I'm leaving in a couple of hours to catch a plane. I'll be on vacation for nine days, therefore this story will go on hiatus until I return.
ENJOY
When Sans suggested they go out to eat, Papyrus expected just that: a nice meal. Based off how his brother described seeing Grillby's, he anticipated it to be noisy and crowded but pleasant all the same. At the start of it, their dining experience was gearing up to be just as expected if a bit sweeter with the addition of the bracelets. However, sweetness had now been swapped for bitterness. Undyne stood before them with Alphys just a step behind her. Fear swelled as worrying thoughts rushed through Papyrus's head. Sans had set him up and, if Alphys's nervous demeanour was anything to go by, she likely conspired with him. Despite having had the best of intentions, they couldn't begin to imagine how dangerous their decision had been. Papyrus was mostly puzzled and frustrated with Sans because he knew why he had cut ties with Undyne to begin with. What sort of insanity could have pushed him to be so stupid?
Papyrus now stood in a more isolated corner of Grillby's pub with Undyne. They were in the area next to the bar, separated by the door leading to the kitchen. Every now and again Grillby would rush past them with trays stacked with a ludicrous amount of dishes. The two had been told not to come back to the table until they were friends again. As it was, they had been standing in place awkwardly for a handful of minutes. Undyne leaned against the side of the bar counter, looking everywhere except at Papyrus whereas the latter hugged himself and fixated his gaze on the ground.
He absolutely had no idea what to say to her – and she he, it seemed. Seeing her again in the flesh brought about a flurry of inconsistent emotions. The truth of everything was that Papyrus had missed her dearly. He loved spending time with Sans, but sometimes he needed the company of someone he wasn't related to. He hadn't been able to access that get away ever since he had cut ties with her. Now, more than anything, a part of Papyrus wanted to hug her, maybe cry a little, and forget the fight that had torn them apart. However, the conflicting other part of him felt the need to firmly assert that Undyne would never know about who he was dating and refuse to move forward until she accepted that. Needless to say, this didn't help in finding a conversation starter.
Grillby rushed past them again, nearly dropping an empty plate he caught in the nick of time. Both of their gazes shifted to the flame monster for the time he was in front of them before meeting each other's. The contact was quickly broken, but Papyrus had had enough. The silence was killing him and he had to say something – anything. He decided thinking about his words wasn't helping so he opted to simply act on a whim. Filled with determination, he focused his eyes on Undyne, surprised to find she had done the same, and opened his mouth to speak.
"I—" they said simultaneously.
Then there was a pause.
"No, you can just—"
"No, no, you were going first—"
"Well, I wasn't really—"
"I didn't have anything to say so—"
And then they stopped talking again. Papyrus sighed deeply and frowned at the floor. This wasn't going well and it wasn't going anywhere either.
"Look…" Undyne started, combing her fingers through her long, red hair. Papyrus looked up in attention, happy that she had finally taken the initiative despite their recent blabber fest. "I'm not really good at this…emotional confrontation stuff. It's not really me." Papyrus smiled at that. It was true. "I just…I'm sorry, okay? I messed up. I should have respected that you just didn't want to talk about your relationship and left it at that."
"I'm sorry too." Papyrus mumbled.
"Sorry? For what?" Undyne scoffed incredulously.
"I was mean with you…" Papyrus recognised, "I could have handled the situation so many other ways – better ways, but I didn't…"
"You weren't mean, I was mean!" Undyne defended, "I pretty much threatened you when you were leaving. What kind of friend does that even when they're angry?" She paused, upset with herself, "man…I was a real piece of shit with you…"
"Don't say that!" Papyrus exclaimed, quickly jumping to her defense, "How could you have not been angry? I refused to elaborate on everything and – and rather than come to some sort of understanding, I just ran away from the problem."
"What other choice did you have?" Undyne countered, "I was being unreasonable. What was the point in talking with me when I just didn't want to accept what you were telling me? And if you want to talk about running away; I wanted to come apologise to you sooner but I was too proud to even set foot in Snowdin."
"Well, I went into Waterfall a bunch of times and always went out of my way to stay as far from your house as possible because I felt so bad." Papyrus refuted, "And I would get a little sad every time, but I never went to your door to fix this even though I could have."
"Same here!" Undyne affirmed. "As stupid as it is, nothing but my pride was stopping me."
Papyrus tried to think of a rhetoric, but found himself out of arguments. In the subsequent silence that washed over them, the skeleton realised how fortunate they were that they had been tricked into meeting again and forced to reconcile. "I guess we owe Alphys and Sans a thanks, hun?" he reckoned.
