Papyrus was cheerfully whisking at the pancake batter in the kitchen, trying his hardest to keep from going too fast and spilling it all across the floor (old habits truly did die hard, didn't they?). So far there had been no appearance from either his brother or his human guest, but he had few doubts that they would come down soon.
He was just taking the first circles of fluffy buttermilk goodness off the griddle when Sans wandered over to the table, managing the feat with his eyes shut tight the entire time.
"mornin' bro," he yawned out. "Tabatha already leave?"
"NO, SHE HASN'T EVEN COME DOWN YET," the younger skeleton replied, cleaning up his grill space.
"really? 'cuz she wasn't in the room when i looked in on 'er."
"WHAT?!"
The tall monster was out of the room before his brother could say another word and raced up the stairs until he made it to the top. Flying to her room, Papyrus wrenched open the door and was met with the sight of a tidy room and a well-made bed. One of her backpacks was missing, as were the shoes that had been lying at the foot of the dresser. There was also a piece of paper, folded into a rough half, that was resting on the pillow.
Papyrus marched across the room and picked up the note and flipped it open to read the message that had clearly been scrawled in the dark if the deplorable handwriting was anything to go by.
Papyrus and Sans
You've probably found this note sometime after I've gone. Don't worry about me—I've just decided to walk to work today since it's less than an hour away and I have a short shift. I'll be back at the house after lunchtime. Sorry if I made you worry, but I didn't want to inconvenience you two.
Tabatha
"must have snuck out while you were cooking," came Sans' voice from behind. "she's good, i'll give her that; didn't even notice."
The taller skeleton gripped the paper so tight his hands were trembling. A multitude of emotions crossed his face, flickering between frustration and sadness for the most part before it was reassembled into a neutral expression. He took a very deep unnecessary breath before he went back downstairs to fetch his phone and opened his messenger app, typing out a text with the caps lock on as usual.
From The Great Papyrus: HUMAN, I HAVE JUST FOUND YOUR NOTE. HAVE YOU SAFELY ARRIVED AT YOUR WORKPLACE? DID YOU HAVE BREAKFAST? BECAUSE I WILL BRING YOU SOME OF THE PANCAKES I HAVE PREPARED TO YOUR WORKPLACE IF YOU HAVE NOT!
The cheery text did not match the frown on the Papyrus' skull. He was trying to incite his usual optimistic mood, but it felt something like dragging a wagon through mud -difficult and unpleasant . He wanted nothing more than to be upset, to be hurt, but he knew such a thing would not be good for his human friend. Tabatha had been through a rough time lately and she needed him to be supportive, to give her something happier to focus on until she adjusted.
A return message popped up.
From Kindly Human Tabatha: I missed out on your pancakes?! Shoot! Could u save me some in the fridge? (btw, I did eat breakfast)
Seeing her words made the knot of frustration in Papyrus' hollow chest loosen some and he found it much easier than before to type out a reply.
From The Great Papyrus: OF COURSE I WILL SET ASIDE SOME PANCAKES FOR YOU! YOU MAY EAT THEM TOMORROW MORNING IF YOU ARE GOING TO WAKE UP SO EARLY AGAIN! I SHALL INSTEAD FOCUS ON MAKING YOU A DELICIOUS LUNCH FOR WHEN YOU RETURN HOME!
The gentle monster grinned at the thumbs up emoji that popped up on his screen, his mood lightening. He had absolutely no clue that on the other side of town, the young woman who had sent that picture was smiling at her own phone quite sadly, feeling a weight on her heart and Soul that she couldn't let him know; she had to seem happy with the situation, keep her guilt at causing her friend pain hidden away so she would not hurt him again. He did not deserve that pain...and she did not deserve such forgiveness.
It didn't take long for a routine to set in at the skeleton brother's household. Tabatha was a veritable ghost, gone long before Sans woke up and while Papyrus was out on his morning run. She was home in time for a late lunch, but then she was off to the studio to work on her dance performances and she wasn't back until Frisk had already been dropped off after school. She would eat dinner with her hosts and then enjoy some time watching TV with them before she retired to an early bed without any further announcement.
The only day when the human wasn't gone at all hours was Friday. Friday quickly became cleanup day around the house and the time for Papyrus to spend with his human friend. While the elder skeleton was off at work, they would wreck the kitchen trying new recipes and then clean it all up and the living room for good measure. Things were still awkward between the pair, but their friendship didn't seem to have taken a hit from the tensions of the recent past—seem being the key word.
Sans hated his naturally perceptive nature sometimes. To anyone else, his brother and Tabatha may have seemed like the best of buddies, but anyone else wasn't sharing the same living space. He had come home after many a work shift to find the two of them standing in complete silence, not even looking at one another unless necessary. And then there were the flashes of brief, involuntary emotions that he caught when they thought nobody was looking.
To be frank, he was getting sick of their beating around the bush.
"are you sure that you and Paps are friends?" he asked the brunette one day at the kitchen table when they were alone in the house (Papyrus had gone grocery shopping).
"What makes you say that?" she questioned back, her tone holding a bite to it as she refused to look up from a choreography diagram she was drawing.
"oh, you know: two weeks living in the same house and you and my bro haven't done anything remotely friend-like except for sit next to each other. don't think i don't notice how you avoid him all the time with the extra hours out of the house."
The human sighed heavily before she set down her pencil. Her jaw was tight with anger and she seemed to be struggling to maintain her composure.
"Sans," Tabatha stated, her voice tight, "did you ever think that this is just an adjustment period? I've always lived on my own; I don't know how to be social 24/7 with housemates. It'll get better with time."
