I usually reply to reviews through private messages, but since this was an anonymous review that contained a comment I wished to reply to I suppose I'll have to do it here. Guest reviewer says: "Love the story, though it does get a bit confusing when you refer to Patta and Frisk as "They". Just a suggestion, but maybe give Patta a gender sometime soon? I know I personally imagine him as male"

First thank all, thank you for taking the time to comment! Now, by now I can confirm that yeah, Patta is male. Since Chapter 11 that stopped being a mystery, however I haven't been using male pronouns for him for one reason related to characterization. You see, while the narration is not meant to be through a single character's point of view, it's influenced to some point by Patta's subconscious. Patta doesn't feel like a person with a real and complete identity, as mentioned: "A person is defined by all the experiences they have lived through in the past and all the possible moments they will live in the future". While Patta is already willing to create a future for himself, he hasn't accepted and let go his past experiences and pains, so he can't see himself as a person with a complete identity yet. Once that happens the narration -and therefore the characters and Patta himself- will be able to see the change in pronouns.

It is all kind of complicated, but yeah. I hope I managed to explain my intentions without any confusion, heh.

Say, leaving that aside, I have also noticed a noticeable increase in the daily views/visitors counter since around a week ago. That sure was unexpected, heh. I hope everyone is at least having a decent time with the story. Thank you for reading.

Mahiru sipped her soda, reading attentively the feed of the social network. She had just received a message from her friend, the one who had seen the human with the supposed monster. It was an affirmative answer with an important deal of reticence, but that was enough for the Youth Troop.

Practically everyone in the city were members of the social networks, and Youth Troop members all over the city had created groups for everyone to mingle and talk. Mahiru was checking the one the Fifth Division usually socialized in, reading the posts. "Guys, check that. Yesterday's stupid poll is finally over"

"About time. Lemme check what the new one is..." Selby took out his own cellphone to see the new poll.

"What was yesterday's poll, again? 'Would you smooch a ghost?'" Cam scoffed, leaning against the wall without stopping looking at the entrance of the Creme Bruleé inn.

The four teenagers were in a café near the inn, having taken one of the tables as their spot to watch in case the monster or the human who accompanied it tried to leave the inn. While Cohen was pretty much the only one who believed the monster was in there, the rest of the teenagers had accompanied him out of loyalty.

Cohen turned his head around. "Whoever made that poll is a moron, yo. The answers were even worse. 'Hell no' being the only answer does not a good poll make"

"Some wiseass did post 'hell yeah' in the comments" Mahiru closed the results of the past day's poll, instead going to check the new one. When she saw what it was, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Wow! The word gets around fast!" she turned her phone around, showing the new poll to her friends.

'IF YOU ENCOUNTERED THIS MONSTER WHAT WOULD YOU DO'

Somebody with mediocre artistic inclinations had drawn an illustration of the monster Cohen had been looking for. The image was clearly influenced by all kind of outlandish rumors about the monster. It was a tall and lanky creature with a menacing expression, hunched over, with matted fur and curved horns that reached its shoulder blades, and a seriously effect-ruining cowboy ensemble that included boots and a ridiculous hat.

"That's one ugly motherwooer" Cam said in his usual roundabout way of swearing. "Look at those teeth"

"Bet it could eat Selby if it wanted" Cohen considered approaching the inn again to try to look through the windows. Selby, who definitely didn't want to be eaten anytime soon, paled at that.

"H-h-h-hey, I'm sure the m-monster can't be that bad, right? Right, guys?"

"You can't know that. I'm sure monsters are like animals. Bet they can't even talk. Picture that, a goat monster trying to use hand signals to communicate" Cam shook his head "Cohen, this is a waste of time. I want to go home"

"Fine, go home" Cohen authorized. Cam started to pick up his stuff, relieved of not having to continue standing there doing nothing. It was already night and the wind was starting to pick up, it seemed like it was going to be a cold night.

"People are trying to look tough! 34% say they would attempt to fight the monster" Mahiru scrolled down further "...but most say they would run away. I didn't think everyone would get so fired up about rumors"

"Imagine how it'll be when we finally get proof about the monster. The whole city will go crazy about this" Cohen smiled "I can't wait for that to happen"

"Why are you so sure people will like the monster? Hell, why are you so sure it exists?" Cam frowned "You know what they say about the guy who saw it first?"

