Frisk was really very good with puzzles! Then again, he supposed that the human had solved Undyne's puzzles before. They solved them quickly, without even thinking about it. That was a very positive thing, and shouldn't nag at him at all.
But something was very strange. The human mentioned things that made it sound as if they had been friends last time, when, in fact, he knew that they had not. It was a puzzle, to be sure. But he'd work it out, later. For right now, it was just important that everyone become best friends, and put an end to the threat of fighting once and for all.
He never needed a lift across the gap, but the little bird was so happy to help, he usually let the little guy help anyway. With three of them to get across, however, he just jumped. Frisk accepted the ride, and Sans… had gotten to the other side all on his own. Those short-cuts of his… well, at least he now knew that Sans didn't get ANY exercise when he went to all his different stations after all. But strangely enough, his brother didn't look like he was ready to collapse from exhaustion after the long walk here.
He didn't like feeling as if he didn't know everything there was to know about Sans. It bothered him much more than the puzzle Frisk presented. Sans wasn't supposed to be a puzzle!
"IT'S JUST AROUND THE CORNER… THIS WAY."
Hmmm, Undyne didn't appear to be home. Where could she be? He pulled out his phone, and dialed her number.
"Heya, Papyrus. What's up?"
"UNDYNE, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO COME BACK TO YOUR HOUSE?"
"Um, not sure. Why?"
"BECAUSE I HAVE BROUGHT MY NEW FRIEND OVER TO VISIT YOU, AND YOU'RE NOT HERE TO MEET THEM."
"You made a new friend? That's great! Who is it?"
"UM… WELL, THAT'S THE PROBLEM. YOU HAVEN'T TECHNICALLY MET THE HUMAN, AND…"
"THE HUMAN!?" The signal was cut off, even though he could still hear her voice ringing through his skull.
"HMM. WELL, SHE SOUNDS EXCITED."
Frisk ducked behind the training dummy, which started to throw a fit. "Hey! I know you! You're the miserable creature that said those awful things to my cousin!"
Frisk looked exasperated. "No! I didn't! I only said nice things, I promise! Don't get all worked up!"
The training dummy wanted to start a fight. He firmly stepped in between them, catching a projectile as it was launched. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Undyne came charing up the path at that exact moment. "What's going on here?"
"WE WERE JUST… OWIE!" The dummy launched another attack, Frisk dove out of the way, and he was turning to look at Undyne so a couple projectiles caught him unaware.
Unfortunately, Undyne seemed to think that the human was responsible. "Alright you little punk! You're gonna pay for that!"
Frisk looked confused and terrified, caught in one fight, with Undyne getting closer by the second. They tired to spare the dummy, but it only enraged the irritated ghost mosnter inside more.
Stepping in front of the human would mean not blocking Frisk from Undyne's rage. How was this going so badly?! "UNDYNE, THE HUMAN IS THE FRIEND I WANTED YOU TO… WOULD YOU STOP THAT!" He ended with a frown at the training dummy, and he finally grumbled to himself before backing off.
He turned, keeping Frisk behind him.
Undyne had her spear out, but she was looking more conflicted than enraged. "Y-YOUR FRIEND? A HUMAN?!" She took a breath to calm herself. "Papyrus… you can't be friends with a human."
"AND WHY NOT?"
She fought for words, then pointed the spear at his brother, glaring when Sans didn't even flinch. "How could you let this happen?! How could you let him befriend the human we've all been waiting for?"
"WAIT… YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SOULS? ALL THIS TIME, I THOUGHT YOU JUST REALLY HATED HUMANS, BUT IT'S MORE THAN THAT. YOU'VE BEEN AFTER A SOUL, HAVEN'T YOU?"
"Papyrus… get out of the way."
"NO!" He stomped his foot, feeling a little like a child having a tantrum, but he was here to stop them from fighting, and he wasn't going to let it happen! Undyne hated to lose, and sometimes took things too far, and he'd already seen what the human was capable of! "I WON'T LET YOU FIGHT!"
Undyne answered by using her reversed spear attack, and the training dummy took that moment to return. He blocked as many as he could, and Frisk dodged with admirable skill, but one misstep made them trip into an attack, and it looked like it hurt. He was so worried about the human, he didn't see that the rest of the training dummy's attacks were headed straight for him, until they hit.
"Papyrus! Get out of the way!" Undyne was preparing to attack again.
