A Second Chance (Papyrus X Flowey/Asriel)

Always Something New with Him

Papyrus walked with a newfound confidence as both him and Doggely made their way through town, only recieving one or two odd looks as they did. 'Less than usual!' Papyrus thought chipperly to himself. Well, as much as he could think to himself, what with the newly found company.
"Why so upbeat this morning, Paps?" "Because my dearest, Doggely!" he hardly contained his excitement as his bones clicked against eachother, "I get to do one of my favorite things in the underground with two of my favorite monsters!" He almost floated above the snow just to accentuate the point, the infectious excitement making Doggely chuckle. "It's probably not gonna be anything big, I don't really know what I'm doing without the vines yet." He tried to explain, only to be ignored by the sparkly expressioned skeleton monster.
The stride and friendly banter made the walk go by quick, Papyrus soon knocking on the head guards door so quickly it could leave a dent if he kept going. He didnt however, as it only took a second before a spear suddenly shot through it, just barely missing both monsters.
"AHA! Took you guys long enough!" Undyne called from inside, Papyrus guiding Doggely back as the door swung open. "WHATS THE PLAN TODAY, CAPTAIN!" Papyrus stood straight as he spoke, Doggely following the example. It's hard not to find the act a little ridiculous, but Asriel did it nonetheless, Papyrus was the expert here after all. "We're starting off seeing what you can do newbie, but don't think that means I'll go easy on you!" The devilish smirk that followed the statement made both a little uneasy, but the encouraging look from Papyrus was all Doggely needed to keep going. "Yes ma'am!"

Asriel stood by himself in a small muddy clearing, a poorly made dummy posted on a stick being deemed his opponent by his two 'mentors' on the sidelines. He could see the damage that was hardly stitched together all along its body, and suddenly doubted he was being taken seriously.
"Hardy har, where's the catch? The spike traps or whatever?" He called to where Papyrus and Undyne stood, only getting a thumbs up in response. He sighed, dragging his feet as he approached the 'threat.' "Uh.. Human! Prepare to face my wrath!" He called in a deadpan tone, knocking over the thing with a single shove.
A cheer then erupted from Papyrus, giddy and full of pride. "Don't get too excited yet pal!" Undyne patted him on the back, already glad to have brought a pair of ear-warmers. Of course, the antics were far from over, but Doggely would find that out soon.
"Is that all for today?" The dog monster turned to shout, when the smallest rumble beneath him caught his attention. He braced himself on instinct, looking around him for the source of the rumbling with a knot growing in his stomach.
Papyrus fiddled with his scarf, looking from Undyne to his pal and back quickly.
"Don't worry about him Paps! If he's anything like yesterday, he won't have a scratch on him." She said with a wide grin, only somewhat comforting her skeletal pal. Finally he located the source, but before Doggely could step closer to the limp dummy, it suddenly righted itself, spears summoned inside it making it dance around above the ground. The glowing blue shown1 through the stitches, and Asriel would be impressed if not for the looming danger that would undoubtedly follow. He lunged quickly at the stuffed opponent to try and catch it off guard, only grazing it as he tumbled into the snow. "YOULL GET IT NEXT TIME!" Echoed through the trees as Papyrus cheered again, a thumbs up poking out from the bunch of snow holding Doggely. The sarcastic remark he was about to shout got cut off as a spear suddenly caught his eye, only hardly missing him in the pile. "Not the best time for a nap buddy!" Undyne shouted with a chuckle, getting a glare from the Dog in response.
Finally ready to take this foe seriously, Asriel peeked out from the snow slowly, jumping out to narrowly avoid getting hit by an attack. He almost got close enough for a hit as he ran, but a rumble in the ground forced him to stumble away, a line of spears sprouting from the frozen ground where he once stood.
Papyrus all the while winced at every attack missed, the smile plastered on his face wavering with worry. "Sheesh pal don't be such a babybones, once he's beat up enough you can give him some pointers." Undyne poorly attempted at comforting the fidgeting skeleton, an idea popping into his skull. "You're right!" He suddenly perked up, a lightbulb practically above his head as his focus became entirely on the still struggling monster.
-Asriel!- he thought as hard as he could, the flinch from the other showing that it worked. Undyne shouted more teasing remarks, but the two blocked out what the could as they conversed.
-I'm a bit busy here, what's up?- -watch your leg!- Suddenly another rumble quickly erupted into a batch of spears, Doggely dodging them without a sweat. "Good one!" Undyne shouted out, Doggely catching an exaggerated wink from Papyrus out of the corner of his eyes. He hid a bashfull smile, glad the distance hid the colour in his cheeks.
-Ok, how did you do that?- -I've been training with Undyne for so long, I can practically read her every move! Duck left- a loose spear came at Doggely, but again he dodged out of the way, swinging at the dummy and grazing at the fabric for the first time. Papyrus held back more shouted praise, his cheeks pink at the sights as they continued practically in sinc. "Hey bud, you feeling OK? Your face is a little orange." Undyne pointed out as the training got ever more intense, Papyrus focus broken and forced on the question. "My face? I'm perfectly fine, great even! It's the cold probably, has it gotten colder?" He rambled in defense, Asriels voice blocked out by the sudden avalanche in his mind. "Hey no need to freak out! It was just a question, ya weirdo." The guardswoman teased, dropping the subject once she heard the forced nyeh-heh of the other. Only then did the questions hit Papyrus again.
-Papyrus what are you doing??- -I'm here sorry! You need to, oh well that's, watch your side!- Papyrus struggled to keep up with Undynes moves, the worry in his stomach quickly growing more and more. -Papyrus, pay attention man!- pierced through his thoughts, his mind suddenly flashing back to the monsters lining the trees the night before.

