Papyrus cleared his throat. “Shall we commence the family meeting?”
“Whenever you want, bro,” Sans rocked on the two back legs of his chair, his foot hooked underneath the kitchen table as an anchor. “Coulda done it from the couch, though.”
“Nonsense! This is very important business! We can’t have our first meeting with half of us sitting on the floor.”
Doomfanger mewed.
“Thank you, Doomfanger,” Papyrus said, patting her head.
“So, what’d you wanna show us?” Flowey asked from Frisk’s shoulder.
“The solution!” Papyrus grabbed a large box from beside his chair and placed it with a thud on the table.
Flowey glanced from the box to Papyrus. “You mean…?”
“I did say I would do my upmost to protect you two,” Papyrus said. “I thought an excellent first step would be to provide you with armor!”
Flowey eagerly extended to his full height, trying to peer into the box. Frisk stood on their chair, put their hands on the edge of the box, and peered inside with Flowey. It was neatly organized with folded piles of cloth and stacked armor pieces. There were some random odds and ends including the remains of old Halloween costumes. Whether the costumes had simply been from the surface or if the brothers had used them for a Halloween related monster event, Frisk couldn’t tell. Looking closely, Frisk could see white fur stuck to several of the fabric pieces.
“How’d you get all this stuff?” Flowey asked, bouncing a little.
Sans let his chair thud back onto all four legs. “The dump.”
“What?” Flowey said.
Sans shrugged. “That’s where most things come from these days. But, some of those pieces are real treasures.”
Frisk leaned into the box, standing on their tiptoes and stretching their arm out at full length to reach a bag that had caught their eye. The bag rattled with metal. Frisk opened it and dumped the contents onto the table. Jewelry spilled out—necklaces, gold chains, broaches, bracelets, and lots and lots of rings. Frisk hurried to keep the jewelry from rolling to the floor, but some of the rings fell off the table. Doomfanger flicked her tail as she watched the child scramble to gather the shiny items. She pawed at the rings that had rolled her way and followed them as they rolled to the ground to play with them under the table.
“That’s where those ended up,” Sans said, catching a few.
“If I hadn’t put them away, they would’ve ended up like your sock—collecting filth,” Papyrus said.
“Decoration. It gives that corner of the room more sole.”
Papyrus groaned. “I’ll grab the rest of it from the shed before you pun-ish us more.”
Sans moved like he was about to say something as Papyrus stomped out of the room. He chuckled to himself before asking, “Wanna try on some of ‘em?”
As Frisk looked through the rings still on the table, Sans stood on his chair and haphazardly dug through the box, unfolding the neatly stacked clothing items as he searched. He let a couple of jackets fall over the edge of the box to the floor as he dragged out a black and red one. He jumped off his chair and held the coat up to Frisk.
“This outta fit. Wanna try it on?”
Frisk slid off their chair and accepted the coat from Sans. As Frisk tried it on, Sans sorted through the jewelry, picking out his favorite pieces. The coat was long at the waist, and Frisk’s hands were hidden within the sleeves. Frisk fully stretched out an arm, only the very tips of their fingers visible from under the fabric.
“This is armor?” Flowey commented.
“Well, can’t have ya getting’ cold out there,” Sans said.
Flowey grunted, unable to argue with his reasoning. Snowdin was pretty cold, and Frisk did need something warmer.
Handing several gold necklaces and rings to Frisk, Sans said, “How ‘bout these, too?”
Frisk slipped the necklaces over their head and struggled to figure out which fingers the rings would fit on. They managed to get a ring to stay on each of their thumbs before placing the other ones back on the table.
Flowey’s face screwed up in disgust. The child was covered in gold like someone playing dress-up with their mother’s jewelry and high heels.
“This is ridiculous.” Flowey mumbled. “They look like an idiot.”
“Look so bad that the bling scares ‘em away.” Sans winked. “Armor.”
Flowey frowned. “Yeah, right.”
“What?” Sans carefully selected a ring from the table. He held it out to Flowey. “Jealous?”
“No!”
Flowey snatched the ring out of his hand and found a way to loop it around his vines. He straightened a little until he realized that Sans was grinning even wider. Flowey grumbled about it looking dumb.
“Well, it’s up to you, bud, if you take or leave the bling.”
“I would consider that decision wisely, Frisk,” Papyrus said, returning with a pile of armor in his arms.
“A little bit of extra bling might have some monsters thinkin’ twice,” Sans said.
“Or make you more conspicuous.”
“Well, that’s why yer coverin’ the actual armor part.” Sans sat back down in his seat.
