Alice in Undertale

By Lolitafreak88

Chapter 11 Alice's First (Very Important) Date

Waking up in the morning was a very familiar sensation to Alice so she was glad that even in this unfamiliar land there were still things that could make it feel more like home. Recognizing the television, Alice was a bit relieved to know she hadn't been moved in her sleep and that she was still in the house of the very kind skeletons. Of course this also made her more curious to see what a regular morning in their lives looked like. Still clutching the pleasantly charming mouse plushie, Alice got up from her makeshift bed and looked around. The house itself didn't have that many rooms so Alice assumed the most likely place to start looking was the kitchen. As she looked into the kitchen, she indeed saw Papyrus there at the stove, cooking something that smelled… rather fragrant. The table from earlier was also set for three with chairs, plates, napkins, and eating utensils. There were also three cups filled with something that was clearly hot as steam drifted into the air from inside. From the smell, Alice quickly understood it was a flowery sort of tea. Quickly having a good feeling about this, Alice wished Papyrus a good morning.

"Good morning Papyrus." She said as she took the seat on the right side of the table.

"AH! HUMAN! YOU HAVE AWOKEN, YOU HAVE RISEN, YOU ARE JUST IN LUCK! TODAY YOU WILL BE SERVED THE FABLED SPAGHETTI OF MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS!" Papyrus grinned as Alice noticed he was wearing a toque on top of his skeletal head.

"I'm quite excited to try your cooking after how much you've spoken about it. I assume this is part of the date?"

"YOU ARE HALF RIGHT AND HALF WRONG. WHILE INDEED I AM COOKING MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE DISH SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU… I AM SERVING IT TO BOTH YOU AND SANS AS PART OF A REGULAR BREAKFAST." Papyrus clarified as he stirred the spaghetti.

"Speaking of such, where is Sans? Is he already on sentry duty?" Alice asked as she took a closer look at the cup of tea.

It had a beautiful golden color and smelled of a very fresh and beautiful flower. Granted it must've been an edible flower but it did make Alice curious as to what sort of flower had been used in the tea. As for Sans, he was not at the table and didn't appear to be anywhere in Alice's sight so it was natural for her to ask where he went. Papyrus poured some tomato sauce that had probably been made by scratch onto the noodles but seemed a bit reticent towards answering Alice's question. After an awkward silence Papyrus replied,

"HE'S SLEEPING IN. HE HAD A BIT OF A NIGHTMARE LAST NIGHT SO I ALLOWED HIM TO REST SOME MORE. ODD HOW I AM ACTUALLY SUPPORTING HIS LAZINESS BUT THESE NIGHTMARES HAVE BEEN HAPPENING MORE THAN ONCE RECENTLY."

"Nightmares…?" Alice asked, slightly disturbed as that sounded too familiar.

"WELL YES… HE HAD ONE A FEW DAYS AGO AND NOW THIS ONE! IT WAS EVEN DESCRIBED TO BE ABOUT THE SAME… STILL, I'M SURE MY SPECIAL RECIPE WILL CHEER HIM UP!" Papyrus spoke with his usual positive outlook on life.

"... I think that's very sweet of you to support him like that. By the way, if I may ask, what kind of tea have you offered me?" Alice asked.

She wasn't trying to sound uninterested by changing the subject from the nightmare, it was that she was a bit afraid to hear about the nightmare. She was especially worried that it might've been a nightmare like the ones she had in the past involving 'Alice' and often a dreadful scenario. If anything she could ask Sans about it and see what the nightmare was from his point of view and she didn't want to dampen the mood. So instead she asked about the ever golden tea that by now was cool enough to take a sip.

"AH! I KNEW YOU LOVE YOUR TEA SO I MADE A TEA THAT'S A FAVORITE OF THE KING'S! GOLDEN FLOWER TEA." Papyrus replied.

"Golden Flower Tea? So it doesn't have a specific title then? Although… I may have actually seen this Golden Flower before…" Alice said as she recalled that she had landed in patch of them when she first arrived in the Underground.

"THEY ARE VERY PRETTY! BUT WE DON'T REALLY HAVE THEM IN SNOWDIN AS THE SNOW JUST PILES UP. THEY ARE COMMON IN OTHER AREAS THOUGH." Papyrus said.

"That makes sense… and it's also quite impressive for a flower to grow and endure a place without any sunlight." Alice reasoned as she took the cup and sipped the tea.

