You have fallen through a hole, but you aren’t sure how you got there. Flowers are trying to fight you, goats are trying to mother you, puzzles are trying to confuse you…
you are filled with DISCOMFORT.
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Once more, you walk through thinning snow towards the damp place. What did the book call it? Swampland? Cavern? You know it’s named after some sort of environment or natural landmark. It’s an even less creative name than Icevi—Snowdin. That’s what it’s called. You wish you were back there, back with Papyrus and the Snowed Inn and the little river with smooth, smooth rocks and the quiet, tree-lined path leading back to the Ruins, back to Mom, back to butterscotch-cinnamon pie and bug catching and reading ‘til you fall asleep in her lap and waking up to the smell of baking, where you only knew about these places from books and you didn’t have to worry about royalty who want you dead or skeletons with glowing bedrooms asking about things you never did or, or, or—
*Chisk, the left voice mutters, and you blink away the dampness in your eyes to find a yellow reptilian monster about your height staring at you.
“Yo? Underground to, uh…you? You doin’ okay?”
You gulp a few times, but nod. Just thinking, you sign, before you notice, oh. They’re the monster from before. They don’t have arms. Why would they know sign language if they couldn’t use it? You open your mouth to try to force the words out, but they speak first.
“Well, looks like you’re thinking too much!” they say with a grin. Oh. They do know it. Come to think of it, so did all the other monsters you talked to. How…convenient. “You gotta watch where you’re going here in Waterfall. It’s not like Snowdin.”
It isn’t? What’s different? Is it…dangerous?
“Yeah, it’s all stony, and there’s ledges and water all over. If you’re not paying attention, you could get hurt!”
You note that they must have learned from experience, judging by the darkened places around their eyes. Or maybe that’s just how their face is. Do monsters even bruise?
“Anyways, I’m M.K. Are you sneaking out to see her too?”
M.K. You wonder what the letters stand for, or if that’s just their full name. Would it be spelled “Emkay” then? Monsters do have funny names, but you supposed yours isn’t very common either. Still, you’re sure it must be initials. Maybe they stand for Monster Kid. It would be fitting. You nearly laugh, but M.K. is staring at you again. You blink. What was the question?
“What, were you thinking again?” You nod, grinning sheepishly. “You gotta stop that, yo!” They tilt their head a bit. “Well, don’t stop thinking. That’d probably be bad.” They grin, steeling their expression into something courageous. “But you have to pay attention to what’s going on! A true warrior is always aware of their surroundings! And I’m going to be a true warrior, just like Undyne!” They’re bouncing on their feet, tail swinging behind them. You blink. “You’re going to be a warrior too, right?”
What? You shake your head. No, no no no. You’d rather not be a warrior. That’s too much fighting for your liking.
M.K. looks a bit disappointed for a moment, but they go right back to bouncing. “Aw, well. What are you going to be, then?”
You shrug. You haven’t thought that far.
“Nothing wrong with that!” they say brightly. “You’re still a kid, I can tell by your shirt. You have a while to figure that out. But I already know exactly what I’m doing!” They tilt their head at you again. “You’re still here to see her though, right? I mean, you don’t have to be a warrior to know how cool she is! And she’s the coolest! Just don’t tell my parents I’m here, haha.”
You don’t bother answering, since they buried the question and you think it would be a little awkward to just nod or shake your head after all that, and you don’t feel like talking. So you just smile, and actually, yeah, nod your head too. It doesn’t have to be an answer. It can just mean you’re listening.
“Awesome!” Oh. They took it as an answer anyway. …you think. “Anyway, I’m gonna go look for her. See you later!” And off they run, teetering a bit, but they manage to right themself without falling on their face.
You think on their words for a minute. Not the ones about not thinking too much. That would be ironic, and also counterproductive. No, you think about other words. You’re still a kid. You have time to figure things out. Maybe you could just…stop, for a bit. Stop and think. Figure out what you’re going to do.
Your eyes are drawn ahead of you, to your left. Sans sits at his sentry station. He catches your gaze and waves lazily.
…not here, then.
You go forward, past Sans—who says something about hanging out again sometime—and follow the path M.K. took. It leads past a box like the ones from Snowdin (which you ignore for now, since you think you have everything you need) and to a waterfall.
A waterfall with rocks flowing down it.
Oh no.
Okay, you reason. You can think about this logically. You don’t see M.K. anywhere around. Could they have really gotten past such a dangerous (senseless, pointlessly time-consuming, possibly deadly) obstacle in such a short amount of time? No, you don’t think so. …unless they’re more used to the danger of the area than you’d think they should be. They’re still a kid, too.
Still, you’re sure there must be some sort of shortcut. You follow the wood boards (they’re blue, they don’t look painted, how can wood be blue—) with your eyes, tracing a path downwards, to another waterfall. A perfect place to hide a secret, less dangerous path for locals. No sense in making human traps if they trap monsters just as often. No point in making human traps at all, really, if humans as rare as they say, but you’re going to try not to judge anyone around here.
It’s surprisingly difficult.
Down the path you walk, careful not to trip on loose boards or slip on what water you’re sure must be there. You try to peek behind the waterfall for a safe, preferably non-slippery path inwards, but there’s not enough space between the water and the wall. You try the other side, but it’s just as bad. Nothing.
Still, there’s a pretty blue flower down here, so it’s not a total waste. It looks like the flower you saw by the orange fish monster, but you hadn’t been able to get a close look at it with all the people around. …monsters, you mean. You lean over to smell it, but as soon as you get near it, you jump. It speaks.
“Sitting behind rushing water... It makes me feel relaxed. I swore I saw something... Behind that rushing water...”
Is that a clue? Why would there be a clue? (And why does everything talk down here?) You glare at the waterfall. You’re going to be very upset with it if it’s hiding something from you. You look at it again, from the front this time, and you think you see something? There’s something shining there, like the flower said, just beyond the rushing water.
*A camera, Left supplies, thinking a pointed eyeroll in your direction.
A camera? Like back before Snowdin, right outside the door to the Ruins? Why is there a camera? Who’s watching you?
[Don’t think too hard,] Right says. [Remember M.K.!]
Right, right. You have to pay attention. With one last glance at the camera, you head back up the path to the terrifying murder-fall (it’s like a waterfall, except murder objects fall down too, and apparently they’re popular with monsters—but you’re not judging them, not at all). You’re going to have to get wet, aren’t you? You hate getting wet. You’re not sure how you know that, since that never happened as far as you remember, but you do. You really, really hope the water is shallow enough that it doesn’t get in your boots, but you really, really doubt it.
You could…jump the rocks, maybe? Is that the puzzle? Or maybe you’re supposed to climb the rocks around the falls and there’s a bridge up top. Or maybe—
*Or maybe you should not kid yourself. Even if that was the puzzle’s intention, you are not nearly athletic enough to accomplish such a task.
Slightly hurt, you have to agree. No matter what you were meant to do, wading seems to be your only option. Still, you wiggle your toes at the water’s edge for several moments before finally stepping in.
It’s cold. It’s really, really cold and it’s in your boots and it’s hard to lift your feet up to move and—oh god, that’s a rock—you move upstream to avoid being hit. Actually, you move directly into the waterfall when you’re paying too close attention to the murderrocks and now you’re soaked.
Shaking, you take a moment to calm down. You look around to assess your situation. You’re in a cave (*What else is new, Left says, but you ignore them) behind the waterfall and there’s a tutu on the ground.
Why is there a tutu on the ground.
[Pick up the tutu and it won’t be on the ground anymore.]
