magic tibulas from the earth, and she drifted away easily, her grin wild and manic. She did not account, however, for the rushed bones that he sent slamming down from above, and one of the jagged ones tore roughly through her right shoulder before she could slip out of the danger zone. He heard a sickening crack of snapping bone as she fell to one knee, gasping sweatily and grasping her shoulder.
"Crap baskets!" Papyrus shrieked as he dismissed his weapon with a little flurry of magic sparks. He tripped over himself, scrabbling over bloodied debris and chunks of stone and rushing to her side, and her shoulders were shaking hard. "Oh god, Undyne! I'm sorry, oh god are you okay?"
It took him a few moments to realize that she was laughing .
"Holy crap, man…" she wiped a tear from her eye with her uninjured arm. "Oh dude, that is going to hurt in the morning." she was beaming up at him as he shakily helped her to her feet.
"Undyne! I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I-I-I… ! Does-does it hurt…?" he was dancing from foot to foot nervously. "Oh god, oh god I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Undyne!"
"Dude, c'mon. Stop freaking out," Undyne chuckled weakly, still holding her bleeding shoulder. She was sweating profusely and her scales seemed just a bit pale. "It'll be alright. Just a little cut. You can seriously pack a punch when you wanna. Why, uh… why don't you head home for the day?"
"What?" Papyrus blinked, struggling not to show that he was hurt. Obviously not as badly as her. "Undyne, you've been injured, at least let me heal you or something-"
"I said it's alright," she waved him off without meeting his gaze. "I'm pretty beat though, I'm, uh… I'm gonna grab something to eat and call it a day. Go take care of your lazybones brother and the mini punk. I'll just hit the showers, you should do the same. Alright?"
Papyrus couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why wouldn't she look at him? What was it with her? Was there something wrong with him? Was it because he had messed up? Oh god, he had screwed up so badly, she was never going to train him again and he'd never be in the royal guard because he was a danger to everyone around him and he couldn't breathe, couldn't think, why wouldn't she let him heal her? Didn't see see all of the blood leaking from her shoulder? He didn't even care that a bunch of it had gotten on him, he felt ill .
"Seriously, dude. It's cool," she said through gritted teeth. She clapped a hand on his shoulder, and despite the pain she had a kind look in her glinting eye. "Be back here in the morning for training. I'll be fine by tomorrow. Alright?"
Papyrus wanted desperately to fight her on the issue, he wanted to argue with her until she saw reason and let him heal her, but his mind was reeling. She wanted him to come back. But she was more important than that. It wasn't good too go to sleep with an injury like that, even with the healing properties of monster food he worried. Eventually however he caved beneath her iron glare and let out an irritated sigh.
"… Alright, Undyne." his head hanged a little. "I'll… I'll see you in the morning."
"Sweet," she tried to wave at him with her injured arm before letting out a pained hiss. "Bring your apron tomorrow, there's some new recipes you need to learn if you want to be properly prepared for the royal guard."
"The wha-?" he blinked. "But-but I thought you said I needed to capture a human to-"
"Yeah," she nodded once. "And you caught a human. So you're in the guard now. Congrats, man."
It was very quiet. Papyrus really had hoped for some kind of fanfare.
"… I'm in the royal guard," he repeated numbly. His body felt heavy and his head felt blank. "I'm… in the royal guard."
"It might not be official," Undyne frowned a little. "But, uh. I've been thinking. Since joining the royal guard would require you to stand before Asgore and I'm pretty sure he'd want to know about your human capturing skills…"
Papyrus felt his soul sink into his stomach. So, here it was at last. He knew it was too good to be true.
"You… still want to bring the human to Asgore," Papyrus finished quietly. Instead of answering immediately, Undyne only gave him a tilt of her head and smirked.
"… Who says Asgore has to know?"
Papyrus cackled happily as he swept her up off the ground, swinging her back and forth.
"Oh my god oh my god oh my god Undyne thank you, thank OH CRAP I'M SORRY!"
He dropped her and she fell to her knees, holding her shoulder and letting out a poor impersonation of a tea kettle.
