Chapter 2
Gentle Coaxing
AN: Yay, finally some interaction between these two.
Sorry if this chapter is a little slow moving. I was planning on combining this chapter with the next one but I thought it would be waaaay too long that way. So I cut it in half.
The next one should be coming soon.
Also, do you guys think papyrus is a little out of character here? I'm kind of worried about butchering the characters personalities. Let me know. Anyways, enjoy!
This…wasn't how she'd expected things to go. But then how often does reality live up to our expectations? Seeing as how she was practically trespassing, human had expected a much more hostile meeting. True, there wasn't any sort of law that forbid humans and monsters from intermingling. But it was something that just didn't happen. Humans steered clear of the monster part of town and monsters did likewise. After all, humans had imprisoned the monsters in an underground prison for centuries. And monsters were said to be capable of ripping the souls right out of people's bodies. Obviously there would be some bad blood between them. The human had expected anger, disgust, which would quickly escalate to violence. The monster would rush her, shout threats and obscenities, and maybe even call for his pals to help him run her off. And when that happened, the human would fight, flee, beg—whatever it took for her to escape in one piece.
She was ready for aggression—but not for was what actually followed.
"OH! GREETINGS SMALL…" –he looked her up and down- "…TRASH-DWELLING HUMAN! WHAT CAN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DO FOR YOU?" The monster beamed, bending down as if to get a better look at her—glove covered hands wresting on his knees.
The human took an automatic step backwards. What? She tried to absorb what he'd said—to make sense of it. But her mind kept hitching over the phrase 'trash-dwelling'. Her eyes roved over the monster groping for understanding. He wore thick bright red rain boots and some type of armor. The armor was a bit scuffed and dirty—probably from hunkering around in the trash. The skeleton shifted under her gaze, smiling waning. The human blinked. Bollocks. He…he'd asked a question hadn't he? The human opened and closed her mouth dumbly, trying to formulate a polite way of saying 'please don't murder me', but brain didn't seem to be working right. Nervous beads of sweat began to form on the skeleton's forehead. He was waiting. Say something.
"You've got a McDonalds wrapper stuck to your shoulder" the human blurted out. Why? Of all things was that what her mind chose to focus on? The skeleton faltered eyes dropping. And sure enough, he had a grilled McChicken wrapper sticking to the roundish armor of his left shoulder. He snatched the wrapper up, crumpled it, and tossed it over his shoulder. It left a smear of ketchup in its wake. With a nervous sort of laugh He began brushing himself off, looking anywhere but at the human.
"u-uh you've….you've got a little-." She gestured vaguely to the ketchup on his shoulder. He paid her the briefest glance before pulling out a Kleenex and rapidly began wiping his arm clean.
"BETTER?" he asked.
"you got it…"
Another beat of silence. What now? The human was at a loss. All those perfectly reasonable courses of action she'd considered—like running for it or screaming her head off—now seemed kind of…well, rude. Seeming to feel that this exchange was quickly devolving into another staring match, the skeleton decided to break the silence.
"EHEM.." He cleared a nonexistent throat, then shifted into his previous confident pose.
"I…I SEE YOU HAVE BEEN RENDERED SPEECHLESS SMALL HUMAN. A PERFECTLY NORMAL RESPONSE IN THE PRESENSE OF ONE SO MARVELOUS AS THE GREAT—"
"What happened to the dog?" The human hadn't meant to interrupt and she winced, hearing the accusation in her own voice. Bollocks, where did her manners go? The monster's skull drew back, smile falling.
"I…I DON'T KNOW EXACLTY." He admitted. "I HEARD IT WHINING DOWN THERE WHEN I CAME TO DISPOSE OF MY GARBAGE. I THINK IT MIGHT BE HURT." the skeleton tapped his fingers together. "IT EH…IT WON'T COME OUT."
The human drew in her chin. There were few things she took pride in. But her ability to read emotions had always been something she was good at. Hell, It was probably the only thing she was good at. That's how she came to work at the local animal shelter. She knew how to read body language. And this monster, for the life of her just seemed so….genuine. Was that the reason she hadn't run away from the beginning? Her eyes flicked from the worried skull above her to the dumpster where the injured animal hid. She set her chin. Alright. Time to do something ballsey…
"Let me see." She strode towards the dumpster and the skeleton moved aside to let her pass as she knelt down. She could feel the monster hovering over her, watching the scene. Ignore it. Just focus on the dog… The dog looked like it was on its last leg. It was small, mangy— some kind of shiatzu- pug mix. It had a thick metal wire tied around its neck so tight that it had cut into its flesh, leaving it bloody and raw. The fur was so matted and overgrown that it seemed to have trouble seeing clearing through it. The dog might have been white or a light grey, it was hard to tell under all that grime. It let out a whine and the human felt a stab of anger. Who would leave an animal in this kind of condition? She reached a hand slowly, coaxingly towards the opening.
