#kept reading it as grillby in my head

[girlwip]

GIRLBY / NON-BINARY GIRL DUMP !

LEFT 　── 　 LOSERGIRLBY / GIRLBYLOSER : a gender related to being a girlby and loser ; a girlbyloser. does not necessarily have a negative connotation !

RIGHT 　── 　 GIRLBYFREAK : a gender related to being a girlby and freak ; a girlbyfreak. does not necessarily have a negative connotation !

✦ 　── 　 PATHETICGIRLBYFREAK : a gender related to being a girlby, a freak and pathetic ; a patheticgirlbyfreak. does not necessarily have a negative connotation !

✧ 　── 　 all based on the girlby flag. featured gender systems: genderloser. genderfreak. patheticgenderfreak. for day 4 of @the-astropaws coining event ! prompt: multigender. please let me know if any of these have already been coined !

✧ 　── 　 tagging @mogaidescribed @accessmogai, any other being willing to provide image ids! it would be greatly appreciated.

PLAIN TEXT UNDER THE CUT !

[PT: LoserGirlby / GirlbyLoser. A gender related to being a Girlby and a loser. A GirlbyLoser. Does not necessarily have a negative connotation!

GirlbyFreak. A gender related to being a Girlby and a freak. A GirlbyFreak. Does not necessarily have a negative connotation!

PatheticGirlbyFreak. A gender related to be a Girlby, a freak and pathetic. A PatheticGirlbyFreak. Does not necessarily have a negative connotation!

All based on the girlby flag. Featured gender systems: GenderLoser. GenderFreak. PatheticGenderFreak. For day 4 of @/the-astropaws coining event! Prompt: multigender. Please let me know if any of these have already been coined. END PT]

[misted-buttercup-enjoyer]

UT Month Day 10: Snowdin

“Here we are in Snowdin!” Chara did jazz hands while presenting Frisk with the small settlement. “When monsterkind first ventured forth from the Ruins, some monsters with thick warm fur to keep them safe from frostbite settled down among the white powdered snow. How is it snowing down here? We don’t know. And we don’t need to! I still want to, though.”

Yes, on the subject of I– Frisk thought. But as usual, Chara kept talking instead of elaborating about themself, at all. Not that Frisk was going to pressure Chara to talk about things they didn’t want too, but for some reason Chara rarely lingered on themself or their feelings, focusing most of their sentences on Frisk. “You” was prized highly over “I.”

“Now,” muttered Chara, “Listen closely. Monsters come in all different shapes and sizes and subspecies. Some are more humanoid than others. They’ll probably think you’re just another monster, at least in town. Or, so I hope. Be careful, though.”

Frisk nodded, tracing their fingers across the “Welcome to Snowdin!” sign before entering the store. A small ringlet of silver bells hung on the door, clinking welcomingly as Frisk stepped into the cozy wooden room. Behind the counter stood a purple bunny monster. Frisk waved, stomach fidgeting a bit with nerves. Would this monster lady fight them right-here-right-now if they were recognized as human?

“Hello traveller, how can I help you?” she greeted them cheerily. Chara gave a sigh of relief and Frisk grinned. 

“Can I–have one–of those?” requested Frisk, pointing to the warm, sugary-looking, bunny-shaped cinnamon bun in the display case.

“Certainly, if you can pay for it,” agreed the store lady, politely ignoring Frisk’s stutter as she bagged up the cinnamon bunny. Frisk rooted around their pocket, praying they could afford some food. Lucky for them, they had just enough to pay for it!

“There goes the last of our money,” commented Chara apprehensively. “Well, you do need to eat…”

Frisk started digging in right away, heedless to the sugary stickiness getting on their face, sweater sleeves, and even in their hair. Their young age led to messy eating. 

“So–what’s–some town–his–story?” asked Frisk.

The store lady didn’t seem to judge Frisk for their messy eating. “Think back to your history class…A long time ago, monsters lived in the Ruins back there in the forest,” explained the store lady. “Long story short, we all decided to leave the Ruins and head for the end of the caverns. Along the way, some fuzzy folk decided they liked the cold and set up camp in Snowdin.”

It’s just like you were telling me! Frisk thought at Chara. Chara nodded, as if listening for some detail they couldn’t find.

“Oh, and don't think about trying to explore the Ruins… The door’s been locked for ages. So unless you’re a ghost or can burrow through the door, forget about it!”

Chara, maybe we should try heading there! Most of the time in the books I’ve read or games I’ve played if there’s somewhere you’re told you can’t go to, you should go there!

“Frisk, remember? The Ruins was where Toriel lived. You just left there.”

Oh yeah. Frisk took another bite and chewed more slowly. I forgot what it was called.

“What should–I do–in Snow–din?” asked Frisk.

“You want to know what to do here in Snowdin? Grillby’s has food, and the library has information. If you’re tired, you can take a nap at the inn. It’s right next door–my sister runs it.”

“Oh, con–gratu–lat–ions!” stuttered Frisk.

“Having a sister isn’t really meant to be something you say ‘Congratulations’ for, just for social reference,” Chara noted absently.

Frisk nodded impatiently. 

The store lady went on. “And if you’re bored, you can sit outside and watch those wacky skeletons do their thing. There’s two of ‘em. Brothers, I think. They just showed up one day and…asserted themselves. The town has gotten a lot more interesting since then.”

Frisk giggled. I know all about the skeleton brothers. Frisk shoved the last of their cinnamon bunny in their mouth and licked their fingers clean. They ran their tongue over their teeth and tried to squeeze out any remaining pieces of food. When they were satisfied that their mouth was finally devoid of all the syrupy deliciousness, for better or for worse, they asked, “How’s life?”

“Life is the same as usual.” For once, the store lady looked slightly discouraged. “A little claustrophobic. But…we all know deep down that freedom is coming, don’t we?” She smiled gently. Frisk tucked their dark hair behind their ears reverently as the store lady continued in a soft tone of voice. “As long as we got that hope, we can grit our teeth and face the same struggles, day after day…That’s life, ain’t it?”

Frisk nodded. Without a word they waved goodbye and exited the shop.

I feel bad for her, Frisk told Chara.

Chara nodded, looking a tad uncomfortable.

I feel guilty, added Frisk.

Chara flitted their gaze over Frisk’s face and sighed. “Listen to me. Look at me and listen to me. I never thought in a million years I’d be saying anything like this, but…”

They referenced themself directly almost five times, marvelled Frisk. I think that’s a new record!

“It’s not your fault for being born human.” A brief pause, a deep breath from Chara. “You are not obligated to give your soul to anyone or any cause if you want to keep living. You do not belong to a prophecy. You belong to yourself. You. Don’t. Owe. Them. Anything. They’re trying to kill you. The situation has changed.”

I guess so.

“You know so. Now, who’s ready to explore Snowdin?!”

I’m ready to explore Snowdin!!!

“Good!”

[imbonewary]

Shifting Sans Chapter 15 "Walking in a Winter Wonderland"

~

Chapter 1 - Chapter 14 - Chapter 16

~

Walking through Snowdin was a surreal experience.

Frisk skipped around me and Papyrus as we passed the Librarby, which looked exactly as I remember it, misspelled sign and all. A brown bear monster in an orange jacket exited, nose buried in a book labeled “Political Science”. They nearly bumped into Papyrus, giving a short greeting before continuing to read and not look where they were going. That must be the same bear that kept going on about how strange politics were back in Snowdin.

I mean, my Snowdin. 

Just beyond the Librarby I noticed two young, white dog monsters building long necked snow dogs, who barked a greeting as we walked by and all three of us waved. They looked so familiar but I couldn’t quite place them.

What really threw me was Grillby’s being replaced with “The Dog House Bar and Grill”. I stood frozen, staring at it until Papyrus grabbed my shoulder, snapping me out of it. I shook my head to clear it before whispering “later” since I didn’t wanna talk about my world so openly. Not yet at least.

We passed the Gyftmas tree in the center of town, decorated festively with gifts scattered beneath it, and the connected Snowed Inn and Snowdin Shop. Looking in the windows revealed Catty at the Inn’s front desk and Bratty at the Shop’s cash register. Where were the bunnies that populated most of my Snowdin? There were plenty of other furry monsters walking around, just going about their day, but I had yet to see a single bunny.

There was no “Welcome to Snowdin” sign as we headed out towards Snowdin forest.

Frisk had been running ahead throughout the town, swimming in Papyrus’ largest sweater, knitted with thick, pale yellow yarn. Their hands barely made it past the elbow of the sleeves, the extra length trailing behind as they waved their outstretched arms around wildly. I couldn’t tell who was in control but whoever it was seemed to be having the most innocent time of their life, kicking up snow while laughing and dancing around in oversized clothing, singing some wordless tune.

It was adorable.

And it hammered home that these two really were just kids. They’d been thrown into an impossible situation, with far more power and responsibility than any kid needed to be dealing with; they were just trying to make the best of it. Not only with the resets but their potential involvement with that “joint family” thing Sans had mentioned; I couldn’t stop thinking about it. For the sake of monster kind, I hope it works. For our personal sakes, I hope it falls through.

The kid stopped and waved at me and Pap in their excitement as we trailed behind them.

“Somethin’ tells me they left their jacket home on purpose,” I said, waving back. They giggled and took off again.

“I don’t know what it is about that sweater but they always wear it at every opportunity,” Papyrus chuckled, allowing himself to feel some affection for the human. He called to them, “Don’t forget about the traps, Frisk!”

“I~ know~,” they sang back before stopping at the bridge marking the edge of the settled area, flopping onto a snowbank and began waving their arms and legs about on the ground.

The bridge wasn’t just painted stone like it was in my world, it was a proper suspension bridge; support cables ran from one side of the crevasse to the other, attached to giant arches with their own inner suspension systems. I was no architect but it looked very complicated.

“Look! I made a snow Sans!” Frisk dragged me away from marveling at the architecture to show me their imprint in the snow. “See the long, flowy sleeves and the poofy pants?”

I looked at the vaguely humanoid imprint. I could see the arms and legs, at least, but any resemblance beyond that was lost on me.

“Looks just like ‘im, kiddo,” I replied with an easy smile. I brushed some of the snow off their back.

“You liar!” Frisk laughed before taking off again. They had way too much energy.

“Walk across the bridge, Frisk, don’t run,” Papyrus instructed. “We don’t need you falling off and getting hurt. Again.”

“Yeah, yeah,” they said dismissively. Despite that, they did slow down and even held onto the guard rail as we all crossed the long bridge.

I looked down over the side but couldn’t see the bottom, shrouded in darkness. A shiver ran up my spine and I kept going.

How far down does it go?

If I can figure out how to fly, could I find out?

We arrived at the other side without incident.

“So, traps, huh,” I said as Frisk took off again, but sticking closer to us now. “And here I thought humans were welcome around here.”

“Building traps and puzzles as a community is one of the few remaining traditions from before the barrier,” Papyrus responded, giving me an odd look. “Is that not the case where you’re from?”

“Originally yeah, I guess,” I shrugged. “But catching humans became a bigger focus after Asriel died.”

“You said he was still a young Prince when he died, right?” Chara said from somewhere in front of us and I couldn’t help but flinch.

I glanced around.

“Where’s Frisk?” I asked

“He had to, uh, relieve himself,” Chara was suddenly very uncomfortable. I couldn’t see her but I got the distinct impression she couldn’t look at me or Pap in the eye. I barely remember human anatomy from the time I could still consider the Anomaly a friend but I guess even monster food has to do the whole “digestion” thing. Human anatomy was weird.

“That reminds me, I wanted to confirm,” I said, hoping to distract her. “I’ve heard you and Frisk use gendered pronouns for each other while everyone else seems to use neutrals for you. What do you prefer I use?”

“On paper, we identify as gender-fluid, since I’m a girl and Frisk is a boy,” Chara said, still invisible but feeling less uncomfortable. “Using they/them pronouns makes the most sense, especially when referring to the two of us as a single entity. Neither of us are very attached to our genders anyways but gendered pronouns are convenient when referring to only one of us at a time.”

“Gotcha, so neutrals double as plurals for you two,” I nodded as Frisk emerged from a bush to the right of the path. “Back to your original question; yeah, my Asriel was still a kid while yours was an adult, if I remember right. I don’t know everything about his story but I’ll tell what I can if you’ll tell me about your story sometime. And we should probably come up with a name for him, too.”

“Frisk and Papyrus have already heard my story so I can tell you about it while they take care of these next few puzzles,” Chara offered as we came upon an ice field with buttons scattered around it.

“Sounds good to me,” I nodded watching the other two slide around on the ice. “I’ll keep an eye out for anyone approaching.”

“Thank you. I fell into the Underground over a hundred years ago, the first human to have done so in living memory,” Chara began. “Asriel was King at the time and Sans was his closest advisor and best friend. They found me, hurt and scared, and took pity on me, Asriel taking me in as his own child. Due to my upbringing, I felt the need to earn my place in Asriel’s home and did everything in my power to not be a burden, especially with my near constant nightmares. One night, after waking yet again, I decided to practice baking rather than risk going back to sleep and, in my delirious state, I misread a recipe to include buttercups in a pie, rather than cups of butter. I had been introduced to so many strange foods in the Underground that it seemed reasonable enough to put flowers in a pie, and I eventually passed out from exhaustion later that morning. Sans tried some of the pie as I slept and became violently ill as a result. This… did not help my mental state.”

Frisk and Papyrus had solved the ice puzzle and were calling and beckoning me to the other side. While I wouldn’t call myself graceful by any stretch, I skated across the ice with no problems.

“Something similar happened with my Chara,” I stated as we caught up to Pap and Frisk. “The whole buttercups, cups of butter mix up.”

“She’s giving you the long version, huh?” Frisk grinned as we headed to the next puzzle.

“It’s not that long,” Chara huffed.

“It’s long enough,” I whispered. “Someone’s coming.”

A short mouse monster in a cape with a spear twice as tall as themself waved at us from across an open field and Papyrus waved back. Behind them was a tall monster whose body was obscured by a cloak, face covered in a mask. Both began approaching.

“Papyrus, what are you doing here?” the mouse said, somewhat accusingly. 

[littleyukki5033]

SacredFell Mini Story/Comic

(Note: This is a concept for the story. Things are bound to change)

Filler Title: The Other Human Pt.2

Part 1 is Here

Sans POV

Sans was exhausted, not physically but mentally he was. He sat at Grillbys, tapping his fingers onto the bar table as a cup of Mustard in the other. Grillby Mustard always made feel better but as for right now, the situation was picking at him.

