I’m sorry, angst? I didn’t quite understand the request so I wrote some fluff! I’m not too sure what angst is, sorry Ollie!
I’m pretty sure this is the longest one! It went through some pretty vigorous rewrites, but I think I got there in the end. I sort of HC classic Papyrus as asexual – I’m not too sure how well I got that across in this though. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your angst–uh, fluff, Ollie! This pair is really cute (definitely not sad at all).
Papyrus scanned over the diagrams
before him, trying to find the baffling solution he couldn’t quite seem to
reach. He’d been working on this puzzle for around a week now, and the longer
he stared at it, the less sense it seemed to make. It was beginning to frustrate
him a little.
“hey paps, what’s the matter?
you’re looking a little puzzled.”
Papyrus didn’t have the energy to
chastise his brother for the pun. Instead, he sighed, folding the
scribble-covered piece of paper. “It’s no use, Sans, I cannot find the
solution!” Feeling defeated, he dropped the diagrams onto the coffee table,
wondering if it was any use coming back to them.
He looked up as he felt Sans
place a hand on his shoulder. His brother’s usual grin was there, but Papyrus
could tell that it was forced. A dreary mood had been hanging over the
Undertale brothers’ house this past week, and Papyrus couldn’t help but feel
that he was to blame. “don’t worry about it, bro. you’re pretty smart, i’m sure
you’ll figure it out.”
Papyrus flushed slightly at the
praise, but shook his head. “OF COURSE—” he cleared his throat, reminding
himself of what Edge liked to call his ‘inside voice’. “Of course I am, Sans.
But sometimes, I feel that even my genius is no match for some puzzles.”
Sans’ grin faded slightly, and
just as he seemed about to respond, there was a knock on the door. Papyrus
immediately leapt up, straightening his battle body. “I’LL GET IT,” he said,
with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm. Sans shrugged, flopping down on the
couch and flicking on the TV. Tutting at his brother’s laziness, Papyrus
marched over to the front door, swinging it open. “BLUE, HOW LOVELY TO—oh…
Stretch, h-hi.”
Blue grinned cheerfully at Papyrus,
wrapping his arms around the taller skeleton’s waist in a tight embrace. “Papyrus!
We didn’t realise you would be here, how wonderful!” Papyrus tried to gather
the will to return Blue’s hug, but a lump had formed in his throat the moment his
had gaze landed on Stretch.
His lazier alternate was
slouching a little more than normal, his hoodie pulled up over his skull. There
was an almost unnatural pallor to his cheekbones, and he seemed to be avoiding
Papyrus’ gaze. “thought you had training with undyne,” he muttered.
Papyrus nodded, adjusting his
scarf uncomfortably as Blue released him, glancing between Papyrus and his
brother with concern. “I—yes, I did… it got cancelled.”
“oh,” was all Stretch said,
before pushing past Papyrus into the living room, dropping down beside Sans on
the sofa. Papyrus felt his soul sink in his chest as he watched him. There was
a weariness about the normally relaxed skeleton that Papyrus harboured a strong
dislike for.
He glanced down at Blue, trying
to force a smile as he guided the small skeleton inside. “Well, I’m happy
you’re here, Papyrus,” Blue said, beaming up at him. “And Papy…” Blue glanced
at his brother, his smile faltering slightly.
“How has he been?” Papyrus asked,
his voice unusually faint.
“It has only been a week,” Blue
said, somberly. “It’ll take time, but I’m sure he’ll be okay!” Papyrus nodded
weakly, but he found himself struggling to take Blue’s words to heart, his soul
feeling heavy in his ribcage. Seeming to sense his friend’s discomfort, Blue
took a hold of Papyrus’ hand, tugging him towards the kitchen. “Come! How about
we get started on dinner before the others arrive.”
Papyrus obliged, but he couldn’t
stop his gaze from flickering back to Stretch before disappearing into the
kitchen. The look on the other skeleton’s face sent waves of guilt through him,
and he suddenly felt a lot less enthused for the night to come.