A reasonable suggestion. You pick up the tutu, coughing at the cloud of dust, and consider putting it on. It’s certainly cute, and it almost matches one stripe on your shirt, and it’s not like you’re stealing it if someone left it here…
*Yes, will you finally trade that bandaid for something more helpful?
Bandaid? Oh, they mean the necklace. But why would the tutu be any more helpful? And why would you need to take off your necklace to wear it?
[…that’s a good point, actually.]
They start talking amongst themselves, but you ignore them and slip the tutu on. You do a little twirl, then another and another until you’re dizzy. You lean against the wall until everything stops spinning.
You’ve dried off a bit (and emptied the water out of your oversized boots), but you’re just going to get wet again. You sigh, steel yourself, and head back out through the waterfall.
It’s not quite as bad now that you’re used to it. You’d really rather not have to get used to it, but anything to make it a little less unpleasant. You make it to the other side having only bumped into a single rock, nearly skipping with pride. That is, until you feel your socks pull from your boots and make that awful squelch and you have to sit down and get the water out again. And take off your socks. Those go in your inventory.
As bad as it feels to wear shoes without socks, wearing them with wet socks would be worse and you don’t have the time to wait for them to dry. You have to get…somewhere, and somewhere is where you’re going.
Until you get to the tall grass, that is.
You’re halfway through the grass when you hear Papyrus. Grinning, you almost wave at him, but you see her. Undyne. You know, the monster who’s planning on killing you and stealing your soul. And Papyrus is talking to her. Papyrus, your new friend. Or…you thought he was a friend. You knew he wanted to be in the royal guard, that he wanted to capture a human, but…but…
“...I UNDERSTAND. I'LL HELP YOU IN ANY WAY I CAN.”
But you didn’t think he’d betray you.
Hurt, holding back tears, you suddenly don’t want to go anymore. You want to stay right where you are, hidden in the grass and hugging yourself. More than that, you want to go back to Snowdin, but Papyrus is there. He’s working for Undyne now. You won’t be safe. You want to go back to Mom, but the door is locked and you’d have to go through Snowdin. Sans might help you, though. He had that shortcut to Grillby’s, maybe he has one to the Ruins?
No. He’d pick his brother over you any day. You have nowhere to go but forward, so forward you’ll go. The grass rustles as you walk and—what’s that? You look up at the sound and oh god, oh god, it’s Undyne, she never left, you thought she left!
She moves towards the ledge and pulls out a spear from…somewhere…and oh god, you’re going to die here—
But she puts the spear away.
And she leaves.
And you’re stuck there in the tall, tall grass and you’re cold and wet and terrified and you sob.
You sob so loud you don’t even hear the grass rustling when someone approaches you. You only hear them talk.
“Yo...did you see the way she was staring at you...? That was AWESOME! I'm SOOOO jealous! What did—” M.K. bends their head around to look at your face. “Yo, are you crying? What’s wrong?”
You wipe at your face with your sleeves. You don’t even have the energy to sign a response. You just turn your head upwards to look at the ledge Undyne had been standing on.
“Are you…scared? Did you think she was really going to hurt you?” Miserably, you nod. “Yo, you must not be from around here! Undyne wouldn’t hurt you! She just hurts bad guys, like humans!”
That certainly didn’t make you feel any better, but you force out a little smile for their sake.
“Yeah, that’s it! C'mon! Let's go watch her beat up some bad guys!”
Off they run (and fall on their face, but they get back up alright) and finally you move. Out of the grass, you turn around to look up at the shadowed ledge. A feeling of dread hangs over you.
We have sent a scout to ensure you are alive. Hopefully this one will not turn to dust.
Anonymous said to discomforttale: Are you okay?
Anonymous said: Are you alright?
Anonymous said: Fren no talk in long time. Worry active.
Anonymous said: Are you alright?
@misaimed-archer said to discomforttale: (To author: Has is blog ended?)
Anonymous said to discomforttale: You have been gone so long. You haven’t said anything, nobody has said anything, you have seemingly stopped existing! Chisk, if you don’t show us that you’re somehow alright, there might not be a surface to get to.
Anonymous said to discomforttale: Are you still there, Chisk? Your believers have begun to worry for tour well-being. We are running out of candles, the food is spoiling, and we have exhausted the whole playlist. You have not said a word in so much time. Should we send another scout to find you?
Anonymous said to discomforttale: Is Chisk bye bye, or back soonish?
Anonymous said to discomforttale: (Hey Auth, life keeping you busy?)
Chisk blinked. They blinked again.
“Um.”
They looked around, then broke into a sheepish grin.
“Whoops?”
[Sorry, guys! Life things happened. The longer I avoided things, the guiltier I felt, the longer I avoided it…but here I am! It might take awhile to get the blog back up and running again (boosting the queue enough, clearing out the inbox to manageable levels, writing the next chapter [whoops!]), but it’s not dead! Yay!
The ask box is open like always, but please don’t spam it. I’ll get to most questions eventually! I’ll post a thing when I get back to answering semi-regularly.]
You have fallen through a hole, but you aren’t sure how you got there. Flowers are trying to fight you, goats are trying to mother you, puzzles are trying to confuse you…
you are filled with DISCOMFORT.
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At the top of the stairs, you can finally read the signs. Before then, they were really blurry, and you thought one said something about an owl. That was wrong, though. Now, you can finally read what they really say: “(NO GIRLS ALLOWED!) (NO BOYS ALLOWED!) (PAPYRUS ALLOWED.)” Oh.
You send the question to Left and Right. You’re kind of embarrassed you didn’t ask earlier. Are you girls or boys?
*I am not.
[Me neither!]
Oh. You’re not, either. Good. You open the door and enter with a smile, glad you’re not breaking any rules.
It’s a very nice room. It’s neat and tidy, and also neat in the other sense. His bed is a car! He also has a table with some toys on it. They look collectible. Does he collect them? You also collect things! That would be another thing you have in common! You turn to ask him about it and notice he’s shuffling from foot to foot in the middle of the room. You frown, but you make yourself smile again and point at the toys.
He brightens up and rushes to the table, you trailing close behind. “AH, YES, ACTION FIGURES! A GREAT REFERENCE FOR THEORETICAL BATTLE SCENARIOS.” You make a sweeping gesture across the table. There’s so many, does he collect them? You need to know! “HOW DO I HAVE SO MANY?” Well, not quite, but close enough. You nod. “WELL, LET'S JUST SAY THEY'RE FROM...A CHUBBY, SMILING MAN WHO LOVES TO SURPRISE PEOPLE.” Oh. Well, even if his brother got them for him, he could still collect them? “YEAH!! THAT'S RIGHT! SANTA!!!!”
You blink. Santa? …Sansta? No, he said Santa. What’s—oh. Oh yeah.
*…you seriously forgot what Santa was for a second.
[Don’t be mean, they remembered!]
Papyrus looks nervous again, probably because you’re just standing and not doing anything, so you point at one of the action figures. Hopefully, he’ll talk for so long you’ll forget your embarrassment.
“THIS ONE IS MODELED AFTER MY FAVORITE TELEVISION STAR’S CHARACTER IN HIS MOST RECENT ACTION FILM! WOWIE, THE WAY HE DEFEATED THE ROBOT NINJA SHARK WAS AMAZING…” You point to another. “OH! AND THIS ONE…” He looks around. “WELL, I DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THIS ONE IS? IT MUST BE A HUMAN ACTOR. I THINK THEIR NAME MUST START WITH AN ‘S,’ SINCE THAT’S WHAT’S ON THEIR CHEST. …MAYBE SAM? BUT I LIKE THEIR CAPE! IT MATCHES MY SCARF.”
