:):
One time UT Mob Reference.
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"Is This Your Puppy?"
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Not taking the chance like he had last time, Sans trailed behind the tiny human, letting her lead the way through the snowy terrain. This place was patrolled by members of the Royal Guard, sure they were really just glorified guard dogs, but they were committed all the same. He didn't want to have to step in and help the kid out of a bad situation, but maybe if they got the idea that she'd already been captured, well... it might make things easier.
Turns out, he should have been more worried for the sentries. The Lesser Dog, who was already prone to excitement, was no match for the tiny human's bizarre affinity with dogs. She had only been a little startled by its sudden neck extension. When its head had finally come back within range, the little girl, overjoyed, had given it an awkward upside down head hug. Sans, who had been notably silent through the whole thing, couldn't decide whether he found the scene cute or disturbing. Maybe a little of both...
Dogamy and Dogaressa had been a different matter, however. The two Royal Guard dogs, decked out in black like executioners and carrying large axes to solidify the look, had been immediately suspicious of the child. She had been a smell they couldn't identify. An unholy conglomeration of spaghetti, lesser dog, and potential human.
This time Sans actually had to do something. Which was unfortunate because, if given the choice, he'd much rather do nothing at all.
"there you are, lil' pup." Sans said, catching the guard dog's attention. Casually walking into the middle of the altercation, he slipped off his bulky blue jacket and dropped it onto the scared little girl's head, enveloping her in the stench of greasy food. "you shouldn't wander off like that. you could get lost out here."
"Sans?" Dogami asked, sniffing the newcomer.
"Sans." Dogaressa confirmed, doing the same.
"dogami, dogaressa," Sans acknowledged "find anything interesting today?"
"Yes." Dogami confirmed as he turned his attention back towards the child. "We found a strange smell."
"Did you say 'pup'?" Dogaressa asked, sniffing again at the tiny human, now almost completely hidden beneath the skeleton's jacket. Recognizing the odor, she examined the creature in a new light. "Is this your puppy, Sans?"
"Puppy? "Dogami looked confused. Smelling the child again, he frowned. It sure didn't smell like a puppy but it did smell like the shorter of the skeleton brothers. Whatever it was, it obviously belonged to him and therefore wasn't a threat.
"uh, yeah." Sans lied, closing an eye socket. "we haven't thought of a good name for her yet, so we've just been calling her "lil' pup"." A disgruntled noise could be heard from within the bulky jacket.
"Our apologies, Lil' Pup." Dogaressa said, bowing her head. "I hope we did not scare you too bad."
With reluctance, Dogami also bowed his head. Never go against the wife. Ever. "Yes, it was our misunderstanding."
Reaching out with both hands, the little girl took this opportunity to pet the two guard dogs while their heads were lowered. She just couldn't help herself! Startled, both sentries flinched away before cocking their heads in confusion.
"Strange puppy you have there, Sans." Dogaressa said in good humor.
Shooting the girl an 'i can't believe you just did that. are you crazy!?' look, Sans gave a nonchalant shrug. "i'll say." he agreed easily. "she's a real handful."
Once the dog duo was well away, Sans reclaimed his jacket from the tiny human and slid it back on. "kid, you got a death wish or something?" He asked, shoving his hands back into his jacket pockets as he stared down at the child.
Shivering as the cold seeped back into her small frame, she gave him a pointed look. "No. I d-didn't even n-need your help, I was f-fine!" She didn't know whether she was actually mad at the skeleton or if she was just grumpy because of the cold. Either way, she didn't appreciate the accusation in his voice.
"you don't even know, do you?" Sans asked with a sigh of exasperation. "those two are part of the royal guard. they're out here patrolling everyday looking for humans. humans like you. whether or not you think you needed help, did you really want to risk being captured ...or worse?" Letting his eye lights trail away from the child, the skeleton's grin lessened slightly. "you can thank me anytime now."
Feeling like she had been very much put in her place, the little girl flushed and looked away as well. "Thank you..." She grumbled.
"what was that?" Sans looked back, eye lights glowing in humor. "i didn't catch it."
"Thank you, Sans!" Fearia repeated hotly, a distinct pout plastered on her face.
"heh." Sans closed an eye socket as his grin widened. "anytime, lil' pup."
"That's not my name!" The tiny puppy snapped in indignation.
"it's not?" Sans asked with calm amusement. "i thought it was a pretty good name."
