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things are really bad.

The last few days had passed like a blur.
All of them were kind of the same, the atmosphere heavy in the house.
It did not feel like home now that Papyrus was actively avoiding him.

Sans had tried once to talk to him but Papyrus didn't want to hear any of Sans's 'I can't's and 'please just trust me's.
It ended up with Papyrus almost slamming his room's door into Sans's face, yelling that he only will talk to him when he is being honest to him and that he will start doing this own, much better secret research and won't tell Sans anything about it either.

While this was ongoing, Sans slowly started to lose his drive.
It was progressively becoming harder for him to get out of bed, resulting in him laying on his filthy and cluttered mattress for hours a day while Papyrus was out doing his own things or spending time with Undyne.

what else can i say?

how many times have i already said this? is this the first time around or the hundredth?
does it always go this way?

There were times where he did bother to get up.
Papyrus had stopped cooking for him, so whenever he was left hungry he headed to Grillby's.
He would put on the same black sweatpants, a white shirt and slip on his blue jacket.
He would pass by Papyrus's door, halting for just a moment before he went to put on his pink slippers.

And then he would teleport to the front of the restaurant, take a deep breath to shake off these nagging feelings and open the door with the biggest smile he could muster.

Some monsters greeted him enthusiastically, enjoying both his company and puns while others would focus on their food or their conversation.

what's the point of it?

what's the point of anything?

Living with these new discoveries was so incredibly hard. Looking at the faces of all these amazing and kind monsters, knowing what they truly are.
What they were made for...

They were all so incredibly oblivious.

Sans couldn't blame them – not even in his wildest dreams, he would have imagined something like that.
He would have never expected for his entire reality to be turned around.

They were all so happy.. But was it really them or were they made to be happy like that?

Why did Sans have to be the only one in this crowded restaurant who knew exactly what was going on?
How could no one else tell?

Sans would casually join the monsters in their booths and strike up friendly conversations, hoping it could somehow distract him from it all.

And so he would have someone he could talk to now that Papyrus was refusing to.

His jokes caused the occasional laughter to erupt from the crowd and he would chuckle or smile in response, already trying to think up the next witty response or fitting pun.

But their laughter never truly reached him.

It was like he was on autopilot, watching himself and being hyper-aware of the monsters around him.

Does that monster over there have a family?

What would happen if they were suddenly just removed?

Would others remember that little ghost in the corner, that was silently swaying to the music of the jukebox?

Why even interact with these creatures when they were nothing but projections, creations for...something by something?

There were so many different thoughts going through his head and he hated it.
They constantly pulled on his soul, feeling like he was being torn apart over and over again.

these feelings might not be real, but they sure hurt like they are.

how much control do they have over us? what we do, or say, or think?

Sans's eyes flickered across the crowd. What if one of them was the actual embodiment of this...creator?
Which of his thoughts were actually his own?
How much of what the others said was scripted or predetermined?
Has he himself been controlled to go here tonight or was that actually his own decision he had made? Everything was so unclear.

how much of us is us, and not what they tell us to be? are they watching us right now?

is this what they wanted?

well i hope they're having fun putting us through this.

not really.

i hope they go to hell.

Whenever he returned back home, Sans immediately went back to his room and slumped himself back onto the mattress.

He did not feel like doing anything else.

It was just too much to hold onto.

To continue.

Sometimes when he felt like his room was becoming smaller and the air started to suffocate him, he'd go on a walk outside somewhere in the forest and sit in the snow, writing into his journal.

Sometimes cans of oval brand beer were his best company when doing so, even when he was ashamed to admit to it.

that's not gonna fix this though.

i don't know how to fix this.

i don't know how to do anything anymore.

i want to undo this but i can't.

i can't.

~💙🧡~

Sans's head felt groggy as he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry for a moment but he could faintly make out a white head and a red scarf.

"mmph...papyrus?", Sans croaked, his voice rough and a little hoarse as he attempted to push himself up.

"whatre you doing in here...?"

Papyrus just quietly knelt in front of Sans's mattress, before turning to the plate of spaghetti and meatballs that was placed right next to him.

