Chapter Text
12 Years Before the Barrier Was Broken
“Where would you want to go first?” Carter asked, swinging his tree branch around like a makeshift sword.
“Oh...I don’t know. I think I want to see the ocean.” Laura looked up at the sky and adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. “All the books say it's beautiful and it reflects the sun in such pretty colors.”
Carter nodded his head. “Yea, plus its more open right? Not as stuck like it is here, we don’t even have a lake or anything.”
“We have the river.” she pointed out.
“S’not the same and you know it.” The young boy sighed. “I think I want to see the cities first. All those people, the lights.”
“Wouldn’t it be noisy?” Laura skipped a few steps to catch up to her friend.
“Yea, but gotta do it at least once.” he shrugged. Laura just hummed non-commitaly, and then hopped a step in excitement.
“You know here I want to go?!” She started and Carter looked at her in growing excitement. “A THEME PARK!” they shouted together, laughing.
“What are you two young ones up to?” A voice broke through their excitement drawing their attention to the woman checking her mail.
“Oh hey, Ms. Kellan, we were just talking about where we wanted to go first when we grow up.” Carter said jovially.
“Oh?” The older monster asked, looking down at them with poorly concealed contempt. “Have you two already decided on taking the pills then?”
“Uhh….” Laura started, she knew where this conversation was going.
“We decided we aren’t going to take them, we’re going out as we are.” Carter said proudly. Ms. Kellan sneered.
“You know you can’t do that.”
“And why not! There’s no law against it.” Carter retorted.
“You would really risk the lives of your people, of all of us monsters on your frivolous dreams, young man? How selfish.” Ms. Kellan stood straighter and looked down her muzzle at them.
Laura watched with a sinking feeling as Carter puffs himself up and somehow manages to look even more stubborn than the monster in front of them. “There is always a chance for acceptance, it isn’t our fault you lot are too afraid to look for it.” Laura put her hand on his arm and opened her mouth, whether in support of him or to get him to back off she didn’t know, and she didn’t get the chance to find out because Ms. Kellan immediately fired back at him.
“You better get those ideas out of your head now, boy. Dream your dreams, but you are going to end up stuck here in this town with the rest of us unless you get over yourself and take the pills. At that point you might as well just reject your monster heritage right now, you’ll never leave otherwise.” Her upper lip curled as she spoke and Laura felt her hackles raise. Danger, her body was telling her, and when she looked at Carter she could see the fur on the back of his neck standing on end. He could sense it too.
“Nobody asked you to get into our business, not even with a nose as large as yours. So if you please, could you huff and puff somewhere else?” Laura said cooly to Ms. Kellan, who’s jaw snapped shut in surprise. Laura who had never been anything but cordial, even polite. “Thank you.” And with that Laura pulled Carter away and down the street towards her house.
Present Day
Her search for Papyrus was less than fruitful. Days Laura spent looking for him, the places she’d met him before, the places she figured a person like him would frequent, and nada. Carter was encouraging, but even as Laura said to him one day on the phone, “How hard is it to find a nearly seven foot tall skeleton in a city like this?! Especially one as loud as he is!?” Carter had had no response besides howling laughter and Laura had given up on that particular phone call and hung up.
To top off this search, she hadn’t even been able to ask Sans for help, even if he had been willing to give it to her. He too had been suspiciously missing since her last encounter with him at the bar.
Why is it now I can’t find a damn one of them?! She thought to herself on more than one occasion. Not that it hadn’t occurred to her to ask Undyne for help, but this was something Laura wanted to do on her own. One step at a time, one monster at a time, and the last time she’d had to face both Papyrus and Undyne at the same time she’d somehow ended up in this mess to begin with.
But after nearly a week of playing “Where’s Papyrus” she bit the metaphorical bullet and decided to ask Undyne where she might actually find him.
At their next lesson Laura asks Undyne if she can ask her for help with something.
“Of course, punk, what is it? Is someone giving you trouble?” Undyne looked ready to kick some ass and Laura started to laugh.
“Why do you always assume someone is heckling me? Everytime I look like I’ve had a crap day you’re first thought is that it’s because of someone.” Laura cocked her head to the side.
“Just gotta make sure, you don’t exactly look like you’d take someone in a fight if it did come to that.” Undyne grinned toothily.
“Oh har har, what makes you think I couldn’t?”
“I said wouldn’t, not couldn’t.” Oh...touche. Laura laughed again. “So what’s up.” Undyne asked, leaning against the piano.
“My friend, Carter said I needed to start making friends-”
“We are friends.”
“I know, but - “ Laura stopped and Undyne’s grin grew even wider. Laura fought the exasperated smile pulling at her lips. “
BUT
I’ve been looking for Papyrus, I wasn’t exactly the most pleasant last time and I should at least apologize.” She didn’t mention what Sans had said, or even what exactly Carter had said, but apparently she had said enough because Undyne was deep in thought. Laura’s eyebrow raised as the silence grew and then flinched.
