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Mar 12, 2016

Scorched Scraps and Tatters (Part FINAL)

[1] - [2] - [3] - [4] - [5] - [6] - [7] - [8] - [9] - [10] - [11]

Characters: Sans, Papyrus, Grillby, Toriel, Flowey

Setting: Post-Pacifist Neutral Route

Contains: One more bad flashback of Flowey being a his vile self Contains psychological torture, physical torture, body horror.

Synopsis: Everyone makes plans for the future. It’s a little bit terrifying and a whole lot wonderful.

(Based on @sushinfood ‘s first and second Possessed!Sans audio dramas)

Best read here because fuck what tumblr does to my formatting, but also posted below.

“SANS…SANS, WH-WHAT’S GOING ON?”

“it’s okay, papyrus, it’s gonna be okay, just s-stay with me…”

“I CAN’T SEE YOU…EVERYTHING HURTS SO MUCH…”

“i know. i know, and i’m so sorry. i’m gonna fix this, bro, just hang on…”

“Oh? And just how do you plan to do that, Sans?”

It shouldn’t have been at all surprising to see Flowey forcing himself out through one of Papyrus’ eyesockets. Sans still felt dizzy with horror at the confirmation of just who was responsible.

His brother was bound and trapped in roots and thorny, flowering vines. They extended out from under his clothes, twisted around his limbs, up and over his spine. His eyesockets were blinded with them, they were even looped around his jaw in a way that suggested even being “allowed” to talk was a recent change. Sans could see him trying to twitch and strain against the restraints, but the mind behind them was stronger. It was strong enough to effortlessly turn his brother into a puppet, no matter how much pain it caused him. Papyrus had actually been made to attack him, after being made to call Sans to come meet him in front of the Ruins in the first place. Flowey had already dug himself in deep.

The revelation that it was Flowey who had taken control should have been the least surprising revelation ever. Indeed, after the initial shock faded, Sans found himself feeling something else – a desperate flicker of hope.

He thought very, very quickly about what to do next. In the end, he could still see only one way to go.

“come on, flowey,” Sans said, holding out his arms and grinning weakly up at his old enemy. “quit kidding around. you and I both know that this…this isn’t about my brother.”

“Actually, Sans, I kind of think it is. I’m getting a little tired of being stuck like this. I wanted a nice change of pace, a body of my own. And of course your brother was nice enough to help an old friend out!”

“if you want to take a body…would you really be satisfied with taking papyrus’ instead of mine?”

All was silent for a long moment, enough that Sans thought he could hear the sound of snowflakes falling.

Finally, Flowey leaned forward, extending himself further from Papyrus’ eyesocket as he did so. For an instant, Sans considered taking advantage of the moment of consideration in order to attack. In the next instant, he brutally shoved that thought aside. He couldn’t risk Papyrus like that. Not if there was another way.

“Of course not. Your powers are way more fun than his. And you’re so much stronger. And if I was in your head, you’d be out of my life. But honestly, Sans. You and I both know that Papyrus was the easier target. You wouldn’t have let me in without a really annoying fight.”

“well. i’m letting you in without a fight now. c’mon.” Sans gestured at himself, and then spread his arms in invitation. “come and get me.”

“NO…!”

“it’s okay, papyrus. just trust me.”

“And that’s how I know you’re bluffing, Sans!” With a disgusted scoff, Flowey started to pull away.

Sans felt desperation blooming in his ribcage. He let it bloom, let it ring in his voice as he cried out: “you’re hurting my brother! of course I’m not bluffing! have i ever, when he’s involved? are you really going to ignore everything i let you get away with while you could reset, just on the off chance you’d feel like keeping him safe? come on, flowey. you know me better than that.”

Flowey froze. Flowey knew Sans was right.

Flowey still said: “Prove it.”

But he didn’t attack or make Papyrus attack, as Sans stepped forward and gently took his brother’s hands in both of his own. Immediately, the creepers twined around his fingers began to squirm and writhe like worms, untangling themselves so slowly from one skeleton’s bones and inching their way around the other’s.

Sans let it all happen. In fact, it was Papyrus who visibly struggled to pull away. It was impossible to tell with him blinded as he was. But Papyrus could plainly still hear, and Sans could pick up the note of tears in his brother’s voice.