The tea was delicious with a distinct flowery tone, a rich and sophisticated flavor, and subtle sweetness of cinnamon like that of Toriel's pie. It was definitely one of the best teas Alice had tasted in all her life and would definitely be one she would inquire the recipe for. However she knew that there were more important things to focus on at the moment beyond some mere tea. For instance, the date between her and Papyrus that she was still rather in the dark about. She was hoping it would be something that would help her enjoy herself even more and relax or perhaps another learning opportunity about the Underground. In the meantime though, Papyrus served Alice a plateful of spaghetti. The noodles looked fine, the tomato sauce seemed rich, and there were even a few meatballs prime for being devoured by the forkful. Papyrus clasped his hands together and announced,

"BONE APPETIT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, GRANT YOU THE HONOR OF A HANDMADE MEAL! SILKEN SPAGHETTI, FINELY AGED IN AN OAKEN CASK…THEN COOKED BY ME."

"Wonderful! I see it looks very well-cooked and it smells… hmm…" Alice slightly frowned after sniffing it more closely.

It smelled unusual as though some ingredients Alice had never smelled before were used in the recipe. That actually does make quite some sense, Alice thought, since we aren't on the surface it means that they probably had to use new ingredients found down here. Alice was beginning to have some suspicions that she was about to have an unpleasant taste sensation but knew it would be rude to reject the spaghetti after having such a nice tea. So swallowing her pride, she used her fork to pick up some noodles and sauce and placed it in her mouth. Alice immediately scrunched her face up. The taste was indescribable. It certainly wasn't the best spaghetti Alice had ever eaten yet somehow wasn't quite the worst though if she had to be honest it was closer to worst.

"WHAT A PASSIONATE EXPRESSION! YOU MUST REALLY LOVE MY COOKING!" Papyrus claimed.

"I-it's certainly… *cough* a fascinating flavor…" Alice coughed and quickly took a sip of tea to down the spaghetti.

It was at that moment when Alice heard someone climbing down the stairs. Feeling some gratitude at being saved from an awkward situation, Alice turned to see it was indeed Sans. Based on what Alice had been told, Sans had been sleeping in due to the nightmare so she was worried he would look unwell or shaken. For the most part he was smiling though he did seem a bit more reserved than he had been in the forest. Sans noticed the little girl's gaze and flinched uncomfortably, even looking rather frightened of her. Alice raised her eyebrow confused as she decided to take another sip of tea. After all, she hadn't done anything to warrant such a reaction. Unless… I was part of that nightmare. Alice thought with some concern. Papyrus saw Sans concern and quickly spoke up,

"SANS. DON'T WORRY, YOU'RE SAFE NOW AND SAFE IS WHERE YOU'LL STAY. THAT NIGHTMARE HAS A 0.0% CHANCE OF EVER HAPPENING. NOW COME HAVE BREAKFAST!"

"... heh… you're right bro.. sorry about that. nice toque by the way." Sans recovered enough to give a sincere compliment.

"THANK YOU."

"If I may inquire Sans, what exactly occurred in this nightmare?" Alice pondered aloud as she figured that getting the uncomfortable topic out of the way would do everyone some good.

"... promise me you won't be offended alice-oop?" Sans asked, adding a good-natured pun to the question.

"I have no reason to be offended after all your support so begin sharing." Alice clarified as she straightened out her apron and looked at him take his seat.

"ok then… well i dreamed that… you had done some really bad things to everyone alice… and things grew really dark in the underground. but to be fair it's unlikely you have a bad bone in your body so i know it was just a nightmare."

Sans reply was not only painfully vague, but from his tone it didn't seem like he 100% believed that Alice didn't have a bad bone in her body. It was almost as if he was warning her not to even think of doing something bad. It made Alice fairly convinced his nightmare was alike to the ones Alice had been having. A nightmare so realistic that it seemed to warn of potential future events. Alice had to admit she wasn't sure of how to reassure Sans of her loyalty as she didn't want to open up about the fact there had been a murderous version of herself in these dreams. If she said something like that, they might take it the wrong way and question her honesty. So Alice decided to think more towards the upcoming date between her and Papyrus.

"T-thank you Sans… I do wish you could've had a more pleasant dream. Would you like to help me do the word search puzzle with me?" Alice asked as she pulled out the word search she had gotten from earlier.

