Chapter 18: Hanging Out with the Skeleton Brothers
Coming back into town, we could see Papyrus standing outside in front of his house, watching everyone go about their business.
Frisk, having gone ahead, had just reached him as he came back into my view. She began jumping up and down in front of him. Noticing the disturbance, the tall skeleton to see Frisk, and then me walking up.
"AH HA! SO YOU CAME BACK TO HAVE A DATE WITH ME!" Papyrus exclaimed. "YOU MUST BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS..."
"Well... Frisk seems to be," I replied. I was concerned that she really didn't know what she getting herself into. Thinking about this, I figured I needed to take action. "So... Frisk, before you, uh, do this, could I talk to Paps super quick?"
Papyrus looked puzzled (see what I did there?), while Frisk looked around nervously. "CERTAINLY!" Papyrus finally said.
"Great! Awesome! Come with me," and I grabbed him, and pulled him around the corner of the house.
There seemed to be a door into an underground storage area behind his house, but I didn't care about that. I needed to talk to Papyrus about this "date".
"Okay, Papyrus, you know that Frisk is a kid, correct?" I asked him.
"YES, OF COURSE!" he replied.
"Well... then, you should know... that if I find you did anything... adult, with her..."
And then I did something I hadn't done in a long time, even when you don't include my time in the void. Really, the skeleton I was living with had outclassed me without even realizing it. But now it was time to see if I could still make it work, like with Asriel.
My eyes went wide, and I made a wide, unnerving smile as I stared in Papyrus. And based on his expression, my "creepy face", as my late brother dubbed it, hadn't lost its luster.
"...You and I are going to have a BAD TIME, capiche?" I finished.
"I-I-I UNDERSTAND," Papyrus replied, freaking out as I stared into his soul (but not literally). "IT'LL JUST BE A CHILD DATE! NO ADULT STUFF. A PROMISE FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"
"Good." I switched to a more innocent smile, with my eyes closed, though I was sure he wouldn't forget what he saw.
We come back to the front of the house, and Papyrus approached Frisk. "YES, CHARA WAS JUST SETTING THE RULES OF OUR DATE."
Frisk looked at me annoyed. I just shrugged with a smirk.
"STILL, THAT IS NO REASON TO TREAT YOU TO THE BEST! I'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOU SOMEPLACE REALLY SPECIAL... A PLACE I LIKE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME!"
Papyrus then began to walk further back into town, motioning for Frisk to follow, which she eagerly did. I was considering following them, just to make sure nothing happened. ...But then Papyrus suddenly made a U-turn back towards the direction they just left, and came back to stop in front of the home I was still in front of.
"MY HOUSE!" he exclaimed, before heading inside, with Frisk following.
"...Of course," I whispered.
"hey, don't worry about it," someone said behind. "my bro ain't gonna nothin' bad to frisk, i promise you."
Looking over, I found Sans, standing near next to the mailboxes. "Since when did you get here?"
"What, I'm just here to check my mail." Then he turned to his mailbox. "Yep, it all checks out."
He didn't even touch it. Just looked at it.
"by the way... did ya really need to scare my brother like that?" Sans asked. Fair question.
"Well, I mean, I've only known him for a short time, and he's going on a 'date' with a kid. Just had to be sure nothing would go wrong, you know," I explained.
"So, I know it wasn't just the words you said. What did you do?"
"Oh..." I gave Sans the same expression I gave his brother. "Just showed him my creepy face. Something he wouldn't forget!" I was just playing around this time, but was surprised Sans didn't react.
...Until his eyes went dark, and he stared at me with a soulless glare. "well... ' ."
I stopped and began laughing. "Okay, you're Gaster's son alright. He always had the creepiest of looks."
Sans snickered too. "did you always have creepy face offs together?"
"No, I don't think he even knows about my creepy face. I never showed it to him. Honestly, I only ever used it on... my brother."
"...bad memories?"
"Yeah."
"okay, we don't got to talk about that." Sans then recollected himself. "speaking of which, as someone with two jobs-"
"Two jobs!?" I asked. "Do you even do them?"
"what? i take my jobs very seriously."
I didn't necessarily believe him, but for whatever reason, I felt like he was talking about something... else.
"and fortunately, two jobs means twice as many legally required breaks," Sans continued, getting back to his usual self.
"Really?" I replied, skeptical.
Sans laughed. "welp, i'm going to grillby's. you should come. i've got a few other things we should talk about."
"Okay... sure. I've got no problem with that."
"well, if you insist..." He walked past me, and motioned me to follow. "over here. i know a shortcut."
"...B-but isn't Grillby's over that way...?" I pointed behind me, in the direction I last saw the place. But Sans was still motioning me to follow him in the opposite direction, so I just shrugged and followed him.
...And then reality seemed to just... blink out.
Coming into Papyrus's house, the eight-year-old began to look around, taking it all in. Across every Reset and timeline she's been through, she's never been inside Papyrus's home. It was because before she'd always been afraid of the skeleton brothers. But now, she was super comfortable around them, thanks to her mom helping her engage with them.
"WELCOME TO MY SCENIC HOUSE!" Papyrus announced. "ENJOY AND TAKE YOUR TIME!"
