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Chapter 3

A Chance to Rebuild

Sans barged through the door of his brother's room without announcing himself, shut it behind him, and leaned against it, breathing hard.

"Sans!" Papyrus admonished. "Usually you are mindful enough to knock first! What Frisk and I are constructing requires _great_concentration."

Papyrus and Frisk were in the middle of the room. All around them were scattered puzzle books of every description: books of word puzzles, math puzzles, logic puzzles, mazes, even the occasional "Where's Waldo". Still more of the books were stacked up into a tower, built up from volumes stacked atop each other and leaning against each other, swaying ominously as the diminutive Frisk stood on a chair to position a thick compilation of crosswords at the top of the pile. They gently laid the book down, the tower swayed, everyone held their breaths--and then the tower came to rest again and Papyrus sent up another triumphant shout.

"HURRAY! Well done, young human! Now it is my turn again. Soon our citadel of books will reach the ceiling!"

"What are you two doing?" Sans asked. "Weren't you working on number puzzles?"

"Ah!" Papyrus put his hands together and grinned. "We did work on sudoku and kakuro for a short while, but then Frisk pointed out to me that they'd had enough arithmetic to do at school, so they suggested a different challenge." Frisk grinned with pride from their lofty perch, but then their face grew serious. They stepped down from the chair and began to sign a question to Sans, but after a few seconds they shook their head and reached for their pocket-notebook to scribble it down.

"What happened between you and mom? You look unhappy. Did something go wrong?"

"Uh. Um...No?"

Papyrus looked narrowly at his brother. "You are behaving rather oddly, Sans," he said. "Normally the queen's visits leave you in a far more chipper mood than this. You're not even smiling!"

"Huh? Of course I'm smiling!" Sans put on a manic grin. "Everything's fine and soon there will be pie! Heh."

Frisk looked at him askance and scribbled a fresh question. "Please, Sans. Tell me you didn't get into a fight with mom. Is she all right?"

"She's fine, kiddo! We didn't argue, I swear, but..." Sans knew that there was no hiding the blue tinge of embarrassment on his cheekbones. "Frisk, your mom got all...flirty with me."

Frisk giggled and wrote their reply. "Of course she did! She's crazy about you."

Sans gaped. "What?! Since when?"

Scribble. "Ever since she met you! She talks about you all the time at home. She thinks you're sweet and cute."

"Oh, jeez, kiddo..." Sans sagged into the nearest seat.

Papyrus clapped his hands together and grinned for joy. "WOWIE! The queen is in love with my own brother! Why, Sans, that almost makes you a king, doesn't it?" Papyrus scratched his mandible. "Surely this must make me a prince of something..."

"Bro this is not helping!" Sans yelped. He held his skull in his hands. "Why didn't she say anything before, if she's been thinking this for months?"

Frisk looked a little glum and wrote his answer. "Mom was afraid."

"Afraid? Tori?" Sans shook his head. "I can't believe that Tori's afraid of anything."

Scribble. "I used to ask mom why she didn't just tell you how much she liked you. She wouldn't ever really say. But she would look sad and tell me, 'I wish it were that simple, child.'"

"It isn't_that simple, kid. I mean...she's the queen...I'm just some bum with a hot dog stand...oh, god." Sans groaned. "So what the heck changed her mind? I dunno if you can tell, Frisk, but your mom is coming on _real strong for someone who's been telling you 'it's complicated' for months."

Frisk made an indecisive noise and took a few moments before composing their reply."Every few weeks mom seems to get a lot more interested in you than usual. She's been trying to hide it."

"Every few weeks--oh. Ohhhhh."

Papyrus looked back and forth between the two, puzzled. "What happens every few weeks? Please explain, Sans."

"Therian biology happens," Sans said with as much aplomb as he could muster. "Our queen is..." He flushed bright blue. "...in heat."

"Oh!" Papyrus looked satisfied but only for a second, then his puzzlement returned. "Would a cold drink help her? We have ice."

"No, Papyrus--it's not that sort of--" Sans began, but he cut himself short with a gasp at the sound of knocking on Papyrus's bedroom door.

"Sans? Is everything quite all right in there?" came Toriel's voice. "You have been gone for several minutes. Are Papyrus and my child in any difficulties?"

"No! Everything's fine, Tori!" Sans replied. "We're just, uh, helping my little brother to organize his books! I'll be back with you real quick, I promise!"

"Good. My lesson isn't over yet." Toriel purred. "I'll be waiting for you on the couch."

Sans held his breath until he could no longer hear Toriel's padding footsteps and then groaned again. "Will you listen to _that..._what am I gonna do?"

Frisk's gloominess deepened. "This is my fault," they wrote. "I talked mom into this. I told her it was wrong to hide her feelings from you. Shouldn't we always tell the truth to each other?"

Sans closed his eye-sockets for a moment. There's some truth you're better off not telling, kiddo...do you really want to know what sort of nightmares I have about you still? Aloud he said, "That's the theory anyway, kid."

Scribble. "Mom's lonely, Sans. I just wanted to help. And I thought you loved mom too. Was I wrong?"

"Of course I love your mom! She's gorgeous!" Sans burst out, but then the penny dropped. "Wait a sec, kiddo! Where did you find that out?"

