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lukas-clost · 2 months ago

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BD&H chapter 5

Masterpost Wattpad Quotev Ao3 ch. 4 | x | ch. 6

Summary: The monsters have been on the surface for a few years now, and even after being legally given citizenship, humans are still wary of them.

When monsters start disappearing, their dust is swept under the carpet even as the Ebott City Police Department try their best to get to the bottom of it. Then humans start disappearing and citizens revolt against what looks like retaliation. Kate, an independent, newly recruited detective, decides to take matters into her own hands when her superiors fail to make sufficient progress.

With the help of the other recruits and her new monster friends, she’ll have to find the culprit lest she lose both her job and the rights of monsterkind.

5. Prudent Prandium

Spicy food, cryptic games, and friendship start…? Also, being on-call kinda sucks.

“Thanks again for picking me up,” I said as I climbed off Sans’ motorcycle.

When he had finally sent me the address to their place, I was surprised to find out that buses didn’t travel that far north of Ebott. Sans had been quick to offer himself to take me to his home. I had been reluctant to accept his offer, but when he showed up at my apartment on a space blue motorcycle wearing a leather jacket and fingerless gloves, it was hard to say no. Especially with the prospect of riding a motorcycle as cool looking as his.

“Of course! I can even drop you off afterwards,” he said, parking the cycle. I cringed at the offer, having thought I could just walk back when it was late enough that he would have forgotten.

I gazed around myself as he led me to the front door, the sparse streetlights not doing justice to the beautifully decorated garden just in front of the house. With the cute fairy lights strung up along the house, I barely made out a manicured lawn dotted with wild flowers, full to bursting flower boxes lining the brown porch, and a wooden swing seat hanging on it. It felt cosy what with the warm lights coming from the windows and how peaceful the entire neighbourhood was.

“What time would you like to go back?” Sans asked, reminding me to follow after him on the cobblestone path, and that he wouldn’t let me walk back home if he had any say in it.

I sighed before responding. “If nine isn’t too late, I could go back then?”

“Perfect! Ample time to show you my puzzles!”

I chuckled as he bounded up the steps, curious as to what his puzzles may be.

“Welcome to my humble—duck!”

Surprised by the sudden command, I didn’t react in time and got a face full of pie. My eyes were screwed shut as I tried to process what just happened. I recognised Papyrus snickering which was quickly interrupted by the chastising voice of Sans. With a comical splat, the pie fell from my face and I began removing the cream from my eyes. I took a tentative lick and was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted.

“Mmm. Blueberry?”

The bickering stopped and I watched the brothers curiously. Sans’ back was toward me and I couldn’t make out Papyrus’ face with the light behind him.

“Was that the dessert?” Sans asked, and I watched Papyrus deny it vehemently as I took another lick of icing.

“If it was, it’s berry nice,” I commented, content with cleaning my face with my tongue. Sans snorted before turning to me with an apologetic expression on his face.

“Sorry, Kate. I’ll show you the bathroom.” I shrugged and he led me into the house, pausing in the threshold to tell Papyrus to clean up his mess before leading me past a couple of rooms.

I tried taking everything in, the warmth of the house rivalling that of Muffet’s as a spicy aroma invaded my nose. Sans moved too quickly for me to notice much other than the yellow lighting in the living room and dimmer lights as we walked into a hallway.

“Sorry about Papyrus,” he started as I admired the family pictures lining the wall. “I told him to deactivate his pranks.”

I shrugged. “Eh. I walk into the shared house of the legendary prank master. I should’ve been more prepared.” After spending an afternoon pranking his protégé, I should have anticipated him doing something like this.

Sans gave me an odd look as he stopped in front of a wooden door. He considered me for a moment as I wiped away more icing to lick. He shook his head, perma-grin widening before gesturing to the door. “Bathroom. You may use what you need. Can I trust you’ll find your way to the living room?”