He bounces from foot to foot some more. “SO, UM…IF YOU’VE SEEN EVERYTHING…DO YOU WANT TO START THE DATE?”
[Yes!]
*Date the skeleton!
Alright, alright! It’s not like you wanted to see the rest of his room or anything. Stupid pushy voices…but you might as well get it over with. You nod.
“OKAY! DATING START!”
Nothing seems to change, but you feel a difference. Anticipation, you assume. You’re on a date, actually, for real. You’re both just standing, looking at each other, not doing anything, but...
You don’t think you like it.
“HERE WE ARE!” he says, “ON OUR DATE!” He frowns. “I’VE ACTUALLY NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE…”
You nod in agreement, grinning sheepishly. You…don’t know what to do.
“OH, YOU’RE ALSO NEW TO DATING?” You nod again. “WELL DON’T WORRY, YOU CAN’T SPELL ‘PREPARED’ WITHOUT SEVERAL LETTERS FROM MY NAME!” He whips out a book of some sort. “I SNAGGED AN OFFICIAL DATING RULEBOOK FROM THE LIBRARY! WE’RE READY TO HAVE A GREAT TIME!”
Dating rulebook? They have those? You want to read it! You thought he and you were on the same page, but even if neither of you dated before, he still knows more. You’re so behind. You hold onto a rock in your pocket for moral support.
“STEP ONE, PRESS THE ‘C’ KEY ON YOUR KEYBOARD FOR THE ‘DATING HUD.’”
Keyboard? What keyboard?
*On your phone, idiot. Do not keep him waiting.
Oh. You pull out the phone Mom gave you and do what he said. They’re graphs, and charts, and dogs…? You’re even more confused.
“WOWIE! I FEEL SO INFORMED! STEP TWO, ASK THEM ON A DATE.” He nods. “SEEMS REASONABLE. WELL, HUMAN…I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS…WILL GO ON A DATE WITH YOU!”
What? That’s…not a question. You shake your head, wrinkling your eyebrows kinda funny.
“OH. THAT’S…UNFORTUNATE.” Oh, did he think you were answering? “BUT FORTUNATELY, IT ONLY SAYS TO ASK!”
You blink. That’s…not good.
…you really don’t think you like this.
“STEP THREE, PUT ON NICE CLOTHES TO SHOW YOU CARE!” That’s reasonable. “…WAIT.” Wait what? “THAT NECKLACE YOU’RE WEARING, SHAPED LIKE A BANDAGE…YOU’RE WEARING CLOTHING RIGHT NOW!” You look at it. Well, you guess, but you’d usually call that jewelry. Your sweater is clothing, though. “NOT ONLY THAT, BUT EARLIER TODAY, YOU WERE ALSO WEARING CLOTHING!” …yes…? “COULD IT BE…YOU WANTED TO DATE ME FROM THE VERY BEGINNING?”
*Obviously!
What? No! You shake your head frantically. Clothes do not mean you want to date someone! People wear clothes rather often actually!
He spouts out something about your interest being predestined (which, no…) and hides in his closet. He comes out wearing…something. His “secret style.” It’s certainly…something. It should be funny, to see him standing there with basketballs on his shoulders, but it’s not. You think it would be, though, if it were happening…somewhere else, in any other situation. You roll rocks around in your hand, waiting for the date to be over. You just…you want to leave. You don’t like this.
“YOU DON'T TRULY UNDERSTAND THE HIDDEN POWER OF THIS OUTFIT!!! THIS DATE WON'T ESCALATE ANY FURTHER!!!” You groan silently. What’s even going on? “...UNLESS YOU FIND MY SECRET!!” He pauses. “BUT THAT WON'T HAPPEN!!”
You look around the room, completely lost. You want to leave.
[…do you want a hint?]
You shake your head. No. You didn’t even want to do this in the first place. You didn’t want to date the skeleton, you didn’t want to fight the skeleton, you didn’t want to try to leave town, you didn’t want to leave Mom! You didn’t want any of this!
“…DOES THAT MEAN YOU GIVE UP, HUMAN?” You turn your attention back to Papyrus. You almost forgot he was here. “YOU SEEM…FRUSTRATED. UPSET.” He gasps. “OH NO! MY DATING IS COMPLETELY BACKFIRING!”
You don’t want to be here. You don’t want to be here. You don’t—“I don’t!”
“…HUMAN…?”
You stare at him for a second. You feel like you’re about to cry.
“HUMAN, ARE…YOU OKAY?”
You swallow. “I…don’t,” you say.
“DON’T…WHAT?”
“I don’t!” you snap. “I don’t…want this. I don’t…I just don’t!”
“I CAN JUST TELL YOU WHERE THE SECRET IS IF YOU DON’T WANT TO LOOK,” he says. “I DIDN’T MEAN TO UPSET YOU…”
“No!” You might be crying a little bit. You sniff. “I…I don’t want…this. I didn’t…I wasn’t flirting. I don’t...I don’t want this.”
“YOU DON’T…WANT TO DATE ME?”
You shake your head.
“OH. THAT IS…DISAPPOINTING,” he says. You sniff again. You didn’t want to make him sad. “BUT ALSO A GOOD THING!” What? “I...I SPENT THE WHOLE DATE TRYING TO FIND A WAY TO BREAK IT TO YOU. I…DIDN’T LIKE YOU, THE WAY I THOUGHT YOU LIKED ME. UM. ROMANTICALLY, I MEAN.” He grins nervously. “I TRIED TO! I THOUGHT THE DATE WOULD MAKE ME LIKE YOU! BUT…IT DIDN’T WORK.” He puts his hands on his hips. “IT MIGHT HAVE THOUGH! IF I GAVE IT ENOUGH TIME, AND…” He sighs, letting his arms fall. “OH, WHO AM I KIDDING? NO, I DO NOT THINK I COULD FEEL THAT WAY ABOUT YOU, EVER…” Just seconds later, he brightens up. “WELL, HUMAN, THERE IS ONE GOOD SIDE TO THIS.”
You sign a ‘what?’
“I DIDN’T LEAD YOU ON! I THOUGHT, BY GOING ON THIS DATE, I HAD ONLY DRAWN YOU DEEPER INTO YOUR INTENSE LOVE FOR ME! NOW THAT I KNOW THAT LOVE DID NOT EXIST, I CAN REJECT YOU WITHOUT FEAR! NYEHEHEHEH-HEHHH!”
You feel a change once more. It’s the tension being broken, you assume. You close your eyes and breathe in deeply, then let the breath out with a sigh. You feel so much better.
“WELL…WHAT DO WE DO NOW?”
You hum. What do you do now? You don’t want to leave yet. You just started enjoying yourself, or at least stopped feeling so bad. Suddenly, an idea crosses your mind. “…we could make spaghetti?”
Papyrus’s hands fly to his face and he gasps, eyes almost sparking, and you know you made the right choice.
[Hangout commence!]
*I know that I should not be surprised at this point, but I cannot help but be amazed at how terribly this did not go.
[Have some faith in them!]
*Forgive me if I do not feel the same optimism.
[They’re doing okay. They’re going to be fine.]
*…you had better not be wrong.
“…AND THEN UNDYNE YELLED AT ME FOR BOTHERING HER AT MIDNIGHT, BUT WHEN SHE WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING SHE AGREED TO TRAIN ME!” Papyrus kicked his feet excitedly, holding onto his plate so it wouldn’t fall from where it sat on his bony knees. “AND THAT’S HOW I LEARNED TO MAKE SPAGHETTI. DO YOU LIKE IT?”