Frisk looked around, and took notice of a table next to the front door, where there was a rock on a plate, covered in sprinkles.
"THIS IS MY BROTHER'S PET ROCK," Papyrus explained, as he noticed Frisk checking it out. "HE ALWAYS FORGETS TO FEET IT. AS USUAL, I HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY."
Frisk nodded, and decided to head over to the TV, and turn it on.
"OOH, IT'S MY FAVORITE GAME SHOW!" Papyrus said.
Frisk then hopped on the couch, and heard a jangling sound. Shifting between the cushions... she found 20 G. But turning back to the TV, it said "STAY TUNED FOR A NEW PROGRAM - MTT".
Papyrus noticed too, and said, "WHAT! IT'S USUALLY BETTER THAN THIS! THIS IS JUST A BAD EPISODE! DON'T JUDGE ME!"
Frisk decided that this made sense.
Going to turn the TV off, she found a dirty sock next to it on the floor. For some reason, it had a series of sticky notes on it. Reading them, it seemed to be some kind of conversation.
"SANS! PLEASE PICK UP YOUR SOCK!"
"ok"
"DON'T PUT IT BACK DOWN! MOVE IT!"
"ok"
"YOU MOVED IT TWO INCHES! MOVE IT TO YOUR ROOM!"
"ok"
"AND DON'T BRING IT BACK!"
"ok"
"IT'S STILL HERE!"
"didn't you just say not to bring it back to my room?"
"FORGET IT!"
Frisk became quite invested in the saga of the sock. Unfortunately, it seemed the saga was already over.
She decided that maybe the best course of action to take next was to go into the kitchen and find some food. As she turned the corner into the said kitchen, Papyrus ran over to watch her check it out.
"MY BROTHER ALWAYS GOES OUT TO EAT," he told the young girl. "BUT... RECENTLY, HE TRIED 'BAKING' SOMETHING. IT WAS LIKE... A QUICHE. BUT FILLED WITH A SUGARY, NON-EGG SUBSTANCE. HOW ABSURD!"
Frisk thought about it for a moment, and then she turned to Papyrus and signed, pie?
"HM, PERHAPS IT COULD'VE BEEN. STILL, I WONDER WHY SANS WOULD MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THAT?" Papyrus continued.
It sounds tasty!
Papyrus decided to ignore that comment.
Frisk then made her way to the fridge.
"AH-HA! INTERESTED IN MY FOOD MUSEUM?" Papyrus noted. "PLEASE PERUSE MY CULINARY ART SHOW."
Half of the fridge was filled with containers all labeled "spaghetti". The other half contained nothing but an empty bag of chips.
Frisk was disappointed. She was hoping for some tasty food. Not... Papyrus's culinary creations.
She then finally took notice of the sink. And how... irregularly tall it was. She was now tall enough to reach normal sink heights by herself, but... there was no way she could reach that. She wasn't even sure that an adult could reach that high.
"IMPRESSED? I INCREASED THE HEIGHT OF MY SINK. NOW I CAN FIT MORE BONES UNDER IT!" Papyrus exclaimed. "TAKE A LOOKSY!"
Frisk decided to serve her curiosity, and did just that, opening the sink cupboard...
...Only to find her new dog inside, munching on the last of the bones. She hadn't even realized that he slipped inside.
"WHAT!?" Papyrus shouted. And as she shouted that, Toby took notice and began to dash out. "CATCH THAT MEDDLING CANINE!" The skeleton continued.
Unfortunately, the kid could do no such thing, as her dog ran around her, causing her to spin around and silently giggle, as the white furball dashed between the skeleton's legs and out the door.
Frisk was too busy giggling as Papyrus groaned. "CURSES!" Papyrus seemed to wait for something, but nothing happened. "STRANGE... SANS USUALLY PLAGUES MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC... I WONDERING WHAT HE'S DOING RIGHT NOW?"
Papyrus turned to the giggling Frisk, and looked at her puzzlingly. She noticed this, and managed to stop herself, so she could sign, sorry. I'll teach him to be a good boy...
"FRISK... I NOTICED THAT YOU ARE VERY QUIET, AND YOU LIKE TO SIGN A LOT. THAT IS NO PROBLEM, AS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAN ALSO USE SIGN LANGUAGE TO SPEAK WITH YOU," the skeleton told the human girl. "BUT WOULD IT NOT BE EASIER TO USE WORDS INSTEAD."
Frisk looked down dejectedly, and signed, ...I can't. I have no voice...
"YOU DON'T...?" Then Papyrus noticed how sad she looked. "OH! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE YOU SAD! I WAS JUST CURIOUS. I SUPPOSE CHARA HELPS YOU SPEAK TO THOSE WHO CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU?"
Frisk nodded, and then looked up at the skeleton that caught her interest. With the topic in mind, and question formed in her head. How do you speak?
"HOW DO I SPEAK, YOU ASK?"
Yeah... skeletons don't have throats.
