Chapter 3: Roomies

It didn't take long to get to 423 Honeysuckle Loop with Papyrus' amazing driving skills. He was fast, but still followed all of the traffic laws…somehow. Sans snored from where he napped in the passenger seat while Papyrus continued to remain silent, giggling every now and then when he glanced back at Lou. The whole thing was making her a little nervous. Why was he smiling like that? What was so funny? Should she be worried? Okay, maybe that last one could be pushed aside. These guys were nice and didn't seem the type to want to harm or trick her. This was just her anxiety talking.

As Paps parked though she couldn't help but feel nervous again. This was definitely the house. She looked down at the ad again, going over it carefully. The requirements had been pretty simple. No jerks, could be monster or human, and willing to help pay rent as well as participate in doing chores; it all seemed rather basic for the most part. When applying Lou made sure to let them know she was a college student, a human, and was still looking for a job around town. The two had said that her lack of a job right now should be fine and that whether she passed the interview or not they'd be happy to help her job hunt sometime. The offer had made her feel a little less nervous at the time. These guys seemed to be pretty nice.

The house looked to be a simple two-story home. There was a cute little koi pond out in front and lots of blue and yellow flowers. Lou couldn't help but smile at how cute and pretty it was. When she looked back to where the two skeletons were still getting out of the car, she noticed Papyrus was quickly going around to follow her while Sans had only just barely stepped out of the car and was looking at her with an odd expression. His cheek bones looked a bit blue and it made her tilt her head, brow furrowing and mouth forming a contemplative almost-pout. The blue seemed to deepen. Was he okay? She wanted to ask if he was feeling alright when Papyrus zipped past her, looping an arm around her waist and lifting her up and over his shoulder.

Papyrus hardly paid much attention to her surprised yelp as he jumped up the porch steps. "Nyeh Heh Heh!" He swiftly knocked on the door before placing his free hand on his hip. Lou was unable to see what was going on in front of him, as she was held over his shoulder like a sack of feathers with her back to the door. There was the sound of loud footsteps from inside the house before the door was flung open.

The voice sounded female and was just as loud as Papyrus. "Papyrus! What are you DOING here? We don't have training today! Alphys and I are expecting someone today!" The female voice was gruff and intense, making Lou flinch a little. Did she say Alphys? Wait, did that mean…? Evidently, the loud woman finally noticed the tiny human dangling over's Papy's bony shoulder. "Hey Paps, what'cha got there?" She leaned around to try and get a look.

Lou caught sight of a very tall, toned blue fish woman with long red hair the color of blood. She had one yellow eye, the other covered by an eyepatch. "Who's the PUNK?" When she talked Lou noticed her teeth were sharp and yellowed in color, though she doubted it was from a lack of hygiene.

Papyrus nyeh'd and lifted Lou up underneath her armpits like she was just a big rag doll. "This Is My New Human Friend, Lou! Undyne, Meet Your New Roommate!"

The woman's eyes widened in surprise, her mouth hanging open. Lou quickly lifted up a hand to stop them. "M-maybe roommate, I-I-I st-still need to h-have that interview I-I agreed to?"

Undyne looked her over, lone eye scrutinizing her form. Had she dressed too casually? Her usual outfit tended to consist of a hoodie and jeans with sneakers. Was that bad for a roommate interview? She didn't want to show up in a dress after all, that was way too formal; it wasn't like she was going on a date or anything. "Dude, you're so…tiny…" Lou deflated a bit. Of course it was her height again. It was always her height and how it made her look like a child. "That's AWESOME!" Before she knew it, the fish woman had grabbed her from Papyrus' hands and lifted the poor human up above her head. "You're even SMALLER than Alphys!" She tucked Lou under her arm and stomped her way into the house. "ALPHYS! Come check this out! Guess who's here!"

Lou got a good look at the house from her spot under Undyne's arm. If this was going to become a regular thing with Papyrus and his friends she may as well get used to it beforehand. The house was painted with soft colors and a rather simple layout. There were bits of Japanese culture and cute anime stuff all over the place, but it wasn't overwhelming in its design. Honestly, it was quite nice.

Undyne walked into a living room where a small, albeit bigger than Lou, yellow dinosaur monster that was dressed in a lab coat and glasses as they sat on the couch drinking tea. She jumped a bit when Lou was suddenly dropped into a sitting position right next to her, looking rather blank faced despite the wide surprised eyes hidden beneath her hair.

