A/N: Hi there, and welcome to my new fic! I've wanted to write something to dancetale for a while, but until now nothing really worked with my muses. This is going to be part of a series of dancetale oneshots and short fics. They aren't going to be connected; they're all going to be random stories that don't go together, but all will feature the reader with a dancetale character. I'll post the pairing and whatnot at the beginning of each story. I hope you enjoy!

Pairing: Papyrus X Reader, Romantic.

Gender: Reader is female, has nickname (Chameleon)

Rating: T for minor language and some grown-up situations

Warnings: Mentions of rape (character's past), mentions of cutting (character's past)

Hidden Language

Chapter One

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul" – Martha Graham

You watched in pure, unadulterated fascination as the couple on the stage moved fluidly with each other. It was obvious they had been dancing together for a long time. They seemed to move as one being, gliding deftly across the stage as though their feet never even touched its surface.

As the music came to its close, the couple ended their dance. They bowed to the nonexistent audience and walked off stage hand-in-hand.

You were pretty sure you'd never see anything as beautiful as that ever again in your life. Your own dancing looked like someone doing the chicken dance whilst having a seizure compared to that. You wouldn't win the contest, and that was a fact, because there was no way in hell those two would lose.

"Ugh, it's finally over," Imogen said to your left.

"I know, I thought they'd never get done." Brenda was just as rude. "What do you want to bet they'll get boo-ed off the stage during the contest."

Both girls laughed. You scowled.

"That's pretty mean," you said. "They were great dancers."

Imogen huffed. "There you go again, defending monsters. Dude, they were goats. Freaking dancing goats. You can't tell me that won't get laughed at."

You rolled your eyes and looked back to the stage as you waited for the next person to come out and practice their performance.

Monsters had been dancing since forever, as far as you knew. You had the privilege to be friends with a few monsters, and they way they talked about dancing made it seem like more of a religion than a career, pastime, or art form. They spoke about how their souls resonated with their chosen style and how it had become a form of communication.

Monsters had even tried out for dancing competitions like the one you had entered, but they rarely won anything. All of the judges had always been humans, and you suspected that they had a grudge against monsters for some reason or another.

A lot of humans did. They didn't like monsters for any number of reasons they could conjure up. Monsters were willing to work for less money, so they were taking up all the available jobs. Monsters were more passionate about everything, including their love lives, so they were stealing girls and guys away from their less-than-stellar partners. And now, monsters even wanted to get an education so they could take the higher-paying jobs away from humans.

If anyone bothered to ask your opinion, you'd say that monsters were doing nothing more than getting what they had deserved for so long—getting better paying jobs and more recognition for their efforts.

Nobody cared to ask you, though. You were pretty much invisible to begin with, which you supposed made it easier to befriend a race that had been ignored for the majority of their existence.

Your attention was brought back to the stage as the first strains of a tango played on the speakers. You ignored the snickers and giggles of the jerks around you and watched as a tall skeleton began dancing. He was wearing a plain white dress shirt, black slacks, and a red sash around his waist. Between his teeth he held a blood red rose.

His movements were beautiful, crisp, and clean. His footwork amazed you, his long legs alternating between huge strides and short, half-steps as he danced and spun around the stage. His hips had you strangely mesmerized with the way he sashayed them in time with his graceful steps.

You could swear you felt your body heating up as you watched him dance. You couldn't take your eyes off him, as if he had somehow put a spell on you. His back arched backward in a particularly sensual move that had your heart pounding almost painfully against your chest.

His dance ended as he fell to his knees. You couldn't help but clap for him, despite being the only one who did so. Your cheeks burned brightly as you cleared your throat and put your hands down. You caught the grin he shot your way, however, and it made whatever embarrassment you might suffer worth it.

"I think you might have a little drool," Imogen said, gesturing to the side of your mouth.

You scowled at her in return, but secretly wiped your face just to make sure you didn't actually drool. You might not have been surprised if you had.

The next few dances were humans. They did a nice job, you thought, but nothing could compare to that skeleton. You weren't even sure the waltzing couple before him could compare. Maybe it was just you, but he seemed to capture the sensuality and torment of a lonely tango and sent all the feels straight into your soul.

And then it was your turn. As you made your way down to the stage, you sent a quick prayer to whichever deity might be listening that you could remember your steps and do them well. Your chosen dance style was swing, but you couldn't find a partner for the competition. You wanted the scholarship bad enough that you improvised and created your own solo choreography. Your dress was light blue with frills around the ends to accentuate your movements.

As you walked backstage toward the curtain, you saw the tall skeleton that had captured your attention so easily before. He stood with his back against the far wall, talking with other monsters around him. The couple that had danced the waltz so fluidly laughed with him. Another monster you hadn't seen dancing yet stood by his side, smiling up at him.

