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For the past week, all Papyrus could talk about was that he had finally scored tickets to a concert for the Underground's one and only superstar, Mettaton. VIP passes, to be more specific, the ones that guaranteed the skeleton an exclusive meet and greet backstage with the star himself. So, for Papyrus, this was the most important and exciting moment of his life- besides the day that he would finally become a royal guard, of course. But that was in development at the moment, so he'd have to settle with second best.
Every monster who knew Papyrus was aware of his upcoming concert, since he would incessantly chatter about it to whoever would give him the time of day. Sans didn't need much of the exposition provided by Papyrus since he was the one who bought the tickets in the first place, and he and his brother would be attending the concert together. As expected, since they hardly went anywhere without each other. Undyne got pretty tired of hearing about the whole thing the fifth time Papyrus had brought it up during their training sessions, and she gently told Papyrus he could just text her about it instead (she would not read these messages, but would eagerly reassure Papyrus that she did). He was too deluded by his own enthusiasm that even if his friends were obviously disinterested in his ramblings, he continued on with a bright, cheerful smile.
Perhaps the monster that had to hear about this whole ordeal the most, though, was none other than Papyrus's very special and important friend Flowey. Flowey had the pleasure (most of the time displeasure) of hearing the most from Papyrus. He heard about his day, what he ate, what his brother did that day that annoyed him, the crazy dream he had the night before, the nightmare he had that prompted him to sneak out of the house and meet Flowey in the forest, and other typical Papyrus stuff. As long as Papyrus continued spewing new dialogue every time they met, Flowey would brave through their conversations with a weary smile. Flowey didn't think he could truly get annoyed by him enough to abandon a run, after all, he stayed because Papyrus was interesting. Why else?
However, Flowey found his patience being tested the night before Papyrus's concert.
In the forest, Papyrus was sitting cross-legged on the snow covered ground eating crab apple slices, while also cheerily talking to the small golden flower in front of him.
"Oh, Flowery, isn't it great? Tomorrows the day I finally get to meet Mettaton!" Papyrus exclaimed, his wide grin making creases by his eye sockets.
Flowey narrowed his eyes and huffed. "Yeah, that's awesome, Papyrus. Not like this is the sixteenth time I've heard about it."
Flowey's sarcasm went undetected by Papyrus, as per usual. Papyrus simply chewed another crab apple slice and continued talking.
"I wonder what he's like in person. Oh, what do you think he smells like? Do you think he gives good hugs? Ah, no, hugging is a third base thing. I just need to make sure to give him an expert handshake, like I've been practicing!" He laughed with glee, rocking back and forth as he imagined the scenario in his mind.
Flowey knew Mettaton well enough through his many, many resets to know that he wasn't someone Papyrus should be freaking out over being in the presence of. To put it simply, Mettaton was a bit self absorbed to the point it was hard to stomach. He prioritized his appearance and drama on his TV show more than anything, and was known to go great lengths just to put on a captivating show. Though, that wasn't to say Mettaton couldn't be a genuine, down to earth guy, he seemed to actually care about his employees and seemed to have a weird thing going on with that nerdy scientist he hung around. Still didn't mean he wasn't insanely dramatic with the theatrics and wasn't worth all the fuss, in Flowey's opinion.
"He probably smells like metal. And oil." Flowey commented, snidely.
Papyrus shrugged. "Not a scent I'm not familiar with. Remember that you are talking to the Great Puzzlemaster himself, so I have had my fair share of… oil and metal excursions. So, this is not a challenge I will back down from! I shall impress him with my scent as well." Papyrus thought about this for a second, and considered the copious amounts of cologne he had applied before meeting Flowey. "Wait, should I cover myself in oil to make him feel more welcome?"
Flowey groaned. "Oh my GOD, Papyrus, you're fine. I'm sure Mettaton doesn't care that much about-" He hesitated before saying what he was about to say. Saying 'Your celebrity crush probably doesn't care much about you' seemed a bit cruel, but Flowey bitterly commented to himself that it was 100% true. "…He probably doesn't care much about material stuff like that."
Nice save.
