Author's Note: Look, cover art! I decided that it was probably time to throw something together for this story because Neji in drag doesn't really represent it. I'm am oddly exited about it so I thought I'd point it out.

In response to The Man's review, since I can't respond to guests via PM; The sock drawer is actually based on canon content (You peek inside... Scandalous! It's Toriel's sock drawer.)! Chara's comment about socks being the monster equivalent of underwear is based partially on this and partially on the dialogue from the Shyren battle (The crowd tosses clothing. It's a storm of socks.). I think there was an issue with people throwing articles of clothing (mainly underwear) at bands they liked? Can't remember where I saw something about that being a thing for the life of me though.

Either way, I'll Get on with it! and stop rambling now.

Five Loads later Frisk sat comfortably in Toriel's lap, reading a book on monster history while the Boss Monster read 72 Uses for Snails (Frisk had asked to read that book during their second "day" with Toriel, a request the monster had happily agreed to). Chara was currently giving Frisk the silent treatment, the last words the two had exchanged having occurred during their third "day" in the Ruins ("I can not believe you!" "What?" "Don't you what me! You have the power to time travel and you're using it to read!" "What's wrong with that?" "Ugh! You're impossible."). Yawning, Frisk debated Loading again. Flowey had been irritated enough by it - they hadn't even known he was aware of Saving and Loading - that he'd actually shown up inside Toriel's house to tell them to knock it off. Toriel had driven off the plant quickly enough, but it still made them feel bad.

Toriel seemed to have realized that something was happening too. She'd mentioned a strong sense of déjà vu during their third Load, slightly before Frisk's argument with Chara. Which, now that they thought about it, was awfully convenient timing. Had Chara been upset that Toriel was beginning to notice the Loading? But why would they care? Were the powers of Determination a secret or did this have something to do with Toriel? The child decided that they'd need to ask Chara when they were speaking again.

Frisk yawned again, eyes watering. They blearily wiped at their eyes. Had a whole day passed again? Toriel laughed, gently taking the book from Frisk.

"I think it's time for you to rest, my child."

Pouting, Frisk shook their head. "I'm not tired." They made weak grabbing gestures for the book even though they knew the attempt to reclaim it would fail.

Smiling, the monster put both books down and scooped Frisk into her arms, the child giggling. "Well, hello Not Tired, my name is Toriel!" Frisk's giggles turned into laughter, tears forming in the corners of their eyes.

The fire - which wasn't actually hot, just pleasantly warm - flickered out as Toriel left the room, Frisk carefully cradled in her arms. They briefly wondered if Toriel had had children of her own at some point, but didn't ask. The empty room that they had been given spoke volumes about that - undoubtably painful - subject. The monster hummed a gentle melody that Frisk didn't recognize, probably a monster lullaby, as she walked. Carefully, Toriel pushed Frisk's door open and set them down on their bed. They were tucked under the covers with a quiet, "Good night, my child." and a gentle smile.

Nothing had changed between this Load and the last four Loads but Toriel's words still brought a smile to Frisk's face. None of their foster parents had ever been this kind and it was strange to feel so... Wanted. The child let their eyes fall shut, lips still tilted upwards in a small smile. As Toriel pulled the door shut Frisk drew upon the warmth of their soul - Determination - and Loaded.

. . .

Loading was a strange experience, especially when they weren't doing it after dying. When they had been dead the world just... Came back. Loading while they were still alive made the world feel like it was blinking, and when it blinked back they were suddenly in a completely different place and position. They didn't think it would ever stop being disorienting. After getting up - Suddenly standing when they'd just been laying down did bad things to their balance - and dusting themselves off Frisk walked back into Toriel's house, dirty pie plate in hand once again.

With a small smile Frisk went to see Toriel, who was reading by the fire. The Boss Monster smiled when she spotted Frisk approaching. "Up already, I see?" Frisk nodded. "Um, I want you to know how glad I am to have someone here. There are so many old books I want to share," Frisk beamed, "I want to show you my favorite bug-hunting spot. I've also prepared a curriculum for your education."

While this news had caught them off guard the first time it didn't surprise them anymore. It had actually made sense when they thought about it.

"This may come as a surprise to you, but I have always wanted to be a teacher." The monster paused, noting the glint of amusement in Frisk's eyes. "Actually, perhaps that isn't very surprising. Still!" She made an odd face that Frisk would have called scary if they hadn't - essentially - spent five days living with the monster. "I am glad to have you living here," And there was the twisting guilt again.

How would they explain that they needed to get back to the surface to Toriel? If they just disappeared their foster parent would be in trouble. Being a squib already put the man at a huge disadvantage, he hardly needed more issues with wizards.

Toriel seemed to notice that something was bothering Frisk, their expression had probably given them away, because she asked, "Oh, did you want something?"

