Author's Note:
wait
...
wait!
WAIT! Hold on.
The following is a brief, little one-off I've been working on. It's a bit of post-epilogue fluff for the story "The Chat(s)" which I completed some time ago.
If you've got the time and inclination, then checking out the other story might clear a bit up. Having said that, it isn't absolutely necessary that you have prior knowledge to enjoy the story, it may just be a smidge more confusing.
Either way, I hope you have fun reading it :)
"What's a goat?"
Asriel sat at the breakfast table, fork-in-paw, waiting for an answer to his question.
None was forthcoming.
Sans had blockaded himself behind the morning newspaper as usual, and Frisk didn't even seem conscious. The child rested his forehead against his plate and drooled.
Toriel poured pancake batter into a skillet. After a moment she spoke. "Well, dear, they are a surface creature called an 'animal'."
Asriel blinked. "Are they a kind of monster?"
This brought a choked snicker from Sans, but he said nothing.
"Not exactly, my child. They are not magical…"
"People at school are always talking about goats when I'm around, but what are they?"
A spasm of silent laughter sent Sans' newspaper bobbing up and down.
Toriel fished a spatula out of a drawer. "I suppose that might be from certain *ahem* resemblances…" She trailed off and flipped pancakes.
An awkward half-silence filled the room, disrupted only by the sizzle of batter.
"…Resemblance?"
A voice echoed in Asriel's head. He glanced down at his chest, and to the mahogany-red heart floating over it.
You are a goat, Asriel.
Asriel flinched like he'd been struck. He put a petulant, tattle-tale slant to his voice. "Mom! Chara called me a goat!"
"Chara, don't tease your brother."
Asriel felt himself get nudged to the side in his own head. His connection to his body grew fuzzy and his throat began to work on its own.
"But he is! He's got the floppy ears and everything. You too, Mom."
Toriel piled the pancakes onto a platter and brought it over to the table. "Simply because we appear similar does not mean that we are. Now settle down and eat your breakfast."
Asriel pushed at Chara's consciousness and tried to retake control over his limbs.
Move. I wanna eat breakfast.
Chara wouldn't budge. No, you ate breakfast yesterday. It's my turn today.
Asriel's body reached out to skewer a few pancakes and shift them onto his plate.
But you don't even like pancakes.
Sure I do. I just don't like the syrup.
That's the best part!
It's not like you can't taste it, you know. I'm going to forget how to use silverware if you don't let me practice now and again.
Asriel's body grabbed a dull butter knife off the table and proceeded to slice the pancakes into squares.
At least use the blueberry syrup. You have to.
No way. It's too sweet.
You're so weird!
Chara gave his equivalent of a mental shrug and popped a bite into Asriel's mouth.
Asriel wilted at the disappointment of syrup-less pancake.
Toriel nudged Frisk and smiled. "Come now, sleepy head. Your breakfast is getting cold."
"i think he's down for the count, tori," said Sans. "he pulled an all-nighter trying to one-up my galaga high-score. heh, good luck with that one. in his dreams, maybe." He folded the paper with a self-satisfied expression and assembled a stack of pancakes.
Toriel pursed her lips and narrowed her eyelids to slits. "So did you watch Frisk attempt this all night long?"
"oh yeah, it was a great time."
"You are aware that he has a bedtime, yes?"
"he was feeling pretty determined at the time. dunno if 'wrap it up, bedtime' would have sat too well with him."
"I see…"
A small patch of flame materialized atop Sans' pancake stack and slowly expanded, engulfing and blackening the thing.
"Oh dear, Sans. It appears that your breakfast is burnt. I certainly hope this does not happen tomorrow."
Sans' smile grew brittle like porcelain. "right, yeah… it uh… it won't."
"I am glad to hear that."
Sans rested his chin in his hand and attempted to scrape the ash off his pancakes with a fork.
After a few more bites devoid of syrup, Asriel began to grow frustrated. He poured all his will into his left arm and snaked a trembling hand across the table to snatch at the blueberry syrup bottle.
C'mon.
Stop. Wait your turn.
Just once! Please.
I said stop!
Asriel's other arm reached out to grab the first by the wrist. His body twitched and jittered as the two wrestled for control.
But they need it!
No they don't, they're fine without it!
They continued to struggle until their chair practically vibrated under them.
Toriel sat up straight and furrowed her brow. "Boys, no fighting. Use your words."
"It's not my fault Asriel won't wait his turn!"
Asriel wrenched control of the throat from Chara. "It's just a little syrup! They're supposed to go together!"