Sans eye sockets were dark, not a sign of that red pupil. He knew the kid has one of the souls, he saw it. The soul of kindness was on Frisk. Sans just hope that old lady he talk to in the ruins was okay, he couldn't visit her like usual because of Frisk being in Snowdin and Papyrus soon to happen battle.

Sans look at the cup of Mustard, 7 souls. Just 7, But what happens if Frisk collects the souls there protecting. Sans then chuckle at that silly thought. Frisk didn't need to know he had two...

In all honesty, Sans wasn't even planning on giving Frisk the two souls he was protecting for Asgore. If Frisk didn't know then it ain't something he worried about. Sans thought were snapped back go reality when the costumers voices lowered to a whisper.

Sans head looked back and saw Yukki walking over and taking a seat next to him. He stared at her still giving that empty socket look.

Course Yukki noticed and asked if he was okay. Sans wanted to say he wasn't due to the fact all the pressure of being a Royal Guard and carrying two dead children souls on him but no human needs to freaking no that he thought. "Yeah" he said.

Yukki raised an eyebrow at him but she just ask Grillby for a drink, not stating what she wanted since Grillby doesn't like touching anything that liquid. Grillby just made an expression and gave her a bottle of soda.

Sans kept staring at her, he wonder why she wasn't dead yet actually. Himself and Papyrus were assigned to kill her when she was comfortable, her gaurd fully down. Now looking at her, she just drinking next fo him. Not batting an eye ro the other monsters who whispered but he realized those whispers were gone into silence.

Yukki head turned and she flinched "Sans...your..." her voice trailed off. Sans didn't even notice his red magic was leaking out his eyesockets and fingers. Red smoke that leak of magic.

God he wanted to kill her, that was his assignment. So why couldn't he? He just stared at her helplessly and it pissed him off. Maybe Undyne was right, he got too close. All of this could be over if he just killed her.

His trance was gone when he felt her hand touch his shoulder. His pupil reappeared. "You say your okay but it seems like your not so uh...we can talk about it? Though..I know you monsters are really into the feely stuff" Yukki laughed low awkwardly.

Sans ended up staring again. He looked away and rubbed the back of his skull with an annoyed smile "God you humans have such am affect" he grumbled as directed for her and Frisk making freinds..

"Hm?" Yukki hummed confused

"Nothin nothin...let's just talk back home..k? I don't want anyone knowing I'm venting to a human" Sans said annoyed.

Yukki smiled and nodded "alright"

------- End --------

Gooooosh!!! I love everyone in my AU lol. Yukki being my very first oc when it came to Undertale with detail lore literally made me attach to her (again, why my user is named after her). I was kinda conflicted in even leaving her in SacredFell because what if no one likes her? Because hello...another human? She from another Universe who was portaled there. I made this chick in middle school, she was 100% a Mary sue BUT she not anymore because I revamp her a ton. But yeah, I hope she not..dislikable you know? I want people to like her and like her friendships snd her relationship with Sans because jeezus there complicated af (there not dating here but the tension there and Papyrus HATES it lol)

Anyway! Whoever reads these, I hope you liked it! And if u have questions please ask questions in the ask blog! Thank youuu!!

SacredFell: Belongs to Me

Art: Belongs to me

[countthelions]

✄ what’s your editing process?

✦ what was your easiest fic to write & your hardest?

I am 👀👀👀

Editing process

Ooh gosh trying to word this in a way that makes sense. Well!! A lot of my editing comes from being a rp writer for a longer period than a story writer. I tend to write little chunks, then edit the chunk whenever I get trapped somewhere before continuing on. (It could actually be a fun process to record some day hmm) I am a little jealous of folks who can just bang out whole /chunks/ of stuff without stopping. Cannot be me unfortunately.

But at the end I will go through each section, which I've usually broken up in my head by "beats" (to use the acting term) - shifts of action/tone/etc and make sure they all flow correctly. I am not opposed to rewriting whole sections to capture the feeling I'm really aiming for, which,,, is why my long fics are really taking me quite a while to write. I think the second chapter of champion au has been rewritten at least six times by this point. When I do those rewrites, I'll change the whole section's font to a different color and literally rewrite it fresh. (Another reason why recording a writing section could be fun!!) The colored "old" section gets thrown into my extras at the bottom of the doc to usually just save ;; I dont want to delete them entirely hah! I also love just flipping sentences around. Sometimes that little shuffle is all it takes to make something click. This section - from colored text to this sentence for example - was at the bottom of the answer and got moved up!

This fine tooth combing I recognize is excessive - and man tumblr deleted what this paragraph used to be so I guess we're ending it here >:( but yeah, i recognize my editing is a bit too focused in on little details but given how important flow of paragraphs are to me as a mmm physical feeling you read to (how theatre of me hm?), I don't mind the work if it makes the whole thing stronger.

Easiest fic & Hardest fic

Easiest: honestly, anything that started as a ramble to my serverwerver friends was easy. They're my favorite of audiences, endlessly supportive and I love listening to them as well ;; One of my favorite memories of doing dragon au rambles is a moment where Grillby tries getting Gaster's attention and failing to do so, and all three of my friends put a sad emoji react on the end of that chunk. Twas very nice ;; I think if I had to pick one though? It'd be [nightmare cures], barely edited from ramble to posted - everything from the tattoos to the song came with hardly any thought. I needed some specific comfort and wrote myself the perfect thing

Hardest: a toss up between [Handspun Nerves] and [Till the Magnolias Bloom]. I'm not counting champion au bc it's not even POSTED BUT MAN IT CERTAINLY GETS ME!! Hand spun because I really couldn't bring myself to hurt Grillby and all my friends kept encouraging me to hurt him more, because that's what the hurt is /for/ in a hurt/comfort fic!! Magnolias gained it's title before I was even done with it hah!! I really really really wanted to write just the end, of Grillby waking up suddenly more well rested than he'd been in days, seeing Gaster snore across from him equally as rested - and my brain said: yeah but /why/ are they well rested? So I struggled Very Much with putting to words why they were finally relieved at being well rested and hopefully!! Succeeded. It could be a fic I rewrite some day actually...

[viky2318]

This one is short and boring.

Muffet looked at the dust in front of her. She turned around, only to see more dust. A huge flower field covered in dust. She started walking around. The field seemed infinite… someone tapped her shoulder. A huge muffin-like monster was looking at her, apathetically. "Oh, hi Donut", Muffet said. She tried to pet him, but he turned into dust before she could even touch him.

"Man... your soul is so heavy, isn't it?" A voice said. "You can't even remember how much dust is in your hands, how many families you ripped apart…". Muffet turned to face the smiling guy. "I never ruined anyone's family. All I did was eliminate the problem, as always" she stated. The other one snickered. "You think? Geez, the guy really messed up your head…". Someone grabbed her arm. A tall skeleton was staring at her. "Did… did you see my brother? He disappeared… I can't find him…". Another hand laid on her shoulder. "Please, tell me… did you encounter a short skeleton? He's my husband… he went out for a walk and never came back…" a goat lady said. A third hand tugged her dress. "Sorry, have you met this guy?" A young human asked, showing her a photo of a well known skeleton. Other hands, other voices begging her to tell them where [REDACTED] was. "You see" the smiling guy started. "You're doing all but right. You want to eliminate the problem, but everything you do is to create new ones. You seem like the only smart person doing anything in your group, so I hope you will think about it and take action. I now have to go, so… see you on the other side, I guess?". There were too many people, too many voices, all of them asking her, calling her, crying, begging...

Muffet jolted up, almost falling from the bed. She took a few minutes to understand what happened. She tried to focus on the dream, but it slipped away, mostly fading. The only things that remained were the guy's words and his smile. She looked around. There was no one in the room. The others must be already up. The spider sighed and got up. She looked at the clock- HOLY SHOOT IT WAS NINE IN THE MORNING. She almost runned out of the room and went to the living room. Sam was there, reading a book. “Oh, good morning Muffet. How do you feel?” they quietly asked. She looked around, but Maddy and Grillby weren’t there. “Uh, I'm good. Where are the others?” she asked back. “On a mission. Maddy told me you were really tired yesterday and that you were still asleep, so I thought it would be wiser to let you stay here and send them alone. Don’t worry, they’ll be back soon” they answered. Something was terribly wrong. Sam always sent the whole squad, without caring about how tired or scared they were. What if they needed her help? “Well, i could just reach them and-” “no” Sam interrupted her. “I made my decision. You won’t go help them. They can do it by themselves”. Ok, this was suspicious. Sam was hiding something. But knowing them, they wouldn’t have told her anything without a good reason. Muffet tried to not think about it too much, but the thought of something wrong going on kept popping in. Maddy finally came back, immediately followed by Grillby. Sam gave the spider an 'I told you' face, and closed the book they were reading. "Muffet!! How do you feel now? You looked… really tired, when we left" Maddy exclaimed. Muffet sighed and said: "I'm fine. Where did you go?". "I was expecting it. Obviously, you're always fine. Anyway, we went to Storyshift. Kind of boring, truth to be told. Sans was, like, at Asgore's place. Why should someone place him at Asgore's place?". Maddy was suspiciously cheerful. "That's it. What's going on?" Muffet asked. The cat fell silent, and a line of concern appeared on their face. Still, she kept smiling and tried to say: "oh, nothing really. I-well, uh, was worried? Yes, worried for the mission to go wrong and-" "you seemed like you almost fell down" Grillby cut them off. It was strangely calm even for him, almost as if he was expecting it but at the same time as if he was worried. Maddy looked down, clearly tensed. "Y-yeah, well… you were cold, a-and you weren't moving, and S-Sam couldn't heal you, a-and your eyes were wide open, and they were all white!! You looked like a corpse, o-or a statue!! Sam told us to let you there and go, and that you would eventually wake up, but still! Even Grillby was worried!! A-and you know he's damn insensitive!". "You know I'm here, right?" Grillby ironically asked. Muffet was just confused. White eyes? Cold? Did the strange dream have something to do with it? Why didn't Sam's ability work? Who was the guy in the dream? Before she could do anything, Sam put a hand on her shoulder. "Listen to me, you three. I can't say what happened exactly, but for now we'll just limit the missions a bit and be more careful on who we talk with. It could be someone trying to kill us from the inside, or just a side effect of something we did. But remember: everything is going to be alright. We are doing the right thing, and even if something is trying to stop us, we'll win this war. One way or another".

You see, you're doing all but right

Another player joined our game. Will you continue?

START PREVIOUS NEXT

[smells-like-mettaton]

s... sansby with 39...

SINCERELY, SANS.

Rating: G Word count: 1207 Read on AO3: here

---

Grillby stared down at the note in his hand, carefully keeping his flames from charring the paper.

DEAR GRILLBY,

I AM FINALLY PAYING MY TAB, BECAUSE I AM A RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN AND ALSO BECAUSE I SECRETLY ADMIRE YOU. A LOT. ROMANTICALLY! EVEN IF I AM VERY BAD AT EXPRESSING SUCH FEELINGS AND WILL LIKELY DENY THEM IF YOU ASK. IN FACT, I WILL DENY WRITING THIS LETTER AT ALL! BUT IT DOESN’T MAKE IT ANY LESS TRUE!!

SINCERELY,

SANS.

Grillby recognized the handwriting. It would be impossible not to. If you went west of town, there were plenty of puzzles and signs with this skeleton’s distinctive handwriting all over them.

“..........Papyrus.” His voice crackled as he sighed. Usually the younger skeleton’s “japes” were more tasteful than this. Was it payback for allowing Sans to stay past closing the other night?

Sans had looked so peaceful, for once. He fell asleep at the bar often enough—rarely from drinking, unless ketchup had intoxicating effects on skeletons. But normally Grillby or a regular patron would shake him awake once his bones started rattling. Sans never admitted to nightmares, but Grillby wasn’t sure what else the odd spells could be.

But two nights ago, he’d fallen asleep with his cheekbone against the counter, a fry half-chewed in his slack jaw. Grillby regretted not owning a fancy phone like his niece Fuku had tried to talk him into purchasing. A photo of Sans’s face would have been worth at least a quarter of the skeleton’s tab.

Red had taken a photo. Grillby wasn’t sure if he had reached the desperate low of searching the UnderNet for photos of his friend.

He folded the note and slipped it into his breast pocket. It would have been more prudent to burn it, but some strange sentimentality prevented him. Maybe he would confront Papyrus later, and it would be helpful to have evidence.

He wasn’t fooling anyone. He avoided confrontation like it was water.

Maybe that was why he and Sans got along so well… and maybe that was why Grillby would never be anything more than his friend.

He tried to distract himself by preparing to open the bar. All the while, the letter seemed to burn a hole in his vest.

Burn. Sans would enjoy the irony. He would stack a few more flame puns around it, and Grillby would give him a deadpan stare, and Sans would know that the lower-pitched crackling was his suppressed laughter.

Stars, Grillby was better than this. Pining was suited for trees, not grown fire monsters.

...Sans would enjoy that pun, too.

“........Papyrus,” he cursed while unlocking the restaurant door.

“THE ONE AND ONLY!”

Grillby jumped, the flames of his head shooting skyward. Where had the skeleton come from? Grillby had thought Sans was the only one who could appear out of nowhere.

“HOW CAN I ASSIST YOU, FRIEND?” Papyrus asked with a genuine grin.

“..................” What was he supposed to say? If Papyrus was pulling a prank, he had an excellent poker face. Perhaps it ran in the family.

“WERE YOU PERHAPS, LOOKING FOR MY BROTHER?” Papyrus gave an audible wink. It somehow sounded sultry.

Puffs of smoke clouded around Grillby’s cheeks. He pulled the taller skeleton into the empty bar before any passerbys could see.

“...............why?” He had to ask.

“WHY? I BELIEVE I SHOULD BE ASKING YOU THAT QUESTION, GRILLBY. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON!” Papyrus was completely still, his confident posture betraying nothing.

Grillby sighed. He would have to be more direct, no matter how much he loathed it.

He calmed his flames and plucked the note from his pocket.

“..............this was you.”

“NYEH HEH, OF COURSE NOT! THIS OBVIOUSLY HAS MY BROTHER’S SIGNATURE ON IT! AND, HE IS CLEARLY PROFESSING HIS FEELINGS FOR YOU! SO MAYBE YOU SHOULD NOT SHOW IT OFF SO CARELESSLY?” Sweat beaded on his skull.

“.........Papyrus.” Grillby’s voice was firm. He pulled out a separate note from his pants pocket.

sorry to bounce. put it on my tab?

