sop or i fic' - n., something that induces sleep
"Oh…oh, no."
You look up when you hear Toriel's voice as she enters the living room from the kitchen. You and Asriel are sitting in the floor in front of the fireplace; you're doing a puzzle that Toriel picked out for you and Asriel is coloring something that he won't show you because he claims it will be a surprise.
"What's wrong?" you ask her when she doesn't seem like she's going to say anything else.
Toriel turns to you and you realize that she's holding her cell phone in her hand. She brings a hand up to the receiver and says, "I am sorry, my dear. We will talk about it later." She brings her attention back to her phone and walks quickly through the living room to the other side of the house – to talk to Asgore, you guess. But what about?
You glance at Asriel, and he looks just as confused as you are (though he still remembered to cover up his drawing so as not to spoil the surprise), but less concerned than you feel.
Toriel had been in the process of cooking lunch while Asgore was writing a speech that you don't know the details of, so you and Asriel were able to play in the living room without being disruptive. Toriel had cancelled school for today and tomorrow in anticipation of your upcoming doctor's appointment; though, for the record, you feel completely fine. You didn't even feel that bad yesterday! And after sleeping, you're back to normal.
Still, you'd at least somewhat gotten used to the idea of going of going to the doctor for a checkup over something as small as sneezing and being sleepy; but now, with Toriel so clearly worked up over something, you want to offer to stay home, at the very least.
"What do you think that was about?" you ask Asriel, keeping your voice low.
He frowns. "I dunno, Chara. But something really bad happened, I think. Mom wouldn't have not finished lunch unless she was really worried."
Toriel does take meals pretty seriously, you acknowledge in your head.
You sigh and turn one of the puzzle pieces between your fingers absently. "Obviously. But we need to know what exactly is going on," you say, setting down the piece and standing up.
"What are you – where are you going?" Asriel asks, but follows your lead anyway.
You put a finger to your lips and, after making sure that he'll be quiet, creep over to the doorway. You can't even hear Asriel walking behind you, which both unnerves you and fills you with an odd sense of pride. You look down the hallway and see that Asgore's bedroom door is open. Checking on Asriel one last time, you light-footedly scurry down the hallway, stopping at the door to Toriel's room. You can only just make out voices coming out of the room.
"And I don't know what we are supposed to do!" Toriel sounds more flustered than you think you've ever heard her. She sounds like she's on the verge of full-on panicking.
Asriel taps your shoulder and you turn your head slightly. He points to his ear and shakes his head no. You make a face, but wave for him to follow you and take a few more steps closer to the door, so that you're standing behind a small table with a barren top. You instinctively crouch behind it; you feel Asriel do the same. You turn your attention back to whatever the hell is going on with Toriel.
"…think very highly of you, Tori. They trust you to guide them, and I trust that you can do the same," Asgore says in a calm, reasonable voice. (You get the feeling that his body language is anything but.)
"But I do not know what to do!" When her words apparently come out louder than she intended, Toriel sighs and continues with a noticeably lowered voice, "They are…And what about their child…? Oh, oh, no, I can't believe…He's going to be all alone."
You scrunch your eyebrows in confusion. What the hell are they talking about? A child is being left alone, so his parents are probably dead; that much you're following. But then, this couldn't be the first time some adult monsters have died and left behind a child. Maybe the notable thing is the timing, or the way they died?
You feel something touch your shoulder and are barely able to refrain from knocking over the table. You mouth What? at Asriel, trying to pretend like your pulse isn't racing a mile a minute.
His lets go of your shoulder and grabs your hand, lightly pulling you back to the living room. "I think we need to go," he whispers. "I think they're talking about –"
"They're coming!" you interrupt him. You heard the sounds of hushed voices and rustling clothes, and even if they weren't on their way out, you're not about to risk being caught.
Asriel's eyes widen and you both hurry back, as quietly as possible, to your previous positions on the floor.
"I think Mom and Dad were talking about someone who'd Fallen Down," Asriel says, rushing to get his observation out before anyone walks in on you two.
