For someone who had just spent the last hour running around and hollering about how great he was, Papyrus did not at all feel it for once.. He just can't.. And that only made him feel worse- Alphys had deserved better! Undyne would have expected better!
But how can he truly put his whole self into it? When everything is so jumbled and divided and he's confused but he also knows very well what he did?
Papyrus hadn't even been able to look The Human in the eyes... She had stood there off to the side, several steps back from the rest of them as he had appeared from behind the pillars of trash- She had just stayed, seeming so shrunken in on herself... And oh how she couldn't keep his gaze either..
It had hurt.. So devastating hurt and Papyrus had wanted to go over, take a moment to go over to her, to comfort, reassure once again, but he couldn't...
"... you don't have to lie to me- I don't want you to have to lie to anyone anymore... I want you to become happy with who you are!"
And how desperately Papyrus had wanted to mirror Undyne's words and sentiment back to The Human.. To help her open up, to help her trust..
But he couldn't.
He's broken that trust...
Because she had opened up. She had told the truth. Let him see exactly what she was afraid of.
But what she had been afraid of-
"Heeeey! Papyrus!" Papyrus jumped and turned sharply towards Flowey.. His little yellow flower friend was popping back up from beneath the ground and smiling brightly. "Howdy!"
He is so carefree in this. So laid back and it's all so easy. Papyrus is a mess even as he tries not to show it.
"Great job with Alphys! I'm in fact surprised at how well that all went! But, well, if I'm honest..." Papyrus swallowed- however that was possible-
"WHAT IS IT?"
"I mean, I'm worried. Alphys seemed a little spooked, too, didn't she?"
Did she? Papyrus supposes that she did now that he thinks about it... And how she had said there was something she needed to do... He'd just been too... anxious himself to really think about it- There was another wave of guilt for not having payed more attention. What a horrible mentor he was! He-
"I know! Let's get The Human to check up on her! It can give them one last chance to change their mind, too!"
Change their mind... Of trying to leave.. Asgore dying. Flowey...
They'd come back and tried so hard to change it all. All this hurt and all their knowing.
"We should call them!" Flowey continued as Papyrus continued to stare in peculiar, unusual silence... "Suggest they go meet up with her at the lab!"
To just call The Human. To just strongly suggest they do this thing. Like he had strongly suggested Undyne call them. Ask them for help. That round about way of doing things that had been wrong. Wrong and Papyrus had needed to apologize for because it had been wrong. Manipulative...
The Human had come back, twisting time to try and make it right, but Papyrus doesn't have that. He can't go back and make it right that way... But standing here, in the same situation once again..
"I CAN'T..." Flowey visibly jolted, blinked, and then stared at Papyrus in disbelief.
"What do you mean, you can't?" Flowey demanded. "You want to get them a better outcome, don't you? You want to help them decide to stay right? To do the right thing?"
"I- YES! OR, NO! I MEAN! I DON'T WANT SOMETHING BAD HAPPENING! FOR ANYONE TO DIE! BUT-"
"Then call them!"
"BUT I CAN'T!" Papyrus said again. "LOOK.. I KNOW YOU WANT TO HELP, LIKE I DO! BUT THIS IS NOT RIGHT! MANIPULATING THEM LIKE WE DID EARLIER WAS WRONG! I SHOULD NOT HAVE DONE IT!"
"So you're just going to let Asgore die and have them live with the pain of it while they are stuck here like the rest of us anyways?"
"NO! I AM NOT SAYING THAT! I AM SAYING THAT! WE CANNOT DO IT LIKE THIS! THEY ARE MY FRIEND! I SHOULD BE HONEST WITH THEM!"
"Well then honestly tell them that you suggest they go see Alphys!"
Papyrus grit his teeth- Flowey was not understanding! Papyrus isn't sure he has the time to make him understand it.
"IF ALPHYS TRULY NEEDS HELP, THEN I, AS IT IS MY DUTY AS A FUTURE ROYAL GUARD AND AS HER NEWLY APPOINTED MENTOR! WILL GO HELP HER!" Flowey's mouth was open wide, truly bewildered... but it doesn't stay that way, it turns into a scowl.
"Hmph. Alright, go ahead. Fine. Have it your way. This won't get them to fully know Alphys, though! And they'll miss out on all the fascinating stuff! You do know that's really what they're after, right? To see all the best endings before they'll finally be satisfied?"
Papyrus blinked..
"I DO NOT UNDERSTAND.."
"I mean with a power like that! Of course you want to see all the possible endings you can get before you really settle down. You think that if they don't get what they want this run that they won't just turn around and RESET again? Come on, Papyrus, don't be an idiot."
Idiot...
Papyrus was frozen, the thought is intrusive in his skull.. about how she had said, back when she had first told him about her ability... She had not yet decided if she was going to let him remember it..
But she had also said-
"Think this through. They came back to get a better ending. They'll always come back to get a better ending! Until they get the best ending where they've encouraged everyone and everyone loves them and they can finally feel 'satisfied'. Then they'll leave! And it truly will be over! And they'll leave me- us! YOU behind!"
As he spoke, Flowey was getting more flustered despite himself. Papyrus had never seen his calm demeanor falter so much before but it felt familiar- Maybe it was familiar-
After all...
