Those Snowdin kids were having a blast with the tile puzzle. Papyrus sternly shooed them away, and then stopped them to offer to make them spaghetti, or to feel free to start up a fanclub for him.

Heh, his brother really was the coolest. He turned to pass this sentiment on to the kid, but Frisk was taking advantage of the distraction to wander off, and not just towards the skull-ptures, either. Interesting…

He took a short cut to get ahead of the kid, but Frisk didn't look surprised at all to see him standing there. Not that he was surprised. Kid had probably seen all of his tricks a hundred times by now.

"It's alright, Sans. I'm just helping the monsters down here."

He waited patiently while the kid played nice, then started to go back. A pause. "Sans?"

*sup?

"How'd you find me? When I was stuck out there?"

He shrugged. He still had secrets, to the best of his knowledge, and it was because he wasn't going to give them up easily. *we're not too clear on what the void is, but there are ways to shortcut in and out of it in places. once i figured out what you'd done to send papyrus back, it wasn't so hard to track you down. Still best not to go into detail about it.

"Oh. Well, thanks. I know… I know how hard that choice must have been… to help me."

Why did that seem so familiar? And wrong. He let it slide, knowing full well that if he had that kind of knowledge about people, he'd use it to mess with them. Still… he got the feeling that if the kid tried to hug him, he'd better be ready to dodge, for some reason.

"And I'm really sorry that I put you through all that stuff, even if you don't remember."

Frisk started up the path again.

*kid?

He wasn't sure how to describe the expression. Papyrus seemed to be able to read the face pretty well, but it always looked deadpanned to him. *no matter what choices led up to it; choosing to save papyrus? don't think it's just because he's my bro when i say that it was the best call you coulda made.

So maybe that could be a smile. "He's THE GREAT PAPYRUS. Who else would be better suited to save the entire Underground? And… yeah… I do think he's cool."

He tried not to let his eyes go black as the kid walked up the path. It wasn't just his imagination, then… the kid had done all this multiple times; befriended them all, learning everything about them, down to what they were going to say. And then…

Would Papyrus keep believing in the kid with that knowledge? Heh… of course he would. Knowing that the human had done the right thing in the past wouldn't faze his brother.

He took a shortcut back, getting there ahead of Frisk. Papyrus still, (unknowingly, he was sure) had the kids cornered, giving them helpful hints about puzzles.

He didn't care if his smile betrayed the admiration; it was no secret. He'd always be proud of Papyrus, no matter what. It was one of the few things he wouldn't have minded throwing all his effort into if it came down to it. But as it turned out, being proud of Papyrus was the easiest thing he'd ever done. His brother deserved every second of admiration he could get, and if the monsters in the Underground were too focused on that stupid barrier to see it, it didn't make him any less deserving.

Frisk actually came back instead of going to see the great Papyrus's snow statue. He briefly wondered if his memories of watching Pap build it were actually his, or stolen from another fracture in the timeline, then watched as Frisk insisted on trying out the puzzle for real, despite his brother's protests.

Heh, he wondered how many times the kid's curiosity had heated up situations. 'How'd he find that one spot in the void' indeed. So sure; let the kid think that the shortcuts were nothing more than a parlor trick. The dodging, and karma and the gaster blasters, too. Didn't really matter what the kid thought or didn't think; those were just a few of the secrets he fully intended to keep under his hoodie.

"SANS! WHILE YOU WERE STANDING AROUND THINKING UP NEW PUNS, THE HUMAN SOLVED THE PUZZLE, AND I HAVE DEACTIVATED IT. YOU CAN PROCEED NOW, WITHOUT ANY NEED FOR CAUTION."

Heh, his grin must've changed enough to give him away. *thanks, bro. nice work, kiddo.

Papyrus seemed to be doing a lot better. Extremely well, after everything he'd described. He was still being a bit overprotective of everyone… it wasn't like those kids back there didn't mess around with puzzles from time to time, but that could only be expected after seeing their dust.

He shook it off, trying not to think of Papyrus dying, and then coming back to that sort of thing. The human was acting all sweet, sure, but it was real hard to trust the kid after seeing the way Papyrus had hugged that torn hoodie around him yesterday morning.

He usually didn't have this much time to think when Papyrus was around, but his brother was being uncharacteristically silent as they crossed the bridge into town, elaborate puzzle deactivated.

He gave him a thorough once over, making sure this wasn't taking it's toll on him, but he seemed as cheerful and lighthearted as ever.

As they reached Snowdin, he slowed the pace a little. "WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ABOUT STOPPING FOR SPAGHETTI? SANS IS SO INSISTENT ABOUT BREAKS, I FORGET THAT SOME MONSTERS ACTUALLY NEED THEM."

*like i don't?

Frisk chuckled. "It's up to you, Papyrus. I'd love some spaghetti, but we also need to fix this, and we already know what Sans's vote is."

"YES, MY BROTHER HAS QUITE A REPUTATION. WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THAT EARLIER. THANK YOU FOR PROVING MY POINT, FRISK."

"Well, as much as I like your house, we don't need to stop if you guys are coming with me, because…"

"WAIT… HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU LIKE OUR HOUSE?"

