Hidden Language

Chapter Two

You had known Papyrus would make a good swing partner, but never had you expected to feel so good while dancing with him. His energy was limitless, and his utter joy in movement was contagious. You felt like you could dance with him for days.

As it was, after two hours of teaching him some moves, him picking it up faster than you ever thought a person could, and the two of you getting lost in the dance, you were so worn out you weren't sure you'd ever dance again. Your feet hurt, your muscles were sore, and you were most definitely out of breath.

"Rest for a while, Chameleon, then we'll dance some more later."

You weren't sure about that, but you gave him a smile anyway. He gave you a glass of water and sat next to you on the comfortable couch. You took a few sips before setting it on the coffee table and leaning back. His arm wrapped around your shoulders, and you effortlessly leaned into his chest.

"You're really good, Papyrus," you said, looking up at him.

He smiled down at you. "As are you, but you already knew that."

You couldn't help but blush. You were so tired. You probably also smelled like a yak after sweating so hard, but somehow you didn't care about that as you relaxed against Papyrus' chest. His fingers gently stroked your arm from your shoulder to your elbow and back again, making circles that felt so good. You sucked in a breath and closed your eyes, only for a moment, you told yourself.

You found yourself a bit mesmerized by his scent. You'd smelled it earlier as you danced together, but somehow it was more evident now. He'd worn a cologne you weren't familiar with and it smelled like spices and laundry soap. You let your senses be overtaken with it as your body relaxed further into him.

"I've really loved dancing with you," you heard Papyrus say. His voice was low, quieter than you'd heard him speak before. You felt the corners of your lips pull up in a faint smile; you'd loved dancing with him, too. You wanted to say it, but you had a hard time concentrating. You were too relaxed. You felt something hard press against your head. You nuzzled against it, a small noise escaping your throat.

The sound of the door opening caught your attention, but only enough to make you consciously aware of what the noise was. You didn't want to move or even open your eyes.

"Shhh." You felt Papyrus move gently under you. "She's sleeping. I think I wore her out."

You heard a snicker. "You know you're s'posed to keep your dancing vertical, don'tcha?"

Your brow twitched; was he insinuating that you'd slept with Papyrus?

Papyrus' chest under you vibrated with a low groan. "Sans, don't be gross. She showed me how to swing, and it was fun." His hand rubbed your arm a little harder. "Sans…what do I do?"

"Don't know whatcha mean, bro." Sans' voice was closer, on the other side of Papyrus instead of across the room.

"I mean…I like her. The way she dances is mesmerizing. We fit together very well. We didn't even have one slip-up while dancing today. Our footwork flows easily around each other. I feel…complete when I dance with her."

Your whole body warmed at his words. You wanted to confess that you felt the same way, but you couldn't move. You were too far gone, so close to sleeping, that you couldn't even be sure what you were hearing was real.

"You gotta tell 'er, bro. I mean, when you find someone you can be yourself with, you can't let that get away from you. Have you tried showing her your dances?"

You felt Papyrus shake his head. "I'm a little scared to."

"Why?"

"What if…what if I show her too much?"

There was a short pause, and you couldn't help but wonder what he meant. You wanted to get to know him better and share every dance you knew with him. You also wanted him to share his dances with you. You wanted this…whatever it was—relationship, perhaps—to build and grow, possibly into something as beautiful as his dancing.

"Ask yourself what you would do if she showed you something difficult about her past. Would you push her away?"

Again, you felt him shake his head. "No. I would support her and hope to help her heal."

His words warmed your heart yet again. At this point, you were pretty sure you were dreaming. Sans sounded almost like he knew there were things you'd done that you wished you could undo.

"Then you need to trust that she'd feel the same way. Yeah, you've got baggage, but so does everyone else. I can promise you that she ain't perfect, Paps. But maybe she's perfect for you."

"Thank you, Sans. I'll talk to her."

You felt his phalanges in your hair, gently wiping away tendrils that had fallen out of your ponytail away from your face.

"She's so beautiful."

"Meh."

His chest rumbled with another groan. "I don't care what you think; she's beautiful."

Sans' laughter was cute; a series of grunts and snorts. "I'm glad you think so. She looks kinda…I dunno. Not sayin' she's ugly or anything, but she's…human."

