Autistic Skele-Bros

18: She Knows

(1211 words)

It hadn't been long since they got to the surface, not long at all but Alphys had started noticing strange things the brothers did. Ever since this big change in their lives they had acted so much more... stressed out. Now Alphys knew anyone would be stressed out after all that everyone had been through but this went on much longer that the day or two span that it had for anyone else.

This is why Alphys decided to start investigating. She starting trying to hang around the brothers more to find out why they were acting so strange, to figure out their behaviors. Besides, Alphys had read all the psychology books that had fallen into the underground. If something even remotely was off she would figure it out.

Every day she found another odd occurrence. One day she sees Papyrus walking down the street, mumbling the word banana under his breath until it turned into the word babana. Another day she sees Sans frozen beside a construction site, his hands pressed up against his skull until he finally teleports to some unknown place. Sure it was loud but not painfully so.

One day she even had to get fully involved. Papyrus had been talking to some human teenagers until they insulted him and shoved him to the ground. He landed directly in a puddle and his battle body was soaked. He burst out in a scream and the teens ran away. Alphys ran across the street and tried to help him up but he wouldn't move. He started crying and yanking at his scarf.

Eventually she got him to stand up but by that time Sans had arrived and they went home together. Alphys had been so confused. She researched as much as she could, trying to find things that fit the description of what she had been seeing but the most she came up with was schizophrenia or psychosis and there wasn't any other matching symptoms.

She thought about it plenty of times though. She thought maybe they were better at hiding those signs or maybe they just didn't have all the traits. The more she thought about it the more she thought about what she might have to do. She might need to call them out on it. She might need to help the even more.

What if they don't know? Maybe they just thought this was normal and they don't know something could be horribly wrong. Maybe she'd have to take them to a mental institution, get them help. Maybe she was just over thinking this way too much. That was probably it.

But finally she found it. She found what she was looking for in the form of a happy skeleton. Alphys was walking through the park, thinking about what she would say if the brothers figured out she was evaluating them for some mental disorder when she hears a raspy chuckle. She looks around and notices a nearby small covered picnic area and walks over to it.

She steps around the bathroom portion of it and smiles a little. There on one of the picnic tables was Sans. He was laughing as a large, fluffy cat tickles it's tail across his skull. He was moving back and forth as he laughs, his right hand flapping up and down causing his bones to rattle slightly. As the cat walks back and forth across his lap it's tail continues to tickle him. He laughs more and throws his head back when it stops and bats it's white paw at his face.

Kitty, you're so funny. He says, batting at the cat's nose with his left hand. He pets the cat and it purrs loudly. Sans presses his skull up against the cat to feel the vibrations of it's purrs. "Mmmmmm." Sans hums, satisfied. Alphys Peaks around the corner even more, stepping forward a bit. Sans watches as the cat jumps away, staring over at Alphys and crouching under a table. "Kitty?" Sans mumbles glancing over the way the cat was staring.

Sans jumps and nearly falls off the table. "A-Alphys!?" He questions, all his motions stilling. "Oh, uh, hi Sans." She says awkwardly. "W-Where you watching me?" Sans says. He somehow does quick thinking in his head. If he directs the question at Alphys instead of saying something like 'How long were you watching me?' then she would be put on the spot and he would be guilt free.

"Um, well, you see... I um..." Alphys stutters over her words, trying to figure out what her brain could come up with as an excuse. She sighs and hugs herself slightly. "I-I'm sorry, I'm so creepy. I just- You guys seemed to be acting so off... I thought something might be wrong so I'd been watching you two."

Sans pulls his knees up onto the table and maneuvers himself to be sitting on his heels. "And you didn't think to just ask us?" Sans says. Alphys gives herself another tight squeeze. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. B-But I think I get it." She takes a hesitant step forward. "You're- Are you autistic?"

Sans wants to deny it but he knows there's no use. "Uh, well, kind of. Yeah. Me an' Paps. Well, there was never a um, a diagnosis or anythin' but everything matches up. We were thinking about getting tested or something, now that we're on the surface you know." Alphys nods, understanding.

"I'm sorry about everything, it's just that after a few things I saw I was thinking you might have had some form of psychosis or something." Alphys says with a nervous chuckle. "I-I thought you might have needed help." Sans shrugs. "Well uh, we have been a little more... stressed since the change and that was a huge change. Routines and all..."

Alphys nods. "I t-totally know what you're talking about. I-I'm actually autistic too. I've known for a long time now though." Sans perks up at this slightly. "Wow, really?" He asks. "How long?" Alphys drops her arms into a ninety degree angle. "Actually, since I started researching psychology. I guess it's been about twelve years now, so since I was thirteen or fourteen."

Sans' eyes widen. "Wow, that's a long time. We've only known for about five or six months." Alphys scratches the back of her hand. "Oh. But doesn't it feel good to know why? Why things feel the way they do?" Sans nods, the cat from earlier jumping back up onto his lap "Yeah, yeah it does."

~~~

Thank you so much for reading! I wrote this in a day after a couple suggestions by Sirrius The Moonblade. This could have been longer but I'm tired and I think it's okay the way it is.

Anyways, this chapter was about Alphys figuring out that the brothers are autistic. It's kinda related to chapter 7 if you remember that one! I've never had anyone "accuse" me of being autistic other than my mother before she got me tested. XD. I've told someone I'm autistic but that's about it. What about you guys? has anyone "accused" you of being autistic? How'd that go?

Anyways, thank you all so much for reading again, I hope you liked this chapter and if you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me them and I'll see what I can do! See yuz guyz later!