Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A fake bridge connected Snowdin to the rest of the woods, and the rock was sturdy underneath Papyrus' feet as he walked across it. The paint that covered it had become worn, and he'd probably have to redo it pretty soon.

Briefly, he looked over the edge. A wide expanse of forest lay beneath the rock, the height dizzying.

I could fall over the edge, and nobody would even find my dust.

I wonder what it feels like to hit the ground after falling from this height.

I'm going to fall over the edge.

Papyrus pushed the worrying thoughts out of his head.

Realizing that he'd stopped in his trek momentarily, the skeleton continued making his way over the bridge. He hated those thoughts - with the often-ness that they came, he figured he shouldn't really be bothered by them anymore.

They still worried him though. He shouldn't be thinking those sorts of things.

The bridge ended, snow crunching under his boots as he reached the cliff side. Outwardly, nothing about him changed, but he internally screamed with relief. He hated going over that bridge these days.

At least painting it wasn't as bad as he'd originally thought it would be. Having something to do kept the worry out.

Tall trees loomed above him, and the stars on the ceiling shined brightly, although not as visible during the artificial "day time."

One of these trees could fall over and crush me.

A rock from the ceiling could fall and hit me on the head.

Once again, Papyrus sweeped the thoughts away and pondered on other things.

Sans was already at his sentry station. The short skeleton disliked walking from Snowdin to his post, preferring to take a shortcut there.

Papyrus rather enjoyed walking around in the morning and checking on his puzzles.

Well, besides his mind repeatedly pointing out every way he could get injured or killed along his route.

Making quick work of the walk with his long strides, he hopped over the gaps and spikes along the way, stopping to recalibrate his puzzles as he went along.

Even at his fast pace, it took him a while to reach his post.

His brother's post was only a quick jog away from his own, and Papyrus briskly walked over check the older skeleton.

Sure enough, Sans was dozing off already. With a sigh, Papyrus shook his brother into alertness, reminding him that they had to keep an eye out.

Sans would probably just doze off in a few more minutes, while Papyrus was waiting at his post, but it was nice to hope that wasn't the case.

Sitting around at his sentry station was probably the worst part of his job. He loved the walking around, checking up on everyone, and the making of puzzles, but keeping watch wasn't exactly the most fun thing.

Papyrus' hands itched for something to do.

He drew patterns on the cardboard lightly with his finger, he paced around the station, he even tried laying back like Sans did when he was relaxing.
The boredom was insatiable. The skeleton stood back up and checked on Sans, who had fallen asleep once again.

He's doing it just to annoy me.

Papyrus shook his head. Sans needed his sleep, that was all! Maybe a little too much sleep, though - he could also do with a bit of exercise.

He woke his brother up again, then started doing his rounds, checking on every puzzle and saying 'hi' to the Royal Guardsmen as he went along. Papyrus turned back just before he reached the bridge to Snowdin, re-checking everything just to be sure.

Half his shift had gone by already!

His thoughts turned back to his brother, sitting at his check-point and napping. It wouldn't be the first time - the younger skeleton often worried about his lazier sibling.

An image of Sans laying in the snow, bloodied and turning to dust, popped up in his mind as he walked.

Killed because I wasn't there to protect him.

Papyrus blinked the image away, his face never changing.

That would never happen. Sans was better prepared than that, and smarter too. Handling an intruder, or at least getting away, probably would be no problem.

Still, it plagued the back of his mind until he checked his brother again. He sighed in relief at the sight of a sleeping skeleton. Deciding not to wake Sans for a third time, Papyrus resumed sitting at his cardboard station.

He did genuinely like working, but the sitting around made him eager to do anything else.

Maybe he could just stop staying at the station? It wasn't as if anything bad ever really happened anyways. He enjoyed having a job, especially one that Undyne had graciously given him - though, to be honest, he was beginning to think she wouldn't ever give him a job as a Royal Guard.

Undyne doesn't like me.

She just deals with me.

Why would anyone like me?

With a disheartened sigh, he stood and re-checked some of the closer puzzles. One had frozen, and he began to fix it with his tools.

Of course Undyne liked him. Why else would she spend so much time sparring with him?

As soon as he finished, he checked the time on his phone. It was just past time for his shift to end, and he smiled, packing up his things and letting his brother know he was going home.

Sans gave him a sleepy grin and nodded. "a'ight. don't wait up for me, bro."

Papyrus rolled his eyes and left for their house. If his brother wanted to go home, he'd just take a shortcut. Not that he would. Sans had multiple jobs, most of them selling hotdogs illegally. Papyrus couldn't figure out why he did it, but he wouldn't complain. As long as his brother was out doing something, it pleased the younger skeleton. Before, he'd worried that he was the only thing really keeping Sans going. Now, at least, the short monster had something besides him.

All the worrying thoughts were distracting him, and his fingers were digging into his arms painfully, bringing him back to the real world.

I should really buy some gloves, Papyrus thought absent-mindedly. At least that might fix the habit.

The skeleton was home before he realized it.

He brought some food out of the cabinets, making some mediocre soup on a few minutes. It was no dinosaur egg oatmeal, but it would do right now.

Mettaton's show was on. He'd only been on for a month or so, but the robotic entertainer was already a huge hit. Papyrus certainly enjoyed his TV series.

The skeleton monster busied himself for the rest of the day as best as he could. The thoughts rarely bothered him for the rest of the day.

He had dinner with Sans, then they both went to bed.

Papyrus struggled to fall asleep. His thoughts always plagued him worst at night.

I can't trust him.

Choking, breaking, hurting.

All he does is hurt everyone.

Papyrus sighed at the absurdity of it all. He'd say they weren't his thoughts, but they felt like his, and somehow they also felt foreign. It was uncomfortable - these weren't like his usual thoughts. He pushed away the feeling as best as he could.

Something bad is going to happen, his mind whispered.

Papyrus resolutely shut his eyes, willing himself to sleep. After a few minutes, it worked, and he slipped into an uneasy slumber.

 The flower trembled as it awoke, breathing shakily even though it had no need to.

It's petals gleamed golden like the ones around it, and the face looked close to tears. Shock was obvious on it's features.

There was no denying the wrongness of the creature. It wasn't as if you could put your finger on it, but there was something off about a flower with a face. Or maybe it was seeing an inanimate object coming to life. There were plenty of monsters made of usually non-living things, but it was strikingly obvious that this wasn't what it was.

The flower looked around the garden hurriedly, as if searching desperately for someone.

"M-mom! Dad! Somebody help me!"

Chapter Text

Papyrus awoke in his bed, his bones popping lightly as he moved them. Checking the calendar on his phone, he confirmed the date.

For some reason, it felt wrong, though he wasn't sure why.

The monster stood, heading towards his closet and looking through it. He carefully picked out a sweater and skirt to wear that day. Not being able to feel much of the cold had its’ perks - like wearing whatever he wanted, even in Snowdin.

Down and making breakfast after he’d gotten ready, Papyrus called for Sans to wake up.  Two bowls of oatmeal were sat on the table, and Papyrus climbed up the stairs and forcefully woke his brother up.  The skeletons were in relative calm. Sans left the house when he was done, taking a shortcut to his station, and likely falling asleep.

Papyrus cleaned for both of them, putting away everything and washing the dishes in the sink. His shift would start soon, so he had to hurry out the door before he was late.

Not that anyone would really notice. His sentry work wasn't exactly formal.  Still, he took it very seriously, and that meant getting there on time.  Walking out the door, he looked over the town, and a bad feeling washed over him, almost like the one last night. Something was telling him that bad events were about to unfold.