From the looks of it, he had made Sans something to eat and even cleaned up his room.
All the trash that was littered around the mattress was gone and the crumbles and soda stains had also vanished.

"I CAME IN TO CHECK IF YOU WERE IN A COMA AGAIN. YOU'VE BEEN ASLEEP FOR 22 HOURS.", Papyrus stated, carefully shifting one of the meatballs into the center of the plate. They were already cold.
He had made them hours ago.

Sans fully sat up, his eyes flickering to the meatballs and he was secretly very grateful that his brother went out of his way to take care of him.

He rubbed his eyes, cracking a little smile: "eh...most of that was just me lyin there with my eyes closed, heh.."

Sans was actually not lying about that part.
Things have been so depressing lately for him that he really could not bring himself to do anything.

He wasn't even living.

He was just...existing and that alone felt like too much already.

Of course, he would not tell Papyrus about that – he wouldn't want him to additionally worry.

Papyrus huffed in response, crossing his arms in front of his chest: "SANS, YOU CAN'T KEEP GOING ON LIKE THIS. JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU FOUND. OR AT LEAST TELL ME WHY YOU CAN'T TELL ME."

Sans just shrugged him off, waving his hand at him dismissively: "you don't gotta worry about me, i'm fine. champion sleeper, remember? that's not even my best record."

"SANS I'M NOT STUPID, SO STOP TREATING ME LIKE I AM. WHATEVER IT IS YOU FOUND OUT, IT'S BAD, ISN'T IT?
IT'S SO BAD YOU'RE NOT TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF EVEN A LITTLE BIT.
AND ALL YOU HAVE IS A LITTLE BIT, SANS."

"i know, i know. don't gotta remind me all the time about how weak i am.", Sans scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"IT'S MY JOB TO TAKE CARE OF YOU. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THIS IS SO I CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO.", Papyrus added, his voice sounding genuinely concerned but with a hint of firmness in it.

It was obvious he tried very hard to make his brother understand how important this entire situation is to him and how worried he is about his brother's well-being.

Papyrus was really trying his best to show his brother that they were on the same page, that he could talk to him and understand – maybe even help him work through this.

Papyrus knew he acted like a child the past few days, always running away from him so he decided to try a different approach.
A more mature one.

For that very reason, he had put on a gray sweater.
He didn't know why but gray portrayed to him maturity and seriousness and he wanted to make sure that Sans would view him as exactly that in that moment as well.

"heh, there's really not much you CAN do..."

"WHY WON'T YOU TELL ME? YOU DON'T THINK I'LL UNDERSTAND?"

Sans shifted from his sitting position to face Papyrus, his legs propped up on the mattress so he could rest his arms on his knees.

Sans let out a soft exhale, closing his eyes: "...no, i think you WILL understand...that's what worries me. it's one of those things you're better off not knowing."

Papyrus raised a brow in response, leaning forward and watching Sans's expression: "AND YOU ARE?"

Pressing silence fell upon them as Papyrus expectantly looked at Sans, awaiting his reply.

When Sans looked away from him, his shoulder slumping, Papyrus decided to press a little further: "...YOU KEEP SECRETS NO ONE ASKED FOR THAT ONLY HURT YOU, BECAUSE SOMEWHERE YOU DON'T BELIEVE YOU DESERVE TO BE HAPPY."

Sans flinched, these words hitting a little too close to home.
It has always been there, yes of course.
He had always kind of felt like that but was that truly the reason why he wouldn't tell Papyrus about this?
He had never thought of it like that but perhaps it was part of the reason.

"...i just want you to be happy.", Sans muttered quietly, still not daring to look at his brother kneeling in front of him.

"DO I LOOK HAPPY RIGHT NOW?"

The older skeleton's eyes flicked to his brother for just one moment.

No, he did not seem happy.
He clearly saw the circles under his eye sockets – evidence that Papyrus had also not slept well the past few days because of what has been going on.
And frankly, he was crying more than he had ever before.
He was always angry or sad and it was Sans to blame for it.

