#ut fontcest

“May I have this dance?” Fell held out his hand, smirk firmly on his face as Papyrus let out a delighted laugh, taking his hand and following him back into the noise and cluster of monsters and humans all taking their turns at the machines.

He shouldn’t have been surprised when Fell lead him straight to the car racing machines, Fell grinning as he popped a few coins in the slots, Papyrus giving him a smirk as he filled his own, the two of them settling into the seats with a determined look on their faces. Race after race ensued, their cars neck and neck with each go. Stretch and Slim watched from afar, making bets with bits of torn up pepperoni breadsticks as to who was going to win each race.

Fell won a few, Papyrus won a few, and by the end of it the two of them were breathless from laughing so hard. By that time a few humans had been patiently waiting for the games, so both skeletons gathered their won tickets and headed back for the pizzaria, piling them up with what had already been brought.

Sharing another pizza, this one half vegetarian and half meat lovers, the four of them dug in and talked about nothing of consequence, nothing important, and certainly, absolutely nothing to do with Papyrus’ lack of companionship with his brother.

After cleaning their fingers and finishing off their sodas, Fell and Slim counted up the tickets, their eyes gleaming as they rattled off an obscenely high number. Papyrus clapped his hands, already nearly running up to the counter to see what the most expensive items were.

They had enough for nearly all but the most top tier, expensive in money only type items, but one of the items still in their budget happened to be a nice gaming system, along with a popular game Papyrus had his sight on for at least a few months, only held back by the fact that he didn’t have the system it played on.

Something must have given his desire away, since the vote was clear for the system along with the game, all the tickets handed over as Fell took the bag from the clerk, the four of them walking out of the arcade with large grins. Papyrus tried to ignore the small pit of disappointment he felt, knowing that if he wanted to play the game, he’d have to bother them at one of their houses, but he was prepared for the inevitable anxiety.

“So who’ll be taking it home? I assume Slim, since he was the one with the most tickets!” Papyrus laughed playfully, nudging Slim with his shoulder as they walked slowly to the car. Slim nudged him back, laughing under his breath, though he shook his head.

“Nope, not me darlin’.”

Papyrus narrowed his sockets a little, then looked to Stretch. “You then? I mean, you have the biggest tv of all of us, I’m sure it’d work better there.”

Stretch tilted his head, grinning a strangely weird grin. “No, not me Paps.”

Well now Papyrus was just confused. He looked to Fell, who simply held out the bag, leaving him even more baffled until Fell actually took his hand and left the bag in it. He looked down at the bag for a long moment, then, tears in his eyes, he grabbed them all into as tight of a hug as he could manage, the three of them holding him back just as tightly.

The drive home was filled with laughter and jokes, Papyrus making puns that had the other three wiping tears from their eyes. It was almost bittersweet, getting out of the car to head into an empty house, but his glee from an entire day spent with his favorite people in the whole world hadn’t dissipated even as he waved goodbye and watched them head down the road, leaving him on his own.

He very carefully did not think about the fact that Sans wouldn’t be home yet, and likely wouldn’t even come home that night. Instead he kept his smile bright as he unlocked the front door and stepped inside, kicking off his shoes and shutting the door behind him. It was sudden that the smell hit him, a slightly minty scent that instantly made him both immensely happy and overwhelmingly wary.

Sans was home, somewhere on the bottom floor of their house, and while Papyrus was so happy he was home it hurt, some small, tiny part of him was suspicious. Sans was never home, not anymore. What’d happened? Was he hurt? Worry spurred him to move quickly into the kitchen, the smell coming most strongly through the open doorway, and there Papyrus found Sans, the smaller skeleton sitting slumped over at the table, a bottle of something decidedly vile in his hand.

Sans seemed to notice his presence, his skull tilting up as he looked at him with an empty stare. It sent a shiver down Papyrus’ back, but what Sans said made him feel sick.

“Wher’re ya been, Paps? Ya nevah leave tha house… I was w-worried…” Sans seemed to look him over, taking in his nice dress and the bag still in his hands, and a look of suspicion took over the blankness.

