A human fell through into the ruins. Sounds like Asgore's taking care of them. Papyrus meets up with Asgore every day or so and practices telling jokes. Mostly for his younger brothers sake. Ah Sans, that little dork.
Asgore asks Papyrus to promise to protect the human if they come through the doors.
"PROTECT THE HUMAN? YOU SURE THAT'S A GOOD IDEA?" Papyrus asks flatly. Asgore is silent for a while…
"They haven't hurt a single monster. They're very nice. I think it'll be okay."
"HUH…. WELL THEN, I PROMISE I'LL KEEP AN EYESOCKET OUT FOR THEM." Asgore chuckles a little.
"Thank you."
"WELL, I GOTTA GET GOING. MY BROTHER SANS IS SETTING UP ANOTHER PUZZLE AND IF I'M NOT THERE HE MAY GET MAD AT ME FOR NOT WATCHING HIM BE AWESOME."
Asgore chuckles again.
"Then I'll talk to you later friend." Papyrus knocks on the door as a quiet goodbye and walks off.
The snow of Snowdin would be cold to the majority of monsters, but to Papyrus and Sans, it was just fluffy white stuff that was slippery sometimes and was pretty fun to ball up and throw at each other.
Up ahead Papyrus sees Sans working on a pretty neat maze puzzle. Smart little skell.
"HEY SANS."
"Papyrus where have you been? You missed me making half of the puzzle already! Then again that's a good thing I guess." The short blue scarffed skeleton says while rubbing his chin with his thin fingers.
"WANT ME TO TEST IT OUT I TAKE IT?"
"Yeah!" Sans smiles widely and beams at his big brother. Papyrus just smiles softly back and steps up to the puzzle. He's too tall and can see right over it… But he doesn't have the heart to tell his little short brother that it may be too easy to see through. Then again, are humans even as tall as he is?...
"HUH. NICE WORK BRO." Papyrus walks through the maze, pretending he can't just see the correct path. it only comes up to his hips... He purposely goes to a dead end.
"DANG, LOOKS LIKE YOU CAUGHT ME SANS." He looks over at his short brother with his goofy costume on. They made that thing about a month ago and Sans refuses to take it off. It's sorta cute. His little 1 HP brother wants to join the Royal Guard… It worries him, but he doesn't want to hold him back. He'll be there to protect him no matter what anyway.
"Yes!" Sans yells triumphantly.
"I'm not done yet, but if YOU got caught with only half the puzzle done then a human will NEVER make it!" Sans laughs and pumps both skeleton fists in the air.
"I can't wait brother. To catch a real live human! Alphys will be so proud of me!"
Alphys, the head of the Royal Guard. A rather large muscley yellow dino-lizzard-like monster. She was a rough gal, loud and spoke bluntly about most things. But she was always nice to her brother and even took him on for training.
"I'LL BE PROUD OF YOU TOO BRO. YOU KNOW WHAT? I THINK THIS PUZZLE WILL BE COMING IN HANDY SOONER RATHER THAN LATER."
Sans looks at his taller brother with surprise.
"Do you think a human will come past here soon or something Pap? I gotta make more puzzles fast!" His eyes gleam and he rushes off to re-calibrate and create more of his puzzles. Papyrus stands there and watches Sans rush off excitedly. He disappears from the puzzle and reappears on the other side and begins walking to Muffet's.
()
It's another couple days when the doors to the ruins open up. Papyrus is at his station lazing about smoking a cigarette. Sans always tells him to "put that filth out this second" but Pap just retorts with "I DON'T EVEN HAVE LUNGS, SANS." And the little guy steams up and pouts until Papyrus puts the damn thing out.
From the corner of his eye he sees movement on a little TV he's got under his station. There's a human child walking out of the doors.
So the visions came true then. This kid was real… But which version were they?... He could never tell right from the beginning. And the voice in the ruins had told him that the human child hadn't laid a finger on any of the monsters down there… Guess he'll have to see how this goes…
Papyrus disappears from his station and into the forest in a flash. The human child looks around and shivers at the new chill of the snow. Pap follows them for a bit. He's so focused on trying to see which version the kid was that he didn't notice he stepped on a stick and cracked it. The child looks back quickly, but there's no one there… They continue on and Papyrus sighs a quiet relieved breath that he teleported outta there and behind a tree. He's not sure why, but he's nervous…
The bridge with the rather terribly spaced out "bars" approaches and Papyrus finally comes out.
