Behind Closed Doors: Chapter 13 - Breakfast with the Brothers

'Where am I...?'
When you open your eyes you find yourself in the center of Snowdin Town, but oddly enough, it's... raining? The light pitterpatter quickly turns the snow a translucent gray, melting and congealing in icy slush-mounds and revealing a verdant, green grass underneath. Too verdant, given the fact that it was beneath snow, but given that this mountain has some odd magical energy flowing through it you don't second-guess much anymore. As you notice the grass starting to straighten on it's own in an incredibly speedy manner, the denizens of the town seem really uneasy and all rush to various houses. They slam the doors and you swear you can hear them locking. With a turn of your head to a few houses the various monsters seem to gather near their windows and stare at you in fear. Did you do something..? You look down at yourself not noticing anything different, but your eyes dart to the grass, seeing a few vines slithering through like snakes towards your legs. They quickly spiral up your shoe and you instinctively try to yank away, but the few vines that snap are replaced with thicker versions, even with a few thorns.

Without thinking you bend down, trying to pull and free yourself from the foliage, but your hands soon become entombed in the vines and they travel up your arms. "W-What the fuck..? Get off.. get off, get off!" The thorns scrape and scratch, some even digging in rather harshly. You writhe and the noises you make slowly increase in volume, and as your head sways erratically you look directly in front of you, seeing Flowey with the cruelest of grins.. Once again you try your hardest to free yourself practically using all your strength to flail and yank with both arms and legs.

"LET ME GO, YOU LITTLE FREAK! FUCK OFF!" You repeat the phrase 'fuck off' several times before you turn and gaze to your right arm, seeing the vines creep more rapidly to twirl together, forming a point. It aims at your cut and looms, and you can't help but flail even more and scream in a panic. The collective tendril of vines backs up and lunges towards your hand-

You awake still screaming and flailing in a panic, but in two seconds you slowly calm down and realize that you're being held down on the couch. Your screaming stops a few seconds after the realization that you're being staring at by a pair of very worried skeletons. You can 'feel' how out of breath you are and as the skeletons continue to hold you down you can't help but ask, "So, uh... I kind of had a bad dream, but judging from the reactions you two have I'm guessing it was an outie and not an innie." Papyrus seems more worried. Sans definitely seems so, but in an oddly 'more curious' type of worried.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT, HUMAN? YOUR SCREAMING WAS QUITE... LOUD." Papyrus asks with an empathetic tone, lightening his grip but still staying hunched over. Sans grip remains on your arm and leg, but once Papyrus lets go his grip loosens and lingers for a brief moment. "no kidding, buddy. you had quite the workout too, and good thing because paps really wanted to go all-out for this breakfast." Sans smirks and gestures with his thumb over the back of the couch. As you sit up with a sigh you see a whole table full of oddly... 'dinner-esque' foods like pasta, lasagna, there's-... There's a 'lot' of noodles on the table.. almost exclusively, barring meatballs. "Whoa.. that's.." You pause and search for a word, practically feeling Papyrus' gaze from the side without seeing him. "...That's great, I'm starving, man." Papyrus happily walks off to the kitchen with the largest smile you've ever seen. Admittedly, a nightmare like that 'would' build up an appetite.

Before you stand up you stretch and slide your legs off the couch. Aches and pains radiate through your extremities and the annoying phantom-pain of fake injuries from your dream remain, despite you being aware what they are. You groan and stand up. "Maybe that's what happens when- ...I didn't even drink that much, man." Sans notices your pause and self-targeted statement and shrugs innocently before Papyrus turns to you with a raised brow. "OH! I'VE NEVER REALLY BEEN A FAN OF ALCOHOL MYSELF, BARRING THE RARE SPECIAL OCCASION." Even tired that sounded silly, and you respond with a smirk and a playful tone. "I meant I had a very small glass of whiskey. Not enough to get drunk or even tipsy.. just something with the burger." Papyrus 'brow' furrows and he folds his arms for a brief moment. "OH, I SEE. WELL... ALCOHOL OR NOT, PROMISE YOU WON'T SCARE US LIKE THAT AGAIN, ALRIGHT?" You nod silently with the smile still present. It makes sense that he'd ask. That 'was' the first impression of you, after all!

The thought of you bringing the mood down has always been a constant lingering paranoia, but whenever it was truthful or seemingly so you always felt considerably worse when the idea struck you. "so manny, what made you so, uh..." Sans' white pupils dart up and down your body before continuing with a perplexed look. "...sweaty?" You hadn't realized it yourself, but the moment he mentions it you place a hand on your forehead and run it to your temple. That's... yeah, yuck. Your face scrunches slightly in disgust. "Ugh, you're right.. Do you guys, uh.. have a shower?" Papyrus turns from a plug-in skillet on the counter to answer. "OF COURSE WE DO, HUMAN! EVEN SKELETONS NEED SCRUBBING! SPEAKING OF WHICH, WHEN THE HUMAN IS DONE, SANS, YOU HEAD IN THERE YOURSELF." Sans responds by slumping back onto where you previously slept, groaning in mock-defiance as you ascend the stairs. "oh come on, bro, i'm plenty clean, see?" He lifts his t-shirt to showcase his lower half, but being higher and behind him you don't see. The only thing you hear is Papyrus from the kitchen, shouting. "OH NO YOU DON'T. YOU BETTER GET IN THERE AFTERWARDS OR I'LL CLEAN YOUR CLOCK! NYEH HEH HEH!" You hear the pride in his voice, and before you shut the bathroom door you make out Sans saying, "i'm finally rubbing off on you, i'm so proud, bro."

