Chapter Text
Ring...ring... ... ... ...Beep!
"...H...hello...? Ah... ...I-it's me...Um...I know it's uncharacteristic for me to call, let alone leave a voicemail but...um...I-I didn't know who else to call because...b-because...A-anyway...I'm calling because...erm...I...I.......This will be the last time...you guys will hear from me....and...I just....wanted to say...that I'm sorry...that I lied...and not said anything...but I didn't want to scare you guys....and honestly, my existence is....nothing but a burden to everyone involved...a-and I'm leaving this message because...b-because it'll be the last time you hear my voice..."
You don't know how you got here.
Never in your life has it ever crossed your mind that you would be standing in front of a door, waiting to be led into a home that belonged to monsters for a get-together. You gripped the strap of your bag as you stood behind Frisk, the boy who - somehow - convinced you that it would be a good idea to introduce you to his friends. You don't know what compelled you to agree, since you yourself was not fond of meeting strangers, or being around people in general. Monsters, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. When the idea was first brought up to you, it was easy to decline then since you had work that day, but rather than wholly declining the request, you rescheduled. Why, you continued to ask yourself, did you agree to this in the first place? Being a social butterfly was never on your agenda, having grown an affinity to solitude. And yet, there you stood, young Frisk already walking up the wooden steps of the porch to alert the monsters of your arrival. You wanted to back out, make up some excuse to leave and, hopefully, never go through this again.
But you didn't.
Your feet remained firmly in place as you stood there, shuffling your feet into the ground and waiting for the inevitable. You kept opening your mouth to stop the boy, to tell him you couldn't right now, that there was something that you needed to do. But no matter how many times you tried to utter a single word, the only thing to escape from your mouth was nothing more than a huff of air. It was pathetic, wasn't it? You could have left at any time, maybe even rescheduled the meeting, but being the nice person that you were, you didn't want to disappoint Frisk or his friends. So you stood there, swallowing hard when you saw Frisk's hand rise to knock on the wooden door.
Rewind for a moment, try to remember how exactly you got yourself to this point, and try to figure out what had led you to a decision like this. It was the present day, some years had passed ever since monsters had returned to the surface. It was quite the shock to humanity, how the barrier was suddenly lifted and the monsters could finally return to the surface world after centuries of banishment. It was all over the media, internet,and every news station that exists covered the story in full detail. There was some panic for obvious reasons, but after they saw that the ambassadors for the monsters themselves turned out to be a human and monster child chosen by the King of Monsters himself, the world was moved. Asriel and Frisk, were the children's names, and they had became celebrities in their own right. It was some long months that followed before negotiations finally came to an agreement; The monsters were welcomed back onto the surface, had free reign and would be treated as equals amongst the humans. Of course, not everyone was keen on the idea of monsters living with humanity, but that was to be expected. Nonetheless, the monsters adjusted well and lived side-by-side with humans.
That was at least a decade ago. Both Frisk and Asriel had grown considerably since then, now lively preteens. You had grown, too, now a young adult who had to do adult things, like getting a job, getting a house of your own, going to college, etc. Your life was, well, normal, as far as human lifestyles were concerned. It was the same routine everyday; go to work, come home, go to class, come home, and on your days off you mostly took the time out to go shopping for groceries to pay any bills before dinking about in your apartment. The same thing, everyday, for the past two years. And you were content with that - sure you didn't have any friends, didn't talk to family or any significant other, but you were always a person who valued your solitude. You liked being alone, being able to not worry about what the other person thinks of you or criticize you for your mistakes and flaws and only belittle you for who you were...Such nonsense was not needed in your life, so the day you moved out of your grandmother's house had to have been the best day of your life.
