As he put down the pen, shivering at the thought of what he needed to do to his friend, Papyrus heard the front door click and a familiar voice call out. "papyrus! bro, i'm home!" The skeleton smiled at the sound of his brother's voice, and went downstairs to give him a hug. "Welcome back! How was lunch?" he asked Sans. The comedian smiled, seemingly in a good mood. "good as always. got to see fuku, too. turns out she has a part time job there now! pretty good at it too!"

Sans passed his brother a paper bag, the smell of food emanating from it. "brought ya somethin' to eat, too. hey, uh, after you eat, which i hope you will, can you come to al's with me? i need her to check you over to make sure you're not sick." Papyrus sighed. God damn it, Sans... he thought. Despite his unwillingness, he nodded. "If it will make you feel better, so be it. I'll eat, then I'll follow you to Alphys' lab."

Wanting to make his brother happy, he forced himself to eat. The food tasted good — fries with a deluxe milkshake — but forcing it down was harder than it seemed, especially since his senses tried to make him reject it, craving life essence and not normal food. He finished it, though, much to his brother's relief, and threw on his coat to go to Alphys' lab for what he could only assume to be a medical check-up.

The cold air yet again reminded Papyrus of how much he missed the feeling that the magic of other monsters gave him. A chill ran through his bones — warmth was a luxury that he had lost to his own genetics, and he hated it so much. Sans noticed the shiver, and turned towards his brother. "papyrus? you okay?" "Just cold, s'all," Papyrus responded quickly, not wanting to worry him. Sans looked suspicious, but let it slide. "alright... come on, let's take the riverboat."

The two brothers turned into the Riverperson's clearing, and Papyrus clapped a hand over his mouth. Sans was alarmed yet again. "bro??" he asked. "Just a toothache, keep walking," Pap mumbled from under his glove, muffling the sickening crackling sounds completely. Sans took his arm and helped him onto the boat, looking up at the cloak-don captain. "hotland,
please," he told them. They nodded. "Right away. Tra la la."

The riverboat rose from the water, the catlike face on the front coming to life as the boat took off, skipping along the surface. Sans turned to his brother and put a hand on his back. "it's okay, paps, alphys will see what's wrong with you." The words offered little reassurance to Papyrus, as the toothache was hurting his whole head now, turning into a migraine. Sans rubbed his back, trying to offer as much comfort as he could, until the boat stopped at its Hotland dock. "Come again some time. Tra la la," echoed the boatkeeper's farewell as the short skeleton helped his brother steady himself on his feet and walked towards the lab.

Alphys answered at the sound of the knocking on her door. "O-oh, it's you two! Come right in!" she said, leading them inside and sitting them both down. "P-Papyrus, is your mouth okay?" The only thing she got in response was a muffled noise of discomfort. "C-can you move your hand...?" He shook his head. Getting a sense of déjà-vu, she turned to Sans, then back to Papyrus. "...do you want Sans to leave the room first...?" she asked him softly. He opened his eyes and looked up at her before nodding slowly. Sans sighed. "i'll leave if it makes you more comfortable, bro." He stood up and left the room, making his brother feel guilty, like he had hurt his feelings.

"Now can you open your mouth...?" Alphys asked. Papyrus noticed that she wasn't stuttering anymore, and slowly moved his hand. Alphys gingerly opened his mouth and noticed that his canine teeth were growing sharper. She squeaked in surprise. "Th-This is... oh no..." She took her hands away and sat opposite to Papyrus, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. All I want is for you to answer honestly. This won't leave the room. Okay?" Papyrus nodded, and the scientists took another deep breath.

"First question. Why won't you eat?"

"My head sort of tells me not to... and I don't really feel that hungry for days at a time..." the skeleton answered softly. Alphys nodded. "I see. Next question. Has anything abnormal been happening to your vision?" Papyrus hesitantly replied "Everything's getting a bit pale, unless I'm around people like Asriel, or Frisk, or Ceecee. They sort of have an aura that makes it better, if that makes any sense."

Alphys quickly wrote down what he said. "Question number three... have you been developing an addiction to any one monster's magic radiation?"

"...Prince Asriel." came the reply. Looking a little surprised, the Royal Scientist wrote down Asriel's name. "Alright. Next question. Have... have your natural instincts been acting up...? As in... hunting instincts...? Like... the urge to bite something, or someone...?" Papyrus hesitated. "Please, this is important to know," the lizard monster pressed. The young skeleton sighed.

"Lately, yes... and I hate it... I feel like I'm going to end up scaring someone... I don't know why or how this came up... but I want to have it cured as soon as possible... is there any way to fix it...? Hell, if I have to get neural surgery, I'll do it... I just want this fixed..."

Alphys stood up and hugged him, and he hugged back, appreciating her comfort and pushing back the itch in his brain telling him to strike. He couldn't do that to her. She pulled away, hands on his shoulders. "Your genes have turned against you, Papyrus. I'm sorry, I don't know how to fix something like this..." They made eye contact, and the expression in her patient's eyes stung Alphys like a wasp. He looked crestfallen. "Are you sure there's no way to fix this...? I don't care what it takes..."

The Royal Scientist put her hands on the sides of his face, bumping her forehead gently against his in a sign of affection. "Sorry, Paps... there isn't anything I can do for you. You father passed this down, and I can't change that, no matter how hard I try."

"You're a vampire."