You had taken a bite of a little noodle earlier, when you had both first sat down on the couch to watch Papyrus’s favorite show. It was certainly…something. “It’s very unique,” you say.
“IT IS! UNDYNE AND I ARE THE ONLY ONES IN THE WORLD WHO KNOW THE RECIPE!” He takes a bite. “WELL,” he adds once he’s done chewing, “I GUESS YOU KNOW IT NOW, TOO. SO DON’T TELL ANYONE, OKAY?”
You nod and draw an X over your heart. You promise.
“SAY, HUMAN, DID YOU LOOK AT YOUR ROCKS SINCE WE ENDED THE DATE WE DECIDED TO NEVER SPEAK ABOUT AGAIN?” You shake your head. Why? “BECAUSE, WELL. LOOK AT THEM!”
You stand up to get a better look. They’re all huddled together, surrounding Papyrus’s rock. They’re cuddling. You smile.
“AWW! OUR ROCKS HAVE BECOME FRIENDS! IT’S A SHAME WE’LL HAVE TO SEPARATE THEM EVENTUALLY…”
You frown. You don’t want your rocks to be sad, and you don’t want Papyrus to be sad, and you’re going to have to leave eventually…
“OH! HUMAN, I HAVE A GREAT IDEA! GIVE ME YOUR PHONE!”
Why would he need your phone? You hand it to him anyway, because you trust him. Mostly. With your phone, anyway. He presses some buttons.
“THERE, HUMAN! NOW YOU HAVE MY PHONE NUMBER! YOU CAN CALL ME WHENEVER YOU LIKE, AND NOT ONLY WILL WE NEVER BE FAR APART, YOUR ROCKS WILL NEVER BE FAR FROM MY ROCK!”
You take your phone back. Sure enough, the name “PAPYRUS” shows up on your contact list, right on top of Toriel’s name. You manage not to be sad and smile instead.
“WELL, I GUESS YOU’D BETTER GO. I’VE HELD YOU UP FOR TOO LONG. YOU WANT TO HOME TO THE SURFACE, RIGHT? THAT’S PRETTY FAR, SO YOU SHOULD START OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!”
You nod, even if you’re not sure why you want to go to the surface. You collect your rocks and wave as you turn towards the door.
“GOODBYE, HUMAN! GOOD LUCK ON YOUR JOURNEY! DON’T FORGET TO CALL ME!”
You wave once more and step out into the cold.
Immediately, your mood drops. Why are you leaving? You’ve just gotten used to this town. You’ve just gotten used to Papyrus. You could stay here. Papyrus would probably let you sleep on the couch, or you could stay at the Inn. You don’t have to go.
*[But you do!]
…right. Of course you do.
The uncertainty of what’s to come fills you with discomfort.
You have fallen through a hole, but you aren’t sure how you got there. Flowers are trying to fight you, goats are trying to mother you, puzzles are trying to confuse you…
you are filled with DISCOMFORT.
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He drags you back from where you came from originally, gesturing grandly at the building. Which was exactly what you were standing in front of before he dragged you across the town. What was the point? “MY HOUSE!”
He seems so excited you have to force a smile at him, no matter how shaky and nervous it turns out to look. He grins back at you and whips around, running into his house. He (accidentally, you think) slams the door in your face, leaving you blinking and confused.
You could leave, you reason. You could just walk back through the foggy place, down to the caverns, and continue your journey. You could leave this awkward time behind you, and sure, it’d be rude, but you would never have to see him again in your life. He’s so nice he’d just assume you had something important to do. Sans might never forgive you, but you don’t like him much anyway. But he is scary…
*Don’t you dare.
Don’t you dare what?
[Don’t date the skeleton!]
Do…do they not want you to date him?
*No! I mean, yes! I mean…don’t you dare stand him up!
…stand him up…?
[Don’t leave him alone! Go on the date! He’s so happy!]
So they’re giving you orders now? Well, they already did that, anyway. But their insistence is what pushes you over the edge and makes you decide that yes, you agreed to the date, you have to go through with it. Steeling your resolve, you open the door.
“WELCOME TO SCENIC MY HOUSE!” Papyrus says cheerfully. “ENJOY AND TAKE YOUR TIME!”
You nod, grinning appreciatively, and take a look around from the doorway. There’s a rock on the table! On…a plate? But it’s a rock! You take a closer look and notice it’s covered in sprinkles.
“AH, I SEE YOU’VE TAKEN A LIKING TO MY BROTHER’S PET ROCK.” You nod, because you like rocks, but it’s a pet? You didn’t know rocks could be pets. But you didn’t know they could talk either…you shake away the memory from the Ruins. “HE ALWAYS FORGETS TO FEED IT. I HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, AS USUAL.”
Rocks need food? You didn’t know that. Have you been starving your rocks? Frantically, you reach in your pockets and pull out one of your rocks. It’s smooth and gray and fits in the palm of your hand.
“OH! YOU ALSO HAVE A PET ROCK? WHAT A COINCIDENCE!” He crosses the living room to stand beside you, staring over your shoulder. “IT’S A VERY NICE ROCK, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF, BUT THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS NO ROCK EXPERT. DESPITE BEING AN EXPERT AT MANY OTHER THINGS.”
You sign a very fast thank-you, grinning probably too wide but very happily. He likes your rocks! Well, one of them. Shyly, you take a few more out of your pockets and hold them out for his approval. The angular red one nearly falls out of your hands, but you catch it and let it roll into a small black stone. The red one leaves a little dusty mark where they clink together. You hope it’s okay.
“OH MY! YOU HAVE A WHOLE LITTER OF ROCKS! HOW DO YOU TAKE CARE OF THEM ALL? YOU MUST BE A VERY RESPONSIBLE ROCK OWNER.” He gasps. “WHY DON’T YOU PUT YOUR ROCKS WITH SANS’S ROCK? MAYBE THEY’LL BE FRIENDS! JUST LIKE US!”
What a wonderful idea! Your rocks were probably lonely in your pockets. You arrange a few in a circle around the rock already on the table, but decide that’s not good. You don’t want to crowd Sans’s rock. You put them in a little clump a few inches away instead. They’ll come together in their own time.
“I’LL GO GET SOME SPRINKLES FOR YOUR ROCKS. I AM AN EXCELLENT HOST, AFTER ALL!”
You follow him to the kitchen, but turn around halfway there. You don’t want to crowd Papyrus, either. Instead, you return to the living room and shuffle awkwardly near the wall for a few minutes before Right convinces you Papyrus won’t be mad if you sit down on the couch. You do what they suggest and sit, but the couch jangles. What? You reach inside and find some coins. You hold them in your hands for a while, debating. You need more money, but this is Papyrus’s money. And Sans’s money. And Sans is scary. And Papyrus is too, but only a little bit. Finally, after Left reminds you that Papyrus will come back some time, you compromise by pocketing about half of the coins you find.
*You got 12G.
Yes, that should be enough. For now, anyway. You can get more later, when more monsters attack you.
…you don’t want that to happen.
“ALRIGHT!” Papyrus says, making you jump. The couch jangles more. “THE ROCKS HAVE BEEN FED. YOU CAN LOOK AROUND IF YOU LIKE, OR SIT HERE ON THE COUCH AND WATCH MY FAVORITE GAME SHOW!”
His favorite? You glance at the television. It’s blaring an obnoxious, eye-searing rainbow of color with the words “Stay tuned for a new program—MTT” plastered on it.
