Papyrus was washing the dishes when his phone rang. He carefully set the plate in his hands down on the countertop, reaching for a nearby towel and drying his hands off before grabbing his phone and answering, not even bothering to read the caller ID.
   "Hello?"
   There was a pause on the other line before a familiar voice suddenly blasted out from the speaker, causing the skeleton to flinch.
   "PAPYRUS! WHY THE HELL DID YOU CALL ME 20 FREAKING TIMES IN THE COURSE OF FIVE MINUTES?!"
   "Sorry Undyne... I just wanted to check up on you, that's all..."
Undyne sighed. "Well, I guess that's not too big of a stretch for you, huh?"
"You know how much the Great Papyrus cares for his friends! Nyeh heh heh!" Papyrus replied cheerily.
Undyne chuckled. "Yeah... Anyway, what's up?"
   "I just wanted to know how you were doing. We haven't talked in forever! This whole disease thing really got between us!" Papyrus exclaimed.
   "Well, I wouldn't say it got between us, but it has certainly kept me busy," Undyne corrected.
"Heh, yeah..." Papyrus murmured.
The two friends fell silent for a moment.
"So... What'cha doing right now?" Papyrus asked suddenly.
Undyne paused. "Oh nothing. Just hanging out at home for a little bit before I gotta go back on guard duty. Man, I never get any down time anymore!"
"Lucky... I'd die to have some action around here! It seems all I get is down time!"
"Oh, dude, you don't wanna have to deal with the action I've had to deal with. Fighting creatures that are ten times larger and more powerful than you is exhausting!" Undyne insisted.
"Still gotta be more fun than sitting around at home, watching the same old movies over and over again with your brother and his girlfriend!" Papyrus sighed in exasperation.
"Oh yeah, I forgot that Sora was staying over with you two dorks. How's she been? And how 'bout Sans? I never thought I'd say it, but I kinda miss having that lazy ass around..."
"Sora's doing fine. You know her, always happy and supplying endless cuddles!" The skeleton chuckled. "As for Sans..." He glanced over at his brother, who was asleep on the couch. "He hasn't quite been his usual self..."
"How so?"
"He's so worried about everything! He never goes outside, he never socializes anymore, hell, he doesn't even like the idea of me going outside! He's so afraid of this disease that he's completely shut us all inside and he won't let us leave, unless I'm going on a mandatory supply run!" Papyrus explained, lowering his voice as he saw Sans's right eye slid open.
"Jeez... I didn't think he could get so worked up about something like that..." Undyne said quietly.
"I know, right? I've never seen him so distraught! At least, not in a very long while..." The skeleton trailed off, his gaze growing dull.
"Damn..." She paused for a moment. "Ah shit. I just realized the time. I gotta get back to work..."
"Dangit... Oh well, it was nice talking to you..."
"Hey! Cheer up, punk! Once this is over, we can hang out just like we did before all this! You just gotta keep your focus on the future. Don't worry so much about what's going on now. It'll be over before you know it," Undyne said reassuringly.
   Papyrus sighed. "Yeah... Anyway, take care! And don't get hurt!"
   Undyne chuckled. "I'll try not to. Talk to ya later."
   The skeleton's grin faltered slightly. "Bye..."
   His eyes went dull as he hung up, part of him wishing he could just keep talking to his friend. But he knew better than anyone that responsibilities like the ones Undyne had could not be abandoned.
He just wished it could be set aside, even for just one day. Talking to a friend was great, but it could never beat seeing them in real life.
**************************************************

All was peaceful in Waterfall. Aside from the constant battle taking place on the edge of the area, near Hotland, things weren't too out of the ordinary. Sure, there was always the lingering threat of the deranged monsters getting past the Royal Guard, but other than that, life went on.
   Crossfire stood on the edge of the pier, his magenta-colored gaze fixated on the calm waters, faintly highlighted by the cyan glow of the bright crystals that lined the cave walls.
   The wolf monster's ears were lowered slightly, only occasionally perking up at the quiet echo of a feral roar drifting down the caverns.
   He knew he should try to help the Guard in holding back the beasts as long as possible, but he didn't feel like it. In his mind, they weren't worthy of having him fighting alongside them. He was much more of a vigilante than a soldier.
   Crossfire had been told many times by various people that he'd make a wonderful guardsman. Random townspeople, Undyne, hell, even King Asgore himself had tracked him down to offer a position on the Guard.
   He just felt that they were too low-level, in terms of skill, for him to be concerned with. Besides, wearing a heavy suit of metal armor didn't exactly appeal to him anyway.
   The wolf sighed. "I should probably get going. Standing around here isn't solving any problems." He turned away from the water's edge, pulling his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans.
   He quickly dialed a familiar number, in hopes that he'd finally get an answer.
   The line rang.
   And it rang.
   Ringing, and ringing, and ringing.
   Until finally, the disheartening message he'd heard so many times began to play once more.
   "Hey, you've reached Ramsey. I can't make it to the phone right now, but if you leave me a message, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you, and have a nice day!"
   Crossfire gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowed as he clenched his fists, his fur bristling up in agitation. "Dammit, Ramsey! Where the hell are you?! You haven't been returning any of my calls recently!"
   He paused briefly, his gaze softening. "I'm sorry, dude. I'm just... I'm worried about you, friend... Please call me back when you get this... You know my number."
   The wolf exhaled slowly, hanging up the phone and stuffing it back into his pocket. He started walking back the way he'd come through the caverns, absentmindedly brushing his paw up against the crystal-studded wall as he headed towards Snowdin in silence.
   Despite his usually-fearless attitude, he found himself getting more and more concerned about his friend. It wasn't like Ramsey to be so... silent. Sure, he was naturally a bit soft-spoken, being that he was a deer and all, but he would normally return a phone call pretty soon after he missed it.

   Something was wrong. And Crossfire couldn't quite put his finger on what it was...

Hey! I hope you guys have been enjoying this so far! I've had quite a bit a fun writing it! :D

Just a heads up, things are gonna start picking up a bit in the next few chapters. This whole thing isn't gonna be all calm and semi-normal, ya know? XD

Also, since I'm including a wider variety of my OCs in this story, I'd like to remind you all that I have an OC book for most my characters (some of the minor ones aren't in there, but whatever). So if you come across one you don't know much about, go read up on them! :3

Anyway, thanks for reading! And until the next chapter, stay determined!
-Sora