Chapter Text
Sans and Jasmine had been together for a month now. The human was still incredibly fearful of monsters, but Sans was slowly winning their trust. They no longer burst into tears at the sight of him, and even allowed him to carry them in a little backpack, but their speech was minimal and usually downhearted.
When it came to Papyrus, however, Jasmine was even worse than before.
After their initial disastrous meeting, there was no consoling them around the older brother. They would scream if he moved towards them, attempt to run away even if doing so would injure them from falling, and hide anywhere at all. This had caused some discomfort on Sans’ part when they once tried hiding inside his ribcage when Papyrus had walked into the room while Sans was changing clothes. It had taken two hours to get Jasmine calm enough to let go of his spine after that.
Today, Sans was going to take Jasmine for a check-up with Dr. Undyne in Hotland. “Make sure to put on light clothes. Hotland is very warm! Queen Toriel might be a bit literal with names, but I, for one, appreciate the warning!” He loved seeing what Jasmine would pick to wear each day. Today they picked out a little white shirt with a mustache on it and a pair of camouflage shorts. “You look very cute, Jasmine!” Their rare smile lit up his soul with joy, and he giggled softly.
He put Jasmine in their backpack with their blanket and Ferdinand (the froggit plush from the entertainment area; Jasmine had named him instantly), then went into his closet to put on his battle body.
There was a slight pop, and Sans turned around just as Papyrus picked up the backpack and said, “I’ll take them to the doc. Bye.” He didn’t even have time to protest before his brother and his tiny friend were gone.
“okay, human. Let’s talk about this.” Papyrus said as he walked through Waterfall. He’d teleported to his station there to get a good enough distance away from Sans. He needed some one-on-one time with the human.
They trembled and squeaked as they began crying, but Papyrus just continued to hold their little hiding bag up to his face. “Stop that. I’m not going to hurt you, at least not right now.”
This didn’t stop the crying, but they nodded at him. Okay, good enough. “You’ve basically turned my brother against me, you scream every time I come close, and it’s kinda messing with my outlook on life. I don’t like change, and you’re about as big a change as it gets.”
Jasmine nods frantically, just agreeing and trying not to anger their captor.
“ugh, you’re so spineless too,” Papyrus sighed and let the bag hang from his hand now, “what was I even thinking?” He was discouraged, honestly, that he hadn’t been able to convince Sans to give the human up, and that now he couldn’t even get the human to lash out in order to confirm his bias.
Yeah he realized it was a bias.
“So I am actually taking you to Undyne,” he spoke, not bothering to be gentle as he walked with the bag loose in one hand. “She’ll make double sure you’re not sick or anything. Then I’ll have her put a tracker chip in so you don’t get away. Or maybe I’ll just have her keep you for experiments forever and tell Sans you had to be put down.”
He wouldn’t do the latter, but he wanted this little beast to behave. Ugh…he really didn’t like humans.
After a while, he realized the human hadn’t made noise for too long, so he stopped at the stargazing room and looked inside the bag.
Jasmine was clinging to their toy Froggit and looking up at him. Okay, so it was alive.
He was about to close the bag when they called, “I’m sorry.”
“What…?” The human had never said real words to him before. Papyrus was sort of shocked to hear it, having thought that being so small had robbed them of their voices…and intellect, to be truthful.
“I’m sorry…I…” Jasmine wiped their cheeks hastily so they could keep clinging to the toy. “I d-didn’t…w-w-want to make trouble. I just…” they choked on their tears for a moment.
That desperate look sent icy needles into Papyrus’ soul. Oh stars, he’d been acting a fool. Jasmine was AWARE this whole time and he’d been treating them like a common rodent. Like a pest.
“I just want to be safe,” they squeaked finally, eyes pleading with him, “you c-can eat me if you don’t…don’t believe me but…I don’t want to hurt anybody.”
He had to swallow thickly to keep from showing too much emotion. This was a real person. That….that meant that….oh STARS how blind had he been? Had they ALL been?
He wondered with growing nausea just how many lives had been snuffed for his own sick enjoyment.