"I know what people say about him, yo" Cohen shrugged "It's just that...do you know the legend?"

"Of course we do. It's practically mandatory reading in school" Selby said.

"Haven't you ever wondered how life was while monsters and humans lived together? I haven't found much, but before the war it sounded like those were nice enough times. If we can live peacefully with monsters again our future would be much better than the load of crap it is right now"

"Even if we got a photo people could say they're fake. You know how people can be sometimes"

"We can take lots of photos or maybe a video, that will make it more credible"

"That doesn't answer anything I asked" Cam crossed his arms. Cohen looked at the curtains of the inn, it seemed like somebody was looking outside. He couldn't distinguish who it was.

"...I just want it to be true. And depending of the monster's behavior people will support them living among us. If...if we can play our cards right...things are bound to get better. I want so badly to see the monster and convince it to stay!"

"What did Ciruel say?" Mahiru had finally left her cellphone aside.

"He agrees with me. Who did you think told me the monster was at the inn? Apparently the innkeeper told him about the monster"

The rumor mill was a good enough source of information, but Cohen trusted only reliable sources. Ciruel, a known ex-member of the Youth Troop, was one of the people Cohen liked the most. They shared many interests and enjoyed each other's company, Cohen considering Ciruel as a big brother of sorts. "He says he's going to meet the monster, but first he wanted me to make sure it existed. And you three are my best friends; I couldn't just leave you all out of this"

"You're cool and all, man, but you can be a pain in the derriere at times" Cam sighed and turned away "Good luck with your goat monster thing. I'm out" and so he went away.

"Damn it, Cam" Cohen looked at the other two teenagers "You two support me, right?"

"I'm all for it. I want to see a monster too" Selby grinned "Count me in"

"...Cohen, don't freak out but I want to help the monster and you. I'll do the best I can for both of you" Mahiru nodded. "Talk to Cam tomorrow, he's just in bad mood today"

"Yeah" in that moment Selby saw the door of the inn opening. He shushed the others and pointed at the inn. The light of the lampposts was dim and the night was dark, so they had some trouble distinguishing what was going on. Mahiru, who had the best sight out of all of them, told them what she could see.

"...seems like a woman. Tall, around fifty years old. Cowboy clothes"

"Like the monster. You don't think the guy thought she was a monster, right?" Selby tried to joke, knowing about the gossip about the first person who saw the supposed monster.

"Shut up" Cohen stood up, quickly left money on the counter to pay for the sodas and moved in the shadows to get a little closer. His two friends followed him, keeping an eye on the person that came out with her.

"That seems to be a child, maybe a relative of hers. Why does he have a raincoat?" Mahiru whispered.

"Who cares, it's not our business. I really hope a certain somebody didn't mix up this woman for a monster or I will...I will..." it seemed Cohen was keeping his anger in check, but judging for the way his veins bulged suppressing his anger was something he had to do rather often. Mahiru and Selby carefully stepped away from him.

The woman and the child in the raincoat entered a nearby car, turned on the headlights and drove away towards downtown. Mahiru tried to see inside the car, but saw nothing to report. "What if that guy doesn't leave the inn? We can't spend the whole night watching"

"If the monster is in there they'll want to leave as soon as possible. That's when we'll strike" Selby said "Let's give it an hour or two more, they won't want to leave when it's late at night. Graham wouldn't let them" This was not a very nice neighborhood late at night, that was why Graham locked the doors instead of hiring somebody to deal with any potential clients during the nights.

"Shut up, the door is opening" Mahiru, with her excellent eyesight, recognized Patta. "It's them"

"Do you see the monster?"

"Yes. Yes! Cowboy clothes. It's the size of a child, though"

"The monster may be a mere child?" Selby whispered. He liked children and had skills dealing with them, at least in his opinion. The thought of causing trouble to a child, even if it was a monster, was something he loathed to even think. Seeing a monster, not bothering a child, both wishes were in conflict. Unfortunately the first half seemed to be getting the upper hand.

