"Damaged Soul"

"Chapter 6: The Not-A-Date"

"SOMEONE SHOULD INVENT THE 'SPAGHETTI PIZZA'," Papyrus commented as he and Adelle walked along and ate their slices of pizza. The 'pizza by the slice' restaurant didn't even seem like it was going to serve them at first, but Papyrus had immediately started complimenting their establishment and asking them if they ever planned to add pasta to the menu. He hardly let the manager get a word in edgewise, and the exasperated human finally rolled his eyes and rang them up for two slices of plain cheese and told them to get out.

"Someone probably already did,"Adelle shrugged, wiping a bit of sauce from her teeth with her thumb. "Burgerpants likes to crack an egg into his ramen to make it more filling."

Papyrus made a face, which was quite a sight to behold on a skeleton. "THAT SOUNDS...PRETTY GROSS, ACTUALLY."

"Actually..." she almost seemed embarrassed to admit this, "it's not as bad as it sounds! We kinda have to look for bargains and get creative with our groceries. We actually do eat a lot of pasta in our house. It's cheap. And, better yet, it's good." She didn't mention that they were actually getting a little bit tired of spaghetti. Pasta seemed to be a safe topic, and anything that kept him talking about what interested him was something she wanted to encourage. It took the focus off of her.

"WELL, THEN! YOU'LL HAVE TO LET ME COOK FOR YOU ONE OF THESE DAYS. I GOT MY START WITH UNDYNE HERSELF, AND-"

"Undyne, the head of the Royal Guard? You know Undyne?" Adelle couldn't mask her surprise, and she was a little bit annoyed with herself about that.

Papyrus effected a deep sigh and dropped his greasy paper plate in a street corner trash can. "ALAS, THE ROYAL GUARD IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. UNDYNE WAS TRAINING ME TO BE IN IT, AND I WAS THIS CLOSE!" He made a pinching motion with his thumb and forefinger, squinting his eye-sockets. "I TELL YOU, I WAS SO CLOSE I COULD ALMOST TASTE IT! BUT THEN THE BARRIER WAS DESTROYED, AND ALONG WITH IT WENT THE NEED FOR A ROYAL GUARD."

"Hm...that really meant a lot to you, huh?"

Papyrus smiled. He seemed to have an unnatural ability to cheer himself up. "WHAT ARE THE DREAMS OF ONE SKELETON WHEN COMPARED WITH OUR FREEDOM?"

"Mm..." Adelle frowned darkly. It seemed that they were polar opposites, in a way. They seemed to be able to meet in the middle, but he was an incurable optimist, and she was either a realist or a pessimist. She couldn't decide which. Either way, she wasn't quite sure she agreed with him there.

"IS SOMETHING WRONG?"

Well, damn. He was more perceptive than she thought. "I just wonder...well, never mind."

"NO, TELL ME. WHAT IS IT?"

In order to not have to answer him right away, Adelle turned her attention back to her pizza, which had been reduced to a gnawed crust. Since she didn't need to chew, this didn't put him off for long, and she disposed of her own plate. "There's a lot about the surface that's...The sky is great, and all. And seeing the stars for the first time! I stayed up all night that first night because I was afraid that if I slept, I'd wake up back in my bed in the Underground."

"I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!" Papyrus was beaming.

She hated to say anything that would wipe that smile off his face. But he prompted her with a gesture to continue, and she couldn't think of a convincing way to change the subject. "We have more room to branch out, that's true. But wasn't it...well...safer underground?"

Papyrus did lose his smile, but he appeared serious rather than sad. "YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE HUMANS WHO DON'T ACCEPT US." He received a single, terse nod of confirmation, and he echoed it with a slow one of his own. "IT'S A TERRIBLE THING."

"Understatement..."

But he wasn't finished. "I WASN'T AROUND YET WHEN WE WERE FORCED UNDERGROUND, BUT WE DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE IN THE MATTER. THE HUMANS OF THAT TIME TOOK IT AWAY FROM US. WE WERE SAFER UNDERGROUND...MAYBE. BUT IT WAS THE SAFETY OF A CAGE."

"That's what I used to think..."

He nearly continued, but he could almost see her mental walls going up. She was shutting him out. He would never be able to help her if she did that. "I'M SORRY, WE CAN TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE."

"Thank you," she didn't smile, but she didn't seem as tense now. "Well...what do you do now?"

"AH! I WORK CLOSELY WITH THE MONSTER/HUMAN AMBASSADOR. WE'RE GOOD FRIENDS, FRISK AND I. I'M ALSO A FITNESS INSTRUCTOR WITH UNDYNE. SHE SAYS SHE WORKS WITH ME TO KEEP ME OUT OF TROUBLE, BUT I KNOW BETTER."

"I remember hearing that the ambassador is a child. Is that true?"

They were nearing Papyrus's convertible now, and his hand disappeared into his pocket in search of his keys. "YES, FRISK JUST TURNED NINE. THEY'RE QUITE THE LITTLE SCRAPPER, TOO! WHOOPS!"