Toriel lowered her fork. "Children, you agreed to take turns at the breakfast table. I have told you this many times, but sharing a body takes a great deal of responsibility. Now Asriel," she tilted her head, "whose turn is it now?"
Asriel relaxed his thoughts and his body followed. A defeated huff escaped his mouth. "It's Chara's…"
"Very good. Now let Chara finish breakfast."
Chara took charge of the arms and resumed his meal. He said nothing, but Asriel could feel the smug triumph oozing from his soul.
Asriel endured the tasteless bites stoically, as Toriel attempted some one-sided small talk with Sans. The skeleton offered nothing and prodded at his blackened food.
By the time Chara had worked his way to the last pancake, Asriel's patience had become paper-thin. As Chara raised the fork for a bite, Asriel forced all his focus into the left arm and snatched the syrup bottle off the table. Before Chara could react and stop him, Asriel popped the cap with his thumb and squeezed the bottle. The lid flew off and a sticky, blue mess exploded all over the plate, the pancake, and Asriel's new sweater.
Toriel shot up with a shriek of her chair. "Boys! What did I just say?"
Asriel, you idiot!
Don't yell at me! I just wanted some syrup! The bottle's broken or something!
Mom's going to ground you! Which means she's going to ground me too!
No, it isn't my fault!
Of course it is!
Chara grabbed a napkin and wiped hurriedly at the sweater.
Mom made this for us like three days ago and you've already ruined it.
S-Stop blaming me.
You better not start crying. That's not going to help us.
Asriel sniffed. "No, I didn't mean to. I just—"
Toriel released a sigh and circled the table. "Sans, would you please lend a hand?"
Sans tapped into his magic and floated a roll of paper towels over from the kitchen. "uh, sure thing." He averted his eyes and returned to his meal.
"Honestly Asriel, I have told you this many times. You must learn to share and to compromise. You cannot always have what you want."
"Why do you always say that to me, Mom? What about Chara? Why don't you ever say it to him?"
Asriel felt his throat constrict and a snide voice emerged. "Well it's never my fault. Since there're only two of us in here, by process of elimination…"
Toriel frowned. "Hush, Chara. Now get that sweater off so I can wash it. And Asriel—" She paused and a trill of fear rushed through Asriel's chest. "Go to your room. Do not come out until I return from errands this afternoon."
"But it's Saturday! Cartoons are about to come on!"
"No 'buts'. Take the time to think about your actions. And maybe next Saturday this will not happen again." Toriel deftly removed Asriel's sweater and wiped the remaining syrup off his chin. "Sans will bring you some lunch around noon." Her eyes darted across Asriel's face. "I am sorry, Chara, but Asriel needs to learn."
"Sure, fine. Not like I haven't heard that one before."
Asriel's body jerked away and took a few stomping strides out of the kitchen. Before they reached their room, Toriel's big billowy arms wrapped them from behind.
She spoke low and earnest. "I know you may not believe it sometimes, but I love you boys very much. I will always want what is best for you."
Asriel stood rigid and wordless. He knew if he tried to speak it would only be spite. And Chara seemed to know the same.
They parted from Toriel's arms and slunk into their room. Asriel tried to go to the beanbag chair in the corner, but Chara wrenched control of the legs away and marched over to their bed. He flopped them down and turned to face the blank wall.
Chara's soul smoldered like a red-hot kettle. A small part of Asriel wanted to apologize, but the rest felt Chara was just as much to blame. The thought slipped out before Asriel could catch it.
It's not fair. Why does Mom always take your side?
This again? Because I actually wait my turn, unlike you. And Mom feels bad about constantly grounding me for your mistakes.
I—I don't always…
Asriel's urge to argue crumbled and he tried to reach out for the stuffed animal he kept on his bed. It was a cotton-filled monster doll that Mom had made, with button eyes and stitched-on fangs. Hugging it always calmed him down.
Chara held their arms rigid at their sides.
After a few minutes, the door cracked open and Frisk shuffled in. He squinted and rubbed at his bedhead. A bit of syrup speckled his bangs. "Hey guys, what happened? Where are Pap and Tor—uh, Mom? Why are you here? Cartoons are about to start."
"Ask Sans."
"He's napping outside on his lawn chair. I don't want to wake him up."
"Typical."
Asriel tried to roll over and face Frisk, but Chara wouldn't budge. He spoke to the wall in a tiny voice. "We're grounded for fighting."
