Ordinarily, being alone with a boy would be cause for your nerves to set in. For whatever reason you didn't feel those familiar chills or that stomach churning effect when you were with Papyrus. Maybe it was because he was so unusually friendly, eccentric, or goofy. His marching to your pace certainly gave you reason to be comfortable. You sensed no ill intentions from the armored skeleton. On the contrary, he was there to protect you.
A sly grin emerged from your face. You wanted to tease your new friend and you knew just how to do it.
"Hey, Papapapyrus?"
Papyrus winced at the call, but continued marching at your pace. "YOU ADDED TWO EXTRA 'PA'S THAT TIME."
You didn't break your gait. Putting on a remorseful face, you said, "Sorry, I bit my tongue."
His eye sockets narrowed at you. It wasn't a look of annoyance, but one of conviction. "NYEH… NO. YOU DID IT ON PURPOSE!"
Expecting this, you raised your vocal pitch an octave. Using whatever girlish charm you had, you teased him once more. "I bith my thongue."
The startled skeleton conjured eyes within his eye sockets, the pupils were looking in different directions. "IT WASN'T ON PURPOSE?!" He continued his march with you giggled by his side. It was so cute.
You put on a sheepish grin. "I can't help it. Everyone misspeaks sometimes. Or are you saying that you've never misspoken in your life?"
The both of you went back and forth for a while. The playful banter on your way home was so new to you that you could sparsely describe it. Fate being cruel, the walk home seemed much shorter than it normally was. In no time at all, you were in front of your apartment building. Papyrus seemed intrigued at your supposed dwelling, but snapped into attention as you approached the stairs.
You began to walk up the stairs to the door. Turning back to Papyrus, he didn't follow, just standing there obediently making sure you were able to get in. How thoughtful. Upon opening the door to the main lobby, he breathed out, his duty complete.
"Thanks for walking me home, Papyrus." You made sure to say his name right at least a few times. If you wanted this gag to keep going, you can't flub the line all the time. Not only that, he deserved a proper thanks for his generous actions.
He saluted in turn. "NO PROBLEM HUMAN! DO NOT BE A STRANGER! OUR DOORS ARE ALWAYS OPEN TO YOU, NYEH!"
Exchanging a wave of goodbye, you couldn't help but give Papyrus a lingering look as he skipped back the way he came. A sadness gripped you. The visit was finally over. You went inside your apartment building and as if you glided all the way, you entered your apartment and closed the door behind you.
You didn't have the will to go on your computer right away. Instead, you plopped onto your bed and relived the events that happened within the last day. It had been so fun. Now that it was over and you were alone again, you felt emptiness. After having experienced such cool, welcoming people, you felt sadness grip you again. You shook those thoughts from your mind. You weren't going to become dependent on them. Living on your own, making your own life, and contenting yourself with the company of your internet friends, that's how you managed and you could keep on going without them. There was no need for you to feel sadness now that your play time with your new cool monster friends was over until further notice.
Hanging out with them was pretty fun. It'll happen again, eventually.
After what seemed like a few hours, you fiddled with your phone. You had gotten some new messages from Alphys, Undyne, and Papyrus. Checking Alphys first, it was an eloquently written message about how nice it was to meet you and how you should visit again next week. Your heart fluttered a little bit. You would love to. Typing away your response, you agreed to join them again for another night, adding in that you'd like to see all of them again.
Next came Undyne's message. You could tell they weren't great at texting. The typos and autocorrected words were very apparent, as well as she would edit them in a whole new message. Despite this, she was kind enough to tell you both of their work schedules. Alphys had Saturday and Sunday off, while Undyne had Friday and Saturday off. You wished Undyne had included Sans and Papyrus' details, but that would have been a little weird. You were touched she cared enough to provide this information though. You replied with the appropriate thanks.
Lastly, you opened Papyrus' message.
"HELLO NEW FRIEND!"
"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAVE HAD MUCH ENJOYMENT WITH YOU! AS SUCH, AS YOUR NEW COOL FRIEND, I WELCOME YOU TO MESSAGE ME AT WHATEVER TIME YOU WISH! NOT ONLY THAT, BUT SHOULD YOU FEEL LONELY OR WANT TO HANG OUT, I COULD MAKE AN ALLOWANCE FOR YOU! ANYWAY! THAT'S ENOUGH MESSAGING! I'LL BE AT HOME ALL THIS WEEK BEING A COOL FRIEND! FEEL FREE TO MESSAGE OR COME BY TO HANG OUT!