“WELL, IT’S USUALLY BETTER THAN THIS,” he admits to your judging side-eye glance. “DON’T JUDGE ME!”
You’re not, you say by putting your hands palm out and ducking your head down. Hoping to smooth over any hurt feelings, you pat the couch next to you. He can join you and you can both wait for the show to come back. Watching a show together is a date thing, right?
“SORRY HUMAN, BUT I CANNOT JOIN YOU,” he says. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS AN EXCELLENT HOST, AND AN EXCELLENT HOST CAN’T SIMPLY LAZE ABOUT WITH A GUEST TO ATTEND TO!”
You frown. Oh. You really don’t want to sit down if he can’t. That’s probably rude. So you stand up and look up and the second floor. There’s stairs leading up to two doors. There’s a large painting of a bone sitting between a door covered in caution tape and a door with…lights coming out from under it? Oh no, what is that? You point to the door, looking towards Papyrus.
“OH, THAT? THAT’S SANS’S ROOM.” Oh. That’s…not comforting. “YOU SEEM SORT OF…SCARED? WELL, THERE’S A GOOD REASON TO BE SCARED OF SANS’S ROOM.” Your eyes go even wider than usual. What’s in there? “IT’S AN ABSOLUTE DUMP! I WILL NOT BE SURPRISED WHEN I FINALLY LEARN THAT HIS DIRTY SOCKS HAVE GAINED SENTIENCE.”
Your shoulders slump and you let out a sigh of relief. Oh. That’s a lot better than all of the things you were expecting.
“BUT FEAR NOT, HUMAN, FOR I HAVE MADE IT MY MISSION TO NOT ALLOW THE REST OF OUR HOUSE TO BECOME SUCH A TRASH HEAP! IN FACT, I MUST SAY I KEEP IT RATHER TIDY, CONSIDERING.”
You nod. It’s a very tidy house.
“WHY THANK YOU, HUMAN.” He notices you glancing towards the other door, the one covered in warning signs. “THAT'S MY ROOM! IF YOU'VE FINISHED LOOKING AROUND, WE COULD GO IN AND...” He looks briefly puzzled. “DO WHATEVER PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY DATE?”
Oh. Oh. So that wasn’t a date yet. You thought…oh well. You nod. Might as well get this over with. Maybe then you can let him down gently…
“ALRIGHT THEN!” He races up the stairs and into his room.
Once again, you’re faced with the very real possibility that you could just…walk out. Leave. Give up. Before Left and Right can even begin bugging you, though, you narrow your eyes. You’re not going to give up.
Still, the thought of actually dating the skeleton fills you with discomfort.
You have fallen through a hole, but you aren’t sure how you got there. Flowers are trying to fight you, goats are trying to mother you, puzzles are trying to confuse you…
you are filled with DISCOMFORT.
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You hear Sans’s voice, but you can’t tell what he’s saying over the music and the talking. You can feel it as a rumble deep in your chest, sending burning, tingly pinpricks to your fingertips and down to your toes. The lights seem loud, too, only what they’re making burn is the area behind your eyes. Everything is wrong. You’re not supposed to feel like this. It’s wrong and bad in more ways than your reeling, split thoughts can describe.
A bony, padded arm wraps around your shoulders. You turtle further into yourself, pulling your scarf over your face, but you don’t pull away. It’s something you can feel, something you can focus on that isn’t sending fire down your limbs. With that grounding force, you can finally hear his words.
“—id? kid, listen, can you hear me? are you ok?” He sounds worried, looks worried, but he’s still smiling, even though it’s pulled too tight. Your eyes are squeezed tight enough that you can hear a chorus of greetings directed towards Sans, getting progressively less enthusiastic as, one by one, they begin to notice you.
Still covering one ear, you do your best to sign one-handed, but you can’t do the grammar right with your face covered. O-K. Too much loud. I [future] O-K.
Sans takes your response as a request. “yeah, sure thing kid.” He calls across the room towards the bar. “hey, turn down the juke, will ya, grillbz? you’re blowin’ my eardrums out here!”
The same rabbit from earlier giggles. “Sansy, you don’t even have those!”
He glances at the rabbit lazily. “not since you guys got to ‘em.” The bar goes wild.
By now, you’ve dared to look around, licking your sore lip. With the music a bit quieter (along with the patrons), the lights aren’t as overwhelming. No one seemed too concerned about you anymore. How long had it been? A check with Left and Right assures you it was only a few seconds. It felt like an eternity.
Sans taps your shoulder gently. “wanna stick around, or make a break for it? we can always grab a bite at my place, if you don’t mind spaghetti.”
You shake your head, both to clear it and as an answer, but you realize it wasn’t a yes-or-no question. You stand up straighter. No one is looking at you anymore. You haven’t lost too much face. They seem…nice. Maybe they’re like Papyrus. Plus, your stomach is rumbling again. “I’m fine. The food smells good.”
He winks. “you’re the boss, kid.” He ushers you towards the counter. “here, get comfy.” You sit on the stool, and a long, loud fart noise resonates above the nearly-muted music. You send him a judging look. “whoops, watch where you sit down. sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats.” You just roll your eyes. “anyway, let's order. whaddya want...? burger, fries…?”
You freeze. Oh. You forgot that restaurants mean making decisions about food. You love nice and crispy fries, but you’re so hungry you should probably get a burger instead, but you really feel like eating potatoes for some reason, but you haven’t had meat since you fell and that can’t be too healthy…
“you know what, why don’t you just get both?” Sans suggests after a lengthy silence, one which Left and Right confirm was as long as or longer than you felt it was. You just nod, even though you had nearly decided on compromising on a hotdog instead. “hey, that sounds good.” He calls to the bartender. “grillbz, we’ll have a double order of burg ‘n’ fries.”
You smile and nod at ‘Grillbz’ in thanks, not just for the food, but for the music, too. He seems to nod back. Or maybe it was just a flicker of his fire head. You can’t be sure. He doesn’t seem as scary anymore, now that things have calmed down.
“so…what do you think of my brother?” Sans asks.
You think for a moment. “He’s…” Intimidating, long-winded, narcissistic, oblivious, overdramatic, naïve… “He’s really cool.”
“of course he's cool. you'd be cool too if you wore that outfit every day. he'd only take that thing off if he absolutely had to. oh well. at least he washes it. and by that i mean he wears it in the shower.”
Your food comes out seconds later, and you thank the bartender for his fast service. You’re sure he nods this time, because his glasses bob up and down his face a bit. Sans offers you some ketchup, but you decline.
“oh yeah, i wanted to ask you something.” Suddenly, the lights dim. Everyone freezes but you and Sans, and even the music is silent. Panicked, you reach for Left and Right, clawing desperately at the corners of your mind, but all you feel are distant echoes. They’re gone. Sans, though…he continues, still grinning, but you hear the seriousness in his voice. “do you ever feel like something’s happened before?”
Did he know? About the cheese? How you died, but you returned? It didn’t seem possible. Not even Left and Right knew, and they were right there in your head. But they aren’t here now…dreading his response, you nod. “Y-yeah,” you choke, feeling like you need to speak about this, to accept it fully. “Yeah, I do.”
“so you know all about it,” he says, but pauses. You see a look pass over his face and he continues in a completely different tone. “déjà-vu.”
He says it so decisively you almost believe it’s what he meant all along, but you remember how serious he was, how his face changed. You stay silent. You’ll wait. You’ll see what he has to say.