"c'mon kid," the skeleton scoffed. "don't treat me like i'm some kind of fool—'cause i'm not and neither is my brother."
"I am trying, Sans," she insisted through gritted teeth.
"then why are you making Paps unhappy?"
That did it: the young woman pushed herself to her feet, knocking her chair over, face flushed with rage.
"You think I asked for this?!" she yelled, gesturing to the house around them. "You think I wanted to lose my house?! You think that I wanted to hurt him?! The simple fact of the matter is that I never meant for anything like this to happen, but it always does! And to top it off, Papyrus has been nothing but kind to me, even though I put him through what I know was considerable pain! I don't deserve anything he's offered me—not after what I did!"
There was a faint sound that echoed in the silence after Tabatha's outburst: a crunching noise, like stepping on a pane of glass and cracking it. Sans didn't react fast enough to resist flinching at hearing her Soul continue to crack. He'd suspected that she was still hurting over the whole "incident", but he hadn't been expecting her to worsen the emotional wound with self-loathing.
"Nobody has ever been this kind to me," the brunette whispered, seizing handfuls of her own hair, her face screwed up against furious tears. "And I'm so pathetic, I can't feel anything except guilt. Guilt that he feels the need to take care of me and that I'm burdening him with making him constantly think about my well-being...I'm just a waste of space."
Sans' phalanges curled into fists. Stepping forwards, he yanked her down by the shirt collar so she was at his eye level.
"you're right," he growled. "you are a waste of space—all you do is hide and continue to make Papyrus feel bad for you. so i'm going to tell you what's what right now: you keep acting like this, and i'll let your uncle know that this isn't gonna work out so he'll take you off our hands. but if you get your act together and stop feeling sorry for yourself and make up nice and proper with my brother, then i'll lay off on the dirty looks and let you stay."
Releasing her shirt, the monster shoved his hands into his pockets and meandered up the stairs to his room, leaving the human behind in shock. Tabatha then blinked and straightened up, staring at the empty staircase before she too abandoned the kitchen table, headed for the bathroom. Locking the door behind her, the brunette leaned against the sink and peered into the round mirror. Pointing at her reflection, she made a very determined face.
"No more," she told herself. "No. More."
Sans, who was lounging on his bed, staring at the ceiling, grinned a little more sincerely when he felt the surge of healing magic within the other Soul in the house.
"So is there any particular reason why there is a sock in the middle of the living room?" Tabatha asked as she came down the stairs that Friday morning, a basket of laundry on her hip.
"SANS!" came Papyrus' irate voice from the kitchen where he was washing the breakfast dishes. "YOU SAID THAT YOU WERE GOING TO PICK THAT UP FOUR DAYS AGO!"
"did i? i don't remember," Sans replied lazily from the couch.
"NYGGGGHHHH!"
The human laughed, the sound silencing the brothers' argument. Bending over, she snagged the lone sock and shook it free of the many sticky notes covering it. Adding it to the pile she was already carrying, she made her way over to the laundry room and set about starting a load.
"DID YOU REST WELL, HUMAN TABATHA?" Papyrus questioned, coming out of the kitchen, his tone confused. "YOU ARE IN A VERY GOOD MOOD."
"I was tired of feeling bad," she replied by way of explanation. "You remember that trick I showed you for cheering yourself up?"
"THE ONE WITH THE MIRROR? OF COURSE I DO!"
"Well, I told myself that I wasn't going to be upset anymore and that I was gonna try to have a better attitude about living here. So far, it's working."
The tall skeleton shot a glance at his brother who did not appear to have any reaction to the news whatsoever. Taking off his apron, the trainee guardsman made his way over to the laundry room and stood in the doorway, clutching his hands together.
"TABATHA...PLEASE DO NOT FEEL PRESSURED TO ACT A CERTAIN WAY JUST TO MAKE ME HAPPY," he told her in a slightly quieter tone than usual. "I KNOW MY BROTHER CAN BE...INTENSE, BUT YOU DO NOT NEED TO PRETEND TO BE CHEERFUL IF YOU AREN'T REALLY."
"Papyrus," Tabatha said back with a smile, "Sans didn't make me do this. He just told me what's what and I realized that I needed to improve my attitude. Right now, I really am feeling better and I've decided to be more open with you guys so that you can get to know me a little more thoroughly...when I'm not just being your friend in public. It's not always going to be easy, but I want to be more sincere with my feelings and be more honest with you about who I am...I'd say you've earned the right to know the real me more than anyone else."
Papyrus' eyes were sparkling as he covered his mouth in what looked like pure joy. With a very happy sound, he tacked his human friend against the dryer in a fierce hug, spewing an endless stream of gratitude for her as she struggled to catch her breath. Tabatha managed to wrap one arm around his shoulders in a half-hug, a brilliant smile lighting up her face.
Well that does it for this chapter! Sans is an overprotective doof and Papyrus knows what's up. Anyway, much love to my reviewer stream, you guys motivated me through a bad week!
KHR-Yunalesca: Daily interactions truly begin next time, but I think you will enjoy the lovely fluff that comes out of it! And I can't even handle writing cutie Papyrus! *squeeeeeeee*
Guest 9/18/16: *austere nod* Indeed, good sir/ma'am. Indeed.
Moo: Thanks so much! *sending internet hug*
WillowWonder13: I actually wasn't thinking of having a background Sans romance, but you have given me ideas (though it probably wouldn't be a huge thing that would impact the plot very much). And as for the whole family backstory...you pretty much nailed the Underswap version of it, minus a few details. ;)