Undyne glanced at their table. From where they stood, they could catch glimpses of the smaller monsters chatting easily between themselves. Despite not knowing Sans – at least, as far as Papyrus was concerned – Alphys seemed very comfortable; like she was speaking with an old friend. Sans had that effect on people.
"Yeah." Undyne huffed and looked back at Papyrus, "I really am sorry." She resumed genuinely. "I understand and am ready to accept that you won't share everything with me, especially in regards to your romantic life. I still think it sucks that I won't ever get to know who you're dating, but…if Sans knows and he's okay with it, I guess they've got to be decent, right?"
"Thank you." Papyrus smiled.
"And…" the Royal Guard added, "If you still want to talk about them and want some advice…I'm here for you. I don't mind even if I don't know who they are."
"So long as you respect my boundaries." Papyrus conditioned.
"I will. I promise." Undyne swore. "So…are we friends again?"
"Yes." Papyrus answered and he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
He opened his arms to bring Undyne into a hug and, though she wasn't much for affection like that, she accepted the gesture. They each took a step forward to embrace when Grillby ran past them again, ruining their little moment. However, they quickly exploded into fits of laughter before actually hugging. It felt good to finally move on. Never had Papyrus expected he could secretly date Sans and remain friends with Undyne. Now he had a new fighting chance to achieve his goal of joining the Royal Guard. Things were looking up and he was excited to see what the future now held.
The two returned to the table, already chatting about what the other had missed in their own respective lives while they were apart. Papyrus didn't have much to share as he didn't do much and what he actually did, he couldn't share. Undyne on the other hand, went off on the reforms that had taken place with the Royal Guard and news from New Home. They hadn't gotten in too much of a deep discussion when they returned to their table, greeted with the curious looks of Sans and Alphys.
"so?" Sans questioned.
"A-are you friends a-again?" Alphys elaborated.
Papyrus and Undyne exchanged glances and smiled. "You bet." Undyne grinned.
"Good!" Alphys exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands together.
"now take a seat," Sans beckoned, scooting over. Papyrus sat next to him while Undyne took the spot across, "grillby still hasn't—"
"I'm finally here." Grillby declared with composure despite being in the exact opposite state. His clothes were a mess from constantly running around and his glasses were crooked though he quickly fixed them.
"speak of the devil." Sans smirked.
"What would you like to order?" The flame monster asked.
"menus." Sans chuckled.
Grillby froze as though he were having a mental breakdown. Sans seemed to find great amusement in his friend's struggle. Papyrus now doubted his brother ever had the intention of being helpful in some way, shape, or form to the other.
"Or…" Papyrus intervened, "You could just bring us hamburgers and fries?" he looked at Alphys and Undyne for approval; "Is that alright?"
"Yeah, sure." Undyne shrugged, throwing her arm behind the backrest of her booth seat.
"That sounds g-good." Alphys nodded in agreement.
Grillby quietly turned to face Papyrus. There was no discernible emotion on his face which was mildly unsettling. "You're my favourite skeleton." He declared before running off. Sans broke into laughter, holding his stomach.
"You're so mean." Papyrus half-heartedly chastised.
"just wait until he comes back," Sans grinned deviously, "i'm going to remind him he forgot to ask us for drinks."
"Isn't he supposed to be friends with Grillby?" Undyne asked with a confused grimace.
"Yes." Papyrus confirmed with a sigh. He propped up his arm on the table, leaning his head into his hand. Sans was so silly.
"Hey, Pap." Undyne said, drawing his attention. She was leaning forward and fixating his wrist. Papyrus froze when he realised what she was staring at. "How did you get one of those bracelets?"
"Yeah, Sans has o-one too." Alphys noted.
Papyrus effectively began panicking. He had forgotten about the bracelets and didn't know how to answer the question unsuspiciously. The longer he took, the more time Undyne had to come to the conclusion herself and it wouldn't take much to guess the simple answer. After all that effort and brief period of reconciliation over his romantic life; it was all going to go to waste over a stupid bracelet—
"we're in love." Sans answered flatly, much to Papyrus's mortification. Why would Sans just admit to the truth? Sometimes he just couldn't understand his brother's thought process. "as two grown individuals very much in love, we were entitled to the bracelets and the discount."
"S-Sans!" Papyrus schooled in a panic.
