Peter had been having a lot of fun in Snowdin. After becoming friends with Papyrus, he had rented a room in Snowdin Inn (a name which Chara had punned whenever it came up). However, after a few hours, during which he snoozed a bit, as he was going to a place called Grillby's, Chara mentally accosted him.
"Look, I'm honestly having fun here and all," She began as they entered, "But I'm still not thrilled about being connected to your consciousness and would love to get a move on... well, leaving." She had become visible, if still kinda ghostly and fully non-corporeal. Apparently, no one else could see or hear her still, which Peter took to be a good sign.
"Why? I thought that you liked being with monsters more than being with humans."
"I do." She crossed her arms. "That's why I still am not OK with being stuck to you. You're a human, albeit a rather... kinder one. Than the other's I've been into contact with. Still, I'd rather just give up the ghost and rest in piece rather then spending my time watching the people I care about while stuck to a human."
"C'mon, I thought I didn't count!" Peter was in one of the booths, observing the members of the dog squad playing poker. It was quite amusing.
"... The jury is still out." She replied, looking conflicted.
"OK, tell you what, I'll get a move on as soon as I do that hangout with Papyrus." Peter replied, scooting out of the booth. A few of the patrons were looking at him funny, but it was nothing too interesting for them. At least Peter hoped other monsters talked to themselves.
Papyrus was waiting right outside his house, doing push-ups. Except they weren't the best, as he simply used his legs to lever himself up and down without ever moving his arms.
"SO, YOU CAME BACK TO SEE ME!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet with excitement. "YOU MUST BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS... I'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOU SOMEPLACE REALLY SPECIAL... A PLACE I LIKE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME!"
"Cool!" Peter replied. "Uh, where?"
"GOOD QUESTION!" Papyrus narrowed his eyes for a moment. "FOLLOW ME HUMAN!"
"Uh, my name is Peter?" Peter replied, following Papyrus as he nearly sprinted towards Grilby's. Then, just as soon as they reached there, he backtracked and then returned to his house.
"HERE WE ARE!" He chirped.
Chara blinked a few times. "What."
"I know, you don't even need to blink." Peter noted. She gave him a look telling him to zip it, so he did.
"COME ON IN!" Papyrus opened the door wide as his smile. Peter obliged, and was struck by how... homey. The place was.
"WELCOME TO SCENIC "MY HOUSE"." Papyrus grinned broadly. "Linger and take your time!"
Peter wandered about, as Papyrus gave him information on everything from his favorite TV show (which appeared to be having technical dificulties), to his brother's pet rock.
"SANS NEVER FEEDS IT, SO NATURALLY I MUST." Papyrus stated sadly. Sure enough, the rock was covered in sprinkles.
"No need to laugh." Peter whispered to Chara.
"I can't help it!" She guffawed. "This whole scenario is just CRAZY!"
Alongside the rock, there was also a joke book containing a quantum physics book containing a joke book containing a quantum physics book containing a joke book containing a...
"I think that's just one of the jokes." Peter noted.
"Well it's got me in stiches!" replied Chara, who had not stopped laughing, though she had gotten a bit dizzy reading that thing.
Inside the kitchen was a fridge half full of spaghetti (the other half had just an empty bag of chips), as well as a sink twice the height of Papyrus.
"IMPRESSED? I INCREASED THE HEIGHT OF MY SINK." Papyrus proudly proclaimed. "NOW I CAN FIT MORE BONES UNDER IT! TAKE A LOOKSY!"
Peter shrugged and opened the drawer. Inside was the dog from before, chewing on what was left of the bone pile.
Papyrus looked enraged. "WHAT!? CATCH THAT MEDDLING CANINE!" Both Peter and he ran after it, but it escaped.
"CURSES!" Yelled Papyrus. "THE MENACING MUTT HAS ALREADY STOLEN MY SPECIAL ATTACK AND MY DIGNITY, AND NOW INTENDS TO ROB ME BLIND!"
