"I don't think flowers can talk, Papyrus." Ccino said to a stony faced floating head, who he kept reminding himself was Dust's brother. It was strange how his brother didn't have a body like he and the others but a head and a portion of neck but when he asked Dust, the other only replied he was "working on it."

Maybe there were merits in not having a body that he didn't know, he thought. But what he did know though, was that being able to float around without walking was pretty cool.

"They would, little Ccino. You have to be patient! Patient and friendly, of course." Papyrus nodded enthusiastically as he rambled on. "Why, I myself was friends with one. A buttercups flower, he was very nice! His name is..." The other drawled, suddenly looking uncertain at himself. "Hmm, strange that I don't remember... But anyways, it would happen if you try hard enough."

Well, that did sound interesting. So he jumped off the rail before their house and made a turn to the garden.

They didn't actually have a garden. Not before, as Horror said. But it was so happen that he was gifted a bag of seeds among the other miscellaneous things during his shopping. And then Papyrus had suggested planting some, so he planted the zinnias on a corner of their backyard.

"The zinnias are growing really well, little Ccino. You have the talent." Papyrus floated ahead of him and peered down the red flowers. There should be also the pink and yellow ones, according to the description on the bag of seeds he had read multiple times. But for some reason, there were only red zinnias that were growing.

It wasn't that he minded. Red zinnias were pretty too.

"I think it's Killer. The fertilizers he put in is really effective." Though Killer remained tight-light about where he managed to get one in the first place, he did watch him burying them from afar. Dust didn't allow him to come closer since it was dirty.

He agreed, because he caught a whiff of the heavy smell that day.

"But you do the watering, so that counts too!"

"I guess." He shrugged. He had learned long time ago that there was no arguing with Papyrus.

He bent down at the flowers, eyes trailing the delicate petals. "How did you talk to them, Papyrus?"

"Like when you make friends, of course. Make an introduction and share information about yourself! Stay polite and friendly and oh! Don't forget to smile! You look cute when you smile, yes, that's an advantage."

"Okay." Was all he replied. He noticed, from a corner of his eyes, that Papyrus had floated a little far away from him and the flowers, leaving a space for himself. He really appreciated the thoughtfulness.

Well, here goes nothing.

He took a deep breath before turned to face the zinnias.

"Hello." He said to the flowers. When there was no answer, he darted his eyes to Papyrus and found the other nod at him encouragingly. "Hello, I'm Ccino."

"Papyrus told me that you guys can talk, and that he was friends with one of you too, so I want us to be friends since I don't have one. Is that okay?"

A beat of silence, then some zinnias moved their bodies towards his direction like they were interested.

"Thank you." He knew it was the wind, but smiled regardless. "I... I actually don't remember many things about myself other than my name. But I know that I like hot chocolate and the others here. There are... uh..." He counted his fingers. "Four? Four of them. Papyrus, Dust, Horror and Killer. Though I don't know if you guys can see Papyrus like me and Dust."

"They found me and took me here. They're really nice. I really like them." The flowers nodded, or at least it was something close to that. He settled for a more comfortable position, which was practically lying on the ground with arms tucking behind his neck. He would deal with Dust's scolding later. "I think there're merits in being a flower." He started conversationally. "You just need water, soil and good weather. But Dust said that flowers are impractical and die too early. Do you feel ever sad about it?"

Again, no answers. But he thought the way the flowers were trembling in the wind was already one. He reached out a tentative hand and touched a zinnia nearby with a finger.

"I'm sorry that you have to go through that. I wish I can do something about it." Another wind, and the flower under his hand shook its head. "Why? Why do you accept it? Isn't being dead painful? Even if it means you won't be able to see the sun or enjoy the weather? Even if it means being..." He felt his throat suddenly close up at the word "... forgotten?"

He didn't know where the sadness came from, but he wanted to cry. So he cried. He sat up and buried his face on his knees, feeling his tears, hot and overflowing soaking his clothes. He whimpered quietly, a habit that he had practiced not to alarm the others.

He didn't want to burden them.

"Oh god, did they say something to you?!" He startled, not noticing Papyrus' presence as he floated towards him. "That was something happened to me too, you know? And my advice is that we leave the meanness behind and come back later. So up you go!" He rubbed his eyes on his sleeve and got up. It wasn't until they were in the safety of the house and he wiped the remaining tear streaks with a tissue that he found his voice again.

"It's not like that..." He started, and smiled, as Papyrus shushed at him and pointed at the candy on his hand. He twisted open the wrapper. "I was just feeling sad. It was uh, a sudden thing."