Papyrus awoke in his bed, his bones popping lightly as he moved them. Checking the calendar on his phone, he confirmed the date.  Except… no, something about this felt wrong. It was bothering him immensely.

Even so, he got ready for the day, making him and his brother a bowl of oatmeal each. His brother came down upon being roused, sitting down at the table and eating.

There was silence as Papyrus considered what to say. He took too long, though, and Sans left for his sentry station, leaving his brother to clean up.

That didn't bother Papyrus - he genuinely liked cleaning - but this weird feeling definitely was. It took him longer than usual to clean up the dishes.

Papyrus awoke in his bed, his bones popping lightly as he moved them.

This was wrong. He didn’t know how, but this was very wrong. Was it something he ate last night?

What did I eat last night?

For a moment, he couldn’t remember, and it scared him more than it should’ve.

I should know these things, shouldn’t I?

He had- they’d both eaten mashed potatoes and salad. Yeah, and Sans had picked at his salad the whole time complaining about vegetables like a child, just to be annoying. Papyrus had huffed and took his plate away in frustration.

Taking a few deep breaths, Papyrus got out of bed and got ready for the day, making him and his brother some breakfast.

His brother quietly sat down at the table and started eating just after Papyrus brought their food to the table.

Papyrus opened his mouth to ask Sans about the feeling, but stopped. It wasn’t important.

Papyrus awoke in his bed-

Wait, this was weird. Papyrus could have sworn he’d just woken up. Or was that a dream?

Regardless, he got ready for the day, the nagging feeling only getting stronger as he went about making breakfast.

When his brother sat down to eat, the taller monster stopped him.

“Sans, does something feel… weird about today?”

Sans shrugged nonchalantly. “no idea what ya mean.”

“It’s like…” Papyrus crossed his arms and searched for the right description. “I’ve done this before.”

“yeah, pap. you do the same routine every morning.”

“Never mind!”

Papyrus huffed and started on his breakfast, dropping the subject. His brother was probably right - nothing weird ever happened in Snowdin.

As soon as he awoke, Papyrus knew something was amiss. He could have sworn he was already awake, and yet here he was in bed.

Weird things were surely going on. He didn't know what it was yet, but he knew this wasn't right in the slightest.

Papyrus got up and dressed quickly. Afterwards, he immediately made his way to his brother’s room, hesitating just before he opened the door.

For some reason, Papyrus felt like he shouldn't talk to his brother about this. He wasn't sure why that was. Trusting the feeling almost automatically, he made his way downstairs and continued his routine. It probably wasn't anything to worry about, anyways.

The day went on as it usually did, with Sans leaving shortly after he’d finished eating. Papyrus cleaned their dishes and began heading towards his own station, snow crunching beneath his boots as he walked.

The thoughts had been pretty quiet this morning. They started up again after he left Snowdin, nagging him about everything under the sun.

Sometimes, he wondered why he was like this.

Without really noticing, he walked all the way to the Ruins’ door.

That’s what I get for being stuck in my own head.

With a sigh, he turned and began heading back to his station, but a flash of yellow against the snow stopped him.

A flower.

Even that was out of the ordinary in the snowy town, but that wasn't what caught his attention.

The flower was moving, and it had a face.

Papyrus carefully walked towards it. He was good at reading monsters - if that’s what this was. The flower seemed… panicked. Maybe even scared.

“Hello?” Papyrus began, kneeling down.

Spinning towards him in surprise, the flower’s eyes went wide.

“I’m Papyrus. What’s your name?”

“I’m…” The flower looked as if it were thinking hard about something. “Flowey. Flowey the flower.”

Smiling brightly, Papyrus held out his hand to shake, before realizing that he was talking to a likely limbless plant. He put his hand back down.

“It’s nice to meet you, Flowey. What’s a small flower like you doing out in the cold? That can't be good for plants!”

Flowey looked confused for a moment.

“What- oh, right. Well, I actually wasn't planning on ending up here.”

“Where is your home? I can help you get back!”

Hesitating, the flower seemed conflicted on the answer.

“I don't have a home anymore. I ran away.”

“Wait, how old are you?”

“Nine,” was the immediate answer.

So the flower was just a kid.

What if he’s lying?

Brushing off the thought, Papyrus frowned, feeling sympathetic for the plant. He, too, had wanted to run away sometimes as a kid, though he’d never done it. It was just childish fantasies of living by himself.

This situation was probably more dire.

“Why did you run away?”

The question was important. If his parents had been hurting him, Papyrus couldn't just take Flowey back.

“It’s difficult to explain. I can't go back, so don't make me.”

Shaking his head, Papyrus stood. “At least come home with me. I can't have you sitting out in the cold all by yourself.”

Flowey agreed, although when they got to the house, they ran into a problem.

“How am I supposed to get inside? There’s no ground,” Flowey said.

Indeed, their floors were made of hardwood. No way any flower was getting through that.

Papyrus disappeared inside his shed, grabbing a bucket and a shovel. He put dirt inside the bucket, then showed it to Flowey.

“This way, you can come inside with me!”

Papyrus carefully shoveled the flower child into the pot, covering his roots with a layer of dirt. Carrying the heavy pot inside, he set it down on one of the windowsills.

“There! Do you, uh… Eat? Or drink? You’re a flower, you probably need water, right?”

The child nodded unsurely. Did he not know what sorts of things he needed?

“Well, water it is.”

After being taken care of as best as the older monster could manage with what little knowledge he was given, Flowey claimed that he would be fine on his own, and that Papyrus could return to his job for at least a little while.  Papyrus did need the money - he had bills to pay, after all - but that wasn’t why he was relieved to go, despite his worry.

As soon as he was out of view of his house, the skeleton pulled out his phone and clicked on one of his three favorited contacts. It was the only thing he could think to do.

“Undyne? I- I have something important to ask you,” Papyrus said. He hoped his nervousness wasn’t obvious.

“What is it, punk?”

“Well… what do you do if you’ve found a child who’s run away from home and won’t tell you where they live or why they ran away?”

Chapter Text

“WHAT?”

Undyne’s voice in the receiver was almost ear-piercing. Papyrus had to hold the phone away from his face for a moment until she calmed down.

“Papyrus,” she said. “Start from the beginning.”

The skeleton quickly explained the situation to her. She was unnaturally quiet, considering how she usually acted around him.

“How are they? Is the kid alone right now?”

“He is sufficiently cared for and… contained in my house right now. He shouldn’t be getting into any more trouble.”

“Good. Come over, right now.”

Sitting on Undyne’s couch with a cup of tea in his hands was awkward for Papyrus. Even worse, however, was the intense stare his host was giving him. He tried not to take it personally - this was a very serious situation, after all.

“So, you just found him in the woods, all alone?” Undyne asked.

“Yes.”

“And he wouldn’t tell you anything?” 

“I wasn’t exactly going to force him,” Papyrus protested, earning him a glare.

“So no?”

Papyrus nodded, tapping his fingers against the mug.

Undyne leaned back on the couch, rubbing her hands against her face and sighing unhappily.

“I’ve never had to deal with something like this before.”

His friend’s admittance surprised him. She’d been the captain for a few years now. Then again, it wasn’t like this stuff happened every day.

“How’s this: I’m going to sort all of this out - do a full investigation on this. Are you alright to take care of the kid while that happens? It might take a few days.”

“We’ll be fine. I’m responsible,” Papyrus said surely.

Undyne took her mug over to the sink, her face thoughtful as she cleaned it out. When she sat back down, it seemed as though she’d made a decision.