Sans poked his head out from behind the door to his room, and played a fail riff on the trombone, before going back in.
"SANS! STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!" Papyrus yelled. He then turned back to Peter. "APOLOGIES, HUMAN PETER, MY BROTHER TRULY IS A BOTHERSOME BUFFOON."
Peter blinked. "Uh... no worries, Papyrus!" He leaned on a nearby garbage can.
"AH, YES, MY TRASH CAN!" Papyrus grinned. "FEEL FREE TO VISIT IT ANY TIME."
Chara promptly curled up her limbs and floated into it. "Welp, guess we'll be staying for a while, Pete. I've found my new home."
"Char..." Peter shook his head. "You can't steal Papyrus' trash can!"
"Tell him a trash demon took it over." Chara replied, burying herself further in.
Peter was stuck by the oddness of that remark, but was brought back to reality by, of all people, Papyrus.
"SO... DO YOU WANT TO "HANG OUT" LIKE A PAIR OF VERY COOL FRIENDS IN MY ROOM?" Papyrus asked.
"Sure." Peter replied, walking up the stairs, dragging Chara with him via the force of their connection.
"Nooooooo... my house."
Peter opted to ignore her for the moment. Once inside Papyrus' room, he felt like it was a room truly worthy of such a cool skeleton. A rug framed by flame designs, a racecar bed, a table with action figures neatly displayed, a Jolly Roger neatly hung up...
"I love what you've done with the place." Peter said. "Very cool."
"ISN'T IT?" Papyrus smiled broadly. "BEST OF ALL, IT IS CLEAN. UNLIKE THE ROOM OF MY LAZY BROTHER. I THINK THERE'S A LITERAL TORNADO OF GARBAGE IN THERE."
Peter chuckled, continuing to look about. "Oh, cool, you're on the internet?"
"YUP!" Papyrus proclaimed proudly. "I AM VERY POPULAR ON UNDERNET! IN FACT, I AM A DOZEN AWAY FROM A DOUBLE DIGIT FOLLOWER COUNT!"
Peter frowned while Chara counter on her fingers. "Wouldn't that mean he has... -2 followers? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!?"
"SO, UM..." Papyrus paused. "DO YOU WANT TO START HANGING OUT?"
"Sure!" Peter replied cheerfully. "Though I thought that's what we had been doing..."
"WELL THEN!"
Peter found his SOUL flying from his body like he was in a FIGHT, but it seemed this was normal.
"HERE WE ARE! HANGING OUT!" Papyrus exclaimed. His eyes narrowed a bit. "I'VE ACTUALLY NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE. BUT! DON'T WORRY! YOU CANNOT SPELL "PREPARED" WITHOUT SEVERAL LETTERS FROM MY NAME!"
Chara was counting on her hands again, so Peter moved on. "Alright... what do you mean?"
"I SNAGGED AN OFFICIAL HANGOUT GUIDEBOOK FROM THE LIBRARY!" Papyrus replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "WE'RE READY TO HAVE A GREAT TIME! LET'S SEE..."
Peter and Chara exchanged looks, but both wanted to see where Papyrus was going with this.
"STEP ONE- CONTINUE SCROLLING AND READING TO MAKE SURE THE HANGOUT PROCEEDS."
They shrugged at each other as Papyrus kept reading.
"STEP TWO! ASK THEM TO HANG OUT." Papyrus cleared his throat. "EHEM. HUMAN PETER, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD LIKE TO HANG OUT WITH YOU!"
"And I'm glad we're able to hang out!" Peter replied, grinning.
"You could say he's a BONE-efide pal!" Chara interjected.
"REALLY? WOWIE! I GUESS THAT MEANS IT'S TIME FOR PART THREE!" Papyrus flipped through pages. "STEP THREE: PUT ON NICE CLOTHES TO SHOW YOU CARE!" Suddenly, something occurred to him. "WAIT A SECOND. "WEAR CLOTHING?" THE MUDDY YET SLIGHT TATTERED BRING UNITARD! YOU'RE WEARING CLOTHING RIGHT NOW!"