Undyne and Alphys started laughing immediately. They thought it was funny. They thought it was a joke. It took a moment for Papyrus to understand they didn't believe Sans and to consequently relax. He wished his brother would give him some sort of warning before saying things that would scare him half to death. He sat back and tried to calm his breathing without being too obvious about it. Sans brushed their hands together beneath the table in what Papyrus assumed was meant to be a comforting gesture.
"So what r-really happened?" Alphys asked as she calmed her laughter.
"i argued that the definition of couple applied to me and pap." Sans shrugged.
"That's why the w-word 'romantic' was seared into t-the chalkboard…" Alphys concluded in realisation.
"Anyways," Papyrus said, eager to change the topic, "Let's catch up. What have you been up to, Undyne?"
"Oh well, what I'd already told you about the Royal Guard and New Home summed it up." She replied, "I've been slacking off on training, though now that my partner's back maybe I can get back into the groove…?"
"Of course." Papyrus agreed.
"Great!" Undyne exclaimed excitedly.
"I s-suppose that'll mean you'll be spending less time w-with your b-beau, hun?" Alphys mumbled without second thought. The second thought in question came after she had spoken. The yellow monster froze and suddenly seemed very nervous. "I-I'm sorry! I w-wasn't thinking! I didn't m-mean—"
"It's fine, don't worry about it." Papyrus assured and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, "My…significant other works a lot so it's not like I was seeing them more before or anything."
Sans snickered quietly to himself. Papyrus flashed him a brief glare. His brother was clearly enjoying the secrecy in this instance a bit too much. He frankly should have been far more on edge. Alphys seemed to have accepted to answer without second thought, but Papyrus caught Undyne staring at Sans with a bizarre look in her eyes. He couldn't quite place what it was and it unsettled him. He nervously replayed everything that was said and tried to convince himself she couldn't piece anything together from that until her attention seemed to waver to something else.
"What do you think about them, Sans?" Undyne asked, looking at Papyrus for approval. It was an innocent enough question so long as the smaller skeleton didn't treat it too much like a joke.
"eh, they're alright i guess." He shrugged, much to Papyrus's relief. "papyrus could do better though."
Papyrus frowned at Sans, "Don't say that." he chastised, blushing a bit, "They're perfect the way they are. If a bit lazy."
"i think they're much more energetic now than they were at the start of the relationship." Sans reckoned and winked, "don't have much of a choice if they want to keep up with you."
Papyrus rolled his eyes and coughed nervously. "Let's just change the subject." He suggested. They had spent far too much time on a topic he still wasn't comfortable discussing around Undyne. Not to mention that suspicious look in her eyes unwaveringly remained.
"Sure." Undyne agreed.
Papyrus started by asking Alphys what she had been up to in her lab. Sans encouraged her to go into more detail by entertaining her with scientific questions. Initially, the taller skeleton thought he was just trying to help him, but it later seemed that he was genuinely interested. Papyrus couldn't see why because he hardly understood what Alphys was talking about, that being said, Sans had a knack for science so he brushed it off. From there, the topics of conversation drifted leisurely. One minute they were talking about science, the next they were arguing about the cliff hanger of Mettaton's soap opera over their burgers and fries.
They laughed and enjoyed themselves, but Papyrus was on edge regardless of the ensuing pleasantries. Too often something would come up in regards to he and Sans that seem to bother Undyne. Whenever a personal question about them was asked and subsequently answered, she always seemed to pay attention to it in a particularly unnerving way. It was as though she doubted…something. Papyrus couldn't quite explain what and that was precisely what made him so uncomfortable and keen to talk about other things.
Fortunately, Papyrus finally got to catch a breather when both Undyne and Alphys left for the washroom. He didn't know what it was about women and needing to have a partner in crime for the toilets, but he was thankful for it. He sighed in relief, slinking into his booth much to Sans's amusement. The latter shifted towards him, leaning against the table to catch a better look of his face.
"stressed, pap?" Sans asked with a smug little smile.
"Be careful with what you say." Papyrus whispered, "I'm afraid she's catching on."
"i thought you two established she was going to lay off your romantic life." Sans said.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean she isn't allowed to piece things together on her own." Papyrus countered, "All she agreed to do was to not pressure me into answering her questions. Please…please just be careful."
Sans seemed to pick up on his discomfort, which was very fortunate. He pressed his hand over Papyrus's and leaned his head against his shoulder. The gesture was sweet and he hoped it seemed platonic and brotherly to the surrounding patrons that may or may not have caught a glimpse of them. "alright." He agreed, "sorry for having worried you. i'm sure it's fine, though. you tend to worry a lot."
