The day didn't last long after Sans came home. Dust talked about leaving, getting up after finishing only a portion of his spaghetti, and just where he wanted to go, Papyrus didn't know and didn't bother to ask. However, he didn't hesitate to stop him.
"Don't…" he had started, catching the other's attention as he was getting up. "Hmm?" Dust murmured, looking over at him with a sagged expression with little shift in emotion. They spoke in hushed whispers on his insistence, not wanting Sans to hear a word about it. As laid back as his brother was, he thought keeping his brother's copy in his own room. This was especially concerning due to his brother's… well, specific talents, as Dust knew.
"Please don't hurt..." Papyrus trailed off, not being able to find the right words to say. Dust didn't respond, but he didn't need to, as the other had more to say and made an attempt once more. "I know you don't..."
Well, he thought he had more to say, but couldn't get the words out. Flashes of the dust pile he found Dust with sparked in his memory.
He didn't know what he was supposed to say.
"Don't leave," he finally decided on. "You can stay in my room again." He paused for a moment, looking outside. "Besides, you need some rest. Why don't you get some sleep?"
Dust tilted his head, but gave a slow nod in return, grinning a little wider. "Whatever you say, Paps. You're always right." And with that, he disappeared. Papyrus heard a little creak from upstairs, usually where his room would be located, signaling that his new roommate had done as asked. He let out a small sigh of relief, turning off the TV and going to put the rest of the spaghetti in a container. He walked over to the fridge and opened it up, surprised to see it already filled to the brim with more spaghetti and a single bag of half-eaten chips. How did he keep forgetting those were in there?
With a heavy sigh, he grabbed one of the spaghetti containers inside and opened it up, leaving it on the floor just in front of the large kitchen sink. Within a moment, the doors creaked open and a fluffy white face immediately dug into the food. "At least you're useful for something," he scoffed, putting the new container away. His fridge was absolutely filled with the food, and he didn't want to waste it by throwing it away. Though, it wasn't like he was going to eat his own spaghetti or anything.
Well, to be fair, almost no one else did, either. Not anymore, anyways.
Once the bowl was emptied, he placed it into the sink and washed it out, putting it away neatly before starting on cleaning the rest of the house.
As Papyrus was starting to mop the floor to be rid of any dog fur, his cellphone rang. He blinked in confusion, calls to his cell being rather rare. Of course, he answered in an instant, not wanting to keep the caller on hold.
"Papyrus!" came the familiar voice of his former mentor. The jovial had his soul lift as soon as he heard her speak. "Undyne! Oh how ecstatic I am to hear you call! What can the Great Papyrus do for you?" He heard a light laugh on the other end, listening to her move around the room as she talked to him. She was in her kitchen. Well, her and Alphys' kitchen now. "Hey, it's been a while since we talked. Well, face to face, anyways. I think our Undernet inboxes have over a bajillion messages just from talking to each other. So what's up, punk? How ya been?"
"Oh, grand as usual," he hummed, tucking the phone between his skull and his clavicle so he could finish up on his mopping. "Yes, it's been an eternity! Though, with all your Royal Guard duties and such, I'm sure you've had enough on your plate for chatter with your favorite trainee."
Papyrus noticed Sans saunter down the stairs from the corner of his sockets. The older sibling gave a chuckle, wandering over to the couch and flopping down onto its soft cushions.
"Yeah, it's been forever, huh?" Undyne agreed, clearly handing something glass related on her side of the phone. She was making herself some tea. "So, how's everything on your end? With Alphys and the anime and the marriage?" her friend asked, genuinely curious to hear her blabber on about her life, this time coming from her own mouth instead of over the phone. "Shit, man, where do I begin?" she chuckled. "Fuck- don't repeat that word to Sans. Anyways, I could tell you everything, buuuut..."
"Buuuut?" Papyrus repeated, the tops of his sockets raising some. "What is it Undyne?" There was a bit of silence on her end, before he heard her chuckle. "Well, I get the day off tomorrow. Y'know, one of bunch that I have. Alphys thinks I need a bit of a rest from all this guarding. She's gonna be working tomorrow, so I was think of, y'know, doing some training. Wanna come over? For old times sake? It's been a while since we've trained together."
Papyrus was immediately ecstatic. "Oh that sounds amazing! I'd love to come over as soon as the time allows! We haven't trained in so long!" He could tell Undyne was grinning on the other end. "Yeah, it's been-"
"Ten months and three days, I know!"
Undyne went silent on the other end. After a quick moment, he heard her chuckle. "Yeah, you been keeping track huh? You always did have the freaky memory, huh? So, how's six sound?"
"AM?"
"Whoa. PM, punk," she laughed. "Just because you barely get any sleep, doesn't mean I have to do the same." Papyrus made an unsure hum. "I've been getting more sleep lately. Mostly because I don't have much to do nowadays. I have good nights and bad nights."
"Yeah yeah. So, tomorrow at six?"
"Tomorrow at six."
Papyrus was upstairs by seven after having watched he sun yet an hour ago, carrying his sleepy brother under his arm. Luckily, he didn't see Dust lurking around; he had the feeling things wouldn't go well if the two happened to see each other. He couldn't even decide if it was a good idea to have Dust inside the house in the first place. Well, he could keep him in the shed, but he didn't think he really had the soul to try and keep him there. Plus, he doubted someone who resembled his brother would comply with staying there, even if he offered a bed and a mini-fridge.
