In Which Frisk Gets A Little Frisky (because no one has ever made that joke before)

Papyrus was leaning against one of the supports at the front of his house and thinking to himself when, to his great surprise, the human actually showed up. It wasn't as if the human had never come by before, but they had not done so in a very long time. It was strange, but the human was acting very differently in this repeat at every other point in their adventure, so why would they stop now?

This would help him pass some time, at least. Maybe he could show the human such a great time that they would not kill anyone at all later!

No. The human always does a violence at some point.

"AH! HUMAN! HAVE YOU COME BY SO THAT WE MIGHT HANG OUT?" Papyrus asked, mustering up as much energy as he could on such short notice.

The human nodded.

"GREAT! I WILL TAKE YOU SOME PLACE THAT IS VERY SPECIAL TO ME, SOMEWHERE THAT I SPEND A LOT OF TIME! COME, FOLLOW!" Papyrus walked over to the edge of Grillby's before turning and walking back to his house. "WELCOME TO SCENIC MY HOUSE! COME INSIDE WHEN YOU ARE READY."

With that, Papyrus walked inside quickly. At least the house was clean. He still hoped that this would leave a good impression on the human even though they had seen it many times before.

The human followed inside a moment later and headed straight for the kitchen sink. Papyrus was a little confused until he chased the dog away and heard the distinct sound of a trombone coming from upstairs. Sans was here. That meant he had to be extra careful to act normally.

"SANS! STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!"

Apparently hearing all that they needed to hear, the human put their hand in one of Papyrus's mittens and pulled him upstairs towards his bedroom. His arm twitched a little at the first sudden pull, but he otherwise let himself be led around. Obviously the human knew that they needed to enter his room before they could commence the hang out.

Once in the room, the human opened his closet. It was a little invasive, but Papyrus didn't really have anything to hide. "IT IS JUST A CLOSET, HUMAN. THERE ARE NO SKELETONS IN THERE." The human stared at the open space for a moment before leaving it open and walking back towards him.

An open door like that did not look very tidy. Papyrus moved to go close it.

"D-Don't." the human said. It was the first time that Papyrus had heard the human speak.

"WHY EVER NOT, HUMAN? IT WOULD LOOK TIDIER WITH THE DOOR CLOSED. THEN THE WALLS WOULD MAKE A NICE UNINTERRUPTED RECTANGLE." Papyrus stated. It bothered him a little when things weren't just right.

[I want to make sure that no skeletons get back in there.] The human signed quickly. An odd request because they would easily be able to see if he walked over there, but Papyrus respected their wishes. It would only be for half an hour at most, right? He could handle the closet door being open for that long, no matter how annoying it was.

Papyrus walked back over to where the human was. The human signed their appreciation.

Papyrus gestured around his room, "SO HUMAN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO BEGIN OUR HANG OUT?"

Outside Papyrus's door, Sans was cursing his luck. The human didn't want him listening in. As nice as it – they were being this time, they were still a bit of an annoyance.

Once it was established that the human was wearing clothes, the human interrupted. Papyrus was secretly glad that he didn't have to pull off his battle body just yet. He didn't want to risk another person seeing his marks.

[Can we talk and get to know more about each other first?]

The friendship meter was sitting ignored in the corner of their vision.

"A REQUEST? CERTAINLY WE CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH OTHER BEFORE GOING FURTHER IN OUR HANG OUT! AS IT SAYS LATER ON IN MY BOOK, COMMUNICATION IS KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIP!" Papyrus announced. It was becoming easier to create the false enthusiasm, "I SUPPOSE THAT, AS THE HOST, I SHOULD START! I KNOW THAT I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, BUT I DO NOT YET KNOW YOUR NAME, HUMAN! WHAT ARE YOU CALLED, YOUNG HUMAN?"

The human's eyes shifted nervously as if this was an awkward question for them. After a quick moment of thought, the human said their name, "Call me... Frisk." The two moved over to the bed to sit down.

"FRISK? THAT IS A GREAT NAME! A GREAT NAME WORTHY OF A GREAT FRIEND OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

[How did you learn sign language?] Frisk asked. It was something that they had been curious about for a long time.

"WHAT DID I LEARN?" Papyrus asked.

[Sign language.] Frisk repeated.