****
“Papy, you’ve barely touched your
food…”
Stretch brushed off Blue’s
comment with an indifferent wave of his hand. “sorry bro, it’s good, i just…
don’t really have the stomach for it.” Almost on instinct, Papyrus opened his
mouth to scold Stretch for the pun, but immediately snapped it closed upon
remembering that it wasn’t really his place anymore. Much to his relief, the
other three younger brothers sitting at the table groaned slightly, sparing him
the need to express his own disdain. Although in truth, Papyrus had found
himself missing Stretch’s puns this past week.
“Well, Blue, this really isn’t
bad,” Edge said, taking a small bite of the lasagne. “Exquisite use of
seasoning.”
Blue flushed slightly, a small
smile creeping onto his face. But he shook his head. “Well, I can’t take all
the credit—Papyrus did an awful lot of work.”
Edge glanced up at Papyrus, who
felt a twinge of guilt upon seeing the sympathy in his expression. Papyrus
didn’t like being responsible for dampening the moods of others, so he cleared
his throat, nodding. “WELL, I—I helped a bit.” His words trailed off into something
akin to mumbling, and he was grateful when Edge smiled, before turning his
attention away from him.
One of the things Papyrus liked
most about his own alternates, was their ability to understand when he was
feeling uncomfortable—a talent the Sanses didn’t quite seem to possess. As if
on cue, Razz turned to Stretch, a sly grin on his face. “So, how have you been
holding up then?” Coming from anyone else, Papyrus might have thought the
question had been asked out of sympathy for Stretch, but considering it was
Razz, he knew better.
Stretch was silent for a moment,
before shaking his head. “i’d honestly rather not—”
“I imagine it didn’t take long
for you to get back in the saddle—you never were shy.” Papyrus stared at Razz
in bewilderment. The expression on Stretch’s face was strained, as if he was
struggling to hold it together. Razz glanced up at Papyrus, looking almost
vindictive, before turning back to Stretch. “Out of curiosity, how many was it
before you and the creampuff started boning each other? Where did he fall on
your,” Razz smirked, “extensive list?”
Papyrus suddenly noticed that the
whole table had gone silent, the gazes of the five other skeletons all fixed on
Razz and Stretch. Papyrus’ soul ached, and he wished more than anything that he
could say something to silence the smaller skeleton—but he knew it would only
make Stretch feel even worse. “razz…” Stretch’s voice was small, and he sounded
tired. “i really don’t want to talk about this.”
Razz rolled his eyes, huffing in
irritation. “Oh, come on. You two have been eye fucking each other all evening.
If you’re going to make us all put up with it, then the least you could do is
admit that you’re still—”
“Alright, that’s enough!” Papyrus
said, firmly, no longer able to restrain himself. He somehow managed to keep
his voice low, while still injecting a significant amount of conviction into
it. Razz finally fell silent, looking up at Papyrus with a bored expression.
But Papyrus barely spared him a glance, his attention entirely focused on Stretch.
His insides seemed to shrivel as the tell-tale signs of tears began to form at
Stretch’s eye sockets.
He’d been avoiding Papyrus’ gaze
all night, but finally, he looked up, and Papyrus felt as if he could see the
exact moment when his composure cracked. “i—i’m sorry, i have to go—” Stretch’s
voice seemed to break as he rose from his seat, hurrying out of the kitchen
before anyone could stop him. Papyrus heard the front door slamming a few
moments later.
He felt glued to his seat for a
moment, a sick pit forming in his chest. Guilt washed over him, and he didn’t
dare look up, not wanting to see the pity in the other monsters’ eyes.
Eventually, Blue sighed, standing. “I should go talk to him,” he mumbled,
heading for the door.
Papyrus quickly jumped up,
following him. “No—wait. I… I should go,” he said, placing a hand on Blue’s
shoulder.
