Flowey and the baby bones sat on the couch wrapped in warm clean blankets and wearing some of Sans's old pajamas. They sat silently, drained from the events of the day and afraid to start another argument between the skeleton brothers. Not that it mattered, the voices in the kitchen were becoming steadily louder.
Flowey sighed. They had been like this almost since the moment they got home. Flowey wished he could take the tiny skeleton somewhere else. Somewhere she was clearly wanted, loved. Unfortunately, with the way the underground had become, this was the best place for her.
“You cant keep her Pap.” Sans's usually lazy and quiet voice had taken on a more angry and demanding tone.
“Why not? We're both responsible adults... Well I am at least. And I am more than capable of caring for her.” Papyrus replied, trying his best to keep his anger in check. He wasn't about to cave. Usually Papyrus would be more than willing to let Sans get his way if it meant he would be happy, even for a moment. But not today, not about this.
Flowey smiled. Good old Papyrus. Flowey knew he could count on him.
“You have no idea how to take care of a kid. It's hard Pap. I know, I've done it. And besides you don't even know where she came from”
“What does that matter? Have you looked around the underground lately? There aren't any other skeletons Sans. We're the last ones....That means she has no family... She's alone in this dark, cruel, cold place. She needs someone and She's a skeleton just like us. We are the best people to care for her. No one knows more about skeletons than we do.”
“Papyrus no!”
“I'm not abandoning her!” Papyrus finally snapped, seething with rage. His eyes glowing a bright orange color as his booming voice echoed about the small home.
Flowey had been becoming increasingly agitated by the situation they were in. Usually he would just tear them both to shreds and be done with it, Reset. But what would that mean for this new tiny skeleton sat opposite him? She'd be back in that lab, alone, about to die, and if no one else would take her in (and do a good job of caring for her) where would they go? He couldn't care for her, he had no home, and what if she got sick? No, best to keep going, see how this played out. 'If for nothing more than to placate my boredom' he thought to himself. He didn't care, not really. Why would he?
The tiny skeleton beside him began to sob silently. The quite sound was so out of place in the ruckus, it startled Flowey from his thoughts. He glanced up at her. His Petals began to spike, his face taking on a more toothed, menacing expression as the rage he felt quickly grew inside him. He jumped off the couch and scuttled over to the kitchen. His loud, screechy voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Now he was pissed.
“Hey! We can hear every word in there. Keep it down, you're upsetting her.”
Papyrus glanced into the living room. The angry expression quickly gone from his face replaced with one of concern.
“Don't get thorny with me bud” Sans glowered down at the tiny flower. Flowey stood his ground.
Papyrus's head quickly whipped back round. The argument continued in hushed tones.
A deafening knock came from the door, Sounding as though the monster on the other side intended to break it down. The arguing stopped abruptly.
Hastily Papyrus made his way to the door before it came off it's hinges. It was already rattling with the force.
“Ah. hello Undyne” Papyrus answered the door with a grin. his cheerful façade back in place as if nothing had happened.
“Hey Pap. When you called you sounded worried. What's up?”
Papyrus stepped aside to let the sharp toothed fish monster in. she stomped inside quickly and glanced around the home. Something was definitely off. She could feel it.
Sans and Flowey made their way to the kitchen door glaring at each other. The agitation etched into their faces.
Finally her gaze landed on the little baby bones shaking under a blanket.
“No way! Since when did you have a kid?” she practically yelled in excitement making the poor little skeleton jump in her seat.
“That's actually what I needed to talk to you about.”
“Oh?”
“You see we found her In an old ruin in Waterfall. I was hoping you could help us find out more about her. Piece things together a bit better” Papyrus made his way to the couch, scooping the baby bones up and hugging her gently; wiping away the tears streaking her face. Flowey pulled himself up onto the back of the couch. His much more calm and harmless pretense back in place. Undyne sat beside Papyrus. Sans remained leaning in the kitchen doorway.
'But he never finds her. What changed?' Undyne thought to herself as she leaned in closer to take a better look at the tiny skeleton
“A ruin?” She replied returning to the conversation.
