Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Frisk was sat down at the table, poking at her bowl of Tortellini Papyrus made for dinner. Alex and Kris were locked into a discussion about their plans for Valentine’s day. Sans ignored the conversation immensely while Papyrus would occasionally insert himself in their discussion. The tall skeleton looked at Frisk and worriedly raised a brow ridge. “SO, FRISK. WHAT DO YOU AND CHARA HAVE PLANNED FOR VALENTINE’S DAY THIS YEAR?”

Frisk shrugged. “I’m not so sure. I haven’t really thought about plans.”

“Why not go somewhere to eat?” Kris asked. “Isn’t there a restaurant you two would like to go to?”

Frisk let out a soft chuckle. “Plenty, but they’re all going to be packed with other people having the same idea.”

“What about a picnic at the park?” Alex suggested, mouth full of food, which Papyrus glared at him for.

“Too cold to be honest…” Frisk muttered. “I’d settle for giving him a box of chocolate, but most of the big boxes were taken already.” She sighed and rested her head on her hand. “At this point our Valentine's day plans might just be us watching a movie and eating popcorn.”

“doesn’t sound so bad.” Sans said, finally taking part in the conversation. “heck, it doesn’t have to be even valentine’s day for me to agree to that.”

Frisk rolled her eyes and chuckled. “That’s because it sounds like something friends would do.” She looked at Sans smugly, piercing a piece of the pasta with her fork and pointed it at him. “And what do you have planned this year, Sans?”

Sans shrugged and pointed up at the ceiling. “i’m gonna hide in the anti-ship bunker i have installed in the attic as per-usual.”

Kris chuckled and stared at Sans in disbelief. “You hate Valentine’s day that much, huh?”

“it’s not that i hate the holiday, it’s that i don’t want to get overrun with people trying to confess to me.” Sans replied, taking a bite of his food.

“Was that a big issue for you in the underground?” Alex asked with a raised brow.

“NOT REALLY. HE ONLY HAD TROUBLE WITH ONE DRUNK RABBIT AT GRILLBY’S.” Papyrus answered for Sans, who was too busy eating to respond. “BUT HE STILL USED IT DURING THE HOLIDAYS TO GET OUT OF HELPING ME DELIVER CARDS TO OUR NEIGHBORS.” Papyrus glared at the shorter skeleton, who shrugged.

“but ever since we made it to the surface, some humans have apparently found me...irresistable, for some reason.” Sans sighed. “on the bright side, i get some more use out of it. plus i have all the essentials i’ll need for a whole day.”

“So you’ve never had someone YOU wanted to confess to?” Kris asked, piercing a piece of pasta with their fork.

Sans shook his head. “never really been interested in that stuff.”

Frisk sighed and finally ate the pasta on her fork. She took care to finish it before speaking again. “Well, for my situation, the movie idea sounds like the best bet.” Frisk leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ceiling. “Chara’s not that much of a fan of Valentine’s day either. He likes the chocolate, especially on the 15th when it’s half off, but the day itself…”

“Because companies basically use it as a way to take people’s money?” Kris guessed.

“In a sense, yeah…” Frisk began poking at her food again. “But he’s fine with just spending time together, or getting a box of chocolates.” Frisk smiled. “He doesn’t try to make it a whole thing, and I can respect that. So maybe a movie binge wouldn’t be so bad…”

“I understand, thank you!” Chara hung up the phone, and then banged his head on his desk. “Every. Single. God. Damn. TIME!”

Alyssa stood at the doorway, chuckling at Chara. “You’d think you’d learn by now!”

“Just once, I want to try and do something nice for Frisk on Valentine’s day…” Chara muttered, his voice muffled by his arms. He lifted his head up and sighed. “But no matter what time I call, almost every single place is busy!”

Alyssa rolled her eyes and stood next to Chara’s desk, tapping on the nearby boxes of chocolate and pocky. “Frisk hasn’t complained so far when you guys just hang out and munch on chocolate, so I don’t see why you keep trying.”

“I know she does, but…” Chara leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. “The first time, she didn’t ask if I had plans, nor did she ask why I was kind of down, but the year after, my brain panicked, and…” Chara facepalmed. “Now she thinks I’m not trying because I dislike the holiday…”

Alyssa snickered in disbelief. “You told her you disliked Valentine’s day? Seriously?! Even though you always talk about what you have planned for it?”

“To be fair, she doesn’t hear those.” Chara laid his head down on his arms and stared at the boxes of sweets. “Plus, she’s always the one to give me the boxes, and the one who takes the initiative most of the time.” Chara buried his face in his arms. “I just want to show her that I actually care.”

“Like she hasn’t gotten that clue already?” Alyssa scoffed. “Didn’t you two have a full on make out session before leaving for the festival last year?”

Chara’s head shot up at the speed of light, face completely red. “WHO TOLD YOU THAT?!”

Alyssa giggled. “Toriel. She said her and Asgore figured it out by how you two reacted when Asgore pointed out you two needed to wipe something off your faces.” Alyssa tried to stop herself from laughing, hovering a hand over her mouth. “Honestly, it just feels good knowing I was right the whole time about you two.”

Chara groaned and ran a hand over his face. “God damnit, Mom…” He sighed and tapped his fingers on the desk. “Yes, that did happen, but...I still feel like she deserves to at least have a proper date, you know? Not just eating chocolate from a box she brought over…”

Alyssa’s face went somber. She sighed and rested a hand on Chara’s shoulder. “I get it. I still want to try and take Sam out on a proper date, but they don’t really care for all that, but that’s not really stopping me from trying to plan one out.” She smiled and tapped the boxes of chocolates. “Maybe this time, you can explain how you really feel about the holiday, and what you’ve tried to do for her, and then you two can make plans for a date for some other day.” Alyssa made her way to the doorway and looked back at Chara. “After all, any day can be one for a date, and it doesn’t have to be a holiday date to make it special.” Alyssa left the room, leaving Chara to think about what she said. He sighed and picked up his phone just in time for it to buzz with a message from Frisk.

Hey Chara! I know you’re not a big fan of Valentine's day, so I figured we’d just sit around at my place and watch some movies. Does that sound good? I know you don’t mind getting chocolate but I couldn’t get any of the big boxes so we’ll just have some popcorn. Sorry... :p

Chara let out a soft chuckle, and smiled. “She’s in for a surprise tomorrow, then.”

“Have a happy Valentine’s day tomorrow!” Asgore waved the final customer off, before sighing and flipping the sign for the flower shop closed. No it was just a regular home. 

“I can’t believe so many people decided to wait till the day before Valentine’s to buy flowers.” Clover muttered as they exited the shop portion of the house and sat down on the couch in the living room. “Well, okay, maybe I can.”

Asgore let out a hefty laugh before sitting down next to Clover. “Just be glad I have a rule about keeping the shop closed for the actual holiday. Otherwise we’d both get surprised.”

Clover chuckled and cracked their knuckles. “Fair point.” They tapped their foot while Asgore flipped on the TV, with MTT news talking about potential places couples could go to for the holiday. Clover sighed and glanced at Asgore. “Um...So what exactly do you have planned for Valentine’s this year?”

Asgore stroked his chin and hummed in thought. “I’m not so sure. To be honest, I'm still getting used to being able to celebrate any kind of holiday on the surface.”

Clover raised a brow. “Well, what did you do underground?”

“Well, before and after Chara fell, me and Toriel would’ve gone on a date night, and had Gerson watch over Asriel and Chara.” Asgore replied, eyes filling with nostalgia. “After...What happened, I didn’t really do anything differently. I would wish everyone a happy Valentine’s day and leave it at that.”

Clover hummed. “Odd, from the way you were talking about him, I would’ve figured you and Rudy would’ve done something.”

Asgore gave a small, soft chuckle, as his face began to take a somber expression. “No, Rudy wasn’t that big of a fan of Valentine’s day, but he never explained why.”

Clover nodded and looked back up at the TV. “So, you’re not going to try and patch things up with Toriel anymore? I mean, sure you guys talk now but, are you, just going to leave it at that?”

Asgore sighed and scratched his beard. “I don’t think there’s a way to ever repair that.” Asgore glanced and Clover, and then quickly shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong, while it does sound like a nice prospect, after what I did…” He let out a small chuckle. “It doesn’t really matter. I was honestly expecting her to never talk to me again, and that prediction turned out false. That doesn’t mean I should get my hopes up too much though.”

Clover looked to the floor and sighed. “I...I guess that makes some sense…”

“It may, but it may also not.” Asgore smiled and ruffled Clover’s hair. “Now, enough worrying about my plans, and more worrying about what you and Luke have planned! His family has made exceptions for you two so far, so I doubt this year is the year they keep him busy at the restaurant.”

Clover let out a hefty laugh of their own and leaned back into the couch. “No, they’re too good to do something like that.”

“So what do you and Clover have planned for this year?” A middle aged man asked Luke as the two were setting plates away.

“Clover is pretty simple, so we’re probably just going to get coffee at Muffet’s.” Luke answered, stacking up a pile of plates and setting them up in a nearby cupboard. “Last year I just gave them a box of chocolates and we ate dinner at their house.”

The man laughed at the simplicity. “I wish my life was that easy when I first started dating your mother!” He sighed and tapped his finger on some silverware. “If you could call them that. They were more like mini-cooking competitions than anything!”

Luke chuckled, before it turned into a small hum. “Actually, whenever me and Clover go out, it’s either we get something from somewhere, or I make something for them…” Luke tapped his foot. “Maybe this time I could convince them to make something with me…”

“I’d start small in that case.” Luke’s dad advised. “Something that’ll get them interested, and that they can make on their own.”

Luke tapped his chin. “But what would be easy to make, and still have that romantic feel?”

“Well, I never said it had to be romantic, just easy to learn!” Luke’s dad let out a small snicker. “Like you said, they’re pretty simple. I’m sure they’d be just fine with whatever you choose to teach them!”

“True-”

“And if they’re as simple as you say, then you wouldn’t need to worry about doing something like that. Just get some coffee and then make out.” Luke’s dad laughed up a storm while Luke went beet red. 

Luke took in a very deep breath, and faced his dad. “First off, please never say that again-”

“No promises!”

“ SECOND of all, the cooking together idea sounds too good to pass up.” Luke sighed, his face losing most of it’s red. “I just need to figure out what would be good to make.”

Luke’s dad ruffled his hair and made his way out of the kitchen. “Well, if you need idea’s, you know where the recipe book is.” His face went from relaxed to stern. “I suppose I don’t need to tell you what to avoid for your sake..”

“Trust me, I know what to avoid for everyone’s sake.” Luke chuckled. His dad smiled and left the kitchen. Luke sighed and finished setting away the remaining plates. He made his way into the living room, and walked up to the bookshelf, running a finger through all the titles, before his finger grazed the spine of the recipe book. He smiled as he pulled it out, sitting on a nearby chair and flipping through the pages. “Something easy and memorable, but not too fast to make.” He whispered to himself. “I want the experience to last, and I want it to be special.”

Sam, Alphys and Undyne were sitting on the couch, with the two monsters taking up the left side, Undyne leaning on the couch arm and holding Alphys in her arms, and Sam taking up the right side, resting their head on the couch arm. The three were currently watching Hugh Jackman try and convince Zac Efron to join a circus. Sam couldn't help but tap their fingers to the beat, having the entire thing stuck in their head since they watched the same movie with Alyssa last Valentine’s day. Sam glanced at Alphys and Undyne and smiled. “I’m guessing your plans for tomorrow are going to be the same as last year, and the year before?”

Undyne grinned widely and squeezed Alphys tighter, causing the lizard to squeak and blush. “You bet! An awesomely romantic lunch, followed by me parading around the park showing how cute my girlfriend is!” Sam chuckled while Alphys adjusted her glasses.

“Wh-what do you and Alyssa have planned this year?” She asked.

“That is a surprise for Alyssa’s eyes only!” Sam answered in a secretive tone.

“Aw boo!” Undyne cried out, sitting from her position on the couch. “Come on, spill!”

Sam snickered as they shook their head. “Nope. Sorry but what I have planned is for Alyssa’s eyes only!”

“Seriously?!” Undyne ran a hand across her face and sighed deeply. “What is it about your plan that no one else can see?”

“It’s something special I have planned for her…” Sam muttered. “And it’s on a need to know basis, and you don’t need to know.” They reached over towards the table in front of the couch, picked up a can of soda and took a drink from it.

“Ok, fine.” Undyne threw her hands in the air in defeat. “Just as long as it’s age appropriate.”

Sam choked, spat out their drink and coughed uncontrollably for a few seconds. When they finally got their coughing under control, they looked to Undyne with eyes widened in shock. “JESUS CHRIST, MOM-DYNE I’M NOT A DEVIANT!!!” They wiped their mouth as Undyne started howling with laughter. Alphys pinched her nose and sighed.

“U-undyne…”

Undyne tried to calm herself down, and was failing pretty badly. “Sorry, hahaha, I’m, hahahaha, I’m sorry….” Undyne took in a few breaths. “I’m...I'm sorry, I just, was not expecting that reaction!”

Sam practically jumped off the couch and stared Undyne down. “How were you not expecting that reaction!? If you’re gonna say something like that, there’s a 100% chance that I’m gonna react like I did!!”

“I’m sorry! But with your insistence on not telling us your plans, something like that’s gonna come to mind!” Undyne replied, trying to keep herself from laughing again. Sam’s face went red, and they sat back down on the couch, covering their face with their hands, and groaning. Alphys patted their shoulder.

“i-I’m sure whatever it is your planning, Alyssa will love it! Don’t let Undyne’s teasing get to you!” Alphys smiled, which improved Sam’s mood by a few levels.

“Thanks…” Sam turned their gaze to the floor, and sighed. “During the festival, Alyssa said she only knew ballet, and that other dances tripped her up, so I was planning on trying to teach her a dance…” Alphys and Undyne stared at Sam with wide eyes.

“Wow, that’s…” Undyne smiled and reached over Alphys to ruffle Sam’s hair. “That sounds pretty romantic, kid, but...Why the secrecy?”

“Because you guys don’t leave for your date until she gets here, and I was worried you’d spill the beans, and ruin the surprise…” Sam pointed out towards the lake. “There’s a small clearing nearby that I was planning to use for the lesson…”

Undyne and Alphys exchanged a glance. Undyne scratched the back of her neck while Alphys sighed. “Y-yeah, that m-makes sense.”

Sam kept their gaze down to the floor. Undyne got up from the couch and kneeled down near Sam and rested a hand on their shoulder. “Well, how about we tell her where you’re waiting, but not say why?” Sam looked up at Undyne and raised a brow. “If you’re going to be by the lake, we can tell Alyssa where you are when she gets here, that way, me and Al can allude to the surprise, but not outright spoil it.” Undyne smiled.

“Y-yeah, and if she meets you there, th-the surprise will have a bigger impact!”

Sam looked between the two and smiled. “That does sound better than leading her there…” They wrapped an arm around both of them. “Thanks guys. I love you!” Alphys stared at Sam, speechless, while Undyne ruffled Sam’s hair again.

“Aw, we love you too, Sam!”

Toriel sat down in the living room, reading a book, with Cass clinging onto her, trying her best to not fall asleep. Not that it mattered, since Cass’ bedtime was in an hour anyway. Toriel glanced at Flowey, already fast asleep by the window, waiting for the morning sun. She smiled to herself, reminiscing in the memories her new surroundings would invoke, as well as the new ones it would make. A slight shift broke Toriel out of her thoughts, and she glanced down at Cass, who was looking quite down. “Is something wrong, Cass?”

Cass glanced up at Toriel, and then back down to the floor. “Are you…” Cass stopped herself and sighed. “I…Um…”

The old boss monster raised a brow and softly chuckled. “Take your time. There are times where I also find myself unable to find my words.”

“There were?” Cass looked back up at Toriel, who nodded.

“One time, during a meeting, I was asked about what we should do in terms of travel between Snowdin, Waterfall and Hotland, and I for the life of me, could not get the words I wanted to say out of my mouth!” Toriel giggled softly. “I kept tripping up over my words, and stuttering to the point that Asgore had to answer for me!”

Cass giggled, not as softly as Toriel, but not loud enough to wake Flowey either. “That must’ve been embarrassing!”

“And it was. When we got home, I kept worrying about it for days!” Toriel giggled once more, but Cass’ smile faltered, and she was once again looking downcast. Toriel stopped and patted Cass’ head. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to-”

“Do you think it’s possible you and Asgore would be able to get back together?”

Toriel froze. Her brain began to shut down, trying to process Cass’ question, with the piercing stare of the young girl seemingly burning itself into her SOUL. Toriel cleared her throat, and chuckled nervously. “Wh-what exactly...What…” Toriel covered her face with a hand, and Cass looked back down to the floor.

“I’ve...Been thinking about that since we moved to this house…” Cass shakily muttered. “And like you said, I just...couldn’t find the words…” Toriel gazed down at Cass, who was wiping her eyes, and sniffling. “And, you know, since you two are able to talk to each other, I thought…” Cass sighed and wiped her eyes again.

Toriel’s eyes shot to different locations of the room, her mind still racing on how to answer Cass’ question. Would it be possible? Toriel’s brain ran through many different responses, many of them a flat and harsh no, others would rather go to a different topic, while the smallest percentage wanted to say it was, but were drowned out by all the negatives. Even though the others had been brought back, and even though the children all forgave Asgore, the vast majority not even meeting him before they came back, there was still the fact of what he did do, and what he had tried to do.

Cass glanced up at Toriel, who was dead silent, and unable to look to her at all, and the young girl wiped her eyes one last time, and climbed her way down off of Toriel’s lap. “It’s fine…” She muttered softly and almost inaudibly. “It was a stupid question anyway…” Cass walked out of the living room, and up the stairs. 

Toriel watched on, and closed her book when Cass was out of her sight. She sighed and shook her head, taking off her reading glasses, and setting them down on the nearby nightstand. “I do not know…” She whispered to herself. She stood up from the chair, and left the living room, unaware of the flower, listening to the whole, nearly one-sided conversation, staring at her retreating form, with the small pricks of water descending down his face.

Chapter Text

The clock on the nearby nightstand had reach 7:00 AM, with the slight beginnings of an alarm going off, stopped suddenly by a bony hand, as Papyrus jumped out of his racecar bed and out into the hallway and into the bathroom, getting himself squeaky clean for the events of the day. Valentine’s day! Papyrus didn’t have a ‘partner’ for the day, nor did he ever have one, but he knows that Valentine’s day isn’t always about spending time with a special someone. It can also be a day where you show appreciation for your friends, and that’s how Papyrus had always spent the holiday. He got out of the shower and back to his room, drying off at incredible speeds, and going to his closet to pick an outfit out. He settled on a plain white t-shirt covered in a leather jacket with grey jeans and his usual scarf, boots and gloves. He looked himself over in the mirror and smiled. “LOOKING MY SUNDAY BEST!” He picked up a couple of nearby boxes and left his room, running into Kris walking out of their room. “GOOD MORNING, KRIS!”

“Morning…” Kris placed a hand on their back and bent backwards, causing several pops to ring out, which made Papyrus cringe.

“KRIS PLEASE!”

Kris chuckled and shrugged. “I was stiff!”

Papyrus groaned and continued his way through the hall and down stairs, where he set the boxes on the table and looked at the time, taking pride in the fact he was able to get himself ready in under an hour. Sans walked out of the kitchen, holding a bottle of ketchup, a couple of space magazines, and Toby, who was fast asleep under his arm. Papyrus stared at the shorter skeleton in disbelief. “WOWIE! YOU’RE UP EARLY!”

Sans looked up at Papyrus, showcasing deep dark circles beneath his eye sockets. “rough night. so i’m probably gonna pass out in the attic.”

Papyrus looked at Sans with worry, but just sighed and patted Sans on the shoulder. “JUST BE SURE NOT TO SLEEP ON TOBY…”

Sans nodded and walked up the stairs and towards his bedroom door. “see ya on the 15th.” He shut the door, and had no doubt used a shortcut to the attic.

Papyrus sighed and looked over the boxes to make sure nothing was missing. Once the clock had struck 8:30, Frisk and Alex walked down the stairs. Frisk was wearing a royal blue shirt over a grey long sleeve and black pants with plain white socks, since this time Chara was coming over to their house instead of Frisk going to his, which was why she had a slight case of bed head. Alex was wearing an unzipped white jacket with black sleeves over a yellow and blue striped shirt, jeans and brown boots that scrunched up the jean material. Papyrus glanced up at the second story and then back down to the two humans in front of him. “KRIS IS STILL GETTING READY, I ASSUME?”

“Yeah, last I saw they were mulling over which jacket to wear.” Frisk replied, walking towards the kitchen.

“How come you haven’t gotten started yet?” Alex asked, staring at the boxes.

“I WANTED TO SEE YOU AND KRIS OFF BEFORE I MAKE MY ROUNDS.” Papyrus answered, patting Alex’s head. He leaned back against the table and folded his arms. “I ASSUME YOU HAVE YOUR BOX OF CHOCOLATES IN YOUR JACKET POCKET?”

Alex nodded and reached into his jacket, pulling out a small, red box from an inside pocket. “You betcha!”

