A/N: Well I'm late with posting this but here's the start of the newest story! This chapter's prompt as well as the next one (it was getting long so I split it into two) is focused on 1. Papyrus and Frisk and 2. Christmas time. I...may have not added enough Papyrus and Frisk. I'll work on that.

I'm trying my hand at describing Frisk's sign language. Let me know if that's doing anything for you.

If you are new to this series or just don't understand the order, the order is on my author's profile. Just click my name!

As I explained in the last story Sans and Frisk's relationship will get a little weird but will not be much different from previous stories. It'll make better sense in the next two chapters. Let's just say Sans is a fucking troll.

For the record this Christmas prompt takes place before the epilogue of "Frisk". So Frisk hasn't been adopted by Asgore and Toriel yet

(One final thing, this prompt's song is "Peppermint Winter" by Owl City. I recommend listening to it when you read both this chatper and the next one)

You were at the mall on a Saturday morning with Papyrus a week before Christmas. You weren't sure why you were there but there you were surrounded on all sides by Christmas lights, wreaths bigger than your room, people, and the faint sounds of holiday tunes. Going along with the spirit, Papyrus was wearing a Santa hat and had put a pair of reindeer antlers on you. He had burst into Sans's room (where you had been sleeping that night) and had practically dragged you half asleep into his car declaring you were going on an adventure together. Beside you Papyrus was wearing his new jacket that announced in block letters "I got this shirt as a gift from someone who thinks I'm pretty amazing". He had gotten the jacket for himself.

You were still trying to blink the sleepiness out of your eyes. Papyrus seemed to be waiting for something but you didn't know what. Instead your eyes drifted over to the single largest Christmas tree that you had seen. You marveled at the sheer size of it. You had seen some big trees before but even the ones near Snowdin had nothing on it. It was covered in garland and lights and miscellaneous decorations. A man dressed as Santa was sitting at the foot of it surrounded by humans pretending to be elves. Children were coming up to sit on his lap in order to tell him what they wanted.

You tugged on Papyrus's sleeve to get his attention. When he finally tore his sparkling eyes away from everything he looked down at you. You put your hands close together and then moved them away before pointing at the tree.

"OH! SIGN LANGUAGE!" Papyrus cried, excited. You nodded. "ER….AGAIN?" He hadn't caught it. You did the same motion. You had been gradually teaching your friends little things in sign language (since you'd had time to practice so you were far ahead of them all) but it had only been about a week so there was still much to learn. You weren't even at sentences yet. Toriel and Asgore were your most valued students as they quickly tried to accommodate your signing on top of the few words you spoke. You were fairly sure Sans actually knew far more than you had taught anyone, though. He was probably teaching himself.

You laid one of your arms flat and then took your other arm and rested the elbow on top of the first arm. You then waved that hand back and forth before doing the first hand sign again.

Papyrus squinted then his eyes widened in realization. "YES! THE TREE IS BIG!" He looked up at the Christmas tree. "I DIDN'T THINK OVERWORLD TREES COULD GET SO LARGE!"

You nodded in agreement and then, a little more awake now, you looked around. You were fairly sure you both were at the mall because Papyrus wanted to get some shopping done…but why did he call it an "adventure"? You supposed that shopping could be an adventure but why had he woken you up so early? Also why were you both standing in line to sit in Santa's lap? You voiced your question out loud for him.

"YES! OF COURSE YOU DON'T KNOW…WE ARE GONNA MEET SANTA!" Well you had figured that out already. There were some children in line that were gaping at Papyrus and there were a few parents glaring at the yelling. For the most part it seemed these people weren't too shocked to see a monster but this was a city that was fairly close to Ebott. You knew that monsters lived in this city even if it was mostly on the outskirts.

You made the hand motion for "why". You used it quite a bit with Papyrus so he understood it immediately.

