Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Asriel Dreemurr didn’t understand why they had to move again. There was nothing wrong with the house. The neighbors were great, some of his best friends even. In fact, Asriel couldn’t think of anything bad about ANY of the places his family had lived in before. But, for some reason, it seemed like whenever they had just settled into a new home they would pack up and leave. Asriel had lost track of how many times this had happened. He had gotten used to it, of course. He wasn’t too upset about it by now. It was Kris he was worried about.

Kris was Asriel’s younger brother. Kris had always been a quiet kid, but he would still talk to those he cared about, especially Asriel. But after every new town and every new house and every new friend made, and then lost, was one more step towards depression for Kris. You see, when things change so often, it’s hard to view the things you do as important. For example, what if Kris wanted to make a new friend at school? Kris would probably think ‘ doesn’t matter since I’m just gonna move anyway’.It also didn’t help that Kris was a human in a world full of monsters.

The monsters at school and around town weren’t necessarily MEAN to Kris, but they weren’t nice to him, either. They just sort of ignored him. Now Kris was silent around everyone. Even Asriel could hardly get a word out of him. Asriel had guessed that Kris had gotten used to being ignored, as well as ignoring others.

Asriel pondered all of this as he watched the scenery roll past his minivan window. They had been on the road for close to three hours now. His dad was driving and his mom was in the passenger’s seat, holding a map. Kris was asleep in the seat next to him. At least, Asriel thought he was. It was hard to tell because Kris grew his hair out long to hide his red eyes. He was very self-conscious of them.

“How’s everyone doing back there?” His dad, Asgore, asked.
“Fine.” Asriel responded. “My butt hurts and Kris is asleep.” His mom, Toriel, turned around in her seat. She smiled at Kris.
“Don’t worry,” Asgore said. “We’ll be there soon.” Asriel’s gaze returned to the scenery just as they entered a patch of autumn-colored trees.
“I really hope this one’s more permanent.” Asriel thought, silently. “For Kris’ sake”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Who do you think it’ll be?” A monster named Monster Kid asked as a minivan pulled into the driveway in front of them. He was crouched behind some bushes, along with a few other monsters, watching the new neighbors, curiously. “What kind of monster, I mean.”
“I don’t know,” A green, snake-like monster wearing sunglasses said. His name was Jockington. “But I hope they like sports.”
“Temmie doesn’t care what they’re like.” A white, cat-like monster named Temmie said. “As long as they’re nice to Temmie and friends.” Just as the front door to the minivan started to open, two other monsters joined the group behind the bushes. One was a reindeer-like monster named Noelle and the other was a blue bird-like monster named Berdly.
“Hey, guys!” Noelle greeted.
“What’s up?” Berdly asked.
“Someone finally bought the old house!” Monster Kid (M.K.) explained.
“We’re spying.” Temmie added.
“You serious?” Berdly asked. “That place has been empty for years.”
“Who is it?” Noelle asked.
“Don’t know yet.” Jockington said. They all looked back toward the minivan. A large, goat-like monster wearing a pink, Hawaiian shirt was standing there, talking on his phone.
“It’s a goat.” M.K. stated. “Don’t have one of them yet in this town.”
“Is it just him?” Noelle asked.
“Looks like it.” M.K. said. Noelle looked a little disappointed.
“What’s wrong?” Berdly asked.
“Nothing.” Noelle answered. “I was just kinda hoping there would be some monsters our age. The class at school is kinda small.”
“Yeah, I get it.” Berdly said. He then leaned closer to Noelle. “Not much choice for friends.” He added in a hushed tone.
“Yeah.” Noelle whispered back. “These guys are nice and all, but they’re a little,” She looked at the three other monsters. Temmie had lifted Jockington to give him a better view. She had also removed her own face and lifted it as well. “Odd.” Noelle concluded.
“Yeah.” Berdly agreed. A few minutes later, the passenger’s side door opened and another goat-like monster stepped onto the driveway, unexpectedly.
“ I guess he’s married.” M.K. said.
“Who?” A voice asked from behind them. It was Catti, a cat monster.
“The guy who bought the old house.” Jockington explained.
“Guys,” Noelle started. “Don’t you think this is a little rude? Watching someone like they’re a wild animal at a zoo instead of welcoming them?”
“No.” Temmie said.
“We’re just curious.” M.K. defended. “We haven’t had someone new in forever.”
“Well, I’m going to greet them.” Noelle said. “C’mon, Berdly.” Noelle started up the driveway with Berdly close behind. M.K. sighed.
“She’s probably right.” He said. “C’mon, guys.” As Noelle approached the two monsters she could hear their conversation.
“What’s wrong?” The wife asked after the husband had ended his phone call.
“Apparently the driver of the moving van caused an accident.” He answered.
“Oh no!” The wife exclaimed.
“Don’t worry!” The husband added, quickly, after seeing his wife’s distress. “No one was hurt.” The wife gave a sigh of relief. “But, there is going to be a delay until we get our belongings.”
“How long?” The wife asked.
“No idea.” The husband answered. Berdly cleared his throat. The couple looked over. The group smiled and some waved (except for Catti who was distracted, texting). The wife gave a joyful smile while the husband gave a forced grin. He had a look on his face that said ‘I’m glad to meet you all, but not now’.
“Hello, children!” The wife greeted. The group of monsters took turns introducing themselves to the newcomers until it finally came to Noelle’s turn.
“Hi!” She greeted. “My name’s Noelle and this is Berdly.” She gestured to Berdly who had not yet introduced himself.
“Sup.” Berdly said, coolly.
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you all.” The wife said. “My name is Toriel and this is my husband, Asgore.” Asgore waved.
“Where’d you move from?” M.K. asked.
“Well, we came from a town called-” Toriel began.
“Okay, okay, kids.” Asgore interrupted. “It’s very nice to meet you all, but now’s really not a good time.”
“What do you mean?” Toriel asked. “It’s the PERFECT time since the moving van isn’t here. The kids would be bored out of their minds if they sat in an empty house.” Noelle’s ears perked up.
“Kids?” She asked, trying to sound casual.
“Of course!” Toriel said. “They’re probably bored in the van, too. Silly me.” She opened the side door. “Azzy! Kris! Come out and introduce yourselves!” She beckoned, melodically. Another monster stepped outside the minivan. He was taller than Toriel, but shorter than Asgore and had small horns on the top of his head. He wore a green sweater with yellow stripes and baggy blue jeans.
“He’s kinda cute.” Catti whispered. It was surprising that she was actually paying attention to what was going on.
“Yeah.” Temmie agreed. Noelle would have said something, but she was at the very front of the group.
“This is my son, Asriel.” Toriel said.
“Howdy.” Asriel greeted. He smiled before putting his hands in his pockets.
“Nice to meet you.” Noelle said. “I’m Noelle.”
“Name’s Asriel, but you can call me Azzy.”
“What’s Kris doing?” Asgore asked as he walked up to the minivan. He peeked his head inside. “C’mon, Kris. Don’t you want to meet the new neighbors?” There was a moment of silence. “Okay. Okay, I’ll tell ‘em.” Asgore turned to face the group. “He says he’ll come out if you, um…aren’t too shocked about it. He wants you to treat him like you would another monster.”
“Why wouldn’t we?” Noelle thought, silently. “Okay.” She said.
“Okay.” Asgore said. He peeked his head back inside. “They say they won’t judge.” A moment later, Asgore backed up and from the minivan came…. Noelle heard a few stifled gasps from behind her. She was shocked as well. Standing there, clutching Asriel’s wrist was a human. He looked about sixteen years old, but it was hard to tell because of his long, brown hair. He wore a sweater similar to Asriel’s and some black knee-length shorts.
“Children, meet my younger son,” Toriel said. “Kris.”

Chapter Text

Kris would never get over the look on that girl’s face. That was exactly why he didn’t want to introduce himself. That whole group of monsters was scared of him. But, for some reason, seeing Noelle (or whatever her name was) scared was the worst of them all. Maybe it was the fact that everyone in town seemed to think she was fearless. Kris thought about all this as he walked down a school hallway toward his classroom.

Every monster he passed seemed to be staring at him. Whispers filled his ears. He couldn’t hear much of the gossip, but Kris still knew it was about him. It was like this at every new school. He knew the drill.

Kris came upon a door with a little window in it. ‘Ms. Alphys’ was printed onto the window in large black letters. He took a deep breath in preparation for the misery he was about to endure and opened the door. All eyes were on him. Every monster he had seen at the new house was there, plus some.

Noelle was sitting at a desk right in the front-left corner. She was wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and red high-topped shoes. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail and there was a pencil tucked behind her ear. Whether she was aware of the pencil still being there or not was a mystery. Kris thought she looked rather casual for a girl, but seeing as Kris was only wearing a plain white T-shirt and black sweatpants he didn’t have the right to judge. Half of the time, Kris didn’t even look at what he was pulling out of his dresser before he started getting dressed.

Sitting to the right of Noelle was her sometimes-best friend / sometimes-worst enemy, Berdly. Kris could tell that Berdly had gotten more Fs on his report cards than he and Asriel combined just by looking at him. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a white shirt underneath that had the words ‘Ain’t no chicken’ printed onto it. He also wore blue jeans, but with sizeable tears in the knees, and a pair of aviators were perched on his beak.

To the right of Berdly was a monster named Snowy. Kris couldn’t tell what kind of monster he was. He sort of looked like a duck with a snowflake for a face. Apparently, he was an aspiring comedian and told the best jokes in town.

Behind Noelle was Catti. She was on her phone.

To the right of Catti was an empty seat.

Behind Snowy was Temmie, the weirdest monster Kris had ever seen.

Behind Catti was Jockington, athlete extraordinaire. He ‘ran’ cross country with Noelle.

To the right of Jockington was a dog. It was white and seemed to be radiating an aura of divinity. Kris couldn’t tell how it felt about the alternate universe that had been created. Was it angry? Or intrigued by the creativity? Perhaps they would never know.

