You tugged on the edge of the door as hard as you could without it budging, but you were far too stubborn to give up. The skeleton stood a few feet away grinning silently, seeming to take amusement in your unyielding persistence against the ultimately fruitless endeavor. Eventually he interrupted your struggle.
"Y'know kid, your not gonna be able to open that." He said. You ignored him and kept pulling. You may have wanted to see the world outside of the ruins, but Toriel would be devastated if she returned home an you were gone. "It was designed as a one way exit. Now, maybe some of the real big monsters might be able to crack it open, but there is no way a kid like you is gonna get in from the outside."
You gave a few more tugs before banging your fists on the door as loudly as you could. You had to let Toriel know you did not mean to leave and that you needed to be let back in. Quickly you plunged your hands into your pockets to grab your cellphone only to find them empty. Your phone was on the kitchen counter. Where you left it while distracted by thoughts of pie. You started panicking at which point the skeleton tried to calm you down, "Hey kid, relax it's gonna be alright. I'm sure your mom will be back soon to let you inside." You glanced around warily through the forest. Although the skeleton was nice, Toriel said that there were a lot of mean monsters out here. "Hey kid don't worry about it, no friend of mine is gonna have there kid hurt on my watch. I'll keep an eye-socket on ya, okay?"
"SANS!" a loud voice yelled from some distance, "WHERE ARE YOU?! ARE YOU SLACKING OFF AGAIN?"
"Just after I deal with this," the skeleton said with a chuckle, "wait right here." he said and walked down the path at a brisk pace. You stood there for a moment alone as the cold set in and began to rub your arms. Your striped sweater was to thin for Snowdin, you had wished you dressed more warmly, but you were not actually planning on being here so you would not have thought to do that. The only distraction from the cold was the sudden interruption of a sharp, irritated scoff.
"Enjoying yourself?" You look over to find the source of the vaguely familiar voice to find a lone yellow flower popping out of the snow.
Flowey. You had almost forgotten about Satan's crabgrass after all this time. He was not wearing the cheerful smile he had when he first greeted you, or the malicious smirk from when he tried to kill you. Instead, he had a deep frown. He glared at you as though you had done onto him a great injustice despite not having so much as glanced at him in weeks.
"So much determination and you aren't even using it." He spat. "Just sitting around contented, getting comforted with all that love whenever you get so much as a scraped knee. Meanwhile I'm stuck in the same old timeline watching you play house and catch bugs because you took away my only source of amusement. What are you trying to accomplish here?" You glanced at him confused. "You could have the world at your fingertips, but you can't even bother to be interesting. If you hadn't had that old hag hovering over you I would have killed you weeks ago to force a reset. Well now mommy isn't here to protect you!" The flower lashed out a vine at you and you jumped back, only to have your foot caught on a root that suddenly popped out of the ground near flower. It tangled around your ankle holding you in place as Flowey readied a circle of bullet seeds with his face morphing into that creepy fanged smile of his. "DIE."
"KID! Are you alright?" The skeleton was running over and a look of fear took over Flowey's expression and he released you before disappearing into the ground. "Was anyone causing you trouble?" He said looking around, "I saw you fall." You looked up at him unable to do anything but shiver, partly from being rattled by Flowey and partly from the piercing cold soaking into your core, although the skeleton did not know about Flowey and handed you his hoodie. You put it on and quickly pulled up the hood so you could nuzzle your face into the soft lining. "Come on, kid. I'll take you back to my house and you can use my phone."
The Skeleton held out his hand to you to help you up, but when you took it the silence was broken by a loud farting noise and he broke out laughing heartily as the concern from a moment ago disappeared completely into his air of jovial humor. "Whoopie cushion in the hand, always funny." You looked up at him with a blank stare, "Ah, come on kid, where'd your sense of humor go? Heh." You stayed silent, you were not really in the mood for this right now after being locked out of your home, attacked by a demonic flower, and left out in the cold. He seemed to pick up on this. "Heh, okay, let's get you someplace warm." he said hoisting you up and you started down the snowy path together.