"BECAUSE…" He seemed a bit bashful, "I HAVE ALWAYS SENT HIM LETTERS! BUT HUMANS. HUMANS CAN MEET HIM IN PERSON! THAT'S AMAZING! SURELY SANTA MUST WANT TO MEET ME! WHY, HE MUST KNOW ME PERSONALLY FROM ALL OF MY LETTERS!"

You weren't cruel enough to even consider telling him it was a fake Santa. Or to tell him that this was technically for children. So instead you asked if this was the "adventure" he was talking about.

"YES! WELL. NO. ACTUALLY YEAH!" He settled for yes. "I WANTED TO MAKE SURE SANTA WOULD KNOW TO VISIT US MONSTERS UP HERE ON THE SURFACE NOW. BECAUSE. I DON'T KNOW WHO TELLS HIM THESE THINGS OR IF HE GOT OUR LETTERS YET…BUT I'LL LET HIM KNOW PERSONALLY! EVERYONE'LL BE HAPPY THEN!"

You wondered what you guys would be doing afterwards. You yawned. Behind you there was a stage whisper from a child, "Daddy! Daddy, that guy is like Jack Skellington!" You bit your lip in amusement. You hadn't yet shown that movie to your friends. You had actually forgotten about it. Judging by the way Papyrus hadn't reacted he must not know he was being talked about. Maybe you should buy that movie as a present for him?

Speaking of present, you haven't done much shopping. It had only been a little over a week since your birthday (and since you had reloaded you SAVE) and you had been more focused on spending time with everyone than planning for the holidays. You recalled that you wondered what they would be doing for Christmas (because they had plans that day from what Alphys's blog had said in the last timeline) but you hadn't even considered getting presents. Christmas had always been a background event to mark the end of the year to you. You never got presents (although in the last timeline you did get some new clothes but really thinking about it now that might not have been because of Christmas) so you never really thought about getting presents for others.

Well that wasn't completely right. For the past two years on Christmas you spent the day with the homeless. You were too young to really do anything but spend time in their company and give money but that always seemed to be enough.

Now though, you had friends and family. You had an allowance given to you by Toriel and Asgore that wasn't a whole lot but certainly enough to get a few gifts. Maybe you should convince Papyrus to actually go shopping after he has his sit-down with Santa. You would just need to buy Papyrus's gift at another time.

"Papyrus…" You called quietly. You were near the front of the line now. "Can we…shop after this?"

"OF COURSE!" Papyrus said. "WE NEED TO GET PRESENTS FOR THE GRYFTROT!"

Oh. You had forgotten about that monster. That's right, apparently Gryftrot was the reason Christmas started in the Underworld. It wasn't even called Christmas there (and you had to explain to your classmates and many other monsters why it was called Christmas) but the monsters had adopted the name anyhow as a way of integrating with the humans. It shouldn't surprise you so much that they would keep up the tradition of giving gifts to Gryftrot. However you didn't actually think the monster would appreciate the gifts. You didn't know if it still lived in the Underworld or not but it certainly preferred to be alone. So the presents were a little pointless.

But who were you to say anything? Humans had silly traditions too.

"ALSO." Papyrus added. You two were next in line. The elves didn't look happy with Papyrus's yelling. "WE NEED TO DECORATE WHEN WE GET BACK! SANS, HE. WELL. HE'S TOO LAZY TO DECORATE! I HAVE TO DO IT EVERY YEAR! BUT THIS TIME I'VE GOT MY COOL FRIEND WITH ME!" You nodded in agreement. You didn't mind helping decorate. "WOW, IT'S FINALLY OUR TURN!" The elves called you both forward and Papyrus charged ahead. The Santa looked rather shocked to see a skeleton after Halloween. He looked at you fully expecting you to sit on his lap (despite the fact that you were too old to do so) but Papyrus instead made himself comfortable. It couldn't feel good to have bones digging into your leg.

"O-Oh, ho! Hello!" The Santa made a valiant effort to stay in character. You were impressed.

"HI, SANTA!" The Santa surprisingly didn't wince at the yelling. You guessed that crying kids must be worse. "IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! TELL ME. HAVE YOU GOTTEN MY LETTER YET?"

