Author Topic: Handplates to Freedom  (Read 2183 times)

InterNutter

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Re: Handplates to Freedom
« on: August 13, 2016, 05:34:47 am »

Adoption Day 25

He opened his eyes in the darkness. The bed by his side was empty and cold. And there was a shadowy figure standing in the open doorway. A terrifyingly familiar figure. Clipboard and all. Just standing, and taking notes.

He wanted to shout, "How did you find us? Where is my brother?" but no sound came out. He tried to move, and couldn't. He could feel the straps. The pins. No.

Papyrus had never left the lab. It had all been a dream. And the device in front of him was building up power...

He opened his eyes in the darkness. No pain. No cold. Sans safe and sleeping soundly by his side, lit by the glow from Papyrus' eyes. Everything was okay. Relieved, he rolled over to wrap his brother in his arms and hold him tight...

...only to feel him crumble to dust the instant he touched him.

Papyrus could not scream. He heard Miss Toriel Ma'am at the door. She sounded... sad. "Ah," she said. "It is over, then. I am sorry."

And then He appeared in the portal. Cold and blank as always.

"It is time for you to go back," she said.

Papyrus could feel His grip on his soul, taking him away from all that remained of his brother. He was crying and screaming, demanding to know why Miss Toriel Ma'am had done this. He had loved her! They had both trusted her! Why? WHY?

He opened his eyes in the darkness. Stabbing fear gripping his chest. Papyrus had never been happier to hear his brother's snoring. But he dared not touch him. Papyrus huddled up into a ball and cried a little. But not for long. Miss Toriel Ma'am opened the door. "Are you all right, my child?"

"I don't know," he said. "This is the third time I've woken up and I don't know what's real..."

"Oh my," said Miss Toriel Ma'am. She sat by him and hugged him close. "Tell me everything."

He started with the waking up and finding Sans gone, and Him watching over him... and being in the bad place again. And never having been here with her.

Whenever he stopped to breathe or sob, there was a scratching sound. Distracted by it, he peeked past Miss Toriel Ma'am's shoulder and... there He was. Scribbling things down onto his clipboard...

He opened his eyes in the darkness. Jumped out of bed and summoned some bones as he went. "Come on out," he called. "I dare you! I know how to fight, now!"

Movement behind him! He whirled and set his attacks flying...

Only to see Miss Toriel Ma'am's face in an expression of utter betrayal before her form crumbled away into dust.

He opened his eyes in the darkness. Papyrus covered his eyes and screamed, and screamed, and screamed.

"...bro... bro, wake up."

Papyrus opened his eyes to see Sans' one true eye glowing blue in the gloom.

"You were having a nightmare," Sans said.

"Please don't die," begged Papyrus. "Please tell me that He isn't here?"

"...sshhh... you need t' stay quiet."

And the human came through their door. Covered in dust and looking monstrous. "There you are," it said.

He opened his eyes in the darkness. Papyrus gibbered a little and curled himself up tight. His glow was so bright that it filled the entire room. He didn't know where to go or who to talk to or what to do, because a frightening monster kept turning up and he'd wake up again. A vision stood in the doorway. Another human. It was wearing pink and blue in stripes, and a gross bandage. All it had with it was a stick.

But it was a _human_! Another frightening monster.

"Go away! Go away! I don't wanna wake up any more! Go away... I don't want any more nightmares..."

The lights turned on. And Miss Toriel Ma'am was there. "What is all this noise?"

"Please don't let Him get us? Please don't let the humans come? Please don't die? Please don't let Sans die? Please be re-he-heal..." a shuddering gasp of a sob. "Please be real this time..."

Miss Toriel Ma'am scooped him up in her arms, cradling his whole body and feeling his skull with tender care. "Oh dear. You have a fever. I am not very good with fevers." She took him out to the dining room and sat him on the big soft chair. She let him have a pillow to hug and made up a bag full of ice  to press wherever he felt uncomfortable.

Which was everywhere. His joints felt scratchy and he couldn't really get comfortable. And everything was really, really miserable.

And he kept Seeing the human. More than one of them. Sometimes, five at once. And not one of them listened to him telling them to go away. He complained to Miss Toriel Ma'am, but he only got her to respond once in a while. And sometimes, he would pick the wrong one to talk to. He could tell when she was touching him, and the world was slightly more comfortable in her arms.

But it was still a very bad morning.

*

Sans opened his eyes in the darkness. Aware that something was wrong. The space by his side was cool and empty. He turned on the light and gave the sheets a panicked examination for dust. And then he fled the bed to see what had happened to him. Someone was humming, in the dining room. Tori. He raced to find her and found Papyrus as well.

He wasn't looking too great. Sans couldn't remember the last time he had seen Papyrus this... floppy. Wait. No. He could. Every time he had a nightmare. Papyrus, skull nearly broken and broken limbs bound, flopping on the floor and unable to speak because He had hurt him so bad. Sans could feel his eye flare. "PAP! BRO!"

Papyrus reached out. "...are you real this time? Come'n hold my hand... can't tell 'less y'r touching me..."

Sans didn't need to be told twice. Clinging to his hand as if he could hold his soul onto living for one more minute. "...right here, bro... it's okay."

Tori was looking tear-streaked and weary. Worried and scared. "I am afraid your brother has caught an illness."

Flashback to the bad place. Feeling horrible despite being healed. Feeling his brother flooding him with healing magic and not feeling it working. Feeling the pull of Him lifting him around by his soul. Cruel prodding. A cold announcement. "Sick," He had said. "Useless." And then He hauled him away from his frantic brother and put him in one of the tubes.

Sans knew that Tori didn't have any such thing. "...so what'cha gonna do with him?"

Papyrus moaned and shifted the placement of a large-ish bag against his body. Letting it rest on his rib cage.

Tori sighed. "I will do all I can," she said. "There are medicines that work for everyone. I may have to find a library that has books on skeleton medicine... But I can keep him comfortable and soothe his woes, for now. I fear he is sicker than I think. He is... hallucinating, perhaps?"

"...go 'way," Papyrus mumbled. "...darn humans..."

Humans? Plural? Sans opened up his Sight and Looked. Oh. So many humans coming through this house. All at different times... "...no, tori... his _sight_ is going haywire," he explained. "...he's _seeing_ everything at once."

Tori breathed easier. "Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried it was a grave illness." She hugged Papyrus briefly, and only relaxed her grip when he loosed a complaining whimper. "I still think it might be wise to find those books. I do not like not knowing how to help you."

Sans peeked into the immediate possibilities. "...you can go now... i'll be fine lookin' after my bro while you're gone." It was not the first time he had spent some time cradling his brother. But it was the first one where he _knew_ that help would be coming. That made everything else a lot easier.

When Tori returned, she came with great armloads of things. Three thick and heavy volumes about medicine. Container after container of things that could help. None of them looked like anything He had used at all. Sans watched in fascination as Tori read passages from the books and mixed up things to try to get Paps to ingest. Only to wait for a time, watching the clock, and start again with something else.

Finally, after hours of this, Paps' hot bones began to cool. Tori announced that his fever had broken and the best thing for him was sleep. Sans wasn't even sure how it happened that way, but that night, they all snuggled together in one shared bed. Holding each other safe against the terrors of the night.