The child hears the footprints, but doesn't dare move to see what it is. Papyrus walks right up to them.
"HEY. THAT AIN'T ANY WAY TO GREAT A NEW PAL IS IT? TURN AROUND KID, AND SHAKE MY HAND." The child slowly turns and sees Pap's skeletal hand out. They look up and see a tall smoking skeleton… but slowly reach out and shakes his hand. They seem confused, obviously. Like something should be happening that isn't. Pap wonders what they're seeing in place of this reality…
"HEY THERE. SO WHAT ARE YOU HUMAN? THAT'S HILARIOUS." Papyrus grins a little wider and puts his hand back in his orange hoody pocket.
"I'M A SENTRY HERE, ON THE LOOKOUT FOR HUMANS. BUUUUT I DON'T REALLY GIVE A CRAP ABOUT ANY OF THAT STUFF. MY LITTLE BRO ON THE OTHER HAND IS A HUMAN HUNTING FANATIC. ACTUALLY, HE'S JUST PAST THIS BRIDGE. HOW'S ABOUT WE KEEP GOING." The child gives him a questioning look. It looks practiced Papyrus thinks…
"YEP, JUST WALK RIGHT ON THROUGH. MY BRO MADE THE BARS TOO WIDE TO ACTUALLY STOP ANYONE." Pap walks forward past the kid and hears the small footsteps follow him. They make it to his station and to the left is this… weirdly shaped lamp.
"OI. GO HIDE BEHIND THERE." The human hardly needed to be told twice and they rush over to the lamp and hide. They think it's oddly and rather conveniently shaped.
Up runs small adorable Sans and he skids in the snow to a stop.
"HEY LITTLE BRO. SUP?"
"You KNOW what's 'SUP' Papyrus." The short skeleton says folding his arms.
"I just checked one of your puzzles and I just walked right through it! That'll never stop a human! What have you been doing, if not making sure your puzzles were working?" Papyrus can't help but think it's adorable how Sans is so worked up over the incomplete "puzzles" of Paps. The taller skeleton just shrugs.
"I WAS CHECKING OUT THIS SWEET LAMP. WANNA TAKE A LOOK?"
"What? No I don't wanna take a look! Papyrus come on, what if a human walks through? Are you gonna be ready to stop them? I don't want to see you unprepared!"
Papyrus just chuckles a little and holds his hands up in surrender. He can tell that Sans cares and genuinely wants his brother to be safe.
"SORRY SORRY. I'LL GET RIGHT ON IT. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, I WAS JUST LOOKING OVER AT THE BRIDGE GATE YOU PUT UP? I WALKED RIGHT THROUGH IT. A HUMAN COULD WALK THROUGH IT EASILY. WHY DON'T WE GO CHECK OUT YOUR OTHER PUZZLES TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE IMPASSABLE?"
The tall skeleton gives a wink, and Sans stands quiet for a second.
"You mean I messed up?"
"WELL… UH… LET'S JUST CALL IT A HAPPY ACCIDENT. COME ON, LET'S GO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING ELSE IS PERFECT AND WE'LL FIX THE BRIDGE GATE LATER TOGETHER, SOUND GOOD?"
Sans, easily persuaded, smiles and nods.
"Yeah! If we work together there's no way a human can get past us! Come on!" He shouts, and runs off ahead. That kid. He just can't stay still. Speaking of a kid.
"YOU CAN COME OUT NOW." The human child walks out and looks VERY confused at this whole thing.
"HEY, LISTEN TO ME FOR A SEC. MY BRO'S BEEN SORTA DOWN LATELY. HE HASN'T EVER SEEN A HUMAN BEFORE. I THINK JUST SEEING YOU WOULD MAKE HIS DAY. HIS YEAR EVEN. DO YOU THINK YOU COULD LET HIM SEE YOU? THINK ABOUT IT. YOU'D GET TO SEE THE COOLEST SKELETON IN THE UNDERGROUND. BUT THANKS IN ADVANCE." Pap smirks a little. The child looks down, seeming to think hard… but when they look up Papyrus is nowhere in sight…
After a bit of exploring and being very confused, the human child walks further and sees the tall and short skeletons ahead of them. Papyrus looks over and spots them. Sans looks where his brother is looking and sees the human. He looks back at Papyrus and then at the human. Papyrus plays along and looks at him and the human with surprise. It almost becomes a game when Sans starts spinning. Mostly with excitement. FINALLY, with a gasp, Sans faces the human and whispers loudly.
