What Kind Of Monster Are You?

Chapter 2: Underground

And that’s how I ended up in the Underground, following an enthusiastic skeleton around as his brother trailed behind us sluggishly. I felt so excited while walking around, smiling happily and asking a bunch of questions.
“So wait, if monsters don’t need to eat, why are there so many food shops all around the place?” I said as I spotted a place called Muffet’s.
“Mweh! Well down here, we use something called magic! If our magic depletes, we start to get weak and sluggish. It’s basically the equivalent of hunger to you humans! Our food is special monster food, it instantly converts to energy and magic for us! Of course we can still eat normal food, like my famous tacos I make!”
“Woah, you can cook? Cool, I can barely make a bowl of ramen without ruining it-” I giggled, rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment.
“Oh nonsense! I’m sure it isn't that bad!” I let out a slight scoff of amusement.
“Well, tell that to the 5 microwaves I was somehow able to destroy-” I heard Papyrus snort, making me turn to him and stick my tongue out, making sure to shift it’s color to a red tint in the nick of time. Papyrus just let out an amused chuckle and pat my head, making me hold back a purr and turn back to Sans. But, he was gone.
“Uh?”
“Pff. Don’t worry Kiddo, he just got into a rant and got excited. He’ll go to the house once he realizes he left us.” I nodded and fell into step with the taller skeleton, though not really in sync since he was taking much longer but slower strides. 
“What’s up with you calling everyone kiddo? I’m, like, 24 and a half-” He lit up a cigarette, placing it to his teeth and taking a drag.
“Well,” He started, blowing out a smoke ring. I uttered a small ‘cool-’, causing him to snicker a bit. “Y’see, everyone younger than me is just a kid.”
“I’m… That’s not how-” I huffed in confusion, crossing my arms. “I’m not a kid-” I said with a pout, not even realizing I was pouting in the first place. Suddenly, I heard Papyrus’ phone start ringing with an oddly adorable ringtone.
“Ope, told ya.” He said, picking up his phone and answering with a ‘yeah bro?’ I could hear Sans shouting excitedly even though he wasn’t on the speaker. Paps held his phone away from his ‘ear’ slightly, causing me to giggle a bit. He glanced at me with an amused expression.
“Papyrus! Where are you and the human?!” I internally cringed at being called that, before quickly brushing it off and chuckling at Sans’ concern.
“Don’t worry Blue, we’re fine. We’ll be there in a few, why not start the tacos so Akita has them ready when we get there?”
“Oh! Great idea brother!”
“Nyeheh, not as great as you bro.”
“I know! Alright, see you soon! Love you! Tell the human I said hi!”
“Alright, will do. Love ya too bro, buhbye.” I heard a click, and instantly broke out into a small set of ‘aww!’s. Papyrus rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling slightly. I swore his cheekbones had an odd tint of honey-orange on them.
“God that’s adorable- I’m sorry, I’ve just never seen a genuinely good relationship that involves family. You’re lucky, I’d honestly give anything to have my little brother back.” I said, before pausing slightly when realizing what I said. I then cleared my throat and picked up my pace slightly, letting out a nervous laugh.
“Well what are we waiting for, let’s go! Don’t want Sans’ tacos to get cold!” Papyrus just let out a gentle hum, speeding his pace up to match mine.
“Don’t worry kiddo, I ain’t gonna ask ya ‘bout it.” He said, taking a drag off of his cigarette. I let out a small sigh of relief, relaxing my tense posture.
“Thanks..” I uttered out, keeping my eyes to the ground. I heard him hum again, and suddenly let out a yawn.
“Hey kid, why don’t we take a… Shortcut of sorts? I’m gettin’ ‘bone-tired’ from walkin’.” I giggled and nodded. He stopped and held out his hand, to which I raised an eyebrow and took hesitantly.
“Alright, close yer eyes.” He said with a mischievous grin, causing me to narrow my eyes slightly before closing them. Suddenly it felt as if my feet left the ground, making me gasp out and clutch Papyrus’ hand tightly. I heard him let out a chuckle, but it sounded muffled. I wanted to open my eyes but something told me I wasn’t ready to see that yet, so I just kept them closed.
Just as soon as the feeling was there, it was gone. My feet were on the ground again and the sounds around us had returned. I hesitantly opened my eyes, looking around to see that we were in front of a house.
“How… What even… Huh??” I questioned with pure confusion, staring up at the taller skeleton. He let out a snort of amusement and walked inside, whispering ‘maaagic’ as he passed by. His eyes seemed to be distant, as if he knew something that I didn’t. I also could tell the way he was staring at me was different, as if he saw something he wasn’t supposed to.
“Oh my god did I stop shifting while we teleported-!?” I asked myself quietly, before shaking my head and quickly following Papyrus inside. As soon as I walked in, the smell of seasoning and meat filled my nose. I took a deep breath, shutting the door behind me and taking my shoes off at the door for politeness. I then watched as Papyrus flopped over the arm of the couch backwards, letting out a small ‘nyeh-’ before squirming and wiggling to make room for me.
“Pffft-” I giggled and walked over, sitting down and staring at a single sock in the middle of the floor. I raised an eyebrow at Paps, and he just shrugged and yoinked the remote from inside of the couch cushions, turning the tv on.
“Oh! You two are home! The tacos are almost done, please be patient, mweh!” I heard Sans call from the kitchen. Paps yelled back an ‘okay’ and started to flip through channels.
“Oh? Who’s that?” I asked as it landed on a blue and silver robot that was standing at a DJ stand.
“Oh, that? That’s Napstaton, he makes music.” I let out an ‘oooh’ and nodded slightly. Paps chuckled, continuing to flip through channels.
“Yeah, Sans is like, obsessed with him. He has all of Napsta’s albums.”