"EHHHH?! I GUESS YOU REALLY ARE INTENT ON SOLVING THAT PUZZLE! PERHAPS SANS DID HAVE THE RIGHT IDEA IN MIND… I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL ALSO ASSIST YOU!" Papyrus declared after he served Sans his share of spaghetti and both brothers were seated.

"sounds fun. heh, one of the words is 'skeletons'." Sans said grinning as he looked at the words they had to find.

The Monster Kidz Word Search was very easy to solve between Sans' love of puns, Papyrus's eagerness, and Alice's determination to solve the puzzle. Sans made jokes that playfully aggravated Papyrus, Papyrus reaction with childish glee whenever he found a word, and Alice simply being pleased at the fun she was having. She did take a few more bites of the dubious spaghetti as she knew she needed to eat something and eventually she had drank all her tea. Sans seemed to think Papyrus's spaghetti was actually better than Alice was giving it credit for, possibly due to being more familiar with the Underground's cuisine. Naturally though, Papyrus seemed to enjoy his creation the most and was the first and only one to finish his plate. In the matter of several minutes, the Word Search was solved.

"AH-HA! BY FINDING SPRING I HAVE NOW BECKONED THE FALL OF THIS WORD SEARCH! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus cackled gleefully.

"don't you mean 'heh heh heh heyn?'" Sans teased with a wink.

"SANS! YOU JUST TOOK MY CATCHPHRASE AND SAID IT BACKWARDS!" Papyrus shouted.

"imitation is the sincerest form of flattery y'know." Sans said.

"Hehehe… he does have a point there Papyrus. Although it does appear we are finished with breakfast now." Alice pointed out after giggling in amusement.

"YES, INDEED BREAKFAST IS DONE. WHICH CAN ONLY MEAN ONE THING… IT IS TIME FOR OUR DATE TOGETHER ALICE. I CERTAINLY HOPE IT WILL BE GLORIOUS. ALLOW ME TO GO TO MY ROOM FIRST TO GET READY PLEASE?" Papyrus asked Alice with puppy dog eyes.

"Why of course Papyrus, take all the time you need."

With that reassurance from Alice, Papyrus dashed upstairs and to his room, shutting the door loudly to announce where he was. Alice herself sat at the table wondering how she should get ready for the said date. What she wasn't expecting though was Sans actually spoke to her,

"so alice, what are you going to do for the date?"

"Well I'm not entirely sure where the date will take place and how it will go. I do hope we go someplace pleasant." Alice replied honestly.

"huh, didn't know you had much experience with dates at your age. what's your type then?"

"... Type? Well I do love going to fun parties or to events that take place in beautiful locations like a garden." Alice seemed confused by where Sans was taking this conversation.

Sans however looked a bit amused as it seemed Alice wasn't fully understanding what his brother had in mind.

"alice, you do know that by 'date', papyrus is going to try to see if there's romance between you and him. and by 'type' i meant the kind of person who would make you fall head, shoulders, knees, and toes over him." Sans elaborated with a wink.

"P-Pardon…? Wait a moment, are you saying I have agreed to… COURT him?" Alice asked as she suddenly began feeling quite embarrassed.

Truth be told, Alice never was a romantic thinker. She had not once given any thought to the idea of courting or falling in love because she was much more interested in exploring her own imagination. A world of her own didn't even have any sort of opinion on love as Alice was far too young to know anything about it. Some girls Alice had known though were a bit more romantic than Alice and dreamed of things like 'prince charming' and 'true love's kiss' but Alice was not that sort of girl. In a sense, she was very unorthodox and unfortunately it seemed she got herself caught up in an orthodox situation. Naturally she had not seen Papyrus as someone she would fall in love with or even thought about falling in love with any of her new friends. But it seemed as though Papyrus was under the impression Alice was falling in love with him and thus agreed to do this date with her. How disastrous, Alice thought blushing, it wasn't a very important date but an invitation to courting. The one relief is that she now understood that 'date' meant more than one thing down here which would help her in the future.

"courting's so old-fashioned but yep, this is a romantic date. sounds like you had no idea." Sans pointed out.

"I… I simply thought he meant some sort of outing or event… oh dear… what am I going to do? I can't possibly imagine being alone with him in a room o-or doing something flirtatious… my sister would kill me." Alice groaned as she put her hands on her face and leaned on the table.

"well… my brother is a bit more flexible than the average skeleton. if you suggest an idea of what to do together with him he'd consider it in a pulsebeat." Sans recommended Alice.

