Hotel - Human!Skelebros x Reader x Mettaton - 2

The next morning, you awoke to sunlight pouring through the curtains. It felt like you had managed to get a good night’s sleep—surprising, since you remembered that doors kept slamming all night…

                You stretched. The sunshine felt so good, and faintly, you could hear birds singing. You opened your eyes—

                And saw a tall man with white hair sitting at the desk, drinking coffee.

                Your eyes widened, and you nearly screamed before you remembered the night before.

                “Oh! You’re awake!” Papyrus crossed the room, pulling a small envelope out of his pocket. “I managed to get your room key…since I was up early.” He glared toward the shut door of the bedroom. “Unlike a certain lazybones…”

                “I…thank you so much.” You hadn’t wanted to go down to the front desk in your current state—messy hair, you were sure; unwashed face, pajamas, and who knew what else. Actually, the thought made you self-conscious; you tried to pat down your hair as you spoke. “I…really appreciate your generosity.”

                “You’re welcome! That’s what friends are for, isn’t it?”

                “…Friends?” Already? He seemed almost like a child in an adult’s body.

                “Yeah! Why not?”

                Friends. You had come on this vacation alone; no one you knew was able to come with you. But now, you had someone to share the experience with. The thought made you smile.

                “…Well, I’d like to do something nice for you guys in return. Can I…get you breakfast? Or something?”

                There was a click—the room’s door opened.

                “So, there’s a donut shop within walking distance of the hotel. Who knew?” Sans walked in, a paper bag in one hand and an apple fritter in the other. “Breakfast is on me today.”

                “What—where were y—how did you—“ Papyrus buried his face in his hands. “I turn my back on you for ONE SECOND, and you bring back this sugary j—“

                “Jam-filled goodness? Yup.” He held out a jelly donut toward his brother. “Come on, Undyne’s not here. There’s no boss to impress. And besides…” He waved it back and forth. “Doesn’t it look good?”

                “…” Papyrus squinted, and finally relented.

                All right. This was enough; you didn’t want to interrupt the brothers’ family time any further. You got up, pushing the covers back onto the bed.

                “Huh? Kid, you going somewhere?” You could hear the bag crinkle as Sans turned toward you.

                “Um, yeah. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done, really; but I think I should head back to my room no—“ You stopped short as you felt something hit your head. You turned around, and a small stack of donuts hit the ground.

                “…”

                “Hey, donut look at me like that; I put them on a napkin first.”

                Apparently, while you were focused on making the couch-bed, he had begun stacking donuts on your head. How you failed to notice, you didn’t know.

                “SANS! Throw that away, and stop wasting food!” Papyrus knelt on the ground, picking up stray bits of glaze. “Honestly, I can’t believe you sometimes…”

                 Sans hung his head in mock shame. “Sorry…stacking donuts makes me feel hole.” He dodged a smack from his brother and bent down to help him clean.

                Papyrus brushed off his hands. “Anyway, don’t you at least want to stay for breakfast? …Such as it is?”

                “Thanks, but—“

                You stopped. The room had begun to smell like donuts, and you couldn’t deny that you were hungry…

                “…”                                           

                “Well, actually…”

                ***

                The three of you sat around the living area.

                “I…all right, fine. You got me with your donuts. But!” You took a bite of the fried pastry; the sweetness melted into goo. “I’ve still got four days! I’ll pay you back somehow!”

                “You’re so uptight; relax a little.” Sans took a drink from a bottle of milk and continued. “I mean, come on. It’s vacation! We are at a hotel, by the ocean. The meaning of life for the next four days is to do absolutely nothing.”

                “Or, if you’re Sans, that’s the meaning of life every day,” Papyrus jabbed.

                “Correction: do as little as possible.”

                “So, um…” A question had been in the back of your mind for a while now; you figured now would be the best time to ask. “What exactly…do you do, Papyrus?”

                “Well! Unlike this ‘work-from-home’ lazybones here…I go out and earn an honest living!” He stood, clutching a hand to his chest dramatically. “That’s right! I, The Great Papyrus, am…an accountant!”

                “…Oh.”

                “Trust me, it’s a lot cooler when he’s got his suit on,” Sans whispered.

                “But I am not merely an accountant! One day, I will be the CEO of MTT Corp.! Even higher than my supervisor, Undyne!” He looked down. “Well…When I’m CEO, she can be co-CEO! We can rule together!”

                You were pretty sure that wasn’t how it worked, but you decided not to rain on his parade.

                “So, you’re kind of like me, then—an accountant, I mean.” You quickly tacked on the last part for fear he would project his dreams of workplace conquest on you.

                “You’re an accountant, too?” His eyes seemed to sparkle; you nearly jumped as he reached forward and grabbed your hands. “Isn’t it the greatest job in the world?!”

                “Uh…” You shifted, turning slightly pink at his invasion of your personal space. “Well…I mean, yeah, it’s probably good for some people…”

                “…You sound like you don’t like it very much.”

                “…I mean, if I have to be honest…I don’t.”

                Although you didn’t really want to admit it to yourself, you had known it was true for a long time. The initial promise of a nine-hour day quickly gave way to weeks on end of overtime; you found your free time fading as quickly as your enthusiasm. Still, it was a tough economy, and you did what you had to to survive.

                “But that’s so sad. Why would you work a job you hate?”

                “That’s…the real world. There are only so many who can eat dreams—the rest of us have to make do with what we have.”

                Papyrus looked down; you could feel his grip loosen.

                “I never thought about it that way, but…I guess you’re right. Still…” It almost looked like there were tears in his eyes; was he really about to cry over the relatively normal circumstances of a stranger?

                “Hey, um…I didn’t mean to make you cry. Really. I’m fine with it—it is what it is.”

                He blushed, wiping the tears from his face.

                “I-I wasn’t crying! I just…had something in my eye.”

                “Tears again?” Sans quipped.

                “N-no! Eyedrops! Ah, where did that bottle go…” Papyrus turned around, conspicuously wiping his eyes on his sleeves and pretending to search for a bottle you were sure didn’t exist.

                “Look, really, you don’t have to feel bad. …I’m happy for you. You’re one of those rare people who can completely enjoy what they do, and that’s great.” The situation was getting awkward; you had revealed more about yourself than you really mean to. Why couldn’t you have just said, ‘Yeah, accounting is great!’ and gone on with it?

                “Well…” You stood, brushing crumbs off your lap. “Thank you for everything. For the help last night, for the room key, for breakfast…but I should probably go now.”

                “See ya around, kid.” Sans gave a half-wave.

                Papyrus looked up from his predictably fruitless search. “Oh, already?”

                You stopped, and turned back around.

                “Meet me sometime, and I’ll treat you to lunch or something. We’ve still got a few days.”

                With that, you shut the door. Well, at least Papyrus was resilient; surely he had gotten over it by now. And Sans…he seemed laid-back, but you couldn’t really get a read on him. Neither of them seemed to have boundaries—at least, not the ones you had—and you wondered if you had crossed some sort of line. Staying in their room, and eating breakfast with them? No—after you repaid them, you would have to distance yourself. They were still strangers, after all.

                …

                Well, it didn’t matter. You didn’t have time to worry about them or what they thought of you; you had a whole day of relaxing on the beach and, most importantly, not crunching numbers to look forward to!

                You put your hand on the door handle, and froze.

                You had forgotten to put in the key, but the latch gave immediately.

                The door to your room…

                Was unlocked.