The note was scribbled on a napkin. There was no signature, unless you counted the ketchup stain in the bottom corner.

“ER.” Papyrus coughed. “HE’S CERTAINLY GOTTEN MORE ELOQUENT SINCE THEN, HASN’T HE?”

“.........please.” Grillby was close to giving up. If Papyrus’s stubbornness was anything like his brother’s, Grillby would never get a straight answer out of him. But it was worth at least one more try. “.....why would you lie to me? About…. this?”

Papyrus looked away. “I… IT’S NOT A LIE, EXACTLY! IF MY BROTHER WEREN’T SO LAZY, I’M SURE HE WOULD WRITE THE SAME WORDS!”

“.......Stop.” Grillby shook his head. “Sans only likes my food.”

“OF COURSE. THAT’S WHY HE GIVES IT AWAY TO HIS FRIENDS. I’M SURE HE STAYS PAST CLOSING JUST BECAUSE HE LIKES THE FOOD, TOO.”

How did Papyrus know that Sans shared his meals with other patrons more often than not? Maybe he had just guessed based on what skeletons could stomach. (Pun not intended.) Grillby kept a towel on Sans’s seat for when excess food inevitably went right through him.

“I REALLY THOUGHT YOU KNEW,” Papyrus said. “I RARELY EVEN COME TO YOUR… FINELY GREASED ESTABLISHMENT, AND EVEN I CAN SEE HOW MUCH HE CARES ABOUT YOU!”

“.....Then why did you write that letter?”

“IT’S POOR ETIQUETTE TO ASK A MONSTER TO EXPLAIN HIS PUZZLE… BUT FOR YOU, I WILL MAKE AN EXCEPTION.”

Papyrus leaned in closer, as if about to share a secret. The volume of his voice didn’t lower, however.

“A FUN JAPE IS ALWAYS AN EXCELLENT CONVERSATION STARTER!” He beamed. “YOU COULD USE THE LETTER AS AN EXCUSE TO TALK TO HIM. IF HE IS STILL IN DENIAL ABOUT HIS FEELINGS, HE CAN BLAME EVERYTHING ON ME, AND YOUR FRIENDSHIP CAN ESCAPE UNSCATHED. BUT, BY THEN, I BELIEVE HIS TRUE FEELINGS WILL BE OBVIOUS! ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH!!”

Grillby stared. Papyrus… had a point. Neither himself nor Sans were bold enough to take the first step on their own.

(If Sans even wanted to. Though… who would know his heart better than his own brother?)

“........I see.” Grillby folded both notes and placed them back in his vest pocket. His chest felt warm, but now for a more pleasant reason. “That was quite clever.”

“OF COURSE IT WAS! SO, WILL YOU TALK TO HIM?”

“..............................yes.”

He felt the weight of the commitment settle on him. It was more like a warm blanket or an anchor than a binding chain, though.

Not much changed in the Underground. Grillby served the same patrons, day after day, night after night. It was fine. It was comfortable. But if he attempted to ask out Sans… perhaps things would be better than fine.

He could hardly imagine it.

“WOWIE! THANK YOU, GRILLBY!” Papyrus shook his hand enthusiastically. “IF YOU NEED ANY HELP, JUST CALL ME! BUT I SUSPECT YOU ALREADY KNOW THE BEST WAY TO SANS’S HEART IS THROUGH BAD JOKES! AND ALL MY JOKES ARE SPECTACULAR! NYEH HEH HEH!”

Another audible wink. This one sounded like a glittery special effect from one of Mettaton’s TV shows. How did Papyrus do that?

“...Thank you.”

Grillby meant it. Thanks to Papyrus, change didn’t seem so terrifying after all.

[freshouttaparsnips]

But, despite his best efforts, Edge was awake before him that morning, noticing that Papyrus was nowhere to be found, waking Sans on the couch with a near violent shake. Sans glared up at him, Edge glaring back before whispering a harsh “Sorry. Where’s your brother.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

woooo, this fic won the poll from the Helping-A-Friend Drive (sorta, it was a two way tie and I chose this), so it’s getting updated until its done!!

ya’ll might read back a bit, this is chapter 9 lol

reader it on Ao3

or read it below!!

(and check out the post explaining my drive and how to help!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t very long after the Fell brothers showed up, perhaps a week at most that Sans felt a change in the air. It was familiar, unfortunately, and it… was coming at a really bad time, actually. Neither of the dust bros would have any idea of what to do about any of it, which was a problem all on its own.

The actual issue was something else entirely, but he couldn’t really be honest about it. Grillby was the only one of anyone that knew anything about it, and Sans would really have rather kept it that way.

But, despite his best efforts, Edge was awake before him that morning, noticing that Papyrus was nowhere to be found, waking Sans on the couch with a near violent shake. Sans glared up at him, Edge glaring back before whispering a harsh “Sorry. Where’s your brother.”

Sans blinked. “What’dya mean? Isn’t he usually out runnin’ with you around now?”

Edge was quiet for a disconcertingly long time, before finally answering. “Normally, yes, we would be halfway done with our run.” He glanced up the stairs at Papyrus’ room, the door firmly shut, the “No One Allowed!” sign hung.

Well. At least Paps had done Sans the decency of putting the sign up. That was always nice.

“It’s alright buddy.” Sans finally drawled, scratching at his back as he sat up. “But we should head out for a while. Grab your bro and lets skedaddle.”

Edge looked about two seconds from arguing, but Sans deadeyed him long enough that he scowled, turning on heel and stomping up the steps.

It was a good thing Paps had his room soundproofed when they came up here. That was for damn sure.

Red finally tromped down the steps after a very grumpy Edge, the two of them looking like they were about to start a fire for fun or something if Sans didn’t start explaining himself pretty quick. Good thing he had about zero plans to.

“Alright, grab your coats, kiddos, we’re goin’ on a field trip.”

He didn’t give them much actual time to argue, grabbing them both by the arm and taking a short cut the straight hell outta there. Papyrus didn’t need the two of them breathing down his neck while he was dealing with shit… and none of the running had to do with Sans not wanting to be anywhere near the house for a while, nope.

No, this was entirely pragmatic, beneficial for all of them, and they could pick up a few of the essentials on the way there.

~.~

It took a couple pit stops, and a bit of dodging whenever they actually got to their destination, but when Sans finally let them get a good look at their surroundings, the bones stopped flying (he was pretty sure they weren’t actually aiming for him), and their sockets got wide.

Living on the west coast had its benefits, mostly the ocean. Sans took the kid out here at least once a month, Toriel usually accompanying them for the sole reason that she actually really enjoyed sunbathing. Wasn’t cause she and Sans had been best friends for a long ass time, ‘course not.

“Is that…” Edge started, before stopping as Sans stuff a plastic bag first in his, then Red’s hands.

“The ocean? Yeah, don’t go too far out or we’ll see if skeletons can actually drown.” Turning to Red, he gave a wink. “There changing rooms over yonder, I got you both a t-shirt and trunks. I hope they fit.”

And with that he turned on foot, heading straight down towards the beach, the water looking as chilly and inviting as possible on such a warm day. It was a shame… Papyrus would have loved to see the utter hidden joy in Edge’s eyes as he grabbed Red and pulled him towards the changing rooms.

Sans let them at it, it wasn’t like they were going anywhere else with this opportunity right in front of them, and besides, Sans had someone he’d been waiting to see for a while.

“Sans!! Sans you little goofbone, we are over here!” Toriel’s voice carried over the crowd, but Sans didn’t give a shit who looked to see who was shouting. He only had eyes for the Queen of all Monsters, and the child that sat on a beach blanket next to her.

“Heya Tori. Long time no see.” He answered, padding through the sand to stand next to their little picnic spot. The kid was chomping down on a sandwich, a little juice box next to them on the blanket. Toriel was laid out, like usual, but was sitting up a little to greet little old him. “Nice to sea you.”

Toriel laughed, the sound loud and abrasive in the best of ways. Taking a breath, she grinned sharp. “Shell we settle down and talk a little? Perhaps ketchup on current events?” She held up a ketchup packet, Sans snorting at the obvious pun before he waddled close enough to plop next to her on the blanket.

“Yeah, that sounds great actually.” Settling in, he wiggled into her ample back, ignoring her laughter as she swatted at him, though still letting him lay where he wanted.

“So who are your guests?” Toriel finally asked, watching Frisk, who’d given Sans a look before taking off towards the water.

Sans sighed, really not wanting to spill the beans so early, but Toriel had actually figured it out on her own pretty quick. When he’d gotten a call, the texting not working on her phone again for whatever stars forsaken reason, she’d mentioned going to the beach, and he’d agreed to come. Then Papyrus coming had been brought up, and Sans was really bad at lying actually, when he thought about it.

“They’re cousins. I think. I dunno skeleton family lines, we probably aren’t even related.”

Toriel hummed to herself. “How fortunate. The tall one is very fine.”

Sans choked on air, tears breaking over his sockets as he laughed. “What the hell!” he garbled out, though he watched as Edge and Red slowly made their way over, clearly unnerved by the amount of humans.

“I only speak the truth.” Toriel whispered, sure of herself as she smirked, standing to her full height to greet the murder bros.

“Hello! I’m told you are not related to Sans, but that you know him. You are very welcome to share in our picnic, I brought plenty of food.”

Red was staring gobsmacked, clearly looking for similarities in the Toriel he’d once known, while Edge was looking purely intimidated.

“I… Thank you, your majesty, but we couldn’t possibly-” Edge tried, but Toriel only gave him a look.

She gently took his hand from his chest, patting it once before leading him over to the blanket. “When I say there’s enough, there’s enough. Take a break, guardsman, you’re no longer in the presence of royalty.”

Sans was pretty well gobsmacked himself, if he was honest, but sitting there on the blanket, watching Toriel work the brothers in the sly, kind way she did everyone that started out difficult… it was awe inspiring.

He only hoped Paps was okay, this time.

[mlmvoreconfessionals]

anymore G.rillby pred prompts?

I do love some G.rillby, and I do love writing my niche cringe interests. I can't think of a better combo.

G.rillby was doing his best not to draw any attention to himself as he wiped down the bar table despite it being clean. The fire elemental was glad no one could see past the bar very well as he kept himself close to the bar. He'd had someone go down below to handle his manhood as a way to pay off their tab while the bar was empty, but the moment those dogs had come in, G.rillby had panicked and thrust forward quickly to try and hide what was happening. Unfortunately, that also ended up shoving the head of his cocksucker...well, into his cock, and he wasn't getting a chance to do anything about it. Now his member was slurping in the last bits of his meal, his sack hanging down heavily as it sloshed thickly with the mass inside, cum already starting to dribble down his shaft. It left him breathing heavily and shuddering, thankful he was usually so quiet and hard to read. It was more difficult for the distracted dogs to notice anything was wrong with him, and they didn't seem to really notice the churning and sloshing of his sack. He did his best to hold himself back for the rest of his shift, going through the late night rush of people as another living being messily churned down into his next load. As the last person bid him goodnight and left the bar, he stopped holding back and let his load finally erupt, splattering the back of the bar and the floor around him in his orange, magic-imbued cum. It was several minutes of shooting out the needy gallons of cum, leaving him doubled over and moaning pathetically. With the mess he had left to clean up before tomorrow, he realizes he should have just waved the tab.

Grillby lets out a grunt as his gut sloshes from moving too quickly. He never did get used to moving around with so much liquid weight in his gut. Normally, he ate people later at night when he could simply go rest and sleep them off, but he'd struck around lunch time today due to some ruckus in the bar. The monster he'd devoured had long single digested down into a thick sludge in his boiling guts, but he was still carrying that full weight around. Even worse, in fact, now that it's no longer solid and can just slosh around. He honestly can't remember who he had eaten the night before--they'd been so loaded up on booze, he'd ended up getting drunk off of digesting them, and now he's dealing with the leftover hangover near the end of his shift. At least he knew his regulars well, so he could mask his belches without them realizing he was doing it. They'd just think it was someone else making the noise. He didn't need any of the monsters around the learn of his...habits. He could always blame the gut on something else, it didn't raise too many eyes when people trusted him so much. So long as he didn't have his meals in front of everyone and his stomach was still when he was around, things tended to go fine. He just wishes it could be made a bit easier on him some times. That's not even thinking about how much tighter his pants will get once his ass and thighs plump up on all the excess magic here.

This was bad. G.rillby knew it was bad, but he did it anyway, and there was no taking that back now. That skeleton...he'd always let S.ans come in, do as he wanted, and leave without paying. Just another mark on that seemingly endless tab. G.rillby let him because he kind of liked S.ans, and the skeleton was rather popular in town, and had that brother as well. So he'd let it go, let the guy do as he wanted and just ignore it. He wasn't really sure what changed today. Maybe it's because S.ans had stayed after everyone else, asleep at the stool. Maybe it's because he got a round of food and drinks for everyone and put it on his tab...again. Maybe G.rillby was just hungry. Whatever it had been, he'd gone and devoured the short monster without even a second of hesitation. And now he was relaxing behind the bar, the door locked and the lights off, belching every so often as he rubs along his gurgling guts. The fire elemental had really been packing on the pounds. He could barely tell that he'd just devoured the monster half his own height, but he could feel the wiggling and shifitng inside as his guts did its job on breaking all that magic down. He knew this would be a monster that was really looked for, by P.apyrus if no one else. But...for whatever reason, that only made the monster's stuffed guts growl. Maybe it won't be so bad after all. He would be more than happy to show others where the skeleton had gone.

[kamari333]

Got tagged by @starsgivemehp for this meme!

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

I'll go backwards from last update, if thats okay? First paragraph of each first chapter...

mind the tags and be responsible <3

iNVaDeR FeLL: The Nightmare Begins :: The Irken Empire (which had retained its name even after the shift in management brought about by the events of Operation Impending Doom I) was more alive than it had been in years. Signs replayed message after message redirecting convention-goers how and where to attend the Great Assigning in the Main Convention Hall on Conventia, one of the many planets conquered and repurposed for the good of the Empire. The teleporter ring was blazing almost as brightly as it once did before OID1, only this time, it brought to the surface not Irkens, but Monsters; creatures of every shape and size. They came not only from the 'kingdom' that had overtaken Irk (they called themselves 'Fell'), but those from the 'kingdoms' of conquered worlds as well, which had been expeditiously subjugated in a fashion worthy of the Irken Empire.

How Dance Got a Picture of Lust Covered in Kittens :: "there's sammaches in th' fridge," Red mumbled, feeling the lunchbox lid click shut under his claws. "'r if ya want some'n lighter, there's soup in th' freezer. just gotta nuke it..."