"Ah, Papyrus!" Santa cheerfully played along. You sat down in a nearby chair and kicked your feet while watching the exchange. "Of course I know you!" Papyrus looked delighted. A flush of pleasure tinted his cheekbones. "But I haven't read your letter yet. I have so many I need to look at! However, when I get back to the North Pole this evening I will make sure to read it! But…" The Santa gave him a secretive smile. "Why don't you give me an idea of what you want?"

These Santas were crafty.

"WELL! THIS YEAR I WAS HOPING FOR SOMETHING FOR MY CAR! I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT. JUST. SOMETHING!" Papyrus nodded like his idea was fantastic. You already knew that Sans had probably gotten exactly what Papyrus was expecting. After all, his wish had come true in the last timeline. After snooping you had also found Papyrus's most recent letter to Santa buried in the trash in Sans's room. The smaller skeleton had made you promise you would clean up the room for being a snoop.

You weren't looking forward to it. You had asked Toriel for a gas mask for Christmas.

"ALSO I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT ALL OF US MONSTERS ARE ON THE SURFACE NOW! WE'RE SPREAD OUT SO IT MAY BE MORE DIFFICULT TO FIND US. BUT. PLEASE CONTINUE TO DELIVER US PRESENTS TOO!"

"I am aware! I will be extra careful to remember where all of you are." Santa promised solemnly. Papyrus's grin was blinding. "Now, why don't we take a picture?" He pointed to the camera where a slightly-disgruntled elf was waiting. They must not be a morning person.

"YES! FRISK!" Papyrus motioned you over. "COME JOIN US!" Santa happily waved you over as well. You climbed to your feet and sat on Santa's other leg (and felt a little ridiculous in doing so). Papyrus decided to stand and point cheerfully at Santa. The elf snapped a picture as you all smiled. "THERE!" Papyrus said triumphantly as he waved goodbye to Santa and went to go get the picture. You hurried after him. He had really fast steps. It was always a workout with him. "NOW WE HAVE PROOF WE HAVE MET SANTA!" He handed over the money and you both waited while the picture printed. He also bought a frame to go with it. "NOW LET'S SHOP!"

Although Papyrus had said you two would decorate that day after shopping, you had to beg off because you were utterly exhausted and you wanted to get your presents back home before you forgot them. Together you and Papyrus had picked out gifts for everyone –Papyrus had even bought presents for humans he barely talked to at some of the grocery stores- you both wanted to give gifts to. You even managed to buy and sneak "A Nightmare Before Christmas" into your bags before he could see it.

The next day you woke up and waved goodbye to Toriel to head over to Sans and Papyrus's house. The two skeleton brothers were standing outside as Papyrus was already hanging out lights. There had already been lights outside of the house –everyone who had lived in Snowdin had decorated with the first snow- but now it seemed Papyrus had kicked into the holiday overdrive. You could see a tree inside the house ready to be covered with miscellaneous ornaments and there was the giant inflatable snow globe Papyrus had bought yesterday. It was snowing both inside and outside of the decoration.

You waved hello to Sans. It appeared that Papyrus had gotten him with the silly headwear as well. While you were wearing your antlers again, Sans was wearing a pointed hat in the shape of a Christmas tree. It even had a star on top. He was also wearing the "Free Hugs" hoodie that Papyrus had bought him because his other one (the one you didn't borrow) had been ruined in a tragic spaghetti incident.

"sup, kid?" The smaller brother asked looking amused. His hat was covered with snow. He appeared festive.

"FRISK! FINALLY YOU ARRIVE! YOU ARE LATE!" You were fairly sure you weren't but you didn't know a time you were supposed to arrive anyway so whatever. Papyrus grabbed you and lifted you onto his shoulders. "CAN YOU PIN THE LIGHTS HIGHER?" He handed you a strand and a nail. You were hesitant because you had never done this before you but you did as he asked. It stuck well.