"What does that mean?" you ask, though you have a fairly solid guess.
"It's…that's what happens when you're about to die. When a monster is about to die," he corrects himself after a pause.
He seems to be expecting you to display shock or surprise, but you just nod. Your guess was pretty close; you'd assumed the monster was already dead, but from Asriel's information, it's probably only on its way out.
Before you can ask for clarification, Toriel enters the living room looking relatively more composed. "Children," she begins as she makes her way over to and sits in her chair. "I have a few things that I need to talk to you about." She directs her attention to you and you have to make a conscious effort to avoid fidgeting. She takes a deep breath. "Chara…We monsters are very different from humans." No shit. "I am not sure if you are completely familiar with the human concept of death –" You almost laugh. "– but simply know that, for monsters, the process is quite different. You see, we rarely…die…because of things like illness; instead, we tend to pass away from old age. When a monster is very, very old, it will lie down, and it cannot get up. This is how we know to start making arrangements for a funeral. Once a monster has…died, it will turn into dust since monsters are mostly made of and held together by magic, and once that magic has dissipated, there is nothing left to hold a monster together. I am…not positive what humans do with their deceased –"
"We bury them," you say helpfully. "Usually, at least. Some people burn them."
Toriel looks slightly taken aback but recovers quickly. "Oh. Um. Yes. Well, in our case, at a funeral, we will mourn the monster then scatter its dust on or near something that it loved in life so that it may always live on in that thing; though, the process is not always literal. If a monster loved its family more than anything else, we may scatter its dust on their house, or their doorstep instead of family members. Other common places are in the river, at the base of a tree, or on an echo flower."
Asriel sniffles and runs at his eyes with the back of his hand. Toriel looks at him sympathetically. You almost ask him why he's crying – monster death doesn't sound sad at all! And monster funerals sound so much cooler than human ones. You wonder if there's a way to make sure that you get a monster funeral when you die. What's it called again when you burn a dead body down to ashes? And then they can scatter your dust in the garden or something!
Toriel's expression somehow becomes even more somber. "Now, there has arisen a situation in Waterfall where this is…not possible. And…because of the situation, Asgore and I have decided that it would be best for him and me to go out ourselves. However, we…do not want to force you, Chara, to go to a funeral if you are in any way averse to it. So we are considering leaving you two here at home – alone."
You blink. That's it? Toriel and Asgore have to go to a funeral and you'll be staying at home alone – well, alone with Asriel. Why is she so worked up, then? That's not even that big of a deal!
"With our needing to leave on such short basis, along with our hesitance to hire a babysitter that you don't know very well, we have reached the conclusion that the best course of action will be to allow you to look after yourselves for a short amount of time. Think of it as a test run, I suppose, to see whether or not this happens again in the future."
"Toriel, dear?" Asgore says from the doorway. "What have we decided to do?" He looks tired and worn down, you think. He and Toriel must get stressed easily.
Toriel sighs. "Yes." She pauses for a moment, then stands up and makes her way to the kitchen. "I will finish lunch, we will eat, and then you and I need to leave if we want to make it to Waterfall. If you would, talk to the children, dear." After she finishes talking, you can see her shoulders slump as the resolve drains out of her.
You actually feel really bad for her – she's getting stressed over nothing if she's just worried about you and Asriel staying at home alone. You're plenty used to that! It's usually fun when it happens, too; if there's no one in the house, then you get to watch TV and grab a snack out of the fridge, if you're subtle about it. Not that that scenario was common, but you were on your own numerous other times – typically after school, when you could roam around outside. Oh, maybe you and Asriel can go play in the garden!
"Chara, Asriel," Asgore says, snapping you out of your thoughts. "I trust that Toriel has explained the situation to you?" You both nod. "All right. Well then, we have a few rules to go over before Tori and I leave."
You're only just able to hold back a disappointed sigh.
