Chapter 1: Story Time

Libraries and bookstores were always nice. They were quiet and peaceful, good places to get away from things, to find adventure without ever needing to leave your chair. It was nice that even though it wasn't a library, a bookstore held the same principle. Quiet, calm, a sanctuary for any good bookworm. Lou loved visiting the local bookstore. It was right next to a little café that always seemed to have at least a few people sitting and reading a book they just got. The world today was too chaotic, too violent and cruel. Here, everything was calm, everything was safe.

About a year or two ago monsters rejoined the world. Apparently they were real and had been trapped underground for thousands of years, if not longer. They'd been trapped under a mountain known as Mt. Ebott, suffering for years and were only now being allowed to rejoin the world after a human child fell in and broke the barrier that trapped them all beneath the surface. Transition was rough though, some people feared them and others hated them. Some didn't mind or care while some were excited. It was something so new and unexpected; the world didn't know how to react. New laws and regulations were still being made and put into place as humans and monsters tried to learn how to coexist once again.

Lou was a college student who recently transferred in from out of state and skimmed over the titles on the shelves. She started her usual routine with a look in the manga section, checking for the next issue of any book series she was currently reading or perhaps a new one to add to her ever growing list. So far she came up with nothing, the issues either had yet to come out or simply weren't in stock. Instead, she settled with looking at a few interesting titles, some books she read online and had yet to buy a physical copy. The store was quiet, calm; the only sounds were of the quiet rustling of pages, feet walking along the carpet floors between the aisles, the door at the front opening and closing with the small chime of a bell when a customer walked through or of people purchasing their new books at the registers. All was peaceful and calm, just the way she liked it.

Her peaceful silence was soon shattered as a loud voice startled the poor girl from her imagination, causing her to jump and fumble with her book. The offending sound came from the other side of the shelf behind her.

"SANS! COME LOOK AT THIS! THEY HAVE THAT MANGA ALPHYS AND UNDYNE LIKE!"

"that's cool bro." The second voice was much quieter than the first, deeper and a bit lazy.

Feeling her curiosity get the best of her, Lou walked around and peeked behind the bookshelf, trying to get a look at who was yelling in a quiet place like this. Such a loud voice was like thunder to anyone nearby. Once she poked her head around, she saw two skeletons. Two very tall skeletons. One, the one she supposed must have been yelling, was the tallest of the two. They seemed the most energetic. They were lanky, with a longer body structure than the first. Their outfit looked rather normal, a brightly colored button up shirt with rolled up sleeves and a pair of jeans. The only odd part was the bright red boots and the tattered red scarf-cape around their neck.

The second was shorter than the first, a wider build and almost seemed to be…fat? It could have just been the baggy clothing, she wasn't sure. They were certainly rounder. Unlike their taller counterpart, their eye sockets seemed to have little lights in them to work as pupils, whereas the taller skeleton's sockets were dark and empty. This one had a large grin stuck to their face, though it seemed to come more from their facial structure than them actually smiling. They wore a large blue jacket over a black t-shirt with a white ribcage on it, rather ironic and probably owned simply for the joke aspect of it. They also wore a pair of black gym shorts and…were those fluffy slippers with socks?

"can we help ya with somethin' there, kid?" Lou flinched as those little dots of light were suddenly focused on her, the shorter skeleton turning slightly to look at her more. Sans, as the taller skeleton had called them, had inadvertently alerted the louder of the two to her presence.

"HELLO, HUMAN!" The tall skeleton's teeth moved to almost look like they were smiling. It was a friendly gesture, but paired with the yelling voice it did nothing to calm her nerves. It was only made worse as the tall skeleton stepped around their companion to get closer to the much smaller human girl. "I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! DID YOU NEED HELP, HUMAN?"

Lou stared at them through her hair, swallowing a lump that formed in her throat. Her hair was short, but a bit overgrown since her last haircut, her bangs always dangling in her face. "Um…um…u-uh…y-you um…"

"SANS, IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE HUMAN? THEY SEEM TO BE HAVING TROUBLE TALKING…ARE THEY SICK?" Papyrus moved closer, placing a boney hand on her forehead. "THEY DON'T APPEAR TO HAVE A FEVER…" Lou flinched from their touch, going stiff.

"you should try giving them a bit of space, bro." The shorter of the two raised a boney brow. Wait, how'd they do that if they were made of bone? "maybe they've never met a monster before."

"GOOD IDEA, DEAR BROTHER! IT MUST NOT BE EVERY DAY YOU MEET SOMEONE AS COOL AS ME!" As per the brother's request, Papyrus backed off to stand beside their sibling, still smiling at her. Sans smiled too, though it seemed lazy and out of habit rather than for reassurance. The look in his sockets was sympathetic but also cautious, like he wasn't sure if he could trust her.

