Work Text:
"HUMAN, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE MUST BE HERE WASTING OUR TIME; WE DON'T NEED ANYTHING FROM THIS "SUPER MART."
Papyrus's voice was unmatched by everyone in the store, most of them going silent as they heard his loud boisterous voice. Not only was he a monster, but he was a loud and tall monster, so many were intimidating, mothers hushing their kids not to stare, employees looking around to see if this guy was even allowed here, you know, the usual.
"Pap, I just need a haircut, and this is the only place around that doesn't charge you an arm and a leg for a decent haircut. And please lower your voice, you're causing a scene." You said that last part more quietly, you knew he couldn't control his volume often, adapting it from the underground and its intimidating residents. He had trouble adjusting to the rule of inside voices. You were just lucky you didn't get tinnitus from his booming voice. Papyrus rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone while walking, you took his gloved hand and made your way deeper into the supermarket. Paps didn't really like most places in public, seeing as many didn't understand or appreciate monsters after they had finally reached the surface. Many people gave side eyes to you and your skeletal boyfriend, both of you never really cared about what they thought or said, but whenever someone would make a remark about you specifically, you had to drag Papyrus away from beating their ass.
You gave a squeeze to his hand, a small way of letting him know you loved him and you were here for him, he tore his sockets from his phone to look at your interlocked hands, his face features softening a bit, before squeezing back. After about five minutes, you both finally made it to the little area where they would cut hair. You made an appointment earlier, checking your phone, you were a couple minutes early, perfect.
"Hi, what can I help you with?" The older woman at the desk looked at you, before looking at Paps, before snapping her eyes back to you with a more nervous look, no doubt intimidated.
"Yes, hi! I have an appointment for [your name] at eleven 'o clock?" She nodded before typing something out on her computer.
"Here we are! Yes, I have you down, if you'll just follow this way, please." She stood up and took you and your taller partner more into the hair salon. It was one room, with different mirrors and black chairs that would spin around if you pushed them lightly. Some walls had some sort of picture of a model with gorgeous looking hair, and other walls had shelves with different kinds of hair products, from pomades, to conditioners, all of them overpriced and in little bottles. There was even a nice littler area in the corner with small, cushioned seats, and a little side table with different kinds of vogue type magazines for people to read. Finally, you got to the seat that she stood beside. "So, who's getting their hair cut, you?" She giggled, looking at the taller skeleton, a small little joke, you snorted at the small joke, but it seemed like Papyrus didn't enjoy the joke to much, to him, it wasn't even clever. He only like clever jokes.
"No, it's me," you spoke, unclenching his hand and taking a step forward to sit in the chair. You and the hairdresser talked a bit about what your idea was, you didn't tell Papyrus, you wanted it to be a surprise. Although, to him, he didn't understand, why did humans make such a big deal out of their hair? Why did they need a professional just to do their hair? How come they needed so much product just to look good? He never understood, and how could he? He was bald, and a skeleton, he had no head or body hair. Then again, he was curious, would you truly look that much more different by cutting your hair? You never really cut your hair before in his presence, so, although he would never admit he cared, was still just a bit curious.
"I'm sorry sir, but could you please go sit down while I cut her hair? It won't be too long, I promise." Papyrus was kind of taken back, him? Go sit down? In the cheap worn seats? He was the Great and Terrible Papyrus! His dignity and ego would be crushed if he was caught by an acquaintance or enemy in THAT kind of a chair! Girl, please.
You sensed Papyrus's discomfort and gave him a small smile.
"Hey, I won't be long, ok? Just a haircut, and we'll go, ok?" He sighed and nodded; he knew he couldn't argue with you, and better yet, he didn't want to argue with you. He walked over to the chair and sat on his phone, scrolling through his social media. Soon he would be popular, he just knew it, he just had to make a couple more cooking and puzzle tutorials and he would be popular.
