Chapter Text
"Dammit Sans, I’m not fucking wearing that!” Once again, I stepped out of the skeleton’s grasp. We were both getting more and more aggravated as time went on.
“I fuckin’ told you ya hafta’! Now get over here!”
I resisted the urge to growl defiantly. I mean, to be honest, it would only really help his case.
A collar. I couldn’t fucking believe it. The bastard wanted to put a collar and leash on me and parade me down Snowdin like some kind of shitty show dog. I wasn’t having any of it.
“No! I’m not a pet!”
Another few steps forward for him and backwards for me.
“As long as you’re in this fuckin’ universe, yeah ya are, doll!”
Another few steps.
“Fuck you! How dare you! No, I’m not!”
“Fuck you, yeah ya are!”
“Bitch no!”
I was basically just walking backwards at this point.
“Bitch yes!”
“BITCH NO-”
“Please put it on!”
Flowey’s voice in my ear had us halt our argument altogether. I was stunned. He wanted me to put it on? Flowey of all monsters was agreeing with Sans???
“Wait what? Why?” I asked incredulously.
Sans looked as confused as I felt.
“Humans are illegal down here. If you seem like you’re free and you’re seen with Sans then he and Papyrus will be in a lot of trouble. It might be grounds for execution,” Flowey explained.
After a moment of processing, I threw up my hands in exasperation.
“Y’all! Ugh. Give me that,” I grabbed the collar and leash from Sans’ outstretched hand and began fastening it around my neck, “Honestly I don’t understand why you didn’t just fucking tell me that in the first place!”
Sans couldn’t seem to stop staring at me in pure bewilderment, so I ignored him as I carefully maneuvered the black leather around Flowey’s vines so I wouldn’t hurt him. The collar was cold against my skin, leaving goosebumps behind where it grazed my neck.
“...what?” Sans finally asked, staring at me like I had just told him I thought Jerry was hot.
I raised an eyebrow and tightened the collar so that it was comfortable and secure,
“What?”
He sputtered,
“Tha’ fuck ya mean what? Yer gonna suddenly change your mind just like that?”
I clipped the black studded leash to the ring at the front of the collar. The BDSM vibes I was getting from this entire situation made me force down the urge to cringe.
“Listen, Cherrybomb-”
“I told ya not ta’ call me that!”
“-It’s you and Paps here on the line. Frankly, I don’t care what universe I’m in, I don’t think I could ever purposefully bring harm to either of you because I care about you two,” after a few moments of stunned silence and Sans’ rapidly reddening face, I cleared my throat and scowled for his benefit. I got the feeling that this Sans would be just as emotionally constipated as mine and didn’t want to make him too uncomfortable, “now let's get this shit over with.”
I held out the other end of the leash for him to take, which he did reluctantly. Then, when his face was as red as possible, he snapped out of it.
“Whatever! Just keep your mouth shut and yer head down. An' stop that sappy shit; yer gonna get killed or somethin'."
Not without a small grin, I did as he asked.
And off we went.
As we approached Snowdin, the reason for everyone's reluctance became clear. The monsters I grew to know and love were... mean. Much like Sans, everyone here wore a variation of black and red from head to toe. Some wore chains and spikes while others went so far as to wear masks. I was pretty sure I caught a knife holster strapped to the thigh of one of the bunny children as well, but I couldn't be sure. People insulted and threatened each other and it was clear Sans wasn't exactly their favourite person. He wasn't their least favourite person either though. They seemed scared of him. Or at the very least; wary.
I had to admit, seeing everyone so different was painful. The atrocities they had to go through at the hands of their neighbours and what they used to call friends? I couldn't imagine it. And knowing that this all stemmed from the poor decisions of this universe’s Asgore made me hold some sort of resentment towards the guy. But I had never met him so it was a little unfair of me to make those judgements so soon.
I tried to keep my head down and stay in character, going so far as to tremble slightly and hunch into myself in order to look scared. My hood was pulled so far down on my face you could only really see my mouth unless you were uncomfortably close.