To the right of this strange, yet very charming and handsome dog was Monster Kid, whom Kris knew nothing about.

“Great.” Kris thought. “I’m right in the middle.”

Sitting behind a desk at the front of the room was what Kris assumed was Ms. Alphys. She was intently staring at her laptop with huge goo-goo eyes. She was a yellow, lizard-like monster and wore a brown suit with a red bow tie and round glasses. Kris waited to see if she would notice he was there before he gave up and sat in his seat.

Noelle cleared her throat.
“Ms. Alphys?” She called.
“Hm?” Alphys was still watching her computer. She then came back to reality and looked up. “Oh! Yes? What is it?”
“Kris doesn’t know what we’re studying.” Noelle explained.
“Kris?” Alphys looked confused. Noelle nodded in Kris’ direction. “Oh! Kris! I didn’t see you come in.” Kris just nodded. “Umm….” Alphys began. “We’re studying some mathematical equations, so if you could turn to chapter nineteen on page one-fourteen paragraph nineteen, you could join in.” Kris nodded again as he opened his backpack and pulled out his math textbook. “Oh!” Alphys exclaimed. “I almost forgot. Class, we have a new student.”
“Please,” Kris thought. “no introductions”
“After class, if everyone could give Kris a warm welcome, that would be very nice. Kris, why don’t you say a word or two about where you’re from?” Alphys invited. Kris sighed, cleared his throat, and stood up.
“A word or two.” He said, giving everyone the sign that he wasn’t in the mood to talk. Kris then slowly sat down. Berdly grinned at Kris. He must’ve thought it was a joke.
“Well…um…thank you, Kris.” Alphys said. Kris couldn’t tell if she was confused, weirded out, or both.

After the class had read for a few minutes, Alphys cleared her throat. “Okay, class,” She began. “Now that you all have been reading for a while, let’s see if you can answer some questions.” She got up from her chair and began to write on the blackboard. “What is 910 X 21?”
“19,110!” Temmie piped up, immediately.
“Correct!” Alphys praised. Kris was absolutely shocked.

Soon the bell rang.

“Oh! No more time for today.” Alphys said. “Class dismissed!” Everyone gathered their things and made for the door. Except for Kris, of course. He stayed at his desk until everyone else was almost out the door, then he followed behind.

Kris made a quick stop at his locker to put his books and other things away before lunch. It was at this point that Kris saw Noelle a few lockers to his right, doing the same thing. She closed her locker and looked his way. Surprisingly, she smiled and waved at Kris. Kris didn’t know if it was genuine or not, but not wanting to be rude, he waved back. She giggled. Kris was confused. He turned to close his locker and when he turned back, she was talking to Berdly about something called ‘Dragon Blazers II’ and whether or not it was better than the original. Not wanting to interrupt, Kris slipped past them and into the cafeteria.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Noelle was concerned about Kris.

He looked so miserable. She’d only seen him speak twice. The first time was to Asriel and it was only a ‘hey’. The second was when the teacher asked him to. Of course, Noelle had only known Kris for a couple of days, but something felt… off about him. It didn’t just seem like normal shyness like Mrs. Dreemurr had said. Noelle felt like she should get to know Kris, but how was she supposed to do that if he didn’t want her to? She would just have to try.
“What’s on your mind?” Berdly asked. How did he ALWAYS know when something was wrong?
“I’ve been thinking about the new kid.” Noelle replied as she turned her head towards him. They were sitting next to each other in the crowded cafeteria eating ‘Uncle Pap’s Classic Spaghetti™’.
“Who? Asriel?” Berdly asked. “Yeah, every girl’s been think’n about him lately.”
“What?” Noelle began to blush. “No!”
“You sure?” Berdly teased. “I heard he’s single.”
“Shut Up!” Noelle said jokingly as she playfully punched Berdly’s shoulder. “I meant Kris.” Berdly looked across the cafeteria at Kris. He was sitting alone, eating a particularly sad looking tuna sandwich.
“Oh.” Berdly said, his tone more serious now. “That makes sense too, honestly.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Noelle asked, ready to defend Kris.
“Nothing, nothing!” Berdly said quickly. “I’m just saying he’s not your typical kind of guy. I mean, he’s a completely different species! Even YOU have to admit it’s a little weird. At least, for now.” Noelle thought about that. “Anyway. Why were you thinking about him?”
“I was going to try to get to know him.” Noelle began. “He looks so…”
“Lonely?” Berdly suggested after seeing Kris fold his tuna sandwich into an origami swan.
“Yeah.” Noelle agreed.
“Well, good luck with that.” A voice from behind Noelle said. She turned around. A short skeleton wearing a blue hoodie, black shorts with white stripes down the sides, and pink slippers squeezed in next to Noelle, carrying a massive tray of Uncle Pap’s and a bottle of ketchup. “Poor kid looks like he doesn’t have a soul.”
“Who are you?” Noelle asked.
“They call me Sans.” The skeleton said. “Sans the skeleton. But, you can call me Mr. Comic.”
“Why?” Berdly asked. “Because of the font?”
“No, ‘cause I’m funny.” Sans grinned.
“...Huh?” Berdly was confused.
“What, no laughs?” Sans asked. “Eh. Wasn’t a good joke anyways. I used to be able to crack jokes left and right without even lifting a finger, but now my pool of inspiration has run dry. As a bone, you could say.” Berdly chuckled. “There we go.” Sans said with a voice of fulfillment.
“Ummm…aren’t you a little too old to be a high school student?” Noelle asked.
“I can do what I want, kid.” Sans said. “I decided to be a student for a day. Thought I could use a little extra cranium filler. Not like I was doing anything besides sitting on my tailbone, like always.” Noelle looked to Berdly. Berdly shrugged. She turned to Sans.
“You wouldn’t happen to have any advice for talking to shy people, would you?” She asked.
“That was a rather abrupt change of topic.” Sans stated. “But, as a matter of fact, I do. See, my bro, Papyrus, used to be really shy when he was a tot. A good thing to do is to try and find their sense of humor. Everyone loves to laugh, so discover what tickles his funny bone and that should be a good start.”
“Y’know, you could ask Asriel.” Berdly suggested. “He probably knows more about Kris than anyone.”
“Yeah,” Noelle said. “Maybe.” Kris looked up and saw the three monsters looking at him. Noelle quickly smiled and waved at him. He slowly waved back, seemingly confused. Sans sighed.
“Poor kid.” Sans said before flicking open the bottle of ketchup and taking a swig.
“Poor kid.” Berdly agreed. Noelle took one more look at Kris who was sadly jabbing his thumb into his sandwich, making little craters. She agreed with Sans and Berdly.
“Poor kid.”

Chapter Text

“Hey! Kid!” Kris heard from across the playground.

Normally, Kris wouldn’t be caught DEAD at a playground, but he couldn’t think of anywhere else to go to be alone. Kris looked up. A few yards away stood a purple dinosaur/dragon-like monster wearing a black jacket and ripped-up jeans. “I didn’t believe the rumors.” She said as she began to strut towards towards Kris. “And yet, here you stand.” She sneered. “Or sit, I should say. What are you doing? Waiting for mommy to push you on the swingset?” Indeed, Kris had been sitting on a swing, something he never thought he’d regret. He ignored her. “Hel-LO?” She waved a hand in front of Kris’ face. “Do you speak English?” Kris nodded. “Good. You’ll understand then.” She grabbed Kris by the collar of his shirt. “This is MY town. It’s nice here and I don’t want ANYONE screwing that up. Especially FREAKS like YOU. I do what I want, when I want, where I want. Got that, loser?” Kris nodded. “Good. Now, how about this? Since your mommy’s not here, why don’t I give you a push instead?” She let go of Kris’ shirt and shoved him flat on his back, pebbles jabbing into him.

Kris sat up in time to see the monster walking towards a shabby black bike with purple accents.
“Well, she was friendly.” Kris thought as she rode away. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to, at least. He stood up and brushed the dust off his butt. He suddenly noticed that the monster was riding down the same street that HE had been using to get home since the move.

Kris sighed. He thought it best to take the long way home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Noelle rustled in her backpack for the keys to her front door.

“I couldn’t have lost them, could I?” She muttered to herself. “How could I lose them if they were tucked into my backpack?” She hopped off the porch, leaned over the bushes that lined the windows, and peered into the living room. Her mom was at work and Dess was in some faraway city running some sort of highly successful nail salon or spa or…whatever. Little girly stuff. Dess was constantly saying ‘A big shot should live in a big place’ or something like that.

Anyways, if her dad wasn’t in the living room, she’d have to call him, and who knew if he would answer. Luckily, he was sitting on the couch watching a Christmas movie, even though it was early October. Noelle knocked on the glass with her knuckles. He looked towards the window with a concerned look on his face. When he realized it was Noelle, he hurried to the door. Noelle scooted back to the porch as the door opened. Standing in the doorway with a confused expression was Noelle’s father, Rudolph ‘Rudy’ Holiday. “Hey, dad.” Noelle said with a nervous grin as she tucked her arms behind her back.
“Hey, honey.” Rudy responded. “Did’ja lose your key again or somethin’?”
“What? No!” Noelle said. “...Maybe. Probably. Yeah.” Rudy sighed.
“Every time this happens we’ve gotta change the locks.”
“C’mon! Don’t say ‘every time’ like that.”
“Well, what else am I supposed to say, Noelle? This has happened more than one too many times.” Something caught Rudy’s attention.
“What is it, dad?” Noelle asked.
“Probably another love letter.” Rudy said as he reached toward Noelle’s antlers.
“What?” Noelle said. Rudy untied an envelope from one of Noelle’s antlers and handed it to her. Noelle blushed.

“Why did he have to point out that it’s ‘another’?” Noelle thought. “And how many guys will I have to reject? I’m one-hundred percent NOT ready for a relationship.” Even still, Noelle tore open the envelope, wanting to know who thought well of her. But, instead of a love letter, Noelle found a thin slip of paper with only three letters and a signature.