After a moment of walking down the path, listening to the snow crunch under your feet the skeleton coughed again to get your attention, "So your a human, right?" You nodded, a little confused since you thought you had already established that, "Is your mom also... ?" his voice trailed off. You shook your head 'no' and said you were 'kinda' adopted. "'Kinda'?" You explained how you fell into the ruins and Toriel helped you out and gave you a place to stay. You just fell into the roles of parent and should not really find it that surprising if he new Toriel, it was almost like she was created to be a mother. No one was more caring than her.
"So, what else can you tell me about her? I mean I know she is kind and has a great sense of humor, but...?"
"SANS!" the same voice from earlier shouted.
"That was fast." the short skeleton sighed, "where's a conveniently shaped lamp when you need one? Kid just stand behind me and he probably won't notice you." You did as he said, but were also trying to peek over his shoulder to see what was going on. A much taller skeleton wearing a red cape with matching gloves and boots was marching up to him in a huff. "'Sup, Papyrus? Did you see the human?"
"THAT WASN'T A HUMAN BY GREATER DOG'S STATION. IT WAS A SNOW POFF WITH A HAT ON. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE NO TIME FOR YOUR ANTICS! I MUST CAPTURE A REAL HUMAN, SO UNDYNE WILL LET ME INTO THE ROYAL GUARD, SO I CAN BE PAPYRUS, THE FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN!"
"Sorry, Papyrus. My bad." the shorter one chuckled while the taller one, whose name just might be Papyrus, gave an exasperated sigh.
"SANS, I'M SERIOUS."
"Hello serious, I'm Sans."
"SANS!"
"Hey, 'snow' problem bro. Your already so 'cool'."
"IF ONLY OTHERS WOULD RECOGNIZE MY GREATNESS AS MUCH AS YOU DO. NO MATTER, I WILL GET BACK TO WORK AND I WILL FIND A HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted once more before running off with renewed vigor. You tapped on the shoulder of the skeleton in front of you, who could only be Sans, to get his attention.
"Hm? Oh, that was my brother. He's so cool." Sans chuckled, "And he always works so hard. He never gives up even when he doesn't get the results he wants. he's the best."
The two of you continued down the path. Sans occasionally slowed down an glanced at you over his shoulder, seeming to think about something. "Y'know," Sans finally decided to break the silence, "he's been trying to find a human for a long time. It would probably mean a lot to him if he got to see one. You think you could do me a favor and play along with him for awhile?" You looked up at Sans with your brows knitted up in worried confusion, " Ah, don't worry. He won't hurt you; Papyrus is way to big of a softie to hurt anyone." You nodded slowly. This probably would not be too bad. It might even be a little fun. "Great. Just give me back the jacket for a second, and I'll go get Papyrus." He said taking his jacket in his hand and walking ahead of you.
You followed some distance behind, glancing around for any other monsters as you walked. Then you saw the two of them. Papyrus looked so excited when he saw you, then he got distracted by a rock, then Sans pointed you out again. Papyrus was so overwhelmed with excitement that his words jumbled together until he was just repeating how popular he was going to be. When Papyrus finally calmed himself he declared that he would capture you and then immediately ran off.
"That went well." Sans said with a wink, "Let's go kid." You proceeded to an invisible electricity maze that you solved by following Papyrus's foot prints left behind when he had to go through it to hand you the zappy orb. He was very impressed, not seeming to realize that he handed you the answer. "Man, thanks for going along with this kid." Sans said with his grin looking even wider than usual, "My bro looks like he is having a great time. Now, come on. I'll take you to the next puzzle, I know a shortcut. We can skip past the sentry stations."