"AN EXCELLENT QUESTION, DEAR FRISK. YOU SEE, I, AS WELL AS ALL OTHER SKELETONS, HAVE A FONT. A SPECIAL VOICE WE SKELETONS ARE BORN WITH. WE ARE EVEN NAMED AFTER THE SOUNDS OF OUR VOCALS, LIKE HOW I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SPEAK WITH THE TONES OF THE PAPYRUS FONT, OF COURSE!"
So... it's like a magic voice? Frisk signed in response.
"I SUPPOSE THAT IS ONE WAY TO PUT IT," Papyrus said as he put his hand to his chin. "DIFFERENT TYPES OF MAGIC ARE MORE SPECIFIC TO CERTAIN TYPES OF MONSTERS, LIKE MY BONE MAGIC."
Frisk nodded in agreement, before, with her hyperactive, curious mind, moved back into the living room. Heading over to the stairs to the second-floor interior balcony, and she noticed a joke book on a table in the corner. She decided to check it out, opened it up, and...
Inside the joke book, inside a cut-out of the pages... was a quantum physics book. She then looked inside the physics book...
And inside that book was another joke book. Somehow, despite being stuck in a smaller space, it was the same size as the first. Frisk couldn't comprehend how that was possible, or how her perspective could see. And that was disregarding that she was a kid.
She opened the second joke book... and inside was another quantum physics book.
She decided now was the time to stop.
She finally went upstairs, where she found two doors to different rooms, and a painting of a bone (because... why not...?).
Looking at the first door, with its yellow caution tape, stop sign, and signs saying "NO GIRLS ALLOWED!", "NO BOYS ALLOWED!", and "PAPYRUS ALLOWED".
"THAT MY ROOM!" Papyrus exclaimed as he saw Frisk checking it out. "IF YOU'VE FINISHED LOOKING AROUND... WE COULD GO IN AND... DO WHATEVER PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY DATE?" He didn't sound sure about that last part.
Frisk didn't know what a date even was, but it sounded fun! And she wanted to do fun stuff with Papyrus, too. She nodded, and the skeleton came upstairs, opened the door, and motioned for Frisk to enter.
Reality was gone for just a second, and then, suddenly... we were somewhere else.
I had to take a moment to readjust myself briefly as everything came into focus, and we were inside a building... seemed to be some kind of diner, and various monsters were sitting around, enjoying their meals. I even saw all the dogs from the Royal Gaurd that me and Frisk faced in the forest, all sitting around the same table, playing cards. ...Expect for the Lesser Dog, who was sitting alone at a table by the counter, also playing cards.
"fast shortcut, huh?" Sans exclaimed.
I looked at him, as I finally processed what just happened. "You're a teleporter."
"huh?" Sans replied, caught off guard.
"That's what you've been doing this whole time. You've been teleporting. You're 'shortcuts' are you warping from one place to another."
"man, you're going to ruin all the fun," Sans replied, though he didn't sound mad. He seemed just more amused than anything else.
"I should've realized this a while ago. Your father knows the same spell. I assume he was the one you taught you?"
"good guess. i bet you must've teleported with him before."
"Not really... He knew the spell, and he certainly used it, but I never teleported with him," I explained.
"huh. You seemed pretty good for a first-timer, then."
"I guess literally not existing for two decades makes it easier to handle having your existence dragged from one place to another."
"makes sense." Sans then stepped ahead, and greeted everyone. "hey, everyone."
As we walked up to the bar, the monsters we passed greeted us (well, Sans) back. "Hey, Sans," Dogamy replied.
"Hi, Sans," Dogaressa added.
"Greetings, Sans," a large, toothy-mouthed monster greeted.
"Hiya, Sansy~," a dizzy-looking rabbit added. I figured she was drunk.
As we reached the bar, some fish-like monster called out to Sans, "hey Sans, weren't you just here for breakfast a few minutes ago?"
"nah, i haven't had breakfast in at least half an hour," Sans replied. "you must be thinking of brunch.
Everyone in the diner started laughing, while I just smiled and rolled my eyes. This guy, I thought.
"here, get comfy," Sans motioned to a couple of open bar stools. And as I sat down, I swear I didn't see anything, Sans must've placed it as I was sitting without me noticing...
But once I sat down, there was an unmistakable farting sound.
"whoops, watch where you sit down," Sans responded. "sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats."
I turned to glare at the stout skeleton.
"what? are you going to tell me that you're a 'proper lady' or a 'princess'?" he asked me.
I sighed. "I don't see myself as a lady or a princess," I explained. "I'm just wondering what I'm going to with a weirdo like you."
"what? are you accusing me of something?" Sans replied. "heh, anyway, let's order."
I took a look at the bartender, a humanoid fire-elemental monster made up of orange flames. He had glasses on, and was wearing the white-collar shirt, black vest, and bowtie of a bartender.
He also looked familiar. I mean, it wasn't easy to tell the specific features of a fire elemental. They barely hold together a form made up of flames. But he did seem familiar to me.
He noticed me looking at him, and said to me, "yes?" (Which seemed to surprise a red bird monster next to me.) He seemed soft-spoken on first impression.
"Sorry, you just... it's nothing. Can I have a burger and fries, and do you have anything chocolate?" My chocolate craving was starting to go crazy (even though I still hadn't eaten the chocolate bar I had gotten from Toriel's).
