Writer~San: Didn't get any sleep. None. 6:51 AM when I started to write this, just so I can cure my heartache and boredom. Maybe I'll end up taking a nap before publishing this. . . . ;w; Enjoy~
Edit: Next day, and I did take the whole day off. Then, wrote a chapter in my Q/A story instead. Doing a lot better! TwT
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(~Your POV + Time Skip Few Days~)
I wake up to my phone lit up and sounding out a lot of ringing. Taking a deep breath in, I turn over to see who it's from. Not a spam call, it's Sans. Tired, I sit up and stretch out my arms.
'Time to get up..'
I made sure not to take more than a few seconds, so I could hurriedly answer the phone. I rub my eyes and greet him, "Good morning, Blue."
[Good morning, human!!! How are you doing?]
I slip myself out of bed, casually heading to the kitchen, "I'm okay, Miss Aria gave me the day off today. What about you?"
[I have the day off as well, but it's because we have prearranged plans. I'm doing quite well, thanks for asking.]
"And Honey?" I have to ask every time, it's polite and considerate. Well... I can't get him off my mind either.
[He's doing a little better. His doctor's visit is in the next hour so we'll be occupied for the rest of the day. I apologize for keeping you from visiting...]
I could hear the change in his tone of voice, like he was disappointing me. I assure him that I'm not upset with him, "No, it's okay. I understand. I would like to help but you're his caretaker. Decisions for his health is your right to make."
'If I was there, I'd probably get in the way...'
I'd be distracting both of them from getting any rest. Besides, Blueberry never clarified if what Stretch has is contagious, so I'm assuming that's another reason why he doesn't let me come at some points. Still, something feels off. This isn't just a simple fever or cold.
'If it was contagious, why hasn't Blue caught it? He still leaves the house to work too.'
I pause, realizing what I was even thinking. I mentally slap myself, silently scolding that I should mind my own business.
[Thank you for understanding, Y/N.]
"It's no problem. The sooner he gets better, we'll plan something." I say, trying to cheer him up.
[That plan sounds amazing. Well, I just thought I should update you on that so you wouldn't worry. The doctor doesn't allow cellphones to be used past a certain point. So, if you happened to text me or my brother, we wouldn't answer. Now you are prepared!]
I giggle, looking through my cabinets for possible breakfast, "I sure am. Thanks for the heads up. Go ahead and say good morning to your bro for me. I hope he gets better soon."
When the next reply came from the phone, I was shocked when it wasn't Blue's voice that answered. Instead, Papyrus's voice came from what seemed to be the background.
[Aw, thanks. Heheh. I hope you have a good day too. My bro had ya on speakerphone.]
My cheeks turn hot as the sun as I slap one hand over my mouth.
'DID PAPYRUS SERIOUSLY HEAR EVERYTHING?!!?'
As I stayed silent, the two seemed to engage in conversation.
[Welp, I think we killed her.
MWEH HEH HEH! No brother, I'm sure she's just surprised......... Y/N? You're not AcTuALLy dead.... Right?]
I clear my throat and answer him, "N-No, I'm okay. I w-wasn't expecting Stretch to be there, that's all."
[Pff- Me either, I never wake up this early. I just heard my bro having a conversation and wanted to see what was going on. All good things, I would hope.
YoU SHOULD wAkE up At ThIS tIme! I'm TiRed Of HaVinG to ShOVe You ouT oF bEd! And we were just talking about your appointment. I doubt the human would be excited to hear about how clumsy you are.]
I almost crack up, "Oh come on, Papyrus. Just admit that you were SPINE-ing on him." Honey erupted into nonstop laughing and wheezing, which made my heart fill with euphoria. Of course, now I have to deal with Blue.
[Y/N!!! DON'T ENCOURAGE HIS OUTRAGEOUS JOKES!]
"Ya gotta admit for my first skeleton joke, it was pretty humerus~"
[THAT'S IT, WE'RE LEAVING! GOODBYE!
BRoO noOoOO! pFFF-HAhAhaHA]
Sans kept his word and sure enough, hung up the phone on me. I laugh to myself, treasuring the moments I could help Stretch to enjoy himself. It still surprises me that he was actually there for the conversation. He should've said something earlier. For the past few occasional chats, I love getting to talk with him.
I sigh, shaking my head with a smile, "He's really rubbing off on me, isn't he?"
(~Time Skip~)
I jolted awake, my pitch black room suddenly lit up by my phone's screen. A chime sounded as I received a text message.
'This late at night???'
I yawn, reaching over and turning down the brightness just so I could see again.
[ 3:07 AM - 2 Unread Messages from ~HoneyBee 🐝~ ]
I grunt, forcing myself to stretch out more and grab the phone off my nightstand. It's definitely past his bedtime and Blue's curfew.
-[Hey]
-[You up?]