Sans shrunk slightly as if trying to hide himself away from his brother and reached for the back of his skull, rubbing it nervously.

"...okay...", Sans sighed. "okay you wanna know the real deal?"

Sans could not take it anymore. He finally broke.

"...im scared. im scared to tell you cause...you always see the best in things, you never give up, you always find some kinda light and im scared that this...that you won't any light in this. that there isn't any. And if you can't see light...then i don't know what im gonna do with myself. i don't know if i could handle it."

"YOU'RE NOT REALLY HANDLING IT NOW."

Sans let his head slump forward, hiding his face in the sleeve of his shirt and burying his skull further under the other arm.
His voice sounded broken and quiet, almost defeated: "i know..i know. and i don't wanna drag you into it."

One could clearly hear how guilty he felt, it almost shattered Papyrus's heart to see his brother like that.
But he was always the one to pull him out of these things so he had to stay strong for him.

"you don't deserve this. you deserve to be happy."

"I'M NOT GOING TO BE HAPPY AS LONG AS YOU'RE LIKE THIS."

"you won't be happy once you know."

"I'LL BE THE JUDGE OF THAT."

Papyrus reached for Sans, gently placing his hand on his arm.
It caused Sans to tense up just so slightly but eventually he lifted his head to look back at his brother.

"SANS, I KNOW YOU'RE SCARED. BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE! I'M THE GREAT PAPYRUS, REMEMBER? AND THERE'S NOTHING I CAN'T HANDLE."

Sans's hand slid from his head to find Papyrus's and he grasped it tightly.
He was hesitating for another moment before looking back at him like a hurt puppy.

Sans really did not want to do this but he knew this was the moment.
He could no longer evade this and he had to tell him if he wanted at least something in his life to be right.

He took another breath, bracing himself for what he would soon reveal to his brother.
He tried not to think too much of what the consequences would be – what this would do to him. Sans's voice was shaky as he started speaking: "okay, you know when we play checkers together? there's a board, right?
and there's all the pieces on the board. and we move em around according to the rules when its our turn, right? cause we're the players.
but what would it be like if you were a checker piece?
your whole world would be the board, right?
you move around, but just cause something bigger than you is moving you around. what if you couldn't see who was moving you around?
what if you didn't even know something else was moving you around?"

Sans said, trying to find the best way to explain what was going on right now.
Papyrus meanwhile listened intently, visualizing exactly what Sans said to him in his mind.

"and if one of us cheated-"

"YOU MEAN IF YOU CHEATED.", he corrected his brother.
Never in his life would he cheat in a game.
It was against everything he stood for.

"fine, if i cheated, and we had to start over...we'd put all the pieces back where they started. like the game we were just playing didn't happen. you followin me so far?"

"UH HUH."

"so i got the machine in the work room working."

"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT EITHER??"

"i'm telling you now, okay? but i found a program on it, it said something about rendering the current timeline before it broke."

"YOU BROKE IT??"

"cmon bro, focus. so i went to the big computer and i got it to render the timeline instead...and it had where everyone was. where we were, and i think, where we're going, too...and i got to thinking...what if we're like checker pieces?
and the underground is like the board? and someone else is moving us around...remember when we got all those dream memories all at once? About us doing stuff at home?"

"YEAH..."

"what if those were...other games they played with us? and each time they rest us back to where we were when they were done? and you know how we're always seeing ourselves doing stuff? what if..."

Sans trailed off as he saw how Papyrus stared down onto his hands that were folded in his lap with a concerned expression.
He could clearly see how much this was affecting Papyrus so he frowned slightly: "do you see what i mean? about not wanting to tell you this? i can't stop thinking about...who i am."

Sans slumped forward slightly, his head resting heavily in his palm.
His fingers traced the edges of his skull absentmindedly: "why i'm doing anything. why any of it matters. if any of it is real. if any of it is worth doing if we're just going to start back at the beginning again... why do anything? why think or feel anything? are we even thinking...?
or is something just, moving us around wherever they need us to go..? is everything we're doing already all planned out?
am i really me, or did something out there make me do 'me' things...?
i can't stop thinking about it..."