"We know almost nothing about monsters. For all we know monster adults are tiny like this" Cohen frowned "Whoever drew the image for that poll really took some artistic liberties, yo"

Patta looked from side to side, not noticing the Youth Troop in the shadows. The three teenagers watched Patta grab the supposed monster's hand, leading them in the opposite direction of Mt. Ebott. Being careful to not to get their attention, the three teenagers sped up, trying to catch up with them.

However it seemed their stealth attempts weren't enough. As if they felt there was something wrong going on, Patta sped up. The child had no problem following their pace, always staying close to the adult. Neither the child nor the adult hesitated when running, it seemed like they had a clear objective. Seeing their targets were running away, the teenagers abandoned all intention to stay in the shadows and started to run too.

Cohen, being a natural athlete, got closer and closer to them, his two friends being left behind. Patta turned their head around, an expression of panic showing in their face. "Damn it!" they gently pushed the child to a side. Apparently it was some kind of signal, as the child parted ways once they got to the corner. Patta and the child ran in opposite directions.

Cohen stopped, looking at each one for a moment. The child was the obvious choice, but they also wanted to ask Patta a few questions, namely how they had gotten in contact with a monster in the first place.

"Cohen, wait!" Selby reached him, panting "Let's both of us go for the monster. Mahiru can go for the adult"

"Seems fine to me" There was no time for talking. Cohen and Selby ran in direction where the monster had gone, while Mahiru, despite her protests, had to go towards the adult.

Patta had a surprising amount of stamina, despite having been running as fast as they could for several minutes, they showed no signs of slowing down. "H-Hey! Slow down, I just want to-" Mahiru shouted but had no breath to have a conversation while running. Patta ignored her and turned around the corner.

When Mahiru followed them down the bend, she stopped when she noticed she couldn't see Patta anymore. "What? What?!" The street was long and one way, how could Patta have disappeared so soon? It wasn't like they suddenly got fast enough to get to the end in just a couple seconds. Not wanting to disappoint Cohen by telling him she had given up so quickly, she walked down the street, trying to find any possible paths Patta could have taken.

-ooooo-

Patta felt like they could fall down and faint at any moment.

Just like they had expected the teenagers had followed them. They had hoped Cohen and his friends wouldn't manage to follow their pace but Cohen had shown to be faster than they had expected. Running in opposite directions was more of a plan B, as their original plan was to confuse the teenagers by using the large net of alleyways this part of the city had, but before they could arrive Cohen had reached them.

While the warehouse leading to Celia's house was near the inn they couldn't have just entered through there, the Youth Troop would have seen them, so their plan was to enter through the alleyway they had used the day before. Of course, since Patta knew nothing about the city, all they had to rely on was their memory and a relatively detailed description of the area, given by Frisk.

Thankfully, they had no problem finding the alley after getting separated from their temporal young charge, but they had felt too weak to continue running. They had to take a moment to rest. The problem was that they hadn't managed to leave the pursuer far enough to feel comfortable.

They took a deep breath and felt the meat tenderizer in their coat. Graham had insisted they took it with them, arguing 'going out at night in this neighborhood is not a good idea', although since it was early in the night it wasn't so dangerous. Still, they were a foreigner, one was a child, one was a monster and a child and the last one in the group was going to stay in her car. They thought of Ananas. The plan was that she was going to keep safe the child she had taken with her until the Youth Troop had gone away. Just as they had once said before: nobody was going to bother to take a good look inside a car.

The steps outside made Patta freeze, and they took out their weapon. This thing had all the possibilities of going so wrong, those spikes were worrying. To make it worse they had already seen first-hand how much strength they had, the damaged frying pan came to their mind. Patta promised to them they wouldn't use that meat tenderizer unless it was the very last option. Thinking it better they put the tenderizer away, hurting an innocent person was something they wanted to avoid.

The pursuer appeared outside the alleyway they had entered. It was the female teenager, what was her name? Mahiru? Patta tried to blend with the shadows and held their breath, but it seemed they weren't going to have any luck. "I know you're in here, man!" she shouted into the alleyway. Patta didn't reply, but that didn't deter her. She hesitated at first, but then gathered her courage and stepped into the alleyway. Somehow, she managed to pass by without noticing Patta, despite the alley being so narrow Patta felt Mahiru so close they could have tripped her just by moving their foot forward a bit.

