And there you have it. It's something Sans had known, in a way, all along but didn't want to face - if he shared this burden, he wouldn't have to be alone anymore. At the cost of Papyrus's ease of mind, maybe, but... if the other option was breaking down and avoiding his presence, what choice does he have? Heh.

"What can I say," he says, a bit of life coming back to him as the relief of this admission slowly takes effect. "I'm a silly kind of guy."

He'll take it, though. He has to remember - this time around things can be different.