AN:

I'm sorry!!

For everything! DX

I'm sick, that's my only excuse.



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Chapter 9: Another Broken Mind?

Third POV

The two skeletons appeared on their initial spot it front of Life and Papyrus who hadn't move from their position and had patiently waited for them.

They once again gathered around underneath the giant glowing tree in the middle of the clearing.

"Um... I'm sorry about that." Geno shyly apologized with a tint of blue on his face. Although its not much noticeable.

Life chuckled lightly before replying "its fine. We completely understand."

"IT IS QUITE ALRIGHT. NO HARM DONE." Papyrus said from beside Life. "I'M PAPYRUS, BY THE WAY. IT IS A PLEASURE TO FINALLY MEET MY BROTHER'S LOVER." Papyrus introduced himself rather proudly as he held out his right bare skeletal hand.

Geno instantly turned bright blue and started sputtering incoherent protest. Then he abruptly turned to Death beside him.

"What have you been telling them?!" Geno demanded, obviously flustered.

Reaper grinned wider and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. Like he doesn't care. Or he doesn't mind.

"I didn't tell them anything." Reaper calmly replied.

"Oh! Was it supposed to be a secret?" Toriel concluded as she covers her mouth with her paws as if she had done something wrong.

Geno turned to her with an incredulous expression but his blush never fades. "No! Its not like that-" Geno began but was cut off by Papyrus.

"NYEH HEH HEH! DO NOT WORRY. YOUR SECRET IS SAFE WITH ME!" Papyrus said loudly as he puffed up his chest proudly.

Geno felt his face heat up some more and Reaper's wheezing chuckle wasn't helping at all. "No! Its not like that at all!" Geno tried again. "We're not together!" Geno finally said as his blush considerably fades.

"Yet~" Reaper added with a mischievous smile on his face which made Geno glared at him.

"Wait, 'not yet'? But you two love each other, right?" Toriel asked in confusion as she gestured for both Geno and Reaper.

Geno once again blushed madly as Reaper grinned wider and silently chuckling at Geno's flustered expression.

"I don't love him!" Geno sputtered as he leaned away from Reaper.

"Ouch. I'm hurt." Reaper plainly said with a teasing smile.

"AWW... HOW CUTE~... HE'S SHY." Papyrus cooed.

"I know, right" Reaper agreed.

Toriel covers her mouth as she chuckled elegantly like fine lady she is.

"What?!" Geno exclaims in disbelief. "No, I'm not! And what makes you think that I love this guy?!" Geno asked in frustration and embarrassment as he rudely pointed at Reaper.

Papyrus cocked his head to the side in slight confusion before replying. "NYEH? BUT YOU SAID IT YOURSELF."

Geno paused and his arm falters as he tries to absorb that simple fact. That simple piece of information that he doesn't seem to comprehend.

"What?" Geno asked, a lot calmer and quieter this time. And upon closer inspection, he was a little pale. He's probably in shock.

"YESTERDAY. YOU SAID YOU LOVE HIM." Papyrus elaborated with a slight confusion on his face.

"What?!" Geno exclaimed in utter disbelief. "I don't-!.... I don't remember saying anything like that!"

Reaper's smile fell but only for a moment. "Geez, Geno. That's harsh. I even made you promised to not forget. Now I'm really hurt." Reaper said with a grin but there was a barely noticeable hurt in his voice.

Geno grew flustered and frustrated once again. His soul pounding in anxiety as his thoughts raced. Questions after questions ran through his mind and it all revolves around one thing.

"What the hell happened yesterday?!" Geno demanded.

Then it suddenly went quiet and Geno wanted to take his words back but he really needed to know what the heck happened.

He eyed their expression carefully as they slowly morphed to... solemn? Then he watched them shifted their gaze towards Reaper. Geno followed their line of sight and found Reaper spaced out and unmoving with his head bowed slightly and a dark shadow on his face.

Toriel frowned as her shoulders sagged. "You didn't tell him?" She quietly inquired.

They waited in tense silence for Reaper's response. Even though they already knew the answer. But what they wanted to hear was the reason.

