Frisk paused at the sound of their name being called and looked up from their paperwork just in time to see Asriel poke his head into their bedroom door. Their and Sans' room? His clothes had mostly made the transition to their closet, but they were still not entirely sure what it exactly meant yet. They put the thought out of their head and smiled at the young monster. "Need something, kiddo?"

He wrinkled his nose at them and stepped into the room. "Frisk, when did you say your birthday was again?"

Frisk paused again, frowning softly as they stared at his suddenly very innocent face. "October eleventh."

Instantly, he perked up. "That's still a week away!"

Now they set their papers aside to frown at him pointedly. "Alright, boy child, out with it. What's so important about my birthday that you had to come ask me about it?"

Reluctantly, he stepped into the room, hands clasped behind his back. "Well, um. Last year you came too late to celebrate with us." This was true—originally, their mountain hiking trip had been a birthday present to themselves. They'd arrived about a week after their party. Asriel had been pretty disappointed at missing the chance to celebrate with them. "So, um, I was thinking maybe we could do something this year?"

Aww, what a cutie. They had to smile, even if it was a wry one. "That's sounds like a nice idea. Thank you, sweetheart." They let him beam in pride before they leaned forward. "Now, what's the catch?"

He blinked, his eyes huge in his face. "Catch?"

It took a lot for them not to immediately smirk at his innocent tone. "Yeah. What do you need a week to plan for exactly? You weren't expecting more than you two, me, Papyrus, and Sans, were you?"

He paused, shifting about on the spot. "Well, um, yeah, I was think just something for the bunch of us. It was just, you know-"he paused again to try to look nonchalant as he shrugged. "I was just thinking that maybe we could go somewhere fun. To celebrate!"

Frisk's smile only grew more amused. "Oh? Any particularly place in mind?"

After a moment of silence where he fidgeted, Asriel finally flashed them a tentative but hopeful smile. "Disneyland?"

Frisk only barely managed to contain their snort. Ah, I probably should have seen that coming. "Ah, sorry, honey, but there's no way I can wrangle us tickets and enough time off for that in just a week. My birthday's only a Wednesday, and besides, Halloween's coming up. I can try for January maybe. I think the crowds are supposed to be thinner then." They paused, smiling gently at the disappointment in his face. "May I ask why Disneyland in particular?"

Asriel sighed gustily; they cleared a spot next to them on the bed, so he trudged over and flopped onto the bed by their knees. "I've always wanted to go to a theme park. We definitely didn't have those Underground. And Chara said they'd never been either."

Frisk frowned. "To a theme park or Disneyland?"

"Neither."

Leaning back, Frisk considered the ceiling. They hadn't had a chance to visit one themselves until they were nearly ten years old—after freeing monster kind, there was hardly any time to spare. But they remembered the bright, sunny day they'd finally gone to a theme park—them, their mother, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys. Sans had stuck to Toriel and their slower pace while poor Alphys got dragged off with Undyne and Papyrus as they sprinted deeper into the park. They could still remember the feeling of the sun beating down on their face as they held their mother's hand in their own, their chest tight with joy. Frisk blinked, feeling the sting of nostalgic tears. Smiling wryly again, they carefully rubbed the tears from their face and beamed down at their ward.

"Well, does it have to be Disneyland, or will someplace else do instead?"

Asriel paused to stare at them before he scrambled up, eyes shining. "We could go to another one instead?"

They laughed. "Disney'd be pretty full, but I think I know a place that we could go to for a day. That'd be easier to swing." Cheaper too, but that was besides the point. They'd already set aside their birthday for a day off work. They'd need to send a note to Asriel's school—not to mention clear it with Asgore and Toriel first—but the idea of getting to share that joy again with Asriel and Chara eclipsed the effort they'd have to put into it. "I, um, have to check a few things first, but I'd love to go there for my birthday."

Without another word, Asriel lunged at them, tossing his arms about their neck as they laughed in surprise. "Frisk, you're the absolute best!"

"Well, hold on now!" they finally giggled, squeezing him back before pulling away to look at him properly. "I really do need to make sure we can do this. So, uh, don't get your hopes up too high."

He rolled his eyes, but they were still shining with hope. "I won't," he lied.

They only laughed.

It was a near thing, but Frisk managed to both get tickets and make time for the trip. Convincing Toriel and Asgore took nearly three days alone—one day to convince them to let Frisk take Asriel and Chara to a park, the second to convince them to let Asriel and Chara skip a day of school, and then the last one to try and convince the two to not join them on the trip. The last was especially tricky, but luckily neither of their schedules would let them come. Frisk decided they should probably feel a little guilty about how relieved they were over the last bit, but it came down to the fact that they knew Asriel wouldn't want them there. A year had passed and progress had been made, but Asriel was still distant to his parents and for once Frisk just wanted a fun, uncomplicated day to enjoy themselves.

Uncomplicated. Right.

It was just the five of them that set out early in the morning; Papyrus and Asriel in the front seats, Frisk and Sans squeezed into the back. Really, it should probably have been Frisk sitting shotgun, but that would leave a bored Sans and Asriel in the backseat and that's always a bad idea—Sans liked to tease and Chara didn't like to put up with it. So, instead Frisk sat sideways so their legs can stretch across the back, Sans' feet up in their lap as he went back to sleep. Frisk had to keep an eye on Papyrus, to make sure he didn't give in to his road rage issues when traffic began to slow, but at last they found a parking spot before noon.

Papyrus tightly gripped Asriel's hand to keep him from bouncing away while Frisk dragged a sleepy Sans onward by his hand.

As they stood in line, Frisk and Sans up front so Frisk could hand over the tickets, a young boy cleared his throat behind Papyrus and Asriel. When they turned to look at him, the five year old grinned up at them. "Cool costumes!"

Asriel blinked and smirked. Papyrus only frowned in confusion for a moment before he lifted his free hand and pointed to his clothes. "This is not a costume. This is a uniform."

The boy's eyes went wide. "That's a uniform? That's so cool!"

Papyrus smirked. "It is."

"You do wear it nicely," Frisk added, turning to smile mischievously at him.

The little boy looked like he wanted to say more, but his parents finally realized he'd started chatting with strangers and yanked him back to their side with a few muttered apologies.

Sans raised an eyebrow ridge. "What's up?"

"The child liked my uniform," Papyrus answered in a lofty tone. "At least they had good tastes."

Frisk leaned in and whispered to the shorter skeleton. "He thought you guys were just in costumes." When he frowned, they patted his shoulder. "It's Halloween coming up. The whole park will be full of people in monster costumes."

"So, what you're saying is that we won't stick out," he grunted.

They shot him an amused smile. "What I'm saying is everyone is going to think you guys are the coolest looking ones here."

"You're saying that they don't say that already?" he quipped.

"Aw, handsome," they began with enough embarrassing affection that Papyrus shook his head and Asriel rolled his eyes; Sans just quietly ducked his head and tried not to laugh as they leaned over and tossed an arm around his shoulders. "If they don't, then know that it's always what I'm thinking."

"You mean that for all of us, right?" Asriel asked, leaning forward to tug at their shirt.

Frisk beamed at him; quickly, they let go of Sans to reach back and cup Asriel's face before swiftly kissing the end of his nose. "Of course, love, for all of you." They promptly missed the smirk Asriel shot to Sans as they turned about, nor did they see the look of amused annoyance (or annoyed amusement) on Sans' face as they handed the tickets over; they might of heard Papyrus's sigh of long suffering bemusement, but they were too distracted to note it.

The teen staffing the entrance booth glanced at Frisk and the monsters before shooting Frisk a disinterested stare. "Sorry, ma—um, sir? But while we let customers walk around in costume on Halloween, I still need to see under the masks, sir." He paused, frowning. "Ma'am?"

Frisk fought the urge to twitch at the misgendering and tried their most patient smile. "Mx," they offered; the teen just blinked at them. "And they aren't costumes."

The teen's frown deepened, but when Sans caught him glancing at him, he reached up and rapped his knuckles against his skull, making it echo. That startled the teen and he made a small 'o' mouth shape. "Uh! I, um, see—sorry for the confusion-um? Miss? Just go on ahead."