Frisk shot a worried glance at him, then noticed that the training dummy was screaming about more attacks. With a yelp, the human fled the battle, and hid behind Sans… of all the things to hide behind.
His brother glanced down, looking amused as Frisk peered fearfully around him. It was a smart move, because Undyne hesitated, knowing that she couldn't afford to miss even a light attack around his brother.
"Hey! You! Knock it off!" The training dummy grumbled and left the battle again, while Undyne rubbed her face.
He quickly strode over to stand in front of his brother and the human, just in case she figured out an angle that wouldn't mean certain death for Sans.
"Ugh! What is with you two? Have you completely lost it? Have you forgotten what your jobs are? Because capturing a human is literally your job!"
"UNDYNE, FRISK IS OUR FRIEND, AND ALSO JUST A CHILD. HOW CAN YOU STEAL THEIR SOUL KNOWING THAT?"
"Papyrus…" Slowly, she let the spear fall, shaking her head. He couldn't tell if she was disappointed in herself, of just in him, but she and Frisk were both still alive, and that was worth any personal cost. Even if she never, ever spoke to him again. "Papyrus? Can I talk to you?"
Oh, good! She was already speaking to him again! "OF COURSE, UNDYNE!"
She motioned him over to where she was standing.
Behind him, he heard Sans digging through his pockets. *here you go, kiddo. better get that hp back up.
He glanced back to make certain that it wasn't only considered edible to Sans. The candy bar was no freshly prepared plate of spaghetti from the master chef, but it had a wrapper, and wasn't too squished for something from Sans's hoodie. Strange… he was wearing the freshly washed one, and the pockets should have been empty… more of his space-time shenanigans, no doubt.
"YES, UNDYNE?"
"Shhh, try to keep it down. I've got a bad feeling about this kid, and I can't shake it."
She had a perfectly good reason for not liking Frisk, even if she didn't know it. He didn't think that telling her that would help his case. "UNDYNE… WE HAVE TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT. AND I THINK THAT WE SHOULD ALL BE FRIENDS."
She made a scoffing noise in the back of her throat. "I'm really surprised that you talked Sans into this." She sighed. "Okay, maybe not. But I would have though that he, at least would have the sens…"
"WOULD HAVE WHAT, UNDYNE?"
She looked guilty for a moment, then tried to finish her sentence. "would have… you know…"
"WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO LAZY TO CAPTURE THE HUMAN? MAYBE. BUT HE SAID HE WAS WITH ME ON THIS."
She looked relieved that he'd guessed it. That was kind of her, to worry about hurting his brother's feelings. She probably didn't realize that Sans seemed to like being a lazybones. "SO WILL YOU TRY IT?"
"Try what?"
"INVITING THE HUMAN INTO YOUR HOUSE?"
She groaned, and jabbed a finger in his face. "Fine. For you! Hey, PUNK! Let's go inside!"
Frisk looked a little intimidated at the order, but followed along as they all went in. He took a deep breath, the, implemented the second part of his master plan. "OOPS. I JUST REMEMBERED THAT SANS IS SUPPOSED TO BE AT HIS POST!" He picked his brother up in one arm, and dove out the window.
Sans didn't seem fazed as he set him down. He brushed off his hoodie, and pulled out another candy bar. *you took a couple good hits there, bro.
He waved the candy bar away, shushing him. Sans knew full well that he still had plenty of hp left, and he needed to make sure that they weren't killing eachother in there.
It wasn't going very well. He leaned back in through the window. "DANG! WHAT A SHAME. I THOUGHT UNDYNE COULD BE FRIENDS WITH YOU. BUT I GUESS… I OVERESTIMATED HER. SHE'S JUST NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE."
He pulled back from the window, and sat down beside Sans, just under it. Sans chuckled. *wow… that was almost devious.
"SHHHHH!"
Sans was obediently silent as he opened the candy bar and handed it over. He sighed. He had no choice but to accept it, now. If he gave it back, Sans would stuff it back into his hoodie for later, even though it would get covered in fuzz, and who knows what else? He rolled his eyes and took it. His hp wasn't down very much. He broke it in half, and handed the rest of it back.
Sans shrugged, and took a bite as they listened to Undyne offer to let the human choose whether to drink tea, or… from the sounds of it, just tea.
But Undyne didn't sound like she was about to rampage at all! He bit into his half of the candy bar and chewed happily. As they sat down to have a wonderful conversation, and talk about none other than him, The Great Papyrus and how Undyne didn't think she could ever let him, be, a… member of the royal guard? What?