"U-um…um…y-you um…c-could uh…" Lou looked between them again, wringing her hands and rubbing at her fingers and knuckles nervously. "Um…v-very loud a-and uh…"

Sans seemed to catch on, sighing and nodding ever so slightly before looking to his brother. "hey bro, i think you might need to turn the volume down a bit."

"WHAT? SANS WHAT ARE YOU- …" With a quick look to Lou, who had once again flinched from his booming voice, he paused. He looked around him, only now noticing the quiet environment of the bookstore as well as a few people in the nearby aisles starting to stare, one or two holding fingers to their lips to shush him. "Oh, I See. My Apologies, Human. I Didn't Realize How Loud I Was Being." Papyrus smiled sheepishly again, rubbing at his neck. "I Hope You Can Forgive Me…"

Lou gave him a small smile in return. His voice was still a bit loud, but now at a much more reasonable volume. It would do. "I-it's fine." She nodded softly before going back to the aisle she'd been in before and picked up a new book, flipping through its pages. This one she didn't have, but usually read it by herself online. It was a good manga. Maybe she should buy the actual thing? Having it in paper was always better than a digital copy or reading it on a website anyway, easy to find and you didn't need to worry about the comic or website being taken down or deleted.

"What Are You Reading, Human?"

Lou squeaked, jumping and snapping the book shut. She quickly whipped her head around; jumping away again as she saw his skull was right next to her face. Papyrus had apparently decided that rather than leave their meeting as it was, he was going to follow her and peek at the book over her shoulder. At seeing her distress, the skeleton straightened up and took a small step back.

"Apologies, Human! I, The Great Papyrus, Didn't Mean To Startle You!" He gave her an apologetic smile, earning another shy one from her.

"Th-that's okay." Lou nodded softly at him.

"So, What Are You Reading?" Once again, he tried to look at her book. It was a manga called The Ancient Magus' Bride. The cover showed a human girl with short red hair and blue eyes, much unlike her own choppy brown hair and mud colored eyes hidden behind messy bangs. The human girl on the book looked like she was about to sit down for tea with someone who had an animal skull for a head, long horns on its head and dressed in robes that would suggest he was the Magus the book was talking about.

"Th-the Ancient Magus' Bride." She held up the book a little so he could see. He leaned down to her height to look at it better, studying the cover for a moment before turning his sockets to her. Well…at least it felt like he did. He didn't exactly have eyes or floating lights. "Um…i-it's about this um…magic guy and uh…he buys this girl from a slave market t-to be his apprentice a-and his wife? Uh…i-it probably sounds kinda bad b-but it's actually pretty cool a-and sweet once you g-get through the first book…um…y-yeah."

Papyrus grabbed at his chin, humming in amusement. "Hmm…So You Are Saying That This Manga Is About A Human And A Monster Getting Married?"

"W-well I uh…I-I guess that's one way to put it? Y-yeah, kinda? A-at least that's w-what's supposed to happen…e-eventually. I-I haven't s-seen if they do get married. Th-there's m-more to it than that b-but um…"

"And You Like This Story?"

"H-huh?" Lou paused, blinking. "W-well…yeah? I-it's a good story, w-why?" She tilted her head, hair parting a little to let one eye peek through. "I-I've always liked stories with friendly monsters and creatures in them."

Papyrus looked at her a moment before smiling. He seemed pleased with her answer for whatever reason. "Well Of Course Monsters Are Friendly, Human! We Are Anything But!" He straightened to his full height again. "Honestly, I'm Still Not Sure Where Humans Get The Idea That Monsters Are Bad And Want To Hurt Them All Of The Time." The tall skeleton huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"W-well i-if it makes you feel any better, I-I've never really believed all those bad stories about monsters in the news. Th-they always seemed n-nice enough to me, e-even though you're the first ones I've ever met." Lou smiled, still holding the book in her hands. "You and y-your brother seem nice enough t-to me."

Papyrus gasped, clasping his hands to the sides of his skull as stars shimmered in his sockets. Wait, what? How were there stars? "Wowie! A Genuine Compliment! Did You Hear That Sans? This Human Gave Us A Genuine Compliment!"

"heh, good for you, bro." Lou jumped, turning to find Sans standing right beside her. When had he gotten there?

"It Was For Both Of Us, Sans! And Don't Scare The Human! They Seem Skittish Enough Without You Frightening Them."

