Chapter Text
On most days, walking home from Undyne’s house on the Surface was a good way for Papyrus to clear his head. Today was not one of those days.
'Um, Paps … about that guard thing …'
On most days, he would enjoy the clear winter breeze around his head, and greet both monsters and humans on the streets with a bright smile. He would not, normally, replay the last conversation with his friend and ex-trainer in his mind.
'That ‘special training’ back then, it, um, it really was just cooking lessons.'
A young bunny monster called his name from across the street, and it took Papyrus a second to put his smile back on his face – when had it dropped? – and wave back at them.
'What I mean is … I never actually trained you to be in the guard, Papyrus.' Undyne looked aside sheepishly, running a hand through her hair. 'Sorry, I … should have told you sooner, I guess. I just thought you’d figure it out, y’know? That it was just cooking, not guard training.'
'OH. OH! OF COURSE. HOW SILLY OF ME. HAHA.'
It really was silly, wasn’t it? He should have realized that making spaghetti was not truly a necessary skill for a future guardsman. Anyway, it wasn’t a big deal, right? The Royal Guard had been disbanded when the barrier was broken. Even if Papyrus could have joined them back in the Underground, it wouldn’t make any difference now.
He shook his skull to clear his mind. There was no use dwelling on this! So he wouldn’t! Straightening his spine, he quickened his pace.
It was only a matter of minutes before he found himself at his own front door. As he fumbled for the keys in his pocket, he looked up the familiar facade. The house was built almost identical to the one in Snowdin, and now the building seemed almost nostalgic to him, a reminder of the time back before everything had changed.
Not that the changes were bad! Things were just … different now.
Very different.
Not only had Frisk the human freed monsterkind from their underground prison, but a malfunctioning machine in his brother’s basement had recently led to the accidental discovery of alternate universes – and had sent both Sans and Papyrus on an unplanned trip into a more murdery, more dangerous and much more spiky Underground. Eventually, they had found their way back home, but not without the help of the local Sans and Papyrus, dubbed Red and Fell to avoid confusion. It turned out they were actually rather nice monsters, once you got past the initial death threats!
Also, his own alternate self was second-in-command of the Royal Guard.
Papyrus quelled the spontaneous pang of misplaced jealousy. He had been there, he knew what Fell’s duties in his world encompassed, and he did not envy him for it. If anything, Papyrus was glad that at least one version of himself had succeeded in joining the guard.
He took a deep breath and put on a smile again before unlocking the door. No use dwelling on it, he reminded himself.
“I’M BACK, BROTHER!” he called as he entered the living room.
Sans, half buried in the couch cushions, gave a small wave. “hey, bro. how was your stay at undyne’s?”
“GOOD! AS ALWAYS!” he said cheerfully. His cheekbones were starting to hurt.
Frowning, Sans extracted himself from the couch. “is everything okay?”
Darn it. Apparently, Papyrus’ smile was not as convincing as he had thought. And when Sans looked this worried, there wasn’t any point in lying.
“IT’S NOTHING IMPORTANT.” He tried a chuckle, but it sounded forced even to himself. “DID YOU KNOW THAT UNDYNE HADN’T ACTUALLY BEEN TRAINING ME FOR THE GUARD BACK UNDERGROUND?”
An expression of guilt flashed over Sans’ face. “aw, paps …” He reached out to comfort him.
Papyrus took a step back. “DID YOU KNOW?” He tried to keep his voice neutral, non-accusing, but Sans’ shoulders still slumped down.
“listen, paps, i’m sorry, really –”
“NO, IT’S ALRIGHT. I UNDERSTAND.” He did, really. They hadn’t wanted to hurt his feelings by outright telling him that he wasn’t suited for the Guard. That he was “just too nice to send into battle” as Undyne had put it earlier. And maybe they were right! But that they thought he couldn’t handle the rejection and would rather keep lying to him for years – he couldn’t help but feel slightly offended.
Sans looked up at him like a sad puppy. “you were always so happy when you talked about the guard. didn’t want to take that away from you, y’know?” For as guilty as he looked and sounded, there wasn’t a lot of regret in his voice.