Aside from a few scathing glares, thanks to me being "Sans' pet" most people didn't dare come near me or even say a word in my direction. Not after the vicious threats Sans barked out after a drunk monster took one look at my curves and bare legs and asked Sans if I was for sale.
Thanks to that, the rest of the trip through Snowdin was borderline relaxing. Or it would be if I didn't have to constantly make sure Flowey wasn't shaking too hard or whimpering too loudly. The poor guy was scared out of his mind.
Thankfully the walk to the skelebros' house wasn't too long, the lack of pants in the harsh cold was really starting to get to me. On the upside, I no longer had to pretend to tremble because my shivering was real.
Finally, Sans shoved me through the door and locked it behind us, allowing me to relax and straighten my posture,
“Ughhh oh my god that feels so much better,” I groaned, rolling my shoulders and pulling down my hood. Flowey was close to hyperventilating on my shoulder. The poor thing was shaking so hard I was afraid he was going to fall off.
Frowning, I brought my hand up to try to pet and soothe him,
“Hey, Sweetpea, it’s alright. You’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you, okay?”
He leaned into my touch and as he was starting to calm, a new familiar voice rang through the house,
“SANS! Is that you? Why the FUCK aren’t you at your post?”
Oh my god, it’s Papyrus. And he’s swearing, holy shit!
“I don’t want to deal with that BITCH FUCKING FISH breathing down my FUCKING NECK AGAIN BECAUSE YOU-”
His thunderous footsteps and screaming came to an absolute halt as he entered the room and caught sight of me. A tense silence fell over the room as we took each other in.
This Papyrus looked to be taller than the Papyrus I knew and loved. Like everyone else so far, his colour scheme seemed to consist of mainly black and red. His shoulder pads were sharp and spiky and his scarf was in tatters at the end. Worryingly, there was a large gash over his eye, which, when combined with his sharklike fangs, made for a significantly more aggressive and mature looking Papyrus.
Oh no.
He recovered faster than me and I watched as his scowl morphed into a cruel grin.
“Well look who finally got off his lazy ass and did some work for a change!” before he could continue with what I was sure would be a long villainous speech, I snapped out of my daze.
“What the fuck?” I practically yelled in shock, capturing the attention of everyone in the room, “How come nobody told me Papyrus was hot?!”
My response was a chorus of “what!?” but I wasn’t done,
“Like okay, I know Paps is attractive, sure, but Jesus fuck, you gotta warn a girl! Like damn, my Papyrus is practically family, you can’t just not warn me that his alternate double is-”
Suddenly the wind was knocked out of me and a large hand was pinning me to the wall by my neck. I opened my eyes that I hadn’t even realized I had closed, to be met with the burning red eyelights of the edgy Papyrus. His face was uncomfortably close to mine and his expression was weirdly unreadable. I was tempted to make a crack about jumping my bones, but the restricted airflow and my sense of self preservation squashed that monkey-brain idea down quickly.
“Firstly,” Papyrus’ voice was low and dangerous, “from this point on, Pet, you are my prisoner. You will only open that disgusting fucking human mouth of yours when you have the permission to and you will only speak when you are spoken to. You will never address me so informally again. I am Master and only Master to scum the likes of you.”
I raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t gonna fly.
“Second, flattery will get you nowhere with me. It certainly won’t stop me from delivering you to the king and the eventual downfall of your entire species when we break the barrier, get up to the surface, and kill everyone you know and love. Do I make myself clear?”
Instead of answering him, I grabbed onto his wrist so that I wouldn’t accidentally lose him in the void, and teleported us two feet in the air and away from the wall. As predicted, once Papyrus realized there suddenly wasn’t air under his feet, he let go of me and I teleported out of his reach.
We landed on the ground at the same time.
“Oh, you’re reading crystal clear, Pap. But there’s one little problem with your plan. My soul can’t be used to break the barrier,” I gasped, greedily sucking in air and trying to look like I wasn’t being hit with a headrush, “Plus! It’s not flattery if I meant it.”