Papyrus's cheekbones turned pink. "Ah. Sans...I might have said something to Frisk about it."

"Papyrus!" Sans rounded on his brother. "I never told you I was sweet on Tori!"

"You didn't have to!" Papyrus retorted. "You gush about Toriel almost as much as I used to insist on talking about Mettaton, and you sound just the same when you do it, too."

Sans opened his mouth for an indignant rejoinder but stopped himself. He thought of all the times he'd spent with Toriel over the months, reveling in the warmth of her company as one would bask in the glow of a cozy fireplace. And then afterwards he'd have to tell Papyrus all about it, fondly recalling every look and every laugh. "Oh. Heh. I, uh, I guess I might have been a bit obvious."

"Then what are you waiting for, brother!" Papyrus came up to Sans, laid a friendly hand on his shoulder, and looked at him kindly. "Just tell her."

Sans jammed his hands into his pockets and stared at the ground. "Just like that, huh? And how well did 'just telling' work out for you and your hot pink robot pal?"

Papyrus smiled. "Very well, actually. We talk and text all the time now. He's..." He blushed again. "He's talking about taking me out to dinner and a movie in Highlands. I've never had a sit-down dinner at a human restaurant before!"

Sans looked sharply up into his brother's face. "You've never told me you were lining up another date."

Papyrus's smile faded. "I've noticed that when I talk about Mettaton these days you get to looking...uncomfortable. I know you don't like or trust my boyfriend very much, Sans, so if reminding you of Mettaton makes you feel bad I won't bring him up."

Sans's heart sank. "I didn't know I came across that way."

"Why do you dislike Mettaton, Sans?"

"I don't_dislike_ him, I just...well...the guy is in show business, after all..."

Papyrus frowned. "This again? Sans, I keep telling you, Mettaton has never been anything but a gentleman with me, fond and attentive. Why don't you believe me?"

Sans couldn't reply at first. The truth was that he hadn't really had any problem with Papyrus's crush on Mettaton, so long as he could write it off as mere puppy-love infatuation with an unattainable celebrity. He scarcely expected that Papyrus would ever act upon it. Still less did he expect that ironclad prima donna to respond to Papyrus's courtship_._ And to learn that they actually considered themselves a couple now...

He hated to admit it, but he was jealous.

Sans looked into Papyrus's face. "Bro, I'm sorry. Maybe I was wrong, making dumb assumptions about your boyfriend. Honestly, Papyrus...I know I don't act like it sometimes, but I am_kinda proud of you, taking a chance with Mettaton like that. But I envy you too." Sans slumped in his seat, shaking his head. "You've always been better with taking chances with people, Papyrus. You're _great at it. But me? That's a risk I've never liked too much."

"But why, Sans? What's stopping you?"

Sans glanced over at Frisk, then looked back down at the floor. "I dunno how to explain...it's too ridiculous..." His words failed him.

--how can I possibly explain to you, little brother, that it's because I wake up every day expecting to open my eyes and find us both back in Snowdin? Because I'm half convinced that the moment I get close to Tori she'll vanish from my side and turn back into an unseen voice behind a door?

A gentle tap on his shoulder broke into his thoughts. Frisk was at his side, their dark brown eyes gazing keenly into Sans's face. They handed the skeleton a piece of paper torn from their notebook.

"I want you to be happy, Sans," it read.

Underneath was written the word "RESET", run through with two heavy lines.

Sans nodded, crumpling the paper and lobbing it into the trash. "Thanks, kiddo," he said. He opened his arms for a hug and Frisk gratefully accepted, embracing the skeleton close.

Then Sans heard a strange voice whisper in his ear. It was a halting, hesitant voice, as if rusty from long disuse: Frisk's voice. "Mom wants you happy too, Sans," they said. "We both love you."

"Gee, kiddo...way to make a guy turn blue in the face," Sans whispered back, blushing. "All right, you win. Both of you," he added in a louder voice, looking over Frisk's shoulder at Papyrus. "I'll go back out there and, uh, talk to Tori."

Frisk released Sans from his hug, gave him a huge smile and signed, "Thank you, Sans. Be honest with mom."

"I promise I will. But please, kiddo, don't expect any miracles. Yeah, I like your mom and for some reason she likes me, but don't start writing out any engagement announcements yet."

Frisk nodded but still looked as though they had stars in their eyes. Papyrus's face lit up and he whooped. "Wow! My big brother is going to be a_consort!_" Swinging his arms about in his excitement Papyrus accidentally sent a bony elbow into the side of the great tower of puzzle books; with a cascade of slithering and thudding volumes the structure collapsed into a heap on the floor. Frisk slapped their hand to their forehead.

"Oh no!" cried Papyrus, surveying the wreckage he caused. "Uh...worry not, young Frisk, we can rebuild!"

"You have fun with that, you two," said Sans, hopping from his seat. "I guess I've kept Tori waiting too long as it is."

"_Good luck!"_Frisk signed, while Papyrus dithered over his fallen books. Sans left them to their play and headed back toward the living room, halfway expecting to see the queen striking a come-hither pose on his couch with a rose in her teeth.

He was slightly surprised instead to see Toriel sitting bolt upright on the couch, her paws folded in her lap, a serious expression on her face. She looked up when she heard Sans enter.

"Sans," she said quietly. "I...may owe you an apology."