"Oh my god, Papyrus is… is that a… a HUMAN?"
"I DUNNO… I THINK THAT'S A ROCK ACTUALLY." He meant it to be a joke, but Sans slumps a little taking it totally seriously.
"Oh…." Pap can't help but feel bad. Woops. Is something wrong with Sans' eyes or some shit?
"WHOA, HEY. LOOK IN /FRONT/ OF THE ROCK." Sans looks up and squints and GASPS AGAIN!
"Oh my god! Is THAT a human?"
"LOOKS LIKE IT."
"Oh my god! Papyrus I finally did it! I found a human! And now I'm gonna capture them and show Alphys that I'm worthy of being in the royal guard!" He practically screeches in excitement and takes a few steps forward, spreading his legs and putting one gloved fist on his hip. Sans points to the human and yells happily.
"HUMAN! You aren't going to pass this area! Because, I, The GREAT Sans, will stop you! I'm gonna capture you! So only go forward… IF YOU DARE! MWEHEHEHE!" Sans laughs and runs away to his first puzzle, leaving Papyrus there to watch after him in silence.
"WOW… THAT WENT WELL. HEY THANKS FOR SHOWING UP. HE'S REALLY HAPPY NOW." The human walks forward seeming worried. Like they thought Sans might come back and hurt them or something.
"HEY, DON'T MAKE THAT FACE. HE'S NOT REALLY THAT DANGEROUS, EVEN IF HE TRIES TO BE. LISTEN, I'LL KEEP AN EYESOCKET OUT FOR YOU OKAY? DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT…. EH? EH?" Papyrus hopes the human got the eyesocket joke. He's gotta practice his puns if he's gonna keep up with Sans.
The human stares at him with… the creepiest all seeing eyes, and then moves forward. Papyrus feels conflicting emotions about this kid. He's seen visions where the kid is covered head to toe in dust by the time they come out of the ruins… He's also seen them with no dust on them. So many visions, so many versions of that kid… hurting monsters, and also not hurting monsters. Befriending them even. This human seemed… okay, he guesses. No dust, no glaring or anything. But the looks they're giving off are sorta freaking Papyrus out. It's like they're expecting one thing and getting the complete opposite and they're not sure how to deal with it….. Oh well. They've never really been around Monsters… Right? Weird.
Papyrus teleports around and eventually makes it to Sans who's set up a pretty nifty electricity puzzle.
"HEY BRO."
"AH!" Sans jumps a little, startled by Papyrus coming up behind him. How did…
"Don't scare me like that, I have to look awesome in front of the human!"
"HEH. SORRY." Papyrus gets out a cigarette and lights it, getting quite the glare from Sans.
"Papyrus, you get ridda that thing right now." Sans says sternly through gritted teeth. He HATES it when Papyrus smokes!
"I JUST LIT IT THOUGH."
"Papyruuuus? Put that nasty thing out right now. And don't give me that 'no lungs' excuse either. It'll rot your teeth!" The shorter brother jumps up and tries to grab the cigarette, but Papyrus leans back and puts his hand on Sans' forehead holding him back. Sans swings his arms wildly and Papyrus resists laughing.
"HEY, WHY DON'T YOU FACE FORWARD AND STOP WORRYING ABOUT ME. WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO IF THE HUMAN COMES UP AND SEES YOU BEING A GIANT DORK? THEY'LL NEVER SEE HOW COOL YOU REALLY ARE."
Sans gasps and steps back and returns to his spot with a power stance.
"You're right about that at least! They're going to see just how amazing I am!"
And seemingly right on cue, the human child walks up. The silly electric puzzle gives Sans a bit of a shock when he realizes the HUMAN has to hold the orb. And of course, Sans walks through the snowy puzzle instead of just going totally around it and the human follows the path Sans left. Papyrus just stands there silently doing his best not to laugh at this ridiculousness. Sans rushes off and Papyrus disappears before the human notices.
