Archive of Our Own

The doors open immediately, almost like Alphys knew he was there already.

Papyrus strikes a pose, placing his hand on his chest, “WHY, HELLO THERE! IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” He shifts, places his hand under his chin in thought, “THOUGH, YOU MAY ONLY RECOGNIZE MY INTERNET HANDLE, WHICH IS COOLSKELETON98!”

He reaches out his hand, “AND YOU MUST BE THE BRILLIANT DOCTOR ALPHYS, CORRECT?”

Alphys takes a second to respond, adjusting to how Papyrus-y Papyrus is, “O-Oh, yes! T-That’s me, haha! But I-I’m not as brilliant as you’d t-think, eheh…” She steps aside to let Papyrus enter.

Papyrus gives her a puzzled look, “WHAT?? NONSENSE!!!!! OF COURSE YOU’RE BRILLIANT! YOU ENGINEERED METTATON, AFTER ALL! YOU CAN’T NOT BE BRILLIANT AFTER ACHIEVING SUCH A MONUMENTAL FEAT, DR. ALPHYS.”

Alphys looks down, “Um, thanks, Papyrus. But t-that isn’t as i-impressive as you t-think.” She looks likes she’s ashamed. What? How would making Mettaton be shameful?

Papyrus shakes his head, “DR. ALPHYS!” “-y-you can just call me Alphys-” “-ALPHYS! I WILL NOT LET YOU DOWNPLAY YOURSELF LIKE THIS!”

He finally takes a step into the lab as he continues, hearing the doors shut behind him, “NOW, I MAY NOT BE AS EXPERIENCED IN THE SOUL ASPECT OF YOUR WORKS, BUT IT ISN’T DIFFICULT TO SEE HOW MUCH EFFORT YOU PUT INTO CREATING HIS BODY! I’D EVEN SAY IT’S QUITE EASY TO TELL!” He places his hands on his hips, leaning in slightly, “IF I WERE TO ENGINEER ARMS SEEMINGLY INFINITELY LONG AND RETRACTABLE, I WOULD SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS! …OR, MAYBE I’D JUST HAPPILY TELL EVERYONE I KNOW.”

He continues on, crossing his arms, “AND, THAT’S NOT EVEN MENTIONING HOW YOU’VE SOMEHOW MADE HIM ABLE TO ROLL AROUND ON ONE WHEEL WHILE NEVER LOSING BALANCE! THAT IS NO EASY TASK, ONE CAN ONLY DREAM OF KNOWING HOW YOU’VE MANAGED TO BALANCE THE WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION THROUGHOUT HIS ATTRACTIVE RECTANGULAR BODY!”

He’s practically pacing around now, “HE’S ALSO ABLE TO STAY WORKING FOR HOURS- EVEN DAYS WITHOUT ANY SORT OF RECHARGE. OR CHANGE OF SOURCES! I’VE WATCHED HIS MARATHONS FULLY, HE TAKES NO BREAKS! WHAT AN INSPIRATION!” He clears his throat, wanting to redirect this topic to Alphys’ greatness, “WHAT SORT OF ENERGY SOURCE DOES HE USE? YOU ARE ABLE TO OPTIMIZE HIS ENERGY USAGE SO WELL WHILE STILL KEEPING HIM AS LIVELY AS EVER!”

Finally, he places a hand on her shoulder, “AND YOU THINK ALL OF THAT ISN’T IMPRESSIVE? WHY, ALPHYS, YOU’RE AMAZING!”

Alphys stares at him in stunned silence. Maybe he went on for a bit too long there. He lets go of her shoulder.

“ERM. ALPHYS? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

“...”

“MY APOLOGIES IF THAT WAS, MAYBE, HARD TO FOLLOW! IF IT WAS, I CAN REPEAT MYSELF IF YOU’D LIKE!”

Alphys had a small smile on her face, “... maybe y-you’re right.”

“HM? OF COURSE I AM! NOTHING LESS IS EXPECTED FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, NYEH HEH HEH!” He pats Alphy’s shoulder, glad to help his friend out.

“T-thank you, Papyrus.” Her expression shifts, “Oh m-my God! S-Sorry, we just m-met in p-person and I’ve al-already dumped my p-problems onto you! Geez.”

