It's a Very Merry Alphyne Party
…
A/N: Part two of the wedding! This one (strangely enough) is a lot less Alphyne-centric. It's also ridiculously long. Really, get yourself a snack and a drink before you start reading this or something. Enjoy!
.
After the wedding ceremony,
Still outside in the ceremony space.
.
The endless stream of hugs and congratulations for the newlyweds was most dramatically interrupted by Muffet and Nathan bringing forth the wedding cake. There was a chorus of gasps and admiring murmurs and Undyne called out:
"Oh good, I'm starving!"
"There's more than enough for everyone!" Muffet giggled, offering Undyne and Alphys a knife.
Behind them, Grillby came pushing a cart with champagne and glasses. The trolley was shaking dangerously and Bennett jumped up from his seat and rushed forward to help.
"You're not working, Bennett," Grillby said kindly, in a low voice.
"I know," he grunted. "But I've got no real reason to be here, so I might as well make myself useful."
"Thank you," Grillby nodded. Beneath the sulking exterior, Bennett was actually pretty helpful a lot of the time.
Undyne and Alphys waited patiently while Grillby, Bennett, and Nathan poured the champagne (and apple juice for the children). In the meantime, the guests admired the wedding cake. Muffet stood proudly beside it. The cake was enormous and made of the fluffiest spider sponge cake. The marzipan figurines on top of the cake (Nathan had even done his best to replicate Alphys and Undyne's outfits with white fondant) were the only artificially coloured ingredients in the cake. It had been a labour of love for Muffet and she had used only the best ingredients. All the cream filling had been hand whipped by her personally and, instead of smothering the cake in a marzipan or fondant covering, she had simply dusted it lightly with sugar before carefully lining the tiers with the best fruit late April had to offer. If she had had the time, Muffet would have made the raspberry jam that went with the cream filling herself as well. Luckily, Nathan had the uncanny ability to become friends with every single food lover in the city and it didn't take him long to find her some jam that met her standards. Thanks to Muffet's spiders and their careful little paws, there wasn't a drop of jam or cream out of place. In short, it was a magnificent wedding cake.
"Together, right?" Undyne said, looking at Alphys.
"Yeah," Alphys grinned.
They gripped the knife together and carefully cut into the cake, making sure there was plenty of opportunity to take pictures. After dramatically cutting the first piece, the brides happily let Muffet take over and she and her six hands made short work of supplying everyone with a generous slice. Frisk and Asriel needed to receive two stares from Toriel before they stopped trying to eat before everyone had received their share. Manny and Maddy got the same treatment from their parents and so did Sunny and the human children that had come along with some of Alphys and Undyne's colleagues.
"Now that everyone has a drink," Mettaton said happily, raising his glass of champagne. "I think before we start to taste this masterpiece, a little toast is in order!"
Now that the party was about to begin, Mettaton looked a lot more in his element and he was flashing everyone a dazzling smile.
"Don't worry," he chuckled, glancing at the impatient glares of the children. "I'll keep it short. A toast to Alphys and Undyne, may your marriage be the envy of us all!"
"Alphys and Undyne!" everyone laughed, raising their glasses.
Half a millisecond later, the first squeals of delight escaped from the children as they stuffed their faces with cake. Alphys and Undyne were sharing one big piece, but they had two forks and were doing their best to feed each other at the same time. Eventually they gave up in their eagerness to eat the cake. It was delicious.
"Good job, Nathan!" Catty whispered loudly, giving him a friendly bump with her hip.
"Oh no," he replied cheerfully. "Muffet did all of the work really. I have a lot to learn."
"Learn how to take a compliment, dude," Bratty rolled her eyes. "You're as bad as Bur- Bennett."
Bennett pretended not to hear her; indeed, his mouth was so full of cake that he couldn't have answered her anyway. All four of them were standing a little to the side to avoid being trampled by the children who were all begging for a second piece of cake already.
"Alright," Nathan laughed. "Thank you, Catty. It really was great working with Muffet though." He sighed. "What a wonderful ceremony that was."
"Totally," Catty and Bratty replied in unison.
Catty glanced at Bennett.
"What did you think?" she asked.
"Hm?" he hummed. "Oh, it was nice. I mean, it wasn't a monster ceremony …"
"I think they did a good job of incorporating monster rituals," Nathan remarked.
"Yeah," Bennett shrugged. "I guess."
"Maybe you'll like the reception better," Catty smiled. "It's gonna be a totally cool party. With dancing and stuff."
Bratty rolled her eyes and Bennett gave Catty an uncertain look.
"You are staying for the party, right?" she asked.
"Of course he is!" Nathan answered for him, grabbing Bennett round the shoulders. "He tries to leave early and I'm not cooking for a month!"
The girls hastily quieted their laughter at Bennett's annoyed expression when Asgore's gentle but booming voice announced:
"Excuse me, everyone, might we have your attention for a moment?"
The talking and laughing quieted down immediately and everyone who still had cake tried not to scrape their dessert fork on their plate. Asgore was standing beside the grand piano and, when the guest saw it was now Undyne and not Shyren sitting behind it, there was a murmur of excitement. Shyren was floating next to Asgore, looking very nervous. Alphys had been talking with the amalgamate that had once been Mariah the Snowdrake and that was now still Mariah the wife and mother, but slightly less of a Snowdrake. She looked genuinely surprised to see Undyne at the piano and glanced at Papyrus and Frisk to see if either of them betrayed any knowledge of this. They both kept their faces straight, or as straight as their wide grins allowed.
"Thank you," Asgore said when everyone was finally quiet and he stepped aside.