Papyrus set the armor in a neat row on the floor. Frisk slipped off the coat and folded it over their chair. They placed the jewelry back on the table and joined Papyrus where he had set up the armor. They poked through the armor on the floor, frowning at how most of it seemed to be too large. Unlike a jacket, a too long breast plate would make it hard to walk. There were some smaller pieces, though, and Frisk found themself more drawn to the pieces they thought they could actually handle the weight of. They picked up a pair of dark brown leather bracers. The ribbon running through the eyelets was worn in places, but the bracers themselves were well-cared for. Burnt into the leather was the insignia of the Deltarune.
“An excellent choice, human!” Papyrus knelt beside Frisk as they slid the bracers onto their arms.
Frisk struggled to tighten the armor as it slid off their arm when they tried to tie it. Papyrus took his own set of bracers off and showed Frisk how to tie on the armor with one hand. Despite the bracers being clumsily tied, when Frisk shook their arms, the bracers didn’t fall off. Frisk smiled up at Papyrus.
Papyrus laughed. “Well done, human!” He selected a helmet and offered it to the child. “How about this as well?”
Frisk put on the helmet. It rested unsteadily on their shoulders, and the visor fell well below their eyes.
“If they can’t see your face, they won’t know you’re human!” Papyrus said.
Frisk attempted to nod before jostling the helmet and unbalancing it. They made a slightly distressed grunt, and Flowey lifted it off their head.
“Yeah, fits great,” Flowey said.
Papyrus frowned and looked over the remaining armor. “That’s the smallest one we have.”
He walked back to the box that was on the table, his foot getting caught on one of the coats that Sans had left on the ground. Papyrus hopped on one leg a couple of paces. Sans and Flowey snickered.
“Shut up.” Papyrus pried the coat from his foot and threw it at Sans.
Sans leaned over just enough for the coat to miss him. Papyrus rolled his eyes. Pulling items out of the box and leaving them folded and organized on the table, Papyrus picked out a tattered pair of pauldrons that had a half-cape attached to them. He judged the metal part to be too large for Frisk and carefully started working the faded black fabric out from the metal. When he started looking around for a tool, Sans already had a hand out holding what he was looking for. Papyrus grunted his thanks.
Frisk and Flowey curiously watched Papyrus from the other side of the table.
“A skilled maker made this a long time ago,” Papyrus said. “The fabric should offer some protection.”
Papyrus offered the fabric to Frisk, and Frisk gingerly took it. It was uneven on the ends but carefully hemmed, making up for any fraying that had happened over time. Some places in the middle of the fabric were skillfully sewn closed; the repairs were unnoticeable unless someone was looking for signs of wear. Frisk wrapped the fabric around themself. It fit like a cloak.
“Some amount of protection?” Flowey gaped at the cloth. It gave off a strong defensive magic. A very old magic. “This is incredible.”
“It…is,” Papyrus said, glancing away. “It was a gift a long time ago.”
“Huh…” Flowey glanced between the brothers, unable to get a full read on either of them.
“May I?” Papyrus asked, motioning to the fabric. Frisk nodded and Papyrus carefully arranged the fabric to lay better. “I can take it in so it will fit better.”
Frisk nodded, and Papyrus stepped back to look at his and his brother’s work. Papyrus put his hand to his chin and tapped his foot, frowning. Frisk gave a questioning look.
“I suppose we do still have the issue that you appear,” Papyrus paused, “very humany.”
Flowey grinned creepily. “We can make them scary!”
“That’s what the bling was for,” Sans said.
“That’s not scary!” Flowey waved his petals. “I’m talkin’ lazers! Wings! Horns! Hyperdeath blasters! Chaos blade bracers!”
Sans chuckled, “As cool as those sound, ’fraid we’re all of those, bud.”
“Th—then, we’ll just make them!” Flowey rustled. “You got enough stuff here for it!”
Frisk set Flowey down on the table for him to pour over what he could use. Frisk and Papyrus joined Flowey in searching for items after Frisk had hung the cloak over the back of their chair. Frisk clambered back onto the chair and peered into the box again. With Papyrus having moved some of the items onto the table, they could see more of the contents. Frisk leaned the box over until what they wanted was within arm’s reach. Triumphantly, they pulled out a pair of red horns and put it on. They eagerly looked at the brothers.
“It looks good on ya, kid,” Sans said.
“It’s a start,” Flowey said. “Just wait ‘til we make them chaos horns!”
The brothers smiled, giving each other a small nod.
“So, human,” Papyrus said, “do you think any of this will work for you?”