“It’s a good thing it’s cold outside!” Kris said, sitting on the railing on the second story. They were wearing a white hoodie atop a red shirt with three pink stripes, black pants and white sneakers. Kris pushed themselves up and hopped down to the lower level, landing on their feet, and stumbling forward a bit. “Almost…”

“GOOD ATTEMPT, KRIS!” Papyrus clapped his hands, while Frisk walked out of the kitchen and flicked Kris in the back of the head. 

“One of these days you’re going to break something, and it won’t be the TV.” She said sternly, sitting down at the table and munching on cereal.

Kris rubbed the back of their head and chuckled. “And when that happens, I can just ask Papyrus to heal me!” They smiled, tilting their head in a half shrug towards their arm. Papyrus would’ve countered, but seeing the look on Kris’ face had stopped him. He thought back to when he was young, and when Sans would have that same look of youthful naivety, before one day it changed to nearly full blown apathetic sloth, with almost no life bursting from his eyes. Papyrus never fully understood why that had suddenly happened, and any time he tried to get context clues, which had before led him to discover Sans’ love of space related topics, but could never get anything conclusive. Soon, the tall skeleton was brought out of his trance by the sound of snapping fingers, and Kris’ voice. “Papyrus!”

“EH!? WHAT?!” Papyrus looked down at Kris and Alex, who were staring at the skeleton with concern, with the feeling of panic piercing into him from behind with Frisk’s stares. “YOU SAY SOMETHING?”

“Umm…” Kris glanced at Alex and then back up to Papyrus. “I...Asked if you were good to go now?”

Papyrus’ brow ridges raised up and he quickly took hold of the boxes on the table. “Y-YES, LET’S HEAD OUT NOW!” Papyrus walked out the door, leaving it open for Kris and Alex, who walked out a few seconds afterward and closed it. The three made it as far as the sidewalk proper, where they ran into the Riverperson. The cloaked figure turned their head towards Papyrus, and the lone smile appeared from behind the hood.

“Still up to your old routines, I see, oh Great Papyrus.”

“YEP! AFTER ALL, NOT EVERYONE HAS THE LUXURY OF HAVING A PARTNER THIS FINE DAY, SO A CARD FROM A FRIEND IS SURE TO LIFT THEIR SPIRITS!” Papyrus laughed with pride, before reaching into the first box and pulling out a card. It was a simple pink card, with the words ‘Happy Valentine’s!’ written on it in a fancy font. He held the card out to the Riverperson with a smile. “FOR YOU!”

The Riverperson giggled. “Why thank you, Tra la la.” They reached out and took hold of the card with a gloved hand, this time, actually reaching out from behind the cloak, with a grey arm attached to it, that took on a slight blue hue courtesy of their cloak. Alex and Kris went wide eyed at the sight, while Papyrus didn’t even budge.

“HAVE A HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!” Papyrus called out to the receding form of the Riverperson. He smiled and began walking down the sidewalk, looking back to see Kris and Alex frozen in place, looking out towards the direction the Riverperson went. “I DOUBT YOU TWO WANT TO DELAY YOUR PLANS ANY FURTHER.” The two snapped back into reality, and went the opposite direction of Papyrus. The skeleton rolled his eye lights and continued down on his way.

Cass was looking outside the window with Flowey, Toriel, Chara and Alyssa having not woken up yet. The two each had a small cup of cocoa nearby, and they watched the outside world in silence. Cass fiddled with the strap of her overalls covering her pink shirt while sighing, leading Flowey to glance at her, and back to the outside. “Um...So, I heard the conversation you had with Mother last night…” Cass frowned and twirled a strand of hair around her finger. Flowey sighed. “Give it to me straight. Were you asking for my sake? For Asriel’s sake?” Cass glanced at Flowey without turning her head, and nodded slowly. Flowey looked down and nodded himself. “I appreciate the thought.”

“I’ve had friends who had to deal with joint custody.” She whispered. “They all hated it…”

Flowey remained in his current position. “I doubt it’ll be that bad. After all, they’d still talk. They’d still love me equally, and-”

“They’re your parents!” Cass said in a teary voice. “And you’re their kid! You shouldn’t have to schedule days to spend time with one or the other, you should be able to spend time with both, at the same time!” Cass wiped her eyes and sniffled. “I just...Don’t understand why people would get together, have a kid, and then force their kid to either choose one parent over the other, or make them only see one of their parents for a set period of days…”

Flowey took a quick glance at Cass and sighed. He looked back outside the window, watching nearby couples walking down the street, holding hands and smiling. “To be honest, I don’t get it either…” He pointed a leaf towards the ceiling. “I’m sure Chara could, but I don’t think he wants to. I think he’s happy he gets to see Father, period.”

Cass propped her head up with a hand and sighed. “And from what I understand, he’s glad to even have a mom…” The two then sat in silence, occasionally sipping their now cold cocoa, without any more words exchanged. The clock hit 9, and Toriel and Alyssa walked downstairs. Toriel stared at Cass and flowey with wide eyes. 

“Oh! I was not expecting to see you up this early!” She walked over and patted Cass’ head, while gently running a finger across one of Flowey’s petals. “Me and Alyssa were just about to head out for today! Do you two feel like coming with?”

Cass looked up at Toriel and raised a brow. “What about Chara?”

“Sleeping.” Alyssa answered. “He usually stays asleep till about twelve on weekends.” She shrugged and shook her head. “At least Frisk is fine with it…”

Cass and Flowey exchanged a glance, and nodded their heads. Toriel clapped her hands together and smiled. “Then let us be off!” Cass quickly went upstairs, and came back down with a pink mask covered in small hearts and brown boots. She grabbed Flowey’s pot and the group all got together and went out the door, where a box carrying Papyrus was walking up to their house from the sidewalk. Toriel smiled at the sight, while Cass and Flowey, as usual, raised a brow at the sight of the boxes. Toriel walked up to the skeleton and he set the boxes down. “Greetings, Papyrus!”

“HOWDY, TORIEL!” Papyrus reached into the first box and pulled out a card. “HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!”

Toriel took the card and looked it over. “Like the last two years, you are delivering cards to people…” She smiled and pocketed the card. “It is a noble gesture, i will say.” She gestured to the others. “We were just about to go about our day, so you are lucky you caught us when you did.”

Papyrus scratched his skull and laughed. “I WOULD’VE PUT IT YOUR MAILBOX ANYWAY!” 

Toriel giggled. “That does sound like you!” She turned and began to go about her day. “Well, I will not keep you any lon-” She stopped when Cass walked up to her, scratching her arm the best she could while keeping hold of Flowey’s pot. “Yes, what is it, Cass?”

“Umm...If it’s alright with you, can me and Flowey help Papyrus?” She looked up at the boss monster with pleading eyes.

Toriel was caught off guard a little, but smiled and patted Cass’ head. “Of course you can, my child!”

Papyrus picked up the boxes and smiled widely. “I WILL ADMIT, HAVING SOME HELP DOESN’T SEEM SO BAD!” He looked down at Cass and Flowey, who were looking quite down, despite being told they could help him resulting in a raised brow ridge from the skeleton.

“Now then, I am sure you three will be quite busy for the day, so I will not keep you any longer.” Toriel waved them off, and her and Alyssa parted ways with the trio to go on their own Valentine’s day journeys. Cass and Flowey looked at the boxes and then up at Papyrus.

“What’s the second one for?” Flowey asked, raising a brow. 

Papyrus smiled and pointed to a house across the street. “YOU’LL SEE!” Papyrus looked from left to right three times, crossing the street once he confirmed the coast was clear, with Cass and Flowey following close behind him. Once on the other side, Papyrus led the two to the house he was pointing to, which was, quite literally, a giant doghouse, where the canine unit all live together. Dogamy and Dogaressa were no doubt out for the day, meaning that whatever Papyrus had for the dogs was for Doggo, Lesser and Greater dog, and Endogeny, but what was a new sight for the two, was the lone, human-like figure leaning forward against the fence surrounding the house. Wearing a red hoodie, black pants and knee high white boots with gold trimming, their fluffy, pink hair covering any sight of their right eye. The figure looked over at papyrus and leaned back from the fence, still clinging onto it with their hands, and smiling at the skeleton.

“Papyrus!” They called out to the skeleton. Papyrus stopped in front of the figure and set the boxes down.

“GOOD MORNING, RED! HOW’RE YOU DOING TODAY?” Papyrus leaned on the fence, which prompted Red to slightly shift herself away from him slightly, with a faint dusting of pink finding it’s way on her cheeks. Now that they were up closer, Cass and Flowey could see that the person in front of them was not a human, but instead, a monster, as evidenced by the sight of her fingers connected by ball joints, her visible eye being pitch black with a white star in the middle and the fact that her complexion is a solid white.

“I’ve been doing fine.” Red answered. She tapped the fence and tried her best to look Papyrus in the eye, standing up straighter. “I was starting to wonder when you’d get here…”

“AH WELL, THERE WERE A FEW SLIGHT BUFFERS ALONG THE WAY, BUT EVEN SO I ALWAYS MAKE IT A GOAL TO GET TO THIS HOUSE!” Papyrus straightened himself out to pose, while giving off a prideful laugh, showing to Cass and Flowey that red just barely reaches up to Papyrus’ nasal cavity. “SO EVEN IF I TAKE A WHILE, I’LL BE HERE EVENTUALLY!” Papyrus lifted the first box off of the second one, and opened the second one up. He pulled out a long bone with a red ribbon tied to it. “AS PER USUAL, THIS IS FOR ENDOGENY!”

Red took the bone from Papyrus and smiled. “I’ll be sure they get it!” 

Papyrus smiled and reached back into the box and pulled out two more items. One was a small box of premium dog treats, no doubt for Doggo, and the other was a medium sized box of chocolates. “OF COURSE, THE TREATS ARE FOR DOGGO, AND SINCE YOU SAID THE OTHERS DIDN’T MIND IF YOU HAD RECEIVED CHOCOLATE, SO I GOT YOU A BOX THIS YEAR!” He handed the items to Red, whose face was almost entirely her namesake.

“Th-thanks!” Red set the items down while Papyrus closed the second box back up. She glanced at Cass and Flowey, and gave a small smile at the two. “Um...I don’t think we’ve actually met…” She said with slight unease.

“Probably because we’ve never seen you before…” Flowey replied, getting a slight flick from Cass in response.

“Ah, well, that’s…” Red rubbed the back of her head.

“RED DOESN’T REALLY GET OUT MUCH.” Papyrus answered for her. “BACK UNDERGROUND, I ONLY SAW HER A FEW SELECT TIMES BACK AT SNOWDIN.”

Red chuckled nervously. “Yeah...What he said.” She brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “Back underground, I was a guard who moved around a lot, so I wasn’t really seen by most people in a single location long…”

Cass nodded and looked back at the house. “Do you live with the canine unit?” 

Red nodded. “Yep! They’re really lovely people, and the surprise I had on my face when I saw Endogeny was…” She giggled. “Well, I was pretty shocked to say the least…” 

Cass nodded again while Papyrus picked up the boxes. “WELL, THE DAY IS STILL YOUNG, AND I HAVE SOME MORE PEOPLE TO VISIT, SO WE’LL BE HEADING OFF NOW!”

Red went wide eyed and waved her hands to get the skeleton’s attention. “Oh, before you go, I...Um…” Red’s face went, well, red. “I…” She looked up at Papyrus, and then cleared her throat. “I...Forgot what I was going to say...Sorry for keeping you…”

Papyrus smiled and shook his head. “IT IS QUITE ALRIGHT! NO HARM WAS DONE! IF YOU EVER REMEMBER WHAT YOU WANTED TO SAY, FEEL FREE TO VISIT!” Papyrus headed down the sidewalk, with Cass and Flowey in tow, who looked back at Red, who by now was once again leaning forward on the fence, laying her head down on one arm, with her other one repeatedly hitting the top of the fence.

The trio walked around the neighborhood, delivering Valentine’s day cards to those without partners so they could have some type of good vibe with the holiday. Papyrus made it a thing to give extra special gifts to the Amalgamates, with Snowy’s family getting a joke book filled with winter related jokes for So Cold, as well as some chocolate, Reaper Bird getting a book of human magic tricks, and Lemon Bread getting a classical music disk and a body building book. Each time they stopped at a house, Papyrus would look back to Cass and Flowey, who were very quiet throughout the whole quest, which worried Papyrus more and more each time they stopped. Eventually, the trio were at the entrance to the park, with the Nice Cream Salesman neatby. Papyrus took sight of the Salesman and smiled, turning back to Cass and Flowey. “HOW ABOUT A SMALL NICE CREAM BREAK?”

The two looked up at Papyrus. “Are you sure?” Cass asked.

“I INSIST…” Papyrus stared down at the two and sighed. “YOU TWO...LOOK LIKE YOU NEED TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING…” Cass and Flowey looked down at the ground, and they both nodded. The three approached the cart, where the Salesman glanced at the three. 

“Hi there! What flavours pique your interest!?”

“I THINK WE’LL ALL BE GOOD WITH A CHOCOLATE.” Papyrus answered, with supportive nods from Flowey and Cass. The Salesman reached into the cart and pulled out three Nice Creams, and Papyrus handed him the required payment before taking the frozen treats. He handed two of them to Cass and Flowey, and the three sat down on a nearby bench, the boxes of remaining cards sitting beneath Papyrus’ left arm. “SO...WHAT, EXACTLY, HAS YOU TWO FEELING DOWN?”

Cass unwrapped the two Nice Creams, giving the second to Flowey, who immediately started chewing on it. She sighed and just stared at hers. “Do...do you think Asgore and Toriel could ever get back together?” She finally asked Papyrus.

Papyrus hummed for a few seconds, and then shrugged. “I’M NOT SURE. THE EVENTS THAT LEAD THEM TO SEPARATE HAPPENED WHEN I WAS A BABYBONES, SO THEM BEING APART IS THE ONLY THING I’VE KNOWN ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP.” Papyrus unwrapped his Nice Cream and took a bite. The frozen treat dissolved when it hit his throat, it’s healing properties spreading throughout his bones with magic, which also helped the magic food give off a filling sensation. Papyrus glanced at the two and frowned. “I ASSUME THE QUESTION IS BECAUSE OF CONCERNS YOU HAVE ABOUT WHEN FLOWEY REGAINS HIS TRUE FORM?”

Flowey tilted his Nice Cream away from his face and nodded. “She’s worried about them doing a joint custody situation.”

“It’s just not right to do that to a kid!” Cass said tearfully. “My friends said they hated it, because they don’t get enough time to spend with one parent or the other, and some of them could only visit a parent during a holiday due to them being too far away from school…” Cass took a bite of her Nice Cream and wiped her eyes. “I just don’t get it…”

Papyrus looked to the ground and sighed. “I DON’T GET IT EITHER, BUT…” He took a bite of Nice Cream. “FROM WHAT I DO UNDERSTAND, SOMETIMES SOMEONE’S JOB IS THE REASON WHY…”

Cass looked up at Papyrus and raised a brow. “What do you mean?” Flowey joined in on Cass’ staring, each taking a bite of Nice Cream, while Papyrus scratched his temple. 

“WELL...HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW OF THE PREVIOUS ROYAL SCIENTIST?” Papyrus raised a brow ridge, and looked back down at the two. 

Cass tilted her head back and forth, holding her Nice Cream in her mouth as did so, while Flowey hummed. “I remember that they were a skeleton, and that he was…” Flowey’s beady eyes went wide. “Um…” He looked up at Papyrus meekly. “How much, do you know of him?”

“ONLY THAT HE WAS MINE AND SANS’ FATHER, AND THAT HE WAS THE ROYAL SCIENTIST.” Papyrus glanced to the ground and took one last bite of his Nice Cream, leaving the stick in between his teeth. “WHEN I WAS A BABYBONES, HIS SCIENCE WORK KEPT HIM FROM SPENDING TIME WITH ME...I KNOW SANS TRIED TO TALK HIM OUT OF HIS WORK BUT...SINCE IT WAS DURING THE TIME WHERE A CERTAIN SERIES OF EVENTS HAPPENED, HE WAS SWAMPED…”

Cass and Flowey exchanged a sad glance at each other, and looked back up at Papyrus. “Were you upset about it?” Cass asked.

Papyrus hummed. “A LITTLE, WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, BUT SINCE HE WAS THE ROYAL SCIENTIST, I’M SURE HE WAS UNDER A LOT OF PRESSURE. SEEING WHAT ALPHYS HAD TO DEAL WITH, ONLY HELPED FURTHER CEMENT THAT IDEA…”

“But he still chose his work over his kids.” Flowey muttered. “Wouldn’t that piss you off? Knowing he willingly ignored you, even when he had you?”

“I DON’T THINK HE REALLY HAD A CHOICE…” Papyrus replied somberly. “I KNOW SANS KEPT TRYING, BUT…” Papyrus sighed, and slouched. “ONE DAY, HE CAME BACK, SAYING HOW HE MESSED UP...I KEPT ASKING WHAT HAPPENED, BUT HE NEVER SAID ANYTHING MORE…” Cass and Flowey stared in stunned silence while Papyrus chewed on the Nice Cream stick. “IT SEEMS THAT, IN TRYING TO FORCE HIM TO SPEND TIME WITH US, SOMETHING BAD HAPPENED.”

Cass and Flowey both stared at the ground, finishing off their Nice Creams in silence. Cass sighed, and wiped her eyes as she adjusted her mask. “So, sometimes parents have to make their kd choose, because the parents themselves don’t have a choice?”

Papyrus shrugged. “POSSIBLY. TORIEL AND ASGORE SPLIT BECAUSE OF DIFFERING VIEWS, THAT, FROM WHAT I COULD TELL, BOTH PARTIES ACTUALLY HATED.” Papyrus let out a soft chuckle and patted Cass’ head. “WHO KNOWS. MAYBE FLOWEY REGAINING HIS TRUE FORM, WILL BE JUST THE THING NEEDED TO BRING THEM BACK TOGETHER. BUT I WOULDN’T GO FORCING A CHANGE. AFTER ALL...IT MAY NEVER END WELL.”

Cass looked up at Papyrus with tired eyes. “So what you’re saying is, them getting back together may be possible, in the long run?” Papyrus nodded. Cass glanced at Flowey, and then at the ground. “I guess...That makes some sense…”

Papyrus smiled. “EVEN IF IT ONLY MAKES A LITTLE, IT’S STILL SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT.” He glanced between the boxes and at Cass and Flowey. He picked up the boxes and stood up from the bench. “I SUPPOSE NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO STOP FOR THE DAY.”

Flowey looked up at Papyrus. “Don’t you still need to deliver some cards?”

Papyrus sighed and nodded. “I DO, BUT AFTER ALL THAT I...FEEL AS THOUGH YOU TWO MAY WANT TO HEAD BACK HOME.” 

The two furiously shook their heads. “We’re still good! We just…”

“Needed someone else's opinion on the matter.” Flowey finished. Papyrus raised a brow ridge.

“ARE YOU SURE?” He earned a nod from the two, and chuckled. “WELL THEN, I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD CONTINUE ON THEN!”

“Yes, let’s!” Cass and Flowey made their way to Papyrus’ side, and the two went on their way to finish their card deliveries. Cass felt a little better, but still didn’t quite understand it all. Though, like Papyrus said, she thought it best to not force anymore conversations. Besides, her mind was currently preoccupied with a new mystery. “Hey Papyrus?”

Papyrus turned to Cass and slightly raised a brow ridge. “YES?”

“Is it just me, or did it feel and look like Red has a crush on you?” She asked abruptly, which made Papyrus stop and look down at Cass with his eye lights filling up his eye sockets completely.

“SAY WHAT NOW?”

Chapter Text

“They had an actual arm…” Kris muttered as Alex and them made their way down the sidewalk. “The Riverperson had an actual arm…”

“Well…” Alex hummed in thought. “They do smile, so I guess having an arm wouldn’t be that surprising.”

“Maybe, but…” Kris stopped in place and shook their head. “The other times when they showed their hand, it was floating. FLOATING!” They cried out. “So why did they have an actual arm attached to their hand this time?!”

“I don’t know!” Alex replied. “Monsters are magic, so I wouldn’t put it past them to use magic hands most of the time!” The two continued walking down the sidewalk. “Maybe they didn’t feel like using magic this time.”

Kris sighed in defeat. “Maybe...It’s just weird, y’know?”

“Monsters are weird in general.” Alex deadpanned. The two chuckled and stopped at a crossroads. Alex pointed to his right and looked up at Kris. “I know my way to Violet’s place, so this is where I’ll leave you.”

Kris rolled their eyes. “Alright then. I trust you know what to do in case of stranger danger.”

“Are you talking about the standard method or the blaster method?” Alex folded his arms and tapped his foot while Kris tilted their head back and forth in thought.

“Let’s say…Both.” Kris finally replied. Alex nodded his head, and Kris ruffled his hair. “Then I’ll let you go. I need to meet Aliza at the park anyways, so this is more convenient for me.”

Alex chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Ok then.” He turned to his right and started walking. “You kids better not get too crazy!” He snickered while Kris stared blankly at him.