Papyrus felt the remainder of his smile slip. This was no use. He needed to get away. As much as he appreciated his brother’s concern for him, he had enough of being coddled, like everyone here seemed intent on doing. He was the Great Papyrus, for stars’ sake, multiverse-traveller and vice-ambassador of monsterkind! And yet this whole Guard fiasco was just the last of many recent events that made him think not everyone had quite realized that he was, indeed, an adult. (The fact that the bunny lady from the inn was still offering him lollipops was the least of his concerns.)
Why was it so hard to find someone who took him seriously?
His thoughts traveled back to Fell.
No, that was silly! He couldn’t just flee the entire universe over some maybe – slightly – hurt feelings.
But neither did he want to stay and argue – and the machine was just down the stairs. It wasn’t like he was running away, really. Just taking a short break. Paying a quick visit to his multiverse friends, like he had done before.
“um, paps?”
Papyrus cleared his nonexistent throat. “I! JUST REMEMBERED! FELL AND I HAVE ARRANGED FOR A PAPYRUS MOVIE NIGHT TODAY THAT I CLEARLY FORGOT TO TELL YOU ABOUT! SO! I MUST BE OFF!”
He didn’t wait for Sans to call him out on his threadbare excuse and was already down the stairs before his brother could get out a single word to stop him.
***
Papyrus stepped out into a basement almost identical to the one he had just left. If anything, this one looked a little more dusty – whether it was traces of dead monsters or just regular dust from disuse, he couldn’t tell. He hoped for the latter.
Even now he was almost sure that he had overreacted. He was being childish, avoiding the situation like this instead of staying and talking things out. But if he turned around now and went back home immediately, wouldn’t that seem even more immature? No, he would just stay for a few hours, hopefully clear his head, then return home, and everything would go back to normal.
And while he was here, he could just as well have the movie night he just made up! It had been a while since their last inter-dimensional meet-up, and he was curious what the skeleton brothers from this darker world had been up to.
He should call Fell and let him know about it.
The phone was picked up on the second ring. For a moment, the sound of wind was all Papyrus could hear, before Fell’s gruff voice came through the speaker. “Creampuff?”
Papyrus brightened at the moniker that had long since turned into an affectionate nickname. “FELL! HOW NICE TO TALK TO YOU! SAY, DO YOU MIND IF I COME OVER?”
“Not at all –”
“WONDERFUL! BECAUSE I MAY OR MAY NOT BE ALREADY STANDING IN YOUR BASEMENT.”
There was a pause on the other side of the line, then a huff that sounded somewhere between amused and exasperated. “I’m on my way home. Stay there, I’m coming to pick you up.” Fell hung up before Papyrus could answer.
Papyrus put the phone back in his inventory and settled down on the edge of a workbench. Just like his old house in Snowdin, the basement here did not connect directly to the living room, and after a certain … incident a while ago, him and Fell had agreed that Papyrus should not walk out to the front door on his own.
While waiting, he listened for sounds outside the basement door. It was something the previous visits to this universe had taught him: always stay alert and aware of the surroundings! Thankfully, no fights seemed to be taking place outside the basement. As a matter of fact, he didn't hear any monsters at all. It sounded like there was a storm coming up, if the occasional howling of the wind and the patter of light hail against the wall was any indication. Everyone who didn't need to be outside had probably left the streets.
Suddenly, the snow outside the basement crunched under heavy footsteps. Papyrus stood up straight. The footsteps came to a halt, a key clicked in the lock, and the door swung open.
With a blast of air, a tall skeleton stepped into the basement. Snow was clinging to his scarf and to the pointed shoulder plates of his armor, but he made no move to brush it off as he pulled the door closed behind him. His sharp teeth were set, his expression watchful under the old scar that ran down his eye socket. Red eyelights quickly scoured the room and settled on Papyrus.
“HELLO, FELL!” Papyrus greeted.
Slowly, Fell’s posture loosened and his face relaxed into a genuine smile. With two long strides he was in front of Papyrus and pulled him into an almost bone-crushing embrace. His metal breastplate was damp from the snow and cold enough that Papyrus could feel it through his clothes as he returned the hug with just as much force.