“DO NOT FRET, ALPHYS! YOU’RE NOT ‘DUMPING’ ANYTHING ONTO ME! AND EVEN IF YOU WERE, I COULD PROBABLY CARRY IT! I TRAIN WITH UNDYNE, AFTER ALL.” He flexes (??) his arm, “AND YOU’RE MY FRIEND, RIGHT? FRIENDS HELP EACH OTHER! BUT EVEN IF WE WEREN’T FRIENDS, I’D STILL WANT TO HELP YOU!”

He places his hands back on his hips, “NOW! LET US GET ON TO OUR MAIN ACTIVITY: FEASTING ON INSTANT NOODLES!”

Despite that announcement of sorts, he stays in the same spot, unsure where to go. 

“O-Oh right! I-it’s over th-this way.” She walks past a large dim screen and a very, very , messy desk, opening a fridge.

She takes out multiple plastic cups, all slightly different, but sharing the title “INSTANT NOODLES” on the packaging. She shoves the papers and cups on her desk aside. Papyrus tries to hold back a cringe at the sheer unorganized nature of this as she places down the cups she was carrying.

“O-Okay, s-so! There’s a lot o-of different f-flavours! I- I think you should try this one,” She picks up an orange cup, it seems to be the cheesiest flavour, “B-but you can choose for y-yourself!”

Papyrus grabs the cup, thanking her before inspecting it. The text underneath the title says, “You’ve gouda try me!” He grimaces. Sans would definitely like these.

He looks over at the other flavours, and they seem… very hot. Extremely so!

“SOUL-SUCKING SPICE…” he mumbles, placing a hand on his chin in thought. Alphys looks nervous, “O-Oh!! You probably sh-shouldn’t have that, P-Papyrus! I m-mean, you can , I- I won’t stop you! But i-it can be… a lot.”

He looks back at Alphys, “THANK YOU FOR THE ADVICE, ALPHYS!” He places the spicy noodles down, picking up the cheesy one again, “WELL! YOUR DECISION SEEMS TO BE THE BEST CHOICE, ALPHYS! GOOD JOB!” He slightly shakes the cheesy container in his hands, “DESPITE IT’S LAZY DESCRIPTION, I FEEL IT MAY BE JUST WHAT I’D ENJOY! CAN I BRING AN EXTRA CONTAINER HOME FOR MY BROTHER? I THINK HE’D QUITE LIKE THESE.”

“Y-yeah, take as m-many as you want!” Alphys takes a cup of her own, “A-and you mean S-Sans, right?”

“OH, YOU KNOW HIM?” He tilts his head, "HMM. HE DOES HAVE A STATION CLOSE BY TO YOUR LAB. THAT MAKES SENSE!”

“O-Oh, that’s not-”

“-WOWIE! I JUST REALIZED THAT MEANS ALL OF MY FRIENDS KNOW YOU!”

Alphys, forgetting about what she was saying earlier, looks surprised, “They d-do?”

He leans on the table slightly, his free arm moving around as he talks, “YES!! I GUESS WE WERE JUST BOUND TO BE FRIENDS, NYEH HEH HEH!!!”

He looks to the side as his fingers count while listing his friends, “THERE’S UNDYNE, SANS, FL-” He puts a hand over his jaw, gasping, “OH MY GOD! I CAN’T BELIEVE I NEARLY FORGOT!”

“H-huh?”

“I CAME ACROSS ONE OF OUR MUTUAL FRIENDS! IN FACT, HE’S MY BEST FRIEND! AND APPARENTLY IS ALSO REALLY CLOSE TO YOU???? EXCEPT HE NEVER MENTIONED YOU UNTIL I BROUGHT UP THIS VISIT??” Papyrus shakes his head, “BUT THAT’S BESIDES THE POINT! HE TOLD ME HE HAS A MESSAGE FOR YOU!!”

“F-For me?”

“YES!!! IT WAS… HM… HE SAID HE’LL BE WAITING FOR YOU DOWNSTAIRS!”

Alphys’ eyes widened, “D-Down… stairs?”

Papyrus nods, trying not to notice Alphy’s look, “YES! DOWNSTAIRS!”

Papyrus glanced around at the lab, “THOUGH, I DON’T SEEM TO SEE ANY STAIRS HERE. MAYBE HE GOT CONFUSED WITH A DIFFERENT DOCTOR ALPHYS?????” He didn’t. Papyrus knew he didn’t.

Alphys nods, still very obviously nervous, “U-uhm, yeah! Must be, haha!”