"Just…" Undyne said with a painfully forced smile. "Rest up for now. Get your bony butt back here in the morning. We've gotta get you fitted up for when you're officially in. Got it?"
"Understood, captain!" Papyrus saluted promptly, his scarf billowing a little. "I will rest like nobody has rested before! Nyeh heh heh!"
"Y-yeah. You do that, buddy," Undyne said through that same pained smile. He didn't even hear the rest of what she had to say, as he was already bounding off through Waterfall. Undyne finally let herself relax a little, shuddering in pain.
The shoulder wound had cut deeper than she had anticipated. A lot deeper.
But there was no longer any doubt in her mind. He had a lot of untapped potential, a lot of heart. She momentarily considered relocating his sentry station to Hotland or Waterfall, considering that Snowdin's guards all tended to be a little too fixated on bones for their own good. She let out a sigh, running her uninjured hand through her sweat soaked red hair.
Gerson was undoubtedly going to have a few choice words for her when she asked him to heal her again. She really owed him for all the years, and there was no doubt in her mind that he was going to be more than a little pissed that she came back to him with yet another battle scar.
Papyrus treaded through the murky water with his head forcibly held high. Undyne was fine. He didn't need to go making himself feel guilty for giving her a scratch. She was fine. That didn't stop him from feeling terrible about it though. Normally he'd have taken the ferry back to Snowdin, but today he was in the mood for a walk. He walked and walked until the wetlands began to give way to gradually drier lands, and he had to stop a few times to empty the water from his boots, but it didn't bother him. Much.
It didn't matter.
Tomorrow everything came together. What he had worked toward for years.
Tomorrow, he was joining the royal guard.
True, it wasn't official, and that stung a little bit. Like even when he was reaching his dream job it wasn't quite like he imagined it. He would have liked more pomp and circumstance. More dramatic flair, maybe a few trumpets to declare his magnificence, but this was nice too.
Sans was going to be overjoyed to hear the news. Papyrus could hardly contain his glee himself. He did a couple of hops and skips giddily as he walked, swinging his arms in stride.
"Howdy!"
Papyrus almost jumped out of his battle body when he heard the familiar, high pitched voice.
"Oh! Hello there, little flower friend!" he knelt to the yellow petaled flower that had popped up from the ground at his feet, smiling widely at him. "It's good to see you again, Flowey! How have you been?"
"Oh, you know," Flowey pulled a vine from the ground and tilted it back and forth like he would a hand. "Doing fine. Keeping to myself. You know little ol' me, never was much one for excitement. You certainly seem to lead an interesting life though!"
Watching the flower's face was strange to Papyrus. He recognized the looks, the emotions, but it was almost like he was watching a reproduction instead of the real thing. It was… a little eerie, but he didn't want to seem rude.
"The life of the Great Papyrus is indeed an adventurous one," he patted the flower on the head. For a moment he thought he saw him scowl, but it was gone the next moment. "Exploits of daring danger and heroics galore. Average day for me."
"Oh, Papyrus," Flowey lifted himself from the ground, his stem sprouting upward until he was head height with the skeleton. "You always were my favorite."
"Well, naturally," he held a gloved hand to his chest, trying not to show just how badly Flowey had startled him by his sudden height change. "I'm the Great Papyrus. I'm everyone's favorite."
This elicited a warbling, shrill laugh.
"We should sit down and talk," Flowey purred. "Just you and me. For old time's sake. What do you say?"
"I'm afraid I'll have to take a rain check," Papyrus shook his head gently. "I still have yet to make dinner for Sans and-" he paused, uncertain. He didn't know why it felt like such a bad idea to inform his friend about Frisk. "-And someone else."
"Oh, of course," Flowey inspected the tip of his vine like it was his fingernails. "I understand perfectly if you've gotten bored of me, Papyrus. I'm just a boring little flower, you've clearly got better things to do. What with your new friend and all."
Papyrus really did not like the way that he said it, although he felt a bit guilty regardless.
"It's really not like that…" Papyrus shifted from foot to foot, unable to fully meet his gaze. "I just-"
"Say, Papyrus," Flowey interrupted as if he wasn't really interested in hearing anything he had to say. "We've known each other for so long. We're friends, right?"