LOL - Berdly

Inside was also…
“My key!” Noelle exclaimed as she plucked her small house key from the envelope.
“Who put that in there?” Rudy asked.
“Berdly.” Noelle sighed. Rudy rolled his eyes.
“One day I’m going to SERIOUSLY kick that guy’s-”
“Dad,” Noelle interrupted. “We’ve talked about this. No kicking my friends. That’s my job.” Rudy chuckled.
“Alright.” He said. “But you better make it good. And give ‘em an extra one from me.” They both soon walked inside their house. Noelle sat at the dining room table and pulled her phone from her back pocket.

“Better watch your back.” She texted to Berdly. “My dad doesn’t appreciate your little stunt.”
“cool” Berdly texted back. “can’t talk right now” Noelle sighed and put her phone back into her pocket.

Suddenly her mind was on Kris again. After lunch she didn’t have any opportunities to talk to him, so she couldn’t test Sans’ idea. Why was she so concerned about Kris anyway? She’d met shy kids before and could talk to them just fine. Why should Kris be any different? Was it because he was a human? Yeah, that must be it. She’d never talked to a human before. Whatever the reason, Noelle was still determined to get to know Kris.

“Hey, dad?” She called into the living room.
“Yeah, sugarplum?” Rudy responded from the couch.
“So…um…a family just moved into town a couple of days ago and…I was wondering if we could maybe…invite them over as a welcome?” Noelle said as she walked into the living room. Rudy looked up at her.
“Sure, hun. I don’t see why not.” He answered. “In fact, I think I met one of ‘em yesterday. He was a goat boy, looked just a little older than you. Said his name was Asriel and that he was walking down to the flower shop.”
“Yeah, he’s the older son.” Noelle confirmed. “The mom is Toriel, the dad is Asgore, and the two kids are Asriel and Kris.” Rudy looked at Noelle with a smug expression.
“Y’know,” He said. “That Asriel kid was kinda cute, don’tcha think? If I didn’t know any better I’d say that HE’S really the one you want to invite over.”
“Dad!”
“I’m kiddin’, I’m kiddin’!”
“That’s the second time today that someone’s suggested that!”
“What? That you want to invite him to your house? That’s weirdly specific.”
“Not that SPECIFICALLY dad. Just…you know what I mean.” Noelle sighed. Rudy chuckled.
“Yeah, I know. I’m just teasin’.”
“Anyway, back on topic…when are we doing this?” Noelle asked.
“Well, we’ve got nothing going on today, and because of that, I feel like you’re gonna be complaining of boredom.” Rudy explained. “So we could ask if they want to come over today.” Noelle’s ears perked up.
“Really?” She asked.
“Yeah.” Rudy confirmed. “Just comb your hair for once in your life.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kris was in the middle of lying on the floor feeling like garbage when he was interrupted by a knock on his bedroom door. He sat up and looked over to see Toriel standing in the doorframe.
“Someone’s just invited us over for dinner.” She stated. “So get dressed and ready, sweetheart.” She closed the door on her way out. Kris got up and walked over to his dresser. He took out a pink MTT brand t-shirt and a pair of dark navy bluejeans and put them on. (He’d gotten tuna all over his other clothes.) Kris walked out of his room and into the hall to find Asriel struggling to fit a red sweater over his horns. Kris helped him to get unsnagged.
“Thanks.” Asriel said. Kris nodded. They both walked downstairs.

In the kitchen, Toriel was pulling a pie out of the oven. She must’ve gotten the invitation earlier that day without saying anything, probably because she knew that Kris would be less than excited about it. She put the pie into a box to keep it warm. She looked up at the two brothers.
“Ah, good! You’re both ready.” She said happily. “Now if your father would hurry up, we might actually be on time.”
“You called?” Asgore asked jokingly as he bounded down the stairs in what appeared to be his best attempt at a semi-formal outfit. He was wearing a white button-up shirt with the top button undone, black sweatpants, and no tie.
“Umm…dad?” Asriel said. “You coulda dressed…,” He paused for a moment to think of a word. “Normally.” Kris thought he WAS, but decided to keep that to himself.
“You look fine, dear.” Toriel said after seeing Asgore’s puzzled expression. “Everyone, pile in to the van now. We don’t want to be late.” Kris made a beeline for the front door, took his electric blue coat off the rack, and tugged it on faster than you could say ‘thundersnail’. He then headed for the minivan and hopped into the back seat. He figured there was no point in arguing over this. Toriel would one-hundred percent want Kris to be there, no doubt about it. Kris sighed and put his face in his hands. He knew he was going to ruin everything just by being there. He was the odd one out after all.
“Why am I such a freak?” Kris asked himself out loud.
“It’s your own fault, y’know.” Kris jumped. He didn’t realize Asriel had followed him so quickly. “You’re the one that portrays yourself as a freak and then other people pick up on it. Maybe if you started acting friendlier, people would be nicer to you.” Kris knew that Asriel wasn’t trying to be mean, but that was still a painful blow.
“What would you know about it?” Kris said.
“Not much personally,” Asriel responded. “But I do know that a certain someone asked me for my number just to express their concerns about you.” Kris looked at Asriel.
“...What?” He asked.
“Yeah.” Asriel replied. “Believe it or not, some people care about you.” Kris tried to think of something to say, but couldn’t. Right when he was about to ask ‘who?’ or ‘why?’, Asgore and Toriel climbed into the two front seats and they were on their way.

Once they arrived at their destination, (which was decorated with Christmas lights, for some reason) Toriel handed the pie to Asriel, who immediately handed the pie to Kris. “You are going to be sociable.” Asriel whispered into Kris’ ear. “You are going to walk right up to that house in front of everyone else, you are going to knock on the door, and you are going to say ‘Hello, we brought pie’. Got it?” Before Kris could reply ‘no’, Asriel pushed him towards the porch and said “Doesn’t matter. You don’t have a choice in this.”
“I have the choice to throw this pie in your face.” Kris stated. Asriel ignored him and pushed him up the front steps. Instead of letting Kris knock like he had said, Asriel rang the doorbell. He must not have wanted to wait for Kris to do it.
“I hope you realize that I’m trying to help you.” Asriel whispered.

Suddenly, as if waiting by the door, someone answered immediately. Kris’ heart dropped to his feet. Noelle was standing in the doorframe, looking directly at Kris. Kris was relieved, but still surprised to see that she was smiling at him. What was up with up with this girl? First at school, and then this? Was she not scared of Kris after all? Maybe she was just surprised that he was a human. Well, if Asriel was really going to make him interact, Kris hoped that was the case.
“Hi, Dreemurrs!” Noelle greeted cheerfully as Toriel and Asgore climbed onto the porch to join them.
“Couldn’t wait to knock, huh?” Asgore chuckled.
“Nope.” Asriel said. “Hey, Noelle.” He waved casually.
“Hi, Asriel.” Noelle said, a certain dreaminess in her voice.
“Wait a minute….” Kris thought. Asriel whispered something to Toriel and then nodded at Kris. Kris sighed and then said “Hello, Noelle. My mom baked a pie.” He awkwardly held up the box. He could literally FEEL Toriel resisting the urge to clap her hands.
“Oh, you didn’t have to do that.” Noelle said.
“It’s no trouble, really.” Toriel explained. “I love to bake.”
“Well, thank you.” Noelle said. Kris stiffly handed the box to Noelle. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Noelle said, seemingly realizing something. “Why don’t you all come in?” She stepped out of the doorframe and held the door open for them. “My dad’s still in the kitchen.” She explained once they had all stepped inside. “He should be done soon…hopefully. Feel free to make yourselves comfortable. I’ll let him know you’re here.” She walked out of the room.

Kris looked away from his feet for the first time in five minutes. They were in the living room. Two couches faced a large television screen. Asriel sunk onto the leftmost cushion of the couch closest to the door after removing his coat. Kris didn’t bother stripping his coat and sprawled across Asriel so his head was on the middle cushion and his feet were hanging over the left arm. Toriel and Asgore plopped onto the couch across from them.
“Kris, my legs are asleep.” Asriel said after a couple of minutes.
“Good.” Kris said with a grin. Asriel responded by pushing Kris onto the floor.

Suddenly, Noelle burst into the room. Kris hadn’t noticed at first, but Noelle was wearing something completely out of character for her. Of course, Kris had only seen her a handful of times, but still. She was wearing a simple blue dress with ribbons in her hair. Most girls would probably consider it TOO simple, but something about it made Noelle look… “Fantastic…” Kris muttered.
“What?” Asriel asked.
“Oh. Um…,” Kris realized what he had just said. “Nothing.” Asriel grinned at Kris suspiciously. Noelle ran over to Asriel and grabbed him by the arm.
“Can you help with something?” She asked with a tone of mild urgency.
“Umm…sure?” Asriel said.
“Great!” Noelle said and dragged Asriel into the kitchen. Fearing for his brother’s life, Kris followed. By the time Kris had walked into the kitchen behind them, Noelle had already fashioned Asriel with an apron and chef’s hat. He looked extremely uncomfortable, but was smiling anyway. A monster that Kris assumed was Noelle’s father was standing in front of the stove with several things cooking all at once, something that looked like he simply couldn’t handle on his own. Noelle gave Asriel some instructions and he joined the monster at the stove. He looked at Asriel and grinned.
“Asriel, is it?” he asked.
“Yes, sir.” Asriel answered.
“Oh, no need for formalities. Just call me Rudy.”
“Okay, Rudy.” Rudy chuckled.
“Noelle’s told me allll about you, Asriel.” Noelle started to look embarrassed.
“Just call me Azzy.” Asriel mimicked. Rudy chuckled again.
“Okay, Azzy.” Kris wondered how Asriel could get along with a complete stranger like that.
“What’d she say about me?” Asriel asked. Noelle suddenly went from looking mildly embarrassed to looking like she was in shock. She was just standing there, eyes wide and muttering ‘no’ to herself.
“What did she say about my brother?” Kris thought, although he could already guess. Kris assumed that Noelle had developed a crush for Asriel. How that was possible in such a short period of time, Kris had no idea. He would never understand girls, especially from a romantic point of view. Actually, Kris would never understand romance in general. It was kinda dumb.

