For Every Action, There Exists Consequence

Chapter 18: For Every Action, There Exists Consequence

Against all logical thought, Sans was actually beginning to miss the silence just a little.

"Nyeh, no, no, no, that's not right," Papyrus stood next to Frisk with a fishing pole in one hand. "Like this, see? Stand just like this little one, with your feet spread evenly and the pole extended… grip the base, both hands… Yes, just like that!"

Sans sat with his back to the stony wall with his fishing pole stuck lazily in the ground next to him, his line undisturbed the as of yet, which was fine by him. Frisk constantly shifted from foot to foot next to Papyrus as they shuffled through the short damp grass, looking excitedly back and forth between their line and the taller skeleton the entire time. The picnic basket lay mostly untouched as well, as even Papyrus hadn't particularly cared for his 'masterwork' spaghetti salad. Frisk had just eaten the candy off the top, and he wasn't particularly surprised by that. He thought about telling them to try standing still to avoid scaring off the fish, but resisted against it. He couldn't really care less whether or not they caught any fish.

It was just nice to see them smiling for once. God that was a weird thought.

Sans closed his eyes after a while of listening to Papyrus and Frisk chatter about what constituted as 'correct' fish catching technique. There again was that strange feeling in the pit of his chest that he couldn't quite identify, but he brushed it off as well. The echo flowers not far away murmured a lullaby to him in words that he couldn't quite make out. He slowly drifted away into a hazy rest, his eye sockets flickering open every now and then to ensure that they were both still where he could see them. So long as he could just keep his eye sockets barely open long enough to-

- fight back against them, maybe they would just get bored of dying over and over again. It was a vain hope and he knew it, but at this point it was the only hope that he had left. They had to stop at some point or another. They just had to. Everyone had a breaking point.

Sans was fairly sure that he'd already long since passed his.

He stood over their shattered body once again, hands deep in his jacket pockets. He'd lost count of how many times they'd forced him to do this. He was tempted to simply go back home by this point, but the idea of pressing open the front door to a completely empty house seemed somehow even more terrifying than facing down whatever the hell this thing was that apparently had a severe murder boner for monsters. They twitched and shuddered even though the conjured femur had pierced their sternum, their shoulder, their legs; clearly he was going to have to step up his game if he was ever going to convince them to stop coming back.

And then what?

Almost everyone was gone.

Papyrus was gone.

And it was all their fault.

Sans took in a deep breath through his teeth, kneeling a little in front of the human.

"So," he said eventually, his voice much quieter than he intended. "It appears that we have come to an impasse, buddy."

They coughed up blood in response. On the upside, if they reset again then at least he wouldn't have to get new slippers.

"S-S-Sans, p-please… !" they were reaching out to him with their unbroken arm, gasping and wheezing with their last breaths.

"S-Sans, puh-puh-puhlease!" he spat mockingly. "I don't really wanna keep doing this, you know," Sans admitted softly. "But it's only gonna get worse for you. Every time that you come back, it's gonna be worse. You got that, brat? I won't just stop at dunking your ass. I will wreck and damage and ruin and DEFILE you until you learn-" he

stood a little straighter, the anger coming out plain in his voice. "-that your ACTIONS have - fucking - CONSEQUENCES!"

The sound of the blaster humming behind him overwhelmed whatever they were desperately trying to tell him, but it didn't matter. Nothing really mattered. Not anymore.

Maybe it never did.

He finally glanced up to look into their tear filled brown eyes-

- and oh god what was he doing it was Frisk, he was hurting Frisk he couldn't even hear them begging for mercy with their last breath as they were vaporized by the blaster, his own screaming unheard as he watched his child be forcibly ripped apart atom by atom and the screaming oh stars the god awful SCREAMING that he couldn't tell was his or not it didn't matter it was Frisk not human not creature not anomaly it was his little Frisk and what kind of sick vile creature was he that he couldn't help but keep screaming and he could hear HIM laughing, mocking him, delighting in his suffering just like he always did behind that smug smirk and all he wanted was to turn the blaster on that demented bastard-

"-ns! Sans, calm down, it's just me!"