After a lunch, which consisted of grilled cheese, tomato soup, and superfluous rules, you and Asriel return to your position in front of the fireplace, with you working on your puzzle and Asriel beginning a new drawing (it's apparently a secret as well). Toriel and Asgore are off making "preparations" for their "departure," meaning that they need to get their shit together so they can leave you guys home alone.
"Have you ever known anyone who died?" Asriel asks after a moment. You raise an eyebrow, and he explains, "Because you know about human death and funerals and stuff, and you didn't really seem…like, bothered by what Mom said, about that funeral."
You shrug. "I'm pretty sure I must have met someone who has died. I knew about a lot of older humans when I was younger, so one of 'em has probably passed by now." You add two more pieces to the puzzle. You can tell that it's a picture of some place with running water and pretty blue flowers; you assume it's someplace in the Underground, but it doesn't ring any bells. You may have seen it at some point, but you've pretty much blocked out the entire trip you made when Dreemurrs first found you and you had to traverse the entire Underground to get home. In your defense, you weren't exactly in the state of mind to make a mental map. You continue your previous train of thought. "Death isn't really that big of a deal to humans, I guess. People die all the time in tons of different ways. If you were sad over every single one, you'd never stop being sad, so humans just don't really get sad at all."
Asriel's eyes widen. "Really?"
You shrug because, well, you don't really get sad. Maybe that was a bit of an overstatement, though; you have seen lots of people get sad over the deaths of close friends and family, and you suppose you can relate to that. Not for any of your blood relatives – not for any human – but even thinking about Asriel just being hurt ties knots in your stomach.
Deciding to change the subject you say, in a voice that you resolutely hold to be not whiny, "How come we can't go down to the garden when To – M–" You stumble over your words. Even though you feel like you should know what to call the older Dreemurrs, any paternal words get stuck in your throat and twist around your tongue. "– When they're not here?"
Asriel blows a raspberry to show the extent of his displeasure and express agreement with your statement. "I guess 'cause they don't want us leaving the house, even if it's just for two seconds and it's not like there are even any dangerous monsters out there. Besides," he adds, puffing his chest out proudly, "I'm really strong! You've seen how good I am with magic. Even if there was trouble, I could totally take on anyone who decided to mess with us!"
You roll your eyes and smile fondly. "My hero," you tease.
His expression turns bashful as his cheeks turn red. He goes back to his drawing with a mumbled, "Totally."
You snort and add a whole cluster of preemptively-pieced together pieces to the top right of the puzzle. "Not that I need anyone to fight my battles for me," you continue. "I'm pretty damn tough too, Azzy. So we can take on everyone together – tag-team it, beat 'em up before they even know what hit 'em!" And honestly, that would be socool. Asriel might have magic, but you have experience (or something) with battling real, malicious monsters. Still, though, you know that realistically speaking, you're almost definitely weaker than him. You would need to be a monster – or be able to wield magic – to even be on par with any of the Dreemurrs. Your helplessness irks you more than you'd like to admit.
Toriel reenters the room, effortlessly carrying a bag that looks like it weighs as much as you do. It's zipped, though, so you have no clue what could possibly be inside. She takes a deep breath and says, "All right, children. Asgore and I have everything we need, and we should set out now if we want to make it all the way to Waterfall in time." She pauses, then says in a slightly faster voice, "Are both of you sure that you will be okay? It is not too late for me to call someone in, or to drop you off somewhere."
You shake your head no before she even finishes her sentence. You're not in the mood to interact with any new people, and besides, you and Asriel are going to have so much fun!
Toriel looks resigned. "Of course, of course. I am sorry. I know we already have everything planned out, but I do not want to put any undue stress onto either of you. I know it must seem daunting, being alone for so long."
"A few hours isn't that long," you try to reassure her. "I've stayed at…I can take care of myself – and Asriel. I'm really mature." You punctuate you last sentence with a confident smile, which Toriel returns. You get the feeling that telling her just how often you were on your own wouldn't convince her to leave; she'd only want to stay and watch over you to make sure that you weren't alone, even though sometimes you prefer it that way. If there's one childhood experience that you're not in a rush to…well, experience, it's adult supervision.