Frisk shot him a tight smile—humans always did have a tougher struggle with the intricacies of gender expression, or rather the lack of a preferred one—and pushed through the turnstile. They paused while Sans glared at the gate before sidling in sideways while Asriel scrambled half over it before Papyrus grabbed him and made him walk through it normally.

Once everyone was inside, Asriel quickly lost his sour expression as his went wide. The front of the park was heavy loaded with bright, colorful distractions for kids—a giant carousel, a few of the more tame rides, and kitschy gift shops. More amusingly, Papyrus seemed to be right in the same boat and was goggling at everything. Even Sans looked mildly amused by their surroundings.

Smiling, for real this time, Frisk let them have a moment to sink it in before they spoke. "So, what do you want to do first?"

Never before had Frisk been more thankful that their birthday fell so near to Halloween than then. While some people did a few double takes or gawked at the three monsters, no one really paid them much mind. A few brave souls wandered over, asking for selfies—Frisk let Papyrus and Asriel indulge them while they hung back. Sans stayed with Frisk until the last possible moment before slipping into the background of each photo to make a rude gesture, hidden well enough that no one noticed before wandering away. Frisk snorted at his smug smirk as he slunk back to their side.

More interesting was the monsters' reactions to the costumes and decorations around them. The amusement park was fully embracing the Halloween spirit with pictures and statues of monsters everywhere, including a few lifelike ones that Frisk had to shoo Papyrus and Asriel away from as they poked at them.

Best though, were their reactions to the actors in full costumes. A few had some fun costumes, although when one danced by in a cheap skeleton costume Sans turned to Frisk with a sardonic look. "I have never felt so appropriated in my life." But then the best one walked by and even he had to stare—the actor was missing a leg in reality and had a special prosthetic that looked like real, if stiff, leg and foot bones. As they akk watched the actor finally vanish around the corner, he turned back, his face carefully blank. "Okay, feeling slightly better about this now."

"Was that really a costume?" Asriel asked, voice still awed.

Frisk chuckled and reached over to grab him by the shoulders and pull him along. "Sure was. Plenty of humans lose a body part or two over their lives. We learn to get along without them. Like monsters," they added with a wink.

He frowned up at them. "Are you missing any body parts?"

"Yeah, my appendix."

"What on earth is an appendix?" Papyrus asked suspiciously. "And is it important?"

"It's an internal organ," they answered, tapping their abdomen in about where they thought their appendix had been—honestly, they couldn't quite remember where the damn thing was supposed to be. They only remembered some of the most intense pain of their life right in the middle of an evening with their Papyrus when Toriel and Sans had both gone out. Papyrus had panicked when they started crying in pain and rushed them to the hospital before remembering to call Toriel. That'd been a fun night. "It's, uh… for digestion? I think? Anyway, I can live without it just fine."

"So that's where you got that scar from?" Sans asked. When he caught the disgruntled look his brother shot him, he tensed up. "What? You can't tell me you didn't notice that old scar on their gut before."

"We're in a public place. There are children about," Papyrus scoffed before adding, "and I try not to ogle Frisk, thanks."

"Ah, what's this? Who's ogling me?" Frisk asked loudly, twisting their head about, hoping to disarm the tension before the brothers got themselves into a feud that would last the entire day. They shot the brothers a saucy grin. "Is it someone hot?"

Papyrus groaned in exasperation. "This is nonsense. We're going to go find the fastest roller coaster and we are going right now."

Sans and Frisk shared a hesitant look. "Uh, Pap, you sure that's the first thing we should be doing?"

At the dark look Papyrus pinned him with, Sans abruptly shut up. "We're going."

With a grumble, Frisk let go of Asriel to smack Papyrus's arm lightly with the back of their hand. "No bullying, no fighting," Frisk reminded him when he looked down at them. When he tried to glare at them too, they merely raised their chin. "It's my birthday."

That seemed to settle down him a little. "Yes, well… let's get going at least."

Satisfied for the moment, Frisk turned to the pamphlet they had been handed at the entrance and unfolded it to see a cartoony map of the park. Looking over it, they considered the options silently while Papyrus and Asriel looked over the map with them. Finally, they tapped one tall coaster. "Here. It's not very long, but it's one of the fastest in the state."

"What's it called?" Asriel asked, looking up at them.

"Demon Howl," they read, trying not to chuckle at the silly name.

"A great name!" Papyrus announced; Frisk was suddenly very glad they'd kept their opinion to themselves. Asriel cheered as well. "Let's get going then."

Biting their lip, Frisk heard Sans sniggering behind them and nearly let a chuckle escape. Instead, they forced themselves to look at the map again, tracing a path to the ride with their finger. "It's a long walk. We'd better get going now."

The Demon Howl turned out to not be a good idea. Sans at least had the wisdom to sit the ride out while the other three went to stand in line. After a long wait, Asriel nearly cried when the operator hesitated to let him on the ride since he wasn't sure if Asriel or Papyrus could go on in "full costume". After Frisk explained that neither were in costume—which drew a variety of reactions from confused, scared, curious, to the downright enchanted—the operator relented with a stern warning to both to "try and keep all body parts inside the ride at all times". He then added "if something does fall off, you'll have to wait for a park worker to go get it back".

That trial finally settled, they joined the crowd climbing into the cars. Immediately, Frisk realized that neither monster knew a damn thing about how to buckle in, so they scrambled to get them both settled in before one of the ride workers shooed them back into their own seat. Frisk gave the two up to the worker, murmured a prayer for their good behavior, and quickly settled into their own seat. They had to turn around and order the two to stop fussing at the worker, but finally they were ready.

All the riders locked in place and clearance given, the ride jerked forward and started to glide forward on the rails. Sitting, in their seat, Frisk reached up to grab their harness. They allowed themselves one look back to see despite the difficulties from before, Asriel was beaming and from the way he was grinning up at Papyrus, they hoped the skeleton was also in better spirits. They thought about reminding the two to keep their arms inside the ride, but thought better of it and turned back around.

For a moment, the ride slowed to a near standstill as it the second part of the set up, but only for a moment. Then every person on the ride was slammed backwards into their seats if they hadn't braced themselves already and then the train of cars was flying up into the sky.

It was like riding their motorcycle, but both better and worse—while they didn't have control over the ride, it sure went a hell of a lot faster. Frisk joined the others in a joyful scream, but then all too soon the ride was pulling back to the start. Heart pumping, Frisk turned to glance back and then paused at the sudden motion behind them.

Asriel handed something to Papyrus and the skeleton shoved it upwards.

Frowning, Frisk tried to turn more in their seat, but their harness kept them pinned in place. It wasn't until they came to a stop and the automated bars retracted that Frisk could escape their harness and get a proper look back. "Everything okay?"

Guilt and panic flashed instantly over both their faces as they tried to get out on their own. "It's fine!" Asriel squeaked, wrestling with his harness; Frisk leaned over and helped him. "Everything's great! Right, Papyrus?" He glanced at the skeleton and winced.

Papyrus, damningly, only nodded.

Frisk paused, frowning at him while Asriel clambered out of his seat. There was something… off about the motion, but they weren't sure what. "Papyrus?"

He shot them his most attentive look.

After a long pause, they gestured at the harness that he was still helplessly trapped in. "Would you like a hand?"

He paused, reluctant, and then nodded again.

Frisk instantly realized what the problem was. "Papyrus, did your jaw fall off?"

"No!" he tried to shout, but that only made his jaw fall open at one side, hanging sadly from one hinge. Quickly, he grabbed it, but without a mirror or something to looking into, he couldn't seem to find how to fix it back into place properly. They had both left their phones with Sans, just to make sure they wouldn't accidentally lose them on the ride.

"It's okay, I caught it when it fell," Asriel tried to help, shuffling around behind them.

With a sigh, Frisk got Papyrus free from his harness, waving away the helpful ride worker who started to step forward. Once he was out, they pulled him to the exit. They kept dragging him down the exit stairs while Asriel followed dutifully behind. At the bottom of the stairs, they turned back and grabbed Papyrus's collar and pulled him down before he could fight them off. "Here, let me fix that."

"It's fine!" he snapped, but that only made the jaw flop open again.