“S-SANS…DON’T…”

Flowey visibly rolled his eyes, and Sans wasn’t sure if he had ever hated that little golden flower more. “Be quiet a sec, Papyrus,” he snapped, and Papyrus let out a startled cry that was quickly muffled as his jaw was once again strapped shut.

Sans felt tears gathering in his eyes. He wanted so, so much to act, to fight, to save his brother. But he knew that any move he made would just be giving Flowey more opportunities and excuses to hurt him. That was always how it had worked. Sans couldn’t be sure that he could force Flowey to let go before Papyrus wound up seriously injured, or worse.

One thing he was certain of was that he could present a more enjoyable target.

Their hands were bound together now, and Sans could feel Flowey slithering further up his arms, twining along his bones. It wasn’t painful, not yet. It was just profoundly disgusting, invasive, violating. He could feel a web being drawn tighter around his soul, a web he would be powerless to resist on his own once it closed.

Sans let it happen. He looked up at his brother, listened to Papyrus’ desperate attempts to speak with him, plead with him, and he smiled.

“it’s okay, bro,” he said, keeping his voice warm and gentle, feeling proud of himself that it only shook a little. “it’s gonna be okay. i know you’ll come and get me. i know you’ll make this right. just…just let me handle this for now, okay? let me help. i know it hurts, and i’m so sorry, and…and hey, h-how about a story? just to pass the time, hehehe…”

Papyrus was quiet before he got halfway through the bedtime story. Sans didn’t know if that was because he had really been calmed down, or just because he couldn’t react anymore.

Either way, he wasn’t surprised at all when Papyrus collapsed into the snow like a puppet with broken strings after Flowey finally extricated himself from his victim’s skull. Sans still wanted to go to him, to check on him. But he could only take one step forward before the vines around him flexed in warning and held him tight.

“Don’t think that means you’re off the hook, Sans,” the flower said sternly, from where he was settled in Sans’ palm.

Sans nodded, but otherwise didn’t answer. He looked down at Papyrus, laying limp in the snow, and steeled himself.

Then, moving fast enough that even Flowey cried out in alarm, Sans leapt over his brother and set off at a dash into yawning darkness of the Ruins. He could have teleported himself over there in an instant with his powers. But the longer he kept them out of Flowey’s hands, the better off everyone would be.

Flowey fought him every step of the way. Sans fought back, and at least kept his old enemy from winning until he’d gone as far as he could.

* * *

“SANS?”

Sans twitched a little, drawn back to the present day by the sound of his brother’s voice. They were walking together through the woods, side-by-side, back towards home. The sound of Toriel’s voice and Flowey’s had long since faded into the distance.

“yeah, papyrus?”

“YOU DIDN’T ANSWER ME.”

“what was the question?” Sans asked, noting with a guilty twinge that he remembered the question all too well.

“IS IT TRUE?” Papyrus was wringing his hands anxiously, his gaze on his feet. Sans couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his brother looking so anxious and lost. “WHAT…WHAT FLOWEY SAID, ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED?”

“flowey likes to talk, in case you haven’t noticed. you’ll, uh, you’ll have to be more specific, papyrus.”

“ABOUT IT BEING MY FAULT?”

“if he said that, then yep. flowey was lying.” Except it wasn’t that simple, and they both knew it. Sans heaved a sigh, and forced himself to carry on. Word by word, step by step. “but if he mentioned something to you about me letting him take over my body because he, um, he already took over yours, then…yeah. yeah, that much is true.”

“SO IT WAS ALL MY FAULT!” Papyrus’ expression twisted as though he was about to cry. Out of everything Sans had endured over the last day or so, he thought that if he had to see his brother cry, that really would break him.

“no,” Sans said stubbornly, reaching up to squeeze his brother’s hand as though for emphasis. “it’s flowey’s fault, papyrus. and it’s over now.”

“BUT IF I HADN’T LET MYSELF GET CAUGHT LIKE THAT, THEN YOU WOULDN’T HAVE…”

“he would have found a way. he obviously wanted to take things that far. don’t know why.”

“HE MENTIONED THE HUMAN.”

“did he? huh. yeah, he was probably hoping for them to come back. maybe so he could take their soul, maybe just so he could have someone new to mess with. things obviously didn’t go his way. guess he decided to throw a temper tantrum.”