As Papyrus listened to Sans, he brought up his hand to his chin. What he said, stirred something within him and he did not like any of Sans's indications.

Sans was right.

It was quite the tough spot to see the light in this one: "HMM."

It was a lot of input, a lot to wrap his head around but he carefully considered everything and worked through it one by one at his own pace.

"SANS YOU SAID YOU WERE SCARED, RIGHT? WHAT WERE YOU SCARED OF?"

The smaller skeleton had dreaded that question. He knew it would come so his immediate reaction was to look away from Papyrus in shame.

Sans sighed, continuing to stare at the ground as he explained himself with a shaky voice: "...if everything is out of our control, even our own thoughts, maybe..."

Sans tried his best to find the right words, lifting his hands to look at them: "if it's already planned, then, what's the point of...anything?"

He frowned, his hands shaking lightly and his voice grew quieter: "what's the point of even being..."

He swallowed hard, looking back at Papyrus with a lot of uncertainty and fear of what his reaction might be: "alive?"

As soon as these words left Sans's mouth, Papyrus's face dropped in shock.

Sans flinched away from him, shielding himself from his reaction and what else Papyrus might possibly say, hugging himself as if he could protect himself.

Papyrus slowly scooted towards Sans, his hand stretched out to rest on his shoulder.
His voice was calm, but quiet as he tried to console his older brother: "SANS, DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU SAID TO ME WHEN WE WERE IN THE SECRET PLACE? BEHIND THE DOOR?"

"i said a lot of things."

"YOU TOLD ME, IF YOU CAN'T CHANGE SOMETHING, YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT IT. THAT IT'S JUST HOW THINGS ARE."

Sans remained motionless, just quietly staring down at his lap as he hugged himself more tightly, his fingers digging into the fabric of his hoodie.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT BEING 'REAL' MEANS, THE WAY YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IT.
BUT I'M GOING TO KEEP BEING ME. I'M GOING TO KEEP BEING GREAT, AND HANDSOME, AND POWERFUL, AND CHARMING, AND EXTREMELY SMART AND ELOQUENT AND HANDSOME-"

"you already said that."

"DOUBLE HANDSOME. AND TALL. AND I'M GOING TO BE YOUR BROTHER. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS.", Papyrus explained, secretly vowing to himself to always be exactly that.

"doesn't it bother you..? that all of this doesn't...doesn't mean anything?", Sans finally asked, clearly confused by how Papyrus can take this so...well.

This discovery shattered his whole world and he still managed to see the good in it? He still managed to be strong and see through it.

In response, Papyrus grabbed both of Sans's hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze and looking into his eyes: "ACCORDING TO WHO?"

Sans's eyes widened. He had never looked at it like that before and it both comforted him but also...made him realize how wrong he was.

Slightly ashamed, he averted his eyes once more but Papyrus continued to hold onto his hands and reassure him.

"I'M YOUR BROTHER, SANS. AND YOU'RE MY BROTHER. THAT'S REAL. THIS IS REAL. AND I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE OUT THERE DOES, OR ANYTHING SOME MACHINE SAYS. THAT MEANS SOMETHING."

Papyrus cupped Sans's cheek, trying to give him all the comfort he needs.

To get him through this.

It was a gesture that made Sans crack.

Tears began to slip from his eye sockets and he ultimately broke down into a sobbing mess, his shoulders slumping.

"i hope so.", he whispered, his voice cracking.

Papyrus immediately pulled Sans into his arms, still holding onto his one hand while his other soothingly rubbed Sans's skull.

His eyes immediately glowed in a bright and warm orange color, attempting to give him all the comfort he can possibly offer.

Sans just continued to cry, his grip tightening around Papyrus's hands. His voice was swallowed by his sobs as he spoke once again, the desperation audible: "god i hope so."

.

.

.

After their heart to heart, the two brothers had made their way to the work room again to try and decipher anything on the monitor.

Sans pointed at the seemingly endless list of files: "see, there are these files, tons of them and they're all named after us. well, some of them...a lot of them are corrupted now."

"HOW?"