It seemed she was no fan of the idea of exploring dark alleyways in middle of the night because she stopped after a few feet, staring deep into the alleyway with apprehension. Taking advantage of this, Patta tried to move as stealthily as possible towards the street.

Unfortunately, it seemed even their best attempt to be stealthy was doomed to fail. Even though they didn't make any noise, Mahiru turned around with a yelp, her eyes darting around in a panic. She noticed Patta in the entrance of the alleyway. The sight of a silhouette against the entrance, without being able to see any features, and the environment of the oppressive alleyway was too much for her. Scared, she stumbled backwards, but the alleyway was uneven and craggy. She tripped and fell against the wall, hitting her head against the bricks. Patta froze for a moment, hoping to see Mahiru stand up, but she didn't. Feeling the cold sweat gathering on their brow, Patta delicately grabbed Mahiru's body in their arms and retreated further into the alleyway until they got to a lamppost. This was the plaza that was shortly before the path to the abandoned house, empty buildings were the only stuff around. Once they reached the light Patta examined the wound on her head. It was bleeding a lot, which was something normal head wounds did, they knew that, but that didn't stop their heart from jumping to their throat. "Oh god, please be okay..." Mahiru, albeit unconscious, seemed to be breathing without trouble, and her pulse was steady. The head wound was worrying, but it wasn't like she would bleed out.

Of course, leaving Mahiru lying around was definitely not an option. They looked in their pocket for their cellphone but then remembered Asriel still had it. Feeling the frustration bubbling in them, they carried Mahiru as well as they could towards the abandoned house. Taking responsibility of the consequences was the right thing to do, and although neither Asriel, Frisk nor Celia was going to be happy about this, at least at first, Patta wasn't going to change their mind.

When they got to the chain-link fence gate near Celia's abandoned house. Luckily it was open, so there wasn't going to be any need to climb while dragging Mahiru. Would that even be possible? Patta carried Mahiru to the porch of the abandoned house and knocked.

Frisk was the one to open the door, still wearing the cowboy ensemble. "Frisk?! How did you get here so fast?"

"I ran" that was their only answer. It was to be expected Frisk would manage to get here; they knew the city like the back of their hand. Going through the alleyways and streets would be easy enough for them. Still, this was no time for idle chatting. Patta entered and left Mahiru to a side of the foyer.

"Alright. Alright, everything is going to be okay" Patta said, pacing from side to side of the foyer. The sight of Mahiru bleeding got them greatly anxious, especially because, in their way to view the events, it had been their fault. If they had been more careful, Mahiru wouldn't have noticed their presence. They should have stayed still; after all they had noticed Mahiru was jumpy and rattled. Or if they had at least run fast enough to lose Mahiru earlier...! In their opinion, they had led Mahiru to get hurt.

"What did you do to her?"

Frisk's question had a tone that made them shudder. Frisk didn't shout or make big gestures, but their tone was chilling in the way they pronounced those words. It didn't take long before Patta remembered Frisk had likely seen the FIGHT with Graham. It was possible Frisk thought Patta had done something like bludgeon Mahiru with the meat tenderizer. "I did nothing" Patta said "S-She was about to find out, then she stumbled into the alley, and-" their pupils had shrunk to pinpricks "Oh god, oh god, oh god, I screwed up real bad. What if something else happens to her? It's going to be my fault!"

Something in Patta's desperation made Frisk step back. It wasn't because Frisk was scared; it was more because in this state it was unlikely Patta was going to listen to any attempt to calm them down. Instead, Frisk started to fear for Mahiru's life. Hoping with all their heart she was okay Frisk examined Mahiru's head, delicately taking a look. "She'll be okay" they said with great relief.

"Do you think? She's bleeding a lot, and she's unconscious. That's never a good sign"

"It doesn't seem so bad. I have bandages in my room" Patta didn't need to be told that twice. They ran upstairs, arriving to the bedroom Frisk shared with Celia. It seemed the little girl was still awake. Patta knocked, and once they received authorization they asked where the bandages were. Celia gave the bandages to them.