I sighed as Papyrus’ gaze turned murderous and I began trying to undo the collar around my neck only to find that it wouldn’t unlatch. Before I could question it, I had to dodge a razor-sharp bone attack aimed directly at my head.
Goddammit.
“You dare show such blatant disrespect, wench? In my own home? Your lies will not save you.”
“I’m not lying! I am fairly certain that my soul can’t be used not only because it’s not from this universe, but because since I can use magic, it would do about as much good as trying to use Undyne’s soul!”
He allowed a harsh laugh,
“Nyeh! I have to say, that is one of the most creative pathetic excuses I’ve been given.”
“No, it’s true! Paps, in my universe I have been best friends with Papyrus and Sans for nearly two years! There must be something I can tell you that will make you believe me.”
“Do you take me for a fool, human?”
“Why would I put on this fucking collar myself and allow Sans to parade me around like some pet if I didn’t care what happened to you? Both of you?”
He paused and whipped his head over to look at Sans who nodded.
Gee Sans, thanks for all the help. Really appreciate it.
“Brother, is any of what this scum says true?”
Sans regarded me for a moment before turning back to his brother,
“Honestly? I believe the doll. She told me some shit from when I was a babybones that I had never told anyone before,” Papyrus eyed me thoughtfully. “Besides,” Sans continued, shrugging, “if she’s lying we could always just kill her.”
Papyrus barked out a cruel laugh,
“I suppose you’re right, brother! Something as weak as this wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Now that annoyed me a little bit.
I was many things. Impulsive? Sure. Someone who starts every day with a large glass of dumb bitch juice? Absolutely. Slightly naive? Has trouble holding her tongue? Gullible? Nosy? All yes. But weak? Hell no.
“Excuse you!” I planted my hands on my hips, “I am not weak. No one who trains under both The Great Papyrus and Undyne The Undying is weak, thank you very much!”
Papyrus narrowed his eyes at me,
“Hmm. I suppose not. So tell me, little human, if you’re telling the truth, and you are in fact useless to me, then why are you here wasting my time?” he snarled.
Thankfully, Sans stepped in,
“Ah, well you see, Boss, I kinda told her I would help get her back home-”
To my horror that got Sans a smack upside the head. I covered my mouth in shock as the sound of bone hitting bone grated my ears,
“IDIOT!” and much quieter, like he didn’t want to be heard by any prying ears just outside, “You want to harbour a fucking human? And ruin all my hard work? I am this close to overthrowing that fucking fish and you want to risk it all for some dumb human?”
Sans paused at that question and looked back at me, bewildered. Like he didn’t know the answer himself. Then his face changed when he caught sight of my concerned expression and he gestured for Papyrus to lean closer to him, which he did reluctantly.
Awkwardly trying not to strain my ears to listen to their whispered conversation, I turned my attention back to Flowey and the collar around my neck.
“I think this collar is magic,” whispered Flowey after I struggled with it for a while longer, “You can’t unlock it or cut it off without skeleton magic.”
Wow, that’s… weirdly convenient I guess.
I summoned my only tiny bone attack and pressed the sharp end to the underside of the thick leather. To my surprise, it cut like butter. I caught the collar before it hit the ground and interrupted whatever super-secret conversation the skelebros were having.
“Oh, thank you,” I whispered back, “how are you holding up, sweetpea?”
“Me?” He asked incredulously, “You have a handprint wrapped around your throat, why are you worried about me?”
No sooner than I said that, my throat became incredibly warm. I instantly recognized the unmistakable warmth of green magic.
“Honestly, you’re gonna get killed here if you keep provoking monsters like that!”
I chuckled at my mother hen, feeling actually pretty loved and cared for. The green magic was only adding to the feeling,
“Okay, Flowey. I’ll try to be more careful. Thank you.”
“Hmph! You better.”
I grinned and reached up to stroke his petals in thanks, only to realize the room had gotten quiet.