It happened around...a week ago? You had finished your classes for that day and you were heading home. The town you lived in wasn't particularly large - not that you minded, since large cities were far too loud, crowded and required one to move at a faster pace. At any rate, there were only two colleges there; one was your everyday standard university while the other was an art school. That was the school you went to, having decided to pursue your artistic career (even if many didn't agree with your decision otherwise). This also meant you had to lug around a portable easel whenever you went to class, making you even more thankful that you had a car and didn't have to use the bus. With the easel and your backpack strapped around your shoulder, you trudged to the parking garage, mentally cursing yourself for over packing yet again. You ended up dropping something along the way, but didn't realize, until someone called out for you to wait.
Turning, you were moderately surprised to see the young ambassadors themselves jogging towards you, Frisk clutching your car keys. "Miss! You dropped these!" Asirel panted as Frisked approached to hand you said item.
"Oh...thank you," you murmur softly as you take the keys into your hand. Your voice was quiet, but you were sure that the boys could hear the gratitude in your voice, since you were indeed grateful. Imagine what would have happened if you got to your car and couldn't find your keys? Well, honestly, you really didn't know what you'd do at that point, which is why you were glad that they happened to have been around. Which also begs the question as to why they were near the university in the first place. Well, whatever the reason was, it wasn't any of your business.
With your keys safe and secure again, you went to bid the boys goodbye, not seeing any reason to stay and chat, but you were stopped once more. "Oh wow! Do you draw?" Asriel asked, having spotted your easel. Both boys were around twelve or thirteen, so the childlike curiosity was to be expected, but from these two it was...well, cuter. Charming, almost.
"Oh...um...yeah," you almost whisper. "Nothing special just...dumb comics."
"Really?" Frisk seemed to have perked up at the mention of comics, as did Asriel, causing you to fidget a bit. "Can we see? Just a peek?" No one has ever taken interest in your drawings before, but now the ambassadors of both humans and monsters wanted to look at them?Were you even awake right now?
You wanted to say no, wanting to go home, but the way the boys were looking at you expectantly caused you to hesitate. They seemed so eager, so intrigued, as if your little drawings were the next Marvel or DC. Truth to be told, you hated your drawings - they were lackluster compared to what you saw around you, even if your teachers told you otherwise. But, you were a nice person, and you didn't want to live with the guilt of disappointing the kids. Sighing, you walked over to a bench and motioned for them to follow. Once seated, you placed your bags at your feet and dug out your sketchbook, flipping to one of your most recent "masterpieces" before handing it to Frisk. Asriel was quick to scoot closer for a better look, causing your heart to sink as you could do nothing but sit there want watch them judge your creativity. Why did you do this? What force compelled you to show your garbage art to strangers because they asked? You never did it before, so why do it now? You idiot, you stupid little--
"Wooow! Look at this. Frisk!" Said boy followed the other's gaze, a broad smile on his face as he and his goatbuddy flipped through your sketchbook. You gulped, twiddling your thumbs and waited for the worse, but all you could see were smiles on their faces and stars in their eyes. This...this couldn't have been happening, right? Was this a dream? Maybe they pitied you and was being nice? Yeah, that had to be it. There was no possible way in this universe that--
"You drew this by yourself?" Asriel asked curiously with a tilt of his head. You only nodded, having to look into your own sketchbook to see what was the fuss about. The comic they were looking at was that dragon comic yo had started a while back, but stopped trying to progress it. The story was dull, the characters weren't interesting, but it was a project you had your heart set on since you started living on your own.
You weren't sure how much time had passed since the two of them started looking - you guessed and hour - and it still baffled you how they appeared to be enjoying themselves. You wondered why, since your comic wasn't anything interesting. And yet, you watched with a slightly furrowed brow how the two read the comic carefully, reading each word the characters spoke, examining their designs, pointing out how some characters looked cool, or how some reminded them of people they knew, or how they wished they could draw as well as you. It was very odd, seeing someone enjoy your work as they did made you feel...good? Flattered? This never happened before...this was all new to you.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, they finished going through your sketchbook, but had this....dissatisfied look on their faces. Ah, there it was. You expected that.
"Are you going to continue?" You weren't expecting that. "Those are really interesting! But...they look a bit old. You haven't drawn anymore?"