"I already have a name!" She revealed, crossing her arms in frustration. "It's Fearia."
"eh." Sans shrugged. "I think lil' pup suits you better."
...
Fearia fumed as she trudged through the snow. Sans had up and vanished again without warning. How did he keep doing that? ...it didn't matter. Good riddance! He was infuriatingly annoying and his jacket smelled weird. Even so, his words had stuck with her. Maybe she wasn't taking her situation seriously enough? This was the Underground after all and even though she didn't like to admit it, she wasn't that strong.
Stumbling into a new area, she discovered another puzzle. This one was super easy, even for her. Stepping on the activation switch, the nearby spikes lowered revealing the taller of the skeleton brothers. He looked just as surprised as she was.
"WHAT!? HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP?" Papyrus exclaimed before looking contemplative. "And, More Importantly... IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME?"
Tilting her head in confusion, Fearia asked cautiously. "Any of what left?"
"WHY, MY SPAGHETTI, OF COURSE!" Papyrus smiled proudly. "YOU DID TRY IT, RIGHT?"
"I wanted to!" Fearia admitted with unrestrained enthusiasm, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to be wary of this guy. "It looked really good but I couldn't figure out how to heat it up!"
"Why Would You Need To Heat It Up?" Papyrus asked perplexed. "Isn't It Better Cold?"
"It was frozen solid." Fearia frowned. "I can't eat things that are that hard."
"I Had No Idea Human Jaws Were So Weak." Papyrus replied astonished. He then smiled fondly at the human. "Wowie... Even Though You Couldn't Eat It, You Still Thought It Looked Good Enough To Try?"
Fearia nodded and smiled.
Elated, Papyrus smiled back. "FRET NOT HUMAN! I, MASTER CHEF, PAPYRUS WILL MAKE YOU ALL THE PASTA YOU COULD EVER WANT!"
"You promise?!" The little girl asked excitedly. The promise of free food heavy on her mind. When was the last time she ate anything? This Morning? Oh... wait it was the night before. No wonder she was so hungry!
"OF COURSE!" Papyrus foolishly promised. "I Might Even Make Hot Spaghetti This Time, Just For You, Human."
Tagging along after the tall skeleton like a lost and hungry puppy, Fearia's stomach growled in anticipation.
Coming to the next area, they both stopped in front of a new elaborate trap. Holding back a groan, the little girl looked up to Papyrus. What was with him and puzzles? Did he really like them that much? How many more were there?
"HUMAN!" Papyrus started before letting his facade slide a little. "Hmmm... How Do I Say This... You Were Taking A Long Time To Arrive, So... I Decided To Improve This Puzzle." He explained. "By Arranging The Snow To Look More Like My Face. Unfortunately, The Snow Froze To The Ground. NOW THE SOLUTION IS DIFFERENT! And, As Usual, My Lazy Brother Is Nowhere Around. I Suppose What I Am Saying Is... WORRY NOT, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SOLVE THIS CONUNDRUM! THEN WE CAN BOTH PROCEED!"
"MEANWHILE, FEEL FREE TO TRY THE PUZZLE YOURSELF!" The tall skeleton offered generously. "I'LL TRY NOT TO GIVE AWAY THE ANSWER!"
Oh joy...
Fifteen minutes later, and still neither of them could figure out the solution to the Papyrus Face Puzzle. Turns out, even though Papyrus liked to make puzzles, he was really no better at solving them than she was. There was no other way of looking at this situation; they were stuck.
Plopping down in the snow, Fearia drew her legs to her chest to preserve what little heat she still had. She was SO cold! A moment later, to her surprise, Papyrus joined her. He was still tall, but when sitting down, he looked especially awkward.
"This Is Usually The Time My Brother Shows Up To Lend A Hand." Papyrus said confidently. "He Should Be Here Any Moment." He reassured.
"I hope s-so." Fearia shivered. "It's getting really c-cold out here."
"Is It?" Papyrus asked. "Are Humans Really That Susceptible To Cold Temperatures? Is That The Reason You Couldn't Eat The Frozen Spaghetti?"
"Yeah." Fearia nodded. "Are you not cold?"
"The Great Papyrus Cannot Be Affected By Something So Insignificant As Cold Weather!" Papyrus stated, puffing out his chest.
"So, you're saying you could eat a plate of frozen pasta?" Fearia challenged. This guy was so full of himself!
"THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO EAT SPAGHETTI!" The tall skeleton exclaimed drawing a small giggle from the child. She secretly doubted he could actually eat something so hard but he obviously had no problem with the cold. Smiling, a thought occurred to her.
"Here." Fearia said as she pulled out the Nice Cream she had tucked away. Carrying it around wasn't helping her shivering and the desire to eat it was completely gone now. Even so, the little girl was happy to share. Holding it out to the skeleton, she smiled. "You can have this then."
"Is That A Nice Cream?" Papyrus asked as he eyed the offered frozen treat. "I Can Have This?" With a nod from the tiny human, Papyrus accepted the gift, a look of awed disbelief on his skull. This wasn't how he expected humans to act. They weren't supposed to be kind. They were supposed to be horrible monster-killers! That's what Undyne always told him. But this human was itty-bitty. This human was nice and wanted to try his spaghetti. This human had just given him a Nice Cream! Perhaps this tiny creature was a rare exception to the rules.
...
Nearby, in a cave he and his brother had spent hours installing a high tech trap, mostly out of boredom, Sans was now trying to rewire said trap. Why had they accepted Alphys' help in the first place? Sure, she was a mechanical genius, but everything she made was unreasonably deadly. Even for monsters. That kid wouldn't stand a chance with this tiled dance floor of death.
Before his little brother got here, he had to sabotage this trap in some way. He loved Papyrus and knew for certain that he didn't actually want to kill the human or anything else for that matter, it just wasn't in him. So for his sake, and the kid's too of course, this trap had to go. Just a little adjustment here, a severed wire there, ...what the hell did this even do?
"SANS!"
Sans lifted his skull at the familiar call. "not yet, bro." he replied quietly, trying his best to ignore his impatient brother. "just need a few more minutes..." Honestly, he had been wondering where Papyrus was. He wasn't usually gone this long. Worries eased now, Sans continued tinkering at a more rushed pace. Almost done...
"Sans!"
Skull popping up once more, Sans turned to look towards the cave's entrance. Had that been the kid? Pulling away from the machine, he stood back up slowly. What was going on and why were they calling him? With a tired sigh he displayed an incredulous grin. Can't a skeleton catch a break?
"SANS, YOU LAZY BONES, WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"Sans! We need help!"
Grin faltering slightly in unspoken worry, Sans quickly teleported himself to the source of the commotion.
He really shouldn't have bothered...
Popping into existence behind the odd pair, Sans released an improbable breath. His brother and the little squirt were feverishly attempting to solve Papyrus' puzzle through the process of teamwork. It wasn't working. Was this really what had been so important that he had to stop what he was doing to come here and help?
With a passive-aggressive smile, the shorter skeleton walked over to the tree with the hidden switch and flipped it. Just like that, the puzzle was solved and the spikes blocking the path lowered.
"Did We Do It?" Papyrus asked, his voice full of hopeful amazement as he stared at all of the green triangles now in their proper places.
"We did it!" Fearia cheered, waving her hands in the air, overjoyed.
"how long were you two trying to solve that puzzle?" Sans asked casually as he stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. Despite his displeasure for the interruption, amusement still managed to creep into his voice. For all of the worn down snow covering the area, it must have been quite awhile.
"Sans!" Fearia greeted pleasantly once she spotted him.
The kid looked happy to see him as least, his brother on the other hand looked irritated.
"WE'VE BEEN HERE FOR NEARLY HALF AN HOUR!" Papyrus revealed. "BUT WE FINALLY MANAGED TO SOLVE THIS PUZZLE ALL ON OUR OWN. NO THANKS TO YOU!"
Looking away, Sans smiled. "yeah, i saw that. way to go, you two."
"INDEED!" Papyrus accepted the praise. "Now That We Have Mastered This Puzzle, Let Us Be On Our Way. THE NEXT PUZZLE IS EASILY THE MOST CHALLENGING BY FAR!"
Fearia groaned quietly but still followed the taller skeleton. "Another Puzzle?"
"Why, Of Course, Human." Papyrus confirmed proudly. "I CAN'T WAIT TO EXPLAIN IT TO YOU!"
Lingering behind, Sans cringed. He wasn't ready!
Reappearing with a pop of blue magic, Sans attempted to adjust the machine just a little more before they arrived. Hearing their approach however, he knew he was out of time.
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oh no!
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There's only one more chapter left before we arrive at Snowdin :)
...
In the next chapter, a faun gives Sans some helpful advice.
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Thanks for reading!
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Sheii Bae~