Peter stared at his suit. "It may be a bit bedraggled, but-"
"NOT ONLY THAT... EARLIER TODAY, YOU WERE ALSO WEARING CLOTHING!" Something hit him. "NO... COULD IT BE? YOU'VE WANTED TO HANG OUT WITH ME FROM THE VERY BEGINNING!"
Peter considered this. "Well... yeah, actually. I thought you'd make a neat friend."
Papyrus looked stunned. "NO! YOU PLANNED IT ALL! YOU'RE WAY BETTER AT HANGING OUT THAN I AM! YOUR FRIENDSHIP POWER IS TOO STRONG!"
"Well, I mean I have some practice but-"
"NYEH!" Papyrus interrupted. "NYEH HEH HEH! DON'T THINK YOU'VE BESTED ME JUST YET! FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... HAVE NEVER BEEN BEATEN AT HANGING OUT, AND NEVER WILL!"
"You don't need to win at hanging ou-" Peter began to say, but Chara shushed him.
"Look at the guy, he's having fun." She said.
"I CAN EASILY KEEP UP WITH YOU!" Papyrus grinned. "YOU SEE, I, TOO, CAN WEAR CLOTHING! IN FACT..." He grinned deviously. "I ALWAYS WEAR MY "SPECIAL" CLOTHES UNDERNEATH MY REGULAR CLOTHES! JUST IN CASE SOMEONE WANTS TO HANG OUT!"
"Oh dear." Peter and Chara both jumped to the same conclusion.
"HAH! YES, GASP IN MY HANGOUT PROWESS! BEHOLD!" Papyrus threw off his "Battle Body", to reveal-
A basketball suit with basketball-shaped shoulder pads and a baseball cap.
Peter gaped and nearly laughed from the tension, but Chara outright did so.
"NYEH! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY SECRET STYLE!?"
Peter began to chuckle in disbelief. "What do I think? That is so hilarious it's dank, so uncool it's cool, honestly I'm impressed you can pull that off!"
Papyrus gasped. "NO! A GENUINE COMPLIMENT!? YOUR FRIENDSHIP IS ALMOST TOO MUCH TO TAKE!... HOWEVER... YOU DON'T TRULY UNDERSTAND THE HIDDEN POWER OF THIS OUTFIT! AND THEREFORE, WHAT YOU JUST SAID IS INVALID! AND THIS HANGOUT WILL NOT ESCALATE ANY FURTHER!" His eyes narrowed. "...UNLESS YOU FIND MY SECRET!"
Peter and Chara looked at each other, then Papyrus. Knowing the skeleton, the obvious answer occurred.
"Your hat!" Peter exclaimed. "There's something under your hat!"
Papyrus looked thoughtful. "MY HAT? MY HAT..." He lit up. "MY HAT! INDEED HUMAN, BEHOLD WHAT I HAVE HIDDEN UNDER MY HAT!" He lifted it up to reveal a present. "BEHOLD, HUMAN! I HAVE PREPARED A GIFT FOR YOU! DO YOU KNOW... WHAT THIS IS!?" He unwrapped it with a flourish.
"Uh..." Peter tapped his chin as Chara stared. "A plate of spaghetti!"
"CORRECT! BUT WRONG!" Papyrus chuckled. "FOR THIS IS VERY FINE SPAGHETTI! ARTFULLY CRAFTED, FINELY AGED, AND THEN ARTISINALLY COOKED BY I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH! I HAVE BEATEN YOU!"
"I'm gonna eat it." Peter whispered to Chara.
"No no no no, you remember what Sans said!" she screeched. "I have a limited amount of connection to your senses, I WILL TASTE IT!"
Peter shrugged and gingerly took a bite. Immediately, on reflex his face scrunched up.
