ShelterTale

ShelterTale Part 13

After Toriel left, Chara stared at where she'd been. "Say, what does Toriel do at the palace? I know Asgore is a royal guard, but she doesn't seem like the fighting type."

"you sure about that, kid? but, nah, you're right. she's the royal healer."

"I figured it would be something like that for a lady like her." Chara smiled, and then turned around, frowning. "Hey, smiley, quit calling me a kid. I'm almost thirteen, so I'm basically a teenager already."

"well, i'm older than you, so i'll just keep calling you a kid," Sans teased with his hands in his pockets.

"How much older?" the ghost demanded.

"older," Sans said dismissively.

"SANS IS FIFTY-SEVEN YEARS-OLD AND I AM FIFTY-ONE, SMALL GHOST CHILD," Papyrus explained over the sound of running water.

"Fifty?! You guys are as old as my grandparents!"

"you invited me to play because you thought i was your age, right, kid?"

Chara smirked at his teasing. "Yeah, I did. You're so short I thought you were just a brat."

"last i checked, you're not any taller than i am."

"Well I still have room to grow. You're already an old geezer."

"and you're a ghost."

That one sentence reminded Chara of a simple fact. When she realized it, she grabbed her hair and stifled a scream.

"heh heh. guess we're both shrimps forever, huh kid?"

Chara squatted down and screamed to herself, and the first prince gave her a pat on the shoulder. "hey, i'm just messing with you, kid. since you're a ghost, you can make yourself look however you want to. you could be taller than papyrus if you felt like it."

"Really?" the girl looked up curiously. "How do I do that?"

"pfft. i dunno," the skeleton shrugged. "i'm just a skeleton. what do i know about ghost stuff? but once you get ahold of your magic, you should be able to fly and pass through walls and stuff too."

Chara's eyes sparkled with mischievous excitement.

"ALRIGHT," Papyrus interjected, "I HAVE FINISHED THE DISHES. WOULD YOU LIKE A TOUR OF THE UNDERGROUND, GHOST HUMAN?"

"A tour, huh? That sounds fun."

"FANTASTIC! LEAVE IT TO THE GREAT PAPYRUS TO SHOW YOU ALL OF THE BEST PLACES!"

The trio strolled the streets of New Home while Chara looked curiously at everything and Papyrus blathered endlessly. Sans got lazy after the first block and just rode one of his blasters for the rest of the tour.

"SANS, YOU LAZYBONES! WOULD IT KILL YOU TO EXERCISE A LITTLE?"

"i dunno. maybe."

"WE ARE GIVING OUR NEW FRIEND A TOUR AND YOU ARE BEING RUDE!"

"i'm tired, pap."

"YOU'RE. ALWAYS. TIRED! JUST GET DOWN HERE!"

"alright, alright. you don't have to yell." Sans hopped off of his blaster and strolled a little. "happy?"

"NYEH HEH!" the second prince beamed.

Sans only lasted a few blocks before Papyrus noticed he'd fallen behind. He doubled back and found the lazy skeleton sleeping standing up in the middle of the road.

"NYEH. HONESTLY, SANS."

"I'm actually a little impressed," Chara admitted. "He doesn't slack off when it comes to being lazy."

"PLEASE DON'T IMITATE HIS TERRIBLE HUMOR," the second prince begged, picking his brother up to carry him piggyback style.

"Is he normally like this?"

Papyrus frowned and lowered his volume a fraction of a degree. "SANS HAS ALWAYS HAD A WEAK BODY. HE'S SMALL AND FRAIL AND TIRED ALL THE TIME. HE'S MADE PLENTY OF INVENTIONS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO HELP, BUT THEY DON'T WORK AS WELL ON HIM AS THEY DO ON EVERYBODY ELSE. AND OUR FATHER HAS HIS OWN ISSUES. SOMETIMES IT'S JUST ME TAKING CARE OF BOTH OF THEM."

"The king is sick too?"

"WELL, I WOULDN'T SAY HE'S SICK, EXACTLY. HE HAD AN ACCIDENT WHEN I WAS JUST A BABY--THAT'S WHY HE TALKS THE WAY HE DOES. SOMETIMES HE GETS BAD HEADACHES AND HAS TO STAY IN BED."

Chara kicked a pebble on the road. "Sorry. That sounds rough."

"IT'S NOTHING THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN'T HANDLE!" Papyrus pounded his armored chest. "BESIDES, EVERYONE IN THE UNDERGROUND LOVES US, SO THEY HELP OUT HOWEVER THEY CAN."

The ghost looked up at the skeleton sleeping through this whole not-so-quiet conversation. "Is it fine for Sans to be the crown prince? I mean, can he even stay awake long enough to do the job? You sound pretty responsible, and you're healthier. I know he's the older brother, but wouldn't it be better if you were the crown prince?"

Papyrus lowered his head in thought. "HMMM. TO BE HONEST, I DON'T THINK THAT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA."

"Why not?"

"IF I SAID I WANTED TO BE KING, SANS WOULD STEP DOWN WITHOUT ANY QUESTIONS ASKED, BUT I... I KNOW I'M JUST NOT AS SMART AS HE IS. BEING KING TAKES MORE THAN JUST GOOD INTENTIONS." Papyrus smiled down at the ghost child. "DON'T TELL SANS I SAID THAT, ALRIGHT? HE DOESN'T LIKE IT WHEN I PUT MYSELF DOWN."

"Alright, I won't tell him."