I nodded in confirmation and he gave me a smile before exclaiming that he had to make sure that Papyrus didn’t actually mess with the dessert. I watched him rush off, a grin on my face, before entering the bathroom. I was pleasantly surprised—for the second time that night—to find it decorated with many potted plants and succulents. Marvelling at the green and grey tiling, I wondered whether skeletons even needed bathrooms.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I grimaced at the sight of cream in my braids and on my outfit, and got to work removing as much as I could. A couple of washcloth rinses later, I was scrutinising my face for any residual cream. I gave myself a reassuring smile as I tried to wrap my head around the fact that I was in the house of new friends, removing cream from my braids after being pied. I snorted at the thought, the reality of it being too ridiculous to actually be true and yet there I was.

I was ready to leave when a notification on my phone gave me pause. Removing it from my pants, I was pleasantly surprised—again—that it was a text from my brother. He was responding to the image that I had sent almost a month ago. I deflated at the late reply, vague congratulations after apologising for forgetting, before switching off my phone. Heaving out a sigh, I switched it on again to respond as patiently as I could before another notification appeared on my screen.

I immediately clicked on the chat, wondering why Papyrus was texting. He had slipped his phone number into my purse after the pranking and after a while of deliberating—and pretty much forgetting that I had it—I had decided to text him. I quickly found out that that had been a mistake as he bombarded me with jokes and memes that had me laughing more frequently than I should have been. My eyes flicked up to the earlier image of a duck holding a knife in its beak, and I clucked my teeth as I realised that he had been warning me about tonight.

At the sight of a sticker of someone raising their eyebrows, I realised that I had been in the bathroom for too long. Tucking my phone away, I did a last once over before making my way back to the living room, guided by the wall of pictures. My nose scrunched up when I found Papyrus lounging on the sofa, pink slippers on the seat as he rested his head on his hands with his sockets closed.

When I cleared my throat to alert him of my arrival, he opened a singular socket and raised a hand in greeting before going back to napping. I shook my head as I took a seat on a free chair, moving the cushion so it rested on my lap.

“Duck, huh?”

He snickered at my comment and despite my earlier annoyance at not having realised what the image had meant, I laughed along with him.

“Nice place,” I said, looking around the room when he didn’t say anything afterward. The living room was cosy with warm lights on the walls beside more pictures and art. Shelves hung beside the TV, holding books, boardgames and what looked like videogames. He didn’t immediately respond, and I busied myself with trying to make out some of the pictures on the walls instead.

The sound of shifting clothes had me glancing back at him and I was surprised that he was already looking in my direction. His eyes flickered to the entrance to another room where soft noises and delectable scents were coming from, before flicking back to me.

“Why a cop?”

I furrowed my brows at the question, or rather, his tone of voice. He was speaking low as if he didn’t want his brother to hear and he almost sounded accusatory, as if I was the one sneaking around family.

Well.

“To protect and serve,” I shrugged.

He scoffed and I immediately got defensive, readying a response on my lips. As though sensing that an argument was about to break out, Sans waltzed into the living room with a beaming smile. He shot a withering glare at Papyrus who sighed and sat up properly on the couch before turning back to me with a radiant smile. I smiled back weakly, ignoring the wary look Papyrus was sending me behind his brother.

“Welcome, again, to our humble home,” Sans said, taking a seat on another chair. With each of them on either side of me, I had the weirdest sensation of being trapped. I quelled the strange feeling before responding to him.

“Heh, yeah.” I scratched at the side of my face. “Thank you for inviting me.”

We continued with some idle talk, Papyrus speaking up only when his brother asked him to, and I found myself getting more and more comfortable in the cosy environment. Before long, Sans suggested we actually eat before the food got cold. I followed after his enthusiastic movements, chuckling along the way as Papyrus trailed after us. I stumbled to a stop when we reached the dining room, my eyes widening at the sight before me.

The lights had been dimmed and candles lit, decorating the table beside the multitude of closed serving dishes. I glanced down at my black jumpsuit, feeling completely underdressed for the occasion. Although, what occasion it was, I wasn’t entirely sure. Sans pulled out my chair for me before taking his own seat at the head, Papyrus sitting across from me.

“This is a lot for a simple friendship dinner,” I mumbled.

“Well, friendship is far from a simple occasion, and requires all extravagance,” Sans explained, his hands clasped on the table.

“And he wanted an excuse to cook,” Papyrus snickered.