“RIGHT, WELL, ABOUT THESE INSTANT NOODLES…” Papyrus glances around the room again, “...WHERE DO WE COOK THEM?”

Alphys perks up, “R-Right! Hold on,” She rummages through the mess on her desk. Papyrus really does not like the sight of this. It makes more and more sense how she and Sans knew each other, he thinks.

She eventually pulls out an already-filled-boiler with a plug attached to it. As she pulls it, the plug pulls several cups itself, having them make loud clattering sounds. Luckily none fell on the floor.

“Oh, um, s-sorry about that,” She says, gently trying to unravel the wire from the mess, “I just, um, h-have to… just…”

Papyrus places his cup of noodles back on the table, “HERE, I’LL HELP!” He holds on one untangled part of the wire, moving some of the cups to a different area of the table. Alphys watches him as he untangles the wire from the handle of a cup, “THERE WE GO! YOUR KETTLE IS FREE NOW!”

“Thanks, P-Papyrus!” Alphys turns to the wall, “Okay, just gotta find the outlet…” She looks down at the lower bits of the wall, seeing a lot of forgotten papers and dust.

“A-Actually! We could j-just go up and have it there!”

Papyrus follows as Alphys goes past the table and incredibly large bag of dog food, going up an escalator. Papyrus feels uneasy on it… at least it’s not a conveyor belt! Kind of! Well, no, it definitely is. But Papyrus is willing to ignore that!

Once the two arrived on the upper floor, Alphys took another conveyor while Papyrus followed along just to the right of it. Papyrus takes note of the very large poster of one of those baby cartoons he knows Undyne watches.

He takes even greater note on a machine he sees right beforehand, though! There seems to be some plant inside of it, but some pink goop is coming out of it… very very interesting!

They stop near the end of the conveyor as Alphys plugs in the boiler after setting it atop a desk, followed by Papyrus doing the same with the cups of noodles.

“I already f-filled it while you were c-coming over. W-We just have to wait a-a bit.”

“OKAY!”

The two look at the boiler.

And keep looking at it.

“SO!”

“S-So!”

“-O-Oh, uh, sorry, y-you go first.”

“NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE, ALPHYS! I WAS JUST GOING TO ASK ABOUT THAT MACHINE OVER THERE!” He pointed towards the machine he noticed earlier.

“OH! That’s the ice cream machine! It- it converts seaweed into ice cream!”

Alphys gasps, covering her mouth, “But-don’t-tell-Undyne-that!!!” She says, quickly, “S-She doesn’t know that y-yet!!! She, um, thinks it’s f-for scientific research.”

Papyrus nods, “MY LIPS ARE SEALED! OR, WELL, MY TEETH.”

He looks over at the machine again, tilting his head, “WHILE I DON’T CONDONE LYING TO A DEAR FRIEND OF YOURS…” Alphys looks down, “...I THINK YOU SHOULD JUST TELL HER YOURSELF! I DON’T THINK SHE’D QUITE MIND FINDING OUT THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS ICE CREAM MACHINE.”

Alphys sighed, relieved, “Th-thanks, Papyrus. I’ll try to tell her one day! I-I just didn’t want h-her to s-spear all the seaweed in Waterfall, haha…”

Papyrus hummed, noticing Alphys’ shoulders relaxing.

“AH, SO THAT’S WHY UNDYNE TRIES TO AVOID SPARRING NEAR THOSE! IT ALL MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW!”

Papyrus paused as a bubbling noise filled the room. Why did that feel so familiar?

“O-Oh! The water’s ready!”

Alphys picked up the boiler by its handle, “O-Okay, just unpeel the lid of y-your container and take out the little packets in it.”

Papyrus picked up his cheesy container, peeling off the top completely. He took out the plastic packets, tilting the cup toward the boiler.

“O-Oh, not f-fully- but that’s okay!” She pours the boiling water into his noodle-filled cup., “I- I should have been more s-specific, sorry.”

“WHOOPSY-DOOPSIES! MY APOLOGIES, ALPHYS. I HOPE THE NOODLES WILL STILL TURN OUT ALRIGHT!” 

Alphys responded as she was filling her cup, already having taken out the packets from hers, “N-no, no, it should still be fine! Maybe j-just cover the top of yours w-with your hand? As long as it d-doesn’t feel too hot!”

