He had considered it, for a moment before he'd picked up the frying pan, before Frisk had spoken and shaken Sans to his battered SOUL. Even without karmic retribution to inflict on Frisk's SOUL, Sans could have killed them easily. But for all his power, Sans doesn't like to fight. Even now, he remembers the dozens of times he'd managed to kill the human with a sense of weariness, rather than triumph, and not just because it had ultimately been such a pointless effort.
He's glad he'd held back, one more time. Frisk has been a good friend. Sans is glad to have gotten the chance to know them, and through them the time they came from. He's just absolutely terrified that, like everything else in his life, it won't last.
Dimly, he hears Frisk move, feels their presence shift technically closer to him. Sans makes no move closer to or away from them. He makes no move at all, because his bones feel heavy as lead.
"and here's the thing, kid. that human? the one who killed my brother, and all my friends? the one who wasn't going to stop until they ate our timeline alive? that kid looked a lot like you. same hair. same shirt. only difference is that they never said a word." He presses his face into his knees, though his shoulders still shake with bitter, tired laughter. "hehehe, why would they? we weren't worth the effort. so they never said a word, and...the eyes. those were different, too. whenever i looked them in the eyes, i knew they were empty inside. except, even then, there were moments...when they were different. moments where i could sense something else in them. something more. i looked at them and i thought to myself that here was someone who wanted to do the right thing, once. someone who might even have been a friend, somewhere else."
They let Sans kill them three times. The first time, they probably hadn't expected that they'd been about to die. But the second and third times...they should have known better, and he still can't figure out why they let the knife fall then. Maybe they'd just wanted to take a mulligan on that round. Maybe not.
"so here's the thing. here's what even gaster can't answer for me. here's what's been keeping me up nights. did that kid turn into you? were they listening, when papyrus told them they could be a better person?" His idiot brother, his wonderful brother. When every monster left in Snowdin was evacuating for their lives, he still managed to talk Sans into letting him take up his usual post, to try and talk to the empty-eyed nightmare.
"or, at some point down the line, did you turn into them?"
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He's glad he'd held back, one more time. Frisk has been a good friend. Sans is glad to have gotten the chance to know them, and through them the time they came from. He's just absolutely terrified that, like everything else in his life, it won't last.
Dimly, he hears Frisk move, feels their presence shift technically closer to him. Sans makes no move closer to or away from them. He makes no move at all, because his bones feel heavy as lead.
"and here's the thing, kid. that human? the one who killed my brother, and all my friends? the one who wasn't going to stop until they ate our timeline alive? that kid looked a lot like you. same hair. same shirt. only difference is that they never said a word." He presses his face into his knees, though his shoulders still shake with bitter, tired laughter. "hehehe, why would they? we weren't worth the effort. so they never said a word, and...the eyes. those were different, too. whenever i looked them in the eyes, i knew they were empty inside. except, even then, there were moments...when they were different. moments where i could sense something else in them. something more. i looked at them and i thought to myself that here was someone who wanted to do the right thing, once. someone who might even have been a friend, somewhere else."
They let Sans kill them three times. The first time, they probably hadn't expected that they'd been about to die. But the second and third times...they should have known better, and he still can't figure out why they let the knife fall then. Maybe they'd just wanted to take a mulligan on that round. Maybe not.
"so here's the thing. here's what even gaster can't answer for me. here's what's been keeping me up nights. did that kid turn into you? were they listening, when papyrus told them they could be a better person?" His idiot brother, his wonderful brother. When every monster left in Snowdin was evacuating for their lives, he still managed to talk Sans into letting him take up his usual post, to try and talk to the empty-eyed nightmare.
"or, at some point down the line, did you turn into them?"