A/N:
* ( Another Undertale oneshot because I still feel as if many of the characters in this game don't get the love they deserve...No offense to Sans but does he really need to be in every single thing [sorry not sorry that I'm salty about the collective obsession with Sans] )
* ( Anyway, have some Frisk, Alphys, and Undyne! Last time, I wrote in second person to stay true to the nature of the game, but this time I wanted to try out third person and see how it goes [though I stayed true to the Frisk never having dialogue]. This oneshot contains spoilers. Also, this isn't really connected to my other oneshot in any way, but feel free to check it out! )
Frisk walked.
Calmly putting one foot in front of the other, shoelaces untied and dragging through the collection of water on the asphalt, Frisk felt no need to rush through the stormy weather. The time spent in the Underground was time spent from out of the sky's reach, so Frisk wanted to appreciate this moment in which the world above touched them through droplets (though there had been some rain while they walked through Waterfall, back in the Underground). Touching their cheek, Frisk could feel the water from transfer from their cheek to their fingertips; though, they weren't sure if the source was the sky or their emotions.
You're real pathetic, you know, a voice, silent to everyone but Frisk, taunted. Walking through the rain while crying...Are you trying to make a dramatic scene?
Frisk was doing nothing of the sort, but didn't respond to the voice. Instead, they kept walking.
In reality, it wasn't a very long distance they were traversing. After spending the Saturday morning with Toriel, Frisk had been feeling on top of the world, powered by their adoptive mother's warm compassion and their own determination. However, all it took was one hurtful comment from another child and his father at the park to tear all of that down.
That was earlier. Now, Toriel had been reluctant to let Frisk go out alone, but Frisk was only walking to Undyne and Alphys' house; it was just down the street, so Toriel let them go independently, knowing they sometimes needed their space (after all, Frisk had walked alone through most of the Underground and made it out fairly successfully, so that was that).
Undyne was funny and Alphys was gentle. Frisk knew spending time with them would help alleviate some of the sadness caused by the playground bully, who had vocalized his parents' mean opinions of monsters to Frisk after seeing them walk onto the premises hand-in-hand with Toriel. Though this was far from the first time this had happened, it still hurt Frisk every time it did. The monsters, though only being in Frisk's life for a few months now, had all worked so hard to help build Frisk back up from their rough pre-falling-down-Mt. Ebott childhood. Toriel, especially, worked so hard on this daily, and Frisk felt guilty when she had to witness her loving dedication all come tumbling down over something Frisk believed to be insignificant (though Toriel would certainly disagree and shower Frisk with more love, which could be a little overwhelming).
Finally reaching the front door of their friends' home, Frisk knocked on the wood very softly. They weren't one to be loud, neither in speech nor gesture, which all of the monsters adjusted to quickly.
Frisk could still see that even now, as the door opened within five seconds of their knocking; Undyne must have been waiting by the door for them, knowing they were coming. Toriel probably called her to let her know Frisk would be coming over.
"Human!" Undyne greeted loudly, but not deafeningly. Frisk managed a small smile before letting Undyne drag them inside, pushing the door closed behind them. She frowned, looking Frisk over. "Kid, why are you soaking wet?!"
Frisk (with a sort of smugness to their voice) reminded Undyne it was raining outside.
"I knew that, punk!" Undyne said, though Frisk could hear a smile in her tone. She knelt down in front of them and unzipped their rain jacket, pulling it off to hang by the door; she held it by the hood, pointing at it with a curious expression. "Why didn't you wear your hood?"
Frisk shrugged, mumbling something along the lines of enjoying the feeling of the rain against their head.
Undyne stood up with a compromised expression. "Okay, I guess I can understand that, but still. You could have caught a cold!"
As if called upon by the franticness of Undyne's voice, Alphys suddenly appeared with a towel in her hands. "Frisk, do you mind if I, um, dry your hair off with this towel?"