Suddenly, Rudy noticed Kris’ presence.
“Ah! You must be Kris!” He said. Had Noelle mentioned Kris too?
“H-hi.” Kris said quietly. Noelle looked very relieved by the sudden distraction. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Kris.” Rudy gave him a goofy dad smile. Kris was honestly surprised that Rudy could even hear his voice. “Now, no offense or anything,” Rudy said. “But, I’ve never met a human before. You don’t look anything like the humans in those old movies.”
“Dad!” Noelle blurted.
“What? I said ‘No offense’.” Rudy defended. “He should take it as a compliment. The humans in those movies are hideous!” He then added in a mutter.
“I-it’s okay.” Kris said. He wondered why they thought he would be offended. “Old giant human movies aren’t the most accurate.”
“Oh.” Rudy said. “Okay.”
“Here, Kris.” Noelle said as she fashioned another apron around Kris. She reached up to put a chef’s hat on his head, but hesitated. “Where are your eyes?” She asked. “I don’t want to block your view.” Kris stepped back. He didn’t want to show his eyes.
“Um…maybe I could just…put it on.” He muttered, reaching for the hat.
“Oh.” Noelle said, confused. “Okay” She handed him the hat and Kris fashioned it on top of his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Thanks so much for your help, guys.” Rudy said to Asriel and Kris after they had finished preparing dinner.
“No problem.” Asriel replied. Kris merely saluted. Not even he fully understood why. Rudy chuckled.
“At ease.” He said jokingly. Kris lowered his hand. Asriel smirked and raised an eyebrow at Kris. Kris shrugged. Asriel smiled.
“That was fun.” Noelle commented cheerfully. Kris looked down at his apron and at the many charred spots dotted across it.
“I agree.” He said. It may have sounded slightly sarcastic, but he meant it in full honesty. Asriel chuckled.
“My brother has quite the affinity for pyrotechnics.”
“Jeez, don’t say it like that.” Kris said, exasperated. “It makes me sound like an arsonist.” Noelle gave a nervous laugh. She seemed confused about how to react to the statement. She was going to have to get used to the strange Kris and Asriel banter if she wanted to survive living in the same town as them.
“Maybe we should take this all to the dining room.” Rudy intervened. He had a smile on his face, but Kris still thought it was probably a mistake to talk about arson the first time at his house.
“Good idea.” Noelle agreed.
“Yes, sir.” Asriel said, trying to hold in his laughter. He must have thought the whole thing was highly amusing.

Soon, they were all enjoying a delicious meal around the dining room table. Annoyingly, Asriel had strategically sat away from Kris so Kris was sitting next to Noelle.
“Probably for my ‘good’.” Kris thought. He didn’t have anything against Noelle. It was just…well…Kris didn’t usually get along well with other sentient beings.
“I feel bad.” Toriel began. “If I had known you needed help in the kitchen, I could have done something.”
“Oh, don't feel bad.” Rudy said. “Kris and Azzy were the perfect amount of help. They were excellent sous-chefs.”
“I think you may have been the sous, dad.” Noelle joked. Kris grinned.
“Well, that’s good to hear.” Toriel said, smiling. Asgore whispered something to Asriel, but seeing as Kris was fairly good at reading lips, it wasn’t much of a whisper to him.
“Did you ask him to call you Azzy?” Asgore had asked. Asriel shook his head in affirmation. Asgore merely thought about this for a moment before shrugging and returning to his potatoes.
“Where did you guys live before here?” Noelle asked. “Kris avoided the question during class today.”
“We’re from Lavender Village.” Kris said, falsely. “The wildlife there is truly spectacular.”
“Oh my gosh.” Noelle said. “You play that game?”
“Oh, absolutely.” Kris said. “Especially with Azzy.”
“He likes it when I let him win.” Asriel stated with a smirk.
“Ha!” Kris faked a laugh. “Please. That’s just what I want you to think. My creatures’ stats are far superior to yours.”
“Yeah…if you say so.” Asriel remarked. “But never mind the fact that WE play it. We’re dudes.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Noelle asked, raising an eyebrow at Asriel.
“Ummm…maybe we should-” Asgore began to interrupt before Toriel shushed him. Kris suddenly felt very self-conscious. The adults had been listening, hadn’t they? Kris hadn’t meant to start a conversation, especially one with such a silly topic. He had only meant to make a stupid video game reference that Noelle wouldn’t have understood. Except, she did understand, somehow. Crap.
“Sorry, that came out wrong.” Asriel said hurriedly as Kris slowly hid his face under the table. “It’s just that almost every other girl I’ve ever met has said that video games were stupid.”
“Almost.” Noelle said. At the same moment, Kris caught himself wondering if there were toes or hooves in Noelle’s shoes under the table. Rudy scooted his chair closer to Asgore and Toriel so the adults could talk. Obviously, the teens had their own thing going on.
“It’s nice to know that a girl could be as much of a geek as I am.” Asriel said Noelle giggled.
“Gosh, would you just ask her out, already?” Kris said at an obnoxiously high volume from underneath the table. He grinned when he saw Asriel’s legs stiffen and Noelle’s turn red after a shocked silence. Rudy cleared his throat.
“As I was saying…” He continued his conversation with the goat parents. Kris fought back giggles.
“Kris, what are you doing under there?” Asriel asked, obviously deflecting Kris’ question.
“Nothin’.” Kris responded casually.

Wanting to see their faces, he lifted his head back into a normal position. Asriel wasn’t blushing, but he still looked quite embarrassed. He had the same look on his face that he got whenever he made a joke that no one laughed at. It was a sort of grin he used to mask negative emotions. Noelle on the other hand looked like she had forgotten to lock the bathroom door. She had a nearly anime level of blush on her face and was staring wide-eyed at the table. She might have stared straight ahead, if Asriel wasn’t sitting directly across from her. Just like he had predicted, Kris ruined everything…,

But he had a lot of fun doing it.

Chapter Text

“Kris, she does not like me! Where would you get an idea like that from?" Asriel questioned Kris. The two of them were enjoying their weekend picnicking in the forest while their parents ran errands.
“Dude, it’s so obvious.” Kris responded.
“How?”
“Did you even listen to the way she said hi to you?”
“Well, honestly, no. But you can’t just say that someone likes me based on the way they said hi to me.”
“She dressed up. That was on Wednesday and now it’s Saturday, and she hasn’t dressed like that since.”
“So? Her dad made her.”
“You think she was FORCED to dress like that when our own mother let me go in a pink Mettaton shirt?”
“...Touché.”
“There was also unnecessary physical contact.”
“When she grabbed my arm? That’s ridiculous!”
“No one’s ever grabbed MY arm.”
“Yeah, because people are afraid you’ll bite theirs off.”
“Whatever.” Kris finished smugly. “You’ll see soon enough.

After the brothers had finished their sandwiches they began their walk home. On their way they//s/aw///////

I SEE YOU. DID YOU REALLY THINK NO ONE WOULD NOTICE? WELL… GUESS WHAT? I’M A PUPPET WHO CAN FEEL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS AND MY USUAL STRINGS. SO…

I NOTICED
ONTHEIR////On//THe/////I/R/oN/On///Their way back home they passed the Hometown public pool.

“Gosh, I wish this place was indoors.” Asriel breathed as he stopped to examine the metal gate.
“What? Too cold for ya out here?”
“Yeah!” Asriel sounded exasperated. “Like YOUR toes wouldn’t fall off after swimming outdoors in October.”
“Not in a heated pool they wouldn’t.” Kris stated.
“What does THAT have to do with any-,” Asriel paused. He realized that Kris was reading an announcement posted near the gate. Asriel took a closer look. “Starting October XX 20XX, the public pool will be reopened due to recent installation of water heater.” He read aloud. “Ha! That’s tomorrow!”
“Glad you’re excited. I’m not going.” Kris said.
“What?” Asriel asked. “Why?” Kris pointed to the word ‘public’ in the Hometown public pool sign. “Oh, c’mon, Kris.” Asriel groaned. “I thought we were making progress.”
“It’s only been a DAY!” Kris exclaimed. “You can’t just say I’ve made progress because I talk better with YOU. You and the public are two very different people.”
“Okay,” Asriel said. “First of all, the public isn’t a person. It’s many different people.”
“Exactly.” Kris said.
“Second, you don’t have to talk to complete strangers. I don’t even do that.” Asriel continued. He gave Kris puppy dog eyes. “Please?” Kris sighed.
“Fine.” He said. “But not because of that face. It’s highly disturbing.”
“Still works on dad, though.” Asriel grinned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Dang it!” Kris exclaimed.
“What?” Asriel asked, looking over.
“I accidentally left my homework in here.” Kris responded in annoyance as he rummaged through his backpack.
“So put it in a locker.” Asriel said. “No need to get so worked up over it.” They both stood in the men’s locker room at the Hometown public pool.

“Just had to be here as soon as possible.” Kris thought, again in annoyance. It seemed too soon to have already been a whole day. It seemed like the last eventful thing that had happened was Asriel giving Kris puppy dog eyes. Well…that and Asriel’s conversation with Noelle over the phone, but he had kicked Kris out of the room before he could hear any juicy details.

Kris aggressively flicked open a locker and stuffed his whole backpack inside. He made sure to safely tuck the key inside one of his swim shorts' velcro pockets. Once Kris and Asriel had both changed, they headed out to the pool.