Sans felt like he had been pulled hundreds of miles down from the stratosphere and slammed back into reality. His bones felt clammy and weak, he was definitely sweating and he was rattling so hard that it took every fiber of his being to stop shaking, and even that wasn't enough. It took him longer than he'd have liked to forcibly remind himself that he was in the real world, that Papyrus was unharmed, that Frisk was okay, that he wasn't there again.

"… 'sup, Paps?" Sans tried to ask casually, sticking his trembling hands back into his pockets.

"Are you alright, brother?" Papyrus knelt a little next to him worriedly. Frisk was wide eyed and holding their pole in front of them vertically, almost like they were trying to hide behind it. Sans stared for a moment and couldn't help but chuckle, closing his eyes for a moment before standing and rubbing his aching back from sitting against the stone wall for so long.

"Yeah. I'm fine, Paps," Sans answered quietly, the tinge of disgust from the lie on his tongue. "Sorry. Just a bad dream."

"This is hardly the time for a nap!" Papyrus frowned even through his relief, patting him on the shoulders protectively. "You already nap throughout the entire night, for crying out loud! Don't you do anything other than sleep?"

"I try not to," he shrugged with a little grin, noting silently that at last he'd made Frisk giggle. They tried to hide it behind their hand, which somehow just made him just a bit happier.

"Augh ! I don't know why I bother," Papyrus threw up his hands (and fishing pole) before stomping over to collect the picnic basket and blanket. "This entire venture was a bust, anyway."

"You guys didn't catch any fish either?" Sans blinked.

"I caught four fishies!" Frisk proclaimed proudly, holding up their fingers.

"Okay. Where are they?"

"I… let them go…" they kicked at a bit of dirt awkwardly, looking away. Sans only chuckled and shook his head.

"What 'bout you, Paps?" Sans pried as the taller skeleton collected their belongings in his arms. "You manage to catch anything?"

"Well, I tried very hard, but they just wouldn't take the bait."

"Can't say I blame 'em," he shrugged with a wink to Frisk. "I don't particularly care for the taste of worms, either."

"Worms?" Papyrus scoffed. "As if. Fish obviously just don't know good spaghetti when they see it."

Papyrus was not necessarily pleased with Sans's hysterical peals of laughter.

It was a relatively quiet night, for which Sans was supremely grateful.

They had a large helping of Papyrus's spaghetti salad leftovers (though Frisk never saw Sans once take a bite, his plate was still mysteriously empty at the end) and Frisk picked out one of the many Mettaton movies (starring Mettaton) about a robot (Mettaton) falling in love with a supposedly handsome duplicate (also Mettaton). He felt a weight on his side as Frisk slowly began to fall asleep between the skeletons, but he didn't disturb them. They just seemed too happy for him to wake them. He wasn't even sure he'd seen them smile that much when they were awake, let alone falling asleep.

Sans sat with one of his hands in his jacket pockets on one end of the couch with his eye sockets half lidded the entire time, gently stroking their hair with his other. Every time that he looked at them, they just seemed so small, so thin, so frail. Hopefully with time, with good food and good friends, they would start to look a little healthier. What a bizarre thought, actually wishing the little creature well. It made him a tad warmer in the chest to know that they at least looked a bit better than they did before. Not much… but a little. That was good. Maybe soon he would finally work up the courage to speak to the lady behind the door in Snowdin forest again and finally admit that he had actually been doing as she'd asked. He wondered briefly just how much she knew of the human if she had asked him to watch out for them, even though they'd technically never even seen each other. It took a lot of trust on her part, and he respected that. But that could wait for later. For now, he was… well, not exactly good. But okay.

And that, he could live with.

It was a long while before he finally realized that the movie had been over for a while. He glanced over to see Frisk cuddled up beneath a blanket with their head on his legs. The strange feeling in his chest was back, that warm, delightfully light little glow that he couldn't identify.

Was it… contentment?

He honestly couldn't tell.

"… Sans."

He blinked at the sound of his brother's surprisingly low voice, glancing over to the other end of the couch. Papyrus had an odd expression on his face, his features flickering in the dim light from the television.

"What's up, bro?" Sans answered quietly. Papyrus was staring at him all the while, and it was beginning to make him a little uneasy from the unblinking gaze.

"Sans, I-" Papyrus started uncomfortably, shifting slowly so as not to wake Frisk. He closed his mouth several times, eventually folding his hands in his lap and leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, letting out a slow, quiet sigh. "Sans. I feel as though I need to ask you something."

