Work Text:
Papyrus is shoved to the ground, his only complaint is a small whimper.
He smiles up at Juvisy, hoping he didn’t notice.
His luck was never good.
“Awh, what the heck Papyrus? You really whining now? Come on, you’re the Prince! You can’t be weak.”
Papyrus sniffles, shaking his head frantically, “NO, NO! I-“
“Shut up, Papyrus.”
Papyrus flinches, staring up at his other friend, Rochechouart, though her friends call her Roche for short.
“S-Sorry, Rochecourt…”
“It’s Roche-cho-u-art! Rochechouart! How the fuck are you so dense that you can’t remember your friend’s name?!”
Halles, the last one in their friend group, kicks him in his chest, his horse legs giving it more force.
Papyrus takes it without complaint.
He can’t, he has to be good for his friend! They have to practice their magic.
Juvisy walks towards to where Papyrus is trying to cough away the feeling of getting the wind knocked out of him.
Since Papyrus doesn’t technically need air, Juvisy doesn’t pause as he places his hand on his shoulder, cutting of the magic lines to his arms. Juvisy’s magic is really weak, so he’s learning about magic lines through monsters so he can be a doctor.
“Now, now, Halles, don’t be so mean… it was an honest mistake, right Papyrus?”
Even as Papyrus’s arm starts to become numb (which will become sore later) since the magic lines to his arm is being cut off, he still nods earnestly, agreeing to Juvisy’s words.
They all look at each other, and grin.
“Well, you gotta make up for that mistake, right?”
———
“Meet us after school, Papyrus.”
Papyrus nervously waits in front of his school, hoping his friends gave up and left since he took extra long to pack up.
It’s not like he doesn’t like his friends! He’s very grateful for them!! It’s just… Sans is coming with Mr. Asriel is picking him up today… he really wants to hang out with his brother, and he doesn’t wanna be late!
Suddenly, he’s pushed on his back, cracking his head on the concrete face-first. Luckily, Papyrus has since learned out to only come out of a move like that with a slight bruise.
“Haha, Papyrus, you gotta be more self-aware!”
Papyrus pulls himself up, rubbing his head.
“Y-YEAH—“
“Papyrus.”
“S-Sorry…”
Juvisy clears his throat, “So, today we’re—“
“papyrus!”
Papyrus perks up at hearing his name called, knowing it’s Sans. He turns to quickly wave at him, before turning back to Juvisy, Rochechouart, and Halles.
Papyrus shuffles his leg, “S-Sorry, Juvisy, That’s My Brother… We Can Play Tomorrow, Though!”
Papyrus can feel his friends staring at him, perhaps in disappointment.
Papyrus holds his breath, waiting for an answer.
Finally, Juvisy sighs, waving Papyrus away, “I guess we wouldn’t wanna leave your family waiting.”
Papyrus grins gleefully, “THANKS GUYS!!”
For once, they don’t say anything about his volume.
Papyrus runs down the steps of the school into Sans’s arms, hugging him and spinning him around.
“BROTHER! YOU CAME!!”
“‘course i did bro.”
Mr. Asriel snorts, patting Papyrus’s skull, “Nice to see you too, kid.”
Racing ahead, Papyrus yells, “COME ON! LET US GET HOME SO WE CAN PLAY!!”
Papyrus runs around the two of them, trying to burn off the excited energy.
Only when Papyrus sits down on the bench from dizziness, does Sans walk up to him.
He tsks, “knew i saw somethin’. yo, mister, come’n look at this.”
Mr. Asriel walks up to him, and they both peer down at Papyrus, concerned. Papyrus blinks up at them with a mix of confusion and worry.
Tapping the bruise lightly while Mr. Asriel heals it, Sans asks, “papyrus, why do you have a bruise there?”
And Papyrus grins, replying how he always had, with the truth, “OH, THAT’S BECAUSE I WAS PLAYING WITH MY FRIENDS!”
A pause, then Sans narrows his eye sockets, “…playing— how?”
Papyrus tilts his head in confusion, “HUH? WHY??”
“Just answer, please, Papyrus…” Mr. Asriel says, putting a band-aid over the now-healed bruise.
“I CAN’T ANSWER ANYWAYS! IT’S SUPER COOL, TOP-SECRET NINJA STUFF.”
Papyrus hears a sigh, and he looks up again to see Mr. Asriel bending down to be eye level with him.
“Papyrus… we just wanna make sure that you and your friends are being safe when playing.”
Papyrus nods his had frantically, “WE ARE BEING SAFE! IT WAS MY FAULT THAT I GOT HURT ANYWAYS!”
Sans sits down next to him, lacing their metacarpals together, “howzzit your fault, bro?”
“IF I ONLY WAS MORE SELF-AWARE, AS A TRUE NINJA SHOULD, THEN I WOULD HAVE REALIZED JUVISY WAS LAUNCHING A SNEAK ATTACK ON ME!” He explains, “BESIDES IT WAS ONLY A SMALL SHOVE, I AM FINE, AND I AM SAFE!!”
Sans looks a bit upset at this, “paps, i don’t think your friends should be pushin’ ya.” Sans looks up at Mr. Asriel for confirmation, and Papyrus looks at him too, if only to try to beg silently to see his side.
After a moment, Mr. Asriel sighs, “Sans’s right, kid.”
Papyrus deflates, trying to think of a way to explain this to them so they’ll realize it isn’t as bad as they think it is.
Mr. Asriel grabs Papyrus’s other hand, “Let’s go, we’ll talk about this more when we get home.”
Sans squeezes Papyrus’s hand tightly, “wait, i got one more question,”
Papyrus looks at Sans inquisitively.
“How else do you… play, with your friends?”
Papyrus mulls the answer in his head; maybe if he tells them, then they’ll see it isn’t bad? Surely the others won’t be mad at him for breaking code…
“I LET THEM PRACTICE THEIR MAGIC ON ME!”
———
Things have been weird after that day.
They hurried home to Father, and told him to tell him what he told them. Mr. Asriel looked very mad for some reason, so he did.
But then Father got mad too, and Papyrus had to go to the Royal Scientist for a “Check-up.”
She had to set one of his ribs, because it “healed wrong?”
Papyrus really wasn’t paying attention. Maybe he should’ve been.
Father kept him out of school for a week so he can heal, which sucks because he told his friends he’d play tomorrow.
When he told Sans this, he said he wouldn’t be seeing them for a while.
And when he went back to school, his friends were nowhere to be found.
And when he asked his teachers, they said they all decided to suddenly transfer?
So yes, things have been very weird.
———
“hey, paps?”
Papyrus looks towards Sans, who was walking him to school.
“YES??”
Sans hands him a folded piece of paper, “this is very important, you gotta keep this on you at all times. ”
Confused, Papyrus takes the paper, “OKAY…?”
Looking between Sans and the paper now in his hands, Papyrus unfolds the paper, seeing what was written.
friend • Noun
-a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection
Papyrus furrows his (bone)brows.
“I… KNOW WHAT FRIENDS MEAN??”
Sans only gives him a cheeky smile,
“you never know.”