"Undyne, I'm not sure about this," Tabatha said with some apprehension as she looked at the insane obstacle course laid out before her. If it belonged to anyone other than her overly zealous friend, it would have been shocking to see it just casually sitting there in the middle of a backyard.
"C'mon you wimp!" the fish monster scoffed from her right side. "I removed the explosives; you'll be fine!"
"I could still very well end up killing myself," the human maintained. The course looked like something out of an American Ninja Warrior episode or straight off a Navy SEAL training base (which made sense considering that Undyne had run the Royal Guard, but still!) It required her to hoist herself up by her arms on a set of parallel bars that lead to a burma bridge she's have to cross before weaving her way down through metal poles that were covered in long spikes on the side you clearly were not supposed to touch. She would then run through several tires laid out in what had once been a minefield if you didn't go the right way and then parkour-style vault herself over an inclined wall and haul herself up and spider-crawl across a series of ever-rising horizontal and vertical platforms before crossing a balance beam that had swinging ropes hung above it to replace the magical projectiles that had been thrown in the original design. The final goal was to use the rope swing to fling one's self over the pool and not hit the concrete below when released.
"Papyrus would rescue ya before anything bad happened," Undyne replied, waving off the protests. "I did you dancing so now you're gonna return the favor and do something on my turf for a change."
"I am gonna break my arms," the brunette mumbled. To her left, Papyrus looked down at her with a smile.
"NEVER FEAR, KINDLY HUMAN," he proclaimed. "I WILL BE RIGHT UNDERNEATH YOU THE WHOLE TIME SO YOUR SOFT, FLESHY BITS DO NOT SUFFER INJURY!"
"That's not gonna help with the soreness tomorrow," Tabatha grumbled, pulling out her ponytail and retying it tighter. She then began to stretch; she was going to regret giving in and wanted to minimize the damage she might suffer... "Don't time me."
"ALPHYS! GRAB MY STOPWATCH!"
Frisk giggled from the porch swing as the yellow dinosaur jumped up and waddled back into the house, which only made the older human groan again.
"I hate you for doing this to me," she informed Undyne flatly before she moved up to the parallel bars.
"I BELIEVE IN YOU, TABATHA!" Papyrus called cheerfully. The young woman twisted to flash a smile back at him before she faced front again, shaking out her arms.
Alphys returned to the back porch, holding a stopwatch which she promptly passed to her girlfriend. Undyne took it and raised her arm to a ready signal.
"Alright! Ready...GO!"
Tabatha leapt into action, lifting herself up on the parallel bars and moving along them quickly, her expression solidly focused. Once she reached the apex of the slanted bars, she swung her legs out and made a jump for the burma bridge, managing to snag it with her hands before she slid off entirely. She made her way across very cautiously, using that same slower method while weaving through the bars as well. The bottom of her pants leg got caught on a few of the spikes and shredded the fabric, but none of them seemed to pierce her skin. When she reached the bottom, she staggered back to an upright position, her breathing already a little labored.
"Tired already you wimp?!" Undyne screeched. "GO YOU PUNK!"
"YOU ARE DOING WELL, HUMAN!" Papyrus added. "DO NOT GIVE IN TO YOUR TIREDNESS!"
The brunette did not acknowledge either of them as she ran to the tires and stepped through them all before vaulting over the low inclined wall, her ankle catching on the edge and sending her skidding down the slanted side. She was wobbling on her approach to the first of the platforms she had to lift herself up and her arms were clearly shaking as she hauled herself over the edge.
"C-careful!" Alphys called from the porch swing as Tabatha made her way over to the vertical wall she would have to climb. "S-some of those foot-footholds are wobbly!"
"Thanks!" the human replied, her voice strained and high due to breathlessness. She carefully planted her foot on one of the protrusions from the wall and, finding it steady, began to move in a diagonal direction towards the next platform. She had to ascend another level of platforms and spider walls before she was at the balance beam. The tall skeleton immediately darted over to the obstacle course, stading under his friend's current position, clearly at the ready should disaster strike. Undyne, meanwhile, was working herself into a frenzy.
"GET A MOVE ON, YOU PUNK!"
"DON'T FALL HUMAN! I WILL BE HERE TO CATCH YOU IF YOU DO, BUT I WOULD PREFER YOU DID NOT: MY BONES ARE NOT THE SOFTEST THING TO LAND ON, THOUGH THEY ARE STILL BETTER THAN THE CONCRETE!"
Tabatha took a steadying breath before she stepped out onto the wooden log. She ignored the ropes waving around her as she moved at a normal walking speed along the suspended log. She nearly lost her balance when she brushed up against a rope and the crazy fish monster from below began to shout abuse, shaming her for getting "hit" by a projectile. She managed to right herself and then took a risk by jogging to the other end and snagging the rope swing. It was here that she messed up: her arms, exhausted from the sudden, intense strain put upon them, suddenly gave out, unable to hold her up second longer. The young woman let out a startled cry that forced everyone seated to their feet in alarm.