"I AM NOT SURE WHAT YOU ARE ASKING ME. I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THOSE HAND MOTIONS. I APOLOGIZE THAT MY SKILLS AT READING HANDS HAVE GOTTEN RUSTY." Papyrus felt guilty. What if this made the human angry and made them start doing violence again? That would make him worse than the worthless that he already was. It wasn't bad enough that he couldn't stop the human, but he had to go and make them want to attack people.

[S-I-G-N-L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E. You called it reading hands?] Frisk looked curious, not angry. Papyrus felt like he had dodged a bullet.

"SPEAKING IN HANDS IS WHAT YOU ARE DOING BECAUSE YOU ARE USING YOUR HANDS TO SPEAK. HUMANS CALL IT SIGNLANGUAGE? I LEARNED IT PARTLY FROM SANS WHEN I WAS YOUNGER! IT WAS LIKE A SECRET CODE! EVEN IF MANY OTHER MONSTERS KNEW IT TOO. HE TAUGHT ME ALL SORTS OF COMPLICATED GESTURES AND WORDS BUT I LEARNED THE BASICS FROM... UH... FUNNY, I DON'T REMEMBER. IT FEELS LIKE I ALWAYS JUST KNEW."

Frisk leaned forward. It was interesting to hear about Papyrus when he was a kid.

[What else did you do when you were a kid?]

Papyrus was a little startled at the direction of the conversation, but decided to go along with the Frisk's whims. It might even be fun to talk about his childhood. "WELL, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WAS NOT ALWAYS SO GREAT. SOMETIMES, I DID NOT HAVE FRIENDS AROUND LIKE I DO NOW, SO I WOULD SPEND TIME FIGURING THINGS OUT BY MYSELF, LIKE GRAVITY! ANY TIME I WANTED COMPANY THOUGH, I COULD ALWAYS GO AND TALK TO SANS! HE IS A GOOD BROTHER." Papyrus smiled at the memory.

"HE DID NOT EVEN COMPLAIN ABOUT ANY OF THE STUFF THAT I DID, EVEN WHEN HE THOUGHT IT WAS WEIRD. OF COURSE, HE DIDN'T TELL ME IT WAS WEIRD, BUT I FIGURED IT OUT LATER THAT SOMETIMES THERE ARE THINGS THAT MAKE OTHER PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN THEY SEE YOU DOING IT.

"SO I FOUND OTHER THINGS TO DO INSTEAD! SANS ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT I WAS VERY CLEVER, AND IT TOOK ALL OF MY MENTAL POWER TO LEARN WHAT I WAS DOING THAT PEOPLE DIDN'T LIKE." He wouldn't admit that it had taken a very long time to learn. Especially because Sans was busy actually working at that point in their lives. He wasn't always around to explain why people acted the way that they did around the younger Papyrus.

"ONE THING THAT PEOPLE DIDN'T LIKE AT ALL WAS WHEN I WOULD WALK AND TALK TO MYSELF. I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY, BUT I LEARNED THAT WHEN PEOPLE WERE LOOKING AT ME THEN, IT WAS NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE ADMIRING MY GREATNESS. THEY JUST THOUGHT I WAS WEIRD.

"SO WHEN I WAS LITTLE, INSTEAD OF TALKING TO MYSELF, I WOULD RUB AND PINCH THE INSIDE OF MY MITTENS. NO ONE ELSE COULD SEE IT, SO IT DID NOT BOTHER THEM. AND IT WAS VERY SOFT AND SQUISHY. I LIKED THE FEELING A LOT, BUT THEY ARE TOO SMALL FOR ME NOW. HUMAN! WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY THEM? I STILL HAVE THEM." Papyrus offered.

Frisk nodded enthusiastically. Papyrus went into his closet and took the box off the top shelf. He kept his favourite childhood things in the same box that he kept his chisel. The human probably wouldn't think anything of it, though.

[If they are too small, what do you do now?] Frisk asked.

"NOW I HAVE MY SCARF! IT HAS TWO DIFFERENT TEXTURES ON IT AND BOTH ARE VERY SOFT AND PLEASING."

Papyrus started removing items from the box and organizing them on his bed. The mittens were at the bottom. Their deep blue colour had faded with time and use. It had been a long time since his hands were small enough to fit into them.

"YOU SHOULD FEEL THE TEXTURE ON THE INSIDE! IT IS WONDERFUL!"

Frisk reached out to take the gloves from Papyrus's hand and their sleeves pulled back a little bit. The gloves were dropped on the bed below. There were some strange red lines on the human's arm.