Frisk shook their head with a small, appreciative smile; they had come to the Underground uncomfortable with physical contact, which their friends all seemed to pick up on instantly (even Toriel, who had actually offered them her hand, rather than just roughly grabbing theirs), and always made sure Frisk was okay with what they were doing. Even now, when Frisk never turned them down on their offers, the monsters still gave them the chance to turn down the physical connection, and it made Frisk feel a little better.
Alphys carefully laid the towel over their head and shoulders, sifting her claws through their wet hair. Undyne fumbled with her phone for a moment (probably texting Toriel to let her know Frisk had arrived safely, Frisk figured) before redirecting her attention to Frisk and Alphys.
"It's pretty chilly outside, kid. Want some tea?" Undyne offered.
Frisk nodded.
"I'll take, some, too," Alphys said. Undyne gave her a thumb's up and walked off to the kitchen.
When Alphys was done, she held the towel in one arm. "So, um, what's going on, Frisk?"
Frisk simply shrugged their shoulders, averting their gaze.
"That won't do," Alphys insisted, trying to act more assertively. "You know if I, uh, don't get it out of you, Undyne will."
That much was true - Undyne would, no doubt, interrogate Frisk if they resisted in explaining what was going on. The question for Frisk then became, is resisting worth it?
"Let's start by sitting down," Alphys suggested, placing a gentle hand on Frisk's shoulder.
They nodded, and walked into the dining room with Alphys, taking a seat beside her at the table. Undyne appeared not a minute afterward, three cups of her favorite golden flower tea in hand. Though Frisk hadn't been much of a tea person before, they made an exception for this specific kind which Undyne and Asgore would both offer them whenever they visited; it held a sentimental value now, which seemed to improve the taste.
"Here you go, kid." Undyne set the steaming cup before Frisk, taking a seat across the table from them. She pushed another cup toward Alphys. "Be careful, though; it's pretty hot!"
Frisk thought back to the time they spent with Undyne in the underground, becoming "besties," as she had called it. Undyne had been fairly uncomfortable, to say the least, yet still warned them of the scalding temperature of the tea (which was quickly followed by a more detached comment about it not being that hot, and Frisk better drink the tea because you are my house guest and you should show your manners, or something like that); however, Undyne's present warning was given with genuine care, and Frisk wondered if she would throw a spear through the hot cup should Frisk actually touch it.
Frisk really had great friends.
"So, back to my question, Frisk," Alphys suggested shyly, casting her eyes between Frisk and her cup of tea. "Your mother sounded pretty upset when she told us you were, uh, coming over earlier...What happened?"
Clasping their hands together tightly in their lap, Frisk looked into their tea with darkened eyes and withdrawn lips.
"Nnnngaaahh!" Undyne exclaimed in her typical fashion, though it was more reserved than normal. "That's not an answer!"
"Undyne…" Alphys tried to soften Undyne's slightly sharpened tone.
Frisk told them it was just something silly, that it shouldn't have upset them as much as it had.
"Listen here, punk! No matter what it is your feeling, or whatever the reason may be that you're feeling it, it's valid!" Undyne insisted passionately. "You could be sad because you dropped your ice cream earlier - it doesn't matter! What matters is that we're here to help you feel better!"
Alphys nodded along. "Uh, yeah, what Undyne said!"
"That's what besties are for!" Undyne continued, offering Frisk her characteristically large grin. "So, lay it on me!"
Frisk shuffled a bit in their seat before speaking up. They explained how they had spent the day with Toriel, which included going to the park; it was there, though, that things went south. A bully had said some mean things about monsters after seeing Frisk walk with Toriel, which made them sad. Before Frisk could do anything, though, Toriel came to their rescue, which resulted in the bully's father coming to his "rescue," too, and all Frisk really remembered was burying their face in the fabric of Toriel's dress while Toriel had an aggressive exchange of words with the human father.