“THE QUEEN DID CALL HIM ‘HER CHILD’…”

“you noticed that, huh?”

“WHY IS THAT?”

“no idea. asgore would talk like that sometimes, though, about the flowers in his throne room. maybe it’s just a boss monster thing.”

“MAYBE…”

Silence fell between them, for a little while. Sans found himself increasingly distracted from the world around him by the sharp ache that was growing in his hands and along his face. He knew now, after his flight from Undyne’s house, to recognize it as a sign that he’d been out in the snow too long. Then again, Sans supposed this was the longest he’d been outside, other than that night, since before this mess had started. By rights, he probably should have just teleported them both home. But he was tired, and he knew Papyrus was tired, and so by unspoken agreement they just decided to stay settled in one another’s company for a little while longer, before facing the world again.

He rubbed his hands together, stuck them in his pocket, and then folded them under his arms when even that proved insufficient. Sans cast his gaze somewhat longingly ahead, but the bridge back into Snowdin was only just visible through the trees. All the while, he felt Papyrus’ gaze on him. All the while, he felt his brother trying to psyche himself up.

“SANS?”

“yeah, bro?”

“WHY DID YOU ASK FLOWEY TO…TO DO THAT, TO YOU? I MEAN, I KNOW IT COULDN’T HAVE BEEN GREAT, WATCHING ALL OF THAT HAPPEN TO SOMEONE AS COOL AS ME. BUT…BUT I DIDN’T WANT ANY OF IT TO HAPPEN TO YOU, EITHER! IT’S NOT FAIR THAT WE HAVE TO PICK BETWEEN US!”

"...i know. i'm sorry. i mean..." Here Sans heaved a sigh. "i'm not sorry that i did it, honestly. just sorry that it came to that. i just...i didn't want to see you hurting. and i know you didn't like seeing me hurting, either. but the fact is that i was the only one in a position to make that call. so i took it. maybe that was selfish of me, but hey." Sans shrugged dolefully. "i can be kind of a selfish guy."

"I DISAGREE WITH THAT. I DISAGREE WITH THAT INTENSELY AND PASSIONATELY."

He didn't sound as though he did, but they were both pretty tired. Sans found himself smiling, anyway, feeling his soul burning a little brighter even if his hands were starting to go numb from the cold again. "thanks, papyrus. nice of you. and, uh, honestly? part of why i was so gung-ho about making that trade? it's because i figured that you and everyone else would have a way better chance of saving me than i would have of saving you."

"I DISAGREE WITH THAT, TOO. BUT...SINCE I GUESS WE DID SAVE YOU IN THE END, IT DOESN'T MATTER NOW, RIGHT?"

"yeah. you did." Sans grinned happily up at his brother, and he even meant it. "and it doesn't."

Papyrus beamed down at him, as well. But the expression slowly faded to one of acute concern, something that made Sans' soul stutter to see. "SANS..."

He reached out to rest a hand on the smaller skeleton's shoulders, and Sans obligingly came to a stop. Papyrus moved around to kneel down in front of him, and then reached out a hand towards Sans' face.

"I KNEW IT!" he cried, when Sans reflexively flinched away with a wince. "HONESTLY, SANS, WHEN WILL YOU START TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF?"

"in my defense, i'm still getting used to this being a thing i need to worry about," Sans mumbled, looking away in embarrassment. "the jacket's always been enough, before now."

"WELL IT OBVIOUSLY ISN'T ANYMORE! YOU WILL NEED A PROPER SCARF. AND SOME GLOVES TOO, IF I'M ANY JUDGE, AND THERE IS NO BETTER JUDGE THAN ME!"

"oh, yeah? you got a spare scarf lying around? because otherwise, i don't see how that matters until we get home."

"WELL, WHILE I DO NOT HAVE A SPARE SCARF..."

And Sans gasped in shock and disbelief as Papyrus reached up and began to unwrap the scarf from around his shoulders. Even after he'd stopped wearing his battle body on a daily basis, he'd always held on to that scarf.

Except for now, as he reached over to wind it carefully around Sans' face instead. Sans found that he could only stand there, staring up at his brother with wide eyesockets and bright eyelights, trembling faintly in awe.