You paused and fidgeted some more. "...N-no. I, uh...I stopped. A while ago." Frisked tilted his head with a furrowed brow and, despite not having spoken a word, you seemed to have known that he was asking why you didn't continue. "I dunno, I...it's not good, so I stopped."
"Not good? But these are great!" Asriel protested with a slight pout on his muzzle. "We really wanted to see some more..." There was that face again, that disappointed child that was let down. That seemed to be your special talent. "Well...I guess it's your comic so...if you chose not to continue, then it's your choice. But we really hope you will keep going - you're an amazing artist."
"There are better artists," you mumble, but it must have not been audible since neither Asriel or Frisk spoke up about your last statement.
"Well," the goat child said as he handed your sketchbook back "we're sorry to have taken up your time, Miss...?" You tell him your name. "Oh! You have a nice name. Anyway, we should get going. Let's meet up again sometime! We'd love to see more of your artwork!" Frisk nodded in agreement with a smile as they both stood from the bench, waving at you as they hurried off to wherever teen humans and monsters go during this time of day. You waved them off as well, before you lowered your hand where it landed on your sketchbook. Asriel's words rang through your mind as you glanced down at it, their faces still clear in your mind. Did they...genuinely like you work? Not a lot of people took interest in your art, and they really wanted you to continue the comic...
You shook your head and sighed, stowing it away in your bag before you stood and headed back to the parking garage.
You didn't see the boys for another three days until you ran into each other at the local supermarket. It was your day off so you decided to go ahead and stock up your pantry and fridge just so you wouldn't have to worry about running out of food and supplies before you could get your next paycheck. Again, you ran into the boys after you saw them running through the aisle you were in clutching bags of chips and boxes of cookies. They stopped as soon as they saw you, wanting to say hi, and you were about to ask what they were doing by themselves when...
"Ah-ha! There you are! You thought you could escape from the Great Papyrus, but you were wrong! No human - or monster - has escaped from my constant vigil! I was the best sentry in all of the Underground! Now, you will put those items back where you found them or I will inform Toriel of your naughty behavior!"
You could only stare as a skeleton - yes, a literal skeleton - marched over to you, grasping a basket of groceries. It was obvious a monster, a tall one at that, probably around 6 ft. tall. His attire was...well, odd, consisting of a white armor and red gloves,boots and a scarf. He looked...well, ridiculous, goofy almost, like those cartoon skeletons, but somehow it...seemed fitting on him. Loud and boisterous, and spoke oddly. His brow (you were sure skeletons didn't have eyebrows) were furrowed in an attempt to look angry, but his expression immediately perked up to a more friendlier appearance when he saw you.
"Oh! Hello Human," he greeted cheerily "I apologize if the children have bothered you. They managed to evade me, the slippery snails, But worry not! I, the Great Papyrus, managed to apprehend them before they got away!" Frisk suddenly tugged at the monster's scarf (looking at it closely, it did look a bit more like a cape), getting his attention. "Hm? What is it, Frisk?" He pointed at you, still looking up at the skeleton. "...Oh, I see! So, this is the human you met the other day!"
"Yup!" Asriel chirped "She's a really good artist!"
"Really? Wowie! I never met an artist before!" You were at a loss for words, standing there awkwardly as the monsters and human spoke to you in such high regard. What was so great about you, anyway? So what, you could draw a bit...who couldn't? Besides, there were better artists out there who could draw and paint ten times better than you. "We must have been destined to meet! I too, am also an artist! A culinary artist!" You noticed Asriel and Frisk exchange looks as the skeleton rambled on about he was the greatest chef and spaghettore, what ever that was. He seemed proud of himself, with his hand over his chest, his scarf (or cape - you really didn't know) blew behind him despite there not being any sort of breeze in the entire store. Usually, people who were loud and talked a lot generally annoyed you to the point you didn't want to be anywhere around them. And yet, there was something about this monster that was...different. Yes, he was loud, yes he talked a lot, and you wouldn't deny that he was a bit obnoxious, but it wasn't to the point where it was in any way annoying. It was...endearing, in a way. The way he had such confidence about himself, and yet didn't mind sharing the spotlight with Asriel or Frisk, going on about how great they were when they helped him with his cooking, or just any other task. You had stopped listening after a while but...somehow, you had grown a small smile on your face.