He didn't feel like anything could surprise him at this point, but it figured that Paps was having a hard time wrapping his brain around the whole, 'the human already knew how to be good' concept. It wasn't because he was stupid; it was because his kind heart refused to believe that the kid could have done all that after being a friend to everyone down here.

"Well…" the kid glanced back at him, and he shook his head. Papyrus had had a hard enough lesson about the evil in the world for one timeline. Drat… was he really just accepting that this was all just going to be erased? His brother was right. The kid really did seem like a decent enough sort. And maybe… a sudden realization struck him as the kid distracted Papyrus by telling him how cozy and inviting the house looked, and how cool the flag was. He shot a look at his brother, watching him smile fondly at their house as they walked past.

It was possible, wasn't it? It had gotten them this far. He didn't dare give voice to it, even in his mind, but he couldn't shake the thought, and it filled him with more hope that he'd had for, if the resets were as extensive as he believed them to be, a very long time.

"ALRIGHT THEN, IT'S SETTLED! I SHALL MAKE YOU SPAGHETTI LATER, HUMAN FRISK! FOR NOW, WE SHALL HURRY ONTO UNDYNE'S HOUSE!"

Ah. So that was the reason he was too excited to even stop and make spaghetti for someone who was actually asking for it; he needed to make sure that neither Undyne nor the kid were gonna battle it out.

As they passed through the last bit of snow covered ground, an uneasy feeling settled over him, pressing on his very soul, and threatening to crush it.

Papyrus kept walking, but the kid stopped short, waterworks starting. He stopped, too, refusing to betray how much the very air was affecting him.

Papyrus stopped with a sigh, and hung his head before looking back at them. An encouraging smile lit his face, and he turned, and came back to them, getting to his knees in front of the kid.

"NOW, NOW, HUMAN. THERE'S NO NEED FOR TEARS. SEE? I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM ALIVE AND WELL!" Paps held his arms out, and the kid shot forward.

He felt the light leave his eyes as he held a hand out, but his panic was unnecessary. The kid hugged Papyrus tightly, and his eyes closed as he returned it with a happy, "NYEH, HEH, HEH!"

When Papyrus opened his eyes again, he realized that he was still frozen there with his arm out. "SANS." Heh, Pap's voice wasn't quite at it's quietest, but there was the maximum output of comfort in it as he held his arm out. "I'M ALRIGHT, BROTHER."

Of course he was. Which meant that everything was alright. He shuffled into the hug, getting pulled in next to Frisk.

Papyrus squeezed them both tightly, then stood up, and patted them both on the head, startling a laugh out of him. *heh. thanks, pap.

From the look on the kid's face, he hadn't exactly been wrong to assume at that hug had gone differently in past timelines. "Yeah. You really are the greatest."

Papyrus's whole face blushed. "YOU ARE ONLY SAYING THAT BECAUSE IT IS THE TRUTH! NOW COME ALONG, YOU TWO! LET'S GO FIND UNDYNE!"

The kid didn't look all that happy about it as they pressed forward into Waterfall.

*what's the matter, bucko? you looked worried about something.

The kid shrugged unconvincingly. "I'm a little worried about fighting Undyne without… well… without my determination."

He hadn't been wrong. That little fact would be worth remembering.

*eh, don't sweat it. she's hard-core, heh, but she ain't exactly gonna run you through in front of paps. Hmm, the kid tried to smile at the joke, but got that same look when he winked. Right eye, again. Interesting, but not exactly something he could help. It wasn't like forcing himself to wink with the left eye would make the kid feel trusted. But it was interesting to note that they'd seen both enough to figure out that little tell of his.

"OOPS. THAT'S YOUR STATION. SANS, SHOULDN'T YOU BE THERE?"

*i'll ask undyne for the day off.

"BUT, SANS! THERE'S NO ONE THERE RIGHT NOW!"

He shrugged. *we've got the human with us. Besides, no one ever bothered to fill any of his stations when he left, whether he was taking a break, or off duty altogether. Sure made a guy feel useful.

"I SUPPOSE THAT'S TRUE. BUT WHAT IF ANOTHER ONE TURNS UP? WE CAN'T BE TOO CAREFUL. ALL THE MORE REASON TO PRESS ONWARD TO UNDYNE'S HOUSE!"

*does she even know we're coming?

"Isn't it time for Papyrus's cooking lesson?"

"FRISK, YOU SEEM TO HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF INFORMATION THAT YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE. HAVE YOU BEEN TALKING TO SANS ABOUT ME BEHIND MY BACK?"

"Um…"

"IT WAS VERY CONSIDERATE OF YOU TO TRY TO AVOID BOTHERING ME, BUT I COULD NEVER BE BOTHERED BY A FRIEND WISHING TO KNOW ME BETTER!"

Heh, and to think, Paps called him lazy when he bothered to think of his own excuses. If he only knew how good he was at providing them for people, and handing 'em out, practically gift-wrapped…

"IN ANY CASE, YOUR INFORMATION IS A LITTLE OLD. MY LESSON WAS YESTERDAY."

"Wait… no cooking lesson?" The kid stopped short.

*that gonna be a problem?

"I… I don't know."

So this was ALL as new to the kid as it was to them. Well, it'd been nice to think someone knew what was going to happen next while it lasted.