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“Aren't you hungry, Red?” Papyrus addressed the darkness under his bed.
“Nah. I'm fine.”
“At least get on top of the bed,” Papyrus urged, his dark-tipped ears drooping. Red skipping meals worried him.
“I belong under here with the other bunnies.”
“Other bunnies?” Papyrus's ears perked in consternation. There was no way there were any other bunnies in his room. He would have noticed!
“Dust bunnies.”
“Red! There are no dust bunnies under my bed! Are there?”
There was a pause, Red biting back a morbid pun about dust and bunnies. “Of course not, Boss woulda got them.”
“Well, I must insist you come out of there. Even if you are not hungry, I am.” Papyrus flicked his long furry tail.
“What, already?” Red grumbled, but soon his skull and arms appeared from the shadows by the front wheel of the race car, flat on the carpet, unlikely to emerge further.
“A bit. And that's why you should keep yourself well fed.” Papyrus pulled him out and dropped him softly on top of the bed, then curled himself around the bunny, inviting him to cuddle but not insisting.
“What about dinner?” Red objected even as he tucked himself between Papyrus's arms.
“I can reheat it.” Edge and Sans could serve themselves, he was sure, and he and Red could eat when Red felt up to it.
“Sans’ll miss you.”
“Sans will probably take this opportunity to convince Edge to partake in unsanitary food play.”
Red laughed. “Good luck to ‘im.”
Papyrus grinned triumphantly at having gotten the bunny to smile.
Red reached up to touch one of his fangs. “You said you were hungry?”
Papyrus parted his teeth and licked red's face. “I can wait.”
Red shrank back, curling up in Papyrus's arms. Did he feel rejected?
“I'm afraid I have employed some subterfuge against you. I just wanted to get you out from under the bed.”
“What for?”
“For this.” Papyrus nuzzled him, taking in his unique scent of rabbit and bones and mustard.
“And you're skipping dinner for this?”
“I am delaying dinner. And this is important.”
“You sure this isn’t just an alternative dinner?” Red asked, relaxing against him.
“I am sure!”
“You know you don’t gotta hold back, right? I know I ain’t that cuddly, for a rabbit.”
“You are adorable,” Papyrus countered.
“Nah, I’m tough an’…”
“And you make it adorable.” Papyrus quelled any further protests by grooming the bunny thoroughly. Red stiffened when he found himself between fox jaws, but Papyrus did no more than nibble on his fur to untangle it. “How are you feeling?” he asked when he was done.
“Wet.”
“Then you will have to take a proper bath before dinner!” He stood, scooping up the bunny, who struggled but not hard enough to risk actually escaping. They both knew Red would enjoy being carefully scrubbed with plenty of bubbles and set down in front of a gourmet meal prepared by Edge and Papyrus, without having to lift a finger himself.