Threadbare: An Errorberry Fanfic

*Antivoid, Aprx Day 171

It should be set by now.

Sans stepped back, slackening his grip on the thread which sloped from his glove to the ground. The small skeleton traced the strand, sidling alongside its length while keeping careful pace as glanced erstwhile round the white space, revising his figures. He had spared but a few of the sewn flowers, unwinding the yarn before lying it upon the floor, taking in the measurements of each with meticulous care as he paced about the Antivoid.

One strand had amounted to as much as five feet long, and splaying a second by one end had doubled it to ten- with the addition of yet another thread raising the number to fifteen than twenty and so on and so forth until the the cordage stretched up to about thirty feet. Sans had managed a wan smile then as he took up the first two, carefully binding them together before looping the yarn round his soul- unable to help but flinch upon registering the softness of the thread as it brushed against its sensitive surface, but grit his teeth and tightened the strand despite his initial hesitation, wincing at the sharp bite of the thread as it was constricted round an already existing scar.

It would take a few more days, he had mused then, opting to bypass the operation for a while altogether as he retreated to his base among the dazzling whiteness. Sans had settled by the discarded puppets, yet toppled over and lying upon their sides, before he pondered for a bit than took up the one nearest. Sans Classic had rested heavily in his hand as he weighed it, balancing the slumped doll in his gloved palm before he snapped upright and hastened to the lengths of string, snatching the recently tied strands from the ground and wound it securely round the puppet's midsection. With both in hand, he had then turned his rapt attention upon the "ceiling" of the white void, squinting to make out the outlines of blue thread which entangled the glowing ruby souls above.

Sans had started about the Antivoid once more, armed with his pale cordage and strung puppet as he followed a singular line of blue along what he imagined would be the "left" side of the barren space, glancing behind him to ensure that his "base" would be kept within his line of sight and paused once it no longer was, backtracking until he could just barely make out the dark figure of the now lone puppet and disheveled blanket. He repeated the same maneuver in the opposite direction, removing his glove from his left hand and allowed it to flop onto the barren floor before retreating the other way. It wasn't long before the small skeleton returned, his smile having widened considerably upon realizing that his theory ultimately checked out.

"Now all that's left is to fiddle with these for a bit..." Sans had mused to himself, settling beside the remaining strands of thread before taking them in hand, and soon he found that he had achieved the completion of his once daunting task-

-just seconds before his captor had remade his appearance.

The familiar crackle of static as several white panels shifted before flipping back drew the small skeleton's rapt attention towards the disturbance, and Sans hastily kicked the remaining puppets close together before moving to stand before them as the tear widened further, allowing a darkened skeleton to hasten through as he swept his gaze round the white void before settling it upon his captive who eyed him a little ways back, hands clasped before himself as he feigned surprise.

"O-Oh- Error, you're back-!" Sans shifted a bit, plastering on a small yet uncertain smile as his alternate paused before immediately heading his way, expression near indescribable to the other who could only consider it to be akin to a mix of horror and fury or both. Sans took a step back, tightening his grip on his hands to keep them from trembling as he grit his teeth and slightly bowed his head, taking care to keep his smile in place all the while. "I didn't expect you to return so soo-"

"These letters are fake. Right?" The darkened skeleton cut him off with a growl, flashing a few crumpled sheets of paper before the others line of vision then flung it to one side, scattering it upon the ground before snatching the others arm in the next instant who paled as he was drawn near. "There's no way it can't be- not when it sounds so insincere! What the hell were you trying to pull? Why would you-" Error squeezed and the smaller skeleton winced, biting back a whimper before the other released him, thrusting him back and nearly onto the floor.

"I don't understand you. One moment you're off going on about how much everyone in the multiverse deserves to live, and in the next you say you want to be dusted? How does that make any sense? You're just contradicting yourself!" The darkened skeleton advanced, kicking one of the letters away as he all but snarled, multicolored eyes flashing. "You're full of contradictions! What happened to wanting to go back to your universe or seeing your brother again? Do you really not care about any of that any more?!"

Sans cringed away, keeping his hands firmly clasped as he shook his head, eyes yet widened. "N-N- Of course I do! I-I just- I finally came to terms with everything, is all..." The small skeleton admitted, further lowering his head and caught a quick glimpse of his hands before flickering his gaze to the ground. "... I-I've finally realized that all of this is pointless."

"You said so before- that you were never going to release me until my brother somehow found this place, and with the way everything is going, well... I can only imagine that I really won't be getting out of here anytime soon." Sans paused, swallowing thickly before continuing on. "And so I've made up my mind- I want to fall down... If only because I'll be able to go home again..."

Error blinked, eyes narrowing into slits as he observed the smaller skeleton for a time. Sans said nothing all the while, falling silent as he seemingly studied the white floor of the empty void until he was at last addressed again, his darkened counterpart's voice having considerably lessened in terms of intensity. "Dusting here won't do you much good in that. Life can't be continued from this place- trust me, I would know." Error hesitated, considering his words. "If you died here, you won't come back. You're better off just waiting for that stupid brother of yours to show up and rescue y-"

"But he isn't coming! I-If he was, he would have managed to find this place a long time ago...!" Sans grit his teeth, digging his phalanges nearly through his gloves which brought a few tears to bead at the corners of his eyes. "F-Forget it, you were right all along... It really is pointless to keep waiting here..." The small skeleton sank onto his knees, resting his yet bound hands upon his lap. "Even if it's for nothing, can you do me this one favor Error...?" Sans soldered himself as he hesitated, willing the palpitations of his soul to calm.

"Please kill me- e-end my suffering already so I can move on from this life without having to deal with any more of this..."

The small skeleton allowed his eyes to fall shut, counting each second which ticked by in deafening silence as he remained where he knelt before his darkened counterpart. Time lapsed by, another moment or two before the others expression morphed from one of incredulous shock to careful scrutiny, eyes narrowing as he took a hesitant step forward. "... Well, if that's what you really want..." Error paused, considering for a moment before he raised his hand and several strands of blue began to issue forth from the ends of his phalanges. "I guess I can help you "fall down" faster..."

Sans disclosed nothing, keeping sure to remain still even as the strings slithered towards him until they were about two inches away- before he reached out and snapped his hand round the threads, yanking it downwards before stepping quickly off to the side. The darkened skeleton had scarcely but a second to react as he found himself stumbling forwards, letting out a glitched cry as he tripped on the small pile of puppets before faceplanting the ground. Sans wasted no time then in digging his soul out from underneath his ribcage and flinging it with full force through the yet present portal, bringing with it a length of string which was wound about already tightly bound souls before he hastened forward, snatching up the end of the cordage to keep it from being caught by the flickering edges of the portal.

Error reeled upright, a glitching mass of black panels obscuring his vision as he growled and sent an array of strings flying through the white void in the direction he last knew the other to be, but the smaller skeleton narrowly dodged them, tearing off one of his gloves before flinging it into his darkened counterpart's face which aided in momentarily blinding him further. Error's glitches worsened as he screeched, his hesitation allowing for a few extra seconds for his captive to release the rapidly disappearing cordage which slipped through his phalanges before boring himself through the opening between the flickering panels moments before it was at last sealed shut, closing him off from the encompassing whiteness of the empty void as he tumbled forth then free fell through black.