“That should be my line!” They called out to Alex. They shook their head and went in the opposite direction, which was the quickest way to the park. The path to the park wasn’t anything special, and the only obstacle were the slow walking couples going around the neighborhood. Not that it mattered, since almost every sidewalk path eventually led to the park, so even if they took a small detour, they’d get to their destination. The entrance to the park was nothing fancy, and could easily be located by the Nice Cream Salesman who found that park-goers are more likely to buy Nice Cream. Kris entered the park, which was a sea of green grass split apart by a long weaving web of concrete pathways. Trees were more likely to be seen in the larger portions of grass, with bushes, benches and small playgrounds taking up the other ones. In the middle of it all was a giant fountain, that really served no purpose than to be looked at. Kris gazed around the park, watching as couples would cuddle next to each other on a bench or stroll through with coffee and chocolate in hand, making small talk.

“Kris!” A voice from behind called out. They turned around to see Aliza running up to them. She was wearing a purple windbreaker over a white sweater, blue jeans and fur lined boots. Aliza finally caught up with Kris, and took a few seconds to collect her breath. “Made it!” Aliza stood up straight and smiled. “So, how’s your day been so far?”

Kris chuckled softly. “Pretty good!” They pointed a thumb over their shoulder. “I was just about to wait for you on a bench!”

Aliza giggled. “Well no need to wait now!”

“Nope!” Kris reached into their jacket and pulled out a small red box. “Now seems like the best time to give you this.” Kris smiled as Aliza took the box.

“Thank you.” She reached into her jacket and pulled out a small blue box. “I suppose I’ll do the same!” Kris took the box, and Aliza’s smile faltered. “Um...Can I talk to you about something weird?”

Kris raised a brow but shrugged in response. “Sure, let’s find a seat.” Kris and Aliza made their way further into the park, and sat down on the first empty bench they saw. Aliza scratched her arm nervously, while Kris continued to raise a brow. “So...What’s on your mind?”

“Well…” Aliza leaned forward and rested her arms on her knees. “Have you ever had a feeling of Deja Vu?”

Kris looked at Aliza in shock, and hummed. “Well, depends on what you mean by that. Because if you’re talking about meeting up in the park, then I have some news for you.”

Aliza rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Not like that. Like...Have you ever met someone, and had the feeling you’ve seen them before, even though it’s the first time you’ve met them?”

Kris tapped their chin. “Actually, that happened when I first met Suzy.” Kris leaned back on the bench and stared up into the sky. “First day of school, and I ran into her in the hall. Both of us just stared at each other with raised brows, and after a few seconds, she finally asked ‘Have we met each other before?’”

“But you haven’t?”

“Nope. Not even Chara and Frisk knew about her when they met her. Of course, when she asked, I decided to be a bit of a smartass.” Kris replied, scratching their cheek.

Aliza raised a brow. “What’d you do?”

Kris started to chuckle. “I asked if she was Barney the dinosaur from those kid’s shows.” Aliza stared at Kris with wide eyes, before the two were thrown into a laughing fit.

“Wow...That’s…” Aliza managed to say in between laughs.

“Crazy, I know…” Kris calmed themselves down. “The thing was, she actually laughed it off, saying that was a good jab. After a few weeks, we got assigned as partners for a project. After that, the feeling of knowing each other before came back.” Kris rested their head on a hand and sighed. “What made it stranger, was that both of us felt as though the other should’ve been acting differently.” They glanced at Aliza, who was raising both brows. “I mentioned how she had the feeling of someone who wouldn’t waste a chance to fight someone, making threats, and just barely going through with them, and she talked about how I was more talkative than I looked like I should be…”

Aliza hummed. “Wow...That’s…”

“Weird…” Kris shrugged and faced Aliza. “What about you?”

Aliza took a deep breath. “At first it happened when I first arrived here. The streets looked familiar, and I could swear that I’ve actually been in some of the buildings. It happened again when I met some of the monsters.”

“Any specific ones?” Kris asked, crossing their legs and staring out into the crowd in front of them.

“Toriel for a start. Of course, she had a motherly air about her, but for some reason, a part of me felt nervous about her. That something SHOULD’VE been off.” Aliza glanced at Kris, who was humming in thought. They glanced back at her and nodded for her to continue. “The next was Undyne, which, honestly might’ve been justified at points.”

“The moment you see her, your survival instincts kick in.” Kris said with a chuckle. Aliza let out a soft chuckle of her own.

“Yep! But like with Toriel, my brain was telling me that the Undyne I saw, should have looked more menacing. I can’t explain how but…” Aliza sighed and ran a hand down her face. “This all sounds so stupid…”

“We’re talking about the feeling of Deja Vu. Of course it’s gonna sound stupid.” Kris replied. They rested a hand on Aliza’s shoulder and smiled. “My own experience sounds stupid when said aloud, so I have no right to make fun of you. But if you don’t want to, you don’t have to continue talking about it.” Kris gestured to all around the two. “After all, we have plenty of other topics to talk about!”

Aliza smiled and took hold of Kris’ hand, causing a light dust of pink to form on their face. “Thanks for the options.” Aliza took a breath and looked out into the crowd. “The final few times I had that feeling was with Flowey, Papyrus and Sans. With Flowey, it was kind of like with your experience with Suzy. With Papyrus, I felt as though he should’ve been slightly more…” She tilted her head back and forth with a hum. “Well, my brain was telling me that he should’ve LOOKED off.” She tightened her grip on Kris’ hand. “With Sans...I’m not sure if it was the constant smile he would have most of the time I saw him, or…” She shrugged. “All I know is that I keep finding myself staring at his left eye. Like suddenly, something would happen to it…”

“His...Left eye?” Kris muttered. Aliza nodded, and they raised a brow. “That’s...Oddly specific. And kinda creepy.”

“How so?”

“His left eye is more useful than his right.” Kris answered swiftly. “When he’s on edge, he winks with his right to keep his left open and focused.” They explained. Aliza glanced at Kris, and they shrugged. “It’s...Complicated.” The two sat in silence, tightening their grips on the other’s hand, and stared out into the crowd. After a few seconds, Kris hummed. “I remember bringing up my experience with Suzy to Alphys. And she mentioned something interesting.”

Aliza raised a brow and turned to Kris. “What?”

Kris took in a deep breath, and looked to Aliza, with their eyes filled with curiosity and conspiracy. “What do you know of Alternate Universes?”

Suzy tilted her cup completely, draining every single drop of coffee inside of it, and throwing it into a nearby garbage can. “Refreshing…” Noelle just watched on with wide and somewhat judgmental eyes. 

“One, that was still hot. We just got it! And two, you didn’t even savor it!”

Suzy shrugged. “Not like I had anything special in there. Just half and half.”

Noelle sighed and pinched her nose. “I swear, just when I think I have you figured out.” She chuckled as the two made their way down the sidewalk. Suzy gently elbowed Noelle in the arm. 

“That should be my line most of the time!” She chuckled out. “You have this whole, ‘shy girl who'll die if they so much as even look at their crush look’ and yet you’re actually pretty tough!”

“Thank you!” Noelle sipped her coffee. “Not the first time I’ve heard that!” The two chuckled for a bit, before Suzy scratched her chin and hummed. 

“Man, the last person who was wildly different than I imagined was Kris!”

“What about them betrayed your expectations?” Noelle asked, taking another sip of her coffee.

“Everything really.” Suzy replied. “I thought they were going to be some quiet kid with machine-like movements, but they ended up being pretty talkative and, well, had more fluid motions.” Suzy scratched her head. “Actually, I also betrayed their expectations. They had me for some emo punk who made death threats, and backed out of them after almost going through with them.” She huffed, and then snickered. “Honestly I don’t blame them, since I kinda dress like that almost everyday.”

“That’s-” The two stopped walking, when the cloaked Riverperson appeared in front of them. Noelle stepped back a bit and looked up at the cloaked figure. “Sorry about that! Wasn’t paying attention!”

The Riverperson chuckled. “It wouldn't be the first time that’s happened.” They stepped around the two, and glanced back at Suzy. “Enjoy your day, Dark Knight.”

Suzy stared out at the retreating Riverperson. “Dark Knight?” She said with a snicker. “What, am I Batman?” She then looked to Noelle. “Do you think I’d make a good Batman?”

“I don’t think that’s what they meant.” Noelle replied plainly.

Suzy looked forward at the path and sighed. “Well I like to think I would make a good Batman…”

Noelle shook her head and rolled her eyes as she sipped her coffee. “Anyway, like I was about to say, those assessments you and Kris made, don’t you think that’s kind of weird?”

“Well, yeah.” Suzy replied with a slight sarcastic tone. “But my neighbor tells anyone who’s about my age about me, so I just kinda figured that was the case.”

“But what about your first thoughts on Kris?”

“That’s…” Suzy hummed. “Actually, when we first ran into each other, it did feel like we met before, and not because of my neighbor’s insistence…” She stopped walking and folded her arms. “Damn, now I’m going to be thinking of this all day…”

Noelle chuckled and took another sip of her coffee. “My bad!”

Suzy let out a laugh. “No shit! Why’d you get me thinking! It’s Sunday!”

“That means school tomorrow, so I’m doing you a favor!” Noelle replied with a smug grin.

Suzy rolled her eyes. “I don’t start thinking for school until the week is halfway done!”

“Which means if I don’t continue doing what I’m doing now, Kris’ original assumption may come true!”

Suzy raised a finger, only to use it to scratch her head. “Is that how that wor-” She went wide eyed and looked at Noelle. “WAIT A MINUTE!” She cried out as Noelle started howling with laughter.

Aliza chewed on a piece of chocolate, her mind processing what Kris had just told her. She glanced at Kris, who was in a deep thought of their own. “So what you’re saying is, the reason my brain feels that way, is because it’s taking in memories from a different universe, that’s similar to ours?”

Kris tilted their head. “That’s more or less how Alphys explained it.” They leaned forward and tapped their foot. “The problem is, she only has experience with one way to get Deja Vu barely scratching that level of specificity. Which is a result of DETERMINATION.”

“Determination is the will to live, right?” 

Kris nodded. “Yes, and every living thing has it. Monsters can’t rely on it too much, or it melts them, and in a few cases, can create...Well, an amalgamation.” They glanced at Aliza. “You’ve seen them, right?”

“Yes, and they’re kinda creepy…” Aliza answered.

“Valid. But that’s what could happen to a monster if they rely on their will to live. Humans can’t end up like that, because we’re more physical. And when a human has enough DT, they can cheat death in a pretty big way. By reversing time.” Aliza went wide eyed, and Kris nodded at their reaction. “Sounds crazy, I know. But there are a few people who could attest to that. Those being Frisk, Chara and Flowey.”

Aliza scratched her head. “That’s...But…” She sighed. “How does that work?”

“Like saving and reloading a video game.” Kris answered bluntly, which resulted in Aliza looking at them like they were crazy. “I’m being serious.” Kris muttered. Aliza scratched her head.

“So, if it’s like saving and reloading a video game, does...Dying work the same way for them?”

“More or less.” Kris replied. “If they refuse to die where they are, they could go back in time to when they last ‘SAVED’ which in this case, would be mere moments before monsters left. And when they reload, all the actions that led up to them dying or reloading, get erased, but not fully.”

Aliza glanced at Kris. “What does that mean?”

“Whenever Frisk and Chara reloaded, everyone underground would go back to how they were the last time the two SAVED, and continue doing the actions they did when that happened. However, they have a slight feeling that it’s happened before. Their bodies go back without memory, but their brains still holds on to a small sliver of those experiences.”

“But only those who had that ability remember fully?” Aliza guessed, earning a nod from Kris.

“Precisely. Meaning Flowey, along with Frisk and Chara, had full memory of what happened.”

Aliza hummed, tapping her chin. “But, that’s not the Deja Vu we’re experiencing?”

“No. If it was, me, you and Suzy wouldn’t have commented on how everyone acts different from how we expected. If how they act now is how they’ve always acted, then that’s the way we would’ve remembered them. But since we had different expectations of how they act or appear-”

“The reason goes beyond that of DETERMINATION related Deja Vu.” Aliza finished. “But then why?”

“That’s the part that stumped her.” Kris shrugged and shook their head. “Because by all accounts, we SHOULDN’T be thinking like that…It’s just not possible.” The two sat in silence, with Kris staring up into the sky, and Aliza staring at the ground. After a few seconds, Kris chuckled. “Now that, everything I just said, that all sounded stupid…”

Aliza giggled. “A little bit, but, at least you were willing to try and put together a conclusive answer.” She looked to Kris and smiled. “Most people would’ve called me crazy after I even mentioned those feelings about Toriel.” She looked to the side. “You’re willing to help with a lot actually. Willing to help me get comfortable being around monsters, and even willing to be a friend.”

Kris smiled and rested their head on their hand. “It’s what a sensible person would do.” They chuckled. “I think spending so much time with Frisk and Papyrus burned that mind set into my brain.”

Aliza giggled. “Still, it’s thoughtful of you. It means a lot to me…” She sighed and looked out into the crowd. “I didn’t have a whole lot of friends where I used to live, so having you as one is already a nice change.”

Kris looked at Aliza and their smile grew wider. “I’m glad I could help.”

“And you did, and still are helping. And to that I say-” She laid a hand on Kris’ shoulder and leaned forward towards them, planting a small kiss on their cheek, which made Kris’ face go completely red. Aliza took hold of their hand, and rested her head on her other one. Kris looked at her with wide eyes, as she smiled widely. “Thank you.”

Chapter Text

“That should be my line!” Kris called out to Alex as he walked away from his older sibling. Alex cracked up a bit and chuckled, holding a hand up to his mouth to keep him from full blown laughter.

“Having Siblings is fun…” Alex muttered to himself as he walked down the sidewalk, passing by couples from the neighborhood. All of them ranged from two humans, two monsters and a human and a monster, all looking each other in the eyes and smiling. All the happy faces made Alex smile. He was glad to see so many happy people. He was glad he had the chance to see all this, and most importantly, he was glad to have new friends. He walked down the street without incident, and came across a house, facing away from the nearby forest. The house was his current destination, as evidenced by the pep he had in his step as he approached the door. He raised his hand to knock, only for the door to open from the inside, with Rose on the other side, slightly jumping at the sight of him.

“Oh! Hi Alex!” She smiled and waved, which Alex imitated. “Sorry about that...I wasn’t expecting you to be here so early.”

Alex scratched the back of his head and winced slightly. “Yeah, Papyrus was pretty loud when he woke up, so that kinda woke me up too…”

Rose chuckled and ruffled Alex’s hair. “Well, you’re here, so I might as well point you in the right direction.” She pointed a thumb over her shoulder. “Backyard.” She looked down at Alex and frowned slightly. “Please keep your magic in the forest.”

“You got it!” Alex gave a thumbs up and Rose nodded, taking the chance to walk around him and leave the house. Alex chuckled and made his way inside, shutting the door behind him. He briskly walked through the whole of the house, smiling and waving at Rose and Violet’s parents, who were drinking some coffee in the kitchen. He maneuvered his way through a game room, which had video games, board games and cards littered all over the place, and walked out a sliding door that was left slightly ajar. “Violet?” He looked around, and saw no one in the yard. At first, he thought she was hiding, but your usual spot, a large tree off to the left side of the house, held no one. “Huh...She’s not here.” Alex hummed. “Well Rose was in a hurry, so maybe she thought wrong.” He shrugged and began walking back towards the house. “Maybe I can leave the box wi-” 

He stopped and looked out into the nearby forest, staring at a tall figure, staring back at the house. Alex squinted a bit, and then went wide eyed when he noticed a couple of dark lines in the figures face. “W...D…?” He absentmindedly took a step forward, and jumped when the figure suddenly vanished. “W-wait!” He ran up to the fence, and climbed up over it, slightly fumbling on the landing, running into the forest after the figure. It was the first time in a long while that he’d actually seen them. The last was just a few days or so before Alex had faded into thin air and even after he came back, Alex had not seen a trace of the figure until now. “Ah, come on! Where’d you go?” Alex looked left, right, up, behind him and in front of him, but the figure was nowhere in sight.

He ran deep into a clearing within the forest, where the sky was even less obscured by the leafless branches of the trees. In the middle of the clearing was Violet, wearing a purple jacket with yellow sleeves, grey pants and brown boots, staring intently at a large rock nearby, with a strange rectangular marking.  Alex tilted his head and took a cautious step forward, accidentally stepping on a branch. Violet turned her head towards Alex, and raised a brow. “Alex? What’re doing here?”

“Well,  I came by to give you a box of chocolates, and hang out like we usually do, but I didn’t find you in the backyard, and on my way back inside, I thought I saw someone I knew, and went into the forest to look for them.” Alex explained in what was nearly a second. Violet narrowed her eyes.

“You went into a forest, because you thought you saw someone you knew?” She rolled her eyes and chuckled. “That’s kinda irresponsible!”

Alex folded his arms and glared at Violet. “Oh yeah? Why are you in the forest then?”

Violet went wide-eyed, and then sighed. “Ok, fair point…” She gestured to the giant rock. “A friend of mine usually visits, using this rock as a door.” She ran a hand over the lines. Alex tilted his head again, noting the familiarity of the lines. “A door pops up using these.” She scratched her head. “I guess I lost track of what day it was...My bad…”

Alex shook his head. “It’s fine. When does your friend show up?”

“Well…” She tapped her foot. “He said he was getting a handle on how to get the door under control, and he said he’d try and visit today.” She glanced at Alex and winced. “I guess I got excited by that, and forgot my other plans.”

Alex chuckled. “Like I said, it’s fine.” He glanced at the marking, still wondering where he'd seen them before. “Actually, since you mentioned your friend the day of the Festival, I’ve been kinda curious about him.”

“Oh! We can see him together! He’d love to make some more friends!” Violet smiled widely and hugged Alex’s arm. Her smile faltered shortly afterwards. “Actually, it takes a while for him to show up, since, according to him, the chances of the door appearing are still random.”

Alex hummed. “Well, if we have to wait, why not practice some magic to pass the time?” He smiled. “It’s what we usually do on Valentine’s, only this time we have to keep an eye out.”

Violet tilted her head a bit. “Well actually, the air tends to feel different when the door shows up, so we don’t have to pay too much attention to the rock.”

Alex smirked. “Well then, a brawl to pass the time?”

Violet stepped back a ways and smirked as well. “Bring it on!” The world’s color drained, and the SOUL’s of the two appeared in front of them. Alex’s a deep orange, and Violet’s a mix of Cyan, Blue and Purple. Alex went first, summoning a few blunt white rods from the ground, which Violet promptly dodged from left to right, the attack ending with a blue and orange rod on different sides. Violet quickly went to the side of the blue rod and stood still.

“Great dodging!” Alex clapped. “Did you notice the change in the bullet's look?”

“Yeah. They looked more like rods than bones like last time.” Violet replied, balancing herself on the heels of her boots.

Alex chuckled and scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I decided I wasn’t really a fan of attacking with bones. So I went with something similar, but still different.”

Violet giggled and gave a thumbs up. “Good for you!” She then smiled deviously. “Now then, MY TURN~!” She summoned a few spheres above her, and hurled them in Alex’s direction, where they bursted halfway through and sent diamond shaped bullets towards him, which he barely dodged through, with one grazing just mere inches away from his SOUL. The attack ended and he rested his hands on his knees. 

“That was...Pretty darn close…” He huffed, while Violet looked on with worry.

“Sorry!” She cried out. “I still have a little trouble controlling my magic!” She looked down at the forest ground with a somber expression.

Alex stood up straighter and shook his head. “Hey, I get it. I had trouble at first, but Papyrus was able to help me!” Violet chuckled.

“Too bad I’m not old enough for his class yet…” She huffed and folded her arms. “I wish I would turn 13 already…”

Alex scratched his head. “You’ll get there soon. You just have to be patient.” He cracked his knuckles and popped his neck .”Now then, let’s see how you handle, THIS!!” A row of rods, moving up and down in a rhythmic fashion made their way towards Violet, first starting off blue, and then orange, and repeating the pattern. Violet stood still for the start, and quickly rushed through the orange rods to get back to the blue ones. She repeated the action a couple more times before the attack ended, filling the forest with a slight metallic smell.

“Wow, that was…” Violet was wide-eyed. “How long did that take for you to get right?!”

“A few months.” Alex replied quietly. “It was supposed to turn your SOUL blue and orange though…”

Violet raised her brows and whistled. “Blue AND orange? How would that work?”

“Well…” Alex hummed. “You would still be affected by gravity thanks to the blue side, but an orange SOUL has two different versions. A light orange and mine.” He pointed to his SOUL. “A light orange reverses the rules, making it so that normal bullets heal, green damages and so on, while a deep orange means you have to keep moving, making it so that normal bullets don’t do anything, while orange attacks act as normal attacks.”

Violet frowned. “Aw man, that sounds so cool…” She kicked the dirt. “Now I wish it worked!”

Alex shook his head and shrugged. “Even I still have stuff to learn.” He smiled and gestured towards her. “Anyway, I believe it’s your turn!”