"Okay?" Sans resisted the urge to close his heavy eye sockets. "What is it? You okay?"

Papyrus stared at him fully, and Sans suddenly began to sweat.

He'd seen that look before.

The look of someone who, despite all logic, just knows. Because of course he would know oh god he'd fucked up so irreparably badly, every action had a consequence and he absolutely could not know.

And the thought of Papyrus knowing…

He had to fight the intense, overwhelming urge to force a reset-

Sans fought off the train of thought, focusing intently on the taller skeleton.

"Sans…" Papyrus began slowly. "Have-have you ever… I mean, did you… I-I mean, of course you didn't, but just in case you did…"

"'Pyrus?" he asked softly, his chest and throat suddenly feeling very tight.

"Did-did you…?" Papyrus started again, only to run a hand slowly down his face with a heavy sigh. "Nyeh. You know what? It's really not important. You-you wouldn't lie to me, Sans."

"What?" Sans broke out fully in a cold sweat. "Of-of course not, bro."

"The little one…" Papyrus said again after a while. "Frisk. You… you wouldn't hurt Frisk, right?"

"What?!" he blanched nervously. "I- no! No, god no, of c-course not!"

Dirty liar.

Reset.

Filth.

Reset.

Freak.

RESET.

Abomination.

RESET RESET RESET RESET RESET RESET RESET-!

"That is good," his brother looked away for a moment., his gaze softening as he looked down at the sleeping child. "I just… thought I'd ask."

"W-why would you even think that, bro?" Sans asked through a plastered smile, hating himself a little more with each passing moment.

Papyrus didn't answer immediately, which only served to make the clawing guilt even more ferocious.

"Frisk is…" Papyrus interlocked his gloved fingers, head bowed a little. "They're a good person. I can see how much that is to them, how very hard they try. Some people… well. They don't really try. Maybe they just don't have anyone to point them in the right direction. But Frisk is… different. They've been hurt so, so terribly . To think that anyone would-"

He choked for a moment, wiping a hand over his eye sockets for a moment and letting out an unsteady breath. "I can… see how scared they are. All the time. They're downright terrified, and it-it kills me to see them so afraid. I only wish I knew what they were afraid of. Is-is it my fault?" Papyrus asked eventually, turning back to him worriedly. "What am I doing wrong, Sans?"

"B-bro," Sans said eventually, his chest feeling painfully tight. "You haven't done anything wrong, 'Pyrus. You're, like, the best person that I know. Hell, you're probably the best person in the whole freakin' Underground!"

Papyrus didn't respond for an uncomfortably long few moments, eventually closing his eye sockets and letting out a long, drawn out sigh. When he reopened his eye sockets Sans saw that his focus seemed a million miles away, and the look on his face was so worn, so… pained .

He felt like his soul was cracking just watching Papyrus sink.

"… Listen," Sans said eventually, not even paying attention that he'd stopped petting Frisk's head or how still he'd become. "Papyrus. Please, please listen to me, because I'm tellin' nothing but the truth here. It's… it's not your fault, okay? You're probably the best thing for the kid in the whole world. They practically worship the ground you walk on," he added quietly, looking down to the sleeping child. "You remember the way their face lit up when you made that spiffy jacket for 'em? Every time you walk in the room, they get a little bit more cheerful. So don't think that you're anything but good, Paps. Because you're not just good, you're the best . Always have been," he added with a small smile, and this one at least felt genuine. "You've always been better th-"

"Don't," Papyrus said suddenly. Sans blinked, looking over to him. "Don't do that to yourself, Sans. You don't have to put yourself down trying to make me feel better. You're… you're the best brother that anyone could ever ask for, Sans."

They sat in relative silence for a while, the darkness flickering around them in the dim light of the television screen.

"I'm… I'm going to bed, Sans," Papyrus said after a little bit of silence. He placed his palm on Sans's shoulder briefly, giving him a soft, kind smile. "I'll see you in the morning. Alright?"

Sans could only nod curtly, as he didn't trust himself to speak.

For the first time in his life, Sans was actually glad to see Papyrus go.

At least that way he wouldn't see him bawling his eyes out.