Frisk nodded and scurried to gather what they liked. They left on the bracers and horns, slipped on the jacket, and wrapped the piece of fabric around themself. They spun around and made a “ta-da!” move. The fabric slid off of Frisk, and they tried to toss it back over their shoulder. They struggled to get the fabric to lay in a way that would let them maintain mobility without it falling off.
“Just a sec.” Sans walked out of the kitchen, turned the corner, and within a few moments reappeared around the corner. “Here, kid. This’ll help keep that in place.”
Sans handed Frisk a silver skull and cross-bones broach. The eyes of the skull were made of crystal or glass—Frisk couldn’t quite tell. Even Flowey eyed the broach calling it fancy. Sans snorted at that. Frisk rearranged the fabric to how they liked it around their shoulders and pinned the broach. They spun again, this time, the fabric staying in place. They beamed up at Sans and Papyrus.
I finally finished it! This one was a doozy to write--mainly because these characters are in a situation where they actually let down their guard for once. I hope you enjoyed the fluff! This story stands alone, but I intended it to connect to No Tea!. There's a story that takes place between this one and No Tea!, but it's a little heavier, and I wanted to do it right. So, that one is still in the works.
I've been working on this one off and on for 6 months at this point, and Flowey really gave me a lot of trouble for some reason when I was writing it. But, I'm so happy to finally have it finished so that I can share it with you guys!
I really hope the characterization comes across okay. Again, these guys are in a situation where they can let down their guards for once, so some of the walls that they normally keep up are down. But, it's also a serious situation in which they're doing their best to keep lighthearted. After all, they're now responsible for this kid in a world where multiple things are against them. And, where there's a lot of dangers (Asgore, being closely connected to a member of the royal guard, their world overall). I think a lot of their struggle and concern about this will likely come up in the in-between story, so hopefully their attitudes aren't too jarring in this one.
This was pretty hard to write, but I think the story keeps moving forward, and, hopefully, reveals things about the characters at the very least as they try help Frisk survive an unforgiving world.
I’m currently taking my box braids out, and I’m sort of insecure about my natural Afro. You think you could write up something where UF!Papyrus reacts to an Afrocentric S/O with their natural hair out for the first time?
First of all my dear you are beautiful no matter what, I don’t care what anyone says and I don’t care what those insecurities are telling you you are beautiful sorry I don’t make the rules.
Second of all in general I feel like all the skellies on some level are fascinated by their S/O’s hair. Main reason? They don’t have any of their own. Doesn’t matter if their S/O is a he, she, or a they if S/O has hair the skellies will stare in amazement whenever S/O touches their hair. Could be as simple as brushing it away from their eyes or as complex as braids and curls S/O will always have an audience when their hair is involved.
Fell!Papyrus in particular
He loves your hair
He’s never gonna admit it because he’s a big dumb tough, emotionally constipated, tsundere skeleton who can never let his feelings show
But I digress
When you come in with just your natural hair he has to do a double take
He’s staring at you, taking it all in
And his cheeks start getting really warm
When you catch him staring his head quickly snaps away trying to act like he wasn’t just looking at you
His cheekbones burn a darker red as he clears his throat
He mumbles something, and had you not been sitting near him you would have missed it
“Y-Your hair looks nice like that...”
He really hopes you don’t make a big deal out of what he said
If you do he’ll just get more flustered and storm off to cool down
Please just give I’m a simple “Thank you”
He really does think you’re pretty he just gets really embarrassed saying anything remotely sweet
Go easy on him he’ll get there
And for the love of god let him run his fingers through your hair when you two cuddle up together it's one of his favorite intimate gestures
Big Cats Like Bones Too - Chapter 17 - Kertneyk - Undertale (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
You and Sans have a lengthy conversation about some important topics like magic and how the Underground worked. You learn a little about him, and he learns a little about you. Maybe more than you intended?
Here I am back at it again with the underfell fluff inspired by @stuffedart and their amazing comics
Chapter 1
AO3 Link
As it so happened, Sans wasn’t home. Papyrus was usually happy about that- it meant the lazybones was actually working some of his many jobs- but today he just huffed and shut the door behind him and took the human over to the couch.
“Just like him to be absent when I’ve need of him,” Papyrus said to himself. The human watched him with big eyes, their previous fear forgotten as he sat them on the couch and went to the kitchen.
“No matter! I’m nothing if not capable, even without my lazybones of a brother.” He returned a few moments later with the first aid kit and knelt down in front of the human. “Let’s get you patched up.”