Frisk glared and gave his shirt another yank. "Papyrus, do you really want to spend the entire day with Sans once he sees you like that?"

They all knew they were already lucky since the exit area was out of sight from where Sans was sitting at the moment. If it hadn't been though, the ribbing would never end unless Papyrus brought out the threats. Then he'd be responsible for ruining their birthday and Sans' day at once.

A short pause and then Papyrus quickly offered them his jaw. After a few moments fiddling with it, the bone seemed to catch on something and it fell into place.

"Did that hurt?" Asriel asked as Frisk took a step back and Papyrus shifted his jaw around, looking quite pleased to have control over it again.

"What, my jaw? No, no," he answered. "My jaw has a hinge, so it's no problem. Now, if it'd happen to Sans, that'd be one thing. But I don't have to worry about that."

"Cause his is fused?"Asriel guessed.

"More or less."

Seeing that both of them seemed perfectly fine, Frisk fondly shook their head and turned to finally leave the exit area. "Well, did you guys at least enjoy the rest of the ride?"

"It was great!" Asriel gushed, reaching out to tug on Frisk's hand. "Can we go again?"

Frisk looked up in time to see a flicker of panic cross over Papyrus's face and tried not to smile too knowingly. "If we ride the same rides over and over, we won't have time to ride any of the other ones. Let's go poke around elsewhere for awhile, and if you still want to ride it again before we leave, then we can."

Both monsters seemed satisfied and they left the exit ramp.

Sans was still where they'd left him. He raised his hand in a lazy greeting before pointing immediately to the side before they could say anything. "I change my mind. I feel appropriated again," he announced sarcastically.

They looked and spotted an artist's booth set up in the shade. Rather than do chalk drawings or cartoons, this artist was doing face paint. He seemed to be catering mostly to a crowd of kindergarten aged kids, but he had a few older kids too. Most walked away with some simple, colorful designs of birds or flowers, but the latest kid turned and walked off. Frisk tensed at the design on his face, frowning as they watched the kid go.

"Calavera," they muttered and fought back a grimace. "And a terrible design too. Just slapped a couple flowers on him and called it good." Part of them wanted to dryly inform Sans that if anyone should feel appropriated, it should be them, but that idea sounded ludicrous when they realized they'd have to say it to an actual skull.

Asriel blinked up at them. "What's calabera?"

"Calavera," Frisk corrected gently and gestured at their own face. "It means skull—I was talking about the design. It was supposed to look like a sugar skull, like one of the ones I made last year, remember?"

"For Halloween?"

"No," Frisk frowned. "Not the candy ones. The ones I made for the altar that we let Chara help decorate."

"Oh, those ones!" he murmured before frowning. "Those weren't for Halloween."

"No, love. Not for Halloween." They'd known that they probably hadn't explained very clearly last year in their rush to make the sugar skulls—they'd fallen into a sudden panicked frenzy just a few days shy of November last year, when a burst of homesickness overpowered them. They'd realized that they had no way to observe any of the Day of the Dead celebrations as they had years before, but at the same time it felt so sacrilegious they'd gotten sick to their stomach. They asked Asgore for a favor and actually went to the human city to try and find some last minutes supplies. They managed a tiny celebration—there were no graves to visit, so they settled on an altar bearing decorations with the names of the dead and a few trinkets they'd found that reminded them of the deceased.

From the looks the three monsters were giving them, Frisk was fairly certain that were expecting an explanation. With a sigh, Frisk glanced away. "I'll tell you all about it later. Just know that they're doing it wrong."

Asriel frowned unhappily, but Papyrus and Sans both shrugged and accepted it. Seeing himself outnumbered, he sighed. "Can we go on another ride?"

I hope he doesn't want to spend all day on the rides, they thought before glancing around. "Okay, how about… that one." They pointed to a smaller roller coaster; hopefully this one wouldn't knock Papyrus' jaw loose. "It's a Corkscrew. A classic if there was one."

Sans looked at the ride for a moment before pointedly shutting his eyes and turning away, looking like he was settling in for a nap. "Yeah, you guys can go enjoy that one. I'm staying here for now."

"Are you going to want to go on any of the rides?" Frisk asked after a moment while Papyrus and Asriel headed towards the ride's entrance.

"No." Sans opened one eye and smirked. "Tell you what, babe. Find me a ride I can take a nice nap on and then I'll ride it with you."

Frisk raised an eyebrow. "I'll keep an eye out."

Sans shifted and reached into his coat—he had hidden pockets lining the seams and from one of them he pulled out a flask. He held up it up, like an offering. "Want a drink to fortify yourself before you go on another?"

Surprised, they barked a laugh before they could stop themselves. "Put that away! Jesus, you'll get us all in trouble. I told you you're not supposed to be food and drink in here."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't sure they were going to have any place serving monster drinks," he explained as he twisted the cap and took a swig. "I wasn't going to spend the entire day with nothing to drink."

"What do you even have in there?" they asked, curious in spite of themselves.

"Rum. Sure you don't want any?"

They shot him a flat look to hide their amusement. "I'll pass."

"Frisk! C'mon!" Asriel shouted.

"See you," Frisk said; Sans raised a hand nonchalantly before letting it drop again. Shaking their head, they hurried to catch up to the other two monsters.

Thankfully, the line for the Corkscrew was much shorter and the ride a little longer, so Asriel was cheerful again by the time the ride stopped. Unfortunately, he'd also gotten a peek at the longest ride in the park—a wooden monstrosity that turned out to be the largest wooden roller coaster in the state according to the pamphlet—so he started begging to ride that. Again, Frisk and Papyrus accompanied him, although they had to drag Sans along to another bench so to not lose him.

The waiting line for the coaster was again long, not so much because there was a ridiculous amount of people in it, but because the line was slow. The ride itself was fun enough, but it rocked and rumbled about until that Frisk was happy when it ended.

Which is why their stomach nearly plummeted to their knees when Asriel's eyes began to sparkle as they left the exit area. "Hey, I saw this one really cool looking ride while we were up there. Do you think-"

Fixing a politely stern smile on their lips, they wheeled about to look him in the eyes. "Why don't we go try something else for a bit? We have the rest of the day to ride more coasters."

Asriel paused, looking thoughtful. "Oh. Okay." He brightened almost instantly. "Can we go do some games then?"

Anything as long as it means I don't have to ride another coaster just yet. They nodded.

After some backtracking to grab Sans, who was grumpy to be roused before he could get a proper nap in, they hunted down the closest arcade building. Tucked half out of the way, they would have walked past it, thinking it was just a shop, if it hadn't been blaring obnoxious and clashing songs, gun shots, and chimes. Asriel ran forward to stare at a few crane games but almost immediately, he was drawn inside. It didn't take long to find him inside, however—one look at the prize counter revealed him gawking at the prizes. Specifically, one giant crocodile plush that was as long as he was tall. When Frisk and Papyrus walked up to him, he turned to them with bright eyes and pointed up at it. "I want to win that."

Frisk frowned at the tiny placard next to it. "That takes a lot of tickets sweetheart. You might want to look at other prizes first."

Papyrus scoffed. "Nonsense, we can easily win that! All we have to do is win a few games."

"Yeah!" Asriel added, pumping his fists into the air.

Well, lost that battle before it began, they mused as the two monsters scurried off to find a game to play. They grabbed the first one they found—some shooting game that Frisk knew they'd lose. Shaking their head, they glanced back at Sans who was eyeing their surroundings with annoyed resignation. "Welp. Want to find a game to play with me? We have a shit ton of tickets to win."

He shrugged. "No, not really, but it's not like I'm going to get much of a say in it."

"Such a pessimist, my dear," they chuckled and tossed an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, I'm sure we'll find something to take your mind off."

They walked around together before Sans paused in front of a skee ball machine.

"Oh, hold up," he said, surprising them. "I found the perfect thing."

They glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "You like skee ball?"

"Nope," he said before putting one foot up on the edge of the ramp. "It'll be a great place to nap though."

"Oh, no, you don't," they laughed, tugging him back. They let him fall back against them as he sighed.

"Babe, you're killing me here."

"I'm cruel indeed," they chuckled and dug out some coins. "Come on, we might as well give this a shot. Ever play before?"