"well...i dunno, it just says the computer can't read the format properly."

They had only clicked through a few of them so far but most of it turned out to be garbled messes of code and corrupted bits.

What kept reappearing, however, was the mention of 1-S and 2-P. And it looked like whoever this computer belonged to had a folder that was dedicated to some variable.

The folder itself was only called "data references" and there were more and more pieces and bits about signature references and corresponding variables.

However, when trying to reference any of these sources, everything the computer put out was 𝙽𝚄𝙻𝙻.

Was it the same 𝙽𝚄𝙻𝙻 that the monitor was referencing to in the overview of the current timeline? What...or who was it?
Who were they searching for?
Or was it simply some kind of formatting error?

"MISSING PARTS, I BET."

"...yeah, you're probably right. but enough of them work for it to render our 'current' timeline, it says."

Papyrus leaned forward, his eyes trailing over the different lines once more: "DOES IT HAVE ANY OTHER ONES?"

"huh?"

"WELL, YOU SAID IT WAS THE CURRENT TIMELINE. CAN IT DO ANY OTHER ONES?"

"uh...no, i don't think so. it just always renders...this."

Sans referred to the two souls in blue and orange that were displayed in front of them, their lines unmoving and the souls itself split in the middle.

"WHAT'S THIS MEAN?"

"i think this is tracking everyone in the underground that we know. see, this line is you, and this one is me. i'm not sure about that big one. looks important though.", Sans explained, referring to the thick black line that stretched all across the screen in a linear path.

"WHAT DO THOSE BROKEN SOULS OVER OUR LINES MEAN?"

"i, uh...i'm not sure. but probably not something good."

Papyrus's eyes narrowed as he looked at the orange line that seemed to be imminently connected to him: "MY LINE IS A LOT SHORTER THAN YOURS..."

Sans frowned as he said that, it was true and he dreaded what this meant. He felt like he knew the answer to it but he did not dare to say anything to his brother: "yeah, uh...i don't know why that is either."

"...HMM"

Sans remained silent, an unease feeling chirming inside him as he continued to stare down Papyrus's line.
He really hoped it wouldn't be the case.
He was terrified that if he kept looking at it, it would suddenly grow even shorter or Papyrus might disappear right in front of his eyes.

Thankfully, Papyrus eventually broke the dreadful silence, pointing at the word 𝙽𝚄𝙻𝙻.

"WHAT'S THAT MEAN?"

"...i am not too sure but the files seemed to have referencing to something or someone and maybe that is whatever it detected...or didn't."

"WHY DOES IT STOP AND GO BLACK AT THE END?"

"i think it's some kind of problem with the file...missing data, or something..."

"...NO, YOU SAID FILES WITH MISSING INFORMATION DON'T OPEN AT ALL, RIGHT?"

Sans hated how perceptive his brother sometimes was.
He wanted answers that Sans rather not wanted to answer but he knew there was no way around it.

Sans averted his eyes, his face scrunching up in agony as he finally confirmed Papyrus's words: "...yeah..."

"SO THAT MEANS THAT'S...SUPPOSED TO BE THERE DOESN'T IT...?"

"...it might..."

Papyrus felt like his soul was being crushed and he anxiously grasped the fabric of his shirt: "EVERYTHING STOPS THERE. EVERYTHING JUST...STOPS."

The heart of the taller skeleton started hammering rapidly against his ribcage as he stared at the screen.

Under its light he suddenly felt so small and insignificant: "SANS, YOU SAID THAT THIS MIGHT BE LIKE A GAME, RIGHT?
WHAT...HAPPENS WHEN THEY'RE DONE PLAYING? WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY PUT THE GAME AWAY..?"

"i...i don't know. i don't know...maybe that's just...it.", Sans replied, his voice straining and becoming quieter as his eye sockets darkened and he nervously ran his hand over his face.

Papyrus suddenly turned to Sans, shouting: "WELL, CAN YOU CHANGE IT?? MAKE IT STOP BEING BLACK AT THE END, MAKE IT SO WE DON'T STOP."