I take a deep breath and rub my eyes, contemplating whether I should reply or not. That's when I realized that opening the chat already marked the messages as 'Read'. He knows I'm up. If I don't reply, he'll assume I'm ignoring him which is the last thing I want. There's no turning back now, so I sent a message.
[Am now, what's up?]
-[Geez, I'm sorry.... Didn't think it would wake you.]
-[You can go if you need to]
[No thanks, I'd rest much better with knowing why you're still up and need to text this late.]
[Are you okay??]
[How'd the doctor's appointment go?]
[Did something happen? ;^;]
I felt bad for the small spam, but situations like this between friends usually mean something is wrong. There's no way I'm going to ignore a message that could practically be a silent call for help. Papyrus took a few minutes to respond.
-[Couldn't sleep]
-[I'm fine. It's just.. The doctor's appointment didn't go how my brother hoped. Same as how all the other ones go, actually...]
[Aw, I'm sorry. I wish there was something else I could do besides send you a digital hug.]
[You'll both get through this, don't worry.]
There was a long pause as his typing feature kept disappearing and then reappearing. This worried me a lot, to the point where I sat myself up and stared at the screen in anticipation.
'What's really going on?'
-[Sans never told you what's going on with me, did he?]
'...'
I'm a little thrown back by the the tone in his message. You don't have to hear someone's voice or see their face to know when their mood changed, for better or worse. I stay cautious with my reply, just so I wouldn't say anything I'd regret later.
[No, he hasn't.. but I know you're sick and Sans is doing everything he can to help you.]
-[That's the thing. He can't..]
-[No one can]
'What does he mean by that?'
This might be more serious than I thought. I might have to consider calling Blue.
-[You ever heard of the soul sickness that happened once monsters were released from the underground?]
[Soul sickness.. I think.. I read an article or two on it but that was a long time ago.]
-[There was a machine called the CORE. It served as a main power source to the whole underground but it also provided mass amounts of magic into the air. It helped the monsters and ecosystems without us even realizing it...]
-[Our souls fed on that magic just like people need air to breathe]
[Okay, makes sense.. so what does this have to do with a sickness? Or you? I'm sorry for all these questions.]
[I'm just trying to understand.]
-[Because the magic was so abundant down there, no one had problems..until we came here.. The surface doesn't have the magic radiating from it like it used to thousands of years ago. Monsters who were completely fine down in the underground moved to the surface and were suddenly found out to have soul deficiencies.]
-[It's like sending a person with asthma to hike up a mountain where the air is thin and there's less oxygen.]
-[Monsters with this soul sickness "suffocate" and then die. Some go faster than others. Depending on the treatments you pay for, you can prolong it just a little longer...]
-[But there is no known cure]
[...]
[You have it.]
-[.. yeah]
[Omg... Papyrus, I'm sorry..]
-[It's okay. I've already accepted my fate]
-[But my bro....]
-[He just]
-[He can't]
[You understand though that he loves you and he doesn't want you to give up]
[Something could work, you just have to keep trying..]
[A cure or some type of better help could come out eventually]
-[I'm only hurting him. We've been living here for a few years and he won't make any lasting friendships. All he does is work and stress. All of that work, only to keep getting reminded of how much of a lost cause this is]
-[He thinks I don't know he cries himself to sleep every night or when I'm not around]
[It's not like that]
[He loves you very much Pap]
[That's why he does so much for you. Yes, I can agree that the overworking isn't good for him BUT he does it so he could get you this far!]
[Not every monster is this lucky!]
[You have one of the best bros supporting you]
'.... oh boy here I go-'
[And..]
[I'm supporting you too.. You can get through this! Don't give up...]
[Please]
-[... thx]
-[Hearing that from you means a lot]
[Glad I could help. We'll both talk to Blue about his stress but you also need to work on your self love.]
[You deserve to live. You mean so much to your younger brother. We would hate to lose you.]
-[We?~ Lol]
-[Awwwwww N/N CaReS aBoUT mEeeEE!!!]
My cheeks probably turned bright red within seconds. I squealed and hid my face in my pillow, embarrassed as heck. After a minute, I look up to see he left more messages for me.
-[I haven't had a friend to talk to in a while so.. thank you]
-[Hm.. but it's after 4 and you probably have work in a few hours]
-[I suppose I should probably let you go to bed now... lol sorry about that again]
-[Goodnight, hopefully I'll see that beautiful face of yours soon~ Miss ya]
I sent a quick text while mentally dying and squealing more, my mind frazzled enough as it is.
[You too, get some sleep!]
[Bye! <3]
I slap my phone face down onto the bed and then cover my face with my hands. I can't believe that just happened!
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Writer~San: Took the break but not gonna lie, I think it was WELL WORTH IT for y'all! I'm so excited and proud of this chapter and it's 1900+ words! ... Did you like it? ;w; The poor babies need your help~ lol.. Anyways, I'm going eat food now. Have a good rest of your day!!! Cya!!! ^w^