Chara's soul flared. "We?! No, no. He's grounded. I'm totally innocent, but still stuck here anyways. Just—Just go watch your cartoons, Frisk. Leave us alone."
Asriel started to speak up, but Chara clamped their mouth shut.
Stop, okay? No more talking. We're just going to sit here until Mom shows up.
But I want to talk to Frisk.
Yeah, well I don't.
Frisk rubbed a toe into the carpet and cast his gaze across the room. "I can stay if you guys want. I don't have to watch cartoons. They're mostly reruns anyways. Do you want to color, or something?"
Asriel's jaw clenched and trembled as he struggled to get a word out, but Chara held firm.
Stop it, Chara! Let me talk.
Not happening.
You always do this! Quit it!
Frisk chewed his lip for a second. "Well then, I guess I'll see you guys at dinner…" He bowed out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.
That isn't fair!
What's not fair is being punished for something you didn't do.
You never let me do anything.
Of course I do, when it's your turn.
Asriel sank. His body grew slack and he drew as far away from Chara's consciousness as he could. Chara did the same, and a sort of gulf formed, like a rift in the middle of Asriel's mind.
Time passed, though how much was an uncertainty. Staring at the blank wall made the minutes lurch by irregularly. Asriel stitched his thoughts together one thread at a time. Debating with Chara was always so hard. No matter what argument Asriel presented, it only took Chara seconds to tear it down.
After a moment, Asriel shouted across the gap.
But what about right now?
Huh?
Whose turn is it right now? Whenever Mom makes us take turns, you do it, but otherwise you always choose where we go and what we do. How is that fair?
The stuff you want to do is always silly or pointless. I make the right decisions, the things we should do.
So what if it's silly? It's fun.
Asriel, we aren't exactly little kids, you know. We've both been around for hundreds of years. We're basically grownups.
I don't feel like a grownup. Besides… I don't remember it, you know that.
Chara drew back and cut off the conversation.
After a few hours that felt like days, the door cracked open once again. This time around, Sans was the one to make an appearance. He entered the room wearing his usual grin, but it seemed oddly fragile. He crossed the room and laid a tray beside Asriel.
"i figured you two could use something to eat. don't want you kids to be skin and bones when tori gets back. you like pb and j?"
Asriel rolled over to get a look at the meal. It consisted of a sloppily-constructed peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a whole apple, and a bag of potato chips.
"You really went the extra mile, huh?"
"heh, you know me. i prefer the simple things in life."
Asriel frowned. "Can I have a drink?"
Sans fished through his jacket and pulled out a juice box. "yeah, sure."
Asriel went for the chips, but Chara guided their hands towards the apple instead. Asriel accepted grudgingly and sank his fangs into it. It was a red one. He hated the red ones. They tasted all waxy and gross.
Oh big deal, food is food.
If you don't care, then why didn't you just let me use some syrup this morning?
Chara didn't respond.
Sans sat down at the foot of the bed and picked at the hem of his gym shorts. He waited for Asriel to finish eating before he spoke. "so, uh, life in the slammer must be pretty rough, huh? you holdin' up alright?"
"More or less. It's not the end of the world."
"No."
Sans chuckled "getting some mixed messages here. hey, listen, pap's at dance recital and tori's not gonna be back for a few hours. if you wanna fly the coop i won't stop ya."
It's probably a trap.
You think everything Sans does is a trap.
You don't know him like I do.
Chara shot Sans a cryptic look. "Why?"
Sans shrugged. "dunno, seems like tori just went a little overboard with the punishment. it's a beautiful day outside, it'd be a shame to waste it."
"Pass." Chara pushed the tray aside and rolled over to face the wall again.
"oh, feeling lazy today? i can relate." Sans picked up the tray and took a few steps towards the door. "y'know, if you don't feel like playing outside, then maybe we could hang out in my game room for a bit…"
A jolt ran through Asriel and he surged to a sitting position. "Really?"
Asriel, don't.
But Sans never lets us in his game room! He's got ping-pong and videogames. C'mon, we have to!
I know you never look for it, but Sans has an agenda here. I'm not moving until I figure out what it is.
Chara, please.
"well?" Sans cocked his head to one side.
Asriel pushed against Chara's control of the body, and a quiver ran down his limbs and through his jaw.
I said don't.
"Y-Y—"
"looking like a tie to me." Sans' grin widened. "i'll take a fifty-fifty. whichever of you is against it can just chill, then."
Sans reached for his magic and lifted Asriel off the bed and levitated him through the air on an invisible stretcher.
