"hey. plant." Sans said one day, picking up the pot that the devilish flower had been rooted into. The buttercup hissed in defiance, but his petals drew back and he muttered
"What'd you want?"
"calm down there sprout, just wanted to ask you something." Sans said. Flowey eyed him skeptically, making a slight motion with two of his petals that may have meant 'go on'.
They've lived on the surface for a few months now. And although there were challenges to meet and to conquer, for the most part the initial enthusiasm remained. The monsters still rejoiced to be on the surface. The humans quite baffled. But, luckily, the human population seemed to have gone through their own sort of change. And they weren't quite welcomed… but tolerated. And really that's more than they could've hoped for.
But one thing still baffled the monsters. Or…Sans.
A day or two after they made it to the surface, Frisk had asked him a strange favor. To make a flowerpot. For Flowey. At the time, the skeleton hadn't thought much of it, as it was likely just the child being the kind soul they were. But as time passed and the plant seemed more and more awkward, and Frisk more or less forgetting they asked the favor, a new theory struck Sans's skull.
"why'd you want to be a houseplant?" he asked.
Flowey snorted, turned away with a huff "None of yer damn business."
"guess not." Sans shrugged. He winked "although you did just confirm it was YOUR idea."
Flowey stared at him. Then quickly spat at him, recoiling backwards and ruffling his petals up much like the fur of a cat. Then, suddenly, he stopped. Looked away and mumbled "…You really wanna know?"
"yeah. sure." Sans said.
"Fine." Flowey mumbled after a moment "So….after the Barrier broke…."
He sat amongst the flowers, claws gently tracing the soft outlines of the petal. Although he smiled, tears shimmered from the corner of his eyes. Sunlight filtered in through the hole above him, bathing his white fur in is golden light. It was so warm.
He craned his head upwards, closing his eyes and enjoying the sensation of the light hitting him. He let himself be happy, if just for a moment. Soon, once again he would be a flower. Unable to feel anything but the warmth.
A sob shook his body, suddenly and cruelly and he hunched over, trembling. Cradling his flowers with his small form. Tears streamed off his snout in streams, his nostrils quivering with each unsteady breathe he took.
Suddenly, he felt something soft shoved in his face. Vision blurry from the tears, he shakenly looked up. Short brunette hair, offering him a flower.
Asriel forced his smile back.
"O-oh, Frisk-" He greeted, trying to keep his voice steady.
"Wrong." The human interrupted. They reached forward, pressing hands on either side of his face and thumbs wiped the tears out of his eyes. His vision cleared and something caught in his throat. His sister smiled at him, tilting her head ever so slightly. "Recognize me now, moron?"
"C-chara….?" Asriel gapped.
She rolled her red eyes "No, I'm Sans."
Asriel puffed his cheeks out "If you are, then it's not funny-OW-!"
The human jabbed him with her elbow, settling next to him on the ground. "No I'm not Sans. Yeesh."
Asriel stared "B-but, Ch-chara- Y-You've b-b-been-" He swallowed, desperately trying to gulp down his tears.
"Dead." She finished his sentence for him. Again, she smiled at him. "Yeah. I know." The girl turned to look over the flower patch "I…I just didn't want you to be alone right now."
Asriel choked, frantically wiping at his eyes. He grinned "A-are you r-really h-here? Y-you can't be- I'm-I'm imagining t-this-."
Her arms wrapped around him, pulling him close to her body in a firm embrace. Her fingers curled into the back of his sweater, nails clawing into the surface of his fur. She spoke sternly, trying to cover the shaking of her voice "I'm here. For now. For you."
"B-but- H-h-how-" He asked as he returned the hug, burying his muzzle into her shoulder.
Chara barked out a short laugh, then chuckled out "Don't this seem familiar? I refused to be dead."
Asriel responded with a short laugh of his own, "It's 'refuse to die'."
"I already did, moron." She muttered.
"I'm sorry."
…
She pushed him away, and for a moment Asriel thought he had said something wrong. And maybe he did? For the first time for as long as he could remember, his sister was frowning. Eyes wide, locked right on him. Her mouth moved, though no words came out. After a moment, she managed:
"What?"
Asriel sniffed, looking away from her and wiping at his eyes "I-I'm sorry."