"I am sure that you are," Toriel replies. "I trust that both of you are mature enough to stay here by yourselves, which is why your father and I must be on our way. Gorey?" she calls over her shoulder.
"Right here, sweetheart," Asgore answers almost immediately. "The downstairs door is locked, as are the chains, and the keys are in the drawer of the cabinet in the hallway. Is it time to leave?" When Toriel nods, he sets down his own bag – not as big as Toriel's, but it still looks fairly heavy – and kneels in front of you and Asriel so that he's not looming. "You two will behave, yes?"
"Yes sir," you answer, trying to sound as mature as you claimed you were.
"Yeah, Dad," Asriel says at the same time. His almost flippant reply makes you feel self-conscious about your formal tone, but you disregard the thought in favor of making sure that you're sitting up straight.
Asgore chuckles. "Have fun, but be reasonable about it."
Neither you nor Asriel responds verbally, though you do feel a smile creep across your features, and out of the corner of your eye, you see Asriel duck his head to hide a smile.
Asgore laughs in response, and ruffles the top of Asriel's head as he stands, repeating, "Be good!"
"Remember," Toriel adds, "keep the door shut, keep the way out to garden locked, do not use your magic without a good reason, Asriel, and Chara, do not attempt to cook dinner by yourself because the kitchen has knives, which can be very dangerous!"
You almost point out that you use (dull) knives in the garden every day, but you refrain from arguing and simply nod in agreement.
"You may have a snack, but do not spoil your dinner. You can play with your toys, but please put them up when you are finished playing. Do not leave any crayon marks on the floor or the walls, and do not put the fire out or put anything into it."
Asgore coughs. "Uh, Tori, dear? We went over all of this already at lunch."
Toriel huffs. "I am aware of that, but there is no harm in reviewing the rules."
"Mom, we'll be fine," Asriel insists. "Tons of other kids stay at home alone, and you guys won't even be gone that long."
Toriel's gaze worriedly switches between you and Asriel for a moment longer before she sighs in resignation. "All right, all right," she says, crouching down and taking a hold of both yours and Asriel's hands. "Be good, won't you?"
"Of course we will, Mom," Asriel says. You just respond by nodding your head vigorously.
Toriel smiles. "In that case, my children, it is time for your father and me to head out. We should be back in two and a half hours – three hours at most. If either of you need anything at all, simply call me, and we will be back as soon as possible; alternatively, if anything comes up on our end, I will call you. Asriel, do you have your phone?" He pulls it out of his pocket indulgently; you all know that he's always carrying that thing around, but Toriel looks relieved, if only slightly. "Well then," she continues, "this is goodbye for now."
She pulls Asriel into a quick hug and then, after you nod, she does the same for you. Once she has her arms wrapped around you, you can't even bring yourself to be irritated at her for taking such a long time to say goodbye. Your hands don't reach around her, but you try your best to hug her back. For whatever reason, she's worried about you and Asriel being at home without supervision. For the umpteenth time, you feel the urge to tell her that you've stayed at home alone many times before and you turned out fine, but you once again change your mind at the last second.
Toriel loosens her grip first, so you drop your arms as she pulls back. Asgore then gives you and Asriel briefer hugs, and they pick up their bags and make their way to the front door.
"Goodbye, Asriel, Chara," Asgore says.
"Goodbye, my children. I love you," Toriel says, grabbing Asgore's hand with her free one.
"Bye! You too, Mom!"
"Bye, you too."
The door opens and shuts, and then they're gone.
You and Asriel are silent for a total of five seconds before Asriel breaks down into giggles. "Chara, Chara, Chara!" he exclaims, looking so excited that you're not sure whether or not he's going to start jumping up and down. "We can – we can – we can – what do you wanna do?!" Oh, he's jumping.
"Asriel," you say, appearing much calmer than the fluttering in your chest tells you that you are, "chill out. And," you add, grinning, "we can do whatever we want!"
