AN. A gift-fic for CommanderAIK. Happy birthday, man! Small niche best niche :)
"You're sure you'll be okay looking after them?"
Toriel lingered anxiously near the door, wringing her hands. Asgore was already outside, holding a bouquet of flowers and far too dressed up for the casual dinner date they had tentatively organised. The former queen of the underworld had accepted his invitation on the strict proviso that this was not a reunion. Asgore had been happy to be given a chance at all. And Tori had, cautiously, reached out feelers for those who would be appropriate babysitters. In the end, she had decided on Alphys, the socially awkward, ever anxious former royal scientist.
"We'll be fine." Alphys flushed and fidgeted with the hem of her lab-coat as Undyne exited the kitchen.
The former royal guard was wearing a loose tank top and an enormous pair of floral oven mitts. She propped one on a bony hip and flashed a toothy grin towards the former queen. "Yeah, Tori, it'll be fine! Kids love Alphy!"
Frisk and Asriel, already sitting on the couch, exchanged a quick glance. They were not super excited to be here. Alphys and Undyne, while fun to hang out with, also had a tendency to destroy things when they got excited. Well, one of the pair did anyway. And now that they thought about it, that wasn't actually that unusual from the group that Toriel had had to pick from.
She didn't look very convinced either, but heaved a short sigh and walked over. "Be good, my children," she said, and gently kissed each of their foreheads. "I'll be home before bedtime okay?"
"Yes, mum," Frisk said.
"Always, mum," Asriel said.
Toriel cast another anxious glance at her children, then left. Her eyes narrowed in a dangerous glare as she accepted the bouquet of flowers and Asgore's offered arm.
The door swung shut and Undyne's red eye fixed on the two children. "Okay, kids, are you ready for the best night ever?"
Frisk and Asriel exchanged a glance. Great. It was already starting. Nervously, they nodded. Their hands found each other and linked in preparation for the onslaught.
"Awesome!" The giant floral oven mitts went flying across the room, revealing thin gloves that bestowed a human skeleton motif to her blue-scaled hands. "First up I have a delicious and nutritious dinner already cooking! Then it's movie, games, books and bed!"
"U-unless you don't like any of that," Alphys interjected. She never pushed them to do things they didn't like. Homework, eating their vegetables, washing behind their ears. She didn't force them to do any of that stuff. There was clearly a lot of guilt she was still working through.
"That sounds fun," Asriel said.
"What's for dinner?" Frisk asked.
Undyne, for reasons that weren't completely clear, performed a series of flips into the kitchen. Alphys unpicked the hem of her lab coat and flushed a delicate pink. The children exchanged a glance and the three of them sat in awkward silence for a moment. When Undyne came rushing back into the room she was holding three pizzas. The uneven folded crusts and irregular piles of toppings gave away their homemade nature. They looked and smelled absolutely fantastic.
"I saw how to make them in MewMew's Cooking Adventure!" Undyne enthused, fangs bared in a joyful grin. "MewMew used her pizzas to revive the entire planet after anchovy aliens killed everyone!"
A shining blue spear appeared in her hand. Her hand moved in a blur, slicing surprisingly even pieces which she then flung at each of them. Frisk and Asriel caught theirs in their hands. Alphys opened her mouth and caught hers in mid-air, smiling shyly at Undyne.
"MOVIE TIME!" Undyne leapt up onto the couch, pointing down at Asriel and Frisk. They looked at her with identical wide-eyed expressions of surprise. "KIDS ON THE FLOOR, COUCH IS FOR GROWNUPS."
Oh that was a relief. She didn't want to spar; she just wanted them on the ground. They could do that.
The lights dimmed. An ancient projector emerged from the wall behind the couch and a flickering square of light appeared on the other wall. Undyne, a pizza slice hanging from between her sharp teeth, flopped on the couch and easily bundled Alphys onto her lap, hugging the scientist close.
The movie started. A slow pan over a coastal city with bright lights, delicately floating balloons and vivid colours. Big Hero 6. Frisk had wanted to see Big Hero 6 for years.
And the movie was amazing. The animation was flawless and the characters unique and memorable. Frisk and Asriel, perhaps seeing themselves in the two main characters, grinned and elbowed each other. Bumped fists. Nudged shoulders.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the tone shifted. Frisk glanced sideways. Their adopted brother's face had become very still, his eyes reflecting the flickering flames on the screen.
Before Frisk could react, could reach out, could comfort, Asriel let out a soft gasping sob and all hell broke lose.
Undyne exploded from the couch, sending Alphys flying across the room, and started flinging ice cream at the two children. Vanilla and chocolate and rainbow scoops spattered around them, coloured starbursts that started to melt immediately into the carpet.
After her stash of ice cream was spent she stood on the couch, her chest heaving with gasping breaths, a dripping scoop in one hand. Alphys struggled free of the tangle of curtains she had found herself in and rubbed her head.
"ICE CREAM HELPS!" Undyne shouted at Alphys before the dinosaur had the chance to voice her concerns.
Under the commotion the movie continued playing. A close up of a hat, turned upside down, bathed in flickering orange light. A brother lost. Killed tragically. A family left grieving and aimless.
Frisk ignored Undyne. Ignored the splattered melting ice cream, they leaned across and gently wrapped one arm around their crying brother.
"It's okay," they said softly, a comforting smile on their face. "We're okay." Asriel sniffled and rubbed beneath his eyes with his knuckles, leaving his fur ruffled and sticking up in odd directions.
"IS THE PRINCE OKAY!?" Undyne shouted down at them. Asriel flinched slightly and nodded.
"Yeah, he's okay," Frisk said. They smiled and nudged Asriel with their shoulder. "Aren't you, Az?"
At the nickname Asriel let out a low hiccoughing giggle, nodding and smiling even through his tears. Frisk cast a winning smile over their shoulder at Undyne, who lowered the scoop and grinned back.
"Good! Back to movie! C'mere, Alphy!" And she strode over, easily pulled Alphys free of the curtains and jumped back onto the couch, cuddling the dinosaur close.
Everyone turned their attention back to the screen, watching as the younger Hamada boy dealt with his grief. There were more tears from Asriel as the movie progressed. Quietly though, not loudly enough to alert Undyne and provoke another onslaught of ice cream or other confectionary. Frisk kept their hand entwined with Asriel's, squeezing at particularly emotional moments. Reminding and reassuring that they were still there. They weren't going anywhere.
Asriel always was a crier, after all.