Beside her, Sans seemed to pause as he realized she really had complimented both of them. His cheekbones lit up a light shade of blue. Before she could get a good look he cleared his nonexistent throat and gave her a friendly wink, the blue now gone. "heh, sorry about that kiddo." He smiled, a genuine one this time and not one of those lazy grins he'd been making before. "hope i didn't give you a rough time."

Lou blinked up at him, her eye once again peeking from under her hair. She shook her head and smiled softly. "I'm fine." The girl hadn't noticed, but the faint blue had dusted his cheek bones again just before she turned back to his brother.

"Say Human, Do You Read A Lot Of These?" Papyrus pointed to the book in her hand. "Some Friends Of Ours Love These Kinds Of Books And I Was Thinking Of Getting Them Some New Material To Read. They Are Always Reading The Same Old Things From Back In The Underground…"

"Um, I-I wouldn't say I read a-all that much b-but I may be able t-to help." Lou set the book down and went back to the aisle they'd been in before. In the spot Papyrus had been looking was a small collection of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. "Is this the one they like?"

"yup, that's the one. good eye, kid." Sans looked up at the book, a lazy grin back on his face.

"D-do you know w-what else they might like to r-read? O-obviously they like magical girl anime." Lou pulled out a book or two, flipping through the pages before putting it back. It was kinda bad. Obviously a rip-off anime. It got popular enough to get a second season and merchandise, but it was still a rip-off.

"Well Undyne Likes Anything With Big Swords And Giant Robots, While Alphys Seems To Love Complex Story Plots…And Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. But Don't Mention Season 2, She Hates That Season."

The human girl looked over a few more books before setting them back on the shelf. Skimming over the other nearby titles she started plucking them from shelves, skimming through pages before putting them back or holding onto them. "Alright, well based on that alone I-I think I f-found some they m-might be interested in. I-I also grabbed Tokyo Mew Mew, th-the manga that Kissy Cutie ripped off."

"ripped off?" Sans looked at her a moment, his brow rising again. Sometime she'd really need to ask about that.

Lou just nodded. "Kissy Cutie is a rip-off of Tokyo Mew Mew. Tokyo came first a-and Kissy Cutie came a-a little while later and copied many aspects o-of the original. I-it's not uncommon. B-basically they tried t-to ride the wave of p-popularity that the f-first had made. I-I guess it worked enough for a while but ah…they messed up in season 2 and never g-got much farther after that." She handed the manga over to Papyrus. "Th-that should be a good enough start to f-find something for your friends. I-if they don't like them o-or already have one they c-can always come back and trade it in f-for something else that they like here."

Papyrus' eyes lit up with stars again and a large grin spread over his skull. How Lou could tell all of that with bone and a lack of lips she had no idea. Whatever it was, seeing him so happy made her happy in turn. It was infectious. "Wowie! Alphys And Undyne Will Love These! Thank You, Human! You Have Been Most Helpful! Please, Allow The Great Papyrus To Return The Favor."

"O-oh, y-you don't have to do that, r-really. I-I was mostly j-just seeing if any of m-my current books had any new issues out, th-that's all. B-but thank you." Lou ducked her head shyly, holding up her hands to politely wave away his offer. "B-besides, i-it was no problem."

"Well, Would You Mind If My Brother And I Accompanied You As You Walk Around The Store? It Just Doesn't Feel Right To Leave You On Your Own." Papyrus offered another smile.

"Um…w-well you two do seem very nice…a-and I would enjoy the company…"

"Splendid!" Papyrus grinned and straightened his back, puffing out his chest as he struck a heroic pose: one hand wrapped into a fist and thumped to his chest while the other rested at his hip. "I, The Great Papyrus, Will Make Sure You Have Plenty Of Fun And That No Harm Comes To You, Human! Nyeh Heh Heh!"

"heh, ditto i guess." Sans shrugged. His boney hands slipped into his pockets. Lou just noticed how big they were. His hand could probably cover her whole head!

Papyrus dropped the pose as he leaned down to match her eye level once again. He was so tall he would have a better time at it if he simply dropped into a crouch. Then again, that would make her feel like a child. "Human, I Just Realized That I Don't Know Your Name! How Terribly Rude Of Me, I Apologize For Not Learning My New Friend's Name Sooner!"

Lou didn't flinch away this time, instead looking up into his eye sockets, something she rarely even did with other humans. Had he called her his friend? She didn't think she'd done very much, and she'd only just met them at the bookstore, friend seemed a bit soon. Then again, with the happy look on his face she couldn't bring herself to tell him otherwise. Friends it was. "L-Lou. M-my name is Lou."

Author's Note: 6-20-17: added some proofing, story unchanged.