Looking up, I realized that the skeletons had finished their conversation and were staring at us with odd expressions on their faces. Like the five stages of grief, they seemed to speedrun a whole slew of emotions before finally landing on bewilderment with an underlying thoughtfulness.
When they realized they had caught my attention, Papyrus cleared his throat and forcibly scowled,
“Wench! How the fuck did you get that collar off?”
I grinned and summoned my single attack again, holding it in the air for them to see. They both tensed as my magic crackled to life and I resisted the urge to scoff.
Like I would actually try to attack them.
“This is about as sophisticated as my bone attacks get. We could never figure out how to get me strong enough to summon anything larger. I don’t know if I’m doing it wrong or if I’m just not strong enough, but this is the extent. It’s not great for fighting, but it is pretty handy for cutting through magically locked collars,” I winked, dissipating the bone and tossing the now destroyed collar to Papyrus.
He raised his brow in surprise before chancing a glance at the cleanly cut leather. He seemed to work something out in his head before once again painting a scowl on his face.
"If I am going to put up with a human soiling my impeccable home then there will be rules."
I beamed. Whatever it was that Sans told him clearly changed his mind about me,
"Thank you so much Paps!"
"That is rule number one. You will not refer to me as any of these ridiculous nicknames. I can see you're too stubborn to follow my earlier command. Actually, I imagine you would sooner cut off an appendage before calling someone master, correct?"
He didn't give me the option to answer, but for the record he was totally right.
"And while that is infuriating, I am not a stupid monster, so I will relent. Instead you may address me as my official title, or you may call me Boss. Nothing else. Secondly, if you are to stay then you will earn your time here through chores done to my standards, which, as you should already know based on your story, are very high. Thirdly, you are not to leave this house under any circumstances without one of us, unless stated otherwise. Humans are illegal here. If it is discovered that we are harbouring you, it will mean dire consequences for everyone. Do I make myself clear, human?”
Honestly, other than the cabin fever that would be sure to come with the last rule, I had no problems with his terms. I let the thankful smile spread across my face again,
“Loud and clear, Boss!”
His scowl dropped just a smidge,
“Good. You learn quickly. That will serve you well once we address my final condition.”
I tilted my head, confused.
“As someone who possesses skeleton magic, you are responsible for keeping the reputation of our strength and cunning intact. From what I have seen of your abilities, while your void magic is barely up to par, your summon is embarrassing at best.”
Honestly I wasn’t even upset. While he technically insulted me, he was right. My bonework was pretty shit. That didn’t explain where he was going with this though.
“I cannot allow that,” his scowl morphed into a vicious smile, “So from this point forward, you will train under me until you are worthy enough to use the magic you possess. It will not be easy. It will not be fun. It will be painful and unforgiving. I will work you until you can no longer stand and then some. Once you agree there is no backing out.”
Suddenly I was nervous. Unsure.
I wasn’t the most athletic or strong. Not by any standard. Especially not by Boss’. Physically I just didn’t know if I would be able to hold up to his expectations. I bit my lip, on the verge of voicing my concerns, then I looked up and met Sans’ gaze.
He was relaxed, sort of. At any rate, he didn’t look concerned or unsure. Whether the cause of his ease were my abilities or his brother’s ability to train others I didn’t know. Regardless, I’m ashamed to admit how much he reminded me of my own Sans in that moment and how much I allowed that to give me comfort.
The soft reassurance Flowey was giving me by stroking my cheek steeled my nerves and allowed me to collect my panicking thoughts.
So I took a deep breath, thought of bettering myself, not only for my sake, but for the sake of the monsters I loved, and met Papyrus’ challenging stare with one of my own,
“Fine. But not because I give a shit about my reputation, don’t get me twisted. I want to be strong enough to protect who I love,” I willed a small light green shield no bigger than a dinner plate into existence., “I can shield a soul just fine, but as far as physical barriers go, this is my limit. If you teach me offensive magic, I’d like you to train me in defensive magic as well."
His surprised expression lasted mere moments before a flash of something unreadably soft, and then morphing back into his signature scowl,
“Very well, human. You have a deal.”