He was also a skeleton, but much shorter than the tango-dancing one. The shorter one was wearing black track pants, a blue hoodie, and sneakers on his feet. You had to wonder what style of dance he resonated with.

You had a tough time forcing your attention back to what you were supposed to be doing. The judges were waiting on you, after all. Granted, this wasn't a final decision, but they were weeding out the performances that didn't meet the standard they had set as a baseline. You couldn't afford to mess this up. You had practiced a million times; you were ready for this.

But, dammit, you also really wanted to talk to that damn skeleton and tell him how good you thought he was.

After your performance, you promised yourself.

You walked on stage, your gut trembling with fright as you stood in the center and waited for your song to start. You took a deep breath, nodded, and stood still with your hands at your sides.

The moment the music started, your body transformed into a vessel of dance. You felt your heart lighten and all fear wash away as you lost yourself to the happy beat. Your arms swung around as your legs kicked and stepped in what you could only describe as organized chaos. Your footwork was practiced perfection. The smile on your face would never fade as long as your body could express the music in such an energetic and joyful way.

Your whole body was covered in sweat by the time the song ended. Your pose was spread, your hands in the air as you panted and grinned at the judges.

None of them seemed impressed. You didn't let it get to you; they hadn't shown much of a reaction to anyone's dances.

You gave a curtsey, spun on your heel, and skipped off stage.

The moment you were behind the curtain, you felt eyes on you. You couldn't help but look over at where the skeletons had stood before your performance. They weren't there. You frowned to yourself; maybe they decided they didn't need to stick around? The thought made you sad. You cleared your throat and turned to head back to your area.

You stopped dead in your tracks as you nearly ran right into the very skeleton you had wanted to talk to. He stood a foot and a half taller than you and grinned down at you with a strange sort of…something in his eye sockets. Happiness, maybe?

"Hello, Human," he said with a surprisingly loud voice. "Your dance was exquisite."

You were pretty sure your face was as red as the sash around his waist. "Oh…thank you," you replied. "You, um…I think you'll probably win."

His cheekbones began to glow a soft orange as he stepped backward and lifted a hand to rub the back of his neckbones.

"Thank you…what is your name?"

"Um, my friends call me Chameleon because I can dance all kinds of different styles. Swing is just my favorite." You kind of curtseyed and blushed.

He nodded. "Hi, Chameleon. I'm Papyrus." He held out his bony hand, and you didn't hesitate to shake it. "I can also dance different styles, but I confess I've never tried swing."

You smiled brightly, seeing a way to possibly get to know him better. "You're very energetic when you dance; I bet you'd be good at it. I could maybe show you some secrets…one day?"

His answering smile was so happy and bright that you couldn't help but feel blown away by it. "I would love that!"

You couldn't take your eyes off his as you nodded and talked about when you were both free. You felt as if he were talking directly to your soul, your hand still in his and your whole body resonating with such happy energy that you wished you could stay there and talk to him forever.

All too soon, however, an announcement was made over the sound system that the results were in and posted at the judges' tables.

You didn't want to let go of his hand. To your amazement, he squeezed your fingers.

"Shall we go find out how we did?"

You smiled and nodded. "Yes."

You probably should have realized that his long legs meant he walked fast, but you were surprised that you had to jog to keep up with him. You waited, clutching his hand like a life raft, as people shuffled about by the judges' tables to find their name and their score among the list of other dancers. You were pushed and shoved, and you tried to push and shove back.

You really didn't like it when Papyrus took his hand from yours, but you decided it was completely worth it when his arm draped around your shoulders and pulled you into his chest. You looked up at him, too happy to say anything about it but also a little confused.

"People can be so pushy," he said. "You're tiny and delicate; I'll protect you."

You sure as hell were not delicate. But, you decided that you could be if it meant you got to stand this close to him. You just nodded and stepped a little closer, wrapping one arm around his…waist?

It shouldn't have surprised you that he didn't have a waist to wrap your arm around. He was a skeleton, after all. But when your arm fount itself on his hipbone instead of a soft, fleshy waist, you jumped back a little.

"I'm sorry," you mumbled. You tried to find a better place to put your hand and ended up reached up to his shoulder.

He smiled at you. "It's okay, Human…I mean, Chameleon."

It was finally your turn at the lists. You found your name and frowned a little when you saw that you had been given a seven out of ten. You were sure you had done better than that. Oh, well. At least you were still in. A dancer had to get above a five to be allowed to dance in the competition.

You looked over when you heard Papyrus whimper. His lovable grin was turned down a sad frown. You really didn't like that look. You found his name and…

FOUR?! The judges had given him a four!