"It tastes... indescribable." Chara noted, trying to scrub her tongue with her sweater, and failing because she was a ghost with no taste buds. "UGH."
"THAT EXPRESSION ON YOUR FACE..." Papyrus gasped. "YOU MUST REALLY LOVE MY COOKING, AND BY EXTENSION, ME!" He collapse to his knees, noticed that he was still in the same room as Peter, stood back up, and cleared his throat.
"HUMAN. IT IS CLEAR THAT YOU TRULY CARE ABOUT ME. THUS, I FEEL AS THOUGH I SHOULD TELL YOU HOW I FEEL." Papyrus stared around for a moment. "HUMAN PETER, I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE KINDNESS YOU HAVE SHOWN ME. IT IS TRULY GREAT TO HAVE A FRIEND LIKE YOU. I ONLY HOPE THAT I CAN HELP YOU IN THE SAME WAY YOU HAVE HELPED ME. AND THAT WILL BE EASY! BECAUSE I WILL BE THE BESTEST AT BEING FRIENDS!"
Peter grinned. "You're a good friend too, Papyrus. When you're not tossing bones at me."
Papyrus laughed. "INDEED, SEEMS LIKE THAT WAS ONLY YESTERDAY. THOUGH IT WAS ACTUALLY A FEW HOURS AGO." As he escorted Peter out the door, he shuffled around in his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. "HERE IS MY NUMBER. CALL IF YOU EVER NEED ANYTHING!"
"Thank you! And I'll definitely call! Or you'll call me!" Peter waved as Papyrus cheerfully did so as well.
"GOODBYE HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed.
"That was... fun, actually." Chara stated as Peter walked away.
Peter looked up from messing with his phone. "So do you wanna hang out more here?"
"We've still gotta get out." Chara spoke, a tad sullen, arms crossed.
Both were silent as Peter walked past the area Papyrus and he had fought, into a damp swampland filled with the noise of waterfalls.
"The sound of rushing water fills you with determination." Chara spoke, grinning deviously.
"Oh come on." Peter sighed, chuckling somewhat. He looked around, spotting a no-armed monster kid he had seen earlier, as well as Sans sitting in a sentry station exactly like the first one he had encountered.
"what?" Sans asked, misinterpreting his confused expression. "haven't you seen a guy with two jobs before?"
"Uh, sure?" Peter looked at the station again. "It's just that-"
"well, fortunately for you, two jobs means twice as many legally-required breaks." Sans grinned. "you look like you haven't eaten anything but my brother's pasta for a little bit."
"It is... ImPASTAble to eat!" Peter replied, grinning as well.
Chara fistpumped. "That was a good one."
Sans grinned wider. "nice, kid. i'm going to grillby's, wanna come?"
Peter shrugged. "Sure. I was eyeing the burger their anyways, and that sounds good."
"well, if you insist..." Sans replied with a hint of irony, "i'll pry myself away from my work..." Walking around and to Peter, he paused. "over here. i know a shortcut."
He started walking in the opposite direction, but Peter shrugged and followed him. Suddenly, he was at Grillby's with Sans.
"...what?" Chara asked, visibly confused.
"fast shortcut, huh?" Sans winked.
"Definitely faster than taking the bus through Times Square." Peter replied. "I tried that once."
"you're a bit weird." Sans stated. "i can respect that. you're cool, like my bro." He gave a wink and a smile to the monsters crowded inside the bar. "hey, everyone."
The other monsters exchanged pleasantries with him as he continued to the bar.
"Hey Sans, weren't you just here for breakfast a few minutes ago?" One of them asked.
"nah," Sans replied, "i haven't had breakfast in at least half and hour." He gave a wink. "you must be thinking of brunch." A rim-shot sounds out of nowhere as the monsters laugh and Sans gives you a shrug. Peter and Chara chuckled too.
"Gotta admit, this guy's good at what he does." Chara replied.
