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"Now, the key to a successful shortcut is focus," Gaster instructed Papyrus as he and both his sons stood in their den one summer morning, about to test out the shortcut powers that they had recently learned Papyrus was capable of. "You want to visualize the area you want to end up very carefully in your head. If it helps, stand in that area for a moment, getting a feel for what it would look like to be there."
Papyrus nodded, walking across the room to the spot where he wanted to end up, looking around to get a clear picture of the area in his mind, focusing on the distance between him and both his dad and brother and the amount of distance he needed to be from the furniture so he didn"t end up with a leg stuck through something. Sans had done that before when he was tired, and he knew how much of a headache it could be to free someone who had gotten the lower half of their body caught in the couch. He continued observing his surroundings until he had the whole area memorized enough to be confident(well, mostly) that he wasn"t going to end up doing that too. "OKAY, I"VE GOT IT!" he said happily and moved back to join his father and brother, looking ahead to where he wanted to end up.
Gaster smiled at this. "Good job. Now close your eyes and let your magic flow through you. Concentrate on imagining exactly where you want to be. When you"re ready, release your magic and let it carry you."
Papyrus took a deep breath and nodded, closing his eyes and letting a clear image of the other side of the living room fill his mind as his magic surrounded him. He released it, feeling his feet leave the ground for a split second as rushing wind filled his ears.
And then his feet hit the floor again and he opened his eyes, which widened with excitement and joy as he saw Gaster and Sans smiling at him from across the room. "I did it!" he cheered, bouncing in place, beyond thrilled at his first successful shortcut.
Sans grinned and hurried across the room. "We"re proud of you, bro."
Gaster nodded, smiling as he came over to join them. "You did a great job, Papyrus. Not many can manage that level of magic on their first try."
"Thanks!" Papyrus said happily.
Gaster patted his shoulder. "Now try making a shortcut back to where you were originally standing. Use the same technique you did before, only with your original location in mind."
Papyrus nodded happily, closing his eyes and concentrating as he let his magic flow around him. But excitement clouded his focus, and as he released his magic, one thought came to mind.
I can"t wait to show Frisk what I can do!
Once again, magic carried him away, but much to Gaster and Sans" shock and horror, he didn"t immediately reappear. For his magic had taken his errant thought as an instruction for where it should bring him, and the destination he was soon to arrive at was one he would never forget.
...
"I"m just a love machine," Frisk sang happily and off key, twirling a bit as she blow-dried her wet hair after her shower, dressed in only her white cotton bra and underwear. "I won"t work for nobody but..."
And then she cut herself off, her eyes widening in shock as, between one blink and the next, she suddenly was no longer alone in her bathroom. Right in front of her, just as bug eyed as she was, stood Papyrus, frozen like a statue, a look of pure shock on his face and a blush on his cheeks as he stared at her dumbfoundedly.
"AHHHHH! Papyrus?!" Frisk screamed in shock, dropping her hairdryer on the floor as she instinctively covered herself up. She stumbled back and nearly ended up on her ass, her heart racing at having her boyfriend somehow end up appearing out of nowhere in her locked bathroom.
Her startled reaction seemed to break him out of his frozen state, and he stumbled back as well. "I"M SORRY!" he cried out, looking like he thought she was about to kill him. She reached out for him, both wanting to comfort him and to ask what the heck had just happened, but before she could, he bolted off, hurtling himself through her window, much like he had during her first hangout with Undyne. Thankfully he stuck the landing, though Frisk, staring through the new hole in her bathroom window at her boyfriend running through her yard like a thousand wasps were after him, was left wondering what the hell was going on.
...
"Paps?!" Sans called out, his soul racing as he rushed through the house, looking for his missing brother.
"Papyrus, where are you?!" he could hear an equally panicked Gaster call as he too searched the house.
"Maybe he"s outside! Maybe he got stuck in the wall or something!" Sans called out to Gaster as he rushed outside. Please don"t let him have ended up in the Void! Is that even possible?! How could he just utterly vanish?!"
There was a sudden crash from the Dreemurr house next door and Sans jumped and turned, sighing with relief as he saw Papyrus frantically running towards him. "Paps?! Thank god! Where were you?!"
"SANS! I SCREWED UP EVERYTHING!" Papyrus cried out as he rushed over, magic flushing his cheeks red and broken glass sparkling in his scarf.
"What happened?! Are you hurt?" Sans asked worriedly, checking Papyrus over. There was no injuries but the poor guy clearly was in shock.
"I... Frisk... Bathroom..." Papyrus babbled.
Gaster came running out before Sans could even attempt to decode that. "Oh good, there you are! You had us so worried! Did the shortcut go wrong?"