Burlesque Noir :: Lust peeked around the curtain to look out at the crowd, as he had done so many times before the last few days. The speakeasy was full and vibrant and alive as it was every night, as swanky a joint as Grillby could make it and still keep it safe. As packed as it was, however, Lust didn't see any sign of his favorite patron.

It Could be Worse :: Life... Could be worse.

An Anthology of Dreams :: Sans was at his desk, as always, analyzing his latest attempt at a synthetic soul compound. His last two-thousand-and-twenty trials had been devastating failures, but even Dr Gaster was intrigued by his steady progress.

The EMV Anthology :: Red had a love-hate relationship with the holiday season.

An Anthology of Nightmares :: Sans stumbled out of his room just in time to escape. He had no idea what was coming, he only knew his years of fighting for his life underground was screaming that he had to move his bony ass if he wanted to live. Just as he crossed the threshold of his bedroom into the hallway, there was a loud crash. When he looked back, his whole room was gone.

A Growing Future :: Red stumbled out of the house, squinting at the glare of sunrise peaking like a glinting knife over the neighbor's rooftops. The air had a crisp chill to it, made all the more shocking by his lack of a shirt, but he knew it would be overly warm in only a few hours, and there was a lot of work to do.

Kinktober 2020 : Kamari333 Edition :: HI FOLKS! Beyond this point you will find 72.5k words of pure, unadulterated, self indulgent, Undertail-themed SIN, ~57.7k of which was prewritten in September, the rest in October, all written and published for Kinktober2020. This year, due to conflicting schedules, the sin was written in September, to be published on time in October. Please note that there may be plenty of typos, although I will/have since gone back and fixed some of them since I'm garbage and read my own stuff, and this year I have been indulging in the use of my lovely betas!

A Night in the Woods :: Red bit back a curse as he once again had to detangle his phalanges from the flimsy tent material. Stupid-ass cheap plastic bullshit, so thin he could breathe on it wrong and watch it disintegrate, but the packaging said it somehow kept out wind and rain, and that was honestly all he could have asked for. That, and perhaps that the piece of shit stop snagging on his claws every five god damn mother fucking seconds, fuck-

Arum :: The room was pitch black, save for a nearly indiscernible ambiance that glowed low and dim like the twilight right before the true darkness of night. The walls and floor of the room oozed with a viscous substance that stank of fermentation and rubber. At the end of the room, upon a throne of black stone, sat a diminutive figure from whence the slime seemed to originate, itself drenched in it to the point of blackness save for the singular glow of one lavender eyelight, shining like poison in the darkness.

Poignance :: Sans Blueberry pulled on his modified gloves, rolling his shoulders to make sure his makeshift pauldrons were cinched tight enough. The scalemail he wore under his chestplate made a soft noise, not quite the clink of chainmail, but not quite the hiss of cloth or leather either. He fingered at the tiny plates over his torso before pulling his bandanna back on around his neck, grateful to Alphys again for donating her sheds, and Undyne for reinforcing them so they wouldn't turn to dust.

Those Feelings at the Bottom of a Bottle :: Ink carefully managed his supply of emotions, keeping his usual level of orange (excitement) and yellow (happiness) as he made his way back through the house. The crowd of people, with their ever-vivid colors and gold-glittered eyes, made it easy to blend in and keep himself inconspicuous to the ever watchful guardian. It was like a game of hide-and-seek: Ink hid, and Dream looked for anything potentially amiss.

A Skeleton Plague Doctor in Lord Dream's Court :: Falsi woke up from a restful sleep on his examination table, shifting under his thick black blanket (one of the few luxuries he was allowed, usually kept hidden away in his bedroom with all the other small luxuries he had managed to keep, like his collection of skulls, his beast fur pelt, his mask, and the tapes and videos of a more personal nature he had collected over the years). He slid down to the floor, thankful once again for the mercy of a windowless apartment, as he folded his blanket and stumbled into the adjacent room: his bedroom.

Bad Day :: Edge was used to getting ominous messages from Red at odd times. It was just the nature of any relationship Red was involved in.

Burlesque (Censored) & (Uncensored) :: Of all the bars Red frequented in Ebott City, this was his favorite.

Happily Ever Laughter :: It was almost midnight. Papyrus had been sitting at Muffet's bar, enjoying his third (or was it fourth? Fifth? Hard to say) glass of Spider Cider, when he got the call. He pulled out his phone, surprised. That was his brother's ringtone. He flipped it open. "heya, bro. wazzup?"

Egg on Arrival :: Slinky could feel it in his bones: the hum of his future, the tremble of his soul. Even if it was still cold as balls outside the nest, his internal clock said it was spring.

I think I'm Paranoid :: Red came back into the livingroom, popcorn in one hand and a six-pack of coke in the other. He lingered, taking in the scene in front of him.

Another Me :: Lust fiddled with the TV remote idly as he mentally went through the available channels in his head. He didn't dare cable surf, not when He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was so prominent, and Pink's relentless job searching made his schedule so erratic that he could show up at any minute. The sight of the blackout curtain over the bookshelf (which served as the house's movie collection's honored display) reminded him of how understanding Papyrus had been of the need for temporary censorship.

...oh my some of these are terrible for catching the readers attention XD (why are all my hooks like 3 paragraphs in gdi).

EDIT: i forgot to tag folks! um... @deku-lily @silverryu25 @bonerpuns @msmkcreates @jellyficsnfucks @jellyfish-swims-through-gold @tkwolf45 @nanenna @dana-chan325 @skerbaderbadoo @keelywolfe ...im terrible with names and can't remember anyone else's handles ;-;

[writingfeatherduster]

AWF Outtakes: A Night With the Skelebros

I asked if anyone would be interested in reading some of the scenes I wrote for A Warm Feeling that didn't make the cut, and I got a pretty positive response! So, here's something I wrote out, decided didn't fit, and then decided I wouldn't be able to reuse later.

This takes place in the middle of chapter four! I'm a little impatient, so I ended up skipping a lot of Grillby actually staying with the brothers. This is the missing segment describing the first night! (Note that because this is an outtake, it picks up very abruptly. The paragraph that smoothly transitioned it into the fic no longer exists.)

Of course, just as Sans promised, Papyrus was just as insistent as his brother that Grillby stay the night. "Eating three meals a day is an important part of every monster's routine!" Papyrus declared. "Neglecting that need is unacceptable! You need not worry, however, my dear friend of Sans! I, the Great Papyrus, shall cook you all the spaghetti you can eat! Nyeh heh heh!" He dashed off to the kitchen to do just that, excited. They had a house guest! And it was one of Sans's friends!

Honestly, Papyrus had been worried about his brother lately. He never seemed to really talk to anyone, other than when he was hanging around that greasy bar. Papyrus had heard from others that even there, Sans was unusually quiet these days. The fact that Sans had brought home a friend that he seemed very close to was a good thing! Papyrus was just glad that his brother had someone to talk to. Sans… didn't really talk to him as much as he used to, these days. He needed a friend.

While Papyrus cooked, Grillby was still sitting on the couch (by order of Sans). Sans had turned on the TV and was spread out on the other end, watching some weird one-man play Mettaton was doing. The story was really hard to follow, but part of that could've been that Sans's attention kept drifting from the screen to the fire monster relaxing nearby.

Grillby looked more relaxed than Sans had seen him in ages. He was reading quietly, some sort of historical fiction book in his lap. The skeleton noticed that Grillby would occasionally tilt his head and adjust his glasses when he came across something that intrigued him. It was… cute.

When Sans saw the bartender adjust his glasses for the third time, he chuckled, accidentally giving himself away. Grillby looked up at him over the rim of his glasses, a small smile forming when Sans quickly redirected his gaze to the TV. Not quickly enough. "What's so funny?" the bartender asked, amused.

Sans shrugged. "I dunno. You, I guess. I mean, well um, it's that thing you do when you read."

Grillby looked confused. "What thing?"

"When you're reading, you tilt your head," Sans explained shyly, "And then you push your glasses up. Which is good, because they keep slipping down, heheh." Sans rubbed his neck again, looking up at Grillby with a nervous laugh. Grillby tilted his head and pushed up his glasses, making Sans snort. "You just did it again!"

Grillby blushed a bit. "What? Oh, I… I guess I did. I never noticed." He couldn't help chuckling to himself. He was surprised that Sans noticed that little habit. "I suppose it may be a little funny. Well, it's not like you don't have any quirks of your own."

"Like what?" Sans asked.

"Well," Grillby began to explain, "You rub the back of your neck when you feel awkward or shy. You do it every time I catch you staring."

If Sans had a stomach, it would have done a flip. "Staring? I wasn't staring. We just, uh, happened to look up at the same time. Yeah."

Grillby chuckled, then pointed to Sans's arm. "Told you so," he said mischievously.

Sure enough, Sans had moved to rub the back of his neck. "Heh, alright," the skeleton chuckled, "But that doesn't prove I was staring. And you have anxious ticks, too."

Grillby set his book aside and sat up, sitting cross-legged as he turned to face Sans. "Oh? Well, do go on."

For some reason, having Grillby's full attention made Sans feel almost flustered. The fire monster's expression had settled into a soft, amused smile, and his eyes were alight with more than the usual fire. They shone when genuine interest and amusement, his expression and body language gentle and at ease. It occurred to Sans that he'd never really seen Grillby in a casual setting. It was nice.

"Sans?"

Grillby broke the skeleton's train of thought, sounding slightly concerned. Oh yeah! He was still waiting for a response! Sans came back to the present and chucked. "Sorry, I was just thinking about what to call you out on first," he bluffed lightly. He leaned back and looked at the ceiling before beginning. "So, Grillby's nervous ticks. Where should I start? When you've had a lot of rude customers, you tend to flick your wrist a bit sharper when you mix drinks. When it starts getting really crowded sometimes you tap your pen against your notepad when you're taking a large order. You tap your foot when you're impatient and you kinda bounce on your heels a bit before you run off when you're in a rush…" Sans trailed off, looking at Grillby again to gauge his reaction to all that.

He'd expected Grillby to be amused, or maybe surprised. That wasn't quite the case, though. Grillby was blushing madly, covering a shy smile with one hand. "Well," the bartender mumbled slyly, "I didn't know you watched me so closely. Maybe you stare more often than I thought."

If Sans could blush, he would've been as red as Papyrus's spaghetti sauce. He pulled his hood up and pulled on the strings, tightening it to hide his face in embarrassment. "Grillby-!"

"I don't hear you denying it anymore." The bartender chuckled softly, leaning forward a bit. "Aww, Sans, don't be so embarrassed. I… I really don't mind."

Sans peeked out from his hoodie, cautious and shy. What the hell did Grillby mean by that? He liked the attention? Or… was it possible that he liked the attention specifically from Sans? "Heh, Grillbz… I–"

And then suddenly, the Great Papyrus appeared! "DINNER IS SERVED!" he declared loudly, balancing three plates of spaghetti in his arms. The monsters on the couch startled and jumped away from each other, back on their respective ends of the couch. Papyrus didn't seem to notice, passing out plates and sitting between Sans and Grillby. He turned to Grillby with a wide smile and an expectant look in his eyes, apparently eager for the bartender to try his pasta. "Now I know you prefer greasy foods," the skeleton said, "But trust me when I say that you will undoubtedly be won over when you try spaghetti made by none other than master chef Papyrus!"

Grillby picked up his fork as he considered the pile of noodles on his plate. He looked up to see that both of the skeletons were watching him then. "You're making me nervous," he chuckled.

Sans rolled his eyes. "Just try it already!"

"Alright, alright." The bartender lifted the fork to his mouth, feeling awkward under the attention. Finally, he took a bite of Papyrus's spaghetti.

It was… interesting…

Papyrus looked happy, though! "What a passionate expression! You must love it!"

Sans expected Grillby to make a comment that it wasn't good, or he wasn't hungry, or something else awful. He braced himself for the awkward conversation, but it never came. He was surprised to see Grillby pull a smile back on his face, despite the strong aftertaste that Sans was sure had to be lingering in the back of the fire monster's throat. "It has a very unique flavor," the bartender commented lightly. "I really appreciate you sharing your cooking with me."

Papyrus straightened up with pride. "Of course! I'm happy that you like it. There's plenty left, so don't be afraid to ask for seconds!" He picked up the remote and turned the volume of the TV up a bit, gleefully watching Mettaton do whatever it was that Mettaton was doing.

Once he was sure that Papyrus was focused on the television, Sans leaned forward and mouthed a quick 'thank you' to Grillby. Grillby responded with a small smile and a nod that made something warm spread through his chest. It was one thing to be kind to Sans… but it was a whole new level to be that kind to Papyrus.

After dinner, Papyrus took all the plates to the kitchen with him and started on washing dishes. Sans took the opportunity to move a bit closer to Grillby, hunched over a bit as he rested his elbows on his knees. "Hey… thanks for that."

Grillby looked away from the TV, confused. "For what?"

"For being nice to Papyrus," Sans said quietly, not wanting his brother to overhear. "I mean, people are polite enough talking to him, I guess, but he can be a little much for some monsters. I also know that his spaghetti is a little bit of an acquired taste, heh. I'm surprised you ate everything on your plate."

Grillby smiled a bit. "It wasn't that bad after you got used to the aftertaste, actually. Your brother is very… enthusiastic. I don't see anything wrong with that. So, you're welcome, I guess. I'm glad I made him happy tonight."

The two fell into a comfortable silence, a warm feeling settling over them both as they went back to watching TV. They were totally unaware of the tall skeleton spying on them from the kitchen, thankfully out of earshot. Papyrus wasn't sure what the two had been talking about, but Sans had looked very happy.

He'd missed seeing Sans happy.

Later that evening, Papyrus managed to find a shirt and some sweatpants for Grillby to sleep in. They were both too large, seeing as they belonged to Papyrus, but it was better than sleeping in the formal clothing that the bartender wore to work. The drawstring on the pants was pulled almost as tight as it would go, and the shirt hung off of him also like a nightgown. He looked small, under all that fabric.

Question was, where would Grillby sleep?

"He can have my bed," Sans immediately volunteered. There was no way he was going to make Grillby sleep on the couch when he wasn't feeling well. He'd been the one to bring Grillby home, so it made sense that he'd be the one to make room for him, right?

Papyrus frowned at that. "Sans, your 'bed' is just a mattress on the floor. You don't even have a sheet on it. He needs a proper place to sleep! He should take my bed!"