“Hush, brother,” he smiled. “I hope you don’t mind a bit of spice,” he said, before opening one of the dishes.

Hot steam bundled out, carrying with it scents of well-seasoned food and a plethora of spices. My mouth watered at the foods hiding within the dishes and I couldn’t wait to actually taste them, wondering if they had magic infused in them too.

“I don’t mind,” I finally said, remembering Sans’ concern for me.

He passed a dish to me filled with what he told me was Spanish Rice and I scooped a healthy helping of it onto my plate, sighing as more steam wafted into my face. He continued passing me dishes until I could barely see the plate underneath. I flushed at the thought of me being greedy, but Sans seemed ecstatic that I had taken so much, even offering me more despite my already overladen plate. At Sans’ encouragement, we tucked in, the silence occasionally broken by my appraisal of the food.

“Alphys tells me your training is going well.”

I looked up sharply from my food, first glancing at Sans who was concentrated on his own plate, before finding Papyrus’ gaze who was trying desperately not to laugh. I pursed my lips together as I felt the beginning of my own laughter, before going back to my food.

Alphys still hadn’t forgiven me for the prank and was taking it out on me during our training sessions. My sores throbbed at the reminder before the feeling was washed away with a spoonful of food.

“That’s good to know,” I finally said, when I felt my laughter wouldn’t burst out of me.

He continued asking a couple more work related questions which I answered dutifully, trying my best to ignore the scrutinising look Papyrus seemed to be giving me. As I cut into a tamale, I realised that I had done a poor job of getting to know my hosts.

“Where do you work, Papyrus?” I glanced up at him from the food and watched him shrug.

“Ebott.”

I snorted into my food while Sans grumbled beside me.

“Seriously?” He was smirking at me and I had the distinct feeling that he wouldn’t give me any more information. “Is it better than the Underground?”

I realised my mistake as soon as I said it. The table descended into quiet and I looked up to find both of them focused intently on their food. I stumbled over my words to amend my mistake.

“Sorry- I didn’t mean- I was just curious…”

“That’s okay,” Sans said gently. He was still focused on his meal, but it didn’t seem forced anymore. “It is much better on the surface.”

I ducked my head in understanding, scolding myself for bringing up what must have been a traumatic experience at the literal dinner table. The meal was silent after that, all conversation ceasing after my mistake. The atmosphere lightened again when Sans brought in the dessert, the table having been cleared with a surprising efficiency from the duo. It was a blueberry cobbler, if the blue oozing out of the pie crust was anything to go by, and I was once again overwhelmed by how good it smelt.

“Toriel taught me how to make pies,” Sans said conversationally, as he dished out slices. He gave me an especially large piece and I was glad that I had a separate stomach for dessert.

“You mean the queen of the Underground?” I asked incredulously, once I had actually registered what he said. He grinned at me as he scooped some vanilla ice cream onto my plate, enough to cover the remaining space on it. After the meal we just had, I didn’t know whether I’d actually be able to finish it. Papyrus was looking at me like he doubted I would, and I decided that I would prove him wrong.

“You guys must have been pretty close,” I said before taking a bite of food. I let the sweet flavours of the dessert envelop me, as more magic washed over me.

“Yes, well, we had to look after each other,” Sans responded.

I was reminded of what Alphys said back at Toriel’s house and subsequently how horrible it must have been to be down there. My stomach twisted in sympathy as I stared down at the food.

“I’m glad you guys made it out,” I said softly. Sans hummed in acknowledgement before spluttering in outrage. I lifted my head in time to catch Papyrus squeezing a mountain of honey on top of his slice of pie. My nose wrinkled in distaste as Sans grilled him about how that was going to ruin the flavour profile of the food.

I watched them bicker back and forth, idly putting portions of pie in my mouth. I couldn’t even taste it anymore, an acrid feeling settling in my stomach as I watched their sibling dynamic unfold. I shut my eyes briefly when they stung before opening them again to find an empty plate.

“Have you ever played battleship?” I started, blinking rapidly to clear my blurry eyes. I nodded my head in answer which seemed to make his smile widen.

