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Papyrus says strange things sometimes. He never sounds like anyone except himself– in fact, many of the things he says that strike Sans as odd are things he’s said before, in a different context. But they don’t quite match up, as if Papyrus has forgotten when and where he is.
He might call Frisk by their name one moment, and “human” the next. Usually, he starts using their name again after he hears someone else say it, but then he’ll forget again and go back to calling them “human” or “my friend”.
Sometimes, he talks about joining the Royal Guard. It’s usually when Sans and Papyrus are alone, and Papyrus is scolding Sans for not doing his job (which he would do even before Sans had gotten a job on the surface). Sans reminds him that the Royal Guard was disbanded, and Papyrus either freezes for a moment and corrects himself, or plows through without acknowledging Sans at all.
(papyrus, don’t you remember? we don’t live in snowdin anymore, we live on the surface.
…OF COURSE I REMEMBER! HOW COULD I FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT?)
He always seems quieter, after that.
One day, Sans finds Papyrus in the village of the humans, in a quiet park where patches of golden flowers outline benches and paved paths. Papyrus is sitting cross-legged on the ground, talking to himself, or maybe to the flowers beside him.
“bro?”
He turns and smiles brightly at Sans. “HEY SANS! I WAS JUST TENDING TO THE FLOWERS!”
Sans sits next to him and looks at the flowers. They don’t look like they’ve been disturbed recently. Maybe Papyrus is feeding them encouraging words, or using some equally Papyrus method of gardening. “uh, any reason why? they seem pretty happy already.”
Papyrus sits up straight and presses his hand to his chest, a gesture of pride. “IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY TO LOOK AFTER ALL OF MY SUBJECTS! EVEN THE FLOWERY ONES!”
Sans thinks this over, and decides it’s best not to question. He watches as Papyrus encourages each flower in the patch individually, occasionally patting their petals as if to tell them ‘good job’. It reminds Sans of Asgore, finding value in every creature he comes across and making sure that they’re safe and happy.
When he says this, Papyrus’s smile quirks, and his expression and voice are ever-so-slightly harder as he says that Asgore would surely be flattered by the comparison. There’s something dark about the way he says it, like he’s skirting around some terrible secret that both of them know, but neither of them ever say out loud.
He finishes encouraging the last flower, and stands up, announcing that he has more duties to attend to. He tells Sans to “get back to work”, and leaves him in the flowerbed.
“SLEEP IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT!” Papyrus flails about from his position on the couch, nearly smacking Sans in the face. His eyes are dull, betraying how much he really needs to rest.
Sans feels the urge to laugh, but suppresses it. “bro. just go. to sleep. it’s not that bad.”
Papyrus scowls and sits on his hands, bouncing restlessly. “YES IT IS! IT’S SO ANNOYING! I KEEP GETTING CONFUSED!” The bouncing stops and he starts picking at his gloves instead.
“hmm, like… you get weird dreams or something?”
It’s a bit alarming to see Papyrus forcing his fingers in between the bones of his forearm. “UGH, I GUESS? NEVER MIND.” He looks over at Sans sitting next to him, and as if on impulse, launches himself towards him and brings him into a tight, shaky hug, resting his face into the couch cushions.
Seizing the opportunity, Sans wriggles the two of them into a more comfortable position and starts rubbing circles on Papyrus’s back. Papyrus lets out a hiss of betrayal, but doesn’t move, and soon enough, he’s asleep.
Papyrus denies the whole incident when he wakes up. He doesn’t even seem to remember it. Nor does he remember having any bad dreams, even though Sans felt him stirring, heard his breaths coming quick and shallow and uneven, and then settling back down again as Sans awkwardly tried to comfort him. Sans isn’t sure if he regrets bringing it up at all.
Pressing the issue is never helpful. Papyrus isn't the type of monster who reacts well to any kind of criticism, even the well-intended concerned kind, and this is no exception.
All Sans wants is for Papyrus to text him whenever he plans to get home late. This "disappearing for hours and getting home at almost midnight" business is fraying his nerves, and Papyrus is normally excited about using his phone, even over simple things like checking in with his brother.
Papyrus is affronted at the suggestion. "YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A CHICKEN'S MOTHER!" He turns his back to the pot of boiling water, looking down at Sans, who smirks.
"i think the expression is 'mother hen', dude."
"IT'S THE SAME THING!"
"i'm more of a brother hen anyway."
Papyrus sighs in mock disappointment and turns his attention back to the pot. Sans continues, "i'm not trying to be overly paranoid or anything. it's just, you keep wandering around town, and i wanna know if you ever get lost? so i can come and get you, or call tori, or something?"
Papyrus stiffens, but Sans plunges on before he can protest. "like the other day at that park, you just kinda ended up there, and then you walked off. plus you seemed a little out of it?"
"WHAT PARK?"
It's Sans's turn to stiffen. "the one with the flowers? you were encouraging them?"
The water starts to bubble. Papyrus busies himself with adding cream of wheat to the pot and making sure the mixture doesn't boil over. After a minute, he responds.
"I WASN'T WANDERING. I HAPPEN TO ENJOY VISITING THOSE FLOWERS ON OCCASION." He turns to Sans again. "I'LL TEXT YOU IF I ACTUALLY GET LOST, BUT I AM A SMART SKELETON AND AN ADULT, AND I CAN HANDLE NAVIGATING A SMALL TOWN!"
The slight hurt in his voice tells Sans to drop the issue, and he does. But he doesn't stop worrying.
There's a crumpled-up note in the trash can, the words scratched out in angry scribbles. Sans can make out Papyrus's handwriting, and a few scattered words: "SANS", "VACATION", "SOON", and what appears to be Papyrus's loopy signature on the bottom.
He tells himself he's overthinking it. Forces himself to ignore how Papyrus has seemed shakier than usual, how he hasn't spoken more than a few sentences all day, how he can't seem to look Sans in the eye.
That night, Sans insists they watch a movie together. It's one they've seen together many times before, one of the only DVDs they owned in the underground. The familiarity of it is comforting, and Sans thinks Papyrus must feel the same way about it, because he falls asleep halfway through. Sans savors the sight of seeing Papyrus looking so peaceful, for once, and tries to ignore how scared he is.
"Is there something going on with Papyrus?" Toriel asks, as she stirs her tea and flips through her magazine.
Sans shrugs. "nah, that's just how he is, you know?"
Well, she probably doesn't know. He doesn't know, either.