"Boys," Grillby interrupted with a nervous chuckle, "Thank you, but I really don't mind sleeping on the couch. I'm already feeling much better than I did this morning…" He trailed off into a yawn, blinking tiredly. Yeah, perfectly fine. Sure.

Sans huffed, a little irritated. He was getting tired of Grillby saying he was fine when he was obviously not fine. Was this how Papyrus felt when Sans dodged questions about why he was having so many nightmares? Sans made a mental note to be more honest with his brother as he took a deep breath. "Look, Grillbz, we both know that's bullshit. As much as I hate to admit it, Papyrus has a point. My mattress is barely better than this couch, anyway."

"Exactly!" Papyrus one hand on his hip, using the other to gesture at his door as he spoke. "I am more than happy to open my room to a friend of Sans, and a future friend of mine! And as poorly as Sans may speak of this couch, it can actually be quite comfortable when you find the right position."

Sans rolled his eyes, chuckling. "And sleeping on the couch means Papyrus has an excuse to stay up and watch Mettaton's late shows."

Papyrus huffed. "That is absolute slander!" he cried. "I just so happened to have already decided I wanted to watch the late show tonight! And I do not need any excuse to do so!"

"Uh huh. Whatever you say, Paps."

"You are incorrigible!"

Sans glanced towards the couch and stopped. "Paps, shush."

Papyrus scoffed. "Do not shush me! The Great Papyrus will not be–"

"No, really," Sans cut him off. "Look." He nodded to the couch pointedly. When Papyrus looked, the reason for Sans's sudden concern about volume quickly made itself clear.

At some point during their bickering, Grillby had fallen asleep on the couch, breathing gentle and even. Sans chuckled. "Heh, I knew it. He can't fool me when he's tired." After a moment of consideration, the skeleton shrugged and turned Grillby blue, levitating him gently so he wouldn't be disturbed. Once he was sure the bartender wasn't about to wake up, he turned to Papyrus. "Why don't you go get ready for bed while I tuck this guy in?" Sans asked in a whisper.

Papyrus nodded, chuckling as he lowered the volume of his voice. "Agreed."

There's a LOT more deleted scenes where that came from. Like, over thirty pages of deleted scenes, and there's sure to be more as I go. Let me know if you want to see more! Thanks for reading!

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Weak Spots

Summary:  Red knew he should've just kept walking.

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

Red didn’t do walks. Why the fuck would he, for his health? Wasn’t a workout plan out there that was gonna build him any muscle and when your main mode of transportation was taking a step through the void, you tended to keep the travel expenses to a minimum.

So no, he didn’t do walks, or strolls, or jogs, did he look like his fucking brother? Maybe a little around the eye sockets, but where Edge was always on the move, Red’s internal gearshift was set on park. He liked to have a clear idea of where he was coming from and where he was going to, and not much in between.

All of that was a longass way of saying that wandering down the street with a cigar in one hand and an itchy tailbone in the other was not his normal state of being. Just the walking part, the smokes and the ass scratch were a daily occurrence.

Sometimes, though, the urge struck to get out, to circle the block and have a looksee around that wasn’t through a camera lens. His leg bones got jittery, was all, and tended to take him along for the ride.

If you asked Sans, they weren’t walks at all, it was only him taking a mo’ to survey his domain. Said if Red coulda taken a piss, he’d be whizzing on any tree or fire hydrant he passed. But no one fucking asked Sans, so who gave a shit what that fucker thought about it.

He’d be paying for that remark in spades when Red got back. Spades, diamonds, clubs, he’d owe in all the suits.

(maybe even hearts)

Red shuffled easily along, the soles of his boots scraping the concrete. Up to the border where Old New Home and New New Home met and transformed from mostly abandoned carbon copy houses to pretty little family homes. Didn’t usually go this far out, but it was better’n trudging through the roughly plowed streets of his neighborhood. The sidewalks here were newer and heated, cleared from any snowy sludge, and Red was plenty done with all forms snow; after years in Snowdin, he’d had enough of it for this lifetime and halfway into the next.

The sidewalk made a lazy loop through the little park system that was slowly getting built up. Ebott had a few parks, sure, but not all Monsters wanted to drive out or haul their kiddos on the bus for a little swing set time. No one was on the playground right now, the swings hanging empty, the jungle gym iced over. Maybe on a warmer day, the kiddos would be out but today the chill was keeping them behind closed doors, wasn’t another soul in sight and—

Wait.

In one corner of the park, deep in the snowdrifts and sitting at the wide base of sheltering tree was someone in a bright orange jacket. For a split second, he thought it was Stretch sitting huddled over there; not too many other people around here chose to dress like they were in search of a fucking crosswalk to guard.

A blink and a closer look proved it was a trick of sight, not that Red was that far off. Turned out to be Andy, the honey bun’s shorter platonic soulmate was the one parked alone in the snow. Kid was sitting with his head resting on his updrawn knees, his arms wrapped around ‘em and Red’d seen enough people in that position to recognize when someone was havin’ a cry. ‘course, usually it was his fault…

Anyway.

What he should do is just keep on walking. Kid hadn’t seen him and whatever his troubles were, there were plenty of other shoulders out there he could spill ‘em on. Hell, Blue might kick his own brother out of the way to rip his damn shirt off so Jeff could use it as a Kleenex and apologize for not washin’ it first.

Red had enough on his plate, thanks, and he didn’t need anyone feeding him whatever was the daily special for angst.

Keep on walking, yep, that was what he should do. Maybe even take a shortcut, head on back home where Sans was probably still curled up on the sofa in the same grungy shorts he’d worn the day before, socks sagging down to puddle at his ankles and a smear of ketchup on the front of his t-shirt. No one was ever gonna paint him like one of their French girls and that was fine by Red. Let his bro keep the pretty one, Red had a claim on the asshole, even had his name on ‘im these days and Sans wore it bold as the brass it was engraved on.

Shoulda, coulda…didn’t. Red heaved out a sigh and stopped. His bro was the one who kept collecting liabilities but fuck if Red hadn’t picked up a coupla weak spots of his own along the way and Handy Andy was one of ‘em.

If Grillby could only see him now, he’d laugh his flaming fucking head off.

So Red took a detour, wandered over in Andy’s direction. The snow was deeper out here, spilling cold into the tops of his boots and why the fuck couldn’t people have a crisis where it was warm? Andy didn’t look up and Red leaned against the tree trunk, grimacing at the chill leaking through his jacket as he struck a match against the rough bark.

That got him a startled gasp and Jeff jerked, looking up at him with a tearstained face and red-rimmed eyes.

Red worked on lighting a fresh cigar, wondered idly if he's gonna have to arrange some kind of 'accident'. Better not be Antwan making the kid cry, 'cause if he had to murder his bro's best friend, it'd be a lot of damn work; he’d need to make that case airtight, Edge always gotta be so suspicious. Trained baby bro too well in that.

But patience was asking too fucking much and his feet were cold, so Red asked gruffly, "so what's the problem, kid?"

“Nothing,” Jeff said, sniffling,

“uh huh. just rehearsing for the big play, is that it?”

He was quiet for a long moment and Red didn’t say another word, only smoked his cigar and let the silence crawl up Andy’s spine, prickling like a sin until he finally blurted, “My mom called.”

“that so,” Red said, indifferently. Leaving the door open and as suspected, Jeff blundered right on through it.

“My dad had a heart attack and he's in the hospital,” Jeff said. A fresh wash of tears fell down his cheeks and he wiped them impatiently away on his sleeve. “She said he’s stable and he doesn’t want to see me, but she wanted to let me know.”

“sounds like a bitch move right there.” He snuck a glance and saw the protest rising on Jeff’s face in a ‘don’t call my mom’ a bitch sort of way, watched as it faded.

“Maybe it was,” Jeff said, low. He dropped his chin back on his knees, his gaze resting on wide field of untouched snow in front of him. “You’d think I’d be over it. It’s been years since he kicked me out. I want to hate him, you know? Sometimes I even do, but…it's still my dad. It still hurts, every stupid time.”

“uh huh.” Yeah, Red got that. Sometimes all the what ifs and could bes and wishes for things to be different got clotted up with reality. It happened. "so why ain't you with the honey bun or sacked up with your booty call? why are you sittin' here alone like a dumbass?"

Jeff didn't answer for a long minute, his eyes on the ground, until he finally muttered, "Because they'd try to make me feel better."

Ah.

Red only nodded, shifting to stand upright with a grunt. "gotcha. welp, wallow away, kid." He stuck his cigar between his teeth, shoved his hands in his pockets, and started off, tromping back through the snow. A low, muted sob rose behind him and Red paused long to call back, "i'll give ya a coupla hours to get it out of your system, kid. cry, scream, play country music, don't give a shit, but after that, you better be headed someplace more cheerful, you get me?"

"Okay," Jeff sniffled, all pained gratitude and fresh tears. "Thanks, Red."

"don't. i wasn't even here." Red walked out back out to the sidewalk and left the kid to it, headed in the direction of home, and if he pulled up the camera hidden on one corner of the jungle gym on his phone, eh, Jeff should know better by now than to ever think Red wasn't watching.

-finis-

[a-very-tired-raven]

For that character ask thingy, how about Undertale or Underfell Sans?

9hhhhh okay okay I'll do both lol

Classic Sans:

-

First impressions

I remember the first time i ever heard about undertale was seeing a balloon of sans in a store and an Ad and wallpaper with gaster(those mobile wallpaper apps)

And then suddenly I started seeing sans over the internet quite commonly(this was around 2016 when undertale was still really popular)

And FINALLY I watched my first playthrough of the game. It was Guava juices playthrough(so around 2017-2018 I believe), but I didn't get to see the entire thing because he never finished it lol

First impression of him? I was kinda creeped out at the forest scene where he comes up behind you after you exit the ruins. But after that when Papyrus popped up I legit couldn't stop laughing at his joking manner. This was awhile ago, so through I do have a memories I don't remember my complete first impression. Just bits and pieces. I just thought he and all the other characters were super intertaining.

-

Impressions now

After watching the playthrough and stuff I was attached! This was a few years after though, and I started reading comics, VAs, remixes and all that good stuff in the UT Fandom. I actually really love sans as a character now! He's super relatable to me, I love puns and always have, plus I have my own trombone!

Aaaand ketchup is my favorite condiment lol. I really love how people portray his character and the headcanons people have of him, and I love the strong relationship he has with his brother. He's honestly a goofy dude and I love it!

-

Favorite moment!

Huh...that's kinda hard to say? After giving it some thought I think my favorite moment with sans in the game is at the beginning with the puzzles with Papyrus, and when we go to grillbys. OH WAIT I KNOW my absolutely positively favorite moment is when he stacks hotdogs on frisk head lol. I always very wait very carefully and then I would SLOWLY move to the next room. Always heartbroken that the hotdogs disappear :c

Idea for a story

Aw geeze- I don't think my personal AU counts for this one so-

Sans goes through major character development and picks up his sock

-

Unpopular opinion

papyrus is somewhat stronger then sans

Idk yall I'd have to search my brain for an answer for this one-

-

Favorite relationship

definitely with Papyrus and alphys. I love sans' and papyruses vrother relationship, and how close they are together. I also believe he and alphys are besties, just seaight up dorky nerds together. Please for the love of God note that I mean this platonicly-

-

Favorite headcanon

Again sans and alphys are besies.

-

Red/UF sans will be under the cut bc this sucker is getting long

First impressions

Underfell and underswap were actually the two Aus that first introduced and showed me the concept of all the other Aus lol

My first impressions were a bit confusing (didn't know what what an AU was) but as I kept reading more about it I loved the idea! I actually really liked UF sans' character and stuff. Again this was awhile ago so full first impression is kinda blurry

-

Impressions now

Love this man. Love this au. It's one of my favorite AUs and uf sans is one of my favorite sans. I love the concept of brothers going through heck and back, bonds somehow growing more close then they were before, and understanding each other somewhat better. I love this au. I love his friggem personality! The ehadcanons people have!!! Especially love @rainbowchibbit 's soultale au. I belive(like I said this was so long ago-) this is one of the first ways Underfell was introduced to me, and I love how red is portrayed in this story. Stupid funny nervous gremlin man.

-

Favorite moment

Hnnng. Kinda hard because I could never find a good full underfell playthrough-

I guess it'd have to be him and uf toriels interactions? With the door and stuff, sjsjdhhd sorry if this answer is wonky-

-

Unpopular opinion

THE MAN IS NOT CRUEL AND EVIL, HE DOES NOT HATE HIS BROTHER, AND UF PAPYRUS DOES NOT FRIGGEN ABUSE HIS BROTHER DEAR GOD-

Sorry had to get that out lol

-

Favorite relationship

Probably his relationship with frisk(again if you even consider this romantic I will end you) and toriel.

Too tired to explain- sorry

-

Favorite headcanon

He absolutely does not mean to but he attracts kids of all ages and sizes.

[outthefryingpan]

Do you do headcanons? Could you do some for Grillby and an S/O who's very physically affectionate? Like love languages or whatever lol?? Sorry if not could you do a little fix about that? Thanks u

Hey! This blog is mostly focused on fic (assuming fix means fic lol), but I’ve been working on something that should be up soon, so I can for sure try out some headcanons! They’re probably gonna be kinda long-winded though so bear with me lol. I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to include Grillby’s love language(s) but I wanted to so I threw em in >:^). Thanks for sending in an ask! Here u go:

-Your primary love language is physical touch. Grillby is very much alright with this. Although he needs to be very comfortable with the person in question first, he’s quite partial to physical touch himself. He just has some... deeply ingrained reservations that he may need a little help getting over, at first. See, Grillby had to learn to control his flames. At this point, it comes easier to him than breathing would to a human, but there was a period when he was very young in which his control was... well, mediocre. That time has long passed of course, but a small, childish part of him still recalls the looks of fear and distrust on other monsters’ faces from that time, and how awful they felt. Still, he doesn’t dwell on it. You remind him every day how much you cherish being near him, and that’s far more than enough for him.

-If you were to organize Grillby’s “roster” of love languages, it would look something like this:

Quality Time - More than anything, Grillby wants to spend quality time with you. Even if that just means napping together, or reading individually on the same couch. It doesn’t matter to him what it is, he just likes you, and likes being near you. It makes him happy to know you like being close to him, too. Setting time aside to spend with him (uninterrupted, no distractions), is the best way to show him that you love and care.

