Bitter Berries

Chapter 5

I was eleven when I asked Papyrus about school friends for the first and last time. I wasn't sure how to proceed with this situation, even with the few things I could recall from my life before this, I didn't know how to help a kid make friends especially since the only one I could really consider a friend was Muffet, and I didn't really see her outside of work very often. Muffet was a very homebody sort of person, she didn't have much interest in being outside of her home and the workplace.

That wasn't to say I didn't do anything per say, I did try to get kids to interact with Papyrus and it seemed to work in the beginning but none of them really stuck around and would drift off to other kids, leaving my brother behind. I knew on some level that Papyrus as a character was very positive and kept going even when things didn't go very well, but it still shocked me to see Papyrus so happy, still laughing and beaming brightly in person.

I asked him about that at some point, when we were sitting on the porch, it had been getting colder during that time so I had bought some hot chocolate packets and marshmallows to pour into some warm milk and carry it out to Papyrus as we sat there together underneath a large blanket. He had a small orange mug while I had a teal chipped mug, both cradling our own as we leaned against each other.

"How do you always manage to be so happy, Paps?" I asked him, gazing down at him. Papyrus was still shorter than me and it kinda bothered me knowing that at some point that he would be much, much taller than me, but he was still small now so I could easily hook him underneath my chin.

Papyrus didn't immediately answer but when he did, it was with a smile. "WELL, BROTHER, IT'S BECAUSE EVEN WHEN THINGS DON'T GO MY WAY THE FIRST OR SECOND TIME, I KNOW I HAVE TO KEEP TRYING. LIKE YOU DO!" He didn't give me time to respond as he carried on. "I KNOW YOU GET SAD SOMETIMES, SANS, BUT THAT DOESN'T STOP YOU FROM SMILING AND TRYING AGAIN."

"I WANT TO BE LIKE YOU, BROTHER!"

I couldn't find a good response to that, feeling so choked up with emotion, so I just snuggled my brother closer to me as we enjoyed our hot chocolate and marshmallows and watched the snow fall down from the cave's surface.

It was later when I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling did I wonder how the brother I knew now, became the laidback, depressed brother of the modern Swap Papyrus. I couldn't help but hope that maybe I could change or already changed enough to avoid the full force of that.

I was eleven years old when I asked Papyrus about school friends for the first and last time. I was fourteen when Papyrus walked into our home with a carry-on clutching tightly onto his hand as she hid behind him shyly. I turned from the counter to stare at the familiar firey red hair behind my brother.

Papyrus smiled and leaned to the side slightly as he used his free hand to gesture at the shy fish monster that nervously adjusted her glasses as she gazed up at me. "BROTHER, THIS IS MY FRIEND, UNDYNE. UNDYNE, THIS IS MY BROTHER, SANS."

Undyne (Oh my lord, she's so small!!) fidgeted nervously, taking a moment to gather her courage to speak. "H-hello, Sans. It's nice..to meet you." She was shorter than me but she was taller than Papyrus, her red hair was down and, in her face, Undyne was thankfully wearing a coat and some pants so she couldn't have been too cold out, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was still colder than what me or Papyrus would be since she was a fish monster so she was more sensitive to the weather in Snowdin.

I smiled and waved at her. "It's nice to meet you, Undyne. It's nice to meet one of Papyrus' friends, bugger likes to hide them from me." I ignore the squawk from my brother as I wrap my arm around his neck to give him a noogie and the slightly confused look that Undyne had. I chuckled as Papyrus' hands flailed around as he tried to free himself from my hold.

"RELEASE ME, BROTHER! YOU'RE EMBARRASSING ME IN FRONT OF UNDYNE."

I grinned wider as I released my brother from my hold, who immediately stumbled away with a pout. Undyne giggled softly behind her hand as she watched the interaction. I would have held on longer and maybe did some usual silly sibling bullying but I decided to embarrass my dear brother on a later date, not wanting to scare Undyne off.

"Welp," I started, clasping my hands together, gaining Undyne and Papyrus' attention. "I'll leave you kids alone; I have some things to take care of. Undyne, if you haven't called your parents yet, please do so they know you're here. Our phone is in the kitchen. Papyrus, don't set the house on fire, and I'll see you for dinner time."

Undyne's confusion seemed to grow while my brother simply nodded, used to this routine of ours. I didn't like it, but there were times when I couldn't just bring Papyrus along for everything I did, and it became more and more times the older we got, and I was able to grab more jobs to get some extra cash to support us more. However, I trusted Papyrus not to do anything stupid and I seriously doubted Undyne would do anything bad either. "OF COURSE, BROTHER, SEE YOU SOON. I LOVE YOU."

I smiled, straightening my coat as I patted Papyrus' head. "Love ya too, Paps, and I will see you soon. Have fun with your friend."

I bid my goodbyes to both of them before stepping out of our house to head to my other job.