Chara tilted her head, staring at him in pure awe. Then her red gaze softened. She smirked lightly, softly punching him in the shoulder. Asriel recoiled none the less, rubbing at where she tapped.
"Don't be, moron. I poisoned myself." She said.
"But I didn't s-stop you." He responded in a whisper, again wiping at his eyes.
Chara shrugged "I would've done it anyway." Her smiled came back. A bit tight at the corners of her lips, her gaze locked on the petals. "I was kind of stupid like that."
"I should've-"
"Shut up." Chara snapped at him. At his wide eyes, she cleared her throat and spoke more gently "Seriously. Azzy, whether you helped or not, I would've done it. At some point I stopped being determined and was just…." She sighed "Stubborn? Yeah, I think that's it. So no. It's not your fault. Don't say sorry."
She suddenly grabbed his arm, pulling him down to lie on the flowers, looking up through the hole in the cavern ceiling. Her eyes were closed. Asriel didn't understand. A moment or two of silence, them laying there, she sighed out
"Don't strand yourself down here, Azzy."
Asriel couldn't help but chuckle "Oh? You sound like Frisk."
Chara smirked, keeping her eyes shut "Frisk sounds like ME."
"Yeah… I guess they do." Asriel said. He sighed, his ears flopping about every which way "But…Chara… I can't go up there. When I turn back to Flowey, I'll hurt everyone again."
"I like to think the skeleton-of-lame might keep that from happening." Chara said with a shrug "Just ask Frisk to tell him or Alphys to make a Flowey-Escape-Proof-Pot."
Asriel giggled, covering his mouth with his paw "Geesh. How would that conversation go?"
"Like all the others except about keeping a killer flower contained." She explained curtly.
Asriel laughed again, dropping his paw onto the ground and smiling fondly at his sister.
…
But then again frowned.
"…What about you?" he asked.
Chara shrugged "I'll just go back to being dead."
"WHAT-!?" Asriel shrieked, jumping upright. Tears glistened in his eyes "B-but, Chara-"
She silenced him with a hand on his snout. But she didn't look at him. No. Her eyes were still closed. Sure that she had succeded in quieting her brother, she moved her arms back to pillow her head.
"Determination can only defy reality for so long, Azzy." She said calmly "I broke it long enough to be here for you. And I'm…I'm sorry I can't stay longer. I'm sorry I wasn't able to be there for you when you were a flower…." She hesitated a moment. Then her smile faltered. A single tear streamed down the side of her face and onto the flowers. "But…Don't wait on me. Asriel…" Her voice choked up. She quickly wiped a sleeve across her face once again "Don't throw your life away because I'm not here. I don't want that for you, Asriel…." She sniffed "So…Just…." …
She didn't finish her sentence. Although Asriel knew what she was saying. A soft sigh, he knelt down and cradled his sister in his arms, hugging her tightly.
"I won't forget you, Chara." He choked. She hugged him back.
"I wouldn't count on it."
Sans leaned heavily on his arms, perhaps listening intently to the flower as he spoke. It was difficult to tell. The short skeleton's eyes were half-lidded, his grin ever present. And when the tale ended, he didn't say anything. So much so Flowey was sure he had fallen asleep. Then, as the plant was about to throw something at him, Sans reached over and gingerly patted him on the head.
"yer sister really cares about you, huh sprout?" he said lightly. Flowey bit his finger, then hissed at him..
"Don't pity me!"
"i'm not." Sans's voice dropped. The lights of his eyes seemed like they were looking at something distant. The corners of his grin turned down just a notch. "really, kid."
Flowey stared at him a moment. Waiting for him to say anything else. But he didn't. Sans simply leaned on his arms, looking at something too far for anyone else to see. After the pause became awkward, sweat somehow beaded on his small face. He gently nudged Sans.
"Hey, c'mon say something."
Sans blinked, becoming snapped back to this plane of existence, and his grin returned "sorry plant. what could I say? I'm just a…" he winked.
"NO."
"day dreemurr."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Flowey shrieked, smacking his face angrily against the table top. Sans chuckled at the plant's reaction, one eye socket opened and trained on the translucent figure of a girl, pointing and laughing at her brother's rage at the pun.
Maybe someday someone else will see 'em.