That human child was banging on his front door again. Papyrus only dared peek out the window for a second before retreating to the safety of his closet, where his rattling bones might be muffled enough.
It was pathetic, hiding from a teenager who was probably only here because not-Sans put them up to it. Even if their insistent knocking somehow sounded distraught…
No. That child wasn't his friend, no matter how much they looked like an older, poorer-groomed Frisk. Just like not-Sans wasn't his brother, no matter how often he made bad jokes and slacked off at work.
Papyrus bit down on the knuckle of his glove. Not-Sans didn't slack off enough. He would be at the "grocery store" until this evening. Leaving Papyrus alone—jobless, friendless, melding into the closet like a parka shoved aside for the summer.
Useless.
"No! The Great Papyrus… is…"
Who was he kidding? The turtlenecks hanging above him? This universe's Papyrus didn't even have a Battle Body to don for extra confidence. Papyrus wished he'd been wearing it when he'd been flung here. He had his Jogboy shirt, at least. The space-time disturbance had occurred while he'd been on a morning run with Frisk.
Frisk. Frisk would tell him to stay determined. They would believe in him, the same way he always believed in them.
He wiped his dry sockets on a drooping turtleneck sleeve, then cautiously emerged from the closet.
The room looked exactly like his home, minus anything that might have proved he lived there. No bone attacks. No racecar bed. No sexy robot action figures. He wondered if this universe's Papyrus was really so boring, or if his personal belongings had gotten left behind during the recent move that not-Sans had mentioned.
There was a computer, at least, and that was where he retreated most days. He sat at the rolling computer chair and booted up the internet. It lacked the familiarity of Undernet, but Papyrus had learned how to use the human internet in the few weeks after Frisk had broken the barrier.
The town had a facebook page. The town was called "Hometown," a name which was completely inaccurate, but still nostalgic. He would've thought King Asgore had named the town, but he… wasn't a king here. In fact, if not-Sans's tales of giving away pickles were true, this town's Asgore was even more pathetic than Papyrus.
He was probably nothing without his trusty Royal Guard! The police force here wasn't nearly the same, even if not-Undyne was a part of it. She'd tried to suplex him just for crossing the street, which the real Undyne would never do! His Undyne would only suplex as a form of friendship and flattery! Plus, he'd watched her lock up Doggo and Dogaressa…
That was the last time Papyrus had gone outside since appearing in this wrong world.
"Even the complaints are wrong," Papyrus muttered, scrolling past not-Alphys's scathing review of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 1.
He wasn't sure what he hoped to find online. Some clue of how to get home? Something that felt familiar? So far the only constant was that not-Sans had managed to befriend not-Toriel over their shared love of bad jokes.
Papyrus wasn't jealous, of course! He was glad his not-brother still had a friend! He just… wished his friendship with not-Undyne could have been the same, too.
Well. Soon it wouldn't matter, because he would find a way to get home. He was the Great Papyrus! He wouldn't let getting pranked across time and space keep him down!
Not-Sans didn't know anything about physics. Papyrus had confirmed that there were no quantum mechanics books hidden in any of not-Sans's joke books. Not-Sans hadn't even used any of his infamous "shortcuts."
That left Alphys as the next monster who might be able to help him. Unfortunately, not-Alphys was just as bad at answering messages as his universe's Alphys.
Her facebook said that she was a teacher at the local school. Maybe he could sit in on one of her classes? He could raise his hand, politely, and then ask her to tell him everything she knew about alternate universes…
But that would require leaving his room.
Well, that was fine! He would just have to reach the school without crossing any streets and potentially summoning not-Undyne. He could do that!
He'd better go while Sans was still at the grocery store. Just in case his not-brother had any more big ideas about setting up friendships.
Papyrus didn't need to make friends here. He was going to go home, where everyone already loved him.
XXX
Was he going the wrong way? There were only so many directions one could walk without crossing the street. Walking to his left had led to a dark, but strangely flower-filled, alley. The complimentary alley milk had been a nice surprise, but not what he was looking for.
He'd then backtracked to his right, passing not-Sans's grocery store. He'd taken a few more right turns until the sidewalk ended at some sort of park. His gloved fingers didn't fit through the holes in the picnic benches.
Even if he was going the wrong way, if he kept turning right, he had to end up on the right path eventually, right? That was three rights, and three rights made a left, which couldn't be wrong!