A lot of things were going through Frisk's head at that time. For one, they could feel the burning gaze of the other child, the bully, on them, and hear his taunting voice in their head. That voice only accompanied the pre-existing one that had journeyed with them through the Underground and beyond, though, the one that tempted them to fight, harm, kill…
Frisk was supposed to help the monsters rejoin the world, as their ambassador; yet, they couldn't even protect Toriel from a mere bully and his egotistical, bigoted father?
They signaled the end of their explanation by finally wrapping their fingers around the warm cup of tea, raising it to their lips, and taking a small sip. The taste was amazing, as usual, both physically and emotionally, as Frisk could practically feel the love of their friends in the flavor (even a little bit of Asriel, trapped in his golden flower form in the Underground).
Undyne immediately shot up from her chair, standing up with a fist raised. "Alright, that's it, I'm gonna go find this kid and pound him and his lame-o dad into the ground! Nnnggaaahhh!"
Alphys, suspecting that reaction, carefully waved Undyne off with a hand. "Tha-that's not the solution, Undyne, and you know it."
"..." Undyne's expression relaxed, and she sighed, looking as defeated as Frisk felt. "Yeah, I guess…"
She reclaimed her seat, and Alphys turned back toward Frisk. "Thank you for sharing with us, Frisk. Living on the, um, Surface now is a pretty hard adjustment so far, I guess…"
Frisk couldn't agree more, which only emphasized how difficult everything was; Frisk came from the Surface world, and was a part of the human race, yet seemed to be struggling with assimilating into society just as much as the monsters.
"You know that dumb kid was wrong, though, right?" Undyne said, her voice softer now. "Frisk, really, he was just being an as-"
Alphys cleared her throat.
"-butthole. Yes, a butthole, not anything else," Undyne corrected herself, which made Frisk giggle a little. The reaction brought a small smile to Undyne's face, but she quickly grew serious again. "Look, Tori's used to this kind of stuff. I mean, it's kind of her job, since she was the queen of the Underground! She's always had to deal with buttholes!"
Frisk didn't look too convinced by the weird direction Undyne's argument had taken, so Alphys tried to translate. "I think what Undyne is, uh, trying to say is that Toriel can handle these things. You're right that it's-it's not fair that she has to, but that isn't your, uh, fault either."
"Exactly!" Undyne said. "Tori's tough, and there's nothing wrong with depending on her whenever you need to!"
"You're still young, so, naturally, you still, uh, need your mother a lot," Alphys added.
That made sense, but Frisk still felt pretty pathetic. They told Alphys and Undyne as such.
Something passed over Undyne's face, and her expression grew more...thoughtful. Frisk hadn't seen her look so serious before.
"Why, Frisk?" she asked slowly, a sharp contrast from her usual, loud, blunt, and reckless demeanor. "Getting picked on by a bully sucks, yes, but what makes you think that that makes you any less - for lack of a better word - awesome?"
Honestly...There were several things. The voice inside of their head from the Underground was laughing again, and Frisk sighed into their tea. This was one thing; if Frisk was constantly being tempted, through every failure and reset, to act out and kill one of their friends, did they really deserve all of this love? Furthermore, if they'd had the power to defend themselves without having to defeat the monsters, surely they could do this against two humans in a park?
Frisk tried to vocalize some of this (skipping over the tempting, internal voice), but wasn't sure how much of it made sense.
"Humans are scarier than monsters," Alphys said. "Their souls are, uh, incredibly stronger, and they always seem to do more bad things without remorse or proper punishment."
"Alphy is right! Humans are freaky! No offense," Undyne quickly added. "The word inhumane exists, for example, while there is no inmonstere."
"Well, English is a human language," Alphys reminded, "but that's beside the, uh, point."
"Anyways," Undyne interjected, "we're all here for you, Frisk. Accepting help doesn't make you weak, you hear me? I mean, come on, you don't think all of us are weak for giving up on our fights against you when you insisted on sparing us, right?"