"Papyrus! I…what?! This is…I think they were too amazed by your—"

You didn't get to finish. He walked quickly away from you, leaving you there in the middle of the crowd. You stared after him as you felt your heart shatter for him. He was a monster. Dancing was his whole life, part of his being, and these dumbass judges had just told him through a freaking number that he wasn't good enough to compete.

That really pissed you off.

You pushed your way through the crowd toward the back exits where you knew the judges had gone. They might still be there. A few others had gone out that way as well, possibly to demand a reconsideration for themselves. You weren't interested in that. You were in, but you really didn't care at the moment if you got kicked out because of this. You were more interested in getting Papyrus in.

As you had hoped, the judges were standing in a semi-circle around a few other dancers as they pled their cases. You waited your turn.

"And what can we do for you…dancer?"

You sucked in a breath and met the dark blue eyes of the judge who had spoken to you. "The skeleton was way better than a four."

His eyes widened. He had clearly been expecting you to give all the reasons that you deserved a better score.

"I'm sorry?" he asked.

You huffed. "The skeleton—the one that did the tango? He deserved a ten, but I'd be okay with him getting a six at this point. He deserves a chance in this competition. Just because he's a monster doesn't mean he couldn't use a scholarship like the rest of us." You put your hands on your hips to show you meant business.

The judge smiled and tapped another judge on the arm. "Hey, listen to this. She actually wants the bony monster to compete."

That caught the other judges' attentions as well. "What?" the female judge asked.

You repeated your statement. "The skeleton's tango was undoubtedly the best dance today," you said, holding your head high and speaking with command. "But he was only given a four. A four means he can't compete, and that's not fair. You're supposed to be judging on skill and poise and all that, not on race."

You caught a few judges blushing. You knew what had happened—they didn't think anyone would call them out on their biased opinions.

"Just change it to a six so he can compete," you pleaded. "I'm not asking for him to get the highest score. I just feel like not allowing him to compete is doing everyone who will see it and judge it a disservice. I mean, the whole world deserves to see him dance."

You were blushing now, probably showing more than you should show of how you felt about him. If it worked, you didn't care.

"Give us a moment," the blue-eyed judge muttered.

You nodded and stepped back to let them huddle. After a few minutes, they turned back to you. The slight nod was all you needed.

"Thank you!" you all but screamed. You refrained from hugging anyone. "Thank you so much! Can I go tell him now, or will you want to contact him first?"

"You can go tell him, I suppose."

With another screech of joy, you turned and ran back into the building. You didn't notice the short skeleton by the door, watching you with a grin on his face.

You ran in and pushed your way through the still-large crowd in the audience to make your way backstage. You spotted Papyrus standing near the back exit with one of the furry goat monsters. The woman. You hadn't even bothered to get their names. You felt a little bad, but you had excellent news to deliver.

"Papyrus!" you shouted, running up to him.

"Hello, Chameleon," he said, his mouth still turned down in a sad frown.

You smiled brightly. "I talked to the judges. They're going to change your score to a six!" You bounced on your toes for a moment, waiting for your news to sink in.

"You did what, my dear?" the female monster asked, surprised.

You smiled up at her. "I thought it was a travesty that Papyrus got such a low score, considering he was the best dancer I've ever seen in my entire life, so I…may have…begged the judges a little to give him a higher score." You were starting to realize that maybe you had made a mistake. What if he didn't want you to do that? What if—

Before your thoughts could get any darker, you were picked up in a tight embrace and swung in a circle. Papyrus set you down only to hug you even tighter.

"I can't believe it!" he cried. "I get to compete?!"

You nodded up at him. "Yes."

"Sans!" He pulled away from you only to grab the shorter skeleton—you hadn't even noticed him there—up in a strong embrace. "Sans, you don't need to talk to the judges. My new human friend did it, and I get to compete!"

"Heh…I know, bro. Can ya put me down, please?"

Papyrus did; he put Sans down gently and turned to you.

"Chameleon, come here." Papyrus held out his hand. You went to him and took it. "This is my brother, Sans. Sans, this is Chameleon, my friend."

You watched as the shorter skeleton looked you over. "Hi, Sans." You gave him a small wave.

"'Sup. I saw you talkin' to the judges. Thanks for that. Not many people would do that."

You shrugged like it wasn't anything big, but you knew it meant a lot. "I'm just happy it worked."

"Heh. Me too, cuz I was gonna kick some judge's ass if it didn't." He shrugged, too, but you weren't sure if he actually meant that.

The woman next to Papyrus gently cleared her throat. Papyrus' cheekbones turned orange.

"Oh, how rude of me…Chameleon, this is Toriel. She's another good friend."

You reached out and took her hand. "Nice to meet you. Your dance was beautiful, too."

"Thank you, dear."

The four of you talked for a while before you realized your family was waiting for you to tell them how you'd done. You said your goodbyes after making sure you and Papyrus were still on for swing lessons and headed home.