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Papyrus was in a dark place. He didn’t know how he got there. He simply closed his eyes, opened them, then BAM! A dark void seemed to swallow him whole. The skeleton couldn’t make out his surroundings, no matter where he looked. It was ominous, yet…comforting? It was as if he was meant to be here. “Hello?” He called out. “Is anybody there?” No response, as expected.
“Howdy, Paps.”
He jumped out his nonexistent skin. Right behind him was a tall figure that was definitely not there before. They wore a dark purple cloak with broad shoulder pads, long white sleeves, and a Deltarune sigil stitched onto the front. A golden heart-shaped locket shone across their chest. The figure themself had white fur so bright, they shone like a beacon in the darkness. Their long horns bent elegant yet intimidating manner, and their snout contorted in a devious grin. And those eyes…they were black as the void surrounding them, and black tearstreaks dripped down his face, but man. Papyrus could get lost in them if he wasn’t already lost. “So…” the figure said in a voice deep and rich as silk, “...what do you think?”
“I--I--” Papyrus stammered. Was this goat talking to him? Him?! Yeah, he was the GREAT Papyrus after all, but Wowie! He felt like a bargain ring sitting next to a crown shining with jewels. “M--M--M--” Now that he thought about it, actually, this figure looked almost exactly like-- “Mr. Dreemur?!”
The figure’s grin fell instantly. “I’m sorry?”
“You look--are you not Mr. Dreemur? I mean,” Papyrus said, “you look so much like him--almost like a clone! Sure, you’re a little leaner, and you don’t have blond hair, or armor, and you look younger and--”
“Are you seriously telling me,” the figure sneered, “I appear before you in my true form, and your first instinct is to compare me to Asgore?!”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend! He’s a really nice guy, and fairly handsome--wait.” The skeleton narrowed his eyes. “Do we…know each other?” Their accent was pretty thick and seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite place the voice.
“What?” They gripped Papyrus’s jaw with surprisingly soft paws, their claws scratching against his bone. “Are you saying you don’t recognize little ol’ me? Your best friend?”
“S’cuse me, but my only best friend is Undyne, and you are definitely not Undyne!”
Their smirk dropped once more. “Really? You don’t have any other best friends?”
“Nope!”
“No other best friends you can think of?”
“Nope, sorry.”
“Papyrus,” they pinched the bridge of their nose. “Do you or do you not have a best friend that’s a talking flower? You know, your actual best friend?”
“Oh, sure I do,” Papyrus said gleefully. “He doesn’t usually like other people knowing about him, so--” Then, he gasped. “Flowey?!”
“The one and only,” his friend winked and stuck out his tongue.
“But you--you’re not--you’re a flower!”
“Was a flower, Paps.”
“You can’t be Flowey! I’m sorry, good sir,” Papyrus crossed his arms and turned his head away in a huff, “but I do not believe you! My friend will be very upset to hear you’re trying to impersonate him.”
“I don’t care if people impersonate me, you fucking bonehead.”
“Wowie, you really are Flowey!”
“It really took that for you to realize,” he rolled his eyes, “but okay.”
“But why are you not a flower? Why are you…you…” Papyrus really did not want to say ‘looking like Asgore’ again. “...hot?”
“Hot?”
“I’m sorry--” Papyrus’s face flushed, “I couldn’t think of anything else!” Flowey snickered at him. “Hey! What’s so funny? Y-you’re still not explaining why you look like that!”
“Because I already did,” he laughed. “This, right here, is my true form. Who I was meant to be.”
“But if that’s what you actually look like, and you look like Asgore, and if there’s no other Boss Monsters in the Underground, then th-that means--”
“C’mon, big boy. You can figure it out.” Papyrus felt his face grow warm again. This guy was definitely Flowey. He purred and shimmied those shoulders just like his favorite flower did. It was endearing when Flowey the Flower did it, but Flowey the Suspiciously Hot Goat Monster? “What? Is my form distracting you too much?”
“Of course not,” Papyrus stammered, “I don’t know what you’re--”
“Save it,” Flowey said. He placed his paw on his face again, gingerly brushing his cheek exactly like the flower did. “I know you better than the back of my leaf--uh, paw. I know all those thoughts that are going through your small, small head right now…especially the ones you’re trying to hide from me.” He gripped Papyrus’s scarf and pulled him closer. His breath smelled warm and comforting, like the Golden Flower tea Undyne likes drinking so much. “You like this, don’t you?”
“I--uh--sure,” Papyrus smiled nervously, “I like it plenty! J-just like I like you!”
“You like it a lot,” Flowey brushed a finger against Papyrus’s teeth, “don’t you?”
“I like it…an appropriate amount.”
“Paps,” his best friend whispered, “Sweet, stupid Papyrus…I see the way you’ve been staring at me. With awe…greed…” Flowey inched a claw in between Papyrus’s teeth and pulled him closer. “...if you want this so badly, you might as well take it. Before you…” Their faces were now mere inches from each other. “...lose your chance.”
Papyrus could hardly see straight. His soul beat against his chest like a frantic bat stuck in a locked box. He wanted this. God, he wanted this. Sure, he imagined he could do this with Flowey the Flower, but this…was different. It was different, but a nice different. At this moment, all he could think about was how soft those lips were compared to Flowey’s paw.
“Who…” Papyrus sputtered out a question before he could forget it, “...who are you?”
“The prince of this world’s future,” Flowey said deviously. He closed the gap between himself and Papyrus. “...and yours.”
Papyrus woke with a jolt. He was back in his bedroom, nestled in his racecar bed. His blankets were strewn across the floor, as they usually are after a nightmare. Nightmare…Papyrus brought a hand to his mouth, and groaned. Some nightmare. He was just about to kiss his dream guy. A dream guy that…happened to be both his best friend and a prince? His head was pounding. Far too much for him to dwell on his weird dream any longer. “This is why I hate sleeping,” he said to no one in particular. Papyrus fell back into his bed and pulled the blankets over his head, grumbling to himself for the rest of the night.