He speedwalked past not-Asgore's flower shop, only to stop in front of a strange lopsided house.
He knew that house. That was—that was Napstablook's house! It looked identical to the one back in Waterfall! Aside from not-Sans's house, this was the first building in Hometown that looked familiar.
His feet unconsciously carried him to the front door. His hand raised to knock, before he remembered that Napstablook was not-Undyne's deputy. The last thing he needed was for the ghost to arrest him for suspicious behavior.
He turned around to leave—
"Hey. HEY. HEY!"
Papyrus froze. That wasn't Napstablook's voice. Wasn't that…
"Mew Mew?" He blinked. "What are you doing in Napstablook's house?"
Was his tall sink room not good enough for her in this universe? ...He did still have a tall sink room, didn't he?
"Mew Mew? My name's not… wait. WAIT. WAIT! THAT'S PERFECT!" A maniacal cackle echoed through the door. "Did you hear that, cousin? The creeper at our door picked out a cool name for me!"
"...Isn't that the name of the girl from that cartoon your friend likes?"
"Yeah, SO? It's PERFECT. PERFECT!"
The other voice sighed. "Congratulations, darling."
Papyrus perked up. He recognized that voice, too!
"Mettaton! I didn't know you existed in this uni—er, house! Wowie!"
He hadn't seen Mettaton anywhere on the internet or TV. Maybe… he just hadn't caught his big break yet?
But wait. If Mettaton was here, then Alphys must have created him! Which meant that Alphys had to know enough about science to send Papyrus home!
"Mettaton? Oh, I'm sorry, darling. I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else."
He wasn't confused. He'd recognize that smooth cadence anywhere, even if it lacked the robotic echo that Papyrus was used to. So far, no one's name had changed between universes.
Did that mean… Mettaton was lying to him?
No, he wouldn't do that! Maybe… maybe he was just afraid of the paparazzi. Even if he didn't appear to exist, let alone have fans…
"Stop staring!" Mew Mew shouted. "Giving me a cool name doesn't mean you're not a creep!"
"Apologies!" Papyrus closed his eyes. "I was just worried about…" Not-Mettaton. "Your… cousin?"
That's what she'd called Mettaton, right? Maybe Alphys had built her, too. She hadn't exactly explained herself when moving into Papyrus's kitchen.
"Blooky's not home! So scram!"
Napstablook, too? But they were a ghost… well, maybe they were adopted. Family was thicker than dust, after all.
"No, not Napstablook. Your other cousin? The one who was speaking earlier?"
"Huh? Fine. Fine! Just don't be weird about it!"
Papyrus continued not peeking, even when both voices were silent. He couldn't explain why. This Mettaton wouldn't be the Mettaton he knew. No one in this town was. He hadn't even known Mettaton that well in his own universe, not outside of the TV screen, anyway.
Maybe it was the sadness in Mettaton's voice that kept Papyrus's feet glued to the porch.
"...You're worried about me, beautiful?" his voice eventually came.
"Y-yes! I was worried a normal amount!" He blushed. How was he supposed to explain being worried about someone he technically didn't know?
...Actually, maybe that was exactly why he should be worried.
"I'm new in town, and I've met everyone except you!" A white lie, but Mettaton would know those were necessary in acting. "I am the Great Papyrus, and I have heard great things about you! But you sounded… melancholy."
He resisted the urge to peek. It wasn't like he could see Mettaton through the door, anyway.
"Great things?" A soft chuckle came through the door. "You really are mistaken, beautiful. I'm a bit of a nobody."
Mettaton's words pressed down on Papyrus's chest like an anvil. Undyne being different was awful, but this… this was wrong. There shouldn't be a universe where Mettaton didn't know how incredible he was!
"You're somebody to me!" he insisted. "I know! Let's go for a run! That always gets the endorphins flowing through your bones!"
He didn't know if Mettaton even liked running, but clearly he needed to do something with a friend. Something that would get him out of his house, stop him from thinking about the crushing wrongness of this universe…
Mettaton couldn't be from Papyrus's universe too, could he? Was it possible that Papyrus wasn't alone?
"Oh dear. I'm afraid that would be impossible."
"It would?" Papyrus's soul sunk. "Why?"
"I, ah, am lacking bones. Or legs at all. But it's sweet of you to offer."
