Betwixt and Between (UT!Sans x Reader x US! Papyrus)

Attacks Of The Panic Kind

     You spotted Sans' sentry post a little further down the path. Remembering that he usually had hot cats to sell,  and that no one usually came out this far prompted you to approach the stand. Quickly glancing around and confirming that you were alone,  you slip into the shelter. A thorough search later revealed nothing but a few honey bottles and definitely no hot cats. Disappointed and weirded out,  you took out 30 gold and left it on the counter anyway. Grabbing a blanket from a supply chest and a bottle of honey,  you hunkered down in a corner and curled up,  trying to conserve body heat.

After getting about as comfortable as could be expected-which wasn't very, as it was below freezing and there wasn't any place soft- you focused your breathing and tried to remember. Something. Anything.  However, try as you might, you couldn't recall anything remotely like killing innocent monsters. You sighed, conflicting feelings of relief and fear battling in your soul. Remembering the dust clinging to you, you quickly brushed it off as well as you could, a wave of revulsion hitting hard at the realization that you were covered in the remains of your friends. The mental image of the skeleton brothers that you encountered sprung up unbidden, and the revulsion turned into a cold feeling of fear in the pit of your stomach.

You didn't know what to do.

Fear was gripping at your chest and you could feel your pulse racing. Your breath became shallow and you knew you were having a panic attack and all you wanted was your Sansand- you jump and suck in a startled gasp as something warm touched your shoulder. You searched frantically but...there wasn't anything there. You scooted away from your corner in attempt to escape it but the warmth lingered.

After the initial shock wore off, you realized the touch -as creepy as it was- was actually calming you. Your pulse eventually slowed and allowed you to calm down somewhat. Reluctantly you moved back into your corner and pulled the blanket around yourself.
Remembering the honey that you had picked up, you pop it open, which was kind of difficult because you were so cold at this point that your hands didn't work properly. Sucking on the sweet condiment, you tried to contain your runaway thoughts. A thought that you had while in your panic came back to you.

Your Sans.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Papyrus was at a loss for words. Unfortunately, Sans wasn't, and had been lecturing him for at least the past 15 minutes (he assumed, he hadn't been paying attention) and he had just nodded and had grunted out agreements when he sensed a lull in the tirade. It wasn't like he wanted to ignore his brother, and it was unusual that he was. It was just that he had just been given quite a bit to think about.

He had become aware of what he was referring to as 'resets' a while ago. Originally it had been a young child named Chara that befriended everyone and broken the Barrier. One way or another they had ended up resetting every time. Then...it suddenly changed. They no longer showed up. In their place was an older girl. H/l, h/c, and eyes that burned with determination. She killed without mercy every monster that crossed her path. The only similarly that Chara and this girl shared was the red soul, and even that was different. While Chara's had glowed gently and powerfully, hers had pulsated with a sickly and frantic feeling.

He had decided to take her on before she made it to Sans, and had succeeded in killing her. He had thought, anyway. He had seen (with no small amount of satisfaction) her bloody soul shatter and evaporate. He had braced himself for another reset, but instead her body had picked itself up.

Considering the terror and confusion on the girl's face part of him thought maybe he had overreacted, but a much larger part felt that he had underreacted. He didn't have an explanation as to what had happened. And he did not like that. Not one bit.
He huffed out a sigh and pinched the area above his nasal cavity. He needed a drink.

  - - - - - - - - - - -

Sans was a wee bit irritated at his brother. Okay, maybe more than just a wee bit. Papy was acting strange. He had gone directly against his orders and had actually hurt the human.  He wished that his lazybones younger brother would acknowledge the fact that he was the elder one despite being so... vertically challenged.

Sans could tell that Papy wasn't listening, and had given up on lecturing a brick wall and had retreated to the kitchen, preferring to spend time doing something actually productive. Like making tacos. He stirred the meat with more vigor. He had arrived just in time to see the human's s/c soul enter their body. They had been pretty badly beaten, he had been surprised they could actually stand. He frowned as he stood on a stool to grab spices out of the cabinet.

He knew Papyrus was strong, but...that just seemed like overkill. And that was coming from someone who trained daily with Alphys. He didn't see why his brother feared the human so much. Maybe Papy had been having the same nightmares he'd been having... He'd have to ask later.

Sans carefully measured out the appropriate amounts of the spices he needed and his thoughts drifted back to the humans's soul. It was a pretty color, s/c. He wondered if the human's eyes were the same color, eyes being the window to the soul...or something like that. He had no idea if that was how it worked for humans or not. The subtle huff of Papyrus sighing from the other room perked his interest and he poked his head out of the kitchen to check on him.

"DO YOU NEED SOMETHING BROTHER?" he inquired.

Papyrus pulled his hand away from his skull, looking rather stressed. "I think I'm going to go to Muffets, bro."

After the initial stab of slight disappointment, Sans nodded. He looked so stressed after all. And he would be no magnificent brother if he didn't let him do what he needed. And besides, more tacos for him.

"ALRIGHT BROTHER, BUT DON'T BE BACK TOO LATE!" and with that he returned to the solace of his kitchen.

Within no time, there was a happy little skeleton munching away at his favorite meal while watching a blue robot DJ on TV.

Author note:
I'm not very used to writing comedy or fluff  so if you find something funny or cute please leave some feedback XD I need some data to work with.

Also, Blueberry knows more than he lets on in this. He has very keen observation skills, and sees more than most. But he is still naturally naive and innocent and keeps his happy and upbeat attitude.