"We have chocolate milkshakes," he said simply.
"Yeah, that works," I replied.
"and you know what, i'll take the same, grillby," Sans says, "minus the shake."
The fire elemental, who seemed to be named Grillby, nodded, but didn't move.
"...are you okay, grillbz?" Sans asked.
"I'm sorry," and the elemental approached me from his side of the counter. "Do we know each other?" he asked me.
"Um... well, no, we don't... but I thought you were familiar. It's not a big deal," I replied.
"Is that so." He then leaned in closer, not enough to burn me (though, he didn't know that, as a fire mage myself, I was resistant to flames, so I probably would've been fine), but close enough so he could whisper to me, and no one else would overhear. And he whispered, "when you are human?"
As one who clearly wasn't a man of many words, I understood what he was saying. But still...
...He knew that I didn't belong.
"How- how do you know that..." I stopped myself before I said "human", wary that the other patrons might hear me, and realized that I wasn't a monster. So I then added, "that I'm a homo-sapien."
Sans snickered at this. I guess maybe he knew what that really meant. But I knew the other monsters wouldn't catch on, and that was the point.
But Grillby got it, and simply said, "my family has history with your kind."
"I see... It's complicated, but I once knew a fire elemental named Girard," I told him.
His eyes seemed to narrow behind his glasses. "You mean my father."
I got a shocked look on my face, and even Sans seemed surprised. "I... uh... knew he had a son, but-"
"You couldn't have been here long," Grillby interjected. "And yet, my father had passed away years ago."
"Right... Girard is... dead..." I said, remember Gaster told me this before we Reset.
Grillby pulled back, saying, "I'll prepare your order. But as payment, I want to hear how you met my father." He turned to some of the other patrons at the bar, telling them, "I'm sorry, but I'm about to have a very... personal conversation with the new patrons. I know it's unprofessional of me to do this, but it is important. Once I come back with their orders, could I ask you to move spots.
They seemed a little annoyed, but understanding, and began to gather their food.
Grillby went into the back to prepare our meals. I turned to Sans, and gave him a nervous smile. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting that to happen."
"it's alright," the skeleton replied. "if you met someone who knew your deceased dad, then i guess you'd want to know more. so... what are you going to tell him?"
I thought on that for a moment, and decided, "the truth."
As Frisk came into Papyrus's room, she was immediately impressed. He had a race car bed! Action figures! A pirate flag!
Honestly, Frisk was kind of jealous. Her late mom could never afford stuff like this.
"IMPRESSED, LITTLE HUMAN?" Papyrus replied.
Frisk nodded, before her eyes drifted towards a box in the right corner.
"HEY, THOSE ARE ALL THE ATTACKS I USED ON YOU. GREAT MEMORIES, HUH? SEEMS LIKE IT WAS ONLY YESTERDAY... EVEN THOUGH IT BASICALLY JUST HAPPENED," Papyrus exclaimed.
Frisk's head hung low. She didn't want to think about the fight again. Not just yet at least. It hung heavily on her young mind, especially considering how that fight would usually go.
She sat down on Papryus's bed, and padded the mattress. It seemed very soft.
"YOU KNOW, IF I EVER GET TO THE SURFACE..." Papyrus said as she sat down, "I'D LIKE TO DRIVE DOWN A LONG HIGHWAY. WIND IN MY HAIR... SUN ON MY SKIN... OF COURSE, THAT'S JUST A DREAM. SO INSTEAD I CRUISE WHILE I SNOOZE."
Frisk nodded, as it made sense to her. But it also got her thinking...
What would SHE do when she got back on the Surface. She was hoping to stay with her new mom, but then... what would mom do? And then... what would happen if...?
Frisk decided not to think about that now, so she pointed to the flag.
"YEAH, ISN'T THAT FLAG NEATO? UNDYNE FOUND IT AT THE BAY... I THINK IT'S FROM THE HUMAN WORLD?" Papyrus explained. "NOW I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING. WHY WOULD A HUMAN FLAG... HAVE A COOL SKELETON ON IT? WELL... I HAVE A THEORY. I THINK HUMANS... MUST HAVE DESCENDED FROM SKELETONS! NYEH HEH HEH!"
Frisk, being too young to know the truth, thought that was a neat idea. If Chara was there... she might've explained how that actually worked. Or at would think it was amusing.
"SO, UM... IF YOU'RE READY... DO YOU WANT TO START THE DATE?" Papyrus asked.
Frisk hopped up and nodded, suddenly excited!
"OKAY! DATING START!"
The two of them then stood face to face, staring into each other's eyes (or eye sockets, in Papyrus's case).
"HERE WE ARE? ON OUR DATE!" Papyrus announced.
Frisk smiled happily. This was exciting! Her first date!
"I'VE ACTUALLY NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE. BUT DON'T WORRY! YOU CAN'T SPELL 'PREPARED' WITHOUT SEVERAL LETTERS FROM MY NAME!"
Papyrus then pulled out a book from his pocket. "I SNAGGED AN OFFICIAL DATING RULEBOOK FROM THE LIBRARY! WE'RE READY TO HAVE A GREAT TIME!" He opened the book, and began to flip through pages. "LET'S SEE..." he mused as he read the details. "WOWIE! I FEEL SO INFORMED! I THINK WE'RE READY TO BEGIN! NOW... 'ASK THEM ON A DATE'."
