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Part 1 of I'VE BEEN TRYING NOT TO CRY IN THE GROCERY STORE
Stats:
Published:
2025-08-02
Updated:
2025-09-08
Words:
543
Chapters:
2/?
Comments:
13
Kudos:
38
Bookmarks:
3
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276

trying not to cry (in the grocery store)

Summary:

Papyrus tries to not have a breakdown in the local market every time he goes.

He succeeds!

. . .

...Until he doesn't.

Notes:

probably gonna dump a lot of vents into this and torture my boy. because i love him enough to kill him (in spirit, he's not going to die.... probably /lighthearted)

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: can you hear all of my open wounds?

Chapter Text

Human stores were much different than monster stores.

 

Much brighter, for one. That one must be obvious. Power was stronger on The Surface. Electricity sparked more intensely than any power surge in the CORE.

 

Secondly... The noise.

 

Not sound.

 

Noise.

 

Monsters were loud. But, they were a different kind of loud than mechanical humming. Than the white buzz of electricity, than the loud click, click, click of shoes on tile, than the sheer wail of a human child being utterly ignored by their parents.

 

Papyrus didn't try to comfort said child. He would have, if he could. He'd already been scolded by doing as much just last week, but, he still would have if he could have.

 

...

 

The ringing in his skull told him to find the milk and find the eggs and focus on finding everything else so he could LEAVE.

 

There'd be someone to comfort that child.

 

Someone to love them.

 

Humans weren't all the same. There were kind humans too. Just like there were not-so-kind monsters sometimes.

 

Sometimes.

 

The child would be fine.

 

The child would be fine.

 

The child would be

 

When Papyrus returned home, he hugged Frisk a little bit tighter than he normally would have.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

He...

 

Also cursed himself, when he realized he forgot the flour.

 

He went back to the grocery store.

Chapter 2: i'm whispering as loud as the flowers bloom

Chapter Text

Currently, Papyrus is fighting with his family.

 

...Not in a physical or magical sense. Probably should specify that.

 

But, Sans said some things, and Frisk said some things, and Papyrus said some things he didn't mean in response to said things.

 

He doesn't hate them. He could never hate them. And he isn't mad.

 

He hates himself, though.

 

He tries to drown himself in the stale corporate monotony of the grocery store again. It's quieter this time. A scary kind of quieter. Too much white noise, too much buzzing from the freezers. But no one other than the bully in his head is yelling at him, so it's probably fine.

 

He runs into Toriel in the cereal aisle.

 

She greets him with a smile.

 

There's a flower in a pot in the child seat of her cart.

 

Toriel gently scolds the flower for being impolite and not saying hi. The flower scowls and halfheartedly says hello to Papyrus.

 

Papyrus smiles back.

 

He asks how the flower is doing.

 

The flower gives a snotty response.

 

Papyrus doesn't mind.

 

He doesn't mind at all, really.

 

It's easier to talk to someone who doesn't care about you than it is to talk to someone who loves you.

 

...

 

But then, Flowey asks him how he's doing. (Papyrus should have masked more. Should have made his voice louder, not as whispering.)

 

And it's not as easy anymore.

 

And he realizes he is once again talking to someone who, in some form, no matter how small, does love.

 

And he can't handle that.

 

So Papyrus makes up an excuse about being on a time crunch, and he wishes Toriel and his friend Flowey a farewell, and he hides away in the pasta aisle until further notice.

 

Or, well... Until he thinks they've left.

 

Hopefully Toriel isn't looking for pasta today.

 

And it gives him the chance to restock on wagon wheels. Frisk's favorite. (And his, but that's much less important.)

Notes:

EYYYY I HAVE A TUMBLR, HERE'S THE LINK IF YOU WANNA BOTHER ME

there's also a Discord server i have if you wanna join and chat and just be general goofballs like me about all my fics >:DD https://discord.com/invite/EvsbqzeDCV

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