Physical Touch - This is perhaps his best kept secret. He won’t be very showy with it in public (if he dares to engage at all), but physical contact is extremely important to him. It’s comforting and grounding for him, and makes him feel close to you. The knowledge that you crave the same only encourages him. To Grillby, being able to touch you feels like a guarantee that his affections will be communicated, even if his words fail him.

Acts of Service - Grillby is a busy, busy monster, so acts of service are greatly appreciated, especially if you don’t make a big deal out of having done them. Entering a room and seeing that you’ve tidied up, or finding that you’ve made him food or gotten groceries- little things like that never fail to make his soul swell with happiness. It makes him feel like you’ve got his back, and want to look out for him.

Words of Affirmation - It is not very difficult to fluster this flame. Sappy, forward reminders of your affections in public are a surefire way to get him blushing, “like a blue fool”, as he would say. In private however, it’s a little easier for him to take what you say to heart. It’s good for him to be reminded of your feelings out loud every once in a while, and he appreciates how well you verbalize them, but words have never been as important to Grillby as actions.

Receiving Gifts - OK he is actually a huge hypocrite when it comes to this one. He’ll say he appreciates the thought, but isn’t crazy about receiving gifts as it makes him feel awkward or guilty, and he would really rather spend time with you anyway, but you can bet your ass that 5 seconds later he’ll turn around and get you a nice gift for literally no reason whatsoever.

-Anyway, being physical with Grillby is always really nice. As mentioned above, it’s a bit of a process at first, but once it’s been established that both of you are comfortable, willing, and eager, contact quickly becomes commonplace. You hold his hands, sit in his lap, lay your head on his shoulder- He plays with your hair, places a hand on your knee, kisses your cheek- It’s all very casual. After a while it becomes so normal that the two of you hardly think about it when you go to hold hands, embrace each other, or anything else. However, sometimes it will strike him. It will hit him how far he’s come since he first started seeing you when you come up behind him and stroke his back, or when he rests his chin atop your head. He’ll think about how you two started out, and how much your disposition has helped him through his fears, and you’ll catch him smiling to himself.

-Most people’s morning routines involve checking their phones, stretching, maybe drinking a glass of water... Yours is usually a few minutes of half-hearted-limb-detangling. Essentially this is just a gradual shift from you and Grillby being totally tangled up in each other to being in a reasonable position to stand and get out of bed. It’s a very slow process, which you like. It involves a lot of cuddling, nuzzling, hugging, and other fluffy buzz words.

-Massages! Often!!! On this Grillby is always eager to deliver. He likes to do this especially when you’re stressed or tired. It’s a relaxing, therapeutic experience for both of you. He relishes in the feeling of mapping out your muscle and bone underneath his warm hands, chatting idly with you about how each others’ days went. It makes him feel helpful and happy to sit with you and slowly, carefully knead out the tension you carry, and it’s no secret that you adore it too. He loves the fact that as he works out sore aches and knots, and as you tell him about your day, he can hear the relaxation and contentment begin to saturate your voice. Oh, and his absolute favorite thing is when you accidentally fall asleep.

-One of the best ways Grillby knows to comfort you is just to hold you close. The more enveloped you are in his embodied heat, the better off you are. Touching and being touched by Grillby is such a deeply sensory experience. His light is always visible, even with your eyes closed. A gentle crackling sound constantly accompanies him, and of course there’s that comfortable, tethering warmth. It keeps you present, and grounded. Maybe it’s something to do with magic and souls and the like, or maybe it’s just love, but you swear you can feel his intent when he presses you against him. His care, his concern, his affection, his fear, his love, all of it. You can feel it seeping into you through contact. It lingers for a long time after he lets go.

That is all 4 now my friend, I hope u enjoyed :^0

[undertalethingems]

Bark at the Moon, Chapter 6: Slip Through

<Previous / Next>

Or read on my Ao3>

Rating, Setting: Gen, Pre-canon

Chapter Warnings: None?

Chapter Summary: No longer so alone, Papyrus is ready to tackle finding his brother--with Undyne's help, he's sure to find something...

“Okay! It should be late enough that most people'll be home for the night, so chances are no one will spot you, much less recognize you. That should take care of your concerns about being seen, right?”

"Good point," Papyrus agreed, taking another spoonful of the hearty soup Undyne had made. It was a little hard to grip his silverware, so eating was slow, but it was nice to have something hot so he wanted to savor it anyway. At least Undyne was way better at making soup than spaghetti. "It does make me a tad less trousled."

Undyne smiled. "Good. Once you're done there we'll get cleaned up and head out, okay?"

The rest of the evening was relatively quiet--the two traded banter while Papyrus finished his dinner, then they worked together to do the dishes and put things away. And then, all too soon--it was time to start their investigation, which meant stepping into a world Papyrus didn't know that he belonged in. He was sure it was just as ready for him as he was for it--which was to say, not at all.

But Undyne beckoned, and Papyrus shook himself out before reluctantly headed for the door. The outside world loomed, and for a moment he hesitated.... No, he needed to leave. Drawing a deep breath, he stepped out for what felt like the first time in ages. It was strange, feeling the cold again and snow crunching under his claws. But... it was so open... so spacious... he needed to run, to express all the energy he'd had to bottle up!

He tore off towards the nearby clearing, delighting in the wind rushing and newfound strength coursing through him as he galloped down the road. This was where he belonged! Out and about, doing, being! Not cooped up at home, that was sure. He barreled into the snow and rolled around, then got back to his feet and shook the snow from his bones. Oh that felt good! He was fully refreshed, like he'd finally shed the gloom that had washed over him in his house.

Undyne was laughing when she caught up with him, happy to see him acting more like his old self. “Feels good to get out, huh? Being a homebody doesn’t suit you. Alright, now, where do you think Sans might have gone?”

Papyrus stroked his chin. “Well, it's difficult to say, but his basic needs are a place to sleep and bad food... but no one’s reported him from Grillby’s, right?”

“No,” Undyne frowned. “You’d think that’s the first thing we’d hear about—it was Grillby himself who asked me to check up on him… so he’s either still going, or Grillby hasn’t gotten nervous yet. Seems like a good place to start either way!”

Papyrus nodded, and together they turned to head for the restaurant. It glowed a welcoming amber in the subterranean night, but Papyrus declined to enter the establishment, both on account of his current state as well as being firmly opposed to grease as a concept. So he sat in the snow opposite the building as Undyne went in, hoping there'd be lead on his brother. Grillby was, despite how Papyrus felt about the quality of his cooking, a good monster who knew his regulars well. And even if Sans was mad and avoiding him, surely he wouldn't avoid his favorite food.

“No one’s seen him,” Undyne relayed when she’d returned, looking downcast. “Grillby says he stopped coming about two and a half weeks ago. He was about to call me again, actually, it’s kinda funny.”

“Two and a half weeks… that’s when you came to visit.”

“Right,” Undyne said with a wincing smile. “So the timeframe matches… and… I guess there’s something else weird. Grillby almost didn’t tell me--he wasn't sure it was relevant. But… apparently he’s had kids come in a couple times now and order a few burgers to go. When they got asked by one of the other customers what they were for, all they said was that it was some flower monster who wanted them.”

Papyrus blinked. A flower.... “Why would a flower monster need someone to buy burgers for them?

“Dunno, but… Grillby said that what struck him as odd… was that it’s Sans’ favorite they keep ordering, and nothing else. They even ask for extra ketchup.”

“Hmm…” Papyrus trailed, not sure what to make of this information. A certain flower had been his friend in timelines past. Maybe he’d decided to become Sans’ friend this time around? He couldn't be sure, and it made him uneasy. He wasn't always his friend.

“Yeah, I dunno either,” Undyne continued, “but everyone asked how you were and what was up, so they miss you a lot. You better figure this thing out soon or you might have a visiting party from the dogs.”

“I… I’m touched,” Papyrus said softly; he hadn’t thought anyone would pay his absence any mind. They were all Sans’ friends, not his…

“Yeah! I told them you were taking a good long vacation since you tend to overwork yourself, and they bought it, but I think everyone’s looking forward to seeing you guys back in action. Anyway! I say we try and find this flower guy and talk to him. Ask him what he’s doing with those burgers.”

“…It is our only lead,” Papyrus agreed, narrowing his eyes. “If he’s hanging out with Sans, then that would certainly explain it.”

“Alright. I’ve always wanted to do a stakeout,” Undyne grinned, flashing her fangs. “Based on what Grillby told me, those kids should show up tomorrow. Let’s wait here all night and make sure we don’t miss ‘em.”

“An excellent strategy! I am with you one zillion percent!”

The two friends hunkered down in the snow just off the road and out of sight. Undyne couldn’t keep from shivering after a few hours in, so Papyrus darted back home to retrieve a blanket for her. It looked a little conspicuous draped over her shoulders, so with her approval he buried her in snow and left only a small space open for her to peer through. Halfway into the morning she was apparently cozy enough to fall asleep, but Papyrus didn’t mind. He could keep watch in the meantime.

It was just after Grillby unlocked his door for the morning that a trio of kids ran up—a pair of bunnies and a little reptilian child. They greeted the fire monster brightly, and he nodded to them before letting them stumble in. Papyrus prodded Undyne in her side, and she yelped—he’d forgotten he had particularly sharp digits now—but it got the message across. She tossed the blanket aside, shedding snow as she stood.

“Okay. You ready to do this?”

“I was born ready!” Papyrus replied, crouching in anticipation.

“Okay! I want you to stay back and track behind us while I get the kids to take me to the flower. I don't want anything to go unnoticed, so you'll keep an eye on the whole thing. Understand?”

“Oh… Yes! What a cunning plan! We will soon learn the truth with you at the helm!”

“Heck yeah! Alright, shh, here they come.”

The kids skipped from Grillby's, each with a small bag in their arms—or, in the little reptilian child’s case, their mouth. Papyrus could smell the grease from here, and regretted having such a powerful sense of smell in this form. At least it would make them easy to follow. He watched them trot down the street towards Waterfall, giggling and chatting to each other as they walked, discussing what they’d do with the extra money they were making. So, someone really was paying them to buy bad decisions…

Undyne waited until they were a bit further down the road to make her move, stepping out from the sidelines to follow them. Papyrus stayed within the trees, swift and silent on his feet as he trailed them, wondering where all this would lead.

“Hey guys!” Undyne called, waving casually to the trio as she caught up with them just outside Waterfall. They turned to face her, and the reptile dropped their bag on account of their jaw falling open.

“Oh my gosh! Yo! It’s Undyne!” the child exclaimed in a stunned whisper. “Act cool, she’s only the most awesome monster in the whole Underground!”

The bunnies exchanged looks, but smiled politely as the captain approached.

“You kids off to have a picnic?” she began, and the little ones milled around a bit before one of the bunnies answered.

“Um, no…”

“Really? Can I ask where you're taking those burgers then?”

The reptilian was quick to answer. “There’s this flower guy who loves ‘em! But his roots keep him from going inside Grillby’s, plus it's too cold for him in Snowdin anyway, so he has to ask us kids to get ‘em for him! We’re helping our fellow monsters, just like you want us to!”

“Good job,” Undyne said proudly. “Hey, I kinda want to meet this guy. Think I could tag along?”

“Um, I guess so?” the other bunny answered, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s nothing real special.”

The kids led the way with Undyne in tow, and Papyrus couldn’t help but feel hopeful. He kept just out of sight as they wound through the dark, damp halls of Waterfall, crossed the bridge, and came to a field of echo flowers. Amid the whispering expanse of eerie blue, there was a bright spot of yellow. It was a flower with face, stretched with a cheery smile.

“Howdy kids!” the flower chirped brightly. “Oh boy, you brought a new friend! Could this be the Undyne you’ve told me so much about?”

“It totally is!” the reptilian answered gleefully, dropping their bag again as they hopped. “She wanted to meet you! You’re sooo lucky!”

“I sure am!” the plant replied, but Papyrus thought there was something just a bit off in his expression. “And hey, looks like you brought everything else too!”

“Here you go, mister Flowey,” one of the bunnies said as the trio handed their bags over. “You must like burgers a whole lot if you eat so many. Doesn’t your momma tell you you’ll get sick if you eat too much of them?”

“Well, you wanna know something real sad? Flowers don’t exactly have moms,” Flowey replied, and the children gasped sadly.

“Yo, you never had a mom?!”

“That is so sad…”

“Miss Undyne, did you know he didn’t have a momma?!”

Undyne sighed. “Not everyone’s that lucky. You guys run home and hug your moms extra hard, okay?”

“Okay!” the trio chorused.

“Hey, but enough of that for now!” Flowey spoke again. “You guys have been a big help! Here’s your tip, hee hee!”

He tossed each of the kids a little sack of gold using a thin vine, and the three ran off, giggling and waving. Undyne stayed behind, as did Flowey. The two eyed one another for a moment, until Undyne broke the quiet.

“Listen, I won’t keep you long, but I came with those kids because I need to ask you something. I need to know if you’ve seen or know the whereabouts of a man named Sans. He’s a skeleton monster about yea tall, and tends to wear a blue jacket and black shorts. Know him?”

“Hmm…” Flowey tapped a vine to his chin. “Doesn’t sound familiar. Can I ask why you’re looking for him? Did he do something bad?”

“No. He went missing about two weeks ago, and we were given the impression you might know something,” Undyne replied, folding her arms.

“Who told you that? I’m just a flower, I don’t get out much,” Flowey replied, looking offended.

“Well… from what we’ve heard, that’s when you started asking those kids to get burgers for you, and they happen to be Sans’ favorite.”

“...That’s your lead? Really?” Flowey scoffed as he reached into the closest bag to unwrap a burger and bit into it. “Listen. I’m stuck out here in Waterfall. It took me forever to come across anything like Grillby’s cooking, and now, I can’t get enough of it. Can you really blame me for asking my fellow monsters to help a guy out? Is that so wrong?”

“Well, no,” Undyne huffed. “But—”

“Listen, I’m sorry to hear about this Sans guy, and I hope you find him. But I just really like these burgers. I had no idea he liked them too—hey, I can’t blame him, hee hee! I’ll let you know if I see anything, but this is the first I’ve even heard of him,” Flowey said, tilting his head in a shrug before taking another bite. Undyne pursed her lips.

“Well, thanks, I guess. Sorry to bother you. Let the Guard know if you do find anything.”

She marched away with brows furrowed, and Papyrus lingered to watch Flowey just a bit longer. Flowey waited until she was definitely out of the room to spit his mouthful of food out, his lip curled as he glared in her direction. Then he gathered up the bags with his vines and disappeared into the earth.

Papyrus went from feeling disappointed to terrified.

