Chapter Text
“THAT SHOULD BE THE LAST ONE!!!”
With an even smile, Papyrus stepped back, admiring his handiwork. It wasn’t much just yet—but he had added the wires and mechanisms and all should be good as new, in case a human were to appear.
Bright and early, before even the Underground daylight cycle had begun, the skeleton had set out to do this; recalibrate the puzzles, that is. It was a daily thing for him. And even a job, of sorts!
“NOW ALL THAT’S LEFT TO DO IS RESET THE COLOR TILE MAZE!” he announced, turning away, still with that smile.
It faltered, when the distant trees met him, but he waved it away and set to do as he reminded himself. There was rumor that a blizzard would befall Snowdin later that afternoon, so as long as he kept his usual pace, he should be able to do what he had to within time.
Flakes fell, silent, as his boots crunched in the cold powder at his feet. Skeletons didn’t really need boots to brave the cold, nor were they affected by lack of clothing, as he wore a short-sleeved shirt and pants that fit more like shorts since he’d grown taller. Jinny had offered more than once to get him ones that fit him better—she always offered to do that, no money required, and Papyrus didn’t necessarily believe she should go to such lengths for him!—but he was perfectly fine with what he had! Really!!!
Mrs. Snowdrake gave him a friendly wave as he walked by, building snowmonsters with her son by one of the many sentry stations as Papyrus passed by. He stopped to talk to her.
“GOOD MORNING, MRS. SNOWDRAKE! HOW ARE YOU?”
“Good morning.” Her beak curved into a gentle, warm smile back at him. “I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather lately, but—”
“Ha! Under the weather!” Snowy blurted out beside her. Once he realized he had interrupted, he shrank. “…Uh. Sorry.”
His mother simply laughed softly, ruffling the feathers atop her son’s head—much to his displeasure, as he ducked away from her. “It’s okay, Snowy.” She looked back to Papyrus. “How are you, dear?”
Yes! Him!! “I’M DOING VERY GOOD!! I JUST FINISHED RECALIBRATING SOME OF MY PUZZLES AND TRAPS! I HAVE TO DO THEM ALL BEFORE THE BLIZZARD COMES BUT IT SHOULDN’T TAKE ME LONG! I HOPE YOU FEEL BETTER!!”
“Thank you, hon. Say hello to Jinny and Bella for me, if you can! I—”
This time, she was interrupted by her own accord—breaking off into a cough that shook her body.
Papyrus stilled, a wave of concern flooding his Soul; and even Snowy on his part halted his snow-molding to look at his mom. but before he could speak his concern she recovered in a smaller, raspier voice, “I haven’t been able to visit as much as I would like, recently.”
“DO YOU NEED MEDICINE? I COULD ASK A… I COULD ASK JINNY IF…”
“No, no, it’s quite alright, dear. I’ll be fine.” She offered him another smile. It seemed wearier than the last. “Thank you, though.”
…He didn’t want to overstay his welcome. But…
“WELL… LET US KNOW IF YOU DO NEED ANYTHING, ALRIGHT?”
“Of course!” Mrs. Snowdrake assured. “…Perhaps, even, one of these days you could babysit Snowy for me.”
“WHAT?”
Snowy whirled on her, sticking his tongue out, absolutely appalled.
“I don’t need babysitting, Ma!”
“Sure, sure.” She sent Papyrus a glance, and he simply nodded brightly.
In such a small, tight-knit community, it wasn’t far off that Papyrus was asked to babysit some of the younger monsters. He’d only recently grown out of his stripes himself, and he didn’t feel any older, in truthfulness (he still felt like a babybones, he still felt lost, he still felt…)—but he liked to help out in whatever way he could. Especially since Mrs. Snowdrake had been feeling more and more unwell, recently…
He didn’t want to think about any of it. Not really. “WELL, I SHOULD GET GOING!! SEE YOU GUYS LATER!!!”
“See you, Papyrus!”
She purposefully nudged Snowy, to which the tween grumbled.
“See you. I guess.”