"Hm, you might have a point. I'll just be sure to impress him with my devilish charm, nyeh heh heh!" He said, too proudly for Flowey's liking. What was his goal here, anyway? To woo Mettaton and get an autograph and that'd be it? Papyrus had no idea how celebrity meet and greets worked. This wasn't some meet-cute like he thought it was.
"Yeah pal, just be yourself. That's sure to win him over."
Papyrus hummed thoughtfully.
"I just can't believe it's happening. I've wanted to meet him for my whole life it seems." Papyrus now seemed strangely downcast, fiddling with the apple slice he held between his fingers absentmindedly and looking down at the ground. "Flowery?"
"Yeah?"
Papyrus sighed. "I'm scared that he won't end up liking me."
Some ugly, volatile feeling inside of Flowey hoped that ended up happening. It was strange. He wanted Mettaton to find something wrong with Papyrus and make the 5 minute scheduled meeting uncomfortable, he would make Papyrus feel bad and Papyrus would never wistfully imagine Mettaton's soft, bishonen eyes boring into his own. He wanted Papyrus to have a bad day. He wanted Papyrus to feel rejected. He wanted him to come running to Flowey, tears streaming down his face, begging for some kind of comfort.
What an odd feeling it was. Why did he want Papyrus's day to end so badly? Was it just because it'd be interesting to see? Flowey looked deep inside himself for the answer, and found that wasn't the case. So why… why did he want this so bad?
"I'm sure you'll be fine. I mean, come on, you're Papyrus. Who wouldn't want a piece of you?" Flowey grimaced. That last part was embarrassing to say and Flowey had to fight the urge to reset to undo it. Papyrus seemed giddy at Flowey's words, though, so he supposed he had said the right thing.
"Yeah, you're right! I am the Great Papyrus after all, so tomorrow will go swell, I'm sure of it."
"That's the spirit." Flowey sounded dejected, no matter how hard he tried to maintain the upbeat and friendly persona he always put on in front of Papyrus.
Papyrus sat up from his position quickly, dropping all his apple slices on the ground in the process. He didn't seem to notice. He walked over towards where Flowey was sprouting out of the ground, and leaned down to talk to him more closely.
"Thank you for listening to me, Flowery." He said, sincerely. Then, his tone immediately brightened in an instant. "Welp! I have to be on my way home now, I have to fetch Sans from Grillby's so he doesn't end up falling asleep there again."
Flowey watched as Papyrus ran off, his figure getting smaller and smaller as he disappeared into the dense forest.
"See ya." Flowey muttered, still feeling confused over what he had felt earlier.
—
The next day, Flowey did not see Papyrus at all throughout the morning and the afternoon. Not the evening, either. Flowey was prepared for this though, because he knew that most of the day Papyrus would be preoccupied with preparing for the concert and rushing through his duties so he can be ready.
It wasn't the loneliness or absence of Papyrus that bothered him, Flowey was quite accustomed to the persistent feeling of loneliness in the Underground. Even monsters who weren't as aware of their world as he was were all very familiar with the loneliness that came with living in the Underground. So it wasn't that, Flowey determined. It was moreso the gnawing, aggressive feeling that simmered inside him as he was forced to think about Papyrus's meeting with Mettaton.
Papyrus was probably absolutely charmed right now, that rectangle was probably seducing him with his extendable arms as Flowey was sitting in the forest. He imagined Papyrus's innocent, endearing smile as Mettaton held him in his arms, he imagined Mettaton poking Papyrus's nasal bone playfully, tracing his finger down Papyrus's chest and-
Flowey destroyed the closest tree by him with a vine, breathing heavily as he desperately tried to clear the image out of his mind.
Why the HELL was he so worked up about this?! So what if Papyrus was fawning over Mettaton and turning into a stuttering, incoherent mess as Mettaton joked around with him. So what if Mettaton earned a genuine giggle out of Papyrus- the type of laugh only Flowey was ever able to hear. That sound belonged to him.
Papyrus…
Papyrus belonged to him.
As soon as the realization hit him, his time for brooding was soon over as he heard the sound of twigs breaking in the distance and the crunch of snow. Papyrus stood in front of Flowey, standing awkwardly and rubbing his arm anxiously. He did that whenever he was nervous or something was bothering him.
