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He let out a sigh and opened the door to his house.
Papyrus had been gone a couple days. He stayed at Undyne’s for a while. Talked to Toriel. Talked to a professional. He wanted to get better. Even if that meant packing in a bunch of feelings into just a few days. But he wasn’t done yet. He really wouldn’t be for a long time. But he did have to address the issue of his brother. The last time he talked to him, he stormed off and didn’t come back. During the next morning, he could tell Sans called Alphys to ask if he was there. Sans knew he was safe but his brother needs to hear it from his mouth now.
Laying on the couch, Sans suddenly sat up at the door opening There, his brother walked in letting in a cold breeze behind him. A cute knitted red cap was on his head, and it had a little skull on it. But most of all, his brother’s eyes were looking at him, not the other direction. Not staring out the window or at his feet. It had been a while since he had seen his brother’s eyes (Or eye sockets).
“...hey.”
Papyrus smiled, but looked a little guilty “HELLO.”
A pause.
“ i’m glad you’re-”
“I’M SORRY I WAS- WHOOPS, NO YOU GO-”
“-no, you go.”
A shuffle and Papyrus took a breath. “I’M SORRY I LEFT AND DIDN’T TELL YOU.” another pause. “I HAD BEEN UPSET AND I TOOK IT OUT ON YOU-”
“-no that;s okay, i was causing issues-”
“-NO YOU WEREN’T. WELL. NOT MORE THAN USUAL. BUT NOT ENOUGH TO JUSTIFY ME FOR DISAPPEARING FOR FIVE DAYS.” The TV flashed nearby, but it was on mute. A few boxes of Grillby’s take out were sitting around. The kitchen was still pristine. A new sock was laid out next to the TV again.
“I WENT AND SAW A THERAPIST. I. I DON’T NEED TO TELL YOU, BUT I WANT TO TELL YOU. I THINK YOU ALREADY KNOW WHY. BUT SOMETIMES I THINK YOU FORGET MY EXCELLENT HEARING ABILITIES.” He paused. “BUT I ALSO APPRECIATE YOU NOT TELLING ME I. I NEEDED TO FIGURE IT OUT ON MY OWN. I DON’T. I DON’T THINK I WOULD HAVE LISTENED.”
Sans hesitated, but gave a relieved smile. He was just glad his brother was back and they weren’t fighting. “still brothers?”
‘PREPOSTEROUS, OF COURSE WE ARE STILL BROTHERS.” but they still awkwardly shuffled until they held one another in a hug. Actions really do speak louder than words.
The hug was nice. But now it was getting a little too long. “...I SEE YOU STILL HAVEN’T PICKED UP YOUR NEW SOCK.” Papyrus mentioned. The wound of therapy was still fresh and he needed a distraction.
Sans became more relaxed in his embrace. “it’s part of the house now. you can’t break tradition.”
The taller brother nodded his head. But his fingers suddenly curled around his brother’s sides. “PICK UP YOUR SOCK.”
A sudden wave of confusion ran through the shorter skeleton. Papyrus went from depressed to playful in a 180. And was he really about to tickle him over a sock? On purpose?? How was he supposed to respond? Flinching away would show weakness.
Sans’ fingers curled around his brother’s ribs as well, and with a hidden fear he replied. “no.”
A glint in Papyrus’s eye. He was glad his brother was willing to play along with him. Wriggling his fingers slow, he said it again. “PICK… UP… YOUR… SOCK…PLEASE...”
“eH!-” Sans suddenly went silent as he held his breath. It would be so easy for him to lose once Papyrus goes full force. He’d have to counter to keep up. Wriggling his own fingers, he responded just as cooly “n-no… th-thank y-you…”
Papyrus felt the giggles bubble up. His older brother always knew his spots. Wriggling his fingers a little faster he replied. “WH-WHY NO-O-O-T-T…?”
He was going to lose. Wiggling his fingers even faster he tried to reply “Wh-why-” he paused and seemed to silently giggle, but not daring for the laughter to come out. “should…..i-i-i-eheh?” he was breaking.
Papyrus was almost going to win, but this his brother suddenly squeezed his spine. Giving a yelp after the harder tickles, Papyrus removed his hands and attempted to recover. But that didn’t stop him from seeing his brother trying to leave the room and short cut from the corner of his eye. He turned his brother blue and chased after.
“YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY SO EASILY!” he stated, wriggling his fingers in a teasing manner and then settling for his neck in light but taunting touches. The blue effect wore off.
“ehuh-huh-heh-heh-!” Sans squirmed as the fingers danced around his ‘sansetive’ neck. Deep in his gut he knew he was going to lose. Once he starts laughing it will all be downhill. He had to stay on top to survive. His hand raised and he turned his brother blue as he did to him.
Learning from past experiences, he reached behind his brother’s knees in hopes to remove his brother’s height advantage.. Timber! The taller brother crumpled down and fell to the floor without injury but the tickle onslaught was still on going.