Minutes later, a father and their kid walked in, the kid already in tears, sniffling and sobbing quite loudly, if there was one thing Papyrus didn't like, it was crying, especially children crying. Once the kid was seated in a hair cutting chair, they started to scream, reaching their arms for their father to pick them up. The crying got louder as the lady showed the small human child their hair cutting equipment and explaining it to them. Papyrus sighed, if he had ears, he would plug them. Papyrus turned his attention to you, you were chatting it up with the hairdresser, laughing about something as she cut your hair. His eyes lingered longer. Noticing you already looked so much different, your hair was much shorter, it wasn't done, but even with it not being done, you looked...different. A good kind of different. Papyrus's soul thumped against his ribs, hair cut or not, you were always breath taking to him, even when you were at your lowest, and even at your highest, at your stupidest, and at your smartest moments, his loved for you never lessened, it only increased each day he spent with you. As the hairdresser turned your chair around to cut the back, you caught Papyrus's eyes staring at you. His cheeks slightly red, you weren't even sure how a skeleton could blush since they had no blood, but every time Papyrus did, it sent butterflies in your chest and stomach. He always looked so cute, no matter how intimidating he got, you always saw the sides to him that no one else does, the softer sides. The way his lights lit up whenever a dish turned out edible, the way he smiled at a new leather jacket (Seriously, you couldn't drag leather jackets away from him even if you tried), the way he leaned into your touch as you would cup his face, the cute, dumb smile he gave whenever you kissed his face, and even the way he would laugh at your messy hair each morning, still complimenting you saying how delightful you looked.
He seemed to notice you staring back at him and blushed an even deeper red, you gave him a small smirk back of pure tender happiness. The moment was cut off when the small child started thrashing around in the seat, screaming and throwing a tantrum. It took so much in you not to laugh, sure, you didn't enjoy watching a kid cry, but the way he was waving his arms around was kinda funny.
A couple more minutes passed, and Papyrus was still on his phone, looking at anything trending or stupid, which, considering the internet, the two were often one in the same. He didn't even notice you standing in front of him.
"Yoo who? Paps?" Papyrus snapped his head up flinching, not noticing you at first. Normally he's so used to having his guard up, that catching him off guard would be a one in a million chance, but being out of the underground, you've found him lowering his guard. "There you are, Princess, you weren't bored for too long, I hope." You laughed, you didn't often call him pet names, but when you did, he would always be taken a back, never truly knowing how to respond to it. Princess was a new one though, you just called him that to mess with him or tease him.
"OF COURSE NOT, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS IS NEVER-..." He cut himself off, looking at you in the eyes...Wow...He didn't know what to say, your hair was so much shorter, much lighter. It went wonderfully with your face, complimenting the small things, like your face shape. Now he understood why humans made big deals out of hair. You looked amazing before, but you truly looked so exquisite. He almost didn't hear what you were saying.
"Sooooo, what do you think? It's a lot shorter than what I wanted, but I honestly think it's a good look for me. I already paid, so we can go if you want...Paps? Hello? Don't tell me I lost ya again," you joke, pushing his chest lightly. He bent down and tapped his sharp teeth on your hairline, his way of kissing you since he didn't have lips.
"YOU LOOK RAVISHING, DARLING." Your face heated up at the pet name. Usually he wouldn't be caught dead saying one to you in public, but man, every time he said one, it just made you melt. You laughed, his head resting on top of yours.
"Alright Mr. Love Bones, you're messing up my hair!" You giggled, lightly pushing him off your head, which resulted in a scratchy chuckle, normally he would either full on laugh, or he wouldn't, so, chuckling was something new. "Come one, I wanna get home and style this thing, and I want pizza rolls." Papyrus rolled his eyes playfully, putting his phone in his pocket. He took your hand, squeezing it and bending down slightly to kiss your knuckles, before walking with you out of the hair salon, the click of his boots, and the crying of the still fussy child ringing behind the two of you.