#sans employing the lap cat strategy on his anxious brother

[punsmaster69]

9/OCT/20XX

that skull-splitting feeling is back, but it's centralized around my eyes this time.

maybe i'll see if i can eat now.

——

the second i opened my door, papyrus came flying out of his room.

"wow. got somewhere to-"

he suddenly knelt down and hugged me.

"..be...?"

"everything alright, bro?"

"...I'M JUST GLAD THAT YOU WOKE UP."

"how long was i out for?"

"SINCE YESTERDAY."

checking the time on my phone, i understood where his worry came from.

it was eight pm.

"....jeez."

"kinda surprised you didn't wake me yourself."

"YOU.. YOU WOULDN'T WAKE UP."

"at..all?"

"AT ALL!"

"must be one hell of a cold."

barely a second of looking at him, and the concern across his face was too much for me.

i can tell he knows that's not the truth, but what can i say?

what can i say to comfort him, when even i don't know what's wrong?

....

"anyways, i'm feelin' a lot better now. we got any leftovers i can reheat?"

"I HAD MADE SOUP, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY COLD."

"soup's soup."

papyrus dashed down the stairs ahead of me, sticking the cold soup in a pot and heating it again before i could contest.

"...the microwave stop working?"

"SANS, YOU CAN'T BE EATING MICROWAVED SOUP WITH A.. 'COLD' THIS BAD!! "

went to sit on the couch, when papyrus suddenly wrapped me in a blanket and turned the tv on for me.

"what's with the king treatment all of a sudden?"

"I JUST...THINK YOU SHOULD TAKE IT EASY!"

"not like i'm gonna collapse on the spot."

the way papyrus kept hovering over me, you'd definitely think i was.

"IS IT TOO HOT? COLD? I CAN ADJUST THE TEMPERATURE."

"DO YOU WANT MORE SOUP? I CAN MAKE MORE!"

"IS THERE ANYTHING YOU NEED? I CAN-"

"what you 𝗰𝗮𝗻 do for me is 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. i'm fine."

"BUT-"

"i'm gonna be alright, bro. really."

patting the couch next to me, i continued.

"chill out with me."

he fidgeted, remaining standing.

"all your pacing's making 𝘮𝘦 nervous."

after a bit of convincing, paps finally sat with me.

——

still seeming too eager to get up, i flopped over to stop him.

..not usually my thing, but if it calms papyrus down, i'm willing to do whatever.

paps tucked a pillow under my head, and pulled the blanket further over me.

——

he kept clenching his fist, but kept the one on my shoulder loose.

tapping his foot just barely so as to not rock me around, papyrus seemed more focused on his thoughts than the tv.

"paps?"

"Y-YES?"

"you not a fan of science shows tonight? with such a serious look on your face, someone might think we were watching the news."

"I AM THINKING ABOUT... PUZZLES. VERY HARD."

he put on a smile,

and shifted his eyes to avoid gaze.

("...not a very good influence, am i?")

"going from pacing around to thinking about puzzles is quite the leap, even for you. what's on your mind?"

the smile faltered.

"WHEN YOU WOULDN'T WAKE UP, I SCHEDULED ANOTHER APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR DOCTOR."

"what more is there to do?"

"THEY SAID THEY WANTED TO DO AN X-RAY, I THINK."

"NEXT WEEK WAS THEIR NEXT OPENING."

"ok. sounds good."

——

"......."

"THEY.. THEY CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT'S WRONG, RIGHT?"

"𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 is a strong-"

"SANS, YOU.."

"YOU DID GET UP, ONCE."

"...huh?"

"WHEN YOU GOT UP, YOU.. YOU WOULDN'T RESPOND TO ME AT ALL."

"JUST.... QUIETLY SHAMBLING YOUR WAY TO THE BATHROOM."

papyrus gripped my shoulder tighter.

"YOU THREW UP.. 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 AGAIN."

"guess i better lay off the ketchup."

i glanced up at him. paps' expression told me everything.

....

real hard to brush off something i wasn't even awake for.

——

"SANS."

"PLEASE PROMISE ME SOMETHING."

"you know how i am with promises-"

"DON'T LEAVE ME."

"..c'mon. you think i'll dust just like that? not when i've got the great papyrus by my side."

"......."

"...ok."

"i promise."