"so." Sans said from where he continued to stand and not help whatsoever. There was a box of bones next to him. The bones were covered with garland. "hey bro….where are we celebrating this year?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Papyrus asked. He stood on his tip toes to lift you a little higher. You had to shove some snow out of the way to properly nail in the lights.

"well…it's not just us this year." He explained.

"YOU'RE RIGHT! HMMMM…." You brushed off some of the snow you had accidently knocked onto his hat. You then readjusted the hat. "I DON'T KNOW!" He finally decided.

"Party?" You suggested.

"THAT SOUNDS GREAT! WE'LL THROW A PARTY!"

"sounds good. where?"

"HERE, OBVIOUSLY!" That was kind of exciting. But the house was kind of small. It was only built for two people. You looked at Sans and made a house with your hands. You then held your spread hands out before bringing them closer until there was a small gap between the two.

"kid has a point. it's, uh, kind of small here."

"BUT OUR HOUSE WILL ALREADY BE DECORATED!"

"Yo!" The three of you turned to see Undyne approaching. She was bundled up tightly in a snug snow coat that barely hid her muscles. She was wearing a headband that had green and red lights blinking on it. She looked a little miserable to be outside when it was so cold but you weren't surprised considering she wasn't very warm-blooded.

(Actually, monsters didn't even have blood did they? They never did when Chara-)

"HI, UNDYNE!" Papyrus waved. He kept his other hand on your knee to keep you steady. You waved as well.

"I heard something about a party?" She asked.

"yeah. christmas party." Sans said.

"What the hell are you wearing?" She guffawed at the sight of Sans's ridiculous hat. "Looks like Papyrus got to you two too, huh?" She put her hands in her pockets grinning.

"FESTIVE SPIRIT EVERYWHERE!" Papyrus crowed. You put the last nail in and tapped the side of his skull. He lowered you back to the ground and you all stood back to admire your handiwork. It…well. It looked festive at least. Christmas lights were pretty no matter how much they dangled.

"heh heh heh. looks great." Sans ruffled your hair and messed up your antlers. You righted them.

"I WILL FIX THEM LATER. I MEAN, YOU DID GREAT FRISK! BUT…IT'S KIND OF…MESSY. BUT STILL GOOD! BUT IT CAN BE BETTER!" He was trying to make you feel better. You didn't really care how it looked. Papyrus could fix it as much as he wanted. It was his house after all. And he hadn't given you a hammer for the nails.

Suddenly Undyne let out a shriek which caused all of you to jump. "HOLY HELL, THAT'S COLD!" She twisted and turned and opened up the back of her jacket. A bit of snow fell out. She also needed to get the snow off of her scarf and hood. "Alright, which one of you punks did it?" She demanded.

"it was the roof." Sans said. You looked up. He was right. Undyne didn't seem to care, though. She scooped up a handful of snow and pounded it into a sphere before she chucked it at Sans. He dodged out of the way and you unfortunately ended up with a faceful of cold. You were thrown a decent distance but the snow was soft so your landing wasn't too bad. Sans laughed but Papyrus gave a delighted cry.

"A SNOWBALL FIGHT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE NEVER LOST A-" You didn't get to hear him finish as you saw him land in the snow beside you. His hat was sent flying and Undyne was cackling.

This meant war.

You stood up and felt determination fill you. You had never been in a snowball fight before but you knew the rules. You also had training with dodging. You wouldn't lose. You scooped up a handful of snow and jumped behind Sans to wrap your arms around him. He looked startled by your sudden hug. You gave him a wicked grin.

"hey, what are you-" He started but you knew what you were doing. You jumped out of the way as both Papyrus and Undyne's snowballs slammed straight into the short skeleton. Sans fell to the ground and just laid there. "oh no." He said. "that situation sure snowballed." Papyrus and Undyne pelted him with snowballs in retaliation. Sans quickly began to look like the "snowman" he had made back in the Underground. He didn't bother to get up.