His non-existant stomach sank as the realization filled him with dread, a darkness filling his sockets. Soon all he could see was that dark figure, one standing right behind his best friend.

The world felt like slow motion as he saw it get closer and closer, as his body moved without him telling it to, he was suddenly back to back with Doggely. The pain of a spear was familiar, lighter than usual thanks to it just being for training, but a direct hit to the chest winded him nonetheless.
Everything slowly caught up with him as time felt normal again, he turned to look behind him at the shocked face of both Doggely and Undyne. It took a second for him to return to reality, the darkness in his skull retreating.
"You.. almost got hit." He coughed out, Doggely hushing his voice as he looked down at the hole in the others battle body. "Papyrus what was that? You've never- you just-" he struggled to explain, interrupted by a shouting Undyne as she ran to join conversation. "SINCE WHEN COULD YOU DO THAT? You better not have been holding out on me Paps!" She laughed as she got closer, Papyrus suddenly showing his old energy like it never happened. "I.. have been getting a better sleep lately!" He fibbed, the exhaustion coming from him puzzling Asriel into silence. How could he be standing there like that, when getting closer practically made Asriel feel like he was shot? The smile on the skeletons face didn't waver as he escaped a noogie, calling for his doggy friend. "We're done for today Doggely, let's get going!" He waved, Undyne marching towards her home with a satisfied look plastered onto her smile.
Only when he got closer did Asriel recognize the look on Papyrus's face, his facade failing as his posture slumped slightly. His hand didn't move from the hole in his suit, but the tremble in his arm showed how hard he was struggling to keep up the face.

Flowey knew a lot of things, memorized patterns and dialog, he'd bored himself of every monster all the way down to Jerry. But Papyrus, there was always something new with Papyrus. A look, a laugh, a cry, something was just different. maybe that's why he got deja vu in that moment, the feeling in his chest getting worse as he reached the skeleton monster, so confused as to why he was putting up such a front. The look in the skeletons sockets didn't offer much, other than a plea to hurry up, a request he obliged. "We'll have to stop at the shops for repair supplies! And maybe some groceries, I swear Sans-" Papyrus spoke casually, Asriel tuning it out as he lost himself in thought.

1617 words
(Welcome to chapter 16! Thank you all again for all the support, I hate to sound like a broken record but it's truly appreciated. I won't drag on any further, so happy reading!)