“Alright, Pap. You get paid time off while you’re taking care of this kid.”

“Undyne-”

“I’m not budging on this. Now go home, sentry. Make sure the house didn’t explode.”

The house had not exploded while Papyrus was away, as he found out upon returning. In fact, Flowey had not moved from his spot on the windowsill. Not that the skeleton had expected something different - how could a flower move inside a pot?

Papyrus went about cleaning the whole house, then cleaning it again. He couldn’t imagine days of not having anything productive to do. It would be worth it, though. This child needed help, and Papyrus would do anything in his power to make it happen.

Sans came home shortly after he’d finished his cleaning. Flowey jolted in surprise as the short skeleton entered, not realizing someone else lived within the home. Without realizing the new addition to their household, he walked up the stairs in a daze and entered his room.

Papyrus exited the kitchen, following his brother to the second floor.

“Sans!”

Of course, the short monster was already almost asleep. At the intrusion, he carefully sat up, giving his brother his full attention.

“you okay?”

“Of course I am! Why do you ask?”

“you look like you’ve worried yourself down to the bone ,” Sans said.

Ignoring the pun, Papyrus went right ahead with what he had intended to say when Sans had gotten home.

“We have a guest.”

Rubbing at his eyes and propping himself against the wall, the older of the two replied, “did undyne burn down her house or somethin’?”

She does seem like the type to do that.

“No. I think maybe you should come down and meet him.”

Sans raised an eyebrow at this, but willingly followed Papyrus down the steps. Turning around, the flower watched the brothers approach.

“This is Flowey. Flowey, meet my brother Sans!”

“heya,” Sans said.

“Howdy,” Flowey replied. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Sans looked at his brother, then back to their guest. “so, why exactly are you staying with us?”

“He just needs somewhere to be for a little while,” Papyrus quickly supplied. No further explanation was given at the moment.

“well... feel at home, i suppose,” Sans said, then proceeded to go back to bed.

The other skeleton sighed in annoyance. “Sorry, that’s just how my brother is. Don’t take it personally.”

“I don’t think he’s so bad.”

Papyrus scoffed. “You’re just lucky he’s too tired to make many puns.”

At this, Flowey giggled. “Puns? Really?”

“I know. He has awful taste in… everything.”

Running, running, he had to get there quickly.

His friend had warned him.

He had to make it.

Warm air, so familiar, he hated it.

Vines wrapping around him, holding him up in the air.

Slowly forgetting everything.

Why was he here?

He should be looking for humans, he would find one.

“Then everyone will…"

Papyrus’ breathing was heavy as he snapped awake in bed, his covers bunched up at the end of it. Tears filled his eyes, but he willed them away and sat up.

It was just a dream.

He was sitting at home - nothing here could hurt him.

“Are you okay?”

The skeleton jumped at the voice, relaxing upon seeing Flowey worriedly staring at him from the windowsill. Right. Undyne had told him to keep an eye on the child while she figured everything out.

“Yes, I am fine. Sorry if I woke you up.”

Papyrus checked the time on his phone. It was 4 o’clock.

A good a time as any to start the day, he supposed. Not like he was getting to sleep again any time soon with that dream still in his head.

He took some clothes to the bathroom and quickly got dressed, putting a scarf on as well. Flowey called for him just before he opened the door.
“You’re planning on staying up? At this hour?”

“Yes. It’s better to be productive than just lay around.”

After a few moments, Flowey responded, “At least take me down with you if you’re going.”

The two slowly made their way downstairs, Papyrus carefully holding the bucket in both hands as to not drop it. His friend was sat on a cabinet as the skeleton went about making himself breakfast. Flowey watched silently, studying Papyrus’ moves. When he was done making it, Papyrus moved them both to the living room, setting the flower on the windowsill. He then sat down and dug into his food, though he wasn’t that hungry.

“What are you going to do today?” Flowey asked from the window.

The tall monster finished his bite of food before answering. “I have the day off. Probably some shopping, surely laundry, and cleaning.”

“But you just cleaned, didn’t you?”

“I… enjoy cleaning.”

Flowey raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t push the issue further.

“But for now, I’ll just watch something on the TV. It’s too early to wake Sans.”

The food was finished, and dishes cleaned, then Papyrus brought Flowey over to the couch. He started up the TV.

“Have you seen Mettaton’s show?”

The answer was ‘no.’ The skeleton was glad he would be the one introducing him to it.

Sadly, as they watched the entertainment robot, Flowey seemed disinterested at best. Still, he didn’t ask Papyrus to turn it off, out of what seemed to be politeness.

Three hours passed with them watching all the reruns, but Flowey seemed to get bored of it after a while.

Deciding it was late enough to really start the day, Papyrus took the laundry out of the drier, switched in the wet clothes, then brought the basket of warm fabric down to fold. Flowey enjoyed watching Papyrus more than he enjoyed the show, as far as the skeleton could tell.

After the laundry was folded, more cleaning was done. Everything in their house was kept immaculate, except his brother’s things. That was Sans’ problem - he was an adult, he could lie in his own filth if that pleased him.

Not that Papyrus let him lie around that often.

Flowey didn't ask why he did it - just let him work and work, then get a snack, then work some more.

Finally, he ran out of things to do in the house, which meant shopping.

He knew the town’s shop would be open. Papyrus got ready to go, saying goodbye to Flowey and exiting his house. Then his cellphone rang.

“Have you talked to Alphys?” Undyne asked over the phone, sleepiness clinging to her voice.

“Not recently. Why?”

“She’s acting weird. I wanted to know if you’d noticed anything.”

“Acting weird?”

“Yeah. She’s more nervous than usual, and she barely wants to talk to me.”

“Did she say something was wrong?”

“That’s the thing, she won't tell me. I want to help, but I don't know what the problem is!” Undyne sighed. “Look, she might tell you, so just message her when you get the chance, 'kay?”

“I’ll make sure to!”

“Bye, Pap.”

“Goodbye, Undyne!”

The phone was put back in his pocket as he continued towards the store, grabbing what food the shopkeeper had, then turning back and organising it all in his pantry.

It was almost eight… would that be a reasonable time to message someone? Regardless of the correct answer, Papyrus sent Alphys a greeting over their Undernet chat. Almost immediately after, a response was given.

Alphys: hey. ur up early >.>

CoolSkeleton95: YEAH. I’M A MORNING PERSON.

Alphys: lol sounds like the opposite of me

Alphys: nice to talk to u again tho :) been a while

CoolSkeleton95: THE FEELING IS MUTUAL.

Alphys: not feelin super great rn

Alphys: so sorry if im not v social

CoolSkeleton95: IT IS ALRIGHT! WHAT IS BOTHERING YOU?

CoolSkeleton95: IF IT IS OKAY TO ASK.

Alphys: ya its fine ._.  

Alphys: just royal scientist stuff

Alphys: not very intertesting

Alphys: *interesting whoops

With that, they talked for a little while longer before Papyrus signed off. Alphys was probably just stressed with work - it happened to her a lot, since she had such an important job. That just meant that Papyrus would have to be extra supportive!

The skeleton made breakfast for his brother and woke him up. He talked with Sans until the short skeleton had to get to his job.

Afterwards, Papyrus and Flowey played cards. It was fun, but Papyrus still itched to do something more.

“Have you been around Snowdin much?” Papyrus asked.

“”Not really. I… lived in the ruins," Flowey said.

That sounded like a lie. Papyrus pretended not to notice.

“Really? I should show you around then!”

The flower agreed, getting out of his pot once they were outside and following his friend.