"Nah. Saw it in a movie that I scavenged from the Dump, but I couldn't figure out what they were doing in the scene to follow the game any."

"Ah, well, it's simple enough." They plopped a few coins into the slot and waited as the game released the balls. They reached down and grabbed a ball, showing it to Sans. "Take a ball, roll it up the ramp, try and get it in a hole up there." They demonstrated and were pleased to see it land in the twenty points hole.

Sans raised his brows and picked up a ball of his own. "Just toss it up there, huh?"

"Roll it. No throwing."

He glanced at them, tossing the ball from hand to hand for a moment. "Are we trying to get more points or less?"

"More. More points, more tickets at the end."

He smirked. "Really?" Without another word, he nearly hurled it up the ramp—the ball started to fly up and Frisk worried it would go careening off, but then a flash of blue magic surrounded the ball and it landed neatly into one of the one hundred points holes. When the scoreboard flashed the tally, he grinned at them. "Takes a delicate touch, I see."

Rolling their eyes, they handed him their ball. "I can see I should leave this to the professional."

He accepted the ball with a pleased smirk. "I am a skeleton of many talents."

"A ton, I'd say," they shot back, earning a snort. "Just try not to be too obvious, or they'll kick us out."

He scoffed, but let the next ball into the fifty points hole. "They'd have to prove it first. Besides, I get the feeling that all these games are rigged. Might as well beat them at their own game."

Frisk couldn't really deny that, so they let him rack up the points until a small crowd started to form. It was harder to hide the cheating then, but Sans still earned a high score. They collected their small pile of tickets and wandered off. Next, they found a basketball game that flashed blue lights, making it easier to hide Sans' magic. Again, they racked up the tickets until they earned enough tickets to win the plush crocodile and then some. Sans looked greedily at some more games, but by then the arcade attendants were looking suspicious, so Frisk dragged him away.

As they wandered the arcade, looking for Papyrus or Asriel, Sans reached into his coat and drew out another flask. "Drink?" he offered, taking off the cap.

Frisk grabbed his hand and forced it back towards his chest before a worker spotted them. "God, Sans, you're going to get us in trouble yet." They paused, frowning down at him as he took a swig anyway. "Is that the same flask from before, or is it a different one?"

"Different. Vodka in this one."

Frisk closed their eyes. "Lord give me strength."

"You're smiling."

"Well, it is a little funny."

Sans chuckled and took another drink before tucking it back into his coat.

They glanced away from him, shaking their head but then paused. Brightening, they hurried up. "There's Asriel and Papyrus. Hey, guys, how's it—going?" they frowned at the two monsters. Asriel was leaning against the game cabinet, looking bored, while Papyrus was utterly absorbed into the game. To their surprise, he was actually better at then they expected; he may not have been earning a high score, but he was doing great for a beginner. Adding to the picture, he was humming along to the game, a delightful little ditty about murdering your opponents. Seeing that they probably weren't going to get Papyrus's attention for a while, they prodded Asriel. "Kiddo?"

Asriel jumped and looked up at them, finally grinning. "Oh, you're here!" He took a step closer them and whispered to them. "Thank goodness you are. Papyrus is really into that game and he won't give me any more coins 'cause he said he needs them."

"Well, we can fix that easily enough," they replied, reaching into their pockets. "Oh, but first…" They turned back to Sans and held out their hand. "Tickets please."

He raised a brow ridge—instantly, he was in a contrary mood. Probably because he was still wanting that nap, now that they thought about it. "I won them."

"With my money. You're not going to even do anything with them." They held their hand out again. "Gimme and I'll help you find a place to nap in peace."

He snorted but did hand over the tickets. "I don't need help finding a place. I need help keeping people from waking me up."

They turned back to Asriel with a grin when his face lit up. "I think you'll find more than enough tickets here."

Asriel grabbed the tickets, running his hands over the cheap paper with glee. "This the best! Thanks, Frisk."

Frisk cleared their throat. "Sans won almost all of them. He plays a mean skee ball. And basket ball. So, you should thank him."

There was a long pause as Asriel glanced from Frisk to Sans; Sans for his part was too busy ignoring the world to care. "Thanks, I guess."

Frisk frowned at him, pointedly.

Looking small, he tried again. "Thank you, Sans."

"Yeah, whatever. What the hell is Paps playing anyway?"

Frisk resisted the urge to sigh and joined them in staring openly as Papyrus jabbed buttons and stamped some floor pedals as well. On the screen, something exploded; he raised his arms and laughed manically. "I WIN!" he shouted before pointing at the screen. "Take that you withered, shambling excuses for dead humans! HAHA!"

"Oh, great, looks like he's done," Sans declared.

"Enjoying yourself, Papyrus?" Frisk asked.

He turned back to them, eye sockets wide. "Oh—you're there. Well, good! You arrived just in time to see my awesome victory from the undead hordes!" He paused and leaned over to Frisk, as they were the closest to his height. "Between you and I, I'm not very amused by this games insistence that the skeletal creatures are unthinking animals to be mowed down." He straightened. "But I got the last laugh in the end! Never would the games creators suspected I, the Great Papyrus, a skeleton monster, to so easily crush their game."

"The irony is great, boss," Sans replied, looking for a moment genuinely amused as he eyed the game's cabinet.

Asriel held up the fistfuls of tickets. "Papyrus, look! I think we have enough tickets now!"

With a gasp of delight, Papyrus grabbed them and immediately started another maniacal laugh. "Perfect! With these tickets and my own winnings, we surely have enough for the stuffed crocodile! I shall go collect our prize now!"

"Have fun with that," Sans shot back as his brother ran off with the tickets.

Asriel grabbed Frisk's sleeve and tugged on it. "Can I still have some coins? I really wanted to try that crane game out front."

Frisk handed him some coins. "We should be out there in a bit. I don't think Papyrus will take long."

He nodded and ran off.

Frisk smiled after him before turning back to Sans who was glancing towards the prize counter with a wistful smile on his face. They nudged him with an elbow. "You made them both happy."

"For once," he shot back, but there was little bite to it. "That little shit even thanked me after you guilted him into it."

"I should probably make him do it more often," they sighed, leaning their arm against his shoulder. "But you really did do good today."

He shot their arm an amused look. "Do I look like a leaning post to you?"

They grinned and held up their thumb and fore finger, pinching them together. "Just a little bit."

He shook his head and looked away. When he did, they glanced back to the crane machines, where Asriel said he would be.

Frisk paused and turned to look further around. After a moment, they felt their chest tighten. "Oh no," they murmured, turning around completely to crane their head about. "Oh, damnit."

"Something wrong, babe?" Sans asked, voice perfectly tailored to sounding idle when he was anything but.

Frisk sighed and glanced back to see Papyrus walking back to join them, arms locked around the stuffed crocodile plush. "I think we lost Asriel."

Sans made a soft noise of surprise and looked around. "Did he wander off?"

Papyrus, on the other hand, did not handle the news so well. "WE LOST THE PRINCE?" he shrieked, clutching his plush.

"Ah, chill, he's probably just around the corner or something."

Frisk frowned, still looking around. "I don't see him. He might have wandered out of the arcade looking for us, maybe? Sans, do you still have his phone?"

Sans checked his pockets while Papyrus scrambled around the arcade, loudly calling Asriel's name. "Yeah, shit, it's right here with Paps' still. Hey, Papyrus, you want to come grab your phone or-?"

Papyrus stalked back to them; without a word, he shoved the crocodile into Frisk's arms, and then wheeled around to grab Sans, and hefted his brother up into his arms. "We are going looking for the prince right now! Frisk, you stay here in case he comes back."

Sans tried to choke something out, but Papyrus dashed off with him before he could get a word out.

Frisk watched them go before sighing. Shifting the plush around in their arms, they walked out of the arcade. As they glanced around, they brightened to spot an information kiosk set up across the path. With a few mumbled apologies, they squeezed through the crowd. Stumbling out of the passing crowd, they walked up to the kiosk and grinned their most charming smile at the attendant who promptly blushed. "Hi there. I'm in a bit of trouble, do you think you could help me out?"