"Well, yes, naturally we are!" he said proudly. "You're acting so strange today, Flowey. Of course you're my best friend."
The flower gave him a queer, tilted glance. He looked… offended? Confused? Surprised? Hurt? Whatever it was, it lasted only a bare second, and Papyrus wasn't quite sure that he hadn't imagined it altogether.
"… You know, Papyrus," Flowey stage whispered conspiratorially before checking around him to search for others. But of course there was nobody else around. He had grown careful to prevent being seen by anyone aside from the skeleton, and lurking monsters were easy to sway, keeping the area free of life. "You're right. We are best friends. And best friends share their secrets with each other, right?"
"W-well, yes, I suppose-"
"And wouldn't you know it," he grinned a little too widely at him. "I just so happen to be choc full of secrets."
"Really? What kind, flower friend?"
"Oh, you know. The kind of secrets that make you want to claw your own soul out to get the knowledge out of you. The kind of secrets that warp your mind and your perception of the world around you when you realize the truth. The kind of secrets that make you think that everyone you know and love is out to kill you . Knowledge is power, you know, and what with you joining the royal guard tomorrow you're going to need all the power that you can get your bony hands on."
So he had been watching.
"… Thanks, but no thanks, flower friend," Papyrus shook his head slowly. "I don't think-"
"Exactly," Flowey's expression sharpened. "You didn't think ." It was a few seconds before his face softened almost in a practiced manner. "But don't you worry . That's what you've got your best friend for! Tee hee."
Even his laugh sounded rehearsed. It was making Papyrus extremely uneasy. Maybe that was just the effect that Flowey had on others. He was creepy, but he couldn't help it. It was just how he was. Was that why he told Papyrus that he didn't have any other friends? He felt so sorry for the little flower. He watched quietly as Flowey rescinded back into the ground with a little wink. Papyrus let out a relieved little sigh as soon as he was out of sight.
Then he popped back up right behind him, causing him to jolt.
"Meet me in the usual place tonight, Papyrus," Flowey smiled toothily at him. "I think it's time you learned the truth about your new… friend
."
Papyrus really was his favorite toy.
And being his favorite, Flowey knew exactly where to apply pressure in order to cause him to crack .
Sans was falling.
He'd had several dreams like this one. Falling through the dark like he had just thrown himself into the bottomless pit in Waterfall. It felt like forever, like he was being swallowed by the dark. Or maybe he was just standing still and it only felt like he was falling. He couldn't tell.
… I'm here again.
He could hear arguing somewhere in the shadows, and he pressed toward it. Just as before, he found nothing at first. He reached out with his magic, feeling that strange warmth in his chest. It was almost like it was pulling him along, like it was directing him through the dark. It felt like hours that he had been pressing on, but he finally heard it.
"I'm telling you, we have to run !"
He knew that voice. And now, he even knew the face that it was attached to.
Chara.
"Please, Chara; just give me a chance, I c-can fix this!"
"What are you, retarded ?" he heard them scoff, and he pressed harder in the direction the voices were emanating from. "It's never going to stop, we can't trust him… !"
"Please listen, Chara - he can be good, I know, I know he can…"
Silence fell.
Sans paused, suddenly feeling very lost in the dark.
Without their voices to guide him, he felt as if he were stranded on an island. Too isolated. Too alone . He reached out with all of his magic, all his soul, all the burning in his chest. It was like something clicked when he pushed, and suddenly he was standing before the squabbling children, both of whom froze when they saw him.
"… This is kind of uncharted territory for me here," Sans tried to say, his voice coming out watery and warbled. "Where's the gift shop?"
Frisk was reaching out for him, screaming something that he couldn't hear. All he could make out was the shouting of Chara as he was sent hurtling backwards into the dark, colors exploding behind his eye sockets-
Sans jolted upright, sweat causing his clothes to stick to his bones. His head was pounding so hard that he couldn't see properly out of his left eye right away. There were flashes of gold and red, but it faded after a minute of closing his eyes and forcing his breathing to resume at a more even pace.