“Then I shall show you no mercy!” He pulled me out of my seat and I dazedly followed after him, vaguely aware of Papyrus behind us. He led me to the living room where he pulled out cushions from underneath the coffee table and sat me down on one of them. He collected a variety of game boxes from the shelf before taking a seat opposite me. Papyrus was sprawled on the couch beside us, his feet off the coach and his sockets drifting closed as Sans set up the game.

I furrowed my brows as I watched him. “This isn’t battleship.”.

“It’s slightly modified,” he replied, waving me off before starting a very advanced and seemingly life-threatening game of battleship.

Needless to say, I lost. A lot. But the snickers from Papyrus and Sans’ shouts of victory had me enjoying it all anyway before we moved onto different games. Sans showed me more of his puzzles; modified games tricked up with circuits; various 3D shapes with colour coded solutions, and picture puzzles that weren’t all that they seemed. We didn’t actually play any of them, save for the strange puzzle, as he explained that they would take far too long to actually complete with the limited time that we had. He did insist that we play one of his modified game boards though.

“How did you…?” Sans was looking at me with an awed expression on his face, while Papyrus’ brows were raised in mild surprise.

I shrugged in answer, giggles escaping me as the aftermath of good food and warm company lulled me into a state of bliss. “I’m a detective in training. You really thought I wouldn’t be able to sus you out?”

“Huh.” I glanced at Papyrus whose brows were now furrowed as Sans started resetting the puzzle.

“That has to constitute as cheating of some kind,” he grumbled, putting the pieces in a new order as I watched the pattern grow.

“Don’t hate the player,” I chuckled. I glanced at Papyrus again, who hadn’t stopped staring at me since I mentioned being a detective.

“See something you like, Rus?” I asked as I started the updated puzzle. Sans was watching the board intently, smirking oh so slightly when I moved a piece in seemingly the wrong place, giving me the hint that I needed to move it somewhere else.

He snorted in answer, finally flicking his gaze toward the board as I tried to figure out the solution to Sans’ puzzle by his expressions alone. I could try to figure out the pattern on my own, but watching his face change was far more interesting. He grumbled when the blue light switched on, indicating I had figured out the puzzle and I laughed, surprised that my plan had worked again.

“Okay! This arrangement will certainly confound you!” He didn’t seem discouraged in the slightest, shifting the arrangement of the pieces yet again. His quick movements were interrupted by his phone going off, a jaunty sound that matched his personality perfectly. He reluctantly dug it out of his pocket, frowning when he saw who was calling.

“I’ll be a second,” he said as he left the living room. We watched his retreating figure, his voice annoyed as he answered the phone. I contented myself with creating my own puzzle for him to solve when he came back, a simple arrangement that could be easily figured out by the likes of Sans. I felt Papyrus looking at me again as I searched for some scrap paper to write down my clue.

“Detective, huh?” I hummed in answer, scribbling down a couple of lines of corny poetry for him to figure out later.

“I swear I mentioned it before,” I said when he wouldn’t stop staring. I smiled at my work before finally facing him. He was still staring at me, like I was one of Sans’ puzzles he was trying to work out. I stuck my tongue out at him, dopey and comfortable after the food and the warmth that their home provided, that I didn’t even think about it.

He stuck out an orange tongue in return and my eyes widened at the sight, new questions forming in my mind at the use of magic. I was about to ask when Sans walked back into the room, an annoyed expression on his face. It was so foreign on a place I was used to seeing joy and excitement that my previous questions were replaced with one of concern.

“What’s wrong?”

“Work call,” he waved me off, the expression disappearing with it. “I have to get to the station urgently.”

“Did something happen?” I asked, vaguely remembering what his role in the police department was.

“Nothing to worry about,” he smiled. “I shouldn’t be long. You don’t mind waiting, do you?”

“I don’t mind,” I said, glancing at my phone for the time to find that the night was still young.

“Wonderful!” He beamed and I really did think that everything was fine. He turned towards his brother who had been watching the encounter with that curious expression of his. “I’ll be off, then. Papyrus…?”

Papyrus rolled his eyes at the notion, his face shifting back into a lazy expression. “Yeah, yeah. See you bro.”