Snowdin was beautiful, in his opinion. It was small, but that suited Papyrus perfectly. He had gotten tired of always living in crowded areas before they’d moved.

He immediately pushed the thought out of his head. The skeleton hated to think about… that place , and that’s all he would do if he let his memories stir up.

The walk from his house to the beginning of Waterfall was quick. Papyrus explained where the path led and mentioned his good friend lived there, then turned around and walked to the other end, talking about each building as they passed it. When they made it to the bridge, Papyrus stopped to admire his handiwork. Really, he should get to repainting it after this was all over.

Flowey looked deep in thought when the skeleton turned his attention back to his friend.

“Are you alright?”

Hesitating in his answer, Flowey glanced away.

“I- I’m not… it’s nothing.”

Papyrus led them back to the house, checking his phone quickly.

“This day is dragging on,” Papyrus sighed to himself. He looked down at Flowey. “Is there anywhere else you’d like to go?”

“Where else is there?”

“Well,” he began, listing them in his head before he spoke. “There’s the ruins, but we can't get there because of the door. Waterfall is just after that, and then… Hotland…” he paused momentarily at the mere mention of it. “Then new home and the barrier.”

Flowey thought this over. “Do you not like Hotland?”

“Ah, no! I just, wouldn't want to live there, ever.”

The flower stared at him skeptically, but not in an unkind way. “Why’s that?”

“Um…”

A child wouldn't understand.

Papyrus shut his thoughts up. He’d been a child then, and he’d understood. The skeleton sat down on his front steps, preparing himself.

“I lived there, a long time ago. I have some bad memories of the place.”

“What happened?”

Papyrus fiddled with his shirt nervously. “Sans and I were on our own for as long as I can remember. We had to do some bad things in order to make it through each day... I’d rather not talk about it.”

Flowey stared at him for a long time before disappearing into the ground, then popping back up a few feet to his left, a fake smile plastered on his face. “Come on, let’s go check out Waterfall.”

Chapter Text

Papyrus carefully cleaned the dishes after dinner, checking each item to make sure it had been properly scrubbed. He was quite meticulous about his work, and enjoyed the repetition of it.

Flowey watched him silently, obviously thinking of something very deeply. The skeleton tried not to startle him out of it, quietly working through everything in the sink.

When he was done, his friend spoke up. “Yesterday you said you did bad things in Hotland. Can you tell me what you did?”

Papyrus clenched his fists and ground his teeth together. He despised even thinking about… that .

“Only if you tell me why you ran away.”

Was it fair to bargain something like that? Papyrus wasn’t sure. Flowey seemed to think it was fair, and began to prepare himself for the impending conversation.

“Do you ever wonder what it would be like if you didn’t have a soul?”

This startled Papyrus out of his ruminating. This was connected - there was no doubt about it - but how ?

“Monsters can’t live without souls.”

“I know. They’re made up of goodness, and love, and magic - all the stuff that makes up a monster. But have you ever wondered what it would be like?”

Papyrus shook his head, confused. Where could this be going?

Flowey looked down at the dirt in his bucket. “Never mind. It’s not important.”

His friend waited a long, tense moment before picking the bucket up and taking them both to his room. The silence surrounding them was stifling.

Papyrus got ready for bed, though he likely wouldn’t actually be sleeping for a little while, and started where he left off in Advanced Puzzle Construction for Critical Minds , flipping through each page eagerly as he read. Even as he did, though, he still thought about what Flowey had said.

A monster without a soul.

He wondered if that were even possible, and why it had something to do with Flowey running away from home. He didn’t have all the puzzle pieces yet - there had to be something missing.

Checking his phone after making it a good bit farther into the book, he decided it was about time to go to bed, he turned off the lights and told Flowey ‘goodnight’ sleepily. The flower replied similarly.

It was so cold, colder than he’d ever felt. His bones were growing numb, and ice stuck in-between his joints.

Snow was up to his knees, and filled up his boots. They were abandoned soon after - they’d only slow him down. His feet grew even colder, if that were possible.

Papyrus found himself really wishing he’d bought some gloves before this, and wasn’t that such a trivial thing to think about when he was dying?

He was dying. The realization hit him calmly. For some reason, it didn’t faze him at all. He had to keep going, he just had to.

There was someone he had to find.

This time, Papyrus awoke calmly from his dream. It didn’t make any sense - why had he been so calm about dying? That probably didn’t matter, though. Strange things did happen in dreams, after all.

It was 7 o’clock. Flowey was staring out the window at something, seemingly not knowing Papyrus had woken.

“Morning!” Papyrus greeted, sitting up and stretching his tired bones. Flowey jumped, whirling around to look at him.

“Goodmorning,” Flowey said, looking out the window again.

The skeleton got out of bed, moving to stand next to Flowey. “What are you looking at?”

Flowey paused for a moment before looking back at Papyrus. “It looks like it’s going to snow soon.”

Suddenly, Papyrus felt very ill.

He’d been in a blizzard during the dream, he remembered now. That’s why it had been so cold.

I’m going to die.

The tall monster did his best to get past the thought, but it stuck there resolutely, no matter how much he tried to tell himself that it was just a dream. Flowey stared at him worriedly.

“Is something wrong?”

“I- I’m fine.”

Flowey frowned in annoyance. “You’re lying.”

“What?”

“I said you’re lying . What’s wrong?”

Papyrus tried to come up with something on the spot - after all, he was a very good liar - but he knew it wouldn’t work. Maybe Flowey was as good at reading him as he was at reading other people.

The thought scared him.

“I had a bad dream.”

Immediately, Flowey became sympathetic. “I know what you mean.”

Papyrus shook his head wildly, thinking about the last few dreams he’d had. “They were different than dreams, though. They felt real .”

The flower didn’t have a response to this. Papyrus quickly left, grabbing his clothes and changing in the bathroom. He felt embarrassed - this was what he got for telling the truth.

When he got out, both remained silent. The skeleton took the child off the windowsill, carrying him downstairs and putting him on the floor next to the couch and sitting beside him.

The cards they’d played with were still on the table. Papyrus reshuffled them and handed Flowey a few before starting a new game.

Even as they played, his friend looked as conflicted as Papyrus felt. Eventually, they stopped, growing tired of the game. The two busied themselves doing other things, but Flowey couldn’t get what Papyrus said out of his head.

Undyne was right - Alphys had gotten a lot quieter recently, and wasn’t online as much. Papyrus tried to coax a reason out of her, until the promise of a new anime from the dump finally got to her. It was nice of her to offer to come all the way to Snowdin, considering how much he hated being in Hotland. Even being near it got him nervous. She agreed to come next week, and Papyrus was contented with the news that at least he’d be there for Alphys.

After the phone call was done, Papyrus started making sandwiches for lunch. Cooking, much like cleaning, was something he found to be soothing, although he could only make simple things for now, so they mostly stuck to oatmeal and sandwiches.

As he got out the ingredients, a headache startled him from the happy routine. That itself was strange - he rarely got headaches - but what followed was worse.

Papyrus’ vision blacked out for a few long seconds, and he felt vines wrapping tightly around him. His eyes opened on their own accord, and a voice came out of him that wasn’t his.

“A-Asri-”

“I’m not him!”

A yellow flower popped into view - Flowey, most definitely, and he looked furious. “It’s Flowey now. Never… that name.”

The vines pushed Papyrus harshly into a wall, making his head spin wildly at the impact. He had to be bleeding; that’s what it felt like. Panic seized him as he thought this.

“I’m s-sorry, As- Flowey, I’m s-so sorry!”