Papyrus nodded shakily. "Y-Y-Yeah."
"It"s okay, Papyrus. That can happen sometimes. Let"s get you inside," Gaster said gently, taking Papyrus by the arm. He and Sans led the trembling skeleton back inside. Gaster got Papyrus settled on the couch. "What happened? Did you get hurt?" He Checked Papyrus, then started picking glass out of his scarf. "There"s glass all over you."
Papyrus shook his head. "No, I"m not hurt. Just...embarrassed," he admitted. "I, um, know where I messed up. I was so excited about knowing how to shortcut and I...couldn"t wait to show Frisk." A blush appeared on his cheeks. "And...I guess my magic couldn"t wait to show her either."
"And you popped in on her at an awkward moment?" Sans asked knowingly.
Papyrus buried his face in his hands. "Yes..."
Sans patted his shoulder with a smile. "Aww, Paps, don"t worry so much. Those things happen sometimes."
"I scared her though, and now she"s probably going to be really mad and think I"m a creep, and..."
"Paps," Sans said firmly. "Frisk loves you. She"s not going to be mad at you, especially when you explain what happened. Trust me. And...if it makes you feel better, I had something similar happen with Chara a few weeks ago."
Papyrus finally lifted his head. "You did?"
Sans chuckled, a slight embarrassed blush on his face. "Yep. I was about to shortcut home from Grillbys. I was tired, and instead of focusing, part of my brain was wondering how she was doing. So I ended up literally teleporting into her bed at one in the morning. And she"s still teasing me about it."
"I"m not surprised," Gaster said with a shake of his head before fixing his eldest son with a stern gaze. "And I hope teleporting into her bed was all you did."
"Dad!" Sans protested, his cheeks turning red. "You know that"s all it was!"
Gaster chuckled a bit. "Good," he said before turning back to Papyrus. "And like Sans said, don"t worry about it too much. Shortcuts can be tricky. I too have had incidents. I was so excited about meeting your mother for a date once that I ended up stuck in a wall during a shortcut. Not my proudest moment. But like with Chara, your mom wasn"t mad. She was actually trying really hard not to laugh."
Papyrus chuckled a bit, clearly feeling a bit better. "WOWIE. I GUESS i"M NOT ALONE."
Gaster nodded, smiling. "Afraid you come by it naturally, kiddo. Shortcuts and clumsiness run in the Gaster family."
Papyrus laughed a little, finally fully relaxing. "TRUE. I GUESS I SHOULD GO TALK TO FRISK, HUH? AND FIX HER BATHROOM WINDOW. I KIND OF, UM, BROKE IT WHEN I FLED LIKE A MANIAC."
Sans and Gaster nodded, trying not to laugh.
...
But before Papyrus could head over to Frisk"s house, there was a knock on his door. Calling that he was coming, he went to open it.
Frisk was standing on the porch, smiling, dressed in one of her favorite summer outfits, a salmon pink shirt with yellow stripes and a pair of white jean shorts with white sandals. "Hey. I came to check on you. You kind of ran out of my bathroom like you were being attacked by hornets."
Papyrus rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry about that. And breaking your window. And um, shortcutting into your bathroom without warning and seeing you in your underwear. Dad and Sans were teaching me how to use shortcuts and I meant to go to the other side of the room but I was all excited and I was thinking about showing you and I guess I..."
Frisk giggled and hugged him. "Calm down, Paps. I"m not mad. I know you"d never walk in on me on purpose without asking. I just was shocked at how you came literally out of nowhere into my locked bathroom. And I didn"t know you could use shortcuts! I"m so proud of you!" She gave him a light kiss, then pulled away, looking mischievous. "Though if I"d known you were going to be dropping in, I would have worn my fancy underwear." Papyrus turned bright red and she giggled and kissed him again. "Sorry. I couldn"t resist. I think having Chara as a sister is rubbing off on me."
Papyrus let out a playful dramatic groan. "DOES THAT MEAN I"M GOING TO BE SWAMPED WITH EVEN MORE RIDICULOUS PUNS?"
She chuckled. "You"re one to talk. You say almost as many as your brother, only they"re usually better ones."
"WELL, I THE GREAT PAPYRUS, TRY TO STRIVE TO BE GREAT AT EVERYTHING," Papyrus said proudly, striking a dramatic pose as he knew they made her laugh. "EVEN AT PUNS. JUST DON"T TELL MY BROTHER."
"I won"t," she assured him, smiling. "Now, since I"m here and I didn"t get a good look at your shortcut before, can you show me it again?"
His eyes lit up. "I"D LOVE TO!"