"HUMAN! I MEAN FRISK! IS THAT KETCHUP?" Papyrus asked. If ketchup came from inside humans, then he would have to have a stern talk with Sans about what he liked to drink.

Frisk shrunk back quickly, pulling their sleeves up to their hands. They glanced over at the bedroom door and stared for a moment before speaking quietly, "Switch... speak hands... please?"

"YOU WANT ME TO SPEAK IN HANDS?" Papyrus asked.

Frisk nodded.

Papyrus swallowed. That would mean taking off his mittens. He couldn't properly speak in hands if his fingers weren't visible, and his sleeves wouldn't cover all the marks he'd made yesterday. "I'M... NOT SURE THAT I CAN DO THAT. I'M A LITTLE RUSTY AND I... UH... I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN DO IT ANYMORE."

"Try?" Frisk asked, "Important."

"UM... MAYBE? WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME WHY YOU HAVE KETCHUP ON YOU? I CAN GET YOU A CLOTH TO CLEAN IT UP IF YOU WOULD LIKE. IT WOULD NOT BE VERY HOST-LIKE OF ME TO HAVE MY GUESTS SITTING AROUND DIRTY WHEN I AM PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF HELPING THEM CLEAN!" Papyrus offered. He wondered why the human was being so evasive. Or was it defensive?

Frisk shook their head vigourously. They paused for a moment in thought and Papyrus waited. If the human wanted to speak, he would let them do so in their own time. Slowly, Frisk let go of their sleeves and began to sign, [Humans don't leak ketchup.]

Papyrus raised an eyebrow, silently asking the human to continue, [It is dry blood from an injury.]

"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? THE GREAT PAPYRUS DID NOT AIM ANY ATTACKS IN THAT AREA WHEN WE FOUGHT." Papyrus asked. He wanted to help the human while they were still being nice.

Frisk was still for a long time. They seemed to be having a conversation with themselves in their head. If they didn't want to tell him yet, then it must be because they haven't reached the friend zone yet. If they did, then maybe they would reach the friend zone sooner.

After a few minutes had passed, Frisk looked back at Papyrus and gave him a short answer, [I did it myself. Before I came here.]

"BEFORE YOU CAME TO SNOWDIN?"

[Before I came underground.]

The human did this too? It saddened Papyrus greatly to think that there was someone else who had to do this too. Maybe this was why the human was so violent. Maybe taking it out on themselves wasn't working anymore and they were choosing the wrong way to try to make themselves feel better again. Papyrus was determined to help the small human. Maybe this time, with his help, they wouldn't do any violence at all! All of this would repeat some day, and then it wouldn't matter anymore, but there could at least be one time where the Frisk was nice to everyone. It could be something to hope for.

Papyrus was determined to help. He had to make this human feel happier. "I'M SORRY HUMAN, THAT YOU FELT THAT YOU HAD TO DO THAT. HOWEVER, I THINK I HAVE SOMETHING THAT CAN HELP YOU! WHEN YOU ARE HANGING OUT, THE BOOK SAYS THAT YOU NEED TO GIVE A GIFT TO THE OTHER PERSON TO SHOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE ABOUT THEM AND THEIR FRIENDSHIP. FRISK, IF YOU WOULD LIKE, YOU CAN HAVE MY OLD MITTENS! THEY SHOULD COVER UP NICELY!" Papyrus took the forgotten mittens off the bed and placed them in Frisk's lap.

Frisk was surprised. [You aren't asking me why?]

Papyrus shook his head and smiled, "I BELIEVE THAT IT IS WHAT YOU WOULD CALL 'NONE OF MY BUSINESS' UNLESS YOU WANT TO SAY."

Frisk was confused. That isn't how people are supposed to react when they find out bad stuff. People usually freak out and start hurting them and bothering them with all sorts of uncomfortable questions that they don't want to answer. Papyrus wouldn't hurt them, but he seemed like he would be the type to go overboard with worry. Instead he was being kind and respectful and even helping them hide it. Something wasn't adding up. This was completely out of character.

It's not totally out of character. You just haven't gotten to know him yet. How do you know what his character is?

The voice had a point. They didn't really know much about Papyrus until today. Just that he liked puzzles and spaghetti and wanted to join the Royal Guard so that he could help people.

Still, even if being overly enthusiastic about helping people wasn't part of his character – it most definitely is – then why would he not freak out about the scars? Toriel saw some of the scars just under their hairline once and nearly burned the pie she was holding. They were just glad that she hadn't seen the rest of their body. Frisk never took off the bandage before leaving the ruins again.

