"Here, have some Papyrus juice! It has sgetti in it!"

Sans walked into the kitchen and spotted his baby brother holding a pitcher full of...something. Apparently he was trying to get Gaster to drink whatever was in it.

C'mon Pap, Dad's smarter than that.

"It's like if coffee and nightmares had a baby."

"what, the juice?"

"No."

"DWINK MAH JUICE!"

"I'm not drinking that."

"YOU DWINK IT!"

"I meant what I said and no amount of yelling-"

"I MADE DIS FOR YOUUUUUU!"

"It wouldn't matter to me if you had made it for Jesus H. Christ, it's going nowhere near my mouth-"

"IS GONNA EAT THROUGH DA' CONTAINER!" yelled Papyrus, shaking the pitcher up and down.

"huh? what is? what's in there pappy?"

"Battery acid!" said Papyrus smiling. "I puts da' battery acid in there, cause' batteries taste good."

"I...can't tell if you're being an ass or not..."

"batteries do taste pretty good dad."

"Don't eat my batteries Sans, I need them. We have plenty of bleach though..."

I don't eat them, I just suck on them...

"NO! Dat's MY beach!"

"It's not."

"DAT'S MAH BEACH!"

"what else is in there pappy?"

"Wed Bull."

"hmm..." Sans eyed the pitcher thoughtfully.

If it's not JUST battery acid, it should be safe right? He said there's an energy drink in there..."

Sans took the container.

"Re-really Sans?"

Sans drank some of the Papyrus juice.

"...."

"ugh, this is spicy as hell..."

"You just drank sulfuric acid and Red Bull."

Sans spit several times onto the floor, as Gaster frowned at him; trying to get the awful taste out of his mouth. "well i'm not drinking it again! eww, it's got a sour aftertaste...*patoo!*"

"That would be the acid."

"I try harder next time."

"I'd rather you didn't."

"do you want some dad?" Sans held the juice out to Gaster.

"No."

"why not? do you not like spicy things? or is it because it turns sour?"

"It's because my I.Q. doesn't resemble the temperature of the Arctic, Sans."

"....what?"

"Go to your room."

"what'd i do?!"

"You be nice to my big Buther or I pour dis on your big stink head!"

Gaster sighed loudly and rubbed his face with both hands in irritation. "I don't have time for your two's nonsense, I have paperwork to fill out. Sans take your brother's picture so we can add it to the monthly report."

"fine..." Sans followed Gaster to the office with Papyrus crawling close behind.

"You don't have to follow me Sans, your cellphone will do fine."

Sans struggled to keep from crying as Gaster sat down at his desk and began his paperwork, not bothering to even look at his son.

"NYEH!" Papyrus stuck his tongue out happily as Sans sadly took a picture of him.

"c'mon bro, can't you look at the camera for once? why do you always look away or close your eyes?"

I'm not taking another one, Dad can do it himself.

"That's a good question. Why DO you refuse to look into cameras? I've noticed you do the same thing on the security feed...even when you decide to do your little escape acts you never look to see if the camera's on you," said Gaster as he began the second page of his paperwork.

"Yes I does!"

"No, you do not. You always either look away or you close your eyes."

"Baby snakes don't gots eyelids."

Gaster stopped writing.

"don't worry dad, he's just messing with you. bro be serious, we're just curious is all."

"Cameras steal souls, I knows it!"

"*pfft!* what?"

"Ery time you takes a picture and look into da' lens, a whole years get taken off yo' life!"

"that's such crap..."

"That's only a myth Papyrus. An old wives tale that I'm surprised you believe...assuming you're telling the truth of course."

"what? he didn't make that up? people really believed that?"

"Back in the day when cameras were first invented, yes. A bunch of fools who clung to tradition and religion and feared technology made it up to scare other fools who didn't have the courage to think for themselves."

"Baby ain't taking no chances. Imma stay small forever!"

"Superstition is unhealthy Papyrus, it leads to paranoia and phobias-"

"You don't know!"

"We both know that I DO."

"what?"

"Never mind Sans, go play in your room with your brother-"

"NO! I pay here!"

"This isn't a place to play Papyrus, something you ALSO are well aware of-"

"Stop that."

"Stop what? Heh heh heh heh..."

Sans looked at them in confusion, he felt like he was missing something, but he didn't know what.

"*sigh*"

This happened a lot lately.

Gaster and Papyrus would talk and there'd always be a hint of secrecy lodged somewhere in the conversation. It was as if Papyrus were being teased or blackmailed into behaving...something else that had been happening a lot lately.

IS he being blackmailed?

Why did he make a nonlethal drink for him?

That's not like Pappy...

Papyrus glared at Gaster's back, his eyes burning an angry orange.

"hey, pap."

".....?"

"you know i'll never hate you right? no matter what you do or say i'll always love my baby brother."

"He doesn't deserve your love Sans. Isn't that right Papyrus?"

There it was again.

"why would you say something like that? this is your son and he's a baby!"

"....Dat's right! I's not like you Daddy, we does things differently. I's growing and wearning new stuffs-"

"Memories shape who you are. It doesn't matter what you do now, you're still-"

"New ones do too! Baby can change like diapers!"

"..."

"That's why you have no excuse."

SLAM!

Gaster slammed his hand on the table and scowled at Papyrus, his eyes burning purple. "I DON'T NEED AN EXCUSE! I'M DOING THE RIGHT THING, WHILE YOU'RE SITTING ON YOUR ASS PLAYING WITH BLOCKS!"

"...I don't gots no blocks," said Papyrus with a smile.

Gaster stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving his unfinished paperwork on the desk. Sans didn't know what had just happened, but it felt like Papyrus had just won a secret battle, a fight that he and Gaster had been having for a long time.

Papyrus smiled at Sans, looking into his eyes for the first time since birth."Thank you Sans, I'll always love you too-"

"*GASP!* you called me sans! oh my god you called me SANS!"

"No I didn't!"

"heh heh ha ha ha!" Sans gathered his baby brother up in a hug, laughing and feeling happier than he had in a long time.