Flowey popped up even closer, the vines bringing Papyrus down to eye level. “No you’re not.”

Papyrus’ vision blacked out again when his head was slammed back into the wall.

“pap, you gotta wake up.”

Blinking the scene away from his mind, Papyrus focused on what was before him, which was a very worried Sans.

“Is he okay?” Flowey shouted worriedly. The skeleton expertly kept himself from cringing at the voice.

“I’m alright,” Papyrus called out weakly, attempting to stand up. His brother pushed him back onto the floor.

“you just passed out on the floor, bro. give yourself a minute.”

Papyrus nodded quickly, and Sans left him alone, going over to talk with Flowey about something. The tall skeleton quickly delved back into his thoughts, processing what had just happened.

That was exactly like his dreams had felt, except he’d fainted. Why? And wow, wasn’t that the million dollar question. Rubbing at his eyes, he straightened as Sans walked back over.

“do you know what happened?”

“No idea,” Papyrus said truthfully. He shakily stood, walking over to the couch and sitting down. Sans told him to relax while he called Undyne about this, and although Papyrus wanted to protest, he felt too tired.

Every bone in his body ached with the memory of what he’d seen, even though none of it had really happened.

It felt real. He’d been so scared - he still was now, his soul beating invisibly in his body. With all the effort he could, he put on the front of being better for the rest of the day. It seemed to please Sans.

He wasn’t better. In fact, Papyrus felt more troubled than he had in a long time.

Chapter Text

It was so cold, colder than he’d ever felt. His bones were growing numb, and ice stuck in-between his joints.

Snow was up to his knees, and filled up his boots. They were abandoned soon after - they’d only slow him down. His feet grew even colder, if that were possible.

Papyrus found himself really wishing he’d bought some gloves before this, and wasn’t that such a trivial thing to think about when he was dying?

The realization came to him that this was exactly like his dream. He was going to die, but he understood now. He knew why he was so calm about dying.

There was someone he had to find.

Three days ago.

The dreams - no, whatever they were - had been getting worse. Papyrus began blacking out in the middle of the day regularly. Sans had become very worried and protective. Papyrus couldn’t leave the house anymore, nor could he make his own food. His brother was too worried he’d accidentally hurt himself.

It was awful. He could barely do anything in this state. The usually hyper skeleton would have been chained to the bed if Sans got his way - gladly, his brother did listen to him sometimes. 

Sans still went to his job at Papyrus’ insistence, but very reluctantly. Flowey stayed with him, and did his best to make his friend feel better.

Most of his time was spent messaging Alphys or Undyne about everything under the sun. Undyne tried very hard to keep up her conversations with him, but she was very busy as Captain of the Royal Guard. Papyrus easily forgave her. Alphys seemed to still be upset, but she talked with him as best she could. Papyrus forgave her, too.

Boredom crept up easily upon him.

He actually napped through a good part of his days, for once. Normally, he disliked going to sleep in the middle of the day, but the black-outs had begun to wear on him.

Two days passed with Papyrus like this. He’d had the blizzard dream again, and it bothered him more than he thought it should. Flowey was obviously worried about him, and Papyrus took comfort in the knowledge that his friend would be there if something happened. The flower seemed like he was going to tell Papyrus something important soon. Although it bothered him, Papyrus didn't ask him what it was, sure that Flowey would talk whenever he was ready.

For the most part, Papyrus had gotten better at not out-right fainting. Now they were more like dizzy spells that stopped him momentarily. He began to trust himself with more walking around and making food, despite Sans’ instance he shouldn’t.

That being said, he was still very wary of his movements, just in case.

Later into the third day, he got a call from Undyne.

"Hello, Undyne!"

“Papyrus, I… have something important to tell you,” she said.

“About what?”

“The kid.”

Papyrus frowned. “You mean Flowey?”

“Yeah, him. I really think you should come see this.”

Papyrus looked over at the clock. Sans was at his station still - he worked until four or five in the evening, depending on how well the hotdogs were selling. That meant he had at least an hour. If he took the ferry over, that would be plenty of time.

“I’ll be right over.”

The skeleton put on regular clothing - a sweater and shorts - before shouting ‘goodbye’ to Flowey and exiting the house.

The flower didn’t respond.

Clouds thickly layered the sky above. Flowey had been right - it was going to snow soon.

The trip over took longer than he thought it would, since there were other people already waiting for a boat ride, but he made fairly good time despite that. His long legs took him quickly to Undyne’s house. The fish woman let him in, her expression sour.

“So, what is it then? Have you found anything out about him?”

Undyne crossed her arms, then uncrossed them again. She looked deeply troubled.

“Pap, there is no ‘Flowey’.”

Papyrus raised an eyebrow. “What? Undyne, what does that mean?”

“There is no flower family in the ruins. I’ve checked every record we have, going as far back as I could, but there’s nothing. No flower monsters ever made it into the Underground.”

No. It couldn’t be. Flowey was real. He knew that.

Undyne showed him the records. No sign of flower monsters whatsoever, just like she said.

“Are you calling me a liar?” Papyrus asked.

“No. Look, I talked to Alphys about this, and she says she has some information about your… friend.”

Papyrus held his arms around himself. Undyne had to be wrong, Flowey was his friend. They’d lived together for over a week. How could he have not known?

Do you ever wonder what it would be like if you didn’t have a soul?

Undyne startled him out of his thinking with a hand on his shoulder. “I know you two must’ve grown close, but…” she paused, and sighed sadly. “Let’s get to Alphys’ lab. She’ll have the information-”

Her sentence was interrupted by Papyrus’ phone ringing. The skeleton hesitantly answered it.

“Hello?”

“papyrus, where the hell are you two?”

Flinching at the voice of his brother - Sans must’ve come back early, damnit - Papyrus tried to think up a response before he got caught up on what exactly the shorter skeleton had said.

“Us two?”

“yeah, you and flowey. i’ve been worried sick-”

Papyrus hung up and ran towards the entrance. He didn't care if it was rude or not.

“I wasn’t finished!” Undye shouted after him angrily. “Where are you going?!”

“Home!” the tall monster answered simply, heading straight for the ferry.

It was the fastest he’d ever made it back.

Sans tried to stop him as he entered their home, but Papyrus barreled through without stopping. A bucket laid on the ground with dirt half spilled out of it. Flowey was nowhere to be seen.

Papyrus turned right around and hurriedly left, but Sans caught up just before he exited the house, catching his wrist.

“where are you going?” he asked.

“I have to find Flowey.”

Sans’ grip loosened slightly, and the short monster looked Papyrus in the eyes. He knew his brother was going to do this, consequences be damned.

“I’ll help. It’ll be faster if we split up.”

Both fled outside, Sans heading into the forest, and his brother going across the bridge.

There’s so much forest to check.

I’ll never find him.

He’s going to die because of me.

Resolutely ignoring the thoughts, Papyrus started his search. He’d find Flowey, no matter the cost. He owed his friend that much.

In the back of his mind, he realized it had started snowing.

With his numb, bare feet sinking deeply into the snow, Papyrus kept moving farther into the forest. The blizzard whipped harshly against his bones. The skeleton wondered how long it had been since the storm had started up. He felt like it had always been there - all he could think about now was the cold.

The large trees towering above him did nothing to block out the snow. The sky above was almost pitch black - no ceiling lights flickered above, all of them covered by the clouds. It was saddening - Papyrus loved looking at the fake stars.

Papyrus tried floating above the ground to give his feet a break, but nothing happened. He was so tired and so, so cold. His magic wasn’t working.