“What’d ya do, go out an’ ‘ave a party? Wit’out me? Tha’s so mean, Papy, why’d you, why’d you do that…” It was then that he seemed to get a particularly good sniff of Papyrus’ scent, because his hackles raised immediately, Papyrus actually taking a step back as Sans stood from his seat. “Who’ve you been with? You smell like, like Beta and Alpha, who’ve you been with Paps, you c’n tell me, I’ll go easy on ‘em-”

It wasn’t long after they’d finished a game of basketball over in the far corner that Stretch was suddenly next to him, his easy energy making what little jitters had built up in Papyrus’ soul float away. Stretch watched them as they finished, then, giving Slim a little two fingered wave, he took Papyrus by the hand and lead him further into the lights and flashing colors. Papyrus couldn’t help the smile on his face as Stretch glanced back, grinning back as he brought them both over to the corner of the arcade where the pinball machines reigned king.

There was something about the game that spoke to Papyrus’ nature, something about the pressure needed to send a tiny metal ball careening towards its fate that made him always get a little geared up. He cheered as he watched his ball make it through the various hoops and extra scores, bumping into poles and blockades, until it finally made its way down to the two flippers that Papyrus used to maximum efficiency, sending the ball back up as far as he could get it.

Stretch watched happily beside him, content merely to watch as he tried the various boxes, hand occasionally resting on his shoulder or on the small of his back. Papyrus did his best to lean into the contact, even as he was mostly distracted by the flashing lights and the tiny, itty bitty little ball that flew every which way and made loud noises ring out every time he made another score.

“You having fun so far, Paps?” Stretch asked once, Papyrus not looking up from his game as he nodded vehemently.

“Yes! I think this is really what I needed, a nice day out with my best friends!” He didn’t see the look of sympathy that crossed over Stretch’s face, though the arm around him grew closer.

Soon enough the concept of a little metal ball bouncing back and forth lost its charm, Stretch coming to the rescue as he took his hand and brought him over to a little sharpshooting game. The morals of it were disambiguous, something about some human wartime event that just meant you shot as many “Nazis” as you could in the time limit. It was… educational? That humans thought so little of their fellow man, evil or not, as to make them bullet fodder seemed wrong to Papyrus, so they didn’t stay there long. (Even if Stretch was surprisingly excellent at the shooting portion of the game.)

Eventually the smell that wafted through the arcade, one of garlic and spicy pepperoni, drew both of them toward the small pizzaria that sat just on the other side of the arcade. Stretch ordered the two of them a small vegetarian pizza to share, along with two cokes. Papyrus sipped on his pop as they both sat, relaxing their tarsals and watching the people that walked past the window outside.

Papyrus had hoped that the silence would last, his usual need to fill awkward silences absent as the silence between them then wasn’t awkward in the least. Unfortunately, it didn’t see, fate was on his side.

“So uh…” Stretch began, Papyrus nearly hiding behind his drink. “Have you seen Sans recently?” He asked it gently, carefully, but Papyrus still felt the back of his sockets heat up as he forced a smile.

“Nope! He ah… hasn’t been around much.” Taking another sip of his drink, he waved his hand. “But it’s alright! He’s just been very busy, and not being lazy anymore. If anything I’m proud of him.” His voice nearly betrayed him, cracking on the work proud, and if the look of concern and pity on Stretch’s face was any indicator, it was obvious.

Stretch glanced down at his own cup, taking a small sip before reaching out and taking Papyrus’ hand, bringing it closer to him with a small tug. “What if… what if you let someone else take care of you?”

Papyrus knew he didn’t mean it like he was helpless. Omegas lived on their own all the time, it was a normal part of life for many monsters like him. But… it was also considered a fact of life that all monsters, Alpha, Beta or Omega alike, did better with someone watching out for them. Alphas did better with someone to protect, someone to call their own. Betas did well with someone to take care of, someone to keep happy.

Omegas… needed to love and be loved. It was just how it was. And Sans… hadn’t been showing him very much love. Not recently, and, when Papyrus really gave it some thought, not in months.

Still, it was a little forward for Stretch to ask, Papyrus’ Look making his lazy alternate slouch in his seat.

“I know, I know, but I just… we’ve been worried about you, being on your own for so long, and we just…” He stopped, slumping in his seat, and took a long drink of his cola.

Nothing was said after that, the two of them quietly eating their pizza and drinking their sodas in silence. It was a bit awkward, but Papyrus didn’t know how to make it better without confessing that he was feeling… neglected. It was a feeling he wasn’t sure he’d even felt, no matter what the weird, fuzzy portion of his memories told him.

Sans had always loved him, and it wasn’t until they became adults that the love changed. It was just recently that he… hadn’t been around as much.

Eventually he was torn from his sad thoughts by the sound of the other two coming up to their table, their hands filled with piles of tickets. Papyrus laughed as Fell recounted the experience of breaking the coin betting machine, his sadness momentarily forgotten.