#fluffbuary

"OKAY, WE'VE GOT HONEY GRAHAM CRACKERS, BUTTER, CREAM CHEESE, SUGAR, EGGS, SOUR CREAM, VANILLA EXTRACT..." Papyrus listed, checking the items in his basket as he and Undyne went through the Underground supermarket. "WHAT ELSE DO WE NEED FOR THE CHERRY CHEESECAKE?"

"How about cherries?" Undyne chuckled.

"OF COURSE! MUSTN'T FORGET THE BEST PART!" Papyrus said with a grin as they walked to the produce section. It was Alphys's birthday today, and her absolute favorite cake was cherry cheesecake(even if it was technically a pie instead of a cake). So while Sans distracted Alphys with some new anime he had found in the dump, Undyne and Papyrus, under the guise of Royal Guard duties, would bake her cake and set up a lovely little party for her at Undyne's house.

But their plans for Alphys's birthday were completely derailed. Because the store was out of fresh cherries.

Undyne and Papyrus looked at each other in alarm and hurried to check the canned goods. But there were no canned cherries and no frozen cherries or cherry pie filling.

"Damn it! There's got to be SOMETHING cherry in this store!" Undyne yelled, startling the other people shopping. She and Papyrus quickly raced through the store, looking for anything cherry they could use as a topping.

But alas, all they could find were cherry popsicles and cherry lip balm. And cherry lip balm definitely wasn't going to cut it.

"Shit, how are we going to make Alphys's birthday perfect if we can't even make her a cherry cheesecake?" Undyne sighed despondently as she looked at their meager finds.

Papyrus glanced down at the box of cherry popsicles he was holding in his hands. "HEY, I'VE GOT AN IDEA! THESE AREN'T CHERRIES, BUT WE COULD PROBABLY STILL COOK THEM DOWN AND USE THEM AS SYRUP! THAT WAY ALPHYS'S CHEESECAKE CAN AT LEAST HAVE A NICE CHERRY FLAVOR!" he suggested, trying to cheer Undyne up.

Undyne's eyes lit up. "Papyrus, you're a freaking genius!"

...

After paying for the groceries and getting them to Undyne's, they set up streamers, balloons, and a big sign that said Happy Birthday, Alphys! in the kitchen, and Papyrus arranged Alphys's presents artistically on the table as well as a vase full of yellow daisies, making sure there was still room for the cake. And then it was baking time!

Papyrus and Undyne split the graham crackers evenly between them and had a race to see who could bash theirs to crumbs the fastest. Undyne of course won, though ended up causing a pretty big crack in her counter.

After they were finished, Papyrus mixed the crumbs with melted butter, smoothed them carefully into a pan, and put them in the oven to bake for ten minutes at 325 degrees, making sure to obey the recipe, while Undyne tossed the filling ingredients in a bowl and mixed them as hard and fast as she could, sending filling flying all over the kitchen.

"UNDYNE, THE RECIPE SAYS NOT TO OVERMIX THE INGREDIENTS." Papyrus warned her, checking the recipe.

"What?! There's no such thing as overmixing! Stirring with all your passion forces the ingredients in line! Makes them release their boldest flavors!" Undyne fiercely informed him.

"OH. OKAY." Papyrus agreed. She was his cooking teacher after all. She did know best.

After Undyne had stirred the ingredients into submission(and spent the next seven minutes complaining about how long the crust was taking), Papyrus finally pulled the beautifully golden brown crust out of the oven. Undyne immediately poured the filling onto it.

"I THINK WE WERE SUPPOSED TO LET THAT COOL FIRST." Papyrus pointed out.

Undyne blinked. "Why? We're just putting it right back into the oven. It's just gonna get hot again."

Papyrus had absolutely no idea why either and just shrugged. "TRUE. NOW LET'S GET THIS PUT IN THE OVEN SO WE CAN MAKE THE SYRUP!" He checked the recipe. "Now we just let this bake an hour at 325 degrees..."

"What?! That's WAY too long!" Undyne complained, then looked thoughtful. "Hmm... Let's bake it for 30 minutes at 650 degrees! That way we can have it out and cooling before Sans brings Alphys back here!"

Papyrus wasn't sure that's how baking worked, but Undyne was more experienced than he was after all. "OKAY, WE'LL GIVE IT A SHOT." He set the cheesecake back in the oven and cranked up the heat.

"Good! Now time to make the syrup!" Undyne grabbed a large pot, and with Papyrus's help, ripped all the plastic off the popsicles in record time and yanked the sticks out of them too, dropping them harshly into the pot. She then used a spoon to smash them all to bits, just because she could. "Okay, turn up the heat!"

Papyrus nodded with a grin and did just so. Undyne's eyes shone. "Hotter!" Papyrus happily obliged, the stove's flames dancing ever higher. "Hotter!"

This time Papyrus hesitated. "Undyne, I don't want to start a..."

"OK, just let me do it then!" Undyne grinned, gently pushing Papyrus out of the way and cranking up the heat even more.

And then the inevitable happened.

KABOOM!

Papyrus still didn't know how it happened, Sans would have said it was scientifically impossible, but a geyser of cherry syrup and half melted popsicle bits shot from the pan, covering both him and Undyne in sticky red syrup, making Undyne yelp and stumble back, only to slip in a growing puddle of the stuff.