Meanwhile, Reaper was lost in his thoughts. Suddenly remembering the pain when he saw Geno turned to dust. When he thought he lost him. He wanted to end it all.

Reaper lifted his head and found the three others gazing at him worriedly but he only focused on Geno.

Abruptly, Reaper pulled Geno in a protective hug.

Geno yelped in surprise as he was pulled into the hug. He softly landed on Reaper's chest. Reaper wrapped his strong arms around Geno's shoulders, pinning Geno's upper arms to his side.

Toriel and Papyrus looked taken aback as Papyrus immediately tried to reach out for both of them.

"SANS? WHAT'S WRO-" Papyrus began with gentle tone as he reached out a hand.

But he didn't get to finish when Reaper suddenly and painfully slapped his outstretched hand.

"Don't. Touch. Him." Reaper said in a terrifyingly low voice that seemingly echoed throughout the clearing. He glared menacingly at Papyrus but didn't flared his left eye.

Toriel was instantly on high alert and hurriedly pulled Papyrus back who had a worried and confused expression.

Geno felt his soul dropped in fear. He had never seen this side of Reaper. So cold and seemingly mad. Really mad. And honestly, it scares him.

"Death, its fine! There's no threat!" Toriel shouted, trying to calm Reaper. She could only imagine the destruction he would cause if he snapped.

Reaper responded by hugging Geno tighter and burying his face on the black scarf.

Toriel seems to get the hidden message and felt immensely relieved. She briefly explained to Papyrus the situation.

Reaper wasn't mad. He was just having his episode and needed to calm himself down. And the only thing that could do that was Geno's presence. Something to remind him that he's not dead.

Something to chase away the terrifying feeling that comes with the thought of never seeing your love one ever again. That horrible dread feeling that comes whenever he remembers that traumatizing moment when Geno died and he couldn't even do anything to prevent it even if he did tried.

He felt horrible.

A thought struck him like a lightning.

What if it was all just an illusion? What if Geno really had died then and he had just lost his mind? What if Geno wasn't real? After all, he didn't know how he was alive. There's no explanation. Life didn't tell him.

Geno should've cease to exist the moment he died. But he's here.

All this time, had he been hallucinating? Is Geno just an illusion that his mind making him see because that's what he wanted to see?

Had he finally gone insane?

Fear filled his soul as the cold dread starts to settle in his bones. It can't be.

"Reaper?"

A quiet voice snapped him out of his spiraling thoughts and he came back to reality. Bright, calm, quiet and peaceful clearing. 'What happened?', he asked himself. He pulled away from the hug but did not let go. He found his beloved gazing at him with worried expression mixed with fear and confusion.

Feeling immensely relieved, Reaper gently smiled before reluctantly letting go. 'He's alive. He's real', Reaper reminded himself. Again and again.

Meanwhile, Geno dropped back down on the grassy ground, still confused as to what had just happened. He was honestly worried for Reaper but fear dominates his being.

He had never felt such intense fear and dread. And it was coming from Death himself. Geno concluded that he might've absorbed some of it in his soul due to their closeness because he was visibly shaking in fear.

He unconsciously crawled back a few inches. He didn't mean it. It was just out of pure instinct. And he regretted it as soon as he saw Reaper's smile fell and his posture hunched in a depressed manner.

Geno wanted to say sorry. He wanted to tell that it was just an automatic reaction. He wanted to tell him that its okay.

But no words came out. It was stuck in his nonexistent throat.

Cursing himself, Geno knew he had to do something. He didn't like being the source of one's agony. He has to comfort him. But how? His soul pounded in anxiety as he tried to think of something quickly.

A hug perhaps? But he didn't want... Oh forget it.

Geno swiftly and reluctantly wrapped his arms around Reaper and buried his face on the other's shoulder to hide his blush.

Reaper instantly perked up, obviously surprised. Geno had never initiated a hug. It made Reaper feel absolutely glad that Geno was starting to open up to him. He had been waiting for this for who knows how long. 'This is the start of something', he thought as he smiled blissfully.