On that note, Papyrus left the two to their own devices (i.e. snow) and marched off, setting ahead for the ice-and-button puzzle nearby.
By the time the blizzard rolled in, Bella had made it back to the house on the edge of town, carrying bags of groceries stocked with expensive pies and hot cocoa mix. Surely enough, as soon as Fluffy saw her appear in the doorway, they completely forgot their Game Kid on the couch and shot to their feet, rushing to meet her.
“Hell yeah!” they cheered, and Bella quickly reared a stern gaze at her child.
“Fluffy!”
At least they had the decency to look sheepish. “Sorry.” For all of one second, before they started snooping through the bags. “Did you get the special kind of hot cocoa?!”
“Yes, now don’t yell.” She sighed, giving in to give them all of the bags. If there was one thing she knew, she at least trusted them to put everything away in due time.
As they scurried off to the kitchen, she peered around the house, and noticed something obviously lacking. The twins weren’t in sight so she knew they must have still been upstairs napping; her oldest, Ginger, had left much earlier to visit her sister in New Home. She was staying there for the night.
. . .
Papyrus wasn’t back yet, she realized.
Bella knew she worried far, far too much. It was only natural, she supposed, as a mother of s five. But, even then…
Snowdin was considered one of the safest places in the Underground. Anyone who knew someone knew everyone, so it seemed, and news usually traveled quicker than danger did. She had no real reason to be concerned.
Besides, Papyrus could take care of himself!
Couldn’t he?
…
She pulled her phone out.
It was just in case! Really!
The front door opened—curiously, just as her phone had started dialing, she heard ringing behind her. She turned around.
Oh.
Papyrus stared back at her, pulled his own phone out, stared at it, then back to her.
Still staring at him, too, Bella pressed the end button on her own phone.
She blinked once.
“I was just about to call you,” she managed. Well, that much was clear, wasn’t it?
Papyrus laughed.
“WELL, I’M HERE NOW!!!” That much was also clear. She ducked away, heading for the kitchen as he trailed after her. “…WERE YOU WORRIED ABOUT ME? THERE’S NO NEED! I’M FINE! I PROMISE!!”
Bella opened her mouth to respond, but in that moment, in the middle of stacking pies in the fridge, Fluffy noticed the new arrival. They just about dropped one of said pies in their rush.
“PAPYRUS!!!”
Like a fuzzy four-foot-tall rocket, the young teen launched themself at the skeleton, crashing into him with a soft oof on their part. Papyrus was completely undeterred on the other hand, scooping them up to hold them in a crushing hug. “NYEH HEH, HELLO, FLUFFY!! IT’S GOOD TO SEE YOU TOO!”
“How was your day? What’d you do? Did you get to fight anyone?” the child babbled on and on, to which Papyrus dutifully answered each question, as Bella hid a smile and took out some carrots for stew.
“You’re welcome to spend the night,” she added over her shoulder, “I’m sure we could find a spot for you.”
“OH, NO, IT’S FINE!! BUT THANK YOU, MRS. INNKEEPER!”
She chuckled lightly. “You know you don’t have to call me that, Papyrus.” A correction died on her tongue. “…You’re welcome to call me whatever you want. You’re always welcome in general.” Was she being too overbearing, again…? He wasn’t a babybones anymore. Even when she first found him, she should have known he would never have stayed fore…
Those were silly thoughts. And she shook them away, feeling silly.
“I KNOW! I APPRECIATE IT.” There was a pause. As though there was something else he wished to say. But… “I, UM… I HAVE A BIT OF TIME!! BEFORE I GO TRAIN WITH UNDYNE TONIGHT! I COULD STAY FOR LUNCH, IF YOU’D LIKE…?”
“Of course!” she assured him, observing as he manually attempted to unlatch Fluffy from his torso. Why did he always act like he had to leave, in one way or another?
“Can I show you my game then?” Fluffy asked, tugging on Papyrus’s arm and refusing to let go one way or another. “It’s really really cool! I think you’d like it! Can I show him my game, Mom?”
“I don’t see why not. Make sure you’re back in ten though, okay?”