After a word search, a plate of spaghetti and a few other puzzles later you find yourself standing infront a tiled puzzle. Based on Papyrus's explanation it sounded very complicated and painful, only for when it was turned on the solution was a simple B-line to the other side. You walked over to Sans and stared at him. "You need something kid?" You held out needy hands that shook violently in the cold, "Ah, right. Here you go." He said, slipping off his hoodie and handing it to you, "I wanted my bro to think he found you first, which wouldn't have worked if you already had my coat."
As much fun as you were having with hanging around with the two Skeletons, you began to realized that you had been here quite some time. Toriel was probably panicking right now. You tugged on Sans sleeve and reminded him that you said he would take you back to his house. "Ah, right. Better take a short cut."
Next thing you knew you where on the outskirts of Snowdin. You could here grumbling behind you and you looked over your shoulder to see Papyrus standing in front of a bridge while fiddling with a remote. "I HOPE FIRE IS NOT TOO DEADLY," he was grumbling to himself, "I WANT IT TO BE DEADLY IN A WAY THAT THEY WILL NOT GET HURT." he sounded conflicted.
"Sup, bro!" Sans called out to Papyrus will shaking a little. He seemed to be trying to hold back a laugh.
"MY BROTHER, DO YOU HOW TO MAKE THIS PUZZLE SO IT WON'T HURT THE HU-" Papyrus turned around to face Sans as he spoke and froze up, "HUMAN!" you fixed him with a curious stare, "DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM STILL AN INTIMIDATING FOE, I WILL HAVE VICTORY ON YOU YET HUMAN AS I- I- UM... WHY ARE YOU WEARING SANS'S JACKET?"
"The kid was cold, I guess you could say chilled to the bone."
"SANS!" Papyrus groaned
"Anyway, I was gonna take the kid back to the house to warm up and call their family."
"THAT..." Papyrus paused, "IS A GREAT IDEA. I CAN MAKE THEM SOME OF MY HOME MADE PASTA!" He directed his attention back to you, "HUMAN, AS MY NEW PLAN TO CAPTURE YOU, I WILL INVITE YOU INTO MY HOME AND TAKE SUCH GREAT CARE OF YOU THAT YOU WILL NEVER WANT TO LEAVE. THIS PLAN IS BRILLIANT." He ran forward, taking your hand, and started sprinting through town. You barely had a chance to take a look at the other monsters, he was going so fast.
Once inside he plopped you down on the couch and wrapped a blanket around you.
"NOW HUMAN, I WILL MAKE YOU SOME AMAZING SPAGHETTI, AND YOU MAY WATCH MAY FAVORITE GAME SHOW ON MTT!" he shouted as he turned on the television to some show being hosted by a boxy, flamboyant robot, "NYEH HEH HEH, JUST WAIT HUMAN. SOON YOUR TASTEBUDS WILL BE IN PARADISE!" and he slipped of to the kitchen.
The front door open and shut and Sans walked in with a paper bag and a bottle of ketchup. He settled down on the sofa next to you and handed you the bag. It smelled like french fries.
"Hey sorry I'm late, since Pap's said he was making you some spaghetti, I thought I'd stop by Grillby's to get you something else to eat. Don't let him see it though." Sans said with a wink.
"AH, SANS! DO YOU WANT SOME SPAGHETTI?" Papyrus called from the kitchen.
"Nah, I just picked up something at Grillby's"
"UGH, I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU CAN STAND ALL THAT GREECE. YOU HAVE NO STANDARDS." Papyrus walked out of the kitchen with a steaming plate of pasta and was wearing a chef hat that looked like it had 'COOL DUDE' added to the band with a sharpie. He presented the plate and a fork to you dramatically, "WORRY NOT HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE THE HIGHEST OF STANDARDS AND WOULD ONLY SERVE YOU THE FINEST OF SPAGHETTI."
You took the plate in your lap and fork in hand, looking down at the mess of a meal. The noodles were still pretty stiff and half of them were black, as if he turned up the heat so high all of the water boiled away and started burning before they were fully cooked. The sauce, if you could call it that, looked like he smashed a tomato with a hammer and it was not blended very well with any of the other vegetables or spices, copious amounts of which were thrown on haphazardly. You looked down at and grimaced. Were you actually expected to eat this? Sans said that Papyrus had taken cooking lessons, just what exactly did they teach him.
