'Til When Will We Part? (Reaper!Sans X Geno!Sans)

TW3P Part 6

Reaper said he would recover in about two days and he was right. He rested most of that time while Death picked up his slack. Geno couldn't help with their work, but he could watch over Reaper and Death insisted that was enough. Geno was relieved when Reaper was back to his normal self. He hoped that if he wasn't staring at him all the time the weird feelings he was having would go away.

He was wrong.

"I'll play this!" Death said cheerfully, placing down a reverse card.

Geno sighed, not really paying attention, and reached for the draw pile. Reaper reached for it at the same time and their hands touched. The fog over Geno's head cleared. His sockets went wide and his cheekbones flushed red, and he quickly pulled his hand back to his body.

"Pay attention, Geno," Reaper chuckled. "The turn order just reversed, see?" The death god drew a card and immediately put it down. He looked back at the mortal who wasn't drawing a new card or even moving and tilted his head in concern. "Hey, Geno? Are you okay?"

"I-I-I'm fine!" he said a little louder than he'd meant to. 

Reaper looked at his friend's tense face and the way he was curling himself up to make distance and felt something like a stabbing sensation in his soul. 

Reaper dipped his skull down and scratched the back of it,  then gave Death an apologetic look. "Maybe we need a break, huh Papyrus?"

"Well... I suppose I have work I should be doing."

"Yeah, I might as well get off my bony butt and get some work done. I can't leave everything to you now that I'm healed." Reaper smiled brightly at his brother, who smiled back. When Death turned his back, Reaper looked down at Geno sadly. The mortal hadn't moved and was avoiding eye contact, and Reaper felt that stabbing in his soul again.

"We'll be back later, Geno. Get some rest."

The mortal nodded and Reaper left to do his job. He actually got a lot done, probably because he wasn't thinking about what a pain it was; his head was still filled with images of Geno avoiding eye contact, pulling away from him, and flinching at his touch. 

Reaper's skeletal hands tightened around the handle of his scythe. He knows I won't kill him, right? As long as he's determined to live, he won't die just from a little touch from death. 

Reaper lived in a lonely world where physical contact with others was a privilege he didn't get to have; living company was a privilege he didn't get to have. Nobody wanted to die, and so everyone hated the two gods of death. They were never invited anywhere and other gods glared if they ever looked like they were enjoying themselves.

Even the souls they worked so hard to care for simply used them and moved on, forgetting Reaper and Death until the next time they needed help.

A mortal like Geno was so so much more important than he could ever know. The way he treated  the gods of death like friends without a care for the other details was a bright light in their dark underworld. Why, all of a sudden, was he acting so... afraid?

Reaper's grip on his scythe tightened further as the stabbing feeling intensified. I don't want him to be afraid of me!

"Please, I know this is difficult, but it's time for you to come with us," Death pleaded tenderly, but the stubborn soul spat at his face. 

"Fuck you, demon! Fifty-six years-old and you say it's my time? Bullshit! Get lost, damn demons."

Reaper was already stressed from Geno's strange behavior, so he heard the soul's words and a dark chuckle slipped through his teeth. "Well, Papyrus, you tried. If he doesn't want to come willingly, then it's my turn."

The human opened his mouth to argue, but before he could get out a single word, Reaper's scythe ripped his soul from his body. It wasn't nearly strong enough to put up a fight and drifted meekly into Death's arms.

"There, there," Death comforted it. "You can only blame yourself for being stubborn, but everything's going to be alright from now on." The tall, friendly skeleton smiled down at his brother. "Shall we take this one back now?"

"You can go, bro. I'm going to keep working up here for a while."

Death frowned but nodded. "Alright. Be safe, brother."

Reaper put on a smile that didn't show what he was feeling. "Of course I'll be."