“ALRIGHT! Give me a moment,” and with that Undyne marched out of the music room.
Laura sat in stunned silence for a solid minute before she rolled her eyes and shrugged to the empty air.
When Undyne returned, Laura was working on a new piece, and only stopped when from outside the room she heard: “WOULD YOU PUT ME DOWN?! I AM MORE THAN CAPABLE OF WALKING MYSELF TO WHEREVER IT IS YOU WANT ME TO GO.” Laura turned just in time to see Undyne kick the door open and stride into the room with Papyrus slung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Oh my god.” Laura whispers before breaking down into laughter, covering her face with her hand. What Carter wouldn’t give to see this. Undyne set the less than pleased skeleton on his feet and then points from Laura to Papyrus.
“Now make friends.” she said.
“OH! HUMAN LAURA!” Laura’s jaw clenched at his words, but she managed a smile nonetheless. “IS IT TRUE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR ME? I MEAN OF COURSE YOU HAVE, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS AFTER ALL...BUT, HAVE YOU?” Papyrus asked eagerly.
“Oh, um...yea.” Laura started, “Look, I just wanted to apologize for blowing you off and being….less than welcoming...uhm…” She looked at Undyne who had crossed her arms and narrowed her eye.
“OH, DON’T WORRY. I WASN’T UPSET, I UNDERSTAND I HAD OVERSTEPPED MYSELF.” Papyrus tried to say, sitting completely straight on his seat.
“No, that’s not what - ugh come on everyone out, shoo.” Well, in a way she did what Carter had wanted. Right? Undyne and Papyrus vacated the room quickly and she took a moment to lock up the storage rooms and then the room itself. When she left the building she saw no sign of Undyne, but Papyrus, he was there looking like he had just been talking to someone. Someone that left mid sentence and had Papyrus throwing up his hands in exasperation. Laura immediately felt her eyes narrow.
“OH, THERE YOU ARE LAURA!” He exclaimed, striding over to her. At this proximity she had to crane her neck to look up at him and she huffed, pushing him back a few steps.
“Too tall to stand that close, Papyrus.” She smiled though.
“SORRY, I GUESS I AM RATHER TALL. I BARELY REMEMBER BEING SMALLER THAN MY BROTHER AND I WAS ONLY A BABY BONES AT THE TIME.” he said with a shrug.
“Somehow the idea of you ever being small is almost impossible.” Laura started walking towards her car and didn’t even blink when Papyrus kept in step with her.
“OH BUT IT’S TRUE. I GREW RATHER QUICKLY, AND I ALWAYS DRANK MY MILK.” he said proudly.
Laura coughed a laugh. “Are you saying your brother didn’t?”
“WELL….”
“Oh that’s a yes.”
“NYEHEHEHE. SO IT MIGHT BE.” Papyrus grinned down at her and she couldn’t help the answering grin that spread across her face at the shared joke.
They walked in silence until she reached her car and she started stowing her stuff inside. Papyrus asked her if she was going to be going home now and Laura’s response, as it was to anyone who usually asked was “yea, probably.” She was sitting in the driver’s seat, looking for her sunglasses when an laminated rectangle fell from her blinder. Papyrus picked it up to return it to her and stopped. It was the flower he’d given her that afternoon, she’d pressed it and sealed it.
“OH!” Laura jumped at the suddenness of his voice, giving up on the search. “I HAD WANTED TO ASK YOU IF YOU WANTED TO COME SEE MY GARDEN? IT’S COME ALONG VERY NICELY SINCE WE LAST MET.”
“I’m not su-”
“PLEASE?” He handed her back her pressed flower and her face softened. He could almost see the gears working in her mind.
“You know what? Yea, sure. Hop in, I’ll drive.” She took the flower.
Getting Papyrus in her car was a whole other task, and while his enthusiasm knew no bounds she still watched as he almost comically sat there adjusting the seat so he could at least sit in a position that was relatively comfortable.
“When I got this car I hadn’t figured I’d have someone like you in here, tall I mean. Pull that lever there on the side to lower the - yea that’s the one. Ok now -” she laughed.
“DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME. I DO BELIEVE I’VE FIGURED IT OUT.”
“Looks like it.” It really did, well at least he wasn’t bent at the waist now. Laura started up the car. “Ok, where to Papyrus.” She pulled out from the spot and waited at the stop sign. The skeleton was silent for a moment while he mapped out the route in his head.
“LEFT HERE, PLEASE.”
Getting to his house was a decent drive, more than her usual drives when the idiocy on the road usually put her into fit of swearing akin to a sailor. He didn’t live too far from the downtown area which made things easier, and his pleasant attitude was nothing short of contagious. Something Laura would have realized earlier if she hadn’t been so stubbornly set on pushing him away from her.
The house was simple, a little smaller than the one Toriel and Frisk lived in, but it was impeccably well kept. Two stories, a shed, and a decent sized front and back yard. All things Laura noted as she was led to the garden in the backyard.
Yet, once Laura saw the state of Papyrus’ garden she had to bite her cheek. It hadn’t grown at all, and there were so many things wrong.