"Turns out Papyrus ran into that girl who applied to our roommate ad! And look, she's even tinier than you are!" The fish woman, Undyne, placed her hands on her hips and grinned a huge, toothy grin. She looked quite proud of herself.

Alphys looked to the human next to her cautiously, adjusting her glasses. Lou looked back at her, quickly lowering her head shyly and waving.

"H-hi, uh…I-I'm Lou."

Alphys blinked before shyly waving back. "O-oh, hello! I-I-I'm Alphys. N-nice to m-m-meet you, Lou." She held out a clawed hand, offering a nervous smile.

Lou didn't hesitate much as she took it, shaking the other's hand gently. "Y-you too." She returned the smile with her own, soft and a bit nervous.

. . .

The interview had been…interesting to say the least. Papyrus had almost tried inviting himself and Sans to join, but after a quick correction from Alphys and Undyne, he left it be, but not before handing over the manga suggestions from him, his brother, and Lou. They seemed impressed enough with Lou's choices based on what little information she'd been given.

"How did you KNOW about all of these? Have you READ all of these?!" Undyne whipped her head over to Lou so fast she almost thought the fish woman would give herself whiplash.

"Oh uh…n-no. A-a few I picked after skimming though the content of the first two books, b-but most of them I've either read a bit of o-or heard about them from friends. I-I saw you guys seem to like magical girl stuff s-so I tried to grab as much of that a-as I could." She motioned to Shugo Chara and Madoka Magica, which she warned both them and Papyrus that it was apparently very dark as it progressed and she wasn't sure how dark these guys could handle. The human then held up Tokyo Mew Mew. "A-and I heard you liked K-Kissy Cutie, s-so I thought you might like to look at one of the mangas i-it was based off of."

"B-based off of?" Now it was Alphys' turn to look at her. For the past few minutes she'd looked like she was in anime heaven.

Lou nodded. "Mew Mew Kissy Cutie t-tried emulating a lot of p-popular magical girl animes a-and mangas around the time it came out, b-but ultimately most fans noticed the huge s-similarities between the stories and c-content and kind of…d-dismissed it. I-it was a g-good show, b-but ratings majorly dropped a-after season 2 came around." The girl shook her head and sighed. "They v-veered t-too much from the storyline a-a-and plot of the character and fans were e-either outraged o-or disgusted and left. I-I think another magical girl thing they t-tried copying was m-maybe Sailor Moon, b-but then that's almost any magical girl anime since that was like, the beginning of popular magical girl animes. M-maybe also Pre-cure? Or is that a more recent one…I-I forgot."

When she looked up, Alphys was looking at her with wide eyes, manga in her claws dropped onto the couch. She got up and slowly took the human's face in her hands. "Y-you're perfect…"

Undyne boomed a laugh behind them, keeping herself up by placing her hands on her knees. One hand was repeatedly hitting her knee as she just laughed harder and harder. "Oh my GOD Alphys! We haven't even started the interview yet!" She wiped a tear from her eye, finally ushering the skeletons from the room so they could start. When she returned, she sat down on the other side of Lou. "Though to be honest, at this point it's more of a formality than anything. I can't find anything wrong with you."

By the time they were done, Lou felt like she'd known the two for much longer than just a couple of hours. They were a lot like some friends she'd had in high school, but a bit nicer and more like they'd keep in better touch if they ever had to part ways at some point. They'd talked a lot longer than expected, dissolving into casual girl chatter and forgetting some of the other questions on the list anyway. Alphys and Undyne noticed that as Lou got more comfortable and familiar with them, the less she stuttered and the more her real personality started to show, if only a little bit. She still stuttered by the end, but it wasn't as much as before and she turned out to be quite silly and goofy when she wanted to be.

"So, when can you move in?" Undyne was in her face, making the human girl flinch. The fish woman's antics and intensity would take some getting used to.

"Uh…a-after I get my st-stuff from the hotel?"

"GREAT! Welcome to your new place, roomie!" The blue fish scooped her up into a light headlock and ruffled the girl's hair with her hand. "This is gonna be AWESOME!"

"U-Undyne, p-p-put the human down! Y-you might choke her." Alphys got up, nervously waving her hands a little

Undyne rolled her eyes, but set Lou down anyway. As if like clockwork, Sans and Papyrus poked their heads in.

"Human Lou! Is Your Interview Done Yet? It's Been Quite A While, We Wanted To Check To See If You Were Doing Alright." His sockets glanced between Alphys and Undyne, though she mostly looked at Undyne.

Lou smiled brightly, missing the blue that dusted Sans' cheeks. "Y-yeah. L-looks like I'll be staying over here at Alphys a-and Undyne's now."