You felt a little indignant at his comment, your eyebrows twitching a little with the desire to furrow together.

"This curve right here," Papyrus' finger traced the line of your nose up to your eyebrow, "when she looks away, I find myself staring there. And her lips," again, his finger traced your lips. You felt them twitch. "I think I'd like to kiss them."

"Welp, that's my cue, bro. You can fawn over her graceful beauty all you want, but I ain't stickin' around to hear the poetry you're undoubtedly going to write about that one specific freckle that caught your attention."

His finger poked your cheek gently. "That one. It looks like a heart."

Sans snorted. "Have fun, bro. Try not to let her sleep too long; you gotta make spaghetti tonight."

You felt the moment Sans was no longer in the room. Papyrus' chest rose and fell with a deep breath, and his hand went back to tracing gentle patterns on your arm.

"Oh my god, Papyrus, this is delicious!" You couldn't help but gush about the spaghetti you were currently shoveling into your mouth. You were starving, sure, but you'd never tasted anything so good.

"I'm glad you like it," Papyrus said with a grin.

After you'd slept for a while, Papyrus had woken you up and asked if you wanted to stay for dinner. His cheeks were dusted with a soft orange glow as he asked. You were delighted to accept; you had secretly been hoping you could stay longer anyway.

You had decided that the conversation you heard between the brothers was not a dream. You did have dreams after that, but they were weird and made no sense.

The brothers had invited other friends to eat dinner with them. You were excited to meet them. Undyne and Alphys were a couple and sat next to each other. They talked with Sans a lot and used some slang that you weren't sure how to interpret. Toriel was there as well as the male monster that had danced with her at the competition review. You learned that his name was Asgore and that he and Toriel were married but separated due to some issues they were trying to deal with. Grillby was an interesting monster, you thought; made of fire but not burning anything he touched. He was funny and charming, and obviously cared about the skeleton brothers a lot.

After dinner, you wanted to help clean up. You were a little surprised that Sans was the one to tell you to go sit down; he'd take care of everything. People had been joking about how lazy he was. Maybe he wasn't after all.

As you walked out of the room, you caught his left eye glowing. Curious, you turned to watch as he picked up all the dirty dishes with magic and moved them effortlessly to the kitchen. Okay, maybe he was a bit lazy.

The eight of you went out the back door to lounge in the backyard for a bit. You sat next to Papyrus and watched as Grillby lit a fire in the pit. He set the wood in a cute little tipi shape, then blew on his hand to send a flame out that engulfed the structure. Soon, the fire was blazing.

"Are you gonna dance for us?" Undyne asked, looking at Grillby.

You could have sworn his facial fire turned slightly blue. He shrugged and held out his hand. Undyne grinned as she handed him two sticks with something thick and black at each end.

Interested, you leaned forward in your seat to watch him light each end of the two sticks. He stepped back and began dancing. You bit your lip as you watched him move. Although it probably wasn't scary for him, being made of fire and all, you couldn't imagine swinging those sticks around as quickly as he did. You'd end up burning yourself to a crisp if you tried.

You clapped as he ended his dance. The rest of the monsters joined you, Undyne and Asgore giving you a strange look. Grillby bowed and somehow put out his sticks, then went to sit down.

Sans appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, with a boombox on his shoulder. "So we're dancing tonight?" he asked with a shady grin on his face. "Undyne and Alphys, you're next."

He set the stereo down and pressed play. A strong hip-hop beat began to play. Undyne shot out of her seat, startling you for a second, as she immediately began to bounce and shuffle her feet.

"C'mon, babe," she said, holding out a hand to Alphys.

The yellow monster blushed deep orange and slowly got out of her seat. "You know I don't like to dance in front of people."

Undyne grabbed her girlfriend's hand and pulled her up. "Sans will dance if you do."

You heard a strange sputter and looked over at Sans. He was staring at you, his eye sockets huge and—scared? The eye contact only lasted for a half a second before he looked away, his whole face a light shade of blue.

"No, I won't," he muttered. He put the hood of his jacket up then, and something told you that he was hiding from you specifically.

You had to wonder if he would dance if you weren't there. The thought made you feel bad; no monster should be afraid of dancing.