Asriel laughs and claps his hands, then his eyes widen. "Oh! Do you, do you remember earlier, the other day, when we were walkin' down to the garden and I was gonna tell you something, something that we could do if we were home alone?" He doesn't even wait for a response before he says, "I – I have this drawing that, it's a little old, but it has a lot of good ideas!" He takes off a dead sprint to his room.
You only hesitate for a moment before you do the same. Running – in the house! This is crazy! Your hands are shaking a little bit from a combination of excitement and nerves (or your earlier nodding) by the time you slow to a stop in the middle of yours and Asriel's room. With a breathless laugh, you ask, "What d'you wanna show me?"
He's thoroughly searching the area around his bed and near the toy box, and only replied with, "Hang on a sec!"
You retreat over to your bed to wait for him to find whatever it is he's looking for, as well as to calm down a bit. Now that you have free reign of the house, nothing comes to mind that you really want to do. You hope that Asriel's idea is good, whatever it is.
"Aha!" Asriel exclaims, triumphantly holding up a sheet of paper. Before you can get a word out, he runs back out of the room and turns right, presumably heading back into the living room.
You huff out a sigh, but jump off the bed and follow his lead regardless, though at a more subdued pace. You almost bump into him when he comes barreling out of the doorway of the living room.
"Chara, come here!" Asriel says, still sounding excited. He gestures and you follow him to the rug in front of the carpet. He grabs the piece of paper that he was drawing on earlier, but stays standing. Holding the papers to his chest, he says, "Have you ever thought about what you'll look like when you're older?"
You raise an eyebrow at the seemingly random question. "I barely even think about what I look like now," you say half-jokingly. "And not really, no. Anytime I try to think about me growing up, I just…I don't know. Nothing ever comes to mind. I can't really imagine being an adult, or even a teenager most of the time." Whoa, okay, that was probably a bit much. You clear your throat and smile, adding, "But I like to think that I'd be taller."
Seemingly choosing to focus on the last bit, Asriel says, "Of course you'll be taller! That's, like, half of what growing up is. That's why it's called growing up!" Asriel laughs at his own joke. "And, well, I think that when you're older, you'll maybe, you might look kinda like this…?" Looking hesitant, he holds out the "secret" piece of paper from earlier today, still face-down.
You grab it and flip it over. You have to stare at the paper for a good five seconds before you can react. "Asriel, you drew me?" you finally say, tearing your eyes away from the paper to look at him.
"Well, um, yeah! I thought it would be, um, cool!" He's wringing his hands nervously as he awaits your response.
You look back down at the paper. In it, you're wearing a long-sleeved green shirt with a single pale yellow stripe across the center. Your hair is a little longer than you currently have it, and your cheeks are definitely not that rosy. Your limbs are a little too long, as is your neck, and your eyes are too big and you don't have a nose. You're wearing brown shorts and brown boots, and surrounding your feet is a combination of yellow and golden flowers. You're smiling.
You stare at it, taking in every detail – the dark black outline surrounding everything, the waxy texture in the places where he pressed down really hard, the way that the golden flowers aren't quite right, but accurate enough to tell you that he tried his best to match your description. You look up at Asriel with a grin so wide it hurts a bit, and you can barely keep your hands still. Your heart's beating disproportionately fast, but you just feel so excited.
"Azzy, this is so cool! No one's ever drawn me before!" you say. "The flowers look so good, and you gave me long sleeves! Do you really have a shirt like this one?"
Asriel, looking both elated and overwhelmed, says, "I mean, most of my shirts are green and yellow! But, um, I actually don't have any shirts with just one stripe. But you just seem kinda like a one-stripe person, y'know?"
You burst out laughing. You feel so full of energy that you have to sit on the floor to calm yourself down. "That sounds so dumb, Azzy." He looks hurt, so you grab his sleeve and pull him down to where he's sitting next to you. "Aw, no, don't look sad! No need to be so sensitive, silly," you reprimand him gently.