"Whoa there punk, it's our house now. You live here too." She beamed, puffing out her chest proudly.

"That's Fantastic!" Papyrus walked into the room completely, scooping Lou up into a big hug. "We Have To Get Your Things And Move You In Immediately! Sans And I Will Even Help Move Your Things! Just Tell Us Where To Go!"

"O-oh uh…w-well it's the small hotel? D-down by the college? I-I can give you directions there if you like, b-but I r-really don't need help moving my stuff out. I-I didn't b-bring all that much to begin with." She flushed shyly. "B-besides, you guys h-have helped me out e-enough already. I-I don't even kn-know where to start i-in thanking you."

Papyrus just smiled down at her in his arms. He'd settled for holding her in a cradling position, which was a bit embarrassing but surprisingly comfortable despite his rib bones poking her side. "Nonsense, New Human Friend! You Are A Friend Of The Great Papyrus, There Is No Thanks Needed For Someone As Great As I!" He was practically glowing with pride. He really was pretty great.

"Th-thank you, Papy." Lou smiled up at him. A hint of orange dusted his cheeks as his smile cracked just a bit. He tried to speak a response but got so flustered that all he managed to get out was a muffled, shaky Nyeh that he muttered into his scarf, which he was currently trying to hide in.

As Lou and Undyne laughed at Papyrus' antics and adorable reactions, Alphys was staring at Sans, hard. The whole time he'd been watching Lou and his brother, but not in that suspicious protective way; not completely at least. He still seemed a bit wary of his brother's new human friend, but at the same time his socket lights kept looking to the girl, his lazy smile softening along with his gaze. Alphys couldn't remember ever seeing Sans like this before. He'd never looked at anyone with that much fondness since his brother, and even then it wasn't the same as this. And that blush from before…he couldn't…could he? This required further study.

. . .

Lou was right when she said she didn't have very much stuff. She had a few small things that could fit in bags or boxes to decorate the room with a little bit, but nothing…major. She had no furniture of her own. She had some stuffed animals, which Sans used to poke a little fun at her. There were a few action figures from cartoons and animes she liked, a big quilt and some pillows, and of course her clothes. She had books and movies, a few games and her consoles, but no TV of her own to set them up on.

"Dude, this is all you've got? This is…kinda pathetic." Undyne looked at everything, the unpacking process taking only an hour. All they'd had to do is put the blanket and pillows on the bed with the plushies, the action figures on a shelf, the consoles in the closet for now, and the books with the games and movies went on some shelves. Clothes were put away in their respective places, either the basic dresser provided or on hangers in the closet.

"W-well I didn't wanna fly a bunch of furniture o-over from friends and family, s-so I told them n-not to get me anything as college gifts." Lou rubbed at her arm. That of course didn't stop them from giving her other things for college, but those didn't need to be mentioned. It was mostly just gift cards to places or money she placed in her savings.

Undyne glared down at the tiny human. "Well this is just sad and I am NOT letting our new roomie stay in here while it's so…bland! Ngyaaaahh! PAPYRUS!" She turned to the tall skeleton who was admiring one of her Transformers toys, an old Scavenger from the Armada series complete with his minicon partner. He stopped while making it do the sounds, loud crashing footstep sound effects coming from the small toy as he looked at them like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar before dinner. Very slowly, he placed the toy back on the shelf. "Start the car! We're going shopping NERDS! Ufufufufufufu!"

Papyrus snapped to attention before bolting out of the room, dragging Sans along with him. Undyne snatched up Alphys and Lou under each arm before bounding after him. Lou blinked from where she once again dangled under the larger monster woman's arm. She glanced at Alphys, who was blushing red and shrugged, before shrugging back and looking ahead. Apparently this was a thing now. Cool.

Author's Note: Alright guys, I've got one more mostly-planned chapter before I'm gonna need some help thinking up some cute scenarios and shenanigans for these guys to go through, so feel free to send in any and all suggestions you want! Anything from the original story you want to see in here? Something new? Someone you think Lou should meet in the near future? Heck, I'll even take sick day cliches. I can't promise to put it all in in a timely manner but I will definitely see it and see what I can do.

Oh, and it'll be super fucking late, but I fully plan on doing a valentine's day chapter.

Double oh, if you'd like to see what Lou looks like, there's a link to the image on the AO3 posting of this fic. It takes you to the exact post where I posted it on my personal Tumblr. It should be at the very bottom of the chapter (not in the notes).