NYEHFULLY YOURS,
-PAPYRUS"
Grinning from ear to ear, you turned off your phone display. You may want to take him up on that offer. With renewed vigor from your new friends, you pounced onto your computer chair and continued your usual activities.
You spent all Sunday being useless. On Monday, you decided to get some work done. You were self-employed, meaning you could work whenever the hell you wanted. As a freelance programmer, you could work the odd jobs for the money. After doing this for a while, you attained a reputation of being better than decent, and people posted jobs specifically for you. At the time, it was intimidating, but with flexible deadlines and as long as you didn't piss off too many people, you could make a decent living with it.
And you did make a decent living with it. Enough of a living to afford this piece of crap apartment and still have an emergency fund. Even though you neglected every other important aspect of adult life, you knew that money was very much vital to your existence.
Completing some quick jobs and making progress on a particularly big software took all day. Even though you did have a decently sized war chest of money in the bank after hoarding the good jobs for a while, you made it a habit to at least work once a week. If you got rusty, you'd be screwed, after all.
Night time rolled around and you called it a day. Well, working from late afternoon till two in the morning is enough, right? You wondered what you would do tomorrow. Thoughts of anime and video games sounded okay, but it didn't sound fun. If you had to be completely honest with yourself, you'd much rather sit next to Alphys and watch some more of that anime she had shown you. It wasn't just that the show you picked was good, but it was that her company made it all the better.
You took a longing look at your Skype. Sans hadn't sent you a damn thing, and you were far too intimidated to take the initiative. You frequently chatted with Alphys and Undyne as you worked, but their jobs were so demanding that they couldn't see you during their work days.
Papyrus…
The thought of arranging a hangout with a boy alone intimidated you a lot. However, you couldn't ignore how safe you felt when you were being walked back home with him. It wasn't like you were ignoring him! You had sent him a reply to his last message, and even said good morning to him today! Swallowing your nerves, you messaged him.
"Hey, Papyrus? You awake?"
"YES"
You laughed. He was so funny. He had replied almost instantly. His innocence and friendliness were refreshed in your mind, which made requesting his presence all the easier.
"Did you maybe want to hang out tomorrow? If you're not busy I mean."
You stared at the screen. He was typing back, you held your breath and braced for rejection.
"WOWIE! YOU MUST BE SERIOUS ABOUT HANGING OUT! OKAY! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO HANG OUT WITH YOU TOMORROW! SHOULD I PICK YOU UP OR DO YOU WANT TO COME HERE?"
Holy crap what did you just get into? You can't have him come into your apartment alone! The implications would be terrible! Plus you didn't see him that way. Never mind the fact that your place is absolutely trashed. But going to his place?! That would be… wait, he just said wanted to pick you up. Don't jump to damn conclusions, you freak.
"You can pick me up, did you want to do anything?"
You gulped, hoping that he wouldn't take it the wrong way.
"I WAS THINKING EXPLORING THE CITY. MAYHAPS CHECK OUT THE MALL?"
Good, he didn't get the wrong idea.
"That sounds fun. Yeah, pick me up tomorrow!"
"NYEH! I LOOK FORWARD TO IT, NEW FRIEND!"
Smiling at the sight of your title, you exchanged a meeting time and then goodnights with Papyrus. Now that you had plans besides being a lazy waste of life, you slept easy that night without feeling guilty. You didn't feel guilty because you were living a life of sloth, but you did feel guilty for not feeling guilty.
You sat on your apartment stoop, dressed smartly like you did in your initial visit with Alphys. You were five minutes early, just in case he would come early. While you waited, you mused to yourself how high your water bill will be this month since you've showered so damn much lately. You hummed to yourself, and as your phone buzzed its alarm to indicate it was meeting time, you heard some loud music approaching from the corner.
Papyrus came around the corner in a red convertible. He had the same attire he had on for the brunch, complete with his trademark red scarf blowing in the wind behind him. He rolled up in front of you, prompting you to stand. You saw him fiddle with his steering wheel, causing the loud upbeat music to die down for you. Dang, all he needed were sunglasses and that'd paint him as the ultimate cool dude.
