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Alphys rarely got a chance to sit in the back seat of her and Undyne’s car, since she was almost always the one driving. A sixteen hour road trip made that impossible. Or, unwise. The last time they had made the same trip, Alphys had powered through with the help of energy drinks and misused healing spells. She’d swerved out of the way of something that wasn’t there around hour fourteen, and this time they brought Papyrus along to take over when she got tired.
Mettaton’s newest CD blasting through the speakers woke Alphys up from dozing. Her neck felt like someone had bent her head completely backwards, and she groaned.
“Turn it down!” Undyne swore. "You woke up Alphys, come ON!“
"It’s okay, Undyne,” Alphys said. She yawned and tried to stretch out. Everything was stiff and sore, so she must have been out for a couple hours.
“I HAD NO IDEA THE VOLUME WOULD BE UP SO HIGH,” Papyrus said.
“N-no problem, Papyrus. If I kept sleeping like I was, I’d be, uh, pretty bad off the rest of the trip,” she admitted.
“Oh! You need me to rub your neck, Alphys?” Undyne was all grin.
“Ummm…”
“keep it pg back there,” Sans said. He had the navigator’s position in the front. He mostly napped, so luckily Papyrus had memorized the route before they left.
“We’re all grownups here!” Undyne said, laughing. "Just don’t look back if you’re grossed out.“ She started to move over.
"YOU MAY DO WHATEVER YOU LIKE, AND YOUR ULTIMATE WINGMAN PAPYRUS WILL JUST KEEP HIS EYES ON THE ROAD AS HE WOULD BE DOING ANYWAY, BUT IF ANYONE UNBUCKLES THEIR SEATBELT, I AM PULLING OVER!”
“got it.”
“I WAS NOT TALKING TO YOU, SANS! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TELLING ME WHEN WE ARE COMING UP TO OUR EXIT, NOT MAKING CONVERSATION WITH OUR PASSENGERS! YOU SHOULD BE TAKING YOUR RESPONSIBILITY SERIOUSLY.”
“there’s the exit,” Sans said, as they passed it.
While Papyrus was distracted, Undyne unbuckled her seatbelt, slid over to the middle seat, and buckled herself in again. She stared directly at Alphys and blinked. Alphys wondered if she was trying to wink.
“I’m ok, Undyne,” Alphys said. "I just slept weird.“
Undyne held up her hands and wiggled her fingers. "A~lphys.” Her voice was sing-song. "You know I can’t stand to see you hurting. Let me beat the pain right out of you!“
Undyne’s massages were like being shoved through a meat-grinder, but somehow Alphys always felt better once she was done. There wasn’t much she could actually reach, with both of them buckled up. She managed a one-handed neck massage.
"I wish you could reach my tail,” Alphys said. "G-god, it feels like, like someone is driving a nail into my lower back. Next year I’m fixing up the backseat so I don’t go numb.“
"I’ll give you a whole body workover once we’re at Gerson’s!” Undyne said. She blinked, again, in that slightly suggestive way.
“Oh, god, Undyne.” Alphys’ face felt hot. "Uh…“ She hid her blush with her hands. "Maybe for now, l-let’s just…why don’t you, um…give me a shoulder to rest my head on? Maybe that will hurt less? I don’t know.”
“All right, Alphys. Your head must be pretty heavy with all those brains in it, but I’m sure my shoulder’s strong enough to hold it up.”
“That…that was a really, uh, sweet way to say I have a fat head,” Alphys said, laughing.
“…wait! Let me put that some other way.” Undyne looked briefly embarrassed. “Nap on me, Alphys! I’m like one of your body pillows, except even better, ‘cause I’m real!"
Sans turned up the volume on the CD.
"HEY! We’re trying to relax back here! Alphys drove for ten hours straight!”
“N-no, it’s ok,” Alphys said. "Really. I really don’t mind if they can’t hear what we’re saying.“ Her face felt hot again. "It’s not that loud, anyway.” She thought she could still sleep.
Alphys put her head on Undyne’s shoulder. Shyren’s singing voice had a soothing quality to it, so she started to drift off again.
She felt Undyne kiss the top of her head. Alphys sighed, and relaxed against her.