A Second Chance (Papyrus X Flowey/Asriel)

Skience with Papyrus

Papyrus sighed as he shut the door, re-wrapping his scarf as he made his way towards the small Librarby not far away. He'd found himself spending lots of time there in his searching, so much so he'd recognized the regulars as he entered, getting a few warm looks his way as he did. "Back at it again today are ya Rus, any newsworthy adventures?" The editor swiveled to see him, their messy bun and tired eyes showing just how desperate they were for something entertaining. "Sorry friend, nothing to report today." the lanky skeleton replied with pity, making sure to use his inside voice the best he could. He'd learned that the hard way since his first few visits. "Daww, well you know who to talk to if ya hear anythin'." She sighed, going back to staring at a few mostly blank pages.
Papyrus went on towards the row of shelves he'd almost memorized by now, methodically going through each row until he was almost cross-eyed. Soon, he reached a shelf of well organized blue books, a small plaque reading 'skience' along the top. He'd already looked through one or two books, though at the time it was all sciency gibberish to him, his confidence in his understanding was only growing by the paragraph.
Taking the most note-worthy titles, he made his way to the short table. "Never really thought you the science type before Rus, you workin' on those wild puzzles a' yours?" The bored monster inquired, almost begging for any kind of distraction. "Not a puzzle, but definitely something equally important!" He spoke cheerily, opening the first dusty book to the index. "Jee, maybe I'll write on pet dust bunnies," She coughed dramatically, though shaking her head soon after. "Nah, too insensitive." They groaned, resting their head on the table with a 'thunk.' Papyrus flipped through the first few pages, soon landing on 'Soul Cores and Shells' and taking out the notepad hidden in his battle bodies interior.

'The soul is made of two basic parts, the CORE and the SHELL. Without either of these, a monster would undoubtedly not survive, seeing as the physical form relies on them both to produce and keep magic.'

The newsmonster watched as Papyrus diligently wrote anything of importance, cogs turning in his skull as he memorized as much as he could.

'The CORE produces magic from energy provided by the individual. However, in the case a soul didn't have something to contain it, this magic would be produced and expelled almost immediately, consuming too much energy and soon burning itself out. This is where the SHELL comes in, only expelling the needed amount of magic and taking in energy at a steady pace, keeping the soul in one piece.'

"Jeez, you really understand all that? I always thought those books was for decoration." the tired monster shrugged from where she slumpt, a confused look on her face. "It's not difficult once you learn the terms! The core is the inside, it makes the magic, and the outside keeps it from spilling!It's truly fascinating stuff once you understand it" he spoke passionately, the stars in his eye sockets making her laugh. "Is that all so? Maybe I'll take a look then, better than nothin'" She shook her head with a tired smile, shuffling towards the skience shelves.

'The strength of the SHELL can depend on the monster, a tough outer shell releasing less magic, giving the monster a strong defense and steady attacks. A thinner SHELL has a stronger release of magic, tiring the monster but releasing stronger attacks at once.' Papyrus thought of his own soul, powerful yet tough.

Papyrus even began his own theories, writing questions like 'To separate a soul, would one would hypothetically need a perfect ratio of the two-' "got one! it's called 'mages make magic,' whatever that is." Papyrus focus was broken, his tired friend opening a dusty book. "Oh I've read that! Mages are similar to humans, bu-" "Hey, no spoilers!" She called, burying her face in the pages with a huff. Papyrus replied with a small nyeh heh, his attention going back to the spot.

'- parts, allowing for a fast healing and strong production all at once? It's important to note that a soul will no doubt need a large reserve of magic to allow enough time for closing off, otherwise the soul may leak on either side and burn out. However..'

After hours of what could be considered yawn-worthy note taking, Papyrus had eventually had enough of his reading, and after a wave at the librarbian and a short goodbye to his news buddy, Papyrus returned into the icy streets of Snowdin. All his newfound knowledge staying safely tucked away in his battle body, he pondered his next moves. He could, of course, go surprise Undyne, but after the last suplex, he needs his soul to be in full working condition. Instead, he started walking for his post, though something nagged at him that he was supposed to be doing something.

"Howdy there, Paps!" A golden flash peaked out from behind a tree as papyrus passed, awaiting the skeletal victim. "FLOWEY!" Papyrus shot, still getting used to the petalled monster popping out at him, and now trying to cool his heating cheeks. Flowey suppressed a snicker like always, "Whatcha up to pal? It's way past your morning shift!" He pretend scolded, though Papyrus' focus was more in the fact he remembered his shift times, 'how sweet!'

"Underground to Papyrus, you there, buddy?" "YES! EARLIER I WAS JUST,,, PREPARING A PUZZLE! MY LATEST AND SOON TO BE GREATEST PUZZLE YET." He stood with a proud pose, the flower giving a playful eye roll. "And you remembered the ban on sawblades, right? I can only cover so many fallen trees." "YEEES FLOWEY I REMEMBER THE SAWBLADE ACCIDENT." he groaned, "BUT THIS ONE IS EVEN BETTER! DARE I SAY, IT MAY CHANGE THE UNDERGROUND." He punctuated dramatically, Flowey giving his usually bemused smile. "Ever the humble skeleton, Papyrus" he spoke, and Papyrus barely stopped his heart from jumping into his throat. He shook his head of those lovey dovey thoughts, a pile of snow falling from the top of his skull.
"IN FACT, I MAY JUST NEED YOU FOR THE,,, PUZZLE!" He hesitated, trying to calm his scheeming nerves. "Join your puzzle? You know I'm not the biggest fan of other monsters Paps-" "THATS THE BEST PART! ITS A SECRET, ONE-TIME PUZZLE! NOT EVEN SANS KNOWS ABOUT IT" he said, proud of his secret keeping skills.

'Papyrus keeping secrets, that's new.' Flowey pondered, intrigue ever growing. "As long as there's no saws, I'm all in." "NO SAWS! I PROMISE, THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT!" He smiled, guilt crawling up his spine.

1153 words

(Welcome to chapter four, you've made it so far already! Let's see how long you last. Happy reading, folks)