“OH, WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA! THANK YOU, FRIEND!” He covered his cup with his glove, “AND DON’T WORRY! MY BONES FEEL LITTLE-TO-NO HEAT!!!”

Alphys chuckles, “T-that’s good! I hope y-your gloves will be fine though, haha!” She smiles more as Papyrus laughs alongside her, “A-and, we just have to w-wait 5 minutes or so!”

5 minutes left, then.

“VERY WELL, THEN!” Papyrus doesn’t mind a short wait. Usually when cooking spaghetti with Undyne, they can cook it pretty much instantly due to the heat! When they do that, though, it usually turns out very charred. More charred than the breakfast spaghetti, even!

“HMM… I MUST ASK, ALPHYS…” He squints, looking over at the ice cream machine again, “HOW EXACTLY DOES IT CONVERT THE SEAWEED?”

Alphys looked a bit surprised for some reason, but immediately began explaining, “W-Well, I know how it might l-look a bit… different, but! The components of seaweed are actually perfect f-for making ice cream!”

She starts to express her meanings with her hands, “While the outer bit- the ‘skin’ of the seaweed kinda- seems like it would be bitter, it’s actually super super sweet! But the inside of the seaweed is what gives the ice cream such good texture! When unblended, it’s like a liquid, but if you extract the sweet flavours of the skin- I call the ‘flavouring’ b-goop- you can make a really really tasty soup!”

Papyrus nods along as she continues to explain the intricacies, smiling at her excitement,

“A SOUP? HOW DO YOU CONVERT THE SOUP INTO ICE CREAM, THEN?”

“That’s the best part! You know how I only used the b-goop from the skin? Well if you extract the micro-minerals from it and crush it into a very fine powder, you can give the soup a less runny texture! It also helps it be a bit fluffier, but I also mix in another liquid! This one I just made myself out of some sugars and-”

Alphys’ quick dialogue slows down as she looks back at Papyrus. She seems a bit embarrassed.

“a-and…”

“-MILK?”

She perks up at the subtle encouragement, “Y-Yes!! And milk!”

4 minutes left.

“Y-you really know y-your stuff too, huh?”

Papyrus nods proudly, “WHY OF COURSE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS KNOWS PLENTY OF ‘MY STUFF’!” He tilts his head slightly, “BUT, UM, WHAT DO YOU MEAN, EXACTLY?”

“W-Well, you s-seem like you understand a lot about what I’m talking about, y-you know?” She fidgets with her hands, “Like- Like what you said earlier! About M-Mettaton!”

Papyrus looks at her, surprised, as she continues.

“N-no one’s ever pointed out s-stuff like that! They- they usually point out the whole soul s-stuff and- and his l-looks and personality.”

“WHAT? THAT MAKES NO SENSE, HIS PERSONALITY ISN’T UNDER YOUR CONTROL!”

“E-Exactly!!! See, you- you know a lot about machinery! And- and apparently some chemistry too? Given h-how well you followed a-along with my seaweed rambling…”

She shakes her head, trying not to get off-topic, “What I’m saying is!!! Y-You know a lot more about science and s-stuff than I thought! N-Not that I thought y-you were, like, dumb or anything! Sorry if it came across that way.”

“...I- WELL- YOU-” Papyrus stumbles with his words, not expecting that at all. He clears his non-existent throat, “WHY THANK YOU, ALPHYS! THAT’S- THOSE ARE VERY KIND WORDS! I APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH!!!!”

His cape flies in the non-existent wind,

“AND YES, I SUPPOSED I AM QUITE KNOWLEDGEABLE OF THESE TOPICS, NYEH HEH HEH!”

3 minutes left.

“Y-Yeah! I’m surprised y-you never mentioned this s-sort of stuff online much.”

“OH, YES, THAT IS TRUE. I QUITE PREFER THE ENGINEERING ASPECT OF IT ALL, SO I USUALLY CHANNEL MY LOVE FOR MACHINERY INTO MAKING PUZZLES!”

He goes to place his hands on his hips, but then realizes he still has to keep his hand over the cup, “...AND SOME OTHER STUFF, SOMETIMES. BUT MAINLY PUZZLES! AND I’LL BE SURE TO MESSAGE YOU MORE ABOUT THESE TOPICS FROM HERE ON OUT!”

“Great!! That s-sounds fun!”

There is a short yet comfortable silence between the two. The warmth in Papyrus’ hands feels nice. Alphys seems to be deep in thought, though.