Papyrus gave his big ol' smile, and said, "AHEM! FRISK! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... WILL GO ON A DATE WITH YOU!"
Frisk nodded in response.
"R-REALLY? WOWIE!" the skeleton replied in surprise (surprisingly). "I GUESS THAT MEANS IT'S TIME FOR THE NEXT PART!" Returning to the book, he read, "OKAY... 'PUT ON NICE CLOTHES TO SHOW YOU CARE!" Papyrus went still for moment, as he realized... "WAIT A SECOND. 'WEAR CLOTHING'... THAT RIBBON IN YOUR HAIR...YOU'RE WEARING CLOTHING RIGHT NOW!"
Frisk smiled nervously, a little confused.
"NOT ONLY THAT..." Papyrus continued, "EARLIER TODAY, YOU WERE ALSO WEARING CLOTHING!"
Frisk nodded, not sure what was going on? Was he still talking about her ribbon? She had been wearing it since the Ruins. Maybe it was her whole outfit? But she had to wear it for decency, not to mention...
"NO... COULD IT BE? YOU'VE WANTED TO DATE ME FROM THE VERY BEGINNING!?" Papyrus suddenly announced, snapping Frisk from her thoughts.
She could only nod once more. After all, she did want to be friends with him, and felt guilty for the previous timelines.
And with that simple motion, that one agreement, that single "yes"... Papyrus was struck with shock!
"NO!" he exclaimed. "YOU PLANNED IT ALL! YOU'RE WAY BETTER AT DATING THAN I AM! N- NO! YOU DATING POWER...!"
Frisk had no idea what he was talking about.
"NYEH!" Papyrus then replied with sudden confidence. "NYEH HEH HEH! DON'T THINK YOU'VE BESTED ME YET! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... HAVE NEVER BEEN BEATEN AT DATING. AND I NEVER WILL! I CAN EASILY KEEP UP WITH YOU! YOU SEE, I, TOO, CAN WEAR CLOTHING! IN FACT..."
Frisk was only getting more confused.
"I ALWAYS WEAR ME 'SPECIAL' CLOTHES UNDERNEATH ME REGULAR CLOTHES! JUST IN CASE SOMEBODY HAPPENS TO ASK ME ON A DATE! BEHOLD!"
Papyrus ran into his closet, the door closing behind him. And within seconds, he came out wearing a new outfit.
"NYEH! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY SECRET STYLE!?" the skeleton asked.
He now had on a red baseball cap, a tank top with the words "COOL DUDE" written on it and basketball shoulder-pads, jean shorts, and red sneakers with knee socks.
...A Frisk loved it. It was SUPER COOL! (She gave it a thumbs up.)
"NO! A GENUINE COMPLIMENT...!" And once again, Papyrus was struck with shock.
But then, when he regained his composure... "HOWEVER... YOU DON'T TRULY UNDERSTAND THE HIDDEN POWER OF THIS OUTFIT! THEREFORE... WHAT YOU JUST SAID IS INVALID! THIS DATE WON'T ESCALATE ANY FURTHER!"
Frisk tilted her head in confusion. Papyrus was weird!
"...UNLESS, OF COURSE, YOU FIND MY SECRET!" Papyrus explained. "BUT THAT WON'T HAPPEN!"
At this point, Frisk approached to inspect Papyrus, and find his secret.
First his shoes...
"HUMAN SOULS ARE STRONGER THAN MONSTER SOULS..." Papyrus exclaimed as Frisk knelt down to look at his shoes. "BUT THE SOLES OF OUR SHOES ON THE OTHER HAND...! ARE ABOUT THE SAME."
Okay, his legs...?
"THERE'S NO SECRET TO MY LEGS. JUST HARD WORK AND PERSEVERANCE..."
His shirt?
"THIS SHIRT DIDN'T ORIGINALLY SAY 'COOL DUDE', BUT I IMPROVED IT. EXPERT TIP, ALL CLOTHING ARTICLES CAN BE IMPROVED THIS WAY."
Good to know...
So, arms maybe...? Frisk subtly brushed them. Maybe she could reveal the secret that way.
"I SEE. I SEE. YOU LIKE CARESSING MY BICEPS, HUH? BUT WHO DOESN'T!?"
Frisk then touched his hands...
"HOLDING MY HAND SO I'LL TELL YOU THE ANSWER... NO! I MUST RESIST!"
Okay... not that. His hat?
"MY HAT...? MY HAT. MY HAT! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus then excitedly took off his hat, ...revealing a box. "W-WELL THEN... YOU FOUND MY SECRET! I SUPPOSE I HAVE NO CHOICE! IT'S A PRESENT... A PRESENT J-JUST FOR YOU!"
Frisk, excited to see what was inside the present, motioned for Paprysus to kneel down, so she could reach the gift on his head, and opened it...
And inside...
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?" Papyrus asked.
Frisk nodded, and was about to sign a further response, but then...
