Lucky wakes in a state of mild confusion. The room they find themself in is unfamiliar and looks like it was meant for children. Being roughly child-sized themself, the size of the beds don't present a problem. It's the size of their borrowed nightgown that is the issue. It's wrapped so tightly around their legs that it's cutting off circulation, and no amount of thrashing and kicking can free them. They sigh, relenting, and sit up to work their legs free.

As they do so, the events of the previous day start to come back - the fall, Flowey, and Toriel. They remember eating their fill of butterscotch pie [although fruit pies are more appealing to them] and passing out in the living room.

It seems their right arm still hasn't recovered. They try to pick up their phone with it [not the ancient flip-phone Toriel had offered them, but the one they fell down with] but their fingers won't close tight enough to lift it. It slips through and plops back down onto the mattress.

Anxiety starts to creep into Lucky's gut, and their good hand goes to the place on their shoulder where the wound was. Something important must've been damaged by the bullet, and if magic couldn't fix it…

No, this is fine. I still have a whole other arm to work with!

They force their negativity down and stand. Grabbing at the purple fabric of the nightgown, they hold it up off the floor, so it doesn't drag, and go in search of Toriel.

She isn't hard to find. The motherly monster sits in the living room, cheerfully humming as she works to repair Lucky's damaged clothes.

"G'mornin," Lucky greets as they shuffle into the room. They take a seat on the floor in front of the fireplace, letting their back soak up the warmth.

"Good morning, Lucky. I hope you slept well."

"Sure did."

"I'm so glad...I was worried you wouldn't be comfortable in that room."

Honestly, they weren't. It was spacious and clean, but the fact that it had once belonged to children didn't sit well with Lucky. But…

"A bed's a bed," they say with a shrug. It's not like they plan on staying with Toriel for long, anyway. Just until they have their clothes back and are fully rested. "I ain't picky."

She smiles and reaches around to take something off the back of her chair. "That dress is a bit big on you, isn't it? I went ahead and made some alterations to this one so that it might fit you better." She hands Lucky a different dress in a slightly darker shade of purple. "It shouldn't take me long to finish fixing up your old clothes...and then we can worry about getting you some new ones that suit you."

They stand, holding the dress up against them to check the length. "Thanks, Toriel. I really appreciate you doing all this for me."

"It's no trouble, really. I'm delighted to have you here!"

That much was pretty obvious. Toriel was downright doting, and even though Lucky was thankful to have someone taking care of them in their time of need...they couldn't help but feel a bit claustrophobic. They'd always had an independent streak, and absolutely hated being coddled. Still, it's not like they could refuse her hospitality. For the moment, there was nowhere else to go.

When Toriel goes to check on the Ruins, Lucky goes with her. They didn't get the chance to explore much the day before, given how tired they were. It doesn't take long for them to fall behind, distracted by all the puzzles and the small monsters wandering around. Good thing Toriel thought ahead and gave Lucky her phone number, just in case they got lost or needed something.

Eventually, they wander into a room filled with spider webs. There's a sign in the center: "Spider Bake Sale! All Proceeds Go To Real Spiders!"

Lucky had never been the biggest fan of spiders, but donuts were a guilty pleasure they couldn't help but indulge in. They use some of the money they got from interacting with Whismums and Froggits to buy six of them and start eating one right away.

Not bad. I can hardly taste the spiders.

They exit the bake-sale room to find a ghost sleeping in some fallen leaves. They definitely weren't there a few minutes ago. They're blocking the path entirely, but they look so comfortable, Lucky can't bring themself to move the specter. Instead, they lay down next to the ghost, munching on a second donut.

After a while, the ghost shifts, and says, "Oh...hello...I didn't see you there…"

"No worries. Just thought you looked so peaceful...I didn't wanna wake you."

"Oh...that's nice of you...I'll get out of your way, now…"

"Wait! You don't have to. I'm not in any rush to go anywhere." Despite their reassurance, the ghost seems conflicted. "Want a donut?"

"Ghosts can't eat non-ghost food…"

"Oh. All right. Sorry…" What the fuck is ghost food?

"It's ok...I'm Napstablook, by the way…"

"Call me Lucky. It's nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, too…"

There's a long silence. Napstablook doesn't seem to be the best at holding a conversation.

"So...do you...come here often?"

"Yeah...there's usually nobody else around…"

"It is pretty quiet around here, huh?" and what few monsters lived in the Ruins weren't exactly chatty. "Oh, do you know Toriel?"

"Sort of...she's intimidating...so I don't really talk to her…"

"You should! She's super sweet. She offered me a place to stay for a few days."

"That's so nice...I didn't realize she was so...nice…"

"Do you live here in the Ruins, too?"

"No...I'm from Waterfall."

"Waterfall? Is that far?"

"No...but it's not really close, either…"

"Oh."

"...It's really nice there...You should visit sometime...or...not…"

"Okay, sure. I'll stop by on my way out."

"Oh, gee...you will? That'd be nice...to have some company…" Napstablook floats into a sitting position, and Lucky follows suit [with the sitting, not the floating]. "I should get going...It was nice talking to you…"

"Same here."

