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Today was a relatively better day than most, patrols brought up nothing new, and when nothing new popped up, Papyrus was able to have some free time. That rarely happened, but so many changes have happened throughout the week.
The human that had fallen made every monster that they had encountered, passive. Which left the royal guard less to do, with angry monsters on the low, who was going to aggravate another and spread dust? No one would, and maybe, just maybe Papyrus could dabble back into his hobbies again.
He sort of missed cooking meals, being able to cook with undyne, and (not burning down her house) missed just having idle chats.
Sans would be so excited to spend some quality time with the great and terrible Papyrus! And Papyrus himself was aching to get his claws on some clean snow, to build something again. He could even imagine a spar with undyne, they hadn’t been able to do that for a while.
Though the lady would most likely want to spend her newfound free time with her girlfriend, and Papyrus wasn’t going to stop her from doing that. And since he would have nothing else to do, sans and he could watch mettaton shows again, binge them like they used to. Or perhaps he could pay a visit to his one friend, the flower. He hadn’t seen the flower despite showing up to their meeting spot as frequently as he could. Weird, but it was whatever.
The crunch in the snow promised good fortune, however, it was a bit chillier than usual, or so he’s been told. Papyrus didn’t bother with trying to dress warmer and opted for his usual battle body despite Sans’s protests. What was that numbskull supposed to know about the better temperature? The shorter of the two often overheated, because who wears a large jacket and thick sweater? No one! That's who.
Shaking his skull, Papyrus would adjust his scarf once more, the tattered thing looked like it was holding on by a thread. But thankfully Sans was making a new one for the upcoming gyftmas. Though he wasn’t supposed to know that, Sans would most likely be extremely upset if he was aware that Papyrus knew, and saw him making said scarf.
So he pretended he didn’t know, that he never saw Sans fall asleep while knitting the scarf to his preferred length, and never saw him panic while trying to hide it as Papyrus loudly stomped his way over to the sentry station.
He’s kept that a secret for a little over a month now, but it was worth lying to him about. Because either way Papyrus would be over the stars while receiving such a gift, and he’d see his brother happily grumble out a short ‘whatever’.
Papyrus took long strides towards the sentry station, the one near the ever so incredibly crafted… bridge? He thought it was a bridge anyways, the dogs worked hard so he didn’t want to dishonor their work despite them playing like puppies and treating the logs like giant sticks.
But continuing onwards, the large skeleton took purposeful strides to where he would meet his brother. Where they typically met.
However, the farther he got the more the area appeared teared up. Like a rabid animal tore through the area.
Stepping over one of the trees that lay, splintered and broken, Papyrus’s face twisted into one of worry.
Surely Sans was okay, he was strong enough to defend himself against a monster. Even with his low STATs, Papyrus knew in his SOUL that he put up a good fight and drove whatever monster away. Papyrus’s hands shook, why did he feel like this? Like an impending feeling of doom, ready to snatch his dust the moment he stopped being on guard.
He would just have to search for his idiot of a brother. Sans did love jokes after all.
The way his bones shook with an unforgettable amount of FEAR and HATE, his jaw clenched so tightly that he should've been afraid of chipping the bone, but he wasn't scared of that.
That feeling of doom slowly dissipated, because that little piece of fear that Papyrus had been so terrified of, something that he had once sobbed about to his brother, came true.
The one thing that kept him up at night, losing his brother.
-
Sans was just about at his breaking point, this stupid little human was about to have their shit rocked to the stars and back.
What made them think that they could murder everyone, then restart only to show mercy? The two-faced little goblin would learn, they had to. Because each time that Papyrus died was another time that Sans would have to know that he failed. He failed as a brother, and the way that papyrus would seek him out, crying out to Sans for help. That he sought comfort for him, and the times that he would be there, he’d sob about how he wasn’t strong enough. That he was still weak, but he always ended with a simple, “ I love you brother. “
And It broke him, it just shattered each piece of hope that Sans had left. That a human could do good.
So that's why Sans killed the human, but before he could harvest the SOUL, they reset. It happened six times before they fought back, it was obvious by the way their mushy human face scrunched up that they had enough.
And then they got him, he shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was, the kid was wrong, so wrong. They shouldn’t have the powers that they do, but they did. And Sans was burdened with all their sins, knowing all of what they’d done. How they have killed every monster in the underground, even the king.
So much was wrong with that kid, but for now, he wouldn’t have to worry about it. He was dying once more, his ribs and sternum felt like they'd been shattered to bits, which they probably have been. Coughing up magic, the thick red substance would leak from his mouth. It stained the snow below him, and his bones slowly melted and dripped. The dust scattered in the air, fizzled out magic popping while it lost shape.
His red sweater had a significant slash in it, the fabric was ripped. This was his favorite sweater, how unfortunate.
-
Kneeled, papyrus’s face was scrunched up as his one hand gripped the parka.
The pile of dust that rested beneath it was enough for papyrus to know, to know that even with all his might to protect his brother, he could only save him once.
Holding the parka close to his chest, papyrus’s body heaved with the amount of grief that was washing over him. He had tried, so hard to keep his brother alive and out of trouble despite being the younger of the two. He failed.
But he was good at one thing, fighting, and stars above he would revenge his brother, and in the most brutal way possible.