Sans immediately reacted, trying to type away on the keyboard but nothing changed: "i can't. it won't let me edit any of the values. it's all locked in."

Papyrus was starting to lose it, turning back to the monitor and pointing at the monitor as if accusing it of something: "WHERE IS ALL THIS DATA COMING FROM? HEY COMPUTER!
I DIDN'T TELL YOU ANYTHING! YOU DIDN'T EVEN ASK ME IF I WANTED TO STOP! YOU CHANGE WHAT'S ON THERE THIS SECOND!"

"that's not how-"

"SANS HOW DID IT EVEN GET THIS DATA FROM US?? I DIDN'T TALK TO THIS COMPUTER!
WHY DOES IT HAVE FILES NAMED AFTER ME AND YOU?", exclaimed Papyrus, clearly unnerved by this thing and its horrible foreboding.

Sans was crumbling under Papyrus's gaze. He had just as many questions as his brother and he did not know any of them.

He hated it.

It made him feel helpless and...lost.

He clutched his skull, just muttering 'i don't know' over and over again.

Papyrus's gentle touch pulled him out of his shock, his hand wrapped around Sans's wrist.

It caused Sans to look back up at his brother and they looked each other in the eyes, momentarily calming down. Papyrus's hand slowly slid from Sans's wrist to his hand, holding it firmly and squeezing it for silent comfort.

There was a moment of quiet understanding between them and they simultaneously turned back to the screen, ready to face whatever the future may hold.

Both of them had a look of uncertainty and fear written all over their face but they found comfort, knowing they weren't alone in this.

"why are we here..?", questioned Sans finally, trying to understand how and what lead them exactly here. "what are we supposed to do..?"

"YOU USE CHECKER PIECES TO PLAY THE GAME. AND THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO DO WHAT YOU MAKE THEM DO."

Both remained silent, clearly terrified by that thought. Papyrus's grip around Sans's hand tightened as both of them stared down the screen in horror.

.

.

.

A little time had passed where Sans had mostly just tried clicking through all the possible files and trying to edit them however he possibly could.

However, it did not seem to do anything – the computer was only displaying the information and its variables but none of it was changeable.

In frustration, Sans groaned and slammed his fists onto the keyboard. He sighed and turned towards Papyrus, who was standing a little further away from him.

Papyrus was silent, standing completely still with his back turned to Sans. It was unnatural, almost creepy to see him like this so Sans decided to call out to him: "papyrus..? hey, papyrus?"

No reaction.

Not even a slight twitch or anything.

"papyrus, are you okay?"

"MM. MM? OH.", he finally seemed to have registered Sans's words, slightly looking over his shoulder: "YES. OF COURSE."

This short reply was unlike him and it lacked any kind of emotion, making Sans frown in response: "papyrus..."

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT.", he suddenly said.

"what?"

"I DON'T BELIEVE THE COMPUTER.", Papyrus huffed and finally turned to Sans.
His eyes were glowing orange, a sign that he needed the comfort of his own glow to keep himself at least a little calm or under control.

Sans understood that reaction.
It was a lot to wrap your head around.

Papyrus was pacing around the room, flailing around his hands in various gestures as he kept talking: "MAYBE IT'S LYING, OR MAYBE IT'S CONFUSED. BUT I DON'T BELIEVE IT. I DON'T BELIEVE THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN THAT WAY. WE'RE NOT GOING TO STOP. THIS..."

Papyrus motioned around the room, the glow of his pupils slowly turning into a darker hue of orange, almost red: "ALL THIS...ALL THIS ISN'T GOING TO STOP. IT CAN'T. IT JUST CAN'T."

"i mean, i don't know how to...i don't know if there's even a way to verify the data, but..."

"IT JUST CAN'T HAPPEN LIKE THAT. IT JUST CAN'T. I WON'T LET IT.", Papyrus huffed, breezing past Sans.

"but- how, there isn't anything we can-"

Papyrus abruptly turned back at Sans, an angered expression on his face as he pointed at his brother: "IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN LIKE THAT!
I'M NOT GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN TO YOU, AND I'M NOT GOING TO LET IT HAPPEN TO ME, OR UNDYNE, OR ANYONE ELSE!
I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT."