“Aw, that’s cute.” I giggled, snuggling against the back of the couch and getting comfortable.
“Mhm.” He hummed, settling on a simple action show. After a few minutes, Blue came in, excitedly carrying a plate filled with both hard shell and soft shelled tacos. I scooted over to make room, ending up sitting kinda close to Paps as Blue wiggled himself in and handed me a plate. I passed it to Paps, and watched as he drizzled the tacos in… Honey…? I made a face, to which Paps chuckled and shrugged at me with a wink. I shook my head and took my plate from Blue, turning my gaze back to the movie and taking a bite. 
A swirl of flavors entered my mouth. I honestly can’t describe what it tastes like. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t necessarily bad either. It was… Weird. I swallowed, clearing my throat a bit from the strong spices. I looked to Blue, who was watching me intently.
“It’s… Uhm… Unique tasting!” I said with a smile, causing him to make a proud and confident pose.
“Mwehe, of course it is! The Magnificent Sans made it after all! It’s the best!” I chuckled a bit, hesitating before taking a much smaller bite. I felt Paps watch me in amusement, causing me to stick my tongue out at him. He raised an eyebrow, his small chuckle fading as he stared at my tongue. I quickly pulled it back into my mouth.
‘I swear I shifted my tongue, why was he staring so weirdly at it!?’ I asked, messing with my tongue ring nervously as I took another bite of taco to keep myself busy. Blue exclaimed that he was going to clean up, and quickly sauntered off into the kitchen. That left me and Paps in a slightly uncomfortable silence.
“So.” He broke the silence first, causing me to internally jump at the action. I let out a small hum of questioning, taking yet another bite of taco.
“You ain’t human, ain’t ya?” I nearly choked, looking over to him and quickly relaxing myself.
“Wha? No, I’m pretty sure I’m human.” I said.
“Then what’s with the metal in yer tongue?” He questioned, causing me to laugh.
“You mean my tongue ring?” I stuck my tongue out, before giggling again.
“It’s a fashion sense, tons of people get their tongues and ears and a bunch of other things pierced.” I explained, lifting a piece of hair to show my pierced ears. Of course, they would be more noticeable if I wasn’t shifting to have human ears, but oh well.
He blinked slightly in surprise, leaning forward to get a closer look.
“Huh, odd.” He said to himself quietly, causing me to snicker and brush my hair flat again.
“Well, a lot of people think it’s fashionable.” I said, looking at the TV again and finishing off the soft shell taco.
“No, not that. Your tongue was blue.” I choked on my bite of taco, causing Paps to reach over and pound on my back lightly.
“Woah kiddo relax, I was messin’ with ya- you aight?” He said, slightly concerned.
“I’m-- *Cough cough* I’m fine, gimme a sec-” I took a few deep breaths, clearing my throat and looking at Paps with a slight glare.
“I didn’t think you would get so worked up, hehe, sorry.” He apologized with a slight smile, rubbing the back of his neck. “Though, why did you get so worked up?”
“Well Paps, human’s tongues aren’t supposed to be blue. That could mean something dangerous.”
“But you ain’t a human.” I looked at him, crossing my arms.
“Well I ain’t a monster, so what would I be eh?” He shrugged, looking at the TV and lighting up a cigarette. I looked away, staring down at my hard shell taco.
“Kiddo I’m gonna be honest with ya. I don’t like secrets. And ‘tibia’ honest, I don’t think you like them either. Am I right?” I looked at him, slightly rolling my eyes at the pun. I then sighed and nodded, looking away once more.
“Well, I’d love ta tell ya, Paps, but I dunno if I can trust ya or not. Plus, I’ve lived my whole life havin’ secrets, and I’m sure you have to. So, it’s normal, ain’t it?” He let out a distant chuckle, his eyelights dimming out a bit.
“Kiddo, you’ve got no idea…” He uttered, rubbing the bridge of his nonexistent nose and putting his plate on the coffee table.
“Well, no reason to down the mood. Maybe soon, but not now.” I said, glancing up at the clock. I widened my eyes, standing up.
“Good gods I’ve gotta go, I need to get to bed- I have an early shift in the morning.”
“Mweh, leaving already?” I heard Blue call. I turned around and smiled slightly at him.
“Sorry Sans but I gotta get to sleep, I need to get to my job early. I have first shift and we’re kinda low on staff right now.” I explained, picking my plate up and carrying it to the sink.
“Welp, I’d suggest for you to sleep over but you prolly don’t have your work clothes do you?” I shook my head, cleaning off the plate and rinsing it before leaving it to dry.
“Well, where do you work?” Sans asked, hopping over to me, causing me to chuckle.
“I just work at some rinky-dinky fancy overpriced restaurant. I hate it there but it’s the only job around here that I can afford my rent with-” I said as I headed to the door. Paps stood up, walking over to me.
“At least lemme getcha home safely.” He insisted with a lazy grin, sticking his hands in his hoodie pockets.
“Alright fine, but no more shortcuts because that was, uh, slightly nauseating.”
“Oops, forgot to warn ya ‘bout that.” I glared playfully at him, walking out and taking a breath of fresh air. Papyrus stepped out behind me, waving bye to Sans as he began to walk off. I followed behind him, looking around and seeing all the diverse and cool looking monsters around.
Paps seemed to be amused at my curiousness, lighting up yet another cigarette and letting out a raspy chuckle.
"Y'know, those things are bad for your health-" I stated, watching as he made different shapes with the smoke.
"Nyeh, I don't have lungs kiddo-" He said with a playful wink, ruffling my hair. I let out a huff, playfully batting his hand away and fixing my hair. We then both fell into a comfortable silence as we continued walking home.
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2224 words! Wowie that's a lot more words than last time- Anyways, I dunno when the next update will be out, but I'll try my best to continue this! Peace!