Papyrus gasped and turned off the stove, then went to help her, but ended up slipping in more of the cherry syrup and landed right on top of her, knocking the wind out of both of them.

And that's the exact second the door opened.

...

Alphys had had a great birthday. Sans had found the best new anime ever(after Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, that is) at the dump and brought it over as her birthday gift, and they had spent the day watching it in the lab, eating ramen and wearing their PJs. The only thing that would have made it better was if Undyne hadn't had to work that day. But at least she could still see her best friend and crush this evening.

But as she and Sans went up the walk towards Undyne's house, there was a loud explosion. This didn't worry her, not at first. This was what Undyne was known for, besides being an AMAZING Royal Guard captain. She and Sans were both so used to it that Sans just sighed and pulled a fire extinguisher from his phone's inventory before opening the door.

But the sight that met them on the other side was nothing but horror. Bright red liquid covered the walls, ceiling and floors, and Undyne and Papyrus lay still, too still, in a pile on the kitchen floor, more of the red liquid covering their clothes and bodies and puddling under them.

Alphys's rational mind knew that monsters didn't bleed, but all she could think of was the horror movie she had watched with Undyne last night, and seeing her friends look like the killer's victims... seeing them not moving...

Her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted dead away.

...

"Alphys?! Alphys?" Undyne's worried voice called through the black fog surrounding her and Alphys groaned and opened her eyes, finding herself lying on Undyne's kitchen floor with Undyne, Sans, and Papyrus looking down at her in concern. Her head was resting on something warm and soft, and she realized with a deep blush that it was Undyne's lap.

"You okay?" Undyne asked, her voice shaking as she helped her sit up.

"You're alive." Alphys breathed.

"Huh? Of course I am!" Undyne grinned, then looked sheepish. "We just... kinda had a little accident making the cherry topping for your cheesecake."

"My cheesecake?" Alphys asked, still a bit confused.

"Yeah, for your birthday! We know it's your favorite, so Paps and I spent the day making it for you for your birthday. I just kind of may have turned the heat up too high..." Undyne blushed in embarrassment as she helped her up, but soon brightened. "But hey, we've still got your cheesecake!"

Just then, black smoke started coming out of the oven as a smell of burnt sugar filled the room. Papyrus gasped. "OH NO, THE CHEESECAKE!" He rushed to open the oven door and flames shot out of it.

Thankfully, Sans had dealt with enough Papyrus and Undyne cooking disasters to be prepared. He quickly turned on the fire extinguisher, immediately dousing the fire.

"Thanks, Sans." Papyrus sighed in relief, then went to retrieve the cheesecake. Both he and Undyne stared in dismay at the cracked, blackened, and foam covered mess that was Alphys's birthday cake.

"Um, next year you guys should probably make the no-bake version." Sans commented.

...

"I'm so sorry, Alphys." Undyne sighed a few hours later. The cherry syrup had been cleaned up(though the streamers, banner, and the wrapping on Alphys's gifts still had a few small red spots). In the place where the cake was supposed to be rested a huge platter piled high with marshmallows, a bowl of chocolate Sans had melted for dipping next to them. "We wanted to make you the best cake ever, and instead you ended up with a freaking plate of marshmallows for your birthday. It's my fault. Papyrus TOLD me not to turn the heat up that high..."

"H-Hey, Undyne, it's okay! It was just an accident! Plus, marshmallows are my second favorite dessert!" Alphys reassured her, grabbing a marshmallow and running it through the chocolate before popping it into her mouth.

"We just wanted you to have a really good birthday." Papyrus sighed.

"But I did! I got to watch an awesome anime, I got chocolate covered marshmallows, and best of all, I get to hang out with you guys!" Alphys told them, smiling.

Both Undyne and Papyrus beamed at this. "Well, we're glad we didn't wreck it." Undyne grinned. "Now, c'mon, time for the most important part of your party, opening your gifts!" She pushed a shiny gold and very messily wrapped package towards Alphys. "Here, open mine first!"

Alphys carefully tore off the paper, and her eyes lit up at what she saw inside. It was a stack of papers with a somewhat messy but still carefully drawn picture of Mew Mew on it and the words, "Mew Mew 2. How it SHOULD have been."

Alphys gasped happily and flipped through the book. She had ranted many times about Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 and how it could have been so much better, and what she would have done if she had been able to rewrite the ending, and Undyne had drawn every one of her suggestions. While Undyne wasn't a professional artist, Alphys could see all the love and care she had put into every drawing. Tears filled her eyes as she grinned happily and then impulsively threw her arms around Undyne. She then realized what she had done and blushed deeply. "S-Sorry. I love it, Undyne!"

Undyne was blushing too. "I-I'm so glad."

Papyrus and Sans exchanged knowing smiles, but thankfully didn't push. Papyrus pushed another present towards her. "Here, open mine next!"

Alphys thanked him and tore off the wrapper, revealing a DS Lite. "I found it in the dump and fixed it up for you." Papyrus told her, smiling. "I even found a game called Zelda, and I tested it out, and it still works well!"

"Thanks, Papyrus, I love it." Alphys said gratefully and took the gift Sans passed to her. As well as the anime he had brought her this morning, he had gotten her some more beakers and test tubes, having remembered she was running low. Alphys was touched. She had amazing friends.