Satisfied, he turned on his heel, waving once more before leaving the house. We listened for the click of the door and the disappearance of the roar of his motorcycle before turning to each other.

“What was that all about?” I asked, leaning over to place a cushion in my lap. It suddenly felt very wrong to be in this house with only Papyrus.

He shrugged in answer. “Making sure I don’t set up more pranks while he’s gone.”

I snorted, fully believing that he was capable of that, before the room descended into an almost uncomfortable silence. My previous questions resurfaced as my eyes wandered over him in their travel of the room. He had lifted his feet back onto the couch, a fuzzy pink slipper bouncing rhythmically to his moving foot while his eye sockets were closed. I watched his chest rise and fall and before I could ask how he breathed, an eye peeked open and he smirked at me.

“See something you like, Kate?”

I snorted, a smile creeping onto my face before I asked, “how does that work?” He cocked his head to the side—as best as he could, considering he was lying on the couch—in question.

“Breathing. Your tongue,” I gestured to the entirety of him on the couch. “You. How does it work?”

A shit eating grin grew on his face, and I narrowed my eyes at him warily.

“Magic,” he said, giving me jazz hands. I tossed my cushion at him in response, catching him completely off guard. It landed directly on his face and he flailed in surprise. I laughed at the sight of his surprised expression as the cushion slid off him before it was thrown back to me, knocking me onto my back. I chuckled up at the ceiling before the room descended into quiet again, slightly more comfortable than before, but still distinctly wrong. Craning my neck, I caught sight of the empty shelf beside the TV and wondered whether Papyrus would continue showing me his brother’s puzzles. I thought back to how he watched us go through some of them, an amused look on his face whenever I had struggled, and realised that he probably wouldn’t. With a sigh, I moved to return the boxes where they belonged.

As I placed the final one back, save for the one I had set up for him, I caught sight of the videogames on the other shelf. I perused some of the titles, aware of Papyrus’ gaze on me, as it had been the entire time I was tidying up.

“Never heard of some of these before,” I commented, picking up what looked like a rip off of a generic racing game, if the cars were snails and the words were illegible, at least. I showed the game to Papyrus who shrugged from his recline on the couch.

“Underground Original.”

At that notion, I was inclined to play, more intrigued than anything to see how they made games—and maybe make things a little less awkward. “Can we play?”

He shrugged again before motioning to the TV. Giddy with excitement, I fumbled for the switch before picking up the controllers and passing one to him. He set up the console quickly, opening his account while I watched in wonder as the game set up. It had an overly simplistic eight-bit design with minimal colours and even less story complexity, but it was similar enough to your average racing game that I caught on fairly quickly.

Similar enough that I lost to him time and time again. I blamed it on the fact that I hadn’t played games in ages. I quelled the memory that tried to surface of the last time I played videogames, and instead focused on the next race.

“You still haven’t answered my question, you know,” I said in the middle of another lap.

“You didn’t answer mine,” he replied, hitting my snail with a salt bomb that slowed me down. I grumbled in annoyance as I struggled to catch up. When I was at normal speed again with the help of some healing candy, I asked him what he meant.

“You’re a detective.”

“In training,” I said, ignoring the edge to his voice. It seemed to crop up whenever my work was involved. As I thought back to our first interaction at Muffet’s and the police related conversations we had here, my brows furrowed as we started the final lap, realising something.

“Do you hate cops?”

When he didn’t reply immediately, I turned to watch him, accepting that there was no way I was going to win this round anyway. He had a focused expression on his face as he watched the screen and I almost brushed his silence off for just that. Until I noticed his bouncing leg and I figured he just didn’t want to answer.

Which probably meant that he did hate cops.

I shifted in my seat, not sure how to respond to that. In the silence, he selected a different course when he won the last one and we both picked our snails for the new race. As the timer counted down for the start of the race, I figured a little competitive gaming might incline him to conversation.

“Loser has to answer the winner’s questions,” I said as the race began. He glanced at me in surprise as I leaned forward in seriousness, determined to win this round. He snorted before relaxing further into the couch and if I wasn’t so focused, I would have been offended at his nonchalance.