No… legs? No wonder Mettaton was feeling down! He loved his legs! Maybe he was still in his box form? Of course, that had to be it.
"R-right! Well, we could, do something else?" What would Mettaton like to do? For all of the MTT movies Papyrus had watched, he couldn't think of anything. Besides letting rose petals rain down on them… maybe not-Asgore could let him borrow some blossoms?
"Ha… I would think Blooky sent you to get me out of the house, if you hadn't suggested a run." Mettaton sounded confused. "I suppose… if you could find something entertaining, and bring it back here…"
Papyrus grinned. "I'll return so quickly, you won't know I was gone!"
This time, Mettaton's laugh sounded a little more genuine.
"I'll… look forward to it, darling."
XXX
Finding entertainment in Hometown was more difficult than Papyrus had expected. He had to resort to crossing streets in order to reach the librarby, but thankfully Undyne seemed distracted suplexing a car near the church.
The librarby was at least twice the size of Snowdin's. That meant more options, but also that it would take Papyrus longer to find the perfect entertainment for Mettaton. Would Mettaton even like books? The libarby didn't have a multimedia section…
Well, there was the computer lab. Maybe the computers had some movies or games on them?
He sat down and pulled a flashdrive out of his inventory. Nothing like some piracy to cement a new friendship! He still wondered what downloading digital media had to do with the skull flag that Frisk said belonged to pirates. He'd have to ask them when he got back to his universe.
His mouse hovered over an art program titled "Swatch." That was like a game, right? Mettaton was artistic; he was sure to enjoy it regardless.
After scanning the programs for viruses, Papyrus copied the necessary files to his flashdrive, then checked out a few books just in case. There weren't any on puzzle-building, which seemed awfully strange. So many books featured humans, too, despite not-Sans's mysterious friend being the only one he'd seen in town. At least he'd been able to find some promising adventure books written by Gerson.
When he returned to Mettaton's house, he poured his excitement into his knock. He was going to hang out! With Mettaton! And he'd done it all on his own, without his not-brother's help!
"Oh… you actually came back," Mettaton said so quietly, he almost sounded like Napstablook.
"Of course I did! I brought everything we need for a successful friendship hangout. Games, books, and me!"
Normally he would've brought spaghetti too, but he didn't want to offend Mettaton if his box form couldn't eat it. At least he was prepared in the clothing department. He was lucky he'd kept on his Jogboy outfit. It wasn't quite as dashing as his special dating-slash-hangout clothes, but it was far better than anything in not-Papyrus's closet.
Mettaton chuckled.
"I can't say no to that, can I?"
With a creak that suggested the hinges needed oiling, the door finally opened.
Normally he had to look up to face Mettaton, but this time he had to look down, and what he saw… didn't look like Mettaton at all.
"I knew you had me confused with someone else." The ghost sighed, looking away. The ends of his white form nearly brushed the ground. The only resemblance he bore to the Mettaton Papyrus knew was the X-shaped mark where his right eye would've been.
"No, of course not! I would recognize your voice—I mean." He cleared his throat. "I didn't know you were a ghost. Oh no, I was so rude asking you to go for a run!"
Papyrus smacked his forehead, accidentally dropping several books in the process. Mettaton caught them quickly with his stubby ghost arms.
"Don't feel bad on my account, beautiful. It's not worth it." Mettaton tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. "Thank you for the books. It was… nice to meet you."
"Was? But we're still meeting! We're—we're still going to hang out, aren't we?"
Mettaton might be even more different than Papyrus had expected, but that didn't have to be a bad thing. Papyrus hardly knew his universe's Mettaton, so they could still start out on a mostly-blank slate.
Besides… if Papyrus had to go back to his empty house, he might just blast something.
Mettaton's form shuddered, becoming transparent for a moment before fading back into view.
"I suppose… since you went through so much effort, it would be rude to turn you away." He turned his back to Papyrus, then floated deeper into the house.
Well, that was an invitation, if a less dramatic one than Papyrus would've expected! That just meant he was going to have to work extra hard on this friend hangout to cheer him up!
Papyrus adjusted the stack of games in his arms, then crossed the threshold.
"You're actually letting him in?" Mew Mew shouted from somewhere.
It took Papyrus a minute to locate her—mostly because she didn't look like Mew Mew, either. She was another white ghost hovering in front of the TV, stuffing her mouth with ghost-popcorn. Cartoon fight noises blasted from the speakers behind her.