Without any further explanation Undyne put her fingers to the keys and started playing. For someone who did everything with force, she could play very gently and cascades of notes whirled around for a while before forming a recognisable melody. When they did however, monsters and humans alike recognised it as soon as Shyren started to sing with her lovely, if somewhat uncertain, voice:
"Wise men say, only fools rush in…
But she can't help falling in love with you…"
The piano was positioned in such a way that Undyne could look at Alphys, and look at her she did. Alphys was blushing like a rose and Undyne smiled at her. Shyren's voice gained strength as she progressed. Her agent and family were beaming at her from their comfortable spot in the shade and she confidently let the last lines ring out earnestly:
"Take her hand, take her whole life too,
For she can't help falling in love with you,
No, she can't help falling in love with you…!"
Undyne made sure to let the last tones of the music fade away slowly. She grinned and said:
"That was for my beautiful amazing wife. I love you, Alphy."
Alphys made a nondescript sound and ran to the piano. She kissed Undyne and there was a round of laughter and approving exclamations before Mettaton burst out:
"I can't believe you didn't tell me this was coming!" He turned around and wailed: "Please tell me someone filmed this?"
There was more laughter and shaking of heads. "Well," Mettaton grumbled. "We're at least getting a picture out of it. You sit back down!"
Extremely pleased her surprise had worked out this well, Undyne sat back down behind the piano so Mettaton could take some pictures. Before he could convince Alphys to lie down on the piano for dramatic effect, Frisk came running to congratulate Shyren.
"Yeah, Shy," Undyne joined them enthusiastically. "You were perfect. I knew you would be!"
This signalled the beginning of so many people coming up to Shyren to congratulate her that she got rather overwhelmed. Lemony and Ari came to the rescue, reminding everyone that while Shyren was of course the most talented singer in the world and they would surely hear a lot more from her in the future, it really should be Undyne getting all their attention at this moment.
Secretly wondering if there would be more surprises, the guests stood around talking and laughing in the fresh air and sunshine. In the background, people like Katla, Grillby, and Muffet were quietly disappearing inside and reappearing again, sometimes to whisper something to a member of the wedding party. Frisk, as official bridefrisk, had nobly accepted the responsibly of keeping all the other children occupied and was leading them in a game of leapfrog with the empty chairs. It wouldn't be long before it was time for the party to begin.
"Alphys?" Alphys turned around, excusing herself to her human colleagues. It was Gerson who had spoken to her. "It was a lovely wedding, Alphys," he said with a smile. "But this has been quite enough excitement for this old man."
"Of course," Alphys said understandingly. "Thank you s-so much for coming!"
"I was honoured to have been invited," he said sincerely. He held her claw in his wrinkly hand for a moment and gave it a squeeze. "I know your grandmother would have been so proud of you," he said.
"Thank you," Alphys said happily, her smile trembling a little. "I th-think so too."
"The bunny sisters have kindly offered to give me a lift," Gerson chuckled. He nodded towards Isabelle and Sarah who were just then hugging Undyne goodbye. "I wonder if the little rabbits haven't broken down the house in their absence."
Apart from Gerson, Isabelle and Sarah, and one of Undyne's colleagues, no one felt the need to leave early. Everyone was excitedly waiting for the party to start when Mettaton raised his voice and announced "In the style of only the best dramatic human movies, there will be a bouquet toss to signal the end of the reception! So would everyone eager to catch a little good luck in the love department gather together over here?"
Bratty and Catty were absolutely the first to stand to attention. They tried to pull Nathan along, but he laughingly declined. He in turn tried to push Bennett forward, but only got a dark glare for his efforts. Gail shrugged, handed her glass to Grace, and went to stand beside the bridesmaids. Maddy and Sunny, being the eldest of the children, decided they were more than qualified to participate too. Shyren didn't want to go, but when Aaron and Lemony did, she joined them. Intimidated but not at all repulsed by the amount of swishing tails and eager claws, some humans joined the fray as well. None of the dogs felt the need to participate, but Doge and Doggo did begin a careful explanation to Greater and Lesser Dog that although someone was going to throw something that something did not need to be brought back to the thrower.
"Everybody r-ready?" Alphys asked laughingly. "I'm gonna throw it!"
She turned around and flung the bouquet backwards. There was a lot of shouting and laughing, but the shrill shriek of triumph that shot through the air made it very clear who managed to catch it.
"No fair!" Bratty whined. "Of course you can jump higher than me!"
"I caught it fair and square!" Catty bit back.
"Well you sure need more luck than me," Bratty snapped.
Catty gasped and almost hissed at her best friend.
Undyne rolled her eyes, took the tuft of lavender off her lapel, aimed, and threw it at Bratty like a dart. She hit her on the chest with it and Bratty gave a surprised yelp and caught it before it fell to the ground.
"There," Undyne said. "Done!"
Alphys looked relieved. She only wanted to do the bouquet toss because it always looked so cute on TV; she hadn't wanted anybody fighting over it. Bratty looked pacified for the moment, pinning the sprig of lavender on the sash round her waist. Catty happily clutched her bouquet and everyone looked expectantly at the brides.
"Katla?" Alphys asked.
Katla stepped forward and spread her arms to the guests. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you would follow the wedding party inside, a not-so-very Victorian but absolutely splendid party awaits!"
Undyne grinned and dramatically offered Alphys her arm. They slowly walked towards the building, where a big double door had been opened to let everyone in.
"Since we're being all formal," Mettaton winked. "Papy?"
He held out his arm.
"Oh, thank you!" Papyrus said cheerfully and he accepted.
Frisk and Manny giggled, imitating their dramatic way of walking as they trailed behind them. In a slow steady stream, the guests went inside. Sans hung back a bit, waiting for Toriel. Asriel was already beside him, watching with a frown on his face how his father offered Katla his arm.
"Hey, kid," Sans said. "Hats really a pretty cool outfit you've got there. I don't think I told you before but it's the absolute vest."
Asriel grinned.
"Yeah," he said, repressing a smirk. "It really suits me, right?"
Sans chuckled. "Ah, man," he said. "That one was better than mine."
"Gotta tie harder, Dunkle Sans," Asriel grinned and Sans laughed out loud.