Thankfully, it wasn’t as crowded as Kris had thought it would be. Apparently, most monsters had better things to do on a Sunday afternoon. Kris could only spot seven monsters, including Undyne the lifeguard, Catti and her family, Shyren (a fish monster), and a dog-like monster whose real name Kris didn’t know. Seemingly all of the monsters around town called him ‘Noodlepants’. Apparently, it had something to do with an embarrassing situation that had happened at the local Chinese restaurant where he worked. He was lounging in the in-ground hot tub, his head completely limp on the concrete ground. It was the most relaxed Kris had ever seen him. He was usually quite frantic.

Catti was wading in the deep end, trying to convince her family to join her, but they appeared reluctant. Her father had the quite excellent excuse of having only one arm.

Shyren was swimming laps happily through the water. She looked like she was resisting the urge to break out into song in public.

Undyne glared at Kris and Asriel as they walked toward the water, seemingly DARING them to walk a little too fast so she could blow her whistle.

Kris felt like joining Noodlepants in the hot tub. Kris doubted he would mind, as long as he was quiet, (which he was), but, apparently, Asriel had other plans. By the time Kris had looked away from Undyne, Asriel had already jumped in the pool.
“C’mon, Kris!” He beckoned.
“For someone so gung-ho about being here, why didn’t we come earlier in the morning?” Kris asked as he lowered himself into the water.
“Well…partially because I know you wouldn’t have enjoyed that.” Asriel said.
“Partially?” Kris asked. “Why only partially?” Asriel glanced towards the entrance.

“Oh, no.” Kris thought. “Why would he look over there?” Kris saw Asriel grin. Kris closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. “Please don’t let anyone be over there. PLEASE don’t let ANYONE be over there.”

“Hey, Noelle!” Asriel greeted. Kris sighed.
“I never should have encouraged you to ask her out.” He said before dunking his head underwater and pasting his wet hair in front of his eyes.
“Wait…you did what?” Asked a voice Kris recognized as Berdly. Kris parted his hair slightly so he could see, but no one could see him. Berdly was wearing nothing but green swim shorts and a mischievous expression. He seemed ready to tease Noelle.
“I didn’t ASK HER OUT.” Asriel defended. “If I did, neither you nor Berdly would be here.” Berdly’s expression fell.
“Dang it.” He muttered.
“What’s dang it?” Noelle asked. Kris shifted his position to look at her. Apparently, Berdly was eager to take a bird bath because Noelle was dressed completely normally. Although, Kris had never seen her hair that wavy before. In school, she always had it up in a ponytail and when Kris had seen her at her house she must have done something else with it.

“Why do I keep getting hung up on details about Noelle?” Kris thought.

“Oh, nothing.” Berdly answered her question. Noelle peered at him suspiciously.
“I’m gonna change.” She said, still peering at Berdly. Kris noticed that she was blushing considerably less than when she had been around Asriel before. Perhaps she was beginning to become desensitized to the romantic suggestions? Kris shrugged. He figured he should probably get in the hot tub before the inevitable chaos ensued.
“Check out what I brought.” Berdly grinned as he reached behind his back. Kris hopped out of the water.
“What?” Asriel asked. Berdly revealed a giant water gun. “Woah!” Asriel gasped.
“Chaotic.” Kris muttered.
“Is that a laser sight?!” Asriel asked in awe.
“Yes, sir.” Berdly said proudly. “Battery-powered, highly pressurized, pinpoint accuracy, and, best of all…,” Berdly pressed a button. “Cupholder.” A cupholder unfolded from inside the cannon.
“Let’s fill it up!” Asriel said.
“Oh, it’s already full.” Berdly said with a smirk. “As always, I have the perfect scheme.” Asriel’s smile faltered a little, and suddenly Kris was interested.
“Scheme?” He asked curiously.
“Oh, yes, Kris. Scheme.” Berdly said. “I knew Noelle wouldn’t want to walk here in her bathing suit, which means I also knew she would be in the locker room changing. The perfect opportunity for a trap.” Asriel appeared concerned.
“I would try to stop you, but I feel like you do this a lot.” He said.
“Would you try to stop me if I said there were also ice cubes in here?” Berdly grinned.
“No.” Kris answered.
“That’s the spirit, Kris!” Berdly applauded. He then dashed towards the door of the women’s locker room, water rifle in hand.
“What if someone comes out before Noelle?” Asriel asked. Kris grinned. He slightly hoped that that would happen.
“Forget that,” Kris said. “How’d Berdly go zoomin’ like that without Undyne going completely BANANAS?”
“She’s asleep.” Berdly noted. “And that reminds me. Did you know that just one cup of white beans contains twice as much potassium as a banana?”
“Huh.” Asriel said in a way that Kris, (but probably not Berdly), could tell that he didn’t care. “You find time to find stuff like THAT out, but you can’t pay attention during class.”
“I pay attention FINE, thank you very much. It’s RETAINING the information that’s the problem.” Berdly defended.
“You ‘retained’ the information about the beans perfectly fine.” Kris noted. Berdly ignored him. Or he didn’t hear. Kris often couldn’t tell the difference.
“How do you even know about my class, anyway? You’re a grade above me.” Berdly asked. Asriel pointed at Kris. Kris waved sheepishly.
“This little gremlin,” Asriel began. Kris scoffed. “And Noelle talk to me about things.” Berdly mouthed ‘oh’. He then completely stopped paying attention and pressed the side of his head against the door of the women’s locker room. He then quickly lept backward and took aim at the door, a little red dot appearing on its surface.

Kris quickly hopped away and rushed out of the presumable range of the oncoming chaos. Just to be safe, he also flattened himself against the fence. The door was slowly pushed open from the inside, a red dot rested on Noelle’s forehead, and all anyone could think was ‘This is gonna hurt’. Asriel winced, Kris and Berdly grinned, and Noelle’s eyes widened as a powerful jet of ice water shot toward her face. She screamed and Undyne’s and Noodlepants’ eyes snapped open. Everyone at the pool glanced over in concern, only to chuckle after realizing what had happened. Noelle stood there in shock, eyes closed tightly. Berdly ran past Kris and tossed him the gun, snickering.
“Uh….” Kris wondered why Berdly would just toss him something that seemed so precious to him.
“HEY! NO RUNNING!!” Undyne yelled at Berdly. She didn’t even bother with the whistle. Noelle opened her eyes.
“Berdly, I know that was you!” She shouted. “Don’t even try to pin this on Kris!”

“Oh.” Kris thought. He aggressively shrugged at Berdly, as if to say ‘Seriously, dude?’.

“EH,...I wouldn’t put it past Kris to do something like that.” Asriel commented. Kris almost shrugged at Asriel as well, but he decided to own it. To prove Asriel’s point, as Noelle walked past, Kris fired the gun at her, landing a shot square in the rear. She shrieked and whipped around.
“Kris!” She gasped at him. Kris pointed at Berdly, who was hiding in the corner of the deep end. The violated expression slowly faded from Noelle’s face and was replaced by a nervous grin. “You’re blaming that on Berdly?” She said, sounding slightly miffed. Kris nodded. She chuckled. “Oh, boy, Kris. You’re something else.” Kris blinked.

“Did it really take you that long to realize?” He thought.

“Berdly blamed me first.”
“Don’t worry about him.” Noelle said as she took the super soaker from Kris. “I’ve got it covered.” She started to walk away before quickly turning around and blasting Kris in the face. He stumbled backward. Noelle smirked at him. Asriel laughed from the pool. Noelle turned around and shot him too.
“Hey!” He spluttered.
“Cold, isn’t it?” Noelle playfully taunted him. She then headed for Berdly. Kris jumped in the pool with Asriel.
“If there’s only one of those things, I’m going to the hot tub.” Kris said.
“Why?” Asriel asked.
“Because I’ll be on the receiving end of fire without defense for three-quarters of the time. And that’s if someone can get the gun away from Noelle.” At that same moment, Noelle had sneaked behind Berdly, aimed down into the pool, and shot the top of his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About an hour later, Kris was lounging in the hot tub with Noodlepants and Catti, neither of which were talking or paying any attention to Kris. Just how he liked it. Shyren and Catti’s family had left and Asriel, Noelle, and Berdly were playing tag (in the pool, as to avoid the forsaken whistle). Suddenly, Noodlepants cleared his throat.
“So,...your name’s Kris, right?” He asked.

“Oh, great.” Kris thought. He didn’t think the rumor of a human moving to town would spread outside of the high school so quickly. That’s the only way Kris imagined Noodlepants could know his name.

“Um,...yeah?” Kris answered, unsure of where this was headed.
“Thought so.” Noodlepants said. “Your bro, Azzy mentioned that you could use a job.”
“What?” Kris asked. Where had Asriel gotten the idea that Kris wanted a job?
“He mentioned some good things about you.” Noodlepants continued. “With your application, I can basically guarantee a job as a janitor, but if I put in a good word for you, I might be able to get you a job as a chef.”
“Um…application?” Kris asked. He had never filled out an application.
“The application you filled out.” Noodlepants said, sounding slightly confused. “Azzy said you were busy, so he turned it in for you.”
“He…he turned in my application?” Kris couldn’t believe this. Did Asriel really fill out an application for him? That would mean forging his signature! And how did he even know his social security number?

A little while later, Noodlepants left and the rest followed suit shortly after. Kris decided to wait until Asriel and himself had reached home before he angrily questioned the heck out of his older brother. He didn’t want to make a scene. Unfortunately, everyone lived in the same general area. Kris had a feeling that the walk home was going to seem VERY long. Everyone was too lazy to change back into their normal clothes, so Kris was forced to either freeze his feet or be left behind. Seeing that the sun was already setting, Kris decided it wasn’t the best idea to take too long.

Kris hadn’t been paying much attention before, but now he noticed that Noelle did indeed have hooves. How they fit into shoes, Kris had no idea. He tried not to look in her direction for too long, afraid her red and green striped bathing suit might induce a seizure. Not to mention that Noelle was quite pretty and, although Kris would never admit that, he didn’t want to be caught DEAD looking at her.