The human was still and silent with their head in his lap, legs stretched out over the remainder of the couch. He gently reached out and patted their head, uncertainty gnawing at his stomach.
"… Frisk?"
They groaned miserably, holding their head and curling up a little.
"Sans…" they murmured. "Sans, my head hurts."
He tilted their head up with his hand, making them crane their neck until he could see directly into their eyes.
Brown.
"Good to have you back, buddy," he gave them a gentle hug. "Sorry you're not feelin' too good."
Frisk mumbled something, trying to curl up further against him.
"Now's not a good time for a nap, Frisk…" Sans patted their head again. "Come on. We've still gotta play twenty questions."
They stiffened considerably.
"I just want you to know, you don't have to answer anything you don't want to. But you should also know that I just… I just wanna help . Okay? And the more I know, the better I can do. Alright, buddy?"
Frisk didn't answer at first. They slowly turned until they were lying on their back with their head in his lap, staring up at him with a sad frown.
"… Take your time, kid," Sans felt their forehead with the back of his hand. They were still uncomfortably warm, but they didn't seem to be on the verge of being sick.
"Where… where should I start?" Frisk asked, narrowing their brows.
"How about you start with why I have two kids now instead of one."
Frisk looked at him with that odd stare again before closing their eyes, letting out a long, pained sigh.
"… Chara says I'm not allowed to tell."
"Alright," he shrugged with one shoulder. "They wanna tell me themselves?"
Frisk slowly shook their head.
"Sorry, bud, but that's not gonna cut it for an answer. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."
"There isn't anything wrong with Chara," Frisk said defensively.
"Whoa, easy there tiger," he held up a hand, stroking their hair with his other. The sudden display of ferocity was a surprise, even if it was very brief. "Didn't say there was. You know, aside from them taking you for a test drive now and then and not filling up the tank. You hungry, by the way?"
Frisk shook their head again.
"… You sure? Still got your food in the kitchen."
They bit their lip uncertainly, looking away.
"Sans?"
"Yeah, kiddo."
"I trust you."
"That's good," he ran his thumb over their thin eyebrows. "You should be able to trust people."
"Do you… do you trust me?"
Sans didn't answer immediately.
When he didn't answer right away Frisk turned away again, looking as if they might cry. Sans sighed and pulled them a little closer, kissing their forehead. Frisk blinked and their cheeks were dusted with a cherry red.
"Yeah. I trust you, Frisk."
"… Okay," Frisk took in a shuddering breath. "Okay. So. Um. Pplease don't be mad."
"I'm not gonna get mad at you, babybones," he ran his hand over their head again. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."
"I-I don't… I didn't wind up in the Underground by accident," they said quietly, closing their eyes. "I… jumped."
Sans didn't say anything. He just pulled them tighter.
He didn't have to ask why. He had a pretty good idea.
"So how come you've only got one soul?" Sans asked after a while of silence. "There's two of you. Right? But just one soul. Is your 'friend'…?"
"No, nothing like that," Frisk shifted without opening their eyes. "We met when I first fell down. I was scared and hurt, and C-Chara was there for me. Chara already knew how to get out of the ruins since they used to spend so much time there."
Frisk froze suddenly as if they had given away too much.
"So… they're some kind of ghost?" Sans mused aloud, continuing to stroke their hair gently.
"No," Frisk shook their head. "Not a ghost."
"Then what are they?"
"They're just… Chara," Frisk opened their eyes and held out their hands in the air in front of him. "Just Chara. Like me. I'm just Frisk. We're not her or him, we're just… us. I… I guess that's all that either of us ever needed to be."
Frisk, you really are a weird kid.
Sans pondered this in silence. What was the not-ghost of a human child doing in the Ruins? Did they have the same reset ability that Frisk seemed to? Why did they look so similar? Surely not all humans looked like that. And still something niggled at the back of his mind.
"How long has Chara been possessing you, kid?"
"It's-it's not like that," Frisk said uncomfortably. "It's really not."