“Hm. It makes sense y-you haven’t brought up this stuff before, but…”

“BUT?”

“It’s k-kinda weird how I’ve n-never heard Sans bring it up before? He usually brings up h-how cool you are all the time! I f-feel like he would’ve brought up your, uh, knowledge by now! Right?”

Papyrus’ smile faltered, but it wasn’t too noticeable, “OH. WELL, YES! I SEE WHY YOU WOULD THINK THAT!”

His smile widens and he puffs his chest out slightly to look more sure of himself, “AND HE DEFINITELY KNOWS ALL ABOUT MY SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND ALL THAT! ALL OF IT!”

He squints, looking away from Alphys slightly, “HE JUST… THINKS THAT EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT THAT ALREADY!”

He looks back at Alphys, “YEAH! SO HE DOESN’T BRING IT UP BECAUSE HE’S ALREADY TALKED SO MUCH ABOUT IT!!!!! SO DON’T BRING IT UP TO HIM OR ANYTHING BECAUSE THEN HE’LL PROBABLY TELL HORRIBLE JOKES ABOUT YOU NOT KNOWING THIS BEFORE!!!!!!! YOU’D BE REALLY EMBARRASSED!!!!!!! SO DON’T TELL HIM! FOR YOUR OWN SAKE!”

Alphys blinked, confused.

2 minutes left.

“U-uh, okay! Thanks for the heads up I- I guess?”

He internally thanks Alphys for not pressing further on this. That really wasn't his best acting, maybe he'll get better at that over time. Better at acting, that is!!! Not lying!! Because the Great Papyrus doesn't lie to his friends!

"ANY TIME, ALPHYS!" He held back from saying 'THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR!'

He looks at the walls around him, avoiding looking at the floor. The floor has that conveyor , and he's already trying to ignore the sound of it!

So much of this lab feels so very familiar. Well, except for everything actually in it. Like that baby kids show poster on the wall! That definitely doesn't feel familiar! Well, no, he's seen it before on Alphys' UnderNet profile, but it doesn't evoke the same sense of familiarity as the other parts of the lab.

That type of familiarity felt worse, almost. He can't quite place his exact thoughts on it. He'd rather not think too much on it, though. It felt like a puzzle he's not supposed to solve. Which, when he thinks about it, isn't very Papyrus-like of him…

Well he's not here to solve puzzles! Even though Papyrus is an excellent puzzle solver and crafter, this hangout is not meant for japes! Perhaps he just feels that weird feeling because he's so used to puzzles! That must be it. Sigh, tis the fate of a true puzzle master.

He looks down at his cup, covered by one of his hands. He can feel the change of moisture on his glove. It’s not a stark change! It’s only due to steam, after all. It feels kind of nice. Hopefully he won’t have to keep his glove there for too long though. If he does, then maybe the change of texture would become uncomfortable.

1 minute left.

Papyrus realized it’s been a bit quiet for a while. He glanced back at Alphys, who seemed to be as deep in thought as he just was prior.

She seemed a bit more nervous in comparison to his cheerful default, but maybe that’s just how she always looks. Would that mean she’s always nervous, or that she just seems nervous?

Hm. Papyrus doesn’t like that question.

“H-Hey, um, did you hear a-about this p-party coming up soon?”

He did. But no one’s told him about it yet, so he basically didn’t, right?

“NOPE!!”

Alphys took a second to respond, thinking Papyrus would ask more about it.

…

“Y-Yeah, I didn’t know about i-it either until, um, yesterday. Two- two of my old friends invited m-me.”

Alphys seemed to be expecting… something. Papyrus couldn’t tell what it was. 

“OH? THAT'S GOOD TO HEAR! ARE YOU TAKING UP THEIR OFFER?”

“Um, y-yeah! I might!”

“EXCELLENT! HAVE FUN!”

He’d like to go join her, but he doesn’t want to impose!

“So… do y-you want to come too?”

“WHY I’D LOVE TO!”

He already knew when and where it’s supposed to take place. He’s gone to it last time, not that anyone remembers it.

“WHEN IS IT?”

“It’s in f-five days, but if you can’t make it, that’s f-fine! Oh, and it’s also a c-costume party! I think I m-might go as Mew Mew, eheh.”

This is a bit odd, though. He can’t recall seeing Alphys when it took place last time. Maybe now that she knows her cool friend will be there, she’ll come too!