"There are my two handsome gentlemen," Toriel said with a smile, coming towards them.
"Can I go catch up with Frisk?" Asriel asked.
"Of course," Toriel said with a smile. "But once you are inside, stay inside, alright?"
"Alright!" Asriel cried and he ran off.
Sans and Toriel followed him at a gentle strolling pace. They were among the last people to go inside and Toriel glanced around the empty ceremony area. It looked rather messy, but the sun was on its way down and bathed everything in a warm light.
"Pretty sweet," Sans remarked. "The way they fixed the ceremony."
"Lovely," Toriel agreed.
They went inside, passing another Froggit in a top hat (or perhaps it was the same Froggit; it was very hard to tell them apart) that informed them in what directions they were to go for the restrooms and the cloakroom. They didn't have anything to put away however, so they went straight into what the Froggit had called the ballroom.
It was a very large space, simply decorated, but big enough to house a dance floor and turntable, a bar, two large buffet tables, and smaller chairs and tables to sit down at. Candles in glass jars stood shining on every table and pleasant background music filled the room. This was courtesy of Napstablook, who was now wearing his headphones as well as his top hat, and was floating behind the turntable which was clearly his domain for the night.
"Wow," Toriel said, looking around admiringly. "This is very nice!"
"Hm," Sans hummed, trying to steer her in the direction of the buffet tables.
"Alright, alright," she laughed. "No need to push."
They walked towards the buffet. Between the two tables stood two teenage girls in almost matching black dresses and properly matching white aprons. One of them was smiling cheerfully, her face and hands consisting solely of bright green fire.
"Good evening," she said with equal politeness and cheerfulness. "My name is Emberly Fuku Fire and I'll be your server tonight! The table on the left has savoury treats, the table on the right all the sweet confectionaries. If there is anything you need or want to know about the food, please don't hesitate to ask!"
"Why thank you," Toriel smiled, a little overwhelmed at such spirit.
Emberly nodded politely and glanced at the girl beside her. She was studying her tentacle-like hand passively, not even looking at Sans and Toriel. Emberly nudged her in the side reproachfully and the girl straightened up, looking first Toriel, then Sans in the eye.
"Sadie," she said simply. "And ditto to what she said."
"Sadie," Emberly huffed, sparks shooting from her face, but Toriel smiled and Sans chuckled approvingly:
"You, I like you. You have good taste, Em."
Emberly's flames flashed bright for a moment and she laughed shyly.
"It's good to see you again," he said to her. "How's the college search going?"
"Good," she nodded. "I have my shortlist ready, I think. And it's good to see you too," she added, with a crackle in her voice that Sans had come to associate with Grillby's equivalent of a happy hum.
"Nice to meet you, Emberly," Toriel said warmly. "And you too, Sadie. Grillby has told us all about you."
"And he told me about you!" Emberly said eagerly. "Thank you for offering to help me with college applications! It's been alright so far, but I'll be sure to come to you if I need help."
"I'd be happy to help," Toriel assured her.
"Hey, Em," Sans said. "You wouldn't happen to know if there's any ketchup here?"
"Of course," Emberly smiled. "Oh, except the savoury table is supposed to be Sadie's responsibility."
"Ketchup and sauces, that way," Sadie said, pointing lazily.
"Thanks," Sans grinned. He winked at Emberly and with that, he pulled Toriel towards the savoury table.
"You did that on purpose to wind me up!" they heard Emberly snap accusingly at her girlfriend when they had walked past them.
"Yeah," Sadie chuckled. "But only cause you're so cute when you go all sparky."
Sadie snickered and Toriel repressed a laugh.
"Look at this!" a human they knew was called Tim called out to his wife. He pointed at a couple of Vulkins that were sitting on the savoury table, keeping some of the dishes warm.
"Would you like a toasty grilled cheese?" one of the Vulkins asked politely, pushing the plate towards him.
"Oh!" he gasped, clearly not having expected the small monster to talk. His wife in the meantime was behind accosted by a very friendly but persistent Woshua. He had noticed she had a stain on her sleeve and was cleaning it for her on the spot.
"There really should be more gatherings like this," Toriel said in a low voice. "More opportunities for humans and monsters to mix in a relaxed atmosphere."
"Hey," Sans smirked. "Do you ever stop working?"
"I am sorry," Toriel laughed. "Look, there is your ketchup."
The savoury table was indeed well stocked in regards to sauces and Sans filled a glass with spicy ketchup. The normal drinks were being served at the bar, which was, of course, being manned by Grillby.
Between the food, the drink, and the music, everything was set to make this a great party. Sans and Toriel sat down with some food and they were soon joined by Manny's parents. They chatted and kept half an eye on their children, who were making Ralph, Roy, Grace, and Gail prove that they hadn't lost their edge now they weren't guards anymore. Proving this involved picking up as many children as possible at once and carrying them around.
At the table next to them, Nathan had sat down with Muffet, Bennett, Bratty, and Catty. Muffet was quite incapable of sitting still for long and was gone in a minute or two, but the others stayed seated, laughing and talking until Napstablook decided it was time for dancing. The music changed dramatically and people immediately started to find their way to the dance floor for a spin.
Bratty and Catty watched the dancing, but didn't move. If Bennett saw Catty glance at him, he certainly didn't let on. Bratty looked increasingly annoyed, but before she could say something Nathan suddenly got to his feet and said "Ladies! Would you do us the honour of dancing with us?"
He grabbed Bennett's arm and dragged him to his feet with pure enthusiasm.
"We'd love to," Catty said, doing the same with Bratty.
"Then lead the way," Nathan smiled, gesturing towards the dance floor.
Catty skipped ahead, leading Bratty by the claw, and Nathan followed them.
"What are you doing?" Bennett hissed under his breath.
"Earning my title as your best friend," Nathan hissed back. "Now come on!" and he dragged Bennett with him.
