All I want for Christmas

Day 12: Nerd paradise

Undyne was frantically running down the street. She had asked Papyrus to come with her to find a present for Alphys and now she was late. She hadn't been able to leave the house without telling Alphys where she was going, so she had waited until the lizard-monster went out herself. Sadly, that had been a good 20 minutes later than she had originally planned.

Most humans the fish-lady was passing during her sprint just stared at her in surprise or curiosity, but she chose to ignore them for now.

Undyne could see Papyrus already, patiently waiting in front of the cool store she had found via the internet. It was completely Anime, Manga and game themed, perfect for finding a present for the nerdy scientist.

The former captain of the royal guard came to a stop in front of the tall skeleton, puffing a little bit in the cold air.

"Sorry punk. I was kind of trapped in the house until Alphys left."

"IT'S ALRIGHT UNDYNE!" Papyrus assured, smiling happily at his best friend.

"WE JUST HAVE TO SEARCH BETTER NOW, SO WE CAN MAKE UP FOR ANY LOST TIME!"

"You got it." Undyne said while she carefully stepped into the nerdy store. The bright colors and images overwhelmed her almost instantly.

"How can anyone find anything in here?" She muttered, whirling around to face Papyrus once again. The skeleton looked quite lost himself, not really able to process the completely foreign items and images just yet.

"OK! Mission one: Find something really cute or anything that has something in common with girly romance stuff. Go that? " She instructed. Papyrus nodded and turned away to start his search on the opposite side of the shop.

Undyne looked at some of the shelves around her. There was a whole corner of the store committed to collections of Animes and Mangas, so stuffed and overcrowded it almost looked like the shelves and boxes would burst any minute, although everything seemed to be neatly organized.

She investigated some Animes with interesting covers, but quickly left them be to get to the merchandise sections. She easily found some things related to the Animes she liked herself, but there was nothing about Mew Mew kissy cutie or any of the other romance stuff Alphys liked. Even Papyrus didn't seem to find anything, although he basically exploded with enthusiasm. He returned to Undyne and looked over her shoulder curiously.

"DID YOU FIND ANYTHING?" He asked, eyeballing the items Undyne was looking at.

"Not really. But we have time. She shouldn't be home to soon." Undynes gaze trailed over some big posters with character art on them and landed on a box full of cute plushies.

Buried under some unicorn and cat plushies, Undyne spotted a familiar shape and color.

"They have a Mew Mew kissy cutie plushy!" She exclaimed. She yanked the plushy in the air triumphantly and gave Papyrus a playful noogy with her free fist. Papyrus jerked back and frantically escaped the fish monsters grasp, but he too had a joyful expression on his face.

"WE FOUND SOMETHING!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"This is perfect. Let's doublecheck if there is anything else in here for us."

Papyrus nodded and followed Undyne through the rest of the store. However, it didn't seem to be their lucky day and 20 minutes later the plushy was still the only thing they had found.

"Ugh. That's it. Come on Papyrus, we will go. I'll find something for Alphys somewhere else." Undyne snarled finally.

They walked up to the cashier, who was looking them over skeptically. Papyrus shifted a bit uncomfortably but Undyne simply ignored the obvious distrust the cashier had against them.

The Item was purchased in complete silence, the only spoken words a polite greeting and the prize.

Just as the two monsters turned to leave the store, a small yellow monster opened the door. Undyne took in a sharp breath and ducked behind one of the high shelves, yanking Papyrus along, who stumbled to a stop next to her with a startled yelp.

"Shhh." Undyne hissed, "We have a serious problem."

Papyrus looked at her dumbfounded. She rolled her eyes.

"Alphys is here!" She whispered with urgency. The tall skeletons eyes grew wide.

"OH NO." He mumbled in the quietest voice he could muster, which was still a pretty loud whisper.

Undyne glanced around the corner, spotting the lizard monster cautiously looking at some posters at the far end of the store.

"Ok. Follow me as I say. Mission two: escape the girlfriend without being spotted!"

Papyrus nodded again, completely concentrating on the new task at hand.

Undyne counted to three and the two dashed forward, crouching behind another shelf. The ex-captain of the royal guard and her former student kept the evasive maneuver up for some time, managing to avoid being seen by Alphys during the whole escape. The two almost blew their cover twice, but they managed to hide just in time before the scientist could notice them.

"THAT WAS UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE!" Papyrus breathed out relieved once they stood outside.

"Yeah." Undyne mumbled absentmindedly. Her gaze had fallen on a poster that was hanging on the front door. She hadn't noticed it before. Her whole face lit up suddenly and she performed a friendly suplex on Papyrus, who was caught off guard by the sudden shift in mood. Undyne just screamed happily.

"NGAH! LOOK AT THAT! I FOUND THE PERFECT GIFT!"