You looked at the plate then to Papyrus. His eye sockets wide with giddy expectation. They almost seemed to sparkle and shine with his enthusiasm. You had no idea how that was possible. You tore your gaze away from the amiable skeleton giving you hospitality back to the plate. You never had choked something down so fast in your life. You stuffed the spaghetti in your mouth in huge forkfuls, trying to get the plate clean while tasting as little of the burnt, over-spiced noodles as possible. Papyrus took your speed as the ultimate complement.
"WOWIE! I'VE NEVER SEEN SOMEONE EAT MY SPAGHETTI SO EAGERLY BEFORE! YOU MUST REALLY LOVE MY COOKING." Papyrus cheered with his eye sockets sparkling once more. "AND BY EXTENSION... ME!" Papyrus's giddiness did not last long as he seemed troubled by something. His smile faded a little and he took your plate from your hands. "WELL, I'LL JUST GET THIS OUT OF YOUR WAY." and he ran off to the kitchen.
You slumped down in the sofa. Your stomach was doing flips as the Papyrus's cooking did its damage to your intestinal track. You are filled with regret.
"Man, kiddo. I didn't think you'd go and eat the entire plate." Sans laughed, "You're awfully brave, aren't you?" You mentioned how you missed your mom's cooking. "Oh, right. We still need to call her." He sat up and went to the kitchen. You vaguely heard the two skeletons talking, but you were not paying to close attention.
...
"Hey Paps, the kid needs to borrow your phone." Sans said as he walked into the kitchen. Papyrus was standing on a step latter so he could wash the cooking dished in the excessively tall sink counter.
"WHAT? WHY DIDN'T YOU LET THEM USE YOURS?" Papyrus asked as he set the dishes down and dried off his hands.
"I would have let them use it if I could remember where I left it."
"YOU HAVE BEEN GOING AROUND ALL DAY WITHOUT YOUR PHONE? WHAT IF SOMEONE NEEDED TO CONTACT YOU?"
"Eh, it's not a big deal. Besides, no one really calls me anyway. They know not to ask me to do anything, because I'd be too lazy to get it done." Sans drawled casually.
"UGH. LAZYBONES." Papyrus grumbled as he pulled out his phone and dialed Sans's number. A faint ringing could be heard accompanied by rumbling vibrations emanating from the fridge. Sans turned around and opened the fridge door and the ringing got louder and clearer. He reached for a not-so-empty bag of popato chisps and found his phone ringing inside.
"Ah, so that's where I left it."
"SANS! DO YOU TAKE CARE OF ANY OF YOUR THINGS?"
"What are you talking about, its fine. No need to get all chipped about it!"
"SANS! THAT ONE DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!" Sans just chuckled as he turned to leave the kitchen, but Papyrus's voice stopped him once again. "SANS," he started with a softer, slightly saddened tone, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO DO ABOUT CAPTURING THE HUMAN."
"I thought you already captured them, by inviting them into the house."
"BUT, IF I CALL UNDYNE AND SHE BRINGS THEM TO ASGORE, THEY PROBABLY WON'T LET THEM GO. WHAT IF WE NEVER GET TO HANG OUT AGAIN?"
Sans paused, seeing how attached is brother had become in the short amount of time he knew the human and sighed.
"Papyrus, whatever you do, I'm sure you will make the right decision." Sans said. Although knowing his brother as well as he did, Sans could place bets that Papyrus would spare the kid, even if it meant he would not be able to complete his dream of joining the royal guard. Papyrus was just too nice in that way.
...
Sans returned to the living room ready for you to call Toriel, not that you were really aware of this as you had fallen asleep on the couch at this point. Sans settled into the sofa next to you and sighed while deep in thought. He had the feeling that things would be getting pretty complicated over the next few days.