"Hmm… I suppose that's better than going into something without any idea of what to do. Thank you Sans and I apologize that I got myself into this… had I known that Papyrus was thinking I had feelings for him, I would've denied this date altogether." Alice admitted as she got up from the table and made strides towards Papyrus's room.

"... huh." Sans seemed to regard Alice with a bit of a frown once her back was turned.

It seemed that whatever nightmare he had about Alice, it was making him antsy and bothered by her. Or perhaps it was her choice of words that rubbed him the wrong way. After all, denying the date altogether would hurt Papyrus's feelings and make him feel more distant from Alice. Still, she did seem very genuine which is why he answered her questions but it made it even harder to determine what to think of her. He just sipped some tea calmly and looked at the finished word search. As for Alice, she went up the stairs and knocked on Papyrus's door. She suspected it was locked after all since it seemed Papyrus would be getting ready and she didn't want to intrude presumptuously.

"Papyrus, are you still getting ready for the date?" Alice asked.

"UH… JUST A FEW MOMENTS ALICE… NOW WHAT DO YOU NEED IN THE MEANTIME?" Asked a strained Papyrus from the other side of the door.

"I was just thinking if it would be possible if I could choose what the date would consist of? Like what we would do together?"

"HRMMM… THAT SOUNDS REASONABLY REQUESTABLE AND FAIR! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, LEAVE THE DECISION TO YOU ALICE." Papyrus agreed to Alice's request politely.

Alice began brainstorming the least romantic yet still relationship building activity that could be done between two people in Snowdin. Going to Grillby's seemed to be a bit dubious at this point as well, seeing that the other customers might suspect her and Papyrus to really be dating. The library was a bit boring in terms of a date and everywhere else was far too private or not worth going to as a date location. That only left one option… the outside environment. Namely the plentiful snow that lied on the ground. There were plenty of wintertime activities that could be done with all that snow and it was a simple but easy way to have fun and do something that both partners could find common ground in. So Alice suggested to Papyrus through the door,

"Do you want to build a snowman? I did see you and Sans made snowmen in the forest and I thought it would be quite fun to do that with you."

"AH… THAT WAS SO LONG AGO… OF COURSE SANS TOOK THE LAZY ROUTE WITH HIS SNOWMAN BUT IT WAS THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS. I THINK THAT'D BE A PERFECT DATE ALICE!" Papyrus said cheerfully after recalling some pleasant memories.

"Wonderful. I'll be waiting for you to get ready." Alice said sweetly and waited a good distance away from the door.

After a few peaceful moments, Papyrus emerged triumphantly from his room. However, to Alice's surprise, he was dressed in a completely different outfit from when she last saw him. Gone was the toque and even his 'battle suit', rather he was dressed in a very… form-fitting sort of outfit. He wore a red cap that was on backwards, a white shirt with the words 'Cool Dude' written on it and strange orange and black shoulder-pads that were striped. There was also red shorts in a similar style to the mouse plushie's that Alice had now placed back into her pockets as well as fluffy grey socks and rather platformed orange shoes. It was another testament to Papyrus's very unique sense of fashion. Alice couldn't help but smile at the sight of it and say,

"You look very presentable Papyrus."

"HEH! THIS IS MY SECRET STYLE! AND I APPRECIATE THE GENUINE COMPLIMENT! I MUST SAY THAT I'VE NEVER ACTUALLY DONE THIS BEFORE BUT DON'T WORRY. YOU CAN'T SPELL "PREPARED" WITHOUT SEVERAL LETTERS FROM MY NAME! WE'RE READY TO HAVE A GREAT TIME!" Papyrus announced as he pointed to himself.

"Indeed we are, so shall we move along?' Alice asked gently.

"YES." Papyrus agreed and the two dating individuals made their way out of the house, to Sans delight, and into Snowdin.

Without a true sun to go on, the sky of Snowdin still appeared as though it was nighttime. In fact it was the brightness of the area and atmosphere that indicated it was daytime for the monsters here. Alice and Papyrus emerged to see many villagers from the day before still out and about or perhaps starting their out and about routines. There was plenty of snow in Snowdin alone to work with so Alice looked carefully for a spot to start making a snowman at. While she was carefully considering her mark, Papyrus asked her,

"SO WHAT DESIGN OF SNOWMAN WERE YOU AIMING TO MAKE ALICE?"

"... I was thinking of making a Snow Dinah." Alice replied as she started to gather a pile of snow.