Undyne somehow managed to get Alphys to agree, and you watched with half-hearted interest as they moved in sync with each other. Despite Undyne being more than a foot taller than Alphys, their movements were fluidly in tandem as they hopped and jumped, skipping from side to side and generally enjoying the hip-hop beat.

You kind of wished you could bow out and leave early so Sans wouldn't feel like he had to hide.

"Are you okay?" Papyrus asked softly.

You looked over at him and smiled. "Yeah," you lied.

His brow bones furrowed. "What's wrong?" He reached out take your hand.

You squeezed his phalanges in your hand and wondered how you would tell him it was your fault his brother was uncomfortable. "I…I don't know."

"Are you worried about dancing? Because you don't have to."

You smiled at him and his thoughtfulness. "That's not it. Look at your brother." You looked over at Sans, his head down and still covered in his hood. His sneakered foot was bobbing to the beat, and it made you wonder if he wanted to dance. That thought made your heart hurt worse.

"He doesn't like dancing in front of people. He'll dance alone or with me, and that's about it."

You looked back at Papyrus. "Would he dance if I wasn't here?"

His smile softened. "No." He shook his head. "Don't feel bad, Chameleon; he's just very shy."

That did make you feel a little better.

"Why are you called Chameleon, anyway," Undyne puffed as she sat back down. Alphys sat in her lap. "Do you change color?"

You smirked but shook your head. "No, I'm just good at all kinds of dances."

"Go ahead and show us, then," Undyne grinned. "I heard you swing; betcha you can't beat what Al 'n' I just did."

You blushed. You'd done hip-hop once in your life and nearly broke your neck breakdancing.

"Um…you'll win that bet. I guess I should say I'm good at a lot of different kinds of dance, but not all of them."

Undyne laughed, happy to have her status as best hip-hop dancer still stand. Well, second-best, but you didn't know that.

"Would you care to dance?" Asgore asked, looking at Toriel with a longing expression.

Toriel smiled at him. "I think I would. Sans, can you change the music?"

Sans didn't get up or even look up. Instead, he lifted a glowing blue finger and pointed at the stereo. The tune changed to a hauntingly beautiful waltz.

You had to wonder if all monsters could use magic like that, or if Sans was just special.

Asgore got up and held out his hand. Toriel took it with a soft smile on her mouth. Together, the two danced gracefully around the fire. You could feel the pain and longing in their dance; they both wanted to get back together, but there was something big preventing it.

You leaned back in your seat and looked at Papyrus. Surprisingly, he was looking at you. He smiled and took your hand again.

"Would you like to dance with me after this?"

You grinned. "I'd love that."

With a rush of excitement in your gut, you squeezed his fingers and watched the struggling couple dance. You could feel the emotion pouring out of them, their hearts and souls trying so hard to figure out and solve the problem between them. The kiss they shared at the end nearly brought a tear to your eye.

They sat back down, and Toriel leaned into Asgore's side. He cautiously put his arm around her before kissing her head. It was a sweet moment to witness.

"Swing, please," Papyrus said.

Sans lifted a glowing finger again. The music changed, but instead of what Papyrus had asked, you heard the first strains of a tango.

Papyrus sighed. "Sans…"

The smaller skeleton didn't say anything. He didn't move. He just sat there with his hood hiding his face.

"Are you okay with this?" He asked, meeting your eyes.

You smiled and stood up. "I'm perfectly fine with this."

You remembered his words from your dream. Well, your not-dream. He was worried about this, and you decided you would just have to show him that you would accept him no matter what was in his past. You stood up and held out your hand.

Papyrus chuckled and stood up to take your hand. He led you out past the fire before pulling you up close to him. You both effortlessly fell into position. He leaned in and pressed his teeth to your forehead before the dance began.

You were a little caught off-guard by the action. Was that a kiss? You decided it was. With a deep breath, you focused on your movements and making this the best tango you'd ever danced in your life.

As you soon found out, that was easier than you would have thought. Your bodies melded together and moved smoothly. You could almost swear his soul was pounding in time with your own, the intense passion of the dance bringing you both so close together. You gave in, allowing your body to express what you felt for him as you held him tighter.