“WE WILL!!” On that final note the fourteen year old dragged him over to the green couch, bouncing on their heels in not-restrained excitement. Papyrus, of course, willingly allowed it, and with one last fond smile, Bella turned to prepare the food.
In all honesty, Papyrus would have known next to nothing about video games if it weren’t for Fluffy and their two younger siblings. Fluffy had showed him a plethora of Game Kid games since the day they were gifted it at Gyftmas, and he really enjoyed their enthusiasm! They seemed to prefer “RPGs” over anything else, such as the one they proceeded to show him right then.
“First, you have to pick your character,” they explained, pointing at the screen. They loomed over him like a good-natured omen, walking him through everything and anything. “Then you can start. Oh, and there’ll be this human witch that shows up and explains what you have to do to rescue the orphaned monsters and—”
“DON’T SPOIL IT!!!”
“Oh, sorry.”
He didn’t get very far into the game—only a few battles in before Bella announced the food was ready. As she went to go wake up the twins from their nap, Fluffy snuck the Game Kid to the table, “discreetly” trying to show Papyrus how to keep playing in the literal shadows. Papyrus ignored them.
Next time, he thought to himself, he would offer to help with cooking—or, maybe even cook something himself! …Not that he knew how to cook, but! It was a thought! Maybe Bella could teach him?
…
No. That was asking too much.
She’d done far too much for him, already!
Something pointed, sharp, struck at his skull, but he pushed it away. It wasn’t a good thing. Not a good feeling. He should focus on the here and now.
“Hi, Papyrus!” A shrill voice squeaked, sweeping him entirely out of his mind, and Jessy ran up to join him in the empty chair beside him. Her twin, Joey, followed along at a slower pace, simply giving a shy little wave in greeting as he took up a spot next to his sister.
Papyrus enthusiastically waved back. “HELLO!! HOW ARE YOU TWO?”
“Awful!” Jessy immediately cried, pointing an accusatory paw at her sibling on the other side of Papyrus. “They won’t stop bragging about their dumb game! All day and all night and 25/8!”
“24/7,” Fluffy corrected, snottily, “and it’s not dumb, you’re dumb.”
“Fluffy!”
Their ears drooped. “Sorry Mom.”
Jessy giggled, causing Fluffy to shoot her a venomous glare. Silently, Joey sipped at his stew without a care in the world. Papyrus decided to join him.
“Papyrus,” Jessy piped up, again, a very curious lilt to her high voice. When her mother gave her a look, she scarfed done a singular spoonful of carrot stew before turning her attention yet again. “How long are you staying?”
…Huh?
“UM. WELL, I HAVE TO LEAVE SOON TO SEE UNDY—”
“No I mean like! Y’know! Like. With us. Joey was wondering so I thought I’d ask.”
Joey’s eyes widened and he shrunk down, down, hiding his face behind his bowl.
“Oops. Sorry,” Jessy muttered to him.
“STAYING WITH YOU?” Papyrus repeated, furrowing his bone brows. Joey shrunk even more, somehow. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”
“Oh, I think he meant just like, are you gonna ever leave Snowdin?”
Everyone stopped in unison, and equally in unison, turned to look at her.
“To stay with other skeletons, and stuff,” she added.
.
.
.
“UM.” Why should he? “NO. I LIKE SNOWDIN. I’D… I WOULD RATHER STAY HERE.”
“You’re not even gonna look for them?”
“Jessy,” Bella started, as Fluffy shot her a narrowed look, but she just shrugged.
“I was just asking!”
Joey buried his head in his paws.
“…Well,”
loud, clear, and pointed, Bella’s voice rang out.
“I think, that whatever Papyrus decided to do, we should support him either way. It’s within his right to leave, and it’s within his right to stay.”
…Was it?
He suddenly felt small. He stuffed stew into his mouth.
For the rest of the time, for most of the time, the table was silent. (Other than the usual bickering between Fluffy and Jessy, that was.) And Papyrus left shortly thereafter.
Would he be able to thank them later?