The footprints he left in the snow quickly filled up. It hit him dully that he wouldn't be able to find his way back. He thought that he should really care more about that than he currently did.

Dust started flaking off his legs, but the skeleton barely noticed. It didn’t faze him that he was going to die alone in the forest. He just wanted peace. Why was he out here again? He’d been walking for so very long. Maybe a break was in order.

He could hear faint shouting. Who was yelling at him? Did it even matter any more? Papyrus felt like his legs were going to collapse at any second.

A bright yellow smear obstructed his vision, and he realized he’d fallen to the ground. When had that happened?

The voice was more clear now. It was shouting his name, and crying. Why was it so upset? Papyrus told the voice not to be sad - after all, that yellow was so, so pretty. After seeing so much white, everywhere, consuming him, he thought it was a welcome break. White bones, white snow, white dust.

Yellow flower.

A sense of calm washed over him. He wanted to fall asleep - he was so tired. If only the voice would stop yelling so loudly.

Papyrus couldn’t feel his legs anymore.

The whole world stopped.

Chapter Text

“I’ll be right over,” Papyrus had said, immediately getting ready for the trip and leaving quickly after saying goodbye.

Flowey was stock still for several moments, hearing the words from the phone call repeat in his head.

They were going to find out. More importantly, Papyrus was going to find out. The flower wasn’t sure what he should do - killing himself just to reset wasn’t something he was very comfortable with, especially after… what had happened .

The bucket fell easily to the ground as Flowey rocked it forward, leaving dirt sprawled across the ground. Getting to the door was a slightly trickier matter, but he figured out how to conjure his magic after trial and error.

Vines, thin and weak, pushed him to the door, then managed to get it open. The snowy ground was welcome after that time in the makeshift pot.

Flowey ran away, as fast and as far as he could. It wasn’t a very well thought out plan - and a better plan could be figured out later - but he didn’t want to be there when Papyrus got back. Even as soulless as he was, the thought of his only friend finding out he’d been lying left him feeling… something. He wasn’t sure exactly what, it being so faint, but he was sure it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

The clearing he popped up in was far, far away from Snowdin. Not really sure what else to do, he stayed there. Thoughts of what happened bubbled up, and the flower fiercely pushed them back down.

The feeling was a bit stronger now.

It wasn’t guilt, or regret. Fear was probably the best word for it. That was the only thing he really felt anymore.

Time seemed to pass quickly as he stayed in the forest, thinking everything over. He hadn’t given himself a lot of time to do that over the past week.

Snow drifted down, slowly becoming denser and denser until a full-blown blizzard was created. The wind blew against his petals harshly, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Over the hard storm, however, he heard something.

The violent clacking of bones.

Whipping around to look for the source, Flowey spotted a figure through the trees. Who it was quickly became obvious.

Yelling Papyrus’ name, the flower made a mad dash towards his friend, but the skeleton was too out of it to notice, apparently.

Just as the flower reached him, Papyrus collapsed to the ground. Flowey looked over his friend, the wind howling even louder, if that were possible. He realized, suddenly, that he was crying.

Papyrus told him not to be so sad, that ‘it’ was so, so pretty, petting the petals around his face. Flowey wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

The skeleton dropped his arm to the snow suddenly, as if it was too much even to keep it up. His legs were collapsing into dust, arms beginning to flake as well. Flowey felt fear spike through him as he realized his friend was about to die.

The last thing he saw was the life beginning to fade from Papyrus. Then everything went black.

Chapter Text

Asgore’s garden flickered into view after the world reset, the golden flowers a familiar sight to Flowey by now.

That was... strange. He’d never reset without dying before - it was something he’d have to retry soon. The flower thought back to what had caused the reset and frowned.

Papyrus would have died, Flowey had no doubt about that, and it had frightened him. Not much, but it was more than he usually felt these days.

It had been nice to feel something again, even if it was a normally bad emotion. It was something. For a second, he wondered if he could replicate it.

Flowey shivered uneasily at the thought. He had to keep himself from thinking like that. He wasn’t a bad person, not by any measurement.

That’s what he told himself, at least.

Tunneling back underground, he made his way back to Snowdin. He needed to make sure Papyrus would be alright after this reset - after all, people were usually disoriented after each one, as he’d found out. His friend might be feeling especially bad after that ordeal.

Papyrus gasped as he woke up, his hands shaking. His memories were disorienting and fuzzy. He could have sworn he was outside, yet he also remembered going to sleep last night. Both things couldn't have happened, right?

He tried to remember what had taken place. It was unclear in what order each memory came, as choppy and distant as they were. It was almost like trying to remember a dream after you’d woken up - it was definitely there, but not everything was quite within reach.

There was a blizzard, and a flower, and Undyne was saying something he couldn't quite hear-

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Papyrus did his best to get ready. Although the strange, foreign memories were troubling, he still had a job to get to.

His routine went like it usually did, except… it felt strange, like he was out of practice. How could he be out of practice? He’d done almost the exact same thing yesterday.

Regardless, the skeleton walked to his station after him and his brother had breakfast, his boots sinking slightly into the snow. He kept looking around at the surrounding forest, though he wasn't sure what he was searching for.

The usual violent thoughts accompanied his trek, except they seemed more reluctant than usual.

His feet brought him to the ruins door without him noticing, and he cursed himself for getting caught up in his own thoughts, as annoying as they were. Just as he turned around, though, he saw a flash of yellow pop beneath the snow. After waiting a moment, the yellow thing popped up at his feet.

It was a flower.

Suddenly, the snowy surrounding disappeared, replaced with familiar dreams - no, visions - he’d forgotten.

Him and the flower staring up at the night sky, talking.

Showing off his wonderful new Royal Guard armor.

Vines wrapping around him, hurting him, why did it hurt so much -

Blinking the visions away, Papyrus looked down at Flowey with as much of a neutral face he could muster up. He couldn’t remember much, but he remembered the important parts.

Part of him wished he didn’t.

None of this made sense. What was going on?

The flower smiled up at him happily, seemingly unfazed by his slightly odd behaviour.

“Howdy! I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower.”

Papyrus did his best to smile, ignoring the involuntary shiver that coursed through his body at the voice. “Hello. I’m Papyrus.”

The rest day went on as it normally did, besides Papyrus hanging out with his new friend. At dinner, he cooked something simple to eat, Sans simply bringing take-out from Grillby’s. As much as Papyrus hated the greasy place, he was willing to let his brother eat there sometimes. Besides, he didn’t really have the energy to chastise the skeleton for it.

When he sat down, Papyrus noticed his brother was staring at him.

“What? Is there something on my face?” the taller monster self-consciously checked for anything.

“no, pap, it’s just… you seem a little off today. are you okay?”

Sans did look really worried. It gave him a strange sense of deja vu.

“I’m fine, brother! It was a bit of a slow day at my station, but everything was fine besides that.”

With a shrug, the short skeleton accepted the answer and dug into his burger. Papyrus wasn’t sure if he was getting better at lying, or his brother just cared less.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, either.

Alphys decided to come over to his house a few days later, bringing a few new anime disks with her. They decided to binge watch some over the weekend, when both had plenty spare time. Undyne told him that she seemed on-edge - the scientist had seemed nervous when the spoke online, he couldn’t deny that, but there was rarely a time when she wasn’t.

Papyrus figured it would be a good idea to get her out of the lab regardless. Being cooped up in her house wouldn’t make her feel better if she was feeling down.

Anime was a sure-fire way to get her over, so Papyrus stuck with that, and it had worked.

As he waited for her, he kept excitedly looking at the clock. Having guests over was one of his favorite things - he liked to think he was a pretty good host when he wanted to be.