"WAIT!" suddenly an enormous gloved hand grabbed the human's wrist and yanked it back. The scream she'd been holding in, escaped from her throat and she yanked her arm. The skeleton yelped and released her, fumbling back and falling back on his rear. Her hand raised reflexively to her chest and she spun around to face him. The skeleton winced, looking for the life of him like she had just slapped him.
"I-I'M SORRY…" the skeleton whispered. Or at least, as close to a whisper as someone like him could manage. He wrung his hands. "I THE GREAT PAPYRUS… DO NOT THINK YOU SHOULD GET TOO CLOSE TO THE DOG." awkwardly, the skeleton pulled off one of his gloves to reveal the white hand bones underneath. a long splintering crack running the length of his palm—it almost looked like cracked china. The human's eyes widened. that's where the dog bit him… "I…I DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHY, BUT I FEEL IT IS BEST IF YOU KEEP AWAY FROM ITS MOUTH…"
Oh…Ouch. The human felt a wave of guilt for screaming. She'd never have guessed that an eight and a half foot skeleton could pull off a 'kicked puppy' look with such finesse. She ran a hand over her face, taking in a deep breath.
"You want to help the dog right?"
"OH YES, YES OF COURSE! BUT IF IT IS A MEAN DOGGIE, THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, INSIST THAT YOU STAY AWAY FROM IT." He wrung his hands, then reached hesitantly towards the opening. "HERE—I WILL PULL THE DOG OUT. YOU KEEP YOUR TINY HANDS BACK…"
Without thinking she grabbed his wrist.
"No, don't. It's okay really. I do this for a living, " she tried to sound reassuring. "and I don't think its really a mean dog, its just scared is all." The skeleton cocked his head as if the concept was entirely forign to him. She tried to clarify. "Y'see, sometimes when animals get scared they act aggressively to try and scare off whatever is scaring them. They're just protecting themselves."
"I WOULD NOT HURT THEM. I AM THEIR FRIEND…" The skeleton mumbled. The human bit her lip. She felt like she was talking to a child. How should she put this…?
"It just… doesn't know that you're its friend yet. When an animal is scared, it can take time for them trust. Especially if they're hurt like this one. So trying to reach in and grab them isn't going to work."
The skeleton reluctantly obeyed. He raised his palms frowning at them miserably.
"THEN…WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?"
The human pointed to the other side of the dumpster.
"Shh. Sit over there so you can box it in if it tries to escape out the side. Let me handle this. And keep your voice down. U-um, I mean please…" she flushed, realizing what she was doing. Here she was, a tiny 5-foot-nothing girl barking orders at a giant skeleton monster as though he was one of her little brothers. If the skeleton was offended by her slip, he didn't show it, but quickly scrambled- half crawling over to the spot she'd indicated. He sat down and drew his knees up under his boney jaw. The human took a deep breath and went to work.
Earning the trust of a frightened, injured street dog wasn't a quick process. It involved a lot of waiting, a lot of coaxing and—in the human's experience—a lot of treats. She took It slow, reminding herself of the steps. don't stare or look directly into its eyes. Keep your distance at first. use soft words and coaxing to get it comfortable. Show it that you're gentle. Offer it treats. The human patted into her bag and pulled out the ham sandwich she'd packed for lunch. She tore off tiny pieces and tossed them under so that they landed close to the dog's snout. After several minutes of soft words and coaxing, the dog brought his snout closer and gave the sandwich a sniff, then it snapped the food up. The second it swallowed Its nose instantly snuffled around for more. The human put a little into her hand and held it out to the dog.
There was a soft cooing sound. The skeleton—true to form—hadn't moved so much as an inch from where she pointed. But when he saw the dog begin to crawl towards the proffered hand, he clapped his palms together, his entire body practically vibrating with joy. Gingerly the dog took the bite of sandwich. The human risked brushing her fingertips over its snout. The dog gave them a lick.
The skeleton rocked trying his hardest not to make a sound. his converse sneakers clicked together eagerly and his bony hands clasped in front of his mouth to suppress any unbidden chirps of glee. The human continued to pet and coax the dog until it was all the way out into the open. It wiggled forwards and stuck its face into the human's side.
Her entire body relaxed and she turned to see the skeleton gaping at her in wonderment, as though she had just pulled a rabbit out of her hat. He made a move like he wanted to touch the dog but then lowered his hand uncertainly.
"DO YOU THINK HE'LL LET YOU PICK HIM UP…?" Papyrus asked. The human tried to shift the dog closer and it practically melted into her arms. She smiled, and gave him a nod.
"GREAT!" he leapt to his feet motioning towards the apartment complex. "COME HUMAN, BRING THE DOG INSIDE."
The human's smile froze as she remembered where she was. And who she was with. Oh. Oh this was sketchy. True she'd warmed up considerably to the big goofy skeleton. But going into the apartment of a monster she just met? Hell, this right here was 52 original flavors of sketch. She looked at the skeleton's hopeful face, then at the tired animal curled up in her arms, then she sighed. Screw it. In for a penny, in for a pound. She nodded.