"I hope it's just me." Papyrus conceded, closing his hand around Sans's. "The idea of maintaining this friendship and this secret just stresses me. Undyne's smart; she wasn't appointed head of the Royal Guard only because of her brute strength."
"heh, could have fooled me." Sans huffed beneath his breath.
"Sans!" Papyrus reprimanded. He seemed to have been doing a lot of that tonight.
"i'm joking." Sans assured, snuggling into his arm. He was getting tired, that much was obvious. "the best way to deal with something like this is to hide in plain sight," he explained, "you take the perception those around you have of you, and you exploit it. that way, you can tell the truth and people will just think it was a joke or something even if it wasn't. you've just got to keep acting like yourself for it to work."
"That's what you've been doing?" Papyrus concluded.
"yep. it's been working great." Sans confirmed with a yawn. "even if it's been giving you heart attacks."
"You noticed…?" Papyrus asked. He felt mildly embarrassed.
"you're very expressive pap." Sans informed and Papyrus noticed how his eyes were drooping shut.
"You're not really falling asleep, are you?" He grimaced. "It's not even that late."
Sans blushed a bit and frowned, "do i have to remind you what we did twice before getting here?" He whispered.
Papyrus felt himself flush as well. "Oh." He mumbled, "Then maybe we should call it quits soon."
"sounds good to me." Sans yawned again.
"W-what sounds good?" Alphys asked, startling Papyrus. Sans, on the other hand, lazily looked in her direction. Undyne was just next to her with that same unnerving look on her face. What was she thinking?
"A-ah, you're back." Papyrus concluded. He nervously wondered how long they had been around but, judging by her question, they had likely just returned. They took their seats across from them. "Sans is getting tired so we might go back home soon."
"But it's still early." Undyne remarked.
"Sans works a lot." Papyrus supplied, and he thought it was a decent lie. There was truth to it despite it not being the primary reason the smaller skeleton was so tired. So why did Undyne look so shocked by the answer? The expression only left her face when she shook her head as though to chase a thought away.
"that's the first time i've seen someone so incredulous to learn that i now make an effort." Sans snorted, but his tone was tense. He had noticed Undyne's expression and something about it had also alerted him. Something was wrong.
"It's unbelievable." Undyne replied, teeth gritted together.
"i've got an employee of the month plate at the hot dog and hot cat shack to prove it." Sans stated. It was clear he was trying to defuse the situation with light hearted jokes, but Papyrus knew it wouldn't work. When Undyne was on to something, she was unwavering.
It can't be about me and Sans…can it? Papyrus anxiously thought, We didn't say anything to tip her off…
"Really?" Alphys asked, unaware to the tension falling over their small group, "Why didn't you p-post a picture on Undernet?"
"I don't have any social medias." Sans admitted, "It's more my brother's department."
Papyrus watched as his brother opted to engage in conversation with Alphys rather than deal with Undyne. Knowing him, he was probably just hoping the problem would go away if he ignored it. However, Sans didn't know Undyne the way he did. The Royal Guard didn't just give up on whatever was bothering her. She pursued it until she got to a satisfying conclusion. If she really was suspicious of them even though Papyrus was reasonably certain they hadn't given anything away, she would keep thinking about it. The look on her face suggested she was deep into thought and the taller skeleton wasn't about to let her stumble upon the answer without trying anything.
"Undyne." He stated firmly, rising from his seat, "May I speak with you? Privately."
Undyne held his gaze for a moment, expression deadpan. "Sure." She conceded after a while.
Papyrus peeked at Sans briefly only to find him giving him a tense look. The latter didn't think what he was about to do was a good idea, but he had no other choice. He had to stop Undyne and if she wasn't going to be dissuaded by polite pleasantries, then Papyrus was going to call her out on her behaviour. Maybe if he was angry enough with her and the way she had been acting, she would stop. At least, that was what he was hoping for. In the event the opposite occur, the skeleton elected to bring Undyne outside and to the side of the pub. If they were to yell at each other, no one would hear them clearly there. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.
The skeleton took in a shaky breath before turning to confront Undyne. He wasn't sure how he was going to word himself, he just knew whatever he was going to say needed to be convincing. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to say anything as Undyne spoke first.
"I think I'm imagining something crazy…" She started slowly. For the first time since Papyrus had befriended her, Undyne seemed legitimately uncomfortable in his presence. "I can't just shut my brain off, you know? I can't not try to piece together the identity of who it is you're dating, especially when I think some hints are being brandished in my face…"
"Wh…what are you going on about?" Papyrus asked lowly. He was afraid and he didn't know what to do, but he was too scared to feel frustrated about that last part.