"Will you be here tomorrow, too?"

"Probably. Might take a couple days to get my things in order...but then I'll be heading out."

"Where will you go?"

"Back to the surface. I have some unfinished business to take care of up there."

"Sounds serious...well...I'll see you…"

"See ya," Napstablook says as they vanish into the air like mist.

Lucky returns to Toriel's house before she is done making her rounds and decides to give themself a tour of the place, just to see where everything is. Down the hall from the room they slept in is Toriel's room, fit with a bookshelf, a desk, and a...bucket of snails? Among other things. There's a diary on the desk, but Lucky's not one to snoop, so she leaves it unread.

Further along is a locked door with a sign that says "under renovations." Maybe it's an office? Or an exercise room? Or is that where Toriel keeps all her cooking ingredients? Lucky had looked into the fridge that morning while getting some water from the tap and noticed it was empty...except for a bar of chocolate.

Speaking of the kitchen, it seems so small compared to the rest of the house. Certainly a bit cramped for a monster as large as Toriel [who had to be around 7 feet tall].

The basement is...not what they had expected. It's just a long hallway, with a massive locked door at the end. There was a draft coming from under the door, making the basement the coldest room in the house by far.

Chilled, Lucky returns to the living room to warm up by the fire. They're relaxing with a book on snails by the time Toriel gets back.

"Hello, Lucky! Did you have a good time looking around?"

"Yeah. Your puzzles are pretty fun, and I met a cool ghost. Oh! I also bought some donuts," they gesture to the paper bag sitting on the kitchen table. There are only two donuts left in it. "Want one?"

Toriel's face scrunches up. "No, thank you. I will be starting dinner soon, and I would not want to ruin my appetite!"

Lucky shrugs and returns their attention to the book.

Toriel doesn't leave for the kitchen, however. Instead, she sits down in her chair. "Dear? I wanted to ask you something…"

"Go for it."

"Well...oh, this is a bit embarrassing...I'm having trouble telling how old you are."

"Twenty-two."

Toriel's eyes widened. "...Are...you sure?"

Lucky laughs. "Pretty sure, yeah. I've been keeping track."

"My goodness...I had no idea! You look so young! Even by human standards, I would have guessed-"

"That I was still in my teens? Yeah, I get that a lot. It's the height, I think." They've always been small for their age, and stopped growing at around 5'2".

She deflates, slouching in her chair. "I had been putting together a curriculum for your education, but...well, is it safe to assume that you've already graduated?"

Curriculum? Just how long is she expecting me to stay here? "Yep. Got my high school diploma, anyway." College isn't really a thing that Lucky's family can afford.

Toriel sighs. "I suppose there's nothing for me to teach you, then." Her disappointment fills Lucky with...something. Guilt? Probably guilt.

"Hey, don't say that...there's still plenty for me to learn. You could...uh...teach me about monsters? Like, your history? I know some stuff, but only the basics. Oh! How about cooking? I suck at that! You could teach me how to bake a pie! Or magic! It'd be cool to learn some magic from a real-life monster!"

The last suggestion catches her attention, and she laughs. "You are so full of ideas! As much as I would love to teach you magic, I'm afraid humans cannot use magic."

"Sure we can!" Lucky proves their point by creating a small heart of white magic in their hand. "See? I'm actually pretty good at it."

Toriel's face has gone slack.

"...Uh...Toriel?"

"I...I did not know that there were still humans who could use magic…"

Lucky lets their magic evaporate. "Why wouldn't there be?"

"We monsters were the ones that taught humans how to harness the magic in their SOULs...I didn't think that humans could teach each other how to do it…"

"...Well, we can. It's not common, by any means. Most humans are against it, actually. But my family - my whole town - is really into it. It's like...a tradition, I guess."

"But...your SOULs…" her concern is palpable.

She's right to be worried. Magic is essentially poison to the human SOUL. While it could be said that all SOULs begin to deteriorate the moment a person is born, that holds more truth for humans with magic. The more it is used, the more damage it does. It shortens the lifespan of humans considerably, deteriorating their SOUL entirely by the time they reach their mid-forties. What's left at that point is nothing more than the empty husk of a human, trapped in a coma they'll never wake up from.

"We don't live long, but we live well," Lucky says, giving Toriel a reassuring smile.

Toriel can't return the expression. Her's is fixed in a grimace of pain and sadness.

She moves from her chair to kneel next to Lucky, taking one of their hands in hers. "My child...I would let you live longer if only I were able…"

"Child?" Lucky yanks their hand away. "I just told you. I'm an adult."

Toriel blinks, shocked by their sudden anger. "I know, I just...It's just something I say, I didn't mean…" her voice tapers off, and there's a long silence between them.

Lucky regrets snapping at her almost immediately. They close the book and return it to its place on the shelf. Then, they turn to Toriel. "Forget it. Why don't you teach me how to cook?"

Toriel stands, "It's a little early, but...sure. We'll make something simple. How does quiche sound?"