Narcissism

Chapter 14 - Meeting Myself

The Skelebro home was deafly quiet and had a deep sadness held tightly within it's walls. Sans sat on the couch half watching the Underfell Mettaton growling out loud and awful music. Red lay on his side beside him. Back toward the TV, curled into as small of a ball as possible. His skull on Sans' lap, face buried in his t-shirt. Red hadn't cried about his brother as his counterparts had, but it was clear he was swimming in an emptiness that revenge can't remedy.

Swap came from the kitchen and sat down on the arm of the couch. He placed a soft hand to Red's thigh bone, speaking even softer, "Are you hungry Red? Grillby sent over some special mustard he made just for you."

"No thanks," Came his muffled voice, "I don't need pity."

"It's not pity, it's to make you feel better," Swap insisted.

Red turned his skull enough to peek at Swap, "That's pity, Berry." He returned to his dark solitude, replying, "I'm not hungry anyway..."

Swap gave Sans a concerned look, Sans only responding with a shrug. The smaller Sans heaved a sigh. Then, suddenly he reached forward and grabbed Red by a jacket sleeve and yanked him upward.

Unexpecting the sudden force, Red's relaxed and limp body flew toward Swap. Who caught Red hard against his own being. Captured in Swap's embrace, Red could only sit there. "Please, Red. Please let us help you."

Sans didn't miss a beat, he pressed himself up against Red's back, "You've done so much for us after we lost our bros. Tell us what you need..."

It could have been their pleas to comfort, the love they positively oozed, or merely their warmth encasing him... But whatever it was, it broke the walls Red had put around himself for a thousand lifetimes. Despite his best efforts, Red lost his suave composure. His face scrunched as enormous maroon tears filled his empty sockets. He cried and cried. Great heaves and sobs. His bellowing anguish echoing throughout the house.

Both Sans and Swap knew he wasn't just crying for his lost family, but for all of the many times he should have cried in all the many different lives he'd lived. Finally, releasing all the pent up despair his universe forbade. Wavering in the brokenness only a Sans could understand. This was all he needed. Just a good, earnest cry. They only have to ride out the pain with him.

Red would continue to cry until he was left with nothing but dry heaves and hiccups. He finally huffed a relieved sigh, pushing from Swap. "See," Red's voice raspy, "I told you I'm ugly when I cry."

The three skeletons laughed lightly as they parted a little. Red still sniffling and clearing his throat, his clawed fingerbones feebly swiping at his cheeks. Swap pulled a clean blue and yellow handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Red. As it slipped from his fingers he replies, "Feel any better?"

Red wiped his face, "Yeah, I do. Thanks, Sweetheart." He blew his nose hole into the cloth.

Swap's face lit up cyan at the pet name, "Don't worry Red, we'll get through this together."

"And if we don't, we'll go down together," Sans smiled widely.

"Sans!" Swap huffed cutely, "Don't be so negative, you'll make him feel worse."

Red smiled weakly, "Nah... I'm game either way." Red attempted to return the wet and snotty hanky.

"Keep it..." Swap rejected the gross thing, "A-a memento. But you should wash-" Too late, Red crammed it into his jacket pocket. "Eww... How about that mustard?" He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind.

Red, emotions back in check, chuckled as he draped his arms over the back of the couch, "Yeah sure. I'll give it a go for you Blueberry."

"Wonderful," He bounded for the kitchen.

Sans tucked himself into Red's side as he said, "Ya gotta hand it to him, he's good..."

Red's mouth curled into an unhappy sneer, "Tsk, good at making me a pussy." He looked down at Sans with a hard look, "Don't tell Grillby or Undyne I did that..."

Sans simply laughed at the threat, "Don't worry your pretty little head, your secret is safe with me."

Meanwhile, in the other room, Swap was pulling a delicate glass jar full of dark yellow mustard from a black paper bag. He placed it on a tray beside a neatly folded napkin and a light green garnish. He finished it off with a little almond colored vase holding a little sprig of red flowers. "Red will love it," he said proudly to himself.

Out of the blue, a skeleton appeared from nowhere, right beside Swap. He was leaning on the counter, grinning like a mad man, "heY thERe, CUtie. AwfUL fAr from HOme, aren'T wE?" Swap released a scream as he immediately send bones flying.

The intruder continued to grin as he whipped his hand threw the air. Blue threads erupted from his red and yellow boney fingers, catching the attack. "PRetty rUdE, BlueBERry." With a twitch of his fingers the threads sliced the attack into bone chips."

"Error stop that! You are scaring him." Another version of himself appeared by magic. "Hello, little Sans." He smiled warmly.

But Swap bolted from the room. He skidded to a stop before his lovers and began frantically pulling them to their feet. "There are Sanses all over the place!!"

"What are you talking about?" Sans asked, refusing to leave the couch.

"Well, this explains the anomaly..." A new voice replied beside them.

This caused the three lovers to bunch together in something of a battle formation. Red before the others. Chest puffed out and stance wide, alpha-like. Not that Swap and Sans weren't also ready to defend. They were faced with two more Sans, neither looked ready to fight.

The one with oddly colored bones, spoke strangely, "WouLd yA lOok at THaT... thERe are TwO oF thEm heRE."

His partner cupped his chin; thumbing at a black ink spot on his cheek. "Clearly they've been together for sometime..." He cocked his head. "I think they have formed a triad of some kind."

"Who the fuck are you? Get out of here!!" Red cut off their private conversation.

"Oh, of course," The smaller one smiled that grin. "I am Ink! Sans, the Sans of Creation. And this cranky guy here Is Error! Sans, the Sans of Destruction. You can call us Ink and Error."

"What do you want?" Swap asked cautiously.

"WeLL, boYS... seEms yoU thREE aRe caUSinG AlL soRts oF troUBLe," Error replied as if they should know what is happening.

"Error, let me handle this... you're not the easiest to talk to," Ink patted his shoulder. Error huffed in frustration, but allowed Ink to take over.

"Before I tell you what going on, first answer me this. What is the nature of your relationship? Lovers?" Ink asked with a half smile.

The trio glanced cautiously at one another, once they decided there was no immediate threat, they relaxed slightly. Sans came forward and spoke for all of them, "Yeah, we've got a thing going on here."

Ink laughed, "How we love ourselves." He grinned at Error. Clear they were lovers as well.

However, Error in response pushed Ink aside aggressively. "aNd whErE arE yoUr HUmaNs?!" He snapped.

"We destroyed them," Red stated.

"thAt'S nOt trUE!! I caN senSE THeM!!"

"As can I," Ink agreed. "Not just their own humans either... many humans..."

"WeRe arE yOu hiDiNG tHem, yoU liTTle FReakS?"

Red had finally had enough, he summoned a dagger like red bone. "Look, I've had a long day... my Boss was dusted permanently. Tell us the duck you want or I'll dust the two of you..." He snarled.

"You have disrupted the balance of life and death. We are here to fix that." Ink merely snapped his fingers and Error had snatched the bone dagger with his thread. Shattering it.

Swap latched onto Red in fright, "Their gonna take us away!!"

Suddenly in a blinding light, a massive and complex bone barrier encased the trio.

"It's... purple?"

"TheY'Ve BeeN heRe tOo lonG... LeT's remEdY tHAt."