Violet raised a brow. “Huh?...OH! R-right!” She summoned a single sphere that moved about the area, shooting six diamonds from an opening each time it stopped. Alex was able to dodge the attack easier than before, due to the bullets being more widespread as they approached him. However, when he dodged a few, the sphere had already fired another set, which was closer to where he dodged and a bullet pierced the left side of his jacket, which pushed him onto the ground. Violet gasped and ended the brawl, dissipating the bullets and returning the world to color, as she rushed to Alex’s side. “ALEX!! ARE YOU-” Alex sat up from the ground and brushed some dirt off of him.

“I’m good.” He muttered. “In slight pain, but other than that-”

“How bad?!” Violet cried out, kneeling by Alex’s side. He hummed, and tilted his head.

“Well, it feels like someone pinched my side real hard, but I don’t feel any blood.”

Violet stared at him in disbelief. “Wha-How?!”

(BGM)

Alex patted his side, and frowned. He reached into his jacket, and pulled out a box of chocolates, dented and pierced. He stared at the box and sighed. “Good thing I didn’t leave this in the house…”

Violet stared at the box as well, and tears began welling up in her eyes. “So the box of chocolates you were going to give me...Saved you..” She tearfully began to chuckle, wiping her eyes. “That’s…” 

“Violet?” Alex looked up at her, and was pulled into a hug.

“I’m so sorry!” Violet cried out. “I almost...I could’ve”

Alex escaped from the hug and rested a hand on Violet’s shoulder. “Look it’s fine. If anything bad happened, I wouldn’t have blamed you.” He gave a smile, and then let out a soft chuckle. “Besides, even if I didn’t have the chocolates-” He held up a hand, and a green rod appeared in his palm. “I’d’ve been fine!”

Violet stared at the green magic in his hand, and then chuckled again while wiping her eyes. “Oh thank goodness! That’s an even bigger relief…” She stood up, and held a hand out to Alex. “Let’s head back to the house.” She offered. “I bet there’s still some leftover fudge Rose made!”

Alex glanced at Violet, then her hand and back to her. “What about your friend?”

Violet looked back at the rock, and sighed. “He’ll understand. I don’t always need to visit when the door appears.” She slightly shook her hand. “Come on! I don’t want to eat fudge all by myself!” Alex smiled and accepted Violet’s hand, being pulled up from the ground. The two began walking out of the forest, their voices becoming more distant the further on they went. Behind the rock, stood a lone, transparent figure. They chuckled to themselves, and disappeared, without a single trace of their presence remaining.

Alex glanced back towards the clearing, his mind still aching with curiosity about Violet’s friend. He’ll have to wait a little while longer. It upset him a bit, but not as much as never finding the figure of W.D.. Alex pushed those thoughts aside, and focused on the task at hand. Climbing back over the fence.

Chapter Text

Rose stared herself down in the mirror. She narrowed her eyes as she looked herself up and down, trying to see if she should change something about her current look. A black jacket with a red stripe, even though a lot of people believe stripes are mainly for kids, she didn’t care, she liked stripes. Beneath the jacket was a plain white sweater, because she couldn’t really find anything else that went with the jacket, black pants and red boots. Her hair, usually hidden by a beanie, was, and no matter how hard she tried to comb it down, will always be a case of bedhead. She sighed. “I need more clothes that aren’t black or red.” Though they were her favorite colors, she had gained a bit of a reputation of trying to look edgy, despite her core personality being far from it.

She stepped out of the bathroom, and made her way downstairs and into the kitchen, where her parents were seated at the table, both enjoying a cup of coffee. She waved at them and opened the fridge, pulling out a red box and made her way to the living room to grab her bag. “Don’t stay out too late.” Her dad said in a calm manner. “Although, at this point, I’m beginning to wonder if you even need a reminder…” He sighed and sipped his coffee.

“I like them.” Rose said with a chuckle. “Reminds me that you two care.”

Her mom snickered. “Well, at least you know we do.” They both stood up and gave Rose a hug. Her mom patted her head and smiled. “Have fun now, y ’hear?”

“Rose rolled her eyes. “I will. Always do.” They let go of each other and Rose made her way to the front door. “Bye guys!” Her parents waved her off, and she opened the door, only to jump at the sight of Alex already on the other side of it. She took a second to get her bearings, and waved at him with a smile. “Hi Alex!” Alex waved back and she scratched her arm. “Sorry about that...I wasn’t expecting you to be here so early.”

Alex winced while scratching the back of his head. “Yeah, Papyrus was pretty loud when he woke up, so that kinda woke me up too…”

Rose chuckled. When she first heard of the skeleton from MK, she had thought that he was some sort of super role model, always striving to be good and in a small way, a pure hearted soul. When she met the skeleton, he was a goofy, loud, slightly egotistic and witty person, who would make clever play on words that only the most experienced could catch, and chastise his brother for doing something as simple as sitting down. MK may have painted a different picture of Papyrus, but Rose took to the skeleton regardless. She ruffled Alex’s hair with a wide smile. “Well, you’re here, so I might as well point you in the right direction.” When she last saw Violet, it was through her bedroom window, and Violet was hanging out in the backyard, so she pointed a thumb over her shoulder and relayed that information to Alex. Her expression then went stern. “Please keep your magic in the forest.” She didn’t want to deal with more bones sticking out of the outside wall. Alex gave her a thumbs up.

“You got it!”

She smiled and nodded, walking around him to get to her meeting point on time. “If I remember correctly, they wanted to meet at the park entrance…” She whispered to herself. “Remembering stuff like that is harder when the other person doesn’t have a phone to remind you…”

Rose stood near the entrance to the park, leaning against the wall, and looking very bored. She pulled out her phone to check the time, and frowned when it said 11:45. “Either they’re running late, or I got the location mixed up...Most likely the latter in my case…” She sighed and set the phone away, watching as couples would enter the park. After a few more minutes, she began to worry even more, and walked away from the wall, and out into the open.

“YO!!” Rose followed the sound and sighed in relief when she saw MK running towards her at full speed. MK slid on their heels and skidded to a stop when they got closer to Rose, staining the concrete with black lines from their shoes. They briefly glanced at the skid marks and winced. “Oops…”

“I’m sure no one will care.” Rose muttered, pulling MK into a hug, in which the monster responded by nuzzling their head up against Rose’s. “For a while I was beginning to think I got the location wrong.”

MK chuckled. “That’s fine. I had to try and remember it on my own too.” They sighed. “The times when arms and a phone would be useful…” 

Rose snickered. “We’ll figure something out.” She let go of the hug and motioned for MK to follow. “Now then, I believe we were planning on wandering around the town?”

MK nodded and the two began walking from the park. “I didn’t really have any other plans, so…”

“I get ya.” Rose scratched the back of her head. “I didn’t really have any other plans for what to do today either.” She then chuckled. “But it never hurts to walk around the town, and see the sights it has.” She looked over the tree’s. “It’s the best we can do anyway, since we really shouldn’t walk through the city unsupervised at the moment.”

“I do want to explore it though.” MK replied, gazing in the city direction. “I’ve been kinda curious about it.”

Rose shrugged. “In my opinion, it’s nothing special. It’s really only good for the Festival, showing off fireworks and staring at the lights during Christmas.”

MK hummed. “How does that last one look?”

“Honestly, not that different from when the Festival rolls around. Just subtract all the entertainment and add more Christmas theme decorations and that’s basically what it looks like.”

“I’d still want to see it.”

“Figured as much.” Rose snickered. She reached into her bag and pulled out the red box, shaking it slightly. “Fudge?”

MK rolled their eyes and chuckled. “Duh!” Rose opened the box and picked out a small square of chocolate and extended it towards MK, who ate it in one bite. They chewed down on the fudge, while it simultaneously seemed to melt in their mouth. Rose had a piece herself and smiled. “Hmm...It seems a little different this time…” MK muttered.

Rose tilted her head, and sighed. “Dang, I think I added too much Espresso Powder.”

MK raised a brow. “Oh? I was talking about how it seemed to melt more when I ate it.”

Rose glanced at Mk and then at the fudge. She popped one in her mouth, focusing less on the taste and more on the structure. It was a little softer than she usually made it, but was still solid enough to warrant chewing it. “It’s softer, but I think the melting part may have just been for you, cause I still had to chew it.” She handed another one to MK, and they ate it with a curious expression. They sighed.

“Yeah, it might just be for me, cause I hardly had to do anything.” They hummed in thought. “I wonder what that means…”

“Maybe it means you’ll be able to breathe fire in the future.” Rose chuckled while MK went wide-eyed.

“YO, THAT SOUNDS AWESOME!!!” MK practically bounced up and down while they walked, Rose rolled her eyes while MK went on about being able to breathe fire. As they continued walking down the streets of the town, MK stopped in their tracks, which Rose only noticed a few seconds after walking further ahead. She traced MK’s line of sight to a familiar, tall skeleton handing over a book to Snowy. The monster said something that neither could hear and retreated into the house. Papyrus picked up a couple of boxes and looked to his side. After a few seconds, the skeleton made his way to the sidewalk, with Cass and Flowey following shortly behind. MK glanced at Rose with starry eyes, and she tilted her head towards the skeleton, giving MK the freedom to fanboy over Papyrus. The monster beamed and ran over to the skeleton, with Rose opting to casually stroll behind. “Papyrus!!” MK yelled out, getting the skeleton’s attention.

“HELLO THERE MK!!” Papyrus set the boxes down and placed his hands on his hips. “HOW’RE YOU DOING TODAY?”

“We’re doing good.” Rose answered as she approached. “They noticed you were near and you can guess the rest.” She chuckled softly as MK tilted their head with a shrug and a nod. Rose glanced behind Papyrus and at Cass and Flowey, who were both just staring silently. She smiled and waved at them. “Hi guys!”

Flowey said nothing, but waved a leaf, while Cass looked away and squeaked out an inaudible greeting. Rose and MK’s smiles faded, and they looked up at Papyrus, who was looking at Cass with a worried expression. He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Rose and MK. “SO, WHAT OTHER PLANS DID YOU TWO HAVE FOR TODAY?”

“Well…” MK chuckled while scratching their head with their tail.

“Not much, other than walking around the town.” Rose finished with a shrug. “That’s really all we planned for today.”

Papyrus hummed but simply shrugged afterwards. “WELL, MOST PLACES FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND ARE QUITE BUSY TODAY, SO IT’S QUITE UNDERSTANDABLE.”

“We’ve also been eating some fudge that Rose made herself!” MK added, resulting in Rose slightly blushing, and pulling out the box of the treats. “You guys want one?”

“If not, that’s fine…” Rose added, still blushing from the sudden attention. Papyrus smiled and took three from the box, with Flowey summoning two small green pellets and firing them into a couple of the pieces. Cass took the last one, which wasn’t fired upon, while Papyrus helped Flowey get a hold of his piece. Rose put the box away while the three ate their fudge. Papyrus’ eye lights shined while Flowey’s beady eyes went wide.

“WOWIE!!! THAT WAS DELICIOUS!!” Papyrus cried out, causing Rose to nervously chuckle a bit.

“It tastes kinda like coffee, but I’m not one to complain about that.” Flowey softly chuckled and winked. Everyone looked to Cass, who simply gave a nod and a thumbs up, further worrying Papyrus, Rose and MK. The skeleton picked the boxes back up and looked back at Rose and MK with a smile, his worry for Cass making it a strained one.

“WELL, WE’LL LET YOU TWO GET BACK TO YOUR WANDERING!” He tilted his head at the boxes. “WE’LL GET BACK TO OUR OWN LITTLE QUEST!” Rose and MK waved the three off and looked at each other with worry filling their eyes.

“Something’s wrong with Cass.” MK quickly stated.

“Very wrong.” Rose added. “Even if she was upset by something, she’d still have excitement in her eyes when seeing a friend or eating something she liked.” She sighed and stared out towards the three, who were giving a card to another house. “I should let Chara know…”

MK nodded and motioned their head towards a bus stop. “Let’s sit down then. To be honest, I’m starting to get a little tired.”

“Me too.” Rose replied plainly, pulling out her phone. “Let’s go.”

The two sat in silence, with Rose staring intently at her phone for any reply from Chara. She had texted him a few minutes prior, but hadn’t gotten a word back since. After a few more minutes of staring at her phone, she sighed angrily and put it away. “I blame Frisk…”

Mk let out a hearty laugh. “The obvious reason!”

Rose softly giggled, hovering a hand over her mouth. “It’s only natural!” She sighed and looked to the ground with a soft expression. “But I can’t be too mad at her. It’s nice knowing she found someone she really cares for.”

MK nodded. “They make a good team.”

“Yeah...They do…” Rose stared out towards the buildings and yawned. “Wow...I guess I’m more tired than I first thought.” The two chuckled, only for Rose to yawn again. “Really...Really tired…”

MK glanced at Rose and scooted closer to her. “Why not take a small nap then? I’m only feeling a little tired, so I can wake you up in about an hour if you’d like.” Without a word, Rose leaned onto MK and closed her eyes, a small nod being her only communication. MK smiled and wrapped their tail around her as a way to hold onto her. The two stayed seated in further silence, the only sounds being that of passerbyers and a few passing cars.

Rose opened her eyes without a word, and silently chuckled. “Y’know, when Frisk disappeared, I was worried sick about her…”

“Because of the legend the mountain had.” MK muttered. They hummed in thought, raising a brow and tilting their head. “Wasn’t something like, ‘those who climb the mountain never return.’”

Rose nodded. “Because of her home life, when she vanished, my only thoughts were ‘She went to the mountain! She’s going to end it all…’” She wiped her eyes. “I tried to get CPS to get Frisk and her brother out of that house, but it never worked...Just like Frisk warned me.” Rose sat up and sighed. “Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if I had listened to her about that.”

MK tilted their head. “Well, maybe Chara would’ve helped free monsters on his own-”

“Not just that.” Rose quickly said. “What would’ve happened to Frisk and her brother if I had listened to her about trying to get her out of there? Would they have gone to the mountain together? Or would they have…” She sighed and wiped her eyes again. “There are so many things that could’ve gone different...And possibly wrong…”

MK glanced at Rose, and took on a somber expression. They opened their mouth several times to speak, only to shut it and shake their head. After a while, they let out a soft chuckle. “Man, I’m bad at this…”

Rose snickered. “Not like I’m any better.” She leaned back on the bench and sighed. “But thanks for thinking about trying to help.”

MK smiled and laughed. “Of course! You’d have to be a real jerk to not try and help!” They two shared a small laugh. Rose wrapped an arm around MK and planted a kiss on their cheek. Resulting in the both of them gaining a blush. After a few more minutes of sitting in silence, Rose stood up and stretched. 

“I hope you don’t mind, but I think I’m ready to head home.”

MK stood up and shook their head. “I don’t mind. I had fun today!”

“Me too!” Rose took out her phone, seeing that the time was getting close to 4:00. “And still no reply from Chara…” She tapped her foot and put her phone away. “Just what are they doing that’s keeping him from checking?”

“Maybe he left it at his house.” MK suggested, getting a shrug from Rose.

“Possibly.” She motioned her hand forward. “Shall we head off?” MK nodded their head, and the two walked away from the bus stop, Rose holding MK close as they passed by the several homes dotting the street.

Chapter Text

A low, methodical hum rang throughout. The current occupant of the room was blissfully unaware of it, as they laid on a flat flat surface, mimicking the look of a bed, though not the feeling of one. In their mind, they were floating. A starlit void circling all around them. A small smile crept up their face, as they basked in the moment, only for a loud and mechanical beep to break them out of their trance. They opened up their eyes, and looked around the constant sky blue hued room, that only appeared that way to them, as their sky colored eyes made it so. Without a word, they sat up in a fluid, yet mechanical motion, and turned their head towards a wall, with a nearby cord extending from it, and into the occupants neck, which they pulled out with gentle precision, and set it down lightly on the surface.

They maneuvered their way off the flat surface and stood straight on the floor. After a few blinks, they began to stretch. They did this to ensure that everything was in working order, taking account of any slight problems they’d need to look out for that could potentially result in a visit to Alphys. They nodded as they detected zero faults, and turned a dial located just nearby their ‘SOUL’ which summoned a group of mechanical, floating hands, that helped get the occupant ready for the day. Brushing their hair, tying their shoes, and even helping get their stable jacket on. They passed by a baseball cap hanging nearby, but decided against wearing it. They walked out of the room, and down a hall into a larger room, with a giant pane of glass revealing the cityscape below them. The occupant stared out in slight wonder, never getting tired of the view.

“Ah, Blooky! You’re finally up!” A voice called from behind them. They turned to see Mettaton walking out from a nearby room, a large, fluffy, pink robe draped over him. “For a while I was beginning to think you were never going to finish charging!”

Napstablook chuckled and rubbed the back of their neck. “Well I had a busy day yesterday, so I blew off a lot of energy…”

Mettaton scoffed. “No kidding! You ended up eating all the chocolate I made to keep yourself energized!” He narrowed his eyes and stared at Napstablook with a bemused expression. “I know it’s a tradition for you at this point, but you don’t always need to make two songs for Valentine’s!”

Napstablook sighed and walked up to the couch. “I just find it better to appeal to both sides of the holiday…” They scratched their head. “Not everyone has a partner for today.” Their eyes went wide and they looked around with a confused expression. “By the way, where’s Shyren?”

“Visiting her sister.” Mettaton replied plainly, though Napstablook could still catch the slight scowl he had on his face. “I know one of Aaron’s cousins melted with her, but I just don’t like that they decided to house them…” He shook his head and sat down next to Napstablook. “I don’t want their creepiness to rub off on Shyren’s sis.” Napstablook nodded, turning a dial ever so gently to summon a single pair of hands to fly into the kitchen. After a few seconds, they came back holding a red heart shaped box. Mettaton glanced up at the hands. “Is the fridge closed?”

“I’m sure it is.” Napstablook responded, before glancing at one of the hands, which flew into the kitchen again. A slightly loud thud rang out and the hand returned with it’s thumb up. Napsta stood up from the couch and waved Mettaton off with one of the hands. “Well, it’s been a while since I went into town, so I’ll meet her there.”

Mettaton looked up at Napstablook and waved them off. “Have fun, Blooky!”

Napstablook touched the ground at the entrance to the small town, slightly fumbling on the landing. They sighed and retracted their wings, shaking their head all the while. “I miss being able to float…” While Napstablook was thankful for the body and it’s enhancements, which helped with making their music mixes, it did come with downsides, those being that they can’t disappear on the fly to get out of awkward situations, float passively, and they could no longer go through walls. It was also somewhat prone to small errors and in some cases, pretty fragile, often needing Alphys to make a few fixes to improve it’s stability and durability. If it wasn’t for the initial excitement that made them fuse with the body, they’d have left it as it was repaired. 

They pushed those thoughts aside, since what was done is done, and walked further into the town. They were stopped from time to time, mainly from individuals or groups of friends to give autographs, while the couples wandering around the town took notice of the box in their hands and left them be. Not that they mind getting stopped. While it didn’t get into their head as much as it did for Mettaton, Napstablook did enjoy the attention they got for their music and performances with their cousin, which might’ve been the biggest offender for why they’re getting attention. They didn’t mind it though, since any mixes they made would sometimes get remixed by others, the most common one being someone named Toby ‘Radiation’ Fox. 

Napstablook looked at the row of houses, spotting Shyren and Lemon Bread in the front yard of one house. Napstablook smiled and approached, with Lemon Bread being the first to take notice of them. They raised a goopy arm towards the robot, pointing Napstablook out to Shyren. The floating fish monster let out a small joyful toot, which made Napstablook’s smile widen. “Sorry for cutting in, but I still felt the need to give you this!” Napstablook extended the box of chocolates over to Shyren, who floated happily nearby it. She brushed up against Napstablook’s face and let out a loving toot. Lemon Bread looked on with a happy expression.

“You two have fun! I’ll be fine waiting here.” Rang out as Lemon Bread spoke. Shyren floated up to the amalgamation with a concerned expression, but after a gentle pat on the head from Lemon Bread, the monster let out a thankful toot and floated back to Napstablook.

“I hear Muffet’s has some pretty good coffee. How about we try it out?” Napstablook asked, getting a happy, agreement toot from Shyren.

At the coffee shop, Napstablook and Shyren were sitting in a mutual silence as they enjoyed their coffee. Under normal circumstances, Napstablook, having a mechanical body, wouldn’t be able to, but since Muffet’s had a policy to give monster magic foods, after an incident involving a cat monster with non-magic oranges, meaning that the two’s coffee had a dash of green magic in the mix to give it magic properties. Thanks to this, Napstablook could still enjoy food they liked without worrying about sensitive wiring, and it helped boost their energy consumption, so they could go a little longer without having to recharge, thanks to Alphys.

“Woah, it’s Napstablook!” A nearby voice called out. Napstablook and Shyren turned their attention to the voice, which belonged to a kid in a small group of three human children. “Their music is awesome!”

“Don’t they also make the music for Mettaton’s shows?” 

“Yeah, they do! They also perform in his concerts!” Another one said cheerfully.

“Let’s get their autograph!”

“It looks like they’re on a date though…” One pointed out to the others. Napstablook let out a soft chuckle and returned their focus to their coffee. Shyren let out a confused toot, and Napsta shrugged in response.