"Hi, Flowery…" Papyrus said, voice uncharacteristically low and quiet. He sounded meek and anxious, which was a complete 180 from how he had been behaving yesterday.
Flowey quickly regained his composure, hoping that Papyrus didn't notice the huge broken tree that was lying only a few feet from where they were standing.
"Howdy, Papyrus! How was the concert?" He questioned, his voice high and cheery, a stark contrast from Papyrus's.
Papyrus kept his head low, he said something, but it was completely unaudible since he had spoken into his scarf.
"You're gonna have to speak up, Papyrus." Flowey said playfully, but the way he delivered it seemed more like a command. And Papyrus obeyed.
At Flowey's request, Papyrus lifted his head and spoke more clearly. "It was fine."
Flowey tilted his head. "Hmm, something tells me you're not telling the truth, Papyrus. And you know that lying is bad!" He giggled, and the way Papyrus looked at him, so ashamed, so conflicted… he reveled in it.
Not even seconds later, Papyrus burst into tears and was unable to stop his words from spilling out. "We went backstage to meet Mettaton and I made a complete fool of myself, there was such a long line and when we finally got to meet him it was almost time for him to go so I wasted the 30 seconds I had with him by shaking his hand and telling him my name instead of asking him how he was doing and the WORST part is that he didn't even hear me so it just ended up being for NOTHING!" He yelled in frustration, covering his face with his hands as he continued crying.
So, Mettaton had not rejected Papyrus after all. He was simply on a time crunch. Still, this was enough for Flowey to chew on.
"Oh, Papyrus," Flowey cooed. He slithered towards Papyrus, wrapping himself around Papyrus's leg and slid up his body until he was perched on his shoulder. "Poor Papyrus, you had waited so long to meet him… and it ended up going so, so wrong."
Papyrus said nothing, he just sniffled and whimpered pathetically.
"I feel so sorry for you. It's all you were looking forward to."
Papyrus nodded, looking away into the distance as he continued to sniffle and choke back the tears that spilled from his eye sockets. Flowey snaked a vine behind Papyrus's back and rested it on Papyrus's skull, rhythmically rubbing his head like he was petting a dog.
"It's okay, you can cry." Flowey said in a sing-song tone. At his words, Papyrus immediately began to cry again. Flowey couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his face. "But, I want to tell you something. And I want you to listen, okay?"
"O-Okay…" Papyrus managed to say between sobs.
"There's this cautionary tale that everyone hears, and I'm sure you're very familiar with it. They say 'Never meet your heroes'. Basically, it means that if you idolize someone so much, you might get hurt when you meet them and they don't act like how you see them in your head." Papyrus opened his mouth to argue, but Flowey shushed him with a vine pressed to his mouth. "Now, I know he couldn't control being on schedule, but boy, it hurts being let down like that, huh?"
Papyrus nodded.
"Papyrus, you know I'd never let you down like that, right?" Flowey said, stretching himself closer to Papyrus's face. He titled his head inquisitively, a playful smirk etched on his face.
"Y-Yeah…" Papyrus answered, his voice shaky.
Flowey hummed in acknowledgement at his answer.
"You'll always have me and I'll always have you. You know why?"
"No."
Flowey lowered his voice to a whisper. "Because you're mine."
Papyrus lifted his head, and turned to stare at Flowey, shock outlined all of his features.
"W-What?"
"You heard me. You're mine, Papyrus. Mine. All mine. You're mine." He repeated it like a mantra, the words felt so thrilling to say outloud. Down here, there wasn't much that belonged to him. After all, he was just a flower. He was aware of the way this world worked and everyone had their own assigned roles, their own assigned relationships and attachments, and Flowey's place in all of this was to stick out as the one thing that was tied down to nothing. He was the anomaly. There was no object he owned that would last him in each of his runs, no family heirloom that he could carry with him. But knowing that in every run, he could gleefully call Papyrus his and claim some sort of superiority over him was gratifying, he could do so many messed up things, he could do so many great things, and Papyrus would be there, waiting for him obediently.
"Say it."
"I'm yours."
That was enough for Flowey to know that he shouldn't be worried. In his next run, he'd let Papyrus do whatever he wanted with that robot. It didn't matter. He knew that whatever happened, Papyrus would still be his.