Alphys saw them go and let out a little squeal of contentment. She found Undyne in the crowd and went up to her to whisper:
"Look at that! I hope they finally get together."
"Why not," Undyne grinned. "No place like a wedding to hook up, right?"
"I said get together," Alphys laughed accusingly. "N-n h-hook up."
She gave Undyne a loving squeeze and went to chat to some guests she had hardly spoken to yet. Undyne watched her go with a grin on her face. Then she caught sight of Mettaton and her face changed. Her expression went from frowning to thoughtful to downright determined and suddenly she marched up to him.
"Hello," Mettaton said cheerfully. "Anything I can do for the newlywed beauty?"
"Yes," Undyne said firmly. "You can tell me why you're standing around here instead of dancing with Papyrus."
Mettaton's face might have been metal, but it was expressive enough to show the different shades of shock and embarrassment he went through at that moment.
"Really, darling," he said, trying to laugh it off. "This is your wedding. Go have fun with your wife."
"Don't avoid the question," Undyne snarled. "I know you like him, you're obvious as hell."
Mettaton crossed his arms. "Of course I like him," he said defensively. "And I am not obvious, darling, I am passionate."
"So ask him to dance, you metal dork," Undyne groaned.
"Thanks for the encouragement, darling, but I'd rather not," he said, looking away.
"I wasn't encouraging," Undyne scowled. "It was an order. I'm a bride, you have to do what I say."
Mettaton swept his hair out of her face and gave her a frustrated look.
"What do you think I am?" he hissed. "Shy? I'd love to ask Papy to dance, but…I don't think he's into me, alright? Not like that anyway." He turned around with a nettled expression. "There, happy now?"
"What are you talking about?" Undyne said, astonished. "You guys are always flirting."
"That's exactly the point," Mettaton sighed. "I've been putting out signals for ages and he does respond, but I just don't think the whole relationship thing is even on his radar…"
He looked actually downcast and Undyne was starting to feel uncomfortable.
"Well, that's what Alphy and I thought about Sans and look at him," she said.
Mettaton shook his head. "I appreciate your need for romance, darling, but I'm not going to ask Papyrus for anything he doesn't want to give."
"But you don't know that," Undyne insisted. "Why don't you-"
"No," Mettaton said flatly. "The answer's no, Undyne. Sorry." He turned around and walked away quickly, before she could say anything else.
"This is ridiculous," Undyne muttered. "I didn't listen to Papyrus complain about sexy rectangles for what seems like a damn lifetime for it all to end up like this."
Angrily, she marched to the table where Alphys, Sans, and Toriel were sitting down chatting.
"You," she said pointing at Sans. "Where is your brother?"
"Dunno," Sans said. "Why?"
"I need him for something," Undyne said darkly and she walked away.
"Uh-oh," Alphys muttered, she glanced at Sans, slid off her chair, and quickly went in pursuit of her newly made wife. "What's the matter?" she whispered, almost running to keep up.
Undyne held still so abruptly Alphys bumped into her. She took a step back, smoothing her dress, and Undyne turned round to look at her.
"Alphys," she said with sudden solemnity. "This is my wedding and that means I'm in charge and I am getting Mettaton and Papyrus together if it kills me."
Alphy's eyes widened. She certainly hadn't expected that. Whenever she talked about Papyrus and Mettaton as a potential couple, Undyne usually just hummed indistinctly or muttered something about hell freezing over or Sans blowing a fuse.
"Oh!" she sputtered excitedly. "R-really? I mean, why now?"
Undyne made a soft frustrated noise and rubbed under her eye-patch.
"C'mere," she muttered and she caught Alphys by the hand.
They walked to a quiet corner of the room. Alphys gave Undyne an expectant look. She sighed and pointed across the room to Mettaton. He was talking and laughing with Drake like nothing had happened.
"Mettaton just told me he thinks Papyrus isn't interested in him," she said in a low voice. "And he meant it."
Alphys stared at Undyne for a moment and then she glanced at Mettaton, biting her lip.
"You've talked to him about it right?" Undyne asked.
"N-not a lot," Alphys confessed. "I thought I'd only make things worse. I t-tend to do that…"
Undyne narrowed her eyes at that self-depreciating comment and Alphys smiled involuntarily.
"The one time I d-did ask him directly about it," she added. "He said something about unequal r-relationships and how he could never m-make the first move."
"Hmpf," Undyne grunted.
Alphys played absentmindedly with her veil and, glancing up at her, asked:
"W-what made you ask Mettaton about it?"
Undyne looked at her.
"Do you remember what it was like?" she asked. "Being in love with each other, but both thinking the other wasn't interested? It sucked."
"Y-yeah," Alphys sighed, squirming a little.
"But now we're married," Undyne said, resting her webbed hands on Alphys' shoulders. "You're my wife."
Alphys' face was shining with happiness as she looked at Undyne. She'd gotten side-tracked and had quite forgotten what she was going to say. Undyne was already leaning forward a little and Alphys pushed herself up on her toes and pressed a scaly kiss on her lips.
"Sometimes I think about how long we could have been together if either of us had just had the guts," Undyne grimaced when Alphys pulled away. "But I guess we needed Frisk to help us, so… Urg! I just want the bonehead and the metalhead to be happy, alright!"
"Go on then," Alphys grinned. "Go t-talk to Papyrus. I'll keep an eye on M-mettaton."
She gave Undyne a happy squeeze in her forearm and a glint of determination sparked in Undyne's eye.
"Right!" she said, straightening up and glancing menacingly across the sea of dancing and standing people. "Where is he?"
She found Papyrus in a corner, dancing with some of the kids. Alphys couldn't see him, not having Undyne's height advantage, but she could tell Undyne had zeroed in on her target. So she gave her an encouraging smile, lifted her skirts, and made her way over to Mettaton. Undyne glanced over her shoulder to where Sans was sitting. Toriel had joined him again and he seemed suitably distracted talking to her, so Undyne went for it.