By the last lap, we were neck and neck, and I was willing my snail to go faster, saving my encouragement boosts for the very end. I barely dodged another bomb, a surprised laugh escaping me as I pushed the praise button, barely beating him to the finish line.

“Huh.” He was looking at the screen in shock, the controller lax in his hands as more surprised laughter escaped me.

“I didn’t agree,” he said, angling a wary look in my direction.

“Relax,” I said through laughs. “I was just gonna ask what other games you guys have.” I wasn’t, but he didn’t look like he would answer my original question.

He gazed at me sceptically before moving to switch out the games in the console. I drummed my fingers on the cushion, trying to stay awake as a food coma beckoned me into its grasp. I watched the title sequence of the new game play out, unfamiliar with the name. As he started a new save file and we went through the tutorial, I realised that it seemed to be a co-op puzzle solving game, the likes of which would impress Sans. He said it was another Underground Original when I asked and I started wondering whether the black and white was a trend with their games.

We played in relative silence, Papyrus occasionally explaining a puzzle when I would get stuck. We managed to get to the third level—the true beginning of the story that was being unfolded as we solved the puzzles—when Papyrus’ phone rang. It was a lazy tune with upbeat punches that had me huffing out laughter through my yawns. I glanced at the time on my own phone, alarmed that it was already past nine and Sans still wasn’t back.

“Sans said to drop you off if you’re tired,” he said once the phone call was over. I blinked a couple of times to register what he said before politely shaking my head.

“I’ll be fine. Is Sans still at the station?” I asked, getting up and stretching. He nodded in answer as he watched my actions carefully. I took a step toward the door and he mirrored my movements. My brows furrowed when it happened again.

“What are you doing?” I asked tiredly.

“Where you going?” he countered.

“Home?”

“I—” he shook his head before continuing. “Sans said to drop you off.”

“And I said I’ll be fine.” I tried moving forward again, but Papyrus wouldn’t let me get to the door. The vague feeling of being trapped came back and I held back a frustrated cry when I was blocked again.

“You’re his guest,” he said, standing in the archway of the living room. “It’s the least he could do. Plus, it’s late.”

I clicked my tongue as I swayed on my feet, really wanting to be in bed right now. My eyes whizzed around the room in search of another exit, but I quickly realised that there was no getting home without an escort. Reluctantly, I accepted the offer, not really wanting to upset Sans. At my surrender, Papyrus went to switch off the game console, saving our progress before doing so. He led me out the house, locking the door behind him then turned to survey the dark street. I followed in his stead, the open space freeing as a cool breeze woke me up enough to realise that we might be teleporting. My stomach twisted and I wrinkled my nose at the thought of losing all the good food I had eaten.

“Are we teleporting?” I asked, hoping that the answer would be no.

“Yup. Where’s your place?” I sighed before telling him the name of my apartment and the street it was on. He hummed in response before suggesting a walk.

“I thought you knew a shortcut,” I said, taking a cautious step back.

His eyes widened slightly and I warily watched him scratch at his hoodie.

“I’ve never been to your apartment,” he started carefully, raising his hands at my defensive stance. The sight made me frown, something about it feeling distinctly wrong. “And the closest shortcut is out of the neighbourhood.”

At his placating response, I relaxed my stance, realising that I may have been overreacting having just had dinner at their place. He dropped his hands, stuffing them into his hoodie before offering me a weak smile and starting down the road. I moved to match his slow gait, letting the cool air sober me more as we walked in silence.

“How do your shortcuts work?” I asked as we finally passed a street lamp. I twisted around to see where the last one had been and frowned at the distance. Under the dim lighting, I barely made out his shit eating grin and I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously.

“And don’t say magic,” I added, causing him to snicker. He was otherwise silent as we walked, and I had to turn to him a couple of times to make sure that he hadn’t suddenly disappeared on me.

“Know how human shortcuts work?” I nodded my head in answer, startled at the sudden sound. “Same concept.” I listened intently as he explained complex physics to me in layman terms, talking about making pockets in space to get to different places quicker. I watched him gaze at the stars as he spoke, realising that this was the most he’s ever said to me in one go since we met. His voice jumped and faltered, changing pitch occasionally as he cleared his throat often and I found myself smiling as I grasped what he was saying.