“It’s good to see you, Creampuff,” Fell muttered against his skull before releasing him.
Papyrus stepped back just far enough that he could look Fell over. It hadn’t escaped him that his alternate self seemed more tense than usual. “IS ANYTHING CAUSING TROUBLE?”
Fell gave a noncommittal grunt. “Not yet, but there might be soon. If the weather keeps getting worse, our food transports will have a hard time getting through to Snowdin. It wouldn’t be the first time, and we are as prepared as we can be, but it is always a recipe for disaster.” He ran a hand over his skull. “We will have to wait and see. But what brings you here so suddenly?”
“OH! WELL, I JUST THOUGHT WE COULD HAVE A SPONTANEOUS PAPYRUS MOVIE NIGHT!” Papyrus stifled the impulse to wring his hands. “IF YOU HAVE TIME, THAT IS.”
Fell narrowed his eye sockets at him. “And why are you really here?”
***
Papyrus and Fell had moved their conversation to the living room. They were on their second cups of sea tea when Papyrus had finished recounting the events that lead to him turning up unannounced in Fell’s basement.
“ANYWAY,” he said. “I DON’T SUPPOSE THIS IS SOMETHING YOU, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE LIEUTENANT FELL, HAVE EVER HAD TO DEAL WITH, CONSIDERING YOUR WHOLE …” Papyrus made a vague hand gesture, trying to encompass Fell’s entire intimidating appearance.
“I did, actually.” Fell took a sip from his own tea. “But my Undyne never bothered to lie to me about it. Back in the day, she made it very clear that I was much too soft to ever become a guardsman.” His mouth twitched.
Oh. “REALLY? HOW DID YOU CONVINCE HER OTHERWISE?”
Fell opened his mouth, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted when suddenly the lights went out.
Papyrus blinked a few times. All he could see were Fell’s eyelights looking back at him from the other side of the couch. He reached over the armrest and flipped the light switch back and forth. Nothing happened. The floor lamp was equally non-functional. “ALRIGHT,” he said slowly. “DO YOU OFTEN HAVE POWER OUTAGES HERE?”
“Sometimes,” Fell answered. The couch cushions rustled as he stood up. “There’s a flashlight and candles in the kitchen, I’ll go get them.”
Papyrus stood as well, carefully made his way to the window and peeked behind the curtain. The storm had gotten worse. It was only afternoon, but with the dense snowfall blocking the artificial daylight almost entirely, it was dark enough to look like nighttime. Thick snowflakes and hailstones pounded against the window.
A door opened on the upper floor, and Papyrus spun around, dropping the curtain. He looked up to find Red, as they had chosen to call the Sans of this universe, standing at the railing, flashlight in hand. He let the beam of light wander across the living room, and Papyrus squinted as it came to rest on his face.
“heya, creampuff.” Red narrowed his sockets, but thankfully, the flashlight moved on. “the hell is going on here?”
Fell returned from the kitchen with a box of candles and a flashlight of his own. “We have a visitor. And a power outage.”
“i’ve gathered as much.” In the blink of an eye, Red was standing next to them. “one related to the other, or not?”
“I DON’T THINK SO?” Papyrus rubbed his chin. “I CAME HERE WELL BEFORE THE POWER WENT OUT, AND I HAVEN’T MESSED WITH THE MACHINE …” He trailed off as another thought struck him. The machine. His only way back to his home universe. The machine that certainly needed power to run. He swallowed. “SAY, HOW LONG DO POWER OUTAGES LAST HERE, USUALLY?”
“That depends on what exactly caused them,” said Fell. “With this weather, at least a few days before any repair work can start. Why?”
Papyrus opened his mouth to respond, but apparently Red had followed his train of thought. “the machine,” he mumbled. “fuck.” Before Papyrus could react, he was grabbed by the elbow and dragged through a shortcut into the basement.
It did not take long to confirm that, with the power cut off, multiverse travel was indeed impossible. Red gave the machine a final kick before turning back to the other two skeletons.
“well, creampuff,” he said with a wry smile, “how long were you planning to stay?”