“I believe you. S-sorry…oh stars, I’m sorry. C’mon, let’s get to Undyne’s. You’ve got to be well for Sans,” Papyrus was glad his words did something to calm Jasmine down. He had so much to make up for now….now that he knew.
Undyne let him in and babbled, her vibrant red hair bobbing in its tight bun, “Oh Papyrus! I’m s-so glad you’re here! When I heard your brother had, had a human I was beside myself! Never seen one alive before. Only know their anatomy from b-b-books and stuff. And from my comics, of course.” She laughed shyly at that.
“Dyne, buddy, I…ah….we kinda had a change of plans,” he puts on his easiest smile, trying to hide the painful squeezing with each pulse of his soul. “I kinda took them without permission, so Sans will be needing them back today rather than next week.”
“You….” Her yellow eyes blinked a few times, then became stern. “Papyrus, did y-you lie about him letting me experiment with her?”
“I….” he sighed and nodded, “Yeah. Y’know how I feel about humans and….well….”
“Papyrus!” The fins on the sides of her head flushed darker blue and red with fury, “He’s your brother! How could you try to steal his pet and pass it off on me? And why change your mind now?”
He winced and held up his hands defensively in front of himself, “Undyne, I was wrong. You’re right; it was cruel and stupid. And as for changing my mind…it was more like a change of heart.” Carefully, Papyrus opened the backpack and showed his best friend the contents, “This is Jasmine. They’re….well…I finally realized they’re aware of things. Sentient.”
The fish woman before him gasped as she looked at Jasmine, then cooed, “Oh Papyrus…”
Jasmine squealed and covered themselves with the tiny blanket, still lying on their comforting frog.
“Dyne, please….I already terrified them once today. Maybe put your mask on? I think…” Papyrus sighed deeply as he set the bag gently on the table, “I think they’re convinced we’re all out to eat them all the time. Partially my fault.”
The shy scientist nodded and took out a surgical mask to hide her piranha-like teeth, “Of course. And…you’re sure they’re sentient? Like I said, I’ve never seen one alive before but…it’s a disturbing discovery if it’s true.”
“True enough, friendo,” he gently pulled Jasmine out, “hey, hey, it’s okay, little thing. I’m bad, I know, but Undyne won’t hurt you. Sans wouldn’t have let her check you out if she was going to.”
It seemed to work, talking about Sans, because Jasmine uncurled from their defensive position, though kept their grip on the blanket. Undyne smiled under the white mask, expression gentle as her voice, “Don’t w-worry, Jasmine. I’m just going t-to make sure you don’t have any injuries. If anything I do feels uncomfortable, just tell me.”
Papyrus stood back and watched as Undyne very carefully checked each of Jasmine’s limbs, the usual prickling of magic on his skull. He always felt it when medical exams were involved, either his own or someone else’s. It was an odd feeling, but not unpleasant. The tiny body twitched and Jasmine giggled when Undyne ran her finger over the sole of their foot, checking the alignment of the minuscule bones. It was the happiest sound he’d heard from them.
“oh!” Undyne chuckled softly, “ticklish. Sorry about that.”
“n-no problem…” Jasmine murmured, surprising the scientist.
Looking to Papyrus and nodding, Undyne asked, “S-so, are you hurting anywhere, Jasmine? Any i-itching or…um….”
Jasmine shook their head. They were fine.
Papyrus asks very softly, “hey, um, is there anything Sans might not have heard about, regarding keeping them healthy?”
“We’ll deal with that when it occurs, Papyrus. For now, th-though, Jasmine is perfectly healthy.” So saying, Undyne adjusted her goggles and said kindly to Jasmine, “y-you can go back to your bag, s-sweetie.”
Nodding, the human scuttled back inside, snuggling back up to their toy and sighing as they were enveloped in the soft darkness of the backpack. Papyrus picked it up gently once they were settled and actually put it on, though backwards so he could have it in front of him.
“Thanks, Undyne. I owe you one.”
“You owe me several,” she sighed and shook her head, “but I-I’ll overlook this for Sans’ sake. J-just make sure you apologize to him!”
“I will, fishsticks, don’t worry,” Papyrus chuckled and waved as he left, teleporting away.