It was a nice enough party, Alphys thought.
Admittedly, she had no idea what this particular party was for, considering she'd been on the tail end of a coding binge when Undyne barged into her lab/room and dragged her out, screaming about being late. Alphys had been too surprised to ask what, exactly, they were late for, and by the time she got some of her breath back they'd already reached their destination and Undyne had run off into the crowd, still screaming, leaving Alphys standing awkwardly by the door.
Alphys took a long sip from her drink; for someone with the social skills of a rock, even she had to admit this party was pretty good. There were both human and monster guests milling about, drinking punch and chatting amicably. There was music playing, but it wasn't too loud or jarring, though Alphys chalked that up to the small ghost she'd spotted working the DJ stand. She'd never gotten to know Napstablook very well, even with all the times she met saw his cousin, but he seemed nice enough, despite his crippling social anxiety. Actually, they might just get along, maybe one of these rounds she should get Mettaton to introduce them.
Anyway, where was she? Oh yeah, the party. She'd have to rate it up there in the top three parties she'd ever… wait, wait, no, top five. Yeah, she'd forgotten about that one time with the award and the gas leak, and did it count if she lumped all the graduation parties together? Because they were literally the exact same every single time. Then there was the, um, The Birthday party, yeah, and number one would always be the reception, no debate, and…
Er, yeah, up there in the top five, um…
"Hey Alphys!"
The lizard woman jumped a little as Undyne's voice rang out so close to her. She hadn't seen, or (surprisingly) heard Undyne ever since her roommate had run off, what, hours ago?
"H-hey Undyne." She replied. Her stutter was getting so much better, if this kept up she might actually be able to lose it completely this time.
Undyne gave her a big, toothy grin before downing most of her own drink.
"How you liking the party?" she asked, coming to stand beside the scientist as she gave a small shrug.
"Um, pretty good, d-definitely in my top five?"
Undyne laughed in appreciation.
"Fu, hu, hu, glad to hear it! You needed to get out of the house!"
Alphys didn't bother to disagree, knowing she was probably right. Honestly, she was lucky she hadn't hit the point of devolving down to working in her PJs only, because she had no doubt Undyne would have dragged her to this party with or without appropriate attire.
"So, h-how are you enjoying t-the party?"
"Great!" Alphys saw a couple of the people around them flinch at Undyne's volume. If there was one thing she could say about her best friend and roommate, it's that you couldn't beat her for enthusiasm. Unless you were Papyrus, that is.
"Pretty much everyone's here! I saw Asgore and his Ex having a civil conversation, couple of the dogs brought their new puppies around, I saw at least ten of the humans from both Grillby's and Muffett's, and Pap even got that lazy brother of his to show up. Pretty sure he's holding him with magic so he won't leave, but still!"
Undyne was becoming more excited as she talked, and already Alphys could see her eyeing some of the (possibly?) suplexable furnature. For everyone's sakes, Alphys was relieved when Undyne seemed to reconsider, and instead returned to the conversation.
"So, how 'bout you? You talked to anyone yet?"
"W-well, I hav…" Alphys was part-way through saying that she hadn't really moved from her spot beside the punch bowl in, like, two hours, but before she could a buzz went off in her pocket and the shrill tones of her phone alarm derailed her train of thought. She pulled out her phone and checked it, blinking at the flashing alarm signal. Why did she set an alarm? She couldn't think of any real reason; all of her shows were pre-recorded, she didn't start her new job for another month, she hadn't had any projects running…
Confused, she skimmed through her kind-of-mixed memories, trying to remember, until a vague, fuzzy thought began to niggle in the back of her mind.
"H-hey, Undyne, what day is it?" She heard herself asking.
"You don't know what day it is!" Woah, hey, she'd been practically locked in her room for several days, give her a break. "It's the 14th!" Wait, the fourteenth? Why did she have a feeling that was important?
Undyne just looked frustrated when Alphys kept staring at her, huffing and rolling her eyes.