"'SPAGHETTI'," Papyrus interjected. "THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE THINKING, ISN'T IT?" And indeed, was a plate of spaghetti. "RIGHT! BUT OH-SO WRONG!" the skeleton continued to explain. "THIS AIN'T ANY PLAIN OL' PASTA! THIS IS AN ARTISAN'S WORK! SILKEN SPAGHETTI, FINELY AGED IN AN OAKEN CASK... THEN COOKED BY ME, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS!"
And once again, Frisk was confused.
"HUMAN! IT'S TIME TO END THIS! THERE'S NO WAY THIS CAN GO ANY FURTHER!"
Frisk didn't know what was going on, but she figured now might've been a good chance to try his spaghetti.
It didn't look or smell very good.
But, Frisk was filled with Determination!
She grabbed a fork sticking out from the pasta, and took a small bite.
Her face reflexively scrunched up. The taste was... indescribable...
"WHAT A PASSIONATE EXPRESSION!" Papyrus exclaimed (though even the eight-year-old wasn't sure if she agreed or not). "YOU MUST REALLY LOVE MY COOKING! AND BY EXTENSION ME! MAYBE EVEN MORE THAN I DO! AUGH! URGH! NO...!"
And with that... Papyrus was defeated(?)
"...And now I'm here," I said, finishing my story, and taking a sip of my milkshake. "There's more... but that's the short version."
"That..." Grillby exclaimed in a hushed tone, so no one else could overhear, "is hard to believe..."
"I know," I responded.
"You're saying that..." and Grillby began to repeat what I told him back to me, "you were in hiding from King Asgore, who was your adoptive father, for ten years. Then you assisted the royal scientist of the time, Dr. W.D. Gaster, in creating the CORE. There was an accident, and you fell into the Void, causing you to literally cease to exist, including our memories of you being completely wiped. And then, you escaped the Void with the help of a child human named Frisk, and now you are helping through the Underground, while you restore everyone's memory of you?"
"...Pretty much."
"wow, never heard grillby say that much," Sans noted. "you're usually so soft-spoken."
Grillby turned to Sans. "And how are you involved?"
"i don't know," the skeleton admitted. He turned to me to ask me, "want some ketchup with that?"
I looked at my burger and fries. I had taken a couple bites, but I had mostly been drinking my shake. I really missed chocolate. ...But I didn't need any ketchup.
"Nah, I'm good," I answer him.
"more for me," Sans replied, and then he drank the ENTIRE bottle of ketchup!
"...Okay."
Grillby just sighed. Seems this was a regular occurrence. So he turned to back to me. "Did you know my father well?"
"For the most part," I told him. "Was he... happy?"
Grillby got a sad look on his face. "He... fell down... didn't make it."
"Yeah..." Gaster said that was what happened to his mother. "Fallen down" was a monster coma. When a monster got too depressed, they'd fall into a deep sleep... and never wake up again. They usually never made it.
"He had a daughter, too," Grillby added. "My little sister, Fuku. Fuku Fire... You probably wouldn't know her... Based on the timeframe you gave, she would've been born after you disappeared. She should be at high school right now? ...She was too young to remember him."
"I'm sorry..." I replied.
"It's not your fault."
"But... maybe it is... Girard forgot me, but maybe he felt he should've been mourning someone, and-"
"you're overthinking this," Sans cut me off to say. "he fell down after you're accident. nothing you could've done about that."
"Yeah... I guess..."
"yep. so, speaking of family... what do you think... of my brother?"
"Oh," I replied, surprised. "he's pretty cool."
"of course he's cool," Sans replied. "you'd be cool too if you wore that outfit every day."
"Yeah, it's pretty neat."
"so, i have to ask this..."
"About how I scared him?" I countered. "I already told you."
"well, there's that, but... did you have to tell him the truth?"
Grillby raised an eyebrow. "About Chara's fall into the Void?"
"No, he's talking about the truth about what Asgore wants. ...With us humans."
"I see..."
"I'm sorry, Sans, but I couldn't just... leave him in the dark. I felt that he needed to learn the fourth."
Sans glared to the side, as he grabbed another bottle of ketchup and began sipping it. "but i get it, but there's still a lot he doesn't know."
"Like?"
"frisk."
"Right..."
"but back to my brother... you have to agree, papyrus tries real hard. Like how he keeps trying to be part of the royal guard. One day, he went to the house of the head of the royal guard... and begged her to let him be in it."
"Heh, one might say he's determined."
"that's one way to put it. anyway, she, of course, shut the door on him because it was midnight. but the next day, she up and saw him still waiting there. seeing his dedication, she decided to give him warrior training. it's, uh, still a work in progress."
I started to get an annoyed look on my face.
"you know you have to face her next," Sans told me.
"I know."
"Do you know what's going to happen?"
I just took a deep breath. And Grillby didn't have anything to say to this. He just seemed to get the idea.
We were silent for a moment, before Sans said, "oh yeah, I wanted to ask you something."
"Yes?" I replied.
Suddenly, everything went dark, with a spotlight on just the two of us.
"...What?"
"have you ever heard of a talking flower?" Sans suddenly asked.