"Hey, kids," she grinned when she'd reached Papyrus. "Give me a minute with my best man, will you?"
"Awww…" Manny complained.
Asriel, Frisk, and the other kids weren't very eager to comply either. Undyne put her hands on her hips.
"Bridefrisk!" she said authoritatively. "As one of the brides of this wedding, it is your duty to obey me. If you want something to do, there's some dogs over there that could use a pet."
Frisk's face lit up. Toriel had told them them no petting, but since this was Undyne's wedding she definitely had higher authority in this case.
"Come on, guys!" they yelled and they all ran off to the other end of the room in a little stampede of children.
"Is there something you need me to do, Undyne?" Papyrus asked cheerfully. "I hope you are having a good wedding."
"The best," Undyne answered. "But listen." She swung her arm across his shoulders and pulled him into a half hug, half headlock, wrinkling both their suits. "I gotta ask you something."
"Alright," Papyrus agreed, squirming a little under her grip. "What is it?"
Undyne looked him straight in the eye and while her serious face surprised Papyrus, her question surprised him even more. "What's the deal with you and Mettaton?"
Papyrus changed colour. Undyne let go of him and he fumbled with his cravat.
"Do you like him?" she prompted.
"Of course I do!" Papyrus said earnestly. "Who wouldn't? Mettaton is magnificent!"
"So?" Undyne said impatiently.
"So I am very glad he is my friend!" Papyrus said. "Back in the Underground, I never would have thought that would actually happen!"
Undyne frowned in frustration. Normally she could read Papyrus like a book, but right now she was getting nothing.
"Urg," she groaned. "Look, what I'm trying to ask-"
"You think Mettaton and I should be dating," Papyrus interrupted her.
Undyne blinked, shutting her mouth in surprise.
"It is an understandable wish," Papyrus nodded. "After all, it is not often one meets with two such amazing individuals."
"Eh, right," Undyne said. "So, would you want to date him?"
"Undyne," Papyrus said in a slightly shocked tone. "I would never be so selfish." He straightened up to his full height and shook his head. "Mettaton is a star. He belongs to the world, to his fans, to his art! How could I justify trying to win him over for myself alone?"
Undyne gave him a stunned look. Of all the things she had expected, this was definitely very low on her list.
"It's not like he'd have to choose between being a star and dating you," she said. "Is it because you think he's more interested in his work than romance? Because I think he's really into you. I mean it, Pap."
"That is very nice of you to say," Papyrus said, looking away. "I mean, I am very great and often very charming…" He shook his head. "But I am sure Mettaton lives for the stage."
Genuinely at a loss for words, Undyne nodded uncertainly, trying to hide her disappointment. She felt rather deflated.
"Okay…" she said. "Sorry I brought it up, I guess."
"That's okay," Papyrus said, sounding like his cheerful self again. "But why aren't you with your wife? Why aren't you dancing?"
"Alphy isn't quite up for it yet," Undyne shrugged. "Maybe when Napsta decides to play some slower songs."
"But everyone is having such a good time!" Papyrus said. "Look, even Asgore is dancing!"
"Really?" Undyne grinned. "Is someone filming? Where is he?"
She scanned the crowd. It was busy enough on the dancefloor to make even Asgore not stand out immediately.
"There," Papyrus pointing. "He is dancing with Miss Katla!"
"He's what?" Undyne's mouth almost dropped when she finally found Asgore. Sure enough, there he was, dancing like the dad he was and holding onto the claws of a slightly ill-at-ease but smiling Katla. "Well, I'll be…" Undyne muttered under her breath.
"They look very good together, don't they?" Papyrus observed.
"Heck yeah they do!" Undyne cried. "I gotta find Alphys, she has to see this."
She ran off excitedly to find her and left Papyrus on his own, watching the dancing. After a while, he walked to where Sans and Toriel were sitting. Toriel was tapping her foot to the rhythm of the music and Sans was drinking ketchup from a wine glass.
"Hey, Pap," Sans said when he sat down beside him. "Undyne was looking for you just now. Did she find you?"
"Yes, she did," Papyrus said. "You know she told me something funny?"
"Yeah, bro?" Sans said, swirling the ketchup in his glass.
"Yes," Papyrus said. "She told me she thinks Mettaton is in love with me."
Sans stopped swirling and Toriel stopped tapping her foot. She glanced at Sans. Sans glanced at Papyrus.
"Really?" he muttered.
"Heh, yeah," Papyrus said with a half-hearted laugh.
He looked across the room. From where they were sitting he could just see Mettaton leaning against the turning table, chatting with Napstablook. Toriel looked from him to Sans and back again, ready to say something distracting as soon as it was needed.
"Well…" Sans said slowly, putting down his glass. "Undyne is usually pretty good at that sort of stuff. Maybe she's right."
"Then it is very lucky for both of us that I am mindful of Mettaton's position as a star," Papyrus said hastily. "After all, a star as famous as Mettaton cannot afford to fall in love with just one person."
Sans was very aware that Toriel had to try very hard to keep her mouth shut, but he purposely did not look at her. Instead he forced a grin at Papyrus and said "Imma get us something to drink, be right back."
He got to his feet and turned to Toriel. "You want anything, Tori?"
"No thank you, Sans," she said. "I haven't quite finished my drink."
Sans nodded and disappeared. A moment later he reappeared with a glass in each hand. One of them was filled with red liquid and decorated with a celery stick and lemon wedge. Sans smiled and held it out to Papyrus.
"Got you this, bro," he said.
"Oh!" Papyrus said. "What an aesthetically pleasing drink."
"Yeah," Sans grinned, sitting down. "I thought you'd like it. It has your spaghetti juice in it."
Toriel gave him a surprised look, but didn't say anything. Papyrus sipped the drink.
"Very nice!" he complimented.