The attendant, a teen boy with a gnarly case of acne, managed a nod. "Sure thing, uh-"

"Frisk."

"Ah, Frisk. I-I'll do what I can."

They leaned against the counter, shifting the plush to their far side. The attendant leaned in as well. "You see, my little brother wandered off on me while I was in that arcade there. He was real excited about riding some coasters, so I don't think he's gone too far. Could you do me a favor and page him, telling him to go back to that wooden roller coaster over there?"

The attendant beamed. "I can do that! I just need his name."

Frisk considered it; if they used his full name, someone might recognize it and come investigate. "His name's Asriel. Just say that Frisk is waiting for him."

The boy happily obliged. Once he was done and the page went out over the speakers, Frisk winked at him. "You're a lifesaver. Thanks, handsome."

He mumbled something, watching them leave all doe eyed.

They walked back to the wooden roller coaster, standing in a point that would give them a clear vantage point of entrance and exit areas, and then crossed their arms as best they could around crocodile and waited. Had Sans and Papyrus heard the page, or would they be going too frantically to pay attention?

The crowds were thick, but the shock of a white furred figure rushing forward was impossible to miss. Asriel looked sheepish as he looked around.

Smiling to themselves, they paused to wave at the prince. "Asriel! Over here."

Asriel jumped and whipped around to see them. He only looked more embarrassed after their eyes met and he slowly slunk forward to meet them. "Hi, Frisk."

"Hello, dear. Get bored, did you?"

He looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet. "It wasn't that. I just… you know…"

They nodded. "Got bored."

His shoulders slumped. "Yeah. I'm just… not very good at those games."

Uncrossing their arms, they reached over and tugged him to their side, patting his back as he wrapped his arms around their middle. "Well, most of those games are rigged. Also, here." They held up the plush and nearly whacked him in the face with it.

He jerked back in time to avoid the crocodile's snout knocking into his own and smiled a bit as he prodded its fluffy jaw. "That's cool at least." He paused and glanced around. "Uh, speaking of, where are Sans and Papyrus?"

Frisk frowned. "That's a good question. They took off to look for you." They handed him the plush, noting his squirming with guilt before he took it. "Hold this and I'll give them a call. Oh, and Asriel?" They frowned as he glanced up at them, giving him a stern look. "No more wandering off without telling someone where you're going."

His cheeks turned faintly pink under his fur—his face must have been really burning to show through so well. He nodded and then quietly buried his face into the side of the crocodile.

They patted his shoulder one more time and then dug out their phone. They dialed Sans number after realizing they couldn't remember if Sans had given his brother back his home. They hoped the two skeletons were still together as the phone on the other end rang. After a couple rings, the line picked up. "Yo, please tell me you found him."

Frisk laughed in spite of themselves. "I did actually."

"Oh thank god."

"Aw, well, it's sweet to hear you so concerned," they teased. When Asriel shot them a grimace, they ruffled the fur on the top of his head.

"Frisk, Paps literally just dragged me across the goddamn park and now he's shouting the kid's name. He's freaking out the humans." He already sounded exhausted.

Frisk laughed. "Oh, dear. Well, get him and tell him to come on back. We're waiting for you at the wooden roller coaster we were just on." They pulled out their map and looked it over. "Do you guys know exactly where you're at?"

"We're next to the water park, I think? It's shuttered up, so I'm not sure."

"Well, it is October," they mumbled as they squinted down at the cartoon landmarks on the map. Frowning, they realized they were looking at the wrong place and began to scan further up. There, at the topmost point of the map, there was indeed a water park. Frisk raised their eyebrows. "Jesus, you guys really did go to the other end of the park, didn't you?"

"I wasn't fucking joking, okay?" He bit off a sigh that turned into a growl. "Look, I got to go get Papyrus before security comes and tries to tackle him. He's making some kids cry now."

Frisk pinched the bridge of their nose and tried not to sigh. "Go do that. We'll be here—or at least around here. Just gimme a call if you don't immediately spot us." He grunted at them and hung up; he must have been genuinely worried about Papyrus getting in trouble to be that abrupt. They paused and glanced down to Asriel only to blink at the pair of bright red eyes staring up at them. "Hello, Chara. What's up?"

"Will they be long?" they asked mildly, gaze steady. It'd look creepy if they weren't sure that was exactly what they were hoping for—they were up to something.

"Might be," Frisk answered as they put their phone back in their pocket. "Asriel decide to switch places with you because he was bored or because he felt embarrassed?"

Chara blinked sedately. "I am sure I don't know what you mean."

"Mmhmm. Well, since you're out, is there anything you would like to do while we wait?"

In spite of their verbal dodging, the child perked up. "I saw a glass blower's shop over there," they said, pointing towards a tucked away corner of the path behind them. "May I go look inside?"

Frisk considered it—it wasn't too far away. Also, it did look interesting. "Yeah, why not? Give me the plush back and we'll walk over."

Chara was happy to oblige but immediately began to hurry away as soon as the plush was handed over. Frisk had to pointedly clear their throat to catch their attention; they paused and glanced back.

"I just scolded Asriel for wandering off," they reminded them. "I'm not going to make you hold my hand, but don't go racing off either."

"Reasonable," they murmured, waiting primly until Frisk started to walk past them. Quickly, they fell in step with Frisk until they reached the inside of the shop.

Beautiful and delicate baubles lined the shop' walls. Frisk kept a close eye on Chara as they wandered through the shop—Chara was naturally careful, but still a bit clumsy with Asriel's body. There was no accident today, so they let Chara drift farther away from them until they both met again by the side door. The side exit led to a small area—a forge was set up along with a few stone benches that were already half full. At the forge, a young teen girl narrated the work of her mother as she worked the glass into a wonderful goblet. Chara watched the exhibition with wide eyes until Frisk whispered to them to pick out a seat. Together, they sat and watched for a while.

They had just joined the crowd in politely clapping when the sound of a small stampede rattled the glass in the shop behind them. They both winced as Papyrus began to call for them, shrieking like an angry crow. Jumping up, Frisk ducked back into the shop to hiss his name.

The tall skeleton whipped around—his eyes widened when he spotted both of them in the door but then narrowed. He took a step forward, but he'd misjudged how close he was to a display of delicate figurines. His hip checked the case and for a moment, his eye sockets went impossibly wide as six figures toppled forward.

Frisk winced and shut their eyes, not wanting to see the damage themselves, but when they didn't hear the sounds of shattering, they cautiously opened their eyes. They looked up in time to see Papyrus gesturing every figure back to their original positions, his blue magic easing them back into place. They sighed a breath of relief, but when they noticed the wide-eyed cashier gaping at Papyrus, they quickly hurried forward and ushered him back out of the shop.

"Papyrus, my dear, my heart, you can't just—barge into a glass shop like that," they tried gently, grabbing him by his elbows as they pulled him back out. "It's very delicate and very expensive in there."

"I can see that," he tried to snap, but there was no heat in his words. Judging by how he refused to meet their gaze, he seemed just as embarrassed as they were, so they let him go without anymore fussing. "It's no place for any rational monster to be. Everything's all… fragile in there."

"We need not stay," Chara offered. "I was done in there anyway."

Papyrus blinked and looked down at them. "Oh, Chara, it's you. I thought you didn't want to come out today?"

They shrugged, nonchalant. "I changed my mind."

Seeing the two already calming down, Frisk turned from them and looked around until they spotted Sans. He leaned against a sign, glaring at the ground as he tried to catch his breath. Biting back a sigh, Frisk walked over to him—there was no way that he'd hear their footsteps approaching over the crowds, so they just called out to him as they got close. "Sans? You okay?"

He glanced up at them, still frowning, but his glare slowly faded. "Me? Yeah, yeah. I'll live. Fucking Papyrus dragged me across the park, then started yanking me back across it is all."

They patted his shoulder and tugged him away from the sign to lean against them instead. "Well, why don't we go get lunch? We can all sit down for a bit and relax."

"Recover more like it," he snorted and let himself list heavily against them. "But yeah, fuck it, let's get something to eat. Do they have monster food here though?"

Frisk considered it. "Well, maybe not hot food, but there's probably some vending machine around here—monster food's been taking off like crazy up here. Tricks human bodies into think it's eating real food without gaining weight and works as a basic first aid? That's gold right there."