The puzzles are simple and sort of ridiculous, but Sans seems to be having a lot of fun. A table with a plate of tacos sits there in the snow with a silly note. The human doesn't eat the tacos of course and walks away. Sans declares that the human didn't eat them because it must mean they wanted to share the tacos…. Papyrus just watches things unfold, both from a distance and standing with his brother.
But as things progress, Papyrus starts to notice the humans expression changing… and he's beginning to get worried…
The second bridge puzzle comes up where maces, spears and sword swing, fire blazes and one poor dog dangles from a rope slowly spinning awkwardly.
"I'm… about to…. Activate it!" Sans yells. Nothing happens and Pap looks down at his short bro. He can see that Sans is conflicted. Interesting. He's wanted this for so long, yet he's wavering now that a human's standing right in front of him?
"THAT DOESN'T LOOK VERY ACTIVATED BRO."
Another wave of silence… then "HA. I, the GREAT Sans, have decided that this puzzle is too…. Direct! It has no class at all. My standards are much higher than this." The weapons (and dog) disappear and Sans rushes off with a face that says he's torn between capturing the human or just sitting down and talking with them.
The human child walks up to Papyrus and gives him an unusual stare.
"WHAT'S UP SQUIRT? NOT FEELIN' GOOD?" He takes out a cigarette and lights it, but he doesn't put it in his mouth yet. The human's nose scrunches up a little at the terrible smell…
"LISTEN, I KNOW THAT YOU'RE PRETTY CONFUSED. BUT SANS DOESN'T MEAN ANY HARM.I BET IF YOU JUST TALK TO HIM YOU TWO COULD BE GOOD FRIENDS. EVEN THOUGH WE'RE SUPPOSED TO CAPTURE YOU AND ALL. I DON'T THINK YOU'RE A BAD KID." Now he puts the cig in his mouth. The child looks down at their feet, seeming to be thinking hard between two choices…. They ask quietly what Papyrus thinks of Sans.
"WHAT?" Papyrus looks genuinely confused.
"WHAT DO I THINK OF SANS? WELL OBVIOUSLY…. HE'S REALLY COOL. HONESTLY, SANS IS EVERYTHING I AIN'T. HARD WORKING, PASSIONATE ABOUT EVERYTHING, AND ALWAYS RARIN' TO MAKE FRIENDS." The human looks up at Papyrus and the thought on their face is obvious.
"THAT'S A PRETTY WEIRD QUESTION TO ASK HIS BROTHER YOU KNOW. YOU FEELIN' OKAY?" Pap crouches down to eye level and even removes the cigarette from his teeth. The child looks at him, seeming sad.
"AW DON'T GO MAKIN' THAT FACE… HERE, WHY DON'T YOU AND I GO EAT SOME FOOD? YOU HUNGRY? WE'LL GO TO MY FAAAVORITE HANG OUT PLACE." A nod from the human and Pap stands up.
"COOL. I HAVE A SHORTCUT." He holds out their bony hand and the child takes it. They walk a few feet when everything starts to swirl into different colors and shapes until BAM they're just inside the doorway to Muffet's.
"HERE WE ARE." A bunch of monsters that the human has met before on their recent exploration of the forest and Snowdin wave to them and also to Papyrus.
Eventually after the greetings, the two sit down and in front of them is a rather pretty spider lady in a cute bartenders outfit.
"SO KID WHAT DO YOU WANT TO EAT?" The human chooses a burger a little too quickly for Papyrus' liking… but he orders two burgers anyway.
"WHAT'S EATIN' YOU?" Papyrus isn't great at timing jokes yet…
The child stares at their hands in their lap and says something along the lines of this being very weird.
"WEIRD?... HEHE. YOU'RE SORTA FREAKING ME OUT SQUIRT." They look up at Papyrus, words just on the tip of their tongue… They don't get the chance to say anything though, because Muffet returns with two burgers. She looks at the child and then at Papyrus. Papyrus shrugs and Muffet leaves the two of them.
"WANT ANY KETCHUP OR ANYTHING?" The human nods and Papyrus passes them the ketchup and starts eating his food. The child holds the ketchup bottle in their hand for a long time….. then apply a little to their burger and set it down. Monster food is different from human food though so even after eating the whole burger, they don't feel any less hungry.
