Ace's parents are out of town for the evening ("Boring adult shit or something, I dunno") and they end up heating up leftover meatloaf in the microwave. It's not very good, but it's something. Ace devours their portion with record speed and heads upstairs to change, leaving Frisk at the table.

Frisk resists the urge to throw the remaining portion of meatloaf in the trash, idly poking at it with their fork and wondering if Mom is serving snail pie again. They're trying to shake off the nagging guilt of leaving Mom stuck dealing with Drunk Uncle Sans tonight, but they have to admit that having a dinner without tears and drama has been a forgotten luxury. They stare at the meatloaf, lost in thought.

"Dude!" Ace calls, making Frisk jumps a little at the sudden shout. "You don't have to eat all of it. I don't care if you throw it away, man." Ace has reappeared at the bottom of the staircase, now wearing pajamas.

"Oh thank god." Frisk stands up abruptly. "Sorry," they add sheepishly. They scrape the offending portion into the trash with relief. "Do you have any pants I can borrow? Don't wanna sleep in jeans." The dish is set neatly in the sink for now.

"Yeah, dude, just grab whatever. Pretty sure we still wear the same size."

The lurching feeling in their gut is back for some reason, and Frisk is thankful that they didn't force themself to finish off the meatloaf. "Sweet."

Less than fifteen minutes later, they're changed into a slightly too-big pair of Ace's pajama pants, seated comfortably on Ace's bed and flipping through TV channels. Currently, there's a trashy reality show playing. A woman is being interviewed, and she's ranting something incoherent about a "baby daddy." The crowd jeers.

"There is literally nothing good to watch," Frisk whines.

Ace rolls their eyes. "Dude. For real. I don't know why Mom and Dad pay for this crap."

Frisk mutes the TV. "Holy shit. I always forget that you have to pay for cable. Got anything good on DVD?"

The woman on screen gestures dramatically, eyes wide, and Ace taps their foot against the wood floor thoughtfully for a moment. "I have some movies in there," they nod towards their shelf, "but I don't remember if they're any good or not. I haven't really watched any of them since, uh," they trail off and Frisk could swear their voice tightens for the tiniest second, "we hung out last."

"Oh." Frisk hops off the bed, finding they have to hold onto the waist of the pants to keep them from sagging down too much. "Well, I guess we'll find out." They make their way to the shelf.

"Dude. Wow."

"Huh?"

"I'm just, like, surprised my pants are so big on you now, man."

"Oh. Yeah, I think you outgrew me sometime in the last year or so."

"Yo, it's kind of," Whatever they're about to say, they not so subtly cut themself off. "It's kinda funny. That you, uh, have to hold them up." Ace laughs weakly.

Frisk decides not to push it and browses the DVD collection. Their free hand ends up on the spine of a movie titled "A Courageous Little Hairdryer" and finds themself frowning at a distant memory. "You remember this one?" They remove it from the shelf and present it to their friend.

"Oh, dude." Ace wrinkles their nose at it. "I hardly remember that one. I don't even know why-"

Frisk interrupts. "Wanna watch it?"

Ace's eyes widen for a moment before smoothing out into a snarkier expression. "I mean, sure, if you want to watch a baby movie that I should've thrown in the trash years ago…"

The credits are rolling, and Frisk's eyes are threatening to water. The soft, melancholy piano score is doing a good job tugging at their heartstrings. They turn their head away so Ace won't see.

"This movie is actually, uh," Ace starts. They're trying to act cool, which Frisk appreciates, but their voice sounds close to wavering.

"Kinda sad," Frisk finishes.

They dab at their eye with their sleeve. Damn it, they're too old to be crying at kid movies.

"Whoa dude, are you crying?"

Now that they've been noticed, there's no use trying to pretend they aren't crying. A sniffle forces its way out, and the human can feel the heat in rising in their cheeks. So fucking embarrassing.

"I'm just-" their voice chokes. They really can't tell the truth and admit that the only reason they're crying at a children's movie is because they're on their period. Well, they could, but…

Ace coughs awkwardly, pulling them out of their thoughts. Luckily, they're not outright bawling, so they wipe their eyes again and force out a shaky laugh.

"I'm fine, man." Ace is squinting at them skeptically, but they keep talking. "I just feel bad for the curling iron. Like," they sniffle again, still feeling incredibly childish, "it really loved the hair dryer, you know?"

Ace starts laughing. Frisk folds their arms indignantly, though they can feel a smile worming its way onto their face. "What's so funny?"

"Frisk," Ace says, falling over backwards onto the bed and outright cackling now, "you are so mushy!"