“So, it’s not really teleporting after all, huh?” I said once he’d finished explaining. We were still walking and I was beginning to wonder whether we were really slow, or the neighbourhood was just a lot bigger than I thought it was. He nodded his head in answer, scratching at the front of his hoodie before we fell into silence again. It wasn’t long before we stopped just past the last house and he offered out his hand.

“Am I going to puke again?” I asked, wary of going through another shortcut.

“Probably,” he grinned. I sighed before taking his hand, closing my eyes to somehow dull the sensation of silent weightlessness followed by sudden gravity. I kept my eyes shut for a bit longer, clutching at my stomach and urging it to settle down.

When I felt that the food would stay down for a little longer, I opened my eyes, and immediately squinted them at the bright lights. We were near the centre, alright. Looking around to gather my bearings, I noticed we were pretty close to the nursing home I took night shifts at. With that knowledge, I turned around and took charge in the direction of my apartment, wanting to be in the safety of my home before the food started rioting.

“What?” I asked when he kept glancing at me with an odd expression on his face.

I blinked before laughing, the approach of the end of the night combined with the shortcut then the sudden movement making me slightly delirious—and queasy. Or I may have just been surprised that his usually lazy countenance was keeping up with my faster gait.

“Let’s just hurry up,” I replied when my stomach twisted. We walked in silence again, the bright lights of the city disorienting me and my stomach as we moved closer to my apartment quickly.

He whistled as we neared it, and it only occurred to me then how impressive it actually was. Lit up by security lights and the glowing sign, it fit right into the inner city’s dazzling environment and reminded me how dim the monster neighbourhood had been. I frowned at the thought, my stomach twisting in tandem with it.

“You live here,” he started, a surprised look on his face. “On a policeman’s salary?”

I looked up at the building briefly before shifting my gaze back to him. I shrugged in response, an awkward smile on my face. “We’re not even getting paid.”

I regretted it as soon as I said it, his face shifting into wary concern as I kicked myself internally. Ignoring the look, we covered the remaining distance to the entrance quickly where I turned and gave him a forced smile.

“Goodnight Papyrus,” I said, my stomach twisting again in warning. He nodded in response, schooling his expression before turning around to leave.

I watched him take a couple of steps, guilt and nausea writhing in my stomach as I realised that I was overreacting again. Ignoring the warning call to go to the bathroom, I called out to him before he inevitably disappeared.

“We should finish that game sometime,” I said when he turned around expectantly.

He shrugged in response, his expression hard to read in the darkness he had walked into. He raised a two fingered salute before taking a step to the side and disappearing. The sight made me feel sick as I recalled what he had explained to me about shortcuts. Another warning heave from my stomach had me rushing into my apartment quickly, calling out an apology to the owner as I rushed past them.

A visit to the bathroom and a couple of glasses of water later, and I was laying on my bed, collecting myself from the night. I made sure to send Sans a text, gushing over how good the food was and how fun it had been to hang out with them before ruminating over the conversations of the night. I couldn’t deny that Papyrus made me wary as much as he piqued my interest, and if his cautious hostility was anything to go by, then he felt the same.

More wary than interested, anyway.

Groaning, I reluctantly moved from the bed to change into pyjamas and wash off my makeup before collapsing back onto it. I buried my face into the sheets, wanting to somehow block off my running thoughts as my braids splayed around me.

I had started dosing off when I heard my phone ping with a notification. I anticipated a response from Sans, who I’d learned to be a quick communicator over the past week, and whom I realised was probably still at the station. I quickly sent him a concerned text before opening the chat of the notification, my eyebrows rising in surprise when I found it was Papyrus’. Sitting up, I scrolled to the most recent message, rolling my eyes at the duck before reading it. A soft smile crept up on me at the invitation to hang out next week to continue the game we had started.

I responded in the affirmative before grabbing my bonnet and crawling into bed, wondering whether it was a decision made out of caution or intrigue. With a sigh, I finally let the food coma beckon me into a deep sleep.

Masterpost Wattpad Quotev Ao3 ch. 4 | x | ch. 6

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