How's it going, and welcome back to Getting To Know You.
Well, I don't have a whole lot to say right now, so no sense in wasting time. Let's jump right in.
Disclaimer: I don't own Undertale. Undertale is owned by Toby Fox.
Present
"Thoughts"
Author's Note
"Ugh... what time is it?"
"Time for you to rise and shine."
Frisk rolled over in their mattress. They angled their head a bit, and their eyes danced across their alarm clock's screen: 11:51 AM. "Jeez... I only meant to close my eyes for a few minutes. Sorry To—"
Before they could finish saying Toriel's name, they cut themself off. It wasn't her at all in the room at all.
"Honestly, I considered waking you, but decided against it. You looked so... peaceful, resting without those nightmares."
Frisk sat up straight. Sitting on the windowsill across the room, Chara watched them with dull, expressionless eyes; to the child's surprise, however, their lips weren't curled in the big smile they were used to, but instead just a small grin. It looked a little insincere.
Frisk whipped their feet to the edge of the bed and stood up. "Yeah, nightmares you caused," they said as they made their way to their dresser. They opened the second drawer from the bottom, rooted around, and grabbed a new shirt. "I'm surprised you didn't do it again, just to mess with me."
"I have no reason to anymore. And tampering with the feelings of my gracious host isn't a wise idea."
Frisk opened the hem of the shirt and pulled it over them, leaving their white pajama shirt on underneath. After poking their arms through the sleeves, they turned to the window and took a few steps toward Chara.
"... Have you gone anywhere since I fell asleep? Like, out of this room?"
Chara shook their head. "No. And even if I did, it's not like anyone else could see me."
"I know, I know, it's just... were you watching me the whole time? That's a little weird."
The grin on Chara's face expanded a little. "Not the whole time, no, but... a little. There wasn't much else to do. For the most part, I bided my time by rooting through all your stuff. Don't open your closet, I was too lazy to put any of it back properly."
"Why am I not surprised?" mumbled Frisk as they walked out of their bedroom. From the corner of their eye, they could see Chara trailing behind them a bit, but following nevertheless. Just like yesterday, they glanced around with interest.
Frisk walked downstairs and stopped in the doorframe of the kitchen. They half expected to see Toriel, sitting at the counter with a coffee mug, but instead received an empty room, save for them. And Chara.
"Hm... I must admit, it's very cozy," said Chara, as they physically passed through Frisk and entered the kitchen. "An excellent place to prepare food. And speaking of that, do you have any chocolate?"
Frisk scrunched their eyebrows. "Chocolate? Why?"
"It's been far too long. Give me chocolate."
Almost without meaning to, Frisk found themself chuckling a little bit. "Can you even eat or drink? Where would it go?"
"I have no idea. But it doesn't hurt to try."
With that, Chara made their way to the fridge and yanked the door open. The sounds of rustling through various metal cans, plastic containers, and many other things filled the air. Frisk sighed a little. "Just don't destroy anything. I'm going to the living room."
True to their word, Frisk filed through the door opposite the kitchen, and entered the lounge of the house. They immediately made their way to Toriel's armchair, and hopped up in it; they reached to the side for the little lever, and gave it a pull. The footrest swung out, letting them lean back and put their feet up.
As they sat in the chair and stared straight ahead at the wall, it didn't take long for Frisk to realize they had nothing to do that day. There wasn't any point in trying to find out more about Chara anymore, and they had no plans to spend time with any of their other friends.
"Or..." Frisk's eyes turned to the living room door again. They sounds from inside the kitchen hadn't ceased. "I guess I COULD spend some time with Chara. They'll probably just follow me around, even if I don't want to."
Just as the thought crossed Frisk's mind, the SOUL in question entered the room. They wore a frown on their face, and they shook their head as they locked eye contact.
"It seems your residence is lacking in essential sustenance. We're going to the store."
"Essential sustenance? We have plenty of food."
By the time Frisk had finished speaking, Chara was already at the front door. "Yes, but not the foods you need. Now let's go."
Frisk sighed again. They lowered the footrest of the reading chair and hopped to the floor. "Well, guess that answers that..."
"Where's the grocery store? Are we there yet? Hurry up."
"Will you quit bothering me? I'm walking as fast as I can."
Chara shook their head. "I've seen you walk faster. Out of the ruins, for example."
Frisk had to purse their lips to keep from making a fast emerging frown obvious. "Look, when we get to the store, I'll get you your chocolate. I brought a few bucks. But just a warning: if it turns out you're incapable of eating food, you owe me. Understand?"
To Frisk's relief, Chara nodded their head. "Yes yes, I'll pay you your money back. Honestly, I don't know where I'm going to get it, but I'm sure I can find a way. Are we there yet?"
"No. Now quit asking."
For the next few minutes, Chara and Frisk walked quietly down the sidewalk. Downtown was only about a ten minute walk from their neighborhood, and the local grocery store was just a few minutes past that; because it needed a parking lot, it was off to the side of the cluster of buildings that comprised the town, sticking out like a sore thumb.
After a few more moments, the two came upon the building. The parking lot, save for a few cars near the entrance, was completely empty; Frisk had to admit it was a little surprising, given the fact it was past noon. Chara, however, nodded in approval.
"Doesn't seem like there are many people here. Good. Let's make this quick."
A small part of them didn't want to, but Frisk couldn't help but glance at Chara from the corner of their eye. "Let's make this quick? You who was so excited to come here?"
"I just want the chocolate. I have no desire to linger." As they spoke, Chara crossed their arms. "I hate people. Why stick around?"