Sans took a swig of his whiskey and nodded. "Hey Pap," he said. "About Mettaton…"
Papyrus fixed his eyes on his brother, taking another sip of his drink.
"Maybe you're right," Sans said. "Being the star that he is, Mettaton couldn't date just anybody."
Papyrus nodded solemnly, but Sans continued: "It's have to be a pretty special person. You know, someone who could deal with being with a star. Someone equally amazing. Don't you think so, Tori?"
"I…certainly," Toriel stammered, taking quite by surprise. She recovered quickly however. "Any relationship has its challenges," she said. "But dating someone famous is certainly not easy. I hope Mettaton will have the good luck to find someone that is strong enough to stand by him."
"Yeah," Sans nodded. "It would have to be someone pretty great…"
Papyrus was looking at them with glowing cheekbones and round eyes. His glass was half empty.
"You don't think it would be…wrong for him?" he said. "I mean, think of his fans!"
"I would think Mettaton's fans would all be very happy for him," Toriel said warmly. "Don't you, Sans?"
"Sure," he said and, looking at his brother: "And if you think about it, all fans really do is love you from afar. Having to be amazing every day…all on your own…might get pretty lonely."
Papyrus didn't answer that. His whole face was glowing. With a sudden movement, he emptied his glass and got to his feet so abruptly his chair scooted back with a screech.
"Excuse me," he said loudly. "I have to go do something important."
"Go for it, bro," Sans said, repressing a grin.
"Thank you," Papyrus said and he ran across the dancefloor towards the DJ's table.
"Sans," Toriel said, only just managing to keep her voice calm. "That was-"
"Yeah, I know," he interrupted, putting his unfinished whiskey away on the table. "So, you wanna dance?"
"Dance?" Toriel gasped laughingly. "What's gotten into you all of the sudden?"
"Dunno," Sans chuckled. "If you don't want to dance-"
He was cut off by Toriel grabbing his hand and pulling him to the dance floor, laughing like a young goat. She twirled around and Sans looked up at her, grinning widely. His dancing was definitely minimal effort, but he was keeping in the rhythm of the music and he was moving. Toriel leaned towards him while dancing so no one else heard when she said "That's really lovely of you, Sans, what you just did for Papyrus and Mettaton."
"Yeah, well, let's hope it doesn't blow up in my face," Sans grimaced.
Toriel shook her head. "I know the others make jokes about you being so protective of Papyrus that you would never let anyone near him, but I have always known that you only want him to be happy and you would do everything to allow him to be so."
"Of course you did," Sans grinned. "You really goat me, Tori."
"You make it easy for me," she said, repressing her laugh and trying to sound serious. "After all, I can see right through you."
They both burst out laughing, grabbing at each other's hands, still swaying from side to side on the music. Neither of them was aware that they were being watched by Frisk and Asriel. Frisk had managed to get hold of the polaroid camera and was furiously making pictures. Asriel was holding them for them. With a slight frown, he looked at one on which his father had his arm lightly around Katla's waist. Frisk looked at him, their own hands full of pictures of Sans and Toriel.
"What?" they asked, looking at his face. They looked at the picture. "Oh."
Asriel shrugged and put the picture at the bottom of the stack.
"I like Katla. Don't you?" Frisk asked cautiously.
"Yeah…" Asriel said slowly.
"Your dad's gotta dance with someone," Frisk said.
"Yeah…" Asriel repeated.
"Come on," Frisk said, laying the camera aside. "Let's go ask Doge if she'll do that thing she does with her ears again."
They took Asriel by the hand and they ran off in search of the former canine unit, nearly tripping over Alphys' train as she hurried in the other direction.
"Sorry!" they called back, but Alphys didn't even hear them. She ran to Undyne as fast as she could without having to lift up her skirt too high and grabbed her arm as soon as she reached her.
"Undyne!" she gasped. "Undyne, you have to see this!"
"Is it Sans dancing?" Undyne said. "Because I'm looking right at it!"
"What?" Alphys said, temporarily distracted. "Really? Where-NO! No, this is more important than that!"
"What is it then?" Undyne asked, looking at her. Alphys' glasses were fogged up with excitement.
"Come on," she said. "I'm not saying! You have to see!"
Undyne shrugged and followed her overexcited wife to the exit of the ballroom.
"Where are they going?" Toriel asked curiously.
Sans shrugged and pulled on her hand as the song ended. "Want to go get a drink?" he asked.
"Yes, I do," Toriel laughed, fanning herself. "This dress was clearly not made for dancing!"
They walked over to the bar and took a seat.
"Hey Grillbz," Sans said. "Surprise us."
"Did your brother enjoy the Bloody Mary?" Grillby inquired, mixing them each a different cocktail.
"Yup," Sans grinned. "Not sure exactly how much he enjoyed it yet, but we'll see."
Toriel giggled and Grillby made a questioning noise just as Gaster came up to the bar.
"Sans," he said. "Are you aware that Papyrus and the robot Mettaton are out in the hallway pretending to kiss while Undyne and Alphys watch them from behind a potted plant?"
Grillby nearly dropped a bottle of rum and Toriel made a delighted sound.
"No," Sans chuckled. "But that sounds like quite the sight."
"It was," Gaster hummed, taking a seat. "I'll have what he's having, if you please, Grillby."
"I think you would rather have what Toriel's having," Grillby crackled, handing Sans a ketchup, tobacco, and vodka cocktail.
"I agree," Gaster said after a glance at his son's drink.
"Gaster, what do you mean 'pretending to kiss'?" Toriel laughed softly.
"I mean that I believe they have yet to figure out how to," Gaster said philosophically.
Sans snorted into his glass and Toriel exchanged an amused glance with Grillby. Gaster chuckled.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're alright with it," he said.
"Couldn't be better," Sans chuckled. He glanced at the dance floor. "It's quite the night for romance, hm?"