"Oh, I'm the mushy one?" Frisk swats playfully at their friend. "Last I checked I didn't have any little kid baby movies in my room."

Ace stops laughing right in the middle of a snort and it feels like in an instant the atmosphere of the room has shifted.

The human's voice softens. "Um, I'm just teasing you." Frisk turns their head away again, hiding their face. An emotion they can't quite identify is bubbling in their stomach, like melting butterflies.

"It's kinda crazy," Ace's voice is equally soft, "like...everything is the same, but different now."

"Yeah." The bubbling has turned into a knot in Frisk's stomach. They ignore it. "It's weird. Because you don't even realize you're changing until you don't recognize yourself anymore."

It's silent again for a few minutes, until Frisk lets out a sigh. "I'm tempted to go back to being mute again." The words tumble out too fast, and they wish there was a way to take them and shove them back in. The knot tightens for some indiscernible reason.

"Why… why's that?" Ace's tail is starting to thrash from side to side, and it's making Frisk's heart pound harder than it should be. Again, inexplicable guilt creeps forward. They shouldn't be making their friend worry. They shouldn't have dropped out of their life the way they had.

"Ugh, I don't know. I miss when nobody expected me to have opinions on anything, you know?"

Ace somehow manages to shrug, even without arms. "I don't know, Frisk."

"It's, like, just because I fell down a hole a couple years ago and managed to climb out, people think I'm somebody, somebody that matters or whatever, and I'm not. I'm just a freak." They fold their arms and let out a bitter laugh. "I'm nobody special, you know? And I'm not..." they trail off.

"You're not what?" Ace is craning their neck around to try and make eye contact, but Frisk won't let them.

The tension feels suffocating.

"I'm not...um, nevermind." The human stands up abruptly. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom and get ready for bed. I'll be back soon." They scoop the backpack off the floor on their way out.

"Yo, why do you need to take your pack with you to use the bathroom?"

"It has, um, stuff I need in it. Gross human stuff." The human's face is probably starting to turn red, but thankfully Ace takes the hint and doesn't respond as Frisk starts trudging down the stairs.

Their bathroom preparations don't take long. They've gotten very good at changing pads and tampons as quickly as possible. It hurts to think about it, let alone see it. Ever since they had hit puberty, but especially after starting to get their period, something had started to feel wrong. Deep in their chest, it would start to ache if they dwelt on these wrong feelings. They can't help but scowl; trying to figure out why it hurts only seems to make it hurt more.

Luckily, there's a trash bin, in which Frisk hurridley deposits their unsightly trash. Out of sight, out of mind. After finishing all of their unpleasant bathroom related duties, they take a moment to appraise themself in the mirror.

No wonder Ace took pity on them and agreed to hang out today. They look like shit. They stare into their own eyes, trying not to be bothered at how dull they are. There are matching dark circles under each eye, highlighting how little sleep they've been getting. They watch their face morph into a scowl when they remember why they haven't been sleeping.

Out of curiosity, they force their face into a grin, wondering how convincing they can make it. The hollowness in their eyes isn't making their plastered on grin very persuasive.

Either way, at least their hair is clean and brushed. It's the best they've been able to do lately. Just a couple weeks ago they'd barely been able to brush their teeth or shower regularly. Just a couple weeks ago, getting out of bed had felt like climbing a mountain.

Well, whatever. Frisk shakes their head in an unsuccessful attempt to clear their mind and heads back to Ace's room, making sure to bring the backpack.

"Yo, you sure you don't wanna stay up longer? It's only like, ten." Somehow, Ace has managed to put the DVD back into its case and apparently just placed it on the shelf.

Frisk gives a noncommittal shrug. "I'm pretty tired, actually. You don't need to stay up or anything. We have the whole summer to hang out." They move to the bed, making a point to avoid eye contact. "If you want to, I mean."

Ace rolls their eyes. "Of course I wanna hang out this summer." They join Frisk on the bed. "Look, dude, obviously you've had, um." They frown slightly, brow furrowing for a moment. "You had stuff going on last year. I'm not, like, mad."

"Thanks," they manage.

They end up deciding to share the bed like they had as children, though now there's less room to spare. They're lying side by side under the covers, staring up at the ceiling when Ace breaks the silence.

"Man, I didn't realize how much bigger we'd both gotten," they mumble.

Frisk feins a yawn. "Yeah. It's been a while," is all they can force out. It's dawning on them a little too late that they're too old to be sharing a bed anymore. Especially not with them. They're thankful that the light is out; their expression and flushed face would probably give them away. That is, unless their rapid heartbeat won't.

"Goodnight," they murmur.

There's no response. Their friend is already asleep.