Asriel's nose scrunches up. "Yeah, all right, sorry." He's back to normal in the next instant, grabbing the paper that he'd found in his room and holding it up to where you can see it. "This is what I think that I'll look like when I grow up!"
You grab the paper and look over it as Asriel watches, seeming a lot less nervous than he did before. In his drawing, he looks a lot taller, but he's still wearing a striped sweater. His horns and fangs are noticeably longer than the stubs he has now. He's holding a bouquet of yellow flowers in his right hand and his magic flies around the other in the form of colorful stars. His feet are surrounded by a rainbow of flowers – red, yellow, purple, orange, and blue. He's smiling, too.
You grin and give him back the paper. "This is really good, Azzy!"
He looks inordinately pleased. "You really think so? I like it, too!"
"How come your magic is colored, though? Isn't it just white?" you ask.
"Okay, so, that part probably wouldn't actually happen," Asriel admits. Tracing one of the stars, he continues, "Almost everyone's magic – every monster's magic – is just white. Some monsters have specific attacks that are either blue, orange, or green, but magic mostly mana – man – manifests as white. Like, Dad's told me about this one attack of his that's blue and orange, and I've never seen it, but it sounds really neat! Just imagine how cool it would be to have pretty, colorful magic!" he finishes with a smile.
You raise an eyebrow.
Asriel blinks. He opens and shuts his mouth, and then ducks his head bashfully. "Ah, I, um, I mean." He rubs the top of his head, making a patch of fur stand on end. "Um, s-sorry."
You throw your head back and laugh. You reach your hand out and smooth down his hair. "Chill out, Azzy. I mean, don't get me wrong; I would love to have magic. I think that it would be so cool if I could be a monster! But I know that I…I'm pretty stuck the way I am, so it's pointless to wonder about something that's impossible."
Asriel worries his lip for a moment as your words settle, but then his eyes suddenly brighten and he reaches over to grab a clean sheet of paper and a handful of crayons. He sets it in front of you and says, "Here! Draw what you think you'd look like as a monster!"
You cock your head to the side. "Why?"
"Maybe you won't be as sad about it if you can imagine what it would be like," he reasons.
You barely take a moment to dispute that logic before you shake your head, laugh, and say with a barely-there smile, "Sure, why not."
"Awesome!" Asriel says. He picks up one last picture, and clears his throat. "So those two were the ones that I drew earlier today. This one is the older one, and it's the one that I was talking about yesterday on the way down to the garden. It's, well, kinda like what you're gonna do now. If I could be anything, I'd want to be super-powerful, and have really cool attacks, and wear I would be able to fly!" He holds up his arms to make his point. "Or, like, float or something. And, and I would look kinda scary and kinda cool, and be super good at dodging, and have really cool attacks!" He's practically bouncing by this point.
"Are you gonna show me?" you prompt him.
"Huh? Oh! Haha, whoops. Here," he says, letting you see the page. On it is drawn…is that even Asriel? You have to admit; "kinda scary and kinda cool" sums up his character pretty well. He's wearing the robe that Toriel usually wears (purple with a white design on the front), and his arms are stretched upward, making it seem like he's calling down the lightning that's striking the ground around him. The background is hectic and a little overwhelming because the sheer amount of colors that Asriel decided to use.
"Whoa," you breathe, eyes wide. "That's so cool!"
Asriel's face looks like it might split in half, his smile is so wide. "Thanks!" he exclaims. "It's, it's like a super king!"
You snort, grinning. "Totally," you agree, then add, "How strong is he, exactly?"
"The strongest thing in the Underground!" Asriel boasts proudly, setting the paper down so he can hold up his arms as though to call down lightning himself. "Like, stronger than Mom and Dad! And I know you're tough, Chara, but he's probably stronger than you, too!"
You raise an eyebrow.
He barely has time to gulp before you've tackled him to the ground.
"Who's tough now?" you say proudly, adjusting your arms so that they're crossed on top of his chest.
He pushes at your shoulders. "Aw, c'mon, I wasn't ready! Besides, we weren't really talking about me, dummy. Just about…Super-King Asriel."