Truthfully, it was the first time in a long time Papyrus had really interacted this playfully with his brother. He missed it. He knew he could win, but he wasn’t ready yet. Instead of fighting back, he didn’t fight the blue attack and just rolled over to his back.
Sans was surprised. He could actually win this? Is he getting his big brother streak back? A grin and Sans knew he had to keep the advantage as long as he could. “now where is the funny bone located again? is it here?” Hins finger wriggled in the disc of the spine “or was it here…?” another finger wriggled in his upper ribs, below the arm.
“NYEH! NYA-HA-HEH-HA-A!” Papyrus struggled playfully. Continuously his brother poked and prodded his worst spots with the illusion he was winning. It was getting harder to Papyrus to continue to take it and his back legs eagerly kicked around almost at a dangerous pace. “NYOOOOOOAHAHAH!”
By this point, Sans had started to lightly dig at his brother’s hips with both hands. He was feeling confident that he would survive this encounter and gain older brother points. As he continued his onslaught on the hip bones, he was almost sideswiped by a stray boot. There he had an idea. Remembering his visit with Toriel, he then sat on his brother’s thighs with his own knees holding his weight on either side. He faced his brother’s knees and made a point to raise his hands high enough for Papyrus to see him wiggle his fingers. “i think i may know a new spot you’ll like…” and then lightly wriggled them under the knee caps.
“NYEHHHH!!!! NYAHAH! NYAHA! nAHahAH!”The fingers were so light they were maddening. Why was this area to ticklish? He didn’t know! All he knew was the blue effect on his soul was already long gone and he was reaching his limit. Peeking one eye open, Papyrus looked down and saw just what he needed. Pink slippers.
Using just a touch of green magic, Papyrus reached for his brother’s left foot and disconnected it painlessly. The tickling on his knees suddenly stopped.
Sans felt his slipper being removed, but it also didn't feel like this foot was near him. In an attempt to turn around, the lack of a foot resulted in his falling off his brother and onto the floor. Sitting on the floor and supporting his body with his arms, Sans felt a chill run through his bones as he watched his brother collect himself and stand above him once more. Now, there was his foot in his hand.
Papyrus smiled. “NYEH HEH HEH, SORRY, YOU KNOW HOW I DON’T LIKE TO LEAVE THINGS UNFINISHED. I FIGURED THIS FOOT WAS A LITTLE NEGLECTED.”
He held his breath. Papyrus knew exactly what he was doing when he was cleaning the sock! It was his right foot last time! And the worst part was, he himself actually felt uneven as well! Deep inside, there was a teeny tiny part of him who actually wanted this, but now that it was there before him, he didn’t know if he could take it! “he-hey now.. let’s think about this…”
“OH I’VE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BROTHER. I MEAN, I DON’T EXACTLY HAVE BRUSH WITH ME, SO I’LL JUST HAVE TO MIMIC IT WITH MY HANDS? I FIGURE I CAN REPLICATE IT BY KEEPING ALL MY PHALANGES FOCUSED ON ONE SPOT!” He took off his gloves and squeezed his fingers close together, as though he was trying to pick something up that was very small but also required grasping from all directions. After a wink to his sibling, he began to mimic his ‘cleaning’ on his brother’s heel.
“waitnoeueh-heheheah! n-ehahaha!” Sans fell back on his elbows and shook his left leg wildly, as though he was trying to take his foot back. He erupted with uncontrolled laughter as his brother slowly moved his motions across the sole of his foot. It wasn’t as bad as the electric toothbrush, but it was worse than the regular brush! He reached out and attempted to grasp his brother with blue magic, but failed every time. He couldn’t focus. A gasp and continuous giggles were all he could manage “oh no eughahahah! oh pleaseeeeheh!”
Papyrus stopped and looked at his brother who he already had wrecked in just a few seconds. “ARE YOU SAYING YOU’RE GOING TO PICK UP THE SOCK?” There was no answer, just consistent laugher, even though he was not touching him. “OKAY.” Papyrus shrugged and decided to just maliciously wriggle his index fingertip in between each toe, making sure to scratch with the tip of his finger.
A very undignified scream and more laughter. “neh-haHA! NYehHA-SNKKKKK!!!” Sans was a fool to think he could ever win. “i wiLL! Iehahaii wheiheHEHILL!!!” small tears pricked his eyes but he did not panic as he knew his brother would never be cruel now that he’s admitted defeat.
The taller brother smiled and set his brother’s foot on the neglected sock near the TV. “THANKS SO MUCH, BROTHER. I REALLY ENJOYED THIS TALK. I BET YOU ARE VERY THIRSTY SO I’LL GET YOU SOME WATER. ARE YOU OKAY?”
The smaller skeleton was collapsed on the floor as he wiggled his remaining foot. “eheheh…. yeheah… i’m all ‘right’”