The human was hesitant, but they nodded. Papyrus shied away from their ankle- he hoped it wasn’t broken- and took care of the more serious looking cuts on their legs and the one on their cheek.
“You humans are so strange, what with your bleeding and all,” Papyrus remarked quietly to himself as he wiped away the dried red liquid from the wounds. The human flinched and hissed and Papyrus drew away immediately.
“Have I hurt you?”
They shook their head and stuck their leg out again. Papyrus gave them a weary eye but went back to work.
It took a good ten minutes to get all of their injuries attended to. None of them were serious aside from the ankle. Papyrus nervously clacked his teeth together as he looked at the sodden shoe and the sock that was obstructing his care.
“This might hurt a little, human,” he said. “I’ve got to take your shoe off to look at your ankle.”
The human nodded. Papyrus reached up and gave their head a reassuring pat, smoothing some of their messy brown hair in the process.
It wasn’t a pleasant business, and it took time, but eventually the skeleton wiggled the shoe off of the human without causing too much pain. The sock was presenting just as much of a problem.
The child tapped his shoulder. He looked up and they made a scissor motion with their hands.
“Ah! A great idea, human,” he said as he sprang to his feet and hurried back to the kitchen.
One cut up sock later, Papyrus was left staring at their bare ankle. The little speckles of blood had been from a burn there- one that looked like it was beginning to scab, but because of their movement had been opened up again. The ankle itself didn’t seem too bad… hopefully just a twist… but he had no way of knowing. He gently wiped away the blood, cleaned the wound the best he could, and bandaged it, but he’d have to wait for Sans.
The human sat through it all with great patience. They would sniffle, but they didn’t seem to be crying. They kept wiping their nose, too.
“Well… my brother should be able to help with the ankle,” he said. The human nodded up at him. They still looked cold- and their clothes were still wet from the snow! Papyrus stood before the human for a moment in thought.
“In the meantime, how about a warm bath? You still look a little frosty- I’m sure some of my brother’s old clothes would fit you.
The human looked up at him for a moment, seemingly in thought, before they nodded and reached out one of their hands for Papyrus’s. Papyrus felt his soul give a little thump- goodness they were cute. He reached forward and hefted them into his arms. They huffed in surprise before snuggling into his chestplate.
The bathroom was in a constant state of disuse- it had came with the home, but aside from the shower neither of the brothers had much of a use for it. Papyrus stepped inside and flicked on the light before setting Frisk down carefully on the edge of the bathtub. He fiddled with the knobs for a moment and waited for the hot water to start before he stood back with his hands on his hips. The human looked up at him.
“There you are!” he said, placing a dry, fluffy towel down on the counter nearby. “If you need anything just… uhm…” he looked at the human for a moment. They couldn’t really shout… or make much noise at all…
The child gave him a little smile before tapping gently on the wall and quirking their brows.
“Ah! Yes, just do that if you need me. Perhaps a little louder, though, your knocks are very tiny.”
The human grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Papyrus puffed his chest out, proud of his work and how well he was looking after the human, before he turned and left.
“I’ll find some clean clothes for you in the meantime!” he called as he pulled the door shut. He went to the window and looked, but still no Sans.
He made quick work of going to Sans’s room and getting into his closet. He scrunched his face at the old socks that were piled nearby, making a note to help Sans clean his room sometime soon. His big spikes started to become a hassle as they bumped into the various stacks of garbage Sans had accumulated in his closet, so he huffed and unclipped his armor, throwing it to the side. He didn’t look nearly as villainous and intimidating in just a tank top, but he supposed it was necessary.
He pulled out some of Sans’s old clothes from when he was younger- for the first time he was glad that Sans kept most of his useless junk around. They still looked a few sizes too big for the human, but he supposed they would do until he could wash the human’s clothes or find better fitting ones.
Papyrus picked up the old clothes, shaking them free of dust in the process, and went to his bedroom to find the human some clean socks. He threw his battle body in the corner, reminding himself to polish it later, before rooting through his drawers for the necessary items. When he looked up, he saw his poster of Mettaton and smiled. That robot was the face of the underground- popular, dark, intimidating- nobody messed with Mettaton! Papyrus took a seat on his bed and clacked his fangs together.
He sat back with a huff. Maybe he shouldn’t be doing so much for the human- it was a human after all. Anybody like Mettaton would have turned them over to the King or asserted their dominance by now. Papyrus wasn’t stupid- he knew that any human that was unlucky enough to fall underground would ultimately end up dead. But this one was so nice and polite! He couldn’t let it go, not being all wet and hurt like it was. He was simply… giving it a place to warm up, that was it. He could turn it over to the King later.