You could swear he was doing the same. Although the dance called for sexual tension, you could feel it in the way his hands held you, pulled you close and then pushed you away, and the way he spun you only to pull you close again and nearly kiss you, his face less than an inch from yours each time.

A part of you felt as if you were truly making love to him, baring your soul and accepting his in return. Your body cried out in passion, each turn and pull, kick and step, turning into something beautifully sensual.

As the dance ended, he pulled you close and dipped you, bending your back further than you'd bent in a long time. His face hovered close to yours. You opened your eyes to see his eye lights take the shape of tiny hearts. You couldn't help yourself. You lifted your head and kissed him.

It was only a brief kiss, but you felt your whole world change. He lifted you back up and both of you panted, out of breath, as he guided you back to your seat. At this point, you weren't sure if you were still out of breath from the dance or the kiss.

"Hot damn," someone muttered.

You weren't sure whose voice that was, and you weren't really interested in finding out. Instead, you closed your eyes and leaned into Papyrus' chest. His arm wound around you and held you tightly.

"So, um…anyone else want to dance?" Sans asked as he stood up.

You looked over at him. You could have sworn he winked at you. Maybe he meant for the gesture to be for his brother.

Nobody said anything, but there were a few muttered 'no's as people shook their heads.

As you said goodbye to Papyrus' friends—and your friends, you figured—you began to realize what had actually happened in the back yard.

All of his friends had witnessed the two of you expressing your love for each other. Papyrus was in love with you. Your heart warmed, and you didn't want to leave.

Soon, the house had dwindled down to you, Papyrus, and Sans. Sans stayed outside for a while, and you sat on the couch with Papyrus.

"Chameleon?" he asked, his voice soft again.

You looked up at him and hummed.

His arm around you tightened a little, pulling you ever so slightly closer. "Thank you for dancing with me tonight."

You smiled. "I would dance with you anytime, Papyrus. Any kind of dance you want." You leaned in a kissed him.

His eye sockets widened for a moment, and his cheekbones turned orange. "I…I thought you kissed me earlier because you were…I didn't realize you meant it."

You pulled back a little. "I'm sorry, did you not want me to?" The thought kind of hurt, but you wouldn't make him uncomfortable like that.

He shook his head. "It's not that. I want you to, but…" He sighed, and the lights in his eyes looked down at his hand in his lap. "It's not fair of me to ask you to love me."

You reached out and put your hand on his cheekbone. "Papyrus, you don't even have to ask. Please look at me." He did, and you could see the hesitation in his eyes. "I can't explain why I feel this way. I just feel like we belong together." You shrugged a little. "Especially after that dance. I've heard that monsters can't lie when they dance. Is that true?"

He nodded, barely moving his head. You smiled.

"I wasn't lying either, when I danced tonight."

You watched as his face changed from hesitation to acceptance, and then to longing. He leaned in and kissed you, softly pressing his teeth to your lips.

After he pulled back, he gave you another soft kiss to your forehead and pulled you in close to him. You snuggled into his chest. As you thought about this newly forming relationship, you recalled the conversation you'd heard in your nearly unconscious state earlier. You looked up and placed a soft kiss on his jaw.

"Papyrus?"

He looked down at you. "Yes?"

You sat up and took his hand. "I want to be exclusive; you and me. Are you okay with that?"

He smiled. "I'm perfect with that."

"Good. Um…I also have to confess something." You weren't sure what he was going to think about this, and you looked down at his hand in yours. His fingers gripped yours tighter, waiting for you to spill your guts. "I was kind of awake earlier…when you were talking with Sans…" You felt guilty now, as if you had something you could hold over him. You didn't like it.

His fingers stiffened in yours. You looked up, and your heart broke at the scared look in his eyes.

"You were?"

You nodded. "I was so tired and for a while I wasn't even sure I was awake, but I'm pretty sure now that I was. I want you to know that there is nothing in your past that could turn me away from you. Sans was right; I'm not perfect. I might not be perfect for you, either, but I'd sure like to try."

He pulled away from you slightly. "You can't know that," he said, his voice sad. "You don't know what's in my past. What if I hurt someone?"

You met the lights in his eyes. "Who did you hurt?" Whoever it was, you knew he had a good reason.

