You could see it, the fear laying deep within his empty sockets as they rested upon you, the faint rattling of his bones whispering in your ears. "Easy, Pap," you coax softly, slowly stepping towards him as Papyrus pulled himself away, unknowingly forcing himself against the wall. The rattling bones becoming prominent as he desperately tried to eye a way to escape, his magic beginning to buzz softly around him. "Please don't use your magic, it's alright, really," you beg worriedly, fearing his safety and yours. Papyrus froze, hearing the collar chime from the command as you swore under your breath, his magic quickly dissipating. "Just take it easy, I'm not gonna bite," you say as he glares, trapped against the wall. From all of Muffets tales, you had assumed that he was an easy going monster with always some sort of retort, but found him to be quite out of character.
His bones fall silent as flinches from your touch; beginning to untangle him from the sheets wondering to yourself how one could become so entwined in sheets. You look up to him for a moment, his head turned with sockets shut, his cheek bones dawning an orange hue. It took a moment to fully realize that neither you or Muffet had thought to redress the poor guy, a red hue quickly flushing your cheeks, averting your gaze as you offer him the sheet back to him, somewhere sputtering out an apology. An eternity seemed to pass by before his sockets eyed the blanket, eager to take it back. Gradually, he reaches for it, but pulls back, only to look to you once more before snapping it from your grasp and keeping it close to himself as if it where the only thing keeping him grounded.
A soft sigh escapes you as you sit next to him, watching his body tense as he continues his glare, his expression more bitter than worried. "See, you're fine. I'm just here to help… Can you stand on your own?" you ask. It's stubbornness written across his face that tells you that he either can't or doesn't want to try. You roll your eyes a bit as you move a little closer to him, making him jump a bit. "Wrap your arm around me," you quietly offer. It takes a while for him to consider it before slowly wrapping a boney arm over your shoulders. A patient smile curls against your lips as you reach around him, taking hold of the sheet, before hoisting him up with the sheet firmly in place before leading him to sit back down on the bed. His arm quickly retracts to the sheet, keeping it as close as possible, even as you move away. "Surprised you're so quiet," think aloud as you pull up the quilt from the bed wrapping it around him with ease, all the while as he watches you curiously as you offer him his clothing, "Muffet said you were pretty talkative at her parlor in the Underground."
His expression seemed to soften some, "Muf-," he began but was cut off by a quick shock from his collar, making you jump with surprise. "What the absolute fuckery was that?! Jesus, fucking of all shitting Christ! It doesn't…. damn it. Talk when you want!" you demand in your shock, not even realizing the collar giving a light ding from the new command. You glare at the damned device, wishing to rip it off of the skeletons neck- but knew full well that it would dust him in an instant, and you certainly did not want that.
"ohm," you hear him hum, as it brings you out of your state of shock and thoughts of getting the collar off. His voice rough and nervous, his own shocked expression turning into glee, "i guess it was quite shocking.. nyehe, don't have to keep my mouth wired anymore. this is ex-static! you should charge me, forswitching up those commands." He pulled the blankets tighter to himself, orange tears creeping out from his sockets as he faintly began to laugh, a few laughs even escaping you from his word play. A curious thing to wonder how long he had been forced to remain quiet.
The beeping of the smoke detector quickly made him fall silent as you cried out, "SHIT! THE BREAD!" You raced off, turning off the ovens and throwing the burning goods into the outside garbage. Another groan escapes you as you open the window to let out the small amount of smoke, grasping that you are much more than a crumb behind schedule. However, your smile remained as you worked, distantly hearing Papyrus continue crack his terrible puns aloud- as it partially to annoy you, but you paid no mind. Between the jokes and the baking, time flew by quickly. Opening the bakery snuck up on you, but as you passed him temporary room, you noticed that he had nested himself comfortably in the bed once more, only soft snores escaping him. You shook your head, curious to know how much sleep this monster really needed. Although you continued on with your duties, you left the door ajar in case he was in need of anything.
How time always flies by in the bakery; doughnuts going out as soon as they were put out with a cup of coffee, chefs coming in and out to get the best bread they could find, and even a few monsters stumbling in to get a fresh batch of Muffet's Spider Cider or her baked treats. Very few staid in the tiny bakery front for more time than needed, but a select few would stick around and have a chat of the things going on around town- the hot button of the day was a raid just a few towns over. A few times you managed to peek in on Papyrus, the first being him getting dressed, the next of him poking around the room, and finally him seemingly back asleep with one of your cook books over his face. You wondered why he hadn't tried to walk out of the room to at least stretch, for safe keeping uttering the command that he was allowed to come out of the room when he wanted, but always kept the door ajar for him, something in your gut telling you to. The idea of calling Muffet came to mind, seeing as she had more knowledge of the other, but rejected the it for the time being. She would be in the next day after all!