"It's someone that has stayed over at your house multiple times." Undyne began listing, "It's someone Sans approves of. They're lazy – or rather, they used to be. And they work a lot."
"Undyne—"
"It's just my imagination, isn't it?" Undyne asked, almost begging for Papyrus to confirm she was being absurd, "I know you've got a very small social group, but there's got to be one other person that I don't know about…right?"
Papyrus didn't know what to say. His mind was rushing to come up with solutions but couldn't find any. He anxiously reached for the pink bracelet around his wrist to with in order to calm down. But to no avail. "You…you said you'd let it go…" He said but couldn't even muster to sound the least bit angry. He was defeated and overcome by fear.
Undyne stared at him for a long time. Perhaps it was the lack of denial that made her realise that the assumption she desperately wished was wrong was actually right. And in that moment, Papyrus witnessed the last thing he had ever wanted to see in her; Undyne's features contorted with disgust and repulsion. She stepped back like he was an abomination. She had figured it out. Despite having shared so little, what information she had gathered had been enough to piece everything together.
"You can't be…" She muttered, "Not with him…"
"Undyne, please—" Papyrus tried.
Everything had gone so horribly wrong. They had barely been reconciled for a few hours that something new was tearing them apart again.
"He's your brother!" Undyne snapped, "Tell me I'm making this shit up!" She demanded, gripping him by the shoulders and shaking him, "Tell me I'm reading everything wrong! I-I know you said it was controversial, that I wouldn't understand, but it can't be this! It's too…it's too…"
Papyrus wanted to cry. He was frustrated and scared. He felt like his world was tumbling apart. What would Undyne do now that she knew the truth? Would she hurt Sans? Would she hurt him? Would she tell the Underground?
"You can't be…" Undyne insisted and released him. She started pacing frantically until a thought hit her, "He's forcing you, isn't he? You don't want this—how could you? I always knew there was something sickly wrong with him—"
"Undyne, stop it!" Papyrus yelled, clenching his hands into fists. He never wanted this. He never wanted any of this. "It's…it's not like that! Just let me explain—"
"Explain!?" She exploded, "You mean there's actually reason to this madness?"
"Yes!" Papyrus cried, tears finally spilling down his face. "I was doing it for him! He needed me! He needed this!"
Undyne furrowed her brow in confusion. "So…you don't actually love him like that…?" She asked.
"No! I don't!" Papyrus shouted. He sobbed a little as he tried to calm down. Explaining the truth and the situation in itself was difficult. He didn't know where to start. "I mean—"
"you…what?"
Papyrus's heart stopped. He turned around to behold, with great horror, Sans. The taller skeleton could only imagine the portion of the conversation his brother had walked in on and it filled him with both panic and desperation. Sans stared at him with wide, incredulous eyes, his mouth left agape. He looked absolutely heartbroken likely because he had only heard the last thing Papyrus had said.
"No…" Papyrus muttered, absolutely discouraged, "No, no, no! Sans—"
"this was all…just pretend…?" Sans asked, his voice cracking beneath the grief that was steadily crushing him.
"Sans—" but in the blink of an eye, the smaller skeleton had disappeared. It was almost as though he had never been there, but his foot prints left in the snow attested otherwise. "Sans!"
He had to go find him. He had to explain what he had been about to say when he was interrupted. He had to find Sans. He absolutely had to find Sans. Papyrus broke into a sprint, but had hardly taken two steps before Undyne caught and stopped him.
"Papyrus, what the hell is going on!?" She demanded.
"I have to find—"
"Leave him!" She growled.
"No!" Papyrus snapped back with the same ferocity. He tore his wrist out of her grip; "When I told you, you wouldn't understand, I knew it! My relationship with Sans started out unreciprocated and complicated, but it's different now! I love him, Undyne! I love him and I know it disgusts you, that's why I never wanted to tell you! So if you'll excuse me, I need to go find him and tell him what he heard wasn't true before…before…"
No. Papyrus thought to himself, Sans wouldn't do that…Not anymore…Not over this…
The skeleton didn't bother to finish his sentence. Instead, he turned on his heels and ran. Everything had gone horribly wrong. Undyne learned the truth and Sans had misheard his confusing babbles. If there was one thing he had to fix, it was what his brother had thought he heard. He could live with the Underground burning them for their love, but not with Sans falling into a pit of depression and despair.
I love Sans! I love—