"Not working and making puns?" Peter chuckled.
"Not working and making puns." She replied.
"you like to talk to yourself, eh kid." Sans noted. Peter gave a start, but Sans seemed to have forgotten already. "here, get comfy." He indicated a stool, and Peter sat.
"Nice place. Real homey." Peter said, sitting down. Suddenly, a loud tooting sound rang out for a few seconds.
"whoops, watch where you sit down." Sans grinned. "sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats."
"It's a truly... tootiful experience." Peter stated slowly.
"eh, bit weak, but good effort." Sans replied. "anyway, let's order. whaddya want, fries or burger?"
"Burger please." Peter replied.
"grillby! we'll have a double order of burg." Sans ordered. While Grillby was busy with that, Sans turned to look at Peter. "so, what do you think of my brother?"
"He's a pretty neat guy." Peter replied. "And a goodhearted person."
"well of course." Sans replied. "ain't nobody like my bro in the whole underground. and that's a good thing."
Grillby returned with the burgers and placed them in front of Peter and Sans.
"here comes the grub." Sans noted. "want some ketchup?"
Peter shrugged. "I prefer to eat burgers as they're made. Kinda preserves the intent. Besides, I've had a bunch of burgers. New Yorker. I wanna see how this one is."
"i can respect that. more for me, then." Sans winked, and proceed to guzzle the bottle down.
"Ew. At least water the stuff down, you weirdo." Chara wrinkled her nose.
A few moments passed as Peter chowed down. The burger was very greasy, but not at all bad tasty. It was... ok.
"anyway, you gotta admit, papyrus tries real hard." Sans continued. "like how he keeps trying to be a part of the royal guard. one day, he went to the house of the head of the royal guard... and begged her to let him be in it." He gave a chuckle. "of course, she shut the door on him because it was midnight. but the next day, she woke up and saw him still waiting there. seeing his dedication, she decided to give him warrior training. it's, uh, still a work in progress."
"Is there anything I need to know about her?" Peter asked.
"who?"
"Undyne. The Captain of the Royal Guard."
Sans shrugged. "nuthin important. which reminds me..." For some reason, all activity seemed to pause, as Sans stared at his plate. "have you ever heard of a talking flower?"
Peter nodded. "Yeah. We've had a... few run ins with one."
Sans narrowed his eyes. "so you know all about it. the echo flower."
Peter blinked. "What."
"they're all over the marsh. say something to them, and they'll repeat it over and over..."
"Is that what Flowey is?" Peter asked.
"what's a flowey?" Sans asked. "i'm talking about a flower papyrus was talking about the other day. sometimes, when no one else is around... a flower appears and whispers things to him. flattery... advice... encouragement... predictions. weird, huh?"
Peter swallowed hard.
"Uh... is he talking about Flowey?" Chara shivered. "That is concerning."
"Umm... we've met a talking flower." Peter replied. "It's name is Flowey, and it is bad news."
Sans scoffed. "a talking flower? it sounds more like someone is using an echo flower to play a trick on him. still, that is odd. i'll have to look into it. you should as well."
Peter nodded. "I will."
"thanks."
Everything returned to normal, and Sans spun around and got off his chair. "welp, that was a long break. i can't believe i let ya pull me away from work for that long." He started to walk out, then paused. "oh, by the way... i'm flat broke. can you foot the bill? it's just 10000G."
Peter looked at Chara, who scoffed and shook her head. "Afraid not. Sorry."
"just kidding." Sans replied, twinkle in his eye. "grillby, put it on my tab." He continued to walk away, before pausing again. "by the way... i was going to say something, but i forgot." He shrugged, and walked out.
Chara was silent as Peter finished his burger. "That comedian is more than he appears."
"So is Flowey." Peter swallowed hard again. "I worry for Papyrus now."
"Still, we must move forward." Chara replied. "I suspect the answer to our questions exists... but not here."