Noelle walked in between Asriel and Berdly while Kris walked behind them. The only one behind Kris was Catti.

“You’re kinda quiet, Kris.” Catti said.
“...Yeah?” Kris responded.
“...I like quiet people.” Catti said.
“...Oh.” Kris didn’t expect that. “I do too.”
“...Me?” Catti asked, seeking confirmation. Kris nodded. “Thanks.” Catti replied. “We should hang out sometime.” She fished a severely crumpled slip of paper from her bag and scribbled something on it. “Here’s my number.” She said, handing the slip to Kris. Upon closer inspection, Kris realized that it was an old detention slip. Apparently, she had gotten into trouble for texting in class. “Shoot me a text or two when you can.” Kris could detect the slightest hint of a smile creeping at the corner of her mouth. Kris couldn’t help but grin. No one had ever willingly GIVEN him their number before. Not except for his family, anyway.
“Sure.” He said, trying not to sound too excited.

Asriel looked back towards the two.
“What’s up, Kris?” He asked. He looked between Kris and Catti and then smiled. Kris felt his cheeks redden. Hopefully, no one could tell. Kris got the feeling that Asriel had the wrong idea.
“Nothin’.” He replied bashfully, stuffing Catti’s number in his shorts pocket. Noelle looked back as well. Her eyes lit up as if she had just seen something incredibly cute.

“Great.” Kris thought. “She DEFINITELY has the wrong idea.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Asriel was lying on his bedroom floor, working on a school assignment when his phone first went off. He sighed.

“I really shouldn’t get on my phone right now.” He thought. “I’m already cutting this assignment close.” But, his curiosity got the better of him. It was a text from Noelle.

“Azzy!”

“What’s up?”

“You embarrassed him so much!”

Despite the exclamation points, Asriel could feel the giggly energy Noelle was putting off.

“I’m his older brother. It’s my job”

“You’re going to scare Catti off! XD”

“Oh…my bad ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”

“LOL”

Asriel went back to his assignment. A few minutes later, he got another text.

“Glad to see he’s making friends”

“Yeah. I’m still a little worried, though”

“Why?”

“What if they don’t end up friends after all?”

“Well, that’s life. But I think they’ll be fine.
I know Catti. She’ll be a good first friend for Kris”

“I hope you’re right”

“I am”

“ok lol”

Asriel went back to his assignment. Another text. Asriel looked out his window. The full moon was already high in the night sky. He sighed and picked up his phone again.

“Thanks btw”

“For what?”

“Delaying your plans for Berdly and I.
You really didn’t have to do that”

“Oh. It was nothing.
You had something going on with your church right?”

“Yeah, we meet on Sundays”

“Then it’s completely fine.”

“:)”

Asriel put his phone down and once again returned to his assignment. There was a longer pause this time, but he received yet another text.

“I can’t do this all night, Noelle.” Asriel said aloud before reaching for his phone again.

“Can I talk to you about something a little more serious?”

“Sure. Go ahead”

Asriel could see the ‘typing’ icon appear and disappear as Noelle tried to phrase what she wanted to say.

“Remember when my dad invited you guys over last week?”

Asriel wondered where this was going.

“Yeah”

“Well, I asked him to do that”

“So?”

“I expected you to ask why”

“ok why?”

“Actually, it was because I wanted to try and talk to Kris”

“Well that was nice of you”

“But I didn’t actually end up talking all that much to
Kris! I just talked to you most of the time”

“oh”

“I feel really bad, but I just don't know how to talk to him.
He’s so different from anyone else I’ve ever met”

“You might have to talk to him one-on-one.
And ask him questions. That way he either has to answer,
or be a complete jerk and remain silent”

“That’s a little harsh. You seem to have given this quite
a bit of thought”

“I’ve had years to think of things that might help
my little brother”

“That’s so sad and sweet at the same time”

Suddenly, Kris burst into the room.
“Thought I could use a job?!” He exclaimed. “Turned in my application because I was ‘busy’?”
“Kris, I can explain!” Asriel said, his tone frantic. “I thought it would be a good experience for you!”
“So, instead of talking to me about it, you FORGE my SIGNATURE?!” Kris sounded absolutely and completely betrayed.
“I’m sorry, Kris! It really wasn’t one of my brightest ideas.”
“No duh!”
“Can’t you just deny employment, or whatever?”
“Yeah, but I’m not going to! You know how embarrassing it would be to have Noodlepants put in a ‘good word’ for me and then just not take the job?! How would I even explain that?!” Kris started pacing back and forth. “As far as I see it, there are three options.” He started. “One: I take the job. Two: I deny the job by further crushing my own self esteem. Three: I deny the job by telling the truth and you serve time in juvy for forgery. That last one’s kinda tempting….”
“Kris…can we deal with this in the morning?” Asriel asked. “I’ve REALLY got to finish this assignment for Ms. Alphys.” Kris stopped dead in his tracks.
“...A-Assignment?” He asked, going pale.
“...Yeah.” Asriel confirmed. “Assignment. Did you forget?” Kris gave a nervous laugh.
“No, I didn’t forget! I finished it DAYS ago.”
“So…what’s wrong?”
“I was wondering why the walk home seemed so easy. Haha! Asriel, I left my backpack in the locker at the pool.”
“So wait until the pool opens in the morning.” Asriel suggested.
“I can’t.” Kris explained. “It doesn’t open early enough. Azzy, I CANNOT get another F. Mom will FREAK OUT.”
“I can help you redo it.” Asriel offered.
“You’re not even finished with your own.” Kris pointed out as he left the room.
“Hey! Where are you going?” Asriel called.
“To fix it!” Kris called back. “And we are NOT done talking about this whole job thing!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kris ran through the darkened streets of Hometown, passing houses and dim street lamps. He still didn’t fully know what he was doing. He was running purely off of impulse. Kris rushed past Noelle’s front gate, then Catti’s house. He took a right to go past the Chinese restaurant. He scoffed before heading South and towards the public pool. He hesitated when he saw that the entrance was locked, but soon realized he was thin enough to simply squeeze through the iron bars.

As he passed the water on his way to the locker room, Kris got an eerie feeling. He looked down into the pool. The water looked a whole lot darker at night. Not even the full moon or the stars reflected on its surface. An odd echoey sound seemed to radiate from the water.

“Creepy.” Kris thought. He decided to get his stuff and get out as quickly as possible. He headed for the men’s locker room at a pace that Undyne wouldn’t have appreciated. Thankfully, Kris had remembered to retrieve the key to his locker from his swim shorts before he had left the house.

When he entered the locker room, Kris was surprised to see someone else in there. A figure in a black hooded sweatshirt stood at the far end of the room, facing the wall. They reached into their pocket and removed a can of spray paint. Kris didn’t want any part of this, so he tried to leave as quietly as possible. He would come back later. Unfortunately, Kris stepped on a discarded chip bag on his way out. Kris froze. He cringed as he felt the figure’s gaze.

“I won’t say anything.” Kris said, carefully.
“Heck no, you won’t!” Kris sighed. He recognized that voice. He felt a clawed hand on his shoulder and was quickly turned around. He was now face to face with….
“Susie….” Kris muttered.
“You again?” Susie scoffed. “I thought I made myself clear the last time, punk.”
“Well, it’s not like I knew you were gonna be in here.” Kris muttered.
“Shut it! And how do you know my name, anyway?”
“Kids at school have mentioned you.”
“Figures.” Susie growled as she grabbed Kris by the collar of his shirt. “No one talks about me ‘til I get suspended.” Kris thought that was probably her own fault, but he kept that to himself.
“Look,” Kris said. “I don’t care about what you were about to do in here. I’m not saying anything.”
“Not after what I’m gonna do to you, you’re not.”
“Wait, wait a minute! My mom is super protective and she WILL find you if you hurt me.”
“Really?” Susie sounded slightly amused. “You’re threatening to tattle on me? How old are you?”
“I wouldn’t tattle, she’d notice for herself.” Kris said. “And it’s not a threat, it’s a promise.”
“Hmph. Fine.” Susie said as she lifted Kris off the ground and started towards the door. “Your mommy can’t blame me if you catch a cold, can she?”
“What are you implying?” Kris asked.
“I’m pretty sure you already know the answer to that.” Susie said as she stood above the pool. “I don’t think they leave the heaters running overnight.”
“Please don’t.” Kris said, knowing it wouldn’t help. Susie smirked before she tossed Kris into the pool. Kris held his breath, closed his eyes, and braced for impact.

But seconds passed and nothing happened. Kris dared to peek his eyes open. Complete darkness. He felt a strange sensation deep within his chest. It was as if his very soul were glowing. Nothing happened for thirty seconds, forty seconds, pushing a minute. For a split second, Kris wondered if he had died somehow.

Then the impact finally came.

All the air was forced from his lungs and he passed out, slowly sinking into the dark abyss below.

Chapter Text

“Will he make it?”

“Don’t be stupid, of course he will. Healing magic can be extremely powerful.”

“I’m not stupid, I’m concerned.”

“Hi, Concerned, I’m Spamton G. Spamton.”

“Ugh. You’re insufferable.”

“No, I just said I’m Spamton G. Spamton.”

“Knock it off, you two. You’re going to wake him up.”

Kris heard the conversation in his sleep. He had never heard any of their voices before. He desperately wanted to open his eyes, but he felt exhausted.

“So when is he SUPPOSED to wake up? I want to talk to the little runt.”

“I do too, but you don’t see me acting like a clown.”

“I said knock it off. Neither of you are talking to him until I’ve had a chance to explain things to him, so you both may as well leave now.” Kris heard a sigh and then footsteps walking away from him.

During the silence, he passed into a deeper rest. Images flashed in front of his eyes. Susie smirking at him from above, hundreds of air bubbles floating before him, a person with a life preserver rushing in his direction, and an island. An island with towering buildings and platforms built on the sides and tops of buildings with more buildings constructed on the tops of the platforms, all made from driftwood and sheets of scrap metal. There were waterfalls, and golden-yellow sandy beaches, and palm trees everywhere, and…it was all slowly fading away.