The tall skeleton beckoned you to enter, while you heard the faint sound of a car door unlocking. Your hair wasn't prepared for this. Greeting him and hopping into the front seat clumsily, he drove from your apartment building. You were off for a day of fun.
"HELLO FRIEND! DISREGARD THE DOG THAT MAY OR MAY NOT APPEAR INSIDE THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT."
What?! You opened the glove compartment immediately. There was nothing there.
He stopped at a red light. Papyrus cackled lightly. "NYEH. HE LIKES TO POP IN AND OUT OF SPACE AND TIME. SANS DOES THE SAME THING. SOMETIMES I'LL BE CRUISING DOWN THE HIGHWAY, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN I'LL TAKE A LOOK AT MY REAR VIEW MIRROR AND SANS IS NAPPING ON MY BACKSEAT! THAT LAZYBONES… WHERE WOULD HE BE WITHOUT ME?" The light turned green and you felt the car accelerate again.
Suppressing a giggle, you decided to accept teleporting skeletons and animals to be the norm for monsters. You were worried that some serious animal cruelty shit was happening, but instead it was something much more innocent. Just like this skeleton. You almost felt ashamed for doubting him.
He was a damned good driver, all things considered. In the city that you live in, you were so used to people running lights, not watching where the hell they were going, and getting into disastrous accidents. Papyrus however, he followed the rules of the road, both written and unwritten. He didn't cut anyone off, expertly dodged the many potholes, and upon closer inspection you could tell he was acutely aware of every other driver on the road. Quite frankly, you were impressed.
"Did you drive a lot when you lived in the underground?" You asked loosely, when Papyrus executed a three-point turn flawlessly.
"I BEGAN MY DRIVING LESSONS WHEN MY BROTHER AND I CAME TO THE SURFACE WITH OUR FRIENDS." You could tell the skeleton was reliving that memory, but kept constant care and attention to the road. "YOU SEE, I HAD A DREAM OF DRIVING DOWN A LONG HIGHWAY WITH THE WIND IN MY HAIR AND THE SUN ON MY SKIN." You as tempting as it was, you clammed up. "SOMEHOW, AMAZINGLY, OUT OF NOWHERE, WHEN WE CAME OUT OF THE UNDERGROUND, MY BROTHER INSISTED ON GIVING ME DRIVING LESSONS! I DIDN'T EVEN ASK! HE EVEN MANAGED TO BUY ME THIS CAR WITH HIS SAVINGS? I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WE HAD A SAVINGS! PRETTY COOL, IS IT NOT?"
Grinning, you relaxed in your seat. "Not as cool as you, dude."
He rattled his bones excitedly. You reflexively suppressed a giggle. "NYEH, I HAVE A SHIRT JUST LIKE THAT!"
Chatting while he drove made you feel comfortable. He gave you details on the lessons Sans gave him. Most of it was trial and error in a parking lot, according to Papyrus, but then some 'lessons' were drilling some mantras into Papyrus' head. Some of them included "everyone on the road is trying to kill you", "pay more attention to traffic than the road signs", and "always have your headlights on". You noticed how many of these tips were designed to keep his brother safe. The idea of that shorter skeleton being so protective of his taller brother was so heartwarming and cute.
The both of you finally reached the mall. Once there, you browsed the selections of stores together in a relatively empty part of the mall. Using the directory, you decided to visit the Construct a Cat Workshop. He was marching at your pace again, this guy was adorable. You approached the food court, the workshop just being on the other side.
Boy, it sure was crowded here. There was angry yelling and a huge dense population of rowdy people trying to get their food. You hesitated before diving into the sea of people. This was a mistake.
You trembled while weaving between people, their voices echoing in your head. Too crowded, you didn't like this. Some dude bumped past you, separating you from Papyrus. Too many faces. Where did he go? The feeling of nausea and panic set in. Way too many people. Stop the faces. Dizzy. Chest hurts. You heard Papyrus call out your name, first in confusion, then in shock.