"YOU KNOW KID, IF SOMETHIN'S UP, YOU CAN TALK TO ME ABOUT IT. IF YOU WANT." Papyrus doesn't look at the human, but he can feel the kids eyes on him. They shake their head and then get down from the bar stool. He looks back at the kid and the human smiles up at him widely, saying they know what to do now, and thank him for the meal.
"HUH… YEAH SURE THING KID. I BELIEVE IN YOU." Papyrus smiles back at them, and the child runs out.
Papyrus is left sitting there rather confused…. Oh well. The kid seems to be happy now. Muffet walks over to Papyrus and leans over on the counter talking quietly.
"Is everything okay Papyrus?"
"HUH? YEAH, I GUESS SO."
"That child was creeping me out a little bit. They kept making weird faces." She blinks all of her eyes in a pattern and squints them a bit in the direction of the door.
"THEY SEEMED TO BE THINKIN' ABOUT A WHOLE BUNCH OF THINGS. THEY'RE NEW AROUND HERE AND WERE HAVING SOME TROUBLES GETTING' USED TO THINGS. BUT I GUESS THEY MADE A DECISION." Papyrus shrugs. He stands up, but Muffet grabs his arm, grinning widely with fangs out and everything. She yanks him close and chuckles.
"Afufufu~ I hope you plan on paying the bill Papyrus.~" She says.
"A-AH YEAH, CAN'T YOU JUST PUT IT ON MY TAB?"
"Silly boy, we don't have TABS here, you know that.~ Cough it up."
"H-HEHE. DANG YOU GOT ME. MONEY GRUBBIN' SPIDER." The two chuckle. It seems to be an inside joke.
()
Sans stands in the cold where a blizzard is starting to form. It's been a couple hours since he last ran off from the bridge. He's been thinking SO HARD this whole time! He's feeling a lot of conflicting emotions right now…
A small form appears in the blizzard. The human child. They look around and then stop in their tracks when they see Sans' figure standing in the snow ahead… This is it…
"Hey human… uh…" Right, the monologue!
"Finding someone else who loves puzzles, who likes tacos, who thinks someone is super cool and wants to be friends with them… I bet it's hard to live with those feelings, lonely human…. But maybe you don't HAVE to feel lonely! Because maybe we could be…." Silence… Nonono… The human steps forward.
"No no no! This is all so wrong! I can't be your friend!... I really want to but… if I don't capture you then Alphys won't ever let me into the royal guard! I'll never be as cool as my big bro! I have to show everyone that I can be helpful too!"
The battle begins. Sans stares intently at the human, ready to battle them and capture them! He can feel his own heart wavering though… Sans doesn't… want to FIGHT the human… But he at least has to try!
The human child presses "FLIRT". Not that Sans can see the menu… The human tells Sans he's cute. Lovable little dork that he is, Sans perks up and gasps!
"You… are you flirting with me?" A bright blue blush spreads across his face.
"Does that mean… that you want to go on a… A DATE WITH ME?!" He squees happily and can hardly concentrate on the fight now!
The human hardly has to move to avoid Sans' attacks. They're distracted and poorly timed. But even though this Sans seems to be different…. The child still battles warily. They spare him and spare him and spare him until finally Sans calls it off.
"Ah man…. I can't hurt you kid! I don't want to fight at all! And besides… you want to date me! So let's call this fight off! I'm gonna spare you human!" Sans puts his hands on his hips and beams with his beautiful smile! The human spares Sans.
"H-hahaha! Aaaahh man! I know I was supposed to capture you…. But I think you're really nice! I think… I'll just wait for a DIFFERENT human to fall down here! A mean human! We'll use their soul instead to break the barrier!"
The human smiles and nods, seeming very happy that the fight is over.
"Hey! When you wanna do that date thing, come find me! Here's my phone number. Call it any time you need my help okay?" Sans grins and then rushes off!
The human stares after him and looks at their phone. Interesting. Things are becoming SUPER interesting!
After another hour or so of exploring and finding new things, the human travels back to Sans' and Papyrus' house.
Sans sees the human and waves.
"OH OH! HI HUMAN!" He yells.
"Ready to go on our date? I'll take you to the coolest place in town!" The human already knows, but follows Sans anyway, going all the way to Muffet's, turning right around and gets right back to the front door of the Skeleton brother's home.