Then, he felt Geno tighten his hug slightly and he realised that the other was waiting in suspense for his response.

Smiling gently, Reaper wrapped his arms around Geno's tensed body and pulled him even closer.

"I'm sorry." came Geno's muffled response.

Reaper briefly chuckled before replying. "Its okay. I'm sorry for scaring you." gentle and quiet.

Usually, Geno would've been triggered if someone told him he was scared. But since it was an apology, and a sincere one, he'll let it slide. And because it was true.

And he felt relieved that Reaper didn't tease him. 'And I hope he doesn't in the near future', Geno thought.

The hug was nice, Geno must admit, but only for a few moments but now it was taking too long and getting awkward. For Geno, at least.

So, he pulled away and surprisingly, Reaper let go. Well, that was the first. Reaper would usually say no or never and Geno had to literally pushed him away just for Reaper to let go. Those had been annoying moments.

But for Reaper to actually comply, 'it wasn't so bad', Geno thought. Maybe that was what he needed. A kind of hug in which he wasn't forced and teased. It considerably calms him down and somewhat lifted a weight in his soul. 'Odd', he thought. But nice.

He could get use to that.

Seeing that everything seems to have settled down, Toriel and Papyrus cautiously approached the two. Reaper and Geno welcomed them and told them that everything's okay.

"It's alright. We understand." Toriel immediately said when the two short skeletons opened their mouths to apologize.

Then, she turned to Death and said: "Death, can I talk to you for a little while?" She requested kindly and a bit uncertain about separating the two skeletons but she really needs to talk to Death.

She was about to say more but Reaper answered sooner that she was expecting. "Yeah, sure. I need to talk to you, too. Got a few questions." He briefly said before turning back to Geno.

"Hey, I needed to talk to her. Just for a little while. Will you be okay?" Reaper asked as he placed his hands on Geno's shoulders.

'And we're back to paranoid Reaper', Geno thought.

Geno gently shrugged Reaper's hands off his shoulders as he reply: "I'll be fine." He said plainly without even looking at Reaper.

Reaper just smiled tenderly and says "I'll be back" quietly before standing up and following Toriel. They walked a little further from Geno and Papyrus for some privacy. And they made sure they were out of earshot.

When they estimated that they were far enough, they stopped but didn't sat down. They just stood there next to each other.

Both opened their mouth and utter the first word but stopped short when they realized that they were going to talk at the same time.

"Ladies first" Reaper offered.

"Yes, uh, I just want to ask what exactly happened. You nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought you're going on a rampage again." She said as gently as she could, afraid that she might offend the other.

Reaper frowned as he looked away, trying to remember and organize the thoughts he had earlier. Truthfully, he had forgotten most of it the moment he snapped back to reality. All he remember was thinking what happened the previous day.

As he delve deeper into his memory, he soon found what he was looking for and instantly, his fear returned.

"Um. Okay. But first, I want to confirm something." Death began and Life motioned for him to go on.

"Is... Is Geno really... alive?" Death tentatively asked.

Life furrowed her brows in confusion and turned her head to look towards Geno's and Papyrus' direction then back at Death.

"Well, of course he is. He's right there." She said as she pointed towards the two skeletons at the distance. Death looked at where she was pointing at and indeed found Geno there listening to whatever Papyrus was talking about.

Death felt the tension melt away as relief washed over him. A smile forming on his face. Then he turned back to Toriel.

"So, he's not just an illusion? He's real? I'm not going insane?" Reaper questioned with hope in his eye sockets.

Life was utterly confused as she stared incredulously at the smaller skeleton in front of her. "As I said, Geno is alive and well. Death, what's going on?"

Death suddenly realized that Life had no idea what he was going on about so he explained to her. Telling her that he had a sudden thought that everything was not real and he'd gone insane.

Tori asked Death how did he even managed to reached that kind of conclusion.

Death honestly answered that it was because he didn't know how Geno still existed even after dying. Tori seemed to understand pretty quickly and she began explaining.




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To be continued...
 
 
 
 
AN:

Merry Christmas everybody!

Thank you for everything!! ^-^