"Good to know that if this ambassadorial gig doesn't work out, we could always become hot dog vendors or something."

They smiled at him, slyly. "Aw, you'd want to stick with me and going into business together?"

He blinked up at them as if realizing suddenly what he'd said. "Uh. Well, sure, why not?" He looked at them, just as sly. "You could run interference as we charge everyone double their worth."

Laughing, Frisk gave his shoulder a squeeze and started to pull him along. "Come on. Let's go get those two and go eat."

After collecting Chara and Papyrus, they pulled out their map again to look for some place to eat. Luckily, there was a new monster food shop selling some hot food. Sans grumbled about the prices as he helped carry the food back to the table where Papyrus and Chara sat.

"What's a matter, dear? Mad that they nearly robbed us blind or mad that they beat us to the punch?" they teased.

He grimaced up at them. "I can be both."

When they got to the table, they passed the food around and then settled in to eat. As Frisk took a bite of their taco, they paused when they felt a nudge down at their elbow. Glancing down, they saw Sans offering another flask. They were about to refuse outright before they paused and studied the flask again—it was one they recognized. They'd bought it as a birthday present for him and it looked nothing like the ones he'd offered them earlier. They looked up at him again, trying to look stern. "Don't tell me you snuck in three different types of alcohol."

His grin was almost innocent. "Whiskey?"

They shook their head. "How many more flasks did you sneak in?"

"Flasks of alcohol? That's the last one."

They paused, frowning, but when they opened their mouth to ask another question, a tap at their other arm stopped them. Looking back, they saw Chara leaning in towards them. "Frisk, can I borrow the map for a bit?"

"Of course, my dear." They reached back, tugged the pamphlet out of their pocket, and handed it over. "Looking for something in particular?"

Chara didn't immediately answer, not that Frisk minded. Instead, they leaned in to see what their charge was looking for. They watched Chara's eyes skim over the map a few times before they paused and tapped a bit of the map. "Here. They have a botanical garden." They looked up to Frisk. "I would like to see it."

"Sounds nice and relaxing," Frisk offered, looking at the map as well.

"Sounds like a lot of walking," Sans muttered. Frisk tapped his ankle with their foot as a warning.

Papyrus shot his brother a look. "You could use the exercise, lazy bones."

Lord, I hope they won't be sniping at each other this whole time. Frisk cleared their throat and gestured to the map. "Oh, look. There's a petting zoo too. Well, I'm in."

Sans snickered. "Why? So you can pet the baby goats and rabbits? Good thing Asriel's not about, or he might get jealous of-"

Apparently, Papyrus had enough. He stood, grabbed his brother by the back of his coat, and yanked him upright. Sans hissed in pain as his knee whacked against the underside of the table, but Papyrus didn't care as he dropped him back down onto his feet. "A walk sounds fantastic! Which way do we go?"

Chara's glare vanished into cool smugness as they stood, watching as Sans rubbed his aching knee. Frisk shook their head and stood as well. "Looks like its back by the arcades and then we just take a left for a while. It won't be that far."

Papyrus marched his brother down the path, letting Frisk and Chara lead the way, until he at last decided his brother was going to behave and let him go.

The gardens were lovely, full of beautiful green plants, expertly maintained ponds, and well placed landmarks. The shops in the area were less eye searing and far more tasteful, the benches and signs placed in ways to not obscure the natural beauty around them. Frisk and Chara happily appreciated it all as they walked around, admiring the scenery. Despite their own enjoyment, Frisk was becoming painfully aware that both brothers were growing bored out of their skulls. A bored Papyrus meant an antsy skeleton prone to jumping on whatever might interest him in any way—if it weren't for the fact that Chara had asked to go, he'd probably would have wandered off by now.

Sans, on the other hand, was an entirely different problem. A bored Sans meant a sleepy Sans; a bored Sans who wasn't allowed to sleep because he was being kept walking was only a moment's notice away from mischief.

Frisk tried to keep an eye on both of them, but as they paused next to a koi pond so they could toss some feed down to the fish Frisk let their attention wander. They barely even noticed the shop directly behind them, not even realizing when the service door in back opened and a park worker pushed their way out the door. He had a trolley of tall boxes he was trying to pull out of the shop, but the wheels got stuck as he was halfway out. He struggled with door and the trolley for a few moments before he finally spoke up.

"Hey, man, can you give me a hand? This stupid thing's stuck."

Attention fixed on the fish swarming below them, eager for feed, Frisk didn't notice the gleam of mischief in Sans' face as he reached up and plucked his hand from his wrist. "Sure, man. Here, hold this."

Without looking, the worker lifted his hand and accepted the hand. He frowned down at the trolley for a moment before freezing. Finally, he looked up at his hand, face blank. He stared down at the hand, silent and uncomprehending. Then he screamed and tossed the hand high into the air.

Frisk and Chara jumped in surprise, but it was Papyrus who actually did something. Reaching up, his hands glowed blue and Sans' hand stopped falling, just short of landing in the middle of the koi pond. Frowning, he curled his hand back towards himself; the floating hand drifted backwards. Once it dropped into Papyrus own hand, Papyrus shot his brother a glare before leaning over and grabbing the trolley's bar. With a hard yank, the trolley and the boxes jerked forward to freedom and out of the store. Letting go, Papyrus straightened, looking very pleased with himself.

"Nice, Papyrus," Frisk offered. "You're a big help today."

"I know," he huffed.

"Yeah," Sans grumbled. "Real helpful. Can I have my hand back now?" He froze when Papyrus glared at him, irises burning in his eye sockets. "Uh—please?"

"So you can make more of a nuisance of yourself?" Papyrus scoffed. "I hardly see why I should indulge such childish pranks."

Sans actually looked offended at that. "You're the one who hid his finger in a quiche and nearly choked Frisk with it."

Papyrus's face colored. "That was not on purpose!"

"Bro, everyone knows you're not that bad of a cook."

Papyrus tensed up like a wound up coil. "Are you saying I'm a bad cook?"

Frisk cleared their throat. "Guys, please, we all know it wasn't on purpose." They paused to glance at them both pointedly. "And it's my birthday."

The two brothers wilted but Papyrus did reluctantly give the hand back. Still, while they sulked, the worker finally stopped staring.

"Dude, you used, like, magic and all that junk," he mused, eyes wide. "You're, like, a superhero."

Chara chuckled but Papyrus brightened at that. "Ah, yes, human, you are correct! I am indeed a hero of rare power. You may praise me at your leisure," he added, face smug.

When the worker smiled, however, the nonchalance faded. "Dude, you're wicked awesome. Wait until I tell everyone about this!" With that, the worker grabbed his trolley and began to push it off to wherever he'd been headed in the first place. "See you later, hero skeleton, and thanks for the help!"

Papyrus watched the human go, the lights of his eyes bright and dancing in their sockets. "He said I was awesome. He said he was going to tell others!" he murmured, shivering.

"Well," Frisk began, patting his shoulder. "I do believe you deserve a little recognition every once and a while, dear. Congrats." They glanced at Sans. "You, on the, uh, other hand. You might want to be careful and keep your hands to yourself for a while there, or we're going to end up calling you stumpy."

Sans snorted, still twisting his hand about on his wrist.

"You could do that now. People would just think it's a short joke," Chara offered. While Sans glared murder at the child and Papyrus muffled a chuckle, Chara looked politely up at Frisk. "I am satisfied now and Asriel wants to go on more rides."

"Oh, alright," they said as they looked down at them. "Did you have a good time today? Not too bored?"

Chara shook their head, the long ears swinging around their face. "No. It was fun. Happy birthday, Frisk."

They smiled. "Thank you, my dear."

They raised their chin. "Since it's your birthday, you can kiss me if you want."

Frisk's face crinkled at their eyes as they grinned; coming from anyone else, that would have sounded like the epitome of arrogance. "I would love that, thank you." When the child offered Frisk their cheek, Frisk leant down and pressed a quick peck to it. "Also, people in glass houses shouldn't be throwing stones, my love."

Chara sighed.

They pulled back to give them a firm look. "Lay off the short jokes."