I was bewildered by the switch in the atmosphere, but I managed to recollect myself, and said, "the echo flower, right? I'm familiar with them. I used to keep one on my desk."
"so, you know all about it. they're all over the marsh. Say something to them, and they'll repeat it over and over..."
"So... what about it?"
"well, papyrus told me something interesting the other day," Sans continued. "sometimes, when no one else is around... a flower appears and whispers things to him. flattery... advice... encouragement... ...predictions. weird, huh?"
"Um, Sans..." I spoke up.
"...yeah?"
"In the Ruins, we found a talking flower, but it... wasn't an echo flower... It was alive... Well, that's not the right word. More like sentient. His name was Flowey, and he wasn't nice. He attacked us. He... some kind of plan. It might involve Frisk, but I don't know how. And I don't think it's good."
"so, you think this 'flowey' might be messing with papyrus?"
"Possibly..."
"well, that's certainly concerning. keep an eye out, ok?"
"I will."
"thanks."
At that moment, everything returned to normal. And Sans got off of his stool. "welp, that was a long break," the skeleton said. "i can't believe i let ya pull me away from work for that long."
Both me and Grillby just gave an exasperated sigh.
"oh, by the way... i flat broke. can you foot the bill? it's just 10,000 G," he quickly mentioned.
"Sans, I already said that this meal was free," Grillby countered. "Besides the meal is not that expensive. I am not like that spider in Hotland."
"just kidding. just put it on my tab, grillbz." Sans then began to make his way out, before turning around to say, "by the way... i was going to say something, but i forgot."
As he left, Grillby responded with, "He really should pay his tab..."
"So... are we not going to talk about what just happened?" I asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Did you not notice! Everything went dark and... we were in a spotlight."
"I didn't notice anything. Then again, Sans is known for causing strange events," Grillby explained.
"Fantastic," I replied. "So, can I ask something?"
"Of course, anything for a friend of my father's. Well, I can't give you another free meal."
"That's fine." Which reminded me, I needed to finish my meal, before it got cold. As I took another bite of my burger, and swallowed, I asked, "so, Asgore... he found one human Soul before I fell. ...Did... did he find anymore?"
"HUMAN. IT'S CLEAR NOW."
"YOU'RE MADLY IN LOVE WITH ME."
"EVERYTHING YOU DO. EVERYTHING YOU SAY."
"IT'S ALL BEEN FOR MY SAKE."
"HUMAN. I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY, TOO."
"IT'S TIME FOR ME TO EXPRESS MY FEELINGS."
"IT'S TIME THAT I TOLD YOU."
"I, PAPYRUS..."
As Frisk tried to process what was going on, Papyrus's expression returned to normal, as the skeleton said, "I... UM... BOY, IS IT HOT IN HERE, OR IS IT JUST ME?" He went silent for a moment. "OH, SHOOT. HUMAN, I... I'M SORRY. I DON'T LIKE YOU THE WAY YOU LIKE ME."
What? Frisk signed.
"ROMANTICALLY, I MEAN."
Oh... Frisk replied. What!?
"I MEAN, I TRIED VERY HARD TO!" the skeleton continued without realizing Frisk's confusion. "I THOUGHT THAT BECAUSE YOU FLIRTED WITH ME... THAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOU. THEN, ON THE DATE. FEELINGS WOULD BLOSSOM FORTH! I WOULD BE ABLE TO MATCH YOUR PASSION FOR ME! BUT ALAS... I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... HAVE FAILED."
Frisk was getting concerned... for herself.
"I FEEL JUST THE SAME AS BEFORE. AND INSTEAD, BY DATING YOU... I HAVE ONLY DRAWN YOU DEEPER... INTO YOUR INTENSE LOVE FOR ME! A DARK PRISON OF PASSION, WITH NO ESCAPE. HOW COULD I HAVE DONE THIS TO MY DEAR FRIEND...?"
And Frisk had no idea what to do about that... whatever that was.
"NO! WAIT! THAT'S WRONG! I CAN'T FAIL AT ANYTHING! HUMAN! I'LL HELP YOU THROUGH THESE TRYING TIMES! I'LL KEEP BEING YOUR COOL FRIEND... AND ACT LIKE THIS ALL NEVER HAPPENED. AFTER ALL, YOU ARE VERY GREAT. IT WOULD BE TRAGIC TO LOSE YOUR FRIENDSHIP. SO PLEASE... DON'T CRY BECAUSE I WON'T KISS YOU. BECAUSE I DON'T EVEN HAVE LIPS. AND HEY, SOMEDAY, YOU'LL FIND SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME. WELL, NO. THAT'S NOT TRUE. BUT I'LL HELP YOU SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST!" And with one more Papyrus-style laugh, the skeleton left the room.
...Before coming back to say, "OH, AND IF YOU EVER NEED TO REACH ME... HERE'S MY PHONE NUMBER. YOU CAN CALL ME ANY TIME! PLATONICALLY. WELL, GOTTA GO! NYEH HEH HEH!"
And with that, Papyrus handed Frisk a slip of paper and left.
Frisk breathed a sigh of relief. That was super confusing to her, and she was worried for a moment that she may have lost her friend.