"What did you think this party was for?! Today's the three year anniversary of when the kid broke the Barrier!"
All of Alphys' thoughts slammed to a halt at that, and she felt her eyes blow wide. The THIRD anniversary? THIRD! There'd only been one, there'd only ever been one! They'd always made it close to two, but never all the way. THIRD! That was how long the calculations said it would take until…
Somehow, through all the party noise, Alphys heard another alarm go off, one that sounded like an obnoxious kazoo version of Bohemian Rhapsody.
Undyne was looking at her worriedly, but Alphys payed her no mind as she whipped around and spotted a flash of white through the shifting crowd.
She was off like a shot, Undyne shouting in alarm behind her as she ran through the parting crowd, eyes locked on that single glimpse of white. It didn't take her long to reach her target, and she only had a single glimpse of shocked white eyes before she bodily slammed herself into them.
She let out a defiant shriek as both of them were propelled backward by the force of her jump, startled shouting echoing behind her, but she didn't care as they rolled and she wrestled until she was sitting on top.
"WE ARE NOT NAMING THEM RUNES OF THE DRAGON!" She shouted, as the monster below her thrashed, trying to flip her.
"it was just an example! i just said it sounded cool! it's entirely a possibility and you know it!"
Alphys let out a startled yelp as they rolled again, claws scrabbling for purchase.
"I still like my suggestion!"
"no way! that's not how our names work! i know i explained that to you!"
"YOU are a complete and utter pain! We can use it as a middle name!"
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?"
They actually stopped rolling as they both heard Undyne shout, turning to face the staring, and greatly confused, crowd that had formed a circle around their little spat.
Both of them blushed, but Alphys was defiant. She was probably freaking a lot of people out right now.
"er, maybe we shouldn't be re-starting this argument here…?"
Alphys resumed her attack by slamming him against the floor.
"Comic Sans Serif W.D. Gaster, I have waited for YEARS to resume this specific argument, and a couple confused bystanders are NOT going to stop me!"
Sans pulled her into another brief wrestling match as both of them kept shouting. People and monsters alike were forced to jump out of the way of their flailing.
"well excuse me, my queen, but we have actually been over this! you just refuse to admit it!"
They stopped rolling with Aplhys on top again, and she crossed her arms angrily. Dang it, she knew he was right, and he knew he was right, it was just…URRGGG!
"FINE!" She crossed her arms, scowling.
"alright then…" Sans moved to get up, but she held him down.
"But," she smirked at him, "I get to name the Memory heads."
Sans gave her an odd look for that one.
"so, you're okay with…?"
Alphys scoffed
"Please, they've been living in by bathtub and sink for a good three years by now."
Sans seemed to soften.
"and how are they?"
"Still cuddly as I'll get out, and still intelligible, but they've gotten much better at communicating."
He let out a breath and Alphys began to let him sit back up.
"alright, though its hardly…"
"Three."
Sans stopped moving, staring up at Alphys.
"wha…?"
Alphys was smirking again, but she was determined.
"Three. One for each attempt. I want Three."
Sans' eye-sockets were blown wide and everyone around them had fortunately shut up for now. Alphys took pity on the overwhelmed skeleton and climbed off, helping him to his feet.
"i, er…"
He was so thrown, but he held tightly to her hand, the same way she grasped his.
"Want to come visit them? I'm pretty sure they miss you."
Sans nodded, pulling her a bit closer.
"And while we're there, I can tell you what I had in mind name wise."
Sans groaned in fond exasperation as he dragged her around the nearest corner and through a shortcut.
Back at the party the guests were left staring at the place where they lost sight of the two with mixed expressions of curiosity and shock. Undyne looked especially flustered, jaw hanging open, as Papyrus stood beside her, head cocked slightly to the side, like he was solving a new and interesting puzzle.
"What?" Undyne managed to get out, causing Papyrus to turn and catch her eye.
He looked back at her for a couple seconds, then faced back where his brother had gone and shrugged.