“Let’s wait to see what they do first.” Napstablook said calmly. “They don’t seem that bad and I don’t mind the attention now. If I was still a ghost then-” Shyren interrupted with a knowing toot, and Napstablook shook their head and chuckled. “Sorry, my bad…” The two smiled at each other and took a sip of their drinks. Napstablook turned their head slightly to the sound of footsteps approaching the two. They turned and saw two out of the three group members were staring up at the two with wide smiles.

“Hi, we’re big fans!” One said nervously.

“Can we have an autograph?!” The other wasted no time in getting to the point, much to the others dismay. Napstablook smiled and nodded. The kids beamed and each pulled out a marker and the object to be autographed, one taking off their hat and the other pulling out a simple notepad. Napsta turned a dial to produce another pair of hands, taking the hat and marker with their main hands, with the back ups signing the notepad. The kids looked in awe, and bounced with joy when they got their items back. “Oh, and one for our friend!” They pointed over their shoulder. “She was too nervous to approach so…”

Napstablook smiled and nodded. “What do they want signed?” The one kid put their hat back on and extended out another, sky blue hat with the MTT brand on it. Napstablook chuckled and signed the hat without further question. They gave the two their markers back, and they looked at each other with glee, which turned to slight shock and fear at an unfamiliar chuckle nearby.

“Ah children. Such hyper and eager beings.” A cloaked figure muttered as they walked near. They looked down at the two children and a smile formed beneath their hood. “I know they’re quite famous, but next time, let them finish their treat, tra la la.” They left without another word, getting a confused head tilt from all parties. The two looked up at Napstablook with apologetic looks.

“Sorry.” 

“Enjoy your drinks!” They left in a slight hurry, leaving Napstablook and Shyren with confused looks.

“Well that was certainly something, huh?” They muttered, getting a nod from Shyren. Napstablook sighed and rested their head on their hands. “You didn’t mind, did you? You didn’t really try to intervene so-” Shyren floated up to Napstablook’s face and nuzzled against it. They both smiled, with Shyren the only one capable of blushing at the small moment they shared. Napstablook understood the gesture and lightly held Shyren’s face, brushing away a small strand of hair. They parted and returned to their drinks, with only one question on Napstablook’s mind.

Who was that cloaked figure?

Chapter Text

“Man, this place looks pretty busy.” Undyne muttered as she looked around the entirety of the restaurant. She tapped her fingers against the table and shrugged. “I guess I should’ve expected that!” She chuckled to herself while Alphys was looking over the options.

“W-well, it was fairly barren the last two years…” She set down the menu and hummed. “What changed?”

“Maybe gained standards.” Undyne muttered as she picked up the menu. “Or maybe they learned that trying to get a seat at Mettaton’s restaurant in the city was a giant pain.”

Alphys shrugged and nodded. “It-it does have a complicated pr-process…” She picked up the menu again and glanced over the options with a hum. “But at least his time on the s-surface is helping him learn.”

Undyne began laughing, muffling it with her hand. “Oh man, his reaction to people’s negative comments on his soda!” She took a few breaths and calmed down a bit, with the occasional slight of laughter still escaping her mouth. “That’s what happens when you put glitter and sequins in soda!” 

A waitress approached the table and smiled softly at the two. “Have you decided on what peaks your interest?”

Undyne glanced at the menu and shrugged. “I’ll just have the steak.”

“I’ll take the b-beef wellington.” Alphys replied, handing her menu up to the waitress. Undyne did the same and the waitress nodded her head. 

“We’ll get right on that!” She walked away from the table, leaving Undyne and Alphys alone with each other once more. Undyne took another glance around and grinned. 

“You think Alyssa would be able to finally get Sam into a fancy dinner date?” She asked Alphys. “Personally, I think she’d have to try and trick Sam into going on one.”

Alphys hummed. “I th-think Sam would eventually get around to it.” She smiled and stared out into a nearby window. “M-mainly to make Alyssa happy.”

Undyne chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck. “That does sound like something Sam would do.” She hummed and glanced through the same window. “I wonder how they’re doing.”

“Hopefully they’re good.” Alphys muttered. “Maybe that dance lesson surprise is working out as Sam intended.”

“You think?” Undyne tapped the table and sighed. “You know, you’d think that someone who knows ballet would know other types of dances too.”

“M-maybe she fell before she could learn…”

Undyne shrugged. “I’d like to think that, but given the track record the mountain has for everyone who fell down…” She shook her head. “Let’s change the subject.”

Alphys tapped her claws on the table and nodded. After a few seconds, she hummed. “S-so, what do you have planned for your class tomorrow?”

Undyne chuckled with a slight malicious tone. “Those punks aren’t gonna know what hit ‘em!”

“And now I’m scared for them…” Alphys whispered.

Undyne held her hands in the air. “Relax, it’s not going to be that bad!”

“I’m still scared…”

Undyne rolled her only eye and chuckled. “It’s just some routines that are gonna harden them up again after all the softness.” She rested her head on her hands. “Basically, what I always do, but maybe just a little more intense.”

Alphys sighed and rested her arms on the table. “Lead with that next time…”

“No promises!” Undyne chuckled while Alphys smiled softly.

The two walked out of the restaurant, staring out into the line near the entrance, and wincing. “Oof, that’s gonna suck for the employee’s.” Undyne muttered as they walked away.

“N-no kidding. It was already bad when we first entered.” Alphys replied. “Good thing we got there wh-when we did, huh?”

“Yeah, id I had to wait in a line that long, I’d go crazy.” Undyne shook her head and the two walked further towards the park in silence. Undyne gazed around the other restaurants, some had no lines at all, while others were nearly filled to the brim with people waiting. She scoffed and jammed her hands into her pockets. “These people are just torturing themselves by waiting.”

“Some like to test their patience, dear captain.”

“HOLY SH-” Undyne and Alphys turned around to see the Riverperson standing in front of them, a smile visible beneath their hood. “Geez, you’re a sneaky bastard…” Undyne spoke out after her senses calmed down. She looked the Riverperson in a spot that seemed fitting for their eyes to be. “Anyway...What’s up?”

“Nothing much, tra la la.” The Riverperson replied nonchalantly. They tilted their head and their smile disappeared. “How’s your day been?”

“So far, pretty good!” Undyne replied swiftly, a little taken aback still.

“Th-the restaurant was a little b-busy th-though.” Alphys added, slightly cowering behind Undyne.

“That is to be expected.” They gestured to the large crowds of people in front of the buildings. “After all, what better to do with a loved one than to enjoy something you both love?” They asked with a surprisingly saddened tone. Undyne and Alphys glanced at each other, as the Riverperson sighed. “Well, I shan’t keep you two any longer. The park would get curious by your absence, tra la la.” The Riverperson walked the other way, leaving the two even more confused.

“Is it just me, or are they getting more weird?” Undyne asked Alphys, who was still looking out towards the Riverperson with a hint of fear. Undyne tilted her head. “Al?”

“They scare me…”

Undyne glanced towards the direction the Riverpseron went, and back to Alphys, kneeling down to her level. “There a reason why? I mean, I know they say a lot of cryptic shit, but I just figured that’s just for flair.”

Alphys glanced at Undyne and sighed. “B-before I became the royal scientist, I was heading over to Mettaton’s place to show him the de-designs for his body, and I got there using the Riverpersons boat…” Alphys turned their attention to the ground, and ran her hand down her face. “And during the ride, th-the said, ‘Determination in moderation.’”

Undyne stared at Alphys with a blank expression, before the coin dropped in her head. “You mean they...Talked about the Amalgamates, before the incident happened?” Alphys nodded her head, and Undyne glanced back towards the Riverperson’s direction, raising a brow. “That’s...Creepy with a capital ‘C’...”

At the park, Undyne and Alphys were walking around, with Undyne trying to point out objects of interest to Alphys, or even suplexing a few large rocks to get a reaction, but Alphys was still hung up over their encounter with the Riverperson. Undyne sighed and glanced at Alphys. “Geez, you’re really scared of them, huh?” Alphys nodded in response. Undyne softened her expression and stopped walking, getting Alphys’ attention quickly.

“U-Undyne?”

Undyne knelt down to Alphys’ level, and looked her in the eyes. “You can’t keep letting them get to you.”

Alphys sighed and avoided Undyne’s gaze. “I know, b-but-”

“I know what they said must’ve been shocking, even after what happened, but like when you freaked out over what to do with the Amalgamates, you got to face them at some point.” Undyne grabbed a nearby rock and stood up. “You gotta walk up to the Riverperson, and ask them why they knew that! You gotta face your fears-” She smashed the rock with her fist. “And punch it in the face!”

Alphys gazed up at Undyne with a plain expression, with a slight dusting of pink on her cheeks. She looked away and sighed. “Maybe it’s that easy for you, but I’m sure recall, I’m not much of a fighter.”

“Maybe with your fists, but you’re a fighter with your brain!” Undyne tapped Alphys’ head with a finger. “Fight your fears using your smarts!”

Alphys blinked. “A-and how exactly do I d-do that?”

Undyne chuckled and lifted Alphys up into the air. “You’ll figure it out! That’s what your smarts are for, right?”

“Well...Y-you do have a point there.” Alphys muttered, face bright red.

“I know I do!” Undyne squeezed Alphys a bit and smiled widely. “Now then, I was under the impression that we were going to enjoy our little walk around the park, so why don’t we do just that!?” She asked, still holding Alphys up in the air. The lizard monster only smiled nervously in response, which Undyne understood perfectly. The two continued down the path, with Undyne being Undyne and holding Alphys in her arms still, and Alphys responding to the situation like an Alphys would, which was blushing to the point that she glowed. Eventually, Undyne set Alphys down, and the two walked side by side. 

Alphys gazed around the park, but soon stopped in place. “Hey is that-” She pointed in front of her, towards a lone Toriel sitting on a bench. Undyne glanced over at the boss monster and grinned. 

“You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Probably not…” Alphys muttered.

Undyne scratched her head and chuckled. “Ok, I should’ve expected you’d say that.” Alphys giggled a bit, before Undyne grabbed her arm and sprinted at full speed. “HEY, TORIEL!!!”

Chapter Text

Sam walked out into a small clearing by the lake. From all of their rampant checks the days prior, they knew that the ground was even enough, and had a good amount of space for plenty of movement, without accidentally tripping over a rock or running into a tree. As far as they were concerned, this place was perfect. They smiled and walked over to a medium sized container, and pulled out a large tarp and a few metal stakes to keep the wind from stealing it. First, they spread the tarp across the small acre of land as best they could, holding it in place with a few rocks they picked up on the way to said clearing. They grabbed a hammer and the stakes, moving the rocks aside to set the stakes in their place. It only took them a couple of swings to get the stakes in place, which they were thankful for. Living with Undyne had it’s perks, since it was basically like living in a gym.

They set the hammer away and looked over the area, which now seemed more of a fit to practice dancing on in Sam’s eyes. There were just a slight few with Sam’s plan, the first being that they didn’t have a backup if Alyssa was totally against the idea, and the second is that they only know how to slow dance, thanks to the Valentine’s day dances the school practically forced them to do before they fell. Sam covered their face with a palm and sighed. “Would that even be worth all this trouble?” They whispered. “It can be learned in five minutes flat…” Their face flushed red and groaned into their hands. “God damnit this was all I had planned.”

Sam straightened themselves out and took in a few breaths. “It’s going to be fine...She’ll appreciate the thought…” After a few minutes, Sam managed to get their head together, and sit down on the tarp in anticipation. They tapped their fingers on the ground and sighed. “Well...If Mom-dyne points her in the right directions, anyway…” Sam laid back on the tarp and stared up into the sky, the few clouds there were floating aimlessly up above, giving Sam a small sense of tranquility. “I’ll teach her to slow dance, and she can add that onto her list of dances she knows.” They mumbled to themselves, closing their eyes. “Wait!” They shot back up in a flash. “She knows ballet, and I somewhat know how to slow dance...We could teach each other!” They fist pumped and smiled widely. “That’s perfect!”

“What’s perfect?” Alyssa asked from a nearby tree, causing Sam to whip around stare blankly at her. Alyssa wore a blue dress that reached the knees, slightly covered by a black jacket, with purple boots and black leggings. Sam rubbed the back of their neck nervously.

“Ummm...how much of that, did you hear?”

Alyssa shrugged and smiled. “Something about each other and how it would be perfect.” She walked over to Sam and planted a small kiss on their cheek, earning a blush from her slightly worryingly excited datefriend. She rested a hand on Sam’s shoulder and looked them in the eyes, Sam still needing to tilt their head up ever so slightly. Though they did grow in height, Sam still only reached up to Alyssa’s nose. “Now, what has you so excited to the point that you’re outside of your house without a binder?” 

Sam flinched back a bit and brought a hand up to their chest, their blush intensifying. “Why and how is that the first thing you notice!? I thought my clothes would’ve hidden that.” Sam was draped in a black jacket with a purple trim, with a purple sweater visible beneath it, Black leisure pants with a purple undertone to them, and brown boots. Alyssa playfully rolled her eyes and held both of Sam’s hands.

“Because I have a keen eye for details. That, and the fact that you even bothered putting in that much effort with your clothing tipped me off.” Alyssa smirked, and held a finger to Sam’s mouth as they were about to open it again. “And before you bring up what you wore to the Festival, it was still fairly obvious that you weren’t trying to hide anything, other than the scars.”

Sam sighed and looked to the ground in defeat. “Geez, it feels like you know me better than I do…” Alyssa giggled and held up Sam’s head, planting a kiss on their lips. Sam tried to lean in closer to Alyssa, but their efforts were in vain as Alyssa broke it off before they could even move. Sam pouted a bit, before their eyes went wide. “Oh right! My surprise!!” They backed away from Alyssa and threw their hands in the air. “I was thinking we could give each other a small dance lesson!”

“A...Dance…”

“Back at the Festival, you said you only know ballet, while I know a bit about slow dancing. We could teach each other a few tips!” Sam smiled and pointed to themselves. “We could have a nice little slow dance, and then you could show me some ballet moves!”

Alyssa chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t know...I might mess up a lot.”

Sam smiled and scratched their cheek. “While, that’s kind of the point of lessons...To help people learn, and avoid the same mistakes…” They glanced around at their setup and sighed. “But...If you don’t want to, we could pack all this up and watch a few movies…”

Alyssa looked around. She wasn’t a huge fan of the idea, but thinking about how long Sam must’ve taken to find a suitable area, and just how long they’ve been planning. She sighed and looked Sam in the eye. “I’ll be willing to learn a slow dance, but that’s it.”

Sam smiled softly. “That’s fine. To be honest, the whole ‘we could teach each other’ thing was a last minute idea.” Sam walked up to Alyssa and took hold of her right hand. “Your right hand stays intertwined with my left.” Alyssa nodded as Sam took hold of her left hand, placing it just short of their hip, which both parties blushed over. “Y-Your opposite lies just above my hip, while my opposite hand rests on your shoulder.”

Alyssa slightly raised a brow. “If you're teaching me, shouldn’t we switch our arm placements?”

Sam’s blush deepened. “W-well, for one, you’re taller than me, and I…” They sighed and leaned a bit closer to Alyssa. “I was always the ‘girl’ whenever I had to do this, so…” They bowed their head down a bit, and Alyssa, with a somber smile, kissed Sam’s head. They smiled and glanced up at Alyssa, before the coin dropped in their head. “Wait, you just wanted me to hold your waist, didn’t you?”

Alyssa tilted her head back and forth with a hum. “Maybe a little, but also because I figured that trying to lead while not being the ‘boy’ would be a challenge.”

“I’ll manage.” Sam said confidently. “Besides, I live with Undyne. I’m practically used to challenges at this point.”

Alyssa clicked her tongue and nodded. “You got me there.” The two chuckled, and Alyssa looked at Sam eagerly. “So, what’s next?”

“What I remember, for the most part, we move opposite. For example, I take a few steps back, while you take some steps forward, and if you move right, I move left and so forth. Also, we need to keep careful to not step on the other’s foot.” Sam proceeded to take a few steps back, pulling Alyssa along forward, with her keeping close eye on the locations of their feet to be careful. Alyssa then took a few steps right, with Sam mirroring her movements with their left.

“Huh...This actually doesn’t seem that hard.” Alyssa muttered as she continued the small rhythm the two had. “Just a little sway and a step.”

Sam chuckled. “Well I’m glad you’re finding it easy! Everyone else I did this with were baffled by it.”

“Where did you learn how to do this anyway?” Alyssa tilted her head as she stepped forward with a quick step to the left.

“Before I fell into the mountain, every chance they could, the school did these honestly pretty dumb dances when Valentine’s rolled around.” Sam shook their head and rolled their eyes. “Only a few people would actually be excited for them. But-” Sam stepped back as Alyssa stepped forward, swaying towards the left when Alyssa swayed right, and mirrored Alyssa’s steps to the left. “It looks like one good thing came from it.” The two shared a chuckle, when Sam lifted Alyssa’s right hand in the air. “Now, let’s try turning me around. We break contact except from our held hands, and you have gently circle your arm above my head as I turn around in a 360.”

“Um…” Alyssa looked at Sam with a worried expression. 

“It’s not that hard, trust me.” Sam took their right hand off of Alyssa’s shoulders, and circled around in place, with Alyssa focusing on not circling her arm too fast. Sam faced Alyssa once more, taking hold of her shoulder with a small smile. “You’ll get used to it the more we do it.”

Alyssa raised a brow. “And how many more times do we do that?” 

“How ever many we feel like.” Sam replied. The two resumed their previous tandem, with Alyssa just a little more tense, thanks to the prospect of turning Sam around. Sam rolled their eyes and whispered. “On three, ok?” Alyssa slowly nodded, and Sam’s smile grew. They counted down under their breath, and on the final number, Sam once again let go of Alyssa’s shoulder, and turned on their feet completely around, and Alyssa circled her arm just a little more smoothly. Sam set their hand down on Alyssa’s shoulder. “Now that wasn’t so bad, right?”

Alyssa chuckled softly. “I guess not…” After a few more sways and steps, Sam hummed.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why is ballet the only dance style you know?”

Alyssa sighed and narrowed her eyes a bit. “A certain someone was apparently a pretty popular ballerina, and decided to live her adult life vicariously through her daughter, teaching her every. Little. Thing.” She twirled Sam around and huffed. “I could hardly feel anything those first few months when I was old enough to actually learn. All my muscles were sore for what felt like years.”

“Wow…That’s…” Sam took a breath and looked Alyssa in the eyes. “And you don’t hate ballet after that?”

“It was more of a love/hate relationship.” Alyssa answered simply. “At first, I thought it was torture, but when I got used to it, I found it quite enjoyable, and would often practice on my own. The problem was, I found it more like a fun hobby, and my mom…” She shook her head and sighed. “You could guess how she was.” Sam nodded in response, and Alyssa chuckled a bit. “After I left the Ruins, however, ballet pretty much saved my hide for the most part, as it was easy to dodge and jump over enemy attacks, but, once I got to Waterfall, I started getting tired and most of my things either started feeling too heavy or got abandoned while my rest was interrupted.” Alyssa twiredl a concerned Sam. “It got to the point that I’d just run instead of dodging, and, in one of my escapes, I wasn’t paying attention and-”

Sam let go of Alyssa’s shoulder and placed a finger over her mouth. “That’s enough...” They returned their hand to their position and sighed. “That’s enough…”

Alyssa frowned, and stopped moving, placing her right hand on Sam’s back and pulling them close into a hug. Sam stood still for a while, before placing both their hands on Alyssa’s shoulders. Alyssa let out a soft, nearly silent giggle. “It wasn’t all that bad, though. I got to meet you after all. And even if there were a few bumps in the road, we still managed. And we’re here. So I don’t see why I should hate it completely.”

Sam snickered and chuckled slightly into Alyssa’s jacket. “Man, you’re sappy…”

“I’ll take that as a compliment!” Alyssa smiled and tightened her grip of Sam. She gazed around the area, and hummed. “Y’know, this isn’t that bad of a set up. It could be good for picnics, little dances like we just had, and just, lying down and watching the sky.”

“Are you saying you want to do all of those every chance we get?” Sam asked with a plain tone, getting laughter from Alyssa.

“Maybe…” She responded. “In fact, I left a box of chocolates inside your house. So maybe I could grab it and we could do that sky gazing today as well.” 

Sam hummed, processing the entire offer. They looked Alyssa in the eyes and smiled. “That sounds nice. And it actually feels nice out here, so, yes. Let’s do just that!” Alyssa beamed and lifted her hand off of Sam’s back, and onto the back of their head, leaning close for a kiss. Sam tilted their head and let themselves get carried off into a loving bliss. Definitely, not as bad as it could’ve gone!

Chapter Text

Clover tapped their foot whilst waiting outside of Muffet’s coffee shop. They occasionally looked around for any sign of Luke, partially scared as to why he’s a little late, overall just plain bored, but a little excited, since whenever Luke finally did show up when he was a little late like now, he always carried a shopping bag, which meant he was going to make something, and knowing that fact and applying it to today made Clover’s mouth water a little. They enjoyed Luke’s cooking on it’s own, but something about his cooking when on a special occasion, gave it an extra boost of flavor and goodness in Clover’s experience. They weren’t sure why though. “Maybe I could ask…” They whispered to themselves, drowned out by the constant noise of other couples passing by.

