Chapter Text
Stepping out of the lab for the night felt like a huge weight off your shoulders. You and Alphys had spent almost the entire day running tests on the fallen with very little to show for it.
There wasn’t much else you could do other than sit tight and watch for now. These kinds of experiments take time and no one’s awake to give you any insight into how the determination was affecting them.
You could experiment on a healthy monster…
No.
There’s no telling how that might affect you and you don’t trust Alphys enough to take care of you if something goes wrong. Though, if all else fails… that might be something you have to revisit.
Shaking those thoughts from your head, you contemplated going through Steamworks or going back home and then traveling to the Wild East. Going home would take longer, but there was a lower chance of running into other monsters and fewer puzzles. Though Steamworks had all of those cons, going through it would cut your traveling time by almost an hour.
There was always shortcutting through Streamworks, but if anyone caught you… you’d probably die of embarrassment.
It would cut your traveling time by another hour though… that’s more time that you could use to get to know your favorite sheriff… Even if someone did manage to catch a glimpse of you, you’d be moving fast enough that they wouldn’t be able to make out any of your features… there also wasn’t any chance of running into children either…
Screw it, you were going to take a shortcut.
Technically, it’s not really a shortcut. A better name would be fast travel since you’re still traveling the same routes, give or take. However, there would likely never be a form of fast travel that required its users to strip…
Surveying your surroundings, you concluded that no one was around to witness your indecency. You may be semi-transparent when not solid, but people could still see you if they looked hard enough.
Moving around while in a gaseous state was so much faster than everything else… but you found that you had to actively keep yourself from going through your clothes. With that in mind, it was easier to just remove them for travel and find somewhere to get dressed once you got to where you were going.
Still, you found your face heating up to an uncomfortable degree as you stuffed your clothes in your dimensional bag. You’d have to hold it while traveling, but keeping track of it was much easier than keeping your clothes from flying away.
Kicking yourself up into the air, you smiled at the feeling of weightlessness that always accompanied your gaseous state. You familiarized yourself with the weight of your bag and picked up speed as you got used to it.
Flying was so convenient.
— — —
You don’t know how it happened.
You were usually incredibly aware of your surroundings while using your shortcuts. Maybe you had just grown too comfortable in your abilities. Complacency was a breeding ground for errors after all…
Everything had been fine until you passed BlackJacks.
You had picked up far too much speed in your excitement to finally have the chance to visit the Wild East again. You shouldn’t have been so close to the ground or even using the main path for that matter… You hadn’t even noticed them until it was too late to stop and in your shock, your body entered its solid state. Your momentum caused you both to fly which ended with the two of you landing in front of the Feisty(j) Five’s Hideout.
The sudden collision may have dazed you, but the firm hold on your body almost immediately snapped you out of it. In the chaos of your crash, you had brought your arms around your unfortunate victim to protect their head, but you hadn’t registered who they were until now.
Dear Angel, you had to crash into North Star of all monsters!!!
Your face burned with embarrassment and only worsened as you fully processed what was happening. Not only were both you and North Star holding onto each other for dear life, meaning that there was absolutely no space between you, but you were also very naked!
You were literally straddling him! You liked him, but you wanted to get to know him first!
You could feel all of his outfit’s different textures as you quickly lifted yourself off of North Star and removed your arms from under his head. Unfortunately, you didn’t get very far with his arms still firmly wrapped around you.
“Uugh… wha–”
“Wait! Waitwaitwaitwait! Don’t! Ack!”
Quickly snatching his hat, you covered North Star’s face. Hopefully, you had been quick enough in covering his eyes.
“Uh, what’s… going on? Why’re we lying in the sand?”
Oh… was that his real voice? How was he so attractive, both in and out of character?
Not the time! Not the time!
“O-oh! Haha, f-funny story, really! I, um, I was taking a shortcut and… and I wasn’t looking where I was going! And I’m real sorry, Sheriff! I didn’t mean to bowl over you like that! I–”
You stiffened as you felt North Star rub your bare back… when had he lost a glove? A chill ran through your body as North Star traced your spine before tensing underneath you. His hold around you loosened as his ungloved hand splayed across your back while the other hand slowly traveled to your hip, resting on it.
“Where… Are you–”
“I-It–! It was an accident! I didn’t mean–! I mean, I did, but no one was supposed to see! This is all so–! I–”
“Naked?”
“agh…”
What you did the other night was nothing compared to this…
Resting your forehead on the sheriff’s chest, you let out a deep sigh.
“...yes…”
In a split second, North Star’s hands pulled away like you had burned them. Taking that opportunity, you quickly jumped to your feet to look for your bag. Sparing a glance at the sheriff revealed that he had rolled away and was using his hands to cover his face.
