PATCHWORK SOUL - NEW MEDIUM

GOING OUT FOR A BIT CHAPTER 19

Frisk shook down into her bones. Couldn't stop. She slumped forward with her face in her hands, a cold pit in her stomach. She could have sobbed; collapsed into the snow or fainted away herself. A numbness caught in her chest. She took a moment to force herself to take a few deep, steadying breaths.

She straightened up, blowing out a sigh and running her hands through her hair. She couldn't fall apart, she told herself, despite the tears warming the corners of her eyes. Her family needed her for this.

On the wind, a melody brushed her ears, one that she couldn't mistake for anything else. Quickly, she perked up and whipped around, eyes skimming the snow.

"Sans?" she asked, wide-eyed. No, that didn't make sense. She sighed and rubbed her head. Couldn't lose it now. "Okay. Okay okay. Get it together. Jeez." She took another deep breath. "Okay, okay, stop crying, stop freaking out. Oh my god." She wiped her eyes and then sat down heavily on the steps. "He's fine. He's gonna be fine. It's gonna be okay." She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles again.

She thought she heard snow crunching. She jerked her head up and peered down the road. Asriel was booking it towards her down the main street. He skidded to a halt and flopped down beside her, rubbing his hands over his face.

"I missed him, huh?" he said. "Sorry. It takes me a bit to get through one of the rips."

"That's okay," she said.

"Did he say anything?" he asked.

"Not much," she said. "He said his head felt kinda heavy, I guess? And he didn't want us to, um, worry too much."

"Typical." He rubbed his hands over his head and puffed heavily. "So... what now?" He cut his eyes at her. "Got a plan yet?"

Frisk folded her arms and gritted her teeth. She tapped her foot in the snow. "I... I guess I wanna check on him first and then maybe check the outside of time stuff? See if there's anything more I can do there. I dunno."

"Anything your dad came up with give you any clues?" he asked.

"Just that I don't think Sans is sick sick, know what I mean?" She tapped her fingertips together and bit her lip thoughtfully. "What do you think we should do?"

"I think you need to eat something before we do anything else," he said.

"Oh! N-No, I'm okay, I'm not hungry," she said quickly.

Asriel folded his arms and stared her down dryly. "I don't care. I'm gonna make you a sandwich and you're gonna freakin' eat it."

Frisk smiled awkwardly. She rubbed the back of her head. "Aw. Jeez. You're worried, huh? Sorry. Okay." She grinned. "But only if you eat something too, okay?"

"Deal," he said.

Their mother greeted them with a hug when they came inside. "He's here," she said gently. "I've tucked him in upstairs. Is there anything else I need to do?"

"Not yet, just keep him comfy," Frisk said.

"I should not take him back to the lab?" she asked worriedly.

"I think Gaster probably already saw any info that would actually help. Uh. Not that we're actually sure what that is," Asriel said.

"If you could take him back soon, that would be good, but I'd kinda like to check some stuff out first," she said.