She did still miss her beloved kitten and waking up with a mouse plushie just wasn't at all comparable to a live creature being at her side. Plus it was important to still respect where Alice had come from so she decided that her snowman would be a tribute to Dinah. Of course she was concerned on how to build it but she did have an idea in mind. She thought pleasant thoughts of how she envisioned the finished product and how DETERMINED she was to create the Snowman. As though in sync with her thoughts, two circles of golden light began to manifest upon the snow on either side of Alice. They soon grew and morphed into a rather familiar shape that had appeared yesterday. Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum reappeared and looked ready to assist Alice with whatever she needed to do. They even hopped up and down excitedly. Papyrus turned to Alice and looked impressed by the fragments of DETERMINATION.

"GOLLY! THEY LOOK JUST AS CUDDLY AS THEY DID YESTERDAY! *AHEM* BUT ALICE, WHO IS DINAH?" He asked after clearing his throat.

"Dinah is my pet cat… unfortunately she's nowhere around here. I left her above ground. B-but… I'm sure she wouldn't want me to be so depressed about that which is why I'm going to build a snow version of her." Alice did her best to hide some sadness in her answer.

"HOW SELFLESS! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HER. ALTHOUGH ALICE, I FEEL IT IS BEST TO WARN YOU THAT I HAVE NEVER LOST AT DATING BEFORE! SO THIS DATING WILL BE A DUEL OF THE AGES TO SEE WHICH ONE OF US IS THE MASTER OF DATING." Papyrus announced with a prideful pose.

"... I never knew dating was considered a competition. But anyways, what are you going to build Papyrus?" Alice asked as she had Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum begin constructing the base of snow Dinah.

"NYEH HEH HEH! YOU SEE ALICE, MY CREATION IS GOING TO BE A MARVELOUS SNOW SCULPTURE OF ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" Papyrus declared as he held one finger in the air.

"I never would've guessed. I'm certain it will turn out beautifully." Alice said giggling as she started gathering some snow to add onto the base.

The date was going off to a decent if slow start, though the beauty of the Snowdin and the air not being too cold did help make it a bit more magical. Alice had succeeded to create a good cat base with paws, a tail, four legs, and the pose being that of a lion statue. Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum's golden radiance reflected their energy as they eagerly and effectively put together all the key components of snow Dinah together. Meanwhile, Papyrus was starting to build his own sculpture and his experience in building snowmen showed. It seemed as though the pose of this snow Papyrus was very... reminiscent of art. In fact it looked very similar to a painting that Alice recalled seeing before in a book. Birth of Venus I think it was called, Alice concluded. Naturally it was near impossible to go into that much detail on a snow sculpture but Papyrus was managing to make it quite detailed and even made it wear clothes. So if there was one thing Papyrus was beating Alice on, it was sculpting. Still Alice knew there was more to this date than just sculpting so she asked Papyrus a question,

"So Papyrus, how did you and Sans come about to living here in Snowdin?" Alice asked, remembering the shop-keepers story.

"HMM… GOOD QUESTION ALICE. ESSENTIALLY ME AND SANS HAVE BEEN TOGETHER SINCE… THE DAWN OF SKELETONS AND WE DECIDED SNOWDIN SEEMED LIKE A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE… AND BECAUSE SANS WAS TOO LAZY TO KEEP EXPLORING AND WANTED TO REST HERE. EVERYONE IS SO NICE AND THERE'S EVEN SANTA AROUND HERE." Papyrus replied.

"I do see the certain appeal towards living here but I must inquire, do you also want to be free like the other monsters do and see the surface again?"

"... WELL IF WE WERE TO BREAK THE BARRIER IT'D BE MY FIRST TIME SEEING AND GREETING HUMANS. IT'D BE LOVELY TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS AND SEE THE WORLD BUT RIGHT NOW WE ARE STILL DOWN HERE. FORTUNATELY I HAVE YOU NOW ALICE, ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS YOU ARE SLOWLY BUT SURELY FALLING FOR ME…" Papyrus stuttered nervously.

"..." Alice wasn't quite sure how to respond.

Outright denial would seem a bit cruel but it would certainly be the truth. Papyrus did seem very vulnerable at the moment and if she was to say something to deny his assumption, it would potentially hurt their relationship. Alice turned to look at Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, possibly for advice, and they seemed to be shaking their hands and waving their arms in a way that implied 'No'. So in a sense Alice was being told that it was in her best interests to not tell Papyrus that she wasn't falling for him. Alice decided to stay quiet for now and continue work on snow Dinah, which was coming along quite nicely. However Papyrus had seemed to be anticipating some sort of response from Alice and thus he also returned to building his snow Papyrus with a hesitant expression. An awkward silence ensued as both daters focused only on building up their respective snow sculptures. Eventually both were finished and looked quite beautiful.