Hint to shorty: ask him about his own mittens. Why would a skeleton need mittens? Why would he still need to wear them inside?

The voice had a very good point.

[Why do you wear your mittens inside?]

It was Papyrus's turn to look around. The human was definitely being strange this time, but it was strange in a good way. Also, the human had trusted him with a secret of theirs, so shouldn't he do the same? It would also probably make them feel less alone, and maybe if they felt less alone, then they would call and talk to him instead of doing violence.

There was definitely no selfish motive to talk to someone who also knew the pain.

Papyrus took off the mitten on his right hand and began to speak with it. Frisk's eyes widened a little at the chips in the bones, [Me too, Frisk.]

Frisk looked sadly at their friend, and their eyes filled with determination.

[Does Sans know?]

Papyrus looked scared and started frantically shaking his head, [No. He can absolutely never know!]

Frisk was confused. [But you're brothers.]

[Someone has to keep him sane through all this. He can't know.] Papyrus was adamant about this.

[Through all what?] Frisk asked. They had never seen Papyrus backpedal so fast.

He began making the beginnings of various gestures while he was trying to figure out what to say. He didn't want to make the human feel worse than they already must, but he couldn't think of a good lie to tell them. He hated lying anyways. After considering it for a moment, Papyrus decided to tell them the truth. [The repeats.]

[You know about the resets?] Frisk was shocked. They hadn't seen that one coming.

[All of them.] Papyrus admitted.

Frisk looked down at the ground and signed a few apologies. They didn't really want to hurt Papyrus. He was always nice to them, even the time that they killed everyone. [How?]

Papyrus shrugged.

[And Sans doesn't know?]

[He can't. It would hurt him too much.] Papyrus said. He hoped that the human wouldn't say anything to Sans later.

[Maybe you should tell him?] Frisk suggested, [How bad could it be?]

[Sans...] How to word this, [He is not one who likes to listen much.]

Frisk could agree with that. They tried to apologize to him in the judgement hall, but he just took that opportunity to kill them. They made it as obvious as possible that it was them and not the force using the voice to control them, but he didn't seem to care about the difference.

They nodded their agreement. Then an idea came to mind. [Your book says that friends give each other gifts to show how much they value each other's friendship, right?]

Papyrus nodded, glad for the subject change.

[I have something for you then. Keep them in order, though.] Frisk dug through their pockets and found the five nice cream wrappers that they had. They arranged them in an order that they thought would make sense. [You can look at these any time you feel bad.]

Frisk passed the wrappers to Papyrus so that he could read them

You're just great!
Is this as sweet as you?
*Illustration of a hug*
Love yourself! I love you!
Have a wonderful day!

Suddenly, the friendship meter was pushed beyond capacity. Papyrus stared in shock. Why was the human being so kind?

There was a weight on his lap and a pressure around his sides. Papyrus looked down to see the small human hugging him. He gently returned the hug. The two sat together for a moment before releasing each other.

Papyrus had tears in his eyes. [I will look at this every day.]

Frisk beamed. Papyrus looked really happy. Mission accomplished.

"SO, HUMAN, DID YOU GET MY NOTES FROM EARLIER?" Papyrus asked, putting his mitten back on.

Frisk nodded.

"KNOW THAT THE OFFER IS ALWAYS OPEN. WE HAVE A COUCH AND A SPARE ROOM ALSO KNOWN AS THE CAPTURE ZONE. PROPER BEDDING CAN BE PROVIDED WITH ENOUGH NOTICE, IF YOU NEED SOME PLACE TO STAY."

It was Frisk's turn to start tearing up. No one had offered them a place to stay before except Toriel. But she was different. They weren't sure before if Papyrus had meant it.

[You really mean that?]

"OF COURSE, HUMAN! WHEN THE GREAT PAPYRUS OFFERS HIS HOSPITALITY, HE MEANS IT ONE HUNDRED PERCENT! MAYBE EVEN TWO HUNDRED PERCENT! YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME TO STAY HERE! WHAT KIND OF MONSTER WOULD I BE IF I MADE YOU STAY OUTSIDE WITH NO PROTECTION?"

[A human one.] Frisk replied glumly.