“Yes. My friend Flowey here, says it was an old laboratory. Have you heard of anything like that in Waterfall?”
Undyne shook her head. “Na. I can double check the old records for ya but I've never heard of one being in Waterfall.”
She turned to Flowey a skeptical look on her face. “You found her in there? Just wandering around?”
“No” he replied sarcastically “She was in some sort of glass tube. Like on those cartoons Papyrus watches.”
“A stasis chamber?”
“Yea. There were buttons next to it. I pushed them, it opened and she fell out.”
“And there was nothing else there? No notes, records, nothing?”
“Not that I could see; But the place was pretty wrecked when I found it.” Flowey smiled with gritted teeth. He hated having to dumb things down to seem harmless. 'Why am I lying for this kid?' he thought to himself.
“Wowie Undyne! You do know your science”
“Ha! Yea! I've been spending allot of time with Alphys lately. Speaking of. Why don't you bring the kid to the lab tomorrow morning. Maybe Alph can tell us more about her. run some test. Until then I'm going to go check out this lab, which is....”
“The entrance is behind one of the waterfalls near the dump. I can take you there if you like.” Flowey offered, jumping off the couch and heading to the front door.
“Great. Well I'll see you tomorrow Pap. You OK with taking care of the kid until then? It is a big responsibility and all.”
“No” Sans mumbled from the kitchen.
“Yes, absolutely. Never fear Undyne I am more than capable of caring for her. I am the great Papyrus after all”
Undyne smiled and headed out after Flowey. “OK then. Bye Sans. See ya later Pap.” Papyrus closed the door behind them.
Returning to the couch Papyrus glanced up at Sans. He still stared at him from the kitchen, a dark look on his face. 'Perhaps I shouldn't have pushed him too hard' Papyrus thought to himself. But he knew he had to stand firm on this; Even if he didn't quite understand why.
“Yes Sans?”
“You're not keeping her. Just give her to the orphanage or something”
“NO! YOU KNOW WHAT THEY'LL DO TO HER THERE!” Fear filled Papyrus. Not there, not there. Sans knew what happened there. What had happened to THEM there. Sans couldn't want that, couldn't mean that. Could he?
“Why do you care?”
“BECAUSE...”
Sans sighed and took a seat next to Papyrus. He tried to make his tone of voice a more calmer, understanding one. “Look Pap. I know you found her and now you feel responsible. I... I just don't like it. I mean. She appears from some mysterious lab. A lab no one but this shady talking flower knows about-.”
“Flowey has been a good friend of mine for may years. I know him to be a good and honest monster.”
“ OK fine. But we still know nothing about her, where she came from or what she was doing there. It all just seems, off”
Papyrus looked down to the tiny baby bones asleep in his arms. A sad expression crossed his face.
“I understand that Sans and I know that your worried. But that doesn't change the fact that she's here now. She needs us and I'm not about to let her down. It's not like back when we were children. I know taking care of me was hard for you... maybe Undyne and Alphys can tell us more in the morning.”
Sans sighed heavily again. “You can't keep her. You know what's going to happen in the future. We've talked about it. You know what happens to us EVERY TIME. No matter how hard we try to change things. Nothing changes. She'll be alone again eventually. Maybe worse. And what then huh? What happens when the human resets again and you can't remember all of it? What if you know how important she is to you, but you can't save her? What then?”
“She's here. It is different! Things have changed!” Papyrus gently put the little skeleton down and began to move what furniture he could, barricading the front door. After slowly moving the couch, with Sans still sat on it, he scooped up the baby bones and made his way to the stairs. “This conversation is going in circles. I'm going to bed, It's been a long day.”
“You want me to read you a bedtime story?”
“Not tonight. Thank you.”
Papyrus slowly ascended the stairs. Sans watched as Papyrus entered his room. The click of the door lock quickly followed by the sound of furniture being moved in front of the door.
'What have you gotten us into old man?' Sans thought to himself, shaking his head.
with a sigh and a heavy heart, Sans began to surround himself with magic and with a crackle headed for Grilby's.
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