Papyrus had fumbled and dropped his keys. Adelle automatically began to lean forward to retrieve them for him, but unfortunately so did he, and they knocked their skulls smartly together with a hollow 'clack'.

"Ow!"

"YEOWCH!"

"Sorry..."

"MY APOLOGIES!"

Those last two statements were said at the exact same moment, and they made eye contact for a split second before they both burst out laughing, rubbing at their sore foreheads.

"Well, someone's been getting his calcium!"

"ABSOLUTELY!" He put a hand on her shoulder as she began to lean forward again, and shook his head. "I'LL GET THEM. I WOULD NOT HAVE YOU DAMAGED FURTHER."

"Oh, 'damaged' my eye-socket..." She grumbled, but she was still chuckling.

Papyrus misunderstood, and quickly straightened after retrieving his keys. "OH NO! I DID?"

"Nooo, no, no," she waved her hands in negation, "it's just an expression. No harm done. Really."

Papyrus shook his head and unlocked the car, gesturing for her to get in. "PLEASE, DON'T JOKE LIKE THAT...I DON'T LIKE HURTING PEOPLE."

Adelle felt a bit like she had just kicked a puppy. She shut the car door again and leaned against it. "I'm sorry. Please, don't be angry. I didn't expect you to take it that way."

He wasn't sure what to make of her behavior, but then again, he hadn't had much contact with other skeletons of either gender, with the exception of his brother Sans. "I'M NOT ANGRY. I JUST...WELL, NEVER MIND."

Adelle cocked her head, waiting for him to continue speaking. She didn't like to talk about her problems very much, but it seemed like talking was something that Papyrus greatly enjoyed doing, and something seemed to be bothering him all of a sudden.

"WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT?" He looked down.

Okay. Maybe he didn't want to discuss it. That was fine. "You just looked like you wanted to say something. Like something was bothering you. Maybe I'm wrong. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'll just get my uniform out of your car, okay? I can walk from here."

"OH, NO!" he protested, sounding a bit panicky. Was he actually sweating? "THAT-THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT AT ALL! I JUST DIDN'T WANT TO LOWER THE TONE OF OUR EVENING, BUT I'M AFRAID I DID JUST THAT..."

Adelle waved a hand, leaning against the car again, and he stood beside her and copied her posture. "No, you're fine. This is kind of awkward, though..."

"WHAT?"

"I don't know...I don't usually do this. Hang out, I mean. I was always too busy before. So, I don't really know what I'm doing."

Papyrus put his fists on his hips and lifted up his chin. "YOU'RE HANGING OUT WITH YOUR AWESOME, VERY COOL, NOT IN THE LEAST BIT AWKWARD FRIEND!"

Folding her arms, Adelle snorted and lightly knocked her elbow against his. "And modest, too..."

Just as she thought he would, he took her comment seriously and agreed with her. Adelle glanced at her watch, and decided that now was a good time to make her exit. "Listen, I-"

"IS THAT FRISK AND TORIEL OVER THERE?" Papyrus suddenly straightened up and shielded his eyesockets from the sun with his hand.

"Huh?"

"IT IS! OH, ADELLE, YOU'VE GOT TO COME AND MEET THEM!" Papyrus impulsively seized her by the wrist and began to pull her in their direction.

"Wh...Papyrus, wait! I can't...I have to...Would you just...let go...?" Adelle tried to dig in her heels, but Papyrus was calling to Toriel and Frisk, and didn't seem to hear her. All right, then. Concentrating on her elbow, she willed the radius and ulna of her left arm to detach themselves from her humerus. There was a brief flare of pain, and a loud 'pop' that reminded her of a champagne cork.

Papyrus stumbled forward before recovering his balance, staring in disbelief at the disembodied forearm in his hand. The phalanges of her hand wiggled, giving him a cheeky wave. "NOW, THAT WAS RUDE."

"As I was saying..." Adelle was now trying very hard not to laugh. "I have to get going. Now, give me back my hand, please."

Unfortunately, she didn't think that one through. With a literal piece of her in his grasp, he now had the power, and the grin he gave her was every bit as cheeky as her wave had been. "COME AND GET IT! NYEH-HEH-HEH-HEH-HEH!"

Adelle gaped in disbelief as Papyrus ran off with her detached limb, and she gave her foot a frustrated stamp. "Papyrus! You get your sorry sacrum back here, and you give me back my hand this instant!"

She was laughing by the time she caught up with him.

Note: In case it wasn't obvious, Papyrus was bothered by the memory of his fight with Frisk. At this point, he probably would have also learned about what would have happened to Frisk if he'd succeeded in delivering them to Asgore. That would have left him with some guilt, I'm sure, but he doesn't seem to be the type of guy to dwell on things that could have happened but didn't. That doesn't mean he likes talking about it, though! The subject might come up later on.