"Is Frisk okay? Are they hurt? Is Asriel hurt?" she asked, knowing asking for bandages wasn't something anybody did just for fun. Patta didn't answer, instead running back downstairs, followed by Celia. It seemed that running did Patta some good, as when they returned to the foyer they didn't feel so high-strung. Now that they had calmed down they applied the bandages on Mahiru's head, making sure to not to inflict any damage.

"Right. I think she's going to be okay, but I really hope she awakens up soon" Patta said, leaving aside the remaining bandages.

"Who is she?" Celia asked, staying near the stairs.

"...I don't know very well. It's a long story" Before anybody else could say something, somebody knocked at the door. Frisk immediately looked through the window, and smiled when they saw who it was.

"They arrived" Frisk opened the door, letting Asriel and Ananas enter. The plan to get Asriel in a safe place while Patta and Frisk distracted the Youth Troop was a success. Too bad it had been ruined in the very last phase. Asriel took off the hood of the raincoat and gasped when he saw Mahiru, and Ananas took a deep breath.

"Patta, I hope there's an explanation for this" she said, dangerously calm. It was the same calmness she had in the airport when she had thought Patta had kidnapped a child. Wanting to get everything straight as soon as possible, Patta told Asriel and Ananas what had happened. The security guard seemed to understand "I see. Maybe it'd be good to get her medical attention"

"I agree. Asriel, do you have my cellphone?"

"No need for that, I'll call" she took out her cellphone. Her dialing was interrupted by Mahiru, who in that moment was finally awakening. Everybody stepped back, giving her space. Mahiru grit her teeth and tried to stand up, grabbing her head with one hand.

"Aaagh! What the hell...?" she exclaimed. Asriel, feeling a pang of sympathy, approached her.

"Are you okay?" Asriel gave Mahiru his hand, helping her to stand up. Mahiru, who had kept her eyes closed due to the pain, stood up, mumbling grateful words for the kid who had helped her. Once she was steady on her feet she slowly opened them, groaning.

As soon as she distinguished Asriel she shrieked and jumped back, immediately grabbing her head again in a bout of dizziness. "My head! What happened to me? I remember I was looking for you, and then..." she glared at Patta "...you! What did you do to me?!"

"You hit your head against the wall" Patta said, almost meekly "You tripped and fell"

"Did I? I..." Mahiru cringed, pained "I see. Where am I?"

"This is an abandoned house. That is all you need to know for now. Do you feel okay? Can you walk by yourself?"

"I can, I can. Stop worrying about me" she growled and looked at Asriel. It seemed like she was having a hard time deciding if she had hit her head way too hard. "Is this for real? Is that a monster?"

"Howdy!" Asriel said, grinning. Mahiru stared at him for a moment, trailing the palm of her hand with her fingers and reminiscing of the feel of Asriel's hand grabbing hers, which was enough to show this was not a visual hallucination brought from some serious concussion.

Either this monster was real or the head wound had affected much more than what anyone expected.

"Oh. Uh...I see. I'm so confused, monsters weren't supposed to be real..." she muttered. Asriel lowered his eyes and Mahiru actually felt bad for potentially having hurt his feelings. This was far, far from what she had expected when Cohen had told her there was a monster on the surface. "I don't mean you're not real! This is too much for me, okay?" Mahiru wobbly walked towards the door "I should be going away now"

"I could take you to the emergency room" Ananas offered "You should get your head examined"

"Oh my god, what a mess. My parents are going to have a thousand questions" Mahiru cringed and turned to Asriel "And Cohen will want to know about you"

"You won't tell them" Patta immediately intervened, having recovered from their fear of Mahiru not waking up from the wound "We have enough problems for you to add one more"

"Don't tell them, please" Asriel said softly. Everybody stayed silent while Asriel approached her. Mahiru didn't back off, looking at Asriel with a mix of apprehension and pity "I want to see my parents again. I just want to go home"

Mahiru couldn't bear looking at Asriel's eyes. Now that she had seen the monster herself she couldn't continue helping Cohen out of good faith. This was not a monster that could represent a potential danger, whether it was intentionally or unintentionally, nor was a monster that could get to the mountain by himself and actually was callously taking advantage of people.