Your name being called from the front of the bakery brings you out of your day dream once more. It was a large, rough looking man; a regular that often sat around closing time in the early afternoon as he had often worked nights. Joe, as he went by, would often chase off those who were giving you a hard time in the shop when they came, but was truly a teddy bear at his core. "Here for your morning cup of Joe," you greet, a sly grin taking hold of you.
"Never gets old," he chuckles, "Heard the news around town by now I'm assumin'?"
"Bit's and pieces, pretty preoccupied today," you tell him, pulling out his favorite pastry and pouring the cup of coffee.
"Not like you to be preoccupied, Y/N," he says, before taking a sip of his coffee.
"No need to worry about me," you tell him, quickly trying to redirect the conversation, "Officer Demi said it was a raid of some kind? Didn't catch much of the rest."
Joe goes silent for a spell, his face a bit grim. "Yeah… caught some guys still sellin' monsters for canned huntin' or somethin' three towns over. How in the hell someone would want to kill one of them is weird enough, but the place was covered in dust when they got their tho-WOAH!" he cried as the coffee spills over the mug.
You quickly grabbed a towel and clean it up and quickly apologize, keeping your eyes on the new puddle.
He nods a bit and continues, "It's all fine, Y/N. But, they caught 'em searching for the last one they let out. 'parently it was some super rare kind, usin' it's collar to try to track it back down. Curious to know how that collar re..activated?" he began to trail, his eyes locked on towards the kitchen area.
The rattling of bones quickly tells you who was exactly what Joe saw in that door way. You look to Papyrus; the skeleton attempting to back away from the man's gaze, clearly distraught over something. "Pap," you call softly, seemingly snapping the monster slightly out of his thoughts. You pull out the stool you kept for yourself behind the counter and offer it to him, begrudgingly the skeleton takes a seat, keeping his distance from the other.
Joe whistles a bit in amazement, "That's one way to solve a mystery, I guess. But, little lady, if Demi catches him with that thing round his neck, you're gonna be in one heap of a heckin' trouble."
"It's not like I can take it off Joe," you sigh.
"not unless I wanna be dust," Papyrus growls bitterly, his leg beginning to bounce restlessly as he carefully watches you and your customer, " nyeh, like that will happen"
"It… it is possible, you do know that, right?" you ask him, only receiving a huff in response.
Joe and you both make eye contact for a moment before looking back at a very peeved skeleton.
"what?" he spits, his patience running thin.
"Alrighty boney boy, if you think ya know everythin'; how many years have 'ur kind been on the surface for?" Joe asks him.
"five years," Papyrus growls out as he turns to you, muttering in spite, "are you selling me off or not?"
The comment stuns you for a moment, not expecting his sourness or his expectancy to be sold again. "Er, Pap," you begin to tread, as his scowl meets your worried expression,"I'm not selling you… that would be illegal."
The silence, confusion slipping into his expression as you continue, "It's… it's been illegal for a decade now, and your… well, your kind, monsters, broke through to the surface more than thirty years ago."
You can tell that the shock hits the skeleton hard. "Thir… thirty," the skeleton quietly repeats, your voice and Joe's muffling as his thoughts consumed him.. How in earth could he believe his "owners" lies for three decades? Every interaction, every odd occurrence over those last thirty years flashes before his eyes; it all made sense. He had followed every single command they had given him for three decades, all for a lie that had gone on for an eternity in that hell. How foolish could he really be? How?
"You… you alright there bone friend?" a thick voice inquires to Papyrus, as the collar begins to beep in warning as the skeletons magic flaring as a hazed memory rises over him forcing Papyrus freezes.
That dark figure looming over him, a crooked smile across its face, promising the skeleton that he would break him. Screams and sickening moans all heard from outside the walls, Sans calling for him somewhere, but he could only feel the hot breath of the disgusting figure above him. He couldn't move! Why couldn't he move? A RESET, to this cursed box? How was that even plausible?
Hands, those dirty hands began to explore him- groping, grabbing, and pulling where they could as the finger tips dance and grazed over each an every bone in his body, taking notes on his his most pleasurable areas, others teasing his most sensitive areas with ease. His magic betraying him as it pooled into his pelvis, tricked from the unwanted touches. His soul beginning to burn as the hands neared it, the human above him roughly thrusting into the pooled magic mass, forcing it to form into what the figure above him wanted. The thrusts were hard and violent as hand forcefully took hold of his very being once more, only a silent scream falling from him before darkness consumed him.
An ear piercing buzz quickly came along with the muffled cries of his name as the light began to pool around him once more. Something was wet against his face. Who's tears? As the light pooled in, he took in the wooden shelves filled with bread and rolls, coming to know that had never left the bakery. There had been no RESET. He wasn't in that concrete cell, nor would face tormentors he had for so long. He was safe, with you.