“You ought’ta join our cooking lessons sometimes, Sans.” Crooked grin and pointing teeth as she leans against his stand; the offer’s sincere even past her ever - building enthusiasm. “Papyrus would love it. Hell, we could make it into a competition!” She can see it now! BROTHER VS. BROTHER! THE PASSION AND INTENSITY! “That would be awesome!”
this is wrong wrong wrong; he wants to go back, he wants to hide in the dark--he can’t see others in the dark, can’t see them; he doesn’t want to see, to remember. he knows, he knows! he knows they’re real and he’s not. not anymore, not ever again; it hurts it hurts it hurts----he doesn’t move, doesn’t go back; he’s afraid of the dark.
* you are the void. you encompass the idea , nay , you embody the vast emptiness that lies after death. you have seen many a timeline now , anomaly after anomaly , presence of another YOU does not bode any surprise or ill-will to you. skeletal fingers tuck into pocket stretched ‘cross your abdomen , saccharine smile , thylacine in it’s appearance , creeps on your features , but there is a slight hesitation within your own smile , yes , a question dares to dance ‘pon the tip of your tongue.
* “ this meetin’ of the minds here is really rattlin’ my bones , pal , but i got somethin’ on my mind . . . / * . . . / * . . . what was your FRISK like ? “
Frisk hates talking about their problems or their past or their fear. It’s one part a desire to move on and forget, two parts the desperate wanting to be anything but a burden. They want their friends to smile; if they’re sad, then their friends won’t. But this --- this is important, and they need to figure it out with someone. Sans seems like he’ll understand most. ( or at least be the least likely to tell toriel. )
Now that they’re ambassador...they’re on the news. In papers. And that means attention, and that means -------
“Sans, c - can I...? A gentle tug on his jacket. “I n - need advice. About...family stuff.”
head heavy , asriel laughed to see sans there , with him : he wasn’t sure what the laugh was for , really . HIMSELF ? maybe it was the strange stillness of the situation : the way both of them seemed to tremble , as if they weren’t sure how to handle , no , WEREN’T EQUIPPED to handle how to really be , together , like this ? in a gentle field of flowers , with asriel as he was then , AT LEAST FOR NOW .
the last time he saw sans , ( he was flowey , he was the COLD THAT SETTLED IN TOO DEEP , a smile that cut clean like a knife ) he was a child . and sans … sans had never been much of a child ; never young . he was a head EVER WEARY , of worn-out bones , of laughter with a strange tone . asriel had not understood the way the cup always seemed HALF-EMPTY , how the world balanced on a single string .
he knew now . he knew the way the world paled , where he HAD TO STRUGGLE to find a splash of color ; knew the smile that promised something different , promised strength where there was none .
asriel wasn’t a child , anymore . sans wasn’t the SAME , ANYMORE . ( his fault, he thought , because even when he knew sans remembered , FLOWEY DIDN’T STOP . instead it was amusing , it was fun , it was flowey’s knowing face as he tricked the others over and over and over again . what can you do ? his smile asked . WHAT CAN YOU POSSIBLY DO ? )
❛ are you here to laugh at me ? ❜ asriel asked more out of pain than of truth , more to rid himself of a STRANGE SILENCE , of a gaze heavy enough to hold him still .
but all sans responded was : * you know i’m not like that.
which was true . it was true like the way SAN’S EYES WOULD TRAVEL UP to the stars , how he had always wanted more while asriel was happy with what he had . true like the way SANS WOULD HOPE , would dream , and asriel had thought, then , maybe we are a bit similar – but that was a different story , that was a different time , that was when hoping DIDN’T HURT , didn’t smile with closed teeth and said : what did you believe in me for ?
❛ you’re right , ❜ asriel said . ❛ i do know . ❜ and asriel smiled at him , SMILED AT HIM even if they both knew it was just to somehow bridge the gap between them . ❛ i’m sorry . i know it won’t make up for all i’ve done … i know my words don’t really MEAN ANYTHING , not to you . but even if i did not care , then , i watched you . i watched you LOSE HOPE , too . ❜
looking away because keeping eye-contact pained him , asriel opted to look down into the flowers beneath him , instead . ❛ … you’re so strong , sans . and i know , i know nothing will be the SAME AS IT WAS . i know it’s hard to trust frisk . but trust them , now . you’re allowed to have your happy ending . you can be happy , sans . ❜ his heart shuddered , and asriel knew he was about to cry , BUT HE DIDN’T , HE COULDN’T .
❛ hey … if you don’t mind … tell me how pretty the stars are , out there . ❜