Chapter Text
SANS, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? YOU'RE BARELY EATING ANY OF THE SPAGHETTI. IS IT NOT GOOD? BECAUSE I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I MADE IT SPECIALLY FOR YOU."
Papyrus gestures his hand towards the plate of spaghetti in front of him, mushy and cold after being fidgeted with for the past 10 minutes. Sans would push the clumps of spaghetti to the sides of his plate, twirl them around his fork idly and take small bites with only a couple of strands. He jerks upward in surprise upon hearing Papyrus, pulled out of his thoughts. Shoving a large clump of spaghetti into his mouth, he forces a nervous smile to cheer his brother up.
"no no, it's great. just had some food at grillby's before i came back. he had some leftovers so i figured why not," he shrugged, a shameless lie on his part. "but the pasta's really good today. you're learning a lot with undyne i'm guessing 'cause it's even better than usual," he gives Papyrus a soft smile, another shameless lie in hopes of making his brother happy.
Truth was Sans felt tired, hungry as his soul ached for more food but his brain denied it. It was more focused on matters that were far too big for him, and they would claw onto his ribs and skull. It felt painful to even move, a growing pressure on all his bones, and he was worried the pain would only get worse. He'd take the small bites only to soothe the chasm in his soul, perhaps to console his brother as well, but he would flinch when he felt the pressure growing. His taste buds were dull, and at this point eating felt like a chore. He was hurting, and he couldn't understand why. His soul hurt, and it grew little by little every day. The naive part of him would blame it on his 1hp, say that even the most mundane of tasks was draining it somehow and use it as an excuse to maybe lie in bed for the rest of his life. That sounded nice almost, but he knew better. This wasn't normal, it never felt like this before.
Something was wrong.
"WELL, I'M GLAD IT TASTE GOOD, SANS! YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HE NEVER FAILS TO GET EVEN BETTER AT EVERYTHING, INCLUDING COOKING," he winked confidently as Sans answered with a shaky smile, nodding as he continues to take tiny bites of the pasta on his plate. They continued eating in silence, each of the skeletons staring at their respective plates. Sans knew he wasn't going to finish all the spaghetti, and he knew he needed to hide it somehow or at least come up with an excuse or offer to mask it.
"whoops, looks like i'm all full. thanks for the dinner, bro. it was super good," he gets up quickly, taking his plate with him. "WAIT A MINU-"
"Hey whadya say i do the dishes today?" he cuts his brother off, surprising Papyrus. Papyrus stares at him speechless, mouth agape and eyes wide as he struggles to find any words to respond. "WHAT? WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BROTHER?" he starts. "DO THE DISHES? HE WOULD NEVER OFFER TO DO THE DISHES LIKE THAT. AND I MEAN JUST LOOK AT THE HEIGHT OF THAT SINK, IT'D BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM"
"well say hello to the new sans then, the one that does the dishes. just give me a stool and i'll get right on it. besides, dishes just one favour i'm doing after all the favours you've done for me," he snorts, watching as papyrus' expression changed from surprise to annoyance. "OH I SHOULD'VE EXPECTED YOU TO DO THAT! OF COURSE THE ONE TIME YOU OFFER TO HELP IS WHEN YOU WANT TO MAKE A PUN, TYPICAL YOU," he sighs, taking his last bite of spaghetti, then beaming at his brother. "BUT WOWIE, THANK YOU SANS! DESPITE THE JOKE, I STILL APPREACIATE THE EFFORT," he gets up and places his plate next to the sink for Sans to wash, going over the refrigerator to store their leftovers for tomorrow. Sans' headache starts pounding, and for a moment he regrets offering to do the dishes, but he figures there's not much anyway and he'll get to sleep immediately after. It wouldn't be big deal, he's sure.
In the silence between the two, Sans contemplates, and he decides to ask his brother a question that's been hanging on his mind, one that's been holding all his limbs down, paranoia deep-seated in his soul. Part of him was desperate to believe that he was merely overreacting, that it was simply a small misunderstanding that had led to all his unnecessary worrying. He was almost hopeful that Papyrus could stop it somehow, say the perfect combination of words to somehow halt the waves of worry in his mind. His hand scrubbing the plate, he shuts his eyes tightly as if in fear, but he opens his mouth.
"hey paps..." Papyrus looks towards Sans, humming in response as he waits for his brother to continue. "have you seen that silver key i keep in my room? been looking for it for the past few days and can't find it anywhere," he asks, wiping the cleaned plate with a cloth. "WELL IT IS YOU'RE ROOM AFTER ALL. I CAN'T BLAME YOU FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND SOMETHING IN SUCH A MESS," he shuts the refrigerator door. "BUT I CAN BLAME YOU FOR NOT CLEANING IT, SO MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY TIDYING IT UP. YOU'LL PROBABLY FIND IT IF YOU DO," Papyrus looks to his brother as he stands. "yeah, you're probably right. though i'm way too lazy to do that so... we'll see," Sans shrugs, softly laughing to himself despite the inner panic. The key had truly disappeared it seemed, and all the hope that perhaps his brother had placed it somewhere neater was gone when he finds that Papyrus was completely oblivious to the key.
"WHATEVER SUITS YOU, SANS," Papyrus sighs, annoyance in his voice. BUT IF YOU EVER NEED ANY HELP, JUST TELL ME. I DON'T MIND."
Sans places the final plate on the rack, nodding to his brother, "got it, thanks bro." Sans knows Papyrus' help couldn't do much in this situation, considering it was as if the key had just vanished. Sans isn't the type to carelessly misplace things, despite his lazy carefree demeanour. He knows where everything is and where it goes, and he realises it when things just disappear. Something was off, he just didn't know what it was. He chooses to pause all the worrying however, at least for the day, giving in to his exhaustion. He sighs. "eh, I'm heading to bed, feeling a bit tired."
"SANS YOU'RE ALWAYS TIRED," Papyrus rolled his eyes and frowned. "BUT STILL HAVE A GOOD NIGHT, BROTHER," his pouty expression fades into a gentle smile as he picks up a remote and turns on the television. "good night to you too, bro," Sans smiles back, going up the stairs to head to his room.
As soon as he stepped into his room he collapsed onto his mattress, eyes staring up at the ceiling as his thoughts raced through his mind. He was too tired to entertain them though, the fatigue taking over as his eyes closed. He would deal with them tomorrow, he convinced himself. For now, he was going to enjoy the rest, as undeserving as it may be.
He went to sleep trying to assure himself that he had a plan, a small one to find that key at the very least, but it was getting more and more difficult to believe that when everyday felt more confusing than the other, and somehow his world felt emptier. Something was wrong, and each day it only got worse.