The next thing you knew, you were horizontal. Fluttering your eyes open, you also realized it was incredibly dark for the inside of a mall. Upon gathering your thoughts, you realized you were wearing sunglasses. Not only that, you were lying down between Sans and Papyrus, who were also wearing sunglasses. Upon the sound of you stirring, they seemed to relax even more than they seemed to already be. Which was impressive, as they both looked pretty cozy.
You scanned the somewhat empty area that was clearly still the inside of a mall. "Hey guys? Can I ask you a question?"
Both of the brothers grunted at the same time in response.
"Why are lying down in the middle of the mall?"
"you had a panic attack and passed out so pap moved you out of the crowd. we're lying here with you so that everyone would just think that we're chilling." Sans whispered loud enough for you two to hear.
Papyrus stretched his legs as he spoke quietly. "I CALLED FOR MY BROTHER'S AID WHEN I NOTICED. AS MUCH AS A LAZYBONES AS HE IS, HE'S VERY DEPENDABLE. YOU'VE ALRIGHT."
You've never felt so cared for in all your life. The usual depression that accompanies one of these episodes was entirely abated by these two cool dudes.
Even if the hangout would have been spoiled by that turn of events, the three of you were suddenly in front of the Construct a Cat store. It seems suddenly for you, as you were moved here by Papyrus, and that's what matters.
It was relatively empty besides a few kids and their parents browsing. Surely you'd be okay in here? You managed in the food market where you met Alphys, and you thrived with a group of nice people watching anime, you could muster this. Especially with Sans and Papyrus watching your back.
Maybe diving into a sea of loud angry people was an extremely stupid move, even with good company.
You steeled yourself, hoping against all odds that even if you do almost die again, you could get rescued by the skeletons. You stormed in with them following you. Only when you saw the enormous anime cat you realized you were in the middle of the store. The place had tons of touch screens and a multitude of stuffed animals. Not all of them were cats, there were bears and dragons too. You had no idea where to begin.
It was Sans who lead the two of you to build your stuffed animals. The touch pad machines were intended for choosing a voice for your new friend. After you and Papyrus had chosen your preferred voices, Sans guided you to the stock of stuffed animals. Papyrus chose a little white cat stuffed animal, while you picked a grey little goat. For whatever reason, they seemed amused at your choice. After picking the stuffed animal, you were given the option to accessorize it. You considered getting an anime themed shirt for your new goat, but you winced at the price.
"go ahead kid, I'll cover it."
You turned around preparing to object, but Sans was already helping Papyrus customize his new pirate themed cat. It was adorned with a skeleton shirt, an eyepatch, and a pirate hat. Not wanting to interrupt, you picked out the delta rune shirt for your little goat animal and assembled it.
Moments later, once you and Papyrus were done, Sans paid for everything before you could blink. Damned self-checkout systems. You clutched your goat to your chest and walked up to the two of them. They regarded you warmly.
"SO WHERE TO NOW?"
You didn't really want to stay in the mall. It seemed that the lunch rush was over and now the mall was crawling with unfriendly looking people. "Maybe let's get a bite to each, near our homes?"
"I CONCUR." Papyrus began to march towards the exit. "DRIVING WITH OUR NEW STUFFED ANIMALS SEEMS LIKE THE BEST IDEA, AND I'M FAMISHED. SANS, WILL YOU BE ACCOMPANYING US?"
"don't see why not. i could use some food too, its almost like i'm all skin and bones." Sans followed the marching skeleton towards the exit.
Rolling your eyes, you followed Papyrus and Sans to the exit. While Papyrus exited the store, Sans turned to face you. He was blocking your way.
"hey kid, think you'll be okay?"
Papyrus stood waiting in the entrance for the two of you, his pirate cat being balanced on his shoulder. You hesitated in answering Sans' question. The truth of the matter was 'probably'. Not wanting to say that though, you began to string together a reasonable more confident answer in your head.
Sans read you like a book. "if you want, i can just teleport us to the car?" He said, winking at you. You considered this for a moment, then nodded in agreement. Papyrus threw you a salute and made his way, presumably preferring to walk rather than take the shortcut.
"'ok, alright, just grab my shoulders with both hands." He lifted both of his shoulders up, not to shrug, but to indicate to grab them. Putting your new goat in your mouth, you began to reach both of your hands out to grab his shoulders as instructed. But then, right when you were going to touch them, you hesitated again. Was this okay?