He was no more than a lost child. Mahiru closed her eyes, thinking what she'd do if this weren't a monster but a human kid trying to get home. Would she really get in the way of that? She didn't hesitate for even a second before the answer resonated in her. She wouldn't.

Just because this child was some sort of goat it didn't mean she couldn't sympathize. "Stop looking at me like that. I won't tell him. But really, Cohen will think you or any of your human friends attacked me. I don't think he'll stop, even if he knows what you're trying to do"

"Tell them what really happened" Frisk suggested. Mahiru turned towards Frisk, her eyes slightly widening when she recognized them. She had just noticed they were wearing the cowboy clothes

"You're in this too, eh? You know how they are, Frisk. Cohen is too stubborn and Cam already declared he doesn't want anything to do with monsters. With some luck he won't change his mind" she touched the bandages on her head "Maybe Selby would believe me, I don't know"

"Thank you for trying" Asriel gave her a sweet smile and Mahiru, much to her surprise, found herself smiling too. Asriel seemed like a nice monster.

"I should get going. I'll take the offer to go to the hospital" she said to Ananas. The security chief nodded and left the abandoned house with Mahiru after reminding Asriel she would be away of the city starting tomorrow. The group heard Mahiru asking Ananas how she had gotten involved in all this, and soon the voice of Ananas explaining to Mahiru everything faded in the darkness outside.

The group in the abandoned house stayed in silence until Celia broke the silence. "…that sure was something" she turned to Frisk "I thought Asriel would be home by now"

"People know Asriel is over the surface"

"Oh no…"

"Is it okay if we sleep here, Celia?" Asriel asked. Celia immediately brightened up, taking Asriel's hand.

"Of course! But, um…I don't know where you two can sleep" Celia looked around "We're four. Two of us could take a mattress and-"

"No need for that, I'll use a couch down here" Patta said, checking the dilapidated furniture that littered the foyer "I think sharing a mattress with one of you children even for one night would be…creepy, to say the least" Patta could think several words that would fit better how uncomfortable and wrong it would be, in their opinion.

"Oh, okay. I'll bring you a blanket. Let's go, guys" Celia went upstairs but Frisk excused themselves, staying in the foyer with Patta. Patta, unsure why Frisk had stayed, sat on the old couch and waited Frisk to say something.

"You were very scared" they said. Patta raised their eyebrows and smirked.

"You sure don't beat around the bush when you're talking to somebody that isn't your friend, eh?" Patta had to admit they found that behavior kind of unsettling, but they didn't mention it.

"Why?" Frisk inquired. Such a short question yet it made Patta sigh. They did know exactly why they had freaked out when Mahiru had gotten hurt, and they knew why they had felt responsible for that.

"…Frisk, I'm not sure if I should be telling this to you, but I'm afraid of death. It's not a phobia (I hope), but it scares me" Patta laid on the couch "And what scares me the most is that something I do could lead somebody else to die. The thought it'd be because of me that somebody else's life could be snuffed out…it is terrifying"

"Oh" Frisk sat on the floor, leaning on the couch.

"That teenage girl, for example. I know absolutely nothing about her, but if she had died because I wasn't agile or stealthy enough I don't know what I would have done" Patta closed their eyes, feeling something primal and raw filling their chest "It has been so long since I bothered to actually bond with people, but that fear is something I never forgot even after I gave up on everything. I'm not saying I would do something, uh, cowardly if this worst fear happened, but…

…I don't think I would ever forgive myself. I wouldn't ever be able to find a reason to continue living…I'd rather just go away somewhere and never return"

Damn it, what was up today with them telling children such heavy feelings? First Asriel and now Frisk. All that remained was to call Celia and tell her about some other woes, why not. But in a way they felt relieved, getting in touch again with what they felt, even if they were largely negative emotions.

It's nice for somebody to listen when you need to talk. I suppose that's why I talk to myself so often now, because who else is expected to listen? There's nobody here.

Frisk nodded, as if they understood everything Patta had said, and scratched Patta's head just like the adult had done to Asriel an hour and half ago. Perhaps Patta had given the impression that's what one was supposed to do when somebody else was upset. "It's okay" Such a short answer but Patta felt greatly relieved.