Your whole soul nearly crumbled at the sight of orange tears gathering in his eye sockets.

"I didn't…No, I didn't hurt anyone. But I've been hurt. I'm damaged, Chameleon; I don't deserve someone like you."

"Oh, Papyrus, how can you think that?" You moved closer but backed up again as he pulled back. "You deserve someone much better than me, but I don't want to give you up."

"You don't understand; I don't deserve anyone. I…" He sucked in a deep breath and refused to meet your eyes. "I can't…"

"You don't have to tell me, Papyrus. In time, when you're more comfortable, we can talk about it again." You tried to reach out to his face again, but he pulled away.

You watched with pain in your chest as he sat up and scooted away from you. You wished you could comfort him, but it seemed no matter how you tried he couldn't let you in.

"I can't be with you," he said, his eyes closing. A single orange tear fell down his face.

"But you said you wanted to be with me." You were confused; how could this night go from being so in love to being crushed?

"No, I mean…physically. I can't be with you."

That made a little more sense, but you were on edge. You had just barely become a couple and you were terrified of him breaking it off if you said the wrong thing.

"I don't need that," you said simply. And it was true; you wanted a relationship with him in any form he'd give you.

"You say that now but give it a few months and you'll change your mind. Relationships like this…they always turn physical. I suppose it's only natural, but I can't give that to you."

You wanted so badly to reach out to him. Instead, you folded your hands together in an attempt to keep them in line. "Papyrus, please; I love you. I just want to show you."

He sniffled and shook his head. "Showing someone you love them should never be painful."

Your brow furrowed; you weren't sure what he meant by that. "No, it shouldn't. Am I hurting you somehow?"

Again, he shook his head. "No, but I'll only end up hurting you." He looked over at you then, sorrow and something deep hidden in his soul showing in his eyes. "It's inevitable, Chameleon. I should never have asked you to dance with me tonight. I'm sorry for that. You should go home."

"You said that if I had something difficult in my past, you'd want to help me heal. I want to help you, Papyrus. Please let me."

"You can't heal me, Chameleon. I'm far too broken for that."

"But—"

He stood up. "No; no buts. It was a pleasure to know you, Chameleon. Please get home safely. I'll see you at the competition."

With that, he walked away.

You couldn't make yourself get up. You sat there staring at the coffee table for a moment, wondering how on earth you had screwed this up so badly. If only you had kept your mouth shut. If you hadn't told him you'd been awake, you could still be together. Instead, you had your heart handed back to you as if it meant nothing to him.

You felt tears prickle in your eyes, but you didn't want to cry. This was your own fault, you were sure of it. You should have been able to convince Papyrus that you'd be good for him if it were true.

"What's goin' on?"

You looked up to see Sans at the back door. You sniffled and stood up, feeling a bit awkward.

"Where's Paps?"

You shrugged. "I'm not really sure."

Sans put his hands in his pockets and took a step closer to you. "What's goin' on?" he asked again. His meaning was clearly different this time; he wanted to know why you were crying. Could he feel your crushed heart?

"I, um…I don't really know. I mean, Papyrus and I, we talked for a little. I…made a big mistake and now we're not even going to try to be together. He told me to go home."

Sans' brows furrowed together. "Then why are you still here?"

Again, you shrugged. "I guess I'm just hoping this a dream somehow, and I'll wake up to find he still loves me?"

You watched as Sans looked you over. He took a few steps closer. "Did you hurt my brother?" he asked, both of his eye sockets pitch black.

You could feel the threat coming off him in waves. It forced you to take a step back. "I…" You wanted to say that you hadn't, but you had to face facts now. You had hurt him. It didn't matter that you didn't mean for it to happen, but you realized that he never intended you to hear what he'd said to his brother. He never wanted you to hear his hesitation or to know that something might hold him back from being with you. You'd hurt him by listening in on a private conversation.

You nodded. "Yeah, I hurt him." Your chest constricted painfully as tears gathered in your eyes. "I heard you and him talking earlier. I was awake, kind of. I told him, and he…" You sniffled and shrugged. "I didn't deserve someone like him anyway."

You turned and left. Sans didn't try to stop you.