"Well, what would 'Super-King Asriel' do in this situation?" you ask cheekily, not budging.
He struggles for another moment, then stills. He takes in a deep breath and says, "Chara Buster!" Swinging back his right arm, he uses it and the momentum it gives him to roll you off of him.
You land on your back with an oof. You hear Asriel giggle and feel an icy grip on your heart. Asriel just – what did he – why did he – he hit you. Your chest is tight and your palms are clammy. He can do whatever he wants and there's no one here to stop him. What's he going to do? Is he mad at you? Is he going to hit you again? Why did he hit you in the first place?!
He's talking, you finally realize. " – would be with a sword. Or swords. And it would go like this!" Asriel holds both arms out straight to his sides, then swings his left arm in, back out, then right arm in and back out. His motions make you freeze again. You lose track of what he's saying for a minute before you're able to tune back in. " – not call it that, obviously, but I dunno what I would call it. Any ideas?" He turns to you with a questioning look.
You gulp and sit up. Your nerves feel shot all to hell, and you're not entirely sure that you're going to be able to respond.
Asriel notices your prolonged silence and worriedly says, "Chara?"
"I am not sure," you eventually get out. "Sorry that I cannot…be more helpful." Your breathing is steady – too steady. But it could be so much worse; you're not hyperventilating, you were able to speak, and your hands are firmly planted on the floor, not digging into your arms.
"What's…?" Asriel's face is suddenly overwhelmed with guilt. "Oh, gosh, Chara did I scare you? I didn't mean to! Oh no, I'm so sorry!" His lip wobbles dangerously. He looks away from your eyes toward the fireplace and, to your chagrin but not surprise, they're watery.
The juxtaposition of him moments ago versus now leaves you feeling guilty as well. He was having such a good time, and then you had to go and have a mini freakout. You feel frustrated tears threaten to fall down your cheeks, but you close your eyes tight to get rid of them. You open them, blink a few times, and say, "Asriel." He rubs the back of hand against his eye and meets your gaze. You sigh. "You were having fun. I didn't mean to flip out there for a second. I'm fine now."
"But – but – I – oh no, I shouldn't have hit you! It's not your fault, it's mine! I'm so so so sorry!" You abruptly realize that there are silent tears sliding down his face. He's not sobbing; he looks too torn up to shake and sniffle, instead letting his jaw continue to wobble and tears soak the fur on his face.
You feel something in your stomach twist. He looks absolutely miserable. "Shit, no, Asriel, it's all right." You move closer to him and grab his hand, holding it in both of yours. "Fuck, it's no big deal. It wasn't your fault, Azzy, it's fine, I promise."
He rubs his eyes with the hand you're not currently holding. "Are you sure that you're not mad at me? I didn't mean to scare you."
"You didn't scare me," you protest automatically, "you just startled me." You bite back a yawn. You suddenly feel drained. Your thoughts are scattered, too, and it takes you a second to gather your words. Asriel notices.
"Are…are you tired?" he asks, with one last sniffle. You're relieved that he seems to have recovered so quickly – as have you. You feel all right, you suppose, though you still feel weirdly tired. You blink and shrug, but he just makes a face. "You're sleepy. Maybe we should take a nap."
You make a face of your own in response. "Naps are for little kids. I thought you were ten?"
"Almost eleven!" Asriel objects. "And, well, Mom and Dad take naps sometimes. Tons of people do. And if you're tired, you should sleep because it'll make you feel better."
You scowl, but you can feel your muscles relaxing the longer you think about it. God, you're just so fucking tired, so what the hell, right? It's not like you're not allowed to take naps. So…so then…
You yawn again. Asriel squeezes your hand. "Chara? Are you listening to me?"
"Mmm." You allow your eyes to close, just a little bit, just for a second. It makes it even harder to focus. You allow yourself to slouch down a bit, leaning over onto Asriel and resting your head on his shoulder. "Mhm."