Sans came through the door after ‘brunch,’ which was really just second-breakfast to him, the small lizard woman following him. The two were chatting about who-knows what, which gave Papyrus ample time for what followed.

Darkness flooded his sight, and he couldn’t help but wish that this had come at another time. Alphys and Sans were going to notice something was up eventually. He felt vines wrapping tightly around him, and the familiarity of the situation hit him as his eyes opened.

“A-Asri-”

“I’m not him!”

Flowey popped into view, and Papyrus wished sorely that he wouldn’t have to watch this again. “It’s Flowey now. Never… that name.”

The vines pushed Papyrus harshly into a wall, making his head spin. He was sure the dampness on the back of his head was blood, now.

“I’m s-sorry, As- Flowey, I’m s-so sorry!”

Flowey popped up even closer, the vines bringing Papyrus down to eye level. “No you’re not.”

Papyrus’ vision blacked out again when his head was slammed back into the wall.

His sight came back to him slowly. Alphys and Sans were still caught up in their conversation, gladly, and Papyrus moved to greet them.

The short skeleton made his way upstairs, leaving Alphys to her ‘play date,’ as he’d heard Sans once call their anime-watching.

“I-I brought some stuff you might like, b-but I wasn’t sure.”

A realization suddenly came to Papyrus right then. The voice wasn’t exactly the same, but he was very sure the vision had not been about him, but Alphys. Was that why it had come when he saw her? Was someone trying to tell him something?

Although Papyrus felt more inclined to trust the visions now, he couldn’t help but be skeptical. Flowey was his friend, and a very nice friend at that.

He didn’t have long to ponder before they put an disk in and began to watch. Papyrus found himself enraptured with the beautiful animation, and was very glad for the distraction. There was too much on his mind these days, in his own opinion.

Another full reset occurred a week later. Papyrus remembered even less that time, but he was glad he still knew the resets were even happening.

Flowey was extra nice to him this time, becoming a better friend by the day. He began solving people’s problems. It was small things at first, but the flower slowly worked his way up to bigger things. Papyrus thought it was very commendable, and almost disregarded his visions altogether.

Then, Flowey made a mistake.

It wasn’t anything big - he’d simply knocked over a lamp while he was visiting Papyrus’ house. Immediately afterwards, time had reset back an hour.

Even then, the skeleton might have let it slip, but it kept happening. Every single time some accident happened around him, Flowey would reset.

At some point, Papyrus knew he had to accept that his friend was causing things to repeat.

That was fine, though. Flowey was using it for good - everyone was happier because of what the flower did. The tall monster was proud of his friend for doing it.

Another full reset happened.

Papyrus didn't understand - everything had been getting better, right? Why would he fix everything, only to go back?

Then Flowey fixed everything again. And again. And again.

As much as he wanted to say something, Papyrus was afraid he would mess something up, or make the flower mad. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

His friend got better and better at solving problems. Sans was doing better at staying awake and being productive. Undyne was more positive, less angry. During one run, Papyrus had even gotten into the Royal Guard.

None of it stuck. Everything was reset, eventually.

Flowey himself seemed to be doing progressively worse each reset, even as he helped everyone else feel good. The skeleton did his best to support and encourage his friend.

It didn’t seem to be enough. Papyrus wasn’t enough.

One day, Flowey snapped.

This reset, there had been no sign of Flowey. Sometimes it took him longer to ‘meet’ Papyrus, so it didn’t usually bother him.

Except, this time, his visions were getting more frequent, and foretold some very bad things. Even Sans had begun to notice Papyrus was acting strangely, as much as he tried to hide it.

A few days in, he finally ran into the flower.

Flowey looked haunted, and scared. The skeleton wasn’t sure what had happened, but he greeted his friend as cheerfully as always.

For a few moments, the other didn’t respond.

“I… I’m sorry, Papyrus.”

Before the monster had the chance to ask what he meant, magic pellets dug into his body rapidly. The attack surprised him, but he quickly conjured up a few bones to defend himself from the onslaught of bullets.

“Flowey-” His sentence was stopped when a vine swung at him from nowhere. The monster just barely dodged out of the way.

His friend looked apologetic, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

The next hail of bullets was stronger, and Papyrus couldn’t block them all. It took a few minutes, but eventually the tired skeleton could go on no longer. There was barely even a pause before more magic projectiles rained down on him.

The last thing Papyrus did was say he was sorry.

Papyrus had stopped questioning why he did it, personally, after the first 15 variations of killings. There was a reason, he knew - people always did things for a reason - but he doubted Flowey would ever tell him.

So he stopped asking, and started telling.

Papyrus told Flowey that he believed everyone could be a good person, there was hope, he just had to stop, Papyrus wouldn’t even be angry at him-

At first, each one got through to Flowey in some way, making him flinch, or look away in what seemed to be guilt.

That slowly stopped. After a while, the flower didn’t even care about who he hurt.

Do you ever wonder what it would be like if you didn’t have a soul?

With a start, Papyrus figured out the first important thing in a long line of things he would learn about Flowey.

His friend didn’t have a soul.

Sans’ depression was getting worse and worse as each route passed. Papyrus wondered if the resets had been affecting him, or if maybe he remembered what had happened.

As much as he wanted to, he never asked. It was so much easier to pretend nothing was wrong than to confront the issue and risk embarrassment. Papyrus figured his brother must have felt similarly, because they never discussed why Sans had begun feeling so awful.

Eventually, the tall monster got into the habit of taking care of everything. He cleaned, cooked, worked, and went shopping, when they usually split those tasks so Sans could do something around the house.

Papyrus even paid all the bills, since his brother never checked the mail anymore.

As Sans got worse, he treated Papyrus more like a child - well, more than he had before, which was still a lot. The taller brother pretended not to notice. He even went along with it, after a while.

Sans’ depression worried Papyrus to no end, and he worked very hard to make his brother feel better.

No matter how hard he tried, he was never enough.

Papyrus felt his happiness quickly fraying at the edges. Even when Flowey had calm runs, he was always on edge, waiting for something to go wrong. He put up a mask of faked happiness, and although he might have overdone it sometimes, Sans seemed slightly better because of it.

He started sacrificing every bit of his own happiness so others could feel well. It worked, and Papyrus decided it was worth it, even as he slowly fell apart.

Papyrus’ visions came less frequently on Flowey’s good runs, but the violent thoughts got worse. Apparently, the universe wanted to punish Papyrus even further than it already had.

Despite this, the skeleton took advantage of these routes as much as he could. He savored each moment, even as his mind threatened him with every worst-case-scenario of every action.

That didn’t matter to him as much as others’ happiness did, he figured. Making others feel better became the only thing he thought he could do, besides lying.

The cheery skeleton began spending more time at the library on the calmest runs - he began calling them ‘Pacifist routes’ inside his head. The library was a quiet place he could just sit and read without having to worry about other people.

He started to finish every book inside as the resets continued.

It was when reading one of these books that he realized another important thing about Flowey.

In his vision about Alphys, she had been trying to call him Asriel. It was either an unfortunate mistake, which he doubted, or a very important clue.

It made sense he hadn’t recognized what the name must have been when Alphys had said it. Not getting a proper education in history would do that to you.

Still, he knew the story well enough to see that there was something very important missing from it.

How had Asriel become a flower?

Papyrus decided not to ask his friend about it.

Flowey must have been feeling particularly adventurous, because he asked Papyrus to meet him in a secluded corner of Waterfall so they could talk. His friend didn’t specify on what, exactly, they’d be talking about.