“WHY, THAT SOUNDS WONDERFUL! I’LL BE SURE TO COME! I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE, ALPHYS!!!”

Last time, the only one who really knew him there was Sans… but it’s not like that was a bad thing!

“Yeah! S-same with you, haha!”

She glanced back at her cup on the table.

“I-I think the noodles are done now!”

Papyrus lifted his hand from the top of his cup, “WONDERFUL!!” He looked down at the noodles, “SO, DO I EAT THESE… WITH MY HANDS?”

“Oh, no- no, we have to add the f-flavour packets first!”

Oh, right! Papyrus forgot all about those packets they put on the table.

Alphys tore open a cheesy packet, handing it to him, “Just, uh, sprinkle some of this in yours. You c-can try the other packet too, b-but it’s pretty spicy.”

Papyrus nods, “WONDERFUL, THANK YOU!” trying not to get any of the flavouring on his mittens. Unlike his training with Undyne, he can actually avoid making a mess!

He pours the powder in the cup, then looks over at the drawer Alphys opens, "Um, I think I have a f-fork here somewhere for you…"

Papyrus tries to ignore the clutter in the drawer. Luckily, the fork Alphys takes out is wrapped in plastic, so he doesn't need to worry about contamination either way!

"THANK YOU!" He says, as Alphys breaks apart some… wooden stick. Papyrus hasn't seen those before.

She stirs her noodles, so Papyrus does the same.

"They, uh, should be ready now. J-Just might be a bit hot."

Papyrus nods, "WONDERFUL! LET US DIG IN!!! WITH OUR CUTLERY!!!!!"

The taste is.

It's.

Well. It is good. Papyrus can't deny that.

…

It just leaves a weird feeling in the back of his head, too. He shouldn't think too much about it.

"WHY, THIS IS SPECTACULAR! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE UNHEALTHINESS, PERHAPS I'D EVEN HAVE IT VERY OFTEN!"

It's probably better to play up the good aspects instead of complaining. After all, he isn't necessarily lying, is he?

Alphys swallows before responding, "Heheh, that's good to hear! I-It really is good, right?? I could h-have it all day, haha."

She mutters, "I guess I kinda do that already."

"WELL, I DEFINITELY UNDERSTAND WHY! BUT IF YOU EVER WANT SUGGESTIONS ON EXPANDING YOUR DIET, GIVE ME A CALL!!! OR TEXT!!!!! OR JUST ASK ME RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!"

Alphys chuckles, "Th- Thanks, Papyrus. I think I'll just message you for s-suggestions, then they'll be easier t-to find."

Papyrus hums in agreement as they both continue eating.

He eats it quickly, not wanting to savour the moment. Not wanting to linger on the taste. Not wanting…

It's not important.

This is a nice moment after all, it would be best to have it stay that way.

"WELL! THANK YOU FOR THE NOODLES, ALPHYS! IT'S BEEN QUITE A FUN EXPERIENCE!"

Alphys blinked.

"O-Oh, you're leaving now?" She shook her head, "I- I mean same here!!! This was great!! Thanks- thank you for coming!"

"OF COURSE!!!! THIS WOULD BE QUITE HARD TO PASS UP!" He turns, looking at the escalators. Eugh. Escalators.

"I MUST BE ON MY LEAVE NOW! BUT THIS WAS GREAT!!!"

"Aw, m-maybe next time we could hang at your p-place! Since you don't really, uh, like Hotland."

"WHAT A WONDERFUL IDEA! WE SHOULD DEFINITELY DO THAT!!" Hopefully they can before it all goes back!

Papyrus hurries down the escalator, almost tripping, but at least he got off them quicker!

He takes one cheesey package of instant noodles. He did say he would bring leftovers for Sans, right?

Just as he's about to pass through the doors, Alphys speaks,

"Oh, um, before you leave…"

He turns his head to her.

"A-About your friend.. from earlier, um. If- If he did mean me and not some other Alphys," she fidgets with her claws, "Do you know if he'll, like, knock before he comes here?"

"OH, DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT! HE CAN SPROUT UP FROM JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE!"

...

Papyrus tried not to notice the look on her face.

The way her eyes widened, the way she seemed frozen in place. The way she looked...

frightened.

He turned back around, the door shutting loudly behind him.

Hotland seemed brighter than ever.

He really shouldn't have taken the scenic route.