Death stared at his hands. Tears were fighting to be allowed to fall. With a sneer of disgust, he dragged his sleeves down so they covered the bone. His soul was in pain as he curled up, back turned against his partner.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Somehow, he managed to keep his voice from trembling. “I’m sorry. i’m so sorry. I can’t… I can’t do it.”

Error gave him a noncommittal grunt in reply, and Death curled tighter. A single tear forced its way out, dripping down his cheek and onto his black robes. He held back a choked chuckle. How godly.

“i don’t want to lose you. please. try to understand,” Death begged, tears starting to fall for real now. Silence. Wiping his face furiously with the sleeve, he stared into the black walls of the Underworld. “i love you.”

This was said quietly, almost too quiet to hear. Error twitched violently, like he had been hit.

“i care about you so much. please don’t.”

“thEn WhY w0n*t yOu dO IT?!” Error exploded, flying to his feet and staring at Death. The god couldn’t see it, but he both heard and sensed the other’s movements. “iF y0U cARE so MUch, FucKing D0 it, YOu c0waRD.”

There were a few moments of furious silence, Death’s sobs the only noise. His body shook with the force of them, and his soul was beating painfully hard. His face itched from the salty tears, and once again he wiped them away. Error’s breathing grew louder. It echoed between the cave walls. Eventually Death glanced over his shoulder, just in time to see Error sink to his knees, shaking.

“i´M so tîRed. I dõn*t waNT T0 Do ThiS anYMore.”

“then stay here,” Death suggested. His voice was small, with a tiny amount of hope in it. His eyelights trembled as Error looked up and stared him straight into the eye sockets. “with me and paps. we can be a family.”

Error laughed. It was a bitter, awful sound, and it made Death’s soul ache even more. It sank in his ribcage. The meaning behind that laugh was obvious. No hope.

“liKE anYTHing c0Uld Be ThAt eAsy f0r sômeone likE Me,” he said, standing up again. His face was empty as he stared straight at Death, who had to force himself not to turn his gaze away. “FiNe. If Y0U dOn´'t loVE me ENOugh, thEN I’ll FINd someOne else to Do it.” He laughed bitterly. “ThERE OUght t0 Be cOUntlEss voluntEErs. G0OdbYE, DeAth.”

Death flew to his feet as Error opened a portal, and he stretched his arm out after the other. Quickly withdrawing it, though, as he remembered he couldn’t touch him. That was exactly what Error wanted, and had tried to make him do. He sobbed as Error nodded sharply once before opening a portal and stepped through.

Watching the love of his life disappear, the god sank down to the floor again. His body shook as he hid his face in his robes. They were quickly drenched by tears. His chest felt empty. His everything felt empty. The worst thing was that Error was right. There were many monsters who’d jump on the chance to off the Destroyer of Universes, the multiversal God of Destruction.

Sobbing loudly, Death didn’t care who saw him. Not that there was anyone other than him and Papyrus in the brothers’ private part of the Underworld anyway, most of the time.

He’d never see Error again. Not even his soul, since Error wasn’t a native of Reapertale. His soul wasn’t his responsibility. And no matter how much Death wanted to go out and gather it anyway, he couldn’t. Messing with the natural order of things always had catastrophic consequences.

Therefore, the God of Death simply sat on the floor, wishing desperately that he’d have anything at all he could say or do to stop Error from what he was planning to do. But he couldn’t. He had tried, so hard. Sobbing louder, he just kept crying. The sound of teleport reached him, but he couldn’t bother to care. Whoever it was didn’t matter right now.

“BROTHER, I’M HO-“ Papyrus broke off, and running steps came until they stopped. “SANS! WHAT’S WRONG?”

Death simply shook his head, and hid his face in his brother’s robes as arms embraced him. He was crying violently, but the empty feeling hadn’t left. Neither brother spoke as Death continued to sob into Papyrus’ clothes until he finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

I've had these for drafts for so damn long-