"Papyrus? Is Mr. Mettaton gonna come back to take us shopping soon?"
Papyrus was just finishing up a phone call with said robot. Frisk, Flowey, Chara, and their monster kid friend Kaida were waiting behind him anxiously.
Papyrus hung up the phone and turned to Kaida, who had asked the question. "Alas, Mettaton is stuck at work and won't be able to take you out today like he promised," he answered sadly.
Frisk and Kaida groaned. Flowey looked semi-disappointed, and Chara looked almost relieved.
"However, he always leaves an extra credit card at my house, and he said that I should use it and take you kids out instead!"
"Hooray!" Kaida cried, flinging their prosthetic arms into the air. Frisk clapped, Flowey nodded with some interest, and a look of dread crossed Chara's face before it settled into its usual apathy.
Papyrus retrieved the credit card and put it in his wallet. "Okay, young friends! Let's go!"
The kids piled into Toriel's minivan, which Papyrus had asked to borrow for the shopping trip, and Papyrus drove them all the way to the mall.
Mettaton had insisted the kids only get high-quality clothes, so Papyrus took them to the fanciest store he could find that still sold children's things. "Don't go too far!" he scolded Frisk and Kaida as they ran ahead and ogled at all the expensive, sparkly jewelry at a kiosk. "I think those things are a bit old for you. Let's go to this section."
"What am I even gonna get here?" Flowey complained, twisting to look around at what he could see from Papyrus's arms. "I can't wear clothes."
In response, Frisk came over and plopped some kind of hat down on Flowey's head.
Flowey immediately shook it off. "Ew, a trilby? Only weirdos on the internet wear those!"
"Now, Flowey. I actually think this is a rather nice hat, myself!" Papyrus picked up the hat and put it on. "How do I look? Should I get it?"
Flowey looked stricken. "Please only buy that thing if you're planning on burning it."
Papyrus was about to scold him further when he realized somebody was missing. "Chara! Stop lagging behind, please, this is a big store and I'd hate to lose you," he called, seeing that the child was several steps behind them.
When Chara had caught up with them, they continued on, looking through the kids' section. Frisk and Kaida were looking happily at all sorts of things—sweaters, pants, dresses, footie pajamas, even fancy fake dress-up jewelry. Flowey was stretching over Papyrus's shoulder to look at hair accessories, which were probably the closest things to clothing he could wear.
And Chara just stood around as if they were waiting for something.
"Chara? Is there anything you like?" Papyrus asked kindly.
Chara stared at him as if he had two heads. What did it matter what they liked? What did they even like? They had no idea; everyone they'd ever went shopping with before had picked out their clothes for them. They shrugged.
"Okay, well… let me help you, then." Papyrus set Flowey down next to the shelves of hair accessories and began looking around for things he thought Chara might like. He pulled out a blue shirt with big glittery, silver stars on it. "How about this one?"
Chara hesitated. They didn't like glitter at all… but they nodded anyway.
Papyrus picked up on their uncertainty immediately. "Are you sure? Why don't you come over and see for yourself what they have?" He pulled them over gently. "Look, here's something with flowers on it. You like flowers, I've heard!"
Yeah, Chara liked flowers. Real flowers. Not the fake ones that they plastered all over clothes—girls' clothes, typically. Chara shuddered.
Papyrus tried simple bright blue jeans next. "How about these?"
The jeans were nice enough, but secretly, Chara liked darker clothes… but if Papyrus thought they were nice, they should probably go with them. They nodded.
Their heart was beating fast. Oh, how they hated shopping.
Papyrus was becoming more and more confused about these mixed signals. "Are you sure? You don't really seem like you want them… maybe you'd like a dress instead?" He pulled a rather pretty green one from the rack.
That did it. Chara turned and ran.
Papyrus froze for a few seconds, then leaped into action. "Flowey, Frisk, Kaida! Do not leave this section for any reason! I will be right back!" He dropped the dress and bounded after Chara.