Everyone sure looked like they were having fun. Roy and Ralph were dancing so wildly other people had to take care to stay a couple of paces away from them. Nathan and Bratty were both manoeuvring further and further away from Catty and Bennett while dancing and the two of them hardly seemed to notice. Dogamy and Dogaressa were demonstrating their nose nuzzling skills and Muffet was mesmerizing the human children by doing a traditional spider dance with her many arms.
They sipped their drinks and watched the dancing. Grillby idly cleaned some glasses and glanced over to the buffet table every now and again. Most people hadn't wanted anything to eat for a while now and Emberly and Sadie had abandoned their post. They were standing in a corner of the room, holding hands and talking with their faces so close together Emberly's green flames illuminated Sadie's face. Grillby looked away, a warm crackle escaping him. If people needed help with the food, they could always ask the Vulkins…
"Napsta!" a loud voice rang out above the music. Everyone looked up to see Undyne descending onto the dancefloor with big, triumphant strides. "Play me something I can jump to!"
Behind her Alphys was trying to walk and polish her glasses at the same time and a few paces behind her walked Papyrus and Mettaton. They both looked extremely happy, very red in the face, and rather dishevelled.
"Coooooming right up!" Napstablook agreed and the music changed immediately.
Undyne raised her fist in the air approvingly and jumped on the dancefloor.
"Come on, Alphy," she coaxed. "You know you want to."
"I c-can't," Alphys laughed. "Not in this dress."
"Then go ask Grillby for a drink or something!" Undyne shouted. "Ask for whatever it was Papyrus had! Fuhuhuhuhu!"
She roared with laughter and watched Mettaton pull Papyrus onto the dance floor to the surprised but delighted looks of at least half the guests. There was an unmistakable clicking sound that indicated either Frisk or someone else was taking pictures again and Napstablook turned up the volume with something that looked like a happy smile, but was his equivalent of the widest of grins. Undyne was dancing with Manny now, who could jump remarkably high.
Alphys walked to the bar, where Grillby silently handed her a Bloody Mary.
"How did you-?" she asked, confused, but he only laughed.
"Would you look at that!" Toriel gushed, looking at Papyrus and Mettaton dancing with their arms around each other. Mettaton was no longer wearing his red coat, but only his almost-golden vest on a white shirt. Papyrus still wore his red velvet coat though and it coloured nicely against the gold. Mettaton spun around wildly and bumped back into Papyrus with a laugh.
"Such enthusiasm," Gaster chuckled.
"It was about time," Sans grinned.
Alphys gave him an astonished look. She didn't believe what she was hearing. "You did this?" she asked.
"I didn't do nothing," Sans shook his skull. "You can't prove anything. I deny everything."
Toriel laughed and Alphys decided to stop asking and drink her cocktail. Before she had even half-finished it, Undyne waved at her and pointed at Napstablook. When she looked, Napstablook flashed her a ghostly smile. Shyren was floating beside him, giggling. Quickly Napstablook pressed a button. There was a loud sound effect of sparkles flying through the air and as soon as the first notes left the speakers, Alphys jumped to her feet.
"Do the thing, Alphy!" Undyne laughed, running towards her. "Do the thing!"
Laughingly Alphys sang along to Mew Mew Kissy Cutie's theme song and did the Kissy transformation dance.
"Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!
Friendship, laughter, love!
Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!
Who's the one you love?"
Frisk, Asriel and Manny joined in and, halfway through, Maddy couldn't resist any longer either. Manny and Maddy's father filmed them with a big grin on his face.
"Transformation complete!" Alphys cried, doing the final pose as the music finished.
"Now give me a magic kiss," Undyne demanded, bending towards her.
Alphys laughed and pressed her lips against hers. At that moment, Napstablook turned down the lights and piano music filled the room.
"She says I smell like safety and home…"
"You planned this!" Alphys laughed, pulling away from the kiss.
"Yup," Undyne grinned. "Only just now though."
With a resigned laugh, Alphys put her arms around Undyne's waist, while Undyne leaned down and let her arms rest on Alphys' shoulders in a light embrace. They danced slowly. Everybody watched them, but at least some people had the decency to pretend to dance while they watched. The only people not watching them were probably Mettaton and Papyrus as they were too busy slow dancing themselves.
When the next song started, nobody stopped dancing. Toriel slid off her chair and held out her hand to Sans. He grinned.
"I don't know," he said. "Tonight's already ruined my reputation quite a bit."
"Please?" she said, smiling. "Alphys and Undyne dance pretty well, but I think we could give them quite a pun for their money."
Sans laughed and nudged Gaster. "She does puns about puns," he grinned. "How could I not fall in love with this woman?" And he grabbed Toriel's hand and followed her to the dancefloor, right past Bennett, who had his arms wrapped carefully around Catty's waist. They danced and they looked very lovely together, Toriel in her mauve dress and Sans in his blue coat.
Gaster chuckled and set his empty glass down on the bar.
"Well…" he said slowly. "My sons are certainly full of surprises."
"I'll say," Muffet remarked, sitting down next to him. "Papyrus nearly ran me off my feet earlier!" She laughed heartily and took the glass of spider cider that Grillby offered her with a smile. "Thank you, dearie," she said.
"Where are the kids, Muffet?" Grillby asked. "You didn't really hypnotise them, did you?"
"Of course not!" she said. "Ahuhuhu, well, maybe a little. But don't worry, they're over there."
She nodded towards a corner where Asriel and some of the other children were trying to dance moving their arms like Muffet had done. A few steps further on, Frisk was dancing with Manny and his sister was fumbling with the camera, hoping she'd be in time to take a picture. Gaster watched her take the picture. Frisk laughed and Manny stuck out his tongue at her when she teased them.
Gaster slid off his chair and walked up to Maddy. "May I?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," she said politely and she gave him the camera. He turned around, watching the dancers. Gaster waited until both his sons with their partners and the newlyweds were in shot and carefully took a picture. He watched it roll out of the camera and held it up as the black slowly faded to show colours. For a moment he smiled at the six happy faces on the paper. Then he slipped the picture in his pocket, gave the camera back to Maddy, sat back down at the bar and continued to watch the originals.