The fall was not large, but it would have been plenty damaging if not for the skeleton who lunged over and managed to snag the falling human in his arms, coming to a skidding stop by the edge of the pool. There was half a moment where nobody dared to breathe and then Papyrus straightened up, turning back to the porch and revealing a perfectly intact Tabatha in his grasp. Alphys released her held breath and Frisk smirked, seeing the position the two were currently in.
"It looks like he rescued a damsel in distress," they signed while chuckling. The royal scientist took a second look at the pair and began to giggle.
"O-oh goodness! I s-ship it! S-so kawaii!"
Meanwhile, Papyrus was hastily ensuring that his human friend was unharmed.
"It's probably just light bruising," Tabatha protested. "I'll be fine."
"NYEH, ARE YOU SURE?"
"It'll be worse tomorrow. Now will you put me down now?"
"Nice catch Pap!" Undyne shouted as she came over. "Looks like you just weren't up to scratch, nerd! Took you more than fifteen minutes! Lesser Dog runs it in ten!"
"You would make an excellent drill sergeant," the brunette remarked dryly. "Then the military would pay you to be as crazy as you are."
The fish monster only guffawed at the comment. Papyrus tried to let Tabatha down lightly, but when he let go of her arms, she nearly toppled over from exhaustion, her legs refusing to hold her up just as her arms had.
"IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR LEGS, HUMAN TABATHA?!" the trainee guardsman exclaimed in shock. He did not wait for her reply before he scooped her back up into his arms and ran towards the porch. "DOCTOR ALPHYS! SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH TABATHA'S LEGS! THEY WON'T HOLD HER UP!"
"T-take her inside and p-p-put her on the couch and I'll ch-check to make sure she's not i-in shock or anything," the squat monster commanded through half-formed snickers. Papyrus wasted no time and dashed back into the house, setting the human down on the couch and fussing over her until Alphys chased him away so she could do her quick checkup. (Of course he was hovering over the back of the couch the entire time, so it wasn't like made much a difference to his fretting.)
"J-just exhaustion," was the diagnosis, much to the skeleton's relief and Tabatha's affectionate exasperation. "A few minutes of sitting down and she'll be fine."
Before the conversation could progress any further, the front door burst open and an unfamiliar male voice rang out.
"Alphys, darling, are you home?"
Said dinosaur jumped like she'd been given an electric shock and Papyrus snapped to attention, his jaw dropping open in shock. It was no surprise why: Mettaton—the Mettaton in all his black and pink EX-form glory—was standing in the entry hall. The robotic celebrity caught sight of the trio by the couch and flashed a winning smile.
"Alphys, there you are! And Papyrus too! It is so good to see you darlings!"
"METTATON!" the skeleton exclaimed excitedly. "I DID NOT KNOW YOU WERE NO LONGER ON TOUR!"
"Just got back into town three hours ago," Mettaton replied with a dramatic hair flip. "I would have called, but I wanted to make a surprise entrance to say 'hello' to all my dearest friends."
With an excited "NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus raced over to the robot and captured him in an embrace.
"Oh Papy dear, I've forgotten how wonderful your hugs are."
"I-i wasn't expecting you to be back for a-a-at least another week," Alphys admitted, pushing up her glasses. "Y-you had another few shows scheduled overseas, didn't you?"
"Actually our venue for Prague was mis-booked and we ended up with the tour cut short," Mettaton explained, stepping away from Papyrus. "In any case, it was perfect timing: now I have some time to rest before I start up on my newest project."
It was then that the monster star noticed the human sitting on the couch.
"Oh hello there, beauty!" he cried in excitement. "I don't believe we've ever met before!"
"I'm Tabatha," the brunette said with a grin. "A friend of Paps. He's talked about you a lot."
"Has he? Well, any friend of my dear Papy is a friend of mine."
Mettaton approached the couch and put a hand under her chin, tilting her head so he could get a better look at her. He flashed another winning smile, apparently liking what he saw.
"Ohhh yes," he purred. "Very lovely complexion, gorgeous hair once styled carefully and such expressive eyes! You have a face meant for being seen in the most glamorous of ways! Tell me, have you ever considered show business."
"I—what?" Tabatha looked completely bewildered. Alphys swatted Mettaton on the shoulder.
"H-hey! Sh-shouldn't you get to know her first before you t-try to recruit her?"
"TABATHA IS ALREADY IN THE SHOW BUSINESS," Papyrus added. "SHE DANCES AND SINGS!"
"Really!?" The look on the celebrity's face gave the young woman a sudden sense of foreboding. "Oh darling, you're perfect! You might be just what I need for my new project!"
"Uh..."
"WHAT KIND OF PROJECT?"
The tall skeleton plopped down on the couch next to his human friend, clearly all (metaphorical) ears for whatever suggestion his idol would have. Tabatha felt like an anime-style sweatdrop appearing on her temple would have been just the right thing to describe how she was feeling about this situation: worried for what was to come.
"Well, as you know, Emergence Day is next month and I was considering hosting a festival to celebrate how far monsters have come since leaving the Underground! I wanted to have a mix of performers do something onstage that celebrates human and monster friendships."