You took advantage of the distraction and chucked a snowball. It hit Undyne in the back. She spun around to face you but was hit with Papyrus's snowball. "A-ha! Teaming up on me, huh? WELL I WON'T LOSE!" She started gathering up an absurd amount of snow. It would take her two turns. You shot a terrified look at Papyrus which he returned, sweating. The two of you ducked behind the Sans pile and started pushing more snow onto him, forming a barrier.

"Sans?" You asked breathlessly even as you continued. You were scared he wouldn't be able to breathe so you left his head exposed.

"don't worry, kid. i don't need to breathe." He winked at you. "it's snow problem."

Papyrus covered Sans's head with snow in retaliation.

Between the two of you a decent wall was formed…for you. Papyrus was still pretty tall. "HERE IT COMES, PUNKS!" Undyne cried.

"OH NO." Papyrus whimpered and Undyne crashed through your Sans pile. She must have forgotten he was in it, though, because she tripped on him and with a yell the four of you were assaulted by her huge snowball. Your head spun from where you were buried under the limbs of Undyne and Papyrus. Everyone groaned but then Papyrus started laughing which made Undyne laugh and before you knew it you all were in fits of giggles.

The snowball fight ended in favor of the snow and you all retreated inside so you and Undyne could warm up. Inside another impromptu cooking lesson occurred. Today's theme: cookies. You and Sans sat on the couch together with you all bundled up in dry clothing you had borrowed from Sans and watched a Christmas special. Sans fell asleep part way through completely uninterested after the grandmother was run down by Santa's sleigh. You were glad Papyrus hadn't been there to see it.

Despite the explosions and the cracking of what you were sure was a counter, the cookies didn't turn out completely terrible. Or at least, not all of them did. There were a significant amount of burnt ones, ones that resembled Sans's pet rock, ones that looked completely inedible, and then there were the ones Papyrus had experimented with to try to make spaghetti cookies. You went with the few chocolate chip cookies that you could scrape most of the burnt parts off of. It was pretty good otherwise! The four of you discussed a Christmas party and all agreed on having the party at Asgore's. All of you were certain he wouldn't care.

It would be fun to actually have a Christmas party that wasn't full of people you didn't know. You wondered if your parents would still be throwing their party. You considered calling them Christmas day to at least wish them well for the holidays. Would that be a good idea?

Oh wait. You couldn't do that. Your parents…didn't know you were with the monsters yet. Or…at least they hadn't acknowledged it yet. You needed to keep quiet and not contact them until it was –hopefully- time for them to sign your adoption papers.

You were saddened by it, though. You wanted to at least say Merry Christmas to your mother but…it looks like this year you couldn't. You had to comfort yourself with knowing you technically already did say merry Christmas this year to her…in a different timeline. Next year you hoped to be able to call her. Maybe send a present or something. A picture of you so she knew you were well? Would that make her sad? Would she care?

"hey." Sans nudged you and you looked at him. You could tell he knew you were thinking sad things. he pointed with both of his fingers at his eye sockets and pointed them at something behind you. He was grinning. You did as he signed and looked only to come face-to-face with Papyrus with Christmas lights blinking in his eye sockets and the hole where his nose would be. You couldn't resist the yelp of laughter that burst from you and you giggled. He looked like Rudolph with that red light in his nose!

"HEH HEH HEH NYEH!" Papyrus laughed too. Sans was muffling his laughter behind you. You could feel his body shaking with it.

"What are you doing?" Undyne asked and peeked from the kitchen where she had a glass of milk. Papyrus looked at her and she laughed out loud. You grinned at Papyrus's antics. You couldn't wait for the Christmas party.

A/N: Oh, for those of you who don't follow my tumblr, I made a picture for this chapter. It's not fantastic but you'll get a better idea of Papyrus's radical jacket. You guys know how urls work. Please fill in the gaps that FF got rid of. It's tumblr (stupid FF)

tsukithewolf. tumblr post/ 132705089276/ you-were-at-the-mall-on-a-saturday-morning-with