He set Sans down next to the door leading to his locked room, giving him a little shake on his clavicle. The older sibling gave a little grunt as he was woken up, his sockets opening wearily as he let out a tired noise, before looking over at the door. "Ah. Thanks, bro," he chuckled, before moving in the opposite direction, disappearing once he was out of His brother's view. No doubt he landed in his bed, safe and sound for the night. Papyrus let out a happy hum as he made his way back to his room, opening the door and pausing when he saw Dust.
Dust sat in the computer chair, muttering unintelligible whispers to himself as he sat cross-legged and huddled into the chair's cushion. He tilted his skull, his brow furrowed on slight confusion. It was a bit weird, but he didn't exactly mind. The smaller skeleton wasn't moving, either. He didn't tap his phalanges or sway a foot; he seemed perfectly still, even as he spoke softly to himself. Of course, skeletons didn't need to move their jaws to talk, and Sans rarely did so, but he almost felt as though it was unnatural watching this. Deep down, some part of him wanted to believe this was some elaborate, supremely unfunny joke from his obnoxious brother, but he knew it could never be.
"Oh, you're back," Dust suddenly spoke, seeming to have noticed Papyrus' presence in the room for the first time. He seemed to have brightened up considerably, his grin broadening. "Hey, bro."
Papyrus felt a strange twinge when he heard that.
"You're not asleep," he noted worriedly, coming in the room with his voice toned down considerably. "No, I'm not," the other shrugged, the grin fading slightly. "It's seven PM."
He never thought he'd hear that in his brother's voice again.
"You're right, but you're also very tired," he told him, sitting down on his bed. "You should at least get a bit of rest. Staying up late every day shouldn't be achieved unless you're as great and hearty as I am." He looked over to his closet, deciding to go over and get changed into his nighttime attire while awaiting a response. Unfortunately, one never came. He looked back at Dust, who stared back at him in return. He's not proud to admit it, but he felt a little shiver hit his spine for a few seconds. He looked inside his closet, noticing his laptop and headphones were there from a previous night. A sudden thought came to his mind.
"Is it because of nightmares?" he asked. This seemed to have caught Dust off guard. "Huh?" came the raspy reply, having caught the smaller monster's attention.
"Nightmares. Are you having nightmares? Is that the problem?" Papyrus repeated, closing the closet behind him and getting dressed in the dark space. No reply came to him whilst he changed, and none came once he exited the room. There was only that tired, signature stare the other gave.
"Well if it's nightmares that haunt you, you can count on the Great Papyrus to protect you," he declared, perhaps a little louder than necessary. "As an expert mare-fighting force of magic, I know plenty of remedies on how to cure nightmares." Dust's expression waned some, a chuckle leaving him as he uncrossed his legs. "You're really adamant about this, aren't you?" he sighed, slumping against the cushion of the chair. "Well if I'm to be a proper host, I must know that you're healthy and well taken care of!" he huffed, grossing his arms on an almost parent-like manner. "Fine fine," the other gave in, closing his sockets and curling up onto the chair. Within seconds, he was asleep.
Even with the Z's slowly starting to float above his skull and disappearing, Papyrus wasn't all too convinced. He watched him for a few seconds, before getting on with turning off the lights and doing a few puzzles in bed with the assistance of a flashlight.
A few puzzles turned into a few hours worth of crosswords and sudoku. He glanced over at Dust once again, watching the large Z's float away in a small formation. He looked to his closet, before slowly getting up and walking over to the sleeping skeleton. He waved a hand in front of the other's face, and while there was a small twitch, that was natural. He seemed to be completely asleep. As a final test, he gently poked him, but the only response given was a small jolt. Once again, that was natural, given his nature.
Now in the clear, Papyrus quietly moved towards the closet, opening it up a tad and slipping inside, closing it behind him. Sitting down on the floor, he slipped the laptop onto his lap, but pushed the headphones away this time. He enjoyed the convenience of a portable computer, as it allowed him more privacy than really necessary. He'll admit, he just enjoyed bringing it into the closet when he would stay up late at night. It felt nice and closed off.
First, he began cruising through the internet, checking statuses and talking with internet buddies. All the talking was one-sided for some reason, but he was always happy to help answer their unheard voices when they couldn't type him. It would last a good thirty minutes before he decided to go on to watch a bit of Mettaton.
He smiled lightly, watching the dimly-lit screen in mild comfort, before he heard the unmistakable sound of the closet door opening. Moonlight flooded in through crack of a shadow that caped over the bit of Papyrus that wasn't illuminated by the laptop screen. He looked up at the brightly shining eyelights that peered down at him.
The two stared at one another.
"It looks like you're awake," Papyrus hummed. "Yeah…" Dust murmured, not taking his sockets off of the other. The younger skeleton looked down at his laptop, pausing the video. "Did you sleep well?" he asked, but he got no reply. "Did you sleep at all?" Once again, there was no reply. Papyrus looked up at him with a worried expression. "You know, I don't completely disapprove of naps, if that's what you've heard," he told him. "I just… don't like the long ones."
"So this is where you go when you don't sleep?" Dust rasped, opening the closet door a little wider. Papyrus gave a shrug. "Well, yes. The only skeletons in my closet are me sometimes." Dust tilted his skull, but said nothing as he sat down beside he taller monster, who gave him a curious look. He just stayed silent as he leaned over, pressing the play button on the screen and sitting back to watch.
Papyrus didn't protest. As much as he enjoyed the privacy of his closet, he didn't think he had the willpower to tell him to go. It wasn't that he minded, though. Dust seemed to really like being around him, and who was he to deny him? He could use the company, too.