Papyrus stood back with his hands on his hips to admire the effect. "WELL. IT DOES NOT LOOK QUITE AS COOL ON YOU AS IT DOES ON ME! BUT THAT IS ONLY TO BE EXPECTED! IT WILL SUFFICE, FOR NOW, UNTIL WE CAN WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE YOU YOUR OWN SUPER COOL SCARF! AND YOUR OWN SUPER COOL GLOVES, OF COURSE."

"yeah," Sans mumbled, his voice muffled by the scarf. "yeah..." He stared up at his brother, his wonderful brother. Papyrus had never let him down, had never not been there. Even before Flowey had taken over Sans' body, Papyrus had always been there to give him a reason to get out of bed, to encourage him to be better, to believe in him. After Flowey, Papyrus had been there to soothe him when the nightmares came, to make sure he went outside, to encourage him to live again.

Papyrus was the best possible brother anyone could ask for. Sans was lucky to have him.

He would never forget that, every day for as long as he lived. There and then, Sans chose to show as much by throwing his arms around his brother in a fierce hug. Papyrus stumbled back a pace in apparent surprise, but then let out a hearty: "NYEH-HEH-HEH!" before kneeling down to return the hug.

For a moment, everything was okay. And even when they finally pulled apart to continue the walk back home, things were still pretty good. Sans kept his hands buried deep in his pockets, for all the good it would do. As it happened, it did do some good in reminding him all over again about the paper he'd held on to from Alphys. He didn't mention it right away, though. Good news needed a good delivery. Otherwise, the two of them talked about nothing very much for the time it took for them to get across the bridge, back into town, and on the approach to Grillby's.

It was then that Sans stopped, staring thoughtfully up at the second floor of the building. Papyrus stopped a few steps ahead, glancing worriedly back at him.

"what time is it?"

Papyrus made to pull his phone out, and then frowned and shrugged helplessly. Sans was forced to pull out his phone instead, to check the time.

It turned out to be early morning. Even after the night they'd all had, maybe Grillby would be up and getting ready to open. Sans had never known him to miss a day.

"i think i'm gonna stop in and check on grillby. let him know that things are okay now." Sans looked back at Papyrus with a worried frown. "mind if i meet you back at home, bro?"

"WELL..." Papyrus frowned, folding his hands together anxiously again, staring down at his feet. "OF COURSE I DON'T MIND, BUT...I WAS KIND OF HOPING WE COULD EAT AT HOME, TODAY? I COULD MAKE AN ESPECIALLY IMPRESSIVE DINNER, IN CELEBRATION OF OUR GRAND TRIUMPH TODAY!"

Was that all? Sans laughed with relief, the cloud of dread passing almost before it had had a chance to form. "we still can, bro," he hastened to reassure his brother. "i just want to stop in and say 'hi'. and to let him know not to look for me during the dinner rush. only polite, y'know?"

"I SUPPOSE SO. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE DATING, NOW."

"right. but i'll be right home after that. sentry's honor. and, hey, speaking of celebrations...maybe add this to the list of reasons."

He pulled the paper out of his pocket, then unfolded and made a great play of smoothing it out before he passed it up to Papyrus. "take a look at what alphys found on me."

Papyrus took the paper and held it up to his face, close enough that Sans couldn't see his expression as he read.

He knew the exact minute where Papyrus understood just what he was reading, though. He knew, because Papyrus let out a wild whoop of delight, and Sans found himself swept up into a hug so enthusiastic that his feet left the ground. Papyrus actually swung him in a circle, and Sans laughed to feel it.

"DO YOU REALLY...?"

"i really do. i know, i didn't believe it myself at first!"

"SANS, THIS IS WONDERFUL! THIS CALLS FOR A CELEBRATION TO END ALL CELEBRATIONS! THIS MIGHT CALL FOR CAKE! OR MAYBE EVEN PIE!"

"i know you can make it happen, bro."

"ABSOLUTELY! WELL, NOW YOU POSITIVELY HAVE TO GO AND SAY HELLO TO GRILLBY! TO TELL HIM THE NEWS! AND TO STAY OUT OF THE WAY WHILE I SET UP THE SURPRISE PARTY!"

"makes sense to me."