...Undyne had a fair point.
She continued, "You didn't want to fight, you told all of us. You just wanted to be friends, to help us out while we were all trapped in the Underground...We let you help us, so now it's time you let us help you, okay?"
"Dealing with all of those, um, bullies by yourself isn't fair," Alphys insisted. "Toriel interfering was necessary, since she's, uh, your mom."
"Yeah, yeah! Tori loves doing mom-stuff! That includes protecting you," Undyne said cheerfully (which was a sudden change from her previous tone). "Does that make sense?"
Frisk nodded. Perhaps they had understood all of the things Undyne and Alphys had just explained all along - they just needed someone else to validate it for them verbally. Truthfully, Frisk felt less miserable now.
"...Don't forget to, um, care for yourself, Frisk," Alphys suggested a bit timidly, glancing between Undyne and Frisk. "Taking care of yourself doesn't mean dealing with problems alone; it means knowing when to let others help you, and, um, accepting their love because you deserve it."
Undyne smiled widely at Alphys' comment, which Frisk interpreted to mean it had come from some conversation between the two of them. Though Frisk was still fairly young and didn't understand many adult feelings, they were familiar with feeling unloved and unworthy of forgiveness; from what Alphys had said to them in the True Lab back in the Underground, she suffered from something similar. Alphys' words in the present conversation must have been a sign of progress in overcoming those feelings, then, judging by the pride in Undyne's expression.
"Do you feel better now, kid?" Undyne asked as Frisk finished off the rest of their tea. They said yes, setting the empty cup down. Undyne stood up with a fist pump. "Great! Because we still have to finish Shugo Chara! We only have, like, fifty episodes left!"
"I don't think we'll, uh, be able to finish all of that today, but we can try," Alphys said, and Frisk nodded in agreement.
They watched as Undyne returned and started talking about the last episode of the anime, Shugo Chara, she remembered watching. Alphys insisted she knew where exactly they left off. The couple proceeded to exchange a cute, playful banter, which Frisk watched happily. Frisk remembered the times Alphys seemed so remorseful and hopeless in the Underground, coupled with Undyne's chilling explanation of how she had met Alphys while the latter was staring "contemplatively" into the abyss at the dump; Frisk didn't completely understand what all of that meant, but they had a feeling that everything had improved tenfold for Alphys since then.
"Come on, kid! I know our walls are cool, but they're not that cool to stare at," Undyne called to them from the living room when they didn't follow.
Frisk quickly scurried after them, claiming their usual spot between the two on the couch. Undyne carefully laid a blanket over all three of them while Alphys fumbled with the remote for the TV. Frisk sank back further against the plush cushions of the couch, feeling warmer than ever.
"Nnngaaahhh! Alphy, we already watched this one!"
"Wh-What? Since when?"
"Since the last time we watched!"
"Are you sure you didn't just, um, watch some episodes by yourself?"
"...No."
"...You hesitated in your, uh, answer…"
"Nnnngaaahh! Did not!"
Frisk laughed softly at what seemed to be the sequel of their playful argument just a few minutes prior.
Alphys finally found the "correct" episode (according to Undyne, at least), and the group grew silent. While the opening song played, Frisk thanked Undyne and Alphys for helping them feel better.
"It's what we're here for, kid! Like I told you: we're besties."
"Like Undyne said, don't hesitate to come to us when you have problems."
Frisk nodded and softly reminded them they loved them.
"Love ya, too, Frisky!"
"Th-thank you for being such a great friend."
The anime episode resumed, and everyone's attentions were immediately redirected to the TV. The bright colors of the characters somehow reassured Frisk that things would get better, and Frisk believed them.
Frisk laid their head against Alphys' shoulder and played with Undyne's larger hand and fingers, knowing that as long as they were between Undyne and Alphys, all of their problems in the world beyond the walls of the house surrounding them now were void.