Frisk forced their expression to be blank again. "I just wanted to know where the kitchen is." They gestured with the dirty plate.

The monster beamed, "Oh, it's right through the door behind me. Be careful, my child, the stove may still be hot."

Nodding, Frisk went and deposited their dishes into the sink, noting with amusement that the drain was clogged with fur. They turned to leave, then paused, pulling their wand out instead. "What are you doing?" Chara asked, startling them. Their plate jumped, magic lifting and dropping it, and clattered loudly into the sink. Frisk winced, glad that the plate hadn't broken. They were rubbish at using magic to fix things.

"You're back! And I was, uh, about to unclog the sink's drain." Despite the flash embarrassment from dropping the plate Frisk found them-self smiling. They'd missed Chara.

The other child seemed to notice this, a flash of surprise from Chara being all they said about that. "With magic?"

Frisk nodded, focusing on the fur again, "Yeah, I didn't get to use magic above ground. There are laws to keep people without magic from finding out about it and that means I can't practice much."

There was a quiet, "Huh." From Chara. The two children sat in silence for a few seconds, Frisk beaming when the fur floated out of the drain and spun into a neat ball. "Why are the wizards hiding from other humans?" Chara eventually asked.

Frisk frowned. "Have you heard of the witch trials? Witches and Wizards - and anyone else who people claimed to be magical - were hunted down and killed. Magicals didn't like that."

A whirlwind of emotions from Chara. Frisk picked up on confusion and anger, but everything else was there and gone too quickly to identify. "I'd have thought that they'd think of the wizards as heroes for what they did."

The tone of Chara's thoughts were more than a little bitter. Frisk shrugged. "The people who didn't think magic was evil for religious reasons were afraid of it so magicals went into hiding."

Chara sighed. "Humans are assholes."

"Language, Chara."

. . .

Frisk was sprawled in front of the fireplace, reading the monster history book with a small frown. On one hand, the book was fascinating, but on the other there was more than a little bitterness directed at humans within the pages. Especially magical humans. It made them worry a little. What would Toriel do if she found out that they had magic? Gnawing their lip, Frisk turned the page and returned their attention to the book.

Eyes widening, Frisk closely examined a - beautify drawn - image of an old fashioned town. The picture depicted both monsters and humans living together happily, it's caption the name of the town. Frisk didn't recognize it, but it sounded like the kind of name magicals would use. It was... Jarring, knowing that monsters had been so closely involved with humans when most humans didn't even know they existed anymore.

"Hey, Frisk?" Chara's voice called, pulling some of their attention away from the book. Frisk projected the sound of humming inwards (and that had not been easy to learn to do). "Why do you do that? Use the word human where most would use people? I'm not complaining, it's just..." They trailed off with a flash of frustration, clearly not finding the right words.

"Most humans take longer to realize that you can be a person even if you're not human?"

Chara's frustration faded, replaced by what was almost gratitude. It wasn't quite the same emotion. "Yeah. But you've already got it. Is it because you're young? I mean, you can't be older than ten."

Frisk turned the page and winced. The peaceful image had been replaced with the same town, but it was wrong. The air in the image was thick with ash and dust, illuminated by the light of burning homes. Some of the street's cobble stones had been dyed red in what could only be blood. Something about the dust left Frisk feeling physically ill, as much as the blood did, though they couldn't explain why. The brunette quickly turned the page. "I'm seven. And I guess it's not a problem because I've always thought that things that think are people." They paused. "Technically, there are magicals that aren't human too. Veela, werewolves, vampires, giants, some people will even argue that dementors are people."

There was a flash or surprise and suspicion from Chara. "Vampires are werewolves are real?"

They nodded, returning most of their attention to the book. "Yeah. And while most giants aren't very smart they think and they can have children with humans. Can monsters and humans...?" Frisk trailed off. They weren't sure where children came from, but they knew that asking questions about it seemed to embarrass adults, and you had to love someone very much to get a baby.

Chara, having followed Frisk's trail of thoughts, was snickering. "You're too young to need to worry about that Frisk, trust me. But I don't know if monsters and humans can have children. I mean, you could ask Toriel but..."

"I am not asking goat mom if humans and monsters can have children! She might think I'm flirting or something!"

Chara was howling with laughter. "Fine, fine. It might be in a book anyhow."

A startled gasp from Toriel jerked Frisk's attention away from their conversation with Chara and the book. They looked up, brow creased in confusion. This was different. The child then followed the goat monster's gaze to see the tools, which were usually next to the fireplace, were hovering in the air.

Frisk took a startled breath of their own, noting that Chara had gone silent. Their stomach felt like a ball of lead and knots. "Out of all the possible times, why did I have to have accidental magic now!?"