"It's my house! MWEHEHEHE!" He rushes inside. The human follows and enters the house. Things are pretty much the same. But this time Papyrus' room has that weird fire coming from it. The child explores the house and the kitchen and the sock with many notes attached to it. There's a book on how to tell jokes. Inside of that is a scientific book. The human thinks they'll just… stop there. They go up to Sans' room and instantly at their side is the short skeleton himself. They don't think they'll ever get used to Sans just popping up like that…
"Oh, ready to go in my room?" He opens the door and inside is a blue racecar bed. There are posters all over the place, cool action figures, an old computer, and a closet. The human looks around for a bit.
Sans stands there nervously. Wow a date! A date… WITH A HUMAN! He never thought such a thing would happen! He only wishes Papyrus were somewhere watching like he normally is so he can show his awesome brother how awesome HE is!
The human walks up to Sans and smiles, ready to proceed.
"Ah man… Okay! Date… START!" Sans gets out a small book and starts reading off the steps on how to go about doing a date. The human is patient and looking like they're having fun. Sans switches out of his battle body to some COOL GUY clothes. He gives them the glorious present of TACOS. Not just any tacos. Tacos made with the freshest veggies and handmade shells! The human giggles and eats them.
They're awful. But through sheer determination and willpower, they eat the taco. Sans is totally struck, the passionate face the human made while eating his tacos!
DATE POWER OVERLOAD.
GYEAAAAAHHH!
The two laugh and Sans makes a dramatic show of having no choice but to reject the human. He disappears into his closet and reappears in his battle body.
"Ah man. Even though I don't like you the same way you like me, I still think that was a really fun date! I'll help you look for second best!" Sans happily thumbs to himself and the human nods laughing.
"Welp! I gotta go okay? It was fun, but I have a job to do! See you around okay human?" As Sans begins to run out of his room, the human grabs him by the hand and asks him to wait. Sans stops and looks back questioningly.
"Aw… Hey are you really sad? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset!" He faces the human and holds their hand with both of his.
"I guess that was pretty rude of me to leave my guest hangin'! Why don't we go together!—"
A sharp pain wracks his chest. His eyes go wide and his smile disappears into a look of horror.
"H…Human?" He stares at their face… When they look up slowly at him their eyes have changed… that smile is now a disgusting grin. They shove the knife in a little further into his chest and then rake it down to his hip.
"a-ah!... O…ohh….. oh my g…. guuhh…" Sans takes a few shaky steps backwards, letting go of the humans hand. He staggers and holds onto his wound.
"Why…. Did you…." Tears begin to swell in his sockets… The human… they were being so nice! They were having fun weren't they?... Were they having fun in a different way than he was?...
He can feel his form disintegrating.
"Hey... I think…. I think…. You can… do a little b-better than that… I saw how you were… there's a good p-person ins..side…" Sans doesn't get to finish his sentence before his mouth turns to dust. The human's grin is the last thing he sees and he can feel the sadness taking over his heart…
He's dying… falling…. Papyrus….
Papyrus help!
The human stares as the skeleton turns into dust. The metal shoulder spaulders clank on the ground and his other clothes flit gently to the floor.
It's silent now. Totally devoid of life and personality.
Laughter begins to bubble up in the humans throat. Sans is dead! They really killed Sans! They've played this games so many times before and Sans has always been a near impossible boss to beat!
When they restarted, their game glitched and this backwards world became their new reality. Asgore instead of Toriel spotted them first. Originally, they weren't going to kill anybody and see what happened. But the second they saw that asshole Sans… the bane of their existence… the kiddy gloves were off. They wanted to let Sans get happy and comfortable before ripping him away from this world. They wondered what would happen now! Finally something NEW and INTERESTING was happening! Sans, that glowey eyed bastard was finally dead and now they could pass through the final corridor without a problem! Ah sweet revenge!
With more giggles, the human walks over the dust and out of the house, leaving small dusty footprints that fade away before they get to the front door. The human leaves the door open and skips away to finish playing the rest of the game.
()
Papyrus had a fun time at Muffet's, chilling with the patrons and attempting to crack jokes. The only reason he got laughs at the "jokes" were because they were SO terrible and badly timed it was funny. Papyrus didn't mind. "As long as they laugh," he thought. He looks out the window and curses.