"it's okay."
Well okay then. You grabbed Sans' shoulders.
"good, now i'm gonna grab your hips now."
What?! He didn't go right for it as you'd expected him to, instead he waited. It was only until you nodded timidly that he placed both hands on your hips. It almost looked like the two of you were about to start dancing. Instead of dancing however, you felt heard that familiar pop noise, and suddenly, you were both standing on top of Papyrus' backseat. That was it? No g-force? The hell was this magic? He had let go of your hips, but after about three seconds, you were still holding onto his shoulders. It wasn't your fault, you were thinking! You retreated to the front seat, goat in hand.
"nice and painless." He said, winking and sitting down in the front seat.
"You could have given me more warning about the hips thing, you know." You said, suppressing the growing nerves. No boy has ever touched you on the hips like that before.
"heh, don't make it weird. the whole teleporting thing is tricky."
That reminded you. You never heard of a teleporting monster before. Hell, the science behind teleportation was still being developed, but this guy could just do it freely by himself? Not to mention teleporting multiple people?!
"Hey Sans, how exactly do you teleport?"
"story for another day, pap's almost here." He laid down on the backseat, his feet up on the side of the car. "but i'll tell ya, not now though."
You peered out, and you could make out the red scarf donning skeleton running towards you, the pirate cat still on his shoulder. How had Sans predicted that? Not only that, how did Papyrus have such good balance?
"isn't my bro so cool?" You heard Sans call from the backseat, a hint of pride in his voice.
You grinned to yourself. "The absolute coolest."
In the rear view mirror, you swore you saw Sans' perpetual smile widen.
The rest of the hangout consisted of the three of you chatting. Papyrus had praised Sans' teleporting abilities once more, sparing you from another possible embarrassing situation. You had shifted uncomfortably at that, with Sans only chuckling in response. Once you reached back to your exit from the highway, the three of you chose a pizza shack nearby, having never heard of it. The food was good, but as always it was the company you had that made the experience much better than if you were alone. Sans cracked the occasional joke, Papyrus scolded him in between bites, and you giggled or groaned, depending on the caliber of joke. It was a good time.
In the car again, you had a good day. The sun was setting, and you felt it was time for you to go home. Papyrus acknowledged you, and within a few minutes and friendly banter, he dropped you off in front of your apartment.
Stepping out of the car gracefully, you turned around and regarded the two skeletons in the still running car. The sky was orange and red, which made Papyrus look all the more impressive with his red gloves and scarf. You gave him a feeble salute.
"Mister Pyrus, sir!"
Sans, who had been snoozing, opened his left eye to see what was about to happen.
"NYEH. THERE'S A PA, IN THERE, YOU KNOW." Papyrus said, with squinted eyes. He still had both hands on the wheel, with his cat never leaving his shoulder.
You held your new goat in your right hand, and with the left hand you rubbed your head solemnly. "Sorry, I bit my tongue."
"YOU DID IT ON PURPOSE!"
"bith m tang"
"IT WASN'T ON PURPOSE?!" He shouted, his eyeballs emerging again. God he was so fun.
"Anyway, Papyrus, we should do this again. I did have a lot of fun. Thank you so much." You said sincerely.
Your words reached Papyrus, and he nodded at you in a very cool manner. You turned to Sans, he had a bigger grin on than before, you could tell.
"It's been fun Sans, see you around too?"
"sure thing, pal. see ya."
Waving, you entered your apartment building. The sound of Papyrus' convertible driving off gave you a mild melancholic feeling in your chest. You shook it off and re-entered your room. You checked your phone and its messages. Being a good friend, you send both Sans and Papyrus a message on just how much fun you had and how you'd like to see them again sooner than later.
After finishing Sans' text, you made sure to add in an extra note: "Don't forget, you said you'd tell me about the you know what."
Throwing your phone onto your bed, you spent the rest of the night on the computer, wasting your life. The good feelings from your hangout with Papyrus and Sans lingered until the extremely late night hours. Once you decided it was time for bed, you grabbed your goat and plopped onto bed, ready to sleep. You gave your stuffed friend a squeeze.
The prerecorded voice came out. "Howdy!" You giggled a little and snuggled it, letting sleep take you.
Next Chapter: A dream!