One such couple briefly glanced at Clover, and raised their brows. Clover tried their best to look casual, but given the small glimpse they had at the couple’s faces, and how they gave Clover a pitiful look, it was clear that they had failed. “He must’ve gotten stood up.” One said, getting Clover to cringe a bit.

“Poor kid, but I wouldn’t be surprised. After all-” The other said, the rest of their conversation drowned out as they kept walking. Clover sighed and pinched their nose.

“Can’t expect everyone to know…” They leaned back against a wall and decided to drown out the crowd, spending time in their own thoughts. As of late, only one would run through their head, constantly appearing and drilling itself into their head. The thought, as did most of their thoughts the past 2 years, revolved around Asgore. It was clear that he was happy to be on the surface, but something would always gnaw at Clover. Whether it was the thought of Asgore pretending to be happy, the thought of him missing his friends, just general thoughts that made Clover concerned for the boss monster, which in their mind, should be the other way around.

“Clover!” Luke’s voice called out, pulling Clover from their thoughts. They looked over in the direction his voice came from to see him running up to them. If there was one thing the two had in common the most, unlike most of their friends, they really never dressed fancy. Even Sam would put in an effort with their attire when going out with Alyssa. Luke was wearing a plain black long sleeve, blue jeans and black shoes, while Clover was wearing a brown jacket over a beige long sleeve, blue jeans and brown shoes. As Luke approached closer, Clover spotted a plastic bag in his left hand, and a smile grew on their face.

“Well, you have a bag in your hand, so that must mean you’re making something.” Clover said the moment Luke got close enough to hear them. The two laughed, but when Clover tried to look inside the bag, Luke held it away from their sights, causing Clover to raise a brow. “Is it a surprise?”

“For now.” Luke said conspicuously. “I’ll tell you when we get to your place.”

Clover chuckled and shrugged. “Alright. I’ll try my best to live with the wait.” The two laughed again and headed inside the coffee shop. The line was fairly short, but the inside overall was packed with people enjoying their drinks, either by themselves, with friends or as dates. The grace for the two was that the employees are pretty fast, and are able to get the orders exact while rushing. Part of that is because Muffet is always helping make the orders, and the extra arms and hands make her job easier. In what seemed like no time at all, Clover and Luke were at the counter. Muffet glanced at them and smiled.

“You should already know the price, dearies.” Muffet giggled as she already started making their orders without them saying a word. Luke rubbed the back of his neck while Clover fished out their wallet. 

“I guess being regulars has a pretty nice bonus!”

Clover chuckled as they handed the money over. “The less time waiting, the better.” They leaned in close to Luke. “One of these days, we need to order something different to freak them out.”

“Agreed.” The two chuckled as Muffet handed them their drinks, mimicking a brow raise with a couple of her eyes.

“What’s so funny, dearies?”

“A little inside joke.” Clover muttered. “You have a nice day, Muffet!” They waved Muffet off and left the shop, making their way to Clover’s house. “By the way, Asgore is shopping for gardening tools, so it’s just going to be us till he gets back.”

Luke nodded. “That’s fine. It’ll be a surprise for him too.”

Clover chuckled and glanced at Luke with a raised brow. “Just what do you have planned this time?”

“You’ll see.”

Clover set the coffee’s down on the dining room table while Luke set up in the kitchen. They sighed and made their way to Luke, who was setting down a stick of butter next to a carton of cream. Clover gazed around the set up, seeing a package of sugar and light corn syrup, vanilla extract, salt, one of which was the flaky, crystal looking kind, and a whole lot of dark chocolate candies. Clover stared blankly, before finally clearing their throat. “So...What’s all this gonna make?”

Luke threw on his apron and smiled. “I was thinking, we’d make some homemade chocolate covered caramels!” Luke took out a few pots and some glass bowls while Clover nodded.

“Ah, like as a little substitute for store bou-Wait….We?”

Luke chuckled nervously. “Yeah...We always go out to eat, or I always make something, and last night I figured we’d make something together!” Luke rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and smiled. “And after a bit of late night thinking, I figured making some chocolate treats would be perfect for Valentine’s!”

Clover rubbed the back of their neck and whistled. “Wow, that’s...Pretty sweet, heh, of you but, I don’t know shit about cooking…” They sighed and slouched a bit. “I only really know how to brew tea thanks to Asgore's help.”

Luke put a hand on Clover’s shoulder and smiled. “I’ll be here to help you if you need it, and it’s not like I planned for this to be a regular thing. Just a little something for this year, y’know.”

Clover glanced at Luke, who was wearing a pretty dorky looking expression in their eyes. They chuckled and stood up straighter. “Alright, I’ll try my best.”

“That’s all I could ask.” Luke replied. They reached back into the bag and threw Clover their own apron. “You’re gonna need that.”

Clover rolled their eyes and took off their jacket. “No shit sherlock…” They slipped on the apron and managed to tie the strings behind their back. They looked over the ingredients and tilted their head. “So...Where do we start?”

“The caramel!” Luke replied enthusiastically, filling a measuring cup with water. “We need that to be set before the chocolate is all melted, so we need to start with that. They handed Clover a dry measuring cup. “Fill that with the corn syrup. Ah, and roll up your sleeves.”

Clover raised a brow, setting down the measuring cup and rolling up their sleeves. They picked up the package of corn syrup and, after a small battle with opening it, began pouring some into the cup, ever so slowly, because it’s syrup. While they did that, Luke filled a bowl up with sugar, nodding confidently at the amount. Clover stopped pouring the syrup and glanced at Luke with a confused expression. “How many times have you made caramel?”

“Quite a bit.” Luke replied simply, setting the water and sugar next to the stove. “At first, it was mainly a caramel sauce, but we started offering soft caramel a few months before I fell, and the process is pretty similar, just with a few differences.”

Clover handed Luke the corn syrup and looked back at the counter. “And the chocolate?”

Luke sighed. “I have a love/hate relationship working with it. But for this to work, we need to temper it.” Luke poured in the ingredients, water, corn syrup, which he needed to use a rubber spatula to get out every drop and dumped the sugar into the pot, before flipping on the burner, adjusting the heat to his liking. “Oh, I forgot to grab the thermometer.” He turned to Clover, who already opened a drawer to pull said tool out. Luke chuckled as he took the thermometer from Clover. “I’m so glad I bought you guys this.”

“Even if you’re the only one who uses it?” Clover asked, earning a nod from Luke.

“Thermometer’s are important. How else would you know if you’re cooking everything correctly?” He stuck the point in the pot and stirred for a few seconds. “While this is cooking, we need to combine the butter and the cream.”

“Let me guess, we’re melting the butter.” Clover snarked as they grabbed the butter. Luke handed them the liquid measuring cup, and smiled.

“230 grams for both. It should say it on the side of the measuring cup.” Luke advised, earning a nod from Clover. Luke nodded back and kept his eye on the thermometer, keeping track of the temperature. Clover added the cream into the measuring cup and used the microwave to melt the butter. Luke winced slightly at the sound of it opening, but left it be. Once the butter and cream were together and the heat was where Luke needed, he turned the burner off and handed Clover a whisk. “I’ll pour in the butter/cream mix, while you whisk it all together.”

Clover took the whisk and stood by the pot while Luke grabbed the mixture. “So just keep whisking while you're pouring?”

“Yep! On three. One. Two Three!” Luke poured in some of the butter/cream mix while clover began whisking it even when Luke stopped pouring. “Only need to add a little bit at a time.” He muttered while Clover kept whisking. He began pouring the mix again and this went one for about a couple more times before everything was added together. The inside of the pot had gained the classic caramel hue, and Luke reinserted the thermometer and turned the heat back on. “Perfect!”

“So how long does this portion have to cook?” Clover asked, tapping their foot.

“Depends, do you want it softer or do you want to chew your caramel?”

“Um…” Clover tilted their head with a hum. “Soft, I guess…”

“Then this needs to heat up to 240 degrees Fahrenheit.” Luke responded. He quickly grabbed the vanilla extract and salt and placed them nearby. “While this is going, we need to prepare a baking dish to put all of this in.”

“Like a brownie pan?” Clover asked, already grabbing said pan out. Luke hummed and nodded.

“It needs to be lined up with parchment paper and the paper needs to be greased with some non-stick spray.” Luke added, with Clover grabbing the spray from a cupboard above the stove and setting it next to the pan. While they looked for parchment paper, Luke kept an eye on the thermometer, making sure it hits the temperature desired. The sound of wrinkling and spraying told him that Clover was done with that part, just in time for the caramel to reach 240 degrees. Luke opened up the vanilla extract and poured in just a small amount, while adding a couple pinches of salt, whisking it all together.

“So do we add it to the fridge to cool down or-”

“It’ll be easier to cut if cooled down outside of the fridge.” Luke quickly responded, carrying the pan over and pouring the contents into the pan. “The only downside is it's gonna take a few hours.”

Clover raised a brow. “Like one movie worth?”

Luke chuckled and turned on the sink, already scrubbing the pot down with soap. “Depends solely on the movie!” He turned to look at Clover with a smile. “I’ll leave the choice to you while I’m cleaning up!”

Clover clicked their tongue and shot a finger gun towards Luke. “Sounds good!”

Luke sprayed a piece of parchment paper on both sides before setting it down on a baking sheet. Clover watched on with raised brows as Luke prepped another baking sheet. “Um...Aren’t you only using one side? Why spray both sides of the paper?”

“It’s something Dad told me to do, but never really went into detail why.” Luke shrugged as he removed the caramel from the pan. “He’s been cooking longer than I have, so I just went with his instincts.” He removed the parchment paper from the caramel and grabbed a knife, spraying it with non-stick and grabbing a nearby ruler.

Clover shrugged. “Well I suppose I can’t really argue there. After all, he taught you how to cook, so I have no reason to distrust him.”

Luke chuckled, setting the knife down to avoid accidently cutting his finger. “Ok then!” He briefly gazed up at the clock, and raised a brow. “Huh...I thought Asgore would’ve been here by now.”

Clover looked up at the clock and sighed. “Now that you mention it…” They kept their gaze locked onto the clock, their face filling with fear. They shook their head and turned to Luke. “He’ll be fine. Probably just ran into a snag at the store or something…”

Luke paused, the knife only scratching the surface of the caramel. “You’re worried…”

Clover sighed and nodded. “I’ve been worried. After everything that happened to Chara and Asriel, seeing Toriel leave him, losing some of his friends, and doing something he didn’t actually want to do for the sake of his people, there’s a lot to worry about.”

Luke stared at Clover with a somber expression, before turning back to cut the caramel. “Yeah. There is.” He cut the block into a few rows, before cutting the block again to make squares. He began setting them up on the baking sheet, deathly silent.

Clover eventually chuckled and turned to Luke. “Sorry for bringing the atmosphere down. I just spoke my thoughts aloud and-”

“It’s fine. I understand.” Luke looked to Clover and smiled. “After all, he’s practically your dad! If mine had to deal with what he did, I’d be concerned too!”

Clover opened their mouth, but quickly closed, and opened it again. They repeated this action a few times, their face filling with a sudden realization. “Oh my god he’s basically my dad…”

Luke raised a brow. “You’re just now realizing that? You’ve lived with him for 2 years. I know that normally wouldn’t amount to much, but given how close you two are-”

“I’ve never had that thought before! And no one else even brought it up! Not even Chara when he would stay for a week or so, and he’s Asgore’s adopted son!” Clover tilted their head, holding their chin between their pointer finger and thumb. “Would that make me and Chara siblings?”

“Clover you’re only sixteen. That’s too young to start having an identity crisis.”

“You are never too young to have an identity crisis.” Clover shot back, earning a nod and a shrug from Luke in response. “But, I suppose I shouldn’t focus on that too much now.” They pointed to the chocolate. “You said we needed to temper the chocolate?”

Luke groaned. “Yes, and from my experience, the process sucks. If you get it too hot during the seeding process you’ll effectively be back at the beginning.”

Clover tiled their head. “Seeding?”

“How this works is that we chop up a medium to large amount of dark chocolate, and store in a glass bowl to hold it over simmering water. Simmering, not boiling. Once the chocolate is melted, we finely chop up some more chocolate and add it to the melted chocolate to help it set up in room temperature. The act of adding unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate is called seeding, and it’s essentially helping the melted chocolate remember where it once came from.”

Clover stared blankly at Luke for a few seconds, and then sighed. “I can chop the chocolate.”

“That’ll be best…” Luke muttered, adding water to a pot and setting it on the stove. He looked back at Clover and hummed. “But, uh, let me demonstrate first.” Clover stepped aside and handed Luke the knife. Luke poured out the amount of chocolate he felt was enough and gripped the knife handle in a tight grip, setting his other hand on the top of the knife, helping it chop the chocolate. He chopped down a portion of the chocolate before looking up at Clover. “Just do what I did and it should be fine.” He handed the knife to Clover who finished chopping the chocolate and scooped it all into a glass bowl.

They handed Luke the bowl and he set it above the water and began stirring. Clover looked back up at the clock and frowned. What’s taking him so long to get back? They shook their head and started chopping some more chocolate up and setting it in another bowl. Luke went back to the counter and kept stirring the chocolate.

“Let’s add a little for now. We just need to get the chocolate down to about 86 degrees.” He waved the thermometer in the air a bit while Clover rolled their eyes and added some of the unmelted chocolate. After a few minutes, they added more of the chocolate, with Luke quickly holding it over the water again before going back to the counter a few seconds afterward. “Could you pull out a knife and dip it into the chocolate?”

Clover raised a brow but did as Luke asked anyway. After dipping it in the chocolate, Clover visibly struggled to not lick the chocolate off. “So what’re trying exactly?”

“I want the chocolate to look shiny when it hardens, so we need to do a few tests.” Luke replied. “Just wait for it to harden and tell me what it looks like.” He smiled at Clover. “Then after a second test, you can eat it.”

Clover chuckled. “Alright then!” Clover stared at the chocolate as Luke kept stirring. After a few minutes, Clover hummed. “Well it’s hardened, but it’s pretty dull looking.”

Luke smiled. “So at least we know we’re getting there. Since I’ve been stirring it, it should look less dull.” Right as Luke finished, Clover dipped the knife in the chocolate again. After a few more minutes, Clover hummed once more.

“Yeah, I’d say this looks better.” They held up the chocolate coated knife towards Luke, turning it around to show the light slightly reflecting off of the chocolate. Luke smiled and grabbed a pair of forks. 

“Then we’re good to dip the caramel!” He took the bowl over to the caramels and pointed to the other container of salt. “Once it’s coated, sprinkle some of that salt on it, and when it hardens, we’ll have chocolate caramels!”

Clover chuckled and grabbed the salt in question and stood near Luke. Once he set down four caramels, Clover proceeded to sprinkle the salt over them. They repeated this process until all caramels were on the other baking sheet. Clover looked inside the bowl and hummed. “What do we do with the rest of the chocolate?”

“Whatever you want really.” Luke responded. “Leave it in the fridge and melt it for another purpose comes to mind. Or just wait till Chara comes over and sees it. He’ll know what to do.” The two laughed and Clover took off their apron. 

“Well, I’ll be in the living room, unless you want help with the dishes.”

Luke glanced at everything that needed to be washed and shook his head. “I can handle it. I’ll be in soon.”

Clover shook their head and sighed. “If you say so. Just call if you need me!” They waved Luke off and exited the kitchen. 

Luke chuckled and began scrubbing down some of the bowls. After a few minutes of washing and drying down a bowl, Luke set the candies inside and took off his apron. He grabbed the candies and entered the living room with a smile. “Candy time!”

Clover turned their head at Luke, who was making his way to the couch, setting the bowl on the coffee table. They shook their head and chuckled. “You’re adorable, you know that?”

Luke blushed and rubbed the back of his neck as he sat down. “I have been told…” He chuckled and took a piece of candy and held it up. “To our hard work!”

Clover rolled their eyes and picked up a piece of chocolate as well, holding it at the same level as Luke. “To our hard work!” The two bumped the two candies together, and Clover wasted no time in holding theirs out in front of Luke, who stared at it with a blush forming on his cheeks. After a few seconds, Luke took hold of the candy with his teeth, taking it away from Clover and forcing it into his mouth. Luke held his up to Clover, who did the same, breaking apart the chocolate coating with a small, yet satisfying crunch, and the caramel seemed to melt inside their mouth.

“So...What’d you think?”

Clover turned to Luke with a dorky smile on their face. “Perfection!”

Chapter Text

“Hmm, that can’t be good.” Asgore muttered as he looked over his gardening tools, most of which were worn down from use. He sighed and tapped his fingers on the wall of the shed. “Well, I have nothing else planned for today, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go shopping.” He nodded his head as he left and made his way back inside the house. He moved about the living room, looking for something to write on so he could list down everything he needed. After a few minutes, he stood near the couch, scratching his head, when Clover walked by headed for the door. They turned to Asgore and raised a brow. 

“Looking for something?”

Asgore glanced at Clover and nodded. “A notepad. I need to list down which tools need to be replaced the most.”

“Finally showing their age huh?” Clover chuckled and pointed down the hall. “There might be one in the office.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Asgore scratched his head and chuckled. “Can’t believe that slipped my mind…”

Clover blinked a few times, and after a few seconds, they rested a hand on their hip and hummed. “Do you want some help? I’m sure Luke would understand and-”

Asgore raised a hand while shaking his head. “No, I can handle myself. I’ll be gone a while so you and Luke will have the place to yourselves a bit.” He walked down the hall and smiled at Clover. “You two have fun!”

Clover sighed. “We will. Good luck with shopping.” The sounds of the front door opening and closing echoed throughout the house as Asgore rummaged around the office for a notepad. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t think to check the office first instead of the living room, since the bills and taxes are usually done in the office. He sighed and shook his head as he grabbed a pencil alongside the notepad and left.

“I guess my mind isn’t what it used to be.” He chuckled. “Odd, I thought that only happened with old age.” He continued to chuckle at the thought as he left the house and went back into the shed. He went around and looked at each tool, taking in the wear and tear of each one, noting which ones were the most needed to be replaced. He hummed as he looked over the finished list. “That shouldn’t take too long!”

The moment Asgore walked into the store, his eyes widened. The entire place seemed to be packed full of people with carts full of different tools, plants, windchimes and other household accessories. Whether or not these were gifts for their partners or for their own needs was an even bigger mystery. He looked back at his list and figured he’d only need a small cart. As he entered further into the store, one of the employee’s approached him. “So, what are you looking for this time, Asgore?”

Asgore turned to the employee and smiled. “Ah, howdy Harper!” He held up the list and handed it to them. “Some of my tools need to be replaced so here I am!”

Harper looked the list over and chuckled. “Dang, the moment you finally need tools is on Valentine’s day. I’m not gonna lie, that’s some pretty bad luck.”

Asgore shrugged. “Well I could’ve waited, but I had no other plans today so I figured I might as well try.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense to some people.” They handed the list back to Asgore and motioned for him to follow. “I’ll help as best I can, but no guarantees you’ll find all you’re looking for.”

Asgore chuckled and pushed the cart along gently. “I can always come back another day to try and get what I missed. It’s not like I have to get them all in one day!”

“You got me there.” Harper chuckled. They turned to Asgore and raised a brow. “How’s Clover doing?”

“They’re doing fine. Them and Luke have probably gotten their coffee by now, and in most cases Luke is probably cooking something for the both of them.”

Harper nodded. “That’s good to hear. So, you really don’t have any plans for today?”

“No. The flower shop is closed for the day and not to mention, I don’t really have someone to spend the day with.” Asgore’s face went somber a split second, before he let out a soft sigh. “But that’s fine. In my opinion, it can’t get any better.”

“I wouldn’t speak so soon. Something could happen and your life might get better.” Harper patted Asgore on the shoulder as best they could. “But I getcha. I’ve been living life like that since junior high, and it hasn’t been so bad.” They turned down an aisle and browsed around. Asgore picked up a pair of shears and looked them over.

“These look like they’d be a good replacement…” He hummed as he ran his fingers over the metal. Harper turned around and tilted their head. 

“Oh, I would’ve figured those had been cleaned out by now.” They walked over and pointed at the brand name. “This brand of gardening supplies are pretty popular. I doubt even MTT could beat ‘em out.”

Asgore chuckled and looked over the shears again. “What makes them so popular?”

“I think it’s the high quality of them…” Harper responded. They sighed and rubbed the back of their neck. “Honestly the fact that I even work here is a wonder. My roommate knows more about gardening than I do.”

Asgore shrugged and put the shears in his cart. “Well, if you weren’t working here, what would you be doing?”

Harper hummed as they continued down the aisle. “Maybe art. I draw and paint in my free time, so I could do commissions online to get paid, but since both of those talents tend to take a while, I suppose having another job isn’t so bad. As long as I get paid.”

“Heh, I think I know someone you’d get along with.” Asgore snickered. “He tends to have the same outlook on work.”

“You’d be surprised by how many people fit that criteria.” Harper mumbled as they left the aisle. “Now I believe the trowels are an aisle over…”

Harper ran each item through and tallied up the price. “Half of the items on your list. Heh, you’re luckier than I thought!”

Asgore stroked his beard and let out a chuckle. “I suppose my life could get better!”