It was hilarious watching him roll around in the sand until he abruptly removed his hands from his face and got a good look at you in all your nude glory.
“Ah! I’m sorry! I was just–”
He immediately brought his hands to his face again before removing them with as much urgency as the first time. Though, this time he had his eyes shut tightly. His face, along with the markings at the ends of his rays, was lit up with a brilliant teal. He was glowing… literally.
He began to blindly pat the sand in his immediate vicinity. You might’ve laughed if you weren’t so busy panicking about the fact that your bag was nowhere to be found.
“Where is it? Where is it!?”
Hearing the panic in your voice caused North Star to pause his blind search.
“What are you looking for?”
“My bag!”
“Why–”
“It has all of my clothes in it!”
Right, you were still naked. How could that have slipped his mind so quickly?
The look of surprise on your face immediately filled North Star’s head along with the image of your unclothed body. He hadn’t meant to look directly at you, he just realized that the same hands on his face had previously been on your bare body. Oh Angel, you were going to think that he was a pervert!
“G-go into my house! Everyone’s at the saloon right now!”
Hearing the door close, the North Star quickly opened his eyes. Now that he could see, he realized that he probably looked a little odd trying to grab his hat that had been nowhere near him. Standing up, North Star placed his hat back on his head while shaking off the sand that clung to him. Other than missing a glove and some bruises, he was fine, maybe a little incredibly embarrassed, but ultimately fine.
Good thing you managed to knock one of his gloves off in your crash… there’s no telling how long it might’ve taken him to notice you were naked otherwise…
He could still feel the heat of your body and the softness of your skin on his hand… He hadn’t meant to feel you up! It was only after not feeling any kind of clothing or hearing any rustling fabric did he even consider the idea that you might be naked!
“I’m sorry I didn’t realize sooner!”
Scouring the area, North Star looked for any sign of your bag. It couldn’t have gone that far, but the dimming light of the Swelterstone wasn’t making his search any easier.
“Wha–? How were you supposed to know that I was naked!?”
“I-I don’t know!!”
North Star felt his blush worsen at the sound of your laughter. The glow of his embarrassment made itself clear on the underside of his hat.
His frantic search for your bag came to an end as he spotted it lying on the train tracks past the fencing. After grabbing it, North Star skillfully hopped over the fence only to trip on the step of his porch. After all that… he just decided to lie there.
“Are… are you alright?”
Sighing, North Star held your bag up to the door of his house.
“...yeah… I got your bag…”
Cracking the door open, you were met with the sight of the sheriff lying face down on the porch. But sure enough, he did have your bag.
“You found it! My hero!”
Feeling the weight of your bag leave his hand, North Star huffed out a laugh at your words. He didn’t really feel heroic at this moment. He had been thoroughly embarrassed by his actions even though they had been accidental. Not only had he seen you while completely exposed but he had groped you too! And to top it all off, he’d broken character as well.
There’s no way you hadn’t noticed.
A pervert and a fraud…
A harsh creak from the house door pulled the sheriff from his self-deprecating thoughts, but he didn’t dare look up for fear of another mistake.
“Sheriff… I’m dressed now…”
Despite your words, North Star didn’t move. It couldn’t be comfortable lying face down on the hard wood… Grabbing one of his hands you pulled him into a sitting position and sat next to him. He still refused to look at you, opting to fiddle with the glove he still had.
“I’m sorry I, uh, crashed into you… and embarrassed you… and used your house as a refuge… and, uh, y’know… flashed you…”
An awkward laugh briefly bubbled up in your throat before it died off as a groan. Bringing your knees to your chest, you crossed your arms over them and buried your face. Forget having a relationship with the sheriff, or even a friendship, you’d never be able to show your face around him again!
“I’m sorry for looking and, uh, copping a feel! I… um, you… yer real pretty though! Wait… I didn’t mean it like that! I–! agh…”
You choked on your laugh as you heard the sheriff slap his face. Looking up, you saw that he’d hit himself hard enough that his hat flew off and landed behind him.
You both sat on the edge of the porch for a second, just stewing in embarrassment. After a moment, you sat back and grabbed North Star’s hat, and placed it back on his head. You smiled as he dragged his hand down his face and looked at you.
“Well… thank you. I know what you meant, that’s sweet of you… though I wish I knew who was telling me that…”
Tilting his head a little, North Star frowned in his confusion.
“Who’s tellin’ you? I’m tellin’ you…?”
Smiling at his uncertainty, you thought about bringing up his accidental break of character. You didn’t blame him. From being dazed because of the collision to being horrified by his actions, staying in character had probably been one of the last things on his mind. Maybe it’d be better not to bring it up… or maybe…
“Yes… I know it’s you telling me… but I’m wondering if it’s actually you who’s talking… or if it’s the sheriff.”