"Wow… this really does look like Dinah!" Alice exclaimed to herself proudly.

The snow Dinah had her shape, form, whiskers made from sticks, a snow ribbon around it's neck, and was incredibly lifelike. If Alice didn't know any better, she would hop on top of this snow Dinah and ride it like a noble steed for it was quite big. Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum gave each other a hi-five at this incredible success. It definitely made Alice feel much more at home to have something that looked this familiar to her around but she felt slightly disappointed that this date was not going all that well. Alice turned to look at Papyrus's finished snow Papyrus. It was most definitely a Birth of Venus portrayal of Papyrus with the same, trademarked pose of the goddess herself only done in the form of the Great Papyrus. Still it was actually quite remarkable that such a detailed figure had been made by Papyrus and snow alone.

"BEHOLD! GREATNESS IN THE FORM OF THE LEGENDARY SNOW PAPYRUS!" Papyrus showed it to all who were present.

"I think it looks simply marvelous." Alice complimented sweetly and clasped her hands together.

"WHY THANK YOU MY GOOD HUMAN… IT SEEMS AS THOUGH YOURS IS QUITE THE MASTERPIECE AS WELL! IT'S ALMOST AS IF THIS WHOLE DATE WAS PLANNED BY YOU FROM THE START... " Papyrus pointed out snow Dinah with equal sweetness.

"I.. Well… I- oof!" Alice suddenly felt a cold sensation and something rather blunt hit her head before it fell onto her cape.

Alice was a bit flustered still on how to explain to Papyrus she was not romantically interested in him but the sudden attack on her made her even more flustered. She quickly realized she had been hit by a snowball thrown by somebody standing behind her. When Alice turned around after shaking off the snow, she saw Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum pointing at one another as though trying to let Alice know of who committed the deed. Alice shook her head at first with some displeasure until she thought more on what they were hinting at. A snowball… thrown at her as though in a snowball fight. Snowball fights were a very casual, friendly thing to do as an activity although Alice wasn't all too fond of them as the participants could get hurt or carried away. At this moment though, Alice realized that the date was going downhill because of her reservations, nerves, and the fact that she wasn't sure how to express her point to Papyrus. So maybe if she did something with Papyrus that implied a more friendly relationship than a romantic one, like a snowball fight, it'd help him understand without feeling hurt.

"ALICE! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Papyrus, who saw that Alice had been hit by a snowy projectile, checked up on her.

Alice decided that this was her best choice at the moment to help salvage this very important date. With a grin, she reached into the snow and grabbed just enough snow to mold into a ball. Papyrus saw Alice's expression and actions and quickly realized what she was planning to do. After all, he and Sans had many a snowball fight before and were rather even in terms of wins and losses. He chuckled and teased,

"NOW, NOW ALICE. TO CHALLENGE THE GREAT PAPYRUS AT SNOWBALL FIGHTS IS A FOOLHARDY ENDEAVOR! ESPECIALLY ON THIS DATE!"

"Well, the wonderful Alice would very much like to test my chances and challenge you to a snowball spar." Alice said smiling honestly and holding her snowball confidently.

Papyrus began to see a fire in Alice's eyes that was not anything passionate or romantic, but rather youthful and excited. As though Alice was spending this time with him as a good friend rather than a flirtatious, smitten maiden. In that sense it was a relief for him as he just didn't see Alice as someone he could fall in love with and that he preferred her to stay as a friend who would find her own love with someone else. As great as he was, Papyrus felt Alice could do a bit better for herself and find someone who returned her public displays of affection. Hearing her mimic his same title in such an endearing way made her request seem like it would harm his reputation to deny it. So Papyrus quickly armored himself up with a snowball as well with Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum doing very much the same.

"NYEH HEH HEH! CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE 'SNOW' VERSION OF MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Papyrus taunted Alice as he threw his snowball.

