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

TW3P Part 7

When Reaper and Death cut off their game early to work on the surface, Geno felt like kicking himself. He was supposed to be helping these two be happy, right? With his world destroyed, what else did he have to live for? Granted, he was too determined to die no matter what, but it would still be nice to have a reason to be alive. 

The two lonely gods of death who worked so hard at such a miserable job and still generously welcomed him into their home should be his reason. But he couldn't even cheer them up properly. When Reaper had touched his hand, Geno had... he didn't know. His soul had jumped in his rib cage and started beating really fast. He had looked at Reaper and... pictured his face... looking at him kindly and...

Geno's whole face flushed red as an idea hit him like a lightning strike. Did I want him to kiss me? Did I want to kiss him?!

He started to understand that he was falling in love with the scythe-wielding death god, and the thought horrified him. He... he's just an alternate version of me. How could I fall in love with myself? That's... that's sick. What the hell is wrong with me?

Geno was glad the others were out. He didn't want them seeing him as flushed and panicked as he was just then. But what would he do? If he kept living around Reaper he would definitely mess something up eventually. But at the same time, there really wasn't anywhere else he could go. He didn't even belong in this world in the first place.

Geno continued to worry by himself. Death came and went several times, but Reaper stayed on the surface. Does he know already? he worried. What if he knows I like him and he's avoiding me?

This situation was remarkably stressful, to be honest. It tired Geno out, and eventually he just fell asleep. When he woke up, Reaper was floating just a few feet away, staring out at the river.

"Hey," the death god said casually. 

Geno tried to quiet his pounding soul and responded, "H-hi... Reaper."

Reaper kept his eyes on the river, and Geno was glad that his blushing wasn't seen. But, the color on his cheekbones started to fade when he saw the downcast look on Reaper's face. A-am I about to be rejected before even confessing? Not that I could ever confess. Maybe this is for the best. But even as he thought that, he felt himself slipping into despair.

Reaper let out a sigh and finally glanced down at his mortal friend who was watching him with worry. He felt that stabbing sensation in his soul again when he saw that look. By now, he knew what that feeling was; he didn't want to be hated... by the person he was falling in love with. Heh. I'm terrible, falling in love with an alternate version of myself. But, well, I have a pretty microscopic dating pool, so can you blame me? It's too bad the feeling isn't mutual.

"Hey, Geno?" Reaper got his friend's full attention with only two words, but he really wasn't sure he wanted to say what he had come to say; to tell Geno that he understood and that he would keep his distance. He really didn't want to say it. He couldn't say it. Instead, something much more dangerous ended up coming out of his mouth. "You... really hurt my feelings before, you know?"

Geno's sockets widened in shock, but Reaper couldn't stop the flood of complaints that rose to his teeth. 

"I know I'm the god of death. I'm a creature of darkness; my job is to kill people and harvest their souls. The underworld is quiet and lonely and everyone but Papyrus and dead people avoid me like, well, death. Being around me must be lonely and depressing. Even with your determination keeping you alive, it must be scary living so close to me. But I hate it when you ignore me! I hate it when you avoid looking at me, when you won't talk to me, and I hate it when I touch you and... and you act like it's going to kill you!"

"Reaper! That's not—!"

Geno stood to his feet and tried to interrupt, but Reaper cut him off again bitterly. "I like you, Geno."

The mortal stood stunned. "... What?"

Reaper laughed self-deprecatingly. "Pretty sad, right? I fell for an alternate version of myself. But it just made me so happy when you treated me like a friend, and I felt so betrayed when you stopped. And I don't even know what I did to make you suddenly hate me. Was it when I destroyed that wayward soul? Did you just get sick of acting nice to me? I... really..." glowing blue tears started to drip from Reaper's sockets, "don't know."

Geno's soul was beating a thousand miles a second. Reaper liked him! But reaper though he hated him! Stars, how did he mess up this bad? He didn't know what to say to console the death god—his mouth wasn't moving even when he told it to. Finally, Geno just let his instincts figure it out for him. He marched up to the floating Reaper and grabbed his hands, holding them close to his chest. Geno shut his sockets tight as he felt little blue tears leak out and shouted in a slightly cracked voice, "Shut up! I like you too, so shut up!"

Reaper stopped crying from pure shock and stared down at the object of his affections.

"I like you, but I didn't think you liked me, and I was worried I would mess things up, so I got really nervous around you! I didn't want you to think I hated you! I'm an idiot! I'm sorry! Just please don't be sad!"

Reaper looked at Geno blankly for a moment, then a blue blush quickly spread across his face. "You... you really mean that?"

Geno became embarrassed and nodded his head, avoiding eye contact again and trying to recover his hands. Reaper wouldn't let him, though. When Geno tried to pull back, he held the mortal's hands tighter. He stopped floating and stood firmly on the ground, smiling at his crush with blue-flushed cheeks. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I can't believe you like me back!"

Geno fidgeted and put on a small smile. "For someone who's been fighting back death for so long, it's kind of ironic, isn't it? I fell in love with death incarnate."

"Heh heh, that is pretty funny," Reaper laughed genuinely. "But I'm really glad it was someone like you: someone I can touch." The god of death slowly pulled his hands back and pushed his index fingers together. "Is there any chance your determination will start to slip? If-if I didn't know and I hurt you, I would be... I don't think I could forgive myself."

Geno gave a reassuring smile and cupped Reaper's face with his hand. "It won't fade. It isn't natural determination, after all; just some stuff I injected myself with. Even if I wanted to I couldn't remove it without medical intervention."

"That's a relief," Reaper sighed, holding Geno's hand against his face and nuzzling into it.

"Hey, brother, I found a stubborn soul and I was wondering if you could—" Death walked up and saw the two acting lovey-dovey. Reaper and Geno quickly separated, blushing and waving their hands and making excuses, but Death just shook his head and sighed.

"Did you two finally work things out? My goodness you kept me waiting."

"Wait, you know?!"

"Papyrus, you knew?!"

"Of course I knew," the younger god of death rolled his little eyes. "I'm not stupid. You two were obviously in love with each other and, while I think it's a little narcissistic to fall in love with yourself, I'm happy for you two."

"Papyrus," Reaper smiled warmly, "thanks."

"Don't worry about it, brother!" Death grinned. "Now, erm, I imagine you two will want some time together to do... something, I suppose. As I have work to do on the surface, I'll be leaving. Have fun!"

Despite Death's innocence, Reaper and Geno flushed brightly, filled with advanced thoughts. Their thoughts were the same helpless and excited mess: Oh my god.