Flipping the script(swapfell)part 1

chapter 16

"...part-time, mostly," he replied.  "As badly as I want to shelter Papyrus away forever, it's unrealistic and counterproductive to his recovery.  He's a born warrior, and he needs an outlet sometimes.  He might not have Dad's hair-trigger temper, but it's there, if you push him far enough.  And sometimes he pushes himself to that point without meaning to."  He rubbed his nasal bone, sighing.  "I can tell he's going to have outbursts during his recovery, and it won't be healthy to just smother them down.  So...if it's a 'get your hands dirty' crew you need in your Guard, I'll do it.  Papyrus will do it.  That way, he still has work, but he's not overburdened with it."

Alphys nodded, tenting her fingertips thoughtfully.  "...it's true, too much work in the Guard might set him back some," she said.  "But even though serving under you would make him happy, a guy has to have hobbies of his own, and you'd only be in the Guard part-time.  Is the other part still going to be in the labs?"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

"My point is, why not find him some work there too?"  Alphys shrugged, glancing back at Papyrus.  "Anything relatively scientific he has an interest in?"

"You mean other than a disturbingly fanboyish attachment to Mettaton?  Not really."

"....what, seriously?  Papyrus has a fancrush on METTATON?  Totally wouldn't have pegged him as the type."

"Don't remind me."

 Alphys bit back a snort, picking her glass back up and draining it.  "Then why not give him that job watching Mettaton and Napstaton's routines and finding any glitches or flaws in their forms?  I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

"...how do you know I have that job?"

"...Undyne...may have mentioned it to me a few times.  She knows how much you dislike them."

"I'm going to gut her by the gills one of these days, I swear..."

It was difficult, getting this new life of theirs started.  There was so much trial and error, so many unknowns to face and adapt to, and Sans was certain that if he didn't have Papyrus by his side through all of it, he would very possibly have gone on a murderous rampage.

The worst of it all was the fact that the scandal surrounding Papyrus still had not died down, and Sans was sure it never truly would.  But Sans knew that keeping Papyrus locked away would do more harm than good, and strove to keep going out with Papyrus on a daily basis, keeping things as normal--to him--as possible.  Papyrus, ever immersed in his role as the servant, paid no heed to the gossip that went on within earshot and instead kept to himself.  Sans often found himself wondering what Papyrus had going on in his head in order to not so much as flinch at the hateful gossip, and was often envious of the fact.

He stuck to Snowdin or the labs as often as he could; the people there had known the brothers longer than anyone, and had witnessed first-hand what would happen if someone so much as LOOKED at Papyrus wrong; the folks in Snowdin also never forgot that Papyrus, despite what the scandal pictures portrayed, was STILL the most formidable Monster that came out of the Guard, and for the most part, left the pair alone.

However, there WERE instances were more of the insistent and ballsy Monsters decided to give them a hard time; the most jarring thing Sans heard were inquiries as to how much he charged to 'rent' Papyrus out.  The very THOUGHT of anyone else putting a hand on Papyrus, let alone being PAID to do so, was physically sickening, and Sans would throw himself at whoever said such a thing and begin throwing out hits and attacks that would put a prison brawl to shame until either Alphys or Papyrus pulled him away.

More often than naught it was Papyrus who did so, and the younger Skeleton would sometimes get a few blows from Sans, who was often too blind with rage to know who exactly he was hitting.  Sans would later calm down and see the damage he inflicted on his brother and it took a good long time before he stopped feeling guilty about it, especially after talking to Papyrus about it after a particularly BAD TIME.