Alice gracefully evaded it with a simple duck and threw hers at the same time as Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. The snowball Alice threw did miss Papyrus but Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum showed great accuracy as their snowballs hit Papyrus in his face and arm respectively. Papyrus tsked and quickly took a sprint behind his snow Papyrus to gain some ground and time to pack up more snowballs. Alice did the same with her snow Dinah while Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum simply armored up some more snowballs from where they stood. Papyrus quickly emerged with a nasty surprise for the twins as he sent out two snowballs but also a few bones that magically surged towards them. The twins gasped and did their best to avoid the snowballs, but did get hit by the bones and were knocked to the ground.

"DIRECT HIT!" Papyrus cheered before he was clobbered in the face with a snowball.

"Same here!" Alice announced with a chuckle as she had hit Papyrus.

The snowball fight soon was under way officially as both Papyrus, Alice, and the DETERMINATION twins sought supremacy in a flurry of snow and evasion. The snow Dinah and snow Papyrus served as perfect cover to restock on snowballs while managing to endure the date quite well. Due to all the ruckus of laughter, 'plops' from snowball contact, and running around, Sans was lured outside to see what was going on. Seeing the sight made him a bit surprised as he saw that Alice and Papyrus were doing something a lot more laidback, as well as it being an activity he and Papyrus would often do once in awhile. In a sense, this was probably better than something like a dinner or a show that would only encourage Papyrus to get more carried away after what Alice had said to Sans. It also made Sans realize that Alice might've been a bit more sensible that he had given her credit for earlier. She had chosen an activity that was more friendship building than romance building and it seemed that the two of them were having fun.

"Oh hello Sans! Care to join us? It's truly a thrilling experience!" Alice asked between her giggles.

Alice was definitely enjoying herself much to her own surprise. It felt like the first fun thing she had done in the Underground that would be something she would also do back in England. It was relatable and very symbolic to her and thus she wanted to invite as much people as she could into sharing this memory. Sans could understand that perfectly by her tone and her happy smile and he knew that Papyrus would also love the idea and so shrugged his shoulders and bent over.

"ok then, it's 'SNOWTIME." Sans said with a smirk as he picked up some snow and started throwing it at both Papyrus and Alice.

Sans turned out to have pretty good accuracy as he was able to land successful hits on both Alice and Papyrus. He seemed to ignore Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum for the most part and it was even a bit weird how he said nothing about their presence. However, Alice and Papyrus didn't notice this unusual fact as they were completely engaged in this date that quickly became a playdate. The snowball fight was in plain sight of the townspeople of Snowdin and the laughter, direct hits and even the occasional pun (Accompanied by a "SANS!" afterward) were overheard by them. Particularly Monster Kid who decided to run over and see what it was all about. The other villagers simply watched from afar, as they knew that the skeleton brothers were always entertaining. Monster Kid came over and asked,

"Hey, HEY! Can I join in too? This looks like a ton of fun!"

"Oh of course… in fact, you can be my eyes and ears." Alice said cheerfully as she knew Monster Kid didn't have any arms but also knew of a way he could still be very useful.

"What's tha- whoa! Cool! A piggyback ride! Thanks kid!" Monster Kid gasped as he was hoisted onto Alice's shoulders as she ran around to hurl snowballs and dodge snowballs.

"HOH! A TAG TEAM! HOW DASTARDLY BRILLIANT! SANS, JOIN ME AND WE'LL BE UNSTOPPABLE!" Papyrus proposed dramatically to Sans.

"eh, i don't know if i want to be part of a 'nag' team." Sans teased back as he threw a snowball at Papyrus.

"GAH! NEVER MIND!" Papyrus groaned as he took the hit and the pun all in one.

Time soon passed as the six participants engaged in a snowball fight unlike any other in the Underground. It would definitely go down in history not only due to the many villagers who saw it, some even coming out of the Library and Grillby's to see what the fuss was about, but also the beautiful snow sculptures of a cat and Papyrus that endured the entire battle. But like all great battles, it reached it's conclusion as the participants took care of their business. Alice dispelled Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, surprised at how easy it was to control her DETERMINATION now, and set Monster Kid gently down on the ground.

"I hope you had a pleasant time little one." Alice said sincerely.

"That was so awesome! Man, if only Undyne was here too to snowball fight… she would've wiped the ground with everyone! Plus it would've been awesome to see a snow Undyne too…" Monster Kid replied dreamily.

"She sure does seem to be highly respected. If I ever see her I'll be certain to let her know about you and your dedication towards her." Alice marked her promise with a curtsy.

"R-really?… Thanks so much! You are really cool and a good friend. See you around hopefully." Monster Kid cheered Alice on and then made a sprint back towards the heart of town.