Harper snickered and shook their head. “That’s not what I meant by that, but you do you man.” They bagged the items up and held them up with a retail worker smile. “That’ll be $39.79.” Asgore reached into his pocket and pulled out a credit card. He inserted it into the card reader and entered his pin to complete the transaction, taking the card back as a receipt appeared next to Harper, who swiped it with a fluid motion and put it in the bag with the other items. “Here you go. You have a good day now!”

“I will! I wish the same for you!” Asgore waved them off and exited the store, setting the cart back as he walked through the exit. He only got as far as the sidewalk however, when a cloaked figure approached him and bowed.

“Good day, your majesty.” 

Asgore raised a hand and chuckled. “There’s no need for that. You can just call me Asgore.”

The figure stood up and nodded. “As you wish, tra la la.” They tilted their head and hummed. “You seem happy.”

Asgore nodded and looked up at the sky. “Yes, well, for starters it is a lovely day today, and I was able to get a good portion of replacement gard-”

The figure chuckled. “While those are valid reasons to be happy, I was commenting more and the fact that you seemed happy, despite not having anyone to spend the day with.”

“Oh…” He scratched his head and shrugged. “Well, I don’t really see a reason as to why that would bring me down.” The two walked down the sidewalk as Asgore tilted his head. “Besides, I don’t see why that’d stop me from having a good day.”

“But wouldn’t it be better if you spent it with the queen?”

“Well to be fair, Toriel is only continuing her duties out of obligation.” Asgore replied swiftly. “Once Chara and Frisk get more recognition from everyone else in the embassy, me and her wouldn’t really have any more reason to act.” He chuckled and stroked his beard. “And I’m sure she’s just as happy with how her life is turning out as I am with mine. Things are looking up for us both.”

The figure stopped and hummed, holding their chin between their pointer and thumb. “So you’re perfectly fine being just friends with her?”

Asgore shook his head. “I wouldn’t really say friends. Sure, we do talk with each other, but I’m sure the word ‘acquaintances’ works better. But to answer your question, yes.” He sighed and looked up at the sky. “A part of life is learning when to move on. I missed her back in the underground, after...What had happened. But she made it clear that things were over, and that was that. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure she’d ever talk to me again!” He chuckled and turned to the figure, stopping in his tracks. “By the way, you never introduced yourself…”

The figure chuckled. “Who I am doesn’t really matter, tra la la. But you have given me something to think about.” The figure continued walking down the sidewalk. “You’d best hurry home now. You wouldn’t want to worry a four leafed clover.” They walked across the street, leaving Asgore raising a brow in befuddlement.

“Worry a...Oh, Clover!” Asgore suddenly realized. He continued down the sidewalk in a slight hurry, having taken longer thanks to the crowd at the store.

Asgore stared up at the sky as the sun was getting close to it’s lowest point. “That’s the longest I’ve been at the store.” He muttered under his breath as he approached his home. “The crowd seemed a bit too intense for some reason…” He shook his head and brushed the thought aside, stepping on the path to the front door. He briefly looked through a window to see Luke and Clover sitting on the couch, talking. He smiled and opened the door, stepping inside. “I’m back! The store was pretty badly packed, so that’s why I’m here later than usual.”

Clover sighed in relief and glanced at Asgore. “Sorry to hear that. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“About half of it.” Asgore replied, setting the bag down. “I’ll have to go back another day to get the rest.” He looked towards the two, and his eyes landed on a glass bowl full of chocolate. “What have we here?”

Luke stood up from the couch, grabbing a piece of chocolate and handing it to Asgore. “We made chocolate covered caramels!”

“It was actually pretty fun!” Clover added from the couch, getting Luke to blush a bit. Asgore’s palm flashed green, and he popped the candy into his mouth. He nodded as the chocolate coating broke into bits, and the velvety caramel seemingly melted in his mouth.

“It’s very delicious!” He patted Luke on the head and looked to Clover. “And you both worked on it?”

“Yeah!” Clover turned from the couch towards Asgore. “It was a joint effort! Even if it was a brief one.”

Luke chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, well, I didn’t want to go into anything too hard, since I was thinking about Clover helping me make something, and caramel is pretty simple to make when you think about it so-”

“That doesn’t change the fact that it was fun to help out!” Clover interrupted, getting a hearty chuckle from Luke.

“That’s good to know…”

Asgore looked between the two and smiled. “Well I’m glad you two had fun. I’m going to set the tools up in the shed and then make some tea.”

“Tea sounds good.” Luke muttered, getting a nod from Clover in return.

Asgore chuckled and shook his head. “Well I suppose I should be swift about it!” He picked the bag back up and made his way to the backyard. “I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

“I hope so…” Clover muttered from the couch. Asgore smiled at the concern, but didn’t say anything in return. He was glad that Clover cared for him, even after what he did. Despite everything that had happened, he’s glad he’s at where he is right now. He was happy, and in his mind, nothing else could make the current of his life any better.

Chapter Text

Would it be possible? Toriel thought over and over. And everytime, only two answers came to mind, a harsh no and a meek ‘maybe’. Even after the fallen children had come back to life, there was still the fact that they died thanks to a declaration of war Asgore made, however, neither of the two were in their right minds after what had happened to Chara and Asriel and according to Clover, Asgore would suddenly get haunted by his actions to the point where his shop would be closed for a few days. Though she did start talking to him again, she still made it a point that they weren’t friends, and while he had accepted that, for her, it was hard to tell if she truly felt that way. 

She had managed to get by just fine without those thoughts creeping up on her, but after Cass’ question, that’s all she ever thought about throughout the night, and even now. She knows that simply denying it would be a simpler solution, but what made choosing that option difficult, was how Toriel felt about the situation, and she didn’t really know how she did.

“Toriel!” A voice and a tug on her sleeve broke Toriel out of her thoughts and she turned around towards Alyssa, who looked equal parts annoyed and concerned. “You good?”

Toriel sighed and ran a hand down her face. “I am. I was just lost in thought. Did you say something?”

“Um...I said I could make my way to Alphys’ place from here.” Alyssa took a few steps back. “But you just kept walking without a word.”

“Ah.” Toriel shook her head and chuckled nervously. “I am sorry about that.” She turned her attention to the path forward and sighed. “I think, I may need some time to myself. I hope you and Sam have fun!”

“Are you sure?” Alyssa raised a brow and began to reach into her bag. “I’m sure They’ll under-”

Toriel chuckled and patted Alyssa’s head. “You need not concern yourself over me! Besides, this is something that I need to think about on my own.” She smiled softly, and Alyssa sighed in response.

“Okay…” She turned around and walked the other direction, and Toriel stood still a moment. She sighed and turned around walking down the path with a near absent mind.

"Perhaps I should spend some time in the park. Maybe that will help me think…”

While the park didn’t help her think, it helped keep her mind distracted. She gazed around the park, admiring the beauty of the tree’s, ponds and even partook in some people watching, wondering about their lives and even making up some scenarios in her head. It was a good pastime for her, and one that kept her busy for so long, that she didn’t notice the sun slowly creeping it’s way towards the west. She sighed and stared at her reflection in the pond, her mind so distracted, that she didn’t see the other reflection behind her.

“Sup!” Undyne’s voice cried out from behind Toriel, getting the boss monster to shriek and fall off the bench. Undyne winced and helped her up, with Alphys appearing from behind the bench with a shocked expression. “Geez, I didn’t think I’d scare you that much.” The three sat down on the bench, with Toriel clutching her chest and breathing heavily.

“What do you think is going to happen when you appear out of nowhere?!” She cried out, getting a confused head tilt from both monsters.

“Didn’t you hear me scream your name a few seconds earlier?” Undyne asked.

“A-and wouldn’t you h-have seen her reflection in the water?” Alphys added. Toriel looked between the two and sighed, covering her face with her hands. 

“I am such a mess today…” Toriel let out another sigh prompting Undyne and Alphys to give each other a concerned look. Undyne cleared her throat and patted Toriel’s back.

“Hey, come on, it can’t be that bad. I mean, I can imagine why you’d get distracted enough.” She glanced around her and smiled. “It’s a beautiful day today, so…” She sighed and ran hand down her face. “This is easier when I know the problem.” Alphys giggled slightly and Undyne smiled. Toriel sat up and stared ahead blankly.

“My mind is not in the right place at the moment.” She muttered. Alphys tilted her head and hummed.

“Any idea why?”

Toriel shifted her eyes a bit and shook her head, mentally berating herself for lying. “I do not know why.”

“Do you think it has something to do with your kid stuck as a flower? Because Al is still working on that.” Undyne replied with a slightly more concerned tone.

Alphys nodded. “San and Papyrus are still translating the notes left behind from the old royal scientist, and when they’re done, it should give me some insight on how to fix his SOUL faster!”

Toriel put on a hopeful face and looked at Alphys. “You believe so?”

“It’s probably the best bet he has to get his SOUL back more quickly.” Undyne answered with a gruff tone. “I doubt he wants to regain his full SOUL when half of the people around him are older than him.” She chuckled and tapped her hand on the bench. “I doubt he’s all too excited that Chara’s getting more chances at being a big brother than he is.”

Toriel chuckled as well. “I doubt he is…” She looked up at the sky and stood up from the bench. “It was nice seeing you two, but it is about time I head home.”

Alphys tilted her head and hummed. “You don’t want to look around the park some more?”

Undyne was equally confused and stared at Toriel with a raised brow. “Yeah, and don’t you want to talk some more? You honestly look like you need it.”

Toriel shook her head. “No, I think I have had enough of the park for today. Besides, Cass and Flowey are out with Papyrus, and I am sure that they are almost done with his card deliveries, and I want to get some food ready for when they return!” She smiled softly and bowed her head. “But thank you for your concern.” She turned and made her way out of the park, with Alphys and Undyne watching on with confused expressions as Toriel walked a little faster than normal.

Toriel walked out from the park gates and quickly continued her trek home, walking at a speed that bordered on running. She felt bad for lying about why she was lost in her thoughts, but knowing how Undyne views Asgore, she was worried she’d upset the former captain of the guard. She continued to mentally chide herself, and was oblivious to the constant looks she got from passerbyers as she made her way home.

She stopped at a crossroads. If she turned to her left she could get to her home faster, but if she continued on, she could eventually run into Asgore’s place. She briefly wondered if it was worth it to try and talk with him about what Cass had asked of her, or if she should leave the question to herself and not trouble Asgore with it as well. “Would he even have as much trouble answering that question as I have?”

“I believe that depends on the question.” Toriel jumped and turned to the cloaked figure in front of her, who just chuckled at the reaction. “A common occurrence to my presence it seems, tra la la.”

Toriel sighed and clutched her chest. “That is the second time today I have been scared out of my mind.” She took a few breaths and took a closer look at the figure, tilting her head all the while. “Pardon me if this may sound rude, but are you perhaps a monster?”

“I am.” The figure responded before bowing. “I am the Riverperson, tra la la. I helped carry innocent and not so innocent souls to their destinations underground.” They stood up straight and tilted their head. “You seem troubled by something.”

“Yes..Well…”

“Is it about the king?” The Riverperson asked with slight surprise in their voice. Toriel nodded and they hummed while holding their chin. “How strange…”

“It is?” Toriel tilted her head and raised a brow at the Riverperson, who seemed very surprised by Toriel’s response.

“Well, at first, it could be taken as concern for a friend, but as the king has told me, you two, while you converse, aren’t really considered friends and more like acquaintances, due to your preference.” Toriel winced as the Riverperson looked her up and down. “And while you can show concern for an acquaintance, your concerns are much deeper rooted.”

Toriel chuckled nervously. “You are quite the observant one, it seems.” The Riverperson chuckled in response while Toriel sighed. “Last night, my child asked me if it was possible for me and Asgore to get back together...And, I am not sure how to respond to her question.”

The Riverperson remained still, staring out towards the direction of Asgore’s house. Eventually they hummed. “That is a difficult question, tra la la. Especially after what I had learned.”

“What you had learned?” Toriel echoed, voice filled with suspicion. The Riverperson nodded and turned to Toriel.

“The king seemed perfectly fine with the current arrangement between you two. And while the scars of what he has done still affect him, he has people who’re there to help him. The clover, the human majesty and his angel, the spear and the hammer, the scientist and Papyrus...They all seem to help him in his time of need, and he seems perfectly fine with it all.” They turned to Toriel, and she could make out the faintest traces of a face, still obscured by the shadow of their hood, but visible enough to be noticeable. “But I do understand your predicament. I...Have been there myself, tra la la.”

“You have?”

The Riverperson nodded. “I have. And though the person who stole my heart is forever gone, the one who once captured yours still remains.” They set a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “I’d try to talk to him. See how he feels about the concept, tra la la.” 

Toriel looked down at the ground and considered the Riverperson’s advice. And while it seems like Asgore is perfectly fine with things how they are, perhaps asking him herself could give her some closure for her thoughts. She looked up to give thanks to the Riverperson, but they were gone without a trace. She looked all around her, and when she confirmed that they were nowhere near her, she sighed and considered her options once more. With a breath, she continued down the path forward.

Chapter Text

“see ya on the 15th.” Sans closed the door to his room and sighed. Toby squirmed a bit from his beneath his arm to which Sans nodded. “yeah, yeah i know.” He raised his hand in the air and snapped his fingers and the world suddenly shifted. The mess that was his room was replaced by more neatly put together room lined up with soundproof foam on the walls, multiple coolers, a TV with a DVD player and multiple movie cases stacked against it, most of which involved space, a wall clock, several boxes lined up against one of the walls and a workbench that already had several papers lying atop it, the last two being the only mess in the room. Sans set Toby down, put the ketchup in one of the coolers and set the magazines down on the table. He sighed and stretched his arms above his head.

“only 24 hours to go little guy.” He reached down and pet Toby, who tilted his head and stared up at the skeleton curiously. Sans shrugged and walked up to the TV. “it’ll be a breeze.” He picked up the movie cases and read the title of each one before setting it aside to look at the next. After a full minute, he opened one of them up and took the disk out. He looked back at Toby and waved the disk. “how about a sci-fi horror? that sound good?” Toby tilted his head again and Sans inserted the disk into the DVD player. “yeah, that sounds good.”

He took the remote from the TV stand and skipped all the ads to get to the main menu. He then pressed play and walked over to the cooler’s taking out a bottle of ketchup and some potato chips, sitting down at the workbench, setting the ‘food’ aside and staring at the many piles of paper, most of which were random doodles with small dialogue or note written in either Wingdings or comic sans. He chuckled at one of them and frowned at others, picking up a pencil and erasing them away, only to fill the void space with new notes to his liking. A small portion of the papers were of the scientific variety, ranging from chemistry notes to theories about bringing back lost SOUL’s, many of them crossed out. The smallest percentage were comments on the magazines he read that he mainly made for his future self to look back on.

Speaking of which, he took a magazine from the pile and opened it up as the prologue of the movie slowly made it’s end and showed a title card. He rolled his eye lights and focused solely on the magazine. Horror movies were never his cup of tea, even if they had an element of science-fiction in them, but he could never get into them unlike Frisk who loved them, her favorites being slashers films. Kris watched them from time to time, but mainly indulged themselves to watching internet videos counting the kills in them, Alex was terrified of horror movies while Papyrus never understood the dumb decisions characters made in them, making a point about how certain characters would’ve lived had they done the logical solution.

The moment the movie began to establish it’s plot, San set down the first magazine and was already well into his second. By the time the first character was killed, he was almost done with the fourth magazine. “either this movie is really long, or i’m reading too fast…” He muttered under his breath. San was soon hanging over the chair having finished his magazines just in time for the last few survivors to start getting ready to evacuate from the ship and blow it up with the alien inside. He glanced at Toby, who by this point had fallen asleep. He nodded as best he could and sigh. “i feel ya.” He glanced at his current bag of chips and bottle of ketchup, seeing that they were both empty. He stood up from the chair and went back to the cooler to grab another drink.

At the same time, he went to the TV and pulled the movie out of the DVD player and put the disk back in the case. He put another disk in and went back to the workbench to set the drink down. He looked towards the boxes and after hitting play at the main menu for the movie, he walked over to one box in particular and opened it up. Inside were a few lab coats, frames for three different pairs of glasses, and a lone framed photo of three figures. One was Sans as a younger skeleton, a babybones, as he and Papyrus liked to say. The other was a skeleton that had to bend down a bit in order to get into the frame, one of the glasses taped onto the sides of their face with eye lights similar to both brothers. The skeleton seemed joyful and full of curiosity, a smile forming one their face. The last figure wasn’t a skeleton at all, and instead was a vaguely humanoid shadow monster, with bright blue eyes and a wide smile, the rest of their body covered by a blue cloak.

“What exactly is Valentine’s day?” A young babybones Sans asked. The tall skeleton he looked up to (literally and figuratively) turned their head and looked at San with a raised brow ridge. 

“Any particular reason you’re curious or are you asking for the sake of searching for something to theorize about? Because both are particularly good logics for asking a question.” The skeleton chuckled a bit and knelt down to Sans’ level. “To answer your question, Valentine’s day is something the humans seem to have made. As evidenced by some water torn cards found at the dump.” The skeleton stood up and tilted their head. “From what we were able to gather, it’s a type of holiday that humans made as a way to celebrate the romantic relationships people can have” 

“Romantic?” Sans tilted his head and stared up at the taller skeleton with a confused expression.

“Another form of love. Like the king and queen have. It seems as though Valentine’s day is a way to express the love someone has for someone else, but since some people are already in love at times, it is reasonable to assume that for an already paired couple, it is a means to show further appreciation for their significant other.”

“That...Sounds kinda confusing.”

The skeleton scratched their head and chuckled. “Yes, it does seem rather complex, but as you get older, I’m sure you’ll come to understand it better.” They turned their attention back to their work, while Sans hummed in thought.

“So...Do...Do you have someone you show appreciation to...Romantically?”

“Well as a matter of fact-” Before the taller skeleton could finish, the doors to the lab opened up, and a cloaked figure walked through it. They pulled down the hood of their cloak and smiled at the taller skeleton.

“Greeting, Dr. Gaster!” They bowed at the Royal Scientist, who chuckled at the formality. Gaster approached the cloaked figure and pressed their head against his as the skeleton’s way to mimic a kiss. Gaster turned to Sans and smiled, holding hands with the cloaked figure.

“I do!”

Sans set the photo back into the box and sighed while he closed it. He made his way back to the workbench and stared blankly at the movie, while balancing the drink he grabbed. After a few minutes of watching the movie, he stared up at the clock, showing to the skeleton that it was now 1:30pm. He stared at the clock for a few minutes, as shown by said clock, and then sighed.

“fuck...this is gonna be a long day…”

Chapter Text

“Tra la la, I am the Riverman.” The Riverperson said with a sense of glee. “Or am I the Riverwoman?”

“I highly doubt that matters.” A tall skeleton replied with a chuckle. “As long as the job is done.”

The Riverperson chuckled as well. “No, I suppose it doesn’t.” They took hold of an oar and placed the paddle into the water. “Where is your destination?”

“I need to return to Hotland.” The skeleton replied swiftly. “I took some Echo Flower seeds for samples, and I need to get back to my lab.”

The Riverperson’s glowing blue eyes widened as they looked back at the skeleton with excitement. “You’re...The Royal Scientist!” They quickly bowed and pushed the boat along. “My apologies. I’ll get you to Hotland soon!”

“Ah, I’m not in a rush!” The scientist waved his hands in the air nervously. “Take your time.”

A deep blue hue spread across the Riverperson’s cheeks as they slowed their movement down. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you, Dr. Gaster! You’ve made all of our lives better with the CORE, so I should’ve known who you were from first sight!”

Gaster sighed deeply and stared into the water. “It’s not that perfect. While taking power from the magma in Hotland, it was supposed to regulate it’s temperature on it’s own and replace the need for the guiding crystals in Waterfall.” He ran his hands down his face and stared at his reflection with distaste. “It’s hardly revolutionary.”

The Riverperson looked back at Gaster and lifted the oar from the water, stopping the boat in the middle of a large cavern, with several large rocks protruding from the depths and spirling up towards the ceiling above. The Riverperson sat down facing the opposite direction of the scientist, staring up at the rocks. “It is from my understanding that all things cannot be perfect from the start. In your eyes, the CORE may seem like-”

“A small failure.” Gaster muttered.

“But try thinking of it from the perspective of all the other monsters.” The Riverperson smiled and balanced the oar in their hands. “We had to rely on lanterns and campfires to light our homes and cook our food, but with the CORE, we now have access to who knows what kind of enhancements to our everyday lives!”

Gaster hummed. “I suppose...That does make sense...Although that does beg the question of how we could utilize it’s power further.”

The Riverperson chuckled and stood back up, re-inserting the oar into the water. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out, tra la la.”

They didn’t have a house. They never really got paid for their services, not that they didn’t mind. As long as someone got to their destination quickly, that was fine by them. But that didn’t absolve them from rest. Near their Hotland post, they decided to sit up against one of the walls, holding their oar close to them and closed their eyes. They didn’t rest for long, as the sounds of footsteps got their attention. They quickly stood up from where they were resting but didn’t have the time to make it to their boat. To their surprise, Gaster was the one they were hearing approach. They stared the scientist down with slight embarrassment. “Greeting, doctor.”