His magic pulsing through him in a panicked rush, he left his spot in the shadows to investigate where Flowey had vanished. He found a small mound of upturned soil and no other physical signs, but there was a smell. Not the smell of fresh grease from Grillby’s, nor the scent of clammy mud and grass, though all were present. No, this was a smell that made his magic coil so tensely in his chest he thought it might burst, a smell that made him shiver from skull to tailtip at its presence.

It was the faint smell of earthy bone and stale ketchup.

Flowey was a liar.

Flowey was, very often, not a good person and wouldn’t even try sometimes. Papyrus had hoped that with the dearth of resets lately he might have given up on playing with everyone’s lives, but it seemed this was not the case. He still hoped, naturally, that one day Flowey would make the right choice, but with him acting the way he had, and Sans being how he was now…

Papyrus groaned. Maybe Sans was happy. He was alive, at least, and even if Flowey had him trapped somewhere, somehow, he was getting out of work, probably napping a lot and being brought his favorite food. He’d said himself that was all Sans really needed… Maybe Sans just didn’t want to come home after all. He hoped it was like that.

“Papyrus…?” Undyne’s voice echoed from down the corridor, and he perked up. He glanced back down at the little clump of dirt where Flowey had been, and pushed his heartbreak aside. If Sans was happy somewhere, then so was he. He heaved a sigh, and trotted to catch up with his captain.

"Did you see something?" Undyne asked when he caught up, and he glanced around before answering in a low voice.

"No, not a thing! How frustrating," he huffed. "I suppose there's nothing for it but to keep waiting. However long that is..."

Undyne considered his words, then turned to him with a grin. "Hey! Rather than stay cooped up in your house again, how about you come over to mine? You know, for a sleepover."

Papyrus blinked. "Really?"

"Sure! I also know a couple spots where NO ONE ever comes, so we can hang out there and you don't have to worry about being seen. That'd be pretty nice, right?"

Papyrus was taken aback. "Well, certainly, b-but--are you sure that's proper? F-for you? There's etiquette and such, I read it in the Royal Guard handbook handbook."

"Psh, I don't care about what's proper! All that etiquette stuff is a TOTAL DRAG! AND! I'M THE CAPTAIN! I DECIDE WHAT RULES TO ENFORCE! And I say SCREW 'EM! I care about my friend, who's been stuck alone in his house for way too long. It'll be fun!"

Papyrus hemmed and hawed. Was it really okay...? Undyne thought so, and after everything today he wasn't sure he could take being alone another night. She had called him her friend... he almost couldn't believe it... But he knew he shouldn't stay by himself again. "Um... well... alright. It does sound nice."

"HECK yeah it does!" Undyne beamed, punching him in the shoulder playfully. "Now come on, I dunno about you but we've been out long enough. Let's head back to my place."

Papyrus let her lead the way along the winding corridors and yawning chasms of Waterfall until they reached the quiet corner where Undyne's house sat. He followed her in and immediately slipped on the ceramic tile floor, his legs sliding out from under him with a scrape. He groaned, and Undyne stifled a laugh as she helped him stand.

"I guess there is one problem with you staying here," she teased as they hobbled over to the table together. "Good thing it's not a big one!"

"Just embarrassing," Papyrus griped as he sat, carefully balancing with all four feet crammed on the chair. He drummed his claws as Undyne puttered around the kitchen, making what turned out to be tea.

"Figured something warm would be nice," she said, setting a cup before him as she joined him, and for a little while they sat quietly as it cooled. But Undyne always got contemplative when she made tea, and it wasn't long before she spoke. "You know... it's weird, but... I've gotten pretty used to you being like this. It's actually really cool."

"You mean it?" Papyrus asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah! I don't think any other monster can transform like you do, and into this awesome skeleton... beast thing? If I were a human, I'd surrender after just looking at you!"

Papyrus fidgeted. "Well, I suppose that's good..."

He didn't really want to be intimidating. That'd been what he wanted. A reason why they hadn't been allowed to change.

Apparently his discomfort was obvious, because Undyne's mood shifted. "But... being scary... that's not your style, huh? You really don't want to look like this. And it's been getting to you, and now Sans too... Maybe I'm way off, but I get the feeling... this isn't really something you want, and it's actually kind of serious."

"It's nothing to be worried about!" Papyrus uttered quickly. "I'm fine! I just miss my fashions, and my dashing good looks, and holding things like a person who doesn't have sharp claws! And fitting in my bed without having to fold myself up, and going grocery shopping, and not being trapped in my own home, and--and--"

"Hey, easy there," Undyne soothed, extending a hand across the table. "I know it's been rough on you, and Sans being gone hasn't helped. But we'll find him, and you'll get through this. Uh... hey! We should go shopping together sometime! There's whole sections for monsters with your body type, you've got all kinds of options open now. That sounds fun, right?"

Papyrus managed a laugh. "I suppose. I... I guess I ought to consider the fact this is my life now..."

He didn't want to give up. He wasn't going to! He just... had to accept that for the foreseeable future, this was how things would be. He'd said as much to Sans, hadn't he? That they should embrace all that they were? As much as he wanted to go back to his other form... he should just accept this one for now.

"That's a good idea, Undyne. Thank you. I think I should just forget worrying about it."

Undyne smiled, though not as widely as she liked to. "That might be the best idea. I also think... we should get some rest. We sorta stayed up most of the night."

She squinted for a moment.

"And now that I think about it, we didn't really need to. It's not like those kids were gonna show up at 3am..."

Papyrus chuckled. "Nyeh heh, but we were ready! Who knows! Maybe they had planned a daring escapade, sneaking out from under their parent's noses to acquire illicit grease!"

"Well, they wouldn't have gotten very far, considering Grillby's was closed by then."

"That's! A fair point. Whatever, we still had fun!"

Undyne grinned. "Yeah we did. But, I'm pretty worn out from all that, and I've still gotta patrol later, so we should rest."

"I suppose. I'm not sleepy, but... Some time to 'chill' might be nice..."

"Sounds good to me. I'm gonna take a nap, you can hang out here. Help yourself to any snacks, I don't mind."

"Okay. I will be polite about it, not to worry! Now, if it were Sans, you might..." he started to joke, but sadness overcame him. "Sans... I hope he's really okay..."

"I'm sure he's fine, wherever he is," Undyne replied, the slightest edge to her voice. "Come on, let's relax and not worry about things for a bit. You're not gonna find him any faster by stressing."

He let her take the lead again, helping her lay some spare blankets on the floor so he wasn't constantly sliding around and had a place to lay down if he wanted. But once she retired to her room, he was left in the quiet of her home. And there was nothing to keep his thoughts from echoing louder and louder within his skull.

Where was Sans? Was Flowey really responsible for his disappearance? What did he want with him anyway? If he was handling this so poorly, how was Sans holding up? Would he be alright? It hadn't been too long since he left, but in the state of mind he'd been in, and how stressed they'd been before--it had only taken him a few days to slip into old habits. Even without Flowey interfering, would Sans still...?

Papyrus curled up in the blankets and shivered as quietly as he could.

At breakfast the next day, Undyne let him know he could stay as long as he wanted, and he agreed--it was a major improvement over staying in his home alone. But as generous as Undyne's offer was, her house was even smaller than his and it only took a couple days for him to get antsy again. She came back from a shift to find him attempting to walk on the ceiling using blue magic, and her startled shout broke his concentration. He fell most of the way before catching himself and floating the rest, landing deftly on his feet. He fidgeted sheepishly under her perplexed gaze before explaining.

"I. Um. Was very bored."

Undyne blinked, and rubbed her forehead with a finger as she stepped the rest of the way into her house. "I can tell, but now there's claw marks in the plaster."

"Sorry."

"Hah! It actually looks rad, so don't worry about it. But geez, I guess being cooped up in one house isn't much better than being cooped up in another. Do I need to get you like, a chew toy or something?"

Papyrus lowered his brows. "That sounds nice... and I hate it."

"Gotcha. I just know it helps the dogs stay focused on a slow shift. I could check some stuff out of the library?"

"I've already read most of my books back home, I don't know if I want to read more..." Papyrus sighed, laying down dejectedly. "I want to do things..."

Undyne frowned. "Man, I really hate seeing you like this... And you're dead-set on not going outside?"

"Not where anyone can see," Papyrus huffed. "If Sans were here, he could just take me somewhere with a shortcut... but I guess he had better things to do."

"Hey, I know he's happy to slack off and ditch anything that looks like work, but I don't believe for a second he'd completely abandon you," Undyne snapped. "He's out there somewhere, and we'll find him--but for now, you're getting out of the house."

"How?!"

"I told you, I know some spots that are way out of the way--no one'll ever see you. I usually use 'em to train.. or.... um... reenact scenes from human history stuff Alphys has shown me... But! It's perfect! I've got another patrol in a bit, so we can head over now and you can hang out there until I'm done. How's that sound?"

Papyrus mulled it over. "And you promise no one will see?"

Undyne nodded firmly. "You have my word. C'mon, let's get some snacks and stuff for you and get going."

"Um... maybe I will take that chew toy too. Just in case."

Undyne beamed, and together they packed a small sling of supplies. Together, they snuck furtively through passages and halls before coming to a grotto leading up a cliff face. Undyne rolled her shoulders, then vaulted up the walls, quickly scaling them; after only a few moments of consideration, Papyrus followed her, leaping most of the way before digging in with his claws and hauling himself the rest of the way up. They traversed another passage, ducking stalactites and squeezing through when the passage narrowed to a fraction of its original width. It was clear why no one ever came this way--it was a hassle just to get through.

But finally the hall opened into a sizable cavern, illuminated by massive spires of glowing crystals, and a still lake filled one side towards the back. A cliff thrust dramatically over the water, and Papyrus instantly knew Undyne used it to practice monologues. No wonder she liked this spot.

"We're here!" she said cheerfully, spinning on her heel to face him as she gestured at the scenery. "I've explored every cranny of this place. There are no other offshoots of any tunnels, and it's so far away no one can hear you scream as you reach your next power level. You can do whatever you want here!"

"Thank you for showing it to me, Undyne. But now I know this secret about you," Papyrus teased.

"And if you tell anyone, I'll have to kill you," Undyne replied, a smile still on her face.

"I gladly accept!"

Undyne coughed laughing. "Oh my god! Papyrus!"

"Not to worry, Undyne, I only jest! I would never tell anyone your secrets. I'd say my lips are sealed, but I don't have any!"

Undyne burst out laughing again, and Papyrus waved his tail from side to side--joking around with Undyne always made him feel better. It was too bad she had to leave, but she had a job to do.

"Well hey, I gotta head out, but we'll hang out here after I'm done, okay?" she promised, and he watched her go feeling optimistic. He still hated having to stay away from everyone, but... at least this place was big enough to run around in.

He turned to study the cavern once more--then unhooked the sling of goodies from his spines and took off, dashing around the room, splashing through the shallows of the lake, climbing the rock formations only to leap and take off again. Oh, to run and jump and move again, why, he could just--

He opened his jaws wide to let a beam of pure magic sear through the air. He snapped his mouth shut and skidded to a halt in surprise--oh. Too soon. He'd have to get a better handle on that one for sure.

Heaving a sigh, Papyrus shook himself out with a clatter and paced over to the sling he'd left on the cave floor. Pulling it open with claws and teeth, he eyed the chew toy--a little rubber newspaper--and picked it up before walking over to the lakeside and laying down. Despite his initial reluctance to take it, it had occurred to him that if he really was going to work to accept his form as it was, he might as well indulge some of the instincts he had. It was surprisingly satisfying to squeeze the rubber between his teeth as he thought, and it helped with the general fidgetiness he'd been feeling of late.

No wonder the dogs liked this kind of thing. It was actually pretty calming.

Eventually, he lost interest though. He set the toy aside and wandered over to the other things they'd packed. Snacks... no, he wasn't hungry. He pushed a can of peanuts away, and it rolled with a clatter... He looked at it pointedly and pushed it again, harder. It rolled further and he hopped to give chase, batting and pawing at it, sending it spinning across the cave floor. He pounced on it--and it skidded from under his claws right into the lake. He went after it, but it was too late--it had already sunk out of sight. He lashed his tail in frustration, his toy gone--but a flash of white beneath the water's surface caught his eye.

He crept to the edge--and was soon entertaining himself by chasing eyeless cave fish around the shallows, summoning tiny bone mazes and watching as they wove through the obstacles to avoid him. But eventually they fled to the depths where he feared to tread, and he left the water to shake and dry off. Oh, that chewy thing looked fun again.

A sound caught his attention--one that wasn't made by him. It felt like a really long time since there'd been any sounds, and he rose into a low crouch as he listened to it draw near. A hard, clanking sound, something big--wait, he knew what it was! A friend! He'd play with them.

"Papyrus! I'm back!" Undyne called into the cavern, and was immediately tackled from behind. She rolled onto her back and kicked, sending her assailant flying with a yelp. She got to her feet, already beaming. "Hah! You thought you could pull one over on ME?! I'm the Captain of the Royal freakin' Guard, punk!"

Papyrus had risen as well, and fixed her with a daring look--before taking off across the room, only to circle back and bark at her when she didn't follow.

"What, you think this is a GAME?!" she bellowed, and took off after him. They wove around the room, throwing out bones and spears alike to try tripping each other up; Undyne was fast, but on four legs, Papyrus was faster and ran circles around her, sometimes stopping just out of reach as if to taunt her.

Wait. Why wasn't he just taunting her?

"Dude, Papyrus, timeout," she called, slowing to a jog. Papyrus continued to trot around her mockingly. She scowled, and cast a spear horizontally in his path--he leapt over it easily and didn't slow down at all, jumping over it again as he circled back around. "Oh come on!"

He trilled something that almost sounded like "nyeh heh heh", and Undyne squinted.

"Uh, Papyrus...? Why aren't you talking?"

Finally, he seemed to slow down, and confusion danced briefly on his face. But then he went back to trotting at full speed, that mischievous look back on his face.

Undyne frowned, and brandished another spear. With a wave, Papyrus' soul flashed green, and he was suddenly locked in place. He gave a playful growl as he spun to face her, tail lashing. Light gathered in his jaws--Undyne lunged forward, wrapping her hand around his muzzle. His eyes went wide in surprise, and white-hot sparks shot from between his teeth as he coughed on his unfired beam. Undyne let him go, and he spluttered for a bit more before shaking himself out and staring at the ground.

"Ahem. Oh dear."

"Papyrus?"

He looked up at her. "Yes."