"Hah…Frisk; you're a weird kid in many ways. We should spend more time together"

"We already do"

"We have barely spoken more than a few minutes since we met in the warehouse!"

"Today we shared a snail pie" they said, smiling. Patta laughed, that was true. It seemed Frisk had forgiven them for the bad impressions they had earlier. Patta now knew for sure this trip to take Asriel home was changing them in many ways. They had already confronted bad traits, managed to change their view about the future and now they had started to learn to open up to other people. What else could happen to them?

And not only that, for the first time in several years, Patta could feel they were bonding with others. Asriel was starting to be somebody they greatly cared about, in a way they were starting to think of themselves as a temporal uncle…a guardian of sorts for the monster child, although maybe it was too soon to consider themselves that. Frisk…they weren't sure about Frisk yet, but they felt like they could be closer with Frisk too. Somehow Frisk had the same calming presence Asriel did, even if they tended to keep it more hidden than Asriel.

And about the rest? Their bonds with the rest of the people they had met so far were tenuous, but Patta could feel appreciation towards them, at the very least. They were happy to have met them.

-ooooo-

"Patta?"

Patta opened their eyes wearily. It was still dark, and their wristwatch indicated it was around 1:00 AM. This was too early to do anything. They turned their head around, feeling their back aching, and focused on the person who had awoken them.

Asriel was there, rocking on his feet. Patta sat up, untangling themselves from the blanket. "What is it, Asriel?"

"I, um…I had a nightmare and I…" Asriel rubbed their eyes sleepily "…it was about what I saw before appearing in your house"

That got Patta to be a bit more lucid. Neither they nor Asriel had mentioned not even once Asriel's tale about the void, why was it mentioned again?" Did you remember something else?"

"No, I think I remember even less than before" Asriel sat to Patta's side, fiddling with his long ears "I dreamed about the screams and not much other than that. I'm wondering…why don't I feel more affected by it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw somebody die right in front of me! And I'm not even crying about that when I think about it" Asriel said that as if that defined how much that mattered here. Patta mulled it for a moment, getting to a conclusion that seemed to make sense.

"I think it's harder to empathize with a stranger. If it had been somebody you knew then maybe it'd be different"

"So because I didn't know that person..." Asriel had a hard time understanding that.

"When we met you were more scared than grieving. It must have been a shock, but whoever died was somebody you didn't even know the name of. That's it"

"Oh" that sounded much simpler than Asriel had expected, but that didn't mean he really understood it. Still, it was too late in the night for extensive meditations about something like this. He may as well return to sleep. "Uh...want some company?"

"It's time to sleep, Asriel" Patta said, expecting Asriel to get off the couch. He didn't move, though, instead huddling into the blanket. "What's wrong?"

"I thought you'd want somebody to accompany you" Asriel said. It didn't take long for Patta to understand what was going on. That nightmare, even if it hadn't been intense or very upsetting, had been enough to unsettle Asriel. Perhaps he considered that requesting somebody's company to sleep was something a kid of his age shouldn't do, so he was trying to disguise that need as concern for Patta.

"If you want to sleep here then just say it, Asriel" Patta said. It was too dark to say it with certainty, but they were pretty sure Asriel had just blushed in embarrassment.

"...do you mind if I stay here?"

"The couch isn't very comfy, but if you insist..." Asriel wasn't exactly big. Surely both could sleep well enough. Each one settled onto a half of the couch, Patta having to keep their legs bent so Asriel could huddle on an end of the couch. Still, it wasn't that uncomfortable. Soon Patta could hear Asriel snoring softly.

Feeling relaxed, Patta fell asleep shortly after that.

...Asriel always seemed to me like somebody who trusted people quite easily, but I admit I never thought he'd trust me this much. I felt...honored. It may have been only for a few days, but I'm never going to forget how meaningful it felt. He was like...I don't know, a relative I was in charge of, a younger brother, a son, what I mean is that he was somebody under my protection and I was happy knowing Asriel trusted me too.

...

...I wish I could meet Asriel in person again. I miss that goober, I really do.