He turned towards his brother, to ask him how he could have heard that wrong, but the look in Sans eyes told him that there was no need.
He tried to shrug it off. At least they were having a heart to heart, and not killing eachother… but… he hugged his knees to his chest, resting his chin on top of them.
Sans stuffed the candy wrapper in his pocket as he reached out, and put his hand on top of his glove. He grabbed hold of it, and Sans gave him a reassuring squeeze. *don't worry about it, pap.
He shrugged, trying very hard not to feel crushed. He didn't have to worry about shushing Sans anymore, because Undyne had started yelling in her excited way. "I…I'M NOT… I'LL PROVE TO HER THAT BEING NICE ISN'T A GOOD REASON TO KEEP ME OUT OF THE ROYAL GUARD."
*'course you will. heck, if you weren't exactly like you are, we wouldn't even be here right now. heh, even if nobody else ever knows it, you're literally our hero, bro.
He pulled his hand free, and wrapped his arm around Sans to pull him close, grateful for the thick hoodie he always wore, and also glad that it was clean. Sans didn't say anything else, and he didn't have to. He already felt better. "YOU'RE RIGHT, OF COURSE. WAIT… DID SHE JUST TELL FRISK TO TURN UP THE HEAT?"
Undyne bellowed from inside. "Hotter!"
"MAYBE THAT'S ENOUGH BONDING TIME FOR ONE…"
Sans's eyes went completely black as the building behind them caught fire. His own eyes were bugging out of his head. They leapt to their feet. *is she trying to fight the human again?
"STAY HERE!"
*papyrus!
He ignored Sans and raced into the building just as Undyne was questioning the human's will to fight. He grabbed hold of both of them, and yanked them out were Sans was waiting for him to do his heroics.
Undyne smiled sheepishly. "Huh, looks like things got kind of carried away again, huh, Papyrus?"
He rubbed the back of his head, trying to forget the comment he hadn't meant to overhear. "UM… WELL, THINGS… ARE YOU FRIENDS YET?"
Undyne rubbed Frisk's head. "Yeah, I guess so. I guess you were right about the punk."
Of course he was. And it was just remarkable that Frisk had changed so much that Undyne didn't believe that the human would fight at all… his smile weakened as he turned towards Frisk again.
Frisk tried to smile back, but couldn't hold it.
"Anyway, since I don't have a house anymore, I guess I'll come back to Snowdin to hang out with you guys."
"YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME TO STAY WITH US AGAIN, UNDYNE. BUT WE'RE NOT GOING BACK NOW. WILL YOU COME TO SEE THE KING WITH US?"
"Wait… you're taking the human to Asgore? I thought…" She shook her head. "Look, I'll help however I can, but I'm not sure I can be a part of this."
"THAT'S ALRIGHT, UNDYNE. WE'LL BE ALRIGHT."
"Thanks for not fighting me, Undyne." Frisk smiled.
Undyne laughed and jogged off.
Frisk waited until she left. "You're still here… Papyrus, you didn't hear that, did you?!"
Of course he was still here! But…
"You did."
*kid…
"I'm sorry, Sans. I wasn't expecting you to stay by the window. Papyrus, I… I…"
"FRISK… HOW COULD YOU HAVE KNOWN WHAT UNDYNE WAS GOING TO SAY. OR, MORE SPECIFICALLY… HOW DID YOU?"
Sans sighed. *might as well tell him, kid.
"I… I've reset more than once. I've heard her say it before."
Undyne had said that before? No, he was getting distracted. "HOW MANY TIMES?"
Frisk shot a worried glance at Sans. "I… you don't need to come with me any more." The human raced off before he could say anything to stop them.
"FRISK! COME BACK. SANS, WHY…" His brother was rubbing the back of his neck. What weren't they telling him?
*let's just catch up to the kid.
A/N: Hey everyone! I haven't been leaving author's notes for this story, but I just wanted to say thanks to a couple reviewers who didn't have accounts. Thanks for taking the time to let me know you're enjoying the story! It really means a lot to me. Also, Happy Birthday A Human! I hope you had a good one!While I'm here, special thanks to Agent B Tiger, for introducing me to Undertale in the first place, helping me with editing, ideas, and just being an all around great friend! You're awesome! = )And, of course, thanks to everyone who's read this far!