You can practically make out the humorous argument between the skeletons before you start the shower. The bathroom seems practically normal for a skeleton-dwelling, despite the lack of shaving equipment, and.. well, shampoo. It doesn't take long considering the fact that you don't want to keep Papyrus' waiting, and just as you towel up you notice a pair of clothes already on the sink. It's a blue short-sleeve shirt that seems way too baggy for your weight, and a pair of tight-fitting sweatpants.

By the time you make it downstairs, Sans is at the table with Papyrus who's still wearing his chef's hat. They're both chowing down, Sans with coffee and a few meatballs and Papyrus with a plateful of Lasagna. "AH, HUMAN, FRESH AND READY FOR THE DAY I SEE!" The tall skeleton happily pipes before taking a forkful of noodle-and-sauce. Sans raises his coffee mug after a swig. "so, manny, want to tell us what spooked you last night? bad dream or not, could help to get it off your chest." While taking a seat at the plate set up for you Papyrus scoops a heaping literal ladle of spaghetti onto it, nodding in agreement. You wave your hand and disagree in a light manner. "Oh it was just some dumb dream. The snow in Snowdin was grass, I was trapped in some vines. Dumb flower..-" Papyrus finishes 'swallowing' before staring in interest. "a flower, huh? echo flowers can be kind of creepy yeah, but they don't have vines." You take your first bite of the spaghetti and, believe it or not, it's... it's really good! After Sans mentions an echo flower you raise an eyebrow and talk mid-chew. "An echo flower? What's that?" Sans just smirks at how hungrily you chow down and Papyrus shoots a conflicted glare. "MANNY, PLEASE. AT LEAST FINISH SWALLOWING. ECHO FLOWERS ARE THE BLUE FLOWERS THAT MIMIC ANY SOUND OR SPEECH PRESENTED TO THEM! THEY MIMIC EACH OTHER TOO, BUT EVENTUALLY THE PHRASE GETS MIXED AND JUMBLED UNTIL THEY WHISPER NONSENSE TO EACH OTHER." You nod in surprising satisfaction to the answer, and shoot another question, this time politely finishing your mouthful of food.

"...by chance, can those flowers be... yellow?" You hear Sans' loud slurping come to an abrupt halt, followed by Papyrus rubbing his chin. "I.. DON'T BELIEVE SO. BUT- DREAMS CAN MAKE THINGS SEEM DIFFERENT THAN THEY REALLY ARE!" Sans shrugs and winks at you. "Maybe I didn't see an echo flower, then? ...Either way, yeah.. a dream is a dream I guess." You mostly say that to yourself while staring at the plate. Incredibly enough, the meal is almost completely finished by Papyrus, who effortlessly downs the dishes. You manage to have a plate and a half. "So what happens now..?" As you help Papyrus by bringing dishes as he washes, he sports a conflicted face. "TRUTH BE TOLD, I WAS PLANNING ON HAVING YOU STAY HERE UNTIL WE FIND OUT, BUT I'M GUESSING YOU WANT TO RETURN TO THE SURFACE. NO DOUBT YOU HAVE FAMILY WAITING FOR YOU-" He pauses, recalling your description of the two and continuing. "I.. SORRY, HUMAN." You raise your hand and smile. "Hey, you forgot, it's cool! It happens!" Even you are totally understanding of that. "I.. as much as I don't want to, I guess I 'have' to..? But, aren't you supposed to capture me? I don't think it'll be good for either of us if I just 'waltz' out of here, Papyrus, and I don't want to fight a friend.." Half-way through the dishes, Papyrus stops the water and looks at you. "A.. FRIEND?" Papyrus smiles at you very sincerely, before realizing the truth of the situation hand. "OH DEAR, YOU'RE RIGHT.. HOW ARE WE GOING TO..." Papyrus thinks before a wide grin plasters his face. "NYEH HEH HEH! I'VE COME UP WITH A MASTER PLAN! WE'RE GOING..." Papyrus pauses to lead you in, Sans too raising a brow and seeming interested.

"...FAKE A FIGHT!" Wait, WHAT? Your eyes practically pop out of your head. "Papyrus, that's-! ...T-...That's a great idea.. actually." For some reason you automatically went to call the idea ridiculous, but that turned out sounding like a solid plan. "I... okay, I'm in?" Sans stretches and stands up finally from the table. "eh, why not, i'm in too. technically we're 'both' sentries, so I should at least try to capture you." Sans again shrugs and you can't help but smile back. This could work out!

It's been quite some time since I last wrote, but that's only because I managed to snag a good-paying job. Downside is that it's 40 hours a week, but I'm not complaining! I never forget to write but I'm trying to write to the best of my abilities. I refuse to write sub-par content because I'm tired. Count on me to continue no matter what. I promise I'll start pumping out more soon, even more so during these trying times for those stuck at home.

-Rampant Memory