Having far longer legs than they did, he caught up quickly. "Chara! Chara, what's wrong? I'm terribly sorry if I hurt you somehow—"
Chara was crying. Crying.
They hadn't cried as they ran away from home all those years ago. They hadn't cried after they fell into the Underground. They hadn't cried as they formulated a plan to use their own soul to free the monsters. They hadn't cried even as they lay dying.
No, of all things, it was a dress that broke them.
Papyrus said nothing more, only waited patiently, and a little confusedly, as they bawled.
Finally, Chara stopped, but they refused to look at Papyrus out of embarrassment.
Papyrus searched for something to say. "Is shopping too overwhelming for you?" he asked kindly. "I know how that feels. If you want, you can just walk with us, or you can ride on my back until we go home."
Chara shook their head.
Papyrus bent down to Chara's level. "What's going on, friend? You can tell the Great Papyrus."
Chara's fists clenched, then they began to sign.
Papyrus had a bit of trouble following as Chara's signing got faster and faster, but he got the gist. Chara's human parents, long ago, had forced them to wear dresses and sparkles and things they considered appropriate for girls, never allowing them to choose any of their clothes, especially after Chara had tried to come out as nonbinary. Shopping had always been hell for them, and those memories had come back as Papyrus had tried to offer them these new clothes.
Papyrus felt sick, but he set his feelings aside. "Chara… I am very sorry. I only meant to show you some of what was available and let you choose, never to force them on you. But considering your past, I could see why you would think that. I hope you can forgive me."
Chara took a deep breath and nodded. They knew Papyrus wouldn't force things on them—it was just the memories his actions had brought up that upset them.
"You're not with them anymore, Chara. You have family and friends who accept you for who you are. You even have family and friends who are like you! I'm nonbinary, and so's Frisk and Flowey and Kaida! We're all like you!" He smiled, and then became more serious. "But… we've also had different experiences. Sans was always accepting of me. And Toriel was accepting of Flowey, and Kaida's species of monster tends to be nonbinary in gender… but Frisk's parents were like yours." He sighed. "It is very sad how horribly some people will act about it… but you don't have to worry about that here. Everything you do today will be your choice. Your choice," he repeated strongly. "Not mine, not your siblings'—yours. You can pick whatever you'd like and I'll buy it for you. And everyone will be fine with what you choose, I promise." He put a hand on their shoulder. "Now, are you able to stick it out for the others, or would you rather go home now?"
Chara breathed deeply again. Stay.
"Alrighty, then." Papyrus stood up. "We have the opportunity—why don't we try and use it to make shopping a good experience for you?"
Chara hugged him tightly. Papyrus hugged just as tight back.
When they went back to the kids' section, Frisk, Flowey, and Kaida were standing anxiously at the edge of it.
"Everything okay?" Flowey asked Chara in particular.
Chara nodded.
Frisk took their hand and led them back to the racks they'd been looking at. They pulled out a deep navy sweater and offered it to them.
After blinking and hesitating, Chara took it, feeling the soft material, and decided to try it.
The rest of the afternoon was filled with the kids trying on various clothes.
Kaida liked striped sweaters the most—they ended up getting seven in all different colors, as well as several pairs of blue jeans to go with them.
Flowey tried looking at some barrettes, but they ended up hurting his petals, so he rather sadly had to put them back. Fortunately, he ended up immensely satisfied with bowties, ribbons, and scarves to go around his stem.
Frisk stole the show with a couple of frilly dresses, but their favorite clothes tended to be shirts and outfits with Disney Princesses and Star Wars characters on them. At Papyrus's encouragement, they ended up getting five shirts and four full outfits along with the dresses.
Chara took the longest to choose and ended up getting the least out of everyone—but for once, they truly enjoyed the experience. They tried several sweaters and pants, and were even brave enough to try a dress, but they decided they weren't ready for one yet. At the end, they chose two sweaters, one of which was the one Frisk had offered, and a pair of black jeans.
Papyrus clapped for each and every one of them, and paid the rather exorbitant bill when they left.
As he drove the kids home, he glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that Chara was smiling.