"We won't bother you," Mettaton said, his voice more cold than before. "We'll be in my room."
"Ha! Good luck getting him up there!" She cackled, then turned her full attention back to her cartoon. "No, no, NO! Stop being a baby and get up, Naruto…!"
"Ignore her." Mettaton sighed. "Though, ah, I guess she has a point. You see, my room is… well. It's on the third floor."
Papyrus scanned the room. There was a refrigerator, a TV, a computer, and a record player, but no sign of stairs. From the outside, Papyrus had been able to see windows for multiple stories, though.
"Do you have a hidden trapdoor somewhere?" he asked Mettaton.
"Ghosts don't have need for doors," he said, sounding embarrassed. "I wanted to install one, but, Mew Mew—she doesn't like the idea of anyone being able to break into her room. Her room is the second floor."
"Oh! No need to worry!" Papyrus puffed out his chest and tried to make his scarf billow elegantly, before remembering he didn't have his scarf. Drat. "This puzzle is no match for the Great Papyrus! Nyeh heh heh!"
Still carrying the friendship-building materials, Papyrus dashed out the door and around the side of the house. Sure enough, there was a window up much higher on the backside of the house.
He cast precise blue magic over the stack of books, cancelling out the natural tug of gravity so that they appeared to float in place. Then with a few more gestures, a ladder of bone attacks clicked into place below the window.
"Oh my…" Mettaton breathed in awe. Papyrus hadn't heard him float up. "You are quite the magician, darling."
"This is nothing! Though I appreciate your compliment!" Papyrus grinned, then grabbed his stack of library items and climbed the ladder up to Mettaton's room.
Mettaton flew ahead to open the window, smiling shyly.
"It's not much, but… welcome to my home."
Papyrus pushed aside the satin curtain and swung his legs over the windowsill.
"Wowie!"
This was what Papyrus had expected from the superstar. Pink wallpaper, a plush pink bedspread, a sparkling pink rug. Even the blocky TV was pink.
"I haven't cleaned up in a while…" Mettaton murmured while swooping to scoop up the notebooks and gel pens scattered across the floor. He carefully lined them up on a small bookshelf.
"It's so you." Papyrus was still staring. Maybe Mettaton looked different in this universe, but if a home was the window to the soul, then he still had the heart that Papyrus knew.
"You… you really think so?" Mettaton looked up through his thin eyelashes.
"Of course it is! It's bold! It's glamorous! It's the perfect ground for our incredible friendship to blossom from!"
Papyrus plopped down cross-legged on the carpet, setting the books and flash drive beside him. Mettaton hovered close and flipped through the pages.
"Are you a fan of Mr. Boom?" Mettaton asked.
Papyrus tugged at the collar of his Jogboy shirt.
"Well, I haven't read any of his books yet, but he always has entertaining stories! Particularly the ones about Baby Undyne."
Mettaton looked confused. "Did he, now…?"
Papyrus blushed. Maybe Gerson didn't know Undyne in this universe. Papyrus needed to be more careful.
"Nevermind!" He cleared his throat. "Would you like me to read you a story? I learned voice acting from the best. My brother!"
"Your brother is a voice actor?"
"He might as well be! He's been reading me bedtime stories since I was a babybones."
Mettaton chuckled behind a stubby hand.
"That sounds wonderful. Mew Mew's bedtime stories are… well, more likely to give Blooky and I nightmares."
"That sounds awfully fitting for ghost stories." Papyrus nodded thoughtfully before grinning again. "Well! My stories are guaranteed to give you only the sweetest of dreams! Which one would you like?"
Mettaton frowned, his good eye scanning the different titles.
"You said that you haven't read any of these… do you have a story you know by heart, perhaps? Since you seem to have heard so many pleasant ones."
"Oh! Of course!" Papyrus coughed into glove to clear his nonexistent throat.
A normal story wouldn't do. Mettaton was too fantastic for something as simple as Advanced Puzzle Construction for Critical Minds! Peekaboo With Fluffy Bunny would be more dramatic, but the ending might be a little too shocking for Mettaton's first story. Hmm…
Papyrus snapped, getting an idea. What better story to tell Mettaton than his own?
"Once upon a time, in a cavern deep within the earth, there lived a brilliant lizard scientist."