Papyrus set him down carefully in the snow, and beamed down at Sans as Sans beamed up at him. Then his brother turned away and dashed full-tilt for home, laughing heartily all the way. Sans watched him go, watched Papyrus leap up onto the porch, and watched the door close behind him. He smiled all the while, his soul feeling warm and bright.

Then he went inside the restaurant in search of his best friend. The front door was unlocked. It always was. Even if anyone in Snowdin had ever wanted to rob Grillby, they would never have risked the wrath of the dogs in doing so. The main dining area inside was still empty, though the smell of soap and polish lay particularly heavy in the air. That meant that Grillby would have moved on to cleaning up the kitchen.

Sans moved carefully through the sea of tables and chairs, but hesitated for a moment when he reached the kitchen door.

He wondered if Grillby was doing dishes on the other side. The very last thing Sans wanted to do was surprise or startle him in the midst of that. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be in that kitchen again at all. Sans still knocked carefully on the door anyway, and waited.

After a moment, he heard footsteps, and then the door opened to reveal Grillby standing there. His usual pair of yellow cleaning gloves were draped over the shoulder of his suit, but the presence of the spray bottle in his hand told Sans that he at least wasn't interrupting any fiddly work with the sink.

"Sans."

Grillby offered him a nod. Sans offered him a wave. "yo. this a good time?"

"Of course. Is everything all right?" Grillby stepped aside and motioned for Sans to enter. Sans did so, and moved to lean against the patch of counter where the rag was resting and the smell of cleaning solution was particularly sharp.

"man, i hope so. how about you? did you at least get some sleep?"

"A little. But when I saw it would be time to open soon, I...thought it might do me good, to get back to my routines."

"i know how that goes. and hey, if you need to keep going, don't mind me. i'll just try to stay out of your way."

"Thank you." And Grillby did indeed move past Sans to pick up the rag, reapply some cleaning solution to it, and resume polishing the countertop.

Sans left him to it, for a moment. He recognized the look of a man who mostly needed something to keep his hands busy. But at last, he spoke in the most casual tone he could muster.

“so, uh…just stopped by to let you know that we took care of flowey.”

“‘Took care of’?” Grillby asked, with audible concern.

Sans winced. “yeah, okay, maybe not the best choice of words. more that, uh, we figured out why he was doing what he was doing, and what he was doing in the first place, and we stopped it. he’s still around, but he’s, y’know. not our problem anymore.”

“Who’s problem is he?”

“the queen’s. i figure queens have got to be good at handling stuff, yeah?”

“I suppose.” Grillby still looked somewhat dubious. Sans couldn’t entirely blame him. But he also couldn’t shake the sense that that wasn’t all there was to it.

What the hell. It had been a weird day. Sans decided to go for broke.

“so about whatever he was saying to you…”

Grillby twitched, but it was a twitch bad enough to send the bottle of soap falling from his fingers and onto the floor. Sans hastily bent to pick it up and hand it back. Grillby took it, squirted some more onto his rag, and turned away to return to work.

“What about whatever he was saying to me?”

“what was it?”

“Does it matter now?”

“obviously it does, since you’re shaking.”

Grillby went still. Sans took a deep breath, and reached out to lay a hand on the elemental’s arm. He felt Grillby tense for a moment, and then relax, letting out a puff of smoke.

“He spoke about…I still don’t understand a great deal of it, myself. Other timelines. ‘Resets’.”

Sans couldn’t help it. His grip tightened a little in shock, enough that Grillby looked down at him. “yeah. uh, yeah. that’s a thing. or it, uh, it was a thing. i’ll explain it to you later.”

He saw Grillby’s mouth draw into a thin, tight line. “Please do.”

“but in the meantime, what was flowey trying to make the resets mean to you?”

“He spoke of other versions of us. Times that we had already…confessed, and gotten involved.” It was hard to tell when a fire elemental was blushing. Sans had still known Grillby long enough to tell, by the way his flames went a bit paler just under his eyes. His hands were shaking much more evidently, now. At least he still didn’t pull away when Sans reached out to cover one hand with his.

After a moment, he even returned the hold, and Sans let out a breath. Grillby obviously needed the support, to brace himself for what he said next. His gaze didn’t rise from the gleaming tabletop.

“And he told me that, in all of those other times, for all of those other versions of us…that we never work. It never lasts.”