“some people say it’s just a glitch in your brain. you know, like a computer. it takes a memory but it makes two copies on accident, except one of them winds up dated somewhere in the past.” You nod, prompting him to continue. You know he has a point. “others have another theory. ever heard of the multiverse?”
You shake your head, frowning. You feel like it should be familiar, but you can’t access that memory now. Maybe you’re having reverse déjà-vu.
“well, it’s pretty simple. in the multiverse, the same event can happen different ways, depending on the universe. in one, you could have ordered just a burger and used ketchup. in another, you ordered fries but still refused. since they’re possible, they happened, even though they didn’t happen here. you following me?” You nod. “good. so basically, some people think that when you’re having déjà-vu, the same thing is happening in another universe at the same time, when something happened different before.” He closes his eyesockets and exhales, even though he shouldn’t have to. “i have a different theory.”
He looks directly at you, and you know he’s looking at your soul, in the most literal sense possible. “i get déjà-vu a lot, y’know that? and i can’t believe another universe can be that similar to this one. i think this feeling, this déjà-vu, it has to be right. i think the universe—or something in it—sometimes decides it doesn’t like how something happens, so it goes back and changes it. like rewinding a movie, except the scene plays out a little different the next time. maybe someone died before, but the universe didn’t want its favorite character to be killed off, so it goes back a few steps and changes its mind. or sometimes it’s more mundane, like seeing what happens if someone answers a question differently.”
He looks away. You can breathe again, but not for long. “so what do you think, kid?” he asks, and before you know what you’re doing you’re shrugging, you’re shaking your head, playing clueless, but he won’t let you. “i know what i think. i think you know the answer, but you don’t want to say it. so here’s a better question.” He looks back at you, but his eyes are dark and lifeless. “are you a dirty brother killer?”
The tears prick the corners of your eyes, leaving you shocked into wide-eyed silence. How did he know? Before you know what’s going on, before you can question what murder has to do with déjà-vu, you’re covering your mouth and shaking with horror. You thought it was behind you. You thought you could move on.
His face softens. His eyes come back. “listen, i don’t blame you, okay?” he rambles nervously, “i know, it’s scary when you’re all alone and someone’s trying to hurt you and you don’t even understand why. i get it. i’m not mad. i just…i want to know for sure, make sure i’m not going crazy. i’m not mad.”
Sniffing, you don’t give him a straight answer. You can’t. “How’d you know?” you ask instead, hoping that’s confession enough.
“i told you, kid. déjà-vu. ’cept sometimes things play out different from how i remember. the memories are gone after a bit, but every time i remember something, i write it down, and i remembered a little human killer.”
“So you…you knew him.” He looks surprised, shocked, angry. You didn’t mean to make him upset. “I’m sorry!” you say quickly.
“of course i knew him,” he says, but now he’s just confused. “he’s my brother.”
You blurt it out before you can think. “Your brother’s a frog?”
He looks at you funny for a second, then he starts laughing. “kid—kid, what?” he chokes between gasps for air he shouldn’t need. “what are you—what?”
“I—The Ruins,” you stammer. “Back in The Ruins, I—there was this, this Froggit, and it scared me, and I didn’t mean to, but I—it was an accident!” He’s still laughing. Why isn’t he taking this seriously? “Stop it!”
He does. “i’m sorry, kid,” he says seriously, honestly. “here i thought—but no, you didn’t.” He says it with such a finality you’re sure he’s just convincing himself. “a froggit, you say?”
You nod and wipe your eyes. “What didn’t I do?”
“nothing.” He shakes his head. “nothing, it must have been a nightmare i got mixed up with a memory. sorry.”
You know he’s lying. There’s no way it’s “nothing,” not when he was so worried about it, but you feel sick from remembering what you did and you just want this conversation to be over, so you nod. You’ve been doing a lot of nodding recently, especially when you don’t agree. You’re a dirty liar and a dirty murderer now.
“thanks.” The lights come back on, along with the music, and the conversations around you resume. You reach for Left and Right and find them right where they always are, teasing you good-naturedly about your worry. They didn’t hear anything.
Sans gets up from the stool and stretches, looking around. “welp, that was a long break. i can’t believe i let ya pull me away from work for that long.” He turns around to look at you. “by the way…i'm flat broke. can you foot the bill? it's just 10000G.”
What? No way, you can’t afford that!
He waves his hand. “just kidding.” He calls to the bar. “grillby, put it on my tab.” He starts to leave and nearly makes it to the door before turning around. “by the way…” You resist the urge to groan. Nothing good ever happens when he says that. “i was going to say something, but i forgot.” With that, he exits.
Leaving you alone. In the bar. Oh no.
You jump from your chair and run. You make it halfway to the door before your stomach reminds you that you didn’t actually eat anything, so you turn around and grab your disposable tray of food. Thinking twice, you take Sans’s untouched food, too. Grillby seems to look at you suspiciously, but he turns away without a word when you give him a sheepish grin. Then you make a run for the door, shoving a few fries into your mouth.
The voices keep teasing you all the way to the river, where you’ve decided to have your sort-of picnic, but you know they don’t actually mean it. Well, Right doesn’t. It’s hard to tell with Left, but you think they’re teasing you good-naturedly too. They’ll deny it to the ends of the earth, but deep down they really care about you, in their own prickly sort of way.
Turns out you aren’t as hungry as you thought, you realize guiltily as you take a single bite from what used to be Sans’s burger. You managed to eat yours, at least. You throw the remaining fries in the river, hoping there are a few fish that can nibble on them. Then you throw the burger in the woods for any animals, or at least to fertilize the trees. Neither of them would last long in your inventory, you don’t think (and you don’t want to risk them going bad), so at least something can use them.
You’re about to throw the trays in a trashcan before you second guess yourself. They’re little plastic fry cages, and they looked disposable at first, but maybe Grillby washes them and just replaces the paper. You can’t just throw away his stuff, even on accident. You’ll have to go back in. You steel your nerves, square your shoulders, and open the door once more.
The bar is loud. Your ears and eyes sting, but it’s not as bad as before so you only have to squint. You’re getting used to it. Grillby takes one look at you (at least you think he does by the way his glasses glint) and puts down the glass he’s cleaning to gesture at a horse monster wearing sunglasses near the jukebox. The horse monster nods and lowers the volume. It seems like Grillby is getting used to you, too.
You make it to the bar smiling and place the fry cages on the countertop, thanking him for the meal in sign language. You recognized the gesture as the sign for turn down—minus the facial grammar, of course—and were glad to know someone else who can understand you. You offer to pay for your meal, but Grillby insists Sans will take care of it and you don’t have to worry. So you don’t.
You leave the bar much more cheerfully than you entered it.
*That’s nice. Now can we go?
Yes, fine. You roll your eyes and head out of town, towards the cave place you met Sans in.
[Don’t forget the date!]
Speak of the devil. You walk past the skeleton brothers’ house and there Papyrus is, grinning as wide as his skull can allow.
“SO YOU CAME BACK TO HAVE A DATE WITH ME!”
You freeze. Um. No, actually.
His smile falters a bit. “UM. YOU…YOU DID COME BACK FOR THE DATE, DIDN’T YOU?”
Before you know what you’re doing, you’re nodding again. You don’t want him to be sad.
He brightens far too quickly. “WOWIE! YOU MUST BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS...I'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOU SOMEPLACE REALLY SPECIAL...A PLACE I LIKE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME!!!”
As he drags you across the town, you can only wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into.
The idea of going on a date fills you with discomfort.
