Underswap AU.

Papyrus yawned, trudging through the snow in his usual lazy manner. Normally he wouldn't be out of the house at this hour, but his human friend had been late coming home from her sentry station. She really did enjoy sitting out there in the forest, all bundled up in the soft hoodie he had made for her. It was the snowflakes, she said. She loved to stare at them for hours because it put her Soul at ease when she was homesick.

The little clearing where Tabatha had built her station was empty of her presence and the tall skeleton tilted his head in confusion. She hadn't been in town at all—he'd checked. So where was his human?

Human friend, he corrected himself, rolling the toothpick he had wedged in his teeth as a temporary replacement for his usual lollipop. He and Tabatha were just friends. Never mind how much he loved the feeling of her skin against his bones, how soft and warm she was both in body and heart. He was her friend. He wouldn't go and get involved—not when he knew that it could all be Reset by the heartless universe that mocked him at every opportunity.

The tall skeleton was ready to give up and take a shortcut home when he heard the faint sound of music not too far off the path. Curious, he moved towards it and found the young woman he'd been looking for sitting under a tree and absentmindedly strumming the guitar she'd found at the dump. She was smiling up at the stony ceiling again, her eyes focused on the tiny fleck of snow that spiraled down by magic. Then, as she repeated the same strum three times, she began to sing.

"I love you too much
To live without you loving me back
I love you too much

Heaven's my witness and this is a fact
I know I belong
When I sing this song
There's love above love and it's ours
'cause I love you too much."

Her voice was high and lilting, so different from how he was used to hearing it. But under her words was an undercurrent of power, of pure affection. Yet Papyrus could have sworn he detected a touch of sadness in the notes as she continued to serenade the still air, unaware of his presence.

"I live for your touch
I whisper your name night after night
I love you too much
There's only one feeling and I know it's right
I know I belong
When I sing this song
There's love above love and it's ours
'cause I love you too much."

Her fingers flew across the instrument's strings as her voice rose in its passions.

"Heaven knows your name I've been praying
To have you come here by my side
Without you a part of me's missing
Just to make you my own, I will fight!"

As the strumming became more complicated, Tabatha looked down at her hands, her face lit with a more melancholy smile. Her voice was softer, the sadness more pronounced as the next stanza was sung.

"I know I belong
When I sing this song
There's love above love and it's ours
'cause I love you too much."

A tear slipped free of her lashes and traced down her cheek. Her eyes were shut as she sang out, her Soul echoing with a lonely pulse that only Papyrus could feel. Her voice actually cracked as she struggled to continue through what could only be the insistent presence of more tears.

"I loooooooooove you too much
I love you too much
Heaven's my witness and this is a fact
You live in my soul
Your heart is my goal
There's love above love but it's mine 'cause I love you!
There's love above love and it's yours cause I love you!
There's love above love and it's ours if you love me
As much…"

The last note echoed alone in the hollow air of the cave. Tabatha slumped against the tree she was seated under. Laughter escaped her chest, but the short, breathy chuckled sounded a lot like barely disguised sobs. She was silently crying as she laughed, tracks of salt water visible as they shone against her flushed face. All the while, her Soul ached with a pining that the still-unseen skeleton found eerily familiar. He knew what message she was sending out, loud as always, but nowhere near as cheerful.

I love him were the words that the culmination of her being all but screamed at the sky. I love him and I want him to love me. I am so lonely and I love him too much.

Papyrus stood frozen in place, trying to justify what he was sensing and ignoring the pulses of his own Soul as it repeated a similar mantra and sought her kindness and tenderness to heal it.

I love her. I love her and I don't want to hide it any more. I love her too much.

Hello and welcome to my one-shot collection for my Tabarus ship! The are just little things that have flitted through my head at one time or another and wrote out. Undertale has completely consumed my soul and the multiverse won't stop sending me plot bunnies! They're pretty much all gonna be unconnected one-shot chapters from a variety of AUs, but my collection mostly contains Underfell at the moment (save me, Fell Paps is too hot.) Feel free to make requests but please know that I won't be writing up new short stories on a regular basis.

During November I'm doing NaNoWriMo, so this is my way to fulfill the need to read cute TabathaxPapyrus moments. Enjoy!