"Then what is it, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I-it's more like…" Frisk struggled for words for a moment, closing their eyes again tightly. "It's more like driving a car, and sometimes we switch seats. We can both see where we're going, but only one of us can steer at a time."
"Cool. Do you have a radio in there too?"
Frisk snorted, actually snorted loudly, causing his grin to grow.
"God. Of all times, now you have a sense of humor."
They reopened their eyes, and Sans felt his soul sink a little.
"Nice to see you again too, Chara," Sans's smile felt plastered on. He was already irritated, and it was hard to push it down."Finally decided to join the party, eh?"
"I don't like people talking about me behind my back," they scowled. The look really did not suit Frisk in the slightest.
"I get the feeling that that's going to occur a lot more than you'd like, considering," Sans tried to say as calmly as possible. "Forgive me if I'm not exactly comfortable with you wearing my kid like a meat suit."
"Stop making it sound like I'm taking over their body," Chara's frown deepened. "What exactly do you take me for?"
"A parasite," he answered honestly. To his surprise, Chara cringed openly, looking away. They bit their bottom lip, crimson eyes glistening. He felt an unexpected sliver of guilt, and he ran a hand over their head slowly.
"… Look," he said eventually. "I'm not gonna lie. I don't know you. I don't particularly like you either, but that's neither here nor there."
"Golly gee thanks for the vote of fucking confidence."
"That's another for the swear jar," he held up a finger. "But, seriously. I am trying to play nice here, kid."
"Slamming me into the dirt and almost choking the life out of me. Yeah. You're just the epitome of kindness."
"I said I was trying," he growled deeply, causing them to flinch.
Sans sighed and kicked himself internally.
"Come on, kid. Don't make this harder than it needs to be. I don't wanna make enemies right now. I just wanna make sure Frisk is alright."
"Frisk is fine without your help," Chara said bitterly.
"See, it would be a different matter altogether if they were the one to make that decision. Not you."
"Since when do you care?" they scoffed, crossing their arms over their chest.
"Since it's my job to care!" Sans could feel the heat rising into his face. Now wasn't the time to be shouting.
"Oh, your job? As what, my freakin' keeper?"
"As a caretaker-" he started angrily.
"Piss off, you're not my dad-!"
"I AM FUCKING TRYING TO BE!"
Sans cringed hard, regret flooding him when Chara reflexively hid their face behind their arms. He didn't like that that was their first reaction whenever he got angry. It wasn't like he was going to hit them just because he could.
And you probably could… whispered that little voice in the back of his head, only to be buried under another mountain of self loathing.
"Shit. I-I'm… I'm s-sorry," he looked away quietly, holding his hand over their forehead. "I didn't mean to shout at you like that, babybones."
"… You called me that again."
"What?" Sans blinked, glancing downward. Chara was staring at him with a look that he couldn't quite identify, but from how stiff they had grown he was certain that they wanted nothing more than to bolt away and never look back. What was that look? Sadness? Longing? Fear?
"You… you called me babybones," Chara said after an awkward silence. "You only ever call Frisk that."
"Well… you are," he shifted. Why was he suddenly getting defensive? "You're both my kids. Even if you both share a body, which is messed up enough on its own by the way; even if you're a bundle of bad attitude and snark, you're still just as much my kid as Frisk is. I said I'd take care of ya, and… and I 're… you're both my little babybones."
Chara was looking at him with that peculiar stare again. They looked almost… hurt? Why was he having so much difficulty reading their emotions? He was normally so good at it. Maybe it was because he sensed a bit of confusion in their stare, too. And definitely bitterness. The kid was more sour than a bucket of lemons.
"… I still hate you." Chara turned away, crossing their arms again.
"I love you too, babybones."
Much to his surprise, Chara didn't take off at the first given opportunity. He'd have sworn that they'd be dragging Frisk halfway through Waterfall the moment his eyes were closed. Chara didn't say anything else for a long time, but Frisk did not return either. Sans flicked on the television with the remote and reclined in the seat.
After a while he had almost fallen asleep again.
He wasn't sure whether it was Chara or Frisk that had sidled up beside him and gave him a silent hug around the belly.
They really were a weird kid.