You have fallen through a hole, but you aren’t sure how you got there. Flowers are trying to fight you, goats are trying to mother you, puzzles are trying to confuse you…
you are filled with DISCOMFORT.
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*He likes to say “nyeh-heh-heh.”
“NYEH-HEH-HEH!”
A few bones fly towards you, but you don’t even have to dodge them. The entire trail flows in a line far away, like he wasn’t even aiming. He wants to fight as little as you do. You might have a chance to…something. You’re not sure what.
You can, you can…scare him off! You’ll intimidate him, insult him, make him leave. That worked for the Froggits! “Y-your spaghetti is, um. It’s bad.”
He seems shocked, but manages to recover. “HOW SELFLESS...YOU WANT ME TO FEEL BETTER ABOUT FIGHTING YOU...I DON'T DESERVE SUCH HOSPITALITY FROM YOU...”
That…backfired. Maybe…pleading? No, no, he’s a bit of a narcissist, you can compliment him instead. Then he won’t want to fight you. “Your, um. Your armor is nice.”
“WHAT!? FL-FLIRTING!?” What? No, no, you’re not flirting!
*Oh my god.
[Yay!]
“SO YOU FINALLY REVEAL YOUR ULTIMATE FEELINGS!” No, you don’t! “W-WELL! I'M A SKELETON WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS!!!”
You shake your head frantically. “I have zero redeeming qualities!”
“OH NO!!!” Good, good… “THAT HUMILITY... IT REMINDS ME OF, MYSELF!!! YOU'RE MEETING ALL MY STANDARDS!!!” No, bad! Very bad!
“Your puzzles were too easy, and also pointless!”
“THERE'S NO NEED TO LIE TO YOURSELF!!! YOUR BARBS HIDE A HIDDEN AFFECTION! YOU EMOTIONAL CACTUS!”
*Yes, the cactus. The most tsundere of plants.
You’re not a cactus! Or…whatever that word means.
*Prove it, then. Just spare him.
Left was telling you to spare? That’s…unexpected. You follow their advice, though, and hold out your hands in a placating gesture.
“SO YOU WON’T FIGHT…” You nod. “THEN, LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE MY FABLED "BLUE ATTACK!””
You hold still and wait for it to pass, but once it does, you feel heavy. Your soul turns dark blue and drops to the ground like a stone. You spot a crack in the side and start to panic, but Right assures you it was there before, that Papyrus won’t hurt you. You want to believe them.
“YOU’RE BLUE NOW. THAT’S MY ATTACK!!!” He laughs maniacally. You fear for your life.
More bones, white ones, fly towards you. You jump to the side to avoid them, but your now-blue soul stays where it is and gets hit. You feel it happen, pain radiating through your entire body. That’s not fair, you dodged it! You did, you swear!
“TRY THINKING “UP” TO JUMP!!!” Papyrus suggests gleefully, throwing more bones your way.
Why would you need to jump? You think it anyway, because you don’t have much choice. There’s nothing else to do. Sure enough, your soul bobs up a bit, but it falls down again.
“THINK “UP” LONGER TO JUMP HIGHER!!! JEEZ!!!”
“I’m trying!” you try to snap, but you only make it halfway through the second word when a particularly tall bone flies through your soul and makes you double over in pain. Dimly, you watch a few more bones pass through your soul without injuring it more, but then it crashes into a wall of bones and you’re on the ground with a cry. Now you’re done for, you just know it. One more hit, and—
The bones disappear. Your soul goes back into your chest. Papyrus laughs, grinning, and walks to you. “YOU'RE TOO WEAK! I WAS EASILY ABLE TO CAPTURE YOU!!!” Capture? But you though—“I WILL NOW SEND YOU TO THE CAPTURE ZONE!! OR, AS SANS CALLS IT... OUR GARAGE??? YOU'RE IN THE DOGHOUSE NOW!” The cold thing you’re lying against isn’t snow anymore, you notice at some point. It feels like metal, and you’re being carried by soft-gloved hands. The last thing you hear is Papyrus’s laughter ringing in your ears, “NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH…”
And then you’re in a dog bed.
*Nice job nearly dying.
[You have to be more careful!]
*You forgot to heal. You have far too much candy, at least eat some of that.
Groggily, you pick yourself up from the floor—because that’s basically what the bed is, it’s too small to fit on entirely—and look around. You’re in a small, dilapidated room with two cracked windows, behind bars. This must be Papyrus’s garage, then. Garage, shed, storage…you glance to the side and spot a note and a bowl of kibble. A glance to the other side finds a bone. You recoil, remembering the battle, but when it doesn’t try to hit you in the face and/or soul you relax a bit.
[Calm down. You’re safe.]
Yes. You are. You take a deep breath and pull the candy bowl out of your inventory to quell the sickly pain still lingering in your gut, but Left grabs control of your arm for a moment to stop you.
*I did not mean now. You can just take a nap at the inn and regain even more health. Do not waste your healing items.
You huff. Fine, you’ll just risk dying to some random monster in town on the way there. But first, you’re going to read that note.
[It’s from Papyrus!]
You read it. “SORRY, I HAVE TO LOCK YOU IN THE GUEST ROOM UNTIL UNDYNE ARRIVES. FEEL FREE TO MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME!!! REFRESHMENTS AND ACCOMODATIONS HAVE BEEN PROVIDED. –NYEHFULLY YOURS, PAPYRUS.”
Yeah, “guest room.” You feel so welcomed behind these bars. Still, you slip through them easily, being the dodging master and all. You ignore Left’s mocking comment about your skills during the previous battle. Cautiously, you try the door handle, and surprisingly, it opens easily. Did he really expect you to stay here?
You (somehow) heal at the inn and make your way back to the foggy place where you battled Papyrus, shivering from cold and anticipation. You should be able to get through now, but…
But Papyrus is there again.
“OH…WHERE COULD THAT POOR HUMAN HAVE GONE...” You freeze in place. You wonder if you can walk around him, but he spots you. “WAIT. IT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!! HELLO! I WAS WORRIED THAT YOU HAD GOTTEN LOST! IT SURE IS A RELIEF TO KNOW THAT YOU'RE RIGHT HERE, AND THAT YOU’RE ALRIGHT...” You stare at him incredulously. Didn’t he remember…? “...WAIT A SECOND!!! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO ESCAPE!!! GET BACK THERE!!!”
The battle recommences. You…don’t do much better than before. Papyrus monologues the same way as before, and you only hear a few more lines of his speech (which you’re sure he practiced) before you’re back on the ground, panting with the effort of holding yourself on your hands and knees.
“WELL!!! YOU MAY HAVE CLEVERLY ESCAPED FROM JAIL BEFORE... BUT THIS TIME, I'VE UPGRADED THE FACILITIES.” This time, you’re aware of being picked up and gingerly carried, but not much else. You try to struggle a bit, but it doesn’t do any good. “NOT ONLY WILL YOU BE TRAPPED... BUT YOU WON'T EVEN WANT TO LEAVE!!! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!”
You wake up to the smell of kibble and hot dog in the same shack as before. After a quick read of the new note (“PLEASE ASK BEFORE YOU ESCAPE!!! WHEN YOU WENT MISSING I GOT WORRIED SICK!!! –SLIGHTLY BONETROUSLED, PAPYRUS”), you slip through the bars with ease and return to fight once again.
He talks a lot again, about spaghetti and knowing why you escaped (even though it was “impossible”), but you don’t have the energy to listen. Apparently, you don’t have the energy to battle, either, because after he wonders if anyone will ever like him as sincerely as you, you fall, once more, to the snowy ground to perform the same metaphorical song and dance. This happens more times than you can count, until finally, you give up. You decide you can’t get past him. Left and Right are less concerned than you expected about your decision.