Undyne made a face at him. "Did you forget how to talk or something?"

Papyrus winced. "Um. Maybe a little."

"How does that even happen? Are you okay?" Undyne asked, and Papyrus shook himself out again before sitting and staring at his feet.

"It's so easy sometimes," he uttered, and she lowered a brow.

"To forget how to talk?"

"To forget how to person."

Undyne grimaced. "Is that... part of your... um. Transformation?"

Papyrus shrugged. "A little, I guess. There are some things that just make more sense, like this. Like, how to smell things, how to chase... It's like parts of my brain wake up--or would, if I had a brain. But, it's like other parts want to sleep. Ones that... supposedly are less useful."

Undyne saw the subtle shiver that ran through him.

But Papyrus quickly puffed his chest out. "But it's fine! They only want to sleep, and I don't sleep! I slipped up a little bit today, but that's okay! I'm still me!"

"Yeah you are," Undyne affirmed, punching him lightly in the shoulder and knocking him off balance. "Still, should I, uh, be worried about it?"

"No! Because you'll be able to break me out of it! You're great at breaking things!"

"Heck yeah! Don't worry Papyrus, I've got your back," Undyne reassured him. "You ready to head home?"

"Yes! I think I'm in sore need of some bad television. Just the thing to take my mind off losing my mind!"

"Papyrus, oh my god."

It was much later, long after Undyne had gone to bed, that Papyrus let himself think about what had happened. It was unsettling how easily he'd given in to instinct today. And sure, he was trying to accept himself for what he was, and that meant accepting those instincts too. But until he was used to engaging all parts of his mind equally--as easily as he'd once exchanged one form for another--it was too easy to slip firmly into what he had wanted him to be. Was it really their training that made it so alluring, or was it something intrinsic about this form that made acting on instinct so easy...?

He really had to wonder how Sans was doing on that front.

The doctor had had him the longest, pushed him the hardest. He'd never been able to mold him into the perfectly obedient weapon he desired, but he'd worn him down until there was little left but his instincts, and that was almost as good in the doctor's eyes. Papyrus had managed to encourage him to reclaim the full range of his senses and intelligence, but it hadn't been easy, and Sans had relapsed many times before they'd finally sent the doctor to his fate.

But they weren't in the lab anymore; wherever Sans was, Papyrus had doubts it was nearly as harsh.

[cluelessnamelessao3]

It’s Raining Somewhere Else

The One with a Pleasant Surprise

It wasn’t your alarm that woke you, but rather, your very needy and very annoying devil of a cat. He didn’t just wake you by pawing at you, no, but by attempting to suffocate you. You pushed him off, which he objected to rather loudly, and sat up in bed, spitting cat hair out of your mouth.

“Asshole,” you griped.

He stretched luxuriously, blinking at you with innocent eyes.

You got up and started about your morning, tidying your room a little, brewing coffee, getting Shade his breakfast, and eventually, sitting in front of the TV with a fresh cup of coffee. Paradise. Well, as close as you were going to get to that in your dingy little apartment with noisy neighbours and a shocking lack of natural light. Still, it was home.

Time marched on and soon it was almost lunchtime when you got a text from Undyne.

Be there soon, was all she said.

You hurried to get up and make sure you were ready to go. Today you would meet Alphys and hopefully make another friend. You really did not have many since you graduated school.

It wasn’t that you weren’t social, nor that you weren’t friendly, but you had trouble putting yourself out there. If they didn’t text you, then you usually didn’t text them—simple as that. As a result, though, you had fallen out of contact with many of your school friends. You didn’t blame them, knowing with a pinch of guilt that it was most likely your own fault, but it did make you lonely at times.

That was one reason you loved working at Grillby’s. It was a good opportunity for you to get out and socialise. Plus, you had started becoming actual friends with Jen, which made working with her all the more enjoyable. Not to mention, you probably would not have met Undyne and Papyrus if you hadn’t been out to explore the area around the bar that one day.

There was a sharp knock on the door, then a split-second passed, and a much more aggressive pounding started.

“HEY! PIPSQUEAK!”

You rushed over, opening the door to a grinning Undyne. She towered over you—it always surprised you just how big the monsters all were. There were a few species that were much smaller, some human-sized, others almost child-sized, but there were many that seemed as tall as trees. Okay, maybe not that large, but it definitely felt like they were giants.

Undyne, with her usual energy, stalked past you into the apartment, her one uncovered eye roving over every detail. For a moment, she looked quizzically at the large blue coat that Sans had left but she said nothing about it.

“Ready?”

“Yep!” You responded cheerfully.

A cab waited at the curb of the building, inside was a new monster, presumably Alphys. She looked shorter, somewhat like a lizard, or a dinosaur—you couldn’t really tell, and was absolutely engrossed in a manga that looked suspiciously like a shoujo. Undyne practically pranced into the cab, getting into the vehicle with an unexpected grace despite the fact that she had to hunch over to fit. You followed, closing the car door with a soft click.

The sun was out and the sky was clear. The weather always seemed to match the way you felt—or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, you couldn’t help but appreciate the nice weather, especially when it was still early spring.

“Kit, this is Alphys—my girlfriend.”

You smiled and waved, introducing yourself formally, before adding “but most people just call me Kit.”

Alphys gave a small smile and a little wave, before saying “N-nice to meet you.”

You didn’t know Undyne had a girlfriend—she had never mentioned it before! Although, to be honest, you hadn’t had many chats with her yet, so there was certainly a lot you didn’t know.

“What are you reading?”

Suddenly, Alphys was eager, rather than timid, as she gushed about the absolute cuteness overload of the manga she was reading. The rest of the cab ride was filled with a lengthy description of the characters and their troubles. You relaxed into the seat, your brief nerves about meeting a new friend absolutely gone.

 The restaurant was an unfamiliar one, still within Ebott, but not somewhere you had gone before. Undyne, helpfully, pointed out the park that you had visited not too long ago. It was nice, though you didn’t have the best sense of direction, so it did nothing to help orient yourself.

It looked like it was Italian themed, advertising some delicious looking pasta meals on the front windows. The inside was cosy, somewhat dimly lit, but inviting. Your hostess was a mild-mannered rabbit monster who led you to a table in the back where you could see Papyrus and someone else waiting.

The moment Papyrus saw you, he clambered up, bumping the table as he did. He paid no mind as he quickly ran up to scoop you into a hug.

“I AM SO GLAD YOU COULD COME! IT HAS BEEN SO LONG!”

You laughed, patting him awkwardly on the back while nodding in agreement, “thanks for inviting me.”

“OF COURSE! OH! HUMAN! I AM SO EXCITED. TODAY, YOU WILL MEET MY BROTHER!” And with that, he put you down, more gently than you expected, and turned to give the same treatment to Alphys, then to Undyne.

You smiled all the while, loving to see how genuinely happy he was to be with his friends.

The hostess had made herself scarce during the interaction and Papyrus was the one to lead you all to the table.

There, at the table, to your utmost surprise, was a very familiar face. He gave a casual wave, his lazy smile not moving an inch as you gaped at him.

“THIS IS MY LAZY BONES BROTHER, SANS.”

“she knows.”

“HE IS REALLY QUITE NICE ONCE YOU GET TO KNO—WHAT?” Papyrus looked shocked, then elated.

The group sat down, you ended up sitting beside Sans and Alphys, with Undyne and Papyrus at the other end of the round table.

“Uh, y-yeah! I have—we have met! I didn’t know you were brothers!” You said the last part with a pointed look at Sans, remembering just how vague he was when describing his brother and how intently he had looked at your phone when you got those messages.

“YES, WE ARE BROTHERS, GREAT BROTHERS, SOME OF THE GREATEST BROTHERS, IN FACT, HUMAN. WHEN SANS HEARD I WAS GOING TO GO MEET YOU, HE ASKED TO COME ALONG.”

This fact shocked you more than anything else, thus far. Sans was looking very intently at the menu, almost seeming to not hear his brother speak at all.

“Really?” was all that you could manage, surprise evident in your tone.

Undyne grinned toothily, “probably wanted to make sure you weren’t gonna be a bad influence on his little brother.”

You studied the two skeletons for a moment, taking in the differences in their frames, height, and general appearances. In your head, you smirked at the thought of Papyrus being called little in comparison to anyone, when he was a good head and shoulders taller than the already large Sans.

Outwardly you said, “Well, that’s just what good brothers do.”

The waiter came up to your table, a teenaged boy with dark hair and dark eyes, and asked if you needed anything, or if you were ready to order. You hadn’t even checked the menu yet, Alphys looked striken as she frantically scanned it herself, and you answered for the group.

“Just some waters for now, we need a couple of minutes, I think.”

“Cool,” he said and left.

“So,” you started, looking at the menu for yourself, “have you guys come here before? Any recommendations?”

“SPAGHETTI,” Papyrus supplied instantly. Undyne shrugged and Alphys shook her head.

“I-I try to get s-something different everyt-time, but I liked the ravioli.” She sounded so nervous, despite how confidently she had enlightened you to the twists and turns of her shoujo on the car ride here.

“I do like ravioli, but spaghetti also sounds good.”

Sans said nothing, he alternated between watching you and studying his own menu.

“I LIKE THE SPAGHETTI. IT IS THE ONLY DISH I GET.”

“Oh, I can’t decide,” you whined.

The waiter returned with waters, a pad of paper in his hand, “you ready?”

You nodded but asked to go last. Everyone ordered, Papyrus getting his favourite spaghetti, Undyne getting some shrimp dish, and Alphys getting something that you had never heard of before. Sans simply asked for a bottle of ketchup to be brought to the table, and then, it was your turn.

“I think I’ll get the ravioli…” you trailed off, noticing the little disappointed hunch in Papyrus’ shoulders, “actually—sorry, but I’ll also get spaghetti.”

At that, Papyrus straightened with a wide grin, “I BET YOU WILL LOVE IT, HUMAN.”

Sans, even, smiled a bit at that.

 Lunch was relatively uneventful—relatively, considering it was a lunch shared with two boisterous and loud monsters, a ketchup-loving fiend, and the shiest, nerdiest little lizard you had ever met. It was so much fun, though.

You were glad you got the spaghetti, since it seemed to mean so much to Papyrus, plus it ended up being delicious. Everyone seemed to be enjoying their food, although Undyne kept looking around with a slightly sour face.

“Ugh, I hate being stared at.”

“there is a high pasta-bility that they’re looking at me,” Sans said, raising his ketchup bottle in a mock cheer.

Papyrus groaned, “PLEASE, SANS, YOU WILL MAKE ME LOSE MY APPETITE.”

“Bone appétit,” you added with a grin.

“NO. NOT YOU TOO.” Papyrus looked positively betrayed.

Undyne barked out a laugh, and Alphys looked between you and Sans with a gleam in her eye.

Sans chuckled, “you know you love it, don’t be so saucy, paps.”

“NO!” He protested.

“Doughn’t lose your head,” you grinned.

“STOP!”

The two of you continued to pun for a little longer and eventually, even Papyrus was smiling, despite himself. Undyne even tried to add into the fun, while Alphys watched in amusement at the group’s antics.

 “H-how did you meet Sans, K-Kit?” Alphys asked as you were all finishing your meals.

“Oh, uh, I work at Grillby’s! He’s kind of a regular.”

“yep,” Sans supplied helpfully.

“Yeah, I’ve met a lot of good people while working there,” you continued with a bright smile.

Sans took a sip of his ketchup.

Alphys nodded, “t-that’s cool.” She looked as though she had something else to say, but instead turned to Undyne and whispered in her ear.

Undyne snickered, glancing at you, “hey, Kit, are you free tomorrow?”

“Uhm, yeah, I think so, why?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to have a girl’s day.”

Papyrus looked scandalised, “WHAT!? I WANT TO COME.”

The fish-monster rolled her eyes good naturedly, “Paps, I said a girl’s day.”

“I CAN BE ONE OF THE GIRLS,” he retorted, “WE COULD DO FACE MASKS. THEY DO WONDERS FOR MY COMPLEXION.” As he said this, he struck a dramatic pose, and Undyne whistled her encouragement.

Alphys nudged her and Undyne coughed, “Er, yeah, I know. How about we plan another day to do some facemasks and watch movies?”

“THAT WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED.”

“So,” she continued as though she had not been interrupted, “you down?”

“To what?”

“Girl’s day.”

“Oh—yeah! I mean, I’m down for both of those events, I mean, unless of course I was not being invited to the second, in which case that’s embarrassing and I’m sorry for inviting myself like that—” you cut yourself off, a little flustered at being so presumptive.

“W-what?” Alphys spoke up, “O-of course you are invited t-to both g-gatherings.”

You nodded sheepishly, “t-thanks. I would love to come.”

Sans watched all of this with a quiet curiosity, then turned to Papyrus, “don’t worry, you don’t have to be bonely tomorrow, you got me.”

“UGH.”

Soon, it was time to go, but you felt so reluctant to leave the company of your friends. Still, at least you had something to look forward to tomorrow.

Papyrus paid for the meal, giving you another hug before leaving, while Sans lingered for a moment. Alphys and Undyne had already stepped outside to call another cab for the three of you.

“paps really admires you.”

You blushed, feeling pleased, “really? Well, that means a lot, he’s a really cool guy.”

At that, Sans seemed to beam, before saying fondly, “yeah, he is a really cool guy.”

“I guess it runs in your family,” you said with a small smile.

“guess so,” he paused, as though contemplating something, “i didn’t know you knew paps.”

“I didn’t know you knew Papyrus.”

“how many skeletons do you think there are?”

“Is this the setup to a joke?”

“no.”

“I don’t know—I thought there was a chance you could be related, but it felt rude to assume that.”

“well, it isn’t a wrong assumption.”

“How many skeletons are there?”

“you’ve met them all.”

That gave you some pause. You knew about the many different species of monsters from the Underground and that there were some that were rarer than others—but two? Two!? You had somehow managed to meet the only two skeleton monsters?

“Really?”

“yeah,” he shrugged.

He started to walk away, but called over his shoulder, “watch yourself, kit. if you hurt my brother, you will have a bad time.” His tone never changed, but the white pupils in his eyes shrank infinitesimally.

You swallowed thickly, feeling a mixture of dismay and something close to hurt, before responding, “I would never want to hurt someone, but especially not him.”

He nodded, continued to walk, then stopped short of the door, “you should make more of that ketchup soon.”

And he was gone. Quickly, you gathered your things from the table and followed suit, finding Undyne and Alphys waiting outside for you. Sans and Papyrus were nowhere to be seen.