"Aw, Chara, you can't sleep in the floor," Asriel points out. You feel him stand up slowly, pulling you gently up as well. You open your eyes, dazed. "Here," he continues, seeing that you look like you're about to collapse, "you can sleep in Mom's chair."
Toriel's chair isn't small, but you curl up anyway. It's comfortable enough for you to easily doze off.
Asriel puts his hand on your arm awkwardly, and says "Um, I'm gonna color while you sleep, okay?"
You frown, but then suddenly get a wonderful idea. You grab onto Asriel's arm and pull him down. He stammers, but sits down next to you. "Aren't you tired at all?" you ask.
"Um, well, maybe a little," he says. "But I don't know if the chair is big enough for both of us – especially to sleep in."
"Nonsense." You pull your legs up close to your chest and lean your head on his shoulder again.
Asriel doesn't say anything in response. After a few minutes, you hear him yawn and feel him relax. His head leans down, resting atop yours. You get an ear to the face. You wrinkle your nose and move your head closer to his chest, effectively getting out of ear-range.
Your puzzle lies abandoned in the floor, along with the crayons and unused paper. You really should clean up your mess, but you're so tired and happy that you can't bring yourself to care about it. Asriel's breathing is slow and steady, and after a moment, yours matches up with his. He's so warm and soft, and you know that you're too close to him, but you can feel yourself drifting off without any worries that he'll hurt you while you're asleep and vulnerable – not even by accident. After a moment, the combination of feeling warm, safe, and exhausted leads you to sleep.
You hear whispering. You can't register what's being said, but you think you hear someone laugh. You stretch and slowly blink open your eyes.
"Oh, shush, sweetheart," you hear someone with a deep voice whisper. Asgore. "There is no need to wake them up." Toriel hums in agreement.
You let your eyes close again and curl back in on yourself. Toriel and Asgore are home, then. You put your head back on your pillow and take a deep breath. You're still exhausted, so you try to go back to sleep. No sooner has your breathing leveled out than you feel someone touch you – lifting you up.
You push away before you've even opened your eyes, but they manage to keep a hold of you. You quickly snap open your eyes, head fuzzy but alert enough, to see who's carrying you. You take in the colors before anything else. You blink, and the figure comes into focus. Toriel is looking at you, concerned. One of her arms supports your neck, and the other holds your legs. You let your body relax, confident that you're safe.
"I apologize, my child. I did not mean to wake you," she says, her voice soft and gentle.
"It's okay," you say, speaking the same volume without fully realizing it. "Where're we going?"
"I am taking you to your and Asriel's room. Would you prefer to walk?"
"No. I mean, you can carry me if you wanna. It's fine." You try not to let your stumbling answer annoy you too much.
Toriel just smiles. "As you wish."
Letting out a yawn, you close your eyes again while Toriel carries you easily down the hall. She lays you in your bed and pulls the covers on top of you and up to your chin. Her hand gently brushes your hair out of your face. You smile and bunch your hands into the top of the covers, holding it against your cheek.
"Goodnight, Chara. Sleep well and feel better tomorrow," Toriel says, barely audible.
"'Night," you reply. "You too."
You think she says something else as well, but you're too far gone to hear what it is. You feel like you're about to drift off, but you stay in an unsatisfying state between awake and asleep for a long moment before your realize that you can't fully get to sleep for some reason.
You open your eyes and frown. The room is dim, but you can see Asriel across the room. You should be able to sleep more easily here than you had in the living room; that chair was small and cramped. But despite the small size of your bed and your warm comforter, you feel like your bed is too open and cold. You suddenly get an idea. You debate the risks versus the merits for barely a second before you pull back your covers and get out of bed. You tiptoe across the room over to Asriel's bed. He's sound asleep. You push him as unobtrusively as possible, making him roll over closer to the wall. Pulling up the covers, you slide into the bed next to him. As though he realized what you'd done, he rolls onto his back. You smile sleepily and put your head on his arm and chest. His breathing is even and quiet, and you fall asleep within the minute.