Kris’ eyes slowly began to open. He felt horrible. It felt like every inch of his body had been melted off his bones and roughly slapped back on. It felt like white-hot needles were being inserted into every pore in his skin. Kris groaned as he tried to sit up.

“Oh! No, no. Don’t do that.” A voice said from beside him. Kris looked over to see someone hurrying towards him. They were wearing a tattered mint-green robe with a pink symbol on the chest. Kris recognized it as the Delta Rune, but the circle was replaced with a heart shape. Kris looked up at their face. They were also wearing an equally tattered mint-green witch hat and pink scarf. Two asymmetrical iron shoulder guards, (one with two large, curved, gnarled spikes, and the other with none) rested on their shoulders, two gold earrings hung from one of their ears, and what appeared to be chainmail could be seen creeping at the edges of their sleeves and collar. Kris had no idea who they were, but he thought he recognized the eyes behind their rectangular glasses.

“Asriel?” He asked.

“What?” The robed individual sounded confused.

“C’mon.” Kris said. “Stop foolin’ around. Take off the scarf.”

“I…I think you’re confused.” The robed individual said as he removed his hat and scarf.

“...You’re not Asriel.” Kris noted.

“My name is Ralsei.” The robed individual explained. “And you’re…late.” He sighed. “So very, VERY late.” Kris tried to sit up again, but Ralsei stopped him. “Don’t. You need to rest.” 

Kris looked around. He was lying on a small straw mattress in what appeared to be a small hut of some kind. Small torches of blue flame lit the room and Kris could smell chlorine.

“Where the heck am I?” Kris asked. “And what am I late for?” Ralsei sighed.

“I have a lot of explaining to do.” He said. “Where do I begin?....There’s a legend. I used to have it memorized, but…I’ll just do my best to summarize. Since the beginning of time, light and darkness have existed together in a state of balance. The people of the dark, Darkners, like me, lived in the Dark World, and the people of the light, Lightners, like you, lived in the Light World.”

“Hold on, hold on.” Kris interrupted. “Darkners? Dark World? What does that even mean?”

“Well…,” Ralsei began gently. “You’re…in the Dark World right now.” Kris blinked.

“Okay,” Kris said. “They must have drained the pool before Susie pushed me in, because I DEFINITELY have a concussion right now.”

“...I’ll let you believe that AFTER I’m finished.” Ralsei said. He cleared his throat. “The source of darkness in the Dark World is the Dark Fountain. Normally, there’s only one Dark Fountain, but someone started opening more of them a while back. If these extra Dark Fountains are allowed to remain, they will throw off the balance of light and dark, which will awaken the Titans and cause the Roaring.”

“What’s that?” Kris asked.

“If the Roaring occurred, all Darkners would be turned to stone and the Lightners would have to fend for themselves against the Titans.” Ralsei said.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Kris commented.

“It’s not.” Ralsei said. “But the legend also prophesizes of three heroes. A human, a monster, and a Darkner prince. They are destined to seal the extra Dark Fountains and prevent the Roaring.” Ralsei paused. Kris looked at him.

“And?” Kris asked.

“That’s it.” Ralsei said. “Pretty much, anyway.”

“So that supposedly explains where I am.” Kris said. “But what am I late for?”

“I thought you would’ve figured it out.” Ralsei said. “I think that you’re the human from the legend.” Kris chuckled and then regretted it when the pain hit.

“You think I’m important enough for that?” Kris asked rhetorically. “I’m nobody. I can’t talk worth crap, much less save the world.”

“You seem to talk fine.” Ralsei observed.

“Only ‘cause you remind me so much of my brother.” Kris explained. “And once you get past the social disabilities, boy my personality’s a keeper.”

“You shouldn’t talk down to yourself like that.” Ralsei said. “You have more potential than you realize.” Kris sighed.

“So if this is all real,” Kris ignored Ralsei’s comment. “How did I survive that fall?”

“Well,” Ralsei started. “Preston saw you fall and dragged you to shore. You were in a horrible state, so I used some magic to heal your major wounds. Unfortunately, I’m out of practice, so…I couldn’t completely fix everything.” Ralsei gave Kris an apologetic look. “Sorry….”

“Are you kidding?” Kris was shocked. “You saved my life!”

“Well, it was a team effort. You would’ve drowned if not for Preston, and I don’t think my magic would’ve been enough if you weren’t so determined to stay alive.”

“So, who’s Preston?” Kris asked.

“A Darkner.” Ralsei said, unhelpfully. “I can bring him in here if you’d like. Or, if you’d prefer to wait, that’s fine too.”

“I don’t feel like talking right now.” Kris said. “Send him my thanks?”

“Of course.” Ralsei said. He started towards the door. “Oh!” He stopped halfway. “I almost forgot. You may have visitors. Two of my…uh…’partners’ you could call them, have been very eager to speak with you. And I don’t think they care if they have permission or not.” Kris remembered the voices he had heard in his sleep.

“Thanks for the heads up.” Kris sighed. Ralsei nodded.

“Do try to rest.” He implored before heading back towards the door.

Kris tried to ignore his headache and process everything, but couldn’t. He was having difficulty believing that any of this was real.

Kris suddenly thought to call Asriel on his phone. He knew Asriel well enough to tell if it was a dream or not by talking to him. Kris reached for his phone in his pocket but realized that there WAS no pocket. He looked down and saw that he was wearing some kind of armor that also bore the Delta Rune.

“...What…?” Kris had some questions. Like ‘who had seen him naked in order to change him into this?’ and ‘why?’. He looked like he was going to a sci-fi convention. So no pockets. Where was his stuff? Kris glanced to his side and spotted a backpack just out of his reach. Kris sighed. He was not getting up on the off chance that his stuff was in a random backpack.

Grudgingly, he closed his eyes, falling asleep faster than expected.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Asriel awoke on his bedroom floor to the early morning sun shining through his window. He sharply inhaled through his nose as he lifted his head off the ground, his finished assignment lay before him. He felt completely drained. How much sleep had he even gotten last night? Asriel picked up the assignment from the floor after removing some carpet fuzz from his mouth. He recognized his handwriting, but he didn’t remember finishing it. Concerned, Asriel skimmed over the last few pages. Thankfully, everything checked out, although it appeared to have been written by a drunk. Thank goodness this wasn’t for English class.

Asriel used his bedside table to pull himself up into a standing position. He slowly made his way out his bedroom door and into the bathroom. He looked into the mirror to see that all of the fur on one side of his face was completely flattened.

“Yikes,” Asriel muttered. “I look like a monster.”

“You are, honey.” Asriel turned to see his mother standing in the doorframe.

“Figure of speech.” Asriel sighed. Toriel giggled.

“I know, sweety.”

“Has Kris already left for school?” Asriel asked.

“I assume so.” Toriel said. Her voice didn’t sound quite as joyful when she said it. “I tried calling him, but it wouldn’t go through.”

“I’ll try texting him.” Asriel stated. He reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone. He opened his messages, selected Kris, and typed ‘Where are you?’. The screen then displayed a message saying ‘Text could not be sent’. Asriel furrowed his eyebrows.

“What’s wrong?” Toriel asked.

“My texts aren’t going through either. He must’ve done something to accidentally turn off his data or something.” Asriel said. He opened a drawer below the counter and retrieved a hairbrush. “I’m sure he’s at school. I’ll let you know when I get there.”

“Alright.” Toriel sighed. She began to walk away. “That boy worries me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noelle walked into the crowded lunchroom. Berdly was sitting between Jockington and M.K., so she would have to find somewhere else to sit. As if by fate, the only open seat was across from Asriel. Noelle’s heart fluttered. Before she had met Asriel, she had never considered the possibility of being in a romantic relationship with anyone. Now she found herself thinking about him more often than she’d like to admit. She told herself that it was just temporary, and that if she got to know him better, she would see him as another friend.

Was that what she wanted? Had she really invited the Dreemurrs to her house because of Kris? Or were Berdly and her father right about her liking Asriel? Noelle felt conflicted and very shallow over the idea of inviting someone over because she thought they were cute. Noelle shook herself out of it. She doubted that Asriel would fall for someone like her anyway.

She sighed and began to trudge in Asriel’s direction. He had laid his head on the table, completely obscuring his face. His arms were up on the table around his head.

“...Azzy?” Noelle gently tapped Asriel’s shoulder. Asriel jerked his head up. Noelle inadvertently stepped back.

“Oh,...Noelle.” Asriel yawned.

“Were you asleep?” Noelle asked.

“I think so.” Asriel groaned.

“Sorry.” Noelle mumbled. “Can I sit here?”

“Sure.” Asriel said as Noelle sat down.

“Where’s Kris?” She asked. “He wasn’t in class.”

“Kris?” Asriel muttered after laying his head back onto the table. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. “Oh, crap.” He quickly reached into his bag and retrieved his cell phone. He dialed a number faster than Noelle had even seen Catti dial.

“Hello?” Noelle could hear Toriel answer.

“Kris isn’t here.” Asriel said.

“What?”

“Yeah.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know.” Asriel sounded urgent. “I don’t know.” Noelle was concerned.

“Can’t you call him?” Noelle asked. Asriel covered the microphone.

“No, nothing’s going through.” He answered. Noelle suddenly felt sick. Kris wasn’t missing, was he? Like, MISSING missing? Thoughts of missing posters and police searches passed through Noelle’s mind until Asriel hung up. “I’ve gotta go.” Asriel said stiffly. He looked scared. Noelle didn’t like it.

“Where are you going?” She asked.

“Dunno.” Asriel said. “Mom told me to come home.” He stood up and began walking away. Noelle quickly stood as well and started following him.

“Is there any way I can help?” Noelle asked as they exited the lunchroom. Asriel sighed.