Gaster tilted his head and looked around the area. “Are you alright? You seem kinda jumpy.”

“Ah, well, I was just about to go on break, but I’d be willing to take you wherever you needed to go.” The Riverperson got on their boat and smiled at the scientist, who reluctantly got on. “Where to?”

“Waterfall. I need some samples of the crystals there.”

“Then let us be off!” The Riverperson rowed their way forward and after a few seconds,Gaster hummed.

“You said you were about to go on break, but I didn’t notice anywhere you could…”

“Oh?” The Riverperson sunk their head a little ways into their cloak. Gaster looked back at them with a raised brow ridge.

“And you seemed kinda...Eager to get going after announcing that…” He noticed the Riverperson sink further into their cloak and tilted his head. “While I don’t doubt you going on break, it seemed like you didn’t want anyone to notice you on break, since it looked as though you were rushing back to the boat.”

“Yes...Well...I…” The Riverperson cleared their throat. “I was about to rest my eyes, but I don’t really...Have anywhere to do that…”

“Not even a station?”

“This isn’t really a royally mandated job. I do it of my own merits. I don’t get paid to do it, and I-” Before they could finish, the world suddenly and very briefly, went black, before color returned to their sight. The first thing they noticed was that they were right at the entrance to the Waterfall post. “How did-”

“I simply helped speed up the journey.” Gaster said, getting off the boat. “And once I get my samples, I help speed the process to get to Hotland, and once we get there, I’ll let you rest in my lab.”

The Riverperson tilted their head. “Rest in your lab?”

“The main level doesn’t have any beds, but the first half of the lower levels has plenty, mainly for when someone needs medical help, but I have been told it’s quite roomy and-”

“But why? I’ve been doing just fine resting where I usually do…”

“Which I’m guessing is on the dirt.” Gaster turned to the Riverperson and frowned. “I can’t imagine that to be very comfortable.”

“Well-”

“Besides, with proper rest, you’ll be more energetic and with more energy, you’ll be able to get your job done more efficiently.”

“I...Suppose that makes some sense…”

“Of course, that is up to you.” Gaster turned and began to make his way into Waterfall. The Riverperson tilted their head and sighed.

“Having an actual bed does sound nice…”

A few days later, The Riverperson was making their way back to Hotland to rest up. With Gaster’s insistence, they had made a small schedule for them to keep up with. Of course, Gaster only came up with it after learning the Riverperson didn’t stop their services, even at night, where only one to two people needed to go somewhere else. He didn’t really take care to that, hence the schedule. The Riverperson didn’t mind it however. In fact, they found it quite nice that someone was willing to help them. They walked up the stairs towards Hotland and made their way into the lab. “Dr. Gaster?” When they didn’t get a reply, they shrugged. “Perhaps he’s still down in the lower levels.” The sound of the elevator door opening confirmed their suspicion, but when Gaster walked out of it, clutching his left hand, they grew worried. “DR. GASTER!?” 

Gaster looked to the Riverperson and gave a smile. “Ah, I see you’re still following the schedule, that’s good!” He let out a chuckle, only to wince in pain. The Riverperson approached him with panic in their eyes.

“What happened?!”

“Oh you know, testing a theory…” He held up his left hand, which had a giant hole in it. The Riverperson stared at it with wide-eyes.

“Why would you-”

“The theory is about the creation of artificial SOUL’s.” Gaster quickly said. “I was curious to see if it was possible to make a SOUL with the same properties as a human one. And since humans did possess and use magic when locking us away, I figured maybe a small piece of something with magic might be an important ingredient so…”

“But...How?!”

Gaster chuckled nervously. “Well...I needed those crystal samples for something...And I figured that maybe the process could be less painful with a laser instead of a normal surgical tool, so-”

“YOU CUT A HOLE IN YOUR HAND WITH A LASER!!!”

“Yes.”

The Riverperson stared at Gaster like he was insane, and then took a deep breath through their nose. “Well, first off, you need to get that bandaged, since normal healing magic won’t do anything to help you.”

“I had figured tha-”

“AND, under no circumstances, are you allowed to use it until you no longer feel pain from it.”

“Wha-Now hold on, how can you expect me to be able to do work without both of my hands!?”

The Riverperson sighed and gently took Gaster’s left hand into theirs. “You helped me, now it’s my turn.” With a simple breath, two floating hands appeared from behind the Riverperson, each one wearing the same gloves they were wearing. They turned to one of them and it flew towards the upper levels, while the other one waved at the scientist, who stared at the nearly spectral hand in wonder.

“That kind of power seems useful.”

“It is, and with your condition, it is your best bet.” The other hand came back with a roll of bandages, imbuing them with healing magic. “Spectral hands take on the appearance of your actual hands, and anything on them, like gloves or scars.” They glanced at Gaster with a disappointed look. “However, they do not take on the pain, therefore, they make a good substitute when needed.” They began to wrap Gaster's hand with the bandages, with the two hands floating by their head. “This power is unique to people like me, but anyone can use them, like all magic…”

“So...You’re going to teach me?”

The Riverperson smiled and nodded. “Of course!”

The more time the two spent together, the more they grew close to one another. Each one had taught the other a useful skill, the Riverperson teaching Gaster how to use spectral hands, and Gaster teaching the Riverperson how to use shortcuts to make their rides go by faster and nearly seamless. And as they taught one another, a sense of companionship grew between the two and they always seemed to jump to the other's aid, even when Gaster had many assistants, he always went to the Riverperson first. One such occasion happened mere days after the Riverperson was taught the shortcuts. They returned to Hotland, where in a near instant, Gaster ran up to them in a panic.

“River! I need your help! I…”

The Riverperson held onto Gaster's shoulders and looked at him gently. “Gaster, remember to breathe.” They guided Gaster through the process. “Now, what’s the issue?”

“It’s...It’ll be easier to show you.” The world shifted in an instant and the two were in the lowest reaches of the lab. The Riverperson hadn’t ever been down here, but wasn’t graced with the opportunity for a tour, as Gaster pulled them along into a room, with a giant water filled chamber, with a small skeleton inside.

“What is-”

“That theory, about making artificial SOUL’s...It seemed to be working for a while, as a SOUL did indeed form inside of the chamber, but when I came back in here to check it’s progress earlier, it…” They both looked back up at the small skeleton inside the chamber, and Gaster sighed. “Well, it appears I have made a child skeleton.”

“My god…” The Riverperson muttered, before smiling widely and wrapping an arm around Gaster. “You’re a father!”

“I...What?” Gaster looked to the Riverperson, who was still reeling with laughter at the fact. “No seriously, what?”

“That piece of you, from your hand! If it made a SOUL, then the SOUL must have had your magic structure, which means that the skeleton in that chamber is your kid!”

Gaster looked back at the chamber and gasped. “That’s right, monsters are mainly composed of magic, so if a monster part is the only source, then a monster SOUL will be formed, which would result in...Oh my god, I’m a father…”

“Congratulations Gaster!”

Gaster quickly started shaking his head. “Oh no, I’m a father...I can’t be a father, I don’t even know what children need! Oh god I can’t care for a child! I don’t have anything prepared for the sake of a child and not to mention, there’s no one to help me care for them!”

“Really? No one?”

“No one! I doubt my assistants know a single thing about childcare and-” The Riverperson laid a finger on Gaster’s mouth to shut him up, and stared at him with a wide smile.

“I can help. I have carried many families from Snowdin on my boat, to the point that I know some of the parents personally, and I could ask them for advice, and not to mention, if your work carries danger with it, I could watch over them and teach them how to-”

Gaster gripped the Riverperson’s shoulders and was nearly brought to tears. “You’d really try to help me raise a child?” The Riverperson took one of Gaster's hands and placed a kiss on it, smiling up at the skeleton with a bright blue blush on their face.

“Of course I would!” They held his hand gently and looked at him with a soft expression which Gaster returned in kind.

The Riverperson and Sans were headed back to hotland after a peaceful ride on the water. The past 16 years had been quite the ride for the two. Thy were quite the talk since Gaster was the Royal Scientist who up and made a kid artificially and the Riverperson was just their namesake, yet the two managed to come together and raise a kid, which got the attention of every monster in the underground until the king and queen had a child of their own when Sans was seven. “Perhaps we could all pay the Royal Family a visit when we get back.” The Riverperson suggested.

Sans beamed at the idea. “That sounds like fun! It’s been a while since we last saw them!”

“Indeed it has.” The boat parked at the Hotland post and the two made their way to the lab, where Gaster was slouched in his chair, holding his head in pain. The two hurriedly ran up to the skeleton, and the assistant nearby gave them space.

“Dad!? What happened?!”

Gaster looked down at Sans and smiled. The two noticed right away something was off with Gaster due to his eyes glowing purple and blue. “✌︎☟︎📪︎ 💧︎✌︎☠︎💧︎📬︎📬︎📬︎✏︎” Sans and the Riverperson jumped a bit as Gaster began to cough.

“Gaster, why are you speaking in Wingdings?” The Riverperson asked with concern. “You always said you hated it…”

One of the assistants walked up to them and cleared their throat. “There was a small accident in the lower lab that Gaster took the full force of. He’s...Been only able to speak like that, the entire time…”

“What happened?” The Riverperson walked up to the assistant, who shrugged.

“We’re not sure, it happened when he was alone in the room. He seems fine regardless, so we don’t know what happened. But at the moment…” They both looked back at Sans and Gaster, who were deep in a Wingdings conversation. “It seems like Sans is the only one to understand him, but at the same time, it looks like it’s actually causing Gaster pain to speak like that.”

The Riverperson sighed. “I may know another way for him to speak, but it’s going to take a while to get the book required.”

“Take your time, we’ll be here to keep them company.”

“Thank you.” The Riverperson bowed and walked towards the exit. “I’ll be back soon you two, sit tight.”

“We will.” Sans replied, with a confused glance from Gaster. The Riverperson didn’t know why, but something else seemed off about Gaster, a feeling that grew a year later, when a human fell underground.

As the years went by and the prince and human died, the Riverperson’s strange feeling about Gaster kept growing. First, it was his reluctance to further help Chara get better when he had grown ill. Then, Gaster had cut another hole in his hand to create another SOUL, to have another child, except the Riverperson was hardly allowed to see them, which had ticked Sans off a bit. In fact, Gaster had begun to cut all ties with the Riverperson, and all of his assistants had begun to confide in them during their rides. The final straw for the Riverperson was hearing about an argument Sans and Gaster had, in which Sans ended up cracking the Royal Scientists skull. Neither of the two went to the Riverperson for help, and the Riverperson had finally had enough.

They had heard about Gaster spending his time at the CORE more and more from one of the assistants and decided to confront Gaster there to finally try and get the truth. When they entered the CORE however, it was a nightmare for them. Constant puzzles blocking their way, with blue and orange lasers impeding their progress, and worse was the maze. Every turn they made seemed to take them to a completely different part of the CORE. They were getting dizzy, lost and even more confused. To the point where they just stopped, and slumped down against a wall near an electric gate.

After a few minutes, the gate disappeared. The Riverperson was shocked, but it didn’t last long as the need to find Gaster quickly overtook their emotions again and they continued down the path, which led them to a bridge, with Gaster standing over the edge. The Riverperson went wide eyed, and ran towards Gaster, any attempt to get his attention lost in their throat as Gaster lifted a foot off the ledge and plunged deep into the CORE. Their logic blocked by their emotions, the Riverperson leapt down after him, suffering severe burns on their arms and their cloak getting torn to shreds. They ended up suspended in the air, their entire body still burning up as a spectral had slowly lifted them back up onto the bridge.

Once they were safe, they stared up at the hand, noticing the hole and skeletal features slowly dissipating away. They reached up towards the fading hand. “Gas...ter…” The spectral hand held theirs, and a flash of green light washed over the Riverperson. They gasped and shot up from the world shifted as they ended up back onto their boat, parked in the middle of a giant cavern, with rocks protruding from the depths and spiraling towards the ceiling. 

The Riverperson looked around confused before finally looking at their arm more closely, as the darkness that formed their shape was replaced by a deep and lifeless grey. Filled with curiosity, they looked over the boat, and into their reflection in the water.

The Riverperson hovered a hand near their face as they looked at themselves in the mirror. Nothing had changed still. Their face and body were still scarred from the burns of the CORE, and stained a lifeless grey all around, with only small segments of their true colors leaking in between. They set a hand on the mirror and sighed. “That was not my Gaster…” They whispered under their breath as a tear rolled down their face. “That was no accident…” They backed away from the mirror and stared at their reflection in defiance. “Beware the man who came from the other world…”

Chapter Text

Frisk shuffled each movie case while humming. “What sounds good? Comedy? Action? Romance?” She sighed and set the movies down and retreated back into the kitchen where the popcorn was still popping in the microwave. “Maybe I should get Chara’s opinion.” The microwave beeped and Frisk emptied the bag of popcorn into a large bowl and set on the coffee table. Soon after, a knock was heard from the door and Frisk looked through the peephole to see Chara standing by the door, looking somewhat nervous about something. Huh, that’s odd… Frisk thought as she opened the door. Chara walked in, holding a couple of Valentine’s boxes with a few other boxes and bags of chocolatey goods atop. His outfit consisted of a dark grey shirt with the Delta Rune stitched onto the back, blue jeans and green sneakers. Frisk eyed the assortment of candy with a raised brow while Chara chuckled nervously. 

“Surprise…” He set the boxes down on the table and turned to Frisk. “So...Funny story-”

Frisk narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. “Alright, what’d you do?”

“Welll...You remember how I said I wasn’t a huge fan of Valentine’s day?” Chara winced as Frisk nodded in confirmation. “So, the funny thing about that is…” He sighed and gripped Frisk’s shoulders. “I only said that out of panic.” Frisk tilted her head. “Look, I’ve been trying to make this special plan for the both of us every time Valentines rolled around, but every time I’ve tried to get us seats at one of those restaurants you’ve wanted to try, they’ve been fully booked, so when you asked last year I-” Chara stopped when Frisk let out a laugh. She tilted her head up a bit and held Chara on the back of his, planting a kiss on his forehead.

“You’re a dork, you know that?”

Chara blushed and raised a brow. “So...you’re not mad?”

Frisk shook her head. “You said it was out of panic and honestly I get that. Besides, just knowing you were trying is enough for me.” She pulled him into a hug, pressing her forehead against his. “So thanks for being honest. Just, try to stick to that…”

Chara chuckled and mimicked Frisk’s hug. “Of course.” The two stayed still, before Chara broke off his side of the hug to reach behind him, shaking a box in his hands. “So, not only do I have Valentine’s day chocolate, but I also have Pocky!”

Frisk giggled. “I have popcorn and multiple movie genres that I’m undecided of which to watch!” She reached behind him and took the box of Pocky from his hand. “Maybe I’ll leave that decision to you.”

The two sat on the couch, only partially focusing on the movie as they dug into the chocolate treats on the table. Chara popped one of the Valentine’s chocolates in his mouth and smiled. “Mmm! That one had toffee in it! Delicious!”

Frisk rolled her eyes and popped a stick of pocky into her mouth. “You like any kind of chocolate Chara.”

“Not true. I dislike white chocolate with a passion. It’s practically over sugared vanilla…” Chara replied swiftly, getting Frisk to chuckle.

“I’m shocked. I thought you’d like the sweetness of it!” Frisk continued to chuckle as she popped another pocky into her mouth, only for Chara to break a large portion of the stick off and kiss Frisk on the lips. He broke it off and ate the pocky.

“You’d think, but it’s not as sweet as you!” He chuckled as he took a pocky from the box and began to eat it. Frisk, upset from the loss of her treat, took hold of the other end of the pocky with her teeth and began to nibble her way towards the chocolate coating. Chara smiled and nibbled down on his end of the stick, two meeting up in the middle with their noses mere inches from the other. The two stared each other in the eyes, silently challenging the other to try and take the remnants of the pocky. Frisk smiled and took hold of Chara’s head and collided their lips together, the last remnant of the stick caught in the crossfire.

The two ended up having a mini-battle over the piece of candy as the taste of chocolate moved in between the two. In the end, Frisk managed to get a hold of the remnant with her tongue and broke off the kiss as she chewed down on her victory. The two were panting for breath as Frisk started to giggle. “Victory tastes pretty good!”

“Congratulations.” Chara muttered as he smiled and ran a hand through Frisk’s hair. Frisk gave off a little purr as Chara did so and nuzzled up against his chest. He chuckled as he continued to pet Frisk. “I see you’re part cat!”

Frisk giggled and prodded a finger into Chara’s chest. “You say that like you haven’t purred before!” Chara blushed as Frisk continued to giggle devilishly, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Come on, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about!” She took hold of one of his hands, and her expression went somber as she held his arm up and ran her fingers across the several large, nearly faded jagged scars on it. Chara stayed silent as Frisk narrowed her eyes. “I’m gonna kill him…”

“It won’t be worth it.” Chara muttered. He brushed aside some hair from her face and planted a kiss on the tip of her nose. “I’m safe, you’re safe. Neither of us have to worry…”

Frisk sighed and nodded. “I know, but still...What he did is plain evil…”

“It was…” He pulled Frisk into a hug and sighed. “But that part of my life has been over for a while now.” Frisk wrapped her arms around Chara and tightened her grip as best she could. Chara once again ran a hand through her hair, getting Frisk to smile, which made him smile. 

After a while, the movie ended and Frisk walked up to the player and took the disk out, once again shuffling through the other movies to pick one out. Eventually she managed to put a disk in the player. She turned back to the couch, where Chara had decided to lay down. Frisk rolled her eyes and took the remote, skipping all the ads and playing the movie. At first, she tried to leave the whole couch to Chara and sit on one of the couch arms, but after a few seconds of her doing so, Chara sat up and tugged at her arm. Frisk rolled her eyes, but got the message all the same and laid on top of Chara. Her right hand and his left slightly dangling off the couch, holding on to one another, their fingers laced together, while Chara’s right hand was resting on Frisk’s back, her left resting on the top of his head. Their noses were inches apart from each other, and the two smiled as they both rested their eyes while the sounds of the movie playing were soon drowned out.

Papyrus walked down the sidewalk as the sun began to disappear over the horizon, and the moon slowly taking it’s place. He dropped Cass and Flowey off at their home and said goodnight to them earlier and was well on his way home. “I WONDER HOW THE OTHERS ARE DOING…” As if on cue, the moment he got up to his house, Kris and Alex came into view, locked into a discussion about something. They turned towards Papyrus and waved.

“Papyrus!!” Alex cried out, increasing his movement speed and leaving Kris in the dust.

“ALEX, KRIS! HOW HAVE YOUR DAYS BEEN?”

“Mine was pretty good!” Alex declared. “Me and violet practiced our magic and then ate leftover fudge Rose made.”

“Man, fudge sounds good right now.” Kris muttered as they got closer to the two. “My day was pretty good as well, even if it was mainly talking and walking.”

Papyrus smiled and nodded. “WELL I FOR ONE AM GLAD YOU TWO HAD SUCH GOOD DAYS!”

“What about you?” Alex asked as they walked up to the door to the house.

“BUSINESS AS USUAL, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN I DIDN’T ENJOY IT!” Papyrus replied with a wide smile, before tilting his head and humming. “ALTHOUGH, ACCORDING TO CASS AND FLOWEY, I THINK SOMEONE HAS A CRUSH ON ME…”

“Oh, Cass and Flowey joined you today?” Kris asked, getting a nod from Papyrus.

“YES! THEY MAINLY FOLLOWED ALONG BUT-” Papyrus quickly stopped and held a finger in front of his mouth, pointing to the couch as he set the boxes down. Alex and Kris looked at each other and entered the house with raised brows, their unspoken questions answered by the sight of Frisk and Chara fast asleep on the couch, cuddled against one another.

Kris smiled and silently chuckled. “I think these two have us all beat when it comes to having a good day.”

Alex glanced at the TV, which was on the main menu of a movie. “Either they forgot to play it, or they slept through the whole thing.”

Papyrus sighed and shook his head. “THAT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING SANS WOULD DO.” He walked upstairs and down the hall, leaving Kris and Alex down in the living room, with Alex shutting off the TV.

“I’m guessing we’re not going to wake them up, are we?”

Kris shook their head and glanced at the coffee table, which was covered with boxes of chocolates and a nearly empty bowl of popcorn. They spied an unopened box of Pocky and grabbed it. “This is mine now!” They walked up the stairs and over to their room, passing by Papyrus making his way back down with a blanket.

“I WILL CALL MS. TORIEL TO LET HER KNOW THAT CHARA IS STAYING THE NIGHT.” He draped the blanket over the sleeping Chara and Frisk, earning small yet satisfied hums from the both of them. Papyrus and Alex watched over the two for a minute, before Alex yawned.

“I guess I’m heading to bed early.” He said through another yawn. Papyrus nodded and turned out the light to the living room as he and Alex went upstairs.

Chara and Frisk tightened their grip on each other’s hand, with Frisk nuzzling her head against Chara’s neck, the only sounds heard throughout the living room being the soft breathing of the two, smiles once again forming on their faces as they continued to sleep throughout the night.