Silence fell between them for a long moment. Sans took a deep breath, and broke it first.

“honestly? that, uh, that doesn’t surprise me.”

“It doesn’t?” Grillby darted a sidelong glance at him. Sans could tell that his friend wanted to hope even as he was mired in doubt. Sans couldn’t blame him. He knew the taste of that doubt all too well, certainly enough to recognize it in others.

So he offered Grillby the most reassuring smile he could muster, squeezing his friend’s hand. “nah. i mean, let’s look at the obvious. you’re always pretty busy, and i’m…well, let’s be honest here. i’m always kind of a mess. the wrong time, the wrong place, the wrong talks…yeah. i can see where it wouldn’t work out, sometimes.”

“But only sometimes? The flower said…”

“right. ‘never’. but grillby, here’s the thing. i can’t remember all the resets. especially not the early ones. but if flowey knew about us hooking up? he could just as easily have been the one to break us up. still technically true. flowey’s good at ‘technically true’. but a pretty different situation now that he’s out of our hats.” He squeezed Grillby’s shoulder, and then spread his arms with the air of a magician pulling off a particularly good trick. “y’know?”

Grillby actually gasped aloud, putting a hand to his mouth. “I never thought…”

“of course you didn’t.” Sans smiled wryly. “flowey kinda has that effect on people.”

His friend smiled in sympathy at him. “So I’ve gathered.” Then his expression faltered once more. “But as for the other times…the wrong place, the wrong talk, the wrong circumstances, as you said…”

“yeah?”

“All of this has hardly happened under the best of them.”

His gaze lingered on Sans’ face, on the scars that Sans knew were still visible over the top of the scarf. His gaze fell to the hand on his shoulder, the stained and blackened bones. Sans felt the urge to step back bubbling up in his soul, the urge to run.

With a supreme effort of will, he forced it down. He just widened an eyesocket at Grillby, and held up his other hand.

“don’t tell me my appearance still ‘grieves’ you after all of this, grillby.”

“Doesn’t it grieve you?”

Sans grinned easily. “nah,” he said, and meant it. “papyrus and i are gonna make some new cold weather gear. if it’s half as cool as that old costume of his, i think i’ll be in pretty great shape. and hey…” He tilted his head to regard the other monster’s worried expression. “…i don’t blame you, y’know. i never did. just never thought it needed saying.”

“I just…don’t know how I feel, entering a relationship with someone I’ve already left such marks on. Permanence can be a terrifying thing, Sans.”

“don’t have to tell me twice.”

“Already, I’ve found myself wondering what will happen if things change between us, if you decide those marks aren’t acceptable, if you can’t forgive me…”

Sans silenced Grillby by taking his other hand. He moved quick as a cat, so that he didn’t have time to lose his nerve, and suddenly his hand was closed over his friend’s. And silence fell between them both.

Grillby felt strange to touch. Sans hadn’t really been in a position to appreciate that before, but he could now. In truth, he felt like nothing so much as touching a pocket of warm air that happened to have been compressed down into a basically human form. Every sense would tell you that somehow you should phase right through him, but you never did. Every sense would tell you that touching him like this should leave you scorched and agonized, but it never did. Even as flames licked over his bones, even as a few faint plumes of lingering smoke curled up in the air between them, Grillby’s heat in that moment was no more than might be felt sticking your hand over a warm vent on a cold day. As long as he wasn’t angry, that was as bad as it ever got, and it took a very great deal to rouse the bartender to anger.

Sans had always known that, of course, as long as they’d been friends. He nevertheless realized in that moment that he might still have…forgotten as much, for a little while. Maybe the memory had been chased out by the memory of mechanical flames and Flowey’s screams. Maybe, in this, Sans really had been working too hard at pretending to be okay.

Now he remembered the good instead of the bad, and he felt a slow smile spread across his skull to realize it. Sans felt something warm and light buoying up his soul, like soap bubbles in sunlight, and then he realized it was laughter, the laughter of tension broken and relief found at last. Now that the moment was behind him, it seemed like such a simple thing to have ever worried about, but of course he only knew that now and he was so, so glad to.

“i forgive you now, you dork,” he said happily. “and c’mon, grillby, you know me. i am way too lazy to ever change my mind about something like that.”