"Mettaton," the brunette interrupted, "I know what you're getting at, but I'm really not that good—"
"Nonsense," he chuckled, brushing aside her concerns. "You don't need to be a professional—"
"ACTUALLY, SHE IS A PROFESSIONAL," Papyrus interjected, missing his friend's panicked side glance. "BUT I THINK SHE IS JUST A LITTLE NERVOUS TO PERFORM AT A FESTIVAL HOSTED BY YOU!"
"Then how about you work with her for a duet? I'm sure that she could teach you how to dance."
"NYEH! WHAT A WONDERFUL IDEA!"
Tabatha swallowed hard. Oh boy—this was going to be painful.
"I couldn't just tell him no!" the human explained with slight desperation to Sans at Grillby's that evening. "He was starry-eyed and everything! How could I destroy his dreams like that? It would be heartless."
"what's so bad about performing with my brother?" the hoodie-clad monster asked,squirting a shot of ketchup into his mouth.
"Aside from not having a place to practice at consistently—because the studio has a room-booking system that doesn't allow for nonprofit, individual performance rehearsals—I'm not comfortable performing in such a big festival where my name will be all over it. I like to do things with groups, where I'm relatively anonymous."
A plate of fries was placed on the bar before Tabatha's seat and she gave Grillby a quick "thanks" before she bit into one. The fire elemental cocked his head to the side as he looked at the young woman, silently asking her not to mind him and continue her conversation.
"Then there's the struggle of coming up with choreography appropriate to the theme and Papyrus' skill level at dancing," she sighed. "I need to be looking for a job right now; I don't have time to do this extra work—not until I'm getting paychecks again."
"If I may," the flaming bartender interjected in his soft voice, "I would like to solve a few of your problems right now, miss Tabatha."
"Uh, okay. Shoot," she replied, more than a little taken aback.
"If it would be alright with you, I would like to offer you a job," the fire elemental continued. "I have been busier than ever recently and would like some new additions to my wait staff while I work the bar and kitchen. It is a night shift position, but the building would be accessible for use during the day and I do have a decent sound system and stage that would be free for you to use for these rehearsals of yours with Papyrus."
Tabatha's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"
"Sans brought me a copy of your resume and I have been watching you for the past several months when you've come in to perform. You are the type of person I would very much like to have working for me and you are fully qualified. What say you? Would you be willing to work here?"
Tabatha was still trying to comprehend what was going on: her mouth and eyes were both wide as she looked from Grillby to Sans, as if waiting for one of them to reveal it was all just a practical joke. When neither of them did so, tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.
"No one has ever done anything this nice for me," she whispered.
"well, you're so nice to everyone else, guess it's time we helped the universe return the favor," the skeleton drawled with a broad grin. The human laughed, shaking her head in disbelief.
"I take it you're accepting?" Grillby pressed. When she nodded, the white flames that showed where his eyes were located crinkled up in a clear smile. "Good. I expect we will enjoy working together, miss Tabatha."
Papyrus stifled a yawn as he moved upstairs to do one final clean check before he turned in for the night. As per usual, he checked in to make sure Tabatha was sleeping on the bed and was surprised to see that she was not in her usual spot on the floor. Instead, she was passed out on the desk, her laptop open and a notepad under her arm.
Moving closer, the tall skeleton saw that she had written an extensive list of songs and several were crossed out. He couldn't tell what the songs were—many were unfamiliar to him—but he did know that sleeping the way she was could not be good for her neck and back.
"COME ON NOW, HUMAN TABATHA," Papyrus stage-whispered as he shook her shoulder. "YOU SHOULD NOT BE SLEEPING HERE—THAT IS WHAT THE BED IS FOR."
The brunette stirred and looked up at him with droopy dark eyes before she yawned and stretched. She allowed the monster to pull her out of her chair and walk over to the bed, where she promptly collapsed and curled up into a tight ball. With an affectionate smile, Papyrus tugged the blankets over her and tucked her in, nice and snug. As he was leaving the room after turning off the lights however, she stirred and looked at his silhouette in the doorway.
"Thanks Gareth," she said sleepily. "Love you."
That made the tall skeleton pause with one foot out in the hall. Looking back, he saw that his friend had already re-bundled herself up and turned away from the door, her deep breathing signalling a return to unconsciousness. But that did not stop the swell of curiosity within Papyrus' ribcage.
Who was this Gareth that Tabatha loved? And why had he never heard her speak of him before.
We're better friends than we were and she still has secrets, he mused, not sure how to feel about learning this new tidbit about her. I wonder why she's hiding so much?
A return of the mysteries?! Muahahahaha! (For the record, I hated typing this chapter! It feels so weird! I like where I went with the plot and all, but while the dialogue was great, the exposition...what was even happening there?) Platonic kisses for all my reviewers as well!
KHR-Yunalesca: I like to think of Sans being a complete newb when it comes to human culture. But he will learn. And when he does, the nerd wars will begin! *lightning crashes in the background* But that is a really great suggestion! I'll have to bring it in sometime. (Maybe when Tabatha introduces him to Batman /:) )
TabbyCat: Can do, tomodachi! I love indulging reader requests when I can!
eren jeager 1st: Thanks! I'm glad I exceeded your expectations!