"come on, it'll be fun."
Sans' game room was less of a room and more of a whole floor. He had called dibs on the finished basement within the first two minutes of moving into the house, and had guarded it jealously ever since. Frisk and Papyrus got special access now and again, but for the rest of the time the door leading down to it remained locked and barred.
"He has a thing for locked doors and secrets," Chara would always say.
They arrived at the door and Sans spent a few minutes unlocking it, making a joke of suspiciously peering over his shoulder as he did it.
Sans winked. "gotta keep both eyes open, know what i mean?"
Asriel could feel Chara's mental groan, but he brushed it aside and grinned.
Sans deposited Asriel at the bottom of the stairs and dismissed his magic with a snap. "well, take your pick. we've got a while before tori shows up."
"Alright, fine."
"Okay, okay, um, I wanna play pool, and then Galaga, and then—oh wow, you have a foosball table?" Asriel darted about the room inspecting Sans' wonderland until Chara ground their feet to a halt.
"Where'd you get all these? You couldn't have bought them. You don't even have a job."
Sans leaned against the wall. "well, here and there. and i've got plenty of jobs, they're just… low maintenance. so anyways, what's your pick?"
"Let's play foosball!" Asriel beamed and trotted over to the handles. He spun them experimentally. "Frisk talks about this game all the time."
"alright, though I gotta warn ya, i'm a bit of an old pro."
Chara furrowed Asriel's brow. "Then I'll go after you beat Asriel."
"Hey! You don't know. I could win!"
Sans strolled over and cracked his knuckles. "here we go."
'Old pro' turned out to be an understatement, and the game quickly spiraled from 1-0 to 10-2 to 14-3. Asriel chewed on his tongue and growled as the game played out. He spun the handles with all his might, but to no avail: 15-3.
"nice try, kiddo, but i've got a bit more practice under my belt. maybe next time."
Asriel slumped and massaged his arms. "That's hard."
"you scored a few points, though. that's something."
"Yeah, I guess…"
He let you have those, by the way.
No he didn't, Chara! Stop saying that.
Whatever, my turn now.
Asriel mumbled under his breath as his connection to his limbs grew faint. "Like you can do any better…"
"I intend to." Asriel felt a smile creep across his face.
Sans' expression hardened like baking clay. "feels like things just got serious. ready… chara?"
"Always."
Despite the posturing and glares, the outcome was much the same: 15-4.
Once it was over, Sans leaned back from the foosball table and rolled his shoulders in a self-satisfied sort of way. "no need to go easy on me, chara. you aren't pulling your punches, are ya?"
Ha! You got dunked on.
Shut it. I still did better than you.
By one!
It's because your arms are so weak. I would have done better with Frisk' body.
Don't blame me! They're our arms, not just mine. And Sans just kicked your butt is all. End of story.
"I want a do-over," Chara growled. "Rematch!"
Sans nodded. "thought you'd say that. though without determination you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way."
Wait, it's my turn now. I get to rematch first.
Hold on. I've got this. I just need to study his moves.
But it's my turn!
Just a few more tries.
Another dozen attempts passed, and Chara was no closer to victory. Beads of sweat collected beneath the fur of Asriel's forehead and he started up a light pant.
"feeling alright, kiddo? we can stop if you want."
"No. We're not stopping until I win."
"heh, you're sounding like frisk did yesterday. but last time i checked, i still had the high score in galaga. you might want to throw in the towel, champ. you can't beat me one-on-one."
Chara grunted and gripped the foosball handles. "Another."
Asriel watched in bitter silence as Chara was bested again and again. After every match, Sans would offer an opportunity to give up.
"c'mon, don't you want to play something else? neither of you can beat me alone."
As the games bled into each other, Asriel kept expecting Chara's stubbornness to crumble, but it only continued to harden. He glowered across the foosball table at Sans and studied his movements with a piercing eye. All Sans did was smile.
Uh, Chara, can we stop? Or at least let me have a turn?
You don't understand, Asriel. I have to beat him!
But… can you?
Chara's thoughts grew very still, and he approached the foosball table for another game.
"tori's gonna be back soon, kiddo. we should probably wrap this up."
"Just a few more…"
As a fresh game began, an idea came to Asriel. He forced his will into his body, focusing on the left side. Chara attempted to repel him, but Asriel gripped the foosball handle and growled.
Chara, listen. If neither of us can beat him, then maybe both of us can beat him. You know, teamwork and compromise. The stuff Mom always talks about.