"OH. I SEE." Papyrus was startled a little by the honesty. Did his friend have such a hard life before they came to the Underground? How did they even come here in the first place? "WELL NEVER FEAR, FOR THERE ARE NO HUMAN MONSTERS DOWN HERE! JUST REGULAR MONSTERS AND A HUMAN FRIEND! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Frisk started giggling. They seemed happier again. Mission accomplished.

"IN THAT CASE, WHY DON'T YOU SPEND THE DAY EXPLORING OR DOING WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU HUMANS LIKE TO DO? JUST BE BACK BEFORE SUPPER. I NEED TO MAKE MY REPORT TO UNDYNE, BUT DO NOT WORRY! I WILL TELL HER THAT SHE SHOULD NOT HARM YOU. YOU ARE A VERY GOOD HUMAN!" Papyrus was determined to help his friend as much as he could, "MAYBE YOU COULD EVEN JOIN US FOR TRAINING TOMORROW! IT WOULD BE A LOT OF FUN!" [And it usually went very well before. Even when her house burned down.]

Frisk started laughing in agreement.

"SINCE OUR FRIENDSHIP LEVEL HAS IMPROVED SO GREATLY, I BELIEVE IT WOULD NOT BE WRONG TO SAY THAT WE HAVE MADE IT TO THE FRIEND ZONE. TO COMEMMORATE THIS ACHIEVEMENT, WOULD YOU CARE TO SHARE WHAT UNDYNE CALLS A 'FIST BUMP OF SOLIDARITY?'" Papyrus asked hopefully.

Frisk looked confused.

Papyrus explained, "SHE SAID IT MEANS WE'RE FRIENDS." He held out his mittened fist for Frisk.

They eagerly put on the blue mittens and bumped their fist against his. The two smiled widely.

Papyrus packed his things back into the box (except the mittens that he gave to Frisk) and puts it back where it belongs. Finally, he is able to close the closet door.

"LET'S GO, HUMAN!"

The two make their way outside while a frustrated, angry, and confused Sans teleports back into his room to hide and think. Why did Papyrus apologize to the human for what they did? He should not be apologizing because that kid felt that they had to kill everyone. He should not be giving them gifts to cover up and keep warm. He even offered the shelter. And when they started talking in hands, that was really clever on the kid's part. How did they know he was listening? What did those two say to each other? It was another puzzle for him to solve. If the kid was manipulating his brother under the pretense of helping him, then they were gonna have a very bad time.

Papyrus left the human at the edge of Waterfall and walked over to where he needed to meet Undyne.

It wasn't too long before she showed up as well.

"HELLO UNDYNE! I AM HERE TO DELIVER MY REPORT!" Papyrus stated dutifully.

"Did you capture the human?" She asked.

"YES, I DID MANAGE TO CAPTURE THE HUMAN! HOWEVER... THEY MANAGED TO ESCAPE." Papyrus explained.

It couldn't be seen through the armour, but Undyne's face held a look of sadness. She felt bad for Papyrus. He dealt with all this shit and then the human got away. It must be tough for him. "Sorry man, better luck next time, though?"

"WELL, I DID MANAGE TO TALK TO THE HUMAN AND THEY SEEM LIKE A VERY NICE PERSON. MAYBE ALL THREE OF US COULD EVEN BE-"

The glare did penetrate her helmet. "I will not make friends with human scum. We only need one more soul to break the barrier."

"I CAN UNDERSTAND WANTING TO CAPTURE THEM. AFTER ALL, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ONCE HAD INTENTIONS OF DOING SO AS WELL. HOWEVER, THEY ARE NOT A BAD HUMAN. PLEASE TRY NOT TO HURT THEM!" Papyrus begged.

Undyne sighed inwardly. Of all the things she does for this nerd, "I can't help it if they walk into the spears I throw in front of them."

"THAT'S NOT A PROMISE."

"I'll at least give them a warm-up." Undyne compromised. It was the best he was going to get. Papyrus knew that the human could handle Undyne. They had done so before. He just had to keep up appearances now.

"SO YOU WILL NOT TRY TO HURT THEM? THAT IS GREAT! I WILL HELP YOU IN ANY WAY THAT I CAN!" Papyrus happily ran back towards Snowdin.

Undyne shook her head. That human was going to have to die, and it would probably be at her hands. She only hoped that Papyrus would think it an accident so that she can spare his feelings. She knew that he was smarter than that, but she could still hope. He obviously really likes the human.

Only he could make friends with the enemy.

She was relieved that it didn't get him killed.

Did those plants just move?

A/N: To answer one of your questions Sans: they could see your shadow under the door.