"Alright." Papyrus didn't look quite convinced but still nodding, his scarlet eyes gleaming. In fact, the other looked like he would get to his brother and burn the flowers that he had taken care of for nearly half a year, so he rushed to tell him the exact details of his possibly one-sided conversation.

"Ah, so it's like that." Papyrus spoke with a hint of familiarity. "It's very sad, indeed, to be forgotten. So I appeared by my brother's side and kept reminding him of my once existence, so that I won't be forgotten."

He chewed on his candy before the realization sank in, as clear as the day.

"Are you a ghost, Papyrus?!" He looked up at Papyrus and found the other regard him with a strange look on his face.

"I thought you know, little Ccino. But yes, I'm a ghost."

"Huh." Then another realization occurred. Papyrus' statement didn't change anything much in him... Well, maybe a little, as he sneaked a glance at the other. His curiosity was painfully hard to ignore. "So... does it hurt?"

"Being dead? No." More questions raced up, but he closed his mouth and let the other continue. "It's actually very peaceful, little Ccino. Very much so. Though it's rather sad that I don't get to enjoy food anymore."

"That's too bad." He nodded in sympathy. He couldn't begin to think about not being able to taste delicious, hot chocolate anymore. It felt like his worst nightmare. "But how did you die?"

There was that uncertain look again as Papyrus replied.

"That I don't remember, and I don't remember a lot of things. Like you, little Ccino."

It made him question whether he was also, dead in the first place, but the thought alone was absurd. He knew he could breathe and taste the candy on his mouth just right. He knew he could touch and hold the remote on the table with his hand. And that his soul was beating on his chest. Dust had said that when people died their souls wouldn't beat, so he must be alive, not dead.

...Right?

He shook his head and got rid of the weird chain of thoughts.

"Anyways, do you know where the others are? Horror promised he would teach me how to make lasagnas today."

"Ah, they went out early. You were sleeping so soundly so I didn't wake you up." Papyrus looked apologetic at him. He tried to wave off the disappointment and smiled back reassuringly.

"Well it's not your fault. Horror can teach me another day I guess."

But the thought stayed on his mind even when they watched the television. It was a cartoon about animals, and Papyrus was so engrossed in the talking bunnies that he didn't notice him slowly slipping away from the living room.

The lights in the hallway wasn't fixed. He realized this after playing with the switch a while. Even if it was still day outside, the hallway remained shrouded in darkness, as if it was a completely different world just a few steps ahead of him.

The ominous darkness and the fact that the others had forbidden him to come here were enough to make him hesitate.

But the others never told him about their work. And he wanted to know.

Flashing one last look to the living room, he took a step forward.

///

There were rooms in the dark hallway. Some of them were locked, some weren't. Either way, he was always excited to step into a room and see what was in it.

Most of the unlocked rooms didn't meet his expectations. They were storage rooms with strange instruments, and he only recognized the large pruning scissors he sometimes used under Dust's watchful eyes.

Though the blades looked stained by something red. Paint maybe?

He wondered if his caretakers were gardeners. Or painters. The later sounded plausible, since Killer liked to smear red paints on his cheeks. He knew it was red paint because Dust said so while scrubbing his face clean.

He opened another door. This time it was a staircase that led down to more darkness.

"Hmmm..." Curious.

He descended the staircase carefully.

It was really dark, but thankfully he found the light switch. But when he flipped it...

He saw even more dark. No, it was the color of a cloak, a figure, crouching slightly at the ground as if inspecting something. He craned his neck and tried to look past them, seeing a corner of red paint peaked out.

They were really tall, imposingly so. Whoever they were.

"Who're you?"

He asked, and the figure turned to meet his eyes.

It was strange. How could someone's eyes be darker than darkness itself?

"Hello, little Ccino." He blinked and tilted his head. He definitely didn't know this person before. "We met again."

"Do I know you?"

"Why, yes. We're... acquaintances." Acquaintances? That's some difficult word. He scrunched his face in confusion. "Old friends, I might say."

"You're my friend?"

The figure smiled and nodded.

A friend! He brightened up and walked closer to the figure. His friend was so tall they were towering over him.

"Uhh... Can I hold your hand?" He asked politely. Dust said there were some people who didn't like to be touched without permission, and he didn't want to scare away his new friend.

"Sure."

Their hand didn't carry any warmth at all. It was actually quite chilly.

He rubbed both of his hands on theirs. It took him a bit of time, but it was warm now.

His friend peered down their joining hands curiously.

"I usually say thank you in this situation."

"Oh yes, thank you, little Ccino."