"Okay," they answered, and to Frisk's surprise, leaned up to press a kiss of their own to Frisk's right cheek. However, when the child pulled back, it was Asriel's brown eyes staring up at them.

"Hey, can I have a kiss too?" he asked.

Frisk laughed and immediately pressed one to the tip of his snout. "Of course, my dear, of course." Quickly, they also pressed kisses to both of his cheeks as well. When they pulled away, he was beaming.

Sans grunted something, probably an insult of some sort, but Papyrus loudly cleared his throat. "I believe Chara said you wanted to go on more rides?"

Asriel turned to him. "Oh, yeah! I saw this really tall one called the Power Drop that I wanted to try. Oh, and there was this one, called the Wild Cat, where you drop and then it swung you around, and there was a swinging boat ride, and then-"

Frisk grimaced, their stomach already protesting. "I'll pass on those. My stomach wouldn't appreciate any of those while it's still working on food." When Asriel tried to stare pleadingly up at them, they ruffled the fur between his ears. "You and Papyrus go have fun. Make sure to take your phone with you, though." They gave his ear a playful tug with the last remark.

The two left and for a moment, Frisk and Sans enjoyed a moment of peaceful silence. Then Sans burped, startling a pair of ducks and a few park goers who stared before walking away. "Well, I'm ready for a nap, now."

Frisk shook their head in amusement. "Aw, that is right. You've been skipping out on your naps today." They reached over and prodded the side of his skull. "Is that why you've been trying to start shit? Are we grumpy because we're sleepy, my dear?"

He batted their hand away, but he looked amused. "Maybe I am. I say we go find some place quieter and sit down."

Once upon a time, I would have thought that was an innuendo. They paused and reconsidered. Actually, it might still be one, but this boy's definitely got sleep on the mind, they mused, watching him yawn and his eyes droop. Smiling, they shook their head and snagged one of his arms, tucking their arm into the crook of his elbow. When he raised an eyebrow at them, they smiled and began to tug him along. "Come on, I have an idea. It's probably not what you had in mind, but I think it'll do nicely."

"As long as I can get a nap in, lead the way." He paused and then added, "just as long as it's not too far of a walk."

It took a few minutes, during which Sans' walk slowed to more of a shuffle so Frisk was half dragging him along, but Frisk found what they were looking for.

Sans looked unimpressed at the sign. "A ride? Babe, I was promised a nap."

"You were, and you will have one," they promised, tugging him forward. "It's a train that runs a circuit of the grounds. It's nice and slow, and it's shaded, so I won't fry as you sleep."

"Ah. Well, sign me up."

The train's compartments were empty aside from one family in the front who were gabbing away, but the conductor was a mellow stoner dressed as scarecrow who was happy to let them ride for as long as they wanted as long as they didn't jump around. Frisk and Sans went towards the back and settled into the long bench, Sans practically laying on Frisk once they put their legs up on the bench, tucking the plush behind them like a pillow.

"See? I told you it'd be a great place for a nap."

"Yes, yes, you did good, now shut up."

Frisk laughed and let him get comfortable. They bit back a giggle when Sans shot the conductor a glare as he blew the train's whistle for the kids as the pulled away. Finally, the train began to chug down the tracks, never getting much faster than a steady jogging pace. While Sans hunkered down for his nap, they amused themselves by looking out at the scenery. The main attraction was apparently the view of the park, but Frisk was more taken by the dense foliage on the other side of the tracks. That was up until they train turned a corner and revealed a few sets that had been hidden by the buildings on the other side. Frisk looked curiously at first but then sat up. "Sans, Sans, you gotta see this."

Sans grumbled at the jostling and when they began to shake his shoulder, but then he opened his eyes and glared in the direction they were pointing. Once he saw what it was, he sat up.

Frisk wasn't sure if it was a Halloween display or just a strange idea, but the park had rigged up a rather goofy scene of a bunch of prop skeletons posed in an old western style gun battle. Some of the skeletons were aiming pistols at each other, some were sitting at chairs, sipping their drinks nonchalantly. A few were hanging out of windows. One was done up as a brothel madam with a giant feathered headpiece and a lace fan.

"Oh, I take it all back. Now I feel appropriated."

Frisk barked a laugh before they could stop themselves. "Look at the tiny dog skeleton biting the one guy's pant leg!"

As they train chugged past, they laughed over everything about it; Sans sat back in bemused amusement at last, slump against them. "There was a goddamn skeleton spider. Spider don't even have bones."

Frisk giggled but then sat up. "Oh god, is that another one up ahead?"

Sans joined them in waiting. When the train finally got near, they nearly started to shriek their laughter—it was another staged scene with skeletons, this time showing what looked like an old fashioned movie musical mid show stopping dance number with a whole chorus line of dancers in faded costumes.

"Oh, fucking christ, look at that poor schmuck," Sans gasped, breathless with laughter as he pointed at one prop. Something apparently happened to this dancer because from the waist down, the legs were frozen mid kick. On the ground beside it, the skeleton's top half reached up as if it planned to climb back up into place.

Frisk was nearly crying as they pointed to another. "What the fuck happened to that one's head?" Half the skull was missing, but they weren't sure if that was by design or if something had broken it later.

There were four more staged scenes after that and each one had the two of them in hysterics. One was a horse race in which they both decided their favorite racer was the one skeleton who was being ridden by his horse on his back, rather than the other way around. Another was a bunch of skeletons fighting a giant bird, who for some bizarre reason had wings with bones for feathers.

It took them the entire circuit to calm back down. While the other family had long since gotten off, they decided to go again. The conductor waved to them before starting up again—annoying Sans when he blasted the train whistle once more. Grumbling, he reached into his coat and produced a flask again.

"Another one?" Frisk laughed as he shoved the flask into their hand without a word. "Lord. What's in this one?"

"Drink it and find out," he shot back, clasping his hands over his gut and leaning back into their shoulder.

Staring down at it, they could resist neither a smile nor their curiosity. They uncapped the flask and took a swig. The taste inside, however, surprised them. "This is golden flower tea. Sans, you wily devil, you've been holding out on me? Were the rest of the flasks also tea?" It must have been a magic flask as well, as the tea was still delightfully warm.

"No. Just that one. And I don't like to think of it as holding out on you," he replied with a shrug. "Just saving it for when you needed it most."

They shook their head and pressed a kiss to the back of his skull before taking another drink.

While the two of them giggled a bit at the first scene again, Sans was more than happy to hunker back down and finally get his nap in. Frisk let him rest and instead focused on their surroundings and sipping their tea.

They rode the circuit four more times. Finally, the conductor announced he was going on break; the new conductor who'd come to take his spot glared at them suspiciously, so Frisk nudged Sans awake. Despite his reluctance to leave his comfortable napping spot, they shuffled off the train and head back into the park proper.

Overhead, the sun was beginning to set and the skies were growing dark. Being so near to Halloween, dusk signaled the arrival of the more playful costumed actors roaming the paths. A few ghoulish zombies and serial murderers appeared to cackle and shake their chainsaws; Sans eyed the actors with confusion, turning to Frisk with raised eye brow ridges. "Is this normal at parks?"

"No, but remember what I said? Halloween's around the corner and it's getting dark." Frisk watched one chainsaw wielding maniac run up to a group of girls who screamed playfully back. "It's all in good fun."

"Yeah, well, I don't think Papyrus is going to know that."

Frisk grimaced and dug out their phone. "Point taken. Let's find those two before someone gets hurt." They found Papyrus' number in their phone and pressed the phone to the ear, waiting as it rung. "We should probably get going anyway."

Sans shrugged and scratched his jaw. "Papyrus isn't a big fan of driving in the dark either."

After a few rings, Papyrus answered. He sounded stiff and gruff—turns out, he and Asriel had already had an encounter with an actor. While no one was hurt, a large crowd had seen him threaten the actor with a thicket of bone spears hanging around his head until he shrieked and ran away. Frisk sighed, but at least it meant that both Papyrus and Asriel were eager to leave as well.