Frisk stopped walking. Chara took a few more steps, but then they turned too came to a halt, and turned around.
"... What's the hold up? Let's go."
Frisk shook their head. "Wait, hold on. What do you mean 'why stick around?'"
Chara scrunched their eyebrows in confusion. "I don't want to be around the grocery store longer than I have to. Seems self explanatory, to be honest."
"That wasn't really what I was getting at." Frisk walked over to the curb of the parking lot and took a seat. After a moment of stillness, Chara joined them. "I mean... if you don't like people, why'd you want to come back up at all? Why are you staying up here?"
As they spoke, a bead of sweat rolled down the back of Frisk's neck. If history was any indication, they already knew the answer.
"... I honestly don't know. I just wanted to, I guess."
Frisk blinked. They glanced at Chara from the corner of their eye; instead of the big wide grin they'd come to expect, their face was bent in a small frown. Their eyes drooped in sadness, and they'd been looking at their feet as they spoke.
"You don't know? I doubt it. If you tried to absorb me, you at least had a plan."
Chara shook their head. They continued to watch the ground as if their life depended on it. "I only wanted to absorb you so I could return to the surface. Honestly, I don't particularly need your body; in my current state, I'm pretty much free to do whatever. Whatever I want..."
Chara spoke the last part with a drawl, dragging a sigh along the end. Then they finally picked up their chin a bit, and looked out over the open parking lot.
"Look, it's not important. I guess I could try to talk to you more about it later, but... not now. I honestly don't know yet, so drop it. Please."
Without even stopping to think, Frisk nodded. They stood up, and even though they knew Chara couldn't accept it, held out their hand.
"Come on. I'll buy you your chocolate bar now."
"Ugh... there are still people everywhere. Let's make this quick."
As they walked through the automatic sliding doors, Frisk and Chara glanced around. Up and down the aisles, shoppers with carts walked (and in a few strange instances, ran) about; a few wailing children could also be heard over the elevator music playing throughout, no doubt in the candy aisle. And unfortunately for Frisk...
"Well, no sense in wasting time. Come, let's find the chocolate and get out."
Chara started to walk down the first aisle, Frisk fast on their heels. As they did so, their head went side to side, scanning rows of products for the one they were looking for. "Frisk, you know this place better than I do. Where's the candy?"
"Uh... where those crying children are. Let's avoid that for now."
"Impossible." Chara fervently shook their head, without breaking pace. "I told you, I want to be done here as fast as possible. To purposefully avoid going to where the chocolate is impedes that."
"Yes, but—"
"No buts. Come on."
Frisk rolled their eyes. "The things I do for you..."
Still, when the two reached the end of the aisle, Frisk took a left. Luckily for them, they couldn't hear the children in the distance anymore; either the parents had given up and conceded to their 'demands,' or they'd been removed from the store. Either way, they didn't care. Humiliation saved.
Frisk and Chara came upon the end of the second aisle, and thus the candy. The child took a step to the side to show the SOUL the full assortment. "Here, take your pick. Just so long as—"
"I want this one. It's the most expensive; it must be the best."
Chara pointed to one at the bottom of the shelf. Frisk's eyes hovered over to it, though with more than just a bit of hesitation. It was even harder to look at the price tag.
"... You've gotta be kidding me."
"I can't believe I just spent almost twenty dollars on one chocolate bar. That should be illegal. I don't care where it's from."
"Hey, YOU were the one willing to buy it for me. Thanks, by the way."
Frisk groaned. Chara started to laugh, and as they did so, handed the chocolate bar to Frisk. "Here, I'll let you take a bite, at least. You have that to look forward to."
"I'm entitled to as much as I want. I bought it."
"Only if I can't physically eat it. Which might still happen. Who knows."
Chara shrugged. Frisk shook their head, but behind their mask of seriousness, they were struggling not to smile. And the funniest part was, from the corner of their eye, they had a hunch the other was feeling the exact same way.
"Well now, we've arrived at the moment of truth. Let's find out."
Chara held the chocolate bar high to the sky. The sun cast a glare on the shiny silver wrapper, making a bright flash; Frisk had to shield their eyes. It was aimed right at them, albeit unintentionally.
"Agh! Put it down!"
"Huh?" Chara angled their head to the other child, and quickly saw the problem. "Oh... sorry. Heh."
Chara lowered the candy bar and set to work with removing the wrapper. Frisk shook their head and blinked their eyes open. "Jeez... the least you could do is be a little nicer to me. Don't shine lights in my eyes."
Frisk talked with a smile on their face, and they were only just able to finish before they broke in a fit of giggles. Chara smiled a little too.
"Yes yes, very funny. It might not matter, though, because you WASTED your money IF—" Chara grunted with each tug at the wrapper, all unsuccessful, "I can't get this wrapper open! Here, you do it."
Chara shoved the chocolate bar into Frisk's hands. The child started to laugh again.
"You know, they print instructions on how to do it. Here, watch," they said as they turned the candy bar vertically. Along the top fold, a little circle with THUMB HERE in black ink stood out. Frisk clasped it, and, with their other hand, tore the wrapper off half the bar. They smiled a big, cheeky grin.
Chara took it without even a thank you. They brought the chocolate up to their mouth and broke a chunk off. "Well, I can chew it, at least," they said, mouth full. "That's a good sign."
And with that, Chara took a big gulp and swallowed. Their smile came back with a vengeance.
"So... what do you know. I sure hope you didn't spend all your money on just this."
And stop.
Well now... seems like friendship is starting to poke through. Buddies 4 life! Mostly.
Have a nice day.