.
After the party,
Undyne and Alphys' house.
.
It was very late at night. Alphys and Undyne were home and, for the first time since Mettaton had come over the evening before, they were alone.
With an exhausted but really happy sigh, Undyne closed and locked their front door. She was still in her wedding suit, but somewhere along the way, her hair had come undone and she had lost her jacket. Some of the guests had still been dancing when Alphys had announced that she was really going to fall over if she had to be on her feet any longer. So they had done their dramatic exit with Napstablook blasting some extra epic music and Katla had driven them home.
"Alphy?" Undyne called, repressing a yawn.
"In here," Alphys called from the living room. She was standing at the dinner table, where Katla, with a bit of teleporting help from Sans, had put all the wedding gifts for them to inspect at their leisure.
"I didn't realise we got h-half this stuff," she said with a smile. "W-who gave us action figures?"
There were indeed some action figures among the more traditional gifts like wine decanters and decorative objects. There was a Mew Mew figurine with Mew Mew in a wedding dress, a Zygarde with crimson markings and a card tied round its neck that said: "Congratulations!" and one of the latest pieces of MTT merchandise. There was also a Sonic the Hedgehog doll in a tuxedo, a cute shark plushie with big anime eyes and a small, grey golden-eyed cat with a blue satin bow around her neck.
Undyne walked up to Alphys and draped an arm around her shoulder. Alphys had gotten rid of her veil and some of the buttons of her dress were loosened. She still looked like an adorable, if slightly crumpled, bride. In the middle of the table stood a big glass jar. It was full of envelopes and on the front it had a label that with "Japan Fund" written on it with glitter pen. On top of all the envelopes, lay a present, clandestinely put inside the jar as well. It was a small box that read: Pocket Translator, English-Japanese.
"Tokyo, here we come!" Undyne grinned, tapping the jar triumphantly.
"C-can Tokyo wait until I've slept for a year?" Alphys laughed.
Undyne chuckled and bent down to nuzzle Alphys' neck. She picked up a drawing that showed her and Alphys holding hands. Underneath was written: "Congratulations on getting married from Manny." Manny really drew very well for his age. Considering that he drew with his feet, he drew extraordinarily well, but then again, he had never drawn in any other way.
"Awesome," Undyne chuckled.
"That's so sweet," Alphys said admiringly. "When did he give that to you? I didn't see it before."
"I don't remember," Undyne shook her head, laying the drawing safely aside.
"This is so cool," she said, idly pushing a button on the brand new rice cooker that stood next to the basket with the polaroid selfies. Leaning against the machine was a cookbook that promised to teach even beginner cooks how to make sushi from scratch. "We're gonna make so much sushi," Undyne vowed solemnly.
Alphys nodded, but instead of answering, she yawned and leaned her head against Undyne's side. Smilingly, they looked at the big stack of cards and envelopes full of congratulations. Most of them were still unopened. On top lay a brightly coloured envelope with a Momiji giftcard sticking out of it. Underneath it, a fat envelope with a Mew Mew Kissy Cutie sticker caught Alphys' eye. She reached out, but decided to leave it for tomorrow. She was filled to the brim with happiness and fatigue. Undyne felt the same.
"Wanna go to bed with an episode of JoJo's?" she asked.
Alphys looked at her, smiling. "Sure!" she said. "But…is that special enough? For our w-wedding night, I mean?"
Undyne looked back at her wife and gave her a tired grin. "Course it's special," she said. "It's us doing it."
So they got out of their wedding clothes and into their PJ's, watched an episode of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and fell asleep in each other's arms. On the wall above their bed still hung a big white heart that said "Brides to Be", except someone had crossed out the words "to be" crossed with red crayon. Their house, cleaned and tidied so meticulously by their friends two days before, was a mess. Their sleeping faces still had smudged traces of badly removed make-up on them. But everything was perfect and so were they.
I did warn you all that this wedding got completely out of hand… But it was worth it!
There were so many ships, I just couldn't contain myself. It had to be done. If you love the same ships as me: I hope you enjoyed it. If you don't, I hope you'll forgive me! (I have heard from several people that they read my story despite it having a ship they don't really like and that really warms my heart).
All my Papyton shippers, you have been very patient and I hope you consider that patience rewarded! (I know most of the fandom interprets Papyrus as someone that can drink whatever and not feel a thing, but I think he's that person that gets buzzed after one drink, yet can keep drinking indefinitely without actually getting drunk.)
Shout-out to:
Lynja Fairy, who reminded me just in time that throwing bouquets is a thing.
Crow the Mad, for suggesting "Can't stop falling in love" should feature in some way and who asked if Catty could catch the bouquet.
BookishAngel, who asked to see Emberly Fuku Fire and Sadie Skateboard Girl and who betaed this really fast despite being super busy!
Toriel_Dreemurr, who asked if Napstablook could play the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie Theme Song and provided me with some lovely cheesy lyrics.
Ultragamerdudeplayer, Crow the Mad, Spitly, Prettypup, MrGohan, Casper, Shark Lord, CJS51703, C.W., AB, Burnt_Leaf, Silverstreamcat, PantryMonster and Toriel_Dreemurr, for RSVP-ing to the wedding invitation. That little scene with the brides looking at all their presents is for you guys! (I really hope I haven't missed a name here, if I have: a thousand apologies!)
KScarborough: Thank you so much, your review made me feel all fuzzy. I hope the slow dancing was to your liking!
C.W.: See, you were there. ;) You are of course totally free to start writing your own lovely fluff and I'm very honoured if I inspired you. I am not quite sure what you mean by 'spinoff' though, so I'm not sure what to say to that. It would be easier to discuss if you could PM me (here or on ).
