Christmas Wishes || Undertale

Chapter 3: Do You Have Any Word Searches?

Papyrus walked through Hotland towards the MTT Resort. He was sure he could find word searches there, ever since they had remolded to add a gift shop they always had lots of books stocked. He was hoping they wouldn't be too busy, what with monsters out scrambling for last minute gifts. He would have liked to have come the night before after training with Undyne but he didn't want to be late coming home and have Sans notice. That was the one time Sans was sure to be home, waiting for Papyrus to walk through the door and getting unreasonably upset when he was late. When he had become such an advocate for punctuality Papyrus wasn't sure.

Technically he was late getting home right now. His sentry duty was over and normally he'd be one the couch watching a Mettaton program or in the kitchen cooking spaghetti. However, Sans was still at his hot dog stand and wasn't due home for another hour or so. This was especially fortunate because Papyrus had lost his cape on his way to the river person just outside of Snowdin. In his haste the wind had ripped it from his neck and he was unable to catch it before it was blown away. Normally he would have wasted no time going back and looking for it, but Sans' gift took priority. If all went well he would have plenty of time to find it after he got back to Snowdin.

Papyrus strolled through the glass doors and passed the fountain, making his way straight for the shop. Burgerpants was at his usual post, leaning against the counter. A forced, almost painful smile was stretched across his face.

"Welcome to the MTT-Brand Burger Emporium and Gift Shop, home of the Glamburger. Sparkle up your day (TM)."

"Hello!" Papyrus greeted with his signature grin. "I, the great Papyrus, have come to buy word search puzzles! Would you happen to have any for sale?"

"Word searches?" Burgerpants thought a moment before shaking his head. "Nope, sold out of word searches. They're in high demand, little buddy. Our most popular give this year."

"Your most popular gift?!" Papyrus cried. "Has no one heard of the challenges of the junior jumble?!"

"Look, buddy, I just work here," Burgerpants sighed.

"But how am I going to make Sans happy if you're sold out of word searches?!"

Burgerpants paused before answering. "You know none of that made any sense to me, right?"

Papyrus just sighed in response. There went his plan for making his brother happy. What was he supposed to do now? He supposed he could think about that on the way home. He would come up with something, he always did.

Just as he was turning to leave something on the shelf caught his eye. He shifted to get a better look at the item, the cheer slowly creeping back into his smile.

"How much is that one on the edge?" Papyrus asked, gesturing to the item.

"That one?" Burgerpants looked over his shoulder. "It's 700G."

"I'll take it!" Papyrus said. He fished the money out of his pocket before holding it out. "Wowie, I'm making great time! Sans won't even realize I was late!"

-xxx-

He was late.

Sans fought to swallow his panic as his search of the house revealed no Papyrus. He had closed up the hot dog stand early on a whim, an eerie feeling he had that something wasn't right. His first thought had been to come home and check on Papyrus, but the older skeleton was nowhere in sight.

Okay, so he was late. It was no big deal, people were late all the time.

But Papyrus isn't.

It was too early for Frisk to show up, it was probably nothing.

This wouldn't be the first time they had come early.

Where could he be? Where could he have gone other than home?

The path. He had to check the path.

Sans flung the front door open, not even pausing to close it as he raced out of the house. A silent plea ran on a loop through his skull as he stumbled through the snow. Please not again, please not Papyrus, please not my brother, please anyone but him.

It didn't take him long to reach the edge of Snowdin. A thick fog blanketed the path, obscuring his view. He clutched his jacket close to his body and squinted against the wind, scanning the snow for any trace of his brother. After a moment he spotted a splash of crimson against the white snow. He felt a heavy dread settle in his soul as he made his way over to the scarf, fluttering gently in the wind as if to mock him. With trembling hands he picked it up, eyes welling up with blue tears.

It was Papyrus'.

-xxx-

Papyrus was starting to worry.

Sans was rarely late coming home, if for no other reason than how badly he needed a nap. Papyrus had been waiting for over an hour for the smaller skeleton to walk through the door, but nobody came. His worry only grew as time ticked by. He tried doing things to keep himself preoccupied: reading, cooking, watching TV, but none of it seemed to help in the slightest. His thoughts always strayed back to Sans. Eventually he gave up and just sat on the couch with his eyes locked on the door, anxiously drumming his fingers against the armrest. His mind raced with possibilities. What if Sans was stuck somewhere? What if he was hurt? On top of not being much of a fighter, Sans only had 1HP. If a human somehow found their way to the underground and attacked him he wouldn't stand a chance.

Papyrus jumped as a trombone sounded in his pocket. Despite his worry he couldn't help but give a groan in annoyance. How many times would Papyrus have to tell Sans that changing his ringtone was not funny? Only Sans would find a way to get on his nerves when he wasn't even there. He slipped the small cellphone out of his pocket and held it up to his skull.

"You have called I, the great Papyrus! To whom am I speaking?"

"It's Grillby," came the familiar voice from the other end. It hissed and crackled, much like the fire he was made from. "You're going to have to come get Sans. Again."

Papyrus leaped from his seat on the couch. "He's at your bar?!"

"Yeah," Grillby replied. "I cut him off but I suspect he snuck something in. He passed out a few minutes ago."

"I'll be right over," Papyrus said before hanging up the phone.

Luckily the walk to Grillby's wasn't a far one. It was only a moment before Papyrus walked through the door, scanning the room for his brother. He soon spotted him, the smaller skeleton slumped over the par with his hood pulled up. He had apparently found Papyrus' cape and, for some reason he couldn't fathom, was wearing it as a scarf. Papyrus frowned and walked over, stooping to see his face. It was just as Grillby had said. Sockets closed and mouth slightly open to let soft snores adrift. Sans was fast asleep and reeked of alcohol. Papyrus sighed before straightening his posture and looking to Grillby.

"Thank you for calling me, I'll take him home now."

Grillby just nodded as Papyrus crouched down and maneuvered the sleeping skeleton onto his back. The occupants of the bar watched as he carried him out, expression flooded with concern. Sans had been going to Grillby's more often lately sure, but he never skipped coming home entirely. He was always there to make sure that Papyrus had gotten home safely.

After Sans woke up they would need to have a talk about how he had been acting.