“Nope. Just stay here. I’m not gonna have you miss school for nothing.”

“Kris isn’t nothing.” Noelle regretted saying that. Asriel stopped in his tracks, next to the lockers. He stood there, stiffly. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find words to express himself without snapping.

“Don’t…,” He began. “don’t even THINK that I would call Kris nothing.” His tone was calm, but Noelle could sense anger behind his words. “I’m one of the few people in this world that believes he’s worth something.”

“Azzy, I…I didn’t mean it like that.” Noelle stammered. Asriel continued down the hall. He stared unblinkingly ahead. It appeared as if he were fighting back tears. “I’m sorry.” Noelle said when they reached the exit. Asriel paused before opening the door. He took a deep breath and turned towards Noelle.

“No.” He corrected. “You didn’t do anything. I’m sorry, Noelle.” He opened the door. “He’s had such a hard life already.” Asriel’s voice began to croak. “I don’t want…I don’t want him to…,” He turned his face away from Noelle. Noelle felt sympathy. She reached for Asriel’s hand and gently squeezed it.

“You don’t have to hide your tears, Azzy.” She said, gently.

“What tears?” Asriel sniffled. Noelle wrapped her arms around Asriel’s neck. Asriel trembled and after a few moments, he turned around, placed his head onto Noelle’s shoulder, wrapped his arms around her, and began to quietly sob into her sweater. At that moment, Noelle forgot all about the drama she had been thinking of mere minutes before. She didn’t think about how cute Asriel was. She could only think about how Asriel must have felt. He had just possibly lost his little brother PERMANENTLY. Now Noelle was on the verge of tears as well. “He’s not home,” Asriel choked through tears. “he’s not at school, and Mom says that Dad’s been looking all over town for him. When I called my mom just now, she said that she’s going to file a missing persons report.” Noelle felt Asriel’s claws clinging to the back of her sweater. She couldn’t keep it in any longer. Tears started streaming down her face. It was a very scary mix of emotions. Noelle felt sympathy, fear, worry, and a few more that she couldn’t identify past the other three.

“We’ll find him.” Noelle reassured. She couldn’t even convince herself.

“Thanks, Noelle.” Asriel mumbled into her shoulder. 

Someone cleared their throat. Asriel quickly let go of Noelle and wiped at his face. Noelle turned around. Leaning against the wall was Sans.

“Maybe I can help.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kris awoke abruptly to someone bursting into the room.

“The Lightner of legend has finally arrived!” An impish creature wearing a jester getup shouted. He was slightly taller than Kris, but not by much, and a cartoonishly large scythe was strapped to his belt.

“Try to ignore the clown.” A tall man in a business suit said. The sleeves were completely torn off, revealing a white, long-sleeved dress shirt underneath, the sleeves rolled up just past the elbows. A pair of round glasses rested on his long pointy nose. Each lens was a different color, one yellow and one pink. A double-barrel shotgun rested in a holster over his shoulder.

“Jester!” The clown corrected.

“Giving him attention only encourages him.” The businessman said, ignoring the jester.

“Who are you guys?” Kris asked. He recognized their voices from his sleep.

“Spamton G. Spamton at your service.” The businessman said, holding out his hand. Kris sat up and shook it. He noticed that he felt significantly less pain. How long had he been out?

“Kris.” Kris muttered. The jester pushed Spamton aside.

“Jevil, advocate of freedom and chaos, is pleased to meet you!” The jester vigorously shook Kris’ hand.

“You too, I guess.” Kris got the feeling that he wouldn’t be very fond of Jevil. Anyone who called themselves an ‘advocate of chaos’ was immediately put on his naughty list. “Friends of Ralsei?” Kris asked.

“That’s pushing it a little.” Spamton said. “Well,…maybe not for Jevil. He thinks he’s friends with everybody. I think of us as unlikely comrades.”

“Please,” Jevil grumbled. “anyone trying to keep me from turning into a giant lawn ornament is my friend.” Kris remembered what Ralsei said about The Roaring.

“You mean The Roaring, right?” He asked Jevil.

“How do you know about that?” Jevil asked.

“That must’ve been what Ralsei meant by ‘explain things’.” Spamton said. Kris nodded. He suddenly had a question.

“How did I get from the pool to here?”

“Pool?” Jevil seemed confused.

“Do you not know what a pool is?” Spamton mocked.

“I do know, you glorified scam bot!” Jevil spat.

“Someone must’ve created a Dark Fountain there.” Spamton explained, ignoring Jevil.

“The water did look weird.” Kris realized.

“So…,” Jevil lied next to Kris and rested his head on his hands. “What’s the Light World like?”

“Maybe I could explain,” Kris began. “If I had something to compare it to.” Jevil looked confused. He looked up at Spamton and shrugged.

“He’s asking for a tour, nincompoop.” Spamton said to Jevil.

“Oh!” Jevil hopped to his feet and dragged Kris along with him. “Great!” He clutched Kris’ hand and led him towards the door.

“Hey, wait!” Kris exclaimed. Jevil stopped.

“What is it?” He asked.

“I need to try and call my brother. Do you know where my phone is?”

“Um…probably in your inventory?” Jevil said as if it should have been obvious.

“Inventory?” Kris asked, skeptically. “This is real life, not a video game.”

“He’s always saying things like that.” Spamton explained. “Here, hold out your hand like this.” Spamton held out his hand and Kris mimicked him. “Now just retrieve your phone.” There was a brief flash of dark purple light. Spamton was now holding a handful of shotgun shells.

“What!?” Kris jumped back.

“Hey,” Spamton said. “calm down and try it.”

“Can you not do that in the Light World?” Jevil asked.

“No.” Spamton said.

“Since when were you such a Light World expert?” Jevil asked.

“Since I cut my strings.” Spamton said.

“Cut your strings?” Kris asked. “What the heck does that mean?”

“Conversation for another day.” Spamton dodged the question. “Just try it. Kris sighed and held out his hand. “You may have to close your eyes until you get used to it.” Kris didn’t know what that meant, but he closed his eyes.

“What are you doing?” Ralsei asked as he walked into the room. Kris opened his eyes.

“Inventory management!” Jevil piped up. Spamton rolled his eyes.

“You know his helmet helps with that, right?” Ralsei asked.

“Helmet?” Kris, Jevil, and Spamton asked in unison.

“Yes.” Ralsei tapped the circle part of the Delta Rune on Kris’ chest. A visored helmet materialized around Kris’ head. Holographic displays appeared in front of his eyes.

                     ITEM                     EQUIP                      POWER                 CONFIG

“Just use your voice to select ITEM.” Ralsei explained.

“CONFIG.” Kris said, instead.

“Um…Kris?” Ralsei said. Kris ignored him until he had successfully renamed the ITEM menu to the INVENTORY menu. Jevil chuckled.

“Nice.” He grinned.

“INVENTORY.” Kris said.

USE     TOSS     KEY

“Select KEY.” Ralsei instructed.

“KEY.” Kris said.

• Cell Phone

“Hold out your hand and select Cell Phone.” Kris obeyed. His phone materialized in his hand.

“That’s sick.” Kris commented.

“You’re sick.” Ralsei corrected. “That helmet is only an enhancement of your normal abilities.

“That’s technically incorrect.” Spamton said. “He can only do stuff like that in the Dark World.”

“So, the Dark World’s sick!!” Jevil exclaimed.

“You can tap the circle again to remove the helmet.” Ralsei explained. “Or you can tap it twice in quick succession to completely remove your armor.” Not knowing whether or not he was wearing anything under the armor, Kris decided to only tap the circle once. He turned on his phone, found Asriel’s contact, and pressed ‘call’. Instead of ringing, the phone emitted horrible garbage noise. Startled, Kris dropped the phone and covered his ears. Ralsei also covered his ears, but Jevil and Spamton simply winced as if it were unpleasant, yet familiar to them. Spamton walked towards the phone, picked it up, and dropped it again, but this time the phone disappeared before it hit the ground.

“There.” He said.

“I guess no calls in the Dark World.” Kris said, painfully. “How am I gonna get home?”

“The only way home is to seal the Dark Fountain.” Ralsei said. “Which means you’ll need this.” He handed Kris a bracelet. It was a thick band of silver with a yellow heart shape on it. The color of justice. “It’s like the helmet, but for weapons only. But you need to be responsible with it because, unlike the helmet, it works outside the Dark World.”

“How do you know?” Jevil asked. “Have you been to the Light World without telling us!?”

“I KNOW because I created it with my magic.” Ralsei explained. “It’s not the same as the ‘inventory’.” Kris slipped the bracelet onto his wrist. “I’ve already loaded a weapon into there.” Ralsei explained. “Just double-tap the soul to summon it.” Curious, Kris did so. A dark, purplish-black glow emitted from his hand and formed a navy blue blaster. Kris chuckled maniacally.

“Nice.” Kris said. “If this is a coma, don’t wake me up.”

“It’s not a coma.” Ralsei said, sounding exasperated. “If you keep saying that//t/tt///tt///////

DID  YOU  REALLY  THINK  YOU  COULD  ESCAPE?  JUST  LIKE  THAT?  I’M  A  PART  OF  THIS  WORLD.  YOU  CAN’T  ESCAPE  FROM  ME  AS  LONG  AS  YOU  STAY  HERE.  WHY  DO  YOU  CONTINUE?  DO  YOU  REALLY  CARE  THAT  MUCH?  DO  YOU  REALLY  CARE  ABOUT  THIS  PATHETIC  HUMAN  CHILD  OR  HIS  CRYBABY  GOAT  BROTHER?  NO.  NO, YOU  DON’T.  YOU  FIND  THEIR  SUFFERING

ENTERTAINING

////H////HHH////H////How did

“How did we get on this subject?” Jevil asked. “I thought I was going to be giving a tour.”

“Oh!” Ralsei exclaimed. “Right. That’s why I came in the first place. Kris needs to be familiarized with the Island. He may be staying quite a long while.”