Flowey has had that power, too..
Something was knotting inside of Papyrus. Some sort of understanding... What The Human had meant... about trusting... Flowey's true intentions..
But even then...
Papyrus was kneeling down closer to his flowery friend...
"IS THAT TRULY WHAT YOU ARE AFRAID OF? THEM LEAVING YOU BEHIND?"
"What- No- I'm not afraid."
Oh these two and their misunderstandings! Their conflict with one another was starting to make a lot more sense.
"I PROMISE YOU.. THAT IS NOT THE WAY THEY SEE ANY OF THIS. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF THAT."
"I'm not afraid." Flowey growled and began to shout it again as Papyrus stood up. "I'm not afraid!"
But Papyrus could see that he very much was.
"IT MUST HAVE BEEN VERY HARD FOR YOU TO HAVE THAT POWER." Papyrus notes. Flowey's face fell. It must have been very hard, with a mentality like that.. That you had to get the best ending, doing it over and over again, but never finding the one that truly made you satisfied. "YOU MUST HAVE FELT VERY ALONE."
And to now find yourself needing to satisfy the new person that held such power!
It's a lot to take in, but Papyrus.. He cannot delay any longer.
"WE WILL TALK LATER, I PROMISE." Papyrus was smiling for his friend. "BUT THIS IS GOOD! I CAN HELP YOU NOW THAT I KNOW! YOU WON'T BE ALONE ANYMORE!"
He promised!
Papyrus was turning around, ready to start of quickly to the lab, to Alphys, but then-
"Tell it to Sans.."
The mumbled response stops Papyrus cold, but by the time he is turning around, Flowey was already disappearing beneath the ground-
Gone.
...
...
..
.. This isn't fair...
This isn't fair!
He had been so excited for all of this. He's planned it out to the finest detail! And there he goes! Messing it up! Again!
Stupid idiot, Papyrus! Stupid human! Them. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Idiots! The lot of them! And Papyrus is the biggest one of all!
Flowey stayed on the ledge he had rooted himself into as he watched Papyrus run off, always ready to help! And Flowey stayed, snarling.
Idiot!
It's the only explanation to it after all these timelines. At first it had amused Flowey, he couldn't get bored of it! But then he kept letting more and more information slip- What he had wanted was just to see.. How much was too much for Papyrus? When would that naivety finally break? When would his trust finally snap?! But Flowey kept giving more. Papyrus kept accepting. Flowey gave even more! But that snap! That break! The one Flowey had been certain had to eventually come! The one that would change everything! But no! No! It. Never. Came.
Ever.
It was infuriating.
Nobody could be that stupid, but there Papyrus was! That stupid.
Idiot.
It tarnished everything!
The very same qualities that had made him so fun to play with- his stupid trust, his consistent predictability- The very same things that had made Papyrus his favorite- It also made him the worst. It just makes Flowey sick.
Nobody could be that stupid! Stupid enough to still smile and offer their hand to the person whose got them tangled up, that's literally killing them. Nobody is that stupid- But it was never a trick either. Flowey hates it. Flowey hates him. Nobody's that stupid. Maybe he always knows, Flowey thinks once again, maybe that's why nothing ever phases him, maybe he knows everything already and it's just a game to him too- But that thought never lasts- No. That's Smiley Trashbag's shtick. Papyrus really is just that stupid. The biggest idiot in the Underground, maybe even beyond it. And as long as Flowey can tow the invisible line- between what Papyrus can and cannot know- he can handle it. It's not that frustrating anymore. It's fun again as long as you keep towing that line. But once you cross that line, once it becomes apparent again at how genuine Papyrus is- Genuinely an idiot!, that is to say!
It just pisses Flowey off.
This entire situation is pissing Flowey off. It would be so interesting, fascinating and new! But they had to go and ruin it all by giving Papyrus too many answers! It wasn't enough that they had taken away his control of the timeline but they had to go and take this control away from him too! They were always cruel like that! They could never let him have anything! He'd be so close to winning something only for them to change it, steal it! Every time! And when they were done! When the game no longer amused them! It was over! And he never had his chance to win!
It's not fair! That's just not fair! It's not! It's not! It's-!
But that thought... stays with him... It lingers... And with it... The anger begins to drain and something... giddy is rising from deep within him..
It really is them... isn't it? Only they could get him this worked up. Only them.. All that crying, and faking it out, only to change the rules on him when he isn't expecting it... It really is them! Just like they always were! Haven't changed a bit!
Flowey was smiling widely.
It has to be them!
Stupid! So stupid! Flowey's the one whose been stupid getting so worked up about it! They always told him that's what always gets to him. Why he loses. He just doesn't focus!
But this time! Oh this! Time!
They haven't changed a bit, but he has!
And oh! This time little Azzy has the upper hand! He knows better!
And better yet... now it's his turn to change up the rules mid-game.
Just like them.
So fine! Fine! They wanted Papyrus to know everything?!
Flowey was cackling softly to himself as he re-submerged into the ground.
Fine.
Fine!
He can still work with this...
There's still so much he can do!
And wouldn't it be oh so interesting... If he took a more.. direct approach?