There seems to be no point at all."
You shouldn't say such things.
"Why not? It's true."
There is always a point. Always a reason.
"I'm starting to doubt that."
.....................
"Ah....don't worry, it's nothing. I'm fine."
..........................
..........................
..........................
"....I'm fine."
He WAS fine.
Papyrus stepped out of the Void and into his bedroom, looking around at the juvenile decor that he had grown to love and hate for its innocence. It was a source of familiar comfort for him, though. Something to ground himself as a reminder of where he was, WHEN he was.
Lying down on the soft warm comforter of his race car bed settled his nerve-wracked bones, making him itch for a nap but knowing the issues that would play out towards later. He couldn't be seen NAPPING in the middle of day hours...not in this timeline at least. The best he could do was afford himself a short rest before he had to get back to the script.
He turned and buried his face into the pillow, wishing for just an hour of reprieve, but duty called and it was not the time to skive, especially since he had no excuse in this timeline. He forced himself off of his bed and out of the room, his posture and expression flipping like a light switch to cheerful, enthusiastic, perky.
Papyrus.
“Good morning, Sans!” he chirped, fetching the milk from the fridge. Sans gave him a lazy grin tipping the coffee cup he was holding in greeting.
“Mornin', bro,” he replied. “Yer pretty gung-ho. Excited to catch a human?”
The same thing.
“Of COURSE I am, brother!” Papyrus replied with a huff as he poured himself a glass and drank it down. "But what are you still doing here? You're going to be late AGAIN, you lazybones!"
Sans laughed. “Ah, just slept in, you know me. But when you're right, you're right.” He stood up. “See you for lunch, right?” He winked and headed out with his coffee, closing the door behind him. As soon as he left, Papyrus deflated, putting the empty milk glass down on the counter.
It was one of THOSE timelines.
Long ago, when he first felt something was wrong after his first conscious reset, he had theorized that his abilities had a detrimental effect on his universe's timelines. And he had been correct.
It was a glitch in the coding. It had to be. There were timelines where he would wake up and have to go through every motion, alone. But there were some timelines, like the one two timelines after Papyrus's first conscious reset, that Sans was aware of everything, even timelines when he WASN'T.
It was entirely random, and unavoidable. The day of the first glitch, Papyrus had returned from Swap and explained everything to Sans. He took in his brother's expressions, ranging from confusion to incredulous to accepting, and at the end of it all, the brothers held each other in understanding. Sans had vowed to help Papyrus out however he could, and they would make it through this together.
But the next reset happened. And Sans had no recollection. Papyrus had to explain it all again. Vows were made.
The next reset happened. Sans had no recollection. Papyrus couldn't bring himself to do it again, and was numb through the entire timeline.