Papyrus pushed away his doubts and went downstairs, pressing his skull briefly to the bathroom door to make sure the human wasn’t in need of anything. When it all came up clear, he set the clean clothes on the kitchen table and went to see what he could make for dinner. Surely the human was hungry, wasn’t it? And Sans would be hungry when he got home, too. Dinner would be a good way to preoccupy his guilty conscience until Sans got home.
He checked the fridge and the cupboards and found he had the means to make lasagna- he hadn’t made it in god knew how long, because of that mangy little mutt, but he supposed it was a special occasion. Sans liked lasagna- no point in letting a perfectly good meal go uncooked because of some troublesome dog!
Papyrus was halfway through layering his masterful creation when he heard three loud knocks coming from the bathroom. He jumped, forgetting for a second that it was the signal from the human, before he hurriedly washed off his hands and went to grab the clothes.
“Human? Is everything alright?”
There was no response. Papyrus groaned and slapped himself- they couldn’t talk!
“Knock once if everything is alright.”
A single knock.
“Knock twice if I can come in.”
Two knocks.
Papyrus huffed and eased the door open. The human, hair still wet and clinging to their head, was wrapped up in the big fluffy towel. They smiled up at him as he made his way to the counter and sat the clothes down.
“Here you are- these are some of my brother’s old clothes. They might be a little big on you.”
The child shook their head and gave him a thumbs up. He nodded, unnerved to find himself smiling back at the human, before he turned tailbone and went back to his lasagna.
Oh, he was getting himself into trouble with this. He was going to get attached to the human- he was already getting attached to the human, they were like a little fluffy rescue kitten. Papyrus huffed and resumed layering his lasagna. Maybe he wasn’t cut out for the whole “monster” thing. Even Sans could be mean when he needed to be! Papyrus was a big softie and he wouldn’t try to lie to himself. But surely there was a reason to keep the human around!
He felt something poke his lower spine and he shouted, whirling around with a conjured bone already tight in his hands to find-
The human stared up at him.
“H-Human! You scared me to my second death!”
They frowned and looked down at their feet and Papyrus felt bad.
“It’s alright- quite alright, actually! You want to watch me prepare my pasta, correct?”
They nodded, still looking put-out, and Papyrus immediately bent down and scooped them up and plopped them down on the counter. Sans’s clothes were a little big, but they seemed to fit alright. The human wasn’t nearly as round as Papyrus’s brother, but once dinner was done and eaten he would wash the clothes the child had been wearing.
“It can’t be helped- I’m what one might call a master chef, so I don’t blame you for being devoutly interested in my cooking.”
The human nodded again and looked down at the lasagna that was half-made. They pointed to it and looked up at the skeleton with a shrugging, questioning motion. Papyrus felt bad- it must have been frustrating to communicate like this.
“I figured, since it’s a bit of a special occasion, that I would make my world famous lasagna.” When the human quirked their eyebrow, Papyrus puffed out his chest. “Of course, I know the whole world hasn’t tasted it yet- but- if they could, I’m sure they would all love it!”
The child, whose name was still a mystery to the skeleton, giggled.
“Oh- you know, if you laugh at my cooking I’m afraid I can’t give you any,” he said.
He’d meant it to sound like a joke. But apparently his tone didn’t come off that way- the human shut their mouth immediately and looked down at their legs, nodding obediently.
Papyrus frowned. “I’m just joking, human… I know I’m good at a casual jape but I didn’t think I would be that convincing- of course you can have some of the lasagna! Then it’ll be one person closer to world famous.”
The human nodded again, but they didn’t raise their head. Papyrus frowned but continued making his lasagna, allowing a bit of calm silence to fall over them. The human watched him, reaching over at times to adjust a noodle to better cover the previous layer. He gave them a smile when the process was complete but refrained from giving their little head an affectionate rub because of the cheese on his fingers.
“And now we just have to bake it! It takes an hour- would you like to watch a show in the meantime?”
The human nodded and gave him a tiny smile.
A few minutes later, with the lasagna sitting toasty in the oven, Papyrus and the human were sitting on the couch. Papyrus wasn’t sure of human customs, but the little thing seemed keen on staying close. He didn’t much protest- they curled up with their head on his leg and he gave them a gentle pat.
Big Cats Like Bones Too - Chapter 20 - Kertneyk - Undertale (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
You talk with Gerson, who was less than impressed with your performance on Tuesday. Then on Friday you meet up with Sans again. Will you make peace with your antagonistic roommate?