“Papyrus?” she choked out.
“I KNOW IT HASN’T GROWN MUCH, BUT I AM SURE IT WILL IN NO TIME. I READ SOMEWHERE THAT TALKING TO YOUR PLANTS HELPS THEM GROW SO I HAVE BEEN TALKING TO THEM EVERY DAY.” When Laura looked at him she noticed he did look proud of his little garden. It was sweet. One more glance at the sad state of the barren ground though had her rolling up the sleeves of her flannel over shirt.
“Do you mind if I show you a few things that might help them grow a little faster?” she asked. Yes, she knew what she had just asked, and yes, she knew she was about to literally dig herself a hole she might not be able to back away from.
“DO YOU HAVE A GARDEN TOO?” Papyrus looked impress.
“Oh, uh, no, but my friend’s parents did when I was little.” she pulled her hair back and twisted it into a knot at the top of her head.
“WELL THEN OF COURSE! I WOULD LOVE YOUR ASSISTANCE.” Papyrus smiled wider and then jogged off to find his gardening gloves. “I MUST APOLOGIZE, I ONLY HAVE THE ONE PAIR AND IT IS VERY HARD TO GET DIRT AND GRIT OUT OF MY JOINTS.” he called from within the house.
“It’s fine, dude, I don’t mind getting my hands dirty.” She called out, settling onto her knees before one choked planter box by the fence. Too much mulch, too much water, and the soil seemed to be lacking the natural nutrients these kinds of plants preferred, almost as if this yard had indeed been dry and barren even before this. When Papyrus came back around she had already cleared away a good portion of the mulch by hand, leaving it in piles behind her. She was very likely going to have some splinters after this.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” He asked, settling onto his knees beside her, watching her make room for the plants.
“Giving them room to breathe, and grow.” She explained the basics of what she remembered from Carter’s parents’ garden and told him about the different kinds of plants and the kinds of soil they grew best in, and Papyrus drank it all in. After a moment when she had cleared enough room for the plans he asked her if he needed to go buy some new soil to help them start growing. She thought about it, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand and then answered in the affirmative. She was surprised the girl at the flower shop hadn’t told him this stuff but then he admitted he had really only asked which plants grow best in which seasons. That caused Laura to laugh.
While Papyrus had run off to get what he needed she continued clearing the areas for the plants.
From within the house Sans looked down from his window curiously, face neutral. When Papyrus returned, arms laden with bags of soil and other miscellaneous supplies he started to smile and turned away, retreating further into the house. Papyrus had gotten a second pair of gloves for Laura and she put them on gratefully.
Until the sun set she worked with him, mixing the soil for the seedlings and showing him out to care for them properly.
“I can’t guarantee this will work, but you get plenty of sun, and shade, which is good, so something should happen. You know…” she started, looking out over the rest of the yard.
“YES?”
“You could plant some flowers. Some of the ones that attract hummingbirds and bees. They can help pollinate and keep the garden healthy.” She mused.
“OH! THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL! AND VERY BRIGHT I IMAGINE. DO YOU KNOW WHICH ONES WOULD BE BEST?” he asked. Laura sat back on her heels and thought about it, thinking about the once she had helped plant decades ago. She tugged her gloves off and pulled her phone out, pulling up a quick search and reading off the list to Papyrus.
In the dim twilight that had settled on the garden Papyrus’ eyes and Laura’s phone shone the brightest, the former sitting beside her on the ground and pointing out different flowers and and asked questions. It was fully dark when she realized she still needed to get home and figure out dinner. Of course Papyrus offered to make her some spaghetti, but she politely declined, saying she had plenty of food she needed to work through in her fridge.
He didn’t let her leave without his number though and as soon as she got home she saw he had sent her a text, thanking her for her help.
The next week, on a day when she and Undyne were not having one of their “lessons” Laura decided to ask Papyrus how his garden was faring. He had been very talkative, running par with Carter who was beyond ecstatic for this turn of events in her life, and responded almost instantly, inviting her to come see for herself.
She hadn’t planned on going over, not really, but she was curious. Not to mention working in the garden had been soothing. So before long she was pulling into the driveway and opening the gate to the backyard. Nothing had really started growing from first glance, but Papyrus wasted no time int pulling her quickly to the bed of herbs where some of the smallest sprouts she had ever seen were growing. She congratulated him heartily, his beaming exuberance over this victory was contagious. Then she noticed that along the back of the house, just under the windowsill were rows of potted flowers.
Papyrus pointed them out, listing off each of the ones she had suggested the week before and asking if she wouldn’t mind helping him plant them.
For the rest of that afternoon she worked with Papyrus, adding color and life to his garden. She pointed out places that would be good for bird feeders, places where some birds might next come spring, and by the end of it all it the backyard had been turned into as colorful a place as the botany students’ greenhouses were. She was actually excited to see where this would go, how it would grow and bloom and smell as the seasons changed, and without even planning it she realized she had become invested.