"AH MAN. HEY, I HAVE TO GO. I GOTTA GET TO MY POST BEFORE SANS KICKS MY ASS FOR SLACKING." The patrons chuckle and Muffet waves goodbye. Pap gets up and leaves and starts walking in the snow. He thinks it's unusually quiet. Gosh, he sure did stay late. Not that he could tell if it was "night" or "day" really, but he knew that it'd been too long and monsters were probably getting to bed by now. Jeez, Sans will have his ass for this.
At Pap's feet he sees nearly filled in snow tracks. He can tell one pair of tracks are Sans' from the gait and size. The other one is smaller. The humans it looks like. Huh. The two met up then. Maybe they were inside the house.
"THAT SANS. TOO NICE FOR HIS OWN GOOD. WENT AND MADE FRIENDS WITH THE HUMAN. I KNEW HE WOULD THOUGH." Pap chuckles to himself and walks home. But as he gets closer he can see something odd about the angle of his house. Was he seeing things? The wreath—oh the door's open is all.
The door is open? Sans wouldn't just leave the door open, it'd let in snow and it'd ruin the carpet. He gets close enough to see the tracks. Sans and the human went in…. The human came out by themselves. So the human left the door open. But why? Don't they know that's rude? Hmph. He kicks his feet lightly on the door frame to remove any snow from the soles of his shoes and enters the house.
"HEY SANS, THAT KID LEFT THE DOOR OPEN!" He shrugs off any snow from his shoulders and as he walks in… there are strange grey tracks coming down the stairs. There are no sounds. No response from Sans, no kitchen noises or the little "pew pew" sounds Sans made when playing with his action figures... W…What the hell is this? He follows the tracks with his eyes and they go to Sans' room. His door is open….
"SANS... SANS?!" Papyrus begins to panic and he goes up the stairs three at a time. The tracks are from the kid! There's nothing like this in Sans' room, what the hell is it?
"SANS, HEY BRO YOU SLEEPIN' OR SOMETHING?" He does his best to keep the tone of his voice in check but when he gets to San's room and opens the door all the way… He's not sure… of anything.
The floor has a… a pile of dust on it…. With uh… with Sans' clothes on… on top of... it…
Papyrus doesn't move an inch….. He stares at the dust pile with wide eyes…
"SANS HEY MAN THIS SHIT ISN'T FUNNY. GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE RIGHT NOW AND CLEAN... THIS UP!" He calls into space…..
But nobody came.
"SANS… SANS?..." He finally dares to take a single step forward…. Then another…. And another.
Sans' clothing in a pile… He'd never do that. He'd always fold it and put it all away neatly… Sans would never just drop his cool battle body that they made together on the floor…
Papyrus can feel himself choking up. He feels sick… Even without a physical stomach he feels so sick.
This is NOT REAL…. This can NOT BE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW…
Only just realizing it, an orange tear falls down Papyrus' jaw and off his chin into the dust. And another and another…
"NO…" He says quietly to himself… With panicked breaths ripping through Papyrus' ribcage the real and harsh truth of his little brother being dead bulldozes through all of his senses. His own life flashes in his head. Every moment he spent with his brother. How much love did he give to his brother? Was it enough? Did he teach him enough useful things? Sans KNEW how to defend himself in a fight, so why… why? How many times did Papyrus irritate his brother with cigarettes and piles of dirty clothes on the floor? Did he eat enough of those terrible tacos? Was he able to make Sans laugh enough with his shitty jokes? Did he let Sans have enough fun when they'd throw snow at each other?
For nearly an hour Papyrus just sits there in front of the pile that was once Sans and he cries… He screams and he cries and he holds the dusty clothes close to his chest. Pap holds them so tightly part of his mind thinks he may break his own ribs.
No physical pain could ever match the absolute hell and anguish he was feeling right now. The only reason he kept living was because of his brother. Because of his awesome little brother that loved him so much and got him through the days.
Papyrus would never again hear the jingle that was Sans' genuine laugh. He'd never see that giant smile that almost literally lit up whatever space he was in. Never see those giant starry eyes. He'd never eat another terrible taco. He'd never get to feel those tiny but enthusiastic arms wrap around him in a warm hug ever again. He'd never ever ever again hear the concerned scolding for him to "put those death sticks out right this instant!" or the "wash that filthy mouth buster!" when he'd let out a curse. "Papyrus straighten your shoes out! Don't just kick them off when you come in!"
