No One is Happy with This (Undertale)

10 ~ Apologizing

You sit bolt upright.

What was--

There's a loud thump that you can hear through the wall.

Your heart pounding in your chest, you spring out of bed and race to the door. Someone is in trouble!! You have to help!

As you step out into the hallway, you see that Papyrus seems to have had the same idea as you, as he's already in the hall. Unlike you, though, he seems to know exactly where to go. He races down the hall to Sans' door, and rips it open.

You catch a glimpse of Sans. He's writhing on the floor, jacket tangled around him, clawing at his face. Then Papyrus is kneeling beside Sans, carefully pulling Sans into his lap. He starts murmuring softly to Sans, and though you can't quite hear what he's saying, it seems to work. Sans stops trying to tear his face off in favor of clutching at Papyrus's shirt, burying his face in Papyrus's scarf.

For a little while, the brothers just sit there, Sans in Papyrus's lap, Papyrus hugging Sans tightly. It seems that Sans has calmed down quite a bit.

And then he looks up, over Papyrus's shoulder, at you. "... y'see, k-kid?" His voice is hoarse, and just a little shaky. "it h-hurts me."

And then he just snuggled himself back down in Papyrus's grip.

You blink a little. Then you turn around and walk back to your room.

Flowey, in his pot on the nightstand by your bed, is watching you. "Well? What was that about?"

"Sans had a nightmare." You say, climbing back into bed. "He kept scraping at his mouth. I think he was dreaming about-... about that."

Flowey looks genuinely surprised. "The smiley trashbag has nightmares?" And then he grins, and it's more than a little disconcerting.

You don't like that grin.

"You can't do anything," you remind him, "because you're stuck in a flower pot."

His grin slips back to his usual I-hate-everything frown.

"It's bad to swear." You say. "Mom will probably ground you if you do."

Judging by the way his scowl deepens, he had been about to curse. But he says nothing.

Yawning a little, you tuck yourself back into bed, and start to fall back asleep.

... You'll have to apologize to Sans in the morning...

...

Said morning seems to come quickly. You slip out of bed and grab Flowey's flower pot, and head downstairs for breakfast. Sure enough, Papyrus and Toriel are both already in the kitchen, making waffles.

In the last two years, Papyrus's cooking skills have risen dramatically. Not only that, but you've acquired quite the taste for his food as of late.

But you're surprised to see that Sans is not, in fact, in his room. He's curled up on the couch, jacket pulled up tight around his shoulders, hood over his head.

"Sans...?" You say softly, intent on apologizing.

But Sans doesn't respond.

You step a little closer. "Sans?"

He still doesn't respond. You realize that, despite the way he's curled up, he looks quite relaxed, and his chest is rising and falling with slow, steady breaths. He must be asleep.