“YOU’RE BACK AGAIN?!?!”
You shrug and nod. Yeah.
“I FINALLY REALIZE THE TRUE REASON WHY. YOU... JUST MISS SEEING MY FACE SO MUCH... I'M NOT SURE I CAN FIGHT SOMEONE WHO FEELS THIS WAY. BUT MOSTLY... I'M GETTING REALLY TIRED OF CAPTURING YOU!”
Wait, what? Is he…giving up? You nod in agreement, hoping he understands that you’re tired of being captured, too.
“...OKAY...I GUESS I'LL ACCEPT MY FAILURE...NYOO HOO HOO...I CAN'T EVEN STOP SOMEONE AS WEAK AS YOU...” You nearly get offended, but then you remember how easily you were defeated and close your mouth. “UNDYNE'S GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED IN ME. I'LL NEVER JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD... AND...MY FRIEND QUANTITY WILL REMAIN STAGNANT!”
*[Be his friend]
“I could be your friend,” you say automatically, trying to smile. Your smile falls almost instantly. You didn’t mean to say that.
Papyrus doesn’t notice. He’s too excited. “REALLY!? YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS, WITH ME??? WELL THEN... I GUESS... I GUESS I CAN MAKE AN ALLOWANCE FOR YOU!” He looks absolutely giddy. “WOWIE!! WE HAVEN'T EVEN HAD OUR FIRST DATE... AND I'VE ALREADY MANAGED TO HIT THE FRIEND ZONE!! WHO KNEW THAT ALL I NEEDED TO MAKE PALS... WAS TO GIVE PEOPLE AWFUL PUZZLES AND THEN FIGHT THEM??”
Your eyes widen. No. That is definitely not a good way to make friends. You nearly tell him, but he cuts you off with unhelpful directions to the surface, where you don’t even think you want to go. You’re nearly ready to leave when he continues.
“OH, I ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL YOU...TO REACH THE EXIT, YOU WILL HAVE TO PASS THROUGH THE KING'S CASTLE. THE KING OF ALL MONSTERS...HE IS...WELL...” Terrifying? Going to kill you? “HE'S A BIG FUZZY PUSHOVER!!!” The exact opposite of what Mom told you. “EVERYBODY LOVES THAT GUY. I AM CERTAIN IF YOU JUST SAY "EXCUSE ME, MR. DREEMURR...CAN I PLEASE GO HOME?" HE'LL GUIDE YOU RIGHT TO THE BARRIER HIMSELF!”
That’s…comforting, you suppose. And informative. You file that information away for later. But it doesn’t explain why Ms. Mom warned you about him. She wouldn’t lie, would she? Or was Papyrus lying? “ANYWAY!!! THAT'S ENOUGH TALKING!!! I'LL BE AT HOME BEING A COOL FRIEND! FEEL FREE TO COME BY AND HAVE THAT DATE!”
Oh no. You thought he forgot about that by now. Still, he rushes away, flying overhead on some freak breeze, leaving you alone with your thoughts. All of them.
[See? He isn’t that scary.]
*He is a cinnamon bunny, like we said. He could not hurt a fly. Or a cinnamon bunny.
But he could beat you within an inch of death and kidnap you. You’re even more terrified of him than before, after seeing his abilities. If he would have meant to kill you, you’d be dead.
[But he didn’t. And you’re not.]
*Exactly.
[Don’t forget to go on the date later! He’ll be waiting for you!]
You give a somewhat ambiguous response to that question. For now, you’re moving forward. You spent all this time fighting him, you’re going to have something to show for it, dang it!
You follow the river through the thinning fog, watching a huge ice cube follow beside you. As you walk, you feel less cold, and more damp. Damp, damper, yet damper…the snow melts as you go on. Suddenly, there are no trees, just rocky walls. The air is humid and a big swampy. The floor is rocky, too, and you’re painfully reminded that, really, you are underground. The river—no, it’s an underground stream, rivers only happen on the surface—makes a turn, and you’re left mostly alone for the rest of your journey.
Not for long, though. You spot an orange fish monster by a blue flower, a little yellow monster—it looks like a kid—with a striped sweater and no arms, and Sans, at his sentry station. It’s still covered in snow. You walk to him, glad to see a friendly face. Well. Usually friendly, anyway. You think you both came to an understanding when you had that talk, but you can’t be sure.
“hey, kid,” he says, waving a hand lazily in greeting. You gesture to his sentry stand questioningly. “what? haven't you seen a guy with two jobs before? fortunately, two jobs means twice as many legally-required breaks.” You giggle at that. “good job making it this far, kid. we should celebrate. c’mon, i'll take you to grillby’s.”
You freeze. Oh no, you do not want to go back there. But Sans will be with you…but it was terrifying. You debate for several minutes (Sans seems concerned passed a point) but finally nod. You can do this. You know what to expect now. And you’re still hungry.
He grins lazily once more. “well, if you insist... i'll pry myself away from my work...” He walks the wrong way. You tap his shoulder. Grillby’s is the other way! “heh. c’mon, i know a shortcut.”
You frown, but follow him anyway. You guess you should trust him.
You blink, and suddenly you’re inside Grillby’s. Wait, what? No, no, this is bad, you were expecting a whole long walk to prepare, you can’t do this now! The lights are bright, the bar is loud, the fire dances angrily…you squeeze your eyes shut and cover your ears, ducking over to keep out the light better, biting hard on your lip.
The sights and sounds of the bar fill you with discomfort.
Alright everyone, I have school in the morning and I’m going to get offline for the night. Please remember that REQUESTS ARE CLOSED PAST MIDNIGHT EST! I won’t be able to check when they come in after I log off, so we’re going by the honor system, okay? I’m trusting you!
I’ve had so much fun doing all these requests. The drabbles have to be my favorite, but they also take the longest to do, since I want them all to be the best they can be. I still have over 70 messages in my inbox so it will take me awhile to get through all of the requests. I’ll be sure to give them priority over most regular asks, though!
I won’t be closing the askbox after requests are over, so feel free to ask as normal past midnight.
This is not the last time I’ll be doing requests! I might open them up again for another milestone, or if I ever manage to clear out my inbox and get bored, so keep an eye out if you missed it this time around!
Thank you all so much for sticking with me! You guys are the best!
Well look at that how did that happen??? I’m ten followers late! But better late than never right?
If you remember from this post, I’m going to be doing special asks/requests to celebrate 200 (well, 210 now) followers! These include:
Doodle responses (ask as normal, start/end with *)
Long responses (ask as normal, start/end with ~)
Drabble requests (include character name, feeling, and an object/location. I’ll write something based on those things, and possibly other requests (like fluff or angst, nothing too specific please))
Please designate which of these you want in your question, by the symbols I have here or just written out in words, I’m not picky! (See the previously-linked post for more details.)
Note for Drabbles: If you request a drabble here, it will include Chisk, or at the very least mention them in some way. It will most likely be from Chisk’s POV. This is a Chisk blog. If you want a drabble without Chisk, please request at my main, @anotherath-iii-na, to keep this blog tidier (I’ll do it there too!). Drabbles will vary greatly in length, anywhere between 200 and 1200 words, because I’m fickle like that.
Due to how long this took me, requests will be open all weekend!
Asks (related to this) sent past midnight on Sun., Sept. 18 will be ignored, but I may respond to backed up requests past then.