Asriel could feel Chara's kneejerk reaction, and the initial wave of rejection was intense. No, Asriel. I—
Please, Chara.
Okay, fine. I'll take the right. Just focus on blocking.
Okay!
Asriel settled his vision on the center of the foosball table and let his eyes lose focus, allowing them both to see the whole field.
Sans tilted his head. "going for some kind of zen tactic, kiddo? not sure it'll help you much." He grinned and hunched over the bars.
"We'll see."
This match lasted longer than any of the others. The hard, white foosball ricocheted back and forth, and the whole table rattled from the intensity. Sweat began to bead on Sans' skull, and his grin dwindled to a grimace.
"you're doing a lot better this time around. we sure this is game fifteen and not fifty? i thought we were fresh out of determination."
Asriel and Chara remained silent and focused on the game.
It wore on, 10-9, 12-10, 14-12, 14-14, until the point that victory hinged on a single goal.
Asriel's arms shook from exertion and his legs had grown rubbery from hours of standing there, but he pushed it away. They were too close.
It ended in a flash, a pass from left to right and a twist of the wrist: 14-15.
"HA! I did it! Take that, you 'old pro'!"
Sans heaved a great sigh and collapsed onto a condiment-stained recliner. "dang, kid. looks like zen is your thing after all." His expression turned hard. "you really stepped it up, felt like i was being double-teamed for a minute there. which of you was i playing, by the way."
"Me."
Sans chuckled. "that really narrows it down." He wiped at his forehead and drew out his pocket watch. "we might want to call it there, tori will—" The sound of slamming car doors and rustling grocery bags carried from upstairs. "err, you should probably run."
Chara wrenched control of the other leg and darted up the basement stairs. He zipped around the corner, into their room, and crashed onto the bed.
Stop panting, Mom will get suspicious.
So tired—gonna die.
You're fine. Hold your breath or we're gonna get double-grounded.
Asriel took a great gulp of air as the door creaked open. Over his shoulder, Asriel could hear the shuffle of Mom's feet against the carpet.
"Boys, I am home. Were you sleeping?"
Yeah, go with that. Pretend you were asleep.
Asriel rolled over and faked a stretch. "Y-Yeah."
"Well, it is time get up. Your grounding is over. You may play outside with Frisk now."
C'mon, get up. It'll blow our cover if we don't.
But I'm so tirrred.
Fine, I'll do it. Chara pushed them off the bed and trotted out the door. "Great, finally." He managed a few steps off the front porch before dipping around a corner and crumpling onto the grass.
We really need to figure out how to make you stronger. This is just not acceptable.
Yeah, whatever. Asriel sprawled on his back and stared vacantly at the afternoon sky.
Should we go find Frisk?
Give me a minute.
They remained motionless as Asriel panted and his hearth thumped. He closed his eyes against the sunlight and began to doze in his exhaustion. Time passed, but before he reached the point of sleep he felt a prodding sensation in his thoughts, like someone tapping on his shoulder.
Hey, Asriel. I, uh… Thanks for helping with foosball. I couldn't have won solo. There was a pause. And sorry for hogging all the games. I just… really needed to win.
Asriel smiled. Yeah, it's okay. Sorry for getting you grounded.
A shadow fell over Asriel and he craned his neck to look up.
An upside-down Sans loomed under him, bearing an amused expression.
"you're lookin' pretty bushed for someone who spent all day sitting in bed being grounded." He sat cross-legged in the grass and tousled the fur of Asriel's head. "good game, champ. or should i say 'champs'?"
Asriel rolled over to face Sans, and Chara narrowed their eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"c'mon, i know a two v one when i see it. you kids pulled off some impressive teamwork there."
"Nuh-uh, Chara did it all by himself."
Sans' grin nearly engulfed his face. "right, guess i was mistaken." He rose and dusted off his gym shorts. "welp, tori told me to come get you. we're having dinner early today."
"What is it?"
Sans shrugged. "pancakes. seems like tori wants a do-over of her own. and, uh, it'll be chara's turn again since this morning didn't work out exactly…"
Asriel nodded and rose to his knees. "Right, I guess that makes sense…"
Chara patted their stomach. "You know what? I'm really in the mood for blueberry syrup right now. C'mon, let's go eat."
Author's Note: Yay! Done. This story was very unlike my other. This one lacked a lot of the angst present in the previous story. I hope you guys had fun with it, and if so, feel free to leave a review. What did you like/dislike? Any pointers?
Anyways, thanks for reading. See ya' around.