Grillby heard this, saw this. He smiled, too, and was soon laughing right along with Sans. The sound was that of the crackle and pop of twigs in a blooming flame, and he reached out with his free hand to take hold of Sans’ other one again. Warmth and light curled around his fingers, somehow serving to highlight the healing that had happened rather than the damage that remained. Gently, he drew Sans’ hand over to rest it against the side of his face, the side where the flames were still a little pale and weak but where his eye really had recovered nicely.

Moving like he was just learning the steps of a dance, Sans did the same with Grillby’s hand, pressing it to the side of his face where the bone was still a little discolored, and maybe would really always remain that way. But it didn’t look so bad. The difference could hardly be seen, except by someone standing this close, and Grillby obviously didn’t seem to mind. What was more important was how nice the warmth felt directly on his bones, a warmth that seemed to go straight down to his soul.

Then Sans was enfolded by light as his friend hugged him and he hugged him back. They slumped to their knees there on the floor of the kitchen, and laughed happily and freely as they perhaps never had before. There in the kitchen where they had both nearly died in two different ways, Sans finally realized fully and completely that he was going to be okay.

* * *

They parted after moments that felt like hours. They parted after enough kisses to leave Sans feel like he was flying in sunlight. But in the end, Grillby went back to work. Sans went home. It was as though nothing had changed, except everything had. Things had changed back and things had changed for the better. Sans’ steps felt light, and his bones felt warm.

More than anything, Sans realized that he felt. He was here and aware and alive more than he had been for so long, maybe even more than he had been before. He felt a cold breeze and snow crunching beneath his shoes, he felt the way his own bones moved together, and he felt his own breath on his face where the scarf caught it. Even the colors seemed brighter.

Otherwise, there was only one minor hiccup on the way home, and that was when he heard someone call his name. Sans glanced back, to see Toriel approaching. In her hands, she was carefully cradling a pot, into which a glowering Flowey had been shoved.

Sans and Flowey met one another’s gazes. The flower ducked his head, the picture of sullenness, but said nothing. Maybe he couldn’t, thanks to whatever magic was keeping him in the pot in the first place. Maybe he just didn’t see the point.

“y’know,” Sans said, addressing his words to Toriel even if he didn’t look up. “if he’s gonna be hanging around the castle, i’m gonna need a lot more vacation days.”

“I am certain we can work something out,” Toriel replied, offering him an apologetic smile.

“sure thing.” Sans privately doubted it, but, well, stranger things had happened. “sail safe on the way back, okay?”

“Oh, don’t worry. The River Person’s skills are unassailable.”

Flowey proved that he had not been rendered incapable of speech by groaning aloud at both the pun and the laughter that followed it.

Then the Queen of the Underground turned and headed back towards the dock. Sans watched her go until she’d turned out of sight, his mind a whirl of thoughts.

Things might not get easier from here. But they would certainly at least be different, and that meant something.

From there, Sans took his time on the walk home. Even so, it was a great deal to take in all at once, a great deal to process all at once, and so he was already sleepy by the time he closed his own front door behind him. But it was his usual sleepiness, familiar as his own blanket, maybe even more familiar than his own bed. So that was okay.

Papyrus was on the phone, chatting away merrily with Undyne, pacing back and forth animatedly over the living room floor in front of the television. He paused at the sound of the door opening, looked back at Sans. Sans could see him opening his mouth, knew he was about to put Undyne on hold to check on Sans.

Sans shook his head in silent reply, and gave his brother a thumbs-up – nothing to worry about. He saw, in the way Papyrus beamed, that the other skeleton finally believed him. So Papyrus returned the thumbs-up and then turned back to continue his conversation, barely missing a beat. Sans, meanwhile, tromped up the stairs and to his bedroom door, leaving a trail of snow behind him. Papyrus would yell at him for that later. Sans wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Still, for now, a nap before dinner sounded just about perfect.

Maybe he’d even put the sheets on the bed this time.

#undertale #undertale fanfiction #possessed sans au #possessed!sans #sushinfood #scorched scraps and tatters (fic)#sans (undertale)#papyrus (undertale)#grillby (undertale)#sansby #bonefire #brotherly love is my fucking weakness #psychological torture tw #physical torture tw #body horror #i am the champion my friends #i kept on fighting til the end #flowey (undertale)

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