She wasn't as sure that flirting was such a good idea anymore. It seemed that the kid that dates were weird and confusing things.
Frisk looked at the slip of paper, and indeed, a phone number was on it.
So she decided to try calling it.
Ring... Ring... "WOW! IT ONLY TOOK YOU FOUR SECONDS TO CALL ME! YOU MUST BE VERY DESPERATE FOR MY HELP! WELL! DO NOT FEAR! THIS IS PAPYRUS'S HOTFUL HELPLINE! JUST DESCRIBE YOUR LOCATION, AND...! WAIT... YOU CAN'T SPEAK ON THE PHONE, CAN YOU?"
Papyrus could not see Frisk's frowning face of frustration and disappointment.
"BUT DO NOT WORRY, I SHALL MAKE AN EDUCATED GUESS ON YOUR LOCATION! AFTER ALL, I AM NEVER WRONG! BECAUSE I AM GREAT! SO, LET ME SEE. ...YOU'RE STILL IN MY ROOM, AREN'T YOU? HAVE YOU HEARD OF SOMETHING CALLED A... DOOR? WAIT! DON'T WORRY! I'LL DRAW A DIAGRAM FOR YOU!"
Papyrus hung up (whether it was on purpose or not, she wasn't sure), but that call did end with Frisk getting a smile on her silent face.
With all of this said and done, Frisk began to make her way outside of the skeleton household.
...And running into Sans as she got outside.
"oh hey, kid," the shorter skeleton replied. "i was just talking to your... mom, right?"
Frisk nodded.
"knew it! she should still be at grillby's. I gotta get back to work, 'kay? see ya." And he went on his merry way.
Frisk happily took his directions and ran over to Grillby's. Once she got inside, she found her mom talking to a fish monster and a bird monster up at the bar of the joint.
"...So, I "put out a line" for some girls today. Someone told me that there are plenty of fish in the sea... Well, I'm taking that seriously. I'm literally going to make out with a fish."
"Right..." So, this is the monster that set up the fishing rod, I thought. He certainly isn't... the most pleasant looking. But, he actually is a fish. Maybe he'll find someone who likes him for what he is on the inside.
"I guess I could ask out Undyne. But I think she likes someone already," he continued.
"The... less I know about her love life, the better," I replied.
"Yeah, fair enough."
At that moment, Frisk came up and started clapping to get my attention.
"Oh, hey there, kiddo, did you have fun on your date with Papyrus?" I asked her.
It was... weird, she signed.
"Right... got it..." I was going to have to ask the skeleton about it later. "Hey, want to meet my new friend, Grillby?" And I motioned to the bartender.
"Hello," he greeted.
Frisk waved in greeting back.
"Hey, what about us?" the red bird asked.
"Well, you guys are great...!" I responded. "You're... uh..."
Frisk then poked me and pointed at the Lesser Dog. He was playing against himself. ...And he appeared to be losing.
"Yeah... he's just... enjoying himself!" I told the curious girl. "I think we should get going."
"Well, it was fun talking to you," the red bird said. "Even if you made us move spots for a bit."
"Yep, it feels nice to be able to actually talk to someone," the fish added.
"Yeah, thanks. It was nice having a conversation," I replied.
"Chara," Grillby spoke up. "Good luck on your journey."
"Thanks, Grillby," I told him. "I'd love to meet your sister one day."
"Of course."
As we left Grillby's diner, Frisk looked over towards the exit of the town, where we once faced Papyrus. And it was our current goal. Waterfall.
And the little girl looked nervous, almost scared.
"Are you okay?"
She's going to be there... Frisk signed.
"Undyne," I said.
Frisk nodded.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it," I told her.
Frisk looked up at me with a slight smile, as we began to hear barking. Looking over, Toby was running back to us.
"Hey there, boy." I began to pet him as I asked Frisk, "was he a good boy?"
Frisk nodded. Though for some reason, I felt that wasn't giving me the full picture.
I got up, and looked onward. I, too, felt nervous about what we were going to face.
After all...
Asgore had six human Souls now. He only needed one more...
Either me... or Frisk.
Author's Note: Seems the collection of the Souls was revealed early.
So, this was a long chapter, but for this one, I'm okay with that. I knew that would happen, given what my idea for this one was.
Yeah, with two lead characters instead of one, I thought it would be a neat idea to have one do the Papyrus date, and the other does the hangout with Sans at Grillby's. I thought it was pretty creative.
Don't have a lot of things to say, so now onto random stuff...
Okay... so, am I the first person to realize that when Papyrus was talking about the "quiche", but not a quiche, the one Sans made, that it was actually pie he was talking about. Because I certainly didn't think about it until writing this. And it made so much sense when I started thinking about it.
I should mention Grillby briefly. Yeah, that OC I made back in Book 1, the Royal Guard Captain before Undyne, Girard, Grillby is his son. He's not going to be a major character, but he'll appear again later in the story.
And yeah, Chara told Sans about Flowey. She is more likely to talk about what's going on, especially since she knows she can trust Sans, being that he is Gaster's son.
And that's it, got nothing else (man, my Undertale Author's Notes, are the shortest out of all of my stories) I hope you enjoyed. Now, it's onto Waterfall.