"--We should be friends!" The last statement was enough to draw you out of your thoughts as you looked over at the monster, who was very excited. "Human! Let's exchange phone numbers!" It was more of a demand rather than a request, but you obliged nonetheless. He whipped out his cell phone in an instant, and the two of you exchanged numbers. You thought it would be the end of it, but you ended up shopping with the skeleton, whom you learned was named Papyrus (that would explain his regal way of speaking). He never stopped talking, talking about every topic in existence, ranging from his friends, his brother, his previous life in the underground, his previous job as a sentry, his cooking, puzzles, and so on. And you listened; you liked hearing him speak, in which you soon learned you enjoyed his and the boys' company as well. You spent your whole time shopping with them, all three remaining at your side even when you checked out. Once outside, you were about to bid farewell, seeing that you had to go your separate ways and not wanting to be a bother, but Papyrus wasn't having none of that.
"Nonsense!" he told you "We're friends now, and as our friend, we must make sure you get back to your vehicle safely!" And before you could argue that you would be fine on your own, Papyrus had taken control of your cart and was pushing it towards your car. Well...he needed some guidance, but the gesture was appreciated. He and the kids even helped load your groceries into your car, which, again, you thanked them for. All of these kind gestures, no one has ever batted an eye, let alone said hello while you were out and about, but these monsters, who barely knew you, wanted to be your friend, and helped you with your groceries. You could understand why the kids would be nice to you, but Papyrus was a different story. Were all monsters as nice as him and Asriel?
"Let's hangout sometime!" Papyrus suggested as you closed your trunk. "Call or text me anytime!"
"Or us!" Asriel chimed, Frisk nodding in agreement.
"I...I will. Thank you."
You waved goodbye as they left you to your devices, you mind still in a whirlwind as you tried your best to comprehend just what happened. When you couldn't, you simply shook your head and got into your car and drove home. Once there and after you had successfully lugged your groceries up to your apartment, you were a bit surprised to see that you had received a text from Papyrus, which started out as a hello before he asked you if you wanted to hang out tomorrow. That was fast, you thought, not replying right away. You had work tomorrow, so you wouldn't be able to, and while a part of you wanted to flat out decline with no explanation, another part of you was...longing for their company. Sure you had spent the last two years alone, and while you did value your solitude, it wouldn't hurt to break away from your usual routine once in a while, right? But why did you want to, all of a sudden? You were far from a social butterfly, hating being around strangers, even loathed the idea of going back out into society everyday. Why was it different now? Because two kids and a skeleton gave you the time of day?
...
"Can't, but I'm free Saturday." You sent the text before you knew it, your fingers acting on their own. You immediately regretted your decision until you got a text back from Papyrus.
"gr8! we'll meet @ my house :-]"
Another text. "and bring ur drawings 2 :-P" Oh.
You bit you bottom lip, glancing at the easel, still in its bag, along with the sketchbook. You didn't want to bring it, but you wanted to see Asriel and Frisk's face light up again, how entranced they were by your work, those sparkling eyes that made you feel something you haven't felt in a long time.
"I will." You tossed your phone on the couch, standing in the middle of your living room, staring into space before you collapsed into the chair. Just what in the hell did you get yourself into...?
And now, there you stood, standing in front of Papyrus' house. Even looking back at it all, having the events rewind in your head multiple times, you still couldn't figure out where, when, and what got you to your current situation. Where it all went wrong, you had no idea. But how, you asked yourself, was this a bad thing?
A steady, rhythmic knock pulled you from your thoughts. Well, it was too late to turn back now. You gulped dryly, gripping the strap to you bag even tighter as the door swung open, Papyrus' smile widening (somehow) upon seeing you. "Hello Human, Frisk," he greeted, stepping aside "Come in!"