"A… lizard scientist?" Mettaton's body bent, like he was trying to tilt his head, only his whole body was made of head. "Is that a scientist who is a lizard, or a scientist who studies lizards?"
"A scientist who's a lizard! A lizard monster. A yellow lizard monster, in a crisp white lab coat. Only sometimes the labcoat is less crisp, and more covered in ramen stains." Papyrus frowned.
Alphys could have used a wonderful brother such as himself back in those days. Now she had Undyne to do her laundry, at least. Undyne was a professional at beating stains out of clothes. She'd had plenty of practice, after all.
"That's… strangely specific," Mettaton mused. "You put quite the detail into your stories."
"Thank you! Now, this scientist was the great Doctor Alphys. And her great and noble goal was to free the monsters beneath the mountain by breaking the magical seal that kept them trapped."
Mettaton gasped. "This is a magic story?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Papyrus asked, confused. "All the best stories have magic in them!"
"I couldn't agree more, darling!" Mettaton beamed and sprawled out on the floor, so that he was looking up at Papyrus. "Tell me more about the magic seal and the great Doctor—wait, Alphys? That's the name of Mew Mew's friend. Mew Mew sometimes watches anime at her apartment. They… never invite me."
He winced, and Papyrus's soul felt like it was breaking. How many things could be wrong with this universe?
"Did I say Alphys? I meant… Sylpha! Sorry, that must have been a slip of the tongue."
"You don't have a tongue, darling." Mettaton laughed.
"Which must be why it slipped! Now, where were we?"
"The magic seal, and the great Doctor Sylpha." Mettaton flickered in excitement.
"Right! Now, in order to break the magic seal, Doctor Sylpha needed the power of souls. Human souls, to be exact. But no humans lived beneath the mountain."
He decided to leave out the part about murdering humans to get the first six souls. Mettaton wanted a happy story, after all.
"So using all of her sciency wiles, she concocted a plan," he went on. "A plan that would create a brand new, living soul."
Mettaton ooohed and aaaahed at all the right parts. Papyrus felt his own soul glowing from his attention.
"After days and nights spent slaving away in her lab… her mighty chainsaw brought her creation to life."
Mettaton's eyes were wide.
"She did it? She created a real soul?"
Papyrus looked away. That was how the story went, but… knowing this universe's Mettaton now, he wasn't so sure.
Still, he nodded. There was no point in ruining a perfectly good tale now.
"She did. Encased in a body of wires and steel, her creation rose…"
"This isn't a horror story, is it?" Mettaton suddenly asked, looking nervous.
"No, of course not!" Papyrus waved his hands in assurance. "It's more of a… love story?"
His grin felt tense. Why had he said that? His world's Mettaton didn't have a romantic partner! Unless Papyrus counted the spotlight, but he wasn't sure that would live up to his advertising.
"It is?" Mettaton's expression turned eager again. "Well, then don't draw out the suspense too long, darling!"
This was fine! Papyrus was excellent at thinking on his feet! Or his pelvis, since he was currently sitting down.
"Er, yes! Love! But before finding love, this creation had to exist! Which he did!"
"He?" Mettaton blinked. "Is this his love story? Or Sylpha's? Or… both of them?"
"Nyeh heh heh! Sylpha and her robot? Preposterous! No, this is between the robot and… a certain… skeleton?"
Papyrus blushed. It was just a story! If he wanted to insert himself into the narrative, that was his prerogative! It wasn't like Mettaton would know once he changed the names, anyway.
"A skeleton, hmm…" Mettaton frowned thoughtfully. "This robot sounds awfully lucky."
"He is!" Papyrus nodded. "Sypha took his hand, raising him from the lab table.
"My beautiful, boxy creation," he said in a high-pitched voice. "I will name you Tettamon, and you will save us from our dark prison!"
"Tettamon…" Mettaton gasped quietly. "That sounds almost like… what you called me."
"Er, that is entirely a coincidence."
"Oh." He looked away. "Of course, beautiful."
Papyrus returned to his story. Of how Tettamon's soul was not quite strong enough to break the barrier. Of how instead of freeing them from prison, he opted to turn that prison into a paradise.
"Tettamon brought light and joy to all the monsters of the underground. And eventually, Sylpha rewarded him with an even more glamorous robot body—one with gorgeous bishounen eyes, and long luxurious legs, and soft, handsome lips."
Mettaton bit his own ghostly lip as Papyrus spoke.