"i...but..."

The taller skeleton did not let his big brother finish whatever he was going to say, pointing up into the sky as if he was declaring a war or something alike: "I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!
I AM MY OWN SKELETON!
I AM A REAL MONSTER WITH REAL FEELINGS WHO MAKES MY OWN DECISIONS!
AND NOBODY CAN TAKE THAT FROM ME, NOT EVEN GIGANTIC BOSS COMPUTERS WITH NO RESPECT FOR PRIVACY!"

"papyrus-"

"SANS, DON'T WORRY. I'LL FIGURE OUT HOW TO FIX THIS!
THE COMPUTER IS OBVIOUSLY WRONG, AND EVEN IF IT ISN'T, THEN THERE HAS TO BE A WAY TO FIX THINGS SO WE'LL ALL BE OKAY."

Papyrus took a few steps closer to Sans, gripping both his arms. His fingers dug into Sans's clothes and he could feel through the fabric how much Papyrus was trembling.

It broke his heart and he wanted so desperately to work him through this but once again, Papyrus fell into Sans's words as he tried to speak up.

"I KNOW THIS IS HARD FOR YOU. I SAW HOW HARD IT WAS FOR YOU! BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SCARED, OKAY?
YOU CAN TRUST ME, SANS.
THERE'S LIGHT HERE, I KNOW IT, AND I'M GOING TO FIND IT."

Papyrus's words, broke Sans. He knew that he was clearly struggling to find the light.

That Papyrus himself was actually close to losing it, because...what can one do about something like this?

What if you can't even trust yourself to be you because all the decisions you've made actually aren't you?

Sans saw how desperately his brother tried to be the light he needed to keep going but the pressure of it was clearly weighing him down and making the whole situation even worse.

In the back of his mind, Sans started wondering if maybe it would have been better when Papyrus would have despised him for not telling him rather than seeing him broken like this right now.

"EVEN IF YOU'RE SCARED, I'M NOT SCARED. I'M NEVER SCARED."

It was so obvious how terrified he was, how much this affected him and it was painful to watch Papyrus put on a brave face even though Sans knew exactly how he felt.

That was not what Sans wanted.
He did not want him to end up like this.

Once, more he tried to reach out to his brother: "papyrus, you don't-"

You don't have to put on a brave face. You don't have to carry this burden alone.
You don't have to worry about me.

There was so much Sans wanted to say.

That he could have said, but Papyrus cut him off again.

"THE GREAT PAPYRUS!", he corrected Sans, falling back into his boasting persona as a sort of defense mechanism to deal with the situation.

"AND I'VE GOT THIS ALL UNDER CONTROL! JUST BELIEVE IN ME, AND I'LL TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING. NOW, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO GO TALK TO MY FLOWER FRIEND!"

"papyrus-"

"I'M SURE HE CAN EXPLAIN WHY THIS COMPUTER IS ALL MIXED UP ABOUT EVERYTHING!" Papyrus let go of Sans, marching off with confident steps.
Sans immediately scurried after him, grabbing his arm and trying to hold him back: "papyrus-!"

"BUT, HE ONLY APPEARS WHEN I'M ALONE, SO YOU BETTER GO HOME AND GET SOME REST, SANS!
AND EAT SOMETHING, AND MAYBE WATCH SOME TV, BUT DON'T GO TO GRILLBY'S, BECAUSE I WANT TO MAKE SOMETHING FOR DINNER, AND I'M SURE IT WON'T TAKE LONG BEFORE I'M BACK, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE SO MANY THINGS I HAVE TO DO!"

Papyrus managed to slip out of Sans's grasp and he immediately slipped through the door into the darkened hallway.

"papyrus!", Sans called after him again, clearly worried about his brother's mental state.
He did not have to be strong for him. He did not have to pretend in front of him like this!

Before Sans could catch up to him, Papyrus had already left, leaving Sans standing alone in the dark hallway.

He just watched the door fall shut behind the swaying red scarf and sighed, holding his head: "...papyrus..."