North Star flinched slightly, his frown deepened as he lowered his head.
“I… you… you know…”
He… he thought that you thought it was real!? You thought that everyone knew that it wasn’t real! Was it real to others? Was it real to him? No, you knew that he knew it wasn’t real. Still, you didn’t mean to upset him!
Your mind reeled as you quickly tried to come up with ways to backpedal on your previous statement. Thoughts bounced around your head as words tumbled out your mouth.
“W-well, yes! I, um, t-the Underground is a pretty peaceful place! There’s barely a need for the Royal Guard, other than to capture humans! So, y’know, there’s really no need for a sheriff to stop crime! I–! I’m not saying that there’s no need for you!! I–! Agh! I Really Admire You For What You’re Doing! It’s why I’ve never called you ‘North Star’! Because I–! …because I… because… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you…”
Running your fingers through your hair, you closed your eyes with a sigh. You made it worse. You made it worse! You just had to open your mouth. Screw thinking, right?
“...I hadn’t noticed you’d never called me by name… Why don’t you…?”
Blinking at his question, you were pulled from your previous thoughts as it registered in your mind. Out of everything he could have focused on, you were glad it had been that particular topic. Maybe you could fix this.
“I… I know that ‘North Star’ is just a stage name… I didn’t really care… originally. But then… a little while ago, I saw your act slip…”
Looking at the sheriff, his gaze was unwavering as he took in each and every word you said. Feeling your cheeks heat at his rapt attention, you quickly looked away.
“It was only for a second! And I don’t think you even realized that I had noticed you, no one else did! But… when you re-entered the saloon that night… you chased away everyone’s unhappy thoughts. You helped them forget about our situation… And you continue to do it every day…”
You quickly turned your body to face the sheriff. Grabbing his ungloved hand, you brought it to your chest as you interlocked your fingers with his. You let the back of his hand rest just slightly above where your soul was.
A blush quickly colored the sheriff’s face at your gesture. Your own blush made it onto your face as you recognized that your action could be perceived as extremely intimate. North Star could probably feel the pulse of your magic… But you had already come this far, you wouldn’t back out now.
“That’s when I knew that the whole sheriff thing was just an act! All of those scenarios were orchestrated! It wasn’t real, it never was! But the happiness that you inspired… that was real… And… and you don’t just do it for yourself, do you?”
A smile made its way on your face as you felt a surge of affection for the man in front of you. He stared at you, mouth slightly agape. Lightly squeezing his hand prompted the sheriff to confirm your assumption with a nod.
“I thought so… and knowing all that, I… I wanted to get to know you. The real you. I wanted to get to know the kind and considerate monster who was behind my favorite sheriff… I never called your name because… I wanted to know you first. I wanted to know where Sheriff North Star ended and where you started. I–”
Your eyes widened as you realized what you had just said. That was definitely a confession…
Your face burned. You brought a hand to your face in an attempt to cover it and let go of North Star’s hand, but he didn’t let you pull it away. Instead, the sheriff brought your connected hands to rest on his leg.
You were stuck in limbo as you waited for his response. His neutral expression gave no clues as to what he was thinking. His face glowed with his teal blush, but you didn’t want to assume that that was a good thing.
“I… I’m your favorite?”
A smug, yet goofy smile lit up the sheriff’s face. After missing a beat, you burst out laughing and North Star joined you. You squeezed his hand slightly as you caught your breath.
“Hahaa… of course you’re my favorite. How could you not be?”
The sheriff glowed a little brighter at those words. After catching his own breath, his grin softened into a shy smile.
“I think I’d like to get to know you too… if you still want to, after… ya know, everything.”
You were absolutely delighted! Thrilled! Ecstatic! Overjoyed! Euphoric! Oh, words couldn’t even begin to describe how happy you were. You hadn’t ruined your chances, not at all. You had just gotten confirmation that you actually had a chance!
Feeling energized, you quickly stood, pulling the sheriff up with you. Grabbing his other hand, you stuck close to him as you spun with him. His steps were a little wobbly, but you were able to keep him from tripping as you guided him in your brief dance. Your smile grew while laughter escaped you.
“Yes! I still want to get to know you!”
You slowed the spinning of your dance and let go of North Star’s left hand. After making sure you had his full attention, you shook his right hand and reintroduced yourself.
Chuckling at your antics, the sheriff removed his hat and shook your hand with a smile.
“It’s nice to meet you…”
He paused for a second. You almost thought that he had changed his mind.
“My name’s Starlo!”