Despite the sour note, everyone was cheerful to meet up at the end near the park's entrance—turned out, no one had remembered to get themselves dinner, so everyone was happy to be heading home to decent priced meals. Frisk caught Sans snuck into one last photo—this time a group of sorority girls whom he ducked in behind to make a lewd gesture. They waited until the heard the sound of a shutter then reached out and dragged him away when one of the girls gasped loudly at the photo.

The parking lot was a dark maze, but thankfully they found the car and piled back into it. It took some time, but at last they escaped the lot and took off down the highway. Frisk was glad that Asriel decided he wanted to cuddle on the way home—the wind picked up and Papyrus made no move to put the roof. Asriel conjured a fireball, holding it between his hands, and let Frisk warm their fingers against it.

The drive home was long, made longer when everyone else overrode Papyrus to convince him to pull into a drive thru that served monster and human food for supper. Despite complaining about the greasy food, even Papyrus dug into his food before taking back off for home.

Home rarely looked so inviting, but everyone heaved at least a small sigh of relief as they pulled into the drive. Asriel tumbled out of the backseat, holding his plush up like a grim prize of the hunt, leaving Frisk and Sans to climb out on their own time, grumbling about creaking joints while Papyrus strolled up to the door and unlocked it. Once inside, everyone was eager to toe off shoes and pull off coats, to relax into whatever perch they could—everyone, that is, except for Asriel.

Without a word, Asriel shot past everyone and headed not to the stairs, as Frisk had thought he'd do when he got home, but towards the back room where the piano was kept. Frisk glanced after him, amused, but didn't comment. After a moment, he came bouncing back out of it, making Frisk laugh.

"Kiddo, what are you-?"

"Can I give Frisk their present now?" he half shouted, still bouncing.

While Sans rolled his eyes, Frisk grinned. "What, you're telling me spending a day with my four favorite people isn't my only present?"

That got a reaction. Sans froze and looked like someone had whacked him with a face full of blush from the way his face turned red. Papyrus half fell against a wall and fanned his face, as if it would actually disguise his red face.

Asriel, however, wasn't so easily distracted. "Aw, come on! I want to see their face when they see it!"

Frisk shot Sans an amused look—which he missed, because he was still frozen—but Papyrus waved him on. "J-just go."

Asriel leapt forward and grabbed Frisk's wrists and began to tug. "Come on, Frisk, you gotta see this!"

"Ah, sweetheart, I just sat down," they groaned, the effect of which was partially ruined as they laughed.

"Frisk!"

"Oh, okay." They sighed and stood, groaning as something in their back popped. They let the prince tug them away from the comfy couch and towards the music room.

First glancing into the room, Frisk admittedly didn't see anything special inside—the piano was in its place, along with the smaller electric keyboard that they'd gotten Chara to take with them wherever they wanted only for them to promptly leave it in the music room. The acoustic guitars—two of them, one right handed for Asriel, and one left for Frisk—were in place as well.

Frisk froze, glancing to the side of the guitars. The speaker next to them was new. And besides that-

The noise they produce is not quite a squeak as the pitch isn't high enough, but it most certainly one of the most undignified sounds they've made in a while. "Is that an Indinza Professional Bass?" they murmured, eyes wide, their sore joints forgotten.

Asriel giggled.

Without waiting for an answer, Frisk crossed the room and examined the bass—looking it over, they saw the company logo on the back and found they were correct. They sat down on the piano bench and let their fingers explore the instrument. Frisk was tempted to take their gloves off to run their fingers over the wood and strings. Their fingers fit perfectly to the strings—they took a few experimental strums, adjusted each string until they were tuned, and then picked out a few more notes. It sounded like a dream—Indinza was a newer company and didn't carry the history of a Fender or a Gibson, but Frisk liked their instruments and their prices better anyway.

They paused and looked up to see Asriel, eyes glittering, watching them, and bouncing in place. Sans had also apparently followed them and was leaning into the doorframe, watching them with an idle smile. Even Papyrus, who didn't want to appear eager, was still lingering outside the kitchen, waiting for some sign.

It was Asriel who broke first. "Do you like it?"

Frisk laughed. "Fuck yeah, I do!" They paused, grimaced and grinned all at once. "Don't tell your mother I said fuck around you."

Asriel beamed. "Already forgot it—so you really do like it?"

"Yeah, of course!" They reached down and strummed the strings again. "God, guys, I had just barely gotten around to looking up what model I wanted and you already went and found one like that?"

Asriel hopped over to them, squeezing next to them on the piano bench. "Me and Chara came up with the idea! Then Papyrus helped pick it out," he announced. "Once we got it, Undyne and Alphys kept it over at their place. They dropped it off today as we were gone."

"Very sneaky," Frisk laughed, ruffling his fur. They glanced up at Sans in time to see him look particularly unimpressed. "Can I ask what your contribution was?" they asked, trying not to grin.

He seemed pleased as he lifted his chin. "I'm the one who found the damn thing. And for a decent price."

They laughed. "You always do find great deals. Is that a super power of yours, or just a talent?"

"All talent," he shot back.

Frisk smiled and paused to press a kiss to Asriel's temple. "I love it. Thank you all. Go tell Papyrus I said that too."

He nodded and jumped out to obey. As he ran up to Papyrus, shouting their gratitude. Frisk giggled at the look of pleased smugness on his face.

"That wasn't the only thing," Sans said. They turned their head in time to catch the book he tossed at them.

Turning it over, they realized it was a manual for learning to play the bass on your own. Despite the fact they could play acoustic and electric guitars, they actually hadn't learned to play basses yet—they'd been wanting to learn mostly as a challenge for themselves, something to distract them from work. And yet, they distinctly remembered only saying that once to Sans. They beamed up at him.

"Thought you could use that."

Sitting the book down and the bass back into its place, they got up and walked over to him. Without speaking, they reached down out and wrapped their arms around him—he let them, and curled one arm around their waist in turn. "Thank you," they murmured, trying to infuse every syllable with gratitude.

Rather than tease or laugh them off, he leaned into their shoulder. "Did you have a good birthday?"

Frisk smiled and pressed a kiss to the side of his skull. "Literally the best one I've had in years."

He chuckled and patted their back. "Glad to hear it."

"Frisk!"

They pulled back, smiling even despite Sans' grumbles, to spot their ward waiting by the stairs. "Yes, my dear?"

He jerked his head back towards the kitchen. "Mom left your cake in the kitchen too, apparently. Do you want to have some?"

That perked both human and skeleton up. Together, the three of them joined Papyrus in the kitchen. The cake was a pretty little thing—despite Asriel's hesitance to try any, the cake was a delicious layered white concoction with strawberries between layers and on top of the icing. Everyone had a piece and sat at the table; Frisk grinned as Sans savored his, Asriel dug in, and Papyrus gallantly agreed to let Asriel have his strawberry from his own slice when he begged. Sitting there, Frisk mused at their more recent birthdays—rarely were they home for their birthday and that usually meant they'd either spent it at some bar or party, or ignored it in favor of doing whatever they'd already been doing. Sure their parents insisted on having a party once they were home, but birthdays themselves had stopped meaning much to Frisk.

Gazing around the table, eating delicious cake, and sitting the people that made them happiest, they were happy to realize how right then had been before. This literally was the best birthday they'd had in years.

A/N: You_Light_The_Sky put in a request for "Asriel and Chara get excited for Frisk's birthday and they all go to Disney World" while I had to change it to a nondescript theme park-for various reasons, mostly being that they're actually much closer to Disneyland than World, also Disney would be a nightmare on Frisk's birthday-and couldn't work in Papyrus singing to actual Disney Villain songs, I did get him humming to peppy game murder music and Sans photobombing constantly. Sorry it took so long, but the chapter just kept getting away from me!

Btw, the skeleton staged train ride actually happened to me once and it was a big surprise for me-at Cedar Point, they randomly had a bunch of skeleton scenes set up. I don't know if that's there year round all the time, but that was in May. (Admittedly, this is years ago. Does anyone know if that's still a thing?) Also, as a kid, I was constantly getting lost and learned to approach workers to get them to page my family. Whoops.

I could have posted it last night, but it would have been an even bigger mess than it is now. I should probably just change my schedule to post on Fridays, since I've been very bad this month at keeping up with it. What say you?

I'll try and have another request done for next week.