Papyrus was happy at the idea that Flowey might be ready to open up to him, even if it was about something small.

Whatever the reason for the meeting, he would always support his friend and encourage the goodness he knew existed inside the flower.

Waterfall was peaceful, the rushing rivers and whispering flowers serving as constant background noise. Papyrus made his way to the spot they had agreed on and waited for his friend to arrive.

Flowey popped out of the ground only a few minutes later, a shy smile on his face.

“I’m glad you came,” he said, moving closer to Papyrus. He paused in fake thought. “We’re pretty good friends, right?”

Papyrus nodded enthusiastically. “Of course! You’re one of my best friends.”

Flowey’s smile widened at the response. “Good. I want to tell you a secret, Papyrus, but you have to promise you won’t tell anyone.”

The skeleton agreed easily, and his friend leaned in closer.

“I wasn’t originally a flower.”

Surprise spread across Papyrus’ features, the feeling genuine. He honestly hadn’t expected Flowey to admit something like that.

“You weren’t?” he asked, tone hushed.

With a short giggle, Flowey continued, “Yup. I know it must be hard to believe.”

Papyrus nodded. That was a lie - he’d figured it out already, although there were some missing chunks in the story.

“How did you become a flower, then?”

Flowey’s face conveyed hesitation, but it was obvious he was going to answer. Papyrus wasn’t sure what had happened to make his friend so talkative this time around.

“Well, I died. It was an accident - me and my sibling thought we should try to save the whole Underground. Stupid, right?” Papyrus didn’t answer, which was apparently the right thing to do. “After getting to the surface, the humans attacked us. Instead of fighting back, I let us get killed. When we returned home, I died in Asgore’s garden. Next thing I knew, I was waking up there in the body of a flower.”

Papyrus was utterly shocked. He wasn’t sure how Flowey wanted him to respond.

“That must have been awful,” the skeleton tried. His friend nodded solemnly.

“It was, but that’s why I’m telling you this. I don’t want anyone to get hurt like I did.”

After the next reset came, Flowey never told the story again.

Recently, he’d been having visions of a human falling down. He wasn’t sure when it might be, but he was hoping it was soon. They were in the middle of one of Flowey’s Pacifist Routes - it would be the perfect time for a human to fall down.

Of course, Flowey could very well just end up killing them, but something about the visions told Papyrus that wasn’t going to happen.

After a few weeks of having these sorts of visions, he was beginning to think it might really happen this route.

Then, Flowey told him to be extra vigilant that day, especially around the areas near the ruins. Papyrus knew what that must have meant.

A human was coming to Snowdin.

Hotland was stuffy and, surprise surprise, very hot, but that wasn’t what bothered Papyrus. What bothered him about it was so much more personal.

The skeleton focused wholly on his mission: getting to the King’s castle. Flowey had said the human was in trouble, and Papyrus was inclined to believe him, for once. He was sure the flower had some motive behind telling him, but he didn’t really care at the moment.

After everything they had been through together, he was glad to call the human his friend, and friends help each other out.

Of course, that meant going through Hotland, which he was currently doing. Normally, he avoided the place as much as he possibly could - which was a lot, considering he lived in Snowdin.

Now, however, he was having to trek through it, and it was awful. He despised everything it reminded him of, and attempted to push it all out of his mind. This wasn’t about him.

This was about saving his friend.

The surface was just as bright and beautiful as Papyrus had imagined it, if not more. Though they did not exactly get a warm welcome, the humans did their best to accommodate all the monsters that came up.

Not everything was perfect, however.

Someone was missing.

Although Papyrus went to meet him as many times as he could, Flowey refused to come up to the surface with them. All he wanted to do was stay in the farthest reaches of the Underground and stare at a patch of flowers.

Papyrus refused to accept that.

So, instead of asking permission, Papyrus bought a trowel, some dirt, and a pot. The flower was surprisingly easy to wrangle inside it, as he found soon enough.

Flowey grumbled and whined all the way back to his house, and Papyrus resolutely ignored everything he commented and threatened. As much as he said he hated this, he wasn’t attacking the skeleton either. Papyrus took that as a good sign.

When they got home, Flowey was placed on the windowsill of his apartment. He still wasn’t exactly sure if the plant needed sunlight, but he figured it couldn’t hurt.

The flower became strangely silent. Papyrus worried about what this meant, but didn’t ask about it. If it was something important, Flowey would tell him.

At least, he hoped that was the case.

Sure enough, five minutes and a few pages into a book, Papyrus heard the sound of Flowey calling him over.

“Why did you take me here?” he asked simply.

“You’re my friend,” Papyrus said.

“I’ve done horrible things to you. I’ve killed you. I’ve killed everyone you love.”

“I know.”

Flowey stared at the skeleton, stunned into silence, and Papyrus went back to his book.

“How long have you remembered?”

The skeleton looked up, pondering the question for a moment. “I’m not sure. From very early on, as far as I can recall,” Papyrus answered calmly.

Flowey was desperately trying to keep a neutral face - to keep up the facade that he didn’t care. As usual, the tall monster could easily see past that.

“So all this time, you’ve been pretending to be my friend, even though you knew? Why?”

Papyrus cocked his head to the side, much like a confused dog would. Living in Snowdin for eight years meant picking up some specifically canine habits.

“I wasn’t pretending. You really are my friend.”

“Then I repeat my question: why?”

It took a moment for Papyrus to come up with an accurate answer. “Well, I suppose it’s because I know you’re a good person, deep down.”

Flowey scoffed, shaking his head. “You think that about everyone.”

“This is different. I’ve seen you be good.”

Flowey looked away, staring out the window like it had something much better to offer than the friendship Papyrus was freely giving. The skeleton let him sulk, returning once more to reading his book.

“Frisk has been asking about you. They were wondering if you two could hang out sometime soon,” Papyrus said, starting to cut up a few vegetables in the kitchen. After they got to the surface, he stopped putting up the pretense that he couldn’t cook, and felt better because of it. Cooking was one of his favorite hobbies.

Flowey rolled his eyes. He’d lived there for a over month now, and the emotionless front was beginning to slip. The flower still took every opportunity to be a brat, however.

“Why would I want to hang out with them?”

Papyrus shrugged, focusing less on the vegetables and more on his friend. “I don’t know. Because you like them?”

“I do not!” Flowey said indignantly, but there was no fire behind it.

Papyrus smiled fondly at his friend. “You’re lying.”

“Am not!”

“I’ve known you too long to believe that.”

The flower went silent, watching Papyrus’ hands move as he sliced.

“Would Saturday be alright with you?” Papyrus asked after a few minutes of silence.

Flowey sighed, looking back up at his friend. “Sure. Fine. Whatever. It’s not like I care.”

Chuckling softly, the skeleton slid the vegetables off the cutting board and into a bowl. That, too, had been another of his friend’s lies. Flowey cared about a lot of things, as adverse as he was to admit it.

Flowey cared about him, and Papyrus was happy to say that he felt the same. Maybe one day the flower would be comfortable with acknowledging that fact.

In the meantime, they bickered, and laughed, and generally avoided the topic. That was okay, though.

After all, they had all the time in the world now.

Chapter Text

Hello folks!

Been a long time, hasn't it. Seeing as I wrote this story when I was... about 15? There's a lot about it that I'm not happy with. It has been over 6 years. I'm in the process of rewriting it now, and I'll update the whole thing at once when I've finished. Unfortunately, that means this version will be gone, but I think that's for the best :P I'll be saving it myself though, so if anyone decides they want it after the story has been updated, you can ask me. Be seeing you all soon o7