"Oh my god pick up your sock! Put it back where it belongs! NO not back on the floor!"
"Pap! Guess what I maaade?!... DING DING DING! TACOS! To the lucky winner!"
"Papyrus come OOONNNUH. Teach me how to use my magic better!... ! YOU WILL? YESS!"
"Good night Papyrus. Sleep well."
"NooooOOOO DON'T TICKLE ME NOOOO HAHAHAHA! I'll get you for this! THE GREAT SANS WILL GET HIS REVENGE!"
"Papyrus you'd BETTER not be sleeping at your station!"
"Papyrus?... Can I stay in here tonight?... I don't feel good."
"You… you actually tried to… make dinner? I'm… SO PROUD OF YOU PAPYRUS!"
"MWEHEHEHEH!"
"No no no no shhhh it's okay, I'm here for you Papyrus. I'd never EVER leave you. Don't be sad."
"I love you, Papyrus."
"Hey Papyrus?"
"Papyrus!~"
.
.
.
.
It was all quiet now. No tv, no pan scraping on the oven, no tiny feet walking along the carpet…
It was that kid… That kid did this… Those dreams he had… The visions. Why had it changed? The dreams he saw of the human weren't all that clear, but the crazy person had dust all over them… The nice kid had no dust on them…
This one though. This kid didn't have a speck of dust on them. So why the hell did it change?... Why did it have to change with HIS BROTHER?
That kid…
That DAMN KID….
"THEY'RE… THEY'RE FUCKING DEAD SANS… I…. I KNOW YOU WOULDN'T EVER HURT ANYONE… BUT…. BUT I'M NOT YOU. I CAN'T BE AS GOOD AND AS NICE AND AS P-PERFECT…." A sob shakes his bones and he squeezes the clothes harder… He looks up and he can feel a hot pain in his eye…
Papyrus stands up and starts folding the clothes, being sure to leave some dust in them. He puts them on the bed and then crouches down and begins to put the dust into his hoody that he pulls out to make a pouch. As much dust as he can grab with bones for hands.
Some dust on the racecar bed… some on the action figures…
He leaves the bedroom and closes the door behind him. The click of it hardens his resolve.
Some dust on Papyrus' clothes, the ones Sans picked out for him whenever they went shopping. Some dust in the kitchen, some on the couch where they'd watch TV and laugh at the terrible board games they got from the dump in waterfall.
Papyrus goes outside for just a second and dusts the wreath outside their door. The two had argued over which wreath was better. It was a stupid argument but it was quick. Only ten minutes of wandering silently in the dump later, they spotted the perfect wreath. They'd looked at each other with huge smiles and agreed that THAT was the one they liked best. It became a very nice night of sincere apologies, many hugs and cuddles on the couch and some terrible TV.
The memory makes Papyrus tear up again… He goes back in the house and hoists the makeshift pocket of his hoody over his head and the rest of the dust falls onto him.
"I HOPE I GOT ENOUGH STUFF FOR YOU BRO… SORRY. THIS IS PRETTY IRONIC ISN'T IT? YOU ALWAYS LIKED THE HOUSE NICE AND TIDY, AND HERE I AM PUTTING YOUR DEAD BODY ALL OVER THE PLACE… I… GUESS THAT'S A GOOD THING THOUGH. YOU LOVED SO MUCH…" He looks up at Sans' room again and walks up there. Papyrus goes in and goes to the folded pile of clothes. The tiny blue bandana was probably Sans' favorite part of that whole outfit. He wanted it to be a cape, but it was far too small. Papyrus had taken it and tied it loosely around his neck and that's probably the happiest he'd ever seen the little guy.
Papyrus takes it now and ties it around his own neck. It might seem dumb to any one else, but… at least this way he always had a piece of his brother with him. Ash falls away and is blown off in the breeze. The bandana would stay right there with him always.
And so with this he leaves, clicking the door shut again as the final familiar sound Papyrus would ever find comfort in again echoes in the silent house.
He gets to the front door, goes outside and locks it, then walks away. Two kids standing in front of the "Librarby" see Papyrus leave and are ready to greet and wave to him-… but… when they see Ash and the blue bandana around his neck… they know something horrible has happened… The two run off to Muffet's.