"That's a better ending than I could have dreamed of," he said. "But… you said this was a love story… with a skeleton…?"
Papyrus chuckled, scratching at the back of his spine.
"I did, didn't I? Well, you see, after Metta—er, Tettamon, gained his new body, he immediately went off to show his number one fan, Surypap."
Mettaton bit back a snort of laughter.
"Surypap?"
"It's a name! The name of the incredibly handsome skeleton that Tettamon desired to woo." Papyrus blushed, but didn't let it stop him. He had a story to finish! "So Tettamon sprinted through the snow to the rustic cabin of Surypap. He was so excited that he could finally run, with legs and not a wheel that lacked deep enough tire treads. So! He arrived at the cabin…"
"And?" Mettaton's eyes were so wide, they seemed to take up his whole face.
"And when Surypap answered the door, Tettamon took him by the pelvis, and spun him around, and surrounded him with his deep, musical laugh.
"I'm more beautiful than ever, darling," Papyrus voiced Tettamon in his best approximation of his universe's Mettaton's deep, romantic voice. "Would you make me the happiest robot in the Underground and take me on a date?"
Mettaton was blushing so brightly that he matched his room.
"Well? Did he?"
Papyrus smiled down at him, and he instinctively brushed his thumb through Mettaton's incorporeal cheek.
"Tettamon, I would take you on a date if you were a gorgeous human-shaped robot, or if you were still a sexy rectangle, or even if you were a soul floating with no body at all."
Mettaton's ectoplasm seemed to heat beneath Papyrus's hand.
"You were right," he said breathlessly. "You are quite the voice actor, beautiful."
"A-ah." Papyrus's bones suddenly rattled nervously; he forced them to still. "Thank you, Tetta—er, Mettaton!"
Mettaton laughed quietly.
"Thank you. That story was… more wonderful than I could have imagined." He gave a dreamy sigh. "If only I could…"
"Could what?" Papyrus leaned back on his palms.
"Oh, nothing." Mettaton flickered, his blush slowly fading. "Just a foolish dream of a foolish ghost."
"I don't think you could ever be foolish," Papyrus replied.
If anything, he was the fool, losing himself in such a fantasy. His universe's Mettaton had never said any of those things. Papyrus had barely spoken with Mettaton at all. Mettaton was so busy and distant…
Unlike this universe's Mettaton. This ghostly Mettaton, who stared up at him like he was the Angel of prophecy.
"It's getting late," Mettaton finally said with a glance towards the darkening window. "Perhaps, if you wanted to come over again…?"
"I would like nothing more!" Papyrus beamed. "How does tomorrow sound?"
Maybe that was too soon. Even if he didn't have the schedule of a superstar, Mettaton still likely had things to do besides listen to Papyrus's self-indulgent, made-up stories.
"Wonderful, darling." Mettaton smiled back. "I wouldn't have you put aside any plans for me, though."
Papyrus's soul bubbled with giddy energy, like a boiling pot of spaghetti.
"Well, then it's a good thing you are already my plans!"
He leapt up, holding out a hand to help Mettaton up before realizing the ghost didn't need it. Mettaton hovered upright with another little laugh.
"In that case… I'll see you tomorrow," he said hesitantly. "Papyrus."
"I will look forward to it!"
Papyrus backflipped out the window, too excited to remember that he should've opened it first. Oops.
"I'll fix that tomorrow!" he called up to Mettaton, who was waving through the broken glass.
"Don't worry, the breeze is wonderful!" Mettaton laughed back.
The sound left Papyrus floating all the way home.
XXX
Mettaton christened his newest diary—a pink hardcover book with a built-in bookmark and neatly spaced lines—with a single name.
Papyrus. In looping script, written in his glittering silver gel pen, the word looked like a magic spell.
Mettaton glanced towards the open window, where a pleasant evening breeze made his curtains dance. Below that window, the ladder of bones still clung like vines to the side of the house.
Magic spell indeed, he thought with a smile.
He didn't know how Papyrus did it, much less why the skeleton had deigned to waste his magic and time on him. He half expected to wake up and find that it was all a dream, or just a story like that of Tettamon and Surypap.
But the broken window, the breeze, and the books reminded him that Papyrus had been real.
Papyrus. Papyrus. Papyrus, he wrote again and again, too giddy to form actual sentences.
Even without recording a more detailed account, his soul was sure to remember this day.