Blue glanced at him, shaking his
head. “It’s fine, Papyrus, he’s my brother, I should—”
“N-no.” Papyrus straightened his
scarf, pulling himself up. “No,” he repeated, with a little more certitude.
“I’m the one who broke his heart, I should be the one to fix it.” Papyrus
didn’t wait for Blue to respond, not feeling quite up to arguing with the small
skeleton. He paused for only a moment after exiting the kitchen, the sound of
voices slowly picking up again. He felt ashamed. He hated being the one
responsible for that uncomfortable silence—that hesitance to speak of happy
things, as if they might upset him.
Resolutely, he began to mentally
build himself up, before heading for the front door. He found Stretch sitting
on the front porch steps, head resting on his knees as he gazed out into the
slowly falling snow. Taking a deep breath, Papyrus dropped down beside him,
catching sight of small tears trickling down Stretch’s cheekbones. “H-hello, Lazy
Me—um, Stretch.”
Stretch glanced up at Papyrus
briefly, before nodding his acknowledgement. Papyrus felt uncomfortable. He’d
never been very good at handling these types of situations. Comforting people
wasn’t his forte, and while he was more than glad to offer words of
encouragement from time to time, that didn’t feel very appropriate at the
moment. So instead, he carefully reached out an arm, placing it around
Stretch’s shoulders—he was certain he’d seen people do this in some of Undyne’s
animes.
Somehow, this seemed to trigger
something within Stretch, because he immediately broke down, a shaky gasp
escaping him, before he slowly devolved into sobs. He buried his head in
Papyrus’ chest, clutching onto his scarf as he cried. “Oh—oh no, please don’t
cry, Stretch,” Papyrus said, rubbing his hand over his alternate’s back. “I’m
sorry—I’m… I’m so sorry, tell me how to make it better, I’ll—”
Stretch shook his head, and
Papyrus was surprised when he heard a soft laugh between the whimpers. “oh—oh
geez no, p-paps you—you haven’t d-done anything wrong…”
“Then why are you so upset? Was
it Razz? You shouldn’t listen to such things, Stretch! I don’t think he’s quite
yet learned the etiquette of—”
Again, Stretch chuckled quietly,
his breath hitching. “nah, it’s—well, s-sort of, i just…” He trailed off,
looking up at Papyrus. Fresh tears began to form at the corners of his eye
sockets, and he released a heavy breath, shaking his head. “i—i want you to
know that—” He broke off, hands forming fists around Papyrus’ scarf.
Papyrus ran a soothing hand over
his spine, wishing he knew how to make this better. “It’s okay, Stretch. You
can tell me anything. I’m your friend.”
Again, Stretch shook his head.
“ah—stars pap, you’re killing me here. i—” His breaths were heavy, shaking
slightly as he tried to stifle his sobs. “you were my first, papyrus. you were
my first, and i…” Stretch gasped, struggling against the tears. “and i’m still
in love with you.” He pressed a hand over his mouth, quickly pulling away.
“i—i’m sorry, paps—fuck, i—i’m so sorry, you don’t need this, i’m being stupid,
i—”
Papyrus hastily shook his head,
wrapping his arms around Stretch again. “Don’t be sorry, Stretch. Don’t
apologise. You are still my very great friend.” Papyrus’ soul stung at
Stretch’s confession. He had been Stretch’s first. And to him, it had almost
meant nothing. While he had long battled with his feelings for his lazier
alternate, becoming swept up in the romance, he had soon come to realise that
what he felt for Stretch was nothing more than platonic. In fact, if he was
honest with himself, he wasn’t quite sure he’d ever felt that sort of
attraction to anyone.
He sighed, resting his skull atop
Stretch’s as his friend sobbed against him. He felt guilty. He felt
blameworthy. This was his fault. He shouldn’t have allowed himself to become so
enraptured by their relationship—he shouldn’t have allowed Stretch’s feelings
for him to have become so intense. He’d led him on, allowing him to believe
that they could ever be anything more than friends.
And now, like a puzzle without a
solution, he couldn’t fix it.
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