Frisk hummed a little tune as they skipped down the street, tote bag slung over one shoulder. They were wearing skinny jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt topped with a denim vest. Today was Sunday and it looked like it was going to be great. Sure, there was a big math test worth 10% of their final grade tomorrow, and Monday tests, ugh! But they were on their way to Asgore's house; he was out of town on Monster Integration Committee business, and Toriel had given them permission to go even though she knew he would not be there. Asriel and MK were with their own significant others so no one else would come barging in. Which meant a whole afternoon. Alone. With their datefriend. Sure they had actual work to do, but being able to monopolize Chara's time and attention was like catnip to them even if they had no ulterior motives.

Chara knew they were coming and even if they did not Frisk was always welcome here. So they pushed open the front door of Asgore's house and called out, "Hi Chara! Ready to cram for the math test tomorr-"

Their datefriend looked over from the kitchen, frozen in mid-stride. They were dressed in a plain white t-shirt and sweatpants, their standard gear for lounging around the house. One hand was on the door to the microwave, the other held a single, sad-looking Hot Pocket.

Frisk's gaze went from Chara, to the microwave, to the hot pocket, and back to Chara. They took a deep breath, then dropped their arm to let the tote bag crumple on the living room floor. "No."

Chara raised an eyebrow. "'No'?"

"No!" Frisk repeated, stomping up to Chara. "You're not putting that junk in your mouth! You have to eat real food, good food, or you won't have the energy for the tests!" Their hand snaked out to grab the plate but Chara snatched it away.

"You can decide to stay healthy all you like," Chara protested, trying to keep the plate away from Frisk. "But I'm hungry, and I'm perfectly fine with my greasy, fatty, microwave food!" The two struggled as Chara shielded their frozen food with their body and Frisk tried to shove past them.

"You deserve better than that!" Frisk argued. "If you're hungry I can cook for you!"

Chara stopped their squirming and blinked. "Wait, you can cook?"

Frisk took advantage of the opening and snatched the plate away from Chara. "Toriel's my mom," they teased. "Of course I can cook." The transported the offending item back to the freezer and took the opportunity to poke around in the fridge. "Can you tell me what kind of veggies you have?"

"Uh, yeah." Chara had still not recovered from the stunning revelation that their datefriend could cook and followed Frisk's command without hesitation. They opened up the pantry and quickly scanned what was inside. "Not much… peppers, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots… if you're okay with canned stuff we have corn and peas, too."

Frisk said a silent apology to Asgore as they grabbed a bag of lentils and a package of mushrooms from the fridge. They hoped he had not had anything special planned for them. "Get me the peppers, onions, a few of the carrots, and… yeah, the tomatoes too. Where does your dad keep the knives?"

Then they were a storm in the kitchen: cutting up veggies, measuring out ingredients, juggling three pots on the stove while checking on the progress of the preheating oven, all while asking for the occasional odd ingredient from Chara with the precision of a surgeon. "Oil. Salt. Vegan Worcestershire sauce," etcetera. Chara tried to watch over their shoulder but it was clear they could not make heads or tails of what Frisk was doing, and before long they retreated to the kitchen's periphery to stay out of their way.

In less time than expected but more than Chara would have liked the meal was complete. It resembled a cream pie minus the crust, with a mass of finely chopped vegetables underneath a thick topping of mashed potatoes in a casserole dish. The whole thing had been placed under the broiler, so a golden-brown crust had formed over the top of the potatoes to conceal the white fluffiness underneath. Also like a pie, Frisk cut out a still-steaming slice of it and put it in front of Chara. "Um," Chara said, poking at the completed dish gingerly with a fork. "What is it?"

Frisk sat across from them at the dining table, huffing with their fists on their cheeks. "It's Shepherdess Pie! Don't be five, there's nothing in there you don't like."

"I merely find it incredibly fitting that a protege of Toriel chooses a pie, even if an unorthodox one, to show off their culinary skill." They cut into the "pie" and blew on it a couple times before hesitantly bringing it to their mouth. There was a beat as they chewed and swallowed. Without a word they dug in for another bite, eyes glued to their food.

Frisk smiled wide and kicked their legs out under the table. "It's good, huh?"

"Of course it is," Chara responded around a mouthful of food. They still had not looked up from their plate. "It was made with love."

Pointing out what they said would just make Chara flustered and ruin the moment, so Frisk chose to passively accept Chara's praise. They could get their own helping in a little bit. Studying could come later, too. For now they were content to watch Chara eating, their well-deserved reward for all their hard work.

AN: Until I was doing research for this story I had no idea that the dish I had grown up with and had called "shepherd's pie" all my life was actually "pâté chinois", a Canadian version of the traditional cottage pie with ground beef, corn, and mashed potato in layers and sometimes served with ketchup. The Shepherdess Pie Frisk bakes is a vegan variant of the original Shepherd's Pie.