Alice sighed after Monster Kid departed. Regardless of how both he and Papyrus made Undyne sound, Alice was fairly certain Undyne would be after her due to being the head of the king's Royal Guard. She was currently hoping that she could find a way to pacify Undyne and befriend her much like with Sans, Papyrus, and Toriel. She knew her time in Snowdin was quite finished for now and she would cherish it greatly. There was still one last thing for the English girl to do though and so she turned to face him. Papyrus was indeed standing there awaiting Alice's gaze and looking uncomfortable. Interestingly enough, Sans was nowhere to be seen and while it was reasonable to believe he went into the house, Alice inquired anyway.

"Papyrus… um, do you know here Sans went off to?"

"HE WENT TO PERFORM HIS SENTRY DUTIES. TO BE HONEST I DON'T BLAME HIM IF HE NAPS AGAIN ON THE JOB BECAUSE THAT WAS EXHILARATING. TRULY A GREAT SNOWBALL FIGHT WORTHY OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" Papyrus replied, his face lightening up after recalling the fight.

"Same here, it has been quite some time since I did anything so athletic. It was quite a refreshing experience." Alice replied, putting her hand to her heart and finding happiness in it beating quicker from the workout.

"ALICE… WITH THIS I CAN CONCLUDE OUR DATE IS OVER. IT'S CLEAR NOW. YOU'RE… NOT MADLY IN LOVE WITH ME. DESPITE YOUR ACTIONS YESTERDAY I CAN SEE NOW WITH CERTAINTY IT WAS NOT FLIRTATION BUT RATHER ACTIONS CHARACTERISTIC OF THE FRIENDZONE." Papyrus explained his observation.

"F-Friendzone…? What kind of-"

"I-IT'S NOT IMPORTANT. WHAT IS IMPORTANT THOUGH IS THAT YOU PRESERVED YOUR INNOCENCE AND FEELINGS WHICH IS VERY GOOD. I DON'T SHARE THE SAME ROMANTIC FEELINGS YOU MAY HAVE BEEN LED TO BELIEVE I HAD FOR YOU. YET YOU ONCE AGAIN PROVED YOUR BLOSSOMING CLEVERNESS AND IDENTIFIED IT AND ALSO SHOWED A WILLINGNESS TO BE A BEST FRIEND TO ME. I KNOW THAT SOMEDAY, YOU WILL FIND THE ONE WHO YOU WILL SEE AS THE GREATEST. MAYBE NOT AS GREAT AS ME BUT THEY WILL BE GREAT. NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus interrupted Alice's inquisitive nature with a very uplifting speech.

Alice was definitely not expecting that he would not only understand exactly what she had been trying to convey, but also to hear that he considered her a best friend. Furthermore, he had directly encouraged her to find someone that she would fall in love with and be happy. How embarrassing, Alice thought as she still wasn't used to romantic thinking at all. It would probably be by the time she was a young adult before she would even start to get the hang of it enough to make an attempt. For now though she felt very lucky to have made such a strong bond with Papyrus and felt so touched by his words. It was a confidence boost that while not necessarily useful for her goal of breaking the Barrier and exploring the Underground, it was useful towards how she would determine her future and live her life from here on in. With this in mind, Alice gave Papyrus a curtsy that she felt would be the last in a while.

"Thank you so much Papyrus. I truly am blessed to have met such a charismatic, charming, and kind-hearted individual in my Wonderland."

"WELL THIS IS THE UNDERGROUND BUT IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO HAVE AN IMAGINATION. OH YES, I WANTED TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING BEFORE YOU GO OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS. MY PHONE NUMBER. NOW YOU CAN CALL ME ANYTIME. PLATONICALLY." Papyrus offered.

"Really now?" Alice asked amazed.

Sure enough, Papyrus took Alice's phone and with some button presses and dialing, Alice now had Papyrus's number down as a contact similar to Toriel. It reminded Alice that she could potentially call Toriel whenever she wanted but she still desired to honor the promise and keep Toriel's existence secret. She was relieved that Papyrus hadn't noticed Toriel's name in the contacts either. For now though, Alice felt extremely grateful towards all Papyrus had done for her and how she had such an incredible first impression of the monster's society in the Underground. It was giving her the most DETERMINATION yet and she knew that after all she learned yesterday and today, she could easily get through it. It was time to carry on deeper into the Underground and make her family and friends proud of her.

To Be Continued...